Original subtitles

Larry King: If there is a true legend, it's Ted Turner.

Jane Fonda: An American hero, bigger than life.

speaker 1: He's an erratic genius.

Bono: The man is way more rock-and-roll than I am.

Bold and frequently controversial.

Ted Koppel: They called him "the Mouth from the South."

Ted Turner: Bull (bleep)! If people are doing something

that hurts all the rest of us,

then they shouldn't be doing it!

Christiane Amanpour: He believed way early in saving the climate.

Ted Turner: I'm willing to risk everything.

speaker 2: In a move that drew criticism,

Turner accepted an invitation to go to Cuba.

Diane Sawyer: Can you trust him?

Ted Turner: He trusted me. He gave me a loaded gun.

I could've shot him very easily.

speaker 3: Ted is a guy who would bet the farm.

Ted Turner: You got enough brains to save up

11 million bucks to buy it,

then you oughta be able to have enough brains

to go down there and run it, right?

Ronald Reagan: It's a great honor for me

to be here with you today to open the Goodwill Games.

speaker 4: He's Captain Courageous.

Ted Turner: I said to the crew, I said,

"20 people are gonna die tonight."

(thunder crashes)

Ted Turner, the well-known American yachtsman, is missing.

Ted Turner: Who thought the world needed 24/7 news? I did.

We had no employees, no set, no equipment.

- The satellite blew up. - (explosion blasts)

speaker 5: Clearly, I've never been there,

but it feels like we're in the center of Hell.

(stock market bell ringing)

Morley Safer: His marriage was breaking up.

speaker 6: The pressure was excruciating.

Terry McGuirk: This is the fight of his life.

speaker 7: You know you changed the world?

Ted Turner: Yeah, I know.

And I didn't know what I was gonna talk about,

until now.

(laughter)

(TV static)

I'm gonna say some things today

that I have never said in public before.

(film reel rattling, glitching)

(typing)

Basically, I just did the best that I could.

You know, I, I did the best that I could in my life. It's--

And, and, and really, you can't really fault someone

who really tried to do the best they could.

You know, that's-- you know,

what more can you ask of somebody

than, uh, than that?

I loved hunting and fishing,

and I mean, I've got-- I've got 50 guns.

You know, so, I mean, I, I believe in, uh,

the right to bear arms up to the teeth.

He did not let on about that night.

(insects chirping)

(typing)

(somber music playing)

(insects chirping)

♪

What haunted my dad was that his father

didn't love him enough

to avoid putting him through the pain and the damage

that he did to Dad for his whole life

by taking his life like that.

(echoing gunshot)

Ted Turner: I try to think about the things I was thankful for,

especially my family.

In my mind, almost like a slideshow,

I start with Laura and picture her

and her husband, then their kids.

Then, I'd go to Teddy, the next oldest,

and to the same with him and his family.

Once I'd worked through Rhett, Beau,

Jennie, and their children,

I'd go back in the reverse direction.

Picturing my family helped calm me

and cleared my head of worries.

(birds chirping)

He couldn't hurt us like his father had hurt him.

Well, thinking about how he would damage...

the kids, the grandkids, you know?

I do know that he,

he had a therapist, you know, for years,

and I think the therapist said, you know,

"Ted, you've gotta just focus on

"what you're grateful for because you've got--

As much as you've lost, you have so much to live for."

I just always considered Ted a survivor,

and somebody who could never do it, really,

because he, he really did love life.

Alan Horn: He told me at one point,

I was at his ranch, I think,

and I said, uh, "How are you?"

And he said, "Look,

"before the AOL merger, I was worth $11 billion,

and now, I'm worth two," he said.

I know no one's gonna feel sorry

for a person who's worth a couple of billion dollars.

But, it was 11.

It wasn't like, "Oh, gee, now I can't buy such and such,"

or, "I can't acquire--

you know, buy an island somewhere."

It wasn't about-- it wasn't about that.

It was about the opportunity that he would have lost,

or that he did lose, by not having

the kind of resources

that would enable him to, um,

change the world.

I decided that what would be really exciting to do,

donate a billion dollars to the UN causes myself.

Taylor Glover: Ted said to me,

"I wanna make sure I make up on all my commitments."

And I think we had about $800 million

worth of those commitments left on that billion-dollar pledge.

And so, the obligation was for $100 million a year.

- We basically did $25 million a quarter. - (cash register dings)

And interest rates were sort of high back then.

And we invested in US Treasury zero coupon bonds

to mature on every date that we had an obligation.

If something happened to him,

it was done, it was over, and it was honored.

And we did that,

we made sure all of the commitments were honored,

and then we went about our business with what we had left.

(explosion booms)

newsreel narrator 1: This is the Nuclear Age.

The age of the always present threat of instant

and total annihilation.

A few people laughed.

(bomb rumbling fades out)

A few people cried.

Most people were silent.

(sniffles)

I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture,

the Bhagavad Gita,

"Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

- (plane rumbling) - newsreel narrator 2: 8:15,

on the morning of August 6th, 1945,

a single plane carrying a single bomb

opened the age we now live in.

(explosion booms)

- (typing) - (wind blowing)

(typing continues)

Sam Nunn: Einstein said,

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought,

"but I'm confident World War IV will be fought

with sticks and stones."

It's with great hope and anticipation

that we address you today about the initiative

that Senator Nunn and I are launching.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative is the product

of months of discussions and consultations

with dozens of the world's most respected security experts.

The threat that we face from nuclear weapons

and other weapons of mass destruction is real.

Like everyone else,

we thought that when the Cold War ended,

we no longer had to worry about nuclear annihilation.

In many ways, the threat has become

more complex and dangerous.

In addition to the risk of nuclear exchange,

we now have serious and urgent concerns

about the security of weapons and bomb-making materials.

We are threatened by the risk of proliferation of these weapons.

Senator Nunn has agreed to join me in these efforts,

and we are proud to announce that he has accepted

the position of co-chairman

of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

We can think of no better person to lead this effort.

Senator Nunn, as we all know,

is one of the world's most respected security experts.

The initiative Ted has asked me to lead,

which we're calling the Nuclear Threat Initiative,

is committed to the mission of strengthening global security

by reducing the risk of nuclear

and other weapons of mass destruction

and by preventing their spread.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991,

the world has faced a challenge without precedent in history.

The collapse of an empire containing thousands of nuclear,

chemical, and biological weapons

and thousands of tons of the materials needed

to make additional such weapons.

In addition, tens of thousands of scientists and engineers

who know how to make these weapons

have a very hard time figuring out

how they're going to provide the basic necessities

for their families.

Ted has been very generous in assuring us

that, uh, we will have a floor,

a minimum of at least $50 million a year

for the next five years.

And I-- he is a man of his word.

We're not trying to lock him up in a legal contract

where we immediately sue if we get one penny less than that.

Uh, that's not the nature of the relationship.

I believe him. I trust him.

Uh, he is absolutely dedicated to this purpose,

and I'm sure that we will have that kind of budget.

Uh, I'm sure that he also watches, uh,

his holdings on the stock market,

uh, every now and then in determining his philanthropy,

and we can all hope that, uh, Time Warner and AOL

- do well in the future. And I, I think-- - (laughter)

(shutters snapping)

And the 250 million, long story short,

we were given the stock when it was $50 a share, as I recall,

and it went down to $10 a share.

(stock market bell ringing)

So, he put up 250 million,

became worth about 75 million,

and, um, uh, that lasted us long enough

to get other, uh, contributors to really come,

come to the table,

including, most significantly, Warren Buffett.

Ted's a believer.

He believes he can stop nuclear proliferation.

He believes he can do something to impact global warming.

I mean, this is a guy who really believes

he can make a difference.

And that is so unusual in this world.

And he does it with integrity.

So, I-I think that's--

that's what makes him so unique.

I never got the network here in the United States

that I wanted, one of the major networks,

but I'm very close to getting one in Russia.

You know, so--

- And I'll just move over there, goddammit. - (laughter)

And I'll keep on truckin' because Russia needs me

a lot more than the United States does anyway.

John Malone: Well, I know later on,

he had two TV stations over there that,

that followed the breakdown of the Soviet Union.

And I-- uh...

I believe one of them, curiously enough,

was, uh, was with Putin

in St. Petersburg.

And I don't know the exact timing on this,

but, but it says, Putin took on the oligarchs,

you know, one of which was Vladimir Kaczynski.

Uh, he reached out to Ted to purchase NTV,

and he was being forced to sell,

and Ted dispatched me over there to negotiate.

And it was interesting because, uh,

my negotiations were...

uh...

with Gazprom.

I remember when I was on the Cato board,

uh, they had some free enterprise gathering,

and Putin made the comment of, uh--

somebody went up to him and said,

"You know, freedom of the press is an important part

of a capitalist society."

And Putin said, uh,

"Well, it hasn't hurt the Chinese any."

The absence of freedom of the press, so...

I kinda had concluded when I did leave that, uh,

they had all the cards, and I had none. (laughs)

I was hold-- I was holding a poor hand,

and it was time for me to leave.

And it was, uh, actually the last time I'd been to Russia.

But, I know that, uh, Russia became a pretty dangerous place,

and I think Ted eventually decided to pull out.

Jimmy Brown: When we was kids, I mean...

I mean, going to elementary school and all,

I mean, uh, we had to, uh,

we had to come home in the afternoon,

cut the wood, get the water.

You know, we didn't have running water.

We didn't have all that kind of stuff, you know.

And Jimmy came to me and he says,

"I got some stock. I want you to help me

figure out what to do with it."

I said, "Good, Jimmy. Come on by the office."

So, he came up to see me,

and he presented these stock certificates,

old stock certificates.

I said, "Where'd you get these, Jimmy?"

And he said, "Well, I loaned Ted

- $10,000." - (cash register dings)

And I said, "Wow, let me figure out what this is worth."

- It was worth well over a million, closer to two. - (cash register dinging)

And I said, "Jimmy, this is great." I said,

"This is like a rags-to-riches story.

"This is, this is really phenomenal.

Your friendship has, has created this amount of wealth for you."

And Jimmy said, "You don't understand."

He said, "When I, when I loaned this to Ted,

He was broke." (laughs) He said,

"I didn't expect to get anything back. I-I risked this money."

And I said, "Well, you're right. You, you deserve it."

And he says, "When I'm gone, I wanna leave it to a foundation."

And he said, "I want to educate

"one white kid and one Black kid

and rotate back and forth."

And I said, "Man, that's-- let me get you in touch with a lawyer.

That's just great, Jimmy."

He was really Ted's closest friend

or, you know, just closest...

I don't know what to call Jimmy. He was everything.

He was great.

(player yelling in Maori)

presenter 1: Cappy Pongia doing the haka.

(crowd cheering)

(slapping)

(chanting in Maori)

(team joins in)

(chanting continues)

(beating palms)

(chanting continues)

- (chanting stops) - (crowd cheering)

presenter 1: Well, don't the crowd love it?

presenter 2: That is good stuff, isn't it?

presenter 1: The Kiwis laying down

the traditional Maori challenge.

(triumphant music playing)

Ted Turner: At the end of August, I flew to Brisbane, Australia,

for our 5th Summer Goodwill Games.

And as our coverage of the Goodwill Games continues

here at (indistinct) Beach, I'm Ernie Johnson,

joined by the guy who created the Goodwill Games,

- Ted Turner. Good to see you again. - Great to see you.

What was the decision-making process that said,

- "Hey, let's go to Australia"? - Well,

- part of it was money. - (Ernie laughs)

- I'm stunned. - (both laugh)

The burning question on everybody's mind,

the future of the Goodwill Games.

Well, it's, uh,

it's-it's really too early, too early to say.

The top management at AOL Time Warner

i-is not gonna make a final decision

until they, uh, see the results of the--

results of the games.

Are you trying to sell them on it?

Well, of course. I've-- You know,

I've been a great believer in the Goodwill Games.

- (birds chirping) - (snake softly hissing)

I can hold a snake. You know, it's no big deal.

It's... kinda... scary. (laughs)

But if you've handled one snake, you've handled them all.

And you have in the course of your career, I would imagine.

- Well, thank you, Ernie. - (chuckles) Alright.

- It's a real pleasure. - It's been great to see you again.

Thank you so much for spending some time here,

and here's a photo opportunity for the ages.

(triumphant music playing)

Ted Turner: As I made the long flight back to Atlanta,

I tried to rest, reflecting on

all that had happened over the past 20 months.

But, on that evening of September 9th, 2001,

I tried to convince myself

that things could only get better.

Carol Lin: It is 8 a.m. in Salisbury, North Carolina,

7 a.m. in Chicago,

5 a.m. in Calaveras County, California,

where the news is being made

on this Tuesday, September 11th.

From CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN Live At Daybreak.

- Good morning, I'm Vince Cellini. - And I'm Carol Lin.

Ted Turner: On the morning of September 11th, 2001,

I was in my CNN Center office

with my television tuned in to CNN.

- director: Camera two. - Carol Lin: Yeah.

This just in, you are looking at, obviously,

a very disturbing live shot there.

That is the World Trade Center,

and we have unconfirmed reports this morning

that a plane has crashed

into one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

CNN Center right now is just beginning to work on this story.

Ted Turner: CNN began showing images of smoke

coming out of one of the World Trade Center towers.

The initial report said it might have been

a small plane accident.

Vince Cellini: Well, you can see these pictures

it's obviously, uh,

something devastating has happened.

And again, unconfirmed report

that a plane has crashed into one of the towers there.

We are efforting more information on this subject

as it becomes available to you.

Ted Turner: I had trouble understanding how a crash like that

could happen in downtown Manhattan.

- reporter: People are running, hold on. - anchor: Hold on just a moment.

We got an explosion inside the--

reporter: The building's exploding right now!

- You got people running up the street! - anchor: Okay--

reporter: I don't know what the hell is going on!

Ted Turner: Then I saw on my monitor

another plane go into the second tower

and instantly thought, we're at war.

anchor: One of our producers said

perhaps a second plane was involved.

Ted Turner: I felt like I was watching Pearl Harbor live.

(indistinct frenzied chatter)

I immediately went downstairs to the CNN studios

to offer what support and encouragement that I could.

I ran into Walter Isaacson, who had replaced Tom Johnson

as the CEO of CNN,

and suggested that he should put the regular CNN feed

on Headline News as well.

- Are we running this on all the network? - Yeah.

(overlapping chatter)

- Override Headline News, and-- - Walter Isaacson: We did.

Headline is going with it, but also Airport

- is going with the-- - Ted Turner: Good, absolutely.

Isaacson: Yeah, Airport's on his post tonight, so we will--

That's good.

What do you think about the entertainment report?

Isaacson: Uh, I don't think it's necessary.

I think every, you know, I think there are 12 networks now running this,

- and I just don't-- - Ted Turner: Right, I-I know there's enough.

I just-- It's just a thought.

- It was an airplane-- - Right.

Um, the State Department's on fire, and, um--

Ted Turner: How the fire started there?

(indistinct overlapping chatter)

Has anything else happened in New York?

Is there another fire?

One of the Twin Towers fell over.

Ted Turner: One of the towers fell?!

staff member: About from the point where it was hit, so--

The smoke-- Oh, that's what--

that's why the smoke's on the--

- No! God, the-- - And we have some people,

CNN people, who are unaccounted for who may have been hit

- by the building collapse. - Excuse me.

They, they were down there in the street?

(indistinct overlapping chatter)

Well, you know, I, I wonder if this gonna be any bigger than this?

- It could-- - Could be.

Who could do this?

There are any number of terrorist groups because--

No country would dare do it.

- I mean... - You're right.

- ...the nuclear response. - Right.

I mean, we could blow 'em off the face of the earth.

- It's gotta be a terrorist group. - Yes, sir.

- Like the Taliban or something. - Yes, sir.

But, it's gotta be a big one. I mean, pretty big, right?

- Absolutely. - This is a gigantic operation,

- and we had no inkling of it, right? - No.

- Was there any warning at all? - No, sir.

- No rumors or...? - No, sir.

(overlapping chatter)

speaker: Jody? Who was the mayor during the World Trade Center bombing?

He was a former-- He was a former deputy mayor.

(overlapping chatter)

Jody: Randy Mastro. Randy Mastro, the Deputy Mastro.

(rumbling)

reporter 1: There has just been a huge explosion.

We can see, uh, a billowing smoke rising.

There was a cascade of sparks and fire

and now, this--

It looks almost like a mushroom cloud explosion.

It's huge.

And I, you know, I cannot see behind that smoke,

obviously, as you can't either.

The first tower in front has not changed.

And we see this extraordinarily and frightening scene

behind us of this second tower

now just encased in smoke.

Reports now of major fire at the Pentagon

and that the Pentagon is being evacuated.

reporter 2: Capitol building has been evacuated.

reporter 3: We're told that there was a credible threat

on the White House as well.

reporter 4: The White House is being evacuated.

reporter 5: And the Treasury Department has been evacuated,

striking at the heart of the national government.

reporter 6: All airports across the country,

every airport in the United States,

has been shut down.

A report now, it was a plane that crashed into the Pentagon.

As the FAA and the government tries to figure out

exactly what has happened,

what is at risk, who is behind it,

are there more attacks yet to come?

- (distant rumble) - And there, as you can see,

perhaps the second tower, the front tower,

the top portion of which is collapsing.

(rumbling)

Good Lord.

There are no words.

You can see large pieces of the building falling.

You can see the smoke rising.

You can see a portion of the, the side of the building now

just being covered, on the right side,

as I look at it, covered in smoke.

This is just a horrific scene and a horrific moment.

(distant sirens)

The president, who was in Florida today,

is en route back to the White House.

He took off a short time ago.

The White House itself has been evacuated

on the basis of what the Secret Service says

was a credible threat on the mansion itself.

(siren whooping)

We believe now that we can say that both,

that portions of both towers

of the World Trade Center have collapsed.

staff member 1 (on phone): We saw most of the senior staff come out.

We have not seen the security staff

that we would recognize, anyway, but...

- (sirens blaring) - (overlapping chatter)

staff member 2: Do it now! Do it now.

(chaotic chatter continues)

(overlapping chatter)

- No, we don't. We do not. - staff member 3: Seems like you're better now?

staff member (on phone): People began yelling, "Run, run."

Make sure you heard about that plane in the air!

We got a guy who says there's another plane in the air in DC.

staff member 4: I got it! We got it. We got it.

We see helicopters circling the area.

dispatch (on phone): United 9-3, have you got information on that yet?

caller (on phone): Yeah, he's down.

- dispatch: He's down? - caller: Yes.

- dispatch: When did he land? - caller: He did not land!

- dispatch: Oh, he's down-down? - caller: Yes, somewhere up northeast of Camp David.

reporter (on TV): ...has crashed in Pennsylvania. Now, I don't--

(audio cuts)

(indistinct chatter in control room)

Ted Turner: The plane didn't-- and the pilots,

- didn't turn it over to terrorists. - Right.

(overlapping indistinct chatter)

staff member: Alright, alright. Mike. Mike?

Ted Turner: Now, but we're pretty north even as it is. Yeah.

(chatter becomes slightly muffled)

reporter (on monitor): ...has now been evacuated...

Ted Turner: As tragic as those events were,

it was gratifying to once again see

CNN performing at such a high level

and at such a critical moment.

Debbie Masterson: His good ideas didn't stop

just because he-- his name wasn't on some org chart

or, you know,

he didn't officially have that responsibility.

The, you know, the passion and the caring was there.

- (overlapping chatter) - (phones ringing)

Ted Turner: CNN didn't report to me anymore,

and it was a strange feeling to be on the outside

looking in at this company

that I had helped create.

Horn: I can't imagine what it was like for Ted

to have created CNN,

it was his brainchild,

have it flourish, sell it,

and then somehow be out of the picture

as he's directing something like coverage of 9/11.

I can't even imagine this.

Here's a guy who had a global platform

with great respect, great respect,

who could have used it

to inform, educate people

about issues that really critically,

I mean, in his mind,

critically important for the future.

And it was snuffed out.

It was, it was taken away from him.

(control room chatter swells, stops abruptly)

I retired in '01 when we did the AOL merger.

Then I stepped in a year, a year-and-a-half later,

and started running the Braves day to day.

You know, I'll always be thankful for the faith

he put in me to allow him to be able to depend on me.

And, uh, so, we, we had a great partnership

through all of that period.

I have made a judgment,

which I, I believe to be correct,

that going forward,

the Time Warner shareholders will be ex-- much better off

owning 45% of AOL Time Warner

- than 100% of Time Warner. - (camera shutters snapping)

Ted Turner: After months of portraying our company

as nearly invincible,

in late September,

Jerry and Steve confessed to investors

that they weren't going to make the numbers

for the third quarter.

The market responded,

driving the stock down to a new low.

I don't think Ted was necessarily seeking revenge.

He saw an opportunity at one point to remove Levin.

Ted Turner: When I requested updates or reports on corporate issues,

I rarely got what I asked for.

In the board meeting the next day, I was more restrained.

And then, Ted stormed in and fireworks flew,

and he held nothing back.

And so, that was a, that was a powerful meeting.

And I, I knew pretty well then

Levin was toast.

My colleague, best friend,

and new partner, Ted Turner. Ted?

- (laughs) Alright. Well... - (applause)

Glover: Ted liked Jerry Levin early on, and then,

and then, people's opinion change,

especially when you feel like

you did get a knife in the back.

And I think he felt like he got a knife in the back.

And you know what? I share that feeling, but...

Ted Turner: Jerry announced his resignation in December,

explaining that he would officially leave the company

in May of 2002.

- (slot machine jackpot ringing, coins rattle) - (applause)

I wanted to do one last entrepreneurial thing.

I'm starting a restaurant chain.

I'm-I'm-- Ted's Montana Grill.

Basically, they're gonna be a bison--

specializing in bison burgers and, uh, bison meat products.

We're gonna see if it works.

I'm, I'm hopeful that, that it does

because I've got 32,000 bison,

- and, um... - (audience laughter)

I'm trying to move some meat, you know? I--

- (audience laughing) - (Ted laughs)

Malone: And that's Ted.

He's afraid that he goes out

with a failure at the end,

whether it's AOL or not, okay?

That he goes out a failure,

and that his original success was a fluke.

And therefore, "I'm gonna go start

"some other unrelated business, and I'm gonna promote it,

"and I'm gonna make it a success in a tough space,

"because I'm not a fluke.

"Because I know what I'm doing, I'm good at it,

and I can do this."

And I think that was really

his attitude about the restaurant business.

- (audience laughter) - You're, you're raising the bison,

and, and you had-- you, uh, to--

to feed the Montana Grills that you've opened.

- Is that how it works? - Well, I'm raising--

raising the bison 'cause I really like 'em,

but when I got up to 42,000,

I had to start doing something with them

- because they keep breeding. - (laughter)

So, we had to--

- We had to eat some of 'em. - (audience laughing)

You know, like, this, this business plan

doesn't look like it makes any sense to me.

And he says, "Hey, pal." He says,

"We got three foundations, right?

"Got three nonprofits.

"We got United Nations Foundation.

"We got Nuclear Threat Initiative. We got Turner Foundation.

"What's wrong with having a fourth,

a nonprofit restaurant?"

(laughs) That's Ted!

So, uh, he said, "We're gonna make it profitable one day,"

and, uh, we did, so...

Ted Turner: I love these animals, and while it took me a while

to warm to the idea of serving them as food,

I grew to realize that the best way

to ensure that bison would increase

was to get more people to eat them.

Glover: I think that Ted's views are sustainability,

but also economic sustainability.

We talk about that a lot,

and since he's such a good businessman

and such a good conservationist,

marrying those two is something

that we deem essential going forward.

George McKerrow: By making them commercial,

there's a reason for ranchers to have them.

Once we do that, the gene pool starts to expand.

We've doubled the size of the herd.

David Letterman: You mind if I run down a couple of the menu items?

How many Montana Grills are there now?

- There are 40. - Forty.

Now, here's something called

the fried bison innard sampler, 3.29.

(audience laughing, groaning)

"A heaping stack of bisony nuggets

- served with assorted dipping sauces." - Mm.

- "Happy entrails to you." - That's-- You put that on there!

- (audience laughter) - Letterman: It's right there, Ted.

Right there.

- (laughter increases) - (applause)

You got me.

(applause fades out)

(car rumbling)

In December of 2003,

Taylor Glover and I were driving to a planning meeting

for Ted's Montana Grill

when Debbie Masterson called me

with the news that Jimmy Brown had died.

He was 79 years old

and had been ill for some time,

but his passing was still a surprise and a shock.

(birds chirping)

Sitting there in the car, tears streamed down my face,

and instinctively, I started to sing a song

I used to sing to Jimmy,

"The Three Bells." The words go like this.

The Browns: ♪ From the village ♪

- ♪ Hidden deep in the valley ♪ - (birds chirping)

♪ One rainy morning, dark and gray ♪

♪ A soul winged its way to Heaven ♪

♪ Jimmy Brown had passed away ♪

♪ Bum, bum, bum, bum ♪

♪ Just a lonely bell was ringing ♪

- (vocalizing) - ♪ In the little valley town ♪

♪ 'Twas farewell that it was singing ♪

- (vocalizing) - ♪ To our good old Jimmy Brown ♪

(song fades out)

He never quit.

He never had a day off.

You know, never went on vacation.

One time, I was out, um,

visiting Ted in Montana, and, uh...

it was dark outside, and it was blowing,

and it was snowing,

- and it was a blizzard. - (wind blowing)

And so, I said to Jimmy,

"How do you like being out here in Montana?"

You know, it's not exactly his natural element

'cause he was from Savannah. And he...

he said, "Well, I tell you, Mr. Pete."

He made sure that there wasn't anybody else coming or around.

He said,

"I'd rather be a lamppost in Savannah, Georgia,

than be mayor of Montana."

When you would go to Avalon, where Jimmy lived,

you know, you wouldn't go to the big house first.

You know? You'd go to Jimmy's house first.

And then you'd sit and have a soda and talk with Jimmy

and see what's going on in the world.

And he knew everything about everything, you know?

He knew the problems in the world.

He knew... politics. He knew racism.

He knew, like, a lot of...

Who we were, in a lot of different ways,

came from, um, Jimmy.

And he was just a super wise man

who you wanted to spend time with

and wanted to talk to.

(Dixieland jazz-style "When the Saints Go Marching In" playing)

Ted Turner: As Jimmy had requested,

we had a New Orleans-style procession of musicians

and a horse-drawn casket.

My entire family was there for his funeral.

And Jane Fonda flew in as well.

He'd had a huge impact on her,

just as he had on everyone he'd ever met.

Pretty sure that it's the first funeral I ever went to.

So, it was a time in my life

where I was old enough to understand

what his passing meant.

And it was very emotional for my parents.

It was very emotional for my grandpa

and my aunts and uncles.

When my brother was little, um, my parents would say,

"It takes a village to raise a kid,"

and he said, "No, it takes an army."

And I think for my mom and my grandpa,

it was less of an army and less of a village,

and it was just Jimmy Brown.

And I think without Jimmy Brown, we--

our family wouldn't be together like it was.

("The Three Bells" by The Browns playing)

Masterson: Ted started singing the Jimmy Brown song and,

and became broken up.

And there were a lot of people

who knew it and joined in and chimed in.

And, and it was sang and, and, and you know,

it was a unifying, uh, time.

And, and it was such a-- it was just a beautiful tribute.

I basically learned about, uh,

being a good parent from Jimmy.

I learned about being a good sailor from Jimmy,

about being a good fisherman from Jimmy,

about being a hunter from Jimmy,

about being an honest, decent person from Jimmy,

about caring about people from Jimmy...

Well, a whole lot.

Looking back, I enjoyed every minute.

♪ May his soul find the salvation ♪

And if I could do it over again, I'd do the same thing.

I mean, I don't have no regrets whatsoever.

Ted Turner: Jim, I love you like crazy.

(stock market bell clanging)

reporter: AOL Time Warner reporter losses

of $98 billion for the 2002 year,

making it the largest annual net loss

in US corporate history.

And it's just that synergistic failure

that has caused AOL Time Warner to suffer massive losses.

This past year alone, the company announced

they had lost an astonishing

$99... billion!

(audience laughter)

We are here to announce significant developments

in the continuing corporate fraud investigation

involving America Online.

presenter: "Washington Post" reporter Alec Klein

explains what happened.

It became clear that what was happening

was that AOL was inflating its advertising revenue,

both before its merger with Time Warner and after.

It was interesting because these deals helped AOL

show, uh, growth, incredible growth,

which was very important

as he was trying to clinch this merger.

Uh, if, if AOL had actually shown

some of the financial weakness it was having at this time,

it could've jeopardized the deal.

Time Warner could've pulled out of the merger.

Uh, anyway, so before the stories ran,

I had to tell AOL what I had found.

So, in short order, AOL went ballistic over this,

and they claimed that I didn't understand

the information I was looking at.

And they said that it'd be a big mistake

if we ran these stories.

Uh, so, they hired a high-powered law firm

to kill the stories before they appeared.

And we ended up publishing the stories last July.

Bob Pittman, who was the chief operating officer of the company,

resigned that day, the first day of our series.

Then, AOL admitted

that the Securities and Exchange Commission

was investigating its accounting

because of our stories.

Then, AOL confirmed that the Justice Department

was investigating as well.

And then, in short order,

AOL admitted that it had, in fact,

inflated its revenue by $49 million.

Then, they said the number grew to $190 million,

and they ended up, uh, revising

about two years of its financial results.

In a criminal complaint that was filed today

in the eastern district of Virginia,

the government has charged AOL

with aiding and abetting securities fraud.

I mean, Time Warner had the best law firms

that New York had to offer.

How could they possibly have been snookered...

(laughs) pardon the expression, like they were?

I mean, it's just...

I-I don't understand it.

Ted Turner: Throughout my career,

I had always run the company aggressively.

But, I always demanded that we be honest.

Glover: One thing he's always been is honest, and,

as the day is long, and overly honest.

And to be associated with a company now

that, uh, had, uh, had accounting schemes going on

that were, uh, not only questionable but were wrong.

Yeah, they rolled 'em.

Problem was, they merged them with a company that was,

that was vaporware,

and... (laughs) and, and evaporated.

Turner will retain his post until May,

when he will step down to, as a spokesman says,

"Focus more on his nonprofit organizations."

Which sort of begs the question,

how much more nonprofit can you get

- than AOL Time Warner?! - (audience laughter)

- (cheering and applause) - 99 billion! D'oh!

Ted Turner: It was time for me to move on.

But, as I contemplated this move,

something still didn't feel right.

I had lost all this money,

been fired from my job,

and now I was going to resign from the company.

Steve Case: We announced the merger

to create the first global media and communications company

of the internet century, AOL Time Warner.

Ted Turner: While the mastermind of this disastrous merger,

Steve Case was still the company's chairman.

And so, he began to work with other institutional investors

to oust Steve Case

because he felt Steve Case, as the head of AOL,

should have known what was going on.

So, uh, as you probably know,

Steve Case ended up resigning in January as a result,

in part of this.

And it's kind of incredible 'cause it's three years later,

and the largest merger in US history,

all the key players are gone.

Ted Turner: I made the announcement

that our annual shareholders meeting in May

would be my last.

It was nice that the event was held in Atlanta.

They played a flattering video of my career

and gave me a warm send-off.

- (audience laughing) - There's nothing worse than being old and broke,

particularly when you've been old and rich, you know?

Not good.

Hard to get a job when you're over 65, I know. I--

Before I started the restaurant business,

I went out to see, and nobody made me an offer.

They said, "You're too old."

You live by the sword, you die by it.

Anyway, what it's done

is free, free up my time

to work on philanthropy and trying to make the world,

uh, a better place.

Pan-Global Oil keeps dumping sludge into the Atlantic Ocean.

That burns my ass!

Forget it, Ted. There's nothing you can do.

Maybe I can't,

but Captain Planet can!

- (foreboding music playing) - Captain Planet!

- Captain Planet! - (yelps)

Yeah, let's sludge the hell outta the Grand Canyon.

- Yeah. Is that Ted Turner? - (whirring)

boss 1: I think it is. The hell's he doing?

boss 2: I don't know. He's on one of those zip lines.

- Oh, yeah. Is that what they're called? Zip lines? - Yeah, zip lines.

- Yeah, I always thought it was-- Ah! - Captain Planet!

You got glass in my eye!

- (bear roars) - Sam Donaldson: And just look at what else

Turner wouldn't mind restoring here.

(roars)

How about the most fearsome creature

on the North American continent,

Ursus horribilis, the grizzly bear.

If there were grizzly bears here, it would make me happy.

Well, the grizzly, of course, if it encounters a human

in a certain condition, kills it.

That's exactly right.

And, in my opinion,

that's just a risk that we, uh, we have to take.

Donaldson: Turner's environmental master plan

also includes reviving prairie dog colonies

and bringing back the black-footed ferret.

Already, he's rebuilt and restored

miles of riverbanks and stream beds,

so crucial to the survival of native species of trout.

Ted Turner: And another thing that we're doing

at the Turner Foundation, we're one of many people,

we-we've started, uh,

what we call an Energy Futures Coalition

that, um, includes the coal companies,

the automobile companies.

It includes the environmental organizations

and the industries that, that are affected

working together to come up with

an alternate energy program for the United States,

so we can move away from our dependence on fossil fuel,

both because we need to do it

from an environmental standpoint,

and we need to do it from a peace and security standpoint.

(audience laughing)

- (laughs) - I surrender.

I, I work on nuclear weapons.

I'ma let you take care of the tax.

- How about a carbon tax? - It's too goddamn complicat--

No, I am for a carbon tax.

I think we should have a, a carbon tax

and refund it, uh, to-- on people's income tax.

- Ralph Nader: Okay. - I think the polluter should pay

because if the polluter's paying,

he's got more of an incentive to cut back on the pollution.

With coal, you know you're gonna get killed,

and, and, and with nuclear, you have a chance of getting killed.

But, at least you have a chance of not getting killed, either.

One of the problems with, uh, with our form of government,

and, and really, it's a, it's a flaw in ourselves,

is that we're not real good at dealing with problems

that are way off in the future.

We're real good with dealing--

You know, as soon as 9/11 happened,

I mean, we got the Department of Homeland Security,

and everybody's running around trying to,

well, see that it doesn't happen again.

I agree. That's great.

- (laughter) - Thank you.

- Oh! Mamma Mia! - Safer: Whoa!

Ted Turner: That's a real nice fish.

Safer: Life is good for Ted Turner.

He's not your average old age pensioner.

This most restless of men jets around the world...

- Here we go. - Safer: ...promoting good causes,

dreaming up new business ventures,

and dropping in on his dozens of properties

scattered about the hemisphere.

But, you still have a lot of girlfriends.

I still have... some.

- (snickers) - I'm dating.

Ted Turner: But I really had a great time.

I've had a great life, and I'm having a great life right now.

In America, we've emphasized that, uh,

how much money you have and how much you spend

is what determines how happy you are.

That's not right.

The thing that really determines your happiness

is your relationships.

With your family, with your friends.

His legacy is his kids, for sure.

♪

Fonda: As he's aging,

he wants to know...

(voice breaking) that he will go out

with the love of his children and his grandchildren--

(sighs, whispers)

That may not always have been important to him,

but it's important to him now,

and so he's doing what he needs to do.

Ted Turner: I don't need any more stuff.

- (soft laughter) - Only thing I tell my family,

'cause they wanna get you Christmas presents,

is the one thing I do like,

the only thing that I can use more of

is framed photographs of my grandchildren,

and children.

We're gonna have dinner tonight, huh?

- Yeah, that's true. (indistinct) - I think-- Yes, sir. Thank you.

- Will you shake my hand? - (laughs)

I decided that what would be really exciting to do,

donate a billion dollars to the UN causes myself.

(applause, cheering)

I mean, who wants to miss a night with Ted Turner?

Not me. The man is way more rock-and-roll than I am.

Even now. Unpredictable. Uncompromising.

Genius innovator. Yes!

Especially at birthday parties.

And you've two tonight.

Ted's, who's about to turn 80.

Happy birthday, your dudeness.

And his baby, the UN Foundations,

which is turning 20.

Oh, these kids, they grow up fast!

Ted Turner: Tim and his team have accomplished a great deal

in the years since we created the UN Foundation.

I'm particularly proud of the work

that we've done to fight malaria,

a preventable and treatable disease

that kills more than one million people every year.

One person dies from malaria every 30 seconds.

Now, I've known Ted

since the earliest days of our work together

in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

UN Foundation's become

the UN's strategic partner, uh, since that time,

connecting the UN to activists like myself,

and individuals, businesses, philanthropists,

that when working together can,

must drive progress

on some of the biggest challenges of our time.

(soft music playing)

He is one of these

larger-than-life personalities

who is also down to earth.

So, he dreams, he dreams big,

but he dreams whilst he's awake.

reporter: And over the years, his own Turner Foundation

has awarded countless grants.

Ted has allowed us to give

over $363 million

in order to make this world a better place.

(crowd cheering)

Barack Obama: And we must pursue constructive relations with Russia

on issues of common concern.

Now, one of those issues that I'll focus on today

is fundamental to the security of our nations

and to the peace of the world.

That's the future of nuclear weapons

in the 21st century.

The existence of thousands of nuclear weapons

is the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War.

Nunn: Well, I think we wouldn't be stretching modesty too far

if we said that NTI played a big role

in what became the Prague speech

because we have been advocating

getting nuclear materials under control.

Today, the Cold War has disappeared.

But, thousands of those weapons have not.

In a strange turn of history,

the threat of global nuclear war has gone down,

but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up.

(somber music playing)

More nations have a-acquired these weapons.

Testing has continued.

Black market trade in nuclear secrets

and nuclear materials abound.

The technology to build a bomb has spread.

Terrorists are determined to buy, build, or steal one.

Obama went to the United Nations.

They passed a Security Council resolution with Russia

and the United States both participating.

I believe Ted went to that meeting.

I went to it.

Uh, and we basically sat there and watched,

and a lot of that had come right out of NTI.

I don't know how many years I've got left,

and I wanna live long enough

to see global nuclear disarmament.

Goddammit, that's what I want,

and I'm asking the rest of y'all to help me. That's--

- (laughter) - That's what I want for my 80th birthday.

(applause)

I said, "Well, there's some golf courses,

and there's some other things on my bucket list I wanna do."

And Turner, who's more deaf than I am,

he said, "What'd you say, Dames?"

I said, "I have some things on my bucket list

that I do wanna do now that my knee is fixed."

And he said, "Your what?"

I said, "My bucket list!"

And he said, "Your fuck it list?"

I said, "No, Ted. I said, Ted,

that I have some things on my bucket list."

And he said, "I don't know what that is."

I said, "Well, people who aren't billionaires

"and who've not done everything that there is to do in life

"and have maybe a few things they wanna do

before they kick the bucket."

I said, "That's a bucket list."

And he looked perplexed.

And I get on my walker and...

(laughs)

and hobble into the bathroom.

And when I get through,

I open the door,

and I'm startled because Turner's standing there.

And we're-- (laughs) we're nose to nose.

He said, "I've got a bucket list, Dames.

I didn't realize what you were talking about."

He said, "I'm gonna make it

"so that none of the little kids in the world go hungry.

I'm going to ban nuclear weapons."

I said, "Well,

"most people have a bucket list of things

"that they actually think they can achieve,

"like playing a certain golf course,

"or any number of things you can do

"that may be difficult to do,

but if you work at it, you can do 'em."

- I can't, my memory-- - (laughter)

That's another thing as you get older.

- Yeah. - I'm 71. Your memory goes.

- (scattered laughter) - And, and, and...

I, I can't hear,

I can't smell, and I can't see.

But, I've still got taste and feel left.

And you can get by with that. I mean, you know.

(audience laughter)

I memorized, um...

At, at, at, at that time, I, I...

I'm trying to remember the, the name of the, um...

the book about the, um,

guy that's in, in, in a dungeon...

and in the dark, and, um...

- audience member: "The Count of Monte Cristo"? - host: Is it, "The Count--"

- "The Count of Monte Cristo." - host: That's what I was thinking, yeah.

And something else bad happened,

but I can't remember what it was.

My memory at 71 has gotten so bad

that I can't remember whether I got Alzheimer's or...

- What's the other one? - (laughter)

Parkinson's or Alzheimer's!

- (Ted laughs) - (applause)

Couple of friends said, "Well,

"you might not be here for your 80th, and, um,

"and, and certainly some of your friends won't be,

so you better go ahead and do it."

So, that's what I did.

(applause)

(applause dies down)

(laughs) Wow.

They said this was gonna be a big deal, and it really was.

(laughter)

Anyway, but I, I, I do, um,

I do miss it. I really, really do.

And, um,

this has been a, a real shot in the arm for me,

and I'm probably gonna live a few more years

- because of tonight. - (laughter)

Thank you. Thank you all.

(applause)

(cheering)

(audience fades out)

CNN reporter: This is CNN Breaking News.

So, um, I hate to have to report this.

The breaking news just in at CNN

is that actor Robin Williams is dead at the age of 63

from an apparent suicide.

We were living a nightmare.

reporter: That nightmare at its worst

in the months leading up to his suicide.

The 63-year-old was secretly battling depression,

anxiety, and paranoia,

which drove him to take his own life,

hanging himself with a belt.

His autopsy later revealing

he was suffering from a debilitating brain disorder,

Lewy body dementia.

Lewy body dementia is a complex disorder

with many different presentations.

You can see very dramatic effects in thinking,

emotions, and behavior.

Susan Schneider Williams: My favorite movie of Robin Williams

was Robin Williams being a human being.

- Not an actor. - reporter: Right.

Williams: Best movie in the world.

Koppel: The confusion,

the episodes of outrageous behavior,

the euphoric highs and dark lows

were initially diagnosed as symptoms of manic depression.

(birds chirping)

Turner says that was a misdiagnosis,

but he openly acknowledges

having a progressive brain disorder called

Lewy body dementia.

Can you tell us what that is?

Ted Turner: It's a, um,

mild case of...

what... people have as Alzheimer's.

It's similar to that, but not nearly as bad.

Alzheimer's is fatal.

Thank goodness that I don't have that.

But, I also have got, um...

(inhales sharply) What's...

I can't remember the name of it.

That's alright. Tell me what the--

That's dementia. I can't remember what my...

- what my disease is. - (Koppel laughs)

It's an unpleasant thing to remember.

- It's bad. - Koppel: Yeah.

physical therapist: Six! Down and hold...

Koppel: Ted Turner begins most mornings these days with some yoga.

He has never been a quitter.

His willingness to be shown on network television

in what is certainly a diminished state

is a testament to courage

and a surprising absence of vanity.

Ted, still, he's got the willpower,

uh, in spite of the Lewy body that he's dealing with.

I tell him, "Look,

"maybe you're not at full capacity now,

"but Ted Turner at half capacity is more than

99 and 9/10% of the people in the world at full capacity."

We went to Kazakhstan, and he wanted to go on a walk,

and I remember walking out of the hotel

and the kinda guards out there said, "Don't go

beyond this, the fence."

And he said, "We're going."

We did. I didn't know what was gonna happen,

but, I mean, he, he, he doesn't--

He doesn't like to be constrained.

And he doesn't like the constraint

of not having these meetings in person.

So, it had an effect on him,

but it never stopped his tremendous desire,

uh, to basically save, uh,

save humanity.

As you get older now,

as you go into...

the last few chapters

of your life,

- do you ever think about suicide? - Ted Turner: No.

I've got five children and 14 grandchildren,

and I wouldn't put them through that.

That was painful. I'm--

It was painful for me, I know, when my father did it.

And I'm not going to, uh,

even think about doing anything like that

for my children and grandchildren.

Uh, is there a final thought you wanna make before we retire?

I'd like to thank everybody for coming out here,

and I'd like to thank the, uh, Foundation here

for this nice award.

And the opportunity to share a few thoughts with you

and get everybody pumped up to go out there like--

- This is like a little halftime speech. We're-- - (laughter)

We're gonna go out in the second half and kick their ass.

(laughter and applause)

♪ Happy birthday ♪

♪ To... you ♪

(applause)

I've loved every minute of it, every moment.

In college, I won just about all the time.

Hopefully first of a number of World's Championships that we'll win.

I like it, and I think the players do, too.

Everybody likes it.

reporter: The press noted that Cup Race fans

had found themselves a folk hero.

Someone yelled "Turner for president!"

Ted Turner: I dedicate the news channel

for America, the Cable News Network.

- Letterman: And Cable News Network is not making dough. - Mm-mm.

(audience laughing)

How do you support yourself, Ted?

♪

Ted Turner: While I'd never been in business

primarily for money,

when I became a billionaire, it did feel good.

Ouch!

- (smacks) - Cut that out.

Ah-ah!

They're just being playful, obviously.

Part of my desire to own this land

was to make sure it was never developed.

Well, I'm raising the bison 'cause I really like 'em,

but when I got up to 42,000,

I had to start doing something with them

because they keep breeding, so we had to,

- we had to eat some of 'em. - (laughter)

I'm a multi-faceted person.

- I've got a lot of different personalities. - speaker: I don't believe--

- You oughta see me at midnight on a full moon. - (laughter)

Here it comes. (growls)

I think it'd be tragic to just be remembered

for making a lot of money.

I decided that what would be really exciting to do,

donate a billion dollars to the UN causes myself.

♪

Are we gonna make the right choices

that will allow us to exist for another million years,

here, on this beautiful paradise of a planet that we're on?

Or are we gonna turn it into a desert

and end up blowing ourselves to kingdom come?

The choice is ours.

You live by the sword, you die by it.

Let's keep our fingers crossed

and hope that Captain Planet and the Planeteers

can save the planet.

I think I ran harder

and faster in my life

than, uh, most people do.

I will do whatever is necessary to survive.

I mean, the only way they're gonna get rid of me,

uh, is to put a bullet in me.

- Mike Wallace: "Turner, veer-- - Yeah.

Wallace: "Veers dangerously toward...

- "Insanity." Well... - Wallace: ...insanity." Oh, you read that?

I read it. I read it. I mean, I expected it from him.

If they think it's bad for women to want sex,

then why don't they cut the heads off

the little whackers of the 10-year-old boys over there, too?

- (press laughing) - You know, and make it, uh, make it an even-Steven deal.

Who's got the first question?

You're right, I get in more trouble, I--

I wish I didn't say some of the crazy things I've said.

The thing that really determines your happiness

is your relationships.

With your family, with your friends.

I love this world of ours.

It's a beautiful, wonderful place

that deserves taking care of.

And in order to be able to take care of it,

the first thing we have to do

is learn to live in peace and harmony and cooperation.

(inspiring music playing)

Thank you all for being part of it,

and God bless you.

- (crowd cheering) - (music ends)

presenter (on PA): Ladies and gentlemen, Ted Turner.

(applause)

(light music playing)

♪

(music fades out)