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THE SITUATION ROOM
CIA Scandal Grows
Aired November 13, 2012 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. Spreading scandal. New claims about General John Allen's contacts with the woman who helped trigger the David Petraeus investigation. Also, another surprising new twist leads back to Petraeus' former lover, Paula Broadwell, and her e-mail trail.
And the president, staffing up for a second term, he appears blindsided by this sensational mess.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan appears to be fighting back, trying not to be brought down by scandal, as General David Petraeus was. General John Allen is under investigation by the Defense Department, and his nomination to be the military head of NATO is now on hold, at issue, Allen's contacts with Jill Kelley, who played a role in exposing the affair that cost Petraeus his job as the CIA director.
Let's go to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. She's working the story for us.
So, we're hearing General Allen's side of the story right now, aren't we, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We are, indeed, Wolf.
General Allen, Jill Kelley all now saying what did not happen, but the question remains, why is there a Pentagon investigation?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Marine Corps General John Allen denies an extramarital affair with Jill Kelley, the Florida socialite whose concern over threatening e-mails led to an investigation that revealed an affair between CIA Director David Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
A Pentagon official told reporters Allen, who commands the war in Afghanistan, is adamant he did nothing wrong.
A senior official close to Allen tells CNN of Kelley: "There is no affair. She's a bored socialite." A U.S. official says there appears to be nothing criminal involved. But Allen is now under investigation for what is being called inappropriately flirtatious e- mails to Kelley. GEORGE LITTLE, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: The secretary directed that the matter be referred to inspector general of the Department of Defense.
STARR: The FBI found up to 35,000 pages of documents, some of them e-mails between Allen and Kelley, some dating back two years during their investigation. According to a senior official close to Allen, one message the Afghan commander sent warned Kelley she had been threatened. The official says Allen had received an anonymous message now believed to be from Broadwell.
The Pentagon was called in because Allen is subject to military law. But why did this only come out now in public view?
JONATHAN TURLEY, CONSTITUTIONAL ATTORNEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: We have a large amount of alleged material that went between these individuals, as much as 30,000 pages. It's not clear whether this was viewed as a relatively minor question or whether it was not apparent until the very end that the general was involved.
STARR: Allen was to appear Thursday for Senate hearing to become the military head of NATO. Now that is on hold.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, SENIOR FELLOW IN FOREIGN POLICY STUDIES, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: We need to be careful not to have this cloud of scandal start to color the image of General Allen because the minute that happens, it may be almost too late to sustain his leadership.
STARR: The general is highly respected inside the ranks and is known to be all business.
GEN. JOHN ALLEN, COMMANDER, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCES: The president was very clear at west point.
STARR: Former Marine John Ullyot has worked for Allen.
JOHN ULLYOT, FORMER U.S. MARINE: From early on in his career, all the way up to four stars and commanding Afghanistan, he is somebody who has never made a wrong step.
STARR: The president for now is keeping Allen in command.
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He has faith in General Allen, believes he's doing and has done an excellent job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Well, look, Wolf, a source familiar with Jill Kelley's version of events says there was no sexual relationship, there was no affair with General Allen.
But on the other side of this, there is an investigation here at the Pentagon, and we have talked to senior officials who say Leon Panetta, the secretary of defense, would not have ordered that investigation if there wasn't something that need to be looked at -- Wolf.
BLITZER: So his nomination to be the NATO supreme allied commander following his tour of duty in Afghanistan, all of that is on hold for now?
STARR: It is on hold for now. There will be a confirmation hearing shortly for the man who is going to succeed him to command the war in Afghanistan, but right now, no clear way ahead for a new military chief of NATO, the United States' most important security alliance, Wolf.
BLITZER: Certainly is. All right, Barbara, thank you.
Let's get some more now on Jill Kelley and her connection to General Allen and to the Petraeus investigation.
Kate Bolduan is here picking up this part of the story.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
And, as you know, our whole team, all of our correspondents are digging on this story for every bit of information as it's coming out, it seems in drips and drabs.
Our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, is here with more on that.
Gloria, you're learning some new information this evening. What do you have?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
And to follow up on what Barbara Starr was saying, my colleague Joe Johns and I have been told that Jill Kelley and General Allen had no sexual relationship. This is from a source familiar with Jill Kelley's version of events, but again no sexual relationship. I don't think we know the exact nature of their friendship, but this is what we were told.
I have also been told by a source familiar with Jill Kelley's version of events that she first mentioned this sort of e-mail harassment kind of casually to this FBI agent and said, I was told, you know, by the way, I'm getting these kinds of threatening e-mails, and this agent then said, OK, let me check it out. And I'm told she was sort of happy for that,you know, OK, because this is kind of bothering me.
I was also told from this same source, then, as we now know, the FBI agent went and proceeded and that Kelley did not know at first, or have any idea, that these that the e-mail investigation would eventually lead to the revelation of a relationship between Petraeus and Paula Broadwell. So, again, when you look at how this kind of, this spool of yarn sort of unraveled, it's clear that Jill Kelley, at the outset, had no idea that this would damage her friend David Petraeus.
BOLDUAN: Yes, because it came from an anonymous e-mail address. And so she didn't even know where these threats were coming from.
BLITZER: Right.
But the whole FBI investigation now has become so controversial.
BORGER: It's controversial at every level. And Dana Bash is going to talk about how it's controversial at the congressional level, because they wanted to be informed, but also, when you look at, again, how this story has snowballed.
You start out with one woman e-mailing another woman. Maybe she's jealous, whatever. And suddenly it involves the director of the CIA, personal e-mails back and forth on Gmail accounts. And so you have civil libertarians now raising the question, wait a minute, what's appropriate to look into and what's inappropriate to look into?
Once you have discovered that there is no national security issue here, why are we looking into the personal e-mails between individuals when it has nothing to do with their -- you know, with their professional jobs or -- and that's an issue, in particular, if it involves General Allen, for example, and Jill Kelley, who had no sexual relationship, as we have been told.
So it's going to be a question that civil libertarians are going to be looking into, because in the age in which we live, this cyber age in which we live, this is kind of their worst nightmare. Right?
BLITZER: Once you type it, even if you don't hit send, even if you keep it in a draft file, it is there forever.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: There forever.
BORGER: That's right.
BLITZER: Gloria, thanks very much.
First, this scandal is obviously a big deal for a lot of reasons. It's certainly a huge deal for the Obama administration. We have new details about when and how the president was told about the Allen bombshell in the latest development.
Our chief White House correspondent, Jessica Yellin, is joining us now.
Jessica, first of all, what are you learning?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.
We understand that the president was first told there might be trouble with General Allen and this investigation on Friday, when the White House's counsel's office was notified that there could be trouble with his nomination to become NATO supreme allied commander. Then on Monday evening, the president was notified that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has referred the matter to the Defense Department's inspector general.
Keep in mind, now, according to the timetable, the president had also just been told on Thursday about General Petraeus' indiscretions, so it must have been an awful lot to take in all in one week, right after the election.
Secretary -- Press Secretary Jay Carney says, though, it was out of the White House's hands, this time frame, for their notification. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARNEY: They have, as I understand it, protocols in place for when they notify the legislative and executive branches of investigations. And it is simply a fact that the White House was not aware of the situation regarding General Petraeus until Wednesday and the situation regarding General Allen until Friday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: So as you consider the coincidence that the president was told about this just days after the election, keep this in mind. CNN has been told by senior U.S. officials that Paula Broadwell's last interview with the FBI was on November 2. So it would seem the FBI investigation was still ongoing just days before the election, Wolf.
BLITZER: The election was November 6.
This obviously leaves some huge holes in the president's national security team. What do we know about this Cabinet shuffle that's about to begin?
YELLIN: Well, as we talk about personnel matters, let me say, the saying inside the Obama administration is, those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know.
So, keeping that in mind, those who talk to me say the following, that U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice has supporters inside the White House to become secretary of state. If she were to go for that job, if she were to be nominated, obviously, she would have a bruising confirmation battle, but people believe she would ultimately get confirmed.
Do they want that fight is a question and how would that affect the rest of the chess pieces? Senator John Kerry, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has, it's been widely known, long wanted to be secretary of state. If Susan Rice gets the State nomination, he could be put up for secretary of defense, or not. He says he's right now focused on his job in the Senate.
Another possibility is the president has said he would like to have a bipartisan Cabinet. Defense is a good place to put a Republican, a Republican such as former Senator Chuck Hagel, for example. That's just one name I have heard bandied about. Or you could put that person at CIA, although the talk is that John Brennan, the current homeland security adviser, is the man who could get CIA if he wants it.
But there's no knowledge about whether or not he wants it. And if he doesn't take it, Mike Morell, the current acting director, is considered the shoo-in for that job, Wolf.
BLITZER: He's got to fill a secretary of the Treasury as well. And there's lots of speculation Jack Lew, the White House chief of staff, could get that position.
Jessica, there'll be a lot of shuffling going on over at the White House. Thanks very much.
YELLIN: Thanks, Wolf.
BOLDUAN: Still ahead: The David Petraeus scandal is complicating attempts by Congress to investigate the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. We will tell you what's going on in a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Members of Congress are launching investigations into the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The Senate Intelligence Committee chair, Dianne Feinstein, tells me she hopes the former CIA Director David Petraeus will appear before her committee.
I spoke with Feinstein about the scandal surrounding Petraeus. Stand by for some of that interview. That's coming up this hour.
Right now, though, I want to go to our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.
Dana, Senator Feinstein was in closed-door meetings this afternoon up on Capitol Hill. First of all, what are you hearing? What happened?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She came out of those meetings saying that she's not the only one who really believes it is still essential for now the former director of the CIA, David Petraeus, to come and talk to the Senate Intelligence Committee about what he knows about what went on in Benghazi.
She said that it was -- the committee was in full agreement, Democrats and Republicans, that they really want to hear from them. Now, earlier in the day, she had said that she hopes that that would happen on Friday, that he would come and talk to people in closed session this week, the end of the week, but after the meeting, she said that she's just not sure, because they actually have to get to David Petraeus to see what would work with his schedule.
The only other interesting thing about this meeting is that the Republican who is the head of the Intelligence Committee, Saxby Chambliss, told our Ted Barrett that it's really important to emphasize what they want to talk to him about is the substance of Benghazi, that he was there pretty recently, that he is an important player in terms of knowing what went on, and that that is the substance and the subject they want to talk to him about, reading between the lines, that they don't necessarily want to ask him about those e-mails.
BLITZER: And Senator John McCain was at that hearing as well. He's the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee. What did he have to say?
BASH: Very interesting. Until last night, the folks up here were really thinking that they had to focus on one scandal, and now it's, of course, two, with very big players.
And the other has to do with the Pentagon. And John McCain is the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee. I asked about how they're going to go forward with their investigation of General Allen's alleged flirtatious e-mails with a woman. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I just -- I was very surprised. And the secretary of defense called me up and said that they were going to have a full investigation, that General Allen denies any impropriety, and so I think it's appropriate to have the investigation go forward and of course the Senate Armed Services Committee look at it as well.
BASH: Are you comfortable with him serving in his current capacity?
MCCAIN: Yes. I am. I am comfortable with that. We need someone in charge. No one has ever argued that his performance of duty has not been excellent.
But we are going forward with the hearing for his replacement, as you know. And that hearing, I'm sure, will be resolved, this issue of succession.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: And, again, that was Senator McCain talking about the -- now the scandal they're dealing with senator -- Allen, making clear that although he believes although his nomination for effectively a promotion is on hold, that he's comfortable with him serving currently as the head of international forces in Afghanistan.
One last thing, Senator McCain simply will not let up on this idea that the White House completely botched, in his words, the whole Benghazi affair, but also used -- twice used the terms cover-up, that perhaps they're actually covering up some problems. He said either it's incompetence or cover-up. He says there's got to be a select committee on that.
And although scandal has certainly taken over Capitol Hill in Washington, he says that's the most important thing that Congress should focus on. BLITZER: Scandal, cover-up, botched, incompetence, whatever you want to call it, it's a bad situation all around. Dana, thanks very much.
BOLDUAN: And you can really feel Senator Dianne Feinstein's frustration when she talks about the David Petraeus sex scandal and the new link to General John Allen. Stand by to hear the Senate Intelligence Committee chair tell us the part she finds most shocking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWS BREAK)
BLITZER: Our correspondents are digging and digging, and they're trying to find out what FBI agents may have discovered inside the home of David Petraeus' lover. They're getting new information. Here's another question we're asking. Were any classified documents found?
We're going to have the latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Right now, you may need a scorecard to keep track of the scandal that's hanging over the U.S. intelligence community, the U.S. military, and the Obama administration.
BOLDUAN: It all unraveled when David Petraeus resigned as CIA director last week, admitting he had an extramarital affair.
The woman was later identified as his biographer, Paula Broadwell. The FBI investigated the affair after Broadwell reportedly sent harassing e-mails to a Tampa socialite, Jill Kelley. Now General Allen is under investigation for his contacts with Kelley. Both he and Kelley deny they ever had an affair.
For more on all of this that's really a hard web to even follow, let's bring in our intelligence correspondent, Suzanne Kelly.
Suzanne, the FBI searched Paula Broadwell's home. What are you learning about that?
SUZANNE KELLY, CNN INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Right, Kate.
We do know that those FBI agents were at Broadwell's home in Charlotte, North Carolina, last night. Agents spent about five hours conducting a search and took documents and computers from her house. Now, we're told by a U.S. official that agents are looking further into what classified materials she has, but the official described this search as sort of tying up loose ends.
An earlier search of Broadwell's computer did turn up classified material. And according to that same official, Broadwell and Petraeus both told investigators that the material did not come from him. But you can bet that those agents are now trying to track down the source of that classified information. There's still no word on whether there could be any charges brought against her, but we're told that she's hired an attorney here in Washington and I have reached out several times today and still haven't heard back.
BLITZER: Suzanne, what about -- what else are you hearing about the FBI agent who sent Kelley those shirtless pictures of himself and apparently was involved in triggering this entire investigation?
KELLY: Sounds like a soap opera. But a U.S. official confirms that the agent in question, Wolf, did send shirtless photos of himself to Kelley, but said that that happened before this case ever began.
Now, we already know that this was the agent that Kelley took her original concerns to when she received the e-mails that she felt were threatening. The official we spoke with tells us that this agent never worked the case, but instead that he passed that information that Kelley gave him onto special agents in another department, the cyber unit, and that it was that department that took up the investigation that eventually led to the affair between Broadwell and General Petraeus -- Wolf and Kate.
BLITZER: Suzanne, thanks very much.
This scandal is certainly raising lots of questions about attitudes within the spy community and within the U.S. military.
BOLDUAN: But top government officials suggest this isn't a commentary on the culture of those institutions. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: When you're -- you're director of the CIA, with all the challenges that hit you in that position, you know, that personal integrity comes first and foremost.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (R), CALIFORNIA: I think that it's really important to know that this was a personal indiscretion, as far as we know. Why somebody would be personally indiscreet is their own problem.
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I really would ask you to not extrapolate broadly. The president has great confidence in the military, great confidence in his commanders, and will continue to have that confidence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. Let's bring in David Ignatius, the columnist from "The Washington Post." He's joining us from "the Washington Post." And the U.S. Army general, Mark Kimmitt, retired, who's worked at the State Department as well as the military.
General Kimmitt, a lot of people are asking, these indiscretions now from the highest levels, these totally respected generals. It may be part of a bigger, systemic problem within the military. Do you believe that?
GEN. MARK KIMMITT (RET.), UNITED STATES ARMY: Well, I really don't. I mean, what makes these unique is sort of the level that these are happening. The fact remains that, at any period of time, a certain number of generals are being investigated for indiscretions. In this case, two four stars, three if you include General Ward.
But the military needs to take an internal look, really evaluate to see if this is, in fact, something institutional or this is just episodic.
BLITZER: Look at these poll numbers, David. We asked -- not we, but NBC and "The Wall Street Journal" in a recent poll, do you have a great deal or quite a bit of confidence in the U.S. Military? Seventy-six percent said they do. The presidency, 42 percent. The Supreme Court, 33 percent. Will these events, though, over the past few days, change that confidence in the military?
DAVID IGNATIUS, COLUMNIST, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, it's just too early to be sure. We don't have the facts on General Allen. It's simply an investigation. I do think that the public's confidence in the military is tied up with public admiration for the job the military has done and these ten long years of war, in very difficult battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, as General Kimmitt knows, as well as anyone.
And one obvious takeaway for me, as I read these really quite sad personal stories of General Petraeus and now the investigation of General Allen, is these commanders and all of the officers and soldiers serving under them had been away from home for so long, on repeated, prolonged deployments.
General Petraeus spent most of the last ten years apart from his wife, Holly. I can't say about General Allen, but that's just a tremendous burden for people to bear, personally. It's easy to forget about it and kind of chase after the details of the scandal, but it's the thing I'm thinking about when you ask that question, Wolf, about confidence in the military, that these people have performed well, but under such difficult circumstances.
BOLDUAN: And general, these are two, as we all well know now, two very decorated military men. And when you look at these allegations and the stories that we're starting to learn more and more about, a big question we're hearing from lawmakers on Capitol Hill is the national security question.
How concerned are you about the question of national security, especially when you look at this relationship between David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell?
KIMMITT: Well, I think that's got to be investigated, but I don't think we should be so quick to jump to conclusions. It's clear the FBI is taking a look. If there is, in fact, a national security concern, they'll find it.
On the other hand, in the case of General Allen, where nothing has been proven at this point other than the exchange of e-mails, we ought to take a deep breath and wait for that investigation to bear itself out, before we draw any conclusions.
BOLDUAN: And David, I mean, this story is clearly grabbing headlines. It's really no surprise. But when you look at what's going on. We now have our CIA director has resigned. We now have a holdup in the nomination process of General -- of General Allen. Do you think this hurts our reputation abroad? Because we know people are watching it.
IGNATIUS: Yes, there's no question about it. If you even try to imagine for a moment, CIA officers around the world, who are making clandestine contacts with people, who they want to get to help out the United States by providing information. And with these stories rocketing around the world, I'm sure that people we're trying to recruit are scratching their heads and wondering what goes on here.
So, undoubtedly, it makes life more difficult for a secret intelligence agency, to have its former director the subject of this sensational worldwide scandal. That's why CIA directors should be careful. That's why General Petraeus did something that, as he said himself, was inappropriate, not what he should do as CIA director, and it does have an effect. Sure it does.
BLITZER: Certainly does. All right. David, stand by.
General Kimmitt, stand by, as well. We have more to discuss, including this. Will another shoe drop in the unfolding Petraeus scandal? We'll talk about that and more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're back with General Kimmitt and David Ignatius.
General Kimmitt, was it appropriate for General Clapper, the head of the director of national intelligence, to advise General Petraeus, based on what he knew then, to resign?
KIMMITT: Oh, I think so. He not only is his boss, but he's also his mentor as well. General Clapper, much more experienced officer in the military, probably ten years his senior. And it probably is best that he heard it from somebody such as General Clapper.
BLITZER: So you think General Petraeus did the right thing by resigning?
KIMMITT: Absolutely.
BOLDUAN: And David, I want to read to you and read to our viewers, part of a column that you wrote today, that we really found quite fascinating. Kind of looking past the Petraeus angle. You wrote in part, "The Petraeus era CIA had a hidden defect, quite apart from any errant e-mails, which was that the paramilitary covert-action function was swallowing alive the old-fashioned intelligence-gathering side of the house. This actually seems to me to be the central lesson of the disaster in Benghazi, Libya." Explain a little bit more what you mean here.
IGNATIUS: The traditional core mission of the CIA is to collect intelligence, to steal secrets, to find out the things that are going to keep Americans safe.
There's another function, which historically is set uneasily with that collection function, which we call covert action. And in its most extreme form is covert military action. Covert military officers on the ground, drone attacks, those are all examples of, in effect, military action that's done deniably by the CIA.
And with the growth of the counterterrorism center, the war against al Qaeda, which the CIA really has led, that part of the agency's activities has gotten bigger and bigger. And I worry, as somebody who's covered the CIA for, gosh, almost 30 years, that it's begun to shift the balance in a way that the CIA should try to correct.
You know, the post-Petraeus era might be one in which you begin to shift more toward the traditional mission of foreign intelligence collection. If you look at Benghazi, it was full of paramilitary officers who were there to protect the case officers and ended up having to come rescue the diplomats, which isn't their job. That's not what they're there to do.
BLITZER: I was speaking, General Kimmitt, earlier, yesterday and today, with people who were supposedly know what's going on. They say, you know what, we only know a little bit so far. There's more that's going to unfold. Do you expect more, another shoe to drop, if you will? Because when I woke up this morning and heard about General Allen, I said, whoa!
KIMMITT: Frankly, we're running out of shoes, and we can only hope at this point that this is the last shoe to drop. And I hope that the military can get back to the fundamental business of national security and not worrying about the next scandal.
BLITZER: Because we don't want the military to lose the image it had, has built up over these years. You and I remember, after Vietnam, what was going on.
KIMMITT: Absolutely. And even more important, we don't want these young soldiers worrying about who's in charge of them. If they're going to go into battle, if they're going to protect this country, they've got to have trust and confidence in their leaders.
BLITZER: And in the -- David, in the intelligence community, as well, as you say, the morale factor must be pretty bad right now.
IGNATIUS: It's a tough people for people at the CIA. They're used to being a political football. So, unfortunately, this happens to the CIA often. But I'm sure they want to get back to work.
BLITZER: David, thanks very much. David Ignatius from "The Washington Post." General Kimmitt, thanks to you, as well. Kate, I'm heading over to emcee an event honoring international journalists here in Washington at the Ronald Reagan Building. So I'm leaving. You're going to wrap things up for us.
BOLDUAN: I'll hold down the fort, but only while you're gone.
BLITZER: You'll do an excellent job.
We're going to have much more of what's going on, including my interview with Senator Dianne Feinstein. She's got a lot to say on this whole scandal. And it says to her -- sounds to her like it's something out of "The National Enquirer."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: The affair that brought down CIA director David Petraeus caught most officials in the nation's capital by surprise. And many of us by surprise. And they're finding General John Allen's connection to the scandal just as shocking.
Wolf, earlier, asked Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein what she's been told. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, this is all news to me, too. In the very late spring of this year, the four corners of our two committees, House and Senate, the leadership, met with General Allen in Kabul. And we were very impressed with him.
He gave an historic narrative of the area, which was impressive. He talked about his mission, how it was going, and I think the four of us came away with a sense that he is, in fact, a fine commander.
I don't know exactly what the situation is here. We will look at it. We will ask for a report. We will gather the materials. We will ask to see classified documents that may have been on Ms. Broadwell's -- that's another -- Ms. Broadwell's computer. I spoke to the attorney general about that last night, and he agreed to present this to the intelligence committee, so we will have those, which is important to our mission.
Because our mission is to see, was intelligence what it should have been. Should we have known that this was a terrorist attack? Much quicker than ten days after the attack? And my answer to that, just on my review of facts is, yes, absolutely.
So we want to hear testimony on that. If we have had an intelligence deficit, of one thing or another, our oversight responsibilities call us to take those actions in intelligence authorization bills or elsewhere, to see that this area of the world is beefed up intelligence wise. This can't be allowed to happen again.
BLITZER: Have you been briefed on the nature of the relationship between General Allen and this woman in Tampa, Jill Kelley? Apparently, there were thousands of pages of documents that were e- mailed from General Allen to this woman that we don't know much about. As chair of the intelligence committee, what have you been told?
FEINSTEIN: I have not been told very much, that's for sure. And I'll be asking a lot of questions. I know that she -- her name has come into question. Let me put it that way. I have no factual information, whatsoever. People have mentioned to -- that to me in the course of a conversation. That's all.
BLITZER: Do you have any reason to believe classified information was sent from General Allen to this woman, Jill Kelley?
FEINSTEIN: Well, I'll tell you this. Knowing a little bit about General Allen, I would be very doubtful that it had been, just as I would be doubtful that it had been from General Petraeus. And essentially, I believe it's been confirmed that no classified information was given by director Petraeus to Paula Broadwell.
I would expect to find the same thing with respect to General Allen. I would be very shocked and surprised if that was not the case.
BLITZER: Which raises this question, Senator. Why did the FBI go back to Paula Broadwell's home yesterday, last night, spent five hours there, and take out box after box after box of documents, some computer equipment, and other material?
FEINSTEIN: Well, that would indicate to me that they are still looking for something. I don't happen to know what that something is.
BLITZER: You know what is shocking to me? That you and Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, that both of you and your staffs learned about all of this when you got inquiries from the news media. And I say to myself, what is going on here, Senator? I've -- and I'm pretty surprised by that, as well. I assume you're shocked by that.
FEINSTEIN: Well, I'm shocked by it. Because the process and the procedure has been to brief the four corners of the committee, both House and Senate, with respect to covert operations taking place. They don't share it with the whole committee, but they do share that data with the four of us. And that has never been violated.
So there's no reason not to have trust here. And it's rather shocking to find out, candidly, that we weren't briefed, and that we find out from the press in the way in which we did. With no heads up, no opportunity to ask questions or put together any information. So we have been coming from behind on this. That's true for the house committee. It's true for our committee.
BLITZER: I don't know what's more shocking, that you weren't briefed, that Representative Rogers wasn't briefed or the president of the United States wasn't even told about what's going on, apparently, until the very end. Why would they keep him in the dark?
FEINSTEIN: Well, I don't know. I have many questions about the nature of the FBI investigation. How it was instituted. And we'll be asking those questions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: We have much more on this story coming up at the top of the hour. CNN's Erin Burnett is going "OUTFRONT" on the scandal. Erin, what more are you looking into?
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kate. We're looking into, really, who knew what when, especially now that there is another four- star general involved. One of only four four-star generals in the U.S. Marines, and we're talking about General Allen. We're going to get the very latest on that situation.
Why the president decided to put his nomination for NATO supreme commander on hold. We'll be joined by Bob Casey, Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to find out what he knows. He was also, by the way, briefed on the related story of what happened in Benghazi today.
We're also joined by a former assistant director of the FBI to get some answers on why it was six months from when the FBI started its investigation into these e-mails until when people like Dianne Feinstein actually find out about it. People including the president of the United States.
And last but not least, Wolf and Kate, we'll be joined by Colonel Peter Mansour, a longtime friend, very close friend of General David Petraeus, who spoke with him for a half an hour. He'll be our guest tonight, as well.
All that coming up at the top of the hour. But one more thing. A special report into the culture of the military and why so many of these things seem to be happening now.
BOLDUAN: Yes. That definitely seems to be kind of the next question. Not only when we've been watching these headlines and this developing story, Erin, but also -- is there another shoe to drop? I mean, we wouldn't have even imagined at the beginning of the week this would have really been unfolding as it is, but I think the question of is this a systemic issue, is this a cultural problem within the military is something that a lot of people seem to be wondering, right?
BURNETT: That's right. Certainly. We're going to be looking into that. And as you said, Kate, truly just bizarre is the only word that comes to mind as this spreads out. Whether -- whether General Allen was doing anything wrong or not doing anything wrong. At the very least, this is bizarre and some real questions are still out there as to why we're finding out now, and whether we should have known before.
BOLDUAN: Yes. Lots of time line questions, especially. All right. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT," at the top of the hour we'll be there. Thanks so much, Erin.
Still ahead, he found his twin hanging in a museum. Want to know more? CNN's Jeanne Moos has the story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: It seems to happen to everyone. Somebody says you look exactly like an actor or a celebrity or someone you know or CNN news anchor/James Bond movie star. OK, maybe not that last one. But one man recently came across his look-alike on the wall of a major art museum. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A college student and his girlfriend were strolling around the Philadelphia Museum of Art's medieval armor department when she spotted him hanging there.
NIKKIE CURTIS, GIRLFRIEND: I'm giggling like crazy, and it's dead-silent in this museum.
MOOS: But how do you stop giggling when you see this?
CURTIS: I go, "Do you see this guy?"
MAX GALUPPO, FOUND DOPPLEGANGER IN PAINTING: I'll be honest. At first I didn't think it looked like me.
MOOS: Not until Max Galuppo got a look at the photo Nikkie Curtis took.
GALUPPO: In which case, there is no denying the resemblance there.
MOOS: Imagine finding your twin in a portrait of a nobleman painted by an unknown artist 450 years ago in 1562.
GALUPPO: I feel good for four centuries, I've got to admit.
MOOS: The photo went viral. Cue the time travel and reincarnation jokes. But it's believed the painting originated not far from Florence, Italy where Max's grandfather's family is from.
GALUPPO: We're thinking it might not be totally far-fetched for that to be an ancestor of my family's.
CURTIS: But less face it, the whole time traveling thing is more fun.
MOOS: It's been fun comparing a celeb like Keanu Reeves to a portrait of a French actor from the late 1800s and comparing Nicolas Cage to a Civil War era photograph on Letterman.
And then there was the time a group called Improv Everywhere brought a lookalike for the long-departed King Phillip IV of Spain into New York's Metropolitan Museum and placed him in front of Velasquez's painting of the king from 1624.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're having an autograph signing with King Phillip IV of Spain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he really a king?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he's too young for...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's 400 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He doesn't look 400. Ask him, what does he eat?
MOOS: Security asked them to leave. Max would like to come back to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in costume for a photo op.
(on camera) There is some sort of weird symmetry between those red tights and that purple tie-dyed T-shirt.
CURTIS: They would be great together.
MOOS (voice-over): Actually, some joker has already PhotoShopped them together. Pink Floyd T-shirt and tights.
Being Venus might be safer.
(on camera) At least if your art twin is naked, no one can make fun of your fashion.
(voice-over) Nikkie and Max are asking if anyone has a nobleman's costume to lend for a noble cause.
Jeanne Moos, CNN.
(on camera) And wouldn't it be more fun to wear a cod piece?
GALUPPO: Absolutely.
MOOS: ... New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: That's all for us tonight. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
BURNETT: "OUTFRONT" next.
