What you missed while you were watching Hurricane Irene

Chris Moody
·Political Reporter

Even if you live out Hurricane Irene's reach, there's a good chance the storm was all you heard about when you turned on the television over the weekend. But some big things happened outside the hurricane zone while it ripped along the coast.

Here's the news you might have missed while you were watching local TV news reporters get covered in toxic foam:

• American military forces killed al Qaeda's second-highest ranking leader, Attiyah Abd al-Rahman, during a drone strike in Afghanistan.

• The National Geographic Channel aired an exclusive interview Sunday night with former President George W. Bush on his recollections of Sept. 11, 2001.

• In the first presidential campaign since the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, the lines separating non-affiliated political action committees and campaigns are becoming increasingly blurred, the New York Times reported.

• Speaking of PACs, the group supporting President Barack Obama's re-election campaign went on the offensive against Republican front-runner Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

• Perry said he's not backing down from assertions he made in his latest book.

• Aftershocks from last week's earthquake rumbled the east coast.