'60 Minutes' issues apology for 'mistake' in Benghazi reporting

Sept. 11, 2012: A protester reacts as the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames during a terrorist attack which claimed the lives of four Americans. (Reuters)

CBS correspondent Lara Logan issued an apology Friday morning, admitting that she and the network had made a “mistake” in its coverage of the deadly Benghazi terrorist attacks.

“We were wrong to put him on air,” she said Friday. “We will apologize to our viewers and we will correct the record on our broadcast on Sunday night.”

Late Thursday, “60 Minutes” announced it was reviewing the credibility of a purported Western eyewitness to the deadly Benghazi terror attacks who gave a harrowing description of events and claimed Americans knew such an incident was inevitable.

"'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,” the network said. “We are currently looking into this serious matter to determine if he misled us, and if so, we will make a correction.”

CBS gave no further details but details of his account had been challenged. The Washington Post said he had given a different account of his experiences to his employer after the attack.

Morgan Jones was a pseudonym for a former British soldier who for decades helped protect U.S.diplomats and military leaders and was supervising local guards the night of the Sep. 11, 2012 assault.

He told “60 Minutes” that Al Qaeda forces first attacked the U.S. Special Mission Compound, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. Then they launched a second attack on a secret CIA annex about a mile across the city.

“They knew what they were doing,” he told CBS. “That was a well-executed attack.”

The guard said he was in his apartment about 15 minutes away from the attacks when he learned of them through a frantic phone call from a Libyan guard.

“I could hear gunshots,” said the guard, “And he said, ‘There are men coming into the mission’ … You could tell he was really scared and he was running.”

The guard said that when he asked for details the other guard said: “We're getting attacked. … They're all over the compound."