. >> undersecretary pat kennedy, the lead witness today, made a compelling point that, as soon as the united states made a decision to resume normalized relations with the new government after participating in the overthrow of gaddafi, once we made that fundamental decision, it put our personnel at risk. where you can eventually -- this was a diplomatic mission. they had not had time yet to work on a normal construction project and build a permanent facility. the state department was excepting the level of risk. while the jobless risk mitigation, you could never bring the risk down to zero. as soon as the united states was establishing a diplomatic presence in the benghazi, they understood there was always going to be risk involved. >> the sad irony of this is that american diplomats, since 9/11, the attacks, they have often been criticized for being too removed, set up behind brick walls, not able to communicate with people. >> that is always the balance. if you withdraw inside fortresses, you cannot do the job you want to do. you cannot influence and promote libyan society in the wa

that was pat kennedy today. the point we have made all along is that initial assessments in the immediate aftermath of the attack in benghazi were made, and it was a government-wide assessment that was the foundation of what ambassador rice said. it was what we based on the limited facts we had available at that time. ambassador rights clearly said on sunday that these were preliminary conclusions based on the facts and intelligence we had available at the time, and they were conclusions of the intelligence community for the entire government. i have made clear repeatedly when i have been here and on the road talking about this that no one is more interested in finding out exactly what happened in benghazi than the president of united states. that is why he directed his secretary of state the day after the attack to take the actions she did to set of the accountability review board, to assess the security posturing -- security posture in the gauzy -- security posture in benghazi and elsewhere. it is why the pres

i think that the testimony of pat kennedy today reflects just that. >> do you think there was inadequate security at the consulate? >> there is no question when four americans are killed at a diplomatic facility something went wrong. that's why we need to assess through the accountability review board the security posture there, the security posture of other fat silt around the world -- other facilities around the world, especially libya in this post-revolution stage. and the period of transition in that country. and that's absolutely a focus of the president's concern right now. that we make sure that our diplomatic personnel who go abroad just like our military personnel, sometimes americans aren't as aware of it. a lot of diplomats go to very dangerous places and take enormous risks because they are serving their country and serving the interests of the american people abroad. because it's in our interest that america be represented in a country like libya, a country that the united states played a role in liberating from a tyrant. working to protect the american people. by is very fo

ambassador pat kennedy said part of the reason you have a presence in a place like libya is outreachtion to keep lines of communication open and that can be difficult when you're behind high walls and under heavy guard. so how difficult is that balance and having said that, there were requests for more security. so how do you find the answer? >> of course you have to split the responsibility. outside the perimeter of diplomatic posts, the responsibility actually lies with the host nation. and clearly the interim government in libya was challenged in its own right in getting a handle on these various armed militias and could not provide a level of security that we see in many dip will he matt tick or most diplomatic posts around the world.will he matt tick or most diplomatic posts around the world. there was the debate yesterday about would another half dozen security personnel inside the compound have made a difference. i don't think as yesterday's testimony suggested, it's unclear that x number of additional security person they will would have been able for repel the assault on the

pat kennedy is testifying about it. even if we get the intelligence, that does not mean we are going to pay attention to it. how far do you want to risk that? what mr. romney is saying, i do not want to take that kind of risk. i share the concern about iran getting a nuclear weapon, but i am going to go about preventing that in a very different way. now, since you want to talk about the budget, i am perfectly happy to do that. jack lew is quoted in bob woodward's book. last time i checked, nobody has challenged that. nobody, probably because people in the white house talked to woodward, so how are they going to challenge what they said? the fact is that the president of the united states has sat on his hands when it has come to resolving the fiscal crisis. he keeps taking it over to the congress. whether you agree with simpson- bowles or you do not agree with simpson-bowles, this was a group of people that came up with a bipartisan solution. where was the president? where has the president been on all of this, other tha

officials that were involved and you had yesterday the top official for management under secretary pat kennedy and also charlene lam, a deputy assistant secretary. she was the one that got all those requests and admitted that she denied them because she felt that they weren't justified. secretary of state clinton has appointed a five-member panel, accountability review board who is going to investigate to an independent investigation and she'll be watching that investigation very closely. >> elise labott, thank you very much. we appreciate it. >>> senior security official at the u.s. embassy in sanaa, yemen, has been killed in a drive-by shooting on his way to work. the victim was a yemeni national employed by the u.s. embassy. the same embassy targeted by protesters last month, by the way, over an anti-muslim film produced by a california man. >>> crews worked hours through the night in florida trying to get out a worker who had been buried by a collapse in a construction site. they had to amputate both of his legs to get him out. >>> chief justice john roberts repeatedly asked the school's l

under secretary of state pat rib kennedy said u.n.ng with the best information available. "special report" from kentucky starts at 6:00 eastern. big night. now back to new york and my colleagues with "the five." ♪ ♪ >> bob: i'm supposed to talk to libbials in this block. since there aren't in, i'm not worried one bit about that or what president obama will do about winning november, because he is. even though the president acknowledged a bad night in the first debate, he's confident, too. >> that debate, what happened? >> well, governor romney had a good night. it had a bad night. >> how bad? >> well, it's not the first time i've had a bad night. i think what is important is the fundamentals of what this race is about haven't changed. >> bob: that is exactly right. here are some interesting facts if you put the polls in together now. romney got somewhat of a bump from the first debate but the problem was in ohio, virginia, and florida, 92% of the people already made up their minds. after the debate, none changed. undecided in the stat

know what seems obvious now, but i had a bit of sympathy with secretary lamb and my good friend, pat kennedyave just said some of the things they were saying given to briefers. if they said that and let the answers lie. there is something else that you want to bring up. you're doing something special for our troops. >> right. we were just talking about intelligence and how difficult it is with that vast quantity of information out there, getting the right information to the right people at the right time. well, we're doing that now for military families. 3 million people comprise our military family community. the national military family association has come out with a new app. my military life, which you can download from your app store on iphone or android. it gives you access to information, information that you can personalize to your particular circumstances and needs in life, deployment, separation from the service, spouse education. i think it's a wonderful step forward and it's a great tool to give these families who live an awful lot of their life under stress and peculiar circumst

pat kennedy is testifying about it. so even if we get the intelligence, that doesn't mean we will pay attention to it. how far do you want to risk that? what mr. rahman is saying is i don't want to take that kind of risk. i share with the president the concern about iran getting a nuclear weapon, but i'm going to go about preventing that in a very different way. now, since you want to talk about the budget, i'm perfectly happy to do that. mr. lew is quoted in bob woodward's book, the last time i checked, nobody has challenged the. nobody. partly because people in the white house talked to bob woodward so how will the challenge what he said? the fact is that the president of the united states has sat on his hands when it has come to resolving the fiscal crisis. he keeps kicking it over to the congress. whether you agree with simpson-bowles or you don't agree with simpson-bowles, this was a group of people that came up with a bipartisan solution. where was the president? warehouse the president in on all of this, other th

why do some candidates like bobby kennedy, jack kennedy, even pat buchanan, come out of a campaign learningbout something? you actually learn something. and you have an emotion about it because you have been relatively privileged, most candidates have, and you get exposed to people's lives who are very difficult. why do you think romney has avoided that moment where he says, i get it. >> if he had that moment, he doesn't show it. and the secret videotape made back in may is that romney didn't understand that 47%, but that he had contempt for that 47%. that's the killer. that's what the obama campaign have put on television ads endlessly to affirm. as far as mitt romney learning things or not, it seems to me what he's learned most in this campaign, in order to win the nomination, was how to talk the talk, if not the walk the walk, of a right-wing conservative. which he wasn't beforehand. he's learned things ideologically, at least enough how to win the republican primary, but how it's affected him at all, we don't know. and the fact that he hasn't communicated that is interesting, chris. i t

but pat going back to the kennedy/nixon debate. >> gretchen: people on the democratic side tried to come up with excuses. this may be the best one. former vice-president al gore said it had to do with something that goes on in the state of colorado when you get high up in the rocky mountains, could it be the altitude. >> obama areiched in denver at 2:00 p.m. today. just a few hours before the debate started. romney did his debate prep in denver. when you go to 5,000 feet. >> exactly. >> and you only have a few hours to adjust. >> that's interesting. i don't know . >> brian: it makes a lot of sense. >> steve: there is such a thing. >> gretchen: we agree with it? >> brian: if you are playing the broncos that is an issue. but just talking? did anybody wipe the lens in the cameras. >> gretchen: what else is on the set agreeing with him. >> brian: he owns the company. sounds good, boss. >> steve: over the last 24 hours, the reason that the president was so subdued. they decided he was going to play it safe . rope the dope and let the clock run out . stay above the fray . it turns out the othe