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Nancy Grace
Tiger`s Mother-in-Law Hospitalized Briefly
Aired December 08, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Live, Windermere, Florida. Superstar golf phenomenon Tiger Woods leaving his home barefoot 2:00 AM after Thanksgiving Day celebrations, drives out of his multi-million-dollar compound and has a head-on collision with a tree and a fire hydrant. His young wife, mother of his two children, reportedly hears the crash from inside the house, runs out and beats out both back windows of Woods`s Cadillac.
Over and over, Woods refuses to speak with police. A neighbor calls 911. Woods pulls out of his own golf tournament. Gatorade drops the Tiger Woods drink and his primetime TV ads dry up as Woods`s alleged mistresses hit double digits, including a swimsuit model, a porn star and a waitress at a pancake house, all hitting the newsstand just before the so-called crash.
How will it affect a multi-million-dollar prenup, a possible divorce, custody of two little children and millions in endorsements? Woods gets just a slap on the wrist, even though a witness tells cops he was drinking before the crash and was prescribed sleeping pills plus a super-powerful painkiller, Vicodin. Why -- why -- did prosecutors refuse a blood alcohol test when cops specifically asked for it?
Bombshell tonight. Another frantic 911 call, 2:30 AM again, Woods`s mother-in-law collapses in Woods`s mansion. EMTs rush to save her life. We have the 911 call. This as Woods`s wife shells out for a private mansion back home in Sweden.
Reports surfacing Woods actually admitted to the ICU with possible intubation to stabilize breathing, the injuries apparently much more serious. Bottom line, if Woods were an ordinary guy, wouldn`t the charges be more serious in light of an alleged DUI and cover-up not only to his wife but to police?
All that money, all those trophies. The very first athlete to surpass $1 billion in earnings. What really happened to Tiger Woods?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Tiger Woods drama takes yet another turn as paramedics respond to a medical call at the golf superstar`s central Florida home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!
911 OPERATOR: Fire rescue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, hurry up! My mom just collapsed!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last evening, Barbro Holmberg, mother of Elin Woods, was admitted to Health Central Hospital with stomach pain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Video shot outside Health Central Hospital showed a blond woman being taken off of a -- out of an ambulance, onto a stretcher, inside the ER. Affiliate WESH reports Woods`s wife, Elin, was seen leaving the hospital this morning. It`s the very hospital Woods was taken to after that Thanksgiving weekend crash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need an ambulance immediately. I have someone down in front of my house. They hit a pole.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The crash that started the intense media scrutiny and led to Woods`s admission of transgressions...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. Swedish newspaper reports say Tiger Woods`s wife, Elin, has purchased a multi-million-dollar mansion located on a secluded island in Sweden. Questions swirling. Does this mean Elin Woods is moving out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Various women have come forward alleging they had affairs with the world`s number one golfer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many could there be?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And breaking news tonight. A 9-year-old Missouri girl walks home from a play date only about a thousand feet, never makes it home, the body of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten found just houses from her own home, three -- repeat, three -- causes of death. Murder suspect, a 15-year-old girl. Breaking tonight. In the last hours, the 15-year-old girl murder suspect, who allegedly tells cops she wanted to know what it felt like to kill, in court and likely headed to a psych ward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. The 15-year-old teen girl suspect accused of brutally stabbing and strangling 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten has pled not guilty to all charges. Alyssa Bustamante was in court today for a hearing in her upcoming murder trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ms. Bustamante will waive formal arraignment and enter pleas of not guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bustamante entered the courtroom in shackles, holding her head down. The small courtroom was filled with spectators, some wearing T-shirts in memory of murder victim Elizabeth Olten.
GRACE: We are learning there is evidence that she lured the little girl -- a little 9-year-old girl -- into the woods, that she had dug a shallow grave several days before, in anticipation of murdering this little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police allege Bustamante told them she dug two graves five days before the murder and allegedly told cops she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On her birthday, I was at her party, and she kind of hysterectomy took me off to the side randomly. And she`s, like, you know, I wonder what it would be like to kill somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The child was strangled, stabbed, and then her killer slashed her throat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bustamante has been certified as an adult and could face life in prison if convicted on all counts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Another frantic 911 call, 2:30 AM again, Woods`s mother-in-law collapses in Woods`s mansion, EMTs rushing to save her. We have the 911 call. This as Woods`s wife shells out for a private mansion back home in Sweden. Reports surface Woods actually admitted to the ICU with possible intubation to stabilize breathing, the injuries apparently much more serious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A frightening scene at Tiger Woods`s home in Florida today, an ambulance called to his home this morning, rushing his mother-in-law to the hospital.
911 OPERATOR: Calm down, OK? What is the address? (REDACTED) And is she breathing?
Look, they`re coming, OK? Calm down for a minute so I can understand what`s happening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She collapsed in the bathroom. What do I do?
911 OPERATOR: Is she breathing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barbro Holmberg is the county governor in Sweden - - a county governor -- and the mother, of course, of Woods`s wife, Elin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Around 2:30 this morning, paramedics were called to the Woods estate in Windermere because she was suffering stomach pain. It`s the very hospital Woods was rushed to after the Thanksgiving weekend crash.
911 OPERATOR: What happened? What`s wrong?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a neighbor. He hit the tree. And we came out here just to see what was going on. I see him and he`s laying down.
911 OPERATOR: You mean there was an auto accident?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there was an auto accident, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More trouble for Tiger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A document from the Florida Highway Patrol unveiling that a witness told cops Tiger had been drinking that day and he had prescriptions for Vicodin and Ambien. That witness, by the way, possibly his wife, Elin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile, Swedish reports emerged Tiger Woods`s wife, Elin, has just purchased a multi-million-dollar home in Sweden, the house so secluded, it`s reachable only by ferry. Many are asking, is Elin Woods leaving Tiger Woods?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Kim Serafin with "In Touch Weekly." What can you tell us about the 911 call?
KIM SERAFIN, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": Well, as you just played, you hear a frantic caller saying, My mother just collapsed in the bathroom. She runs off. We believe this might be Elin. It could possibly be her twin sister. It`s unclear who it is making the call. She runs off to check on her mother, comes back to the operator, the person on the phone, says, No, no, no, she`s OK, she`s OK now.
GRACE: Right.
SERAFIN: They do send paramedics because -- just for precautions.
GRACE: To Drew Petrimoulx, WDBO radio, joining us there at Health Central Hospital. What more do you know, Drew? You`re on the scene.
DREW PETRIMOULX, WDBO: Well, we know that Barbro Holmberg, who is Tiger`s mother-in-law, spent about 12 hours at this hospital behind me. It`s the same hospital that Tiger visited a couple days ago. She`s said to have some kind of stomach pain when she collapsed. You heard that 911 call. That`s what happened. And she spent about 12 hours here but was released in good health and good spirits, apparently.
GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls live. This as we learn even more alleged mistresses. The legal significance of that. We also have reports that Tiger Woods`s wife, Elin Nordegren, has just purchased a multi-million-dollar mansion back home in Sweden.
We are taking your calls live. To Wendy in Ohio. Hi, Wendy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just wanted to say that I love you and I think that you are an inspiration to a lot of people. And my question is, is why is it that he is subject to not the laws that your normal people would have? Because if it would have been anybody else, we would have had to take a breathalyzer test, or if they found any kind of prescription drugs, we wouldn`t get to go home.
GRACE: You are so right, Wendy in Ohio. Now, at the very beginning, cops were humming and hawing about how it was a very insignificant accident. But now, according to this document that we have obtained from the Florida police, we now know that they specifically requested a blood alcohol result, and the local prosecutor, named Steve Foster -- his name is signed here at the bottom -- refused to have a blood alcohol test done on Tiger Woods. He has been treated differently than an ordinary person would have been. This as we learn his endorsements are drying up.
What can you tell me about that, Serafin?
SERAFIN: Yes, Gatorade -- of course, he has the Gatorade Tiger Focus drink. Gatorade just released a statement today saying they are discontinuing this Tiger Focus drink. Now, they are saying that this was a decision that was made months ago and it had nothing to do with the recent events. That, of course, is confirmed. There was a beverage trade publication that had this information back on November 25th. But I think what`s more telling are the TV ads that are disappearing.
GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers, Susan Moss, child advocate, family law attorney in New York, Renee Rockwell, defense attorney, Atlanta, Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney and author of "How Can You Defend Those People?" joining us in New York.
Weigh in, Sue Moss.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Tiger isn`t out of the woods yet. His troubles are just beginning because I have a feeling that Elin is going to be leaving and leaving shortly. And it sounds like she might be setting up a relocation trial, where she may want to take the two kids and move to Sweden. Now, that`s not easy, even with all the stuff that is coming out on Tiger. It`s going to be a huge, expensive and very interesting fight.
GRACE: You know -- to you, Renee Rockwell -- in a lot of jurisdictions, prenups are actually illegal. They are deemed to be contrary to the welfare of the public, against public policy. It`s as if you`re going into the marriage to defeat the marriage. So could all of these alleged affairs defeat a prenup?
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, Nancy. They`re not going to defeat a prenup. All I can say is kudos to his attorneys, number one, for keeping him from making the statements, and hopefully, number two, for having an ironclad prenup.
GRACE: Hey, Mickey, do you want to try to answer that question?
MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t think the prenup`s are going to be touched at all. There`s so much money to go around that it`s not going to be a problem. The lawyers will be feeding off the two of them, as well, which is unfortunate. But this is not the first famous person to have a couple of affairs, and I think piling on would be getting the warrant for his blood alcohol content. It`s just not necessary.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Is he unconscious?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: OK, are you able to tell if he`s breathing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I can`t tell right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My two officers arrived at the scene and noticed Tiger Woods laying on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This new police report that is out from the police officer that was on the scene before the Florida Highway Patrol got there says that Tiger was on the ground, on a pillow, covered with blankets, says that the car was still running. There were two golf clubs on the floor with the golf cart. But he also says in this report that Tiger kept trying to get up. So that does indicate that he was conscious, at least to a certain extent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was likely intoxicated. If he had a serious head injury that caused him to be unconscious, I would suspect he had more damage and likely would have stayed in the hospital for a longer period of time.
GRACE: We don`t know when he was drinking. We don`t know how much he was drinking. We don`t know if he was drinking, although the eyewitness, AKA obviously his wife, says he was. We don`t know if he was on Ambien, although the next door neighbor says, I was right there and he was snoring.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you`re in an accident, a vehicular accident, involving personal injury, you must draw the blood. It just -- it`s a no-brainer. You must take the blood. Having the state`s attorney jump in and intervene and say, It`s not possible to have this and we can`t reveal it -- there`s a piece of the puzzle that`s missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. To Tina in Texas. Hi, Tina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I love your show. Thank you so much for allowing me to call in.
GRACE: Thank you for calling in, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, is why did he choose the class of women he chose? Because I know what he did is wrong, but just the fact of him choosing those ladies -- they have so much more to gain with fame and celebrityism, and now he`s, like, you know, in a situation here.
GRACE: OK, now, wait a minute. Tina, your question is why did he what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did he choose the class of women that he chose?
GRACE: Well, now, hold on a moment. One of these ladies is a waitress at a pancake house. I worked at a restaurant all the way through law school, I mean, so I can`t really speak to their character, except that they knew they were dating a married man.
But you know what, Tina? I`m going to throw your question to a shrink. To Dr. Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist. I think what she`s trying to say is, why do men always cheat down? I mean, did you see those pictures, Patricia, of Elin Nordegren? She`s a model, a swimsuit model. And no, New York control room, that is not your cue to start showing swimsuit -- there you go. Drop the swimsuit photos, New York. Go ahead, Patricia.
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I think it has to do with the equation of power, that if they`re cheating down, then the woman is less powerful. But I think the real reason is because they were beautiful and they were there. This guy`s behaving like an a irresponsible adolescent whose wildest dreams came true -- money, power, fame, superstardom and with emphasis on the irresponsibility.
GRACE: Dr. Saunders -- please put her up. Did you ever think that he may have done it because he could, because he realized he could get away with it, and in his mind, he compartmentalized it, thinking, I love my wife, I love my children. This has nothing to do with them. I don`t love these women, now allegedly 10 of them. How do you compartmentalize like that?
And Patricia, listen, don`t get me wrong, OK? I don`t think anybody on this panel is a saint. If you are, you got to get off the panel right now, OK? I don`t hear anybody leaving. Nobody on this panel is a saint.
What I`m interested in is, can she leave the country with those children? Can the prenup be defeated over affairs? How will this affect his endorsements? And what will happen with the divorce? And most important of all, why was he treated above the law?
But back to the question to you, Dr. Saunders. Go ahead.
SAUNDERS: I think that the questions really come down to the same thing, that Tiger is living in Tiger-land, which doesn`t have terribly much to do with adult responsibility, judgment or thinking about consequences. This is a guy who lives in a bubble of celebrity. And people are, unfortunately, treated different, but they`re also held to a higher standard, which he miserably failed at.
GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. You know, I know that it may have been speculation when we were talking about why wasn`t he charged, why wasn`t his blood alcohol taken, but Ellie, I have it right here...
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right.
GRACE: ... in my hand, the document where police specifically issue a subpoena...
JOSTAD: Yes.
GRACE: ... for the blood alcohol, for his alcohol draw at the hospital, and prosecutor Steve Foster says no.
JOSTAD: Yes, you`re right, Nancy. They said -- you know, and they list it right here on this request, that a witness said that the driver consumed alcohol earlier in the day. It also says that this driver was prescribed the pain medicine Vicodin and also the sleep medicine Ambien.
GRACE: And to you, Mickey Sherman. Could the wife take the children to Sweden and live there?
SHERMAN: Unless there`s a court order, both have equal rights to the children and she can go wherever she wants. She can take them to China, so could he, unless there`s a court order. And you know, with regard to the warrant, not every accident deserves the attention of the criminal justice division.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
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. Because she can, please take your name off that, and what do you call it, just have it as a number on the voicemail, just have it as your telephone number, OK? You got to do this for me. Huge. Quickly. All right, bye.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. This as we learn tonight that Tiger Woods was actually admitted to the ICU, intensive care unit, with possible intubation down his throat to stabilize his breathing, suggesting his injuries much more serious than first released.
Now, how does that play into the theory that this crash was much more serious, and also the theory that many people believe he was DUI, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and was not charged? In fact, it wasn`t even investigated, even though police insisted on a blood alcohol test. Prosecutors overruled that request by police.
Again, we are taking your calls live. I want to go back out to the lawyers, Susan Moss, Renee Rockwell, Mickey Sherman. But first to Ellie Jostad. Ellie, what can you tell me about this double digit number of women? Who are they? Where are they coming from?
JOSTAD: Right.
GRACE: Are they all for real, or are they just trying to cash in on Tiger Woods`s name?
JOSTAD: Well, that`s a good question, Nancy. We don`t know. We know some of them have talked to tabloids. It`s possible they sold their story. But we`ve got -- you know, the one thing that stands out, he appears to have met most of these women in clubs, restaurants, that kind of thing. We`ve got...
GRACE: Pancake house.
JOSTAD: Yes. Exactly. We`ve got Rachel Uchitel, obviously, the club hostess, Jaimee Grubbs, the reality show contestant. Now we`ve got another swimsuit model who met him in Vegas, she claims. We`ve got another woman who worked for this lingerie Web site. We`ve got the pancake house...
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa!
JOSTAD: Yes?
GRACE: Back it up. Back it up.
JOSTAD: Yes.
GRACE: Put Ellie up, please. Ellie...
JOSTAD: Yes?
GRACE: ... did you think you could just slip that by me, a lingerie Web site?
JOSTAD: Right. Right.
GRACE: I know what that is, porn. A lingerie Web site?
JOSTAD: Well, I did check out the Web site. It doesn`t appear to be porn. But this woman claims that she met Tiger Woods, they had an affair for a while.
GRACE: OK. Go ahead.
JOSTAD: We`ve also got former porn star Holly Sampson (ph) who`s added to the list. And it goes on and on.
GRACE: You know -- to you, Mickey Sherman -- I hate to give you a point, but I don`t necessarily believe all these women.
SHERMAN: No, I think some of them are coming out of the woodwork to cash in on this. Don`t forget, the Michael Jackson first victim got $24 million. So I think they...
GRACE: Don`t -- don`t drag him into this.
SHERMAN: ... they smell some of this money.
GRACE: Don`t drag Jackson in, please, Mickey. Please?
SHERMAN: No, but it`s a great opportunity...
GRACE: Let the man rest in peace, and let his victims go count their money.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god!
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: Fire, rescue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, hurry up. My mom just collapsed.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Seems like the walls are crumbling around Tiger Woods and his good-guy image. We`re getting word of more alleged affairs, more alleged mistresses.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s all blowing up as we speak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a bakery, take a number, next, apparently. And I`m sure there are more. This guy is a playboy.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: With an estimated $300 million prenup and two little children hanging in the balance, what really happened to Tiger Woods?
ALEXIS TERESZCUK, REPORTER, RADAROLINE.COM: What led up to the crash we learned that Elin had found Tiger`s phone and saw text messages on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were some reports that what actually happened was that she struck the SUV with the golf club. Her story was that she actually used that to get him out.
MICHELLE GOLLAND, PSYD., PSYCHOLOGIST, EXPERT ON MOMLOGIC.COM: Infidelity in a marriage is one thing. And if you`re dealing with one infidelity it can be a symptom of a marriage that is in distress, but a serial infidelity, a cheater which is what appears to be what Tiger has done, is a symptom in the character of the person who is cheating.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: Now when you saw Tiger Woods, was he conscious, unconscious, or was he snoring like your brother described?
KIMBERLY HARRIS, TIGER WOODS` NEIGHBOR: He was unconscious. I didn`t hear the snoring part because I wasn`t as close. But he never -- I never saw him open his eyes or anything.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: Now do you remember how Tiger was dressed? Was it similar to.
HARRIS: Yes, same thing. So he had a navy blue shirt, khaki pants, no shoes, and then Mrs. Woods had on a black jogging suit.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: Black jogging suit? OK. Did you notice that -- anything about the vehicle or any other damage about the vehicle like I just mentioned on the front end?
HARRIS: The only thing that I noticed was that it was completely crashed and the tire, you know, was pretty much lodged -- lodged against the tree and then that the window by the car seat which is on the passenger side was knocked out.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: OK. OK. So the one on the passenger side was knocked out.
HARRIS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: Did you walk around to the driver`s side at all?
HARRIS: Uh-uh. I did notice when I was running that the door was opened, but that`s the only thing I remember.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: The driver`s side door was open at that point?
HARRIS: Mm-hmm.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: OK. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: OK, is she able to talk?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s talking to me.
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: She`s talking to you? Can she tell you what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. She said she collapsed, fainted.
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: She fainted?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was down for a while.
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: How do you know she was down for a while?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I heard her fall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Michael Gordon, CEO with Group Gordon in New York, a crisis PR expert.
Michael, at this point, is it really going to matter how many women claim they had an affair with Tiger Woods? And do you believe all these women?
MICHAEL GORDON, CEO, GROUP GORDON, CRISIS PR EXPERT (via phone): Sure. Well, I believe most of them. You know, some of them probably have ulterior motives but a lot are coming out of the woodwork and the problem right now is that they are controlling the story.
They are, the 911 tapes, the random police reports, they are coming out. Everyone is talking about Tiger excerpt for Tiger and Tiger needs to be the one to take control of the story.
GRACE: Well, maybe Tiger can`t talk because he`s still in hiding because he`s got a big bump on his head. Did you ever think about that? I mean, Michael, how would that look?
GORDON: Well, I think maybe.
GRACE: You`re the crisis PR expert. For him to come out with a big goose egg on his head?
GORDON: Well, maybe it would draw some sympathy actually.
GRACE: I don`t think it`s going to work that way.
GORDON: Well, if he talks about what happened, if he`s honest about it and he apologizes to his family, to his fans -- you know, we live in a forgiving country. He can get past this. But the way this is unfolding, more revelations come out every day. He`s not saying anything. He`s hiding behind three statements on his Web site. And he hasn`t come forward yet.
GRACE: You know what, Michael? You just said something that I think is critical. That this is a very forgiving country. As far as his affairs, you don`t have to go very far past somebody in your own family or past your next-door neighbor`s house to find somebody that`s had an affair during a marriage.
GORDON: Sure. I mean if he comes out and he`s sincere, he tells the truth, he apologizes, you know, there is a lot of reservoir of goodwill for this man. He`s the biggest athlete in the world. There is a reason he has a billion dollars worth of endorsements.
So if he comes out, apologizes, and just focuses on his game play and stops fooling around he can get past this.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Yes, but -- you know, maybe he can`t, Michael Gordon.
To Dr. Jake Deutsch, doctor of emergency medicine, joining us out of New York. Doctor, thank you for being with us. Doctor, Tiger Woods, we now learn, was admitted to the ICU, intensive care unit. Reports surfacing that he was actually intubated to stabilize his breathing.
DR. JAKE DEUTSCH, M.D., DOCTOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE: Right.
GRACE: What does that say to you, Doctor?
DEUTSCH: That means that there was some serious trauma. Either it was trauma that injured his head, there could have been (INAUDIBLE) or neck injuries, chest trauma, but also raises the question if there was intoxication. So if you`re semiconscious.
GRACE: Why?
DEUTSCH: .. or in a near-comatose state because of drugs or alcohol you may have to be on a ventilator in order to prevent any problems with your breathing, sustain your blood flow. So this is not something that`s done without really serious injury.
GRACE: Well, Dr. Deutsch, what about the fact that one of the neighbors -- I guess, it was the neighbor -- was right there.
DEUTSCH: Saw him.
GRACE: Up on him and heard him snoring.
DEUTSCH: Right.
GRACE: Is it possible it wasn`t snoring in the sense that you and I would use the term.
DEUTSCH: Sure.
GRACE: . us lay people would use the term but because his breathing was impaired?
DEUTSCH: Right. It could have been a head injury where he was knocked unconscious and that may have had sonorous type of breathing. It could be that he had injury to his neck and that impairs the way that our nervous system operates.
But it could also be alcohol or drugs or sleeping medications. There`s a number of factors here which are not clear. And certainly the delay in drawing blood alcohol levels and getting the evidence in terms of what tests were done -- there`s way too many things to speculate here.
GRACE: To Andrew J. Scott, former chief of police, Boca Raton there in Florida, now VP of Scott Roberts and Associates.
Andrew, thank you for being with us. Andrew, look, I know it`s a tight club of cops. OK? I was in that club as a prosecutor for many, many years. But tell me the truth, why didn`t prosecutors give the cops the blood alcohol -- why was Tiger Woods treated differently than I would have been if I smashed up a tree and a fire hydrant and was snoring on the side of the road?
ANDREW J. SCOTT, FMR. CHIEF OF POLICE, BOCA RATON, VP, SCOTT ROBERTS & ASSOCIATES: Well, very good questions. And first and foremost it`s not the prosecutor that needed to authorize the police to take the blood. Police, by Florida state statute, have that authority based on the type of accident that this involved including a significant injury to somebody.
So the police had the authority to demand that blood and somebody failed to take that blood evidence. Now, blaming this on the prosecutor, I`m not sure if that`s the right focus. Somebody needs to take a look at why the blood wasn`t drawn.
GRACE: Hold on, Andrew Scott.
SCOTT: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: Here is a subpoena request by the cops, by police, for the blood that was drawn from Tiger Woods at the hospital. And Steve Foster, whoever that may be in the prosecutor`s office, says no. The blood is there, most likely at the hospital. But prosecutors just don`t want to know. I guess don`t ask, don`t tell.
SCOTT: Well, I`ve got to mention to you that there`s two things in there. The police department, the FHP that could have drawn the blood without a prosecutor`s permission. And then if you have a prosecutor who`s denying this subpoena for the blood then you`ve got a bigger problem than what we`ve talked about.
GRACE: Well, this is a denial -- request denied, it`s marked with an X -- for the blood at the hospital. That`s what we`ve got right now dated 11/30/2009.
We are taking your calls live. I want to go back to Drew Petrimoulx. What can you tell me -- what else can you tell me about the call regarding the mother-in-law, who`s apparently a Swedish governor, taken around 2:30 a.m. last night in the wee hours to the ICU herself?
DREW PETRIMOULX, REPORTER, WDBO RADIO: That`s right. Well, we understand she came to be with her daughter during this situation and it was kind of a sudden thing. If you hear the 911 call she is frantic because she doesn`t know what happened. She collapses in the bathroom but then she kind of realizes that it`s not as serious a situation as it seemed at first.
She kind of calms down a little bit, realizes that her mother is OK, but they still bring the ambulance along and then she was taken to the hospital, and apparently they were a little bit more serious than the daughter thought after she seemed OK, because they did keep her for 12 hours. It`s not like they just checked her and then let her right back out.
GRACE: OK, last question to the lawyers. Sue Moss, Renee Rockwell, Mickey Sherman, we are hearing reports that Tiger Woods is now holed up on his yacht coincidentally called "Privacy" while the wife and the children are there in the home.
In any way, to you, Renee Rockwell, could this be deemed abandonment if he`s moved out?
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, if he`s absolutely left the marital home for no -- with no intention of returning, yes, that`s abandonment. But I think with the lifestyle that he led and the fact that he was away much of the time he can explain that later if a judge said, well, hey, you just took off.
GRACE: Everybody, we are going to break but taking your calls live. And as we go to break, we go in loving memory of New York attorney Sandy Schiff who after what we thought was a successful bone marrow transplant, a very painful process with her brother Irwin, lost her battle with leukemia one year ago today.
Our friend, our neighbor, a true attorney in the best sense of the word.
Sandy, you are missed. Good night, friend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking news in the case of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten who cops say was stabbed and strangled to death by 15-year- old Alyssa Bustamante. Bustamante, shackled and in a green jumpsuit, appeared in court today where she pled not guilty to first-degree murder in the brutal slaying of Elizabeth Olten.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She killed for sport, she killed for a thrill. She`s a cold-blooded psychopath. No remorse, no guilt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the indictment they alleged that she strangled, stabbed and cut the little girl`s throat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also we learned in court that the highway patrol investigator said that Alyssa Bustamante told him she did the murder, she murdered Elizabeth Olten, a 9-year-old, because she wanted to know what it felt like.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Olten appeared emotionless in the hearing, remaining silent, her head constantly facing down.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The public defender has asked that she spend a few days in the state mental hospital to assess her current mental state and to prevent the possibility she may harm herself.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The judge has yet to rule on this motion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Ladd Egan, news director/anchor at KRCG, in court today. Ladd, thank you for being with us. Why was the 15-year-old murder suspect in court?
LADD EGAN, NEWS DIRECTOR/ANCHOR, CNN AFFILIATE, KRCG: She was in court today, Nancy, for an arraignment. Now on the day back in November when she was certified to stand trial as an adult she did not have a public defender.
Her public defender in the juvenile court couldn`t come with her to the adult court system. So today she was arraigned. She entered a plea of not guilty, however, she did not speak. Her attorney spoke on her behalf. They waived the former arraignment and entered pleas of not guilty on both the charge of first-degree murder and the charge of armed criminal action.
Now she didn`t talk in court at all. She kept her head down and had her hair covering her face a lot of the time. Interesting also in court today there were family members of Elizabeth Olten, that`s the 9-year-old who was murdered.
They wore pink to support Elizabeth, but on Alyssa Bustamante`s side, not even her grandmother, who is her legal guardian, showed up to support her today.
GRACE: I want to ask you another question about what happened in court today, Ladd Egan. It`s my understanding that the defense has asked the judge to take her to a psych unit to put her in a mental ward, the sick bay, because of an alleged suicide attempt and that suicide attempt would be she tried to scratch herself with her own fingernails?
That`s the suicide attempt?
EGAN: Yes. That was soon after she was arrested back in October. The jail said that she was using her fingernails to scratch up her arms so bad that she was bleeding. And at that point they did take her to a psychiatric hospital in St. Louis for a period of time.
GRACE: But that -- does that rise to a suicide attempt? I`m going to throw it to you, Rupa Mikkilineni, our producer on the story. How can scratching yourself with nails be a suicide attempt? It is obviously a way to get in sick bay which is notoriously better treatment, better facilities, better food.
You get your own cell, you get privacy, you`re treated with kid gloves because she scratched herself with her fingernails? This after she murdered a 9-year-old girl with three causes of death, strangulation, stabbing and slicing her throat? And they`re worried the girl is scratching herself with her fingernails, Rupa?
RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, we did learn last month that in the certification hearing that she does have a history of mental illness. She did try to commit suicide in 2007. She was treated for depression. She`d been in therapy and she was on Prozac, so there is some evidence to suggest she does have a history of suicide.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Carolyn in Kentucky. Hi, Carolyn.
CAROLYN, CALLER FROM KENTUCKY: Hi. Thank you for taking my call. I`ve tried to get through for quite a while.
GRACE: Thank you for calling in, Carolyn.
CAROLYN: Well, I appreciate the work that you do. I always follow these cases and sometimes I actually cry over them.
GRACE: Me, too.
CAROLYN: This young girl here, have they already completed her psychiatric evaluation or are they in the process of doing that? I`m not clear of that.
GRACE: What about it, Ladd Egan? What can you tell us?
EGAN: Well, in the juvenile court system, before they said that she was going to stand trial as an adult, there were a lot of psychiatric evaluations that went on. And it came out in the certification hearing that since she tried to commit suicide back in 2007 that she was undergoing intense, almost daily treatment, for wanting to hurt herself.
And the court said -- the juvenile authority said that she never talked about hurting other people. That it was always about hurting herself. However, since then one of her friends has come forward and said that earlier this year at a party, Alyssa Bustamante pulled her aside and told the friend, I wonder what it would be like to kill somebody. So her friends are saying she did talk about hurting others.
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. I want to go back to Rupa Mikkilineni.
Rupa, is it true that the only motivation we have thus far for this 15-year-old girl to cold bloodedly murder a 9-year-old little playmate of her little sister was to see what it felt like, to see what it felt like to kill somebody?
MIKKILINENI: That is what she told investigators when she was interviewed after they found Elizabeth Olten`s body, Nancy. She told an investigator that she wants -- she admitted to digging two graves and told investigators she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Sue Moss, Renee Rockwell, Mickey Sherman. There you go, Renee. What are you going to do with that if that`s your client?
ROCKWELL: Well, first of all, Nancy, that`s a statement that you want to keep out. Was she advised of her rights? Was she with a guardian?
GRACE: Well, you don`t need to scream that any louder. Of course they don`t want that in.
ROCKWELL: And -- but, Nancy, here`s the problem. As well as an attorney could do to keep that out, you`re not going to keep out a statement that she gave to her little girlfriend at a party where she said the exact same thing.
GRACE: Go ahead, Mickey. Give it your best try.
MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "HOW CAN YOU DEFEND THOSE PEOPLE?": She`s clearly psychotic, but no one is going to care about that because the crime she committed was so despicable. It brings back the memories of Leopold and Lowe with thrill killers of the `30s where they killed their neighbor just to watch him die.
Problem is, this girl is crazy. She`s on Prozac. She wasn`t on St. Joseph`s aspirin.
GRACE: Hold on.
SHERMAN: Yes.
GRACE: Hold on. Sue Moss, take a look at this video. Liz, can you pull up the video of her on YouTube? She`s not crazy. She may be depressed. She may be suicidal, but that under the law isn`t crazy. Here she is with the wherewithal to film herself shocking herself and her little brothers for fun on an electric fence, all right?
The other pictures we were showing of you is her with fake blood coming out of her mouth, and the black make-up like a clown around her eyes, her fingers pointed to her own head as if she`s going to kill herself.
You know, why, Sue Moss, when people threaten suicide, do they end up killing people in their family and their neighbors, why?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: Because this woman is evil. She`s not trying to kill herself. She knows how to kill somebody. She knows how to stab. She knows how to strangle. She knows how to slit somebody`s throat. She knows how to do the deed if she really wanted to do it.
GRACE: Whoa, hold on.
MOSS: It didn`t take her too long to kill that 9-year-old.
GRACE: You just reminded me of something. She told cops that she dug two graves five days before she lured a 9-year-old little girl to her death. That is premeditation.
MOSS: There was going to be another. Thank God they found her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One specific time it was on her birthday, I was at her party and she kind of just took me off to the side randomly and she`s like, you know, I wonder what it would be like to kill somebody. Because I guess she was mad at one of her friends there. But it just seemed kind of strange but you wouldn`t logically think one of your friends would kill somebody, you know?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Bustamante, shackled and in a green jump suit, appeared in court today where she pled not guilty to first-degree murder in the brutal slaying of Elizabeth Olten.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. King?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miss Bustamante will waive formal arraignment and enter pleas of not guilty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines, Susie in California. Hi, Susie.
SUSIE, CALLER FROM CALIFORNIA: Hi, Nancy. I just absolutely love you. I first wanted to say that I drop anything I`m doing at 5:00, northern California time, to watch your show. I think you are fantastic.
GRACE: I don`t deserve that.
SUSIE: You do.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: . last night but I`m going to play that back to the twins when they get old enough to actually talk back to me.
SUSIE: Well, I am also a Christian. And.
GRACE: Me, too.
SUSIE: I believe in discernment and I`ve never had it through the television. But let me say something -- I`m supposed to ask a question, I think.
GRACE: Yes.
SUSIE: Is there any child at all in that body of this person? I think she is very much an adult, an evil adult. I mean, I get nothing but darkness from her. Through the television.
GRACE: I guess, Mickey Sherman, that`s not who you want on your jury. You don`t want Susie in California.
SHERMAN: Not necessarily, because she obviously thinks that this woman is crazy. Demonic.
GRACE: No, no. She didn`t say crazy, she said evil. There`s a big difference between crazy and evil.
SHERMAN: I don`t know if there`s a far of a bridge to build, frankly. What she did speak -- speaks of insanity itself. It was an absolutely insane act that she committed.
GRACE: OK, back to Ladd Egan. What happens now? She`s going to be treated like an adult. She was in court. She pled not guilty. Now what?
EGAN: Well, she went back to a county jail, but not the county where she was charged in. She had to go to a neighboring county because there`s not room for her in the jail here. Now the judge has not ruled on that motion filed by her defense attorney to get her moved to a psychiatric hospital and the judge -- the defender said that this was an immediate need. However, it`s been a week or so.
GRACE: Well, you know what? Better safe than sorry. I think she should be moved. Judge, I hope you`re listening because I want to see her stand trial.
Everyone, let`s stop and remember Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Olsen, 20, Eagan, Minnesota, killed Iraq. From a family of military vets, loved the Marine`s band of brothers bond. A state champion with his high school`s drumline.
Loved rock, pizza, video games, teaching Sunday school. Leaves behind parents Wayne and Gwen, sisters Chelsea and Shana.
Daniel Olsen, American hero.
Thanks to our friends, our guests, but especially to you for being with us tonight. And a special good night to Attorney Sandy Schiff.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
