tom pickerring over here. identify yourself for the record. >> tom pickerring, member of the board, executive committee here. i'd like to shift a little bit away from the election itself to what the results mean, and larry with respect to the above bear, india. two or three things came out in the discussion, directed to whoever wants to pick up on it. one, it was mentioned that the strength that he has puts him in a strong position to do a lot of things. secondly, others have mentioned the fact that there is a possible economic opening between pakistan and india. third, you said in effect that the army was perhaps less ideologically driven on the india case, if i can put words in your mouth, and perhaps more practically focused, perhaps, as well, on internal problems inside pakistan, which has been a shift we've been seeing coming for some while. what are the possibilities with india? we've seen this abundance of inviation, happy receptions, and potential travel too. what are the possibilities with india that

we tripled the security for tom pickering. wouldn't you think he would say what happened to ambassador stevens was outrageous. i was protected, why wasn't he? none of that is in this report. >> sean: just like fort hood and overseas contingency operation there's is this -- >> don't forget the workplace violence. >> sean: workplace violence. the mysterious reluctance and resistance to just admit that there are radical islamic terrorists that want to kill us. now, in this case i think it is tied to the presidential andtion of barack obama barack they didn't want this two months after an election. >> and the total lack of human intelligence. we have become so dependent on technical intelligence that we don't have people on the ground who can tell us who of the good guys and who are the bad guys. think about what that means for what is about to happen with syria. still don't have it. the intelligence service is totally dependent on technical intelligence collection and unmanned orvs or satellites is. >> sean: general petraeus knew

mike mullen and tom pickering's integrity. it's a given that mine gets challenged by these same folks. >> joining me now for the daily fix, chris cillizza, msnbc contributor and managing editor of post politics.com and senior editor and kelly o'donnell. it was a defiant president obama today, let's see he used political circus, sideshow, and no "there" there. if there was any doubt about how the president feels about the benghazi probe coming from capitol hill, i think we now know. >> no question. chuck, contrast that to how he approached the irs story, the question was a two-parter, actually a three-parter. on the irs, these actions are outrageous, i will not tolerate it. on benghazi, clearly he, this is a digging in. this is, he does not think, he does see this as purely political by republicans. he does not, there was no apology for some of the discrepancy in the talking points, he dismissed as you used the words, he dismissed the focus on the talking points as a sideshow. emotional, i don't want to say angry. but clearly p

tom pickering and his team said not really.his back and forth between the cia and state department. how much is the cia working its usual game or also protecting the operational security of going after the people who had killed its own people. that's where i think the investigation still has some room for maneuver. what was that post-attack discussion going on, what was at the heart between the state department and cia? >> you've been shaking your head here, joe. let's stick to this question of how it was portrayed. i watched susan rice on television and i thought she was great but i was looking at it from a total political voupoint view. i said that's a soldier perhaps audition for a big job of secretary of state and she just won it. i didn't know the details. i saw her putting the best light on a situation that was strong and really compelling. and we found out the situation later. >> a dozen protests in the region. >> but the reason for the cairo attack was different from the benghazi facility. what the hell is the facility,

i've known tom pickering for almost 20 years. tom was the author of that. he is an esteemed diplomat and a former foreign service officer. the bottom line is, they did not talk to gregory hicks, the det deputy chief of mission in baghdad. they didn't talk to the chief security officer. they were doing a job for the state department. he's very loyal to them. i appreciate that. i would also add that tom pickering turned down an invitation from the house of representatives to defend the administrative review board. instead he went on and talked to a much more sympathetic person, andrea mitchell. nice for nbc but not good for the country. >> listen, not appearing before darrell issa's committee when he's made all sorts of outlandish charges about this i don't think is, you know, gets to the credibility of tom pickering. but the big issue here is, what is the cover-up? what -- you know, if you look -- the review board, you know, found wrongdoing in the part of the state department, and some of the people have been punished. some people have then resigned. that's

several months, there was a review board headed by two distinguished americans, mike mullen and tom pickering who investigated every element of this. somethey discovered was pretty harsh judgments in terms of how we had worked to protect consulates and embassies around the world. they gave us a whole series of recommendations and those recommendations are being implemented as we speak. the whole issue of talking points, frankly, throughout this process has been a sideshow. what we have been very clear about throughout is immediately after this event happened, we were not clear who exactly carried it out, how it had occurred, what the motivations were. it happened at the same time as we had seen attacks on u.s. embassies in cairo as a conse of this film. nobody understood exactly what was taking place during the course of the first few days. the e-mails that you allude to were provided by us to congressional committees. they reviewed them several months ago. fact,oncluded that in there was nothing a file in terms of the process we had used. -- nothing a foul in terms of the process we had used

tom pickering is hugely respected. with the u.n. are not lightweight people who came up with this independent review. now, we've got to separate out how sheryl mills, who by the way is well known for chewing out people. the idea that sheryl mills was shouting at officials for doing something that transgressed what she thought was her boss's position, not unusual. not saying it's justified, but that's sheryl mills for you. the treatment of a whistle blower or a senior official, you've got to be super careful. she clearly crossed the line. that is very different that suggesting that susan rice who was reading from cia approved talking points was misleading the american people. who was most emotional in the hearing was what could have been done differently. which is what this independent review did. could they have scrambled jets, used air power? this is not in the movies. this was a surprise attack, whatever you think the reason was for it. they're overwhelmed. the few people protecting the ambassador calling in jets from several hour

first of all, ambassador tom pickering said the idea of a cover-up is absurd. congressman steven king, republican from iowa, said it was bigger than watergate. and this is what james inhofe said. >> using the "i" word before too long. >> "i" word meaning impeachment? >> yeah. in all of the great cover-ups in history. the pentagon papers, iran-contra, watergate and all the rest of them, this is going to go down as the most serious, most egregious cover-up in american history. >> with all due respect, i think this is a serious issue. i will even give the president the benefit of the doubt on some of these things. we need a select committee. we need a select committee -- >> do you blame hillary clinton? >> i think the secretary of state has played a role in this. >> you think she had a role in those e-mails? >> she had to have been in the loop some way. but we don't know for sure. but i do know that her response before the foreign relations committee, who cares -- she says, who cares how this happened? in a rather emotional way. a lot of people care, i say with re

several months there was a review board headed by two distinguished americans, mike mullen and tom pickeringo investigated every element of this. and what they discovered was some pretty harsh judgments in terms of how we had worked to protect consulates and embassies around the world. they gave us a whole series of recommendations. those recommendations are being implemented as we speak. the whole issue of talking points frankly throughout this process has been a sideshow. what we have been very clear about throughout was that immediately after this event happened we were not clear who exactly had carried it out, how it had occurred, what the motivations were. it happened at the same time as we had seen attacks on u.s. embassies in cairo as a consequence of this film. and nobody understood exactly what was taking place during the course of those first few days. and the e-mails that you allude to were provided to us by congressional committees. they reviewed them several months ago, concluded that in fact there was nothing afoul in terms of the process we had used. and suddenly three days ag

mike mullen and tom pickering's integrity.a given that mine gets challenge by these same folks. they use it for fundraising. if anybody out there wants to actually focus on how we make sure something like this does not happen again -- i am happy to get their advice and information and counsel. >> i'm joy reid, in for alex wagner, that was president obama speaking at a bilateral press conference alongside british prime minister david cameron this past hour with impassioned words about the sustained investigation into benghazi. the gop has to find something, anything, to pin on the obama administration. perhaps even something that could remove him from office. >> of all the great cover-ups in history, we're talking about the pentagon papers, the iran contra, watergate and all the rest of them, this i said back in november 28th on fox, is going to go down as the most serious, most egregious cover-up in american history. people may be starting to use the i-word before too long. >> i-word meaning impeachment. >> worst than watergat

. >> reporter: tonight admiral mike mullen and ambassador tom pickering said we had unfettered access to everyone and everything including all the documentation we needed. our marching orders, they said, were to get to the bottom of what happened and that's what we did. there is an obvious political undercurrent. republicans are taking direct aim at hillary clinton, the country's most popular democrat and a possible presidential contender. brian? >> andrea mitchell in the d.c. newsroom tonight. andrea, thanks. >>> the u.s. air force official in charge of sexual assault prevention and response has been removed from his job tonight after being arrested over the weekend for an alleged sexual assault. lieutenant colonel jeff krusinski, described in the police report as a drunken male subject, allegedly approached and grabbed a woman in an arlington, virginia, parking lot in the early hours of sunday morning. he's been charged with sexual battery. this comes on the heels of a major sex abuse scandal at the training facility at lacklund air force base in texas. more than 30 instructors were

the controversy here is i think congressman issa is doing the right thing by wanting to get tom pickering talk to him without the cameras and spotlights being on and find out what really is going on. if one tom is saying he will only testify in public, that tells you how willing he is to cooperate with the investigation. >> kelly: let's go back over the a.r.b., it concluded there were systemic failures within the state department and secretary of state hillary clinton issued this order for the a.r.b., talking about failures within management and state department conducted its business. that led to the death of chris stevens and three other americans. the question, should that consulate have been better secured by the u.s. military instead of relying on a libyan militia that we now know cut and run when they came under fire? >> clearly relying on the mishgd was a mistake. the issue -- militia was a mistake but it highlights of any a.r.b.. should there have been a consulate in benghazi at all. those are policy questions. that is beyond the remit of the a.r.b.. it's an authorized procedure.

later this week they will hear from ambassador tom pickering and former joint chiefs chairman mike mullen. these are the men that led the internal review at the state department. the main question congress has, brian, why didn't these gentlemen interview secretary of state hillary clinton. and we go on. >> chuck todd with the second front at the white house today. chuck, thanks. >>> now to another developing story that broke in washington late today. word that the justice department secretly obtained two months worth of phone record of several reporters and editors and offices at the associated press. the a.p. is calling this a massive and unprecedented intrusion into their constitutional right to report the news. nbc's tom costello is standing by in our d.c. bureau with more on this. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. this is, in fact, a late-breaking story with the associated press moving this throughout the afternoon. it talks about the fact that this is an unprecedented breach and that it impacts the activities of the a.p., the primary news wire for the united states. this cen

tom pickerring was the beneficiary of a massive increase in security when he was our ambassador in el order. it was signed by the national security advisor, sent to the president and they beefed up the security dramatically in el salvador because he was the target of a threat. i would have thought that tom pickerring would have had the integrity to say, what was done for me was not done for ambassador stevens and it should have been and here is the list of people who should be held accountable. >> megyn: and you got the arb, big pickerring and mullen who ran the review, they never talked to hillary clinton. why didn't they talk to hillary clinton? they say it was enough we talked to the assistant secretary level. well, how do you know it's enough if you don't actually talk to her and find out what she knows? >> ultimately, you saw in the speeches that were being delivered by the democrats, having sat there for one of those hearings that went on for nine days, the speeches by the democrats trying to justify their position, trying to protect the administration are part of the reasons wh

ambassador tom pickering for sworn testimony about their investigation. "meet the press" sunday pickering argued he's said all along that he will testify before the committee. >> ambassador pickering, his people and he refused to come before our committee. >> that is not true. i said the day before the hearings i was willing to appear. to come to the very hearings that he excluded me from. the white house told -- >> please don't tell me i excluded you. >> on sunday, senator john mccain repeated his call for a special committee to investigate, saying former secretary of state hillary clinton should testify before congress, again. >> i'd call it a cover up. i would call it a cover up in the extent that there was willful removal of information, which was obvious. it was obvious. >> now, there are two parts to the benghazi allegations. one the white house engineered a coverp and altered the talking points to protect themselves politically. the evidence to support that allegation seems to be fading as we learn more about the state department's role in changing

mike mullen and tom pickering who investigated every element of this. and what they discovered was some pretty harsh judgments in terms of how we had were to protect consulates and embassies around the world. they gave us a whole series of recommendations. those are being implemented as we speak. the whole issue of talking points frankly throughout this process has been a sideshow. what we have been very clear about throughout is that immediately after the event happened, we were not clear who exactly had carried it out, how it had occurred, what the motivations were. it happened at the same time we have seen attacks on u.s. embassies in cairo as a consequence of this bill. and nobody understood exactly what was taking place during the course of those first few days. the e-mails that you allude to were provided by a two congressional committees. they rebuked them several months ago, concluded that in fact there is nothing a foul in terms of the process we had used. and suddenly, three days ago this gets spun off as if there is some pain due to this stor

. >> led by former un ambassador tom pickering and ar mulen.he arb they reported that systemic measures below secretary of state hillary clinton were to blame in benghazi where two attackings killed four merrence inchuding our ambassador to libya. it was a model of thoroughness and cited to deflect questions of what happened on september 11th of last year. >> the accountability review board that investigated this manner and in no one's estimation sugar coated what happened there and pulled punches when it came to holding accountable individuals that they felt had not successfully executed their responsibilities and heard from everyone and invited everyone. >> we have done a transparent investigation and shared those findings with the u.s. congress. >> now the they are coming under the scutiny of the department's top auditor. >> and minutes ago, they pushed back telling me it is false. aig is not investigating the benghazi review panel, rather it is conduct being a review from the arb itself and going back a number of years since the statute was

sworn congressional testimony by two co-chairs of state department post benghazi review bored, tom pickerring, and admiral mike muellen. lou: thank you very much. james rosen reporting from washington. >> our first gift, says that release of these e-mails is long overdue. but the obama administration must still release all of the benghazi documents. joining us, house judiciary committee chairman, congressman bob. >> good to be with you lou. lou: whether they of disseptioned or gaps, two days of e-mails are missing, what is your construct of what the white house is now doing regarding irs? regarding the justice department and the associated press. and of course, benghazi? >> i think that first of all, the american people expect them to be forth coming on these issues, but secondly, they want to see a countability, and thehy are not seeing tt in the white house hor below on the issues we hear individual who is directing this program with irs has now been transferred over to the new department that will be supervising what some say will be 16,000 or more irs edging check to see any -- agents to

former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mike mullen, and former ambassador tom pickerring. in defense of the white-wash report that avoid good indictment to state department top brass, pickerring said, quote, our marching orders were to get to the bottom of what happened and that's what we did. he's also quoted as saying that the whole investigation wasitant amount to pulistser-prize-level fiction. so much for impartiality. as for mr. mullen, a retired general, he is just one of the failed ark techs of our wayward military policy in the middle-east. the navy complimented a fallen david petraeus. will someone please explain how we were left naked in the face of terror? former secretary of defense, leon panetta practically turned himself into a pretzel in making excuses for the standdown. the current chairman for the joint chief, general martin dempsey joined the fog of no war from benghazi from the start. senator john mccain described the general's testimony to a senate committee last february as the most bizarre he had ever heard. we ghot a clearer picture of our military i

former chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mullen, and ambassador, tom pickerring, nonpartisan, serving both parties. they conducted an extensive review of this -- >> welcome, you're watching something very unusual. we're going to be sticking with this. the white house is now backtracking trying to explain an abc news report that says shortly after the benghazi attacks, it had changed its talking points no fewer than 12 times, omitting reverends to a cia warning at the time of an al qaeda threat. what made this difference from fox reporting on this is that now everybody is reporting on this, and giving the press secretary of the united states a lot heat and questioning on this now. back to this. >> raises the objections to the fact the cia had warned bat terror threats in benghazi prior to the attacks. those subjects were taken out of the cia talking points at the direction of the white house, based on -- >> no first of all, they weren't at the direction of the white house. the only -- the process, as everybody is an equal player -- said everybody's concerns have to be listened to and t

several months there was a review board headed by two distinguished americans, mike mullin and tom pickering who investigated every element of this. and what they discovered was some pretty harsh judgment and terms of how we had worked to protect consulates and embassies around the world. they gave us a whole series of recommendations. does recommendations are being implemented as we speak. the whole issue of talking points, frankly, throughout this process has been a sideshow. what we have been very clear about throughout was that immediately after this event happened we were not clear who exactly had carried it out, how it had occurred, what the motivations were here it happened at the same time as we've seen attacks on u.s. embassies in cairo as a consequence of this film. and nobody understood exactly what was taking place during the course of those first few days. and e-mails that you allude to were provided by s. to congressional committees. they review them several months ago, concluded that, in fact, there was nothing a foul in terms of the process that we had used. and suddenly, thr

ambassador tom pickering and the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen. today, the committee released a pair of letters they sent to these two men back in february, asking them to testify as witnesses, they declined. lou? >> they declined. and that's quite a reversal for elijah cummings, who at the beginning of this day was absolutely adamant in rejecting this hearing because he believed it was utterly and purely politically motivated. thank you, james rosen, outstanding reporting hroughout on this story. we appreciate it. fox news chief washington correspondent james rosen. congressman trey gowdy as you heard in tonight's broadcast is one of the senior members of the house oversight committee. and he made this statement as today's hearing began. >> if anyone wants to know what differences it makes, if anyone wants to ask what difference does it make, it always matters. whether or not you can trust your government. and to the families, we're going to find out what happened in benghazi and i don't care whose career is impacted. we're going to find out what

ambassador tom pickering and mike mullen. they led the state department's post benghazi review board in a statement to fox news today defended their work which is now under review by the states department general. they got to the bottom of benghazi because they enjoyed quote unfettered access to every witness and every document they needed to z however, they never asked to interview secretary of state clinton. bret? >> bret: james rosen live at the state department. james, thank you. much more on this with the panel. wednesday's hearing is shaping up to be one of those pivotal moments for administration. senior political analyst brit hume here to tell us things don't always work out that way. >> long experience teaches that highly anticipated congressional hearings often fail to it meet expectations. witnesses don't quite in public what they have told investigators ahead of time. professional interrogators prove inept and unfocused. if it lives up to it the billing the truth about what happened that night and the administrati

when we see sworn congressional testimony by the two co-chairs of the state department board tom pickerringormer chairman of the joint chiefs of staff admirable mike mullen. >> the president says he maked no apologies for security leaks. is he not commenting on department to go after phone records associated press as one of those investigations. but he did today talk about what he calls the balance we have to strike. >> i make no apologies and i don't think the american people would expect me as commander and chief not to be concerned about information that might compromise their missions or might get them killed. and the flip side of it is we also live in a democracy where a free press, free expression and the open flow of information helps hold me accountable. help holds our government accountable and helps democracy function. >> shepard: the president says he has complete confidence in the attorney general eric holder calling him outstanding attorney general who does his job with intellinging gri at this. catherine herridge is live in the d.c. newsroom this evening. catherine, some repub

security in washington, former chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mullen, and ambassador, tom pickerringsan, serving both parties. they conducted an extensive review of this -- >> welcome, you're watching something very unusual. we're going to be sticking with this. the white house is now backtracking trying to explain an abc news report that says shortly after the benghazi attacks, it had changed its talking points no fewer than 12 times, omitting reverends to a cia warning at the time of an al qaeda threat. what made this difference from fox reporting on this is that now everybody is reporting on this, and giving the press secretary of the united states a lot heat and questioning on this now. back to this. >> raises the objections to the fact the cia had warned bat

and so we introduced this legislation, creating the accountability review board that tom pickering and admiral mullen cochaired recently to analyze these events. but i think the very fact that the deputy chief of mission and the regional security officer responsible for the security at these-- at the embassy in these posts that should get everybody's attention because we really have to work through those anothers as to what transpired and where the failures were. i think it goes beyond-- they were saying they were asking for security measured. they were downgraded. there were so many incidents that occurred that summer against various posts and convoys of other countries that certainly should have been a forewarning about the high threat environment that existed at that point in time. >> rose: do you believe we need-- john mccain said over the weekend, an independent commission. >> it may well be. it depends. if they can't get all of the information through the numerous hearings that are going to be held in the house of representatives and in the senate. this should be bipartisan, char

ambassador, tom pickerring, co-chairs of the arb, the blue ribbon panel that reviewed benghazi for the state department. >> we still need to hear from pickerring and mullin and others. >> reporter: aides to general dempsey said senator graham can call on dempsey to testify but the remarks will not change. there was a pep talk from a well known figure who urged the republicans to esp subpee in suy clinton. >> what about witnesses next who we could hear from, realistically who we could hear from? >> reporter: you heard from the congressman there seems to be bi-partisan interest in hearing from pickerring and mullin. we know there are lawmakers and lawyers in the town said to be working with cia whistleblowers who are encouraged by what they heard on wednesday. >>> boston top's cop said his people had no idea russian authorities had concerns about one of the marathon bombing suspects prior to the attack. as chief intelligence correspondent kathryn he cathere reports, 12 years after 9/11, the stove piping of intelligence or lack of information sharing persists. >> reporter: the revelation

had folks who have challenged hillary clinton's integrity, susan rice's integrity, mike mullen, tom pickering'segrity, it is a given mine is challenged by the same folks. they used it for fund-raising. >> that was president obama pushing back against republican claims of a benghazi coverup. politico says john boehner says when they're focusing on the terrorist attack, they're fighting on their political ground. this is all john boehner said about the focus on benghazi, he is obsessed with it, brings it up all the time. nia malika-henderson, when did john boehner get obsessed with this. the word was months ago he kind of wanted it to go away, they played it for all it was worth. >> that's right. at first you had romney playing it for all it was worth for awhile during the 2012 campaign. eventually he sort of let it go. >> getting a little embarrassed bill quiet you down on that subject. >> much to the display of john mccain and lindsey graham who wanted him to push further. john boehner realizes the base has been chomping at the bit around benghazi the last eight months. you had the president co

. >> lastly, ambassador tom pickerring, the co-chair of the state department's post benghazi review boardtradicted chairman issa this weekend and said he was willing to testify report's conclusion. shep? >> shepard: james rosen more for us tonight. men found guilty of murdering three babies that was the jury's verdict in the case of the controversial abortion doctor in philadelphia, kermit gosnell. now he could face death. former employee said the doctor regularly performed illegal abortions. delivering babies who moved, breathed or whined before he or assistants snipped their spinal cords with scissors. the doctor had run this abortion clinic since the late 1970s, many of these upsetting details came to light only about three years ago when investigators began looking into accusations of prescription drug trafficking. at his so-called house of horrors. "the fox report" correspondent more on this. >> it's a story of horrific medical practices and a frightening lack of oversight none of which may have come to light were it not for the death of 41-year-old were who died as a result of demer

mike mullen and tom pickering's integrity.t is a given that mine gets challenged by these same folks. they used it for fund-raising. and frankly, you know, if anybody out there wants to actually focus on how we make sure something like this does not happen again, i am happy to get their advice and information and counsel. but the fact of the matter is these four americans, as i said right when it happened, were people i sent into the field. and i've been very clear about taking responsibility for the fact that we were not able to prevent their deaths. and we are doing everything we can to make sure we prevent it in part because there are still diplomats around the world who are in very dangerous, difficult situations. and we don't have time to be playing these kinds of political games here in washington. we should be focused on what are we doing to protect them? and that's not easy by the way. it is going to require resources and tough judgements and tough calls and there are a whole bunch of diplomats who know they are in har

convened by then secretary of state hillary clinton, chaired by mike mullen and former ambassador tom pickerringew benghazi. they acknowledge that probe itself is now under review by the department's office of inspector general. but they insist it's a fairly routine matter and that all previous arb's nearly 20 of them, are also under review. a spokesman today had no answer as to why the benghazi arb failed to interview then secretary of state clinton. also among those not interviewed by that panel, two so-called state department whistle blowers who are set to testify before congress this coming wednesday, shep. >> shepard: thank you. the national rifle association's annual convention officially got underway today. the first since 26 people died in the shooting massacre at sandy hook. 70,000 people are expected to attend between now and sunday. speakers have so far included the former republican vice presidential candidate sarah palin and the texas republican governor rick perry. on monday the nra's new president, james porter, will take the hell o'clock. today he told hundreds of members that th

folks who have challenged hillary clinton's integrity, susan rice's integrity, mike mullen and tom pickering'srity. it's a given that mine gets challenged by these same folks. they've used it for fund-raising. >> was the president right? is the issue of how the talking points were changed a political sideshow? u.s. congressman michael turner is on the oversight and government reform committee which held last week's hears on benghazi. congressman, thanks for coming on. what is your view of this whole thing? >> thank you, chris. >> do you think the president has been dishonest? he's saying basically his integrity has been challenged. let's go to the issue of the talking points. do you think he was involved in cleaning them up, changing focus on them, covering up in some way to get re-elected in what do you think his role was? let's start with him. >> well, first off, the truth is never a sideshow. what we learned in the past week with the congressional hearings is that the narrative that was coming out of the administration from these talking points has no basis in fact. it is, in fact, a fictio

announcement that he is going to have the two co-chairs of the internal state department investigation, toms pickering and mike mullen, he's going to have them for at least a private interview first, which has not happened yet about their findings which republicans do not think were all that impressive. and then i'm told that they are likely going to eventually have a public hearing. so that's on benghazi. on the irs, you heard jessica report on what the republican chair tweeted, but i can tell you that it is obviously a very different kind of dynamic with the irs because on that you have democrats and republicans alike tripping over themselves to get out there and say that they too think it's outrageous and they're going to investigate as well. >> chief congressional correspondent dana bash on capitol hill. now let's go around the world to cairo, egypt, where cnn's arwa damon is reporting. arwa, lots in the president's comments about both syria and of course about benghazi. your thoughts on either or both. >> well, when it comes to benghazi, of course that is the same rhetoric the administration has

former chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mullen and ambassador tom pickering. nonpartisan serving both parties for different administrations. they conducted an extensive review of this. they said they have access to all the information they needed, had access to all the people they needed to talk to. they produced an unsparing report with a serious of very critical observations and very serious recommendations every single one of which the state department has adopted. so that's the way the system should work, and it worked that way because the president and secretary of state insisted that it work that way. >> jay, we come back to what you said. you said that the only changes that were made by either the white house or the state department were stylistic in a single word. what we see here is that the state department raised objections about the references to ansar al sharia, raise ed objections to the fact the cia warned about terror threats in benghazi prior to the attack. those subjects were taken out of the cia talking points at the direction of the white h

folks who have challenged hillary clinton's integrity, susan rice's integrity, mike mullen and tom pickering's integrity. it's a given that mine gets challenged by these same folks. they've used it for fund-raising and, frankly, if anybody out there wants to actually focus on how we make sure something like this does not happen again, i am happy to get their advice and information and counsel. >> let's bring in our panel now. in los angeles, democratic strategist dob bob shrum for "t daily beast." and with us from the white house, msnbc contributor, jonathan capehart, opinion writer for the "washington post." john, the president was adamant today his administration was as transparent as it could have been in these first hours after bengha benghazi. as soon as they had more information, they released it. obviously none of this will satisfy his critics nor prevent such attacks in the future, will it? >> reporter: no, it won't. see in the president's face the moment the question turned from the irs to benghazi. his face pinched. he looked at the reporter with what i describe as a death ray glare.

. >> the agreement between tom pickerring the chairman of the benghazi review board and congressman darrellair of the oversight committee who presided over last wednesday's explosive benghazi hearing principally involved around whether pickerring had declined to appear before that panel as issa had charged. >> i have said the day before the hearings, i was willing to appear to come to the excluded me from. the -- >> please don't tell me i excluded you. >> the majority -- we were told the majority said i was not welcome at that hearing. >> issa shot back at pickerring's ability to testify wasn't made known until before the hearing. however, the important point is even the panel's top ranking democrat says he should testify, harris. >> harris: it took more than two weeks for fbi agents to gain access to the crime scene. james, in a country we helped during a conflict and given a lot of money and aid to people may wonder why that is this week a revelation coming during that hearing about this. >> harris, one key witness attributes the apparent absence of real success in the fbi probe to date t

the investigations of last autumn, since the accountability review board led by both ambassador tom pickeringike mullen, the facts are that it was a terrible tragedy, that there were lapses of leadership at the state department, that's what the accountability review board said. but as to a cover-up, i don't see it. i don't seat evidene the evideny kind of cover-up on this. and as far the charge that somehow the u.s. military could have come to the rescue, could have provided direct military support deployments, special forces, general dempsey and every other military expert says the timeline just didn't work, there wasn't enough time in those 12 hours to get people there. so i don't think there is much new here. >> you don't believe there is evidence that states slow walked its response a little bit on this at the beginning? >> i don't know every aspect of this. i'm just a private citizen watching this as you are. so i can't speak for every interaction, but i do know this. i know ambassador pickering well, i know admiral mullen well and they're great public servants and they looked at this wi

several months, there was a review board headed by two distinguished americans, mike mull and tom pickeringstigated every element of this. >> bret: well, that was the president this week talking about the benghazi investigation called the arb, the accountability review board. here's what politica politico fd about that statement, the board did not look at who perpetrated the attack, nor probe the administration's public communications afterwards. no less than authority than the board's co-chairman undercut obama's sweeping claim that the board investigated every element. on balance, we rate obama's claim mostly false. okay. so within the past hour and a half, we received these, 94 emails from the white house. some very interesting tidbits in here as james rosen has reported on. one of them from victoria nuland, then the spokesman from the state department, saying these don't resolve all my issues or those of my building leadership. they are consulting with nss. it goes on to a conversation between tommy vitor, a spokesperson with the at the time national security counsel, and jake sullivan,

former chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mullen and ambassador tom pickering.partisan serving both parties for different administrations. they conducted an extensive review of this. they said they have access to all the information they needed, had access to all the people they needed to talk to. they produced an unsparing report with a serious of very critical observations and very serious recommendations every single one of which the state department has adopted. so that's the way the system should work, and it worked that way because the president and secretary of state insisted that it work that way. >> jay, we come back to what you said. you said that the only changes that were made by either the white house or the state department were stylistic in a single word. what we see here is that the state department raised objections about the references to ansar al sharia, raise