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Doctor Says, Tiger Woods Suffered Significant Orthopedic Injuries; Former Security Officials Blame Intelligence Lapses for Deadly Insurrection. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 24, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NEW DAY: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is New Day.

And we do have breaking news right now on the car crash that seriously injured golf legend Tiger Woods. Tiger is recovering at this hour in a Los Angeles hospital after losing control of his SUV on a downhill curve and then rolling over an embankment and down it.

Overnight, his official Twitter account posted this statement that we will read for you. Quote, we thank everyone for the overwhelming support and messages during this tough time. Tiger has undergone a long surgical procedure on his lower right leg and ankle after being brought to the hospital.

Now, according to the hospital's chief doctor, Mr. Woods, quote, suffered significant orthopedic injuries to his lower right extremity that were treated during emergency surgery at Harvard UCLA Medical Center. Open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula bones were stabilized by inserting a rod into the tibia.

Additional injuries to the bones of the foot and ankle were stabilized with a combination of screws and pins and trauma to the muscle and soft tissue of the leg required surgical release of the covering of the muscles to relieve swelling because of pressure.

JOHN BERMAN: The statement overnight said Woods was currently awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room. It also said there are no further updates and they'll continue to thank everyone for the well wishes and privacy for him and his family.

Let's begin with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, a lot of information in that release overnight that we just didn't know, the fact that it was the right leg, the rods and pins inserted, and then Dr. Faust at Brigham Women's Hospital really focused in on the idea that the pressure needed to be relieved in the soft tissue and the muscles of the leg. What's the significance there?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL ANALYST: Yes, so, you know, a couple of things. First of all, we knew some details last night, John. You and I were talking, but that was a snapshot in time, when he was taken to the hospital then. You know, he was assessed to make sure he had no other injuries, because you're just not sure after an accident like that, it was a significant accident, are there other injuries that were just not clear at the actual scene?

So, first of all, there is the good news in that, in that it doesn't appear that he's had any other sort of injuries to his head, torso, to his chest, all of that, important to note, as bad as this injury is, which I think Dr. Faust is right. I've spoken to a few orthopedic surgeons about this, as well.

So there're two simultaneous things that they're talking about. One is the significant fractures to the lower part of his leg, that's the tib/fib, the tibia, fibula, and it sounds like the nature of those fractures is that they were open, that the bone actually broke and protruded through the skin, and that they were in different places on the bone, so, significant fracture there, but also that the injury was so we're that the muscles around those legs started to become swollen.

And the thing about swollen muscles in a small space is if they continue to just swell, it just basically prevents blood flow from coming in and blood from leaving out and the swelling gets worse. You've got to relieve that pressure. You basically open up the outer layers of those muscle to just allow that pressure to be relieved. If you don't do that, the concern is that that muscle tissue will die and develop sort of a gangrene-type picture or a picture that might require something where you actually have to remove that muscle or even remove portions of the leg.

So it's gruesome to talk about. That's why the doctors did what they had to do. And it sounds like they did it in a pretty timely fashion. Now we've got to see how he sort of recovers from all of this.

CAMEROTA: But that's what I'm interested in, Sanjay. What would injuries like that mean for a regular 45-year-old man? I mean, what will this do for his -- the future of his mobility and walking?

GUPTA: You know, I don't know, Alisyn. You know, it's interesting, and I've spoken to several people about this, even earlier this morning. I mean, look, you have these remarkable stories of people like Alex Schmitt, for example, people may know him, quarterback, had a terrible, what's called a sort of a spiral fracture of that area of the bone, as well. And I don't think a lot of people thought he was going to return, and he did, to professional sports.

[07:05:00]

It's just too hard to say at this point. I think even for the doctors who are caring for him and really looking at him, it's just too speculative. I've got to -- you know, we know Tiger Woods is the kind of guy that underwent five back operations, significant operations, including a fusion, came back and had this remarkable return to golf. So who knows?

When you talk about these types of fractures, the most weight-bearing bones there in his ankle, it's going to be a long recovery, no matter what. He's probably -- he's almost assuredly going to have future operations, considering they did these -- what are known as fasciotomies, again, opening up the outer layers of the muscle. That area may need to be clothes at some point or skin grafts and things like that.

So, again, it's a lot to absorb first thing in the morning, but it's a long road to recovery. If we are talking about Tiger Woods, we'll be talking about this for months in terms of the various procedures he may need and the type of rehab and slowly just getting back to bearing weight on that area of his body.

BERMAN: Talk a little bit more about that. This may not be over in terms of the very near-term for Tiger Woods, in terms of the surgeries or what might be required on that leg. What would need to happen?

GUPTA: Yes. So, you know, just take, for example, the areas that he had to relieve the pressure off the muscle. Again, you're basically -- what you're basically doing is you're just opening up that area. It's open. So instead of having the skin and the layers underneath the skin, which is called the fascia, you have opened that up to allow the muscle to just naturally swell because there was too much pressure on it.

At some point after the swelling goes down, you're going to have to simply either put some graphs over that area or close that primarily in that point. I don't know, we also heard, as you know, that there were fractures in the other leg. Will there be operations that are required for that leg, as well? A lot of times in these situations, you have to deal with what the most immediate concern is, first.

It sounds like, and, again, this is just from the statement from the hospital, that this was potentially a limb-threatening injury, meaning that the leg itself was at risk of not being able to survive the injury, because of the immense swelling around the muscle, not just the fractures of the bone. The fractures of the bone you can address. You basically place the bones back into a proper anatomical position. You place rods and screws. You do all of that, and it's not to minimize that in any way, but it's all the injury around those bones that were, you know, sounds like very extensive in his case.

If you look at the car, the way that it crumpled, it sounds like most of the force, most of the absorption of that energy occurred in his lower extremities.

CAMEROTA: Sanjay, thank you very much for all of the information.

So investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what happened here. And CNN's Josh Campbell is live outside the hospital in Los Angeles where Tiger Woods is recovering.

So, Josh, I was really struck by how much they did tell us. I mean, how much the deputies in that press conference came out and shared with the public. So, where is the investigation now?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, a lot of details coming from officials, including the first officer who arrived on scene. It's worth pointing out that authorities say that it appears as though he was not impaired, Tiger Woods, there were no signs of intoxication. All signs, at this point, tend to lead to a speed being the cause, although officials say that that remains under investigation.

As you mentioned, Tiger Woods is here at this level 1 trauma center behind me where he was brought yesterday after that car crash. And, Alisyn and John, the images that we are seeing about that incident show just how violent of a rollover this was and just how much worse it could have been.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL (voice over): Tiger Woods is awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room this morning. His team issuing the update on the golf legend in a statement Wednesday after he suffered serious injuries in a rollover car crash near Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Do we have an ETA for fire? We have a rollover with someone trapped.

CAMPBELL: Authorities responding to the incident around 7:00 A.M. local time.

CARLOS GONZALEZ, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: When I got there, he was lucid. I was able to ask him his name. I was able to ask him if he knew where he was.

DARYL OSBY, FIRE CHIEF, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Our firefighters used a (INAUDIBLE) to help pry the seats and the metal from around his legs. They also used an axe to break out the windshield.

CAMPBELL: Investigators are now looking into what caused Woods to lose control of the vehicle, before emergency crews pulled him out of the wreckage and transported him to Harbor UCLA Medical Center.

ALEX VILLANUEVA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF: No skid marks, no braking. So, apparently, the first contact was with the center median and from there then crossed into the opposing lane of traffic, hit the curb, hit a tree, and there were several rollovers during that process.

[07:10:00]

CAMPBELL: Woods becoming a 15-time major champion over a decades' long career. The golfer sometimes sidelined by multiple surgeries and a number of controversies, including in 2017, when Woods was arrested in Florida after police found him pulled over on the side of the road asleep in his car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The return to glory.

CAMPBELL: Woods making a big comeback to golf in 2019, winning his fifth Masters title and telling CBS Sports Sunday he was hopeful about competing in the tournament this April after undergoing his fifth back operation.

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: A lot of space on my surgeon and my doctors and therapists and making sure that I do it correctly, and this is the only back I've got.

CAMPBELL: Fellow athletes, celebrities and fans sending an outpouring of support to Woods on social media.

DWAYNE WADE, RETIRED NBA PLAYER: And I got an opportunity, I say, the GOAT -- he's not comfortable with it.

CAMPBELL: Including retired NBA Star Dwyane Wade who posted on Instagram that he played with the golfer on Monday.

WADE: I woke up today so proud to be able to post that moment for the world and be able to get like a snippet of a moment together. And I took a nap and woke up and I woke up to the news.

My prayers go out to him and hopefully a speedy recovery.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL: Now, far as those injuries, they were serious. We're told significant injuries to his leg and ankle. Again, he is recovering here at this level I trauma center. Now, as authorities continue to investigate the cause of that crash, one thing is clear. The sheriff saying that but for Tiger Woods wearing his seat belt, this would almost have certainly have been a fatality. John?

BERMAN: And a really quick 911 call from the witness who saw it, as well. Josh Campbell, thank you so much. Please keep us posted.

Joining us now is Golfweek's Managing Editor Tim Schmitt. Tim, thanks so much for being with us.

Look, the golf world is a pretty small world. I imagine you and everyone else had a very long night reporting, touching base with each other. What are you hearing this morning?

TIM SCHMITT, MANAGING EDITOR, GOLFWEEK: Yes. I mean, the injuries that he sustained during this accident are really going to be just so difficult for Tiger Woods to overcome in the future. You know, it's interesting hearing Dr. Gupta talk about Alex Schmitt from the NFL, who we think of as an old guy, right, in his early 30s. Tiger Woods is in his mid-40s, at 45 years old.

And so the word around the golf world really is, can Tiger Woods recover from this? It's going to be a long shot. The injuries sustained, the surgeries he's had. He's had ten back and knee surgeries over the last decade. This isn't just one or two things he's had to overcome, these are multiple injuries, multiple surgeries, multiple parts of his body that he has to work his swing around.

And I can tell you that for the most part, although nobody ever counts Tiger Woods out, folks around the golf world are thinking, this may have been the end of an era.

CAMEROTA: You know, Tim, I know him more as a cultural icon, having followed the ups and downs, the scandals, et cetera, than I do as a golfer. And he seemed to be enjoying himself this weekend. I mean, that part of the, I guess, I don't know, sadness or irony of all this is that he had found it, seemed like, this role. He was taking all of these selfies and helping these other celebrities with their swing. And he seemed happy this weekend before all of this.

SCHMITT: It's interesting, not just this weekend but the last few years, Tiger Woods has certainly -- he was known as perhaps the most driven golfer of all time, someone who just had such intensity. And, to be honest, early on in his career, that didn't rub other PGA tour members the right way. I mean, he and Phil Mickelson had a contentious relationship for a long time. I thought it was interesting yesterday, Greg Norman tweets in support, but his tweet is about how Tiger is mentally tough.

Conversely, the current batch of PGA tour players who knew him growing up, watching him on television, but have only played occasional events with him, all of a sudden, it's just a totally different vibe that they have around him. Justin Thomas crying, talking about his friend, other folks like Bryson DeChambeau, who has obviously been controversial in his own right, gets very emotional talking about Tiger Woods and what he means to him.

So I think Tiger has softened, obviously, his family has played a big role in that. He loved the fact that his 2019 Masters win was something that he could share with his children. They could see him live instead of just seeing him on T.V., being a superhero. But I think he has softened as a person and enjoyed all of this, which, as you said, just makes this even more painful to kind of sit and watch from afar. The fact that someone who has finally gotten to a comfortable position in their life and is really enjoying everything that life has offered them now has to go through something like this.

BERMAN: Well, and the important thing will be to be a father, to be able to live his life like he wants. It may not be as important to get back on the golf course in a competitive way. We just don't know.

I will say, I agree with you, Alisyn, that picture with Dwyane Wade, that's a different smile than I've seen on Tiger Woods, and I've covered all the ups and downs for years too.

[07:15:03]

I mean, you would see him smile on the golf course, but not like this. You know, when he's winning at golf, it's sort of feeding a need, you know, a smile of satisfaction. That was a smile of joy with Dwyane Wade. Also when he was out golfing with his son, Charlie, a few months ago, that was a pure joy there too.

Tim, what do we know about the last few days, about what Tiger Woods was doing the last few days?

SCHIMITT: Sure, it's interesting. He was in Los Angeles for this Genesis event. He's been the tour host for a long time.

The thing I think you have to remember is just because Tiger Woods has been injured does not mean that Tiger Woods' schedule is easy and open. I mean, this is a guy who has dedicated himself to a number of causes and, of course, is one of the top spokespersons in the world. I mean, he's constantly being asked for various things.

So he was in -- yes, he was in L.A. As a matter of fact, my colleague, Todd Kelly, was on site there, saw him walking around, said he was walking gingerly at the time. So, remember, before an accident this horrific, he was walking around gingerly.

But then after that, with the GolfDigest shoot that he had on Monday and, again, Tuesday, it's not easy. It's just not easy being Tiger Woods. Weekends don't mean weekends. They often mean lots of obligations. I just think that a lot of this piles up on some of these pro athletes. We don't realize the asks that are made upon them.

And I think, sometimes, they wear on these folks and Tiger Woods is a good example. You can see over the years that it really has become something that has been more of a burden, I think, at times.

BERMAN: Tim Schmitt, thanks for being with us this morning helping us understand where things are this morning. I appreciate it.

SCHMITT: Thank you.

CAMPBELL: So this morning, finger-pointing at the first hearing into the deadly Capitol insurrection. Why didn't key intelligence about the potential for an attack make it up the chain of command?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN SUND, FORMER CAPITOL POLICE CHIEF: I actually just in the last 24 hours was informed by the department that they actually had received that report. It was received by what we call -- it's one of our sworn members that's assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is a task force with the FBI. They received it the evening of the 5th, reviewed it, and then forwarded it over to an official at the intelligence division at U.S. Capitol Police headquarters.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): And so you hadn't seen it yourself?

SUND: No, Ma'am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: The former Capitol police chief admitting a failure in communication over a key intelligence memo that warned of violence the night before the Capitol insurrection. He and other former law enforcement officials testified yesterday at the first public hearing into the Capitol siege.

Joining us now is Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who participated in that hearing. Senator, help us understand this. Why did the former U.S. Capitol police chief, who we just heard from there, Steven Sund, only see that FBI memo, he said, this week? He didn't see it the night before when they sent it via email. How is that possible? SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): Well, it really is an enormous failure. And when I pressed him on that question, he said, well, it came in at a lower level and it wasn't a polished report, it was just raw intelligence data, as if for some reason raw data or basically a memo saying, hey, these folks are really serious on smashing down doors and assaulting -- put it this way, either Trump will still be president or we'll be dead. It was very, very aggressive language from the far- right, saying that they were coming to conduct a war, to do exactly what unfolded.

And so I don't think we should just say, well, somebody didn't pass it up. I mean, the head, the chief of police has the responsibility to establish channels of communication. There's absolutely an intelligence chief within the Capitol police. How did his division not forward this critical information? This seems like a huge blame game to say, all of us at the top, not all our fault, we just didn't have the information.

And it really underplays, Alisyn, the other information that was coming in, for example, two days before a major leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, was arrested and plotting and planning for the violence on the 6th. So, a lot of information seemed to be available and there was a lot of not taking responsibility and not getting to the core of the type of drills that should have -- and exercises and planning and rules of engagement that should have occurred to defend the Capitol.

CAMPBELL: And beefing up the manpower. And the reason that we know so much about what some of this raw intelligence was, was because The Washington Post reported it on January 12th in detail. I'll just read a portion of this. In The Washington Post, here is what they knew. An online thread discussed specific calls for violence to include stating, quote, be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being spilt. Get violent. Stop calling this a march or rally or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our president or we die. Nothing else will achieve this goal.

That's the kind of raw intelligence that the FBI was hearing, okay, and that they tried to pass along. And so the fact that an email was overlooked, do you blame the FBI for not, somehow, sounding the alarm more or who do you blame for missing this?

MERKLEY: Well, we certainly do need to have a 9/11-style commission to put all the pieces together.

[07:25:00]

I think there were multiple failures along the way.

My overall impression is that while there was significant evidence that this was something different, the leaders at the top couldn't really comprehend that it was really a possibility that the Capitol would be assaulted.

In the end, it was like, well, yes, there're people out there who are extremists, but, listen, when you had the million MAGA march in November, they didn't assault the Supreme Court. When you had another one in December, they didn't assault the Supreme Court. That's crazy talk, that they would actually assault Capitol. I think there was a sense that that's just outside the realm of possibility, and despite the evidence that was coming in. But we need a detailed analysis.

And then we have to do this really hard work of figuring out how do you defend the Capitol against a determined riotous assault? There's so many entries and so many windows. And how do you shut them down quickly and make sure that people can't just bust through them? We want the Capitol not to be a -- it feels right now like a green zone. There's this high fence now with barbed wire and you have to zigzag through trucks to come in. This reminds me of being in Baghdad and Iraq during the Iraq War. And that's not the Capitol we want. How do you make it defensible?

So we need to understand everything that went wrong and how to restore a Capitol that this can't happen, but can still be open to the American people.

CAMPBELL: And, Senator, that leads us to Senator Ron Johnson. Instead of looking at the raw data, instead of picking up the phone and calling the FBI, he appears to be getting all of his information about what happened on January 6th at the insurrection from a right-wing blog. And so he is fixed on these -- this very weird narrative. So let me play for you what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Although, the crowd represented a broad cross-section of Americans, mostly working class by their appearance in a manner of speech, some people stood out. A very few didn't share the jovial, friendly, earnest demeanor of the great majority. Some obviously didn't fit in. And he describes four different types of people, plains clothes militants, agents provocateurs, fake Trump protesters and a disciplined column of attackers. I think these are the people that probably planned this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Jovial, friendly? Those are the words that he thinks best describe the mob? I ask this in all seriousness, what's going on with Ron Johnson? Has he fallen into some sort of conspiracy wormhole?

MERKLEY: You know, Alisyn, when you play that, I was thinking about how I normally walk outside to go across the Capitol from our Senate offices and we got a memo that said, do not go outside. There's an angry, violent mob. You shouldn't be trying to walk through them to get to the Capitol. And I kind of tend to downplay threats, but my staff said, no, this is serious. Like, you can't go outside through this crowd.

And so this wasn't -- I mean, you've seen the tapes. All of America has seen the tape. This wasn't a jovial crowd. This was an angry crowd intent on doing what Trump was asking, which was to stop the vote counting, so that Trump could still be considered the possibility of him being president.

And so that's -- the disconnect between that and the tape that you just played of Johnson's comments is just vast. And it continues this big lie strategy, this cover story strategy. No, it wasn't the far- right. We'll say it was anyone else. We'll feed that fake story. Let's quit feeding fake stories and come to terms with a real challenge we have with white extremists in America being violently intent and being encouraged on by key leaders from Trump and others. This just has to change.

CAMPBELL: Senator Jeff Merkley, thank you, we appreciate your time.

MERKLEY: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMPBELL: So, Tiger Woods is recovering in the hospital at this hour after suffering significant injuries. Up next, we look at Woods' troubles on and off the golf course. And we'll talk to someone who has followed his career very closely over the years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]