[captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: >> good evening, 1st up, our conversation with elizabeth warren. she has been the most vocal advocate for consumers in this country and is now setting up the agency to prevent abuses by banks and other financial institutions. also, a conversation with oscar winner siddhartha mukherjee javier bardem -- a conversation with oscar winner javier bardem. he is once again getting rave reviews. >> all i know is that he needs extra help with his reading. >> james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, to help us all lives

better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. we are proud to join tavis to remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. >> and i conversations to york pbs stations from viewers like you. -- and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: elizabeth warren is a special assistant to the president and the woman in charge of setting up the new consumer protection bureau. she is also a noted author whose books include "the two income trap." good to have you with us.

>> good to be back on this program. tavis: when the announcement was made and the agreement to get the financial package that we would have this consumer protection bureau, i along with many americans thought that you should be the person to run it. having said that, the president chose to put you in charge of setting up the agency. how are we doing so far getting this set up? >> this is really exciting right now. i have spent my whole grown-up life working on economic issues affecting working families. a big part of that has been about the fact that there has been flight in comes, rising court expenses, and a lot of families that turned to debt. those that products that more dangerous. for the first time, here i am in a job or we are putting pieces in place to be able to change that and this is exciting.

-- up here i am in a job where we are putting pieces in place. tavis: we would like this agency to be up and running with some teeth and accountability. where are we on this? >> the president signed the bill into law that created this agency. the agency will go live, that is it will get its statutory powers one year exactly from the time that he signed it. next july 21st we become an agency that actually has power. and we take over responsibility for enforcing the federal consumer laws statutes that are out there and for making new laws as needed and for creating a platform for financial education. what we are doing here right now

is that we are trying to put everything in place. we are hiring people, we are reading the statutes, we are figuring out our strategy for what comes first, what comes second. we are trying to put a whole business plan to get there. we are kind of a start up here in the government. we will be working on behalf of american families. tavis: to whom is this bureau accountable and who has oversight? >> number one, this bureau is accountable to the american people,. this is unlike some, we are not here to be accountable to the banks or to be accountable to the rich and powerful. we are here to be a voice on behalf of the american people and to be accountable to them. now, the way this thing is set up, the structure is just like all of the other federal banking agencies. when we make rules, we are

subject to the administrative procedure act how they have to be published and consulting and so on. this is just like everyone else. our money comes from the fed likes the other banking agencies. we are not part of the political process. this all comes from other sources. at the end of the day, there is one thing about this agency means that there is more oversight. that is that if we put some rules for that of the other banking agencies say, you went a step too far, then they have the ability to vote to overrule us. i don't think that that is where we are going to head. there is some ultimate oversight out there that does not exist for the other banking agencies but i think we have a lot of room to go. tavis: this agency is not part of the political process as we know it.

you have laid that out quite nicely. having said that, how you keep the politics out? >> well, i'd do it by getting up every morning and doing my job. to the extent that other people want to talk about politics, my opinion is that i just keep talking to the american people. we just keep trying to put the pieces in place for them. we are here because of credit cards and mortgages and remittances, short-term loans. we are here to make sure that there is a level playing field and people can see what the costs are up front and what the risks are. they can compare one product to another. you know, we did not get to be an agency because there was a bunch of agency who wanted this, we got to be an agency because there was many americans who thought it was time for this. i figured ultimately those are the people that care about this

agency and that is who we are here for. i will stay out of the politics. tavis: speaking of the politics, it is all around you. let me ask you some questions about what is going on. your critics kept suggesting that you could not get along with the business community. there were those that suggested that with someone like you at the head, innovation would be inhibited. how are you getting along with the business community? >> the first thing i want to say is about that innovation business. if you are planning for innovation, -- if your plan for innovation is to treat them or to fool them, i will be right in the way. if your plan is to put a product out there that people can see and understand, then we will get along just fine. i have been reaching out to the business community.

i've been talking a lot to the ceo's of many big banks. i have spent a lot of time with people in community banks. i really think that there is a real partnership to be formed here. there are a lot of folks who are in small banks, some big banks, who really want to offer good and decent products to their customers. they are out there competing with people who are willing to engage in a lot of really slick practices. our job is to be the cop on the peak and make sure that competition is visible and fair. there are many business people who welcome that. i think that there are many people that have welcomed us. we are making some new friends. some people will never like what we're doing. my opinion is that if they don't like us for the right reasons, that is ok. tavis: another questions about

the politics, when the president was given the opportunity, he decided not to appoint you to run the bureau but instead put you in charge of setting it up. you must have found some favor with that because you had to accept the appointment that he gave you and you did. at some level, you are cool with that. he reached out and appointed a pro-business advocate to be his chief of staff. is he sending mixed signals? >> you know, all i know is the part i am here to take care of and that is the consumer agency. there is no mixed signal in the consumer agency. here is how it was from the very first time i met with the president, he said that there are two jobs on the table. one is the director for the long term. you have to understand on that job, that is a long time and a long time before we get a vote and you cannot talk about it or

do any work on it in the meantime because those are the rules. the alternative is that someone needs to get in there right now and start putting the pieces together to make this work so we will be ready on july 21st to get up and going. i said, that is the one that excites me. he said, good, that is what i would like you to do. we are in a good place on this. what he wants is a strong consumer agency that is here to work on behalf of hard-working families. tavis: there are millions of people who still want you if what i'm reading as correct, people who want you to be the person to lead that bureau. i understand the job that you have accepted but are you interested in the other job? if offered, would you except it? >> right now, i have my plate so full doing the job i'm doing, if you let me, i will say that i will not worry about this.

today, i have plenty on my plate and so that is what i will work on. we will let the future come later. tavis: i like you a lot so i will get a pass on that. you knew that question was coming? >> i thought it might. i appreciate the past. tavis: it is difficult to talk to you and not raise that question. all of this stuff is really a moot if we don't get the american people back to work. give me a sense of the jobs as we move forward. >> well, you know, things are better than they were in the worst part. my view on this overall, tvisavs is the problem that we have with working families is not just what happened two years ago, we have had a long term problem. this is not just been jobs but this is john's and flat wages

even for those said to have jobs. -- but this is jobs and flat wages even for those that do have jobs. this has caused families to turn to debt. a lot of that debt is very dangerous. there is a lot of trouble for middle america. we are all out there struggling hard. the hole in the bottom of the vote i am trying to work on is the one on credit. -- the hole in the bottom of the bpat. i think we're making real progress in the right direction. that is part of the effort to keep us going the right way. it is hard out there and now is the time that we've really have to be rebuilding not the top but the middle. tavis: your job is to set the consumer protection bureau and she is hard at work doing this.

professor warren, good to have you on this program. we will be talking to you more between now and july. >> we hope so. tavis: up next, oscar winner javier bardem. stay with us. we are pleased to welcome javier bardem back to the program. in 20008, he took home the oscar for his role in "no country for old man." his current film is called "biutiful." here is a clip.

tavis: i had to mention up top that the movie has an interesting spelling to it and we have a very very very bright audience in pbs. that is how you spell beautiful? i would be hearing about this 20,000 tons. that is an interesting spelling on the title and this is a beautiful film. so much has happened to you in your world since you and she were on this program. i would like to say congratulations once, and congratulations for the other

thing. that said, in the years i have been hosting this program i have had a chance to talk to some great actors and everyone gets turned on by a character that has complexity. everyone would like to play a multi dimensional complex character. you got your wish this time around. >> it is. i think that all the actors want the same thing which is to have a chance to create some one that is real. reality is very complex. this is not just a straight line. this is why i am not interested in people that fly at half superpowers. tavis: you like the multiple layers. >> this man really has to face his own and and he has to evaluate his life.

that is complex for everyone. also, that is the chance for him to bring the best and the worst of himself. i think those characters are the ones that really speak a lot not only to the character but to the people. tavis: how does playing a character who has to reevaluate his own life while he is dealing with a particular health challenge, how does that speak to javier bardem as you suggested that it did? >> it speaks that when you are holding that emotional state over five months and sometimes it is 6 days a week, 12 hours per day, you really become him. there is no way that you can escape out of this. the performance becomes about trying to put yourself out of the way and be as honest as you can be.

that involves an emotional journey. this is not a performance, this is a life journey that i had with the character. the challenge is not only to do that but to be able to get out of it. i am here today. tavis: [laughter] you did it out of here. is it the case in your career that you played characters not just that you enjoy, not just characters you have something in common with, but characters that for the rest of your life do in fact speak to you or change you? have you played characters that are life-altering for you? >> totally. i don't think that movies are characters can change the world. they can take you to a different place and you can see it from a different perspective and go

back to your own self with some new answers. issues that you knew intellectually but you did not have a chance to experience yet. the actor has the possibility of leading to a different life and that i think is great to grow up as a person with a less judgmental thing and having more empathy. you have seen the world from different points of view, not only yours. that is one of the greatest gift of being an actor. tavis: it must be special when a writer or director tells you that i wrote this character specifically for you. you are the only person in the world that i had in mind when i wrote this piece. that is what happened for you in this piece. tell me about the character and why he would a person that they

thought this up for. >> i don't know. he told me that the that was very scary. you don't want to say no to that. tavis: [laughter] maybe that is a sales pitch. you let the only person. you must do that. >> i think that it is really about a man that has to see himself in the mirror and embraces what he has done up until that moment and realized the legacy he would like to give those children of his for the future. this is a very internal journey of a man. i think the audience -- i know because i have been in the audience with people, the waivers. material is very serious. they go on an emotional journey with the character.

we take the audience by the hand and really make them to a journey with us. this is very rewarding. at the end, what people want to do is really go and run to their loved ones and how to them and kiss them and be grateful for what they are and for what they have. that is a beautiful feeling because sometimes we are still lost in the rush of things that we don't realize how important it is what we are bleeding at this moment. >tavis: spain is a beautiful country as you can find on the planet. this film shows a very seedy side of parcel on the that i did not know existed. -- of barcelona that i did not know existed. >> woody allen knows it. i brought a lot of terrorism ask

-- i thought a lot of tourism after that movie. i don't think that that will happen after this movie. [laughter] this is los angeles, london, berlin, greece, this is about a city where having people from other parts of the world that are trying to survive and the struggle for a dignified life and honor for their kids. how we deal with that because this is about immigration. this is like a background story. the real story is about the relationship of this man with his kids. tavis: you suggested that we mentioned that you are pretty clear about what you want to play and what you don't want to play. you don't see yourself as a guide with superpowers and flying to the air, etc. have you always known that? have you always been so clear

about that? does this come with experience and time? >> i have always known which is one of the great things that i know for sure. tavis: that is not a bad thing to be certain of if you are an actor. >> i knew that because my mother is an actress. i have been around actors and actresses and screenwriters. i know what it means to be committing yourself and you need to do this in a way that you really know what you're doing. tavis: you come from a family that is so steeped in the genre. you are growing up as part of the family business. there are people have no interest in the family business.

is there a time when you thought about not being part of this family business? >> yes, because i saw my mother, she has been acting since she was 15. i have seen her going up and down and all of the things that go with this job. i did not really want to be part of that. i guess it was in my blood. i tried to escape into this while painting. in the end, i went to work as an extra bit up in movies. once i was there, i felt in my blood. whether i like it or not, this is where i belong. i quit painted for the good of everybody. -- painting for the good of everybody. tavis: we all appreciate you making that choice.

we're glad he made this choice. i am laughing here because i am trying to visualize what it must be like to be at a private screening of anyone in the families work in your house. what is it like when anyone who is in the business is there and you are screening the project at home? what is that like? >> everyone is like, [clears throat] [laughter] we support each other in many ways. we are strong in our criticism. if they don't like it, they say it. not only in my open but i am grateful. the people that love you and care for you, they have to push for you to grow up. they have been very supportive of what i'm doing.

tavis: beautiful is appropriate the work that javier bardem that is living now. the film is called "biutiful." his wife is beautiful. he has a baby on the way. that is our show for tonight. thanks for tuning in. until next time, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smileypbs.org. tavis: join me next time for a conversation with roseanne barr and her views on american politics. that is next time. we will see you then. >> all i know is that his name is james and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james.

>> yes. >> everyone making a difference. >> thank you. >> you help us all is better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. we are proud to join tavis in working tomprove financial literacy and removing obstacles to financial empowerment one conversation at time. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.