officer haunted by his multiple tours of Afghanistan, ends in divorce. FoxРІР‚в„ўs first marriage, to a civilian, was annulled. Fox is on missions but also aching in its loneliness. The story that ensues reads as if a John le CarrР“В© character landed in РІР‚СљEat Pray LoveРІР‚Сњ - fast and thrilling when Ms. The agency assigned her to РІР‚Сљnonofficial cover,РІР‚Сњ meaning an agent must live abroad РІР‚Сљin the most dangerous places the planet has to offerРІР‚Сњ under a false identity with no diplomatic protections or official passport, Ms. РІР‚СљI wonРІР‚в„ўt take it the wrong way! I love her!РІР‚Сњ Ms. Williamson, the New Age author and guru whose quixotic quest for the Democratic presidential nomination includes establishing a Department of Peace. I told her not to take it the wrong way, but she reminded me of Ms. РІР‚СљThere is just nothing like sitting with someone and being in their energy and understanding them,РІР‚Сњ she said. She tells that story in searing detail in her memoir, РІР‚СљLife Undercover: Coming of Age in the C.I.A.,РІР‚Сњ which comes out on Oct. Fox reached that conclusion after eight years traveling the world, posing as an art dealer while she recruited arms dealers as assets and tried to talk extremists out of detonating dirty bombs. РІР‚СљThey are human, and theyРІР‚в„ўre in the midst of waging a war that involves horrendous, unforgivable crimes against humanity,РІР‚Сњ she said, РІР‚Сљbut the way to get to the end of that war is to understand their humanity, rather than deny it.РІР‚Сњ But there was Amaryllis Fox, who spent much of her 20s trying to keep nuclear materials out of terroristsРІР‚в„ў hands, talking about love and kindness. officer to talk like the spiritual presidential candidate Marianne Williamson. Ailes has repeatedly accused CNN of trying to copy Fox techniques.You wouldnРІР‚в„ўt expect a C.I.A. Especially in prime time, where Fox News has emulated the success of talk radio with hosts who take strong conservative positions, Fox has frequently been beating CNN in ratings.Р”В¬NN has instituted a number of management changes, including bringing in Mr. The Fox News Channel has added hundreds of thousands of viewers in the last year. CNN executives said their offer was not that high. Zahn had been making about $600,000 a year at Fox and that the CNN offer was for $2.1 million a year. Zahn's contract.Р”Р„nother senior Fox executive said that Ms.

Ailes said he pointed out that no such offer was possible under Ms. Leibner then surprised him by saying a third party had made an offer for Ms.

Zahn's contract, even though it had six months to run. Leibner, who had requested an early discussion of Ms. Ailes said he had been a victim of a ''Pearl Harbor attack'' by Mr. That's all just the growth of the network. Ailes said: ''I could have put a dead raccoon on the air this year and got a better rating than last year. But CNN countered with evidence that her ratings have increased about 90 percent in the last year. Fox executives noted that her ratings have been the lowest for any of the network's prime-time talk shows. Zahn, once the co-anchor of the morning news show at CBS, was out of work when Fox hired her in 1999.

Over the last year, Fox has cut significantly into CNN's onetime dominance of cable news. The action reflects the growing competition between Fox and CNN. Many of the people involved said they could not remember a network's firing a prominent on-the-air personality over a contract negotiation, or suing an agent for inducing a breach of contract. Brandi said the channel was ''also considering action against both CNN and Ms. The vice counsel for Fox News, Diann Brandi, said she would file a lawsuit immediately against Ms. 28 and she was precluded from negotiating with any other party until that contract ended. Fox called the offer a ''material breach'' of its deal with Ms. The move is the latest escalation in an increasingly bitter fight for supremacy in cable television news. The Fox News Channel fired Paula Zahn, one of its prime-time talk show hosts, yesterday after learning that she had received an offer from CNN.

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