Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Bush Wraps Up Foreign Tour; Mean Girls
Aired May 10, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush getting a huge reception in his landmark visit to the country of Georgia. But will his speech in Freedom Square create a new rift with Russia?
U.S. forces pushing deeper into the desert of western Iraq. A look at Operation Matador this morning, as well as new attacks by insurgents in Baghdad today.
And a small town now struggling to cope after two little girls are stabbed to death. Searching for a murderer on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
Good to have you along with us today.
We want to get straight away overseas. President Bush right now wrapping up that four nation tour about an hour ago. Mr. Bush leaving Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a nation which today he called a beacon of liberty and democracy. And a warm exchange of greetings there, in contrast to the behind-the-scenes tension that marked the president's earlier trip to Moscow.
CNN's John King covering the president's trip -- and, John, diplomatically, a bit of a tightrope to walk here, delicate for the president.
How did it go over four days?
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a very delicate trip, Bill.
Mr. Bush still very happy as he flies home on Air Force One after five days in Europe, four different countries he visited. Georgia was the last stop and it was where, in Liberty Square, Mr. Bush spoke to a crowd the government estimated at more than 100,000.
Now, it was just 18 months ago, on the very spot, that the so- called Rose Revolution unfolded. The people of Georgia peacefully toppling a corrupt, post-Soviet government, installing young democratic reformers. In paying tribute to those reformers today, Mr. Bush stood before the crowd, clearly reveling in the warm reception for a president who has made promoting freedom and democracy around the world his signature second term foreign policy initiative, it was the perfect stop. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are living in historic times, when freedom is advancing from the Black Sea to the Caspian to the Persian Gulf and beyond. As you watch free people gathering in squares like this across the world, waving their nation's flags and demanding their god-given rights, you can take pride in this fact -- they have been inspired by your example and they take hope in your success.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A perfect backdrop and an inspiration for one president the source of irritation to another. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, made clear that he did not like Mr. Bush's itinerary on this trip. It began in Latvia, once under Soviet domination. It ended here in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Russia views that as meddling in its backyard by the president of the United States.
Mr. Bush, though, says it is his duty to highlight new and young democracies around the world and the White House is hoping, as Mr. Bush heads home, that stern lectures, perhaps, stern words, anyway, delivered to Mr. Putin in private, but even more so the powerful images that he sees in countries like Georgia, in his neighborhood, will convince the Putin government that the spread of democracy is irreversible and that it would be in Mr. Putin's interests not only not to resist it, but to embrace it, perhaps even within his own borders -- Bill.
HEMMER: Another interesting trip.
John King, thanks, live in Georgia, from overseas -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right back to Jack with a look at what's in "The File" this morning -- good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Soledad.
If you never watch the "Cafferty File" again, you've got to see it today.
In Kenya, an abandoned baby saved by an unlikely mother. Wait until you see these pictures.
A profound message on the potential of living within your means.
And in North Carolina, if you're not married, you best not be shacking up together. It is against the law.
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
A good "File." Hey, thanks, Jack.
Let's get right to Carol.
She's got the headlines. CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you.
Good morning to all of u.
Now in the news, a pair of car bombs in Baghdad this morning, less than two hours apart. At least seven people were killed, 14 others wounded, in one of the attacks. Police say they believe a U.S. military convoy was the target. No reports of American casualties.
The U.S. Marine Corps denies it's recalling bullet-proof vests because of defects. Experts cited in the "Marine Corps Times" and "USA Today" said some 10,000 vests did not hold up under testing. The Marines say they disagree, but went ahead and recalled 5,000 vests, saying it was done to ease the minds of the Marines out in the field.
A memorial to the victims of the Holocaust is being unveiled this hour in Berlin. The tribute, created by American architect Peter Eisenman, is made of more than 2,700 gray pillars. It's designed to give the impression of inside a Nazi death camp. The memorial is located in central Berlin, just a short distance away from the buried ruins of Adolph Hitler's bunker.
And the governor of Arizona is putting the brakes on a push to make English the state's official language. Governor Janet Napolitano vetoed a bill that would have required the state to conduct all business in English. Opponents say the bill was an attack on illegal immigrants. The governor says she believes non-English speakers should try to learn the language, but the bill did not encourage that. So it dies.
HEMMER: All right, thank you, Carol.
O'BRIEN: Well, police in suburban Chicago are investigating the fatal stabbings of two second grader girls. Police in the Chicago suburb of Zion, Illinois still have no idea who murdered these two best friends, 8-year-old Laura Hobbs and 9-year-old Krystal Tobias. Their bodies, stabbed repeatedly, were found in a city park on Monday.
The "Chicago Tribune" says police have questioned a relative of one of the girls and have taken clothing worn by family members. Officials, though, are saying they have no hard leads yet.
We spoke early this morning with the superintendent of Laura and Krystal's school, and she says the community can still not believe it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONSTANCE COLLINS, ZION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 6 SUPERINTENDENT: It is in terrible shock and when you think in terms of something like this occurring with children, I think it's difficult for everybody to understand. With innocent young girls, no one would expect anything like this to occur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Laura and Krystal were last seen alive, they were playing in the park around 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Police say it appears as if they were killed early Monday morning. They also say there is no sign that the girls were sexually assaulted.
HEMMER: Absolutely a shame there.
Eight minutes past the hour now.
A lot of unanswered questions today after this barrage of gunfire in Compton, California. It happened in a neighborhood -- you've seen the videotape by now. Sheriffs deputies there firing dozens of shots, as many as 90, in fact, early on Monday morning, at this white SUV, hitting the unarmed driver at least four times.
Watch and listen here.
All right, that started with reports that shots had been fired in the neighborhood. Police chased that SUV for about 12 minutes, cornered it and then opened fire.
Witnesses in that area say the shooting was not provoked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRINA HAYS, NEIGHBOR: I was on the floor crying and saying, "Why do you have to kill him. Don't shoot him." Why did they have to do him like that? They didn't have to kill him. Because I thought he was dead. It was like set it up. And like I told them, it was gunshot at O.K. Corral.
SHERIFF LEE BACA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: I think it's more in the area of about 120 shots. It's interesting to note that even as the video shows, there are simultaneous shots being fired independently, meaning the noise that you were hearing implies there might be even less. But the reality is it's around 120.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: The driver who was shot was not seriously hurt. Police identified the injured suspect as a 44-year-old man, Winston Hayes his name, who they say has an arrest record for drugs and assaults.
That out of Compton in southern California.
A check of the weather right now at nine minutes past the hour.
Chad is off all week long.
He's Rob Marciano.
What are you seeing?
Rob -- good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT) O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a moment, a closer look at a study that Jack reported on Monday -- so-called mean girl behavior in little girls as young as 4 years old. We've got some advice on how parents can stop it.
HEMMER: Also, we're paging the good doctor, Sanjay Gupta today. It seems not all low-fat diets are created equal. Sanjay says eating more food may be the key to lowering cholesterol. Hmmm.
O'BRIEN: And a hockey, or, rather, a Hall of Fame jockey -- that's a short way of saying hockey -- reaches new heights in the Kentucky Derby. Mike Smith joins us live to talk about his long shot win.
Those stories are ahead as we continue on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MEAN GIRLS," COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is school? That's really interesting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're like really pretty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you agree?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think you're really pretty?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The movie "Mean Girls" focused on high school, but social scientists are finding that that same kind of queen bee behavior can be found in girls as young as four.
Brigham Young University professors Craig Hart and Clyde Robinson studied these mean girl pre-school girls.
Nice to see you, gentlemen.
Give me a sense of how you got the research. I mean were you hanging around playgrounds, overhearing conversations?
CLYDE ROBINSON, "MEAN PRE-SCHOOL GIRLS": Well, we were following up on some work of our colleague, Dr. Nikki Crick, from the University of Minnesota, who were interested in aggression. And there's different types of aggression. Most people have focused on physical aggression, which is pushing, shoving, hitting. And our colleague, Dr. Crick, started focusing on relational aggression, in other words, saying mean things about other people, trying to ostracize other individuals.
And so we were interested in that and we were interested to see if we could follow that as to what age group this is starting to apply.
O'BRIEN: So what exactly counts as mean in your study?
CRAIG HART, "MEAN PRE-SCHOOL GIRLS": Well, children -- and we see this happening on the playground with very young children -- they will say things like, "I won't invite you to my birthday party unless..." or they say "I won't be your friend anymore unless you do this" or they may turn their backs on each other and exclude each other when they're angry or upset.
O'BRIEN: Were you surprised to see this, what you call the queen bee behavior, the sort of just nasty, mean behavior, in children as young as four or maybe even three?
HART: Well, it's amazing how sophisticated they are at age four. What's surprising to us is how socially adept many of these children are in terms of manipulating the peer group.
O'BRIEN: Did mean mean more popular?
ROBINSON: Well, what we're -- what we were interested in is seeing if these forms of aggression, relation and physical, can be measured. Are the children aware of it? And we certainly found that they are at this age. And we wanted to see how these fit into the status of the children with their peer groups.
O'BRIEN: And did you find that the girls who were meaner were more liked by their classmates or...
HART: Well, what we found is that they were highly liked by about half the class and highly disliked by the other half of the class. So they're controversial.
O'BRIEN: Kind of a wash.
ROBINSON: They are.
O'BRIEN: What makes a kid mean? I mean is it they're mimicking their parents? Is that what your best guess is?
HART: Well, in the social scientists, we wanted to study young children, and if we can study young children then we are going to see are they picking it up in an environment, are they picking it -- is it a genetic things? There may be genetic propensities to things like this. But the fact that we're seeing this with young children shows that they're picking it up. They're very aware of the environment. There may be genetic propensities but they are tuning into their environment and what's going on in the home, what their older siblings and their friends in the playgrounds.
O'BRIEN: So the best way to keep your child -- and you talk really specifically about girls. It seems like it's more prevalent in girls. The best way to keep your child from being mean is to watch your own language? I mean what are the parents doing that's making their children mean?
HART: Well, some of our research shows that parents who use psychological control of their children, where they withdraw love and they give them the cold shoulder or put them on a lot of guilt trips, we've found that that is associated, statistically, with more relational aggression with peers, for both boys and girls.
O'BRIEN: Do -- why are more girls mean in this way and boys are not perceived to be mean in the sort of manipulative way?
ROBINSON: I'll go.
Both genders can be psychologically aggressive, but it's more prevalent with the boys because they're, you know, a little bit stronger and they use that as a strategy. Both genders can be relationally aggressive with, verbally, through their words and so forth, but it's more prevalent with the girls. And so we just need to be aware of that. And it's not just either or. It can be both.
O'BRIEN: It'll be interesting to see if, in fact, 3- and 4-year- old mean girls grow up into 16- and 17-year-old mean girls. And I'm sure there's a study in that somewhere.
Gentlemen, as always, nice to have you.
Thanks for talking and sharing your study with us.
We appreciate it.
Craig Hart and Clyde Robinson of Brigham Young University.
Well, Starbucks is already a big player, of course, in the music business. But its latest sales strategy is hitting a sour note with other retailers. A look at that is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: All right, we've got this thing solved by now.
Here's the Question of the Day and Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Bill.
Beginning today, the federal government -- that would be the taxpayers -- will pay hospitals and doctors $1 billion over the next three years to provide free emergency medical care to illegal immigrants. States requested the money because providing medical care for illegals has become a huge financial burden for them. California spends $500 million a year for medical care for illegal aliens. This at a time when an estimated 47 million of our own citizens have no medical insurance.
The question is this: should the government pay hospitals and doctors for providing emergency care to illegal immigrants? Lillian writes: "It would be criminal to do otherwise. Our country is built on a value system that mandates such care. The key word is emergency."
Ann in Pennsylvania: "This would be a great help in getting the illegals out of here. Let them come to a hospital or doctor, be greeted by INS, then given a referral to get their health care in their own country."
This is from Helen in Michigan: "Last year my husband lost his job due to the company going under. With the job, we lost our medical coverage. As the only working member of the family now, I can't afford to pay the insurance at work to cover the family. A couple of months after he lost his job, he was diagnosed with cancer. He also has lupus. What has the government done for us? Nothing."
Steven: "I have to believe that if illegal immigrants were not here, we would not need to debate this issue. It's the border, stupid."
O'BRIEN: Interesting point. And the poor woman, I mean she makes a great point, which is in this country, medical care is a mess.
CAFFERTY: Yes, it's awful.
O'BRIEN: It's terrible. And it's, you know, we did a story the other day about how that's the primary reason people go bankrupt, which, of course, means that they're uninsured and they can't -- I mean what do you do if you're sick, you lose your job, you can't pay for your insurance and then nobody helps you?
CAFFERTY: One guy wrote in he had an appendectomy. He was in the hospital five days. The bill was $20,000. When he got out, he was told Medicare wouldn't cover it.
HEMMER: Wow!
O'BRIEN: Right.
CAFFERTY: So now he's making payments on the $20,000 hospital bill he thought was covered when he went in.
HEMMER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: It's, you know, it's...
HEMMER: How are the Minutemen doing down there in Arizona, that band of citizens out there watching the borders, reporting things?
CAFFERTY: Well, when they were there, they cut down on the crossings by 95 percent without firing a shot.
HEMMER: Did they really?
CAFFERTY: So apparently border patrolling does work if you do it aggressively. HEMMER: All right, thank you, Jack.
More a bit later on that.
In the meantime, though, Starbucks sells a lot of coffee. You knew that, though. With an estimated 33 million customers every week, that chain is hoping to parlay that brand loyalty into some grande sized profits in music, of all things.
Here's Sibila Vargas this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For many people, this is the sound of music in the morning. But Starbucks is whipping up more than just lattes. The coffee house is serving up a proprietary blend of caffeine and CDs.
KEN LOMBARD, PRESIDENT, STARBUCKS ENTERTAINMENT: This is not about trying to drive more coffee sales. We have a tremendous opportunity to transform the way that music is discovered and delivered.
VARGAS: This week, Starbucks launches their Hear Music debut CD series, which is intended to spotlight new artists.
Female quintet Antigone Rising is the first.
CATHY HENDERSON, ANTIGONE RISING: It's a brilliant way to break a band, because you've got the band playing, you've got the product front and center and there they are listening to it.
VARGAS: CDs for sale in the coffeehouse can be a windfall for artists. An estimated 25 percent of all Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company" CDs sold were bought in Starbucks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MADELEINE PEYROUX, COURTESY ROUNDER RECORDS)
MADELEINE PEYROUX (SINGING): But if you think that time will change your ways, don't wait too long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: And Madeleine Peyroux's CD "Careless Love" shot up to number 71 on Billboard's album chart after appearing in Starbucks stores.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: You have a dirty wind blowing, devils and dust.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: But not every artist is Starbucks' cup of tea. The new Springsteen album, "Devil and Dust," was declined based on sexually explicit lyrics. And some retailers aren't thrilled with the chain's exclusivity deals, like the June release of Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM ALANIS MORISSETTE, "JAGGED LITTLE PILL")
ALANIS MORISSETTE: Now, hey, do it right, yes. I've been listening when you (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: The acoustic version comes 10 years after the original album and will sell exclusively in Starbucks stores for six weeks.
LOMBARD: I mean it -- we're not the first retailer that's been provided with an exclusive. I'm sure we won't be the last.
VARGAS: For artists like Antigone Rising, the exclusivity is not a problem, it's a stepping stone.
KRISTIN HENDERSON, ANTIGONE RISING: It's getting us in front of a lot of people who now will have heard of Antigone Rising and might even already own an album. And it might make them a lot more likely to buy a record when they finally see the next record out in record stores. So for us it was, you know, a win-win.
VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HEMMER: Starbucks first started selling those CDs back in 1995, 10 years ago.
And more on the Springsteen band, too. Springsteen joked the other night in concert that you can still buy his CD at Dunkin' Donuts -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, we're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for the new spin on low fat dieting. It seems that if you want to lower your cholesterol, cutting the fat is not enough.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: You can get the latest news every morning in your e- mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING "Quick News" at cnn.com/am. It is as simple as that.
In a moment here, he's had a Hall of Fame career, but jockey Mike Smith is savoring his latest trip to the winner's circle. What a day it was on Saturday. His first Kentucky Derby victory in 12 different tries. He's in our studio. We'll talk to him live as we continue here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 10, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush getting a huge reception in his landmark visit to the country of Georgia. But will his speech in Freedom Square create a new rift with Russia?
U.S. forces pushing deeper into the desert of western Iraq. A look at Operation Matador this morning, as well as new attacks by insurgents in Baghdad today.
And a small town now struggling to cope after two little girls are stabbed to death. Searching for a murderer on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
Good to have you along with us today.
We want to get straight away overseas. President Bush right now wrapping up that four nation tour about an hour ago. Mr. Bush leaving Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a nation which today he called a beacon of liberty and democracy. And a warm exchange of greetings there, in contrast to the behind-the-scenes tension that marked the president's earlier trip to Moscow.
CNN's John King covering the president's trip -- and, John, diplomatically, a bit of a tightrope to walk here, delicate for the president.
How did it go over four days?
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a very delicate trip, Bill.
Mr. Bush still very happy as he flies home on Air Force One after five days in Europe, four different countries he visited. Georgia was the last stop and it was where, in Liberty Square, Mr. Bush spoke to a crowd the government estimated at more than 100,000.
Now, it was just 18 months ago, on the very spot, that the so- called Rose Revolution unfolded. The people of Georgia peacefully toppling a corrupt, post-Soviet government, installing young democratic reformers. In paying tribute to those reformers today, Mr. Bush stood before the crowd, clearly reveling in the warm reception for a president who has made promoting freedom and democracy around the world his signature second term foreign policy initiative, it was the perfect stop. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are living in historic times, when freedom is advancing from the Black Sea to the Caspian to the Persian Gulf and beyond. As you watch free people gathering in squares like this across the world, waving their nation's flags and demanding their god-given rights, you can take pride in this fact -- they have been inspired by your example and they take hope in your success.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A perfect backdrop and an inspiration for one president the source of irritation to another. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, made clear that he did not like Mr. Bush's itinerary on this trip. It began in Latvia, once under Soviet domination. It ended here in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Russia views that as meddling in its backyard by the president of the United States.
Mr. Bush, though, says it is his duty to highlight new and young democracies around the world and the White House is hoping, as Mr. Bush heads home, that stern lectures, perhaps, stern words, anyway, delivered to Mr. Putin in private, but even more so the powerful images that he sees in countries like Georgia, in his neighborhood, will convince the Putin government that the spread of democracy is irreversible and that it would be in Mr. Putin's interests not only not to resist it, but to embrace it, perhaps even within his own borders -- Bill.
HEMMER: Another interesting trip.
John King, thanks, live in Georgia, from overseas -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right back to Jack with a look at what's in "The File" this morning -- good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Soledad.
If you never watch the "Cafferty File" again, you've got to see it today.
In Kenya, an abandoned baby saved by an unlikely mother. Wait until you see these pictures.
A profound message on the potential of living within your means.
And in North Carolina, if you're not married, you best not be shacking up together. It is against the law.
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
A good "File." Hey, thanks, Jack.
Let's get right to Carol.
She's got the headlines. CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you.
Good morning to all of u.
Now in the news, a pair of car bombs in Baghdad this morning, less than two hours apart. At least seven people were killed, 14 others wounded, in one of the attacks. Police say they believe a U.S. military convoy was the target. No reports of American casualties.
The U.S. Marine Corps denies it's recalling bullet-proof vests because of defects. Experts cited in the "Marine Corps Times" and "USA Today" said some 10,000 vests did not hold up under testing. The Marines say they disagree, but went ahead and recalled 5,000 vests, saying it was done to ease the minds of the Marines out in the field.
A memorial to the victims of the Holocaust is being unveiled this hour in Berlin. The tribute, created by American architect Peter Eisenman, is made of more than 2,700 gray pillars. It's designed to give the impression of inside a Nazi death camp. The memorial is located in central Berlin, just a short distance away from the buried ruins of Adolph Hitler's bunker.
And the governor of Arizona is putting the brakes on a push to make English the state's official language. Governor Janet Napolitano vetoed a bill that would have required the state to conduct all business in English. Opponents say the bill was an attack on illegal immigrants. The governor says she believes non-English speakers should try to learn the language, but the bill did not encourage that. So it dies.
HEMMER: All right, thank you, Carol.
O'BRIEN: Well, police in suburban Chicago are investigating the fatal stabbings of two second grader girls. Police in the Chicago suburb of Zion, Illinois still have no idea who murdered these two best friends, 8-year-old Laura Hobbs and 9-year-old Krystal Tobias. Their bodies, stabbed repeatedly, were found in a city park on Monday.
The "Chicago Tribune" says police have questioned a relative of one of the girls and have taken clothing worn by family members. Officials, though, are saying they have no hard leads yet.
We spoke early this morning with the superintendent of Laura and Krystal's school, and she says the community can still not believe it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONSTANCE COLLINS, ZION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 6 SUPERINTENDENT: It is in terrible shock and when you think in terms of something like this occurring with children, I think it's difficult for everybody to understand. With innocent young girls, no one would expect anything like this to occur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Laura and Krystal were last seen alive, they were playing in the park around 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Police say it appears as if they were killed early Monday morning. They also say there is no sign that the girls were sexually assaulted.
HEMMER: Absolutely a shame there.
Eight minutes past the hour now.
A lot of unanswered questions today after this barrage of gunfire in Compton, California. It happened in a neighborhood -- you've seen the videotape by now. Sheriffs deputies there firing dozens of shots, as many as 90, in fact, early on Monday morning, at this white SUV, hitting the unarmed driver at least four times.
Watch and listen here.
All right, that started with reports that shots had been fired in the neighborhood. Police chased that SUV for about 12 minutes, cornered it and then opened fire.
Witnesses in that area say the shooting was not provoked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRINA HAYS, NEIGHBOR: I was on the floor crying and saying, "Why do you have to kill him. Don't shoot him." Why did they have to do him like that? They didn't have to kill him. Because I thought he was dead. It was like set it up. And like I told them, it was gunshot at O.K. Corral.
SHERIFF LEE BACA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: I think it's more in the area of about 120 shots. It's interesting to note that even as the video shows, there are simultaneous shots being fired independently, meaning the noise that you were hearing implies there might be even less. But the reality is it's around 120.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: The driver who was shot was not seriously hurt. Police identified the injured suspect as a 44-year-old man, Winston Hayes his name, who they say has an arrest record for drugs and assaults.
That out of Compton in southern California.
A check of the weather right now at nine minutes past the hour.
Chad is off all week long.
He's Rob Marciano.
What are you seeing?
Rob -- good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT) O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a moment, a closer look at a study that Jack reported on Monday -- so-called mean girl behavior in little girls as young as 4 years old. We've got some advice on how parents can stop it.
HEMMER: Also, we're paging the good doctor, Sanjay Gupta today. It seems not all low-fat diets are created equal. Sanjay says eating more food may be the key to lowering cholesterol. Hmmm.
O'BRIEN: And a hockey, or, rather, a Hall of Fame jockey -- that's a short way of saying hockey -- reaches new heights in the Kentucky Derby. Mike Smith joins us live to talk about his long shot win.
Those stories are ahead as we continue on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MEAN GIRLS," COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is school? That's really interesting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're like really pretty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you agree?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think you're really pretty?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The movie "Mean Girls" focused on high school, but social scientists are finding that that same kind of queen bee behavior can be found in girls as young as four.
Brigham Young University professors Craig Hart and Clyde Robinson studied these mean girl pre-school girls.
Nice to see you, gentlemen.
Give me a sense of how you got the research. I mean were you hanging around playgrounds, overhearing conversations?
CLYDE ROBINSON, "MEAN PRE-SCHOOL GIRLS": Well, we were following up on some work of our colleague, Dr. Nikki Crick, from the University of Minnesota, who were interested in aggression. And there's different types of aggression. Most people have focused on physical aggression, which is pushing, shoving, hitting. And our colleague, Dr. Crick, started focusing on relational aggression, in other words, saying mean things about other people, trying to ostracize other individuals.
And so we were interested in that and we were interested to see if we could follow that as to what age group this is starting to apply.
O'BRIEN: So what exactly counts as mean in your study?
CRAIG HART, "MEAN PRE-SCHOOL GIRLS": Well, children -- and we see this happening on the playground with very young children -- they will say things like, "I won't invite you to my birthday party unless..." or they say "I won't be your friend anymore unless you do this" or they may turn their backs on each other and exclude each other when they're angry or upset.
O'BRIEN: Were you surprised to see this, what you call the queen bee behavior, the sort of just nasty, mean behavior, in children as young as four or maybe even three?
HART: Well, it's amazing how sophisticated they are at age four. What's surprising to us is how socially adept many of these children are in terms of manipulating the peer group.
O'BRIEN: Did mean mean more popular?
ROBINSON: Well, what we're -- what we were interested in is seeing if these forms of aggression, relation and physical, can be measured. Are the children aware of it? And we certainly found that they are at this age. And we wanted to see how these fit into the status of the children with their peer groups.
O'BRIEN: And did you find that the girls who were meaner were more liked by their classmates or...
HART: Well, what we found is that they were highly liked by about half the class and highly disliked by the other half of the class. So they're controversial.
O'BRIEN: Kind of a wash.
ROBINSON: They are.
O'BRIEN: What makes a kid mean? I mean is it they're mimicking their parents? Is that what your best guess is?
HART: Well, in the social scientists, we wanted to study young children, and if we can study young children then we are going to see are they picking it up in an environment, are they picking it -- is it a genetic things? There may be genetic propensities to things like this. But the fact that we're seeing this with young children shows that they're picking it up. They're very aware of the environment. There may be genetic propensities but they are tuning into their environment and what's going on in the home, what their older siblings and their friends in the playgrounds.
O'BRIEN: So the best way to keep your child -- and you talk really specifically about girls. It seems like it's more prevalent in girls. The best way to keep your child from being mean is to watch your own language? I mean what are the parents doing that's making their children mean?
HART: Well, some of our research shows that parents who use psychological control of their children, where they withdraw love and they give them the cold shoulder or put them on a lot of guilt trips, we've found that that is associated, statistically, with more relational aggression with peers, for both boys and girls.
O'BRIEN: Do -- why are more girls mean in this way and boys are not perceived to be mean in the sort of manipulative way?
ROBINSON: I'll go.
Both genders can be psychologically aggressive, but it's more prevalent with the boys because they're, you know, a little bit stronger and they use that as a strategy. Both genders can be relationally aggressive with, verbally, through their words and so forth, but it's more prevalent with the girls. And so we just need to be aware of that. And it's not just either or. It can be both.
O'BRIEN: It'll be interesting to see if, in fact, 3- and 4-year- old mean girls grow up into 16- and 17-year-old mean girls. And I'm sure there's a study in that somewhere.
Gentlemen, as always, nice to have you.
Thanks for talking and sharing your study with us.
We appreciate it.
Craig Hart and Clyde Robinson of Brigham Young University.
Well, Starbucks is already a big player, of course, in the music business. But its latest sales strategy is hitting a sour note with other retailers. A look at that is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: All right, we've got this thing solved by now.
Here's the Question of the Day and Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Bill.
Beginning today, the federal government -- that would be the taxpayers -- will pay hospitals and doctors $1 billion over the next three years to provide free emergency medical care to illegal immigrants. States requested the money because providing medical care for illegals has become a huge financial burden for them. California spends $500 million a year for medical care for illegal aliens. This at a time when an estimated 47 million of our own citizens have no medical insurance.
The question is this: should the government pay hospitals and doctors for providing emergency care to illegal immigrants? Lillian writes: "It would be criminal to do otherwise. Our country is built on a value system that mandates such care. The key word is emergency."
Ann in Pennsylvania: "This would be a great help in getting the illegals out of here. Let them come to a hospital or doctor, be greeted by INS, then given a referral to get their health care in their own country."
This is from Helen in Michigan: "Last year my husband lost his job due to the company going under. With the job, we lost our medical coverage. As the only working member of the family now, I can't afford to pay the insurance at work to cover the family. A couple of months after he lost his job, he was diagnosed with cancer. He also has lupus. What has the government done for us? Nothing."
Steven: "I have to believe that if illegal immigrants were not here, we would not need to debate this issue. It's the border, stupid."
O'BRIEN: Interesting point. And the poor woman, I mean she makes a great point, which is in this country, medical care is a mess.
CAFFERTY: Yes, it's awful.
O'BRIEN: It's terrible. And it's, you know, we did a story the other day about how that's the primary reason people go bankrupt, which, of course, means that they're uninsured and they can't -- I mean what do you do if you're sick, you lose your job, you can't pay for your insurance and then nobody helps you?
CAFFERTY: One guy wrote in he had an appendectomy. He was in the hospital five days. The bill was $20,000. When he got out, he was told Medicare wouldn't cover it.
HEMMER: Wow!
O'BRIEN: Right.
CAFFERTY: So now he's making payments on the $20,000 hospital bill he thought was covered when he went in.
HEMMER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: It's, you know, it's...
HEMMER: How are the Minutemen doing down there in Arizona, that band of citizens out there watching the borders, reporting things?
CAFFERTY: Well, when they were there, they cut down on the crossings by 95 percent without firing a shot.
HEMMER: Did they really?
CAFFERTY: So apparently border patrolling does work if you do it aggressively. HEMMER: All right, thank you, Jack.
More a bit later on that.
In the meantime, though, Starbucks sells a lot of coffee. You knew that, though. With an estimated 33 million customers every week, that chain is hoping to parlay that brand loyalty into some grande sized profits in music, of all things.
Here's Sibila Vargas this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For many people, this is the sound of music in the morning. But Starbucks is whipping up more than just lattes. The coffee house is serving up a proprietary blend of caffeine and CDs.
KEN LOMBARD, PRESIDENT, STARBUCKS ENTERTAINMENT: This is not about trying to drive more coffee sales. We have a tremendous opportunity to transform the way that music is discovered and delivered.
VARGAS: This week, Starbucks launches their Hear Music debut CD series, which is intended to spotlight new artists.
Female quintet Antigone Rising is the first.
CATHY HENDERSON, ANTIGONE RISING: It's a brilliant way to break a band, because you've got the band playing, you've got the product front and center and there they are listening to it.
VARGAS: CDs for sale in the coffeehouse can be a windfall for artists. An estimated 25 percent of all Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company" CDs sold were bought in Starbucks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MADELEINE PEYROUX, COURTESY ROUNDER RECORDS)
MADELEINE PEYROUX (SINGING): But if you think that time will change your ways, don't wait too long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: And Madeleine Peyroux's CD "Careless Love" shot up to number 71 on Billboard's album chart after appearing in Starbucks stores.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: You have a dirty wind blowing, devils and dust.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: But not every artist is Starbucks' cup of tea. The new Springsteen album, "Devil and Dust," was declined based on sexually explicit lyrics. And some retailers aren't thrilled with the chain's exclusivity deals, like the June release of Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM ALANIS MORISSETTE, "JAGGED LITTLE PILL")
ALANIS MORISSETTE: Now, hey, do it right, yes. I've been listening when you (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: The acoustic version comes 10 years after the original album and will sell exclusively in Starbucks stores for six weeks.
LOMBARD: I mean it -- we're not the first retailer that's been provided with an exclusive. I'm sure we won't be the last.
VARGAS: For artists like Antigone Rising, the exclusivity is not a problem, it's a stepping stone.
KRISTIN HENDERSON, ANTIGONE RISING: It's getting us in front of a lot of people who now will have heard of Antigone Rising and might even already own an album. And it might make them a lot more likely to buy a record when they finally see the next record out in record stores. So for us it was, you know, a win-win.
VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HEMMER: Starbucks first started selling those CDs back in 1995, 10 years ago.
And more on the Springsteen band, too. Springsteen joked the other night in concert that you can still buy his CD at Dunkin' Donuts -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, we're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for the new spin on low fat dieting. It seems that if you want to lower your cholesterol, cutting the fat is not enough.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: You can get the latest news every morning in your e- mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING "Quick News" at cnn.com/am. It is as simple as that.
In a moment here, he's had a Hall of Fame career, but jockey Mike Smith is savoring his latest trip to the winner's circle. What a day it was on Saturday. His first Kentucky Derby victory in 12 different tries. He's in our studio. We'll talk to him live as we continue here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
