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Refugee Crisis Summit; High School Football Fatalities on the Rise; Sexting Scandals Rocking High Schools. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 12, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:05] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we are with the five things to know for your NEW DAY.

Thousands of Peshmerga fighters launching Operation Free Sinjar, trying to retake the strategic Iraqi city from ISIS with U.S. coalition war planes providing air cover.

Questions surrounding a Virginia man's death after a disturbing video emerges of police Tasing him while he's in handcuffs. His family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Police say force was required. A hearing is expected today.

Immigration now front and center in the Republican race. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio battling for the party's more conservative voters in hopes that Donald Trump and Ben Carson flame out.

The FAA is investigating laser incidents in two major cities overnight. Three local TV news choppers targeted in New York City. Two people arrested in that incident. Three planes were also hit by lasers while landing near Dallas.

A retired Army captain from Maryland will be awarded the Medal of Honor today by President Obama. Florent Groberg is credited with tackling a suicide bomber and saving countless lives while serving in Afghanistan in 2012.

For more on the five things to know, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com.

Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Mic.

There is a two day refugee summit underway in Malta as Europe faces its worst migrant crisis since World War II. Sweden unveiling plans to implement temporary border controls as a result. Eighteen migrants drown just yesterday trying to find a safe haven in Lesbos, Greece.

That's where we find CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon.

What's the situation there?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And those migrants, Chris, drowning in these waters behind me. You can see Turkey in the distance. Just about a two hour boat ride away. And one of the main reasons why so many people do tragically lose their lives making this crossing is because these smugglers are packing them into these flimsy, barely sea worthy rubber dinghies. One of them there from a landing that took place here earlier today.

Now, that conference in Malta very much focusing on what's happening in Africa with pledges of around $1.8 billion to try to help African nations cope with the migrant crisis there. But when we talk about what's happening here with the war zones of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, just take a look at the life vest. That is but a fraction of what you will find littering this shoreline. And those key issues, those wars that are driving people to leave their home countries because they don't believe that they have any other chance in life but to try to make this very treacherous journey, that is why so many continuously come here. And if you look at the numbers that Frontex (ph) has been putting out there, they said that in 2015, the first 10 month, 540,000 people made this crossing. That is 13 times the number in that same time span that made the journey back in 2014.

[08:35:00] PEREIRA: Heartbreaking reporting. Arwa, thank you for bringing it to us. We appreciate that.

Back here at home, nearly a dozen high school football players have died this year from game-related injuries. Why is this number spiking? How can that trend be reversed? We'll ask CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who's here when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to your NEW DAY.

You hear a lot about football and concussions. But what about football and death? So far this year, 11 student athletes have died on the high school football fields. What is going on? Let's bring in CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Hey, doc, what do you see?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

You know, it's interesting, and we obviously want to keep our kids as safe as possible on the football field. And you mentioned, Chris, we talk a lot about concussions. But big questions come up lately, and that's to do with, could we be doing more in terms of screening for potential other problems, including heart problems? We met somebody who makes that point. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go! Go!

GUPTA (voice-over): For as long as he can remember, Erik Zima wanted to play football.

GUPTA (on camera): What was it about football? ERIK ZIMA, RIDGE RED DEVILS: Whenever I would go to the park or

something when I was a little kid, I'd always try and go push over kids or see if they'd fall or something. And I don't know why, but I guess that's - that's what made me just fall in love with football.

[08:40:12] GUPTA (voice-over): His parents, Bridget and Jim, were on board.

BRIDGET ZIMA ERIK'S MOTHER: The day he came home from his first tackle practice, he said - he was beaming and he just said, it's the first time I can hit someone and not get in trouble. He loved it.

GUPTA: Everyone knew Erik was good. A real standout.

BILL TRACY, HEAD COACH, RIDGE RED DEVILS: He's a very good player. He's a playmaker. He's got good speed. Good ball skills. Made plays in every game.

GUPTA: But what Erik and his parents did not know was that this seemingly healthy 17-year-old boy had a make problem with his heart. Just seconds after a touchdown scored late in the third quarter of this game, Erik felt something unusual in his chest.

E. ZIMA: I was running down the field and all of a sudden it just like hit me all of a sudden. I lost my breathe. My heart felt like it was pounding almost like coming out of my chest and I tried to - I made it off the field and just like collapsed.

GUPTA: The first thought was a possible concussion. But, in fact, Erik had nearly suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Now, if you're shocked, then consider this. A young athlete dies from a cardiac incident every three days in the United States. That's according to a 2011 University of Washington study.

While concussions can lead to long-term neurological problems, underlying heart problems are much more likely to kill, and fast. For many, the first time they ever sense anything is wrong is just seconds before their heart fails. For Erik, a simple EKG revealed Wolff- Parkinson-White syndrome. WPW. It's an underlying heart condition where the heart beats wildly due to abnormal electrical patterns. It's one of several congenital heart conditions that often go undetected.

GUPTA (on camera): Here's the problem right here. I mean it may be hard to see but it's this little downward slope. It seems minor, but that was the problem that Erik had that could potentially lead to a catastrophic issue with his heart.

GUPTA (voice-over): Erik was treated successfully with a procedure known as catheter ablation. But Erik's story, along with many others, raises what has become a surprisingly controversial issue in sports. If Erik's preexisting heart problem could have been identified with a simple EKG, why isn't this test made available to all young athletes? Erik is back today, a year later, for a follow-up test with his doctor, Pediatric Cardiologist Rajiv Verma.

GUPTA (on camera): They give you credit for essentially saving their son.

DR. RAJIV VERMA, PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGIST, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF NEW JERSEY: No, that's not me. I'm just a minor portion of that.

GUPTA: Well, you found something that was an abnormality that could have led to a sudden cardiac death in Erik.

VERMA: Yes, it could have.

GUPTA (voice-over): And Dr. Verma is firmly in the camp that EKG screening could have detected this in Erik and perhaps countless others currently playing sports. But for most school districts in the United States today, current screening includes things like listening to the heart, blood pressure measurements, family medical history, but no EKG.

Now, with any screening test, there are limitations, false positives, false negatives and the cost, anywhere between $25 to $150 per test multiplied by nearly 8 million high school students playing sports. Putting it all together, the American Heart Association does not recommend EKGs as a screening tool, telling us, quote, "initial screening using electrocardiograms to detect underlying genetic and congenital heart disease has not been shown to save lives."

VERMA: I don't agree with that. I think any child who is involved in middle school, high school sports should have an electrocardiogram.

GUPTA: To make the case, Verma, and many others, point to studies like this one out of Italy where EKG screening is mandatory. Here, they found an 89 percent reduction in sudden cardiac deaths among athletes between the ages of 12 and 35. It's no surprise, but Jim and Bridget are advocates for EKG screening.

JIM ZIMA, ERIK'S FATHER: It takes five minutes. It's very easy. It's not evasive.

GUPTA: On today's exam, everything checks out. Good news for Erik.

VERMA: I always tell my children, and he is my child, they should play to their heart's content, but with a healthy heart.

GUPTA: And by the afternoon, Erik is once against back on the field.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:44:52] CUOMO: All right, so we're doing it within the context of sports and football, but really it goes far beyond that, Doc, because this is about having a young heart but doesn't mean it's a perfect heart. And anything that's high energy could trigger this suddenness. So what is the chance that we get these EKGs made more routine for younger people?

GUPTA: Well right now, as you saw, the American Heart Association is not in favor of this several reasons because of the fact that false positives could exist, you find something that isn't really there, or false negatives, you missed something, And then the cost issue, as I mentioned, 8 million high school athletes.

But Chris, you make an important point. The American Heart Association also says, look, this occurs in the general population. Not just among high school athletes. So do you screen those people as well? They are still trying to figure this out. But there are many who say we should be screening high school athletes. That is when a lot of these sorts of heart problems are uncovered. The body is really active now for the first time for a lot of these people playing a high school sport. It could unmask a heart problem that existed all along but had never been a problem for them.

CUOMO: And Doc, as you often and others argue all the time, cost is about how much profits companies are allowed to make, not about what is the best course of good health.

Doc, thanks very much. Appreciate the reporting on this. We'll continue this story. Always good to see you, my friend.

Mick.

PEREIRA: So Chris, you know, we've been seeing this case of -- recent cases, in fact, erupting in New York and Colorado high schools about sexting. Many are wondering, are these isolated incidents or are they the tip of the iceberg? We're going take a look at this when we come back.

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[08:49:51] PEREIRA: Two 14-year-olds in New York are facing felony charges and twenty others have been suspended for sharing a video of a student engaged in a sex act. It follows the case in Colorado that involved hundreds of nude photos shared using a secret app. Why are teens suddenly engaging in this sort of online behavior? I guess it is not necessarily sudden.

Dr. Jodi Gold, a board certified pediatric psychiatrist and author of "Screen Smart Parenting" is here. Boy, I feel like I just need to hug every parent of a teenager right now. This is real, it's difficult and it's hard to get our hands and our minds around.

Can you give me an idea, this idea of sexting. What is the psychology behind what is motivating these kids to do it?

DR. JODI GOLD, PSYCHIATRIST: So first of all, there is a lot of psychology, but to be clear it is really easy to sext. So --

PEREIRA: Sure it is. You put a smart phone in a teenager's hand.

GOLD: And you are sexting. So right now in 2015 we click and post, right?

PEREIRA: Immediate.

GOLD: Immediately. You don't click and say do you like this picture, do you think it is appropriate to post?

PEREIRA: There is no measured kind of thoughtfulness.

GOLD: No -

PEREIRA: Which teenagers, let's be honest, we weren't good at that in our day and I'm sure they're not any better at it in their day.

GOLD: No. So now grown ups, too, we click and we post, right? So we understand why sexting is so pervasive. But think about teenagers. They are so prime to sex. They don't have a developed brain so they are more impulsive than adults. They are trying to figure out their sexuality, they are trying to figure out dating and who they are, and they are prone to peer pressure. They want to fit in.

PEREIRA: So is this a peer pressure thing? Or there is an aspect of it?

GOLD: There is an aspect, certainly, in Colorda. Certainly an aspect of peer pressure. You want to be more grown up. You want to fit in. You want the boy to like you. Think about it. You put impulsively, peer pressure and emerging sexuality -

PEREIRA: And experimentation, too.

GOLD: -- together and poof.

PEREIRA: So it occurred to me that in a way, in terms like -- because everyone is panicking. What do with do? Is it the school? Is it the parents? Is it both? I mean, I - is your stance that both parties need to sort of be involved in this?

GOLD: Yes. My stance is both parties need to be involved and it needs to start much earlier. I want this discussion to start at age 10.

PEREIRA: So this is the new, essentially, what you are thinking, like new sex education.

GOLD: New sex education. So sex education in 2015 has to talk about your digital footprint. It has to talk about your sexuality. It has to talk about Photoshop. It has to talk about porn online. It has to talk about who you want to be online - and offline. And that discussion has to start at age ten. By age 16 the kids have their phones, they are sexting. It is hard. The parent is not there. 16- year-olds are looking at me being like yes, like my child is going to give me their phone.

PEREIRA: And you are not going to take your kid's phone away. That is one thing some parents are probably mulling over. Do I just confiscate it? But then we know that kids - you know, you ban me from going out -- I'll sneak out -- we know how teenage minds operate. I get that.

So in terms of -- We saw in New York, the superintendent sent a parent -- sent a letter to the parents sort of urging them to be aware, to educate themselves on what kids are doing. That is important.

GOLD: That is really important. He also suspended kids who received texts.

PEREIRA: What do you think about that?

GOLD: My opinion is not that you should have any type of record for receiving a text but my understanding is that he suspended them because they broke the honor code.

PEREIRA: They didn't report it.

GOLD: They didn't report it. And that is important. I don't know whether they should be suspend or not, but it is really important. If you get a sext or you hear about it, you have to report it. You have to tell your parents and you have to tell the schools and the schools have to take much more responsibility. If you look at the Colorado case, they will tell you that the schools were like, well, we don't know what to do with this. We weren't taught how to manage this.

PEREIRA: Well and then on the other side, parents are having to deal with these photo vault apps. They appear on the phone, they look like they're a calculator, but they actually are an app that are designed to hide inappropriate content. What's a parent to do? These things are specifically designed for deception.

GOLD: So these ghost apps, what they are telling you as the parent is it is not about policing your children. Give it up. Try, but you are not going to be successful if they are hiding. It is more about the conversations you are having with them so they feel comfortable saying hey I'm feeling pressure or look, this is the image that I got. Can you help me manage it?

PEREIRA: Right. Okay, so we've only got a quick amount of time left. How do you start that conversation with your kid? I mean, even at 10 or 11 or 12? What is the opening line? How do you go there?

GOLD: I'm okay with starting by talking about your digital footprint. I'm okay with starting by talking about who you want to be online and what kind of images you should reflect online.

PEREIRA: It doesn't go away.

GOLD: It doesn't go away. Understand that it stays there and talk about what kind of person do you want to be? Do you want to be that sexy person? The boy needs to like you because of who you are, not because of the image you send. Also you need to go online and talk to your kids about what a sext is. If you put pictures up there, parents and kids will disagree as to what a sext is.

PEREIRA: Yeah, that's true.

GOLD: Right?

PEREIRA: Well and add to that, also understand what the consequences and repercussions are, which we're seeing happen now in these cases.

Dr. Gold, always a pleasure to have you here and have your voice in this discussion. GOLD: Thank you for having me

PEREIRA: We appreciate it.

[08:54:37] All right. I think we need some "Good Stuff." We'll have it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Veterans Day is not enough. We make it veterans week at the minimum and what a great story we have today about a hero's mission that is never over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY BILL WARNER, VIETNAM VETERAN WHO NEEDED A KIDNEY: We trained together and went to Vietnam together and did battle together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: That is 73-year-old veteran, Henry Warner, speaking. Why is he holding that guy's hand? Because that man is about to give him a kidney.

PEREIRA: How about that?

CUOMO: Henry needed one, family not a match, other possibilities didn't work out, so he did - what, you know, he did right back during the war. He turned to his brother-in-arms from Vietnam and John Middaugh did not hesitate.

PEREIRA: Wow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MIDDAUGH, VIETNAM VETERAN WHO DONATED HIS KIDNEY: Well we put our life on the line in other missions in Vietnam. And this is, you know, no different from those missions so-to- speak. You know? He would do the same for me. There is no doubt in my mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: That is beautiful.

CUOMO: Right? Update. Surgery has taken place. Both men are doing fine.

PEREIRA: That is so wonderful.

CUOMO: Right?

PEREIRA: And they will be in their recovery together. What a great story. That is fantastic, Chris. I love that.

CUOMO: Dedication, bond, service. Thank you for your service and again, happy Veterans Day. PEREIRA: Perfect for veterans week, in fact.

CUOMO: Yes.

PEREIRA: I appreciate it. All right. It's time for "NEWSROOM" with our Carol Costello. Good morning, darling.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You guys have a great day. "NEWSROOM" starts now.

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