( CNN Student News ) -- October 7 , 2010 . Download PDF maps related to today 's show : . • Afghanistan • Pakistan • Arizona . Transcript . THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT . THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED . CARL AZUZ , CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR : Hope you know your branches of government , 'cause they 're all showing up in today 's show . It 's Thursday ; I 'm Carl Azuz ; this is CNN Student News , bringing today 's headlines right to your classroom . First Up : War in Afghanistan . AZUZ : First up , leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan are trying to stop something that started nine years ago today : the war in Afghanistan . These leaders are getting together for meetings this week to work on ways to end the fighting . One group that 'll have to be involved in any kind of peace deal : the Taliban . That is the militant group that used to control Afghanistan when the war started back in 2001 . They 're not in power anymore ; they were kicked out by the U.S.-led coalition . But they are the ones who are fighting against U.S. , Afghan and coalition forces . Ivan Watson explains some of the challenges in getting the sides to agree . IVAN WATSON , CNN CORRESPONDENT : You 've got to bridge a huge gap to get two warring parties to sit down at the negotiating table . And what you 've got right now is the Taliban insisting it will not talk peace until what it calls `` foreign occupying forces , '' some 150,000 U.S. and NATO troops , leave the country . The U.S. , for its part , it says that a negotiated peace would require the Taliban to cut ties with al Qaeda , to follow the Afghan constitution , and to put down weapons . So , there 's a lot of space between these two enemies right now . The Afghan government seems to be trying to fit somewhere in between right now . Medal of Honor . AZUZ : A U.S. soldier who gave his life while fighting in Afghanistan is being awarded the Medal of Honor ; that is the military 's highest honor . In 2008 , during a battle with the Taliban , Staff Sergeant Robert Miller , a Green Beret , purposely drew the enemy 's fire so that his team could get to safety . The Army says Sergeant Miller 's actions helped save his fellow Green Berets and 15 Afghan soldiers . President Obama presented the award to Sergeant Miller 's family yesterday . His parents said that they feel a sense of pride , knowing that their 24-year-old son gave his life so that others could live . Twisters in Arizona . AZUZ : What you are looking at right here is the damage left behind when tornadoes hit parts of Arizona on Wednesday . At least two twisters struck near Flagstaff . Authorities say the storms derailed a train . They also damaged more than 100 houses and injured at least seven people . Officials said none of those injuries were thought to be serious . The train that was derailed , it had actually stopped on the tracks because of the tornado warning . Is This Legit ? TOMEKA JONES , CNN STUDENT NEWS : Is this legit ? The legislative branch of the U.S. government is responsible for interpreting the country 's laws . Not legit ! Interpreting the country 's laws is the responsibility of the judicial branch . Extent of Free Speech . AZUZ : The top part of that branch , the U.S. Supreme Court , is dealing with a case that involves the freedom of speech and the right to privacy . It all has to do with a small church that protested at the funeral of a U.S. soldier who died in Iraq . The church says it 's protesting against soldiers who , in its view , fight for a country that tolerates homosexuality . Church members argue that the freedom of speech gives them the right to express their beliefs by protesting at certain events , including funerals . The father of the soldier whose funeral was protested says his son was not gay . He argues that the protest was an invasion of privacy . The Supreme Court is n't expected to rule on the case for several months . CALM Act . AZUZ : Swinging back over to the legislative branch of government . It 's responsible for making laws , as you know , you 've learned in government class . Congress is working on a law right now that could bring some CALM to TV . All right , you know how when you 're watching a show and a commercial comes on . Well , not when you 're watching CNN Student News . But , okay , the commercial comes on , and it 's way louder than the show ? That could stop . Last week , the Senate unanimously passed the CALM , or Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act . Basically , it says a commercial ca n't be louder than the show . If the House approves the bill later this year and President Obama signs it , it 'll be the new law . Sound Check . DR. PHIL MCGRAW , HOST , `` DR. PHIL '' : When you get into the internet , the problem with that is the bully does n't have to look the victim in the eye . You know , they do n't have to deal with them one on one . They do n't see the repercussions of what they 're doing . I call them keyboard bullies , you know . They can just do this stuff with great anonymity . 85 % of the time , research tells us , there 's no consequence to what they do whatsoever . Bully Free Pledge . AZUZ : We 've been talking about different kinds of bullying all week long . Today , we want to talk about solutions , ways to try and stop bullying . Carol Costello visited a school in Oklahoma where students are promising to stand up against bullies . She talked to two students -- one who 's been bullied , one who bullied other people -- about why they think this is such an important issue . ( BEGIN VIDEO ) WESTERN HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : I am somebody . I can make a difference . CAROL COSTELLO , CNN CORRESPONDENT : At Oklahoma City 's Western Heights High School , students are pledging to protect the bullied . It 's especially important to Susan Le . She knows how bullying feels . Is it worse with words , do you think ? SUSAN LE , OKLAHOMA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT : I think it is , because when I was little , like , people always said I was , like , really ugly . And it , I never knew it affected me so much . And , like , people would ask if I was a boy or a girl , and I was hurt . I never wanted that to happen and , like , it lowered my self esteem really bad . And I never wanted to go to school . COSTELLO : So , I see it hurts you . I see it hurts you so much . But you know you 're beautiful , right ? Yes . It 's the kind of pain that affects so many children . One in three kids are bullied or bully every year . UNIDENTIFIED MALE : Kids being bullied do n't always tell you about it . COSTELLO : Marissa Velasco , who is also participating in Western Heights ' anti-bullying campaign , knows exactly what Simmons is talking about . In junior high school , she was a bully . Why ? MARISSA VELASCO , OKLAHOMA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT : I do n't really know if there was a reason . It was just an easy target , I guess . COSTELLO : Is it because other kids were making fun of those kids too ? VELASCO : Yes , there was a lot of others also bullying . COSTELLO : So , sort of like a mob mentality . VELASCO : Yes . COSTELLO : When you were calling people names , did it make you feel better ? VELASCO : It 's not that it made me feel better . It 's that I knew they felt worse . COSTELLO : Susan Le , Marissa Velasco certainly know the consequences . They 're hoping to make this school year bully free . ( END VIDEO ) Blog Report . AZUZ : All right , there are a few places where you 're keeping this conversation going . From our blog , it does n't look like many of you think bullying 's gon na go away . Listen to Teddy : He thinks bullying is a part of life , and says `` we all just have to live with it . '' And Francis : `` It takes a strong person to stop bullying when they see it . We need more strong people . '' Something new we 're doing this year : the CNN Teachers ' Lounge . This is also on our front page , right under our blog . Here 's what some of your teachers are saying about bullying . Chrisbloom says his middle school has tried several anti-bullying programs , `` but each year , students still list bullying as the number one problem . '' He says it 's frustrating that this persists . RMS Groves tells us `` the biggest issue among students is the fear of telling adults , either for fear of personal harm or getting a reputation as a tattle tale . '' And Teacher 12345 suggests trying to catch bullying before it starts . `` If you see mild conflict with two students , stop that before it turns into bullying . '' Shoutout . STAN CASE , CNN STUDENT NEWS : Today 's Shoutout goes out to Mr. Zielke 's social studies classes at Pacelli High School in Austin , Minnesota ! What is featured on the U.S. presidential seal ? Is it : A ) The White House , B ) The president 's picture , C ) A bald eagle or D ) An American flag ? You 've got three seconds -- GO ! A bald eagle is front and center on the presidential seal . That 's your answer and that 's your Shoutout ! Podium Malfunction . AZUZ : All right , so this is a little different than what we normally do , because President Obama usually does n't show up in our Before We Go segment . You 're about to see why he is today . Watch this . U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA : We can not sustain ... [ THUD ] Oops . Was that my , uh ... ? Oh , goodness . That 's all right . All of you know who I am . AZUZ : Yes , the president suffered a podium malfunction when the presidential seal just slipped right off the front of the podium . He recovered , though . Goodbye . AZUZ : And just seeing that certainly gets our seal of approval . For CNN Student News , you all know who I am . Back tomorrow , when our Friday show will be awesome . We 're looking forward to seeing you then . Bye now .
Putting together a peace deal in Afghanistan means overcoming big obstacles . The U.S. Supreme Court considers a balance between privacy and free speech . A victim and a former perpetrator share some of their experiences about bullying . Use the Daily Discussion to help students understand today 's featured news stories .