>> plus, only in america. revolutions, disasters, scandals, and celebrities all in 140 characters or less. happy sixth birthday, twitter. this is "piers morgan" tonight. good evening. we start with the big story tonight, a very big day for the romney campaign. the candidate gets a key endorsement from florida former governor jeb bush and celebrates 43 years of marriage to his wife ann. >> we will have been married 43 years. so happy anniversary, sweetheart. >> my exclusive interview ann romney in a moment. also starbucks' ceo howard shultz and the very funny and outspoken kevin smith on presidential politics and raunchy new book and on why he seems to feel the need to rearrange my studio. >> the chair. >> unlike every guest raises the chair up, you lowered it. >> every guest you have on, they're probably in shape so they want to show it off. i want to get my gut below the table. >> we begin with our big story. it's an exclusive interview with ann romney and the candidate's wife joins me now. happy anniversary. 43 glorious years with mitt romney. how you are feeling about that? >> well, you know, piers, it's pretty exciting and to think that i'm sharing with you, that's even more exciting. >> it is the icing on the cake, isn't it? a little cherry you've been waiting for all day. >> i'm going to always remember this anniversary. >> have you exchanged gifts to day? has he been generous? >> he's been very kind. he hasn't had much time to shop. and so i did get a nice bracelet which was very welcomed. so it was -- we really haven't had any time at all to really enjoy the day together. we had breakfast together and then i'm in wisconsin and he's in maryland. >> is he watching tonight? will he be watching this interview? >> he's watching. >> is there anything you'd like to say to your husband on this special occasion? >> hi, sweetheart. i love you. maybe we'll celebrate another day. >> you are talking to me, right? >> i am -- yes. >> i love this. you made this wonderful video to celebrate your 43rd wedding anniversa anniversary. it was a lovely thing to watch. >> we didn't want any parties. we didn't want anything fancy. we just wanted to get married. we compromised and waited until march 21st. and march 21st happened to have been four years after our first date, one year later, our oldest son tag was born on march 21st as well. that's an important day in our life. >> it goes on and what i really like is when you toll the story of when you were both 16 or something. were you both the same age? both 16 at the time? >> he's a much more senior person. he was 18. >> so 16 and 18. he goes off on this missionary work for about 2 1/2 years. a very long time after you met. he sort of fallen for each other? >> actually -- right. i was actually about -- he went to stanford for a year. so it was when i was 17 that he actually left, yeah. >> so 2 1/2 year gap. you say in the video when you saw each other again after all that time, it was literally like time had stood still. >> right. that's exactly what happened. he came off that airplane, hadn't seen him for 2 1/2 years. and as though time dissolved. and it was extraordinary because the emotional connection we had before he left, the depth of love that we had for each other, it was as though he had never even been gone for a moment. and it was right back to where we were. which was why it was shocking to my parents and to his parents when we announced on our -- on the car ride home when we got out of the car and said oh, by the way, everybody, we're getting married. like now. >> well, it certainly was the right decision, 43 years later, here we are. tell me this. it's been a rough campaign. everyone accepts that. but being especially rough. and i suppose one of the things that leveled against your husband a lot is he's not very lovable. people don't seem to fall for him in the way that they did with barack obama, for instance. you obviously have been in love with him for 43 years. what do you think the public aren't seeing about your husband that they should be seeing? >> well, to begin with, i don't accept the premise. so that's, you know, that's one thing. and once people do see him, it's a totally different thing. it's so many of the rallies we go to, the most common refrain is he's so great. you know? and that's -- unfortunately everyone wants to portray new a certain way, put new that box. and so it's my job as a great job that i have right now of making sure that people see the other side of mitt, the fun side of mitt and the loving father, husband, grandfather and what is just super guy he is. >> what has been the most offended you felt as his wife on the campaign so far? >> you know, i think sometimes -- you know, what happened -- i will tell you, piers, what happened to me last time, four years ago, is the misrepresentations about records and different things like that where they make you feel as though you're not being honest or you're not true to yourself which could not be further from the truth. and that was why after, you know, four years ago after we got out and dropped out of the race, i did turn to mitt and said, look, i'm never doing this again. just so you know, i've had it. and that's the sentiment you had. you were very fed up with it. going into it this time, i, of course, went in with completely committed to doing this again pause i really believe our kun stri in trouble and believe mitt is the right guy. but i went in with a different attitude this time. and recognize that this is what happens in the campaign. and these things happen. and it's hard to do when i have to remind myself all the time, but to not take things personally. and it is a hard thing to do and to remind yourself, i have to remind myself all the time, not to take things personally. and recognize that is just part of what is involved in running. but if you believe in your message, i believe in my husband. i believe he can turn things around. i believe he has the right skill set, the right experience to be able to really be an effective president, then you just keep putting your head down and go forward. i totally believe in him and the one pushing him this time to say i know i said that, but i hate to tell you, honey, but you've got to do this again because the country needs you. >> you certainly emerging as a secret weapon for him. we saw that last night when you made a very feisty speech. i want to play a little clip of that back you to now and talk to you afterwards. >> let me tell you something else that's happening. women are coming to me and saying will you please talk about deficit spending and budgets? i'm loving that. loving. that women are angry. they're angry about the legacy we're going to leave their children and grandchildren. i'm going to tell them something. i've got somebody here that can fix it. >> feisty stuff there from ann romney. what's been interesting about the debate? it's been very skewed towards social issues and this rising sense that the republican candidates en masse have been slightly anti-women's rights. what do you think that debate has been framed? >> well, you know, again, i really meant what i said last night because i have been in every -- practically every state of this nation and i've been speaking to hundreds of people every single day and seeing people. and this is what women are coming up to me and speaking about, their frustration with government right now, the frustration with the size of government, the frustration that, you know, that women are just generally generous. i think they're just generous and they want to leave something much better for their children. and they're very frustrated that they're thinking this is not going to be the case for them. their children are not going to be better off. and it's because of the overspending that we're doing now and we're not taking responsibility for our actions. they're extremely frustrated. and so for me when i hear about the other talk of social issues, i'm going that's not what i hear when i'm on the trail. it's an economic message that i'm hearing. it's a frustration about government spending too much and not balancing budgets. they say very common sense things to me. they say, look, i know how to balance my budget. i know, you know, my husband's business or my business or whatever i'm doing, we have to balance our budgets. why is this going on, this irresponsible behavior? and so i think what they're sensing is that it is, again, the legacy we're going to leave our children and grandchildren. we don't want to have to feel like they're underwater before they even start out. and we know how that's going to impact their lives. >> how important is the endorsement of jeb bush today? he's been keeping his powder dry and he's come out today. big win in illinois. then the jeb bush endorsement. this is a very significant 12 hours for the romney campaign. maybe even the game changing moment. >> i thought it was a very significant thing to do. i was with mitt this morning and jeb just called mitt on his cell phone. we didn't know he was going to endorse. we didn't have any heads up at all. it was -- the phone rang and it was jeb. you know, i didn't hear the jeb side of the conversation. but i could tell what was going on. and i was delighted. you know, he's a very important voice in our party. i respect him enormously. but i will tell you barbara bush has also, you know, out there fighting for us, too. so that's been great to have jeb's endorsement i think is a huge, huge day for us. >> and on a slightly more slippery note, how is your etching and sketching going? are you having words with mitt's senior aides about their little gaffe today? >> these are the distractions -- this is exactly what happens in a campaign. when you get the distractions and obviously he was talking about how we're going to change focus and we're going to change, you know what we're going to do, the organizational sense of changing, not mitt changing positions. and so these are the just the frustrations you have to deal with in a campaign. and, of course, it makes for great media. it's a distraction. it's a distraction because what we're talking about is an economic message, it's a jobs message. it's talking about, you know, capping spending, balancing budgets. >> you are going to make eric write out 100 times on etch and sketch i'm very sorry? >> i think that's a great idea, piers. we'll have him do that tomorrow. >> finally, robert de niro apologized today because he made this joke about all the wives of the republican candidates. and he said america isn't ready for a white first lady. that seems to upset everybody. what was your view of that? >> i laughed. you know what? i took it for what it was, a joke. and, you know, again, we take everything so seriously, we have to be so correct and everyone has to apologize. i can say, you know what? i can laugh at it. let's take it for what it is. we're all overreacting to so many things and making things so difficult which means we have to watch every single word that comes out of our mouth. we can't be spontaneous, we can't be funny. i'll tell you in politics the fastest way to get in trouble is make a joke. so i think robert de niro just learned that. >> robert de niro in the clear. ann romney, a real pleasure. i wish you a very happy anniversary to you and mitt. >> oh, thanks so much. >> nice to talk to you. coming up next, starbucks' ceo howard shultz on keeping america great. you were there the day the priceline negotiator went down in that fiery bus crash. yes i was. we lost a beautiful man that day. but we gained the knowledge that priceline has thousands and thousands of hotels on sale every day. so i can choose the perfect one for me without bidding. is it hard for you to think back to that day? oh my, this one has an infinity pool. i love those they just... and then drop off, kinda like the negotiator. companies must recognize that long term profit is not an enduring component of the strategy of a company. if you are not giving back to the communities you serve. >> that was howard shultz, chairman and ceo of starbucks. the self-made businessman and employees it's been a banner year for much more than coffee. howard shultz joins me for a prime time exclusive. welcome back to the show. it's been a fascinating day for me to watch what you've been doing at starbucks. for the last few weeks i've been banging this drum for the need tore successful american companies to start bringing jobs back to america that they could outsource outside of the country and make more money by doing it bui but there is a moral obligation to spread their success back on their own ground. you're now doing this. you're voting with your feet and your wallet with starbucks. and you're creating a new fact fli georgia. several hundred jobs will be created. tell me exactly why you're doing this when you could do it in somewhere like china and save yourself a lot of money. >> sure, first off, thank you for taking the initiative and speaking out on this. america is facing, i think, a significant crisis now. with 13 million americans unemployed, so much of that in the african-american, hiss tannic community, 42 out of 50 states facing budget deficits, the gap between the haves and have nots getting wider, i felt in all good conscience, we're a seattle-based american company and even though we could have built this facility for significant less money outside of north america, we made the decision to invest back in the country and create jobs. and what i said at our annual meeting today is that i don't believe you can build a sustainable enterprise with a singular goal just on profit. it's a shallow goal. i don't think you can endure. i don't think you can attract great people. i think the best part of business right now is trying to create the balance between profitability and a social conscience. and i think, you know, we're living if a time right now where citizens, business leaders and, yes, even corporations, must do more to serve the communities that they live in and they work in. >> i completely agree with you. and that's exactly what i've been saying. i have to say, i haven't been getting a lot of positive response. the whole wall street brigade say no, no, no. this flies in the face of the american dream which is that you just make as much money as can you, be as successful as you can and actually you owe it to the shareholders to maximize your returns. you're flying in the face of that. what kind of reaction do you expect from your shareholders? >> well, i think the backdrop of our meeting today is that starbucks had record revenues and the stock price hit the liest level in its history today. so it was a good day to have the meeting. we received a standing ovation. we talked about social responsibility. let me explain what i mean by that. social responsibility is not writing a check or issuing a press release because you've done something good. what we've tried to do is integrate the company's mission and execution in a way that the values of the company would be the way in which we do business. and what we've learned over the years is that the financial success that we've enjoyed is in large part because of the way we do business. operating the company through the lens of humanity. i also said publicly today that y we are not a perfect company. we make mistakes. but the country right now is finding itself in a situation where it should not be business as usual. we should not embrace the status quo. and we can't wait for washington. we've seen the ideology and the partisanship and also the fact that $6 billion is going to be spent on the presidential election cycle in the next 12 months. i mean that is just so dysfunctional. it's so wrong. let's just alleviate the problem by saying we're not going to wait for washington and american businesses must do more. and the consumer, i believe, will respond in kind. they want to embrace companies and brands whose values are compatible with their own. >> i completely agree with that. this is why i've been -- i've been targeting maybe unfairly, but i've been targeting apple because they're the biggest company. and, you know, they're making more and more money. they're selling millions and millions of ipads in the last few day as lone. it seems to me utterly absurd in the current final clincial clim for apple to be making billions and employing way more people in china than they do in america. if they took the lead that you've taken, i think the american public would respond so favorably they'd end up making more money than they would have done in the first place. >> piers, i tend to agree with you. i don't know tim cook and i don't want to sit here and criticize apple. i think the point you make is correct. they must have their own business reasons for making their decisions. i would go the other way sean that there are great companies who are doing the right thing. a company like whole foods, a company like timberland, target, estee lauder, these are companies doing the right thing and i think more and more companies are going to find themselves because the consumer is at some point going to vote. and they're going to vote in favor of those companies that are giving back to the community. i think you have a microphone and a platform and what you're saying and speaking up has resonance and i encourage you to keep doing it. you can make a difference. >> you know, i think it's really important. i think everyone's wrestling with how to get america back to work. and just looking at it as -- i'm a brit, not an american. i just see the absurdity of having these huge companies just going out of the country with most of their workforce. to me, they've got to bring it back. they've got to create more jobs in this country. if they do that, then i think that the consumer will reward them. it's a quid pro quo. i mean americans will look favorably on what starbucks is doing. i think you'll sell more coffee. i think -- i agree with you. i think the brand value of starbucks is immeasurebly enhanced by you bringing a factory into georgia that you could have done in shanghai. >> well, in addition to that, we've been searching in america for the past year for factories that could produce porcelain or stoneware mugs that we sell in our stores. the factories have been moved off shore in the last decade. we found a dormant shell in ohio. because of the order we're giving them, we're opening that plant. that plant will start making products for starbucks. we're going to ring the drum and say made in america. i think, you know, what we did -- what we've done on the jobs initiative is all trying, i think, not for the purpose of marketing but to get people to understand and we don't want to preach that companies can make a difference and this is the right thing to do and america, i think, people don't realize how dire the situation is and how many people are being left behind. and we must stand up and do everything we can for the people who don't have a voice. >> good for you. when we come back after the break, i want to continue the theme i've been running for the laugh couple months, keeping america great. i want to know your ideas about how america can do other things to keep itself great and your view on the gop race. i'm walt gale, i worked at the colorado springs mail processing plant for 22 years. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices, cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. fore! no matter what small business you are in, 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