connections with leaders. according to counterterrorism expert magnus ranstorp. >> he had been to the many places, he had met all the right people. >> reporter: he's almost a forrest gump of radical islamism. >> i don't think there's many people like him that have all those different dimensions. he was the real deal. >> reporter: the real deal. a larger than life personality who reveals his journey in this book "agent storm: my life inside al qaeda and the cia" co-authored by paul cruickshank and tim lister, both cnn contributors. coming up, how storm goes from boxer to holy warrior. >> i was invited by osama bin laden to join up with him in the training camp in afghanistan.