Tiger Triumphs at Masters; Saudi Arabia among Arab States Backing Sudanese Military Government; Severe Storm Leaves Damage, Deaths in Southeastern U.S.
TIGER WOODS, PRO GOLFER: For them to see what it is like to have their dad win a major championship, I hope that is something they will never forget.</s>NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): They likely won't. Yes, he is back. Tiger Woods completes a remarkable comeback years in the making, winning the Masters once again.</s>CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The Sudan military leaders approaching top officials as protesters still crowd the streets, calling for a civilian government.</s>ALLEN (voice-over): Also ahead this hour, ISIS kidnapped this nurse more than five years ago and the Red Cross thinks she's still may be alive. Now they're making a public appeal to find her. These stories are ahead here. Thank you for joining us. Live from the CNN Center, I am Natalie Allen.</s>VANIER (voice-over): And I'm Cyril Vanier. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.</s>ALLEN: All right, we are starting with the world of golf for an obvious reason. Tiger Woods on top of the golf world once again after finishing his fifth Masters win and 15th major title.</s>VANIER: That is the first in 11 years and it is a fairy tale comeback for the most dominant player of his generation. The 43-year old has recovered from back problems and a high-profile divorce to reach this new milestone. Many are gushing over his comeback there, saying it is good for the game, was good for the game when he roared onto the scene many years ago. Woods admits this victory was special and unexpected.</s>WOODS: I think that -- I think the kids are starting to understand, you know, that -- how much this game means to me and some of the things I've done in the game. Prior to -- prior to this comeback, they only knew that golf caused me a lot of pain. If I tried to swing a club, I'd end up on the ground, and I struggled for years, and that's basically all they remember. Luckily, that I've had the procedure where that's no longer the case and I can do this again. So, you know, we're creating new memories for them and it's just very special.</s>VANIER: And guess who was there on hand in Augusta to see his triumph? CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan, it is such an honor to have you.</s>CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: -- still the dirt of Augusta on my shoes.</s>VANIER: Just made it back in the nick of time, thank you so much.</s>VANIER: How was it? Bring us to the moment it happened.</s>BRENNAN: This is one of the moments people they will remember where they were in terms of sports and even a cultural moment, because it is Tiger Woods, 43 years old and he hasn't won a major in 11 years. And a year ago he said he could not get off the couch to watch his kids play soccer. So it was electric and exciting. But of course there are so many contenders, all younger men and inspired by Tiger as they grew up as little boys, and they are all fighting to be him. One by one, as if the golf gods came down from the heavens and said, this will be the way it is, one by one they fell away, mistakes on par 3 12th and everyone going in one after another and all of a sudden the last man left standing, Tiger Woods.</s>ALLEN: And the crowds, the people that happened to go this year, can you just imagine.</s>ALLEN: -- this is the year that she went and they were there for this. And he had that typical stoic Tiger Woods look throughout. I think when he does this, is he going to jus lose it. And he did. You saw that smile and his arms came up, victory.</s>BRENNAN: Well, tremendous. Exactly, Natalie. And for those astute followers of golf, in 1997 Tiger Woods won first of his now five Masters and he was only 21. And at that Masters, exactly 22 years ago, he walked off into the arms of his father, his late father, who taught him the toughness of the game and said, you were born to be a champion. And now 22 years later, he is the father, walking into the arms of his son and daughter and mother and many friends. So the symmetry of circle there, I think was extraordinary and it added to the storyline and the crowd ate it up. They would still be out there cheering if they could they be.</s>VANIER: Because all these people know and I want to stress this --</s>VANIER: -- for the viewers who may not -- and you touched on this -- a couple of years ago he could not walk. It is not whether he can play golf but it is whether he can walk.</s>BRENNAN: Four back surgeries, the last was spinal fusion two years ago basically right now. And now was the last gasp effort. He was in so much trouble from the swinging so it was this or basically give up the game of golf. So spinal fusion and six months after that -- a year and a half ago -- that he could not get off the couch and he thought he might be done. As a journalist everyone would ask me, is he done? And I thought, you can never count Tiger Woods out. He is so talented and driven, if anyone can overcome this, it is Tiger Woods.</s>ALLEN: He has overcome all his issues, his divorce and all of that and then he had trouble with painkillers going through so much, he has been through a lot.</s>BRENNAN: Well, exactly.</s>BRENNAN: Less than two years ago that we saw that mug shot after his arrest on a DUI, which was the painkillers, presumably, when he was parked on the side of the road. That was Memorial Day weekend 2017. And I bet you anyone who saw that mug shot would never have thought this day would come. It is the power of comebacks and getting that second chance, never giving up, as Tiger Woods said. Also you mention personal problems, very public situation, where his family life was not what we thought it was. It fell apart, all self-induced and that was almost 10 years ago. But the story of redemption and the story of a comeback is something that I think any audience around the world, certainly U.S. sports fans, anyone listening to us right now, you get that idea of the comeback. The chance to cheer for someone who has fallen from grace and now has come back. As I said, this is a story the likes of would we have not seen for a long time in sports.</s>VANIER: One of the greatest sports comebacks I think ever, he has got 15 major championships to his name and the record is 18. Do you think he can surpass that?</s>BRENNAN: Of course this was a question for years and it was almost 11 years ago he won his last Major until today. So everyone said no way. I think now it is an open question. These young guys are not going to keel over and let Tiger win everything. And he got lucky today as well as played great. But the PGA is early; it's going to be next months. And it's at Page Black, where he won the U.S. Open, loves the course. And then the U.S. Open is at Pebble Beach, another course he loves. So you can imagine and expect intense media coverage. And I'll probably be at both of them and I wasn't necessarily going to be. But I think that is the Tiger effect here and the power of this story.</s>ALLEN: Well, he put golf on the world map, how many years ago, and --</s>ALLEN: -- he has reignited again and we will be watching and we will be watching you cover it as well. Christine Brennan, it is so nice to have you in the house with us.</s>BRENNAN: Great to be here, thank you so much.</s>ALLEN: We really appreciate it. It is quite the story.</s>BRENNAN: Thank you.</s>ALLEN: All right. We are looking at other news that we are following now, this one is from Sudan, where military leaders are cleaning house after they toppled the dictator, Omar al-Bashir. The intelligence chief has been replaced and the defense minister removed. They have also sacked Sudan's ambassadors to Geneva and Washington.</s>VANIER: The generals have been busy since they toppled Omar al-Bashir but so have the protesters.</s>VANIER (voice-over): After three decades under Omar al-Bashir they want democracy and they want it now. They are calling for the immediate handover of power to civilian governments.</s>VANIER: CNN's Farai Sevenzo is tracking events in Sudan from Nairobi, Kenya, and has filed this report.</s>FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Palm Sunday, Sudan's revolution seemed to carry on. Those people, the protesters gathered outside Sudan's military headquarters in Khartoum continue to amass there in their great numbers. In this new age of many technologies, the 21st century ends with such a youthful crowd of protesters. It is overwhelmingly youthful, Sudan's revolution. We can see Facebook links with all manner of social media with people in a festive spirit at that center. But of course there is a real busy and honest business of politics that carries on. The military transitional council, Lt. General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan, has sent out ahead of friendship and extended the idea that they want everybody. They promise many things: the release prisoners; they've abolished the curfew put in place by Mr. al-Bashir's immediate successor, General Ibn Auf. But what this brings to mind now, what will happen to the Sudan story. On Sunday everything moved up --</s>SEVENZO: -- in terms of diplomacy, all those Arab countries around Sudan, indeed, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, they've all been sending great noises and encouraging words to the military council. Of course this does not leave the actual people on the ground, in the protests, with any clear idea whether what they want their demands for quick movement to civilian rule will actually happen -- Farai Sevenzo, CNN, Nairobi.</s>ALLEN: So the question is, can the people prevail in Sudan? We will be talking with an expert and author, Eric Reeves (ph). He will talk about that in the next hour.</s>VANIER: And the U.S. secretary of state is calling for Venezuela's embattled president to open the country's borders and to end the power struggle there immediately.</s>ALLEN: Mike Pompeo's comments came with a visit to the border town in neighboring Colombia. It is his last stop of his Latin American tour. He also spoke to Venezuelan refugees and toured a warehouse filled with relief supplies for Venezuela and he vowed to hold the president Nicolas Maduro accountable for this crisis.</s>MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Nicolas Maduro is denying food that is sitting here, these are not people that are starving because the country doesn't have wealth. These are people that are starving because of the political leadership, the military thugs inside of Venezuela have destroyed their capacity to produce crude oil (ph). They have destroyed the capacity to grow crops. They've denied the people aid to the city, right at the border. You saw the bridge today, welded trucks, preventing food. This is horrific. There is nothing else in South America that compares to this.</s>VANIER: CNN David McKenzie has been following what has been going on and he has more from the capital, Caracas.</s>DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo made a brief but highly significant visit to Cucuta on the border of Colombia and Venezuela. He visited with families, struggling Venezuelan families in migrant centers at the border as well as viewing the considerable aid that is ready to come in to this country to help people in the humanitarian crisis. Secretary of state and other U.S. officials have repeatedly blamed the government of Nicolas Maduro for stopping aid from coming in to help people with lifesaving support. Pompeo said over the four-nation trip, that Russia and Cuba, as well as China, helped to prop up Maduro's government. He said that more needs to be done to get Maduro out.</s>POMPEO: We have been clear that all options are on the table and you watch the political and diplomatic noose tighten around Maduro's neck. We will begin to do the same thing. The Cubans must understand, too, that there will be a cost associated with their continued support of Nicolas Maduro. We will have the same conversation with the Russians as well.</s>MCKENZIE: Opposition leader Juan Guaido is recognized as the interim president of Venezuela by more than 50 countries. He was in the west of the country this weekend, addressing thousands in Maracaibo, a city that has been hit by blackouts and water shortages. But the opposition are saying to us that over the weeks they've felt a bit of the momentum slip as they try to push the military and others to turn their back on Maduro. Maduro himself was addressing thousands of civilian militia over the weekend here in Caracas. He says he wants 1 million more people to join those civilian militia to help prop up his regime. We visited a rally supporting the president and people had strong words for the secretary of state.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): To Pompeo, take your hands out of here, stop with the conspiracies. Stop with the conspiracies and let us deal with our things on our own. To the people of the U.S. we love you but we don't want any imperialists.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): These people are respected, Venezuela is respected. We don't want anyone to get into our internal problems. We are in solidarity with all the countries in the world.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't think that South America will give up. We will keep fighting to the end, Pompeo, don't think we are scared.</s>MCKENZIE: Pompeo's visit underscores the importance of Venezuela to the Trump administration but even U.S. officials are saying that this could be a long struggle -- David McKenzie, CNN, Caracas, Venezuela.</s>VANIER: We could soon get a look at the Mueller report or at least a redacted version of it. Democrats want the whole thing but the White House says it is time to move on. We will have that story coming up.</s>ALLEN: Also this hour the Red Cross is desperately seeking information on the whereabouts of these abducted staff members. More about that as we continue.