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Biden Holding Events Today As Campaign Tries To Move Past Debate; Officials: "Attempted Terror Attack" On Israeli Embassy In Belgrade; Israeli Airstrikes And Ground Combat Continue Across Gaza; International Fraction To Biden-Trump Presidential Debate; Judge Again Refuses To Dismiss Alec Baldwin Indictment; Taliban's Misogyny Sending Young Girls To Brink Of Desperation; DNA Test Helps Catch Shark Fin Smugglers; U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team In Flux After 2 Key Injuries At Olympic Trials; Richardson, Thomas Speed To 200M Olympic Trials Final; Bronny James Will Wear #9 For Lakers. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired June 29, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[12:59:58]

CRISTINA ZENATO, ITALIAN-BORN SHARK DIVER AND CONSERVATIONIST: They can be sometimes demanding. But the satisfaction of being able to relieve a shark of that presence is enormous.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: OK. That's amazing, isn't it? Don't miss "DEEP DIVE: THE SHARK WARS" on the "WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER". That's tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m., Eastern and Pacific.

Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And we're monitoring several new developments on the campaign trail at this hour. Holding several campaign events on (INAUDIBLE) Island and New Jersey today. That's the president the United States, following what he acknowledges was a lackluster debate performance Thursday night.

There are growing calls for Biden to step aside. Just today, billionaire Mark Cuban told CNN that it's time for Democrats to explore replacing the president on the ticket. The New York Times editorial board wrote an op-ed calling on Biden to leave the race. But Biden's campaign remains steadfast with one adviser is saying the president fully intends to debate former President Donald Trump again in September.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is following all the developments from the campaign trail. Biden just landed, by the way, Arlette, just landed in West Hampton Beach, New York. He has fundraisers there in the Hamptons today. What's the plan and what's the response, a couple of days now removed from that debate?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, President Biden is engaging in a full out fundraising push this weekend, even as we've heard from Democratic donors, who have expressed some concern after the president's performance in that debate. Now the president and the first lady will be stepping down from Air Force One in just a few minutes. That they will be attending to have fundraisers in the Hamptons, and then, another in Red Bank, New Jersey that is hosted by the state's governor, Phil Murphy.

The campaign today is touting the fact that they raised $27 million on debate day and Friday, one of the bright spots from the debate despite the president's performance. But it still comes at a time when there are many anxious Democrats within donor circles are concerned about the path forward for Biden, after that debate.

Biden's advisors have really spent the past 36 hours fielding phone calls from anxious donors. And we're also learning that at least one fundraiser that was scheduled to take place in Northern California in the coming weeks has actually been cancelled after the debates. That is according to a source familiar with the plans.

Now, one of the concerns for Biden's campaign is how the money raised will be impacted by Biden's performance.

They have these fundraisers here today. They have things that are already on the books. But then there's questions about what happens in the long term if democratic donors continue to feel some unease about the president.

Now, it all comes at a time where the Biden campaign and the president have really doubled down on his candidacy. They have said that there are no plans for him to drop out of the race. Yesterday, he appeared on stage at a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, really delivering a much more fiery and impassioned speech that his lackluster debate performance on Thursday night.

But in those remarks, the president acknowledged a bit of his slip ups from the debate and tried to assure voters that he wouldn't be running for the job if he didn't think he was up to the task.

This morning, one of his senior advisors, Anita Dunn appeared on MSNBC. And she said that there had been no conversations about President Biden stepping down, even if there -- as there had been some calls or private calls, at least from some Democrats, suggesting that maybe the president should step aside in this race.

But so far, from the Biden campaign, you're really just seeing them doubling down, really trying to say that they are focused on the work ahead how to chart out the rest of this race heading into that November election.

And part of the President's big focus this weekend, will be trying to raise that money to keep powering his campaign against Donald Trump.

WHITFIELD: And Arlette, you said a fundraising event that was planned has now been cancelled now, after the debate. Do we know that there's a direct correlation between his performance in the debate and the reason why the fundraiser was cancelled?

SAENZ: Well, according to the source, who had told us about this cancellation, it was because of his debate performance that the people who had been hosting have had decided to move forward with not hosting that event for the president.

So, it will be very closely watched to see what happens in the days and weeks to come.

Of course, the Biden campaign is trying to point to the fact that they did raise $27 million over the past two days. That was, in part, powered by a major fundraiser here in New York City last night with the LGBTQ community, but also online donations that they received after that debate.

But there will be a lot of eyes on Biden's fundraising numbers going forward.

[13:05:03]

I will note we are at the end of the month, when in just a few weeks, we'll have to disclose what he raised in June. I think, July will really be the key task for President Biden. So much of the fundraising for the month had already been completed before June 27th. And so, there will be a lot of eyes once he is getting through the month of July to see how those fundraising halls have been at a time when we are hearing some real angst from Democratic donors.

WHITFIELD: All right. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much.

And let's talk more about what everything means with political analysts and president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University, Michael Genovese. He is also the author of "The Modern Presidency: Six Debates That Define the Institution". Michael, great to see you again.

MICHAEL GENOVESE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: And as you and I are talking, there is President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden. They are arriving at West Hampton. Over, they're getting off Air Force One, they'll get on to Marine One, and then, they'll head to an event in East Hampton. So, well watch as you and I talk.

So, hey, Michael is that alarming to hear that a fundraiser that was scheduled -- you heard our Arlette Saenz's reporting that was scheduled there on the West Coast has now been cancelled because the folks who were planning that fundraiser felt like as a result of that debate, they don't want to be involved in a fundraising event anymore?

GENOVESE: You know, a lot of Democrats are understandably and justifiably rattled by that performance. It was a troubling debate for both candidates and for very different reasons, probably the worst debate in presidential debate history.

Trump's lies, however, were overshadowed by Biden's ineptness. And that's the story that the takeaway of that, and there is a reason why these two candidates are the least popular presidential candidates in modern history. And so, their choice now is between the lesser of two evils and the evil of two lesser. There is not a good choice in this race. But you can see why the Democratic governors and some supporters are very nervous right now.

WHITFIELD: So, here is another way of putting what you just said. This was, you know, a debate that showcase lies versus lethargy. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really didn't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every single thing he said is a lie. Every single one. My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You are the sucker, you are the loser.

TRUMP: Our veterans and our soldiers can't stand this guy. They can't stand him.

BIDEN: I never heard so much malarkey my whole life. The only person on this stage is a convicted felon, this is the man I'm looking at right now. You have the morals on alley cat.

TRUMP: His presidency is -- without question, the worst president -- the worst presidency in the history of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. So, which do you think, you know, voters will remember more Trump's you know, I guess verbiage there or you know, Biden's performance?

GENOVESE: Well, you know, in one way we're accustomed to Donald Trump's excesses, his exaggerations and his lies. That's the story of Donald Trump's public life.

But there is a method to Trump's madness. And it's called I just found this out, the Gish gallop. What you do is you overwhelm the stage with lies one after another. So, you overwhelm your opponent, he doesn't have a chance to really respond. And it's kind of a way of gaslighting your opponents.

Trump is really good at that. And he seems to --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's been his style from the very beginning. And we've watched that for years and years and years ever since when he first got into the race for the White House. That is his style.

GENOVESE: That is, and Joe Biden should have been prepared to respond with the kind of critique that he's been making on the campaign trail that he failed to make in the debates. He seemed to fumble every single response in the debates.

WHITFIELD: And after this debate, you know, Biden is working really hard this weekend at campaign fundraisers, you know, again, we're -- he is there in the Hamptons. And he wants to show that he is energetic and on-point. We saw him, you know, in North Carolina, I mean, just a complete, you know, 360 based on what you saw, you know, just hours prior at the debate.

But Trump, I mean, he is doubling down on his performance. Do you anticipate more of the same of all of this over the next four months?

GENOVESE: Well, if it's more of the same by Biden, he's stuck. He has to revive his campaign. He has to demonstrate that he is both cognitively and physically capable of being president for four more years.

You know, we have two candidates, one 78, one 81. And they are real questions of age. Age ravages you buy physical decline and by cognitive decline. Biden clearly demonstrated physical decline. He needs to show that he is physically capable and cognitively capable.

[13:10:04]

Trump, on the other hand is full of energy, full of action. And so, he is OK on the physical side, but his cognitive decline has been very clear. A lot of mistakes he's made. The problem for Biden, he didn't take advantage of it during the debate.

WHITFIELD: I guess a better way of putting it actually Biden showed more of a 180 as opposed to a 360 because it was a complete turnaround.

All right. So, the Washington Post editorial board published an opinion on how Biden and the Democrats might proceed. They say, the best scenario should Mr. Biden drop out would be for the party to invite several interested candidates to consider running and ask them to spend the next seven weeks in a series of debates. The convention would then be thrown open to these candidates. The deciders would be democratic convention delegates, not primary voters, but the process would be transparent.

And that sounds like a mess. How do you see that?

GENOVESE: Oh, it's a big hot mess, and it would look chaotic. And -- but it would make for a great T.V. The Democrats have, right now, three options. One, stay the course and stay with Biden. Two, pressure Biden to withdraw, and the New York Times push that a little further down the road.

For that to happen, though, I think, Joe Biden and Barack Obama have to really weigh in. I don't see that happening. And so, the question then is do you push Biden out. That is an option, pregnant with menace. It would just reveal chaos and confusion.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: I mean, with four months to go --

GENOVESE: But on the other hand --

WHITFIELD: No.

GENOVESE: That's right. On the other hand, you could compress the campaign with a couple of key players. The vice president, Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg, a few others, Gretchen Whitmer, there is -- there is a number of Democrats, who could fill in that gap, and the convention itself would be the decider.

You have to remember neither candidate as yet is the official nominee of the party.

WHITFIELD: Right.

GENOVESE: So, it's still technically speaking, open. And the party decides that at the convention. So, there is still that very remote possibility.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I guess it's both early and it's also late, given where we are ahead of November.

OK. So, candidate Trump still has not revealed his vice-presidential pick. He says he'll make the reveal at the Republican National Convention a few weeks. So, you know, what qualities do you think he is looking for in his next V.P.?

GENOVESE: I'm not the first person to say this, but loyalty. Donald Trump is obsessed with loyalty to Donald Trump. And all the Republican candidates that have been mentioned have some other asset. You have one minority, you have a woman, you have -- you know, they basically feel the gamut.

Donald Trump will pick the person he is most comfortable with, and trust that they will be loyal to him. And that is important for Donald Trump. But it's not really important to American voters.

We don't vote for vice president. Vice presidents tend to be an afterthought. We voted the top of the ticket and that's the key.

WHITFIELD: All right. Michael Genovese, thank you so much. Glad to see you, then.

GENOVESE: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, Iran's presidential election heads to a runoff. A look at the candidates and what the race means for the U.S.

Plus, injuries rock the U.S. women's gymnastics team, complicating what looked to be a certain path to gold at the Paris Games.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:59] WHITFIELD: A developing story we are following. Police in Serbia are calling an attack on the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, a terror attack. A security officer for the embassy was shot in the neck with an arrow.

CNN's Elliott Gotkine is joining me now. What are you learning about the suspect?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: Fredricka, from what we have -- well, from what we understand from CNN affiliate N1, citing the deputy prime minister and minister of internal affairs, Ivica Dacic.

This is a 25-year-old man who came from a town just outside, just to the south of Belgrade, that he's a convert to Islam and a follower of the ultra-conservative branch known as Wahhabism. Apparently, he approached the Israeli embassy, took a crossbow out of the bag, and then fired it at the gendarme, at the security officer who was guarding the Israeli embassy. And that he managed to get his gun out and shoot the attacker. He fired several shots, and the attacker died about half an hour later.

Now, what the Serbian authorities are saying is that, you know -- that they will be -- that they also carried out a number of arrests as a precautionary measure of people who were in the surrounding area.

And as you can imagine, the security outside Israeli and Jewish institutions across Europe in many other parts of the world is always relatively high. It's been even more so ever since the Hamas led terrorist attacks of October the 7th. And this will, perhaps, add to concerns that about security to Israeli and Jewish institutions in parts of Europe.

The president of Serbia has reportedly visited the officer who is being treated in hospital and promised no mercy in his words on terrorism. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Wow. Elliott, meantime, Israel's military operation continued in central Gaza today with airstrikes and heavy ground combat. What are we learning about that?

GOTKINE: Yes, there is been heavy fighting in and around Gaza City. There have been airstrikes and fighting above and below ground. According to the Hamas-run government -- ministry.

[13:20:05]

There were some 38 people killed in strikes and 14people missing, and that the fighting was concentrating in four neighborhoods. And we've seen video from two of those neighborhoods, showing a number of casualties as a result of large explosions that had taken place previously.

And, of course, as all that is going on those talks to try to get some kind of ceasefire deal are still ongoing. There have been a couple of movements. The U.S. amending some of the wording for the negotiations that are still being mediated by the Egyptians and the Qataris, and of course, as all that is going on once more in Israel on the streets of Tel Aviv and other cities across the country.

There are protests demanding the government do everything that it can to do a deal to bring the hostages' home. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Elliott Gotkine, thank you so much.

All right in a vote being closely watched by the U.S. Iran's presidential election is headed to a runoff vote. The election is now putting a reform candidate against a hardliner. That's after none of the four candidates in the race received at least 50 percent of the vote.

Two conservatives dropped out just a day before the elections to help the hardline candidate consolidate votes. Low turnout prompted officials to extend voting by a couple of hours yesterday.

The snap election was called after President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash last month.

All right, coming up, how U.S. allies and adversaries are reacting following President Biden's performance in CNN's historic debate?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:26:04]

WHITFIELD: Allies and adversaries of the United States were also watching this week's presidential debate. And they have got a lot to say about it. CNN's Nic Robertson brings us this look at how the world is reacting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): In Moscow, state media lampoon President Joe Biden's debate performance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Congratulating him for not falling over, criticizing him for what they called a 22nd freeze up, saying, he had trouble remembering who and where he was.

If Russia was gleeful, Europe was shocked. Newspapers agreeing, Democrats panic, British tabloids, "Biden bombed", even this kick from the populace Sun, "Joe-matosed". In France, Italy, Germany headlines much the same. Greek and Middle East newspapers suggesting Biden step aside.

Leaders were silent. Several met him two weeks ago at the G7 in Italy, where he also seems slow and kept them waiting. The growing reality for them now, a Donald Trump redux in more dangerous times.

Many of them will remember those bruising days, not just physically but verbally too. His tone and topics on NATO unchanged, suggesting Putin is Europe's problem. TRUMP: Oh, I got them to put up hundreds of billions of dollars. It has a bigger impact on them because of location, because we have an ocean in between.

BIDEN: I've never heard so much foolishness. This is a guy who wants to get out of NATO.

ROBERTSON (voice over): According to the Kremlin, President Putin didn't stay up to watch the actual debate, because --

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): I don't think you expect that the Russian president could have set an alarm clock woken up in the early morning hours.

ROBERTSON (voice over): He will likely now be up to speed if only through the unfriendly filter of his own media, and likely pleased too. Trump who also hinted at cutting funding for Ukraine, potentially shortened his odds on winning the election.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also likely feel relieved, a Trump reelection good for him, given what Trump's saying about Israel.

TRUMP: You should let him go and let him finish the job.

ROBERTSON (voice over): And falsely accusing Biden of tying Israel's hands in its fight against Hamas.

TRUMP: He doesn't want to do it. He's become like a Palestinian.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): But like America, substance not the big takeaway overseas, everyone judging performance, policy, a worry for another day.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, a judge has rejected Alec Baldwin's latest attempt to get his charges dismissed.

Coming up, the key piece of evidence his attorney say has been destroyed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:33:48]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Just moments ago, these pictures from East Hampton, New York, where you see President Biden there and first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, arriving there on Marine One.

They're now getting into the limo and there'll be heading to a fundraising event there in Long Island. This just a couple of days after that historic presidential debate here on CNN. At least 60 homes were evacuated as a wildfire continues to burn parts of Arizona's Maricopa County. Fire officials posted an update, saying they are making progress containing the nearly 4,000-acre massive wildfire.

The Boulder View Fire has now spread to Scottsdale, a suburb north of Phoenix. The U.S. Forest Service reported flames as high as 20 to 40 feet in some areas. The fire began on Thursday and continues to be fueled by high winds and dry conditions.

The criminal trial against Alec Baldwin will move forward next month after a New Mexico judge refused to dismiss his indictment. The actor's legal team asked the court to throw out his case by claiming the gun used in the shooting of cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was destroyed during the FBIs forensic testing.

[13:35:08]

And it comes as attorneys for "Rust" armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, claiming a new filing that the state withheld evidence that would have helped her case. And now she wants to be released from prison.

For more a legal perspective now, I'm joined by trial attorney, Misty Marris.

Misty, great to see you.

MISTY MARRIS, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Thanks for having me, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So help explain why the defense's claim that the gun and forensic testing just really needs to matter.

MARRIS: Absolutely. So this was a central issue in the case. Of course, the gun, the most important piece of evidence as it relates to Alec Baldwin. We know his defense is that he never pulled the trigger.

So he had made several bids to get his case dismissed. We know this. We've seen motion after motion. But this particular motion to dismiss the case because, during the FBI testing -- so this is testing done on behalf of the prosecution -- the gun was actually destroyed.

So the defense argument is that they we're deprived of having the ability to conduct their own independent forensic testing on that -- on that gun. And because of that, the whole case should be dismissed.

Now, the judge did not agree. But those will be central issues, questioning that testing, cross-examination, and those issues will come out to undercut that expert report during the trial.

WHITFIELD: Is that unusual for an important piece of evidence, such as a gun that has to be evaluated by the prosecutions team, the FBI, that it would be damaged in that process?

MARRIS: It is unusual. And that's why the defense was so focused on it. It was especially unusual because there were certain markings on the

gun that were discovered later. This is going to relate to the argument by Hannah Gutierrez Reed as well. But the defense did not have the opportunity to actually do their own testing.

So, Fred, in this case, with a piece of equipment like this, a gun that was used on the set as prop gun, for it to be damaged during testing.

The defense argued that that was incredibly negligent because they knew that if they did this certain type of test, the gun would be destroyed. They should not have done it.

Now, you see testing destroy evidence. It happens a lot with DNA because maybe there's not enough to actually test it. So that's where you actually see that type of very critical evidence not being available for the defense. But something like this, it is quite unusual.

WHITFIELD: All right. And Baldwin's team also filed a separate motion to dismiss the indictment, claiming prosecutors failed to properly turn over evidence required by court procedure.

The judge has not indicated whether she will entertain the new motion before the start of trial. So how likely is Baldwin's case to be potentially dismissed before next month?

MARRIS: It's very unlikely for it to be dismissed. But there could be other benefits to filing this motion, which could lead to some of the prosecution's case and the evidence being precluded, meaning the jury will not see it.

So this is actually what kind of Gutierrez Reed is also arguing. The testing on that gun, there's always a report when forensic testing is done. So a report was turned over.

And that's the report that we've all heard about for months and months and months, that the gun could not have fired unless the trigger was pulled.

Well, in the past month, Fred -- we're talking about really running up to this trial -- the defendant discovered that there were actually two other supplemental reports that we're also created by the expert. They we're never turned over.

One of them identified tool markings on the sphere of the gun. That's the part that holds the hammer back. So it's a very important -- very important to the defense case. That report was not found over. They just found out about it.

So their argument is going to be that the gun could have been manipulated, that they didn't have any opportunity to actually do their own review.

Hannah Gutierrez Reed is leading the same argument. Her trial is over. She never had those reports. So all of that is going to go through her appellate case.

And for Alec Baldwin, I don't think it's going to get the case dismissed. Seems like we're full speed ahead. But you could see a where prosecutors cannot actually use some of that evidence against him in court.

WHITFIELD: Wow, very fascinating, very complex. And this case has become even more complex.

All right, Misty Marris, thank you so much.

[13:39:34]

All right. Still to come, she tried to take her own life. Now, a teenager who fled Afghanistan may be forced to go back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, now a harrowing women's rights crisis is unfolding under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Since seizing control almost three years ago, the Taliban has rolled back women's rights almost entirely, leaving most girls and women banned from schools and universities.

CNN's Anna Coren shares a heartbreaking consequence of their despair.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Huddled on the floor over schoolbooks. Sixteen-year-old Azo meticulously copies the English sentences. Her neat, cursive writing a display of devotion to furthering her education.

AZO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COREN: "Learning new words makes me happy," she explains.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That community of children.

COREN: But this scene was unthinkable just eight months ago when we first met Azo in the same room on the outskirts of Karachi in Pakistan.

[13:45:04]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COREN: "Don't worry, you'll be fine," says her brother, kissing her hand. "We are with you always."

Azo was bedridden. Her skeletal frame wasting away.

AZO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COREN: Every breath she took and movement she made causing unbearable pain.

Azo is from neighboring Afghanistan. And it's there in her home in July of last year, she tried to kill herself.

(on camera): Can you talk to us about --

(voice-over): This is the first time the teenager, whose identity is hidden due to security concerns, is able to speak to us about what led her to that point.

AZO (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COREN: "On that day, I felt like everything was over. I glanced at pictures of my classmates and felt a deep sense of longing. I was overwhelmed by hopelessness. And that's why I drank battery acid, convinced it would end my life.

(SHOUTING)

COREN: Azo, seen here in pink in happier times, is one of countless Afghan girls who have attempted suicide. An alarming trend spreading across the country since the Taliban returned to power almost three years ago.

(WHISTLE)

(SHOUTING)

COREN: A ban on secondary education for girls, one of the most damaging of dozens of edicts enforced by the Taliban, contributing to what human rights activists describe as the most serious women's rights crisis in the world, a call backed up by U.N. officials.

RICHARD BENNETT, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban's institutionalized system of gender oppression established and enforced through its violations of women and girls' fundamental rights is widespread and systematic amounting to crimes against humanity.

COREN: But despite this powerful language, the U.N. has appeased the Taliban for the U.N. conference on Afghanistan in Doha, agreeing to its demands that women's rights are off the official agenda, guaranteeing its attendance for the very first time. Nor will Afghan women be represented in Taliban meetings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is shocking and shameful here, and this really represents a huge win for the Taliban, obviously, in terms of how much power they're able to exercise, how much the international community is allowing their conduct, their abuses to be normalized.

And this is really devastating for Afghans and women.

COREN: Especially for girls like Azo.

After her suicide attempt. She was vomiting blood and couldn't swallow. Her siblings smuggled her into Pakistan for treatment at a local hospital. But Azo's condition only worsened.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The rising number of girls turning to suicide out of their dispatch.

COREN: When our story aired in December, a highly respected institution in Pakistan that wishes to remain anonymous contacted CNN, offering Azo proper medical care that would ultimately save her life.

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: Her weight was that of probably a four-year-old. She was 20 to 22 kilograms at the time that we saw are. There's no doubt in my mind that she had only a few months left to live really.

COREN: By consuming battery acid, Azo suffered what's called an esophageal stricture, a narrowing of the esophagus, stopping food from passing to her stomach.

Over several procedures, doctors inflated a tiny balloon inside her esophagus to gradually widen the passage allowing her to eat. In January this year, she ate her first meal of rice and milk.

AZO (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COREN: "It was delicious. I felt strong at that moment and so happy. I told myself I could get through these hard days."

And since then, she has doubled her weight. Yet Azo's battles are far from over.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: You see the area where she was pretty badly scarred.

COREN: The doctor says she'll require ongoing medical care and is now at risk of developing esophageal cancer.

But the immediate threat facing Azo and her siblings is deportation as Pakistan prepares to expel the next wave of undocumented Afghan migrants.

Approximately one-fifth of the nearly three million Afghans living in Pakistan were deported by the end of last year. Homes in refugee camps have been marked by authorities for the next round.

And Azo is visibly upset at the prospect.

(on camera): Would you try to kill yourself again if you we're forced to return to Afghanistan?

AZO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COREN (voice-over): "If I go back to Afghanistan, I would end up doing the same thing again because I can't attend school or see my friends. I cannot live there.

For the pediatric surgeon who operated on Azo, he says, they were lucky to get to her in time.

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: We don't want to be at the resuscitating end. The goal is to be at the prevention part and to kind of not allow it to happen.

[13:50:07]

COREN: But sadly, there is no way to stop what is happening in Afghanistan under Taliban rule as an entire generation of girls, just like Azo, are unable to see any light on the horizon.

Anna Coren, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:09]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. A third of shark species are threatened with extinction. A rapid DNA test is helping catch shark fin smugglers in todays "IMPACT YOUR WORLD."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sharks are going through a global conservation crisis. The demand for their products, the demand for their fins are their ultimate threat.

Shark finning is a practice of cutting the fins off, which are used for the shark fin soup, and then putting the carcass back in the water.

If the shark is alive, it will suffocate to death because, without its fins, it cannot swim.

One of the biggest challenges for law enforcement around the world is that, how can they tell whether a shark fin that is coming into their country is legal or illegal, is from a species that is regulated or not regulated?

We need to do DNA tools or molecular tools in order to identify it. What we have developed is that we take a little piece of this fin, we run it through a machine for two hours and we're able to tell what species this is without sequencing very cheaply, very quickly.

Before we deployed the tool back in 2018, Hong Kong authorities we're seizing around five tons of shark fins annually. Now, those numbers have increased to 100 tons a year.

The idea is that, in the long run, those efforts being translated in shark fishing nations to do more sustainable and well-managed fisheries.

If we don't do something quick to reverse these declines, then we're going to see several sharks going extent in our lifetimes. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Tomorrow, go inside the shark battles in American waters. Boris Sanchez dives into the debate between conservationists, fishermen and shark hunters in a new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY" with Anderson Cooper, tomorrow at 8:00, right here on CNN.

And don't miss Discovery's "Shark Week," hosted by John Cena. Summer's biggest holiday starts Sunday, July 7th, on Discovery and streaming on Max.

And the final countdown is on to the Summer Olympic Games. Now, 27 days until the opening ceremony in Paris. And despite a wobble on the beam, star, Simone Biles, seems firm to be on the U.S. gymnastics women's team.

But some key injuries did temporarily end dreams for two hopefuls Friday night.

Here's CNN's Andy Scholes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Fredricka, yes, injuries are always tough, but, oh, man, getting hurt at the Olympic trials after just years of preparation has to be just brutal.

In the gymnastics trials that are taking place right now in Minneapolis, Kayla DiCello, who was an alternate in Tokyo, tearing her Achilles on the vault. She was so upset she had to be carried off the floor.

And then, a few minutes later, Shilese Jones, who won silver and bronze at the last two worlds, she tweaked her knee on the vault. But she did tough it out on the uneven bars. But first status moving forward it's unclear.

And Simone Biles, meanwhile, was her normal dominant self. And she wasn't very pleased with her balance beam routine, but still managed to have to a two-and-a-half-point lead after one on the vaults, despite being the most decorated gymnast of all time.

She says these trials made for a very tense weekend.

SIMONE BILES, USA GYMNASTICS TEAM: It's stressful. It's heavy. I feel like a lot of us have like cotton mouth because they're so stressed out. But it's one of the best pressure situations to be in going into the Olympics because I feel like if we can do this and we can do anything.

SCHOLES: Now Biles will be back in action tomorrow.

Meanwhile, on the tracks, Carrie Richardson with another strong performance in the 200 meters semifinal. The 24-year-old with a personal best 21.9 seconds as she tries to become the first American since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 won an Olympic double in the 100 and 200.

Now waiting for her in Saturday's final is the reigning world silver medalist in the 200, Gabby Thomas. And Thomas outdoing Richardson, posting the best time in the world this year at 21.78 in her first semifinal.

Now Richardson and Thomas square off tonight just before 8:30 Eastern. That will be a good one.

The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, now think that Bronny James is going to be wearing number nine during his rookie season. LeBron and his son are going to be the first father-son duo ever to play together in the NBA.

Bronny's jersey also going to have James Jr on the backs and LeBron James Jr. Bronny, could make his Lakers summer preview as early as July 6th.

Speaking of draft picks, the NHL's draft taking place at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Coolest place ever to hold a draft. And check out the reaction from 18-year-old Beckett Seneca when he heard his name called as the third pick by the Anaheim. He was just shocked. So great.

He was pretty surprised because most mock drafts had him being selected in the teens. Definitely a cool moment for him.

All right, in the minor league club, the Lake County captains have new premium seats at their ballpark in Ohio. It's a row of toilets.