Jesse Ventura: Former WWE wrestler & Minnesota governor

We revisit Graham’s 2015 chat with Jesse Ventura. The former WWE wrestler and governor of Minnesota emotionally remembers spending a day with Muhammad Ali, explains his falling out with Hulk Hogan and discusses his time in office – which included a trip to Cuba to meet with the late Fidel Castro. Plus, Ventura reflects on Navy SEAL training and his role in the movie Predator.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This week on the In Depth Podcast, my guest is Jesse
Ventura, former WWE star and Governor of Minnesota.
Now do you see why mainstream media don't like Jesse Ventura?
The outspoken, larger than life icons rubbed elbows with some
very prominent people during hisstoried life.
When we sat down in 2015 in his hometown of Minneapolis, Ventura

(00:22):
remembered spending a day with boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
He gave up the greatest title inthe world.
Being a man of his conviction, and if I can be half that man,
he is the greatest. Detailed the downfall of his
relationship with Hulk Hogan. You and Hulk were once good.
Friends. Yeah, I don't.
I'm not friends with anyone I don't trust.

(00:44):
And discussed his unlikely friendship with the late Fidel
Castro. I think I'm the only elected
official who can say while elected, met with Fidel Castro.
Plus, he shared some of his scariest moments in the ring and
how chewing tobacco helped him arole in the movie Predator.
But we began our conversation talking about one of his other
career. Paths.

(01:12):
So I wanted to start off by, youknow, it's kind of fascinating
all the different careers you'vehad, whether it be your time as
a Navy SEAL, a professional wrestler, actor, broadcaster.
You've had so many different successful careers.

(01:33):
I want to take you back to your time as a Navy SEAL.
Your parents both served, but interestingly, they weren't
that, I don't believe, initiallyfond of the idea of you skipping
college. No, my father, he had six.
My, my mother and father, I havea rarity.
They're both World War 2 veterans.

(01:55):
My mother served as a nurse in North Africa and my father had
six bronze battle stars. He served in North Africa, he
served in Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge on Remagen Bridge,
Angio in Berlin, all of them. And my father was his anti war,
as you would find. And so my father's only advice

(02:18):
to me was this. He said, look, if you got to go
on the service and he was biasedbecause he was in the Army, he
said join the Air Force or the Navy because he said they'll at
least teach you something that you can use.
But my dad didn't literally realize I would become
brownwater Navy, which essentially, I'll put it this
way, when I got out, I could go on a year's unemployment.

(02:42):
When I went to the unemployment office, they asked me what I was
qualified to do, and my buddies told me how to answer.
Who got out before me when they asked you what you're qualified
to do as a Navy SEAL or frogman?It's I'm I'm qualified for
diving, demolition, and parachuting.
So what kind of civilian job areyou going to get?

(03:06):
Hand me my unemployment check. How would you best explain what
SEAL training entailed? It's difficult.
It's not for everyone. 300 kids were in the room in boot camp
when they gave us the screen test.

(03:27):
Probably 30 stayed to take it out of the 300 that were
originally in the room and the 30 that took the screen test to
qualify, only four of us passed 4 out of 300.
Then when you get to training, you've got all guys that have
passed that screen test. Your average class will start

(03:48):
with about 100 to 125 guys and you'll probably graduate at
about 25. So it has a 75 to 80% attrition
rate. So it's not for everyone and it
doesn't make you a hero making and it's just a certain job that
you're highly qualified to do. What made the training worse

(04:11):
than you were even expecting going into it?
All of it as a whole. Because during the entire time
you're there, you're not allowedto walk.
What do you mean? You have to run.
You run to run, you run to chow.You run everywhere you go.
Walking is not allowed during the training cycle of the day.

(04:31):
So imagine how far you actually do run and I swimming was my
strong point in training. I always look forward to the
swims because. As a former competitive swimmer,
I was one of the best in the class.
I wasn't as good on runs and I wasn't as good on the old course
because I'm tall. Shorter guys and gymnastic type

(04:54):
guys do better on the old. Course.
But in the end, it's just all around.
Can you do it truly? What makes it tough?
You're a triathlete. That's the best way to describe
it. Plus harassment.
You're harassed by the instructors constantly.
They try to make you quit. I know this is an insignificant

(05:16):
story, but what happened shortlyafter you enlist when you admit
to having blisters on your hands?
Oh no, no, that was the first day I ran the old course.
I didn't get any pre training. I got there on Friday and class
started Monday and my hands weren't toughened and so when I
ran the old course, normally youdo it in about 10 minutes when

(05:37):
you get good at it. That day it.
Took me 45 the first day of training and I ended up at the
end of the day with about four big flapping blisters on my
hands 'cause they weren't toughened.
I just come from a. School, you know, I had, I'd
never run the old course before where some guys got there a
month ahead of time and got to practice on it and toughen up

(05:59):
for it. And that day we at the end of
the day, Terry Moy, instructor Moy, who's a good friend of mine
today we're close friends. He was my first phase
instructor, the most terrifying man I'd ever met on the earth.
And he came out with a table andthe first aid kit and he looked
at all the says OK, which one ofyou pukes as flappers?

(06:19):
And I looked at my hands. Oh God, I need medical
attention. And I made the mistake.
I raised my hand, something you don't do.
Don't bring any attention to yourself.
You learn that I learned mine that day.
So he called me in front of the class and.
Said let me see and I held him out.
So you got flappers. Then he said are you
right-handed or left-handed? And I said I'm right-handed.

(06:41):
He said OK, hold your right handout.
So I held my right hand out and I thought.
He was going to take me curricolm, alcohol, whatever I
figured I needed it. He grabbed every flapper and
ripped them off. So I'm standing now with tears
running down my face and that nothing hurt that bad in my
life. Then he made me turn to the
class and he said, OK, now you do the other hand.

(07:04):
So I had to stand in front of the class and RIP off my own
flappers. And then he he looked at me.
He says, now get back in line you big dummy.
What did I learn from that? Don't bring any attention to
yourself. Blend in.
Do not allow the instructors to focus on you.
They will at some point everybody, but don't bring it on

(07:26):
unneeded. How would you explain the
influence Muhammad Ali had on you?
He had probably one of the greatest and earliest influences
on me because my father had boxed a little as a kid and my
grandfather ended that said you're not going to be a boxer.
But my dad was pretty tough guy and.

(07:49):
In the day when they. 'D have a world title fight.
It was only on the radio, so my dad would come up to my brother
and I's room and the three of uswould gather around the radio to
hear the blow by blow of who whether it was.
And I started doing that really in the days of Ingamar Johansson
and Floyd Patterson. And then it became, and then of

(08:11):
course, the big ugly bear, SonnyListon came along and destroyed
Patterson with two first round knockouts and was considered
unbeatable. And then along came this young
guy called the Louisville Lip Muhammad Ali, who did a record
album called I Am the Greatest, and I used to sit and listen to
that album day in and day out. I hadn't memorized.

(08:33):
I still have it today. I can do it today.
Why'd you listen to it so much? Because he became my hero and I
remember when he was going to fight list and nobody picked
Cassius to win except me. I said Cassius is going to win
Dad. And sure enough, Cassius did
win, and he's been my hero sinceI was probably 9 or 10 years

(08:58):
old. I got the chance to spend a day
with him when I was governor. It was one of the best days of
my life. What did you guys do during that
day? Hung.
Out we went to his Mohammed's home at the time in Baron
Springs, Michigan. I was governor.
Well, what? Led to that.
Was that when I won the governorship and I gave my

(09:21):
acceptance speech, no one thought I could win, just as no
one thought Cassius would beat Sonny Liston.
And I remember that night, Muhammad Cassius saying we shot
the world. So I got up that night and I
told the story of Muhammad beating Sonny Liston and how
they shot the world. And I said we shot the world.

(09:45):
Two weeks later, businessman Harvey McKay came to my office.
In the lower bowels of the Capitol cause Governor Carlson
was still governor and we're waiting for the transition to
take place. It was a ladder in the
afternoon. He had 10 minutes and I thought,
what is this about? And Harvey walked in with a big
box and he set it down on my governor elect desk and he said,

(10:10):
I'm here to deliver this to you.And he said you better open.
It. And when I opened it up, there
was a pair of red Everlast gloves in it.
And it said to Governor Jesse Ventura, you shocked the world.
Muhammad Ali. He had been watching that night
on television. Your son Tyrell told me you got

(10:33):
pretty emotional with getting that gift.
Oh yeah, sits in my office behind glass today.
Why do you think you got so emotional?
Because he's your hero and I getemotional now.

(11:01):
Because he gave up the greatest title in the world.
Being a man of his conviction and if I can be half that man.
He is the greatest. He gave up the title, the most

(11:26):
prestigious title in the world, because he refused to go to war
and they would have given him a pat job.
All he did was walk around doingexhibitions.
But he knew if he'd agreed to dothat, more young black people
would be sent off to a war he was against.
And he stood up and said, I'll. Give up the.

(11:48):
Greatest title in the world because I will be a man of
conviction. Did you talk to him about that
when you were with probably thatday in Michigan?
Probably the most thing I the thing I remember the most was we
sat down and we were. He gets stuff every day, people

(12:08):
mailing stuff, VCRS this. And he had gotten a new one of
early days of him fighting. I mean, this is way before he
was a champ. And he's here and I'm here and
we're watching him fight and he's in one particular fight, I
think Sonny Banks, if I rememberright.
And Banks catch it, maybe it wasn't him, but it was somebody
caught him clean, clean POW. And Mohammed's down on his back,

(12:31):
right? Well, he quick got up and you
know, he went on to win the fight.
But when he went down on his back, I looked over at Mohammed.
Mohammed looked at me. And even through his
Parkinson's, he leaned over and whispered to me, slipped.
And I just burst out laughing. I thought, only Mohammed Ali,
you know, this was no slip. This was a clean shot and he

(12:55):
knew it. But only Mohammed would tell you
slipped. And I just loved it.
And if. Here's the other thing, Muhammad
Ali credits his talking to pro wrestling.
If you go into his history, you'll.
Find out he was going to an event where Gorgeous George or

(13:16):
one of them guys was at A at a radio station.
Muhammad went to fight that night.
There were 100 people there. Gorgeous George was sold out and
Muhammad watched what he did on an interview.
The rap. So right then he's predicting
the rounds. He then evolved into Ali because
he realized you have to sell yourself.

(13:39):
You have to become something. You have to be a salesman.
What made you decide to run for governor in the first place?
Well, people forget I had been amayor first.
I was mayor of the 6th largest city in Minnesota from 90 to 94.
What made me governor was I was doing statewide talk radio and
in the 90s economic times were great.

(14:02):
Everybody was making huge money.Well, the state of Minnesota had
I think A1 or $2 billion budget surplus.
In other words, they set a budget and because taxes and the
economy was so powerful, they brought in $2 billion more than
they needed. Well, you know what they did
with it? Spent it.

(14:24):
They had no right to do that. That's our money that should be
given back. They live under a budget.
If they get more than their budget calls for, that money
should be returned. It's not theirs to keep.
Well, they kept it and spent it like kids in a candy store while
I was doing talk radio. I was outraged over that.

(14:45):
I said that's my money, that's our money.
What right do they have to spendit because they overtaxed us?
So I said maybe I ought to run for governor.
Oh my God, it took off like wildfire, and then I was caught.
I had to do it. Initially was, I mean, did you
really have no intention of it when you said it?
And then all of a sudden when people are.

(15:07):
Then all of a sudden, people, yeah, run, Jesse, run, you know,
And then it caught on like wildfire.
And then I realized again, to hold myself to the standard of
my hero, Muhammad Ali, I had to run Now I had to, I had to do

(15:27):
it. So I we did it.
I remember I announced it on thesteps of the Capitol in the
middle of the winter alone. And the first thing the media
said to me was, well, where's your family?
Because, you know, our politicians always parade the
wife and kids out there, right? And I looked right at the media
and said this isn't about my family.

(15:48):
I said this is the business of running the state of Minnesota.
My family has nothing to do withthis.
And I will keep them separated as much as I can.
I will not bring them into it like the typical politician
does. What do you think you were able
to win given how much less moneyyou spent campaigning compared

(16:10):
to the other candidates? Because I was allowed to debate.
They made a fatal error. You notice they haven't allowed
anybody since. No third party's been allowed to
debate since I won. And I loved what you said in one
of the debates. The moderator asked you some
question and you just didn't know the answer to it, and you

(16:30):
said as much as opposed to trying to.
I remember the question they asked me about the I triple RB,
which is way up on the Iron Range.
It's a government within the government.
Well, nobody down here in the city is going to know what the
hell the I triple RBI didn't know what I said.
I don't even know what it is, but I said if it's important,
I'll learn about it. The crowd erupted in applause

(16:53):
and cheering because they saw someone who wasn't.
Bullying them. They saw someone who got up.
I did. You know, I never used a
prepared speech my entire run for governor.
I didn't have speech writers I didn't have.
I didn't have what do they call it, spin doctors?

(17:14):
We didn't even do polling. We didn't bother.
We didn't have the money to do any of that.
Who do you think were the peoplemost responsible for you getting
elected? The citizens of Minnesota, they
voted for me. They're most responsible.
Now I know that's a. Not the answer you were looking

(17:35):
for because it wasn't the question you were truly asking.
I think the people that worked on my campaign that were all
volunteers, we only paid one person, Doug, the late Doug
Friedline to be my campaign manager and he left his private
sector job to do it. We paid him the equivalent
salary he would have gotten. He was the only paid for person

(17:57):
and I told them at the start I will not pay my own money to get
elected. How many first time voters came
out that election? A lot.
And that was largely the difference too, wasn't it?
That's why, that's how come if Irun for president, if they let
me in the debates, I'd win that too.
Bold talk, isn't it? What's the likelihood you ever

(18:19):
try and run? Who knows?
Let's wait till the Libertarian convention where the
Libertarians announced their candidate and that candidate
gets ballot access throughout the whole country.
Then you time it out. You spend the least money, you
come in, you destroy their two candidates if you're allowed in
the debate, If they got the freaking guts to let me in a

(18:42):
debate, I'll come in and destroytheir two candidates and steal
the election in November, just like I did in Minnesota.
Would you like to be president? No, not particularly, but in the
back of my mind. There's always that patriotic
voice saying to me, if not you, then who?

(19:02):
Who's going to restore America? Who's going to take on the two
party dictatorship and. Beat them.
Who can do that? Well, I've done it twice.
Haven't lost yet. So after.
Why do you? Think I'm a scary guy to them?
Why do you think you're? Because I've never lost to them.

(19:23):
You notice I include them as them.
I don't distinguish between the two parties because there is no
difference. After you were, you're both.
Owned by the same corporate ownership it does.
In other words, if you go to sports, if you bet on both teams
in the Super Bowl, you're not going to lose, are you?

(19:45):
Well, if you own both candidates, you're not going to
lose, are you? Well, and that's why you've said
you wish politicians would have to wear NASCAR type suits with.
Yeah, I wish they'd require anyone running for president to
wear a NASCAR suit with patches dictating who owns them.
I mean, it's simple. When you see Jimmy Johnson, what

(20:06):
do you see? Lowe's predom.
Then he's got all his others smaller patches around it.
Well, if Jesse Ventura runs for president, there won't be a
patch on the suit. It'll be clear white.
I imagine some of my opponents wouldn't have enough suit.
To put the patches on, they may have to have a subordinate wear

(20:28):
one too so they can get all the patches on.
How much do you fault the candidates for that and how much
do you fault just the the system?
I fault the Democrats and Republicans and the system
they've created. You notice I don't even discuss
the candidates. Didn't do that when I went for
governor either. I run against the parties

(20:48):
because the candidates are nothing but puppets to the
party. The party's got the strings,
they're the puppets. That's what you got.
There's no strings over Jesse Ventura, no puppet master on me.
So after your elected governor, I believe you have a conference
room in the bowels of the Capitol where one whole wall is

(21:12):
covered with sticky notes of messages that you've got and
everyone from Jay Leno to Princess to kings.
Your chief of staff, Steven, wastelling me about it the other
day. What was that like?
You know, it's funny, I didn't really see it.
Steven would know about it, and the people at that part of the
staff. I may have seen that wall once,

(21:36):
but I really didn't pay attention to it.
Because once you won the election, you have to govern the
state of Minnesota and no one's going to help because I'm an
independent. No independent had won.
So who do we seek to say for help?
They're not going to help. They want me to fail so that an

(21:56):
independent will never get elected again.
And so the moment I won the election, it was a seven day
work week. Not 24 hours a day, but you can
bet at least 12 hours a day or more.
One of your friends has said before that by the end of your
term, you really didn't like being governor anymore.

(22:19):
How true is that? That's not true.
I I loved being governor. I would have sought a second
term, but I kept it quiet. I did not seek a sacred term
because it was no one's businessat the time, but it was because
of my wife's health. Oh, really?
Yeah, and being governor was detrimental to her health.

(22:45):
What happened to her? Excuse me?
During the campaign, she contacted Mono and didn't know
it. It was improperly diagnosed and
it evolved into chronic fatigue syndrome, which is real.
And she suffered through chronicfatigue the entire time I was
governor, and it was weighing onher a great deal.

(23:08):
And I can unequivocally state that my political ambitions are
not more important than my wife.In other words, I will give up
any political job for her. To what extent was that at all a
hard decision for you? It was a difficult decision
because I wanted to change Minnesota government to

(23:30):
unicameral one house and it was going to require me to get re
elected to attempt to do that because.
I couldn't even get these. Cowards to vote it on the floor,
you know, they kill it in committee.
They do all this dirty, you know, that's how the system.
How were you able to convince the Bush administration to let
Minnesota trade with Cuba? I don't know.

(23:54):
I got great people working for me.
They came to me with results. Guess what?
We get to go to Cuba and we get to set up trade relations in a
country that has an embargo. For some reason, the embargo on
medical and agricultural got temporarily lifted.
What do you remember from your trip there?

(24:16):
Everything, it was exciting. I, I today I think I'm the only
elected official who can say. While elected, met with Fidel
Castro. Over the objections of the Bush
administration. What did they say to you?
I don't know. They didn't want me to.
And my response was, well, am I supposed to just believe you

(24:38):
guys? I want to go to Cuba and see the
place. If I get to meet with Fidel
Castro, I get to meet him face to face and draw my own opinion
of the man, not what my media orwhat you tell me.
And that was an exciting I I nowhave a huge picture of me and

(24:59):
Fidel Castro on my. Wall at home.
How many people can say they have that?
Probably not too many. How many elected officials in
America, while elected, can say they have that?
What was he like? I found him, I'll tell you that.
He had the most unique handshakeI've ever shook, and I've shook
a lot. He wound up and thrusts.

(25:21):
His hand down. I found that very unique.
He looked me right in the eye and he said, you're a man of
great courage. And I looked him in the eye and
I called him Mr. President, because they have elections,
too. You know, he's just the only one
on the ballot. We give you 2.
Oh, boy, is America great. We give you 2.

(25:42):
One more than Fidel. You know, you might as well give
her because our two are the same.
So you might as well just get Fidel.
You know, same thing, but. He looked, He said, you're a man
of great courage. And I looked him in the eye and
said, Mr. President, how can yousay that you don't, You don't
know me. And he said, because you defied
your president to come here, he knew everything.

(26:05):
And I looked at him and I said, well, you'll find that I defy
most everything. And he laughed.
Now to end the story. When we finished, he invited me
to come back again and to bring my wife and children as his
guest. Did you know the State
Department banned my wife's passport?
She wasn't allowed to go with me.

(26:26):
What? Well, what do women do when men
go on business trips? They shop.
They didn't want any money spentin Cuba.
Like my wife is going to prop upthe Cuban economy.
How now? How ridiculous.
Think about that. She wasn't allowed.
We're a free country and yet my government told my wife she

(26:50):
could not accompany me on this trip.
Right. Which is remarkable considering
you were. The.
Government right? Yeah, home in a brave land and a
free right. OK, Now when I left office,
there's no diplomatic ties between the US and Cuba.

(27:10):
I'll tell you a quick story thatI've never told, I don't think
publicly. One day Steve came up to me and
said, you got to go to the governor's residence tonight at
4. I said, why?
He looked around. He whispered Cuba.
I said, OK, so I went to the governor's residence.
Normally, I'd go home on a Friday to Maple Grove, where my
house is. 4:00, a car pulls up. A guy gets out from the Swedish

(27:32):
embassy because see, Cuba has noembassy here, so Castro has to
go through someone else. The Swedish embassy comes in and
meets with me and here's the message.
He said this is a message from Havana to you personally.
He said Cuba wants you to know that a friend of Cuba's.

(27:52):
They know you're not seeking re election, but they want you to
know a friend of Cuba's will always be a friend of Cuba's.
In other words, you're going to be our friend even though you're
not the governor anymore, I thought.
And you know who that came from?Sure.
I thought that was pretty good. I thought that was pretty loyal

(28:14):
too. What did you ask him about the
Kennedy assassination? Here's a his perception of it.
What did he have to say? Couldn't shut him up for 20
minutes, he said. It was an inside job, he said.
Oswald couldn't make the shots. You know that as well as I do,
he said. I have nothing to do with it, he
said. Do I look suicidal to you?

(28:35):
He said I love my country. He said if I killed John
Kennedy, the United States wouldhave wiped Cuba off the earth.
I'm not suicidal. He didn't have anything to do
with it. And he's correct.
Oswald couldn't make the shots and it was an inside job.
What do you think happened? I think we killed our president.

(28:56):
I think a coup d'etat took place.
Had John Kennedy lived, there would have been no Vietnam War.
Imagine that. Imagine now that alone would
have changed history. Kennedy had already ordered the
1st 1000 advisors out and he said that when he was elected he
would pull us completely out of Vietnam.
After he was re elected. Well, they made sure that he

(29:18):
wasn't re elected. And LBJ, here's your example.
When LBJ became president, the first meeting he had with
Kennedy's cabinet the next day in Washington, you know what the
topic was? It wasn't the State of the
Union. It wasn't the economy.
His first meeting as president, LBJ, was about the Vietnam War.

(29:42):
That wasn't a war yet. What should that say to you?
Your first meeting is going to be the highest priority, right?
The war that wasn't a war yet. And then Johnson a week later,
rescinded Kennedy's withdrawal and committed more.
Troops. John Kennedy was killed because

(30:03):
he wouldn't go to war. And you've done specials on this
before. I know it interests you greatly.
Well, I've read every book on it.
You say it was an inside job. What do you believe actually
happened? I believe that I can't.
We can't tell you who pulled triggers because it's been so
long and but the Warren Commissions A farce that's been

(30:24):
proven. So there were two conspiracies
that took place. The one that actually killed
John Kennedy and then the one tocover it up afterward.
And you're just as guilty if youtake part in either 1.
And so our government, I believehe was killed because he there

(30:45):
would have been he he already had detente he it's come out
now. Through a book.
Called JFK in the unspeakable, it was discovered.
In the Vatican, Kennedy and Khrushchev were back channel
communicating that their governments didn't even know it
and both of them had agreed theywere going to end the Cold War
by 65. Imagine that what the world
would be and what happened? Kennedy was killed.

(31:08):
They were doing it through Pope John.
He died of cancer and Khrushchevwas a coup d'etat happened in
Russia and Khrushchev was took, taken out of office because
there were people that wanted the Cold War and what did we
get? Substantially 20 more years of
it. How senior were the officials

(31:29):
that you think knew what was going on in terms of
assassinating? To the highest echelons of our
government because 24 hours after Kennedy was killed, J
Edgar Hoover said Oswald. Did it they?
Haven't looked at any evidence yet.
How could he make that determination?

(31:51):
20 Minneapolis paper Monday morning Kennedy's killed on
Friday, Oswald's killed on Sunday at noon.
Minneapolis paper Monday morning.
My mother kept it. We found it when she died.
Minneapolis morning paper. That meant it had to go out
early. They weren't computers, and
Dallas police declare case closed.
Monday morning my son read that he was about 14 at the time.

(32:15):
Looked at me, you know what his quote was?
My God dad, they spend more timeon a domestic.
And he was right. I.
Said you're right, son. What can I tell you?
Monday morning they they have no, they didn't see Oswald with
a gun. In fact, he tested negative in a
paraffin test. He hadn't fired a weapon.
What did Oswald's wife say to you when you spend time with

(32:36):
her? She's very vague.
She's also very, she protects her children, leaves two
daughters immensely. She's not going to talk much
about it because they held over her the fear of deporting her
back to Russia. So Marina's going to say
whatever the government wants her to say.

(32:57):
Today she's come out and said reversed herself.
And she said in light of all theinformation, I don't believe my
husband killed Kennedy today. But at the time, they got her to
say he did because they locked her up in solitaire and
threatened to deport her. My country does a lot of things
that if people paid attention to, they wouldn't find it so

(33:17):
wonderful. Now do you see why mainstream
media don't like Jesse? Ventura.
Chris Kyle, Deadliest Sniper in American history, author of
American Sniper, the best selling book.
Which came Is he the deadliest sniper in American history?
OK, well that's how he's regarded.

(33:38):
No, no, that's what he alleges. OK, I don't know if he is or
not, but he wrote a chapter on me that's a complete fabricated
lie. So he, to give that context, you
know, said in the book that he punched, you know, somebody at a
bar, later said publicly that person was you.
What was your reaction when you first heard that?

(34:00):
Well, I was in Mexico off the grid, so I couldn't react to it.
I heard about it from an e-mail from my son and I had to contact
Alex Jones, my friend in Texas, to defend me.
I was out of the country. Timing was perfect on it, wasn't
it? Right after I left the country
so I couldn't defend myself. The story is a complete
fabricated lie. I did what you're supposed to

(34:23):
do, go to court, put people underoath and prove it.
We proved it in court. The jury ruled for me.
Was there any communication between when Kyle initially made
the public comments and when youfiled the lawsuit between the
two of you? No, I didn't even know him.
My first recollection of Chris Kyle was June of 2012 at the

(34:47):
first settlement hearing. What happened there?
He had made a statement that if we met together that we could
solve the whole thing, so the courts allowed us to meet in a
room together. One-on-one.
And I looked at him and I said, how can you say you hit me?
You never hit me? And he said, yes, I did.
I turned to the judge. I said we're done right now.

(35:08):
I said if this guy's not going to admit it never happened, then
what's the point? I offered to him.
I said if you'll go out to with me to the media, admit you
fabricated the story, I will forgive you and we'll go our
separate ways. You wouldn't do it.
He didn't have the honor. He didn't have this hero from
the war didn't have the courage to tell the truth and he's not a

(35:30):
hero. You know why?
He's a backstabbing liar. He hoard the Trident for money
and fame. He took an old timer like me and
threw me under the bus so he could get money.
And the the point is, he's not ahero.
You know why he's not a hero? But.
Because heroes have to have honor.
You have to have honor to be a hero.

(35:51):
A liar has no honor. Follow me.
Why do you think there were several other seals that backed
up his story? They didn't.
If you come to the trial, there wasn't one witness that heard me
say what they said on the stand.There wasn't one witness on the
stand who said they saw him hit me.

(36:14):
All they were doing was relayinghearsay from their buddy.
Remember, if you'll die for someone, you'll lie for him.
When you 2 had that meeting the the attempted settlement
meeting, what do you think his goal was with it?
To be rich and famous, he had totake the most, I guess the

(36:37):
highest profile member of the community and throw him under
the bus because his book went, you know what the presale was of
that book? 4000 when he went on opening
Anthony and O'Reilly and told that lie, it jumped 100,000 in
one day. One day.
Even the book company, Harper Collins, admitted it was a niche

(36:59):
book. All of a sudden it's I was the
catalyst. It was like a jet or a a rocket
going into space. You have to have a booster, a
booster that gets you into space.
And then once you're in space, you can orbit.
I was the booster rocket. You said going through that's
the most traumatic thing you've been through since your parents

(37:20):
died. What?
Why? Because everybody in America,
I'm now a person who's either loved or hated, and everybody
believes the lie they've perpetrated that I sued a widow
and a war hero's widow and children, which is completely
fabricated and false. And the other side's attorney

(37:40):
have pushed that. See, I think this attack could
well be bigger than Kyle. What do you mean?
If I'm involved in a court case like this, I can't run for
office, can I? And they've alienated a great
deal of people towards me by thelies that have been perpetrated

(38:01):
by both the media and the book. Famous Navy SEAL who authored
Lone Survivor, which has also become a movie.
When this was all going on, posted a picture of you with the
caption. Hit me.
I won't fight back. I'll just wait for you to die
and sue your wife. Who wrote?

(38:22):
That the author of Lone Survivor.
Really. The guy who I secured from Hell
Week? I'm in his book.
You know, I was the first civilian they allowed to secure
Hell Week. He wrote that about me, huh?
That's despicable on his part. Because I, I sued Chris Kyle for

(38:42):
lying. See.
Doesn't the lie mean anything? And he's assuming I got hit.
I didn't. I didn't.
I prove it in court. How much did the backlash get to
you? A lot.
I can never I I don't care to say I'm a SEAL anymore.

(39:04):
I won't go to a reunion ever again.
I'm going I'm it's heard a greatdeal because I used to always go
to reunions. I used to contribute money.
None of that will all stop now, because nobody from the
community has come. Forward to support me and I'm an

(39:25):
innocent victim. And it's it.
Would be the equivalent of me throwing Aww 2.
Frogman under the bus. This Iraq guy throws a Vietnam
guy under the bus. Really.
That's what the guy that wrote Lone Survivor said about me.
He should be ashamed of himself.What do you think the likelihood

(39:48):
is of being able to repair everything to make amends with
the kind of Seal brotherhood? Never.
Well, the Seals like to pride themselves that they've never
left a body behind. They have now.
Me. I was left behind.

(40:09):
Now I'm a POW SEAL who was left behind and they did nothing to
recover me. That's how I feel about it.
That's how betrayed I feel. I want to change the topic and
get get into wrestling, which was kind of what launched your

(40:29):
career. I think you got into wrestling
almost via a classified ad and then you have seven months of
training. What did you do?
Well, there was a classified ad that said learn to be a pro
wrestler at the 7th St. Gym in downtown Minneapolis.
And I answered the ad and I wentdown and met Eddie Sharkey, who
had remembered as a kid had beena wrestler, very good one.

(40:53):
And he trained me. For seven months, what did you
learn to wrestle? So that I was prepared to go
anywhere in the country and havea match.
How many miles did you put on your car during those first
couple of years? Well, I always like to tell the
story. The first new car I bought was a
1975 Mercury Cougar and this included carpooling.

(41:14):
In two years it had 120. 8000 miles on it and that included
carpooling. That's amazing how painful was
once going through a period where you wrestled 63 days in a
row. Where I wrestled 63 consecutive
nights in a row. It wasn't painful because it

(41:34):
became routine. It was just, it was just hugely
tiring. Probably my UDT training helped
because it was, it was. I mean, think about it for a
moment. Has any job ever asked you to
work 63 nights in a row? No.
Well, it also reassured me that wrestling needs a union.

(41:56):
They don't have one. That way people don't wrestle 63
nights in a row. But when I tried to unionize,
that was met with stiff competition.
Trust me, Almost got fired by Vince because of it.
But then I went off to do Predator.
And when I did Predator, I became a member of the Screen
Actors Guild. So when I came back to Vince, I

(42:16):
said you don't have to worry about me talking about union
anymore. I got mine.
I said if these guys are so stupid that they won't organize,
then that's their problem. I'm a member of the Screen
Actors Guild and still am today and I get my retirement and
healthcare from it. I I want to run through a few
close calls that you had while wrestling and get you to recall

(42:37):
the story. The first one being the Eugene,
OR fan. All that was I was involved in a
match in Eugene and it got a little wild and, and when I was
leaving the police, I was a villain or heal and the the
police always escort you back tothe dressing room and a fight
broke out at ringside. So I made the mistake of

(42:59):
dismissing my security, figuringI was OK, go ahead, take care of
the fight, I'm fine. Well, I still had a ways to go
to get to the dressing room. And in the interim, a guy came
around the corner, pulled out a huge hunting knife, unsheathed
it and basically said I'm going to kill you.
And he was coming at me, and by reading his eyes, I knew he was

(43:22):
dead serious. So I immediately thought, well,
when a guy has a knife, you're probably going to have to
sacrifice something to the knifein which to get him.
So I was at that determining period when all of a sudden, out
of the stands, this guy dropped behind him, grabbed him, spun
him around and had him cuffed inan instant.

(43:42):
It turned out it was a plainclothes cop happened to
take his kids to the matches andhappened to be looking down and
saw this was taking place. He jumped out of the stands and
it turned out the kid was a minor.
They couldn't even charge him here.
He was attempted murder. He was going to stab me with
this knife, but he was under 18,so all they can do is release

(44:05):
him to the custody of his parents at that time.
How about the 70 year old woman?Oh, I don't know, her age.
She was probably older than that.
That was Denver, Co, And they have a rail around the ring
there. And I was being the villain
again. And I jumped out of the ring,
which villains do, because that's part of the way to get
people angry at you. Don't stay in there and get beat
up. Run.

(44:26):
Because all villains are cowards, right?
Stereotypical things you have todo, like blonde hair.
And I had backed up to the railing, and all of a sudden I
felt this excruciating pain. And I turned around.
I was going to deck whoever did it.
And here was an old woman, probably in her 80s, dripping in
a diamond. She had taken her long
fingernails, clawed me down the back and drew blood on three of

(44:49):
them. So I just turned.
The security said arrest her. So she went to jail.
You know, that's assault. Sorry.
I mean, she drew blood on me with three.
I didn't knock her out when I saw how old she was.
Had it have been a young kid there, he'd probably got tapped.
Something that turned into a really serious situation.
I know you didn't think it wouldbe initially the pulmonary

(45:11):
embolism. Well, it was initially because I
didn't know what it was and I wrestled with it for three
nights and I thought I was just,it was winter time or, or I'd
come from Minnesota and I was resting Phoenix and I had no
breath. I was running out of energy.
And I thought at first I thought, well, maybe it's
Arizona. I'm not used to it.

(45:31):
It's hot here. And then the next night I
wrestled Oakland, same thing andgot to San Diego and I hung with
John Stud then and John was going to the gym and I just
said, John, I'm not feeling good.
I'm going to take a nap. And I took a nap.
I woke up and I had a bed. The whole bed was wet and sweat.
I couldn't even take a deep breath.
So I went out to my rental car. I drove to the emergency room at

(45:54):
the Sharp Cabrillo Hospital. There was a former Marine there.
He sat me down in a chair and hesaid I don't want you to move.
And I said, what do you think I have?
He said, I think you got pulmonary umbali, blood clots in
the lungs. You're too good of an athlete.
We did an arterial blood draw and I was only at like 7872%
oxygen, he said. An athlete like you should be

(46:16):
running 95 to 98% oxygen and then they came in and do an
angiogram and found out I had massive blood clots in my lungs
and I couldn't wrestle for six months.
How did you handle that period? Recouping, looking into the
mirror, wondering what are you going to do now?
You've been wrestling for 10 to 12 years.

(46:37):
It's the only thing you know howto do.
You can't put that on a resume and go to General Mills and
think you're going to get a job.So I faced the dilemma that all
pro athletes have to face. I faced it a little prematurely.
What do you do when it's all over and then many times out of
bad comes good? And that was the case in, that

(47:01):
was in my case was during my convalescing, Vince called one
day and said, Jesse, you're goodenough to get around now you
can't get back in the ring, he said.
Do you? Think you could do?
Color commentating, being an announcer, he said I want to try
something new and I said you want me to announce?
He said there's never been a badguy on the mic, someone who

(47:24):
sides with the villains, and it was Vince's idea.
He said you think he. I said I know.
I could do it. So when I went there to do my
first one, he gave me the greatest marching orders you
could get before I went out to broadcast.
He said here's your mindset. If you believe it, it's true.
Can you imagine being told that?If you believe it, it's true?

(47:47):
In other words, he's giving me carte blanche, anything I want
and the greatest job in the world.
When I graduated then and went to the number one team with
Vince and I, Saturday night mainevent where we still hold the
record for the largest points ever.
We beat Madonna when she was on Saturday Night Live.
Killed her. We got a 34 share.

(48:09):
Imagine that 34. One out of three TV's in the US
was watching Saturday Night Live.
Well, imagine having a job whereyou can totally ridicule your
boss on national television. He.
Pays you to do it and loves it. There can't be a better job in
the world, could there? Imagine if you could do that to

(48:30):
your boss, ridicule him on national TV and he loves it and
pays you to do it and the more the better.
What do you think of Vince McMahon?
I think I I have admiration for him.
He's the PT Barnum of the generation.
He took wrestling and made it a household word and took it
national and made himself a billionaire.

(48:51):
Now, is Vince a ruthless billionaire businessman?
Yes. But you probably have to be.
I bear no grudge against Vince. He.
Used to, though didn't. He no, I just when I disagreed
with him, I did the proper thing.
You go to court. I took him to federal court and
beat him and I have a retirementnow.

(49:12):
He has to pay me for every tape I've ever been on and as long as
he sells them. So quarterly I get a check from
him and have since 1991. I called my wrestling
retirement. I'm the only wrestler.
In the world that has it. A retirement, even though
technically it's not. Why do you think he won't have
me back? He's not going to invite me back
and have to pay me royalties. It's that simple.

(49:35):
So I probably, you never say never, but I probably will never
be at a WrestleMania because it would require them to pay me
royalties from federal court. How do you think Vince views
you? I think that at times he hates
my guts, but I think deep down he admires me because he sees a
lot of him and me. I don't take crap from no one.

(49:58):
I'm an individual and I didn't even take crap from him.
That's why we separated. He wanted to control my
marketing and I wouldn't let him.
I already had copyrighted Jesse the body Ventura and I owned it
and I wouldn't give it up to him.
That's why we parted company, because I would not give up my
individual individuality or ownership to him.

(50:19):
You and Hulk were once good friends.
What's the likelihood of that ever being repaired?
Never. What?
Can't trust him. I don't.
I'm not friends with anyone I don't trust.
I have to have a trust with someone to be their friend.
And he's the one that ratted me to Vince when I tried to
unionize. I found that out under federal

(50:41):
deposition when Vince was put under sword and he didn't
hesitate at all. I told my lawyer the story and
in deposition you can ask about anything.
And so I wanted to know who ratted me in the locker room
because there were no agents. No one from the office was in
there when I did it. So it had to be one of the boys.
And when my attorney said, is there, Mr. McMahon, has there

(51:04):
ever been a union in wrestling? And Vince said no.
So does anyone ever tried to? And Vince said, well, I think
Jesse Ventura spouted his mouth off about it once or once
before. My attorney said, did you hear
Mr. Ventura? No.
Well, then how do you know he did?
With no hesitation, Vince, when Hulk Hogan told me, and I didn't
show any emotion, but I almost tipped over in the chair because

(51:26):
he was my friend. And I thought, but then I
understand why when we went to court, I saw in WrestleMania 3,
Hogan got paid more than all of us combined.
Now, why would he want a union when he's getting taken care of?
Imagine that, WrestleMania, 393 thousand people, and he got more

(51:47):
than Andre the Giant and all therest of us to mind if there was
a union, Would that happen? No.
What communication did you have with Hulk after you found that
out? None.
I've never spoken to him since and don't intend to.
Did he ever try and? Why would he bother?
Why would he bother with me? He's dealing with Hulkamania.

(52:09):
The only time he made contact, he wrote a book when I was
governor, and he was coming hereonce to do a book signing and he
wanted to make sure I wouldn't get him arrested.
So he actually had Vince McMahoncontact me as governor.
And you know what I told Vince? I said you tell Hulk, believe it
or not, I have more important things on my mind than him.

(52:31):
I said I know it'll destroy his ego to hear that, but I don't
think of him on a daily basis. What did Hulk Hogan say about
steroids that bothered you? He said he never took them.
That was a lie. Actually, he when he was here in

(52:51):
Minneapolis, that's who you wentto get him from.
Really. Well he'll say that's not true,
but for him, like we the common laugh used to be when he used to
tell the kids to say their prayers and take their vitamins
in the dressing room. We'd always laugh and say orals
are injectables when he'd tell them to take their vitamins

(53:14):
because a slang term for steroids is vitamins.
Predator, how did you get the role in spite of Vince McMahon's
wishes? I read for it and I had an agent
in Hollywood at the time. I used to go there as often as I
could and he got me appointment with Jackie Birch and they were
casting the next Schwarzenegger movie, which was Predator and

(53:36):
the part of Sergeant Blaine. Special Forces 64250I fit it
perfect and I had the backgroundfor it and I chewed tobacco,
which was in the script. They asked me, can you chew
tobacco? And I pulled out my Copenhagen
and Redman instead. I've been chewing for 20 years
so it was not acting when I chewed tobacco and spit it on

(53:56):
Carl's boots. Why have you said before that's
one of the best decisions you'veever made in your life?
Well, because it got me it it, it gave me a union.
It gave me the Screen Actors Guild, it gave me my retirement
today. It gave me healthcare for my
family to be a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Tell about to get back to Predator your first encounter

(54:18):
with Jean-Claude Van Damme. Well, Jean Claude was at the.
Time of nobody living out of histrunk.
And this was the first job he got.
He was going to be the Predator.You know, they, they didn't know
exactly what the Predator was going to be yet.
I didn't even know what the Predator was till I went to a
screening. They hadn't determined yet.
Because remember, he was invisible to us.

(54:39):
So they shot him completely separate.
But Jean Claude originally got cast for the Predator because I
guess they felt with his karate agility and all that, he'd be
able to move good through the jungle with this suit on.
Well, I don't think Jean Claude realized they weren't going to
see his face. So he's a good kid.
I love him today. But he got down there and did

(55:00):
nothing but complain. So Joel Silver fired him his
first job. He gets fired and Joel says
he'll never work in Hollywood again.
Sean Claude goes up and signs a three picture deal with D
Laurents, and he's a big star now.
So he goes to show you when theytell you you'll never work in
the business again, chances are you still may get an
opportunity. So what's your favorite line

(55:22):
from Predator? My favorite line.
Me. Personally makes Cambodia look
like Kansas. Was when you were.
I know what you're. Waiting for I Ain't Got Time to
Believe. Actually, I wouldn't give you

(55:43):
that one, but it was because that was a scene that had been
originally caught. They weren't going to shoot it.
And that I wanted it shot because Richard Chavez and I
were both Vietnam Veterans and we wanted to do a scene
together. The two actual veterans.
We were the real veterans of theplatoon who had he was Army, I

(56:03):
was Navy. And and so Richard and I wanted
to do that scene. Arnold got sick.
So they resurrected the scene. And I knew it would get in the
film because John Mctiernan, thedirector, never showed any
emotion. But when Richard shot the thing
and everything and he says you got time to duck.
Mctiernan walked away from that scene laughing.

(56:26):
And he had never shown any emotion on any scene, so I knew
I said that's going to be in thefilm because Mctiernan found
that extremely funny. Arnold Schwarzenegger, I know
you guys were very close for a long time and I understand you
haven't spoken to him since the whole cheating scandal.
What do you think the likelihoodis you guys are able to be

(56:48):
friends again? Probably very unlikely because
Arnold's now out of politics. I'm out of it unless I come back
into it. And I live in Minnesota and
Mexico and he lives in Southern California.
And I, I'm only upset because I was also good friends with Maria
and I had a great respect for her as a person, as a woman and

(57:11):
who she is. And I've been married 40 years,
40 years. And I just thought he did it
wrong. And why should I guess maybe the
the I guess maybe the puzzling thing would be I would side with

(57:32):
the woman rather than the man. But in this case I do.
I have all the sympathy for Maria because she should have
never been treated in that manner.
Tell about the workouts and the almost like competition like
workouts you guys would. Have while working out there
wasn't competition. It was all friendly, right?

(57:52):
Arnold's great to do a film withbecause he's so powerful.
They bring his whole gym and they set it up in a room and
Arnold's wonderful. He gives everyone keys.
He likes to see guys work out. He's very much pro that.
After all, that's what got him his fame.
So we all had could work out whenever you want.
Well, what I would do, we'd always have to be at the set at

(58:14):
7:00 AM, so we'd have to get up at 5:00 to train.
Well, I'd get up at 4:45 and I'dgo in there and I'd take a water
bottle and I'd soak my shirt like with sweat.
So when Arnold and Sman, his bodyguard would come in, I'd be
working out already. I probably got there 2 minutes
before him, but I'd be soaking wet and sweat doing whatever

(58:34):
Arnold would. Look, Sven, we better get up
earlier. Look at Jesse.
The body's in here. Who knows how long he's been in
here, you know? So it was just you had some
great builds on the show. I mean, you got Mr. Olympia
Schwarzenegger, the best built man in the world.
Jesse the body, Ventura, Carl Weathers, Apollo Creed.
Great build, Sonny Lambdum, great build.

(58:58):
You got all these bodies down there.
Well, we don't look like we lookby laying around.
We all pay a price to look that way.
And so it was very friendly. There was nobody ripping
anybody. I mean, how could I compare to
Schwarzenegger? He's Mr. Olympia, for God's
sake. He's the best built man in the

(59:18):
world. You wrote in one of your books
that Arnold was one of the most focused men you ever met in your
life. Yeah.
What? Because I watched him turn down
$14 million, they came in and offered him Predator 2 right
there before 1 even went out. And I watched.
I was sitting right in there when he said no.

(59:40):
And when they left, I looked at Arnold, said Arnold, how do you
turn down $14 million? That's where you go.
I'll do it for half. And I was ready to raise my hand
in the air. He looked right at me, said
Jesse, the time is not right. And he was correct.
Look how long he made him wait for the second Terminator.
He made it made him wait seven years.

(01:00:02):
So it was another mega hit. See Arnold.
Arnold is, he's the most focusedman because you got to be that
to win Mr. Olympia. To be the best built man in the
world, you can't have any outside interference.
You've got to eat right, train right, and sleep right
continually, 24/7. That requires focus.

(01:00:26):
What do you think you learned from him?
Well, he taught me to never reada script till the money's right,
otherwise you've wasted your time.
So whenever they come with me with a script, I make sure the
money's right before I even readit.
Because if, Because if you read it and like it, you may be
biased about the money then. You know, it's interesting.

(01:00:47):
I was talking to your chief of staff, your former chief of
staff, Steve yesterday. And obviously the professions
you've been in, whether that be pro sports, acting politicians,
not exactly profession synonymous with being faithful.
And at the end of the conversation with them, I asked
them, I'm like, is there anything that you've never

(01:01:07):
heard, which Jesse asked about before during an interview that
you think would be interesting to bring up?
And he said the unquestioning loyalty to his wife.
And I wonder what do you think has made it last so long?
Because I love her. And because we're partners and

(01:01:30):
because if she weren't with me, there'd be a void.
I need her, not just emotionallyand all of that she does.
I don't have entourages, so guess who it all falls to?
I don't do the Internet, so guess who has to do the Internet

(01:01:51):
for me? I don't send emails.
I've never owned a cell phone and now it's my life's mission
not to. I want to be the first person.
If I live another 20 years or whatever it might be, I want to
be the only person that can put on his gravestone.
He never owned a cell phone. Well, she does.

(01:02:12):
So what would I do then? I'd have to own a cell phone.
If I got rid of her. Oh, there you go.
That's that's a great answer. Now it is.
Far more important, not owning acell phone to achieve that goal.
I hope everyone's laughing, but in today's day and age, you
never know. Jesse Ventura chooses a cell

(01:02:33):
phone over his wife. You can see that headline coming
out from the media. I don't know.
It's I'm so attached to her now that it would be the same as me
losing a limb. You live in Mexico half the
year. You split your time between
Mexico and Minneapolis. Is it true that you have no TV,

(01:02:54):
phone or electricity there? I live off the grid.
I live an hour from pavement andan hour from electricity.
I have everything you have electric wise because I'm
completely sold or I live off the sun and there's a place to
do it. You get sun all but about four
days a year. I I do not have TV there per SE.

(01:03:17):
I have ATV that we watch movies and DVDs on how outdated those
are, but I got tons of them. We do have Internet satellite
and we can do Skype, but other than that I have no
communications to the United States other than doing my off

(01:03:38):
the grid show, which we do from various locations so that the
drones won't find me and kill me'cause you know, today if you
speak I'll about United States government and policy, we will
kill you without a trial with a drone.
We've done it before and certainly will do it again.
Does that not concern you that our government kills people

(01:04:01):
without a trial its own citizens?
But we're doing it, aren't we? Isn't that unconstitutional?
Why are we breaking our Constitution and our Bill of
Rights on a regular basis in this country?
That's the fabric of our nation.Explain what it means to you to

(01:04:21):
unplug the brain. Unplug the brain.
I think that that's one of your phrases, right?
I don't know if I what I what what what I find living in
Mexico does. Is it it it?
I describe it as flushing out your brain.

(01:04:41):
And when? What does that mean to you?
Well, what it means to me is when we made the decision not to
have television, because I can get satellite TV down there, but
we chose not to. If I live in Mexico and watch
United States TV every night, I'm really not in Mexico, am I?

(01:05:02):
If I'm watching USTV every night, I could be sitting here
doing the same thing. That's what I cut out.
That's what it's called. People often ask me, what can
you do in Mexico that you can't do here?
I'll tell you one thing I've done there that you can't do
here. I've gone to a lagoon with some

(01:05:22):
Mexican guides. I've gone out in the lagoon and
I physically touched Gray whalesin the wild and stuck my hands
in their mouths from a boat. Can't do that here.
And that was a life changing thing for me that I've done a
lot of stuff. But that's in the top five going

(01:05:45):
out and physically. And when I talk about when I
talk about being with Gray whales, I don't mean they pass
by and you touch them. We had a mother in her calf
spend an hour and 15 minutes with us.
They love to have their gums scratched.
The mother went over there and we babysat the calf played hide

(01:06:06):
and seek. I got into a water fight with
them where they'd spray me with the blowhole and I'd throw water
on them. And I've looked into their eyes.
And when you do, you see intelligence clearly.
They communicate. How would they know it's safe?
How would they know? In this one little lagoon in
Mexico, you can interact with these humans that they're forced

(01:06:30):
to live with because they need our air.
Remember, they're not fish, they're mammals.
Explain why you don't fly commercial anymore.
Because I'm tired of being treated like a criminal.
I have metal in my body and whenI go to an airport, I'm treated
like a criminal. And I got tired.
I, I, there was a time I was flying 3 or 4 times a week and

(01:06:52):
being patted down three to four times a week.
And I got angry and angry. I couldn't figure out why.
And then I realized in a free country, you should not feel
comfortable being patted down. And I was getting the point
where it was becoming like brushing my teeth.
It was happening on such a regular basis, getting patted

(01:07:14):
down. And I don't think anyone in a
free country should be comfortable being patted down.
But the United States citizens are today, they're getting real
comfortable being patted down. Well, they had a Homeland
Security Center. If you don't.
Like it don't fly. So I quit flying after I tried
to sue them. I sued them under 4th amendment

(01:07:37):
and the judge ruled she didn't have.
Authority. How can a federal judge not have
authority over a Fourth Amendment question?
It's a scam because they don't want to deal with it.
Because if Jesse Ventura wins, it opens up a can of worms.
What jury is going to go againstme?

(01:07:58):
Who's going to go against me on the 4th Amendment?
Unreasonable search and seizure.I've been a mayor.
I've been a governor. I'm an honorably discharged Navy
veteran. I've been flying for 30 years.
I pose no threat. I'd win.
They can't have the case. They can't let me win because it

(01:08:19):
would open up a bag of worms. Last one for you, the most
satisfying moment from your career to date would be what?
That's really hard to say because there's probably one
thing every decade that could fit under that.
Graduating from Buds was huge. Basic underwater demolition,

(01:08:43):
seal training, being part of wrestling, going national with
Vince McMahon and being on boardwas extremely exciting.
And then, of course, how could Inot say winning mayor and
governor, Mayor first, which wasn't as big, but winning
governor and doing what no one said could be done and defeating

(01:09:05):
the Democrats and Republicans for the second time.
That's why they fear me. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thanks for listening to my chat
with Jesse Ventura. To check out video clips of our
interview, go to youtube.com/graham Bensinger.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a rating and
review. Any feedback, positive or

(01:09:25):
negative, is always appreciated.Thanks again.