yeah, that's kinda what I remember too. back then video resolution sucked, no HD. but they did show photos of the rubble and the I beam columns showed clear cuts across them.

Also around that time, I worked way downtown, they were doing construction in the subway as I walked around. They blocked off the area and guys with whistles blocked traffic. They blew the whistle and the crack!

So I heard the construction explosions - they're not a big loud boom like on TV, more like a whip crack. Kinda supersonic.

If they did use those kinds of explosives, people who weren't in the building wouldn't have heard it (and those that were, well, they went and got squished.)