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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Interview With Bob Costas; Tiger Woods Injured in Car Crash. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired February 23, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN THOMAS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: It hurts to see one of your -- I mean, now my closest friends, you know, get in an accident.

And, man, I just hope he's all right. Just -- just worried for his kids. I'm sure they're struggling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Father of two.

Thanks so much for being with me.

Jake Tapper taking over the breaking coverage from here.

"THE LEAD" starts now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

We begin with breaking news.

One of the most successful and famous athletes in the history of sports, golf legend Tiger Woods, is in the hospital right now after having to be cut out of his vehicle. The sheriff saying that Woods suffered moderate to critical injuries in a serious single car crash in Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal town in Los Angeles County.

Woods had to be removed from his SUV using the jaws of life after the car rolled over at least once. He's now at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. "Golf Digest" reports that Woods is in surgery and has had -- and has suffered multiple leg injuries, according to Tiger Woods' agent.

CNN's Kyung Lah is in Los Angeles for us reporting out the story.

Kyung, what's the latest?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're getting this very latest information from the authorities. His condition, the very latest that we're learning is that he is in serious condition at Harbor UCLA Medical Center, so serious condition.

We don't have any more details other than that, that you reported, that he has leg injuries. But we are now learning that he is in serious condition.

So, let's back up on exactly how all of this happened. As you were just saying, Jake, at about 7:22, fire crews were called of a single vehicle roll over. You're looking at the vehicle. You can see how serious this crash was. This roadway, according to our weather department, the conditions, normally, it's a little socked in at the beach. It was clear.

So, the conditions this morning, it was clear. We don't have any information about the speed that he was driving. But we are hoping to learn much more in the next couple of hours. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has announced that there will be a news conference at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time, where all of these questions are going to be asked.

We don't know where he is in the hospital. He is still in surgery. But he did have to go into surgery for those injuries to his legs, as far as we understand, Jake, so very little information at this point. But the latest we are learning is that Tiger Woods, this golf great, the man that many of us watched grow up on television, grow up as an athlete, as a father, and to go through all of these scandals, to break many color barriers in golf, he is in serious condition after this terrible crash -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Kyung Lah, thanks so much. Stay there. We will come back to you as news warrants.

Joining us to discuss is sports commentator Bob Costas.

Bob, thanks for joining us.

So, first of all, just Tiger, one of the most famous and successful athletes in the world, known by just as first name. What are your thoughts when you see these images of his SUV crash?

BOB COSTAS, SPORTS COMMENTATOR: Well, the images obviously lead you to think the worst.

But what has to be emphasized now is, beyond what we just heard, which is the most substantive news report available to us at this point, beyond that, it's all just speculative as to what happened, why it happened. We can cite as part of the backstory his previous mishaps behind the wheel of a car, but that may or may not have any relationship to this.

We know that, as a golfer, apart from what may be very serious injuries now, he was already in peril of not being able to play in the upcoming Masters, said that on -- yes, on Sunday to Jim Nantz. He had his fingers crossed that he would be able to play. He's had five back surgeries, including a spinal fusion, and most recently a surgery to remove some disk fragments that were pinching on a nerve.

He's 45 years old, advanced athletic age. So, we know the wonderful story that played out a couple of years ago at the Masters, when, improbably, he won his 15th major. We don't know if he'd ever be able to compete consistently at the highest levels again.

So that's the athletic part of it.

But now, on a personal level. We do not know -- it's apparently -- I would say apparently, based on what we just heard, not a life- threatening situation. But it could -- underline could five times -- it could be the end of his golf career, considering all the other physical challenges he had and the fact that these may be serious leg injuries, and his condition is listed now as serious.

[16:05:00]

But in the meantime, Jake, everything I have been watching and hearing has the tone, perhaps understandably, of a requiem for Tiger Woods. But I think that's a leap. We just don't have enough information now to say -- to say anything beyond what we just heard a few minutes ago.

TAPPER: Right.

And Kyung Lah just reported that he was in serious condition, which is obviously serious, but not critical, not critical condition.

COSTAS: That's right. That's right.

TAPPER: Which is, as you note, a reason for his fans and, obviously, most importantly, his family he's had -- he has two children -- to be optimistic that he will survive this.

You were just talking about this a second ago, but just this past weekend, Tiger was on CBS. He was talking about his hopes to play the masters in April.

Let's roll a little bit of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM NANTZ, CBS: So Tiger, seven weeks from today, final round of the Masters, you going to be there?

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: God, I hope so.

I got to get there first.

NANTZ: You feel like you...

WOODS: A lot of it's based on my surgeons and my doctors, my therapists, and making sure that I do it correctly. And this is only back I got, so I don't have much more wiggle room left here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, as -- and as you noted, Bob, he was recovering from his fifth back surgery, which is obviously potentially very, very painful.

He'd already been through it before and had some issues with opioids in 2017 from recovering from all the pain he was in.

So, already, you have somebody whose body is imperiling his athletic career, and now you have this. And, hopefully, he's going to be OK beyond that. But you do have to wonder if this could be the end of his athletic career, potentially.

COSTAS: Yes, I think that that's a very legitimate question to ask.

And thank heavens, the first impression, seeing how grisly the pictures looked, how badly the SUV or whatever the vehicle was, was damaged, at first, you're wondering about whether the injuries might be life-threatening. Evidently, they are not. So that concern, apparently, has been put aside.

But there's a very real concern about whether Tiger Woods will ever be able to resume his golf career. And I think, in a larger sense, Jake, the reason why this has been CNN's ongoing coverage over the last hour or more, and will be going forward. Why it's everywhere you look across the television dial and on the Internet, it goes beyond excellence.

Is Tiger Woods one of the greatest golfers of all time? Yes. There will always be a strong case to be made for Jack Nicklaus, who holds the record with the 18 majors, and finished second, by the way, 19 times in majors, so that's another plus for Jack Nicklaus.

But Tiger Woods has 15 majors. That's the second most. And you could make a very good case that, at his very peak, Tiger Woods was the greatest golfer ever, that no one was ever as good as Tiger was at his best.

But that alone doesn't explain it. There is some quality of charisma, of magnetism. Michael Jordan had it. Tiger Woods has it. And that can't be quantified just by looking at victories. Tom Brady has it. You have to not only have the accomplishments. You have to have the moments. You have to have the moments on the biggest stages.

I know you're a baseball fan, Jake. By overwhelming consensus, Mike Trout of the Angels is the best baseball player and has been for a very long time. And knowledgeable baseball people discuss him among the all-time greats. But he's never been to the World Series.

TAPPER: Right.

COSTAS: He has no iconic moment. He doesn't have Hank Aaron trotting around the bases breaking Babe Ruth's record. He doesn't have that, through no fault of his own.

Tiger Woods had that so many times over that he was one of those athletes who someone who doesn't know a bogey from a birdie still knew him, the way he or she knew Michael Jordan or knows Tom Brady. And that's why this is the focus of everyone's attention right now.

That's why, right now, this is the story in America.

TAPPER: And beyond that, something else he has in common with Michael Jordan, although a very different kind, is a comeback.

COSTAS: Yes.

TAPPER: Michael Jordan left basketball, played baseball, didn't succeed, went back to basketball, and, obviously, succeeded quite a bit.

Tiger Woods had a very different kind of comeback story, the 2009-2010 scandal and divorce and then trying to rebuild his life, another hiccup in Florida in 2017. He was arrested. He was under the -- driving under the influence of painkillers and more, and then, of course, returned to glory.

[16:10:08]

He won the Masters in 2019 at a relatively advanced age. So, his story is cinematic.

COSTAS: Yes.

TAPPER: This beautiful young man raised by this hard-driving father becoming the best in his sport, breaking racial barriers, and then he has this Shakespearian arc.

COSTAS: Yes, I think that's well put, Jake. It is a cinematic story. His story has texture to it. It has drama to it. And it's often said, to the point of cliche, that Americans love a comeback story.

Well, he had not just an athletic comeback story, but obviously a personal comeback story. And although it may sound trite, it's true. Something that plays into this -- if you want to talk about cinematic, if someone's a leading man or woman, there's a visual aspect to this.

Tom Brady is a compelling looking person. He's a very handsome guy. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, your eyes would go to them immediately. If you knew nothing about it. If it was the first basketball game you ever went to, first golf tournament you have ever attended, your eyes would go to them. They are perfectly cast as leading men, and then their performances justified the casting.

TAPPER: Yes.

And then, in addition to -- I mean, what one of the things that strikes me, thinking about Tiger Woods' career -- and for people just tuning in, he has been injured. He's in serious condition in Los Angeles, and we are awaiting word from the hospital, HARBOR UCLA Medical Center, as to how he's doing. He was in a car accident this morning in California, and had to be removed from his SUV with the jaws of life.

And we're told by his agent -- or "Golf Digest," rather, has been told by his agent that his legs are injured. But we're told he's in serious condition.

One of the things that I thought was remarkable about his scandal in 2009-2010, Bob, was his complete admission that one of the reasons his marriage fell apart -- and I'm not saying this to be to be mean to him. I'm saying this because I found this a remarkably candid and refreshing admission -- was he said, things came to me too easily. I didn't have to -- things just fell in my lap, which is something that a lot of celebrities go through, but even after being scandalized, they don't admit.

And it was kind of -- I thought that admission was just really refreshing and provocative, in a way that it kind of just -- he was kind of admitting the celebrity status that led him to make mistakes.

COSTAS: Well, he was certainly humbled. He was humbled both personally, in a very dramatic way that virtually no one we can think of has experienced to that extent, playing it out on every newspaper, magazine and television broadcast you could think of, and then he was humbled athletically as well.

Where once the question was, will Tiger Woods win this tournament or would you like to take one of 10 or 12 other guys, and let's have a bet? You take the other dozens, I will take Tiger Woods. Then it became, will Tiger ever win again? Will he ever win a major again? And he did have that moment in 2019 at Augusta, which, again, if you were making a movie, that's how the movie would end, in that moment of comeback.

TAPPER: Yes.

COSTAS: So, yes, it has all the elements.

But there's also something else that's sometimes part of the story in sports, an element of what might have been.

TAPPER: Yes.

COSTAS: There are athletes who are great, but it's fascinating when we wonder about what might have been.

Could Mickey Mantle have been the greatest baseball player, not just a great player, but the greatest baseball player, if not for injuries and perhaps not taking care of himself as well as he could have? Could Tiger Woods have won 22 or 25 majors if his life had not taken the turn that it did both with scandal and with injuries?

That element of what might have been is also part of an athlete's story sometimes.

TAPPER: Just one thing I want to update.

We, as well as everybody else, has been reporting on the jaws of life. And now, as happens in breaking news stories, it's less clear that that was accurate. We have some discussion from authorities that Woods was extricated from his car, but we're not sure that it was with the jaws of life.

I just want to bring some clarity to that.

Also, Bob, we just got a statement from Nike -- quote -- this is the company's statement: "We're following the news around Tiger, and our thoughts in our heart are with him and his family at this time."

Bob, one other thing I wanted to say is, you talked about how the movie about Tiger Woods' life would end with his return to glory in 2019, when he won the Masters.

[16:15:00]

Possible that a different ending might be, because we have seen him embrace this new role as a sports dad. He has these two kids from his marriage that ended in 2009-2010. His daughter plays soccer.

We saw Tiger and his son, Charlie, golf together at the end of last year as well. This is also a part of the Tiger Woods story. He's not just an icon. He's a real human being who has real people in his life who he loves and who loves him, his two children.

COSTAS: Yes, and it was very touching a couple of months ago to see Tiger and Charlie playing together. He almost looks like a mini-Tiger. They carried themselves the same way. They were dressed -- I think you get the shot up on the screen.

TAPPER: Yes.

COSTAS: They were dressed -- Tiger, as you know, always would wear red on the final day of the tournament on Sunday, and there was Charlie.

You can't help -- as a human being, can't help but smile when you see something like that.

TAPPER: And we hope that he will be OK. He's in serious condition. We hope that his athletic career will not be over, although that does seem a big hope, given the fact that he was already battered because he has a bad back.

And anybody out there who's ever suffered from a bad back just knows how debilitating that can be, much less if you're a professional athlete. You know, he's 45 years old suffering from a bad back.

I do imagine that, assuming he ends up OK, he's still -- there's so much he could do, Tiger Woods. I mean, he could -- even if his athletic career is over, the sky is the limit for his next chapter.

COSTAS: Well, he's an American icon. There's no question. He's telegenic. He's an intelligent guy. If he wanted to be, he could go in any number of directions. He may be too big to go in some of those directions.

One of the things we always think of with a sports star, well, the next step is broadcasting. But did Michael Jordan become a broadcaster? Will Tom Brady become a broadcast or Tiger Woods? Maybe they're too big for any of that. Maybe they have got to carve out their own path.

TAPPER: It is tough to imagine Jordan sitting courtside and talking about other players, just because he's so iconic. And same thing with Tiger Woods.

Before I let you go, Bob -- and I really appreciate your wisdom.

COSTAS: Sure.

TAPPER: Any other thoughts you have about this man who, as far as we know, is still in surgery and we hope we will be OK?

COSTAS: Well, it's one of the richest stories in the history of American sports. He's not only arguably -- he's certainly in the discussion, very short list -- arguably the greatest golfer of all time.

But he transcends that, on the short list of the greatest modern American athletes. And as we have been discussing, his story has such texture and drama to it. It has heartache, as well as triumph. And now it's been as we have been speaking, just in the last half-hour, we have reason to hope that our worst fears will not be realized, and that he will recover.

And then the biggest question will be, where, if anywhere, does his golf career go from here?

TAPPER: All right. Well, speaking of icons, it's been my honor to talk to you, Mr. Costas. Thank you so much for joining us. We always appreciate it. And I'm sure you will be on CNN later today as well.

We're going to keep following this breaking news, sports legend Tiger Woods in the hospital after a serious car crash.

We're going to talk to an E.R. doctor right after this quick break.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:23:00]

TAPPER: And we're back with the breaking news.

Legendary golfer Tiger Woods is in the hospital after a serious car accident. Los Angeles County law enforcement tells CNN that his car, his SUV, was the only vehicle involved in this rollover crash.

I want to bring in CNN's Josh Campbell, who's just arrived at the hospital in Los Angeles where Tiger Woods is right now and, as far as we know, is still in surgery.

Josh, what can you tell us?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: That's right.

We're told that authorities got a call, Jake, just after 7:00 here local time of a single vehicle rollover accident. This was down in the South Bay Area here in Los Angeles, near Rancho Palos Verdes. He was later identified, the person driving or in that vehicle, as none other than Tiger Woods.

Now, he was brought here to where we are. This is Harbor UCLA Medical Center. This is the nearest level one trauma center that services the South Bay Area. We're told that he was taken into surgery. According to his agent, we're told that he was -- suffered multiple leg injuries and obviously brought here for medical care.

We don't know what his condition is at this time. We did hear from authorities that at the time of his transport that he was in serious condition. But that is the information that we have at this hour, Jake.

I think it's worth pointing out also, for those who maybe are unfamiliar with the Los Angeles area, this area is somewhat remote down in the southern area. There's an investigation into the cause of this accident. Authorities don't know whether this was human error, whether this was due to whether.

That's all a part of their ongoing accident crash investigation that is under way. As that continues about eight miles from where we're standing here, Tiger Woods sits behind us here in the hospital receiving medical care, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Josh Campbell, thank you so much.

I want to bring in Dr. Joseph Sakran. He's the director of emergency general surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Doctor, thanks so much for joining us.

Obviously, so much is speculative about what's going on. So let's talk about what we know. Tiger Woods' agent tells "Golf Digest" magazine that Tiger had -- quote -- "multiple leg injuries" and that he's in surgery after the accident.

What does that signal to you, if anything?

[16:25:00]

DR. JOSEPH SAKRAN, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Yes, so, thanks for having me, Jake.

Look, when you look at traumatic injury, it can definitely be the leading cause of death in young people under the age of 46.

And what we know is that you can have a wide spectrum of injuries, anything from traumatic brain injury, to severe injuries of the chest and the abdomen, which can include things from broken bones to internal bleeding, to actually more severe -- severe internal damage to organs.

And so right now, from what we know, is, it sounds like he probably has some extremity injuries. But, again, like you said, a lot of is still speculative at this time.

TAPPER: The Los Angeles County Fire Department now says that Woods was taken to the hospital in serious condition. An L.A. County spokesperson described his injuries as moderate to critical.

Translate for us what that means.

SAKRAN: Yes, so any time we get a patient that comes into our trauma center, the first thing that we're doing is trying to rule out those things that are going to save their life.

The most common cause of death is bleeding. And so that triage happens immediately. Once we triage those patients, and we rule out those type of injuries, then we really kind of focus on some of the other things that could potentially need stabilization or surgical intervention.

TAPPER: Just this past Sunday, during a PGA tournament, Tiger Woods talks about his road to recovery, after having had five back surgeries. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOODS: Feeling fine. I feel fine, a little bit stiff.

I have one more MRI scheduled, so that we will see if the annulus is scarred over finally. And then I can start doing more activities, but still in the gym, still doing the mundane stuff that you have to do for rehab.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Obviously, as has been said, he's in the ninth inning, to mix sports metaphors, of his career. 45 years old, five back surgeries.

Obviously, we all have fears that this accident, assuming he survives it, which we all hope he will, could impact his ability to play golf.

SAKRAN: Yes, I think that's accurate, Jake.

I mean, he has some preexisting conditions prior to this injury. And I think, right now, we still don't know the full spectrum of how serious his injury is. I would just say that we have seen other athletes, like Alex Smith, who suffered a gruesome leg injury in 2018, that went on to make a full recovery.

So, I think it's a little bit early to really say what's going to happen, and he is going to make that full recovery? Of course, we wish him the best and we hope he does.

TAPPER: Dr. Joseph Sakran, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

We're going to keep following this breaking story, Tiger Woods injured in a serious car crash.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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