Joe Johns | BIO
CNN Correspondent

Former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards talked a campaign aide into claiming he fathered a child born to Edwards' onetime mistress, sources familiar with the issue said Monday.

Edwards admitted to his affair with Rielle Hunter in August 2008 after months of denials, but said he could not have been the father of Hunter's daughter, who was born the previous February. Former Edwards staffer Andrew Young has said he was the girl's father - but has recanted and says he made it because he believed in Edwards, lawyers and others familiar with the matter told CNN.

Young was married with children when he claimed to have fathered Hunter's child. He never signed any affidavits or legal papers, however, and reversed his claim after Edwards, as one of the sources put it, dropped Young "like a hot potato."

The news comes as a grand jury in Edwards' home state of North Carolina is investigating payments made to Hunter - who had been hired as a campaign videographer - by the former senator's campaign and supporters. Hunter was photographed entering the courthouse where the grand jury was meeting in August.

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South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford on Wednesday as he admits to having an affair.

Sen. John Ensign of Nevada at a press conference admitting to an affair with a campaign staffer.

Jacob Smilovitz
AC360° Intern

Today’s admission by South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford that he made a secret trip to Argentina where he was having an affair with a woman may be interesting, but it is definitely not unprecedented in American politics. Tonight on AC360° we dig deeper into what makes these political figures take such risks. For a quick refresher, here are some notable apologies and mea culpas over the years.

Gov. Mark Sanford (R – South Carolina)
June 24, 2009

In a news conference:

“And so the bottom line is this: I have been unfaithful to my wife. I developed a relationship with a - what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina. It began very innocently as I suspect many of these things do, in just a casual e-mail back and forth in advice on one's life there and advice here.

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Elizabeth Edwards
For Time

John was gone a lot in 2003 and 2004 running for office, and although I saw him all the time in 2005 when I was getting treatment for breast cancer, I knew I would see him less in 2006. I even participated in his being gone.

I thought he should do a spring-break trip for college students in New Orleans to help with the Hurricane Katrina cleanup. His antipoverty work would take him across the country, and I knew that. When he told me that the political action committee was going to have behind-the-scenes videos made of some of these efforts, it didn't seem like that bad an idea, and it certainly didn't occur to me to ask about who was making them.

It didn't occur to me that at a fancy hotel in New York, where he sat with a potential donor to his antipoverty work, he would be targeted by a woman who would confirm that the man at the table was John Edwards and then would wait for him outside the hotel hours later when he returned from a dinner, wait with the come-on line "You are so hot" and an idea that she should travel with him and make videos. And if you had asked me to wager that house we were building on whether my husband of then 28 years would have responded to a come-on line like that, I would have said no.

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Elizabeth Edwards
For Time

John was gone a lot in 2003 and 2004 running for office, and although I saw him all the time in 2005 when I was getting treatment for breast cancer, I knew I would see him less in 2006. I even participated in his being gone.

I thought he should do a spring-break trip for college students in New Orleans to help with the Hurricane Katrina cleanup. His antipoverty work would take him across the country, and I knew that. When he told me that the political action committee was going to have behind-the-scenes videos made of some of these efforts, it didn't seem like that bad an idea, and it certainly didn't occur to me to ask about who was making them.

It didn't occur to me that at a fancy hotel in New York, where he sat with a potential donor to his antipoverty work, he would be targeted by a woman who would confirm that the man at the table was John Edwards and then would wait for him outside the hotel hours later when he returned from a dinner, wait with the come-on line "You are so hot" and an idea that she should travel with him and make videos. And if you had asked me to wager that house we were building on whether my husband of then 28 years would have responded to a come-on line like that, I would have said no.

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CNN

Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of two-time presidential hopeful John Edwards, does not know whether he fathered a child during his affair with a campaign staffer, she says in an interview that is to air this week.

"I have seen a picture of the baby. I have no idea. It doesn't look like my children, but I don't have any idea," she said in an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey to air Thursday.

Winfrey's Harpo Productions Inc. provided CNN with several preview clips.

John Edwards admitted in August that he had had an affair with Rielle Hunter, then 42. Hunter was hired to make a movie about Edwards, then making his second try for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The former senator has denied that Hunter's baby is his.

He told his wife that Hunter approached him at a hotel, Elizabeth Edwards said.

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Bristol Palin, daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, poses as a member of the Juneau-Douglas High School junior varsity basketball team in February 2007.

Amy Holmes | Bio
CNN Political Analyst

Editor’s Note: Amy Holmes is an Independent conservative who has not endorsed any candidate for president.

Here's what we know. Bristol Palin is pregnant. And that's all we know. We don't know if she was unaware of how babies are made, or how to acquire contraception. As the eldest of five children, it's hard to imagine that she was not acquainted with the basic facts of life. And none of it is our business.

If we want to turn someone's personal life into a teachable moment, may I suggest John Edwards? "Warning: Extra-marital sex may result in messy paternity rumors and derail national political ambitions."

Do they teach that in sex ed?

Sen. John Edwards' affair with Reille Hunter, the former director of operations for his presidential campaign, raised questions on the impact it would have had, had Edwards made it to the conventions as the Democratic nominee. Last night on AC360° we sat down with CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen to explore the larger implications regarding the Edwards affair along with the upcoming Democratic National Convention and the potential VP's for presumptive nominee, Sen. Barack Obama. Here are his observations and insight:

David Gergen
CNN Senior Political Analyst

On how John Edwards and Reille Hunter met:

"There may be people out there who believe his story, but so far I haven't met any. Everyone has questions about when this actually started up and whether she did on the payroll as after, and there have been various reports showing a timeline suggesting she went on the payroll after the relationship started; about the paternity of the child, about the money payments since then.

And now there are questions, of course, about whether John Edwards himself was a victim to some degree, whether he was set up at the Beverly Hilton. Perhaps even by her friend." Keep reading

Dr. Lisa Boesky
Psychologist, National Speaker & Author

John Edwards…many of those who didn’t want him for president still viewed him as a “nice guy.” A politician cheating? Not shocking. But, John Edwards, the squeaky clean devoted husband who let his cancer-stricken wife stand at his side throughout his entire campaign? Devastating.

Most of us have either cheated, been cheated on, or know someone who has been unfaithful. Yet, much of what we think about cheating is WRONG!

1. Infidelity spells the end of a marriage: It definitely feels that way when you first find out—anger, depression, anxiety. There appears to be no way to work it out. But, with time (and a lot of work), it is possible to rebuild the trust. If couples seek professional help to deal with the aftermath of the affair, their chances of staying together are pretty good.

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Tom Foreman
AC360° Correspondent

In case you’ve forgotten... Sen. John Edwards was selected by fellow Democratic senators to give closing arguments in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. The excerpt is here below:

Sen. Edwards' closed-door impeachment statement, released into Congressional Record, February 12, 1999

“I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen.

So I said to myself, what is the right and fair thing to do? And this is what I have done. I have looked–many times until 3 a.m. in the morning–at the evidence in this case. Because I think that is the way we need to make this decision.

The perjury charge, I believe, is just not there. The evidence is not there to support it. I know many of you believe it is there. I respect your view on that. I don't believe it is there. The obstruction charge is a totally different matter. And this is the way I have thought about the obstruction charge.”

Alyssa Caplan
AC360 Staffer

For many of us 360 staffers, today was supposed to be a much coveted “Summer Friday.” With no live show to produce, our usual late night schedules were replaced with the promise of champagne wishes and caviar dreams — a rare chance to get out of work while the sun still shines, meet friends on a roof deck, beat traffic out of town, or in my case, complete a blog post on which I had been working, but hadn’t had a chance to finish. Then I planned to re-unite with my all but estranged “normal working hour” friends and tend to my vitamin D deficiency.

So I settled at my desk to tackle the post I had conceived about infidelity – inspired by some comments former major league baseball player José Canseco told the TV show "Extra" several weeks ago when the whole A-Rod/Madonna situation was playing out in the media.

Little did I know how timely the topic would be, or how crazy this day would become. Instead of finishing the post, I ended up spending the next two hours booking guests like crazy as the news broke that Sen. Edwards admitted that he did indeed have an affair. So much for an early night! Keep reading