what will be the reaction in cairo?hile tripoli was the scarier, more vilen, more tragic event, egypt is a larger strategic problem. >> -- >> benghazi, i said tripoli. >> greta: the fumbling, is it a gaffe with no consequence or a gaffe with uh-oh, now it's going to fuel this controversy? >> given all the other evens, i don't think it has a huge consequence. the state department, the white house papered this over. i don't think it has a huge consequence -- >> greta: i differ with you because i think egypt, the muslim brotherhood is looking for a reason to -- do whatever it can to create problems with israel. i think that they will use that against us. say, well, we are not an ally. >> brit hume raised the question on twitter, saying, i wonder if obama said this to avoid praising a country in which a really angry mob storming u.s. emblassies right now? if emphasizing our alliance with egypt doesn't seem quite reverend jeremiah wright now. >> it underscored how unpredictable the situation is. a lot of people jumped on mit

embassy in cairo.cans tried to lay blame for the violence across the mideast on the doorstep of the oval office. >> we're not engaged in supporting the arab spring as we should be. it's about to explode. the american disengagement, lack of leadership, leading from behind is leading to uncertainty and doubt on all fronts. >> in rose garden, the president tried to stay above the fray. ignoring the attacks from presidential nominee mitt romney and other top republicans. >> libyan security personnel fought back against attackers alongside americans. libyans helped the diplomats find safety and they carried ambassadorstein's body to the hospital where we tragically learned he had died. >> that vow to work with the libyan government could be undermined by the fact there are reports that after ambassador stephens was moved out of the u.s. consulate to a second building considered more safe, libyan security forces ad tipped the protesters off to his whereabouts. leading to the murders. in addition to unconfirm

embassy in cairo. there were already reports at that point that at least one american had been killed in benghazi. he referenced that in his statement. that did not stop him from attacking the other embassy, from waging a him attack at all. it did not give him pause maybe he should wait to find out more about what was happening before he spoke. not only did he not wait for more information, he did not wait for the attacks to stop before he added his own attack on the staff of the embassy in egypt. a crisis that would otherwise be seen as america under attack, this is no time for politics, instead became very much a time for politics when even mr. romney's own party recoiled in horror at how badly he bungled this situation. a senior republican foreign policy strategist telling "buzzfeed" yesterday that the romney campaign was, quote, just trying to score a cheap news cycle hit and now it's just completely blown up. calling the romney campaign strategy a, quote, utter disaster and saying the romney campa

in damascus, cairo, riyadh, saudi arabia. stevens made friends everywhere he went. >> he was welcomed by the people. he visited the libyans. he eat with them, he sit with them, and he's very enthusiastic about this relation. >> in an e-mail to friends two months ago obtained by "the new york times," stevens sounded optimistic about the future of libya. "the whole atmosphere has changed for the better," he wrote. "people smile more and are much more open with foreigners. americans, french and british are enjoying unusual popularity. let's hope it lasts." wow, let's hope it lasts. as we said, christopher stevens was just 52 years old. senator john mccain condemned the benghazi and cairo attacks from the floor of the senate today. he also urged the united states to continue its support of democratic movements in the middle east. >> in ambassador chris stevens' death, the libyan people have lost a great champion and believer in the peaceful aspirations of their democratic revolution. if we turn our backs now on the millions of pe

cairo and benghazi? >> i think it's important to differentiate between the two because they're very different kinds of demonstrations and attack right now in cairo, there is still a demonstration going on, a couple hundred, maybe not even that many, hardline supporters, most of them were members of the islamic group, supporters of the old blind cleric, from the first world trade center attack. they have been organizing demonstrations in front of the u.s. embassy for a long time now and they were the core group that went out yesterday organized this demonstration and then the demonstration got out of hand, so to speak, and some of the people climbed into the embassy itself, didn't attack anyone, but pulled down an american flag and put up a black islamic flag. no u.s. personnel were at risk in that incident, but what it did show is a glaring lack of response from the new islamic leaning egyptian government. what happened in benghazi was a very different kind of attack. this was a commando raid according t

calm here in cairo. you can feel it. you can also smell it because of the amount of tear gas that is still on the ground. it is almost like the fuse burned out just before it got to the dynamite. there are hundreds if not thousands of riot police protesting the embassy that was rocked by four days of violence. the police and military used rubber bullets to beat back protesters with rocks and molotov cocktails and the protests numbering in the thousands, carrying posters of osama bin laden and chanted "obama, obama, we are all osama bin laden." in afghanistan, a police officer turned his guns on four u.s. troops killing all four, the third insider attack in as many days. in sudan the government denied a u.s. marine special operations detachment dispatched to the country to try and secure the embassy there on friday with massive violence after a local sheik called for a protest on the radio, a number of people took to the buses and the protesters numbered in the thousands and were beaten back by riot polic

embassy in cairo. this is the sign above the entrance to the embassy there. that graffiti that you see sprawled all over reads in arabic, quote: there is no god but allah. and the name bin laden. and new word that the u.s. navy has now positioned two warships off the coast of libya, the uss laboon and the uss mcfall which had been stationed in the mediterranean. these destroyers have been deployed for what they are calling contingency purposes as intelligence analysts begin the hunt for those responsible for the murders of a u.s. ambassador and his team. both ships are equipped with satellite-guided cruise missiles that could be used if a strike was ordered, and programmed to hit specific targets. no word on what those targets may be. well, the film that has in part ignited some of these anti-american protests around the world and the deadly attack on our embassy in libya, at least according to some reports, yesterday it was all about the film, today we're being told, in fact, it was a planned terroris

ambassador in cairo. and to seek justice and make sure this does not happen again. >> bottom line, you're saying mitt romney should have remained silent, is that what you're saying? >> i'm not getting into politics, wolf. i'm saying after 9/11 we did not enter into politics and we should not get into politics now. >> do you believe al qaeda had a role in this one way or another, robin? >> it looks like extremists may have been involved in the attack in benghazi. it looks like the ultra conservative force that's just emerging into politics may have been the leaders of the attack in cairo. what we have to understand is that the vast majority of people in both of these countries have signalled they want no part of violence. when you look at a country like egypt with 85 million people, you had 2,000 of them maybe at the embassy yesterday, 500 in tahrir square tonight. in libya, again, a minority. that the vast majority, tens of millions of people are sending a very different message and that is we don't want

these are the streets of cairo. not far from the u.s. embassy where the crisis is getting worse tonight. another night of protest after a day that saw hundreds of injuries among police and protesters. i am wolf blitzer in for piers morgan. demonstrations across the region from iran and iraq to gaza, to yemen, to libya and morocco, a wave of anti-american anger that has cost the lives of ambassador chris stevens and three other americans, two of them former u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s. meanwhile, president obama spoke out about all of this on the campaign trail today. >>> people around the world, i want people to hear me, to all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished. it will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. no act of violence shakes the resolve of the united states of america. >> secretary of state, hillary clinton, tonight paid tribute to the two security personnel killed alongside ambassador chris stevens. tyrone wood and glen dougherty. she said, this violence should sh

we were talking earlier with you about what happened in cairo. in cairo, egypt.ere happening there. it was this anti-muslim movie that was created by an american, and that's what sparked the protest there. flag bunrning. the question was whether the two were related. what do you think. >> we're still processing all of this. there's a possibility that it was related. it's interesting it happened on the same day. there may be some -- have been some coordination between the groups. i have no evidence of that. we may hear more about that later. it's interesting, though, that two separate countries on the same issue on the same day, an incident like this took place. but that's kind of in a certain way, that's kind of a minor issue, compared to the personal human tragedy, and of course, what this means for the united states, and the security of the united states, in that part of the world. >> you made a correlation earlier, as well, with the attacks of september 11th. you think that they're related? >> there's certainly a possibility. it happened on september 11th. you

what is going on in cairo? >> reporter: well, wolf, what's going on is we have a few hundred protesters and the police battling it out. and this has started a little bit around midnight -- a little after midnight. the protesters and the police. the protesters tried to break down a barricade that the police were putting up. tear gas. the police responded with tear gas. everything went chaotic from there. we have police and protesters throwing rocks at each other. what we're hearing are dozens of protesters are injured. six police officers are also injured in the clashes. but really what we see is a stalemate between the protesters and the police. neither side is going to give up. the police really can't give up because if they do, the protesters will go to the embassy. but the protesters don't seem to be willing to give up either. so right now a real stalemate on the streets of cairo. >> have they stepped up the egyptian military, the egyptian police, security surrounding the huge u.s. embassy compound in cairo?

embassy in cairo. richard engel is live outside the embassy and andrea mitchell with me here in washington. richard, you've reported that tensions have eased a bit. >> reporter: the tensions here are somewhat fading no now. there is a very small demonstration you can hear behind me. but about as many demonstrators as are here, there ares as many egyptian security forces. so right now, egyptians are letting off steam, standing in front of the embassy, but there have been no attempts to scale over the wall like they did yesterday, the 20-foot wall in the background behind me. not the same situation as what happened in benghazi yesterday. that was an armed assault on the consulate the and now the white house has confirmed that the u.s. ambassador chris stevens was in the consulate at the time and was killed along with three other americans. >> richard wlor, who is protect the u.s. he embassy right now in cairo? >> reporter: well, inside there are marines as there are in the other embassies. and if you see

tax dollars into cairo.efuses to meet with the prime minister of israel, officials from the muslim brotherhood have been welcomed to the white house in recent months. despite being a president who inexplicably tooka office with zero foreign policy suspicious, he has the never nerve to look directly into the camera and say this. >> my opponent and his runningmate are -- new to foreign policy. but from all that we have seen and heard, they want to take us back to a blustering and blundering that cost america so dearly. >> sean: he spent more time being a community organizer and in 2008 referred to iran, cuba, venezuela as tiny countries, they are not a threat. as we continue our coverage throughout the middle-east, allen west. welcome back to the program, congressman. let me see fiunderstand this -- we have the new president egypt referred to israel as vampires. he has been part of a terror organization his entire life. the muslim brotherhood is calling for more protests and fomenting a lot of this. the muslim

embassy in cairo.o pointed to support it received from former members of the bush administration. former defense secretary donald rumsfeld tweeted, the attacks on our embassies and diplomats are a result of perceived american weakness. mitt romney is right to point that out. and liz cheney, daughter of former vice president dick cheney wrote in "the wall street journal," apologizing for america, appeasing our enemies, abandoning our allies and slashing our military are hallmarks of mr. obama's foreign policy. columnist neuman was critical of how defended initial remarks at a news kmps. >> at one point he had a certain slight grimace on his face and i thought he looked like richard nixon. >> reporter: arizona senator sidestepped romney's handling of the issue on cnn. >> the whole tick tok back and forth is not something i'm totally aware of or care too much about. >> would you advise him to say that? >> listen, the one thing i don't do because i'm the loser is advise people -- >> senator mccain. >> repo

>>> police and protesters in cairo. a dangerous, intense scene in cairo, playing out day after day. now, it appears the crisis is growing worse. the violence that began tuesday with the killing of the u.s. ambassador, chris stevens and three others in benghazi spreadispread ing to iran, iraq, gaza, and mo more akio. stay with us for the latest developments in this unfolding and very dramatic situation. that's all for us tonight. because of all of the breaking news in the middle east, the special program with tony robins that was supposed to air this evening will be seen this sunday. is he stitting down with three billionaire americans, mark cub an, steve wynn and t. boone pickens and they are talking about keeping america great. that's sunday night. "a.c. 360" starts right now.

outside the american embassy in cairo.respondent leland vittert is in the egyptian capital where it's just past midnight. hello, leland vittert. >> midnight here right now inside cairo above the american embassy and we're feeling the effect of tear gas shot by the egyptian military as protesters, injuries of injuries today as we take a live look on the grounds outside the american embassy. there is a street battle going on as protesters try to push forward and enter the compound an egyptian police responding not only with the tear gas but rubber bullet. you get a which he knows of the visceral anger of the crowd as they are feeling the effect of tear gas and still continues to run back at the police line. throwing rocks. molotov cocktails. large plank of sheet metal to protect themselveses from the volleys that are coming back at them. earlier today, the battle was going on as well. the protests continued now steadily for 48 hours. and are growing even tonight. number of the protesters chanting we sacrifice our soul, our b