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Tiger Woods to Speak to Press Before Masters; Earthquake Hits Mexico, Felt in U.S.; Extended Jobless Benefits Held Up

Aired April 05, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. I'm Ali Velshi, and I'm going to be with you for the next two hours today and every day. I'm going to try and take some of the top stories that we cover and break them down for you, give you a level of detail that are going to help you make important decisions about your health, your security, your money, your world and of course, as Tony said, whether to watch the Masters.

Let's get started. Here's what I've got on the rundown.

As Tony said, he is playing again; he's talking again. He's back. One hour from now, Tiger Woods gives his first full-fledged news conference since the scandal that rocked his private and public life. We've got pre-game coverage, post-game coverage and everything in between. Of course, you can see the newser in its entirety light -- live right here on CNN.

All right. You can call it a Cinderella story. You can call it David and Goliath. All of the sporting cliches work here. Butler University in the NCAA championship tonight. And if you're still saying, "Butler who?" We've got the answer. We're talking to you, and we're going to take you live to the campus to show you how the underdog, Bulldogs, ended up on top.

And if you're one of the thousands of Americans counting on an extension of jobless benefits, you are out of luck, at least for a week or so. Plus, if you are one of those Americans, you've probably been unemployed for longer than you ever imagined or hoped for. We'll tell you how to weather a long job search.

All right. The top story here. Let's -- let's talk about the return of a legend. Tiger Woods is back on the green today. He returns to golf competition, as he announced, at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, after an explosive scandal marked by multiple affairs. But for this comeback, he is just hoping for a couple of birdie claps.

And for the latest on the competition, and his return to the game, Samantha Hayes joins us live from Augusta. She's there waiting for this all to happen.

Samantha, what's the latest?

SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, we got a chance to watch Tiger Woods play in an early-morning practice round this morning. It was really a chance for Tiger Woods to break the ice but also for people watching him to break the ice, as well.

I think there's been a question as to how Tiger's going to be treated here at Augusta National during the Masters. And as expected, everybody was polite, even welcoming. Folks clapped for Tiger. And what was really interesting, Ali, is he seemed to enjoy it. And that's something we've never really seen from Tiger before. Perhaps he's turning over a new leaf.

But we do know this. He chose Augusta National for a reason: he likes the tightly-controlled atmosphere.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAYES (voice-over): In pursuit of a fifth green jacket, Tiger Woods hit the greens early and often, both Sunday and Monday morning. It is a familiar and friendly place for Woods, which is why he may have chosen the Masters for his return to professional golf.

CHRIS VERDERY, GOLF PRO, RIVER GOLF CLUB: This makes sense. People really love him here in Augusta. He's been wonderful for the Masters, for the city of Augusta. And everybody's excited to have him back.

HAYES: While Augusta is accustomed to hosting one of the biggest events in sports every April, the sordid drama now associated with Woods is new.

DICK BENCK, MASTERS TICKET HOLDER: It feels like, at least at the onset, and obviously we're very early in the week, a very different kind of a Masters. People are almost waiting and anticipating something's going to happen.

HAYES: The four-time Masters champion recently admitted to multiple extramarital affairs. Augusta mayor Deke Copenhaver says the spotlight is less on the sport and more on the spectacle.

DEKE COPENHAVER, MAYOR OF AUGUSTA: TMZ, "Entertainment Weekly" and "People" magazine, along with "Extra!", are once again just typical calls that I don't get come Masters week.

HAYES: As a star athlete, Tiger Woods is supported in Augusta. Lots of folks are rooting for him.

BENCK: I love his golf, and that's what we're here for. It's what I like to see. And I really don't care about his personal life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAYES: Of course, a lot of people do care about his personal life. Certainly, Tiger Woods does. And I think people will be watching to see how that's going to affect his game.

Ali, everybody knows he's a great golfer, and he may do very well this week. Who knows? He may even win a fifth green jacket. But for Tiger Woods, what's probably, you know, scarier than whether he's going to play well is how he's going to perform in this upcoming news conference, because this is shaping up to be a different situation than he's ever faced before, much different, of course, than his scripted message that he delivered in February.

VELSHI: Sure. And he knew his own celebrity. But the reality is, this is bigger than he even expected.

You mentioned the tightly-controlled atmosphere at the Masters, at Augusta. Why is that more tightly controlled than any such competition? Has Augusta got a history of being that much more controlled?

HAYES: Well, Ali, as you know, it's a private club. And the people who come to watch the Masters are members or ticket holders. And so they certainly don't want to lose their tickets. And the Augusta National can make the rules. And so, if you break those rules, you get thrown out.

And they've been known to do that before. If you walk between the holes or you yell out or do anything sort of like that, that you will be escorted off the course.

But aside from the rules, there is such a high respect for the Masters Tournament. This was -- of course, it was designed and looked after by Bobby Jones himself. And so people revere this golf course and come to it with a level of respect that they don't have, necessarily, for the other major tournaments. So I don't even know that you necessarily need to ask people to behave themselves.

VELSHI: Right.

HAYES: They kind of do it on their own anyway.

VELSHI: OK. Samantha, stay there. We'll be talking to you. We'll be checking in with you again before and after the press conference. It starts in about an hour. Samantha Hayes live from Augusta, Georgia.

Let's talk about how Tiger Woods got here today. Let's start in November of last year, the week of the 23rd. The "National Enquirer" alleges that Tiger had an affair with a New York nightclub hostess.

Days later he was taken to the hospital after driving his SUV into a tree near his home in Florida. Less than a week after that, he was issued a traffic citation for careless driving.

And the next day, on December 2, Tiger released a statement apologizing for his transgressions. That same day "Us Weekly" published a report of another affair and released a now infamous voicemail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Hey, it's Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. Can you please take your name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: On December 11, Tiger announced an indefinite leave from professional golf. And then, for the next 45 days, he went to inpatient therapy for, quote, "issues."

On February 19, we heard from Tiger Woods for the first time on camera since November. He didn't take questions, but he apologized for being unfaithful to his life and letting down his friends and family.

On March 16, he announced his return to golf at today's Masters Tournament.

Of course, you'll be able to see the news conference live and uninterrupted here on CNN. And if you're away from the TV, you can see it online at CNN.com; also on our iPhone app.

All right. When we come back, we're going to bring you up to speed on that weekend earthquake in Mexico that gave a big chunk of the U.S. a big shaking. Ted Rowlands is live in Mexicali, and we've got Chad Myers on the story, as well. We'll bring you up to speed on that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: A big earthquake yesterday afternoon in Mexico, near the California border. Let me tell you a little bit it. It was a 7.2 earthquake along the Mexico-California border yesterday. It centered about 110 miles south-southeast -- or east-southeast of Tijuana, right on the border south of San Diego.

At least two people died in Mexico. More than 140 people were taken to hospitals. One person who died, died as a result of the quake. The other one died as a result of running out into the street to get away from a crumbling structure and was struck by a car.

The hardest-hit city was the Mexican border town of Mexicali.

Ted Rowlands is -- last I checked, he was on his way to Mexicali. I don't know if he's there yet.

Ted, you're on the phone?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Yes, Ali. Yes, we're in Mexicali, and things are getting better. We were here for most of the night last night. And during the night, the electricity was basically out everywhere. Some of the grids now are back up and running.

But they're still struggling. There was a huge cleanup. That's one thing. There's just destruction everywhere in terms of glass and debris everywhere. But then there's also the medical situation. Because of the hospitals' conditions, they're having to see patients out in the parking lot.

The good news is, there aren't that many, believe it or not, people that got injured. When you look at the magnitude of this earthquake and you hear the stories of what people went through and you see the destruction, it really is unbelievable that only 140-plus people were injured, and right now there's two fatalities as you mentioned. They do expect there are some -- there's about five to ten people, according to one of the doctors we talked to, who are very, very critical. So unfortunately, the fatality rate may go up.

But the stories we have been hearing are just -- are just incredible. One of the things, because this earthquake was only six miles deep, it created these fissures, through these large gaps in the earth. And one person we talked to said the earth just opened up in front of them.

VELSHI: Wow.

ROWLANDS: And water came pouring out. We've heard story after story like this.

But the bottom line is, the good news is that most of the structures in Mexicali and around this area did stay standing. And we don't have the trapped people. We don't have the dozens and dozens of injured, and we don't have the fatalities.

VELSHI: Ted, is there anybody that there are active rescues for right now? Or do they feel that nobody's trapped; they're just treating the injured at this point?

ROWLANDS: Nobody's trapped that we've been able to find out. We were hanging out last night deep into the night...

VELSHI: Yes.

ROWLANDS: ... with folks at the communication center. And no, they were on guard. They had a line of fire trucks. There were some fires, and there was some wind. That was a concern. But even those they put out right away.

So the Mexican government flooded the area with people from Tijuana and from around other -- other regions and did -- they've done a great job to contain it.

VELSHI: All right, Ted, thanks very much. We'll check in with you. Ted Rowlands in Mexicali, Mexico.

Chad Myers is joining me now, as well as Susan Huff. She's from the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. Susan, hang on for a second.

Chad, give us the stuff about this earthquake. You always know a lot of detail about it. Tell us what we need to know.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Let's compare the Mexico quake, 7.2...

VELSHI: Yes.

MYERS: ... to the Haitian quake, 7.0.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: This red zone here, class 9, violent shaking. The earth really was moving here in Mexico, as well as obviously how it was in Haiti. Why these two are completely separate and why we're not 24/7 live breaking news with this is because of this. This is the number of people that were actually in that violent shaking zone.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: Five hundred people.

VELSHI: OK.

MYERS: Now, there's severe shaking here at 526K. That means thousand.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: So 526,000 people in Mexico saw severe shaking. Let's compare that to where we were in Haiti, where the violent number is 200 times more, even more than that; 2.38 million -- because that's a "K"...

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: Two point three eight seven million people felt violent shaking. Not 500.

VELSHI: So therein lies the story. That's why this doesn't appear as serious.

Let's go to Susan Huff.

Susan, were there -- there were sort of reports about there being aftershocks. There were reports about other earthquakes. Where do we stand in terms of other earthquakes and aftershocks?

SUSAN HUFF, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Well, an earthquake this big is going to have quite a few aftershocks, and we've already seen that. The system was getting a little overwhelmed. So some of the aftershocks were being located that weren't accurate, and we've been cleaning those up through the night. But there has been quite an energetic sequence, including some events into California.

VELSHI: And should we be worried about a number of aftershocks following this? Or a number of larger earthquakes than the one we've seen?

HUFF: OK, well, we can look at the statistics of aftershocks. And we expect there still to be a couple of magnitude 5 or greater aftershocks within the next few days. There's a 25 percent chance of a magnitude 6 or greater aftershock.

And then there is the chance that the 7.2 could be a foreshock, that something bigger could happen within the next few days. But that's a very low probability.

VELSHI: All right, Susan, thanks very much for keeping us on top of it. Obviously, we're going to stay on top of it. Chad is watching these things very carefully. And when we hear of aftershocks, we'll report them to you, and what the consequences are.

Chad, thanks very much. Susan Huff from the U.S. Geological Survey joining us via Skype from Pasadena, California.

All right. When we come back, Christine Romans is going to join me. Remember about a month ago we were talking about the extension of jobless benefits? Well, they've been held up again in the Senate. It affects thousands of Americans. And we've got a record number of long-term unemployed right here in America. But we're not going to just give you the news on that. Christina's going to tell you how you actually get through some of this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It's not just students who get spring break; so does the Senate. They went on their spring break without getting their homework done. Christine Romans joins me now. She's my co-host from "YOUR $$$$$."

And one of those pieces of homework, Christine -- you and I talked about this one month ago -- was the extension of benefits, jobless benefits for people who had run out. It's happened again.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. New month, same old story, Ali. You've got people who will be rolling off their jobless benefits, in some cases not able to file for extension simply because the Senate went home, Congress went home without, you know, clearing this up.

We knew that a lot of people, come April 5, were going to roll off. And we know how many, according to the National Employment Law Project, about 212,000 people. A million people this month if they don't do something about it.

But Ali, the Senate Democrats say that they are going to plug ahead and plow forward.

The issue here is the same issue as last month, basically.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: You have some Republicans, one in particular, Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, saying, "Look, we've got to be able to pay for this. Let's pay for it. Let's do it. It's the right thing to do to help people. Let's find a way to pay for it."

Democrats are saying, "No, this is still -- this is emergency spending. This is an emergency. The jobless situation is an emergency. Let's just do it right now quickly without finding another way to pay for it." VELSHI: All right. The other thing that you follow very closely is the number of people who are long-term unemployed. So unemployment can be managed for a certain amount of time if you get a job. But the number of people whoa re long-term unemployed has increased.

ROMANS: It's increased, and it's a record high. On Friday we had that jobs report, and the economists said it's off the charts. Forty-four percent of people who are out of work have been out of work for six months or longer. These unemployment benefits can be extended up to 99 weeks. You know, I mean, it just shows you how chronic and prolonged it is for -- for so many people.

Fifteen million people officially out of work. There are millions more who aren't even counted in the work force because they dropped out.

And you know, something that I think is interesting, if you're a stay-at-home mom, if you left the work force four or five years ago and said you wanted to come home after, you know, Junior was finally in kindergarten, you've been looking for a job, too. You're not counted in the unemployment number. You're not counted because you've been -- you've been out of the work force. So the situation, there are a lot of -- and you don't get unemployment benefits, frankly. You know, there are a lot of people who have been out of work for a very long time.

I'm curious, though, Ali, to see what's going to happen with the political debate. If you have more jobs being created, does that take away some of the impetus for extending unemployment benefits?

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: And some people say you're creating a jobless welfare state. I mean, 99 weeks. How long is this going to go on?

VELSHI: Christine, for people who are falling into that long- term unemployed category, you've got some ideas for them.

ROMANS: I do. And look, we've been talking to a lot of people. Ellen Gordon Reeves was on our show this weekend. She wrote this great book called, "Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?"

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: This is some of the things she tells us that are so important.

Evaluate your search. If you're going to be out of work for six months or longer, you do not have a minute to lose; you have to be targeted. Look for people, she says, not jobs. Meaning the first thing you should say is, "John Smith says I should give you a call, because I would fit into this particular job category." There are millions of people looking for the same job, but you need to find the connections.

Rebalance the budget. This is advice from a lot of different financial planners and the like, from the very beginning of being out of work. You need to cut your expenses dramatically. You might be dipping into savings.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: You might be liquidating investments. You need to cut your expenses so that you can keep that damage to a minimum.

And mind the resume gap. Don't say, "I've been out of work for six months after a 20-year career in X." Say, "In a 20-year career in X, I've delivered shareholder value in this way. I've had this many wins."

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: "The most recent way that I added value to my company was this." And downplay that resume gap.

VELSHI: Yes, you almost -- the gap.

ROMANS: And remember, everyone's got it. Everyone's got it.

VELSHI: And the gap becomes almost incidental to what you've done in your career. That's great advice. Christine, good to see you, as always.

ROMANS: Sure.

VELSHI: Christine Romans. She's here every day, here today. Or you can see her on the weekends with me on "YOUR $$$$$," 1 p.m. Eastern on Saturdays, 3 p.m. Eastern on Sundays. Don't we look happy in that picture?

All right. Let me bring you up to speed with some of the news that we're covering here on CNN.

A roaring terrorist attack near the U.S. consulate in Pashawar killed at least six people -- that's Pakistan -- killed at least six people, including two security guards. The attack tops our headlines today.

Authorities say both of the employees who died were Pakistani. And all Americans are accounted for, following the coordinated strike which involved a suicide car bomb and attackers who tried to blast their way into the consulate.

New York City is once again sifting through the debris from the World Trade Center, searching for lost remains of 9/11 victims. The debris is currently in Staten Island in a landfill where the three- month project is now under way. If searchers find any possible remains, the material will be tested at the city medical examiner's offices.

And the Space Shuttle Discovery is on its way to the International Space Station. The shuttle and its seven astronauts blasted off shortly before sunrise today on a mission to deliver thousands of pounds of supplies to keep the station running, after the shuttle fleet retires later this year. Only three shuttle missions remain after this one, before a new space program is initiated.

Michael Jackson's doctor is back in court today, and several members of the Jackson family will be there, too. More on the battle over Conrad Murray's right to work after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Another day in court for the last doctor to care for Michael Jackson. Dr. Conrad Murray is fighting to keep his license to practice medicine, while he's tried on charges of involuntary manslaughter. The California Medical Board wants his license revoked.

The hearing gets under way at 1:30 Los Angeles time. That's 4:30 Eastern. More than a dozen members of Jackson's family plan to attend. His father plans to sue Murray over his son's death. We'll be keeping our eye on this.

Mothers and mothers-to-be, check this out. A new study making interesting claims about the benefits of breast-feeding. According to the findings published today in the journal "Pediatrics," the lives of more than 900 babies would be saved each year if 90 percent of U.S. women breast-fed their babies for the first six months. There's an economic side to this story, too. The study says billions of dollars could be saved, because breast feeding helps prevent viruses, ear infections, asthma and even childhood leukemia.

All right. We've got some storms raging through the plains. Let's go over to Chad and see what he is tracking on his weather screen here.

What have you got?

MYERS: Spring is here. And Mother Nature knows; she figured it out. Yes, severe weather, I'm not so worried about today, although there is a potential for tornadoes across southern Iowa and Northern Missouri today. I believe the better story is about tomorrow.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: I think the entire system sets up for an Oklahoma/Kansas tornado alley type of weather event.

VELSHI: Yes.

MYERS: We had some severe weather through Kansas city earlier. That's now died off. There are still a couple of cells that could still rotate later on today as it moves up into the southern Iowa zone.

The story is that this is the warm air coming up. There's cold air behind it. The cold air behind it is making snow in the Rockies.

VELSHI: Yes. MYERS: When the cold air bumps into this warm air tomorrow, there's going to be a new zone here that develops the possibility of tornadoes. And I believe tomorrow is a much bigger day than today. Obviously, we'll be here watching it for you.

VELSHI: Sure. And if anything changes?

MYERS: And -- nothing's going to change right now, while we're here with the earthquake anyway, so we'll be watching severe weather.

VELSHI: All right. Very good. Chad Myers, thanks so much.

Listen, Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens is giving some clues that he is about to retire very soon. When we come back, we're going to talk to Jeff Toobin, who had this conversation with him a few weeks ago, where he gave some strong hints about it. Is it going to happen, and who is going to replace him if he goes?

There's Jeff. We'll be right back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: We'll be following Tiger Woods and his announcement very closely in the next half an hour.

No announcement has been made, but Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is hinting that he may quit. And he says that he'll make up his mind very soon. That means a bitter confirmation battle on Capitol Hill could be right around the corner.

Over the weekend the high court's liberal leader told "The New York Times," "I do have to fish or cut bait. Just for my own personal reasons. And also, in fairness to the process. The president and the Senate need plenty of time to fill a vacancy."

Now, that statement echoes what he told CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin last month. Jeff's standing by. We'll talk to him in a second.

But first, let's take a look at what all of this means. Here's the makeup of the Court right now. These are all the justices. If President Obama nominates a liberal judge, as he's expected to do to keep the balance -- you can see the red blocks are for conservative justices, the blue blocks are for liberal justices. If John Paul Stevens retires, the president will likely replace him with a liberal justice and keep the balance at five conservatives and four liberals.

But it is likely to dent the influence of left-leaning justices. Justice Stevens has used his seniority to influence and shape decisions in cases, and he's been very effective at winning the support of right-leaning Justice Kennedy, who is a swing voter. How much weight his replacement can throw around remains to be seen. Depends on who the replacement is.

But the White House has reportedly put those contenders, or these contenders -- let me show you -- on a short list. Solicitor general Elena Kagan. Seventh Circuit Judge Diane Wood. And D.C. circuit judge Merrick Garland.

Let's bring Jeff Toobin into the conversation. He's standing by in New York to tell us a bit about this. First of all, Jeff, you had this conversation with Justice Stevens at the beginning of March.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: You know, I think there is a big announcement coming from Justice Woods -- I mean, Justice Stevens. And it's going to be -- it's -- I think he's going to resign.

Our last conversation was on March 8th. And Justice Stevens told me that we -- that he would decide within a month. That's this week. I don't think he meant a hard deadline. But I think given all the signals, given all these interviews he has given, and the fact that he turns 90 later this month, I think this is it for him.

VELSHI: All right. In your article that you wrote, in "The New Yorker" about this, I just want to pull out a quote from it. It says, "I asked him" -- you're talking - "I asked him if the center of gravity had moved to the right since he became a justice. 'There's no doubt,' he said. 'You don't have to ask me that. Look at Citizens United. If it is not necessary to decide a case on a very broad constitutional ground, when other grounds are available, then doesn't that create the likelihood that people will think you're not following the rules?'" What does that mean?

TOOBIN: Well, what it means is that John Paul Stevens, a Republican, who was appointed by Gerald Ford in 1975, has watched the Supreme Court move to the right on issue after issue. And the decision in January, the Citizens United case, where it said that corporations have free speech rights almost equal to those of human beings, was just a cap stone to that change in the Court.

Now, he hasn't lost all the cases, as you pointed out earlier. He has been successful occasionally in luring swing votes. Sometimes Anthony Kennedy, Justice O'Connor when she was on the Court. But overall, it's a more conservative Supreme Court. And that won't even change if Justice Stevens is replaced by another liberal.

VELSHI: Who's it going to be? Of those names, is it somebody oh that short list likely, or are there other obvious names?

TOOBIN: I do think it's someone on that list. I think it's going to be Solicitor General Elena Kagan. She has had a reputation as a consensus builder when she was dean of Harvard Law School. She's been a very successful solicitor general. She's only 49 years old, which is something that's very significant when Supreme Court justices can serve for decades.

And she's not a judge. You know, all the other justices on the Supreme Court are -- had been sitting judges. And I think that's something Obama wants to get away from, the idea that you have to be a sitting judge to go on the Supreme Court. That hasn't been the rule historically. So, that's my prediction. And when I'm wrong, you can call me on it.

VELSHI: All right. You'll come back on the show either way. Good to see you. We'll talk to you again. Jeff Toobin.

TOOBIN: All right.

VELSHI: Listen. One of the things we've been talking about a lot on the show are the space shuttle missions. If you were watching this morning, you saw one of the last space shuttle missions to take off. They're winding down. We'll tell you what is next for NASA in the final frontier when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Some of the top stories we're following here at CNN.

A roaring terrorist attack near the U.S. consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan killed at least six people, including two security guards. The attack tops our headlines today. Authorities say both of the employees who died were Pakistani. And all Americans are accounted for following the coordinated strike, which involved a suicide car bomb and attackers who tried to blast their way into the consulate.

And in Calexico, California, streets are littered with shattered glass and buildings are cracked following yesterday's 7.2 magnitude quake. Aftershocks have been felt around the border area throughout the day. No injuries have been reported. Aftershocks have been felt in the border area this morning.

In Los Angeles, a courtroom hearing today for Conrad Murray, the doctor who's pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson. It's a procedural event to determine who will try the case. Also at issue, a medical board request to revoke Murray's license to practice while he fights the charge.

And one of our other big stories of the day, a spectacular launch of the space shuttle Discovery. take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, zero. Booster ignition and liftoff of Discovery. Blazing a trail to scientific discovery --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: She lifted off at 6:21 this morning, right before dawn from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A crew of seven astronauts will take supplies, spare parts and science experiments to the International Space Station. The astronaut will perform three space walks and head back to earth the morning of the 18th.

his is one of the last stockpiling missions to the International Space Station. The space station is about 90 percent complete. NASA will have the space station all wrapped up with a big red bow and ready to go by next year.

There are only three more launches of the space shuttle program before the whole program is scrapped. And the shuttle spacecraft fleet is retired.

But it's not the end of NASA, not by any stretch of the imagination. President Obama reallocated funds for the space program. Basically switching its focus of traveling to the moon to working more on the International Space Station. And to traveling beyond the moon.

The head of NASA, Dr. Charles Bolden, spoke about the future of space travel for the NASA program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. CHARLES BOLDEN, HEAD OF NASA: We are not losing our leadership in human exploration. We are not losing our leadership in space exploration. Because all of our international partners still look to us to be the leaders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: And another great tidbit. Dr. Bolden said he is expecting a person to walk on the planet Mars in his lifetime. Not in the next five years, but definitely in his lifetime.

OK. Let's change gears here for a bit. A big surprise in basketball's Final Four. The Butler University Bulldogs playing for tonight's national championship against perennial powerhouse the Duke Blue Devils. A David versus Goliath match-up if there ever is one. If you don't know who Butler is, I'm going to tell you all about them when we get back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Butler who? That's a dangerous question. Especially if it's being asked by Duke University basketball players or their fans.

Tonight, one of the most improbable NCAA men's national basketball finals will be played in Indianapolis. When 64 teams began March Madness, hardly anyone expected the Butler University Bulldogs to end up in the championship game. Except maybe some of the Bulldogs themselves. The players do not know the word quit.

So back to the question, Butler who. Butler is a private university. It was founded in 1855. It is in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs' record. Let's take a look at that. 33-4. The coach is Brad Stevens. He is only 33 years old. And he's only been coaching for three years. It's the first Final Four appearance for the butler Bulldogs.

Let's take a look at how Butler and Duke match up. Butler has about 3,800 undergraduates. Duke has about 6,500, almost. Butler's graduation rate, 90 percent. Duke's, 92 percent.

Let's take a look at the endowment. Butler, $164 million. Duke, check that out, $6 billion. The annual basketball expense of these two universities. At Butler, $1.7 million; at Duke, $13.8 million. Butler's coach, Coach Stevens, his record is 89-14 over three years. Duke coach, Mike Krzyzewski has won 176 games over 35 years. Two very different teams. We want to wish Butler the best of luck. I think we might have some people from Butler -- help me out here in the control room. Have we got some guests lined up for this? All right. We want to talk to some people from Butler in just a moment. We're going to do it on the other side of the break.

But first, I want to give you a live look at the Augusta National Golf Club. This is the site of this week's Masters and today's Tiger Woods news conference, which is set to begin in just over 15 minutes. We'll talk to golf journalist Steve Eubanks and Amen (ph) Lynch and golf aficionado and CNN contributor Roland Martin.

That's where you're going to see Tiger speak. We're going to talk to them about it. We'll, of course, bring you that press conference live. When we come back, we'll talk a little bit about Butler.

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VELSHI: The last time Tiger Woods gave a live news conference, more than 6 million people watched. Trading on Wall Street dropped -- the volume of trading. That's how high the interest in the golfer and his sex scandal are. The guy didn't even take questions back in February. This is a picture of it. He just read a prepared statement and apology.

We're expecting a lot of eyeballs to today's no-holds-barred Q & A with reporters. Potentially a rough start to Tiger's Masters comeback.

Joining us now for a little preview, Steve Eubanks is here with me in the studio. He's the author of "To Win and Die in Dixie: A Golf Bio." Eamon Lynch is the executive editor of Golf Magazine. And I think my good friend Roland Martin is going to be joining me very shortly.

Aimen and Steve, thanks for joining me, for being here for this. These two gentlemen are going to be with us throughout the coverage of our -- of the press conference to find out what Tiger's saying.

Let's start with you, Steve. Is there anything he could possibly say that's going to be interesting to you that we haven't heard, other than the fact that we're all sort of obsessed with watching Tiger. Are we expecting anything that would be breaking news?

STEVE EUBANKS, AUTHOR: I doubt we'll get any breaking news today. As a matter of fact. I doubt that we'll hear anything we haven't heard before. There's going to be a lot of I'm sorrys. There's going to be a lot of it's all in the police report. A lot of the same things that he's repeated time and time again.

The most interesting thing to me will be the nature of the questions he's asked but not necessarily the answers. He'll say a lot about the tone the media taking towards him, and the first steps he'll be making in this rehabilitation process. VELSHI: Good question. Eamon, let's just talk about the tone the media has taken toward Tiger Woods throughout this whole thing. There will be 180 seats in that room. Generally speaking, each outlet is getting one, a few people are getting more than one.

What is the tone? Because clearly, people are very interested in Tiger Woods. What do journalists and sports journalists -- how are they going to approach this?

EAMON LYNCH, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, GOLF MAGAZINE: I think the more important tone is Tiger's rather than the media's. We all know what they're going to ask. The thing is, we know what he's going to say, which is the same things he just pointed out. It will be in the police report, which is actually untrue, because Tiger never talked to the police at any stage. So, his version of the events has never been a matter of public record.

So, it's a matter of how much he's pushed on these issues. Because he will say things are a private matter between he and his wife, or it's already been covered in police reports. And whether it's true or not, it's a matter of how much he's pushed on those answers.

VELSHI: And Steve, he said he's not talking about what happened the night of. He says he's not talking about his treatment. So, what would you do? If you were in that room, at some point you realize he's been very, very well trained, in addition to getting counseling and therapy over the last several months, you bet he's had some good training on what not to do. He's probably not going to crack under the pressure of 180 reporters in that room.

EUBANKS: Probably not. But you are going to have to press him on some specifics. Because in the two interviews he has given to point, he hasn't been entirely truthful. He has said things like people inside my camp didn't know. Which is demonstrably untrue.

So, there have been a number of things where when he has been pressed, he has been sort of backed into a corner. And I think it's the job of the reporters in that room to try to press him for some answers on those things.

VELSHI: Eamon, what do you care about at this point? You know this guy had multiple affairs. You know something happened on that night when he drove his car into a fire hydrant. What could you possibly need to know from Tiger Woods at this point?

LYNCH: As far as Tiger's personal life goes, I couldn't care less.

Dr. Anthony Gailia is what I want to know. Tiger has admitted he has been treated four times in 2008 when recovering from knee surgery by a Canadian sports specialist who is now under criminal investigation by the FBI for allegedly supplying performance enhancing drugs to professional athletes. It's the one question he has not faced in any forum at this stage. He wasn't asked by ESPN or the Golf Channel, and didn't address it in his statement to the nation in February. So, that's the one thing I'll be watching for, to see what his response is and how much he gets pressed on it.

VELSHI: What about you, Steve?

EUBANKS: The one thing I'm really interested in knowing is what role did Brian Bell, his good friend who is with the Tiger Woods Foundation play in some of -- coordinating some of these liaisons, and were any Tiger Woods Foundation funds at any point ever used in the coordination of these liaisons? If so, that's a crime.

VELSHI: All right. Let's talk about the sports for a second now, Steve. He's getting off to a start, he's going to play on Thursday. This could go well for him today.

It's probably not going to go great for him. It can either go okay for him, or it can go badly for him today. Is this -- the idea that he gets this out of the way and then he gets a polite and maybe even warm response the rest of the week?

EUBANKS: That's what he is hoping for, certainly. And I think he is going to get a more polite response at Augusta National than he would at any other venue -

VELSHI: Why is that?

EUBANKS: Simply because the folks at Augusta control this thing so tightly, they won't have it any other way. They will escort hecklers from the premises. And while I've never actually seen someone get expelled, that threat is always lingering. And is when you are expelled, you are expelled for good. And so at this venue, unlike any other in sports, things are going to be in his control.

VELSHI: Eamon, what does this mean for Tiger? If he gets through this relatively unscathed today, is he back in the game, and pretty much everything that's happened in the last few months behind him?

LYNCH: I don't think it will ever quite be behind him. I don't see this ever being reduced to a footnote in Tiger's career. He can possibly win this week. I mean, it wouldn't surprise anyone. The guy knows the course better than anyone else. He has won there four times.

Sure, he's at the height of the circus he has never had to experience before. But you have to remember, this guy won a lot of tournaments by juggling a lot of mistresses at the same time, so he's pretty good at blocking out distractions.

(LAUGHTER)

LYNCH: And after that, we see where we go. I mean, he hasn't said where he's playing next. But you can be sure it's not going to be any event where the patrons are over-served on a daily basis.

VELSHI: Right. And as you both alluded to, and others have, the Masters is a controlled environment. They're not all as controlled as the Masters are. OK. We're just a few minutes away from the start of Tiger Woods' press conference. We're going to take you live to the Masters and our own Samantha Hayes. After the break, these two gentlemen are going to stay with me. Roland will join us, and we'll give you full coverage of Tiger Woods' press conference, outlining his return to golf. Stay with us.

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VELSHI: And a whole lot of reporters going to be looking into the eye of the Tiger. Tiger Woods, minutes away from his scheduled news conference at the Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia. At the Masters.

We have a panel of folks ready to tell you all about it. I'm joined in studio by Steve Eubanks. He has written for "Sports Illustrated," "Golf Magazine." He's the author of a new book, "To Win and Die in Dixie." It's a bio of forgotten golf legend Douglas Edgar, who invented the modern golf swing.

Eamon Lynch is in New York. He is the executive director of "Golf Magazine." He's a former "Vanity Fair" reporter and a staff writer at the "New York Daily News."

And we also are joined in -- at Augusta by Samantha Hayes. Samantha, what's the latest? You guys are ready to go? Are you ready for tiger?

SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've been ready. Watched him play this morning, as well as a few hundred other people. Tiger breaking the ice, golfing with his friend, Fred Couples, who has been supportive of Tiger throughout this ordeal.

The crowd definitely seemed to welcome Tiger. They seemed to even encourage him. And is he actually responded. That's not something we have usually seen from Tiger Woods on the golf course. He looked at his fans. He waved, he smiled. It seems that not only his signature swing was back, but also his smile, as well.

And a couple weeks ago, when he did those two short interviews with ESPN and the Golf Channel, he expressed a little bit of concern about what it would be like to come back to Augusta and play in front of people again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RINALDI, ESPN CORRESPONDENT: What reception are you expecting from fans?

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I don't know. I don't know. I am a little nervous about that, to be honest with you.

RINALDI: How much do you care?

WOOD: It would be nice to hear a couple claps here and there. But also hope there are also claps for birdies, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: So getting reacquainted this week is probably going to come in layers, Ali. Golfing this morning in front of a crowd, breaking the ice there. He really seemed to be enjoying himself. Of course, the pressure of the tournament is not on yet, but the pressure of this news conference is forthcoming, just a few minutes away. And for somebody like Tiger Woods, this might bring more angst than going out on the court and hitting a few golf balls.

VELSHI: Eamon, do you think he is enjoying himself? Or he's just really good at looking like he's enjoying himself.

LYNCH: For the moment, he is enjoying himself. No, absolutely not. This is agony for a guy like Tiger Woods. He doesn't do the (INAUDIBLE) walk or the tearful confessional. He has been held up here. He is going to be examined on subjects he doesn't want to discuss.

But it's a sign of how low we set the bar for Tiger 2.0. If it he smiles at the fans in the gallery, instead of snarls at them, he is considered a reborn character. He is not enjoying this, at all.

VELSHI: Steve, you bring up an interesting point we were talking about during the break. This isn't going to affect his golf game.

EUBANKS: No. Not at all.

VELSHI: In fact, if it you're just returning to golf and going to win or be close to winning, you don't need to hold press conferences. This is about the sponsors.

EUBANKS: Absolutely. This is all about trying to rehabilitate himself to the sponsors, being able to be a corporate spokesman. Being able to continue to do some of the good works he has been able to do through his foundation and through his event in Washington, D.C. All of those things have now fallen by the wayside, based on this scandal.

He is hoping in some way, not just to rehabilitate himself financially and being able to pull those sponsors back in, but to be able to turn the focus back on some of the other things that he has been able to do.

VELSHI: So, Samantha, that means -- it's got to be more than just sort of the contrite, very basic statements he has made in the past. In some fashion, for the sponsors, if what Steve is saying is right, he's got to come across as a bit sympathetic. We've got to end up kind of liking Tiger at the end of this press conference.

HAYES: And it seems as though he was already starting to do that on the golf course this morning. We don't usually see him interact at all with other players, necessarily, with the spectators who were there. And, you know, like I said, he seemed to acknowledge people who were welcoming him, and that's not usually Tiger's style. So, is that going to carry on into this news conference? Is this a new humble Tiger Woods? Is this someone who is going to connect more with people around him? And perhaps an emotional way or a way that's more personal than he has in the past? That certainly might help him regain sponsors, maybe even bring some new sponsors on.

I mean, we certainly believe in, you know, redemption in this country. And if he truly shows a new side of himself, and he does what he says he was going to do in February, trying to restore his reputation, trying to build his life back, then I don't think that there's any reason to see that he couldn't be successful on the golf course and with his endorsements.

Once again, you know, his -- the brands that have held on to Tiger could do very well this week.