David Petraeus Talks Elections, American Safety on 'Wall Street Week' Debut

Retired Gen. David Petraeus talks to FBN contributor Anthony Scaramucci and Mornings with Maria host Maria Bartiromo about Hillary Clinton's email scandal during the debut of Wall Street Week.

The FOX Business Network will launch investment program Wall Street Week hosted by FBN contributors Anthony Scaramucci and Gary Kaminsky Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET.

The program will debut with guest General David Petraeus, a retired four-star Army general and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Petraeus will weigh in on a host of topics ranging from the public feud between Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the FBI over encryption, Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton and her e-mail scandal and the rise of Donald Trump in the 2016 race for the White House.

On the issue of safety and privacy in a more tech-centric world, Petraeus said despite a rise in the number and complexity of threats against the U.S., Americans are, “in general,” safe.

“Clearly there is a tension here between privacy rights and really rights of technologists, if you will, to make machines that people will buy. And then on the other hand the legitimate needs of law enforcement and the intelligence agencies to be able to get information from these devices,” he explained.

Petraeus said while he’d like the government to have the ability to decrypt information on devices, he doesn’t believe Apple should make a backdoor that enables it to happen.

Retired Gen. David Petraeus talks to FBN contributor Anthony Scaramucci and Mornings with Maria host Maria Bartiromo about Apple's legal battle with the FBI during the debut of Wall Street Week.

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“I don’t think Apple should be compelled to make a backdoor because I think it would make the entire technology so much more unsafe,” he said.

Meanwhile, Petraeus also discussed the much-talked-about 2016 election cycle and the scandals that have played out publicly on the campaign trail.

Petraeus said he believes Clinton has been treated fairly in regard to an e-mail scandal involving a private server the former Secretary of State used during her time working for the Obama administration.

“I think the debate among [Clinton supporters and critics] and the treatment actually has been fair. And I think we'll see how this plays out,” he said.

Wall Street Week airs Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET on the FOX Business Network.