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Piers Morgan Live
3 Generations of Buffetts; Interview with William Shatner
Aired November 08, 2013 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PIERS MORGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. Warren Buffett is a self- made man and one of the richest people in the world. When he talks, everybody listens. Tonight, he joins me exclusively with his son, Howard G. Buffett and grandson Howard W. Buffett for a fascinating and revealing interview. Howard G. is the author of a fantastic new book, "40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World." The book is filled with important and inspiring lessons and stories. The three Buffetts joining me now. They all know you Warren but they may not be so familiar with Howard or HBW here. Give me a little assessment of them, starting with your son.
WARREN EDWARD BUFFET: It started slow. I think for the first two or three years, we were thinking about putting him out for adoption. But he has evolved into a terrific human being and I'm proud of him and I love backing him in his charitable work and he's done the same with his son so I feel really good about the children.
MORGAN: There is a reason that I feel extremely grateful to your son and I'm going to play you a clip which will explain why. This is from the last time I interviewed Howard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Lovely to see you.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Nice to see you, Piers.
MORGAN: I hope I can get you back one day with your father and maybe your son as well, the three generations of Buffetts.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: I'll work on that.
MORGAN: I would love that.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: All right. Thanks very much.
MORGAN: Lovely to see you.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: You bet.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
MORGAN: Now, you see that moment was sealed with the famous Buffett handshake. And I knew then I had a deal because Howard, the Buffett handshake means a lot, right?
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Well, what I've learned growing up in our family is that, you know, integrity is everything. And, you know everybody makes mistakes but I believe as my dad says, you know, you stick with people, you give people a second chance and that's the values that, you know, we've had in our family and --
WARREN BUFFETT: I would give him more than a second chance.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Yeah.
MORGAN: I'm pleased to (inaudible)
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: I think I (inaudible) him up for that one.
MORGAN: (inaudible) come back to you just some fascinating deals you did with your son when he was young which I'm going to -- I've got three sons, I'd like the way you think about these things. Howard, let me ask you on that -- on the handshake business. How many men in the world or women, people you do business with, do you trust personally for big a deal on the strength of a handshake, percentage- wise?
WARREN BUFFETT: We -- Well, I don't -- it's not the higher percentage but of the ones I've made deals with, I've decided that their handshake is good. We do not have contracts with -- we have 70 some companies. There maybe one or two contracts out there but basically you can't make a good deal with a bad guy, you know.
MORGAN: Regardless of any bit of paper?
WARREN BUFFETT: Regardless of any piece of paper. I mean, they win. I mean, they sue you and do all kinds of things, so.
MORGAN: And do you still prefer to do business with a handshake?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, I prefer to do business with people I like. I mean, you know, I see no reasons to do business with people who cause my stomach to churn. I think it's like marrying for money. I mean, I think it's kind of dumb and I think it's really dumb if you're already rich, right?
MORGAN: But let me ask you, HWB, what is the single best lesson you have learned from the elder Buffetts in your life, so far would you say?
HOWARD W. BUFFETT: Well both my grandfather and my father have been the most amazing role models that anyone could imagine. And, you know, I've watched my grandfather build what has been one of the greatest fortunes in the world and turned it into one of history's greatest gifts and in doing so empowering my father to go out and change the world and take that opportunity ...
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: He's exaggerating.
HOWARD W. BUFFETT: No. And that's what ... WARREN BUFFETT: The party is still on the wheel.
HOWARD W. BUFFETT: That's really, I mean that's what "Forty Chances" is all about. I mean, it's really been about what Howard -- what my dad has been able to do with that opportunity that my grandfather has given him.
MORGAN: Well, here's a great line that you used, Warren I think which is that you always want to give your kids enough money that they could do whatever they wanted to do in life but not enough that they would do nothing.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah and that so they can do anything but not enough to do nothing.
So we've got plenty of tweets pouring in Jane Fagan Smith (ph) said what's the most important advice you've ever had about investing that you would impart to others?
WARREN EDWARD BUFFET: Well, it's to look at stocks as part of the business rather than little things that bob up and down. So, you value the business and then you look at the stock. Sometimes people think that, you know the stocks didn't go to a hundred or the stock's going to go up next week, in the end, you're buying part of the business and you should never lose sight of that.
MORGAN: Do you have to personally enjoy the stocks that you buy big in?
WARREN EDWARD BUFFET: Well, I enjoyed them. I enjoy analyzing stocks but one thing to remember about stocks is you have all these feelings about them. They don't care about you. Yes, yeah, you bought the stock at 20 and now its 18, you know, and you hate it. Stock doesn't know -- it doesn't know what you paid, it has no feelings about you at all, so...
MORGAN: Well the reason I ask you is that when you were young, you were selling Coca-Cola. You then became a huge stockholder in Coca- Cola, when we asked the family involving you as well, what the writer would be for the dressing room requirements. So we used a major rock star writers, there was one request, anything Coca-Cola related?
WARREN EDWARD BUFFET: No.
MORGAN: So I thought this man actually drinks this stuff.
WARREN EDWARD BUFFET: Five a day.
MORGAN: No here's the other thing I want to do. I'm a BlackBerry relic, I still hang on to the BlackBerry, it turns that HWB here has two BlackBerries?
HOWARD W. BUFFET: Yes.
MORGAN: Howard didn't bring any cell phone at all. Warren has something I haven't seen since a grandfather clock first came. Look at this.
WARREN BUFFET: This is the one Alexander Graham Bell gave me. He's got a new one.
MORGAN: How long have you had that one?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I don't throw anything away until I got it 20 or 25 years.
MORGAN: I haven't seen one of those since Star Trek came out.
WARREN BUFFETT: This is pretty impressive actually that I can dial people on this. I can't do these other things where it talks about text.
MORGAN: Do you use e-mail?
WARREN BUFFETT: I do it through my assistant. No.
MORGAN: Maybe yourself.
WARREN BUFFETT: I sent one e-mail in my life.
MORGAN: Who to?
WARREN BUFFETT: I sent it to Jeff Wright at Microsoft and it ended up in court in Minneapolis court. So I am one for one.
MORGAN: And you still have your old car? Is that right?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, it's not so old. It's about six years.
MORGAN: You're not into flashy things, are you really?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I have everything I want, you know, I'm happy.
MORGAN: Let's turn to your son because when I interviewed him nine months ago. We got into some of the deals that you did together as father and son which I found absolutely gripping. One of which was when you decided that...
HOWARD G BUFFETT: They're not that gripping.
MORGAN: Oh, they are, they are. So Howard you turned your backyard into a little farm and you wanted to do a deal with your dad about the rent. Explain to me what the deal was.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Well, actually that was 400 acres that HWB farms now and the deal was that the rent amount would be based on my weight.
WARREN BUFFETT: This was not a brilliant moment in parenting.
MORGAN: I mean, Warren what were you thinking? So, it was literally paid that if you put on weight, the rent went up.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Yeah. MORGAN: And if you reduced your weight...
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Unfortunately....
MORGAN: ... the rent went down?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, and I started feeding candy and pie and all this ....
HORWARD G. BUFFETT: Yet unfortunate, I kept paying the higher rate.
MORGAN: So it didn't work?
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: No, not really.
WARREN BUFFETT: No.
MORGAN: Conversely, there was an incentive scheme on a car that you wanted as a gift. Well, you wanted the money for it.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Yeah.
MORGAN: Tell me about that because that did work.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Well, you know, I knew that when I graduated from High School, I really want a car. So I went to my dad, I said, if I don't -- this is the beginning in High School, I said, for the next three years I don't get a birthday present or Christmas present, will you get me a car and he decided to give me $5,000 and back then it was actually quite a bit of money and ...
WARREN BUFFETT: Still is.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: ... see the problem I deal with? It's a big problem.
MORGAN: Look after that (inaudible).
(INAUDIBLE)
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: And so when I graduated I had $5,000 and I had summer jobs, so I earned another $2300 and I bought a new car with it and I thought it was pretty good deal.
MORGAN: Warren you stuck rigidly to the terms of the deal so that...
WARREN BUFFETT: Of course.
MORGAN: ... so that there was no wavering on your part?
WARREN BUFFETT: It was a deal. No, it was a deal.
MORGAN: It seems to me that the two incentives, one worked and one didn't would you regret the weight incentive that you laid down with your son?
WARREN BUFFETT: I would say it was dumb. You know, we're still talking about it today.
MORGAN: And Howard do you lay this down on HWB here? Has he had the same criteria?
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: You know, I don't think I've ever done that. No, I just -- what I did as I would -- sometimes I tell him if he's going on a trip to some country he didn't want to go to. But, you know, I figured out it was educational. I don't think I've ever done that. Yeah.
MORGAN: All three of your children went to public schools?
WARREN BUFFETT: That's true.
MORGAN: All three of them dropped out off college.
WARREN BUFFETT: Right.
MORGAN: You've always been pretty pragmatic about that.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah.
MORGAN: You don't seem to faze, why?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, for one thing, if they combine their credits, we can get one degree and that's...
(INAUDIBLE)
WARREN BUFFETT: I didn't want to go to college myself. My dad talked me into it, but I think my kids got a wonderful education in public school. I mean, they went to the same school that their grandfather did, their mother -- to school, the inter city school that's been between 20 and 35 percent black for 75 years. They saw the real world and they saw what America is all about and I think it was a great education.
MORGAN: What were the key messages that you wanted to send your children which I guess you passed down as well to deal with the fact that there was enormous wealth from the family almost from when they were born.
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, they never felt that it was going to be passed on to create some dynasty or something. I always felt that we would live wonderfully and then the rest will go back to society and that's been the plan since I was in my 20s.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: He hid it for a long time. He didn't know it affects.
MORGAN: Was he -- I don't want to use the word mean, but was he a little tight fisted, Howard, from the way you're painting this picture?
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: No, you painted it that way. No, not at all. I mean, first of all, when ... MORGAN: But what did he taught not to be too materialistic I guess would be the way I would phrase it.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Well, I don't think you can teach that. I just -- I think that's an observation and, you know, one of the biggest things you learn is what you observe and you know, I had two incredible parents and you know, my mom was the most giving person in the world. What I got from my dad was something very unique which was, you know, I used to eavesdrop on his business calls. I used to sit when he's going to talk about who is running for mayor.
MORGAN: But that must have been fascinating. But, you would only hear one side of the call?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes, but he can figure out how those go on. I prefer him only hearing one side of it.
MORGAN: Is it true Warren that basically you loved to just do business on the phone. Now, that's a way you like to conduct business because you were somebody who has ...
WARREN BUFFETT: Sure, sure.
MORGAN: Just endless phone calls, power brokering, doing the deals.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah and they don't take long. I mean that we made the decision to buy the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. I was down there on a Thursday and I said to a few people, "Is it OK if I offer him $100 here tomorrow?" And they said, "Fine." And so, we bought it. I mean...
MORGAN: Just like that. And how much did you pay?
WARREN BUFFETT: $34 billion.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Yes.
HOWARD WARREN BUFFETT: And he's worried about $5,000.
WARREN BUFFETT: Watch the pennies.
MORGAN: That is fascinating. I mean you must have unbelievable self belief, Warren, to be able to make that kind of deal in a matter of hours.
WARREN BUFFETT: If I'm operating within what I call my circle of confidence -- I mean there's all kinds of things I don't know how to do but if I do feel I know one -- a certain area and that was not a problem making that decision.
MORGAN: Do you often make big mistakes?
WARREN BUFFETT: Sure. Sure.
MORGAN: What's been the biggest? What's been the one you think I should never have done that? WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I bought a company in the mid 90's called Dexter Shoe and paid $400 million for it. It went to zero but I gave 400 million worth of Berkshire stock which is now worth, I don't know, probably 4 billion. Every time Berkshire goes up, I mean it costs me more that's a dumb decisions. I have made lot of dumb decisions. That's just part of the game.
MORGAN: I'd love to make decisions that went wrong like that. Make that one come on easier. When we come back, we're going to talk about the woman you just mentioned, your great mother, your great wife, the amazing impact she had on the whole family. And many say the brains really behind the power. Would you agree with that, Warren?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes. I do. I would agree.
MORGAN: We will discuss that after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN BUFFETT, LATE WIFE OF WARREN BUFFETT: I always thought I'd marry a minister or a doctor somebody out doing some valuable service to human beings. And the fact that I married somebody who makes just piles of money is really the antithesis of what I ever thought, but I know what he is. And he is -- there's no finer human being in who he is. So I overlooked the money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Warren Buffett's first wife, Susan back in 2004, what proved to be her first and only interview is an inspiration for the entire family.
I have three of them with me here tonight, Warren Buffett and his son and grandson, Howard G. and Howard W. Buffett.
Howard, you said earlier, your mother was extraordinary figure in all your lives. Tell me why?
HOWARD G BUFFETT: Well, she is -- first of all, she did something, you had my dad saying earlier which is, she provided unconditional love to all three of us. She had incredible patience with me, which was a requirement I think to keep me in line and out of trouble and she cared about everybody. I mean, there was nobody that would meet her that didn't connect with her and feel a passion and a warmth from her and she really taught us how to care about other people and how important it is to treat every human being equally.
MORGAN: My favorite story in the book and there's so many powerful stories here of your travels, I'm going to come to this, where you go around the world doing extraordinary work with the foundation. A lot of it financed by your dad and ...
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: All of it. MORGAN: ... its amazing work that you do and we will come to this. But my favorite story is the time that your mother, very unusually for her. Besides, she's had enough of you, locks you away in your bedroom, now most kids in that position and I've been in that position. You just sit there sulking and then eventually you're allowed back in to the community.
But not you Howard, what did you do?
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Well, I had a roll of windows in my room and, you know, I opened the window up, we had this greenhouse so I'd be careful climbing out because I don't want to go through the glass, but I got down and we had our charge account at the local hardware store about five blocks away and I went up there and I convinced the guy to let me charge a hasp lock, I had to buy a screw driver because I didn't have any tools and I get everything I needed and I crawled back up in and I locked her out.
MORGAN: You changed the lock of your bedroom door because she thinks that (inaudible) ...
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: But I put a whole hasp lock on it. I put in a whole new lock and put the screws in it and locked it out.
WARREN BUFFETT: He was the Hannibal Lecter.
MORGAN: I mean, I can't think of any other child I've ever met who would even think of doing that.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Well, I don't know. It's practical to me.
MORGAN: How did you mother react?
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: I think as it is, she probably got a kick out of it. I mean, she's all irritated that she couldn't get back in.
MORGAN: So, Warren, what do you make of a son that has such devilish mastermind capabilities.
WARREN BUFFETT: It was a worry for a while as I mentioned in the book, we had Howie who was the second child, quite soon after the first child but after we had him, we decided to call a halt.
I should mention that interview incidentally, my wife had just had an oral cancer.
MORGAN: That's right.
WARREN BUFFETT: It impeded her speech but ...
MORGAN: Tell me about Susan, Warren because, you know, she was obviously this huge great love of your life and then amazing mother and wife. Tell me about her.
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I was a mess when she met me. And matter of fact, in another part of that interview, she said what was her first impression of me and she said, "What a jerk."
Unfortunately, she looked at me as a challenge. Maybe sort of preparing her for Howard, I mean, and she put me together and that -- it was -- it changed my life.
MORGAN: When you say she put you together, in what ways for the good? How did you change?
WARREN BUFFETT: I slowly grew up and I wouldn't have otherwise. I was -- I just -- I wasn't feeling good about the world or myself and she just stood there with a little watering can and just sprinkled in front of the flower it bloomed.
MORGAN: Many great businessmen are incapable of real love or even real emotions sometimes. They get absorbed in business. Many people who don't know, I guess may assume you're one of those characters, but from what the family has told, what I've read in great biography about your snowball and others, you're not that man at all. You're capable of great emotion and great love.
WARREN BUFFETT: There's nothing like love, no.
MORGAN: Just to override, anything else you would write?
WARREN BUFFETT: Sure, sure. I mean, it's wonderful to love. It's wonderful to be loved.
MORGAN: I'll talk to you HWB about this. I mean you've have this extraordinary figures in your life, haven't you? An extraordinary father here, your grandfather, your grandmother, obviously. I mean tell me about what is like growing up in this kind of family?
HOWARD W. BUFFETT: Well, to be frank it's been normal in a sense that we grew up in a normal house. We grew up with normal cars. And, you know, we grew up being told that there was nothing different about us and anybody around us.
And so, that I think really help grounded us and who we've all become as part of this family. But having these values that have been so clearly - I have seen at least stepping back -- passed down from my grandfather to my father and especially in the way that they each do their work in their own unique ways. It's been one of the most amazing things for me to observe and seat back and try and draw from as much as possible when watching the way that they've been successful.
MORGAN: Warren, what other the key values that you would like to see other people recognize in your children, your grandchildren, your family, your extended family?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I want them to be good citizens, good parents that the -- what the world would be better off because they were here.
MORGAN: What else? What makes a great character, I know that you think that one of the great rules of investing in life and business is character is one of the big things not getting into debt is another, but character a very important integrity. What is your definition of that?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I'm not sure I can give you a great one. But I know it when I see it and I know it when it exist around me, and I feel good about all three of my children but it wasn't always that way.
MORGAN: It's been work in progress.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes, there are a few years. But they felt the same way about me, I'm sure.
HOWARD W. BUFFETT: The second most important piece of advice that I have been given is to surround yourselves with people that have even greater integrity than you have, because all they do ...
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: Greater intelligence.
HOWARD W. BUFFETT: They have greater intelligence of course and it's easy for me to do.
WARREN BUFFETT: That's easy.
HOWARD W. BUFFETT: Yes, yes exactly.
MORGAN: Has it been hard, Howard growing up with that surname.
HOWARD G.BUFFETT: Well, I'll tell you this there's a lot more benefits to it then there are, you know. I mean -- and so, you know, you get frustrated. But I will tell you, when you're younger growing up with it, it was frustrating at times. But, you know, today it's a huge advantage and what you really have to do is make sure you're responsible about it.
And, you know, I never felt much different as Howie is saying, I mean, you know, growing up in the house we grew up with neighborhood we grew up in I mean it just, you know, I didn't feel any different that I think anybody else felt.
WARREN BUFFETT: We've been in the same house now for 55 years.
MORGAN: In Omaha, the famous house.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes, absolutely. And that we got terrific neighbors, you know, Nancy brings over cherry pies. My wife Astrid loves it.
MORGAN: Have you ever go and buy like a, you know, like a liter of milk or something? Warren do you ever do that to your ...
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes, I go to the supermarket and I kind of enjoying looking around. Yes.
MORGAN: And you all been here before we finish this interview we've got about half an hour left. I'm going to get you play the ukulele lately, possibly a better Frank Sinatra. I'm also going to get you to show the world your wallet. So, we need to think about (inaudible).
WARREN BUFFETT: My wife's had it.
MORGAN: So this is what your son told me.
WARREB EDWARD BUFFETT: You want to see my wallet.
MORGAN: He says its thread bare and dust and has cobwebs, right Howard?
WARREN BUFFETT: I'm not sure where the time lock is.
MORGAN: Don't get it out yet.
WARREN BUFFETT: No, no.
MORGAN: We're going to surprise the viewers later. But he is carrying a wallet Warren Buffett and I'm going to examine it later in this show. We'll be back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHAD MYERS, TTS METEOROLOGIST: Hi everyone. I'm Meteorologist Chad Myers. We'll back to Piers Morgan in just a minute. The first bit of good news I can probably give anybody, the storm has weakened in the past couple of hours down to 130 miles per hour. Now, that's still equal to a category three hurricane in the Atlantic but it isn't what it was which was 195 mile per hour storm as it made its way right over the Eastern and Central Islands of the Philippines. So it's getting better. We're finally going to start to, see this slow down a little bit and it will slow down a lot eventually when it finally does hit the Vietnam Coast. But we're going to see a lot of rainfall when that happens.
There is your category 2, making landfall tomorrow afternoon probably. And this is the issue. It is going to be a rain maker. There is going to be some white spots that have developed right through there. That's all 10 inches of rainfall or more and it will slide right back down into the ocean. So there will be mud slides and there will be flash flooding. We'll kind of keep you advised this afternoon, next tomorrow afternoon of what's going on still in the Philippines because it is still going to be a big story. The storm significantly run through the Philippines with about 160 to 180 mile per hour gust and there are awful lot of people probably got injured with this. We'll keep you advised as that comes to light.
Stay with us. And for all the latest, Piers Morgan Live is up next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN BUFFETT: A great reputation, as I say, is like virginity, it can be preserved, but it can't be restored. At least that's what my dad told me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Warren Buffet speaking with Fortune Magazine at the height of Washington's budget standoff on when Mr. Buffett speaks the world listens. Back now with Warren Buffett his son Howard G. Buffett, and his grandson Howard W. Buffett, great tweet just in from Reverend Nikki (ph) who says, "Warren Buffet just compared his son to Hannibal Lecter on Piers Morgan. I am thinking this is an exaggeration".
HOWARD G. BUFFET: Completely. He doesn't know me.
MORGAN: Yeah. Howard tell me about this book "Forty Chances", why the title?
HOWARD G. BUFFET: Well, the "Forty Chances" comes from actually my career farming. I went to -- back in around 2001 or something. I went to what they call planter school which doesn't sound very exciting. And it was on a winter time and a lot of farmers kind of gather.
And there's a speaker there who said we're really doing things thinking about things wrong. And that when you think of, you know, once season blends into the other and then he said, you know, by the time your dad lets you climb on the tractor and you climb off with your son or daughter climb on, you got about 40 crops, 40 seasons, or 40 years to really make a difference. Do well in what you do and grow the best crop that you can grow.
And actually it made me think about a few things differently in my farming, but what it really did was kind of made me think about, this is a really a mindset in life, because you have maybe 40 prime years that you can -- you might have 80, but, you know it's really a mindset. I mean you've got to bring urgency to what you do if you want to change something. You got to figure out how to do things at scale.
In our case we've got to take risk because we want to learn what doesn't work as quickly as we can and let everybody else know what our failures are.
MORGAN: The main theme of this is finding hope in a hungry world, feeding those who just can't afford to feed themselves in some of the most difficult places on earth.
One of the quandaries that you face, I mean you're very open about this is you sometimes can pump money into these areas and you never see it again. It gets squandered. It gets corrupted. It gets wasted. What have you learned about that battle? How do you deal with that?
HOWARD G. BUFFET: Well, one of the biggest things I've learned is -- I mean there's a lot of great organizations out there. So, you know, I have confidence in where most the money goes. What happens is it doesn't get you to the results you want.
And so, you know, one of the things I learned in 2005 I was in an Angolan Village in Angola and, you know, I had this woman try to give me her child and I had to refuse to take the child, and that was a kind of a pivotal moment for me because I went back and I figured out the people with me help me figure out what's it take to do the logistics, to get the medical people there the therapeutic feeding emergency. All the pieces that go into $4.5 million and that might get them through the next season depending on a lot of other factors. But then you can't take tens of thousand of villagers across the country with 54 countries and save it project by project.
And so that was when I really start to understand, you have to do this scale. You have to hack all the fundamental problems and you absolutely have to engage on advocacy which is something I had never done.
MORGAN: Warren you pump more and more money into Howard's foundation. I think over $3 billion you now have. You obviously like the way that he's gone about trying to tackle this problem. What do you make of what he's achieved?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, he's offered in the premise as my other two children and that it's a (Gage) foundation so that all lives have equal value. And from that, he's taken this particular passion and his area of expertise farming and looked around the world and seeing that it can be done so much better by people. And not by telling him to do it like us but working with those conditions that they have and, you know, it will make a difference.
MORGAN: Proud of him?
WARREN BUFFETT: I'm very proud of him.
MORGAN: Let's take a break. Let's come back. Let's talk more Buffett. I want an investment advice. Lots of Tweets saying, " Come on Warren, give us some tips.
HOWARD BUFFETT: The tip is to read 40 chances.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes there's(inaudible).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN BUFFETT: Can you do any better on salary?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, that range is at a corporate.
WARREN BUFFETT: What about mileage when I use my car, I mean gas ain't cheap, you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think the $0.25 a mile is pretty generous.
WARREN BUFFETT: How about $0.27 and when I make long business calls, will they be monitored or is it on the honor system?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Warren Buffett negotiating with the gang on NBC's The Office that legendary attention to details, I'm met his family, one of the most influential in the world back now with the three generations of Buffetts, Warren, Howard G, and Howard W. Do you enjoy being an actor there, Warren, well you're quite good?
WARREN BUFFETT: I wouldn't say that, but nice thing about being mildly famous is that the worst you are the better people like it.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT: There are a lot of people who like it.
MORGAN: What is do you think most people when they see you in the street recognize you, ask you?
WARREN BUFFETT: Oh, they come up with, you know, they say, "Are you really?" You know, and then I said, "No, I'm really much better looking."
MORGAN: I would ask you whether you carry a wallet and what's inside it. If I was to ask you that now, what would the answers be?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, let's take a look.
MORGAN: This is a moment in television history. Is this Edward (inaudible) on television before?
WARREN BUFFETT: I got this wallet for -- here's my. ..
MORGAN: How long have you had it first?
WARREN BUFFETT: Probably about 20 years, maybe.
MORGAN: And what do you have in it?
WARREN BUFFETT: Here's my American express card from 1964.
MORGAN: That's a green one.
HOWARD W BUFFETT: That's a green card, yes.
MORGAN: It's actually -- that's the original green Amex card.
WARREN BUFFETT: Oh, that is it.
MORGAN: That's the one you've had the whole time?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes, well it goes with my cell phone.
MORGAN: I'd love that, yes. What other cards do you have?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I have a variety of cards, but there's a picture of the family.
MORGAN: Yes.
WARREN BUFFETT: And...
MORGAN: And how much cash?
WARREN BUFFETT: More than usual that ...
MORGAN: That must quite of load actually.
WARREN BUFFETT: There's some hundreds in there, but yes --but they're going to say ...
(INAUDIBLE)
MORGAN: You see how far --
(INAUDIBLE)
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes, right.
MORGAN: I have literally seen green (inaudible) that, OK, it's going back in. Let me ask you Howard. Of all the places you've been, of all the issues you've dealt with, what is being the most powerful to you personally?
HOWARD G. WBUFFETT: The resiliency of people. I've talked to -- I don't know if you saw that movie Blood Diamond but I've talked to hundreds of victims that survived the RUF attacks in Sierra Leone during the conflict there that, you know, they had their -- they were offered a long sleeve, short sleeve, and they chop their arms in different places.
It's amazing to watch this people figure out how to carry water back to their village. There's a child soldier in their little chromite who talked about how they slit his chest open, cocaine in him, made him drag a AK-47 because he was too young to carry it at six. I mean all of this people that we -- that we have the opportunity to meet in these really difficult circumstances, the resiliency and the fact that so many of them don't give up hope. It's very ...
MORGAN: Well, it's pack full powerful stories. I already commend the book it's beautifully written, it's very evocative, and I don't think people will really enjoy it.
Warren let me turn you quickly to the shutdown we just had and the debt ceiling crisis. Seems like (inaudible) on air in CNN in three years there's going to be some crisis involving Washington, debt ceilings, shutdowns, how do we try and bring an end to all this and actually move forward for the benefit of the American economy and the American people?
WARREN BUFFETT: I think that both parties should declare the debt limit as a political weapon of mass destruction which can't be use. I mean it is silly to have a country that has a 237 years building up its reputation and then have people threatened to tear it down because they're not getting some other matter, it just -- it's so disproportionate to other issues.
So, the first thing to do is just take that off the table and what I really hope is that Ryan and Murray sit down and work out something probably it's better in private and work out something that involves some real good on both sides and then presented for an up or down vote and I think the American public has been significant enough kind of irritated and disgusted with what's happened to put a lot of pressure on something sensible to get through.
MORGAN: When you look at America's place in the world, you've always said, never bet against America.
WARREN BUFFETT: Never.
MORGAN: And I would certainly go along with that an amazing country, amazing superpower but there are rivals now at the superpower stages notably China. What should America be looking to do going forward. It used to be this great manufacturing powerhouse. What is the future for America Incorporated do you think?
WARREN BUFFETT: Terrific, terrific. This country has worked for 237 years. Every generation has lived better than the ones before it. We've gone through Civil Wars, Great World Wars, Depressions and everything else and America always moves ahead. And we have not exhausted the potential or become host of our system.
So, our best days lie ahead. I feel terrific for my son and my grandson.
MORGAN: Howard a lot of people tweeted me saying, I've got a thousand dollars to spend, what should I be investing in, Warren is the guy to ask.
WARREN EDWARD.BUFFETT: Well you've asked. You've got your job.
MORGAN: That is why he's worth. How much are you worth Warren Buffett? Do you know how much you're worth?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well you an multiply all the value but it's all going to plan. Every single share will go (inaudible). And I don't need it, I mean I've got everything I need. So, it can do a lot for other people, it does nothing for me.
MORGAN: The website is 40chances.com and you can actually make suggestions they were saying to me just now, how -- where people can suggest ideas or how you can spend money for the foundation.
HOWARD GRAHAM BUFFETT: Well suggest people to get involved. So, if they read the book and they're inspired by anything we're talking about then they can go there. We have a number of orientations, ideas and that type of thing. So, they can actually go there too.
MORGAN: Brilliant. Well listen we're going to come to this magnificent moment in musical history.
(INAUDIBLE)
MORGAN: Have you ever met Frank Sinatra before he died?
WARREN BUFFETT: No I never met Frank Sinatra.
MORGAN: You're a fan?
WARREN BUFFETT: I'm a fan. MORGAN: And you're a fan of the Ukulele?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yes and you just (inaudible).
MORGAN: To make it clear to the viewers, Warren has not played this instrument before, this particular one. We purchased this in New York City today but we believe it's a good one. He has had a little practice on it, you're ready to go and this is Warren Buffett singing Frank Sinatra's, "My Way."
WARREN BUFFETT: Joined by Piers.
MORGAN: I will do a bit of murmuring in the back.
WARREN EDWARD BUFFET: Let's do it here now. Now the end is near and so I face the final curtain. My friends I'll say it clear, I'll say it (inaudible) something or, which I'm certain. I've lived a life that's full and traveled each and every highway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way.
MORGAN: Fabulous. That was absolutely fabulous, a lot of talent. Well we have about 50 seconds left. A bit inundated with tweets, many of them say, these Buffett boys are a lot of fun aren't they?
WARREN BUFFETT: We had a lot of fun.
MORGAN: You don't do this kind of interview very often Warren, how do you enjoy the last hour?
WARREN BUFFETT: I've enjoyed it a lot. I always enjoy being with this, I've enjoyed this and I think maybe we can show up at the Grammy's the two of us.
MORGAN: How would you like to be remembered?
WARREN BUFFETT: A teacher, teacher, yeah, well actually I'd like to remembered as the oldest man that ever lived, I'm sure that's with the (inaudible).
MORGAN: And if there was one moment I could relive in your entire life again for you. Which moment would you choose?
WARREN BUFFETT: The time with my dad, some moment, any moment.
MORGAN: Just to see him again one more time.
WARREN BUFFETT: Absolutely.
MORGAN: Well Warren and Howard, HWB I'm sorry. Thank you so much for inviting me to become part of 40 Chances it's a terrific cause, love the book, loved the interview. Here it is, Howard G Buffett with Howard W Buffett, 40 Chances, finding hope in a hungry world. Terrific cause but it's packed with fun, it's packed with great advice as you could expect, anything with the Buffett associated with it. It's been a great honor for me.
HOWARD GRAHAM BUFFETT: And don't forget the stock news at the end.
MORGAN: It will be updated each of (inaudible).
(INAUDIBLE)
MORGAN: Howard I want to thank you because you were good to your word. You brought back your old man and your son and it's been a terrific hour in television and I'm really grateful to all of you. Thank you all very much indeed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: In the chair tonight, one of my great heroes the one and only William Shatner, best of his roles of Star Trek and Boston Legal, also a musician, let's call it an Eclectic Style, his new album, Ponder the Mystery is out now and he joins me. William Shatner how are you?
WILLIAM SHATNER, CANADIAN ACTOR, MUSICIAN, SINGER, AUTHOR, SPOKESMAN, COMEDIAN: Electric.
MORGAN: Here's the reason I use that phrase. You never do things the conventional way, ever about anything do you? You're an unconventional man.
SHATNER: Well I don't try to but it doesn't seem to come out that way.
MORGAN: You look ridiculously well.
SHATNER: I am.
MORGAN: I'm going to ask you how old you are because viewers who don't know will be stunned.
SHATNER: I'm 43. Not looking well, I've been I'll. I've been promoting this album I'm tired.
MORGAN: Come on, how old are you?
SHATNER: 82.
MORGAN: 82 years old, you look fantastic.
SHATNER: Well, you've gone from incredible to fantastic.
MORGAN: It's not bad.
SHATNER: No.
MORGAN: I'd take either. What is the secret to eternal youth, William Shatner?
SHATNER: Well first of all.
MORGAN: I'm serious, I mean (inaudible). SHATNER: The luck of being healthy, the luck of good health. The luck of being invigorated by life because I have health and that is both a gift, it's also work, I mean you stay healthy, eat well, exercise all the good things we know all the varieties.
MORGAN: When you look at the state of Washington right now.
SHATNER: That will make you ill right there.
MORGAN: Well, exactly. What do you make of it all? You've been through -- you're Canadian, you've never been an American citizen but you've been through 11 American Presidents since you lived here. Why have you never become an American citizen?
SHATNER: All those lines I had to learn to, I swear allegiance, then I had to memorize that stuff.
MORGAN: No seriously why have you never...
SHATNER: Well that's the reason, I'm just sort of basically. I'm sort of proud of the idea that I'm Canadian and Canada is this wonderful country to the north and we contribute a great deal to the American culture and we're part of the American culture, although we're uniquely Canadian.
MORGAN: Well what would you make of the whole, never mind all the debt standoff, what do you make of the ObamaCare dispute?
SHATNER: We don't know. Part of the mystery of ObamaCare, will it be less money? Or will it be -- will it cost us or will it not cost us? We're told by experts, so we need to wait and see. If in time that we see that the cost to be are increasing, we have to do something about it. But if Obama is correct and that health program lessens the cost of this extraordinary accounting of medical cost then we're home free.
MORGAN: How would Captain James T. Kirk run America right now if he was President?
SHATNER: Fire them all and have a new election. Given what the American people in the polls are saying, there would be a really irrational decision to have elections.
MORGAN: This whole album covers ...
SHATNER: Yes.
MORGAN: ... it has to be mysterious and weird and strange?
SHATNER: Well it's not weird and strange. The music is ...
MORGAN: But it's not to you ...
SHATNER: ... Bill Sherwood ...
MORGAN: Yes.
SHATNER: ... who is a great musician and he's written tremendous music, there's great musicians on the album that ...
MORGAN: Well let's take a look -- let's take a look at some of these.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHATNER: The confusion of faith and logic of clarity. The tranquility of summer and winter's ferocity. The harshness of reality and the luxury of fantasy. The details of the devil. The angelic purity. The miracle of passion and the hate of the depravity. (inaudible).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHATNER: So the idea is to ponder the mystery in this song. Ponder the mystery of the variations of man's behavior, a child's love, a man's cruelty. How do they exist together? And I think in sentences some of the mystery of how do these things exist together?
MORGAN: What's the simple answer?
SHATNER: We are composed of all of it and we have to maintain control of those impulses that are negative.
MORGAN: You ever lose your temper? Do you ever get highly emotional?
SHATNER: All the time.
MORGAN: Tell me more about ...
SHATNER: About the album?
MORGAN: Yes.
SHATNER: I am -- I'm on a journey. The mysterious journey ...
MORGAN: Do you know where you're going?
SHATNER: No, the best journeys -- are when you don't know where you're going and you make the discovery as you go along from point to point. For example, there's this whole mysterious world of music.
MORGAN: What do you feel when you're doing it? When you're making this music?
SHATNER: Well I felt transported by writing the lyrics and then when Billy Sherwood wove the music around my words and then we have these great musicians come in and play (inaudible). It's stupefy. The music is to me is as mysterious as the creative urge, as mysterious as why people are acting playing poker with the country, why -- what is the impulse? We have to think that most of them are -- the impulse is good but its fantastical behavior.
MORGAN: William Shatner, it's terrific to talk to you, fascinating. Your mind works in such mysterious ways, it's called Ponder the Mystery, you've made me ponder a few mysteries.
SHATNER: I want you to listen to the album.
MORGAN: I will.
SHATNER: And hear some great music.
MORGAN: Well you've already kindly signed it for me. I shall do that.
SHATNER: I shall do that.
MORGAN: It's great to see you.
SHATNER: It's lovely to see you. Thank you for having me.
MORGAN: We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two people who've lost their lives so far but this is just within the first few minutes of being hit. (inaudible) then as we go deeper in land, there's -- that's where you'll find the -- more people who have been badly injured or who has lost their lives due to this typhoon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Let's just welcome our viewers from our sister networks CNN, USA joining us, we're covering there aftermath of this powerful, devastating typhoon are Paula Hancocks just on a tour with the Philippine's military. The first international reporter to get a first hand look of devastation in one of the hardest hit cities and she's describing and I understand we have new video coming to us from Tacloban are -- you're looking at these pictures right now obviously roads, streets completely flooded. Streets turning into surging rivers, homes destroyed.
This was said to be the strongest typhoon ever recorded. It came ashore within the last 24 hours. It's now headed to Vietnam causing a lot of destruction. The extent of the devastation as you can see is just now becoming clear and our Paula Hancocks told us when she was touring with the military when they looked below, it looks like a tsunami disaster. So Paula, take it from here. Tell us your reaction and the reaction of your crew when they saw the damage below.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well as we were flying over the area, it was quite clear that there was a lot of water, most and awful a lot of the ground seemed to be covered by watered although it's difficult to see from the cargo plane. And also, you can see that there are also majority of trees were either bent over or that have been completely fell. And when we landed, even quite clear the terminal buildings had been completely destroyed. They still go to the certain place but certainly not -- certainly does look as though a tsunami has come through here.
And in fact, it did, this is storm surge. This is a wall of water that came through this particular area. One of the military officials here telling me that it reached the second story. And you can believe him because you can see the second story has had all those windows blown out and being -- and destroyed as well. Everything that was inside the general building is now thrown outside the general building, there's broken wood. There are chairs and turned up side down cars, and all sorts of debris that you would expect from the wall of water coming through here at this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Imagine what that must be like for those people who underwent this horrific natural disaster and then seeing the devastation first hand, seeing what it has done. I think the scope of this disaster will become clearer in the coming hours and days based on what we're seeing in this hard hit city.
Paula, are you seeing any activity on the ground? Do you see people walking around?
HANCOCKS: Yes, there a number of residents that are walking around. Some of them have come to this particular terminal area obviously knowing that the military planes will be landing here and this is where the food and the water will be distributed -- well, it's likely to be distributed, and this is also where -- if they have injuries, they would think that they can get some first aid. And we've seen a very basic amount of that just walking away from there having a bandage on. So nothing too sophisticated at this point that hasn't been set up but it's -- it is a possibility that this could be one of the staging areas for this recovery effort as this is where the military and the aid groups are coming in.
And this one we have the United Nations walking around. You have World Food Programme. I spoke to the head of the World Food Programme on the way over. He was in the same military plane. And he said basically what they have to do in the first hour is figure out what they can do, is figure out the lay of the land, where they can get to, where they can they not get to, where is the worst affected area. And he said that will take some time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I assume -- I'm just assuming that's also probably one of the biggest challenges to figure out the need and then going from there. You've covered a lot of disasters. Have you ever seen anything like this?
HANCOCKS: This -- it does look quite similar to disasters I have seen in the past just the sheer devastation and the debris everywhere. This is the first typhoon that I have seen of this magnitude, it's actually done this much damage, of this much damage I have only really seen through tsunamis in the past. But it's interesting that pretty much everything which way you look at is either been flattened or has been broken off halfway down and it's completely stripped. So you can see just from the trees itself, the direction of the winds and the ferocity of the wind as it came through here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paula, any indication -- are you getting any numbers on the death toll?
HANCOCKS: At this point, we're not getting any numbers at all. To be honest, it will probably be the easiest for you at your end. to get those numbers because the people on the ground here simply don't have those numbers. They're working in a very local sense and the information they get will go back to Manila, back to their headquarters, and then that will be publicized. And I say, I've seen two men who were deceased at this point. And so, clearly there have been casualties here. It's unclear whether they were actually in the terminal buildings at the time of the storm or whether they were transported here by residents, by family perhaps knowing that this was going to be a staging area. It's potentially an area where bodies could flown out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Let's let you know what's happening right now. We've been covering the aftermath of the Typhoon Haiyan. Our viewers in the United States will now resume watching Crossfire. More news coming up.
