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Anti-American Violence Spreading; Fragile U.S.-Egypt Relations; Search for Killers of U.S. Diplomats; Campaigns Turn Focus to Foreign Policy; Final Farewell to Neil Armstrong; Actress in Anti-Islam Film Speaks Out; Mideast Violence and U.S. Foreign Aid

Aired September 13, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you, Brooke. And good morning to all of you. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with us today.

We start with the anti-American violence now spreading in the Middle East. This morning protesters trying to storm the U.S. embassy in Yemen, scaling the massive gates and setting fires outside the compound. Overnight a similar scene in Cairo, Egypt, where riot police used tear gas to protect the U.S. embassy there.

It is the second night of protest over a film produced in the United States and considered to be insulting to Islam.

In the meantime U.S. drones join the manhunt for the militants who killed American diplomats at the U.S. consulate in Libya. Two warships and an elite group of Marines are en route. But Libya may be overshadowed by Egypt and concerns over the tepid response by the new regime there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: We're covering every angle of this developing story. First, let's take a step back and look at how things have unfolded over the past 48 hours. The outrage first ignited Tuesday in Egypt. Protesters converged on the U.S. embassy. Within hours, a crowd gathered outside the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The violence escalates and armed militants killed the U.S. ambassador and three of his staffers.

Today, crowds storm the U.S. embassy in Yemen. Riot police eventually turned them back with tear gas. Also today, demonstrators turn out in Iran. They amass outside the Swiss embassy, which represents U.S. interests in Iran.

Let's get the latest now from that region. Mohammed Jamjoom is in our Beirut bureau.

So put this -- all of this into context for us, Mohammed.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, first of all we were talking Yemen earlier. Now this was just a few hours ago. You had, or we're told, was about between 2,000 to 3,000 protesters that were marching towards the U.S. embassy, many of them were able to get close enough to the main gate that they started scaling the walls.

Now fires were set outside the U.S. embassy compound. I've spoken to a western diplomat there who tells me that everyone in the embassy is fine. Although no word if the staff has been evacuated.

Also just a short while ago, Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi issued a statement in which he issued an apology to U.S. President Barack Obama and to the American people for the attack on the embassy today. He said this was unacceptable and he ordered the Yemeni security forces to launch a thorough investigation and to prosecute anybody they find to have been involved in this to the fullest extent of the law.

This was quite worrying today. For one reason, the U.S. embassy compound in Sana'a is one of the most protected sites. Not just in the city of Sana'a, in the capital of Yemen, but practically in all of the country of Yemen.

I've been to Yemen several times, I've been to Sana'a several times. I've been to the U.S. embassy. This is not a site that is easily accessible to anybody. I've spoken to activists in Sana'a this morning who say they were watching what was going on from the rooftops of nearby buildings. They say they were absolutely shocked that this crowd that was marching towards the embassy was able to get as close as they did to the main gate and then that they were able to actually breach the compound.

They were just completely flabbergasted by this. They can't understand how Yemeni security would allow something like this to happen. Now we heard that in the ensuing hours more than 1,000 Yemeni security officers surrounded the U.S. embassy, went to other parts of the city, tried to repel the crowd but at one point they were using water canons to disperse the crowds and now we're told from officials that this situation has calmed sufficiently. That now there's only tens of demonstrators outside as opposed to thousands earlier in the day.

But the concern right now is that in the evening hours, will those crowds start marching again? Will they start trying to get close to the embassy yet again -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And the U.S. diplomats, we simply don't know where they are at this moment?

JAMJOOM: We just don't know where they are at this moment. I've spoken to some embassy officials. They say that the embassy is fine, that the staff is accounted for. I've spoken to other Yemeni officials who say they're not aware of casualties at this point. There are some reports floating out there that there may have been some casualties from some of the protesters that were outside that were repelled by security forces. But as of now we don't know where any of the U.S. embassy personnel are, if they've been evacuated or if they're still in the embassy. But we're told that all of the staff and the personnel are safe and accounted for -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting live for us this morning.

Let's head to Egypt now. Riot police fired tear gas to chase away protesters outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo. It is the third straight day of demonstrations and the latest flashpoint of concern for the White House. There are reports that President Obama's phone call to the Egyptian leader, Mohammed Morsi, sought a more forceful rejection of the anti-American violence.

Here is what President Morsi said just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT MOHAMMED MORSI, EGYPT (through translator): We assured President Obama that we will be keen and we will not commit any such event, any such occurrence in our country against the embassy in our territories. We will cooperate with the European Union, with the other countries, with the American administration in order to prevent such events in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining us to discuss this fragile balance, this Egyptian blogger and journalist, Mona Eltahawy. Mona, welcome.

MONA ELTAHAWY, EGYPTIAN JOURNALIST: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi. Just a few minutes ago we heard President Obama described Egypt's new regime as not an ally but not an enemy. That is a breathtaking change in the former relationship between the two countries. What do you make of it?

ELTAHAWY: Absolutely. This is a new wording to describe that relationship. I mean, Carol, whenever I talk about revolution in Egypt, I always like to remind American viewers that five U.S. administrations supported the Hosni Mubarak dictatorship, which our revolution aimed to end. So there -- there is this awareness here in Egypt that there has been a support for a dictator against the people.

What's been happening over the past few days is a complicated mix of right-wing fringe that produces film in the U.S. to provoke and a right-wing fringe here in Egypt that calls for protest against this film that is deemed offensive to Prophet Muhammad. And people are being used like a political football.

What concerns me as an Egyptian who wants to see our revolution succeed is that we do not get politically manipulated into these fictitious fights. I believe in the right to offend and I believe in the right to protest that offense. But what's happening now is we have a president from the Muslim Brotherhood movement who, at one point, was himself or his movement was being pointed to as the right- wing by that Hosni Mubarak dictatorship.

The last thing we want in Egypt is for our current president to start using another right-wing to scare his allies into supporting him. This is the time to fix Egypt. This is a time to create jobs, this is the time to fight poverty. This is not a time to play political football with people's sensitivities.

COSTELLO: So there is the possibility that things might get worse in Egypt?

ELTAHAWY: Well, what -- what concerns many of us is calls made supposedly by the Muslim Brotherhood movement from which our president come, but it's not clear who's making those calls for more protests tomorrow, Friday.

Your viewers might remember that many of the protests that helped the revolution would stop on Friday after people finished Friday prayers. So it's not clear what's going to happen. But what is clear is that there is this attempt to figure out who is now the political center in Egypt.

President Mohammed Morsi met with the U.S. delegation to discuss investments in Egypt the day before these protests erupted outside the U.S. embassy. So there are many questions now. Who called those protests and why were they timed on 9/11?

But at the end of the day I also want to remind your viewers that as a Muslim I understand how people could be offended at things that are disrespectful to the Prophet. But I know very well that if Prophet Muhammad were alive today, he would be protesting the slums, he would be protesting poverty.

He would not be at an American embassy that is not responsible for this film. So I think I'm very concerned that there are people on the fringes of the right-wing, both in the U.S. and in Egypt, who are too willing to use people as political footballs. And unfortunately, many people are willing to be used in that way.

COSTELLO: Mona Eltahawy, thank you for joining us this morning.

Also this morning, we've just gotten a picture of another one of the victims in the deadly attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya on Tuesday. Sean Smith was a 10-year employee of the State Department. He was killed along with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and two other staffers.

Now the U.S. is launching a manhunt for their killers, The search will be waged on several fronts. Surveillance drones will be deployed. And two U.S. warships are now moving toward Libya's coast, they will be armed with guided missiles.

The U.S. is also dispatching about 50 U.S. Marines. They're part of a rapid reaction force that could move quickly on any leads.

Barbara Starr is following all of these latest movements. She joins us now from the Pentagon. Tell us more, Barbara. BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, I do need to jump in and amend one thing there. This is not a Marine quick reaction force. This is basically a force of 50 Marines only that will go to the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, in the capital, and they will be there to provide security for the embassy installation and any Americans that may need assistance in being evacuated out of the country. Strictly a security force. They will not operate on the ground in Libya. Only for the embassy.

OK. So that said, what do we have -- U.S. drones continuing to fly in eastern -- over eastern Libya. They have done that in the past. They look for intelligence, overhead imagery that they gather, to try and find essentially al Qaeda or militant strongholds, camps, evidence of militant activity in eastern Libya, east of Benghazi, where they think most of these people are and even perhaps the people responsible for the attacks against the U.S. installation.

They gather that intelligence and they can demonstrate that it's tied to the attack. You then have the warships with their Tomahawks missiles as a potential, potential option for President Obama. He could order those into action to strike a target if it came to that. U.S. making very clear, no boots on the ground. No combat forces. None of that.

They are simply looking for any target that they can tie to this attack on the Benghazi diplomatic installation. And don't rule out that they will turn intelligence over to the Libyans and try and get them to go after these targets in their own country -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Barbara Starr, reporting live for us from the Pentagon this morning.

The violence in the Middle East has brought foreign policy to the center stage of the U.S. presidential election by one political expert said there could be a game changer for Mitt Romney.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Romney-Ryan campaign is not backing down from its attack on President Obama's foreign policy. This after Romney slammed Obama for a statement by the embassy in Cairo that seemed to apologize to Muslims for an anti-Islam film. Of course, that statement came out before any violence occurred and the White House said it was not an approved statement.

Still the GOP is using that statement as a way to bolster its claims a Romney-Ryan foreign policy is the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R-WI) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This administration's policies project weakness abroad, undercutting allies like Israel, outreach to enemies like Iran, national security leaks and devastating defense cuts. A weak America breeds insecurity around the world. MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: American leadership is necessary to ensure the events in the region don't spin out of control. We cannot hesitate to use our influence in the region to support those who share our values and our interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: President Obama responded to the attacks from the Romney campaign during an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: There's a broader lesson to be learned here. You know, Governor Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later. And as president, one of the things I've learned is that you can't do that. That, you know, it's important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts and that you've thought through the ramifications before you make them.

REPORTER: Do you think it was irresponsible?

OBAMA: I'll let the American people judge that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Now all abuzz on the effect that all this will have on the Romney campaign.

William Kristol, a prominent conservative and editor of "The Weekly Standard" writes, quote, "The question, what comes next? Will Romney seize the moment to spend time with some of his serious foreign policy advisers? If Romney can prove both strong and thoughtful on foreign policy over the next few days, it could be an inflection point in the presidential campaign," end quote.

Joining me now from Washington is Alex Castellanos. He's a CNN contributor and Republican strategist who formerly worked as a consultant for Romney's presidential campaign. Hi, Alex.

ALEX CASTELLANOS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, you yesterday you said Romney's comments could be a game changer. But is Bill Kristol right, if Romney doesn't come out with a specific thoughtful policy, could it all backfire?

CASTELLANOS: Well, I think this is a battle that Romney not only has to fight and yes, he has to win it. And, frankly, he has to do the job of his campaign, but he also has to do the job of a lot of people in the news media, because Barack Obama has gotten a free pass on foreign policy to a tremendous extent.

You know, the real question here -- I think this is like someone in the Obama administration robbed a bank, the news media right now would say, "Oh, my heavens, what an outrage, this man over here, Romney, is pointing out that the Obama administration robbed a bank."

COSTELLO: Oh, come on, Alex. Is that blaming the media?

CASTELLANOS: Yes, it is.

COSTELLO: Really that Obama got a free pass?

CASTELLANOS: Yes, it is. I think I'm absolutely right about that. It wasn't Mitt Romney who undermined Mubarak in Egypt after supporting him and displayed American weakness. It wasn't Mitt Romney who went into Libya at the same time he announced he was getting out, leading from behind, again evidencing weakness and vacillation. It wasn't Mitt Romney who stood in front of Medvedev and say, hey, by the way, give me a break on this missile thing. I'll be more flexible after the election.

This administration has displayed a tremendous amount of foreign policy weakness and vacillation and yes, what does that? People don't wait to take advantage of it. It emboldens our enemies. And I'm afraid we see the results. That's the debate we should be having --

COSTELLO: But here's the thing --

(CROSSTALK)

CASTELLANOS: I'm very proud of Romney for taking --

COSTELLO: I think many Americans want that debate. But I did read through Mitt Romney's policy foreign policy stance on Israel, Iran and so forth. And frankly, they are not that much different than President Obama. The only real difference is the tone.

So does Romney believe talking tougher will make the difference?

CASTELLANOS: Carol, as I just went through, right now Romney's policy, of course, on Iran is much tougher than President Obama's.

COSTELLO: How?

CASTELLANOS: Romney was not the candidate who sat there and --

COSTELLO: How is it tougher?

CASTELLANOS: Well, take Barack Obama's word for it. He sat in front of Medvedev and said, "I'll be more flexible after the election." I don't think you can say Romney said that.

COSTELLO: But as far as specific action --

CASTELLANOS: I don't think --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: -- taken against Iran, how is Mitt Romney's policy markedly different than President Obama's?

CASTELLANOS: Well, look at what Romney has proposed, much tougher economic sanctions. Much tougher line against it. Also, we have the Obama administration that is consistently refusing to meet with Netanyahu, undermining our relationship with Israel, which is the bulwark of our policy in that region. And Obama has no relationship there. That's another way that I think a Romney administration would be very different in that region and in our relationships with Iran.

You know, Barack Obama came in to office somehow implying he was going to have a seance with Ahmadinejad and somehow it's going to make the world a happier and better place. It's a naive foreign policy, weak, vacillating and it has invited this -- a lot of the trouble we have in the world today by emboldening our enemies.

And I think the news media ought to be focused on the guy with the crappy record that's got us into the problems we're in, not the guy who is trying to point out that there's a guy in office who demonstrated weakness and failure.

COSTELLO: Alex Castellanos, thanks so much.

This image, let's look. This is Neil Armstrong. There it is, on the moon. Do you remember where you were? I do. I was with my dad in front of the TV. We had our film camera rolling so we could record it all for prosperity.

We bid a fond farewell to an American hero, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Today, NASA and all of us will say a final goodbye to the first man to walk on the moon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: As you well know, that was Neil Armstrong on July 20th, 1969. Armstrong passed away last month, following complications from heart surgery. He was 82.

In less than an hour, Armstrong's family and friends will gather for a public memorial service at the National Cathedral in Washington. Speakers will include NASA administrator, Charles Bolden, and former NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan. We'll bring you the ceremony live in the next hour of NEWSROOM.

Armstrong's best-known mission, of course, was that first moon landing. Armstrong was commander on Apollo 11. That's him on the left. On the right was Aldrin, the lunar module pilot. In the middle, that's Michael Collins, the command module pilot. Armstrong and Aldrin spent more than two hours on the lunar surface on that historic day.

We go back now to the Washington National Cathedral, and that's where we find John Zarrella. Good morning, John. JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. The line is gone now. The crowd has gone inside. But they expect a full house here, 2,000 people expected.

Here is the booklet that they put out -- a celebration of the life of Neil Armstrong. And as you mentioned, Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon, will be here to speak. Also, Buzz Aldrin, who with Neil Armstrong, walked on the moon. Mike Collins, who was the command module pilot, is going to lead in the prayer service.

Many members of Congress will be here. We know that Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, are going to be here. Just a little bit ago, I saw John Glenn, of course, the first American to orbit the earth. He went in with his wife. Many, many people here as well as many space shuttle astronauts who knew him throughout the years also here.

And it's just so interesting that you have this enormous public support and a public ceremony for a man who, throughout his years, was so private. And for whom all of the accolades of walking on the moon certainly weighed very, very heavy on him. It was a tough thing to deal with, all of that history -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You know, he was a humble guy. He went back to Ohio to teach at, what, the University of Cincinnati. He didn't like the limelight or talking about how people really thought about him as this great American hero.

ZARRELLA: No. You know, he didn't. In fact, one of his great quotes is that I am and ever will be a White Sox, pocket protector nerdy engineer. If you ever -- this is the Apollo 11 patch, Carol. There is something very different about the Apollo 11 patch than any of the other mission patches. There are no names on it of the astronauts. It's the only one. That was because Neil always felt that the accomplishment was not his accomplishment. It was the accomplishment of everyone involved in the Apollo program.

COSTELLO: Wow! John Zarrella, thanks. We'll get back to you. The service will start at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Of course, in just about 35 minutes.

The Apollo 11 moon landing was Armstrong's second and final mission into space. CNN recently sat down with James Hansen, Neil Armstrong's biography. He tells us Armstrong would have gone back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES HANSEN, NEIL ARMSTRONG'S BIOGRAPHER: It sort of became to him that he wasn't going to be reassigned to another Apollo flight. I think he would have flown again, no question, if they wanted him to. Congressmen and the White House and NASA was asking him to show up for photo shoots, autographs.

The job that he wanted to do in the aeronautics program, they really weren't letting him do. And that wasn't Neil. Neil was a technical man. He was proud of his engineering background and he wanted to keep tackling those problems. And so, he was not just going to be a PR front for NASA or anyone.

So, what did he do when they weren't letting him do his job? He went back to Ohio to teach engineering to college students at the University of Cincinnati, which is kind of a surprising choice for someone who had the fame and reputation of being the commander of Apollo 11.

He was just too important. He was an American hero. He was a global icon, not to be risked again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Thirty-one minutes past the hour. Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello.

Protests are mounting all across the Middle East this morning, as tensions grow over that video, that film considered so offensive to Islam.

In Yemen, several thousand angry protesters breached a wall at the U.S. embassy in the capital this morning. Yemeni officials say they quickly restored order and have the situation under control.

University students also gathered in Iran at the Swiss embassy this morning. Swiss embassy represents U.S. interests in Tehran.

In the meantime in Egypt, hundreds of demonstrators threw rocks and Molotov cocktails as police fired tear gas to try to disperse the crowd. Six police officers were injured.

And in Benghazi, Libya, smoldering scenes of destruction at the U.S. embassy where ambassador Chris Stevens was killed on Tuesday.

Back here at home, the United States is focusing on the search for those responsible for killing the ambassador and three other American staffers. President Obama vows to find the suspects. He says justice will be done.

Former CIA officer Bob Baer joins me now by phone. Good morning, Bob.

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OFFICER (via telephone): Good morning. How are you?

COSTELLO: Just wanted to make sure you were there.

BAER: Yes.

COSTELLO: The President's message was very clear. He says we're going to find these suspects. We have warships headed to Libya. There's talk of drones. Is it possible to find specific people responsible for the ambassador's death?

BAER: You know, the problem now -- I'm just getting reports out of the Middle East that this is al Qaeda attacks by a man named Abdel Wahab. He is able to cross the border into sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Niger and Mali, and he may operate out of Mali. That's a very remote area for drones to survey, to fly to.

These people are long gone out of the Benghazi area. They're going to be very difficult to find. And it could be the same sort of search we had for bin Laden. It's this kind of difficulty they're facing. But they really have no choice. This is the best the President can do at this point.

COSTELLO: So, is this man a Libyan citizen?

BAER: He is al Qaeda -- yes, he's Libyan. It's a Libyan group that has a long history of violence. They were in Waziristan at one point since the drone attacks in Waziristan. They moved to northern Mali in a place called Gao. There's no jurisdiction over that. It's basically al Qaeda territory.

When I say al Qaeda, I'm talking about the Libyan franchise. These people have a lot of weapons. They have a lot of support through Libya, although they remain a small group. And the Libyan government does not have the capacity to go after them.

COSTELLO: So do you think that the attack on the U.S. embassy -- the U.S. consulate, rather, in Benghazi was due to September 11th and the anniversary or to this film?

BAER: I think -- you know, the nature of it, from what I've seen, it was well organized. They expected to meet resistance. It was not spontaneous, based on the film. It could have coincided with -- I just can't say. It's too early. But it was a very -- you know, they were attacking the U.S. embassy. These things are pretty well defended. And I think it was -- they had good intelligence and they brought enough people. And it wasn't a question of a crowd overrunning it or a few people in the crowd. It was a military-style attack.

COSTELLO: So what can the Libyan government do to help?

BAER: Virtually nothing, because there's so many armed groups in Libya. It only has a limited sovereignty over its own country. The elections have just been held. There's numerous Islamic groups. They don't coordinate. Even the Libyan government is unaware of which Islamic groups are operating there. You know, occasionally, they take over the airport, have attacked aid workers. You know, these are -- we call them Salifists, but they're not truly organized. That's what makes it difficult to go after.

COSTELLO: So, is it likely then if the United States does find this guy, that he'll be taken out by a drone?

BAER: I think that if they have -- if they start to develop good intelligence, they will. We have no choice. I mean, we simply can't pull up and leave the Middle East completely. It's too strategically important.

And this is -- we're talking about a 30 years war against al Qaeda, a franchise. It doesn't matter whether Zawahiri ordered it, the number one in al Qaeda, because they're so dispersed and there's no central authority. It's a long-term battle.

And the problem is these people think they're on some sort of crusade against the West and their first goal is to kick the West out of the Middle East. Kick the Christians out, any minorities and then expand their revolution into Africa. And they even talk about Europe. I know it sounds crazy but this is what they talk about.

COSTELLO: Robert Baer, thank you for joining us this morning. Robert Baer, by the way, is in Dubai this morning.

While officials are ramping up the search for those responsible, civilians are seeing a major change, too. Less than 48 hours after the attacks that killed that U.S. diplomat, in Libya, there's been a major increase in security on the ground.

Let's talk more about that angle of the story. Jomana Karadsheh joins me now from Tripoli. So, tell me about the Libyan effort to track down these suspects.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN REPORTER: Well, Carol, we've heard yesterday from the Libyan government saying -- vowing to bring the perpetrators of this attack to justice, promising to provide additional security and secure foreign nationals and foreign interests here in Libya. We did see an increase in security here in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, around the streets. There have been additional gun trucks, for example, deployed around key installations, security and government buildings that we drove past today.

It is going to be a very tough task for this government to do so. These attacks -- this attack that happened was not really a surprise. There have been a series of attacks in recent months, targeting foreign interests and Western targets in and around the city of Benghazi, yet little was done to prevent this attack from taking place.

COSTELLO: Jomana, thanks so much. Jomana, reporting live for us this morning.

The protests spreading across the Middle East aren't all violent. In Benghazi, the city where the U.S. diplomat Chris Stevens was killed, there were peaceful protests, too. Protesters holding messages of apology and thought for the United States. Some signs read "Thugs and killers don't represent Benghazi" and "Rest in peace, Chris Stevens."

She says she had no idea her movie would rock the Middle East. You'll hear from an actress who stars in that film that's sparking so many violent protests around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: That YouTube film that started violent Middle East protests apparently starred actors who had absolutely no idea they were acting in an anti-Islamic movie. As Miguel Marquez reports, one of those actors is stunned and quite emotional about it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She responded to a generic casting call for what was billed as an action adventure film set 2,000 years ago, low-budget film called, at the time, "Desert Warrior."

(on camera): You find yourself in the middle of a sort of international --

ACTRESS, "INNOCENCE OF MUSLIMS": Nightmare. That's what I find myself in the middle of, in a world that I prayed for, for God to help. Killing is never right.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): In her portion of the script, the Prophet Muhammad character was called George, who was referred to during film as either "Master George" or "Father Master" -- never Muhammad.

She was paid $500 for a few days' work but says the writer/producer, Sam Bacile, lied about the film's content.

ACTRESS: I think it's very unfair. I'm very sorry for that man, his family and everybody else who was hurt.

MARQUEZ: She even phoned Bacile, whom she says remained defiant.

ACTRESS: He says tell the media that I'm tired of the Muslims killing innocent people.

MARQUEZ: Steve Klein consulted on the film.

STEVE KLEIN, FILM CONSULTANT: The motivation was to spark some change within Islam. Only of these few fractions -- you know, a fraction of the fraction of these very dangerous men, if we could somehow open up the eyes.

MARQUEZ: The actress doesn't want her name used because her family is fearful, but she isn't.

(on camera): What's your overriding emotion, fear, anger?

ACTRESS: Anger and hurt. I'm not afraid. My husband is afraid for me. But I'm not. I'm pretty pissed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Let's bring in Miguel Marquez. It strikes me that this filmmaker -- apparently he used a fake name because nobody can find a Mr. Bacile anywhere. And he's in hiding, too. He hasn't shown his face on television. But these other people have.

MARQUEZ: They certainly have, mainly because they're upset with what they're seeing in the Middle East. They never expected that this would happen. They feel they were absolutely lied to. The entire cast of the film released a statement saying they had no idea of the content of the film and had they, they wouldn't have made it to begin with. This is the same thing she said. What was most interesting is it's been reported that Bacile is in hiding, fears for his life. But apparently, that's not true. She said she talked to him yesterday and this guy apparently is defiant. He says, "Look, I made the film, I wrote the film, these are feelings, and this is the message I wanted out here." He also says the film is not finished yet.

So, what we're seeing on the Internet is something they've put out there to try to perhaps to gin up some interest for the film. It certainly has, Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, I guess what I meant is it seems rather cowardly that he wouldn't show his face but he apparently fooled these people into being in his movie and they're there for everybody to see and some are fearful for their lives.

MARQUEZ: Yes. Well, this is a guy who, it sounds like, has lived in the shadows for some time. It's difficult to understand who Mr. Bacile is. He may be the same person who faced federal charges some time ago for fraud. That may or may not be cleaned up. Federal authorities are saying that they are investigating everything around this case so that he may come under the investigative eye as well.

So it may be beyond just angry people at him at this point. So there may be some real reasons that he's keeping his head low -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Got you. Miguel Marquez, reporting live for us from Los Angeles. We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: President Obama's voicing his concerns over escalating tensions and anti-American sentiment in the Middle East, reaching out directly to the leaders of Libya and Egypt. But we're now learning from the President's tone during those conversations -- they're very different. Brianna Keilar is at the White House to tell us more. Good morning, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

And if you don't know a whole lot about the situation, you might think that President Obama's words for the leader of Libya would have been more stern since that's where we saw the attack where Americans were killed -- that's very much not the case. And that has to do, really, with Libya and Egypt's response to the violence and their response to this attack.

President Obama responding to the Libyan leader in a very measured way and has emphasized that it's U.S. and Libya, working together in trying to certainly figure out what happened and bring folks to justice for the attack. But when it came to Egypt, he had very stern words in the readout that we normally get which, honestly, quite often you can't get a whole lot out of or you don't really understand if there are points of contention in the phone call. It was clear that there were and he very much stressed that Egypt needs to do something to protect U.S. personnel.

And this has to do, of course, with Egyptian President Morsi's response, which was really not even to acknowledge the attacks that much but instead to really criticize the video that has sparked some of the protests that preceded the attack.

And listen to what the President Obama said to Telemundo -- some very strong words when you read between the lines about Egypt.

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OBAMA: You know, I don't think that we would consider them an them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy, so I think it's still a work in progress, but certainly in this situation what we're going to expect is that they are responsive to our insistence that the embassy is protect and our personnel is protected.

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KEILAR: Now, Carol, the Obama administration has long been skeptical of the -- of -- of Muslim Brotherhood being in control of Egypt, but this is some pretty serious language when President Obama is saying not an ally, necessarily. So when you read between the lines there diplomatically speaking, it's some pretty harsh words.

COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar reporting live from the White House.

The rising violence at the U.S. diplomatic installation is reviving an old debate, should the United sends -- should the United States rather send aid, as in money, lots of money to countries like Egypt? The House could be taking up that issue today.

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COSTELLO: The United States gives millions of dollars in aid to countries like Libya and Egypt, including $200 million to Libya alone, since the start of the uprising. Now because of the recent violence, some members of the House lawmakers want to pull that money.

Christine Romans joins us now to explain. Hi, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. We hear this from time to time especially from conservatives and libertarians in particular who say we shouldn't be spending borrowed money to help regimes that might not necessarily be friendly to the United States. And you are hearing that right now particularly regarding Libya.

Now there is a vote that goes to Congress today about how to continue funding the American government through March and there are some conservatives in the House who are saying we don't want any Libya or Egypt funding to be in there at least not until the perpetrators of the violence in Libya in particular are brought the justice. But we are told that that vote, that resolution has already been written, the funding is already in it, and it includes about $14 million in continuing funding for Libya. Over in the Senate, Rand Paul -- now Senator Rand Paul, he has been very vocal about this as well saying that he doesn't want to see more taxpayer money go to this region and in particular he says "I therefore demand that until the Libyan police hand over suspects to U.S. officials any U.S. foreign aid to the government of Libya be contingent on their full support in this matter.

When you talk to others like Senator John McCain and some other, you know, advocates of involvement in the Middle East, they say, no, this is how America makes sure that it has its hand in the kind of governments that are going to arise and you don't just sort of throw away your funding and the thugs win.

So this debate happening. But I will say it's a very small number of House Congress-people who are saying withdraw our support, Carol -- our financial support.

COSTELLO: All right. We will see what happens. Christine Romans reporting live from New York for us.

Stay with CNN for continuing coverage of the anti-American violence spreading now in the Middle East. We will have live reports from throughout the region. Plus, live coverage of the Neil Armstrong's funeral which set to begin at the Washington National Cathedral in minutes.

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