but the wounds still linger. and we must never forget. thanks for joining us on president obama's african journey. i'm anderson cooper in ghana. >> larry: tonight, remembering walter cronkite. america's newsman brought almost a century of history into homes across the country. from tragedies that changed our world. >> president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time. >> larry: to turning points in our universe. >> whew. boy. >> we're going to be busy. >> larry: walter cronkite in his own words. next on a very special edition of "larry king live." >> that's the way it is.

>> larry: it's a great pleasure to have as our special guest here in new york tonight, the legendary anchor of the "cbs evening news," author of numerous books, got another one coming soon, walter cronkite who recently marked the 20th anniversary of your stepping down. >> i can't believe it, but it seems to be true. >> larry: does it feel like 20 years? >> not at all. the world has been passing by as a great panorama of events that i wish i had been out there covering. i really regret i stepped down when i did. >> larry: you do? >> i didn't know i'd be in such good health. >> larry: were you forced to resign? was it a cbs policy? >> no, no, not at all. i had long since decided i was going to step down from daily journalism at 65. i had been with the united press, scripps howard, fighting deadlines every day. and then 20 years on the "evening news." you know, after that, i said i want to take it a little easy. i didn't realize how easy i was

going to have to take it. >> larry: how many days are there where you missing on? >> every day. every day. not on. that's not quite the term for it, larry. i don't missing on the air. i miss not being at the center of gravity there where you're getting the story together, getting the broadcast together where you're really setting the agenda that day for people's consideration. that's an important job. and i miss that. >> larry: you always liked being the one who says, hey, i know something, and i'm going to tell it to you. >> yep. >> larry: that's what you are, right? >> absolutely. that's what a reporter wants to be, whether they write it for a newspaper or do it on a broadcast. >> larry: and do you know why you like that so much? >> no, i'm not so sure of that. there's something about being on the inside first, about being the first to know something or one of the early ones to know something. harboring it, working with it, molding it for the public's

advice and information. >> larry: and of course, you got involved as well with the space program. you became not just a reporter, you became part of it. >> well, yes. that's -- i've been credited with that or debited with it, depending on how you look upon what a reporter's job should be. i was enthusiastic about space flight. i was very critical of many of the decisions that nasa made in the course of getting man up to the moon eventually and then into the shuttles. but at the same time, the enthusiasm of the idea of human beings getting out there into space and finally getting to that distant orb, i thought, was the most exciting adventure of our time. and i think it lives in the 20th century. i think when people look back at the 20th century at all these incredible inventions, these technological improvements, these -- particularly in medicine, for heaven's sakes, and everywhereless. atomic energy, all of it.

the one thing that will live 400 years from now will be man's escape from his own environment and landing on the moon, just as columbus' trip to america 400 years ago is the one date that kids remember today. >> larry: what's your view of this whole cnn, fox, msnbc, instant, everything today, get it -- get it now? >> well, in some ways, that's good. it's good to have 24-hour news. i think that's important. people can indeed tune in any hour of the day, any minute of the day and get caught up on what's going on. they don't have to be there at 6:30 or whatever it is in the evening to get the day's news. that's important. i think it's important that competition drives these people to be at the source of news when it breaks. that's important, too. what is not so important, however, is being first in news. i'd like to see us back up a bit

and spend a little time thinking about a story before we put it on the air. you know, that business of being first, there's an old newspaper bromide, and it was a necessary thing indeed. when there was competition on the streets, the afternoon newspapers, particularly, morning newspapers as well, every city normally had one newspaper. >> larry: wanted to be exclusive. >> and they had to get that headline out because the first one on the street with the big headline -- >> larry: sold the papers. >> -- sold the papers. that doesn't exist anymore. it doesn't exist with newspapers. there are only one newspaper in most cities today. certainly not more than one newspaper afternoon and morning. and as far as broadcast goes, it's not important. unless one network is so good that it's always first, and that's got to be tough because they're going to have to be first long enough that people realize they're first. and that's not going to happen because every other network, as soon as it goes on one network, picks it up and broadcasts it anyway. >> larry: so you're saying it's meaningless? >> it's meaningless.

>> larry: beat you by one minute. >> it's absolutely meaningless. why not take a little time to get the news, make sure it's right. i'm not talking election returns. >> larry: i want to get to that in a minute. >> but in regular news, we could take it a little slower. >> okay, engine stopped. command override off. >> man on the moon. >> the eagle has landed. okay. we're going to be busy for a minute.

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senator, what single quality do you think will be the most important that you take to the white house? >> well, i think i've had an historical view of the united states and its relations to the world. >> larry: did you like election night as a journalist? >> well, as well as i've liked anything, since i left. >> larry: i mean, that was a night, as an anchor, you looked forward to, or was it tedious? >> i looked forward to it and then found it a little tedious as it goes on. i realized how tedious it must have been when i did it. but, you know, before we -- before we had that exit polling, it was a lot more fun.

>> larry: you couldn't know. >> we were counting the actual returns. >> larry: actual returns. >> oh, boy, we really had a horse race here. we went till 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, you know, without any indication who was going to win. and that was a lot of fun. >> larry: are you disturbed by the seeming tabloidization of the news? >> absolutely. very much so. very much so. we've always had sensationalism in the press. a lot of people think this is something new. it's not new. look -- you know, you've looked at the files of 1850, 1830. from the time of the revolution. they were terrible. the newspapers are far more responsible today than they were in those days. right up practically through world war i. far more responsible. broadcasting is reasonably responsible. but the trouble with broadcasting, as i see it, is we get hold of these stories that are really not important to the future of the democracy.

princess di, o.j. simpson, for heaven's sakes, john john's accident. and we cling to these stories so long. we wear them out. we wear them to death. and they're not that important. there's so little time on the air to report the important news, it makes a difference whether we're going to live or die in this democracy of ours, whether we're going to succeed or fail in our education, in our health care, all these things. that's what we should be taking our time. and we spent all that time going over the same facts over and over again. and we rush through these stories with john kennedy's accident. my gosh, within a half hour, one of the networks i won't name here on cnn immediately found a pilot who -- piloted a plane similar to the one that kennedy was in. and we saw that guy on the air for 24 hours telling us how that accident could have happened. he knew had no more idea of how that accident happened than i did. they called it the march on

washington for jobs and freedom. they came from all over america. negros and whites. housewives and hollywood stars, senators and a few beatniks, clergymen and probably a few communists. more than 200,000 of them came to washington this morning in a kind of climax to an historic spring and summer in the struggle for equal rights. you know, when i place an order, don't just fill it. get me the bestavailable price. a better pricemeans more money in my pocket. that's why td ameritrade's proprietary order- routing technology consistently seeks the best available price. i've got quotes, charts, watch lists, just the way i want them. mission control...right here. sam: command center 2.0 lets you customize your trading space. no risk, no reward--but i need to know what the risk is. my secret? backtest. backtest. backtest. sam: strategy desk lets you backtest your trading ideas, to help you choose the best ones. and it's free.

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pristiq may cause or worsen high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or glaucoma. tell your doctor if you have heart disease... or before you reduce or stop taking pristiq. side effects may include nausea, dizziness and sweating. (woman) for me, pristiq is a key in helping to treat my depression. (announcer) ask your doctor about pristiq. i'm don lemon. new potential video evidence that a u.s. soldier believed to be held by the taliban in afghanistan is still alive. the associated press says the full 28-minute tape clearly shows the man's u.s. military dog tags including his name and i.d. number.

cnn has not been able to confirm this information. and we're waiting on the pentagon to release his identity. police are investigating a multiple murder on a tennessee/alabama border, and they have a suspect in custody. police say five bodies were found in two homes in lincoln county. tennessee. some of the victims are related. the sixth victim was found across the border in huntsville, alabama. police identified the suspect as jacob lee schafer, and they say murder charges are pending. no victim i.d.s. no cause of death. those are your headlines. i'm don lemon. keeping you informed. cnn. the most trusted name in news. from dallas, texas, the flash apparently official, president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time. 2:00 eastern standard time. some 38 minutes ago.

vice president johnson has left the hospital in dallas, but we do not know to where he has proceeded. presumably he will be taking the oath of office shortly and become the 36th president of the united states. >> larry: rather than assume was the kennedy death the toughest day? >> probably so. yeah. i would think so. certainly emotionally. emotionally it was the toughest day. >> larry: you broke? >> very definitely, i broke. and i'm not ashamed of that. some people seem to point a finger that it's unmanly or something of the kind. that doesn't strike me as being a serious matter at all. >> larry: those were the days of five bells, right? >> right. >> larry: were you in the newsroom? >> i was standing right at the machine. i just -- i never went to lunch in those days. and i had a little cottage cheese on the edge of the desk. well, a plate on the edge of the desk.

but i was at the press machine. and standing there when smith's first bulletin came over, the bells rang, five bells, and then the bulletin with shots rang out the day president kennedy's motorcade passed through downtown dallas. and then bing, bing, bing, bing, bing right after that, the motorcade had broken off and appears to be going toward -- said to be going toward a hospital. well, by that time i'm already going back into the room, calling out, "get me on the air. get me on the air." well, our studio at that time was equipped with cameras until -- it was the newsroom itself, and the cameras were brought in just before air time. so we had to go into a flash stud studio, we called it, which we set up in advance. >> larry: now they do it right from the newsroom. >> well, and from there for about 12 minutes or something like that, we were just voice-over our first flash on the air interrupted "days of our lives" or some such thing.

"as the world turns" or one of those things. and then eventually we were back in the studio doing it on camera. and i went through the whole afternoon that day, not realizing that i was in shirt sleeves. frank stanton passed an edict basically that we should never be in shirt sleeves on the air. my secretary had put the coat -- brought it out, put it over the back of the chair and told me it was there, apparently. i was too busy to even think about it. but at 6:30 when they let me up for the first time -- i was younger then, i had put on five or six hours there. i got up and suddenly saw the coat and i looked down and realized i had rolled-you have sleeves. >> larry: after the grief, you were a reporter first, right? >> oh, yeah, sure. i hope so. i hope so. >> larry: that's tough on an emotional day. >> well, it is, indeed, but i think it's just like anybody else who has a job to do. it's like the ambulance driver who sees so much blood and has to put up with it. we see an awful lot of horror

and stuff in our business. but you have to report it. you have to get ahold of yourself and do it. >> larry: let's take a call for walter cronkite. toronto, hello. >> caller: hello, how are you? >> calle . >> larry: hi. >> caller: not to put it in comparison with john f. kennedy, but is there a story you would have liked to covered during your retirement that would put you kind of like in parallel with the day that kennedy died? >> larry: any stories since, walter? >> well, it happened within a month after i stepped down when they shot at ronald reagan. and right away i was in moscow already. i was taking a trip doing some documentaries. and i was in moscow. and here i was halfway around the world, and here was the story. an attempted assassination of the president of the united states. and, of course, the serious wounding. yes. every important story since

then. >> larry: there was an important story, you'd have liked to have covered the california story. >> oh, absolutely. and, of course, there have been many really important stories in those years that have affected the course of mankind that i would like to have covered. >> larry: do you like all these magazine shows? >> i would like them better if they -- if they did -- if they took the feature stories out of the daily news, evening news, and put them on the magazine shows, your bank account and mine, your health and mine, all that stuff, that doesn't belong on the evening news. we've got 23, 24 minutes on the evening news to cover the most complicated country in the world, the most complicated world that you're going to find that we are supposed to be leaders of. there's so many important stories that don't get on the news at all. and instead those feature stories are on there. i cringe every time there's one of those. we ought to be hitting the news solidly for that half hour of

the 23 minutes after commercials and stuff and put -- the other stuff is important. it's important to people, your health, your bank account. but put it on those magazine shows instead of those hollywood creatures that they are always showing. >> good evening. dr. martin luther king, the apostle of nonviolence in the civil rights movement, has been shot to death in memphis, tennessee. police have issued an all points bulletin for a young man seen running from the scene. officers also reportedly chased and fired on a car containing two white men. where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience.

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one of them was in the most beautiful city. the communist intention was to take and seize the cities. they came closer here than anywhere else. it was a tough fight. it was house to house, door to door, room to room. >> larry: he spent his entire life starting in print, then in radio, then in television. he's done it all. voted the most trusted man in america in 1973. once considered a presidential possibility. retired from cbs. now hosts "the cronkite report" next year we'll look for "cronkite remembers." were you ever seriously saying to yourself, i might run for national office? >> no. no. no. i never did. never -- never seriously gave it one moment's thought. >> larry: a little heady, though. >> oh, sure. heady. and obviously there's a lot to be gained in personal power by simply being available, you know. as soon as people think you might run for the presidency,

you become exceedingly powerful. but i didn't have any use for that power, so i didn't. >> larry: as you look back, looking at yourself, this may be hard to do, do you feel that you were a major cog in changing the course of the vietnam war when you changed? >> well, i've been told so since. i didn't think at the time when i actually did that particular broadcast that it would have that effect. >> larry: were you worried about that show that night? >> you obviously think and hope that -- >> larry: but were you worried that i'm stepping a little -- >> oh, yes. >> larry: out of had my -- not out of my league. i'm not a reporter anymore. >> yes. i'm making an editorial statement, which that was, definitely worried me. and it's one of the two times that i did that. well, it was one of the rare times i did it. i did it on only two -- or only two reasons. one was the vietnam war. and the other was several times. i stepped out of my role as a reporter to take an editorial

position when a question of freedom of speech and press was involved. and my -- the principles on which i stood on that were that nobody else is going to fight that battle except us. so we've got to get out there. and every case, in every case, i hoped in every case where i rendered an opinion, i said i'm taking off my news reporter's hat and putting on my editor's hat at this moment. columnist's hat, if you please, commentator's hat. and i did that very clearly on the vietnam broadcast. but it was worrisome to me and worrisome to cbs. dick selant was our highly principled president of cbs news. we agreed before we went out there, however, that i was going to come back and give my conclusions, and neither of us knew at that time -- he certainly didn't because i didn't -- what my conclusion would be. i had been up to almost up to

that time, over the last two years, perhaps, before that, i had slid back to some very sharp questioning of my own opinions. but in the early stages, i thought it was probably right for us to put military advisers in vietnam, try to preserve the ground for a democracy to develop. there wasn't one there. but we had to hold a little corner of southeast asia. i believe that it was only when we began to take over the war and clearly were running the war and it ceased to be the veem nam people's war that i began to change. >> larry: norfolk, virginia, hello. >> caller: hello. hello, mr. cronkite. >> hi. >> caller: you've been quoted as saying that you felt that most journalists were liberal, in fact, that a good journalist was by nature a liberal. i wondered what did you mean by that and if you still felt the same way and, you know, what was

meant by that, really. >> well, what was meant by that, that was preceded, whenever i made that statement, i hoped to precede it with the fact that i defined liberal as a person who is not doctrineaire. that is a dictionary definition of liberal. that's opposed to liberal as a political part of the political spectrum. liberal is a person who not doctrinaire and makes up their mind. >> larry: open to change. >> open to change, not committed to any particular creed or doctrine or whatnot. the -- and in that respect, i think that newspeople should be liberal. they should not try to cover stories, write the stories, present the stories in print or in broadcast on the basis of some preconceived notion of what that story should be or what

angle that should be played up or not played up on the basis of political doctrine. or economic doctrine. religious doctrine, any other doctrine. that's what i mean by being a liberal. and that's what i think newspeople should be. it has no connection with a liberal party in politics or liberal positions on political issues. >> good evening from paris. tonight this broadcast originates from outside the united states for the first time. this wall was begun 2300 years ago. in the first ten years, the labor of 300,000 men went into it. his mission to moscow. a weeklong meeting in the kremlin with the leaders of the only nation whose power rivals that of the united states. this is walter cronkite reporting from laos. there's the life i live. and the life i want to live. fortunately, there's enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage.

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hello, everyone. here we are again in studio "a," our cbs television control point for the westinghouse coverage this time of the democratic national convention. more than 200,000 of them came to washington this morning in a kind of climax to an historic spring and summer in the struggle for equal rights. this is walter cronkite on the greenland ice cap. beyond the horizon lies the north pole. walter cronkite reporting from london, queen elizabeth ii to be crowned britain's sixth reigning queen. this is walter cronkite back at our cbs news booth overlooking

the platform on the east portico of the u.s. capitol where in a few moments john fitzgerald kennedy, age 43 from the state of massachusetts, becomes the president of the united states. >> larry: during the break walter was telling me covering the 1952 conventions, the last convention that had a second ballot, nour you're saying we overdo coverage. you wouldn't cover them. >> i wouldn't cover them except for the acceptance speeches of the president and vice president. >> larry: there's no suspense. >> i used to fight for cover them when people were already saying we shouldn't because i thought it still was a good civics lesson. it's not even that anymore because there's nothing open about the convention. it's prestaged, deliberately for promotional purposes and not for -- it doesn't mean anything. >> larry: so when ted koppel went home a few years ago, you understood that. >> absolutely. >> larry: let's take a call. lawton, oklahoma, for the dean, walter cronkite. >> caller: good evening. >> larry: hi. >> caller: thank you for taking the call. i'd like to ask mr. cronkite, what would you consider to be

the low point and the high point of your journalistic career? >> well, the low point -- i'm taking the television years. i was 11 years with united press. many of them overseas including moscow for a couple years. nuremberg trials and all of that, and several years with howard scripps newspapers. but taking the television years, which most people are talking about, i think the lowest point was a broadcast we did in which we named wells hamilton jerden who was on the staff of president carter. we revealed that he had been present at a party at which narcotics were used. and i think we did him an injustice in reporting that. not reporting it so much as

leading the broadcast with it as if it had great importance, and it had none, really. nothing important about it. the high point, i think, well, one of the most thrilling moments, certainly, to take the easy way out, was the man landing on the moon. would be one event that will live in history as perhaps the most important of all those great technical achievements and inventions and developments of the 20th century. that's the one that will live in history. man escaping from his environment. because people will be living out there. they'll still remember that first voyage. >> larry: you wanted to go, didn't you? >> oh, i'd love to go. i'd go today if they'd let me. you know when john glenn went, and i called him up. they announced that he was going. and i said, "if they're sending you just to send an old man out, i'm older than you are, john. i'll go." >> larry: river falls, wisconsin, for walter cronkite, hello. >> caller: well, hello and thank you very much for taking my call and for having such a wonderful

guest on your show. >> larry: thank you. >> caller: my question relates to your years on cbs. and i'm sure that it was very difficult to get the stories that made headlines every day on the "evening news" in as limited time as you had. what were some of the criteria that were used to choose one story over another? and thank you again. >> well, the same criteria that all newspeople use, whether they're in broadcasting or newspapers, it's the story that affects the greatest number of people. and that can be a story of great importance. it can affect them because their taxes are going to be lowered or raised, whatever. or it affects them because it's an emotional story, the death of a hero, the death of a much beloved figure would be a leading story. because it affects a greater number of people. that's the major criteria. that is the criteria that counts. already now, when does a sidebar story -- now, today, a lot of people are leading with the sentencing of a 16-year-old boy

to life in prison in florida for a crime committed when he was much younger. a 14-year-old boy to a crime committed when he was 12. is that a lead story? >> it can be. depending on what else you have to lead with that day. you've got to take that imbalanin balance. there are days we have so many stories to get in 24 minutes of a half-hour broadcast that some of the important stories get dropped entirely. and that's one of the problems with television is too brief a period. >> larry: you have complained that what goes by the wayside now is international stories. >> it's a very serious deficiency in broadcasting today. the networks, the traditional networks, are not covering foreign news as they should. this is part of a budget cut situation. they do not have the bureaus overseas they used to have.

they've pooled their coverage overseas so that we only get one basic coverage. it's a disaster. we are a leading country in the world today, perhaps the leading country, as we believe we are, of what we decide to do in foreign affairs is going to make a difference whether there's war or peace. that little smoke ride rising from some small town in a country we've never heard of before could turn into a mushroom-shaped cloud if we're not very careful. if we don't cover the story from the beginning, it can suddenly explode on us. that happened, as a matter of fact, in iraq. we weren't covering iraq in the kuwait situation. if we had been covering it, we might never have had to go to war in that part of the world. we weren't covering it. and that's -- and that's a serious matter. >> armstrong is on the moon. neil armstrong. 38-year-old american. standing on the surface of the moon. on this july 20th, 1969.

>> it's one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind. welcome to the now network. population 49 million.

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i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. do you, ambassador, deny that the ussr has placed and is placing medium and intermediate-range missiles and sites in cuba, yes or no? >> despite that angry rhetoric at the united nations, the world seems to have veered off, at least for the moment, the collision course toward global annihilation. >> larry: that was something. i'll wait till hell freezes over. >> yeah. >> larry: he said. before we take another call,

timothy mcveigh has asked to be executed in the oklahoma city bombing and asked it to be telecast. should it be? >> i don't know. i'm of a mixed opinion about that. the fact that he asked it be telecast is the one factor th that -- i'm not inclined to agree with anything timothy mcveigh wants. >> larry: or how about the telecasting of execution? >> the telecasting of any execution, i think, is sensationalism beyond necessity. i don't see where the value of it is. if execution were committed in such a manner as to be heinous and bloody and horrible, it's such that it might deter others from committing such horrible

crimes, then it might be advisable. but it's a simple process today, a shot in the arm. >> larry: but if it were shown tomorrow night, the world would watch? >> oh, the world would watch, but isn't that murfreesboro, tennessee. >> caller: i would like to know if you ever consider getting back into broadcasting? >> well, if you're suggesting somebody's about to make an offer, i might listen to it. >> larry: have you had offers over the years, the last 20 years? >> oh, sure. >> caller: you're still an employee of cbs. >> identi've remained on the cot for over 50 years. >> larry: on the board? >> i was on the board for a while. i haven't been for a long time. and i also have a contract with discovery channel for cable work which has prevented me from doing some cnn things. >> larry: they wanted you here,

right? >> i would liked to have done them, too. >> larry: tempe, arizona, hello. >> caller: mr. cronkite, i'm air student at the arizona state university walter cronkite school of juournalism. and my question is what do you think we as students can do now to change the perception of the media in the future? >> stay loyal to the general principles of journalism which you're learning there, i hope, at asu. that's all it takes. actually, to elevate journalism really requires elevating the education of the american people. if the american people want a better newspaper, better broadcast, more complete journalism, they will get it. it's a market-driven situation. what you can do is stay loyal to the journalism, accuracy, fairness, impartiality, that sort of thing.

learn to write. because that's the important part, both in print and in broadcasting. communication requires using the right words. learn how to do that. you'll get along fine. the first thing, of course, is to get a job. >> larry: you once told me that you wouldn't mind it if the anchor were never seen. just voiced over all the film and edit we had for them. >> it would be perfectly satisfying. >> larry: you didn't like celebrity, then, did you? >> no, i don't like that part of journalism today. i see too many young journalists who are forgetting the principles of the craft in order to be on air, to be a star. stars don't belong in journalism. >> larry: it's a self -- you can't do anything about it. >> no, it can't be helped. it's nobody's fault. >> larry: did you ever think of just retiring retiring? no discovery channel, no writing, go out and watch the

dancers, as mr. stevenson once referred to it? >> or sail the boat. >> larry: just sail the boat. >> well, i thought of that. i thought that might happen when i stepped down from "the evening news." but i found that i couldn't do that. i don't feel that i want to do it today. i think that gets pretty boring. the news, the current news, the breaking news, i've got to get that newspaper the first thing in the morning. the only trouble with boating is that you can't get that newspaper. but now you can get it on the internet. >> larry: and what about the internet? where's that going to take sinus where's that going to take it? >> it's going to be a major factor of communicating. newspapers won't be delivered because of the internet in the future. the one thing that the internet needs is responsibility. we don't want to interfere with freedom of speech and press, but we've got to have responsibility -- if people on the internet should be just as liable for libel as --

>> larry: the same rules. >> yes, absolutely. they should be playing by the same rules of everybody else. >> direct from our newsroom in new york, this is "the cbs evening news with walter cronkite." >> good evening from our cbs newsroom in new york on this, the first broadcast of network television's first daily half-hour news program. i'm don lemon. here are your headlines. new potential video evidence that a u.s. soldier believed to be held by the taliban in afghanistan is still alive. the associated press says the full 28-minute tape clearly shows the man's u.s. military dog tags including his name and i.d. number. cnn has not been able to confirm this information, and we're waiting on the pentagon to release his identity. police are investigating a multiple murder on a tennessee/alabama border. and they have a suspect in custody. police say five bodies were found in two homes in lincoln county, tennessee. some of the victims are related.

the sixth victim was found across the border in huntsville, alabama. police identify the suspect as jacob lee schafer, and they say murder charges are pending. no victim i.d.s. no cause of death.pending. no victim i.d.s, no cause of death. those are the headlines. i'm don lemon. keeping you informed, cnn, the most trusted name in news.

this is my last broadcast as the anchorman for "cbs evening news."

for me it's a moment for which i love have planned but which nevertheless somes with some sadness. for almost two decade, after all, we've been meeting like this in the evenings. i'll miss that. but those who have made anything of this departure i'm afraid have made too much. this is but a transition, a passing of the baton. a great broadcaster and gentleman, doug edwards, preceded me in this job, and another, dan rather, will follow. anyway, the person who sits here is but the most conspicuous member of a superb team of a journalists, writers, reporters, editors, producers. none of that will change. furthermore, i'm not even going away. i'll be back from time to time with special news reports and documentaries and beginning in june, every week with our science program "universe." old anchor men don't fade away. they just keep coming back for more. that's the way it is. friday, march 6th, 1981. i'll be away on assignment and dan rather will be sitting in

here the next few years. good night. >> larry: why do media mergers worry you? >> i think i worry about any conglomerate, any vertical conglomerate that handles all facets of the production of almost anything from raw material through to final consumer use. i like the idea of along the way of there being some competition in there. and if you -- particularly in an area where news dissemination becomes a part of that operation. the news is a very delicate thing. a very, very delicate thing. and it takes brain surgeons to do it. i'm not talking about the guy or gal on the air doing the announcing and the news and that sort of thing. but to understand that the -- that niceties, the fineness of

truth and accuracy and fairness in presentation. to understand that the narrow balance of fair presentation, of each side getting its licks in, to understand values of news. that's -- that's a profession of a very high nature. and it's not something that amateurs can operate and do successfully. and the more layers of management you put on top of the news managers who have learned their jobs and know how to do that thing, the more dangerous it becomes to the populace. the danger that the news will not be handled with the accuracy it needs to be done. >> larry: what do you make of the merger mania? >> well, i think that's natural when you -- i think if i were sitting in the board rooms, i'd

think of merger as well. certainly, it is now this communications business and entertainment business is being formed, sure, you'd like to lock up a great segment -- a great source of programming. tie it in. take some profit out of it. right now you're having to pay others to do it. why not bring it into the house and you don't have to pay them? the distribution of film. why let somebody else distribute your film? if you're going to make it, why not distribute it yourself and make that dough? it narrows the playing field considerably for those who would like to be in it. >> larry: you're on the board of cbs, aren't you? >> no, no, no. no longer. not for some years, yeah. >> larry: are you glad westinghouse is coming in or would you a rather have seen turner come in? >> tell you the truth, turner would have been my choice because of his acknowledgement of the new complexities of the news business and his

willingness to turn those over to the experts and let them run the news part of the thing. his innovative, imaginative mind, his exploitive mind. all of that i think would have been very useful. i'd like to have seen it happen. >> larry: do you get tired of all the awards you win this got to go to dublin next month. >> no, you don't get tired of them, no. particularly when you get to travel to dublin to receive them. >> larry: so the recognitions are still thrilling to you? >> sure, of course, of course. you can't deny that. i don't know how you could -- any man could deny it. >> larry: how would you do breaking in today? >> what? >> larry: how would you do breaking in today? >> very poorly in broadcasting. >> larry: really? >> well, i think so. these younger people today are -- who wish to be journalists are aiming for the broadcast area all along. and i think are probably very

good performers in that regard. i had the good fortune of having many years in print journalism, with the united press, scrips howard yupgs newspapers before got into television. as a consequence, i brought a firm journalistic background to broadcasting. but i didn't have any particular talent for it, except what naturally just fell into place. so i think that i would have to be auditioned with a whole bunch of young guys. if i were that young, maybe i could make it. >> larry: there was nothing like that murrow team at cbs, though, right? >> never. >> larry: was that the greatest assemblance of broadcasters ever? >> i don't think any question about it. and i wasn't a murrow boy. >> larry: you came right after? >> i was -- i knew murrow very well, knew him in world war ii

in london. we were friends. but i didn't join cbs until after the nuremberg tries, two years in moscow, moscow bureau chief. i was the bureau chief because i was the only representative in moscow. so i came in after the wartime formation of the murrow team. i had nothing but admiration for every one of those guys. they were great. comingwood and, oh, you could name them, of course. >> larry: are you the last one left? the aftermath of all that? >> i suppose. >> larry: doug edwards is gone. >> oh, yes. he was great, too. he was the one i succeeded in "evening news." it was too bad that they had moved me in instead of him, in a sense. i was pleased but i felt that he was an excellent broadcaster. a good man. >> larry: no one said a concept as did walter cronkite.