Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN in an interview Monday that she—not the White House—takes responsibility for the security situation in Benghazi, Libya, ahead of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack there that claimed the lives of four Americans, including the ambassador.

"I take responsibility," Clinton told CNN in one of a series of television interviews she gave after arriving in Peru. The comments from America's top diplomat came on the eve of President Barack Obama's second debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, a face-off that seemed likely to include questions about the administration's handling of the bloody assault.

"I want to avoid some kind of political gotcha" with just three weeks before the election, Clinton said, underlining that she—not Obama and Vice President Joe Biden—has the final word on security at America's diplomatic posts overseas.

The White House took heavy fire from Republicans for blaming the attack on Muslim anger at an Internet video ridiculing Islam—even though intelligence officials from the U.S., France, Britain and Italy had quickly labeled the assault an act of terrorism.