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CNN Sunday Morning

Foley Fallout; Clashes in Diwaniya, Iraq; Power to Forgive

Aired October 08, 2006 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News," no time frame, but speculation persists that North Korea may soon conduct a nuclear weapons test. Today North Korea is accusing the U.S. of conducting a reorganization of its forces in South Korea. Preparations North Korea says for a war of regression.
We'll keep on top of that story.

In the meantime, a new poll suggests more than half of Americans believe GOP leaders tried to cover up congressman Mark Foley's inappropriate contacts with congressional pages. The "Newsweek" magazine survey also suggests support for Republicans to keep control of Congress has slipped to just one-third.

We'll have more on that just ahead.

Pakistan, well, it is remembering its worst-ever disaster one year ago today. You saw it on this show. An earthquake leveled much of the northwest province in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. About 73,000 people died and three million were left homeless. Many survivors are just outraged by the slow pace of reconstruction.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Street battles rage overnight and into the morning in Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman says U.S. and Iraqi soldiers fought with insurgents in the Shiite city of Diwaniya. The military says 30 insurgents were killed. No coalition casualties.

A live report from Baghdad just minutes away.

The men who gunned down five young girls in an Amish schoolhouse has been buried and dozens of Amish attended the funeral. Their forgiveness has captured nationwide attention. More on that in our "Faces of Faith," coming up in about 45 minutes.

First, though, we're going to check in with Reynolds Wolf with a quick check of our weather.

Hey there, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey. It looks like a pretty good day for many parts of the country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: All right. Thank you so much, Reynolds.

And, of course, we run down the top stories every 15 minutes here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, with in-depth coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines coming up at 7:15 Eastern Time.

NGUYEN: Well, stark propaganda from North Korea, but no mention of a previously threatened nuclear weapons test.

From the CNN Center right here in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is October 8th.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. We'll have more on that story in just a moment.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. It's 7:00 a.m. here in the East, 8:00 p.m. in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Thank you so much for starting your Sunday here with us.

NGUYEN: As we mentioned, fresh signs this morning that the Mark Foley scandal is eroding the Republican power base on Capitol Hill. A new poll by "Newsweek" finds more than half of those surveyed, 52 percent, don't believe House Speaker Dennis Hastert. He claims he was unaware of Foley's behavior until just recently.

Well, Hastert's lack of credibility could seriously hurt Republicans in the midterm elections. According to the poll, 53 percent of Americans now want Democrats to take control of Congress. Most astonishing, that figure includes 10 percent of Republicans.

CNN's Sumi Das has more on the Foley fallout, the looming elections, and a key apology.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Under fire for not doing more to address Mark Foley's questionable e-mails, Republican Congressman Tom Reynolds is making an unusually impassioned public apology. In a new campaign ad, Reynolds, who was fighting to hold on to his congressional seat, points to the actions he did take after learning of "odd but not explicit" e-mails Foley sent to a House page.

REP. TOM REYNOLDS (R), NEW YORK: I immediately forced Foley to resign. Nobody's angrier and more disappointed than me that I didn't catch his lies. I trusted that others had investigated. Looking back, more should have been done, and for that, I am sorry.

DAS: Though Reynolds says he told Hastert about the non-explicit e-mails, in an interview earlier this week Hastert told CNN he didn't remember the conversation.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I just don't recall him telling me that. If he would have told me that, would have told me that in the context of maybe a half a dozen or a dozen other things, I don't remember that.

DAS: But at least two people have said Hastert's office was made aware of Foley's behavior earlier than Hastert has claimed. Former chief of staff for both Foley and Reynolds, Kirk Fordham, has said he alerted Hastert's office more than two years ago. "The Washington Post" reports that a current congressional staffer supports Fordham's claim, saying Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with Foley to discuss complaints about his conduct well before November 2005.

In response, Hastert's spokesman, Ron Bonjean, tells CNN, "The Standards Committee is investigating this matter. And we are confident in its ability to determine the real facts."

Hastert has dismissed calls for his resignation. An editorial in "The Wall Street Journal" agrees, saying it would be a disservice to send voters to the polls amid tumult over Mark Foley, citing more pressing issues like national security.

With midterm elections nearing, time is of the essence. At stake, voters key to the Republican base, social and religious conservatives.

KEN RUDIN, NPR POLITICAL EDITOR: If they feel that the Republicans have lost their moral compass, they could very well stay home in November. And if that's the case you can kiss the Republican majority in the House and Senate good-bye.

DAS (on camera): Democrats have a reasonable shot at winning the 15 seats needed to tip the political balance of the House in their favor. And in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, some seats that were previously safe for Republicans are now in play.

Sumi Das, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And that leads us to this morning's e-mail question. Here it is.

With the midterm election now 30 days away, we want to know this: What's your number one campaign issue? What are you concerned about as you head to the polls?

E-mail us, weekends@cnn.com, and we'll read some of those responses on the air just a little bit later in this newscast.

HOLMES: Fears and deadly fighting this morning in Iraq as U.S. and Iraqi forces clash with insurgents. We get the latest, the very latest. We're going to go live now to Baghdad and CNN's Arwa Damon.

Hello, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J.

That's right, the clashes happened in the southern city of Diwaniya. That's about 95 miles south of the capital of Baghdad. This is what happened according to the U.S. military.

U.S. and Iraqi forces entered the city, which is predominantly Shia, known to be a stronghold of the Mehdi militia. That is the Shia militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. As they entered the city they came under significant rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. In fact, rocket-propelled grenades fired at U.S. forces ending up damaging one of their tanks.

They say that they came under attack by at least 10 of these RPG teams, killed at least six of them -- or rather disabled them. The clashes continued throughout the night, well into the morning. As a result, they say the U.S. military says, that they killed 30 suspected insurgents. There are, as of yet -- have not been reported no U.S. or Iraqi casualties.

Now, they say that they captured a high-value target that they believe was responsible for the murder of Iraqi army soldiers back on August 28th. What happened on that day was that insurgents overran Iraqi police stations in that city. The Iraqi army responded, heavy clashes that day, too, which resulted in 23 Iraqi security forces being killed, and at least 38 suspected insurgents.

This comes amidst a violent weekend here in Iraq. Two U.S. soldiers have been killed. And in a number of attacks spreading really across this country, at least 23 Iraqis lost their lives.

All this is coming as there are ongoing efforts by the Iraqi security forces and the U.S. military to conduct significant security operations, and amidst a sentiment of really growing despair amongst the Iraqi population -- T.J.

HOLMES: Arwa, are we -- we've been told a little bit about this, I guess, but the small arms attacks, are these becoming more prevalent and more of a problem for the coalition forces?

DAMON: They are. They're not only becoming more prominent, but they're also becoming more targeted and more accurate.

There have always been groups that essentially run around the cities and towns here, especially Baghdad, where they take potshots at U.S. troops and at the Iraqi security forces. What we're seeing now is a growing trend of more accurate attacks.

At times, the insurgent groups that are trying to attack the U.S. soldiers are really laying deadly traps for them. We had a case last week where U.S. forces, a patrol, was flagged down by a group of Iraqi civilians. They said, look, there are two Iraqi civilians that have been killed just down the street. U.S. forces went to investigate.

They secured the area. As they secured the area, one soldier got out of his Humvee and he was shot in the back of the neck by a sniper. He was killed in that incident.

This is becoming a growing and more challenging problem for U.S. forces operating here. It's really very difficult, because as they move through these streets, oftentimes the children are running around them. The adults are wary, but at the same time friendly with them. And in an instant, that one shot rings out and the entire mood changes -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right.

CNN's Arwa Damon live for us in Baghdad. Thank you so much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: Each time they step out, they roll the dice. They take their chances. They don't really know what is waiting for them out there in these streets.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military thought troops would be coming home. Now more troops are staying. And it doesn't look very good.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: The Security Council issued a statement and it tells North Korea, don't do it.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: A nuclear test would be a very provocative act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Snippets there from CNN's "This Week at War". Among the topics today, CNN correspondents will discuss Bob Woodward's scathing new book criticizing the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq. And be sure to tune in this afternoon at 1:00 Eastern.

NGUYEN: Well, as you just heard with Arwa Damon, by many accounts the sectarian violence in Iraq is getting worse. So what now? What makes a winning strategy in Iraq?

Well, we posed that question to our military analyst, retired analyst James "Spider' Marks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Let be address the challenges that our forces in Iraq are facing today and what I think is the way ahead.

Now, in many cases, our multinational core and multinational forces in Iraq are moving in this direction. But I want to highlight some of the things they're doing, and the real commitment that we need to make right now, that this nation needs to make, which is the commitment of time in order to achieve the results that we are all looking for.

Now, if I go to the map of Iraq, what we have right now primarily is a concentration of all the attacks against our forces in these four provinces, centralized around Baghdad, and then north and to the west. Now, within these four provinces that's where we have to focus our effort and time.

The U.S. presence and the coalition presence in country right now is concentrated from the border of Kuwait, all the way up to the Turkish border, out toward the Syrian border. What we need to do is concentrate the forces in that area where the attacks are predominant and do what's called an economy of force, or minimize our presence elsewhere.

That fundamentally is called an oil stain strategy. And what that means is you work the problem from the inside out in several selected areas. And that's what these coalition forces are trying to achieve right now. But it's going to take time.

Let me move back to the map and show you two representative examples of how that oil stain strategy can work. Let's take Baghdad and the border town of al Qaim.

When the U.S. and coalition forces put their presence in those two locations, they will do it in such a way to impose their will on the enemy and the local population very broadly. You need to be able to destroy the enemy, but at the same time, you have to embrace the local population and allow them to see and to feel and to sense the fact that you're making a difference in their lives through the institution of governance and power and electricity and all the forms of life that you and I take for granted.

So if we can put force the in both al Qaim and Baghdad, for example, over the course of time -- and that's the key ingredient -- you'll have an oil stain effect that will spread outside of both of those from the inside out that will take that predominantly red area where the enemy tends to be imposing his will, we will impose our will and make a difference. This will take time.

So essentially, in summary, there are several things that I'd like to talk about.

Number one, in order for us to win and achieve victory in Iraq, we've got to adopt the oil stain strategy. I'd suggest that we are doing that right now. We've got to fix the problems inside out, and you've got to hold them long enough to ensure that the fix is in place. You've got to be able to then move that to those other locations and other areas of challenge.

Number two, this is going to take time. And if it takes time, it's going to take troops and it's going to take money. That commitment must be there from our nation.

Thirdly, I think it's very important that we not lose sight of the fact that it is not business as usual. Our very best officers and noncommissioned officers are involved in the training of the Iraqi security forces. That must not let up. We've got to keep that going full steam ahead.

And then finally, I think it's very, very important that we put larger presence, a larger presence of U.S. forces embedded in each Iraqi unit. We can have liaison teams. I think it's important that we put a larger presence -- for example, a company within a battalion or a brigade -- so that foundation is U.S. trained, the ethos of the professional U.S. military is present routinely with those Iraqi forces.

If those four steps are taken, victory is -- can be achieved in Iraq. It will take time, but it's doable. (END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. Well, coming up tonight, CNN's Carol Lin will have an exclusive interview with General Mark Kimmitt, a former military spokesman in Iraq. He'll also provide some insight on ways to move forward in this war.

HOLMES: Well, how did it go for "The Terminator" who goes by "The Governator" these days? Of course, the governor of California, Schwarzenegger, there. Don't miss highlights of last night's TV debate in California's governor's race. That's ahead in about six minutes.

NGUYEN: Plus, is North Korea ready to carry out its threat to test a nuclear weapon? New words and diplomatic moves today. We'll take you to Seoul, South Korea, live with an update.

HOLMES: And imagine forgiving the murderer of your child and attending the killer's funeral.

NGUYEN: Wow.

HOLMES: Some Amish families did just that. Learn more about forgiveness in our "Faces of Faith". That's in about 30 minutes here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, tens of thousands killed, millions still left homeless. Do African refugee camps really offer much refuge or even safety? Dr. Sanjay Gupta travels to central Africa and reports on this devastating situation and the consequences of the crisis in Darfur.

We have a special "House Call," "Africa: Cries for Help". That's coming up this morning at 8:30 Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Fierce fighting in Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman says U.S. and Iraqi soldiers fought with insurgents in the Shiite area of Diwaniya. The military says 30 insurgents were killed and they captured a high-value target. There were no coalition casualties reported.

No time frame, but speculation persists that North Korea may soon conduct a nuclear weapons test. Today North Korea is accusing the U.S. of preparing a war of aggression by reorganizing its forces in South Korea. As tensions increase, Japan's new prime minister is in China discussing the North Korean threat.

NGUYEN: Well, the GOP remains in damage control mode over the Mark Foley scandal, and now a top Republican issues an extraordinary apology. Congressman Tom Reynolds appears in a TV ad for his Buffalo, New York, constituents. He apologizes for not being more aggressive in dealing with Foley's inappropriate behavior toward congressional pages.

The man who killed five young girls in an Amish schoolhouse has been buried, and dozens of Amish attended the funeral, along with the gunman's wife and three children. Five girls were also injured in that shootout. One is still in grave condition.

We do run down the top stories every 15 minutes right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, with in-depth coverage all morning long. So your next check of the headlines, that's comes up at 7:30 Eastern.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, he has crushed all sorts of opponents on the movie screen, and on television last night the threat came in the form of California state treasurer, Phil Angelides. But meek and mild he was not.

CNN's Chris Lawrence has the highlights of last night's heated debate in the California governor's race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was billed as Arnold Schwarzenegger versus Phil Angelides.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Go, Phil, go! Go, Phil, go!

PHIL ANGELIDES, CALIF. STATE TREASURER: And next year, if Governor Schwarzenegger is reelected, I can guarantee you, education will be cut like he cut it before.

LAWRENCE: California's Democratic state treasurer versus its sitting Republican governor.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIF.: Look out there right now, and just say, "I love increasing your taxes." Just say it.

ANGELIDES: Hey. Hey...

LAWRENCE: But Angelides' strategy involved another prominent Republican.

ANGELIDES: You sound like George Bush attacking me on taxes. Just like the ones in Washington under George Bush.

LAWRENCE: Angelides mentioned the president at least six times.

SCHWARZENEGGER: During the most incredible decline of our economy just a few years ago, you were part of that. You were -- you were the treasurer. You were the...

ANGELIDES: Your policies are the Bush policies, and I prefer Clinton to Bush any day.

SCHWARZENEGGER: No, no, don't talk about Bush because (INAUDIBLE) go to Iowa. We'll do the debate in Iowa, OK?

ANGELIDES: You went to Ohio, Governor. I didn't. SCHWARZENEGGER: You're in the wrong state for that.

ANGELIDES: You stood with President Bush and you helped him get reelected.

SCHWARZENEGGER: I think most important...

LAWRENCE: But will voters truly link Schwarzenegger with Bush?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, the polling data, the tracking data indicates it's not -- it's not resonating with the voters. But it's a strategy that they're following.

LAWRENCE: Voters say their top concerns are education and illegal immigration. Schwarzenegger and Angelides battled over tuition increases and school funding, but they have somewhat similar immigration policies, which left other issues to attack.

ANGELIDES: Who can you trust next year to do the right thing? For three years, Arnold Schwarzenegger was very consistent. Only in the last 60 days has he sought to save his own job, has he tried to move to the middle, so to speak.

SCHWARZENEGGER: You are now ready to go in there again and promise the people everything, and then increase the taxes.

ANGELIDES: No, I...

LAWRENCE: It was the first and only meeting between the two men before voters get the last word.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And Chris Lawrence joins us live.

Chris, this is what I find interesting. It's at least -- actually, right now -- one month away from Election Day. And this was the only scheduled debate so far. I mean, is there going to be a chance for California voters to actually see these two go head-to-head at least once more before they go to the polls?

LAWRENCE: Well, Betty, you must have been talking to Phil Angelides. He would like nothing more than to get, you know, three, four, five more debates on the table.

Look, these men came into this debate with very different expectations. The governor was sitting on somewhere in the range of a 13 point lead in the polls. He just wanted to get through the debate without making a major mistake. He didn't.

Phil Angelides, even though he's been the state treasurer of California since 1988, is a much more unknown quantity. He got a chance to introduce his wife and his children and to tell his story last night. He would love to get more opportunities to do so, but he's not going to get it -- Betty. NGUYEN: All right. The voters will just have to decide on the issues and what they read between now and then and see right here on CNN, of course.

Chris Lawrence, up very early for us this morning.

Thank you, Chris.

Well, Chris Lawrence is a part of the best political team on television right here at CNN. And remember to stay up to date with the CNN "Political Ticker," the daily news service on CNN.com. It gives you an inside view of the day's political stories, and you can see for yourself at CNN.com/ticker.

HOLMES: Just what is the next step in dealing with North Korea's nuclear ambitions? The latest developments in about seven minutes in a live report from Seoul, South Korea.

NGUYEN: And remembering Pakistan's devastating earthquake one year ago and seeing what's happened since that time. Our report from Pakistan in 10 minutes right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We're going to check in on some weather here.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, nuclear stakes and deadly consequences.

HOLMES: Yes. Buckle up as we whisk you around the world. First stop, North Korea, and growing tensions with the United States. Could a threatened nuclear test trigger greater problems?

NGUYEN: Then we go to Russia, where a journalist is gunned down and the nation's top prosecutor steps up. Will this killing shake top levels of the government?

These stories straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: "Now in the News," a raging battle in Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman says U.S. and Iraqi soldiers fought with insurgents in the Shiite city of Diwaniya. The military says 30 insurgents were killed and a so-called high-valued target was captured. There are no coalition casualties reported there, but two Americans were killed elsewhere in Iraq yesterday.

No time frame, but speculation persists that North Korea may soon conduct a nuclear weapons test. Today North Korea is accusing the U.S. of preparing a war of aggression by reorganizing its forces in South Korea. As tensions increase, Japan's new prime minister is in China discussing the North Korean threat.

Well, a new poll suggests more than half of Americans believe GOP leaders tried to cover up congressman Mark Foley's inappropriate contacts with congressional pages. The "Newsweek" magazine survey also suggests support for Republicans to keep control of Congress while that has slipped to just one-third.

The man who killed five young girls in an Amish schoolhouse has been buried. Dozens of Amish attended the funeral, along with the gunman's wife and three children. Five girls were also injured. One is in grave condition.

HOLMES: In California, the two men vying for the governor's seat squared off in their only televised debate last night. But Arnold Schwarzenegger and Phil Angelides also had a common enemy -- counter- programming. They went up against college football and Major League Baseball. Viewers who tuned in saw the candidates spar over taxes and education.

And of course we run down the top stories every 15 minutes here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, with in-depth coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines coming up at 7:45 Eastern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHINZO ABE, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We want to transmit a message to North Korea that unless it revokes its test plans, it will face further isolation from the international community and its situation will deteriorate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Strong words from Japan's new prime minister in an effort to get North Korea to call off a threatened nuclear weapons test.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

Good morning, everybody. Thanks for watching. I'm Betty Nguyen.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

NGUYEN: Well, let's get straight to it, the latest developments in North Korea, the tough talk and diplomatic maneuvers over its threat to test a nuclear weapon. CNN's Sohn Jie-ae joins us now from Seoul, South Korea, with the latest.

Good morning.

SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.

Here in South Korea, we're just coming off a long three-day thanksgiving holiday, but as South Koreans go to work on Monday, they'll be -- they'll be faced with some troubling news. A lot of tough talk, as you mentioned, about North Korea's threats to conduct a nuclear weapons test.

South -- the new Japanese prime minister, Abe, will be visiting South Korea to meet with the South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, on Monday. And he is expected to -- to repeat his strong words against North Korea and ask South Korea to join in in the -- in the tough stance against North Korea, to try to get South Korea on board as well to try to convince North Korea not to conduct these nuclear tests -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, let me ask you this, initially there was some talk that those tests would be conducted today. Now there is more talk that it could take, what, three months? And that North Korea is waiting on the U.S. to stop some of the sanctions, or it will go ahead with those tests.

What are you hearing on your side of the world?

SOHN: Well, we're hearing a lot of different things, Betty. And this is not -- this is very typical of anything to do with North Korea. Because North Korea is such a secretive regime, there's absolutely no one outside of North Korea who knows for certain what is going on within North Korea, within the North Korean government. There's a lot of speculation based on a lot of hearsay, a lot of government officials, but it does seem to be that North Korea at this point does seem to be serious about conducting nuclear tests, but it is waiting for Washington to make the next move.

The whole point of all of this has been to get Washington to sit down with North Korea. What North Korea says has been to trying to get North Korea -- to lift financial sanctions on North Korea, to take North Korea seriously. And if North Korea perceives that Washington is actually doing that, then it can back down on its threats of nuclear weapons tests. But it is looking to Washington very closely to see what the next move from Washington will be -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, and Washington wants to see North Korea come back to those six-party talks.

Sohn Jie-ae joining us live from South Korea.

Thank you for that update.

HOLMES: We're going to keep it global now, and a look at other international stories.

NGUYEN: Yes. Our Brenda Bernard joins us with a somber anniversary to tell you about.

Not much progress either, Brenda.

BRENDA BERNARD, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, Betty. Pakistanis are remembering the more than 70,000 people killed in last year's earthquake.

President Pervez Musharraf led a memorial service today, marking the exact moment the 7.6 magnitude quake struck. Millions of people were left homeless, many are still living in tent communities. Our Tim Lister reports conditions remain dire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the rugged foothills of the Himalayas, winter is not far away. And for many survivors of last year's earthquake, that means the grim prospect of again enduring the cold under canvas.

No one can agree just how many. The aid agency Oxfam says nearly two million people still have no permanent shelter. The government insists it's far fewer. But the temporary camps are taking on a permanent air. They are full of families who lost everything in a matter of seconds.

Mohammed Bashir Kiyani (ph) says all his land was swept away by the earthquake. "It's happened to many people," he says. "We're all very distressed."

Some still carry the injuries inflicted when the quake destroyed more than 600,000 homes. Nearly 100 clinics and hospitals were also destroyed. Mobile health units tried to deal with bronchitis and other illnesses common in the camps.

The quake also demolished 6,000 kilometers of roads across this mountainous region. Despite international pledges of nearly $7 billion in assistance, the challenge of delivering help is daunting.

LT. GEN. NADEEM AHMED, EARTHQUAKE RECONSTRUCTION: You have to take (INAUDIBLE). You have to take the (INAUDIBLE) from somewhere else. You have to take the (INAUDIBLE) from somewhere else on these dangerous roads, on these mountain roads. I tell you, it's a nightmare.

LISTER: But a year on the homeless are losing patience with the government and its promises. Teacher Rajaf Dejad Ahmed (ph) complains authorities have still not given his family land to live on.

The district of Balakot was among the hardest hit. Of its 40,000 residents, 8,000 died. As the town sits on a fault line, the government has decided to build a new town 20 kilometers away.

For now, many residents live in a squalid limbo, with no running water. "No matter what happens, we have to live here," says Mohammed Ikbal (ph). "The government says work will start in January on building a new town and it will be finished in 2010," he says. "Where are we supposed to kick our heels for three years?"

And for the children who lost their schoolrooms, an education of sorts. But try concentrating on math in sub-freezing temperatures.

One boy complains, "We can't survive in these tents in winter." And 7-year-old Mariam (ph) asks, "Where are we going to study? Please, make a shelter for us."

But at least girls are now at school. Previously, few were in this very conservative area. The government predicts that most of the reconstruction will be finished within three years and that new buildings will be better made and in safer places. Until then, the displaced hope for mild winters and pray for god's help.

Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNARD: One of Russia's bravest voices is silenced. Investigative journalist and human rights defender Anna Politkovskaya was shot execution style in an elevator in her Moscow apartment building. Her newspaper said she had been finishing up a story about torture and abductions in Chechnya when she was killed -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Brenda, for that.

Well, coming up on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, how do you forgive a child killer?

HOLMES: And the reaction from the Amish community at the center of the school shooting has humbled and amazed a lot of folks. We'll explore the act of forgiveness in our weekly "Faces of Faith" series. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The CNN Election Express Yourself Tour visits New Mexico this weekend, where we're asking voters, what does the U.S. government need to do differently in Iraq?

Here's this morning's political shout-out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just feel we need to figure out their lifestyle. We're trying to impose our lifestyle on another country, and, you know, we need to educate ourselves as a country to learn more about them to -- you know, to go over there and work with them and be able to understand them better instead of saying, this is how we live, this is how, you know, things should be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the U.S. government needs to assess the long-term ramifications of keeping troops in a place where many experts, many military folks who have a lot of experience are saying it may be so dangerous that it might be better for us to have a scaled removal of the troops, and be available for some very important other hotspots that right now we're immobilized for.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to get the international community involved, particular lively the countries in the Middle East who have a vested interest in solving the problem in Iraq. You have to solve this diplomatically. You're going to have to get the troops out of there, which are only disrupting things and making everything worse.

You've got to quiet it down. You've got to get people talking. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): To find out where the tour is headed next, go to CNN.com/election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: No time frame, but speculation persists that North Korea may soon conduct a nuclear weapons test. Today, North Korea is accusing the U.S. of preparing a war of aggression by reorganizing its forces in South Korea. As tensions increase, Japan's new prime minister is in China discussing the North Korean threat.

Fierce fighting to tell you about in Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman says U.S. and Iraqi soldiers fought with insurgents in the Shiite city of Diwaniya. The military says 30 insurgents were killed and a so-called high-value target was captured. In another development, two American soldiers were killed in attacks yesterday.

NGUYEN: The GOP is in damage control mode over the Mark Foley scandal. Now a top Republican leader has issued an extraordinary apology.

Congressman Tom Reynolds is airing a TV ad aimed at his Buffalo, New York, constituents. In it, Reynolds apologizes for not being more aggressive in dealing with Foley's inappropriate behavior toward congressional pages.

Well, about 5,000 bikers took part in a caravan in Colorado yesterday to remember Emily Keyes. The teenager was taken hostage and later killed by a gunman at her high school. The ride began about 40 miles away at Columbine High School, site of the nation's worst school shooting.

We run down the top stories every 15 minutes right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, with in-depth coverage all morning long. So your next check of the headlines, that's coming up at the top of the hour.

HOLMES: Many of us have learned more of the character of the Amish since a schoolhouse shooting shattered their quiet rural existence. And this morning a new insight.

Two survivors of the deadly shooting are telling their parents one of the Amish school girls, 13-year-old Marion Fisher, asked the gunman to shoot her first and let the other girls go. Investigators say they have not conducted any interviews to confirm that story, but say their investigation is not yet complete.

The gunman took his own life and was buried yesterday in Pennsylvania, and dozens of his Amish neighbors attended the funeral, giving support to the gunman's wife and children.

Five Amish girls died in that rampage. Another five are injured. One of them is said to be in grave condition.

Since the shooting, there's been a lot of shock and anger. There's another part of this story that's grabbing a lot of attention. The Amish were quick to forgive the gunman.

Miroslav Volf is a leading theologian and author of a book on forgiveness. It's called "Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace".

He joins us this morning to discuss the power of forgiveness.

Thank you so much for being here.

Of course a lot of people just amazed to hear how quickly the Amish said they did forgive the gunman. Tell me, how important do you think it is for all of us to see a lesson like this, and how rare is it for us to actually see a type of example of forgiveness like this?

MIROSLAV VOLF, YALE DIVINITY SCHOOL: Good morning to you.

I think it's very rare to see this type of forgiveness, especially after such a horrendous event. I have a 4-year-old, I have an 8-year-old, and if something like that would happen to me, it would just be just immensely difficult to do that. But I think it's also very important for us not to see their forgiveness as some kind of Amish peculiarity.

They are these people who ride in, you know, horse-drawn buggies. They don't use cell phones. And they also forgive in such instances. I think it's very important for us to see them as expressing something that is deeply and profoundly human, and something that we may be as a culture losing.

HOLMES: Do you think it's always tied to faith?

VOLF: I don't think it's always tied to faith. I think people, other people, people of other faiths and people who have no faith, they can also forgive. But it sure helps if you believe that you don't come out of in inchoate darkness and end up your life in inchoate darkness. And in the middle, you live like, you know, a bundle of atoms that all cry for self-satisfaction. But rather, if you believe that a good god, a loving god, a creator god, a god who is a giving one has created you, and if you believe in such a god, I think it is easier to forgive.

HOLMES: It's easier. Well, do you think that some people out there, we're just not built to forgive? Some people just not capable of it?

VOLF: I don't think some people are just not capable of forgiving, but I think it takes certain training to forgive. It is no accident that you find this extraordinary story of -- stories of forgiveness in communities who have practiced that forgiving over -- over the longer periods of time.

So the forgivers are not these heroic individuals which stand alone by themselves. Forgivers are often people who have been supported by communities. Forgivers are those who have learned and seen how other people have forgiven and who have learned how to live such deeply humane lives. HOLMES: Now, of course it's good for the spirit, maybe good for your own personal healing to forgive. But also, I guess, as you probably know, there are some studies out there that show there are some health benefits as well to being able to get past and forgive someone.

VOLF: I think there certainly are personal individual benefits of forgiveness, emotional benefits of forgiveness, even health -- physical health benefits of forgiveness. But I think also there are very important social benefits of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is a gift that I don't give just to myself, forgiveness is a gift that I give to somebody else, to the one who has injured me. And indeed, I think forgiveness is a gift that I give to the whole community, because it restores communal relationships that are completely ruptured by such an incredible deed.

HOLMES: Now, one more thing I want to get to here. Is there ever a time you think where it's OK not to forgive? A lot of people could understand if the Amish decided they'd never want to forgive this guy. But is there ever a time you think it's OK to not get over it?

VOLF: Well, you know, I can very well understand that there are situations, and I have been in some situations myself, my family certainly has, where you think the first thing on your mind is anger at this incredible deed that has happened. I think -- I think in a sense it's OK to live with that anger, but what I would urge all of us to do is somehow to bring that anger before god, before the god -- god of love, who is able to transform the anger into forgiveness.

Forgiveness doesn't come out of a command. I can be commanded to sweep the floor, but I can't really be commanded to forgive. Forgiveness is something that comes from the depths of the soul or it doesn't come at all. And we can forgive, as god forgave all people. So we can forgive.

HOLMES: Well, this is a fascinating topic. Again, Miroslav Volf, a leading theologian and author of the book "Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace".

I certainly hope you'll forgive me for not having more time to talk to you, because it's a great topic. But thank you for getting up with us this morning.

VOLF: Very good to talk to you.

NGUYEN: No doubt we see a lot of great video during the week, and we came up with a great idea, to bring them together for you to see.

And Nicole Lapin is here with much more on that.

Good morning.

NICOLE LAPIN, CNN .COM/DESK: Good morning, Betty. Well, you know, when we see great video, it's not just us, Betty, that thinks it's so great.

A lot of you, our viewers, think it's great, too. So it often becomes the most popular video on CNN.com during the week, and then what happens with that is that we save it on the Web so you can see it over and over again. Like video of two cats ringing the closing bell on Thursday.

See those kitties right there. Well, we know some records were set on Wall Street last week. But these kitties didn't seem to notice. They rang the bell in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Cat Fanciers Association.

And then take a look at another popular animal story this week about this guy, a black bear with a beer-like buzz. Yes, I seed beer- like buzz.

Well, officials from Colorado captured the bear near a school in Lyons residents literally saw this big guy stumbling around town. Well, wildlife officials think the bear got drunk not from beer, but from eating too many fermented apples.

And while that bear might try to snatch your picnic basket to find some apples, some thieves are finding new ways to grab your cash. Check out this surveillance video from Arizona.

You see a robber carrying away a Bank of America ATM last week. The entire ATM.

Well, apparently, thieves across the country have been hot-wiring forklifts at construction sites and then driving over to the bank and taking off with the entire ATM loaded with a ton of cash.

So did you want to see that one again? Or did you want to see one of those again? Or did you see something during the week that made you think, well, hey, this is great stuff? Don't worry, Betty and T.J., it's all there for you at CNN.com.

NGUYEN: All right. We know where to go.

Thank you, Nicole.

HOLMES: I'm waiting for -- where's the sound?

NGUYEN: Here it comes. Come on.

HOLMES: I'm listening. Where is it? Oh, come on. It's not coming.

NGUYEN: Oh, it's not going to be there, we're told.

Anyway, this is "WaterCooler". You know what's coming up. And here's what we want to pass along to you, some unusual stories. In fact, one story in particular.

Ladies, pay close attention, because this gentleman in Thailand is a true charmer. Look at those skills. Mad skills.

Wow! Look at that! In the kissing department. Even deadly cobras can't resist.

HOLMES: Yes. He's placing his lips on the heads of 19 cobras, and he sets a new world record.

NGUYEN: Did he get bit?

HOLMES: So I guess that means there was an old record. So some other genius did this.

Well, please don't try this at home. I don't even think we needed to put that disclaimer in there.

NGUYEN: No, not at all.

HOLMES: But the cobra kisser says it takes a lot of physical training to avoid getting bit.

NGUYEN: Yes, what do you go to cobra kissing school or something?

HOLMES: I guess he does it well. A new record.

NGUYEN: I don't know -- yes, exactly.

HOLMES: Well, we are just getting started here on this edition of CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We'll update you on our top stories. That's coming up.

NGUYEN: Yes. In Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers take the fight to the insurgents. We have a live report from Baghdad. That is straight ahead.

HOLMES: And then a bit later, taking the Foley investigation online. We'll show you how cyber sleuths uncover e-mails and instant messages even after they're deleted.

NGUYEN: And our e-mail question this morning for you, here it is. What's your number one campaign issue? You know the polls open in a month from now, just four weeks. So, you need to decide, what's your number one campaign issue -- and if your politician is going to be answering that correctly for you as you go to those polls.

E-mail us, weekends@cnn.com. We'll read some of those responses in the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Fierce fighting in Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman says U.S. and Iraqi soldiers fought with insurgents in the Shiite city of Diwaniya today. According to the military 30 insurgents were killed, a live report coming up in two minutes.

New developments in North Korea's threat to conduct a nuclear weapons test. The new prime minister is in China discussing the North Korean threat. North Korea is accusing the U.S. of preparing a war of aggression by reorganizing its forces in South Korea.

The man who killed five young girls in an Amish schoolhouse was buried. Dozens of Amish attended his funeral. Five Amish girls were also injured and hospitalized in that attack. One is in grave tradition.

NGUYEN: A day of sudden tragedy a year of slow recovery. Pakistan today marks a year since its most deadly earthquake. It left about 73,000 people dead and some 3 million others homeless.

Well the calendar says autumn, but it was more like a summer storm that ripped through parts of central Florida overnight. The freak storm dumped heavy rains outside of Orlando and collapsed a roof of an apartment building. About 75 resident had to pack up and sleep elsewhere. No one, though, was injured.

HOLMES: Of course, we run down the top stories right here every 15 minutes on CNN SUNDAY MORNING with in-depth coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines coming up at 8:15 Eastern.

NGUYEN: How is music healing the wounds of war? Well Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows you in a very special "House Call" coming up at the bottom of the hour. You don't want to miss that.

HOLMES: From the CNN Center this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is October 8th, 8 a.m. here at CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, 4 p.m. in Baghdad. Good morning, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes.

NGUYEN: I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for being with us today. We have a lot to tell you about.

In Iraq, a bloody weekend. Dozens of insurgents killed today and two American soldiers killed yesterday. CNN's Arwa Damon joins us live from Baghdad with the latest on all of this violence.

Arwa.

DAMON: Good morning, Betty. That's right. Violence pretty much across the entire country of Iraq over the weekend. The most resent and fiercest fighting came in the southern city of Diwaniya. That is about 90 miles south of the capital Baghdad. It is a predominantly Shia area a known strong hold for the Mehdi militia, that is thee militia that is loyal to radical Shia cleric Al Sadr. Now according to the U.S. military, U.S. and Iraqi forces entered this city overnight on Saturday. As they were entering they came under heavy RPG fire and small arms fire upon.

The U.S. military are estimating they were attacked by 10 RPG teams, eight of those, they say, were destroyed. They also say that they killed 30 suspected insurgents in this fierce fighting that erupted and detained high-value target who is believed to have murdered Iraqi army soldiers back on August 28th. What happened on August 28th was that insurgents overran the Iraqi police stations and then clashed with the Iraqi army. In that fierce fighting 23 Iraqi soldiers were killed and at least 38 suspected insurgents were killed as well.

This is, again, a stronghold for the Mehdi militia. And in other fighting across the country, at least 23 Iraqis were killed, over 30 wounded and also two U.S. soldiers were killed one in the northern city of Mosul from a roadside bomb and the other here in the capital of Baghdad from small arms fire. The U.S. military announcing this earlier today.

Additionally, Iraqi police saying that they found at least 60 bodies in a 24-hour time period. All of this coming of course as their ongoing efforts to try to secure the situation here, to try to reign in the violence and despair is increasing amongst the Iraqi people, Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Arwa Damon joining us live from Baghdad with an update there on the violence there.

In the meantime what needs to be done by the U.S. military to secure Iraq? Retired General Don Shepherd gives us a satellite tour of the dangerous Baghdad streets. That's coming up in the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

HOLMES: The midterm elections are exactly 30 days from now. Republicans who have been considered a sure thing for reelection are now growing a bit nervous because of the Mark Foley scandal. Congressman Tom Reynolds a key Republican leader is airing a TV ad in which he apologizes for not being more aggressive in dealing with Foley's inappropriate contacts with congressional pages. The timing couldn't be worse for the GOP and Newt Gingrich says it's not a coincidence. The former house speaker is among the leading Republicans suggesting that the Foley disclosure was leaked by Democrats now to hurt the GOP at the polls in November.

That provoked an angry response from the office of minority leader Nancy Pelosi. A spokeswoman accused Republicans of putting their own political ahead of the safety of children. Saying Republicans still don't get it.

The balance of power on Capitol Hill could easily swing to the Democrats with just a handful of key seats. The house picking up 15 seats to put the Democrats back in control and the senate, a Republican loss of six seats would give Democrats control of that chamber.

In Foley's 16th Florida district or Florida's 16th district formerly Mark Foley's, he was considered a shoe in for reelection against Democratic challenger Tim Mahoney, then he resigned in disgrace, of course, now State Representative Joe Negron has been tapped to step into Foley's spot even though Foley's name is still on that ballot. Big question and all of this now is how will it play out 30 days from now. For more on that we're going to go to Amanda Rossetter in West Palm Beach. Hello there.

AMANDA ROSSETTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Last week, former State Representative Joe Negron had no idea he would be running for Congress in November filling the Mark Foley's spot on the ticket. Now Foley's name is still going to be on that ballot in November. It was too late to change that when the scandal broke and he resigned. But Negron says that is OK. This district is a GOP stronghold and he doesn't think people are just going switch parties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE NEGRON, (R) FLA. CONG. CANDIDATE: This district has been Republican for more than 25 years. I don't see Republicans and conservative Democrats crawling into a fetal position and saying throwing up our hands. What are we going do? Mark Foley resigned from Congress and now we have to go vote for a Democrat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSSETTER: Now polls taken immediately after Foley resigned shows Democrat Tim Mahoney up by three percentage points over a then un-named challenger. Meanwhile Negron has no signs up, he has no Website, but he says that's OK. That's all coming.

Live on the campaign trail in West Palm Beach, Amanda Rossetter, back to you, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Before we let you go, we talked to Rusty Dornin yesterday and said, what? Negron didn't even have campaign signs up yet. Is he getting his name out there a little better?

ROSSETTER: He is getting his name out there and he does have a little bit of war chest. He ran for state attorney general earlier in the year and he still has $600,000 left in that war chest. He's looking to up that to about a million. So he's got to raise $400,000 over the next couple of weeks and he thinks he can.

Back to you.

HOLMES: Well please keep an eye out and if you see that first campaign sign, let us know. Thank you so much, Amanda.

NGUYEN: Well the Foley scandal also here should be having an impact on the heated race for Minnesota's sixth district. Coming up in the next hour we're going to talk to the two candidates vying for that seat. Democrat Patty Wetterling and Republican Michele Bauchmann. And then as we head into the November election stay up-to-date with the CNN political ticker. The daily news service on CNN.com gives you the inside view of today's political stories. All you have to do is go to CNN.com/ticker for it.

Of course all of this leads us to our e-mail question this morning. With the midterm election now 30 days away we want to know from you what is your number one campaign issue? E-mail us at WEEKENDS@CNN.com. We're going to read some of those responses a little bit later on this newscast.

HOLMES: Well just how is the Foley scandal impacting the White House? A live report with the president's approval ratings. That is just ahead. NGUYEN: And coming your way in ten minutes tracking electronic evidence, can what you type today stick around forever even after you push that delete button?

But first, here's Dr. Sanjay Gupta with a preview of today's "House Call."

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, thanks. I'm in the eastern section of the Democratic Republic of Congo where thousands of refugees are fleeing to camps. I've been reporting from central Africa for a week now and on this morning's "House Call" we're going to take you from my arrival on a thin strip of dirt in Chad to hearing the stories of terror and survival.

We'll also meet workers desperately trying to help. All of that coming up on "House Call" at 8:30.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Now in the news a raging battle in Iraq. U.S. military says 30 insurgents were killed in fighting with U.S. and Iraqi forces. It happened in the Shiite city of Diwaniya. Iraq's foreign minister will be a guest on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer." That's beginning today at 11:00 Eastern to get more insight.

There are new developments in North Korea's threat to conduct a nuclear weapons test. Japan's new prime minister is in China to discuss it. North Korea is accusing the U.S. of preparing a war of aggression by reorganizing its forces in South Korea.

Well there's no word of injuries or damage after an earthquake rattled Washington's Mt. Rainier. Last nights moderate quake was centered about seven miles east of the Summit, it measured a magnitude of 4.5.

We run down the top stories every 15 minutes here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING with in depth coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines coming up at 8:30 Eastern.

HOLMES: President Bush this week will try to use his office to redirect the tension from the Foley scandal. CNN's Kathleen Koch has the latest from her spot this morning at the White House. Good morning to you, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J. President Bush is very fond of saying that he doesn't pay attention to polls, but right now after the Mark Foley scandal broke they're becoming very, very difficult to ignore. Not surprisingly it is Republicans including the president who are seeing their ratings tumble across the board. In every poll taken over the last week and a half President Bush's approval rating is down to an average of 37 percent, just 37 percent of Americans now believe that the president is doing a good job.

Now compare that by way of perspective to before the scandal broke. In the previous CNN poll his approval rating stood at a healthy 46 percent. As to Republicans in a "Newsweek" poll just taken it shows that in every single category from moral values to the war on terror to the war in Iraq, to the economy, healthcare and immigration, more Americans said that they trust Democrats to handle things better than Republicans. So very troubling news obviously for the president and for the party, so President Bush was out last week on the campaign trail, trying to refocus things.

Refocus the publics attentions, pushing very hard to help struggling Republican candidates, but the president was having a great deal of difficulty getting his message heard. He does hope to have more success this week on Tuesday the White House will be hosting a conference on an issue very important to Americans right now, school violence. We are hearing from White House press aides that the event will be bringing together education and law enforcement experts to look at the nature of this recent spate of school violence and try and help determine just what the federal government can do to help local communities both prevent such violence and deal with the aftermath when it does occur.

Back to you, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Kathleen thank you so much this morning from the White House.

NGUYEN: Well former Congressman Foley learned the hard way that you have to be very careful what you type online. So coming up next we'll show you how easy it is for investigators to track down electronic evidence even after you delete it.

HOLMES: Then in about five minutes the cry for help from Africa. Dr. Sanjay Gupta brings you a special report on the efforts to help refugees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): What happens when you serve up a backhand or a volley in a heart pounding aerobics class? You're experiencing cardiovascular tennis. A class designed for beginners as well as advanced players.

HEATHER SILVIA, CARDIO TENNIS PRO: It allows you to socialize with your friends and it is designed to get you out of the gym and outside having a blast. It's designed to keep your heart rate up.

COSTELLO: Cardio tennis combines drills and exercises such as running through ladders, jumping jacks, lunges and squats. Grace Dunn says she's addicted to it.

GRACE DUNN, CARDIO TENNIS PLAYER: It's better than inside being in side working in the gym and running in the neighborhood. It's a lot more fun.

COSTELLO: Some serious tennis players say it can improve your tennis game. BILL OSTERHOLD: Instead of hitting 50 or 60 balls in a half hour, you hit 120.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is moving all of the time. There is no stopping in cardio tennis.

COSTELLO: And the best part? Women can burn 300 to 600 calories in an hour-long class and men can burn upwards of 800 calories.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good job!

COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Mark Foley's legal problems could get significantly worse if a criminal investigation reveals the laws were broken. CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg explains how such a probe is conducted in cyberspace.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: The FBI won't discuss how they're trying to gather high tech evidence in the Mark Foley case, but it's likely similar to methods used by law enforcement and businesses all of the time. We don't yet know all of the details of the Foley situation, but what if anyone wanted to conceal their online missteps?

JOHN MALLERY, COMPUTER FORENSICS EXPERT (voice over): The man behind the curtain with the applications and operating systems are doing behind the scene, that's the way computer forensics examiner.

SIEBERG: The oldest rule in the book for cyber sleuths is delete dozens, meaning gone. As a computer forensics consultant it's John Mallory's mantra.

MALLERY: You have a library and for those of you who remember card catalog. If you take the card out of the card catalog, the book is still in the shelf. When you delete a file the pointers go away the data still stays there. It can stay there for five seconds or for years. It's stays there until the operating system decides to write over that deleted file with new data.

SIEBERG: Apparently the congressional page saved his e-mails and instant messages possibly by simply coping and pasting them or they may have been monitored electronically, regardless, experts say it's nearly impossible for anyone to cover their virtual footprints. Mallory gives me a rudimentary, but effective demonstration of how deleted data can be recovered.

MALLORY: In this case you have a deleted word document. I'm going scroll down and what you're looking at here is the contents of this deleted word document. There's additional information added to the file when you create a document. So the user name can often be added to that document. The company names the computer name, the original location.

SIEBERG: So if I delete something, is it gone?

MALLORY: If you just delete something? No, it is not gone.

SIEBERG: If I empty the recycle bin?

MALLORY: It's not gone.

SIEBERG: If I format the hard drive?

MALLORY: It's not gone.

SIEBERG: More data could be uncovered as cyber sleuths dig deeper into Foley's digital domain, especially because he could have used numerous computers or different devices.

Any time you turn on a Blackberry or a computer, open a file, type a key or send a message, there's a record. Mallory says anyone who believes otherwise is either arrogant or ignorant.

MALLORY: The only safe computer is one you never turn on or bury six feet underground.

SEIBERG: Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well all morning long we've been asking you for your thoughts on our e-mail question. What's your number one campaign issue and why? We've got some really good ones so far.

Barb Morrill says, "Iraq, Iraq and Iraq. Do you get it? It's Iraq. An ill-conceived war with no post-war plans." She says.

HOLMES: We have a person in Indiana here that says, "My main concerns for this election are we need people who are going to step up and put oil companies in check and start cutting their record profits and lowering the price at the pump." Signed governmentally aggravated.

NGUYEN: Although oil prices have come down a bit.

Well Tom Hudson from Florida writes, "My number one issue is the danger of one party controlling both the White House and Congress. Neither party has a corner on morality, but with one-party government particularly as practiced by the Republicans depriving the majority of any real power, there's been no one to voice alternatives."

Of course, we want to hear from you. What is your number one campaign issue and why? Don't forget the election is just one month away as of today. E-mail us your thought, WEEKENDS@CNN.com. Whether it's gas prices, whether it's the political landscape, whatever it is, e-mail it to us. We'll read them on the air.

HOLMES: All right. We're going to go to Reynolds Wolf now. Reynolds what's your issue today? REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I have no issues today other than my team losing, but we'll get to that at another time. It's a great morning in Washington, D.C.; we're looking at images from the army 10 miler, which is the nation's biggest 10-mile run. A lot of people out there enjoying the wonderful conditions and temperatures this morning mainly into the 50s and low 60s. They're going to enjoy the fantastic sunshine. It is going to be a lovely day up there for them. Over 24,000 people are going to take part in this. This is the 22nd year they've been doing this. They started off near the Pentagon and they'll make their run through the nation's capitol.

Meanwhile, let's show you the type of weather conditions they've been experiencing. Obviously, they had sunny times. The big giant h or rather what it represents. An area of high pressure sinking dry air and it is going to keep things just fantastic from New York to Washington to Philadelphia and even places like Detroit and Chicago. Once you make your way to the central Plains and then into the Rocky Mountains, we are going to see a big transformation in the forecast, a lot of moist air will be working its way back up through Texas and eventually interacting with the higher elevation and the front and that can mean a couple of things.

For today it could mean some scattered showers along I-25 and I- 70, but what it will mean possible for tomorrow afternoon, snow flakes, but for today, raindrops. In terms of high temperatures today from the Dallas, Forth Worth area, try 80s. We're looking at 70s, mid- 70 for Minneapolis. A string of 60s from Seattle southward to Los Angeles and for the northeast and Boston, outside Fenway Park, 63 degrees for Yankee Stadium, 64, 66 in Detroit and 73 in Atlanta. That is a look t your forecast around the nation. But I'm telling you, timing is everything and it could not be better in Washington, D.C. than we saw moments ago.

NGUYEN: But you know what I took note of. You know fall has arrived when it's just 90 degrees in Phoenix.

WOLF: I know. They're getting out the toboggans and the heavy coats.

NGUYEN: That is a cold front. All right. Reynolds thank you.

Well this is a serious issue. It is called the silent killer. Coming up in the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING, even mammograms are little help in the fight against a very aggressive form of breast cancer. See what should you do to protect yourself? We have some answers.

HOLMES: But first the uphill battle to help refugees in Africa. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will bring you a special report next after a check of the morning's top stories.

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