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NANCY GRACE

Report Tiger Will Fight for Custody of Kids

Aired December 22, 2009 - 20:00:00   ET

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


PAT LALAMA, GUEST HOST: Breaking news tonight in the case of golf superstar Tiger Woods. After a late night crash outside his Florida mansion, a string of alleged mistresses, at least 14, linked to Tiger Woods, some claiming the affairs lasting for years and the number of alleged mistresses could climb to 16, now major developments tonight as sources confirm wife Elin Nordegren will file for divorce and full custody.

Reports surface Tiger Woods will fight for his children, Woods allegedly weighing his legal options to keep the two children in Florida, wife Elin reportedly leaving for Sweden with the children. Also at stake, Woods`s empire, estimated at $600 million. Nordegren reportedly wants half.

And tonight, after a luxury Swiss watchmaker announces they will phase Tiger Woods out of its U.S. ads, Tag Heuer does a complete 180, now standing by the golfing great. Woods is the first athlete to top $1 billion in earnings. But with multi-million-dollar endorsement deals on the line, could that all be shattered by the scandal and a potential divorce and custody battle?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sources confirm wife Elin Nordegren will file for divorce.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elin, how are you? Do you still love Tiger, Elin?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elin has pretty much had enough.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s going for the jugular. Reports are she wants full custody and half of Woods`s empire.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Reup on the prenup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s working on a different settlement, talking about half the $600 million.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has a prenup agreement, allegedly, for $20 million. He`s got a lot more than that. Why not go for it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That prenup might be set aside and Tiger Woods could be liable far a little more money than he anticipated when he got married.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you ever forgive him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, it`s -- it`s Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "People" magazine is also reporting that she and her two children will spend the holidays in her native Sweden and that Tiger Woods will not be there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife went through my phone and may be calling you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re hearing that she`s, you know, a very tough woman, that she doesn`t, you know, take this kind of thing lying down, that she is very upset and that she is not the kind of woman that would stand for this kind of thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile, sources say Woods is doing everything he can to save his marriage and convince his wife not to leave him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LALAMA: Good evening. I`m Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. As sources confirm wife Elin Nordegren will file for divorce and full custody, reports surface Tiger Woods will fight for his children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. Has Tiger Woods left Florida? "People" magazine reports Tiger Woods set sail with his $20 million yacht headed towards the Bahamas for a few days with friends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have not seen Tiger since before the accident. You know, he had the accident on Thanksgiving and he hasn`t been seen since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s been conflicting reports as to whether he`s on his boat, called the Privacy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that Tiger`s a sex addict?

JAIMEE GRUBBS, TIGER`S ALLEGED MISTRESS: The man that I knew, the Tiger that I knew, I would never think that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you holding up, Elin?

GRUBBS: He never mentioned her and it was kind of -- you know, I never thought about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elin, no shrinking violet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unconfirmed reports emerge that Tiger Woods`s wife, Elin, not only will be seeking a divorce from the golf great...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elin wants full custody of the children. She is not really willing to compromise on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s finally had enough. Every day, it seems like there`s another woman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of reports are saying that divorce is 100 percent for Elin, although she wants to take her time. She wants wait to make sure all the dirty laundry is on the table.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what Elin Nordegren wants more than anything at this point is her life back, some privacy for her kids. And $55 million or a billion isn`t going to undo the damage Tiger Woods did to his wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LALAMA: All right, we`re hearing that Tiger will fight for his children. Let`s get some details from Drew Petrimoulx, reporter KD -- oh, excuse me, WDBO radio. What do you know?

DREW PETRIMOULX, WDBO: Well, there`s a lot of conflicting reports here on whether they`re actually getting divorced. You know, we heard a lot that they were going through intense marriage counseling, that they were going to try to work this together. Now we`re hearing that it might be over, that she will file for divorce. So a lot of this stuff is still up in the air.

And of course, we don`t even really know where they`re at right now. There`s been reports that Tiger Woods has left out on his yacht, but then there`s been another conflicting report that says he`s still here, may still be in Orlando or down in Palm Beach. Elin`s been spotted at a restaurant in Orlando, but now it`s not really clear where she`s at. So there`s a lot of stuff up in the air right now and conflicting reports flying all over the place.

LALAMA: Kelli Zink, host, Celebtv.com, any clue where Tiger Woods may be at this point?

KELLI ZINK, CELEBTV.COM: No, but whoever finds him first and gets that photo is going to make about $300,000. That`s what reports are that the first paparazzi photo is going to be. I mean, we did hear that police came to escort Elin from her home and take her and the kids away, but then that wasn`t true. So that`s when the rumors started, Are they actually getting a divorce? Because she was so sure that she wanted this, and now she`s staying in the home. But no, we have no idea if Tiger`s eating cereal in his basement watching cartoons or if he`s on a yacht on the way to the Bahamas.

LALAMA: Well, Vikki Ziegler, divorce and family law attorney, let`s get back to the issue of Tiger fighting for his kids. Now, we know because we talked about it yesterday that the word is that Elin wants full custody. That`s a pretty big thing to ask for. He would probably want to fight back. What`s in it for him to fight back?

VIKKI ZIEGLER, DIVORCE AND FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Well, everything is in it for him -- obviously, being a parent that`s involved, taking care of his children. Obviously, they`re small children. From a PR standpoint, of course, he wants to make himself look like he`s the good guy. But you hope that he loves his children. We got to believe it. We know he`s a serial philanderer. That`s been alleged. But at the end of the day, he needs to make sure that he has as much time as he can with his children, be as involved in all of the decision making for them on a day-to-day basis, even though when he`s at work or he goes back into the golf game. So it`s very important for him, I think, to make a preemptive strike, if they`re going to get divorced, to actually file for custody now.

LALAMA: Ray Giudice, defense attorney, let me ask you this. If you were representing Tiger in any way, does it help him from a PR standpoint to say, I love my kids and I`m going to fight for them? Does that do -- does that improve his image at this point?

RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, absolutely. He`s got to do everything he can to improve his image, and that`s the shortest way to get to that goal -- I love my kids. I want my kids. I want to raise them properly. It was just stated very well by the divorce attorney before me that this is not only a preemptive strike, but we all hope that it`s true, that he does want custody or partial custody of his children.

LALAMA: Well, Dr. Janet Taylor, psychiatrist, you know, it`s really easy to say, if this guy has spent so much time with so many women, how good a daddy can he be? Is that unfair?

DR. JANET TAYLOR, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, it`s not unfair. I mean, certainly, the time he spent with women says a lot about his character. What we don`t know is about his home life and what kind of father he`s been. He`s a competitive guy. Seemingly, he would want his children and to have some contact with them, and it would benefit the kids, as well.

LALAMA: Well, but you know what, Anne Bremner, defense attorney? I don`t know if you`re -- and again, this is a -- you know, a judgment call. But if you have that much time to spend traipsing around the country, how involved can you be? You`re already a big star. You`re already a big golf star. You`ve got all kinds of commitments. And I don`t know how the heck this guy, if it all is true, made this much time for so many girls and God knows how many more. How involved a parent can he be?

ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I guess, in his defense...

LALAMA: And will it weigh -- and will it weigh in a legal battle, by the way?

BREMNER: Well, I mean, in his defense, you could say he`s just a cad and he spends very little time with each of them, but he`s got a bunch of them. You know, these aren`t romances of a century, at least most of them, at least 15. But the fact is, it makes him look really bad. He doesn`t spend time with the kids. But he`s not abusive to the kids. There`s no indication he`s done anything where their best interests wouldn`t be served by having him involved in their lives.

LALAMA: Interesting. Bill Majeski, former NYPD detective, Majeski Associates, Inc., the security of the children -- does that concern you at this point? And what would law enforcement be able to do, or should it be private security helping out, at this point?

BILL MAJESKI, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Well, there was some speculation that she was going to get an escort leaving her home there. That would not be a bad idea with all the paparazzi out there trying to get photographs. It`s always a danger to the other people on the road, other people in the community when the paparazzi are trying to knock each other over to get photographs.

But in terms of him and his position and with his children, you know, he did a lot of traveling. During the course of all of that traveling, while he was working, playing tournaments, he engaged with activities with these women. But he also had the option to bring his wife and children along with him. A lot of the golfers do that, especially when the children are young enough, before they go to school. So that love affair with the children, I`m not sure how strong that is. You know, clearly, he had other options there to bring the kids with him wherever he traveled. So it remains to be seen.

LALAMA: And let me ask -- thank you. Vikki Ziegler, back to you for a second. You know, I know the courts are very concerned about where one parent might take the other children, so the other parent doesn`t have access. In this case, it really wouldn`t be an issue. She can go to Siberia and he`s got the money to see his kids, correct?

ZIEGLER: Well, generally, yes. But you know, if you`re going for a vacation, it`s one thing. If you -- if she picks up and Elin says, Listen, I`m moving to Sweden and you can`t see the children, you know, that`s another story. You can`t just leave the state where you reside indefinitely, unless you have a court order or an agreement. So it could be a problem. Although he has the money to certainly travel and see them wherever, that doesn`t mean that she can take them for an indefinite period of time, not know where they are. So that may be problematic if she thinks she`s going to move to Sweden right now and just keep the children for months and months.

LALAMA: But Ray Giudice, you know, she had asked -- or we`re hearing she had asked for monitored visitation. Does that imply to you that she`s worried that these -- you know, the bevy of babes might be hanging around when he`s seeing his kids?

GIUDICE: Well, look, if I was representing her in this custody dispute, I would argue that he does not have a good track record of providing a wholesome, savory home life. Is he going to have these women or new women running in and out of the house while he`s got the kids there? That would be my argument if I represented her. I`d want transitional, supervised parenting and custody on him until he proves himself to be a good parent. That would be her argument.

LALAMA: And in terms -- go back to Drew Petrimoulx for a second here, reporter, WDBO. No one really knows -- I mean, have we heard anything about whether that boat, yacht, the Privacy, has actually launched or is it still in its spot? Did it go on this trip that`s been reported?

PETRIMOULX: Well, I haven`t been down there. It`s about two-and-a- half, three hours south of here. Originally, the report was the ship had sailed, he`s on the way to the Bahamas with a group of friends. And then there was a conflicting report that said, Hey, the boat`s still there. I haven`t seen any aerial photos of that. Maybe one of the other reporter can attest to that. But there have been conflicting reports, and you`d think it would be pretty simple as to go out there and look and see if the boat is there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s been rumors of Ambien, Vicodin. I mean, did you ever see him take drugs at all?

GRUBBS: I mean, I`ve never seen him, you know, take painkillers. I know he does have a hard time sleeping. He would take a sleeping pill occasionally. I mean, he did never sleep. I mean, even if he wanted to go to bed at maybe 10:00, I mean, he wouldn`t fall asleep until, you know, 12:30, 1:00, and then he`d be up at 3:00. I mean, that`s just the way he was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elin had found Tiger`s phone, and on it she had seen text messages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife went through my phone and may be calling you. Because she can, please take your name off that, and what do you call it, just have it as a number.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s all blowing up as we speak.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to divorce him, Elin? What do you think of his 14 mistresses?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A moving van did pull up in front of Tiger`s home. They moved out lots of boxes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taking items out of the home? It just shows that the home is broken.

GRACE: Now we see boxes being loaded onto Woods`s multi-million- dollar yacht, the Privacy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Moving van did pull up in front of Tiger`s home. They moved out lots of boxes.

GRACE: Now, a lot of these women are claiming two and three-year relationships with him, some in the family home. To me, that would crack the prenup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you feel guilty?

GRUBBS: I guess, if I were to seriously think about it, you know, I`d -- I did feel guilty that, you know, he`s spending his time with somebody, you know, that isn`t his wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LALAMA: Kelli Zink, I want to ask you very quickly, what`s the latest with Elin? Is she going to Sweden for Christmas, for holidays, with the children?

ZINK: That`s what we`re hearing. We`re hearing that she has plans to take the kids, go to Sweden. And if it were up to her, possibly, you know, she wants to stay there with the kids. But if you think about it, she does not want her children around this influence. You don`t know who he`s going to bring around, if he`s going to even be attentive to the kids when she`s not there. Maybe he`s too busy texting or making random phone calls. So you know, Elin`s got -- obviously, she has a strong opinion on this one. She wants full custody, and I don`t blame her.

LALAMA: Bill Majeski, I just want to ask you this real quickly. There`s speculation, you know, amongst the water cooler crowd that he`s not showing his face because he has injuries. And you know, we haven`t seen him anywhere, and nobody wants that picture ever to live in posterity of him, you know, with -- you know, with injuries. Is that a possibility?

MAJESKI: Oh, sure it`s a possibility. I believe that there was a 9- iron involved in the alleged attack, or rescue mission from the car. There was a lot of broken glass. It`s conceivable that he was hit in the face with the club or that some glass shattered from the windshield into his face. It`s possible that he hurt himself when he was on the ground outside of the car.

There are all kinds of possibilities, but there are also a lot of witnesses when he was lying on the ground. There were also police officers that responded. So you know, questioning those people that were right on the scene would answer that question for us.

LALAMA: Yes. Yes. It`s -- the whole thing is rather sad, in any event. Melodie, our caller in Ohio. Are you with me, Melodie?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LALAMA: Your question, please?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, is it known if Tiger is seeking professional help for what he so-calls his transgressions? Thank you.

LALAMA: Well, Dr. Janet Taylor, you know, we`re not sure whether he`s (INAUDIBLE) We`ve heard he`s in marriage counseling. Would you advise he go get some help?

TAYLOR: Oh, absolutely. Marriage counseling is one thing. They have the relationship. But clearly, he`s got some individual psychological issues that he needs to work out related to whether it`s a personality disorder, he`s narcissistic or his manipulativeness or why he would make the choices that he did. So he absolutely needs individual therapy.

LALAMA: And Dr. Marty Makary, I`ll also pose that question to you about the physical wounds that I was talking about earlier. Is it possible that, you know, it`s just best for him to stay out of the limelight at this point because of it?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, JOHNS HOPKINS: Well, usually, most lacerations of the face, which we believe he probably has, will be there for about three or four weeks. And any photographs in that interval period are going to basically be basically an imprint in history.

LALAMA: Right.

MAKARY: So he may be rather smart to sort of keep his self, you know, in the boat.

LALAMA: And just very quickly, while I have you, the children, the stress on the children -- what about their physical condition? They`re young, but are they suffering in any way?

MAKARY: It`s...

LALAMA: The stress of the matter, is what I mean.

MAKARY: Yes, it`s likely that the kids are at risk for something called detachment, where they actually can get over the period of separation anxiety between 1 and 2 years of age, and then they actually have a sense of attachment to each parent. And when that`s missing, there is a notable absence which can have a burden in their development. That is definitely true.

LALAMA: Wow. It`s so sad. Vikki Ziegler, I want to ask you, is it in Elin`s best interests to cut and run, or drag everybody through the mud, subpoena all these women, make this thing long and ugly?

ZIEGLER: Well, I don`t think, Pat, that`s really always the best scenario, the latter of the two. I think for Elin Woods, the best advice I would give her is to continue to consult with attorneys in the states that you have residence. Continue in California, Florida, and potentially Sweden. Determine whether or not that prenuptial agreement is going to held valid and enforceable or it could be knocked out in part or in its entirety. Then, making those decisions with an expert, a divorce expert, then determining what state potentially would give her the most amount of money. Before that, trying to negotiate. Keeping your private matter private, best scenario for her, absolutely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRUBBS: Why did I come out? That`s a tough one. I -- I did it for a lot of reasons. Obviously, when I did air that voicemail, I mean, the day I received it, it was kind of like a reality check for me. It was kind of saying, you know, I`m not the most important person to him. And when I did come out, I kind of did a lot on emotion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tiger Woods, the battered brand, the fallen superstar -- while his alleged mistresses continue to speak out and continue to pop up, his self-imposed seclusion continues. He`s on an indefinite leave from professional golf.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, his image before was pristine, very carefully controlled, and now there`s a huge disconnect between his private life and his public persona. One`s carefully controlled, the other was really irresponsible about his family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elin ready to leave Tiger Woods or not?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tiger has clearly been leading a double life for a lot of years, and he`s just continuing to do that. He`s really habituated to it, in a way. He`s become who he is and how he lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LALAMA: Hey, Bill Majeski, I have a question. Does Tiger have to worry about his security?

MAJESKI: Yes. Clearly. I mean, the paparazzi are out there. As someone had mentioned earlier, there`s a $300,000 price tag to the first photograph that comes through. So people are going to go through extraordinary means to try to get photographs of him. They`ll be putting other people at risk and possibly even Tiger at risk. So sure, he has something to be concerned about. So I`m sure he...

LALAMA: Well, we were discussing...

MAJESKI: I`m sure that he has his security people double-layered at this point in time, not only to try to protect his privacy but also to protect him physically.

LALAMA: You know, there`s a new popularity poll, and as recently as early December, he had a 60 percent favorability rating. Now, check it out. It`s pretty much dropped to 34 percent. Not good. And what`s interesting to me, Anne Bremner, is that the men and women are divided pretty much equally about how they feel about him, which I take as good news because it means men aren`t applauding his bad behavior.

BREMNER: Well, it`s -- the thing about what he`s done is -- is -- yes. I personally, as a female, I look at him and I think, you know, he needs to be in rehab at the Meadows in Arizona and then go on Oprah or something else because -- and if I were married to him, I mean, and I was going to say, Hey, I was with Tiger, too, you know, I can be number 17 and get money. But you know, the fact of the matter is, is this is very, very serious and shows such a breach of the relationship in his family. I just don`t know how anyone gets past it, or gets through rehab with it.

LALAMA: And Ray Giudice, if you were advising him, I mean, what would you advise him to do to rebuild? I know you`re not in the PR game, you`re an attorney, but -- so what would you say to this guy to try too save himself in terms of his image and battle you`d have -- legal battle you`d have ahead of you?

GIUDICE: Well, again, I think as was well put earlier, he should start to do everything he can to recreate or create a great relationship with those children. He should be seen on "People" magazine holding those kids, coming out of a candy store or something, Disney World. Get back to golfing. Do what he does best. The people on the golf course love him and they always will. Those are his true fans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just in, TMZ reporting Tiger Woods is doing everything he can to save his marriage and convince wife Elin Nordegren not to walk. But will it work? Reports surfaced that wife Elin has consulted divorce attorney to the rich and famous, Sorrell Trope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can`t get any more definite than that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a hard-hitting divorce attorney based out of L.A.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The legal eagles say he`s the best in the business in getting the most money and best custody deals out of divorces.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you know, there are millions of dollars at stake as well as the custody of their children.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: "The Enquirer" claims team Tiger is working hard to silence alleged mistresses.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Alleged monthly payments to these various women, some up to $20,000 a month.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She recently was photographed without her wedding ring.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is not very happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has decided at this point to take off her ring and it`s time to move on.

GRACE: Elin Nordegren has closed on a family mansion in her homeland on an island off the coast.

Reports are surfacing that he is very afraid that Elin Nordegren is going to divorce him and take the children to Sweden.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Has the countdown to divorce already begun?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This very well would be the beginning of the end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAT LALAMA, GUEST HOST: I`m Pat Lalama in for Nancy Grace. Well, the latest, of course, tonight is that Tiger will fight for the custody of his children. Of course, an incredibly important issue.

But, Vikki Zeigler, divorce and family law attorney, with the kind of schedule he has, which is true of many athletes, professional athletes, what kind of a stable visitation schedule could there possibly be?

VIKKI ZEIGLER, DIVORCES AND FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Well, usually in cases like this where there`s somebody that`s traveling, is not at home as much as normal parenting schedules would like, they generally have blocks of time whereby they`d be able to see their children when they`re not traveling. Obviously, in Tiger`s case when he`s not on the golf course and practicing.

So there are schedules that are written in stone. They also have parent coordinators that go -- that get implemented where if there`s an issue regarding parenting you can go to that so-called mediator to help work it out, but generally these are schedules that are made way in advance in a 12-month period including vacations and holidays and as the children get older to make time for them and their extended family. So this is not uncommon.

I think there`s a difference between supervised visitation because he is unfit or may bring women into the household with the children that may negatively affect them versus getting a parenting schedule that he can co- parent when he is available.

LALAMA: I want to go to another caller, this time, Melody in Ohio. Good evening, Melody.

JOANNE, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hello?

LALAMA: Melody?

JOANNE: This is Joanne in Denver.

LALAMA: All right. Well, then I`ll take Joanne in Denver. How are you? And what is your question?

JOANNE: I`m fine and my question is I really get that it would be in Elin`s best interest to be able to go back to Sweden and be close to her family during this difficult time but I can`t imagine how it could be in the best interest of these children to have their parents, the two people most important in their lives, living on separate continents.

Could your experts address that?

LALAMA: Absolutely. Dr. Janet Taylor, would you like to take that one?

DR. JANET TAYLOR, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, sure. I mean, 50 percent of the couples in the U.S. get divorced and if Tiger`s motivation is to stay connected with his kids, he has the resources to do that.

The most important factor for children of divorce is how involved each parent stays in raising them. If they can put aside their differences enough to focus on the kids, then kids are OK and Tiger, again, has the resources to do that. And Elin has to be willing if they get divorced to let him have some role with raising them.

LALAMA: But you know, you know what I think of, Dr. Marty Makary, there is no way these children are going to be shielded from all of this when they get older. They have back to look forward to, unfortunately, reading the stories of their -- you know, their majestic father turned into, you know, philandering demon.

How do you protect them from that?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, PROF. OF PUBLIC HEALTH, JOHNS HOPKINS: You know, it`s going to be a burden. There`s no doubt it`s going to cause some problems with development. There`s oftentimes attention problems when they deal with this detachment at an early stage.

And you know, let`s face it. The best gift you can give to your parents -- to your children, that is, is a healthy marriage and they are going to be dealing with the burden of this separation.

LALAMA: And let`s go to another caller, Dee. I know you`ve been waiting, thank you, in Arizona. Your question?

DEE, CALLER FROM ARIZONA: Yes, ma`am. Now that things are heating up, and Elin is threatening to take full custody of the children, do you think that this could go ugly and Tiger will eventually recount his story that his wife was trying to save him when the car crashed and indeed she was really trying to attack him?

LALAMA: Ray Giudice, do you -- I guess the question would be, will he defend her or will he say she was out to get him that night?

RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, sort of depends which way we go. I want to side with the doctor who just spoke about preserving these children and their future. I don`t think, and Miss Zeigler, as well, spoke about let`s not have a messy divorce.

I actually take a little bit colder approach. I think this should be looked at, this is a big, billion dollar corporation about to break up. There`s enough money to take care of everybody`s needs and to insure that these children have all the resources and love and parenting they need.

The parents have to step up to the plate, act like adults and look at the long-term interests of the children.

LALAMA: Anne Bremner, defense attorney. There was an interesting quote today, I think a couple of quotes from various sports analysts who say that if Elin goes for the jugular and tries to get lots of money and she`s seen as being greedy, she will lose the sympathy of men.

Does anybody really care whether she loses the sympathy of men?

ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I`ve always relied on the sympathy or kindness of strangers, you know, it`s (INAUDIBLE) and desire. She doesn`t need it. You know, she needs the money more.

LALAMA: Well, what do you think about that, Vikki? I mean, clearly a lot of men feel they have been taken to the cleaners unfairly in divorces and a lot of times people assume that women use that for the revenge. How fair is that and will she be seen as greedy if she says, you know what, 16, 14 women, I don`t know, I`m going to have a few bucks attached to each one of those women?

ZEIGLER: I think you`re going to have a divided camp. I think the women are cheerleading and saying go get it, go get as much money as you can, break that prenup an take half.

And I think most men are saying, probably, yes, what he did was reprehensible. Not a good idea, but I don`t know, do you go for half? You`ve only been married for five years. So I think there`s going to be a division there. At the end of the day, everyone`s rooting for the children making sure that they`re taken care of, I can tell you that.

LALAMA: Dr. Janet Taylor, do you buy this business that this is an addiction? I think it`s such an easy way out, an excuse.

TAYLOR: Yes, I mean, in this case and certainly people do have addictions, I don`t think that Tiger Woods has a sexual addiction. I think he`s had patterns of very bad behavior and if you think about an addiction, it`s really disruptive to family, OK, yes. To his work, no.

I mean he`s just got named player of the decade many times over. So I do not believe that Tiger Woods has a sexual addiction. I just think he likes to have sex with different women.

LALAMA: Well, yes, but you know, that`s a very good point, and I`m with you on that but, Bill Majeski, the -- I mean, the amount of women, allegedly bringing some of these women in your own home where your wife sleeps and your children play with their toys, to quote the "Godfather," you know, I mean to that me shows a recklessness that`s beyond just, hey, I`m entitled to cheat. You know what I`m saying?

BILL MAJESKI, FMR. NYPD DETECTIVE, MAJESKI ASSOCIATES, INC.: You know, the thing is he`s kind of a guy he has an awful lot of money, has an awful lot of fame and popularity, and there will always be women around men like that trying to get into or a piece of that action.

So what he did is just succumb to those -- you know, those male weaknesses at that point in time. And then he continued on with a lot of the affairs. I think one of the things that nobody has mentioned so far is that, you know, he was somewhat of an idol or a role model to a lot of young people out there that were interested in going into some athletic endeavor, whether it be golf or something else, and a lot of people were aspiring -- a lot of young people are aspiring to be like Tiger Woods.

I think that`s probably going to be a very damaging area in the future with this whole situation as it unfolds. A lot of people.

LALAMA: Well, Dr. Marty.

MAJESKI: Go ahead.

LALAMA: Let me just go to Dr. Marty Makary, you know, that kind of concerns me, that issue of young people and how they see, you know, these role models. What scares me is that a lot of young people, particularly young men or maybe young women say, wow, yes, that`s the way to be. You know, you`re cool. Doesn`t that scare you a little bit?

MAKARY: Yes. I mean we would like to think that the role models of young people nowadays are people in prestigious fields, scientists, teachers in their schools but they`re not. They`re athletes and hip hop artists and other musicians. And the fact of the matter is that when you`re in a position like Tiger Woods, you`re a role model.

LALAMA: Yes, wow. Now I want to do something very special. Going to go straight to Seattle, defense attorney Anne Bremner, with a very special message for her assistant and friend, Joan Stapleton.

BREMNER: Thank you. Should I start, Pat?

LALAMA: Go right ahead.

LALAMA: Thank you. I want to say not only is Joan Stapleton my best friend, she`s my assistant. She`s suffering from stage 4 melanoma. She`s loved by so many and she has done everything from, you know, write in blogs, put a PI for me, work with crime victims. Her husband Tom loves her very much.

She`s selfless and part of why I`m here is to follow her selflessness to say we need more melanoma awareness. I`m going to follow Joan`s selfless lead in seeking more awareness and treatment because it`s the fastest growing cancer, the most dangerous in the U.S.

Joan, we love you. Stay strong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, it`s Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. My wife went through my phone. May be calling you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it an auto accident?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there was an auto accident, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a neighbor. He hit the tree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Are you able to tell if he`s breathing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I can`t tell right now.

JAIMEE GRUBBS, TIGER WOODS` ALLEGED MISTRESS: I did feel guilty that, you know, he`s spending his time with somebody, you know, that isn`t his wife. Just the way he was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LALAMA: Well, we`ve have heard a lot of reports that Tiger`s paid off a lot of women to keep quiet, allegedly. But there`s another tricky little situation, may have dodged a big bullet. According to "The Wall Street Journal" and it had to do with some photos in a -- believe it or not, church parking lot, Kelli Zink? What do you know?

KELLI ZINK, CELEBTV.COM HOST: Yes. Pretty terrible stuff. Tiger was friendly with "Golf Digest." They gave a lot of money to his foundation and in turn he wrote for them pretty exclusively and then all of a sudden he does this cover story for "Men`s Fitness" which is partnered with "National Enquirer."

And the story goes someone at the "Enquirer" had some photos of him in a risque position with one of the alleged women that he was with in a church parking lot and they were going to go public with the story. So while they say Tiger`s camp approached them, Tiger, of course, is saying, nope. It wasn`t us.

And we don`t know the real story but the implication is that Tiger dodged a major bullet there but it came out in the end.

LALAMA: And this was a -- what, a waitress at a pancake house? Something like that?

ZINK: A Perkins waitress allegedly, yes.

LALAMA: OK. Ray Giudice, I mean, here`s where we go back to this issue of, is he nuts? I mean, why would someone in this -- unless I`m just not getting it. Why would someone in this position take such heinous risks?

GIUDICE: You know you really have to ask the psychs. From a lawyer and I`m sure the other lawyers on the panel have all represented clients who are good, smart people, had great careers and a lot to lose and have just done silly, stupid things and you want to slap them and say what`s wrong with you?

I think at some point in time, somebody should have grabbed him by the lapels and said, listen, this is not way to live. This is not who you are. Change, stop now. I do think the passing of his father several years ago may have been that precipice that, you know, where he fell over but I just don`t know the answer.

(CROSSTALK)

GIUDICE: But we`ve seen it a lot in our business.

LALAMA: Right, right. Absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, I just want to say this because it`s important. American Media denies that there was any such deal.

But Dr. Janet Taylor, you know, you think about when you hear interviews with Olympic athletes who later on, you know, go on Oprah or some show and talk about how now they`re bulimic or they`re, you know, alcoholic or they`re abusive because of the pressure, the pressure, the pressure of being the best and the parents, you know, hovering over pressuring.

I mean, to give him a break, is it possible he could be a victim of always having had to be the perfect -- maybe, I`m thinking maybe he wanted to get caught.

TAYLOR: Well, I think victim is the wrong word. I don`t think he wanted to get caught. I think certainly he had a lot of pressure and with anybody under a lot of pressure you need to have an outlet. And for him, maybe this was this behavior.

I think we don`t know enough about Tiger kind of pre-superstardom. He might have always been a guy who liked to party, liked women, like whatever, and we just didn`t know about it and then after -- I agree, after the death of his father it just escalated to beyond belief.

LALAMA: I mean, it`s just to me he`s not even careful, Dr. Marty Makary, and there`s a lot of questions. To me, if you`re -- you`re putting your family at risk. I don`t know what his practices were with these women but I mean, I would be really fearful if I were the woman sleeping in his bed at home.

MAKARY: Yes, I mean, you know, he has a responsibility to those two children and to his family and by putting himself in these situation where he knows that this is a weakness or a flaw of his, you know, he`s continually perpetuating a crime against his own family and the reality is that, you know, that it`s not a disease.

This is bad behavior and it perpetuates itself. Every subsequent act makes you further at risk for another act, so it`s something you really have to take control of.

LALAMA: And, Vikki Zeigler, I mean, you must see it all the time in divorces. The cheating party, there`s a lot of times a sense of entitlement. Like, I mean, I know -- I`ll just use an example. I know someone in a very high level position and he does a lot for the community and he cheats.

And when I pounded him on it he said well, I do a lot of good for the community. That`s how he justified it. I mean do you see that a lot in your line of work?

ZEIGLER: Yes, you really do. I think with high net worth individuals, athletes, of course. And I think they felt that entitlement, I can do it. Sometimes you forget about the respect and you know what? People are throwing themselves at you and you know what? They figure, I`m not going to get caught.

I don`t think Tiger Woods wanted to get caught. I think it was exactly the opposite. He believed that he would probably -- his handlers would keep things secret and he probably wouldn`t get caught, it was probably so surprised that this blew out of control and to epidemic proportions.

So I think it is this entitlement that people do. Look, men cheat. Women cheat. It happens unfortunately.

LALAMA: Right.

ZEIGLER: But I think Tiger Woods needs to come out and say, listen, yes, I am a role model and I`m sorry, and this is not what people do that get married. You`re supposed to, you know, believe in their vows, marriage is a contract and we shouldn`t be behaving this way. I made a mistake.

LALAMA: Yes. Or just don`t get married. I mean, OK, you want to sleep around, whatever. But why defile, defame and insult your spouse with kind of behavior?

On that note, let me go to one of our callers. Pat in Texas. Pat, do you have a question?

PAT, CALLER FROM TEXAS: Yes. I just wanted to ask -- obviously he committed adultery and got a lot of money and all that. What are his chances of fighting for those kids?

LALAMA: Anne Bremner, what do you think will turn out with the children? I don`t think he`ll be denied his children.

BREMNER: I don`t either. I think that the fact of the matter is that they`re going to have joint custody.

LALAMA: Do you think it that`s simple?

BREMNER: Well, yes, I mean, I guess this is apples and oranges in a lot of ways. I mean what you`re dealing with here is cheating. But the fact is, people cheat all the time and it doesn`t mean that you`re going to have this affecting your children necessarily. Unless there`s more of a nexus. What he`s done is reprehensible. And the numbers in my mind make him somebody that really needs some help.

But I say again, if he gets help and it`s like, you know, show me -- you`re alright, your tragedy, we`d love to see people fall, you know, huge stars in the United States, and then redeem themselves and then get them on the cover of "People" magazine like (INAUDIBLE). I mean with the kids. You know, that could be very helpful to him.

LALAMA: But Ray Giudice, I mean, is it possible that the -- forget the number of women, but just the sheer recklessness, would a court take that into consideration?

GIUDICE: It will be in consideration. But my experience again, and I`m not a divorce lawyer, is that you have to go a long way, and I`m talking felonies, drug abuse, before you lose custody of your biological children.

LALAMA: Right.

GIUDICE: He`s going to have ample custody, plenty of visitation. Might she have a 60/40 split? Sure, but he`ll be fine.

LALAMA: OK. As we go to our break tonight from Nancy`s family to all of you, merry Christmas, happy holidays and happy new year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: "People" magazine reporting Tiger Woods` wife, Elin, wants out, she`s planning to leave him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you know, there are millions of dollars at stake. $92 in career tournament winnings. Estimated $100 million a year in endorsements. That includes $30 million from Nike, an estimated $10 million from Gatorade, as well as the custody of their children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LALAMA: All right, endorsements, a big deal for Tiger Woods, no doubt about it. And that fancy Swiss watch maker, I think they`re Swiss, Tag Heuer, made one comment last week and Drew, they seem to be doing an about face. Can you explain that to us?

DREW PETRIMOULX, REPORTER, WDBO RADIO: Last Friday, they announced that they were going to pull his advertising in the U.S. and then just this week, just today they`ve put on their Web site that they stand with Tiger. So definitely conflicting messages there.

If you look on the Web site, it`s a picture of him wearing the watch, a big picture of his face and then in big bold letters that they stand next to him so definitely mixed messages. And this comes on top of some of his advertisers saying they`re going to stay with him and some deciding to pull at least limited portions of his advertising.

LALAMA: Yes, they`re all trying to position themselves and to put themselves in the best light, apparently, but it`s not a pretty picture. Now I got to tell you about one other thing very quickly. There are some reports that, you know, maybe Tiger is not done having affairs.

And to that, I would say, Anne Bremner, you know, is he just not -- if it`s true, is he just not listening to advice? Does he just not get it? Does he have a death wish? Could you help me out here?

BREMNER: I know. You probably caught my facial expression when I heard that. I`m like oh my gosh. He doesn`t get it. And you know, Tiger doesn`t change his stripes, whatever you want to say. That is so reckless to keep seeing any of these women.

It`s just -- it borders on the insane in terms of what he`s doing to wreck his whole life, his career and his family.

LALAMA: Yes. And Vikki Zeigler, very quickly, those are unconfirmed reports, but if it`s true, do you see that a lot? Do you see that kind of recklessness a lot?

ZEIGLER: All the time. And you know what? He`s got to get new friends, new advisers and make it clear that you know what? Even if you`re getting divorced, don`t do these things. Make your children a priority, not these women.

LALAMA: Absolutely.

OK, tonight, let`s stop to remember Army Sergeant Eric Smallwood, 23 years old, from Truman, Arkansas, killed in Iraq. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal.

He loved sports, making people laugh, putting others first, God, his family and his country. Had a smile that lit up a room. He leaves behind father Jimmy, brother JT, who also serves in Iraq, sister Tara, niece Taylor, and fiance Amanda.

Eric Smallwood, American hero.

Thank you to all of our guests and to you at home for being with us. Thanks, Nancy, for the opportunity. Have great holidays. See you tomorrow night 8:00 p.m. sharp Eastern. Until then, everybody, have a wonderful evening.

END