>> we also have the fonz on the show tonight, henry winkler. would you describe it as a gift? >> i carried a tremendous amount of anger. >> and we're going to do the walking dead. you're going to die when you hear what he has in store. >> there's a third threat that's coming out. >> "stroumboulopoulos" starts now!

all right. very nice to see you. how exciting is this. you saw off the top who's going to be here. i know a lot of you are going to be about what's going to be happening on the next season of "walking dead." but this guy was, as you know, called a borderline psychotic, and that was to promo his show. what is that like? that's the story of howie mandell. here's his story. >> the loneliest place ever is if you're a standup comic. but it was the perfect job for somebody like howie mandell. growing up in toronto in the

in 1978, he was working as a carpet sales person and he booked a week-long engagement at a comedy club. even though it was politically incorrect in an odd way, he was being accepted for who he was. he quit selling carpets. had an hbo special. >> what, what? >> the next 30 years, he was owning tv. he's done everything. even with constant work, found time to help others with their disorder, making sure that they are not suffering alone, even if you're a standup comic. >> howie mandell! [ applause ] >> thank you, thank you. >> how are you, sir? >> doing great. before we start, i just want to say how thrilled i am to see you here in america, on cnn. i got to say, and for those americans who haven't seen you

before, i've been doing this for 35 years. i've done every talk show. i have to say, and people ask me this all the time, the best interview, the most comfortable i've ever felt is doing my interviews with you. we've done it on your show in canada. he's smart, does his homework, and what i get from you is you are genuinely interested and knowledgeable ant the people you're talking to. usually you're just doing a talk show and it's guest after guest. i know you haven't asked me a question yet, but i wanted to celebrate from one canadian to another that i'm thrilled to have you here. you're very kind. >> thank you for saying that. how are things? >> agt, "america's got talent" is bigger than ever. this year we're going to radio city music hall. it's the most memorable point in my career.

i was backstage and you can look out to whatever street that is in manhattan. i watched 7,000 people pour in, they closed traffic. they had cops, and i'm thinking this goofy little kid from toronto, there's a coroner manhattan, in this iconic theater, it's for me. so for these people this year, you can go through an entire career and never play at radio city music hall. it's so amazing and means so much. i hope people appreciate that when they watch. >> to look out the window and see the 7,000 people, there are many people in this world that would collapse under that pressure. >> that pressure and that anxiety that wells up in me is my fuel. if i'm too tired or too scared, if i'm too nervous, i feel alive. if i'm just sitting comfortably and nothing is running through my head, to me that's terror and discomfort.

>> let's go back to an early performance on television. take a look at this clip here. >> you know what that's from? that is from the sixth annual young comedian special on hbo. the smothers brothers were the host. it was me, jerry seinfeld, richard lewis, harry anderson and maureen murphy. we were the young undiscovered comics. but even at that point in my career, you can see my demeanor. it was based on fear.

hanging out with howie mandell. but even at that point in my career, you can see my demeanor. it was based on fear. we were the young undiscovered comics. but even at that point in my career, you can see my demeanor. it was based on fear.

my parents, it was a way of being raised, to treat others the way you want to be treated. as you sow, so shall you reap. that's the laws of life.

hanging out with howie mandell. lots to talk about. let's look at this photograph from when howie was performing earlier in his career. first of all, you look like you're the drummer of a death metal band. >> that was yuck yucks, my first paid gig. you can go on amateur night, and i was the feature act. i still have the check from that week. i did, i think it was nine shows

for $125. and you're going, well, i was thrilled. i wouldn't believe that somebody would give me $100 or $50 to go up there and do everything i've ever been punished for, expelled for, hit for, yelled at for. how do you make money doing this? i wasn't really doing anything. i didn't realize this is possibly a career path. the first time i got up on stage it was -- nobody was more surprised than me. the first time they started laughing, it was like the most comfortable place on earth. i was just wallowed in -- i mean, swadled in a warm blanket of laughter and everybody was looking at me. at school, i was a pariah. >> you were kicked out of a bunch of schools. >> i was kicked out of a bunch of schools. people say, was i the class clown? no, i loved spectacle. when you're a young kid, i think

the key is, and still is today to fit in. you don't want to stand out. you want to dress like everybody. you want to look -- i couldn't sit. i didn't know that it was a.d.d. i couldn't sit. i thought it was funny, so i would enter the class 15 minutes late through the window on the second floor and just sit down at my desk and the class would stop and the teacher would go, howard -- i was howard. that's why i don't use that name anymore. they would go, yes? do you want to say anything? i would go, no. and then everybody was just weirded out, worried and let me go about my day. i would do things like that all the time. i started more as like -- i'm a nut. i was the guy that would make weird noises. i was the guy that phoned companies to get bids on the library without authorization, just for the principal to say who authorized this? they would say howie mandell.

you know that add j, if i could just make one person laugh, i'm doing my job. i was the one person, nobody else. people come up and say, i remember you in school, you were so funny. no i wasn't. you never laughed. i didn't have any friends. >> what is it like when you meet that girl and she puts up with it and becomes your wife? >> i met her when she was 18 years old. we've been married 34 years. when i found somebody who got it, who enjoyed it, and kind of understood it and -- i just hung on and i have not let go since. i won't. she's the -- she's my treasure. that's my stability in life. >> what kind of carpet salesman are you? >> number one, i'm color blind. but i didn't tell them. i wouldn't believe until they thought something.

i wanted to make them uncomfortable, because that's where i'm comfortable. there's a family sitting on a couch at one place. i had to measure the rooms, what i did is after i measured the rooms, i took off my shirt and i drew the whole apartment on my stomach and chest, and i -- seriously, i would lie down like this, and i would say, all right, so you want the shag -- you see the shag this this area here? because i think we need something that will go down the stairs here that will wear a little more. at first they were looking at each other. after a while, comfort set in and they would say, listen, we

want the blue carpet right up to your nipple. and i loved bringing people into this uncomfortable world. if people are just tuning in now, i would imagine they're uncomfortable. what kind of interview is this? [ applause ] here's the thing, though, was there always one part of the room you really didn't want them to point to? like what's in the attic? howie, show me what's in the basement. >> we're having that refinished. >> what was "st. elmo's" like for you? >> i saw billy daniels who played his father, denzel, from time to time he will go, howie, how would you play this scene? but i'm busy, i can't take every call. but i wasn't setting out to be an actor. >> at what point did you realize it wasn't a comedy? >> monday, my agent said it was

a dramatic series. sure i'll do it, but why hire me? the whole run of that show, people would -- i got the biggest repetitive piece of fan mail, i have a bet with my husband that you are not the same guy that puts the rubber glove on his head. my audience was so fractured. people knew me from hbo and colleges as the wacky standup who puts a rubber glove on his head. and then, you know, there was people when i started doing bobby's world that knew me from -- >> that was a huge show. >> that was big. it went all over the world. but that was young mothers and kids knew me. the young mothers knew me. the mothers would bring kids and go, this is bobby. they would go, talk to him like bobby. and you just see the horror,

like this man ate my favorite guy on tv. >> can you do the voice again? >> hello, what do you want me to say? >> perfect. >> that voice, my voice, that voice, when i was a kid, and i did bobby's world. but before that, i did a show called the muppet babies and i was skeeter. if you remember that, scooter's little sister. it's the same voice. and then my friend got me on a movie. i did this movie called "gremlins" and i was gizmo. it's the same voice. [ applause ] scooter, bobby, gizmo. i had one other voice that nobody ever used.

the helium. i used to go to the hospitals at the admitting desk and say, can i speak to a doctor? >> did you get to speak to a doctor? >> she would go, what's the problem? i would go, what do you mean, what's the problem? i was at a birthday party, i wasn't the only one doing this. everyone was doing this. henry winkler still to come. and later, robert will tell us what it feels like to be killed.

welcome back to the show. what do you say about a guy who has played the iconic character, like the iconic character? even in really cool movies that came out later, they refer to this character. that's how big a deal he is. what does henry winkler feel like when he knows he's the fonz to a lot of people. howie, what do you think of him? >> he is -- not only is he iconic, he's the epitome of what viral became. when i saw the fonz, the next morning everybody was going hey. and everybody was buying a leather jacket. and everybody went to fix things by banging on it. he was the cool, the epitome of cool. he was the bad guy who was good, and that's why i like him. >> henry winkler, everybody. [ applause ] >> what a great introduction. thank you.

>> those are great shoes. >> i was thinking the same thing about yours. i love color. >> what is this, you have books? >> i have books. i brought you books. this one is my only adult book. it is, "i never met an idiot on the river." it's about -- i love to fly fish for trout, and we go to montana. so there are photographs in there that i took while i'm fly fishing and things that i learned along the way. >> what is this one here? >> this one is a series of four. it's called "ghost buddy." and this young man -- >> that's the fonz. >> well, the ghost sounds like the fonz. i don't know how that happened happen ed ed, but all of a sudden he came out that way. >> i would never get tired of hearing that.

you were so young when you were the fonz. >> i was 27. >> what was the first phone call you made when you got it? >> i think i called my parents, who did not want me to be an actor, and i said, i think that my career is starting. and my mother said, i think they're going to take you and your sister on a trip to europe. i said, i don't think i can go because i think my career is starting. and my mother said, this is very good. here, tell your father. and i thought, oh, my goodness, they're so supportive, these wonderful people. when the show got popular, they were then the co-producers of henry winkler. but i didn't need them to be proud then. i needed them to be proud when i was trying to figure out when i was confused. so i made a decision to be a completely different parent. >> and you are successful, you think? >> i think so. you know what?

you never, you never get away without screwing up your children. i don't know what it is. you can do everything you think, oh, wow, i'm perfect at this. and they come to you and at 23 and they're sitting at the dining room table and they go, so, remember this? i carry this with me forever! >> from the outside many of us waited for the return of "arrested development." on the inside, how close was it to not happening? >> well, you know, i don't know if i'm talking out of school, but mitch is a walking, talking genius. that's no joke. there he is. and he should be like put in glass to protect it. but he said to me once, i don't know how to bring all those characters forward for five years in two hours in a movie. so he was reluctant to write that movie. and then all of a sudden,

netflix came along. then he had the problem that all the actors were now working, doing movies or television shows or whatever they were doing. so we weren't in the room a lot together, and he created this like a three dimensional chess board. sometimes i don't get the jokes, but i just stay okay, i'll do it. >> what is an example of a joke you don't get that people loved? >> that's how much i don't get it, i can't remember the joke. but it's so dense and it's written with such a rhythm that mitch hears in his head that it is almost all of it completely scripted. >> very different family comedy than "happy days." >> yes, it is. >> what is the relationship like with that character, ever a time when you needed to get rid of it? >> no, there was a time that i thought -- like i thought that i shouldn't talk about it. i thought that i would introduce myself as henry.

people would say fonzie, i would say henry. then i realized, just shut up. i love him. he gave me the world. i enjoy him. people enjoy him. >> you were in a movie "lord of the flat bush," which was so good. >> thanks. >> before "rocky." two years before "rocky" came out. >> and before "happy days." >> did you get a sense that stallone was going to have the run he would? >> yes. what i knew was, he was very smart. he lived in an apartment off of lexington avenue in new york. i went to visit him there. he painted his windows black so he would not know what time of day it was outside if he did not leave his apartment. so it would not influence his writing. he was constantly writing. he introduced me to billy joel.

>> the music of billy joel or actual billy joel. >> no, no, the music. i love musicians. i get tongue tide musicians. >> who weirded you out the most? >> i was in a sushi restaurant here, and i was walking by and i went, you're mick jagger. oh, you're mick jagger. you know what? i have your records. and this is what he did. henry. >> he knew your name? >> he knew my name. and i slinked, slinked out. the only saving grace is that there was another table of adults who said, you said hello to mick jagger. that was mick. bruce springsteen. i met him and his wife. i kissed her hand. i shook hands with bruce then kissed his hand.

>> how did that go over? >> i slinked out of that place, too. >> in the fly fishing book, you staid your reflections on life, you've come up to answers, are you looking for something? >> as an artist, how do i jack nicholson? there is very little distance between his soul and his creations. i would like to get there, where what i do is seamless. and you don't see me working at it. when i was younger, i saw myself working at it. >> stick around, more with henry right after this. we're cracking down on medicare fraud.

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we're back on the show here with henry winkler. so you understand your parents? >> do i now? >> yeah. >> no. [ laughter ] -- my parents never saw the individual. now, i respect them. i respected their journey. i appreciate them. i am grateful for the life that i was given. but i did not like them.

that's just the truth. and my children were able to say whatever was on their mind. max, the youngest, would stand up at the table, push his chair in. he said don't say anything till i'm done. this is wrong, i don't agree with this. my curfew is way off. and then we would talk about it. >> does it bother you that you don't like your parents? >> i mourn, i mourn that other people talk about their parents with great affection. i don't know -- i don't know what they're talking about. and i wish i had that in my life. i do. >> in the wildest way, there's the fonz finding himself connected to a good family. >> wanting badly for mrs. c. to be his mother. that is true. >> in this great comedy, and fun show --

>> i think that is the key, that there is -- there's nothing -- if a piece of entertainment is bottomless, is empty, then it will disintegrate into dust. no matter what that show is, if it is filled with humanity, then it will sing to everybody who is watching. somebody will identify with every character. >> how good a motorcycle rider are you? >> i don't know how to ride a motorcycle. >> world crush. world crushed. >> i am unbelievable. >> but that scene where you pulled in, were you just on in that one shot? >> just that one shot. they did put me on the bike. i was on the bike. i was supposed to go about five feet. i did not know the -- and the -- so i went five feet at about 90 miles an hour.

i'm not kidding. and the man who was the director of photography was sitting right in front of me. i watched him fly. i dropped the bike. we slid under the sound truck. they came running over and they pulled the bike out, because they rented it. then they pulled me out. fine. but here's the great thing, okay? the second bike i used, which was a triumph, was the same bike that steve mcqueen used to jump the fence in "the great escape." [ applause ] >> we call that poetry, don't we? >> now i'm walking down beverly hills in the street, and steve mcqueen is walking the other way, and all i did was nod my head. i never stopped him to say, i'm so happy to meet you.

so i never make that mistake anymore. i meet somebody that touches me, and i e-mail them or leave them a tweet or shake their hand if i see them in person. it's joy for me. i'm so happy to tell somebody that i really am touched by that, thank you. it makes me crazy. i really enjoy that. george, let me tell you something, i'm very happy to be here on this show with you, because you're very good with the questions. not everybody is good with the questions. i have sat in this seat, in other countries, where people have not done their homework and it is boring. >> henry winkler, everybody! [ applause ] spoiler alert. robert kirkman is "dead man

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explore some of the themes that set it up. any good horror movie, certainly a good zombie movie has to say more about what's happening in society in general. "night of the living dead" tackled a lot of big issues, racism, classism, but those zombies were scary except they were slow. so you thought if you were in that situation you would get away. then comes "28 days later," which they were so fast you couldn't get away from them. and then "walking dead" comes out and you don't know what the hell is going to happen, which makes it scary and interesting. and it started from a cool place. the guy who created it is robert kirkman and he's in the red chair next. hello, robert. [ applause ] listen, welcome to the show. >> thanks for having me. >> how's life? >> good, good.

>> could you have imagined this is what it would have turned into? >> no, no. this is far exceeding any expectations i would have ever possibly had. >> when you consume whatever it is, the story, especially if it's violent, it's different, because it's a still image, and there's a bubble. what was it like when you first saw stop of the more extreme scenes moving? >> i think that would surprise people. it is really jarring for me. it's not -- i'm not one of those guys that's like, oh, yeah, that's awesome. let's see these interestens thrown all over the place. that is unsettling for me. there are scenes that happened in the comic that were drawn as still images that i looked at a hundred times. from the pilot episode when the horse gets torn apart, that happens in the comic, but seeing that in person and seeing people that look like zombies pulling those guts into their mouth, that's just disgusting. so yeah, i'm just like -- >> and then break for lunch. >> yeah. >> but bizarrely it's a family show.

>> it is bizarrely that it's a family show. i hear, oh, my grandmother loves that show. i just saw my grandmother, and she was like, yeah, i stay up and watch that show and i always regret it. oh, i appreciate you doing that. yeah, my nanny, she loves the show, but it keeps her up at night. >> how do you manage the control issue? you have comics as your story, then you go to tv, even if jesus had a show, a tv executive would say, do you have a note? >> i would recommend do a show at amc. they are pretty smart. they read the scripts and have good notes and they don't come back with anything crazy. hey, can this be a laser dog instead of a zombie? i don't know what other network notes are like. >> i've never got the laser dog

note, but that's not the say this is not coming. it could happen. >> no, i mean, the control thing is easy for me, just because i still have the comic. if i'm ever frustrated, if -- it's television. it's hard to have 400 different people working on something, and it end up being exactly what you expected. from time to time there are scenes where i'm like, kind of wish that hair had been moved over here, because i am a picky guy. but the collaborative benefits of working in television, there's stuff in the show that i would have never been able to come up with on my own that is far better than anything i've ever done in the comic. that comes with working with all the different talented people. >> talk about that. >> yeah, that was my first comic. >> you have jesus on the cross having a conversation. >> i tried to be as

controversial as possible. >> you win. >> i don't know if -- i don't know how this is going to go now that we're showing this. i was starting out, i had never done anything before, and i knew that if i did something that was like normal, you know, people would go oh, there's a normal cookbook. i get normal comicbooks from hundreds of other people. so "battle pope" seemed like a concept. if someone hears "battle pope" they would want to find out what it's about. so it got me some notoriety. >> life lessons there? >> yeah, i mean, maybe a little bit. with "battle pope" especially, i wanted to do comics and i just made a comic book. i didn't know how to do it. you know, i started a publishing company, because no one else wanted to public a comic book called "battle pope." so yeah, i kind of feel like i must have learned something from

them. like we need a fence around the house, let'suild a fence. >> even if people don't read comic books, they know marvel. what was your experience like in that world? >> it was tough for me, even from the beginning, just because i came from publishing my own comics. and so going to marvel and writing other comics for them, like being a work for hire kind of thing, yeah, i found it frustrating, because i felt like they were doing things wrong and when i would tell them, they didn't appreciate that. i think you should be doing, this and i would be like, what are you doing? so i was at marvel for four years. it was a lot of fun and i learned a lot. but it was extremely frustrating, you know, not being in control. and not being able to say, oh, you know what? it would be cool if spiderman's

hand got cut off. you know, i love those comics as a fan, i enjoy reading them. but the process that goes into them, once i knew how the sausage was made, it wasn't for me. >> what is going to happen in season four? >> what's going to happen in season four? the opening shot is -- >> you have to tell me something. >> here's what i'll say, nothing. no, i'm kidding. the first two seasons, the zombies were the threat. the third season, humans were the threat, with the governor coming in. the fourth season, they're going to be dealing with a lot of zombies, a little humans, but there's a third threat coming in, and that's nature. the world itself will be a threat that they have to deal with. it's going to change things up. >> i'm hearing laser dogs. >> you read my mind. >> stick around, more with robert kickman.

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all right. we're back here with robert kirkman. let's go back to 1991. i want to show this picture. >> oh, hey.

>> that's a happy time in your life? >> new york miserable time in my life. >> why? >> i don't know. i was living basically in the red light district of lexington, kentucky. there were a bunch of porno shops around the corner from me that i didn't frequent. i really didn't. i had any publishing company going, i was losing money left and right, going broke quickly. yeah, it was a tough time. looking back on it, that was fun. that was neat, living in that house and running my publishing company, trying to make ends meet. but god, i would not do that again. >> did you have a moment where you weren't sure if this was going to happen? >> yeah, definitely. amazon.com has a giant warehouse in lexington, kentucky, and i went to put in an application like after i had been publishing

maybe two years. i sat in the lobby and i got the application and i remember thinking, this looks terrible. i don't want to do this. i'll just go starve. so i left. but i was in the physical place trying to put in an application, and i decided not to. and then, i don't know, six months later i started getting work writing for other people and i was able to keep going. >> people around you take it seriously? family and friends? >> well, my family didn't know. i didn't tell them for like -- until i started making money, i hadn't told them i quit my job. so i worked at a place called kentucky lighting and supply. if you need fixtures and stuff like that, check them out. it's a nice place. then i eventually quit, because i was like, i was working until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning making comics, then wake up at 8:00, because i had to be to work at 8:00 and go to work 15 minutes late, because i lived down the street, and just do a

horrible job all day long. then go home and work again. so i decided i'm going to quit and make a go at this. i was going massively in debt, like funding everything on credit cards and i didn't want to tell my parents like oh, yeah, i'm quitting my job and doing this comic thing and it's probably not going to work out and i'm racking up crazy amounts of debt. it was like going to college but not going to college. i had college-level debt. i just didn't want them to worry. so my mother called kentucky lighting one time and they were like, yeah, he doesn't work her. he hasn't worked here for almost a year. so she called me and was like, what happened? you don't work there anymore? >> is your mother jerry seinfeld? that was amazing. >> that was actually what my mother sounds like. then i showed up one day in florida with a long box of comics, and i've been like i have been lying to you for a while.

this is what i've been doing. >> so it's almost like you had to come out to your parents. >> a little bit. my dad was a small business owner, and i knew that he would worry too much about me and that they would gripe at me. i didn't want to get griped at. so yeah, i tried to preserve them from that. >> "talking dead" gets more viewers than most other shows get. >> if a pot smoker from another dimension had come in and said there's going to be a talk show about this show made of your comic, i would be like dude, you're on pot. >> give me some or go away is what you would have -- >> i don't touch that stuff. [ laughter ] >> what a pleasure. robert kickman, everybody. [ applause ] that's it for the why wild fires are like

why wild fierp -- fires are like nothing else in nature and turning into a multibillion nightmare and your tax dollars paying some of the fright. why is this man smiling? whitey bulger laughed out loud as the witness described a chilling death threat he made but yet, a hero to some. we begin in colorado where crews had a good day. high temperatures, high wind not helping and there are houses about 400 of them now in ashes, worse each of these a tender box catching sparks and fueling the flames on ward and those flames moveas