>> can a republican who favors civil unions to gay couples, favors evolution and global warming, but president obama's am to china, buck the tea party time and be a serious candidate. >> i'm just going to stick laser like to the issues that are important to the american people right now and will be totally responsible for getting us back in the game. >> is jon huntsman the most radical thing of all in the gop? a true moderate. >> i think i've got pragmatic and practical solutions. i'm just the right candidate. >> tonight jon huntsman one on one for the hour. ♪ >> piers? i'm in it to win and i promise, i won't walk off. >> this is piers morgan tonight. governor huntsman, let me start i suppose with the obvious question. here you are at a great time in your life. you've got a lovely family, you're financially secure, you've had an amazing career, there are many things you could do. why on earth would you possibly want to go into the cauldron of being president of the united states. >> are you questioning my judgment or what? >> i'm already questioning your judgment. >> we've just got ton know each other, for heaven's sake. because i love this country. because i think the people of the united states of america have had enough in the way of hope and hype and i refuse to see the end of the american century. this is the greatest nation that ever was and we're about for the first time ever to hand it down to the next generation less good, less productive, less competitive, saddled with debt, and that totally is unacceptable. and if you come from the vantage point of having served in a position like governor, lived overseas four times, been ambassador three times, once to our most important relationship, if you've got something to bring to the table that speaks to where we are in history, we're a center-right nation. i'm a center-right candidate. i think i've got pragmatic and practical solutions. if you'll step up and do what teddy roosevelt would have advocated, get in the arena, it says something about you. >> what is the jon huntsman vision for america? >> preeminence for the united states. the world works better with a strong united states. we are the only beacon of hope, the only safe haven for people who are fighting oppression abroad. we speak to democracy. we speak to human rights. we speak to liberty. we speak to free markets. our core is weak in this country. >> is the american dream still the same? can it be the same as it used to be? or should the american dream be slightly re-invented for the modern world? >> the american dream is the same. we aspire to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. the pursuit of happiness is jobs, it's entrepreneurship, it's the creative class in this country. the problem is we have an environment that doesn't speak to perpetuating the creative class and entrepreneurship. bogged down in regulation, bogged down in taxation. because of that, what america has always been so good at and the ways in which we've always inspired the rest of the world isn't coming through. the american dream is there although for i think a lot of people, they feel it is out of their reach. i hear that all the time. "i can't get a loan because of the financial services regulation," "too much in the way of regulatory barriers." so why do it? why run a risk? why try to build something like they did the last generation zp. >> you lived in china for a couple of years and you well know that when you compare bureaucracy to china to bureaucracy in america, one of the reasons that they are marching on, good or bad -- whatever your view of it -- is they are not consumed with red tape over every tiny thing they do. they just ignore it half the time, which is probably not healthy either. but does america have a fundamental problem business wise with the sheer volume of paperwork, red tape, legalese, stuff that i believe slows down modern business? >> an an autocratic system like china, there's plenty of red tape. but their decision making at the top with a little board of directors called the standing committee, you've got nine guys effectively who are making decisions for the country. >> an an autocratic system like china, there's plenty of red tape. but their decision making at the top with a little board of directors called the standing committee, you've got nine guys effectively who are making decisions for the country. they don't deliberate or take it to a larger body for approval. they just do it. in our country, which really relies on freedom and democracy and the marketplace working, you create red tape an bureaucracy an regulation, you're dead. our country doesn't work. we are fueled by our creative class in this country. and if our creative class is stalled -- which it is today -- you can't make america what it ought to be. >> governor, what do you think are the biggest misconceptions about you personally -- other than people saying you're boring? >> all they have to do is watch this interview and get to know me. >> exactly. >> probably that the guy was born with a silver spoon. i like to say maybe it was a plastic spoon. we got into the plastics industrial later on. but i was born in the navy. my dad was serving in the navy at the time and it was a very strong ethos that ran through at least my early years. you put on the uniform of the united states, you serve, you make the country a better place. there's no higher calling than serving your country. >> i still you're still very close to your father. he's obviously a huge influential part of your life. what values did he instill in you? >> hard work. i watched a great entrepreneur start up a company. and it wasn't until much later in life that that can be had any success at all, that we even had a family business. through the early years i was raised in a very normal fashion. southern california. my dad took a job with government back in maryland. we settled in utah. pretty normal upbringing. >> the bit i like about your early background -- which is not commonly known i think -- is that you dropped out of high school to be a rock star. to be the next freddie mercury. i mean that alone dispels all sorts of rumors. >> as you can see, it didn't work out so well. i did have the platform shoes and other things to show that we gave it the best efforts. >> what was the name? >> we had a lot of bands but the last one, the good one, was wizard. you laugh. >> there's another wizard, of course. you had a competitor out there with birdie name. they'd already been there. >> well, we tried. it was during that period of art rock. classical rock. the days of emerson lake and palmer. yes. you know those bands well. keith emerson was my hero. i thought i was always raised to follow your dreams, go for it, go for the roses, be the best that you can be and i thought that we could make it in the music business. >> i wouldn't say that the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, governor, isn't necessarily compatible with a mormon lifestyle. did you see potential conflict arising? >> donny and marie did okay. >> there was an allegation -- this is pretty damaging to you i think for any presidential hope -- that your real hero musically was captain beefheart. now is that true? >> if you can tell me anything about captain beefheart, i'll give you an answer. but you can't. >> you're the expert. to me he was always a bit of a joke but perhaps you can give me another -- >> let's just say he was avant garde. he was discovered by frank zappa. but there was a period maybe between 1968 and 1978, maybe the early '80s where he was probably the most cutting-edge avant garde -- hey, not for everybody's taste. >> you're the same kind of age as president obama. i think you are a year older than him. you both come in on this likable ticket. you both come in on a change ticket. i want america to be better. lots of similarities. people have drawn between you both as men, as human beings. what barack obama has discovered is that the reality of being president is it is pretty brutal and washington is a brew it will place. you're going to get chewed up, spat out, your hair is going to turn gray -- which in your case is not too big a problem, it is half-way there already. but it is a draining, relentless, pretty unpleasant job to have. are you, jon huntsman who is by common consent, one of the nice guys in politics, are you ready for that? do you want to get your hand dirty in the grubbiness of running for high office and all that comes with it? >> we've come this far. i've raised seven kids. you want a challenge in life? you raise teenagers in today's environment. i've are infor political office. i've sat in the trenches of china, our most difficult and combative relationship. i bring a lot of experiences that most people never have when they come into the presidential fray. are you prepared for it? i ask one question -- and then i have my answer. which is can your family stand by you through thick and thin? are all of them to a person dedicated to mission and to purpose? and they are. >> when i interviewed governor chris christie he said that he didn't want to run this time because his family just weren't old enough already for all the pressure of a white house campaign. your family, a lot of them are very young, are they ready? are you comfortable that they're ready? >> they have been raised in a public environment. they've seen the good, the bad. they've read the blogs that sometimes can be very painful. so you times that by 50 or 100. the pain is the same basically. they've been in that basic virt. >> obviously america is looking at all the candidates now. what they're hearing is that the favorites are bachmann, perry, romney. they're not hearing huntsman. why is that and how do you change that? >> well, it's early days. how many front-runners have we had in this race so far, a race that hasn't even taken off yet? i think we've had four or five front-runners. >> when is the point when we should look at how you're performing and properly judge you? >> not august. august is the dog days of summer. but you get into the fall season, you get close to the early primary states, people will begin to tune in, they take a look at candidates, they start inventorying where they are on the issues and that's where they're going to say that's -- that guy right there is a problem solver. that guy brings something to the table. he's been there and he's done that. >> take a short break, then come back and ask you about specifically your opponents in this republican race and what you think of the tea party generally who, i guess, are as much your enemy as they are barack obama's right now. ♪ okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours. lower cholesterol. lower cholesterol. i'm yummy. lower cholesterol. i got that wrong didn't i? 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[ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? who needbe happy. be healthy. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. we will conduct this campaign on the high road. i don't think you need to run down someone's reputation in order to run for the office of president. >> governor, let's talk about your opponents or potential opponents, the ones who have declared so far. you really want to get me in trouble, do you? >> i do, yes. i want you to be provocative. show a bit fire in your belly. >> oh, got that. got that. >> shoot down a few opponents here. you're, aseveryone knows, the nice guy. the problem with wanting to be on the high road is a lot of your competitors will not want to be on the high road, they'll try to rip you to pieces. >> of course, that's politics. let me tell you about the high road. it is unnatural in this country to be as divided as we are. what i was talking about in terms of civility -- civility can co-exist with the facts. you bring out facts in the campaign. you compare and contrast with the candidates but it is unnatural to be as divided as we are as americans. we're going to disagree on the pathway to get there but the bigger picture stuff, like the idea that we want to leave the country to the next generation better than it is today, that's coming together as people. >> what is your honest view of the tea party? what is something that you would say to a friend over dinner? >> i'll tell you what i told most people, if not everybody. that is i think we're having discussions today about fiscal responsibility because of the tea party. it was a manifest -- i saw this in china. the rise of the tea party, a total manifestation of american democracy. you wouldn't see that happen anywhere else. rising up from different corners of the country, yelling and screaming about something they feel passionately about. i think it is good for the system. i really do. i think it is putting the kind of pressure on elected officials an narrowing the focus of debate around fiscal sanity and responsibility. which makes it good. >> the problem though, as we saw over the battle over the debt ceiling -- and a very spurious battle, many would argue -- is that if the tea party got into actual government, there is a sense that they would just never compromise with anybody and normal process of government given you all have to compromise becomes paralyzed as we saw over the debt ceiling. and the victim in all that is america and its economy, as we saw. >> you've got to run the country at the end of the day. you've got to get out from our respective corners politically and you've got to make a deal. you got to make the country function. i was the only candidate who stood up on the debt ceiling debate and said this country shouldn't default. we should cut a deal that allows us not to default. we're 25% of the world's gdp. >> so when you heard all the tea party candidates to a man or woman saying no compromise, presumably you think that is completely unacceptable. >> i thought it was the height of irresponsibility. the height of irresponsibility where 25% of the world's gdp, the united states of america, that has never defaulted about before, just let it go over a cliff? you can imagine what the marketplace would have done in response. marketplace is trashing everybody right now. i mean assets are under water. 401(k)s, retirement. you can only imagine what this country would look like today if we had defaulted. it was complete lunacy. >> do you have sympathy for barack obama who's been a friend of yours personally? do you have sympathy for him in the position he found himself in where he had such an intransigent part of the republican party really just refusing to compromise? >> he apparented me and i stood up and took the appointment to serve my country. i love this country. you serve. but in terms of any personal relationship, there is not a personal relationship. you work for your president when asked to serve. had he 2 1/2 years to get this country right. he had 2 1/2 years to do the most important thing demanded by the american people. fix the economy. create an environment that is conducive to job growth and he's failed us. he's a good man, he's earnest but he has failed us on the most important issue of our day. >> but if you're the republican nominee, how are you going to control the tea party side? they've held the president to ransom successfully, they're all sitting there thinking we've all got them on the run here. >> i think they're going to say here's somebody who has a fiscally conservative world view who basically cut taxes historically in his state, who created the most business-friendly environment, who balanced his budget, who comes from the private sector. all of that i think they're going to like and ultimately the stamp of approval in 2012 is going to be around someone who can expand the economy, create jobs and get the country moving. >> when michele bachmann speaks in public, how many times do you find yourself shaking your head? where would you disagree with her? >> well, the debt ceiling. let's talk about the most fundamental of issues right there. is there an issue more important than meeting our obligations as a country? i mean first and foremost, it's how we proceed in our responsibilities as a country and meeting our obligations. that is about as fundamental as it gets. >> the problem with running for president is that people want to see a fully rounded picture of the character, of the man or woman, that's going to be in the white house. for argument sake, take the hot issue of this show which was when i asked christine o'donnell about her view of gay marriage and she simply walks out. michele bachmann has pretty strong views on that. what is your view? >> on gay marriage? >> yeah. >> i believe in civil unions. i think we can do a better job in this country as it relates to equality. and basic reciprocal beneficiary rights. i'm in favor of traditional marriage. i don't think you can redefine it without getting in trouble, but i think along with that we can have civil unions. think this country has arrived at a point in time where we can show a little more equality an respect. leave it to the states, i think it is a state issue that ought to be driven by discussions in various states an you've got the defense of marriage act that's basically a safeguard that allows that to happen. >> what is your view of abortion? >> i am pro life. i've got two little adopted girls who remind me every day about the value of life. their mothers, for whatever reason -- i'll never get to meet them -- one from china, one from india -- they chose life. they didn't have to. they lost their girls, they dropped them off, they were both born into extreme dire poverty circumstances. we now have them in our family and every day i look at the contributions they're making through their own lives and i appreciate that -- >> do you think there are any other circumstances where you would think an abortion is acceptable? >> rape, incest and life of the mother would be the exceptions that i could live with. >> when you see again intransigents by some of the particularly the tea party end of the republican party on this kind of thing, do you think again that it's bordering on bigotry? >> all i have to say -- i don't have a lot of patience on a lot of the non-economic issues. people know where i am. i'm pro life, i'm pro second amendment, but this country is collapsing economically and every minute we spend talking about non-economic issues is, to me, something that is not a good use of our time. >> governor, when we come back i want to talk to you about all the men and women who are now lining up against you in the republican field, whether you would ever consider being a running mate for one of them and who you might like as a running mate yourself from the pool. rick perry came out swinging last weekend. he said that the fed should show a few more teeth. he was attacking bernanke. he was giving them all full barrels. would you endorse what he said? >> no. you know, i don't think you can call the head of the fed treasonous and expect to be taken seriously. i don't think people who are going to vote for a president are going to hear that sound bite and say, that represents serious thinking on the part of a presidential candidate. now you c