monday. the village is now submerged. it is feared to have lost everything. in southern germany, cleanup efforts are well underway. one week after it flooded the town, residents are using all available means to cover what they can. some parts of the town still look like lakes. where the waters have receded,

and >> really appreciated the works of the volunteers here. they struggled to minimize the impacts of the flooded here. on the other hand, they said that the politicians will remember to rebuild the city after the flood. this visit is not only part of

her election campaign. >> promises that have been made by the politicians. some reassurance. how serious is the threat? >> the emergency forces told us that this might public at the most critical night because they expected the water to reach a level of over 8 meters which is really, really high. on the one hand, some levies already broke which is good because some water already flowed away. on the other hand, the levees here are quite wet and the watcher tension is really high. you see some vulnerable spot for the watcher is slowly coming out. i really think this will be a very critical and that the people here will not sleep well and deep. >> a very trayvon situation. thank you for keeping us up to date.

-- a very grave situation. thank you for keeping us up to date. >> locals and emergency workers to set up defenses and evacuate those villages. >> it is a change of scenery. we have this report now on their efforts to stem the floods. >> the levees, the workers and troops have piled up 65,000 sandbags in the last 24 hours. for the soldiers, a talent of a different kind. the operation is running around the clock with each soldier putting in up to 60 hours per day. between shifts, there is time to put to sleep. they will stay as long as they are needed. >> the work is tough. we have breaks.

you have to use them to rest. that way when you start again, you are ready to get stuck in. we use what opportunity we can to recuperate. >> many of the soldiers have friends and relatives. that gives them additional motivation to continue strenuous work and they appear to be winning the battle, at least here. but new threats lurk everywhere. even from underground soldiers are quick to react. nearby firefighters are bolstering defenses around a power transformer. they asked for the army to help. they do not have to wait long. of firefighters and soldiers work together to the job done. everyone is playing their parts in keeping the floodwaters back. >> we are using the same organizational resources and are trying to focus our resources on

where the enemy goes to the attack. >> they say no challenge is too big for his troops. >> we do not have the same presence as we did a few years ago. the gaps are bigger between the various battalions and their bases. that is the main difference. on the hole for us, this is homeland defense. >> they go to the next place that needs defending. a job well done. >> from germany's defense forces, he is one of angela

merkel's closest allies that he found himself increasingly engulfed in a political row over a botched procurement deal and could face a parliamentary investigation. >> again, refused to resign over allegations that he misled parliament. opposition parties are not satisfied. they say they will trigger an investigation. >> at the election just three months away, both sides are determined to win the argument. >> this scrutiny is unwelcome attention. the opposition says he wasted too long to scrap the euro drone project. in a grueling hearing, the defense minister defended his leadership. he admitted mistakes, but rejected calls for his resignation. >> we did not

manage the project as carefully as we should have. a process that nevertheless ends with the right outcome is no reason to resign. rather, it is caused to learn from these mistakes so that these problems can be avoided in the future. >> they are calling be failed a drone project a disaster. the social democrats want a full investigation and they are calling on him to step down as defense minister. >> we will come back on wednesday to have a committee fully investigate this case. >> it is unclear whether a parliamentary investigation can take place before the elections but all parties agree on one point. parliament must have oversight

on such projects. >> let's go to our political studios. assuming this investigation does get started, it looks like the story will grind on for a few months. how high are the stakes? could it influence the election? >> well, the defense minister is under enormous pressure. he got a grilling from the defense committee today. it is the second one in five days. he looked exhausted when he arrived to give his press conference this afternoon. nevertheless, i think there will be a tough time scoring from this debacle. the finance minister at the time that this project was initiated 10 years ago was a man called steinbach who happens to be chancellor merkel's

challenger in the upcoming election. angela merkel's party has already they will pull him as a witness to the committee of inquiry to explain why he was so much in favor of this project at the beginning and okayed the financing. >> you say he is looking exhausted exhausted but is holding out for now. but angela merkel has lost quite a few close allies over the years, hasn't she? >> she has indeed. defense minister's, i am afraid. the last one resigned after only 18 months in office because there were allegations of his having plagiarized his thesis. resigned over the fact that he had misinformed parliament about a controversial airstrike. there are some people who say

that post is jinxed. >> thank you very much. >> there is not much more than 100 days to go until the election. the boats will see chancellor merkel vying for a third term in office. the man that the man have put forward is the former finance minister. >> his campaign is trying to gain new momentum and replaced his main spokesman. >> he is in a race against time. with just three months, he is trailing angela merkel by almost 20 points in the polls. he is now replacing his spokesman, hoping that will breathe new life into his campaign. >> i am not going to play big

game here. it is me who is to blame for the mistakes. >> his relationship with the media is rocky at best. the appointment could be seen as an effort to make amends. is the former chief political correspondent. after a dispute revealed a rift within the social democratic party. his greatest challenge or maybe himself. he is struggling to stay on message, like why did he fire his former spokesman and he is not to blame? >> you cannot seriously expect me to say anything that could damage the reputation and integrity of another man who is not here to defend himself. you can't be serious. >> it is an uphill battle but they vow to keep on fighting. the voters will have the final

say in september. >> now a string of bombings has killed dozens of people. five car bombs targeting army and police claimed at least 29 lives. officials imposed a curfew on the city. people were killed when two car bombs exploded and a suicide bomber detonated. >> in turkey, a meeting with antigovernment protesters. he said his boss would listen to their thoughts. >> after this -- activists are camping out. they have taken a hard-line against the protesters until now saying yesterday they would pay pay a price for their activities. thousands have been injured and at least three killed in clashes

with police. >> we're moving on to the big whistleblowing story. revelations over surveillance programs run the by the nsa intelligence agency. now the man behind the story has blown the whistle on himself. >> the former cia employee has admitted leaking documents in an interview with a british newspaper. he alleges popular internet companies like facebook and google help the u.s. government collect information on citizens. both google and facebook denied the allegations. to find out more, we can go to

our correspondent in washington. this is being portrayed as a major scandal here in germany. stateside the matter has been referred to the justice department. what are they or other officials saying? >> you hear very different concerns from lawmakers. one of the side of them saying that this has been a crime that uses authorizations to commit a crime and he needs to be punished for that. he is to be extradited and then punished. it is unclear how easy it will be to extradite him from hong kong. on the other side, you have lawmakers who are worried that the government is infringing on the privacy of its people, of its citizens. quite a few lawmakers voice to that concern. one of them being rand paul who said he is considering going in front of the supreme court because he considers this an extraordinary invasion of privacy.

>> that is interesting you mention that because president obama has come out and said he would welcome a broad debate on privacy versus surveillance argument. is that what we are going to get? >> it is already started. we will have to see how long this will keep up. we are seeing a pattern by obama. he always cause for these debates after there is a leak of this kind. not to before. he has had a couple of leaks. the image of obama through these scandals and these leaks is changing. he has had wikileaks as we all know. he has had the drone program. now he has had prisons. in the beginning he was about civil rights. he seemed this warmhearted president after george w. bush. this is changing. he is not acting very different in the administration before him. some say he has pushed this -- and pushed a these programs even further. definitely these are changing

the image that the public has of his president. -- of their president. meanwhile, president obama is said to consider a wide range of new options to deal with the crisis in syria. in syria, rebel forces say they have recaptured the last government held airport in the country's northern province. >> amateur video reportedly shows memory conquering the military airbase. however, after government backed troops, they are now believed to be shifting their focus. security forces in afghanistan have killed seven taliban insurgents. two suicide bombers blew themselves up.

that was at the airbase inside the airport complex. >> the taliban has claimed responsibility as local forces are preparing to take over when international troops withdraw next year. >> some warn that withdraw will leave a vacuum with different troops. >> that is right. we have this report on tehran's growing influence in afghanistan, especially along the shared border. >> it is friday in western afghanistan. a steady stream of believers is flowing into this makeshift mosque located in an underground car park. after years of exile in neighboring iran, many have

returned to their war-torn country. they are a minority here. an estimated 80% of afghans are sunnis. for centuries, the two muslim branches have fought a bloody conflict on who is the rightful successor to their profit, mohammed. we are told it is being funded by the iranian regime where shiites make up a majority. he is altra conservatives. he rails against the u.s. he calls it the occupying force. he berates the west and the christians who he says have come to change afghanistan. he rants against music which he calls the work of the devil. >> music misleads us and takes us down a wicked pat. it makes us lose control of ourselves -- down a wicked a path. it makes us lose control of

ourselves. the holy koran forbids music. >> the regina used to persecute shiites just like himself, but it is the dawn of a new era for afghanistan shiites thanks to the financial backing of iran and no longer have to hide their religion. soon, they will move out of the underground car park and into this new mosque. iran has spent an estimated $1 million here. but is iran really just trying to help? trade is booming. everyday trucks cross the border with fresh supplies of food, but they also smuggle in weapons. thousands of soldiers are stationed here and iran does not like that so they are even helping their own foes, the taliban. >> their ideas are based on spreading evolution to other countries.

our values are different. we are an islamic country. at the same time, we adhere to democratic values. >> unlike much of the country, it is relatively peaceful. the kids play outside. if people feel safe. at is thriving. unemployment is relatively low. but the conservative forces are gaining strength here. supported by iran. we stopped by and iranian bookstore. it is easy to get distracted but on closer inspection, it is hidden propaganda. there is a broad selection of dvds. they tell the story of heroes.

>> i do not think afghans want war. they are tired of war, but obviously if the time comes and we have no other choice, we will pick up our arms and fight the holy war. >> was will become of herat? can the city stay on its prosperous path? we just left the city when we received the message that our local fixer was a shot. he was the target of an attempted assassination. he has now left afghanistan. >> the dax ended the day higher. glossy little bit of ground. 200-7090 -- the euro is trading. >> he is considered one of

germany's most influential thinkers. he has died at the age of 90. >> writer and academic, suffered from dementia for almost one decade. he was at the forefront of many of the critical cultural debates here in germany in recent decades. we take a look back now at his legacy. >> a literary scholar his wife, that is relived with. his greatest love was language. he began teaching at the university. a unique step in what was west germany. some view him as the conscience of the country. his combative nature earned him the nickname, the little volt air of the federal republic. >> i cannot imagine a life

without reading and writing. i would perish otherwise. >> a member of group 47, a literary association, he pushed for a new beginning following world war ii. in a 1980's, he protested against the nuclear arms race. history eventually caught up with him. he was accused of having been a member of the nazi party during the war. >> i cannot rule it out, but i simply do not know. >> in the end, dementia forced him off of the public stage. he said he did not fear death. mortality is also a source of strength. >> it is a state-of-the-art building for an ancient collection. the city of munich, the capital of the bay area, has a new attraction for visitors interested in all things egyptian. >> the architecture is inspired from ancient egypt.

it leads visitors to the exhibit in an underground tunnel. the new building is three times bigger than the one it replaces and costs quite a bit of money. just over 100 million euros and located in the heart of munich's art district. it is hoped that several thousand visitors will pass through the doors. >> it looks like a very good addition to a wonderful city. >> a rival, of course. he does not know where they are. >> more news at the top of the hour. stay with us. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

>> with respect to the internet and e-mails. this does not apply to u.s. citizens and does not apply to people living in the united states. >> is the rest of the world fair game? under what authority does the u.s. monnat to the world's phone calls and internet usage? monitor theu.s. world's phone calls and internet usage? you're watching inside story.