1 00:00:01,666 --> 00:00:03,600 JOHN YANG: The women's World Cup kicked off in Paris this weekend. 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:08,133 And once again, as Lisa Desjardins returns to tells us, the Americans are favored to 3 00:00:08,133 --> 00:00:10,200 win it all. 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,133 LISA DESJARDINS: The U.S. team takes the field tomorrow against Thailand in its opening match, 5 00:00:15,533 --> 00:00:17,600 with high hopes of hoisting the cup about a month from now. 6 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,366 The Americans have won three World Cups since the women's competition first began in the 7 00:00:22,366 --> 00:00:23,600 '90s. 8 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,133 But the competition may be closing in. 9 00:00:25,133 --> 00:00:27,733 France, England and Germany are all considered threats. 10 00:00:27,733 --> 00:00:31,433 For the U.S., there's also a most unusual backdrop. 11 00:00:31,433 --> 00:00:36,433 Members of the team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation this spring over longstanding allegations 12 00:00:37,866 --> 00:00:40,700 of gender discrimination and violations of the Equal Pay Act. 13 00:00:40,700 --> 00:00:44,466 To help unpack all of this, I'm joined by the great Christine Brennan, a sportswriter 14 00:00:44,466 --> 00:00:46,533 and sports columnist for USA Today. 15 00:00:46,533 --> 00:00:47,800 Christine, welcome. 16 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:48,633 CHRISTINE BRENNAN, USA Today: Thanks, Lisa. 17 00:00:48,633 --> 00:00:50,133 Great to be here. 18 00:00:50,133 --> 00:00:50,966 LISA DESJARDINS: Let's start with this World Cup. 19 00:00:50,966 --> 00:00:53,133 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Yes. 20 00:00:53,133 --> 00:00:54,866 LISA DESJARDINS: All right, the U.S. team has dominated since there were rankings at 21 00:00:54,866 --> 00:00:57,000 all. 22 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,500 What are their strengths, what are their possible vulnerabilities this year? 23 00:00:58,500 --> 00:00:59,800 Tell us about this team. 24 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:01,933 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Lisa, this is a veteran team. 25 00:01:01,933 --> 00:01:05,766 And I think for every viewer who remembers Brandi Chastain going back 20 years now, Mia 26 00:01:05,766 --> 00:01:08,700 Hamm, this is the next generation. 27 00:01:08,700 --> 00:01:11,600 And they are strong, and they're ranked number one in the world. 28 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:13,666 And they should win the World Cup. 29 00:01:13,666 --> 00:01:17,700 Not saying they will, because competition - - it's the greatest day in women's soccer 30 00:01:17,700 --> 00:01:21,300 today, until tomorrow, in terms of the level of play. 31 00:01:21,300 --> 00:01:23,633 And that's just around the world, not just the U.S. 32 00:01:23,633 --> 00:01:28,633 But this is a veteran team, 12 returning players from the 2015 team that won the World Cup 33 00:01:29,233 --> 00:01:30,500 in Canada. 34 00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:33,033 The names are Alex Morgan. 35 00:01:33,033 --> 00:01:34,066 You have got Megan Rapinoe. 36 00:01:34,066 --> 00:01:35,066 (CROSSTALK) 37 00:01:35,066 --> 00:01:37,133 LISA DESJARDINS: Yes. 38 00:01:37,133 --> 00:01:39,100 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: You have Carli Lloyd, who was the star of the 2015 team. 39 00:01:39,100 --> 00:01:43,466 Megan Rapinoe is someone who actually took a knee in support of Colin Kaepernick at one 40 00:01:43,466 --> 00:01:45,000 game. 41 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,366 So, you have got someone who is also very socially active. 42 00:01:47,366 --> 00:01:52,333 She is an out athlete and she was the first openly gay athlete to be on the cover of -- on 43 00:01:53,666 --> 00:01:55,866 "Sports Illustrated" in the swimsuit issue. 44 00:01:55,866 --> 00:01:58,333 So you have got story lines galore. 45 00:01:58,333 --> 00:01:59,833 LISA DESJARDINS: Who's the biggest competition? 46 00:01:59,833 --> 00:02:01,166 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Without a doubt, it's France. 47 00:02:01,166 --> 00:02:02,133 I mean, obviously, they're the host. 48 00:02:02,133 --> 00:02:04,166 Lots of pressure on them. 49 00:02:04,166 --> 00:02:06,500 They have never, ever gotten to the level where they would win either a World Cup or 50 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:08,566 an Olympics. 51 00:02:08,566 --> 00:02:11,533 Interestingly, if the U.S. does what it's supposed to do, France does what it's supposed 52 00:02:11,533 --> 00:02:13,566 to do, they will meet in the quarterfinals. 53 00:02:13,566 --> 00:02:16,866 One of the top two teams, three teams in the world would go out in the quarterfinals. 54 00:02:16,866 --> 00:02:19,833 LISA DESJARDINS: What I love about this team, they can strike from up close, but they can 55 00:02:19,833 --> 00:02:22,166 strike from crazy far away, like the middle of the field. 56 00:02:22,166 --> 00:02:26,466 I will put in a word for my favorite, number 9, Lindsey Horan, who I'm watching. 57 00:02:26,466 --> 00:02:28,733 But let's talk more about this cultural story. 58 00:02:28,733 --> 00:02:31,333 Tell us what these women are trying to do. 59 00:02:31,333 --> 00:02:35,233 It is the entire team that has sued U.S. Soccer, saying that they are not given the same treatment 60 00:02:36,133 --> 00:02:38,233 as the men and not the same pay. 61 00:02:38,233 --> 00:02:41,233 In some cases, they say half the pay, yet they play more games. 62 00:02:41,233 --> 00:02:43,333 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Right. 63 00:02:43,333 --> 00:02:45,333 This is a story line that's been going again really since '99, because right after they 64 00:02:45,333 --> 00:02:48,466 won that World Cup, and were the only story ever in the history of stories to be the cover 65 00:02:48,466 --> 00:02:52,166 of "TIME," "Newsweek," "People," "Sports Illustrated," all the way back 20 years ago, in the Rose 66 00:02:52,166 --> 00:02:55,866 Bowl that beautiful day, July 10, 1999, not that I remember. 67 00:02:55,866 --> 00:02:58,766 But then, within a few months, they were striking. 68 00:02:58,766 --> 00:03:03,733 And this has been a constant battle with their Federation over travel conditions, over pay 69 00:03:05,633 --> 00:03:07,966 conditions, over the opportunity to market themselves, and missed opportunities galore. 70 00:03:07,966 --> 00:03:11,833 LISA DESJARDINS: And the turf, even at some - - they sometimes were playing on not as good, 71 00:03:11,833 --> 00:03:13,300 Astroturf. 72 00:03:13,300 --> 00:03:14,733 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Four years ago, Lisa, absolutely. 73 00:03:14,733 --> 00:03:17,700 In Canada, the men would never play on artificial turf. 74 00:03:17,700 --> 00:03:21,200 The women were forced to play an artificial turf, which you can get more injuries. 75 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:22,866 It's just a tougher surface to play on. 76 00:03:22,866 --> 00:03:26,600 So, women have been second-class citizens in soccer from the get-go. 77 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,333 And in this case, they're very busy right now focusing on soccer. 78 00:03:30,333 --> 00:03:33,700 But when they get back, that conversation about gender equity is going to keep coming 79 00:03:33,700 --> 00:03:35,700 up. 80 00:03:35,700 --> 00:03:38,866 And then -- and the gap is extraordinary between what the men make and what the women make 81 00:03:38,866 --> 00:03:40,866 around the world. 82 00:03:40,866 --> 00:03:44,100 And, of course, the U.S. men are nowhere near as good or obviously winning as many titles 83 00:03:44,100 --> 00:03:46,033 as the women are. 84 00:03:46,033 --> 00:03:48,400 LISA DESJARDINS: U.S. Soccer has said that these are different groups of players with 85 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,666 different contracts and doing different jobs. 86 00:03:51,666 --> 00:03:54,766 The women say that's not true, that they're doing the same job, in fact, sometimes working 87 00:03:54,766 --> 00:03:56,800 harder. 88 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,933 But, also, you hear sometimes U.S. Soccer officials say, listen, women do not bring 89 00:03:59,933 --> 00:04:03,800 as much revenue in, and that's why that they're not getting paid as much. 90 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:05,133 They don't always make that argument, but they have. 91 00:04:05,133 --> 00:04:06,333 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Sure they have. 92 00:04:06,333 --> 00:04:07,133 LISA DESJARDINS: How do you see that? 93 00:04:07,133 --> 00:04:09,266 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Yes. 94 00:04:09,266 --> 00:04:11,266 Well, what the women's say in return, Lisa, is that they're not getting the opportunities, 95 00:04:11,266 --> 00:04:15,100 the Federation is not marketing them, and not thinking of ways to market them. 96 00:04:15,100 --> 00:04:19,166 And so, if you're not marketing them, then you may not be making the same kind of money. 97 00:04:19,166 --> 00:04:24,166 Certainly, worldwide, soccer is that last bastion of male supremacy, and the ingrained 98 00:04:26,033 --> 00:04:31,033 sexism and misogyny in European soccer, in South American soccer is extraordinary. 99 00:04:32,966 --> 00:04:36,633 And that is exactly the world that the U.S. Federation is in. 100 00:04:36,633 --> 00:04:38,666 They have done some good things. 101 00:04:38,666 --> 00:04:41,133 But I think, because they are in the U.S., they're getting the kind of scrutiny that 102 00:04:41,133 --> 00:04:46,133 they should get and that an American audience demands, especially in regards to how we treat 103 00:04:47,233 --> 00:04:49,900 our daughters, our sisters as they grow up. 104 00:04:49,900 --> 00:04:53,033 And I think that's -- that's the reason this conversation -- but there -- this is a team 105 00:04:53,033 --> 00:04:54,266 that wins. 106 00:04:54,266 --> 00:04:55,766 This is a team that wins all the time. 107 00:04:55,766 --> 00:04:58,266 And that should mean something, I think, in this conversation. 108 00:04:58,266 --> 00:05:01,066 LISA DESJARDINS: Christine Brennan, always good to have you here. 109 00:05:01,066 --> 00:05:03,866 And we will watch another U.S. team that could make history on a few levels. 110 00:05:03,866 --> 00:05:04,866 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Absolutely. 111 00:05:04,866 --> 00:05:05,866 LISA DESJARDINS: Thank you. 112 00:05:05,866 --> 00:05:06,000 CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Thanks Lisa.