but i have to give credit to my writing partner, vernon loeb. i wanted to call americans to go all in it as well. we owed to them and i think it's our turn. i would like to tell you a little bit about how i came to write the book and we will bring out some characters that are actually in the book that are in the room. can everybody hear okay in the back? >> okay, all right. in 2006, david petraeus with helping to write a command field manual. in fact, he edited 30 times the first chapter. he likes to pay attention to detail. but he came to harvard university where i was a graduate student and wanted to speak to students about the merits of counterinsurgency approach to fighting the iraq war, which we were losing at the time. and he invited a group of veterans of young students to meet with him after his presentation. i went up to him and said i think it i am writing a paper that will help you, and he was kind enough to indulge me take the paper and give me his business card. as he does with a lot of young soldier scholars. he is very open-minded

"washington post" editor vernon loeb never suspected the two were having an affair. >> andrea mccarren has the look at the post's interview and she has more on broadwell'sed with. >> i was dumbfounded when i heard about the affair. >> reporter: vernon loeb worked with broadwell for 16 months on thing into and she did all the -- the book and she did all the reporting and he crafted the narrative. >> why general petraeus was granting paula broadwell the kind of access he granted her. >> reporter: a question among many. since broadwell had never written a book and had no journalistic experience. loeb speculates petraeus viewed her as someone he could control. >> she got a lot of face time with the general. you know, during her reporting trips to iraq. he was the commander of the war. she spent hours interviewing him, through him she obtained access to all of his commanders. >> reporter: loeb believes broadwell had no idea the affair was going public on friday. she and her husband wither in virginia celebrating her -- were in virginia celebrating her 40th birthday with a party planned satu

vernon loeb, said his wife called him the most clueless person in america for not suspect something was going on between broadwell and the general. looking back, he says there were some red flags. >> what was a question in my mind, quite frankly, was why general petraeus was granting paula broadwell the kind of access he granted her. i never fully understood it. but i always sort of rationalized it in my own mind as something he felt he could control. i thought she was getting what other reporters could get. but she was just getting more of it. and getting more access and more kind of close-in access than other reporters got. >> now, loeb says paula wrote him an e-mail on saturday saying, quote, we will get through this. this story continues to develop. watch "good morning america" at 7:00 a.m., for several new reports, including a closer look at the woman at the center of the scandal, paula broadwell, and what could be next for her. >>> and turning overseas, now. new worries this morning that israel is being drawn more deeply into the civil war in syria. the israeli military says tanks

meanwhile, the ghost writer of broadwell's book, vernon loeb, says he was clueless about the affair between petraeus and broadwell. here with the latest on the scandal that keeps getting bigger and more bizarre, cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr and intelligence correspondent, suzanne kelly. welcome back to you both. >> thank you. >> when we talked on friday night, it was all just breaking and it seemed a relatively straightforward scandal but none of us thought it would stay that way, and sure enough, tonight, a really bizarre twist. it's not john kerry possibly becoming defense secretary, nothing bizarre about that at all. what is bizarre is this revelation in the "wall street journal" and it's reported there, we haven't independently corroborated this, that apparently the fbi agent originally detailed to investigate this scandal ended up sending shirtless pictures of himself to this other woman, the other other woman. suzanne kelly, where do we even start with this? >> i don't know. you know, after doing this story like pretty much nonstop for four days, i keep thinking that we

just a few hours later, vernon loeb, who spent 16 months working side-by-side with broadwell on her biography of petraeus, told the website, he had no idea about the affair. >> there was never a question in my mind. but what was a question in my mind, quite frankly, was why general petraeus was granting paula broadwell the find of access he granted her. >> reporter: we are learning more about the scope of the affair between petraeus and broadwell. an official telling abc news, the fbi uncovered hundreds, if not thousands of e-mails between petraeus and broadwell. many of them salacious in nature. as for the e-mails jill kelly received from broadwell that sent this all in motion, sources tell abc news, references were made to petraeus, but he was not specifically named. broadwell accused kelly in the e-mails of flaunting herself. officials tell abc news, kelly told petraeus about the messages. general allen has been nominated to take over nato command, george. but that has now been put on hold. >> martha, on hold. is that a euphemism? can his career survive this investigation? >> general allen

vernon loeb has lots of experience with the military himself, and is now the post metropolitan editor. paul plans to speak for about 20 or 30 minutes. then she will take questions. if you have a question, remember to step up and use the microphone here at the center of the room. afterwards, apollo will be happy to stay ensign books. -- paula will be happy to stay and sign books. [applause] >> before we get started, i would like to see how many veterans we have in the room. first of all, thank you for all of your service. we might have a few folks that belong to team red white and blue, as well. a couple of folks. great. thank you for coming. it is very important to me to take advantage of the national media platform i have right now with this book. became a best seller this week. very exciting. for somebody who does not really like to write that much, it is very humbling. i have to give credit to my writing partner for helping us to get to this point. i felt it was important to do something consequential with the attention the media is giving to the book. i want to call americans to g