you're done? she pulled a fast one! ( laughs ) new windex outdoor all-in-one. a streak-free shine in half the time. s.c. johnson, a family company. cops say four young boys lured an 8-year-old girl into a storage shed and took turns brutally raping her. now instead of being surrounded by her loving family, this little girl is in foster care, because her mom, dad and other relatives are shunning her. why? what could she have done? massachusetts police officers coming out to defend one of their own, a cop who arrested an african-american harvard professor. cops say he was following protocol. others say this is racism. who's right? you're a huge part of the show. love hearing from you. taking your calls, 1-877-tell-hln. you can e-mail us at

cnn.com/primenews. or text us at hlntv, just start your message with the word prime. it's your chance to be heard. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com a horrific crime. four boys charged with brutally raping an 8-year-old girl. the youngest boy just 9, the oldest 14. cops in phoenix say they held down the little girl u took turns raping her. neighbors could hear screams from the locked storage shed. yet instead of being comforted and embraced by her family, they're speaking out against her. >> reporter: this is the shed where police say the rape happened. the apartment connected to it is abandoned, but others nearby heard noises. >> we had a lot of kids, like screaming. >> reporter: investigators tell us the kids took turns as they raped the 8-year-old.

>> they restrained her and she was brutally sexually assaulted for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes. >> reporter: officers say they lured her inside with gum, and then other kids watched until a woman passing by broke it up. >> when we started hearing some screaming from a lady. >> reporter: neighbors say the suspects scattered. you're from liberia? they are all part of aly ber yan community. so we this had this woman show us where the victim lived. re found her 23-year-old sister who was babysitting when it happened. she's blaming her younger sibling. the guys are 9, 10, 13 and 14. and one of them the victim's own cousin. do you want them out of jail? >> yeah. >> reporter: why? you want them out of jail? >> because we are the same people. >> nothing has happened to my

daughter. nobody touch my daughter. >> reporter: the child's mother was denying anything even happened. and is angry cps has her child. >> when your child do something, you need to talk to your child. >> reporter: and while her father tells us -- >> i want her back. >> reporter: police say he told them he didn't. >> the parents felt that they had been shamed or embarrassed by their child. what do you want to say to your little sister? >> when she comes, i'm going to tell her don't ever do that again. because all of us, we are the same family. we are from the same place. now she's just bringing confusions among us. now the other people, they don't want to see her. >> all right. joining us now, marisa wingate who just brought us that story. also with us, dr. tara fields. and pamela skully in african-american studies at emory university.

marisa, great job on the reporting there. in your piece we heard from family. has any family members at all shown any compassion for this little 8-year-old girl? >> reporter: well, we talked to the 14-year-old, the one who's being tried as an adult, we talked to him family, they're praying for his release, saying he doesn't understand what's going on. he's not from this country, and he didn't even get an education until he moved here in 2005. they're saying they just don't understand the process. he doesn't understand the consequences. they say they are sad if this happened. but nothing admitting this happened. they don't really know what happened. and the child's own family, the 8-year-old, they're saying it didn't happen. as you saw in the piece, they's denying it all together. >> we've got the attacker denying it happened, and family of the victim. we heard the little girl's mom tell us flat out there. >> reporter: she did. she said it didn't happen. the 14-year-old's family, they just said they don't know what happened. they don't understand. we talked to another suspect,

one of the juveniles and he said, the father said it did not happen. >> i want to bring in an expert, pamela skully, professor at emory university. pamela, we don't understand this, obviously. there's a cultural element here, let's say that. but there's also a right and wrong we do understand, an 8-year-old girl was raped by four young boys. why is the family not surrounding her with love and support? she's 8. >> i think the first thing i would say about this all is that really what we're dealing with here is a post-conflict situation of people who are completely -- who are traumatized from the terrible civil war. both the victim and the perpetrators must be seen as traumatized children for different reasons. i think also what it shows, it is partly cultural reaction. really what it shows is how far we've come in this country, thanks to the news. now we take for granted that if a woman is raped, she's taken seriously and looked after. in so many parts of the world, this is not the case. the victim is blamed rather than

the perpetrator. the other thing i would say, though, is liberia is an interesting place because it has a female president, who has put issues like rape and domestic violence on her agenda for change. and so it's a very paradoxical situation rising out of a community from liberia. i would say what you're dealing with here is trauma that arises from a long history of civil war. parents who are refugees who don't want to be looked as if they're not worthy of being americans, who are indeed ashamed. we should feel empathy for all of them. >> how much of this is a culture where rape was not a crime, the way i understand it, until 2006? indeed. i think, again, as in many parts of the world, people see rape as something that either, you know, the victim should be blamed, or deny that it happens, because it's seen that the violation of the girl reflects badly on the

family and on her. i wouldn't stress the cultural issue quite so much. i would stress the fact that really, america is privileged in having had both men and women working for years to put rape on the agenda, something that needs to be taken seriously. >> right. and we mentioned the culture, because we want to understand this. many people in this country just do not understand a reaction like that, when we get the visual of an 8-year-old girl who has just been raped. we'll hear from the president of liberia concerning this very crime. and we'll take some of your phone calls, the number 1-877-tell-hln.

you're a huge part of the show.

we love hearing from you, what you think. call us at 1-877-tell-hln. e-mail us, cnn.com/primenews. or text message us, hlntv, that's the numbers 456 will 8, start your message with the word prime. we like to show your text messages throughout the show. another way to get in on the conversation, become a fan of "prime news" on facebook. lots there for you. we'll give you a heads-up on the stories we're covering, angles we're taking, behind-the-scenes footage, all there for you. you're a part of the team. you help make this show go. cnn.com/primenews. we mention you in the conversation. let's go to the phone on this topic. an 8-year-old girl brutally raped by four boys ages 9 to 14. lauren, your comment or question here? >> caller: you know, mike, everybody knows, in our society, rape is rape. no matter whether it's 14, 9 or whatever. these boys should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

and the mother should be even looked at because where was she when these boys were doing this. now she's on television crying, oh, i want to see my boy. it's too late now. i mean, the parents kont even want her. that's a shame. >> let's bring back marisa wingate who brought us the story. let's talk about that. the 14-year-old, is he going to be charged as an adult? >> reporter: he is going to be charged as an adult. his family saying it's wrong. he's not intelligent as far as english, and what's going on in this culture here. he doesn't understand what's going on. they're upset he's tried as an adult. but police say he's admitted to police say there was obvious signs of rape, trauma on the little 8-year-old's body. >> was he the ringleader of this 14-year-old? since he was the oldest? do we have any details on that? >> caller: they think he was the ringleader, that he prescribed the others, and actually held

her down while the others took turns raping her. >> let's bring in dr. tara fields. let's start with the 8-year-old victim. you know, it's -- it's hard for us to understand, not only is an 8-year-old raped by young children herself, now her family shuns her. what's she going through now? >> i can only imagine. even though this is a different culture, in some ways it is very similar to what is going on here in our country. i have to differ with the professor, because i treat women all the time. it's been estimated that one in three girls and young adults have been sexually abused. and most of them have never said anything for the seam reasons. they're told they must have brought it on themselves. you're going to ruin the family. shame on you. so my hope with this little girl is that she isn't put back in not only her family, but her culture, and that some loving, nurturing family spends the rest of her life letting her know

that she was not responsible, that this was wrong. because the trauma is not just going to be physical. think of a tiny little 8-year-old body, but psychologically, then you layer on that that you have shamed the family, that you brought it on. all the other parents are taking such a strong stand for the boys, and yes, i believe they are victims, too. but not one strong voice saying, please, let me have my daughter back. this was terrible what was done to her. but this is a very typical thing when a girl is sexually abused where she is pathologyized, told, you're making it up. >> what a lonely, lonely -- forgive me, lonely feeling. we want to get a call in here. kimberly from georgia joins us now. kimberly, your thoughts here? >> caller: yes, hello. maybe it would be better if she stays in foster care. because she's going to be labeled -- they already shunned her already. >> yeah.

>> caller: so she's going to feel even worse. maybe she should be -- maybe she should stay away from this family. >> doctor fields is agreeing with you on that front. marisa, what do we know about the future of the 8-year-old? will she ever go back to the family? are they talking about that? >> caller: they're not sure yet. they know she will stay with cps for three months, and then they will reassess the situation. an important note here, police say they have been getting an outpouring of people wanting to adopt this child hearing this story. now the family, though, saying, telling us at least that they do want the child back but they're angry at her. >> maybe she'll get love and support she needs from somebody else that we would expect in the first place from her own family. >> and also, i just have to say, it's going to have to be a family that also has been very specifically selected where they really have had the training and the awareness and psychological health to know how to integrate this little girl into their lives and facilitate her

healing. and the worst thing would be, i have to say, to put her back. because you know that she's just going to be retraumatized and they're going to say, you need to recant. >> we'll have to leave it there. pamela, doctor, marisa, thanks so much for your time. coming up, talking about michael vick. we're learning he did meet with commissioner roger goodell. he could be reinstated next week. after a four-game suspension, could play football. who's going to take him? should he play? call 1-877-tell-hln.

welcome back to "prime news" on hln. hot topic for you, african-american professor arrested, appeared to be breaking into a home. turns out it was his house. this sparked a national debate on racial profiling, race relations. president obama has weighed in on this. what do you think of the situation? we'll take your calls in our

"what matters" segment coming up in a little bit. 1-877-tell-hln is the phone number. taking your calls on this topic as well. get ready for michael vick to return to the nfl. could be reinstated as early as next week. we're finding out nfl commissioner roger goodel met secretly with michael vick this week. could be on the field this fall. and could possibly serve a two oh six-game suspension. the questions come out of that, which team is brave enough to take him? the pr baggage that comes with him. the question to you, would you want your favorite team signing up michael vick? call in 1-877-tell-hln. joining us now, sports radio analyst, journalist, former espn anchor, steven a. smith. good to talk to you again. let's talk about what roger goodell's going through. what factors do you think he's looking at right now as he makes this final call? >> me personally i think the only thing that factors into his decision is how much heat he's going to take from pita, along

with other animal rights activists, in terms of the football world i don't think he's concerned about anything. he's the czar. he's the one who makes those decisions. i definitely think that most people affiliated with the football world, professionally in terms of the nfl, as well as most of the fans believe that michael vick has definitely paid his penance, served 23 months in a federal penitentiary. this is not a guy that was suspended by the league, didn't get paid for a little while or whatever the case may be. this is a guy that was incarcerated in a federal penitentiary for 23 months. he's been out of football for two years. i think most people believe that he has paid his penance, that he deserves a second opportunity to resume his nfl career. >> you make a good point. seems like -- get your take on this, stephen, like a sliding scale with the nfl justice system where michael vick paid a price. leavenworth, he lost it all, lost millions. dante stallworth is going to get

30 days. the nfl seems to hit him harder. is that the way it goes? >> it seems that way simply because, again, a man was killed. i believe the man was 59-year-old man coming home from work in the middle of the night. obviously he was under the influence. and ultimately he killed a guy. i think that the fact that it was near a highway might have had something to do with some degree of leniency, that dante stallworth ultimately received. but the bottom line is it comes down to this. a man was killed. in vick's case, it was dogs. and you're talking about a guy, with dante stallworth spent about 24 days in prison. vick spent 23 months in a federal penitentiary. and i think that's why you see so many people in an uproar saying enough is enough already. get off this guy's back and let him resume his career. >> we'll get your calls in before the break. pam in new jersey wanting to weigh in. pam, your thoughts here? >> caller: hi, how are you? >> pam, go ahead. >> caller: i'm very concerned

that he can walk right into making millions all over again. i do understand that everyone deserves a second chance. but i would like to see more money where his mouth is for the humane society, for the aspca, a little more remorse. he is a role model for our children. >> pam -- steve, real quick on that. we'll hit more after the break. i believe, it looks like michael vick has a relationship with the humane society. wayne purcell of the humane society basically saying michael vick can have the greatest impact in urban communities. i agree somewhat with the caller there. i think michael vick's career should be tied with work with the humane society. we'll take a break. do you agree with that? >> absolutely. he should be. but if he were making $10,000 or $20,000 a year, would we be saying this? i don't know if we would be. >> more calls as well. @@@@@@@@@@

welcome back. two big developments today centering on michael jackson's death. a new report from the "los angeles times," just coming out. the cops are focusing on fake names that michael jackson may have used to score prescription drugs. one name out there, omar arnold, used days before his death. we'll get into that. also this, we know exactly what cops seized in this raid at dr. conrad murray's office. there were items experts say a cardiologist is not even supposed to have. we welcome back jim moret, chief correspondent "inside edition," attorney, and also former cnn anchor. jeffrey guy, professor of surgery, vanderbilt medical

center. also director of the burn unit. really expertise on this one. doctor, let's get specific with some of these drugs here. help us with the pronouncement. one of them, a valium-like drug. why would dr. murray have that? >> you did pretty good at the pronunciation. like ativan, or xanax. question. cardiologist would typically use? this is a mood depressant drug. something used for anxiety. typically in the scope of practice of somebody like a psychiatrist. >> jim, that fits, doesn't it, with somebody that michael jackson might have been taking, right? >> it does. i mean, we've heard that michael jackson wanted to come down at night and come up in the day. that's the description used by one doctor specifically in treating him.

and michael jackson had an addiction, we know, to demerol that he has admitted to. and he was treated for that. and the interesting question is, what other drugs was he taking. one doctor i talked to who has treated michael jackson in the past tells me today on "inside edition" that he had 11 aliases, that he would use to obtain various drugs. which is shocking. >> 11 aliases? since you brought that up, we were doing some research, and the story of wynonna ryder came up. someone could have their own pharmacy at home when these numbers add up like this, right? >> patients get very elaborate. i take care of burn patients. they always have pain. patients will do things such as keeping notebooks to make sure they have the right alias to the right pharmacy.

so they doesn't present alias "a" to a pharmacy one week and come back next week as somebody else. to keep such a lie alive for so long, it actually takes a lot of planning and a lot of forethought. >> do you as a doctor, and you mentioned it, you deal with burn victims who need pain medication, do you have to double-check to make sure someone, a patient is not doctor shopping? >> well, yes. we actually have contracts that have patients say at any time we're giving you these medications, that we can ask you to produce the pills. we can count them. if we find you're getting these medications from another physician, that we can drop you as a patient. if they are talking to other physicians, we will talk to those physicians and say, what is the group plan how we're going to deal with these medications. there are data bases. i practiced in the state of tennessee. we go on the date a base and look to see if they're getting medications from other providers. that's what a responsible provider would do. >> that's a challenge to the entire medical field. we're going to take a quick

break. when we come back, more on this. on the other side of that, who else might have used fake names to get michael jackson prescription drugs. we'll also talk about the specifics found at dr. conrad murray's office and take more of your calls, 1-877-tell-hln.

welcome back. once again, an invitation to you. you're a huge part of the show.

we love hearing from you, call us 1-877-tell-hln. e-mail us at cnn.com/primenews. text message us hlntv, the number's 45688. all you have to do, start your message with the word prime. and your text messages, voila, pop up on the bottom of the screen. and on facebook we take you behind the scenes, me, richelle, the "prime news" team. you get an early heads-up on the stories we're following. look at the pensive mike galanos right there. richelle must have had something to do with that shot. call 1-877-tell-hln. michelle's in florida. your thoughts here? >> caller: hi. i've got two real quick comments. one, if the pharmacy knew he had over $100,000 that they owed to him, i know if it was a normal person, they would have called the doctor, whoever wrote those prescriptions, and told them that this person has inquired --

acquired a bill of over $100,000. do you know how many pills he's getting. >> good point, michelle. go ahead, real quick. >> caller: also, this doctor was saying that they have to sign a form whenever they're getting narcotics after the burn. why does anyone do a urine test on him to see what medications he was actually taking? >> michelle, thanks for the call. jim, help us clarify this large bill michelle, our caller, is talking about. how long did michael jackson owe over 100 grand? >> it was mickey fine pharmacy in beverly hills. i specifically asked the doctor i spoke with today, how could that pharmacy not have known. this doctor told me that it is his understanding that 19 doctors and 11 aliases are involved here. and specific to this pharmacy, the only way they were actually able to trace that it was all to michael jackson was basically following the money, how it was all paid, who was responsible for the bill. because the $100,000 bill didn't

necessarily have to be all in michael jackson's name from one particular doctor. that's what makes this whole investigation so much more complicated. the authorities have to put names and doctors together, and cross-reference and ultimately follow the money. >> great point. dr. jeffrey guy's with us. doctor, there's no way you as an individual doctor would have any idea that a patient of yours is racking up that kind of bill, would you? >> no, there would be a disconnect. but the caller does have a good point, the quantity of the medications. you're talking about a legitimate medical practice for people with chronic pain. that's what's typically done in a chronic pain clinic or cancer practices or burn practices where patients have long-term pain. this was not a legitimate relationship. >> dr. guy, i want to stay with you. one other drug we know dr. week. about one drug that one you said was,

phenter mine. >> one takes you up, one takes you down. >> an appetite suppressant. michael jackson weighed 110 pounds. he certainly wouldn't need an appetite suppressant. >> it upregulates your metabolism. it's like an automobile, you can make a car rev faster. that's the idea behind this particular medication. it just gets your body running and revving. that's how these patients lose weight with this medication. >> jim, we had heard, i believe you and i talked about it through the week, that there could be a possible third meeting with dr. conrad murray, or his lawyers, and it was supposed to possibly happen today. do we know anything about that? >> we've heard nothing more about it. and we've put in requests to the lawyer for interviews, for comments. and we've heard nothing. it's possible -- we know that authorities, specifically the coroner wants to talk to dr. murray. we also know now based on what was filed with the court that

dr. murray is the focus of this criminal investigation. and he may not be the only doctor. >> yeah. his own lawyer saying authorities looking for evidence of manslaughter, that certainly got our attention. dr. jeffrey guy, jim moret, we appreciate it, guys. coming up, quite the hot button topic. cops arrest an african-american, harvard professor, at his own home. he was having trouble getting inside. the police officer sticking to his guns as well. president obama's weighing in on that. that's coming up in our "what matters" segment. call us 1-877-tell-hln. and now, we want to meet our hero of the week. this is cnn heroes. >> in 2004, i was diagnosed with breast cancer. initially there's shock. i realize how blessed i was to have health insurance. it made me think about all the women who didn't have health

insurance. i wanted to make a difference in their lives. i'm andrea ivory. and i'm fighting breast cancer in south florida one household at a time. the florida breast health initiative is an outreach organization. we're targeting working class people. we're going to make a difference and save some lives. we have a take-it-to-the-streets approach. we feel like little pixies spreading breast cancer awareness. we target women that are 35 years or older. and make appointments on the spot for a free mammogram. i look forward to seeing you there. we bring the van into the neighborhood. let's go. we provide a service that is so needed. i know i'm saving lives. they said it was free. so come right over and get it. >> is the lady of the house home? we're going to do screenings on the 25th. that's easy. thank you so much.

every time i knock on the door, it's another opportunity to save a life.

the arrest of an african-american harvard professor created a racial firestorm for people on both sides of the debate. let's bring in richelle carey with a closer look at that debate in our weekly feature "what matters." >> all right, mike. henry lewis gates' arrest has reignited the discussion about race relations in the united states. he was arrested for disorderly conduct when officers responded to a possible break-in at his home last week. turns out the front door was stuck. and he and his driver were just

trying to get in. charges were dropped earlier this week. the arresting officer said race did not play a factor. well, the debate heated up when president obama said the cambridge police department acted stupidly. today he talked on the phone to both professor gates and sergeant crowley, then publicly clarified his remark. >> i unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department or sergeant crowley specifically. and i could have calibrated those words differently. and i told this to sergeant crowley. i continue to believe, based on what i have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling professor gates out of his home to the station. i also continue to believe,

based on what i heard, that professor gates probably overreacted as well. >> okay. joining me to talk about this, boise watkins, founder of your black world.com. dr. jay peter son, self-proclaimed hip-hop scholar. and police detective. boyce, what was your reaction to the president speaking out today? i think some people in the press corps were caught offguard when he walked into the briefing room. >> yeah. i think the president made the right move. i think that any logical person knows that you don't start a very damning statement by saying that skip gates is my friend. i'm probably biased and i don't have all the facts. but they behaved stupidly. not only was that literally like a verbal war strike on this department, which probably led to some heads rolling. it was also undermined by his admission that he didn't know the facts.

president obama's a smart guy and he knows when he makes mistakes. unlike rush limbaugh, he admits when he screws up. i think he handled this very well. i think that what has to happen now is we've got to open up the broader dialog. right now this situation is between crowley and gates. and you know what? this may not even be about race. this may be about egos. this may be more of a class issue than a race issue. but there is a broader race issue that we have to deal with across the nation. >> actually, james, i want your reaction as well to what president obama said today. >> i'm glad he backed off his comments a bit. but i agree with his original assessment, especially considering the officer in question, officer crowley, claims to be a diversity trainer, and a well decorated and well respected officer. that means that his cooler head should have prevailed in this matter. and it's pretty clear now that the -- more of the facts that are out, he did not have to arrest professor gates. we cannot divorce this from the history. that's the problem. i know people want to move on. now people want to be cool and

calm and collected about it. but it's very di for me personally for me to divorce this issue from the long and sad history of the poor relationships between police departments and the african-american communities that they have to police. >> this has kind of been a he said/he said. i want to hear now from sergeant crowley and professor gates both. let's do that right now. >> i was continuously telling him to calm down during this whole exchange. i didn't really want this either. although i didn't know at the time who professor gates was, knowing he was an affiliate of harvard, i didn't really want to have take such a drastic action because i knew it would bring a certain amount of unwanted attention on me. nonetheless, that's how far professor gates pushed it. and provoked and just wouldn't stop. >> it was the fault of a policeman who couldn't stand a black man standing up for his rights right in his face.

and that's what i did. and i would do the same thing exactly again. >> steve, i want to ask you, at what point -- there was obvious tension between them at professor gates' professor gates' home. at what point, as long as you're not putting your hands on an officer, does an officer have a right to arrest you in your own home? explain that to us. >> well, richelle, after he did produce his identification, after much protest, the sergeant was berated and he was yelled at and he was called a racist. and you know, the statute reads public inconvenience, annoyance, and alarm. and looking at it objectively, we have to wonder, did mr. gates prejudge this officer as a racist prior to having any other interaction with him before he even interacted with him? >> i understand that. but my question is regardless of the verbal interaction between them, i'm just asking you as a police officer at what point was

it okay to arrest him? that's what i'm asking. >> yeah. once he -- >> i realize you weren't there, steve. i do understand that. >> right. once there was difficulty in dealing with mr. gates. and sergeants crowley warned him that his behavior was out of order. there comes a point in a police officer's timing during a situation like this where he makes the decision to effect the arrest to stop this person from creating a disturbance, having people gather, and creating annoyance and alarm for those in the surrounding area. >> all right. it's obviously a difficult situation to judge if we're not there. we're not done talking about this. we've got some people lined up who want to talk about it. we're going to share some facebook comments and e-mails. so boys, james, steve, don't go anywhere. people have been fired up about this topic. more to come on the other side of the break here on "prime news."

cops say four young boys lured an 8-year-old girl into a storage shed and took turns brutally raping her. now instead of being surrounded by her loving family this little girl is in foster care because her mom, dad, and other relatives are shunning her. why? what could she have done? massachusetts police officers coming out today to defend one of their own. a cop who arrest ed an african-american harvard professor. cops say he was following protocol. others say this is racism. who's right? you're a huge part of the show. love hearing from you. take your calls. the number 1-877-tell-hln. you can e-mail us at

cnn.com/primenews. or you can text us at hlntv. just start your message with the word "prime." it's your chance to be heard. >> controversy, opinion, your point of view. this is "prime news." >> welcome once again. this is "prime news." i'm mike galanos. a horrific crime. four boys charged with brutally raping an 8-year-old girl. the youngest boy, just 9. the oldest, 14. cops in phoenix say they held down the little girl, took turns raping her. neighbors could hear screams from the locked storage shed. yet instead of being comforted and embraced by her family, they're speaking out against her. here's marisa wingate from "prime news" affiliate ktvk in phoenix. >> reporter: this is the shed where police say the rape happened. the apartment connected to it is abandoned, but others nearby heard noises. >> like we heard a lot of kids like screaming. >> reporter: investigators tell us the kids took turns as they

raped the 8-year-old. >> they restrained her, and she was brutely sexually assaulted for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes. >> reporter: officers say they lured her inside with gum and then other kids watched until a woman passing by broke it up. >> when we started hearing some screaming from a lady. >> reporter: neighbors say the suspects scattered. >> i'm from liberia. >> you're from liberia? >> yeah. >> reporter: they are all part of a liberian community. so we had this man show us where the victim lived. >> she always bring trouble. >> we found her 23-year-old sister, who was babysiting when it happened. she's blaming her younger sibling. >> i came to her and said it's not good for you to be following guys because you are still little. >> reporter: the guys are 9, 10, 13, and 14. and one of them, the victim's own cousin. >> you want them out of jail? >> yeah. >> why? you want them out of jail? >> because we are the same people.

>> nothing has happened to my daughter. nobody not touched my daughter. >> reporter: the child's mother was denying anything even happened and is angry cps has her child. >> my child do something you need to talk to your child. you need to talk to your child so your child will listen to you. >> reporter: and while her father tells us -- >> i want her back. >> reporter: -- police say he told them he didn't. >> the parents felt that they had been shamed or embarrassed by their child. >> what do you want to say to your little sister? >> when she comes, i'm going to tell her don't ever do that again. because all of us, we are the same family. we are from the same place. now she's just bringing confusions among us. now the other people, they don't want to see her. >> all right. joining us now, ktvk's marisa wingate who just brought us that story. also with us, dr. tara fields, family therapist. and pamela skully, professor of african-american studies and women's studies at emory

university. marisa, i want to start with you. great job in the reporting there. in your piece we heard from family. has any family members at all shown any compassion for this little 8-year-old girl? >> reporter: well, we talked to the 14-year-old, the one who's being tried as an adult, we saw him in court yesterday and we talked to his family. they're pleaing for his release, saying he doesn't understand what's going on, he's not from this country, he's from liberia, and he didn't even get an education until he moved here in 2005. so they're saying they just don't understand the process, he doesn't understand the consequences. they say they are sad if this happened, but not admitting this happened. they don't really know what happened. and the child's own family, the 8-year-old, they're saying it didn't happen. as you saw in the piece, they's denying it all together. >> so both sides -- we've got families of the attacker denying it happened and families of the victim here denying it. we heard the little girl's mom tell us flat out there. right? >> reporter: right. we did. she says it didn't happen. the 14-year-old's family, they didn't say it didn't happen. they just said they don't know what happened, they didn't

understand. we talked to another suspect, one of the juveniles, and he said -- the father said it did not happen. >> i want to bring in an expert, pamela scully, professor at emory university. pamela, we don't understand this, obviously. there's a cultural element here, let's say that. but there's also a right and wrong we do understand, an 8-year-old girl was raped by four young boys. why is the family not surrounding her with love and support? she's 8. >> i think the first thing i would say about this all is that really what we're dealing with here is a post-conflict situation of people who are completely -- who are traumatized from the most terrible civil war. both the victim and the perpetrators must be seen as traumatized children for different reasons. i think also what it shows, it is partly a cultural reaction. but i think really what it shows is how far we've come in this country thanks to the feminist movement. and it's now we take for granted that if a woman is raped she's taken seriously and looked after. in so many parts of the world

this is not the case. the victim is blamed rather than the perpetrator. the other thing i would say, though, is liberia is a very interesting place because it has a female president, ellen johnson surleaf, who has put issues like rape and domestic violence on her agenda for change. and so it's a very paradoxical situation, this arises out of a refugee community from liberia. but i think overall i would say what you're dealing with is trauma that arises from a long history of civil war. parents who are refugees who don't want to be looked as if they're not worthy of being americans, who are indeed ashamed. we should feel empathy for all of them. >> how much of this is a culture where rape was not a crime, the way i understand it, until 2006? >> indeed. i think, again, as in many parts of the world, people see rape as something that either, you know, the victim should be blamed or deny that it's happened because

the violation of the girl reflects badly on the family and on her. i wouldn't stress the cultural issue quite so much. i would stress the fact that really america is privileged in having had both men and women working for years to put rape on the agenda, something that needs to be taken seriously. >> right. and we mentioned the culture because we want to understand this. because many people in this country just do not understand a reaction like that, when we get the visual of an 8-year-old girl that has just been raped. we'll continue this conversation after a quick break and also hear from the president of liberia concerning this very crime. and we'll take some of your phone calls, the number 1-877-tell-hln.

once again, you're a huge part of the show.

we love hearing from you, what you think. call us at 1-877-tell-hln. e-mail us, cnn.com/primenews. or you can text message us, hlntv. that's the numbers 45688. start your message with the word "prime." we like to show your text messages throughout the show. another way to get in on the conversation, become a fan of "prime news" on facebook. lots there for you. we'll give you a heads-up on the stories we're covering, angles we're taking, behind-the-scenes footage, me, richelle, "prime news" team, all there for you. you're a part of the team. you help make this show go. but more for you there. cnn.com/primenews. we mention you in the conversation. let's go to the phones on this topic. an 8-year-old girl brutally raped by four boys ages 9 to 14. lauren's with us in new york. hi, lauren. your comment or question here? >> caller: you know, mike, everybody knows in our society rape is rape. no matter whether it's 14, 9 or whatever. these boys should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

and the mother should be even looked at because where was she when these boys were doing this. now she's on television crying, oh, i want to see my boy. it's too late now. i mean, the parents don't even want her. that's a shame. >> it is a shame. thanks for the call. let's bring back marisa wingate, reporter ktvk, brought us the story. let's talk about that. the 14-year-old, is he going to be charged as an adult? >> reporter: he is going to be charged as an adult. his family saying it's wrong. that he's not intelligent enough as far as english, the english language, and as far as what's going on in this culture here, he doesn't understand what's going on. they're upset he's tried as an adult. but police say he's admitted to in fact, all four boys have admitted to the crime. saying it didn't happen, police say there was obvious signs of rape, of trauma on the little 8-year-old's body. >> was he the ringleader, this 14-year-old? you'd think because he was the oldest. do we have any details on that?

>> reporter: they're saying he was the ring leader, that he bribed the others and actually held her down while the others took turns raping her. >> let's bring in dr. tara fields. family therapist. doctor, let's start with the 8-year-old victim. you know, it's -- it's hard for us to understand, not only is an 8-year-old raped by young children herself, now her family shuns her. what's she going through now? >> i can only imagine. even though this is a different culture, in some ways it is very similar to what is going on here in our country. i have to differ with the professor, because i treat women all the time. it's been estimated that one in three girls and young adults have been sexually abused. and most of them have never said anything for the same reasons. they're told they must have brought it on themselves. you're going to ruin the family. shame on you. so my hope with this little girl is that she isn't put back in not only her family, but her culture, and that some loving, nurturing family spends the rest of her life letting her know

that she was not responsible, that this was wrong. because the trauma is not just going to be physical. think of a tiny little 8-year-old body, but psychologically, then you layer on that that you have shamed the family, that you brought it on. all the other parents are taking such a strong stand for the boys, and yes, i believe they are victims, too. but not one strong voice saying, please, let me have my daughter back. this was terrible what was done to her. but this is a very typical thing when a girl is sexually abused where she is pathologized, she is told you're making it up -- >> what a lonely, lonely -- forgive me, lonely feeling. we want to get a call in here. kimberly from georgia joins us now. kimberly, your thoughts here? >> caller: yes, hello. i think it would be -- maybe it would be better if she stays in foster care. because she's go to be labeled -- they already shunned her already. >> yeah.

>> caller: so she's going to feel even worse. maybe she should be -- maybe she should stay away from this family. >> doctor fields is agreeing with you on that front. marisa, what do we know about the future of the 8-year-old? will she ever go back to the family? are they talking about that? >> caller: they're not sure yet. they know she will stay with cps for three months, and then they say they will reassess the situation. an important note here, police say they have been getting an outpouring of people wanting to adopt this child hearing this story. wanting to adopt the child. now the family, though, saying, telling us at least that they do want the child back but they're angry at her. >> maybe she'll get the love and support she needs from somebody else that we would expect in the first place from her own family. >> and also, i just have to say, it's -- >> real quick, doctor, go ahead. >> it's going to have to be a family that also has been very specifically selected where they really have had the training and the awareness and the psychological health to know how to integrate this little girl into their lives and facilitate her healing.

and the worst thing would be, i have to say, to put her back. because you know that she's just going to be retraumatized and they're going to say, you need to recant. >> we'll have to leave it there. pamela, doctor, marisa, thanks so much for your time. coming up, change gears a little bit. talking about michael vick. we're learning he did meet with commissioner roger goodell. very well he could be reinstated next week. and after a four-game suspension could play football. would you want michael vick on your team? who's going to take him? should he play? call in. 1-877-tell-hln.

welcome back to "prime news" on hln. hot topic for you, african-american professor arrested, appeared to be breaking into a home. turns out it was his house. this sparked a national debate on racial profiling, race relations. president obama has weighed in on this. what do you think of the situation? we'll take your calls in our "what matters" segment coming up

in just a little bit. 1-877-tell-hln is the phone number. taking your calls on this topic as well. get ready for disgraced dogfighting quarterback michael vick to return to the nfl. could be reinstated as early as next week. we're finding out nfl commissioner roger goodell reportedly met secretly with michael vick this week. could be back on the field this fall. and then serve possibly a two to six-game suspension. we're thinking right in the middle, four games. so the questions come out of that. which team is brave enough to take him? and then the pr baggage that comes with him. the question to you, would you want your favorite team signing up michael vick? call in 1-877-tell-hln. joining us now, sports radio analyst, journalist, former espn anchor, a colleague of mine at one time as well, steven a. smith. good to talk to you again. let's talk about what roger goodell's going through. what factors do you think he's looking at right now as he makes this final call? >> me personally i think the only thing that factors into his decision is how much heat he's going to take from peta, along

with other animal rights activists. in terms of the football world i don't think he's concerned about anything. he's the czar. he's the one who makes those decisions. i definitely think that most people affiliated with the football world, professionally in terms of the nfl, as well as most of the fans believe that michael vick has definitely paid his penance, served 23 months in a federal penitentiary. this is not a guy that was suspended by the league and, you know, didn't get paid for a little while or whatever the case may be. this is a guy that was incarcerated in a federal penitentiary for 23 months. he's been out of football for two years. i think most people believe that he has paid his penance, that he deserves a second opportunity to resume his nfl career. >> you make a good point. seems like -- get your take on this, stephen a., like a sliding scale with the nfl justice system in a sense where michael vick paid a price. you mentioned it. leavenworth. he lost it all. lost millions. donte' stallworth, on the other hand, in a drunk driving incident kills a man and he's going to get 30 days. the nfl seems to hit him harder.

is that the way it goes? >> it seems that way simply because, again, a man was killed. i believe the man was a 59-year-old man coming home from work in the middle of the night. and obviously, he was under the influence and ultimately he killed the guy. i think that the fact that it was near a highway might have had something to do with some degree of leniency, that donte' stallworth ultimately received. but the bottom line is it comes down to this. a man was killed. in vick's case it was dogs. and you're talking about a guy, where donte' stallworth ultimately spent about 24 days in prison. vick spent 23 months in a federal penitentiary. and i think that's why you see so many people in an uproar saying enough is enough already. get off this guy's back and let him resume his career. >> let's get some calls in before the break. we'll take more afterward. pam in new jersey wanting to weigh in. pam, your thoughts here? >> caller: hi, how are you? >> hey, pam, go ahead.

>> caller: well, i'm very concerned that he can walk right into making millions all over again. i do understand that everyone deserves a second chance. but i would like to see more money where his mouth is for the humane society, for the aspca, i'd like to see a little more remorse. he is a role model for our children. >> pam -- steve, real quick on that. we'll hit more after the break. i believe, anyway, it looks like that michael vick has a relationship with the humane society. wayne purcell, president and ceo of the humane society, basically saying michael vick can have the greatest impact in urban communities. i agree somewhat with the caller there. i think michael vick's career should be tied with real sincere impactful work with the humane society. stephen a., your thoughts. about ten seconds, and then we'll take a break. do you agree with that? >> absolutely. he should be connected with the humane society. but if he were making $10,000 or $20,000 a year, would we be saying this? i don't know if we would be. just because he's -- >> more coming up. more calls as well. xxxx

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or go to our website. i'll see you at 3:00! announcer: captioned telephone - enjoy the phone again! welcome back. two big developments today centering on michael jackson's death. a new report from the "los angeles times," just coming out. the cops are focusing on fake names that michael jackson may have used to score prescription drugs. one name out there, omar arnold, used days before his death. we'll get into that. also this, we know exactly what cops seized in this week's raid at dr. conrad murray's office. there were items experts say a cardiologist is not even supposed to have. we'll take your calls as always. 1-877-tell-hln. we welcome back jim moret, chief correspondent "inside edition," attorney, and also former cnn anchor. also with us, dr. jeffrey guy, professor of surgery, vanderbilt medical center. also director of the burn unit.

really expertise on this one. doctor, let's get specific with some of these drugs here. help us with the pronouncement. one of them, clonozipam. i believe it's a valium-like drug. tell us about that. why would dr. murray have that? >> you did pretty good at the pronunciation. also known as klonopin, very much like ativan or valium or that is a drug that people use as a sedative, a tranquilizer, again, you bring up a big question. is this a drug a cardiologist would typically use? this is a mood depressant drug. something used for anxiety. typically in the scope of practice of somebody like a psychiatrist. >> jim, that fits, doesn't it, with something that michael jackson might have been taking, right? >> it does. i mean, we've heard that michael jackson wanted to come down at night and come up in the day. that's the description used by one doctor specifically in treating him. and michael jackson had an

addiction, we know, to demerol that he has admitted to. and he was treated for that. and the interesting question is, what other drugs was he taking. one doctor i talked to who has treated michael jackson in the past tells me today on "inside edition" that he had 11 aliases, that he would use to obtain various drugs. which is shocking. >> 11 aliases? since you brought that up, we were doing some research, and the story of wynonna ryder came up. there you see the numbers. that's how it grows, doesn't it? where someone could have their own pharmacy at home when these >> well, patients get very elaborate. i take care of burn patients, and they always have pain. and patients will do things as keeping notebooks to make sure they have the right alias to the

right pharmacy so they don't present as alias a to a pharmacy one week and then come back the next week as somebody else. so it takes -- to keep such a lie alive for so long it actually takes a lot of planning and a lot of forethought. >> do you as a doctor, and you mentioned it, you deal with burn victims who need pain medication, do you have to double-check to make sure someone, a patient is not doctor shopping? >> well, yes. we actually have contracts that have patients say at any time we're giving you these medication that's we can sit there and we can ask you to produce the pills, we can count them. that if we find you're getting these medications from another physician that we can drop you as a patient. if they are talking to other physicians, we will talk to those physicians and say, what is the group plan on how we're going to deal with these medications? there are data bases. i practiced in the state of tennessee. we go on the data base and look to see if they're getting medications from other pharmacists, from other providers. that's what a responsible provider would do. >> that's a challenge to the entire medical field. we're going to take a quick break.

when we come back, more on this. on the other side of that, who else might have used fake names to get michael jackson prescription drugs. we'll also talk about the specifics found at dr. conrad murray's office and take more of your calls, 1-877-tell-hln.

welcome back. once again, an invitation to you. you're a huge part of the show. we love hearing from you.

your thoughts, comments, questions. call us. 1-877-tell-hln. e-mail us at cnn.com/primenews. text message us hlntv, the number's 45688. all you have to do, start your message with the word "prime." and your text messages, voila, pop up on the bottom of the screen. another way to get in on the conversation, become a fan of "prime news" on facebook. we'll take you behind the scenes. me, richelle, the "prime news" team. you get an early heads-up on the stories we're following. look at the pensive mike galanos there. wow. okay. cnn.com/primenews. richelle must have had something to do with that cheeseball shot. anyway, let's get back to michael jackson. we are taking your calls. 1-877-tell-hln. michelle's in florida. hey, michelle, your thoughts sneer >> caller: hi. i've got two real quick comments. one, if the pharmacy knew he had over $100,000 that they owed to him, i know if it was a normal person, they would have called the doctor, whoever wrote those prescriptions, and told them

that this person has inquired -- acquired a bill of over $100,000. do you know how many pills he's getting. >> good point, michelle. you expect double-checking. go ahead, real quick. >> caller: also, this doctor was saying that they have to sign a form whenever they're getting narcotics after the burn. why does anyone do a urine test on him to see what medications he was actually taking? >> michelle, thanks for the call. first off, jim, help us clarify this large bill our caller's talking about. what pharmacy and how long ago did michael jackson owe over 100 grand? >> it was mickey fine pharmacy in beverly hills. i specifically asked the doctor i spoke with today, how could that pharmacy not have known. this doctor told me that it is his understanding that 19 doctors and 11 aliases are involved here. and specific to this pharmacy, the only way they were actually able to trace that it was all to michael jackson was basically following the money, how it was all paid, who was responsible for the bill.

because the $100,000 bill didn't necessarily have to be all in michael jackson's name from one particular doctor. that's what makes this whole investigation so much more complicated. the authorities have to put names and doctors together, and cross-reference and ultimately follow the money. >> great point. dr. jeffrey guy's with us. doctor, there's no way you as an individual doctor would have any idea that a patient of yours is racking up that kind of bill, would you? >> no, there would be a disconnect. but the caller does have a good point, the large quantity of the medications. you're talking about a legitimate medical practice for people with chronic pain. that's what's typically done in a chronic pain clinic or cancer practices or burn practices where patients have long-term pain. this was not a legitimate relationship. >> dr. guy, i want to stay with you. one other drug we know dr. conrad murray, his offices in houston, texas, raided this a

downer. another one, this one's called phentermine. >> one takes you up, one takes you down. >> an appetite suppressant. michael jackson weighed 110 pounds. he certainly wouldn't need an appetite suppressant. why would he need it, doctor? >> well, why is it an appetite suppressant? it upregulates your metabolism. it's like an automobile, you can make a car rev faster. that's the idea behind this particular medication. it's a drug we'll call a sympathomimetic. it's a big word. but the idea is it just gets your body running and revving. that's how these patients lose weight with this medication. >> jim, we had heard, i believe you and i talked about it through the week, that there could be a possible third meeting with dr. conrad murray, or his lawyers, and it was supposed to possibly happen today. do we know anything about that? >> we've heard nothing more about it. and we've put in requests to the lawyer for interviews, for comments. and we've heard nothing. it's possible -- we know that authorities, specifically the coroner wants to talk to dr. murray. we also know now based on what

was filed with the court that dr. murray is the focus of this criminal investigation. and he may not be the only doctor. >> yeah. his own lawyer saying authorities looking for evidence of manslaughter, that certainly got our attention. dr. jeffrey guy, jim moret, we appreciate it, guys. we'll talk soon. thanks again. coming up, quite the hot button topic. cops arrest an african-american harvard professor at his own home. he was having trouble getting inside. the police officer sticking to his guns as well. president obama's weighing in on that. that's coming up in our "what matters" segment. we want to know what you think of this situation. so call us. 1-877-tell-hln. and now, we want to meet our hero of the week. >> this is cnn heroes. >> in 2004, i was diagnosed with breast cancer. initially there's shock. i realize how blessed i was to

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the arrest of an african-american harvard professor this past weekend has seemingly created a racial firestorm across the country with people on both sides of the debate. let's bring in our "prime news" correspondent richelle carey. joins us with a closer look at that debate in our weekly feature "what matters." go ahead, richelle. >> all right, mike. henry louis gates' arrest has reignited the discussion about race relations in the united states. he was arrested for disorderly conduct when officers responded to a possible break-in at his home last week. turns out the front door was stuck and he and his driver were just trying to get in.

charges against him were dropped earlier this week. the arresting officer, sergeant james crowley, said race did not play a factor. well, the debate heated up when president obama said the cambridge police department acted stupidly. today he talked on the phone to both professor gates and sergeant crowley, then publicly clarified his remark. >> i unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department or sergeant crowley specifically. and i could have calibrated those words differently. and i told this to sergeant crowley. i continue to believe, based on what i have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling professor gates out of his home to the station.

i also continue to believe, based on what i heard, that professor gates probably overreacted as well. >> okay. joining me to talk about this, boise watkins, founder of your black world.com. dr. james peterson, professor at bucknell university and self-proclaimed hip-hop scholar. and steve kardian, police detective. boyce, what was your reaction to the president speaking out today? i think some people in the press corps were caught off guard when he walked into the briefing room. >> yeah. i think the president made the right move. i think that any logical person knows that you don't start a very damning statement by saying that skip gates is my friend, i'm probably biased, and i don't have all the facts, but they behaved stupidly. not only was that literally like a verbal war strike on this department, which probably led to some heads rolling. it was also undermined by his admission that he didn't know the facts. but president obama's a smart

guy and he knows when he makes mistakes. and unlike someone, say, like rush limbaugh, he admits when he screws up. and i think that he handled this very well. i think that what has to happen now is we've got to open up the broader dialog. right now this situation is between crowley and gates. and you know what? this may not even be about race. this may be about egos. this may be more of a class issue than a race issue. but there is a broader race issue that we have to deal with across the nation. >> i'll get to that in a second. actually, james, i want your reaction as well to what president obama said today. >> i'm glad he backed off his comments a bit. but i agree with his original assessment, especially considering the officer in question, officer crowley, claims to be a diversity trainer, and he's a well-decorated and well-respected officer. that means that his cooler head should have prevailed in this matter. and it's pretty clear now that the -- more of the facts that are out, he did not have to arrest professor gates. the thing is we cannot divorce this from the history. that's the problem.

i know people want to move on and now people want to be cool and calm and collected about it. but it's very, very difficult for me personally to divorce this issue from the long and sad history of the poor relationships between police departments and the african-american communities that they have to police. >> actually, this has kind of been a he said/he said even though there is the police report. none of us were there. actually, i want to hear right now from sergeant crowley and professor gates both. let's do that right now. >> i was continuously telling him to calm down during this whole exchange because i didn't really want this either. although i didn't know at the time who professor gates was, knowing he was an affiliate of harvard, i really didn't want to have to take such a drastic action because i knew that it was going to bring a certain amount of attention -- unwanted attention on me. nonetheless, that's how far professor gates pushed it. and provoked and just wouldn't stop. >> it was the fault of a

policeman who couldn't stand a black man standing up for his rights right in his face. and that's what i did. and i would do the same thing exactly again. >> steve, i want to ask you, at at what point -- as long as you're not putting your hands on an officer, does an officer have a right to arrest you in your own home? explain that to us. >> well, richelle, after he did produce his identification after much protest, the sergeant was beraided and he was yelled at and called a racist. the statute reads public convenience annoyance and alarm. looking at it objectively, did mr. gates prejudge this officer as a racist prior to having any interaction with him, before he interacted with him? >> i understand that. my question is, regardless of the verbal interaction between them, i'm just asking you, as a police officer, at what point was it okay to arrest him?

that's what i'm asking. >> yeah, once he became -- >> i realize you weren't there, steve. i do understand that. >> once there was difficulty in dealing with mr. gates and sergeant crowley warned him that his behavior was out of order, there comes a point in a police officer's timing during a situation like this where he makes the decision to affect the arrest to stop this person from creating a disturbance, having people gather and creating annoyance and alarm for those in the surrounding area. >> obviously difficult situation to judge if we're not there. we're not done talking about this. we have people lined up who want to talk about it, share facebook comments and e-mails. don't go anywhere. people have been fired up about this topic. more to come on the other side of the break here on "prime news."