Brad Parks – who’s been tasked with chugging around America with me on the AGT audition tour precisely for this kind of eventuality – was promptly despatched to investigate this possibility. Within a few hours, he had the answer.
‘Yes, we can do it on the roof. It won’t be easy, but we can do it.’
I got a few hours’ sleep, and by the time I woke again, the full scale of the hell that had befallen Japan was evident.
The earthquake was bad enough, but the tsunami was even more devastating. The death toll is feared to be over ten thousand people, making this one of the worst natural disasters in modern times.
It felt incredibly jarring to be judging a talent show on such a day.
For the first time since I started at CNN, the kind of conflict I had feared had finally transpired. And I knew instinctively where my heart now lay.
I spent the afternoon judging some particularly stupid acts – a singing parrot that didn’t sing and a group of human dancing Christmas trees (in March) – and taking every chance I got to check my BlackBerry as more and more dreadful updates poured in from Japan.
Everyone could tell I was massively distracted, but I focused on the judging when I had to, and kept things professional.
I owed it to my co-judges Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel, host Nick Cannon and the rest of the team to do my job properly. Even if my other job now seemed a million times more important.
At 5.30 p.m., Brad came and grabbed me and we raced up to the roof of the Orpheum Theatre, where he and the team had erected an extraordinary makeshift outdoor studio.
There was even a tenuous reason for me to be doing it from downtown L.A. – because there were fears that the aftershocks of the Japan tragedy might be felt on the California coastline.
I sat in my chair, Jonathan spoke into my ear from New York, and off we went – powering through an hour of the most devastating news imaginable.
I interviewed CNN’s heroic correspondents on the scene, and garnered expert opinions from an array of scientists and senior politicians.
It was a powerful, informative show, and we had no issues with the set itself. The only error came when I pronounced MIT (we booked one of their science professors) as ‘Mitt University’. The simple reason being that I’d never heard of it before.
‘I’ll have to teach you how to speak American,’ Jonathan groaned.
When I’d finished, I raced back downstairs to the theatre, where the first new AGT audition act appeared soon afterwards.
‘What’s your act?’ I asked.
‘I’d rather just show you,’ replied a cocky young man.
‘OK.’
He then used his mouth and hands to fart in the supposed manner of each judge.
The juxtaposition of this unedifying spectacle and what I’d been through for the previous hour couldn’t have been more stark.
Sharon Osbourne, sensing my discomfort, turned to me and whispered: ‘Now that’s what I call breaking news … or, should I say, breaking wind news!’
I got back to the Beverly Wilshire at midnight, absolutely drained.
And absolutely convinced that this dual AGT/CNN working existence is not long for this world.
WEDNESDAY, 16 MARCH 2011
I’ve flown to Jerusalem for a world-exclusive interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – the first he’s given since the Arab Spring uprisings began in Tunisia back in December.
I’ve never been to Israel before and was taken aback by the extraordinary natural beauty of the place.
I was also surprised when we stopped at a café on the road from the airport for lunch and saw it full of Arabs and Jews eating side by side quite happily.
‘We don’t all hate each other,’ explained my driver.
We drove to a hilltop in the afternoon to film a piece for tonight’s show, and I saw first-hand just how close Jerusalem is to Ramallah.
Only a giant security block separates the two sides. It reminded me of the Northern Ireland conflict: warring neighbours parted by a bit of barbed wire and generations of bitter fighting.
Because of the time difference with New York, I had to go live for CNN from my hotel balcony at 3 a.m., overlooking Old Jerusalem, with the twinkling lights of the ancient walled city behind me.
It was magical.
THURSDAY, 17 MARCH 2011
The interview with Netanyahu was a fascinating encounter, conducted at his private residence in Jerusalem, surrounded by incredibly tight security.
The prime minister was intelligent, articulate and charming. But he’s also a ferociously tough politician, and I knew – with the world watching – that I couldn’t give him an easy ride.
At one point he asked me directly what I would do to secure a settlement, clearly expecting me not to answer.
‘Honestly, what do I think?’ I replied.
‘Yes.’
‘When Sadat came to Jerusalem bearing concessions, it worked. Why don’t you go to Ramallah, and be the big guy? Why don’t you take concessions that are perhaps more than you’re prepared to give now and say, “I’m calling the bluff here”, not just of the Palestinians, but of the international community? Because the international community is desperate for this to work. They would come with you. And yes, of course there would be problems. Yes, there would be more outrages. Everybody knows that. But in the end, somebody has to be the big guy here. And that could be you, couldn’t it?’
He looked at me hard, then smiled.
‘I’m pretty big,’ he said.
‘You are.’
‘We’ll have to see.’
With so much upheaval elsewhere in the region, there’s probably never been a better time for the Israelis and Palestinians to strike a two-state deal.
But these things only happen when big leaders take big steps. I might be completely wrong about this, but I get the sense that Netanyahu realises this might be the moment to put his large hand on history.
At the end of the interview, we walked into his office.
He took me to the large map of the Middle East behind his desk and began laying his hand on various countries.
‘This is Libya, which is about a hundred times the size of Israel. Egypt, about forty times the size of Israel. This is Saudi Arabia, God knows how many times. Iraq, Syria, Iran. You want to see Israel now?’
He put one finger on a tiny piece of the map.
‘Here’s Israel. My finger covers it, with the West Bank, everything. So it’s a tiny country, surrounded, well, shall we say living in a very tough neighbourhood.’
It was a pretty powerful illustration of the isolation and vulnerability that Israel feels. And more so since the Arab Spring, because there’s now turmoil almost everywhere around them. And that’s dangerous.
On the side wall was a photo of Netanyahu and his brother Yonatan, who was an elite Israeli army commando, killed during the daring raid on Entebbe in Uganda, as he rescued hostages from an airliner hijacked by terrorists and welcomed by despot Idi Amin.
‘What do you think when you see that picture?’ I asked.
‘Well, first that I must go on a diet!’ he chuckled.
Then his eyes teared up.
‘Secondly, how young we were. That was on the Dead Sea, a few weeks before he fell. I think a lot of him, and I often ask myself what would he be doing?’
‘Would a peace deal be the greatest legacy you could give your brother?’
‘A peace that holds, yes.’
FRIDAY, 18 MARCH 2011
Woke up to a storm of Twitter outrage over my Netanyahu interview – half the complainants saying I was too soft on him, the other half saying I was too hard.
TUESDAY, 22 MARCH 2011
Celia’s pregnant!
This will be my fourth child, and I couldn’t be happier.
Of all the things I’ve experienced in life, fatherhood is by far the most rewarding, joyous, intriguing and occasionally infuriating.
WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH 2
011
It all began so promisingly as I arrived at New York’s JFK Airport at 5.50 a.m. to catch the 8 a.m. three-hour flight to Minneapolis.
This would get me there at 10 a.m. local time, four hours before I was due to start judging America’s Got Talent auditions.
We took off late at 9 a.m., which didn’t overly concern me as it still gave me two hours’ ‘wiggle room’.
But then, after ninety minutes in the air, the Delta Airlines pilot suddenly announced that due to bad weather conditions we were not able to land at Minneapolis Airport.
‘I regret to inform you,’ he added, ‘that we have been directed to return to New York.’
Whaaaat?
He was serious. The plane turned around and began heading back to New York.
I emailed the AGT team. ‘Er, we have a problem. I’m going the wrong way.’
At 12.30 p.m., I landed right back where I’d started.
‘I don’t have words to describe how sorry we the crew are about what just happened,’ said an attendant. ‘We apologise sincerely.’
A statement that would have moved me more if I hadn’t discovered from Juliana that many other Delta flights were still landing at Minneapolis, including one carrying one of my producers.
I would now miss the first AGT show, and there was a serious risk of missing the second one too. With two audiences of three thousand people each, a production crew of over a hundred, and fifty acts flown in from all over America to perform, this was not good.
I’ve never been late for a show in nine seasons of Britain’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent. I may be annoying, but I’m always on time.
I called Jonathan to explain what was going on.
‘Elizabeth Taylor died,’ he said. ‘So we need to do a special tribute show from Minneapolis when you eventually get there.’
Minneapolis is on central time, so my live CNN hour would fall from 8 to 9 p.m., right bang in the middle of the second AGT show.
‘We’ll have to tape it two hours early,’ I said, knowing this was far from ideal on a story of such global interest.
But I had to get to Minneapolis first.
I sat in the lounge, agitated beyond belief, tweeting my rage at Delta.
Then I boarded a second flight, due to take off for Minneapolis at 2 p.m.
After another delay, we taxied out a few hundred yards. Then stopped.
‘I’m sorry, but we have a technical fault and we need to power down the plane for a few minutes,’ said a flight attendant.
Engineers appeared. Then we were herded off the plane again.
It was now 3 p.m. in New York, and nobody from Delta seemed to have a clue when another flight might be able to go to Minneapolis.
I called Jonathan again.
‘This is a nightmare, no idea what’s going on now.’
His interest, of course, was purely CNN related.
‘Look, I’ve had to consider the possibility you may not be able to do our show tonight. So I made a discreet call, and Larry could step in for you.’
My head, already dangerously near boiling point, nearly exploded.
‘No, no, NO!’
The last thing I wanted was Larry back in his old chair just two months after I replaced him – it would send all the wrong signals.
‘I’m doing it, whatever happens.’
Jonathan could tell I was in a volatile state.
‘OK, OK, don’t worry, it was just an idea to try and solve the problem.’
Delta still couldn’t tell me what on earth was going on, but indicated the next flight to Minneapolis wouldn’t be leaving until at least 5 p.m. That would get me there after 7 p.m., and by the time I was at the theatre and ready, I’d have missed at least half the second AGT audition show.
In the meantime, I’d miss any taping window for my CNN show too.
I had to make a decision.
And it seemed pretty simple to me – forget about trying to get to Minneapolis today, go back to New York and anchor my CNN Elizabeth Taylor tribute show from my usual studio.
As my car took me back into Manhattan, I tweeted a final message to my Delta tormentors: ‘The gates of Hades will freezeth over before I ever darken your pitifully incompetent doors again.’
Juliana called from Minneapolis.
‘Delta’s marketing chief is reading your tweets and wants to make amends.’
‘How, exactly?’
‘They’ll send a private plane to get you there tonight.’
Given that Delta had so far cost NBC a considerable sum of money, I accepted the offer.
I recorded the Taylor special and sped to a private airstrip.
At 8 p.m., I was told there’d be a one-hour delay due to ‘bad weather’ and the plane might not fly at all.
For fuck’s sake!
But at 9.15 p.m., as sleet, hail and snow lashed the wings, we took off (by ‘we’, I mean me and the two pilots). By then, I didn’t care if the plane skidded into Minneapolis sideways.
We landed shortly before 1 a.m. local time. Nineteen hours after I’d set off.
I can’t go on trying to juggle these two shows – it’s going to kill me.
THURSDAY, 24 MARCH 2011
The first act at the AGT audition today was a group of giant tap-dancing human elves, calling themselves The Funny Little People.
‘More like The Unfunny and Incredibly Annoying Little People,’ I said.
In a break later, there was a knock on my dressing-room door and Howie Mandel ran in with the elves, who began jumping around and shouting, then knocked me to the floor in my suit and smothered me.
As I lay there, one thought steamed into my brain: ‘How do I get out of this madness?’
TUESDAY, 29 MARCH 2011
Ratings have come out for March, and CNN’s overtaken MSNBC for the first time in fourteen months.
I’ve comfortably beaten my opposite number, Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, and registered ratings of 118 per cent higher on Larry King’s figure for March 2010.
I couldn’t have wished for a better start. But I’m very aware that it’s mainly down to the huge hype surrounding my launch, and the very busy news cycle in the last few weeks.
CNN historically does very well in the ratings when there’s big news around, and not so well when there’s little happening.
The challenge is to make my show as compelling as possible in the quieter periods.
MONDAY, 11 APRIL 2011
Back to work after a week off, straight into a frantic day of tapings, including Whoopi Goldberg, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, and Robert Redford.
And into a huge firefight with the White House, over something utterly trivial – well, to my eyes anyway.
The trouble started when I pre-taped an interview with Barack Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng – who is promoting a book – and asked her about Donald Trump’s controversial ‘birther’ campaign to expose the president for supposedly not being born in America.
Trump has been surging in the polls as a potential presidential candidate, although nobody seems convinced he’s seriously going to run.
‘I think it’s unfortunate,’ she replied. ‘He was born in Hawaii. There is a tremendous amount of proof that has already been presented. So I think that it is time for people to put that to bed, put it to rest completely.’
‘What do you think of Donald Trump banging on about this every day at the moment?’ I asked.
‘Well, I think it’s a shame. And I think that my brother should definitely be president for a second term. And that’s really all I have to say about it.’
All fairly innocuous, and exactly what I expected her to say.
We put out a preview clip containing a few of the quotes to promote the interview, which airs tomorrow night.
Within an hour, Jonathan and I started getting angry emails from White House communications chief Dan Pfeiffer accusing us of ‘using the birther thing to drive ratings’, being ‘pretty cheap’ and
concluding: ‘I am annoyed, others will be furious. This is not a great way to entice us to give you a presidential interview.’
Wow.
I hadn’t seen bullying nonsense like this from a government communications team since Tony Blair’s spin-doctor Alastair Campbell used to harangue me in similar vein.
TUESDAY, 12 APRIL 2011
The interview with Maya Soetoro-Ng aired, and everyone calmed down once they realised it really wasn’t the presidency-threatening nightmare they’d feared. Just a sister saying nice, protective, supportive things about her brother.
In the same show, I interviewed Governor Tim Pawlenty, and asked him if he’d ever consider being Donald Trump’s running mate if the latter won the Republican nomination.
‘I’m running for president,’ he replied. ‘I’m not putting my hat in the ring rhetorically or ultimately for vice president. So I’m focused on running for president.’
Jonathan erupted in my ear: ‘Whoa, he hasn’t said that before – press him.’
‘Governor, unless I’m mistaken, you just said you were running for president. Can we take that as an official announcement?’
‘Well, I have an exploratory committee up and running. We’ll have a final and full announcement on that in the coming weeks here. It won’t be too much longer. But everything is headed in that direction, Piers.’
All pretty unequivocal. We’d just made some big political news.
WEDNESDAY, 13 APRIL 2011
Governor Pawlenty’s revelation lit up Washington today.
Then his team issued a statement saying CNN had taken his ‘running for president’ remarks out of context and he hadn’t announced that he was running for president.
Of course he hadn’t. How silly of me.
THURSDAY, 14 APRIL 2011
I’ve flown to Atlanta for more America’s Got Talent auditions and I felt tired and irritable all day. And ended up having a screaming match in my dressing room with Georgie Hurford-Jones, one of AGT’s executive producers, and my closest friend on the show.
It was all a fuss over nothing, and she gave as good as she got, until we both calmed down and started laughing.
But it’s a worrying sign that this relentless pace of trying to do two big shows is taking its toll already. I feel like I never have time to breathe any more.
Shooting Straight: Guns, Gays, God, and George Clooney Page 10
