Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler spent 130 unwilling days with al Qaeda when he was kidnapped in 2008.
He tells CNN’s Erin Burnett how gunmen captured his companions and him and threw them in a truck. That began “our dissent into hell,” he says. Five days and 1,000 kilometers later they were in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
When they told him they were al Qaeda he says, “The bottom of my world fell out.” He says he thinks that he never gave up hope, but “fear was our constant companion. I was terrified the whole time.”
FULL POST
We polled our OutFront Political Strike, our panel of thirty-one independent political journalists and analysts. We asked whether Mitt Romney need a 'game changing' vice president pick?"
A Louisiana sinkhole that is 324 feet in diameter and reaches as deep as 422 feet in one corner continues to grow and caused evacuations today. Officials believe an underground salt cavern is the reason the hole opened up and swallowed 100-foot-tall cypress trees.
The hole first came to attention a week ago when residents noticed bubbles in the water of the southern Louisiana bayou. Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack said he is worried that the hole may contain 1.5 million barrels of liquid butane, which is a highly volatile liquid. It becomes an extremely flammable vapor upon release.
Texas Brine Company, which mines the cavern, is investigating to see if the circumstances are indeed dangerous. Local residents say the Department of Natural Resources has known for months that the Texas Brine well had integrity problems.
CNN's Ed Lavendara reports.
According to leaked memo obtained by Mike Allen of Politico the Democratic National Convention may feature a few Republicans. The strategy is to attract independents and paint Mitt Romney as out-of-touch with the middle class. Does this add up?
OutFront tonight: James Carville, Democratic Strategist and CNN Contributor.
Will Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney make a game changing choice when he picks his running mate or will his decision not really impact the race too much?
We asked our OutFront Political Strike team to weigh in on the importance of Romney's VP pick. Does he need a game changer? FULL POST