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NYC Turns to Cab Drivers to Fight Human Trafficking; Human Rights Watch Report on Syria; Rust Belt Could Decide November Election

Aired July 03, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": ... "Newsroom" continues right now with Kyra Phillips.

KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 out West.

In New York City, authorities heading into traffic to stop trafficking, a pilot program puts cabbies to work as detectives.

Barclays bank pays a high price for low rates and you may have paid a price, too. Richard Quest blows the lid off a scandal that may only be the beginning.

And they are heroes one day, excess equipment the next. The dogs of war, fighting for honorable discharge.

I'll tell you what. It's another day of ferocious wildfires and they're going to come and go without the military's number one fighting weapon, now. The seven remaining C-130 air tankers are grounded while the Air Force investigates the deadly crash of an eighth plane, one of these based in Charlotte, North Carolina. We expect to learn more in a news conference this afternoon.

We know that four of the six crew members were killed, including this man, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Mikeal. He actually spoke to our affiliate on Saturday. Lizzie O'Leary on the story out of Washington. So, Lizzie, what's the latest?

LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION AND REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest, Kyra, as you said, is that they are investigating the cause of this crash while these other C-130s are grounded, grounded by the Air Force right now, and that essentially really diminishes the ability of the Forest Service to fight a lot of wildfires.

Remember the way the Forest Service does this is they use a number of different planes, but some of the big guns, as you said it, are these C-130s that are on loan from the Air Force as part of this firefighting fleet.

Now, this is not the first time a C-130 has crashed. There was another, relatively horrific crash in 2003 when essentially a C-130s wings folded upward and fell off the plane in Northern California. That crash was blamed on metal fatigue. Obviously, the Air Force is still looking into what caused this recent crash.

PHILLIPS: So any idea when the grounding might be lifted?

O'LEARY: That's a lot harder to say and what we're talking about here is looking at this fleet of planes. These are not the only tools that the local officials have to fight fires.

They have another arsenal, if you will, of different tools so there are now nine P2V tankers. There are about 14 planes, overall. You also have Convairs. These are older planes. Some of them are as much as 40 years old and they are equipped with mobile firefighting systems and then they are used by contractors who work with the federal government and send them out to different fires. They move from place to place.

There's also one very large air tanker. It's essentially a DC-10 that's equipped to fight fires, but one of the criticisms you hear is that, even though this can drop more fire retardant, it's harder for them to get into smaller places, get really at the causes of some of these fires, get them early on. You have also folks who advocate for using smaller planes or for using helicopters.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Lizzie, thanks so much. And just a reminder, we're expecting a live news conference this afternoon on the C-130s. We'll continue to follow the story for you throughout the day.

So let's head over to Colorado now. That's one of the 12 Western states battling wildfires this hour. The Air Force had activated its entire fleet of C-130s to help fight the fires across the West.

Martin Savidge is there in Colorado Springs. So, Martin, how visible were the C-130s there where you are?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, they were here. In fact, it was reported by the incident commander. We're standing outside, just so you know, the incident command center. This is the headquarters, essentially, where the fire has been fought, the Waldo Canyon fire.

And at one point, I believe, the National Forest Service said that every one of those C-130s that was outfitted with the firefighting capability were here in Colorado and were tasked for this fire when it was at its worst.

Now, that's all changed as a result of the incident that's occurred. I should tell you that word quickly spread of the loss of that aircraft inside when it went down on Sunday and, of course, the loss of life is felt deeply throughout the firefighting community. They feel it inside even though it was a different fire.

They have continued to fight this fire even without that aircraft. They have many other resources. It should be pointed out the C-130 is welcomed, its needed, but they do have other air assets they can use. We've seen them in action. They have a big sky crane, helicopters, these massive things that look like insects that they can drop water, a lot of water on a fire.

They also have contractors that are out there flying everything that looked like -- what do you call it, the spraying-type aircraft, very small planes, very nimble, 500 gallons, but they can spin and drop that right on a very small fire.

And then you've got everything in between. So the air assets are there, but then they've got 1,500 wildland firefighters here as well. So the loss of the aircraft, the grounding of it, felt but they carry on and they do have other means of battling this fire, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So the Waldo Canyon fire. Has it come down to just targeting hot spots now? How much of it has been contained?

SAVIDGE: Yes, 70 percent is where they are at. At least, that was the end of the day today. I imagine they're going to do better. There is a little bit of a concern only because we have right now is some pretty good building heat and light breeze and that could stir up some of the embers that are out there.

But they've got 70 percent contained. Doesn't mean out, of course, but they basically got a defensive perimeter around 70 percent. It's a 26-square mile fire, so it's a large area that they have to try to surround.

But they are making progress in doing that and, for the most part, what's burning are islands, interior islands, areas of vegetation surrounded by burned-out areas. They're not a concern. Winds that could lift an ember and put it into fresh forest, that would be a concern. They are watching for that, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, Martin Savidge, thanks so much and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, also Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, both going to be there in Colorado Springs today. We expect to hear from them around 12:30 this afternoon, so stay with CNN for more on the fires throughout the rest of the day.

Well, nearly 1.4 million people are still without power right now and, as the temps continue to rise, thousands of people across the country are enduring a fourth day without air conditioning.

The power outages happened after that storm blasted through the East Coast and Midwest over the weekend and the outages are now scattered across 11 states and Washington. We're talking Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey and also Illinois.

All of these places without power and here's one of the most frustrating factors. The power companies are refusing to say when power will be restored.

Here's a pretty incredible example of just how hot it's been. Take a look at Wisconsin. Highway 29 in Chippewa County. The pavement buckled because of the heat, so an SUV was headed down the road, hit the ramp and it was sent airborne. We're told that everyone is OK and that the roadway has been repaved and is back open. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, just a quick note for those heading out the door. You can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone or computer. Just log onto CNN.com/TV.

Well, if you ever wished you could set interest rates with the snap of your fingers, well, there's a job open at Barclays, two actually. CEO Bob Diamond -- seen here -- as well as the bank's chief operating officer have now stepped down, just days after Barclays paid half a billion dollars in fines in the U.K. and the U.S.

Now, the bank admits it manipulated what's called the libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate. Now, that's a daily read of the interest rates that big banks charge one another, but you don't have to be a big bank to be affected by the rises and falls of it.

My colleague Richard Quest joining me now to explain what lies about libor mean to you. Richard?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very simple in a difficult sort of way. Libor is a rate set in London, but it's not just set in sterling pounds or euros or yen. Libor is also set in dollars and that should follow the interest rates in the United States as given by the Fed and other banks in the U.S.

Once libor, dollar libor, is set, all the credit card companies, all the home loans, all those consumer credit, the sofa you bought, the car payments you made, if you're going out to buy a car, you will -- you could well find it is described as libor-plus-1-percent, libor- plus-3-percent, and that is the inextricable link between you and me and the fraud -- for that's what it was -- that was taking place.

When we borrow money, we borrow libor-plus.

PHILLIPS: And it's a pretty informal system, right?

QUEST: It's informal in the way the banks put their bids in.

PHILLIPS: They just call each other?

QUEST: Not quite.

PHILLIPS: No?

QUEST: The banks basically gauge what they can lend money at, write it on a piece of paper and submit it and then this organization sort of works it all out. All right, it is informal. It's a formal, it's a simple, but what's really worrying about this, Kyra, what's really disheartening to anybody who looks at this is the brazen way in which the banks were fiddling it.

There was no, pssst, would you do this for me? Hey, can you do that for me? This is open e-mails. Dude, I need a lower rate. Dude, I need a lower rate next Tuesday. And the guy who was doing the rate says is 1.76 low enough? I mean, this is naked, brazen, scandalous and that is why Barclays in one of its submissions today says, these events should never have taken place, but here's the point ...

PHILLIPS: How did they think they wouldn't get caught and there's other big banks that are involved, too, right?

QUEST: That's the point and here's why I think they never thought they were going to get caught. Are you ready for this? Because it's probable that everybody was up to it in some shape or form. Barclays traders were asking other banks, other banks were asking Barclays.

And you have got to see this, Kyra, in a pre-2007 environment. What's now being called the "Age of Irresponsibility, " subprime, AIG risk, the sort of not looking that let Madoff get away for so many years, Enron, WorldCom, all these events took place when the financial world thought it could get away with murder, basically.

PHILLIPS: It's arrogance. It's unbelievable arrogance and where are the watchdog systems? I mean, totally failing the people.

QUEST: Well, that was the point. Well, you can argue, we say, Republicans and Democrats, both share blame in all of this. Some for getting rid of Glass-Steagall, others for light regulations, self- regulation, some for cutting back on the SEC budgets, others for making sure that people were put in place.

There's so much blame and you and I bear blame and everybody. It was an era. It was an era that came to a crashing end in 2007-2008 and you know the phrase they always say? When the tide goes out, you discover who is swimming naked and what we are seeing is many naked bodies that are best -- well, you can guess.

PHILLIPS: Richard Quest, I'll tell you what, I love how you put everything into perspective. Thank you very much.

Now, let's take a quick look at our stock market. Dow Industrials up 54 points.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Four months to decide. That's how long it left until voters make their choice in the presidential election so where do we stand right now? Check this out. It's the new CNN/ORC poll. The president holds just a three-point lead over Mitt Romney, the exact same margin as last month, by the way, but as our Joe Johns reports, that's just part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even though the president maintains a slight edge in our nationwide polling it appears to be a different story in the 15 battleground states, including Iowa where we met this group of young voters at the Court Avenue Restaurant and Brewing Company in Des Moines.

Our latest CNN/ORC poll indicates Mitt Romney is out to a 51 percent to 43 percent advantage in the 15 states we consider in play. The seven true tossup states and the eight states leaning towards the president or his Republican challenger. Nick has supported Romney since the Iowa caucuses and says he sees the candidate's pragmatism as a key, selling-point.

NIC POTTERBURAM, IOWA VOTER: But if you look at his record in terms of his ability in the private sector and being governor of Massachusetts, definitely some interesting insight into his ability to solve problems.

And Barack Obama said, four years, I'll solve the problem. He's lacked leadership in a lot of direction and Mitt Romney is really strong when it comes to solving problems and being very pragmatic.

JOHNS: The news is not all good for the Republican challenger, however. As a presidential election approaches, few things are seen as more important than voter enthusiasm and the incumbent president seems to have it on his side, at least for now.

In March only 46 percent of Democrats said they were enthusiastic about voting in November and now that number is up to 59 percent, a 13-point increase.

KATHERINE VALDE, IOWA VOTER: I'm very excited for this election, and I've been really pleased that President Obama has put his neck out on the line for students.

JOHNS: For Romney, not so much. Republican enthusiasm has remained almost constant, 52 percent in march versus 51 percent now. It's a very different race from the last time Obama and Romney ran for president.

ABHAY NADIPURAM, IOWA VOTER: I think our generation is less connected with this election than they were in 2008, primarily because in 2008 most of us were first-time voters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Joe Johns is still on the road. He's moved now from Iowa to Ohio, another key battleground state, of course. Joe, what do you think, people there, have they made up their minds? What have you been able to gauge?

JOHNS: Well, you know nationally, Kyra, 79 percent of Americans say they have made up their minds. According to our poll, that leaves about 20 percent who have not, and that, of course, is the key 20 percent that Obama and Romney are going to have to go for.

It's a mixed bag. A lot of people in this country actually have -- you know, it's red state, blue state and a very polarized place right now.

PHILLIPS: So what are the voters most concerned about, besides the heat because I can see the sweat dripping down your neck?

JOHNS: I know. It's really hot out here. Plus, we've got a river and there's humidity. What the voters are most concerned about right now on this hot July 4th weekend is jobs and that economy and I've got to tell you, here in the state of Ohio things are getting better. Unemployment is down from last year, but still, 55 percent of respondents in recent polls have said they don't think the country is on the right track, so, you know, the expectations and what's actually happening sort of need to catch up with each other.

PHILLIPS: Joe Johns, thanks so much. We'll keep checking in with you.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney's campaign bus is there in Columbus, Ohio, as well, but the candidate himself is actually in New Hampshire. President Obama will be in Ohio later this week for a campaign event. And we're following all of it for you.

All right, tax or no tax, that's the debate now on the president's healthcare law. A spokesperson for Mitt Romney says that his boss considers the mandate just a penalty, not a tax.

Well, that seems to go against what other Republicans are saying, including Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. She also told our Piers Morgan that there's more than just the mandate to dislike about this law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: We're forced to buy a product that private insurance companies offer and this is anathema to Americans. We should be able to make our choices, not have the federal government make our choices for us.

Because the good news is we really can have positive healthcare reform. We can do this and we can bring down the cost of health care, and we can make sure that we have affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, but the current situation won't work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The Supreme Court decision upholding the law has sparked a fundraising frenzy as well. Both the Romney and Obama campaigns say they have each brought in around $5 million bucks since the announcement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: New pictures have been released of Aimee Copeland, the Georgia woman who contracted a rare flesh-eating bacteria. The smiling girl, ready to face the cameras and her recovery, but just eight weeks ago, this 24-year-old college student was literally clinging to her life.

Aimee lost her hands, one of her legs and a foot to that ruthless flesh-destroying bacteria. Now, we're going to see pictures of a smiling girl who says she is ready to get her rehab started. She's been transferred now from an Augusta hospital to an in-patient rehab facility.

Well, tonight at 7:00 Eastern, Erin Burnett goes "OutFront" with Aimee Copeland's recovery. She's going to talk with the 24-year-old Georgia woman about her ordeal and her inspirational attitude. Again, that's Erin Burnett "OutFront" tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Well, they're the unsung heroes of the war in Afghanistan, risking their lives every day for their fellow soldiers and marines, but when their service to their country is over, they often find themselves left behind in the combat zone.

We're talking about combat dogs and the move to ensure that their life in retirement is safe and secure.

Chris Lawrence reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The bond between soldier and search dog was forged the day Nooshka discovered her first IED.

SERGEANT DAVID VARKETT, K-9 HANDLER: That right there was the moment that the relationship went from, OK, you know, I care about her, I love her, to this dog is absolutely amazing.

LAWRENCE: It was a remote village in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Sergeant Dave Varkett's patrol was headed towards a hidden bomb, but Nooshka sniffed it out, embedded in a wall and alerted them in time.

VARKETT: If I have a soldier and he saves my life, we'd be best friends for life and it's the same thing with this dog.

Nooshka, you OK?

LAWRENCE: There are nearly 3,000 military working dogs and 600 are serving in war zones. They eat, sleep and fight alongside their handlers, 24/7, but the military classifies them as equipment, right along with the rifles and rucksacks.

So if a dog gets old and retires on a base overseas, he's considered excess equipment, not entitled to transport home. Someone who wants to adopt him has to pay the shipping costs which can run thousands of dollars.

So when dog handler Robert Mather left the Army, he couldn't afford to adopt his partner named Nouska because it meant flying to an overseas base to get her.

ROBERT MATHER, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): It was going to be in the couple thousand dollars between the ticket for myself, the ticket for the dog and the short notice of it all.

LAWRENCE: You want to bring her back, but, I mean, that's a lot of money. MATHER: Exactly. Right now, I'm a full-time student. My wife works part-time at the local mall here and we have our son to raise, so there's not always a lot of extra money laying around to just go up and get a dog

LAWRENCE: Despite her four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Nouska could have been left behind.

Now, there's a push in Congress to give the dogs their due.

REPRESENTATIVE WALTER JONES (R), NORTH CAROLINA: We're looking for a classification that's higher than equipment.

LAWRENCE: Representative Walter Jones co-sponsored a bill to make them canines members of the armed services. It would allow the military to honor courageous dogs, make sure they all get flown back to the States and set up a private fund for lifetime health care.

Some people would say you guys need to be watching every penny that you spend.

JONES: The cost is not going to be astronomical. If we can find $10 billion to spend in Afghanistan, then certainly we can find a few thousand dollars to say that the dog is more than equipment.

VARKETT: You ask any handler, this is a soldier. There's no doubt about it because the bond that we have with these dogs is absolutely amazing.

LAWRENCE: Nouska is 12-years old now and still feels the effects of her four deployments.

MATHER: Even still today she's apprehensive towards loud noises like doors slamming.

LAWRENCE: But thanks to a local school that raised the money, Robert Mather brought his partner home to become a part of his family.

MATHER: She doesn't have a whole lot of life left, but what life she does have left deserves to be comfortable for all that she's given. She's given just as much as all of the soldiers have.

LAWRENCE: Chris Lawrence, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And for more on this or the latest reporting by our national security team, just log onto CNN.com/security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Nobody knows the comings and goings of New York City better than cab drivers. So that's where authorities are turning in their fight to help -- or turning IN their fight to try and help human trafficking and stop it.

CNN's Richard Roth actually hit the streets to find out more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL DICK, CAB DRIVER: Where would you like to go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 20th between Fifth and Sixth, please.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Dick is a New York cab driver. Soon, Michael and all Yellow Taxi and private car services will be told by the city of New York where to go, a training course on how to spot sex trafficking in their vehicles.

CHRISTINE QUINN, PRESIDENT, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: We want drivers to look for is the kind of thing a lot of children kind of hanging around a particular driver. Are there people, children or adults, who don't speak, who seem incredibly nervous and frightened?

ROTH: Cab drivers say they oppose sex trafficking but feel they are unfairly targeted. And some question the effectiveness of one class.

DICK: I think 90 percent of the cab drivers, although they may watch the video, I don't think they would take advantages or do anything.

ROTH: Sex trafficking by taxi is rare. However, as police crack down on brothels, traffickers have adjusted, now paying drivers of all kinds of vehicles to ferry victims to the customer.

DORCHEN LEIDHOLDT, SANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES: It's a big problem. Actually not only here in New York City and around New York State but around the world. We are seeing drivers as an integral part of the sex trafficking industry.

ROTH: The new law is supposed to place more eyes on the problem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you begin your testimony?

ROTH: During debate, a sex trafficking victim testified, her identity hidden. She spoke through an activist.

"SOPHIE" (through translation): For one week at a time. The driver would pick me up and take me from location to location based upon the schedule that he had set up for the men who were buying sex.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a really important issue but one that's incredibly difficult to enforce.

DICK: I can't understand how they are going to enforce it. They don't even enforce the honking law, which is a lot easier.

(LAUGHTER)

People honk like crazy.

ROTH: The new sex trafficking laws are tougher. CHRISTINE QUINN, PRESIDENT, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: If you don't want to lose your license, if you don't want a $10,000 fine, don't participate in sex trafficking. It's crystal clear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Richard Roth joining me live.

I understand Mayor Bloomberg, Richard, almost didn't sign this bill. What were the reasons behind his concerns?

ROTH: Well, he had some concerns, which he expressed on the eve of signing it, and it was the concerns of several people connected to this story that women who were passengers in cabs, what the mayor said, might have a sporty look, mentioning even his teenage or 20- year-old daughters, that they might be perceived as involved in some type of sexual trade and sexual work activity. And there are others from the sex worker industry who said they would be unfairly targeted. And they adjusted this bill a few weeks ago so that there would be no misconceptions. The mayor heard it from all sides and, in the end, he signed it.

PHILLIPS: All right. So when exactly will it take effect?

ROTH: In about three months, the law takes effect. It will probably be a video course that cab drivers will have to take. Of course, many cab drivers in New York, the ones behind me here at Penn Station in New York, speak a lot of different languages. As our cab driver said in a report there, he's wondering about the true effectiveness and how much they will be able to do or spot or want to get involved.

PHILLIPS: Our Richard Roth live for us in New York. Richard, thanks. And in an effort to end modern-day slavery, CNN started the Freedom Project. For more on this, visit our web site at CNNfreedomproject.org.

So what happened to Amelia Earhart? It's one of America's most enduring mysteries. Now a $2.2 million expedition has been launched. Researchers believe that they may be able to finally tell us what happened to the famed female aviator 75 years ago. They will actually set sail today on an 1,800-mile expedition from Hawaii to a tiny uninhabited island in the Pacific nation of Kiribati. That's where they hope to find Earhart's plane. Old radio transmissions and several artifacts have led these researchers to believe it is, indeed, Earhart's final resting place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIC GILLESPIE, INTERNATIONAL GROUP FOR HISTORIC AIRCRAFT RECOVERY: And what we've been finding are artifacts, personal care items that speak out of an American woman in the 1930s -- a woman's compact, the pieces of a mirror, some rouge from the makeup, a jackknife, double-bladed bone-handled jackknife of the same type that we know was aboard her airplane. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The group plans to arrive next Wednesday, conducting a 10-day search right there on its western reef.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Electric shocks, pulling out fingernails, burning with acid, sexual assaults -- some of the heartless tactics of torture that Human Rights Watch says that the Syrian government is using against its own people to try to crush that revolt against Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

If you take a look at this map, Human Rights Watch says that it shows the actual torture centers all across the country.

Ivan Watson is monitoring the developments from the base there in Istanbul.

Ivan, what more can you tell us about this human rights report besides the fact that it's terribly disturbing?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. What Human Rights Watch has done is interviewed 200 people, former prisoners as well as former security officers, and they have compiled the list of at least 27 detention centers where they say torture was systematically practiced, that belonged to at least four different intelligence or secret police agencies run by the Syrian state. And they have also named some of the commanders of some of these detention centers in a name-and-shame effort to try to put pressure on them to stop what they call crimes against humanity. The people they have interviewed, for the most part, are young men, ages between 20 and 30, but they also include women and elderly citizens as well as children.

Take a listen to an interview, an excerpt of an interview with what's clearly a boy who describes how he was treated in one of these detention centers -- Kyra?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: On the third and last time they took me in for questioning, they pulled out my nails with pliers or something like a screwdriver.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, Kyra, Human Rights Watch is calling this network of torture chambers, the torture archipelago. And what's disturbing, even more disturbing about this is that it is clearly an instrument of state policy to try to control the population. And also the conclusions that Human Rights Watch has come up to match those of CNN, who have been following the story for more than a year, the interviews we've had with dozens of former detainees as well as former security officers that match these descriptions of the kind of torture methods used. And the security forces are using everything from a common car tire to battery -- car batteries, to clubs and batons to carry out this punishment against their own citizens to try to keep them in line.

PHILLIPS: Ivan, you've talked to these individuals as well. I mean, you brought us harrowing stories of those that have been tortured.

WATSON: That's right. I'm not a fluent Arabic speaker, but I've picked up the expressions of different torture methods that the Syrian government uses. Words like (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE), where you tie somebody up to a board so that you can then beat them and they can't defend themselves. That's something that every person I've talked to, who has been in a Syrian prison, has endured. They also have another method called the dula, which is the car tire. They stick a person's head and feet doubled over into his car tire so that they then beat them on the back and on the feet and around the head. Also, many of them describe being electrocuted.

And what was chilling was talking to a former secret police officer who worked for five years in the detention center. Not only did he say that they pulled out fingernails and made detainees eat them, or lick their own blood off the floor, he also said they had a name for the different clubs they used to beat prisoners. If the prisoners said "for God's sakes stop," they would say, oh, let's get the "for God's sake" stick. "For my mother's sake stop", let's get "for my mother's sake" stick. That gives you a sense of how systematic the use of torture is in the Syrian state today against its own citizens -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: I know you are extremely passionate about this story. And you've been one to bring us some pretty unbelievable details on what's happening, and we all await some sort of finish to this.

Ivan Watson, live out of Istanbul. Ivan, thanks so much.

And a new development today also on the shooting down of that Turkish fighter jet by Syria last month. Syria's President Assad is now saying that they shot it down because they believed it was an Israeli jet. Assad is saying that he regrets the incident.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the election is four months away and could well be decided by the swing states where autoworkers and union workers once ruled, especially along the Rust Belt. Both candidates are fighting for blue collar votes in places like Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are a whole bunch of auto plants in Wisconsin that wouldn't be open had we not intervened.

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll tell you, I think that President Obama had just put this in his column. He just assumed, from the very beginning, Wisconsin was going to be his.

(SHOUTING)

ROMNEY: But you know what, we're going to win Wisconsin. And we're going to get the White House.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right, so is Wisconsin up for grabs? Poppy Harlow has been hitting the road for a four-day road trip. Wisconsin was the first stop of her Rust Belt tour.

So, Poppy, what did you find?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: I think it is up for grabs. We went to Janesville, Wisconsin, a typically, Democratic town, a former big union town. They had the biggest G.M., the oldest G.M. plant in this the country there that employed about 4,000 people. That shut down in the end of 2008. And we've talked to folks, talked to autoworkers who still support Obama, and talked to folks now supporting Mitt Romney. You know, it's interesting, it's a town that's divided. It's a town that's -- because it's not so heavily union, Kyra, it's not necessarily backing Obama this time around.

Take a listen to some of the people we met in Janesville, Wisconsin, really on opposite sides here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VIC GRASSMAN, JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: It's a town without an identity, a town with more unemployment and more foreclosed homes and -- and more people that want to work that just don't have that option anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want jobs and they want good jobs.

HARLOW: Is it still a union town?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's changed. Not a union-centered town anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that the country needs to change a direction.

HARLOW: What candidate provides you more of an economic opportunity to make it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Mitt Romney, no question. What he said today, I'm going to get you back to work, I'm going to get you back to work. I care about it.

HARLOW: We hear the same thing from President Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we see Mitt Romney's proved it as governor. He's proved it when he was working with this company. ERIC KEANE, JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN RESIDENT: I believe President Obama is working for the working man. I voted for Reagan twice, OK? Wish I hadn't. Trickle-down economics, where we all wait for a couple of quarters to fall out of the fat guy's pocket is -- this is why we're where we're at.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Now it's interesting, Kyra, the last man you just heard from, Eric Keene, who worked at the G.M. plant for over 30 years, and even though the auto bailout didn't save his job, he's still supporting President Obama.

But that evening, I met a woman named Linda Shateck (ph) at a local softball game, and she said, I'm behind Mitt Romney 100 percent because of the economy. She works at Staples. And as you know, Mitt Romney's Bain Capital record, Staples is one of the companies that they invested in while he was there.

So it's interesting to hear people talking about his Bain Capital record, and for her, she said, I don't think that's a bad thing

PHILLIPS: You know, this is my old -- my old stomping ground. I think the majority of my --

HARLOW: Yes?

PHILLIPS: -- Irish relatives still live in the great cheese state, you know.

(LAUGHTER)

And this community, you know, usually went Democratic. So what do you think?

HARLOW: Right.

PHILLIPS: Could you be seeing a switch here to more people going Republican?

HARLOW: Very likely. We're not going to know until November, but this is a community that did vote for Ted Barrett, the Democratic nominee in that recall election, not Scott Walker. However, it's not a union town anymore.

So I was talking with Vic Grassman, the economic development coordinator there, I talked to him again on the phone this morning. He said, we're divided for sure. He said the UAW is gone. This is a town that's trying to figure out its identity. They still have 9 percent unemployment, down from 15 percent in 2008 and 2009, but it's still 9 percent, so it's higher than people want to see.

And you saw the guy in our piece there, Eric Keene, you know. He went from a good-paying union job. He's 52 years old, delivering pizzas and mowing lawn at the local golf course. So the jobs are not paying enough for people. Some of them will continue to support the president, give him four more years. And some of us -- some of them tell me they have had enough and they want to change.

PHILLIPS: Where are you heading next?

HARLOW: Kokomo, Indiana. Have you ever been there?

PHILLIPS: I have not been there. But I have good friends in Indiana.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: There you go. Nor had I. Indiana is the most fascinating we went to on this trip. It voted for Obama in 2008, for the first time since LBJ, and now it is leaning -- CNN has it leaning toward Mitt Romney. We spent the day in Kokomo, Indiana. We'll have that story for you coming up tomorrow.

PHILLIPS: Great. We look forward to it.

Poppy, thanks so much.

As Poppy just mentioned, we'll have more on the Rust Belt's impact on the presidential election all week. Keep it right here on CNN.

So you ever wonder just how private your online messages really are? Well, a New York judge has just ordered Twitter to hand over the tweets of an Occupy Wall Street protester. The defendant, Malcolm Harris, claims he had no idea about a police order to stay off the Brooklyn Bridge, but prosecutors say his tweets may reveal otherwise.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: If you're leaving the House right now, just remember, you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone. You can also watch CNN live from your desktop. Just two to CNN.com/tv.

All right. So we're just getting word that that fleet of C-130s that was suspended to fight the fires will resume. They will return to action. We are just getting word now.

(LAUGHTER)

That's all right, go ahead and cross over. You're fine.

We're following that story for you. And we'll bring you more information from the scene with our reporters there on the ground.

All right. Mother Nature may be putting her own fireworks on display. It looks like the storms and the blistering heatwave are going to continue throughout the Fourth of July.

Karen McGinnis, tell us exactly what we can expect for America's birthday. KAREN MCGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Kyra, some areas are seeing their temperatures just kind of fall back a few degrees. But if you were expecting a widespread diminishing of temperatures, that's not going to happen.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MCGINNIS: Kyra, back over to you.

PHILLIPS: So what you're saying is head to Seattle.

(LAUGHTER)

MCGINNIS: Sounds good to me.

PHILLIPS: OK. Sounds good. I love Seattle. It's beautiful. Right there along the water, cool breeze.

MCGINNIS: Beautiful.

PHILLIPS: Go to the fish market.

All right, thanks so much, Karen.

They leap right into the wildfire, battling to bring it under control. The Waldo Canyon Fire has now destroyed more than 340 homes, but it could have been a lot worse if we didn't have these guys.

Gary Tuchman takes us into action with Colorado's smoke jumpers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the entire USA, there are only 430 of them. They are among the fire fighting elite. They are the smoke jumpers.

UNIDENTIFIED SMOKE JUMPER: Elevation 10,900 feet.

TUCHMAN: And many of them are in Colorado right now, marching on to aircraft, which is their transportation to the action. Their job? To fly into the fires just as new ones are starting up and stop them from getting bigger.

This is video the smoke jumpers just brought back. It's hard to spot the flames up here at 1,500 feet, but the smoke jumpers are trained to see them, and it's all very clear when they're on the ground. Nowhere near any roads and sometimes quite a distance from any civilization, but if they don't get to the blaze quickly, the flames will often spread rapidly.

Smoke jumpers court disaster every day they're on the job.

(on camera): You talk to everybody you know, close family, tell you what you do, what do they say to you?

UNIDENTIFIED SMOKE JUMPER: They think I should get my head examined.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Part of the reason for that because of how they get to the fires.

(on camera): Fire fighting is not an occupation for the timid, particularly in this specialty. Take a look. These guys aren't just fighting fires. They sky dive into potentially deadly combustible wilderness.

(voice-over): We were invited to watch the smoke jumpers train in this canyon near Grand Junction, Colorado. After the smoke jumpers land, their equipment is attached to its own parachute.

STEVE STROUD, SMOKE JUMPER: Inside the cargo, you'll find our hand poles that we use for fighting fires, (INAUDIBLE) and shovels.

TUCHMAN: The smoke jumpers, who all work for the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and the Interior, also have MREs, water and sleeping bags in their cargo boxes, because they may be in the wilderness for up to 48 hours while hauling gear on their backs.

PHILLIP LIND, SMOKE JUMPER: Weighs 120, 140 pounds and we'll hike out of that situation.

TUCHMAN: The fires in Colorado have been unpredictable and relentless, but there are so many other ways to get hurt including lightning and bad parachute landings.

Phillip Lind was once seriously hurt when he missed the target.

LIND: Had a branch of a tree puncture me, come through this pelvis and eviscerate me. Fortunately, the person I was with was a trained paramedic.

TUCHMAN: The smoke jumpers put out fire by clearing fuels with their equipment and digging lines, also backfires to stop the wildfires in their tracks. They have to get along with each other because their lives depend on relying on each other.

(on camera): Are there times where you're fearful?

LIND: Almost certainly. I think all firefighters have moments when they're fearful. We like to say courage is not the absence of fear but the making of action in spite of it.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): And there has been no shortage of action this fire season.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Grand Junction, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Thanks for watching, everyone. You can continue the conversation with me on twitter, @KyraCNN, or on Facebook.

NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL starts right now.