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Preparing for a Defense; No to Data Collection; The Highly Anticipated Meeting; Ban Lifted; End of Innocent's Life; Qatar Reacts to Saudi's Alliance. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 05, 2017 - 03:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00] HANNAH VAUGHAN JONES, CNN ANCHOR: International condemnation and concern after North Korea says its new long-range missile can carry a nuclear warhead.

Donald Trump's highly anticipated face-to-face with Vladimir Putin and America's evolving role on the world stage.

Plus, 44 American states in a showdown with the federal government. Why they are refusing to fully cooperate with the president's voter fraud commission.

Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones live for you in London, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

North Korea says it has developed a nuclear-capable missile that could strike the U.S. mainland. Pyongyang test fired the projectile early on Tuesday, the Pentagon confirms it was an intercontinental ballistic missile. It traveled 930 kilometers, that's about 40 minutes in flight and it landed in the sea possibly inside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The U.S. and South Korea reacted swiftly with a rapid response military exercise. Seoul says the precision missile drill is meant to send a warning to Pyongyang and showcase its ability to target the North leadership.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meanwhile responded to this missile test saying, "Global action is required to stop a global threat. Any country that hosts North Korean guest workers, provides any economic or military benefits or fails to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime."

Words there of Rex Tillerson.

Let's bring in now CNN's Andrew Stevens who is in Hong Kong, and the journalist Kaori Enjoji in Tokyo. Welcome to you both. Andrew, to you first, we saw throughout this missile test, Kim Jong-un proudly overseeing it all. Implications that this could be just the start of much more to come from Pyongyang. ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Yes, it's more like the

middle because we have seen a significant ramping up on the missile testing, and a nuclear testing under Kim Jong-un's regime. And Kim was present at the launch yesterday, Hannah. In fact the KCNA news report that the news agency of North Korea saying that he feasted his eyes upon the newly built missile and said that the fight against the U.S. was coming to a final phase.

And Kim also is very, very clear in what happens next. He described that missile launch as a gift to the United States on their Independence Day. And he urged his scientists to send many more gifts big and small to the Yankees, in his own words, over the period ahead.

So making it very clear, North Korea intends to continue its missile program. Don't forget of course there is a nuclear program as well. The next key issue now that there is an ICBM that technology is proven at least by the North Korean say it's proven is whether they can get a nuclear payload and how long it will take for them to get a nuclear payload on a missile.

The KCNA reports saying that the specifications that were looking really at how this missile would perform and it performed and today as they say beyond their expectations. So they say they are continuing to miniaturize a warhead and have the technology to put a warhead on a missile.

The west thinks that is still a few years away. But the key at the moment today, Hannah, is the fact that North Korea can now it looks like have a missile reach Alaska, American territory and that is why Rex Tillerson has been so outspoken in his condemnation, considering just in April when North Korea launched an intermediate range missile, Tillerson virtually ignored it.

JONES: Kaori, over to you in Tokyo for us now. And all this talk of course potentially about a ballistic missile being able to reach the U.S. mainland when it's the Japanese mainland which is at immediate risk.

KAORI ENJOJI, JOURNALIST: Absolutely, Hannah. Japan's vulnerability in this is plain and clear to see and has been for quite some time. And the prime minister who just left on a trip first to Brussels and then to Hamburg for the G-20 made some brief remarks before getting on the plane saying that he was going to use these opportunities meeting with the E.U. leaders and also with the G-20 leaders to try and craft a stronger international policy response, to try and rein in on North Korea.

[03:04:55] Because you know, years and years of sanctions and trade embargoes have clearly not been able to do so. But at the same time, he reiterated that he needs to engage not only with the U.S. and South Korea in this coordinated response but also to try to bring China and Russia to the table and get them to make some kind of constructive action is what he said.

But I think, you know, Japan's hands are tied in what it can do on its own. And immediate military response is not possible for Japan. Upping up -- upping its defense system is going to stoke the ire of other countries in the region particularly China. So I think pursuing a diplomatic response or approach to North Korea is really all it can do at this point. But it acknowledges that the fear and the threat from North Korea is escalating.

And I think those are very clear in the prime minister's remarks and also in the swiftness of the response this time after the missile was launched because it was just 10 minutes, it took just ten minutes for the government to first issue a statement. Because that's how long people say it would take for a missile to hit Japan.

So, although in general the public views this more of a nuisance than an immediate threat to their lives I think it's fairly clear that the Japanese government feels that the stakes are much higher now than they were before.

JONES: Andrew, back to you in Hong Kong now. And the operate word here now is China, of course, Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State very, very strongly worded response from him calling the North Korean regime dangerous. Is he effectively putting the onus now on China to change it course and be the one to bring about some course of change in Pyongyang?

STEVENS: Well, the U.S. administration appears to be using this tactic recently. In fact, just after the launch yesterday we had the tweet from Donald Trump saying that perhaps China would make a huge move on North Korea to stop this nonsense once and for all, in Donald Trump's words. So it's clear that the U.S. want China to do more. And it's equally clear this stage that China is not going to do more.

China has said repeatedly, it says the best way forward is for negotiation not with further economic sanctions. So the options on the table at the moment are more sanctions and the U.N. Security Council are going to be meeting this day, Wednesday, that will be discussed. Obviously the possibility of news -- more sanctions.

There is military option which looks highly unlikely and most analysts would say that is just not the right way to go which leaves talking. And that's what China says. We're complying with all the U.N. regulations, all the U.N. restrictions and sanctions at the moment. We've already stopped coal imports from North Korea coming to the China. That's the biggest source of North Korean foreign currency. The time has come to talk.

But to set the preconditions for that talk, U.S. and South Korea have to stop their military drills and North Korea has to put a moratorium, a freeze on their missile and nuclear development. And at this stage, neither of those things look like they are happening.

JONES: All right. Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong and Kaori Enjoji in Tokyo, my thanks to you both.

And Martin Navias, a military expert here at Kings College here in London joins me now in the studio. Thanks for coming in, Martin. I appreciate it. It's an intercontinental ballistic missile, that we think has been confirmed, is it nuclear capable or will it be soon? MARTIN NAVIAS, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTRE FOR DEFENCE STUDIES, KING'S

COLLEGE LONDON: Well, what we know for certain is that North Koreans can deliver a ballistic missile of very long range. While they may not be able to hit the lower 48 states of the United States yet they will do so in the next few years.

I mean -- the missile program is moving at a relentless pace. Alongside a nuclear program. The key question is they have a nuclear weapon. Can they fit it to a ballistic missile? Possibly they can. Whether it would survive the rigors of an intercontinental journey, a reentry into the atmosphere at the other end when it reaches its target it's hard to say, but they will get there and they will get there soon.

JONES: And you say they will get there, so then we have to look at missile defense systems that are in place given the fact that that might be Donald Trump, the U.S. and Japan as well their only kind of real protection from this kind of threat, the THAAD system is in place in South Korea, not in Japan what does America have as far as its defense system?

NAVIAS: Well, the Americans have a number of systems, they have as you correctly say the THAAD system in South Korea and Japan and parts of the Pacific they have missile systems on boats in the Pacific as well and they have a defense system in California and Alaska.

But to rely on missile defense to shoot down a ballistic missile is a very dangerous thing. It's like shooting a bullet with a bullet. And the tests up until now have not been 100 percent. OK? So if you're going to rely on these kinds of systems you are taking a risk. And that is of great concern to the American defense officials.

[03:10:04] JONES: Which then begs the question, what are the other options on the table, diplomatically or perhaps economically as well? China has been under considerable pressure to cut its economic lifeline to North Korea.

NAVIAS: It is.

JONES: Is China doing enough?

NAVIAS: No, I don't China is doing enough and I agree with your report, I don't think they are going to do America's bidding on this matter. The Chinese have a range of interests. Their general strategic goal is to remove the United States from the Pacific and from Asia and there is a school of thought in Beijing that says well, if the North Koreans have a ballistic missile that's capable of hitting the continental United States this will be a qualitative change in the United States' strategic position, it would constrain the American's actions in Pacific and this would be of benefit to China.

Now if the Americans are going to do something about it they're going to have to do it unilaterally. They cannot rely on Beijing and certainly cannot rely on Moscow as being the intermission here. What they're going to have to do is first negotiate, reach some kind of deal, grand bargain with Kim Jong-un. I believe such a thing is possible if you have realistic objectives and those realistic objectives would certainly not include the denuclearization of North Korea because the North Koreans are never going to give this up. All it can involve is putting a freeze on the North Koreans to ensure that their missiles and their nuclear capability cannot reach the United States.

JONES: Where is their capability coming from, where is the intelligence coming from to create these kinds of missiles and the materials needed to physically create...

(CROSSTALK)

NAVIAS: Well, the North Korean's missile program their nuclear program have gone back for decades. Originally they received support from China from countries in the Middle East that provided them with ballistic missiles. But they are now reaching a point of all talk -- they can develop by themselves going forward.

There is not -- they are not made of supply chains that we can constrain that will ultimately bring that -- bring that program to a halt. The only way to do it is to reach some kind of agreement and all that fails will ultimately military considerations will come to the table. But we're not there yet.

JONES: Not there quite yet. Martin, we appreciate it. Martian Navias, thank you for coming in.

NAVIAS: Thank you.

JONES: Well, the U.S. and South Korea have a forceful answer to North Korea's missile launch. Their message, just ahead.

And President Donald Trump leaves for Europe in just a few hours' time. Coming up, the key meeting that he'll have at the G20 summit.

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(WORLD SPORTS)

JONES: The North Korean missile launch, the latest one comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is about to embark on the second foreign trip of his presidency. His reception on his first stop in Poland is expected to be much warmer than what he will face at the G20 summit in Germany.

Michelle Kosinski reports on one planned meeting that will be closely watched.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump will meet Vladimir Putin face-to-face on Friday while they're in Germany for the g20 summit. It could have been a simple pull aside meeting, a short chat but the Russians have been wanting more and now Trump agrees. It's time. The last time the U.S. met this way with Putin was two years ago and

the last time Obama spoke to Putin in person was a blunt warning that he'd better stop meddling in U.S. politics. Trump has had plenty to say about the Russian president.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If he says great things about me I'm going to say great things about him. I've already said he is really very much of a leader.

If Putin likes Donald Trump I consider that an asset, not a liability. I hope we have a fantastic relationship.

KOSINSKI: But the relationship has been anything but fantastic. Sanctions on Russia have not loosened nor has its hold on Crimea. Trump bombed a Syrian airfield after President Assad's forces still supported by Russia attacked citizens with sarin gas. Now both Trump and Putin are looking for some common ground at least in fighting ISIS.

REP. LEE ZELDIN (R), NEW YORK: There is a lot to talk about and Russia is an adversary of the United States. And they should talk about Ukraine, they should talk about Syria. The president should find the opportunity to speak about NATO. He should speak about the activity of Russian meddling in the United States elections as well as other elections abroad.

KOSINSKI: For now though, the White House says there is no specific agenda which worrisome even within Trump's own national security team over his potential for distraction and distaste for extensive preparation. Concerns that Putin will steer the ship, that Trump may not even broach the subject of Russia's cyberattacks on American democracy.

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: The United States needs to arrive in Hamburg and send a clear message that it will not tolerate direct attacks on U.S. soil against the United States and also send a message that the United States stands with its allies. It's really important for U.S. credibility that President Trump makes that all these things clear.

KOSINSKI: At Trump's request the White House has been preparing options of things to offer Russia in exchange for cooperation or a change in Russia's behavior, possibly some sanctions released or return of the Russian diplomatic properties in the U.S. seized at the end of the Obama administration.

Russia has repeatedly threatened retaliation that those aren't returned. But in the meantime, today, Putin met with Chinese President Xi and talked up the two of them working together on the North Korean threat calling for dialogue and a change in U.S. behavior on the issue.

This as skeptical European allies and others stunned over some of Trump's statements and moves, including the U.S.'s pull out from the Paris climate deal increasingly speak of America as turning inward, the need for others to take the lead. CHRYSTIA FREELAND, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF CANADA: The fact

that our friend and ally has come to question the very worth of its mantle of global leadership puts into sharper focus the need for the rest of us to set our own clear and sovereign course.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Our Michelle Kosinski reporting there.

[03:19:58] For perspective on all of us, Brian Klass joins me here in the studio. Brian is a fellow in comparative politics at the London School of Economics. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

Let talk about first of all about America's evolving role on the world stage. America first seems to suggest now it's America alone.

BRIAN KLASS, SENIOR FELLOW, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: I think that's absolutely right. And Trump is willfully destroying American global leadership not just in the sense that he's alienating the allies. We've seen a Pew Research survey that shows a loss in confidence in American leadership, 75 percent it's down in Germany, 70 percent in France, 57 percent here in the U.K.

But beyond that Trump is willfully understaffing the State Department dismantling American diplomatic firefighters and not staffing key positions. Six months into his presidency, 94 of 124 appointed State Department positions are vacant with no nominee. They are not being obstructed, they're not being nominated.

And that's something where we have to be very watchful of how Trump is treated from the global stage which could destabilize long-standing relationships including with NATO and in the G-20.

JONES: He's got this crucial speech coming up when everyone, every NATO member will be looking to see whether he reinforces this mutual protection clause that's in that NATO agreement.

Are the rest of the world -- is the rest of the world kind of looking at that and thinking if you don't say anything about NATO in your commitment to it than we are going to look elsewhere for leadership?

KLASS: Absolutely. Article 5 is the foundational principle of NATO and it's a no brainer to for the U.S. president to clearly and firmly state that they stand behind that principle. of mutual defense.

It would be the largest gift to Vladimir Putin that you could possibly imagine to not just retreat from that principle but also to continue to sew divisions within the NATO alliance which is a long-standing goal of Russian foreign policy. That is what the Kremlin dreams about. And Trump is in six months is already delivering a splintered NATO to Vladimir Putin ahead of their meeting on Friday.

JONES: They have these bilateral talks that are now planned to go ahead. We don't know the detail of what is on the schedule and Donald Trump as we know is not a man who likes to be scripted particularly. What are the key things that we should be looking out for in the aftermath of this meeting when they have a presumably a press conference and talk about it?

KLASS: Well, we need to know if Trump sent a clear message to Putin on a few key things. One is meddling in the United States elections and meddling in elections around Western Europe.

JONES: There is no suggestion he is going to...

(CROSSTALK)

KLASS: There is not. And all indications suggest that he barely even accepts this principle unless it's an avenue to attack Barack Obama.

JONES: Right.

KLASS: So I'm not hopeful about that, but if there is not a clear deterrent on that issue there will be more cyberattacks not just against the United States but against its allies. He needs to send a clear message on Ukraine, a clear deterrent on Syria and say that there needs to be a way forward without Assad in power.

And he needs to be able to try to build bridges around those divides. Because we cannot be constantly attacking Russia but we need lines in the sand that say U.S. interests are key in these fronts and Vladimir Putin is actually is the chief adversary to American goals and American interests on the global stage.

JONES: Another area where the two could be at loggerheads at each other is at energy provisions as well. Russia of course the main source of energy position for much of eastern Europe and the rest of the world as well, and now America coming up saying well, you know, we actually want a piece of the pie here.

KLASS: Yes. And this is again where the devil is in the details in this negotiation and Trump is new to it. Trump is not someone who has got the finer points of not only diplomacy but actually the agenda.

And that's where I'm worried about the lack of this being scripted, is that if Trump is ill-prepared for this meeting Vladimir Putin will come out much more ahead because he is a seasoned veteran who knows how to not just get his wishes done on the global stage but he knows how to play people.

And Donald Trump I think is a pretty easy mark on this because he is not listening to advisers. The people around him are not seasoned experts on Russian foreign policy and he doesn't really know a lot of the agenda that he is talking about.

JONES: Yes. If he is listening to advisers, many of them could be just yes people who are just telling him what he wants to hear anyway.

Brian, we appreciate it. Brian Klass, thank you very much for joining us. And Melissa Bell is now joining us from the Polish capital of Warsaw. of course the first stop on Donald Trump's European visit.

Melissa, we know that he is likely to get a bit of a rough ride, perhaps at least in Germany and all eyes will then be on his meeting with Vladimir Putin. But first stop though of course is Poland where you are. What are the Pols, the Polish people expecting to hear from him?

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, clearly the fact that he's made Warsaw his first stop ahead of London, Paris or Berlin for his second trip abroad is something of a political coup for the government here. This is a populist government in charge. It has been criticized by Brussels for what Brussels believes or its attempt to decide for pre-press trying to get its hands on the independent judiciary.

And it is a government that is a populist nation, that sure many of the views that Donald Trump that is worried about things like immigration and super national organizations. So there is a lot in common between Donald Trump and leaders here in Poland.

But you were talking a moment ago, Hannah, about the problem of script and of sticking to the script and of carefully thought through words and nowhere will they matter more than here in Poland.

[03:25:04] You need only to look at the country's geography, you need only to look at its relatively recent history in the 20th century to understand why the question of what words Donald Trump will choose to make clear his commitment or not to article 5 of NATO's treaty, that question of mutual defense.

You need only look at those things to understand how closely those words will be watched here in Poland with all the potential that could, Donald Trump could have over the course of his short stop here to ruffle feathers either in Brussels by closing up too closely to a government that Brussels worry so greatly about, or within the broader NATO allowance -- alliance or indeed with Russia because as you were saying a moment ago security will be crucial, NATO will be crucial in what he has to say here.

The other question is energy. What matters to Poles is the idea of being able to pursue an energy policy that will lessen their dependence on Moscow. Donald Trump very much expected to go in that direction on that sense. So those will be the two things, security, energy, that everyone will be looking for here. But there is a great deal of potential, Hannah, to ruffle feathers one way or another either to the west or to the east.

JONES: OK. Melissa Bell, live for us in Warsaw which of course will be the first stop on Donald Trump's European tour when he steps in about couple of hours. Melissa, thank you.

Well, stay with us here on CNN NEWSROOM. North Korea is keeping itself in the global spotlight with a strategically timed launch. The latest is just ahead.

Plus, a London hospital is expected to take a terminally ill baby off life support this week. A move his parents are still fighting now Pope Francis has stepped in.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) JONES: Hello. Welcome back. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones live for you in

London. It's just coming just gone to half past 8 here local time in London. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I want to get the latest for you now on North Korea's latest missile launch. The U.S. and South Korea confirmed that Pyongyang test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called the launch an escalation. Well, these are new pictures of that test firing. North Korea claims it has developed a, quote, "nuclear capable long-range missile." It also says it won't stop developing its weapons program until the U.S. ends its hostile policy against the north.

Meanwhile, South Korea and the U.S. are responding to Pyongyang with a show of force. They held a joint military drill firing missiles into the waters along South Korea's East Coast.

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on South Korea as this Wednesday after a request from the U.S. ambassador.

Well, North Korea's missile launch has increased tensions in the region and turned global attention now towards Pyongyang.

Here is CNN's Paula Hancocks with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Celebrated as a historic event in North Korea, raising alarm bells among its neighbors and foes. Pyongyang says this was a successful ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile.

An excited news anchor spoke of the shining success in a special broadcast on North Korean television. A clearly delighted Kim Jong-un surveyed the scene. A test launch the North Korean leader had promised since the start of this year.

But concerns in the south. A National Security council meeting and a warning from President Moon Jae-in calling on the North not to cross the bridge of no return warning of a red line without specifying what that red line was. China called for restraint from all sides urging North Korea to refrain from violating U.N. Security Council resolutions.

JASPER KIM, PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: As always with North Korea's strategic timing. I mean, here you get a missile test and you get a wide audience focused on the G20 summit about trade and cooperation. Now all these party leaders from around the world are going to be talking about North Korea, North Korea, North Korea.

HANCOCKS: An official assessment of this launch are worrying for the U.S. DAVID WRIGHT, CO-DIRECTOR, UCS GLOBAL SECURITY PROGRAM: According to

my call collations they can reach all of Alaska. But they cannot reach the low 48 states or the large Hawaiian Islands but they have the ability to reach Alaska.

HANCOCKS: A July 4th celebration for North Korea that the United States does not want.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Well, Russia and China are working together to try to deescalate the tension triggered of course by Pyongyang's missile program.

Let's bring in Ivan Watson now. Ivan joins me now live from the Russian capital Moscow. The two leaders of Russia and China have met recently. Have they come up with a plan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: yes. They put out a joint plan what they call a step-by-step plan to try to deescalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula. And that the two governments they express concern about North Korea's ballistic missile launch or possible ICBM launch but they stopped short of condemning it outright.

What they propose to try to deescalate tensions was what they've describe is a double freeze in which North Korea would suspend its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile (AUDIO GAP) program and simultaneously the U.S. would have to stop joint -- conducting joint military exercises with its South Korean ally.

That is a plan that China has floated in the past. In the joint document they took a couple further steps. They raised objections to the presence, essentially of U.S. forces in South Korea, and argued that this latest missile launch and the nuclear weapons program of North Korea should not be used as a pretext for deploying more weapon system -- weapon systems to South Korea.

Both Moscow and Beijing oppose the recent deployment of the U.S. anti- missile system known as THAAD. They see those that deployment as a threat to their own national security. Both Moscow and Beijing have sign on to numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions which restrict, which ban Pyongyang from developing nuclear weapons.

But as you can see from this document they are also very concerned about U.S. actions on the Korean Peninsula and argue that the U.S. is helping contribute to the tensions there on the Peninsula. Hannah?

JONES: This is all about power play, isn't it? Who has the geopolitical upper hand in the region, as it were? Putin, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are going to be meeting in the next few days, is the Russian president expected to raise North Korea with the U.S. president? [03:35:09] WATSON: Presumably that would be one of the topics of

conversation. We haven't had a formal agenda yet. But clearly other conflict areas or hot spots that would be discussed would include presumably Syria, where you have U.S. and Russian forces and war planes both on the ground and in the sky in close proximity, tensions escalating there. Ukraine as well.

It's just a couple weeks ago that Washington imposed fresh sanctions on dozens of Russian entities and in response Russia cancelled diplomatic talks, a round of talks with U.S. diplomats. So there's an awful lot there to discuss and Russian/U.S. tensions to try to sort through, Hannah.

JONES: Ivan we appreciate it. Ivan Watson, live for us in Moscow. Thank you.

For other news now. A Canadian man who served 10 years at Guantanamo Bay after fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan is reportedly getting an $8 million settlement and apology from the Canadian government. Thirty-year-old Omar Khadr sued his country, claiming Canada failed to protect his rights under international law.

Under a 2010 plea deal with the U.S., Khadr admitted to hurling a grenade in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old killing a U.S. Special Forces member that was back in 2002. Well, his critics say he deserves nothing because he is a killer. Supporters though say he was coerced into being a child soldier.

Now the heartbreaking story of one terminally ill British baby has drawn worldwide attention and sympathy including now from the Vatican. The Popes Pediatric Hospital in Rome says it is willing to take in Charlie Gard so his parents can decide his fate.

The president of that hospital says she has been in contact with the mother of the 11-month-old baby boy and they are working to get her son in for treatment. However, the London hospital is refusing to transfer the baby.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIELLA ENOC, PRESIDENT, BAMBINO GEST HOSPITAL (through translator): The hospital has told us the board for legal reasons cannot transfer the baby to us. Therefore this is not the sad note of this event. He will wait there for the mother and if scientific evidence can be shown that this treatment can do something, I don't know. We will continue to dig on the subject and our scientists when they have news they'll speak directly with the mother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: A court ruled the London hospital in charge of Charlie's care can turn off his life support. That is expected to happen on Friday.

Diana Magnay has more now for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a very painful story of a brain-damaged boy with an incredibly rare genetic disorder just a handful of cases in the world. Two parents desperate to try anything that might conceivably improve his condition and doctors who feel that any therapy would be futile.

In the U.K. when you have a situation where doctors and parents disagree on the child's care it goes to the courts. Charlie's parents wanted to take him to the U.S. for a treatment called nucleoside bypass therapy.

The courts on the advice of his medical staff and the host other experts doctors concluded that it would not be in Charlie's best interests to be tested on that it might benefit medical science but it wouldn't benefit Charlie.

And therefore that it would be in his best interests, given his limited quality of life for treatment to be withdrawn. Donald Trump has offered to help. A Vatican owned hospital has offered to take him in but the decision of Britain's Supreme Court is final. The life support machine was meant to be turned off on Friday.

But what is likely happening is that the hospital is trying to develop an end of life plan that the parents can bear that does not give the child additional distress but makes his final few hours as comfortable as possible.

The parents said last week their last wish was for him to die at home and they said that the hospital had refused. well, that maybe because they consider Charlie too fragile to move that they can care for him best at this stage in the hospital.

Diana Magnay, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: A heartbreaking story there of little Charlie Gard.

Still ahead on the program, a Trump commission wants U.S. states to hand over certain information about everyone on their voter rolls. All by the handful are refusing to cooperate saying some of the that has just been private.

Plus, Qatar makes its first official move to try to lift the diplomatic blockade by its Arab neighbors. We'll discuss what to expect next.

[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JONES: Device in Emirate Airlines says the ban on large electronic devices for its direct flights to the United States has been lifted. The U.S. had banned large devices but not smartphones from the cabins of several airlines flying from the Middle East. That happened back in March.

Now Turkish Airlines announced the ban had been lifted earlier. And one of its flights took off with the new rules in place just a few hours ago. The ban was also lifted on Dubai's Etihad Airways just last week.

Now Qatar has sent its official response to a list of demands made by the Saudi-led coalition that cut ties with Doha just about a month ago.

Jomana Karadsheh joins me now live from Doha. Jomana, what is certainly this official response from the Qataris?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we still don't know the exact content of that letter that was sent by the Qataris handed over to the Kuwaitis were the mediators that was done on Monday. And in the last few hours we heard from the Saudi-led alliance, Hannah, saying that they have received Qatar's official response, they were reviewing it and they will respond in a timely fashion.

They say yesterday speaking at a joint press conference here with his German counterpart the Qatari foreign minister said he didn't want to go into details. He said it was up to the Kuwaitis to make this response public.

But he said that their response was within the context of international law and preserving Qatar's sovereignty a hint that we won't likely be seeing Qatar agreeing to the conditions of that list of demands.

Now he also reiterated what we you've heard all along from the Qataris since they received the demand about that list. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL-THANI, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTER: Any set of grievances or demands should be realistic and actionable. And what we have seen, that the list is unrealistic and we -- it cannot be action and it's not talking about terrorism, mainly it's talking about shutting the freedom of speech infringing the sovereignty of a country interfering in its affairs.

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[03:45:05] KARADSHEH: And Hannah, he reiterated also what we have heard from them again in recent days, saying that Qatar is open for dialogue saying that the only way a crisis like this can be resolved, according to the foreign minister is if everyone gets to the negotiating table. And also he said right now he feels that Qatar has done its part and the ball now is in the court of the Saudi-led bloc. Their foreign minister's meeting today in Cairo. We'll have to wait and see what comes out of that.

JONES: Yes. One wonders what happens next and could we see an escalation of the tensions across the region or perhaps an extension of this diplomatic impasse?

KARADSHEH: Right now, Hannah, no one really knows especially the Qataris. And that was asked of the foreign minister yesterday what the expectation was of this meeting, what could happen next? And he said this whole situation, this whole crisis has been unpredictable. So the next steps, in his words, would be unpredictable too.

But also we've heard from senior officials in the United Arab Emirates who have said that we're not going to see any sort of an escalation, no big bang after that deadline expires. More likely it's going to be in the words of one senior official, the gradual turning of the financial screws and that this crisis can go on for a very long time.

So perhaps we're going to see more financial sanctions, perhaps more of the same. They've also said that there will be parting of ways with Qatar. And we've heard from the Qataris here saying they know will be consequences and they are ready for that.

JONES: Jomana Karadsheh, live for us in Doha where it is just coming after 11 o'clock in the morning. Jomana, thank you.

The Illinois State Senate has approved a new budget package bringing the state closer to resolving its current financial crisis. This is the third straight year that Illinois has failed to have a complete budget. And the new budget package would boost the new individual tax rate to just under 5 percent. It passed in the Illinois has on Sunday with bipartisan support but the governor said he'll veto the plan because of the tax hike. Illinois owes $15 billion in unpaid bills.

A top official on President Trump's voter fraud commission is depending the panel's controversial request for the personal information of every registered U.S. voter. Most states, 44 at this stage, are rejecting all or part of the request.

CNN's Tom Foreman examines why some of the arguments for cooperating raise new questions.

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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fourth of July and states coast to coast are showing their independence in the face of the sweeping presidential request for voter information, all but a handful are either refusing to share data, offering only some of it or saying the White House need to go through other channels to obtain it. Many are citing privacy concern and legal barriers while other are openly questioning the administration's motives.

MAGGIE TOULOUSE OLIVER, SECRETARY OF STATE OF NEW MEXICO: It's not really clear what this data is going to be used for. It seems to me it maybe a phishing expedition or a witch hunt of some kind.

FOREMAN: The president has long argued with no proof that massive voter fraud occurred in last fall's election, involving millions of ballots.

TRUMP: So many things are going on.

FOREMAN: But even some states willing to provide some information don't necessarily buy that. WAYNE WILLIAMS, SECRETARY OF STATE OF COLORADO: I do not believe that vote fraud occurred on the scale that's been described. I do believe that vote fraud occurs and it's important to take steps to prevent it.

FOREMAN: The electronic privacy information center a privacy advocacy group here in D.C. has asked a federal court to temporarily block the White House effort. Meanwhile, the point man on the president's commission, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is steadily defending the request for info.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": There's a lot of skepticism that it's essentially trying to validate what the president said and/or could lead to voter suppression.

KRIS KOBACH, KANSAS SECRETARY OF STATE: So let me answer your questions, first of all, the commission's purpose is not to prove or disprove what the president speculated about back in January. The purpose of the commission is to find facts and put them on the table.

FOREMAN: But the fact are already being twisted as many states have looked at the White House shopping list and noted their own laws forbid releasing some of that data especially any portion of a voter social security number. Kobach pinned an op-ed on Breitbart, a far- right web site saying "The commission didn't request that information."

Really? Look at his letter to the states. While Kobach noted some laws might prevent it he did indeed ask for the last four digits of social security number if available.

All of this could be moot if the court sides with that privacy group and we could have a ruling this week. But either way, it seems difficult for this effort to move forward effectively with so many states raising red flags.

[03:50:06] Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Tom, thank you. More CNN NEWSROOM after this very short break. Do stay with us.

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JONES: Welcome back. The United States has been awash in red, white, and blue to celebrate its 241st birthday. The country capped off its Independence Day celebrations with traditional fireworks shows across the nation like this colorful display in New Jersey's Liberty State Park.

Down in Florida, a brilliant array of pyrotechnic lit up Orlando's night sky. And then over on the West Coast, check out this aerial view of multiple fireworks displays across Los Angeles and California and the Fourth of July would not be complete without the annual fireworks display on the national mall in the nation's capital, of course, Washington, D.C. Fantastic images there. And now to a very different kind of sky show. A potential tropical

storm is now threatening the Caribbean. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us from the international weather center will all the details. Pedram, tell us more.

[03:54:58] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Hannah, to kind of Mother nature is celebrate for the light show here. And we're talking about this thunderstorm, area of thunderstorms right there across portions just west of the Cape Verde Islands of the coast of Africa and this is an area we watched for several days since really last week until now and going into the middle of this week.

And when you look carefully this particular and look at the model of depiction of this and also look at where typically when storms originate in that region end up, the prevailing tracks on that northerly fringe would take it out towards the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas out towards the eastern United States.

Now we have had three named storms so far in the Atlantic Ocean. So this would be tropical storm Don and we think it will take form sometime in the next couple of days. But notice just about every single model wants to bring it to the west.

And then there is time disagreement on where it's going to end from there. At this point it looks like it wants favor more of a turn to the north of potentially Bermuda could be an area of interest going into early this -- early this weekend and then potentially into next week as well.

But here's the perspective across the western United States. Look at this, 27 large active fires burning across portions of the western United States. We know it's been extremely dry across this region. In some it did not rained in three to four months across the southwest.

Keep in mind we have of course a lot of rainfall in the beginning of the season across parts of California. The perspective for temperatures as well. A time heat wave in store getting up to the middle 90s. So we're talking about 37, 38 to 40 degrees Celsius there in a few spots. Phoenix gets up to the 1-teens yet again, Hannah, so big time heat along with the fire threat there.

JONES: Pedram, I appreciate it. Pedram Javaheri there, thank you. And thank you for joining us. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones live for you in London. Early Start is next for our viewers in the United States. For viewers elsewhere I will be back with plenty more news in the 9 o'clock hour here in London after this break. Stay with us here on CNN.

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