hello, again. i'm fredricka whitfield. these stories are topping the news this hour. the owner of the nba's atlanta hawks says he's selling the team. the reason? an e-mail he sent that he calls inappropriate and offensive. we'll tell you what it said coming up. and president barack obama prepares to give a speech to the nation on the isis threat and what he plans to do about it. he gave a hint of his game plan today. we'll have details this hour. and later, remembering a comic legend. a-list celebrities pack the funeral of the late joan rivers. hear why friends and family say the service is exactly what the comedian would have wanted. we begin with a huge shock for the nba. another one of its owners will lose his franchise because of comments involving race.

atlanta hawks controlling owner bruce levenson announced he's voluntarily selling his team after grappling with low attendance at hawks games, he says he sent an e-mail in 2012 that sent unintentional and hurtful message that the hawks white fans are more valuable than black fans. and we have that e-mail. here's a transcription of part of what he said. i look around our arena during games and notice it's 70% black, cheerleaders are black, music is hip-hop. at the bars it's 90% black. there are few fathers and sons at the games. my theory is the black crowd scared away the whites and there's not enough affluent black fans to build a significant season ticket base. please don't get me wrong. there was nothing threatening going on in the arena back then. i never felt uncomfortable. i think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority.

nba commissioner adam silver commended levenson for self-reporting this e-mail to the league. silver said in a statement "i come mr. levenson for self-reporting and being fully cooperative with the league and its independent investigator and for putting the best interest of the hawks, the atlanta community and nba first." so all of this was volunteered from the e-mails, sending it to the nba, asking the nba to further investigate but then, you know, he didn't wait for the final decision from the nba. he said i go ahead and remove myself from the equation. >> that seems to be what has played out. this e-mail was sent in 2012 to two of his co-owners. there's a group of partners that own the atlanta hawks and he's one of seven. we believe he has controlling interest. we don't actually know what

percentage his share is. this e-mail was sent to two of his co-owners. two other partners like him were based outside of atlanta working in washington d.c. this summer in july in the wake of the donald sterling scandal, he then reports himself to it the nba and they decide to set up an independent investigation into this issue and before they even concluded, he said, well, i'm selling my stake in the team. >> and why do people believe that is the case? >> well, that seems to be what's happened. quite what his motive would be for -- >> why would he want to sell? >> why would he want to report himself in this way? remember, he was one of the most outspoken critics of donald sterling in the wake of the scandal towards the end of the last nba season. he even appeared on this network to say that he couldn't work with somebody like donald sterling and the other owners could vote me out if i was to behave in a similar way.

so it's very, very interesting that it played out in this way. i think the league is probably relieved that it's not been dragged through the mud because it was an awful summer for the nba and its reputation and donald sterling did not go quietly. this one seems to be playing out very differently. >> is there a way of knowing how long this kind of transaction would take? i'm giving up my stake. how quickly would it go on sale? do we know time line? >> i would imagine if he wants to put it up for sale, that process would begin immediately. i mean, with the lakers it dragged out over a couple of months but for a business deal involving $2 billion, that probably wasn't that long a period of time. that might have been done quicker had sterling not fought the nba on the issue. it remains to be seen what the hawks are worth and what his stakes are worth. "forbes" says it's one of the least valuable franchises in the nba. depends on what his stake is.

they estimated that the clippers were worth less than 600 million and they went for 2 billion. >> remarkable. thanks so much. it's just kind of the tip of the iceberg. it is very strange. there's still lots of questions and we don't have them all -- all of the answers just yet. appreciate it. now to our other big story. a major development in the fight against isis. president barack obama says he's prepared to outline his plans for defeating the terror group. in a speech on wednesday he'll explain what he is calling his game plan on isis. this morning on "meet the press" the president gave a preview of what to expect. >> we're not looking at sending in hundred thousand american troops. we are going to be as part of an international coalition carrying out air strikes in support of work on the ground by iraqi

troops, kurdish troops. we are going to help to put together a plan for them so that they can start retaking territory that isil had taken over. what i want people to understand though is that over the course of months, we are going to be able to not just blunt the momentum of isil, we are going to systematically degrade their capabilities. we're going to shrink the territory that they control and ultimately we're going to defeat them. >> erin mcpike joining me live from the white house. tell us more about what should be expected this week. how much detail will the president likely reveal? >> there are a couple of big questions that still loom very large over this speech. the first one is will president obama seek congressional authorization on whatever it is that he plans to do? at this point he's said that he wants lawmakers involved. he wants their input. he wants their support but that could simply mean that he wants

lawmakers to be basically ambassadors of his message and not necessarily put it to a vote and of course some members of congress may not want to be on the record for a vote on this. just a couple months before the midterm elections. i want you to listen to that part of the interview where he talks about that. >> what i'm going to be asking the american people to understand is number one, this is a serious threat. number two, we had the capacity to deal with it. here's how we're going to deal with it. i am going to be asking congress to make sure that they understand and support what our plan is. and it's going to require some resources i suspect above what we are currently doing. >> reporter: whether or not he puts it to a vote will be a big controversial issue either way going forward throughout the week. now, the thing he said at the top of that clip was he wants americans to understand why this is a serious threat but i would point out that we don't really know what the american public

thinks about this because there's been virtually no polling. he has to make his case and we don't know what the fine print of this strategy is going to look like. will there be air strikes inside syria? we already know there will be no boots on the ground but what will that strategy look like? we hope that this speech will answer those questions, fred. >> we do indeed. thank you so much. erin mcpike. that speech on wednesday. and now, the funeral for legendary comic joan rivers. family and friends bid a final farewell to the 80-year-old comedian today in new york. we go to the jewish temple where the private service was held. >> reporter: a star studded ceremony to remember joan rivers, a comedy legend. her friends say it was exactly the kind of service that she would have wanted and in many respects it was the kind of service that she had really planned. it was filled with famous faces. the new york city police department's bagpipes and drums came out saluting joan rivers by

playing "new york, new york" and "give my regards to broadway." plenty of friends from hollywood filled this temple. howard stern was cracking jokes inside during the ceremony and dear friends like deborah norville who spoke about rivers inside and also speaking columnist cindy adams, a long time friend of joan rivers. people inside by invitation only say that the ceremony was upbeat and that it was uplifting and there was plenty of opportunities to laugh and that that is really the way to honor joan rivers. >> joan went through life believing that people who laugh are happy. her mission in life was to make people happy. i got to tell you, i don't know how many blocks it goes down here but she would be so thrilled to see how many blocks are filled with people who wish her well. she's up there loving every minute of it. >> reporter: another request of hers had been that hugh jack

hajackman would perform at her funeral and he did perform "smile" something that put a smile on everyone's face during what would have been a sad occasion but a time to remember a great comedy legend. in new york, alexandria field. >> we saw the comedian had many close friends in hollywood including carol burnett. i got the chance to talk to carol burnett about her friend joan rivers. i asked her about the last time that she was in touch with rivers. >> the last time i spoke with her -- and this will tell you that joan off stage, she was the opposite of the persona that she presented. i had to put my little pet cat down. she was 15 years old and it was

awful when you have to lose a pet. it's like losing part of your family. >> that's your child. >> she said i had to put one of my dogs down and what saved my life is i got another little critter to love. that's what you need. you need another little critter to love. >> they shared a lot of laughs together. we'll have more on rivers' amazing ground breaking career later on this hour. could the u.s. and iran work together as allies? the battle against isis could actually make that happen.

you start at point "a" and spend your time working hard to get to point "b". and "b" could be here... or even here. but for you, "b" is not the end. capella university will help take you further, because our competency-based curriculum is designed for your profession, to move you forward to where you want to be. your point "c". capella university. start your journey at capella.edu.

as we heard, president barack obama saying earlier today that the u.s. will continue to use air strikes

against isis. the latest round was launched near the haditha dam, iraq's second largest. defense secretary chuck hagel talked about why the dam is so critical. >> if that dam would fall into isil's hands or if that dam would be destroyed, the damage that would cause would be very significant and it would put a significant additional and big risk into the mix in iraq, which would also risk our interests as well. >> this is not the first attempt by isis to take control of the dam but iraqi forces have been in control the whole time. the fight to put down the isis insurgents created strange allies on the battlefield. the u.s. and iran have been enemies over many issues but now they are coming together over a common enemy.

brian todd explains. >> reporter: in the northern iraqi town amerli, iraq's president acknowledges a combination of u.s. air strikes and iranian shiites on the ground drove isis away. is there any cooperation or coordination between the u.s. and iran against ice snsiisis? an iranian official deny as report that iran's supreme leader approved cooperation between his forces and the americans against isis. specifically the report says he sanctioned a general, the shadowy head of the revolutionary guard to work with u.s. forces. he may look like george clooney. >> he's a mild mannered man but

he has done a very effective job at organizing the most brutal thugs that islamic republic has. >> reporter: this photo posted on twitter by a group called digital resistance is him on the ground in amerli among the time of the siege. >> as soon as you sit down with him, you're sitting down with someone who has the blood of americans on his hands. >> reporter: u.s. officials believe during the iraq war, his units provided iraqi insurgents with a lethal weapon against american troops. >> his force provided these vast explosive devices that penetrated the armor on american vehicles and as a result killed an awful lot of americans. >> reporter: despite their hatred of isis, other reasons why an alliance may not work? >> let's remember we want bashar

al assad out. we want a more inclusive government in baghdad. iran would prefer a shia government. >> reporter: there's also the matter of the dangerous reach beyond the middle east. he was involved in a plot on american soil. overseeing officers who in 2011 tried and failed to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states right here at washington's upscale cafe. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> all right. thanks so much. next week you probably have heard about the cnn fit nation led by our dr. sanjay gupta. a big triathlon in malibu. i'm going to be along the ride on this big challenge. swimming, biking. i'll tell you more coming up next. [ female announcer ] you get sick, you can't breathe through your nose... suddenly you're a mouthbreather. well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38% more than cold medicines alone.

so you can breathe and sleep. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. we're changing the way we do business, with startup ny. so you can breathe and sleep. we've created tax free zones throughout the state. and startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. no property tax. no business tax. and no sales tax. which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. it's not just business as usual. see how new york can help your business grow, at startup.ny.gov

i'm spending too much time hiring and not enough time in my kitchen. [ female announcer ] need to hire fast? go to ziprecruiter.com and post your job to over 30 of the web's leading job boards with a single click; then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. you put up one post and the next day you have all these candidates. makes my job a lot easier. [ female announcer ] over 100,000 businesses have already used zip recruiter and now you can use zip recruiter for free at a special site for tv viewers; go to ziprecruiter.com/offer5.

our dr. sanjay gupta and six viewers andgearing up for the malibu triathlon. we want to introduce you to our teammates. >> in january, these six cnn viewers were selected to join me on a journey to become

triathletes. they all had one common goal. to make a change. over the last eight months, i've seen them transform swimming dozens of hours. biking hundreds of miles and running farther than they ever thought possible. >> today we're going to do a 400-yard swim in the ocean. >> reporter: with hard work comes rewards. they're healthier physically and mentally. connie's breakthrough, it's not all about the scale. >> if weight loss would have been my only goal this year, i may have quit within the first few weeks. this experience has given me so much more than weight loss. it's given me strength. confidence, endurance, new friends, new sports, lots of spandex and a great tan. >> mike learned how to balance his new healthy lifestyle. >> the structure i have in my life now is amazing. i plan my meals a week ahead of time. >> karen now makes herself a priority. >> i have learned to listen and

take care of my body with proper sleep and nutrition. >> ron learned that age really is just a number. >> age does not define who i am or what i can do. it's simply a mile post along the journey of my life. >> he beat cancer and he got his confidence back. >> i'm capable of the same things they may take me longer. the sooner i made peace with the new normal, easier i was on myself. >> last but not least -- >> it's important to have your family and friends onboard. their involvement is critical to your success. >> she's right. getting the support of those around you is an absolute must. >> all right. and they are indeed all inspirations and so are you, sanjay. i took him up on the challenge to join the group, the cnn fit

nation team. i'll be in malibu next weekend hoping that my swimming, biking and running training allows me to at least keep up. my only expectation is that i finish. i can't promise you what kind of shape i'll be in when i cross that finish line. but i will see you at the beach and we'll be right back. this is kathleen. setting up the perfect wedding day begins with arthritis pain and two pills. afternoon arrives and feeling good, but her knee pain returns... that's two more pills. the evening's event brings laughter, joy, and more pain... when jamie says... what's that like six pills today? yeah... i can take 2 aleve for all day relief. really, and... and that's it. this is kathleen... for my arthritis pain, i now choose aleve.

get all day arthritis pain relief with an easy-open cap. ♪ eenie. meenie. miney. go. more adventures await in the seven-passenger lexus gx. see your lexus dealer.

bottom of the hour. i'm fredricka whitfield. here are some of the top stories we're following. bruce levenson announced he's voluntarily selling his controlling interest in the nba team. levenston says his decision is

based in part on inappropriate and offensive comments in an e-mail he wrote back in 2012. levenson said he made assumptions about fans and nba should have no tolerance for racism. he says he's embarrassed and apologized to the team and its fans. the u.s. coast guard called off recovery efforts for a private plane which crashed off ja jamaica. a debris field was found but unable to find survivors. the aircraft plunged into the caribbean on friday hours after air traffic controllers could not make contact with the pilot. the plane was flying from new york to florida. intense flooding in south asia left more than 250 people dead and dozens more injured or missing. one of the hardest hit countries is india where 2,000 villages have been affected. officials say homes are destroyed. bridges and roads have been washed away and power and water systems are crippled. an american detained in

north korea soon will learn his fate in a north korean court. matthew miller says he is going on trial next sunday. he's asking the u.s. government to help free him. he's accused of tearing up his tourist visa and seeking asylum upon entry. will ripley asked him what he wanted to tell u.s. officials. >> that my situation is very urgent. very soon i'm going to trial and i would directly be sent to prison. i think this interview is my final chance to push the american government into helping me. >> reporter: if it's your final chance, what do you want to tell them that you haven't already said? >> that i need help and they need to quickly make movement because there's not much time. >> and this morning shelling hit areas near two key cities in

eastern ukraine intensifying fears that a cease-fire that took effect less than two days ago may be falling part. let's get more from reza sayah. >> when you have a fragile cease-fire, first thing you want to see is peace and calm but that hasn't been the case in parts of the conflict zone in southeast ukraine. we've seen several instances of weapons being fired and shellings and that obviously raises a lot of questions about the durability of this cease-fire. the first significant flare-up came last night about 10:30 p.m. right outside the critical port city where over the past week there's been a tense standoff where on one side you have pro-russian rebels and on the other side you've had ukrainiang this city. there was shelling that destroyed a gas station and injured several people. a cnn crew was at this very same scene this morning where they witnessed more mortar fire and

more gun fire and several more people were injured and a 33-year-old woman was killed. the first fatality during this cease-fire. the cnn crew managed to escape. troops and bystanders who were there managed to flee as well. in other locations of the conflict zone, more instances of shelling and firing. it's not clear who is doing the shooting. both sides are blaming one another, which makes it very difficult to figure out what's happening. we should point out that on both sides of this conflict, there are radical elements who may not abide by the chain of command and may want to sabotage the cease-fire. it's not clear if that's what's happening. it certainly could be a possibility. these are all troubling developments. we've also seen some positive developments. neither side declared the cease-fire is dead and on sunday russian president vladimir putin spoke on the phone with ukrainian president petro poroshenko who say they are

going to get to more discussions to address core issues and core demands that have yet to be resolved. fred? >> all right. reza sayah, thank you so much in kiev. moving on to california which is facing one of the worst droughts on record. more than 80% of the state in desperate need of water trying to save every drop possible. the before and after photos of lakes and rivers really do tell the story. here's cnn's dan simon. >> reporter: a healthy and full lake in northern california. there's only one problem. this picture is three years old. and now i'm walking on top of that very same bridge. take a look. it is a virtual desert. this is what drought looks like in the state of california. here's another before and after side by side. and just when the drought couldn't seem any worse, new research indicates that the depletion of ground water in the state may actually trigger earthquakes. more on that in a moment.

first, this is lake orville. a boater's paradise at least when it's full. more importantly, it's a reservoir storing water ultimately piped into homes and for agriculture helping to grow much of the nation's fruits and vegetables. >> we have 167 miles of shoreline. >> reporter: john took us on a boat to see that shoreline and it's even more astounding up close. the lake seems more like a narrow river. the drought has created a canyon. a hillside of rock that's normally covered by water. the water level is down by more than 200 feet. it's a common sight throughout the state. most of california's major reservoirs are less than half full. what would we be seeing? >> we would see the water halfway up that hillside at this time of the year. >> reporter: more than 80% of the state is either in the extreme or exceptional category. highest levels. it has meant things like no

showers or running water for several communities, an increase in wildfires, brown and neglected lawns and parks and farmers losing their crops. >> it's dead. our product is dead. >> reporter: jesse rodriguez grows table grapes and estimate he'll lose 40% of his crop due to the drought. >> the water is a main thing here. without water we cannot survive. >> reporter: with low reservo reservoirs, farmers have to pump water out of the ground and there's new information from researchers who believe that a depletion of groundwater could destabilize the infamous fault and trigger earthquakes. removing so much weight in the form of ground water causes the earth to spring upward and the change in pressure can cause those quakes. >> earthquakes are these mysterious things that happen under our feet so having a way

for people to cause these earthquakes to happen is unsettling. >> reporter: experts say the quakes would be small and unlikely to cause any damage. still, it's yet another example of why this drought is causing so much stress to both the land and the mental well-being of nearly an entire state. dan simon, cnn, california. >> the third american missionary infected with deadly ebola virus is improving. dr. rick sacra is being treated in omaha. his wife says he's still very sick and weak but has improved slightly. enough to ask for a little chicken soup. we wish him well. president obama told nbc's "meet the press" the u.s. must fight ebola now or face long-term risks. >> we're going to have to get u.s. military assets just to set up isolation units and equipment

there to provide security for public health workers surging around the world. if we do that, it's still going to be months before this problem is controllable in africa but it shouldn't reach our shores. if we don't make that effort now and this spreads not just through africa but other parts of the world, there's the prospect then that the virus mutates and it becomes more easily transmittable and then it could be a serious danger to the united states. >> according to the world health organization, this latest ebola outbreak sickened more than 3,600 people in five african countries since december. of those, 1,800 have died. another virus is spreading fast across several states and it's hitting kids hard. what you can can do to keep you kids from getting sick.

now to colorado, where parents in the denver area are on high alert. doctors suspect a rare respiratory virus is making hundreds of children sick landing some in intensive care. colorado is the latest state where doctors are seeing signs of what resembles virus d-68. health officials in nine other states from north carolina to

oklahoma have also reported suspected outbreaks. mark stewart with our affiliate kmgh has the latest on the denver cases. >> a couple days ago i couldn't breathe at all. >> reporter: the oxygen mask is a necessity. >> my head started hurting after my lungs started sort of closing up. >> reporter: 18-year-old will almost didn't make it. >> white as a ghost. blue lips. he just passed out. had his eyes roll back in his head. i had to call 911. >> reporter: now at rocky mountain hospital for children, will is likely dealing with virus 68 making breathing challenging and takes around the clock treatment to overcome. will was at risk because he already deals with asthma yet doctors say all kids under five

are also prone to the virus that first appears as the common cold. >> to go from a cold to being probably minutes away from death is kind of scary. >> reporter: despite the tubes, this eighth grader is on the mend. >> i feel better than i did before. >> reporter: his family sharing their story hoping parents will pay attention physical there's an all clear. >> that's very scary. we have elizabeth cohen here to help us understand had virus and how to combat it and where is it? >> we just heard what's going on in colorado. there are nine other states that have asked the centers for disease control for help in combatting their clusters. let's take a look at this map. sort of midwest and southeast areas. i want to tell you about children's hospital in kansas city. these numbers are really

stunning. in less than one month, they've had 475 children test positive for this virus. most of them ended up in the hospital and 60 of them in intensive care. 60 children in intensive care in one hospital in less than a month some of those children needed to be on ventilators to breathe for them. >> why is this happening? what is it about this season and why this virus kind of breeds or does well in this season? >> we usually think of winter as the viral season. for this virus, it's late summer and early fall and usually it's not a big deal. if you ever had a summer cold, that was probably enterovirus but there's something about this d-68 time that is more but they're not sure. i was speaking to the cdc and why now? why this year has it bloomed like this? he said we don't know. this type has been around for

quite a while. we don't know why it's blossomed this year. >> it's impacting mostly children. what do parents need to know about how they protect their kids from getting this virus or what do you do? how do you read the symptoms properly? >> first of all, you should be particularly vigilant if your child has asthma or history of asthma. that child we saw in that story has asthma and makes it difficult. here are signs you can look for. it really does start out as looking like a common cold. they can have a cough and difficulty breathing. sometimes a fever. sometimes wheezing. if looks like a cold, that's okay. stay on it and watch it if it is more difficult -- if the child is having more difficulty, really be vigilant. wash hands often. avoid touching your eyes and nose and mouth with your hands if you haven't washed them. avoid contact with people who are sick. and disinfect surfaces. all of the same stuff you heard

before. >> do common things you would do to try to protect yourself from anything. all right. elizabeth cohen, thanks so much. appreciate it. no matter who wins, history will be made at the men's final at the u.s. open. it's also why these japanese fans are so excited. that's excitement. we'll go live to flushing meadows next. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. transamerica. where the reward was that what if tnew car smelledit card and the freedom of the open road? a card that gave you that "i'm 16 and just got my first car" feeling. presenting the buypower card from capital one. redeem earnings toward part or even all of a new chevrolet,

buick, gmc or cadillac - with no limits. so every time you use it, you're not just shopping for goods. you're shopping for something great. learn more at buypowercard.com this is holly. her long day of outdoor adventure starts with knee pain. and a choice. take 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. onward!

upsets at u.s. open and that has set up a historic men's final. cnn's sports andy scholes in the open in flushing meadows, new york. they'll be making history no matter who wins, right? >> that's right. it will be tomorrow night. everyone yesterday pencinged in roger federer versus djokovic, number one versus number two. the exact opposite ended up happening. instead, kei nishikori pulled off a huge upset, knocking out djokovic from the tournament, outlasted him in four sets the first asian-born player ever to make it to a grant slam final he's arguably playing best tennis of in. knocked out the fifth seed,

third seed and top seeded djokovic. equally big surprise who he's taken, marin cilic who destroyed federer in straight sets. big surprise there federer had been 5-0 against cilic coming into the match. as you said, you'll see history tomorrow. big surprise who is taking on each other in the men's final. chi chilli cilic. it's going to be an exciting match though we won't have big names in the match. >> exciting. meantime, the women, i say always exciting for the finals. this same with serena williams against her good friend, wozniak. uh-oh. >> yeah, that's right. interesting dynamic in this match. it's going to take place here in a few minutes. you know, they'll be enemies tonight but in real thrive they're really, really good friends. rory mcilroy, superstar golf, broke off his engagement, serena

in the middle of planning wozniacki's bachelorette party. the breakup brought serena and wozniacki closer. they hung out a lot after that, wozniacki looked at serena for support. though they're close, serena's not holding anything back on court later today. she's on a mission. she hasn't lost a set this year at the u.s. open looking to make history. she can be the first person since chris evert in the '70s to win three straight u.s. open titles. if she wins today, also her 18th grand slam title tie wher with everett and nav rill love va. it should be a great match. they'll be friends, no matter what the outcome. >> it's going to be an exciting match for sure later on today. we'll be watching. you keep us up to date on the outcome. thanks so much, from flushing meadows. joan rivers got a big

send-off today in a funeral complete with a red carpet. next we look back at her incredible career and how those who knew her will remember her. ♪ man: [ laughs ] those look like baby steps now. but they were some pretty good moves. and the best move of all? having the right partner at my side. it's so much better that way. [ male announcer ] have the right partner at your side. consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long.

insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. ♪ ooooohh!!! ♪ what it is, what you want? yeah. ♪ live your life right ♪ make the beat the bump ♪ the undeniable! ♪ come into the party in a b-boy stance ♪ i rock on the mic ♪ and make the world wanna dance ♪ fly like a dove ♪ that come from up above

♪ i'm rocking on the mic ♪ and you can call me mos love ♪ ooooohh!!! ♪ yeah yeah. yeah yeah. ♪

joan rivers' funeral was held today in new york. she's being remembereds a trail blaze for women comedians in

stand-up clubs and of course on television. long before there was ellen, whoopee or rosy, there was joan. her move to stardom came on late night tv. here's tom foreman. >> reporter: in the quiet rain of '50s and '60s comics, almost all men, almost always polite, joan rivers was a thunder clap. when we first started dating he'd run around, open the car, and then we got engaged and we'd each open our own door. now that we're married me makes me run around and open his door. >> reporter: in the early days she wasn't allowed to do stand-up with johnny carson but forced to sit alongside. earlier appearances seemed tame but part of the flood of richard pryor, woody allen, george car lynn, a new type of comedy, more personal, more cutting, and she was a woman. >> a girl, you're 30, you're not married, you're an old maid. a man, he's 90 years old here not married, he's a catch.

it's a whole different -- >> reporter: this is why in new york, los angeles, and everyone where in between the tributes continue to pour in. >> i knew her and i loved her and i don't know what to say. it's shocking. it just happened. >> reporter: on the late night circuit where rivers rose to fame and talk about guts, she would sit in the chair and say things unbelievable. yeah. >> just where you have to swallow pretty hard and twice, but it was hilarious. >> she would come out and say what you were thinking, you wouldn't say it. you would stop but she wouldn't stop, she'd say. she came out and she came over to me and she started crying. gave me a kiss. it was emotional. really nice. >> reporter: no one's saying more than the women who know she paved the way for generations. >> i know if she was here, she would want us to be here, be funny and say like, nice tie,

who made it calvin clown? i like that shirt, does it come in men's? oh my god, jimmy, i love your hair, you have to tell me where you bought it. that's for you, joan. >> reporter: online, endless notes. christian chenowith -- you made us laugh and happy. bet mid der -- one of the bravest and funniest of all. laverne cox, you brought me a lifetime of laughter. rivers often acted as if her lifetime was no big deal, even in her final performance joking about death. >> like, i could go like that. do you understand how lucky you would be? do you understand you'd have something to talk about for the rest of your life? >> reporter: but she knew what she had done. as she wrote in 2012 for the hollywood reporter, what pleasure you feel when you've kept people happy? there's nothing like it in the world.