Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

"Barbie" Hits Movie Theaters; Briana Scurry is Interviewed about the World Cup; Remembering Tony Bennett. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 21, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: I'm also a Delta. And so she is now technically my sorority sister.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, at least she's got, you know, famous and important friends that she can hang out with.

PHILLIP: I think so.

MATTINGLY: You know, I -- that's - that's cool. That's really cool. I am not.

PHILLIP: That's OK. Maybe you can (INAUDIBLE).

MATTINGLY: I didn't rush. I didn't rush. I didn't rush. I don't think - don't think I - I can't - like the level of elite, I think, amongst that group, not me.

PHILLIP: All right. That's OK, OK, we still love you.

MATTINGLY: Thank you for that.

Well, here's also what's important in the world. Barbieheimer week -- Barbenheimer - Barbenheimer -

PHILLIP: Bar - Barben -

MATTINGLY: Barbenheimer. It's upon us.

PHILLIP: Yes.

MATTINGLY: "Oppenheimer" and the "Barbie" movie in theaters today.

PHILLIP: We will hear from the Barbie herself, Margot Robbie, and her co-star, America Ferrera, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMERICA FERRERA, ACTRESS, "BARBIE": The movie turns a lot of things on its head. And - and to -- in my opinion tells us more about us as humans.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIP: It's a blockbuster holiday weekend. The highly anticipated movies "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie" are hitting theaters today.

Our Sara Sidner sat down with two stars of the "Barbie" movie last month before, I should note, the actors went on strike, and she joins us now.

So, Sara, a lot of people don't know this about Margot Robbie, but she played a really critical role in even getting this movie to be created in the first place. What did they tell you?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Some interesting things. It's -- I asked them, I said, look, when I was a little girl, I didn't play with Barbie. I was too busy jumping out of trees and trying to be better than the -

PHILLIP: You were too cool for Barbie.

SIDNER: Well, no, I was just trying to be better than the boys all the time.

MATTINGLY: You can acknowledge you were (INAUDIBLE).

[08:35:01]

SIDNER: I was very competitive. And Margot Robbie jumps up and says, me, too! And then America Ferrera says, I didn't play with Barbie either. And I was like, so what's with the movie? And both of them -

MATTINGLY: That's a great follow-up. I -

SIDNER: I mean both of them said, this movie has heart. It will make you laugh. But it might also make you cry. It's deep. "Barbie" is deep. That's what I learned.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right, I'm going to start with you, Margot, everyone makes Barbie into who they think she is because she doesn't talk, she doesn't walk. So, we use our imaginations. How did you decide who Barbie was going to be in this film?

MARGOT ROBBIE, ACTRESS, "BARBIE": To be honest, Gretta knew from the beginning really that she wanted Barbie to have the classic hero's journey. She actually used like buddha's journey to enlightenment as a reference. And I was like, OK, wow, I didn't see that coming but now that you've said it, it does make perfect sense. And so -- so suddenly she did have like this framework of a narrative. And within that we could have all these conversations on so many different levels. And - and what we wanted to do about with those conversations is kind of honor the legacy that the 64 years of Barbie has, you know, created, you know, and also bring it into today's day. You know how about -- have culturally relevant conversations.

SIDNER: OK, I do have to ask, America, how deliciously ironic is it that Ryan Gosling's age became the thing that people were talking about, not the woman, but the man for once?

AMERICA FERRERA, ACTRESS, "BARBIE": Oh, yes, that's -

ROBBIE: It is ironic.

FERRERA: Yes. I just heard that that's a thing.

ROBBIE: Yes.

FERRERA: You know, that's the - that's the fate of the Kens in Barbie land is they essentially have to suffer a lot of the fate of women in the real world.

ROBBIE: Yes.

FERRERA: And -- and, you know, it - it - it - it kind of highlights its stupidity, really. But - but it's, you know, the movie turns a lot of things on its head. And - and to -- in my opinion, tells us more about us as humans than - than really, you know, a move about dolls.

SIDNER: And, America, you play one of the few characters who is not a doll, who is not a Barbie in the movie. You're a real-life person going through real-life challenges as a working woman. What happens when you and Barbie meet finally?

FERRERA: I don't want to spoil anything, but it's -

ROBBIE: We (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: Oh, don't spoil it. Give us -

ROBBIE: We're just friends (ph).

FERRERA: The moment that Gloria and Barbie connect, I just started, like, bawling. And - and it felt so beautiful that, you know, a grown woman could explore her imagination and her playfulness and - and really be enthusiastic about something that she loved and something that was playful and inspiring to her and that that didn't have to be in contradiction to her as like a grown, serious, professional woman.

SIDNER: I have to be honest though, I was not a Barbie obsessed girl. I was too busy jumping out of trees and racing boys and trying to be better than the boys.

ROBBIE: I was exactly like you.

SIDNER: Did you all play with Barbies? OK.

FERRERA: I was not a Barbie - I was not a Barbie girl. Were you? You -

SIDNER: OK. ROBBIE: I - I -- no, I was exactly like you, Sara. I was like doing -- trying to beat the boys at everything. And I - I asked my mom before this presser, I was like, mom, do you have any pictures of me like playing with Barbies or opening a Barbie on Christmas or anything like that? It would be really helpful for this upcoming press tour.

SIDNER: Nope.

ROBBIE: And she was like, no, I couldn't even get you to wear a dress. I was like, oh.

FERRERA: I mean, a, like, we couldn't afford Barbies. B, like, I don't know, it's just like didn't -- the world of Barbie didn't feel like it had very much for me in it to be perfectly honest. But that is what is so beautiful to me about this moment and getting to be a part of this story that is expanding the world of Barbie to include the rest of us. And what I think the movie gives us is the permission to be more of who we are. That, like, Barbie gets to be - that we're all Barbie and Barbie gets to be whatever the hell Barbie wants to be.

SIDNER: Margot, what are you hoping to impart to the audience with this film?

ROBBIE: The feeling of, like, yes, it's, like, you want to do this and you want to be a good mom and you want to be a good friend and you want to be a good husband and you want to be an ally and you want to be an activist but you want to just do your job and you just want to get through the day and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. If I could put all of that off your shoulders and just say, you're already doing great. You are doing great because you are you and that is enough. That's what I would give.

SIDNER: It's like the erasing of imposters syndrome, right? I think we've all suffered from that. And women more than anyone else.

[08:40:01]

So that's a beautiful thing.

Did the Barbie sleepover happen? I heard that - that director Greta Gerwig was like, you guys need to have this?

ROBBIE: Yes. And it was so much fun. We had a Barbie sleepover. The Kens were invited to visit, not to stay over, obviously. We all wore our pajamas and ordered room service and we shared beds -

FERRERA: It's true (ph).

ROBBIE: And we played games and we all discovered how incredibly competitive America is when it comes to games.

FERRERA: Let's talk about how Ryan (ph) sent a man in a kilt to play bagpipes at us for three minutes and then recite the speech from "Braveheart."

ROBBIE: "Braveheart." FERRERA: That happened. That --

ROBBIE: It was (INAUDIBLE) -

SIDNER: What?

ROBBIE: Just -- it was just amazing. And if that doesn't bond you, I don't know what will.

FERRERA: I still - I still don't get the joke. Was it an inside joke?

ROBBIE: No. No. It was no relation -

FERRERA: No, it wasn't? There was no inside joke?

ROBBIE: There was no "Braveheart" connection at all.

SIDNER: Was he trying to say, like, freedom? Like, what - he must have been trying to say something.

FERRERA: It was like -

ROBBIE: You'll have to ask Ryan, I guess.

FERRERA: I feel like he was rallying us.

ROBBIE: He was - it was -

FERRERA: Because it was right before we were starting, right?

ROBBIE: It was like a -

FERRERA: He was like, here we go.

ROBBIE: Yes, a rallying war cry perhaps, yes.

SIDNER: Ladies, I - I actually was, like, oh, am I going to see the "Barbie" - but the way you've described it, it's like something I think that girlfriends could go to together and buddies could go together with the kids and just enjoy the ride.

FERRERA: Oh, (INAUDIBLE).

ROBBIE: Oh, yes. It's a party and everyone is invited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right, spoiler alert. Here is a lesson you will learn from this movie because I may or may not have seen it. Being human is hard. Being a female human is even harder. But it's worth it.

PHILLIP: That's a great moral of the story.

SIDNER: That's my zen for the morning.

PHILLIP: Yes. SIDNER: Barbie is deep.

PHILLIP: So, I have a theory about the bagpipes, because I had heard that story before.

SIDNER: Oh.

PHILLIP: Maybe it was like a primal male scream, like they weren't -- the Kens were not allowed at the sleepover, so they really just had like the "Braveheart" thing. That's my theory.

SIDNER: That - that actually - that - that fits. That completely and utterly fits.

MATTINGLY: I mean, can I weigh in here or am I going to be excluded?

SIDNER: I was going to say, nobody's talking just to Ken - I mean, Phil.

PHILLIP: Yes. Yes. Why, yes, Ken.

MATTINGLY: Yes. Like, it's - no, I don't -

PHILLIP: Do tell us, Ken.

MATTINGLY: Time out. Stop.

SIDNER: What you think.

MATTINGLY: What I will say is, like, that - that move from a, like, leadership perspective to me is, like, oh, yes, that's totally dope. And then like I hear them describe it and I was like, oh, wow, that's super weird.

PHILLIP: (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: Right.

PHILLIP: (INAUDIBLE) may or may not.

SIDNER: (INAUDIBLE).

MATTINGLY: Don't do that. That's not cool.

SIDNER: That's not cool.

MATTINGLY: Regardless of audience, but particularly with that audience.

SIDNER: I do need to remind people, this is a Warner Bros. Discovery program.

PHILLIP: That's true. Yes.

SIDNER: We -- we are also owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. But -- and they did this, obviously, before the strike, because this is not -- you - you're not allowed to sort of promote things. So, that's where we are. I enjoyed it.

PHILLIP: That being said, we love your Barbie pink.

SIDNER: Thank you.

PHILLIP: Thank you for gracing us with your presence.

SIDNER: Oh, wait. I come from Barbie world.

MATTINGLY: Yes, I was going to say, I'm like, we were all pausing and waiting so we could get -- there we go.

SIDNER: A Barbie cake pop.

MATTINGLY: That's good.

PHILLIP: We need this.

MATTINGLY: This is happiness. This is happiness from Sara Sidner.

PHILLIP: Thank you, Sara.

MATTINGLY: Thanks, buddy.

PHILLIP: All right.

MATTINGLY: Well, there is another important film that's coming out despite Sara's focus on only one of them. Most blockbusters, when it comes to this film, they use a lot of CGI. In fact, you talk about another big release this summer, the new "Indiana Jones" movie, created a computer generated Harrison Ford de-aged to make the 81- year-old actor look 40 years younger. And in the new "Mission Impossible" movie, this stunt is definitely real, but the ramp Tom Cruise used to fly off of this cliff was painted out of look-alike grass and gravel. But in "Oppenheimer," Christopher Nolan told "The Hollywood Reporter" there are no CGI shots, and that includes a scene depicting the first ever test explosion of the nuclear bomb.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN: We wanted imagery that has beauty but threat to it. (INAUDIBLE) graphics tend to be - they can feel a bit anadime (ph), a bit safe. That's why they're tough to use in horror movies, for example. But finding -- challenging my team to use real methods, some of them microscopic and tiny, some of them absolutely vast, that, I think, gives the imagery the bite that it needs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: It's worth noting, this isn't new for Nolan. He's made a career of using practical effects in his movies whenever he can. In one of the most iconic moments of "The Dark Knight," Nolan flips a semi-truck end over end for this scene. And later in the movie, he did this.

(VIDEO CLIP) MATTINGLY: Now, again, both the truck flip and this hospital explosion were done using practical effects, not computer generated at all. For the final installment of his "Batman" trilogy, the external shots of this opening airplane sequence were shot practically, including this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Calm down, doctor. Now is not the time for fear. That comes later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ooh!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:45:00]

MATTINGLY: And in 2010's "Inception," Nolan built a real-life rotating hallway for this dream within a dream fight scene.

(VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: In the movie "Interstellar," to get the effect of an ice- covered planet, Nolan filmed these scenes on this melting glacier in Iceland.

And in this most recent movie, "Tenant," Nolan crashed a real 747, insisting it was, quote, more efficient than using CGI.

(VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: This is all completely fascinating. A little bit different than "Barbie." Moviegoers will be able to get the chance to see "Oppenheimer" and its total and complete lack of CGI today.

PHILLIP: That's super interesting, Phil. Thank you for that.

And up next for us, the U.S. Women's -- take the field tonight in the -- as they begin their quest to be the first country to win three World Cups in a row, men or women. Our next guest knows a thing or two about winning the World Cup. The legendary Briana Scurry will joins us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIP: And welcome back.

In just a few hours the U.S. National Soccer Team, the women's team, is set to make their appearance at the World Cup.

And joining us now on that is former goal keeper for the U.S. team, Briana Scurry. It was her save during the penalty kicks that helped the team win the World Cup back in 1999. She is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Briana, thank you for joining us. There's so much pressure, as I'm sure you know, on this team today,

and right now, to become the first to win three World Cups in a row. How important is this first game for them in setting the tone?

BRIANA SCURRY, TWO-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL U.S. AND WORLD CUP SOCCER CHAMP: The first game is absolutely critical. It sets the tone, like you said. You want to come into that first game and literally blow the doors off the opponent and also make a statement in your group and throughout the tournament that shows that the USA is ready to go. Vlatko normally has a little bit of rotation in his starting lineup. So, todays starting 11 may not be the same as the starting 11 against the Netherlands. But today's game is absolutely critical.

MATTINGLY: For folks who are familiar, I think, you know, there's still a number of the top veterans that are on this team that everybody will know, but there's also just a core group of younger players, don't have certainly a lot of, I think, public attention before now, if you're not in kind of this -- the world or the scene but are hugely talented. Who should they be watching?

SCURRY: Yes, there's 14 newcomers out of 23 players on the roster this time around. So, I would definitely look out for Trinity Rodman. And she is the Trinity Rodman, you know, Dennis Rodman's daughter. She's very good.

[08:50:01]

She's exceptional. And also Sophia Smith, who's also up top with Trinity. She's a fantastic player. This is her first time. But also who's really critical in my opinion are the two center backs, Alana Cook and Naomi Girma, who are going to be playing in front of Alyssa Naeher, the former captain and stalwart, Becky Sauerbrunn, got injured. And so two rookies will be playing a very critical center back positions.

PHILLIP: All right, Briana Scurry, we will all be watching tonight as the U.S. women's team hits the grass on the field. Thank you for joining us.

SCURRY: Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

MATTINGLY: And we have breaking news, sad breaking news. This morning, music icon Tony Bennett has died at the age of 96.

Chloe Melas joins us now.

And, Chloe, legend feels like an understatement to some degree when you talk about Tony Bennett. What more can you tell us?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yes, I mean, incredibly sad news for people all over the world this morning. Tony Bennett has died at the age of 96. His publicist, Sylvia Weiner, his long-time publicist, confirming this morning. And, you know, this comes as a shock to many. He lived a long,

beautiful life. I had the honor of meeting him when he turned 90 and performed in New York at the Rainbow Room.

We don't know the circumstances of his death, but we know that he had been battling Alzheimer's for the past several years. His wife, Susan Bennett, she actually told "AARP Magazine" in 2021 that despite the Alzheimer's, he was continuing to perform, put out music. You know, obviously, we know that he toured and put out albums with Lady Gaga. I've reached out to her and I'm sure that this is obviously a devastating loss for her. They were just so close.

But his career spanned decades from the early 1950s. And Frank Sinatra is someone who touted him as one of the greatest voices of a generation. And so I, you know, meeting Tony Bennett, there's just nothing like - like it. And he was so charismatic, so kind and just, obviously, so talented. And so it's a very sad day for everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him, knowing him or just loving his music to know that he has passed at his home in New York at the age of 96.

PHILLIP: Yes, and this is a -- this is a legend really whose career spans many, many decades, going all the way back to the 1940s. And as you were talking, Chloe, we were playing some of that video of Tony Bennett as he was making one of his last performances, maybe even the last with Lady Gaga. He was able to, even in his final years as he was battling Alzheimer's, still performed and really give the audience what they've always loved about him, which is his ability to perform music. And Lady Gaga really kind of identified with him, bringing him into this modern era.

We actually have with us now Anderson Cooper on the phone.

Anderson, you've spent some time with Tony Bennett. What are you thinking about today as we mark his passing?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (via telephone): Well, it just -- I mean what an extraordinary life. I had the honor of doing a profile of Tony and his wife Susan and -- for "60 Minutes" when he did his final shows with Lady Gaga that you were just talking about. And I got to spend a significant amount of time with him. I was in his apartment watching him rehearse with his long-time accompanist.

You know, he has lived just an extraordinary, epic life. There's a lot of people who don't know a lot of the details of his life. I mean his service during, you know, his service to the country during the war. He was one of the - an early artists involved in the civil rights movement, in a very serious way, marching, performing. He sacrificed a lot over the years for that.

But it -- you know, I think his most extraordinary performances - I mean the last three performances that he did at Radio City with Lady Gaga, I think everybody who was there knew that they were witnessing something really just incredible. That this man who, much of his memory was gone, he -- when I was interviewing him I would be talking to him and he, you know, he would not remember what he had just said. He would not remember certainly who I was sitting there talking to him.

But his wife Susan, all during Covid, kept him engaged, kept him -- kept him alive and kept him Tony Bennett. And, in the end, Tony Bennett knew who Tony Bennett was when - when Alzheimer's had - had robbed him of many of his (INAUDIBLE), of his extraordinary life.

[08:55:08]

He knew inherently in -- in his mind still that he was Tony Bennett. And when that music started to play, he would -- you could see him transforming into Tony Bennett once again. And I sat -- I stood there by the piano in his apartment while he was rehearsing. His - his -- and I just interviewed him. And it had been a very difficult interview because he could only say a few sentences and clearly didn't, you know, really know why we were there. But as soon as his piano player started playing a few bars, he trotted up to the piano with this -- this incredible energy, put his elbow on the piano, and he just launched into an hour-long set of all his greatest hits without any sheet music, nothing. It was all from memory. And it was all so he -- you know, and it just - it was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life to stand there and watch him.

And suddenly while he was singing, because I was standing with -- by the piano with him, he was looking at me and relating to me as Tony Bennett. And if I didn't know better, I would have thought he knew exactly who I was and why I was there and engaging with a -- he was engaging with me in a way through the music that he couldn't do in any other way.

So, it's - it's such a -- it's a sad day, of course. You know, we've all lost one of the great artists of our time and yet what a triumphant life. And to have spent this -- you know, the message that he sent to so many families out there who had people, loved ones, with Alzheimer's, you know, his message of hope and his message of possibility, that he could still have a vibrant life because of the love of his life, Susan, his son Danny, all his -- all his kids.

And I'll never forget the last performance that I had the privilege of being at backstage with him at Radio City Music Hall, just a short time before he went on. He was in the back and he turned to Susan and he didn't know exactly where he was and he said, you know, what are we doing? And she said, you know, you're performing tonight, in like ten minutes. And he said, great. And she said, let's go over the set. And he said, great. And she did. They went over what numbers he was going to do.

He went back -- he went to stand in the wings. I was standing there with him. And as soon as -- and he was watching Lady Gaga perform on stage because she was -- he did a set, then she did a set, and then he would come out at the end and she would come out at a certain point with him. And watching Lady Gaga, you could see like the music just flowing into him and he started tapping his feet and clinging his - his - his, you know, fingers together. He went out. He killed it out there. He went out there. His first words were - like the crowd just erupted. His first words were, wow, and they just loved it. He did his whole set. And then the first two nights when Lady Gaga had come out, he had

said, like, wow, look who's here, but he hadn't said her name. And I talked to Lady Gaga about it afterward and she felt that he, in the moment on the stage, those first two nights, he didn't remember her name. But -- and while they were rehearsing in the weeks leading up to it, she was concerned that - that he didn't remember her name. But on that final night, when she came out and he turned and he saw her coming out, he said, wow, Lady Gaga. And she burst into tears. I mean, everybody just burst into tears. It was just an extraordinary night. And, I mean, what - what a life we have been able to - to witness and benefit from over all these decades.

MATTINGLY: Anderson, CNN has now confirmed that Tony Bennett has died. We're expecting a statement shortly.

That "60 Minutes" piece that you did, Anderson, was so incredibly poignant. And I remember when, you know, Lady Gaga was kind of describing -- it was almost like a switch flipped, and then you demonstrated it.

But you also made a great point, the life lived - we've only got about a minute and a half left -- civil rights in particular, obviously his military service. Can you capture what - what he was, not just those last performances, but just overall?

COOPER: Look, this was a kid who, you know, didn't have much when he was born and had a family that, you know, loved him and that supported him. But he -- he created who he was and he -- you know, he was all about music, from the beginning to the end. And, you know, his son Danny was an incredible manager for him. You know, reintroduced him to whole new generations of people over the decades in the 1980s and the 1990s, doing duets with some of the greatest contrary artists of the day.

And his -- you can't talk about Tony Bennett without talking about Susan, his wife, who loved him her entire life basically, grew up listening to his music and was just an incredible, incredible champion and partner in all of this.

[09:00:04]

And my thoughts are certainly with his family today and with Tony. And, you know, there's -- you know, he's still -- wherever he is, he's still singing and thank God we have his music and we have his voice and I'm going to be listening to him today.

PHILLIP: And thank you, Anderson, for your beautiful reflections of him as well.

We'll have much more on this story and all of the breaking news on "CNN NEWS CENTRAL," which starts right now.