Tiger Woods Taking Leave From Golf; Obama Urges Banks to Lend More
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hello there, everybody, and welcome to CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this...</s>BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: How you doing this morning?</s>HOLMES: ...December 12. I am in shock, OK?</s>NGUYEN: You and much of the nation.</s>HOLMES: Rest of the world over this whole Tiger Woods saga. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. But my goodness.</s>NGUYEN: Yes.</s>HOLMES: My goodness.</s>NGUYEN: Well, you know, and the number count keeps going up, and now we're hearing that Tiger Woods dropping his own bombshell, saying, 'Hey, I'm going to leave the game of golf.' But we are asking you this morning, is it the right decision? You know, what kind of impact is this going to have on him, his career, his sponsors, his family?</s>HOLMES: Yes, and - and the game of the golf. The PGA I hear someone describe as being "in crisis" right now. Golf is not the same without Tiger Woods from a financial standpoint. A lot of people have been talking about this. A lot of people on TV - you've seen doctors, you're seeing therapists. Also seeing a lot of sportscasters. Take a listen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of these endorsement deals would have been available to him if he were not the best in the game. Now, that's not to condone what he did. But that's something that he and his wife, Elin, have to deal with. At the end of the day, what we are concerned about, and what - why the reason we cared about Tiger Woods in the first place was because he was the greatest golfer, arguably, of our lifetime.</s>HOLMES: And for now, at least, the game of golf has lost its greatest golfer. We'll be talking more about Tiger Woods' decision this morning and hearing a whole lot more reaction throughout the morning about Tiger Woods' decision to step away from golf.</s>NGUYEN: And again, we want to know what you think this morning. Should he step away from the game of golf? Like you really have any way of weighing in on that, because he already said he is. But what are your thoughts on it? Send us your comments. We'll read them throughout the morning.</s>HOLMES: Also, we're going to be hearing from our Barbara Starr. Take a look at her there. She's walking the streets of a once deadly and ghostly village in Afghanistan, something that couldn't have happened a year a go. We will take you to this success story in Afghanistan.</s>NGUYEN: All right. But first, let's get you a check of the top stories, the things that have happened overnight that we are following for you. Wholesome kids or terrorists? Representatives of a Virginia mosque are standing behind five young Americans arrested in Pakistan and accused of planning terrorist attacks. The youth coordinator at the mosque in Alexandria says the men are - quote - "wholesome kids."</s>HOLMES: Well, contract canceled. The security firm formerly known as Blackwater no longer has a contract with the CIA in Iraq. The AP reports a person familiar with that contract says it was canceled earlier this year by the CIA director, Leon Panetta. Recent reports say the company personnel actually worked with the CIA agents on snatch-and-grab jobs in Iraq between 2004 and 2006.</s>NGUYEN: And in Orlando, Florida, a prosecutor explains why murder defendant Casey Anthony should get the death penalty in the death of her 2-year-old daughter. During a hearing yesterday, the prosecutor speculated that Caylee Anthony was drugged and suffocated with duct tape. A judge will rule later on whether the prosecution can seek the death penalty.</s>NGUYEN: All right. So let's you back to our top story this morning, of course, the Tiger Woods saga. It seems like everybody is talking - I can't go anywhere and someone's not talking about this.</s>HOLMES: I mean, for one, it's everywhere. But it's just so shocking, I guess, just the sheer number. Infidelity - you hear about that often. Nobody's shocked about that, unfortunately. But to hear the sheer numbers...</s>NGUYEN: The number, yes.</s>HOLMES: ...is shocking to people.</s>NGUYEN: And it has been just a tumultuous couple weeks for the golf phenom, and now, you know, he's saying that he is leaving the sport that he loves so much not just for, you know, a year or two or just to get things in order - indefinitely.</s>HOLMES: So we don't know what that means just yet. He's also admitting for the first time, even though the reports have been out there - the first time we're hearing him flat-out admit he cheated on his wife. He actually used the word "infidelity."</s>NGUYEN: Infidelity.</s>HOLMES: CNN's Randi Kaye now takes a look at the troubles facing this billion-dollar golfer.</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It wasn't exactly sudden death, but Tiger Woods seems to have lost this round. His troubles began the day after Thanksgiving with a mysterious one-car crash at 2:30 in the morning. Just feet from his own driveway, he hit a tree and a fire hydrant. His wife used a golf club to free him from his badly mangled SUV. A neighbor called 911.</s>OPERATOR: OK. Are you able to tell if he's breathing?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I can't tell right now. 911</s>OPERATOR: OK. All right. We do have help on the way. What color is his car, too?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a black Escalade.</s>KAYE: Tiger seemed to hope silence would make the story go away. It didn't work. Days later, he released a statement, apologizing for -- quote - "transgressions" in very carefully worded comments on his Web site that never mentioned the word "affair." That statement was released the same day this cover story in "Us Weekly" magazine hit newsstands. In it, Las Vegas cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs alleged a nearly three-year affair with the golfer. She told the magazine they met in a nightclub when Woods tapped her on the shoulder and that he recently left her a voicemail warning her that his wife may be calling.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, it's - it's Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. Can you please take your name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you.</s>KAYE: It didn't end there. More women came forward, cocktail waitresses, a lingerie model, even former porn stars, all alleging to have had a relationship with Tiger Woods. But the golfer stayed silent until Friday night, when he admitted his -- quote - "infidelities" -- in a statement. (on camera): Earlier this year, Woods hit the billion-dollar mark, earning an unprecedented amount of money in his career, including endorsements, appearances and business relationships with companies like Nike, which pays him an estimated $20 million a year to add his name to their line of golf gear. "Sports Illustrated" reported Woods earned $105 million from sponsorship deals in 2008. (voice-over): Through it all, Woods' major sponsors have stood by him. Nike released a statement saying -- quote - "Nike supports Tiger and his family. Our relationship remains unchanged." Gatorade offered its support in a statement, too: "Tiger and his family have our support as they work through this private matter." But commercials featuring Tiger Woods disappeared from primetime TV. The last one that aired was a Gillette ad on November 29. On late-night TV, his personal pain became a parody. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Earlier today, I had an unfortunate incident with my golf clubs.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was putting them away in the closet, and one of them dropped on top of me.</s>KAYE: It may all have become too much. What else would drive the world's greatest golfer away from the game and the glory he's enjoyed for so many years? Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.</s>NGUYEN: Well, in other news, the economy now, and the president's plans for getting things back on track.</s>HOLMES: Yes, and some of those plans include a pretty big meeting he has on Monday that could result in more money being available to you. CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser for us this morning.</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, Betty, T.J. Pumping up the economy is Job No. 1 for President Barack Obama. With that in mind, Mr. Obama meets Monday with chief executives of some of the country's biggest banks. White House officials tell CNN that the president will push the bankers to lend more money to small businesses and consumers. And with unemployment in double digits, don't be surprised to hear the administration talk more about creating new jobs. This past week, the president made a pitch for bipartisanship when it comes to rebuilding the economy.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Spurring hiring and economic growth, not Democratic or Republican issues. They are American issues that affect every single one of our constituents. I am absolutely committed to working with anybody who is willing to do the job to make sure that we can rebuild our economy.</s>STEINHAUSER: But there's already a lot of pushback by Republicans against the proposal by Mr. Obama to spend unused Wall Street bailout funds to pay for new proposals to spur job growth. Why is the president spending so much time talking about the economy? Because, as our new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll indicates, two years after the start of the recession, the economy is still by far Issue No. 1 with Americans. Our survey also suggests that people don't see conditions getting better anytime soon, and that steady growth and optimism on the economy appears to have stalled - Betty, T.J.</s>HOLMES: Of course, another big item on the presidents plate, Afghanistan. The mission there - a lot of people are asking, what exactly is victory? What will that look like? What is success there for the U.S.? Well, we'll show you as we walk the streets of one Afghan town some are calling a success story.</s>REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And we are still a ways off from the official beginning of winter, but we could see several feet of snowfall in the Rockies and the High Sierra today. We're going to have that coming up in a few moments. We'll see you, coming up right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Oh yes.