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Major Sponsor Drops Tiger Woods; Italian Prime Minister Pummeled; Jewish Refugees Reunion
Aired December 13, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for joining us everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
You can truly call this a shockwave through the sports world. Word that Tiger Woods' infidelity scandal has cost him a longtime major sponsor, Accenture.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go on. Be a Tiger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Accenture, the company behind this TV commercial, today dropped the golfer from its advertising. The question now, is Accenture just the first of many companies and corporations who have lost faith in the world's premiere golfer and really one of the world's premiere athletes?
There have been hints for weeks that sponsors may begin quietly dropping Woods after revelations of infidelity emerged over the Thanksgiving holiday. But Accenture's abrupt decision today is nothing less than a public repudiation to Woods' personal life.
The company released this blunt statement on its Web site just a short time ago. I'll read it for you.
"For the past six years Accenture and Tiger Woods have had a successful sponsorship arrangement and his achievements on the golf course have been a powerful metaphor for business success in Accenture's advertising. However, given the circumstances of the last two weeks after careful consideration and analysis the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising."
Accenture said it wishes only the best for Tiger Woods and his family. So, sign of things to come for Tiger whose many sponsorships have enabled him to become sport's first billion-dollar man.
Rick Horrow, what do you think? Sign of things to come?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: I think if you would have asked me two weeks ago whether this could happen, I would have said you are crazy. We even talked about it a couple of weeks ago.
This is the first time a company, which I understand about $20 million, $25 million annually and $100 million for the ad campaign has said, "You're not fit to represent us." And those shock waves are significant because now it's Upper Deck, it's Pepsi, it's some of the other companies and by the way, the entire industry, now, because if Tiger is at risk, then what about every other athlete, entertainer in this $12 billion industry we call sports marketing and athletes spokes-manning (ph)?
LEMON: You said that you would have thought, you know, I would have. I talked to you about that. Because I get people who are saying, many people are interested in that and they were writing in to me and saying that and stopping me on the streets. There are others saying why is this such a big deal? Why don't we move on?
I kind of saw this coming because it's all about image for Tiger Woods. If any of these allegations were true and if he came out and acknowledged them then this was inevitable.
HORROW: It's a combination. It's not just about image but it's also what he's done for the sport. Since he's become a pro -- just to put in perspective -- there are a now 7,000 percent increase in the number of millionaires. Prize money has tripled. It's not just his billion dollars, but there's an entire industry basically that is dependent on this individual.
And now there has to be a fundamental sea change on how to do business.
LEMON: Yes. We have a whole panel of people here. We're going to take questions. We have David Cornwell who is a sports attorney; and then we have Patrick Snell who is with CNN international and he's our sports guru. He knows about sports all over the world, that's why we brought him in.
Listen, talk about this indefinite leave and then now this. How is it playing overseas? How is it playing here? What does it mean to Tiger and the PGA?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS: Well, I think now basically, Don, people just want answers. They've had answers to a certain degree. Golf lovers want to see him back on track; they want to see him out.
From my sources, the big question, when will he return to the sport? The U.S. PGA golf tour knows they're in for a rough ride. They're going to lose money on this. We saw him out last year in 2008, he missed the most of the year -- half the year, let's say -- with that knee surgery that kept him out of the game. The U.S. PGA tour suffered a lot.
Wherever he goes, he's box-office material. He puts huge viewing galleries on otherwise regulatory events. Everyone wants a piece of Tiger Woods. That's the paying public, the media, the corporate sector, as Rick said.
The Masters is the first major of 2009, just down the road from us here at Augusta. Will he be there? That is a tournament he thrives on; that is a tournament he absolutely loves. Woods is all about winning majors. And I just have a personal feeling that if he takes time off until just before the Masters it kind of sends out the wrong messages. He has to at least miss the Masters and possibly even the next major which is the U.S. Open.
LEMON: Ok, so people are saying, when is he going to come back? When is he going to return? You said he should sit out for the Masters?
SNELL: I think he should miss at least two majors. But hey, it's up to him.
LEMON: All right.
You believe that it is good now that he's taking time off. It may not be good for his endorsements and his sponsorship but for him, personally or -- what do you say David?
DAVID CORNWELL, DNK CORNWELL SPORTS LAW FIRM: I actually think it may be good for both. At a personal level he needs time to heal and work things out with his family. On the professional level he needs -- his sponsors need time to figure it out.
I was a general counselor at Upper Deck. So I know the process they're going through. It's not just someone having a visceral reaction and riding into the boardroom on a moral high horse saying we have to terminate Tiger Woods. You do that with Richard MacWilliam at Upper Deck or Phil Knight at Nike. They're going to ask you -- Nike pays him $50 million to $70 million a year to generate $600 million in sales.
LEMON: Stop right there. Stop right there.
Here's the thing, when we're talking about this, for people at home and the viewer to understand, this is more than just about Tiger Woods. This is about business; this is about products they buy. It has an economic effect. There's a domino effect here -- continue.
CORNWELL: Tiger Woods is an industry. He's not just a golfer. He's not just a business.
LEMON: And we're talking about this in the same way that we talk about an AIG or any other (INAUDIBLE) that is facing possible financial issues or earning problems.
CORNWELL: Perfect analogy; the financial collapse or a potential lockout in the National Football League. The ripple effect is immeasurable.
You tell Phil Knight terminate Nike. Phil Knight says, where am I going to find that $600 million in sales tomorrow? There's not another Tiger Woods out there.
LEMON: Take us in the board room real quick and I'm going to get some of the viewer feedback and questions for you guys. You're saying inside the board room -- what are the decisions, what are the conversations like that are going on now?
CORNWELL: A lot of hand wringing because you have a lot of questions and no answers. And by Tiger pulling back he gives the sponsors a chance to let things play out so that answers to their questions become apparent.
It really is something where you're going to measure how the public is going to react. The media -- and, you know, my dabbling in it and guilty of it -- we've gotten ahead of this. We don't know what's going to happen. It's all predictions and suspicion at this point. We have to let things play out.
HORROW: Hey, real, real quick. You know, you've been in the boardroom so you understand it. You can do nothing; people don't want to do that. They've already been there, done that. You can terminate and you can be wishy-washy about giving him some hiatus time. You could terminate and issue a statement distancing yourself or you can see how the whole public opinion plays.
Marketing people, as you said before, are going to make a lot of money doing this. The other thing about the stimulus, Tiger is a billion-dollar stimulus package in and of himself. Ok?
The real thing we ought to focus on, too, he has 100 charities; he gives out $10 million to a number of kids at $5,000 increments. So we have to feel -- let's not hold a bake sale for Tiger Woods but let's also lament about the situation some of the kids may be in.
LEMON: Patrick, hold that thought because we have to get to break. And we're going to get to you and we're going to get to you as well, the viewer on this camera. We really want your feedback on this.
We want your questions because we want people to understand why this is such a big deal if this is the first of many, right? It could be a first of a number or who knows? We're trying to get to the bottom of it and want you to be interactive with us. We want your questions, your comments; Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or send us an iReport. We've got a lot straight ahead here on CNN.
David, Patrick and Rick are going to join us and answer your questions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We want to tell you now, if you're just turning in, Tiger Woods lost a major endorsement today. Accenture became the first big money sponsor to pull the plug on Tiger Woods due to disclosure of infidelities and others are looking -- are they -- for an exit too.
Many of you have been weighing in with your thoughts and your questions. Sports business analyst, Rick Horrow joins us; Patrick Snell is here of CNN Sports; and sports attorney David Cornwell rejoins us as well. Let's get -- I'm going to go through the comments here but I cut you off, Patrick when we were... SNELL: Yes, just very quickly, I mean, at CNN World Sport we are gauging opinion from players all the time. And one of the little overriding things we're hearing, a lot of his fellow pros are worried about Woods and how long he's going to be away from the game because they know very briefly when Woods is in a tournament, the purse is up and they're playing for big money. A lot of them are saying we've been prosperous in the Woods era and they don't want that to go away.
LEMON: Ok, let's -- let me ask you this. Someone says why wouldn't Tiger Woods sponsors want to stay with him? Because when he comes back he's going to be more popular than ever. Rick, take that one.
HORROW: Well, how do we know he's going to be more popular than ever? Part of the analysis right now is to determine exactly what happens to him when he comes back. As we've said before, the statement, disappointment, infidelity, profoundly sorry, that's a heck of a lot different than that "transgressions" statement of a couple of weeks ago.
I'm not a psychoanalyst; I'm barely a lawyer but when you hit the ground or you hit the bottom and then you start admitting things from there, things may get better. We're a country of second, third, fourth and fifth chances. If he really admits his transgressions and talks about them and lives and heals it may be better and sponsors may find him sponsorable (ph) in a while.
LEMON: I agree. Listen, transparency is always a good thing. Here's the thing that I have here.
One person says and this is bosslady2012 (ph); she says, "I think people should stay out of his business. He's human just like everybody else too." Right and you hear people saying, why are we doing this and not leave him alone?
And then Arman says (ph), "If Tiger wanted privacy he should have kept it in his pants." David?
CORNWELL: One thing...
LEMON: David you handle that one.
CORNWELL: Yes. One thing when I grow up, I want to be barely a lawyer too.
LEMON: But you get why people are saying, "Oh, leave him alone, he deserves his privacy." But again, he is a business. So walk -- take us through that.
CORNWELL: It is a very difficult issue and I agree that -- but I'm biased. I represent professional athletes, high-profile athletes who suffer from this type of scrutiny and suspicion...
LEMON: Like?
CORNWELL: Ben Roethlisberger. LEMON: Who you represent?
CORNWELL: Donte Stallworth. Reggie Bush when he went through the entire thing with USC.
LEMON: Kobe Bryant.
CORNWELL: I don't represent -- didn't represent him.
LEMON: Kobe Bryant went through a similar...
CORNWELL: But Kobe is an example.
LEMON: Golden Boy and then all of a sudden infidelities.
CORNWELL: Absolutely.
LEMON: But listen, I want to say this and I'm going to let you finish. I was watching ABC with George Stephanopoulos this morning.
One of the panelists made a very good point saying this is not new. Baseball players have been -- athletes haven't been true -- what's the word I'm looking for -- have had infidelities forever. I guess in this Internet age that so many people can find out about it, the text messaging and what have you, it's different now.
CORNWELL: It is different. But the question is why do we presume that we have a right to inquire and invade? I haven't had a good answer to that. And when you dig down into it intellectually I don't think there is a good answer and it's just an emotional response.
I -- one thing we have to know is Tiger is not alone in being a villain in this. These women who were seeking to be paid after sex by releasing salacious details of their relationship with him, I mean, there are bad words that we could call them and they would fit because of what they're doing to Tiger, his family, the sponsors. For what benefit? I don't get it.
HORROW: If you want to keep looking for intellectual reasons for why media does stuff, you know, keep looking. But the bottom line, I think is, $94 million $95 million annually of corporate endorsements give an entirely different standard...
CORNWELL: I don't deny the reality.
HORROW: ... to the inquiry and the expectation of privacy. I think that's the fundamental thing.
SNELL: Just to pick up also from a playing perspective on the better than ever issue that we mentioned before, last year he came back from his knee surgery. He didn't win any majors at all. Last year was a year of transition because of the knee surgery. Yes, he won six times on the PGA tour; he didn't win any of the big four.
There's no guarantee Woods is going to be a majors winning machine he has been in the earlier part of his career. And this is going to be a real test of his moral fiber as well.
HORROW: How about this one really quick, sports guy? What about the Masters? Maybe. What about the U.S. Open?
The British this year, St. Andrews, his favorite course; so ponder that one.
SNELL: That's going to be a huge decision for him -- huge; home of golf.
LEMON: Right.
So listen, "My mom says she wouldn't buy a Tiger Woods sponsored product...
SNELL: Your mom?
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: No. This is from Contriple (ph) on Twitter. "My mom says she wouldn't buy a Tiger Woods sponsored product."
CORNWELL: That's what the sponsors are going to be measuring, watching. That's what they're going to be watching. Remember, you know, people have their feelings about Michael Vick before the dog- fighting scandal and incidents were made public. But once we found out about the vicious nature of dog fighting -- Michael Vick was repudiated because people felt that his conduct was so atrocious.
It remains to be seen how people are going to respond to Tiger's conduct and whether his conduct is going to overwhelm essentially the goodwill that he's built up with the public based on who he was, who we thought he was before we found about these transgressions.
HORROW: It's a (INAUDIBLE) in order to come back. This is not going to be an emotional decision. It's going to be a very scientific decision based on the information that Mr. Cornwell talks about.
LEMON: Ok. Listen. Just a couple more.
"Tiger Woods, noble hero with a tragic flaw," that is from brentofasians (ph) on Twitter.
"Tiger is just an amazing golfer and that's it. It's just not as fun."
So listen, here's the thing that some people are not talking -- some people are talking a lot about and other parts of media not talking about, and that's race in this whole issue of Tiger Woods.
This is from a viewer. I'm going to be very transparent here. I think it's (INAUDIBLE). He says, "You will let us know when you think you completely destroyed this rich, black man, won't you, Don? This rant on Tiger is sick."
Now, there are people are saying none of the women were African- American that Tiger messed around with, he doesn't identify as African-American. I'm sure you've heard it.
Even last night Wanda Sykes made a joke about going to Tiger Woods' house with a check and having a woman sign it and whatever. They get to an African-American woman's house, "Sorry, I'm at the wrong house." Where does that play into this story at all?
CORNWELL: It definitely plays. Whether it's appropriate or not, it's above my pay grade to make that conclusion.
There's no question, Jason Whitlock wrote a very interesting piece about it. It generates the discussion that I think we need to pull back the curtain on race relations every time it becomes an issue in America. We shouldn't be afraid to talk about it.
LEMON: Hold that thought because we're going to talk more about this.
Tiger Woods very well respected -- very well respected -- but now, guys, he's become a global joke; from a global icon to a global joke. You see the comedy shows, we mentioned Wanda Sykes, "Saturday Night Live" and on and on and on. How does Tiger repair his image when that is going on worldwide?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Welcome back to our discussion of the Tiger Woods scandal and the massive financial fallout that now appears to be unfolding.
If you haven't heard, Woods lost a major endorsement deal today and we've been hearing from a lot of you. You've been responding on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, send us on i-report; I'd really like to get someone's feedback on camera from one of our viewers.
Sports business analyst, Rick Horrow, Patrick Snell of CNN Sports and sports attorney David Cornwell rejoin me right now. Who can be bigger than Tiger? Who can replace him?
"SNL" asked that question last night in a funny skit. But the question is, after you watch this, how can he repair his image after this is happening? "SNL's" only one. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now a message from the PGA Tour.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi there. I'm Tim Finchem, commissioner of the PGA Tour. Yesterday we got some interesting news. Tiger Woods announced that he was taking an indefinite break from golf, indefinite.
And that's okay. You know, we're going to be fine. People don't just watch golf because of him. We've still got plenty of other superstars, you know? Exciting, exciting household names like Geoff Ogilvy (ph), Trevor Immelman (ph). Can you handle the Immelman? And look out. Tim Lumpy Haren's in the house. Watch out for Lumpy. Watch out for Lumpy. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Listen, that was very funny but that was light. It has been much, much harsher as I said on not just "Saturday Night Live" but all over. So what do you do now, David?
CORNWELL: Just remember, there are six people that are hurting at a minimum out of all of this. So, you know, we have to be dynamic and, yes, that was humorous but Tiger, his wife, his children, his mother and mother-in-law are suffering pretty greatly right now. So we need to keep that into context.
What do you do going forward? At the personal level he's doing the right thing. At the professional level, I also think he's doing the right thing by pulling back and taking a deep breath.
LEMON: Someone said on Twitter that he should have hired the best crisis person or team in the world to represent him right after this and he didn't do that. By not talking it made things worse. So again, how do you do when you look at that? What do you say?
HORROW: Well, you certainly surround yourself with lawyers and PR people and he's done some of that already. He's had a team. The team may not be adequate because this is a world-class crisis that nobody has ever seen before. So he can't hire too many minds.
You have to do it intuitively. Maybe per your comment, maybe he gets on his boat ironically called "Privacy" and he goes with his family to wherever and then he comes back maybe as I got an e-mail from somebody, like as Elvis Presley did as he came back from Germany, a new man, a more mature man and a man focused on winning tournaments.
Remember he's only five away from beating Jack's major record which may change everything.
LEMON: Patrick, hang on one second. Can you turn around? I want you to get this Tweet right here and it sort of goes to what David said. He says, "All this talk about transgressions" -- this isn't it. This is it. Right here.
From beststudentVI -- I don't know, is that 6 -- he says, "Why assume he's a bad person? Maybe it's a function of losing his dad. Maybe he feels used by his wife or something."
You mentioned his family and what have you. Who knows exactly what it is. Listen, I want to say in all of this, Tiger's a very bright guy. Everybody makes mistakes and obviously he was not thinking properly or what have you or maybe he wasn't thinking. But a very bright guy and if you've ever sat down for an interview with him, you know you have to be careful about what you ask and you better be on point. You had that just a couple of weeks ago.
SNELL: Yes, I've down the wrong-end -- down the barrel of a Tiger Woods' stare or Tiger Woods' glare -- if you like -- if he doesn't like the question that you ask him. And I think, you know, my next one on one with him will be interesting because I have an urge to ask the right questions, the questions perhaps other journalists don't want to ask. I feel that's our duty to ask the question.
What I will say is this. The game of golf has been around a lot longer than Tiger Woods. It survived for over is century well before Tiger Woods. And it will survive through this. The PGA Tour will survive through this.
But yes, there's no doubting it will take a hit. But the game of sport is bigger than Tiger Woods.
LEMON: Real quickly, I'm going to give you, David the last word here. This person says -- e_Joyce on Twitter says, "91 percent of those polls said Woods' indiscretions made no difference with their purchasing decisions." I'm not sure if that is exactly right but there was a poll taken saying, many people saying it didn't matter to them, so why does it matter to the companies and to us?
CORNWELL: And that's kind of sidewalk analysis. But I'll tell what people are going to do. Nike is going to figure out, find me retail regions where golf sales were big Christmas the last three years. I want to monitor them this year maybe on a daily basis. I want to see cash register receipts, what's going out the door for a Nike product.
That's the way you measure how people are reacting to Tiger Woods, whether or not they're still buying products that he endorses.
David, thank you very much.
CORNWELL: Good to see you.
LEMON: For coming in at the last moment. You, as well; running all the way downstairs.
SNELL: Oh yes.
LEMON: I really appreciate it. I thank you as always.
HORROW: As always, my man.
LEMON: I'm looking for my presents that you promised.
HORROW: We'll do it next week.
LEMON: Thank you sir. We really appreciate this. This is a very interesting discussion. I'll read more of your comments and I appreciate the viewer weighing in as well. Thank you.
If you agree with us, liked it or not, we really just appreciate your comment. Thanks again.
Missing on a snowy mountainside; three hikers vanished on Mount Hood, Oregon. One has been found dead but search crews are holding out hope the other two may still be alive.
And check this out. Silvio Berlusconi bloody; the Italian prime minister takes a hit in the face. We'll update you on his condition.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Not a total surprise but shocking all the same. Long- time sponsor Accenture today dropped Tiger Woods. This is a youtube video of one of its well-known TV ads with the golfer. Accenture is the first company to end this endorsement outright. A statement on the company's web site directly tied its decision to Woods' infidelity scandal.
A $1.1 trillion spending bill is headed for President Obama's desk. It is a massive year-end measure covering about half of all federal programs. It also includes billions of dollars in earmarks. Those nonessential projects that critics like to call pork barrel spending designed to win votes from the voters back home.
Rescue crews are racing the clock on Mt. Hood. They are hunting for two climbers missing on Oregon's tallest mountain since Friday. It is too late for a third member of the climbing party found dead yesterday on a glacier at 9,000 feet. Equipment was found scattered around the body of 26-year-old Luke Gullberg, including a camera with snapshots from along the hike.
Rescuers are following those clues from the air. And fears of an avalanche caused the foot search to be suspended. Joining me by telephone is the deputy Jim Strovink from the County sheriff's department. Deputy, thanks for joining us. What is in those pictures? Are they helping you at all in the search?
JIM STROVINK, SLACKAMAS CO., SHERIFF'S DEPUTY (ON THE PHONE): Well, they certainly have been an asset. The Portland Mountain Rescue and the Clackamas County search coordinators have been examining these photos and it has helped to establish with the route and in confirming the route where these climbers had initially been - presumed to have taken on Mt. Hood.
We have some serious weather conditions upon us at this time. It's hampered our rescue efforts. We have a severe avalanche condition an the mountain at this time. However, we did succeed in having an army or national guard helicopter on the mountain today that was doing aerial surveillance. We also had a fixed-wing aircraft that was provided by the Civil Air Patrol and they were able to obtain some high-resolution photo images of this area where we're concentrating our search efforts on the Reid glacier area of Mt. Hood. That's about the 9,000-foot level.
LEMON: So that's helping you trace the steps of these climbers because you can look at the photographs and see where they might have been or possibly may have been going. So, listen. Here's a good thing. They're experienced climbers. So in the conditions that are happening now, their chances of survival?
STROVINK: Well, as time goes on, that is a major factor here. But we still have a search and rescue mission that's ongoing and we just hope that we're able to get some ground crews up in that area in the near future, but as I mentioned, weather is a considerable factor right now. We have high winds, we have snowfall and the mountain is pretty well socked in.
LEMON: What about cell phones? Did they have a cell phone? Is that helping you? Have they been able to call?
STROVINK: Cell phones have not been a factor. We have - virtually it's trying to find that needle in the haystack right now.
LEMON: And no GPS. I know there had been talk about having climbers making them required to carry them but they did not have one.
STROVINK: Well, any device that would enable and enhance search and rescue efforts would obviously benefit. But what we're faced with at this point in time is moving in the area where our deceased subject, Luke Gullberg, was located by the search and rescue personnel on Saturday morning and we're working in that same vicinity now and hoping to find some trace of our still remaining two missing climbers, Anthony Vietti and Katti Nolan.
LEMON: OK. Thank you. Listen, we really appreciate this, sheriff. The sheriff from Clackamas County, Jim Strovink. And we hope they're found. And let us know if you make any headway, OK?
STROVINK: Thank you very, very much. We appreciate it.
LEMON: We appreciate it as well.
Listen, we want to go to our Jacqui Jeras now. Jacqui, tell us about the weather conditions on Mt. Hood right now.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It's really not great. You know, this time of the year, Don, the windows can be very limited because we have an active storm season. And you get these storms which are lined up in the Pacific and you get one after the other. And so they had, you know, several hours this afternoon before the snow showers came back in and here you can see some of that snow pushing into the Mt. Hood area right now.
Expecting temperatures, tonight, around 9,000 feet probably down into the teens. So it will be brutally cold. You know, the clouds basically get down in the mountains so you're in the clouds at the time as well. So visibility will continue to be extremely poor.
Now, the concern is that we got another storm back here which is waiting in the wings. So I think we'll see the snow showers in the morning, a little bit of a break, and then we'll start to see that snow come on in. This one's going to be a real doozy. Because, you know, as we head through the day on Tuesday the winds could be gusting 60, maybe 70 miles per hour.
LEMON: So right now, Jacqui, it's visibility, that poor visibility and also the snow that's hampering and the threat of the avalanche? JERAS: Right. And the avalanche threat. Because temperatures are going to warm enough tomorrow. What happens is you get these layers and layers of snow, one on top of the other one. And as the temperatures change, you get these crusty layers, and so it doesn't take much to cause that shifting.
LEMON: Yes.
JERAS: So avalanche watches have been issued in the area.
LEMON: Not only bad weather there but across the country.
JERAS: Yes. It is. It's really everywhere. There are so many different systems that we're talking about here for today. Not just this new one coming into the Pacific northwest where the watches and warnings have already been posted for well over a foot of snow, but, you know, the southwest got hit really hard all weekend long.
We're finally starting to taper down a little bit, but you can still see some light rain showers. There was an incredible mudslide which happened yesterday afternoon in the Los Angeles area. And there you can see there were about 90 cars or so which got stuck in the mud. Amazingly no one was injured. They were able to rescue those people and get them freed. But there were numerous rock slides and mudslides reported across the southwest.
Now, that storm system is going to move and it's going to be pushing into the plain states for tomorrow, and that's going to be combined with a frontal system which is kind of parked here along the Gulf Coast. So those two things are going to hook up and bring more heavy rainfall to places like the lower Mississippi River Valley where they had flooding last night in New Orleans, where you can see more tomorrow and Tuesday.
Flash flood watches have been issued here for the potential of one to three inches of rainfall. Now, the northeast, you've had your fair share of some really lousy weather. Some quick pictures to show you, out of the Pittsburgh area where freezing rain turned roadways - look at that accident. It was like an ice skating rink. So lots of accidents due to this freezing rain.
Our storm system should be pulling out by tomorrow. But still, keep in mind, Don, all those people heading into work tomorrow morning, those roads will likely still have patches of ice. Don.
LEMON: Oh, my gosh. Is that really close to that woman? I miss the beginning of - hey, Roger, can you rerack that? I want to see the beginning of that video when that car -
JERAS: Somebody was close to it.
LEMON: Wow, that's really scary there. Thank you, Roger.
JERAS: It is scary.
LEMON: Oh, look at that. JERAS: Yes.
LEMON: Those two people are lucky.
JERAS: Very much so.
LEMON: All right. So be careful out there. Jacqui Jeras will be checking on the weather for you. And we'll check back with her. Thank you, Jacqui.
JERAS: OK.
LEMON: Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is under the watchful eye of doctors this hour. The controversial 73-year-old politician is hospitalized after getting nailed in the face by a man with an alleged history of mental illness. Some news reports had Berlusconi suffering a couple of cracked teeth and a possible broken nose.
ITN's (INAUDIBLE) has the story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Reporter: The bloodied face of Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as he was driven away to hospital tonight. He'd been greeting supporters after a rally when a man lunged forward and struck him in the face. There was pandemonium of what had happened. Even in slow motion it was hard to tell.
But as his attacker was led away, it emerged it was a glass souvenir. Berlusconi was initially bundled into his car by his security guards but in an act of defiance the 73-year-old then emerged again to show his supporters he was well bloodies but unbowed.
It's thought his attacker was a man with mental health problems. Whatever his motive, it's raised serious questions about security for the Italian leader who, in a controversial career, has made many enemies as well as friends. Isolated politically and facing renewed legal action, Berlusconi's fortunes have fallen this year to a new low. Ironically this attack may lead to an outpouring of sympathy, something he badly needs.
(INAUDIBLE) ITV News.
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LEMON: What is flying out of North Korea and where is it heading? Two big questions this weekend after investigators in Thailand uncovered 35 tons of war weapons on a plane that took off from North Korea. Missiles, grenades, rockets and more all uncovered when the plane made a pit stop in Bangkok. Five crew members were arrested on charges related to illegal weapons smuggling. They say they were heading for Sri Lanka but the final destination for the military weapons is still a mystery.
Behind the scenes at the climate summit. Our Phil Black takes us inside the Copenhagen Conference. Serious debate is going on against the backdrop of sometimes - of a sometimes-circus atmosphere.
And they were once refugees denied entry to the U.S.. They're together again. 70 years later and you'll hear their amazing stories.
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LEMON: Polar bears, space aliens, just a couple of the sights you might see if you walk around the Global Climate Summit under way in Copenhagen. But there is a reason for the showmanship. Real issues are being debated with real-world consequences.
CNN's Phil Black is in Copenhagen. Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, the first thing I want to give you a sense of is just how crowded this place is. The Bella Conference Center takes a maximum of 15,000 people and it is filled to capacity. Pretty much every single day it makes moving around, operating here very difficult for everyone.
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BLACK (on camera): All the key players at this conference have their own offices and exhibits. This installation belongs to the United States and you can see it is high-tech and impressive. Over here is the European Union Cafe which looks very comfortable.
I want to show you something over here now. These are the offices of the group of developing countries and China. The differences in the facilities is in many ways very symbolic of the negotiations that are taking place here. Between the developing world and the west.
Here's another example of the theater that takes place here every day. One of the NGOs, Fossil of the Day award. Canada has been a regular winner. Looks like it's taking up the prize again today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first place fossil goes to Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are here searching for climate leaders.
BLACK: You are clearly getting a lot of attention here as you walk around this center, aren't you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A few people here have noticed the presence of a bear, yes.
BLACK: But it isn't just creative colorful attention seeking that goes on in the halls of the conference center. There are predominantly lots of very serious people in suits, many of whom believe that they are arguing for very serious significant issues. In some cases the very survival of their own countries.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Imagine, a lot of our islands will disappear, our icecaps will melt. Our people will drown.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BLACK: So that's just a taste, but you can see other the past week this has been an intense environment. There is a lot of energy here. That's only going to increase because in the coming days the leaders of 110 countries are coming to this center including President Barack Obama.
Back to you, Don.
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LEMON: Phil Black, thank you very much.
More than 100 members of a Tennessee Army National Guard unit might not make it home for the holidays because there's not enough money to hire a bus company. Find out how you can help.
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LEMON: That was a beautiful shot of Centennial Olympic Park right in front of the CNN World Headquarters right here in Atlanta.
A squadron of the Tennessee National Guard is preparing to deploy to Iraq early next year. But right now, they're training in Mississippi. They're eligible to come home for the holiday except there is a $9,000 snag. () of our affiliate WSMV explains.
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DIANA LAMBERT, CHANNEL 4 NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): When the 278th squadron of the Tennessee National Guard left last Sunday, retired First Sergeant Dale Smith, who used to lead the same squadron five years ago helped escort the 130 men and women out of town. They will spend two months in Mississippi before deploying to Iraq.
FIRST SGT. DALE SMITH, TENNESSEE NATIONAL GUARD: I have been advised that there was funding to assist them in getting home for Christmas.
LAMBERT: This week that $9,000 fell through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So now we're trying to raise money to get these troops home.
LAMBERT (on camera): In order to transport the group back home, the bus company needs the money by Friday. So the race is now on to raise $4,000 to bring the men and women of the 278th squadron back home so they can be with their families on Christmas day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will be the last time they get home. Because they're leaving February 1st to go to Iraq and they will be there for a year. So they won't be home next Christmas. This will be the last Christmas they'll be home for the next two.
LAMBERT (voice-over): So while the desire for these soldiers to come home is full, the bank is not. SMITH: A lot of these guys give up good paying jobs to take a lower paying salary from the military. And you know, I hate to see them have to fund their own way home for Christmas.
LAMBERT: That's why help from the community is needed for those who give so much for freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're making a large sacrifice for our nation. So I hope the community will just give a little.
LAMBERT: Reporting from Ashland City, Diana Lambert, Channel 4 News.
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LEMON: If you would like to find out how to help these troops, here's what you do. If you want to help them get home for the holidays. They have a Facebook page. Just go to Facebook, and then search 1/278 ACR. It's the Tennessee Army National Guard. And someone from the National Guard, get in touch with us, I'd like to talk to you tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern to see if we can get more help for you (INAUDIBLE) to get home for the holidays. Very important.
6,000 holiday greeting cards are sorted and ready to go. Thanks to volunteers in Tennessee. It's part of the national holiday mail for Heroes Initiative. The cards are going to the members of the National Guard and Veterans Hospital. The project is a partnership between the Pitny Boez and the Red Cross. They deliver 1.4 million cards nationwide last year.
Exiled from their home in Germany and denied entry into the U.S.. 70 years after their courageous voyage, some passengers on the SS St. Louis meet where their journey ended in 1939.
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LEMON: All right. Some history in front of the White House late this afternoon as White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel took part in a special ceremony. It's the lighting of the National Hanukkah Menorah, the eight-day Jewish festival began on Friday. Today marked the 30th anniversary of the ceremonial lighting in the nation's capitol.
The 78th anniversary of an infamous voyage. In 1939, the SS St. Louis, a German ocean liner sailed to the U.S., hoping to find homes for German-Jewish refugees but they were denied entry. Surviving passengers reunited in Miami Beach just this week, just miles from where their boat sat decades ago.
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LEMON (voice-over): The beauty of the beaches and the palm trees that's what Herb Carliner says he remembered the most. In 1939, as a 12-year-old boy, Carliner and his family gazed upon the Florida coast from the luxury "SS St. Louis." They dreamed it would be their salvation from the Nazi rampage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had to leave because there wasn't a future for us in Germany.
LEMON: Off the coast of Miami Beach, the vessel with 937 people, mainly Jewish refugees was never permitted to enter the U.S.. It was forced to return to Europe, which was on the verge of a world war. 254 died of them eventually died during Hitler's holocaust.
PHILIP FREUND, SS ST. LOUIS PASSENGER: Now, we knew this was the land of immigrated, found and formed by people like ourselves seeking freedom and opportunity. So we couldn't understand why all of a sudden the coast guard forced us into international waters.
LEMON: But what happened? Some historians say Franklin Delano Roosevelt's hands were tied by strict immigration laws and public opinion.
PROF. ALLAN LICHTMAN, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Certainly FDR, I believe was perhaps remiss in not allowing these folks to disembark in the United States but he was bound by laws that were not of his own making.
LEMON: But Herb Carliner believes anti-semitism was behind it. His parents and two of his sisters who were on board the St. Louis were killed by the Nazis when they returned to Europe. He blames FDR and says a message was sent to Hitler that Jews were expendable.
CARLINER: This ship (INAUDIBLE) was the beginning of the holocaust because it shows you that nobody wants the Jews so they can do with them whatever they want to do.
LEMON: The St. Louis passengers held visas for entry in Cuba. It was a voyage that began in Hamburg, Germany on May 13th, 1939. Passengers say they had a joyous cruise away from the terror filled with thoughts of the new future. After two weeks at see, they arrived in Havana, Cuba but almost all of them were refused entry.
After about a week of waiting, the St. Louis set sail again, hoping the U.S. would accept them. Off the coast of Miami Beach, in view of those palm trees, they were again denied.
Professor Allen Lichtman is writing a book on the era called "FDR and the Jews."
LICHTMAN: You can't judge historical figures from what we know today. They did not know that these countries would be overrun by Hitler who would then be applying to these countries his horrific final selection for Jews.
LEMON: With no place to dock, the ship headed back to Europe. Phillip Freund was one of the passengers. He said some of them talked about a mass suicide by jumping overboard.
FREUND: At least in the sea they would die quickly but at a concentration camp they would be tortured and humiliated and they didn't want to go through that.
LEMON: The St. Louis was eventually cleared to dock in Antwerp, Belgium. The passengers were sent to France, England, the Netherlands and Belgium. Some historians say FDR played a crucial role here.
LICHTMAN: Roosevelt and his cabinet worked to try to find places of settlement for these people and they succeeded.
LEMON: Some of them eventually settled in the U.S. what really happened will forever be subject of interpretation and disagreement. But on this day, the passengers of the "St. Louis" were together again, near the same sand and palm trees that once gave them hope and disappointment.
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LEMON: Very nice story. 78th anniversary. OK. Now, time for some of your feed back. Some of you e-mailed me during the break, liking the story, saying you really like that story. Thanks for doing it.
Here is what one viewer says, how many people would lose their jobs due to Tiger's absence from golf? Very good question. I'll ask that tonight at 10:00 p.m.. I think Tiger's sponsors will not pull out of this. If not - Tiger issues he admitted is his to me. Media went to far. I couldn't understand that one.
I find it amazing that Berlusconi security detail would allow him to reemerge from his car. That's crazy. If it were just one woman he had an affair with, perhaps all would be forgiven. But with so many he was arrogant. Generally speaking, the commitment we make to our spouse and children is important to keep. It is priceless. Man put Tiger on a pedestal and expected him to be super human. He's just a man with frailties like us. Where are the women on the so-called review of Tiger. They are the ones spending this money. This season Tiger brands not on my list. We'll try to get some ladies on as well. In fact, we did but nobody was available so we got what we could. Much, much more on the Tiger Woods' story tonight at 10:00 p.m..
By the way, thank you for your comments. Sports business analyst Rick Horrow, sports attorney David Cromwell (ph) and "Sports Illustrated" writer Jon Wertheim, they will weigh in on the decision by Accenture to cancel their endorsement deal with Tiger. Could other sponsors be far behind?
I'm Don Lemon at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
