not far from the united states embassy where rioters tore down the american flag. much more on that in a minute. flags flying at half-staff in memory of the united states embassy christopher stevens and three other americans killed last night at the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. president obama has ordered that flags fly at half-staff across the united states and at embassies around the world until sunday night. i'm wolf blitzer in for piers morgan. earlier today, the republican challenger, mitt romney blasted president obama for what he characterized as, quote, an apology for america's values over the storming of the u.s. embassy in cairo. >> an apology for america's values is never the right course. >> the president fired right back in an interview tonight with cbs news. >> governor romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and name later, and as president, one of the things i've learned is you can't do that, that, you know, it's important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts and that you've thought through th

these are live pictures coming in not far from the united states embassy. once again, the protests escalating even as we speak. earlier in the day it had been relatively -- keyword,

the embassy of the united states in cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of muslims as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. what they say at the u.s. embassy there, they were simply trying to diffuse what clearly was emerging as a potentially volatile situation. >> i think at the time it was issued there was violent protests going on. and the question is do you -- do you stem violent protests by making a condescending kind of statement, a kind of appeasing statement that shouldn't have been made at all. our government doesn't have to apologize for this, we didn't do it, or do you take a much stronger position. so i think the proof is in the pudding. >> we did do a timeline. we went back -- that statement originally was released by the u.s. embassy before the violence in cairo, certainly before the violence in benghazi was known, l they retweeted it later. the state department quickly disavoid it, the ambassador to ejust a minute, ann patterson was here in washington, she had nothing to do with it. yet romney

united states officials feared, the unrest in the middle east has spread. in the capital today, hundreds of angry demonstrators burned the american flag and stormed the united states embassy compound. there were able to breach usually tight security around the embassy to get on to the grounds. a senior obama administration official says the protests seem to be motivated by a film. the film is on youtube. it depicts the profit muhammed as a womanizer. >> it appears to have a deeply cynical purpose to denigrate a great religion and to promote rage. >> in cairo, protesters again -- outside the united states embassy. they fired tear gas. >> we certainly hope and expect that there will be steps taken to avoid violence. >> in libya, a very different scene. yesterday, people took to the streets not to protest, but to grieve. on tuesday, militants stormed their. four americans were left dead. including j. christopher stevens. >> this is tragic that he died and benghazi, because it is a city he helped to save. >> the white house said he urged them to keep working with united states to ensure diplomatic safety. >> we invite you to stay here with abc 7 news for complete coverage of

the egyptian government has yet to condemn this attack on the united states embassy in cairo.roubling is that development for you? >> it's unhealthy for the egyptian government not to respond in a way that shows their concern for the safety of our americans that's made worse by the killing of annual bass door teac ambassador stevens and the three other personnel that shows how serious this kind of activity can be. so it's incumbent upon the egyptian government to try to make it right as quick as they can. >> how do you justify the money spent, the lives put as risk to basically help libya and egypt and their fledgling democracies and this is the thanks the united states is get something. >> that's the frustration people feel. people understand that the arab spring was a huge step towards democracy. away from total atotalitarian governments. it was a step that was needed, that we need to defend particularly the state of israel. 2000 all but for all of that, it would be nice if our effort was reciprocated because americans are generous people, but they also like to know that the

united states is fighting pr campaign in pakistan. ads are running denouncing the anti islamic film that sparked protests. security forces trying to keep crowds of protesters from reaching the united states embassy. the united states government wants people to know that it doesn't support the film. the state department is spending about $70,000 on the ad, violence related to the film has left about 30 people dead in seven countries >>> two years after the president ordered the surge in afghanistan the hat of the troops have left the country. officials say the withdrawal, there are 68,000 american forces left in the war zone. the number of united states forces in afghanistan peaked at about 101,000 last year. troops have been slowly leaving the country over the past several months. >>> in the health alert students at carroll community college are left scratching their heads, it's that itchy paranoia after bed bugs were found. e-mail was sent out warning the 11,000 about the pests, administrators quash toned a classroom where it was found. . they are treating the problem. >> did find them in three different locations, in room 209 which is the nursing room that we were told about and in two other r

violent protests continue right outside the united states embassy in cairo.e pictures coming to us at 9:30 in the evening with thousands demonstrators, many outraged over the anti-islam film, antimohammed. i said these are live pictures from outside the embassy and the protests have gone on nonstop for these days. the crowd according to the locals is swelling. officers have been firing tear gas trying to break up the crowd. the egyptian government reports dozens hurt, police officers and protesters of the look at our embassy: protesters have trashed the entrance to the place with graffiti reading in arabic "there is no good but allah," and the names "bin laden." the head of egypt's coptic church is slamming the film that started it all warning if creator is not coptic the chip will put him on trial in the church. leland vittert is in cairo for us, this evening. leland? >>reporter: well, the crowd behind me 18 floors down is chanting "with our soul and blood we protect our prophet," and that prophet is mohammed. there is tear gas and rubber bullets coming from

what's the latest near the united states embassy in cairo? ntil a little while ago, the protesters had moved forward fairly close to the street that leads to the american embassy. but since then with tear gas and rubber bullets it appears the egyptian security forces have been able to push the protesters back. but this is really been the case all day long, wolf. it's been back and forth. according to the egyptian authorities more than 200 people wounded in these clashes. clearly the egyptian government is walking a very fine line between the inflamed sentiment on the street and their desire not to cause a real rupture in relations with the united states. so it does appear they are making an earnest effort to keep the protesters away from the embassy. but they simply are not succeeding in pushing them much further away from the area. and there's really maybe about 500 protesters out there. it's not a huge number. but it appears that this is going to be the case all night long. wolf. >> but it looks like the muslim brotherhood is trying to organ

united states. >> an attack of the holy prophet is an attack on the -- therefore, this is something that is unacceptable. >> there had already been clashes in the capital on thursday outside the united states embassy. fearing even worse today, the american government took the unusual step of placing this advertisement on pakistan television, hoping it would diffuse tensions. >> since our founding, the united states has been a nation that respects all fates. we reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of all others. >> but president obama's words have had no effect. there's been another protest today near in the u.s. embassy in the capitol. people here in this conservative religious society were already hostile to the united states. now the offensive american video has caused a surge of anger and the pakistan government has given them a national holiday to take the street. >> protest against that anti-islamic film continue in other parts of the world, including the malaysian capital. police say more than 2,000 people protested in front of the u.s. embassy. google has blocked access to clips of the u.s. produced film in malaysia. one muslim makes up 60% of the population. protests were

in cairo who walk around and they -- i don't think that people feel threatened around the united states embassy. it's a little trickier, especially late at night when there are -- there is a lot of anger and big protests. but just in day-to-day life things are fine. we all remember layer are a logan the cbs correspondent who got almost raped in that square you are saying you don't feel that there is anything there that might put new danger? >> not more so this week than other weeks. you mentioned laura logan. in general there has been a problem. i have written about it over the last year or two since the revolution for the most part. there has been a rise in sexual harassment and sexual assaults. i think women often are a little cautious and feel worried about walking alone at night here. but just in regular, you know, transacting one's business in cairo i think a lot of people still feel pretty fine. >> bill: all right, michael thanks very much. we appreciate it next on the run down general wesley clark whether egypt is an ally or enemy of the u.s.a. president obama sending mixed signals on th

moran with what you will see. >> coming up on night line we have the latest on the attacks at united states embassies across the middle east as this protest spread over a mysterious anti muslim film made here in america. >>> and mcdonalds will post calorie counts on menu's nationwide. you think it'll make a dent in the war on fat? anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel... but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in maryland. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools... real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland. . >>> guide dogs, this one is helping out a four legged friend. they go around to keep them from bumping into stuff. their story made the news and dozens applied to adopt them this have a new mom now, tanner has had eye surgery and seeing better and mom said they are both doing great. >> you h

the american embassy prepared a statement reading the united states embassy condemns the efforts of misguided individuals to hurt the feelings of muslims. respect for religious beliefs is a corner stone of american democracy. we reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt others. romney holding political attacks lifted the embargo shortly after midnight releasing a statement that blasted the state department. it reads, it's disgraceful the obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks. the statement was put out before the attacks came out. it came out later condemning the attacks. they responded writing, we are shocked at a time the united states of america is confronting the tragic death in libya, governor romney would choose to launch a political attack. for more on this, we turn to richard engel, live in cairo. bring us up to speed as we wake up this morning. >> reporter: well, the major development is what potentially happened in libya, the city of benghazi. it's not just any officer that was killed but it was the u.s. em bass dor th

at least three people died in similar riots outside the united states embassy. like with the welcome home for the ambassador and the three americans killed on 9/11 >> reporter: they are four men the president called patriotic, who served when called upon. one casket at a time. four americans brought back to their home soil awaiting their families, their president. >> they had a mission. they believed in it. they knew the danger, they accepted it. >> reporter: the transfer of remain ceremony was quiet but patriotic as the four were honored including chris stevens. >> laid down his life for his friends. libya and america. for us all. today chris is home. >> reporter: and it was secretary clinton who asked stevens to be the ambassador to libya. she said he didn't hesitate and she was not surprised. >> he was known not only for his courage but for his smile. goofy but contagious. for his sense of fun and that california cool. >> reporter: songs about america and it is america home to these four that the president said will never retreat from the world. we will never

in sudan police reportedly fired on thousands of demonstrators outside the united states embassy. there were also protests outside the german and british embassies in that nation as well. >>> a virginia man convicted in a suicide plot to blow up the capitol learned his punishment today. amin al kalifi of alexandria was sentenced to 30 years in prison. the 29-year-old man was arrested last february with what he thought was an automatic weapon and an explosive laden suicide vest. they were fakes provided by fbi. >>> classes are back in session at two universities tonight after some eerily similar threats. the first came this morning at the university of texas at austin. a man called claiming to have planted bombs all over campus. there was also a bomb threat at north dakota state university. tonight the fbi is trying to figure out if they are related. >>> at valparaiso university in indiana is tightening security after threatening graffiti, but no word if that is related tonight. >>> new information about the former bus driver accused of ramming a school bus into an employee lounge i

united states. lou: and today, the state department, the u.s. embassy in cairo, putting out an apology to the very people who were trying to ransack the u.s. embassy. >> it is unthinkable. and it does go to this division that he has been engaged in between israel and, muslim extremists, really. there is no other way to look at it f this president were general genuinely concerned about protecting religious feelings, would he have stood up and championed christians persecuted around the world? the women steadily persecuted by sharia law and radical islam or just islam. lou: do you think he might have taken note catholics opposed abortion and have certain sensibilities. >> stunning thing. he completely ignored their religious feelings when he basically said because they have certain religious beliefs and don't want to offer a form of, a form of insurance that mandates what they disagree with, they hate women. he basically goes so far to say they are anti-women. to shut them out of the debate and discourse. thank you for being here. congratulations on the b

also right now, new video in yemen, protesters have stormed the entrance of the united states embassy there and have burned an american flag. they have made it past the outer security wall inside to the main gate you see there. at this point it does not appear they've breached the embassy building. it was a violent protest in libya that killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens. last night the fraternity at uc berkeley of which he was a member held a candlelight vigil in his honor. we were able to talk with stevens' stepfather by phone. >> there's no one in the english-speaking world that is more sympathetic to the arab cause and the arab culture than chris. tragic irony that some crazy fringe element of that culture should murder him. >> reporter: right now, protests continue in cairo, egypt this is a live picture. from time to time you will see clouds of tear gas erupt, police are firing that tear gas, also rubber bullets into the crowd to keep them from breaching the em . egyptian president has -- vowed not allow taxes on foreign embassies in cairo this is believed to be response to ant

the anti-islamic ren th mide east, but he he also says it did not justify the attack on the united states embassy. >> i know there are some who ask why don't we just ban such a video. and the answer is enshrined in our laws. our constitutio protects the right to practice f spee. cchaplre going to call me awful things every day. and i will always defend their right to do so. and we must agree, there is no ol.ech that justifiesdl >> in the last couple of weeks, he pointed out those are probably not the result of a video and were coordinated. he also delivered in his remarks a stern warning to iran ove its nuclearmbition. >> let me b clear. suroipmacy and we i believe there is still time and space to do so. but that time is not unlimited. we respect the right of nations to access peaceful nuclear power. but one of the purposes of the rness that power for peace.at we make no mistake, a nuclear-armed iran is not a challge that can be contained. it would threaten elimination of israel, th security of gulf nations, and the stability of the glol economy. >> the white house came under so f for nchin a fac

there are demonstrations too now at the united states embassy in yemen where a mob gathered but did not breech the building. this is the scene at the american consulate in libya where four americans, including the ambassador, were killed tuesday after a protest over the movie turned into a violent attack. american officials now believe cbs news reports was carried out by a terrorist group associated with al qaeda. the buildings are virtually destroyed. the newspaper, the independent reporting, that sensitive information is now missing, including potentially the names of libyans who have been working with americans there. now one libyan official says infiltrators within the security forces may have tipped off attackers to the whereabouts of the ambassador. libya says it has made at least one arrest. now, in washington, a potential target for any terrorist attack, how is the police department responding that that homeland security fbi security alert? we asked, and anita if we ever get an answer, we'll tell you. >> thank you. >>> president obama addressed the recent killings in libya durin

house now coming out and saying that there is no proof so far that the deadly attack on the united states embassy in libya was planned, but it does say that it is a matter that is still under investigation and that the assessment could change. libya's president has said that he believes that foreigners came into the country and planned the attack to coincide with september 11th. the white house says it looks like violent protests were sparked from an anti-islam film made in the united states. >>> the army has developed body armor that is tailored specifically to fit women. the vest accommodates smaller torsos and they sit closer to a woman's chest. they are being used for the first time by female soldiers from fort campbell who are deployed to afghanistan. female soldiers has said that poor-fitting armor did make their scrobs more difficult. women make up 14% of the army and are closer to combat than they have ever been before. >>> an innocent walk through his neighborhood lands a 10- year-old boy from sagona park in the hospital. officials say it's because this boy was walking with a bamboo stic

the united states embassy is under siege in the middle east. but more importantly, you have china and japan becoming more and more bellicose with each other regarding some archipelago islands off the coast of japan, so that really bears watching. the financial times, in fact, is running an article as we speak how china may perhaps sell japanese bonds in order to bring the japanese to their knees as regards those strategic islands. so, there's some geopolitical tension out there, which of course should probably aid gold, at least in the short-term. > > we have our cover story today on fedex. that's a good indicator. it's put out some guidance yesterday that is worrying some people. how do you play that? > > i think that's right. there's a lot of concerns domestically about the fiscal cliff and what that will mean for first- and second-quarter economic growth here. i think fedex, in addition to expressing that concern, also expressed concern that the global economy continues to slow. china and the far east are a major point of distribution and sa

i'm looking at the pictures of these people who scaled the walls of the united states embassy in a friendly nation, in a nation that boned up the security on that very street we share with the british embassy back in 2003 when the iraq war broke out. and then it was bolstered again in 2011 during the arab spring. how did these people get to the position they got to? where was the security? >> again, ashleigh, that's what many are asking. just -- you know, about ten days ago egyptians marched on to the embassy to protest the horrendous -- syrians there and the regime and egyptian security forces beat many people up and exchanged rocks with many of the protesters. i'm not calling for violence against anyone or any side but where was egyptian security yesterday especially around the u.s. embassy and usually treated like a fortress. again, i ask where's the egyptian president morsi and doing to secure our revolution and what is he doing to make it clear that he does not allow these -- this right-wing fringe to play on the right wing to allow him to play in the more centrist position. remember t

these are live pictures coming in not far from the united states embassy.e again, the protests escalating even as we speak. earlier in the day it had been relatively -- keyword, relatively, quiet. now seems to be escalating for some reason. our own ben wedeman is on the ground for us. we're going to be going to him shortly. at the same time as these scenes are unfolding, there also have been frightening scenes of violence and hatred directed at the united states and others around the region. it's spreading. and u.s. officials are very worried. sources tell me they're especially concerned about today's penetration of the united states embassy in tunisia and the reports that the american school was actually burned. remember, the arab spring began with such great hope in tunisia. they're also deeply concerned because other western nations have become targets as well. today mobs in sudan attack the u.s., german and british embassies. and as we see in these live pictures happening in egypt, we see some running battles continuing now between demonstrators and pol

united states. in that they asked the people of libya to attack the united states. hours later, an attack on our embassy our ambassador is now dead. jonathan hunt has been covering it from the beginning. none of it made sense yesterday. the video didn't make sense. now it's here. >> we talked before about how these videos can sometimes have a coded message. you look at that, the video comes out on monday the attack happened tuesday. they didn't think we need to plan an attack. perhaps that video was the go signal. s

united states was helping to rest that. now we are, 18 months later, they burn the american flag in the streets, anti-american movements all over, killing u.s. ambassadors, attacks united states' embassiesere have we come in 18 months, and at the same time, the president of the united states rather than asserting america's leadership role in the world is off to campaign. lou: off to campaign, and mean while, some is public perception, and that is four more missiles fired by the iranians, seems that they have an unlimited number to show off whenever ahmadinejad makes a major appearance or makes a major point, and at the same time, we have the chinese with a vigorous space program underway, the russians, and the principle space power because they're the only ones who can routinely go into space to reach the international space station in lower earth orbit. it is a bizarre retreat of american power and technology and advancement and to hear that the very people who we have been, you know, so concerned about, ie, iranians, are seemingly carrying out an aggressive space policy through missiles, certainly, that the military program, is stunning, and the message to the rest of the emerging wor

embassy of the united states issued what appeared to be an apology for american principles. was a mistake. the president take responsibility from the words that come from his mouth and his ambassador and administration and embassy and the state department. the white house distance itself from the statement saying it wasn't cleared by washington. that reflects the mixed signals they're sending to the world. >> andrea: what do you think about that? he has come under fire for making the statement. >> dana: good for him. his instinct was to protect the right of free speech. the next thing he does is something that president obama has not done in months, except for the three-question press conference. the complaint is he was too quick to defend america. the media helping carry reid, pelosi, i could go on that dissent at that point was patriotic. the thing that kills me about this, the complaints about mitt romney after the white house, itself, distance itself from the statement, after there was actually -- you brought this up last night, maybe first on "the five." >> greg: yeah.

violence directed at american embassies over a horrible internet video that we had nothing to do with. >> reporter: the secretary of state urged arab spring nations to protect united states embassies, if not she said the its will. the united states will. >> they had a mission. they believed in it. they knew the danger. they accepted it. >> the president spoke about chris stevens saying he laid down his life for his friends libyan and american. >> officials are looking at the records of the man linked to the film. this is video shot outside what is believed to be the los angeles county home of the 55- year-old. he is a coptic christian with a criminal past. they are now looking into if he violated the terms of his five- year probation. >>> today white house press secretary wide in on all the violence in the middle east and the movie that the administration said caused it. >> this is not a film that the united states government had anything to do with. we reject its message and content. we find it disgusting. >> reporter: he went onto say there is no justification for responding to the movie with violence. you will find continuing coverage of this story on air and o

the embassy of the united states, condemns the efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the feelings muslim -- the people who attacked our embassy. >> that was before the attack on the embassy. >> it doesn't matter! >> it absolutely matters! >> sean: they're dead wrong. >> i'm not dead wrong. that statement was issued before the attack -- look at the fact checker -- [overlapping dialogue] >> people were protesting outside the embassy. >> they storm stormed our embassy? >> they already attacked the embassy. >> no, sean. look at the timeline. >> sean: this went on for nine and-a-half hours. you are talking about nine and-a-half straight hours. >> let's be clear. you were not in that embassy -- somebody's coming to get you, you are trying to defuse the situation. give me a break! >> this is the problem, what we're up again. the mind-set of appeasement, to put that in an official statement is so outrageous, i say it in the book, liberals lover to hate christiabs --ians. liberals love to hate the entire american exceptionalism. mitt romney was dead on. >> sean: this is ft. hood all over a