About his election loss blaming what he calls gifts thats a quote, gifts, the president people gave to people who voted for him. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Mitd romney speaking out about his election loss for the tempers flaring on capitol first time and blaming it in part on gifts that the hill. Senator john mccain lashing out president gave to supporters. At one of our cnn producers who lets talk about that and more questioned why he was missing a with the republican governor bobby jindal of louisiana. Key hearing on the attack on the hes the new chairman of the republican governors u. S. Consulate in benghazi, association. Libya. Mccain has been a sharp critic congratulations by the way. I guess i got to say of the president and his congratulations on getting that job, governor. Thanks very much for joining us. Administration complaining lawmakers are not getting enough information. Thank you, wolf. And when asked why he missed great to be back on the air with that meeting today, he lashed you. All right. Let me play a little clip of out. Our senior congressional what he said to some of his big correspondent dana bash is up on capitol hill. Shes got more on this sensitive donors thats causing quite an uproar. Heres mitt romney. Story. Dana, what happened . Reporter well, it turns out, listen to this. What the president , the wolf, cnn learned that most of president s campaign did was the republicans on this key focus on certain members of his committee that had a briefing on base coalition, give them what happened in benghazi did not go. Extraordinary financial gifts in fact, it was three out of the eight republicans on that from the government, and then committee. Work very aggressively to turn one of those republicans who did them out to vote. Not go to that briefing, it was a classified briefing, was john now, thats caused a lot of mccain. Uproar, gifts that the president now, mccain at the time was gave. I guess the implication is, was having a press conference yesterday lashing out at the he bribing some of that administration for not getting enough information and calling coalition minorities, hispanics, for a select committee to young women with all sorts of investigate it all. Well, our ted barrett caught up gifts . With the senator earlier today what do you make of that . And wanted to know why he didnt go to that briefing. Wolf, this is completely and to say the least, it did not unhelpful. This is not where the Republican Party needs to go. Go well. If you want voters to like you, the first thing youve got to do is like them first. And its certainly not helpful listen to what happened. Because i have the right as a to tell voters that you think their votes were bought. Senator to have no comment. Thats certainly not a way to and who the hell are you to tell show them that you respect them, you like them. We need to stop talking down to voters. Me i can or not . As a Republican Party we need to fight for 100 of the electorate. Reporter so john mccain not 53 , not 52 but 100 . Would not comment, would not give an answer to ted who was weve got to stop trying to divide people into different trying to do his job, trying to find out just why senator mccain groups by race, gender, class. Didnt go to that briefing. And senator mccain went onto say instead weve got to show them that our conservative principles he thought ted was badgering him will help them pursue the and not being respectful, which you know ted barrett, he is respectful. American dream. I will tell you though that this is completely not helpful. Later in the day senator mccain this is not where the Republican Party needs to go. Spokesman contacted us saying we need to offer smart, that the reason he didnt attend that classified briefing was conservative, intelligent ideas because of a scheduling error. And policiepolicies. I should also tell you that senator mccain has been inside the briefing thats going on we dont win votes telling right now. You probably see this podium behind me. Them their votes were bought is thats because were waiting for not helpful or true. This is where the republican the Senate Intelligence party needs to go net. It sort of reminded me, chairwoman and ranking to come governor, i dont know about out of a classified briefing. You, but it reminded me about senator mccain is at this that really controversial comment he was overheard at that briefing at this hour. Why couldnt he have said that to begin with . Fundraiser in boca raton in told ted barrett i had a scheduling problem, a scheduling error, if you will. Florida in may speaking of the and i screwed up. That would have ended the controversy. Reporter thats a great 47 im paraphrasing, anyone question, wolf. Who gets government assistance its what ted and i were talking if you will, that caused him an about the minute he told me about this exchange. Why didnt he just say that . Enormous amount of problems during the campaign as well. He certainly has answers for do you see a similarity here and many of us in the hallways a lot. In fact, he just walked out temporarily of this meeting there . Absolutely. Thats going on right now. Look, as a party, as a country, were an aspirational party, and other reporters were asking why he wasnt at that classified were an aspirational country, were a country that believes briefing yesterday. And thats what he said. Our best days are ahead of us. I had a scheduling error. So tempers are flaring here. Were a country that believes everybody wants their children i think that exchange with ted to do better than their parents barrett is probably a good have done. We want our kids to get a great example of how heated this issue has gotten. A lot of people particularly as education, and high paying jobs. I believe people on food stamps weve seen over the past couple and government assistance dont want to be there. Days, senator mccain. We all screw up from time to theyre there because they dont time. People make mistakes and we move have the ability to get better paying jobs. On. Meanwhile, dana, tempers are its our responsibility to adopt flaring on the house side as policies that grow the economy, well. Listen to this Fiery Exchange that give them the education and opportunities to have a better after the house hearing on the quality of life. I dont think we get advance benghazi attack. This discussion or debate by insulting folks. What is clear is that this look, the republicans we need to stick to our principles, but we administration including the need to treat other people with respect. Even those we dont agree with, president himself has we need to show them we respect intentionally misinformed, read them and their beliefs. That, lied to the american we can disagree without being people in the aftermath of this disagreeable. Republicans said a lot of dumb things. We need to condemn the remarks. Tragedy. Now president obama has the gall you saw it in indiana and to float the name as possible missouri. Secretary of state the name of as a party we need to stop the person who is the actual talking down to voters. We have great ideas on School Choice on putting Great Teachers vehicle used to misinform the in the classrooms, energy independence, a lower flatter tax hole without the loopholes American People during this and breaks for the wealthy and crisis. The special treatment. The arrogance and dishonesty lets go out and put those policies out. Reflected in all of this is a lets actually have an honest little bit breathtaking. And its about time that the intellectual debate. President of the United States lets stop insulting people. Decide to level with the we have too many people on American People. Lets find out the facts. Unemployment. Theyre not there because they want to be there. Lets not stonewall this issue theyre there because there are not good paying jobs in this and cover up mistakes as appears economy. Lets grow the economy and to be happening today. Symptom insulting the voters. Did you cvey these same they requested for worldwide thoughts to the governor when he was the republican president ial security 440 million more than you guys wanted to provide. Nominee . Look, i dont know how much benefit there is to continue to a quarter of a billion dollars look back. Mitt romney is a good man, in security upgrades that you honorable man reality is i dont think his campaign laid out a refused to make in this good vision how his policies would benefit every single committee. And then you have the audacity to come here and say why wasnt american. Its a very impressive biography the protection of these people and resume. At the end of the day president ial elections are about provided for. Visions and policies. And the answer is because you i think now as a party we either need to congratulate the damn didnt provide it. You reduced what the president on his win. As a party we not only need to administration asked for to look forward and fight for every single vote in america. And the way we do that is to protect these people. And the answer to the question treat people with respect. Is how do you protect these we dont need to be like the people . It costs money believe it or democratic party. We dont need to divide people into special Interest Groups, or not. Gary ackerman, congressman racial groups first or gender from new york. Groups or geographic or class obviously very angry. Groups. We treat every american as an the other republican congressman, dana bash is still with us, shes on capitol hill. Individual. We dont think demographics is destiny. The circumstances of your birth theres a Senate Intelligence dont determine your outcome as committee underway right now. Theyre getting classified an adult. We want every american to pursue briefing as well. The dream. What are you learning, dana. Were going to treat them with respect and offer policies to reporter thats right. Help them and their children do this is a group of officials from the cia including the better. Thats what we have to be to be acting cia director, mr. Clapper a Majority Party to win elections. The reason we have 30 republican and others from the state governors is they are working to department have been going improve schools in their states. Around. They had a very long meeting on they are working to balance the house side for the House Intelligence Committee this their budgets, grow private morning. By the way, this is the one that sector economies. We dont need two democratic or general petraeus was supposed to be doing coming back after liberal parties in this country. Congress was gone and really the Republican Party doesnt need to moderate our principles. Giving them the details that we do need to modernize our they have about what happened in party, however. One final question, governor. Benghazi, why the Intelligence Community may have not had the comprehensive immigration correct initial information reform. About what happened there and all of a sudden republicans and what they know now. Democrats are talking about it. That briefing on the senate side Lindsey Graham, hes trying to is going on as we speak. And as i mentioned, were going get together with Chuck Schumer to see if theres an to hear from the chairwoman in opportunity. Are you in favor right now of the ranking republican. What we do know is that they are major legislation that would deal with comprehensive seeing a video that was obtained immigration reform, securing the from the consulate. Border but also having a pathway it was a closed circuit video to citizenship for some of those that intelligence officials are Illegal Immigrants who are in hoping will shed light on what really happened and why the the country . Wolf, several things. Information they had at the time may not be what it turned out to absolutely i am for be in the end. Dana, thanks very much. Comprehensive approach. Lets stop making this a well have much more on this part of the story coming up. Dana bash reporting. Other Important News were political issue. Lets solve this issue. Following right now, senior does have to include securing the borders. The president said he was going Administration Officials telling to present a proposal. Cnn the white house is working let him present that proposal so behind the scenes to try to keep the conflict between israel and we arent negotiating with hamas from escalating. Ourselves. But we in the Republican Party rockets and missiles are flying need to be clear that we welcome folks that want to come to this back and forth between gaza and country and follow the rules and israel with multiple deaths on work hard and make this a better both sides now. Stronger country. And right now theres fear this our Legal Immigration system is broken. Could become an allout ground we need to dramatically increase the number of people we allow in this country legally. War. Our Senior International its good for them, its good correspondent sara sidner is in for our country. Right now our immigration gaza city for us right now. Policies arent good for our country, theyre not good for sara, what is the very latest on families. This extremely tense situation . We have folks that come here, we educate them and kick them out of the country. As a Republican Party we need to be clear that welcome the folks to come here and make this a reporter we have just heard moments ago, wolf, another air better stronger country. Takes a lot of entrepreneurial strike, a huge boom and then a spirit and risk to move your black plume of smoke. You can actually see that with family here, to want to get good your eyes even though it is very dark here now. As were getting information in paying jobs and work very hard. Just right now from that latest whether your familys been here five minutes or hundreds of air strike, we are hearing that years, thats not what makes you there are several people who an american. Have been killed. Thats whats kept us apart from the rest of the world. Perhaps several children. Were still looking into that right now. This is just one in a series of its something unique and exceptional for our country. I dont think we should be negotiating with ourselves. Air strikes today that have been let the president put his ideas a barrage of blasts all day long on the table. Its got to include substantial followed by huge plumes of black increase for legal immigrants smoke. For Legal Immigration. But we have also seen dozens lets stop kicking people out upon dozens of rockets leaving that want to make this a better country. Governor jindal, thanks very this area and areas all along much for coming in. Good luck with the new the gaza strip into israel. Assignment as leader of the i want to let you hear that. National republican governors association. We appreciate it very much. Thank you, wolf. [ gunfire ] bobby jindal is the governor okay. That is exactly. All right. Im going to move out of the of louisiana. Very popular in his home state. Way. Im going to let you get a look a lot of folks already here. Im going to let you get a look speculating, is it too early to at what is going on. Now, i can see the black smoke. Start looking ahead to 2016 . Its difficult too capture on well see. Lawmakers get a first look camera. But you saw that flash. This is what we have been at Surveillance Video of the deadly attack on the u. S. Dealing with all day. Weve also been dealing with consulate in benghazi. So what does it show . Im sorry, the power has just gone out. Weve been dealing with power im going to ask one u. S. Outages, wolf. But this feels like war. Senator who actually saw the video. Hes standing by live. It may not have been declared, annes tablet called my phone. But it feels like war to the annes tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney. Civilians who live here. People are locked in their a desktop in zurich. Homes. All of the businesses have been and a telepresence room in brazil. Closed. They have had power outs. The secure cloud helped us get some numbers theres a lot of fear here by from my assistants pc in new york. The civilians, as you might and before i reached the top, imagine. Also on the other side of the the Board Meeting became border we spent some time there this morning. A congrats we sold the company party. We saw people hunkering down when they heard the sirens in wait til my wifes phone hears about this. Southern israel. We saw ourselves, dozens of [ cellphone vibrating ] [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center, rockets coming over being working together has never worked so well. Blasted out of the sky by the iron dome. So an actual fullscale war may not have been declared, but it in that time thereve been some good days. Certainly feels like that to the civilians that are dealing with and some difficult ones. This for the past couple of days. We know that there have been but, through it all, weve persevered, more than 200 rockets fired into supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. Israel. So why should our anniversary matter to you . And there have been more than 120 air strikes that have come because for 200 years, over gaza. You just heard the very latest weve been helping ideas move one just now, wolf. From ambition to achievement. That was an israeli air strike that we just saw and heard behind you . And the next great idea could be yours. Is that right, sara . Reporter yeah. Thats what we understand. Because heres whats been happening. We have been listening to this time and time again. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. It sounds like the exact same how you doing today . Im good thanks. Sound we have been hearing. How are you . Im good. [ gordon ] but for others, its all they can afford. First you usually hear the sound of a plane. And then you hear what are every day nearly nine million Older Americans massive blasts, very, very different from when for example dont have enough to eat. You hear a rocket coming out of anything else . No, not today. Join me, aarp, and Aarp Foundation even a grad rocket coming out of in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger. Org. Gaza. Those have a very different sound. Of course a very different sound from small arms fire. That a major blast. Weve been listening to the sound all day long and seeing the consequences of it here in gaza. But again, the folks in southern israel also dealing with rockets raining down on them. We know that three people have been killed in an apartment complex in southern israel. And so far we know at least 15 people have been killed here. Some of those were targeted attacks where israel was looking for leaders of hamas, looking for militants. They found nine of them as we understand it nine of the 15 who have been killed were indeed militants here in gaza, wolf. Be careful over there, sara. Were going to stay in close touch with you. Sara sidner is in gaza city for us. Later in our next hour were going to go behind the scenes to southern israel as sara points out. Rockets from gaza are flying into southern israel. Well have a live report from the scene. Thats coming up in our next hour as well. This is an extremely, extremely tense situation that easily could escalate into allout war. Israeli troops moving closer and closer towards gaza. There could be a Ground Invasion were told as well. Were watching this very, very closely. Her w wng envienst ho president obamas reelection might lead to some Real Progress when it comes to Climate Change. But theyre not quite as optimistic today after hearing what the president now says on the subject. Standby for that. [ male announcer ] whether its kevins smartphone. Lets get to our strategy session. Joining us our cnn contributors democratic strategist hilary rosen and republican strategist ana navarro. Moms smartphone. Hilary, you just heard the governor of louisiana, bobby jindal, hes very critical of dads tablet. Mitt romney, the campaign he or laurens smartphone. Ran. What did you make of that . Well, i think theres just a at t has a plan built to help make families lives easier. Whole lot of distancing going on. Pretty typical after a losing campaign. I thought, you know, governor inen ts you share data on up to 10 devices jindal spoke well about some of the mistakes republicans have with unlimited talk and text. Made. Add a tablet for only 10 per month. A little bit of a mixed message. I think this was a values at t. Election, not the demographic election that some people like Governor Jindal and mitt romney anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating . Have been talking about. Yeah. So i think he needs to be one Phillips Colon Health probiotic cap each day clearer about those values. Helps defend against these digestive issues he did say we ought to not be with three strains of good bacteria. Approved [ female announcer ] live the regular life. Protecting tax cuts you know, phillips. Tax policies for the wealthy. I think the challenge for [ female announcer ] charmin ultra soft is so soft somebody like Governor Jindal who just is sort of sitting back youll have to remind your family they can use less. And criticizing now is to take on republicans that are its made with extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent. Relevant. Because mitt romneys no longer plus you can use four times less. Relevant. Go to john boehner, go to mitch charmin ultra soft. Mcconnell and say lets promote these policies that help poor people that help the middle which house is yours . Class that promote jobs. The one with the ilverado out front. Thats what the president s been so, what do you do . Trying to do. Thats what hes calling for in well, ahhh. Saying that the wealthy should pay their fair share. Nice [ clown horn ] itd be nice of some of these was his name [ shouting ] moderate thinkers or new thinkers like jindal actually held the republicans who are in [ child crying ] power to task a little more instead of kicking the last guy i. Ahh. Down the road. You tweeted this, ana [ male announcer ] the Chevy Silverado. The most dependable, longestlasting fullsize pickups on the road. From worksite to home front. Navarro, livid at romney saying chevy runs deep. Obama won because offered minorities gifts. As if he didnt alienate hispanics enough wliel running. Look in mirror, mitt. Im very upset about the comments mitt romney made. It shows him having sour grapes. Thats not a great exit for a man who just lost. You need to look at yourself, the campaign. Go and look at the film. How did you run your campaign towards hispanic, africanamericans . Are you satisfied with what you did . Does it correlate with the amount you got . To provide a Better Benefits package. Oahhh also, its frankly offensive. [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. I can tell you as a hispanic [ duck yelling ] republican, i find those [ male announcer ] find out more at. [ duck ] aflac comments offensive. You cannot be so condescending [ male announcer ]. Forbusiness. Com. To a big hunk of voters by ha ha ethnicity or by race. Thats just wrong. I found everything that bobby jindal said today, wolf, refreshing, principled, morally correct, inclusive, just the right kind of tone, the right voice i want to hear as a republican going forward. And i think he is a very relevant republican, bobby jindal. Not only is he a sitting governor, but hes also the head of the republican governors were watching whats association. Hes got you know, theyve happening in gaza right now. Got an entire meeting going on in las vegas right now where theres breaking news, israeli theyre looking at what some of air strikes, Palestinian Hamas the mistakes made were in this campaign. And there are some. Very blunt comments from shelling of southern israel. Bobby jindal. Were getting back to our all right, guys, thanks very correspondents in gaza and much. We got to get to another huge story were following right now. Israel shortly. Meantime, lets check in with jack. Hes got the cafferty file. Whats going on . Wolf, imagine getting in your take care. This just coming into the car in the morning for your situation room. Commute to work and having the members of the senate car drive you while you answer Intelligence Committee have just gotten out of a hearing where emails or send Text Messages or they saw Surveillance Video of even sleep . The attack on the u. S. Consulate Fortune Magazine reports on in benghazi, libya. The socalled driverless republican senator roy blunt of revolution and how selfdriving missouri is a member of the Intelligence Committee. Cars will soon affect ordinary hes joining us now from capitol americans as well as a wide range of industries. Hill. Thanks very much, senator, for coming in. What can you tell us about this googles fleet of selfdriving cars have already traveled Surveillance Video . 300,000 miles. You know, i think the clock there have been no accidents when the cars were controlled by is maybe the thing that the video continues to establish, a computer. Pardon me. And only one fender bender when how long it was from the time this event started to frankly there was a human behind the wheel. These customized cars use a the last two people were killed combination of gps radar and a in that mortar attack. 3d mapping camera on the roof and its a lot of time. That can see traffic signals, its several hours before that lanes and pedestrians. Cars that drive themselves are coming. Its just a question of when. Happens. I think maybe the violence at most of the big carmakers are the mission itself where the hard at work on selfdriving ambassador was killed happened models. Relatively early. And three states, california, but then theres a big block of nevada and florida, have already time between then and the time made selfdriving vehicles legal that the last two american lives as long as the humans sitting are lost. In the drivers seat in case of one of the questions we need to a emergency. Ask is why cant we respond quicker than that . Thats a good idea. Meanwhile, these cars could lose why cant we get a systems to worker productivity. People quicker than that . The average commuter spends 250 and obviously the ongoing question is why wasnt there hours a year behind the wheel. Or they could come in handy after youve had a couple more security there before this event occurred . Cocktails. And then, wolf, theres a selfdriving trucks could transform the trucking industry. Question about what people picture long lines of thought happened, when it selfdriving 18wheelers happened and what they were traveling down the highway just a few inches apart, no drivers, reporting to the public and to no stops for gas or food, it the Intelligence Committees for several days later. Could boost fuel efficiency as look, from the video that you much as 20 . Were going to need to keep saw this Surveillance Video, driving ourselves though for a could you is it conclusive while longer. Experts say the Driverless Cars that over those several hours as you say, some say six, seven, should be more common in another ten to 15 years when the costs eight hours of video that was come down. Taken, could you conclude this heres the question, how would you feel about riding in a car was a crowd spontaneously that drives itself . Reacting to that antimuslim go to cnn. Com caffertyfile, post video that had been posted on youtube . A comment on my blog. Or was this a coordinated attack or go to our post on the the by terrorists with mortars . Situation Room Facebook page. I dont know if id trust a car could you make that out from the to drive itself. Me either. Video . Well, i think from the video i wouldnt feel good about it at all, jack. Not at all. Well see what happens. Thank you. Substantiates the more informed all right. Reporting which is from the president obama got a people on the scene and that is it clearly was not a firsthand look today at parts of new york that were hardest hit demonstration. Now, how coordinated these by superstorm sandy. Thousands of new yorkers, yes, attacks were from the things thousands of new yorkers still that started at roughly, you dont have power two and a half weeks after sandy hit. The storm is raising serious know, 9 30 in the evening until questions about the governments things that went well into the next morning, its hard to response, even bigger questions about weather patterns, at least establish how coordinated that was. But its not hard to establish for some. That there was no demonstration, lets bring in our White House Correspondent Brianna Keilar actually, brianna is not yet there was no crowd. When this started, it started as available im told. But we do expect to get her up an act of violence. And that should have been obvious to anybody talking about soon. Well speak to Brianna Keilar that from the very start. Momentarily. Well also have a quick check of based on what you heard in some of the days other top stories. Thats coming up including mitt this closed door briefing, based romney, did he hurt himself with on the video you just saw, does gaffes during his president ial campaign . Is he hurting the republican it change your perception at all about the bottom line that the party right now with his latest administration had taken that for several days they werent comments, the louisiana sure what happened and then that governor, bobby jindal, hes standing by to join us live. splashing . Following sunday after the killings in benghazi the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations susan rice said what she said about the spontaneous reaction . Well, ive always thought based on what we heard from the very start that there was a big disconnect between the information i thought i was looking at and what the president said yesterday they had. I thought the most interesting thing in the president s comments yesterday was that susan rice had all of the information they had and related all of that information. That just doesnt seem reasonable to me. If they did if that was all the information they had, i wonder why somebody at the white house wasnt asking more questions. And that may be the biggest question here as we go forward. Are you with some of those republicans like senator mccain, senator Lindsey Graham who will do everything in their power to block her nomination as secretary of state if it goes forward . Well, i think again, the question there is what did ambassador rice know . Why is that what she knew . And why was she the person sent out to represent the child screaming underwater . Administration . The president doubled down on this yesterday by essentially saying she had the information underwater noises . We wanted to convey and she was representing him. So lets talk about him. And i think probably thats what needs to happen here. So you havent made a final decision yet, is that right . Theres no nomination to talk about yet. Im interested in what the president said yesterday, why he said it, why they would send her out with information that i think by that date was clearly not the information that should have been available to anybody thats briefing the president or representing the president. Senator blunt, thanks very much for coming out of that hearing and speaking with us. We appreciate it. Senator roy blunt of missouri. The president shared his message with the worldwide audience. Were going to talk to the man who got quite a surprise after he wrote to the white house. Weve reconnected with Brianna Keilar, our White House Correspondent, Brianna Keilar, is watching whats going on in new york. Right now the president wrapping up a visit to new york in the aftermath of the superstorm sandy. What happened today, brianna . Reporter wolf, he got a rsand look at the aselasthvastue nrh h onsten of breezy point, where you know all of those homes burnt down. And the thing is, during the election Climate Change was not really a topic that got a lot of attention. But it was very much thrust into the discussion just days before the election when sandy made landfall in this very rare storm in new england. Yesterday at the white house president obama was asked about federal response. And he was also asked about his goals for how to deal with Climate Change and energy. And he seemed to really downplay any expectations of sweeping energy and Climate Change legislation. Saying instead that he was focusing first on the economy and creating jobs. I am a Firm Believer that Climate Change is real, that it has impacted as a consequence i think we have an obligation to future generations to do something about it. And understandably i think the American People right now have been so focused and will continue to be focused on our economy and jobs and growth that if the message is somehow were going to ignore jobs and growth simply to address Climate Change, i dont think anybodys going to go for that. I wont go for that. Reporter now, wolf, president obama said that more needs to be done. But he says he wants to have a National Conversation talking to scientists, elected officials, engineers. So keeping it very broad. Not getting into specifics. Not talking about the sweeping energy and Climate Change legislation. But when youre talking to folks on both sides of this, those who thousands of people write to the president of the united are environmentalists, those who states every year. But its not often that their are in the energy industries, message gets passed onto a they seem to think that doesnt mean that hes not going to be worldwide audience. Thats exactly though what taking action just that hell be happened yesterday at president obamas news conference. Doing it through executive orders, through epa epa watch this. It came from a man in tennessee who began by writing that he didnt vote for me. Regulations and that kind of which is okay. Thing bypassing congress because he doesnt see a way to move forward in that way, wolf. But what he said was even though he didnt give me his vote, hes Brianna Keilar watching all of this unfold at the white house. Giving me his support to move the president heading back from this country forward. New york. Thanks very much for that. He said that hell back each of mitt romneys political career may be over, but is he causing a us regardless of party as long new problem for his republican as we Work Together to make life party . Better for all of us. Ill speak live with the louisiana governor bobby jindal. And he made it clear that if we hes standing by. And in his news conference, dont make enough progress, hell be back in touch. President obama spoke to reporters about a letter he received, one that gave him so my hope, he wrote, is that we hope. Youre going to hear from the can make progress in light of man who wrote that letter. Personal and Party Principles, hes standing by in the situation room as well. My Credit Card Rewards are easy to remember. Special Interest Groups and years of business as usual, weve got to Work Together and with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, put our differences aside. I earn 1 cash back everywhere, i couldnt say it better myself. Every time. Thats precisely what i intend [ both ] 2 back on groceries. [ all ] 3 on gas to do. Steve weiss is the man who wrote that letter to the no hoops to jump through. President. Hes joining us now live from i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. Nashville, tennessee. Steve, let me read a line from [ woman in pet store ] its as easy as. [ all ] one the letter you wrote in an two. [ all ] three email to the president. I am hoping this email does [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. Reach you, but im realistic apply online or at a bank of america near you. That is most likely will not happen. How shocked were you when the president of the United States 100 new. Gave you that shoutout yesterday . Well, i wasnt totally 100 greek. Surprised when he did it because id gotten a call from the white 100 mmm. House staff the day before asking if they had my permission oh wow, that is mmm. To use the letter in the speech in fact its so mmm itself. And they went through the you might not believe its a hundred calories. Details of what that would be and what he would say and how he was presenting it. Well ok then, new yoplait greek 100. So i got the shock out of my system the day before when i got it is so good. That call. It must have been a real shock. Did the president accurately describe what you wrote . Yes, he did. That is the letter. If youve seen the letter, those are my exact words that he quoted. Some of the other stuffs paraphrased but clearly represents the message i meant to deliver. What compelled you to write but lately shes been coming in with less gray than usual. Directly to the president of the whats she up to . United states, a man you did not [ female announcer ] root touchup by nicen easy vote for . Has the most shade choices, designed to match even salon color in just 10 minutes. Well, you know, we got after with root touchup, all they see is you. The election. And every day in starting up this business im doing here in nashville, i deal with negotiations and having to compromise and Work Together with people to try to find Common Ground and deal with differences. I felt that it was important that i reach out to my congresswoman and my senators and to the president himself and really let them know that, you know, my expectation now is that the elections over. You know, the American People and i dont profess to speak for them, but me personally expect that theyre going to get the job done now. That theyre going to actually get by some of the Party Principles and special interests and things like that that i said in my letter and really make some progress at getting the decisions made that gets us to a better place. Why do you think mitt romney lost . I believe in my estimation the Republican Party didnt connect with the American People. Its very clear that in my mind the demographic is changing. And for whatever reason and whatever the message is, its not connecting effectively. What does the Republican Party need to do now . I think they need to really its not just the republicans. Its the democrats also. And i think its the president also. They really need to look at whats what do we agree on . Where do we disagree . And wherever we disagree, lets figure out where we can get some Common Ground. Lets figure out how we can meet in the middle. I mean, everybodys got their own constituents to deal with and all the other issues and baggage theyve got to bring to the table. And we really just need to sit down and talk through the issues and figure out how we solve this problem. I wish that would happen. Good advice from steve wise. Thats a good last name for yourself as well, steve. Appreciate it. Thank you. You gave us all some wise advice. Fear of an allout ground war between israel and hamas. Im going to speak to the israeli ambassador to the United States. Israel is now being bombarded by rockets from gaza. The israelis are launching air strikes against targets in gaza. Standby, fears of an escalating war emerging. Low testosterone,th you should know that axiron is here. The only underarm treatment for low t. Thats right, the one you apply to the underarm. Axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. Axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. Women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. Report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. Tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. Do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. Serious side effects could inude ate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. Common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. See your doctor, and for a 30day free trial, go to axiron. Com. Lets say you want to get ahead how do you get from here. To here . At university of phoenix were moving Career Planning forward so you can start figuring that out sooner. Ln fact, by thinking about where want your education to lead, while youre still in school, you might find the best route. Leads somewhere you werent even looking. Lets get to work. At meineke i have options. Like oil changes starting at 19. 95. My money. My choice. My meineke. Jacks back with the cafferty file. Jack. Thanks, wolf. Interesting question this hour. How would you feel about riding in a car that drives itself . Theyre coming. They have them now and theyll be more widespread the next ten or 15 years. Ken net in california, if it solved the problem of driving under the influence, texting, talking on the phone and shutting up my wife, the backseat driver, it would be wonderful. Sean in Thousand Oaks writes thanks to our obsession with cell phones, texting, gps devices that tell you to drive into lakes and anything in general that will make you more likely to turn your car into a 30,000 tree decoration most cars already drive themselves at least in a sense so why not . Randy writes fantastic. Until some 12yearold decides it would be funny to hack into the computer and send me down the freeway at 100mileanhour. Terry in virginia, no way, no how, never, never. I dont even trust Cruise Control on my car. Andy in atlanta, maybe when im 80, but right now i like to drive. California, jack, sounds good until a glitch kills scores of drivers. We cant even make an electric car let alone cars that drive themselves. Maybe in another 20 years or so. Mel in houston says i wouldnt have any problem riding in one as long as there was a compute ir override button. There are major hurdles to overcome before this kind of program car becomes common place. And, yes, the car will take the place of my wifes turn to drive on long road trips. Bring it on. If you want to read more about this, go to the blog cnn. Com caffertyfile. Or through our post on the the situation Room Facebook page. Wolf. Jack. Thank you. And youre in the situation room. Happening now, escalating fears of allout war looming over the middle east. Are Israeli Ground forces on the brink of moving into gaza . Just minutes from now ill ask the israeli m bass dor to the United States. Plus, the mystery man who triggered the fbi petraeus probe revealed. Were getting new information about who this veteran agent is and how he got involved. And a storm victim struggling to stay warm with no power for weeks gets a personal visit from the president of the United States. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Weve got breaking news. Were getting new information about what thencia director David Petraeus knew about the benghazi attack and when he knew it. Lets get right to our pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, what are you learning . Wolf, i have just spoken to someone, a longstanding source who has spoken to David Petraeus. This is someone on his level professionally. This person is directly familiar from petraeus with his thinking, with petraeus thinking about what he will Tell Congress tomorrow about the benghazi attacks. David petraeus wants to Tell Congress that he knew almost immediately after the september 11th attacks that the group Ansar Al Sharia, that al qaeda sympathizing group in libya was responsible for the attacks. Heres how it goes. In petraeus view there are two questions on the table. Who was responsible . And that is Ansar Al Sharia. He has intelligence he believes to back that up. Second question, what was their motivation . That is where some of the confusion may lie. What this source says petraeus told him is there were about 20 intelligence reports that began to come in blaming that video that antiislamic video that sparked the riots in cairo. Thats the confusion, that film or a terrorist attack . They got 20 intelligence reports blaming the film riot in cairo. But, this is critical, those reports were disproved over time. But disproved after petraeus made his initial presentation to congress. So David Petraeus believes theres a lot of confusion and a lot of misrepresentation of what he originally told congress when he briefed them initially after the attacks. He wants to go up there tomorrow, sort it all out. He will also say he had his own talking points separate from u. N. Ambassador susan rice. That came from somewhere other in the administration than his direct talking point. So he wants to get all this sorted out. He believes it was the al qaeda sympathizer group Ansar Al Sharia that was responsible for the attacks. So the question, barbara, is he is convinced that the attack on the u. S. Consulate in benghazi had nothing, nothing to do with that antimuslim video thatd been posted on youtube, that this was a terrorist attack by this Al Qaeda Affiliated organization. The question is though, when did he reach that final conclusion . Did he know that before susan rice, the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations went on those five sunday shows and insisted what happened in benghazi was the result of spontaneous anger from that antimuslim video . All the i can tell you, wolf, is this source says the intelligence reports that came in blaming the video, those 20 or so reports, this source says petraeus had those reports disproved over time after he testified or rather briefed the committees on capitol hill. When he looks at what susan rice said, here is what petraeus take is according to my source. Petraeus developed some talking points laying it all out. Those talking points as always were approved by the Intelligence Community. But then he sees susan rice make her statements and he sees input from other areas of the administration. Petraeus it is believed will tell the committee he is not certain where susan rice got all of her information. It looks like the business about the video got disproved in the Intelligence Community at the highest levels finally disproved after the fact. But still, wolf, the question that hangs out there, could this basically be a combination of a lot of factors . It gets back to motivation. The group may have been responsible. What was their motivation . Were anxiously awaiting his testimony tomorrow. Thats going to be behind closed doors, right . Absolutely. Its not supposed to come out in public. Im sure a lot of it will though. Thanks, barbara, for that. Even more information coming into the situation room about the former cia director general David Petraeus. Lets bring in Suzanne Kelly whos working this part of the story. What are you finding out about what yet another government information . Yeah, wolf. This is a bit of a bombshell breaking news this evening. Were just hearing now from a cia spokesman, preston galsman theres going to be a new investigation into the conduct of general petraeus while he was at the cia. Let me read to you this statement we have briefly. At the cia were constantly reviewing our performance. If there are lessons to be learned from this case well use them to improve, but were not getting ahead of ourselves. Its an investigation. Its exploratory and doesnt presuppose any particular outcome. But just the cia Inspector General looking into the conduct of general David Petraeus is another new twist in this tonight, wolf. What are you hearing about what happened in the closed door hearings today on capitol hill . Right. As you can imagine based on the guest list, this was really the First Comprehensive account of what officials were doing as events unfolded that night. And a government source tells me that what the committees heard today was a detailed timeline of what happened and that they were also shown video of the attack that was recovered from security cameras at the compound. Now im told that the video is grainy, it doesnt really spell out exactly what happened. But it does give a better sense of the atmosphere that night, wolf. Will this video be made public . Will the American Public be able to have the chance to see the Surveillance Video . I know theres an interest in at least getting parts of the video made public. It might not be so easy because of course this is now part of the evidence gathered in the course of that fbiled investigation, wolf. What are the members of the Intelligence Community, the fbi, others trying to do by showing members of congress, senator and house, this video . Well, the official i spoke with wouldnt get into detail about what the video actually shows, but its pretty clear and safe to say its being brought out to give the Committee Members a better sense of what was going on outside the compound that niegtd. A source tells me the presentation was expected to clarify some of the mischaracterizations about the attack, wolf. Its probably fair to say to give people a better sense of the kinds of activity and the levels and how quickly things were picking up. So during the closed door hearings today, mike morell is appearing, testifying before these members. Tomorrow morning the former cia director, David Petraeus will appear. Do we expect to get conflicting or similar statements from these fwo men . Its interesting because youd think youd get the same account from both men. But based on barbaras reporting there might be Different Things he wants to share with the Committee Members. It is true general petraeus is the one who took the trip to libya not too long ago and met with people on the ground and got information about that. Theres a chance that he also maybe asked whether his resignation last week citing an extramarital affair had anything to do with the benghazi investigation at all. Im not so sure well get the answer to that. But im sure a lot of Committee Members would like to hear that. There was a suggestion in the lengthy detailed report in the the wall street journal today that there may have been a connection. But obviously thats a very, very murky area. So the status of this current investigation is where right now . Well, right now officials ive spoken with have said that they still have someone in custody a suspect in custody in tunisia that the u. S. Has had access to him. Wolf, its tough to nail down those details because it is an ongoing fbi investigation. But we know there are a number of suspects detained by libyan authorities and intelligence gotten from those suspects as well. Theyre still continuing to push forward with that source in tunisia too, that suspect rather. Suzanne kelly, thanks very much. Lots of news happening right now. 2016 though is just around the corner, at least to some political news junkies. Jack cafferty has that in the cafferty file, jack. Here we go. The Hillary Clinton for president buzz is already loud. And its getting louder. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told cnn there is nobody Better Qualified than mrs. Clinton to become president in 2016. I like what she believes in. I think shes extraordinarily able and energetic in pushing those beliefs. And buffett is just the latest to talk about a potential Hillary Clinton run for the white house in years. He joins people like bill clinton, nancy pelosi, ed rendell, new york senator jill brand and republicans talking about it. Google Hillary Clinton 2016 you get more than five million hits. For her part, mrs. Clinton insists the answers no. Shes finishing her term as secretary of state. Leave as one of the most popular members of the Obama Administration. Clinton talks about how shes been in the political spotlight for 20 years. And she wants her life back. Fair enough. Says she wants to sleep, relax. Okay. But what about after that . While Hillary Clinton has repeatedly said she wont run for president again, this is the same woman who says politics is in her dna. She is after all a clinton. And with a resume that includes secretary of state, senator, first lady, well, a democratic nomination is probably hers for the taking if she wants it. Vice president joe bidens keeping the door open to a possible 2016 president ial run although he recently acknowledged it might depend on the economy. A memo to the Vice President might also depend on Hillary Clinton. Heres the question, is Hillary Clinton the answer . Go to cnn. Com caffertyfile or go to our post on the situation Room Facebook page. Never too early to start speculation. Special for those of us who are political news junkies. Ive been saying for a while no inside information. I suspect she still has that passion, that desire to be the first woman president of the United States. She gets a little rest, a little time off. Shes liable to come back with a little vengeance. Raise a few dollars. Yeah. Shell be fine. Thanks, jack. The middle east under attack right now. Next, were going live to our reporter on the scene. Rockets are falling inside israel. Plus, a looming fiscal showdown on capitol hill. Were going to tell you what it could mean for your wallet. [ female announcer ] introducing yoplait greek 100. 100 new. 100 greek. 100 mmm. Oh wow, that is mmm. In fact its so mmm you might not believe its a hundred calories. Well ok then, new yoplait greek 100. It is so good. I have a cold. I took dayquil, but i still have a runny nose. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesnt work on runny noses. What . [ male announcer ] it doesnt have an antihistamine. Really . [ male announcer ] really. Alkaseltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a fast acting antihistamine to relieve your runny nose. [ sighs ] thank you [ male announcer ] youre welcome. Thats the cold truth [ male announcer ] alkaseltzer plus. Oh what a relief it is [ male announcer ] cant find theraflu . Try alkaseltzer plus for fast, liquid, cold, and flu relief. Bp has paid overthe people of bp twentythreeitment to the gulf. Billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. Today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. And bps also committed to america. We support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Our commitment has never been stronger. You know, one job or the other. The moment i could access the retirement plan, i just became firm about it you know, its like it just hits you fast. You know, you start thinking about whats really important here. At legalzoom, weve created a better place to handle your legal needs. Maybe you have questions about incorporating a business youd like to start. Or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. And youd like to find the right attorney to help guide you along, answer any questions and offer advice. With an a rating from the Better Business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. In most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. Get started at legalzoom. Com today. And now youre protected. Time for citi price rewind. Because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. And you really dont want to pay more than you have to. Only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. And if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. Just use your citi card and register your purchase online. Have a super sparkly day ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. Citi price rewind. Buy now. Save later. Sirens and screams of terror as scores of rockets and shells light up the skies over israel and gaza. The israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in a building at one point that had to be evacuated in the crossfire. Israel is now moving thousands of troops to the border. And concerns of an imminent ground assault are growing. Cnns Frederik Pleitgen has just arrived in southern israel, an area thats born the blunt. Fred joins us. Reporter whats happening here, wolf, is there were about 20 rocket attacks on this town throughout the course of the day. We talked to people who said theyre absolutely in fear, especially of course small children in places here as well. This is also a place where only a couple miles away from here three people were actually killed when a rocket hit their house. Its also quite interesting, wolf, in that this is one of the areas in israel thats equipped with a Missile Defense system called the iron dome. The Israeli Government says so far the iron dome system has already intercepted more than 130 rockets coming out of gaza. Nevertheless, they also say that of course these systems cannot pick off all the rockets. That is why theyre stepping up their air campaign as well. Were seeing were hearing war planes overhead from where we are. And were also hearing a lot of explosions inside gaza. Its just a couple miles from where we are. It looks to us though as the conflict here is escalating. Youre hearing those explosions, fred, right now . Is that what youre saying . Reporter absolutely. Were hearing explosions. Theyre somewhat in the distance. Its about eight miles i would say to gaza. But we are also hearing war planes overhead. Its been basically the past couple of hours that were able to hear very, very prominently those explosions in the backdrop. But also there appears to have been fire coming out of gaza as well. It seems like both sides are really stepping up their campaigns. The Israeli Government saying that since the operation began about 300 rockets have been fired out of the gaza strip. And the israelis have taken out more than 100 rocket positions. So certainly this is a conflict that is going at a very high pace. It really does not look like either side at this point is going to take its foot off the gas. In fact, the israelis are saying that they are more than willing and able to widen the operation as you said a ground offensive is very, very much in the cards at this point, wolf. Frederik pleitgen in southern israel for us watching whats going on. In the last hour we spoke to sara sidner, our correspondent whos in gaza right now. But lets bring in the israeli ambassador to the United States michael oren watching closely whats going on as well. Are israeli troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers, poised to move into gaza . Wolf, good to be back. Israel will take whatever measures are necessary to defend its citizens. As of tonight, wolf, there are 4. 5 million israelis under rocket fire. Thats more than half the population of the country. I was on this program last night on the situation room. Since then they fired 240 rockets out of gaza at our citizens. One of those rockets as you heard fred mention killed three adults last night, wounded two infants. We have 150 casualties so far. Were going to take any measures necessary to stop this rocket fire and to protect our citizens including the possibility of ground action. There have been reserves called up. But we hope we dont have to get there. We hope that hamas will internalize the strong message we sent and that theyll step down. Is there any indication thats happening . On the contrary. Theyre escalating. Just this afternoon they fired rockets that hit in the vicinity of tel aviv. And you and i remember the last time rockets hit in tel aviv 20 years ago during the gulf war the first gulf war, they were fired from iraq. The first time rockets have been fired from gaza hitting in the vicinity of tel aviv. South of tel aviv. South of tel aviv. Though the Prime Minister as you mentioned Prime Minister netanyahu was in a bomb shelter. He was in one of these towns where a rocket hit. As a precaution they moved him down. He was in tel aviv at the time. So what happened . Sg they moved him into the bomb shelter. Imagine if the president of the United States had to go into a bomb shelter . Imagine what the equivalent would be in the United States 150 million americans were under rocket fire, what kind of steps the United States would take to ensure the safety of its citi n citize citizens. Those are the type of steps we are going to have to take to ensure the safety of our citizens. So right now just to be precise, theres no letting up at all. The hamas attacks continuing. Israels launching air strikes, also from the sea strikes into gaza. But so far no Israeli Ground troops have moved into gaza. So far, no. We hope we dont have to reach that point. We want hamas to internalize the hard message. To step down, stop firing rockets at millions of iz roadway rray lees. I read a tweet that said this we recommend no hamas operatives whether low level or Senior Leaders show their faces aboveground in the days ahead. Are you targeting right now more hamas leaders . You targeted the head of the military command yesterday. Certainly its our right and duty to protect our citizens and to protect our citizens from those terrorist leaders who are shooting hundreds and over the course of months thousands of rockets at our citizens. You know, the innocent civilians, palestinians, are dying in the process. Weve been getting these horrible stories including an 11monthold son of a bbc journalist who was killed in one of these israeli strikes. We deeply regret any loss of civilian life. And we take extraordinary measures to avoid them. We had one reporter that israeli pilot targeted a longrange missile and then aborted his mission because he saw there were children in the vicinity. One of those missiles hit outside of tel aviv today. So we pay a price. But lets be honest, were facing an enemy that is shielding itself behind its own civilian population. Theyre firing rockets from inside schools, playgrounds, even inside mosques. And thats the difference between us. Theyre trying to maximize the number of israeli civilians they kill. And they hope that well kill civilians on their side. Are you familiar with this 11monthold child . Im familiar with the case. Its a very sad story. Its a terrible story. But we are doing our utmost to try to avoid this. Keep in mind hamas has not just a military strategy, it has a media strategy. Do you know who the target in that was . I do not. But it was near an asset, near a missile site. Again, doing our utmost to avoid these casualties. They have been low. In fact, most of the casualties on the palestinian side have been armed terrorists. Because youve been to gaza. Ive been to gaza. This is one of the most densely Populated Areas in the world. About 1. 5 million palestinians in a very, very small area. If you move in there with tanks, artillery, there are going to be a lot of innocent civilians who are going to be dead. We hope not to reach that point. We dont want to inflict any civilian casualties. They are doing their utmost to inflict the maximum number of casualties on our side. Theyre trying their best to kill israeli civilians. Were trying to avoid harming palestinians. Thats the difference between a Democratic State and a terrorist organization. I know the Prime Minister, Prime Minister netanyahu down in a bunker today for himself has been on the phone with the president of the United States. That was yesterday. Have they communicated today as well . Not today directly. But the message from the white house, from congress, from both parties has been unequivocal support for israels right to defend itself and condemnation of hamas terror. Heres what really worries me as well. The collapse of the israeli egyptian peace treaty. I witnessed the signing of that peace treaty in 1979. You remember, youve written books about it. Is the israeli egyptian peace treaty, theyve pulled their ambassador out of tel aviv, youve pulled your ambassador out of cairo. Is that peace treaty stween israel and egypt on the verge of collapse . Its vital not just for israel, egypt, its vital for the entire region, for the world. We understand this. We think the egyptians understand this full well. The egyptians have played a constructive role in the past mediating i think they can play the similar role today. Are they . I think they can. But are that . Thats all i can say right now is i think they can play a constructive role. And we hope they will. That suggests to me theyre not yet doing that. Well, right now the situations very fluid on the ground. And hamas shows every intention of escalating further. Its not stepping down. Mr. Ambassador, thanks very much for coming in. Were watching this situation very, very closely. Thank you, wolf. Michael oren is the israeli ambassador to the United States. In our next hour were going to take a look at what the u. S. If the u. S. Can do anything about this escalating violence thats going on, the tensions escalating between the israelis and the palestinians in gaza. Much more coverage when we come back. [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact Life Expectancy in the u. S. , real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany . At t. Rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. Its just one reason over 75 of our mutual funds beat their 10year lipper average. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. With investment information, risks, fees and expenses Social Security are just numbers thinkin a budget. D. Well, we worked hard for those benefits. We earned them. And if washington tries to cram decisions about the future. Of these programs into a last minute budget deal. Well all pay the price. Aarp is fighting to protect seniors with responsible. Solutions that strengthen medicare and. Social security for generations to come. We can do better than a last minute deal. That would hurt all of us. Swithout shriners hospitals,he things im able to do. My life would be completely different. When i was seven, we found out i had scoliosis. Everything changed when they stepped in. It was like they gave me my future back. Toris life is one of nearly a million changed by donations from people like you. Send your love to the rescue. Donate today. A major Court Decision comes down on affirmative action. Lisa sylvesters monitoring that, some other top stories in the situation room right now. Whats the latest, lisa . Wolf, the state ban on affirmative action in College Admissions has been declared unconstitutional. Students voted to approve a Ballot Initiative that bans race as a factor in selecting students and hiring public employees. The six u. S. Circuit court of appeals today said that the admissions aspect should be debated at each Public University rather than be decided by a constitutional ban. The fda is investigating 13 deaths that may be tied to the popular caffeine boost 5hour energy. Since 2009 there have been 90 reports of incidents linked to the drink. More than 30 deemed serious including heart attacks, convulsions and one spontaneous abortion. The fda was investigating five deaths tied to Monster Energy drinks. And disneys Magic Kingdom is about to get more magical. Cnn affiliate wesh got a sneak peek of the newest addition to the park and expanded fantasy land. Its nearly double the size of its current home in the park and the largest expansion in the park history. Officials say the expansion should kostz 400 million and that it created 1,500 jobs. Which i think is really good for the economy especially in that area, wolf. A lot of kids are going to be happy to see it. Yeah, were actually going to disney at the end of next month. I think my little kiddos will be happy to see as well. Get ready to wait in line. Enjoy. As the ripples grow from the David Petraeus affair, were getting a better picture of the fbi agent who actually launched this entire investigation. Who is he . Why did he get involved . We have new details. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods first day of work. And his new boss told him two things cook what you love, and save your money. Joe doesnt know it yet, but hell work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. Hell start investing early, hell find some good people to help guide him, and hell set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isnt rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. We can now put a name and a face with the mysterious fbi agent believed to have triggered the investigation that uncovered general David Petraeus affair. Our crime and justice correspondent joe johns is getting new information about just who Frederick Humphreys is and the nature of his relationship with the tampa socialite jill kelley. Joe johns is here with us in the situation room. The story gets murkier and murkier all the time. Every day certainly, wolf. The veteran fbi agent at the center of the scandal described by some as a strongwilled law man on a mission who brought down the director of the cia. Others call him an obsessed government agent who went too far. What he had to know was that his actions and methods could launch an internal fbi review into whether he acted appropriately. And were told that review is going on now according to a Law Enforcement official. This case is not the first time fbi agent frederick hum fries has gone against the grain. He said this of the wouldbe terrorist. I think he started on a venture that he never fully understood until he found himself in port angeles. Which foreign fbi agent almost sounded like harass si to colleagues. Last spring petraeuss biographer and mistress allegedly wrote an anonymous email to top afghan official john allen warning about jill kelley. Kelley told humphreys who told republican congressman david reichert. Eric canter took the story to fbi director robert muller. The information that was sent to me sounded as if there was a potential for a National Security vulnerability. Reporter he had known kelley socially for some time previous to the scandal. According to a source close to kelley, in july he told kelley hed been taken off the case and hes going to or already has spoken to members of congress and that hes going to pursue this because he thinks there is something wrong going on. While reports of characterized him as obsessed with the case, his lawyer asserts that proper protocols were followed. In a statement, Lawrence Berger said he reported it to the proper channels and had no further part in the case. In any event, the source close to kelley said the agent never asked the socialite if it was okay to clue congress in. The source said he tells her that there will be congressional hearings, that theres going to be publicity. And jill didnt get into this for publicity. As it turns out, not even the Justice Department went to congress or the president about it because the attorney general said there was no reason to. There was not a threat to National Security. Hes also said to be the agent who sent a shirtless photo of himself to kelley though the source close to kelley said too much has been made of it. The one picture we know that fits this description is the agent standing in line with two torso dummies used in fbi training. Our source said it was clearly meant to be humorous and not sexually suggestive. Do we know why he sent this picture to kelley . It sounds like a joke. Thats about all we know. The word we got was it was a joke. Geez. Okay. Thanks very much, joe johns reporting. Lawmakers have less than two months to figure out a deal to avoid sending the country over the socalled fiscal cliff. So what does it mean for you and your savings if they dont . Lisas back with details when we come back. This right here in this spot, this forest, on this branch, with these mosses is where i feel most at home. My enthusiasm in spreading this is because, you know, like a religious evangelist, if you know you have the truth, you want to make sure everybody has it. Its not for the faint of heart climbing up in these big trees. Shes got boon for science and a boon for science education. Im dr. Sanjay gupta. This sunday on the next list queen of the tree tops. [ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make it worth watching. The new 2013 lexus ls. An entirely new pursuit. Riding the dog like its a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on etrade. Check my investment portfolio, research stocks. Wait, why are you taking. Oh, i see. Solitary. Just a man and his thoughts. And a smartphone. With an etrade app. Nobody knows. [ male announcer ] etrade. Investing unleashed. Is what drives us to broadcast the worlds biggest events in 3d, or live to your seat high above the atlantic ocean. Its what drives us to create ecofriendly race tracks, batteries that power tomorrows cars, nearly indestructible laptops, and the sustainable smart towns of the future. At panasonic, were driven to make what matters most better. Just another way were engineering a better world for you. Starts with ground beef, unions, and peppers baked in a ketchup glaze with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. What makes stouffers meatloaf best of all . That moment you enjoy it at home. Stouffers. Lets fix dinner. When it comes to the socalled fiscal cliff, youve seen the charts, the line graphs, the illustrations, youve seen the serious faces of president obama and members of congress as they stand in front of the cameras. And youve watched the stressed out traders trying to figure out their next moves on wall street. But what is the impending fiscal cliff really mean for you . Lisa sylvesters here. Shes been checking this part of the story. It means a lot. Tell our viewers. You know, wolf, when we talk about the fiscal cliff, there are really two parts. One is a sharp reduction in government spending. That will hit hard particularly the Defense Industry. There are contractors and subcontractors all around the country. The second part is the expiration of tax cuts that would likely mean less money in your pocket. At the whitlows on wilson restaurant in arlington, virginia, plenty of food and drink. But theres Something Else cooking up, worry. Coowner jonathan williams, concerned about the pending government fiscal cliff. Theres a real simple correlation, people have jobs, they spend money. If people are worried about losing their jobs or dont have a job, then theyre not going to go out that much. Theyre going to cook at home or stay at home. Reporter just a couple miles from the pentagon many of the patrons here work directly or indirectly for the Defense Department and its contractors. The Defense Industry is facing 55 billion in Discretionary Spending cuts next Year Unless Congress acts to avert the socalled fiscal cliff. In addition several key tax benefits are scheduled to expire at the end of the year that will have a direct impact on the pocketbooks of many americans. Take a couple with one child living in new york earning 100,000. Their tax rate jumps from 25 to 28 . They could be hit by the alternative minimum tax, the Child Tax Credit drops from 1,000 to 500 and payroll taxes could be 2,000 more next year. For a single 25yearold in michigan who works fulltime earning 30,000 a year and going to school parttime, his tax rate would stay the same at 15 , but he would lose the American Education tax credit and have to pay more than 600 in payroll taxes. And even though its weeks before the changes would take effect, the impact is already being felt because of uncertainty. 401 k plans are taking a hit. The stock market down more than 700 points in the last nine days. Several company haves put a freeze on hiring. And the next thing to watch for, the retail sector, which makes most of its money in the final weeks of the year. Black friday is already next week. And retailers are just hoping it doesnt turn into bleak friday. Im shortening the list a lot. Just doing the essentials. Taking care of the priorities first. And then trying to be, you know, penny wise and not dollar stupid. And the National Retail federation, they did a survey that 64 of americans are watching very closely the negotiations in washington over the fiscal cliff. And a lot of consumers are taking a wait and see approach. And right now they are just simply reluctant to go on a spending spree, wolf. The clock is ticking, ticking, ticking right now. So many people with so much riding on this right now. Again, you have the Holiday Shopping season, so retailers really want to see a fix right away. Its that uncertainty thats causing the stock market for example right now to go down, down, 700 points since election day. That effects all of our 401 k plans as we well know. People will pay for that. Thanks very much. Mitt romney ignites a new political fire storm with comments about president obamas reelection victory. Up next youre goij e going to find out what he said that has even some of his own supporters outraged. Billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. Today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. And bps also committed to america. We support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Our commitment has never been stronger. Something this delicious could only come from nature. Now from the maker of splenda sweeteners, discover nectresse. The only 100 natural, nocalorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit. The rich, sweet taste of sugar. Nothing artificial. Its all that sweet ever needs to be. New nectresse. Sweetness naturally. Two. Three. My Credit Card Rewards are easy to remember. With the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i earn 1 cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2 back on groceries. [ all ] 3 on gas no hoops to jump through. I earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] its as easy as. [ all ] one two. [ all ] three [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. Apply online or at a bank of america near you. Mitt romney has been staying out of the spotlight since he lost the election nine days ago, but in a phone call to top donors this week he laid out one explanation for his defeat. What the president , the president s campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote. Lets bring in our cnn senior political analyst ron bro brownstein, ron, pretty shocking comments that even some republicans like bobby jindal are saying are outrageous. Extraordinary. I was trying to think you have to go back to Richard Nixon, you wont have Richard Nixon to kick around to find comments quite so bitter from a loser in a major race. Basically mitt romney was returning to the argument of the 47 . You know, he said that 47 of the country was essentially being bought off by government benefits. He renounced that during the campaign. Well, in that phone call he renounced the renunciation. Why is he doing that . I mean, is it his way of suggesting maybe this is why he failed in his bid for the presidency . I mean, he was fundamentally defeated by the emergence of the next america. He ran about as well as you could run among white voters. In fact, he ran as well as any republican challenger ever among white voters and still lost 332 Electoral College votes largely because he performed so poorly. In this i thought he expressed extraordinary contempt for the voters rather than focusing on other areas like his outreach to nonwhite voters and alienated hispanics with his talk about deportation during the primaries. Not only was it bad politics, it was bad analysis. Paul ryan, the republican Vice President ial running mate also speaking out. Im going to play a clip of what he told one of our local milwaukee tv affiliates. When we saw the kind of turnout that was occurring in urban areas which were really fairly unprecedented, it did come as a bit of a shock. Those are the tough kind of losses to have, the ones that catch you by surprise. Unprecedented turnout in urban areas. Is that another way of saying what romney said . Its a different version. And of course paul ryan in his speeches often made the argument about makers versus takers and whether theres a Tipping Point in effect where the people dependent on government outvote those who pay taxes. Look, republicans face a choice here. Mitt romney as i said just kind of maxed out on white voters and still lost 332 Electoral College votes. The overwhelming evidence, wolf, is that unless they expand thei width, theyre facing kind of a hill. Democrats won the popular vote in five of the last six president ial elections. Its not a coincidence. This coalition, as it currently stands, the coalition of the ascendant among republicans have a choice, crack it or rage against it. What you saw romney and reagan. Even when al gore lost, he had more votes nationally than george w. Bush. Jack is back with the cafarty file. Jack . Following up on what youre talking about. The question this hour is Hillary Clinton. The answer might not make any difference what the republicans do between now and the next election. Bob in florida writes the last thing we need is another liberal know it all with zero economic or financial experience. Someone who never created a job, balanced a budget or met a payroll. Remember first attempt at universal health care. Fortunately we stopped that one. Kim in kansas writes, too early to tell, jack. She should be the minimum standard of talent and popularity required to be a candidate. Republicans will have their revengef fufu fuful axes sharpe 2016. Mitchell says Hillary Clinton was the answer four years ago and certainly be the answer for this country in 2016. I only hope she has the sense to take on the challaenge and go fx what has been done so far. Paul in North Carolina says, how do we know if hillary is the answer if we dont know the question. The 2016 election is a long way off. No reasonable person would even attempt to predict what the issues might be by then. Lets wait and see what the world looks like in the spring of 2016 before trying to decide who has the right answers. Gary in arizona says, well, we tried everything else. So why not a women . But those available i would prefer Condoleezza Rice to Hillary Clinton. Her resume is certainly equal to clintons. Im for rice with rubio as the Vice President. Those two on the same ticket would certainly change the image of the Republican Party. And mike in minneapolis says, oh, good. Time to Start Talking about the next election because its been about an hour since the last one. If you want to read more on the subect, go to the blog or through our post on the situation rooms facebook page. No electricity and theyre living gallon to gallon with their generator providing the only heat for their home. Their facetoface encounter today with the president of the United States. If we want to improve our schools. What should we invest in . Maybe New Buildings . What about updated equipment . They can help, but recent research shows. Nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. Lets build a strong foundation. Lets invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. Lets solve this. Nononouncer ] this is a fire that didnt destroy a home. This is a breakin that didnt devastate a family. This is the reason why adt. And while some Companies May offer home security, at adt, we specialize in it, helping to save lives for more than 135 years. We have more monitoring centers, more of Tomorrows Technology right here today, and more value 24 7 monitoring against burglary, fire, and high levels of Carbon Monoxide starting at just over 1 a day. And now get adt installed for just 99. This is the computer that didnt get stolen, keeping priceless photos and financial records safe. This is the reason why. You cant predict when bad things will happen, so help protect yourself with adt. Isnt your family worth americas numberone Security Company . Call and get adt installed for just 99. And ask about adt pulse, advanced Home Management here today. Adt. Always there. President obama visited new york city to get a firsthand look at the devastation left behind by the superstorm sandy. He vowed fema would be there as long as it takes to get people back on their feet. As you travel around parts of Staten Island and we flew over parts of, other parts of the city and the region that had been impacted, theres still a lot of cleanup to do. People still need emergency help. They still need heat and they still need power and they still need food and they still need shelter. President spoke with several families, including one couple. Our mary snow spent the day with. Mary is joining us now. This sandy really took a toll on this family. It did, wolf. And this family has stayed in their home since sandy tore through 17 days ago. They have no power, they say theyve been robbed once and theyre afraid to leave behind what little they have left and they say they are hoping, they are hoping that the president s visit today was not just a photo op. Nicks mission now is keeping the heat on in his familys Staten Island house. Paying little notice as his community readied for a visit from the president to view the damage of one of sandys hardest hit areas. He was more concerned with working on the boiler he was able to rig up just wednesday to provide heat. Put a generator into your bedroom with an electric oil heat, its not enough heat to survive. Its, you know, can i have left the house and went into a hotel . They wanted to give us something somewhere in jersey. You cant walk away from your house. Reporter cnn first caught up with the camaradas last week as nick described his hearrowing experience. I twas electrocuted trying t get back in my house and watching all my possessions and my family practically almost dying. Reporter since then, they have been getting offers of help. To get through each day, they rely on friends and relatives who have been delivering gasoline for the generator. They plan to rebuild, but they say the 19,000 theyve been told they can get in government aid wont be enough and feared the president wouldnt see how bad the damage really is. Everything is all cleaned up, the streets. You know, look pretty. It wasnt pretty like this. Up until the last two days they cleaned up now because the president s coming down to see. You know, the progress that was made down here. As the president arrived, nick and diane decided to try and see if they can reach him. They stood in a small crowd waiting and they were able to speak with the president. But heres my commitment to you is im going to stay on it. Im not going to be a stranger and suddenly forget all about it. Does it change anything for you . Well, were going to see. Were going to see. Well see down the road. Down the road theres always a road to recovery and, you know, down that long road to recovery, were going to see the real barack obama. You know, his true colors. With a little more hope, they head back to whats left of their home. But today, wolf, came another potential setback. They learned the gas lines may be shut off while repairs are done. Leaving thel in the cold, once again. Wolf . What a heartbreaking story, mary, thanks very much. Happening now, the political brawl over the attack on the United States diplomats in libya gets angrier as lawmakers see a very disturbing video from the scene. Plus, were learning what general David Petraeus will say to the u. S. Congress about the benghazi attack. Were told he wants to set the record straight. Rising fears right now of allout war. Israel expands its deadly offensive against militants in gaza. Will either side blink . Im wolf blitzer, youre in the situation room. Members of congress say theyre trying to get a closer to the truth about the september 11th attack on four u. S. Diplomats in benghazi that killed the United States ambassador to libya. Days closed sessionsin the house and the senate are steep in politics and very, very angry allegations. More than one republican has accused the Obama Administration of lying to the American People in the days immediately after the attack. Lets go to our senior Congressional Correspondent dana bash. Dana, you now have learned some amazing material was on that video that the lawmakers saw behind clos doors today. Thats right. I was told by a source who was at a briefing earlier today in the House Intelligence Committee that one of the things that they witnessed in this video that was played for them was ambassador Christopher Stevens being dragged out. Being dragged out of the consulate. Its unclear from this source or really from the video, at least, what the status of the ambassador was, whether he was alive or dead. But, certainly, i can imagine seeing that video must have been very difficult. But that was not the only thing they saw. This was Surveillance Video, were told, by a second source coming out of the Senate Briefing, that is still going on right now. This was Surveillance Video from the compound, but also video that was shown to them captured by drones. So, there is a combination of videos. And, you know, i should tell you that this has been a very, very long day for top intelligence officials for the acting cia director and director of national intelligence. They came here this morning about 10 00 and still Briefing Members of congress. In fact, the Senate Briefing is still going on. Its been going on for about four hours now, wolf. We told you that we expected the Senate Intelligence chair woman to come out ten hours ago. That still hasnt happened. Were waiting to hear what they say. As you can imagine, a mixed reaction from democrats and republicans to what theyre hearing. Whether or not it has really cleared up what the administration knew and didnt know beforehand. Kind of a political test from republicans are saying, ahha, it is proof that the administration wasnt forthcoming with all the information they had about this really being a terrorist attack. The terrorist elements and democrats saying that they believe even more now that the administration was just dealing with the information that they had the time from intelligence sources. Lets turn to senator john mccain. He has been aggressively blamin the white house for not releasing accurateini informati to the American Public. But he missed an important briefing yesterday on the benghazi situation. What happened . It turns out he was one of Many Republican senators who just did not go to a briefing from the Homeland Security, within the Homeland Security committee. An intelligence briefing on the benghazi attack and, at the time, it turns out he was at a press conference talking about the fact that there needs to be more information and that there needs to be a select committee to look into all the things that happened and what went wrong. We do know from our ted barnt that he tried to get information at least this morning about what happened. Why he didnt go and that conversation went, did not go very well. It was pretty testy. Listen to some of it. Listen. I understand that you did miss this briefing yesterday. I mean is there i will not, have no further comment. How many times, as a senator, i have no comment. Now, afterwards, senator mccains office contacted us and told us the reason why he wasnt at that briefing is because of a scheduling error and thats why he wasnt there. But that was not the answer that he gave, as you heard there. Didnt give him an answer, even though ted did try. He certainly did. Dana, thanks very much. John mccain is going to be on piers morgan tonight. Looking forward to that. Meanwhile, the former cia director David Petraeus will testify before Congress Tomorrow about the benghazi attack. Were learning what he will say. Kate bolduan is here. Who knew what and specifically when . Putrays wants to clarify some earlier statements to lawmakers specifically on when he first learned who was behind the attack. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr broke this story just a short time ago. Barbara, what is the former cia director expected to say . Well, kate and wolf. I have spoken to a source, a longstanding source of mine who is close to petraeus, someone who is not a junior aide. Petraeus wants to go to the capitol hill and clear this up. That petraeus, as cia director, knew almost immediately, thats how the source characterizes it, that al qaeda sympathizer group in libya was behind the attack. But the confusion emerged very quickly, as well. Because petraeus and the cia had about 20 different intelligence reports, we are told, that indicated it was due to that antiislamic film back in cairo that had sparked the riots. So, what you have here are two questions on the table. Who is responsible and what was their motivation . What we now understand is petraeus will tell the committee those 20 reports or so about the it being a spontaneous riot because people objected to the film. Those reports were disproved over time. But not until after petraeus made that initial briefing to capitol hill about what he knew. Pardon me. So, he wants to go clear it all up. All right. Barbara starr doing some great reporting at the pentagon for us this evening. Barbara, thank you so much. She certainly is. Lets dig deeper now with our National Security. Theyre trying to clear up what the Intelligence Community knew but so muddled right now and it looks like what general petraeus is going to say to the Senate Intelligence committee, House Intelligence Committee is different than what others have said. Well, its actually, i think what barbara is telling us is that its going to be different than what he initially said, right . You know, remember when Suzanne Kelley reporting right after the benghazi attack, we had been hearing that there was some intelligence to suggest that this attack had been at least motivated or inspired by the protests in cairo. It sounds now like from barbaras reporting, then general petraeus went up to capitol hill and said, of course, over time became pretty clear and quickly that this was a terrorist attack. Regardless of what its motivation had been. And i think that there is a real sense of frustration on the hill. Whatever motivated it is less important to them than who did it and they want absolute clarity about that and i think director petraeus, for his own credibility on capitol hill, will give that. You didnt have to be an intelligence genius to figure out an attack on the u. S. Diplomatic compound in benghazi and the 11th anniversary of 9 11 was a terrorist operation. That was i mean, i said it that day, the next day when i had mike rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee on this show. We both said, this is too coincident coincidental. Not a spontaneous thing. Especially two attacks previously at that consulate and does not get you to the attack on the u. S. Ambassador. Petraeus clarifying his remarks tomorrow. Is this going to serve as proof that the cia somehow, was it poorly executed investigation or are they did a really poor job communicating early on or they shouldnt have communicated early on until they knew what the story was. Another example, kate, in the heat of battle when something erupts, you look at all the intelligence sources. Youre looking at videos and signals intelligence, things that you collected, pictures, drones and putting all that together and sort through the inconsistencies. Its, as you suggest, until you had the opportunity to do that, you have to be pretty careful about drawing conclusions. I want you to stick around for a moment because about to emerge from the Senate Intelligence committee. Were going to hear what they have to say because theyve been getting some classified information. Stand by. Theres a lot going on. Well take a quick break and have live coverage of what they have to say right after this. [ female announcer ] you can make macaroni cheese without freshlymade pasta. You could also cut corners by making it without 100 real cheddar cheese. But then. It wouldnt be Stouffers Mac cheese. Just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffers. All right. Look at live pictures from capitol hill. The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dianne feinste feinstein, theyre both expected to walk out momentarily. Theyve been in there for the last several hours getting briefed on what happened in benghazi on september 11th when the u. S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed along with three other americans. Well have live coverage as soon as they get to the podium. Fran townsend is still with us, kate bolduan is here, as well. The video that they saw, the Surveillance Video that members of the senate and house now showing being dragged out of the diplomatic compound and we dont know, though, is he alive or dead in this video. Have you heard . It is interesting, wolf, i havent realized the video they were going to show included that very sensitive, obvious piece of ambassador Chris Stevens and, truthfully, one i was surprised. But my real first thought, yes, youd like to know, can you tell if hes alive. Its unlikely, i suspect. But my first thought was with his family. Did the u. S. Government contact Chris Stevens family and asked them if they wanted to see it before it was shown to all these people as part of the oversight process. Not that it would have stopped them, but you want to give the family, the president himself has promised them to have updates and keep them well informed and i sure hope before this is shown to a whole bunch of members of congress that the family at least had an opportunity, they were informed and would have had an opportunity to say whether or not they wanted to see it. Coming from the cia, from that position when theyre in there briefing them. What is the benefit of showing these members of congress this Surveillance Video . What is the point theyre trying to assist with it in showing this video . The members of congress have an oversight role and theyre entitled to see what was the information that the Intelligence Community, the cia when they were drawing their conclusions. What they were looking at. A way of testing the conclusions. The other story were watching is the continued investigation into this whole general petraeus affair thats going on. Let me read to you a statement that the cia spokesman put out today. At the cia, we are constantly reviewing our performance. If there are lessons to be learned from this case well use them to learn but were not getting ahead of ourselves and an investigation is exploratory and doesnt presuppose any particular outcome. Explain this, give us some perspective. The key there is lessons to be learned, right . So after the coast base tragedy where there were cia officers killed, there was a Lesson Learned to review. Everyone both directly involved and on tand how could we have prevented this and known about it . The interesting thing about this, the notion that it doesnt presuppose an outcome. Here comes senator feinstein a and and chambliss. I want to listen in on what the chair of the committee says. I am here with our vice chairman senator chambliss of georgia and we just had a very lengthy first inquiry. We had virtually all members of the committee there, except for one. We heard a or saw a realtime film put together by ntec about what happened. We had the opportunity to question the dni, the acting director of intelligence. General roverson from the joint chiefs. Pat kennedy, the ambassador who heads the security aspects of the state department. Im not going to tell you what questions were asked or what answers were given. This is just the first step in the inquiry. We will meet, as you all know, with former director petraeus in the morning and then we will resume the week we come back with another two full hearings. And then we anticipate that we will have a public hearing and, at that time, make our findings that can be unclassified released. I think it was a good hearing. I think it gave us an idea as to the depth and breath of this and we will just continue to do so and plow through this until we believe we have enough information to make some findings. Vice chairman . A few things i take away from this hearing. Do we know mistakes were made . We know mistakes were made and we have to learn from that. Ask tough questions of our Witnesses Today and we are going to continue to do that and our subsequent hearings which the chairman has outlined. Secondly, what was, again, highlighted, is the professionalism of our men and women who are in the Intelligence Committee and who are in the Armed Services who were involved here, obviously, as well as in the state department. Some very heroic acts that took place. That does not, in any way, minimize, obviously, the fact that we lost four americans. And at the end of the day, our committee is going to get to the bottom of this and were going to do it in a classified way to the extent we need to, but at the end of the day, as chairman feinstein says, were going to have a public hearing where the American People are going to have the opportunity to see the questions asked and get the answers to questions that they have had since september 11th of this year. Id like to expand on something that the vice chairman said. This is a very difficult area of the world. People who participate in the Intelligence Services that cover this area of the world i think have great difficulty. Its a different culture, its a different language, its a different dialect. The countries are troubled from within. And theres a great deal of instability. So, its a very precipitous situation and on behalf of the whole committee, i really want to thank them. This is a Huge Community doing the best they can. And this isnt the days of, you know, kgb, cia intelligence. Its a whole new world. And an extraordinarily difficult one. And as the vice chairman said, we very much appreciate their service and its very easy to criticize. Its very hard to be out there and put this altogether. Senator feinstein, in any way the films that you saw. I understand in any way the films that you saw and, secondly, can you tell us when the Intelligence Community got their hands on that film to help us with a timeline of what they knew when . No, i dont think i can help you with the actual timeline that this was put together. The film is a composite from a number of sources. It is real time and it begins before the incident started and it goes through the incident. And the exodus. I dont think i should say any more at this time yes, it does. Im not not going to comment. General petraeus that you could not get from an agency standpoint that you could not get from acting director morell today . Yeah. Well general petraeus went to tripoli and interviewed many of the people, as i understand it, that were involved. And, so, the opportunity to get his views, i think, are very important. This is not to criticize anybody today because people were in what they said and we had a back and forth and not always the easiest thing, im sure, for everybody that was testifying. But we learned a great deal. All right, so, senator feinstein wrapping up an important hearing and theyll continue tomorrow morning, you just heard her say general David Petraeus the now former cia director will appear and Fran Townsend is here with kate and me. Did you learn anything from what she just said . I think they have been very careful. We now understand in addition to drone video, a composite put together so they could watch it from beginning to end. That actually was very important that senator feinstein said it started before the attack began. So, once youve watched this, there is not going to be any at some point there will be no further dispute as to whether or not there was a protest that kicked this thing off. That sort has been dissolving over time. I think this video is going to put at least that piece to rest. Well see if they ever make this video available two closed door hearings. Fran, thanks very much. Were going to take you through the timeline of who knew what and when in the benghazi attack, when we come back. Cmax has a nice little trait, you see, cmax helps you load your freight, with its footactivated lift gate. But thats not all youll see, cause cmax also beats prius v, with better mpg. Say hi to the allnew 47 combined mpg cmax hybrid. But they havent experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. In fact, in a recent survey, 95 of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. Visit fastreliefchallenge. Com today for a special trial offer. Bp has paid overthe people of bp twentythreeitment to the gulf. Billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. Today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. And bps also committed to america. We support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Our commitment has never been stronger. Trading deadly new attacks. Theyre ratcheting up fears of a fullscale war. The second day of israels assault on what it calls terror targets in gaza. Retaliation for hundreds of rocket strikes on southern israel. Police say three israelis have been killed in fresh attacks by hamas and other militant groups. Hamas which controls gaza says 18 palestinians have been killed. As israel pounds targets in gaza, the israeli army is moving troops towards the border with gaza. Militants will pay a price for an attempt to strike at the heart of tell aviv. I spoke with the israeli ambassador to the United States in the last hour. The Prime Minister of israel has to go into a bomb shelter. Imagine if the president of the United States had to go to a bomb shelter. 150 million americans were under rocket fire, what kind of steps the United States would take to ensure the safety of its citi n citizens. Those are the types of steps were going to have to take. Were joined now by two veteran middle east analysts. Peace and development of the university of maryland and also with the Brookings Institution here in washington. Erin daair Aaron David Miller i arab peace negotiations. Guys, thanks very much for coming in. It feels like theyre on the verge of fullscale war. Does it feel that way to you . Its fair to say, wolf, it will get worse before it gets worse. The factors for a resolution between israel and hamas simply arent there. New thresholds have been crossed. Yeah, for the first time, the equivalent used against tel a v aviv. Clearly with a range of 60 to 70 kilometers, number one. Number two, the politics are down. Hamas trying to consolidate its authority and maintain the legitimacy and outnumbered by these small jihadi groups and under pressure from southern communities to stop the gunfire and elections in january. You agree with that analysis . The thing is, i think there is a chance of escalation. We see it partly driven by politics and partly driven by strategy. I also think we shouldnt take, you know, the mobilization at face value. If theyre ultimately going to have to negotiate a ceasefire, whether it is after escalation or before escalation and they both have to send a message that they have an upper hand and they have more in store, hamas is now signaled that it can hit tel aviv. The israelis have called reserves or said they plan to call reserves and they both have to do that. I think in the short term i really dont see it in their interest to do so. More importantly, its not in the interest of any of their allies. Certainly the u. S. Doesnt want to see this happen and the egyptians, the allies of hamas puts them in a difficult position and they dont want to be in the situation of confrontation with israel at this point. Certainly other friends of hamas, including the turks dont want to see an escalation. It puts a lot of pressure on the player on the outside. What role should the u. S. Play in this . What should the u. S. Do, if anything, to stop this latest stream of violence . We had a trial run in 08 and 09 when barack obama was not yet inaugurated president. I mean, american options are limited. We can certainly work with the israelis to try to resist restraint that they are willing to lean on hamas to provide the political space and time for a resolution. I think shelby is right, neither in hamas interest to see this escalate. You just had a highlevel delegation from qatar going to gaza. I suppose if somebody could intervene and try to create a ceasefire, i dont think the egyptians right now doing much. Well, the qatar only provide financial support. But, ultimately, for hamas, the strategic partner, the strategic ally in the long term is the Egyptian Government. Particularly the Muslim Brotherhood. That is really where its all going to be. You can see, already morsi, the president of egypt. Were likely to see demonstrations by his own party, the Muslim Brotherhood in the streets of cairo. In support of hamas. In support of hamas and asking for doing more beyond recalling the egyptian ambassador from israel. Hes being taunted from the opposition, people saying how different are you from obama. Is the egyptian peace treaty about to collapse . I dont think so. Most have an objective to empty most of its content and not prepared to do it in a revolutionary way. Needs american support and needs the good will of the International Community to address egypts economic problems. No surprise that there is a lot of talk that theres more to this than what we see on the surface. More going on behind the scenes that iran is involved and has its fingers in this, as well. What do you think . Iran is involved that some of the missiles that hit tel aviv, theyre supplied by iran. So, they are. But i think the decisions are probably not iranian decisions. I think it is, there is, you know, when you look at the last few month, both hamas and israel have been actually relatively restrained. Been an escalation in the gaza strip that started off by the infringed groups. The israelis always respond, but there was a little bit of an escalation, even by hamas partly because of extremists when hamas is saying why arent you responding to palestinian attacks. There was an assumption that israel was unlikely to launch a major attack, certainly a ground war just before the election. So, in some ways, both were trapped in a political dance that led to an escalation. The problem with escalation is, you cant control it. Dont know where it is going to wind up. This thing can blow up if syria gets involved and receive instability in jordan right now, forget about the rest of the region. If you were advising the president of the United States, aaron, and you worked with several u. S. President s and secretaries of state, what would you tell him to do . First of all, he has to use the relationship that he has. Remember, look, our traditional partners in this region, three. Most important, theyve been with us for the longest. Israelis, egyptians and saudis. Each have to be mobilized in order to on the israeli side measure of restrain and try to get morsi. After all, the brotherhood, hamas is an offshoot of the brotherhood. They are dependent on him. But, this is not a traditional situation where the United States can walk in and broker a conflict between israelis and palestinians. We do not have a relationship with one of the major combatants. Im not arguing the u. S. Regards as a terrorist organization. Im not arguing that we do or that we should, but it does impose certain limitations on what we can do. I mean, on this issue, i think, really, the administrations biggest lever is trying to cultivate a new relationship with egypt. No doubt about that. In some ways, theres an opening and was an opening before this escalation. The Egyptian Government that president morsi indicated preparedness to mediate a ceasefire. Hamas was responsive to them. They have some clout with hamas. The israelis could have used that to have a working relationship with the new Egyptian Government, particularly through u. S. Mediation. Thats where we are. Has to be cultivated in this. We have to worry about jordan. Wolf, you mentioned jordan. The riots over the gas prices there have been praty e pretty e and they targeted the king. If this thing extends beyond thiswalk, you can bet that the riots in jordan will be not just over gas. Theyll be directed at israel. All right, guys, we have to leave it right there. Well watch it very, very closely. Thanks very much. Republicans say the Administration Lied about the benghazi attack. Are they right . Well take you through the timeline of who knew what and when. Thats coming up next. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china, impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u. S. . At t. Rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. Its just one reason over 75 of our mutual funds beat their 10year lipper average. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. We have been hearing leading republicans accusing top officials of bold face lies about the attack on u. S. Diplomats in benghazi, libya. What is clear is that this administration, including the president himself, has intent n intentionally misinformed, lied to the American People in the aftermath of this tragedy. The Administration Says its statements soon after the attack were based on conflicting information and the president says he, too, wants to get to the bottom of what happened in benghazi. Cnns tom foreman has been taking a close look at what was said. Tom, what are you seeing . Wolf, what is really being looked at here very closely is a timeline of facts in benghazi to see how much that matches up to the statements coming out of the administration. Lets look here at the timeline. September 11th, 2012, thats when the attack took the lives of Christopher Stevens and three others. President obama is informed and the next day he refers to it as an act of terrorism. Listen. No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation. No acts of terror will dim the lights of the values we proudly shine on the rest of the world. No act of terror will go unpunished. Now, on that same day, sources tell cnn even more details saying they do not believe, on the same day, they do not believe that this attack grew out of some mob protesting the antiislamic video. Instead, this was a clearly planned militarytype attack. However, we move forward here to september 16th and now look at what ambassador susan rice says on cbs face the nation. Very different story. Soon after that spontaneous protest began outside of our consulate in benghazi, we believe that it looks like extremist elements, individuals joined in. So, there you go. Extremist elements joined in. Talking about the idea moving in. On the 19th, yet another change as the director of the National Counterterrorism and secretary of state weighed in. They echoed that theme we mentioned a moment ago, wolf. The idea that maybe this was some sort of spontaneous thing. Maybe terrorism but just sort of popped up. Some officials suggested, fairly enough, that it wasnt clear in the first few hours or days about precisely who was involved. Remember, eight days later and now on the 25th, more than two weeks after the attack, listen to the president on the view. Then i heard Hillary Clinton say that it was an act of terrorism. Is it . What do you say . Were still doing an investigation. Theres no doubt that the kind of weapons that were used, the ongoing assault that it wasnt just a mob action. Not just a mob action. This is what has republicans fuming. They believe the facts by this point have been firmly established enough to know that this was a planned attack and the administration knew it. If not immediately, then pretty soon afterward. But the suggestion is they were afraid to admit it because it would be a blemish on the president s record of tough on terror and tackling al qaeda. Thats why according to some republican leaders, officials toss around hints that it somehow had something to do with a mob and spontaneous eruption and since ambassador rice was the first one to carry that water, some republicans say they just do not trust her. Listen to the latest comment on that front. And the reason i dont trust her is because i think she knew better and if she didnt know better, she shouldnt be the voice of america. Somebody has got to start paying a price around this place. Theres no question, wolf, this is what is going to continue. These two timelines. The official timeline from the administration and the real timeline from this investigation. The complaint from republicans being they dont really match up. Well see. Well see, indeed. Tom foreman with that timeline, thanks very much. Still ahead, guilty pleas and billions of dollars in penalty. Bp settles up with the government for the deep water horizon disaster. Two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. Bp has paid over twentythree billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. Today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. And bps also committed to america. We support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Our commitment has never been stronger. To get our adt Security System. And one really big reason the house next door. Our neighbors house was broken into. Luckily, her family wasnt there, but what if this happened here . What if our girls were home . And since we cant monitor everything 24 7, we got someone who could. Adt. [ male announcer ] while some companies are new to home security, adt has been helping to save lives for over 135 years. We have more monitoring centers, more of Tomorrows Technology right here today, and more value. 24 7 monitoring against burglary, fire, and high levels of Carbon Monoxide, starting at just over 1 a day. And now get adt installed for just 99. Isnt your family worth americas number one Security Company, adt . [ woman ] our girls got us thinking, but the breakin got us calling. [ man ] and after buying two of everything, it was nice to only need one Security System adt. [ male announcer ] get adt installed for just 99, and ask about adt pulse, advanced Home Management here today. Adt. Always there. Bp pays heavy price for the Gulf Oil Spill kate is back with the top story. Part of the dweel over the 2010 deep water horizon disaster including guilty pleas. Heres cnns ed lavandera on what else is in the settlement. There are criminal charges that have been, the company has pled guilty to, as well as three employees that now face criminal charges, including manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, as well as withholding information from investigators. And theres also one of the things that bp will also have to do is deal with these officers that have to be put in to deal with process and ethic issues. Under probation for five years. A lot of their exploration and the way they do business, according to this Justice Department settlement will be under heavy scrutiny for several more years. All this on top of 20 billion that bp is paying into Settlement Fund for damage claims. The Postal Service has its own money troubles. A record loss of nearly 16 billion for the past year. The Postal Service blames the loss on a requirement that it prefund Retiree Health benefits. These losses were triple the amount from a year ago. And a shortage of gas used to inflate giant parade balloons has this years houston thanksgiving day parade in jeopardy. Parade officials need another 22,000 pounds of helium. So, if you have some, send it on down to texas. Texas is one of the Worlds Largest producers, but a cut back in natural Gas Production is making helium a little more scarce. Who knew, wolf . Were now facing a helium shortage. Thank you. President obama gets a firsthand look at sandys devastation. Up next, what it could mean for the Climate Change debate in his second term. [ female announcer ] you can make macaroni cheese without freshlymade pasta. You could also cut corners by making it without 100 real cheddar cheese. But then. It wouldnt be Stouffers Mac cheese. Just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffers. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. How you doing today . Im good thanks. How are you . Im good. [ gordon ] but for others, its all they can afford. Every day nearly nine million Older Americans dont have enough to eat. Anything else . No, not today. Join me, aarp, and Aarp Foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger. Org. And the candidates speech is in pieces all over the district. The writers desktop and the coordinators phone are working on a joke with local color. The secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategists tablet. And while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center. Working together has never worked so well. President obama got a firsthand look at parts of new york city that were hit by superstorm sandy. That storm raising questions about the governments response and other questions about Climate Change. President obama visited new york city, getting his first look by helicopter at neighborhoods in queens battered by superstorm sandy. Hardhit Staten Island, he visited a Disaster Recovery center. One of the six in the area offering hot meals, clothes, showers an help to new yorkers applying for assistance. Theres still a lot of cleanup to do. People still need emergency help. They still need heat, power. They still need food. We are going to make sure that we stay here as long as people need that immediate help. Thats femas primary task. Making landfall just days before the president ial election, this rare new england megastorm thrust the debate over Climate Change into the spotlight after it had been largely ignored on the campaign trail. President obama was accompanied by mayor bloomberg, who endorsed him for president because of his stand on global warming. We must rethink and redesign for the longterm because extreme weather as we have learned, is the new normal. In his press conference wednesday, president obama seemed so down play expeck tacts that he might tackle energy in his second term. People have been so focused and will continue to be focused on our economy and jobs and growth that you know, if the message is somehow were going to ignore jobs and growth, simply to address Climate Change, i dont think anybodys going to go for that. I wont go for that. The oil industry was encouraged by that. I think the president put the Climate Change issue to rest by saying weve got to focus on clearly, thats where the American People are and energy plays a key role in that. We can create thousands of jobs by producing americas oil and natural gas, providing affordable, Reliable Energy to our citizens. And environmentalists found a Silver Lining in the president s comments. Were hearing okay, maybe hes not talking about passing sweeping legislation, but he has powers. Hes issued power plant rules for new power plants coming out to regulate their carbon and we need him to take the next step and regulate carbon from existing power plants. He can do that without congress. The Clean Air Act provides that. Now, for now, wolf, state leaders on both sides of the issue are holding their fire to see if president obama and keep an eye on the fight over the keystone xl pipeline. Its seen by many as the first test as to which direction president obama wants to go and the administration could issue its decision on whether to let that project move forward here in the next few months. Thats critically important to a lot of folks out there. Next, a new commercial stirring up quite a bit of controversy. [ male announcer ] you build a reputation by not breaking down. Consider the silverado 1500 still the most dependable, longestlasting fullsize pickups on the road. And now weve also been recognized for lowest total cost of ownership based on important things, like depreciation, fuel, and maintenance costs. And now trade up to get a 2012 Chevy Silverado allstar edition with a total value of 9,000. From outstanding value to standing the test of time, chevy runs deep. Move over, talking baby, tiny lizards. Theres a new commercial star in town and it has fur and it flies. Heres cnns jeanne moos. Dont ask how they pulled the rip cord, theres skydiving cats. I believe i can fly i believe i can touch the sky a swedish Insurance Company asked its customers to suggest web ads. The company suggests skydiving cats spelling out her name, putting it to an r. Kelly song was the cats pajamas. The high five midair should have been the tip off, but some pet lovers were upset. This is not funny or cute, it is true. Thats disturbing. Wrong on so many levels, but theyre wrong, says the companys marketing director. I can resay sure all cat lovers that the cats have not been skydiving for real. A total of five cats star in the commercial. They never left the studio. People were shot skydiving, then replaced with cats through the magic of green screen. Need a little wind blown fur on wind blown sarah . They used a fan, yes. One person reacted online by posting this kitty dont need no parachute. Actually, skydiving dogs are a lot more common. Like bugsy the pug on animal planet. After the chute opened, he licked his chops. Touchdown. And this florida rescue dog skydives strapped to her owner. She has her own oxygen mask. Her tail wasnt wagging. It was flapping. These sky divers made the leap clutching an inflatable sharp with some teeth in their jump. We did dig up one video of a real cat skydiving. Four years ago, a member of a russian parachute club sewed a jump suit for his cat. The cat seemed calm until right before they leaped. But after landing safely, he said the pet didnt even pee himself like a lot of people do their first jump. Its not exactly raining cats and dogs. Just sprinkling. What is so funny about flying cats . Everyone in the studio was
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.