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China Begins Easing COVID Restrictions Amid Nationwide Protests; Pulisic's Heroic Goal Catapults U.S. Into Knockout Phase; U.S. Women's Team Will Earn More From Men's Team This Year Than When They Won The World Cup Themselves; SD Governor Bans State Employees From Using TikTok On Government Devices; Oath Keepers Found Guilty Of Sedition In January 6 Attack; San Francisco Officials Vote To Allow Police To Use Robots Deploying Lethal Force; William And Catherine Make 1st U.S. Visit As Prince And Princess Of Wales; Buckingham Palace Adviser Resigns Over Comments To Black Woman Guest. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 30, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: But I think the second question is, how much of this protest is really about censorship? You're seeing a lot of videos that are leaking out of Chinese citizens holding up blank pieces of paper, protests of government censorship.

And I think you will see it again, Victor, as the country tries to figure out how to celebrate the life of Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese president, who died yesterday, because he represented an era of greater openness in China and certainly greater growth.

And you're already seeing Chinese authorities scrub social media of praise of Jiang Zemin that they interpret as hidden criticism of the current President Xi Jinping.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Yes. David Sanger, always good to have your insight. Thank you.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: So Team USA is getting ready for their next big match against the Netherlands following their huge win over Iran. And they're not the only winners. USA women's soccer is cashing in on this victory, too. We'll tell you how, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:44]

CAMEROTA: Team USA is on to the World Cup knockout round after an epic win over Iran. Christian Pulisic put his body on the line while scoring the only goal in yesterday's match.

The U.S. will play the Netherlands on Saturday as one of 16 teams left standing.

BLACKWELL: The big question is will Team USA's biggest star be on the field after being injured during the goal? CNN's Amanda Davies has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Pulisic scores!

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR (voice over): In an all-or-nothing show down between the United States and Iran, Christian Pulisic secured Team USA's victory with the lone goal of the match at the 38- minute mark.

ANNOUNCER: Scores!

DAVIES: But it cost him the rest of the game, suffering a pelvic injury after colliding with Iran's goalie, only able to watch the second half after being taken to the hospital as a precaution.

So, who is Christian Pulisic, the man known to soccer fans around the world as Captain America, who led Team USA to the round of 16?

Pulisic made his USA Team debut in 2016 at just 17 years old, becoming the youngest U.S. player to appear in a World Cup qualifying match.

However, Christian Pulisic and the U.S. men's team suffered heartbreak in 2018 after failing to secure a spot at the World Cup.

CHRISTIAN PULISIC, MIDFIELDER, U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM: I was obviously so upset, so emotional. But, you know, looking back on it, that motivated me that much more.

DAVIES: Now, the 24-year-old is considered one of the most talented American soccer players of all time.

He was born in Hershey, Pennsylvania, playing for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy before moving overseas as a teenager.

His first stop, Germany, starring for Dortmund, then to England in a blockbuster transfer to Chelsea, a move that cost the Premier League giant $73 million, making him the most expensive soccer player to-date from the U.S.

Pulisic went on to win the Champions League title with Chelsea in 2021, the second U.S. soccer player to do so.

But now, his World Cup fate is up in the air. The U.S. national soccer team announcing, quote, "Christian Pulisic has been diagnosed with a pelvic contusion and his status is day-to-day."

But a pumped up Pulisic had different thoughts, apparently posting from the hospital, "So proud of my guys. I'll be ready for Saturday."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Thanks to Amanda Davies for that report.

CAMEROTA: Our next guest is someone who knows a thing or two about the World Cup, gold medalist and World Cup champion, Brianna Scurry.

Brianna, great to see you.

I remember when you and I were watching the women's victory after the 2019 World Cup ticker tape parade and we were there and all of the excitement that day.

So it's great to see you.

How are you feeling today about the men's chances this weekend, particularly given Christian Pulisic's injury?

BRIANNA SCURRY, GOLD MEDALIST SOCCER PLAYER & WORLD CUP CHAMPION: Oh. Alisyn, great to see you both.

So excited, thrilled, relieved, if I may. That last 10 minutes yesterday was a nail-biter, right?

So excited for the men. They have worked so very hard. And I think I'm going to put my money on Pulisic being available. Wild horses could not keep him away from this game.

That guy has gone through the wringer and the team has done incredibly well with everything on the line. They've got it done and they have a great chance to do even more Saturday against the Netherlands.

BLACKWELL: Well, he's hopeful, you're hopeful, we're all hopeful he will be back against the Netherlands.

Let me talk about the money and what this means, not just, you know, let's get down to it, right, not just for the men, but also for the women's team.

Let's talk through this. The men's team is guaranteed $13 million for making it to the knockout round. Now because of an equal pay agreement forge this year, the men's and women's team will split that. That's $6.5 million for the women.

Let's count what the women earn for their World Cup wins, $2 million in 2015, $4 million in 2019.

[14:40:05]

Which means the women's team will earn more by the men making it to the knockout round than they did by winning the World Cup back-to-back on their own.

I'm fascinated by those stats. What do you hear?

SCURRY: Oh, my gosh. They're fantastic, aren't they? That CBA that was signed into law earlier this year is a product of 30 years of the women's team fighting against the federation for equity, for equal pay.

And I want to say thank you so much to all the parties, including the men's team, especially, for saying, yes, we agree, we want to do this and we want to do the right thing, the women deserve equity and we want to help them get it.

I also want to say thank you to my former teammate, Cindy Pawlow Cone, who is the current president of the U.S. Soccer Federation and all her success getting everybody on board with this.

This indicates to me, and to everyone, should indicate how business the disparity is that FIFA has made between their value of women's soccer and men's soccer.

And this is the only way equity could be achieved, if all parties agreed, and they did. That's why we have this amazing windfall for the women's team now. Thank you to the men.

CAMEROTA: Again, Brianna, you must feel so gratified because this was many years in the making.

I remember, we were talking about it in 2019 because that's when it reached, you know, basically a head that the discrepancy between what the men were getting for losing, what the men made for the losing, the women didn't make for winning.

The fact that they're splitting it, do you think this can be a beacon for, you know, how it's done around the world?

SCURRY: I think it definitely can be. I mean this is unprecedented. You know, you've got both parties, the men's federation association and the women's federation association, coming together and agreeing on something.

Because FIFA isn't willing to make equity in the two prize moneys for both men and women, so the players themselves got together and took care of it.

I think, within every federation around the world, especially ones that the women's team are bringing great visibility to the game, such as England and France, where -- and Germany where the women's teams are doing incredibly well.

Those federations could get together, like our federation did, and hash it out and make it more equal for both teams, as both teams are representing their countries as well as they can and do a great job at it.

BLACKWELL: So U.S., Netherlands, what's your prediction?

SCURRY: Woo! So I tell you what, here's the interesting thing about the knockout phase, all bets are off. For anything and everything that has happened before, it is win or go home, period.

It's so exciting and so unpredictable in that way. I'm going USA, 2, Netherlands 1.

CAMEROTA: OK. We shall see.

Brianna Scurry, great to see you. Thanks for joining us.

SCURRY: Great to see you, Alisyn.

Thanks Victor.

Take care.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

South Dakota's governor signed an executive order banning state employees from using TikTok on government devices. We'll tell you why and the fallout, next.

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[14:47:29]

CAMEROTA: South Dakota's Governor Kristi Noem signs an executive order that bans all state agencies, employees and contractors, from using TikTok on government devices.

Nome says, quote, "South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us. The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people."

Let's bring in John Miller, CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, to talk about this and so much more.

John, is TikTok a national security threat?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT & INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, it depends. It depends on the idea that TikTok is a legitimate company that operates in China.

But the difference between China and a lot of places, particularly the United States is, you can't separate the company from the government.

TikTok is gathering lots of information about Americans -- I.P. addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, names. That's what you give them.

But then what you don't see in the background is they're vacuuming up what computers are using, what do you like, what do you don't like, what are your choices?

All of these things can be used by intelligence services when they target that to individuals in powerful positions.

CAMEROTA: But when the target -- oh, individuals in powerful positions. But the casual users, like you and I, how is that a danger to us?

MILLER: That's an interesting question because, you know, Chinese intelligence hackers managed to break into the U.S. government through a VPN connection years ago and steal records from the U.S. Department of Personnel. Including the records of everybody who had applied for or received a secret or top-secret clearance. So you have that on file. But those people, you know, that door has been relocked. Another process has been started.

But that's one generation. You're gathering meta data on a younger app like that to collect on the next generation.

You file that away. And when you need to correlate, especially for John Miller, very common name, is this the John Miller I'm looking to target or one of the 500 other John Millers on this list?

All that data helps you match and target not just who is who, but what to use for dangle in a phishing operation.

CAMEROTA: Do you let your family go on TikTok?

MILLER: Well, we are victims of our children. After cleaning up our own online stuff, our children are all secret assassins posting all of our most sensitive information.

But we talk about it and they know the score and I hope they listen.

CAMEROTA: Wow. That's really interesting, John.

Let's talk about the Oath Keepers.

So today, five -- last night, actually, five of the ring leaders were found guilty of various things from, you know, obstructing an official proceeding to seditious conspiracy to basically obstructing the peaceful transfer of power.

[14:50:12]

So what do you think this does for extremism in the U.S.?

MILLER: So this is a serious blow to these organizations. And you'll note that a lot of people were charged with the federal variation of criminal trespass because they entered the capitol.

But the FBI and the Department of Justice singled out the groups that were organized, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and others, to say these were organized groups that were trying to overthrow the government. They need to face that extraordinarily serious charge.

Seditious conspiracy, nobody was convicted of that since 1995. I think it's only been attempted two or three times.

Those people are going to be facing serious time. That's going to have a real chilling effect in that right-wing extremism area.

And yet, at the same time, while that should be the chilling effect, we have, you know, Donald Trump, a presidential candidate and former president, dining with an avowed white supremacist, anti-Semite and racist at Mar-a-Lago.

So we'll have to see how wide that chilling effect is.

CAMEROTA: I'm not sure the extremism has been stamped out yet.

Let's talk about what's happening in San Francisco where basically the city council has now allowed the police to deploy robots to shoot suspects, to use lethal force basically on suspects.

It's very controversial. In what scenario would this be used?

MILLER: So there's only one precedent for this existing in the United States, and that is in 2016, I think, in Dallas.

A sniper from on top of a parking garage shot and killed five Dallas police officers, wounded others, and was cornered in a utility room where the police sent a robot in to confront him, basically laden with explosives,, blew up the suspect, blew up the robot.

But it was a suspect who was dedicated to killing as many police officers as possible and they weren't going to put any more human targets in front of them. It was a very unique approach.

But there are many uses for robots in terms of reconnaissance and barricade and hostage situations. That was the first lethal use.

But think of it in the suicide bomber context. Think of it in a similar context. I think San Francisco is taking a step because there was very little legal guidance on how or when you could do that.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, I think of it in the Uvalde context, but of course, there's also things that could go horribly wrong.

John, always great to talk to you. Thanks so much for being here. Fascinating.

MILLER: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: The prince and princess of Wales make an historic visit to the U.S. as Buckingham Palace faces a new controversy. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:40]

BLACKWELL: The prince and princess of Wales are in the U.S. William and Kate arrived in Boston today. They there for an award ceremony honoring climate change advocates.

It is their first major international trip since the passing of William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.

CAMEROTA: CNN royal correspondent, Max Foster, is in Boston.

Max, great to see you.

So this is Will and Kate's first stateside visit since 2014. How significant is this trip? MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've brought the rain

with them. So it's a very British scene here in Boston. Pretty busy. Lots of umbrellas out.

Quite a few fans gathering. They seem to be much more interested in seeing Kate this time rather than William. I have to say, loads of Kate fans out there.

And this is all about kicking off a buildup really to Friday night, which is the Earth Shot prize, which is all about solutions to the climate crisis and accelerating them.

It's been described as Prince William's Super Bowl, the event he has been building up to all year. And there will be three days' worth of visits actually because they'll start going to different events.

As of this evening -- we can't tell you about all of them because of security concerns. They'll be spending a few days here for the first time under their new titles of prince and princess of Wales.

They're aware of the legacy of those titles, they say, which belonged to Charles and Diana, but they want to make them their own. So we'll get a sense of how they plan to do that here in America in the next couple of days.

BLACKWELL: Some of this visit is overshadowed by this controversy back at Buckingham Palace. A racial comment that was made and a resignation. Tell us about it.

FOSTER: Well, it's pretty shocking really when you look at the detail of it. This was a guest at a Buckingham Palace reception.

She was black, and she was there representing a domestic violence charity. She wasn't there because of her background of any kind.

So when a royal aide went up to her and asked her where she was from and persisted and pretty much interrogated her about where she was from -- it was a pretty upsetting transcript when you see it, when it's written down.

But part of it I'll read to you. "I am born here and I am British," she says. And this royal aide, the senior royal aide, says, "No, where did you come from? Where did your people come from? When did you first come here?" She keeps pointing out she's British. It's very uncomfortable.

[14:59:57]

And we got a pretty quick response from the palace when this was revealed. They said this person has resigned her honorary role and they are investigating.

Prince William has just landed here in Boston.