our guest is award-winning documentarian errol morris.e are back with him in a moment. ♪ [music break] is errol morris, the director of the new documentary "the unknown known." he has won an oscar for his documentary, "the fog of war: eleven lessons from the life of robert s. mcnamara." this film is about donald rumsfeld. guest,his clip, our errol morris, asked him about the torture memos that authorized techniques such as waterboarding against prisoners captured by the united states. >> what about all these so-called torture memos? there were one or two debut or ofee, but there were not all these so-called memos. they were mischaracterized as torture memos. they came not out of the bush administration, per se, but out of the u.s. department of justice, blessed by the attorney official,senior legal having been nominated by a president and confirmed by the united states senate overwhelmingly. little different cast i just put on it than the one that you did. i would chalk that one up. >> was the reaction unfair? i have never read them. >> r

tavis: errol morris has made a career of exposing the foibles of those in power. his oscar-winning film "the fog of war exposed a role in the vietnam war. explainsnt documentary and defends donald rumsfeld's decisions. "the unknown known" will be in select theaters next week. we start our conversation first with a clip from "the unknown known." >> what about all these so-called torture memos? >> there were what? one or two or three? they were not all of these so-called memos. they were mischaracterized as torture memos and they came not out of the bush administration per se. they came out of the u.s. department of justice blessed by the attorney general, the senior legal official of the united states of america, having been nominated by a president and confirmed by the senate. a little different cast i just put on it than the one you did. i will chalk that one up. tavis: love that green there that the end. let me just ask you, this was the first question that came to my mind when i saw that rumsfeld had sat down with you. my first question was, why in the world if

please welcome errol morris. errol, good to see you again. thanks for coming back.ight, how are you? >> i think i'm okay. >> stephen: you're not sure? you just think so? >> never really completely sure. >> stephen: okay. ( laughter ) maabe you shoold do a documentary about yourself or are you afraid to turn that pointed lens on errol morris? >> it's a frightening thing. >> stephen: because you look at all aspects of american society, and you judge it through your lens. you have done the thin blue line. if "the fog of war" "standing operating procedure," and your new film is called "the unknown known" about former defense -psecretary donald rumsfeld. what the hell does that mean "the unknown known." what is that? ( laughher ). >> can i be completely honest with you? >> stephen:-- i-- hope you will. >> i don't know. >> stephen: what the ( bleep ) are you talking about? ( laughter ) ( applause ) you're one of these liberals, right, one of these hollywood glitzy party, hanging out with brad pitt liberals who tried to lay traps for donaad rumsfeld, that good map, who led

with us now is the man behind the movie, the documentary filmmaker errol morris and political analystther jones. errol, thank you for joining us. i found this long documentary mystifying, yet it is the donald rumsfeld i have always known, fey, whimsical face that i swear has the look of a car bomber because he has a smile about the most serious, horrible things. 186,000 people died in the iraq war, and he gets sort of chummy about it, and he is sort of friendly to you. does he know what he is talking about morally? does he know the decisions he made and went along with that caused that war? >> no. i don't think he does. >> how do you get -- is that why dick cheney liked him. >> because he was such a tool that he didn't stop and say wait a minute, are we really going to war with a country, we're going to take it over, we're going to run that place, kill anybody that gets in our way, cause all kinds of mayhem, and then we're going to own it because we don't like the fact they fired on some of our airplanes? what was his reason for the war? that's ostensibly what donald rumsfeld wanted t

on this edition of politicking the oscar award winning filmmaker errol morris. of the and former secretary of defense donald rumsfeld for more than thirty hours the result of a riveting documentary titled the unknown unknown what did marise learn about why the united states went to war in iraq you have to pick and choose who to the extent you pick and choosing. to be unknowns and why has he described rumsfeld as clueless we will find out on politicking. something unknown. that is to say things that you think you. dated turns out you did not. that was a clip from the claim still make the errol morris his new documentary the unknown known which examines the political life and the controversial decisions and recommendations of former defense secretary donald rumsfeld the film opens in new york and los angeles on april second errol morris joins us me joins me here in studio unknown what does that mean. your guess maybe as good as mine donald rumsfeld came up with this. set of expressions the no no no no no no no no no and of course the last of them and the most enig

thank you, errol morris and david corn for your expertise. the book is "hubris."book ever on that war. is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. so our business can be on at&t's network for $175 a month? yup. all 5 of you for $175. our clients need a lot of attention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line, anytime, for $15 a month. low dues, great terms. let's close! new at&t mobile share value plans our best value plans ever for business. iwe don't back down. we only know one direction: up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. ther

that was a clip from the a claim so may get errol morris is a new documentary the unknown known which examines the buddha life and the times a virtual decisions and recommendation. as a former defense secretary donald rumsfeld the film opens in new york and los angeles on april second errol morris joins us me joins me here in studio unknown what does that mean. your guess maybe as good as mine donald rumsfeld came up with this set of expressions the no no no no no no no no no and of course the last of them and the most enigmatic of them all the unknown known what the hell does it mean he himself isn't sure. i think i know but i don't know anyway actually i ask you well you think you know so never mind why worms fell why this documentary i'd made a movie about another secretary of defense robert s. mcnamara the fog of war great movie to disastrous wars vietnam and in the sixty's through the early seventy's. iraq. maybe were not as much a part of it anymore but ten year is in tallinn ng the war is still going on. why that's the question what were they thinking so you came to rumsfeld sa

join me next time for a conversation with errol morris and grammy nominated singer-songwriter ledisi.time. we will see you then. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. we're on the road this summer, talking with people who have followed tr passions in l. (male #1) i'm exploring the idea of what is successful to me. (female #1) i've discovered a love of documentary, but my parents are urging me to become a lawyer or something. (female #2) i don't know how i should use this time right out of college. (michelle) i think people think about stuff too much. just try something. at least something's better than nothing. (greg) a real job that is a successful job is a job that's driven by their passion and their love. (female announcer) state farm has made it possible for this documentary series to be shared on public television stations across the country. roadtrip nation would like to sincerely thank our friends at state farm for helping a nation of young people define their own roads in life. like a good neighbor, state farm is there. (male announcer)