this is chris stevens. i really cry for my family and -- with my family for chris when they hear this news. we lost a friend. we lost a supporter and lost a hero. chris stevens is a hero and part of the libyan history. part of the libyan revolution. his name will never forget. we will never forget him. i'm sure that his name and his achievement will be part of the history. we again are sorry we cannot protect this professional diplomat who came to help us in a very critical time when we looking for friends and for support and for help. now it is time of peace. we need support of friend who support us during the war. libya is still facing a very critical challenge. the same day chris stevens is the day the parliament first time in 42 years that they elect their first prime minister. thank you united states for your support. again, we are sorry on behalf of libyan people for the loss of this great friend. thank you very much. [applause] >>> good afternoon, barbara lee. i represent the 9th district, including p

speaker, i rise with my colleagues to honor, celebrate and remember ambassador john christopher chris stevens. a son of northern california and the bay area, ambassador stevens tragically lost his life in the greatest service to his country. selflessly and courageously representing american values in a foreign nation he knew intimately and cared for deeply. in his diplomatic capacity, ambassador stevens brought a profound and prolific knowledge of arab world and middle east to his assignment. his exemplary gift for making personal connections was invaluable as his role as specific representative and ambassador to one of the most complex and challenging regions of the world. therefore as we join in recognizing ambassador stevens am myself midst a sober outpouring of praise from his family, colleagues, fellow americans and the leaders of this nation, we remember also that chris stevens was beloved by many libyans as well. therefore on behalf of the residents of northern california and our entire state, we join president barack obama, secretary of state hillary rodham clinton, democratic leader

[applause] >>> members of christopher stevens family, ladies and gentlemen, let me first thank chris stevens' brothers and sisters for their warm and delightful insights into what he was really like. thank you so much. that was fantastic what you did for us. christopher stevens was obviously an extraordinary human being and contributor. every year at stanford we have a group of what we call national security fellows come. they were roughly army, navy, air force, state department. a couple weeks ago we had a meeting and the first person i called on was an army colonel. i said where were you last? he said in libya. i said did you know christopher stevens? he said everybody knew christopher stevens. he was our leader, fluent in arabic, constructive, positive, doing something, he was our leader. this spontaneous practically eruption from him. he was a foreign service officer. anybody who has served with a foreign service as i did as the secretary of state knows, what a very special group of people this is. they are very able people. dedicated. they work hard for our country. chris was extraordin

chris was chief stevens gone global. [ laughter] >> but chris was also a perfect blend of father and mother. a deep appreciation of history, newspapers, beauty. gilbert and sullivan, p.g. woodhouse and nature. like dad he loved to experience through hiking, mount tam, at lan, barvarian alps. one summer i had a job at signal mountain lodge in the tee tons. he came to visit and read nick adams stories. now is now is now. inspired, he signed on for a job. long after school chris was still there, immersed in the culture. not only hiking, fishing and camping but hunting elk. hard to believe. one of the last times i was with chris we took a long run through the trails of walnut creek. he was reading a book of how to keep running as we enter our later years. giving me pep talks in how to drag myself out of bed in cold, dark mornings for that run. i was inspired. through mom he learned the value of visiting a foreign country. the importance of talking to people in their own language. when he was a comfortable piedmont high schooler playing tennis and drinking beer -- sorry -- [ laughter] >>

administration, the white house, in terms of the requests that we know came through from ambassador chris stevens for more security in benghazi. you know, what are the big holes in the story that you believe need to be filled in by somebody who would be privy to all that information? >> well, you just hit the heart of the story and that is why the administration would put susan rice on the point of the spear on the sunday after the attacks with information that i don't think they believed to be totally krefpblgt and now we know it's not correct at all. that is the most important reason the secretary should testify, and we owe the american people the facts and all the facts. >> we of. martha facts. martha: we all understand an illness and the time to recover for secretary of state hillary clinton. and we hope she does that in a quick way it does seem odd in terms of susan rice that hillary clinton wasn't available that

consulate in benghazi, libya, that left ambassador chris stevens and three other americans dead. former ambassador thomas pickering and admiral mike mullen, a former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff chaired the outside accountability review board. they spoke at the state department. >> frankly, the state department had not given benghazi the security, both physical and personnel resources, it needed. >> certain state department bureau level senior officials in critical positions of authority and responsibility in washington demonstrated a lack of leadership and management >> brown: overall, the report found that systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies resulted in a security posture that was inadequate for benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place. earlier, mullen and pickering

but never grave hi gave him the hee needed before he died. >> i was honored to know ambassador chris stevens. i want to thank his parents and siblings who are here today for sharing chris with us and with our country. what a wonderful gift you gave us. >> judge jeanine: but the report says there is really confusion as to who is ultimately responsible and empowered to make decisions. really? you don't know who is responsible? >> i'm in charge of the state department. 60,000 plus people all over the world. >> if senator mccain and senator graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me. >> judge jeanine: i guess not. they said no single individual is responsible. no disciplinary action is recommended. but the wording of the report is "there is no basis to believe any one breached his or her duty." now, you there is a fundamental concept in law that if you are negligent in the oversight of those in your charge you are liable for consequences. here, security was grossly inadequate and there were consequences. but they conclude there is no basis to believe any one breached th

all of us have read accounts of chris stevens extraordinary service. to be clear to everyone, he was personally instrumental in advancing u.s. interest in libya he provided the leadership we needed for the embassy team going beyond the embassy walls to meet, convert soldiers, shopkeepers, and villagers as well as ministers, generals, and bureaucrats. like many personnel around the world, chris and the team recognized that effective diplomacy in this era carries substantial risk. nevertheless, it is up to the president, the state department, and the congress to ensure our personnel have enough support to do their jobs as safely as possible, and just as we give our men and women the weapons to carry out the mission, we have to ensure diplomats have all the tools they need which include a safe place to work. embassies are both outposts of the united states government and symbols of the country, and as such, they are prime targets were terrorists. every day, the united states receives threats against its facilities overseas. when i was chairman of the comm

it comes after the death of ambassador chris stevens in benghazi. here's abc's muhammad lila tonight. >> reporter: it's a country racked with lawlessness and now a potential new threat. the associated press first reported this video which claims to be from al qaeda's yemen branch announcing a new bounty. three kilograms of gold. roughly $160,000 for the head of the american ambassador in yemen and $23,000 for any american soldier. abc hasn't verified the authenticity of the video. it was posted online separately, claiming to be part of a longer video, one that we have authenticated. if true, the threat comes at a critical time, just four months after al qaeda-linked militants stormed the embassy compound in libya, killing ambassador chris stevens and three other american personnel. after the attacks, security levels were raised at many american embassies around the world. >> i think the security detail to the ambassador himself is not going to do anything particularly differently. because they had to know that the ambassador was already a person who

. ♪ ♪ >>> my name is chris stevens, i'm the new u.s. ambassador to libya.he honor to serve as the envoy to the libyan revolution and i was thrilled to watch the libyan people stand up and demand their rights. now i'm excited to return to libya to continue the great work we've started, building a solid partnership between the united states and libya to help you the libyan people achieve your goals. right now i'm in washington, preparing for my assignment. as i walk around the monuments and memorials commemorating the courageous men and women that made america what it is, i'm reminded we too went through challenging periods, when america was divided by a bitter civil war 150 years ago. president abraham lincoln had the vision to pull us together toward a shared goal of peace and prosperity. growing up in california i didn't know much about the arab world. then after graduating from the university of california at berkeley, i traveled to north africa as peace corps engineer. i worked as an english teacher in morocco two years and quickly grew to love this part

ambassador to america, chris stevens.ision interviews and said it appeared to come from an andy islam film. >> the mall outside portland where a gunman killed two people on tuesday, a third person krit ukly hurt. the gunman jacob roberts took his own life. his motive is still not clear. roberts' aunt raised him after his mother died and calls herself his mom. she says he lost his way after an injury. >> jake was going to be a warrior. he was going to be a hero. and he was going to join the marines. and then he broke his foot and he couldn't be a marine because he got five pins in his foot. so he couldn't be a marine anymorement and then he lost purpose. he lost, like -- that is what he was going to do. >> there will be a candlelight vigil tonight outside the mall. >>> dramatic dash cam video of a police chase in south carolina that had a deadly ending. deputies pursuing this mustang earlier this month after it had been reported stolen. they say the driver 27-year-old brian madden lost control after trying to take a curve

chris stevens understood that as well as anyone. crystals knew that every chief of mission has the responsibility to insure the best possible security and support for our people. as senior officials here in washington, we share that profound responsibility. we have to constantly improve, reduce the risks our people face and make sure they have all the resources they need. that need colludes the men and women at the state department's diplomatic service. they are professionals and pate rots who seven where there are little or no u.s. military presence. it's important to recognize that our colleagues at home and abroad get it right countless times a day for years on end in some of the toughest circumstances manageable. we cannot lose sight of that. but we learned some very hard and painful lessons in eleven ghazi. we were -- benghazi. we are already or acting on them, we have to do better. we owe it to our colleagues who host their lives in benghazi, we owe it to the security professionals who acted with such extraordinary heroism tha

shortly thereafter chris stevens sat down next to me. of us went to lunch afterwards and became friends from that day forward. chris never tried to be someone special but he was someone special. when we were at hastings his charm and wit were on display from the start. in class he was very articulate and seemed as later in life always very poised and well spoken and at ease. i think our professors loved him. he liked being a student, even studying at the national war college a few years ago. he always seemed to genuinely enjoying studying and debating and was immersed in classes and activities of the school. particularly the hastings law journal, where he became managing editor. he very much liked the art of argument and trial law. he used to go to the courts nearby to watch very high profile trials and legendary judges and litigators. while he spent lots of times on the hastings campus, whether in library or out on what is called the beach in front of the school, he also liked to get off-campus and would often go for a run across golden

chris stevens embodied the very best of america. even as we grieve for our fallen friends, we took action. we took immediate steps to protect our people and posts. we stayed in contact with embassies around the world facing large protests, dispatched emergency security teams, received reporting from the intelligence committee, and took additional precautions. second, we intensified diplomatic campaigns aimed at combating the threat of terrorism across north africa. we continue to work to bring justice to the terrorists responsible for the attacks on benghazi. we are working with our partners to cut off terrorist finances and counterterrorist ideology and slow the flow of new recruits. secretary clinton ordered an investigation to determine exactly what happened in benghazi. i want to convey our appreciation to the accountability review board and former chairman of the joint staff and also you as well. the report looks at serious systemic problems, outcomes that are not acceptable. problem's that secretary clinton has said that we ta

>> you want chris stevens, and you want him exactly where he was.o senator corker's clip, ironically this was the state department thinking outside the box. chris stevens had been in benghazi in the midst of the civil war advising the rebel group that became eventually the interim government, and he was back in benghazi for the first time since he had been a special envoy there as ambassador. i mean, obviously i think you touched on it, chris. the miscalculation here was thinking that in a post-conflict environment like libya, the same normal rules of the vienna convention apply, that the host nation can provide for security. so i think much as the military learned from experiences like beirut in 1983, khobar towers in 1986, that when you deploy people in dangerous situations, you have to concentrate on force protection and bring the resources with you that can provide an adequate level of protection. the state department has to rethink how it operates in these kinds of environments. >> i still remember '83, and i think that was the wrong decision t

ambassador chris stevens, clint already, and tire around the woods. -- tyron woods. we were not asked to conduct an investigation into the attacks to find out who the perpetrators were or their motives. that is the statutory role of the fed ruled bureau of investigation and the intelligence community. we enjoyed excellent cooperation with both of them throughout the report. under relevant statute, secretary clinton asked us to examine whether the attacks were security related and other security systems and procedures were adequate and implemented properly. the impact of the availability of information and intelligence, and whether anything else about the attacks might be relevant to appropriate security management of u.s. diplomatic missions around the world. we were also asked to look at what the u.s. government employee or contractor breached his or her duty. basically we wanted to find the lessons to be learned. better to protect americans from future attacks. to do all that we interviewed more than 100 people. we reviewed thousands of documents and watched hours

four americans including ambassador chris stevens were killed september 11.ays the investigation found the state department failed to take adequate steps to reduce the vulnerable to the terrorist attack. the report parents a picture of a vulnerable outpost in libya's seconds largest city. >>> oak ridge boys serenaded george hw bush over the phone. he has been hospitalized for a month after conditions including bronchitis and fever, moved out of icu after he got the phone call serenaded by the country music group. >>> ceo of the long island power authority is officially stepping down from his job today. came after sharp criticism that lip pa up with doing enough to restore power. top leaders in the house and senate side of the ag committees agreed to a 1 year extension of the 2008 farm bill that expired in october. that heads off a possible doubling of gas prices next month. the house could vote on the bill soon, house leaders have not yet agreed to put the bill on the floor. >>> we knew we were in the playoffs, we know when and against whom. ravens taking on

ambassador to libya, chris stevens. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton is spending new years even a new york city hospital. mrs. clinton is being treated for a blood clot discovered yesterday. late today doctors said the clot was located between her brain and skull, right behind her right ear. mrs. clinton is making excellent progress. they also predict a full recovery. >>> 2013 arrives in the u.s. in just a matter of hours. the wait is especially exciting and cold for folks in new york city's times square. >>> welcome back, everybody. with less than six hours until 2013, hundreds of thousands of people are in new york's times square for the annual new year's eve celebration. many of them arrived before dawn to get the best spots to watch mayor michael plume berg and the world famous rockettes drop the giant ball at the stroke of midnight. security is very tight. police are checking all bags, plus no alcohol is allowed. if you think it's cold here, windchills are going to make it feel well below freezing tonight in the big apple. police in our area will be out in force looking fo

the attack left ambassador chris stevens and three other americans dead. >>> another health scare for secretary of state hillary clinton. she was admitted into the hospital because of a blood clot. >> reporter: doctors at new york presbyterian hospital said secretary of state hillary clinton will have top spend at least the next couple of days for observation, after they discovered a blood clot that resulted from a fall. physicians and her staff have not said where the clot is. the treatment does not suggest anything too serious. >> if you have bleeding in your head, you wouldn't put someone on an hasn't cooing a gyp lant for -- coagulant for treatment. so things are not adding up. >> reporter: the 65-year-old clinton originally fell frill a stomach virus. the virus caused severe dehydration which resulted in her fainting and suffering a concussion. this is the second time clinton has suffered a blood clot. 1998, clinton was hospitalized because of a clot behind her knee. >> it's possible it's one in the leg, deep vein thrombosis and dehydration both lay lie to clinton. >> reporter: c

embassy compound in libya, killing ambassador chris stevens and three other american personnel. attack, security levels were raised at american embassies around the world. >> i think the security detail for the ambassador himself is not doing anything differently. they already knew he had to be froe protected very, very carically. >> reporter: anti-american sentiment is very, very high. >> this ambassador is one of the many brave americaning in the region who is in danger all the time. >> reporter: muhammad lila, abc news, washington. >>> the president signed a sweeping wiretap law. they can do it without obtaining a court order for each intercept. the program would have expired today. >>> there's been a medical setback for hugo chavez. his vice president said he suffered new complications and described his condition as delicate. he's not been seen or heard from since undergoing a fourth cancer-related surgery earlier in the month. >>> a woman charged with pushing man to his death at a subway track is going to undergo a medical evaluation. this morning, "the new york times" repo

if anybody knows chris stevens, the last thing in the world he would do is give up.e questioned whether chris should have been there on 11 september. given the security environment. if you know chris like i know him, that's the place he had to be, the place where it would make a difference. the bush administration said many things about iraq that were not accurate. john and i pushed back when we thought we needed to. we pushed back here because you can't allow any administration, republican or democrat, to get the glory of good operations and not accept the blame that comes when things go badly. and it is a not that blame i'm trying to assign to a particular person. i'll trying to learn. i'm trying to collect. the bush administration eventually did correct failed policies. if this administration does not change their strategic view of how to engage in the middle east, more benghazies will follow. there was no libyan government to outsource security to. these militias were unreliable, angry, and anybody who was looking at benghazi libya with a critical eye at all coul

ambassador to libya chris stevens and three other americans.eaders of the review board gave members of congress a classified briefing on the report today. lawmakers say they plan to hold pluck hearings tomorrow. catherine herridge is live in d.c. with a preview for us tonight, catherine? >> that's right. offers uncomfortable conclusions and undeniable facts that there was a decision prior to the assault not dead found a new safe haven in eastern libya. one security failure after another led to the death of four americans, including ambassador chris stevens. >> i think the d-backs was very stark, very candid, very honest and told us the following mistakes were made, lives were lost and lessons need to be learned. >> in the summer of 2012 the report documents at least 20 security related incidents in benghazi including the assassination attempt on the british ambassador. if the state department continued to rely on libya militia and security contractor on 9/11 neither provided any meaningful defense. the report states it was stevens of decision t

one of the men suspected in the attack that killed chris stevens has been detained. rrorists stormed the consulate. four americans were killed including stevens. nbc news sites unnamed intelligence sources that egyptian sources captured the suspected terrorist. he is a accused of providing guns for extremists and establishing militant camps where the attackers trained. >>> also new an american drone has killed an al-qaeda commander. the united states secretly launched the air strike on thursday. it killed the commander who was hiding out among the pakistan border. he. >> this morning the battle over taxes continues in the capitol. >> and if we are serious about protecting middle class families we will have to ask the wealthiest to pay higher rates. that's one principle i won't compromise on. >> he said he will work with the gop on spending cut itself they agree to higher taxes on the wealthly and a middle class tax cut. this is the 4th time that he has used the weekly address to push for a middle class tax cut. >> we must reform the tax code by getting rid of unjustif