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Ticker Tape Parade Celebrates U.S. Women's Soccer Team. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 10, 2019 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWSROOM: Nothing like a little good news to start off your morning. Good morning, everyone. It is 10:00 Eastern. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York, so happy to be with you today. Jim Sciutto has the day off.

And right now, this is what is happening here in New York City. The World Cup Champions, U.S. Women's National Team parading down Broadway on a picture-perfect day, I might add. Thousands of fans, many decked out in the red, white, and blue, lining the streets.

The parade route dubbed the Canyon of Heroes. Although, as Dave Briggs told us, now aptly called the Canyon of Sheroes, I like that better, and as much history as this team has made, winning back-to- back World Cups, they have their sights set on the future and for those who will come after them, making even bigger history potentially off the field, fighting for equal pay, the same as the Men's National Team.

We are covering the parade from start to finish all the way up to the finish line at City Hall. Let's go to Alisyn Camerota. She is there with Briana Scurry, a champion on so many levels. Ali, what's it like?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: It's thrilling. The music is cranked up to 11. And everybody is filling in their seats because this is the end point of the parade. This is where the Mayor of New York City will give them a hero's welcome, as they deserve, as champions. But he'll also present them with the keys to the city.

And, you know, Poppy, you and I have been talking all morning about how it feels bigger than just a World Cup win today because they have this international platform that they have seized to talk about women's issues, to talk about equal pay, to talk about why they've gotten sort of second-class treatment, they feel, for so long. And this is the moment.

And, you know, one of the things they've been -- I think the team has been very good to do is talk about the women whose shoulders they stand on during this. One of those women is Briana Scurry. She was the goalie in 1999. She made that iconic save during the shootout. And, Briana, you know, it's your legacy. I mean, it's you and all of your teammates, and they have talked about it, this current team, that they couldn't have done it without you all blazing a trail. And so what is it like for you to watch exactly 20 years later today?

BRIANA SCURRY, U.S. GOALKEEPER, 1999 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP CHAMPION: It's so amazing. It truly is. I'm truly so proud and I'm so honored and really humbled to be part of this legacy and to see this amazing crowd, all this excitement, this energy here for this amazing team. And the fact they really go take that mantle of responsibility up and they really do it with a whole lot of zest and vigor and excitement. I love that about them. They are truly unapologetically themselves.

CAMEROTA: And for people not ready for the message of equal pay and what all of you fought for back then, were they not ready 20 years ago to hear it?

SCURRY: I really feel like that might have been part of it. I think it was a little before its time. And I think right now is definitely spot on for the time. I think these women understand that. They believe that. And I think the response they're getting from different sponsors who are trying to make up that gap from the society at whole and for other people that are really embracing them now and not looking at them like they have three heads, kind of like they looked at us back in the day. I think it's time now, and they're really, really seeing that this needs to change.

CAMEROTA: We'll see. We'll see if this is the moment. We'll see what the Soccer Federation does. It's great to have your perspective on all of this.

Poppy, we will be covering it for you all along the route.

HARLOW: I love that, Ali, that she just said not looking at us like we had three heads like they did back in the day. I mean, my gosh, how far we have come in these 20 years and how much farther we have to go.

Brooke Baldwin, the big floats coming by you.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I can barely hear you over Beyonce's We Run the World, Girls. That is what's happening right now on Broadway. This is awesome.

We just -- so we got a little champagne. The ticker tape has been falling. No, they're still coming. I, mean, they're still coming. We just saw it. I think we just saw Alex Morgan on one of those floats. We saw the Mayor. We've seen all these ladies coming back and forth.

And it's been so interesting just listening to all your conversation about equal pay. I mean, if you had told me when I was 10, 11, 12 about equal pay, I would have said, what? As I'm having these conversations with these young women, these young girls who idolize these ladies on and off the field, they get it, all the posters they've brought about equality. And, by the way, not just the little girls who are playing soccer, but the little boys as well.

I was talking to this precious eight-year-old, Sean (ph), who was with his sister, surrounded by girls. And he was so almost profound as this young boy talking about, of course, the girls should be making as much as us.

[10:05:03]

And I know the conversations, it's not just about pay. It's about travel and how you get there and medical and how you're training. So it's all part of the conversation. And these ladies have really, really started it.

Forgive me if I'm turning my back to the camera, but we've got a little more coming our way. You can hear the crowd. Yes. I think there's the Governor, a couple more players. So incredibly exciting.

And these -- equal pay. Do you hear this? Equal pay. Hey, Governor. Yes. I mean, these girls get it. And it's all thanks to these ladies.

HARLOW: Yes, they do.

BALDWIN: it's incredible. It's going to bring a tear to my eye.

HARLOW: I know. I see that, Brooke. I see that. It's remarkable to see them fighting and see them chanting that, Brooke. And I can tell what it means to you and what it means to all of us and what I hope it changes for all the little girls and boys around you.

Christine Brennan, you were there, 1999, when Briana and her team won and all that she faced and they faced back then, as she said, you know, they looked at us like we had three heads. Well, look at them now.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Exactly. And I don't know that we ever would have believed when I was in the Rose Bowl that day covering that fantastic event, one of the highlights of my career to this day, I don't know that we ever would have foreseen this.

Although I did write a column back then saying that 30 years in the future, so ten more to go, that a woman will be running for president who will say that the iconic moment, the seminal moment of her childhood was watching that 1999 women's soccer game. So I've got ten more years on that one.

But I do think that this is beyond their wildest dreams because, again, they were confident and strong back then. Now, this is a whole different level, Poppy, of confidence. And Briana would be the first to exude that and say that, that what we're seeing here now is that next generation, strong, they don't care what people think, they don't care what the President thinks. Wow. These are sentences I didn't know that I would be able to utter, but here we are.

This is America in 2019. And I think it's set against that backdrop of over 100 women in Congress and 25 women in the Senate. It is part and parcel, that same conversation.

HARLOW: Brooke, did you hear that from Christine Brennan? I mean, they don't care. And I think that, to me, feels like what's different this time. They have no one to apologize to. They do not care what others may think of them. They know what it right, and they're determined to get it.

BALDWIN: I mean, first of all, I love Christine Brennan, and she's absolutely right. And second of all, it's been a long time coming, right? A lot of these ladies in various iterations of teams coming forward for years have been fighting for more, right? Fighting for what they not only deserve but for what they've earned.

And so it's just a profound moment. I feel it. I feel it out here. Handing over a poster. Parades are cool. Equal pay is cooler. Did you just catch that? That is awesome, exactly what you guys are talking about.

The Governor is giving a thumbs-up. The Governor agrees.

HARLOW: Brooke, I kind of feel like telling you to hop over that barrier there and jump on that float, but I wouldn't want to break the law. You'd be great up there chatting with all of them.

BALDWIN: Yes, thank you. I'm living vicariously through all these little girls. Let me just -- I just have to show their precious faces one more time. You guys, give me your names.

HAILEY: My name is Hailey.

BALDWIN: Hailey.

CHARLIE: My name is Charlie.

MACY: My name is Macy.

HARLOW: And, oh, my gosh, was that the coolest thing ever?

HAILEY: Yes.

CHARLIE: Yes.

MACY: Yes.

HARLOW: Why did you want to come out and see them? Why did it matter so much, to wake up super early to leave Pennsylvania to come to New York?

MACY: I've just been so happy just watching them.

HARLOW: What do they make you want to be?

MACY: They made me want to be on that team when I grow older. They wanted to make -- they made me want to work harder and focus on my game. HARLOW: Focus on your game. What about off the field? Did you just hear -- you guys were cheering too, equal pay. What is that -- I mean, how old are you guys?

MACY: I'm nine.

CHARLIE: I'm five.

HAILEY: I'm seven.

HARLOW: What does equal pay mean?

[10:09:58]

MACY: Equal pay means, like -- so like -- so in our situation right now, the men's team is getting paid more than us, so I feel like that is unequal pay, and they should equalize the pay.

HARLOW: And you feel like they're fighting -- see, Poppy, you get it. Like you feel like they're fighting -- you realize they're fighting for you. Yes, they're all nodding. They're all nodding. I think they're a little star struck over all of these women.

Here are some younger girls. All of these women who have passed them by, they're just like -- and I don't blame them one little bit. Back over to you.

HARLOW: I love every moment of it, Brooke.

All right, guys, just to let you know, you just saw the Governor behind Brooke on the float, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. He just Tweeted that he just signed pay equity legislation at this parade for New York State. And let me read you what else he wrote. The women's soccer team plays the same game that the men's soccer plays, only better. If anything, the men should get paid less. Thank you, U.S. Women's National Team, for helping lead this movement for change

So there you have it, a new legislation signed. That is affecting real change as we keep watching this moment in history, this beautiful moment in history. We'll take a quick break. We'll be back on the other side.

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[10:15:00]

HARLOW: All right, ready for a little Rapinoe? There you go. Moments ago on this picture-perfect day in New York City, there you have Megan Rapinoe with the World Cup trophy doing, what else, the Rapinoe. I mean, I definitely hope the dance is named after that in a Saturday Night Live skit.

Now, you see little girls, soccer teams celebrating here in New York City up Broadway. They are headed to City Hall where they will be handed the keys to the city by Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, there. Alisyn Camerota is there waiting for them to approach. She is with a champion in her own right, a big, big soccer champion, and a champion for equality, Briana Scurry. Ali?

CAMEROTA: Poppy, the ticker tape has just begun falling here. So I'm looking up. You can't see it. It's out of camera shot. But from every skyscraper around here, windows are open, and from the roofs, ticker tape is falling. And it is this very stirring, exciting feeling of watching it fill the sky. The parade just passed us by over my right shoulder. All of our soccer champions are passing by right now. So the crowd that has seats here has just run over to the right to wave to all of the soccer champs as they pass by.

You know, fun fact, the first ticker tape parade in New York City was 1886. And that's when Wall Street workers just spontaneously opened their windows, their office windows, and threw their ticker tape out the window at the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty, which also somehow feels, I don't know, strangely fitting and historical for today and what's happening today. And four years ago was the last ticker tape parade, and that was when the Women's Soccer champs came to New York last time.

And so Briana has just been noting all of that and watching it all with me and noting how different, frankly, the reception they're getting today is from what you got and from what your predecessors got. Just tell us a little bit about that.

SCURRY: Yes. I mean, in 1991, the Women's World Cup was in China and USA won that World Cup. And when they returned home from China, there was literally three people waiting for them. One of them was the equipment manager, another one was the media guy, and then someone there to help the equipment manager with the bags. And so it's very much changed now compared to 28 years ago.

CAMEROTA: And so how do you explain that? What's happened and maybe the reception you guys got? You didn't get a ticker tape parade. So what's happened in the past 20 years?

SCURRY: I think one of the major things that have happened was the 1996 Olympic Games, I think, started it off. It got soccer on the main stage and a lot of people took interest at that time. And then in 1999, when we had the Women's World Cup here, and we took it from small stadiums to big stadiums, like Giants stadium and Soldier Field at Pasadena. And I think that really raised the visibility of soccer, but Women's soccer in particular, but soccer all over this country.

People started to say, hey, this is interesting. This is intriguing. This is exciting. And I love this. And so now here we are 20 years from that historic day, which was exactly 20 years ago today --

CAMEROTA: And that was your year.

SCURRY: Yes, it was our year.

CAMEROTA: That was your year.

SCURRY: Yes.

CAMEROTA: You made that iconic save. And that did set the stage, frankly, on so many levels for what we're seeing today.

And are you surprised that it's taken 20 years, or did you -- are you sort of heartened that in 20 years, we've gotten to this point?

SCURRY: I think it's both. It really is both. It has taken a long time for the pay equity piece. But I think in terms of popularity of the game, I think that -- we're right on pace with it.

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We have worldwide recognition all over social media that's really helped these players and everybody to get to know them as people and individuals. And I think right now, we're at a peak. And I think we're going to continue to go from peak to peak from here on out.

CAMEROTA: You have been talking about, and Megan Rapinoe has talked about a lot, it's not just about equal pay. It's more than that. What else is it about to get you all center stage and what you're asking for?

SCURRY: I think what's really interesting about the situation is U.S. Soccer, when you're doing a negotiation process, oftentimes it's us versus them. And I think right now in this society, in this time, in this day and age with this team continuing to win its fourth Women's World Cup, it's time to be on the same side of the negotiating table. And I don't think it's that much to ask just to have equality, because if the men had won four World Cups and two back-to-back, we wouldn't be talking about such things.

And so I think it's time that U.S. Soccer come to the table with good faith and just really right in the rain, because now we can go and move forward together as opposed to having all these, you know, external things occurring at the same time we're trying to win World Cups.

CAMEROTA: Well, you have wonderful insight and historical knowledge for us. It's great to be watching all of this side by side with you.

SCURRY: So exciting.

CAMEROTA: Yes, it is. It is so exciting.

So, Poppy, we are watching here. And the next thing that will happen are the champs -- the soccer champs will come here to the stage behind me and be given the keys to the city from the Mayor.

HARLOW: It is so, so great, guys. We'll get back to you as soon as that happens.

But let's build on a little bit of what Briana just told Alisyn there. Julie Stewart-Binks, Host of CBS Sports HQ is with me along with Christine Brennan, our Sports Analyst and Columnist for USA Today.

Julie, to you, unfortunately, there are still the haters out there.

JULIE STEWART-BINKS, CBS SPORTS HQ HOST: Oh, yes.

HARLOW: There are still people, after they watched Megan Rapinoe's interview with Anderson last night, spreading lies and, you know, things that aren't even facts about how well the Women's Team has done in terms of bringing in revenue, ratings, et cetera, talking about global numbers that don't relate to what the U.S. Soccer Federation should pay them. Can you just set the record straight?

STEWART-BINKS: Yes. Well, first of all, we live in a society now in an age of social media where there's always going to be haters, there's always going to be criticism no matter what. But a lot of people have things wrong right now. First of all, this is a fight against U.S. Soccer. So the markers that U.S. Soccer had said that why they don't pay the women the same was ratings and revenue, both of which we can prove the women make more of than the men.

A lot of people say, oh, well, men globally make more in the game, that the World Cup made $6 billion. Well, that's FIFA, first and foremost, and that organization is

inherently sexist. There is gender discrimination throughout it. So that is something which we aren't talking about today. But for the U.S., this is a fight between this organization.

And one other criticism I found people have is that they say the U.S. is arrogant, that their celebrations were too much, that they were overly confident. And I think if that's your takeaway from all of the off the field work that they've done, you're missing the point entirely.

HARLOW: You see men when they score touchdowns. Have you seen that? I've seen that.

STEWART-BINKS: I mean, you see Rob Gronkowski spike the ball, and no one says anything. And guys do things it really off the charts. But also the fact is like these women are saying, you know, we can say what we want, we can celebrate how we want. We're unapologetic in this regard. And we should change the way we feel and view women internationally, regardless of what you do.

And so my thing is, when I look at this, I say, you know what, I am going to go to my boss and say, I should be paid more or I want to be treated --

HARLOW: Go for it, Julie. Right when you get off this set --

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HARLOW: Here she goes. CBS, are you listening?

STEWART-BINKS: It's very inspiring. It's an amazing moment.

BRENNAN: This is a domestic conversation. So anyone out there who's talking about FIFA, that's apples and oranges. Forget it. We're talking about the U.S. and national governing bodies, which is exactly what U.S. Soccer is, there are many of them under the Olympic umbrella. For example, figure skating and gymnastics, both of those have always paid men the same as women.

Now, why have they done that? Because the men clearly are not the stars of gymnastics and figure skating usually like the women. The difference is they want to encourage boys to get into the sport.

So U.S. Soccer has failed on that as well because women were underrepresented for decades ago. So the idea is you want to present that carrot to moms and dads to have their daughters in this sport just like their sons.

HARLOW: We have to head to break, but has a woman ever been the head of U.S. Soccer, Christine?

BRENNAN: Years ago, there was a woman named Marty Mankamyer.

HARLOW: Mainly men?

BRENNAN: Yes. And then she went on to be in charge of the U.S. Olympic Committee for a while, but not recently, for sure.

HARLOW: Okay. Everyone, stay with us, a quick break. We're back with this wonderful parade. And the women are getting the keys to the city, the team, in just a minute. We'll be right back.

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[10:25:00]

HARLOW: All right. So we're back with our live coverage of the beautiful, inspiring, really just historic ticker tape parade here in New York City. There you see an amazing group of drummers. They're at city hall waiting for the Mayor to give the Women's National Soccer Team keys to the city. Let's listen to this for a minute.

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