speaking his mind. tonight he tells all. >> the money started taking over the country. >> he's been called the mouth from the south. >> i lost my fortune, most of it. have a billion or two left. you can get by on that if you economize. >> and a man whose ex-wife jane fonda says this about him. >> i'm so proud of him. he's done so much good work in the world. >> plus a rare interview with george w. bush. >> i want to stay connected to the veteran community. i'm not going to be a very public. this is a rare interview with me. >> keeping america great. this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. big exclusive interviews tonight. the first will be with mr. ted turner. a tv pioneer and outspoken man. i want to know what he thinks of television, america, and his life today. plus a rare interview with george w. bush. tonight he talks about the cause closest to his heart. the country's veterans. >> after 9/11 millions volunteered. and they said i want to serve my country. and i don't view it as anything personal. i view it as we were all serving together. all part of a great cause. the cause of securing our country and liberty. >> exclusive interview 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'm 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 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 maddow and the others, would you do anything differently? >> i'd have to give it a lot of thought and study which i have not done because nobody has asked me to do it. and i value my time greatly. and i'm working on nuclear weapons trying to get rid of them and working on the climate and clean energy getting us to change over to clean energy and stabilize the population before the world's 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. >> do you think cnn should become -- and i'm fascinated, you're the guy that started this whole business. it was an amazing innovation at the time. others began similar versions, but do you think cnn should remain the impartial observer of news? >> yes. and cover the substantial news. that doesn't mean you don't cover hollywood and don't cover kidnappings and the sensational too. but the emphasis should be on hard news. i wanted cnn to be the "new york times" of the business. not the "daily news." and i thought 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 everyone turned to in times of a crisis, that was the most important position to hold. >> that is still true. there's no question. i've been here 16, 17 months now. when i first got here there were an avalanche of huge stories. when that happens, it is gratifying that the cnn ratings soar. the issue everyone wrestles with is what happens as we've had recently when there's a lengthy period of not much news. >> the world's a big place. and i'm out of the country a good bit traveling internationally. and i watch cnn international all over the world. i probably see it as much or more as cnn domestic. i think they're doing an excellent job. they're programming for the world. and i can understand the difficulty. programming for the u.s. audience here, 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 with the supreme court ruling that corporations can give unlimited amounts. that the moneyed interests are taking over the country. and there's too much disagreement and an argument between the parties. i believe in pulling together to make the country better rather than tearing it apart for partisan reasons. i think the country comes first. >> 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's he doing? >> i like him. i like him. he's had an extremely difficult job. i think he's done amazingly well. and he got his spirits up. and he never gets discouraged. and a particular leader that's leading us in time of great difficulty. >> if you were advising him and -- what would you tell him to be forceful about. where do you think he's not been strong enough? >> well, i would like to see -- his positions are good on the environment, but he put health care ahead of the energy bill. if he'd put the energy bill together, it would have gone through without the animosity that the health care bill engendered. so that was a mistake. it was good to get the health care bill through. i supported that as well as the energy bill. >> when you see american troops coming out of iraq and now coming out of afghanistan, a set timetable's been set down by the president. i assume you're pleased with that. >> i am. i was against the wars before they started. i've studied history a lot, and wars are not a good way to get things done. they've been a disaster for us. they caused a disaster for us. a trillion dollars over the period. afghanistan, a trillion. it's just crazy. >> is that really what america should have done rather than going in with men on the ground, big large groups of troops. actually say we're going to tackle the terrorists through special forces and intelligence and so on. >> i think war should be avoided at all costs. and we should do everything we can to get the united states to deal with conflicts before they -- people start resorting to violence. because violence just begets violence. it's easy to start wars and very difficult to stop them once they've gotten started. i think we got a renounce war. and have -- let the courts handle it. have arbitration at the united nations and let them handle it. and be bound by what those decisions are just like we do with the courts here in the united states. if everybody started shooting everybody they had a disagreement with, all we'd be doing is shooting each other. there's enough of that anyway. that doesn't accomplish anything except gets people shot and escalate into war. >> what would you do about iran if you were the american president? >> well, first of all i believe in total nuclear disarmament. that's the only way we're -- we all got to play by the same set of rules. we have 2,000 or several thousand nuclear weapons. iran has none at the current time. it's okay for israel to have a hundred, but not okay for iran to have two. that's -- you're not treating everybody equally. 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 our os and then iran will stop, i believe. because if everybody doesn't have them, then we're safe. at least safe from a nuclear attack. if we have full scale nuclear exchange, it's going to destroy life on earth. all life. maybe there'll be a few cockroaches left but that's all. i find that crazy. this is such a nice world. most of the people are nice here. if you treat people with dignity, respect, and kindness like i did we the russians and the soviets before them with the good will games. if you try and 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. but 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 creation of an alternative or cable subscriber. this new service will be called the cable news network and will have continuous national business news, sports, and features 24 hours a day. i know we will succeed and i pledge to you that we will not let the american public down. those surprising little things she does still make you take notice. there are a million reasons why. but your erectile dysfunction that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. they claim to be complete. only centrum goes beyond. providing more than just the essential nutrients, so i'm at my best. centrum. always your most complete. stand by. ready three. take three. roll tape. take three. ready camera three. >> good evening. i'm david walker. >> here's the news. >> that was from cnn's very first newscast on june 1st, 1980. back with me now, the man who created cnn, ted turner. what do you feel when you see that clip again? >> 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 with cnn? >> i wanted to better inform the world. >> you feel you succeeded? >> yes. you know how many news networks there are now? 24-hour news networks in the world? >> how many? >> over 100. >> is that right? >> every country's got one. you're not a country if you don't have one. people want instant information. they don't want to wait eight hours for information. they're used to getting information right now they need. >> there were three memorable moments you've highlighted which i want to remind you about and talk about. one was in 1987, baby jessica being rescued from the well. which resonated with you very personally. tell me why you love that story so well. >> i could have picked any other of a thousand stories but that one resonated and captured the imagination of america. everybody was pulling for jessica. she was down there for over a day. >> is it also one of those examples where good news can often be just as good as a story and rate just as well as a bad story. it's always about some disaster or something. come to the gulf war. the reason i like this is i was a young reporter in london. i remember watching 191. peter harnett and those guys literally on the front line with missiles flying over their heads reporting live. it was a dramatic thing. >> rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air. >> it was amazing. >> it was. >> let's play a clip. >> we're getting tape fed to us from jordan. this is the videotape shot by the cnn crew during the opening hours of the allied assault on the city of baghdad. air force general retired harry smith is with us in atlanta. general smith, 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 from the ninth floor of their hotel in baghdad. >> was that the story, the event that made you realize how big cnn could become? >> yes. that was the biggest story -- in my opinion, the biggest story we ever had. >> you defied the president. you kept your crew there. >> we had freedom of the press. and we had volunteers, peter arnett 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. >> i didn't say that. 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 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, all we did was televise what we saw. >> did it bring a greater truth the fact we were there. >> i think so. >> your third story that you singled out 9/11, the cnn coverage of that, what did that do to america? that moment? >> it shook us up. it was unbelievable. and watching it -- i was in my office and i glanced up and just after the first plane had gone in and i could see 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. i ran down to the newsroom. walter isakson was running cnn at the time. he came over from "time" magazine. good man and good friend of mine. headline news had stayed with its regular format. which was giving the ball scores and the stocks. a couple of times we had preempted that format when there was a big enough news story to warrant both. the story was so compelling. i said walter, have you thought about switching over headline news. 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 like pearl harbor. only being televised. >> i want to come back and talk to you about some of the great loves of your life. women, sale boats. sports teams. anything else you can think of. the great passions of ted turner after the break. ok! who gets occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. holding down the fort while you're out catching a movie. [ growls ] lucky for me, your friends showed up with this awesome bone. hey! you guys are great. and if you got your home insurance where you got your cut rate car insurance, it might not replace all this. [ electricity crackling ] [ gasping ] so get allstate. you could save money and be better protected from mayhem like me. [ dennis ] mayhem is everywhere. so get an allstate agent. are you in good hands? you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you wanted a firm bed you can lie on one of those. we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. wow, that feels really good! once you experience it, there's no going back. at the memorial day sale, save 40% on our innovative sleep number silver edition bed- plus receive special financing on selected beds through memorial day. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. 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. >> 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. you can't -- and there's nothing wrong with that. that's good. that's why people love their country. they love their planet. 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. got a billion or two left. you can get by on that if you economize. but i was worth seven or eight billion at one point. but you carry on. and i found other things to do. i'm working trying to help the united nations causes. both philanthropy and with my personal efforts. i've got a meeting to try to save the oceans. i'm on a committee to save the oceans. i'm on to finish poverty. i've got plenty of tough jobs. >> which of the three things that you lost, your fortune or most of it, jane fonda, or the job here -- >> you want me to rank them? >> yes. >> well -- >> which caused you -- >> i can't do that. i loved them all. >> which upset you the most? >> they all broke my heart. i just rallied. winners never quit. quitters never win. i just made the comeback. >> are you a better man for having experienced the loss? >> 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. you have to keep going. you can't give up in life. >> i saw you once say at the stage after the aol merger you saw it diminish $21 million a minute. >> no for three years. close to $10 billion. >> what does that feel like? >> it felt bad. but 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 because i was on the board. that cost my several hundred million dollars. but i had my honor at the end of it. which is not everybody in the media business can say. >> when 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 because we were making our budget and i was loyal to the management of the company. i mean, you read my book, i'm sure. i 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 do that. i had done a pretty good job. i was "time" man of the year. i was the only that worked there to get that honor. that's about as big an honor you can get. we were making a fabulous amount of money. >> you replaced jane for all intensive purposes which is a system. you had four girlfriends at any one time. most men will watch this and say how do you get away with that? >> with great difficulty. >> you must have a complicated schedule with these ladies. >> i do. >> and the women must be very tolerant. >> 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 to -- for them to keep up. i travel all the time. >> you said very movingly after you and jane split up you cried for six months. >> i didn't cry for six months but i was brokenhearted for at least that long. >> did you try and win her back? >> a little bit. but it looked like we were so far apart 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 -