Here are a few bullet points from a news conference that just concluded with Vice Adm. John Currier of the U.S. Coast Guard.

• This was a routine, low-level exercise that was planned in advance. No chain-of-command authorization was necessary.

• Admiral Currier promised a full and transparent investigation into the matter and a review of Coast Guard policies. For example, better coordination with the media.

• The Coast Guard trains 365 days a year.

• The portion of the river where the training occurred was selected because of the depth and width of the river to make maneuvering the boats involved as safe as possible

• The radio frequency used by the Coast Guard for this exercise was not encrypted, which led to its interception, surmised to be a private citizen who passed the information to the media. This is a common practice. Currier had not listened to the tape, but said procedure is for a “this is a drill” announcement at the beginning of the exercise.

One thing that I think is important to point out is that when CNN and Fox were reporting the incident live, what they were showing on the screen was a shot of the Potomac River, from a distance, with two or three boats of indistinguishable design. Car traffic on the two bridges was moving normally and there was no sign of any threat, e.g. police cars or other first responders on the scene. This should have been, at the very least, a signal to one of the producers that more information was needed before going with the “shots fired” meme.

Coincidentally, I was also on Twitter while watching and this Tweet of Marc Ambinder’s stood in stark contrast to what was being said by Fox and CNN:

Bridges are open across Potomac; USSS doesn’t consider the incident a security threat.

Calling the Secret Service didn’t seem to occur to the cablers. Minutes later, they reported the news that this was a training exercise.