the tough measure is meant to help bring france's deficit. let's go to clayton. >> big story making headlines this morning. several days after the attack on the u.s. consulate. this is the story that the obama administration was sticking to. listen. >> this was not a preplanned premeditated attack that what happened initially was it was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in cairo as a consequence of the video. >> our current assessment is that what happened in benghazi was, in fact, initially a spontaneous reaction. >> what our assessment is as of the president is in fact what it began spontaneously in benghazi as a reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in cairo. >> but as fox news reports, the administration knew within the first 24 hours that it was a terrorist attack. so why were americans left in the dark and how could potential coverup impact the election? here for fair and balanced debate is fox news contributor