and that s was where i retired and haven t stepped back on the platform since. ainsley: wow. i know they were trying to find dissolution solutions to this issue. i have been reading articles about it. they talked about maybe doing away with genders, maybe just whatever your ability is that s how compete against. maybe give people a handicap like they do in golf. what s your opinion? that s a bit ridiculous. an extreme sport where there are reasons for having a male and female category you can t just do away with categories. i looked at a lot of young athletes around us. 14 and 15-year-old boys lifting what our females lift that are, you know, these boys lighter weight category. it honorable nestle just knocks women out of sports. women are not going to want to participate where there is an opportunity for them to, you know, win medals or go to international competition.
to indicate his support of gay conversion therapy, and rippon, out as a figure skater, said he didn t want any part of it and said he had no interest in meeting with vice president pence at the olympics, which is customary for the u.s. athletes. what is the vice president s office now saying about all this? reporter: well, the vice president s office is disputing usa today s reporting that he was so disturbed by this article that he tried to set up a meeting with rippon, which rippon then denied. there s a tweet out from the v.p. s communications director. it reads, the usa today report is false and should be corrected. the vice president s office did not reach out to set up a conversation with mr. rippon. as we ve said before, the vice president is supporting all the u.s. athletes in the olympics and is hoping they all win medals. but, again, christine brennan, very well sourced, standing by her reporting, says there will not be a correction. it s not just the figure skater
u.s. athletes in the olympics and is hoping they all win medals. what do you think of the response? because again you stand by your reporting. absolutely. well, as i mentioned in the story, don, i have two sources. but there are more people who told me things, deeper detail with pence and his actions, reaching out to the u.s. olympic committee. but that was on such deep background the source didn t want to be mentioned as a source. we went with two. people were calling me. this is about one of the easiest stories i ve broken in a long time. i feel incredibly comfortable with the reporting. i believe it to be true. i wouldn t put it out if i did not, having done this a long time. the story is rock solid. that is the truth. it definitely happened. and obviously the vice president and his staff is disputing. they have every right to. but the story is accurate. thank you very much. i appreciate that kristine brennan in south korea. i want to bring in olympic diving medallist breaking t
united states delegation at the olympics given his track record of being unfriendly to the lgbt community. there was a statement up on a congressional website back in 2000 where some people perceived to indicate his support of gay conversion therapy, and rippon, out as a figure skater, said he didn t want any part of it and said he had no interest in meeting with vice president pence at the olympics, which is customary for the u.s. athletes. what is the vice president s office now saying about all this? reporter: well, the vice president s office is disputing usa today s reporting that he was so disturbed by this article that he tried to set up a meeting with rippon, which rippon then denied. there s a tweet out from the v.p. s communications director. it reads, the usa today report is false and should be corrected. the vice president s office did not reach out to set up a conversation with mr. rippon. as we ve said before, the vice president is supporting all the u.s. athletes
conversation with mr. rippon. as we have said before, the vice president is supporting all the u.s. athletes in the olympics and is hoping they all win medals. what do you think of the response? because again you stand by your reporting. absolutely. well, as i mentioned in the story, don, i have two sources. but there are more people who told me things, deeper detail with pence and his actions, reaching out to the u.s. olympic committee. but that was on such deep background the source didn t want to be mentioned as a source. we went with two. people were calling me. this is about one of the easiest stories i ve broken in a long time. i feel incredibly comfortable with the reporting. i believe it to be true. i wouldn t put it out if i did not, having done this a long time. the story is rock solid. that is the truth. it definitely happened. and obviously the vice president and his staff is disputing. they have every right to. but the story is accurate. thank you very much. i apprecia