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Nancy Grace
Charlie Sheen Out on Bail Despite Lengthy Record of Violence
Aired January 04, 2010 - 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. Christmas morning, December 25, a hysterical 911 call from the wife of Hollywood superstar Charlie Sheen. She says she`s straddled on the bed of her luxury Aspen vacation home, being held with a knife to her throat and threatened with murder that would leave her two twin boys, 10 months old, without a mother. The attacker? Who else but Hollywood big screen and TV star Charlie Sheen himself. Of course, even after choking and holding a knife to the neck of wife Brooke Mueller, he`s walking free tonight.
Didn`t the judge ever hear about court-documented death threats on Sheen`s ex-wife, Denise Richards, Sheen accidentally shooting ex-fiancee Kelly Preston, now the wife of John Travolta, claims he attacked an ex- girlfriend who ended up with seven stitches to the face, drug abuse, spending over $50,000 on gambling and prostitutes? After posting only $850, Sheen walks free and heads straight back to the Hollywood set of CBS`s "Two and a Half men." Why?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Tell me exactly what happened.
BROOKE MUELLER, WIFE OF CHARLIE SHEEN: My husband had me with -- with a knife. And I`m scared for my life and he threatened me.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Are you guys separated right now?
MUELLER: Yes. Right now, we have people that are separating us, but I have to file the report or else...
911 OPERATOR: There are other people there? Does he still have the knife?
MUELLER: Yes, he still has the knife. But there`s other people here.
911 OPERATOR: Who are the other people that are there?
MUELLER: I have people here. My family is here. But right now, if I don`t file this -- I need to file it right now.
911 OPERATOR: OK, where is he with the knife?
MUELLER: He`s in the other room.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Is someone in the room with him?
MUELLER: With somebody else.
911 OPERATOR: Who`s he with?
MUELLER: He`s with somebody, packing to leave. But if I don`t file the report, he...
911 OPERATOR: OK. I understand. And I`m sending officers to help you. I just need some information. Does he have any other weapons?
MUELLER: No.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Which room is he in? When the officers enter the house, which room will he be in?
MUELLER: In the back room.
911 OPERATOR: And which room are you in?
MUELLER: In the kitchen. I thought I was going to die for one hour!
911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s your name?
MUELLER: Brooke.
911 OPERATOR: And what`s your husband`s name?
MUELLER: It`s Charlie Sheen. I`ve got to file this report!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live, Windermere, Florida. Superstar golf phenomenon Tiger Woods drives out of his multi-million-dollar compound, barefoot, 2:00 AM, and has a head-on collision with a tree and fire hydrant. He immediately pulls out of his own golf tournament as alleged mistresses hit double digits, including a swim model, two porn stars and waitress at a pancake house. Woods just gets a slap on the wrist, even though cops are told Woods was drinking and was prescribed sleeping pills and painkiller Vicodin.
Bombshell tonight. In a last-ditch effort to stop illicit details from going public, reports Tiger Woods tries a payoff to the tune of nearly a quarter million dollars. But even after the story hits the newsstands, Woods reportedly still tries to pay the source to retract her story. When -- when -- does hush money turn into a bribe?
Wife Elin Nordegren and the two children spend Christmas and New Year`s new the French Alps while Woods remains in hiding. All those sources place Woods and alleged mistress number one both in Palm Beach, Florida, Woods`s yacht, the Privacy, reportedly docked only 500 feet from Uchitel`s condo. Reports the divorce is on, with wife, Elin, reportedly taking aim at half of Woods`s fortune.
Tonight, why is Woods still in hiding? As millions in endorsements continue to dry up, the latest being AT&T and a suspension even from "Golf Digest," what really happened to Tiger Woods?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tiger isn`t out of the Woods yet!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reports are surfacing that Tiger Woods`s wife, Elin Nordegren, could be after half of his fortune.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elin has pretty much had enough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s going for the jugular.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nordegren reportedly has been telling her friends Woods is willing to pay her $300 million.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reports are she wants full custody and half of Woods`s empire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that Tiger`s a sex addict?
JAIMEE GRUBBS, TIGER`S ALLEGED MISTRESS: The man that I knew, the Tiger that I knew, I would never think that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, it`s -- it`s Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor.
GRUBBS: He never mentioned her, and it was kind of -- you know, I never thought about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife went through my phone and may be calling you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re hearing she`s, you know, a very tough woman, that she doesn`t, you know, take this kind of thing lying down, that she is very upset and that she is not the kind of woman that would stand for this kind of thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile, sources say Woods is doing everything he can to save his marriage and convince his wife not to leave him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The woman who allegedly witnessed the affair between Tiger Woods and Rachel Uchitel was reportedly offered $200,000 by Woods to keep quiet. But Ashley Sampson turned down the money and decided to break the news to "The National Enquirer" instead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As reports of alleged mistresses continue to swirl, more troubling news for Tiger Woods. Yet another major sponsor drops Tiger Woods.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: AT&T is the latest sponsor to end its relationship with Woods, and "Golf Digest" has suspended his column.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Christmas morning, December 25th, a hysterical 911 call from the wife of Hollywood superstar Charlie Sheen, saying she was straddled on the bed of her luxury Aspen vacation home and held with a knife to her throat, threatened with murder. That would leave her two twin boys, just 10 months old, without a mother. The attacker? Who else but Hollywood big screen and TV star Charlie Sheen himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUELLER: My husband had me with a knife and scared for my life and he threatened me. I thought I was going to die for one hour!
911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s your name?
MUELLER: Brooke.
911 OPERATOR: And what`s your husband`s name?
MUELLER: It`s Charlie Sheen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Charlie Sheen`s wife called 911 on Christmas Day. She told police he pinned her to a bed, held a knife to her throat and threatened to have her killed, allegedly saying, quote, "I have ex- police I can hire who can get the job done." Sheen was arrested and charged with assault, menacing with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief. In the affidavit, police say Sheen denied striking his wife or threatening her with a knife.
This is not the first time the actor has been at the center of scandal. Who could forget his very public, very nasty divorce from former Bond girl Denise Richards? Richards abruptly filed for divorce in 2005 while pregnant with her second child and filed a restraining order against him, claiming Sheen tried to kill her. Sheen called the claim baseless.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENISE RICHARDS, CHARLIE SHEEN`S EX-WIFE: Charlie is a stranger to me, and it`s the most bizarre thing. I`ve had children with him. Every ex-boyfriend that I`ve had, I can see them and pick up -- there`s that bond and that friendship. And with him, the sad thing is, he`s the father of our children and he`s my ex-husband, and he is a stranger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s Charlie Sheen`s ex-wife, Denise Richards. It was 2008 on the NBC "Today" show. Well, once again, Sheen says everybody`s lying but him. That`s basically been his story for the last 20 years.
Out to Tom O`Neil, senior editor, "In Touch Weekly." Tom O`Neil, why, why, if the police reports are true, is he walking free tonight? Whose decision was that?
TOM O`NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": Well, the judge let him loose. They filed the charges against him, and right now, he`s...
GRACE: You say that as if it`s OK.
O`NEIL: (INAUDIBLE) Nancy!
GRACE: Just because some judge sitting somewhere in Aspen thinks it`s OK for him to walk free, that I`m just supposed to swallow that?
O`NEIL: Right, right. Well, right now, he is on the set of "Two and a Half Men" in Burbank, living the high life, making a million dollars an episode. He is the highest paid sitcom star on TV.
GRACE: OK. You know, Tom O`Neil, no offense to you, all right? I like your magazine, "In Touch Weekly." I read you every week. But how are you connecting the dots? Like, it`s important to me that he`s the highest paid TV actor. My question to you is, if this police report is true, why is he walking free? If he held a knife to this woman`s neck and threatened to murder or have her murdered, leaving her two twin boys, 10 months old, without a mother, why is he walking the street? I don`t care how much he gets paid, Tom O`Neil! That was not my question.
O`NEIL: Well, the other sum of money is the question -- is the answer, Nancy, the $8,500 he paid in bond money. He`s not going to face formal charges until February 8th. In the meantime, he`s free as a bird.
GRACE: To Alexis Tereszcuk with Radaronline.com. Tom O`Neil is correct in everything he is stating, but I don`t understand why a judge would let him walk. I mean, Alexis, have you taken a look at Charlie Sheen`s resume? And I`m not talking about his hit show on CBS. I`m not talking about him being a star. I`m talking allegations he held a knife to this woman`s throat, straddling her on a bed, not letting her go, to where she called 911, fearful for her life, him in the other room with a knife. Why? What judge in his right mind would let this guy walk with this history?
ALEXIS TERESZCUK, RADARONLINE.COM: Nancy, the history is not only with women that he was married to, you know, like Denise Richards, it`s women that he`s dated. We have a report that there was a woman that Charlie pulled her hair so violently and smashed her into a marble floor that she required seven stitches. He does have a history of this, and perhaps the judge doesn`t know about this. But we`re confident that...
GRACE: Wait a minute! Wait, wait, wait! Alexis Tereszcuk, you hit right on something very important -- Alexis joining us from Radaronline.com. Let`s go to crime analyst, director of cold case division in Pine lake, Sheryl McCollum. Sheryl, the reality is, you and I have been in court many, many times. And we`ll unleash the lawyers -- Mickey Sherman, Susan Moss and Peter Elikann, as well. The judge has his rap sheep right in front of him. I, as a former prosecutor, an investigator, anybody that works in the DA`s office or courthouse can log on and get a rap sheet.
Let`s take a look, Sheryl McCollum -- 1990, accidentally shoots Kelly Preston, John Travolta`s now wife. He shoots her. In `95, two words, Heidi Fleiss. In `95, marries and divorces Donna Peele, then claims that he threatened the life of his wife, Denise Richards. Where does it end, Sheryl?
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST: It doesn`t end, Nancy, and this guy is going to repeat, he`s going to reoffend and reoffend until we lock him up for good, period.
GRACE: I want to find out who is the judge that let this man walk on $850 -- on an $8,500 bond?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Tell me exactly what happened.
MUELLER: My husband had me with -- with a knife. And I`m scared for my life and he threatened me.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Are you guys separated right now?
MUELLER: Yes. Right now, we have people that are separating us, but I have to file the report or else...
911 OPERATOR: There are other people there? Does he still have the knife?
MUELLER: Yes, he still has the knife. But there`s other people here.
911 OPERATOR: Who are the other people that are there?
MUELLER: I have people here. My family is here. But right now, if I don`t file this -- I need to file it right now.
911 OPERATOR: OK, where is he with the knife?
MUELLER: He`s in the other room.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Is someone in the room with him?
MUELLER: With somebody else.
911 OPERATOR: Who`s he with?
MUELLER: He`s with somebody, packing to leave. But if I don`t file the report, he...
911 OPERATOR: OK. I understand. And I`m sending officers to help you. I just need some information. Does he have any other weapons?
MUELLER: No.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: I`ve got the name of the judge that let Charlie Sheen go on $850. He had an $8,500 bond. And typically, you post 10 percent of that. It is Judge James Boyd (ph) at the Pitkin (ph) County courthouse.
Now, let`s unleash the lawyers. In addition to Sheryl McCollum, crime analyst and director of cold case squad, with us tonight, family law attorney Susan Moss, New York, Mickey Sherman, Stamford Connecticut, criminal defense attorney, author of "How Can You Defend Those People," Peter Elikann, renowned defense attorney in his jurisdiction of Boston and beyond, author of "Super Predators." Welcome, gentlemen and lady.
First to you, Elikann. Why? Why would this record -- you`ve got one girlfriend with seven stitches in her lip. You`ve got Denise Richards claiming in court, official court documents, he threatened her life. Now you`ve got a second wife claiming the same thing, with a knife to her throat. And he`s back at the set of "Two and a Half Men," making a million dollars an episode. Why, Peter?
PETER ELIKANN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I got to admit, as a defense attorney, that would scare me. His long, long history of violence against women would be the tough part. If it wasn`t for that, normally, bail should not be a punishment. It should be if you think somebody`s going to be a danger to the community or they`re going to be a risk of flight. And here these are only allegations.
GRACE: Put Elikann up, please!
ELIKANN: That`s what I argue in that case.
GRACE: Put Elikann up!
ELIKANN: These long, long...
GRACE: Elikann, Peter Elikann...
ELIKANN: Yes?
GRACE: ... you have an excellent reputation...
ELIKANN: OK...
GRACE: ... but you said he`s not posing a danger to the community. But that includes, if you read the statute completely and you don`t leave part of it out when you go on TV, is danger to community or the victim, all right? What about this wife, Brooke Mueller? And those children had to be in the home when this happened!
ELIKANN: I agree with you. And that`s why, particularly with his long history of violence against women, that would really undercut any argument if I came up and said, Gee, it`s only an allegation, we`ve never heard anything about him said like this before, and therefore, you know, he shouldn`t be punished in advance before he`s been convicted of anything. It`s only an allegation. However, with these long history, that really undercuts my argument as a defense counsel.
GRACE: Mickey Sherman, if I hire you, if I am Sheen`s rep and I hire you, what`s your argument? And what do you really think this judge was thinking?
MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think the judge was totally appropriate. You know, you`ve got this pesky presumption of innocence that seems to bother everybody here. He has not been convicted of any crime in this situation. Now, also, Nancy, who`s a better judge as to whether or not he`s a danger to Brooke Mueller, you, me, the judge or Brooke Mueller? Because Brooke Mueller`s lawyer, Yale Galanter, told me on the phone about four hours ago that she`s going back to court. She wants the full protective order lifted. She wants to patch things up. She wants to get back with him. She wants him back with the kids. If anyone would know whether or not he was a viable threat, it would be her. Yet she has hired an attorney...
GRACE: Wrap it up!
SHERMAN: ... to go back and get -- get that order vacated.
GRACE: You`re still talking, aren`t you. OK, Susan Moss, let`s address what Sherman just said. Isn`t it true, Susan Moss -- you`re a child advocate, you`re a family law attorney. I worked on the domestic abuse hotline as a volunteer for 10 years. That is not uncommon in the least, is it, Susan Moss. Weigh in.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Absolutely. The star of "Platoon" is a goon. This guy has such a long history of domestic violence. When are our judges going to start taking seriously issues of domestic violence? You know, he`s already had four run-ins. He`s going to have more. And then something even worse is going to happen and we`re all going to be scratching our heads, saying, Why didn`t we do something in the first place? Well, the first place starts now. He should be in jail.
GRACE: I want to go to Rene Rennick, director of programs and operations, the National Network to End Domestic Violence. What do you think about Judge Boyd sending this message? She`s got a knife to her throat, murder threatened. She`s got two little 10-month-old infants in the next room. And now Mommy wants to drop charges. Thoughts?
RENE RENNICK, NATIONAL NETWORK TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Well, unfortunately, this is really common. Many, many batterers are out on bail very, very quickly with low amounts of bail. And unfortunately, what it does is it sends a message to the batterer that this isn`t that big a deal. And it sends a message, again, to victims that battering is OK.
GRACE: I want to go back to Alexis Tereszcuk with Radaronline.com. Alexis, you and I were reviewing Charlie Sheen`s resume. And look, hey, I don`t have anything against him personally. I even ordered one of his bowling shirts as a gift for Christmas. Charlie Sheen, it said. That`s before I found out about this. But let`s go through what exactly his resume, i.e., his rap sheet reveals. Go ahead.
TERESZCUK: Well, it starts in 1995, when he was engaged to Kelly Preston, John Travolta`s wife, and he accidentally shot her. And they apparently broke up very quickly after that. The next step that she had was Sheen admits to being a client of Heidi Fleiss. We know she`s a madam. After that, a UCLA student who claims that he struck her in the head when she refused sex. And then there was a girlfriend who said that he slammed her into a marble floor, threw her down and split her lip. She had to get seven stitches after that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: OK. Which room is he in? When the officers enter the house, which room will he be in?
MUELLER: In the back room.
911 OPERATOR: And which room are you in?
MUELLER: In the kitchen. I thought I was going to die for one hour!
911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s your name?
MUELLER: Brooke.
911 OPERATOR: And what`s your husband`s name?
MUELLER: It`s Charlie Sheen. I`ve got to file this report!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight back out to Tom O`Neil with "In Touch Weekly." What exactly is the scenario? What allegedly happened that night?
O`NEIL: Well, the fight breaks out around 3:30 in the morning after these two got back from a friend`s party where they had too much to drink.
GRACE: You know, Tom, I`ve told many a jury nothing good happens after midnight. Go ahead.
O`NEIL: And it keeps going, Nancy. They never go to bed. This fight goes from 3:30 to 8:30, when she makes that call to 911. And what happens is she threatens to leave him, divorce him, take the kids. This erupts into this -- him throwing her on the bed, allegedly -- this is her take on it -- putting the knife to her throat. And this is when he yells at her, You better be in fear. If you tell anyone, I will kill you. I know ex- police who know how to get the job done quietly. And that`s when she calls the cops.
GRACE: And what is it that Denise Richards claims, Tom O`Neil, that he said to her about allegedly murdering her, as well?
O`NEIL: Right. There was an incident at home where he said that -- he threatened to kill her. Of course, her other charges included addiction to gambling, to pornography, to drugs, to alcohol. It was a long rap sheet.
GRACE: Well, I`ve actually got her sworn testimony right here, from Denise Richards. I believe that was his second wife. She had taken the children for shots, according to her, and Sheen calls her and says he`s going to kill her. She was so scared, she locked him out of the house. When he came home, he took a flower pot from the front yard, threw it at the front door. "After he cooled down, I let him in."
Long story short -- it goes on and on and on -- "He yanked the keys out of my hand, threw them at the car, dented the car," and goes on to threaten her life.
So bottom line, Dr. Lillian Glass, psychologist, author of "Toxic People," what do you make of it?
LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST: This is a very, very toxic man with some very deep-seated issues about women. And these are very...
GRACE: Are you talking about Sheen or the judge who let him walk free?
GLASS: Both. Both.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Charlie Sheen`s wife called 911 on Christmas Day. She told police he pinned her to her bed, held a knife to her throat and threatened to have her killed, allegedly saying, quote, "I have ex- police I can hire who can get the job done."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEY SAMPSON, RACHEL UCHITEL`S FRIEND: I met Rachel through a mutual friend. She invited our mutual friend and I down to Spain and we spent a few days down there and the entire time she was talking to Tiger on the phone.
I could hear his voice. She confessed her relationship with him to me and to the other women -- people, lots of people that were there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What exactly did she tell you?
SAMPSON: That they were in love and that she was in love with him and he was in love with her and that they were going to be together forever.
She told me, I`m having an affair with Tiger Woods and we`re in love. I heard them on the phone telling each other that they -- I miss you so much and love you so much.
She read multiple text messages to me. One in particular just saying that -- Tiger was saying that he wanted to be with her forever. It was just her and him together forever.
She wasn`t very discreet about it at all. She was bragging about it and she gave us very graphic details about it. And she also let us listen into phone conversations and look at text messages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: That was Ashley Sampson, the confidant of alleged mistress number one Rachel Uchitel describing what she allegedly knows about the Woods/Uchitel affair.
Out to Gerald Posner, chief investigative reporter with the DailyBeast.com, author of "Miami Babylon."
Gerald, thank you for being with us. Now reports surfacing that Woods tried to pay off the source from breaking the story to start with?
GERALD POSNER, CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE DAILY BEAST, AUTHOR, "MIAMI BABYLON": Yes. You know, Nancy, I`m not surprised because this has been Tiger`s approach to this as opposed to getting ahead of the story and sort of saying, OK, I have a problem and trying to deal with it upfront.
What he`s tried to do instead is to deal with it as a business proposition and it hasn`t done very well for him. I mean, you know, he`s - - he tried to offer -- it appears here -- a couple of hundred thousand dollars to Ashley Sampson to avoid her talking to "The Enquirer." That didn`t work.
He offered his wife Elin a post nuptial that was worth up to $80 million if she stayed with him for seven years. That hasn`t gone anywhere. And I know that Gloria Allred had on the table an offer that was potentially worth a few million dollars which maybe was an early prenup, if they were really in love, to Uchitel.
And so, you know, he`s been talking money and spreading it out. But look where he is. He`s losing sponsor after sponsors. It`s not working very well.
GRACE: Gerald Posner, joining us from the DailyBeast.com.
Gerald, what were you saying about Gloria Allred having an offer on the table for him? And for how much?
POSNER: What I know is this. Here`s what I can report as of 10 days before Christmas, about the 15th, there was an offer that was potentially worth $3 million to Uchitel, not to tell her story in terms of a book, film, movie, you know, on "60 Minutes," to you, Nancy, or to anybody else.
That had not been signed. It was sitting there and whether it`s been signed, whether an agreement has been reached, they`re no -- that I don`t know.
GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer, it`s my understanding that reports have now surfaced he tried to pay off the confidant who broke the story initially. Almost a quarter of million dollars not to talk and then tried to pay her to recount -- excuse me, recant or retract the story once it went to press.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Right, well, this is, again, Ashley Sampson that we`re talking about. She says that team Tiger or team Woods, as they`re referring to it in the press, came forward when they heard that she had this information.
They said, we`ll give you $200,000 if you keep quiet, if you don`t tell the "Enquirer" what you say happened. And she turned it down. Now she even says to the "New York Daily News," you know, after all the trouble that this has caused me, I may have been better off taking the money from Tiger Woods.
GRACE: Now you`re talking about Ashley Sampson. Right?
JOSTAD: That`s right.
GRACE: The lady we were just listening to. What did she mean, Ellie, by all the trouble it`s cost her?
JOSTAD: Well, she says that she`s since, you know, been trashed in the media by Rachel Uchitel, the alleged mistress who talked to the "New York Post," basically called Sampson a liar, implied that she used drugs, and she even considered -- Ashley Sampson now has considered some sort of legal action against Rachel Uchitel.
She also said it`s cost her friendships, it`s cost her businesses, it`s cost her trouble with her ex-husband. So she`s really regretting now, it sounds like, telling what she knew.
GRACE: To Steve Helling, staff writer with "People" magazine -- what do you know, Steve Helling?
STEVE HELLING, STAFF WRITER, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: Well, one thing about the money being offered is that has been Tiger`s MO for years, whether it`s been through money or through access or through whatever, he has always used his power and where he`s at to control the media around him. And in this case it ultimately didn`t work.
But what we know is happening right now is that they spent the -- excuse me, the holidays apart. They are not in contact with each other, and that Elin is with her family and her friends, and she`s actually starting to act like a normal person again. Smiling, not partying, but just getting some comfort from the people around her.
GRACE: Well, this is what I don`t understand. I want to go back to you, Ellie. In that last press release that he, you know, put out, I guess it was on his Web site, he talked about devoting himself to his family, taking an indefinite leave from the game of golf, being a better person, husband and father.
But it seems to me if I wanted to be a better spouse and a better parent that I would go to Sweden or France, wherever Elin Nordegren was with those children, and I would lie across the front steps until I had my children back in my arms.
So why did he stay here somewhere in the U.S., many reports putting him in Palm Beach, the same place the alleged girlfriend is, Rachel Uchitel, instead of going to Sweden to see his children? On Christmas of all things.
JOSTAD: Yes, well, according to these reports, it was actually Elin Nordegren`s decision to go to the French alps, to spend New Year`s there with her sister, her kids, some other family members. And some reports claim that Tiger Woods was actually calling her the whole time that she was away asking to speak to the children, that kind of thing.
But other reports say, you know, not the case at all. They had a couple of casual conversations. So it`s hard to know what to believe.
GRACE: OK. Let`s unleash the lawyers. Susan Moss, Mickey Sherman, Peter Elikanin. First to you, Susan Moss. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He calls on the phone. That does not impress me. This guy has a private jet. If he wanted to see those children, if he wanted to go to his wife and make up, why didn`t he do it?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: Even if he had to swim he should have been there. Eenie, meenie, miney, moe catch a tiger by the toe. I mean he`s gotten caught by the whole foot. If I were him, I would get a.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I don`t believe that`s the body part that got him caught, Sue, but go ahead.
MOSS: That`s fair. I would get a rowboat and start rowing. He obviously hasn`t.
GRACE: Mickey Sherman, you and Elikanin handle plenty of divorce cases. Why not make the effort to see your children on Christmas?
MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "HOW CAN YOU DEFEND THOSE PEOPLE?": How do we know he didn`t? I mean what tells us.
GRACE: Well, because I know he didn`t leave the country to go be with them?
SHERMAN: But how do we know that he didn`t make the telephone calls and then be concerned that if he showed up.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I don`t care about phone calls. If she wanted to be with her family, understandable. I don`t blame her. But she could not rightfully keep him from seeing his children. And I doubt she did.
(CROSSTALK)
SHERMAN: Yes, but that would be heck of a photo-op for the paparazzi if he shows up there and was turned away by the people.
GRACE: Blame the press. What about it, Elikanin? Now Sherman`s blaming the press in the French alps.
Elikanin?
PETER ELIKANIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "SUPERPREDATORS": Well, Nancy, I think that, perhaps -- perhaps, if he really wanted his children back maybe the best thing he could do was two words. Make nice with his wife. Maybe she wants him to stay away for a few weeks. Maybe he wants to agree, appease her, do exactly what she wants.
And maybe that`s the best way he can put this family together. I don`t really know. But that`s possibly the scenario. Showing up against his will may make the whole thing blow up. It may actually push him away from his kids.
And the best thing he can do is to -- everything he can to get along with her at this point and do what she wants to do.
GRACE: OK. That makes sense.
ELIKANIN: And not just show up.
GRACE: To Dr. Titus Duncan, an expert in general surgery, joining us from the Atlanta Medical Center.
Dr. Duncan, as always, thank you for being with us. Reports now that the only injury Tiger Woods suffered -- physical injury -- was a fat lip. Now, Dr. Duncan, if he had been lying out beside his vehicle snoring with nothing but a fat lip, does that sound like a car wreck to you?
DR. TITUS DUNCAN, M.D., GENERAL SURGERY, ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER: No, I mean, basically you get a lot of injuries from a car wreck that you can sustain. A fat lip is not one of the things that will really keep you out of the public`s eye for a while. But that`s all he could possibly have. There`s no question about it. But most of the time they have deeper injuries to the facial area after the car accident that causes him to go over -- hit a tree.
GRACE: Everybody, as we go to break, a very special happy 17th birthday to Tim (INAUDIBLE), Saratoga, California. He`s a baseball and football star. He`s very close to his Eagle Scout status.
I know that your mom and dad are so proud of you, Tim. Happy birthday, Timmy.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elin had found Tiger`s phone and on it she had seen text messages.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife went through my phone and may be calling you. If you can, please take your name off that. And, what do you call it, just have it as a number.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s all blowing up as we speak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A moving van did pull up in front of Tiger`s home. They moved out lots of boxes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taking items out of the home, it just shows that the home is broken.
GRACE: Now we see boxes being loaded on to Woods` multimillion dollar yacht "The Privacy."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Moving van did pull up in front of Tiger`s home. They moved out lots of boxes.
GRACE: Now a lot of these women are claiming two and three-year relationships with him. Some in the family home. To me, that would crack the prenup.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you feel guilty?
JAMIE GRUBBS, ALLEGED TIGER WOODS` MISTRESS: I guess if I were to seriously think about it I -- you know, I did feel guilty that, you know, he`s spending his time with somebody, you know, that isn`t his wife.
SAMPSON: She also told us that she was going to be joining Tiger. Tiger was going to be sending her to Australia and then Dubai after that. And she did go to Australia and when she got back from Australia she notified us that the story had been leaked to the tabloids and that Tiger had to send her home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After the exclusive story that appeared in the "National Enquirer" with you, what happened?
SAMPSON: She started just destroying my name. Making up stories. Lying. She claims she barely knew me but there are clearly photographs of us together in Spain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I want to go straight to Ellie Jostad, chief editorial producer. Ellie, what can you tell me about more endorsers dropping Tiger Woods?
JOSTAD: Yes, that`s right, Nancy. Over the holidays AT&T who was the -- you know, obviously the telephone company, but they`re the ones who always had their logo on Tiger Woods` golf bag at every tournament. They have dropped him.
We`re also hearing and we just got word that EA Sports, that`s the video game maker, their Tiger Woods game, one of their biggest sellers, they`re planning some kind of announcement tomorrow. So we don`t know if that`s another sponsor dropping, but it could be.
GRACE: And Ellie, "Golf Digest" of all sponsored.
JOSTAD: Right.
GRACE: What happened?
JOSTAD: Yes. Well, Tiger Woods does a column every month for "Golf Digest." He gives tips, that kind of thing. They have no suspended his column as long as he`s not playing golf. They`re not going to run that column.
GRACE: And Ellie, what can you tell me about a $300 million Christmas present?
JOSTAD: Right. Well, Elin Nordegren -- and now this is a report from the UK paper, "News of the World." They say that when friends asked Elin Nordegren what she got for Christmas she said $300 million, thank you very much.
GRACE: I also understand that there are reports -- back to you, Gerald Posner -- that Woods is still in contact with Rachel Uchitel at this point?
POSNER: No, you know, I always say, Nancy, show me the evidence. There`s no evidence of it. OK, they were in the same town. Gloria Allred is out saying that they absolutely had no contact. Gloria is pretty good at not.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: OK. Wait a minute. Back it up. Back it up, Gerald.
POSNER: And wait one second. And the $600 million, you know, that`s my gift, that`s news of the world. You know, Nancy, it`s one of the worst tabloids in the UK. They pay for their information. Sometimes it`s right. Ninety percent of the time they`re also wrong. So I don`t put a lot of stop in that.
GRACE: That`s a good point. That`s a very good point. You`re right on with that. You know, reports of where he may be are ranging from Dubai to New York to Florida.
To Steve Helling with "People" magazine, there are many, many reports putting him in Palm Beach, which is the same town Rachel Uchitel spent Christmas.
HELLING: Yes. There are those reports.
GRACE: Now out of the whole world, what`s the likelihood that these two end up in the same town, Steve?
HELLING: That`s a good question. I know that Tiger has a lot of contacts, a lot of friends who live there. I don`t know about Rachel. But one thing to know is that the paparazzi has been following Rachel everywhere she goes.
There`s no way she could have met him somewhere clandestinely without somebody knowing. I just don`t think that`s what`s happening. I think it`s a coincidence, I really do.
GRACE: OK. If you believe in kalinky-dinks (ph), that is your prerogative. Let`s unleash the lawyers again. Sue Moss, Mickey Sherman, Peter Elikanin, but first, to Sheryl McCollum -- weigh in, Sheryl.
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST, DIR. OF COLD CASE SQUAD AT PINE LAKE P.D.: He just said there`s no way she could met him and nobody would know about it? They`ve been doing it for years without anybody knowing about it.
He`s so good at avoiding people, Nancy. He avoided the police. He`s avoided now his wife and her family. That`s his MO, to avoid and to hide. He can do that better than anybody.
GRACE: Sue Moss, long story short. The prenup, is it still in effect or is she going to go for half of his assets?
MOSS: The prenup is still in effect. It certainly is in effect until some court sets it aside. She`d probably have a better argument to set it aside in Florida than in California where apparently she`s hired an attorney.
However, he`s going to really have to pay her the big money to make sure that she doesn`t go public with the story and that`s where the real money is going to come forward.
GRACE: Mickey Sherman?
SHERMAN: Public with her story -- I think maybe I`m wrong but I think that ship sailed. Never been a story more public than this.
GRACE: Not.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Not Elin Nordegren`s side of the story. She hasn`t said a word.
SHERMAN: Well, what does she have to say? That her husband`s been cheating with everybody west of the Ohio River. I mean that`s the problem.
GRACE: I think a lot of people would pay a lot of money to hear a blow by blow of what went down. Maybe not you, maybe not me, but a lot of people would want to hear that.
SHERMAN: I think she`ll get a better paycheck from Tiger to resolve the divorce issue than.
GRACE: OK. Peter Elikanin?
ELIKANIN: Yes, two-part answer here. Yes, prenuptial agreements are really, really hard to break. The only way you can really break them is if you can show that there was some coercion or some fraud when they were first written up. You can`t just say, hey, my marriage didn`t go well and therefore I want to have a new prenup. That would negate the whole point of having a prenup.
Having said that I think she`s going to get an awful lot more money than a prenup. He`s going to want to settle much more than legally. He has to according to the prenup. So yes, he`s going to get creamed financially.
GRACE: You know, Dr. Lillian Glass, we thought before everybody went home for Christmas that there would be some kind of a resolution over the holidays because I cannot imagine being away from the twins, Lucy and John David, on Christmas morning.
I just -- or ringing in the New Year not being able to look into their cribs at 12:01 and, you know, thanking God. And I find it very difficult to understand -- hard to understand why this man, with a net worth of $1 billion, at least, did not go see his children.
LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST, AUTHOR OF "I KNOW WHAT YOU`RE THINKING": Nancy, I can`t understand that either. But it really speaks to who Tiger Woods really is. The longer people stay apart when they`re in conflict and don`t work it out, that`s a very bad sign in terms of the future.
GRACE: Why do you say that?
GLASS: Because they`re not taking the time to communicate, to really connect, to really resolve their issues. And so the more distance there is between them the more chances are that they`re not going to be getting back together.
GRACE: Everyone, as we go to break, we are asking for your thoughts and prayers to a woman you`ve come to know on our show. Maryland friend of the show, Yvette Kaid. She`s an inspiration, a survivor, an advocate against domestic violence.
Tonight she is in the hospital recovering from yet another skin graph surgery, battling infections throughout her body as a result of the abuse on her.
Yvette, I know you are watching tonight. Please know that we are praying for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRUBBS: Or try to just fewer text messages and bar in between, and phone calls and there was a time when he did come out. He did physically come out for five days and he texted me every day and said meet up with me. I want to see you. I miss you. And I didn`t do it. I was, like, I`m not going to do that anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you love Tiger?
GRUBBS: I did never say that I did love him. I wouldn`t let myself get that far.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think Tiger loved you?
GRUBBS: There were times when I feel that, you know, he could have. But, I mean, if you would ask me that question now, I would have to say he didn`t.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRUBBS: I`m not going to ever say what I did was OK. And like she knows she loves him and, you know, that is the way I felt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you ever walk away? Did you ever say I can`t do this anymore?
GRUBBS: I never physically told him I couldn`t do it anymore, but I did back away. You know, I -- I did learn that he was having a second child. And at that point, you know, I just kind of thought to myself, what am I doing? You know? This isn`t right. You know, he has a wife and it`s not you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Back to Gerald Posner with "The Daily Beast," when do you -- excuse me. To Ellie Jostad, when do you expect Tiger Woods to come out of hiatus from golf?
JOSTAD: That is a good question, Nancy. There are actually even reports coming out now that it might be 2012 before we see Tiger Woods on the golf course. Nobody has seen him in public since that car crash. So we really don`t know when he`ll be back.
GRACE: One last time to the lawyers. Susan Moss, Mickey Sherman, Peter Elikanin, it would be to everyone`s benefit to resolve this out of court. But as long as mistresses continue to come forward -- and Sue Moss, what`s the possibility that there are married women out there that allegedly had a fling with Tiger Woods that don`t want to come forward or just say really religious women that don`t want to come forward?
I`m just guessing it`s not over yet.
MOSS: It`s not over by a long shot. Tiger isn`t the only person who`s running with his tail between his legs.
GRACE: Mickey?
SHERMAN: You know, after six mistresses, I think the rest of it -- will it make a difference? It`s like when we.
GRACE: Yes, I don`t know. The porn stars and the waitress at the pancake house had an impact on me.
SHERMAN: I know, but by the same token.
GRACE: I mean, this guy was everywhere, according to them.
SHERMAN: What`s the difference between six and 16 at this point?
GRACE: I would say. Elikanin, what about it?
ELIKANIN: I`m with Mickey on this one. We`re locked step. We`re two defense attorneys. I think that after six, I stopped counting.
GRACE: Yes. Two male defense attorneys.
ELIKANIN: And (INAUDIBLE) after than.
GRACE: Well, you know what? Apparently you two have never been a wife or a mother. But that goes without saying.
Let`s stop and remember Army Specialist Doonewey White, 26, Milpitas, California, killed Iraq. Awarded Bronze Star and Purple Heart, lost his life just hours after speaking to his fiance.
Had a heart as big as his smile. Loved family, friends and God. Dreaming of his wedding day, finding a home in Texas. Leaves behind a grieving family including brothers Mark and Jason, also in Iraq.
Doonewey White, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but our biggest thank you is to you for being with us. And a special thank you to Pennsylvania friend of the show, Joyce, for two identical nativity sets for the twins. Her daughter, Jennifer, and granddaughter Julia and Sofia never miss the show. I want to thank you.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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