the passing of a legend. the outpouring of shock and sadness over his death have swept the nation. this morning, an in-depth look at the incredible life of one of the world's funniest men, robin williams. missouri police used tear gas and rubber bullets to quell protesters who were out in force. plus, president obama speaks out about the latest details on both the bombings and humanitarian airdrops for thousands of desperate people. a special edition of "first look" starts right now. good morning. thanks for joining us today. people all across the world are mourning the loss of oscar

winning actor and comedian robin williams. the 63-year-old has died of an apparent suicide. a forensic examination is scheduled to take place along with a news conference later this morning. we're outside williams' home in california this morning. jennifer? >> a giant in the world of comedy and drama. robin williams dead at age 63. his family asking that we remember him for what he did in his life, not how he died of apparent suicide. >> good morning, vietnam! >> reporter: always the cheery face getting big laughs. behind it all, robin williams had been battling severe depression of late. he was found dead in his home near san francisco midday. it appears he took his own life. >> and i thought he was happy. i don't believe this. >> he was a really nice person. and he was real friendly to

everyone. and the nice thing was nobody bothered him. >> leading an ordinary life here at home, as a contrast to the extraordinary world he created as an actor and comedian. coming into fame with the happy days character mork from ork which spun off no "mork and mindy" in 1978. he came into stints with drugs and alcohol and the most recent this summer. from "mrs. doubtfire" to "dead poet society," he had tremendous range. he was known for voices and characters, julliard trained actor excelled in dra matt -- dramatic roles like "good will hunting." his films grossed $5 billion worldwide in the box office. he supported the troops. he supported challenge athletes. >> he was very big hearted,

kind, generous person. >> that's how he'll be remembered and memorialized. >> he's a fine, fine, fine man. >> reporter: so much more than an actor, he was a person who brought joy and laughter to so many. williams' wife released a statement saying in part, "it is our hope the focus is not on robin's death but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions." betty, back to you. >> thank you, jennifer. williams' death does highlight the issue of suicide in america. according to the centers for disease control and prevention, suicide rates among middle age americans have risen sharply in the past decade between 1999 and 2010. the suicide rate among americans between the ages of 35 to 64 grew by nearly 30%. so if you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide prevention life line is available at any time by calling

1-800-273-talk. people everywhere have taken to social media to remember robin williams. overnight his daughter tweeted a quote that said in part, "in one of the stars i shall be living and in one of them i shall be laughing. she wrote at the bottom, i love you. i miss you. i'll try to keep looking up." celebrities are sending their condolences for williams' family and friends. actress sally field who worked with williams on "mrs. doubtfire" said he always lit up when he made people laugh. he made them laugh his whole life long tirelessly. henry winkler worked with williams when he made an appearance as mork on the show. he tweeted, "robin williams was like no other. to watch him create on the spot was a privilege to behold. robin, you are an angel now. rest in peace." fellow comedian steve martin tweeted, "i cannot be more stunned by the loss of robin williams. great talent, acting partner,

genuine soul." even sesame street took to at which time we are a picture of williams on set saying "we mourn the loss of our friend robin williams who always made us laugh and smile." in other news for a second day, a powder keg of emotion exploded on to the streets of st. louis. in ferguson, riot police clashed with protesters and looked like a war zone. crowds still very angry over the shooting of michael brown. the fbi is now looking into what happened. one version, the unarmed teen had his hands in the air when cops shot him dead and another version is that brown actually died going for a cop's gun. >> i just wish i could have been there to help him. anything. he didn't deserve it. >> for safety reasons, the name of the officer who shot brown is

being kept private but he has been put on leave. >> the fight for iraq, a scene of danger and despair. an iraqi military helicopter delivering aid to trapped yazidis. it scared refugees desperate to escape isis. they throw themselves in and onboard, looks of relief but exhaustion. now inside the battle zone, more air strikes. u.s. fighter jets hit four isis targets monday. the president saying there is no timetable on when they will end. >> our aircraft remain positioned to strike any terrorist forces around the mountain who threaten the safety of these families. and there is more pressure to lead. britain joining the u.s. in calling for maliki to give up power. all right. want to switch gears now to sports. in a scary moment in baltimore p against the yankees. orioles third baseman goes down

after a swing at the plate. he twisted his knee. an examination later determined it was a sprain. he will undergo an mri today. os took this one 11-3. it was a hot one in miami. marlins jogiancarlo stanton. he lit it up with two homers giving miami the 3-0 lead in the third. he wasn't done yet. top of the fifth, a long hit to the right. he hustles making this incredible diving catch. the man is on fire! miami goes on to beat st. louis 6-5. to chicago now, cubs take on milwaukee. mark reynolds with a solo shot over the stands or -- not. oh, no. an amazing catch. >> catch of the year. >> by a cubs fan leaning over the railing. two things here, bill. thank goodness for that card rail and what a catch. wrigley field tradition, he threw the field back. the cubbies dropped this one 3-1.

twins-astros, trying kacht runner off the bag. the ball gets away. john singleton, move it, ump! they take a tumble in the dirt. they go on to beat the astros 4-2. a bat boy, look at him go. well, he actually slipped on the way to the dugout. he injured his right leg and had to be helped off the field. >> that's not good. >> yeah. >> former number one nba draft pick greg oden was formally charged with battery for allegedly punching his ex-girlfriend in the face. oden was arrested on thursday at his mother's home in lawrence, indiana, following that incident. he was released from jail later that day. the 26-year-old will appear in court today. and you have been waiting. the manning brothers, they are back with another epic rap video for directv. this one is entitled fantasy football fantasy. ♪ fantasy, fantasy, foantasy

football ♪ ♪ a shower that showers new tiny footballs ♪ ♪ it's a football fantasy like no other ♪ ♪ like having a best friend that's your quarterback brother ♪ >> no, stop the fantasy. get back to playing. that's what we want to see. detroit got whacked by some serious rain. check this out. five inches of it fell on monday. flash flooding was a huge problem. truck drivers needed to be rescued. >> how is that truck even moving? >> i don't know. >> the water proved too much for that truck. usually they know not to go where they're not -- >> buses just plowing through. >> they come down so fast or are the folks attempting to go through the high watter? >> that's what happens when you try to go through the high water. you end up pushing your car. >> turn around, don't drown. we say that a million times. people have to listen or don't listen. >> learn the hard way. >> that rainfall in detroit was epic. the records go back to the 1800s. so since 1800, this was the second rainiest day in detroit

city's history. it was no wonder why almost all the freeways were flooded out and closed at one portion of the day. a lot of that water receded. over 4 1/2 inches of rain in one day. so that slow moving rain soaker now moved into upstate new york, central pennsylvania. it's been raining overnight a lot in pittsburgh to state college, philadelphia has had light rain. same with baltimore and d.c. the heavy stuff mostly located in central pennsylvania. now during the day to day, the rain will continue. we may get some breaks. if we do get breaks, we could get strong thunderstorms, especially if the sun pops out. we do have the possibility of actually get something significant delays out there. so 76 today. cool in new york. even as we get into wednesday, that heavy rain shifts from new york up into the boston area. much of the rest of the country is actually okay, especially tomorrow. if you have travel plans today and tomorrow morning in the northeast, do expect delays. you know -- >> be prepared. >> it hasn't rained in a while. it's not raining on the weekend.

>> we're not complaining, is that what you're saying? >> we can. >> we always do. >> thank you. what does president obama know about a new supreme court justice that the rest of us don't? plus, the israeli cease-fire is holding, but for how long? and kennedy may tree ark ethel eni can leads a massive ice bucket challenge at the famous compound. "first look" is back in three. woooo.

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a live picture out of hollywo hollywood, california and the star of robin william. people are leaving flowers and lighting candles to pay tribute to the late actor. more than a day into a 72 hour cease-fire negotiators from israel and hamas are in egypt to discuss a long term solution. they called monday's talks optimistic. meanwhile, george clooney's fiancee turned down a u.n. offer

to help probe possible gaza war crimes. the lawyer and oxford grad said he is was simply too busy. as experts work to reconstruct saturday's deadly racetrack accident in new york, no criminal charges have been filed against tony stewart. that's according to the ontario county sheriff who also said kevin ward jr.'s death was caused bypassive blunt force trauma. could a new supreme court justice be on the way? well, president obama seems to think so. while he didn't name any names or outline a specific time frame, he did suggest to supporters monday that he may be able to appoint a new judge before he leaves office in 2016. and ingredient linked to cancer could be in your toothpaste. listen up. bloomberg is reporting colgate total contains antibacterial chemicals including one and it says it is safe citing fda approval. and donations to the als association have poured out over the past few weeks.

the ice bucket challenge floods social media. here's how it works. people pledge money to dump water on themselves. then they trachallenge a friend do it. the kennedys got in on the action yesterday. guess who she nominated for the challenge? president obama, of course. she got drenched there. well, you know many of robin williams is well known screen characters. but it was some of those roles that he played behind the scenes that he was most proud of. what you may not know about robin williams next.

the wildly successful actor and comedian also lent his talents to raise awareness of humanitarian causes. we're talking about robin williams here. back in 1986 and subsequent years, williams part nerd with billy crystal and whoopi goldberg to he could host comic relief. it was an effort to raise money to fight homelessness. >> yes, god made babies cute so you don't eat them. i'm trying to be the good parent. go down stairs and put on a videotape. okay. here's the secret word for today. mommy. >> dating back to 2003, he joined forces with the uso and went on to frequent tours to iraq, afghanistan to perform for troops. the uso released a statement in part saying, "he will be sorely missed." check out this bit from a

2007. >> it's good to ben a room with beer, having just you got out of rehab, that is a good choice much choice. >> he used his star power to raise awareness of children with cancer through his work with st. jude's, he would often visit with children in the hospital and take part in fund-raising campaigns like the ones you see here. in a staple, the hospital said "his humor brought bright brighs of laughter to our patients and families and his generosity deeply touched the hearts of all who knew him." joining me now to talk more about robin williams is "newsday" columnist ellis hennington. thank you for being with us. it's so sad. >> oh, man. >> we're saying good-bye in our own ways to robin williams. did you know, though, there's a lot i'm learning about him. we know the characters as we see the movies. it just jogs our memory that there were so many. but did you know that he actually was a struggling street

mime outside the museum of modern art? >> for any artist, he was a journey. dent pop out of the womb as the robin williams as we know. right. he was standing out in front of the met entertaining people doing his crazy stuff. and so much of his work later came from the kind of improv he learned. >> he was a genius of that improv. when it came to the movie "aladdin," did he so much improvisation on that. the academy awards rejected that movie for what was it, best adapted screen play because there was just way too much improv there. he did 70 different impressions and 40 different voices. >> that's always so cool about him. none of those lines apply. where does an actor begin and improv artist, comic? just a warm and funny guy. he is like those lines aren't

for me. right? i'm going to get out there and i'm goingen to the taken people. i'm going to connect with people. i'm going to make them feel something. i'm going to take them somewhere. you know what? let the awards committees figure out what category to put it in. let that be their problem. >> speaking of awards, here's what's interesting, too. during his senior year of high school, he was voted least likely to succeed. can you imagine that? but little did they know that williams would win five grammys, two emmys, and an academy award. >> you know a lot about this guy. >> i've done research. so fascinating that a man that we look at his life and the beginning of it was so difficult and struggled so much. no one ever thought he would become anything. look at what he became. >> yeah. and honestly, if you want to bring it back to full circle, there he was. he had all these things to live for, right? this talent, this love, this fame, this attention, this knowledge of his great body of work. and, yet, he still felt these terrible demons inside him. >> fought depression.

>> overwhelmed him in the end. what a tragedy. >> sometimes they say the happiest people are the saddest on the inside. maybe this is a real life example of that. thank you so much. >> whether we come back, a look at robin williams' most memorable film roles and his first appearance on "the tonight show." with nfl mobile on verizon. yes! get in there! go, go, go, go, yes! let's go, drew. the "not-so-good more" would be them always watching you. go for it, paul! get open! come on, paul! let's go! hustle! what is that, chamomile tea?! uh, lattes. you wanna take a nap?! get the "good more" with nfl mobile, free with the more everything plan. exclusively from verizon. now get 50% off all new smartphones. it's been that way since the day you met. but your erectile dysfunction - it could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready.

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back in 1992, johnny carson ended his 30-year reign as hostst tonight show with two final guests, bet midler and you guessed it, robin williams. here's williams in 1981 in his very whacky first appearance with johnny carson. >> look at this thing.

look, flipper. right now there is a sound man going, what are you doing? oh, god. i better relax. okay, i'm on tv. >> you're a nice man. you won't hurt me. >> no. no. >> don't ab frayed. the sores went away. >> real men can stand up to herpes. >> well now robin william was actually a julliard trained actor who has appeared in over 100 different television shows and movies. we've compiled just a handful of some of our favorites. so sit back and enjoy. good morning vietnam! >> the water is boiling. >> hello! >> aahh! >> greetings.

remember me? mork from ork. you once called me the nut from outer space. ♪ up and square >> i found a happy thought. took me three days to find it. guess what happened when i did? i win. you do martha graham, martha graham or twyla or michael kid. michael kid. medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits. necessary to sustain life. but poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. genie? i'm going to miss you. me, too. no matter what anybody says, you'll always be a prince to me. as we watch that, it is so hard to pick that one favorite robin

williams movie. >> that's his greatness. you'll hear ten different answer what's their favorite robin williams movie, show. >> he will definitely be missed. "way too early" with thomas roberts starts right now. what is this black liquid? >> this is coffee. >> what do you do with it? >> we have it with our breakfast. >> oh, allow me. repulsive. swimming pancakes. i hope the rest can drink coffee. >> i still can't got over this. i'm sitting here having breakfast with a afribeing from another planet. >> we fell in love with him as mork and all the better for it. his career and impact in entertainment is one of a kind. today, remembering the comedic

genius of robin william. awe power struggle at the top of iraq's political period. current maliki says he's not going without a fight. and three for three. rachael, manny and gavin, my nominees all accept the als ice bucket challenge. find out who is next. this is "way too early"! good morning, i'm thomas roberts. it is tuesday, august 12th. welcome to "way too early." we're a show today filled with mixed emotions and obviously it is because of the sad news as the world passes the death of comedian and actor robin williams. he was found dead of an apparent suicide at his home in california. williams dealt with addiction, a disease for many years, reportedly checking into a clinic as recently as july and a publicist sai