Gerald Herbert / AP Warren Buffett

When: Today, Friday August 22
Where: CNBC's "Squawk Box"

Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of the CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with billionaire investor Warren Buffett on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

BUFFETT ON I.O.U.S.A.:

QUICK: All right. That sounds perfect. You know, Carl, we're going to check back in with you in just a few minutes because we have a lot of things about the Olympics to talk about with Warren Buffett as well, everything from Coca-Cola to sponsorships.

But, folks, we are in Omaha today because last night there was a groundbreaking event in the world of finance and politics that took place right here. It was the world premiere of a documentary called "I.O.U.S.A." Now, the film takes a look at what it says are America's four key deficits. It explores the risks to the future of this country and of its citizens.

And, Warren, you were in the documentary, so let's take a look at one of the clips from that right now.

Mr. BUFFETT: Yes.

(Clip of "I.O.U.S.A." courtesy Roadside Attractions)

QUICK: The film premiered on hundreds of movie screens across the country last night, including right here in Omaha. After the debut, I got the chance to moderate a town hall meeting with the men who were behind the movie, Blackstone's Pete Peterson and former US Comptroller General David Walker.

Warren, this was a discussion with five of the brightest minds of people who are looking out there at the economy, and there is some debate as to how big of a problem this is.

Mr. BUFFETT: Yeah. There was a debate last night as a matter of fact.

QUICK: Right.

Mr. BUFFETT: And the film takes the position pretty universally throughout the film that it's an enormous problem, and I probably represented the group that thinks this is quite a bit less of a problem than the film portrayed. But I admire the people that did it in that there's so little thinking done beyond the next electoral event that there are important policy matters that do extend way out into the future and--whether it's energy, whether it's the question of weapons of mass destruction, certainly in terms of fiscal policies. So I admire the fact they tackled the subject. I don't--I don't agree with many of the conclusions in the movie.

BUFFETT ON THE ECONOMY 1:

QUICK: So again, Warren, we're thrilled to have you here this morning for three hours, and we do have a lot to talk about today. One of the things we'd like to get straight to, though, is what you see happening in the economy right now. We've been talking to you for some time about what you see as some significant problems in the economy. And, from your perspective, have things gotten any better? Have they gotten any worse?

Mr. BUFFETT: No, they've rippled out some, and that's what you'd expect. So the excesses in credit, the deleveraging that was required, the weak credits that are exposed, all that is--we're seeing manifestations out as the ripples go out, and I think I said one time that, you know, you only find out who's been swimming naked when the tide goes out. Well, we found out that Wall Street has been kind of a nudist beach. There's--it's just one discovery after another of firms that either didn't know what they were doing or that did things that they shouldn't have knowingly. And all of the troubles have not been revealed the first time around, usually, so there's considerable disillusionment that's set in in terms of are these guys telling us the truth now or maybe they just don't know what the truth is. So all of that's having an effect, and what we're seeing in business, in our retail businesses...

QUICK: Mm-hmm.

Mr. BUFFETT: ...certainly, anything to do with housing is even a further slowing down. I mean, June and July, both in terms of credit experience with people that first got into trouble of house payments and now on credit card payments and so on. And retail trade, it's not over by a long shot.

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