In the final part of Jesse Ventura’s interview with Chris Yandek and Jay Bildstein, the former Governor of Minnesota discusses his claimed interactions with the CIA, his experiences living in Mexico, his short lived talk show on MSNBC and the state of the media, among other things.
Here are a few highlights:
Ventura consulted with Navy veteran Dick Marcinko after what he claims was a CIA questioning session of him, shortly after he took office as governor. “I was only in the Navy for six years. Dick was there for 32 years and Dick created Seal Team Six – the anti-terrorist unit. He also created red cell and a bunch of other things. Dick worked with the CIA probably on a far more regular basis than I ever saw any of them during my military career.
I wouldn’t have known a CIA guy if he would’ve came up and bit me. I went to my old friends, my old teammates to try to get advice to pick up why they were questioning me and he was exactly right. He said, ‘They didn’t see you coming.’ They wanted to know if there were more independent governors on the horizon.”
Ventura says he wasn’t too controversial during his short lived talk show on MSNBC, but opposing the invasion of Iraq was not allowed, “At that time no one was allowed on television who voiced any opposition to the Iraq war. Case in point, Phil Donahue was on MSNBC prior to me. Phil had the highest rated show on their network. He spoke out and opposed the invasion of Iraq – Phil was pulled. Have you ever heard a network pulling their highest rated show? It’s unheard of.”
You can read the full highlights and listen to the entire interview at http://www.cyinterview.com or www.diaday.com
