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New Clashes in Iran; President Obama's Poll Numbers Slip; Privacy in the Internet Age; Labor Report Ranks Top-Paying Cities

Aired July 30, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, time is running out for key groups of U.S. lawmakers to clear some key hurdles on health care, but they're still pushing forward.

On the House side, the is standoff is over in the Energy and Commerce Committee, as we've reported. So-called Blue Dog Democrats prevailed against their own party leaders in a battle over cost. Still, four votes are on hold until after the August break.

And in the Senate, the so-called Group of 6 on the Finance Committee, three Democrats, three Republicans, are inching forward on the only plan in town that claims to be bipartisan, not to mention deficit-neutral. One of the Republican says there is no way that they'll be done before the recess. Another says, "We're getting close."

As for the recess, a top Senate Democrat says it will be a working vacation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I think the more the American people know, the better we're going to do. We're going to get out our message in August as to what we are trying to do with specifics, ,and we will have dramatic change in health care, signed into law by the president by the end of this year, because the American people are demanding no less.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, health care reform is a key plank, you might say. The key plank in President Obama's agenda. And the Washington turbulence of recent days may be taking a toll.

Our Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry joins me now.

Ed, is the health care debate affecting public support for the president?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It certainly seems to be. When you look at the latest CNN Poll of Polls, it's got the president's approval rating now at 54 percent. That's down from 57 percent at the beginning of this month.

More importantly, to compare it, back in June, his approval rating was around 61 percent. So, you see some slippage there. But I think on the positive side for the president, he's still much more popular than basically any other politician in America, any of the Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, or, frankly, any of his fellow Democratic leaders, like Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, or Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader.

So, you have to put them in perspective that, he's still, just over six months into his presidency, is still enjoying high approval ratings. Less than when he was sort of in the stratosphere in the early days.

But I think the other point to make is, also, when you dig down in this poll and some of the other polls that are out there right now, there is still pretty good popularity for health reform in general and some of the key parts that he is pushing. It just may be a matter of him pulling all of this together as we have seen in some of these town hall meetings to refine the message, maybe sell it a little bit.

Some of the key parts of health reform are still very popular. So, he's taken a bit of a hit, but he's still fairly popular considering all of the issues he's dealing with right now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And we've definitely kept our focus here on the whole health care debate, extremely important to our country right now. But, we have been distracted by this so-called beer summit that's going to be hosted at the White House. And a lot of people saying they will be getting a buzz, but there's not going to be a lot of buzz about the conversation that is going to be taking place there.

So, what do you think? Is it just a few cold ones, or will something come out of this? Will we see some sort of deep conversation and new policy on racial profiling?

HENRY: Well, we'll see. The president is certainly hoping, according to his top aides, to start a dialogue here with this meeting today with Sergeant Crowley, as well as Professor Gates. But I can tell you, we've just gotten some new information in the last few moments from White House aides saying that they are really sort of scaling back the media coverage of this so-called beer summit, as you said.

Basically, the U.S. reporters, TV reporters, we're going to be allowed in for about 20 seconds. And they are going to be set up about 40 feet away in the Rose Garden from where these three men will be having their beers. So, that suggests they don't want any shouted questions at everyone, and they also want to make sure that the video is very short.

So, I've never seen a summit that's 20 seconds long. I think this clearly shows that, while the president talked last week about this being an important conversation, clearly, in private it may be, but publicly, they really want to limit the media access because, you know, there's been a bit of a circus atmosphere at times around this whole story. And they seem to really be trying to shrink down the kind of look that we get at this summit today -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll be following it, for sure.

Thanks, Ed.

HENRY: Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, a question for you. Have the second 100 days of the Obama administration been days of change or days of frustration? Let your voice be heard.

Beginning Sunday, August 2nd, cast your vote at CNN.com/reportcard. Then get the results. Watch CNN's "National Report Card," next Thursday, August 6th, at 8:00 Eastern.

All right. Sorry if we're starting to sound like your mom here, but are you still driving and texting? Because we've got more proof why you really, really should do one or the other, but not both.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, we all know the Internet is public, probably the most public thing ever created. And once something's out there, it stays.

Still, though, is there no room for privacy? Even in the age of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, you may be shocked by an incident that's now become a federal case.

A high school student in Pearl, Mississippi, is told by her cheerleading coach to hand over the password to the private area of her Facebook page. Then the coach allegedly reads and forwards to school officials private messages between the student and the captain of the squad. Allegedly, those officials reprimanded, punished and humiliated the student as a result.

I keep saying "allegedly" because all of this is a subject of a lawsuit, and we're not talking small claims. Mandi Jackson and her parents are suing her school district for $100 million.

Mandi and her mother Missy join me now live from Jackson, Mississippi.

So, Mandi, tell me how this all came about. Did your cheerleading coach approach you and threaten you? Kind of tell us how it happened.

MANDI JACKSON, SUING SCHOOL DISTRICT: Well, for getting the Facebook password, we're all (INAUDIBLE). And she handed us a pen and a pad and told us to write down our usernames and our passwords for our accounts. I'm not sure that's right.

PHILLIPS: So, she asked you and all the other cheerleaders to do that?

MANDI JACKSON: Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: And why did -- did she give a reason why she was asking for your passwords?

MANDI JACKSON: There was no reason. She didn't give any of us a reason, but we thought that it was for pictures of us drinking or smoking or anything inappropriate on our page.

PHILLIPS: So let me ask you, why did you give her your password? Why didn't you say, "This is my private account, I don't have to give it to you"?

MANDI JACKSON: Well, I was so young at the time and she was an authority figure. So, it was kind of hard for me to say, hey, I'm not giving you my password. And I didn't really know what to do at the time. So it was just so immediately that she asked us for it. You can't really know what to do.

PHILLIPS: So, Missy, what did you think about this when she came home and told you about this?

MISSY JACKSON, MANDI'S MOTHER: Well, once I got beyond reading the e-mail and we got through getting on to her about the content of that, I was livid. To me, my job is a parent, and she needs to do her job as a teacher and let me do my job as a parent.

And I contacted -- I spoke with her. I spoke with the guidance counselor. And I spoke with the Department of Education, is where it started, within the first couple of days of it happening.

PHILLIPS: And so, Mandi, what was in the e-mails? Were you talking about the coach or saying bad things about the coach, and she got paranoid and wanted to see what everybody was saying about her?

MANDI JACKSON: Oh, no. It had nothing to do with the coach. And it was a message between me and another girl, who happened to be a cheerleader. And it was laced with profanity, and that's just about it.

PHILLIPS: So were you talking about her, or what was so bad about the e-mail?

MANDI JACKSON: I was just saying, OK, well, it's time for somebody to step up, stop harassing the girls, and somebody else will step up to her, because she was a senior and I was a freshman at that time.

PHILLIPS: So a lot of you felt that the coach was harassing you?

MANDI JACKSON: Ma'am?

PHILLIPS: So you and some of the other cheerleaders thought that the coach was harassing you? That's what the talk was on e-mail?

MANDI JACKSON: No. It was the girl that I sent the e-mail to that was harassing us.

PHILLIPS: Oh, OK. I see what you're saying. Did anything happen to the other girl, then, that you were having the communication with in this e-mail? Are you the only one that was singled out?

MANDI JACKSON: Yes, I was the only one that was singled out. She didn't have any punishment.

PHILLIPS: So, what happened to you at school? How were you humiliated? How were you ostracized? How did this impact you at school? Tell me what happened.

MANDI JACKSON: Well, it was really depressing, because I lost a lot of good friends. And a lot of people just stopped talking to me because they were taking her side on mostly everything, because the whole story didn't get out of what had happened. So, I got really depressed, and it was really pretty brutal about what the kids and everybody else was saying.

PHILLIPS: And once again, I want to point out that this was private e-mail, this was your private e-mail that was exposed to all these individuals there at school.

And so, Missy, how did this affect, you know, Mandi's daily routine at school, at home? I mean, this must have been pretty tough.

MISSY JACKSON: It was tough. Once the e-mails got spread out, she had some people that were going, you know, "You go, girl," for standing up. But that's not what it was about.

It was a private conversation between two people. There weren't any threats. It was just simply some vulgarity, and we handled that at home, like we are supposed to as the parents.

But she has been through so much depression with it. It's not necessarily anything to do with the cheerleading, other than the fact that that's some of the things that they used on her.

But, you know, it's affected her whole life, it's affected the family's whole life, because we've always been real active in the community and we're not doing that anymore. It's affected the classes that she can take because of these teachers, their husbands, their wives, or whoever else that's working at the school.

PHILLIPS: And we do want to point out that we did reach out to everybody here that's named in the lawsuit. And the Mississippi Cheerleading Academy said, "No comment." And the attorney that's representing all the school district, the defendants, said, "No comment. We're saving our word for court."

So, Mandi and Missy, we will follow up on the case. Obviously, Mandi, high school is a tough time, and it doesn't make it any easier when you've got your teacher and those in authority making things even more difficult for you.

I'm sorry you had to go through that. And we've all sent those e-mails that we probably wish that we didn't write. But, hey, they're private e-mails and it's none of anybody else's business.

MISSY JACKSON: That's right.

PHILLIPS: Missy and Mandi, we'll follow up. We appreciate your story. Stay strong there.

We want to push forward though and talk more about Mandi's case. And you know, how strong is her case? And if not, what does that mean for the rest of social networkers, all of us that are involved with social networking?

Let's check in with Joel Brodsky, criminal defense attorney. He joins me now from Chicago.

And Joel, I'm just looking at the eight counts here in this lawsuit. It's from right to privacy, right to free association, free speech, due process, infliction of emotional distress, cruel and unusual punishment, defamation of character, and civil conspiracy.

What do you think of all those counts? And does Mandi have a case here?

JOEL BRODSKY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, she certainly has a case. The factual part of the case that really I think is the strongest is that certainly the teacher should have asked permission from the parents before they go invade the child's private conversations.

But she does have a case for what they call intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation called public disclosure of private facts. But those are normally state court cases. I don't really see too strong of a federal civil rights case here.

This is really more of a state court, typical defamation and infliction of emotional distress case. There may be strategic reasons they want to be in federal court, but this case may be kicked back to the state courts there.

PHILLIPS: So, could this impact in any way, shape, or form the way we communicate online? And I'm talking about online communications and also social media.

BRODSKY: Well, absolutely. If it's allowed, if it's found that Facebook e-mails, things put on social networking sites that are allowed to be distributed to a chosen few, that by doing that you waive your right to privacy, that, therefore, it can be generally distributed and you have no rights over who they're distributed to, that is going to severely affect social networking sites and people's right to communicate with each other.

PHILLIPS: So, when you heard about this, and you've learned all the details about what happened to Mandi, and if it's proven true that this definitely happened, that the teacher basically said, give me all your passwords and we're going into your personal accounts, and then we're going to completely humiliate you in front of everybody, would you take this case?

BRODSKY: Certainly. I don't see that I would be filing the type of civil rights actions, but certainly I see a very strong, intentional infliction of an emotional distress claim, and a public disclosure of private facts claim.

I don't think it is worth $100 million. You know, people in wrongful death cases only get a few million. It's not worth $100 million, which is what they are asking for. But there is a claim here, and it's compensable, absolutely.

PHILLIPS: What do you think should happen to the teacher that came forward and said, give me your password, and then got in there and distributed the e-mails?

BRODSKY: Well, you know, obviously, supervisors of extracurricular activities like football and cheerleading, they always go that extra step. They usually have rules and regulations for their members. And, you know, kids that are in those type of activities have to abide by extra regulations.

But if this teacher -- and it seems to me this teacher went well beyond the bounds of what he or she should have done -- there should be some discipline without question. I mean, just because you have a right to monitor kids, doesn't mean you have the right to humiliate them. It should have been handled a lot better than it was.

PHILLIPS: Joel Brodsky, appreciate your input.

BRODSKY: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: And if you've ever been on a social networking site or been worried about the privacy of your e-mails, or just been on the Internet, I know you want to weigh in on this developing story. Just log on to CNN.com/Kyra to share your thoughts, or send me a tweet at Twitter.com/KyraCNN. We'd love to read some of your thoughts on the air.

They're sweating it out again today in the Pacific Northwest. Record highs being set all across the region. It's so hot that the sidewalks can't even take it.

We're going to Seattle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Is anything private on the Internet? Well, you just heard the case of the high school student, the cheerleading coach, and the private e-mails that went public. Now we want to hear from you.

E-mail or tweet us with your thoughts on Internet privacy and students' rights. We'll put some of your responses on the air.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, another GOP senator is breaking ranks to back Sonia Sotomayor. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary panel endorsed the federal judge's nomination to the highest court in the land with only one Republican "yes" vote. When the full Senate votes next week, there won't be many more, but Tennessee's Lamar Alexander will be one of them. He says he differs with Sotomayor on a lot of issues, but on the basis of experience, temperament, character and intellect, she is well qualified to serve, he serves.

Driving while texting more dangerous than driving drunk? It's true, according to a new study out this week.

And CNN's Jason Carroll is actually testing the results. He hit a simulated road, BlackBerry in hand.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, I thought I was a good driver. That is until I was put to the test there in Utah. For the past 10 years, researchers at the University of Utah have been studying the effects of driving while using cell phones. Bottom line, whether texting or talking hands free, you are increasing your chances of crashing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): Five New York high school students killed. The driver texting before the accident. This bus driver caught on tape texting just before his crash.

Despite all the warnings...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see a lot of people texting while they're driving.

CARROLL: ... despite the risks, drivers say it is still common.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Texting, I think, is distracting. I try to keep away from that.

CARROLL: Professor David Strayer says maybe drivers would try more if they knew what he learned with this driving simulator here at the University of Utah.

PROF. DAVID STRAYER, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: Text messaging is a level of impairment that exceeds what we see with someone who is driving while they are drunk.

CARROLL (on camera): Exceeds it?

STRAYER: Yes.

CARROLL (voice-over): Driving while texting more dangerous than driving drunk? Strayer's researchers found a driver with an alcohol level of .08, legally drunk in most states, is four times more likely to crash. While texting, a crash is eight times more likely.

STRAYER: You should be, frankly, quite alarmed if you see someone texting as they're driving next to you.

CARROLL: This simulator may look like an elaborate video game. But there's science here. It records brain activity and more.

STRAYER: This is an eye tracker that we use.

CARROLL: For our purposes, a simple test.

(on camera): Sixty-five's OK in the state of Utah?

(voice-over): Strayer put me in in the simulator.

STRAYER: Compose and send an e-mail or text message, and...

CARROLL (on camera): Whoa.

(voice-over): A few insults from CNN colleagues.

(on camera): Well, Alina Cho has sent me a text message, sent one saying, "You're the dumbest person I know."

One of our senior producers: "You can't even type when you're standing on two feet." Who can drive with these kind of insults?

(voice-over): I couldn't. Several near collisions.

A study released by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute using real drivers found a truck driver's risk of accident 23 times higher while text messaging. The risk using a cell phone hands free, only slightly higher. But Strayer says hands-free is still dangerous.

STRAYER: People look but don't see important information.

CARROLL: Five states prohibit drivers from talking on handheld cell phones. Fourteen ban drivers from text messaging. Now, some senators have proposed a federal law requiring all states to ban texting while driving.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (R), NEW YORK: Texting while driving is even more dangerous than driving drunk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: That proposed legislation also says that states that do not ban texting or e-mailing while driving will risk losing federal highway funds -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jason Carroll, thanks so much.

An 89-year-old white supremacist could face the death penalty for the death of a security officer at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Hate-crime charges have been added to the case against James Von Brunn. He was indicted on seven charges yesterday. An arraignment is set for September 2. He's accused of storming the Washington museum last month and killing Stephen Johns. Police say Johns's colleague fired back, hitting the suspect in the face. Von Brunn is still in the hospital.

Jury deliberations are under way in the trial of former Congressman William Jefferson. The Louisiana lawmaker is accused of taking more than $400,000 in bribes. Prosecutors say he also solicited millions more in exchange for helping to broker deals in Africa. In closing arguments, his attorney says that Jefferson's behavior may have been unethical but was not illegal.

At a time when companies are laying off workers just to survive, we found a couple in North Carolina who've managed to increase their revenue and expand their small business, one bounce at a time. Here is CNN's Reynolds Wolf with today's "Money and Main Street."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scott and Julie Hamilton took their life savings and borrowed money from family and the bank to invest in their dream. These parents of three boys opened a kid-friendly franchise, Bounce U, in Charlotte, North Carolina, last year. An entrepreneurial strong city. And then the economy took a nosedive.

JULIE HAMILTON, BOUNCE U OWNER: We knew we were going to have to get creative and proactive.

WOLF: That meant coming up with a marketing strategy to get customers in the door. They focused on children's birthdays and smaller, less expensive parties and even some weeknight activities

J. HAMILTON: We now have party packages that start at $150. And they're -- we have from all different kinds of sizes, all different budgets. And that seems to have really helped a lot.

SCOTT HAMILTON, BOUNCE U OWNER: It's not just the weekend business, which is originally what we bought into it for. Now it's something that we have parties on the weeknights, we have summer camp during the day. We'll have open bounce as well.

WOLF: They're seeing it pay off. The business has increased by 20 percent with zero layoffs. It's a common story in Charlotte. According to the chamber of commerce, more than 7,300 jobs have been created by new business so far this year. Mostly small business.

The Hamiltons say TV and direct-mail ads, online marketing and fund-raising partnerships have all helped.

S. HAMILTON: We have called every school and every church and every youth group and every scouting group, and we're talking to them about our different programs.

WOLF: All part of the plan to get people through their doors and keep them coming back.

S. HAMILTON: It's real easy to get on the inflatables and play with the kids and see them laugh. But at the end of the day, it's mom and dad that you want to go home feeling like they've gotten a good value for what they've paid for.

WOLF: Building their business with every bounce.

Reynolds Wolf, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That was actually our Reynolds Wolf reporting for us. And if you need advice on how to cope through this tough economy, watch more of our series "Money and Main Street," CNN tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

So, what do you call 6.2 million people out of work? Believe it or not, an improvement. Susan Lisovicz has that. Plus, a look at the best-paying places to live. Believe me, you'll never guess number one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Wall Street is in rally mode today, thanks to a new report on jobless claims -- 6.2 million people continue to draw unemployment benefits, and that's the lowest level since mid-April, but still a big number. If you're looking for work, we know that some places where you have a better chance for a fat paycheck.

Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. So, what cities are paying the most?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is an annual report from the Labor Department, Kyra. The highest-paying city, number one, San Francisco, think Silicon Valley. Number two, New York City, think Wall Street. Number three, Salinas, California. What?

Salinas, California -- I know, Kyra, you're a California girl -- is the center of Monterey's $3.5 billion agriculture industry, often referred to as the salad bowl of the world. It supplies 80 percent of the nation's lettuces, artichokes, a whole lot of broccoli, strawberries, you name it.

So, in terms of pay, Kyra, think beyond field workers, think professional business associated with big agriculture. When you break it out, it's actually number one in a whole bunch of divisions, including sales, installation, maintenance and repair.

And you know, Kyra, when we were looking at Salinas, we're saying, how do I know that name? How do I know that name? And of course, it was made famous by one of our greatest authors, John Steinbeck, who used Salinas as a setting in many of his most famous books, including "Mice and Men," "East of Eden" and "Grapes of Wrath," which is ultimately where the Joads resettled -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: That is right. Look at you, reading your John Steinbeck.

LISOVICZ: One of my favorite books. PHILLIPS: And I'm trying to remember Salinas. Isn't that where the young TV reporter worked that married Clint Eastwood? Wasn't that Salinas, California?

LISOVICZ: It was in that area.

PHILLIPS: Talking about producers.

LISOVICZ: It was in that area.

PHILLIPS: I think that was right.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: We're trying to remember. I know it started with an S. Anyway...

LISOVICZ: It was in California for sure. He was mayor of Carmel, I think, at one point.

PHILLIPS: Yes. And I think he met a Salinas reporter, and that's how they fell in love. Anyway, I'll follow up on that. I am sure I will get lots of e-mails now. All right, let's move to the bottom of the list. What city do we not want to live in because they won't pay us very much?

LISOVICZ: Well, the lowest, Brownsville, Texas, which is, as many of our viewers know, near the Mexican border. Seventy-seven cents for every dollar nationwide. We have to put this in perspective, Kyra. Pay is relative. The median price of a home in Brownsville is in the $100,000 range. Compare that to Salinas, California, where it is over half a million.

Also on the list, Corpus Christi, Texas; Springfield, Missouri; Tallahassee, Florida. Hey, I just have to mention really quickly. You referred to it the top, Kyra. Investors are getting paid nicely today. The Dow is above 9,200 for the first time since the fall. The NASDAQ is above 2,000 for the first time since the fall.

And, going with the theme you have been covering all day today, beer stocks are also flying. Samuel Adams right now up nearly 4 percent. TAP, that is the ticker symbol, TAP, for Coors (ph) is up 1 percent. The maker of Guinness and Red Stripe is up 2.5 percent. I'm sorry to say that one of the great ticker symbols of all time, BUD, has been retired. It doesn't trade in New York.

PHILLIPS: Maybe that's why the president picked that beer because he didn't want to look biased and affect the numbers.

LISOVICZ: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: So, that was a really smart move. All right. By the way, Mr. Clint Eastwood did marry Miss Ruiz in 1985. She was the beautiful young TV reporter in Salinas, California. It's one of those weird nuggets that just, you know, kind of fosters up there, and...

LISOVICZ: And I bet she is no longer working.

PHILLIPS: Yes. I think she is pretty happy with him and the kids. Yes. All right. Thanks, Susan.

The rules, Taliban-style. A little blue book lays out the militants', yes, code of conduct. We're going to go live to Pakistan and take a look at it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The Pacific Northwest, they are sweating it out. And they're waiting for that big cool-down that will hopefully come soon. The whole region has been sizzling for days in a record-breaking heat wave. CNN's Patrick Ottman got the lucky assignment. He's trying to brave that heat out in Seattle. Great place to be but tough time, Patrick.

PATRICK OTTMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's already a hot one today, Kyra. If you walk around this neighborhood behind me, you see people with their doors open, their windows open, their garages open. Anything to stay a little bit cooler today.

There already is a run as well on air-conditioning units and fans. These are things that people typically don't own in Seattle because summers here are so mild. Not this summer. Probably the worst place in the country to be right now is on a Seattle bus. Most buses in Seattle have no AC. That's a really nasty commute on a day like today where we are getting temperatures near 100.

Officials are warning people, telling them to drink lots of water, go to some of these cooling centers they have set up. They said so far no reports of deaths related to the heat, but they are seeing a lot of cases of sunstroke and heatstroke and lastly, as you can look around this neighborhood a little bit, you see so many dead lawns, so much dead foliage. There is a tremendous fear as well of wildfires. It has been an unusually dry summer. There have already been a couple brush fires. Officials expect that problem to get worse as the summer goes on.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: OK, Patrick, I feel like I need to get you sunscreen, a bottled water and a cap. See if you can get that photographer to get a camera off a stick and show us what you are talking about. Show us these lawns, show us this neighborhood behind you. What do you think? Or are you one-man-banding it right now?

OTTMAN: Yes, I am. I am my cameraman, my engineer and right now a reporter. The thing you really like is you can almost hear in the background, the Blue Angels are in town buzzing around. I think we are with to get buzzed right now.

PHILLIPS: Well, get behind the camera! Show us the Blue Angels!

OTTMAN: I am sure they have air-conditioning up there. PHILLIPS: Let's go for it, let's see. If it doesn't freeze. Let's see if we can get Patrick - he's one of our APJs, by the way. One of our all-platform journalists. You have to love it. He's giving us the report, he's...

OTTMAN: Well, you can -- you...

PHILLIPS: Yes. Go ahead, Patrick.

OTTMAN: You can hear them, Kyra. I can't see them, because they are so high up. They are constantly buzzing. All day long, it is really cool, as you know. I know you have been with them, and -- but...

PHILLIPS: It's quite a ride.

OTTMAN: ... break the sound barrier. It echoes out. You just hope that they have air-conditioning up there. I know they do. The rest of us here in Seattle, it's a hot day. Luckily, it is going to get cooler soon. So, we are just praying for cold weather. I never thought I would say that here. If it could get a little bit cooler, that would be just fine.

PHILLIPS: I totally agree with you. You are right. It is a great day to be a Blue Angel. They do have the nice AC in those sweet fighters, that's for sure. We will have to hook you up. That will be part two of your story. Maybe flying with the Blue Angels.

OTTMAN: I think -- absolutely. I am there. I think every day is a great day to be a Blue Angel.

PHILLIPS: Patrick Ottman, appreciate your report from Seattle. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, maybe it's what you get if Miss Manners married a militant. A Taliban code of conduct. Yes, a printed guide to battle behavior. And you thought they read Emily Post. CNN's Stan Grant has been poring through the little booklet. He is live in Islamabad, Pakistan. What does this code of conduct say?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it covers everything from Taliban who are not allowed to smoke to not being allowed to take arms or money from civilians to also rules governing exactly who or when a person, a prisoner, can be executed, under what circumstances a prisoner can or would be allowed to be sold or exchanged. This is basically a code of conduct, something that goes through item by item, setting down the rules for Jihadis fighting coalition forces both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Let's put up a couple of quotes. We could run through them for you. The first one looks at suicide attacks. This one reads, "Suicide attacks should be of high value and important targets, because a brave son of Islam should not be used for low value and useless targets." Now, essentially, that means, not targeting civilians. What they mean is go after high-value targets. Coalition troops, Pakistan troops on this side of the border, government officials and so on.

It also goes on to talk about the circumstances that prisoners may find themselves in. It is strictly prohibited to exchange prisoners for money, the code says. The killing can only be decided by the imam or his deputy. No one else has the right to do so. Now, the imam in this case is Mullah Omar, the supreme leader of the Taliban or his deputies. Only he can give the say so for the execution of a prisoner or a prisoner to be exchanged or to be released.

This also affirms the hierarchy of the Taliban. It is an attempt to overrule, to try to reach out to the civilians to win over hearts and minds. They realize that some of the support of the Taliban may be drifting away. Without the support of the people, they simply will not be able to continue effectively against troops in Afghanistan or Pakistan -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So this is basically a code of conduct to be a good terrorist. So, is this, I mean, really taken seriously by the members of the Taliban? Because you hear code of conduct and you think, OK, that's about moral behavior, honorable behavior. Really, this seems like a how-to of how to be a good terrorist.

GRANT: It does indeed. What they're trying to present themselves here as is a disciplined force. A force that is able to operate with structure. A force that is headed by a hierarchy, in this case, Mullah Omar, his deputies and so on down.

There is a concern that renegade elements of the Taliban may have been operating in a way that leads to disenfranchisement from the local civilian population that turns the civilian population against them. So they're trying to win over, as I said before, win over the hearts and minds of people.

It also comes at an interesting time, because it comes at a time of the -- ahead of the Afghanistan elections. There is a lot of comment in here about the government and Kabul calling it, for instance, a slave government and saying that people must be enticed to move away from that government.

It also comes at a time that as the U.S. and others are looking to reach out to what they see as the "good Taliban," the mod elements of the militancy that they believe they can actually negotiate with. This is an attempt by the hierarchy to say, no, we are in charge. The Taliban is one entity and takes its direction from us -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a fascinating story. Stan Grant, appreciate you reporting for us.

Well, we asked you to weigh in on the case of the high school cheerleader who's suing over a batch of private e-mails that her coach allegedly got into, then forwarded to teachers and administrators. Well, the student says that her privacy was violated and that she was defamed, punished, humiliated as a result of all that.

Well, Coppafield says, "I think that this whole situation is an outrage. These messages shouldn't have been viewed or distributed."

Jujurising says, "I operate online with a premise that anything I type could be taken public, including private e-mails. However, I think what that teacher did was uncool."

And this from PaulBenjou (ph), "Privacy is a right not a privilege. That right was violated by the coach."

DrLoud says that if, "Little girls' squabbles can result in a $100 million lawsuit, what does that say about our legal system!"

And this tweeter says, "Once you place something on a public domain, it's out there. The young lady should not have given the coach her Facebook password."

Thanks to all of you for writing in. Sure appreciate it.

And a horrible story takes a pretty heartwarming turn. Folks all over the country reaching out to help that traumatized little girl that we told you about in Phoenix, Arizona. We've got a follow-up.

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PHILLIPS: First an outcry and then an outpouring from around the country offers of help for the Liberian girl allegedly gang-raped by four boys then abandoned by her family.

We have the latest now from Marissa Wingate of our Phoenix affiliate KTVK.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERGEANT ANDY HILL: This is written on July 23, 2009. "Dearest girl, you are loved --"

MARISSA WINGATE, KTVK REPORTER (voice-over): It's a letter from the Bennett family of North Carolina.

HILL: "You are welcome to come live with us forever without question."

WINGATE: Sergeant Andy Hill received a letter, one of many. Viewers flooded police with e-mails after watching the story of the eight year-old Liberian refugee allegedly gang-raped by a group of young boys in this apartment shed. Then shamed and blamed by her own family.

MOTHER OF VICTIM: Nothing has happened to my daughter. Nobody not touched my daughter.

WINGATE (on camera): What really struck a chord with you?

DEVON BENNETT: What she said. WINGATE (voice-over): It struck Devon Bennett so much she volunteered to adopt the child.

BENNETT: We don't even know her and we love her.

WINGATE (on camera): And tell us a little bit about your family. You know, tell us what you do. I know you work with the church and you have two boys. What else could you tell us about your family?

BENNETT: My husband's a residential designer. So he draws house plans for a living.

WINGATE (voice-over): Devon's two boys are nine and five. This, their family picture.

BENNETT: And we have room.

WINGATE (on camera): What would you want to say if she were to see this?

BENNETT: We're not kidding. You know, we're not kidding.

HILL: "I know this letter may never reach you but I pray it does and you'll know you have choices."

WINGATE (voice-over): Sergeant Hill says he plans to get the letter to the child just to let her know.

HILL: People care in this country very much about what happens.

BENNETT: I (INAUDIBLE) letter in and I hope she knows. That's all. I just hope she knows.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's so incredible to see how people have responded to this story. And just to reiterate though, the little girl is not up for adoption. Right now, she's in foster care while police and child services continue to investigate the case. And I'll tell you, we will stay totally close to this story and let you know what indeed does happen.

We'll be back here tomorrow. I'm Kyra Phillips, thanks for joining us.

Rick Sanchez takes it from here.