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President Trump Attends G7 Summit in France; Fires Continue to Burn in the Brazilian Amazon; President Trump Proposes Russia be Allowed Back into G7 after Its Expulsion from the G8 for the Annexation of Crimea; Eight-Year-Old Girl Shot and Killed in St. Louis; Former Vice President Biden Campaigns in New Hampshire During Democratic National Committee Summer Meeting in San Francisco; NASA Investigating Astronaut for Allegedly Hacking into Estranged Spouse's Bank Account from International Space Station. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired August 24, 2019 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Our greatest presidents have understood that there are foreign relations requirements, and there are needs of international security with sometimes involves expending a little bit of domestic capital to achieve. This president is not willing to expend any domestic political capital for the sake of international economic or political security.

In light of that, the other six countries have a dilemma, which is how can you deal with a man like this, how do you work with a man like this. And we're going to see this playing out right now because of the tweets about China.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Sam, global security is intricately connected to economic prosperity, and that is something that all of these leaders are going to be talking about, and would likely all see -- all see the value in the same way, wouldn't they?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Definitely. And there is another dynamic here that we should keep in mind. Typically, before the G7 Summits or the G8 in the past, every country has a representative. It is called a Sherpa. It's a representative to meet with the other Sherpas from the G&. Going into this summit, all the Sherpas would have coordinated on the agenda, on the security issues, Fred, that you just mentioned, on trade issues, on climate change, et cetera.

When the leaders actually arrive on the ground, this time in Biarritz in France, there really aren't a whole lot of surprises, unless of course President Trump tweets from the plane or from the United States the day before. But there is not this left up to surprise before the leaders actually arrive. The purpose of their time on the ground is to bless the work of the Sherpas and to speak at a very high level about issues that really need their attention. It's not to get into the nitty-gritty details.

What we're seeing this time is there are more surprises because President Trump has lobbed these Twitter grenades before he arrived on the ground. And so I would imagine is happening is other countries, particularly France and Germany, Merkel and Macron, are figuring or have talked about a way to manage President Trump with respect to security issues and economic issues on Iran. It is more than likely that the Europeans and potentially even the Japanese have talked to President Trump about what to do on Iran going forward. They are coordinating so that they can have a joint approach against the United States when it comes to both economic and security issues.

WHITFIELD: And now the U.S. President Donald Trump arriving there, being greeted by France's President Emmanuel Macron, and presumably the first lady will be with him as well, Melania Trump. Let's see them get out of the vehicle there.

Also, while we're looking at these pictures, David Sanger, national security correspondent with the "New York Times" also joining us. Let's listen in.

David, we've been talking about you will at stuff that has preceded this dinner which has kind of set the table of what seems like maybe a tenuous G7 summit. But this dinner, an opportunity to break bread, to make eye contact, all these accept leaders along with their spouses or partners, or maybe they're flying solo on this trip, will the dinner be a good gauge of what's to come during these three days, David?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it may be. The president usually does better at these dinners than when he is stuck in the formal sessions where he has to listen to other leaders, has limited talk time himself. And the president's other challenge with all of this, of course, is that the leaders are trying to avoid what happened last year when he was the one who refused to sign the communique at the end. So the solution to that has been have no communique at the end. And the interesting question is how big a solution is that, because it enables the -- may not close the gap on any of the issues Sam was discussing, especially Iran where the U.S. is direct contradiction to all of the other players who are there.

WHITFIELD: And Jim, this is the first to not have this communique. And we can make -- can't people make the direct correlation between that history-making move and Donald Trump?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. There was a communique disagreement after the last G7 Summit in Canada, and the president played a major role in that. He said he did not agree with some of the things that were said in that communique.

[14:05:00] And so certainly. He has smashed some of these conventions, some of these things that we've grown accustomed to after these sorts of G7 summits, and he's going to continue to do that. One thing we should point out in just the last several minutes, Fredricka, the White House did release a readout of the conversation, the lunch that took place between President Trump and President Emmanuel Macron of France. It says they did talk about and tackle those trade and tax issues that we've been previewing heading into this G7 summit. So it sounds like they did have a pretty frank exchange about all of that, and I suspect much of that is going to continue on into the evening as the president is hosted by Emmanuel Macron at this G7 summit working dinner that we're going to see later this evening. But no question about it, the president of the United States typically

is a leader on all of these fronts at these G7s. We've seen that in the past, Republican and Democratic presidents. But in many ways Donald Trump is the outlier at these sorts of summits now, the G7, NATO summits, because he just strikes a very different tone than the rest of his colleagues, his counterparts on the world stage. But also he just has a very different point of view when it comes to trade, when it comes to Russia, when it comes to some of these national security issues. The Iran nuclear deal, for example, the president made a very abrupt political decision as he came into office to pull out of the Paris climate accord, to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, to cozy up to Vladimir Putin. All of these things have very much put off his counterparts here on the world stage.

And so I don't think we should be going into this G7 summit thinking that President Trump is all of a sudden going to become this shrinking violet and put aside all these differences. He delights, in many cases, in these differences because he knows it is so exciting for his political base back home.

WHITFIELD: And Sam, we talked about how security and economic concerns are really intertwined for all of these nations, these industrialized nations, world leaders that are here. And one has to wonder how closely these other countries are watching or gauging how the president proceeds with China, with the back and forth threats of tariffs. Beijing announcing $75 billion in tariffs begins U.S. imports, and then the president with his response of another 10 percent tariff September 1, and then possibly as high as 20, 25 percent come October 1. How concerned might these other countries be to see how this flexing of economic muscle or tariffs will also impact global security?

VINOGRAD: Well, I think that all eyes are on President Trump's Twitter finger with respect to the trade war with China not only because all these countries are impacted by this trade war. We have indications here in the United States that the trade war is having an economic impact, and we also have indications from a variety of sources that the global economy is facing serious downside risks because of a slowdown in China and potentially slowdowns around the world. So it is out of their own self-interest that other G7 leaders are looking to see what happens with the trade war with China and will likely want to discuss with President Trump not just what's next with respect to tariffs and whether he raises tariff rates or implements more, but what the off-ramp is.

We can keep tariffing each other for many more weeks. We can raise the rates significantly and at the same time do harm to the global economy, but what is not clear to anyone, particularly other G7 leaders, is whether or not President Trump and President Xi Jinping have figured out a way to at least put a pause button, to declare a ceasefire on what is happening.

So one of the key questions, I believe, on other G7 leaders minds is whether there are going to be more empowered negotiations in the near term, whether U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer will meet with his Chinese counterparts and, again, be empowered by President Trump to engage in negotiations. And President Trump reportedly had to be bribed to attend this meeting by saying that he could host a special panel on the U.S. economy so that he could brag about it. But I think that his bragging is going to fall on deaf ears because so many of these leaders are concerned about the outlook for the global economy and, frankly, not buying what he's selling with respect to the state of the U.S. economy at this juncture.

WHITFIELD: So David, the president says he wants to talk about the economy, but he doesn't want to talk about, presumably, these other things that these G7 members want to talk about, namely climate change. They are going to have those discussions. Is it a possibility that during these three days the president just -- President Trump simply wouldn't be present for something like that, or just wouldn't weigh in?

SANGER: Well, Fredricka, because we'll know if his Twitter account -- the moment where he is supposed to be sitting there listening to all of them, right.

[14:10:05] But there are three subjects here where we have reason to believe that there is going to be a significant difference of opinion. Sam mentioned one of them is climate change. The Iran deal is going to be a second. It's pretty remarkable that this is the third G7 the president has attended, and they are no closer to a common ground for dealing with Iran, dealing with the sanctions, than they were at the beginning.

And then of course the third issue is income inequality, something you've never heard the president give many speeches about except to say that a rising economy in the United States is helping all workers. But it is something that dominates the agenda, of course, in Europe.

WHITFIELD: So the White House, and, Jim, I know you touched on this earlier, did offer a readout of that meeting with Emmanuel Macron and President Trump, and I just have a little bit more detail now, saying that the president did meet with Macron, thanking him to host the G7 summit, and Trump and Macron did discuss the importance of promoting free and fair trade, reducing trade barriers, taxation and regulation, and ensuring freedom of and commerce as pillars of global economic growth. They also addressed security challenges of mutual concern, particularly the ongoing crisis in Libya, a growing instability in the Sahel region, and tensions in the Persian Gulf. So Tim, this sounds very wide ranging, a pretty robust -- Tim with a "t" -- robust conversation now. What do you see in the potential of building on, I guess, these pillars of their discussion over the next three days?

NAFTALI: Macron is a diplomat. Is it with a "t" or a "j."

(LAUGHTER)

NAFTALI: Macron is a diplomatic. Macron added fair. If you look at the old communiques up to and through the Obama years, you don't see the term fair trade. Fair trade is a give-me to Trump. Fair trade is actually a euphemism for protectionism. So the fact that Macron says free and fair trade, that's his nod to Trump. The fact that he talks about freedom of navigation, that's his nod to the issue of the Iranians who are making trouble with these oil tankers.

So it's clear that Macron is trying his best to be a diplomat. But I want to make a very important point. I hope it's an important point. We're in a period of a very fragile international economic system. Why? Because of Brexit. We don't know the effect that Brexit is going to have on the E.U. We also see the tension between Japan and South Korea. Let's not forget about that. They're two very important trading partners of ours and of each other.

In that kind of environment, the last thing you need is a provocative American president creating yet another source of tension in the international economic order. So that's why this is so dangerous. You have got these six other leaders who are worried about the E.U., about what is going on in south Asia -- I mean in east Asia, and then Trump adds on top of this incredible statement that he is going to tell U.S. business what do in China. This is a fraught moment in the international economy.

WHITFIELD: All right, and last word, Jim, with a "j," your thoughts on the readout of their meeting and the potential over the next three days.

ACOSTA: Yes, one of the things that you have to keep in mind about this relationship between President Trump and Emmanuel Macron is it started off, remember, Fredricka, it started off so warm, it was almost like a bromance at the beginning of the Trump presidency.

WHITFIELD: Like they couldn't stop touching each other.

ACOSTA: They would have these long handshakes. It got a little awkward at times. But I was at the Armistice celebration in Paris back in November, and that was when President Macron got in front of all the major world powers that were involved in World War I and really criticized nationalism, and said that nationalism was the opposite of patriotism. And it was a very strongly worded rebuke of President Trump's brand of populism and nationalism that has obviously swept across the United States but is now making its way across Europe, and it is a very big and worrisome trend in Europe. They are worried about this taking hold in other parts of Europe, and obviously Brexit is an extension of that. And President Macron is just not on the same team as President Trump is when it comes to that issue. He is not a protectionist. He is not a nationalist.

And so the disagreements in philosophy and ideology, they are baked in at these summits, and that is why you see these very testy exchanges that we may not see in front of the cameras, may not happen at this dinner, dinner rolls may not be thrown at one another at the table in front of the cameras.

(LAUGHTER)

[14:15:02] But there are some elbows being thrown behind the scenes, no question about it. And I think we're going to see the results of that and some -- I think some sharply worded things said by officials privately in the days ahead. I think that we can probably take that to the bank, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Fantastic. All right, thank you, team. You all are

amazing. Jim Acosta, Samantha Vinograd, David Sanger, Tim Naftali, thanks to all of you as we continue to watch all the goings on there at the G7. Boy, don't we wish we were in the room for that dinner. I'd like to see those, I don't know, like you said, Jim, either tossed bread or sharp elbows. We'll find out. You'll give us the readout. Thank you, appreciate it.

Still ahead, an intense battle underway to douse wildfires raging in the world's largest rainforest. We'll take you to the Amazon as firefighters fight to get those flames under control.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Brazil is facing international pressure to respond to this raging Amazon wildfire. They have been burning at a record rate, and now adding to the pressure is Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is urging world leaders at the G7 summit under way right now to prioritize the wildfires on their agenda, and biodiversity as a whole.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:20:00] BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Biodiversity, habitat loss, the excruciating scenes that we've seen from the Amazon, this is being repeated around the world in the loss of species, in the loss of habitats. In some places, in some ways it's irreversible. We need it talk about that here at the G7, the tragedy of what humanity is inflicting on the natural world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has been following this for us. And Nick, you've been making your way through the Amazon, and you have been enlightened on so many levels about the damage done and the damage that is underway.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And we are back here over one of the Amazon's tributaries, the Madeira River. You can see, as we saw first thing this morning at dawn, the smoke from the fires so very much obscuring what would normally be a very --

Come back from driving through part of the way into the Amazon, a lot of major fires here very hard to reach away from the main roads. But we've seen along the side of the roads a number of instances of flash fires encased quickly by the fire brigade, but also patches of land as well. And interestingly enough, on two occasions, we asked the police what was happening around there, and they said, one of the them at night people come out and start these fires, and also refer to how a lot of the patches of land we've seen on the side of the road they believe have been started deliberately.

That is one main contentions here, the president, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, has created a climate, forgive the pun there, created an environment in which people feel comfortable illegally sabotaging lands, clearing it, starting fires, deforesting, so they can begin agriculture. What we've also seen along those extraordinary long highways along with the hundreds of trucks that went up and down and thousands of cattle, this beautiful jungle and forest as many areas have been cleared for savannah so cattle can feed there.

Obviously, soy is also grown too. So is sometimes fed to the cattle for beef. Beef is an essential part of your diet, my diet, many of us believe, although many people have said the damage done here means we should eat a lot less meat. And you were hearing earlier on about the trade clashes in Biarritz. And tariffs by the United States with China mean that China looks for another source of beef, and that is Brazil a lot of the time.

So everything happening in the world to some degree linked back to here, including changes in climate as well. And the big fear amongst people here now is exactly how fast can Brazil act to stop these fires. There is 85 percent more of them than there were last year, possibly the most they have seen for a number of decades. And I'm in a state where things are worse, frankly, the worst number of fires here afflicting this particular state. They are bringing in temporary firefighters, and they're seeing the geopolitical winds, frankly, blow around them. Brazil ostracized by many, wondering whether there should be trade agreements, trade as it currently stands, unless Brazil gets a handle on this.

But my God, the scale of the problem here, extraordinary, and as we are hearing from people on the ground, a lot of this is begun by man deliberately because they want that land so they can enrich themselves, part, it really seems, of President Bolsonaro broader plan for the Amazon. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: So sad. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much. We'll see what kind of pressure comes from the G7. You heard the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who wants it to be top of mind.

Coming up, President Trump says that he will push to get Russia back into the fold while speaking with world leaders at that G7. Has Vladimir Putin earned the right? More, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:18] WHITFIELD: The G7 summit is barely under way and expectations are already being tempered as to whether anything meaningful will come out of the three-day talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TUSK, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Today it will be especially urgent and essential to build our unity around the following challenges. First, the difference of liberal democracy, rule of law, and human rights, in particular in the context of the revival of nationalisms and a new form or authoritarianism, as well as threats coming from the development of digital technologies meddling in elections, fake news, using artificial intelligence against citizens and their freedoms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: One of the biggest disputes may be within the G7 itself. President Trump wants Russia to be allowed back in after it was kicked out following the annexation of Crimea, but most of Europe wants no part of that. The head of the E.U. even suggesting Ukraine should be invited instead as a guest.

I want to bring in Mike Baker. He is a former CIA operative and cofounder of the Diligence Global Intelligence Firm. Mike, good to see you.

MIKE BAKER, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORIST OPERATIVE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So what is at issue with letting Russia back in? What would it need to do, have to do after being kicked out in 2014 in order to be welcomed with open arms?

BAKER: Well, they would have to give back Crimea, which I'm guessing probably won't happen. Look, it was the right move to kick them out. I think that was the absolute right move of the previous administration. I get what the current administration is saying in that, look, Russia looms very large over most of Europe, the E.U. and particularly in terms of energy policy, and certainly they're a threat to elections, as we have seen in the past. So I get what the administration is saying is it is better to have that dialogue -- to have them play some role or to be invited in some capacity, not as a member now of an expanded G8 going back in time, but to do something.

This idea of admitting Ukraine, that's a show pony. That's also not going to happen.

WHITFIELD: I think he was being sarcastic.

BAKER: Yes, exactly. But I think that there is value in having Russia in some capacity there. You have to deal with them pragmatically and in a rather aggressive manner. But having them there in maybe some side bar conversations, meetings, workshops, whatever it may be, I think that's not a bad thing.

WHITFIELD: So you don't think it was -- having a condition, a bad actor, identified by everyone as a bad actor, but then saying, OK, but there are assets that Russia might have, and so on a conditional basis we would bring them into the fold, wouldn't that also send a very confusing message? Why would that -- you said you see where Trump is coming from, but why would that be beneficial even with a condition so to speak?

[14:30:14] BAKER: Well, because you want to engage. Most of the time most people agree you need to keep the channels of communication open, right. We don't want to completely shut that down. Our relationship with Russia now is as bad as it has been in a number of years. You'd have to go back a couple decades to other spats where the relationship has gotten off track like this.

So I do think most people would agree, yes, you want communication going forward. Fine, set some conditions. Frankly, I think that's not a bad tact. You take two or three steps and then we'll let you in the door. You're not going to be a full member of the G program. But at the same time, I don't think that Russia would concede anything, so you'd be back at square one, but at least you would have made the effort.

But the bottom line is, I think G7 leaders are correct in highlighting the cyber threats, the interference in elections. We already know that Russia has been engaged in election interference within the E.U. They are going to continue to do what they have been doing as far as the U.S. China is also engaged in the same sort of shenanigans in terms of election interference. So it's right to have that on the docket in terms of an important topic to discuss.

WHITFIELD: So Russia has promised this, quote, symmetrical response to a recent U.S. missile test. What do you think that would mean?

BAKER: Again, if you are looking at what the G7 has done in the past, I think we have to maybe go back to 30,000 feet and look at this forum. What have they accomplished in the past? Typically, if you were cynical, you would say that the G7 in the recent past, with the exception of ousting Russia after Crimea, typically they gather, they have some very nice photo opportunities, they have some seminars and workshops outside of the highlighted meetings. They'll draft some memorandum, and then everybody goes on their way, and nothing is accomplished.

I think people are concerned right now about the disruptive nature of this meeting given, again, the absence of Russia, the trade issues that surround this, the U.K.'s Brexit issue. I don't think that it's a bad thing. You come into one of these meetings, maybe we shake it up a little bit, and certainly the Trump administration does that to just about every meeting.

WHITFIELD: Shaking up has happened.

BAKER: Maybe we get something substantial out of this, yes, maybe we get something that's meaningful out of this particular G7 rather than just some memorandum.

WHITFIELD: All right, we will see very soon. Mike Baker, thank you so much.

BAKER: Sure, thank you.

WHITFIELD: Still to come, a school event shattered by gunfire, a little girl killed, and several others wounded, the latest as police work to track done the shooter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:36:41] WHITFIELD: Developing today, an innocent little girl is one of the latest victims of gun violence in America. Last night an eight-year-old was shot and killed at a high school event in St. Louis. Authorities say they were clearing crowds in the area when shots were fired. Three others were injured. And then take a look at this, just hours after that girl was killed, that little girl killed, video captured hundreds of people frantically running from another St. Louis high school event where there were also reports of shots fired.

CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval is following the story for us. So what can you tell us about what's going on here?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, this little girl now becomes the eighth child this St. Louis to be killed as a result of gunfire. At this point investigators say that they were responding to a fight there at a football event in the city's northwest side when those shots rang out. Investigators saying that two teen boys and a woman were shot and injured. However, as you're about to hear from the chief, an eight-year-old little girl also hit by gunfire, and she did not survive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOHN HAYDEN, ST. LOUIS POLICE: Of course, the little girl wasn't doing anything wrong. She was with family when this occurred. And shots rang out. Not sure what particular fight that was going on when shots rang out. But, again, police were in the area, they had been in the area clearing out the crowd from this large event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Overnight Chief Hayden also calling on the public for any help trying to track down those responsible for last night's shooting. Fred, before this incident that happened last night, the last and most recent victim was a seven-year-old little boy who was shot and killed just a few weeks ago in St. Louis. He was playing with his little sister in his backyard. His mom says there were some men in the streets that were shooting at each other.

WHITFIELD: So there were two shootings taking place involving high schools, it looked like football, evening events. Is there any link that police are making, completely separate? What is going on?

SANDOVAL: Sure. So initially there were reports of gunfire that got called in that caused a panic at what was being described as a football jamboree. Look at the pictures, Fred. You can see it was quite chaotic scene here as people at Parkway North High School in St. Louis about 12 miles away from that other shooting incident. They were running after unconfirmed reports of shots fired. However, district administrators on scene say they did not actually hear any shots fired. They are now working with the St. Louis county officials to try to find out exactly what initially sparked the scare. But at this point we understand it didn't go beyond just a scare. Sadly, the fatal situation was at a separate unrelated scene that resulted in the death of that little girl. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

Still to come, former Vice President Joe Biden has been the Democratic frontrunner since entering the race. So why did he choose not to make an appearance at the DNC's summer meeting? We're on the campaign trail next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:43:31] WHITFIELD: Today is the last day of the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting in San Francisco, and 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden isn't there. Instead the former vice president chose to spend his time campaigning in New Hampshire where he will wrap up a two day visit today. CNN political reporter Arlette Saenz is following Biden in New Hampshire this afternoon. So Arlette, what are we hearing about and from Biden today?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Fred, Biden has been here in New Hampshire over the past two days taking his pitch directly to voters. And one thing that you've really heard both Biden and his campaign talk about over the course of the past week is this idea of electability. You saw that campaign ad where he highlighted the fact that he's beating President Trump in head-to-head match-ups. His wife was here in New Hampshire earlier in the week talking about how voters need to think about who is going to best be able to defeat President Trump. And that's an argument that you have heard from the campaign.

And I want you to take a listen to a piece of sound where Biden today here in Keene, New Hampshire, talked about the fact that it's not only important to beat President Trump, but that they need to begin a movement of change. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can't just be a campaign about beating President Donald Trump. He is trafficking in some of the ugliest and darkest forces that have long run through this nation's history. A simple campaign is not enough to beat him. It has to be a movement. It has to be a movement, a movement grounded on the values and ideals that define us as a nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:45:08] SAENZ: This comes as there have been other Democratic candidates in the 2020 field who have argued that you can't solely focus on beating Trump as your main message. A short while ago, Joe Biden right now speaking to reporters, and he was asked a question by one reporter who said that many people going to these rallies, one concern that they voice is about Biden's age. He is currently 76- years-old. And Biden was asked to respond to that. He said it's a legitimate question, but if people have concerns, then they don't need to vote for him. So that's one issue that Biden needs to confront going forward in his campaign, as some voters have raised questions about his age at the time. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Arlette Saenz, thank you so much.

Tomorrow night, CNN will have back-to-back live presidential town halls. Montana Governor Steve Bullock takes the stage first at 6:00, then New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio at 7:00 p.m. It's all happening live from New York tomorrow night beginning at 6:00 p.m. eastern only on CNN.

Coming up, an investigation under way in what could be the very first crime ever committed in space. Details right after this. But first, a Kansas City man paralyzed by a gunshot seven years ago

found his purpose. Today Wesley Hamilton shares how almost losing his life actually saved him. It is today's Turning Points.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WESLEY HAMILTON, GUNSHOT SURVIVOR: Before my accident, I was just an overweight guy. I limited myself to what I thought I could create. After my accident, my mindset changed. I became an on an opportunist.

I was shot twice, January 14th, 2012. I had just turned 24. The doctor told me, Mr. Hamilton, you have suffered a spinal cord injury which will leave you paralyzed from the waste down for the rest of your life. I stayed in the hospital a month and a half. I rejected a lot of assistance because I didn't care. I hated who I was. I was depressed, I even tried suicide a couple times in my first year. I didn't think that I had the will or the strength to move forward.

Grip it harder.

I am a single father that is paralyzed. I had this little girl that I had to take care of. So while I'm worrying about how the world sees me, I need to focus on how this little girl sees me.

The name of my organization is the Disabled But Not Really Foundation. We run an eight-week program geared to fitness and nutrition. The goal is to challenge people with disabilities to push themselves past their mental limits to help them gain the courage that they need in life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:51:3] WHITFIELD: Taking hacking to new heights, literally. According to "The New York Times," a bitter divorce on earth has led to claims of a crime in space. NASA is investigating astronaut Anne McClain after she allegedly hacked into her estranged spouse's bank account from the International Space Station in what could potentially be the first criminal allegation from outer space. Here to discuss is aerospace journalist and CNN contributor Miles O'Brien. Miles, it's been too long, and look, it meant this story to be able to see you.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Good to see you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So this is really out of this world. This is very unusual. And so it's a criminal complaint, and who will handle this kind of criminal complaint? Is this now also in the lap of NASA?

O'BRIEN: Well, no. NASA doesn't have a legal jurisdiction in this case. Basically, this goes back to 1967, the Outer Space Treaty, which essentially says that any wrongdoing which may be assigned to a space farer is the responsibility of that person's country of origin. It's a little more complicated on the International Space Station because that is a multination endeavor. As many as 16 nations are partners. And so in that case the person who is alleged to have committed the crime, the jurisdiction would be held with that country. But if, for example, there was a crime committed against another astronaut from another country, that country is allowed to contest and say, actually, that was not justice, we would like to take that one over. So it's complicated. It is a first, and it's not going to be the last as we get more and more people in space.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. And it's complicated, too, because we're talking about while Anne McClain and, I guess, Summer Worden, they have this relationship but they're splitting up. Now apparently this is taking place while this training is taking place for what would eventually be the first all-female spacewalk as well. So it is upstaging what could be potentially a historic moment.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Unfortunately, that all-female spacewalk, which was supposed to happen in March, didn't happen. The official statement is because there weren't properly sized spacesuits for both women to go outside. And so they at the last minute elected to have a man replace Anne McClain. I think that is unrelated. But this attempt to -- not attempt, this successful entry, allegedly, into the bank account of her former spouse occurred right around that same time. So probably a coincidence.

But I have got to tell you, this is a reminder to all of us, Fred, change your passwords frequently, right? Especially if you are in the middle of an acrimonious divorce. I would change all the passwords right away.

WHITFIELD: I guess so. I know it can be a real annoyance to have to do that, but case in point. This is why you've got to keep people guessing, as they say. Miles O'Brien, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

[14:55:05] O'BRIEN: You're welcome. You're welcome, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And thank you for being with me as well. We have got so much more straight ahead in the Newsroom right after this.

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WHITFIELD: A couple top stories before we go. Another measles outbreak, this time at a world hip hop dance competition in Arizona. Health officials there say one of the participants, an international teen, was infected and may have exposed others to the disease. This is the second case reported in the United States in less than a week.

And expect a renewed interest in the hate crimes allegations made earlier this year by "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett. Former U.S. attorney Dan Webb was sworn in Friday as a special prosecutor to investigate the entire Smollett case. The actor claimed in January that he was the victim of a hate-fueled attack, but police in February claimed Smollett staged it.

All right, thanks so much for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The Newsroom continues with Ana Cabrera right now.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: You're live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for being here.

We begin this hour with the president overseas at his third G7 Summit since taking office. He has just arrived for tonight's working dinner. You see him there meeting French President Emmanuel Macron. The summit is a chance for seven of the world's strongest countries to put on a united front --

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