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KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream. Now, uniting against a common problem, U.S. and Chinese officials come together to discuss how to deal with North Korea. A key symbol for ISIS lies in ruins. The U.S. and Iraq say the militant group destroyed the great mosque in Mosul as it retreats. And I speak to Hong Kong's incoming chief executive to hear how she feels about the local booksellers detained in China. And we start with the search for common ground over North Korea. Now, two of the Trump administration's top officials met with their Chinese counterparts to talk about threats posed by Kim Jong-un's regime. Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insists the U.S. and China both understand the risks posed by North Korea. Mattis says China is continuing to work on the issue, but Tillerson did urge Beijing to take a harder stance in dealing with Pyongyang.</s>REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: They have a diplomatic responsibility to exert much greater economic and diplomatic pressure on the regime if they want to prevent further escalation in the region. Whether it is money laundering, extorting Korean expatriates, or malicious cyber activity, North Korea has engaged in a number of criminal enterprises that help fund its weapons programs.</s>LU STOUT: Now, China has pointed out it doesn't bare the sole responsibility for handling the threat from North Korea. And for more on that, Matt Rivers joins me now live from Shanghai. Matt, the U.S. wants China to take this firmer line with North Korea, which we've heard before. But what is the latest response from Beijing?</s>MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest response from Beijing is the exact same response that they give every time one or another U.S. administration levies this kind of criticism. As you just mentioned, this is not a new tactic to be taken up by a U.S. administration. It goes back well over 10 years. The trump administration saying they want China to do more. It's almost common sense, in that point, because there's no other country on Earth that has more economic leverage with North Korea. So, it makes sense, of course you would then look towards North Korea for - or towards China for some sort of solution with the North Korea problem. But what China says every single time is that they're doing as much as they possibly can, that they helped draft two different rounds of UN sanctions and that they are firmly enforcing those sanctions. And they point to things like banning coal imports from North Korea into China earlier this year as proof. Now, the flip side of that, what critics would say is that what China says and what China does are two very, very different things, Kristie. The fact that Chinese companies still do business in North Korea, the fact that some critics say that China exploits loopholes in the Security Council sanctions that have been levied. And the fact that just total trade volume between China and North Korea has actually gone up nearly 40 percent year-over- year, 2016, 2017, in the first quarter of those years. So, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that China could be doing more, but China's firm line, its position every single time is we're doing as much as we can.</s>LU STOUT: And Matt, really want to get your thoughts on that earlier tweet sent out by President Trump saying this, quote, "while I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi and China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!" How do you read this? I mean, this some sort of passive-aggressive critique of China, a sign of a rift in the relationship?</s>RIVERS: It could very well be, but you know you notice in that statement even in what he said at that campaign rally, campaign style rally that he had in Iowa on Wednesday evening. You know, he's ambivalent in a lot of ways. He says on the one hand maybe it's not working out so well. China isn't doing what it needs to do when it comes to North Korea. But in the same - in that tweet and then what he said at the campaign style rally, he also praised President Xi, and so he left the door open for praise. So, you have to wonder what his motivation is there. And the fact is, we simply don't know. His aides told CNN shortly after that tweet that they didn't know exactly what he was getting at there. They told CNN that anonymously. And so we're really not sure. But the big question is, and the reason why we talk about these things, Kristie, is because what is the implication of this moving forward if there is a rift in the relationship? If the Trump administration has decided that China isn't capable of doing what it wants - what the U.S. wants it to do when it comes to trying to scale back or stop this nuclear weapons development program, what does that mean for the Trump administration? What's their next move? And also, how does that have an impact on the broader relationship between the United States and China, which as you know, Kristie, is quite possibly the most important bilateral relationship in the world. That's why we talk about this stuff, because we don't know what he means in that tweet, but what he does mean has broad implications around the world.</s>LU STOUT: Yeah, the stakes are very, very big here. Matt Rivers live for us from Shanghai, thank you so much. Take care, Matt. Now, to add to the tensions and uncertainty about North Korea, U.S. officials are concerned that more nuclear tests by Pyongyang could lead President Trump to consider military options. Barbara Starr has more.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kim Jong-un could soon order a sixth underground nuclear test. It could lead to President Trump considering military action. U.S. spy satellites spotted personnel and vehicles at one of the tunnel entrances at this test site. U.S. officials familiar with the classified assessment of Kim's personality profile say he is so unpredictable, there's no way to tell what he might do next.</s>REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We call on the DPRK to halt its illegal nuclear weapons program and its ballistic missile test.</s>GEN. JOSEPH DUNFORD, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We have responsibility, we, the Department of Defense, number one, to deter any provocation by Kim Jong-un in the meantime and to provide the president with a list of options in the event that hostilities occur. And that's exactly what we're doing.</s>STARR (voice-over): But the Pentagon also specifically updated military options to respond to a nuclear test. Some officials say a test could indicate China's pressure on Kim isn't working and therefore military options could be presented to the president. And a recent tweet by President Trump adding uncertainty. "While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi and China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried." Defense Secretary James Mattis set a military red line on North Korea's weapons program.</s>SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), S.C.: Is it the policy of the Trump administration to deny North Korea the capability of building an ICBM that can hit the American homeland with a nuclear weapon on top? Is that the policy?</s>GEN. JAMES MATTIS, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Yes, it is, Senator Graham.</s>STARR (voice-over): But does North Korea already have a missile that could hit the United States?</s>GEN. JOHN HYTEN, COMMANDER, U.S. STRATEGIC COMMAND: They already have the capability to deploy an intercontinental ballistic missile. The question is, when will they be able to mate (ph) a nuclear weapon.</s>STARR (voice-over): Stopping Kim from getting a nuclear weapon with U.S. firepower may be impossible.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's just too late. Unless you have a full- scale military invasion, where you're going to just go in and sweep the country, we simply will not be able to end these programs.</s>STARR: So far, there's no indication the Pentagon is getting orders for military action but commanders are making it clear they are ready -- Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.</s>LU STOUT: North Korea is also facing blistering condemnation over the death of American college student Otto Warmbier. In about an hour from now, funeral services will be held at his high school in the U.S. state of Ohio. He died just days after returning home to the United States in a vegetative state after being released from detention in North Korea. And his parents have objected to an autopsy. Medical experts say that without one, it may not be possible to determine the official cause of death. The mosque in Iraq where ISIS announced its caliphate three years ago has been destroyed. Now here are the before and after pictures of the great mosque of al Nuri (ph) in Mosul. Iraq says ISIS blew up the mosque because coalition troops were closing in. Prime Minister al-Abadi says that amounts to an official acknowledgment by ISIS that it has been defeated. ISIS claims U.S. war planes bombed the mosque, but U.S. officials tell CNN that is 1000 percent wrong. Let's get more now from our senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh. He's standing by in Beirut for us. And, Nic, who destroyed the mosque and what does it mean for the future of ISIS in Mosul?</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The fog of war at this point obviously means we can't tell 100 percent for certain who destroyed the mosque. We have two sides contradicting each other, but frankly the balance of history here, and the fact that ISIS aren't particularly big on the truth much of the time would strongly suggest that they blew it up themselves. There have been lots of reports of explosive being moved around the building frankly from the moment in which Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi finished his speech back in July 2012, his only public appearance, perhaps never wanting to see this great symbol in their mind fall into the hands of their enemy. That is potentially something quite close. We've seen Iraqi special forces moving around the old city now, penetrating into its very narrow and winding alleyways to try and push ISIS out of these remaining matter of square miles in Mosul, once the largest population center it held certainly in Iraq. They're now deeply on their back foot and destroying a symbol like this, as I say, not only where their leader gave his singular public appearance, but also declared the beginning of their so-called caliphate, is, frankly, an act of desperation. We know how big they are on propaganda on their own image. I'm sure within their minds they were deeply concerned that they would see this mosque in the hands of those who are defeating them militarily. That may explain this move. But it is pretty much a shining example of how ISIS will happily interpret Islamic culture for their own means or perverted in (inaudible). It was a strike on one of the holiest nights of the holy month of Ramadan, the night of power in which the Koran was said to be given to the prophet Muhammad. Very shocking symbolism indeed in this act of destruction, those images we've been showing making it clear, quite how devastating the damage is to the mosque, but also remember similar damage has happened a cross Mosul here. It's really a city in ruins to some degree - Kristie.</s>LU STOUT: Yeah. And with the world's attention now back on Mosul, what's the situation for civilians there? Not long ago, you reported on the suffering inside Mosul's old city. What's the situation there now?</s>WALSH: I mean, for months obviously we'd be having to tell you how ghastly life has been for those civilians caught in the crossfire here, but it's probably reached its most acute moment here. We're talking about a very small amount of territory here, densely packed. The al-Nouri Mosque was a gateway to this old city. It is now the focus of the very final stand in Iraq in a large populated area of ISIS. That most hardcore embittered fighters there dug in. IEDs, booby traps, that is, in walls (inaudible) tens of thousands, if not over 100,000 civilians, some of them hiding in basements being used a human shields. We've seen images of children staggering through holes in walls, desperate for simply a drop of water here as the punishing summer heat increases difficulty for Iraqi special forces moving through that area. It is going to be an absolutely awful, blooding denouement to ISIS's presence in Mosul, and it is just getting underway with this devastating symbolic (inaudible) destruction apparently by ISIS - Kristie.</s>LU STOUT: Nick Paton Walsh reporting live from Beirut. Thank you, Nick. ISIS is on the back foot in Iraq. It's also in its self-declared capital Raqqa. Syrian, Kurdish, and Arab fighters have been encircling the city, even pushing into parts of Raqqa. Arwa Damon has been following them and found that women were part of the fighting there.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The coalition-backed Syrian Defense Forces have managed to clear the first few neighborhoods of Raqqa. Outside the city, we ran into Clara Raqqa, one of the unit commanders here and a native of the city itself just back from one of the fronts.</s>CLARA RAQQA, SYRIAN DEFENSE FORCES UNIT COMMANDER (through translator): In the city, we can see that the city of Raqqa is above ground and there is another city below ground. Raqqa was a city that was a mosaic of people that turned into a place of women's enslavement, the place where women were enslaved has to be liberated by the hands of women.</s>DAMON: It's a city whose brutality transcends our current vocabulary. Raqqa is the capital of the so called caliphate ruled by ISIS since 2013, where Yazidi Kurds and even Arab women were sold on the streets as sex slaves; where public executions and beheadings were a regular occurrence; where journalists and aid workers were held hostage and murdered. These are the faces of those who lived in Raqqa now in a hastily put together camp, children who have little choice but to witness the stuff of nightmares. The lines of good and evil blurred for them. This woman from Raqqa married an ISIS member; a foreigner from the Caucasus who she says had an administrative job.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): ISIS made a mockery of us. There is nothing else we can say. (on-camera): When they were running away, they say that they were also fired upon by ISIS fighters who were basically ordering them to return.</s>DAMON: And then there are also those who went willingly to join. It became a magnet for foreign fighters and others. This woman is from the Caucasus. She came with her husband and four children claiming they wanted to live in the caliphate. She says they were lured online by the promise of Islamic utopia and a job for her husband. This Syrian woman is originally from Homs. She was an English teacher. She eventually married a Moroccan man who went through ISIS military training although she claims he never fought. ISIS, she says, never allowed the population to escape their brutality.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, when you walk on the streets of Raqqa, there are big screens that are showing beheadings. They have, you know, the projectors and we are walking in the streets and just watching these videos.</s>DAMON: How are you going to explain this to your children?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pray for God to -- that my children forget this without asking me. They are all the time thinking about war, about killing and they see a video of cutting heads.</s>DAMON (voice-over): The battle for the ISIS capital has just begun and what lies ahead is unknown for those who are fighting to liberate it, and for the civilians who are still trapped inside. Arwa Damon, CNN, Syria.</s>LU STOUT: Now, Hong Kong is getting a new leader in less than two weeks. And coming up here on News Stream, my conversation with incoming chief executive Carrie Lam, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong handover, hear what she's saying about the state of freedom in the territory. And the big secret among select U.S. senators is about to be revealed. We'll soon learn what's in their new health care bill and what it will take to get it passed. Stay with us.