A new season of "America's Got Talent" premieres June 17 on NBC, and new host JERRY SPRINGER tells our own JANN CARL that the new show is actually not entirely about talent.

"It's a hoot to try out, it's great to have a platform, they love what they do," says Jerry about the contestants. "You don't have to actually win it to be the most popular. I just love the idea that these are regular people."

Of course, Jerry's still got his regular knock-out, drag-down talk show, but he's also got an emotional past he rarely speaks of.

"I was fortunate enough to have been in a family that really knows the price of living [in America]," he says.

He recently appeared in "Who Do You Think You Are?," a primetime special on the BBC in which the show's producers pick a well-known person and go back as many centuries as possible to discover their roots. Sharing personal photos with Jann, Jerry recounts his dramatic family history, as they fled the Holocaust and immigrated to America when he was just five years old -- and seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time.

"I have vivid memories," says Jerry. "It was freezing cold and there were 2,000 people on board huddling together, and no one said a word. I remember being frightened -- what were all these people staring at this statue [for]? My mom told me later on when I asked her, 'What does it mean?,' and she said [in German], 'One day everything.' And she was right. I get emotional every time I tell it."

He may choke up at being given the great opportunity to chase the American dream, but Jerry has one small confession.

"There is no way I would be hosting my normal show, my regular show, if my mom was still alive -- not even close," he reveals. "Now, my dad would've [loved it]. He'd be in the back laughing! But mom was proper."