Ted Turner, "The Mouth of the South," spoke Monday afternoon at UNC-Chapel Hill about his love life, the Bush administration and why women should run the world.

Former Public Broadcasting Service President Pat Mitchell -- whose son is married to Turner's daughter -- interviewed the billionaire philanthropist and Cable News Network founder in a full Memorial Hall auditorium.

On CNN today:

"I don't like it as much as when I was running it. ... At 69 years old -- and I've been gone for a while -- I think they're trivializing the news," he said. "They still do some excellent programming, but I'm disappointed overall, particularly in the programs like 'Headline News' and prime time.

"That was the biggest mistake I made. I knew I shouldn't have let control slip away. ... I was working 18 hours a day, and I did for 30 years. I just got tired, and when you're tired, your decisions aren't as good as when you stay fresh."

On the Atlanta Braves and one of his divorces:

"My ex-wife [Jane Shirley Smith, his wife before Jane Fonda], she said the two phrases in the English language that drove her to terror were extra innings and overtime, " he joked.

"Now, are you blaming the Braves for your divorce?" Mitchell asked.

"No," Turner replied. "But they didn't help."

On giving $1 billion to the United Nations:

Turner told then-Secretary General Kofi Annan before he made the announcement.

"He didn't hug you or fall down on his knees?" Mitchell asked.

"No! The general secretary on his knees?" Turner asked, astonished. "That wouldn't be appropriate.

"I don't feel like I've been giving my money away anyway," he said. "I feel like what I've been doing is making an investment in the future of humanity."

On the Bush administration:

"Making friends where there used to be enemies is a very important thing to do," he said. "That's why I'm so sorry about this administration. Because we were friends with just about everybody in this world -- the United States was -- when this administration came to power. Now, we've turned a lot of our friends into enemies. ... I think the country with the most friends is the one that wins in the end."

On women running the world:

Turner has been quoted as saying, "Men should be barred from running for public office for 100 years."

"Men have been running the world for the last, God knows, how many thousands of years, and we've really, kind of, I think, screwed it up," he said Monday.

"I'm not saying men shouldn't be able to do everything else -- be able to run education, business -- just part from public office for 100 years," he added. "Let's let the women run the countries, run the world for a while. I know what would happen. We would get big reductions in military budgets and big increases in education and health care."