[captioning made possible b kcet public telision] captioned by e national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org tavis: good evening from s angeles, i am vis smiley. lessons on hurricaneatrina, w can they be appli to the devastating situation in hai? walter isaacson is th chair of the homeront situation to rebuild his hometown of new orleans. also tight,ilmmaker jason reitman on his critical acclaimed new product, "up in the air." it won the best golden gbe for a seenplay. we hope thatyou join us, coming up right now. >> there are so many things that wal-mart can do today.

likeelping people live bett. mosy we are looking forward to buildi stronger communitiein relationships. with your help, success is yet to come. >> natnwide insurance gravel supports tavis smiley. working to prove financial teracy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. >> and by contributions tyour pbs station om viewers like u. thank you. >> walter isaacsonis the former managing editoof "ti" magazine he is also the number t

author of a number of bt sells. including "america sketches." heoins us tonight from washington good t have you ba on the program. >> and gooto be back wh you. tas: let me start b asking whher or n to yourind the were any immedte compasons, or not so immediate comparisons, that you drew between what we in towd with hurricane katrinan new orleans and ate are seeing in haiti as we speak. >> let me start with a good ings. there isomething about the human heart that has benevolence, compassion. when somhing is happening to somne else thatis bad, pople want to help peoplare still coming into new orlns to help. that was the same instinct in iti. the darker side of itin new orleans whether it was that the state level, the national lvel,

or the loc vel, like you did not have great governance. you do not hav people worki togher efficiently in the vernment. likewise we have tt oblem in haiti. we talk about leadship i lot. bothof those situations prove that good leadership mters. tas: it does mter, but as good learship matter only during a isis? or before you get in? there culd heeen better leadershipon every level on how weere treating orleans before the hurricane came. better leadership uld have been employed on our pt and before --nd on the part of hait beforehis earthquake. does good leadershi only surface in a cris? >> ru giuliani is anxample of good leadership in a crisis, buthat is not the best kind o leadership. what you need is leadership that attaches to values before the

crisis. for example, in new orles we had a rlly b school system. that was why t enomy was not so great. that w why there was a dide in new leans. that torance, in new orleans and l over this country, of the two-tiered school system and that education, that is something that good leaders should not tolerate. after the hurricanee have a much better school system. we haveusiness people coming in to bui great schoo. that the type of leadership thate should havehad before the storm frankl if we have had good schools and education, people would have been better prepared. tavis: e of the mentors that you had, you talk abo how many lessons he took from him, the former mayor of new orleans, the last mayor othat happen to be ite -- a man named lou landri. his daughter is the senator.

his s is the lutenant governornd is expected to be the next mayor, making him the firsnext -- first white mayor since his father. te me what y have learned from him. >> one of the things that you said in yo introduction that i learned from him,ow do we transcen race asarrier to working together? he wonhe election for may of new orleans by apalingto black anwhite in bringin the city together. thats wh we really need across this country. can we make athis time? an electionhat is about all of us in th same boat together? rather than being a raal election. tavis: let me ask you t same questn i have ask many people over t years on this nversation of ladership. what, for you, in terms of tese

aricans sketches qualifies one to be labeled by walter isaacson as a great lead? >> thinkingutside of the box. in the industry that coul be einstein thinki that maybe time is not constt. maybe thats why thepeed of light is always constan or aould b benjamin franklin, aying that this is how we could pullogether a multi-ethnic soety. it also be someo today like steve job always thking outside of the box and thinking differtly. thatype of eativity, that ability to agine sothing that isot there and bring us alg with a forcof vision is grealeadership. tavis: on theover of your bok therere a number ofketches. underscore tis point more clearly we wl show it the screen. threef them, rightacross the

top, have been very controversial. naldeagan, woody allen, hillary clinton. does being a great leader on demand mea thatou will be contversial? >> ithink thayou have to b willing to defyonvention. they lovever again, which is controversial for some people- l's takeonald reagan, which is controversl for some people. even though he was sunchly anti-communists, he s wn repeatedly withgorbachev and said let's fi out what we have in common. that laid the grou for the end of the cold war. eventhough he was vry ch a conservate when it came to government issues, he t down with a foreal and found a compromiseon cial security -- tipper o'neil andound a compromi on social secity.

wadays people do notnow how to rch across. that is oneof obama's's grea strength. that is why he was elected president. i sh that people willallow him, sit-downithim on how ey can find common ground. tav: that enti notion of being bipartis in changing the way of washiton are not working outery well at the moment. >> no, it is no look health care. it is ridiculous. uninow, most of your viewers know, -- yound i know, most of youriewers know, we can agree, about 80% of the country, on what it will take to make health care better. but washington has become so polized -- president obama, whosaid we should fm bipartisan approach, but it does not work. people are too polarized a

partisan. i would hope that obamaould still be ae to in the next few years say ok, lt's move beyond partisanship. tavis: im trying in my mind to square two this. i amsure that your brilliant and you will expla it to me, how you see these dot connecting at the moment. you talked abou thracial divide ithis country, the racial abide in new orleans, so you are obously sensite to thisissue. thenyou praised president obama with being a great leader. what we doknow is that he does not like to deal with iues of race. he does not wanto talk aut it. these are not, for him, teachle moments. he passed so quickly on that hay reid conversation. he did not even wa to get into that. am trying t understand that

if the racial divide is importa to yu, how do youee him as a great leader in our time? >> i think that his speech about race i philadelphia of was a eat speech. i do not tink that he has been the greatest leader not on racial issues. t symbolically, where new orleans voted overwhelngly for rack obama to be president, even histic way -- we talk abt dr. king bending the ark of progress towards justice, is was the ca of at. growing up in new orleans, growing up in such a mixed neighborhood, trying to find those neighborhos where people work together and ve together, that is a eat challenge. maybe ama is there re

symbolicly, but there will be othereople, including skip tes on the board of the institute, who can face more squarely the issue of race. tavis: in the most multi can multi-cultural, multi-ethnic america ever, iss not abou race. whats the challenge for grea leaders, for creative thinrs? forhose peoplhat, down the roadnd, we will call heroes? >> you ok at the versity of a town like neorleans. whether it was 100 yrs ago when louis armstron grow up, taken in by the jewish family, of playinghe music ofospel, plantations, creoles, marching bands d everythinglse, th makes the spanish, french,

creole, american, black and whe, it created great food and great music that is the sound ofour creativity you look that notion of celebratg that -- bnjamin franklid, during h litime he donated to the building fund of each and every church iphiladelphia. aone point he said even if constantinople came here to teach usbout islam,we should offer them a place that we might learn. heas theargest contributor to the synagogue inhiladelphia wh he was on his deathbed. it is th a multi-ethnic society th americaas given the world. it is what we are fighting for oday. tavi for ourountry, how important will it be fors to get the innovation thing?

are geing the innovatn thing? are we so far behind that we cannot catch up? yo thoughts, quickly. >> innovation only comes from ucation. we have t best high school syem in the wod for most of the 20th-ctury perio math and science scores are between7th and 20th. same wit graduation rates. secondly, we need t celebrate math, science, and creativity. i think we can be an invative society agn. i woy that we become closed down andearful of imgration. immigration has been great source of creavity. we ha got to celebrate math, science, and the edution system untilt is the best in th world d we will be the great innovative economy of the 21st century e way we were in th20 a century.

tavis: walt, ngratulations. od to have you back on the progm. >> thank you. tavis: up next, jason reitman, director talking about his last projt, "up in the air." stay with us. jason reitman, acclaimedwriter and producer, as we as irector, his ltest film is one of the mo talked about in the year, "up in the air." -- sund night he won a goen globe. we are now watcng a scene from "up in the air." >> my god, i did notnow that is was listed. this is the ameran airlines -- >> concierge. >> what is that? i love the way. >> i was excited. >> i will say.

i veeard petty pedestrian mbers. >> not bad. >> do not tronize me. >> what is your tota >> personal. let's show me hubris. it impressed me. --> shows some huis. impss me. that huge. you have no idea. avis: welce back. earlier the studi, and i do noknow how you handle it when you do something that tanks >> it can be brutal. tavis: i has got to be tough. when you finallyit the wal you have g to be sitting there going -- ah. [laughter] what you thinof that? yo first three fms out of the gate are critically acclaimed. >> i hav made three films that come from my heart. i am hoping that if i continue

tomake film from my heart, evenf they do not connect with people i know that i didthem for the right reasons. tavis: es that answer that question of what theonnect ing is? tell stories that are responsive i workith my instincts. i tryot to tnk about what will me money. i try not to thi about what pele want to see. i find subjects that interest me and at i connect with persally. i can tell stories that people want t hear. tavis: as someone who sends too much tim in airports, i connectedo thi wh you were working onhis, what madyou think that the rest of us could relate to is? >> the traveling salesman used to go door-to-door, now he ows of the hub. -- goes hub to hub. i t a lot of other travelers

while traveling, andthink thatveryone gets it not to menti that there is something of the freeing about traving. there's this notion you get i an airport tt you can go anywhere. destination boards look like alterne lives. tavis: io not want to miss this, i found fascinating. for those who have seen th lm, this will make you smile. for those who have not, i am sure that is will make you nt to sethe film. he has rules for travelings he travels almost every day of his life he even has a w site, ryansresoftravel.com, it is real, you can add yo tips. i've put some on myself. for himthe first was never to

get in thesa li behind people with infants. i have never seen astroller llapse in less than 20 minutes. never get in line bhind the elderly, their bodies areilled with hidden meta ner check it bag, it adds 30 mutes your flight. when packing, roll your shirts, fold your suits side out. number five, aisle seats are income -- are for pele in control of their destiny. . 6, always wear a ip on shoes. >> are youa window guy or and i'll die? -- aisle guy? tavis: i became an asle guy for this vy reason.

you control nothing from the side. thstarving ople, stepping over them to go to the bathro. -- disturbing people, stepping over them to go to t bathroom. aughter] inyour last one off. >> -- and you are the last one off. >> i am too much of a director, i need to ben control. it is oneof the questis that yoshould ask someone first on a date. if you are bh aislyoure both selfish a it will never rk. [laughter] tavis: i will add that to the st. ask yr made before proposing, wiow or i all? might save your marriage. [laughter] the cereny at the golden gles is very uniq. hat is it like to be there? all of these pple that you

have worked with, what to work with, no or want to know, at is it like? >> you are paed in there. the ballroom that iave sn for entire chdhood, but i am use to go into our mit of -- bar-mitzvahs there. verywhere you look you recognize people it is anexcuse to ta to people. you get down on the floor and talk to pple that you admire. but you are telesed, that is the strange part. you are having this meal and talking to people, but the's a camera always ther tav: figuring ouhow to get from there to thstage is a good problemo have. how did youget there? >> iid nothing that i was oing to win.

i strongly believe tt clinton arantino was going to win. on they called my name i had to fure out somhing to say. onef the beauties of hving a co-screenwrite he coul speak first and i cod collect my thoughts. tavis: you saidhat you te this chae to speak to directors at you admire. without sharing an confidees , for a younger filmmake, what ar you talking thesguys about? from your perspective? >> i grew up on them. amery fortunatthat i get to talk to a lot of directors. somemes i ask them complete fan boy questions about their movies and sometimes i am very interested. i wou love to talk james cameron, and evertime i asd

him about the virtual cameras and how their rk. once i talked to kathryn gelow, i talked to her about "1 bre." p oin-- poi break." th is the thing about workg as a director. you mean lot ofctors and you are kind of keptpart from directors. these awar shows are the onl time you need em. tavis: to your point, know that yoare not in the business to make money. wt do you think of the fact that this guy -- james cameron -- "tinic," "avar," what you thinkof that?

iis wonderful. seems like a nice guy and a good director. it would be a shame if the top movie director of al time was novery goo and did not put something out that was good james caron is one of the greatest aion directors oall time. tavis: we argoing tocommit thi next one to take. >> all right. tavis: you a still young in this process. how you nt yo body of work to be examined? to be contextuized? what do you wnt this body of work to become? >> when people look at myork one day, and i have only been mang movies forive osix years, so t peop that i admire, we are talking about decades of film. i hope tat there is a

continuity between them that authentic, that speakso the human experience in a porful way. hope that therere films that are noi am one genre, but use multiple genres -- using trauma, or, thriller, comedy, romance, to tell a story. i look at continuity directors like going back to hal hbee, james l. brooks -- this is a line o directors wher i and my greatest dreams i will be in at lineage. that is what i aspire to. tavis: you are off to great start. >>hank you. tavis: i will hold on to this

tape for you. [laughter] i think that your body ofork will hold up as well. the lm, "up in the air," direed by is man, winner of the golden globe forest screenplay. public radi international, you canccess our radioroadcast on line. good night, keep the faith >> for morenformation on toy's show, visit tavis smey at pbs.org. >> jn me next time f a story from robt laceynd oscar- winning actress, mion cotillard. that is next me. see you there. >>there arso many things at wal-mart is lking forwa to doing, le helping people to live better. building stronger commities in

lationships. wit your help the best is yet toome. >> nationwide insurance oudly supports tis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improveconomic literacy and the econom empowownt that witht. >>nd by contributions to your pbs stations from viewers like you. thank you.