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Prince Ali on FIFA Scandal; The Dark Side of the NFL; Imagine a World. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 01, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST (voice-over): Tonight: why Sepp Blatter must go. My exclusive interview with the man who challenged him for FIFA's

top job, Jordan's Prince Ali bin al-Hussein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE ALI BIN HUSSEIN OF JORDAN: .obviously if I was in Sepp Blatter's position, I would have immediately resigned and probably more so ages ago

because, at the end of the day, this happened under his watch.

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AMANPOUR (voice-over): Plus the other football and the high price of success: why one of the NFL's most promising young players walked away

from the game.

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AMANPOUR: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour, reporting from New York this week.

The United States and the Swiss probes into foul play by FIFA continue and more charges are likely, say authorities, perhaps even five times elected

FIFA Sepp Blatter will be questioned about what the U.S. attorney general calls, quote, "deep rooted corruption within FIFA," akin to previous

investigations, she says, into Mafia activity.

Blatter himself has defiantly thrown down the gauntlet, accusing the U.S. and Britain of waging a hate campaign against him.

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SEPP BLATTER, FIFA HEAD (through translator): The Americans were candidates to host World Cup in 2022; they lost it. The English were

candidates to host World Cup in 2018 and they lost it. It's just with the English media and the Americans' current outlook, they are all targeting

FIFA.

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AMANPOUR: So is it just sour grapes? The pressure's certainly mounting. Heather Rabbatts, one of the directors of Britain's Football Association,

today resigned from FIFA's anti-discrimination task force, saying, quote, "it is unacceptable that so little has been done to reform the

organization."

While Prince William, the head of the FA this weekend, called on major sponsors to do their part for reform and other senior officials are calling

for a World Cup boycott.

Blatter's main challenger was Jordanian Prince Ali bin al-Hussein. Indeed, he prevented Blatter from winning outright in the first round of voting

before he then withdrew.

All along Prince Ali has said that dignity needs to be restored to the beautiful game. He joined me exclusively from Amman a short while ago and

he told me that if he was Blatter, he would have stepped down immediately after last week's indictments were handed down.

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AMANPOUR: Prince Ali, welcome back to the program.

HUSSEIN: Thank you so much, Christiane. It's a pleasure to be back with you.

AMANPOUR: Let me start out by asking you how disappointed are you, how surprised are you, that you didn't win and Sepp Blatter did?

HUSSEIN: You know, I stood for change. And I stood with many brave people, including Michael von Prague (ph), Luis Siegel (ph) and others who

really wanted that, it was never about me as a -- for -- to be a president.

Disappointed? I'm not. It was a democratic process. I think that they led a very savvy campaign, especially in the last few days.

But at the end of the day I think that I'm very proud to have been part of a movement for change and to open the door for that to happen.

AMANPOUR: Well, will it happen?

When we last talked you said that this game needs to have its dignity restored and FIFA does especially and that there was a sort of

acknowledgement within the high levels of FIFA that it is time for change.

And yet there has been no change.

HUSSEIN: Well, I think there will be. I think it's a process and I'm there and I'm committed to continue that process for the benefit of

football.

Football is for the world. And there is a big demand for change and progress.

AMANPOUR: Let me ask you -- we'll get to these criminal investigations in a moment.

But first and foremost, the fallout obviously continues. You've got a call potentially by UEFA to split off and try to do its own thing if that

happens.

You have Prince William of Great Britain saying that it is time for the game to reform and for sponsors to do their share. And you even have calls

from Britain to perhaps even boycott the next World Cup.

What do you think of all those?

HUSSEIN: Well, obviously I think that everybody is very, very concerned about FIFA and the way that it's going. Obviously I'm the first person who

went out and tried to make a change with that. And I will continue to do so.

For sure, there are many, many problems but I think that we need to

[14:05:00] salvage what has happened and we need to take it in a positive direction.

Unity in this organization is very important but we need to unify in a good way, in a progressive way. And I'm committed to doing that.

AMANPOUR: How do you see that?

Because let's face it, this is an organization now that has twin criminal probes and investigations into it.

Senior people have been arrested; senior charges, very serious charges have been leveled. The U.S. attorney general has even called it something

like a criminal enterprise, allegations thereof, and akin to Mafia investigations.

This is really serious now.

How does FIFA get out of it?

And -- this is a double-headed question -- does Sepp Blatter serve out his next full term?

HUSSEIN: Well, look, I cannot answer that question. I think Sepp Blatter has to answer that. He was reelected.

But he's responsible. And I hope that at some stage he actually does take responsibility for actions because he is the president of a governing body

of the most popular sport in the world.

The main critical problem is that there is such a loss of confidence in this organization. And it's a real pity that it's being dragged on in this

way.

AMANPOUR: There are those who say that he cannot survive if the money starts to seep away in a big way. You've already heard of some sponsors

say they might reconsider their position and some have said it's no longer about the reputation of some of these sponsors associated with this

organization now.

But actually they also could be implicated in the investigations that are going on.

So do you think that sponsors, as Prince William has said, need to reconsider their sponsorship of FIFA under the current circumstances?

Coca-Cola and all the others.

HUSSEIN: Unfortunately, even our national associations, they have all suffered under this situation of present leadership because FIFA acts in a

way sort of like a company rather than a service organization, which it is. It's supposed to be a non-profit and also they sort of drip feed the aid to

countries, but without helping them and giving them the dignity and helping them progress in the world of football.

And I think that you know eventually the only way forward is to have a real change as a collective. It was never about one person and it should never

be about one person.

AMANPOUR: Of course, it is about one person, because this is the person at the head of the organization that so many people now say has, at the very

least, responsibility for what's happening in the organization.

Were you surprised by the indictments last Wednesday?

Do you think Sepp Blatter should have immediately resigned?

HUSSEIN: Well, I was obviously totally surprised. And I think it's sad for the world of football because there are so many great people out there,

working for the benefit of this sport. But for sure. If -- obviously if I was in Sepp Blatter's position, I would have immediately resigned and

probably more so ages ago because, at the end of the day, this happened under his watch.

AMANPOUR: And what do you think, as you say, it happened under his watch, what do you think about his defiance in the face of these indictments?

He's called it "a little storm, not a hurricane," but more than that, he's called it a hate campaign by the West, by the United States and Britain,

sour grapes almost.

HUSSEIN: Yes. I think that that's sort of rather ridiculous. And this kind of politicking is, again, one of the things that is really damaging

for the sport as a whole. And it's a real shame that that's happening.

AMANPOUR: And just as you look forward to the continuing investigation of potentially more charges, potentially Sepp Blatter himself being

questioned, do you think there is, at this moment, a risk or a chance that the World Cups will not be played in either Qatar or Russia in 2018 and

2022?

HUSSEIN: We have to wait for what comes out of these investigations. It's unfortunate that it came to this. And I think that, you know, obviously

everybody has the right to host the World Cup wherever they come from in the world.

But they have to have and respect the basic needs of people and especially in human rights and give dignity to people all over the world. It's a

responsibility.

AMANPOUR: Prince Ali, thank you very much for joining us tonight.

HUSSEIN: Thank you so much. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Prince Ali also told me that he is sticking with his nation's football association and will keep pushing for FIFA reforms.

And after a break, we turn from soccer to football and the life-and-death challenges in America's favorite game. I'll speak to a top player who

walked off the field to save his life.

But first, a soccer moment from Russia and teams then at St. Petersburg celebrating winning Russia's

[14:10:00] National League in traditional Russian regalia rather unorthodox fashion. But there is nothing tongue-in-cheek about Russia's hopes to

still host the 2018 World Cup.

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AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.

And now we turn from football to football, the American kind, where the ball is actually tossed around, not kicked. Trouble in America's favorite

sport has been brewing for years and a particularly macabre suicide four years ago put it further into focus.

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AMANPOUR (voice-over): David Duson was a star, a two-time Super Bowl champion. But when he shot himself long after he retired, he did it with

purpose, taking aim at his chest, not at his head, because, as he would write in his suicide note, his brain was to be a medical specimen to be

studied.

After years on the field, taking direct hits to the head from truck-sized men, he suspected traumatic brain injury. And a dissection would later

prove him right.

So perhaps what my next guest has done is understandable if highly unusual. Twenty-four-year-old rookie Chris Borland, a linebacker with the San

Francisco 49ers, shocked the world of American sports when he announced recently that he is walking away from an extremely lucrative career after

playing just a single season.

The risk of permanent damage, he said, was just too high. And Chris Borland joins me now along with Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist, who's

established a direct link between the sport and brain trauma.

Thank you both for joining me on this incredibly important topic.

And let me go straight to you, Chris Borland. You know, dollars and cents mean a lot, as we've seen in the FIFA scandal and we know in the NFL and in

all other major sports.

How much are you giving up?

CHRIS BORLAND, FORMER NFL LINEBACKER: Well, immediately I'm returning three-fourths of my signing bonus, which is around $450,000 and the

remainder of my contracts. Contracts in the NFL aren't guaranteed. But I won't get years two, three and four. So around $1 million.

AMANPOUR: So that is a lot for any normal mortal to give up.

Why are you doing it?

I know we've explained that it's because of injury but in your own words, what was so terrifying to you?

Well, I think the potential of long-term health effects, traumatic brain injury and the onslaught of things that come from that. And it's not as I

just began my career. I'd been playing for 10 years. It was my first year in the pros but certainly endured some things in college and high

school that would contribute to some things down the road.

AMANPOUR: So did you feel any strangeness, any abnormalities yourself?

BORLAND: No, I feel largely healthy and the same as I ever have. I have had concussions. I have

[14:15:00] played through concussions but to me it's a proactive decision. I want to be -- live a long, healthy life and I'm confident I can do that.

AMANPOUR: Let me move on to Dr. Ann McKee there in Boston.

You have been studying this for a long, long time.

Were you surprised, A, by Chris' decision and give me a sense of the statistics that you are finding.

DR. ANN MCKEE, NEUROPATHOLOGIST: Well, I was surprised by Chris' decision, but I'm -- I applaud him. I think he's done something to really protect

himself from what could be some very severe consequences. Of course we don't know actually what risks -- what the exact risks are that he faces.

But in our work at the V.A. Boston and Boston University Brain Banks, we have now evaluated 87 NFL players. And 84 of those NFL players have been

positive for CTE. So it's a biased study; it's a -- there's a skew to the study. But still those are very frightening statistics and we've seen so

many stories of families who've endured years of hardship with difficulties, behavioral, aggressive, impulsive difficulties from players.

So I applaud his decision.

AMANPOUR: You talk about these incredible statistics and you've mentioned this unbelievably high percentage. You've also said that 101 of 128

deceased football players did test positive for CTE, which is that degenerative brain disease. That's the source from Boston University's

Alzheimer's Disease Center.

It is -- I mean, you say we don't know exactly. But how much more work needs to be done to definitively prove this link?

MCKEE: Well, it's -- what we need to be able to do is understand the risks. And we know that some individuals are particularly susceptible to

this disease and some people are relatively resistant. And understanding what modifies people's risks -- some people may have only a short amount of

head trauma and they develop this disease; others substantial exposure to head trauma and don't develop the disease.

So what distinguishes those two populations?

What we can't -- we're not in a position at this point with the exact statistics to be able to say with certainty what the chances are a specific

person will get this disease. But more and more we're seeing that the longer you play football and the higher the level that you play football,

the more likely you are to get this disease. And now we're also seeing some information that maybe when you start playing football may have an

influence on this disease, too. So those are all the factors that are going to require a lot more study.

AMANPOUR: And obviously so many people are having to deal with this -- parents, as to when they start their kids playing football and the NFL and

the leagues in the United States.

Chris, what was the reaction inside your team and in the greater sort of NFL community when you decided to walk away?

Any backlash? Any sympathy?

BORLAND: Well, I think initially everyone was surprised. But I've been pleasantly surprised myself at how positive the reaction's been. I think a

lot of times there's a huge disconnect between those in the game and fans. Not many people experience football at its highest level. And so from

within, I think a lot of guys say, yes, I understand where you're coming from, although they were surprised, they know what it takes to be

successful at that level and the support's been incredible, really.

AMANPOUR: What do you think? I mean, when you play this out, both of you, when you play this out and you see more of this kind of results, the

scientific results, you see what you've done. You read about these tragic suicides and the very deliberate suicide of Duson there, do -- does it look

like, you know, football as a massive American pastime and a hugely lucrative business, is going to sort of eventually kind of fall by the

wayside?

Chris?

BORLAND: You know I don't see it falling by the wayside anytime soon. It's immensely popular. It's woven into the fabric of our culture. What I

do see happening is taking measures to make it slightly safer. I don't think you'll ever make football entirely safe. The point of the game is

violence. However, I think there are measures we can take, number one, just information to empower parents and kids who are playing the game to,

you know, perhaps wait and then I would encourage them to not play through concussions. It's a small measure we can take immediately that will go a

long way in helping protect people.

AMANPOUR: Wow. And such an important measure, the notion that anyone would play through concussion, do you see a lot of that?

BORLAND: You do. At the highest level, I can speak to the fact that, yes, guys are highly disincentivized to report concussions. There's a lot of

money at stake.

[14:20:00] A position on an NFL roster is extremely valuable and a lot of guys would knowingly continue to do -- to play football and to take on the

risks and play through concussions. So yes, it's commonplace in the NFL environment.

AMANPOUR: Dr. McKee, from your perspective, you're doing the science obviously.

But what do you advise the NFL or parents?

And give me a sense of in your sort of research what age are you seeing these troubles starting from?

MCKEE: Well, in our research, the age that we're starting to see trouble is actually from high school players. So we've found the earliest stages

of this disease, even in individuals who've only played at the high school level. So I would urge all individuals -- parents, coaches, the NFL, any

other football leagues -- to really take head injury quite seriously. I know they have and they've made a lot of changes. But we need to continue

to try to get head injury out of the sport as much as possible, get those subconcussive blows, the blows that don't even rise to the level of

symptoms, out of the play of the game and then when a person does have a concussion or suffers one of these mild traumatic brain injuries to get

them off the field, evaluate them and make sure they're in fully, entirely recovered before they go back in.

And that's probably the single most important thing they can do, recover before you go back in. Because that's where we see the danger area, this

vulnerability after the injury.

AMANPOUR: And Chris, you know, even President Obama has said, you know, when all this news came out that, you know, probably if he had a son, he

would most likely not want him or not let him play football. And yet, as you know, it's such a part of the American system, even down to trying to

get scholarships to university, et cetera.

Do you see this sort of -- I mean, I guess, given so much at stake, do you think the NFL and the big football organizations and teams will take this

seriously and actually put in place measures that could reduce injuries?

BORLAND: I think some of that's already going on. There's neurologists on the sidelines and there's better protocols. When I started playing

football, my freshman year of high school, it -- concussions weren't a huge part of our vernacular and you'd play through some dizziness or if you got,

what we would say, "dinged," however, I think that's changing at least a little bit. And that's a positive step.

I don't know if it can entirely change. But I think we're moving in the right direction.

AMANPOUR: Well, thank you so much. That incredibly important subject, Chris Borland and Dr. Ann McKee, thank you very much indeed.

And of course Dr. McKee has said she first started to study this in terms of boxing. It's something that affects many, many sports.

And after a break, we go from the American national sport to the top deck of a national monument here. Imagine a world reaching new heights

inhabited by New Yorkers. We'll explain after this.

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[14:25:55] AMANPOUR: And finally tonight, imagine a world rising from the ashes, standing taller than ever before. After years of political

wrangling, New York's Freedom Tower, built at the site of the Twin Towers that Al Qaeda demolished on 9/11, opened six months ago. But now the top

floors, the observatory deck, opens to the public for the very first time. At 1,776 feet tall, the building is the highest of its kind in the Western

Hemisphere. The observatory is expected to become one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city boasting skypods that show 500 years of New

York history.

But the floors below haven't proven so popular. More than a third of the office space remains empty. But as the musical goes, "On a clear day, you

can see forever," and that is surely the sight the 4 million people expected to visit the top every year hope to catch.

And that is it for our program tonight. But just before we go, we want to note that Monday, today, marks a very special anniversary here at CNN,

because 35 years ago, June 1st, the world's first 24-hour news network began broadcasting. And so we are celebrating.

For me, this all started in 1983 and it has been a remarkable, remarkable journey with the family at CNN to travel from the first Gulf War to the war

in the Balkans and to all the big issues that have really formed the history of our world in the last 35 years. It's been an incredible vantage

point and we hope an incredible service to all our viewers around the world.

And remember you can always see the whole show online at amanpour.com, and you can follow me on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for watching and

goodbye from New York.

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