Ticker Tape Parade for Womens World Cup Soccer Team.
BOLDUAN: Right now, look at the live pictures of World Cup champs. They're making their way along Manhattan's legendary Canyon of Heroes. New York is honoring them with a giant ticker-tape parade for their huge victory last week over Japan.</s>BERMAN: And it is so well deserved for these 23 athletes who really set the entire world on fire. We will talk about this as long as we humanly can. Joining us right now inside the crowd, CNN's Poppy Harlow. We're joined in studio by soccer writer, Greg Lawless, the editor-in-chief of MLSsoccer.com. We're also joined by one of the greatest soccer players in the history of the United States of America, two-time World Cup champion and FIFA player of the century, Michelle Akers. Thank you all for being with us. We're going to go first to Poppy, who is in the crowd right now amidst the celebrations -- Poppy.</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bolduan, Berman, I think you're a little jealous of my assignment today. I definitely have the best one of the day. I'm here with soccer players, Donna, Jess, Jamie, and Tara. You made it to the New York state cup, right?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.</s>HARLOW: They are beyond thrilled to be here. It is historic and good timing on your show's part because we have the parade coming up right here. This is historic. The fact that finally, finally a women's sports team is being honored here in this Canyon of Heroes as it is called. What does this mean for you to see the team win and to see them honored like this?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It means a lot because now the women's soccer is getting more recognized more than the men's.</s>HARLOW: As it should.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.</s>VALENCIA: As it should. What about for you? What does today mean?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was really excited. And we are face timing each other all day, all week. We were really excited for today.</s>HARLOW: John, One of the women we talked to here, a 20-year-old, said it means so much she grew up and lives in a country that women athletes are honored the way they should be. I will let you listen in for a minute as they come. New York City Police Department, the brass band ahead of these girls. It has been a long stretch. 16 years since 1999 when they had the big win. One of the players, Christi Rampon, winning the World Cup in 1999 and then again in 2015. A historic moment. We're all proud to be here -- John?</s>BERMAN: We're all proud to be watching.</s>BOLDUAN: Absolutely.</s>BERMAN: A wonderful, wonderful setting.</s>BOLDUAN: We will keep looking at these awesome live pictures of this parade going through lower Manhattan. But as we watch this and we listen to the crowd and listen to the little girls voices talking with such excitement about it, Michelle, I want to bring you in. Obviously you were on two awesome teams. I'm going to use the word awesome as many times as I can in this segment because I don't get to very often. In the '91 and '99 teams. What does this mean for you as an amazing soccer player yourself and seeing this kind of recognition for such a great team?</s>MICHELLE AKERS, WORLD CUP SOCCER CHAMPION: Crazy good. I was thinking about it today. Well, as they're getting ready for the ticker-tape parade, I'm cleaning stalls in my barn, so that's what the gold medal does for me these days. But I'm thinking about, what does all this mean, because it's really like overwhelming to -- for me it's overwhelming to see them win and the response and now this parade. I mean, it's just one thing after another. Things are getting talked about. I'm celebrating this team. They have earned this. It's been a long haul and they have been working and working and finally did it. So proud of this team. I'm proud to be an American. My little boy, he's 10, his name is Cody. I keep thinking about, gosh, you know, he's watching this team because we were up there. We watched the final in Vancouver. He's known my career kind of. And he watched the team and he's never known a world without women being amazing athlete it's, having full stadiums, being on TV. So that fills me with gratitude. So I want to say thank you to the team for this. And then it's kind of weird because I feel like I'm part of the team. But then, you know, I'm in my barn by myself cleaning up stalls. So it's kind of all this mixed stuff but I can't stop smiling. I'm so proud. I'm just so proud. Very exciting.</s>BERMAN: We can't stop smiling either. And you are a part of the team. You're part of the heritage of that team. They would not be there on those floats if not for you and the work you did. You're talking about your son. I have 8-year-old twin boys who pretend they're these women's World Cup players. They don't know there's never been a parade down the Canyon of Heroes was a women's team. It would never occur to them. Michelle was saying, Greg, this means something. I think it means an awful lot. This means that to an extent sports fans in America and our culture in America has changed a lot. Not completely, but a lot.</s>GREG LAWLESS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, MLSSOCCER.COM: I think this is a huge moment. You know, not just for women's soccer but soccer in general because I don't know of a ticker-tape parade for soccer at all anywhere around. So I think about it, I have watched them growing up in Europe when teams would have a championship and they would get that ticker-tape parade, about you now we're seeing it for soccer here and it's amazing to see what this team did to bring this entire nation together not just for women's soccer but soccer all around. And, Michelle, you are part of this team. You will always be part of this team. You're a part of our memory and our history of this game. Don't think you're not part of it.</s>AKERS: Oh, thank you. I do. I do. I know -- you know, my heart is there. My heart was on the field and having heart attacks throughout the World Cup, and now it's overflowing with joy. I know, but it's funny to me. I feel like, man, if I could just share a beer with them and then I might be good. You know what I mean?</s>BOLDUAN: That would be fun for all of us.</s>AKERS: It would be -- yeah. I do feel part of it but it's a funny separation that I'm just -- like I just kind of dawned on me this morning. But I'm just so -- this is amazing and you're right about celebrating soccer and it kind of -- it hurts me a little bit when people say, yeah, this is great for women's soccer because they deserve it and the men don't. Well, no, that's not right to me. I think it's great soccer. The men's victories are the womens' victories and vice versa. We all want the same thing. They all blend in together to reach this goal to be the best in the world.