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New Day Saturday

President Trump Lands In Biarritz, France As World Leaders Assemble; Riot Police Fire Tear Gas At Hong Kong Protesters; Florida Man Found Guilty Of Manslaughter In Parking Lot Shooting; Astronaut Accessed Estranged Spouse's Bank Account From Space; Trump Announces Retaliatory Tariffs As Trade Dispute Intensifies; USA Basketball's 78- Game Winning Streak Snapped; Dangers Of Exercising In High Temps. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired August 24, 2019 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump dramatically escalating his fight with China and his own Federal Reserve chairman.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're having a little spat with China and we'll win it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crisis in the Amazon where fires in the rain forests are are having a worldwide impact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From Argentina to London to France, activists and global leaders alike are demanding action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democratic field down two candidates, (INAUDIBLE) suggest. 18 of them are wasting their time.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, 2020 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It doesn't make me stop. I've got the money rolling in. This love turned into a roll.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour now. Good Saturday morning to you. Any moment now we're expecting President Trump to arrive in Biarritz there in Southern France for the G7 summit. Live look at the air strip there.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: As we await him, yes, the gathering of world leaders taking place over the next three days, discussing everything from trade to economic issues to climate change.

BLACKWELL: Now, traditionally, these gatherings promote international agreements and negotiations. But on the list of disputes this year, China's escalating trade tensions. Ongoing conflicts with Iran, the climate crisis, and North Korea's nuclear capabilities. PAUL: And there isn't a lot of confidence for any substantial

agreements to come out of this summit. Here's why we know that: French President Emmanuel Macron says, he will not even issue a joint communique citing a "deep crisis of democracy." Despite all of this, President Trump says he believes the summit will be productive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to France; we're going to have a good few days. I think it will be very productive. Seeing a lot of the leaders who are friends of mine for the most part. Wouldn't say in 100 percent of the cases but for the most part. And I think we're doing very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: CNN Senior White House Correspondent Pamela Brown joining us now from Southern France. Pamela, any sense of how the president is going to be received once he arrives?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is always the big question. He has been seen as the wild card. And the last two G7s that ended acrimoniously with President Trump. And he is arriving here as an outlier, particularly on important global issues like trade and climate change. Those are issues that are expected to be brought up to President Trump during the weekend here. And of course, he is entering Biarritz, France, for the summit after escalating the trade war with China yesterday in the United States.

So, that is something that is expected to be a focus at the economic forum tomorrow morning here in France. The president himself pushed for; he wanted to use this forum as an opportunity to tout the strength of the U.S. economy. But many of the G7 leaders here believe that his use of tariffs has weighed down the global economy. Now, publicly the president has said he believes the next couple of days will be productive. He called many of the G7 leaders his friends for the most part.

But behind the scenes, he's been questioning why he even has to attend the G7 to his aides. He has said that he doesn't believe that it's a productive use of his time. That in the past two years, he hasn't had the opportunity to tout to his accomplishments as much as he would want to. Now, we are told that President Trump is expected to have a bilateral with French President Macron. And during that meeting, the president is expected to bring up the digital tax and what he plans to do about it. Here's what he said just before he boarded Air Force One in the United States last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't want them doing anything having to do with taxing unfairly our companies. Those are great American companies, and frankly, I don't want France going out and taxing our companies. Very unfair. And if they do that, we'll be taxing their wine or doing something else. We'll be taxing their wine like they've never seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And the president has talked about taxing French wine publicly before. But this would be the first time that he will be confronting the French president on taxing French goods, including wine. Now, for Macron's part, he is expected to bring up climate change, he is expected to bring up the wildfires in the Amazon. And of course, there is this looming threat of auto tariffs on European imports. And so, all of this is expected to be discussed. He's going to have a number of working sessions and meetings with other G7 leaders. But sources I've been speaking to are downplaying any expectation of something concrete coming out of this summit saying they don't expect anything groundbreaking to come out of it.

PAUL: All right. Pamela Brown, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: And we're seeing Air Force One landing here at the airport there in Biarritz. The president on board. He landed about an hour ago in Bordeaux. And then he was transferred to this smaller plane to land at the airport. Of course, this will be the start of the G7 summit, and many issues there on the table.

[07:05:05] And on the point that as we watch the plan landing come to a stop here, Pamela just mentioned that the president's comments about potential tariffs against French wine. Now, in just the last few moments, we've gotten a response from Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, who says that the E.U. stands by France, this is a quote: "If the U.S. imposes tariffs on France, the E.U. will respond in kind."

So, we wonder if this will be the start of another trade war. If the president then follows through with his response to the digital taxes that could be levied by France. We'll continue to watch what's happening there in Biarritz.

Now, President Trump also said that Russia should be admitted to the G7. Now, remember, Russia was disinvited from the gatherings, I'd say. Dropped from the G8 to the G7 after the country's annexation of Crimea, something the group stillness is a violation of international law.

I asked the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Steven Pifer, about the president's remarks. Should Russia be readmitted to the G7?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN PIFER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: No, I believe it would be a mistake to readmit Russia back into the format unless there is some effort by Russia to resolve the conflict with Ukraine. Back in 2014, the leaders of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan said that Russia's out because of its invasion of Ukraine. That hasn't changed. And there should be some action by the Russians to correct this egregious invasion of Ukraine.

BLACKWELL: What's the likelihood that any of that will happen?

PIFER: My guess is it's very hard analytically to see the Russians be prepared to return Crimea. And it's hard to see how Ukraine musters the political, the economic, the diplomatic leverage to get Crimea back. But Russia certainly has made no effort to try to annex Eastern Ukraine. Russia could make steps that would allow a settlement of the conflict there and restoration of the Ukrainian sovereignty over the (INAUDIBLE). But the Russia has done none of that.

BLACKWELL: More broadly, what is achievable this weekend? French President Macron said that a communique to effort that would be pointless. That's basic agreement of principles. What is in within reach for the seven member states?

PIFER: It's going to be, I think, a difficult decision. I mean, typically the G7 leaders focus on economic issues. Global trade, questions such as economic growth, they talk about climate change. And there are some discussions about political issues. But as you noted, the President of France and they are the host of the summit, said that for the first time since the 1970s there will be no communique because he sees the differences between the United States and the European members on issues such as economics, trades, tariffs, climate change, and Iran so great; he just doesn't think a communique can be worked out.

BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about what could be the beginnings of this arms race. President Putin ordered a symmetrical response to the U.S.'s cruise missile test in the wake of the withdrawal from the INF Treaty this month. Now, President Putin says that he does not want to enter what he calls a costly, economically destructive arms race, but is that what we're watching?

PIFER: Well, I think we're beginning to see the beginnings of that. Remember, there's a couple of important points here. The United States tested a ground-launched cruise missile that would have violated the INF Treaty -- the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty. However, the United States first had withdrawn from the treaty. Russia, on the other hand, years ago, had tested and deployed a ground-launched cruise missile that violated the treaty. So, it's a bit ironic now that Mr. Putin is saying we have to take symmetrical steps to respond to the American missile when the Russians have had this missile deployed already for two or three years.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask about the effort that it seems to be intensifying from the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. He says that he has spoken with the Ukrainian official about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, and hoping to get a prosecutor to investigate or the government to investigate the dismissal of a prosecutor in Ukraine. There's no evidence that the vice president or Hunter Biden did anything wrong. Other governments have called for this prosecutor to be dismissed. What is your view of what seems to be Giuliani's effort to get a foreign government to investigate for the purpose of influencing or having some value in the 2020 election?

PIFER: Well, I believe that Mr. Giuliani is trying to pull Ukraine into this. He's looking for anything that he can do to throw up some smoke and some dust given the concerns about possible connections between the president's campaign in 2016 and efforts by the Russians to help that campaign. I personally believe it would be very much a mistake for Ukraine to be pulled into this because since 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine regained its independence, Ukraine has been a bipartisan issue in the United States. Ukraine has enjoyed support both from Republicans and Democrats. And it would not be positive for Ukraine or for U.S.-Ukraine relation if Ukraine became a political football in our own domestic politics here in America.

BLACKWELL: All right. Ambassador Pifer, thanks so much for your time.

PIFER: Thank you for having me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:10:50] PAUL: All right. We want to show the latest pictures here we're getting in there in France as we await President Trump to step off Air Force One and start G7 which is going to be a very interesting three days. Because as we said, there are a lot of things, there are a lot of discussions that are going to go on where there is not a main commonality, a core commonality among many of these leaders from Canada, from France, from Italy, and with President Trump. In fact, the Euro Council President Tusk, also mentioned one of the things that's different this time around, Prime Minister -- the new Prime Minister Johnson, Boris Johnson, from the U.K.

And we have the Euro Council, President Tusk, saying he will have serious conversations about Brexit with Prime Minister Johnson, hoping that the prime minister will not be a Mr. No-Deal when it comes to that. So, again, as you see on your screen there, we are waiting to see President Trump step off the plane. When he does, if he goes up to the microphone, we will take that live. I want to bring in Wesley Lowery though for us right now. So, as we watch G7, what would be a win for President Trump at the end of the day, Wesley?

WESLEY LOWERY, WASHINGTON POST REPORTER: That's an excellent question. I think that, you know, one of the things people are patiently awaiting during this summit is to see basically President Trump overturns the table here on variety of issues as we've seen time and time again. The president is out of step with many of the leaders from the other G7 countries. Whether it's on issues of hate, on climate, on the economy. Now this back and forth with France over whether or not an additional trade war may be started. And so, if the president can get out of the summit without a major spat with an ally, that would probably be a win, frankly.

BLACKWELL: Yes. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump now descending from the stairs here. Deplaning Air Force One. As we kind of enter this weekend, we heard from President Macron who's hosting this summit, that they're not even going to attempt -- they're not going to attempt a communique of any basic agreement of principles. For the first time since 75 when all of this started. The president, sources tell CNN, is asking why he has to go to this. We know that he doesn't like these multinational summits, but does this wouldn't start especially more deflated than the others?

LOWERY: Certainly. The idea that they're not even going to attempt to come together and make a statement as the western world powers, that they're not even going to, you know, debate and attempt to put out a joint statement and kind of set a tone for the rest of the world does say something about how these other nations have one, what they've learned from their previous interactions with this administration; but two, what they find prudent, right. It speaks to how under this president the United States really has, to some extent, isolated itself even from some of its longest held allies. And the extent to which other nations are now having to triangulate around our president because they, they can't trust him to go along with things that otherwise largely agreed upon by these nations.

PAUL: President Trump has made the argument in the past with the G7 leaders, be more like us, be more like the U.S. How do you make that argument based on where the U.S. is now with China, with North Korea?

LOWERY: It's a really difficult argument to be made. You know, the reality is, the country is -- not even on the international scale, a domestic scale, deeply divided currently. Now, there are questions about what's happening with our economy and where it will be moving forward. In part due to this trade war with China. And so, there is -- it's also true that we've certainly seen some undercutting of the American authority on the international stage under this administration. And so, to the suggestion that some of these other countries should be more like us, I think it's difficult.

[07:15:06] To be said, the challenges facing United States of America aren't unique. Many of the countries including some of the G7 countries are dealing with similar domestic upheaval, are dealing with similar political debates that we are or having similar struggles on the international stage. But it's unquestionably true that all of these countries are dealing with these issues, and it's not, you know, America that's kind of standing out as a shining example on any number of issues. There have been other countries that have taken the role of being the international leaders at times when the president has not wanted to be in that role.

PAUL: All right. Wesley Lowery, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today. We appreciate it.

LOWERY: Of course, anytime.

PAUL: We have some new video too that we want to show you here of some of the new clashes happening today between police and demonstrators in Hong Kong. For the first time in nearly two weeks, police have fired teargas at protesters. Thousands of people are near a police station where protesters have built barricades to block roads. And you can see a lot of the chaos right there.

BLACKWELL: So, riot police moved in once the protesters appeared to start throwing what looked like rocks, bricks, glass. Now, this is the 12th weekend of protests in Hong Kong. And you see the cloud there trying to disperse these crowds. We are getting into the evening hours. This is often where if things get -- I mean, you can see what's happening here. But worse, this is when that typically happens. We will see what happens as we go throughout the evening as we bring these pictures from Hong Kong. Also, the question -- was it manslaughter? Was it self-defense? A

jury decides the fate of a man accused of shooting a Florida father in front of his family in an argument over a handicapped parking space.

PAUL: And listen, this is not reality T.V. This is real. Crime from space. The New York Times examining a claim that an astronaut improperly accessed the bank account of her estranged spouse from the International Space Station.

BLACKWELL: Also, the destruction of wildlife. Indigenous people at risk, as well. Parts of Brazil covered in smoke, so much at stake as the Amazon rain forest continues to burn. What is being done to stop the fires? A new answer suggested from the president of Brazil.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:40] PAUL: In this morning's "LEGAL BRIEFS," the Stand Your Ground Law is tested again during a trial in Florida. Michael Drekja claims that he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed Markeis McGlockton last summer. This was during an argument over a handicapped parking spot. After six hours of deliberations, here's what the jury said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The State of Florida versus Michael Drejka, case number 1809851CF as to the charge of manslaughter, we the jury find as follows as to the defendant in this case. The defendant is guilty of manslaughter as charged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Criminal Defense Attorney Janet Johnson with us now. Janey, I know you've been following this case. First of all, what's your reaction to the verdict.

JANET JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. Christi, I was up late here in Florida to see that they got a verdict. They actually got dinner; I think around 9:00. Then, they had a question about the self-defense law. And I wondered if the defense attorney after that verdict didn't have some regret that he didn't run a stand-your-ground hearing which is where the judge could have thrown the whole thing out. I think he didn't want his client to testify because if he done that, the client would've had to take the stand. Instead, they basically relied on a video that was an interview with the police and Drejka did not take the stand, and the jury found it wasn't self- defense. So, I think maybe be a little Saturday morning quarterback, maybe he needed to explain why he felt threatened to that jury.

PAUL: Do you anticipate an appeal?

JOHNSON: I do. And Stand Your Ground --

PAUL: On what grounds?

JOHNSON: Well, I think the -- the self-defense claim and the Stand- Your-Ground portion of it, it's often overturned in trial and then on appeal. So, I think that they'll basically say, you know, he felt threatened, it's a subject of standard. He was lying on the ground, he'd been pushed down. And even though Mr. McGlockton was stepping backwards, he was the aggressor and this is contrary to the facts. This verdict. But I don't think it will succeed. I think it will be upheld on appeal.

PAUL: You do. OK, I want to talk to you about another case. And this is so out there let's say. New York Times, NASA said -- the New York Times says that NASA is examining a claim that a NASA Astronaut, Anne McClain, improperly accessed her estranged wife's bank account from the International Space Station. Now, the Times reports: McClain's spouse, Summer Warner, brought a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission that McClain had committed identity theft despite not seeing any indication of moved or spent funds. Walk us through this because never have we talked about a potential case where there was identity stolen from someone at the ISS.

JOHNSON: Yes. I think we're going to have a whole new area of space law. I mean, maybe it's already happening. Since I went to law school, we didn't study divorces in space. That may be a new thing. You know, there's two different issues. One is the jurisdictional issue, is there a trial that's held in space? Is it held on Earth? Apparently, the space station has jurisdictional rules in place to deal with this. They cooperate with the venue back on Earth. And apparently, they're ready for this.

Although, it hasn't happened before. And I think, you know, that's one thing, who knew that you could do this from space? I guess it makes sense. You have to do your banking even if you're in space. I do have some questions as a divorce matter, if they're still married and if the spouses exchanged passwords and mingled their funds, I'm not sure it's identity theft. I mean, I've used my husband's Comcast password.

Does that mean I'm impersonating him? Is that a theft? If she didn't take any money, just monitoring their finances -- it may be a violation of NASA rules to use their computers for that. It probably is. But is it a crime, and is it something that she is going to go to trial for? I don't think so. But you know, Christi, you know, in divorces, things get really messy, and, you know, there's a saying: "Divorce law is good people at their worst." You know, maybe things are getting a little, you know, heated, and they both probably acted in ways that they might not have in normal conditions.

PAUL: Wow.

JOHNSON: Right.

PAUL: Wow. That's all I have --

JOHNSON: A lot --

PAUL: I know. We appreciate you getting up for us early on a Saturday morning. Thank you.

[07:25:11] JOHNSON: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: This U.S.-China trade war is intensifying. Now both sides have imposed a new round of tariffs on one another. We'll ask a financial planner how that directly affects your finances.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So good to have you with us here. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

PAUL: And there goes the bell. And look at those numbers, down 623 points. What a week.

BLACKWELL: Yes. So, this sell-off was driven by President Trump's response to new retaliatory tariffs from China and the fed policy. Now, President Trump is butting heads again with Beijing over tariffs. He imposed more tariffs on China after being -- after Beijing, rather, announced a fresh round of tariffs on about $75 billion worth of U.S. goods.

PAUL: President Trump announced the tariff hike in a tweet. Here is part of that series: "Starting on October 1st, the $250 billion of goods and products from China currently being taxed at 25 percent will be taxed at 30 percent." The president says he was left with no choice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:30:02] TRUMP: China has been hurting our country for 30 years with the money they've been taken out. Other president should have done something about it and they should have done it a long time ago. Whether it was Clinton, or Bush, or Obama, any of them. They should have done something about it, and they didn't, I'm doing it, and I have no choice because we're not going to lose close to a trillion dollars a year to China.

And China understands that. I hope that with President Xi, I have a good relationship but they understand we're not going to do it. And this is more important than anything else right now just about that we're working on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Financial planner Chris Burns with us now. So, when you listen to that, I mean, there are people who will say, listen, the imbalance is there, there doesn't need to be something about it. How much truth or not is in that statement?

CHRIS BURNS, FINANCIAL PLANNER: CERTIFIED RETIREMENT COUNSELOR, FINANCIAL ADVISOR: Yes, China has been a bad actor for a while. No one disagrees with that on the other side of the aisle. They have -- they have many, many times done things the international community has said are not OK. And so, they need to be acted against.

But this president's go-to his tariffs in massive ways. You were just talking a minute ago about possible tariffs against French wine, it's almost at the point where if you haven't had a tariff levied, it's like, am I really an ally of the U.S. at this point? Right, because they're just -- they're constant.

So, the real question is, is this helping us? Are we going to be in better shape because of it? And what was really shocking yesterday about the president's tweets was he said, "I hereby order all American companies to move away from China.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BURNS: And there's something, I think, in most Americans unless you're in the military possibly that when you hear, "I hereby order," you kind of bristle against that because the president is not tweeting from like the iron throne. I think that is the nickname for the restroom in Air Force One, but other than that. And now, my parents are changing channel, and so -- anyway.

But there is this, this, this sense of this hasn't been done before is that allowed. And the president doubled down that last night and said, "I know it is. Just read the Economic Powers Act of 1977.

And so, at 4:30 this morning, it was riveting. I read the Economic Powers Act in 1977 and basically, it says, yes, the president does have a lot of discretion in a national emergency to do these kinds of things.

But there's a whole section that talks about his responsibility to go to Congress and get pre-approval prior to that, i.e. prior to tweeting, right? And so, it's an -- it's definitely, this is the kind of that this act was used by President Bush, for instance, to say, we're going to -- you know, block funds from terrorists after 9/11. It's never been used to say we're going to direct all American companies away from the second-largest economy in the world.

And so, of course, there's a significant market drop because there is now fear escalating over well what's this going to look like.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the uncertainty. What is next? Because we can't imagine that there will be no response whether that's in announcing new tariffs or in some statement from China. Considering that uncertainty, does this change how you advise your clients? What you tell them the short-term long-term prospects for their money is and should be?

BURNS: Yes, 100 percent. Because here is the issue is that, first of all, regardless of your politics and people will hear this and go -- and this is going to be political, but no. Actually, whether you love President Trump or you don't support him, you have no control over Washington, right? But this will directly impact your 401(k), and we now live in what I call a market-driven retirement for most folks.

I mean, your parents, your grandparents, may have had a pension. And so, that was what they relied on for retirement. Most of us rely on the market, right?

PAUL: Right.

BURNS: And so, regardless of your politics, you have to say, I can't control Washington, what can I control, and that's the risk of it I'm taking. And here's the danger, because interest rates are so low, because, you know, we just draw interest rates again recently, we didn't talk about the Fed and all that's going on, and that's a whole other issue.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BURNS: Because they're so low, there's this tendency for folks, especially near retirement who would normally be in safe money because that used to give us some sort of return. To go, maybe I'll edge more into stocks, I'll be a little more aggressive. It's worked out for me for the last 10 years, we're in the longest bull market in history.

But if the market tanks and no one knows when that's going to happen. Then, those folks could see their retirement entirely derailed or change. And so, my advice to people is, you have to plan as if this is going to happen, even though no one can predict it.

You take control of what you can control. And again, don't make it a political issue like I support the president, therefore, I'm doubling down.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BURNS: Look at your own situation.

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: OK. Chris Burns, always good to have you.

PAUL: Yes.

BURNS: Yes, thanks so much.

[07:34:51] PAUL: That's great info. Thank you, Chris.

So, NASA says, the Brazilian Amazon is facing its most active year of fires in nearly a decade. Protesters in Brazil and around the world, they're angry. The more isn't being done to save the rainforest.

How is Brazil's government responding to the international outrage about on that scene? Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: 38 minutes past the hour right now. An international pressure is growing on Brazil to combat the fires threatening the Amazon rainforest right now.

Brazil's president says he's deploying the military to help fight the fires for the next month. Temporary firefighters are also being hired in several countries, including the U.S. are offering help. BLACKWELL: The crisis is leading to protests in Brazil and around the world. Now, satellite images show smoke from the fires creeping across Brazil and spilling into neighboring countries.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is following this from Port of Velho, Brazil.

Nick, last night there were protests. We saw some video of those in Brazil as the president addressed the country and appears he is changing his tone. What is he saying?

[07:39:30] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's changing his tone to some degree and he is accepting there is a serious problem behind me, frankly. Let me just let you see that this should be a clear blue sky.

And as a cameraman tilts towards the river, I'm standing on a bridge over it. You should be able to see all the way down here, and it is completely blocked out by the smoke.

Now, President Bolsonaro has accepted the scale of the problem and that the army has to come in and they need temporary firefighters. But he's still kind of sticking to his old line on this. Which is that there are annual fires, that's true. But people here say they haven't had this last year, certainly. And the most scientists say we've got 85 percent more fires raging than we saw last year.

And on top of that too, I'm in Rondonia State, which is where the most number of fires actually are. And President Bolsonaro also said, look, this is a resource for the people of the Amazon. You see them there in the boats along the river. This is the industry really that is behind the livelihood of so many.

And Bolsonaro has said, he hope he can harness the resources to make them richer. But that's in the face of what's happening behind me, which is involving deforestation, land being cleared to enable agriculture. Often to increase the amount of soy that's used to feed cattle, that's used to create beef that goes in the burger you or I might eat later on today.

All of this is causing a lot of international reaction. Fury across social media, but also in Biarritz too with the G7 meeting and debating whether to delay trade deals with Brazil.

Finland, saying they may not buy so much beef. Germany with harsh words. A lot of pressure. Even France's Emmanuel Macron -- president saying that a Bolsonaro has been lying to him to get Brazil to do more about what is happening behind me.

Can they? Hard, frankly to say? The army is going to swing into action, they have experience in dealing with this. But this is not quite unprecedented, but certainly the worst they've seen fires for decades.

And many are pointing to human intervention is the reason why they're raging so fast. The trees are being cut down to enable cattle to graze on areas, so you can create beef or so, you can use the land for other different types of farming.

There are substantial changes happening to the skyline behind me, to the forest behind me, and the world views as its resource. President Bolsonaro came to power saying it was a resource Brazil should be harnessing. He's called criticism a bad idea, often his colonialists and its mentality.

But it's quite clear the strength of international reaction has left him slightly shaken. But that speech bizarrely last night did seem to stick to the main tenths of what he believes the Amazon should be for, and that's enriching the Brazilian people.

But is extraordinary, let me to show you this one more time as we pan across the river. This is what you should see as a normal blue sky. But the sky is missing, and instead, if you can't pan across the river here, remarkably.

And the Sun when it came up was red, shrouded moments by smoke. This is the scene now on this part of the Amazon River, a tributary here. Really better we here than they were experiencing a week before where it was even worse. Nothing like they've seen the year before and certainly causing many here to be concerned.

I have to tell you, Victor, Christi, when I drove in from the airport a matter of hours ago, you can smell the smoke in the air here. There is something unnatural, something really wrong about what's happening here, and it's causing the world to worry about the rainforest, the lungs of the earth, were about a fifth of the oxygen you and I breathe is created.

And the question really is now President Bolsonaro -- probation, sorry, condemnation, and hearing President Trump offering potential assistance. He was much more muted in this criticism. Do they have the resources to put those fires out? Victor, Christie.

BLACKWELL: Nick Paton Walsh there, giving us an idea of the impact of that smoke over Port Velhu. Thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:47:22] PAUL: Well, for the first time since George W. Bush was in office, USA basketball has lost a game against another country. How about that?

BLACKWELL: That's a good run, though.

PAUL: Yes, it is. The American 78-game winning streak. 78 games was snaps against Australia in Melbourne last night. The U.S. gave up a 10-point lead late in the game, it was in 98 to 94. Last time, team USA lost the game, 2006 against Greece.

BLACKWELL: How about that? The U.S. is preparing for basketball's World Cup that begins next week in China.

PAUL: Listen, this is not something you want to see in a car next to you while you're driving, OK? A driver asleep at the wheel, apparently, of his Tesla on a busy California Highway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's totally asleep. This is crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What? The couple who spotted this, apparently, sleeping driver, says it looked like the car was going about 70 to 75 miles an hour. But it managed to stay in its lane.

At the very end of clip, the driver appears to wake up, put his hands on the wheel. It's not clear if the vehicle was on autopilot. I think that actually is clear because he's asleep. But --

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: And the car is not bearing off the road into something else.

BLACKWELL: Right. But Tesla says autopilot is not the same as self- driving. Oh maybe that's a different, it was -- I don't have a Tesla. But, everyone stay awake behind the wheel. Even if you're not holding on to it.

PAUL: Because it just makes the rest of us feel better.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Quite honestly.

BLACKWELL: So, it is still summer, but lots of kids are already back in school, and that means team practices. So, how can student- athletes stay safe in this heat? CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Schools across the country are now using a method that the military has used for decades in determining heat's impact on the human body. I'll show you how it works, next.

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[07:53:03] BLACKWELL: Well, later today, friends and family will say goodbye to 16-year-old Imani Bell, a Georgia teen collapsed and died after doing conditioning drills. This was at an outdoor basketball practice on one of the hottest days of the year.

PAUL: And her family wants to know if the school violated the rules by allowing students to go outside the practice. Coy Wire and meteorologist Allison Chinchar with us now to talk about this, because there have to be guidelines, obviously.

CHINCHAR: And this isn't the only instance. I mean, the CDC, says more than 600 people in the U.S. are killed by extreme heat every year. And a new climate central study just released this week looks at 239 locations in the U.S., and nearly 200 of them saw an increase in the last four decades of their average number of days where the heat index top 90 degrees.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and that's making outdoor sports in the summertime more dangerous. It's forcing schools across the nation change how they decide a win to practice outside, and when it just becomes too dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHINCHAR: Traditionally, people often use the heat index. This is fine for normal everyday activities such as gardening or taking kids to a park because most of those activities don't involve intense exercise.

MIKE MALONE, FOOTBALL COACH, CHATHOOCHE HIGH SCHOOL: One thing we try to do and be proactive. Especially, the best interest are the kids and just making sure that we're putting their safety, you know, first in everything that we do. So, we always get with the trainers and we come up with a plan.

WIRE: Some schools and organizations are switching to a method of measurement used by the military for decades to help prevent heat- related illnesses. It's called WetBulb Globe Temperature.

CHINCHAR: Using a wet-bulb glove temperature device can help coaches and parents better determine things like when to have hydration breaks, length of practices or playtime, and rest ratios.

APRIL WILLIAMS, ATHLETIC TRAINER: But once it gets to 92, that's when we say they can't practice outdoors. Before that, they can do things like modify what they're wearing. They can do shells, which would be without the pads, they would still wear the helmets. But once we get to a point where is that high, we just call it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: All right, Allison. Clearly, this guy is hot, he's overheating, but it's not just the temperature making him sweat like this.

[07:55:01] CHINCHAR: Right. So, Coy, in normal environmental conditions, when you sweat, that sweat evaporates off your body. Like it's doing to this gentleman here. That effectively cools your skin off. But, in a high humidity environment, that sweat cannot evaporate properly.

Because of that, it means that, that sweat stays on your skin. Making it feel as though, you're wearing an extra layer of clothes.

WIRE: No one wants to wear a sweater playing sports in the summer, essentially, as what you're saying. So, humidity, very important. What other elements do we need to consider?

CHINCHAR: Right. So, heat Index is very important. It measures temperature as well as the humidity. But there's other things to factor. Coy, when was the last time you ever saw an entire practice done in the shade? WIRE: I don't think that happens.

CHINCHAR: Never. So, that's just it. Wet-bulb globe temperature also takes into account the Sun angle, cloud cover, and wind speed. Which is why this method is much better at monitoring student- athletes.

WIRE: Much more detail.

What can you do to help prevent heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses in the summertime? The CDC says you can wear loose-fitting, lightweight clothing, stay hydrated, predict against sunburn with SPF, and also take it easy during the hottest times of the day.

CHINCHAR: That's right. And know the signs of heatstroke. OK, this is going to be very important. Very intense headaches, unconsciousness, confusion, and your skin will be red hot, but actually dry. You will stop sweating at that point. That is the sign that you need to seek help.

And this is the device that those schools use to take those readings, the proper readings to get a better idea of what the heats impact is on those athlete's body.

WIRE: Your parents can find out if you're concerned, does your school have one? If not, maybe, ask that they get one.

BLACKWELL: OK.

PAUL: Good points. Allison, Coy, thank you both so much. We're back in a moment.

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