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Tiger Woods Awake, Responsive, and Recovering after Surgery; Biden's COVID Relief Plan Gets Backing from 150-Plus Top Business Leaders; Three Biden Picks Under Pressure amid Battle for Confirmation. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired February 24, 2021 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWSROOM: This morning, golf legend Tiger Woods is thankfully awake and responsive. That is the very latest update on his condition coming in overnight from his representatives. He is recovering right now in a Los Angeles hospital. And according to the sheriff, he's lucky to be alive. And that's easy to understand when you look at the video of the extensive damage left to his car after the crash.

Doctors performed a lengthy emergency surgery yesterday to repair the serious leg injuries that Woods suffered in the crash.

Joining me right now is CNN's Dan Simon, who is at the crash site. So, Dan, first and foremost, what more are you learning about how Tiger is doing and what he's going through?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Kate. As you said, Tiger is alert and responsive, a very positive sign after going through that very difficult surgery to repair the damage to his lower leg, his lower right leg. Obviously, we're talking about a compound fracture, a break in many places, also severe trauma to his ankle.

We did receive a statement from the hospital. I'm going to read that to you. It says, Mr. Woods suffered significant orthopedic injuries to his lower right extremity that were treated during emergency surgery, 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.

We also know that doctors performed a surgical procedure to remove the casings of the muscle to relieve pressure.

I want you to listen now to an emergency physician who talked about that procedure earlier this morning on New Day. Take a look.

[11:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. JEREMY FAUST, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL: In the moment that it was determined that Mr. Woods needed to go to the operating room, the surgeons likely believed that if they did not perform one of those procedures to release that pressure, they actually were worried that he could lose the limb, that amputation might have been necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMONS: At this point, we just don't know the overall prognosis for the use of that right leg, much less whether or not Tiger Woods will be able to play professional golf again. Hopefully, we'll get more updates from the hospital, but, again, Kate, alert and responsive, certainly a positive sign.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's right. And, as I mentioned, you're at the site of the crash. What do you see there?

SIMON: Well, I can tell you that traffic is moving normally here. In fact, you couldn't really tell that there was an accident here yesterday, a severe accident. But I have to tell you, being here in person, Kate, it definitely gives you a different vantage point in terms of what you see on television.

This road here, Hawthorne Boulevard, a major artery through this community, has such a downward slope. And we know Tiger Woods was speeding. Just how fast he was going, we don't know. I mean, the real question remains how and why did he lose control of that vehicle. And we know that he was traveling again at a high rate of speed.

Hopefully, investigators will be able to speak with Tiger at some point or perhaps they can talk to his representatives so they can tell us what his recollections might be. But we do know that he was pinned in that vehicle. They used a pry bar and an axe to get him out, put him on a backboard, taking him to the hospital. And as we heard from the sheriff, he was wearing a seatbelt. That likely saved his life.

Now, one question has come up, where was Tiger going? Well, he was actually headed to a country club. He was doing a series of shoots with GolfDigest and he did one shoot over the weekend with celebrities like Dwyane Wade and David Spade. And then he was going there again yesterday morning to do a follow-up shoot with some other celebrities, including apparently an NFL quarterback. And he was traveling again at a high rate of speed. We don't know how fast. But that's when the accident occurred. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Dan, thanks so much for the update. I really appreciate it.

Joining me right now for more on this is Sports Columnist for The Washington Post, Sally Jenkins. Her column on this today is headlined, Tiger Woods' genius has never been a free gift. Now, his only task is to heal. Sally, thank you for coming.

I have to say, you really write beautifully about all of this. I was really taken by your column today. I want to read for everybody just a little bit more about what you wrote. You write that after the relief of knowing that he is alive, what comes next is despondence for him, that he has to undergo it all again, the knife and the small steps and the ceaseless questions with the world watching and asking him for another comeback, but not really understanding what it takes from him and out of him.

What has it taken out of him and from him?

SALLY JENKINS, SPORTS COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, I mean, even before this accident, he had had ten surgeries. And he's only a 45-year-old man. He'd had five procedures on his left knee and five procedures on the disc in his back. And that's the price of prodigydom (ph). It's the price of all that torque on his limbs all these years playing brilliant golf. And then, obviously, he's had his psychic injuries. He's dealt with substance abuse and gotten a grip on that.

He's had a lot of battles over the years. And so that's why it was so gratifying to see him healthy and whole and win the Masters in 2019 and be able to pick up his son and look like a strong, healthy, whole man again. And so it's just -- it's disheartening, I'm sure, for him and his family and for all of us who have been watching him all these years.

BOLDUAN: It brings, also, into stark relief what you write about once again, which is just the burden of greatness on woods and other elite athletes that you've covered for many years. I mean, Tiger Woods doesn't have anything left to prove as a golfer, but do you think -- I kind of wonder after reading your column, do you think he knows that?

JENKINS: Well, this is how these people are built. They're given this great gift and they feel enormous responsibility to live up to it and to really exhaust it. I mean, that's why Tom Brady is winning his seventh Super Bowl at the age of 43. Tiger Woods, I think, has felt an enormous responsibility to live up to what he was given. And that's an admirable thing, but it really can take quite a lot out of you.

I've interviewed Andre Agassi over the years or Chris Everett over the years. And there's a heavy, heavy price to pay for gifts distributed unequally.

[11:40:03]

There's no freedom in that life. You really are bound by your talent, and so it's a difficult thing for the rest of us to understand.

For instance, with Tom Brady, so many people have been saying why doesn't he retire or why would he change teams at the age of 43. It is because they really can't bear to feel there's anything at all left in the tank. They feel an enormous urge to finish.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And part of the legend of Tiger is that he has proven that you can never and should never count him out, right? I mean, he won a major with two stress fractures and a torn ACL. I've got my first back injury that I've ever really experienced and I can barely walk, let alone, I mean, swing a golf club. Do you think fans, I'm kind of curious at this point, kind of owe it to Tiger to stop asking him for a comeback, though, I mean, again, we should never count him out?

JENKINS: Well, that's part of what I wrote in The Washington Post this morning, it's time to let him go at his own pace, and maybe we shouldn't ask him for one more comeback. Look, it could take him four or five years just to regain his ability to be functional on that leg. We don't know the full extent of those injuries, but Alex Smith, the Washington NFL quarterback, took two years and 17 surgeries to recover from a similar type of fracture. The author, Stephen King, has said that it took him five years to recover from these sorts of injuries.

The outside window for winning a major championship in golf has been about 48 years old. Now, that doesn't have to remain true. And another thing about the way these champions are built is that they do like to be told they can't do something. They do like to have new incentive in that way. They do like to be presented with fresh obstacles. And so you really can't ever say that Tiger Woods won't play golf again, because that's not how he's built emotionally. He will probably try.

BOLDUAN: So interesting. You remind me of how Michael Jackson reacted -- Michael Jordan, I'm sorry, reacted in The Last Dance. That's exactly what drives his moment is when you tell him he couldn't. It's so fascinating. Sally, thanks for coming in. I really appreciate it.

Still ahead for us, President Biden's COVID relief package is heading towards a first vote in the House, but critical votes from at least two Democrats in the Senate, they are still in question. The chairman of the House Budget Committee is our guest, next.

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[11:45:00]

BOLDUAN: President Biden's COVID relief bill just picked up a big endorsement. CNN's Phil Mattingly reporting more than 150 top executives from some of the country's biggest companies are signing on to a letter telling Congress that they support the plan. This includes the heads of Goldman Sachs and Google, United Airlines and Lyft, saying in part, the previous federal relief measures have been essential but more must be done to put the country on a trajectory for a strong, durable recovery.

And this Friday, the $1.9 trillion plan will get its first vote in the House. It is expected to pass the House. But there is still a big fight going on, this time among Democrats themselves. And it really centers around the minimum wage. Two influential Senate Democrats, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, they oppose raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, as it's laid out in the current bill. And in a 50/50 Senate, their votes could be the whole ball game.

Joining me right now on what happens next, Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth of Kentucky, Chairman of the House Budget Committee. Why is that laugh -- why are you laughing?

REP. JOHN YARMUTH (D-KY): Well, Democrats have never been accused of being -- ingform any kind of consensus. So we're always going to have these arguments. We're a big tent party. We have a very diverse group from a lot of diverse places. But I think in the final analysis, what we're talking about here, is as those business leaders said, something that is essential to dealing with the economic impact of the pandemic and getting us through to the other side, which, fortunately now, I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But most everybody says it's important to go big. The risk of going big is much smaller than the risk of going small. And I think that's where we are.

The question of the minimum wage is an important one. That's a major emphasis, initiative of the Biden White House. It's certainly something that most Democrats agree with. And I think what Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema are going to have to decide is whether they're going to vote and tank this entire measure over the disagreement over the minimum wage.

BOLDUAN: I appreciate, number one, your nice spin on the fight going on in the Democratic Party. But looking at, as you said, are Manchin and Sinema going to tank the whole package, I see where your position is on this. You've said last time you were on that you think the $15 minimum wage is the way to go. But my question, I wonder is, is your bigger problem right now the Senate parliamentarian over can it pass muster, or is it Joe Manchin?

YARMUTH: That's a separate issue. The process we're using is called reconciliation. There are rules as to what you can put in a reconciliation bill, and one of the criteria is that whatever the provision is cannot increase the deficit past ten years, so after 2031. The CBO, Congressional Budget Office, has said this would. I think we can make an argument that it wouldn't. But, ultimately, it's going to be up to her, the Senate parliamentarian. And if she decides that it can't be used, then that resolves the issue. We would have to take it out of the final package.

But in the House, we're going to leave it in, regardless of what she decides today. We're going to pass it on Friday and then the Senate can deal with that when it gets over to them.

BOLDUAN: Look, Joe Manchin would argue that his position isn't tanking the overall package. He just thinks it's too much, too far. He has been saying he's supportive now of something like a lower raise in the minimum wage, like $11 an hour, or $12 an hour I know is being talked about, that would maybe help clear the hurdle you were just laying out with the parliamentarian.

[11:50:12]

But then that puts you in the potential fight -- a potential fight and disagreement then with the progressives in your party. Is it worth it?

YARMUTH: Well, I'm sure there will be an amendment offered in the Senate to have a lower target price. Remember, this is $15 ultimately in 2025. It initially goes to $9.50 from $7.25 and then inches up. But there will be an amendment. If it passes, I think most Democrats would vote for it anyway. I haven't heard one Democrat in the House say that if they ended up having to vote for a bill with no minimum wage or a lower target that they wouldn't vote for the whole bill.

BOLDUAN: Well, that's the solution.

YARMUTH: It's a solution, and we'll see what the Senate decides. But I don't know whether an amendment like that can pass in the Senate. I don't know whether the Republicans would vote for any increase in the minimum wage. So, again, we can only control what we're controlling here in the House, and we're going to pass it with a $15 minimum wage and let the Senate work its will.

BOLDUAN: So, Senator Manchin, he has suddenly become the -- one of the most powerful people in Washington. He's tipping the balance likely on what's going to end up in the COVID relief bill. He is potentially singlehandedly thinking one of Biden's nominees for OMB director just with one statement, and that's just in the last week. I'm just curious, you've been around a long time. What do you think of that kind of power in one member of Congress?

YARMUTH: Well, I think it's unfortunate. And I think also it's unfortunate that he comes from a state which is not particularly representative of most of the country. It's a largely rural state and a minimal producing state. And so much of the GDP of the country comes from elsewhere. But it is what it is. That's the construction of the Senate. And it's also the reality that we have a 50/50 split.

Ideally, we would find some Republicans who would vote with Democrats on some issues. And I think that over the next few months, we're going to test that because if Republicans take a position that they're going to obstruct everything that Democrats want to do, everything that the Biden administration wants to do, then you have to seriously consider making changes in the filibuster rule and being able to pass things, as we're doing with reconciliation with a simple majority. And, of course, Senator Manchin says he doesn't want to eliminate the filibuster too.

So, yes, he's holding a lot of cards right now, so it puts us in a very different position.

BOLDUAN: John Yarmuth laying out the filibuster threat, good to see you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for coming in. Let's see what happens on Friday.

YARMUTH: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. Coming up for us, three of President Biden's nominees facing a real uphill battle to confirmation. Update on that, next.

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[11:55:00]

BOLDUAN: Right now, you're looking at live picture from Capitol Hill. President Biden's pick for interior secretary, Deb Haaland, she's facing a fresh round of tough questions from lawmakers today. She's in the midst of the second day of her confirmation hearings. She's one of three nominees facing serious uphill battles right now. Just this morning, both committees tasked with considering the president's choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget have postponed their votes, not a good sign for Neera Tanden. Her nomination has been hanging by a thread.

Let's get a sense of what the next few hours really could bring. Manu Raju has got all of that for us.

Manu, what are you hearing this morning about the delay in Tanden's nomination? How much trouble does this kind of tell you?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She's in real trouble. There's serious chance of this being the first Biden nominee to collapse. She needs, of course, 50 votes in the United States Senate in order to have Kamala Harris come and break a tie. She is not at 50 votes yet, in large part, because of two senators, one in particular this morning significant, Krysten Sinema, she's a Democrat from Arizona. She sits on one of the two committees that is responsible for voting on Tanden's nomination.

Now, Sinema has not indicated how she will come down and then decided to delay at the last second a vote on the nomination in order to give her more time to consider the nomination, I'm told, from multiple sources familiar with the matter. I just also reached out to her office. I heard back. They said they are not going to comment yet on her position on whether to support Neera Tanden.

So the White House is not yet pulling back on the nomination, hoping that Sinema will vote yes. And if she votes yes, then the question becomes will any Republicans break ranks and join her. Because Joe Manchin, the Democrat from West Virginia, has indicated he will oppose her, so they need one Republican at least. So all eyes will focus on Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican senator, who this week has refused to say how she will come down. She said she wanted to actually wait until the committee's vote to make her decision known. So if Sinema is a yes, then we'll see what Murkowski does.

But at the moment, Kate, Republicans are confident that their members will fall in line. They will vote and defeat Tanden, who they are concerned about for her past record, her more progressive and liberal views and also her tweets that have attacked them over the years. She has apologized for those tweets in her confirmation hearings. But now Republicans say that is simply not enough. And you're seeing them line up against her as well as with that one Democrat, Joe Manchin. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, Joe Manchin getting a lot of attention for many different ways today. It's good to see, Manu. Let's stand by to see what happens in the next few hours with that nomination because things could be changing.

[12:00:01]

I really appreciate it.

And thank you all so much for joining us this hour. I'm Kate Bolduan. The news continues, and John King picks up our coverage right now.