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MSNBC Interrupts Traditional 9/11 Footage to Cover Clinton's Fainting

September 11, 2016

MSNBC interrupted its tradition of airing NBC's contemporaneous coverage of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to report on Hillary Clinton's fainting spell at the 9/11 memorial event on Sunday.

For the past 10 years, MSNBC has played the live coverage on NBC of the 9/11 attacks as they unfolded.

Clinton, who has laughed off questions about her health, reportedly left the Ground Zero event at around 9:30 a.m. and nearly fainted, having to be helped into her van by her security detail. Her campaign's pool reporters were left in the dark for nearly an hour about her whereabouts, but it finally came out that she had been driven to her daughter Chelsea's apartment because she felt "overheated."

Spokesman Nick Merrill said she was feeling "much better."

"Some concerns raised this morning about the well-being of Hillary Clinton, Democratic candidate for president, after she left the 9/11 memorial service earlier than expected," anchor Lester Holt said.

Reporter Hallie Jackson read out the campaign's statement that Clinton was feeling better, and correspondent Andrea Mitchell added that she had seen nothing to be concerned about regarding Clinton's health on the campaign trail. The Democrat did, however, make headlines last week when she was so overwhelmed by a coughing fit that she could barely speak during a campaign event.

Holt said she "seemed fine" before her spell, and Mitchell reiterated that Clinton's health was not a concern.

"I can just report that she has had no episodes of this kind, not since 2012 when she caught the flu," Mitchell said. "She had a stomach flu. She was seriously dehydrated. She did faint and she hit her head and had a concussion. That was the last medical episode that we know of and that was widely reported. At the time, there were a lot of speculation, but the doctor's report ... did indicate that she has had some issues ... she takes medications that includes medications to thin the blood because of previous episodes with thrombosis but nothing of any issue in this campaign other than the criticism from her opponents."