World cup. Something tells me that point of view is still not going to change. Cnn sports anchor amanda davis joining me right now. She was inside the stadium and she joins me now from leon, france. All right, what an incredible, electrifying moment. There have been so many moments along the way but todays win was really something else. You saw it all. Reporter indeed, fredricka. Youre talking about electrifying moments. We have just had a pretty spectacular thunderstorm here in leon, and i have to tell you it hasnt dampened the spirit of the fans who i can still hear. I can see just to the side of me leaving the stadium, flags waving, chanting, celebrating the success, because that is the way to make history. Of course this is a u. S. Side that becomes just the second team to successfully defend the womens world cup crown. They have now won four out of eight editions of this tournament. I have to tell you they didnt have it all their own way inside the stadium. There had been overwhelming favorites, but the dutch did give them a real run for their money, particularly in the opening stages. There were a few nervous faces around me as we got past that 12minute mark because all the matches up to todays final, the u. S. Had scored at least one goal in the opening 12 minutes. But the dutch really were giving it their all and it took until just on the hour mark, the 67th the 62nd minute for who else, but captain fantastic, Megan Rapinoe to step up and break the deadlock from the penalty spot to score her sixth goal in five matches this tournament. That goal actually confirming her as the tournaments top scorer. She not only goes home with a second world cup crown individually but also the golden boot award. It was one of the young stars, rose lavell, who scored the second goal. But what a way to dominate the womens game. Over the course of the last few weeks this team has scored 24 goals. That is more than any other side in the course of a womens world cup tournament. They conceded just three. In fact they have only lost one game in 45 matches dating all the way back to 2017. They have without doubt confirmed their status as the top ranked side in the world. Fredricka, we know for some long its been the team of 99, the 99ers who have been heralded as the benchmark, the side that really took womens soccer to the next level. This team collected their trophies today on the pitch already wearing tshirts with the number 19 emblazened on the back and you strongly suspect that this is the side that will now be used as the next benchmark for years to come. Amanda, i wonder have we heard from any number of the players, whether its Megan Rapinoe or anyone else who was saying really what this win means . Because everyone else is trying to kind of calculate what it means to the game of sport, mens and womens, what it means for young, aspiring athletes. But what does it mean for them as individuals or even collectively as a team . Reporter well, weve heard from the coach, jill ellis. She said she was struggling to put it into words. The only thing she could say to her Team Immediately afterwards was enjoy this moment. This is your moment of history. And it really is. This is a side that all the way through the tournament have been talking about they were winners. That theyre not just footballers, theyre not just here to win trophies, theyre also here to make a bigger impact until terms of social change. Weve heard from Megan Rapinoe talking about not wanting to go to the white house. Weve talked about weve heard from alex morgan talking about how she just wants to inspire the next generation to leave the game in a better state than when she entered it, to really spread the path, to start the journey for more and more girls to get into this game, which is growing all the time. That the targets for this tournament that had been set were immense, they were insane in terms of Record Television audiences, in terms of record ticket sales. They have hit all of those targets. There are more eyeballs on this game, on these players, on this team than ever before, and now its about taking this moment, this momentum and moving it forward. Amanda davies, thank you so much. That positions us to talk about meaning and the measurement of meaning particularly for this team usa because we know these women have been lobbying for equal pay, leveling the Playing Field on so many ways. So Patrick Snell is with me now. This catapults that effort, that lawsuit, so that there is equal pay. Right. To this effort, to this celebrity, to how it has galvanized the sport overall. Absolutely right, fred. What were seeing is the u. S. Womens National Team looking to strike while the iron is hot. Never has that position been more powerful than just winning a fourth womens world cup title as they did earlier today. This is a story thats been in the pipeline for the last three or four years now. What we did get with these reports of a session of mediation on slate in the dye, if you like, for after the world cup is over. Thats agreed upon now. This is the time. We do have a statement actually from a spokeswoman representing the players. Ill put it out now. At this moment of tremendous pride for america, the sad equation remains all too clear and americans wont stand for it anymore. These athletes generate more revenue and garner higher tv ratings but get paid less simply because they are women. It is time for the federation to correct this disparity once and for all. And this is the beef here. Earlier we had 28 members of the usa squad named as plaintiffs in this case. Its quite simply the gripe that they are consistently paid more like their male counterparts. Were fourtime champions of the world. Our male counterparts havent won that tournament once. That is a gripe to them. When you look at the womens game in general, fred, we had an announcement from the fifa president looking at the overall prize part for the womens world cup. Hes going to double it from 30 million to 60 million. Not now, but later. Right. But even when it does get to 60 million, you look at the mens world cup, which is slated for around the 400 million mark. That kind of speaks volumes, i think. I wonder if there is anything to a potential argument of making that the case. If theres that push, then why not retroactively. This already is astounding. Half of the tournaments played and half they have won as champions, times four. So i think there will be another argument of why wait. What more does there need to be proven. It is a really, really strong bargaining point. Thats what i said earlier, striking while the iron is hot. Four times champions of the world. The most dominant force in u. S. Womens world cup history. They have a squad that could have won a couple of times over. Theyre in a strong position. Congratulations again to team usa, what a performance. Big time and they have won so many hearts. If you were a soccer or football fan before, you were in their camp. If you werent before, now suddenly you have piqued interest in this sport, in these women and in these champions. Its been that entertaining. And i want to just pick up from something earlier in the week. We had the semifinal between the United States and my home nation, england. That one actually garnering 7 Million Viewers for the semifinal. Back in the uk they had record viewing figures for a world cup game in that country as well. Around the 11 million mark the argument is very powerful for what this u. S. Womens National Team is pushing for. Patrick snell, thank you so much for bringing it to us. Still ahead, former Vice President joe biden did something many had been calling for him to do for weeks, apologizing for his comments on segregationists. So how are his 2020 competitors reacting to that today . I always wanted to speak french but i never had the time and then i tried babbel. [announcer] babbel, the number one selling language learning app in the world. Youre learning phrases that you can use right away in real life conversations. After just four weeks i was feeling confident enough to have simple conversations in french. speaking in french language now im speaking french. Babbel, the quick way to get conversational in a new language. Try babbel free today, go to babbel. Com or download the app. Stimulant laxatives forcefully stimulate i switched to miralax for my constipation. The nerves in your colon. Miralax works with the water in your body to unblock your system naturally. And it doesnt cause bloating, cramping, gas, or sudden urgency. Miralax. Look for the pink cap. Welcome back. An apology, something joe bidens rivals have been calling on him to do for weeks now. At issue, his recent comments about working with segregationists in the past, in the senate in the 1970s. Now the democratic frontrunner is addressing the controversial remarks saying he regrets making them. Was i wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression to people that i was praising those men who i successfully opposed time and again . Yes, i was. I regret it. Im sorry for any of the pain or misconception it may have caused anybody. Fellow Democratic Candidates are responding, including senator cory booker. Im frustrated that it took so long, but im grateful for him doing this, and we should all i mean we cant have a culture where we cant have a leader that cant stand up and say im imperfect, ive made mistakes and i apologize. So im sorry that we had to go through this. Im sorry that at one point he tried to shift blame to me, but im grateful. We need to extend grace to each other and im never going to not accept somebody that i respect and admire that finally has come to terms with this and has apologized. Arlette saenz and kyung lah are following the development. We heard how biden addressed it and whats the reception like beyond cory booker . Reporter well, fred, this is really a rare apology that youre hearing from joe biden. These are comments that he made about working with segregationist senators decades ago. He made them a little less than three weeks ago but he had been in this defensive posture and hadnt expressed remorse for those comments until yesterday, despite facing criticism for his opponents like cory booker and senator Kamala Harris for his remarks working with segregationists. A short while ago i asked biden why it took him so long, why it took nearly three weeks for him to apologize after he faced all this criticism. Take a listen to what he had to tell me a few minutes ago. But the fact of the matter is thats why i chose here in South Carolina and chose an audience that in fact would be the most likely to have been offended by anything that was said. Reporter so biden had said that he felt like this was the opportunity to explain himself in a more fullsome way and that he wanted to do it in front of an audience here in South Carolina which was primarily made up of africanamerican voters. Biden is here in the state for two days trying to court that key constituency when he has a significant amount of support with. Biden was also asked about senator Kamala Harris point out they still have some differences despite this apology he gave yesterday. What biden tried to do, he said, yes, we do have differences and pointed out they have differences on health care. So its very clear that biden is ready to turn the page away from this controversy that hes been facing about criticism of his approach to racerelated issues recently. Fred. We heard from senator booker there. Youve been following Kamala Harris across the country, but is there a sense now that hes apologized for the way in which he characterized and talked about reflecting on his work back in the 70s that this issue is now over and everyone else is moving on, or what . Well, in her comments to reporters, and she spoke with us just before she held the event here at this church. Shes in darlington county, South Carolina. She is also in this state. She is focusing on these communities where these talking about bread and butter issues, increasing access to broadband, trying to raise wages and cracking down on payday lenders. But she did respond to a number of questions. A lot of reporters had questions about what she thought of joe bidens apology. You may recall shes the one who had that breakout moment about talking about how hurtful she felt those words were biden said about working with segregationist senators. Heres what she said. Well, he said hes sorry. Im going to take him at his word. But again that doesnt address the issue of busing in america. We have to we cannot rewrite history about what segregationists were doing at that time on a number of issues, including opposing busing. Reporter and when i followed up asking her, well, it did take him three weeks. What do you think about how long it took for him to apologize . She said she was accepting the apology. She heard it, but she returned to that comment that you cant rewrite history. Fredricka. All right, kyung lah, arlette saenz, well leave it there for now. Lets talk it over with a few more people. Cnn political contributor jewel yan zelzer and jay small. Jay, you first. Will this apology sufsuffice . I think it had been put to rest before the apology and bid biden came back and gave it legs. I hadnt seen a lot of people wanting him to apologize and in fact him and Kamala Harris had the same position on busing, that they supported voluntary busing. The biden people said we thought the fact that they really held the same position did turn the page and he brought it up and gave it extra legs by apologizing this time around. Julian, how do you see it . Well, i think with biden, he has a long record and i think people will come back to that record. So on busing, on reproductive rights, on financial issues, youll hear the candidates keep coming after him both asking is he the boast electable but also what does his record say about what he would do as president . So it did die down. I think these issues are going to come back. His record on busing was more significant probably than the actual comments. Let me ask you about this gauge of electability. A New Washington post poll asked voters who they would vote for if election were today. Biden, leading the pack with the others neck in neck with trump. And so, jay, even though the president s Approval Rating is the highest its been during his presidency, that same poll is showing that its biden over trump. And thats really been the sort of case for kamala and the others in the field to make as to why they should vote for other candidates besides biden when so many people look to biden as electable. He is the person that can beat donald trump and appeal to those blue collar areas where they lost a lot of votes in the rust belt, like pennsylvania, for example, wisconsin, michigan, and win back those states in order to actually win the presidency. And so they have to convince not just the voters overall but particularly africanamerican voters that biden isnt the person to do this. That they are electable and can beat donald trump. That same poll says there is room for President Trump to win that second term. Oh, absolutely. We always have to remember this is an incumbent president with a Strong Economy and a united republican party. Incumbents have generally won reelection since herbert hoover. So that record is there. With biden i think its true, but were still far away from iowa. Early polls are early polls. But now the question will change as he debates and as he campaigns. Thats where there will be moments of vulnerability for harris or buttigieg or any other candidates to challenge that perception. Jay, does it appear as though many of the candidates came out saying their target is trump. Instead, among many the targets have been each other, and so is that kind of taking the eye off the ball . Is that potentially damaging as they try to, you know, sort the order among 23 Democratic Candidates . I think, look, youve got to somehow narrow this field and youve got to really begin to focus on a handful of candidates so we can really get to know those candidates. Weve had four hours of debates but with 23 candidates weve hardly had more than 10 or 15 minutes of hearing each individual overall. Getting to know these candidates is going to be a challenge with a large field. What some of the candidates are trying to do is narrow that field by knocking out the weaker candidates or weakening the frontrunner in order to bolster their own case. I think what the Democratic Party worries about is are you weakening the frontrunner, a frontrunner for a general election contest against donald trump. I think that remains to be seen. Well leave it there for now. Jay newtonsmall, julian zelzer, always good to see you both. Thank you. Cnn is hosting the next democratic debate july 30th and 31st live from detroit. Coming up, what does congress think about all of this . Ill talk with congresswoman Debbie Dingell about that and more, next. I felt i couldnt be at my best wifor my family. C, in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured and left those doubts behind. I faced reminders of my hep c every day. But in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. 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