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Obama Administration Ramping Up Security at U.S. Embassies Worldwide; Did the U.S. Have Advance Knowledge of the Attack?; Attack Now Thought To Be Work of "Small and Savage" Radical Group, Not Protesters; Hillary Clinton Reflects on "Confounding" Attacks; Islamic Controversies Over the Years

Aired September 12, 2012 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield with breaking news here at CNN. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 a.m. on the West Coast.

And a shocking attack. A shocking death. A United States ambassador in Libya dead today. The Obama administration taking steps now this hour to beef up security at embassies around the world after this veteran diplomat Christopher Stevens, along with three of his American staffers, were murdered by a mob in Benghazi, Libya.

The attack yesterday was apparently triggered by a film, a film produced by an American by the name of Sam Bacile, the film, considered by many to be highly offensive to Islam. Again, a film.

These murders, of course, taking place in a country that the United States helped to liberate from the dictator, Moammar Gadhafi. A mob also attacked the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday.

Look at the pictures, protesters climbing the embassy walls, secure embassy walls, tearing down and ripping apart the United States flag.

It is unclear if these attacks were coordinated or if they were planned to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks here in America, but moments ago, our President Obama spoke out about these killings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack. We're working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats.

I've always directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world and, make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: We are covering this story from as many angles that CNN has all over the world and we begin in Tripoli. That is the site of these killings.

Our Jomana Karadsheh is live for us. Jomana, just tell me right now what the circumstance is there. Is there still violence in the streets? Has that government cracked down? What's happening in Tripoli today?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tripoli, Ashleigh, does seem to be very calm today. The news of what happened in Benghazi did spread around Tripoli and, speaking to many Libyans today, people on the street, they were shocked and dismayed by this attack, voicing what their government has come out, saying that they feel very sorry.

They apologize for what had happened to the U.S. consulate, to the death of the American citizens, including Ambassador Stevens. They say that this is not representative of the sentiments the Libyan people, as a whole, in general, have for the United States and its people.

There is a lot of gratitude for what the United States did for the Libyan people last year and its -- the role it played through NATO in supporting the Libyan revolution and ousting Libyan dictator, Moammar Gadhafi.

Now, we're also hearing from the Libyan government, top officials, today, holding a news conference a little earlier, also condemning these attacks and vowing to bring those responsible for the attack to justice, hinting that this was carried out, as suspected, by Islamist radical groups that operate in Eastern Libya.

The speaker of the Libyan parliament, the General National Congress, saying that there are all indications that this was orchestrated around the September 11th anniversary and saying that Libya rejects the use of its land for what he described as "revenge attacks," reassuring the United States and the international community that they are working to secure foreign nationals and foreign interests here in Libya.

BANFIELD: Jomana, the Secretary of State called this a "small and savage group" and I'm interested to find out just exactly what the administration in Libya and, particularly, Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib has said, publicly, not only to the global audience, but to his fellow countrymen to condemn this in the strongest possible way.

Because we often see leaders condemn things to the United States and then say something different to their own people. What's happening there?

KARADSHEH: What we're seeing is the majority of the people here are voicing what their government has voiced, condemnation, saying this is not representative. The real issue here is that this is not an isolated incident. In the past few months, we have seen similar attacks in and around the city of Benghazi in the east targeting foreign interests.

We have definitely seen one with a bomb outside the same very building, the U.S. consulate building in Benghazi, detonating back in June. There were no casualties in this attack. A few days later, the convoy of the British ambassador was attacked in Benghazi. These attacks were claimed by a radical group loosely affiliated with jihadi groups, including Al Qaeda.

Now, the real issue here is that the government has not taken a strong stance in dealing with these armed groups, heavily armed groups, that are operating in Eastern Libya. We have heard from Western intelligence sources over recent months that there are even some training camps in parts of Eastern Libya around the city of Derna where some Al Qaeda figures are present.

We've heard from Libyan officials in the past, saying they're aware of these reports, they're aware of these groups, they're keeping an eye on them, but nothing has actually been done to confront these groups and deal with the seriousness of this issue.

BANFIELD: All right and thank you, Jomana Karadsheh, as you continue to watch the developments in Tripoli, I want to head over, as well, to Cairo, Egypt, where the other attack on our embassy was carried out, yesterday.

I want to talk to Mona Eltahawy who joins us now. She's an Egyptian journalist.

Mona, just quickly, tell me what the reaction had been from Mohammed Morsi, the president of that country. We've heard from the Libyan administration and in strong terms. What have we heard of the Egyptian administration about what happened in that country to our embassy?

MONA ELTAHAWY, EQYPTIAN JOURNALIST (via telephone): Well, Ashleigh, we're still waiting to hear from our president and that's what many people here in Egypt are very disappointed and quite shocked by, the fact we haven't had an official statement from the President himself.

We have a statement on television in the name of the government, but many of us, especially those who care about our revolution and remember this is our first post-Mubarak president who was elected by Egyptians going to the polls, we want to hear from him a very strong statement that says that our revolution has goals to achieve and those goals do not include scaling the walls of the U.S. compound or the U.S. embassy compound.

I want to make something very clear, Ashleigh. I believe in the rights of freedom of expression and I also believe in the right of freedom to protest, but the big question about what happened yesterday in Egypt is why at the embassy and why yesterday?

And the last thing that many of us who care about Egypt want to see happen is to see this revolution that we're all so proud of be derailed by a right-wing fringe and, when I say right-ring fringe, I mean a right-wing fringe in the U.S. and a right-wing fringe here in Egypt.

As I'm speaking to you, I'm driving through the streets of Egypt and I actually, as a Muslim, that I'm sure that Prophet Muhammad would be more offended by the horrendous poverty that many Egyptians live in than a film that hardly anyone saw on YouTube and, so, everyone went and to a small group of people at the embassy yesterday made such a fuss about it.

BANFIELD: Well, let me ask you this. I'm looking at the pictures of these people who scaled the walls of the United States embassy in a friendly nation, in a nation that boned-up the security on that very street that we share with the British embassy back in 2003 when the Iraq war broke out. Then it was bolstered again in 201 during the Arab Spring.

How did these people get to the position they got to? Where was the security?

ELTAHAWY (via telephone): Again, Ashleigh, that's the question that many of us are asking because just -- as you know, about ten days ago, Egyptians marched onto the Syrian embassy to protest the horrendous massacre of Syrians fighting for freedom there by the Assad regime and the Egyptian security forces beat many people up and arrested many people up and even exchanged rocks with many of the protesters.

I'm not calling for violence against anyone or from any side, but we have to ask -- where was Egyptian security yesterday, especially around the U.S. embassy which usually is treated like a fortress.

So, again, I ask where is Egyptian President Morsi and what is he doing to secure our revolution and what is he doing to make it clear that he does not allow these -- this right-wing fringe to play on the right wing in order to allow him to play in the more centrist position.

Remember that we spent 30 years under Hosni Mubarak who, by the way, was supported by five U.S. administrations which created deep anti- U.S. sentiment here, understandably, but Hosni Mubarak would play the center to the Muslim Brotherhood's right-wing fringe. Now, we have a Muslim Brotherhood president and the last thing we want to see is see him allow these extremists who marched to the embassy yesterday to play the right wing.

Our revolution has its goals as liberty, bread and social justice and these must not be derailed by a right-wing fringe either in the U.S. or anyone who seems to be offended -- offending us because ...

BANFIELD: Right. Mona Eltahawy, thank you. I have to leave it there. I've got a lot to fit in. We've got the Secretary of State, we've got the President, all speaking today. Mona Eltahawy, reporting to us from Cairo. And all of this stemming from a man, the man behind a film, a film that has sparked this violence and this uproar and, now, these murders.

According to "The Wall Street Journal," the man is 52-year-old Sam Bacile. He wrote and directed and produced the two-hour movie, adding that he is an Israeli-American, a real estate developer, tells "The Wall Street Journal" that the entire film is not available online, only its 13-minute trailer. He's quoted as saying, "Islam is a cancer" and that it is a political movie. He also told "The Journal" that he raised $5 million from what he quotes as "100 Jewish donors."

CNN has been trying extraordinarily hard to reach Mr. Bacile since yesterday. There is word he's in hiding, but we are going to continue to bring you more information about him as it becomes available. And, certainly, we will continue our efforts to interview Mr. Bacile about his production.

In the meantime, our Secretary of State, mincing no words, condemning the killing of Ambassador Stevens and, moments ago, she blamed the attack on what I said earlier, a small and savage group and not the government of Libya.

Elise Labott knew Ambassador Stevens. She works with CNN in the State Department.

Elise, before we talk about your relationship and the ambassador himself, I want you to tell me the most important part of what Hillary Clinton said. Was she working towards a message of condolence or was she trying extraordinarily hard to make sure the world knows that the relationship between this country and Libya is unaffected?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Ashleigh, I think she was trying to do all of those things, show condolences, show shock, show condemning this horrible attack, but also saying this would not deter the United States from working ahead with the Libyans and this would not end the bond that the U.S. has with the Libyan people.

She said it was a very small group of extremists that carried out this attack and, in fact, Christopher Stevens and his team were very popular in Libya. Let's take a listen to what Secretary Clinton said just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This is an attack that should shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world. We condemn in the strongest terms this senseless act of violence and we send our prayers to the families, friends and colleagues of those we've lost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: (INAUDIBLE) reach out to kind of rally the troops here at the State Department, but also say there's no justification for any type of violence of this nature, Ash.

BANFIELD: Let me ask you now about your personal relationship with the ambassador and the work you do. I know that you have a lot of opportunities off-air to spend time with these State Department employees and get to know them and you, in particular, got to know Chris Stevens pretty well.

LABOTT: That's right. I mean, you know, sometimes it's not that we hang out a lot of times with State Department diplomats, but this was someone who was very social, wanted to bring a lot of journalists and State Department officials and analysts together in a more social setting to talk about issues important to the region, to have a little bit of fun and get to know each other so everybody's work is more understood.

I first met Chris Stevens when he was the charge, the head of the mission to the U.S. embassy in Tripoli when the -- in 2007, when the U.S. was trying to restore ties with Libya and I traveled to Libya then under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and spent a lot of time with him. We did a lot of stories when he was involved in them, traveling throughout the country.

Also, you know, then he continued to really care about Libya and, just before he left, after he was the envoy to the opposition, he really, after Gadhafi fell, he really wanted to get back to the country that he loved so much. He talked about it all of the time and really just a really popular guy at the State Department, had a lot of friends, very popular at the foreign service, really seen as the cream of the crop.

So I'm hearing from a lot of his friends and colleagues today how shocked they are and how saddened everybody is that this guy who's, just by all accounts, a really nice guy, had family in Northern California, his family getting a little older. Certainly, they're mourning terribly today.

BANFIELD: Elise, I have to fit in a break, but I just have to ask you, quickly, do you know anything more about the I.D.s on the others? We know Sean Smith, the head of the foreign service information office, but what about the other I.D.s?

LABOTT: Still notifying the next of kin on those I.D.s, so they don't want to say anything yet, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Elise Labott, joining us from the State Department, thank you for that. Back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: President Obama is ramping up security worldwide in the wake of the attack in Libya that left a U.S. ambassador dead and three of his American colleagues dead, as well. U.S. Marines have been deployed to Benghazi, additional Marines, to help secure the U.S. consulate there, the scene of that violence that killed Christopher Stevens and those three other staffers.

Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is live with us, now. What exactly is happening and, when the President says that we are going to make sure there is justice done, what does that mean?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's start with the Marines, Ashleigh. Our latest information is about 50 Marines, specially configured as a counter-terrorism team, coming from Spain, actually going to go, first, at least, to Tripoli, to the capital, to the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, Libya. They may move around a bit once they get there, but they are going to head to Tripoli, specially configured to reinforce and up security at the U.S. diplomatic installation there.

The President, talking about upping security for U.S. diplomats around the world. We will have to see what comes next. Diplomatic security is generally handled three ways. Of course, there are U.S. Marines that protect many embassies around the world. There is also State Department diplomatic security. They typically provide the personal security for ambassadors and top officials. They also tend to be the ones that do the analysis of any emerging threats in the country. In some cases, third option, there are contractors that are hired to provide security. It remains to be seen exactly what was provided for the ambassador in Benghazi yesterday. We are told U.S. Marines aren't there.

So, that's the next question. Now what? Justice will be done.

Ashleigh, you know, my colleague, Nic Robertson, reported back in June that drones were flying over Eastern Libya, looking at jihadi sites, possible training camps, sites where there were jihadi elements. Never confirmed by the U.S., but Libyan officials were saying it, so we know there's a lot of attention being paid to these jihadi groups.

Interesting question: is the President signaling that something is about to happen there? We'll have to see.

BANFIELD: And I tell you what, Barbara. A lot of people think right away that you look at Afghanistan and we left Afghanistan in a vacuum and look what happened and, when we talk about going in and liberating a country or providing assistance to an opposition and we argue what the vacuum's going to look like, afterwards, isn't that exactly what we're talking about now? What's our presence right there, right now, militarily?

STARR: Well, the U.S. never had boots on the ground, of course, in Libya, Ashleigh. U.S. troops were not on the ground in Libya. This was done under a NATO operation, of course, multinational air strikes when Gadhafi began to move against his own people. So, this began as a move to try and secure Benghazi from Libyan regime forces and try and secure them from Gadhafi's onslaught. It did move in to getting Gadhafi out of power, as the rebel forces began to grow.

There is no question that, at the moment, you are beginning to see this rise over the last few months of jihadi groups in Libya, but a vacuum of power? There is a Libyan government in place. There are Libyan security forces.

I think everybody agrees they have a long way to go and what has happened in Libya, what has happened in Cairo is really a question, fundamentally, of whether the security forces in those countries can protect and will protect U.S. diplomatic installations.

BANFIELD: That is a burning question. Barbara Starr, thank you for that. Back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BANFIELD: In some remarks you may have seen this morning from the State Department, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave voice to an unnerving question that certainly arises after this violence in Libya.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Today, many Americans are asking, indeed, I asked myself, how could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate in a city we helped save from destruction? This question reflects just how complicated and at times how confounding the world can be. But we must be clear-eyed, even in our grief. This was an attack by a small and savage group, not the people or government of Libya.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: I'm joined by Jamie Rubin who is the former Assistant Secretary of State under Madeleine Albright.

Jamie, you said this morning on our air this is a hostile act. And, if I can quote you, I think you said some sort of significant response is warranted. What do you mean significant response? What exactly do you mean?

JAMES RUBIN, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, first of all, it's been some three decades since an American ambassador has been killed in the line of duty like this.

An American ambassador is the representative of our country. To assassinate him in this way and the people around him is an attack on Americans, the kind of thing Osama bin Laden when he used to be alive used to organize back in the '90s.

It hasn't happened for some time, so I think there are clearly groups, individuals, groups out there who still regard the United States as an enemy. They're in a war with us. It is not the kind of war, as we know, that we used to have, but it is a war.

I think President Obama has been very, very effective at using covert and overt means to attack individuals like this in response to their behavior and I suspect some military planning is going on to try to locate those extremist groups who are attacking the United States.

BANFIELD: But when you say significant response, I mean, since the comments were made this morning, we've now seen Hillary Clinton come out and say, make no mistake, our relationship will not be the casualty of this. We've also seen the Libyan prime minister say, "We stand with the Americans. You know, this can't happen."

RUBIN: Right.

BANFIELD: So, is our significant response to put as much as we can, the resources, into finding this small and savage group and prosecuting them? Is that the response that's needed or is there something more as a message to the rest of the world that feels the same way that group does?

RUBIN: Well, I think there are -- look, September 11th was a reminder to all of us of what happened 11 years ago here in New York. And a lot of the danger has been removed. Osama bin Laden is dead. The Al Qaeda group is not operating in Afghanistan. But there are smaller, splintered, less coordinated groupings around the world that we are still at war with, in Somalia, in Yemen, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan and, now, in Libya.

And I think what Secretary Clinton did so well is to distinguish between the pride we all felt at helping Libya become free with the chaos that now exists in that country that has enabled this security to be breached and our embassy attacked.

BANFIELD: I mean, clearly something went wrong. The question for you after the break is, did we do something wrong? Is there a lapse on our part, on our government? Is it completely the fault of the Libyan government? After the break, I'll get you to weigh in on that.

Back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: I am still joined by Jamie Rubin, former Assistant Secretary of State under Madeline Albright.

Where's the failing?

RUBIN: It is the responsibility of the Libyan government to protect the perimeter of the U.S. embassy from attacks. This particular attack looks like it was an attack on a moving car.

BANFIELD: As they were fleeing for their safety, I might add, from the attack on the embassy.

RUBIN: Absolutely.

BANFIELD: With an RPG and you don't just happen to be carrying around as a mob.

RUBIN: That's why I think this was planned at some level. That is reflection of dangers ambassadors live through every day and why they are so brave.

BANFIELD: And yet the ambassador said he felt safe on a regular basis in Libya.

RUBIN: The pride that he and the government had we worked so well together. That's why Mrs. Clinton I thought said it so well. It's confounding, the realities of the modern world. Where an ambassador is living in a country where we are heroes to the people there and yet their security is limited so that these kinds of terrible attacks can take place.

BANFIELD: Confounding but it's real.

RUBIN: That's the real world.

BANFIELD: These dangers are real. Friendly or not friendly, we need to know there's dangers.

(CROSSTALK)

RUBIN: That's the new world, Ashleigh, after the fall of these dictators who used to control their countries.

BANFIELD: Quick comment and very quick. The affects on how we now view the possibility of entering the Syrian fray?

RUBIN: Makes it all the harder because people see what the risks are even when you succeed.

BANFIELD: Right.

RUBIN: But it doesn't change the terrible tragedy unfolding in Syria and the consequences it has.

BANFIELD: Thank you. I appreciate your time today and your perspective.

Jamie Rubin joining us live.

I want to mention the U.S. flags are flying at half staff on Capitol Hill today. You can take a live shot and see for yourself. This is in honor of four dead Americans who died in service to their country today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: It is certainly still the economy, but after yesterday's attacks on Americans and American interests in Libya and Egypt, foreign policy gets put right up at the forefront. It is no longer an afterthought in the 2012 race for president.

And Wolf Blitzer joins me now live from Washington, D.C. with more on that.

Wolf, you know, foreign policy has been seen to be Obama's strong suit and perhaps not Romney's strong suit. And now it seems like this could end up ironically being a bit of a double-edged sword because it's the foreign policy some are saying that we engaged in with Libya that got us in the boat that no one wants to be in.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Foreign policy has been the President's strong suit, if you believe the public opinion polls, Ashleigh. We have our CNN/ORC poll. We asked among these candidates would better handle foreign policy, and our most recent poll, Obama 54 percent, Romney 42 percent. So usually Republicans do better when it comes to national security, foreign policy issues, at least as of now. President Obama's doing better than Governor Romney. And these results not only ours but consistent with the other major polls around the country, as well. I have always felt that national security foreign policy wouldn't be a huge issue unless there was a big crisis some place, and what's happened over the past 24 hours, a pretty serious crisis, and I suspect it's going to be an issue in the coming days and weeks. Sort of reminds me 2004, John Kerry, and when he was trying to unseat the incumbent president, George W. Bush. Kerry was doing well. Foreign policy became an issue. People went after John Kerry. At the end of the October 2004, just days before the election, bin Laden comes out with a video and, in the end, the President was re-elected, George W. Bush, by only about 20,000 votes in Ohio. And foreign policy was clearly an issue, so you can't neglect it in this current campaign, either.

BANFIELD: The dust-up started, the war of the statements sort to speak. I'm going to dovetail with the last question, which is, could the Republicans attack President Obama right now on the foreign policy decisions that got us in to this situation that we currently find ourselves in Libya if, in fact, it is a bad situation in Libya? Number two, wow. It happened in a nanosecond.

BLITZER: Well, as far as the U.S. involvement in Libya, getting rid of Moammar Gadhafi, putting together a coalition with other moderate Arab States, to get rid of Gadhafi, that had bipartisan support. You had support not just of President Obama and his team, but from John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Lindsey Graham and a lot of Republicans, as well. This is a bipartisan initiative. Nobody wanted Gadhafi to stay in power.

Right now, there's a fight developing between the Romney campaign and the Obama campaign on the statements they came out in the aftermath of Cairo and to a certain degree Libya.

Let's throw to our viewers and let the viewers listen to what Mitt Romney said a little while ago, referring to the initial statement that came out of the U.S. embassy in Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's a -- a terrible course to -- for America to stand in apology for our values. That, instead, when our grounds are being attacked and being breached, that the first response to the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. And apology for America's values is never the right course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He was referring to free speech in the aftermath of this controversial anti-Prophet Mohammad video that's been posted on YouTube.

Here was the initial statement from the U.S. embassy in Cairo. "The embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims, as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."

The administration officials, State Department officials later said that that statement was the U.S. embassy in Cairo was not cleared by Washington, does not reflect the views of the United States government. And that's been the controversy that has developed.

The Romney campaign then, only moments after that statement was released by the U.S. embassy in Cairo, said it's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks. The Obama campaign retaliated by saying we are shocked that at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack. Reince Priebus, the head of the Republican Party, said, "Obama's sympathizes with attackers in Egypt. Sad and pathetic."

This is a huge political uproar, Ashleigh, as you now know. The embassy statement, who approved it? Did the United States ambassador in Cairo, Ann Patterson, did she personally approve that statement? Did she have any authorization from Washington to go ahead with that statement? Was that statement released before there was significant violence at the U.S. embassy? Cairo? There were a few thousand Egyptians trying to storm that wall. There's a lot of unanswered questions we're trying to answer through the course of the day.

But the bottom line is there's a national security crisis affecting the U.S. and Egypt and Libya right now and there's a real political battle under way, as well.

BANFIELD: All right. Interesting to see if heads roll, as well.

Wolf Blitzer, in Washington, thank you very much.

Everyone, don't forget, Wolf's own program begins at 4:00 p.m., "The Situation Room," right here only on CNN. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Been 11 months since Moammar Gadhafi was killed and the Libyan people were liberated, thanks in large part to intervention by this country. And now the American ambassador to that country, Christopher Stevens, and three Americans who worked at the State Department, they're also dead.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke just moments ago, and this is how he characterized those responsible for the murders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: This was an attack by a small and savage group, not the people or government of Libya.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BANFIELD: But are these anti-American sentiments isolated? Small and savage group? Or is it something more than that? CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, joins me live.

We have seen statements of government that is say one thing where the street feels entirely different. The Libyan prime minister said, "We stand with the Americans and this cannot prevail." What do you think from your work the street feels and how's that changing?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think in this case, Ashleigh, both want Secretary Clinton and the Libyan prime minister said is true. In fact, Libya all of us who've been there during the revolution and since know that it's now one of the most pro-American also pro-English and pro-France, all these countries that really led the effort to defeat Moammar Gadhafi. Polling shows a high level of Libyans support the United States and the prime minister was very clear in his statement. He did not seek to justify this by any stretch of the imagination and he called those that committed those murders, he called them cowardly and criminal, criminal acts. So I think it's very clear, in Libya at least, it doesn't represent what the people think or do. In Egypt, I spoke with the prime minister, admittedly, a day before all of this happened, but this is what Hisham Kandil told me about relations with the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HISHAM KANDIL, EGYPTIAN PRIME MINISTER: This is our region and we want to be a key player in this region. And I think it is for the best interest of everybody that we have a strong relationship with the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So, here are these new democracies coming out of Arab Spring where most of those leaders who have had American help and there are, you know, relations continuing, say that they want to continue strong relationships with the United States. And just in Egypt, literally just this week, there was an unprecedented high-level official and business delegation seeing how they could help jumpstart Egypt's economy and strengthen those relations. It seems, in looking at various reports on how this unfolded in Egypt, that this trailer of this film was played on the Internet. It didn't get much notice until it was subtitled and sub-voiced with an Arabic voice.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: That's fairly recent.

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: Excuse me?

BANFIELD: A lot of people think there's time to effectuate this organized response but in fact the Arabic subtitles were only actually released fairly recently. AMANPOUR: That's correct. And taken immediately one of these extremist preachers and whipped up in to a frenzy so that's what's basically seemed to have happen and trying to figure out who were the instigators in Libya? Some said Islamic radicals. Others said pro- Gadhafi loyalists. Trying the find out who did that and committed the murders in Libya. And still, you know, trying to figure out how and why the timeline and happened in Egypt and does seem to be that seen on the Internet taken and whipped up by, you know, a very sort of frenzied and popular imam there and put on television.

BANFIELD: Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent for CNN. Thank you so much.

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BANFIELD: We have been talking about a movie, a movie about the Prophet Mohammad that has sparked so much violence it's led to death in Libya and violence in Egypt. This is not the first time a perceived attack on Islam has been met with an angry outburst.

In 1998, a fatwa was issued against Salman Rushdie, the author, for a book that he wrote called "Satanic Verses." In 2005, there were allegations of Korans being desecrated at Guantanamo Bay. Also, in 2005, a Danish cartoonist received death threats for creating a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad wearing a bomb in his turban. In 2011, Muslims in Afghanistan rioted after a Florida pastor named Terry Jones in Gainesville burned a Koran in protest. And in 2012, there were protests in Afghanistan after U.S. troops burned Korans that were used by Taliban prisoners and many deaths resulted.

CNN's national security analyst, Peter Bergen, is live on the telephone right now from Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Clearly, Peter, you're on the phone in Holland, where a Dutch filmmaker, an outspoken critic of Islam was killed on the street by a man of Moroccan origin because of the film that he created. That is a country that enjoys free speech. And my question to you is this. Those radicals who profess to love their religion so much. Do they love their religion more than free speech?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (voice-over): The short answer is yes because they don't regard the kind of insult to the Prophet Mohammed or the Koran as being protected by free speech. It's regarded as a capital offense.

Theo Van Gogh, the filmmaker, the film he made projected verses of the Koran on naked female bodies. It was designed to provoke, he was a provocateur, and unfortunately ended in his death. I think we're seeing more of these incidents.

You mentioned Salman Rushdie, which was sort of the beginning of this in the modern era. But the frequency of the incidents seems to be increasing. Just take the case you mentioned in the intro of the -- the Danish cartoonist who did the cartoon Prophet Mohammed. This is a big issue for the major Danish newspaper in Copenhagen with those guys. And, you know, the security in that building is extremely intense. Denmark is another very open society with very little crime. The cartoonist not only received threats, but he also received a very serious attempt to kill him, which is a Somali man linked to the al Qaeda affiliate. He traveled to Denmark to his house and got inside his house and tried to stab him to death. Luckily, this guy had a safe room in his house into which he disappeared and --

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BANFIELD: Let me ask you --

BERGEN: Pardon me?

BANFIELD: I just want to ask you -- I have been looking at the front page of "The Morning Post" today, and the headline is, "It's just a stupid movie." The picture shows all the violence behind them. With each of these incidents that we cover that there is some perceived affront to the Prophet Mohammed or the religion Islam, does it get worse, or at some point are these going to become somewhat ubiquitous, and perhaps the violence will assuage, or is it the opposite?

BERGEN: I mean, some of the cases, the people who are releasing the films or cartoons, you know, in some cases, are trying to either make a statement about free speech, which is fair enough, but in some cases are releasing -- deliberately trying to provoke. The film that is at issue is certainly very provocative in a way that it treats the Prophet Mohammed. And people who release these things are being very irresponsible, as we you now see. Harry Jones in Florida who burned a Koran, you know, General Petraeus was calling him from Afghanistan to urge him not to do this.

So, you know, free speech is a privilege, and it's a right, but it's a right that can be abused by people knowingly, of course, and none of this excuse the violence that has come about.

But one thing I would point out is I'm quite concerned about the likely reaction to all this in Afghanistan, where so much of the violence we've seen related to the treatment of the Koran has happened. My guess is this news is beginning to filter over there. President Karzai just released a statement earlier today about this issue. And, you know, I think it's a country where there's been violence, and it's been related to this issue.

BANFIELD: All right, Peter Bergen joining us live from Amsterdam. Thank you for your perspective on this.

We're going to keep updating everyone on the latest developments. Just head to cmn.com as well as we continue to cover the story live.

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BANFIELD: That's NEWSROOM for this Wednesday, September 12th. Thanks for watching, everyone. NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL starts right now