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• Romney, on Wednesday, defended his decision to issue his criticism Tuesday night, at a time it was not yet known that Stevens had been killed. Asked if he would have done so had he known about the deaths, he said, "I'm not going to take hypotheticals about what would have been known and so forth."
• Some Republicans with experience in national security matters questioned the GOP candidate's handling of the events and top Republican leaders in Congress did not echo Romney's remarks. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Obama "correctly tightened the security overseas." Asked about Romney's remarks, he declined to answer and walked toward his office in the Capitol.
• Romney's account didn't mesh completely with events in Cairo.
• The statement that he referred to as akin to apology was issued by the embassy in Cairo at midday Tuesday at a time the staff was aware of still-peaceful demonstrations in the area nearby. The mob breached the compound's walls and tried to burn a U.S. flag about four or five hours later.
• The embassy statement condemned "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions," and noted that religious freedom is a cornerstone of American democracy.
• Romney added that the White House later "distanced itself" from the statement, saying it hadn't been cleared by senior officials in Washington. "That reflects the mixed signals they're sending to the world," he said.
• Obama said in the "60 Minutes" interview that the embassy was trying to "cool
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