(00:00:00) Thanks Greta 6 minutes now past 11. Good morning, and welcome to midday on Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Gary eichten glad you could join us LTV shut down talk of a possible Northwest Airlines merger concern about Minnesota's competitive future a declaration of war against some legislators the new chapter in the book all interesting things that if you had the chance, you might want to discuss with Governor Jesse Ventura. Well sure enough you have the chance today Governor Ventura is back in our Studios today to discuss those issues (00:00:43) and whatever (00:00:44) else you might be interested in. So if you have a question for the governor, give us a call six five one two, two seven six thousand 6512276 thousand outside the Twin Cities. You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 6,000 or 1-800 to for to to 828 Governor. Jesse Ventura Our Guest this first our midday Governor. Thanks for coming in. (00:01:07) Always a pleasure Gary enjoy it. (00:01:09) Well, I guess the The big news place to start here the announcement by LTV that had shutting down its plant 1,400 jobs going away or could go away in your mind. What can and should the state do about this? (00:01:26) Well, first of all, it's private Enterprise, you know, this is a private business in in certainly it's not the state's role to ensure that private businesses succeed and in the case of the LTV mine I met yesterday with the leaders of the company the owners of the company in the the people that operated up in Duluth. And this is a particularly sad case that the bottom line is the mind has just ceased to produce top quality or it's kind of like if you want to put it in the same type of situation as you maybe you got a favorite fishing hole and you fish it for 30 years, and eventually it it is no longer a great place to fish anymore. You're not catching fish anymore. They're so you have to move on and that's the situation here is that the or that is coming out of this particular mind is no longer high-grade quality and it would require an investment of the company of anywhere from 700 to 800 million dollars and you also have technology and modern equipment and they can't do that type of investment to a mind that is not going to produce top quality or which this one won't and it's a case also as this is the oldest mine in the state and the equipment that they have up there is probably the worst of any mine in the state and so it's sad but it's strictly economical where the business has to make a decision and they've made a decision now, what can the state do well naturally are Minnesota Department of Economic Security is heads up on it. The dislocated worker program will kick in and we the state will do everything we can to ensure. Job placement for those workers, but there is another positive that the media isn't highlighting either on this see if there is a positive to it thirty-eight percent of the workers are eligible for retirement and will be given retirement benefits. So that's four out of every ten workers up there can retire and we'll get full retirement benefits. They also said their this won't happen. I mean totally for at least a year, so it's not like it's being chopped off tomorrow and people are going home tomorrow without a job. There will be a year before this will all happen. So people will have the opportunity to go out and try to seek other employment find other employment and the company itself is going to make them the highest priority for relocation, but what this will require naturally as people leaving the town of Hoyt up there and possibly relocating to Ohio or Michigan or wherever else the company has operational officers going or operational business going, but they are giving them high. On that aspect too. It's a sad situation Gary. But unfortunately, it's a fact of life that of what you deal with in a in the private sector economy, you know businesses are going to flourish for many many years and then you know times are going to be tough on a particular industry and this this can be the result but the bottom line is though is I think they've tapped the mine dry pretty well of of top high quality or and there's not a lot you can do about that. You can you can't wish the or were there it's either there or it's not there. (00:04:43) Now, you're a pretty persuasive fellow and that many of the iron Rangers have suggested a legislators have suggested. Maybe it would be good. If you got on the plane went out to Cleveland talk to the owners of the company and see if you could work out some kind of an arrangement maybe to keep the plant open or find some new buyers for the plant something like that. (00:05:05) I don't think I met with the owners yesterday. I met with their top people were in Duluth. We met in the airport yesterday and I don't see that as an option because ultimately it has to be this this particular company has to desire to invest this kind of money and you know, they made it very clear that again it comes back to the Mind itself is not producing the top quality or in fact, it was at the bottom of the list for the quality of or being produced and you again you can't what's the old saying make silk out of a sow's ear or whatever it is. You can't make the or better than what it is that comes out of the ground. And so unfortunately, that's the situation here (00:05:50) Senator Doug Johnson suggested, maybe some kind of a public-private partnership to keep the plant open is is that an area to (00:05:59) explore? Well, it's an area certainly we can explore but it's not one that if it's going to be just simply a public-private partnership to keep a sinking ship afloat. I don't think that's necessarily a good idea to you have to look at the long range. What are the long range if we go into some type of partnership like this? Is there the ability to be successful in the long term or does it become just a public subsidy for the next 20 years? Is that what we're looking at here just subsidizing for 20 years. I don't think that that's necessarily smart policy either (00:06:30) yesterday. The China trade bill passed and there again a good many people who are saying the folks up on the Iron Range. The LTV workers are victims of similar trade laws that we can expect a lot more of (00:06:44) this. I don't believe so I don't I don't buy into that. I think that that may be an excuse again it comes back and I'm repeating myself Gary but it comes back to the or coming out of the mine. Is it is it a quality of or that can be profitable. This company would have to upgrade the equipment because this is the the oldest equipment and any of the mines in Minnesota to upgrade that equipment. About a seven hundred million dollar investment. Are you going to make that investment to a mine that can't produce the high quality or I don't think anybody can sit back and say they would make that type of investment. (00:07:23) Now. I have one other question. I want to get to some listeners here Wilshire with their questions. There are rumors or at least speculation that Northwest Airlines which course has its headquarters here big Hub thousands of workers that they could be targeted for a takeover. What have you heard on that (00:07:42) front? I've heard nothing on that level right now at Ed my office saw, you know again, this is a you know, private business and you know many times rumors are done for a reason, you know, for whatever generally when rumors happen of takeover stocks go up things of that nature. So I have heard nothing about it. There's been no contact directly that I've had with Northwest indicating as such so until that happens to me. They're they're just strictly rumors, and I don't you know until Northwest My office and I sit down and meet with them and they tell me that this is true. I'm not going to put any weight into it until that happens. (00:08:19) Is that frustrating being a governor and having seemingly so little control over big things like this. (00:08:27) No, not at all. These are private sector businesses. These are this is not the role of government. The role of government is to handle the infrastructure and govern the people. Our role as government is not to go out and ensure that big businesses are successful. Our role as government is not to go out and be partners with business in the private sector necessarily that's their job. That's the private sector that's capitalism in America and I don't think that our constitution ever said it out that it was government's role to ensure that someone is successful in business. That's part of Entrepreneurship. It's part of If you want to call it the Great American dream in a way that here you can build a dream, excuse me in the private sector and be successful. I don't think it's necessarily the role of government to ensure that success naturally were there to be supportive. Naturally. We want a good solid economy. But again, I think the main stay of this lands on the shoulders of the private sector and it's not frustrating to me. It's more heartbreaking, you know, I feel bad for, you know, losing a job. If you've ever lost one. I've lost them. It's not a good feeling, you know, when you walk in and get fired, especially when you know that you're working to the best of your capabilities in the best of your ability yet. It can be very depressing to have that happen. I've gone through it before I know what it's like to lose a job and it's not fun. But the great thing about America is you can pick yourself up by your bootstraps strap your chin strap on and go out there and be successful again because you know, I'm a great believer in fate. I think in some ways things happen for reasons and many times when a negative thing happens lo and behold a couple years down the road that negative can be turned into a positive as an (00:10:18) individual Governor. Jesse Ventura is our guest this hour and we have a couple open line. So if you've got a question for the governor, give us a call here, six five one two, two seven six thousand or one eight hundred two, four two two eight two eight. Let's get started with our listener calls John. Go ahead, please. Hello. Yes, you're on the air. Hi, Gary a governor. I just want to remind the governor that they're not mining iron ore up there. They're mining taconite taconite as I understand it was invented at the University of Minnesota to save the iron mining industry. And so there has been a public-private partnership in Minnesota before and I think maybe in this instance something like that could happen again. Maybe they can make that or even better Tech and I (00:11:02) well according to the the boss. Is that I talked to yesterday they cant and because of what's coming out of the ground at this particular mine. And I you know, I have to take these gentlemen at their word that they know their business. I'm not an expert on it. I don't claim to be and so, you know, it's a case that we will do everything we can you know, we've got a dislocated worker response team that that is in place. They've already talked to the local United steelworkers and at the workforce center and everything like that and we'll do everything but again, it's a it's a private business and if they so choose to not invest the 700 million that they say it would require to make this work and if their bottom line is at the end of that investment, they're not going to reap a profit that can pay off that investment why they're not going to do it and it can be very dangerous for the state to get into to subsidizing that way or for making up the difference. You know, it does that's a slippery slope. You got to be careful. (00:12:05) Steve your question, please. Yes. I was wondering you're making these suggestions about public subsidy and stuff like this. What don't people understand about this. This is a hole in the ground. You referred to a fishing hole. You can restock a fishing hole, but you can't go in there and restock my you're right there seeing a non-marketable material that if they want to expand their efforts in their energy into finding some way to keep this open. Let them investigate trying to find a market for what they are producing. But if it's a non marketable commodity there's no point. You're just literally pouring money in a hole in the (00:12:42) ground. And and I yeah, I'm not going to argue with that. You know, they're the the company is the experts they know what they want to get out of it. And again, it's private (00:12:52) Enterprise there have been some questions raised and again yesterday with this new Civic organization the great North Alliance suggesting that we need the state needs to spend more time and energy Focusing on future Industries the things that would help us be more competitive as we move deeper into the information age. What do you see the state's role in that endeavor (00:13:15) being? Well, I think that we had some great initiatives that unfortunately the legislature ignored this year. Hopefully, they'll take them up next year our telecommunications initiative that commissioner Min or former commissioner men and commissioner Fisher were both spearheading and unfortunately the legislature decided they wanted to kick commissioner Min out. They didn't like him for personal reasons or whatever. It was the choice they made so he's gone and so I have to I have that on my plate now in the interim is to fill that position, but I think what we can do is technology is the future and here in the Twin Cities were in good shape, you know Technologies and fine shape down here, but our job is to go out and make it competitive throughout all of Minnesota so that His can locate in Greater Minnesota and have the ability to lock into the technology and have it out there and I believe that the way you do that is competition and so our technology initiative makes for competition and and when I say competition I'm talking about there's no reason that the telephone company can't compete with your cable TV company to provide internet service. Let them all get on board. Let them all be part of the bidding so that it's like the old days when there was just Ma Bell while when you only had one telephone provider the service you got you had to take what you got. But if you have more options of two or three providers, then you have choices that can be made and that makes it for a competitive field where one competitor will try to provide more than another in which to secure your business as an individual. So, I think that's one of the things we have to look forward to in Minnesota is going out and making sure all of Minnesota is up to Snuff. This technology age and that we all have access to it. So that businesses can survive and thrive in Greater (00:15:11) Minnesota. Now, they're also talking know about the need for more funding for the University of Minnesota. Presumably some kind of additional Educational Funding there was talk yesterday about providing education support for four people from pre-kindergarten all the way up through two years past High School more research and development money. Do you see that in the state's future? Because it seems like all the emphasis has been on reducing State (00:15:44) spending. Yeah. Well, that's something that judgments have to be made on. It's not a it's not a bad investment because I know to me you want to make focused Investments on your infrastructure. That's that's what government should be doing and infrastructure can include absolutely education the better educated Workforce. Force you have the better jobs that are that there are are out there and are available for people. But again, it's a fine line you have to draw the money has to ultimately come from the taxpayers. So the taxpayers have to understand that in the end. They foot this bill that if we are going to invest in these type of things if we are going to take our resources and put them in there that ultimately it's the taxpayers who pay for that. And is that a good investment? That's what our judgment should be if the Investments are good. Then we should invest in it if we look at and you have to look long term. You have to look of course if you invest in things that are going to make higher paying jobs and and keep people out of unemployment which we now have the lowest unemployment in the United States of America and we've been voted again. I think people in Minnesota should take a positive look here. We were also voted I think for the fourth time now or whatever the most livable state in the United States were doing good. We have to think about A positive level. Yes. There will be setbacks like the mine. Yes, they'll be setbacks out there there always will be but we look at it as a positive whole I think we're doing very well here and we just need to make the right Investments invest in our infrastructure not get caught off doing things that is out of the role of government. And if we do that, I think we'll be just fine (00:17:25) Rachel your question, please. Hi Governor. I have a question about the China trade Bill and your views on it. Do you think that the mine is having a problem with their outdated technology and their equipment because us trade regulations have not been enforced in the last few years. And do you think that we're competing against countries that can pay their workers much less and therefore produce a product much (00:17:54) cheaper. I don't necessarily think so, I you know, I don't think we're bringing in a lot of Chinese I iron right now or Chinese steel into this country. And I view that the global economy is on us. We can't hide our self from that fact. We are in a global economy. We are Global competitors and the state of Minnesota is a global competitor. I believe if we were our own country right now the state of Minnesota, we would be like 28th or 30-second economically in the world the state of Minnesota. Now that doesn't count all our other states. But if we have as a state of Minnesota were removed and were our own country we would be I forget what it is. We're like 28 or 30 second or something like that. And so the global economy is real and this whole China I think a lot is being made out of it. That is not really true. What China is already sending to us with they will continue to export to us what this did is it opened up the Chinese market To our products. It opened up a potential 1.2 billion dollar or $2 billion people as potential customers for United States products be it agriculture be a technology be it medical tremendous amount of opportunity here opening the doors and the bigger one of the bigger things. This is it's going to lower the tariffs so that we don't have to pay these huge on unbelievable tariffs to get our goods and services into China and when you lower those tariff costs that in turn means more profitability for our company's the one that comes to mind right now is I remember meeting with our egg industry people and they're saying that this opening China could be a boost as high as 50% to our egg industry over the next ten years 50% Think about that for a moment. The one that comes to mind those I met with the head of the barley growers association the people of grob Early right now, they face a 30 percent tariff on all barley that goes into China well with this agreement that tariff drops to 10. So you're talking a 20% profit right there on just reducing the Tariff on the barley and I was told that the Chinese people really like beer they enjoy beer and that art well, you know you laugh about it, but it's a you know, it's the truth and our barley quality is much better than theirs and our barley will make a much better beer for beer producers and imagine that when you increase your the possibility of 1.2 billion customers for your barley industry. I I see it as a positive and I see it as something we had to do because rest assured we weren't isolating China. We were isolating ourselves. If we would have voted this down. We would have been the only country in the WTO. That wouldn't have had. Normal trade relations with China all the others would have and I'm willing to bet dollars to Donuts that the other countries deep inside were hoping we would vote this down. They were hoping to get us out of the picture because that would open the doors up for them and it would keep us we would have been isolating ourselves not isolating China because China is going to is in the WTO and they are going to be trading with the all the other countries. This was a matter. Are they going to trade with the United States? And I'm glad that we said, yes, they are because you can talk about the human rights issues. Also, how are you going to change someone's human rights? If you don't have a relationship with them in some manner by putting up an embargo or putting up a wall against China, then we're not going to have the influence on them that we will have by trading by are companies doing business with their companies by showing the Chinese people what the minute what the United States work places like you think they're not going to go back to their neighborhoods and talk. But it sure they are (00:22:06) George is on the line from st. Cloud with a question. Go ahead George. Yeah first I'd like to thank the governor for coming on and answering questions. You take a lot of heat and I think it's great that you are come out and answer the (00:22:19) question. Well, I try to do my best George. I mean, I don't know it all but I sure learned quick. Well good. (00:22:27) My question is to do with I live out here in the country out by Annandale area and all the farmers are planting corn and soybeans again, and then they get the bumper crop and they get they lose about 10 cents an acre selling their corn and soybeans and they spend a gazillion dollars to fertilize because they've they're sucking everything out of the soil hemp grows in poor soil. And we my wife souls for a living and got some hemp samples from one company out of Iowa and the Fabrics are great phenomenal very durable. They're great to work with it's all natural and boy, we got all kinds of bad soil farms around and if that was promoted somehow and maybe one for those guys up in that range to be sewing together to make products (00:23:21) and well George first thing we have to do is is rethink our archaic War on Drugs because that's the problem right now. You have hemp included with marijuana which in turn is included with all other hardcore drugs and we have the DEA out there in the big the huge amounts of money. We spend to prohibit these types of plants and I agree wholeheartedly with you. We are missing the boat Canada's producing hemp now. All the products are being coming right across our border and they're making money and we're not because we have these archaic laws on the books that somehow everyone thinks that that if hemp is allowed to be grown that we're going to have fields of marijuana all over the state and what they don't realize many people are are are somewhat ignorant. You can smoke two tons of Hamp and it's not going to do a thing to you and the hemp itself will ruin the marijuana, you know, the kind of marijuana that people smoke to get high off of has to be separated and handled differently than the hemp that is grown or what you call ditch weed. I go hunting pheasant hunting in Iowa and you see it growing all along the ditches in Iowa down there all over the place and George is absolutely right that this is an industry the hemp industry that we should be exploiting. We should be looking into it fabric from hemp is phenomenal. I've had shirts delivered to me I've had Tennis shoes made out of hemp but you know not naturally not the rubber but the upper part of the tennis shoe made out of it and it hemp is a very versatile product. And George is also right that it doesn't require fertile land this stuff will grow anywhere. As I said you go along the ditches and Iowa where they don't turn the ground over they don't fertilize or anything and you see these things grow and 16 feet high and they'll grow that in one year. It's a very renewable resource. It also makes better paper than wood does and imagine if you have hemp growing 16 feet in a year. How long does a tree take to grow 16 feet about 16 years to get there and to me we're missing the boat drastically and it's because of this archaic War on Drugs that we have out there that takes priority over looking at a viable product like hemp that we should be exploiting also what's good. What's terrific about a to hemp can actually be cut up and used as where we were Many I know this from the horse business my wife. She uses wood chips in the Stalls hemp is actually better for it cheaper grow it quicker more economic, but it will it is not allowed to be used because it's hemp and instead we have to use wood chips (00:26:08) Governor. Jesse Ventura is our guest this hour on midday and we'll get to some more callers in just a couple of minutes. So ramming on NPR is supported in part by Newsradio 1330 W MN n providing quick news weather and traffic updates at 13:30 am complimenting the in-depth news and Analysis on NPR. In the 1970s the City of Minneapolis allowed Kmart to build a store in the middle of Nicholas Avenue at Lake Street in an attempt to revitalize the area. Now the city is hoping to work out a deal with Kmart. That would reopen Nicholas Avenue. I'm Curry fanelli, we'll have that story and all the news tomorrow on Morning Edition from 4 to 9 here on Minnesota Public Radio Canada wfm 91.1 in the Twin Cities over the noon hour today a new documentary on the history of advertising right now. Some news headlines is Greta Cunningham Greta. Thanks Gary. Good morning. FBI officials say they have increased security at their offices. The Bureau says there is no specific threat, but published Reports say the new measures come after government investigators posing as armed Law Enforcement Officers uncovered security lapses at several government buildings officials say the investigators were able to get by metal detectors with phony identification New York police officers are still searching for two gunmen who are suspected of killing five fast food. In Queens last night. The officers are now using Bloodhounds to try to pick up the trail of the suspects police. Say the men entered the Wendy's restaurant just before closing bound and gag the workers and shot them all in the head to survived with serious injuries. One of the survivors managed to call police firefighters in Northern New Mexico have reached a milestone in their efforts against the destructive Los Alamos Wildfire The Blaze is now 100 percent contained authorities. Hope to have a completely put out by Sunday night former Whitewater independent counsel. Kenneth Starr says granting Linda Tripp immunity was the right thing to do star says trips tapes of her conversations with Monica Lewinsky were important enough to give trip limited immunity and he says he followed justice department standards yesterday, Maryland prosecutors dropped wiretapping charges against trip who's tapes almost brought down the Clinton presidency. They said a judge's decision severely limiting testimony from the winsky gutted their case in Regional news University of Minnesota president, Mark yudof says, he hasn't made a final decision, but he's having Second thoughts about rehiring Vice President McKinley Boston yudof. Earlier said he was trying to obtain an outside Grant to keep Austin at the you Boston's contract wasn't renewed after the academic misconduct investigation in the Gopher men's basketball program. Boston's job ends, June 30th. He says he doesn't expect to be rehired the forecast for Minnesota today calls for clear to partly cloudy skies. Statewide high temperatures today near 68 in the Northeast 278 in the South right now in the Twin Cities report of sunshine a temperature of 64 degrees Gary. That's a look at the latest news. Thanks Greta 25 minutes before noon. This is midday coming to you on Minnesota Public Radio Our Guest this our Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura governor before we get back to our callers. I need to ask you are you still determined to get out on the campaign hustings this fall and almost everybody all the legislators who who have served more than eight years. Well, I, you know, (00:29:25) ultimately I can else them. Well, no, but I know the the voters of, Michigan Sold are the ones that make that ultimate decision, but I'm determined to make it an exciting and spirited election this fall. I want to bring electricity and excitement to politics and I see it as being a little blase this fall. So I'm going to do my best to get issues out there and get the public involved in and try to make it a high voter turnout because what disturbs me the greatest Gary is the fact that you look around our country today and voter turnout seems to be dropping in every state. We in Minnesota while the last election we were the highest in the nation and we can applaud ourselves for that. We had slightly over 60% but when you think about that that's really pathetic that means four out of every ten minnesotans choose not to participate in a right. That is so precious the right to vote the Vite the right to determine who will represent you and what your government will be. So I'm going to be very active this fall in. To get citizen participation get out there to vote get out to vote. And I'm also extremely Disturbed that our legislature saw fit to tell the people of Minnesota that they're in charge that the people aren't that they felt strong enough that the people were not allowed to choose what their government would be weren't allowed to get educated on both bicameral system and the unicameral system. Our legislators argued it amongst themselves and basically said, well we did the arguments we chose not to the bicameral system and you the people really don't have a choice in the matter and I'm a little outraged over that because I have great confidence in our Minnesota voters. I have great confidence in the people of Minnesota and had bicameral one will then so be it but to me it bothers me when you have a system in place that the very people who support that system don't even have the courage to put it out on the line put it in front of the people. And let the people be the judges of whether that's the best system or whether an alternative system like unicameral could be a better system, (00:31:37) but it sounded the other day like you were besides the people who didn't support you on the unicameral. It sounded like you were also just going to Target everybody who had spent more than eight years the (00:31:47) legislature. Well, I'm like I said, I'm going to bring term limits around next year next legislative session. We're going to carry a bill on term limits (00:31:55) former formal Constitutional Amendment. (00:31:57) Yeah that will limit you to eight years whether it's whether it's for two-year terms or two four-year terms. I don't believe anyone should serve over eight years. I believe that that's of that that's just my belief. I believe personally that that's one of the big problems we have in government today is the fact that we have people making careers out of getting elected. We have people making careers out of climbing that elected ladder and I don't believe that what is what our country was founded upon. I believe our country originally was founded that On serve and when you're done serving your time that you go back to what you used to do today. We have people that for 30 to 35 to 40 years have never even gone in the private sector in many cases. They simply get elected from one to the other to the other now people say well what's wrong with that? Well, nothing is truly wrong with it except that it our system is very much Pro incumbent. The incumbent has a distinct advantage to win and plus it's also the two parties the two parties are out on a power trip of who can control the far left to the far. Right and it's and decisions are made based upon elections. Well, we'll give in to this particular thing because we have a person we need to get reelected in that area. So it's important that will allow like on a bonding bill will allow this particular bonding thing to happen so that our incumbent can get reelected. He can go back to his constituents and say look what I brought home even though Like this past year, they passed a bill that said or passed a law that said all bonding had to have statewide significance and yet the it's so vague that they can turn anything into Statewide significance. Apparently, they don't even follow. I tried to stick to that. I tried to say look, we're not going to bond something unless a truly has a Statewide significance. The day of these local projects is over the day of the state funding local projects, let the locals fund and bond their own projects. Why should state government be the fallback position to everybody that needs to bond or get something done. But see it's very much used in politics there. If they've got someone that they need re-elected why that person will get the bonding that they need so they can bring home the (00:34:14) pork. Hmm. You stirred up speaking of the bonding Bill quite a quite a hornet's nest with the Guthrie veto and then of course the legislature overrode The veto. Yep any regrets about (00:34:26) that. I'm not a bit enough bit and I Port the Guthrie, I'm not anti theater. I'm not anti Arts. But the point is where do you draw the line Gary now? We've always government traditionally always supports the operational end. Now we've crossed a new boundary. We're now supporting the capital investment building end now they tried to equate it to the Science Museum. You can't do that because the government owns that building the building of the science museums in is owned by we the government the Guthrie was Private Enterprise and we're going to build or help build them a building that we have no financial interest in we get no rewards back from it. Other than a theater while where do you draw the line then if Dudley rigs comes in if Dudley Riggs theater says well, hey we want to move to a new building we want to invest and get our own building. How do you say no to them? See what you have here is a dangerous precedent of picking winners and losers you have legislature saying Well, yeah will support the Guthrie but you can what do they do? If the Chanhassen Dinner Theater comes in? They're going to say no to him. Now. How did they do that? How do they determine one theaters viability or worth over another theaters? I don't know and and then you can stretch it. Even you sit while the other argument is. Well, they're nonprofit. Well, the guy that runs the Guthrie makes twice as much as I do so it's not nonprofit to him is it and then let's talk about it as a training ground for Hollywood. How many Hollywood actors found their way to Hollywood through the Guthrie Theater quite a few now. Let's take friends. For instance. You know that popular sitcom on TV those Hollywood actors just sign for 750 thousand dollars an episode on episode. They do 24 episodes a year do your multiplication how much money are they making? So when you talk about high paid professional athletes what about high paid professional actors? Shouldn't Hollywood be supporting the Guthrie Theater as more of a training ground for people they get later that go out to Tinseltown out there and become huge successes. a huge money I I find very I have a problem with understanding why it's government's role to fund a theater building. (00:36:58) Now you had and I do want to get some callers here. But now as I understand it you had found a lot of other items in that big bonding bill, which wasn't as big as it used to be but still pretty good-sized bill that you were thinking about vetoing and decided not to why did you back off from (00:37:13) those? Well, I didn't want to I didn't want to get into a fight with the legislature and I felt that my main purpose of the bonding bill was to ensure the state got what it needed state government and we did good. They were very good to state government, which they should be good to state government. That's what they're there to do is be good to state government. So I took up more laid-back attitude of hey, we got what we needed to repair our infrastructure to do what we needed to have done. I'm not going to be harsh to But it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because I barely vetoed anything and they were going to I mean, I think people should be highly Disturbed when one of their elected leaders comes out in the newspaper to the media and says, well we voted for things. We didn't even support just to get the governor. Well, how did they get me? And that of course was Senator Dick day who came out and said that well, how did they get me Gary? They're going to get me by spending the Public's money. They're going to get me by somehow. They think if they authorize a bunch of pork barrel pork and bring home the bacon that that somehow gets me that doesn't get me any more than it does you because you and I will both pay equally To fund it so they're not getting me and if they think my ego is into this game. They're crazy. I mean I'm here to do a job. My job is simple. I'm the CEO of the state of Minnesota and my problem is that I instead of a normal CEO who has to deal with one board of directors. Well, I have a bicameral board of directors which you won't see in the private sector at all. You don't see bicameral board of directors. You see unicameral board of directors. (00:39:04) Maybe it takes two bodies to keep you keep you in line. (00:39:08) Not at all one body could actually do it easier one could do it easier (00:39:13) Henry your question, please well Governor. I thank you for the work you're doing and heat you take and I don't think the politicians do get the message at all. They were saying how we wouldn't vote for your unicameral. They were scared to death the put it on the ballot. (00:39:29) Exactly. It was sell it ended up Henry self-preservation. Yeah, they're not going to jeopardize. Dies their positions their elected positions and allow the people to downgrade (00:39:40) them. I'm 60 years old been Republican all my life. I left the Republican party to vote for you. I left because I was so disgusted with what was happening in Washington DC and they just don't get it. But locally here one of the things I wanted to call about was to ask you to push a little bit on those meters getting on the freeway if we couldn't get those things eliminated and the other thing I'm calling about is I feel they're beginning to get to a point of violating our rights with these cameras all over the place watching our every move and they say they can see inside our cars when we light a cigarette or whatever we're doing and now they're putting a helicopter up there. I understand and I'd like to hear a little bit about that. He'll (00:40:27) first of all helicopters been up there for a while because I got a speeding ticket about eight or nine years ago and I got caught by the So I don't think helicopters are anything new right now, you know, they've been up there for quite some time and you know do it doing traffic work as far as the meters go, you know, that's a pro and con decision. I mean, I live up I live up now my private home of courses in Maple Grove and I have to drive down Weaver Lake, you know 94 with a weaver Lake Road exit is quite often and we used to have just unbelievable traffic jams up there and then they put the meters in on Weaver Lake Road, and it seems to have alleviated a lot of the traffic jams to traffic and they're still big but it flows now. It's not stopped the way it was when it was just a constant flow of merging. So what we need to do is look at the situation and I'm not opposed to them not announcing and turning the meters off for a month and just to see what would happen. And I think that that could prove once and for all that the meters Maybe Work because like I said, we didn't have meters on Weaver Lake Road and it was a mess on 94. It is still heavy traffic in the morning up there. But now that they've put the meters on their the traffic seems to flow better because it only allows the cars in it allows them in at a specific rate rather than all of them just charging down the ramp and forcing a standstill to happen while they all have to merge in traffic related. That was another interesting thing out of Senator day because Senator day was the spearhead of that but you know what I find interesting about it Gary is he doesn't have one meter in his district. So, who is he representing here? He's down in Owatonna. There's not one ramp meter in his entire District yet. His major Focus was on ramp meters. Now, I could understand that if it would have been a Twin City metro area legislator bringing it up because then he's dealing with his constituents. But you know, I maybe we should stick a couple ramp meters down. What Hannah so that then-senator day as something to base is complaints upon (00:42:41) it traffic related question tragedy actually the Malik Sealy business brings to mind the drunk driving (00:42:47) issue. Now that also brings to mind another issue put your seatbelt on (00:42:54) the there was a bill before the legislature, which as I understand it would have required or would have included prison time for a fourth time DWI repeat offenders. Do we need a law like that? I think (00:43:11) so. I think we do over the fact that people darts don't seem to want to take drunk driving serious. (00:43:18) Apparently, it's going to cost a lot of money (00:43:20) though. Well anytime Public Safety is involved. There's a price tag that goes with it. How much do you put on Malek's life? You know what value do you put on Malik Seeley's life snuffed out at age 30 the prime of his career family kids and what price tag do you put on that and the point being is that you know, we've got this huge battle for gun control right now, you know, everybody's up in arms on Banning firearms and guns and all that thing yet. What is how can anything be more dangerous than someone impaired driving a two ton vehicle down a down like in this case the wrong way on the highway in the early morning hours and doing speeds of 50 to 60 miles an hour. I mean to me that's as dangerous as any gun there. World, yeah, and you know if we're going to be a serious son on gun control, I think we have to be likewise a serious on drunk driving. I mean nothing offends me more Gary than when you read in the paper how somebody was given their Levin Thor 12th DWI 11 or 12 times while what that means Gary is that they've probably done it 200 to 400 times. These are just the 11 times. They've been caught. And when you think about that and you think about the innocent victims out there who end up as in this case, why is it always the person that is it is intoxicated that lives for whatever reason it just seems to be that way all the time and the person that's not is the victim and so I'm a believer that absolutely we need to follow Europe on that. That's one of the few places. I'll come out and say that Europe sets a real good example on drunk driving they are intolerant of it over there. You do it once or twice you don't ever drive again back here. We've got 11 12 14 times people get convicted. It becomes a joke. If you don't put teeth into the law, then don't have the law. (00:45:25) Can't let you go without asking you about the about the chapter the new chapter (00:45:30) Gary. You're gonna disappoint me. Well, I love these media out here are waiting and bated breath. They've all packed in here to to your radio station to try to Corner me and I bragged I said, you know what Gary eichten won't even bring that up because he sticks to the issues. He don't worry about personal stuff. Well, this is kind of all right kind of an a go ahead Gary stoop to their level corrupt (00:45:54) Shameless and irresponsible as hell. I guess I would qualify in all three categories it now it's great copy, you know, (00:46:02) it's right. It sells books, (00:46:03) but you don't really believe that do you I believe (00:46:08) that our media today is not held responsible. And I believe ultimately it's our fault because we don't hold them responsible. They write things today without backing up stories. They write them without getting second or third cooperate. What's the word collaboration or whatever to determine whether the stories real or not? They don't worry about who they hurt as long as they get a headline out of it. And if they can't stand the Heat and they ought to get out of the kitchen and if the shoe fits they ought to wear it and if it doesn't fit for them will then they have a clear conscience don't they? They can say well Governor Ventura is meaningless. I don't operate that way but if the shoe fits maybe they ought to wear it and and it's a wake-up call to them. I think a little bit that they that they better do their homework and that they can harm people buy things. They write about people that may not be true and they can harm people by the way. They write them. By not opinion izing stories that don't have opinions to belong in them. I mean we understand like in a newspaper the opinion page the editorial page that's what that's for is opinions and editorial but a proper news story should not have a writer's opinion blended into it and we're getting far too much of that today opinion. Who do you want to play you in the musical The Jesse Ventura musical I'll leave that up to Pierre power now. Yes, the expert be Errol do the casting cassetti. He'll do all of (00:47:47) that but you have somebody in mind I think don't you (00:47:50) not really because I don't know who's big and can saying, you know II preferably I guess I picked Jonny Lang what if they weren't welcome but Johnny doesn't quite have the physical presence that I have. You know, I don't know if it would work and I kind of say what if they went with some little guy. Well, I don't think they can because you know, the story will be of based on the Pretty much in you know, and I'm a big person who wrestled Monday Night Football you're gonna do that. You know, that's there's another classic example of media blowing something up. You know how that happened. I'm doing Wolf Blitzer talking about China trade and at the end of the story he says to me clearly he goes my producer here thinks you'd be good on Monday Night Football. Would you consider doing that? And I said, well, they haven't contacted me. But I said, it's probably the greatest you could ever be involved in sports certainly if they offered it to me. I probably would be interested in listen the next thing we know it splattered all over the headlines Across America with something again created by a writer. It was created by a journalist. Not me. I'm out of time. Thank you very much commentary. Always good pleasure to be here, Governor, Jesse Ventura.