the veteran community. i'm not going to be a public person. this is a rare interview for me. >> this is "piers morgan tonight." >> good evening the first ted turner, a tv pioneer. but, also, a very out spoken man and a rare interview for president george w. bush. if anyone knows about keeping america great is a former american president. >> after 9/11, millions of volunteers and they said i want to serve my country. and i'm -- i don't view it as anything personal. i view that as we were all serving together. we were all part of a great cause. the cause of securing our country. and the cause of liberty. >> that's good with george w. bush coming later. but, first, someone who, i think on this occasion, literally needs no introduction. he is the man who created cnn. the reason that i am here and others are here working here. ted turner. welcome back, ted. >> good to be here. >> how does it feel to be back? >> good. >> does it? >> yeah. >> are you still proud of cnn? >> absolutely. >> do you still watch cnn. >> i watch it. you bet. >> you like what you see? >> i like most of what i see. >> you always said about cnn, the news should be the star. >> well, that was the philosophy that we started with. but it really was the only place open for us because all the other news networks, cbs, nbc and abc, they emphasized their stars and we didn't have any stars. we were lucky to have employees. >> if you had the competition that's around now in cable when you first started, in other words, if there had been a fox news with right wing star anchors, msnbc had rachel and the others. would you do anything differently? >> i'd have to really give it a lot of thought and a lot of study, which i have not done because nobody has asked he to do it. i value my time greatly. i'm working on nuclear weapons, trying to get rid of them and working on the climate and getting us to change over to clean energy and stabilize the population before the world is just so overcrowded we can't turn around. i'm working on things where i can make a difference now. i really don't have any input on a regular basis. here. >> do you think cnn should become -- the reason i'm fascinated is you're the guy that started this whole business. and others began to do similar versions. do you think that cnn should remain the impartial observer of news? >> yes. and cover the substantial news and that doesn't mean you don't cover hollywood and kidnappings and the sensational, too. but the emphasis should be on hard news. i wanted cnn to be the new york times of the news business. not the daily news. i wanted it to be the new york times. and i thought that for the long term, that would be the best position to be in, even if the ratings weren't the greatest. if you had the most prestige and you were the network that everybody turned to in times of a crisis, that that would -- the most important position in the news business to hold. >> that is still true. i've been here 16, 17 months now. when that happens, it is very gratifying that the cnn ratings soar. the issue is what happens as we've had recently when there's a lengthy period of not much news. >> well, the world is a big place. and i've been around the country traveling a good bit and i watch cnn international all over the world. i probably see it as much -- or more than cnn domestic. and i think they're doing an excellent job. but they're programming for the world. and i can understand the difficulty programming for the u.s. audience it's a real challenge to do. >> let's talk about some news. what do you make of america right now? today? what do you think of your country? >> i think it's terrible that politics have gotten so money-oriented that the money interests are taking over the country. and i've -- and there's too much disagreement and argument between the parties. i believe in pulling together to make the country better rather than tearing it apart for partisan reasons. >> i mean, you're a guy who historically, when you've had a rival, you haven't hesitated to give him a verbal whack or two. >> well, only if it was deserved. >> what do you think of president obama? how is he doing? >> i like him. i like him. he's had a extremely difficult job. and i think he's done amazingly well. and he's got his spirits up and he never gets discouraged, which is really important in a particular leader that's leading us in time of great difficulty. >> if you were advising it and he could do a lot worse than ask you right now, what would you tell him to be more forcible about? where do you think he's not being strong enough? >> well, i would have liked to see him -- his positions are good on the environment. but he -- he put health care ahead of the energy bill. if he put the energy bill first when he was first elected, it would have gone through without the kind of animosity that the health care bill enchanted. so that was a mistake. but it was good to get the health care bill through. i mean, i supported that, as well as the energy bill. >> when you see american troops coming out of iraq and now coming out of afghanistan, there's a set timetable that's been laid down by the president, i assume that you're pleased with that? >> i am. i've studied history a lot. wars are not a good way to get things done. that he eve been a disaster for us. they've cost a trillion dollars over the period afghanistan, a trillion. it's just crazy. >> when you look at the way afghanistan is going, many say it's become a counter terrorist operation. is that really what america should have done? rather than going in with men on the ground, big, large truths and says we're going to tackle the terrorists through intelligence, through special forces and so on. >> i think war should be avoided at all costs and we should do everything we can to get the united nations to the deal with conflict before they get -- before people start resorting to violence just begets violence. i think we ought to renounce war and have -- let the courts handle it, have arbitration at the united nations and let them handle it and then be bound by what those decisions are. i mean, if everybody started shooting everybody that they had a disagreement with, all we'd be doing is shooting each other there's enough of that anyway. but that doesn't accomplish anything except gets people shot and escalates into war. >> what would you do about iran? >> well, first of all, i believe in total nuclear disarmament. we have 2,000 or several thousand nuclear weapons. iran has none at the current time. it's okay for israel, but it's not okay for iran. that's -- they're not treating everybody equally. and you -- you have no strong position except force only by force can it be done. we've already voted at the u.n. and the security council to get rid of nuclear weapons. let's get rid of them. let's get rid of ours and iran will stop. if everybody doesn't have them, then we're safe. at least safe from a nuclear attack. i mean, if we have full scale nuclear exchange, it's going to destroy life on earth. all life. maybe there will be a few cockroaches left. that's crazy. most of the people are really nice here. and if you treat people with dignity, respect and friendliness, like i did with the russians and the soviets before them with the goodwill games, if you try to make friends, you can make friends. and you can do that even with former enemies. look, japan bombed us at pearl harbor and now we're good friends with the japanese. we fought china in the cold war. now we're good friends with the chinese, most of us are. >> ted, let's take a break. i want to come back and talk to you about your favorite cnn moments. >> everything we said about the super station, we are also looking into the alternative of cable providers. this would be called the cable news network and would program continually updated news 24 hours a day. i know that we will succeed. and i pledge to you that we will not let the american public down. [ female announcer ] the best things in life are the real things. nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit. nature valley trail mix bars. 100% natural. 100% delicious. your hair -- amazing. thanks to head and shoulders for men. four shampoos that give men game-winning scalp protection, great looking hair... and confidence [ male announcer ] up to 100% flake free with head & shoulders for men. good everyone evening, i'm david walker. >> that was from cnn's very first newscast on june 1st, 1980. and now the man who created cnn, ted turner. how do you feel? >> i feel good. it was a great idea and it was well executed. >> what was the great ambition for you. what did you really want to achieve? >> i wanted to better inform the world. >> do you feel you've succeeded? >> yes. how many news networks there are now? 24 hour news networks in the world? over a hundred. >> is that right? >> right. every country has one. you're not a country if you don't have one. people nowadays want instant information. they don't want to have to wait 8 hours. they're used to getting information right now that they need. >> there were three memorable moments that you've highlighted. one was 1987, baby jessica in being rescued from the well. tell me why you love that story so much? >> that one captured america. jessica was actually down there for over a day. >> is it also one of those examples where good news can often be just as big a story and rate just as well as bad news. there's always a perception there. the reason i like this, i was a young reporter in london. i remember watching 1991. they were literally on the front line, these missiles firing over their heads. reporting live. it was the most incredible, dramatic thing. >> and the explosions. the rocket's red glare. the bombs bursting in air. >> amazing. >> it was. >> let's play a clip. >> we are just in the process of getting tape fed to us from a location in jordan. this is the video tape shot by the cnn crew during the opening hours of the allied assault on baghdad. general smith, please comment on what you can see. this is the first time we've seen this tape. this is our camera crew shooting out the window in baghdad. >> was that the story or the event that made you realize just how big cnn could become? >> yes. that was the biggest story that -- in my opinion, the biggest story that we ever had. >> you defied the president. you kept your people there. >> oh, we have freedom of the press. we had volunteers up here who had volunteered to stay. and we didn't make anybody stay. and i just said we're going to stay. >> you also said at the time, look, i don't care what it costs. >> well, i said spend whatever it takes. i didn't say i don't care what it costs. i did care, but i didn't want to be pinching pennies on this story. >> what was the difference of having cnn's cameras on the front line of a war like that? what do you think the difference, that decision, that capability made to the way the war was covered? >> i -- you know, what we did was televise what we saw. >> did it bring a greater truth to war coverage? the fact that you were there? >> i think so. >> your third story of 9/11. what did that do to america? that moment? >> well, it shook us up. it was unbelievable. and watching -- i was in my office and i glanced up. and just after the first plane had gone in and i could -- the building was on fire. and i was -- i sat there stunned. and during -- while i was just sitting there just watching it, the second one came in. and i saw it live. and i ran down to the news room. walter isaacson was running cnn at the time. he had come over from "time magazine." a good man and a good friend of mine. and headline news had stayed with its regular format. it was giving football scores and the stock markets, you know, its half hour rolling format. and a couple of times, we had preempted that format when it was a big enough news story to warrant both cnn and headline news because the story was so compelling. and i mentioned that to walter. i said walt, have you thought about switching over headline news? he said the last thing i did at cnn. and he said that's a great idea. and within seconds, they switched over to the live coverage of the world trade center. and a few minutes later, the buildings collapsed. it was -- it was like pearl harbor. only being televised. >> let's take a break and come back. i want to talk to you about some of the great loves of your life. women, sailboats, sports teams. anything else you can think of? the great passions of ted turner after the break. it's time to live wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest. it's you, fully charged. ♪ you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. you get a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her. no! but, i'm about to change that. ♪ every little baby wants 50% more cash... ♪ phhht! fine, you try. 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[ female announcer ] pop in a whole new kind of clean. with new tide pods. just one removes more stains than the 6 next leading pacs combined pop in. stand out. we had a great time. for ten years, i just am so happy that i got to spend ten years with him. >> that was jane fonda speaking about ted turner on the show a few months ago. ted, jane fonda, was she the great love of your life. >> probably. >> have you ever quite got over her? >> no. >> do you think you ever will? >> no. >> when you love somebody and you really love them, you never stop loving them, no matter how hard you try. there's nothing wrong with that. that's good. that's why people love their country. patriots, they love their planet. you know, i basically -- i'm basically a happy person. >> you're a man used to winning. and you lost jane. why -- >> i lost jane. i lost my job here. i lost my fortune, most of it. i have a billion or two left, you can get by on that if you economize. but you carry on. and i found other things to do. i'm working trying to help united nation's causes, both with my philanthropy and with my personal efforts. >> which of the three -- >> i'm in a meeting all day tomorrow to save the oceans. i'm on the committee to abolish poverty. the millennium development goals. i'm in -- i've got plenty of tough jobs. >> which of the three things that you lost. your fortune, most of it; jane fonda or the job here? >> you want me to rank them? >> yes. >> which caused you the most -- >> i love them all so much. >> which upset you the most? >> they all broke my heart. but i just, you know, i just rallied. winners never quit and quitters never win. i just made a comeback. >> are you a better man for having experienced -- >> i'm a more experienced man because those, you know, the aol merger and the subsequent, basically, destruction of my wealth, they hurt at the time. but i just toughed it out. and that's -- you have to keep going. you can't give up in life. >> i saw you once say at one stage after the aol merger, you saw your fortune diminishing $20 million a minute. >> no, no. it was $10 million a day for three years. close to $10 billion. >> what does that feel like? >> it felt bad. but i -- i stayed at the company and stayed on the board of directors to try and mitigate the losses as much as i possibly could to do what i could to help. and, as a result, i lost even more because when this -- the stockholders sued the company, i wasn't part of that suit. i was on the board and that cost me several hundred million dollars. but i had my honor. i had my honor at the end of it, which is not everybody in the media business can say. >> you had a guy look you in the eye, and, effectively, fire you from the company you created. >> that's right. >> how does that feel? >> it really hurt. we were making our budget and i was loyal to the management of the company. you've read my book, i'm sure. i didn't do anything -- didn't do anything wrong. and i think if it had been put to the employees, they would have voted to keep me. but they didn't -- they didn't do that. i done a pretty good job. i had been times man of the year. i was the only person that worked at "time" ever that got that honor. that's about as big an honor as you can get. and i was -- i think i was doing a good job. we were making a fabulous amount of money. >> you've replaced jane, for all intense and purposes, with a new system. you have four girlfriends at any given time. >> well, hopefully, they won't all leave me at once. >> come on, ted, how do you get away with that? >> with great difficulty. >> well, you must have a complicated schedule. >> i do. >> and the women must be very tolerant? >> well, they're -- first of all they're good friends. with me. most of the time. >> are they good friends with each other? >> some of them are. some aren't. it's complicated. it's much easier to have one wife. but when you have one wife and she leaves you -- and i've been divorced three times. my life was so hectic, it was really hard for them to keep up. i travel all of the time. >> you said, very movingly, that after you and jane split up, you cried for six months. >> i didn't cry for six, but i was brokenhearted for at least that long. >> did you try and win her back? >> a little bit. but it -- it looked like -- it looked like we were so far apart from philosophically that we couldn't do it. >> how many times have you been properly in love in your life? >> twice. >> jane and? >> and another person. but i've -- that's really in love. i loved a number of people. >> but there's a difference between being in love and loving. >> sort of. that's hard to tell where one starts at the other stops. you know? >> let's take another break. i want to come back and talk to you about keeping america great. what should america be doing now to revive itself? >> i think what we need is for humanity to be great. >> that is another point. but i want to ask specifically about america. >> okay. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. 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