walter isaacson: not really.re just he was called a heretic, but in the second addition, he is a little bit afraid. leonardo believed in science. he was a skeptic, but he looked at fossils and rights, that kind of disproves biblical account of the flood because of different layers at different times. he looked at the fetus in the womb and would take the opening of this, a gorgeous drawing of a fetus in the womb and the church features that it has a soul. he tries to experiment -- it does not breathe. he is willing to scientifically question the teachings of the church. believed ine was the beauty of creation and how we fit in and was a follower of the church at the time. he was just kind of willing to question some of the church teachings which made others think he was heretical. ♪ ♪ anybody can you imagine today -- not who he would have been in the interest he would have, certainly the computer age and the possibilities of that, but anybody that reminds you of him, either by their flamboyance or multi-talent? wa

walter? >> well, you know, the answer to that is twofold, charlie. because it would be of enormous consequence if the court were to told that this regulation that affects one seventh of the economy is outside the scope of congress's power to regulate commerce among the states. that would be, in my view, an extraordinary holding. if the court holds-- as a couple conservative judges did below, like judge silverman and judge sutton that of course it's a regulation of commerce or as others have argued it's a regulation of inevitable commerce of people that will engage in health care. it's a very limited ruling and i don't think it would be of great consequence. it's only the thought that the court might strike this down that makes it seem like a big case. >> rose: jeffrey toobin? how big a deal is this? >> epic, awesome, enormous, huge. >> rose: (laughs) >> really, this is the biggest case involving the power of the federal government since the new deal and if this law is struck down the federal government is going to look very different the next day. an

walter is the first name. walter had only one condition.hat was that journalism remain a journalism school, not a school of media. journalism was the driving element. charlie: has that changed? chris: not at all. the focus on journalism remains. that is our standard. charlie: he would come here and present the award every year. chris: he would. and interact with students. it was a wonderful thing to see. 100, 200 students in a room with walter, regaling them with stories. as you know, he was always more interested in their stories than his. charlie: the secret of walter that some people knew but not many, was his curiosity. he was never being anchorman and for hard news, but his fascination, somehow he invited , the nation's curiosity about space, and about medicine, and about the universe. and also about celebrity and the rest of it. he enjoyed the company of people he admired because of their skills as a musician, filmmaker or cultural figure. eric: if you had two students to consider and they were equal storytellers, you would want the o

walter white? willy wonka. >> i'm scared because of you. >> how many more people are going to die because of us. >> what are you going to do to stop it? >> say my name. >> eisenberg. >> you're damn right. >> rose: joining me now brabs creator vince gilligan and three of the show's stars and emmy nominees. aaron paul, anna gunn and the man who plays walter white himself, bryan cranston. i'm very pleased to have them at this table. welcome. great to have you here. this is something. >> indeed. >> rose: take me back to when you first had the idea for this. >> i was coming off of seven years writing for the t.v. show "the x-files." that was a wonderful job. that was a close second as far as great jobs go to "breaking bad." this one has to take the cake. but i was talking to a good buddy of mine who i went to n.y.u. film school with and he and i had written together on "the x-files" and we were bemoaning the fact that we couldn't get another great t.v. job. >> rose: (laughs) that life was over. >> and w

who is walter long -- who is walter young? -- walter younger? >> he does not give up. he is a little lost. one of the things he says is, i see these white boys sitting in their turning deals worth millions. what he sees them in the restaurant, not in the office, doing the grunt work. he thinks they just sit around and talk and turn deals. boys andting with his talking, and he is going to turn a deal. that he is dealing with a snake. he got outside of his own. because he works on this rich man, he sees part of the world that probably nobody else in his family -- the mother and the wife, they may see it cleaning their houses. go ahead. >> i get to hang out with george. >> but on another level. >> george is forward movement. >> right. >> he is somebody whose father is a success in the town. like lorraine said, except they are also -- lorraine's father was grounded. but george's family is above the fray. extraordinarily bougie. they assimilated. >> why did she hate that so much? >> she is revolutionary. want to give up. she wants to go further, grabbed that dream, and own

and of course walter is the first name. and walter had only one condition. and that was that journalism remain a journalism school, not a school of media or commune kaikses, journalism was the driving element. and that it focused on-- . >> rose: has that changed?not a. the focus on journalism remains. that is our standard. that is our values. >> rose: he would come andpresen interest. >> he would, and interact with students a lot it was actually a wonderful, wonderful thing to see. with a hundred, 200 students in a room with walter regaling them with stories. and as you know because you knew him well, he was always much more interested in their stories than he was in telling his own stories. >> rose: the great secret ofwalw but not many, or not enough, is his curiosity. i mean he was known for being an anchorman and for hard news. but his fascination, show he invited the nation's curiosity about space. and about medz medicine. and about the universe. there was this about-- and also, you know, about celebrity and the rest of it. i mean he enjoyed the company

that was walter white. he went into a shell.didn't care about his looks, his weight, his clothes. he was invisible to himself and the world. this ironic diagnosis of terminal cancer was his get out of jail for free card. it exploded his emotion. >> it gave him purpose to live. >> even if it was just for a short time. i loved it. it was for me. i was good at it. that was the brilliance of vince's writing to have him confess to that hubris, that ego. it was a full maturation of that character. that he came to completely understand who he was and the evil that men do. >> your father was one of those men, just physically. >> i always thought that walter white was much older than he was chronologically. i wanted to give him sloped shoulders and his posture was bad. he was a little overweight. i wanted to give him the weightiness of a man who was 25, 30 years older. my upbringing was a mess to be honest. it was a mess. it was like living two different lives. up until 10 years old, it was a model life. >> they were both there. >> my da

what does walter white want? >> he wants -- well, he got a point where he wanted it all. >> rose: but what does he want by year five? >> he wants to be alive. even if that means he's going to be dead in a month or two. during that period, this course of two years that this this show takes. he was a walking dead man before. he was depressed, he missed opportunities and now he is -- at the very least you can say he's feeling everything. he was seduced by power and the aphrodisiac of money or intimidation and all these things that make the chest come out and you stand up straight and it's very seductive for a man. and that's what he felt. >> rose: it's seductive for anybody. without going into criminalalty but it's seductive. the idea that i matter and i'm relative and i somehow have mower and am respected. >> even it's cloaked. you know, the word on the street is whoever's making this, whoever heisenberg is, it's the best ever. and he would be able to get some satisfaction out of that. >> rose: some say, aaron, tha

photo access to walter, there should be the cover of the last issue. walter cannot find.t of the world and find the negative and take a chance he is never taken before. >> guess we take you with him. who?ole -- ketek cheryl. she is his muse. trying to connect with her. -- he takes cheryl. that he isf himself pressed it down and not dealt with. >> this directing thing as somebody -- is something you like. >> is my favorite thing in the world. but because of control? >> well, maybe. it's about creating a movie. you have more control i think overall than you do as an actor. as an actor, you do not want to have too much control. you do not want to be thinking that way. a different way of eating. direct and as more stepping back and analytical. differente is you are from a lot of people that wants to direct because they said what i am doing as an actor may not be too hot a few years from now. therefore, i will have this other thing. you seem to be more in love with the other thing. >> i've always been an love with the other thing. the acting was happening also. the beginning w

what changed walter in this play? >> all the things we have been talking about, the desire to do good for his family, to go further than his father, he turns the corner when he's talking to his son, his love for his son. he goes from, son, i want to talk to you tonight to how we're going to end up -- he talks about everything -- i don't know if he mentions beneatha, but he talks about getting the house with the wife and the car and the boy going to college, he wants to do this for his family. you know, he says later on, hell, yes, i'd like me a yacht some day, but he turns right around and says, i'd like to get pearls for my wife. he wanted to be the man of the family and take care -- he wanted to pick up the mantel where his father left off. he wanted to take it to the next level because every day he sees these families doing it, he sees the arnold family. he sees it every day and wants that, but he wants it for them. like i said, he says to his mother -- when he says, do you know what this money means to me, i don't

walter white that was much older than he was chronologically.anted to give him sloped shoulders. his posture was bad. he was a little overweight. i wanted to give him the 25ghtiness of a man who was -30 years older. >> closer to your mom. >> might up reading was a mess. it was a mess. it was like living two different lives. up until 10 years old, it was a model life. they were both there. my dad was one of our coaches and sports. taking us places. my mom was the team mom and tupperware lady. making our costumes for halloween. didn'tey realized they -- my dad did not want to be with my mother and they split up, it exploded. it was not like coming to an understanding. it exploded. immaturityonal damaged the rest of the structure. i didn't see my father for 10 years. >> didn't see him? >> no. nothing. did not see him. he had a breakdown. he was 48. >> was about success? >> it was. the lack of success. his frustration at not being -- he was an actor. his frustration at not being a star. he wanted to be a star. like a lot of people. he didn't handle

tonight, bryan cranston, you knew him as walter white in the hit television series "breaking bad." he is now lyndon johnson in "all the way" on broadway. >> i think any actor thinks of broadway as the pinnacle of their career and i certainly have it on my bucket list to do a broadway show. that was going to be very exciting for me if it was possible. the zite geist of "breaking bad" created such a fervor that it got a lot of attention and i was caught up in that maelstrom of injury and thought, well, i have an opportunity now. >> this is the most important election of your lifetime and the choices couldn't be clearer -- peace or war, brotherhood or division, prosperity or poverty, a march into a bright future or retreat into a dark past! it is all or nothing! and every single one of you needs to go out there and fight for every single vote in every single part of this great country of ours! god bless you! >> charlie: bryan cranston for the hour, next. >> there's a saying around here: you stand behind what you say. around here, we don't make excuses, we make commitments. and when yo

walter can tell you. >> walter, why secret? >> well, julie didn't want anyone to know where we were. we weren't allowed to send postcards or make phone calls or tell your friends or anything. and people would recognize jule's voice. her voice was so distinctive. at restaurants, i know that voice are you the editor of sports illustrated. yes, i'm jule campbell. >> you were a sports photographer at that time. how come you got this assignment? >> i'm still trying to figure that out. i don't know. thank you, jule. she took sports photographers. she didn't want fashion photographers to do this type of work. there was jay mazal. she knows better than that. >> they were photographing jocks. where is the photographer taking fashion all the time. so when walter got behind the camera, and he was very attractive anyway, it was a very -- >> was, thank you. >> tell me about this. what it did for you? >> it made me go from being just a face to a face with a name. and that was really huge back then. it's not the same as today where every maga

walter, one question following up from what nell said. nell made an eloquent case for the importance of preserving these institutions. explain to us why not that you have this vy, although you might, but explain to us why there is this incredible resonance right now across europe, even if geert wilders loss, it is clear that the gravity between the feet of politics in the netherlands and elsewhere has shifted. make the case if you can, i know it's not necessarily your view but make the case for why the shift is a reasonable, rational response to all these fourses. >> well, i wouldn't respond to it in quite the way the populists doment but i think there are some big things that they see that do push toward change. maybe the most important is that after world war ii we not only established a stable transatlantic international order within each country, we established a stable economic order. you know, i call this sometimes the blue model but you had corporate oligarchees in all these different countries with lifetime employment based on mas

>> walter is white -- no. lyndon johnson was real too. >> rose: in the minds of many people walter white became real and perhaps in yours. >> well he was real to me. i mean, i can't -- i can't play someone unless you -- unless you make him true and honest to you. yes. there are similarities. i think both had created and allowed the incredible drive and ambition to be unleashed. >> rose: and the end justifies the means, the end justifies the means. >> and the end justifies the means. >> rose: do whatever -- >> it is for my family, it is for my family and lyndon johnson is for the betterment of the country, i am cutting your balls off for the betterment of the country. >> now you are gelded now but just think what you accomplished. it was necessary to protect the country. listen to this. i know you know this scene if i can make this happen. talking to his taylor. >> go ahead, sir. hello. >> -- >> yes this is joe. joe, you are the one that makes clothes. >> yes, sir. >> you all made me some real lightweight slack

is there a link between walter white and lyndon johnson? >> walter white was real.laughter] he was real to me. i can't play someone unless you make him real. yeah, there are similarities. i think both had created and allowed the incredible drive it and ambition to be unleashed. >> and the end justifies the means. walter white saving his family so he can do whatever he wants. >> it is for my family. lyndon johnson is for the betterment of the country. i'm cutting your balls off for the betterment of the country. >> it was necessary to protect the country. i know you know the scene. >> go ahead sir. >> this is joe. >> your father is the one who makes clothes? you made me some real light weight slacks. sent to me three or four months ago. a light brown and a light green. they are real light weight. i need about six pairs for summer wear. >> you recall the size? >> no, i don't know. what -- once you have the measurements? i can send you a pair. i want them half an inch wider and the waist. but i want to-three inches left so i can take them back up. i vary 10-15 pounds a

what changed walter in this play?> the desire to do good for his family, to go further than his father. he turns the corner when he is talking to his son, his love for his son. he goes from, i want to talk to you tonight, to -- he talks about everything. i do not know if he mentions beneatha. he talks about getting the house, the boy going to college. he wants to do this for his family. he says later on, hell yes, i would like me some yacht someday, but he turns around and says, i want pearls for my wife. he wanted to be the man of the family. he wanted to pick up the mantle where his father left. he wanted to take it to the next level. every day, he sees these other families doing it. he sees the arnold family. he sees it every day, and he wants that. but he wants it for them. he says to his mother -- when he says, do you know what this money means to me, i do not think he means what i can buy. the next line is, do you know what this money can do for us? i think that is what it is for him. that is the mantra i got in

here i agree with walter again. you would think her ideological opponent would be someone like justice scalia. but, in fact, she and scalia actually get along fine, it seems, or at least from where i'm sitting because they have respect for each other. they're both tough, they both like to spark it off. she's had more difficulty, i think, with the chief justice. it's also, important, i think, that the chief justice is the chief justice. so i think that in terms of having influence on the court, establishing that center of gravity that walter is talking about, i think there she and her relations with him will be especially interesting to watch. >> she's going to get along fine with the chief justice. i've seen the sparring she has done with the chief justice. she... i think he has thought a couple times she has not been appropriately deferential. but once she's a colleague of his i think she's going to say, look, i'm your colleague, i'm not asking you to defer to me, i'm not deferring to you. and there's one thing whi

and so on. >> walter, you make me think about public policy right away. if these tests are so predictive of future behavior, if it appears that a kid who can delay gratification for those 15 minutes turns out to get better sat scores, to do better at a job later in life, even, how would ode people in the public be reassured that such a test has at such an early age wouldn't brand the kid for life. >> particularly the kid was don't do well. >> that's what i am thinking, the kid was don't do well. do we then have kind of self-fulfilling prophecies about these kids that will sort of trail them all through their lives. what reassurance would they have? >> so the idea of being frozen in the position on the measure is completely off. we're talking about corelations that are significant. we're not talking about a destiny for an individual. so i want to be very clear that branding would be completely missing the point, particularly since the most exciting findings about the marshmallow experiments are the ease with which it is possible to change an individual's a

and obama who was the representative of kind of diplomatic -- very walter? go ahead. >> i do think that their's another sort of troubling thing here which is that -- you can sometimes see a pattern in some of the foreign policy decisions this white house has taken of getting at the sour spot. that is, that is they make enough concessions or gestures in the direction of the palestinian, is that they anger the israelis but they don't really do enough to earn points with the palestinian s. so, at this point both the palestinian authority and israeli government are very upset with the white house and with this president. and since his goal is to get a peace process of some kind going, and he needs the cooperation of both right now, doesn't really have the cooperation and trust of either one. that reaction in congress i hope will dispel once and for all the idea that american support for israel is the product of some tiny, mostly jewish lobby. that is manipulating the political process. very little money from apec or pro israel because that's what the voters back

we'll have to excuse walter, he's given to flights of fancy.s have never worked and they never will. yes, dear. okay, any more ideas? anyone? (sighs) ♪ oh lolli lolli lolli ♪ lollipop [ pop! ] [ female announcer ] treat yourself to the new thin and light dell inspiron 1564 laptop. powered by the new intel corei3 processor, to deliver a fast and responsive experience. now from $599. call or go to dell.com/deals to get this laptop delivered in 48 hours through our fast track program. restrictions apply. dell, yours is here. [ intel bong ] [door opens, footsteps] >> how about going out for dinner? >> how about helping with math first? >> hmm... how about calling for takeout? >> how about calling sylvan? >> announcer: enroll with sylvan by april 20th and get four sessions free. sylvan pinpoints the source of each child's frustrations and builds the skills for success, guaranteed. call the number on your screen. [♪...] rowling) (all yelping) have a nice day. done playing with our little friends, are we? (murmurs in agreement)