when valerie plame was outed as a u.s. spy, it set off an international controversy that reached high into the bush white house in 2007. valerie plame published a bestseller about the ordeal called "fair game." on november 5 the movie by the same name opens in theaters across the country. we're glad you've joined us. the conversation with former c.i.a. agent valerie plame wilson and ambassador joe wilson coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference. >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and improve obstacles to empowerment one nation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: when jonas robert novak exposed

we're talking about valerie plame and her husband joe wilson.t's been made into a major hollywood film. >> the new movie is entitled "fair game." sean penn plays joe wilson, naomi watts plays valley plame. here's a clip. >> that's my real name. >> covert agent to punish me for telling the truth. >> your wife is a traiter. >> how dare you talk about my wife. >> people threatened to kill my husband, hurt my children. >> they'll bury us if they don't. >> how close is this film to reality? >> it's not a documentary but it is a really good accurate portrayal of what we went through both personally and in the political maelstrom that we lived through. the director doug limon really wanted to make it -- of course it has to be telescoped because this happened over a series of years as you know and you want to tell a story, and i think it's very powerful. >> what do you think? >> oh, think it's an accurate representation of the time we lived through. >> because it's a drama. >> do may make up stuff if there n there? >> sure, sure. there are things i can'

[captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: when jonas robert novak exposed valerie plame's cover as a c.i.a. operative back in 2003, it set off a series of events that ultimately led to the indictment of then vice president dick cheney's chief of staff, scooter libby. in 2007 the book about this remarkable story became a number one "new york times" bestseller called "fair game." that book along with joe wilson's book served then as the basis for the new film, starring sean penn and naomi watts. here now a preview of the film "fair game". >> the vice president has received a report concerning the purchase of material to build nuclear weapons. >> we need to get in close. >> they turned to her husband for answers. >> it is my opinion that it could not have happened. >> we have teams in the field. they're all saying the same thing. >> but when the truth was made public -- >> what do you think the white house wants to hear, there was no nuclear program? >> they changed their story. >> they made her pay the price. >> valerie, your name is in the paper. you're a c.i.a. agent. >> i

the valerie plame story. >> yeah. >> jimmy: valrie plame, so, basically, this was like -- she was a ciao -- >> jimmy: it's a true story. >> it's a true story. >> jimmy: it's almost bizarre when you watch it, like this can't be a true story. did you have to, like, learn, all the cia stuff? >> yes. >> jimmy: did you meet valerie? >> yes, i spent a lot of time with her. she was very much involved. she was, kind of, there acting as a consultant whewe were shooting all the stuff at langley. and, y know, "that doesn't look believab and that --" >> jimmy: that's not what happened. yeah, yeah. there must be a lot of pressure. like, god, it's hard enough acting, but acting -- playing the person with the person there. like, if jerry lewis saw my monologue, he'd be like, "this is awful." [ laughter ] he'd be like, doing impressions him. but -- where do they teach you this stuff? >> oh. we went to -- because i just had a baby. literally, i got the call and -- jimmy: congratulations, by the way. that's so good. [ cheers and applause ] ve good. >> and i wasn't expecting to go back to work at all, and

he was, of course, behind the outing of valerie plame's secret identity at the cia. he was also behind the outing - or the firing of attorneys at the justice department because they wouldn't pursue his partisan agenda. this is the guy who's now telling us that he's upset that the president has an enemies list. it's nonsense and people should, of course, take it with a grain of salt. what president obama's doing is documenting about some of the facts about what karl rove is up to. he's operating a shadow fund that doesn't, i don't think, comply with the law, and he's using this shadow operation to solicit huge amounts of corporate money that we don't know where it's coming from to fund partisan attack ads. and the president's, rightfully, making everyone aware of that fact. >> briefly, devil's advocate question, sicu, the international union, it has 60,000 or so candidatian members. how do we know these filthy canadians are not contributing $385 to the sciu campaign ads? >> that's the point there, keith. we know where the unions get their money. and it's from unions'

. >> don't you find it ironic, when we know that he was involved in the cia operative with valerie plame. >> but i agree with you you know that he's a big-time political operative, just like you have big-time political operatives on both sides of the aisle. and as we've seen from the revelation from governor jerry brown's campaign recently, there's a lot of nasty talk that sometimes goes on informally behind scenes about political opponents. >> ernie, you're pretty clever to work a story that's on the absolutely other side of the country, but that's okay. >> that's how people talk about their opposition, sure. >> it's all about the money. good to have you with us, ernie. >>> let's get some rapid-fire response from our panel on these stories. new jersey governor chris christie is frantically backpedaling after his plan to kill a. major tunnel project was roundly criticized. today, president obama threw salt in the wound announcing $50 billion for infrastructure improvement in this country. >>> the so-called professional left doesn't appreciate the white house telling them to stop whining.

his brother is a friend of mine doing a valerie plame movie. was done to get attention to that video clip which it succeeded in doing. in our dreams it's gone viral from here. that's the new political communication at work. megyn: they claim that after that happened -- obviously boxer's people knew that was not a good moment for her. afterwards she called that brigadier general and had a friendly conversation and expressed their respect for one another. as you are watching your now candidate in that exchange, you see it, now you will see it if they buy air time over and over again. what do you do? is there any fixing that? how bad is that moment for her? >> well it depends on where it gets viewed and by whom. barbara boxer is who she is. she has got a little new york in her, i say that affectionately. that's just who she is. do i think that will affect the race at this late date? i don't think so. is it my number one choice of what to talk about? i would probably wouldn't say that one. no. but it's funny because it isn't really an issue. megyn:

>> there is another practical one you can think about, which goes back to the valerie plame case. in which you actually went to court and found out that scooter libby was authorized to leaked classified information. it is unclear who gave him the authorization data but other people were leaking to us and nobody cared about it. when you talk about breaking the ice, you have to remember that this game up administration leaking things has been going on for years. i mean, kissinger -- going back to dean rusk, he would have people in every friday for drinks. depending on what is published, and this fits into your point of view of creating openness, people who are on the other side of issues that the government was leaking, and it has gone on in every administration, then feel free because they know something that is contrary to that, whether it is classified or not, to leak it to get in a vault in the debate. it is the fact that people at a higher level, i will bet you if the republicans win the house or senate, you'll have an investigation of that. not because they want to find out th