what i fear, though, is that bashir is not honorable. he goes back on his word.he national congress party operates tactically, and that come january 2011, we are going to find that they are, in fact, not going to allow that referendum to go forward. so the low intensity conflict that we see today will, in fact, escalate to a full blown war that we saw, the 22-year civil war that killed more than 2 million people, which would be a very dark future for the sudanese people. >> so what plans do you have? what agenda do you have, mr. gatkuoth, from avoiding a full scale civil war from breaking out again? >> it's very important the referendum is conducted on time in january of 2011. >> but it might be. >> and for bashir to go forward with the issue of oil, the issue of pipeline. these are things we need to discuss with the north. we are cooperating with the north to have a peaceful divorce because it's very clear the issue of sudan is not accommodative to marginalized people. >> you're obviously a bush administration official. what do you see as the success or failure

[unintelligible] >> president bashir also said that the video might have been a fake. even before the count began, the prediction of many international observers was less rosy. there were deficiencies in the electoral process. former u.s. president jimmy carter said he had seen officials telling people which way to vote. now the white house has said it regrets the elections committee did not do more to counter a serious election issues. these elections matter as a stepping stone to next january's referendum. >> the debate about the credibility of these polls rumbles on and president bashir will win the presidential election in a landslide. >> of georgia is voicing its concern over russia's plan for large military bases in the broadway area of abkhazia. it says it has now fully rias douglas its defensive coast guard. the bbc had -- but has now fully recovered its defensive coast guard. the bbc had full access. >> we have been provided exclusive access to this patrol on the black sea. the equipment is state of the art from this $60 million vote. the captain and his men -

but in spite of the pulling out of some of the serious contenders, there is still present bashir's+>lnnces of winning was already better. >> opponents of the ruling national in -- said even before the voting started the authorities were reading from the registration procedures. >> they were talking about -- police, army, security officers in the area. the challenges that one man, one vote. one-person, one-vote. a person should not vote twice. something i think the national election commission -- their own reservations to allow that not to happen. >> what happens after these elections? the president is still in power, business as usual? >> note, in fact the -- all of our hierarchy, if we win the presidency -- if we win at any state government, our own institutions -- we will try to go toward why their government with a broad coalition. >> in what way does the indictment of president bashir in international criminal court has an impact on these elections? >> whenever associate indictment with icc with presidential election. -- wheat never associate the indictments with the election. pres

. >> arman is a paradox, a northern arabic speaking sudanese from the same tribe as al-bashir. he was with the southern sudan movement and was believed to have had some appeal in both the north and the south. while i've been talking to yasir arman and i asked him to explain the reasons why he and other opposition parties were withdrawing from the presidential elections. >> security and the army and the working places, and violations -- there are many other evidence. and we -- national election commission and the national congress. >> but we are hearing rumors, here in khartoum, that perhaps you cut a deal with president basher to leave the -- bashir to leave the field open for him. >> we don't do that. we are a natural movement for democracy. and news from other political forces, all the political forces, the way that the election has been controlled. >> reporting for the bbc from khartoum. the opposition's withdrawal is not the only challenge sudan is facing. malnutrition, serious malnutrition, is a growing problem in large part to the country. more on that for you in just a f

the national elections commission declared al-bashir the winner today. the main challengers had dropped out amid widespread charges of fraud. meanwhile, violence erupted along the country's north-south border area in recent days. more than 50 arab nomads were killed in clashes with army forces. the u.s. supreme court will decide if banning violent games for kids is a violation of free speech. the court agreed today to take a case from california. in 2005, the state banned selling or renting violent games to minors. a federal appeals court threw out the ban last year. the supreme court will hear the arguments this fall. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained a fraction of a point to close at 11,205. the nasdaq fell seven points to close below 2523. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of the program with a preview of what you'll find tonight on the newshour's web site. but for now, back to judy. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour, the financial reform debate; and singer- songwriter natalie mercha

>> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, this is "nightline," march 31st, 2010. >> good evening. we begin tonight with renewed controversy facing the catholic church. no pope has resigned his position since the 1h century. but if some critics have their way, that's exactly what the pope would do. this holy week has seen him defending the vatican and himself against allegations that he knew about and failed to act on sexual abuse by priests years ago. but in one major scandal, his role may have been far more complicated than that, as our chief investigative correspondent brian ross reports. brian? >> reporter: cynthia, with growing questions about the role of pope benbenedict, there is n attention to his handling of probably the most e agree jous, notorious case of them all, involving a priest with powerful connections inside the vatican, who was also a drug addict and a pedophile. for years, despite repeated allegations that the father sexual by abused young men, poem john paul ii continued to call him an i

." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, th is "nightline," april 7th, 2010. >> good evening. we begin again tonight in west virginia coal country, where toxic conditions earlier today disrupted the search for the four unaccounted for miners. but tonight, the danger has begun to subside, and a delicate drilling effort resumed that may soon allow rescue teams back into the mine. for the families of the four, the hope may be fading, but as david muir found out today, it is still alive. >> and just assure as death is, jesus christ is a sure savior. >> reporter: tonight, a candle light vigil in this tested part of coal country. so many have lost fathers, grandfathers and sons. this pastor, a coal miner himself, led the prayer. >> in the name of jesus christ, amen. >> reporter: now more than 48 hours after the explosion, and there is still some hope here. four coal miners are still missing, and their families still waiting. waiting to hear it if the men made their way into rescue chambers. the wait has been excr

>> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, this is "nightline," april 9th, 2010. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with a shocking story about mother and child. it involves a tennessee woman, torry hansen, who says she was unable to control the son she adopted from russia six months ago, calling him, quote, mentally instable. so, what did she do? she had her mother put the boy on a plane back to russia, by himself. she's now under criminal investigation, and there may be major repercussions. outraged russian officials have threatened to freeze adoptions to the united states. there were 1,600 last year. as juju chang report reports. >> reporter: 7-year-old artyem flew on a united airlines flight from washington, d.c. to moscow. he arrived with no parents, no guardians. just a note in english from his adoptive single mother, torry hansen of tennessee. this child is mentally unstable, it reads. he is violent and has severe psychopathic issues. i was misled by the russian orphanage regarding

." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, and terry moran in washington, this is "nightline," april 6th, 2010. >> good evening. amid the grief and anger and prayer in west virginia tonight, there is faint hope. hope that the four coal miners who remain missing may still be alive. but even if a miracle is waiting underground, the damage has been done. and along with the mourning now come the difficult questions about how this mine is being operated, and whether this explosion could have been prevented. our chief investigative correspondent brian ross has tonight's report. brian? >> reporter: terry, tonight, authorities continue to hold out some slim hope that four miners who are unaccounted for may have somehow survived the horrendous underground blast. otherwise, it was a day of very grim news. 25 dead and many troubling questions about why a mine with serious and repeated safety issues was still operating. the scene at the mine is quiet tonight. recovery efforts ended because the buildup of methane gas made it uns

." >>> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, this is "nightline," april 13th, 2010. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with faith and a woman who calls herself one of the world's leading practical bible teachers. she's perhaps the most powerful female. consider the numbers. over $100 million. that's the amount of money her ministry raised last year. 474, that's the number of television stations which broadcast her show. 80. that's the number of books she's written. or one. that's how many private jets it took before critics started a asking questions. i went to st. louis to talk to joyce meyer for our series, "faith matters." joyce meyer is as close as it comes to a christian rock star. >> we love you! >> reporter: though, she herself says she's an unlikely success story. ♪ we will overcome >> i was told i didn't have a personality. i was told i didn't have the voice. i was told i was a woman. it was like -- god, i'm a woman, he said, "i know." i stand amazed all the time. the bible says god u

i am honored to be here with chairman bashir of -- chairman shapiro. i appreciate your being at the same table because it took more questions than me. with the help of the subcommittee, the f -- the cftc has risen to staffing levels of 600 people. this is roughly where we were in the 1990's, coming back from 440 people just three years ago. we do believe to fill our mission and protect the american public, we need 745 people bird we also need to get a bit more in our technology budget barry the cftc ensures that futures exchanges and clearing houses that we overseeing work to lower risk to the public and increase transparency. we also oversee all the intermediaries, that dealers who need markets as well. though our staffing level is only slightly higher than it was 10 years ago, futures trading volume, and i have a chart over here, if i might -- the blue as the trading volume. and as you can see, our staff actually shrunk and we're coming back. one might look at this and say that that as productivity. but imagine the city with police officers that has

week, the head of the iranian nuclear commission, i think that's the title he has, said that the bashir nuclear power plant will be operational in a couple of months, the production of nuclear material within a couple of months. and our military leaders say that iran could have a nuclear weapon in as little as one year and some people say a lot quicker than that. instead of doing something about it, we continue to fool around talking about putting sanctions on them week after week, month after month, year after year and they continue to build a nuclear weapons program. and when the head of israel comes here, mr. netanyahu, the prime minister, the president gives him the cold shoulder and starts telling him if he doesn't do certain things we won't be supporting them as we should be. and i think that's terrible. our only real strong ally in the middle east that has been with us through thick and thin is israel and we should be supporting them right now and doing everything we can to keep the middle east from going up in smoke because if iran gets a nuclear weapon, there's no question in m

i've seen the at the same times -- statements on the elections but are there any consequences for bashir's government for carrying out such a marred election process? >> well, i think we have to put that in a little broader context. as the international monitoring groups have indicated, you know, the recent elections and the results are still pending. you know, did not meet international standards. there are a number of reasons for that. some, you know, based on the fact that, you know, elections have not occurred in sudan for some time. and some because the government did not create the appropriate atmosphere and did not take the steps that should have taken to ensure a free, fair and competitive election. so, and we expressed those concerns before the election and we have expressed those concerns since the election. that said, we also recognize that sudan is facing vitally important decisions and referendum in the coming months. that will shape literallyity future. and, you know, we will work with the governments of north and south sudan to continue to press them to fulfill all of their