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Ukrainian Civilian Casualties Mount Amid Russian Attacks; Man Describes Harrowing Escape from Maui Fire; Hawaii Authorities Limit Access to Disaster Zone; Experts: Climate Change Exacerbating Natural Disasters; Running Mate of Slain Candidate Speaks Out; Georgia Prosecutors Have Messages Linking Trump's Team to Voting System Breach; China Condemns Transit of Taiwan's V.P. Through U.S.; Paris Cemetery Becoming More Natural. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired August 14, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:36]

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine continues to grow. The latest victim of Russian shelling just 23 days old.

Devastation in Maui. Residents returning to what is left of their homes, decimated by a wildfire that traveled one and a half kilometers a minute.

And the political party of Ecuador's slain presidential candidate nominating another candidate to replace him. The second in two days.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: And we begin this hour with new developments out of Ukraine, where a Russian missile attack has hit the city of Odessa. One official says at least three people were wounded; multiple fires sparked by falling missile debris.

This coming one day after deadly attacks in the Southern region of Kherson. Officials say an entire family died in Russian shelling. You see their home there. One of the dead, a 23-day-old baby girl.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the Kherson region alone reported at least 17 shelling attacks on Sunday, and he promises a response to Russian assaults.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Everywhere, our warriors retaliate against the occupier's terror. There's not a single day when Russian evil does not get out completely fair retaliation. Every occupier destroyed, every piece of Russian equipment burned,

fire instead of their headquarters and warehouses. The very eloquent smoke on Kerch Bridge and more. All this proves that we will not leave any of Russia's crimes unanswered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, who's following developments and has more for us now from Dnipro in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: More Russian strikes against civilian areas in Ukraine. Something frankly that is a nightly occurrence at this point.

But again, two children appear to be the individuals worst hit or even mostly targeted for the receiving end of this extraordinary indiscriminate violence, particularly in Kherson in the last 24 hours.

A 23-day-old girl called Sophia (ph) and her 12-year-old brother, Archyon (ph), killed by Russian shelling, along with their mother and father. Four of the seven dead in shelling of Kherson region, last year, liberated from Russian occupation but where Russia continually visits its artillery shelling.

Unclear if they think they're hitting military targets or just keen to hit civilian areas and cause as much pain as possible.

Remember, too, recently in the past two days, Zaporizhzhia, a hotel there hit with two Iskandar missiles, landed right next to a children's playground, miraculously vacated just an hour earlier.

And so, again and again, it's the shocking details, frankly, of how children are being hit, targeted, or in the line of fire here by Russia's constant shelling.

Russia itself saying that Ukrainian drones crossed into Russian territory, Belgorod Kursk, and were intercepted by their defenses. We've also seen two of them erecting a smokescreen over the weekend around the Kerch Bridge that runs between occupied Crimea and the Russian mainland.

Again, a sign perhaps, that Russia's areas where mayor felt it was impregnable are vulnerable to target. They say that, in essence, they took out, intercepted two Ukrainian missiles aimed towards that bridge.

But this, an increasingly regular drumbeat of Russian brutality against the Ukrainian civilian population.

Ukraine saying that its Southern counteroffensive has made some significant -- small but significant gains near Robotyne (ph). It is really the key enduring question of this counteroffensive, as to what what move forwards, what particular part of Russia's defense may prove to be more divisive or herald a larger strategic move forwards by Ukrainian forces.

But it is now a particularly slow and grinding work, but still, civilian bearing the brunt of this -- an extraordinary rush (ph) of Russia visited on population centers around Ukraine.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Dnipro, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Joining me now to discuss is retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. He's also a former commander at the Australian Defense College, and author of "War Transformed: The Future of 21st Century Great Power Competition and Conflict." And his latest book there on your screen, "White Sun War," a terrific novel.

Mick, always good to see you. There have been more and more civilian casualties. We talked about a 23-year-old -- 23-day-old baby. Many other young people, certainly. Do you think that's a tactic, targeting civilians, as opposed to so-called collateral damage?

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Hi, Michael. It's good to be with you again.

Since the beginning of this war, the Russian military, the Russian government have shown a total disregard for the lives of non-combatant civilians in this war, right from the atrocities of Bucha, where the Russian prisoner awarded that unit, all the way through the destruction of the dam in Kherson, the use of incendiaries on civilian areas in this latest shelling. The Russians care nothing for the lives of Ukrainians.

HOLMES: Let's talk about the battlefield. Russia has made some small advances. But do you think they're largely focused now on defending territory rather than taking territory? Is that easier for them, given how entrenched they've been able to become? And is that likely to be a tactical decision, freeze the lines, and run a policy of attrition?

RYAN: Absolutely. The Russians by the end of last year, were exhausted. They've lost huge numbers of their most experienced troops and their best equipment. They had little opportunity other than to turn to defensive operations, because they can use troops that don't have the same training and can force a little attrition on the Ukrainians.

With Putin's desire to see this war be extended to exhaust the West's patience and will with the war, I expect we'll see more Russian defensive operations in the short term.

HOLMES: And how do you assess Ukraine's counteroffensive, particularly in the South? I mean, the attempts to break through the Russian land bridge to Crimea, do you see promising signs there?

RYAN: I think they're making steady progress. It's not the great rush forward that we saw in Kharkiv last year. It's not quite what we saw in Kherson. This is different. It's at a scale against a different Russian adversary that's dug in and has learned over the last six months that they are making progress.

This requires ongoing support from the Western and just patience. This is -- this is a terribly difficult mission the Ukrainians have undertaken.

HOLMES: We're looking at video as you speak there of the Kerch Bridge, that bridge between occupied Crimea and the Russian mainland, and you write in your Substack about the continued Ukrainian targeting of that bridge.

Why is it such a valuable target for Ukraine? Why is Ukraine devoting really considerable resources to try to hit it so often?

RYAN: Well, this is a bridge that the Ukrainians never agreed to build after the 2014 Crimean occupation. So, there's a political imperative to attack it, both to make Putin look weak. It's seen as one of Putin's vanity projects.

But it's also an important information operation for the Ukrainians, saying to Russians in Crimea that Russian can't defend them. It's also an important military target. It's a line of supply for Russian forces who are occupying Crimea. That's the navy, the army, and the air force.

So, it has both military and political reasons for the Ukrainians to continue attacking it.

HOLMES: There's plenty of complaints about U.S. support from the right-wing in the U.S., as one example. Are you seeing any fracturing in Western support, any risk of loss of interest as time goes on?

RYAN: Well, I think most qualities (ph), most politicians and many citizens have short attention spans these days.

HOLMES: Yes.

RYAN: But I think the attention has remained on Ukraine longer than we might think. It's natural that people's attention will turn to other concerns, of their cost of living and these kind of things. But we should remember, we had the strategic patience to stick with the job in Afghanistan for 20 years. I expect the West will have good patience to stick with Ukraine on this very important mission.

HOLMES: Mick Ryan, always great analysis. Good to see you, my friend. Thank you.

RYAN: Thanks, Michael.

HOLMES: Hawaii's governor says the devastating wildfires on Maui are a disaster that will, quote, "take an incredible amount of time to recover from."

He says the fire in Lahaina that left at least 93 people dead traveled at about a kilometer and a half per minute. Hundreds are now in emergency shelters. Cell service is coming back, but people are asked to limit their calls. [00:10:02]

Well, authorities say they don't know how many people are still missing. Only 3 percent of the fire has been -- fire zone has been searched with cadaver dogs.

Officials are urging those with missing family members to contact authorities to help coordinate DNA testing for identification of bodies.

More stories, meanwhile, on survival on Maui are starting to emerge. One man survived with his wife and their dogs by fleeing their home and eventually jumping into the sea. He described those terrifying moments for CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CICCHINO, WILD FIRE SURVIVOR: Thank God that I left my house. That we'll check around the neighborhood, because that was the only warning that I got, was actually seeing the houses on fire, you know. Seven houses down or so, wasn't too far.

The second I got to that fire, I immediately turned around, and I knew it was going to be bad with those winds. And you just see everything being caught on fire and people running for their lives.

You know, kids are screaming, babies being handed off to the other people. It was something out of a volcano, or like a war movie. The only thing that I could do is embrace back to the house to save my wife and the dogs we're looking after.

We know about the dogs, my wife got in the car, and we didn't know where to go. The smoke and fire was heading towards the North, so we want to go South. And they had roadblocks preventing us from going South.

They kind of got pushed into the Lahaina area, where it's a very small town. And everybody was just stuck in traffic. And we had abandoned our car on the sidewalk, run far left in the other direction since you saw the direction we're heading to was already on fire. Our side was on fire.

And then once we noticed that the direction we're running with all these dogs is on fire, we were stuck in the middle. Only thing that we could do is jump in a van for a little bit, with some of the dogs that we are able to get.

And, you know, when we come from the van the van was actually filled with propane tanks. So, at that point, we just had to throw all those propane tanks and get, you know, away from the sea wall, where we knew we had to jump.

And over the course of 12 hours, we were hiding in the seawall, jumping in and out of the water, dodging where the flames and fires were. Even in the water, we're getting burnt and dunking under water. There's times where we thought, truly, we were going to die. I remember calling my mom, telling her that I love her and, my

brother. My daughter that's only 4 years old, you know, telling her that I love her, and I'm thinking this is my last call. And right on that last call, all those propane tanks went, and it's -- you know, it was intense. It was a very intense day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Officials say about 2,200 structures have been damaged or destroyed in Western Maui; 86 percent of them were people's houses. Now, some residents are starting to sift through the debris.

CNN's Mike Valerio is in Maui and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right now we're at Wauhaihi (ph), which is the only way to get into the disaster zone for residents to access the areas near Lahaina.

So we're going to show you what is going on. These officers from Maui Police are checking to make sure that anybody who goes in here is, in fact, a resident. Not a tourist and not somebody who would engage in looting from out of town somewhere, from a different part of the island.

Some people who we have met, they have told us that this a profoundly emotional juncture as they move from this lush landscape to try to move and see it through this area and see what has survived. We met a woman, Susan, who told us exactly that. Listen to what she said.

SUSAN SLOBODNJAK, MAUI RESIDENT: I drove through Lahaina for the first time on Friday. OK, I again live up North, you know, seven miles out of Lahaina. And that night, the fires -- we are watching the sunset on one side. And it seemed like the sun set on the other side from the flames. And we did not know how serious it was.

And when I drove through on Friday. I have no clue what I was going through. Everything is gone. I worked at the charthouse (ph) in 1991. It is flat to the ground. There's houses that I used to live in, in Lahaina, that I don't even know where they were.

And, you know, I lost friends in there. You know, they were going back to get their animals, you know, and she died.

So, I mean, you know, it's really sad, because people come over here. You know, I heard there was a snorkeling boat looking at Lahaina town. Give them respect, you know? It's so bad. This is -- you know, people died here. I mean, it's not just a vacation. It's not just a place for vacation. We live here.

VALERIO: Just utterly heartbreaking to hear vignettes and sentiments like that, as we look out at the ocean to give you some more perspective; just the juxtaposition, as you see that, as your beautiful ocean, this beautiful corner of the world. And then just a couple of miles down the road, you'll see the moonscape. Seared, scarred. We also want to note, you know, about this road, it narrows into one lane of traffic.

That's one of the reasons it's been so hard and so slow for people to get into the disaster zone to figure out what has survived and how they move forward.

Mike Valerio, CNN, Maui, Hawaii.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Earlier, I spoke with Professor Kathy Jacobs, the director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions at the University of Arizona. And I asked her how can the world best adapt to disasters such as the wildfires, in a way, in an era of climate change?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHARINE JACOBS, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR CLIMATE ADAPTATION SCIENCE AND SOLUTIONS, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: First of, are there will always be surprises, but if we don't actually pay attention and learn these lessons, we will, unfortunately, have to learn them again.

It is important to try to anticipate the changes that are happening along with the climate, but they're underlying reasons that caused some of these problems, such as, for example, invasive grass species seems to have been one of the main reasons this fire spread so quickly.

So, that was an underlying reason that perhaps was made worse by a drying climate.

HOLMES: We're already seeing big insurance companies pull out, for example, of parts of California, high-fire risk areas, storm susceptible places in Florida.

And so in the broader climate discussion, with those stronger storms, the increasing heat, rising sea levels and so on. How does big-picture thinking need to change in order to adopt to what's already here, let alone what's to come?

JACOBS: Right. Well, people really do need to get consistent messages, and unfortunately, the message is people receive right now are that the American public is willing to bail them out if they make extensive and risky investments.

HOLMES: Yes.

JACOBS: So it's great that insurance companies are saying, no, we won't ensure really risky investments anymore. They're essentially providing an incentive for people to make better choices when they buy properties.

But it's also critically important for the rest of the American public to understand that their taxes are actually bailing out all of these big disasters.

HOLMES: Yes.

JACOBS: So, if we get prepared in advance, we are in a much bigger place than if we rely on insurance or being bailed out by the federal government.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And do stick around. We'll have my full interview with Professor Jacobs in the next hour.

Meanwhile, coming up here on the program, the running mate of the assassinated Ecuadorian presidential candidate is sharing her fears and her determination with CNN. We'll have an exclusive interview coming up.

Also, a CNN exclusive on why prosecutors say they have linked Donald Trump's team to breaching voting machines in the U.S. state of Georgia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOHORA QUIROGA BOHORQUEZ, DIRECTOR, CAQUETA PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE (through translator): The father of two of the four children found in the Gravieta (ph) jungle after they were missing for 40 days was captured and brought to trial. The man sexually abused his sex daughter continuously since she was 10 years old.

Apparently, the alleged aggressor took advantage of the situation to harass her and violated her integrity when she was alone with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Just an awful story. Colombian authorities detaining the father of two of the four children, whom you'll remember survived that plane crash in the Amazon back in May.

Manuel Ranoque is accused of sexually abusing his 13-year-old stepdaughter over the past three years, according to prosecutors, and has been charged with aggravated sexual acts and abuse of a minor. He has previously denied those allegations.

The children survived in the jungle for more than a month after their plane crashed in the Colombian Amazon. But their mother died in the accident.

The political party of Ecuador's slain presidential candidate is nominating a new candidate to replace him. They've chosen Christian Zurita, a journalist who will run in place of Fernando Villavicencio, who was assassinated Wednesday.

On Saturday, the party had put up Villavicencio's running mate, Andrea Gonzalez Nader, as his replacement. They changed their minds, though, worried about an obscure election law that might keep her from being qualified, because she's already registered as a vice-presidential candidate.

Gonzalez still plans to run for that post under Zurita, who is promising to honor Villavicencio's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIAN ZURITA, CONSTRUYE PARTY NOMINEE (through translator): Fernando's ideas and our government plan are totally intact. And we are going to fulfill them. Together with him, we created this anti- terrorism plan, this anti-Mafia plan to protect Ecuador.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Needless to say, it has been a tragic and terrifying couple of days for Fernando Villavicencio's running mate. Andrea Gonzalez Nader sat down with CNN's Rafael Romo for an exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA GONZALEZ NADER, ECUADORIAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think any other Ecuadorian is at the risk of getting shot right now in the street.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She was supposed to be there. As his running mate, Andrea Gonzalez Nader should have been right next to Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio when he was shot last Wednesday as he was leaving a rally in Quito, the capital.

GONZALEZ: Fernando was shot three times in the head.

ROMO: Has it sunk in that you could have died? Because you were supposed to be right next to Fernando that night when he was shot dead.

GONZALEZ: Yes Yes, I was supposed to be there next to him, getting inside the car that had no protection against bullets. And we wore no bulletproof vests, because we were trying to get the people this message that we had to be brave.

ROMO (voice-over): In an exclusive CNN interview, in a location we're not disclosing for her safety, Gonzalez said Villavicencio's murder is yet another gruesome and shocking example of how fragile democracy is in Latin America as a region.

But living in fear, she says, is not an option.

GONZALEZ: I want to change this country. I want this country to be a place of peace, a productive country. We're known around the world for our incredible topiary (ph), our bananas, our shrimps (ph), our coffee. I love -- I love Ecuador deeply. I believe Ecuador is a paradise. And they've turned it into hell.

Villavicencio was a 59-year-old lawmaker in the national assembly, known for being outspoken about corruption and violence caused by drug trafficking in the country.

In May, he told CNN Espanol that Ecuador had become a narco state. Its political platform centered on leading a fight against what he called the political mafia.

GONZALEZ: We knew it was -- there was a high risk of him getting attacked by the same mafia, the same organized crime, and the same politicians that are linked with this organized international crime.

ROMO: After the assassination, current Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency for 60 days.

On Saturday, 4,000 members of the Ecuadorian police and military raided a notorious prison in Juarez Province and transferred the alleged leader of a local drug gang to another facility.

ROMO (voice-over): Gonzales says organized crime is a regional problem that requires a regional solution.

ROMO: How does Ecuador solve its security problem? Is it something that Ecuador can do by itself? Or does it need help from the international community?

GONZALEZ: We need to work from the international intelligence to find out how to stop this. Cocaine is down in Colombia. And Coke -- gets through Ecuador, through our coasts, where it goes back to Mexico, and then it's delivered to the United States and Europe.

[00:24:15]

ROMO (voice-over): Ecuadorians go to the polls on August 20 for the first round of an election to choose a new president. But even something as simple as voting is an act of courage in this country. And many may decide to stay home.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Quito, Ecuador.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The results are coming in from Argentina's primary election, where voters have chosen candidates for the presidential race in October. And it's been somewhat of a shock election.

The far-right libertarian economist Javier Milei is taking a lead in the votes, a much higher percentage than expected. And the main conservative bloc -- opposition bloc is just behind him.

Voters are handing a strong rebuke to the ruling center-left coalition. Right now, Argentina gripped by an economic crisis which has left four out of ten people in poverty and raised inflation to nearly 116 percent. Voters struggling to hold onto hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA MEDINA, VOTER (through translator): It is critical, because we elect those who will govern us. I'm not going to be hypocritical, but I'm a bit hopeless, because in every election, I feel a bit disappointed. One does not lose hope.

Let's hope that they will truly work for the people, whoever is elected. Beyond what each one chooses individually, they should bet on the people. That is the most important thing fundamentally: security and stability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And now to a CNN exclusive in the U.S. Georgia prosecutors claim to have new evidence linking Donald Trump's legal team to a 2021 voting system breach in Georgia.

Investigators believe Trump's associates attempted to access voting systems after the 2020 election to support his baseless claims of election fraud.

These new developments come as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to seek more than a dozen indictments when she presents her case before a grand jury this week.

CNN's Zachary Cohen breaks it down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: As we're preparing for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to present her case to the grand jury.

COHEN (voice-over): New pieces of evidence we're learning about that prosecutors in this case have gotten their hands on. Text messages that show direct links between lawyers working for then-President Donald Trump and a voting system breach in rural Coffee County, Georgia on January 7, 2021.

COHEN: Now, specifically, these text messages show that lawyers working for Trump actively sought to get a written letter of invitation from a local election worker in Coffee County in the days leading up to the breach that shows that they were involved in the planning.

Lawyers like Rudy Giuliani and former Trump attorney Sydney Powell. Both were very knowledgeable and helped coordinate the breach in the days leading up to it.

Now, it remains to be seen how this will factor into any charging decisions brought by Fani Willis as soon as possibly Tuesday. But we do know that this is a key part of her investigation and expect it could factor into potential criminal charges going forward.

Zach (ph) Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Still to come on the program, a top leader from Taiwan's transiting through the U.S. Why China is furious about the visit. And what Taiwanese officials fear could happen next. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:49]

HOLMES: And welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Now, in an historical move, Saudi Arabia has named its first official ambassador to, quote, "the state of Palestine." In a statement on Sunday, the kingdom said the Saudi ambassador to Jordan will serve as nonresident ambassador to the Palestinians, as well as consul general in Jerusalem.

Riyadh has been supportive of the Palestinian cause for years. But this is the first ambassador-level appointment and comes amid reports that Saudi Arabia and Israel are close to reaching a normalization deal backed by the U.S.

China condemning the transit of Taiwan's vice president, William Lai, through the U.S. He arrived in New York on Saturday, where he was welcomed at the airport by one of Washington's unofficial representatives to Taipei.

He's scheduled to leave in the coming hours for Paraguay, where he will attend the inauguration of the Paraguayan president, Santiago Pena, on Tuesday.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me now from Seoul, South Korea. And Paula, the vice president, we said, just stopping over. It's a transit. But any visit or comments by a Taiwan official is not going to please China, right?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. Yes, that's right, Michael. And this has happened before, with these transit visits angering Beijing. And it is likely to happen a number of times in the future, as well.

So this particular one, as you say, is the -- the vice president of Taiwan, William Lai, is in the United States. He arrived on Saturday. He will be leaving tomorrow to go -- excuse me, today, to go to that inauguration tomorrow.

But what we have heard from William Lai since he has been in New York is that he was very happy to be there, also, saying that it is an icon of liberty, of democracy and opportunities.

Now, he was at a banquet on Sunday, meeting with some Taiwanese Americans. And he did speak about being in the United States. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM LAI, TAIWANESE VICE PRESIDENT (through translator): No matter how great the threat of totalitarianism is to Taiwan, we will never be afraid or back down. We will always uphold the values of democracy and freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Lai also a presidential candidate. He was determined there, he said, that there would be no backing down from Taiwan in the face of this growing threat from Beijing.

But for -- for Beijing's part, there was a statement that was released from MOFA, from the foreign ministry, which said, quote, "Lai Ching-te is stubbornly -- is clinging stubbornly to the separatist position for Taiwan independence. He is a troublemaker through and through."

So Beijing clearly angered by this, and they have been in the past. This is not the first time this has happened. U.S. senior administration officials pointing out that these kind of visits are unofficial in keeping with the "one China" policy.

So there is an unofficial transit visit through the United States. In fact, we saw earlier this year that President Tsai Ing-wen also transited through the United States in March and then again in April coming back to Taiwan.

She also met with senior U.S. officials, including Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker.

So this is something that will continue to anger Beijing, but it is something that Taiwan is determined it will not back down from, pointing out that going to certain places in the world does need to be able to transit through the United States. And it won't back down, because China is complaining -- Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Good to have you there, Paula. Thanks, Paula Hancocks in Seoul for us.

Now, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, is calling for a drastic boost, as he put it, in his country's missile production capabilities. According to state media, Kim says the North Korean military should be equipped with, quote, "overwhelming military strength" and be able to respond to any war at any time.

[00:35:03]

He delivered that message as he toured key weapon factories on -- factory on Friday and Saturday. It happened just days after Kim discussed stepping up the military's war preparations, quote, "in an offensive way."

And just before the United States and South Korea are set to hold annual military drills in the South.

Iranian lawmakers are debating a controversial hijab bill which would penalize women who failed to wear the mandatory head covering in the way prescribed by their leaders. They voted Sunday to discuss the bill further in an exclusive commission.

Women who don't comply could face fines ranging from 750 to $20,000 and up to ten years in prison. Lawmakers say they'll work around the clock to prepare the bill for approval in the next two months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The shape of it might change, but it will not be abandoned. The fact is that the current hijab is different from the way it was in the first years after the Islamic revolution in Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, this all comes, of course, nearly a year after 22-year- old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran's so-called Morality Police for allegedly violating the strict Islamic dress code. Her death sparking months of protests for women's rights across Iran.

Also in Iran, at least one person was killed and seven others injured in an attack on a holy Shia shrine in the Southern city of Shiraz. State media reports two terrorists tried to enter the shrine on Sunday and opened fire. They say one of the assailants has been arrested.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL ABO ALI, IRGC COMMANDER, FARS PROVINCE (through translator): This terrorist was armed with a war weapon, with eight magazines full of bullets.

The terrorist was arrested by security, who were chasing him and by workers of Haram (ph). And now we have that person in our custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: This is the second deadly attack on the shrine in less than a year. More than a dozen people were killed there last October when another gunman opened fire.

Still to come on the program, one of the most famous cemeteries in the world is changing its attitude towards living things. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A beautiful weekend for stargazing in the Balkans. This time- lapsed video showing streaks of light from the Perseid meteor shower.

Some people in Croatia camping out on an island in the Adriatic to get a glimpse of the event.

NASA says this meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through the debris trail of a comet. The particles from the comment interact with the atmosphere, causing these bright streaks of light in the sky.

Also in space, NASA's Webb telescope has spotted a literal cosmic question mark deep in the galaxy. Have a look at it. The glowing object in the shape of a question mark was captured last month. It really does look like one, doesn't it?

[00:40:10] Scientists not sure about the origin, but they think it's what happens when two galaxies collide. In fact, they say the merging of galaxies into a question mark-like shape has happened before.

But a physics professor compared it to someone who finds a chicken tender that looks like George Washington. You see what you see.

All right. Closer to home, the final resting place for literary luminaries and at least one rock star is going green. The curator of Pere Lachaise says there is a move on to return part of the Parisian cemetery to nature.

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HOLMES (voice-over): Shoots of green, wild flowers and canopies of tall trees. One could say the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris is full of life, although it is best known for its 70,000 tombs, laid out in a cobblestone maze over 44 hectares of land in the French capital.

The plots of everyday Parisians nestled next to the graves of the famous, like the Doors front man, Jim Morrison; Irish writer Oscar Wilde; and the French singer Edith Piaf.

And while this is a place to bury the dead, the curator of the cemetery says there is a major drive to preserve the living here by encouraging the growth of the fauna and foliage that is taking root around the stone slabs and statues.

He says this area used to be paved over, but the gardeners recently laid down turf that will remain unmowed and uncultivated so that flowers and clover can grow.

And that should attract insects, which will bring more birds, although the curator says about 60 species of birds have already been spotted here every year.

And more wildlife could move in, like the family of foxes that took up residence during the pandemic and have been having new litters every year.

Thousands of visitors visit Pere Lachaise every day, with some people saying that they appreciate its natural beauty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I feel very relaxed, and we feel very at peace here.

HOLMES (voice-over): Others, though, complain that it looks unkempt and neglected.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's all well and good to revive the little earthworms. But at some point, I think the pleasure also comes through visual pleasure. Personally, I don't think wasteland is great.

HOLMES (voice-over): The creator says even trees that have upturned some graves will be given the chance to grow. This burial plot has no known owners, so the tree which has found a way to thrive won't be cut down.

Life and death intertwined. It seems there's room for both at Pere Lachaise.

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HOLMES: On the other side of the English Channel, the very opposite of let it grow.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one! Go!

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HOLMES: Ah, yes, the British Lawnmower Racing Association celebrating its 50th year with a 500-lap event. The race started on Saturday but didn't finish until Sunday morning.

These contraptions can reach speeds of up to almost 80 kilometers an hour.

Don't (ph) see the pit stops.

Thanks for watching, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Stay tuned for WORLD SPORT. I'll see you in about 15, 20 minutes.

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