south korea and japan, are buying iranian oil right now. less than they used to but buying it. so when you hear about how much money iran is losing every month thanks to international oil sanctions, it would be more if the blackout was complete. oil is not where the issue of the u.s. looking the other way ends. there's samsung. south korea's biggest company. you may remember us talking about this glaring example here on "outfront." samsung is crushing apple worldwide. they sold 50 million smart phones, double what apple sold. samsung does business in iran selling the galaxy 3, printers, cameras and televisions. it's legal. apple is not allowed to sell anything in iran because of sanctions. this double standard seems to be a-okay as far as the u.s. government's actions are concerned. the u.s. chose not to use its leverage when signing a free trade deal with south korea in

2010. in that deal, korea got access to american markets. the united states did not demand that korean companies choose between doing business in the u.s. or iran. and there's another loophole that congress could close when it comes to u.s. sanctions. did you know that overseas subsidiaries of american companies can do business in iran? sanctions may not be a good idea, they hurt regular people and try to have them halt an alleged nuclear program in iran may never be totally effective. the united states has put their reputations on the line. the u.s. is implementing the toughest sanctions in history on iran. that's true. but all these loopholes still exist. they exist because the u.s. governments lets them. is the u.s. afraid that standard charter, the bank in the headlines this week for doing business with iran or a company like samsung would choose iran over the united states? "outfront" tonight, an attorney who specializes in international

business law. he also served in iraq. and peter brook, former companity assistant secretary of defense and senior fellow of national security affairs at the heritage foundation. two gentlemen who are the perfect people to talk about this. david, why is it that these loopholes are still there when the u.s., the president of the united states, has made it very clear that these are the toughest, strongest and most serious sanctions ever? >> well, erin, the u.s. has stepped up sanctions certainly by any account. and made it much more difficult for any company wherever they're based to do business in iran. there are some exceptions in u.s. law. you mentioned one that allows companies that have a foreign incorporated subsidiary still to do business with iran. and then more importantly the bigger gap is where certain countries still have not agreed to sanctions and put in place their own national sanctions. you mentioned south korea and some of the other countries. that's really where there needs

to be more action in order to really put stronger sanctions and stronger economic imperatives against iran. that also requires the u.s. to step up and negotiate and press its allies to put sanctions in place. >> and let me ask you about that, peter, because south korea is a pretty fascinating example. because the u.s. just had this moment of incredible leverage. the south korean free trade deal wallace the biggest free trade deal america signed since nafta. it was a big deal. i don't think there's any question if you said, hey, samsung, it's the u.s. or iran, what they would have chosen, but we didn't seem to ask. >> you bring up a bigger point. that is sanctions tend to be ineffective. they're not watertight. there's lots of leakage. the iranians have been sanctioned by us since 1979. they've learned how to get around them. they're reflagging ships. they're renaming ships. they have front companies. they're doing all of these sort of things. they're doing joint bank ventures to get around

international financial sanctions. unfortunately, sanctions -- the problem is the administration's hanging their hat on sanctions and that's what i'm trying to say here is that they're not always effective. they're a feel-good measure. they're more drak canyon than diplomacy and less draconian than military action. unless everybody plays along, they're not going to work. >> what about this issue of u.s. subsidiaries? we've talked about this with some reporting we've done on companies that were doing things that appeared to be questionable. that loophole is still open and congress can close it. >> that's true. that exception is still in place. it's under 31-cfr, part 5-60. congress could close it. but congress did amend the iran sanctions act in late 2010. and strengthen the sanctions that also apply to any company including foreign incorporated subsidiaries. so that now those companies

cannot do business with the oil sector of iran. >> if you could close it, close it. peter, final word. when i look at the thing here with the standard charter, the headlines we've seen around the world this week with the new york banking regulator alleging the british bank had done $250 billion in deals with iran. the company denies anything of that size. i asked the question for this reason. you look at banks that have been censored for doing business with rogue states including iran. the u.s. has gotten a lot of money from violators. credit suisse paid more than half a billion dollars in fines to the u.s. treasury. more than $600 million from the netherlands bank, ing. barclays, nearly $300 million. that's a lot of money. is this sort of that the u.s. stays, well, it's easier to look the other way and get the money? i know that sounds incredibly ugly but is it? >> i see your point. obviously, it's punishment to these banks. i think what it more is, is

deterrence to others for breaking the law or breaking these regulatioregulations. the big thing is iran is probably the greatest thre to international security today and others shouldn't be working with them. >> thanks very much. appreciate you take the time tonight. up next, mitt romney, is he in real trouble? will that mean a game changing pick for vp? yeah, we've heard that before. and the business of soccer literally. your chance to own one of the biggest and, well, its fans are some of the most passionate on the planet. and, later, a massive sinkhole leading to evacuations in louisiana. managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love.

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on the list. one name getting a lot of buzz is congressman paul ryan of wisconsin. there's been a big spike in google searches for paul ryan in recent days. even though his work as chairman of the house budget committee, responsible for the budget that gets so much talk over the past couple of years, has contributed to his google popularity. but see the two together? wow, they almost -- they almost look like twins. how risky a choice would ryan be? this is a candidate whose reputation has always been more richie cunningham, less the fonz. cnn's chief national correspondent john king knows more about these guys than anybody. john, paul ryan, u.s. congressman since 1999. incredibly young guy. chairman of the house budget committee. responsible for a controversial budget and something loved by the right, hated by the left. why the sudden buzz? >> the sudden buzz is because, remember, many conservatives don't trust mitt romney so they won't want of their own on the ticket. a number of conservatives also say we're in the middle of this

really small petty campaign. you've been talking about it, these horrible ads that are really about nothing. they say why should we have a race about bain capital? let's have a race about entitlement reform, about cutting government spending. it would be risky but it would change the tone of the campaign. >> it sure would. what are the pluses and the minuses of picking paul ryan? >> if you look at the pluses, number one is what i just mentioned. there's some suspicion of romney. this would energy the base, there's no question about it. he also is somebody who is a great debater and energetic campaigner and he's 42 years old so you add some youth and vigor, perhaps challenge the president on some college campuses across the country. >> what about the minuses? he's certainly not a foreign policy guy. >> he's not a foreign policy guy. he's never run or won statewide. 42 could also be a negative. people could say, wait a minute, young guy, he's only a house member, is he ready to be commander in chief? >> another name is tim pawlenty. quick bio of him, governor of

minnesota from 2003 to 2010 and of course he was a gop presidential candidate in 2012 although not a successful one. his life story, as you've been reporting, is the anti-romney. and here's a quick bite of what he told you. >> i grew up in a meat being paing town. so the dominant focus economically for the town in the '60s were these mammoth meat packing plants. they all suddenly shut down. i saw this massive job loss, economic dislocation, heartache, worry, my neighborhood, my community. it's one thing to talk about it, it's another thing to have lived it, experienced it. >> john what about -- obviously different backgrounds. t-paw as he's called does have that heart warming connection to people maybe but does he have a connection with mitt romney? >> well, he does have a comfort level now even though they were tough on each other earlier in the campaign. they were governors at the same time. pawlenty's been a loyal soldier since he got out and endorsed him. blue collar roots.

comfortable on an ice oka hocke rink. comfortable goofing around with people, something mitt romney is not comfortable doing. they think he could help in the blue collar communities across the midwest. evangelicals a little suspicion of a mormon, they think tim pawlenty might help there. governor romney, governor pawlenty, they could say, two guys, erin with no washington take. on the down side, conservatives didn't like him when he was governor. you might not love it but you say romney, massachusetts health care. when you say pawlenty what do you say? there's no signature initiative. there's this, there's zero evidence that picking pawlenty would put minnesota in play for romney. >> wow, all right. the final one people talk a lot about, rob portman, ohio. obviously, he wallace a senator, budget director. under george w. bush, which may be a problem. and was also a member of the house. what is the main plus/minus for rob portman?

>> the main plus could be ohio roots. it's a two-point state now. the president slightly ahead. if portman can boost you up, especially where he comes from, cincinnati, hamilton county, mitt romney needs ohio. he was the budget director. that's one of the huge challenge facing the country. he knows every nook and cranny of the federal bureaucracy. you could say here's a guy with some foreign policy/national security skills. he has bipartisan respect. democrats are trashing him now but that's the campaign. they like him. they think he's a nice guy. the flip side, the bush baggage you mentioned. he could say 20-plus years in waush washington, that's an asset. some would say, washington insider, and some would say, he's a little bland. >> got to call it like you see it. we called our political strike team. 31 independent analysts and journalists. we asked, does romney need a game-changing vp pick? like the country, split. 53% say yes. 47% say no.

john, let me bring in the other john, john avlon, into this conversation. what do you think? game changing pick? by the way, game changing pick might be more like rubio or christie than some of those names we talked about. >> that's right, you've certainly seen conservatives come out hard for paul ryan in recent days. i want game changer because you're starting to see the numbers solidify. it's a long way out but the trend is not mitt romney's friend. game change got a bad name after sarah pail be. someone like rubio who could certainly excite the base, help get tea partiers engaged and maybe bring the youth vote could really make a big difference. or a paul ryan. that's a long ball. there are risks. it would excite the base and rally folks around the ticket. >> john king, what was your vote? >> erin, i'm not sure a game changing pick would do it. mitt romney's problems are mitt romney's problems. his unfavorables are going up. people view him increasingly as a rich guy who wouldn't fight

for the middle class. would you accentuate that with a blue collar guy? maybe. but mitt romney's problems are mitt romney's problems. go back through history. tell me when, go back to lbj, a vice presidential pick has changed a race that significantly. most people think this one is close enough. it's trended away from romney in recent days. most people think do no harm is still priority number one and he has to fix his own problems. with the vp role out, going into the convention, the economic, but it would help, but it won't do everything thanks to the johns. we'll see what he'll do. we'll find out soon. still to come, a secret plan by the obama campaign leaked. next the olympics effect. a number of reasons why it's for dreamers.we hould be penalized f. that's why liberty mutual insurance policies come standard with accident forgiveness, if you qualify. learn more at libertymutual.com.

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well, the olympics, they're going to finish this weekend with some big contests including the men's usa basketball team going for gold. american athletes have con this country proud, raking in more than 90 medals. the most decorated olympian ever, michael phelps. the breakthrough darling, gabby douglas. decathlete ashton eaton. these men and women have spent hours striving to accomplish their dream.

shaves seconds off their time, milliseconds off their time, to just go a millimeter further. for most of them, this has been their entire life. they started out like a lot of us in little league and gymnastics classes. most of us never get anywhere close to an olympic podium. it doesn't mean we wasted our dream, sweat, determination, hard work. 18 of the 22 staff members of "outfront" played sports in high school. four played in college. this weekend in new york city, 2,500 people are going to compete in the ironman triathlon, a true test. colleges across this country, athletes are on the fields practicing already for the fall season. many of these athletes set goals for themselves. championship. few more goals. maybe breaking a record if you're lucky. when you do, that's the gold medal for you. it's the equivalent. for me, playing college sports is a big part of who i am. it taught me perseverance, resilience, how to lose. our number tonight, 6'10 3/4".

that's the height of our executive producer. he jumped in the high jump at duke, a record set in 1991. he still looks just as handsome now. it stood for 20 years. it was only broken last year. our own personal records are how we measure, challenge or will ourselves to be better or smarter. it's why will's daughters follow in his foot steps on the gymnastics floor and the softball field. we'll take you live to a massive sinkhole still gobbling trees up to ten feet high. and later, leaked documents that show the obama campaign's plans for the democratic convention, they include republicans.

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we start the second half of our show with stories we care about where we focus on our own reporting from the front lines. a memorial service was held today for the six people killed in a sikh temple in oak creek, wisconsin. among those speaking was wisconsin governor scott walker. he wore an orange hed covering in keeping with sikh tradition. the u.s. attorney general eric holder was there. he called it a hate crime. three people remain hospitalized tonight. including an oak creek police officer. two of them are in satisfactory condition. one in critical. a man in an afghan military uniform killed three troops today.

this is just the latest incident of so-called green on blue attacks where afghan security forces or militants dressed as local police or soldiers target coalition troops. anthony cortisoman tells "outfront" the taliban and other insurgents knows that encouraging these attacks net in their view maximum impact and that is why they keep doing it. the world's most valuable sports franchise soccer club manchester united made its debut today on the new york stock exchange. shares were priced at $14 least two lower than analysts thought. it closed the day flat. unchanged, $14. that is well below average performance according to paul hickey of bespoke investment group who tell us the average gain for an apo on its first day of trading so far this year has been about 15%. so maybe the die-hard fans of manchester should just wager on wins instead of betting on the stock. the international energy agency has cut its outlook for

global oil demand next year. a big reason is sluggish economic growth. the iaea isn't the only concerned party. plenty of people in the united states are still uncertain about how the economy is faring. in the latest cnn poll, only 19% of americans think the economy is starting to recover. that's five percentage points fewer than in april. more think the economy's getting worse. 39% say so, up six percentage points from april. it's been 372 days since the u.s. lost its top credit rating. the u.s. budget deficit increased by nearly $70 billion last month. for the fiscal year through july, the deficit is now $974 billion. that almost has -- and now our third story "outfront." a massive sinkhole in louisiana is widening. it's now swallowing up 100-foot tall trees and leading to evacuations in southern louisiana. this sinkhole was first spotted on august 3rd but residents in assumption parish said they saw

warning signs months ago but nothing was done. ed lavandera is "outfront" tonight in the parish about 30 miles south of baton rouge. >> reporter: from above, it's hard to fathom but this massive sinkhole has swallowed up hundreds of cypress tree, some as tall as 100 feet. it has the residents of bell rose, a small bayou town about 30 miles south of baton rouge, feeling anxious. >> they're just an area that is now turned to slush. the trees and so forth have sunk into the ground and it's unknown what caused it. >> reporter: the sinkhole dropped about a week ago. it's now about 320 feet wide. in some places, reaches more than 400 feet deep. several hundred residents have been told to evacuate. the sinkhole sits over a salt dome cavern. it's believeled that the cavern collapsed, causing the sinkhole. louisiana's department of natural resources says the company mining the salt dome,

texas brine, was trying to expand the mine when it cut into the cavern last year, long before the sinkhole appeared. >> in order to expand the mining of that cavern, a cut in the well casing, they made a cut in the well casing several hundred feet above the top of the cap. and then they reported a potential breach at that time and that information was brought to us in 2011. >> reporter: but the collapse is also next to a well containing more than 1 million gallons of liquid butane, a highly flammable vapor if its released. local officials say if that happens it could cause catastrophic problems. this person has organized an advocacy group to get answers from regulators and the mining company that owns the underground salt dome. what are you afraid of at this point? >> everybody is afraid of the unknowns. you know, we don't know how big the sinkhole can happen. if other sinkholes can happen.

you know, they're talking about, now, looking in that gas in the aquifer, i believe it's the butane cavern, people are concerned about the explosion. >> reporter: the first signs of trouble were the spo spotted mo two months ago. henry welch took us by boat to the edge of the sinkhole to show us. look at all these bubbles. >> that started it. >> reporter: this is what you saw first? >> exactly. >> reporter: one resident told us the bayou water looks like a boiling pot of crawfish. hen rip has evacuated and he's not sure he'll be able to move back. he thinks now the property around here will be worthless. worried about what it means long term? >> yes, i got my life saving,ein my place. that's all i got coming in. >> ed is with me now. the look on your face i saw when you saw that bubbling water was

incredible. if they were seeing this two months ago, why did it take so long for officials to start to say, look into it and see what the problem is? >> reporter: that's one of the frustrations and i think the answer's people around here are still waiting to get. all of this made worse because they say not only did they see the bubbles back toward the end of may but throughout most of june they felt little tremor, little mini earthquakes around here that they had also reported and it wasn't till that sinkhole appeared and now they're being told that the well, that texas brine has been ordered to drill, to test the integrity of that salt cavern underneath that sinkhole will take 40 days to drill and everyone around here will be told to evacuate till then. even after that, they don't know when they'll be allowed back or told that everything will be okay, to come back. this is going to take months. >> wow. all right, ed lavandera reporting there. that image just really unbelievable. now our fourth story

"outfront." republican speakers at the dnc. according to a leaked memo obtained by mike allen of politico, that's part of the plan for the democratic convention. it's a strategy to attract independents which also includes a focus on many of the president's more liberal positions, including support for gay marriage, the end of don't ask, don't tell, and funding for planned parenthood. democratic strategist cnn contributor james carville is "outfront" tonight. the man who owns the play book for the party. james, this is a gamble. and i mean, i'm curious whether you think buying into all of these positions is going to pay off. >> well, look, that's where the democratic party is. we're never going to change our position on gay marriage. eventually the republican party will change their position. public opinion is going towards the democrats, probably with the democrats now. and every week you see a poll in support for gay marriage increases. you can't be a modern democrat, a modern national democrat, and have a position against this. it is a decided issue in the

democratic party. if that's the case, they'd just as soon, as you would say, be out front with it. >> good word choice, right. what about republicans speaking? that's an interesting way to appeal to independents who frankly probably have a lot of frustration at both candidates. >> yeah, i think that makes -- if they're doing that, i'm kind of impressed. i think it's a very sensible thing to do. and it gives a chance to portray a different thing, and i'm sure it will have some different kind of contrasting business model with governor romney's -- >> can you really be a republican if you agree to speak at the democratic national convention? isn't that, like, you're really turncoat. >> well, you know, they would say that they put much more of our country or party above partisanship or something like that. i doubt people will say that. other things to find in the world before being republican.

i expect they'll be briefed before they get up and speak. >> i would imagine. i want to ask you about some polls. some out this week, cnn poll, among many, but here's what ours shows, registered voters, choice for president, 52%, president obama. that's an important caveat. look at the lead that president obama had over john mccain in 2008 in july, it went away in over a month, and the president ended up winning. these polls can switch rather dramatically. so what do you think? is obama's lead safe? >> no. i don't think anything in american politics is safe. you've got any number of things that can go wrong. having said that, romney -- his summer looks like that sinkhole in assumption parish you just showed. it's been awful from the tax returns to the trip to britain to everything you can imagine.

this guy's just had a awful summer. can he turn it around? sure. but right now if i'm a republican i'm pretty disgusted with the way this thing has gone, i'll be honest with you. it's pretty remarkable. and the president it looks like starting around memorial day he sort of got his mojo back and these guys have run a tough effective campaign so far. i don't know, there's no way that this thing is anything close to being put away. >> so let me ask you about something on ads. the ads have really -- i don't know, they've personally troubled me. and so many other people. but there's one particular ad run by the super pac which is run by a close friend and former deputy of president obama's. i want to play you a quick sound bite from that ad. >> when mitt romney and bain closed the plant, i lost my health care. and my family lost their health care. and a short time after that, my wife became ill. >> she ended up dying of -- it's

a horrible story. the facts in the ad though as you're aware were wrong. she wasn't covered by his insurance. the ad seems to blame mitt romney for her death. that ad is nasty and i don't know, i think over the line. will those kind of ads backfire on the president? >> well, first of all, i have to disclose that paul begala, my dear friend. i think they say these things have consequences. the dispute would be is that if he's still -- if he still had his health insurance, would his wife been on the insurance policy. >> but she had insurance -- >> this kind of thing is debated sort of ad nauseam. i think -- the facts i'm not totally clear on. we've sort of gone back and forth on this. we could point out that was an obama campaign ad and a romney ad on welfare has been critic e criticized by none other than president clinton.

there might be a different interpretation of it. but i think she lost her insurance at some point. >> don't you think, james, on some level, blaming someone for someone's death is just distasteful? >> well, we could sit here for a long time. i'm not going to criticize anything that my dear friend paul begala does. >> all right. i think that's fair. >> i think -- i think he wouldn't put an ad he didn't think is fair either but not going to do that. >> thanks to james carville. "outfront" next, the terrifying story of a diplomat kidnapped by al qaeda. later, a murder trial that lasted sev hour en hours and s the fate of the woman some call jackie o. of china.

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[ female announcer ] for more information or to find a retailer near you, visit tempurpedic.com. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. we're back with tonight's outer circle where we reach out to sources around the world. we begin in syria where opposition act investments say more than 100 people were killed by security forces across the country today. cnn cannot verify that number. the deteriorating situation though has led great britain to pledge about $8 billion in aid to the rebels. britain insists the money won't pay for weapons but nic robertson is following the money and i asked him what the money will go to.

>> what the british foreign secretary has made clear is this equipment is for civilian use, not military use. there will be assessments made of how it is being used. $7.8 million worth of equipment and training. satellite communications equipment. radio equipment. trauma kits. medical kiltts. training for syria activists. training for citizen journalists so they can record and document cases of human rights violations. so there will be potential in the future for prosecuting syrian generals for war crimes. one contentious issue, he did say the british government would be sending bulletproof vests for civilians in syria who are helping out in the humanitarian situation. that clearly leaves the possibility open. gunman can take these bullet-proof vests away from the civilians and use them in the conflict. likely britain will get criticism for that.

now sudan, where all 25,000 people living in a refugee camp in darfur fled after fighting broke out. david mckenzie's reporting on this from nairobi. i asked him what this means for the region starting to hope for peace. >> they've already fled their homes during darfur's civil war, now an entire refugee camp has fled their camp because of fighting in the area in northern darfur. some 25,000 people, according to the u.n. have fled their homes. they're now here in choutoum where they're living out in the open and receiving medical care from the w.h.o., as well as from unamid, the u.n. peacekeeping force there. there's a troubling sign in darfur. for a long time people believed the vimance was easing off there. but in the recent month, the u.n. says there's been an uptick in criminal activity. because of the weapons coming into the country. despite an arms embargo. that means that people are facing these armed gangs, tribal

gangs, as they're described by the u.n., and, really, it's the civilians who are bearing the blunt. we need to watch the story closely because it could spread to other parts of the troubled region. erin. >> now, our fifth story "outfront." the terrifying story of a canadian diplomat who was kidnapped by al qaeda in north africa. this was in 2008. he was held for 130 days. somewhere in the saharan desert. robert fowler was then the u.n. special envoy in niger. he was traveling with a colleague along a remote road in an area he thought was very safe. now they were grabbed near the border of mali. he's chronicleled his ordeal in his book "a season in hell," and i spoke with him about it yesterday. >> one sunday evening about 5:30, a truck passed us going very, very fast. slowed in front of us, cut us off. before the two trucks had come to a spot there were aks pointed at the face of our driver and

two guys leaping out of the back who hauled us into the back of the truck in front. and then we began a -- what i call in my book, our descent into hell. a five-day, 1,000-kilometer journey all off road, due north, into the middle of the sahara desert. >> and did you know who they were? did you know that these were -- i mean, guess what did you think they were, al qaeda, someone else? >> well, no, i didn't know. and as soon as they threw us into the truck, they threw a smelly old blanket on top of us, told us to shut up. >> right. >> 12 hours later, we stopped just before dawn, and i was walking up and down in front of the century, and he looked up from making a little pot of tea and said, have you figured out who we are yet? we are al qaeda. and the bottom of my world fell out. there's no doubt we were not targets of opportunity, they

came to get us. >> so you spent nearly -- or more than four months, nearly five months in captivity. >> yeah. >> did you -- you must have had -- i mean this is after the horrible death of daniel pearl. did you think that -- >> yeah. >> -- you would make it or did you really resign yourself to a horrible death? >> well, i think i never gave up hope. but fear was our constant companion. i was terrified the whole time. i went to sleep terrified. i woke up terrified. and i believed it would all end in a tent with a knife like daniel pearl. but we went into a tent three times to make videos. and each time we went in to make a video, i checked to see if they put plastic on their rugs, because i didn't figure they'd risk messing up their rugs with all that blood in the middle of the desert. happily, i never saw any plastic. >> and how did you eventually get your freedom? >> well, i don't know the

details. there are press reports, erin, of the fact that they got some money and they got some prisoners released in africa. my prime minister, stephen harper, said canada paid no ransom and released no prisoners. but somebody did. and if they hadn't, i would be dead. >> these stories can end so horribly. you mentioned one of the people you interacted with with the al qaeda linked groups there was a man named omar and obviously we recently just got back from the mali border. we were in a mali refugee camp in barkani. we called omar there one day. i wanted to play for you what he said and get your reaction to that. erin, cnn, omar? >> translator: yes, this is omar, hello. no, no, listen. i do not speak to a woman.

if you would like to speak to me, give me a man. it is necessary to respect our religion. we do not speak to women, do you hear me? [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: no, we do not speak with women. >> so when you hear that conversation, you know that man, you were intimately connected with that man. do you know that voice? who is he? >> well, i do indeed. it was the voice that gave it away. this guy who you tried to interview is the guy who grabbed us. he was the, quote, mission commander. grabbed us near the capital of niger in mid-december 2008. and i would recognize that voice anywhere, anytime. i would also recognize what he said to you. the fact that he wouldn't speak to you as a woman. and one day he said this to us. he said, my idea of the best way

to die would be to strap on the martyr's vest and enter a meeting of the united nations discussing gender equality. that would be my way to go. >> powerful words. up next, the jackie o. of china stands by her man. and will go away to prison for the rest of her life. take the money. i'm not taking your money. besides i get great gas mileage. what's that? it's eassist. helps the engine run really efficiently. it captures energy that assists the engine... so i'm never guzzling gas. oh -- that's hippie talk. it's called technology dad... here take two dollars. take the money. [ male announcer ] the all new 37 mpg highway chevy malibu eco. from conserving fuel, to the technology that makes it happen. chevy runs deep. to the technology that makes it happen. fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way.

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♪ stand by your man stand by your man. tammy wynette's famous advice pleading with women to tell the world you love him and to keep giving all the love you can. sure, wynette was married five times but that was not the point. the point is she probably never met gu kailai, the loyal wife of bo xilai, once a rising star in the communist party, a man some said would be the next president of china. gu is dubbed the jackie o. of chinese politics. now awaiting punishment after a murder trial that lasted just seven hours. charged with murdering british businessman and family friend neil heywood who authorities say

was poisoned to death by rat poison. xinhua says gu has admitted to poisoning heywood. claiming during her trial that, quote, i will accept and calmly face any sentence and i also expect a fair and just court decision. heywood reportedly threatened gu. he hasn't been seen since march. the strange part of this is this sequence of events is earrerily similar to another chinese power couple. it was his last wife. she had a glamorous side. she was a movie star before she married mao. she was his personal secretary in the 1940s and was part of the propaganda department in the 1950s. in 1981, she and her infamous gang of four went to trial for killing close to 35,000 revolutionaries over the course of a decade before mao's death

in 1976. despite claiming she was only following her late husband's orders, the woman was found guilty and received the death penalty which was later reduced to life. she hung herself in prison in 1991. her husband, mao, meantime, was considered the orchestrator of the eliminations of the thousands who spoke out against his regime but he was never once held responsible. both women, gu kailai, believed in their husband's missions. it looks like gu will as well. it made us wonder why their husbands weren't held accountable in the same way. standing by your man is a dark and twisted thing in china. thanks so much for watching. q.a.c. 360" starts now. welcome to a special keeping them honest hour. we're focusing on the presidential campaign. specifically on the messages both candidates and their sur guts are putting out there. millions of dollars of campaign

advertising. according to a research group, 97% of the ads were negative. only some of them stayed true to the facts. sorting fact from fiction takes more than just the 30 seconds or the minute it takes each spot to play. tonight we're taking some of the most factually challenged media spots and campaign claims up to this point in the campaign season and we're holding them up for a close examination. it's what we do every night keeping them honest. as always, we're not taking political sides here. we're trying to figure out what is true and what is not. we begin tonight with a romney ad. >> in 1996, president clinton and a bipartisan congress helped end welfare as we know it, by requiring work for welfare. on july 12th, president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check. welfare to work goes back to

being plain old welfare. >> you'll hear from newt gingrich who joins us to defend that ad but also makes a stunning admission whether that ad he's defending is also speaking the facts. also mitt romney on the claims made in that ad. >> he removed the requirement of work from welfare. it is wrong to make any change that would make america more of a nation of government depend denicy. we must restore and i will restore work into welfare. >> listen to that and watching the ad you would think the white house with a sweep of the pen somehow managed to undo all your elected representatives accomplished back in the late '90s in welfare reform. you get the impression the obama administration wants an america where lazy ones sit around collecting welfare. romney's surrogate, newt gingrich, today spelled it all out. >> i think on the hard left there is an unending desire to