Megan Rapinoe Goes One-On-One With CNN's Anderson Cooper
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're getting oh so close to a celebration for the ages. The World Cup champions with a ticker tape parade through the streets of New York City. The last few weeks really had been a whirlwind for the team with star player, Megan Rapinoe, tangling with President Trump while leading her team to victory. Listen to what she told to Anderson Cooper.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: How do you -- do you phase out all the stuff that's swirling around you, all the stuff with President Trump, all of that when you're on the field and preparing to be on the field? Or do you use it as motivation? How do you do what you do?</s>MEGAN RAPINOE, CO-CAPTAIN, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM: That's -- I don't know how I do it. I don't phase things out. I don't like go into a zone. Like I definitely am on the field at times like thinking about all of these things knowing the kind of impact but then in the same way, I'm just free and doing whatever.</s>COOPER: But you're aware -- because, you know, if --</s>RAPINOE: Yes, I'm aware.</s>COOPER: -- if you hadn't won, there would have --</s>RAPINOE: Yes.</s>COOPER: -- been a whole other sort of reaction and blowback and --</s>RAPINOE: Yes.</s>COOPER: -- you know, who knows what coming out of Washington.</s>RAPINOE: Right. Yes, no, I'm very aware of that. I'm aware of not only sort of my position within the team, but the team and just all of the media and how everything affects each other. I just -- I think I sort of naturally just kind of feel that and have a kind of go with the flow attitude but, yes, I'm aware that this was a huge win for us in many ways.</s>COOPER: I want to ask about the stance that you famously do. And what do you call -- is there a name for that?</s>RAPINOE: I don't know.</s>COOPER: Because that was the subject of a lot of discussion. I'm wondering if there was a particular -- where that came from. Is there a name for it?</s>RAPINOE: I don't know where it came from and it just felt -- I felt the team had so much pressure on it and obviously, individually, we each have that pressure but more so as a team. And it was just like this like moment -- and it wasn't an "f" you moment at all. It was a moment, I think, for everyone to celebrate through that. Like, you're not going to take our joy from anything. And it was just this, like, we have arrived, sort of.</s>COOPER: That's the message?</s>RAPINOE: Something like that, yes. Like, are you not entertained by all of this? Like, the circus is here and we're here for it.</s>COOPER: It is a sort of very like circus entertainer --</s>RAPINOE: Yes.</s>COOPER: -- sort of in the center ring. As far as I know, there is not an invitation from the president to the White House. He had said later on, well, you know, he'd criticized you but said that win or lose that -- he'd said that you should win before you talk and that win or lose, your team would be invited. There hasn't been an invitation publicly yet. Would you go, would your teammates go?</s>RAPINOE: I would not go and every teammate that I've talked to explicitly about it would not go.</s>COOPER: Everyone that you've talked to?</s>RAPINOE: Everyone that I've talked to, yes. I don't think anyone on the team has any interest in lending the platform that we've worked so hard to build and the things that we fight for and the way that we live our life, I don't think that we want that to be coopted or corrupted by this administration.</s>COOPER: And going to the White House would be, in your opinion, risk coopting or corrupting your message?</s>RAPINOE: Yes, I think so. I think it's an opportunity for this administration to sort of put us on display as their, you know, sort of guest for the day. And I don't think that that makes sense for us at all. I can't imagine any one of my teammates would want to be put in that position. There's so many other people that I would rather talk to and have, you know, meaningful conversations that could really affect change in Washington than going to the White House.</s>COOPER: There's a good chance the president is watching this interview or will watch this interview. What is your message to the president?</s>RAPINOE: Message to the president. I think that I would say that your message is excluding people. You're excluding me. You're excluding people that look like me. You're excluding people of color. You're excluding, you know, Americans that maybe support you. I think that we need to have a reckoning with the message that you have and what you're saying about make America great again. I think that you're harking back to an era that was not great for everyone. It might have been great for a few people and maybe America is great for a few people right now but it's not great for enough Americans in this world. And I think that we have a responsibility each and every one of us. You have an incredible responsibility as, you know, the chief of this country to take care of every single person. And you need to do better for everyone.</s>COOPER: The idea of make America great again if it means going back to an America from the '40s or '50s, that's an America where you could be imprisoned for being gay. Where you could be sent by your family to a mental hospital where you could not walk down the street holding hands with your loved one or I could not walk down the street or go dancing or anything.</s>RAPINOE: Yes.</s>COOPER: It's interesting how different people view things through a very personal lens. And as you said, maybe don't walk in the shoes of other people who, you know, did not have rights in a past America.</s>RAPINOE: Yes, it was not a great place for a lot of people. It was a very oppressive place. And that's not to say that it was the worst place in the world. I think that's one of the things that a lot of people go to. No one's saying that they want to leave America. But I think as one of the great countries in the world and for sure we want to see ourselves as that, we need to constantly look within and challenge ourselves to be better so everyone else can be better around us.</s>COOPER: Do you -- I know you've been invited by, I think, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I think Nancy Pelosi.</s>RAPINOE: Shout out</s>AOC. COOPER: So is that an invitation you're taking up? Nancy Pelosi had said, you know, you're -- you'd be welcome to a bipartisan congressional thing. Do you plan on going to Washington in one way or another?</s>RAPINOE: Yes, definitely. And I think even just the conversations with the teammates that I've had, I think everyone is interested in going to Washington. I think we've always been interested in going to Washington. This is such a special moment for us. And to be able to, you know, sort of leverage this moment and talk about the things that we want to talk about and to celebrate like this with the leaders of our country is an incredible moment. So, yes to AOC. Yes to Nancy Pelosi. Yes to the bipartisan Congress. Yes to Chuck Schumer. Yes to anyone else that wants to invite us and have a real substantive conversation and that believe in the same things that we believe in.</s>BERMAN: A fascinating discussion with Megan Rapinoe. And there is more of that as well. But the breaking news, the British ambassador to the United States has just resigned, forced out essentially by President Trump after he criticized President Trump. We're expecting to hear from the White House for the first time. You're looking at live pictures. Stay with us.