CBS: 'We made a mistake' on Benghazi
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Publication of book containing account is suspended
- Reporter: CBS was "wrong" in report that raised questions about Benghazi attack
- Official claims discrepancies between CBS source's accounts and what he told FBI
- Source had claimed he violated orders, reached Benghazi compound and fought militant
The assault left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
"In this case, we were
wrong. We made a mistake," Logan said on "CBS This Morning." "That's
disappointing for any journalist. It's very disappointing for me."
A primary source for the
"60 Minutes" report on October 27 was a security contractor using the
pseudonym "Morgan Jones," later identified as Dylan Davies. Davies told
CBS he was able to reach the Benghazi compound on the night of September
11, 2012, scale a wall and even fight off a militant.
Also on Friday, the
publisher of a book containing Davies' account said it was suspending
the sale and publication of the book. Threshold Editions, an imprint of
Simon & Schuster, is recommending that booksellers not sell "The
Embassy House" and return the books, spokeswoman Jennifer Robinson told
CNN.
The "60 Minutes" story
broadcast October 27 cast doubt on whether the Obama administration sent
all possible help to try to save Stevens and his three colleagues. The
story was then cited by congressional Republicans who have demanded to
know why a military rescue was not attempted.
On Friday, Logan responded to questions from CBS's Norah O'Donnell, who pressed her for details about Davies.
"What we know now is, he
told the FBI a different story to what he told us," Logan said. "That
was the moment for us when we realized that we no longer had confidence
in our source and we were wrong to put him on air, and we apologize to
our viewers."
Logan was also asked about how CBS vetted Davies and his story.
"We verified him,
confirmed who he was, that he was working for the State Department at
the time, that he was in Benghazi at the special mission compound the
night of the attack," Logan said. "He showed us -- he gave us access to
communications he had with U.S. government officials."
"The Embassy House"
tells the same story Davies told Logan. Davies also told Logan that he
acted in violation of his employer's orders to stay away from the
compound.
Since the revelations about problems with the story, Logan said CBS has tried to contact Davies but has not heard from him.
The news show apology
comes a day after CBS issued a statement saying, "60 Minutes has learned
of new information that undercuts the account told to us by Morgan
Jones of his actions on the night of the attack on the Benghazi
compound. We are currently looking into this serious matter to determine
if he misled us, and if so, we will make a correction."
On Thursday a U.S.
official told CNN that there were discrepancies between the contractor's
accounts to the FBI and CBS, although the official did not specify
them.
A second U.S. official told CNN the same thing Friday.
The New York Times, citing two senior government officials, reported Thursday that the contractor told the FBI he did not go the Benghazi compound on the night of the attack.
When Logan was asked
Friday why CBS was willing to stand by its report after Davies lied to
his employer, she said, "because he was very upfront about it; that was
part of his story."
Incident report raised questions
The CBS story first came
into question because of an incident report filed by the contractor's
employer, the Blue Mountain security company. The incident report,
obtained by CNN and first reported in The Washington Post, said the
contractor never reached the Benghazi compound.
The incident report also revealed the real name of "Morgan Jones" to be Davies.
CBS initially stood by
the story after the incident report came to light. Davies said he never
saw the incident report. But he said it matched a false account he gave
his Blue Mountain supervisor to cover up that he had disobeyed the
supervisor's order not to go to the compound.
In a statement to CNN
this week, Davies said, "The account in my book is consistent with what I
gave to the FBI and U.S. authorities about what happened in Benghazi."
Davies' co-author, Damien Lewis, also told CNN this week that Jones never wavered in his story.
"He's been consistent in the story from the word go," Lewis said. "Not only that, he's the kind of guy who downplays his role."
Reached Friday after CBS's apology, Lewis said he would have nothing more to say until Davies comments.
Hearing set for next week
CIA employees are scheduled to testify about the attack at a closed-door congressional hearing next week.
U.S. officials have said
Stevens and information officer Sean Smith took refuge behind a heavy
metal door at 10:30 p.m. on the night of the attack, about 30 minutes
after attackers had breached the walls of the compound. The two were
quickly overcome by smoke when attackers set fire to the building.
Also at 10:30 p.m., six
security agents left a CIA annex a mile away. The six agents and 16
Libyan security officials regained control of the compound.
With the help of a
rescue team that arrived from Tripoli at 1:15 a.m., the agents rescued
about 30 Americans and took them to the CIA annex. They also took
Stephens and Smith, although their conditions at that time have not been
made clear.
At 4 a.m., militants attacked the CIA annex. Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were killed.
