• CNN found Ambassador Christopher Stevens’  personal journal on the floor at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi
• Journal consisted of seven handwritten pages  in a hard-bound book
• Network says it notified Stevens’ family at  once and handed over the journal

By Snejana Farberov

PUBLISHED:12:15 EST, 22  September 2012| UPDATED:14:20 EST, 22 September 2012

CNN host Anderson Cooper admitted on Friday  that the network had come across the late Ambassador Christopher Stevens’  personal journal and used parts of it in its reporting without disclosing the  source.

On Wednesday on his show Anderson Cooper 360,  the journalist told Senator John McCain that ‘a source familiar with Ambassador  Stevens’ thinking told us that in the months before his death he talked about  being worried about the never-ending security threats that he was facing in  Benghazi, and specifically about the rise in Islamist extremism and growing al  Qaeda presence.’

Cooper added that ‘the source also mentioned  [Stevens] being on an al Qaeda hit list.’

Scroll down  to watch video from Wednesday’ show

 

New revelations: On Wednesday, Anderson Cooper, left,  told Senator John McCain, right, that a ‘source familiar with Ambassador  Stevens’ thinking’ said the envoy was worried about security

 

Mystery source: Cooper admitted two days later the CNN  found Stevens’ personal journal in Libya and used information from it in its  reporting

Two days later, Cooper acknowledged that the  network had obtained Stevens’ journal, and that some of the information  regarding the late ambassador’s thought process in the months leading to the  deadly September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was drawn  from his entries.

 

Slain: Ambassador Christoper Stevens was killed along  with three other Americans during violent protests in Benghazi, Libya

‘On Wednesday of this week, we reported that  a source familiar with Ambassador Stevens’ thinking said in the months before  his death, Ambassador Stevens talked about being worried about what he called  the never-ending security threats in Benghazi,’ Cooper told his viewers Friday  night.

‘We also reported that the ambassador  specifically mentioned the rise in Islamic extremism, the growing al Qaeda  presence in Libya and said he was on an al Qaeda hit list.

‘The information for that report, like all of  CNN’s reporting, was carefully vetted. Some of that information was found in a  personal journal of Ambassador Stevens in his handwriting.

‘We came upon the journal through our  reporting and notified the family. At their request, we returned that journal to  them. We reported what we found newsworthy in the ambassador’s writings. A  reporter followed up on what we found newsworthy, as I said, in the ambassador’s  writings,’ Cooper concluded.

The Daily Mail reached out to CNN for  comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

Shortly after 1am on Saturday, CNNpublished a story without a by-line on its  website explaining how the journal came into its possession, and how the  information it contains was used in the network’s reporting.

According to the article, CNN found Stevens’ journal four days after the ambassador was killed by Libyans protesting an  anti-Muslim film produced by an American filmmaker.

 

Lucky find: Stevens’ handwritten journal was discovered  by CNN on the first floor of the burnt out U.S. consulate in Benghazi

 

Ravaged embassy: CNN described the U.S. consulate  compound as being largely abandoned by the time its staff arrived there  following the attack

 

Bloody protests: Violent demonstrations broke out in  Libya and across the Middle East on September 11 following the release of a  U.S.-made film mocking the Prophet Mohammed

The journal consisting of seven handwritten  pages in a hard-bound book was found on the floor of the ravaged consulate  compound where Stevens was fatally wounded.

The network notified Stevens’ family about  the journal within hours of its discovery and handed it over to the slain  envoy’s relatives at their request via a third party.

The network stated that it used Stevens’ entries as tips shedding light on the situation in Libya and in Benghazi in  particular.

 

Last memento: CNN said it notified Stevens’ family of  the find and at their request handed over the journal to his relatives via a  third party

‘CNN took the newsworthy tips and  corroborated them with other sources,’ the article said.

If CNN’s version of events is to be believed,  the ‘source familiar with the ambassador’s thinking’ mentioned by Cooper during  Wednesday’s show was not Stevens’ journal since the network claims it only used  tips from his entries.

However, it remains unclear why CNN did not  reveal that it had found Stevens’ journal until Friday.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2207138/Anderson-Cooper-admits-CNN-slain-American-ambassadors-journal-inside-U-S-consulate-Libya-secretly-used-reporting.html#ixzz27Fas221z Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook