jill dougherty has more. >> randi, this was an investigation from what's called a security support team. now, those are special forces, they are deployed all over the world in hot spots, very dangerous areas to protect u.s. diplomats. in this case, they were deployed at the u.s. embassy in tripoli, libya. now, they were asking the state department to continue to use a dc-3 plane. they say they wanted it to transport their personnel around the country and also for diplomatic business, but the state department turned them down. and the state department says by that time there were commercial flights available. so, there was no need to have this plane and there was no need, by the way, they are saying, to spend money on that plane, which is a factor. they also say it did not affect the response to the attack that killed the american ambassador and three other americans. finally, they say when they evacuated u.s. personnel from libya after that attack, they used a chartered aircraft. so, this e-mail is all part of many of these investigations. it's part of the congressional investigation an

jill dougherty joins me now.ll, there is a question about whether there were protests outside the consulate. the state department is now saying tonight there was nothing out of the ordinary, that all was quiet before the attack took place. there was no protest. that contradicts what we've heard from other corners of the administration, even days after the attack. how can that be? >> well, anderson, you know, they did not specifically say there were no protests. i just checked what one of those officials said, and he said you would have to ask others about that, but that is not our conclusion. and then this official also said i'm not saying we even have a conclusion. so that's still very, very unclear. but what this official does say tonight, anderson, is that it was quiet, it was evening in benghazi, 8:00, 9:00, 9:00 the ambassador, chris stevens, retires to his chambers at that compound and then at 9:40, they hear all of a sudden the guards hear noise outside, they hear firing and then all hell breaks loose. so

jill dougherty, good to see you. you. >>> president obama, of course, he is reaching out to celebrity backers of hollywood. he is hosting a series of star-studded concerts, big dollar dinners. the goal is to raise $9.5 million over the next two days. dan lothian is with the president in keen, california, and, dan, first of all, we'll talk about some of the big name stars. i know there's, like, quite a few of them there, but i'm curious if the obama campaign or the president has any response so far to this big policy speech that was late out by romney earlier this morning. >> well, the president himself has not weighed in on it yet, but his campaign spokesman, ben labolt, also former secretary of state madeleine albright did hold a conference call a short time ago where they really attacked mitt romney saying that he is not fit to be commander in chief. they said that his policies are what he would put in place are really unclear. that he has been shift aing lot of his positions, and, again, saying that he doesn't --

former correspondent jill dougherty.we should mention that fran serves on the advisory committee, and roeptly traveled to libya with her employer, and actually met with ambassador stevens. obviously, mrs. smith is very upset. and you know it is very understandable why she would be. what is the procedure, though, for keeping the family informed? she says they said well, we'll let you know what happened. do they wait until the investigation is over, you would think somebody would be in contact with her? >> right, there is actually an office in the justice department, because this is now a criminal investigation that is responsible. the victim witness assistance. they are supposed to be the advocates inside the u.s. apparatus, the government, to make sure that the families are kept apprised. but you also expect, any department has this, if an employee is lost, a member of our intelligence services, that agency takes ownership of making sure to shepherd the person through the system and around the system to get information.

jill dougherty joining us now from the u.s. state department. what are they expected to set straight? >> very interesting reading. some of these documents. there are statements coming out by the key people who will be testifying today. they -- i have been reading through them, and i think there were a couple of very important moments. that came essentially from the u.n. ambassador, susan rice, and in the testimony by ambassador patrick kennedy, which we expect to hear, he says that any official who was in -- was testifying at that particular time that she did, which was on the 16th five days later, the 16th of september, five days after the attack, would have said the very same thing. it was based on the information that was known at that particular moment. you are already setting up, you know, some would say that the administration lied. in fact, chairman isa said that the administration misled people. now, patrick kennedy from the stat department, he is the under secretary for management, and he is saying no, that is what we knew at that parti

two women who broke news on this story so far, fran townsend and foreign affairs correspondent, jill dougherty. fran serves on the recent advisory board and had traveled to libya and met with ambassador stevens. obviously mrs. smith is upset. you know, it's very understandable why she would be. what is the procedure though for keeping a family informed? she said we will let you know what happened? do they wait until the investigation is over? you would think somebody would be in contact with them. >> there is an office in the justice department. because this is now a criminal investigation, they responsible -- the office of victim/witness assistance. they are supposed to be the advocates inside the apparatus of the u.s. government to get updates, to make sure the families are kept apprised. but you also expect and every department has this. if it's an employee lost, or a member of one of our law enforcement or intelligence service, that agency takes ownership of making sure to shepherd the person through the system and around the system. in many respects, it's sort of incomprehensible to me. t

jill dougherty, thank you. we want to keep asking the questions here and to do that i want to turn to gloria borg, chief political analyst. gloria, i was watching you post game after the debate, i want to get to the debate, but we have to stick with libya for a moment here. let's listen one more time to what mitt romney said today accusing the vice president of contradicting sworn testimony at the debate last night >> the vice president directly contradicted the sworn testimony of state department officials. he's doubling down on denial. and we need to understand exactly what happened as opposed to this -- brush this aside. when the vice president of the united states directly contradicts the testimony, sworn testimony of state department officials, american citizens have a right to know just what's going on. >> we all hear him say it, but, gloria, would the claim by romney be a bit more credible if he came right out and said specifically which state department officials he's talking about and what their sworn

our foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is standing by at the state department. clearly where you are all ears and eyes on this speech. this is so critical to the state department's work. it is one thing as i mentioned to be a candidate and be able to give a speech. it is quite another to be the president because your words are critical at that very moment and can set off any kind of array of problems. let me ask you about mitt romney and his comments when it comes to the duty of america. these are some of the things he is expected to say in the excerpts that he has sent to the press. this stands out to me. i believe the leader of the free world has a duty to use america's great influence to shape events in ways that secure our interests, further our values, prosecute event conflict, and make the world a better place. that sounds great here in america. my thought is the state department would cringe and say we'll mitigate that somewhat overseas when it comes to our interests and our interests alone. >> i think you have to look at that word shape events. if you lo

jill dougherty at the state department. there's plenty of political bickering going on when it comes to taxes. up next, you're going to hear what mitt romney has to say about his plan, what it could mean for you. also, lance armstrong is linked to what one group calls the most sophisticated doping program in cycling history. e 70,000 trades. ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with advanced all-wheel drive. [ engine revving ] it's bringing the future forward. that make kids happy. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can

cnn's foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is joining us from the state department now with moremation, more details. what's going on here, jill? >> well, wolf, here's what we know. these congressional republicans are charging that there were numerous threats, security breaches and attacks in libya leading up to even before the attack that killed ambassador stevens and three other americans. for example, they say that ambassador stevens used to jog almost daily, frequently with his security detail. but that the -- according to their sources they say, a pro-gadhafi facebook website posted a stacked photo of stevens and also a threat against him. so he stopped temporarily stopped for about a week. and then he went back again. here's what congressman daryl issa tells cnn. >> all indications are the ambassador was not reckless and took the advice always of his security forces including sometimes when they said meetings needed to be canceled. so i think this is a failure of intelligence, a failure of security and a failure of judgment. but not of the now-deceased ambassador. >> and, w

our jill dougherty is reporting that the gop is also charging that requests for additional security were>> reporter: congressional republicans charged there were numerous threats, security braechz, and attacks in libya leading up to the killing of ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. for example, stevens, they say, took regular early morning jogs around tripoli with members of the security detail, but according to their sources, a pro-gadhafi facebook page trumpheted those runs, posting a threat against the ambassador along with a stock photo of him. stevens stopped running for about a week. then resumed. >> all indications are the ambassador was not reckless, and he took the advice always of his security forces, including sometimes when they said that meetings needed to be canceled, so i think that this is a failure of intelligence, a failure of security, and a failure of judgment, but not of the now diocesed ambassador. >> there were other security braechz, according to the committee and a sale that blew a hole in the security perimeter at the north gate of the benghazi

our foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is following the story for us. nce committee saying about these chinese companies? >> reporter: well, start with what they're not saying, wolf. they're not saying they have a smoking gun they didn't provide adequate information on the operations in the united states or connections to the chinese mill. the two chinese telecommunications companies could be a threat to the national security of the united states. that's the conclusion by the house intelligence committee after a yearlong probe of huawei and zte. >> we do not have the confidence that these two companies with the ties to the chinese government are trusted with infrastructure. >> reporter: the committee has no proof of any wrongdoing but the chairman claims that the companies could be a kind of trojan horse allowing the chinese government to gather intelligence or strike the u.s. with a cyber war. the committee is urging american companies as well as u.s. government systems and contractors to find other vendors. but h youuawei say it is committee is trying

let's turn to our foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty who's taking a much closer look. l? >> reporter: wolf, you know, it was the very first right off the bat the very first question at that debate, what exactly happened in benghazi? there are three investigations underway. at this point there is a lot that is still unclear. so here's our fact check on a few key issues. it's one of the most serious charges congressman paul ryan leveled at vice president joe biden. >> there were requests for extra security. those requests were not honored. >> reporter: extra security for u.s. diplomats in libya. but biden claims the white house didn't know about security requests. >> we weren't told they wanted more security. we did not know they wanted more security again. >> reporter: but the former regional security officer in libya told a congressional committee that he asked for additional security for benghazi months before the attack and was denied. it's not known for now how high up in the administration his request got. >> he was speaking directly for himself and for the presiden

let's bring in jill dougherty working the story for us. >> you know, wolf, the europeans are ready to it's nuclear program, and it's unclear what they think about all of this. as you know, the real leader and man in charge is not president ahmadinejad, it's the supreme leader. >> unrest on the streets of tehron. angering iranians facing skyrockets costs for basic goods. their president ahmadinejad brushes off the sanctions as psychological warfare by iran's economies. they're also under the threat of a military strike by israel. european officials say there are conflicting signals from iran on whether it's taking that threat seriously. so far, iran seems to be sticking with a proposal from july. as the first step, iran demands the international community officially recognize the nuclear rights of iran, particularly it's enrichment activities and openly announce it as well as terminate all unilateral and multilateral sanctions. if that is meant, they say they will suspend the development of uranium. but that's the complete reverse of the obama administration and it's allies want. first

we are joined now by fran you townsend and foreign affairs correspond spoent jill doughe y dougherty.an serves on the recent advisory board and had traveled to libya and met with ambassador stevens. obviously mrs. smith is upset. what is the procedure though for keeping a family informed. she said we will let you know what happened? you would think somebody would be in contact with her. >> there is an office in the justice department. the office of victim witness assistance. they are supposed to be the advocates, to get updates, to make sure the families are kept apprised. but you also expect and every department has this. if it is a member of our law enforcement or intelligence service that is agency makes sure to shepherd the person around the system. it is sort of incomprehensible to me these are people, the family members were identified and met with senior officials and it is not as though they don't know where she is. >> initially i thought maybe they were in contact with sean smith's wife who is i guess in the netherlands? >> that is right. with a family that has lost someone,