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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Felt Family News Conference; Ted Turner Interview; President Bush Takes Questions on His Agenda

Aired May 31, 2005 - 17:00 ET

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

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

BLITZER: Happening now: the end of an era -- news that Deep Throat was revealed today. We're watching for more details about to emerge from "The Washington Post," and there he is, Mark Felt. These are today pictures of the man now identified as Deep Throat.
Standby for hard news on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Deep Throat? Revelations from a legendary Watergate source helped bring down a president. Now, has that source revealed himself?

Al Qaeda in America? A doctor and a jazz musician, accused of pledging aid to Osama bin Laden, face the judge.

Also, has a top bin Laden aide already been turned over to the U.S.?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have extracted all the information and intelligence from him.

BLITZER: CNN at 25, the man who made it happen. I'll speak with the always-outspoken Ted Turner about a changing world and a changing news business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, May 31st, 2005.

BLITZER: Hello, from the CNN Center in Atlanta.

It's perhaps the most intriguing question in American journalism and the source of endless speculation inside and outside the nation's capital for some three decades -- just who is the Watergate source known as Deep Throat? We may now have the final answer. Joining us with that in our Washington studio, our senior political analyst Bill Schneider. Bill?

BILL SCHNEIDER, SR POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, it's a story that's been a long time coming. Has it finally come?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SR POLITICAL ANALYST: A mystery for more than 30 years has been solved, or has it?

"I'm the Guy They Called Deep Throat," that's the title of John D. O'Connor's sensational story in the new "Vanity Fair." The title is a quote from W. Mark Felt, number two man at the FBI in the early 1970s. "On several occasions," O'Connor writes, "he confided to me, `I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat.'"

Felt was in a position to know a great deal about Watergate, having headed the FBI's investigation of the 1972 break-in in the Democratic National Committee's Watergate offices. He was also in a position to feel aggrieved by the Nixon White House which Felt says, tried to stymie his investigation at every point with false leads, non-cooperation, and threats. The motive behind Deep Throat's decision to go to the press, according to the "Vanity Fair" article? "Felt came to see himself as something of a conscience of the FBI."

Felt has been a leading Deep Throat suspect for many years. A 1992 "Atlanta Monthly" article by former "Washington Post" writer James Mann says Felt could well have been Deep Throat. A 2002 book by another "Washington Post" reporter, Ronald Kessler, "The Bureau: A Secret History of the FBI," said Felt was Deep Throat. White House tapes from 1972 recorded White House aide H.R. Haldeman telling President Nixon that most of the Watergate leaks were coming from Felt.

Some questions: if Felt really is Deep Throat, why did he remain silent for the last 30 years? Bob Woodward told Larry King last year...

BOB WOODWARD, "WASHINGTON POST": And I think, once people see who it is and exactly what happened, will understand why the super- secrecy and the confidentiality and why it was not revealed for such a long time.

SCHNEIDER: The "Vanity Fair" article quotes Felt's son as saying, "His attitude was, I don't think being Deep Throat was anything to be proud of. You should not leak information to anyone." Felt's grandson told the author, "He was concerned about bringing dishonor to our family. It was more about honor than about any kind of shame. To this day, he feels he did the right thing."

OK, so why did Felt decide to reveal himself now? O'Connor says Felt revealed the truth casually, almost inadvertently, to close friends and family members. He confided his identity to a close social companion who shared the information with Felt's daughter, Joan. Joan is reported to have confronted her father saying, "`I know now that you're Deep Throat.' His response? `Since that's case, well, yes, I am.'"

The "Vanity Fair" article describes pressure from family members on Felt, who is now 91 and ailing, to come forward. They wanted him to establish his legacy on his own terms. They also told him the revelation might bring in some money that could help the family. Though "Vanity Fair"'s author says the Felts were not paid for their cooperation. Is the report believable? It has a lot of detail. It depicts a continuing close relationship between Felt and Bob Woodward, and this from Felt's son.

MARK FELT, JR., ALLEGED DEEP THROAT'S SON: "We believe our father, William Mark Felt, Sr., was a -- was an American hero. He went well above and beyond the call of duty, at risk to himself, to save this country from a horrible injustice."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER (on camera): In the end, it all comes down to a single source, an elderly man whose memory is reported to be failing. Now, Woodward has issued a statement saying neither he nor his "Washington Post" colleagues is going to say anything regarding the identity of Deep Throat. Carl Bernstein says, quote, "it is our intention not to identify deep throat until his death." A prominent Watergate figure tells CNN, I've got grave doubts about this story. If Felt is Deep Throat, then wouldn't he have been able to release Woodward and Bernstein from their confidentiality agreement? Good question, Wolf.

BLITZER: I think that's about to change, a lot of that, right now, based on what I'm hearing, Bill, from a source who's in a position to know what's going on. First of all, "The Washington Post," we are now told, is preparing a lengthy article that will be in tomorrow morning's "Washington Post," an article being written by David Rondrile (ph), one of their best reporters.

We're also now learning that Bob Woodward is himself preparing a long article that will be published in Thursday's "Washington Post," and we're just getting these pictures in -- I want to put them up on the screen -- of Mark Felt. He was brought to the door of the family home in Santa Rosa, California, just a few moments ago, 91-years-old, the former FBI official who is now reported to have been Deep Throat. Mark Felt, smiling there.

I think it's fair to say, Bill, that the family and Mark Felt, for all practical purposes, have given authorization to Woodward and Bernstein to come forward and to acknowledge that Mark Felt was in fact Deep Throat, that they have removed any bonds of confidentiality from Woodward and Bernstein and "The Washington Post," and I think "The Washington Post" is in the process of doing that right now. Certainly, certainly, we'll await for that official statement from "The Washington Post." We're told, on its website it should be issuing a statement very, very shortly.

But as you pointed out accurately, Bill, Mark Felt's name has been around as potentially Deep Throat almost from the very beginning going back 30 years.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. There have been articles, one in the "Atlantic Monthly." There was even an article back in the 1970s in the "Washingtonian" magazine indicating that the most likely identity of Deep Throat is W. Mark Felt. A lot of people wonder why he did it. Well, as I pointed out in the piece, he was fiercely protective of the integrity and independence of the FBI. There was some concern that after the death of J. Edgar Hoover, which happened just before the Watergate break-in, that the FBI might be threatened by the Nixon White House, perhaps even with some kind of a break-up. So he was there to defend the integrity of the FBI. That may be why he did it.

But one important thing is, there is no hint, no indication whatsoever, of any partisan motive on the part of Mark Felt if he was Deep Throat.

BLITZER: Any motive might have been precisely what he suggested, to try to protect the integrity of the FBI. All right. Bill Schneider, stand by. We're going to stand by for the statement from the "Washington Post" that we expect to be issued on their website momentarily. We'll bring that to our viewers once we get it.

Who exactly, though, is Mark Felt? Mark Felt had a long and distinguished career with the FBI and he was one of the top officials at the time of the Watergate break-ins. CNN's Brian Todd has been looking at Felt's background. Brian's joining us now live from our Washington studios. What have you learned, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we've learned that Mark Felt's story is an example for that old adage, timing is everything. From his ascent to the end of his career and even now, he's always seemed in close proximity to the people and events that shaped a crucial period in FBI history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Even as a 91-year-old retiree in Santa Rosa, California, W. Mark Felt seemingly cannot shake a certain mystique, even as the world is told by those closest to him that he is the man who shook the halls of power and captivated Washington for more than 30 years.

NICK JONES, MARK FELT'S GRANDSON: My grandfather's pleased that he is being honored for his role as Deep Throat with his friend Bob Woodward. He's also pleased by the attention this has drawn to his career and his 32 years of service to his country.

TODD: As definitive as it sounds, a family statement may not answer long-standing questions about this man's actions and motivations. Born in Idaho in 1913, Felt embarked on the classic story of service to country and devotion to family. Law school, marriage, two children, and in 1942, a job at the Houston Field Office of the FBI, a place then controlled by J. Edgar Hoover, and according to historians, already controversial.

RON KESSLER, AUTHOR "THE BUREAU": They were very effective in some ways. On the other hand, they broke a lot of laws, illegal wire tapping, et cetera, and Mark Felt was in counterintelligence. Mainly, he would go after spies.

TODD: A sense of duty and diligence had to have gotten complicated when Felt moved to the bureau's Washington headquarters in the early 1960s. But Felt became a favorite of J. Edgar Hoover and quickly moved up the ranks. By the time Hoover died in 1972, Felt had ascended to the number two spot, clearly with an ambition to move up one more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had his own personal motivation, along with the bureau motivation, his motivation being that he, I think, figured -- expected to be named director of the FBI.

TODD: But Felt was passed up. Felt wrote in his memoirs that during this entire period, he and his allies had been simmering over Watergate. They believed their investigation had been obstructed, delayed, undermined by Nixon operatives. With access to information, smoldering resentment, and a sense of a mission unfulfilled, historians say Felt had motivation to leak to "The Washington Post."

KESSLER: Mark Felt did not want this FBI investigation to be suppressed and really believed that the country's future was at stake, and that's why I think he helped them.

TODD: Felt retired from the FBI in 1973, during the height of the "Washington Post's" coverage of Watergate. Later, in newspaper articles and even his book, Mark Felt denied that he was Bob Woodward's mysterious source.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: So Mark Felt may always be associated with a certain contradiction and irony. In the late '70s, he was charged with violating the constitutional rights of American citizens by authorizing government agents to break into the homes of bombing suspects. That case dated back to the early '70s, when he was still with the FBI. Felt was convicted on that charge, but later pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. Wolf?

BLITZER: Brian Todd in Washington. Brian, thanks very much. Richard Ben-Veniste helped to investigate the Watergate scandal as chief of the special prosecutor's Watergate Task Force from 1973 to 1975. Richard ben Veniste is joining us now in Washington. Richard, thanks very much for joining us on this historic day.

Well, what do you think? Mark Felt, "Deep Throat".

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, WATERGATE TASK FORCE: Well, it sounds like it's going to be the case. I wasn't one of those people who over the years has tried to figure out who "Deep Throat" was. But I was more interested in the motivation. And I've always felt that the person who provided that kind of information to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had both access and a motive to want to protect an agency. It could have been the CIA which was abused. It could have been and perhaps now was the FBI, which was also abused by the Nixon operatives, and the president himself.

BLITZER: Did you get to know Mark Felt? Have you ever met him?

BEN-VENISTE: No, I never have.

BLITZER: What do you know about him, though? I'm sure his name must have crossed your desk on many occasions. BEN-VENISTE: Well, quite clearly, he was a leading candidate for the position of "Deep Throat" over the years. Back then, we didn't hear any information that suggested that he was disgruntled or had information to provide to the special prosecutor's office. However, it's clear that the FBI was targeted by Nixon and his cohorts to try to somehow obstruct the investigation into who was behind the Watergate break-in. And so with respect to tracing the money that was found on the Watergate burglars, the president had the deputy director of CIA go to the acting director of the FBI, who was Felt's immediate supervisor, L. Patrick Gray, to tell gray to stop the investigation because it might uncover national security assets in Mexico. That was completely bogus. The president knew it, and so did Ehrlichman, who gave the order directly to Deputy CIA Director Vernon Walters.

All this later came out. Mark Felt was in a position to know and knew that the FBI was being abused, and in fact said to L. Patrick Gray, if this is a legitimate order, get it in writing. And of course that order in writing never came from the CIA. And then the investigation resumed, and ultimately that money was traced back to Nixon's Committee To Re-Elect The President.

BLITZER: Now that we, for all practical purposes, Richard, know that it was Mark Felt who was the "Deep Throat," the top source for Bob Woodward over at the "Washington Post," historians are going to take another look back at this whole episode in our history. What's the first thing that comes to your mind now that this one mystery has been resolved as to the uncovering of the whole Watergate scandal?

BEN-VENISTE: Well, there were many elements to uncovering Watergate. The first and very important element was the role of these two "Washington Post" reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and together with their editors stayed on the story. And obviously, they were much assisted by getting inside information from a high-level person who had access to that information -- clearly, a person who cared deeply about what he was doing. And in fact, a legitimate motivation for this person was to protect the FBI from being further abused and used and corrupted in its pursuit of a legitimate investigation, and there were many, many FBI agents working on the case, Angie Lanno being one who comes immediately to mind, who were dedicated to finding out the truth.

BLITZER: It's a career professional, a long-time agent of the FBI, the number-two FBI official in Washington, not a political operative. We only have a few seconds left, Richard. What does that say to you?

BEN-VENISTE: It says that here was one more person who helped to save us from an administration that was determined to corrupt the constitution of the United States.

BLITZER: Richard ben Veniste, thanks for joining us on this day, when we have finally, finally, after some three decades, learned the identity of "Deep Throat." Richard ben Veniste in Washington. Thank you very much.

And once again, we're expecting the "Washington Post" to be issuing a statement momentarily on this entire subject. Once that statement goes up on their website, hopefully in the next few minutes, we'll bring it to you. We'll tell you what the "Washington Post" is saying. We're also expecting a live statement from Mark Felt's daughter this hour. We'll try to bring that to you live as well. We do know the "Washington Post" is preparing a lengthy article on this very subject that will be published in tomorrow morning's "Washington Post," and that Bob Woodward, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist himself, is preparing a separate article that is expected to be published on Thursday.

Much more news coming up, including waiting for more on the Mark Felt "Deep Throat" story. Also, Saddam Hussein on trial. Exclusive information here at CNN from Iraq's president detailing when that trial will begin.

Pledging allegiance to Osama bin Laden? U.S. citizens charged today with conspiring to support al Qaeda.

And later --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something is happening outside. The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated. We're seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN at 25. The first Gulf War certainly put the network on the map. The man who had the vision, he will join me live this hour. Ted Turner, standing by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're standing by awaiting a news conference. Joan Felt, the daughter of 91-year-old Mark Felt, the former FBI agent, expected to have a news conference out in Santa Rosa, California, after word that her father, Mark Felt, now 91 years old, has been identified as "Deep Throat" from the Watergate scandal era.

We're also standing by for a statement from the "Washington Post." We expect it to be posted on its website momentarily. Once that statement has been put up there, we'll share it with you as well. In the meantime, let's check out some other news we're following today.

In Washington, it was a Rose Garden reality check as President Bush met with reporters today over at the White House. On the agenda, the president's agenda. And they went down the list from A to Z.

Let's go live to our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Bush likes to talk about having political capital and spending it on issues that are dear to him, but there are some political observers who are asking, where is the payoff? Early this morning, President Bush went before the cameras and explained.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice over) In a wide-ranging, 50-minute news conference, President Bush brushed off a human rights report that compared the U.S.'s Guantanamo Bay Detention Center to a Soviet-era prison camp laden with abuse.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm aware of the Amnesty International report, and it's absurd. It's an absurd allegation.

MALVEAUX: Mr. Bush shrugged off setbacks his administration is facing overseas and at home. The rising insurgency in Iraq that has claimed nearly 800 lives there in the last month. The president insisted the newly formed Iraqi government can handle it.

BUSH: Our strategy is very clear in that we will work to get them ready to fight, and when they're ready we'll come home.

MALVEAUX: And Iran continuing its nuclear ambitions despite an opportunity to join the World Trade Organization. And a North Korea still unwilling to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

BUSH: If diplomacy's the wrong approach, I guess that means military. That's how I view it. It's either diplomacy or military. And I am for the diplomacy approach.

MALVEAUX: On the domestic front, the president addressed setbacks in getting key legislation pushed through Congress regarding Social Security, energy, and judicial nominees.

BLITZER: Things just don't happen overnight. It takes a while.

MALVEAUX: President Bush was also asked whether he agreed with the Secret Service's decision not to interrupt his bike ride during an emergency evacuation of the White House and The Capitol.

BUSH: I was very comfortable with the decision they made.

MALVEAUX: But the first lady, who was shuttled to a secure bunker during the security scare, has publicly said she disagrees with that decision. The president was asked if that happens often.

BUSH: Here's the way it is: She often disagrees with me.

MALVEAUX: Now, President Bush is the first Republican president, along with a Republican Congress, to be re-elected since Calvin Coolidge. There are some political observers, however, who are looking at this and say that he may be approaching what many second- termers are approaching, that is, a lame duck presidency. Wolf?

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much. Suzanne Malveaux reporting for us.

We're getting some new information now from the "Washington Post." Let's share that with our viewers. If someone can help me. There it is. Bob Woodward confirms Mark Felt as "Deep Throat". There it is. There's the "Washington Post" website. It is now official. Bob Woodward has confirmed what has now been suspected for most of this day, that 91-year-old Mark Felt, the former number-two official at the FBI during the Watergate break-in, has been confirmed as "Deep Throat". Bob Woodward, we're told, is writing a lengthy first-person account of this entire story that will be published in Thursday's "Washington Post." David von Drehle, an excellent reporter for the "Washington Post, " is preparing the "Washington Post's" own story that will be published in tomorrow's "Washington Post."

But it's now official. Bob Woodward has confirmed Mark Felt as "Deep Throat". Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had always said they would not, repeat not, identify "Deep Throat" until "Deep Throat" had died. "Deep Throat" is still very much alive. Mark Felt, we saw pictures of him short -- a little while ago at his home in Santa Rosa, California. His family earlier confirming to "Vanity Fair" that "Deep Throat" was in fact Mark Felt.

The "Washington Post" -- let me read to you from the website of the WashingtonPost.com. "The "Washington Post" today confirmed that W. Mark Felt, a former number-two official at the FBI, was "Deep Throat", the secretive source who provided information that helped unravel the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s and contributed to the resignation of president Richard M. Nixon." The "Washington Post" article, by William Branigan and David von Drehle, goes on to say this: "Woodward said Felt helped the Post at a time of tense relations between the White House and much of the FBI hierarchy. He said the Watergate break-in came shortly after the death of legendary FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Felt's mentor, and that Felt and other bureau officials wanted to see an FBI veteran promoted to succeed Hoover."

The article goes on to say, and let me quote again, "Felt himself had hopes that he would be the next FBI director, but Nixon instead appointed an administration insider, Assistant Attorney General L. Patrick Gray, to the post."

Ben Bradlee, by the way, is quoted in this new "Washington Post" article. He was the executive editor of the "Washington Post," one of three at the "Washington Post" who knew the identity of "Deep Throat" from the very beginning -- Ben Bradlee, Carl Bernstein, and Bob Woodward.

Ben Bradlee in an interview with the "Washington Post" this afternoon said that "knowing 'Deep Throat' was a high-ranking FBI official helped him feel confident about the information the paper was publishing about Watergate." Bradlee said he knew the positional identity of "Deep Throat" as the Post was breaking its Watergate stories, that he learned his name within a couple weeks after Nixon's resignation.

"The number two guy at the FBI," Bradlee said, "that was a pretty good source. I knew the paper was on the right track. The quality of the source," he said, "and the soundness of his guidance made him sure of that." Once again, official confirmation after some three decades that Mark Felt, 91 years old now, was and is "Deep Throat." We're standing by for a news conference from his daughter, Joan Felt. We'll bring that to you live once it happens out in Santa Rosa, California.

Other news we're following as well, including preparing for Saddam Hussein's trial. New exclusive information that we got here at CNN on when that trial will begin. We heard earlier today from the president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani.

Interrogating an al Qaeda operative -- what Pakistani authorities have now learned from Abu Faraj al-Libbi. We'll hear from Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf. Once again, an interview only here on CNN.

And the media mogul. He's the man who gave birth to cable news, and he's always done things his own way. Coming up this hour, our interview with CNN's founder, Ted Turner. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

The end of an era, news that Deep Throat has been revealed today. Official confirmation from "The Washington Post" only moments ago. We'll get more on that. First, though, let's get a quick check of some other stories "Now in the News."

The country's second largest airline averts a strike. United Airlines has reached a tentative agreement with a major union on a five-year contract, although no details were immediately released. It came just hours after a smaller union ratified its contract, both important victories for United as it struggles to emerge from bankruptcy.

The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out the conviction of the Arthur Andersen Accounting firm. Company officials were convicted of obstructing justice for destroying documents related to their Enron account. The court ruled jury instructions in that case were inadequate.

More now on our top story: unlocking the secret after all of these years of the Watergate source known as Deep Throat. Just moments ago, "Washington Post" reporter Bob Woodward confirmed that Deep Throat is in fact Mark Felt, a former FBI second-in-command. Felt is now 91 years old. He's living in retirement in California. What does it matter that we now know who Deep Throat is? As CNN national correspondent Bruce Morton reports, because Deep Throat certainly played a pivotal role in a scandal that changed the way Americans viewed their presidents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They met, Woodward and Bernstein wrote, in parking garages, probably much like this one, and the source they called Deep Throat whispered hints. Here's how it went in the movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just follow the money.

MORTON: They did follow it, and found that the Watergate burglars had been paid with cash donated to Richard Nixon's committee to re-elect the president, universally called CREEP. The reporters have never said who Deep Throat was, only that he was a man, not a composite, a smoker -- many were back then -- a scotch drinker, fond of gossip.

John Dean, who now says he knows the truth, once thought it was Nixon Chief-of-Staff Alexander Hague. Woodward said it wasn't, back when Hague ran for president in 1988; said it wasn't FBI chief L. Patrick Gray when a CBS news documentary named him; said it wasn't former Nixon staffer John Sears when another former staffer, Leonard Garment, named Sears in his book. One Nixon supporter claimed it was TV's Diane Sawyer, but nobody believed him.

So, now will we know? Only Woodward, Bernstein, then-"Washington Post" editor Ben Bradley, and Throat himself know for sure. Henry Kissinger, ex-FBI man Mark Felt, it's almost the only secret Washington's ever kept, and the most interesting thing about it is that we're still fascinated. Not by Throat so much as by the man whose presidency Throat helped end, Richard Nixon, hater, detente seeker, the man of a thousand faces.

RICHARD NIXON, FMR PRES., UNITED STATES: I am not a crook.

MORTON: Deep Throat could be your grandmother. The heart, the character of Richard Millhouse Nixon, man, there's a mystery.

Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Bruce. And just to confirm for our viewers who may just be tuning in, it's official. Bob Woodward of "The Washington Post" has confirmed Mark Felt, now 91-years-old, 91- years-old, was in fact Deep Throat, the former number two at the FBI during the Watergate scandal.

We're going to go out to Santa Rosa, California, momentarily. We're expecting to hear from Joan Felt, Mark Felt's daughter. We'll go out there. Our Thelma Gutierrez is on the scene for us as well.

We're also standing by for other important news, including news involving our very family, CNN, the Cable News Network. We're celebrating CNN's 25th anniversary. The network's founder, the always-outspoken, the pioneer, Ted Turner -- he's standing by to join us. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A historic day for all of us who have covered events in Washington history unfold in the United States. Over these past 30 years, we've all wondered, who was Deep Throat? We now know, Mark Felt, the former number two official at the FBI. Here is his daughter, Joan, speaking in Santa Rosa, California.

JOAN FELT, MARK FELT'S DAUGHTER: I live with my dad. I've been privileged to live with my dad for the past 10 or 12 years. It's so wonderful to live with an old person in your family, to not have to send them away to a convalescent home, but to have the ones we love close to us. And my dad -- I know him. I know him so well, and he's a great man. He's so kind. He's so attentive to other people, and loving, and we're all so proud of him, not only for his role in history, but for that, for the character that he is, the person that he is. We love him very much, and we're really happy, and thank you for your acknowledgement and your interest.

QUESTION: Did you have to convince him?

FELT: Well, we're not going to answer those kinds of questions today. We've got a statement and...

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Bob Woodward has confirmed...

FELT: Yes, we are. Thank you.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FELT: Yes, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a relief. It feels good now.

FELT: It's a relief to be united.

(CROSSTALK)

FELT: Big grin. Big grin.

QUESTION: Did he say anything to you (ph)?

FELT: Big grin. I don't even remember, but he's happy. He's happy about it.

QUESTION: In your family statement, he referred to Bob Woodward as a friend. Can you expand upon that a bit?

FELT: He's always -- remembers Bob very fondly, yes.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FELT: Well those kinds of questions we're going to reserve. We're going to perhaps have an interview later. That's being set up, so we're not going to -- we have nothing else to say now, unless my sons do. Nick, do you? What's it like to be the grandson of Deep Throat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feels fine. Feels good.

FELT: How about you, Will?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're really proud. Really proud. QUESTION: When did the family find out?

QUESTION: ...you agree to keep this -- the details private until the article in "Vanity Fair" comes out?

FELT: Exactly. Thank you. Thank you for, yes, stating that so well and for supporting us in that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's saying...

QUESTION: When did the family find out?

FELT: Oh, maybe I didn't -- didn't I not understand that right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that's all right.

FELT: What?

QUESTION: When did the family find out?

FELT: Well, that's in the article. Got to wait for the article.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FELT: In espanol? Que?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Si.

FELT: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

BLITZER: All right. So, there, we heard it from Joan Felt, the daughter of Mark Felt, 91-years-old now, the father, who was in Fact Deep throat. After all these years, especially those of us who have covered Washington politics for so many years, it's over. Bob Woodward, officially confirming in "The Washington Post" that Mark Felt was his source, was Deep Throat.

Bruce Morton, you covered Watergate. You're with us now. Give us what's going through your mind as, lo and behold, we finally for sure know -- we've been guessing for many years, but we now know Mark Felt was in fact Deep Throat.

MORTON: Well, Wolf, as you know, they always say Washington can't keep a secret. I think this is a record. The burglary was in 1972. That's what, 33 years ago, and it's been very secret up until just now. That may be the most extraordinary thing about it. Reporters try to cover up their sources and keep them anonymous. They have a couple of reporters in Washington in trouble for that right now, but this lasted a generation.

BLITZER: Mark Felt's name, Bruce, surfaced almost from day one, early on there, with suspicions pointing to him. Was he one of the top -- the top candidates on your list for Deep Throat?

MORTON: No, not in the beginning, anyway, Wolf. I thought it was more likely to be somebody in the White House. I thought maybe Leonard Garment, who was a lawyer over there back then. Even Diane Sawyer was on some people's lists. I always thought that one was unlikely, but it would have been interesting. Mark Felt was certainly somebody who was in the right place. He had known the kinds of things that Deep Throat knew, but so were others.

BLITZER: All right, Bruce. Stand by. I want to go back out to Santa Rosa, California. Joan Felt is still speaking, the daughter of Mark Felt. Let's listen in briefly.

FELT: Well, we're not going to talk about it. No more questions. I think we're going to go inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, let's go in.

QUESTION: Just a little hello? (INAUDIBLE) a chance of him coming out?

FELT: He did already.

QUESTION: I know. We missed it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know yet. We don't know yet.

QUESTION: How is he kind of feeling today? Is he feeling kind of overwhelmed? Is he...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

FELT: He's happy. He's grinning from ear to ear.

QUESTION: Has he heard from friends?

QUESTION: And what has he said to you today?

FELT: We're not answering the phone right now, so I don't know.

QUESTION: What has he said to you about today and all this attention?

FELT: Well, you know, we're not -- I'm not going to answer any more questions right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go in.

QUESTION: He came out to Santa Rosa from Washington? You guys live out here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's where we live. He came to be with us.

QUESTION: OK.

QUESTION: So, how many years ago did he come here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came...

FELT: 1989 or '90. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over 15 years.

QUESTION: Do you think what he did back then was patriotic?

FELT: Very.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely.

FELT: He's always, as I said in the Spanish statement, he's always lived with honor. He's a great patriot.

There will be more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's always -- he's always...

FELT: We'll have more. We've got...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's always looked out for the best for humanity. Humanity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

FELT: All right. Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. So, there it is. Joan Felt, the daughter of Mark Felt, very, happy. Finally, this burden removed from the family. Mark Felt was in fact Deep Throat, 30-plus years ago, the top source for Bob Woodward at "The Washington Post." By the way, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and Ben Bradlee -- Ben Bradlee, the former executive editor at "The Washington Post" -- now all three of them confirming that Mark Felt was in fact Deep Throat.

Let's bring in a special guest, Ted Turner, the founder of CNN. Tomorrow, Ted, 25 years to the day that you created CNN, this all-news network, 24/7. Before we talk about that a little bit, the fact that today, you're here, the day before the anniversary, we finally learn this historic footnote, who is Deep Throat -- what does that go -- what does that mean to you?

TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: Well, not a whole lot. To be honest with you, I -- it happened so long ago, that I'm kind of concentrating on things like nuclear weapons and global climate change, things that affect us now. That's where my emphasis -- my emphasis is in world peace and a more equitable world. I -- footnotes to history are interesting, but I don't concentrate on them.

BLITZER: It'll be fascinating for historians and for...

TURNER: Oh, yes.

BLITZER: ...political junkies. You were always curious about the identity of Deep Throat.

TURNER: I was. That was a long time ago, though. BLITZER: Not all news can be, you know global and...

TURNER: I know. News of the Roman Empire would still be good.

BLITZER: All right. Give us a couple thoughts now. Twenty-five years ago to the day, tomorrow, you thought of this idea. Didn't you think of this idea, CNN -- how did you come up with this idea?

TURNER: Well, I started thinking about it about three years before I decided to do it, and I knew someone would do it, and I thought one of the networks would do it. They had all the raw material. They had bureaus. They had affiliates that could get them the footage. They had the footage all sitting there. All they had to do was hire a couple of announcers and set them in front of a table and get a few tape machines and they could go into business.

But they didn't do it because they wanted to fight cable. So, I saw an opening, and even though I didn't have enough money, I could see that cable advertising was going to make it because I had the superstation already, and I said this is going to work. It's going to require a gamble of everything I have, but I didn't really do it to make money. I wanted to make money, and I knew I would -- like Rotary's motto, who profits most who serves the best -- but I just wanted to see if we could do it. It was an adventure more than anything else, like Christopher Columbus.

BLITZER: There was all-news radio but no all-news television.

TURNER: Yes, sure, and all-news radio was another reason why I knew it would make it, because all-news radio was making it, even though it was tiny compared to now. For instance there, were two news stations in New York, and most cities didn't have an all-news station.

BLITZER: Now virtually every city has an all-news...

TURNER: Every city has one.

BLITZER: And now there's been a lot of competition for CNN, and not only in the United States, but there are all-news channels in Europe, in Africa, in Asia, all over the world.

TURNER: And we have interest in several of them.

BLITZER: CNN does?

TURNER: Yes, in Turkey and Spain.

BLITZER: Is it true that you started CNN with $25 million and that was basically your fortune at the time and had you lost it, it would have been over for Ted Turner?

TURNER: Pretty -- well, it would have dragged everything -- everything was on the line there.

BLITZER: You took the 25 million and you said, I'm going to go with CNN. TURNER: And I was living in the office.

BLITZER: There were some moments early on when it was almost over.

TURNER: Well, we had our -- in the first six months, the banks called our loans. Our losses were twice as big as what we had projected, and our income was half as much. So, we were -- we were doing four times worse than we projected, and our banks said, we're going to call the loans, and I said, well, can you give me 90 days to see if I can't refinance somewhere else, because if you throw me into bankruptcy, that's not going to do either of us any good. And they said, we'll give you 90 days, and I was able to find another lender at twice the rate to...

BLITZER: ABC started a channel -- what was it called -- the Satellite News Channel?

TURNER: With Westinghouse.

BLITZER: With Westinghouse.

TURNER: Two of the biggest companies in America.

BLITZER: And they were -- that was a real threat to CNN.

TURNER: They made the statement that we're going to drive us out of business, but they didn't. We hung on and drove them out of business.

BLITZER: How'd you do that?

TURNER: Well, a little fast footwork. It's a long story, that would be, but I'm extremely proud of what we accomplished at CNN. Other than my family, CNN is obviously -- I regard it as the thing I'm proudest of in my life.

BLITZER: Now, you look back on the 25 years of CNN. Which story were you proudest of, the way CNN handled it?

TURNER: Baghdad in '91.

BLITZER: The start of the air war against Saddam Hussein?

TURNER: Yes, and the whole war.

BLITZER: You decided -- you personally thought that Peter Arnett should stay in Baghdad because there was pressure to get all those...

TURNER: Lots of it.

BLITZER: ...Western American reporters out of Baghdad, and you said, if he wants to stay, let him stay.

TURNER: And I had a meeting of our top executives up in my office, the top 10 CNN executives more or less, and they had strongly recommended that we follow the advice of the president and secretary of state, who were calling us every day, and get our people out of there.

BLITZER: The first President Bush personally called you?

TURNER: Yes. He didn't call me. He called Tom Johnson.

BLITZER: Who was then the president of CNN?

TURNER: Yes, and...

BLITZER: What did he say?

TURNER: He said, I strongly recommend you get your troops out. And Colin Powell was calling every day.

BLITZER: And he was chairman of the joint chiefs of staff?

TURNER: Right. And I said, if we have anybody that will stay voluntarily, we will stay, and I overrode the government which you could do because of freedom of the press. And then in the meeting I said, I will take personal responsibility, alone, if anyone gets hurt or killed. I said, somebody has to do it. I'd -- so, just don't worry, it won't be -- it'll be my responsibility.

BLITZER: Because at the time, Peter Arnett, Bernie Shaw, John Halliman...

TURNER: Well, Bernie Shaw -- they were all there.

BLITZER: ...our three -- our three reporters were in Baghdad at the al Rasheed Hotel which some people were telling CNN was a target for U.S. air strikes.

TURNER: It could've happened, but I'm a believer that a war correspondent is a war correspondent. I read and watched the films of World War I and World War II, where correspondents went with the troops and they got killed all the time. I don't like having -- being killed, but if you'll recall, during the last Iraqi war, when it looked like nobody from CNN was going to go over there, than I volunteered that I would go. They wouldn't accept me, and besides, they threw all the foreign reporters out. I shouldn't use that word; the international reporters out. But I would have gone over there without any problem at all, and risked my life personally.

BLITZER: Was that a real serious...

TURNER: Absolutely serious.

BLITZER: You were ready to go to Baghdad?

TURNER: I wasn't going to let CNN go into the second Gulf War with nobody there, after I just had merged it with Time Warner. I -- you know, not if I could go, you know -- the only -- a coward dies a thousand times, a brave man but once, right?

BLITZER: And that would have been you.

TURNER: Well, if it happened, but I've been pretty lucky in my life. You know, the bullets might not hit me.

BLITZER: I'm going to have Ted Turner stand by because we have more to talk about. We're going to take a quick commercial break. You understand the importance of commercials.

TURNER: Absolutely.

BLITZER: I think you do if...

TURNER: Stand by and don't change that channel.

BLITZER: All right, that's it. We're going to have more with our founder, Ted Turner, on this 25th anniversary of CNN, right after this short message.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Sitting here with the founder of CNN, Ted Turner, on this 25th anniversary of CNN -- tomorrow, to be precise. A lot of our viewers want to know, Ted Turner, you're not directly involved with CNN by any means right now. What is your passion? What are you up to now?

TURNER: I got to say it was not by my choice. If I had my choice, I still would be here. I love CNN, and always will, and there's a very fond place in my heart for it. But I'm really, really busy, and I'm doing a lot of really worthwhile things. I'm involved with three different foundations -- the Turner Foundation, which is our family foundation, which does mostly environmental work; the Nuclear Threat Initiative, where I'm partners with Sam Nunn, which is trying to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction here and around the world; and the third is the U.N. Foundation, where I put my billion dollars that works to make it a better world, peace and security issues, the role of women around the world, children's health, and the environment.

BLITZER: You still believe in the U.N.?

TURNER: Absolutely. I mean, without -- it's like the federal government. It doesn't mean it's perfect. But what are you going to do without it? You would have absolute chaos without the U.N., just like we'd have chaos without the federal government. So we have to have it. We have no choice. If we hadn't had the U.N., we never would have made it through the Cold War without it getting hot, and we wouldn't be here today. We'd have had a nuclear war. The U.N. is absolutely essential to the continued existence of mankind. And the stronger and the more effort that we put behind it, the better U.N. we'll have and the better global oversight it will have. And we need to do that.

BLITZER: We have less than a minute. Looking ahead, what do you hope that CNN will turn into over the next 25 years? TURNER: Well, I think CNN, you know, looks very good now. The only thing that I regret is I'd like to see more international coverage on the domestic feed. It's very good on CNN International.

BLITZER: You know, we're going to do that starting next Monday.

TURNER: I know. One hour. That's good. I think that's --

BLITZER: Let me tell our viewers in case they don't know.

TURNER: Okay, good.

BLITZER: Starting on Monday, every weekday at noon, we will simulcast our coverage on CNN International. Zane Verge and Jim Clancy will be co-anchoring. That noon program starting this Monday.

TURNER: And the other two areas, because we're out of time, the other two areas are the environment and energy as it relates to the environment. We've got to move away from fossil fuels immediately to clean, renewable, locally produced energy in order for our financial security, our military security, and our environmental security.

BLITZER: The one and only Ted Turner.

TURNER: Okay, pal. Good to see you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Ted, thanks so much. We'll celebrate in 50 years.

TURNER: Hi, Mom.

BLITZER: Ted Turner, on this 25th anniversary of CNN. We'll take a quick break. More news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A medical doctor and a jazz musician -- two Americans were in court today charged with conspiring to aid al Qaeda. In Ft. Pierce, Florida, Rafiq Sabir told a judge he's in the process of retaining an attorney. He'll have another court appearance Friday. In New York, meanwhile, Tarik Shah appeared before a federal magistrate who set a preliminary hearing date of June 28th. Shah had little to say, but his attorneys describe him as a renowned jazz musician and call the case, and I'm quoting now, "desperate prosecution."

It promises to be one of the most closely watched trials ever, and it could get underway in a matter of weeks. That would be the trial of Saddam Hussein. I spoke about that earlier today with the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, in a satellite interview for the CNN World Report Conference happening this week here in Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JALAL TALABANI, IRAQ PRESIDENT: Saddam Hussein is a war criminal. He committed worst kind of crimes against Iraqi people in Kurdistan and the south and in Baghdad also. Saddam Hussein deserve just trial, and I think the court of Iraq will decide the future of Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Talabani also told me the Saddam trial could start within two months.

Another headline coming out of the CNN World Report Conference here in Atlanta: The Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf told me the number-three man in the al Qaeda leadership is being handed over to the United States. He told me that the captured Libyan-born terror suspect Abu Faraj al-Libbi has already been interrogated in Pakistan and claimed he has not been in direct contact with Osama bin Laden.

Pentagon officials said they're aware of the reports but are unable to provide any information. A CIA spokesman at the same time had no immediate comment.

That's it for me. I'll be back here in Atlanta tomorrow. Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer at the CNN Center. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now. Substituting tonight for Lou, Kitty Pilgrim. She's standing by in New York. Kitty?

END

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Aired May 31, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BLITZER: Happening now: the end of an era -- news that Deep Throat was revealed today. We're watching for more details about to emerge from "The Washington Post," and there he is, Mark Felt. These are today pictures of the man now identified as Deep Throat.
Standby for hard news on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Deep Throat? Revelations from a legendary Watergate source helped bring down a president. Now, has that source revealed himself?

Al Qaeda in America? A doctor and a jazz musician, accused of pledging aid to Osama bin Laden, face the judge.

Also, has a top bin Laden aide already been turned over to the U.S.?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have extracted all the information and intelligence from him.

BLITZER: CNN at 25, the man who made it happen. I'll speak with the always-outspoken Ted Turner about a changing world and a changing news business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, May 31st, 2005.

BLITZER: Hello, from the CNN Center in Atlanta.

It's perhaps the most intriguing question in American journalism and the source of endless speculation inside and outside the nation's capital for some three decades -- just who is the Watergate source known as Deep Throat? We may now have the final answer. Joining us with that in our Washington studio, our senior political analyst Bill Schneider. Bill?

BILL SCHNEIDER, SR POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, it's a story that's been a long time coming. Has it finally come?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SR POLITICAL ANALYST: A mystery for more than 30 years has been solved, or has it?

"I'm the Guy They Called Deep Throat," that's the title of John D. O'Connor's sensational story in the new "Vanity Fair." The title is a quote from W. Mark Felt, number two man at the FBI in the early 1970s. "On several occasions," O'Connor writes, "he confided to me, `I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat.'"

Felt was in a position to know a great deal about Watergate, having headed the FBI's investigation of the 1972 break-in in the Democratic National Committee's Watergate offices. He was also in a position to feel aggrieved by the Nixon White House which Felt says, tried to stymie his investigation at every point with false leads, non-cooperation, and threats. The motive behind Deep Throat's decision to go to the press, according to the "Vanity Fair" article? "Felt came to see himself as something of a conscience of the FBI."

Felt has been a leading Deep Throat suspect for many years. A 1992 "Atlanta Monthly" article by former "Washington Post" writer James Mann says Felt could well have been Deep Throat. A 2002 book by another "Washington Post" reporter, Ronald Kessler, "The Bureau: A Secret History of the FBI," said Felt was Deep Throat. White House tapes from 1972 recorded White House aide H.R. Haldeman telling President Nixon that most of the Watergate leaks were coming from Felt.

Some questions: if Felt really is Deep Throat, why did he remain silent for the last 30 years? Bob Woodward told Larry King last year...

BOB WOODWARD, "WASHINGTON POST": And I think, once people see who it is and exactly what happened, will understand why the super- secrecy and the confidentiality and why it was not revealed for such a long time.

SCHNEIDER: The "Vanity Fair" article quotes Felt's son as saying, "His attitude was, I don't think being Deep Throat was anything to be proud of. You should not leak information to anyone." Felt's grandson told the author, "He was concerned about bringing dishonor to our family. It was more about honor than about any kind of shame. To this day, he feels he did the right thing."

OK, so why did Felt decide to reveal himself now? O'Connor says Felt revealed the truth casually, almost inadvertently, to close friends and family members. He confided his identity to a close social companion who shared the information with Felt's daughter, Joan. Joan is reported to have confronted her father saying, "`I know now that you're Deep Throat.' His response? `Since that's case, well, yes, I am.'"

The "Vanity Fair" article describes pressure from family members on Felt, who is now 91 and ailing, to come forward. They wanted him to establish his legacy on his own terms. They also told him the revelation might bring in some money that could help the family. Though "Vanity Fair"'s author says the Felts were not paid for their cooperation. Is the report believable? It has a lot of detail. It depicts a continuing close relationship between Felt and Bob Woodward, and this from Felt's son.

MARK FELT, JR., ALLEGED DEEP THROAT'S SON: "We believe our father, William Mark Felt, Sr., was a -- was an American hero. He went well above and beyond the call of duty, at risk to himself, to save this country from a horrible injustice."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER (on camera): In the end, it all comes down to a single source, an elderly man whose memory is reported to be failing. Now, Woodward has issued a statement saying neither he nor his "Washington Post" colleagues is going to say anything regarding the identity of Deep Throat. Carl Bernstein says, quote, "it is our intention not to identify deep throat until his death." A prominent Watergate figure tells CNN, I've got grave doubts about this story. If Felt is Deep Throat, then wouldn't he have been able to release Woodward and Bernstein from their confidentiality agreement? Good question, Wolf.

BLITZER: I think that's about to change, a lot of that, right now, based on what I'm hearing, Bill, from a source who's in a position to know what's going on. First of all, "The Washington Post," we are now told, is preparing a lengthy article that will be in tomorrow morning's "Washington Post," an article being written by David Rondrile (ph), one of their best reporters.

We're also now learning that Bob Woodward is himself preparing a long article that will be published in Thursday's "Washington Post," and we're just getting these pictures in -- I want to put them up on the screen -- of Mark Felt. He was brought to the door of the family home in Santa Rosa, California, just a few moments ago, 91-years-old, the former FBI official who is now reported to have been Deep Throat. Mark Felt, smiling there.

I think it's fair to say, Bill, that the family and Mark Felt, for all practical purposes, have given authorization to Woodward and Bernstein to come forward and to acknowledge that Mark Felt was in fact Deep Throat, that they have removed any bonds of confidentiality from Woodward and Bernstein and "The Washington Post," and I think "The Washington Post" is in the process of doing that right now. Certainly, certainly, we'll await for that official statement from "The Washington Post." We're told, on its website it should be issuing a statement very, very shortly.

But as you pointed out accurately, Bill, Mark Felt's name has been around as potentially Deep Throat almost from the very beginning going back 30 years.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. There have been articles, one in the "Atlantic Monthly." There was even an article back in the 1970s in the "Washingtonian" magazine indicating that the most likely identity of Deep Throat is W. Mark Felt. A lot of people wonder why he did it. Well, as I pointed out in the piece, he was fiercely protective of the integrity and independence of the FBI. There was some concern that after the death of J. Edgar Hoover, which happened just before the Watergate break-in, that the FBI might be threatened by the Nixon White House, perhaps even with some kind of a break-up. So he was there to defend the integrity of the FBI. That may be why he did it.

But one important thing is, there is no hint, no indication whatsoever, of any partisan motive on the part of Mark Felt if he was Deep Throat.

BLITZER: Any motive might have been precisely what he suggested, to try to protect the integrity of the FBI. All right. Bill Schneider, stand by. We're going to stand by for the statement from the "Washington Post" that we expect to be issued on their website momentarily. We'll bring that to our viewers once we get it.

Who exactly, though, is Mark Felt? Mark Felt had a long and distinguished career with the FBI and he was one of the top officials at the time of the Watergate break-ins. CNN's Brian Todd has been looking at Felt's background. Brian's joining us now live from our Washington studios. What have you learned, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we've learned that Mark Felt's story is an example for that old adage, timing is everything. From his ascent to the end of his career and even now, he's always seemed in close proximity to the people and events that shaped a crucial period in FBI history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Even as a 91-year-old retiree in Santa Rosa, California, W. Mark Felt seemingly cannot shake a certain mystique, even as the world is told by those closest to him that he is the man who shook the halls of power and captivated Washington for more than 30 years.

NICK JONES, MARK FELT'S GRANDSON: My grandfather's pleased that he is being honored for his role as Deep Throat with his friend Bob Woodward. He's also pleased by the attention this has drawn to his career and his 32 years of service to his country.

TODD: As definitive as it sounds, a family statement may not answer long-standing questions about this man's actions and motivations. Born in Idaho in 1913, Felt embarked on the classic story of service to country and devotion to family. Law school, marriage, two children, and in 1942, a job at the Houston Field Office of the FBI, a place then controlled by J. Edgar Hoover, and according to historians, already controversial.

RON KESSLER, AUTHOR "THE BUREAU": They were very effective in some ways. On the other hand, they broke a lot of laws, illegal wire tapping, et cetera, and Mark Felt was in counterintelligence. Mainly, he would go after spies.

TODD: A sense of duty and diligence had to have gotten complicated when Felt moved to the bureau's Washington headquarters in the early 1960s. But Felt became a favorite of J. Edgar Hoover and quickly moved up the ranks. By the time Hoover died in 1972, Felt had ascended to the number two spot, clearly with an ambition to move up one more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had his own personal motivation, along with the bureau motivation, his motivation being that he, I think, figured -- expected to be named director of the FBI.

TODD: But Felt was passed up. Felt wrote in his memoirs that during this entire period, he and his allies had been simmering over Watergate. They believed their investigation had been obstructed, delayed, undermined by Nixon operatives. With access to information, smoldering resentment, and a sense of a mission unfulfilled, historians say Felt had motivation to leak to "The Washington Post."

KESSLER: Mark Felt did not want this FBI investigation to be suppressed and really believed that the country's future was at stake, and that's why I think he helped them.

TODD: Felt retired from the FBI in 1973, during the height of the "Washington Post's" coverage of Watergate. Later, in newspaper articles and even his book, Mark Felt denied that he was Bob Woodward's mysterious source.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: So Mark Felt may always be associated with a certain contradiction and irony. In the late '70s, he was charged with violating the constitutional rights of American citizens by authorizing government agents to break into the homes of bombing suspects. That case dated back to the early '70s, when he was still with the FBI. Felt was convicted on that charge, but later pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. Wolf?

BLITZER: Brian Todd in Washington. Brian, thanks very much. Richard Ben-Veniste helped to investigate the Watergate scandal as chief of the special prosecutor's Watergate Task Force from 1973 to 1975. Richard ben Veniste is joining us now in Washington. Richard, thanks very much for joining us on this historic day.

Well, what do you think? Mark Felt, "Deep Throat".

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, WATERGATE TASK FORCE: Well, it sounds like it's going to be the case. I wasn't one of those people who over the years has tried to figure out who "Deep Throat" was. But I was more interested in the motivation. And I've always felt that the person who provided that kind of information to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had both access and a motive to want to protect an agency. It could have been the CIA which was abused. It could have been and perhaps now was the FBI, which was also abused by the Nixon operatives, and the president himself.

BLITZER: Did you get to know Mark Felt? Have you ever met him?

BEN-VENISTE: No, I never have.

BLITZER: What do you know about him, though? I'm sure his name must have crossed your desk on many occasions. BEN-VENISTE: Well, quite clearly, he was a leading candidate for the position of "Deep Throat" over the years. Back then, we didn't hear any information that suggested that he was disgruntled or had information to provide to the special prosecutor's office. However, it's clear that the FBI was targeted by Nixon and his cohorts to try to somehow obstruct the investigation into who was behind the Watergate break-in. And so with respect to tracing the money that was found on the Watergate burglars, the president had the deputy director of CIA go to the acting director of the FBI, who was Felt's immediate supervisor, L. Patrick Gray, to tell gray to stop the investigation because it might uncover national security assets in Mexico. That was completely bogus. The president knew it, and so did Ehrlichman, who gave the order directly to Deputy CIA Director Vernon Walters.

All this later came out. Mark Felt was in a position to know and knew that the FBI was being abused, and in fact said to L. Patrick Gray, if this is a legitimate order, get it in writing. And of course that order in writing never came from the CIA. And then the investigation resumed, and ultimately that money was traced back to Nixon's Committee To Re-Elect The President.

BLITZER: Now that we, for all practical purposes, Richard, know that it was Mark Felt who was the "Deep Throat," the top source for Bob Woodward over at the "Washington Post," historians are going to take another look back at this whole episode in our history. What's the first thing that comes to your mind now that this one mystery has been resolved as to the uncovering of the whole Watergate scandal?

BEN-VENISTE: Well, there were many elements to uncovering Watergate. The first and very important element was the role of these two "Washington Post" reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and together with their editors stayed on the story. And obviously, they were much assisted by getting inside information from a high-level person who had access to that information -- clearly, a person who cared deeply about what he was doing. And in fact, a legitimate motivation for this person was to protect the FBI from being further abused and used and corrupted in its pursuit of a legitimate investigation, and there were many, many FBI agents working on the case, Angie Lanno being one who comes immediately to mind, who were dedicated to finding out the truth.

BLITZER: It's a career professional, a long-time agent of the FBI, the number-two FBI official in Washington, not a political operative. We only have a few seconds left, Richard. What does that say to you?

BEN-VENISTE: It says that here was one more person who helped to save us from an administration that was determined to corrupt the constitution of the United States.

BLITZER: Richard ben Veniste, thanks for joining us on this day, when we have finally, finally, after some three decades, learned the identity of "Deep Throat." Richard ben Veniste in Washington. Thank you very much.

And once again, we're expecting the "Washington Post" to be issuing a statement momentarily on this entire subject. Once that statement goes up on their website, hopefully in the next few minutes, we'll bring it to you. We'll tell you what the "Washington Post" is saying. We're also expecting a live statement from Mark Felt's daughter this hour. We'll try to bring that to you live as well. We do know the "Washington Post" is preparing a lengthy article on this very subject that will be published in tomorrow morning's "Washington Post," and that Bob Woodward, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist himself, is preparing a separate article that is expected to be published on Thursday.

Much more news coming up, including waiting for more on the Mark Felt "Deep Throat" story. Also, Saddam Hussein on trial. Exclusive information here at CNN from Iraq's president detailing when that trial will begin.

Pledging allegiance to Osama bin Laden? U.S. citizens charged today with conspiring to support al Qaeda.

And later --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something is happening outside. The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated. We're seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN at 25. The first Gulf War certainly put the network on the map. The man who had the vision, he will join me live this hour. Ted Turner, standing by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're standing by awaiting a news conference. Joan Felt, the daughter of 91-year-old Mark Felt, the former FBI agent, expected to have a news conference out in Santa Rosa, California, after word that her father, Mark Felt, now 91 years old, has been identified as "Deep Throat" from the Watergate scandal era.

We're also standing by for a statement from the "Washington Post." We expect it to be posted on its website momentarily. Once that statement has been put up there, we'll share it with you as well. In the meantime, let's check out some other news we're following today.

In Washington, it was a Rose Garden reality check as President Bush met with reporters today over at the White House. On the agenda, the president's agenda. And they went down the list from A to Z.

Let's go live to our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Bush likes to talk about having political capital and spending it on issues that are dear to him, but there are some political observers who are asking, where is the payoff? Early this morning, President Bush went before the cameras and explained.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice over) In a wide-ranging, 50-minute news conference, President Bush brushed off a human rights report that compared the U.S.'s Guantanamo Bay Detention Center to a Soviet-era prison camp laden with abuse.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm aware of the Amnesty International report, and it's absurd. It's an absurd allegation.

MALVEAUX: Mr. Bush shrugged off setbacks his administration is facing overseas and at home. The rising insurgency in Iraq that has claimed nearly 800 lives there in the last month. The president insisted the newly formed Iraqi government can handle it.

BUSH: Our strategy is very clear in that we will work to get them ready to fight, and when they're ready we'll come home.

MALVEAUX: And Iran continuing its nuclear ambitions despite an opportunity to join the World Trade Organization. And a North Korea still unwilling to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

BUSH: If diplomacy's the wrong approach, I guess that means military. That's how I view it. It's either diplomacy or military. And I am for the diplomacy approach.

MALVEAUX: On the domestic front, the president addressed setbacks in getting key legislation pushed through Congress regarding Social Security, energy, and judicial nominees.

BLITZER: Things just don't happen overnight. It takes a while.

MALVEAUX: President Bush was also asked whether he agreed with the Secret Service's decision not to interrupt his bike ride during an emergency evacuation of the White House and The Capitol.

BUSH: I was very comfortable with the decision they made.

MALVEAUX: But the first lady, who was shuttled to a secure bunker during the security scare, has publicly said she disagrees with that decision. The president was asked if that happens often.

BUSH: Here's the way it is: She often disagrees with me.

MALVEAUX: Now, President Bush is the first Republican president, along with a Republican Congress, to be re-elected since Calvin Coolidge. There are some political observers, however, who are looking at this and say that he may be approaching what many second- termers are approaching, that is, a lame duck presidency. Wolf?

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much. Suzanne Malveaux reporting for us.

We're getting some new information now from the "Washington Post." Let's share that with our viewers. If someone can help me. There it is. Bob Woodward confirms Mark Felt as "Deep Throat". There it is. There's the "Washington Post" website. It is now official. Bob Woodward has confirmed what has now been suspected for most of this day, that 91-year-old Mark Felt, the former number-two official at the FBI during the Watergate break-in, has been confirmed as "Deep Throat". Bob Woodward, we're told, is writing a lengthy first-person account of this entire story that will be published in Thursday's "Washington Post." David von Drehle, an excellent reporter for the "Washington Post, " is preparing the "Washington Post's" own story that will be published in tomorrow's "Washington Post."

But it's now official. Bob Woodward has confirmed Mark Felt as "Deep Throat". Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had always said they would not, repeat not, identify "Deep Throat" until "Deep Throat" had died. "Deep Throat" is still very much alive. Mark Felt, we saw pictures of him short -- a little while ago at his home in Santa Rosa, California. His family earlier confirming to "Vanity Fair" that "Deep Throat" was in fact Mark Felt.

The "Washington Post" -- let me read to you from the website of the WashingtonPost.com. "The "Washington Post" today confirmed that W. Mark Felt, a former number-two official at the FBI, was "Deep Throat", the secretive source who provided information that helped unravel the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s and contributed to the resignation of president Richard M. Nixon." The "Washington Post" article, by William Branigan and David von Drehle, goes on to say this: "Woodward said Felt helped the Post at a time of tense relations between the White House and much of the FBI hierarchy. He said the Watergate break-in came shortly after the death of legendary FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Felt's mentor, and that Felt and other bureau officials wanted to see an FBI veteran promoted to succeed Hoover."

The article goes on to say, and let me quote again, "Felt himself had hopes that he would be the next FBI director, but Nixon instead appointed an administration insider, Assistant Attorney General L. Patrick Gray, to the post."

Ben Bradlee, by the way, is quoted in this new "Washington Post" article. He was the executive editor of the "Washington Post," one of three at the "Washington Post" who knew the identity of "Deep Throat" from the very beginning -- Ben Bradlee, Carl Bernstein, and Bob Woodward.

Ben Bradlee in an interview with the "Washington Post" this afternoon said that "knowing 'Deep Throat' was a high-ranking FBI official helped him feel confident about the information the paper was publishing about Watergate." Bradlee said he knew the positional identity of "Deep Throat" as the Post was breaking its Watergate stories, that he learned his name within a couple weeks after Nixon's resignation.

"The number two guy at the FBI," Bradlee said, "that was a pretty good source. I knew the paper was on the right track. The quality of the source," he said, "and the soundness of his guidance made him sure of that." Once again, official confirmation after some three decades that Mark Felt, 91 years old now, was and is "Deep Throat." We're standing by for a news conference from his daughter, Joan Felt. We'll bring that to you live once it happens out in Santa Rosa, California.

Other news we're following as well, including preparing for Saddam Hussein's trial. New exclusive information that we got here at CNN on when that trial will begin. We heard earlier today from the president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani.

Interrogating an al Qaeda operative -- what Pakistani authorities have now learned from Abu Faraj al-Libbi. We'll hear from Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf. Once again, an interview only here on CNN.

And the media mogul. He's the man who gave birth to cable news, and he's always done things his own way. Coming up this hour, our interview with CNN's founder, Ted Turner. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

The end of an era, news that Deep Throat has been revealed today. Official confirmation from "The Washington Post" only moments ago. We'll get more on that. First, though, let's get a quick check of some other stories "Now in the News."

The country's second largest airline averts a strike. United Airlines has reached a tentative agreement with a major union on a five-year contract, although no details were immediately released. It came just hours after a smaller union ratified its contract, both important victories for United as it struggles to emerge from bankruptcy.

The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out the conviction of the Arthur Andersen Accounting firm. Company officials were convicted of obstructing justice for destroying documents related to their Enron account. The court ruled jury instructions in that case were inadequate.

More now on our top story: unlocking the secret after all of these years of the Watergate source known as Deep Throat. Just moments ago, "Washington Post" reporter Bob Woodward confirmed that Deep Throat is in fact Mark Felt, a former FBI second-in-command. Felt is now 91 years old. He's living in retirement in California. What does it matter that we now know who Deep Throat is? As CNN national correspondent Bruce Morton reports, because Deep Throat certainly played a pivotal role in a scandal that changed the way Americans viewed their presidents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They met, Woodward and Bernstein wrote, in parking garages, probably much like this one, and the source they called Deep Throat whispered hints. Here's how it went in the movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just follow the money.

MORTON: They did follow it, and found that the Watergate burglars had been paid with cash donated to Richard Nixon's committee to re-elect the president, universally called CREEP. The reporters have never said who Deep Throat was, only that he was a man, not a composite, a smoker -- many were back then -- a scotch drinker, fond of gossip.

John Dean, who now says he knows the truth, once thought it was Nixon Chief-of-Staff Alexander Hague. Woodward said it wasn't, back when Hague ran for president in 1988; said it wasn't FBI chief L. Patrick Gray when a CBS news documentary named him; said it wasn't former Nixon staffer John Sears when another former staffer, Leonard Garment, named Sears in his book. One Nixon supporter claimed it was TV's Diane Sawyer, but nobody believed him.

So, now will we know? Only Woodward, Bernstein, then-"Washington Post" editor Ben Bradley, and Throat himself know for sure. Henry Kissinger, ex-FBI man Mark Felt, it's almost the only secret Washington's ever kept, and the most interesting thing about it is that we're still fascinated. Not by Throat so much as by the man whose presidency Throat helped end, Richard Nixon, hater, detente seeker, the man of a thousand faces.

RICHARD NIXON, FMR PRES., UNITED STATES: I am not a crook.

MORTON: Deep Throat could be your grandmother. The heart, the character of Richard Millhouse Nixon, man, there's a mystery.

Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Bruce. And just to confirm for our viewers who may just be tuning in, it's official. Bob Woodward of "The Washington Post" has confirmed Mark Felt, now 91-years-old, 91- years-old, was in fact Deep Throat, the former number two at the FBI during the Watergate scandal.

We're going to go out to Santa Rosa, California, momentarily. We're expecting to hear from Joan Felt, Mark Felt's daughter. We'll go out there. Our Thelma Gutierrez is on the scene for us as well.

We're also standing by for other important news, including news involving our very family, CNN, the Cable News Network. We're celebrating CNN's 25th anniversary. The network's founder, the always-outspoken, the pioneer, Ted Turner -- he's standing by to join us. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A historic day for all of us who have covered events in Washington history unfold in the United States. Over these past 30 years, we've all wondered, who was Deep Throat? We now know, Mark Felt, the former number two official at the FBI. Here is his daughter, Joan, speaking in Santa Rosa, California.

JOAN FELT, MARK FELT'S DAUGHTER: I live with my dad. I've been privileged to live with my dad for the past 10 or 12 years. It's so wonderful to live with an old person in your family, to not have to send them away to a convalescent home, but to have the ones we love close to us. And my dad -- I know him. I know him so well, and he's a great man. He's so kind. He's so attentive to other people, and loving, and we're all so proud of him, not only for his role in history, but for that, for the character that he is, the person that he is. We love him very much, and we're really happy, and thank you for your acknowledgement and your interest.

QUESTION: Did you have to convince him?

FELT: Well, we're not going to answer those kinds of questions today. We've got a statement and...

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Bob Woodward has confirmed...

FELT: Yes, we are. Thank you.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FELT: Yes, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a relief. It feels good now.

FELT: It's a relief to be united.

(CROSSTALK)

FELT: Big grin. Big grin.

QUESTION: Did he say anything to you (ph)?

FELT: Big grin. I don't even remember, but he's happy. He's happy about it.

QUESTION: In your family statement, he referred to Bob Woodward as a friend. Can you expand upon that a bit?

FELT: He's always -- remembers Bob very fondly, yes.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FELT: Well those kinds of questions we're going to reserve. We're going to perhaps have an interview later. That's being set up, so we're not going to -- we have nothing else to say now, unless my sons do. Nick, do you? What's it like to be the grandson of Deep Throat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feels fine. Feels good.

FELT: How about you, Will?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're really proud. Really proud. QUESTION: When did the family find out?

QUESTION: ...you agree to keep this -- the details private until the article in "Vanity Fair" comes out?

FELT: Exactly. Thank you. Thank you for, yes, stating that so well and for supporting us in that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's saying...

QUESTION: When did the family find out?

FELT: Oh, maybe I didn't -- didn't I not understand that right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that's all right.

FELT: What?

QUESTION: When did the family find out?

FELT: Well, that's in the article. Got to wait for the article.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FELT: In espanol? Que?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Si.

FELT: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

BLITZER: All right. So, there, we heard it from Joan Felt, the daughter of Mark Felt, 91-years-old now, the father, who was in Fact Deep throat. After all these years, especially those of us who have covered Washington politics for so many years, it's over. Bob Woodward, officially confirming in "The Washington Post" that Mark Felt was his source, was Deep Throat.

Bruce Morton, you covered Watergate. You're with us now. Give us what's going through your mind as, lo and behold, we finally for sure know -- we've been guessing for many years, but we now know Mark Felt was in fact Deep Throat.

MORTON: Well, Wolf, as you know, they always say Washington can't keep a secret. I think this is a record. The burglary was in 1972. That's what, 33 years ago, and it's been very secret up until just now. That may be the most extraordinary thing about it. Reporters try to cover up their sources and keep them anonymous. They have a couple of reporters in Washington in trouble for that right now, but this lasted a generation.

BLITZER: Mark Felt's name, Bruce, surfaced almost from day one, early on there, with suspicions pointing to him. Was he one of the top -- the top candidates on your list for Deep Throat?

MORTON: No, not in the beginning, anyway, Wolf. I thought it was more likely to be somebody in the White House. I thought maybe Leonard Garment, who was a lawyer over there back then. Even Diane Sawyer was on some people's lists. I always thought that one was unlikely, but it would have been interesting. Mark Felt was certainly somebody who was in the right place. He had known the kinds of things that Deep Throat knew, but so were others.

BLITZER: All right, Bruce. Stand by. I want to go back out to Santa Rosa, California. Joan Felt is still speaking, the daughter of Mark Felt. Let's listen in briefly.

FELT: Well, we're not going to talk about it. No more questions. I think we're going to go inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, let's go in.

QUESTION: Just a little hello? (INAUDIBLE) a chance of him coming out?

FELT: He did already.

QUESTION: I know. We missed it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know yet. We don't know yet.

QUESTION: How is he kind of feeling today? Is he feeling kind of overwhelmed? Is he...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

FELT: He's happy. He's grinning from ear to ear.

QUESTION: Has he heard from friends?

QUESTION: And what has he said to you today?

FELT: We're not answering the phone right now, so I don't know.

QUESTION: What has he said to you about today and all this attention?

FELT: Well, you know, we're not -- I'm not going to answer any more questions right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go in.

QUESTION: He came out to Santa Rosa from Washington? You guys live out here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's where we live. He came to be with us.

QUESTION: OK.

QUESTION: So, how many years ago did he come here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came...

FELT: 1989 or '90. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over 15 years.

QUESTION: Do you think what he did back then was patriotic?

FELT: Very.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely.

FELT: He's always, as I said in the Spanish statement, he's always lived with honor. He's a great patriot.

There will be more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's always -- he's always...

FELT: We'll have more. We've got...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's always looked out for the best for humanity. Humanity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

FELT: All right. Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. So, there it is. Joan Felt, the daughter of Mark Felt, very, happy. Finally, this burden removed from the family. Mark Felt was in fact Deep Throat, 30-plus years ago, the top source for Bob Woodward at "The Washington Post." By the way, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and Ben Bradlee -- Ben Bradlee, the former executive editor at "The Washington Post" -- now all three of them confirming that Mark Felt was in fact Deep Throat.

Let's bring in a special guest, Ted Turner, the founder of CNN. Tomorrow, Ted, 25 years to the day that you created CNN, this all-news network, 24/7. Before we talk about that a little bit, the fact that today, you're here, the day before the anniversary, we finally learn this historic footnote, who is Deep Throat -- what does that go -- what does that mean to you?

TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: Well, not a whole lot. To be honest with you, I -- it happened so long ago, that I'm kind of concentrating on things like nuclear weapons and global climate change, things that affect us now. That's where my emphasis -- my emphasis is in world peace and a more equitable world. I -- footnotes to history are interesting, but I don't concentrate on them.

BLITZER: It'll be fascinating for historians and for...

TURNER: Oh, yes.

BLITZER: ...political junkies. You were always curious about the identity of Deep Throat.

TURNER: I was. That was a long time ago, though. BLITZER: Not all news can be, you know global and...

TURNER: I know. News of the Roman Empire would still be good.

BLITZER: All right. Give us a couple thoughts now. Twenty-five years ago to the day, tomorrow, you thought of this idea. Didn't you think of this idea, CNN -- how did you come up with this idea?

TURNER: Well, I started thinking about it about three years before I decided to do it, and I knew someone would do it, and I thought one of the networks would do it. They had all the raw material. They had bureaus. They had affiliates that could get them the footage. They had the footage all sitting there. All they had to do was hire a couple of announcers and set them in front of a table and get a few tape machines and they could go into business.

But they didn't do it because they wanted to fight cable. So, I saw an opening, and even though I didn't have enough money, I could see that cable advertising was going to make it because I had the superstation already, and I said this is going to work. It's going to require a gamble of everything I have, but I didn't really do it to make money. I wanted to make money, and I knew I would -- like Rotary's motto, who profits most who serves the best -- but I just wanted to see if we could do it. It was an adventure more than anything else, like Christopher Columbus.

BLITZER: There was all-news radio but no all-news television.

TURNER: Yes, sure, and all-news radio was another reason why I knew it would make it, because all-news radio was making it, even though it was tiny compared to now. For instance there, were two news stations in New York, and most cities didn't have an all-news station.

BLITZER: Now virtually every city has an all-news...

TURNER: Every city has one.

BLITZER: And now there's been a lot of competition for CNN, and not only in the United States, but there are all-news channels in Europe, in Africa, in Asia, all over the world.

TURNER: And we have interest in several of them.

BLITZER: CNN does?

TURNER: Yes, in Turkey and Spain.

BLITZER: Is it true that you started CNN with $25 million and that was basically your fortune at the time and had you lost it, it would have been over for Ted Turner?

TURNER: Pretty -- well, it would have dragged everything -- everything was on the line there.

BLITZER: You took the 25 million and you said, I'm going to go with CNN. TURNER: And I was living in the office.

BLITZER: There were some moments early on when it was almost over.

TURNER: Well, we had our -- in the first six months, the banks called our loans. Our losses were twice as big as what we had projected, and our income was half as much. So, we were -- we were doing four times worse than we projected, and our banks said, we're going to call the loans, and I said, well, can you give me 90 days to see if I can't refinance somewhere else, because if you throw me into bankruptcy, that's not going to do either of us any good. And they said, we'll give you 90 days, and I was able to find another lender at twice the rate to...

BLITZER: ABC started a channel -- what was it called -- the Satellite News Channel?

TURNER: With Westinghouse.

BLITZER: With Westinghouse.

TURNER: Two of the biggest companies in America.

BLITZER: And they were -- that was a real threat to CNN.

TURNER: They made the statement that we're going to drive us out of business, but they didn't. We hung on and drove them out of business.

BLITZER: How'd you do that?

TURNER: Well, a little fast footwork. It's a long story, that would be, but I'm extremely proud of what we accomplished at CNN. Other than my family, CNN is obviously -- I regard it as the thing I'm proudest of in my life.

BLITZER: Now, you look back on the 25 years of CNN. Which story were you proudest of, the way CNN handled it?

TURNER: Baghdad in '91.

BLITZER: The start of the air war against Saddam Hussein?

TURNER: Yes, and the whole war.

BLITZER: You decided -- you personally thought that Peter Arnett should stay in Baghdad because there was pressure to get all those...

TURNER: Lots of it.

BLITZER: ...Western American reporters out of Baghdad, and you said, if he wants to stay, let him stay.

TURNER: And I had a meeting of our top executives up in my office, the top 10 CNN executives more or less, and they had strongly recommended that we follow the advice of the president and secretary of state, who were calling us every day, and get our people out of there.

BLITZER: The first President Bush personally called you?

TURNER: Yes. He didn't call me. He called Tom Johnson.

BLITZER: Who was then the president of CNN?

TURNER: Yes, and...

BLITZER: What did he say?

TURNER: He said, I strongly recommend you get your troops out. And Colin Powell was calling every day.

BLITZER: And he was chairman of the joint chiefs of staff?

TURNER: Right. And I said, if we have anybody that will stay voluntarily, we will stay, and I overrode the government which you could do because of freedom of the press. And then in the meeting I said, I will take personal responsibility, alone, if anyone gets hurt or killed. I said, somebody has to do it. I'd -- so, just don't worry, it won't be -- it'll be my responsibility.

BLITZER: Because at the time, Peter Arnett, Bernie Shaw, John Halliman...

TURNER: Well, Bernie Shaw -- they were all there.

BLITZER: ...our three -- our three reporters were in Baghdad at the al Rasheed Hotel which some people were telling CNN was a target for U.S. air strikes.

TURNER: It could've happened, but I'm a believer that a war correspondent is a war correspondent. I read and watched the films of World War I and World War II, where correspondents went with the troops and they got killed all the time. I don't like having -- being killed, but if you'll recall, during the last Iraqi war, when it looked like nobody from CNN was going to go over there, than I volunteered that I would go. They wouldn't accept me, and besides, they threw all the foreign reporters out. I shouldn't use that word; the international reporters out. But I would have gone over there without any problem at all, and risked my life personally.

BLITZER: Was that a real serious...

TURNER: Absolutely serious.

BLITZER: You were ready to go to Baghdad?

TURNER: I wasn't going to let CNN go into the second Gulf War with nobody there, after I just had merged it with Time Warner. I -- you know, not if I could go, you know -- the only -- a coward dies a thousand times, a brave man but once, right?

BLITZER: And that would have been you.

TURNER: Well, if it happened, but I've been pretty lucky in my life. You know, the bullets might not hit me.

BLITZER: I'm going to have Ted Turner stand by because we have more to talk about. We're going to take a quick commercial break. You understand the importance of commercials.

TURNER: Absolutely.

BLITZER: I think you do if...

TURNER: Stand by and don't change that channel.

BLITZER: All right, that's it. We're going to have more with our founder, Ted Turner, on this 25th anniversary of CNN, right after this short message.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Sitting here with the founder of CNN, Ted Turner, on this 25th anniversary of CNN -- tomorrow, to be precise. A lot of our viewers want to know, Ted Turner, you're not directly involved with CNN by any means right now. What is your passion? What are you up to now?

TURNER: I got to say it was not by my choice. If I had my choice, I still would be here. I love CNN, and always will, and there's a very fond place in my heart for it. But I'm really, really busy, and I'm doing a lot of really worthwhile things. I'm involved with three different foundations -- the Turner Foundation, which is our family foundation, which does mostly environmental work; the Nuclear Threat Initiative, where I'm partners with Sam Nunn, which is trying to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction here and around the world; and the third is the U.N. Foundation, where I put my billion dollars that works to make it a better world, peace and security issues, the role of women around the world, children's health, and the environment.

BLITZER: You still believe in the U.N.?

TURNER: Absolutely. I mean, without -- it's like the federal government. It doesn't mean it's perfect. But what are you going to do without it? You would have absolute chaos without the U.N., just like we'd have chaos without the federal government. So we have to have it. We have no choice. If we hadn't had the U.N., we never would have made it through the Cold War without it getting hot, and we wouldn't be here today. We'd have had a nuclear war. The U.N. is absolutely essential to the continued existence of mankind. And the stronger and the more effort that we put behind it, the better U.N. we'll have and the better global oversight it will have. And we need to do that.

BLITZER: We have less than a minute. Looking ahead, what do you hope that CNN will turn into over the next 25 years? TURNER: Well, I think CNN, you know, looks very good now. The only thing that I regret is I'd like to see more international coverage on the domestic feed. It's very good on CNN International.

BLITZER: You know, we're going to do that starting next Monday.

TURNER: I know. One hour. That's good. I think that's --

BLITZER: Let me tell our viewers in case they don't know.

TURNER: Okay, good.

BLITZER: Starting on Monday, every weekday at noon, we will simulcast our coverage on CNN International. Zane Verge and Jim Clancy will be co-anchoring. That noon program starting this Monday.

TURNER: And the other two areas, because we're out of time, the other two areas are the environment and energy as it relates to the environment. We've got to move away from fossil fuels immediately to clean, renewable, locally produced energy in order for our financial security, our military security, and our environmental security.

BLITZER: The one and only Ted Turner.

TURNER: Okay, pal. Good to see you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Ted, thanks so much. We'll celebrate in 50 years.

TURNER: Hi, Mom.

BLITZER: Ted Turner, on this 25th anniversary of CNN. We'll take a quick break. More news right after this.

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BLITZER: A medical doctor and a jazz musician -- two Americans were in court today charged with conspiring to aid al Qaeda. In Ft. Pierce, Florida, Rafiq Sabir told a judge he's in the process of retaining an attorney. He'll have another court appearance Friday. In New York, meanwhile, Tarik Shah appeared before a federal magistrate who set a preliminary hearing date of June 28th. Shah had little to say, but his attorneys describe him as a renowned jazz musician and call the case, and I'm quoting now, "desperate prosecution."

It promises to be one of the most closely watched trials ever, and it could get underway in a matter of weeks. That would be the trial of Saddam Hussein. I spoke about that earlier today with the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, in a satellite interview for the CNN World Report Conference happening this week here in Atlanta.

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JALAL TALABANI, IRAQ PRESIDENT: Saddam Hussein is a war criminal. He committed worst kind of crimes against Iraqi people in Kurdistan and the south and in Baghdad also. Saddam Hussein deserve just trial, and I think the court of Iraq will decide the future of Saddam Hussein.

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BLITZER: Talabani also told me the Saddam trial could start within two months.

Another headline coming out of the CNN World Report Conference here in Atlanta: The Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf told me the number-three man in the al Qaeda leadership is being handed over to the United States. He told me that the captured Libyan-born terror suspect Abu Faraj al-Libbi has already been interrogated in Pakistan and claimed he has not been in direct contact with Osama bin Laden.

Pentagon officials said they're aware of the reports but are unable to provide any information. A CIA spokesman at the same time had no immediate comment.

That's it for me. I'll be back here in Atlanta tomorrow. Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer at the CNN Center. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now. Substituting tonight for Lou, Kitty Pilgrim. She's standing by in New York. Kitty?

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