A-Rod Comes Clean, Admits to Drug Use
OBAMA: If you're a fan of Major League Baseball, I think it tarnishes an entire era to some degree. The thing I'm probably most concerned about is the message that it sends to our kids.</s>ROBERTS: White Sox fan President Obama even weighing in on the latest bombshell in the Major League Baseball steroid scandal, and this one could hurt the most. Alex Rodriguez, the game's brightest star, admitted that he took a banned substance for three years while playing with the Texas Rangers in an exclusive interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons. Jason Carroll has got the highlights for us this morning. This is kind of a real shocker because people thought that, you know, if you broke Barry Bonds' record, the record will finally be clean. And now people are wondering if there's going to be an asterisk beside it.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It looks like there very well might be. It's going to be very interesting to see what kind of reception he gets during opening day here for the Yankees in April. Rodriguez says he's still not sure what kind of steroid he was taking. What he is sure of is why he did it. Rodriguez says he gave in to pressure to perform.</s>ALEX RODRIGUEZ, ADMITS USING BANNED SUBSTANCE: I did take a banned substance, and you know, for that, I'm very sorry, and deeply regretful.</s>CARROLL (voice-over): He was widely known as one of the clean players, an athlete who rose to greatness without using illegal performing enhancing steroids. Now, Alex Rodriguez says he's coming clean.</s>RODRIGUEZ: When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me, and I needed to perform and perform at a high level every day. Back then, it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. And I wanted to prove to everyone that, you know, I was worth, you know, in being one of the greatest players of all-time.</s>CARROLL: Rodriguez admitted using steroids over a three-year period, beginning in 2001, while playing for the Texas Rangers. In 2007, in an interview with "60 Minutes," he denied ever using steroids.</s>KATIE COURIC, CBS ANCHOR, "60 MINUTES": For the record, have you ever used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance- enhancing substance?</s>RODRIGUEZ: No.</s>CARROLL: This past weekend, "Sports Illustrated" released a story alleging he was one of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003.</s>SELENA ROBERTS, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED" REPORTER: I flat out told him candidly what the evidences we had, that he had tested positive for anabolic steroids. He said, you know, "You'll have to talk to the union."</s>CARROLL: Rodriguez went public with his apology after a number of nasty headlines calling for him to come forward and set the record straight.</s>RODRIGUEZ: It was such a loosey-goosey era that I'm guilty for a lot of things. I'm guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions. And to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.</s>CARROLL: Rodriguez is on course to break nearly every major offensive record in Major League Baseball, including Barry Bonds's home run record. Now, his record in question as well.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all make mistakes. I'm, you know, I'm a fan of A-Rod, so I'm going to say we should just forgive him and move on.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He should own up to it a long time ago. Why hurt the New York fans and lead them on and then have this happen?</s>CARROLL: Rodriguez is considered by some in baseball to be one of the best all-around players of all-time. Now there is always going to be that question mark by his record. We'll have to see.</s>ROBERTS: What a shame. Jason, thanks so much -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Right. As well with the Senate set to vote on the stimulus in just a matter of hours, what could the bill mean for your bottom line? Were the president's claims accurate? Our Christine Romans is dissecting some of the remarks from the president's news conference. Hey, Christine.</s>ROMANS: Kiran, can we save or create three to four million jobs over the next couple of years? And is it really the worst economy since the Great Depression? We'll tell you right after the break.