." >> brennan: good evening. i'm margaret brennan. the pace of anti-american protests eased a bit today. u.s. marines arrived in yemen to bolster security at the american embassy. but another contingent was refused entry to sudan. the state department says tonight, it's ordering all non-essential personnel to leave both sudan and tunisia, these developments four days after the violent on theus consulate in libya that killed the u.s. ambassador and three members of his team. tonight we are getting our first look at the safe house that came under fire. charlie d'agata and a cbs news crew reached the building today. here's their report. >> reporter: the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi was just the beginning of a terrifying night for the americans inside. libyan officials told us their forces helped evacuate 32 americans out of the consulate as attacks are torched and stormed the compound. i libyan commander told us a convoy of 22 vehicles, two of them armored, raced from the u.s. consulate down this road to a safe house a mile a

margaret brennan is on capitol hill. margaret? >> reporter: good morning to you, charlie. fbi still hasn't made it to the crime scene in benghazi. secretary clinton will give a classified account of the attacks on the u.s. consulate in libya. witnesses tell cbs news that there was never an anti-american protest outside the consulate. instead they say it came under planned attack. that is in direct contradiction to the administration's account. that comes with complaints that the administration has not been forgetright. >> i'm just stunned and appalled that there wasn't better security for all of the american personnel at that consulate, given the high threat environment. >> now under law, state must establish a panel to investigate the attacks, report to congress within 60 days. today, secretary of state hillary clinton will outline what she is and is not willing to share. what's clear, charlie, is that the public won't get a detailed account of what happened until after the presidential election. >> margaret brennan, th

margaret brennan is at the state department. margaret? >> reporter: that's right, norah. the secretary has already condemned the attacks, but such a profound sadness at the passing of u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens, but also three other government personnel. we know that one other person killed in this attack was also a career foreign service officer by the name of sean smith. what is not clear at this point is what allowed for the security breach to really domino into what became an attack from which these u.s. government personnel could not be extracted. as of 10:00 p.m. yesterday evening, it was believed there was only one fatality from this attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. benghazi is a city in the eastern portion of libya. as you know, libya had just gained independence really, had overthrown longtime authoritarian leader moammar gadhafi and was part of the arab spring. this was a positive story at the state department and very sad. >> here is the secretary of state. >> yesterday our u.s. diplomatic post in benghazi, libya, was attacked. heavily arm

margaret brennan is in washington. this is probably very difficult for people at the state department. >> reporter: it's an emotional morning, norah. very long night. secretary of state hillary clinton and her top deputies worked well through the evening and are meeting at 7:00 a.m. today here in washington. the last official statement we have from the state department came at 10:00 p.m. last night. that's when the secretary of state confirmed the killing of at least one foreign service officer in benghazi. during the hours that led up to that statement, press officers in washington were fielding conflicting reports on the chaotic situation on the ground as libyan authorities fought with militants to secure that compound. the statement that came from the secretary was very carefully worded, it said some protesters sought to justify the attack on the u.s. post as a response to inflammatory material posted on the internet. there is never any justification for violent acts of this kind. it was in response to the outcry th

our state department correspondent margaret brennan sat down with clinton who said the syrian stockpile of chemical weapons is of special concern right now, especially if they fall into the wrong hands. >> we're very watchful about this. and working with other countries on it. >> so there is a plan to secure those. >> there is a lot of work going on. >> reporter: you told us in july that you would be willing to speak with bashar al-assad. does that offer still stand? >> if he will step down i will meet him anywhere outside of syria. >> reporter: what would you say? >> i don't know, i-- i have no idea. i've never met him. but i-- you know, i would hope that it would not be too late to end this. but i see no indication that he's willing to. >> with assad unwilling to step down the syrian opposition is fighting not just on the battleground, it's also fighting from outside syria. and information war. charlie d'agata got a rare look behind the scenes. >> reporter: from a secret location in jordan-- a handful of journalists are risking everything to make sure the world doesn't turn its back o

our state department correspondent margaret brennan has been looking into this. >> reporter: the last photo of the man expected to be china's next president, 59-year-old xi jinping, was taken on september 1. for the past ten days, he has not shown up at any scheduled public events. his apparent disappearance has sparked speculation in the world press. when asked about it at a news conference, a chinese foreign ministry spokesman refused to comment. "i hope that you can ask more serious questions" he said. adding to the mystery: government sensors are blocking search results for xi's name. the intrigue began after xi canceled a meeting set for last wednesday with secretary of state hillary clinton. state department staff members who were in beijing to meet with chinese leadership were told around 11:00 the night before that the secretary's meeting with mr. xi was canceled. the chinese ministry cited unexpected scheduling reasons. the latest political twist comes aat a crucial point. china's fast-growing economy is slowing down and chinese authorities are concerned with keeping control

our state department correspondent margaret brennan has been looking into this. >> reporter: the last photo of the man expected to be china's next president, 59-year-old xi jinping, was taken on september 1. for the past ten days, he has not shown up at any scheduled public events. his apparent disappearance has sparked speculation in the world press. when asked about it at a news conference, a chinese foreign ministry spokesman refused to comment. "i hope that you can ask more serious questions" he said. adding to the mystery: government sensors are blocking search results for xi's name. the intrigue began after xi canceled a meeting set for last wednesday with secretary of state hillary clinton. state department staff members who were in beijing to meet with chinese leadership were told around 11:00 the night before that the secretary's meeting with mr. xi was canceled. the chinese ministry cited unexpected scheduling reasons. his latest political twist comes at a crucial point. china's fast-growing economy is slowing down and chinese authorities are concerned with keeping control a

for more we turn to margaret brennan. what are american embassies doing at this point? >> they are pretty much on lock down. you have a real focus on securing the perimeters of a lot of these compounds in yemen, libya, sudan. there had been people who were able to make it over the walls of these embassies. you do have marines that have been sent in to secure the perimeters. the security of the embassy, the physical space itself is provide by the host country. so there have been phone calls placed bisek clinton, president and vice president bid into urge these leaders to take this seriously. >> it sound like, margaret they are working the back channels. give us a sense for what secretary clinton is doing behind the scene? >> she has been in the white house, in the situation room about six times in the past three days. in constant contact via video conference, general dempsey with secretary panetta. in the case of tunisia where protesters made it inside the compound where security measures were put into place to secure the embassy staff, because of these concerns she pick

margaret brennan is on capitol hill. margaret? >> reporter: good morning to you. not a lot of detail today. the fbi still hasn't made to it the incriminate scene in benghazi but secretary clinton will give a classified account of the attacks on the u.s. consulate in libya. witnesses tell cbs news that there was never an anti-american protest outside of the consulate. instead they say it came under planned attack. that's in direct contradiction to the administration's account of the incident. it comes at a time when there are calls for more information from capitol hill and complaints that the administration has not been forthright. >> i'm just stunned and appalled that there wasn't better security for all of the american personnel at that consulate given the high threat environment. >> reporter: now, under law state must establish a panel to investigate the attacks, report to congress within 60 days. today secretary of state hillary clinton will outline what she is and is not willing to share. what's clear, charlie is that the public won't get a detailed account o

. >>> margaret brennan is at the state department where secretary of state hillary clinton spoke moments ago. strong words from the secretary. >> reporter: strong condemnation from the secretary this morning, norah. and a painful message for so many here at the state department. many americans may not realize that the face of america abroad is represented by the people who work here at the state department. and certainly u.s. ambassadors to libya, chris stevens, who died in that attack in benghazi yesterday was remembered by secretary clinton for his dedication over the past 21 years. this is how she described the attacks. >> this is an attack that should shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world. we condemn in the strongest terms this senseless act of violence and we send our prayers to the families, friends and colleagues of those we lost. >> the secretary said she spoke with the family members of the ambassador and three other individuals who were killed in that attack that were carried out in a city that nato forces, along with american support, helped to liberate

back to you. >> margaret brennan, thank you, margaret. no norah? >> national security agency director is now with us, also an adviser to governor mitt romney's presidential campaign. general, good morning. >> good morning. >> thank you so much for joining us. you have been in the belly of the beast, so to say, in terms of the intelligence apparatus of this country. today is a crucial day. there are going to be protests across the middle east. what does this mean? >> first of all, what we're going to learn today is probably not a secret that we're going to have to steal somewhere. this will be in public view. since you already mentioned, this is friday. the mosques will be crowded. how many people demonstrate in how many cities, how close to american installations are they allowed to get, how violent are they? and finally, and perhaps most important, what do these governments, many of whom are understandably quite weak, what do these governments do to protect americans and american installations? we'll learn an awful lot about how much power, how ma

margaret rent brennan is at the state department with new information. margaret, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, charlie. this is a very personal mission for secretary clinton as she says she's the person who sent chris stevens to benghazi. she knew it was a risky assignment and will be receiving his remains at andrews air force base around 2:00 this afternoon. an intense week for the secretary. she was informed of the attack around 4:00 p.m. spoke to president obama shortly thereafter. she has been in the oval office or situation room at least six time in the past three days and in constant contact with the other national security principles. she spoke to general dempsey, secretary panetta. keep in mind the last good five hour period where it was unclear what had happened to the u.s. ambassador. whether he had gone into hiding, whether he had been kidnapped. the state department still isn't clear on the details. they don't know how his body ended up in a benghazi hospital or who took it there. this is a very moment by moment investigatio

margaret brennan is with us. margaret, we have foreign policy on the front page today because more than 100 leaders gathered here in new york for the unga. this specific story, libya, a big story this week. what's going on now in what happened? what was cnn reporting that the state department says was absolutely out of bounds? >> they say it's disgusting. what happened is that cnn found a journal of ambassador chris stevens. >> his personal journal. >> his personal journal on the site of the consulate attack. now, according to the state department, this defied the wishes of stevens' family to go ahead and report on what was inside the journal. >> what did the journal say? >> well, according to cnn, they had to report some of the information, including the thought from ambassador stevens that he was on an al qaeda hit list. they say the state department is shooting the messenger here and criticizing them for taking that information, reporting on it, then returning the journal to the family. >> which is pretty expl

. >> margaret brennan watched the speech. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, charlie. the israeli prime minister made a public appeal to the u.n. to set a firm ultimatum on iran to stop the nuclear development. he put pressure on the obama administration to take a tougher tone weeks ahead of the u.s. presidential election. >> reporter: israel's rhetorical red line. >> a red line should be drawn right here. >> reporter: became a literal one as prime minister benjamin netanyahu took to the u.n. general assembly with a red marker and a chart of what he says is iran's progress towards developing nuclear weapons. >> red lines don't lead to war. red lines prevent war, and i believe that faced with a clear red line, iran will back down. >> reporter: the prime minister's speech put in stark relief the differences between how the u.s. and israel view the threat of a nuclear iran. >> a nuclear armed iran is not a challenge that can be contained. >> reporter: while president obama says he will not allow iran to gain nuclear weapons, he hasn't publicly declared a point of no retur

charlie >> margaret brennan in washington. a statement about president obama is being picked apart. on thursday he and governor mitt romney were in florida where a new poll shows the president leading by five points. a comment he made about changing washington is giving his opponent a chance to attack. jan crawford is in west palm beach, florida. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, charlie. romney has been taking hits for the past two weeks but yesterday it was the president's turn. on univision, it turned a little rocky for the president and you can believe that romney pounced. appearing in a town hall in miami the president faced tough and repeated questions about his promise four years ago to pass immigration reform. the president said he was focused on the my but the questions kept coming. he was asked about his biggest failure as president. >> as you remind me my biggest failure is we haven't gotten comprehensive immigration reform done. we'll be continuing to work on that. but it's not for lack of trying or desire. >> reporter: a major issue among hispanic voters a key co

brennan has that story. >> reporter: good morning to you, charlie. the u.s. government is trying to stop that anti-american violence by buying ad time on pakistani tv to spread the message that it did not endorse the controversial internet video made by an american filmmaker to ridicule islam. >> reporter: it cost the u.s. government $70,000 to broadcast these ads on seven different pakistani tv networks. they feature messages from president obama. >> we re jekt all efforts to denigrate the religious believes of others. >> reporter: and secretary of state hillary clinton. >> the united states government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. >> reporter: condemning the anti-islam movie made by a california filmmaker. the state department is trying to cool anti-american fury that sent thousands of protesters into the streets of pakistani cities this week. it isn't the first time that american diplomats sponsored media or purchased ad time but the head of the outreach program says these ads are urgent. >> it is very important for us to reach eve

for "cbs this morning," margaret brennan, brunei. >>> i don't know if this is his best speech, but more fun. >> yeah. hillary clinton, 2016, what do we think? >> if she wants it, it's hers. >> you'll probably see two supporters right here. >> she wants it, the field goes away. >> our field goes away. >> except for joe biden. don't count on joe biden. >> wow on the night that joe biden is speaking. >> invited to the vip party. >> how about what -- i didn't say anything. i kept my mouth shut. >> i thought that was extraordinary too. >> thank you both. great to have you here. u.s. open tennis as we change the subject, andy roddick an emotional sendoff on wednesday. we'll hear what he said after his final match and find out if there are any americans ready to take his place. you're watching "cbs this morning." this is george. he is a good little monkey and always very curious. one day george got an important letter... he's built a rocket ship to travel into space. google, how far is earth to the moon? moon is 238,900 miles... the great moment had come... ...3...2...1 >>> andy roddick comple

margaret brennan is here with us. this is an example where the state department does not like the story that's on the front page of the papers today. >> she do not. the secretary gave a speech about mali. two references to al qaeda. because of that the "new york times" wrote this story saying she is linking the two. senior aides to secretary of state say she absolutely does not have the evidence to assert that link right now. remember the fbi has to make this determination. they are still not in benghazi. state department will say, those that al qaeda and aqim is active in the region. there's arms coming from mali into libya and this is one of the countries where you have a new government that isn't in fully control of security in the area. >> they don't have the evidence, they are waiting for the fbi to investigate. do they have anything to suggest there might be a link? >> they don't say that they have evidence either way. what they do and talk about is one of the extremist groups in the are a, who is believed to be

margaret brennan is with us. we have foreign policy on the front page. more than a hundred leaders gather here in new york. this specific story, libya a big story this week and what's going on. what was cnn reporting that the state department says was absolutely out of bounds. >> what happened is that cnn found his journal of ambassador chris stevens. his personal journal on the site of the consulate attack. according to the state department, despite the wishes of the stevens family to go ahead and report what was inside the journal. >> what did the journal say? >> according to cnn they had to report some of the information including the thought from ambassador stevens that he was on an al qaeda hit list. they say the state department is shooting the messenger and criticizing them for taking that information, reporting on it and then returning the journal to the family. >> which is pretty explosive if ambassador stevens suggested he thought his personal security was at risk. >> that's the thing because there's a debate we can have about journalism and a

margaret brennan watched the speech at the united nations. good morning. >> good morning, charlie, the israeli prime minister made a very public appeal to the u.n. to set a firm ultimatum to stop iran's nuclear development. he put pressure on the obama administration to take a tougher tone weeks ahead of the u.n. general election. >> israel's rhetorical red line. >> a red line should be drawn right here. >> became a literal one as prime minister benjamin netanyahu took to the u.n. general assembly with a red marker and a chart that says is iran's progress toward a nuclear weapon. >> red lines prevent war and faced with a clear red line, iran will back down. >> the prime minister's speech put in stark relief the differences between how the u.s. and israel views the threat of a nuclear iran. >> a nuclear armed iran is not a challenge that can be contained. >> reporter: while president obama says he will not allow iran to gain nuclear weapons, he hasn't publicly declared a point of no return, that boundary may action.the u.s. to take military is

margaret brennan is here. good morning. where are we with respect to what the president and the secretary of state is saying with respect to the libyans and what they're saying with the death of the american ambassador? >> they're certainly not changing their message to the press, which is don't ask us to answer your questions. what's happening behind closed doors is the hunt for chemical weapons and the hunt for some of those loose weapons, particularly so called man pads, those shoulder mounted missiles that can take down airplanes. that is being put front and center. the u.s. has continued some of the security training, which is interesting, even though there are no americans in benghazi and they pulled back the staffing at the u.s. embassy in tripoli. they have continued some of their training in other locations outside of the country to help them security weapons. >> the president's not meeting with any world leaders. hillary clinton is doing all the work here this week. >> he was taping "the view" while she was cross