Benghazi Committee Heard from kefigures in closeddoor testimimony. They incde former cia director David Petraeus and former defense seety leon panetta. And later this week, theyll hear from a third officialhat few haverobably heard of jeremy bash, formedefense departmentnt chieff staff, wse emaihaens to b be central to our report today. Its an email hsent from the military to the state department the night ofof the benghazi attacks one thats been kept from publiview foror thrhree yes and d lends idence to algations of a rcue interrupted. We need immediate assistance. We are overrun. If you do not get here soon we are all gonna die. Sharyl the film 13 hours the secret soldiers of benghazi openens latethis week. None of you have to go. T we are the only help they have. Sharyl its the harrowing account of six cia team members in an annex about a mile from the benghazi compound when it fell under attack. They claim when n they tried too to the rescue, their boss delayed them. Youre not the firstst responders, youre the last rert. You will wt. Sharylyl now, an email hidden from plic view for three years reveals another rescue attempt was apparently interrupted. The military offered to deploy special forces to benghazizi during the assault long before the attackers killed cia contractors and former navy als glenen doherty and ty woods. Three and a half hours into the eighthour long sieg the militarys chief of staff jery bash emails Top State Department officials we have identified the forces that could move to benghazi. They are spinning up a as we speak. They includa special Operations Forces element that wain croatia. Col. Wd theyre spun up as we speweak means that hes made contact with them, theyve confird that theyve been given thatrder, and theyre making progress towaward going o that location. Sharyl retired Army Green Beret lolnel andrew wood commanded a special forces Antiterrorism Team protecting g ambassador chs stevens and otr diplomats in libya. In 2012, wood told congress his team w was removed from libya by the Obama Administration a month before the attacks, dedespite warnings of terrorist violence to come. For the first titime, woods speaking out with a startling claim that those special forces offered in the military email were on their way to benghazi but were turned back. Col. Wood those individuals i kn loaded aircraft and got on their way to benghazi to respond to that incident. They were not allowed to crossss the border, as per protocol, until they get approval from the commr in chi. That authoririty has got to come from him. Otherwise, theyre not allowed theyre notllowed to go fufurther into the country. I have a hh degree oee confidence that t that happened, based on information that ive heard from individuals that were there. Those forces were put into motion. They simy re not allowed to go further. Sharyl the white house has refused to detl the involvement of president obama, the commander in chief, while americans were under attack on foreign soil. Following a short briefing at the e beginning of the assault,e virtually disappears from the public narrative the white house declined to comment for r this report, but s long denied y assets were available or ready, and said Everything Possible was done. Yet the email indicates special forces werere ready and highranking obama ministration officials, or principals, were to weigh in. Assuming principals agree to deploy these elements, we will ask state to secure e the approl from host nation, the military tells thate state department. Please advise how you wish to convey that approval to us. Inexplicably, nobody did seek libyas approval for the u. S. Forco es to fly in to help. The availabity of special forces is news to greg hicks, the top u. S. Diplomat inripoli during the assault. In 2013, hicks testified he was repeatedly told there was no litary help available. Mr. Hick i asked the Defense Attache whod been talking with africom and with the j joint stf is anything coming . Will thebe sending us any help . Ishere something out there . Sharyl responding to the newly public email, hicks tells full measure an aggressive interpretation of the military options presented would have tasked me withe obtaining fligt and landing clearances from the libyan government. I have no ubt they would have been granted. Sharyl the significance of this memo, would you say . Gary berntsen its incredibly significant, and you would understand why the administration wouldnt t want people to sesee that those elements within the government that were tasked with the prection of lives and property, actually started the process and were stopped. Sharyl Gary Berntsen is a former cia Senior Operations officer and chief of station. Hehe commanded counterterrism missions and led the Response Team after islamic extremists bombed u. S. Embassies in east afri in 1998. Like wood, berntsen says Quick Reaction military teams are tasked to handle emergencies exactly like benghazi and automatically spin up unless and until theyre stopped. Gary berntsen you proceed because if theres an emergency and americans are at risk americans have died or are under the threat of death or a threat of k kidnapping or anyny kind of vience were moving. Sharyl a military source familiar witith some of the nights even also confirirms military options were e provide. There were bothth conntional and special forcrces in thean tr and asgned tafricom offered up by general ham on a video teleconference. Basedn what i know, the forces thewere talking abobout could have gotten there pretty quickly. Gary berntsen only political instructions from above would have stopped them. There is, you know, none is going to wait. That is my experience, of having done this for almost5 years, having led the teams myself, youre proceeding, yre going. Sharyl when we come bac what obama offials havave said about the military respoponse tt night and we ask why a rescu woulhave been interrupted. As any dodsset ever deployeded to help these people before the end of the attack . Aryl we contue with questions over whether benghazi involved a rescue interrupted and a newlyreveal email showing the u. S. Military had offered up a special forces team to deploy to benghazi during the attacks s long before the lat two americans were murderered. But the obama administraration never sought approval fotheir planes to fly into lib. Is under attack. Lets go, man. Sharyl the upcoming film 13 hours the secret soldiers of benghazi recounts the story of a cia agents who say they were prevented from going to the immediate rescue of the americans under attack a mile away. And no outside military came to help. But now, an internal government email shows u. S. Special forces not far away had spun up during the attack. And sources say, they were headed to benghazi but were stopped. The new details may help explain why congress had so much trouble getting direct answers from obama officials who insisted a rescue attempt was imposossible. When questioned in 2013, general martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and secretary leon panetta of the department of defense or dod gave no hint that special forces had actually spun up. Graham was any dod asset ever deployed to help these people before the end of the attack . Dempsey would you rephrase, would you . Graham was any dod asset , aircraft or individual soldier, ever sent put in motion to help these people before the attack was over . Dempsey let let let if i could as soon as we knew there was an attack the National Mission force and the fast teams began. Graham my question is did anybody ybleave any base anywhee to go to the aid of the people under attack in benghazi, libya before the attack ended . Panetta no because the attack ended before we could get off the ground. Dep. Sec. Burns there simply wasnt enough time at that point to bring u. S. Military forces. Hillary clinton their assets were too far away to make much difference in any timely fashion. Admiral mullen there simply was not enough time for u. S. Military forces to have made a difference. Sharyl adding to the claims of a rescue interrupted the leader of a Foreign Emergency Support Team in the u. S. Earlier testified his squad, too, was stopped from responding and a small u. S. Military team in tripoli was ordered not to board a plane for benghazi during the attacks. Wood says it all implies a decision at the highest level. Otherwise, he believes the military wouldve gotten in position to respond fiveours before the benghazi attacks when the u. S. Faced a related crisis islamic extremists overran the American Embassy in cairo, egypt. Col. Wood their compound had been breached and there were people now inside their buildings under protection of marine guards waing for someone to bust into the rooms. To me, that would signal somebody should be getting those Reaction Forces ready to stand by and perhaps move. And then five hours later, when things occurred in benghazi, and again, the alarm bell went off, and there was no apparent response thats thats a pretty tough one to explain with with events transpiring in cairo, at the embassy in cairo, i think the decision not to react may have been made very early on in the day, when those when those events were transpiring. So that by the time that benghazi happened, it wasnt going to happen because that decision was made early y on. Sharyl if so, why isnt clclea but the attacks came eight weeks before the 2012 election. President obama had campaigned on the idea hed sent terrorists running. Pres. Obama alqaeda is on the path to defeat and Osama Bin Laden is dead. Sharyl critics say deploying the military to terrorist attacks could have been viewed as more harmful to the campaign than the incorrect explanation the administration gave that protesters attacked after being whipped up by an antiislamic youtube video. I know, i understand. Sharyl a special forces soldier for 24 years, wood says his team and u. S. Diplomats in libya were briefed that if they ever got into trouble, those special forces in europe were tasked with coming to t rescue. Col. Wood theyre kept in a high state of readiness just for that purpose. So theyre willing and able and ready to jump, theyre like the fire department, in any town, in any city in the United States. Sharyl to illustrate how close the u. S. Special forces in croatia were, a commercial flight taking off at the start of the benghazi attacks with an hour and half layover in turkey, still could have arrived in libya before woods and doherty were killed. But the special forces offered up by the military ended up at the u. S. Naval base at sigonella, italy itead of benghazi. And in a delay that remains unexplained, it took 17 hours from the time the military said theyd spun up for them to make that hour and a half flight from croatia to italy, far too late to help. Col. Wood i operated there under the beliefhat those Reaction Forces would be there for us if we got into some kind of tuble like what happened. Sharyl two groups of testimony given under oath by government officials werere there were o forces that could have responded quickly, and that even if they had scrambled more people, they couldnt have gotten there in time to make a difference. Gary berntsen i dont believe either of those reflect the truth of what curred on the ground there. They had forces moving, they could have intervened, they should have intervened, and had they, we likely would have been in a position to save the second two men who bravely sacrificed their lives. Sharyl e ststate dertment has said, the notion at it did not do everything g possible to protect our people that night is as offensive as it is wrong. Thes one piecof evidence that could help in the debate the military after action reports dissecting the military sponse. But the pentagon has refused congressssioannal and media reqs to see them. Still ahead on full measurere the president calls for action on guns and gets a tremendous reacon. We drill down on the use of executive authority an sharyl president obobama began the new year wh a sign that he would not t go gentlinto hisis lame duck year. His call to action on gun control signals what may be a busy year to further what he considers key issues to his administration and legacy. So we might expect a number of executive actions or executive orders. The differdience makes a difference. Scott thuman has a little our reality check. Scott on his first day of his last year in office, president obama called on congress to take action on gun control. Pres. Obama we know that we cant stop every act of violence. But what if we tried to stop even one . Scott the media and politicians went into overdrive t the president of the United States may come out with an executive order regarding guns. The president set to lay out a series of executive orders. Im very proud of president obamas announcement. On my first day behind that desk, those orders are gone. Pres. Obama until we have a congress thats in line with the majority of americans, there are actions within my Legal Authority that we can take to help reduce gun violence and save more lives. Scotott the president s plan to tighten control and increase enfoforcemenof firearm laws in the u. S. By expanding background checks is an executive action not an executive order. And yes, theres a difference, explains stephen j. Wayne, professor of government at georgetown university. Prof. Wayne when he issues an ordeder, its usually a broader statement of in the fure i want it to happen this way. When he issues a memorandum or a directive or makes a statement, itmuch more specific, but they are mainly ceremonial. And they dont have the policy impact. Sct in his acaction, obama a is passing g congress and earning him some criticism. Representative brian babin of texas calls it a distraction and disservice to the american people. Scott are you all just being pushed on the sidelines the white house stee the ship . Rep. Babin well, he would certainly like to have it like that, but it wasnt the way the Founding Fathers set this republic up. And thats not the way the constitution reads. Scott some democrats, including rep. Mike thompson of california, have come to obamas defense. Rep. Tmpson the critics of president obamas execututive action say that hes overstepping h his boundaries, e thinks hes the king, and then the same folks s say its okay o take arms and overrun a government building. Its a real contradiction. Scott this isnt the first time the president has taken heat for overstepping congress. Prof. Wawayne institutional and political rivalries will gegenerate debate over executive orders. Pres. Obama the truth is, en with all the actions ive taken this year, im issuing executive orders at the lowest rate in more than 100 years. So, its not clear how it i that repepublicans didnt seem o mind when president bush took more executive actions than i did. Scott he has a point maybe president eorge w. Bush issued nearly 300 execive orders during his two terms in office. T obama isnt too far behind hes at nearly 230 so far and vowing even momore. President obama has warned he will not sit idly by on the sidelines during his final year anits a safe bet he will outline even more new actions in his state of the union speech, tuesday night. Sharyl thank you, scott. An update breaking bad, our report on the billion dollar federal agency, nist, that got caught with a meth lab operating in its midst. Christopher bartley, t nist Police Lieutenant who was operating the lab when it blew up last july, was sentenced this weweek. He was sentenc t41 months in federal l prisison. Congress is investigating what one reblican calls thehe culture of waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct at nist Police Services from alleged timecard fraud to missing swat teamea which nist denies. Still ahead on full measure it is mustsee tv for the cacampaign season. Next, a closer look at the substance of debates past and the profitits of realityv politics. Sharyl the real heat of the presidenal campaigns begins in the cold of iowa. February 1st kicks off ihe iowa caucuses. Candidates from both parties debate this week at separate evenents in south carolina. There was a rumor once that the debates were more for issues a d ideas and less for political theater. The nus may paint a different picture in this edition of campaign incredible. The moment of truth has arrived. Welcome to the first debate night of the 2016 president ial campaign. Sharyl theyre filled with memorable moments. Excuse me. One second. No. Sharyl theres a cast of colorful character Bernie Sanders americas sick of hearing about your damn emails sharyl and there are sudden eliminations. Howie if is is a rey ity show campaign, then the televised debates are like survivor with people getting kicked off the island. Shyl but this isnt reality tv, its 2016 presideial politics. Howie kurtz, media critic and host of Fox News Media buzz says the debebates have become e grand stage for ndidates a to some extent have replaced or overshadowed traditional campaigning. Primary debates have become a staple in modern day polits dating bk to the 10s and predating p perhaps the most famous general debate in american history. The Republican Leadership has opposed federal aid for education. Shsharyl that was when a young and suntanned jack kennedy was given the win in the first telelevised debate over richard nixon. Nixon was awarded the win by radio listeners. Sharyl rimary debates can produce memorable moments. I am paying for this microphoner. [cheers and applause] [laughter] youre likable enough, hillary. Lets see i, i cant name the third oops. Sharyl so, how much interest have this elections debates generated . When it comes to ratings, americans are watching in record numbers. Democrats s have held three of x planned primary debates with each averaging about 10. 8 million peopleatching. In terms of viewers, republicans are winning by huge margins. Like democrats, the gop is also close to halfway through its 12 planned imary debates drawing in an averagage of 18. 5 Million Viewers eight million more than democrats. Howie debates have never been more important in shg th perception of the candidates, their personas, theirr perceptions, and how they think and act on their feet sharyl when it comes to money, modernday debates are higighly produced profit makers. Company please Companies Reportedly paid cnn 200,000 to air their ads during the september gop debate. Cnbc reportedly charged 250,000 per commercial. And fox news charged upwards of 175,000 for a 30second spot. Howie this has become the town square in a way that does not resemble any other president ial campaign ive ever covere sharyl according to a pew poll, nely 70 of americans report watching at lesoast some of the primary debas. Thats a big increase from e roughly 40 who reported watchingng the debates in decemr 2007, thlast election where there were contested nominations in both parties. I know more about isis than the generals do. Believe me. Sharyl the boost can be creditited in part to gop frontrunner donald trump while a majority of americans says the debates have been fun to watch, nearly 60 concede the dedebates have fallen short when it comes to focusing on important policy issues. Wie debates of always been a telesion show. There is entertainment value to them. At the same time, they really have most of them have included a lot of substanceif you watch cafully. They have an educational aspect. Clearly, theres a lot of Razzle Dazzle as well. Sharyl thursday is the next gop debate. Next week on full measure the president s vow to close guantanamo. Well examine what is known as the most expensive prison in the world and talk to one man who helped captuture the enemy combatants. We will talk about his concerns about their release. Thats next sunday on full measure. Thank you for watching. Im sharyl attkisson. Until nextime, well be searching g for more stories tht hold powers accountable. Announcer starting right now on abcs this week, just three week weeks till the first votes. Donald trump still on top for the gop. But can he stop ted cruz in iowa . I think my record is stronger than his. Announcer and is this man the republican establishments last best hope . Were oneonone with marco rubio in an abc news exclusive. Plus, hillarys surprise battle with bernie as sanders surges in the early states, the gloves are off. We are the campaign thats going to win this election. Announcer senator sanders is with us live. And an exclusive inside look at what iowa voters think about both sides of the race. And a brandnew forecast on iowa