By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 17:18 EST, 27 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 03:27 EST, 28 November 2012 . U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice has apologized for not calling the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, terrorist. The comments came after she failed to win over her harshest GOP critics in the Senate during a meeting with them on Tuesday. She claimed she never meant to mislead the American people, and instead used talking points given to her by the intelligence community at the time. Rice has been named as the likely successor to Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, however, several Republican senators are threatening to block her confirmation if President Obama nominates her for any post. Scroll down for video . Not convinced: Rice met for about an hour behind closed doors at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday with Senators John McCain, center, Lindsey Graham, right, and Kelly Ayotte, left . Under fire: Susan Rice has been openly criticized by Republicans her for initial comments after the Benghazi attack . In a statement issued shortly after . the one-hour meeting at the U.S. Capitol of Senators John McCain, . Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte, Rice said she had relied on information . from the CIA before she appeared on five Sunday morning talk shows on . September 16. 'We explained that the talking points . provided by the intelligence community, and the initial assessment upon . which they were based, were incorrect in a key respect: there was no . protest or demonstration in Benghazi,' Ms. Rice said. She added: 'We stressed that neither . I, nor anyone else in the administration, intended to mislead the . American people at any stage in this process, and the administration . updated Congress and the American people as our assessments evolved.' The Republicans said that they remain . unconvinced by her responses and said her visit left them with greater . concerns than before the meeting. They have openly criticized her for . initial comments after the September 11 attack on the U.S. mission in . Benghazi that suggested it was a spontaneous event arising from protests . of an anti-Islam film rather than a premeditated attack. Conflict: The outcry by Republicans may cost Rice the nomination as secretary of state . U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris . Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack on the . Benghazi mission and a nearby CIA annex. Intelligence officials later said the attack was possibly tied to al-Qaeda affiliates. McCain . said: 'We are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we . got, and some that we didn't get, concerning evidence that was . overwhelming leading up to the attack on our consulate... It is clear that the information that . she gave the American people was incorrect when she said that it was a . spontaneous demonstration triggered by a hateful video.' He added: 'It was not, and there was . compelling evidence at the time that that was certainly not the case, . including statements by Libyans as well as other Americans who are fully . aware that people don't bring mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to . spontaneous demonstrations.' Graham said: 'I'm more disturbed now than I was . before. I think it does not do justice to the . reality at the time and in hindsight clearly was completely wrong.... In . real time, it was a statement disconnected from reality.' Ayotte said she had 'many . more questions that need to be answered' and suggested she'd vote . against Rice's nomination as secretary of state. Graham added: 'I wouldn't vote for anybody being . nominated out of the Benghazi debacle until I had answers about what . happened that I don't have today,' Graham said. Asked . whether he would block such a nomination, Graham said: 'Oh, absolutely. I would place a hold on anybody that wanted to be promoted for any job . that had a role in the Benghazi situation.' Republicans have argued that the Obama administration tried to play down the terrorist angle in its initial comments to avoid undermining the president's claims of success in fighting al-Qaeda in the run-up to the November 6 election. Rice was accompanied by acting CIA Director Michael Morell and was not seen by reporters. Obama has defended Rice and said if senators have a problem with the administration's handling of Benghazi they should 'go after me' rather than try to 'besmirch her reputation.' Raid: A militant during the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11th . Graham also criticized U.S. intelligence agencies that wrote the talking points on which Rice based her public comments. 'I'm very disappointed in our intelligence community. I think they failed in many ways. But with a little bit of inquiry and curiosity, I think it would be pretty clear that to explain this episode as related to a video that created a mob that turned into a riot was far afield,' he said. 'And at the end of the day, we're going to get to the bottom of this.' Rice's controversial Benghazi statements were based on a set of unclassified talking points prepared by U.S. intelligence agencies for members of Congress. The initial draft written by the CIA referred to 'attacks' carried out by 'extremists with ties to al Qaeda.' However by the time Rice received them, 'attacks' had changed to 'demonstrations' and 'with ties to al-Qaeda' had been deleted, multiple U.S. sources have said. Not budging: Senate Armed Services Committee member, Sen Kelly Ayotte, says she had 'many more questions that need to be answered' and suggested she'd vote against Rice's nomination as secretary of state . Those in intelligence circles suggest . the talking points were deliberately vague in order to protect covert . operations in Libya in the aftermath of the attack, adding that an . investigation was still underway when Rice made the rounds of talk shows . on Sept. 16. Republicans, . meantime, suspect Rice was covering up for President Obama, . charging the administration didn't want an al-Qaida terrorist attack to . taint his re-election chances. White House response: Obama administration spokesman Jay Carney says the questions about Rice's talking points have been answered . The White House has denied making those edits and members of Congress are trying to determine where the changes were made. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the questions about Rice's appearance on the talk shows and the talking points had been answered. Carney said: 'The focus on - some might say obsession . (with) - comments made on Sunday shows seems to me, and to many, to be . misplaced. What is the point of the focus on this?' Rice, a Rhodes scholar who's married . to Canadian television producer Ian Cameron, has risen through . Democratic ranks over the years to counsel presidential candidates that . include Michael Dukakis and John Kerry, himself a possible Hillary . Clinton replacement. She has an impressive pedigree - her . father was the first black governor of the Federal Reserve Board, her . mother a renowned education scholar - but Rice's legendary abrasiveness . has prompted misgivings about her suitability for the job from both the . left and right. 'She is ill-equipped to be the . nation's top diplomat for reasons that have little to do with Libya,' Dana Milbank, a left-leaning Washington Post columnist, wrote recently . in a piece that recounted how she once gave respected diplomat Richard . Holbrooke the middle finger when she worked in the Bill Clinton White . House. He called her an 'undiplomatic diplomat.' The New York Times' Maureen Dowd, also . a liberal columnist, took aim as well, arguing Rice's foreign policy . stances are primarily motivated by professional ambitions. Watch video here .
Sens McCain, Graham and Ayotte says their concerns linger after meeting with Susan Rice in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday .
They say they would vote against Rice if she was nominated to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state .
U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in Benghazi strike - which occurred on 9/11 attacks anniversary .
White House spokesman Jay Carney says all the questions regarding Rice's talking points have been answered .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 17:18 EST, 27 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 03:27 EST, 28 November 2012 . U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice has apologized for not calling the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, terrorist. The comments came after she failed to win over her harshest GOP critics in the Senate during a meeting with them on Tuesday. She claimed she never meant to mislead the American people, and instead used talking points given to her by the intelligence community at the time. Rice has been named as the likely successor to Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, however, several Republican senators are threatening to block her confirmation if President Obama nominates her for any post. Scroll down for video . Not convinced: Rice met for about an hour behind closed doors at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday with Senators John McCain, center, Lindsey Graham, right, and Kelly Ayotte, left . Under fire: Susan Rice has been openly criticized by Republicans her for initial comments after the Benghazi attack . In a statement issued shortly after . the one-hour meeting at the U.S. Capitol of Senators John McCain, . Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte, Rice said she had relied on information . from the CIA before she appeared on five Sunday morning talk shows on . September 16. 'We explained that the talking points . provided by the intelligence community, and the initial assessment upon . which they were based, were incorrect in a key respect: there was no . protest or demonstration in Benghazi,' Ms. Rice said. She added: 'We stressed that neither . I, nor anyone else in the administration, intended to mislead the . American people at any stage in this process, and the administration . updated Congress and the American people as our assessments evolved.' The Republicans said that they remain . unconvinced by her responses and said her visit left them with greater . concerns than before the meeting. They have openly criticized her for . initial comments after the September 11 attack on the U.S. mission in . Benghazi that suggested it was a spontaneous event arising from protests . of an anti-Islam film rather than a premeditated attack. Conflict: The outcry by Republicans may cost Rice the nomination as secretary of state . U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris . Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack on the . Benghazi mission and a nearby CIA annex. Intelligence officials later said the attack was possibly tied to al-Qaeda affiliates. McCain . said: 'We are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we . got, and some that we didn't get, concerning evidence that was . overwhelming leading up to the attack on our consulate... It is clear that the information that . she gave the American people was incorrect when she said that it was a . spontaneous demonstration triggered by a hateful video.' He added: 'It was not, and there was . compelling evidence at the time that that was certainly not the case, . including statements by Libyans as well as other Americans who are fully . aware that people don't bring mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to . spontaneous demonstrations.' Graham said: 'I'm more disturbed now than I was . before. I think it does not do justice to the . reality at the time and in hindsight clearly was completely wrong.... In . real time, it was a statement disconnected from reality.' Ayotte said she had 'many . more questions that need to be answered' and suggested she'd vote . against Rice's nomination as secretary of state. Graham added: 'I wouldn't vote for anybody being . nominated out of the Benghazi debacle until I had answers about what . happened that I don't have today,' Graham said. Asked . whether he would block such a nomination, Graham said: 'Oh, absolutely. I would place a hold on anybody that wanted to be promoted for any job . that had a role in the Benghazi situation.' Republicans have argued that the Obama administration tried to play down the terrorist angle in its initial comments to avoid undermining the president's claims of success in fighting al-Qaeda in the run-up to the November 6 election. Rice was accompanied by acting CIA Director Michael Morell and was not seen by reporters. Obama has defended Rice and said if senators have a problem with the administration's handling of Benghazi they should 'go after me' rather than try to 'besmirch her reputation.' Raid: A militant during the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11th . Graham also criticized U.S. intelligence agencies that wrote the talking points on which Rice based her public comments. 'I'm very disappointed in our intelligence community. I think they failed in many ways. But with a little bit of inquiry and curiosity, I think it would be pretty clear that to explain this episode as related to a video that created a mob that turned into a riot was far afield,' he said. 'And at the end of the day, we're going to get to the bottom of this.' Rice's controversial Benghazi statements were based on a set of unclassified talking points prepared by U.S. intelligence agencies for members of Congress. The initial draft written by the CIA referred to 'attacks' carried out by 'extremists with ties to al Qaeda.' However by the time Rice received them, 'attacks' had changed to 'demonstrations' and 'with ties to al-Qaeda' had been deleted, multiple U.S. sources have said. Not budging: Senate Armed Services Committee member, Sen Kelly Ayotte, says she had 'many more questions that need to be answered' and suggested she'd vote against Rice's nomination as secretary of state . Those in intelligence circles suggest . the talking points were deliberately vague in order to protect covert . operations in Libya in the aftermath of the attack, adding that an . investigation was still underway when Rice made the rounds of talk shows . on Sept. 16. Republicans, . meantime, suspect Rice was covering up for President Obama, . charging the administration didn't want an al-Qaida terrorist attack to . taint his re-election chances. White House response: Obama administration spokesman Jay Carney says the questions about Rice's talking points have been answered . The White House has denied making those edits and members of Congress are trying to determine where the changes were made. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the questions about Rice's appearance on the talk shows and the talking points had been answered. Carney said: 'The focus on - some might say obsession . (with) - comments made on Sunday shows seems to me, and to many, to be . misplaced. What is the point of the focus on this?' Rice, a Rhodes scholar who's married . to Canadian television producer Ian Cameron, has risen through . Democratic ranks over the years to counsel presidential candidates that . include Michael Dukakis and John Kerry, himself a possible Hillary . Clinton replacement. She has an impressive pedigree - her . father was the first black governor of the Federal Reserve Board, her . mother a renowned education scholar - but Rice's legendary abrasiveness . has prompted misgivings about her suitability for the job from both the . left and right. 'She is ill-equipped to be the . nation's top diplomat for reasons that have little to do with Libya,' Dana Milbank, a left-leaning Washington Post columnist, wrote recently . in a piece that recounted how she once gave respected diplomat Richard . Holbrooke the middle finger when she worked in the Bill Clinton White . House. He called her an 'undiplomatic diplomat.' The New York Times' Maureen Dowd, also . a liberal columnist, took aim as well, arguing Rice's foreign policy . stances are primarily motivated by professional ambitions. Watch video here .
meeting with them on Tuesday. She claimed she McCain, . Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte, Rice U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris . Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack she'd vote . against Rice's nomination as nomination as secretary of state . Those in administration spokesman Jay Carney says the questions about Rice's talking points have been House spokesman Jay Carney said the questions talking points had been answered. Carney said: worked in the Bill Clinton White . House. He