Former CNN/U.S. Prez Defends Piers Morgan Hire, Affirms He Wanted Olbermann at Network

The former president of CNN/U.S. doesn't regret bringing Piers Morgan to CNN and reaffirmed his desire to hire Keith Olbermann away from MSNBC in 2010, in an interview with HuffPost Live.

When asked if he regretted hiring Piers Morgan, Jon Klein replied "as a viewer I don't regret it. I mean, I watch him all the time." When pressed about Olbermann, Klein admitted his "foresight" in wanting the liberal host to move to CNN, noting "it would have made things a lot more difficult for MSNBC."

"Well it would have made things a lot more difficult for MSNBC, because he was the only thing that was really working at the time, Klein noted. He added "in that case, it was foresight."

It's telling that Klein wanted two outspoken liberal hosts coming to CNN. He had some praise for Morgan, who has recently used his show as a bully pulpit to push for gun control.

"I think he's been intelligent, and provocative, and he follows his own compass. And that's what we wanted, was a guy who was an aggressive inquisitor, who spoke his mind, and who could be as interesting as his guests," Klein said.  

See more of the interview here.

(H/T TVNewser)