Obama aides internally disputed terrorism finding for several days, sources say

The day after U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told five Sunday shows that the Benghazi attacks were spontaneous mob actions and not premeditated, Fox News has learned, U.S. intelligence officials contacted independent security contractors to review critical evidence in the case.  

Their purpose was to help these officials rebut Ambassador Rice’s claim in a high-stakes internal dispute that was still taking place at the highest levels of the intelligence community and the Obama administration, sources close to the process tell Fox News. 

The disclosure shows that U.S. policymakers and intelligence chieftains were debating how to characterize the Benghazi attacks fully five days after the Obama administration had made a secret finding that the attacks were indeed an act of terrorism.  

That determination, or finding – arrived at within twenty-four hours of the killing of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans – helped the administration move money, men, and material under a post-September 11, 2001 statute, as Fox News and other news organizations have previously reported.

And yet the debate went on – a fact that has not been previously disclosed.  The internal dispute ended for good when Matthew G. Olsen, chief of the National Counterterrorism Center, testified publicly before the Senate on Wednesday, September 19 that he considered the Benghazi murders acts of terrorism.  

The move by high-level intelligence officials to secure assessments from independent security contractors in the Benghazi case helped tip the scales internally, in the forty-eight hours leading up to Olsen’s appearance before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, sources tell Fox News. 

Specifically, the outside contractors were asked to review CBS News video footage taken shortly after the attacks of the annex that is located a half-mile away from the Benghazi consulate compound, and which was the site where two ex-Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, were killed.

The contractors zeroed in on the mortar rounds fired at the annex, examining the impact angles and fragmentation patterns, to determine – easily and without any internal dispute – that there had been at least two mortar teams present.

The teams were evidently skilled in their use of mortar arms, because their shots were direct hits and there was no evidence of “bracketing fire.” This is a trial-and-error approach whereby the shooter, not having precise targeting data, will deliberately aim seventy-five or a hundred yards left or right of where he thinks the target is, and squeeze off three to four rounds before fixing the exact target. This in turn indicates that the teams used GPS devices and “dialed in” the targets: all evidence of a premeditated attack.

This determination by the outside contractors validated the existing view of the high-level intelligence officials who had contacted them, and served as ammunition in the officials’ own internal battle to rebut the claims that Rice had perpetuated on the Sunday shows the day before.  Olsen would testify the day after the contractors rendered their assessments.

The only glimpse the administration has yet offered into the possibility that the intelligence community has been racked by internal disputes has been a statement released this past Friday by a spokesman for James R. Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence.

Initially, the statement said, “there was information that led us to assess that the attack began spontaneously following protests earlier that day at our embassy in Cairo.” Intelligence briefers conveyed that assessment to Executive Branch officials and members of Congress, the statement said, “who used that information to discuss the attack publicly and provide updates as they became available.”

“As we learned more about the attack,” the statement added, “we revised our initial assessment to reflect new information indicating that it was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists.”

“The business of intelligence has become politicized,” said one of the contractors who performed the evidence review.  “That’s just a sad fact, regardless of which party is in charge.”

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Ryan says Obama's foreign policy 'unraveling,' Romney's will be about US 'strength'

Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan on Sunday criticized the Obama administration's response to the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, saying it is just part of a larger “unraveling” of its foreign policy.

“Their response was slow. It was confused, it was inconsistent,” Ryan said on “Fox News Sunday.” “It’s part of a bigger picture of the fact that the Obama foreign policy is unraveling literally before our eyes on our TV screens.”

Ryan made his remarks just days before Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is expected to give a major foreign policy speech.

“What Mitt Romney's going to do is lay out a very different vision for foreign policy -- one that is a policy of American strength versus what I would articulate or claim the president's policy is one of weakness,” Ryan said.

The Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The White House initially said the attack was a “spontaneous” response to a anti-Islamic video trailer but has since acknowledged it was a planned terror attack.

The Wisconsin congressman on Sunday also called the recent violence in the Middle East “the ugly fruits of the Obama foreign policy,” arguing that 20,000 people have been killed, Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon and Russia is “thwarting us at every stage.”

Ryan called Iran “the biggest threat we have today” and said the big issue is Obama’s credibility.

“The Ayatollahs in Iran, they have to make a decision to stop pursuing a nuclear weapon and pursue a peaceful resolution,” he said. “I would argue that they're not doing that because the president doesn't have credibility."

Ryan also said he and Romney have repeatedly said the U.S. has to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons capability and that a Romney-Ryan administration would not put “daylight between our allies, especially Israel.”

He also said the president has “moved his rhetoric a bit to look more like ours, and that's good, but the problem is it's built upon a mountain of non-credible actions.”

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Ryan, confident about victory, says debates will offer voters 'very clear choice'

Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan acknowledged Sunday the campaign has made some missteps, but expressed confidence about victory -- saying the presidential debates will offer voters a “very clear choice” in the final weeks of the race between failed policies and a stagnant economy or a “brighter future.”

Ryan said on “Fox News Sunday” that Romney will have the chance during the first debate Wednesday to “give the American people the choice we are offering.”

“We owe the country a very clear choice of a different future,” said Ryan, R-Wis. “We can either have a dynamic, growing economy that produces opportunity, or we can have a stagnant economy that fosters dependency. We can stick with the failed policies of the four last years … or we can get a brighter future.”

Ryan brushed aside recent polls showing President Obama leading Romney, and suggested that the so-called “mainstream media” has helped the president’s re-election effort.

 “We’re going to win this race,” Ryan said.

The roughly 20-minute interview covered a wide range of topics, including both candidates' economic policies.

Ryan said he and Romney want a 20 percent cut in all income tax rates, which would be paid by closing loopholes and deductions.

Ryan said Romney has been specific, but declined to say which loopholes, saying, "it would take me too long to go through all of the math."

The Obama campaign responded by saying: "Romney has promised $5 trillion in tax cuts skewed toward millionaires and billionaires, but refused to say how he'd pay for them without raising taxes on the middle class or exploding the deficit. He’s promised to repeal ObamaCare, but refused to say what he’d replace it with to protect the 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions. He’s promised to repeal Wall Street reform, but refused to say what he’d replace it with so that big banks aren’t writing their own rules again."

Ryan acknowledged that Romney’s remark about 47 percent of Americans not paying taxes and being dependent on the federal government was a misstep.

“Mitt acknowledges himself that was an inarticulate way of describing how we're worried that in a stagnant Obama economy more people have become dependent on government because they have no economic opportunity,” said Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee. “It was an inarticulate way to describe what we're trying to do to create prosperity and upward mobility, and reduce dependency by getting people off welfare back to work.”

With five weeks before Election Day, Romney and Ryan are facing sharp criticism about why they are not leading in polls amid high unemployment and sluggish Gross Domestic Product, numbers that have historically sunk presidents seeking re-election.

Ryan argued that the Obama campaign has done “a very good job of distracting people.”

He also confirmed that Romney is set this week to deliver a major foreign speech, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, and the administration’s response.

“Their response was slow. It was confused, it was inconsistent,” Ryan said. “It’s part of a bigger picture of the fact that the Obama foreign policy is unraveling literally before our eyes on our TV screens.”

Ryan also disagreed with the assertion that the debate message of a “clear choice” is a departure from the earlier campaign message that the race is a referendum on Obama’s past four years.

"It's not a change in strategy,” he said. "It's a phase of the campaign we've now entered into. Because I think it's important. The president is trying to paper over his problems. The president has been trying to mislead and distort a record. It's a failed record. We think it was very important to point that out.”

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Suspect arrested in deaths of US couple on Caribbean island

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten –  St. Maarten police on Sunday arrested a suspect in the slayings of a South Carolina couple whose slashed bodies were found in their beachfront condominium on the tiny Dutch Caribbean territory.

Police spokesman Ricardo Henson said the male suspect was arrested before dawn Sunday and has not been charged yet.

Citing the territory's privacy rules, Henson declined to give further details about the suspect, saying police will issue a statement "as soon as more information can be divulged."

The bodies of Michael and Thelma King were found Friday in their condominium at the Ocean Club Resort on St. Maarten, a 16-square-mile territory with about 50,000 inhabitants that shares a small island with the French dependency of St. Martin.

Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos said both Americans appeared to have suffered fatal stab wounds. The woman was found tied to a chair, and the man was lying on the floor, partially over an overturned chair. Both were in their 50s.

Autopsies were expected to be conducted Monday, according to Mos. Relatives of the slain couple have arrived in the territory.

Friends say the Kings were part-time residents of St. Maarten and owned several homes. They also owned a condominium in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Terry Tamblyn, a resident of South Carolina's coastal city of Isle of Palms, told The Post and Courier newspaper that King was a retired insurance executive who later started a successful printing business that he sold. He said King also owned a couple of restaurants on St. Maarten.

Local restaurant owner Topper Daboul has told The Associated Press that he and Michael King were building a rum factory together on the territory.

Daboul said he last saw King on Wednesday afternoon and "some other friends had drinks with them that night." He said he wasn't able to reach the Kings on the phone Thursday so he drove to their house the next day and banged on the door. He said he asked a person on the premises to climb over a fence to see if anyone was in the house. Daboul said the person reported a lifeless man leaning over a chair inside the house.

Shortly after the slayings were announced, the St. Maarten government said "every government resource is being brought into play to investigate and solve this case." Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said she was "shocked" by the murders.

Police said roughly 25 officers were part of the investigative team.

The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association said it's outraged by the murders, which "pains everyone in the community deeply."

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Obama admits some ads go 'overboard'; Romney defends campaign in dueling interviews

In a set of dueling interviews aired Sunday night, President Obama conceded his "biggest disappointment" is that he hasn't significantly changed the tone in Washington since taking office -- and acknowledged sometimes his campaign ads go "overboard" and contain "mistakes."

Mitt Romney, meanwhile, touted his campaign's competitiveness as he emerged from a rocky week. "We've got a campaign which is tied with an incumbent president to the United States," Romney told CBS' "60 Minutes." 

The Republican presidential nominee said his campaign, despite heat from the media and grumbling from some conservatives, "doesn't need a turnaround." Romney expressed confidence he's "going to win this thing." 

The interviews aired as both candidates were launching a new wave of campaigning. Romney arrived in Colorado Sunday for the start of a weeklong tour through battleground states. Obama's campaign on Monday launched a new offensive with a TV ad blasting Romney for criticizing Americans who don't pay income taxes without having "come clean" about his own. 

At the same time, Obama told CBS that his ads are not always 100 percent accurate. 

"Do we see sometimes us going overboard in our campaign, are there mistakes that are made, areas where there is no doubt that somebody could dispute how we are presenting things? You know, that happens in politics," Obama said, arguing that the "vigorous debate" helps better define each candidate's vision. The exchange was not aired on television but was posted online. 

Amid the sustained toughness of the campaign trail tone, Obama conceded to "60 Minutes" that the tone in Washington remains more caustic than he'd like. 

"Change has happened and positive change for the American people," Obama said, adding: "I'm the first one to confess that the spirit that I brought to Washington, that I wanted to see instituted, where we weren't constantly in a political slugfest but were focused more on problem solving that, you know, I haven't fully accomplished that." 

Obama said he hasn't "even come close in some cases." 

"And, you know, if you ask me what's my biggest disappointment, is that we haven't changed the tone in Washington as much as I would have liked," the president said, adding that "as president I bear responsibility for everything, to some degree." 

Obama also defended his foreign policy record amid anti-American rage in the Muslim world, firing back at suggestions from Romney that the president has been weak with allies and enemies alike. 

In the interview Sunday night the president said, "If Gov. Romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so." 

In the companion interview to Obama's appearance on CBS' "60 Minutes," Romney broadened his reproach to include Israel, criticizing Obama's failure to meet with the U.S. ally's head of state, Benjamin Netanyahu, during the annual U.N. gathering. Romney called it a mistake that "sends a message throughout the Middle East that somehow we distance ourselves from our friends." 

The White House has said scheduling precluded a meeting between the two leaders, who won't be in New York at the same time. With the final six weeks of a hard-fought election hanging over the U.N. summit, Obama has opted out of face-to-face meetings with any of his counterparts -- not just Netanyahu -- during his compressed U.N. visit. 

But Obama pushed back on the notion that he feels pressure from Netanyahu, dismissing as noise the Israeli leader's calls for the U.S. to lay out a "red line" that Iran's nuclear program must not cross to avoid American military intervention. 

"When it comes to our national security decisions, any pressure that I feel is simply to do what's right for the American people," Obama said. "And I am going to block out any noise that's out there." 

In a wide-ranging interview conducted the day after U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens was killed in an attack on Benghazi, Obama defended his foreign policy successes, noting he'd followed through on a commitment to end the war in Iraq and had nabbed Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden. 

He also waxed optimistic that winning a second term would give him a mandate to overcome obstructionism from congressional Republicans whose No. 1 goal, he said, has been to prevent his re-election. 

"My expectation is, my hope is that that's no longer their No. 1 priority," Obama said. "I'm hoping that after the smoke clears and the election season's over that that spirit of cooperation comes more to the fore." 

Romney, in an interview conducted last week, sought to deflect attention from his running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, over their differences in Medicare policy: "I'm the guy running for president, not him." 

While reaffirming his commitment to lowering all income tax rates by 20 percent, Romney expressed no unease about his refusal to offer specifics, such as which loopholes and deductions he'd eliminate to pay for the cuts. 

"The devil's in the details. The angel is in the policy, which is creating more jobs," Romney said, adding that he doesn't want to see overall government revenue reduced. 

Romney, after releasing tax returns showing he paid an effective rate of 14.1 percent last year, also defended the rate -- saying the tax on investments is relatively low "to encourage economic growth." 

Interviewer Scott Pelley had asked Romney if the rate was "fair" to someone making $50,000 and paying a higher rate.  However, Romney's rate is not that out of sync with that of other Americans. A Tax Foundation report found at least 90 percent of Americans recently had a lower effective rate than the 13.9 percent rate Romney had in his earlier 2010 filing. 

The "60 Minutes" interviews came as Romney's campaign strives to turn the page after a secretly recorded video showed Romney writing off his prospects for winning over the almost half of Americans who he said pay no taxes, are dependent upon government and see themselves as victims. Ahead of an evening campaign stop at a Denver-area high school Sunday, Romney huddled with senior advisers in Los Angeles to rehearse for the three upcoming presidential debates, which his aides see as the best opportunity to get his campaign and its message back on track. 

Amid mounting pressure to spend less time raising money and more time explaining his plans to voters, Romney was refocusing his schedule on the most competitive states. After Colorado, Romney was to begin a three-day bus tour in Ohio on Monday followed by a stop in Virginia -- states that Obama won in 2008 but that Republicans claimed four years earlier. 

While national polls remain tight, polls in several of the most closely watched states, including Colorado, suggest Obama has opened narrow leads. Obama won Colorado by 9 points four years ago, but the state went to a Republican in the previous three presidential elections. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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'Homeland' and 'Modern Family' are the big winners at Emmys

LOS ANGELES –  "Homeland," which puts the battle against terrorism on American soil, was honored as best drama series at Sunday's Emmys and earned trophies for stars Claire Danes and Damian Lewis. "Modern Family" was named best comedy.

"We feel so lucky, lucky not only to have jobs in these challenging times, but to have jobs that we love with people we love," said Steven Levitan, co-creator of "Modern Family."

The drama "Homeland" stopped "Mad Men" in its tracks, denying the show a record-setting fifth trophy and kept Bryan Cranston from his fourth consecutive best drama award for "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm an also-ran once more.

The Emmys refused to play it predictably Sunday, with Jon Cryer of "Two and a Half Men" earning a best actor award and Jimmy Kimmel proving a game but uneven host.

"I'm one of those pesky Brits, I apologize," said Lewis, who plays an American in the espionage thriller. "I don't really believe in judging art, but I thought I'd show up just in case."

Danes, eye-catching in a bright yellow dress that gracefully draped the pregnant actress, was effusive.

"My husband, my love, my life, my baby daddy, this doesn't mean anything without you," she said to her spouse, actor Hugh Dancy.

Backstage, Danes said she particularly appreciated one fan: President Barack Obama has said he's a fan of "Homeland," about a Marine and former POW who's suspected of working for al Qaeda.

"No pressure," the actress said. "It's way cool that he is a fan. It speaks to the relevancy of the show and it's hugely validating."

The acting trophies, along with a best writing award for the show, gave "Homeland" momentum as it headed toward the best drama award.

Aaron Paul won best supporting drama actor for "Breaking Bad" and "Homeland" won the best writing award.

"Thank you so much for not killing me off," Paul said of his drug-dealing character's lucky survival. "Thank you Hollywood for allowing me to be part of your group," he added, noting he'd moved from Idaho to pursue his dreams.

On the comedy side, Emmy voters decided that "Two and a Half Men" with Jon Cryer and without Charlie Sheen is really good, as Cryer claimed the best comedy actor trophy.

"Don't panic, people. Something has clearly gone terribly wrong. I'm stunned," said Cryer, who on the red carpet before the show has expressed confidence he wouldn't win. Among others, he beat out two-time winner Jim Parsons of "The Big Bang Theory."

Ashton Kutcher, who joined the show after Sheen was fired, wasn't nominated.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was honored as best actress in comedy for "Veep."

Andy Griffith topped a segment honoring industry members who died during the previous year. Ron Howard, who played Griffith's son Opie in "The Andy Griffith Show," said he belonged "in the pantheon."

"Dang if he didn't make it look powerful easy while he was going about it," Howard said.

Phyllis Diller, Davy Jones of "The Monkees," Sheman Hemsley and Richard Dawson were among the others honored in a montage.

Earlier in the show, Kimmel dared to mock the in memorian package that typically airs at awards shows with one showing him in various guises. Josh Groban sang a mournful "You're Beautiful" in background.

"I will be missed," Kimmel said.

Maggie Smith was honored as best supporting drama actress for her tart-tongued dowager in "Downton Abbey," unhurt by the program's move from the miniseries category.

"Homeland," the domestic espionage thriller, won the best drama writing award.

"Modern Family" made it look easy as the comedy won the best directing trophy and Eric Stonestreet and Julie Bowen claimed supporting actor awards. There was at least a minor backlash online as some questioned whether the show had a deserving season.

Stonestreet was funny and touching as he accepted for his role as half of a devoted gay couple.

"I wouldn't be standing here without Jesse Tyler Ferguson, there is no Cam without Mitch," he said, saluting his co-star. "We get the awesome opportunity to play these two characters on TV and show America and the world what a loving couple we can be just like everybody else."

Then he turned saucy: "I never knew I'd be on TV as a gay man, but I love the pictures of hairy chests you guys are sending me, it's really amazing. Thank you for those."

Among reality competitors, "The Amazing Race" was honored as best reality series, ninth time in 10 nominations for the award. Tom Bergeron of "Dancing With the Stars" won as best host of a reality series.

Julianne Moore's uncanny take on Gov. Sarah Palin in the TV movie "Game Change," about the 2008 presidential campaign, earned her best actress honors.

"I feel so validated because Sarah Palin gave me a big thumbs down," Palin said, beaming.

Kevin Costner was named best actor for the history-based miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys," while Tom Berenger was named best supporting actor for the project and Jessica Lange won supporting actress honors for "American Horror Story." `'Game Change" was crownd best series.

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" proved unstoppable, winning its 10th consecutive best variety show trophy. Stewart, discussing the lasting value of his show, apparently forgot that what flies on free-wheeling cable gets censored on network television.

"Years from now when the Earth is just a burning husk and aliens visit, they will find a box of these, and they will know, just how predictable these (several bleeps) can be," he said.

Standup comic Louis C.K. won the Emmy for best comedy writing for "Louie" and for the special "Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon Theatre." Said the comedian after his second win: "Thank you to audiences around the country who still go to see live comedy."

Kimmel, who played it clean, set up one of the night's best filmed comedy bits by musing on what "Breaking Bad" would have been like had it aired in a G-rated, pre-cable era.

The answer: a spoof of the opening to "The Andy Griffith Show," with "Breaking Bad" stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, fully suited up to cook crystal meth, out at the lake with their fishing poles as the "Andy Griffith" whistling theme song was heard.

As a pungent punchline, they shot dead an unexpected witness: a friendly deputy billed as co-star Don Knotts.

The show started with bathroom humor: A filmed bit with Kathy Bates, Zooey Deschanel and other nominated actresses prepping in the restroom, then discovering a weeping Jimmy Kimmel lamenting a Botox reaction he said would keep him off stage as host.

"You look beautiful," he was reassured. "You look like a `Real Housewife."'

Viewers of the skit may have been puzzled by a nude Lena Dunham, the creator-star of "Girls," who's routinely brave about showing skin on the HBO comedy.

Not all his material worked. One bit that fell flat had Kimmel's parents, or so the host said, escorted out of the theater because they promised he would win an Emmy and he didn't.

"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane found presenting can be tricky.

"Oh, the mic's over there," he said, after discovering he was on the wrong side of the stage. "This is what happens when you don't come to rehearsal," MacFarlane said.

Fashionistas noticed yellow was hot, the color of choice for Julianne Moore, a pregnant Danes, Julie Bowen and Hannah Simone from "New Girl."

"Best hair and makeup goes to Danes. Perfect!" tweeted Emma Roberts.

HBO came into the night with a leading 17 creative arts Emmys from a Sept. 15 ceremony honoring technical and other achievements. CBS was second with 13, followed by PBS with 11. Discovery received six awards, NBC got five and ABC and the Cartoon Network won four each. Fox received two trophies.

Emmy has to prove herself a winner with the audience. After rebounding somewhat to 13.5 million viewers in 2010 after an all-time low in 2008 of 12.3 million, last year's show drew 12.4 million viewers airing on Fox. The ceremony rotates annually among the four major networks.

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Gibbs defends administration's response to deadly attack, says not ‘misleading’

A top adviser to President Obama on Sunday defended the administration for saying in the aftermath of a deadly assault on a U.S. outpost that it was not a pre-planned terrorist attack.

Campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said the answers given Sept. 16 by Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, were based on “the best information she had” and not intended to mislead the public.

"No one either intentionally or unintentionally misled anyone involved in this," Gibbs said on “Fox News Sunday.” "No one wants to get to the bottom of this more than we do."

Rice gave her responses on five Sunday morning TV talks shows, days after at least 20 attacks on U.S. outposts in the Middle East and North Africa, including one on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

She said that attack was “spontaneous” and started with an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, over an anti-Islamic film.

Gibbs, a former White House spokesman for Obama, also said he expects more information will emerge.

"As we have learned more and as this investigation continues, I would anticipate we will continue to learn more facts about the awful assassination murder of our ambassador," he told Fox.

White House spokesman Jay Carney and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton late last week acknowledged the assault in Libya was a terror attack. However, the administration has stood by its assertion that investigations so far show the attack was not pre-planned.

Gibbs also defended President Obama’s decision so far not to hold one-on-one meetings with world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York while making time to appear on ABC’s “The View” daytime talk show.

“So, he has time for Whoopi Goldberg but he doesn’t have time for world leaders?" asked Fox host Chris Wallace.

Gibbs in part replied: “The White House has phones.”

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Romney in Colorado on Sunday to begin critical swing-state run

Mitt Romney arrives in Colorado on Sunday to begin a critical, five-day run through states that will likely decide the outcome of the presidential race.

Romney will attend an evening rally at a Denver-area high school, hoping to bolster voter support in a state where polls show him losing ground to President Obama.

The GOP presidential candidate continues his swing-state run with a three-day bus tour in Ohio, followed by stop in Virginia.

Obama won all three of those states in 2008, after Republicans won them four years earlier.

Romney is expected to provide more details about his economic plans for America -- amid criticism he has not been specific enough and that his campaign has veered off course.

The Sunday event ends a busy weekend of campaigning for both parties, with the first presidential debate one week away and Election Day about six weeks away.

GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan made two stops Saturday in Florida, telling Cuban-American voters at a stop in Miami that he and Romney will restore the American Dream that brought them to this country

“People pick up and they go for a better life in this country,” Ryan said in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood. “Mitt Romney and I are trying to restore that.”

Obama made three campaign fundraising stops in Wisconsin. Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden made two stops in New Hampshire, including one with union members in Manchester. First lady Michelle Obama attended a Congressional Black Caucus event in Washington.

Romney has endured a rocky, past few days – including reports of internal campaign struggles and the surfacing of a secretly recorded video in which he says almost half of Americans don’t pay taxes and are dependent upon government.

Republicans on Sunday rallied around Romney, with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus saying the video surfacing was “not the best moment of the campaign,” but that the party still had a good week – in a “crystallizing” moment.

"We were able to frame up the debate last week in the sense of what future do we want and do you want out there for your kids and grandkids?" he said on ABC's "This Week."

Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker said on “Fox News Sunday” that he wanted to see “more passion” from Romney, like when he announced Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate.

“I want to see fire in the belly,” Walker said.

 In an interview set to air Sunday night, Romney told CBS' "60 Minutes" that his campaign is moving in the right direction. "It doesn't need a turnaround. We've got a campaign which is tied with an incumbent president to the United States," Romney said, according to remarks released in advance by CBS.

On Friday, Romney released his 2011 tax returns showing income of $13.7 million, largely from investment income. He spent much of this weekend raising money in California, a state Democratic presidential nominees have carried for nearly a quarter-century.

In Wisconsin, Obama attacked Romney's economic approach before a crowd of about 18,000 in Milwaukee.

"This country doesn't succeed when only a few do well," he said. "America succeeds when the middle class does well." 

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC/Marist poll showed Romney trailing Obama in Colorado and Wisconsin 45 percent to 50 percent.

Romney raised $6 million at the Saturday evening event that attracted celebrities Dennis Miller and Gary Sinise. Before a group of more than 1,000 California Republicans, Romney kept up his criticism of the president for fostering what he said was a culture of dependency.

"This is a tough time. These are our brothers and sisters. These are not statistics. These are people," Romney declared. "The president's policies – these big-government, big-tax monolithic policies – are not working."

Obama also looked to celebrities this weekend to help raise cash and keep bankrolling ads already saturating the most contested states.

Baseball great Hank Aaron supplied the star power at the Milwaukee fundraisers.

The president's campaign says Obama attended seven fundraisers and 14 public events since the day after the Democratic National Convention two weeks ago.

Over the past week alone, Romney has attended five public events, including three rallies, and more than a dozen fundraisers.

Romney adviser Kevin Madden defended the fundraising focus, while highlighting a shift toward swing states in the coming days

"We're here raising the resources we're going to need to compete in all those battleground states through Election Day," Madden said. "That's also been matched with a really intense battle ground state schedule that's going to be coming up starting Sunday night."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Israel minister says no changes to Egypt peace deal

JERUSALEM –  Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that Israel would not agree to reevaluate its peace deal with Egypt, days after the latest attack along the shared border killed an Israeli soldier and three gunmen.

In a bid to restore security to the increasingly lawless Sinai peninsula, Israel and Egypt have agreed to temporarily waive limits on troops included in the historic 1979 peace deal, allowing Egypt to send heavier weaponry into the vast desert region which borders Israel.

But there have been calls in Egypt for more permanent adjustments to the peace accords, a cornerstone of regional stability.

"There is no chance that Israel will agree to any kind of change" to the peace deal, Lieberman told Israel Radio. "The Egyptians shouldn't try to delude themselves or delude others and they should not rely on this demand," he said.

The temporary changes to the troop count in the Sinai have made Israel jittery. Israel welcomed a sweeping crackdown by Egypt, which deployed armored personnel carriers and attack helicopters to root out militants in the Sinai peninsula this summer, but it balked once Egypt sent in tanks, some of which were removed after Israel complained.

While the tanks were not aimed at Israel and it does not consider them a strategic threat, Israeli officials said they were concerned about the precedent and that the move should have been coordinated. Egypt claims that it has coordinated the security sweep with Israel.

The operation scored some successes, but violence in the region persists. On Friday, a shootout along the border between Israeli troops and gunmen left one soldier and three assailants dead. A shadowy Egypt-based, Al Qaeda-inspired group called Ansar Jerusalem has claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest incident in the deteriorating security situation in the Sinai since the fall of longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak last year.

Since Mubarak's 2011 ouster, tensions between Israel and Egypt have grown, particularly since this summer's election of Mohammed Morsi as president. Morsi, an Islamist who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, has been cooler to Israel than his predecessor and concerns have risen there over the fate of the peace deal.

While it has said it would abide by the peace agreement, the Muslim Brotherhood has repeatedly called for a revision. Many Egyptians contend the troop limits infringe upon national sovereignty.

Lieberman said the number of troops wasn't relevant, suggesting the Egyptian military was not prepared to tackle the insecurity.

"The problem in Sinai is not the size of the forces, it is their readiness to fight, to put pressure and to carry out the job as is needed," he said.

Speaking on Army Radio, Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad also highlighted the importance of protecting the peace agreement but did not discuss Israel's willingness to make changes to it. He said any change would have to be agreed to by both parties.

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McCain, Rogers: Obama’s policy of 'disengagement' led to attack on U.S. posts

Capitol Hill Republican leaders said Sunday the Obama administration’s foreign policy of “disengagement” in the Middle East led to the attacks on U.S. posts in the region.

Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers and Arizona Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, suggested President Obama pulling troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, while offering less than total support for Israel’s effort to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, has left an exploitable void in the region.

“The Middle East believes there is a disengagement policy with the U.S.,” Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday."

He argued Obama has made no significant foreign policy speech since the one in Cairo, Egypt, in 2009 and acknowledged the region poses “difficult” problems -- including the absence of stabilized, democratic governments to replace the recently deposed dictatorships.

“But you cannot solve (the problems) by stepping back,” Rogers said. “It has to be a combination of showing strength and showing up.”

He also questioned why the United States appears to be in an “open fight” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about how far the country will go to help stop Iran from achieving nuclear capability.

“Shouldn't we be telling Iranians that there are lines they can't cross?” he asked.

The campaign for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the administration faced serious questions Sunday about its record of leadership in the world.

Campaign spokesman Ryan Williams said those questions include concerns about "America’s waning influence abroad, and the failure of its outreach efforts in the Middle East and North Africa."

McCain said he had "no doubt" the attacks last week on roughly 20 U.S. Middle East posts -- including the fatal one Libya -- were the result of America's shift in foreign policy to one of "disengagement."

"Prior to 9/11, we had a policy of containment,” McCain said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”  “Then after 9/11, it was a confrontation with the terrorists and Al Qaeda. Now it's disengagement. We're leaving Iraq. We're leaving Afghanistan. We're leaving the area. The people in the area are having to adjust. And they believe the United States is weak, and they are taking appropriate action."

McCain argued members of the Obama administration and others who right now think the attacks were sparked by an anti-Muslim video on the Internet are “ignoring the facts.”

"Most people don't bring rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons to a demonstration,” he said. “That was an act of terror. And for anyone to disagree with that fundamental fact, I think, is really ignoring the facts. … And they used pretty good tactics: indirect fire, direct fire, and obviously they were successful."

McCain said the real underlying cause is the struggle within the Arab world between the Islamists and the forces of moderation.

“And they want America disengaged," he said.

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Sheamus: Lawler's Heart Attack Was a "Real Fright"

This Sunday, the WWE holds its annual Night of Champions pay-per-view - a night where every single WWE title is on the line. CM Punk will defend the WWE Championship against John Cena, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth will defend the WWE Tag Team Titles against Kane and Daniel Bryan and World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus will face down Alberto Del Rio once last time.

I had a chance to talk to Sheamus about his upcoming title match with Del Rio, their lengthy feud, his porcelain-white skin, and last Monday's frightening RAW from Montreal where Jerry Lawler suffered an on-air heart attack. Sheamus, among others, was one of the WWE Superstars who had to head out the ring and perform while EMTs were working to revive Lawler backstage.

IGN: This will be the third pay-per-view in a row where you've defended your title against Alberto Del Rio. That doesn't happen very often in modern wrestling. Can you talk a little about this feud?

Sheamus: [laughs] Is it the third pay-per-view already? Time flies, Matt. It really does when you're having fun. Yeah, it rarely happens, as you said. This feud actually started off back after WrestleMania when Del Rio, who had been out for quite a while, came back and started to interrupt me when I was the new World Heavyweight Champion. But it's been a really cool thing for me, and a good feud for me, because we learn a lot from each other in the ring and it keeps going back and forth. I even got to drive around in a Ferrari, which was a lot of fun. [laughs] It sure beat my Hyundai that I had back in Dublin. But this feud's been good for both of us, since both of us were sort of in the same boat when we came to WWE. We both found success rather quickly here. I became WWE Champion back in '09 and Del Rio won the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank and became WWE Champion himself so these matches have been about two guys who rose up the ranks very quickly. I've enjoyed it. I've enjoyed the way the storyline's progressed. With each one of us constantly trying to get the better of the other, and out-do each other over the past couple weeks.

IGN: Now, for your match on Sunday at Night of Champions, the Brogue Kick has been banned. But you have more finishers than anyone else in the company. When will you have enough finishers, sir?

Sheamus: [laughs] I really don't know, man. I'm like a kid in a candy store. You can never have too many finishers. I think Undertaker has 17. The thing about the Brogue Kick though, and why it's caught on, is that it's something that I've really tried to establish over the past three years. It's a great finisher that can come out of nowhere. That's a rare thing in the WWE. John Cena obviously comes to mind too. He can literally pick up a crane and hit the AA. We've seen him use it on Big Show and the like. Randy Orton's RKO is like that too. It's been so successful because can come out of nowhere. And the Brogue Kick is kind of the same way. It can take down anyone, anywhere no matter their size. I've got other finishers, yeah, but that's really my main move. But I'll just have to figure out another way to beat Del Rio. The Cloverleaf's new and it's been very successful as of late so I might go for that one.

IGN: What did you think about the segment from a few weeks ago when Punk called the World Heavyweight Title the #2 belt in the company?

Sheamus: You know, it's funny that came up because we were all doing a THQ event back in Los Angeles during SummerSlam and it was a roundtable discussion group for the WWE 13 game and Jim Ross talked about the WWE Championship is and how important it is to the business. And how it was the one. And it just reminded me of how important the World Heavyweight Championship is to me. And how it's just as important in the company. I don't see how Punk can call the World Heavyweight Championship a secondary because in my opinion, from what I've seen, people like Flair, Undertaker, Edge, Triple H, John Cena and even Punk himself have held this championship. And this championship was the one attached to RAW if you just look back a couple of years ago. So I don't believe that. I also object to the fact that Punk calls himself the "Best in the World" even though he's never faced me. Until he's beaten me, I don't think he can call himself the best champion or the "Best in the World."

Sheamus talks the burdens of being so pale, and Jerry Lawler's heart attack on RAW, on page 2...

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