>> elise, the timing to some is suspect. i mean, hillary clinton throws herself under the bus for the obama administration on the eve of this big presidential debate. what did she have to say about that? >> reporter: well, i mean, in fact, it was the white house, i wouldcy, this kind of threw the state department under the bus over the past week. vice president biden during the debate said we didn't know about those security requests and the white house started calling around to reporters and saying listen, that's the state departme department's function. at the end of the day, yes, it is the state department security professionals that are in charge of, you know, finding out what adequate resources are needed for various posts. you know, the vice president or president are not brief ed on every little post. but, you know, benghazi was a high-threat post. there was a growing threat of extremism and groups that are related to al qaeda. there is activity in libya. republicans are saying, yes, you know, senator mccain and senat

elise, where do we go from here? >> good question, john.rday was something i haven't seen in my 12 years of the state department. this hearing really became politicized and a lot of people talking at the state department were upset that ambassador stephens death. there were a lot of important issues that came up at the hearing yesterday. chief among them, whether the consulate was adequately protected. let's take a listen to what the chairman, daniel issa said yesterday in response to state department claims that the consulate had an adequate amount of guards. let's take a listen. >> to start off by saying you had the correct number, and our ambassador and three other individuals dead and people in the hospital recovering because it only took moments to breach that facility somehow doesn't seem to ring true to the american people. >> so, john, of course, the state department saying, listen, even if we had extra guards, and, in fact, some of the security officers that were testifying yesterday saying listen, not necessarily sure the same amo

>> elise labott in lima, peru. the secretary of state in a news-making interview.t the hour. dangerous drug or good medicine? coming up, the court case that could help put pot on the path to legalization. ah. fire bad! just have to fire roast these tomatoes. do you churn your own butter too? what? this is going to give you a head start on your dinner. that seems easier sure does who are you? [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. five delicious cooking sauces you combine with fresh ingredients to make amazing home-cooked meals. ♪ ambiance [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. your head-start to home cooked. it'll cause cavities, bad breath. patients will try and deal with it by drinking water. water will work for a few seconds but if you're not drinking it, it's going to get dry again. i recommend biotene. all the biotene products like the oral rinse...the sprays have enzymes in them. the whole formulation just works very well. it leaves the mouth feeling fresh. if i'm happy with the results and my patients are happy with the results, i d

foreign affairs correspondent elise is with us this morning. reveal about what intelligence officials in washington knew on that particular day? >> well, zoraida, everyone admits in the fog of what's going on, what turned out what we thought the initial night didn't turn out to be what happened. but it definitely describes in realtime what the embassy thought was going on. the first e-mail, let's take a look, the subject, u.s. mission in benghazi under attack september on september 11th at 4:00 eastern time, which would be 10:00 in tripoli. the embassy reports 20 armed people fired shots, explosions have been heard as well. ambassador stephens currently in benghazi and four mission personnel are in the compound safe havens. then later an update, u.s. mission in benghazi sent a half hour later. the embassy tripoli reports the firing at the u.s. diplomatic mission in benghazi has stopped and the compound has been cleared. a response team is on the site attempting to locate com personnel. initially they thought the firing had stopped outside the e

elise, i know you have been working fast and furious on this. what was the memo, and what did it say? >> erin, what senior administration officials are telling us, they are speaking from unclassified talking parts provided by the intelligence community based on preliminary intelligence assessments, which were used in the briefing members of congress and speaking about it publicly. now, we know, as you said, there was other information reporting from our sources saying there were indications of possible terror involvement. but national security council spokesman tommy vietor says they didn't have that information and in a statement he says this was an intelligence community assessment based on the analysis of all of the available information. he goes on to say, there was no cherry picking. if it was used in the information you had at the time to make an informed judgment in good faith. and so erin, of course cherry picking means did the accusation -- did the administration use select intelligence from the talking points to make their case this wa

good morning, elise.y does she say she's quitting if she is in fact saying? >> well, she wouldn't be the first politician, john, to say that she's not running and then run. but secretary clinton, you know, she's tired, john. she's been on the road. you know, she's been in politics first as first lady, then as senator, now secretary of state, at a frantic pace, traveling around the world. it's not the first time she's said this. but in a recent interview with "marie claire" magazine said i've been on this high wire of national and international politics and leadership for 20 years. it's been an absolutely extraordinary personal honor and experience. but i really just want to have my own time back. i want to just be my own person. i'm looking forward to that. and, john, traveling with her for the past 3 1/2 years, it's really a frantic pace. never really letting go. she tires all of us with her. and you know, bill clinton, her husband, former president, has been asked about this. even he says he doesn't rea

elise, good morning. is this, what secretary clinton has now said, the buck stops with me in a nutshell? >> well, soledad, i think what she's trying to do are a couple of things. i think she's trying to end the political firestorm. i mean, you heard from chris stevens' dad just a few weeks ago -- days ago that ambassador, saying listen his death is being politicized. and you heard, you know, vice president biden kind of distancing himself from the state department, saying we didn't know about those requests for extra security. take a listen to what secretary clinton said when i asked her whether the white house, whether the administration, is throwing her state department under the bus. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department. 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts. the president and the vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. they're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the ne

. >> cnn foreign affairs reporter elise labott who scored that interview and spoke with the secretarystate in lima, peru joins me by telephone to talk about that interview. there is a lot of criticism right now that's being leveled at the secretary of state, elise, mostly due to the timing of this. of perhaps taking the fall so that the president can go into the debate tonight more secure that the secretary of state is suggesting it was her fault and is not barack obama's. >> well, ashleigh, i think there is some of that, but i definitely think there is also not just trying to take the heat off the white house, but to end all of the politicization of this. ambassador stevens' father, thought his death was being politicized and democrats are calling it a witch hunt. and i think what the secretary wanted to do, not only take the heat off the white house as president obama goes into this debate, but also to kind of refocus people and say, listen, you definitely need to find out what happened here. but we also need to make sure that it never happens again and that's where she is focused r

what else do you expect from the hearing, elise? >> i think there's going to be a lot of questions about the timeline, about why the administration originally called it a spontaneous protest gone awry. i think there will be a lot of questions about the security that ambassador stephens and his team had asked for, not just in benghazi but also in the whole country of tripoli. and also about whether there were any warning signs, we know there were no warning signs at night. the intelligence community is looking for specific evidence that there was a planned attack, but if you see what happened in the months leading up to the attack, there was an attack in june with the ied and several other attacks on western targets on the british ambassador, on the united nations and the international committee of the red cross, and the question being here, did the intelligence community, did the embassy and its security personnel miss the signs here? was there a storm brewing that nobody was able to take care of in the end? >> thank you, elise, liv

elise labott doing a fact check for us this morning. thank you, elise, appreciate it.e're back right after this. [ male announcer ] do you have the legal protection you need? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to turn for your legal matters. maybe you want to incorporate a business you'd like to start. or protect your family with a will or living trust. legalzoom makes it easy with step-by-step help when completing your personalized document -- or you can even access an attorney to guide you along. with an "a" rating from the better business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected. >>> welcome back, everybody. it was the final debate. and now it is done. the polls show that the president won last night. but did he make up for his first dough bait, the debate that gave governor mitt romney's campaign new life? let's get right to ron brownstein, senior politic

elise labott for us. elise, we'll keep watching the hearings today, still on the hill. elise, thank you. >>> as polls tighten and now move toward mitt romney, did the republican just move toward the middle on the controversial issue of abortion? i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. >> this is, i think, paul's first debate. i may be wrong. he may have done something in high school. i don't know. >> that's not correct. why? because i'll be speaking live with the very first congressional opponent that paul ryan ever debated. >>> prepared for war. everything from body bags to billy clubs found in one passenger's luggage. >>> and a teenage girl takes on the taliban and ends up the target. so... [ gasps ] these are sandra's "homemade" yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with t

>> you know, elise, i take a very different view of this.years been very much in the administration decision making, first with my husband then after 9/11 working with president bush now of course on president obama's cabinet. in the wake of an attack like this in the fog of war, there's always going to be confusion. and i think it is absolutely fair to say that everyone had the same intelligence. everyone who spoke -- >> bad intelligence it seems then. >> well, everyone who spoke tried to give the information that they had. as time has gone on, the information has changed. we've gotten more detail. but that's not surprising. that always happens. and what i want to avoid is some kind of political gotcha or blame game going on because that does a disservice to the thousands and thousands of americans not only in the state department and usaid but in the military who serve around the world. everyone wants to make sure they are as safe as possible but they are doing theob they were sent out to do. >> ambassador stevens' father this week said hi

so, then, elise, what is it?get a sense that heads will roll once answers start to come out from what happens at these hearings? >> well, don, i think you need to separate the political from the serious investigative as to what went wrong. i mean, the democrats, representative cummings we just heard from are charging that the way that this hearing is being investigated is in a political way, that the democrats on the committee are not being given witnesses, not being given testimony or documents and basically are excluding the democrats because they want to run this through right before the elections. what the republicans are saying is listen, something went very wrong here. there were warnings that were missed. some documents have been leaking out, some of them obtained by cnn, that show that senior security officers did send warnings and messages to the state department asking for additional security for benghazi, for libya, in general, and those requests were ignored. we're going to hear today from a few key p

. >> let's go now to foreign affairs reporter elise labott. this was quite a heated hearing. >> it was. basically there was so much political grandstanding, don, it was really hard to get at what was really important that eric nordstrom and lieutenant colonel andy wood, the top security support team official saying, listen, we kept talking to the state department, asking them for resources and we got the feeling that until there was an attack, we weren't going to get any resources. eric nordstrom, finishing that quote you just put up there saying, look, how thin does the ice have to be before someone falls through? a lot of charges yesterday. but a lot of interesting information coming out. >> i'm sure the state department is responding to these claims of lack of planning. what are they saying? >> they're saying that they thought the consulate had adequate security personnel for the amount of threat that was out there. when they look at some of the other attacks that were out there. what they were saying was we could not have prevented even wi

name is in the mix if romney wins as well as daniel gallagher, but if obama wins, it's likely to be elisealter, and i will tell you, this is all about timing. when mary leaves, it is going to be an interesting sort of recap of her four years there. you know, very controversial, she took over -- i think she's done some good things. she took over when morale was real low, right at the time the madoff scandal broke and it became clear that the sec did not -- was told about this and didn't do anything. she came in and i will tell you one of the best things she did was appoint the enforcement chief. he is one of the best in the business, former prosecutor, knows what he's doing. brought back some of the morale to the enforcement division. the negatives of mary -- and i personally like her. this is a big negative and i think it's a negative which means she should leave is she's never addressed market structure. you know, we still -- the overhang of the flash crash is still there. what steps have the sec taken? we will do a little more reporting on that tomorrow by the way on exactly what's goin

elise, thank you.rscore reporting now, today, just today, a yemeni security official working for the u.s. embassy in yemen, killed on his way to work. yemeni officials suspect it's an al qaeda attack. this is the yemeni national, not an american, but working for the americans. in choosing the right plan for your needs. so don't wait. call now. whatever your health coverage needs, unitedhealthcare can help you find the right plan. open enrollment to choose your medicare coverage begins october 15th and ends december 7th. so now is the best time to review your options and enroll in a plan. medicare has two main parts, parts a and b, to help cover a lot of your expenses, like hospital care... and doctor visits. but they still won't cover all of your costs. now's the time to learn about unitedhealthcare plans that may be right for you. are you looking for something nice and easy? a medicare advantage plan can give you doctor, hospital and prescription drug coverage all in one plan... for nothing more than

elise lavat just finished an interview with secretary of state hillary clinton. libya. elise joins me, she's on the phone from lima, peru where she's with the secretary of state. what did she say? >> erin, this is really, she gave a set of interviews to network reporters, really speaking in depth about the attack on the u.s. post in benghazi. she said the buck stops with her. there has been a lot over the last couple of days and weeks about who's responsible, who takes responsibility. you heard vice president biden in the debate say we don't know. and when i asked secretary clinton whether you know, the white house -- state department under the bus, she said listen, this is my state department. i take responsibility. security for the u.s. diplomatic post is a state department function and the vice president and president didn't know. kind of distancing the state department from the white house in this election season. she also said she didn't want to play any kind of blame game or political gotcha. she understands that the election is coming up, and obviously eve

>> their work he added scenes as a suicide bomber at managed to get your elise four -- through at least four lairs of security. worshipers had just left the mosque and were standing outside the provincial government. many high-ranking officials and police chiefs were still inside when the blast went off. they managed to escape serious injuries. but the worst affected were afghan policeman who had been guarding the mosque and civilian or shippers who had just come out -- civilian of worshipers who had just come out from prayers. the attacker may have gotten past the checkpoints by being dressed in police uniform, because there was feared that there might be an attack in the province. the attack has been strongly condemned by president karzai. he put out a message calling on the taliban to stop the violence and join the political process and to live in peace and build afghanistan. we have also seen a reaction from nato, the international security assistance force. general john allen also putting out a message strongly condemning the attack and sending condolences and sympathy to the famil

elise labott from washington, thanks so much.coverage of the debate begins tonight. it's live in boca raton, florida. it's the third and final, so even if you like sports, this is your last chance, folks. it starts at 7:00 eastern right here on cnn. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. now covering 3000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible. >>> this question actually comes from a brain trust of my friends at global telecom supply, and it's -- this is really a pretty good question. lib libya. >> look closely you can see that's tom hanks on "saturday night live." he was spoofing kerry latka the long island man who asked the question heard around the world. it was a serious question, who was it who actually declined the additional security at our mission in libya before the attack that actually killed our ambassador and three other american diplomats. that was a question that spawned deep debate on the floor and on the news and it lasted at least a week, and it will probably end up

elise, you just interviewed secretary clinton. what exactly did she tell you? >> reporter: well, isha, you know there's been so much political back and forth in washington over who was responsible for the attack that killed ambassador chris stevens and three other americans and even last week in the vice presidential debate, when asked about those additional requests for security that were denied, the vice president said we didn't know anything about that, and secretary clinton when i asked her about that, she said listen, this is a state department function. the state department finds the embassy security for embassies and consulates around the world and that's my state department. i have 60,000 employees and i take responsibility, isha. i think she was trying to take a little bit of the heat off the white house at this time when an election is coming up and also trying to remind people that hey, four americans died, including an ambassador, and we need to stop this blame game. she said she doesn't want any more political gotcha. >> that may be her wish but it

our foreign affairs reporter elise labott joins me.re we getting to answers with this, or is this a political stunt to highlight something this close to the election to suggest that the government didn't know what it was doing and could have saved the lives of those men? >> well, ashleigh, it depends who you ask. if you ask democrats, it's the former. this is a political stunt to damage president obama just weeks before the election. but the republican chair of the committee, daniel issa, is saying listen, something went wrong, we need to get to the bottom of this. and indeed you're going to hear today from senior security officials that were posted in benghazi in months leading up to the attack, not on the day of the attack, posted in libya that say, look, we did send messages to the state department asking for additional secity, asking for security teams that were on the ground to be extended beyond their mandate over the summer. and so these requests were apparently either denied or not responded to. and so you'll hear from these se

first i want to bring in cnn's foreign affairs reporter elise lav it who had the interview. this is the first time that secretary clinton talked about that night in depth, what else did she tell you? >> you're right. the first time she talked about the attack, and she talked about the harrowing night that she and other state department officials, the long hour of many hour ordeal that they went through waiting to hear if chris stevens was alive, waiting to hear if sean smith and others were alive. i think what she was trying to do is obviously take the heat off the white house in this election, everyone's talking about whether or not the president and the vice president knew about the security requests that were denied. and you heard vice president biden speaking in that debate last week saying, we didn't know. you have secretary clinton, did they throw you under the bus? that's when she says no, this is my state department, i'm responsible for the security of the department. she was also trying to take a little bit of the plitization out of this. republicans are after the d

elise kirschner, nbc bay area news. >>> it is 5:22 right now. coming up, maybe this should be nasa's next target. the planet researchers say is one giant diamond. >> i'll take part in that research project. >> i knew you would. >>> how about this, this is a project. this is moving the shuttle "endeavour" across the streets of los angeles. this is a live look. we will have a full report coming up. ah. fire bad! just have to fire roast these tomatoes. do you churn your own butter what? too? this is going to give you a head start on your dinner. that seems easier sure does who are you? [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. five delicious cooking sauces you combine with fresh ingredients to make amazing home-cooked meals. ♪ ambiance [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. your head-start to home cooked. >>> it's 5:24, good morning. the child safety foundation started by a bay area man will be helping parents and kids learn how to stay safe. the klaas kids print-a-that you know will be held today in san jose. parents can bri

. >> cnn's elise labott is live for us now.e of several e-mails sent the evening of the attack. you heard the secretary of state talking about this is really like puzzle pieces. and this is just one of the many pieces. what are some of the other pieces? >> that's right, fred. really the first communications that we have seen what happened in real time coming from the embassy and the state department operations room, but a little bit of dig there by secretary clinton saying this was one of a lot of traffic of that night, that was painting a more fuller picture. one of the first e-mails that came, about 4:00 p.m. u.s. time, so it would be 10:00 p.m. in libya when the attacks started, and subject was u.s. mission in benghazi under attack. embassy tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots, explosions had been heard as well, and ambassador stevens who is currently in benghazi and four mission personnel are in the compound safe haven. now, a half hour later, an update that said that the embassy reports the firing at t