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What We Know with Max Foster
Ted Turner, CNN Founder And Philanthropist, Dies At 87; Sources: U.S. And Iran Closing In On Memorandum To End War; Trump Threatens To Resume Bombing Iran If No Deal; Three People Evacuated From Hantavirus-Hit Cruise Ship; China Pressing For Peace Between U.S. And Iran. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired May 06, 2026 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:51]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Ted Turner, CNN's legendary founder, dies at the age of 87.
I'm Jim Sciutto, in today for Max Foster. And this is WHAT WE KNOW.
We are remembering a man who truly changed the way we look at the world. CNN founder, philanthropist and humanitarian Ted Turner has died. He died
peacefully Wednesday surrounded by family. Turner was 87 years old.
Turner created the very concept of 24-hour news and in turn, connected the entire world with his numerous television networks, including the one
you\re watching right now. Turner also used his wealth and influence on global issues. He worked to eliminate nuclear weapons and created the
United Nations foundation, donating $1 billion to its cause.
Turner helped bring back a symbol of the American West. The bison from near extinction.
Wolf Blitzer looks back at the life and legacy of one of the greatest visionaries of our time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TERRY MCGUIRK, FORMER CEO, TURNER BROADCASTING SYSTEM: He broke every mold. He changed the world.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Known as the Mouth of the South and Captain Outrageous, Ted Turner built a media empire that changed cable news
forever.
TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: I didn't have any upper limits to how far we could go.
BLITZER (voice-over): Champion, philanthropist, environmentalist.
TURNER: I don't know how to quit. It's not in my genes.
BLITZER (voice-over): But growing up wasn't easy for Ted. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1938, his parents sent him to boarding school when he
was just 4 years old.
TURNER: I didn't like boarding school. I wanted to be home.
BLITZER (voice-over): Ted's little sister, whom he adored, died of lupus at 17. About two years later, Ted dropped out of Brown University. He'd
been studying classics until his father cut off the money.
TURNER: He thought I was wasting my time.
BLITZER (voice-over): So he went to work for his dad's billboard company. But tragedy struck again when his father killed himself.
TURNER: He went against everything he -- that he taught me, be courageous and hang in there.
BLITZER (voice-over): Ted took over the family business and coped with the loss by working even harder.
TURNER: He said: "Set your goals so high that you can't achieve them in your lifetime."
BLITZER (voice-over): When Ted wasn't working, he turned to the sport he loved, sailing...
TURNER: We have got to go fast as we can here.
BLITZER (voice-over): ... and won the sport's top race, the America's Cup.
TURNER: I had worked very hard. It took me a number of years to become a champion.
BLITZER (voice-over): He put that same drive into expanding the business. In 1970, Ted bought a struggling TV station.
MCGUIRK: It was a broken-down UHF television station in Atlanta. He was going to transform UHF television into this new world of satellite
television.
BLITZER (voice-over): Ted renamed the station WTBS, and it became the country's first Superstation.
MCGUIRK: What Ted made happen was just as important as the Internet revolution of the '90s and 2000s.
BLITZER (voice-over): But starting out, Ted needed content. He bought the Atlanta Braves and broadcast their games nationwide.
NARRATOR: The Atlanta Braves.
BLITZER (voice-over): The Braves became America's team.
MCGUIRK: When we bought them in 1976, they were terrible.
BLITZER (voice-over): By 1995, Ted and his team were World Series champs. As he built the Superstation, he set his sights even higher, on a 24-hour
news channel.
TURNER: I worked until 7:00. And when I got home, the news was over. So I missed television news completely. And I figured there were lots of people
like me.
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: People did look upon that as a foolish idea that was destined for failure, but they
underestimated Ted Turner.
TOM JOHNSON, FORMER CNN PRESIDENT: Most of the leaders of the world thought Ted was nuts.
TURNER: We sign on, on June 1. And barring satellite problems in the future, we won't be signing off until the world ends.
(LAUGHTER)
TURNER: We will be on. We will cover it live.
[15:05:00]
I dedicate the news channel for America, the Cable News Network.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take 11, my cue.
BLITZER (voice-over): CNN aired its first broadcast on June 1, 1980.
DAVID WALKER, FORMER CNN HOST: Good evening. I'm David Walker.
LOIS HART, FORMER CNN HOST: And I'm Lois Hart. Now here's the news.
BLITZER (voice-over): It took five years to turn a profit. TURNER: I lived for 20 years in my office.
JOHNSON: He was one of us. I mean, he would be in his house, coat down, having breakfast in the hard news cafe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we will get better by the end of the week.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER (voice-over): Critics called it Chicken Noodle News.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, Baghdad.
BLITZER (voice-over): But the Gulf War would give CNN the respect it deserved.
PETER ARNETT, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can hear the bombs now. They are hitting the center of the city.
BLITZER (voice-over): It was the first time a war was broadcast live on television, and it was only on CNN.
TURNER: I still believe that was the greatest scoop in the history of journalism.
TONY CLARK, OBSERVER: You can see her there. She's...
JOHNSON: Ted didn't care as much about ratings as he did about being the most trusted man in news.
BLITZER (voice-over): Ted also cared about the world. Over a 10-year period, he donated a billion dollars to the United Nations.
TURNER: I'm no poorer than I was nine months ago, and the world is a lot better off.
BLITZER (voice-over): And he expanded his empire, launching networks like TNT and Turner Classic Movies.
In his personal life, Ted was married and divorced twice with five children before he finally met his match, Jane Fonda.
TURNER: She agreed to have dinner with me. For me, it was love at first sight.
JANE FONDA, FORMER WIFE OF TED TURNER: I can't ever forget the reasons that made me fall in love with him. I have never met any human being that
thinks the way Ted does.
BLITZER (voice-over): Ted was a visionary, a titan, even "TIME" magazine's Man of the Year.
But, in 1996, he sold his networks to Time Warner. He got almost $8 billion.
JOHNSON: I said: "Ted, if you sell, you will no longer be captain of your own ship."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ted Turner. Ted.
(APPLAUSE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Five years later, Time Warner merged with AOL and Ted was out.
JOHNSON: Ted used the description "I have been fired." Ted got shafted. And it hurt.
TURNER: It was more than just a company. To me, it was a way of life.
BLITZER (voice-over): He lost his empire and the love of his life. After 10 years of marriage, he and Jane parted ways.
BLITZER: But you love her still...
TURNER: Yes.
BLITZER : ... to this very day.
TURNER: To this very day.
BLITZER (voice-over): But Ted never gave up, his final act, saving the planet. He created the U.N. Foundation and the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
On his Montana ranch, he made it his mission to save the bison.
TURNER: Hi. Well, you never go home, do you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Yes, I know.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER (voice-over): And he opened restaurants to ensure their survival.
CARTER: Ted's love of the outdoors has made him perhaps the number one environmentalist that I have ever known.
BLITZER (voice-over): Before his 80th birthday, Ted revealed he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive disease. He spent his final years treasuring
private moments, his ranch and his family.
FONDA: He wants to know that, when he goes out, it will be with the love of his children and grandchildren.
MCGUIRK: You can never take away what he created and what he did.
JOHNSON: We have never seen a man quite like Ted Turner before on this planet. And I don't think we will ever see another one like him again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Ted Turner, dead at 87.
Joining me now, CNN media analyst Sara Fischer.
Sara, good to have you.
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Good to see you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: You know the media environment so well. I wonder, is there anyone in recent memory who competes with Ted Turner for the effect he or she had
on the news business?
FISCHER: There are certainly many big titans in media, but one of the things that Ted Turner uniquely did was he brought a sense of purpose to
the media. In building up Turner Broadcasting, he built up Atlanta and the local community. He then took his riches to really invest in philanthropy.
That is something that made Ted Turner distinct. And there is a big impact on the media industry in doing that, because he's showing the entire world
that having a platform is bigger than just having a microphone. It means doing good.
SCIUTTO: His station, CNN and the others have been the subject of so many mergers. At this point, it's hard to keep count. CNN is still alive and
well, still a profitable business. But where do his -- those properties he's created all those years ago? Where do they stand today?
FISCHER: It's so impressive, the brand equity that they have, Jim, that they've been able to survive all of these decades. So, of course, Ted sold
Turner broadcasting to Time Warner.
[15:10:00]
Time Warner went on to have a very difficult merger with AOL, and the properties have seen a tumultuous, you know, situation ever since.
Right now, they're owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which is the parent company to CNN. Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to merge with paramount,
and so the Turner Channels that you're familiar with CNN, tbs, et cetera, they will all become part of a larger company that is owned by Paramount.
Now, Paramount has pledged not to divest those cable networks, so we can hope that those cable networks can continue to thrive. But of course, cable
is a very challenged business. And so in order for them to succeed, they're all going to have to modernize and digitize.
SCIUTTO: How important to Ted Turner's legacy were the many non-news related elements, right? You heard that in Wolf's obituary there. He was a
philanthropist. He sought the elimination of nuclear weapons. He helped save the bison, right?
I mean, this is a this is a true renaissance man.
FISCHER: You know, television was so important because it gave him a platform to be able to talk about some of the things that he did outside of
the news media. But I do think that his legacy is cemented in some of those philanthropic endeavors, especially what he did for the community of
Atlanta. Jim. My company, "Axios", was bought by Cox, which is an Atlanta- based community, and I've gotten to know them so well. They care deeply about what Ted Turner did there. I mean, he was such a big participant in
sports, for example, buying the Atlanta Braves and other teams.
And so I think that's how he and his family would probably define him as a man that really cared about his community and society. But of course,
people like you and me in the media industry, we're all so grateful to the contribution that he made to media and advancing it, advancing
accessibility to news and information for so many people. You know, Ted was the one that pioneered taking a small channel, using satellite to blast it
onto cable systems and make it go national. That is something to be celebrated, too.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. Hearing him there describe how in the old days he would get home and the news would have already aired, right? That, you know, he
didn't have his chance to see the evening news. That seems like from such a different time. Because of course, the news is always available.
Do we know if he was concerned about the future of a network like CNN, as he saw it go through all these changes and all these changes in ownership?
FISCHER: Sometimes people divest an asset and they walk away and they wipe their hands clean. Ted was always a champion of CNN, even when he was no
longer the owner of CNN. And that is something that the people at the network, as you know, Jim, have really treasured. I think that helped the
people at CNN weather all of those mergers and acquisitions.
I know that he cared deeply about the future of CNN and its people, and its been remarkable all day to be getting calls from people at CNN to hear how
deeply touched that they were by Ted and how much they care. He made such an extraordinary impact on CNN, and I think that it was a priority for him
to make sure that the network continued to live on, to serve all people who care about the news.
SCIUTTO: Sara Fischer, thanks so much for helping us remember him.
FISCHER: Thank you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Well, President Donald Trump says that the U.S. has the situation in Iran, quote, very much under control. This after administration
officials told CNN the two sides, Iran and the U.S., are now closing in on a one-page memo to end the war, at least for now. Iran's foreign ministry
says the latest U.S. proposal is still being reviewed. That perhaps cautious optimism, in sharp contrast to the president's earlier threat to
resume bombing, quote, "at a higher level and intensity than before if Iran does not agree to a deal."
Kevin Liptak is with me now.
And, Kevin, I wonder about the timeline here that the president is off to China next week to meet the Chinese leaders. There's some time pressure
from his point of view, to end the war, at least pause the war before he goes to Beijing?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think that's one of many pressure points to try and get this war over. Remember, he delayed that
trip. It was originally supposed to be in April. He moved it to next week with the hope that the war would be completed by the time he showed up in
China.
Obviously, it's going to be a very awkward conversation, I think, with Xi Jinping to have President Trump trying to explain why a fertilizer prices
are so much higher, why energy prices are so much higher, including in China, which is the top consumer of Iranian oil in the entire world.
And so, yes, I think he very much did want this to be in the rearview mirror by the time he got on the plane and headed to Beijing.
[15:15:04]
At this point, it does not appear as if that will be the case. I think the bigger question is whether the president has struck this deal. One page
sort of memorandum with Iran that would end the war and set this 30-day timeline for more detailed negotiations on all of the issues that remain
outstanding, be it the nuclear program, the missile program, support for proxies, all of these questions that have yet to be resolved.
Or does the president resume the bombing? Does he decide that these talks are just dragging out for far too long and begin the campaign sort of anew?
I don't think he wants to do that before he heads to China, but it's certainly a possibility. And so, you know, it is, I think, a pressure
point.
Obviously, the other pressure point that the president is feeling, and that will extend well past this China trip next week, is the political pressure.
As gas prices rise in the U.S. as the war stretches well past the six-week mark that the president originally said would be how long it lasted.
Obviously, you know, his approval ratings have taken a hit. The war extraordinarily unpopular among the American public. And so, it does create
a series of, I think, pressure points for the president to try and get this concluded. And you hear, just as he's speaking today, saying that there has
been progress over the last 24 hours. I think you hear a president very eager to try and find some sort of resolution.
SCIUTTO: Lots of pressure points. Kevin Liptak at the White House, thank you.
Still ahead, a cruise ship at the center of a deadly viral outbreak is now en route to the Canary Islands. We're going to speak to a public health
professor about the possible dangers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Now to the deadly outbreak of Hantavirus aboard a cruise ship. The vessel is now en route to the Canary Islands from where it was Cape
Verde. Three people have been evacuated. Dozens of passengers remain on board.
[15:20:02]
Politicians are now battling over where the ship might dock. Spain insists it should dock at the largest of the Canary Islands, while the local
government there is demanding more information. Perhaps understandably, before agreeing to anything.
Joining us now, Anne Rimoin. She's a professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
Anne, good to have you.
ANNE RIMOIN, EPIDEMIOLOGY PROFESSOR, UCLA: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: So, first question, I guess, is the simplest one. I mean, our authorities confident that the outbreak is confined to this ship because I
know they're doing contact tracing, including 88 people on a flight that one of the victims took. Is it possible this is bigger than that ship?
RIMOIN: Well, of course, it could be bigger than what's on the ship. We don't know yet. And this is the very early stages of the investigation. You
know, we have to start with what we know and what we know at this point is that we've had an outbreak that seems to be connected to people that were
infected, likely in Argentina, while doing bird watching or some other activities. This is what we, what we, these are the, you know, basic data
right now.
And we know that there was exposure, that there are now other people that are sick on a ship. There are other people that have declined or
disembarked from that ship. And so, and taken other modes of transportation.
And that's why this is going to be very complicated. You know, this is going to be something that is a zoonotic transmission that now is
potentially spreading from person to person. We assume that it will be through prolonged contact, but we don't have all the information yet. So we
still are in the data gathering point.
It's just going to be really complicated because it is involving lots of different countries and lots of different modes of transportation at this
point.
SCIUTTO: This is bringing back for me at least some memories of the coronavirus outbreak. You know, questions about where it came initially,
whether it was from animals. And then, of course, the virus mutates and potentially becomes more communicable.
Are there similar worries about this one that as it as it goes from one host to another, that it might become more likely to spread more widely?
RIMOIN: Well, I think at this point, it seems like a unique situation and a set of circumstances, where spillover from animal to human resulted in
some spread. But at this point, you know, we don't know.
What I will say is that hantaviruses are very different from coronaviruses and don't seem to spread as easily from person to person. And there's been
very little evidence in the past of, um, very sustained transmission from person to person, but we're in the early stages of this. We need to
understand a lot more, based on the data that's forthcoming.
And here's the good news. The good news is that we have a lot of coordination between countries. This appears to be reasonably contained to
people that had close contact to those individuals who were initially infected on the -- on the ship. And so, it appears to be a low risk
situation at this point. But low risk to the public does not mean low consequence for those people involved.
SCIUTTO: No question. Those people confined to quarters, right? In effect for so long, is there any reason why the country is now on the list to take
this ship in, wouldn't want to take this ship in. I mean, they have understandable questions.
RIMOIN: Well, you know, you'd have good public health infrastructure and the kind of diagnostics available and the medical facilities available to
be able to manage it. And that is something that is complicated under any circumstance, health departments globally are always under stress and --
and under high demand and, you know, relatively low resource. So, it is going to be a complex and complicated investigation.
And so, I think that the -- except the ship is going to make sure that they have all of these things in place.
SCIUTTO: Anne Rimoin, we appreciate you walking us through it.
Well, still to come, could China play a role in making peace between Iran and the U.S.? We're going to have a look at why Beijing is eager to get
this conflict resolved, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:28:03]
SCIUTTO: Israel has struck Beirut, Lebanon, for the first time in weeks. Israeli officials say their forces were targeting the commander of
Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force. Israel says that Radwan operatives have been striking Israeli soldiers and communities in northern Israel. There's
no word yet on casualties from this latest Israeli strike.
The top diplomats from China and Iran met today, their first face to face talks since the Iran war began. China's foreign ministry says it is
urgently important to stop the war and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. China is, of course, a major importer of energy from the Persian Gulf, as
well as other natural resources.
So, the question now is what role could China play in ending the war with Iran and keeping it ended?
Joining me now, CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh.
Sabrina, good to have you.
SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Jim. Good to be on with you.
SCIUTTO: So, President Trump seems to be feeling some pressure to get the war done, or at least on pause before he goes to Beijing next week. I mean,
is this an issue of possible agreement between the U.S. and China, something that they could work together on, cooperate on?
SINGH: Well, there's no question that the U.S. and China both have a vested interest in seeing this Strait of Hormuz open. And it's not just the
U.S. and China. I mean, it's global markets. It's every country that sees an import of their oil flowing through that strait.
And China is -- its energy security, you know, I think you mentioned like nearly half of Chinas crude oil imports go through that strait. So, could
the U.S. and China work together? I think that's possible.
But I think the choreography of what you're seeing happen here in the U.S. is very much set up for Trump's meeting next week with President Xi. I
mean, he does not want to be talking about this war. He wants you know, he keeps wanting to say like, the operation is over.
[15:30:02]
And I think that's some messaging and signaling to China as well, because they really do want to see this strait open.
And as you saw today, the Iranian foreign minister, the Chinese foreign minister meeting, talking not only about the strait, but how to bring this
war to an end, an end, and to a true close is something that's been on the agenda.
SCIUTTO: I mean, you could see China having somewhat conflicting interests here because we heard Secretary Rubio saying he hopes China will push Iran
to keep the strait open. Of course, China wants the strait open and imports a lot of energy from there. But China might calculate it benefits from
continuing to have the U.S. bogged down there or, say, a U.S. military presence forced to stay in place to keep the strait open or escort ships,
et cetera. Where does China lean?
SINGH: Yeah, I think this is sort of the calculation that President Xi and others in China are making. On the one hand, yes, you want to see that
strait open. You want to see those energy resources flowing back because obviously this is having an impact, particularly on Asian markets. And so,
you want to see that strait reopened.
On the other hand, the United States is yet again distracted and pulled into a war in the Middle East. And not just that, you've seen this
administration, um, redeploy a U.S. carrier strike group, a marine, the 31st marine unit that was also pulled from Japan. And then a THAAD battery
that was pulled from Korea.
So as the U.S. is drawing down capabilities in the Indo-Pacific, it is really leaving our allies over there somewhat exposed. And that's great for
China. I mean, that is exactly what they want. They want the United States presence reduced in that region so they can continue what they're doing,
whether it's in the South China Sea or putting pressure on Taiwan.
And that's something that this administration, I think, has really lost the ball on, because even though the national defense strategy that this
administration put out does prioritize China, we're -- that is not a priority theater right now with the Iran war ongoing.
SCIUTTO: How about this summit between Xi and Trump? Are there reasonable expectations of real deliverables from this meeting? Trump has met foreign
leaders before and come away with nothing. You think the Alaska summit with Putin or three summits with Kim Jong Un during the first term, are there
expectations of something beyond extending a trade truce?
SINGH: You know, it's hard to say. Meetings like this take a lot of time, a lot of prep, and there is usually a conversation of some big deliverables
going back and forth between the two countries, or some type of negotiation. You know, could there be some type of negotiation when it
comes to soya beans, relief for farmers here at home in the U.S.? Could there be larger talks of, you know, tariffs?
Maybe, but I don't know that the president is going to walk away from meetings and come back with some huge deliverable that is beneficial to the
American public because, frankly, the U.S. is distracted right now and the amount of maximalist pressure that we can really put on China. I mean,
you've seen the president kind of balk even at his own tariffs sometimes.
So, it's unclear, but it's certainly something to be watching for, for next week.
SCIUTTO: Sabrina Singh, thanks so much.
Well, in the final moments of trade on Wall Street -- stocks, well they remain higher. Investors optimistic about a potential deal between the U.S.
and Iran, pushing the Dow closer to the 50,000 mark once again.
This is our Business Breakout.
Lufthansa says it will raise ticket fares and cut flights to cover the costs of higher jet fuel prices. The German airline says it will spend an
extra $2 billion on fuel this year because of the ongoing disruption of the Strait of Hormuz. It also warned of potentially reduced fuel availability
later in the year.
A big announcement in the artificial intelligence sector. Anthropic has announced a partnership with Elon Musk's company, SpaceX. It will give it
access to Colossus One, the Colossus One supercomputer. Anthropic says, that will help improve its A.I. assistant Claude. The two companies say
they will also partner on data centers up in space.
Private sector businesses added 100,000 jobs last month, the biggest gain in a year. This, according to the latest numbers from the payroll company
ADP. Education and health services saw the most gains. The Labor Department's own jobs report for April is out on Friday.
And just a wild ride for oil markets today. Brent crude at one point plunged to $97 a barrel below 100 bucks. This comes as the White House
reportedly believes that Washington and Tehran might be close to agreeing to a peace deal, or at least the outlines of one.
[15:35:06]
It will take a while for Americans to see a difference at the pump, though average U.S. gas prices have jumped $4 to $4.50 per gallon, the highest
level in almost four years.
David Goldman covers the oil markets. He's in New York.
David, you and I have talked about this more than once, and I've talked with other oil analysts who said that even if the war would end tomorrow,
right, that the backup of all this oil that's been sitting behind the strait will take a long time to get through the system and therefore to
bring down the oil price.
Is that still the thinking right now?
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, you got that exactly right. I mean, I think that the trade today is a little optimistic that the
war is going to come to a stop anytime soon.
But let's just say that it does. Let's say that the Strait of Hormuz opens up tonight or tomorrow. There's a lot that needs to happen before oil
prices get back down to around $60 a barrel where they were before the war. And gas prices get back down to $3 a gallon. Among those things is that the
strait needs to be fully reopened.
So, there are mines in the strait, and there are certainly Iranian speedboats that can take out, or at least disrupt traffic that needs to be
cleared first. But then those boats, there's about 166 of them. They need to be cleared out of the strait so that new empty boats can come in and
start taking the crude that has been in stockpiles, in warehouses to their destination.
And then once those stockpiles are drawn down, only then can production start to increase again. That is not like flipping on a light switch. This
is actually a kind of complex engineering challenge because there are lots of wells in the Middle East that are very close to one another. The
pressure needs to be maintained equally among all of them.
So there's a lot of coordination that needs to go on. This is actually a lot more complex than it might sound. And then there's all the destroyed
production in the area. We know that certainly the liquefied natural gas port in Qatar has been destroyed. And some of the oil fields that are in
Iran have been destroyed.
Those will need to come back, be rebuilt before they can come back online. This is not sounding like a tomorrow solution, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. No question. I wonder if market analysts you speak with see a longer term issue here. And that is that even if there is a memorandum
that ends this war in the next 10 minutes, right, that Iran has demonstrated an ability to, if not close the strait, severely restrict it,
even with a much smaller military than the U.S. is. I mean, do -- is that a longer-term pressure on oil prices going forward?
GOLDMAN: It certainly is, although what I would say is that I think the world is learning a lesson. And I think that we've learned a lot of lessons
this decade. We learned a lesson from COVID, and we learned a lesson from the Ukraine and Russia war, which is that we need hardened and -- hardened
and diversified supply chains. So, I think and this is not just me, this is folks that I'm speaking to, that there will be pipelines that route around
the Strait of Hormuz down the road.
And so, we won't necessarily have this choke point anymore. The other thing that we're currently seeing is a big push into renewables. Demand for
Chinese renewables is off the charts right now. And so, what we might see is a is a stronger oil market in the very long term, five to 10 years from
now.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. Interesting. As this country moves away from renewables, right? You see it going the opposite direction.
GOLDMAN: That's right.
SCIUTTO: David Goldman, thanks so much.
GOLDMAN: Thanks, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Still to come, looking back at the vision of Ted Turner, as we remember the CNN founder who passed away today at the age of 87.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:42:21]
SCIUTTO: We've been remembering CNN founder Ted Turner, who died today at the age of 87. Turner had the vision to create a 24-hour news network,
which then expanded to further connect the world. At the time, it was called a crazy idea.
He was also known as a philanthropist and humanitarian who used his influence in the fight against nuclear weapons and for efforts on saving
the environment. Turner had a great interest in the world around him and wanted to bring the world into our living rooms so we could watch history
in real time. He once donated $1 billion to the U.N., a move praised by then U.N. secretary general as a bet on humanity.
Our Christiane Amanpour has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TURNER: I dedicate the news channel for America.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Ted Turner, the man who changed the world by creating CNN in 1980. It was the
first on-demand global television news channel.
AMANPOUR: Were you trying to create a revolution with 24/7 news, or were you just trying to find another brilliant business opportunity?
TURNER: Both. I thought it through very carefully. That's what I did. I studied the situation and I knew what I was doing. At least I felt like I
knew what I was doing, and it turned out that I did.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): But Ted Turner's accomplishments have an even wider reach than the global network he built. A lifetime of work that put him
ahead of the curve with every chance he took.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ted Turner.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): A true renaissance man, Ted Turner defied labels. Yes, he became a billionaire businessman, but he was also a philanthropist,
a conservationist, a sports champion.
TURNER: Aren't they cool? I never get tired of them.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): And an optimist, as he told me when I visited him on his Montana ranch in 2015, surrounded by his beloved bison, a species he
had nearly singlehandedly brought back from the brink of extinction.
TURNER: Remember, I'm supposed to be shooting for something that's impossible to have happen in my lifetime.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): And he had the Midas touch every time he dreamed the impossible dream.
In 1997, he donated $1 billion to help support the United Nations by creating the United Nations foundation. It was a jaw dropping gift that
stunned the world. But like many of Turner's endeavors, it made perfect sense to him.
TURNER: As of January of December 31st, I was worth 2.2 billion.
[15:45:00]
And I looked at it that morning real quick because I don't have a lot of time to look at my own statement. And I was up to 3.2 because the stock
went up so much during the year. So, I made it nine months, I'm only giving up nine months earnings.
It's not that big a deal. I'm no poorer than I was nine months ago, and the world is a lot better off.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Turner sold CNN to Time Warner in 1996 and stayed on as vice chairman. By 2000, his fortune and his influence at CNN were
waning after the disastrous Time Warner merger with AOL.
But still, he pursued his causes. He avidly fought for the eradication of nuclear weapons. In 2001, he co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative, an
organization that has worked to corral loose nukes and aims to reduce the weapons of mass destruction in the world.
TURNER: The only thing that we can do is have total nuclear disarmament. Either we all have nuclear weapons or we all don't have them. And I'm in
favor of not having them. We should get rid of all of them. We don't want to destroy the world.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): He was a man who pushed boundaries. He met with dictators like Fidel Castro. He founded the Goodwill Games, which helped to
ease tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): He insisted CNN must be behind enemy lines in Baghdad to report that side of the First Gulf War, cementing the network as
the global leader in breaking news.
Before spearheading the media revolution, Ted Turner was a champion sailor, winning the prestigious America's Cup.
Later, he bought his adopted hometown baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, and its basketball team, the Atlanta Hawks, a career that wasn't linear but
radiated in so many different directions, a one of a kind.
And when I asked him to look back on his achievements, some were sentimental and others, in true Ted Turner fashion, were about changing the
world.
AMANPOUR: What do you most want to be remembered for?
TURNER: The good things I've done.
AMANPOUR: What's your proudest achievement?
TURNER: My family first and outside my family, CNN.
AMANPOUR: And what advice would you have for any young person who came to say Ted, you've done it all. What can you tell me?
TURNER: Clean energy.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): A cautionary and profitable piece of advice to any government or anyone from a true visionary
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: That was Christiane Amanpour reporting.
As we saw there, Ted Turner famously traveled to Cuba to meet the country's then leader, Fidel Castro, despite deep tensions between Cuba and the U.S.
Our Patrick Oppmann joins us now from Havana.
Patrick, I understand you were around for that visit.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, you know, I think many of us here at CNN are wondering where would we be without Ted Turner. I know I would
not be here, the Havana bureau would not be here because it was thanks to Ted Turner in the 1990s, after the Soviet Union fell, that he said, Cuba is
a place to be and no other Western network was here. No other U.S. media was here.
And he began taking these trips in the 1990s, meeting secretly with Fidel Castro and CNN executives and trying to pitch Fidel Castro, you know,
sometimes waiting for days for that call from the Palace of the Revolution. Fidel will see you now.
And Castro, of course, was not interested, at least initially, in a U.S. television network here. He really just wanted to meet Jane Fonda, is what
we've been told. But Ted Turner slowly convinced him as he convinced anybody he would talk to over the years that to let CNN in. And that's what
happened in 1997.
I came in 1998 as a -- as a bureau's first intern way back when. But thanks to Ted Turner, the media was able to come into a country as closed off as
Cuba. You know, Fidel Castro had told him, you only want to be here when the revolution falls if there's a coup. And Ted Turner, you know, playing
upon Fidel Castro's ego, perhaps said, we are in countries that are important. And if you don't have a CNN bureau in your country, you can't
really say that you are important.
So, thanks to Ted Turner, we've been able to be here over the years and shine a light on many, many things that otherwise the outside world would
not be able to see in a country still as closed off as Cuba is. And, you know, the irony of this is through those many meetings, he struck up a
great friendship with Fidel Castro, actually went hunting with Fidel Castro, had a gun loaded weapon next to Fidel Castro. Not many Americans
were allowed to do that, traveled all over this island.
And they did strike up this really unlikely friendship. And people, you know, would ask about this and say, you know, Ted, you are as capitalist as
they come. How can you call a revolutionary communist a close friend of yours and Ted Turner and his characteristic style said, you know, Fidel
Castro is not a communist. He's just like me. He's a dictator.
And so that was certainly Ted Turner's sense of humor and the way he accomplished things that, you know, for mere mortals like us would seem
impossible.
[15:50:05]
You know, he saw an opportunity and certainly was able to change the world as a result.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. I mean, you might ask the question, you know, how would an authoritarian, a dictator like Fidel Castro allow a news business right
onto the island to cover, you know, authoritarians don't love that kind of free -- free press.
OPPMANN: You know, Fidel Castro regretted it. There have been moments here where I've been, you know, encouraged perhaps, to go live somewhere else,
but have always been told by officials, even in the -- even in the moments where they've been very unhappy with CNNs coverage, that we are here
because of Ted Turner and because of the agreement he made with Fidel Castro and this unlikely friendship between these two very different men.
SCIUTTO: Patrick Oppmann in Havana -- thanks so much.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Visionary, pioneer, maverick, philanthropist, renegade just aren't enough words to describe the extraordinary life of Ted Turner and
the mark that he left on the world today. CNN is mourning the passing of the network's founder today. We still refer to ourselves as the house that
Ted built. Still honor his commitment to telling the news without fear or favor. Still, as a news organization, stand on his giant shoulders.
CNN's chairman and CEO Mark Thompson says the Ted Turner was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK THOMPSON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, CNN WORLDWIDE: When I evoke Ted and I do, I always invoke him for what I think he was, which was a disrupter, a risk
taker. I mean, in some ways, willing -- someone willing to take crazy risks. You know, against the conviction, his conviction was that people
wanted news when they wanted it and when they needed it, not when it fitted neatly into a schedulers kind of plan for a -- for a given day or a given
week and, and give it to them when they need it. And they will come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Turner was well known for saying, call me Ted. And so, we will, as we pay our final tribute. Ted once said, I know what I'm having him put
on my tombstone. I have nothing more to say. A reflection of his life, well-lived, full of achievements and adventure. We leave you with more of
Ted in his own words.
[15:55:03]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TURNER: I'm a problem solver. I like to identify problems and then try and work out hypothetical solutions to them, and then work on those
hypothetical solutions until it's something that's implementable.
I'm a team man, you know, I've won my baseball team, won the world series and set a record for 14 straight divisional. We did that because we played
like a team and our CNN played like a team. And that's the way our country ought to be.
All people are like snowflakes. No two are exactly alike. And I don't compare myself to anybody or anyone else -- anyone else to me.
I don't like to take chances with my -- with my existence. I like the world. I like the -- I like nature and I like the mountains and the trees
and the rivers and, and the people. I like people. It's -- I am a person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Ted Turner, dead at the age of 87. I'm Jim Sciutto. That is WHAT WE KNOW.
Please do stay with CNN. We will have more right after a short break.
END
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