[Whitfield:] It has been at the heart of a bitter back and forth from the presidential campaign and on Capitol Hill. What the Obama administration knew after four Americans were killed in Benghazi, Libya. Now, just released e-mails show just two hours after the initial message, the consulate was under attack, government officials knew a terror group took responsibility. A government e-mail sent to the White House, the State Department and the FBI had a subject titled, quote, "Update II, Ansar Al Sharia claims responsibility for Benghazi attack." It then goes on to say, quote, "Embassy Tripoli reports the group claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli," end quote. In response, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said people just wait for what the independent accountability review board concludes.
[Hillary Clinton, Secretary Of State:] Looking at everything, not cherry picking one story here, one document there, but looking at everything, which I highly recommend as the appropriate approach to something as complex as an attack like this, you know, posting something on Facebook is not in and of itself evidence.
[Whitfield:] All right, CNN's Elise Labott is live at the State Department for us now. So Elise, this was one of several e-mails sent the evening of the attack. You heard the secretary of state talking about this is really like puzzle pieces. And this is just one of the many pieces. What are some of the other pieces?
[Elise Labott, Cnn Foreign Affairs Reporter:] That's right, Fred. Really the first communications that we have seen what happened in real time coming from the embassy and the State Department Operations Room. But a little bit of dig there by Secretary Clinton saying this was one of a lot of traffic of that night, that was painting a more fuller picture. One of the first e-mails that came, about 4:00 p.m. U.S. time, so it would be 10:00 p.m. in Libya when the attacks started, and subject was U.S. mission in Benghazi under attack. Embassy Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots, explosions had been heard as well, and Ambassador Stevens who is currently in Benghazi and four mission personnel are in the compound safe haven. Now, Fred, a half hour later, an update that said that the embassy reports the firing at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi has stopped. And the compound has been cleared. A response team is on site, attempting to locate those personnel. And you can see, I mean, Fred, that wasn't actually the case. You see how frantic and chaotic it is in these moments after the attack. Because what really had happened was that some of these armed gunmen had breached the walls and actually set fire to that one building where Ambassador Stevens and the other gentleman, Shawn Smith, were holed up in the safe room and met their fate. So I think Secretary Clinton was trying to show that this is pretty chaotic and in the fog of war, these are the kind of spot assessments of what happened at the time. And just one kind of data point in what was going on that night.
[Whitfield:] And so Elise, while one of those e-mails talks about the claim of responsibility, administration officials are also quick to point out that that same terror group denied any responsibility for the attack. So what kind of lapse of time are we talking about or is this kind of simultaneous communication?
[Labott:] Well, they denied responsibility a little bit later and there is some reason to believe perhaps this group Ansar Al Sharia which has ties to al Qaeda in Maghreb, they could still be involved. But I think what is going on here is there is a lost, like, little dribs and drabs of these e-mails coming out. A lot of agencies were talking to each other that night. It doesn't really advance the story in any meaningful way. But it is a kind of data point as I said that goes to a larger narrative of what was going on and it does it raised some questions as to why that wasn't weighed into a fuller consideration of the assessment of what was going on that night Fred.
[Whitfield:] All right, Elise Labott, thanks so much from Washington. Appreciate that. All right, up next, back to the campaign trail. Both candidates are crisscrossing the U.S. namely out west. In fact, momentarily right now you're looking at live pictures of where momentarily Mitt Romney will be emerging there in Reno, Nevada, campaigning. And we're also hearing that hundreds of blank ballots are missing in one state. We'll have details next.