eric: they do democrats, former members criticizing it, robert gates, leon panetta, hillary clinton, hill, a startling lack of attention and now jimmy carter, look at what he said about mr. obama. first all we waited too long, letting them build up their money cap ability, weapons, while we were still in syria. and then when isis move into iraq you have symbiotic ground pressure you have the right target, for me to move in and be willing to fight isis. what does it mean when jimmy carter is criticizing? >> it is jaw-dropping, no other way to put it. look back on the carter administration as the good old days when he comes to strong national security policy compared to president obama, now president himself is reminding us of the good old days. i thought the secretary's book aand his interview with bill o'reilly last night were just stunning in seeing how uncomfortable he was trying to answer the questions. eric: we're out of time, thank you so much. we will be right back. eric: getting word thomas eric duncan has died, center estate john kerry discussing the threat of ebola right now

and then you have robert gates saying that the president didn't have his heart into the afghan surge, wanted was to get out. on both fronts, you have a president that just wanted to get out at any costs achkd i think the pairing of them is fascinating. >> you can't forget that leon panetta was secretary of defense, but he was also cia director. but it's interesting, what you have seen in leon panetta and bob gates in particular, people who are regarded as sort of above, what you call state stat leon panetta can be a -- barack obama has been an ideological president, deeply ideological president and made his decisions in his ideological cocoon. >> a little bit different setup tonight because of the interview. tomorrow night, carl cameron, a very familiar name making a run at the white house. know that proper allocation could help increase returns so you can enjoy that second home sooner. know the right financial planning can help you save for college and retirement. know where you stand with pnc total insight. a new investing and banking experience with personalized guidance and online

we had robert gates, hillary clinton and now panetta and geithner and now, also, public opinion polling showing that a majority of the americans do not have faith in this president. his criticisms are basically piling on the momentum going against him. >> i have been struck by the degree that no one has asked this question although charlie rose did. >> some say, you know, he appointed you to two of the highest positions this country has to offer. just wait until he is out of office before criticizing. >> it is exactly because i am very loyal to this president and because i want him to succeed. >> you wonder, is it all coincidencal timing you talk about panetta and hillary clinton and robert gates, some of the information with have been helpful to know some years ago but, yes, there could be election politics apply. >> if it is such an act of conscience, why wait until you have a book contract? >>> thank you. coming up, is bill o'reilly in the hotseat? the midterm elections, still about president obama. (coffee be♪ng poured into a cup.) save your coffee from the artificial stuff. switch

same thing on leon panetta, robert gates, all the books that are coming out where the white house saysle say another. benghazi, dealing with the video, and what's happening now, too, is the white house has totally lost the control of the issue agenda in advance of the midterm elections. >> perception is everything, of course. do you think that the cumulus effect that we're talking about, the effect it has in terms of the public, do you think the public simply says, we simply can't trust this administration anymore? >> it wears you down. that's what it does. it wears down your goodwill and popularity and credibility, and all of that has happened to the president in the last couple of years. signs his re-elect, he's lost credibility with the american people. and democrats are running away from him in large numbers. so it's a real problem. and no white house wants to go through with this. second terms are tough. they need to hone in on a laser beam by the three sources. if that is true, what you really have is horrendous white house unethical behavior that could not, should not be allowed

the roster of freedom leon panetta, robert gates, hillary clinton, these people have decades of public service and a whole bunch of jobs. >> john, i think it's bothment it's disloyalty and it's truth-telling and it's no coincidence these three people are people who are -- they had independent careers, they were famous and well known. they didn't owe their careers to barack obama. so when they left government, they didn't feel any residual loyalty to him the way some kid who was just brought up through ranks with barack obama might feel. so that's sort of the peril. it's good to have people in your administration who are independent. he's now learning that there is a down side and you can't necessarily have them keep their mouths shut when they leave office. >> panetta did say, though, colonel, that he did agree that the .is doing some things right now. are we going to see more of this president that we saw that green lit the osama bin laden raid? >> i hope so, we need more decisions and positive action. right now the limitation of no troops on the ground, even to the point where we can

the liberty medal are former secretary of state hillary clinton, boxing great muhammad ali and robert gates. each year, it's given to someone who strives to secure freedom for people around the world. nbc 10's luan chan was there and joins us live from independence mall. >> ulala speaks with such passion. she had the crowd laughing when she told everyone that she tried to get out of her homework, unsuccessfully, before she came here to accept this prestigious award. >>> 1400 people filled the tent outside the national constitution center to see for themselves the youngest person to be awarded the nobel peace prize. and, now, the liberty medal. >> it's not just a golden medal which you wear, but it's hope. it's courage. and it's support. >> she says she had no choice but to speak out when the taliban took away the right for girls the go to school in pakistan. >> and i decided it because i had two option. one was not to speak and wait to be killed. and the second was to speak and then be killed. and i chose the second one because i did not want to live in that situation of oppression. i did n

>> no, look, the president's elected a great group of advisers, hillary clinton, robert gates, leon panetta many, many more with strong experiences, i mean, they came to the table with strong opinions, with great experience and there's no reason to suspect that leon panetta who after all left the nixon administration because president nixon wasn't enforcing civil rights strong enough, he criticized president clinton in his administration as omb director. leon panetta is a very honest public servant. and he said a lot of great things about president obama in that 512-page book. i haven't read it all, bill. sorry. watching football too much but you know what -- >> me too. >> yeah. but they know what parts people will read. they know what parts are interesting. >> to cherry pick out the bad stuff, but he said when it comes to making bad decisions, he's thoughtful, he's deliberate. >> he says he's helping the president. >> look, it is very damaging, not just politically but really worrisome from the country's point of view that leon panetta, hillary clinton and robert gates all have basically c

red lines, but he doesn't mean it and won't act on it and therefore gets criticized not only by robert gates, very well respected man, who served in two administrations, but secretary pa net an elected democrat and former white house chief of staff. something is wrong on the inside when you keep getting criticized by insiders. >> the answer, though it might have been appealing at some point and can be appealing in retrospect is not always the use of military force without end and without a logical plan to reach success. if the plan in iraq was to stay forever, prop up an ineffective iraqi government and prop up an ineffective iraqi security force, that should have been the stated policy when we went into begin with. that wasn't the pretense -- we're not back with 160,000 troops. >> we're back in iraq, occupied now by isis in a large scale. >> and we're leading an effort to attack -- >> to manage them. >> and to roll it back. >> ari fleischer, jay carney, thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> coming up, the fbi is asking for help in identifying this man, an english speaking jihadist, possibl

obama, when he ordered those troops home from afghanistan, against what general petraeus wanted, robert gates said that obama didn't even believe in his own policy in afghanistan. he was doing it purely for the vote nap is a catastrophic type of leadership and that's where this president has failed this country. >> and, steve, again, if a ceo did that sort of thing, actually does engage in dishonesty in the way that mike just spelled it out, that's a disaster. that mean as company's not going to survive with him in the leadership role. right? >> and he has undermined the security of the united states. if he'd left troops in iraq which he should have done, isis never would have risen in the first place. it was purp election politics that he made that premature withdrawal, and the thing about carter for all of his faults, carter learned. at the end of his presidency he began to increase defense spending, do things against the soviet union, and the he put in deregulation of transportation, which saved the railroad industry. so the man could learn from experience. this president refuses, adamantl

>> the last one was a book by former secretary robert gates. prior to that -- ouch, let me think. i read so much every day, but in terms of books, it was a history about civilization. i cannot recall the title. >> should congress grant states like colorado a blanket exception from federal laws within our border? >> i am a conservative when it comes to the constitution. i did not support, did not vote for the initiative as a representative of the state of colorado, i have been advocating for that position in terms of making sure that federal law comports with state law. >> amendment 60 it would allow -- i'm -- i'm sorry, i i sorry, i preempted you. go ahead. >> businesses in colorado that engage in marijuana sales ought to be able to use the interstate banking system. i want to be sure we do not drop our guard and allowed the drug trade to prey on children. >> i was chomping at the bit for my horse racing question. amendment 60 it would allow casino style gambling -- i said no noise -- would allow casino style gaming in over a. curious -- do you support amendment 68? >> no. >> no.

>> i will not show any disrespect to leon panetta and david dachshund robert gates. not get into to he said/she said. you can always take one line in the book and say, oh my god. there are other parts of the book where he is giving the president accolades. and there are so it's where news gets sold them i will not get into the book aspect. >> is that why he's saying at? is he hass disagreements with what the president's decision-making. that is not surprising. most of them had disagreements when he went in after osama bin laden. most were against them going in and we applauded that. i think he will have some thompson the road and people will take different sides. it's hard for me or anyone else to assess. >> forgetting what he wrote in the book, you have been with the president recently. do you find you was engaged and focused on these issues? you will not talk about what you talked about but -- >the idea of being disengaged. >> i think it's ridiculous, ridiculous comment. this guy is thinking all day how we are -- how we can be protected in the united states. bush a

's men bashed his policy, robert gates, robert gibbs, hillary clinton, david axelrod, why? >> reporter: i think robert gibbs and david axelrod have been disagree with the president's tactical decisions, gates, clinton and pa net ta on policy decisions and i love "logic doesn't work in washington" i don't think truer words have ever been spoken but leah pa net ta is not the first to write one of the kiss and tell books and won't be the last. future administration also write these sorts of books but it goes back to this question, carol, this key question president obviously believes he made the right call on and that is whether he should have left a residual force in iraq instead of completely withcrawing from the country at the end of 2011. the president feels he's right on that call. i asked him about this earlier this year. he said the iraqis ask not want to give those forces immunity from prosecution if they were to stay in the country. obvious lilleyon pa net ta says the u.s. could have driven a harder bargain to force iraqis to make that decision. that's in the past. jo

. >> presumably as his successor -- press saysor robert gates as a -- his predecessor robert gates urging the president to do more. he uses the same language you heard from george w. bush in 2007 and you heard from mitt romney on the campaign trail. he uses the same language to talk about the policy failures of the white house. bill: the president said they wouldn't give us immunity. we weren't going to leave forces behind. >> the reason we didn't have a follow-on fours in iraq is because the iraqis were -- a majority of iraqis did not want u.s. troops there. >> keep in mind that wasn't a decision made by me, was a decision made by the iraqi government. bill: is that consistent? >> reporter: not even close. in 2012 when he was running for his second term he attacked mitt romney. they sat at the the same table and he bashed romney for wanting to leave troops in iraq. he said the u.s. would get bogged down and it would get worse for the united states. remember what the obama critics talk about which is the president didn't try. he didn't try to get it done. it may be nouri al-maliki's fault

again, that is strong stuff and that will figure in the obama legacy when you have robert gates and leon pannet thea and hillary clinton talking about bad decisions by the president. >> yeah, it adds up. chris, thank you for making time to talk to us today. >> my pleasure. >> and chris will debate with karl rove architect of both bush campaigns and joe trippapproximate i. and check your local listings on sunday morning and tune in on fox news channel. eric? >> we also want to hear from you as we get closer to the midterms. live chat is up and running and go to fox news.com/"happening now" and click on america's asking and join the conversations about the races in the country. >> also "happening now", u.s. military plans are arrive nothing liberia to continue to stop bum bullthere. and the dallas sheriff's deputy who went into the apartment of thomas eric duncan, the ebola patient from liberia who died in the dallas hospital yesterday. the deputy was hospitalized after exhibiting symptoms of the virus but not all. test results for the possibility ebola take two days the health officials i

robert gates made some criticism.n each case, each of these memoirs [indiscernible] -- should they wait until after the president has finished serving before writing these books? as a historian what do you say? >> there is a good case for waiting. criticizing a sitting president who is still facing the same issues might have a tendency to undercut his ability to continue dealing with these issues. i don't know whether that has been the case or will be the case in the instances you cite. i think you can make a case that it might have been wiser to wait. >> what is your assessment of president obama? >> in many respects he has been inspirational leader, a good president. but he has, he lacks the lyndon johnson touch that made it possible to get things done. >> that is also the abraham lincoln touch. >> it was. lincoln and johnson, their parties controlled congress by substantial margins. that has not been the case with obama. in some respects obama has been victim of bad luck. >> in terms of the makeup of the opposition

. >> lou, too, you have panetta, cia and secretary of defense, and robert gates secretary of defense,ry clinton, who wrote about some same issues in her book, secretary of state, have you really, a center of power in the obama administration, leaving and criticizeing the president, i can not remember any time in recent history you had that kind of substantive criticism on the same line of his failure to lead, and act, and panetta is within on to say he gets discourranked and quits, these are damning indictments from people who know him best. >> jack keen said it best, 6 mayor decisions put forward by pentagon on how to fight the wars, and he rejected every one of them. lou: stunning the degree at this which this president that rejected the decisions. to do so without -- you know for security not to be able to protect people. and investment of lives we have spent over the course of the past decade, in both countries is to me inex blix in. to the election, in kentucky senator mcconnell slipping, should he be nervous. >> in a state like kentucky always serious, probably a hundred million

lou: you had robert gates, hillary clinton who wrote about some of thewh same issues in her book, secretary of state. s you got really a center of power in the obama administration leaving and criticizing the president. i can't remember any time in recent history where you've had that kind of subjective criticism along the same line of his failure to lead. of his failure to act. n netta went on to say, he gets discouraged and he kind of quits. these are damning indictments from the people who know him best. >> jack said it best on the interview you just did. there were six major decisions that were put forward, and he rejected every one of them. lou: it is stunning the degreeec to which this president has rejected the advice of his generals, one understands his position of not wanting to be in war to withdraw from iraq, afghanistan, but to do so without -- forced security. without being able to protect the people who have there to be able to protect the investment l of lives that we have spent over the course of the past decade in both countries is, to me, inapplicable. let's go back to the

robert, the gates are now hope. -- open. what's the mood down there? >> it's kind of loud or a lot of loud. you can see the fans are piling in behind me, hoping that the capitals with go all the way this year. and if they go the distance one thing you have to do is keep all your guys healthy. you got one guy who struggled a lot with that in the past. brooks. since 2012, only 16 games. it's not just him who is ready to get back out on the ice. it's the whole flock. >> every guy works hard in the summer. it's with the game plan of getting back and healthy to start the season. it's been a long time since we've done it. other teams in tonight you aren't doing so well so it's good for us to start back up and get some momentum in the city. they will kick this season off with a win on the 40th anniversary. >> and the caps have beaten montreal 10 of the last 12 times they've played. the redskins back oned field as they prepare for the first place cardinals. the 1-4 redskins trying to hold things together, they have to ignore the critics. and there certainly ha

whether that's robert gates or now leon panetta or previously robert gibbs and david axelrod, i thinka genuine frustration that the president seems very focused on just keeping his own counsel and sometimes that counsel hasn't resulted in the best decision. >> but kevin, that's not unique. >> that's led to ambivalence with the big challenges we face. so there does seem to be -- i think that's why so many are voicing their frustrations. >> but that's not unique. >> wait a second, robert. you're saying it's for the good of the country? >> no, i think it's genuine frustration. i do think that there is a certain element of it where their loyalty to the president is not just blind loyalty but instead it's loyalty to his best interest. >> on that we can agree. someone like leon panetta, kevin -- >> it seems like he's trying to send a message to the president that he's trying to make his -- >> excuse me, you talk about this like this situation is unique to the obama presidency. these types of books from former aides and cabinet members go back to the reagan administration. some of them i thi

robert gates blasted him over america's withdraw from afghanistan at the beginning of the year and gates said the united states will have to put boots on the ground to handle isis. and then hilary clinton criticised the president for rejecting her suggestion of arming the syrian troops. and just this week the man who helped put president obama in the white house former senior advisor said the president made a mistake saying this economic policies will be on the ballot next month and that line is already starring in gop ads. for him to make sure strong comments and words against the president's current foreign policy four weeks before mid-term brings up very curious questions >> you have to realize this isn't just analysis. this isn't a memoir of someone looking back fondly on this administration. what is he doing that might help hilary clinton? somehow will getting republican majority in the senate and house be more beneficial to future president clinton who will not have to deal with a split congress? >> and john, to that point, he made specific remarks and hillary made a strong case wh

this is really something we should be asking former secretary of defense robert gates about whose tenure covers almost exactly this period, 2004 to 2011. it appears that officials were embarrassed by the discovery. that these were old shells, that they were often u.s -- there was u.s. equipment involved in the manufacturing of these shells. but it's really hard to explain. if they had just told the truth, if they had just been transparent about this, then maybe the troops would have been prepared for discovery of these shells which continued during all of this time and they would have gotten the treatment that they deserved. these claims that we take care of our troops first and foremost just isn't the case. >> couldn't they have argued though that it was proof that saddam's folks knew thousand ramp up production, that if their claims weren't true that at least saddam posed a serious threat? >> the official government report acknowledges that there were hundreds of shells found. we now know from the new york times that there were more like 5,000. it doesn't really help you understand it.

former defense secretary robert gates also came out and criticize criticized the president for the red respects, leon panetta is stating the obvious. there's a clear lack of leadership in the white house. the. >> pat: makes decisions about what he won't do and tells the enemy, we are not going to put troops on the ground and waits to arm the syrian rebels. he stands by when putin takes over crimea. in many respects, panetta is telling us what we already know. >> he's criticized from president's own office, but one question is what he spoke of earlier. >> he has a book and i think it's been managed pretty effectively to that. if i was the president, i would start confiscating notes after a meeting. i think the big question is why now? i think that earlier is a good question, but why not wait? >> unless you thought it was urgent. >> but don't write a book. >> then he should have done it earlier. if he thought this was an urgent situation to put the fire under the president. >> that's very true. but the speculation that is out there that we're talking a little bit about is is there someth

panetta came out criticizing president obama for his handling of iraq and syria and even former robert gatesttacked president obama for his handling of afghanistan. so he's been widely criticized for his national security issues. >> quick final thought, marina y -- maria? >> that doesn't give john baner the right to get history wrong. he needs to look back at what happened. he looks foolish. sure, he can criticize president obama, but let's remember, president obama got osama bin laden and regardless of the criticism on syria, he got syria to give up their chemical weapons. so, again, let's look at history, don't be foolish in saying those kinds of comments. >> maria cardona, lisa booth, thanks for being with us, appreciate it. >> thank you for having us. >> politicians say a lot of silly things. >> do you feel they might be back? thanks, ladies. >>> ahead at this hour, this is a crazy story. a danver man vanishes from a stadium at a wrong goes came. the family 1 scratching their heads they're so worried. sa anxiety for residents on hawaii. kilauea is spewing lava and it's just 70 yards from

former secretary of state hillary clinton, boxing great muhammad ali and former defense secretary robert gatesthers include supreme court justices, american presidents, leaders and entertainers for their commitment to change. >>> oscar pistorius is now a prison inmate. a judge in south africa sentenced the former olympian to five years behind bar s in the shooting death of his girlfriend last valentine's day. >> count one, culpable homicide. the sentence imposed is the imprisonment of five years. >> the judge cited his gross negligence in shooting through a closed bathroom door and killing reeva steenkamp. he could be released after just ten months and serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. >> he's going to pay something. >> do you think justice has been served? >> yes. >> oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society. >> the prosecution said it's studying the sentence and will decide in two weeks whether or not to appeal. >>> ebola concerns have led to new travel restrictions from u.s. airports. starting tomorrow,ç travelers from liberia, see area leon -- sierra

so this memoir actually follows memoirs by another former secretary of defense robert gates., of course, former secretary of state hillary clinton, all the way their boss is still on the job. let's go to david gehrrgen, a c senior political analyst, former adviser to presidents nixon, ford, reagan and clinton. so david gergen, welcome. and before we get to the substance of that conversation between gloria and secretary panetta. when it comes to memoirs, you know, as we mention, gates, clinton, now panetta. do you fault these people for criticizing their boss while he is still sitting in the oval office? >> not very much. i might have 10 or 15 years ago, there was a different standard then, brooke. and the phrase that was often used. there should be a, quote, discreet interval. a discreet interval between a time you serve a president and the time you write a memoir so that as you say people leave office, you know, or the political of the landscape changes. but standards have been lowered in so many areas over the last 15, 20 years. this is just one more. we are what we are. do

robert gates yes on every foreign major policy decision for how many years. >> that wasn't panetta oron. >> right. >> he was part of that group. that was like their lunch table dogs there need to be a bile on right now. at war. do we need to be hearing more folks president obama especially former and administration officials. i think that's what he was getting at. >> i see a common theme here because in gates' book he says that both clinton and panetta, all three were upset that the president kept such tight reign over national security didn't let them in over the division. making decisions around them. during his tenure and putting a distance between themselves and the president. so i think this is just, you know, it's unusual, bush's staff did not write books until they were out of office both of them at the earliest. i think this is a pattern about people being really upset with the way he ran -- he has run national security. >> also a touch of don't blame me. what hillary clinton said in her book is she said that obama that she had pressed obama to arm the syrian mod democrats. he

when the secretary of defense robert gates said in his memoir that president obama, quote, doesn't believestrategy and doesn't consider the war to be his, for him, it's all about getting out. then, in august. after her new memoir was published, the former secretary of state hillary clinton blasted president obama, she said quote great nations need organizing principles and don't do stupid stuff is not an organizing principle. now two months later, bob gates successor has stronger criticism of the president. >> the division going on in the congress, and then if the president doesn't engage with them, then you have a situation where everybody gives up, and they've basically given up on things. given up on a budget deal, immigration reform. they've given up on issues like infrastructure funding otrade, on energy. that is what concerns me because i think this country cannot stand another 2 1/2 years of stalemate. lou: you know, the three former members of president obama's cabinet have done a great public service with their critiques. but they are also selling books. and to my knowledge not on

robert gates in his book talked about how he has been on the wrong side of just about every foreign policy. where did he get his economics degree from? melissa: creates jobs? i know you believe in raising minimum wage but without question, no one thinks it creates jobs. >> we had a long history of prosperity under a good minimum wage in america starting in the 1930s. we've had problems with employment and it happened at a time when the minimum wage has fallen 30% versus inflation in recent decades. so -- melissa: how do you get from there to increasing the minimum wage, to $13 creates jobs? is there any scenario where it creates jobs? >> one thing we know about poor people, any economist will tell you this, they spend everything they get their hands on. they have to. the economic multiplier on their money is high as it is for anyone else. melissa: even the guy gets fired is definitely spending less. >> i'm all for poor people having more money and being able to spend more money, just telling you jack, the economics are so bad. they don't make sense. melissa: jack, real quick. then we're go

of obama's own administration, former secretary of state hillary clinton, ex-defense secretary robert gatesst recently here, obama's foreign defense secretary and cia director leon panetta and former president jimmy carter. let me add one more name to the list here who will have an opportunity to expand on his thoughts. general james conway. general, welcome. nice to have you here. >> good to be aboard. >> this is a quote heard all around the world. you can elaborate. you recently were at a political conference saying that the president's isis strategy "doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding." those are harsh words, sir. what do you mean by that? >> i appreciate the chance to elaborate quite frankly. the question was asked about the administration's overall strategy and my comments actually were that in iraq, i think there's as much as a 60% probability that the concept can succeed because you have a new government that's all inclusive. you have the refurbished iraqi military and buddies in anbar province, you have elements for potential success with troops on the ground and

obama's former secretary of state hillary clinton where president obama's first secretary of defense robert gates or his more recent secretary of defense leon panetta blasting the president's foreign policy. now another democrat, former president jimmy carter slamming president obama. president carter saying the obama administration took too long to take action against isis let the islamic state build up capability of money and weapons while it was still in syria. former u.n. ambassador john bolton joins us. ambassador, nice to see you. i can't think of a more blistering attack from a former president from a current president. >> it's very stunning. not only is the analysis consistent with the critiques we have heard of the fecklessness of obama's strategy but the fact that one former president and a democrat to boot would say it about an incumbent president is really stunning. carter's criticism of obama on isis is really stronger than anything either of the president bushes have said. they, i think are adhering to the tradition that presidents really don't comment on it so when you have carter

about recent criticism from gloria borger's interview with leon panetta and heard criticism from robert gateshe pentagon today as we mentioned the president meeting with teams there. what other skepticism are you hearing? >> you have heard from here in subtle messages, brooke, that there is some question as to whether you can accomplish this without u.s. ground forces. that's why you heard general dempsey and others say including the questions to us at cnn that if they believe ground forces are necessary for ground controllers, u.s. special forces, et cetera, they may indeed ask for them. the president agrees to them is another question. they at least are leaving that option on the table. one other thing i would raise in response to a smart point that the general made about territory in syria. yes, gaining back those cities was never the strategy but it does raise a question as to how you deny isis safe haven in syria without denying them territory. what the pentagon will say is you make them change their habits. you got them on the run here. they've got to run and hide. they are changing the

first, robert gates, then former secretary of state hillary clinton, and finally now former defense secretary leon panetta. so is this a crisis of leadership in this white house? dana perino is co-host of "the fi five." she served as white house press secretary under president bush. it was interesting when he ticked off the real questions as he put them. can the president learn from his lessons he's been taught and do the right thing? can he translate his understanding of the dangers into action to protect us? he has the guts to do the right things, but will he do it? these are questions that our defense secretary who knows president obama well is asking. >> i'm fascinated by this turn of events. leon panetta is the third national security official, and these are not some low level people. these are not nobodies writing books that want to become somebodies. these are not people who seek fortune, they don't need fame. the three of them, gave clinton and panetta, i counted up about 90 years of collective experience. they're talking about the history of the world. they're worried about the posit

. >> you have robert gates, and hillary clinton, and leon panetta's book.ormer president jimmy carter has jumped on the anti-president obama bandwagon. listen quickly. >> you know for those in the white house. >> both of the secretaries of defense have been very critical of the positive action on the part of the president. sometimes it draws, red lines on the sand. and time zones. doesn't go through. >> how bad is it getting if you have jimmy carter criticizing you? >> one of the big problems, it is more easily dismissed criticism when that criticism may come from a partisan voice. some republican opposition up on capitol hill. that's one of the big challenges the white house has. not only is it just one person, like, leon panetta. it has been a chorus. it has the been the same consistent criticism. the president has been ambivalent. hasn't been forcible enough, dealing with some of the big challenges on his plate when it comes to national security and foreign policy. >> perception or reality. mid terms are coming up. what does it do to democrats who are re

it's not like gates -- robert gates, where you could say, well, he's a republican.king a lot of democrats as below the belt. >> a quote from the article, it talks about the white house. they don't want to address this, add more fuel to the fire, they just hope it goes away. is that true? do they want this story to go away? do you think it's going to? >> i think what they're worried about is that because panetta is a democrat and has immense stature inside washington -- >> look what he's done with the clinton administration, high position there is. >> what people are saying privately is that this the panetta basically showing that he's a clinton man and that he's getting himself not necessarily ready to serve hillary clinton because he'd be rather elderly after she becomes -- if she becomes president. but that he would be basically saying that he might have been in obama's administration as well as the clinton administration. but he's siding with the clintons. so in some ways, this goes back to some bad blood from 2008 inside the democratic party between the clinton

. >> the first defense secretary robert gates, he also wrote a book in which he says that the presidentever believed in his troop surge in afghanistan, and from the start only cared about getting out of there. so this is not between panetta and gates, very flattering stuff to say about our commander in chief. >> it's not, but the president could counter, another description of what i've done is keeping my campaign promise. he did compare on getting out of both countries. he could in fact say what i've done is i had a mandate to do. panetta says we didn't leave enough people to preserve our interests and influence. i think a lot of people say what influence did we have? what influence could we have had with still 10,000 or 15,000 troops there? and what is our real interest in the middle east at this point, anyway? >>> there is a consistent theme, though, you're hearing from some of the president's closest national security advisers, i think you would agree that panetta and gates are about as close as it gets for, what, the first four, five years of president obama's term. you heard it fr

robert gates was also critical. 90, former president of the united states, also a democrat, he told the ft. worth star telegram, we waited too long and let the islamic state build up money, capability and strength and weapons while still in syria. when isis moved into iraq, sunni muslims don't object to them being here and a third of the territory in iraq was abandoned. even jimmy carter is criticizing -- >> he was criticized for his foreign policies during his presidency. he's taking a swipe at the president himself. >> that's large swipe at the president. in effect, he's saying what leon panetta was saying was you let this problem fester for whatever reas reason. you shouldn't have let this fester as long as you did. in fact, a majority of the american public actually agrees with jimmy carter on this. a recent poll on cbs said that by about two to one people thought that the president did a bad job of assessing the threat that isis poses. you've got the public now saying, wait a minute, you were kind of asleep at

. >> this is not the only case of this because the first obama secretary, robert gates, he also wroteook in which he says the president never believed in troop surge in afghanistan and from the start, only cared about getting out of there. george, this is not between panetta and gates. very flattering stuff to say about our commander in chief. >> it's not. the president could counter. another description of what i've done is keeping my campaign promise because he did campaign on getting out of both countries. so he could, in fact, say what i've done, i had a mandate to do. the question is, i suppose, panetta says, we didn't leave enough people there to preserve our interest and influence. and what is our real interest in the middle east now at this point anyway? >> there is a consistent theme, though, you're hearing from some of the president's closest national security adviser, i think you would agree, panetta and gates are about as close as it gets for the first, what, four or five years of president obama's term. and you heard it, obviously, from a critic, kelly ayotte, senator fro

. >> the first obama defense secretary, robert gates, he also wrote a book, in which he says in his memoirhat the president never believed to the troop surge in iraq from the start and only cared about getting out of there. this is not for panetta and gates very flattering stuff to say about our commander in chief. >> another thing that i have done is keeping my campaign promise. the question, i suppose, panetta says we didn't leave enough people there to preserve our interest and influence. i think a lot of people say, what influence did we have, what influence could we have had with still 10,000 or 15,000 troops left there and what is our real interest in the middle east now at this point anyway? >> there is a consistent theme, though you're hearing from some of the president's closest national security advisors, panetta and gates are about as close as you can get for the first four or five years of president obama's term. >>> and you heard it from a crate a -- the president cared more about campaign promises, his ideology and the politics that he said were in the best security interests