Tiger Woods Comeback to Victory; Bill Barr to Release Redacted Version of the Mueller Report; Another Candidate Added to Crowded Democrat Contenders; Tiger Woods Rising Again
TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: I was able to handle the heat down the stretch and pull off some of my best shots.</s>ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Another one for the history books. Tiger Woods has completed an epic and once unthinkable comeback. CNN sat down with the golf champ to talk about his fifth Masters title. Singing, dancing and marching for democracy. Protesters in Sudan continue to demand a civilian-led government. Also, ahead, Robert Mueller's Russia investigation report is expected out any day now. We take a look at the man overseeing its release. History shows he usually sides with the president. Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from here in the United States and of course all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church at CNN headquarters, and this is CNN Newsroom. Well, love him or hate him, Tiger Woods is proving himself a true survivor and champion. By the slimmest of margins, the 43-year-old golfer pulled off a stunning victory at the Masters on Sunday. It's his first major title in 11 years and first Masters win since 2005. Woods has overcome career-threatening back problems and a high-profile divorce to reach this new career milestone. He admits this victory was extra special.</s>WOODS: I think that -- I think the kids are starting to understand, you know, that -- how much this game means to me and some of the things I've done in the game. Prior to -- prior to this comeback, they only knew that golf caused me a lot of pain. If I tried to swing a club, I'd end up on the ground, and I struggled for years, and that's basically all they remember. Luckily, that I've had the procedure where that's no longer the case and I can do this again. So, you know, we're creating new memories for them, and it's just very special.</s>CHURCH: And CNN's Don Riddell is in Augusta with more on Tiger's big win.</s>DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORT ANCHOR: We have witnessed something truly extraordinary at Augusta. Tiger Woods has won his fifth Green Jacket at the Masters. The man who once dominated the sport and who then transcended it has been gone for so long, but now he's back. And before he did this, people used to speculate what would it be like, where would it rank in the Pantheon of great comebacks if Tiger Woods would win another major tournament? So many people didn't think it would happen, and we speculated while it would be one of the great comebacks in sport. But now that we've actually seen it and witnessed it with our own eyes, it feels like we have seen the greatest comeback of all time. It's his first major triumph in some 11 years. It's his first Masters win since 2005, a gap of 14 years, and it comes 21 years after his very first Masters triumph back in 1997. Back then he was the youngest ever Masters champion at the age of 21 and he's now become only the second golfer to win a Green Jacket in three separate decades. Since 2008, Tiger Woods we all know has been through so much, there were marital problems and the spectacular fall from grace, the DUI and that awful police photograph, all the problems with his back, the injuries, four operations, risky spinal fusion surgery, and just 16 months ago he was ranked almost 1,200th in the world. The body was shot. The confidence was gone. And even his most ardent supporters were starting to lose faith. When he spoke to us at the President's Cup 16 months ago, he said just riding in a golf cart was so painful he didn't even know if he could carry on playing. He certainly didn't think it was any kind of guarantee that he could be competitive again on the golf course, but we have seen this resurgence throughout 2018, he was getting better and better, contending at the open championship. Finishing second in the PGA championship and winning the tour championship at East Lake in Atlanta just down the road here from Augusta National in Georgia. And that gave him the confidence, that gave him the belief that he could do it again. Golf has changed so much since he was dominating this sport. There are now so many young players who are talented and successful and who don't fear the aura of Tiger Woods, but they have seen today firsthand with their own eyes what he is capable of and it is a truly extraordinary day. He is 43 years old, the second oldest Masters champion. Jack Nicklaus was 46 when he won his 18th major tournament, and now that Tiger is winning again, the quest is back on. Can he get to Jack's total? Well, he's got three more years to win three more before he gets to Jack's 46th, and that is going to be the compelling and dominant narrative in the world of golf and sport this year, can't wait. It's going to be another fantastic golf season and what a day for Tiger Woods. Back to you.</s>CHURCH: Well, Golf Australia's Mark Hayes joins me now from Geelong in Australia. Good to have you with us. So, Tiger Woods pulls off this stunning victory, his first major victory in 11 years. Is this the greatest sports comeback ever, do you think?</s>MARK HAYES, MEDIA MANAGER, GOLF AUSTRALIA: It may well be, Rosemary. It's hard-pressed to find one that's clearly superior. In golf circles, you might find Ben Hogan when he had a nearly fatal car crash in 1949 and he returned to win a championship after coming life threatening injuries. Maybe he looks to Niki Lauda who had the fiery car crash in the mid-1970s. Maybe he looks to Monica Seles, who obviously stabbed in Germany in 1993. Other than that, I think it's pretty slim pickings to find something that's better than what Tiger has just achieved.</s>CHURCH: So, what do you think this means for the game of golf?</s>HAYES: Nobody moves the needle like Tiger Woods. I think not only in golf but sport more broadly, Rosemary. I think that he has the capacity to transcend the sport. It puts the game of golf on the front pages as opposed to the back pages of newspapers. And as your report said earlier on, it just creates a narrative that sort of -- it ushers people into the sport and they'll be following him fervently for the next few months as he chases this chase that we thought was gone is re-enlivened. Can he get to Jack Nicklaus his '18 major championships?</s>CHURCH: Yes, of course. And of course, Tiger Woods has overcome a lot of challenges in recent years. His divorce, all the sorry details that led up to that, along with four back surgeries from a broken back, all putting his future in jeopardy. Now, of course, here he is celebrating this great victory. How did he get to this point? What did it take?</s>HAYES: I think the thing that separates Tiger, and it has all throughout his career, is just his fierce will to win. He's one of the more determined athletes that's ever been in any sport. He just didn't want to let it go and he just believed within himself that he hadn't played his last shot in anger. The third surgery that he had was pretty full-on, and I think most people would have probably turned it up at that stage, but he's gone back for an even bigger one, the spinal fusion surgery, his fourth one. The downside of that is he might not have been able to walk. It was a lifestyle decision there he had to make. You know, golf was so far from his mind at that stage, but as soon as he knew that it went well, I think he's had this in him. Just to come back and show -- and we saw late last year when he tapers toward a tournament, he can't do it all now. He can't grind away for 20 or 30 weeks a year like he once did. He's got to pick and choose his battles, but he does it so well. And when he tapers towards something like a major championship or a tour championship like he did in Atlanta last year, then you know, there is no stopping him when he's on his game.</s>CHURCH: Right. That surgery obviously proved to be the right choice, and certainly in his case. So, what comes next for Tiger?</s>HAYES: Well, the major championships are now strung out one every month from April through to the Open championship in July. I think that primary -- primarily his focus will be those four things, and of course, he's the captain for the first time in the President's Cup down here in Australia in December. There was -- he was always going to come as a captain. Now I can tell you that down here in Australia there is going to be absolute fervor about whether he'll be the playing captain only the second time in American President's Cup history.</s>CHURCH: All right. Mark Hayes, great to have you on to talk about what is an incredible comeback. Many thanks.</s>HAYES: Pleasure. Thank you.</s>CHURCH: Well, the political battle between the White House and congressional Democrats enters a new phase this week. The attorney general is expected to release a redacted version of the Mueller report on Russian election meddling. Democrats say they will go to court to get the full version. But as Sarah Westwood reports, the White House is ready to close the book on the investigation.</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The White House is bracing for the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report. Attorney General Bill Barr is set to send a redacted version of that report to Capitol Hill as soon as this week. And Barr has said that there are no plans for the White House to assert executive privilege over parts of that document. That's a process that could have led to more redactions being included. And the White House has maintained that it wants as much of the report as allowed by law to be released to the public. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Sunday that she expects the report, which she has not yet read, to match Barr's public summary of the document, which includes, according to Barr, Mueller's assessment that there was no evidence the campaign colluded with Russia. Take a listen.</s>SARAH HUCKABEE-SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think it is going to be damaging to the president because the entire purpose of the investigation was whether or not there was collusion. Mueller was crystal clear in the fact that there was no collusion.</s>WESTWOOD: That was Sanders speaking on Fox News Sunday. And the president heads to Minnesota on Monday for a Tax Day event as the White House and the rest of Washington waits for the Mueller report to released. Trump and his allies have argued that the release of Mueller's findings should be the end of inquiry into alleged collusion and alleged obstruction. But House Democrats are prepared to continue their oversight into these and many other areas in the months ahead. Sarah Westwood, CNN, the White House.</s>CHURCH: All right. So, let's bring in the New York Times chief diplomatic correspondent Steven Erlanger. He joins us now from Brussels. Good to have you with us.</s>STEVEN ERLANGER, CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Thanks, Rosemary.</s>CHURCH: And of course, we are all awaiting the imminent release of the Mueller report. How much of it do you think will be redacted and does the attorney general need to be very careful not to black out too much detail and expose himself to suggestions he's doing the political bidding of the president?</s>ERLANGER: Yes, well, to go from Tiger to Trump is a big leap, but I do think Attorney General Barr will be careful in this because certainly there are parts of the report that involve sources, methods that make allegations about individuals, one presumes, that the public shouldn't see. But if he delivers a report that is to polarize, or tampered, I think the Democrats really will cream (Ph) -- I mean, Trump clearly has decided that what matters is Barr's four-page summary of a very long report, not the report itself, and the report obviously will have material speaking about why Mueller didn't in the end indict the president on obstruction of justice. But that was a choice. There was a lot of evidence on both sides, and so I think this is what Congress will focus on, rather than the conspiracy with Russia.</s>CHURCH: So overall, what impact do you think this report could potentially have on the outcome of the 2020 presidential election? Or do you think by then people will completely have forgotten about all of this?</s>ERLANGER: Well, I think it's already had its major impact, to be honest. I think people have already made judgements based on the Barr summary, and the people who think that it clears the president entirely, which is what the president felt, will not change their minds, no matter what, and the people who wished it had been different will point to issues that obstruction of justice and say that Trump should not be president, certainly not in a second term. So, I think the problem is or maybe reality is America is pretty divided and Trump's base is pretty solid. The position is pretty solid, too. We'll see if it changes if his tax returns get released.</s>CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to Steven Erlanger joining us via Skype. A few audio issues there, but we do appreciate your analysis. Thank you. Well, the White House and Democrats are also battling over the southern U.S. border. This after CNN reported President Donald Trump told a top border agent to illegally block asylum seekers from entering the country and that he would pardon him if he's charged with a crime. The president denies that claim, but Democrats are also bristling at Mr. Trump's suggestion that he might release asylum seekers into so- called sanctuary cities.</s>REP. JERROLD NADLER (D-NY): This just shows the president's contempt for law, another instance of the president's contempt for law. To order that something clearly illegal, namely blocking people claiming asylum from coming into the country, which is clearly against our law, that that be done is -- is against the law or offering a pardon, even if in jest, to someone who would disobey the law at the president's request. This is exactly contrary to the key presidential duty and to his oath, which is to see that the faithful -- that the laws are faithfully executed.</s>CHURCH: And sanctuary cities limit how much they assist the federal government on immigration matters. Usually that means they won't hold or prosecute undocumented immigrants just for being in the country illegally. Widespread devastation across the United States, a deadly storm system has battered several states and the dangerous weather is not over yet. We will have the forecast for you. Plus, Sudan's military is purging the old guard. But protesters say their revolution is not finished yet, the latest on the fall of dictator Omar al-Bashir and its aftermath. We're back in just a moment.