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Literally begin to get the embassy function again despite many staff had been murdered in the terrorist attack. it was our judge the fest team was not needed, was not appropriate for benghazi. >> but you really didn't know what was going on at that point when you could have pulled -- >> we did know. we knew from the reports we were getting back from the diplomatic security officers they had to abandon the facility, that it had been set on fire. and it was -- they were forced to take refuge with our cia colleagues at the cia annex and remember, the fest team is not an armed reaction force. that...

Wherever possible, and i'm sure i thanked him for that. >> what did he say to you? >> again, i don't talk about the conversations i have with the president. we talked about the events of the day and his determination to do everything he could to try to help our people in benghazi. >> did you meet with secretary panetta? >> no, did not. >> did you speak to secretary panetta? >> the next day. >> not on the 11th? >> no. >> did you talk with general dempsey? >> the next morning i did. >> you did not meet with him or talk with limb on the 11th? >> congresswoman, it wasn't necessary. everyone was do...

From the president on down. >> what about petraeus, when did you speak to him? >> i spoke to petraeus that afternoon because i knew we had an agreement with the cia annex, and i spoke with him about an hour after finding out about the attack and after gathering information about what we thought was happening in benghazi. >> did you -- your surviving agents were evacuated to tripoli the morning of the 12th. did you talk to the survivors either that night or once they arrived in tripoli? >> we did not speak to them directly. we obviously made arrangements for them to be safely evacuated and then...

Ambassador stevens -- we don't know the answer. did you ever personally speak to him after you swore him in in may? yes or no, please. >> yes, i believe i did. >> when was that? >> i don't recall, and i want to clarify for the record that this document is about all of libya, not just benghazi. i don't want anybody -- >> absolutely, 77 are about benghazi. >> congresswoman, look, i appreciate, and i really do, the passion and the intensity of your feelings about this. we have diplomatic facilities in war zones. we have ambassadors that we send to places that have been bombed and attacked all the...

>> the people who were there were part of the operational decision making, and i wanted to know firsthand from them what they were trying to do to help us, particularly dod, also the intelligence community because at that time, as i recall, the cia annex had not yet come under attack, and we were trying to get all americans out of benghazi. we were trying to provide planes for evacuation. so there was a lot of detail that was being worked out, and i wanted to be as hands on as i could be to know, number one, what all the other agencies were doing to help us and what we could do to try to assis...