i asked peter king about that. listen to what he said. >> can you tell us whether or not his affair or the security surrounding his affair came up at all? >> only -- one question he was asked at the start did that have any impact on his testimony and he said no. >> he said no. the other thing that we later heard is that there was no connection, he insisted, between his resignation and the whole controversy about what happened and what didn't happen in benghazi. we're told it was very quick, done at the beginning, and it was made very clear by the chairman that this is the one and only time this issue of his personal transgressions, of his resignation and what led to it would be addressed and that's it. >> dana bash reporting live from capitol hill. cnn learned many of the republicans senators demanding answers in the benghazi attacks skipped an important top secret briefing at the white house by the white house officials yesterday. that includes one of the most vocal critics, senator john mccain. at the time of the

(laughter) (cheers and applause) and folks, peter king is not alone. all of these republicans, this box of peach crayolas down here -- (laughter) all of them have v the balls to say they don't feel bound by the no tax increase pledge. what the hell is going on? here to tell me what the hell is going on, please well from "national review" and co-author of "brand new party, how republicans can win the working class and save the american dream" reihan salam. reihan, thank you very much. (applause) the book is called "the brand new party." let's talk about this grand new party. i don't understand, is this the end of an era? why has the republican party lost their spine? >> the truth is republicans are facing an incredibly difficult political environment and a really challenging fiscal environment as well and that's put a ton of pressure on adhering to the pledge. >> stephen: isn't grover norquist going to bring down the hammer on these guys come midterms? >> it's very hard to say because in some places-- for example south carolina and georgia-- that's very

coming up, congressman peter king is here with his take. what it means for the hearings on libya and the cia ahead. . >> there's no way we can get to the bottom of benghazi without david petraeus. [ abdul-rashid ] i've been working since i was about 16. you know, one job or the other. the moment i could access the retirement plan, i just became firm about it -- you know, it's like it just hits you fast. you know, you start thinking about what's really important here. ♪ >> welcome back, everybody. a quick check of the headlines. not good news for many employees, because more companies are now saying they will plan layoffs now that the president's health care law is becoming reality. many employers say they just cannot afford new or higher tax rates. and george prescott push, nephew of former president george w. bush making a campaign filing in texas. the report does not specific what office he'll seek. >> and the statue of liberty once again illuminated after super storm sandy, thanks to donation services and equipment. liberty island amon

house homeland security committee chair peter king had another term to describe the unfolding drama. >> it's really a great tragedy. general petraeus, one of our most distinguished generals and general allen, considered a super star in the military, did an outstanding job in afghanistan, was going to go to

with new jersey senator bob menendez and new york congressman peter king. then dissecting tuesday's results with california governor jerry brown. plus, cnn's dana bash looks at the grand old party and the new electorate with a foursome of republicans. former presidential candidate jon huntsman, congresswoman cathy mcmorris-rodgers. former commerce secretary carlos gutierrez, and conservative activist gary bauer piem candy crowley. and this is "state of the union." >>> good morning from california. the state that led the tax cut revolution in the late '70s but this past tuesday voted to raise taxes. we'll talk to governor jerry brown later in the show. but first, that fiscal cliff. those tax cuts and spending hikes scheduled to take place at the end of the year unless congress acts. president obama and john boehner picked up where they left off in dueling public appearances where both sounded conciliatory but didn't seem to budge much. you must add to the president's to-do list one more thing. he needs a cia director after general david petraeus resigned, ad

and in new york congressman peter king who is chairman of the house homeland security committee. good morning, senator.

. >> look, you had on this program this morning peter king saying this, chambliss is saying, that does seem to be breaking. we can still fight about tax rates over capital gains or whatever, but it does seem to be breaking. >> i think people know a deal needs to be made. i think these are practical people. but i also think that the president needs at this juncture to go back to what andrea said. the president needs to provide a view of what his agenda actually is. the reverend said he should govern the way he campaigned. there were not a lot of big ideas in his campaign. taxing the wealthy is not a big idea. taxing the wealthy is not getting this economy back on the road to growth. taxing the wealthy is not a process of addressing our great opportunities and challenges. so as incumbent as it is for the republicans to say, ok, we're going to put revenue on the table, and i think john boehner was crystal clear in his first speech after the election that revenues are on the table, the president needs to step forward and say, here is my grand vision for america. >> especially about the rol

peter king said hey, that's what i thought it was. what is your reporting saying? >> at this point, i don't have any indications in linked to benghazi, thousand i find it interesting he will not be testifying even though he would be of keen interest. an interesting side note on general petraeus, in 2008, it looked like petraeus had won and we were building a counterinsurgency military. i think that the experience in afghanistan has moved and and in some ways, the petraeus vision is is not going to be. . >> when search goes away -- >> but the counterinsurgency strategy never works in afghanistan. it is ironic that petraeus, who always was into nation building and just going after the enemy, that's basically what he's been doing. >> all right. well, thank you very much. peter king said he wants him to testify any way. do you think he'll be successful in that? >> that's going to really see how a lot of things play out, but i don't think the republicans are in a position right now to sort of issue demands of that sort and given the election on tuesday. >> the man who k

bob menendez and new york congressman peter king. then dissecting tuesday's results with california governor jerry brown. plus, cnn's dana bash looks at the grand old party and the new electral with republicans, former democratic congress john huntsman, cathy mcmorris-rogers, carlos gutierrez, and conservative activist gary bauer. i'm candy crowley, and this is "state of the union." >>> good morning from california. the state that led the tax cut revolution in the late 1970s, but this last tuesday voted to raise taxes. we'll talk to governor jerry brown later in the show, but, first, that fiscal cliff. those tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled take place at the end of the year unless congress acts. president obama and house speaker john boehner picked up where they left off in dualing public appearances where both sounded consillatory, but didn't seem to budge much. must add to the president's to do list one more thing. he needs a cia director after general david petraeus resigned admitting to an extramarital affair. joining me now

. >> it's entirely possible that on the 14th, as peter king said, and he's probably got a pretty good memory, he got a different story from general petraeus. >> that's the cia director at the time. that's not the white house. >> and general petraeus had enough military experience to know himself that when you have an attack like this -- i spent a lot of time doing this. when you have an aattack like this, it's preplanned and maybe even rehearsed. to say anything else is complete nonsense to a military mind. if peerter king is right and goa different story from general petraeus on the 14th, then petraeus was economical with the truth back then, thoo. >> that's more gentle. molly, let me bring you in on this. peter king is saying that he got one version from general petraeus on the 14th and something different he recalls today. what are we to make of this? >> you know, like you say, this is something that came up in the presidential debates. this is a political fight between democrats and republicans that the republicans are not going to let rest. if the white house thought that once th

what peter king said but you were not in that hearing. however what you are doing is calling for a special prosecutor on benghazi. how come? >> well, bill, for a number of reasons but one of them is that special-ops groups, retired individuals who had served this country, put their lives at risk, have come forward and said, look, we need answers and we need to know the truth. they have got over 100,000 people that have signed a petition asking for a special prosecutor. and from what pete king said it is even more important that we have a special prosecutor. we know the council statute lapsed in 1999. there is inherent power under the constitution, the executive branch appoint a special prosecutor to investigate when there is any type of conflict of interest. there is all kinds of conflicts of interests. you remember that bill, that commercial ran against president obama in the primary, who do you want answering the phone at 3:00 a.m.? turns out the answer is for heavens sakes, somebody answer the phone. these guys who put themselves in ha

that's what peter king suggested yesterday. we'll talk to him later on the program. >> alisyn: let's talk about regulations, and that's a bad word, if you or somebody who believes that there's bureaucratic bloat in the federal government, and how many regulations there are. we just, according to cns news service, this are some numbers now since president obama, well, i'll start with the past 90 days, the past three months, they've crunched the number and found out the obama administration has proposed 68 regulations, per day, for the past 9 the 0 days. >> that would be close to 7,000 regulations in 90 days. >> alisyn: are you doing math on the fly? >> i just did. can i read you one of them? this is just a couple of days ago, epa posted a proposed rule involving volatile organic emissions. >> dave: very important of utmost importance. >> alisyn: it may be, here is the thing about regulations, they're just like earmarks, you're against them and a dirty word until they're your pet project. and if you're an environmentalist of cour

>> and i trust peter king. he's a great leader, and i'd like david petraeus, but clearly weeks before september 11th, and the democratic convention said that al qaeda was on its heels. basically destroyed. so the white house lied. they took al qaeda out of the talking points so that obama could win the election. so it would not be a political issue so the president, again, the politics of for country. lou: it's pretty clear that mitt romney made a tremendous mistake in not taking the initiative on benghazi, despite all that occurred in the debate. he had every opportunity in the third debate to drive that issue for work and did not. >> he absolutely did. my colleague and i made that same point before the election. we said, if he did not do it he would not be president. he didn't do it. he is a president. you can't bear to be cautious in politics, especially in the most especially when you have the facts in your side. lou: a lot of the folks said that this docile lap dog liberal national media would only have ta

take a listen, sir. >> everybody who signed the pledge, including peter king who tried to weasel out of it, shame on him as the new york sun said today, i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than two years or something. >> so, mr. moran, air cording to mr. norquist, if peter king changes his mind in order to help the very people you just described that will thereby help the american economy, then he's more likely to commit adultery? is that what he's saying? >> his wife should be far more ashamed of peter if he were to let himself be bullied by this guy grover. i mean, grover seems to be a mild-tempered guy but he employs these bullying intimidation tactics. the republican party should say, look, i'm bigging than that, i answer to my quaeconstituents. who are you to tell me how i can best served the needs of this country. grover norquist couldn't get elected to anything, dog catcher even. yet he's out there intimidating all these folks that some of whom really want to do the right thing and now is the time when they have to do the right thing, when they ha

king, i think an exclusive for fox and megyn kelly saying listen we now know that the cia, peter king knows that the cia initial chronology, benghazi's acts was altered somewhere along the way, did susan rice alter it herself, does she know who altered it. and the hearings under oath are going to be epic, somehow the petraeus version, which petraeus is willing to explain now that he's liberated from the obama administration, rice her fate is going to answer for a whole bunch of coverups. if she's such a shrinking violet and needs the president to defend herself and doesn't know about benghazi or libya, why would she be nominated secretary of state. would you nominate such a light weight. >> and she's not out on this particular issue, it's not a sexist issue-- >> he didn't do that for eric holder on fast and furious, did he, alan? >> we're going to answer or try to, so many other questions about this story, including the angle jim just brought up, whatever happened brought up, whatever happened to david petraeus 4g lte is the fastest. so, which supeast 4g lte service would yochoose, ba

>> and i trust peter king. he's a great leader, and i'd like david petraeus, but clearly weeks before september 11th, and the deocratic convention said that al qaeda was on its heels. basically destroyed. so the white hose lied. they took al qaeda out of the talking points so that obama could win the election. so it would not be a politic issue so the president, again, the olitics of for country. lou: it's pretty clear that mitt romney made a tremendous mistake in not taking the initiative on benghazi, despite all that occurred in the debate. he had every pportuty in the third debate to rive that issue for work and did not. >> he absoluty did. my colleague and i made that same point before the election. we said, if he did not do it he would not be president. he didn't do it. he is a president. you can't bear to be cautious in politics, especially in the most especially when you have the facts in your side. lou: a lot of the folks said that this docile lap dog liberal national media would oy have taken up the is

your thoughts to peter king's statements right there? >> i think he has put his finger on the key issue. i think that general petraeus and his testimony today has put this right on the doorstep. i don't think there's any doubt. at least there is a working hypothesis. maybe not a firm conclusion, that the only entity in washington that believes in the demonstration was the white house. general david petraeus said that he knew within 24 hours that it was a terrorist attack. he said that he was trying to convey that position in his congressional testimony of september 14. he apparently didn't. but the key point is he thought that he was being consistent. somehow between then and when white house spokesman jay carney spoke, susan rice goes on television on the 16, it goes 180 degrees away from the notion of a terrorist attack towards the demonstration. in an interagency practice, let me just say this, because i'm sure most people say, what are they talking about? for theory to get advanced and end up as the conclusion, some agency has to be

. >> and i believe we're going to dip in right now to house home lapped security chairman peter king who is talking about the intel briefing. let's listen in. >> and it was not a terrorist attack and i pointed out the following week when matt olsen said it was, it made headlines because until then the administration was say iing it s not terrorist. again, it was very cordial, if you will. general petraeus is an outstanding patriot. we shook hands before and jach wards. we all thanked them for their service. but he was, i think, has a different impression of the impression he left on september 14th. >> can you tell us whether or not his affair or the security surrounding his affair came up at all? >> only he was asked at the start did that have any impact on his testimony, and he said no. >> how were the talking points different? >> the original talking points were much more specific about al qaeda involvement. and the final ones indications of extremists. to indicate though it was clearly evident to the cia that there was al qaeda involvement. >> did you get any idea why? >> they jus

>> and i trust peter king. he's a great leader, and i'd like david petraeus, but clearly weeks before september 11th, and the democratic convention id that al qaeda was on its heels. basically destroyed. so the white house lied. they took al qaeda out of the talking points so that obama could win the election. so it would not be a political issue so the president, again, the politics of for country. lou: it's pretty clear that mitt romney made a tremendous mistake in not taking the initiative on benghazi, despite all that occurred in the debate. he had every opportunity in the third debate to drive that issue for work and did not. >> he absolutely did. my colleague and i made that same point before the election. we said, if he did not do it he would not be president. he didn't do it. he is a resident. you can't bear to be cautious in potics, especially in the most especially when you have the facts in your sid. lou: a lot of the folks said that this docile lap dog liberal national media would only have taken up

. >> everybody who signed the pledge including peter king who tried to weasel out of it, shame on him as the new york sun said today. i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than two years or something. >> well, king got wind of that. it sounds like norquist better watch out for mrs. king. >> the fact that he brought my wife into it, i think he never met me, he certainly hasn't met my wife. he better hope he doesn't. she'll knock his head off. >> all right, president obama wants supporters to go on twitter as washington takes on the fiscal cliff. he's asking people to use the #my2k to explain what they would do with the $2,000 that could be lost to a middle class tax hike. one user talks about buying a mac book. the other talks about the child they're expecting and making the mortgage. but the president is also finding some critics. one of whom wants details on spending cuts. tennessee republican congresswoman marcia blackburn is not thrilled with the fact that all the chair manships voted on yesterday, 19 out of 21, none of them went to women. she says women

>> a i trust peter king. he's a great leader, and i'd like david petraeus, but clearly weeks before september 11th, and the demoatic convention said that al qaeda was on its heels. basically destroyed. so the white house lied. they took al qaeda out of the talking points s that obama could win the election. so it would ot be a political issue so the president,again, the politics of for country. lou: it's prett clear tha mitt romney made a tremendous mistake in not taking the initiative on benghazi, despite all that occurred in thedebate. he had every opportunity in the third debate to drive that issue for work and did not. >> he absolutely did. my colleague and i made tha same point before the election. we said, if he did not do it he would not be president. he didn't do it. he is a pesident. you can't bear to be cautious in politics, especially in the most especially when you have the facts in your side. lou: a lot of the folks said th this docile lap dog liberal national media would only have taken up theis

peter king said testimony from petraeus is essential to understanding what went wrong in benghazi. he was on fox news earlier today. >> i was not told and the chairman of the intelligence committee was supposed to be told. my understanding they were not told about it and the fib fub said it didn't involve terrorism or intelligence. >> and molly what was the fbi looking at. >> harris, the fbi discovered the bigrapy paula broadwell had acess to the personal e-mail account and they monitored his e-mail although he was not under investigation . but the agents were scured of a security breach or broadwell was stalking nem and after that they discovered the affair. >> petraeus stepped down and senator fine stine is not happy about it she said this is an enormous loss for our country and intelligence community. i wish president obama had not accepted this resignation but i understand and respect the decision . as for the decision that unearthed the affair. agents didn't find evidence of criminal activity. we want to update you on something that is breaking tonight. flash point of law make

peter king was on "save the union" today. >> they are not doing their job. they are not communicating with the people. i hope they set up a federal infrastructure led by the army corps of engineers which likely would be required to follow the plan. this is a disgrace. we are two weeks into the storm and there's over 100,000 people without power and with no real estimate as to when they are going to get it back. misleading information. >> to indianapolis where some people are beginning to return home after a massive explosion last night tore through a neighborhood. seven others were injured in the blast and fire that destroyed several homes. 200 people were evacuated. there's no word on what caused the explosion, which blew out windows for at least two blocks in every direction. people heard the blast three miles away. >>> israel is ready to ramp up reaction to the rocket attacks from gaza. this is video of rockets being launched in gaza. israel's military says rockets struck overnight. benjamin netanyahu blames hamas and says israel is on the verge of escala

>> and i trust peter king. he's a great leader, and i'd like david petraeus, but clearly weeks before september 11th, and the democratic convention said that al qaeda was on i its heels. basically destroyed. so the white house lied. they took al qaeda out of the talking points so that obama could win the election. so it wld not be a political issue so the president, again, the politics of for country. lou: it's pretty clear that mitt romney made a tremendous mistake in not taking the initiative on benghazi, despitell that occurred in the debate. he had every opportunity in the third debate to drive that issue for work and did not. >> he absolutely did. my colleague and i made tht same point beforethe election. we sid, if he did not do it he would not be president. he didn't do it. he is a president. you can't bear to be cautious in politics, especially in the most especially when you have the facts in your sde. lou: a lot of the folks said that this docile lap dg liberal national media would only have taken up

peter king who was here, we were talking in the green room. democrat, republican, steve israel, further out, we have to work together. governor comeau and governor christie. this is not a democrat or republican issue. this is an american issue. we come together and make sure that our citizens survive. i think you'll see us go in with a unified voice trying to say that we have to have the funds appropriated that are necessary to help people to get back on their feet. governor comeau is having a meeting tomorrow, for example, with all of those who are affected in new york. all of the elected so we can try to come together and speak with one voice. i think that is important. and i think that we can do that in a bipartisan manner because all of us have been affected. >> congressman meeks, good to see you. thank you for sharing your photos and the experiences and of course our best to everybody in your district as we continue to check in on them. thank you very much. >>> we will take a break here thank you very much. >>> we will take a break here a

peter king who was here, we were talking in the green room. democrat, republican, steve israel, further out, we have to work together. governor comeau and governor christie. this is not a democrat or republican issue. this is an american issue. we come together and make sure that our citizens survive. i think you'll see us go in with a unified voice trying to say that we have to have the funds appropriated that are necessary to help people to get back on their feet. governor comeau is having a meeting tomorrow, for example, with all of those who are affected in new york. all of the elected so we can try to come together and speak with one voice. i think that is important. and i think that we can do that in a bipartisan manner because all of us have been affected. >> congressman meeks, good to see you. thank you for sharing your photos and the experiences and of course our best to everybody in your district as we continue to check in on them. thank you very much. >>> we will take a break here and come back in just a moment. i'm done! "are you a

peter king who was here, we were talking in the green room. democrat, republican, steve israel, further out, we have to work together. governor comeau and governor christie. this is not a democrat or republican issue. this is an american issue. we come together and make sure that our citizens survive. i think you'll see us go in with a unified voice trying to say that we have to have the funds appropriated that are necessary to help people to get back on their feet. governor comeau is having a meeting tomorrow, for example, with all of those who are affected in new york. all of the elected so we can try to come together and speak with one voice. i think that is important. and i think that we can do that in a bipartisan manner because all of us have been affected. >> congressman meeks, good to see you. thank you for sharing your photos and the experiences and of course our best to everybody in your district as we continue to check in on them. thank you very much. to check in on them. thank you very much. >>> we wiuse nyquil d... [ ding! ] ...an

republican congressman, peter king, responded. >> the fact he brought my wife into it. i don't think he has ever met me, certainly never met my wife. he better hope he doesn't. she will knock his head off. >> king also explained why norquist is wrong on substance. >> i did sign a pledge back in 1996, during the whole conflict with the clinton administration over the government shutdown. i was totally opposed to any tax increases at that time. but to say that a pledge on an issue like taxes would last for a lifetime is ridiculous. ronald reagan raised taxes a number of times because that's what he had to do to close the deal. >> when norquist started his anti-tax pledge, the deficit was $220 billion. now, it tops $1 trillion. this is a turning point for the gop or at least it could be. the other thing you need to know about is the money trail. in 2010, 66% of funding for americans for tax reform, norquist's group, came from two billionaire groups, according to an investigation by the nation magazine, karl rove's group, crossroads gps, gave $4 million. the center to prote