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New Day Saturday

Iraq's Anbar Province: We Need U.S. Troops Now; JFK Airport Starts Ebola Screening; Iraqi Officials Want U.S. To Send Troops; Will the U.S. Send Troops to Iraq?; Teen Charged with Hazing, Sexual Assault; Snapchat Photos, Videos Hacked; Fashion for the Social Media Generation

Aired October 11, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We are so grateful for your company as always. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell, 8:00 on the East Coast, coming up on it.

This morning, there are new fears for the fate of Iraq's capital.

PAUL: Yes, and a desperate appeal for U.S. boots to get on the ground now. ISIS militants are closing in on Baghdad, just west of the capital, really, Iraq's Anbar province. That's what is under siege. Leaders there are calling for U.S. forces to come in and stop the ISIS onslaught. They want, quote, urgent and immediate intervention.

BLACKWELL: Now, across the border in northern Syria, the situation is just as bad. A fighter in the besieged town of Kobani says ISIS has them outnumbered and overmatched. We're covering the battle against ISIS from all angles and from both sides of the border.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Baghdad. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is at the border between Turkey and Syria, and CNN military analyst, Colonel Rick Francona is in New York. Ben, let's start with you.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christi, Victor, the situation in Anbar has actually been grim for quite some time, but with the Iraqi army continuously losing ground to ISIS, it's getting grimmer by the day. So grim, in fact, that the Anbar Provincial Council has made an urgent appeal to the Baghdad government to request U.S. ground troops in Anbar to stop the ISIS advance.

Now, this is something that the Iraqi government has consistently rejected. The idea of U.S. ground troops in Iraq and the United States has not offered.

But we understand from the head of the provincial council that as many as 10,000 ISIS fighters have been sent to Anbar from Syria and Mosul in Northern Iraq, to join the fight around the capitol of Baghdad which abuts Anbar Province.

And of course, there are continued concerns about the ability of the Iraqi Army to stop ISIS' advance. In fact the other day, I spoke with the commander of one of the tribal militias in Anbar Province, that's fighting on behalf of the government. And he said that Iraqi Army in Anbar is simply, in his words, play acting -- Christi, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

Let's go now to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh at the Turkish-Syrian border. The situation is getting even worse there in Kobani, not far from where you are. Nick, we heard from this U.N. envoy this week invoking Bosnia, invoking Rwanda, the genocides and massacres of the 90s.

And we also heard from the Pentagon that we should be stealing ourselves for reality that Kobani is going to fall. What are you seeing this morning? Are we seeing the continuation of this expected slaughter?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, the sand storm here has cleared in the last hour or so, but we're seeing really the focus of the fighting here it seems shifting westward. Not significant for those Kurds holding out there whose fighters tell us they are outnumbered.

They are facing a very bad situation, indeed, particularly artillery fire from the east. The fact it's pushing west suggests that ISIS is perhaps gaining ground.

We hear from another Kurdish fighter that they are very close to the official crossing between Turkey and that part of Syria that is Kobani. That is very significant because the U.N. envoy at the Syrian conflict warned that potentially over 10,000 civilians.

We can't see them from here, but he says 10,000 civilians are on the other side of that border facing certain peril if ISIS does advance. He says perhaps 500 to 700 perhaps immobile, infirm elderly or other civilians are trapped closer towards in the city center.

But if ISIS does manage to continue moving westwards down below where I am here and if you look at where all that black smoke is coming from it looks like the fighting is certainly moving in the direction against the favor of the Kurds.

If ISIS does take that border crossing, potentially they can encircle whoever is left among the Kurdish civilian population inside Kobani. We don't know the numbers. We know the U.N. believe it could be over 10,000.

We're seeing the end of our lens here some Turkish soldier on this side of the border. Other fighters in what seems to be close street- to-street fighting inside that town.

But it's quite clear that the appalling visibility we're getting has not slowed down it seems the advance by ISIS inside the town and really I think the hours ahead are critical for those people still trapped inside -- Victor.

WALSH: Yes. The fighting continues, but many military analysts expect that the city will indeed fall to ISIS. Nick Paton Walsh is there on Turkey's side of its border with Syria. Thank you. PAUL: Let's bring in CNN military analyst, Lt. Colonel Rick Francona, who has been watching this for weeks. We know that for the first time they never asked this before the al Anbar council had asked for U.S. troops to come in and help fight ISIS. Do you think at some point President Obama is going to have to turn around his stance of no troops?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think at some point there's going to be the need for an additional ground force on -- in Western Iraq. The Iraqi Army and I think everything we're seeing over the past several weeks, even after the airstrikes have gone in there. They have not been able to blunt the momentum of ISIS.

The Iraqi Army has virtually evaporated. The command structure doesn't exist although they have got some good soldiers they have no leadership. So, additional ground forces are necessary. Are those going to be American ground forces or some coalition ground force remains to be seen.

But I think at some point the chairman of the Joint Chiefs is going to have to go back to the president and say Mr. President, we may need to reconsider this no American combat boots on the ground because the Iraqi army isn't doing it.

PAUL: I think it's safe to say that not just the U.S., but the world underestimated the power and the potency of ISIS. With that said, how strategic do you think is Anbar Province to this fight being that it is just 10 miles from Baghdad?

FRANCONA: Well, Anbar Province is the biggest province in the country. But if you look where it is, it controls that Euphrates Valley. You can see what ISIS is doing. They are trying to control the Euphrates Valley from the Turkish border, which is just near where Kobani, the fighting there, all the way down to the west of Baghdad down to the Persian Gulf.

So they are trying to consolidate all of those cities along that valley. So, the Iraqi Army has proven itself incapable of doing it. Let's look at what is ISIS doing. If you look at the distances involved, they are right now command and controlling a battle in Kobani and outside of Baghdad and battles in the Euphrates Valley.

They are command and control is that sophisticated and far reaching, so we did underestimate them and we also grossly overestimated the capability of the Iraqi Security Forces to defend their own country.

PAUL: Of course, Turkey has been under internal and international pressure to launch ground operations to support Kurdish fighters who are defending Kobani. What do you think it will take to entice Turkey to get involved directly in this fight against ISIS?

FRANCONA: Yes. This has been very puzzling to a lot of observers as we see the Turks with their armored units on that border within visual sight of what's going on in Kobani yet they are not taking any action.

We've yet to see the Turkish Air Force do anything or allow us to use Turkish air bases, which would really change the equation up there. So what are the Turks waiting for? The Turks are waiting for a commitment from the coalition before they join that we will focus on removal of the government of Bashar Al-Assad.

And right now, we've not said that. Our primary focus is ISIS. Their primary focus is the removal of the Assad regime. So we're still arguing over that. They also would like some sort of buffer zone inside Northern Syria.

But they want the United States and other coalition members to participate in that. We want no U.S. boots on the ground. So, there is still this political machinations going on before the Turks will engage.

Unfortunately, what's happening is the Kurds are paying the price. All those civilians in Kobani that the Turks will not let out and as we saw from Nick's reporting the ISIS is about to close off that border crossing and trap those people inside. So where is Turkey?

PAUL: Yes. Good question. Colonel Rick Francona, we appreciate it so much. Thank you, sir.

BLACKWELL: Up next, Ebola testing begins today on passengers arriving into New York's JFK. We'll go live to that airport.

Also accusations of hazing and sexual assault on a high school football team, pretty dark details emerging this morning.

And six teenage players in custody, their fates now in the hands of family court.

PAUL: Also, a third party app associated with Snapchat hacked. We're talking about 100,000 photos and videos that a lot of people thought were gone forever. Guess what? They are not and they could be published soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: It's 11 minutes after the hour now. Extra Ebola screenings are coming to major U.S. airports pretty soon.

PAUL: Today New York's JFK International is going to be the first to begin with them. The goal is to stop anyone with possible symptoms of the deadly virus from getting past airport gates into the general public.

CNN's Alison Kosik is live at JFK Airport. So what's it going to look like there this morning?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that additional screening as you said beginning today here at JFK International Airport, that screening for Ebola from passengers coming from the three West African countries that have been stricken with the virus, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

So what will essentially happen is once those flights that originated there, that actually either connected there or originated there having passengers, those passengers get off the plane, they are going to be taken to a designated area where their temperatures are going to be taken.

They are also going to be asked questions as to where they have traveled, if they had any interaction with anybody who has the Ebola virus. If they are -- if there is a red flag, they will be taken to a quarantined area where a CDC official will look them over for further evaluation.

If they are given the all clear, they are going to be asked to hand over their contact information and also they are going to be given instructions as to how to take their temperature for 21 days after. And keep a log of that -- Christi and Victor.

PAUL: All righty, Alison Kosik, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Alison. Let's talk more about these new screenings with Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations. She's also a Pulitzer Prize winning writer and the author of "The Coming Plague, Newly Emerging Diseases In A World Out Of Balance."

So Laurie, good to have you with us this morning.

LAURIE GARRETT, SENIOR FELLOW ON GLOBAL HEALTH, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Good morning. Hi.

BLACKWELL: So let's start generally, what do you make of these new screenings that are coming to these five airports?

GARRETT: Well, similar screenings are now going in place in a number of European cities as well. I think they offer some margin of -- I don't know peace of mind for the public. You feel that something is being done.

But let's keep in mind that fever checks would not have caught Mr. Duncan because he did not have a fever until several days after he was already inside the United States. And most people feverish are also very sick with Ebola.

And it's unlikely they would have gotten on a plane in the first place. So I see this more as something to calm the nerves of the American people, the British people, the French people and so on, rather than actual screening.

BLACKWELL: Yes. A lot of people critics especially saying this isn't making them safer, just making them feel like they are safer. You called on a recent piece for finger pricks, which could come on the market pretty soon to test blood. How plausible do you think that is in these countries? Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and when could it happen?

GARRETT: Well, there are several companies working on this, working at a feverish pace, and our Food and Drug Administration is trying to come up with procedures to really super speed, get approval through once something is truly available.

And the idea would be that, you know, if you are a diabetic, you have this little needle and you poke yourself and you take a drop of blood and put it on a plate and it tells you what your glucose levels are.

In a very similar way, you could have a self-administered pinprick so nobody else is exposed to your blood and this little droplet goes on a plate and the plate either measures the genetic material of the virus, or has antibodies that capture the proteins of the virus.

Either way it will find virus before you know you're sick, before you have any symptoms, very, very early in the infection process. And this will help us know who really is infected.

So instead what we saw in Dallas with all of these people isolated for 21 days, we would be able to very quickly know if any of them had been infected and they would not have their lives disrupted and similarly we could have pinprick assays done at point of departure.

Set people aside in a secure area at the airports after they have gone through screening, normal screening, and immigration and so on, and they would self-administer their pinprick.

And when they were certified negative for Ebola, they would get a stamp on their ticket, which they could show as they traveled on ward, and they would safely then proceed on their journey.

BLACKWELL: You know, Governor Bobby Jindal, members of Congress, have called for a ban from flights into the U.S. from the three countries we've discussed this morning. What do you think about that proposal?

GARRETT: I think it's ludicrous on several levels. First of all, we can't start willy-nilly banning flights from countries based on disease around the world. That's the end of global solidarity, that's the end of global trade. That would have an enormous impact on globalization.

You're setting a precedent that there is no walking away from. The second part of the problem is that of course people don't fly directly from Liberia to the United States or from Sierra Leone to the United States. They have to go through other countries.

Their itineraries can often be quite confusing. You're not necessarily going to be able to block all flights from Brussels and from intermediary sites. The third thing is that all of us that have been trying to go to this region are finding that fewer and fewer airlines are willing to fly there.

If they hear that none of their flights will be allowed to land ultimately in the United States, either directly or through an intermediary country, we're going to see even fewer incentives for these only two remaining commercial airlines, to continue to land in these countries.

And then how do health care workers get in, how do first responders get in there? How do we help stop the epidemic? The best way to guarantee the safety of the American people from Ebola is to stop the Ebola epidemic.

BLACKWELL: All right, Laurie Garrett, thank you so much for speaking with us this morning offering some insight.

GARRETT: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: To learn more about how you can help in the fight against Ebola, visit cnn.com/impact.

The question that military leaders and analysts are asking, could Baghdad fall? ISIS militants are on the march in the besiege province, just outside the Iraqi capital.

PAUL: And provincial leaders say they need U.S. troops on the ground immediately. They made that plea. What will Washington respond next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: It's 22 minutes after the hour now. This morning, we've been telling you about ISIS gaining ground in Iraq. Iraqi officials say the terror group has control of 80 percent of Anbar Province.

PAUL: If they take over the rest, they will control a massive chunk of land from Raqqa in Syria to the perimeters of Baghdad.

CNN's Erin McPike is live at the White House with us. Erin, officials in Anbar, I know requesting that the U.S. step in and help and send in troops. That was a specific goal what they were asking for. Do you think the U.S. will put boots on the ground there?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, certainly not yet. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel addressed how difficult this situation is yesterday. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Anbar Province is in trouble, we know that. The United States and coalition partners are helping and assisting the Iraqi Security Forces, the Peshmerga, the Kurds, as I have said, the president has said, all of our senior officials have said, this is a difficult effort. It is going to take time. It won't be easy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: At the same time, it doesn't seem as though U.S. officials expected this kind of intense struggle so early. They expected to get a lot more cover from the very intense air campaign -- Christi and Victor.

BLACKWELL: So if Anbar falls ISIS will be really at the doorstep of Iraqi capital there, Baghdad. Is there any indication of what the strategy will be if that happens?

MCPIKE: Victor, no discernible different strategy just yet. We did hear from Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken just yesterday and he said that they, quote, "they need to step it up and add troops," by they, he is referring to the Iraqis as well as the moderate Syrian rebels.

And what he said is what the U.S. can continue to do is to train them and provide intelligence and air power, but they have to be on the ground. To that end, Turkey announced yesterday that Turkey will join in the training of the Syrian rebels and it could be that Turkey can commit some ground troops, but that is still under consideration -- Christi and Victor.

PAUL: All right, Erin McPike, thank you so much.

You've heard it before. We're all hearing it again. This weekend, hands up, don't shoot.

BLACKWELL: That is the phrase echoing again in Missouri as protesters from Ferguson to St. Louis, they are on the streets. Why they hope to -- what they hope to gain, rather, from this weekend of resistance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It's 28 minutes past the hour right now. Good morning to you. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Let's start this half with five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

Up first, a besieged Iraqi province just outside Baghdad, wants U.S. ground troops to come to the rescue against ISIS and they want those troops now. The head of Anbar's Provincial Council tells CNN the situation is, quote, "very bad" there.

He says ISIS has sent 10,000 fighters to the region, which is just 10 miles from Baghdad. That is fueling fears about the fate of Iraq's capital.

PAUL: Number two, JFK Airport beginning enhanced screening for the Ebola virus today. It's the first of five U.S. airports to target passengers traveling from those hard hit countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, an NBC news crew we've learned who worked with an infected freelancer in Liberia is under a mandatory quarantine order after violating a voluntary agreement to stay in isolation for 21 days.

BLACKWELL: Number three, this monster storm is barreling toward Japan. Typhoon Vongfong is this year's most powerful storm, sustained winds of 178 miles per hour, gusts as strong as 219. Preparations are under way right now. Vongfong is expected to lose intensity, it still could make landfall as the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.

PAUL: And number four, a lot of people watching St. Louis. Because later this morning protesters plan to march through downtown demanding an end to police violence and say they also plan, quote, "acts of civil disobedience" this weekend. This, of course, comes just days after the killing of another black teenager by a white officer. That's what sparked a fresh round of angry demonstrations now. Police reported no arrests though last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A tree fell on Greg Abbott. He sued and got millions. Since then he spent his career working against other victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now that political ad had a lot of people talking about the Texas Governor's race. In it Democrat Wendy Davis targets her Republican opponent Greg Abbott who is partly paralyzed. The ad argues that Abbott who was injured by a fallen tree in the 80s sued and won millions for his injuries but opposed similar suits while he worked as a State Supreme Court justice and attorney general. An Abbott spokesman says the ad quote, "completely disqualifies Davis." For Davis who currently trails in the polls has defended the attack ad insisting that it raises legitimate questions about Abbott's record as attorney general.

Well this morning we have been talking about ISIS taking over most of Anbar province in Iraq and getting closer and closer to Baghdad. Officials in Anbar are begging the U.S. for help; not just arms and ammunition and training but troops there on the ground.

So should the President go back on the very promise that he made to become president? That he would end these wars and should U.S. troops has to re-take an area they've already fought so hard for twice now?

Let's bring in our political panel: Alex Castellanos and Maria Cardona. Maria I want to start with you. What do you think the President should do here and was that initial promise of no combat troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria, was that a mistake?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I don't think so. I think what the President should do and what they are doing frankly on a minute by minute basis is to look at what is going on, on the ground and look at what -- what the landscape looks like and what their generals, what the U.S. generals are telling the President.

And the fact of the matter is, Victor, that you know, when he set out to put down a strategy to fight ISIS and everything that's going on in the region, the focus was to make sure that the U.S. was not going at this alone. And the fact of the matter is that there are more than 60 countries that are part of this coalition force.

So instead of always jumping to say does the U.S. need to jump in here let's look at what the allies need to do. Let's look at what the region needs to do. ISIS and ISIL are an existential threat to a lot of the countries that are in that region. They need to step up. Turkey, frankly, needs to step up. And I think they have agreed to do a lot more.

So I think we're going to learn a lot more in the days to come Victor about the realities on the ground, but I think the President is going to continue to stick his promise about no U.S. troops on the ground. Do we need troops, yes, I mean do we need troops probably.

But they don't need to be U.S. troops, at least that doesn't need to be the first thing that everybody jumps to.

BLACKWELL: Alex, what do you think? Should we wait for Turkey to go in first? They said they will commit to the training but we haven't heard that they'll be sending any ground troops yet. Should the President send in U.S. troops?

ALEX CASTELLANOS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, when your house is on fire, what you don't want to hear is the firemen say well look, I'm not coming but I'm going to train some firemen, local firemen and eventually we're going to get there. The situation seems to be getting worse because we haven't put American boots on the ground. We could have snuffed out ISIS when it was small and we learned in September that it had gone from 10,000 to maybe 30,000 fighters now.

So if the United States is the chef in the kitchen and if won't eat our own cooking, no one else will so no one else is really going to end up putting boots on the ground. As much as we're all exhausted by a decade of war, sometimes the easiest thing is the toughest thing and that is to take strong action now.

BLACKWELL: Maria, I want to come back to you. We're going to pivot to domestic politics here. We just showed that ad from the Wendy Davis campaign, her campaign for governor invoking the partial paralysis of her opponent. What do you think about that?

CARDONA: I actually took a look at this ad last night Victor because it was, you're right, it was getting a lot of attention in the media and on Twitter. I don't think it's out of bounds at all. I agree with Wendy Davis when she says that this actually puts legitimate issues at the forefront.

She in no way disparages Greg Abbott for being -- for having used a wheelchair or having to use a wheelchair. She in no way makes fun of people in wheelchairs at all. She uses it to bring the issue of how Greg Abbott availed himself of the U.S. justice system to get justice, and how when he was in a position to let others do exactly the same thing, he denied that justice to the working people of Texas.

That is a very legitimate issue and I think it has frankly started to spark a conversation about the differences between these two candidates and how Wendy Davis is really working for the people of Texas and Greg Abbott isn't.

BLACKWELL: Alex.

CASTELLANOS: You know I've made a few negative ads over the years and sometimes a legitimate debate is presented in a way that's just not very tasteful to voters. It's like a baby seal might rob a bank and but you can't still club a baby seal in public. It's just not going to look good. And I think that's what's happening here. It's just a distasteful presentation and what it says is politics.

Wendy Davis will say anything in almost any way to get elected. People hate politics so I think it was a mistake for her to bring up this issue this way.

BLACKWELL: I'm glad you brought that up people playing politics because we've heard from some Republican congressmen this week the fear or reports that there were members of ISIS sneaking into the U.S. from the southern border when there is no evidence to support that.

So these candidates as we're just a few weeks out from the midterm, people hate politics to quote Alex Castellanos. So Alex what do you think?

CASTELLANOS: Well, I think you have folks like Jean Shaheen who is running for senate in New Hampshire saying if we're worried about disease coming across our -- to the United States now, into airports, into legitimate ways to come into this country. Imagine the threat to our porous southern border.

So I think what you're hearing is a lot of Republicans and frankly, Democrats echo a threat that we are -- we are vulnerable to problems that may start on the other side of the world but could be on our doorstep in a moment whether it's terrorism or disease.

And you just imagine for example that Ebola moves not to the United States but to Latin America. What do you think will happen to those people there? Where will they go to try to get their children good health care or to escape a pandemic? So I think --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Well is there any evidence -- you mean in Mexico?

CARDONA: But this is not -- Victor, I think what you're talking about this --

CASTELLANOS: I'm sorry. Would you rather wait until there is? I guess is the question.

CARDONA: This is not a discussion --

BLACKWELL: Do something now before there is a mushroom I've got like 30 seconds left.

CARDONA: This is not --

(CROSSTALK)

CASTELLANOS: You asked me a question.

CARDONA: Well, but Alex, I think you've got a chance to answer so let me. This is not a discussion of a legitimate concern when you have the extreme voices on the right talking about how immigrant children coming across the border are spreading enterovirus when there is absolutely no proof of that and there is no proof of ebola coming over on the southern border. That is politics at its worst.

CASTELLANOS: One reason there is no proof Maria maybe because the President has allowed -- good point. One reason there is no proof is because the President has allowed tens of thousands of people to come here legally and he's spread them all over the country and he hasn't told us where they are. And then on top of that we've had no enterovirus for three decades.

CARDONA: That is so not true. That is so not true Alex.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Alex, Maria I wish we had another 15 minutes to have a conversation because we didn't even get to talk about Allison Lundergan Grimes which I would have love to talk about that too.

CARDONA: Next time.

CASTELLANOS: A proud Obama supporter.

BLACKWELL: Alex and Maria thank you so much.

CARDONA: Thank you.

PAUL: I think they are going to keep going with that.

BLACKWELL: Yes they don't need us to continue the conversation.

PAUL: I know, I love it.

All right, Friday night lights, shut down at a New Jersey high school.

BLACKWELL: Yes after seven teenagers are charged with hazing and sexually abusing younger classmates. Why officials say it may have been going on for a year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: This morning a New Jersey community rocked by a high school football scandal. Authorities say seven football players at Sayreville War Memorial have been charged with allegations that are connected to hazing and sexual assault. The teens are between the ages of 15 and 17 and accused of turning off the light as they abused younger classmates in the locker room.

The school officials have not commented on details of the abuse. They say it may, though, have been going on for up to a year. But this controversy has forced an early end to the football season and that is causing a rift between angry parents. Apparently the school superintendent canceled the rest of the season.

So we want to talk with CNN commentator and legal analyst, Mel Robbins about this. Mel, I want to go through the charges here real quickly because they are pretty graphic. We have aggravated sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, criminal restraint. When you look at those charges -- and those are just a few of them, there are more -- how much trouble are these teens in?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Extraordinary amount of trouble. You're talking about seven players that have been charged -- six have already been arrested. And last night, by the way, was supposed to be Sayreville's homecoming game on their home field against Monroe High School. Instead, the football program was canceled for the season, and now you've got seven players being charged in extremely serious counts.

What's going to happen next is, once they get all seven of them they are being held at a detention facility. They will go before a superior court judge and that judge will have to determine first and foremost, Christi, are these kids going to be released to the custody of their parents or are they going to be held in a detention facility pending this.

And on top of this, you know that all seven of these kids, particularly if they are seniors, this is college season. Some of the reporting out of the New Jersey "Star Ledger" suggests that at least one of the players is already committed via scholarship. And so you know that that's going to have a major impact in terms of whether or not this student keeps a scholarship, goes to college, even if these charges don't stick.

PAUL: Well, based on what you have heard, because I know that you have read some details, more detailed information about what happened which we can't get into on this morning show because it's just too much I think for our viewers this hour but in terms of what happened. Do you think that the juveniles, because they are juveniles, there's going to be some leeway here?

ROBBINS: Well, you know, the charges and the allegations based on what I've read are so serious, and so awful, Christi, in terms of you know, when you all hear what is being alleged happened in this locker room it's just going to make your stomach turn.

There is a real potential that some of these kids, depending upon their age and whether or not they were one of the ring leaders in all this could be tried as adults. So they could be seeing very significant jail time. And you know one of the things I keep thinking about and I'm sure a lot of you do as well, is just a couple years ago we had the whole Richie Incognito situation in the NFL. And you kind of hope that when you have a case of that high profile it starts to trickle down to the college and high school levels.

And I think the message here is that if this has been going on in a, quote, "pervasive manner" which is what the DA and what the principal said, it was so significant that they are going to cancel a football program for a year. And this isn't just any football program -- Christi. These guys won states like three years in a row in the last four years and they are going to cancel it, you have to know this is serious and you can't think that this is something that just happened this year.

With hazing it's something that is typically part of the culture and I would imagine that this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of allegations that we're going to hear.

PAUL: It is so disturbing. Mel Robbins, thank you so much. And obviously we're going to stay on the story. ROBBINS: Good to see you.

PAUL: Thank you. You, too.

And let you know, you out there who are sitting there may be having breakfast now. Let you know how this all pans out and what else comes out -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, some very graphic details.

Christi, another report, a massive hack. Cyber criminals are apparently leaking hundreds of thousands of Snapchat images and videos including child pornography.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: We are talking yet again about another massive breach of privacy this weekend, but this time possibly targeting kids and teens.

BLACKWELL: According to business insiders cyber criminals are leaking hundreds of thousands of stolen photos and videos from the popular app Snapchat and much like the recent celebrity photo hack, many of these images may include racy or nude selfies.

PAUL: CNN's Brett Larson is joining us now. So Brett, because so many of these users -- they are just kids -- thousands of these stolen images I mean they could actually be child pornography, could they not?

BRETT LARSON, CNN DIGITAL EXPERT: They absolutely could be. And if you look at the users of Snapchat they tend to skew incredibly young. We're talking the 13- to 17-year-olds of the user groups. This is why Snapchat was so popular or desired by Facebook because that's a big target audience that a lot of these online sites want. That's why they chased down Snapchat.

So yes, the photos that we are going to see leaked from this latest data breach are going to be that of minors so it's going to be interesting to see how law enforcement reacts to this data breach and this photo hack as opposed to the one we were talking about just a few weeks ago.

BLACKWELL: Who if any one is taking credit for this and are they targeting everyone or is it a narrow group that's at risk here?

LARSON: You know, this is what's interesting because we're just starting to hear about this. We're just starting to see things pop up on the web talking about we've got these photos. We've seen a couple of Web sites that have disappeared. These sites where you can actually log in; they're considered third party sites to Snapchat where you can log in, a site called SnapSave. You can use your user information and you can actually save the photos.

So it's looking as though these third party people who were accessing Snapchat are aware this hack has sort of materialized from and that's where these photos are going to come from. Interestingly enough, Snapchat has released a statement about this. They put it out on their Twitter feed saying their servers are not at risk here. It was not a hack of the actual Snapchat servers but was in fact these third party apps that pop up allegedly on IOS and Android devices. They were victimized by the use of third party apps to send and receive snap, the practice that, of course, is expressly prohibited in their terms of use.

So it's interesting that they've already jumped out ahead of this because this isn't the first time Snapchat has landed in a little bit of hot water.

PAUL: Right. I mean these images reportedly leaking on online forum Four Chan (ph) --

LARSON: Yes.

PAUL: -- and that's the same one that leaked the celebrity nude photos. Why is it -- you know, everybody is going to be oh, nothing disappears online. We can find anybody. Why can't we find the culprits here?

LARSON: You know, it's very difficult. In the web, in the world of the web that we are now finding ourselves living in, in this Internet of everything, these people can hide literally anywhere in the world where the laws aren't the same as they are here. And just because they have an Internet connection they can begin to do things like this.

If the servers are hosted in other countries, in other places, we don't have the ability to chase these people down. And these are hackers -- they know their way around, they know how to hide their tracks and hide behind, you know, routes around places so that they just can't be found. It's disturbing and it's troubling especially given the content that we are about to see that we're talking about children here.

But this is also a big -- another red flag here of you know, if your eyes can see a photo on a display anyone's eyes can see a photo on the display. No matter what they're saying that it's going to disappear in 10 seconds or not. That's just -- these aren't facts at this point anymore.

PAUL: It's a tough lesson but it will be a lesson learned for sure.

LARSON: Yes, indeed.

PAUL: Brett Larson, thank you so much -- Brett.

LARSON: All right.

BLACKWELL: A quick break and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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BLACKWELL: You've got to get a pair of those disco pants.

PAUL: You go right ahead. I want to see that. I want to see it on social media.

BLACKWELL: I will. I will definitely show it.

Hey listen, we've got a lot of news we're following this morning.

The big story, of course, the breaking news coming out of Iraq that the leaders in Al Anbar Province are asking for U.S. help now. We'll continue that story coming up at 10:00 Eastern.

PAUL: We'll see you then.

"SMERCONISH" is next.