[Church:] The last major rebel-held area in Syria is bracing for a government offensive. Russian and Syrian jets reportedly pounded the western edge of Idlib province on Tuesday. Meantime, the White House is warning Syria to refrain from any chemical attacks. Its statement reads in part, "Let us be clear, it remains our firm stance that if President Bashar al-Assad chooses to again use chemical weapons, the United States and its allies will respond swiftly and appropriately." The U.N. Security Council meets Friday to discuss the crisis. Separately, leaders from Russia, Turkey and Iran will do the same.
[Staffan De Mistura, U.n. Special Envoy To Syria:] Now the guarantors of this de-escalation area have a special responsibility. And they have a responsibility to find a sustainable formula, which is not impossible, that would spare the civilian population. Hence we will look with great attention and concern and hope to the crucial summit in Tehran on Friday.
[Church:] Now our Jomana Karadsheh joins us live from Istanbul. So Jomana, what are you learning about what's happening on the ground in Idlib right now? And what has been the reaction to the U.S., again drawing a line in the sand when it comes to the use of any weapons?
[Jomana Karadsheh, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Rosemary, as you said, the U.S. is really just drawing a line when it comes to chemical weapons. And when you talk to Syrians and people who have been trapped in rebel-held areas for years now, they say they've really given up on the international community or the United States or anyone, really, to do anything to stop the bloodshed. You know, when they hear these kinds of warnings and threats and comments about chemical weapons, they ask, what about conventional weapons, what about the barrel bombs, what about the airstrikes? These kinds of attacks are claiming the most lives. So they ask, what is the international community going to do about that? And it seems like no one is going to do anything. So right now, you know, you had that warning from President Trump, that tweet. You had various statements from U.S. officials and that's really not having any impact, as is expected. On Tuesday, opposition activists in Idlib reported up to 25 airstrikes. They claim there were Russian airstrikes on the western part of Idlib. They say at least 18 people were killed, most of them women and children. So you have a population right now, Rosemary, that is living in a state of constant fear. As they told, you know, our colleagues, Arwa Damon and her team who were there recently, it feels like they are on death row and just waiting for, you know, for their death penalty to be implemented. So you know, you have more than 3 million civilians, according to the estimates, that are crammed into this part of Syria. Idlib, for more than a year now, has been, you know, relatively safe for most people. So they have been bused from other rebel-held areas that have fallen to the regime; people who refused to remain under regime control because of fear of the region were bused to Idlib. Right now
[Karadsheh:] they have nowhere else to turn to, nowhere safe. As one analyst put it, Idlib has no Idlib.
[Church:] Jomana Karadsheh, bringing us the latest on what's happening on the ground in Idlib. Many thanks to you. A high-level South Korean delegation is in North Korea to discuss plans for their next summit. The two sides are expected to discuss a path toward peace and denuclearization. It comes as relations between the United States and North Korea continue to sour. So let's turn to our Paula Hancocks. She joins us live from Seoul in South Korea with more on this. Paula, what are you learning about this upcoming summit? And how far might the two Koreas go in denuclearizing North Korea?
[Paula Hancocks, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Rosemary, we are hoping either by the end of today or tomorrow to have an indication of when this summit will take place, an exact date. At this point, we know that Moon Jae-in will meet with Kim Jong-un middle of September, that sort of time. We're hearing that really the scope of this summit has widened since that relationship between Washington and Pyongyang has started to sour. Just a couple of weeks ago, a planned trip by the U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to Pyongyang was cancelled by U.S. president Donald Trump, saying that he simply didn't think enough progress was being made on the road to denuclearization. So there's a broader sense now that this summit between President Moon and Kim Jong-un will be more important. It is more inclusive. It is going to be President Moon almost reverting back to his mediator role, trying to bring Washington and North Korea closer together. Now we know that President Moon had a phone call with President Trump on Tuesday night local time, a 50-minute conversation. They agreed to meet in New York at the U.N. General Assembly. That's later on in September. That will be just after President Moon has met Kim Jong- un. So he will be able to brief President Trump in person. He also had a few positive words to say about Mr. Trump's behavior towards North Korea and towards the talks that are happening at the moment, saying it's his decisiveness that has led to this point. But certainly what we're seeing is more of a push from South Korea at this point than we are from the U.S. Rosemary.
[Church:] Yes, and, of course, South Korea wants to keep President Trump and the United States happy. He's been very careful there. But from the North Korean perspective, how much of this is about squeezing the U.S. out of the picture?
[Hancocks:] Well, we did see a statement today that was posted on the foreign ministry's website in North Korea, saying that what they wanted was a declaration to the end of war. The Korean War back in 1953 ended in an armistice. We've heard from North and South Korean leaders, after their meeting in April in Panmunjom at the DMZ, that they want to try to declare the end of the Korean War by the end of this year. Now that will be one of the key topics at the summit this month as well. But what North Korea's calling for is for Washington to be on board with this, to declare the end of the war as well. North Korea wants a peace treaty. They want things that go with the peace treaty as well. But Washington wants to see denuclearization first. So there is really a very strong split between North Korea and the United States as to which should come first. That's really where the sticking point is at this point Rosemary.
[Church:] All right. Our Paula Hancocks, bringing us up to date on the situation there in Seoul, South Korea. Thanks for that. Frustration growing in Iraq as politicians struggle to form a new government after inconclusive parliamentary elections in May. Many in the oil-rich south are frustrated with poor basic services, water pollution and unemployment. Five people were killed Tuesday during the latest clashes between protesters and security forces in Basra. Prime minister Haider al Abadi says his cabinet will investigate the unrest in Iraq's second biggest city. Many Iraqis are still angry with the political elite, which is widely seen as corrupt. A devastating cultural and academic loss in Brazil may have been preventable. Brazil's oldest and most important museum was gutted in a massive fire Sunday night. Most of the museum's precious and irreplaceable collections are now feared lost forever. As Clare Sebastian reports, many blame the government for years of the neglect.
[Clare Sebastian, Cnn Correspondent:] The rubble still smolders two days after fire ripped through the 200-year-old Brazil National Museum. As firefighters begin their investigation into the cause of the blaze, the finger-pointing is well under way. These protesters blame the government for diverting critical funds away from the museum's restoration.
[Sebastian:] The museum is part of Rio's federal university and most of the protesters are students. University and museum officials say the museum's budget has been repeatedly slashed. Brazil's minister of culture says there was a sprinkler system in place. It wasn't enough.
[Unidentified Male:] This fire has been caused by several years of neglect by the federal government. Our anthropology program suffered absurd budget cuts these two last years.
[Sebastian:] Although the extent of the damage remains unknown, Brazil's oldest and most important historical museum has been gutted. It was home to 20 million artifacts, spanning 11,000 years, most of its collections are now feared lost, including priceless artifacts from the pre-Colombian period. And officials from Rio's civil defense apartment say the building itself is still at risk of collapsing. Employees, researchers and academics shed tears as they stood outside the destroyed museum.
[Unidentified Male:] During the cleanup process and the aftermath, we're going to have the participation of museum employees. It will be a slow process so that we can, who knows, recover a fragment, something that could still have historic value.
[Sebastian:] One museum curator rushed to collect what was left of the meteorite exhibit before it could be swept away with other debris. Brazil's minister of culture says he hopes the building can be rebuilt and some artifacts can still be salvaged. He also wants to start a campaign to encourage collectors to donate or sell their collections to the museum so they can start again Clare Sebastian, CNN.
[Church:] Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, the wives of two Reuters reporters sentenced to hard labor in Myanmar are begging for their release. Plus, a dire new prediction about the future of U.S. elections from the former head of security for Facebook.