>> Cathy: GOVERNOR MARK DAYTO IS RETURNING TO PUBLIC LIFE WITH THE RELEASE OF HIS MEMOIR AND BOOK TOUR AS HE APPROACHES 80 YEARS OLD.

BEFORE HE LAUNCHED THE NEW EFFORT, THE MAN WHO HAS SPENT MUCH OF HIS LIFE IN PUBLIC SERVICE SAT DOWN WITH MARY LAHAMMER FOR A VERY HONEST CONVERSATION WITH OUR POLITICAL REPORTER WHO HAS COVERED DAYTON FOR DECADES.

>> YEAH, I MISS IT.

>> Mary: GOVERNOR MARK DAYTON MADE HISTORY AS A GOVERNOR, U.S.

SENATOR, STATE AUDITOR, COMMISSIONER.

A LIFETIME OF PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE DEPARTMENT STORE HEIR WHO'S NOW WRITTEN HIS OWN STORY ON HIS OWN TERMS.

>> IT IS A RETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE, IT'S A WAY OF SUMMARIZING WHAT MY LIFE HAS BEEN ABOUT, AND TURNED OUT VERY WELL, I THINK.

>> Mary: PERSEVERANCE, IT MAKES SENSE FOR THOSE OF US WHO KNOW YOU.

WHY DID YOU WANT THAT TO BE THE TITLE?

>> WELL, ONE OF THE KEYS OF MY SUCCESS AND FAILURES AS WELL WAS ADVICE I GOT FROM TED KENNEDY YEARS AGO.

HE SAID THAT PERSEVERANCE IS THE PREREQUISITE FOR SUCCESS IN POLITICS.

DOESN'T GUARANTEE SUCCESS.

>> I'M NOT PARTICULARLY COMFORTABLE AND I'M NOT PARTICULARLY OOD AT THE SMALL CHITCHAT KIND OF, YOU KNOW, POLITICKING.

>> Mary: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY TODAY ABOUT WHERE YOU'RE AT WITH YOUR MENTAL HEALTH?

>> WELL, I FEEL HEALTHIER AND STRONGER IN MYSELF THAN I EVER HAVE, I WOULDN'T HAVE UNDERTAKEN THIS CAMPAIGN IF I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD THE NNER STRENGTH.

I HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT I SLIPPED IN MY RECOVERY FROM ALCOHOLISM.

>> IN YOUR SUMMARY YOU WRITE ABOUT HOW UNCONVENTIONAL ALL OF YOUR RUNS FOR OFFICE WERE.

ALL OF YOUR APPROACH TO POLITICS.

COULD IT BE REPLICATED GAIN?

I CAN'T IMAGINE IT TODAY, COULD YOU?

>> WELL, YOU HAVE TO BE TRUE TO YOURSELF.

AND I WAS ABLE TO DO THAT AND STILL GET ELECTED.

IN THIS DAY AND AGE, IT'S SO CORRUPTED NOW.

I WADED THROUGH THE INITIAL FLOTSAM OF MY LIFE, MY NAME, PEOPLE'S ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT ME AND THEN FINALLY AFTER YEARS AND A COUPLE FAILED RUNS, PEOPLE INALLY DID SEE THROUGH TO WHO I WAS AND MY SINCERITY.

>> WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR CANDIDATE, PUBLIC FIGURE TO SATURDAY WORD DEPRESSION.

>> TO ME IT'S BEING HONEST.

I WOULDN'T CHOOSE TO BE AN ALCOHOLIC, BATTLE DEPRESSION THROUGHOUT MY ADULT LIFE.

I SEE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN MY ADULT LIFE WHO ARE PRETTY UNAWARE OF THEIR INNER DYNAMICS AND I'M MUCH MORE AWARE.

>> I REMEMBER WHEN YOU WALKED THROUGH THE PRESS CORPS AND SAID MY TIME IN THE SENATE DIDN'T WORK OUT, MY MARRIAGE DIDN'T WORK OUT BUT I'M GOING TO TRY THIS RUN FOR GOVERNOR.

THAT'S NOT THE USUAL WAY SOMEONE LAUNCHES A SUCCESSFUL RUN FOR GOVERNOR.

>> THAT'S CALLED PERSEVERANCE.

YES, I DID FAIL FIRST TIME I RAN FOR HE SENATE, FIRST TIME I RAN FOR GOVERNOR I LOST BOTH THOSE CONTESTS BUT I PERSEVERED.

>> CELEBRATE.

LOVE IT LOVE.

[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] >> THE MARRIAGE EQUALITY, DOES THAT STAND OUT FOR YOU AS -- >> I GET SHIVERS.

>> -- THE MOST IMPORTANT?

>> IT'S CERTAINLY RIGHT UP THERE.

YOU KNOW, THAT DAY WITH THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE IN FRONT OF THE CAPITOL WAS JUST SO OVERWHELMING FOR THEM EVEN MORE THAN ME.

I HAD ONE WOMAN PROBABLY IN HER 80s CAME UP TO ME WITH TEARS STREAMING DOWN HER FACE SAYING I THOUGHT I'D NEVER LIVE TO SEE THE DAY.

WE DEFEATED THAT IN 2012, THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, AND SIX MONTHS LATER MADE IT LEGAL FOR PEOPLE TO MARRY THE PERSON THEY LOVE.

>> Mary: YOU ALSO TALK ABOUT CURRENT EVENTS IN THIS AND YOU SAID YOU WERE WRITING THE BOOK AS I.C.E.

OPERATIONS ARE HAPPENING IN MINNESOTA.

COULD YOU BELIEVE YOUR EYES?

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF SEEING THAT IN YOUR HOME STATE >> IT'S JUST AWFUL BEYOND COMPREHENSION.

THESE GESTAPOS WERE COMING IN AND TERRORIZING INNOCENT MINNESOTANS AND JUST SWARMING IN.

>> Mary: IS THERE ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE, A GOVERNOR COULD DO?

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE BALANCE OF POWER, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, STATE GOVERNMENT, BULLY PULPIT, WHAT IS POSSIBLE IN THAT SITUATION?

>> WELL, I GO BACK TO MY DAYS, THE ANTI-VIETNAM WAR MOVEMENT, RICHARD NIXON AND HIS MINIONS HAD THE POWER.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS OVERWHELMING POWER TO BRING THOUSANDS OF I.C.E.

AGENTS, PARAMILITARY COMMANDOS INTO THE STATE, OVERWHELMS WHATEVER THE STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS CAN POSSIBLY DO IN RESPONSE.

AND CITIZENS, IT WAS THOUSANDS OF MINNESOTA CITIZENS WHO STOOD UP AND WENT OUT IN THE SUBZERO TEMPERATURES TO SAY THIS IS WRONG.

>> Mary: YOU WERE A VIETNAM PROTESTER, WOULD A YOUNG MARK DAYTON HAVE BEEN OUT THERE PROTESTING I.C.E.?

>> YES, YES, FOR SURE.

>> Mary: ABSOLUTELY, AND WOULD YOUR PARENTS HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED IN YOU?

>> THEY EVENTUALLY CAME AROUND.

ONLY THING WORSE THAN A BUM IS A RICH BUM.

>> Mary: DID YOU END LIFE NOT BEING A RICH BUM BEFORE HE PASSED?

>> YEAH, WE DID, WE HAD -- AND I LOVE MY FATHER DEEPLY, HE INFLUENCED A LOT OF UPBRINGING, CHARACTER , OPERATING AS A CEO.

>> Mary: THE DAYTONS SET THE STANDARD FOR ORPORATE CITIZENSHIP.

SPEAKING OF I.C.E., SO MUCH WAS MADE THAT THE TARGET CORPORATION, SOME OF THE BIG CORPORATIONS DIDN'T STAND UP AND DIDN'T SAY MORE.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?

>> YEAH, IT'S A DIFFERENT ERA NOW.

BACK THEN BUSINESS CEOs WERE CIVIC LEADERS, MOST OF THEM WERE BORN HERE, RAISED HERE, LIVED HERE.

I MEAN, THE THE WHOLE THING IN MINNESOTA FELT VERY PERSONAL TO ME BECAUSE MINNESOTA IS MY HOME.

AND I IDENTIFY MUCH MORE WITH THE STATE AND OUR PEOPLE THAN I DO WITH THE CORPORATIONS.

IT IS JUST TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE OPPRESSION, VIOLATION OF THE LAW AND OF HUMAN RIGHTS, AND ALL CONDONED BY POWERS THAT BE IN WASHINGTON.

IT WAS UNLIKE ANYTHING I'D EVER SEEN BEFORE IN THIS COUNTRY.

PRESIDENT TRUMP IS A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF POLITICIAN WHO TAKES EVERYTHING VERY PERSONALLY AND VICIOUSLY RETALIATES AGAINST THOSE WHO STAND UP TO HIM.

>> Mary: HAVE YOU INTERACTED WITH THE PRESIDENT AT ALL?

>> NO.

I HAVE ONE TIME HE CALLED ME AT 6:30 IN THE MORNING AND I HAD ALERT HE WAS GOING TO CALL SO I WAS READY FOR THE CALL AND I SAID, THIS IS MARK DAYTON.

AND HE SAID, OH, I WAS TRYING TO REACH MATT DAMON.

AND SO OBVIOUSLY HIS SECRETARY HAD MISPLACED THE CALL.

>> I'VE LONG VOWED THAT I WOULD NEVER WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY SO MUCH OF MY LIFE HAS BEEN LIVED IN PUBLIC VIEW ALREADY.

HOWEVER AS I APPROACH MY 80TH YEAR WHICH I'M IN NOW AND FACE MY MORTALITY, I RECONSIDERED THAT VOW.

I DECIDED THAT I WANTED TO TELL MY STORY MY WAY BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE TOLD IT THEIR WAY.

>> IT WILL BE AN