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CNN Live Today
Wave of Violence in Iraq; Iraq and Afghan Spending Bill Approved; Father Murders Daughter and Her Friend
Aired May 11, 2005 - 10:00 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We'll get started with what's happening now in the news.
Six separate bombings have exploded across Iraq today. At least 54 people are confirmed dead, nearly 100 are wounded. Most of the blasts were car bombs apparently targeting security forces. The attacks comes amidst a U.S. military offensive against insurgents near the Iraq/Syria border.
We have an update on the north Korean nuclear tension. Pyongyang announced it has finished extracting 8,000 fuel rods from its reactor. That would allow the reprocessing of that spent fuel into weapons' grade plutonium. North Korea says it intends to bolster its nuclear arsenal.
Live this hour on Capitol Hill, a House Intelligence Committee debates the renewal of the Patriot Act. Anti-terrorism law, which was borne in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, is due to expire at the end of the year. Critics say the measure gives the government dangerously broad enforcement powers. Supporters say no such abuses have ever been documented.
Next hour in Zion, Illinois, a court hearing for Jerry Hobbs, the ex-convict accused of stabbing to death his daughter and her best friend. The bodies of the eight and 9 year old girls were found in a wooded area near their homes on Monday. Details, possibly including a motive, are expected at today's court appearance.
Also live this hour, a news conference on the safety of altering vehicles. The popular motorized craft accounted for 600 deaths, and 125,000 injuries in the last year of complete records. A newly created group is dedicating itself to change that. It says it would reduce the number of child deaths.
And good morning to you. I'm Daryn Kagan.
We begin in Iraq, where insurgents press on with their deadly campaign. There were a wave of bombings in Iraq today. At least 54 people were killed, nearly 100 wounded.
Let's go live to Baghdad and our Ryan Chilcote for details -- Ryan.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, a deadly day in Iraq indeed. A total of six attacks, all of them bombing attacks across the country. We start it way up in the north of Iraq in the city of Hawija. That's where a suicide bomber strapped explosives to himself and somehow got close enough to army recruits to cause some lethal damage, when he blew himself up, killing at least 20 of these army recruits, wounding 30 more. We've seen a lot of these attacks on Iraqi security forces before. And a lot on recruitment centers. Again, it happening today up in the north of the country.
Then moving just a little bit south of there to the city of Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, there another suicide bomber attack. Only there, the suicide bomber used a car and was targeting day laborers. Iraqi police believe that these day laborers may have been targeted because some worked for the U.S. military doing stuff like base construction in that area. A very lethal attack. At least 30 of the Iraqis, police are saying, killed in that attack, about 40 wounded.
And finally here in Baghdad, four bombing attacks already today killing at least four Iraqis, wounding 12 more -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And Ryan, take us to al Anbar Province, the latest on Operation Matador and kidnapping of the governor in that province, please.
CHILCOTE: Now, certainly. Operation Matador is now in Day 4 and it appears to be winding down. The whole idea of this operation is to try and stop some of the violence we've seen in Iraq's bigger cities. The U.S. military has been operating out there in the Anbar Province in the west of Iraq, just on the Iraqi side of the Iraqi/Syrian border. Trying to flesh out, trying to draw out some of the insurgents it believes to be in that region and some of the foreign fighters. In the first three days of this operation, they said they've been very successful. They say that they have killed some 100 insurgents in that area, among them foreign fighters. They're also saying that there have been some setbacks, at least three Marines already killed in the fighting there.
Also, just late last night we learned that the governor of that province had been abducted. His captors reportedly are demanding that the U.S. military cease its operation in that province --Daryn.
KAGAN: All right. Ryan Chilcote live from Baghdad, thank you for the latest on that. Same region of the world, anti-U.S. demonstrations turned violent in Jalalabad, Afghanistan today. Protesters smashed car and shop windows, and stoned a passing convoy of U.S. soldiers. Police fired on the rioters, killing at least two and injuring dozens.. the demonstrations started yesterday, incited by reported incident at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"Newsweek" magazine reporting that U.S. military interrogators placed Korans on toilets, upset detainees. In at least one case the magazine reported, a holy book was flushed down a toilet.
U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are getting a financial boost. President Bush plans to sign a new spending bill approved unanimously by the Senate.
CNN Sumi Das is in our Washington bureau to tell us more about that.
Sumi, good morning.
SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. Well, the war on terror is about to get a bit more expensive. Late Tuesday, the Senate approved a measure. They voted 100 to zero to significantly increase U.S. spending.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAS (voice over): On Tuesday, unanimous Senate passed a bill already passed by the House authorizing spending an additional $82 billion, much of it to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This pushes the total cost of the U.S. war on terror since 9/11 past the $300 billion mark. Seventy-six billion dollars would be dedicated to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The bill also provides $5.7 billion for Iraqi security forces training, and increase in the death benefit for survivors of U.S. service members, from $12,000 to $100,000.
Senator Bill Frist said the bill was essential.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: Our troops overseas and to provide for tsunami relief.
DAS: Over $650 million would be allotted to helping the South Asian countries devastated by the tsunami. While all 100 senators voted in favor of the bill, some took issue with some immigration provisions stuck in the bill, prohibiting states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, creating stricter asylum laws, and completing construction of a fence on the California/ Mexico border.
Nonetheless, the legislation has moved forward and lands on President Bush's desk next. Mr. Bush has said he, quote, "looks forward to signing the bill into law."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAS: Some international projects would receive just over a billion -- excuse me, $4 billion in funding. One such project, a new American embassy in Baghdad that would cost nearly $600 million -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sumi Das, live from Washington, D.C. Sumi, thank you.
Now let's go ahead and take a closer look at that measure that Sumi was talking about, that could create national identification cards and undoubtedly stir up a lot of questions. Such as, what would be stored on these I.D. cards? Your name, date of birth, sex, I.D. number, photo and address. It would also contain anti-fraud technology. Will the Departments of Motor Vehicles share this information? Yes. In fact, that would be required. States must agree to link their databases in exchange for federal funding. When does it take effect? Three years from now in May of 2008. The Army plans to review recruiting procedures after allegations of abuse. Officials say recruiting likely will stop at the station probably someday this month. This review is following two incidents reported by CBS News. In one, the network reported a recruiter suggested how a volunteer might cheat to pass a drug test. In another, a prospect was threatened with arrest if he didn't report to a recruiting station. The Army says it is investigating both incidents.
Officials in Tbilisi, Georgia say that President Bush was never in any danger from a hand grenade. That grenade was found about 200 feet from the stage where Mr. Bush spoke on Tuesday. Georgian officials say the grenade was the type used in military training and did not contain any explosives.
A father heads to court this morning accused of killing his own daughter and her best friend. Our Chris Lawrence is live from Zion, Illinois.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We are right outside the courtroom where Jerry Hobbs is expected to be in just a few minutes now. We'll have that story coming up after the break.
KAGAN: Another little girl in the news. This one packing a powerful punch and a forceful kick. The lessons she learned to fight off her attacker.
And is your boss stressing you out? Would you like them to take a crash course in respect and communication? Ways to handle bad bosses ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Take a look at these pictures. Another rough and tumble day across parts of the Midwest. This tornado touched down last evening near Phelps County, Nebraska. It was one of at least a dozen twisters reported across the state. Another was sighted in Iowa, a home and a few structures were damaged, no injuries were reported.
Speaking of winter, we have snow to talk about in parts of the west, before the end of the hour -- Daryn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: A gruesome story we've been following out of Illinois. An ex-convict charged with killing his own 8-year-old daughter and her best friend. He'll appear in court the next hour. The girls were beaten and stabbed to death on Mother's Day in a suburban Chicago community.
CNN's Chris Lawrence is covering this story. He is in Waukegan. That is seven miles south of Zion, Illinois.
Chris, hello.
LAWRENCE: Daryn, police and prosecutors can't even begin to answer the question of why anyone would murder these two little girls. But they believe they can prove who did it. They believe that Jerry Hobbs dragged or somehow took his own daughter and her friend into the woods. Into the thick woods in a nearby park where they live and then beat them and stabbed them to death. And then later, the next morning, came back to that same park and pretended to discover the bodies for the first time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WALLER, LAKE COUNTY STATE ATTORNEY: What's standard in a homicide investigation is the family members are interviewed to find out the associates and where the victim was, and details of that nature. And Hobbs' reactions were atypical of a father whose daughter had just been murdered. And that piqued their interest and some of his answers really didn't add up. And that led them to further questioning and ultimately to evidence that resulted in the charges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Now also at issue, a red flag for some of the investigators, was Hobbs' extensive criminal history. He has got convictions going back some 15 years. He had spent the last few years in a Texas prison. He was released about four weeks ago. And that's when he moved here to Illinois.
Also, this has just been an incredible wave of emotions for the people who live here in Zion. It's a small town. A lot of people know each other. A lot of the parents here have children who were friends of these two little girls, Krystal Tobias and Laura Hobbs. They have just been on this roller coaster ride for the past few day, thinking there could be a random serial killer out there, someone preying on young children.
Now, if they believe Jerry Hobbs is guilty, that's an if, he's only been accused up to now. Then there's that feeling of relief. You saw that at a prayer vigil overnight as parents just kind of let out a huge sigh of relief, feeling that maybe it's a little bit safer for their kids to walk around the neighborhood again -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Any plans, besides the prayer vigil last night, for any kind of memorial service or funeral for these girls?
LAWRENCE: Yes. Right now, we don't have any information on Laura Hobbs. But Krystal Tobias, there is a wake, a family hour scheduled Friday. And then her funeral is tentatively scheduled right now for Saturday morning.
KAGAN: So sad for those families. Chris Lawrence, thank you.
Two hours from now, police in Southern California will release the 911 tape from the killings of a family. And the bodies of three adults and three children were found inside their rural home on Tuesday, all six victims appeared to have died from gunshot wounds to the head. One victim was an investigator from the Riverside District Attorney's Office. The case is being treated as a homicide. Homicide/suicide, however, has not been ruled out. We turn now to the latest development in a reopened murder investigation. A police chief says he will now look into a fifth death possibly linked to the Atlanta child murders. Wayne Williams is now serving two life sentences in the quarter-century-old case. After being convicted for two murders, Atlanta police blamed Williams for most of the 27 previous killings. DeKalb County, Georgia Police Chief Louis Graham announced last Friday that he would reexamine four of the cases. Graham will hold a news conference this afternoon and we will cover that for you.
Stories about attacks on children have been in the news in recent months. But if you're a parent, how do you approach that subject with your children? We're going to have some ideas for you in the next hour. Joining me will be Dominic Capelo (ph), author of "10 Talks Parents Must Have With Their Children About Violence." That one says drugs and choices. But we're going to be talking about violence with Dominic Capelo just ahead.
Also ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, a look at how a little girl fought off her attacker and didn't even blink an eye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not scared, not of anything. But my mom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: She got that right. We'll introduce you to one fearless fourth grader.
plus what do you do when your pension is in peril. Gerri Willis is here to save the day.
Hi, Ger.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Daryn. Good to see you. Well, for United employees this morning, the gold standard of retirement, the pension is looking like fool's gold. We'll tell you what you need to know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Big news for you if you are relying on a pension. A court order in hand, United Airlines now cleared to dump its four pensions. It's turning it over to a government agency. It could impact you. Many experts say it's precedent that could affect your company's retirement programs.
Here is CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis with a closer look in her "Top 5 Tips."
Gerri, good morning.
WILLIS: Good morning, Daryn. Good to see you. Boy, I'm telling you this story, you said it. It doesn't just affect the 134,000 people covered by United pensions. It may affect many other people because others may copycat this, particularly in the airline industry. And we've seen lots of other companies do exactly the same thing. That is walk away from their pension obligations, as they go into Chapter 11 or reorganization.
Make sure that you understand that you may be at risk, even if you don't work for United.
KAGAN: OK. So if it will happen to you, we have to talk about what you do. No. 1 or No. 2, face reality, I guess.
WILLIS: Yes. This makes you angry. This is upsetting. It's frightening. But spending all your time and money being upset, filing lawsuits is not going to make your retirement more secure. You have got to get a plan and get on it.
KAGAN: OK. The first thing of getting your plan is figure out what kind of needs you're going to have going forward.
WILLIS: Yes. And let's talk about that. Part of the problem here is workers don't even know how much money they need to retire. We're going to work through an example right her to help you understand.
Experts say you need 75 percent of your pre-retirement salary. So if you're making $50,000, you'll need 37,500 every year in retirement. Subtract Social Security because you will get some money from Social Security, that's the good news. You have got to come up with 20,000 each and every year. You multiply that number by 20, that helps you figure out how much money you'll be taking out every year over the rest of your life. The total is $400,000.
You can work your own numbers in this. This is just an example to help you figure out how much you'll need in retirement.
KAGAN: OK. So there's two ways here. If you're still working, let's talk about what your first plan is?
WILLIS: Well, if you're still working, you're going to have to get really aggressive here about saving. And I don't mean investing in dot-com stocks. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm thinking that you need to start looking for new ways to save. If you've been paying for your kid's college education, they need to be finding some loans and you need to be putting money away for yourself. Because at the end of the day, you're not going to get a loan for retirement.
KAGAN: Well, that's true. What if you're already retired though?
WILLIS: If you're already retired you may need to think radically. And of course, a lot of retirees already do this. You may want to think about downsizing, moving to an area where housing is cheaper, the lifestyle is cheaper. You may want to get a reverse mortgage. That will enable you to tap into the equity in your home. Because let's face it, Daryn, for people who are in retirement, often their home is their biggest asset. You need to unlock that door and get access to that money if you're in the situation where your pension is going away.
Now, I should say you should understand the pension isn't going away entirely. There's an obscure federal agency that's going to pick up the tab. But they typically don't pick up the entire tab, maybe three quarters of it. So people will still be struggling to meet that gap to make sure they have money in retirement.
KAGAN: Wow. And probably a lot of those folks are already feeling like they were struggling to make ends meet with what they had. And now they have to cut back even more.
WILLIS: That's right.
KAGAN: Gerri, thanks for those tips.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
Well, coming up, we're going to talk about a battle between an 180 pound man and little 70 pound girl. Guess who won?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came behind me and put my hands like that. And then i turned, kicked him like that. Punched him, and then he punched me back. Then I slapped him and he slapped me back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Still to come, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, how fast moves and quick thinking helped save her life.
Plus, complicated, unpredictable. Do these words describe your boss? Ways to handle bad bosses straight ahead.
(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 11, 2005 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We'll get started with what's happening now in the news.
Six separate bombings have exploded across Iraq today. At least 54 people are confirmed dead, nearly 100 are wounded. Most of the blasts were car bombs apparently targeting security forces. The attacks comes amidst a U.S. military offensive against insurgents near the Iraq/Syria border.
We have an update on the north Korean nuclear tension. Pyongyang announced it has finished extracting 8,000 fuel rods from its reactor. That would allow the reprocessing of that spent fuel into weapons' grade plutonium. North Korea says it intends to bolster its nuclear arsenal.
Live this hour on Capitol Hill, a House Intelligence Committee debates the renewal of the Patriot Act. Anti-terrorism law, which was borne in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, is due to expire at the end of the year. Critics say the measure gives the government dangerously broad enforcement powers. Supporters say no such abuses have ever been documented.
Next hour in Zion, Illinois, a court hearing for Jerry Hobbs, the ex-convict accused of stabbing to death his daughter and her best friend. The bodies of the eight and 9 year old girls were found in a wooded area near their homes on Monday. Details, possibly including a motive, are expected at today's court appearance.
Also live this hour, a news conference on the safety of altering vehicles. The popular motorized craft accounted for 600 deaths, and 125,000 injuries in the last year of complete records. A newly created group is dedicating itself to change that. It says it would reduce the number of child deaths.
And good morning to you. I'm Daryn Kagan.
We begin in Iraq, where insurgents press on with their deadly campaign. There were a wave of bombings in Iraq today. At least 54 people were killed, nearly 100 wounded.
Let's go live to Baghdad and our Ryan Chilcote for details -- Ryan.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, a deadly day in Iraq indeed. A total of six attacks, all of them bombing attacks across the country. We start it way up in the north of Iraq in the city of Hawija. That's where a suicide bomber strapped explosives to himself and somehow got close enough to army recruits to cause some lethal damage, when he blew himself up, killing at least 20 of these army recruits, wounding 30 more. We've seen a lot of these attacks on Iraqi security forces before. And a lot on recruitment centers. Again, it happening today up in the north of the country.
Then moving just a little bit south of there to the city of Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, there another suicide bomber attack. Only there, the suicide bomber used a car and was targeting day laborers. Iraqi police believe that these day laborers may have been targeted because some worked for the U.S. military doing stuff like base construction in that area. A very lethal attack. At least 30 of the Iraqis, police are saying, killed in that attack, about 40 wounded.
And finally here in Baghdad, four bombing attacks already today killing at least four Iraqis, wounding 12 more -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And Ryan, take us to al Anbar Province, the latest on Operation Matador and kidnapping of the governor in that province, please.
CHILCOTE: Now, certainly. Operation Matador is now in Day 4 and it appears to be winding down. The whole idea of this operation is to try and stop some of the violence we've seen in Iraq's bigger cities. The U.S. military has been operating out there in the Anbar Province in the west of Iraq, just on the Iraqi side of the Iraqi/Syrian border. Trying to flesh out, trying to draw out some of the insurgents it believes to be in that region and some of the foreign fighters. In the first three days of this operation, they said they've been very successful. They say that they have killed some 100 insurgents in that area, among them foreign fighters. They're also saying that there have been some setbacks, at least three Marines already killed in the fighting there.
Also, just late last night we learned that the governor of that province had been abducted. His captors reportedly are demanding that the U.S. military cease its operation in that province --Daryn.
KAGAN: All right. Ryan Chilcote live from Baghdad, thank you for the latest on that. Same region of the world, anti-U.S. demonstrations turned violent in Jalalabad, Afghanistan today. Protesters smashed car and shop windows, and stoned a passing convoy of U.S. soldiers. Police fired on the rioters, killing at least two and injuring dozens.. the demonstrations started yesterday, incited by reported incident at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"Newsweek" magazine reporting that U.S. military interrogators placed Korans on toilets, upset detainees. In at least one case the magazine reported, a holy book was flushed down a toilet.
U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are getting a financial boost. President Bush plans to sign a new spending bill approved unanimously by the Senate.
CNN Sumi Das is in our Washington bureau to tell us more about that.
Sumi, good morning.
SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. Well, the war on terror is about to get a bit more expensive. Late Tuesday, the Senate approved a measure. They voted 100 to zero to significantly increase U.S. spending.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAS (voice over): On Tuesday, unanimous Senate passed a bill already passed by the House authorizing spending an additional $82 billion, much of it to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This pushes the total cost of the U.S. war on terror since 9/11 past the $300 billion mark. Seventy-six billion dollars would be dedicated to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The bill also provides $5.7 billion for Iraqi security forces training, and increase in the death benefit for survivors of U.S. service members, from $12,000 to $100,000.
Senator Bill Frist said the bill was essential.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: Our troops overseas and to provide for tsunami relief.
DAS: Over $650 million would be allotted to helping the South Asian countries devastated by the tsunami. While all 100 senators voted in favor of the bill, some took issue with some immigration provisions stuck in the bill, prohibiting states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, creating stricter asylum laws, and completing construction of a fence on the California/ Mexico border.
Nonetheless, the legislation has moved forward and lands on President Bush's desk next. Mr. Bush has said he, quote, "looks forward to signing the bill into law."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAS: Some international projects would receive just over a billion -- excuse me, $4 billion in funding. One such project, a new American embassy in Baghdad that would cost nearly $600 million -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sumi Das, live from Washington, D.C. Sumi, thank you.
Now let's go ahead and take a closer look at that measure that Sumi was talking about, that could create national identification cards and undoubtedly stir up a lot of questions. Such as, what would be stored on these I.D. cards? Your name, date of birth, sex, I.D. number, photo and address. It would also contain anti-fraud technology. Will the Departments of Motor Vehicles share this information? Yes. In fact, that would be required. States must agree to link their databases in exchange for federal funding. When does it take effect? Three years from now in May of 2008. The Army plans to review recruiting procedures after allegations of abuse. Officials say recruiting likely will stop at the station probably someday this month. This review is following two incidents reported by CBS News. In one, the network reported a recruiter suggested how a volunteer might cheat to pass a drug test. In another, a prospect was threatened with arrest if he didn't report to a recruiting station. The Army says it is investigating both incidents.
Officials in Tbilisi, Georgia say that President Bush was never in any danger from a hand grenade. That grenade was found about 200 feet from the stage where Mr. Bush spoke on Tuesday. Georgian officials say the grenade was the type used in military training and did not contain any explosives.
A father heads to court this morning accused of killing his own daughter and her best friend. Our Chris Lawrence is live from Zion, Illinois.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We are right outside the courtroom where Jerry Hobbs is expected to be in just a few minutes now. We'll have that story coming up after the break.
KAGAN: Another little girl in the news. This one packing a powerful punch and a forceful kick. The lessons she learned to fight off her attacker.
And is your boss stressing you out? Would you like them to take a crash course in respect and communication? Ways to handle bad bosses ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Take a look at these pictures. Another rough and tumble day across parts of the Midwest. This tornado touched down last evening near Phelps County, Nebraska. It was one of at least a dozen twisters reported across the state. Another was sighted in Iowa, a home and a few structures were damaged, no injuries were reported.
Speaking of winter, we have snow to talk about in parts of the west, before the end of the hour -- Daryn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: A gruesome story we've been following out of Illinois. An ex-convict charged with killing his own 8-year-old daughter and her best friend. He'll appear in court the next hour. The girls were beaten and stabbed to death on Mother's Day in a suburban Chicago community.
CNN's Chris Lawrence is covering this story. He is in Waukegan. That is seven miles south of Zion, Illinois.
Chris, hello.
LAWRENCE: Daryn, police and prosecutors can't even begin to answer the question of why anyone would murder these two little girls. But they believe they can prove who did it. They believe that Jerry Hobbs dragged or somehow took his own daughter and her friend into the woods. Into the thick woods in a nearby park where they live and then beat them and stabbed them to death. And then later, the next morning, came back to that same park and pretended to discover the bodies for the first time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WALLER, LAKE COUNTY STATE ATTORNEY: What's standard in a homicide investigation is the family members are interviewed to find out the associates and where the victim was, and details of that nature. And Hobbs' reactions were atypical of a father whose daughter had just been murdered. And that piqued their interest and some of his answers really didn't add up. And that led them to further questioning and ultimately to evidence that resulted in the charges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Now also at issue, a red flag for some of the investigators, was Hobbs' extensive criminal history. He has got convictions going back some 15 years. He had spent the last few years in a Texas prison. He was released about four weeks ago. And that's when he moved here to Illinois.
Also, this has just been an incredible wave of emotions for the people who live here in Zion. It's a small town. A lot of people know each other. A lot of the parents here have children who were friends of these two little girls, Krystal Tobias and Laura Hobbs. They have just been on this roller coaster ride for the past few day, thinking there could be a random serial killer out there, someone preying on young children.
Now, if they believe Jerry Hobbs is guilty, that's an if, he's only been accused up to now. Then there's that feeling of relief. You saw that at a prayer vigil overnight as parents just kind of let out a huge sigh of relief, feeling that maybe it's a little bit safer for their kids to walk around the neighborhood again -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Any plans, besides the prayer vigil last night, for any kind of memorial service or funeral for these girls?
LAWRENCE: Yes. Right now, we don't have any information on Laura Hobbs. But Krystal Tobias, there is a wake, a family hour scheduled Friday. And then her funeral is tentatively scheduled right now for Saturday morning.
KAGAN: So sad for those families. Chris Lawrence, thank you.
Two hours from now, police in Southern California will release the 911 tape from the killings of a family. And the bodies of three adults and three children were found inside their rural home on Tuesday, all six victims appeared to have died from gunshot wounds to the head. One victim was an investigator from the Riverside District Attorney's Office. The case is being treated as a homicide. Homicide/suicide, however, has not been ruled out. We turn now to the latest development in a reopened murder investigation. A police chief says he will now look into a fifth death possibly linked to the Atlanta child murders. Wayne Williams is now serving two life sentences in the quarter-century-old case. After being convicted for two murders, Atlanta police blamed Williams for most of the 27 previous killings. DeKalb County, Georgia Police Chief Louis Graham announced last Friday that he would reexamine four of the cases. Graham will hold a news conference this afternoon and we will cover that for you.
Stories about attacks on children have been in the news in recent months. But if you're a parent, how do you approach that subject with your children? We're going to have some ideas for you in the next hour. Joining me will be Dominic Capelo (ph), author of "10 Talks Parents Must Have With Their Children About Violence." That one says drugs and choices. But we're going to be talking about violence with Dominic Capelo just ahead.
Also ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, a look at how a little girl fought off her attacker and didn't even blink an eye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not scared, not of anything. But my mom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: She got that right. We'll introduce you to one fearless fourth grader.
plus what do you do when your pension is in peril. Gerri Willis is here to save the day.
Hi, Ger.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Daryn. Good to see you. Well, for United employees this morning, the gold standard of retirement, the pension is looking like fool's gold. We'll tell you what you need to know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Big news for you if you are relying on a pension. A court order in hand, United Airlines now cleared to dump its four pensions. It's turning it over to a government agency. It could impact you. Many experts say it's precedent that could affect your company's retirement programs.
Here is CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis with a closer look in her "Top 5 Tips."
Gerri, good morning.
WILLIS: Good morning, Daryn. Good to see you. Boy, I'm telling you this story, you said it. It doesn't just affect the 134,000 people covered by United pensions. It may affect many other people because others may copycat this, particularly in the airline industry. And we've seen lots of other companies do exactly the same thing. That is walk away from their pension obligations, as they go into Chapter 11 or reorganization.
Make sure that you understand that you may be at risk, even if you don't work for United.
KAGAN: OK. So if it will happen to you, we have to talk about what you do. No. 1 or No. 2, face reality, I guess.
WILLIS: Yes. This makes you angry. This is upsetting. It's frightening. But spending all your time and money being upset, filing lawsuits is not going to make your retirement more secure. You have got to get a plan and get on it.
KAGAN: OK. The first thing of getting your plan is figure out what kind of needs you're going to have going forward.
WILLIS: Yes. And let's talk about that. Part of the problem here is workers don't even know how much money they need to retire. We're going to work through an example right her to help you understand.
Experts say you need 75 percent of your pre-retirement salary. So if you're making $50,000, you'll need 37,500 every year in retirement. Subtract Social Security because you will get some money from Social Security, that's the good news. You have got to come up with 20,000 each and every year. You multiply that number by 20, that helps you figure out how much money you'll be taking out every year over the rest of your life. The total is $400,000.
You can work your own numbers in this. This is just an example to help you figure out how much you'll need in retirement.
KAGAN: OK. So there's two ways here. If you're still working, let's talk about what your first plan is?
WILLIS: Well, if you're still working, you're going to have to get really aggressive here about saving. And I don't mean investing in dot-com stocks. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm thinking that you need to start looking for new ways to save. If you've been paying for your kid's college education, they need to be finding some loans and you need to be putting money away for yourself. Because at the end of the day, you're not going to get a loan for retirement.
KAGAN: Well, that's true. What if you're already retired though?
WILLIS: If you're already retired you may need to think radically. And of course, a lot of retirees already do this. You may want to think about downsizing, moving to an area where housing is cheaper, the lifestyle is cheaper. You may want to get a reverse mortgage. That will enable you to tap into the equity in your home. Because let's face it, Daryn, for people who are in retirement, often their home is their biggest asset. You need to unlock that door and get access to that money if you're in the situation where your pension is going away.
Now, I should say you should understand the pension isn't going away entirely. There's an obscure federal agency that's going to pick up the tab. But they typically don't pick up the entire tab, maybe three quarters of it. So people will still be struggling to meet that gap to make sure they have money in retirement.
KAGAN: Wow. And probably a lot of those folks are already feeling like they were struggling to make ends meet with what they had. And now they have to cut back even more.
WILLIS: That's right.
KAGAN: Gerri, thanks for those tips.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
Well, coming up, we're going to talk about a battle between an 180 pound man and little 70 pound girl. Guess who won?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came behind me and put my hands like that. And then i turned, kicked him like that. Punched him, and then he punched me back. Then I slapped him and he slapped me back.
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KAGAN: Still to come, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, how fast moves and quick thinking helped save her life.
Plus, complicated, unpredictable. Do these words describe your boss? Ways to handle bad bosses straight ahead.
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