Fans of TV’s AMERICA’S GOT TALENT, got a surprise tonight when judge PIERS MORGAN announced that he is leaving the NBC prime time talent competition to concentrate more on his CNN talk fest, PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT. Citing the time he expects to be spending with coverage of the upcoming election as one of his reasons for leaving, MORGAN was quick to thank his pal SIMON COWELL and co-stars SHARON OSBOURNE and HOWIE MANDEL for the past six years on AGT. We sat down with MORGAN a few months ago and he recounted how he found out about being hired for the show after being fired from his journalism job at London’s Daily Mirror newspaper. (CLICK ON THE MEDIA BAR FOR AUDIO)

PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT airs evenings on CNN