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Biden Orders Declassification Review of 9/11 Documents; Behind the Scenes of "LFG" and the Fight for U.S. Women's Soccer; Death Toll Rise to 50 from Northeast Storm; Secretary Blinken: State Department in Constant Contact with Americans in Afghanistan. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 03, 2021 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: President Biden just signed an executive order directing the Justice Department and other agencies to conduct a declassification review of documents related to the 9/11 terror attacks.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: CNN's Phil Mattingly is at the White House. So, Phil, what's the time line for declassifying those?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So, a declassification review is actually on a rolling timeline, guys. It's actually interesting when you dig in to this executive order. There are very specific reviews that the president is requesting tied to specific investigations that have long been classified and long been controversial because of the classification with the family of victims and first responders from the September 11th attacks. And that's kind of at the crux of what you're seeing right now.

The president laying out this executive order that requires over the course of the next six months, classification review, declassification and release of a series -- potentially a series of documents that have long been an issue related to the role of the Saudi Arabian government in the September 11th attacks.

If you been following this issue and just about all of us have over the course of the last couple of decades, this has been one of the key issues for the families of those who perished on 9/11. In terms of wanting more information -- information tied to the 9/11 reports, several different investigations that were ongoing.

The president during the campaign promise that he would work towards release of that information, declassification and release. The families have not been happy with the president efforts up to this point. Last month more than 1,800 family members of victims, first responders signing a letter saying President Biden would not be welcomed at any 9/11 commemorations on that 20-year mark if he did not deliver on that campaign promise. The president in a statement basically saying he is delivering on that

promise saying, quote: My heart continues to be with the 9/11 family who is are suffering and my administration will continue to engage respectfully with members of this community. I welcome their voices and insight as we chart a way forward -- guys.

CAMEROTA: OK, Phil Mattingly, thank you.

All right, so the U.S. women's soccer team, as you probably know, have been fighting for equal pay and that is at the center of the new CNN film "LFG." So, we're going to talk to the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation about their reaction, next.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: This coming Monday, CNN will bring you the all-new CNN film called "LFG." It takes a behind the scenes look at the U.S. women's national soccer team and their fight for equal pay and equitable working conditions. Here is a preview of the film.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEGAN RAPINOE, SOCCER PRO: Hi, how are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I watch you on TV all the time.

RAPINOE: You do!

RAPINOE: Like probably every woman, we're getting go, go, go from, you know, every woman I think is watching this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I brought my students for you.

RAPINOE: Amazing.

RAPINOE: To see like it go through all generations is kind of incredible. You can -- you know, and to see the different emotion and all the different ages of eyes is really cool. You know, older ones they're like, I know I'm nervous, I hope you guys get in. And then little kids saying it to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So maybe when we want (INAUDIBLE).

RAPINOE: I know, right. I probably won't get it, but you might.

RAPINOE: Yeah, maybe I'll get it like one or two years in my career, hopefully. But you know, really, it's going to be like for all these little kids that are coming up now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what we're fighting for. We're fighting for that change and literally like people have stopped me in my tracks just to say thank you, and that's because of this fight.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CAMEROTA: Joining us now is Cindy Parlow Cone. She's the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. She's also a two-time Olympic gold medalist and member of the iconic 1999 World Cup champion women's national soccer team. Cindy, great to see you.

CINDY PARLOW CONE, PRESIDENT, U.S. SOCCER FEDERATION: Great to see you. Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: Thanks for being here. So, we'll get to the legal case in a moment. But first let's just talk about the film. And I know the U.S. Soccer Federation has taken issue with the film. And you say that your side is not properly represented in it. And as I understand it the filmmakers did reach out to include your side. And now having read through all the documents, I think you have a compelling case to make. So why didn't USSL agree to be interviewed?

CONE: Well, I haven't seen the film actually. But from what I have read it seems that the movie -- and this was what we thought was going to be very one sided. In the filmmakers reach out to us in the last second of their filmmaking to try to include U.S. soccer.

[15:40:00]

But at that time, it just didn't seem like they wanted to present a balanced approach.

CAMEROTA: I mean, as I understand it, they gave you, I don't know, two or three weeks, which in my world is an eternity. But I understand that your side felt rushed. And so, I'm happy to give you that opportunity now. What points do you wish had been included in film?

CONE: Well, I think the film misses the point on a lot of things. I think it confuses the professional league with U.S. soccer. But let's not beat around the bush. Our women's national team players are awesome. They are incredible. They are household names with influence that extend well beyond soccer.

They are tremendous advocates for gender equity, social justice and have done a lot to elevate the public conversation and our national consciousness. And frankly my consciousness about these critical issues in ways that I never saw coming when I was a player.

But we are we are and for me the film is looking back. And I'm a new president, we have new leadership throughout our organization, a new CEO and I want to look forward. I want to find a way, OK, how do we solve this? There have been mistakes in the past. How do we move forward and move past this?

CAMEROTA: OK, so let's turn to the legal case. A federal judge in 2020 agreed with USSL that that the women did not really have a case. Because in their contract negotiations they had agreed to a different pay structure than the men's team. And you can obviously crunch the compensation numbers in different ways. You know, salaries versus bonus, et cetera. But the women say, the bottom line is that they get lower bonuses than the men though they win more. So, how is that fair? CONE: So, the women have a guaranteed salary that the men don't have.

So, the men are pay to play. So, super high risk and so they do get paid higher bonuses if they win. The women chose more stability in they wanted a guaranteed salary. So, they get paid regardless if they play. And then they have a bonus on top of that if they win. So the bonuses in the past have been higher for the men than the women because the men don't get that guaranteed pay of $100,000 a year.

CAMEROTA: You know, one of the women's biggest beef seem to be with FIFA, the international governing body that does pay women much less than men. In 2018, for example, FIFA awarded the women/men's team from France $38 million. OK. A year later, they gave the winning U.S. women's team, $4 million. A fraction of what the men got in other words. And I know that you say the U.S. Soccer Federation does not have any control over FIFA, but can't you apply some pressure on FIFA to be more fair to the women?

CONE: Yes, and you hit on the main issue that we face, the main challenge is this massive discrepancies in FIFA for prize money. And while FIFA has made impactful investments in the women game, there's no denying that. The discrepancy in the prize money just remains stark. As you pointed out, FIFA awards more money to our men's team for qualifying for the World Cup than are women's team get for winning. So, yes, we continue to have talks with FIFA. I've talked to the president, vice president, the president of Concacaf to try to push our game forward.

For me, it's not just about the prize money, that it's total investment in the women's game. Investment in those teams that qualify that maybe aren't winning the tournament because we're seeing the same teams over and over. And we need more investment. Not only in the top teams but globally to grow this game.

CAMEROTA: Yes, absolutely. I think that everybody agrees on that. And so, on a personal note, Cindy, you're so interesting because you lived through all this. I mean, you were as we said, a professional soccer player from 1996 to 2004 and you were part of that epic 1999 women's World Cup championship that was, you know, watched around the world. And so, can you relate to these current players frustrations? Were you frustrated back then about how little you made in compared to the men?

CONE: I mean, I can absolutely relate. As a former player, I've now been on both sides of the bargaining table. Let's just be frank, neither side is much fun. Many of the issues the women team raise are experiences I lived through myself when I was playing. But I hope everyone knows I've said it many times but I'm 100 -- and U.S. soccer is 100 percent committed to equal pay.

But on the same note I think the players will acknowledge as well that U.S. soccer has played a huge role in getting women's games where it is today. And for me I see my job as to continue to build on that success and continuing to grow the game here in the U.S. as well as globally and work towards equalizing the World Cup prize money.

[15:45:00] We've offered the women equal bonus pay for games now and so now the big sticking issue is the difference in FIFA World Cup prize money. So, we've asked the men and women to get together with U.S. soccer so that we can find a way to equalize it between the teams.

Well, Cindy Parlow Cone, we really appreciate you coming on and sharing your side. Thank you very much for your time.

CONE: Thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: You can hear for from the players side. They say they are fighting for equal pay and women's rights in film "LFG." It's Monday night at 9:00 only on CNN.

BLACKWELL: And we've got breaking news and update on the impact of Ida hitting the Northeast. We've just learned the death toll has now reached 50. These deaths are across Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania. We'll have a live report after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: OK, breaking news. We have an update on Ida's impact in the Northeast. We've just learned that the death toll has reached 50 people.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Pete Muntean is live in Fort Washington. Pete, give us the latest.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, the death toll really unimaginable and it just keeps going up -- 25 people dead in New York, 18 in New Jersey. Among two of the latest in Westchester County, New York. Here in Pennsylvania, four people have died. In Montgomery County where we are, three people. One woman was killed here when a tree fell on her house.

You know, we've been talking a lot about the floodwaters lately and how powerful they have been. But you know there were eight tornados associated with this storm.

[15:50:00]

One of them came barreling through Fort Washington here. That's the township building behind me. This was the roof peeled off like a tuna can. The tornado that continued barreling for the high school, that's where the roof of the pool was ripped off. And they had a few dumpsters there. One of those dumpsters, according to the fire chief here, has completely disappeared. They have no idea where it went.

I also just got a bit of an update from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. They are working around the clock to try and clear that vital Vine Street Expressway. It goes right through the heart of Center City, Philadelphia, 676, it connects 76 on the west and the Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden, New Jersey, on the east. Typically, would be filled with cars. Now filled with nothing but standing water.

They have eight pumps trying to pump out all that standing water and put it back in the Schuylkill River, which crested late last night at levels not seen more than two centuries. An unprecedented storm, an unimaginable toll when it comes to the mortal toll that you mentioned, but also the monetary toll of all this. I spoke to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe earlier and he says, we just can't make an official estimate yet.

Now becomes the long process of trying to figure out how much federal money will be going into this cleanup effort. That is a bit of an issue because it does take time. There has to be surveying to make sure that all of the proper money is going to the proper places. In the distance here I can see power crews trying to clear up powerlines. 3,100 people without power here in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a massive toll from this storm.

CAMEROTA: I mean, there were so many surprising things about this storm. But one of them is how many people died in the Northeast, how many days after it made landfall. We don't normally see that in hurricanes.

BLACKWELL: The storm system is gone but as we discussed, the threat still remains. Because these rivers in some of these communities will continue to rise. There could be more floodwaters. So, unfortunately as we heard from the governors across the region, those numbers could continue to rise over the next few days as well. Pete Muntean for us there. Pete, thank you.

Well, still ahead, a heat advisory still in effect in Louisiana where President Biden is touring some of the areas hit hardest by hurricane Ida. We're following the latest on his visit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CAMEROTA: 2008 hero of the year, CNN hero, Liz McCartney went to Louisiana as a volunteer after hurricane Katrina and co-founded the St. Bernard Project.

BLACKWELL: A top priority for her teams helping with the aftermath of Ida is addressing with damage like mold.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIZ MCCARTNEY, CO-FOUNDED, ST. BERNARD PROJECT: Because of the timing of the tides, I think Ida pushed a lot of water into places that don't normally experience flooding that are outside of New Orleans but were really taken off guard. Typically, you can go to the communities in outlying areas to access the resources to help people recover.

With power out in Baton Rouge, it's become a much trickier situation. We have teams to assist with mucking and gutting and mold remediation. What we've been able to do at SBP is help homeowners understand how they can buy the appropriate materials that actually kill mold spores. And then learn how to dry their house out so that when they do start to rebuild it their house doesn't have any mold in it and they can live safely in it. I just want to say thank you to everybody who is supporting people

who've been impacted by hurricane Ida. The immediate response is really important. The long-term recovery is going to take more time. And so, we ask you to stick with it. Come on down and volunteer. Share your talents and help us make these communities even stronger in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: And to learn more about SBP's efforts, go to CNNheroes.com.

CAMEROTA: OK, we are just getting new information from the Secretary of State Tony Blinken on those Americans who are still in Afghanistan. CNN's Alex Marquardt has more. What have you learned, Alex?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, Victor, Secretary Blinken calls this a relatively small number of Americans. I did ask him to put a more specific number on it, but he would not. The last range we heard and is a range is 100 to 200. And what Secretary Blinken said is that they do have case managers for each of these Americans who may be looking to get out. So, they probably do have a more precise number.

One thing that makes that difficult is that people have been changing their minds. Secretary Blinken made the point that many of the Americans who remain in Afghanistan may be people who have lived there for a long time, perhaps their entire lives.

They would be dual nationals, both Afghans and Americans who may be hesitant or reluctant to leave their families. He said that some people had said they wanted to go, now they don't, and the other way around. But it is clear that they are still working to get these Americans and other Afghans at risk out of the country. But what is not clear is how they're going to do that -- Alisyn, Victor.

CAMEROTA: And we need to stay on this just because the troops are gone does not mean the story is over. So, thank you very much, Alex, for that update.

BLACKWELL: Alex Marquardt there at the State Department. And "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

END