Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Tiger Woods Leaves Golf for Indefinite Period of Time; Economy Still Number One Issue for Americans; Debate Over Global Warming Continues; Senator Orrin Hatch Writes a Hanukkah Song

Aired December 12, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, folks. From the CNN center in Atlanta, welcome to the CNN Saturday morning for December 12th. I'm T.J. Holmes.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for starting you day with us.

All right, Tiger Woods dropping a bombshell. For the first time, he uses the word "infidelity," and he says that he is leaving the game of golf indefinitely, all of this on his Web site.

So is that the right decision to leave the game of golf? And what kind of impact will it have on the game, his career, the career of others, sponsors? Lots of questions this morning.

HOLMES: Also this morning we talk about President Obama, who is talking about jobs. He has a huge meeting on the topic on Monday. See what that might mean for you. We'll have a preview, coming up.

NGUYEN: All right, but back to the Tiger Woods saga, again the announcement that he is stepping away from the game of golf indefinitely. And he also used the term "infidelity," admitting that he cheated on his wife. In previous statements, though, he used the word "transgressions." So we're getting a little bit deeper into the story.

And I want to read a little bit from the Web site, which reads this -- "I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children. I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry that that I ask forgiveness."

He goes on to say, "After much soul-searching, I've decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person," again, that coming from his Web site.

Now, it's not clear how long this indefinite break will last, also how this is going to affect his sponsorships. But for now, some of his biggest sponsors are standing behind him. Nike and EA Sports, which makes Tiger Woods video games, issued these statements yesterday, both saying that they support Tiger Woods. A Nike spokesperson said that they look forward to Woods' return.

But ads featuring Woods have not aired during primetime recently. HOLMES: A lot of talk about Tiger and what this means for him and what this means for his family. But there's also another big loser in this whole thing -- the game of golf. Golf has really been moved forward in a major way by Tiger Woods since he joined the tour.

Tiger Woods, him leaving, when he doesn't play tournaments, they have seen the viewership drop some 50 percent. We talked to our Rick Horrow, our business and sports analyst this morning. Just exactly what is golf losing when Tiger Woods goes away?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: They lost a billion dollar juggernaut for him. Himself, he finally made statements. Look at the words he used in statement himself, "disappointment," "infidelity," "profoundly sorry," all of those things weren't said a week ago when he talked about transgressions.

Now, your question, what about the tour? A 7,000 percent increase in PGA millionaires since he came on the tour. Last year when he was out, 47 percent decline in television ratings. The network themselves pay $800 million a year to continue to televise all Tiger all the time. What are they going to do now?

HOLMES: And a lot of people think this is great for some of the other golfers, they have a better chance to win some of these tournaments. But this is not good for any of the golfers. Like you just mentioned, their pockets have been padded since he has gotten onto the tour.

What about the PGA, what about Nike, what about Gatorade? And particularly the PGA. Any athlete in any other sports, when they do something, get in a little trouble out there, sometimes their leagues will come down on them. Does the PGA or some of these sponsors need to come out and say something? We support him, yes, but we really hate what he did.

HORROW: Remember, the commissioner of the PGA came out with a fairly orchestrated supportive statement. It's a private matter, let's hope he comes back soon, family is first. EA Sports and other sponsors did the same thing as well.

Companies like Gillette, EA, a little harder edge, don't know what they're going to do. They may stay with him. Nike -- $800 million a year in revenue that he created from Nike Golf out of nothing. So look for Phil Knight at Nike to have a conversation about Tiger. Kellogg's stepped away from Michael Phelps fairly early, got some backlash.

One thing is for certain -- marketing experts making a lot of money the next few months.

HOLMES: All right, last thing on this topic here. What about his golf? He was well on the way. A lot of people already think he's the greatest golfer to ever live. But he's four major championships away from Jack Nicklaus' record. What happens to his golf game now? Is he in some danger of not wrapping up his career as the greatest ever?

HORROW: He will become the best carpet chipper in the history of the world because he may have to stay indoors. Paparazzi all over the place.

In all seriousness, if the hiatus is a small "H," and he comes back pretty soon, he has only five more majors to win to pass Jack Nicklaus. He's won 71 times on tour, $90 million. So it's a question purely of whether the hiatus is a small "h" or capital "H."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A lot of people have opinions about this story, including you. You know where to find Betty and I on our blog, also Twitter and on Facebook.

NGUYEN: President Obama is giving a shout-out to House Democrats. They passed a wide ranging bill to reform the nation's financial system. But not a single Republican voted for it.

And, among other things, the bill creates a consumer protection agency. It also regulates derivatives and other risky financial products at the root of last year's financial collapse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yesterday the House passed comprehensive reform legislation, that incorporates many of the essential changes we need. And the Senate banking system is working on its own package of reforms.

I urge both houses to act as quickly as possible to pass real reform that restores free and fair markets, in which recklessness and greed are thwarted, and hard work, responsibility, and competition are rewarded.

Reforms that work for businesses, investors, and consumers alike, that's how we'll keep our economy and our institutions strong. That's how we'll restore a sense of accountability and responsibility to both Wall Street and Washington.

And that's how we'll safeguard everything the American people are working so hard to build. A broad-based recovery, lasting prosperity, and a renewed American dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And because of the health care overhaul, the Senate is not expected to deal with the financial reform legislation until late January at the earliest.

President Obama also talked about jobs in his weekly address. In fact, he had a big meet at that topic on Monday. CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser join us now from Washington. Paul, always good to see you, thank you so much. The president has another meeting. A lot of Americans waiting for some action. But they have to meet before they take action. So what's happening on Monday?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: T.J., here is the idea. The president will pow wow with some of the top executives from some of the biggest banks in the U.S. And the idea here is the president will push these to free up money in a way to small businesses and to consumers. Why? They say that will help pump up the economy and it will also help create new jobs.

We heard the president a couple of days ago. He made a big speech here in Washington. It was about pumping up the economy and creating more jobs.

One of the things the president said he wanted to do was take some of those unused funds in the Wall Street bailout, which is officially known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP to most people, and he wants to use some of the unspent money towards job creation.

You'll see the House this week, House Democrats maybe pass a bill that would do that -- T.J.

HOLMES: I can imagine who won't be voting for that, because Republicans say that money was for specific purposes in TARP, not nothing for anything else. And not only that -- if we have extra money left over, try to pay down the deficit, try to get rid of some of this country's debt.

STEINHAUSER: Bingo. And Republicans are saying it's not they don't want the economy to receive. They do, they say, of course. We're all on the same side here.

But Republicans say that with the massive budget deficit the way it is, any it's getting larger, any unused money they say should not be used toward another stimulus. They are trying to frame this as another stimulus. They say instead use that money to start bringing down the debt. That goes to their fiscal conservative voters, T.J.

HOLMES: This whole debate, it's important for everybody's livelihood out there, but it's also important politically for the president. I mean, more and more -- that's still the number one issue on people's minds, the economy.

STEINHAUSER: We've been in this recession for two years. The economy continues to be issue number one.

Take a look at these brand new numbers from the CNN Opinion Research Corporation. It's still right there at the top. It's been that way for two years. And it's not going to change anytime soon unless there's a dramatic improvement in the economy.

And T.J., politically, why is this important? If issue number one the economy, there are some big elections next November, and the Democrats have to defend some large margins in Congress. They're going to be judged, the Democrats and the president, on what they do to improve the economy, T.J.

HOLMES: We don't know if it will be the year of the incumbent next year. Paul Steinhauser, always good to see you.

STEINHAUSER: Thanks.

NGUYEN: Another friend of our show, a team member, Reynolds Wolf, have been so busy this morning because there is some wicked weather out there this weekend.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: As we have been saying for a good part of the morning and certainly the last couple of weeks, winter hasn't even started yet, and yet it's been a very active winter season. It look like we have another big winter storm on the way for the west coast. We'll talk about that coming up in mere moments.

NGUYEN: All right, thank you.

HOLMES: And also, kind of a shocking story to hear, that a 98- year-old woman is accused of murder. The victim a 100 year old. We'll explain this one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The latest on the weather outside. It feels like winter in many parts, although the calendar is not there just yet.

(WEATHER BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, it was a huge hit during the election season, and now we have brought it back -- in a new way, that is. We are talking about the CNN YouTube debate. But there's a new twist to it this time around.

HOLMES: This time it's about climate change. And you once again can have your voice heard worldwide. Josh Levs here to show you how. Good morning, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning to you guys. It is a little different. And you can read all about it at CNN.com/environment or at YouTube.com. Take a look at this video to give you a sense of what's coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your question for world climate leaders?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you know, what do you plan on leaving for my generation?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Submit it at www.youtube.com/cop15.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEVS: That video that we have there talks you through what to do. And thousands of people all over the world have been sending in questions and their views for this debate.

I pulled out a few examples. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Question, will you allow nuclear power to be counted as a part in a clean energy mix?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Global warming has been around for thousands of years. It can't be controlled. It could possibly be changed. But it can't be terminated. So I have to ask -- aren't there more important things to fund?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Global warming, these are truly fundamental issues for which people have a vote. Why don't you let us decide?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So there you go.

I have a couple screens to show you. First of all, how you can actually watch this debate. This will show you that. This will be taking place on Tuesday, in the morning time. Tuesday, December 15th, 8:00 a.m. eastern time with a replay at noon. And it will airing on CNN.com. So that's where you watch it live on our Web site.

And if you submit something, have you till the 14th. And that's your chance to see if they pick it up or not. And I'll show you where we post the links. It's CNN.com/Josh, Facebook or Twitter, JoshlevsCNN. We have all of the links to get involved in the debate.

And I want to end on one more thing that I think is one of the more powerful videos I've seen. Someone had a question asking, hey, if you think people should do more walking and less driving, why don't you make it impossible for to us do that. Take a look at this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: This is to us from Thailand. This is very interesting. She went for a walk and trying to find places to actually walk and ends up putting sign that says "foot paths, please."

It's really interesting to see the kinds of videos that are coming in. It's getting a lot of turnout from all over the world. And you can take part. As I said, it's going to be Tuesday morning on CNN.com, 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

So Betty and T.J., I certainly look forward to see how many people take part in this, how it all plays out, and how that debate goes. We'll hear a lot of different sides expressed on Tuesday.

NGUYEN: No doubt, looking forward to that. Thank you, Josh.

LEVS: You got it, thanks.

HOLMES: Let's take a quick look at some stories making headlines now.

In Massachusetts, a 98-year-old woman, Laura Lundquist, again, 98 years old, has been charged with second degree murder. Who is she accused of killing? A 100 year old, her roommate. Prosecutors say the pair lived in a nursing home in Dartmouth and they had argued over a piece of furniture. Autopsies show the victim had been strangled.

NGUYEN: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is defending the invasion of Iraq. He tells the BBC it would have been right to remove Saddam Hussein even without evidence that Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction. That interview with the BBC is being broadcast this weekend.

The FBI has questioned some of the five young Americans arrested in Pakistan on accusations of terrorism. An American official says investigators are gathering evidence that could result in a conspiracy charge against the Washington, D.C. area men.

Meanwhile, a the youth coordinator at a Virginia mosque described the men as, quote, "wholesome kids."

NGUYEN: Nothing says happy Hanukkah like a holiday song from Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, right? We're going to have a preview coming up.

HOLMES: Also a little later, "The Princess and the Frog" just came out this weekend. Disney has been around a long time, but this one is a first for them. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, good morning. Welcome back.

Happy Hanukkah. The eight-day Jewish celebration began at sunset yesterday. And when it comes to Hanukkah songs, we may have a new star on the horizon.

HOLMES: People can come up with Christmas carols, but no one can really think of Hanukkah songs. But we have one senator, a well known senator, who is trying to change that up. Yes, Orrin Hatch, that guy. I never thought of him as a Hanukkah caroler.

NGUYEN: If you can call it that.

HOLMES: Here now is CNN's Jessica Yellin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Move over "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel," here comes Orrin Hatch. It's a new Hanukkah song written by the senior senator from Utah. Yes, Hatch is Mormon, but says he's always felt close to the Jewish people.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH, (R) UTAH: We love the Jewish people. We revere what they been through. We suffered with them.

YELLIN: So how did this happen? The conservative Republican likes to write spirituals and love songs. When a Jewish reporter suggested he try his hand at this, he decided to tell the story of Hanukkah.

HATCH: This is the menorah that they filled with oil, but they didn't have enough oil to really keep it going.

YELLIN: The song explains what Jews call a miracle, when in ancient times one day's worth of oil stretched for eight days.

Others have tried their hands at songs. And, of course there, is Adam Sandler. But the Utah's senator's tune is winning raves from his peers.

REP. ANTHONY WEINER, (D) NEW YORK: I don't know if it's in the category of miracles, but having a Mormon member of the United States Senate add to the Hanukkah song collection is certainly right up there with the unexpected.

HATCH: Well, I've had people say they just love it. I've been stopped as I walked through the halls.

YELLIN: He can think of two Jewish singers he'd like to perform the song.

HATCH: I wouldn't mind Madonna singing this. She's a convert to mu day Judaism.

YELLIN: And his favorite, Barbra Streisand.

HATCH: Barbra Streisand has the most beautiful clear voice I've ever heard, but she probably hates me because I'm a conservative Republican.

YELLIN: Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Very cool, except we didn't hear much of him singing at the top of that. He was mixed in way lower than the ladies singing.

HOLMES: He's responsible for producing.

NGUYEN: I want to hear him break out in a solo. Take it to the bridge or something.

HOLMES: Just when you thought things couldn't get stranger on Capitol Hill. NGUYEN: All right, so thanks to a story first seen on CNN, the Senate is closing a health care reform loophole that could have cost cancer patients a whole lot of money.

HOLMES: Also we'll hear more about Tiger Woods' decision to stop golfing and start repairing his damaged marriage. We have been asking for comments this morning and have been sharing them throughout the morning. But you know where to find us. You can still send them in to Facebook and twitter, and as well as our blog. We'll, again, be reading the responses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, good morning, and welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. This is a live look over downtown Atlanta this morning, another cold one for you outside.

But Atlanta is not the only city feeling a little bit of that winter affect, even though winter doesn't officially begin until December 21st. Outside, though, many places really already in the throes of winter.

We'll see how one warm it gets up when it comes to negotiations. We're talking Copenhagen right because negotiators for climate chance are scrambling to settle on emission targets and financing before world leaders arrive next week. Now the discussions continue with the noise of protesters all around them.

According to the Associated Press, about 30,000 people gathered at Copenhagen today at a rally to demand effective international measures to fight climate change. There are reports about youths throwing bricks and smashing windows.

President Obama is among the more than 100 leaders expected there in the next few days.

And speaking of the president, we want to give you a shot of him looking at his Nobel Peace prize medal for the very first time. There is the picture right there. The White House released this photo taken two days ago at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway.

The president also picks up a check for $1.4 million. The White House says that money going to charity, but they haven't named one just yet.

HOLMES: Well, we all know teachers, a hard-working group of folks. You can't really put a price on what they do out there trying to educate this country's children. So can you imagine, some people say there are too many women out there actually teaching. I didn't say it. This guy said it, Steve Perry.

Dr. Steve Perry, our education contributor. My mama is a teacher. And you say there are too many women out there teaching our kids. What do you mean by that?

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: What I'm saying there are not enough men. And especially primary education, there is an over-feminization of primary education, which means many times our young boys are told they need to be in special education because the expectation is they will act like little girls. And the people who are saying this are often women teachers.

HOLMES: How does that make a relation -- how is a female teacher more inclined to take a kid, a young boy, and have that boy end up maybe in a special class, or say he has some kind of disorder, because she's a woman? Help us make that connection.

PERRY: Boys play differently, they learn differently than girls do. Boys rough house, they move around a lot. That's why video games and sports are often where you find young boys.

As they get older they settle down and they slow, and by the time they are 13, 14, it seems like they are morbidly lazy. But girls as they are younger, they play differently, they learn differently. They are more likely to sit still.

And so when you have women who are teaching, and there are virtually entire schools where everyone in there except for the custodian and gym teacher are females, there is a certain mindset that develops in that school.

It's not inherently bad, because women have access to the capacity to nurture, and men do as well, but women are better at it. In this particular situation, in education, while we want people to be professionals, they are still people. My grandmother used to say "people is people."

And as they come to their profession with what it is they do, they come looking from a particular perspective. And that perspective is that boys are more likely to need to be medicated and made to be special ed, especially African-American boys.

HOLMES: Well, Steve, what are we supposed to do about that, because there are so many women in teaching, I don't know how can we possibly -- I guess over time get more men into the ranks, but for the time being, what needs to be done to maybe additionally train those teachers to make sure they are identifying the right kids?

PERRY: It does require training. It requires training and a deep commitment on behalf of the school to make sure that they are looking the same at boys as they are at girls and that they are understanding that in the differences that boys and girls have, they look at the different learning styles.

People often say kids are not the same they used to be. You're right. So why are they teaching them like they used to be taught? Children are different. They have different capacities and different limitations.

Many of our children especially in urban settings are coming from virtually all-female environments where single-parent households two and three generations deep. Children don't have access to the traditional discipline that a man brings to a family typically. So here you have children who are coming from a community that's largely female and going into schools that are largely female.

HOLMES: Well, Steve, last thing, quickly, it sounds like anyone we hear these days, any time there's something wrong with the kid, it's ADD, ADHD, you here that all the time. So help parents out there who might be concerned about it or whose teacher maybe even told him that the child has this disorder -- what's the best, simple test, resource for a parent to help identify a child who needs help?

PERRY: Parents often are told that.

What you need to know is that -- sit your child down, let him play a video game, let him watch television, let him do something that he wants to do. If he doesn't runaround, can't sit still during that time, then he doesn't have it.

If the child is not sitting still in the classroom, there might be something else going on. He may not be interested in the lesson or in the teacher, especially in primary education where you have one teacher for six and a half hours, it's hard for any one teacher to keep an entire classroom of children engaged for that amount of time, especially when it's a boy.

HOLMES: All right, interesting stuff, and important stuff that everybody needs to hear out there. Dr. Steve Perry, always good to see you. Thanks so much. We'll talk to you again soon, buddy.

PERRY: It's a pleasure to see you, as well.

HOLMES: Betty?

NGUYEN: Little girls all over the country showed up at movie theaters last night for the opening of Disney's new film "The Princess and the Frog." And these are members of the Boys and Girls Club in Atlanta, showcasing their tiaras as they entered a local theater.

Wal-Mart sponsored the pink carpet event at theaters all across the country. And the reason for so much excitement? The movie features Disney's first African-American princess. CNN entertainment correspondent Kareem Wynter gets reaction from children as they watch the movies in their classrooms.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more time. It don't matter what you look like. It don't matter what you look like.

KAREEM WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Or does it? Check out Disney's new leading lady, Tiana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I suppose you want a kiss?

WYNTER: She's the studio's first black princess, and many are taking notice, even students at Los Angeles's Clover Avenue Elementary. WYNTER (on camera): Did you see anything at all that was different, that stood out from perhaps other Disney movies?

LEAH, 3RD GRADE STUDENT: Tiana was African-American.

WYNTER (voice-over): The third and fourth grader has no problems sharing their thoughts about "The Princess and the Frog" which they screened in their classroom.

KATIE, 3RD GRADE STUDENT: I think this was a really good start. I think it's a good diversity.

WYNTER: When it comes to diversity, Disney has come a long way since "Snow White" in the 1930s. Since then, there have been just three ethnic princesses, the Native American Pocahontas, Chinese Mulan, and Arabic Jasmine from Aladdin. The question is, in the fantastic world of fairy tale --

WYNTER (on camera): Does skin color really matter?

DIEGO, 3RD GRADE STUDENT: It's really not fair. They should have had one earlier. It took them forever to figure out maybe we should have an African-American princess.

WYNTER: One of the film's own animators agrees.

ERIC GOLDBERG, SUPERVISING ANIMATOR, "THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG": It's about time. I think it's absolutely about time.

WYNTER (on camera): What took so long since the introduction of Snow White?

GOLDBERG: I don't know, I'll honest with you. We were there with different ethnicities before these film. Maybe we needed to do those other films before we could actually do Tiana.

WYNTER: And like some princesses before her, Eric Goldberg says Tiana is already a marketing machine.

GOLDBERG: Everybody is buying African-American Princess Tiana dolls. It doesn't matter what their background is. It's like this is a great, popular character.

WYNTER: Some students note the princess's popularity shouldn't be lost on the film, that there's a deeper message here.

ROMAN, 3RD GRADE STUDENT: People that want to be princesses but their skin color wasn't white, they say, well, if she can do it, then I'm sure I can do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tiana is actually inspiring them.

WYNTER: What's important is what's under the skin.

Kareem Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: I tell you what, little girls everywhere are loving that movie.

HOLMES: And some little girls, they don't look at skin color. They just want to see animated movie.

NGUYEN: Exactly, another princess, something they can dress up as.

All right, we'll get you caught up on the morning's top stories, including the political wife who is walking away from her cheating husband.

HOLMES: And while we are on the subject of cheaters here, we're talking about Tiger Woods, who has admitted cheating on his wife, trying to keep his marriage together now. But can he count on his sponsor's support?

We're back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Checking our top stories right now.

President Obama heads to the global climate conference in Denmark next week. The president has been pushing energy efficiency, but Republicans say he has got it all wrong. House member Marshall Blackburn talked about that during the Republican's weekly address. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN, (R) TENNESSEE: Just think of what will happen to small businesses and manufacturers hit with the sky rocketing energy bills especially when nations like India and China don't agree to these mandatory emissions limits.

With Americans already facing double-digit unemployment, there could not be a worse time to unilaterally disarm our engines of job creation and economic growth.

In fact, small businesses are already feeling anxiety and holding off on hiring due to the prospect of this national energy tax, a government takeover of health care, and other costly policies Democrats have in the works.

These aren't issues President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Democrats in Congress will talk about when they are in Copenhagen, but Republicans will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Representative Blackburn will be among several Republicans attending the climate change conference in Copenhagen. South Carolina's governor now headed for divorce. Mark Sanford's wife filed the papers, citing adultery. It comes six months after Sanford admitted to having an ongoing affair with a woman in Argentina.

Jenny Sanford said she tried several times to reconcile their marriage. South Carolina legislators decided earlier this week not to impeach Sanford.

And another big story that we're following Tiger Woods saying on his website, yesterday evening, in fact, that he is taking an indefinite leave from pro golf. He posted an announcement apologizing for cheating, saying that he needs time to focus on his family. He has admitted an extramarital activity and used the words "infidelity." T.J.?

HOLMES: Yes, a lot of people talking about Tiger, and a lot of people right now, including Steven A. Smith, who is never at a loss for words. He's a sports columnist, commentator.

He was talking about Tiger last night and talking about Tiger Woods being a hypocrite. He was talking about this on an appearance last night on "LARRY KING LIVE."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN A. SMITH, SPORTS JOURNALIST: He wanted to us believe about him what he wanted to us believe about him. And the reason I feel so passionate about that -- I'm not trying to condemn him. To me that's his personal business. He should have told the world to mind their business.

But when talk about his image in terms of him being in control and now losing control, this is a man that went about the business of trying to manipulate opinions about him. I recently saw a commercial where he was talking about being a father to two daughters as well as a husband.

If you know you are doing what you are doing, why are you allowing that type of advertisement to be put out there about you? It's one thing to be seen drinking Gatorade wearing a Nike outfit with gloves and a golf club or whatever the case may be.

But when you are advertising yourself as a family man where you clearly know that that is not how you are behaving, that is the epitome of hypocrisy, and it's one of the few things in the world that Americans simply cannot forgive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And that's the point a lot of people are making. Nike, Gatorade, that's one thing. Men will still buy the golf clubs. People will still drink Gatorade. But when you try to present yourself as this perfect family man, that hurts that image, when you are putting yourself out that way, and then to have this going on.

NGUYEN: A lot of him calling him role model, icon, all of those other words.

Are you weighing in this morning as well. I want to read some of your comments today. I want to take you first to my Facebook site. And Jonathan says "It's the right decision for him to step away indefinitely. Right now his family is far more important than everything else, and I'm pretty sure his family, his marriage, is worth saving."

But then Vernon says this -- "Just needs to man up. OK. I got busted, now I'm going to stay married, or what? To me, just end it. She's never going to look at you the same after that many women."

So a lot of you weighing in today with many different views on this. And we are reading your responses. Keep them coming in to our Facebook and Twitter sites. We do appreciate it, and we'll be sharing them on the air.

HOLMES: Now our Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on things outdoors. I know you're not feeling that well. Appreciate you hanging in there.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The weather guy under the weather.

But a big thing to talk about this morning. We've got two weather systems, one leaving the eastern third of the nation with a few scattered snow showers and rain showers. Out west, a major storm that could bring several feet of snowfall to the sierras and into the Rockies. That's coming up in a few minutes on "CNN SATURDAY MORNING."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to "CNN SATURDAY MORNING." Are you seeing, yes, in fact, that is a live picture of the Senate right now in session. That's Senator John McCain, Republican from Arizona.

You would think they would be working on health care. No, they are actually talking about a spending bill. This is a $1.1 billion spending bill that it's funny for a host of government agencies and programs. Also some controversial measures in there about Guantanamo detainees, talking about them coming to U.S. for trial. Also Amtrak passengers to carry guns.

So just a whole host of issues wrapped up in this bill. The house passed the bill on Thursday. The Senate how expected to take this thing up. This is a $1.1 -- I should say trillion funding bill. This is a trillion dollar funding bill that they are considering. But a huge, massive funding bill.

The Republicans just short time, trying to actually filibuster and to keep this vote from moving forward because they think there are other issues they need to handle, not necessarily spending more money, as they would put it. But again, another rare Saturday session for the Senate right now. NGUYEN: Let's shift gears to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, and that is to root out the insurgency, which is literally being fought one town at a time.

One success story though lies just south of Kabul, and CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is in Baraki Barak with a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: One year ago, this would have been unthinkable. We are walking the streets of Baraki Barak, a small village 30 miles south of Kabul, with Major General Curtis Scaporitti. Last year, this marketplace was deserted. The Taliban ruled here. People stayed away. Now you can readily see how busy it is. The U.S. troops rely heavily on Afghan forces.

MAJ. GEN. CURTIS SCAPARROTTI, U.S. ARMY: This was one of the areas that was considered a sanctuary, and, you know, of the Taliban and the enemy. So we basically fought with them to clear the area, secure the people, protect the population.

STARR: Here in the east, the counterinsurgency strategy has had results. The troops are heavily focused on working with Afghan forces to improve security in places like this. Here, Afghans control the town's checkpoints, trying to keep the Taliban from coming back.

SCAPARROTTI: We want to turn over the security of Afghanistan in these villages and towns to their own forces.

STARR: It's not been easy. Here in Baraki Barak, the police chief started with just five men. Now he has 50.

Still, just outside of town, there have been attacks.

The troops have arranged for tea and the local bread to be waiting for us at the village bakery. Afghans and Americans crowd around.

SCAPARROTTI: We are sitting in a village in Afghanistan, having bread and tea.

STARR: But the general knows this type of progress remains spotty. In many places there are still daily attacks and insurgent strongholds. The military estimates there are as many as 4,000 insurgents operating in the eastern part of Afghanistan.

SCAPARROTTI: I think what you see in the east is over the past year the insurgency had expanded some in terms of the areas that it influenced and controlled within RC East.

STARR: When the additional U.S. troops arch in the region, most will help train afghan forces. Combat operations will continue in order to try and put the insurgents out of business. Scaporitti says the latest intelligence shows the impact.

SCAPARROTTI: We've seen that the enemy has had a harder time getting basic weaponry and ammo.

STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, Baraki Barak, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, a loophole in the legislation. We're talking about a possible cap in how much medical coverage you could get in just one year, and it was put into Senate health care bill behind closed doors by Democrats. But we don't know exactly whose idea it was.

HOLMES: This story was brought to light by an advocacy group of cancer patients. And as CNN Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar reports, after seeing this story on CNN, the White House says that loophole will be closed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're a citizen of the United States and you get sick, you ought not to be shoved into bankruptcy.

KEILAR: It's a frequent call of top Democrats as they push to overhaul the nation's health care system. One of the ways they said they would protect Americans was by stopping an insurance company practice of limiting a patient's insurance coverage, both over a lifetime and annually.

In November the House passed a bill that would do just that. But in the bill now up for debate on the Senate floor, under the section that says "no lifetime or annual limits," it says insurance companies may not establish "unreasonable annual limits." That one word, "unreasonable," opens up a loophole for insurance companies to cap annual benefits.

KEILAR (on camera): What does unreasonable mean?

STEPHEN FINAN, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: We have no idea and that is part of the problem.

KEILAR: At midday Friday, when we talked to the American Cancer Society's cancer action network, they were up in arms about the change, worried it would cost patients.

SEN. TOM HARKIN, (D) IOWA: A stage three colon cancer case can cost over $200,000. That's obviously a lot of money. What happens if the annual limit is $100,000?

KEILAR (voice-over): We asked Senator Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate health committee?

KEILAR (on camera): What is this going to mean for the colon cancer patient whose bill tops $200,000 a year?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the compromises we had to make -- we have no lifetime caps, and we put in there no unreasonable annual caps.

KEILAR: But what does that mean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well that is to be developed by the secretary of Health and Human Services.

KEILAR: After this story aired on CNN, the White House and key congressional staffers spoke with the Cancer Action Network and agreed to close this loophole. But now without the (INAUDIBLE), Democrats find themselves in a difficult situation of trying to keep down the costs of premiums for all Americans, the very reason they put this loophole in the Senate bill to begin with.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)