afghanistan is worse off. he's supervised the predator explosion and the missiles and into not only pakistan and also afghanistan and he's exacerbated the entire region and the people who are there are going to hate us more so for civilian damage, collateral damage. on top of it, you know, he's built up this reputation. first of all, as a military man, i really think he's overdoing it as a showman because he goes in front of congress to talk about the counter insurgencies wearing, if you noticed, the ribbons grow every year. he's got now like a regular fruit salad up here. amazing amount. and it's disgusting. general marshall, one of the greatest heroes of world war ii, is famous for being a modest man, going in front of congress and wearing hardly anything. >> he had this reputation of king david. >> very much so. >> a lot of people in the forces. didn't always mean it as a compliment. meant as he w slightly regal. >> america values success. what success in iraq and afghanistan? can you tell me? he's left --

and meanwhile, what is he doi i in afghanistan years later? it amadness. >> there is a theory, general mcarthur and patton and they all had affairs. it is modern digital media unvaf elling all of this stuff. >> i don't think the problem is that the general had an affair. he was director of the cia and he walked into one of the black mailable situations that he could have. it is not that he is a general messing around. according to the code of military justice that is not allowed. the press is focused on the director of the cia having this problem. >> perhaps the biggest story today is benghazi blowing up again. pushing very, very hard now getting vicious in the rhetoric towards ambassador rice and so on. what do you think she was merely passing on intelligence and therefore if she wants to make secretary of state, she can do it. >> i was the host and we were trying to get the secretary of state to talk about benghazi. and she didn't go out. didn't she make herself a key player? >> and she could have said look, we believe there are a number of

she later travelled to afghanistan, interviewed petraeus, sometimes going running with him. interviews that led to the book "all in the education of general david petraeus." the revelation about the affair is bringing new interest in all the interviews broadwell did to promote the book and what she said about petraeus at that time. take a look. >> he at the end of the day is a human, and is challenged by the burdens of command and has mastered wearing the mask of command, if you will. so he has this mask of command, you think he's really confident, but i got to see a more personal side. i'm not in love with david petraeus. >> he is quite a physical specimen. he really loves to work out. i think at the agency they call him a genetic mutant. this project started as my dissertation. i was working with general petraeus virtually, doing interviews via e-mail. occasionally running with him and interviewing. i'm not a spokesperson for him. if showing a role model to other people in the world or other readers is a repugnant thing, i'm sorry, but i think the values he upholds and tri

petraeus is a highly respected, retired four-star general who commanded forces in both iraq and afghanistan. he was sworn in to run the cia a little over a year ago with vice president biden with his wife holly at his side. that was the swearing in. they've been married 35 years, have two grown kids. so how will this revelation exact the u.s. intelligence community? joining me now is fran townsend and bob baer and suzanne kelly. suzanne, what more can you tell us about the probe into the relationship with paula broadwell? do we know how long this has been going on? >> we don't know how long it was going on, but just the -- so they're the ones that would look into accusations of inappropriate access to classified information. individuals that hold clearances, are they doing what they need to be doing to make sure that information stays safe? is there any opportunity whatsoever that that information could be exploited by either a spy or anyone else who shouldn't have access to that information. so the fact that they were the ones looking into this, tells you that, you know, they were concerne

general mcchrystal from the time he was appointed to the head of the forces in afghanistan is from the very moment of his confirmation hearing, he and the white house are in this back and forth and it is actually long before "rolling stone" story for him and his aides to backlash, but it is having deadly consequences for the men at the bottom of the hill. >> and it must be a huge distraction for them, because my brother is fighting over there, and it is a total distraction, isn't it? >> yes, it is. with the petraeus story breaking, we had a book launch on saturday night, and a lot of the troops in the book came, and a lot of the gold star moms and gold star wives, and when petraeus was mentioned, it was an incredulousness, and these men served in an area of the village where they would not see women for months. >> and there was the boss having an affair. >> yes, and it was so bad that they felt that women do not exist anymore and there was a female helicopter who would buzz over them, and they would all run over, because they wanted to hear her voice, because they were convinced that s

spent a year over in afghanistan. so, you know, in washington, unfortunately, any sort of competent woman has that sort of access and is successful there, is bound to be snipping and gossiping. i don't think anybody took it seriously. he seemed beyond reproach. he worked incredible hard, incredibly confident. dianne feinstein called his resignation tragic. i think that's right. it's a real loss to the country. this aside, right. so you asked suzanne when would the white house have known? whenever the fbi opens an investigation of a narrow fishl, they have to make notifications of that, especially if there is some counterintelligence concern. we've heard that would have wen to jim clap either who would have notified the national security adviser or chief of staff. they would have been aware of this, because of the very concern of a breach of some sort of national security information that they were investigating. >> >>. >> bob, i know you say this is an extraordinary event. the fact that they were investigating, does t

she has spent a year in afghanistan with petraeus. here is a picture from their website. right now the cia is investigating a tip that she is the other woman. she is the woman named in that fbi tape. petraeus has not admitted an affair directly with her. but he said, yesterday afternoon, i went to the white house and asked the president to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as d/cia. after being married for over 37 years, i showed extreme poorly judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. this afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation. author of "the secrets skreof t fbi," and suzanne kelly. let's start with suzanne kelly. this is a massive blow, really, to everybody in the white house, to general petraeus, to his wife and to the country. the country has lost one of its great military men in scandalous circumstances. >> you know, piers, that's absolutely right. the first shock was he admitted to having an affair. this is someo

troops in iraq and afghanistan. now he is a man who resigned after cheating on his wife, joining the ranks of many men that have fallen from grace. lisa sylvester is covering this for us. we have seen this many times. >> that's right. there are certain powerful traits they have, charisma, leadership skills, decisiveness, risk taking. experts say the same elements of their personality may also lead them astray. >> i did not have sexual relations with that woman. >> i have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and that violates my or any sense of right and wrong. >> you didn't send that photo to that woman in washington state? >> i did not send it to that woman. >> they have power, fame and have betrayed their families. men that marred their stellar careers and suffered the consequences. former general petraeus, head of the cia, is the latest to get caught, stepping down after admitting to an affair. but why in the world do men with so much to lose risk it all? helen fisher is author of the book "an

petraeus is a highly respected, four-star general who commanded forces in both iraq and afghanistan. he was sworn in to run the cia a little over a year ago with vice president biden with his wife holly at his side. that was the swearing in. they've been married 35 years, have two grown kids. so how will this revelation impact the committee? member of the cia's external advisory committee, and also cnn's officer, and intelligence correspondent. susan, let's start with you. what can you tell us about this probe with paula broadwell. what would the fbi have been looking for, and do we know how long this was going on for? >> we don't know how long it was going on, but just the -- so they're the ones that would look into classification, they look into hold clearances. are they doing what they need to be doing to make sure that information stays safe. is there any opportunity that that information could be exploited by either a spy or anyone else who shouldn't have access to that information. so the fact they were the ones looking into this tells us they were concerned about some e-mail t

humiliate his wife any further, cause any further embarrassment to his grown children, one who is an afghanistan veteran. this, i think, is classic petraeus trying to control what is going on around him. >> on november 25th, a writer for the daily beast website listing general petraeus' rules for life. number 5, we will all make mistakes. the key is to recognize them and admit them, to learn from them and take off the rearview mirrors, drive on and avoid making them again. quite extraordinary given that was just written a few days ago. thank you very much, indeed. a man who worked closely with general petraeus in iraq, mr. brenner talks about the shocking o >>> with each hour, we learn new details about the shocking affair that forced david petraeus to resign as cia director. he was on the ground the same time as the former ambassador was ambassador of iraq, and the ambassador joins me now. nice to see you, ambassador. >> nice to be with you. >> are you shocked by these revelations today? >> of course, i am. it's a sad day particularly for mrs. petraeus and for their children and for the men and

you see that in other parts of afghanistan and iraq. so people like al jabari who is not exactly mother theresa. this guy is a mass murderer with blood on his hands, killing numerous children and women and basically the world is a better place with people like him out of the system. >> ambassador, thank you for coming in. good to see you. >>> coming up next, fighting in the middle east is sparking fresh protests in new york tonight. what is the battle between israel and hamas mean for america? fareed zakaria joins me live coming up next. by not breaking consider the silverado 1500 -- still the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickups on the road. and now we've also been recognized for lowest total cost of ownership -- based on important things, like depreciation, fuel, and maintenance costs. and now trade up to get a 2012 chevy silverado all-star edition with a total value of $9,000. from outstanding value to standing the test of time, chevy runs deep. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it g

commander in afghanistan. general john allen and the manner has been referred to the defense department inspector general. that official said the department is reviewing tens of thousands of e-mails and that inappropriate behavior with general seth the air force base for she did volunteer work for the story gets stranger and there is no denying david petraeus had all. a seat at the top of u.s. intelligence and a long marriage to the father two children, now adults. why did he put all that on the line by having an extramarital affair? only he can answer that question. history will forever note he was forced from power by his behavior and in that respect he is not a long. here is marcus' average. >> reporter: politics and sex scandals are nothing new. they date back to our country's beginning. >> if we wanted to see what our founding fathers behavior was like in philadelphia in 1776, we may not like all the answers. loss >> reporter: more recently, president john f. kennedy's affairs were notorious. lyndon johns

. >> meanwhile, the top general in afghanistan allegedly caught red-handed exchanging flirtatious e-mails of his own with jill kelley. plus the debut of my new cnn colleague, the culinary superstar who will dine on anything, anthony bourdain is here. joining me is barbara starr and intelligence correspondent, suzanne kelly. welcome back to you both. every night i say right off the top, can any of us get our heads round this and how much more ridiculous can it get, and lo and behold, it gets more ridiculous. barbara starr, let's try and get to what we believe to be the facts behind all the kind of lurid, titillating headlines. a second general today, petraeus' successor in afghanistan, general john allen, a marine corps four star general, current nominee to be the new nato supreme allied commander, so a very big fish indeed in the military. he is apparently at the center of a scandal involving 30,000 documents, all pages or e-mails or whatever that he exchanged with this second woman, the other other woman, jill kelley. what do we know about the content of this? because it's not as simple

you see that in other parts of afghanistan and iraq. so people like al jabari who is not exactly mother theresa. this guy is a mass murderer with blood on his hands, killing numerous children and women and basically the world is a better place with people like him out of the system. >> ambassador, thank you for coming in. good to see you. >>> coming up next, fighting in the middle east is sparking fresh protests in new york tonight. what is the battle between israel and hamas mean for america? fareed zakaria joins me live coming up next. >>> that is exactly -- all >>> that is exactly -- all right, i'm going to move out of the way, i'm going to let you get a look here. i'm going to let you get a look at what is going on. now, i can see the black smoke. it's difficult to capture on camera but you saw that flash. this is what we have been dealing with all day. we've also been dealing with, i'm sorry, the power has just gone out. we've been dealing with power outages, wolf, but this feels like war. >> terrifying moment there. that's cnn's s

she also traveled to afghanistan with him. and an adviser who observed them together in afghanistan says, some petraeus staffers couldn't understand why she got such unprecedented access to the general. in fact, some of these military staffers who had worked with petraeus for years just could not come to grips with the fact that he was spending so much time with broadwell. they also complained that she dressed inappropriately on occasion, wearing tight skirts and other things that might be inappropriate. but the adviser i spoke with who saw both of them in afghanistan says a lot of this was pure jealousy, that paula broadwell was not the only woman there in afghanistan at isaf headquarters who dressed the way she did. she did not stand out in that regard, in his opinion. he also says some of the time together was cultivated by petraeus and that's how you got to know him. he said, when i went to afghanistan, i asked people, how do i get petraeus to trust me, to get into that inner circle? they all told me, you've got to go runn

you see that in other parts of afghanistan and iraq. so people like al jabari who is not exactly mother theresa. this guy is a mass murderer with blood on his hands, killing numerous children and women and basically the world is a better place with people like him out of the system. >> ambassador, thank you for coming in. good to see you. >>> coming up next, fighting in the middle east is sparking fresh protests in new york tonight. what is the battle between israel and hamas mean for america? fareed zakaria joins me live coming up next. ...mom's smartphone... dad's tablet... or lauren's smartphone... at&t has a plan built to help make families' lives easier. introducing at&t mobile share. one plan lets you share data on up to 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. add a tablet for only $10 per month. at&t. it's the cleanest, clearest water. we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster that we can find. [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's crabfest! the only time of year you can savor 5 succulent crab entrees, all under 20

their own son served in southern afghanistan in some of the roughest neighborhoods of the war. holly petraeus knows what military wives and military families go through during these separations. this is something she has seen over the years. very difficult situation, really hard to explain. he was always the four-star general even while he was cia director. perhaps as so many four-star generals in the past became a bit isolated, a bit too much surrounded by close confidants, maybe didn't see the big picture or the stress he might have been under perhaps. >> perhaps. gloria, you know a lot of folks are immediately talking about the timing of this resignation. >> right. >> coming just a few days after the president was re-elected. coming just on the eve of major hearings involving the benghazi. >> right. >> -- the failed operation over there. what are you hearing? >> that's the one question senator finestein had. she says i don't understand the timing of this. she pointed out, yes, there are hearings coming up next week. she does -- there are questions about that. what she did sa

when she was in afghanistan, she was there as a journalist. so whatever information she had access to there was not in connection with her reservist duties, and what they found at home, there is no indicate. you have to show you're entitled and have the authority to retain classified information and you're protecting it appropriately. >> is there anything you want to say about this whole national security issue and the relationship between paula broadwell and general petraeus, sharing national security secrets, anything along those lines, have you questions general petraeus about that? >> i did, and he indicated that he did not pass any classified documents to paula. if she got them they were through other sources. and you know, he was convinced that this affair was a private matter. he had obviously violated his marital vows, and that's a significant matter, and he realizes that it was a severe and morally reprehensible action, but he violated no laws, it was a private matter, and he indicates again the source of the classified information wa

sorts of documents going back from his time, you know, when he was commanding in iraq, commanding in afghanistan, you know, and now at the cia, so it would not be surprising that he would have kept documents, at some point when he left government he could go back and write a book of his own. so i suspect some of it is supporting historical documents from the time she wrote the first book, planning as suzanne suggested background for the second book, and frankly, just historical documents that he wanted maintained and kept for the time when he left government. >> jonathan, at this point i keep trying to take a step back from this and try to think is this just some salacious story or is there real significance here, and i'm not sure i know the answer to this. at this point, what do you feel like you still want to know? >> well, right now, this is sort of a greek tragedy without a redeeming character. there's nobody that's looking particularly good but that doesn't mean that they look like felons. the way it looks to me as a criminal defense attorney is there's no clear evidence of a crime. i'm sur

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he is a middle east expert and expert on afghanistan and general petraeus to some degree. first, i want to ask you about the general. i don't care about the affair other than the implications with the civil liberties. he is built up as a legend. he is in terps of his accomplishments for what he is known for the surge in iraq? >> i am hoping the one good thing that might come out of this very unfortunate train of events is we start to re-think the right wing narrative of the iraq and afghanistan wars, which is some how the united states has still learned to do counter insurgency and came out of it all right. it's not true. the united states lost the iraq war. very badly. and it lost the afghanistan war. it was not the reason we got awe a soft landing in iraq. it was a bad idea to attempt it in afghanistan and a failure and petraeus, you know, apart from his own qualities of leadership and intelligence was you a poster -- was a poster boy for a false narrative of the wars. >> that goes to the real issue of morality here. if you do this surge in afghanistan and it doesn't wor