Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Dramatic River Rescue; Disaster at Sea; Life-Changing Decision; British Military Recount Experiences as Hostages in Iran; Golf and Tiger Woods

Aired April 07, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, it is Saturday, April 7th.
Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm T.J. Holmes.

We're so glad you could be here with us this Saturday morning.

Up first here, got some dramatic video to show you of a high-risk rescue on the Colorado River. We'll check in with the Coast Guard. That is straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A warning that the ship was sinking was of the staff running down the corridor screaming out "Life jackets!" and banging on doors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Passengers barely had time to strap on their life vests, and now charges are filed against the cruise ship's captain and officers.

HOLMES: Also, a life-or-death decision. A former morning show anchor makes a drastic choice to have her breasts removed. Rene Syler is joining us live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELSIE MCLEAN, 102-YEAR-OLD GOLFER: I said, "Oh, my lord. It can't be true. It can't be true." I was so excited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: OK, forget Tiger and Phil. We have got Elsie.

HOLMES: Elsie.

NGUYEN: Yes, she is 102 years old, and she is a golfer who has done the incredible, and that is a hole-in-one. A true inspiration right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

But we do want to start with the dramatic river rescue. Check it out.

It happened near Bay City, Texas. Four people in a boat dropped 150 feet over a dam on the Colorado River. Two boys 5 and 7 years old among those who fell, but the Coast Guard was able to swoop in and save the day.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Adam Eggers joins me now by phone from Houston with more on this rescue.

How did they get in that predicament to begin with? Do you know?

PETTY OFFICER ADAM EGGERS, U.S. COAST GUARD: As of right now, no. Our best guess is that they possibly lost engine abilities or they might have lost their steering.

NGUYEN: My goodness. OK. And so how were you notified that these folks needed some help?

EGGERS: Well, the local sheriff's department arrived on scene first. After they got a better assessment of the situation, they realized they were going to need our helicopters to come in and attempt to pluck these people out of the water.

NGUYEN: Well, when we look at this video, it is really quite dramatic, 150 feet that they fell. It's a large drop.

How difficult was it for you, or at least the Coast Guard crew that was helping, to assess the situation and figure out the best way to rescue these folks?

EGGERS: Well, it was extremely difficult. By the video, you can see that it's extremely difficult to even actually see the boat because of the amount of water coming over the dam. So that posed an immediate threat to actually the people on board, too, because if they get swept off that boat, now you're talking a whole other situation and a whole different scenario of dangers that that come involved with trying to rescue someone from a moving river.

NGUYEN: Just looking at this video, especially when you see the water just raging there 100 feet down, are you surprised that they even survived this?

EGGERS: It's one of those things that we always have amazing survival stories to come along with, you know, some of the tragedies that we have to deal with every single day. So I'm just thankful, especially coming up to a holiday weekend, that everyone on board was able to be taken off safely.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

We know that there were at least two children on board. Two people have been taken to the hospital.

Do you know if this was a family? Do you know anything about the people who were in that boat? EGGERS: If it was actually a family, we don't quite know. Our crew on scene figured that they -- that it was, you know, two sons, a father and a grandfather. But that was just kind of their best guess going from the names that they got.

NGUYEN: My goodness. And no one was injured in the rescue, and apparently it seems like everybody indeed made it to dry land, which is good news.

Adam Eggers, petty officer with the Coast Guard, we appreciate your time. Good work by the Coast Guard in saving this group of four people who plunged some 150 feet down but yet lived to tell about it.

We appreciate your time.

EGGERS: Absolutely. Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, got some new developments this morning in that Greek cruise ship sinking to tell you about. Greek state television reports the captain and five officers have been charged with negligence.

The ship sank Thursday in the Aegean Sea, off the island of Santorini. A Frenchman and his daughter now still missing.

CNN's Diana Magnay has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dramatic nighttime pictures of the doomed Greek cruise ship the Sea Diamond. Rescue workers still circling long after they had evacuated those on board. At this stage, powerless to prevent the inevitable.

And here, just before 7:00 in the morning, 15 hours after she began to take in water, it's all over. All 22,500 tons of this enormous ship now lying on the sea bed near the Greek island of Santorini.

The Sea Diamond was carrying almost 1,600 people when she scraped a reef. Passengers said it all happened very suddenly.

TOM GATCH, PASSENGER: I heard the noise, and it was a loud noise, of course, and then I stepped outside of my cabin and looked, and the water was coming down the hallway. And I thought I have to go back inside to get my life jacket, but I had to open the door and didn't have time, because now the water was up over my ankles.

KATIE SUMNER, AUSTRALIAN PASSENGER: We heard a big shudder and the whole boat started to tilt. All of our glasses were sliding everywhere, and our warning that the ship was sinking of the staff running down the corridor screaming out "Life jackets!" and banging on doors.

MAGNAY: Military and commercial vessels took part in the three- hour rescue operation, and local fishermen rushed to help, while tourists on Santorini watched as this ship built as the ultimate in luxury took on more and more water.

But on Friday, the Greek tourism minister announced that two passengers were still missing.

FANNY PALLI PETRALIA, GREEK MINISTER OF TOURISM (through translator): The mother told me that it all happened within a few seconds. While one of the two children was upstairs on the deck, the rest of the family was in the cabin, which suddenly filled with water. They managed to open the cabin door, and the mother dived and got out. She doesn't know whether her husband and her daughter managed to follow her.

MAGNAY: In September 2000, more than 80 people drowned when the express Samina (ph) ferry hit rocks and sank off the Greek island of Paros. Greece has since worked hard to improve its safety record. The cruise operator says it has already launched an investigation into how this latest ferry disaster was allowed to occur.

Diana Magnay, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, in other news, you can forget the Easter bonnet and grab the snow boots and the gloves, maybe even the shovel. Get ready for a cold Easter weekend.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Watch the train right here. See that on the left side of the screen, racing toward a wall of flames at 70 miles an hour. The train operator decided that to keep going was a better risk than stopping right in the middle of the blaze.

OK, so it makes some sense here. Passengers -- get this -- they say they could feel the intense heat as they ran this fiery gauntlet.

HOLMES: It looks like something out of a movie scene.

NGUYEN: Doesn't it?

HOLMES: Well, dozens of people here, certainly not a movie. This is reality, sad reality for dozens of folks in Nashville who are out of their homes after a huge fire engulfed their apartment complex. It took two hours for fire crews to knock these flames down. And by the time it was over, 76 units were either damaged or destroyed.

Fire department officials now believe it started with a kitchen fire in a single unit. High winds also blamed for spreading that fire so quickly.

Also, airline flights often canceled. Talk about foul weather -- you know, Reynolds will tell us about that every once in a while, flight delays. But foul language on a flight from Las Vegas.

NGUYEN: Hey, what happens in Vegas apparently doesn't stay in Vegas. HOLMES: Well, yes, because the flight was canceled and they did have to stay in Vegas, actually.

The passengers in first class overheard a Northwest pilot using some pretty rough language on a cell phone. When a passenger scolded the pilot, he allegedly let out with some more profanities, if you will.

Police were called in, the pilot taken off the plane. The flight canceled. The feds now looking into this, saying they're not going to take action until they hear what Northwest plans to do to punish that pilot. So still trying to figure out who in the world he was talking to on the phone.

NGUYEN: That's the big question. And what was he saying?

HOLMES: And what he was talking about.

NGUYEN: Yes. All right.

HOLMES: In first class? You don't pay a first class ticket to get cussed out by your pilot.

NGUYEN: By the pilot who's about to take off? Yes, that's a problem.

HOLMES: Well, we got some really shocking and sad video to show you here about a plea deal. Take a look.

HOLMES: We'll give you the story behind this courtroom outburst. That's straight ahead.

NGUYEN: Also, a former CBS anchor with a family history of cancer makes a brave and bold decision to cut off her breasts. That's right. Rene Syler joins me live to share her remarkable story.

Hi, Rene.

HOLMES: Good morning.

NGUYEN: She's in the NEWSROOM this morning. We're going to talk to her about not only her story, but her new book, "Good Enough Mother." And she, indeed, is.

That's coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: You know, if we played the same golf course now with the technology, the scores would be ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And Tiger-proofing the Masters. Will it work this year? Don't know about that, but we do have the story later in the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENE SYLER, FMR. CBS ANCHOR (voice over): Eve with all the trouble they'd given me of late, I liked my breasts. They'd fed my babies. They'd made me feel sexual. They were an integral part of my body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: It is a decision no woman wants to make. After four painful disfiguring biopsies, and with a family history of cancer, Rene Syler, former anchor of CBS' "Early Show," elected to have a double mastectomy. She shared her life-changing journey with a worldwide audience on "The Oprah Winfrey Show".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYLER: I was fine until she said that we're ready to go to surgery. Then I got scared.

It's just so hard to be sure, you know, to be really, really sure. And I think this is right. I mean, sometimes you just want somebody to tell you the path, and there really isn't -- there really isn't any one path. And so I don't know.

Just a little bit of uncertainty. And I keep looking at that clock like, you know, in an hour I'm going to, you know, be without my breasts. And I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Her new book, "Good Enough Mother," reveals the truth about modern mothering, which no doubt was a challenge for her as she faced the fear of breast cancer.

And Rene Syler joins us this morning to talk about all the many things that have happened to you in your life. You' have been through so, so much.

Welcome. We appreciate you being here.

SYLER: Betty, it's good to see you again. We should probably tell everybody that we go way back.

NGUYEN: We go back to the days in Dallas. We used to work together.

SYLER: That's right.

NGUYEN: And that's why it was so -- I mean, just -- I still have the goose bumps watching you there, going through this trauma, this ordeal in your life. But to understand why you made the decision that you made, we have to understand your family history, and we have to understand the painful and disfiguring biopsies that you endured.

So talk to us about that.

SYLER: Yes. I had, of course, a very serious family history. I had a mother who had breast cancer, diagnosed postmenopausally at 64. But I had a father with breast cancer, which is the one that always makes doctors sort of cause for pause among doctors.

NGUYEN: It's rare.

SYLER: It is rare. Men make up about 1,700 cases of breast cancer a year.

Then I, in 2003, was diagnosed with my own breast disease, hyperplasia atypia, which is commonly thought of as the stage right before breast cancer. So it necessitated mammograms, sonograms, MRIs, and every year I was having a biopsy.

NGUYEN: And you had this fear every year that you would go to the doctor hoping that this would not be the year that that doctor would say, yes, you have it.

SYLER: Yes. At one point -- and it probably came late last year -- that I really did feel like, what am I waiting for?

I had -- the last biopsy I had was a surgical biopsy. It was very disfiguring. When I was -- the swelling was reduced, and I took a good look at what was left of my breasts, it just -- it was deformed. It was probably a half a cup size smaller than the other breast. And I just felt like, and I'm going to be on the table next year.

The futility of it all hit me at that point.

NGUYEN: And at some point didn't you say, "I can't even look at myself in the mirror without crying"?

SYLER: Yes. I mean, you know, here I ate right, I exercised, I did all the things that I was supposed to do to take care of my body. I don't smoke, I don't drink excessively. I mean, all of things that I'm supposed to do. And yet, I had -- I was stuck with this sort of the luck of the draw. And it was not a good -- who...

NGUYEN: Don't you love how we can pull up these pictures?

SYLER: OK, where did that picture come from? That's -- did you notice the skinny leather tie? Oh my god. And that is -- that's my husband Bob.

NGUYEN: Yes. And such a beautiful family.

SYLER: And they need me. NGUYEN: And that's why you did what you did. But, I do have to say, amid all of this, you were facing this surgery and you had lost your job at CBS.

How were you holding up?

SYLER: You know what? Everybody wants to know how did I do in that time?

NGUYEN: Right.

SYLER: "How did you get through?" You know, you get fired from a job, you're facing, you know, major surgery, major surgery. And the only thing I can tell you is that at that point I really just approached life very much on a triage basis.

I just dealt with the things that were the most important at that time. And the most important at that time was that I knew I was going to be having major surgery, and I knew I was going to go under general anesthesia.

And it was a five-hour procedure, and I knew that I wanted to come back out of general anesthesia. And so I really focused on staying healthy, you know, and not letting the stress get to me.

NGUYEN: I want to read you something that you say in your new book, "Good Enough Mother," which is a great one. We'll talk about that in a moment.

But you say, "I'm not only living with the sudden loss of the job I love, but I'm also dealing with the anticipation of another huge event. I'm about to have my breasts chopped off."

And just very real and plain terms, but I will say, some might consider this a bit radical since you weren't even diagnosed with cancer at the time.

SYLER: Oh, it is radical. Absolutely. And I have heard from people who said, well, why -- "You're playing God," and "Why would you do something like that?"

Betty, the thing I say to those people is, they were not living my life. Where were they when I waited for three days after each biopsy to find out whether I had cancer? Where were they when I looked at my children and watched and wondered about what life would be like for them if their mother -- to watch their mother die a horrible death?

I just -- those people, I say, you know what? Before you judge, think about what my life was like.

NGUYEN: And what do you think about as you look at your children? Does your worry shift to your children now, what if they get it?

SYLER: Absolutely. You know, my daughter -- first of all, my kids were wonderful, remarkably resilient. And if they're watching, hi.

But you know what? Honestly, they were so great. My son, though, wanted to know if I could die. And my daughter wanted to know if this meant that she was going to -- they call them plastic boobs, the implants. They wanted to know if they were going to have to have -- if she was going to have plastic boobs.

And I said -- you know, in all seriousness, I said, "You're probably going to have to start screening sooner because you have a serious family history." And, I mean, again, we have to remember, I didn't have breast cancer, per se, but I did have a condition that left me exposed to breast cancer.

NGUYEN: Well, I must say you look great. You've been through a lot.

The boobs are fantastic. I'll just tell you. I've seen them, they're fine.

But on top of that, though, I think you're offering such good advice to parents out there with this book, "Good Enough Mother".

SYLER: Yes.

NGUYEN: And the premise is that it's OK to be imperfect.

SYLER: Yes. Now, see, you're not a mother, Betty. But you read -- I know you read the book cover to cover.

NGUYEN: I read it from cover to cover.

SYLER: Do you think -- I mean, you can see where women nowadays, you work with mothers, and they're all trying to be perfect for their children. They want to provide this perfect childhood.

I didn't have a perfect childhood. You didn't have a perfect childhood.

NGUYEN: Nope.

SYLER: You know what? The point I was trying to make in the book is, even the book doesn't have all the answers. The answers are in here.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

SYLER: You instinctively know what's best for your children, and forget about the super moms and what everybody says you should be doing.

NGUYEN: Should do, because you are living your life.

SYLER: Or what you should be feeding your children, or what you should be playing with them or watching on TV. You know what...

NGUYEN: And when they criticize, you've got to tell us, the "Good Enough Mother" mantra.

SYLER: I don't care.

NGUYEN: That's right.

SYLER: I don't care.

NGUYEN: I don't care.

So what's next for you? Tell us.

SYLER: What's next? I'm going on the road. I'm going to be in Chicago and Dallas and Houston. I'm going to be promoting the book and I'm going to do "The View" in a couple of weeks.

NGUYEN: We'll be watching.

SYLER: And yes. I'm just -- really just right now just trying to get healthy. Get healthy and strong.

NGUYEN: Well, you look healthy, and you've always been so very strong. And we appreciate you coming on today to share your story with us.

SYLER: Thank you, Betty.

NGUYEN: Thank you, Rene.

SYLER: Thanks. Good to see you, honey.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

T.J., she's fantastic, isn't she?

HOLMES: She is fantastic. I couldn't be over there and be a part of that interview. You all threw me over here across the NEWSROOM, guys.

SYLER: We'll answer any questions that you might have off camera.

HOLMES: All right. All right.

Well, thanks, guys.

Well, we're calling on all tooth fairies out there, you wannabes. Got some video to show you here. And we don't recommend this.

Do not try this at home. You know, even if you are a good shot, don't try this at home, Betty.

NGUYEN: Also, 10 years after Tiger Woods wowed the world, he is back at the Masters. But is the Masters ready for him?

We are live from Augusta later in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TJ HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Avoiding another international incident. U.S. military leaders are taking steps to make sure their troops don't fall into the same trap as the British, but what will it take? Hello again, everybody. Welcome back here on this Saturday morning. I'm T.J. Holmes.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Good morning.

HOLMES: If they weren't technically hostages, it sure sounds like they got some hostage-type treatment. British sailors and Marines two days home from Iran and telling stories of blindfolds, solitary confinement and constant psychological pressure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE TINDELL, BRITISH ROYAL MARINES: Being in the country, a selected few that we were subjected to, as you know, various mind games and obviously we're not pleased about it and as far as I'm concerned, the whole thing was a complete media stunt and I've got nothing to say really. I'm not that big a fan.

LT. FELIX CARMAN, BRITISH ROYAL NAVY: The pressures that we were subjected to, they're quite diverse, and they're -- in the way it was carried out. It was mainly psychological, and emotional. To start with, it's the isolation was a major part of this and a complete suffocation in terms of information from the outside world. None of the guards spoke English. We were blindfolded at all times and kept in isolation from each other. Also, when we first went to prison, we were put up against a wall, hands bound, blindfolded and the people were cocking weapons in the background which as you can imagine is extremely nerve-racking an occasion. So there were lots of tactics like that that were employed.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: They were seeping rumors that George Bush had said negative things about we being tortured and the British government was not apologizing and obviously we was in a bubble, so we didn't know what was happening but none of us believed that for a second.

CAPT. CHRIS AIR, BRITISH ROYAL MARINES: Being in an Islamic country Faye was subjected to different rules than we were. She was separated from us as soon as we arrived in Tehran in the detention center and isolated in a cell well away from any of us. She was told shortly afterwards that we had all been returned home and was under the impression for about four days that she was the only one there, so clearly she had subjected to quite a lot of stress that we, unfortunately, we didn't know about, and we weren't subjected ourselves. She coped admirably and retained a lot of dignity and has maintained that throughout and coming home to her family is clearly great relief and she just wants to sort of have some time with them out of the media spotlight because like all of us she's been exploited.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: The British units leading officers say they were aggressively arrested by a heavily armed force from the Iranian revolutionary guard and fighting back was not an option.

NGUYEN: Well, the U.S. military is looking for ways to make sure American troops never face the same scenario. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. Navy is urgently reviewing all operations in the Persian Gulf, making sure what happened to the British does not happen to it.

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have asked for -- asked the chairman through the commander of the central command and others to examine our procedures and make sure that first of all that we're playing well within the baselines just like the British were and that our sailors are properly protected against any similar kind of activity.

STARR: U.S. Navy officials tell CNN with 20/20 hindsight, there may have been two critical decisions that left the 15 royal navy sailors and marines virtually alone and unprotected. First, HMS "Cornwall" with its guns was too far away to help. The British say there was a reason for that.

LT. FELIX CARMAN, BRITISH ROYAL NAVY: Not only should she not have been closer to us but she physically could not have been. The water in the area where we were captured was too shallow.

STARR: And the (INAUDIBLE) helicopter overhead had left the scene at some point to return to "Cornwall." It came back only as trouble broke out. That left the young British troops outmanned and outgunned by the heavily armed Iranians, who rammed their boats and then captured them.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They were left high and dry in the sense that there was not enough force there to react to what they were presented with.

STARR: The U.S. and its allies vowed to continue patrolling the Persian Gulf to protect Iraq's vital offshore oil terminals and watch for illegal activity. But the U.S. Navy's guard is up, way up.

ADM. MICHAEL MULLEN, U.S. CHIEF OF NAVAL OPS: We've got procedures in place which are very much designed to carry out the mission and protect the sailors who were there, and I would not expect any sailors to be able to be seized by the Iranian Navy or the Iranian Republican guard navy.

STARR: U.S. and Royal Navy officials say they're not at war with Iran and had no reason to expect a sneak attack. The British troops say they had to make the difficult decision to surrender rather than risk a shooting war they felt they couldn't win. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, joining us now from Washington to talk more about this situation we just saw CNN military analyst Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks. Good morning, sir, always good to see you. We just heard General Shepperd in that piece saying they were left high and dry. Is that the first mistake? Does that leave you scratching your head that these guys were kind of out there and woman, they were out there kind of alone and they didn't have backup that was close enough to even get there fast enough to help them out?

BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET): Certainly the conditions didn't lend themselves to being that far apart, but you also have to realize that this is based on procedures that have been in place for quite some time, so I'm sure the Brits at that point figured this was going to be a normal operation. Sadly, when you make the assumption that everything is normal, you might end up with these circumstances. So it's very, very early, obviously, for us to judge, but what is very critical is to get all the facts as they are beginning to roll out right now to see what the circumstances were so that we can learn, as well.

HOLMES: When you hear just from their accounts at least we've been listening to the past day or so, does it sound like they had any other option but just to submit and do what the Iranians were telling them to do or do you think they had other options? Should they have submitted? Should they try to fight back or do a confrontation any kind of way?

MARKS: Well, T.J., the facts have to come out. Clearly the first thing you don't want to do is you don't want to be captured. I mean, that's the bottom line.

HOLMES: So what do you do then, general?

MARKS: But you don't know what the circumstances were. You don't know that these 15 British sailors and Marines weren't as was described rammed by the Iranians, were taken completely by surprise, that the Iranians had far more armament at the very moment and that what the British commander in charge on the ground, I mean, at sea and remember, this is a young captain. This is an '03, probably 26, 27 years old is in charge of these 15 souls, that guy has got to make a really quick decision so it's really too soon to judge but absolutely, there is an inherent right of self-defense and when you're in that circumstance, you really want to fight back. You don't want to be captured.

HOLMES: All right. So let's get past -- they were already captured. What the world was watching them do over those two weeks they were in captivity, giving those so-called confessions, is that something they should have done in that tough spot? Who knows what was happening behind the scenes, but are you in a position there and are these guys supposed to just do what they have to do to try to get out of that situation and survive or did you have a problem with seeing these confessions no matter if they were coerced or not? MARKS: Absolutely I have a problem with them. I think most folks should have a problem with this. The rules are very explicit. You know, you're supposed to by regulation name, serial number and you know, whatever. Name, rank, serial number, but the real issue is you have to walk a very thin line. There was probably some information that you need to give up so that you can continue this relationship. You don't want to take a bullet. You don't want to have your legs broken. You want to get out of there alive but the key element is, you do not want to put your fellow sailors or Marines at risk, and you certainly don't want to embarrass yourself or your nation so you better be prepared to catch a little crap, you better be prepared to take a beating but you have to be able to resist and allows you to resist to a certain level. So I've got to tell you, I do have an issue with the way the Iranians executed this operation. Look, when they opened their arms and they're so giving to the Brits ostensibly, they lower the bar. Well, the obligation of every sailor, Marine, every service member is to maintain a standard. You, your obligation is to set the tone of that engagement and relationship, not the guy who is holding you captive.

HOLMES: All right, CNN military analyst Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks, sir, always good to see you. Like you said we'll know more when all the facts and the whole story does come out on this thing. Good to see you General.

MARKS: Thanks, T.J.

NGUYEN: But in the meantime, Tiger on the prowl and our Larry Smith is there. Kind of chilly outside, huh, Larry?

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very chilly, near freezing temperatures. Greetings, everyone here this morning at Augusta national. It's been a decade since Tiger Woods used a record-setting performance here at Augusta national to skyrocket to superstardom. Coming up, how he has changed the game of golf and the legend who saw it coming.

And this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

We were looking all around, and Elizabeth walked by the cup, and she said "here she is right here in the cup!"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: There she is, right in the cup and into the record books. We're going to introduce you to this 102-year-old wonder. That is later in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Trying to work here all right.

HOLMES: Stay ahead of the game here. NGUYEN: This is important news. Listen up T.J. The legendary Masters golf tournament, the temperatures, they are ticking downward. The strokes, though, piling up, and it appears the only record in danger, well, the cold snap that's keeping the stars on ice. CNN's Larry Smith is covering the venerable event and joins us from Augusta, Georgia. I know it's cold, but, hey, you have a primo job. I don't want to hear any complaint from you, Larry.

SMITH: I can't argue with that. Yeah, the assignment is absolutely outstanding. It's Augusta national, first weekend of April, what do I have to complain about, right, but it is cold. Yeah, there's no question about that. You know, he's five shots off the lead entering today's round three, but still he remains the biggest attraction not only in golf, but perhaps in all of sports. The incredible career of Tiger Woods began here at the Masters a decade ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIGER WOODS: All of a sudden I got hot.

SMITH: The scene was Augusta national, and the 1997 Masters, a 21-year-old Tiger Woods wins by a record 12 strokes to start a career that has been blistering ever since.

ARNOLD PALMER, 4+ MASTERS CHAMPION: Jack and I have played with Tiger that year in a practice round, and we both marveled at the way he was playing and how good we thought he was, and you know let's be upfront about it. He hasn't disappointed us.

SMITH: The game hasn't been the same since. Change has been the lone constant thanks to Tiger.

JIM FURYK, 2003 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: Golf needed a face. They needed someone to carry the torch and along came Tiger. He dominated here in '97 with his first major. He's pretty much dominated golf since.

TOM WATSON 2+ MASTERS CHAMPION: What Tiger has done is he's raised the bar above which nobody can reach that, and he's -- he continues to keep it higher than anybody else can reach by a significant margin.

SMITH: The money has escalated. Woods collected $480,000 for that Masters victory 10 years ago. The winner's take this Sunday is nearly three times that.

PHIL MICKELSON, DEFENDING MASTERS CHAMPION: The purses that we're playing for when I came out on tour were $1 million to $1.7 million. Doral was the biggest at $1.7, and now it's five to six every week. So the types of dollars we're playing for now are unfathomable to me 10 years ago before he came out.

SMITH: In an attempt to catch Woods, players looked to technological advances but with Tiger using the same state-of-the-art equipment, it forced clubs to make changes on the course, Tiger- proofing they called it. Even staid Augusta national has been lengthened seven times in the past decade.

WOODS: The game has certainly changed and if, you know, we played the same golf course now with the technology, the scores would be ridiculous. I guess it's all my fault, huh?

SMITH: So Woods has changed the game like no other, and at just 31 years old, there's no telling what other changes have yet to come.

PALMER: If he puts his whole life into the future of his game like he has to this point, there's no telling what he might do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Well, his first decade has been all about golf but for Tiger Woods, the next decade will be shared, his passion will be shared with fatherhood. He and his wife Ila (ph) will expect their first child in July. Let's go back to you.

NGUYEN: All right, Larry. We will appreciate it. Thank you.

HOLMES: Larry, see Adam Scott around there anywhere?

NGUYEN: Would you stop?

SMITH: He's out here somewhere.

NGUYEN: That's great to know. Thank you.

HOLMES: Tell him I said hi. Would you do that?

SMITH: I'll do that.

HOLMES: All right.

NGUYEN: Oh, Larry, we must talk after the show and you, you're in trouble. Reynolds, can you bail me out here?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, T.J. and Larry, that's a tall order but we're going to do what we can. It's going to be a great day out at Augusta if you don't mind the cool conditions. We've had some scattered showers out there this morning. Some of these snow showers now moving off the coast and what we're going to be dealing with temperatures this morning mainly into the 30s and 40s. Currently 39 degrees in Atlanta and Augusta later on today, they're expecting about 54 degrees for a high around amen corner and then for tomorrow afternoon, 57 degrees but still, you know, your heart has to go out for all the people who came from all over the country to Augusta, planning on the warm conditions with tee shirts and shorts and now they're shivering. Back to you at the news desk.

NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds. Thank you.

WOLF: You bet.

HOLMES: Those pros at the Masters in Augusta having some problems as we saw. Maybe they could take some tips from Elsie McLean. NGUYEN: Check her out. She is, get this, 102 years old but she is celebrating a hole in one. We get that story from Jerry Olinen (ph) of affiliate KNVN of Chico, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERRY OLINEN, KNVN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you live long enough you'll see and perhaps accomplish just about anything. Elsie McLean is 102 years old. She's played golf since she was in her 20s and never had she hit a hole in one.

ELSIE MCLEAN, 102-YEAR OLD GOLFER: Well, everybody wants a hole in one, and I'd say, why can't I have a hole in one? I came within two inches once.

OLINEN: Good things come to those who wait because on Thursday morning, Elsie became an ace player, in the process breaking the world record for the oldest person to hit a hole in one. The record-setting shot happened here, the fourth hole of the Bidwell Park golf course. A 96-yard par 3, Elsie pulled out the driver. Because of the slope of the green, Elsie and her playing partners didn't realize she had hit an ace until they reached the green.

CATHY CROWDER, MCLEAN'S GOLF PARTNER: We looked. We thought, well, where did Elsie end up? And we were looking all around and Elizabeth walked by the cup and she said "here she is!" right here in the cup.

MCLEAN: I said, oh, my lord. It can't be true. It can't be true. I was so excited and the girls were just absolutely overcome, so was I.

OLINEN: Fame is nothing new for Elsie. She's been featured in national golf magazines and was invited to appear on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno, an offer she declined.

MCLEAN: I didn't want to go there and be on there. I don't like a lot of publicity.

OLINEN: But with her record-setting shot, Elsie may have to get used to it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Elsie still driving her own little golf cart there.

NGUYEN: Driving Miss Elsie.

HOLMES: Driving Miss Elsie. Congratulations, Elsie.

Check this out here, folks, what happens when you cross cupid with the tooth fairy? A little something like this.

NGUYEN: Ooh. Oh, my goodness. We have to show you this again and the little scream she lets out beforehand. That's in "The Water Cooler." (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: OK, you got to love this story. If you're not in front of the television, you're just listening, get in front of the set, OK, because we don't want to encourage anyone from trying this at home. You have got to see this video. I love the scream. OK, home video of father trying to help his little girl lose her tooth. Right there.

HOLMES: That's why she's screaming. Dad, bow and arrow is not the best idea. He tied one end of a string to the arrow, the other end to the tooth and he let her rip. The tooth flies away, but I think child protective services -

NGUYEN: ... is on the way to the house.

Who came up with that idea? What was he thinking? Hey, this is something, some food for thought that may end up to be a little pocket change. You know that feeling of finding a few dollars in loose change in the sofa, that is how the Sands casino in Atlantic City feels but only way better.

HOLMES: Sands about to be torn down to be made way for a new casino. But while gutting that building, construction workers found, or have found $17,000 in loose change that's just been laying around the casino.

NGUYEN: I need to start looking under the slots and not putting money in it. Officials say most of the coins actually fell behind and under those slot machines over the past 30 years.

HOLMES: Been collecting for 30 years.

Here's some pretty dramatic video out of China. Authorities dealing with a murder suspect who was --

NGUYEN: I don't mean to laugh but who does this.

HOLMES: He's a murder suspect who has a knife. Usually you might pull your gun out but just throw water some water at the guy. He's perched on the window ledge of a hospital when the fire department showed up.

NGUYEN: It appears they first tried to push the man back into the building with the water. Instead he decided to climb onto the ledge and then you see what happens next. He gets knocked off.

HOLMES: He got knocked down but he falls and as you kind of see here, he's going --

NGUYEN: He's holding on pretty tight.

HOLMES: A big cushion catches him. So he was not hurt but he was taken into custody rather quickly.

It's called a mural of hope and it's now providing hope to thousands of Katrina survivors. That story coming up next hour.

NGUYEN: And then at noon a shocking discovery in a fifth grade classroom. It causes an uproar in a rural north Louisiana town. You have got to hear this story. It is later in the NEWSROOM.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com