the solution is to stop voting for these two political parties. tonight, he's here and unleashed. also, gabby giffords more than a year after the shooting that almost killed her. she's back on the campaign trail. we'll ask her husband mark kelly. and the man they're both campaigning for. the man who told a high school graduating class, you are not special. the commencement shock heard around the world. this is "piers morgan tonight." we begin with a big man with big ideas. jesse ventura, the alwayso outspoken former governor of minnesota. a hollywood action hero. a man who famously never holds back. he's tried very hard not to hold me back. his book, demo crips. he joins me now exclusively. how are you? >> i'm doing well. >> you are looking well. two things i want to clarify. one is why you're not with me in the studio. secondly, where have you been? you've disappeared. >> first reason why i'm not with you in the studio, i've quit flying because i have metal in my body so every time i go to an airport the metal detector goes off and they treat former governors like criminals out there. i won't be treated like a criminal anymore. so the only alternative is not to fly. i tried to bring a federal lawsuit against the tsa and homeland security. imagine this, the judge threw it out, claiming she did not have jurisdiction. now, it was a constitutional question. so if she doesn't have jurisdiction, no one does. and people in this country need to understand, when you go to any airport in the united states, you are not protected by the constitution or the bill of rights. they can do anything they want to you. there's nowhere you can go to seek redress. >> you've been grounded. you're also -- you've been what i would call hibernation. where you didn't watch television you were telling me before we started for 45 days. >> right. well, i live in mexico in the wintertime and i live off the grid down there. now, i do have television but i decided it was time to see if i could withstand no television in my life. so i did it for 45 days. it was wonderful. i didn't even watch the nfl playoffs for the first time. i did not watch the super bowl. i got to tell you, life was grand without it. i urge more people. no offense, piers, but i urge more people to try it now and then and see what else goes on in the world besides the old tele. >> you look very good. i can't really encourage you in your campaign to stop people watching television. this book is fascinating. is this fascinating, the timing is perfect because i've got you on this show the day after jeb bush comes out and hammers all the politicians basically for their lack of bipartisan politics. he said both reagan and his father george h.w. bush would have had a hard time getting nominated by the more conservative voters in today's republican party. extraordinary thing for him to say. he's a leading member of the republican party. and lends itself exactly to the premise of your book, which is things have become so fractured and so fractious in washington that the whole process of political parties is now almost obsolete in your view. explain why. >> well, i just think, to save our country, need to abolish the political parties. make them political action committees. there's one thing we could do to start off with. why do we put -- and i refer to them as the democrips because they call the blue states democrats. that's also the colors of the cripps. blue. and naturally the blood's color is red. the republican states are called red states -- >> for those who don't know what you're talking about, these are two of the most infamous gangs. it started in los angeles. bloods and cripps. they want to kill each other. they wear these colors. the blues and the reds. you're likening the politicians in washington these days to gang leaders and gang members. is that right? >> yeah, that's true. let me explain why they're worse. the cripps and the bloods, the street gangs, while they can be devastating to a certain small part of the population, the democripps and republicans, they affect everybody in this country and they've been in charge for over 100 years. how can they say they're not responsible for the horrible state that our country's in today? our debt is beyond control. we've got politics now. as jeb bush said, there's no compromise anymore. nothing gets done. if obama wants to do this, the republicans are opposed to it. if the republican want to do something, the democrats are opposed to it. the best thing we could do is on every ballot remove all gang names and gang symbols. allow them to only run on their names. that way, it becomes important that the voter educate themselves. what does john smith stand for? because right now, when you go in to vote, if you're conservative, you don't need to know any names. all you need to do is look for republican. if you're liberal, all you need to do is look for democrat. you don't even need to know the name of the candidate. >> this sounds great in theory. of course, the reality of the kind of american government you're looking for here is you would end up with a whole thing of disparate souls. all different kinds of policies. how does it actually work? reality, jesse? be sensible. be realistic. how does that work? >> i will. what's wrong with that? read chapter two. chapter two tells who backs me up on this. okay, what backs me up in chapter two, george washington, the father of our country. thomas jefferson. looked up to by many today. and john adams who actually stated that when political parties take control of the government, that's what will destroy it. it won't be a force from outside. it will come from within. i think those are three pretty good allies to have with me. >> jesse, jesse, again, i come back to reality check. so you get all these brilliant independents. and they're all standing on their neck. and the american public -- i like him, i like jesse ventura. i like all these people. but the truth is, how do you actually govern when you have a whole load of disparate souls? because human nature says -- >> how do -- >> let me finish -- >> piers, how -- all right. >> -- take, becomes like a factious state. the strongest take charge. you end up with people who are the most independents of the independents. you're basically endorsing a form of fascism, aren't you? >> we're also fascists. the basic definition of fascism is when corporations take over the government. they already have. they can give unlimited amount of money. they said money's free speech. and i love how it works. you know, the democrats and republicans have built a system based completely on bribery. you bribe the politician. you get what you want. you don't bribe them, you don't get anything. now, in the private sector, if we do that, we go to jail. and then also they lied to us. yet, if we lie to them, we go to jail. well, how come the road doesn't go both ways? why is it just one way? >> well, i guess that -- here's what i thought when i read your book. i thought you made a lot of very valid points. you hit a lot of those big bell moments that go off in people's heads. where they go, jesse ventura has a good point. about the lack of bipartisan politics. about the corruptive element now. et cetera. i come back to my point. it's all about identifying it all as a complete basket case. how do you actually have a government that works if everyone is an independent? >> well, you can still -- you can turn the democrats and republicans into special interests, which is what they are anyway. they can still endorse. you get encoursemedorsements fr teachers union. all these different things. make them equal to that. you just don't put it on the ballot. you put just the name down. why is it so weird to think there should only be a name there instead of democripp or rebloodican? >> you end up like that ridiculous scenario of the pop star prince who then renames himself the artist formerly known as prince. these would be independents formerly known as democrats and republicans, wouldn't they? >> no, not necessarily. just don't put the party on the ballot. like i said, turn them into political action committees. i mean, right now, you got a scenario in this country where they can receive any amount of money from corporations, from anything. and they don't even have to declare who they got the money from. i'll give you another one that you'll laugh at, piers, i think every presidential candidate should be required to wear a nascar racing suit. you know why? >> go on. >> you know why? >> no. >> well, that way, it will show who owns them. on nascar, they always got all the patches for who their sponsors are. that way, us, as the voters, can then look at their suit and realize who owns them. >> that's actually a very -- >> who they're going to favor and that would make us more informed voters then. >> it's actually -- >> if they'd wear nascar suits. >> jesse, it's a brilliant idea. the only problem is absolutely nobody would ever do it. let's have a short break. i want to come back and ask you if it's the new land of promised opportunity for the independent, why you as one of america's great independent politicians isn't going to throw his hat back in the ring. so think about a good answer for me on that one. ♪ [ slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? 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twitter suggests to me you have a following. >> well, i'm certain i would because there's a lot of disgruntled unhappy people out there just like me. they're wising up finally i hope. i've been pounding this for my last four books i've written. it doesn't seem like anyone wants to listen. i'll tell you this, i'm 60 years old now. i'm not too sure i want to tie myself up in this nonsense. i have a great life in both minnesota and mexico in the private sector. i love to go in the water down in mexico. i love my life down there. i would have to give that up. in order to do that, i have to see something out of the american people. i want to see the american people give me a sign that it's worth it to me to company oe ou put my ass on the line again. >> how much do you think the media have to take responsibility for the way it has gone? you now have very partisan cable networks. fox on the right, msnbc on the left, cnn sort of squeezed in the middle. when you see them getting more vociferous and partisan, does that matter? is that good for political debate? is it corrupting political debate? what do you think? >> i think it's awful. it's terrible. you know, the news used to be to report facts and allow you to make the decision. all these shows are nothing but opinion moderators. they're hired guns to push an agenda. i think it's horrible when our forefathers created this country, the media was supposed to be the fourth branch of government. the unwritten branch. their job was to keep track of what the other three were doing and report it to the american people so the american people could judge it accordingly. what you have now is nothing but a media with opinionnd a media that i remember the death of anna nicole smith. it was the headline for a month. a month. and yet the meat and potatoes of running our country gets cast aside because why, the media today is not in to reporting the news, they're in to creating it, and that is very, very dangerous. the light went on with 60 minutes. they found out the news could make money. so the bean counters came in. now the news is nothing but entertainment. it's done to get ratings. where in the old days of walter cronkite, the news took a loss and they accepted that and they made up for it in their entertainment division. not today. the today, the news is expected to get ratings and expected to generate money and that is horrible. >> so presumably you'll be boycotting fox and msnbc on your book tour, will you, jesse? >> i won't be boycotting them. they boycott me. i'd go on happily. no, that's the truth, piers. neither of them will have me on. neither of them. >> really? >> -- will have me on. nope, it's been that way for my last three books. none of the fox nighttime people will have me on. no fox business will put me on. i think they're another division. some of the business shows at fox will have me on. no, fox and msnbc have banned me. i'm too controversial i guess. you know who else wouldn't let me on? don imus. his producers and all them wanted me on but they wanted to know what five songs i wanted to have played. so i told them i wanted -- no, i told them i want rage against the machine. those are the songs i want. from tom more rell la. he's a new bob dylan. he's a man who can play guitar like peck and rage against the machine. none of clear the channel stations would play anything. they censored rage against the machine. so i guess so did don imus. >> well, jesse, you are outrageous and controversial. you're difficult. you can be menacing. that's exactly why i like you as a guest. we'll talk to you about your conspiracy theories about which you have many, varied, and they're fascinating to debate with you. ♪ ♪ we all need it. to move. to keep warm. to keep us fed. to make clay piggies. but to keep doing these things in the future... at shell, we believe the world needs a broader mix of energies. that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. ♪ >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. without freshly-made pasta. you could also cut corners by making it without 100% real cheddar cheese. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. back with my special guest jesse ventura. let's turn to your conspiracy theories in the book, as some would say. you would argue they're factual assessments of issues. one of which is you call iraq and afghanistan, the wars there, the first contract wars. saying the government hired corporations to do the jobs of our troops. paying them more than they would the troops. explain. >> sure. well, you've got all these contractors, former u.s. military special forces people. they realize they can get paid a whole lot more money to be a private contractor than what the military pays them. so they leave our military in droves and go to, like, blackwater, i don't know what they call themselves now. they changed their names around. they go over there and they're nothing but cowboys. they don't fall under any of the rules of war. they're mercenarmercenaries. our military has turned into contract killers now. contract for hire. you know, and we're using them more and more. they're very much more expensive. when you go to war to hire them than to use the regular military. what troubles me is this, piers, i'm 60 years old now, and i'm born post world war ii. i was important in 1951. my country has been at war for over half of my life. over half of my life. we have been at war. no other country in the world, save israel, can say that. >> when you look at obama, who you have little time for, it e seems, but in terms of his foreign policy -- >> wait, i have less time for mitt romney. >> right, but isn't barack obama doing exactly what you would do? he's pulled the troops out of iraq. he's pulled them out of afghanistan. >> he has? >> well, he is pulling them out. >> he has? >> he's pulling them out, isn't he? >> well, i guess he is. but he's leaving private contractors over there. a lot of them. he hasn't closed g ed gitmo yet. he didn't prosecute anyone for torture. we're now a country known throughout the world, we torture people, you know? i'm ashamed of that. shouldn't we take the high road? no. now, is barack obama better than george bush? yes, i will say that. but he's still -- you know, he told us he would end the wars. he told us now we're ramping up to go to war with iran, you know, the war's not going to end. >> what would you do with iran? >> well, i'll give you a scenario. here's a scenario i would have asked at the republican debates. i would have said, hypothetically, if