troops in afghanistan. and more than an affair? searching the home of mistress paula broadwell. >>> fashion faux pas. known for its runway shows but racism in the briefest of briefs? >>> we talk to michigan state head coach tom izzo live this hour. "newsroom" starts now. >>> and good morning from washingt washington. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. this morning, a shocking new development in the sex scandal that toppled one of the most respect respected men in washington. now it has snared another top general, john allen, commander of all international troops in afghanistan. today the feds are sifting through a mountain of e-mails and messages he traded with a woman named jill kelley. a mind boggling 20,000 to 30,000 pages and agents are searching for anything inappropriate. now here is the common link. that woman, kelley, jill kelley, she's the one who received harassing e-mails supposedly from petraeus' jealous mistress, paula broadwell. petraeus admits to the affair with broadwell and has said that this wom

. >>> several veterans who served in iraq and afghanistan are celebrating their 2012 victory. in fact, it was a his tore uk election for them. barbara starr has more on the veterans getting ready to take their seat in congress. >> reporter: republican tom cotton, a veteran of iraq and afghanistan was one of the big winners tuesday, seizing the fourth congressional district seat in arkansas. >> although i don't know what committee i'll be assigned to, ultimately i want to play a central role in helping guide america's national policy and foreign policy. >> reporter: cotton, a law school graduate was an infantry officer with the 101st airborne division. nine veterans from these wars have just won congressional seats, seven republicans and two democrats. >> this is definitely historical. there are going to be more iraq and after gaffe stan veterans. >> reporter: seth lynn says iraq and afghanistan veterans may finally have found their political voice. >> and i think a lot of people have come home, really established themselves in their communities, become leaders, you know, in bu

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 was slightly regal. >> america values success. what success in iraq and afghanistan? can you tell me? he's left -

she spent a year with petraeus in afghanistan for the book he wrote. cnn has not been able to reach broadwell for a comment and it's not clear whether she is the woman whom petraeus had the affair. the counterintelligence unit investigated the tip to see if there was a security risk. they said tl not suggestion that the fbi was investigating for wrong doing. the concern was that he could be in a vulnerable spot. >> and is there any information that you have in terms of this information that the fbi had as to whether this woman that you mentioned, paula broadwell, we'll talk more about her, that she would have accessed his information with his approval or unbeknowest to him? >> i know the two kept in touch. i've worked with paula professionally as well. i've reached out to her several times today and haven't gotten a response, but we know they continue to talk frequently. >> all right. thank you very much. suzanne's going to stay with us and just to let our viewers know, paula broadwell has been a regular guest on this program. we reached out to her as

commander in afghanistan. and this is a critical time, as president obama figures out what to do with those remaining 68,000 combat troops, u.s. troops set to leave afghanistan by the end of 2014. the thing is, as the hill, as democrats and republicans come back to the hill this week, the confirmation hearing for general joseph dunford who is set to replace general allen, that was scheduled for thursday, as well. and it will go ahead as planned, even though the confirmation hearing has been delayed. >> brianna "the washington post" has a report speculating who may replace secretary of state hillary clinton, and also who may move in to the defense department. what can you tell us about that. >> that's right. so a lot of people, zoraida, as you know, were talking about senator kerry, perhaps he might be someone who would replace hillary clinton. everyone knew that this was a position that perhaps he had his eye on in 2008, and hillary clinton took that position. but, "the post" is reporting that president obama

troops out of the afghanistan, timetable, negotiating with the president. do you find it difficult, fran? how is it that you exchange that volume of e-mails and still able to manage to do your job, what he's been tasked to do? >> look, suzanne, i had the same reaction that you have, how could you possibly exchange that much over the course, by the way, not just 30,000, but between 2010 and 2012, over the course of 2, 2 1/2 years, pretty extraordinary. he is respected. but i'll tell you, i think we need to step back, right from all of the salacious details about this. ask ourselves what are our priorities as a nation for military leaders? are we looking for perfect people or competent people? preferably you'd like both. what is important is what you say he's a general allen, like general patreaus, competent, respected, admired leader of troops and very effective in their command positions. and so look, in some ways i'd like the government not to be in people's bedrooms, churches, doctor's offices, you know? i think we want -- what is the role of the fbi here

commander in afghanistan. there are reports that there may be as many as 20,000 to 30,000 documents linking kelley to allen. general allen served as deputy commander, and for a short time, temporary commander, at u.s. central command here in tampa. that from 2010 to 2012. now we know kelley had a social relationship and friendship with general petraeus during that time, but we don't know what, if any, kind of relationship kelley had with allen when he served in tampa. we do know that the kelley family has hired abe lowe to represent them. he is an attorney that is known for his past representation of president bill clinton and jack abramoff, also john edwards. we also know the kelley family has hired judy smith. that's a crisis manager, that has previously worked with monica lewinsky. so if that gives you an idea of who the kelley family now has representing them, it could say a lot about what may be contained in those 20,000 to 30,000 documents. >> so, i should mention. it's 20,000 to 30,000 pages of document

america's top commander in afghanistan. he was set to become the nato supreme commander, until the president put that nomination on hold today. like petraeus, allen is at the top of the american military. he's a four-star general. one of only four four-star generals in the entire u.s. marine corps. officials are investigating general john allen after finding allegedly inappropriate e-mails between general allen and jill kelley. the same jill kelley who had contacted the fbi about receiving harassing e-mails from petraeus biographer and former mistress, paula broadwell. allen, who once worked for petraeus at the u.s. central command, denies any wrongdoing as investigators look through 20,000 to 30,000 pages of documents. now, i want to make it clear what we know at this time is that it's not clear how many of those documents may include potentially inappropriate communication. but the new allegations have raised serious questions tonight about the culture of relationships in the military, and we're going to have more on that

military commander in afghanistan. john allen is now under investigation for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to jill kelley. yes, the same woman who claims she received threatening e-mails from petraeus' mistress paula broadwell. and we're not just talking about a couple of e-mails. pentagon investigators are coming through 20 to 30,000 pages of documents. with me now is retired u.s. army general and cnn contributor spider marks joining me via skype from virginia. when you look at the sheer number of documents that they're looking at, 20,000 to 30,000 pages of documents, how do you react to that? what was your first thought? >> well, if true, if it is that type of volume of traffic, this is one busy guy spending a lot of time talking to an honorary ambassador between the community and tampa in the air force base. he's got a lot of discretionary time on his hand and, frankly, that's not the case. so it's very, very troubling to see that an individual like this would at least put himself in a situation where the

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

this is mike rio's life post-afghanistan. >> i need to discover who i am again. i'm not asking for help for the rest of my life. i want to feel like i matter. >> reporter: mike's wife maggie says her husband returned from war a shell of the man he once was. gone was the fun loving, free-spirited laid-back guy he used to be. war, she says, changed him. he still has ringing in the ears from explosions. he also suffers from vertigo, headaches and has terrible anxiety. we saw it firsthand during our interview. mike was so anxious he could hardly sit still. we met at mike rio's mother's house near phoenix, arizona, where he, his wife and daughter have been living for the last year and a half. maggie and their daughter share a bedroom, and mike sleeps every night on the living room couch. what is it like for you at 51 to be sleeping on your mother's couch? >> ashamed. i feel low. i feel how can i support my family, let alone get them a house. >> reporter: mike doesn't have the money for a place of their own. he can't work. fire fights and an ied blast the in it afghani

he says that iraq and afghanistan veterans may finally have found their political voice. >> and i think that a lot of people have come home, really established themselves in their communities, become leaders, you know, in business, in public service, within their communities and have now been having a lot more success running for office. >> reporter: despite the influx of 9/11 era veterans into congress, the overall number of veterans is declining. both the house and the senate will have fewer veterans this year than last. democrat tammy duckworth lost both of her legs in iraq, and she has just won a seat in congress. she believes the downturn is a moment in history. >> the giants, the lions of the world war ii generation step away, and the korean war generation steps away, and when the last of the vietnam vets, as they begin to retire, now you go to the all volunteer force, and there are just fewer of us in general. >> reporter: duckworth says she has spent a lifetime in service, and she believes that service is what has helped her and other veterans win their races for elected office.

a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns and then met with families who lost loved ones in the iraq and afghanistan wars. >>> lawmakers have pointed questions about the fbi's investigation into general petraeus' extramarital affair. they want to know why they weren't told, and they want to know if national security was breached. peter king talked to candy crowley today. >> it seems that this has been going on for several months and now appears that the fbi did not realize until election day that general petraeus was involved. it just doesn't add up. >> petraeus resigned from the post as cia director friday and mitt head had an affair. and then sources said that the affair was with whiz biographer paula broadwell. more on that in a few moments. >>> bipartisan agreement appears to be in the work. charles schumer and lindsey graham says that their path including a tough love to citizenship. they teamed up in 2010, and that plan went nowhere, but the republicans may have fresh motivation after election losses last week. >>> death toll from superstorm sandy has climbed to 113 with two more deaths report

commander in afghanistan. general john allen now under investigation for alleged flirtatious and inappropriate e-mails sent to jill kelley. the petraeus family friend who unwittingly exposed his affair with paula broadwell. >>> right now general allen's nomination to be the next nato supreme commander in europe is on hold. >>> all three people aboard a piper pa-32 were killed when their plane went down tuesday. look at those pictures. it was shortly after takeoff. this is in jackson, mississippi. the plane slammed into a house, injuring one person on the ground. the owner of the plane says all three men on board the single engine aircraft were pilots and ironically they were heading to an faa safety conference when their plane went down. >>> many new jersey homeowners are already paying the price for hurricane sandy, and they can expect to pay more. republican governor chris christie says residents of towns that require extensive rebuilding efforts can expect to see their property taxes go up. >> there's no ma

created a plan to leave afghanistan. and drastically expanded the use of armed drones to target terrorists. >> he may be known as the drone president. the president who relied on technology to do the business of troops. >> my most sacred duty as president and commander in chief is to keep the american people safe. drones are one tool that we use. >> even if the target is an american. in 2011, one of those targeted for death was anwar al awlaki, an al qaeda leader living in yemen and also an american citizen. are the standards different when the target's an american? >> when an american has made a decision to affiliate itself with al qaeda and target fellow americans, that -- you know, there is a legal justification for us to try to stop them from carrying out plots. >> many of his supporters are quite concerned because they view this as basically a form of targeted assassination. >> do you struggle with this policy? >> oh, absolutely. if you don't, then it's very easy to slip into a situation in which you end up bending

rajiv, you've covered the war in afghanistan extensively. did you get invited on trips with david petraeus, how well did you know him and how well -- >> i covered him off and on first back in iraq when he was a division commander up in northern iraq and more recently when he was top commander of all u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan and in that later job i did travel around the country with him. he would give remarkable access to journalists. oftentimes it was under very strict ground rules that things were off the record but he did open himself up to press coverage because he thought it was important for the mission to get recognized out there, but also i believe because he also liked to see himself at the center of the coverage. >> so that remarkable access paid dividends for petraeus's image. would you say, would you argue with the notion that many of the jurmts who dealt with him, who know him, have tended to go easy on him on this unfortunate scandal? >> i think some have. others have been a little harder edged and fairer, but, look.

forces in iraq and afghanistan. he was also considered by some to be a possible presidential candidate. cnn military analyst james spider marks talked with me earlier about petraeus' legacy. >> it's terribly unfortunate. i do know general dave petraeus. in fact, we knew each other in high school and certainly at west point and then i had the great good fortune of serving along him in a number of assignments to include combat in iraq early on and paula broadwell was a young officer who worked for me about a decade ago, and she's just immensely gifted, bright, talented, fit, a great representative of the very best our nation brings forward. so you have these two incredibly gifted folks, and they make a human frailty, but at the end of the day leadership is all about competence and character, and in the case of dave petraeus, no one, no one would challenge his competence. that's a matter of record. but at the end of the day his character indicated a bit of a frailty, and i would suspect he probably didn't have somebody

i was stationed at camp pendleton and we deployed to afghanistan in 2010. it was a really bloody summer while we were there. we lost a couple of pilots. i saw a lot of bodies coming back. >> i was in the u.s. navy for four years and my job title was quarter master. we helped out with amphibious operations. we had a lot of marines on our boats. >> the fire is going to be on the left side. >> i was so focused on navy at one point in time, i never imagined myself being a firefighter, i never imagined myself going through the training. it has been challenging for me but the challenge is more than welcomed. >> i'm hoping i get, you know, picked up with some kind of fire department or also training to get into some kind of police work, just experience and hopefully a job. >> being a veteran, it is a big thing to me. it means a lot because i have a lot of veterans in my family. when we have veterans day, it is not more or less saying i did my time in service, it is saying i paved the way for people that are going to come behind me to do their time and service. to

and that is, you know, you have lost the battle in afghanistan. you, the united states, need to pull back and look after your own country. that is their opinion. they've said this before. they've constantly said the u.s. should pull out. the problem, of course, is not just the statement but what is happening on the ground. that is that there is an active war still going on in afghanistan. and the initial goal of the obama administration was to either defeat the taliban or beat them to the negotiating table. this has not happened. and there is a real issue about what the state of play will be. many people incredibly worried about what happens once the u.s. leaves. as you know, the u.s. is committed under president obama to leave at least by the end of 2014 and there's a huge amount of pressure coming from many corners to leave earlier than that. the taliban is still very active and the whole place could descend into another round of civil war. that's the issue going on there. it will be a big issue for the president going ahead. >> on afghanistan v

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

and nato forces in afghanistan. we get more on his legacy and unexpected resignation from chris lawrence. >> reporter: he sent this letter to the rest of the cia on friday admitting to them that he had an affair and that he went to the white house on thursday and asked president obama to accept his resignation. on friday, during a phone call, the president did accept that resignation. effectively shaking up the national security team just days after the election. by the time david petraeus got his first taste of real combat, he was a 50-year-old major general. in 2003, he commanded the 101st airborne during the march on baghdad. it was in iraq that he asked a roert, tell me how this ends suggesting trouble the u.s. would have there in later years. they gained the nickname king david, used affectionately by supporters and by those who labelled him a celebrity general in 2007 president bush assigned petraeus to lead the troops in iraq and he wrote the petraeus doctrine. a scandal brought him back to command another wa

troops in afghanistan. they're in a war right now. >> wolf, that's the point, is that we have soldiers, marines, we have our service members in combat. that's what's most important, and general john allen has a job to do over in afghanistan. the morale of the fighting force is fine. they're going to go through any mission they have to do. they'll stay absolutely focused on those tasks. inside of dave petraeus' world, this is a matter of great shame, and he has let down the service he's been a part of for the last 40 years. he obviously lost his bearings, lost the grip on his values, made this terrible mistake and now he's got to live with that. that certainly has a message. as a result of those challenges and some other challenges with general officers, the secretary of defense has announced we're going to have a values review for the senior leaders in our military. >> same question to you about the fbi. you served a long career in the fbi. you have a shirtless fbi agent, his picture circulating out there.

created a plan to leave afghanistan. and drastically expanded the use of armed drones to target terrorists. >> he may be known as the drone president. the president who relied on technology to do the business of troops. >> my most sacred duty as president and commander in chief is to keep the american people safe. drones are one tool that we use. >> even if the target is an american. in 2011, one of those targeted for death was anwar al awlaki, an al qaeda leader living in yemen and also an american citizen. are the standards different when the target's an american? >> when an american has made a decision to affiliate itself with al qaeda and target fellow americans, that -- there is a legal justification for us to try to stop them from carrying out plots. >> many of his supporters are quite concerned because they view this as basically a form of targeted assassination. >> do you struggle with this policy? >> oh, absolutely. if you don't, then it's very easy to slip into a situation in which you end up bending rules thin

commander in afghanistan who is nominated to become nato's supreme commander. he has denied any wrong doing. >>> well, this is supposed to be his time to shine, and now only after a week after the re-election he has his hands full, of course, with the scandal as well. how is it going to, if it is, going to overshadow his initiatives? we'll ask our own fareed zakaria up next. oh, let me guess --ou see this? more washington gridlock. no, it's worse -- look, our taxes are about to go up. not the taxes on our dividends though, right? that's a big part of our retirement. oh, no, it's dividends, too. the rate on our dividends would more than double. but we depend on our dividends to help pay our bills. we worked hard to save. well, the president and congress have got to work together to stop this dividend tax hike. before it's too late. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right b

i presume you have been in afghanistan with him, spoken to him. it's a huge issue with the military. >> well, you know, it really is, brooke. i've interviewed him many times in iraq and afghanistan and traveled with him in those areas. the thing about dave pe trace you have to remember is he was and is always what you just said, the four star general. four star generals live potentially -- and it's risky for them, they lead isolated lives, don't they? they have aides. they have people around them. a small group of confidants. they have access to the highest level of intelligence and in the ultimate inner circle. we have seen it time and again. think back to general mcchrystal making some judgment calls that didn't work out for him. him having to leave oddly enough, petraeus taking over from him and this has happened time and again for four star generals for a variety of reasons. you know, there had been a lot of rumor around town in recent weeks that reporters were working on profiles of petraeus that were not going to be complimentary. so perhaps

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 david petraeus and top afghanistan commander, general john allen. new details coming out about all the people involved. let's get right to general james spider marks. it's nice to talk to you again. we appreciate your time. have you had a chance to speak to either general allen or general petraeus in this story so far yet? >> i have not. i certainly have left both of those gentlemen alone. i know general petraeus and certainly know john allenby reputation but we're not friends. >> some of the e-mails have been described as more inonocuous an flirtatious. kelley would say i saw you on television and you were terrific. and general john allen would write back, thanks, sweetheart. to some people's reading that would be an old school way of saying thank you. and others would say that's flirtatious. is that still considered to be inappropriate in the military? >> from knowing john allen's reputation, i would say it's innocuous but you don't call someone sweetheart in a form that lasts forever, which an e-mail is, unless it's your daughter, mother or wife.

general john allen, the top commander in afghanistan who, by the way, says he did not have an affair. >> you have two four-star generals involved here. several women involved. one set of twins and a guy, a shirtless guy from the fbi. don't you miss the simplicity of the clinton years? >> well, dave, here's a little simplicity. nancy pelosi is keeping her job. >> i made a decision to submit my name to, once again, serve as the house democratic leader. >> now, if she can only get those talking points straight. >> we did not have majority, but we had the gavel. excuse me, we don't have the gavel. >> somebody who seems to have the gop gavel, louisiana governor bobby jindal, the likely 2016 contender told republicans this week "stop being the stupid party." meanwhile, steven colbert told us to stop talking about 2016. >> do you think it's too early to talk about 2016? we don't think so. >> okay, fine, we'll go back to 2012. why do some folks want to go back to the 1860s? >> this is a petition asking the government to what alabama succeed from the union. >> that's right from alabama, alaska

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

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

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

around the globe who wait at home for their loved ones while they're engaged in critical work in iraq, afghanistan and else where. she has hung tough while i've been deployed for over 5 1/2 years since 9/11. >> a u.s. official confirms that the fbi had been investigating a tip that petraeus was having an affair. they were looking into whether there were any potential security risk and that "petraeus may have put himself in a volnrvo vulnerable position." the question is who knew what when and why was nothing done until after the election? randi, victor. >> chris lawrence, thank you very mump. >>> more than 12 days since sandy devastated the northeast, more than 300,000 people still do not have power. >> people are certainly getting desperate, impatient and down right furious because of flood damage, some people may not see power for days or now even weeks. >> i can't get power, heat, garbage pickup, nothing. >> nick valencia is joining us now and this is not just coming from the people who live there. we're hearing from the local leaders and even the governor. >> you can hear the tone of frustrati

. >> 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

the field, a video message was played from petty officer william cook on the third, his third tour in afghanistan. >> joy, there are no words that can express my thanks for the sacrifices you have made for our family in the past year. have fun tonight, i love you and miss you and promise i'll be home soon. >> but the halftime show was definitely not over. ♪ where at least i know i'm free ♪ >> petty officer cook sprinted onto the field, much to the delight of the jaguars crowd and his stunned family. now to the story of navy reservist justin white of wichita who just made it home in time for his son's fifth birthday party. only aiden didn't know it was his dad. he just beat in a light saber du duel. and for more of these heart warming home for the holidays videos, logon to cnn.com/video and click through the welcome home collection. i'm don lemon. see you back here in just a moment with the latest in the possible ground war in the middle east. it could happen in a matter of hours. meanwhile, "the situation room" begins right now.

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

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