life. that's why you treat a disease, you win, you lose. you treat a person. i guarantee you, you win. >> those are the things i miss the most. little idio sing crassies that i know about. that is what made my wife and she had the goods on me too. she knew all of my little peckadillos. people call these perfections. but they are not. that's the good stuff. you are here and life exists and an identity. the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. >> some of the powerful lines spoken by robin williams, an entertainment genius who commanded the spotlight from stand-up comedy clubs to oscar winning films. >> it's hard to think of anybody

as naturally funny as robin williams. he was wild. he was free-willing and better at improv than anybody and it left audience barrel over in laughter. while his performance broke barriers in the series of leading roles, he was a deeply funny and deeply complicated man. >> and deeply troubled as well. the comedian and movie star gave us characters full of warmth and life from "mrs. doubtfire" to "the dead poet's society." >> a personal struggle and deep challenges he dealt with depression for years and reportedly checking in a clinic as recently as july and a publicist said he had been battling deep depression. >> he was found dead in his home in california yesterday. an parent suicide. he was 63 years old and apparently there is a news conference this morning with details on how this happened. good morning, everyone. it is tuesday, august 12th. bus on set we have "morning joe"

contributor mark halpern and the host of "way too early" thomas roberts and willie geist. >> from the time in 1978 that he burst on to the scene, it was amazing. "mork and mindy" went on the air and a couple of weeks later it was an instant hit. it was an instant hit because of him. it's hard to believe in these days that any television show would have 50 million, 60 million people watching every single week and they did and they did because of robin williams. >> because you almost were transfixed watching his comedic talent and they left a lot of room for him in the script just to ad-lib because he was that good. >> willie, he was a comedian like no other before him and he broke the mold. you look at jimi hendrix playing the guitar. there was nobody like jimi hendrix before jimi hendrix and never been anybody sense and the same with robin williams. nobody has been like him.

>> i missed "mork and mindy." my first experience with robin williams was "good morning vietnam." i remember that singular performance and knowing how much of that had been ad-libbed and to watch one man carry a movie that way and to go on these extended rifts where you're watching the other characters in the movie break up laughing for real what robin williams is doing. he had a lot more dramatic performances that had nothing to do with his comedy chops. "dead poet's society" and "good will hunting." he could so so many things. >> i remember for the first time soon after he started doing movies i think his second movie was "world according to garp." he was funny in it but also very complicated and very sad at times. i remember being shocked at his

range. >> there is a tremendous outpowering of grief and shock following word of williams death. his wife says i lost my husband and best friend while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. i'm utterly heartbroken. actors and artists with whom he worked took to twitter. steve martin called him a generous soul. even "sesame street" chimed in. to what it means to be alive. even president obama reflekcted saying robin williams was a airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor and everything in between. williams body of work is staggering in its scope and breadth from his time raising money for the homeless on comic relief to the most provocative performances in cinema. robin williams was an

entertainer in the classic sense of the word. >> bad men distance dance the on field. >> reporter: a stand-up comedian and broadway performer and one of the most successful and tv and movie stars of any generation. he was a master of impressions. >> you remember john wayne going, well, is this a dagger i see before me? >> reporter: and delighted the impressionable. >> there is lots of things you can do with a stick. you can start off and be playing baseball in the world series or you can be gene shalit or pinocchio. >> reporter: his breakthrough came as mork. >> my name is mork. nanana. >> reporter: it drew 60 million viewers every week. and provided a national audience for his genius. >> i can't let you pass up a chance like me, honey. >> stop it! mork, will you help me? >> if you insist. mind if i cut in?

thank you. >> reporter: but it wasn't long before he turned his attention to more serious projects, waking up the world in "good morning vietnam." >> in saigon today according to officials nothing actually happened. one thing that didn't happen is a bomb didn't explode 14 hours unofficially destroying jimmy's cafe. >> get him out of there! >> reporter: he mixed the phonetic and the funny. >> you do fossey, fossey, fossey and. >> reporter: with the deeply philosophical. >> the poet. the beauty. romance! love! these are what we stay alive for. >> reporter: he was a regular at the academy awards taking home an oscar in 1998, his only one for his role in "good will hunting." >> you don't know about real loss because that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself. i doubt you ever dare to love

anybody that much. >> reporter: according to publicist, williams had been battling severe depression and going to rehab in 2006. >> i went to rehab in wine country. >> are you happy? were you unhappy before you went in? >> i was pretty much everything before i went in and now it's great just to have genuine emotions and being all right with that. >> reporter: his roles were as complex and as playful as the man himself exploring some of humanity's darkest chapters and along with our greatest triumphs and above all else, he made us laugh. >> a lot of voices we want to bring in this morning. mike hogan of "vanity fair" and brian steinberg. thank you both for being up e g early with us. i was struck by twitter reading the outpowering of support and not just fans but the hollywood community from comedy to drama and felt like he touched

everybody. >> absolutely. one of the things so amazing is right out of the gate at the beginning of his career, robin williams was kind of coming out of a world of underground comedy of improv and saying a lot of irrev representative things and acting pretty much totally crazy and people immediately embraced him. i think there was a sincerity underneath all of that manic energy that people grabbed on to right away and responded to and that is what you see. now with this outpouring of grief everybody from the academy to "sesame street" to the president of the united states feeling this loss in a way that is unusual. >> brian, another thing that struck me reading the reaction was how everyone had a different project. it wasn't like it was just one or two movies that jumped out. we had some people say my kids loved him as popeye or the voice of aladdin or the deeper roles where he was nominated for oscars. he just had a truly an incredible range to him. >> i think that is right. this is a guy that could really play a great despair or humor as

equal intensity and a rare find in hollywood to have somebody do those things both at the same time. >> speaking of ad-libbing. robin williams was known for ad-libbing in almost every role he's ever taken. in the animated film "aladdin" it was rumored 16 hours of recording from his recording sessions kind after nightmare but kind of what brilliance comes from. he improvised him so much the academy award turned down the film for best adapted screen play. look at this. >> you're going to grant me any three wishes i want, right? >> almost. a couple of quid pro quo. >> like? >> rule number one. i can't kill anybody, so don't ask. rule number two. i can't make anybody fall in love with anybody else. you little fun man! rule number three! i can't bring people back from the dead! it's not a pretty picture! and i don't like doing it!

other than that, you got it. >> provisos, you mean limitations, wishes? some unpowerful genie. can't even bring people back from the dead. i don't know, abu. he probably can't even get us out of this cave. looks like we are going to have to find a way out of here. >> excuse me? are you looking at me? did you rub my lamp? did you wake me up? did you bring me here? and, all of a sudden, you're walking out on me? i don't think so! not right now! you're getting your wish so sit down! >> amazing. his mind is so fast when he is ad-libbing. like nobody out there. >> to go from that you see that and there is a line what he did on "mork and mindy." and to go from that something like "garp" or "good will hunting" and "what dreams may come."

>> you can see he was most comfortable when he was ad-libbing and that is really when he was at his best. he also, we're hearing a lot of stories now about what a good guy and what a good friend he was. he had this long relationship with christopher reeves. he attended the premiere of "good morning vietnam." that with would earn him an academy award nomination. after his accident that left him paralyzed in 1995 it was robin williams who helped nurse the actor's spirit. he showed up at the hospital dressed in scrubs head-to-toe and reeves recalled the interview from 1998. >> i was so struck by your obvious deep, deep friendship with robin williams at the creative coalition event. >> he was the first one to show up down in virginia when he was really in trouble. he came here one afternoon and

just -- thank god i wear a seat belt in this chair because i would have fallen out laughing. in the middle of a tragedy like this, in the middle of recuperation, you can still experience genuine joy and laughter and love and anybody says life is not worth living is totally wrong, totally wrong. >> this was as christopher reeves was going in for surgery doctors said he had a 50/50 chance coming out of it and he was on his bed and the door forces open. robin williams saying i'm your proctologist and just a couple of things before your surgery. >> thomas, what is your memory of robin williams? >> i have to think back to "mork and mindy." that is what my sister and i watched as kids. mork showed up on "happy days." that was then a spin-off that he got. jonathan winters was his hero who showed up as his kid on

"mork and mindy." and mork was the one that got pregnant after they got married! and egg showed up in the attic. the egg from ork and jonathan winters comes down and he's the baby. >> crazy. >> fantastic. but you were talking about the ad-libbing, willie. he was known for that. when we see the opening scenes of "mrs. doubtfire" is the voiceover artist and actor who gets fired from a job because he doesn't like the way the cartoon is going and the bird is smoking. pudgy, the bird, oh, no i'll get a cancer. no, pudgy is going to smoke but i don't want to send kids the message this kid is going to smoke. he gets canned from the job and ends up as his own kids' nanny dressed in drag. there was talks he was going to make "mrs. doubtfire 2." but he will live you forever.

these films for kids and adults he touched so many lives. >> mark, what about you? >> for me stand-up and appearances on late night talk shows and award shows. he was come in and explode any appearance he was on. you can watch lots of them on youtube as i did some last night and this morning where he just came on improv, interaction and a phenomenal genius. one other thing we haven't talked about much yet. he did kill himself. what struck me is no one is surprised. no one is surprised that he killed himself because he lived pretty openly about his addiction and his troubles. it's sad and a lot of talk about helping people around the world today who deal with the substance abuse and depression he had. >> that is a thing -- there was something about him when you saw him in "mork and mindy." but if you see him in "garp," if you see him in "good will hunting." in so many of these roles, you

know, there was something very real, there was something very funny about the guy, but also something very sad. i read in "the new york times" this morning, i had no idea as a child, they talk about how he grew up in detroit a privileged son of a detroit auto executive that lived in a mansion and played by himself in a room with thousands of toy soldiers and there was just sort of this sadness that went along with the joy and, you're right, nobody was surprised. for all of us who have seen people and known people that have struggled with depression or struggled with bipolar disorder or any of these mental health challenges, we understand what a battle it is just to get through the day and he did so many -- like a lot of great artists, he used his suffering and he used his daily challenges and put it in -- i think it made

him a greater artist, a more sensitive artist, a more feeling artist, but it also, of course, led to a life of struggle. >> yeah. he was able to exude such extreme elation and pleasure and joy and humor and also the depth of pain in his work. everyone talks about his range and that obviously those extremes plagued his life as well. he talked about his own struggle using drugs and alcohol using it actually as material for his stand-up. >> this is whaty i had to give alcohol because you have to pay the next day. dear lord, please don't hurt me now. lying in bed and you feel like the scenes in the movie going, help me! help me! the entire room is spinning like a roulette wheel. place your bets! place your bets! the old toilet in the corner going, "talk to me!" here is a warning sign if you

have a cocaine problem. if you have only a couch in and your cat is going [ bleep ] me too. you can't fall asleep and doing cocaine in your sleep and can't fall asleep and you wake up and you're doing cocaine, bingo. number three if on your form it says $50,000 for snacks, mayday! >> mike hogan, he speaks, obviously, from experience and in a way that connects with the vulnerable. >> yeah. absolutely. and, you know, it's just, once again, you see that there is this manicness that is pushing and kind of playing those high notes to try and almost distract you and him from something else that is a little darker underneath. i think that is what a lot of people are responding to today. but it also made him such a talented versatile actor where when he did dial it back down, you really got these very soulful performance like the one he won the oscar for in "good

will hunting." >> brian, is there something that sticks out to you that you think he can be most reminded for? >> i'm reminded of an early '70s performance where he is talking about the comedy routine saying, oh, no, i'm doing it wrong. amazing stuff and very inventive and fertile mind that will not be duplicated any time soon. >> mike hogan and brian steinberg, thank you. we will have much more on the life and genius of robin williams throughout the show. president obama hits pause on his vacation to grating tcon the new prime minister in iraq. there is a problem. >> what is that? >> the old prime minister refuses to go away and calling the move illegal.

later, mrs. say all options remain open in the fatal accident involving nascar driver tony stewart. could criminal charges be coming soon? first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> good morning on this tuesday. yesterday, we got soaked in detroit. it wasn't your normal soaking. they had over four inches of rain. the second most rain they had in their recorded history in one single day and their records go back to the 1800s. every highway in the city was flooded at one point. 4 1/2 inches of rain. it's drying out today but that slow moving soaker is now pushing east. we are going to see very heavy rain today. areas of new york, pennsylvania, and eventually shifting into the big cities on i-95. already the green on the map is light rain d.c. to baltimore and scranton area light rain. a closer view shows you right over the loop there around d.c. around 295 and 495. we do have a little bit of light rain but not the heavy stuff.

that will come later today and maybe thunderstorms. if you have travel plans at the airports or the roads expect delays especially late today and tonight. new york city we are expecting as much as 3 inches of rain later this evening in a very, very slow wednesday morning commute because of those downpours. that is going to be moving out into areas of central new england by the time we get through wednesday. everything else around the country looks okay today but that travel trouble spot is on a busy i-95 corridor later today into tonight. "the new york times" you're dry this morning and driving home in some rain. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. ♪ (vo) ours is a world of passengers.

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welcome back to "morning joe." more on the passing of robin williams in a moment. some other news as well. dueling conflicts are fueling questions about the future stability of iraq. the country's new president has picked the country's deputy

speaker to be the next prime minister. al maliki refused to leave the post. he accused iraq's president of violating the constitution and accusing the u.s. for not supporting him. president obama on his vacation visited the new prime minister. the president praises the announcement and promised to support iraq's incoming government which is facing some enormous challenges. >> there is no american military solution to the crisis in iraq. the only lasting is for iraqis to come together and form an inclusive government, one that represents the legitimate interests of all iraqis and one that can unify the country's fight against isis. >> the daily beast is reporting that president obama told

lawmakers in a private meeting it was, quote, horse bleep to say he could have done more to stop the rise of islamic militants in syria and now iraq. horse bleep. what exactly is horse bleep? >> i wonder. >> the u.s. is keeping up its assault on the militants launching strike on checkpoints and vehicles in northern iraq. american troops have now delivered more than 85,000 meals and 20,000 gallons of water to thousands of displaced desperate iraqis. a top member of the u.s. military is now warning the united states campaign will have a limited impact. >> we assess that u.s. air strikes in northern iraq have slowed isil's operation tempo and temporarily disrupted their advances toward the province of erbil. however, these strikes are unlikely to effect isil's overall capabilities off its

operations in other areas of iraq and syria. >> let's bring in the bbc's katty kay. a lot of horse bleep going on out there. i think it fit in well on "morning joe." his foreign policy is defined as don't do stupid bleep and now on isis it's horse bleep that he could stop it. regardless of whatever it is, regardless of how we got here, looking forward is chaotic, not only for this president but this would be a challenge for like eisenhow eisenhower. there is chaos in the north and baghdad and everywhere. what is the next step? >> i think to push the iraqi government in baghdad which is why the president called the president designate in baghdad yesterday saying you have to find a political solution to that is going to satisfy the sunnis in this country. you have to deal with this. americans can strike the islamic state in the north with some success as they are doing but unless america is prepared to go into syria to really roll back long term probably by putting

boots on the ground as well and get this organization really crushed, which it's not prepared to do. washington doesn't want to do that, then this is going to have to be a regional solution and an iraqi solution. america can't fix this problem. >> where is europe? where is germany? where is france? why does this always turn back to us? why does standing up to putin always turn back to us? it seems to us, it seems to some of us that europe, especially germany, is still on this vacation from history. it's not 1945. it's not 1991. why is it always on our shoulders? >> germany is a slightly different case and complicated case. since the world war ii they have a confrontation that forbids them from around the world. american led the invasion of iraq. it's the pottery barn rule. you went in, you did take a

coalition of the sort of willing with you but only a sort of willing. no massive protests around europe against the invasion of iraq. europe has never been keen on a military -- they weren't in 2003. they are still not today. >> europeans are more in danger and closer to isis. whether you're talking about isis in iraq or whether you're talking about iran, this is a question -- >> they are watching these exact pictures that we are seeing at the moment of the helicopter aid drops. >> does europe thinking that this stays away from their doorstep? it is a virus, mark halpern, spreading across the middle east and i just wonder why the hell it's always black or white. it's the united states or it's nobody. if it goes well, well, then the united states, they did what they were supposed to do. if it goes badly, then we get, of course, criticized by germany and france and many others

across the world. >> i'd say where is turkey and saudi arabia? united states is the indispensable nation. if the united states doesn't lead against jihadists, no one else will. i agree with you it's not ideal but that is the relate of the world. >> is it a sense in washington, d.c. the president has been shaken? >> personally shaken? >> no. out of some would consider his position that i'm going to define my foreign policy by not being dick cheney? >> well, dick cheney -- >> is this going to be two or three weeks of military activity or do you think this president, are you hearing this president is determined to do everything he can to stamp out the spreading terror out there? >> well, he is turning everybody else or almost everybody else into dick cheney. hillary clinton is sounding like dick cheney because there is two ways to do this. there is pay any price to deal with jihadists and terror around the world, or think through like a law professor every situation, do a cost benefit analysis, and be incremental.

>> he is turning everyone else into dick cheney apart from the american public. >> and very important point, and we have heard again and again and again and again that the president also needs to be the, quote, explainer in chief. that fits here probably better than any of these other crises. >> let's ask the question of where is europe and this one as well to our next guest. joining us now from washington, "the new york times" reporter jeremy peters and also the former senior director at the national security council and now managing director at the washington institute, michael sing. we also have nbc news senior white house correspondent chris jansing live from martha's vineyard. >> chris, set it up for us. a busy day up there yesterday. what are we expecting today? >> reporter: there is no public schedule here and it's really interesting to watch what has been going on over the last, i don't know, 24 hours or so. when you saw the development of the push, the sort of final

push. we have known that for a while, this administration has been really in the middle of what has been going on with iraq, they have been saying to the new president and members of parliament deeply involved you got to get a new prime minister in here. but what a contrast, right? yesterday on iraqi television, you've got nuri al maliki who essentially is setting up what looks like a potential coup. i can tell you that administration officials are very concerned about that. late yesterday, the president in what was supposed to be just a statement to the pool press and then they decided to do it on television the last minute. you saw the poor quality of it, you know, came out. doesn't mention nuri al maliki at all. and says this is good, we have a new person in place and this is how iraq is going to move forward, this is someone who can bring both sides together. so you have these incredibly competing visions one on iraqi television and one on american

television, joe. >> nbc chris jansing, thank you very much. we appreciate it. let's go to jeremy peters on capitol hill. we heard katty talking about how the american people didn't support this. maybe that is why there is a deafening silence coming from capitol hill. i understand they spread out all over the country but in times of crises you would send a statement out from your capitol hill office. dead silence. especially, i must say from my republican brothers and sisters, that have been so critical of this president not taking action. we reached out yesterday and i know you did too to rand paul to try to get a comment from rand paul on where he stood. this is probably the most important national security issue, isis, over the past four or five or six years, and they refused comment to us. other republicans who have been deeply critical of president obama refused comment as well. what are you hearing on capitol hill? >> i think rand paul's silence is stemming from this problem

that he is going to have if he runs for president in 2016. he will constantly be running against his father's legacy. he does not want to be portrayed as an isolationist. therefore, i think the less he says, the better on these type of things. >> would now be a great time for him to come out and say, i don't know, do something radical and actually support the president for going against a terrorist group that is spreading across the middle east like a virus? or is he just going wait until it goes badly like democrats did and then attack barack obama for doing what -- >> they would have done. >> what they would have done? >> i think part of what you said earlier about congress being in recess is actually very true. lawmakers think that they have a past now that they are out of washington and there aren't constantly cameras in their face asking them for comment. that is just going to be the fallback position a lot of these guys take. actually what i've been more struck by is the silence from democrats because the last thing that democrats on capitol hill

want to have right now is another messy fight over a foreign entanglement. this is reminiscent. it happened a month ago where you saw democrats being very reluctant to commit to any sort of force in iraq. >> michael sing, the president has gone out of his way to say this air strike conducted in iraq was a limited one and just to preserve the humanitarian needs of a persecuted group stranded up on a mountain top there. what happens with the next group? is this just putting out one fire or more fires going to pop up that we have to take one by one, the united states and it will be forced to confront again? >> that is my concern about this is that, look. i'm glad the president has decided to final get more involved in what is happening there in the middle east. but the question is can this operation achieve very much?

i'm not sure that it will succeed and we heard the pentagon talking about this yesterday even in stopping the isis advance, much less rolling them back or dealing them a blow. it doesn't really address that broader threat that isis poses, not only to this region, remember, they have attacked syria, lebanon and jordan and saudi arabia but also the threat to the united states itself. you got chuck hagel right now and john kerry in australia talking about the threat that the foreign fighters who have gone to fight with isis posed to our own countries. >> michael singh, thank you so much. still ahead on "morning joe," guess how much of u.s. postal service lost in three months of the second quarter. is it, a, 100 million? >> yeah, sounds right. >> they all seem high. >> b, 500 million or, c, 2 billion? we will have the correct answer next in papers. people close to tracy morgan say the actor is struggling

nearly two months after his car accident. we will have an update on his condition next. more on the life and genius of robin williams. we will remember the funniest moments from his legendary contrary. we will be right back with much more "morning joe." >> what is this black liquid? >> this is coffee. >> what do you do with it? >> we have it with our breakfast. >> oh, allow me. oh, repulsive. >> i hate to admit this, but people here on earth get pretty hassled over anything they don't understand. >> why would anyone think i'm weird? they must build a new race. swim, swim. ♪ ♪ coming on the radio i heard ♪ at 1-800-dentist, we're about one thing.

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according to the latest tally from the world health organization. a company that manufactures an experimental treatment drug z. map said it's all out of the treatment it sent to liberia. the government there said would be issued to two african doctors suffering from the virus. dr. kent brantly and nancy writebol being treated now in an atlanta hospital, received the experimental drug. from the st. louis poach dispatch. the fbi is investigating the fatal shooting of an unarmed army teenager in ferguson, missouri. for the second day in a row now antipolice demonstrators demonstrated in the streets to demand justice for 18-year-old michael brown. 15 were arrested as the demonstrations turned violent last night. the police using tear gas and rubber bullets. yesterday, demonstrators marched

to the police station. the police chief says he does not blame people for being skeptical about what happens but promises a full and independent review. "wall street journal," the united states postal service is reporting a loss of nearly, did you guess it, joe? >> i was afraid of this. >> yeah. $2 billion. >> good lord! >> $2 billion in the third quarter. despite cost cutting efforts. this marks the 20th of the last 22 quarters the agency has wound up in the red. the loss comes a the postal service looks to end saturday deliveries a move could save up to $2 billion a year. revenue was up $379 million from last year. from the "usa today." tracy morgan's lawyer says the actor is still struggling over two months since the accident that left him severely injured. a car he was riding in was struck by a walmart truck on the

new jersey turnpike. his lawyer says morgan is fighting hard to recover from his injuries. up next, we are sort through the must read opinion pages. plus, police say they are not ruling anything out in the nascar accident with tony stewart. latest from the their investing is coming up. the stars come out to say good-bye to actor robin williams. some of their touching reactions on social media coming up. ♪ in the river today saw a city ♪ >> can i give you a hand? >> oh, no, dear, i don't need a hand. i need a face. a face. >> are you sure? >> oh, definitely! >> a face. a face. oh, god! >> the water is boiling. >> hello! ♪ ♪

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♪ it's time now for the must read opinion pages. i picked one here. >> you don't have to bring it from the south of france. >> why do you keep saying that? >> the bill is getting high. >> willie, it's getting old. it's getting old. >> where is the telegraph? >> you can reverse the charges. >> how did you learn how to do that? i'd like to send this collect. >> it's true. >> i've been to the south of france once. i was kidnapped. it was not good. >> it's a great story. >> by a diplomat son! that happens to all of us, though, right? oh, a president's son. >> afs no pair bi was a no pair were no children. >> wife asking you on to go. >> it's a shell game. >> is that bad? >> leave the country. >> take care of him!

>> take care of him. >> thanks, mom and dad. a great summer. >> what movie did you guys go out to see? >> it was a porn movie. >> how is that? >> really scary. >> you called your dad and said come get me? >> no. i had this special code and if there was any problem, you say how is grandfather like that. >> his grandfather died? >> yeah. but my parents were out of town and my brother was having a party and he never answered the phone. when he finally did, he said, what are you, crazy? then he hung up. >> the parents got home three days later. it was three days later and they said, has mika called? yeah, she called asking how grandfather was. dr. brzezinski dials up and ed, i am getting my daughter now and if you do not have her at the airport in five minutes, i will kill you! i'm sure he said something like that. the guy takes her out on a shopping spree and -- >> like none other, by the way. >> are you still in touch with him? >> or at least with his credit

card details. >> or his children. wait a minute there were no children. >> i was doing an internship at a tv station for the summer and it was a wonderful experience. >> there was a tv? >> yeah, there was a tv. >> the beginning of my tv career. >> mika has an attachment to the south of france. >> the oinnly attachment i have >> i was going to read you gene robinson and make you really mad. >> go ahead. >> no. we don't have enough time. >> we will do it with eugene coming up. that's a tease. >> i'll get angry and stare at the tv. >> "the washington post" paying for the crisis in iraq.

why is obama intervening with air strikes in iraq and not in syria where the carnage is much worse? my answer would be the u.s. has a special responsibility to protect innocent civilians in iraq because ultimately it was our nation's irresponsibility that put lives at risk. >> what is next? >> in a few minutes the host of "inside the actor studio," james lipton will be here with his thoughts on the death of legendary actor and comedian robin williams. we will play the appearance of robin's on that show. saying it was the best he had ever given in his life. don't go away. we will be right back. let me get this straight... [ female voice ] yes?

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welcome back. tony stewart has pulled out of a race in indiana this saturday following the crash that led to the death of sprint car driver kevin ward jr. it remains unclear if stewart will compete in a nascar event the following day in michigan. officials are still investigating the incident at a dirt racetrack in upstate new york when ward got out of his car following a wreck and tried to confront stewart on the track before being struck by stewart's vehicle. at a news conference yesterday, the sheriff says no charges are pending right now against stewart. >> that's awful. >> as we speak at this time,

there are no facts that exist that support any criminal behavior or conduct, or any probable cause of a criminal act. this is an open investigation. what i have just said is not indicative that the investigation is over or conclusions have been made. no criminal charges have been placed against anyone and there are no facts at this point that would support probable cause of any criminal behavior. >> an autopsy for ward revealed he died of massive blunt force trauma to the head, although he was wearing a helmet. obviously, he was struck at a relatively high speed. now the questions are will there be criminal charges? it's a pretty heavy charge that some people are saying that tony stewart would accelerate on a racetrack to hit another driver

and there is no evidence that he did that. >> yesterday, derek was talking about when you do these type of cars, actually you've got to, at times, accelerate to get the mud off the tires. derek's father still drives these things. >> yeah. >> that is just what you do when i guess the yellow flag is up and mud is collecting. if you slow down too much, it's even worse. >> why would you expect somebody to walk out in the middle of a track? >> muddy track. the guy is walking on the track in a black suit and a lot of things working against him. >> and strips. the vision is terrible. >> coming up in our 7:00 hour, president obama calls to congratulate the newly nominated prime minister in iraq thachlt. >> that is good news. >> the old one refuses to leave. one little issue there. >> that is not good news. >> how will that stand justify play out? two words we can't say on television for critics saying he

could have prevented the crisis. colleagues of robin williams speak out remembering their friends and we will be right back. ♪ h i make a lot of purchases for my business. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 50,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards, even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning a business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. hing your favorite players come on, get open... yeah... 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!

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those are the things i missed the most. little idiosyncrasies that i only know about. that is what made my wife and she had the goods on me too. she knew all of my little peccadillos. people call these things imperfections but they are not not. that's the good stuff. you are here and life exists and an identity. the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. >> robin williams has been called an entertainment genius who commanded the spotlight from stand-up comedy clubs to oscar winning films. >> it's hard to think of anyone as naturally funny as robin williams. he was wild. he was free-willing and better

at improv than anybody and it and broke barriers in comedy. while his performance broke barriers in the series of leading roles, he was a deeply funny and deeply complicated man. >> a personal struggle and deep challenges he dealt with depression for years and reportedly checking in a clinic as recently as july and a publicist said he had been battling deep depression. >> he was found dead in his home in california yesterday of an apparent suicide. he was 63 years old and there will be a news conference later this morning with more on his passing. we did find out that he was with some major hollywood actors earlier in the day. >> actually, i think that was another story that we're looking into. but robin williams colleagues from around hollywood and beyond have been sending their thoughts and prayers. gary marshall who cast williams in the role of "mork" which started is all for williams said, i will never forget the day i met him and he stood on

his head in my office chair and pretended to drink a glass of water using his finger like a straw. the first season of "mork and mindy," i knew immediately that a three camera format wouldn't be enough to catch robin and his genius talent so i hired a fourth camera operator and he just followed robin. only robin, looking back four cameras weren't enough. i should have had a fifth and i should have hired a fifth camera to follow him too. he also spoke back in 2012 on "morning joe." >> they always say you could do "saturday night live" humor at 8:00. i said you can because i found robin williams and determined to do that kind of stuff. >> actor forrest whittaker who starred alongside him in" good

morning vietnam." said the following. actor chevy chase saying we suffered from the known disease depression and never expected this ending to his life and to ours with him. sean levy the director, robin moved us to tears, sometimes from laughter and sometimes from humanity and sometimes both in the same moment. finally, this was tweeted out by the academy. "genie, you're free." williams body of work is staggering from his time raising money for the homeless on comic relief to some of the most passionate and provocative performances in cinema. >> reporter: robin williams was an entertainer in the classic sense of the word. >> bad men distance dance the on field. >> reporter: a stand-up comedian and broadway performer and one of the most successful and tv and movie stars of any generation. he was a master of impressions. >> you can also imagine john

wayne going, well, is this a dagger i see before me? >> reporter: and delighted the impressionable. >> there is lots of things you can do with a stick. you can start off and be playing baseball in the world series or you can be gene shalit or pinocchio. i have two academy awards, elmo! >> reporter: his breakthrough role came as mork on the sitcom "mork and mindy." >> my name is mork. nanana. >> reporter: it was said the producers would leave parts of the scripts blank to allow williams to ad-lib. it drew 60 million viewers every week. and provided a national audience for his genius. >> i can't let you pass up a chance like me, honey. >> stop it! mork, will you help me? >> if you insist. mind if i cut in? thank you. >> reporter: but it wasn't long before he turned his attention to more serious projects, waking up the world in "good morning vietnam." >> in saigon today, according to officials, nothing actually

happened. one thing that didn't happen is a bomb didn't explode 14 hours unofficially destroying jimmy's cafe. >> get him out of there! >> reporter: his roles often pushed the envelope mixing the phonetic and the funny. >> you do fossey, fossey, fossey and graham, graham! >> reporter: with the deeply philosophical. >> the poetry. beauty! romance! love! these are what we stay alive for. >> reporter: he was a regular at the academy awards, taking home an oscar in 1998, his only one for his role in "good will hunting." >> you don't know about real loss because that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself. i doubt you ever dare to love anybody that much. >> reporter: but according to a publicist, williams had been battling severe depression and going to rehab in 2006. >> i went to rehab in wine country. always a good choice. do detoxing in columbia. >> are you happy? were you unhappy before you went

in? >> i was pretty much everything before i went in and now it's great just to have genuine emotions and being all right with that. >> reporter: his roles were as complex and as playful as the man himself, exploring some of humanity's darkest chapters, and along with our greatest triumphs and, above all else, he made us laugh. >> with us on set the producer and writer and host, james lipton. james, we love seeing you but it's certainly a sad occasion as it was a few months ago with philip seymour hoffman. >> we have to stop doing this. >> we really do. in this case, though, some of his best work was never caught on film but his manager says the performance that he turned in with you on your show was one of the greatest of his careers. >> yes, it was. he walked out on the stage in our actor drama school and students went wild and then he

went wild. and finally after about six or seven minutes, i raised my hand. he said, what do you want? i said i want to ask my first question. >> let's see that. here is robin williams when he joined james on inside the actors studio. >> i came to bombay last year. you know i have directed 15 movies in bombay and very excited about my music al. is there a lovely musical called "who's sorry now?" i have written this magical thing and i do them and i have my other one that is binedy, binedy bow and teka, teka, tay.

i would like to welcome you to iran! help me! >> james, you asked robin williams that famous question that you ask all of the actors during your interview at the studio. let's take a look at that. >> if heaven exists, what would you like to hear god say when you arrive at the pearly gates? >> there is seating near the front. the concert begins at 5:00. it will be mozart, elvis and one of your choosing. or just laughter. that would be a great thing, just to hear god goes, two jews walk into a bar. >> james, your thoughts on this extraordinary man. >> we have lost a genius. genius is very hard to define.

genius do it naturally. it comes in their dna what we do with great effort and having to learn. robin was born to entertain us and he succeeded brilliantly. you mending steven spielberg a moment ago in the introduction. steelberg to spielberg told me when he was doing "schindler's list." every night he would call robin in los angeles and say, "make me laugh." that's a gift. >> it is a gift. he did it in such a way that when he first came on the scene in 1978 with a television show, two weeks, three weeks later, robin williams was a star. 60 million people would watch "mork and mindy." but none of us could have seen the type of performances that he turned in in "garp," which i

think was an extraordinary performance very early in his career, all the way through "good morning vietnam," and a lot of these other shows. >> one of my favorite robin williams performance is in "aladdin," the genie. when he prepares aladdin for what is to come, he plays -- would you like to guess how many characters he played in that two and a half or three minutes as the genie? 52. 52 entirely unique discrete characters switching like that and was all improvised in front of an empty studio in front of a microphone. >> that is unbelievable. robin ad-libbed his way through the role of genie in "aladdin." let's take a look. >> in your corner now. every ammunition in your pant. you have a punch! shazam! all you got to do is rub that lamp. i'll say, mr. aladdin, sir, what will your pleasure be? let me take your other and jog it down.

you never been like me. >> james, obviously, to brilliant there in "aladdin." we don't get to see the facial expressions of robin williams. that was in 1992 before "mrs. doubtfire" came out. i want to play the clip of you asking him inside the actor studio about heaven. you knew that sound bite was coming and you deflated a little bit. am i wrong? >> i'm sorry? what? >> just a second ago when you knew that question was coming about if heaven exists and he was about to answer it, you seemed like you had a visceral reaction to know what his answer is going to be. is it hard to know someday there is a more poignant relevance when you're surrounded at a table like this and we are discussing the brilliance of an actor like robin williams that they give an answer like that? >> if you had asked me then to predict that robin would

predecease me, i would have laughed at you. no. there was no premonition in that. he was -- he was extraordinary. he walked out on the set and normally i wear my wings on the pilot airplane association and the symbol of it is wings and they sort of face down. he walked over to me and turned it upside down so that i would -- it would look right to him. i turned it back up. i said what are you doing? i said that is the way it goes. he said that is airplane association and he said the wings go down? that is like a parachute with most parachute. then he got up and he did five minutes on a drunken pilot. and the president of the airplane owners and pilots association called me a few days later and said, i'd like to open every jen aviation pilots meeting with that clip and he did. >> oh, my gosh. >> ever after that.

wherever robin went, he left an indelible mark. >> he did. you asked robin about his personality and this was his response. >> no one is more famous than you for free flight exteroversion. is there an introverted robin williams? does he exist? oh, my god! what have i done? do not ask if he -- >> don't ask the introverted question. i'm feeling better! oh, god! you don't ask that! just because you fly! i got to pin. i fly! >> you just don't want to see

the introverted robin williams. >> no, you don't. mika, james said something before that the genius is hard to define but that's genius. that is something you don't teach. >> no. >> that is something you're blessed with. this morning as i was getting up and reading a lot of different things and one of the things i saw that was fascinating to me there was a study of great musicians. they try to figure out if you were born with it or if it could be taught to you. and the conclusion was with identical twins was some people just have it in their genes. >> yeah. >> and identical twins are different. you can practice and you can become a better pianist. >> no, but this is different. >> but a genius. >> yeah. >> a genius gets to where they get with a lot of hard work but they start with something. again, i said earlier, jimi hendrix played guitar like nobody else in rock music and

nobody else will ever play anything like him. robin williams is the same way as a comedian. there never was a robin williams before and there never will be another robin williams again. >> no, there won't be. he was unique, of course. there was some who inspired him greatly and who should be acknowledged today and that was jonathan winters. i worked with several times with johnny winters several times on the "bob hope show." he could do that. robin learned from him. he did learn that. but he had the genius that enabled him to use it and take it to even greater heights. that was an enormous influence on him and johnny should be a acknowledg acknowledged. >> you were talking about his background. i didn't realize this morning he was born the privileged son of an auto executive in detroit and

lived a lonely existence in a mansion. he would play with thousands of toy soldiers by himself in a cavernous room and i guess lived in this room that developed over the years. i never knew that. there was melancholy in this man from his start. >> i lived in detroit and grew up in detroit but not the same part of detroit he did. not at all. i was in the inner city. we talked about that. but in the end, in the end, robin is pallechi. the cliche of the clown was there every single minute of his life. what he did was he spared us the hard part and gave us the joy. what an extraordinary gift that was. >> through the hard part, he

found a way to make people laugh. he often would joke about his own struggle with drugs and alcohol and made it his material. >> he talked about that on my show. >> this is what i hwhy i have t give up alcohol. you have to pay the next day. dear lord, don't hurt me now. you lie in bed and the movie the flags going, help me! help me! the entire room is spoiinning le a roulette wheel. place your bets, place your bets. there is the toilet in the corner going, "talk to me." here is warning sign if you have a cocaine problem. first of all, if you come home to your house and you have no furniture and your cat is going, i'm out of here, [ bleep ] warning. number two. if you have this dream you're doing cocaine in your sleep and you can't fall asleep and doing cocaine and you can't fall asleep, and you wake up and you're doing cocaine, bingo.

on your tax form if it says 50,000 for snacks, mayday! i come here for you because i believe in you. it's good to be in the room with big beer having just gone on a rehab, that's a good choice. because i was violating my standards quicker than i could lower them. >> james, he talked about addiction when he was on the show as well with you. >> yes, he did. he said the following -- for me, the greatest drug of all is creation because you can create. you get the same kick because evolutionary wise, your brain gives you little endorphin buzz. why do you think einstein looked like that? this is some dynamite weed. if he had made the atomic bong, you drop the bong and smoke clears and everybody is dancing and hungry. it was great to have full senses

again once i cleaned up. >> james lipton, thank you so much for being on the show, sharing your memories and thoughts with us. >> we appreciate it so much. thank you. >> thank you. still ahead on "morning joe," we are going live to iraq where things may be going from bad to worse. the country's prime minister is now thumbing his nose at the u.s. even as american jets bail out his government's military. later a look at the disease that may have ultimately claimed robin williams life. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. ♪

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there is no american military solution to the crisis in iraq. the only lasting solution is for iraqis to come together and form an inclusive government, one that represents the legitimate interests of all iraqis and one that can unify the country's fight against isil.

today, iraq took a promising step forward in this critical effort. >> 23 past the hour. some of the other big headlines of the day. iraq' new country has picked the country's deputy speaker to be the next prime minister but the current leader, nuri al maliki, is fufg refufg tsing to step as. the united states is vowing to step up financial and military aid if the country can come together. meanwhile, "the daily beast" is reporting that president obama told lawmakers in a private meeting it was, quote, horse bleep to say he could have done more to stop the rise of islamic militants in syria and now iraq. joining us now from erbil, iraq, nbc news correspondent keir simmons with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. a little known man outside this country has been nominated as prime minister. his name is haider al abadi.

the current prime minister nuri al maliki was little known outside iraq and was backed by the u.s. but he has now, it appears, been forced from power but he is still trying to cling on. that is the political battle that is unfolding in baghdad each as fighting rages around that capital city. it appears those battles between the isis jihadists and the iraqis and kurds that were taking place near here just a few days ago have shifted south again, back towards baghdad. those u.s. air strikes do app to be having an effect on isis. pushing them back in places, but the pentagon concedes it may not stop them in the long run and, meanwhile, of course, thousands of people are still homeless and caught in the middle of this ever increasingly divided country. >> the pictures coming in are absolute riveting and incredible and heart breaking. keir, thank you so much. we bring in pulitzer prize

winning columnist and associate editor. "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson and jim miklaszewski with the latest, the nbc news pentagon correspondent. >> jim, we made news yesterday. people were talking about the fact that your reporting brought out that generals say if you want to take care of things over there, this is a 15 to 20-year deal. it's not a couple of quick bombing runs. there aren't a lot of good options for the united states, are there, right now? >> not really. certainly not good military options. lieutenant general william mayville yesterday in a briefing here yesterday said, look, as far as the air strikes are concerned so far, we have stopped the advance of isis and turned it back somewhat against the kurds up there near erbil but he said there's no sense whatsoever we are making no claims that we have contained or broken isis and he, himself,

suggested they will just take the fight for somewhere else. nobody here -- even intel folks are not suggesting that the u.s. military is going to be directly involved in combat with isis or its ilk for the next 15 to 20 years, but this is a phenomenon that we have yet to see in terms of worldwide terrorism. this is a real army that has seized a huge swath of iraq and parts of syria. they have actually created their own terrorist nation. so this is not something that is going to be solved any time soon, particularly with military strikes. if you think back to just al qaeda core itself, which did, you know, launched a terrorist attack here, a terrorist attack there, their first one in 1993 against the world trade center and 20 years later we were still

dealing with osama bin laden and al qaeda. nobody here is optimistic that anything militarily can be done even in the medium to long term to halt the advance of these terrorists. >> mick, the pentagon is famous for writing up contingency plans. i know we are not talking about the prospect of ground troops but is there a plan the pentagon has a plan if the commander in chief said destroy isis. >> if there are plans to puts boots on the ground nobody talks about it here. they are planning for a possible contingency. even in the short term when the president was talking about creating some kind of safe corridor. people here said that is going to take ground troops. we can't possibly do that from the air alone. and so there were calls to the french, to the british, to the turks. anybody who might be able to

contribute, but on saturday, president obama, again, vowed to the american people there will be no u.s. military boots on the ground. >> katty kay? >> eugene robinson in washington, you write a piece in "the washington post" today. your column talks about the invasion of iraq and how this is america's responsibility, the pottery barn rule, america broke it, so they bear the responsibility for this. in a sense, don't we have to look forward now and think what is the best solution in terms of trying to limit isis' ability to impact american national security and trust going forward, not looking back at the last ten years? >> i think we do need to look forward. i was, frankly just cheesed off at dick cheney going around saying this is obama's fault and actually, no, it's mostly your fault. but that aside, let's look forward. there is a short-term question, i think, which is baghdad. i mean, so they have been stopped from taking over erbil

and wiping out the kurds and is the iraqi -- are the iraqi armed forces strong enough to keep isis away from baghdad? think that is a short-term question they must be looking at at the pentagon. medium and long term. you heard what mick reported. i think it's going to be, first, isolation and containment of isis and then the question is do you allow this terrorist entity to exist and perhaps consolidate a strength there, or do you try to organize some sort of international, you know, effort to shut it down and that is a question that nobody is going to want to face and i certainly don't want to face, but there it is. >> joe, i wanted to ask you because there are political calculations that go into this that are completely different from what it meant to go into iraq under president bush. we are not going in to a sovereign country.

this is not saddam hussein. how does that change congressional calculations and white house calculations in trying to go back in to baghdad, a country that we said -- or go back into iraq, a country that we said that we have retreated from and that we are not going to be involved with any longer? >> it's extraordinary difficult for this president who won the democratic nomination because even as a guy running for state senate, he opposed the iraq war. we had yesterday a reporter from "wall street journal" saying that he went around the 2012 campaign talking about getting out of iraq. that was one of the biggest applause lines she reported, carol lee reported. that is one of his biggest applause lines in 2012. in 2014, the poll numbers aren't much better now. the problem is, of course, gene is right. 2003 to 2007 and 2008, the bush/cheney administration was responsibility for so much.

republicans now looking at what happened with the obama administration and trying to blame him there. i think both sides have going to have to realize that regardless of who is to blame, here we are and we're fighting something that is much messier than just going after saddam hussein in a sovereign nation. the world was a lot simpler in 1988 when, gene, we had a cold war and it was us against them which sounds pretty darn good right now. then we moved to a stage where it was u.s. against bad nation states, but this virus is, again, spreading like something we have never seen before. >> it's spreading, joe. there is already the question of, you know, real recruits coming in from across the arab world and really across the world to join isis, you know, as it's kind of a focal point. >> coming from america.

coming from europe. >> coming from america and coming from europe and then eventually going to go home. i mean, you called it a virus. you hit it and it makes it spread rather than contain it. so, you know, this is not -- this is not a one year or two-year campaign to eradicate it. maybe we should think of it as trying to eradicate a disease and that is always a long-term process that also requires, frankly, a big plan that is going to involve more than just the united states. it's also going to involve europe and other world powers as well if it's going to be contained. >> it is so difficult what has happened over the past six, seven, eight, nine, ten years. we need to go. but, mick, i remember when we were fighting against al qaeda in afghanistan and using the

measurements. how many have we killed and if we just kill, you know, all of the guys at the top, we're in great shape. we just had killed osama bin laden, all of this would have gone away. we killed osama bin laden and this has only gotten worse and more difficult people trained to be generals and admirals and work in the building you're in right now, to understand this new world that is changing at lightning speed by the minute. >> and, quite frankly, this has been building for several years. the u.s. military and intelligence and other civilian intelligence agencies have been watching this fester with a great deal of concern and they raise the possibility that all of this was going to explode someday and for some reason, there was no immediately response from u.s. leadership at any level, including this building, but before leon

panetta left, he asked the dia, take a hard look at this because he was concerned about the potential that these terrorists represented. but nobody, nobody envisioned the kind of advances and gains that isis has made in such a short period of time, joe. >> jim miklaszewski and eugene robinson, thank you very much. >> thanks, guys. coming up as an investigation gets under way, nascar star tony stewart makes a decision on an upcoming race after hitting and killing a competitor over the weekend. please close to tracy morgan say the actor is struggling nearly two montshs after his ca accident. we will have an update on his condition next. ♪ pressure pressing down on me pressing down on you ♪

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♪ 39 past the hour. we want to take a look at the headlines making news this morning. tony stewart will not participate in a race in indiana on saturday. it remains unclear if he'll compete in a nascar event the next day in michigan. this comes after the crash led to the death of fellow racer kevin ward jr. >> you know, this is the right thing to do. >> yeah. absolutely. >> i think one of the worst mistakes they made right after this terrible tragedy was when

his team announced the morning that -- the morning after this young man had been killed that it was business as usual that they were going forward, they were going to race no matter what and made him look insensitive and it made him his team look clallus. we are talking about criminal charges. he something more severe to worry about but you have to wonder the sponsors as the investigation goes forward if the sponsors will stick with him. >> a autopsy said ward died of massive blunt trauma to the head even though he was wearing a helmet. ebola death count has gone past a thousand now according to the w.h.o. a experimental drug said it has run out of its supply. tracy morgan's lawyer say the actor is still struggling over two months since the

accident which left him severely injured. morgan suffered several broken ribs and a broken leg when the van in which he was rideing in was struck by a walmart truck on the new jersey turnpike. two others were injured and fellow comedian james mcnair was killed in that crash. morgan has filed a lawsuit against walmart. his lawyer says he is fighting hard to recover from his injuries. >> we saw the clip of him a couple of weeks ago where he was in the car and saying that he was feeling better. but this was a horrific crash. maybe this is a good day, but just knowing this has to be something that he is going to live with the rest of his life one way or another. >> we have this extraordinary close call in england. this is surveillance video from inside a london subway station where a man places a stroller with a baby in it against a wall. he then goes back up the stairs to help family members when apparently a big wind gust blows the stroller and it rolls on to

the tracks! moments later, a woman believed to be the child's mother jumps down on the tracks. she lifts the stroller back on to the platform. seconds before a train pulled in! police are still looking for the couple to make sure the child wasn't hurt. >> oh, my gosh! up next, finding meaning in -- >> rule, by the way, just parenting tip. this parenting tip 73, i can understand why -- i'm not going to judge. >> i'm not judging either. >> i'm not either. i'm just saying i read a manual. i got like 73 kids and parenting, one of the tips, i think maybe 78. don't leave your child in a stroller in the subway alone. >> what if it closed and went! >> i don't know about the video. i think it's a hoax. >> the think it's a hoax? >> the stroller made a big right turn. >> is that a baby? is that a dog? >> look at what happens. it's like the exorcist. look what happens.

it's like, uh. come on! very sad if it's a real baby and it's not a hoax. like a right turn on the stroller. >> remember "devil baby"? >> i do. do you think that is what this is? he has his headphones on and this good guy is numb. he is a millennial! they do nothing! they had headphones there. >> he could have been in shock. >> he could be an extra hire. >> sound guy, right? >> exactly, in 3-2-1. >> here is the thing. >> we have gotten into judging territory. >> we are in judging. >> not parental. >> been a lot of technological advancements in htv. you still can't see wind in 2014. >> just the thing is against the wall. >> why is that guy just standing there? just saying. i want to know who he is. i'd be looking for him. >> we will be examining this.

much more straight ahead. >> more on robin williams ahead. >> and nancy snidermyderman wil here as well. you owned your car for four years. you named it brad. you loved brad. and then you totaled him. you two had been through everything together. two boyfriends. three jobs. you're like "nothing can replace brad!" then liberty mutual calls. and you break into your happy dance. if you sign up for better car replacement, we'll pay for a car that's a model year newer with 15,000 fewer miles than your old one. see car insurance in a whole new light.

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and a free 30-tablet trial. you catch "morning joe"? >> no. >> well, the captioner recorded it. mayoric brooks is on. >> you got to see this. >> thanks a lot for being with us. >> great to be here, joe. >> i'll start by asking you the obvious question. what is with the sheep? >> you mean elliott here? you got to admit, elliott is pretty damn cute. >> i got to be kidding me. >> i have to admit you've inspired lots of people what did you in court. >> i think we should stop acting like elliott and question authority. i believe this button says it all. >> no sheep. i like it. so let me ask you. what next for you, your sheep, and your social refvolution? >> my supporter is supporting a rally. >> this guy can't stop himself. >> so let's go crash his party. >> that was joe and robin

williams. that was "law and order svu" a scene you did. what was that like? >> of course, i was nervous as i always am around greatness like you. that is why i'm nervous every morning here. he was a sweet, sweet man. he was a quiet man. i think we have all known brilliant people in our lives. not on that scale, but there's, you know, there's a line from a bruce springsteen song "candy's room." there is a sadness in a pretty face. a sadness that is all her own. i think when you're around somebody that is suffering like that, i think anybody -- it doesn't take a psychiatrist to read that. he was a sweet guy. he was a quiet guy. and, you know, when i first heard about this last night, i was just thinking about depression, and thinking about i just thought a couple of weeks ago, i've known people that have suffered depression. i've known people who have taken their lives because of depression. and just a couple of weeks ago, i was thinking, you know, my

heros, people's heros churchill for me and paul mccartney and all of these great figures through history. i say i just -- it was, like, the people i respect the most are the people who struggle with depression every day. a dear close friend once said to me, where every choice they make is difficult. the choice to get out of bed. the choice, my friend said he would stand in the shower for 15 minutes trying to figure out whether he was going to get out of the shower and start his day and live. and every step to work was a battle. there is no way shallow people like us can understand the pain that these people go through. and what it takes to be a robin williams and fight through it for 63 years and do extraordinary things in that time. >> often with genius comes with the ability to experience

extreme sides of emotion. joining us now to talk about this is president and editor in chief of hollywood live.com bonnie full letter. with us also is nbc news nbc ch. nancy snyderman. some people who when they heard of his passing, it was actually not shocking, knowing him, because he did have these inner battles. >> he flew very close to the sun. >> that's it. >> his highs were very high and lows were very lows and his highs were what endeared him to people when he had this manic genius and the lows were what people didn't see. when the lows were low, i think joe really nailed it. the inability to put your clothes on. the inability to shave, the inability to want to get out of the shower. the desire to not see anybody that day. the gradual pull away. it's insurmountable for most of us who get a case of the blues

to understand overwhelming depression. it's like being in a big stainless steel pot and you can't get traction to get out. you can't see over the horizon. you can't see the purpose of it all. and constantly someone is pulling at your feet and pulling you down and down. and while it's easy to talk about medicating depression, what you hear from these great artists is when they take their medicines, it dulls the creative juices. and they don't like that. so, they're comfortable in the highs, but the lows are inevitably what take them from us. >> and how many of us have known people, bonnie, that have been depressed that take the medicine and -- i know. i've heard this from several people. i've heard this from friends who say i choose to be depressed instead of taking -- i won't say the drug that i hear everybody say the same thing about, being so flat that i never experience a single high. >> and experiencing those highs

was all about what he obviously loved to do. that was his work. and he was manic. he had that crazy man i can humor. on the other hand, was he self medicating when he had these bouts with first cocaine? he talked about it. he got addicted to cocaine in the '70s, early '80s. he was a great friend of john belushi and it was john belushi's death and the upcoming birth of his son that led him to rehab the first time. >> thomas, jump in. nancy, it takes the edge off their brilliance, what they're able to do. having said that, these medicines can save a life. >> they do save lives. you'll see the need to self medicate. people on binges, of taking coke, of taking alcohol because they don't like the feeling of not feeling good so it's easy to

reach for the things that can dull the sadness. the more affluent you are, the more connected you are to the good stuff. >> the more available it becomes. >> speed balling with john belushi. it is easy, especially in that sphere, to get really dangerous stuff really fast. >> when it comes to a medical diagnosis of depression, and for people that can suffer from it, from an early age and then you mix that with later in life a growing addiction with, say, alcohol or any other type of substance abuse, how does that then confuse with what's actually being treated? >> it's tough. remember, he had heart disease, too. so then you say, okay. did his heart become ill because he was depressed? and depression is linked, you know, to heart disease or did the heart disease make him more depressed and then he had the natural mania? jonathan winters was his absolute idol. you look at jonathan winters. classic case of someone who is

bipolar. great highs, great lows. we have to get past this point of -- this stigma of mental illness. we're about 30 years past where we were with breast cancer when betty ford put the words out here. we're old enough to remember we couldn't say the word breast on television. we have to talk about mental illness and say, stigma over. mental health, brain heart, heart health. these are all parts of the body. >> parts of life. >> it's interesting. because a lot of actors and other people in the public eye, they don't talk about depression. and while he was very open, he talked frequently about his battles with drugs and then with alcohol. he talked about how he fell back into alcoholism. he never mentioned depression then. and so for some reason he wasn't comfortable. and maybe because he was in hollywood. it is pretty accepted to drink and have these problems and be able to come back with your career. you can recover.

maybe he felt it wasn't as accepted to talk about depression and make a comeback. >> bonnie fuller, thank you. dr. nancy, thank you as well. more of the best comedic moments from robin williams. you're watching "morning joe." it's never been easier to find a dentist.

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in a few moments, genius of

robin williams. more evidence that an american president is never really on vacation. we'll go live to martha's vineyard where the new commander in chief is running a new military mission in iraq while trying to get a break from business as usual in washington. congressman peter king, his reaction to the president's response or lack thereof, from key republicans. "morning joe" will be right back.

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you're the one who won't be able to handle leaving if you stay much longer. >> me? >> comedian robin williams was found dead in what the sheriff's department calls an apparent suicide. >> among the most beloved contemporary american entertainers. >> we've lost a genius. robin was born to entertain us and he succeeded brilliantly. >> he was 63 years old. >> make your life spectacular. i know i did. >> the man had his hands up and said "don't shoot me." why was he shot? >> in ferguson, missouri, today, more angry confrontations between protesters and police. >> after an unarmed teenager was shot in the street. >> stealing goods. causing extensive damage. >> it's like living in beirut. my house is under siege.

the u.s. flights over iraq are continuing around the clock. but no one in washington believes the battle for iraq will be one from the skies. >> in no way want to suggest we have some kind of breaking the momentum. >> the only lasting solution is for iraqis to come together and form an inclusive government. today, iraq took a promising step forward in this critical effort. >> with those words, the president pointed toward the current prime minister, stubbornly clinging to power, nuri al maliki. >> there were fears of a coup. >> our hope is that mr. maliki will not stir those waters. >> across the globe and, of course, in iraq. all eyes on iraq, not only what's going on with isis and the dramatic scenes that we're seeing of people being evacuated, which is gripping, sad and heartbreaking.

to the south of there, you have the battle, actually, for baghdad, that could be unfolding right now. maliki, a guy that america backed for a long time, not wanting to leave power. we'll talk about that much more in the next hour. we'll start with the news. of course, "the daily news" talking about the death of robin williams and "the new york post," and at the top "usa deat. what a comic genius he was. >> it's tough to remain anyone purely more entertaining than robin williams. a force on the stage and on the big screen. >> wrote screen plays with the amazing ability to improvise. introduced audiences to a different range of his remarkable ability. >> he gave us characters full of warmth and life from mrs.

doubtfire to mr. keating in "the dead poets society." >> publicist said he had been battling severe depression for some time. >> found dead at his home in california yesterday of an apparent suicide. he was 63 years old. and there was much more to the man than what we saw in front of the camera. he also spent considerable time raising money for the homeless and working with our nation's troops. all the while, bringing a lot of laughter to a lot of people. >> robin williams was an entertainer in the classic sense of the world. >> bad white men dancing on the field. >> a stand-up comedian, a broadway performer and one of the most successful tv and movie stars of any generation. he was a master of impressions. >> can also imagine maybe john wayne as macbeth going, well, is this a dagger i see before me? >> and delighted the impressionable. >> there's lots of things you can do with this stick. you could start off playing baseball in the world series or

you could be gene shallot or pin oaki nochio. i have two oscars, elmo. they would leave parts of the script blank, allowing williams to ad lib. it provided a national audience for his genius. >> i can't let you pass up a chance like me, honey. >> stop it. mork, would you help me? >> if you insist. mind if i cut in? thank you. >> but it wasn't long before he turned his attention to more serious projects. waking up the world in "good morning vietnam." >> in saigon according to official sources, nothing actually happened. what officially didn't happen, a bomb didn't officially explode unofficially destroying jimmy's cafe. >> get him out of there! >> mixing the funny and funny. >> you do fosse, fosse, fose.

you do -- >> with the deeply philosophical. >> poetry, beauty, romance, love. these are what we stay alive for. >> he was a regular at the academy awards, taking home an oscar in 1998, his only one, for his role in "goodwill hunting." >> you don't know real loss because it only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself. i doubt you ever dared to love anybody that much. >> according to a publicist, williams had recently been battling severe depression and dealt with substance abuse throughout his career, going to rehab in 2006. >> i twoent rehab in wine country. it's like detoxing in colombia. >> were you unhappy before you went in? >> i was pretty much everything before i went in. now it's great to have genuine emotions and being all right with that. >> his roles were as complex and as playful as the man himself. exploring some of humanities

darkest chapters, along with our greatest triumphs. and above all else, he made us laugh. and joining us now, chief creative officer and co-president of the entertainment group at gugenheim media, janet minh. greatest mind in comedy without a script really. >> people have taken him for granted in the last few years. we're so use to having robin williams in our world. he is a comedy god, everyone from lauren michaels to every young comedian, jonah hill. all these people look to him as sort of the icon of comedy. to be able to sit there and fill empty space and make people laugh is one of the biggest talents you could have. you think about these writers in hollywood who are paid to sit

there and write lines for people to be funny. this is a guy who could do this out of nowhere, off the top of his head. >> he just let himself go. >> yes. you could see -- it's a brilliance and you could say an insanity, right, that someone could actually be that brilliant and just have these inner voices that let you do things that other performers can't do. >> we saw those clips. a guy from 1978 uttering the words "nanoo-nanoo." hilarious stuff. >> yes. >> to that remarkable scene with matt damon when he's sitting there, talking about matt damon's character not knowing total loss. >> heartbreaking. >> because you only know total loss if you love somebody more than you love yourself. while he's doing that, you're looking at robin williams, the man. there's not an actor there, delivering those lines. there was a humanity in his acting that was made even more

remarkable from how he began his acting career. >> what's interesting, what he did with his career would be almost impossible to conceive of today where you had a guy that was in a big hit sitcom on abc, 60 million people watching, which is unthinkable today. you could never get that kind of number. then he became an academy award winner, did serious roles. you see comedians fail at this all the time. it reveals an inner depth that you really can't fabricate. >> i think you're the only one old enough to remember, because thomas is in his 20s. the rest of us on the set are older. you remember "the world according to garth"? and i was thinking this was the guy that was on "mork & mindy"? >> total revelation. of course, he went on.

never won a tony but won, obviously, an oscar, multiple emmys and grammy. incredible range in versatility. sometimes in one sense always the same robin williams but that versatility to be that great a comedian and dramatic actor is quite something. >> you talk about not getting a tony. he was recently on broadway the last couple of years. janice, his career choices so interesting. we did fall in love with him from comedy. the spinoff from "happy days." he showed up on "happy days." that's where mork was born. >> who would have thought having an alien on "happy days"? >> was that before or after the fonz jumped over -- >> that was before. >> laverne and shirley was a spinoff. >> i don't remember fonzie and mork sitting there. >> potsy. >> potsy.

>> popeye and in the movie "toys," or "dead poets society." each and every one of us have a film or role that he played that impacts us. that's a very special thing that not all actors get to say. >> i thought it was interesting, looking at the reactions on twitter last night. miley cyrus who makes her own headlines, she said she can't stop sobing. she's never met the man. you think about this woman who is 22 years old and the impact these movies had on people. being 7 years old and going to see mrs. doubtfire and suddenly she felt okay that she was in this unconventional family. these roles that can connect with people young and old, it's really an amazing feat. and, you know, i think it reveals how we just never really see the inner life of these actors who seem so happy, that they have it all. a lot of creative impulse, there's also a lot of turmoil

for people. >> you could certainly see his ability to connect with the vulnerable in some of his serious roles especially. his ability to carry out those roles showed an incredible understanding of pain. >> right. you cannot fabricate that, no matter how many acting lessons you have. >> obviously, he was known for ad libing, which is what he did most of the time. every role he has ever taken. in the animated film, "aladdin," there were 16 hours of material from his recording sessions. he improvised so much, the academy reportedly turned down the film for best adapted screenplay. here is a portion. >> you're going to grant me any three wishes i want, right? >> almost. there are a few improvisos. >> like? >> i can't kill anybody. don't ask. i can't make anybody fall in love with anybody else. rule number three, i can't bring

people back from the dead. it's not a pretty picture. and i don't like doing it! other than that, you got it. >> hmm. provisos, you mean limitations on wishes? some all-powerful genie. can't even bring people back from the dead. i don't know, abu. he probably can't even get us out of this cave. it looks like we're going to have to find a way out of here. >> excuse me? are you looking at me? did you rub my lamp? did you wake me up? did you bring me here? and all of a sudden you're walking out on me? i don't think so. not right now. you're getting your wishes! so, sit down. >> oh, my goodness. that's just incredible. >> really was an incredible actor. you have to think about what was going on in that voicing booth and the fact that the illustrators were able to match up the reactions on the face to the genie there. this is a great story, backstory

on robin williams, showing a really unique bond with the actor, christopher reeve. the two shared classes together, coming up together at juilliard acting school, attending the premiere of "good morning vietnam," and after reeves catastrophic accident that left him paralyzed in 1995, robin williams helped to nurse the actor's spirits. he showed up at the hospital dressed head to toe in scrubs, speaking in a russian accent. reeve recalled the moment in an interview. >> i was so struck by your obvious, deep, deep friendship with robin williams at the creative coalition event. >> he was the first one to show up down in virginia when i was really in trouble. he came here one afternoon and just -- thank god i wear a seat belt in this chair because i

would have fallen out laughing. in the middle of a tragedy like this, in the middle -- when you can still experience genuine joy, laughter and love and anybody who says life is not worth living is totally wrong. totally wrong. >> and that squares up to what we were talking about earlier. when he was filming "shindler's list," steven spielberg said he would call robin williams at the end of each day's work and just ask his friend, make me laugh. >> that's -- that's an amazing thing. i think what you see -- i think the response of everyone thanking him, thanking him for making them happy was so touching. and i can't remember how many stars would pass, the president issuing a statement, would get pictured on the white house instagram account. it reveals just the significance of this actor to america.

you know, i was flying from los angeles last night. it was fascinating to me, once the news broke, every single tv was turned to the news, watching this. and people were crying. and it really made you realize, you know, after a day of iraq and isis, you know, that the world stopped to pay attention to this. i know people disparage hollywood and actors. you really realize the way the actors in hollywood can contact people is also very powerful. >> absolutely. janice min, thank you so much. really appreciate your reflections. >> thank you. coming up on "morning joe," what do we know about the man picked to take over iraq's government? we'll go inside the power struggle between the appointed prime minister. >> he may not actually take over the job. >> there's that, too. because the current leader is saying he's not going to leave. >> not going to leave. >> that's right. >> did you ever try that on your tv shows? we want to go to a new direction and say i'm not leaving? >> nochlt when i was fired from

cbs, i left the building. and there is another job i said no, i'm going to stay and do it. >> oh, you're talking about this job? >> ba, ba, ba -- no. did the u.s. government miss the urgency of the isis threat? the administration was warned about the militant group but underestimated its ability to move rapidly. >> what does the president call that? horse poop? >> maybe it is. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> i'm not leaving. i got my fridge down here, my cot down here. all set. good morning, everyone. rain is on the way. how about that rain in detroit yesterday? it wasn't like your average thunderstorm rain. it poured all day. lifelong detroit residents say they've never seen anything like it. every highway around the city at one point was closed because of the flooding. epic rain.

4 1/2" total close to their daily record. that goes back to 1800s, all-time most rain in one day. that heavy rain event from central new york, all the way down to virginia, dc and baltimore area. there's no airport delays to speak of. that should change. we are going to see the rain really picking up by about 10:00 tonight, heavy rain over dc and baltimore and then the real problem is tomorrow morning at this time, i expect a very large area of thunderstorms, torrential rain from philly, right up through new york city, right during the peak of the morning rush. so if you can change your flight for tomorrow morning, try to do so now before everyone else tries tomorrow at this time. we'll talk more about that rain. the rest of the country is looking pretty good out there. coming up next on "morni"mornin joe"" we'll have more on the passing of robin williams. we'll be right back. good morning, vietnam!

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there is no american military solution to the crisis in iraq. the only lasting source is for iraqis to come together and inform an inclusive government,

one that represents the legitimate interests of all iraqis and one that can unify the country's fight against islam. today, iraq took a promising step forward in this critical effort. >> 24 past the hour. joining us now from long island, member of the house homeland security committee, republican congressman peter king of new york. for "the wall street journal," shaban goreman. and nbc correspondent chris jansing. we'll start with you, chris, the president's plans, if any, the white house has today to respond to criticism that is the white house threat was underestimated or anything else about the operations in iraq. >> reporter: you know, they've been responding this, particularly to the hillary clinton article that was in the -- first revealed from the atlantic sunday. none of this is surprising them. they were expecting this kind of pushback, exactly what they got.

and what they'll say to you is, look, we have an absolute difference of opinion. these policy differences happen. and we do not expect to hear any more about that from the president today. when i wrote to some of the staff this morning, they feel like they've already addressed these questions. we are expecting that there will be the usual briefings today. he has been getting briefed about three times a day, and that he will make some calls to foreign leaders. obviously, the key concern that they have here today is what's going on, on the ground in iraq, mika, and what's going to happen with the new prime minister and whether or not nuri al maliki will continue to try to cling to power, something that concerned them so greatly yesterday, when he was making moves that looked like he might actually be trying to instigate a coup, mika. >> oh, my gosh. >> thanks, chris. shaban, you write about the urgency of the islamic state threatening iraq. u.s. officials saw initial indications the group might seek to take mosul and urged iraqi

action, but to know no avail. on the day of the june 10th takeover, u.s. officials played down its significance, the inability of u.s. spy agencies to provide detail bts timing of islamic state offensives or their likelihood of success has touched off debate among u.s. national security officials about whether intelligence on the group has been adequate. the struggle to understand the capabilities of the group reflects the difficulty of collecting detailed intelligence on its internal planning. that is, facing intelligence officials and u.s. military as american warplanes launch waves of air strikes. the success of the strikes may depend, in part, on how well the u.s. is able to read the group. >> many of the president's critics are going back to a quote where they quote jv team, not organized, not a real threat. now we get reports pushing back

saying criticisms like those are, quote, horse bleep. he didn't say bleep, of course. your reporting, though, suggests otherwise. >> well, there is definitely a debate within u.s. national security circles about whether the intelligence was adequate and what is a reasonable expectation to have for intelligence. certainly, the u.s. intelligence agencies were tracking very carefully the isis developments and even plans that they had for expansion in iraq. at the same time even as they were following this so closely, they were caught off guard by the sort of success rate of the group. that has touched off a debate among national security officials, particularly those who are kind of consuming this intelligence on a daily basis saying, well, why didn't we have better information about what this success rate was going to be here? and intelligence officials say, well, you know, this was really more of an iraqi military

failure than an intelligence failure. how could we know that the iraqi military would be, you know, so quickly to fold and run away? and so that's the debate that's now taking place among these officials. >> how quickly the iraqi army did just dissolve. >> and part of that is because the country is a mess. the military situation is in crisis but there's an economic crisis and political crisis there. congressman, let me ask you. assuming that the american government gets its way and the iraqi system -- a body not very well known, educated in england, less sectarian perspective than maliki, handicap his chances if he does take over of successfully turning around the government, the economy and maybe the military situation. >> it's going to be very difficult. as far as we know, he is the best of the group, far superior to maliki. we have isis controlling an

essential land mass. back in february, fallujah fell to isis. this was a major area taken by isis. forget what is said privately. in public testimony said we could expect advances by isis. the fact is that one of the regions we don't have a better read on the iraqi army is because president obama pulled so much out of iraq. there is no military. we had troops embedded and we would have known the failures of the iraqi army. this is a result of him withdrawing too quickly. and anyone who knew anything about intelligence knew that iraqi was metastasizing. yes, core al qaeda had adjusted but you had these other groups, isis being one of them.

>> you look at the map of iraq and look at isis control. it's frightening how quickly they moved through that country. again bobby ghosh last week was saying they have a land mass. >> what would be your scenario? >> my main criticism has been if you're going to be a leader -- whether or not he wants to do it, don't tell the enemy that. come up with a conservative strategy with our allies in the region, with the courage, with the iraqi army and deciding what he's going to do. don't tell isis what we're going to do. make it clear it's not enough to save people on a mountain top in

kurdistan. >> but, peter, maybe he's not telling isis what he's going to do. the first thing the president said is, the humanitarian crisis, we're going to take care of that. he's using this as an excuse to crack open the door. let's hope he drops some bombs on isis. the next thing he did was drop bombs on isis. maybe the president is doing exactly what you want the president to do. that is not telegraph what our next move s i would hope the president would say, we're going over there, going to look at some real estate and then, boom, you surprise them. >> if it does become a larger effort, it would be harder to bring the american people behind them. no matter what he ends up doing, he has to have the american people behind them. that will make it much harder to

sustain any type of enlarged effort. it's important to be honest with the american people without telegraphing to the enemy. >> i asked you whether you thought there was a plan that would be successful in defeating isis, what would you have american military forces do that is different from what the president is doing? let's leave aside the telegraphing of the messages. do you envision a scenario that would be successful now for the u.s. in iraq? >> first of all, we can't acknowledge surrender to isis. much more sustained air attacks. find out where they're deployed. go after them. and not just using bombs from aircraft carriers, use bases in neighboring countries so you have more access, make greater use of the iraqi army. to wait until a government is settled in iraq, it could still take months before the iraqi government is functioning. using the iraqi army to the extent possible, iraqi military. using neighboring states,

sustain air offensive. >> that doesn't seem very different from what's actually happening at the moment. >> it is right now. we're focused on a very small part of the isis-controlled area. this is having minimal effect on isis. it's providing humanitarian relief, knocking out isis troops in the area of kurdistan. as far as the overall area, as large as the country of jordan, we're having no impact on isis and they're moving forward. >> it seems you want the american troops and president to make a much larger commitment inside iraq. the president, won two national elections saying we were, as a country, going to leave. the american people are behind the president, that we want to withdraw from iraq. so is there a contradiction between what you're saying and what the president is doing? if he's taking a conservative approach in reengaging iraq and doing exactly what the american people want? do not get us back in.

>> leadership is not actually doing what people want. if winston churchill had done that against the nazis, we would -- >> so the president should do what you want? >> no, he should do the right thing. >> which is what you want? >> joe and i have had this discussion -- >> you're elected by the american people. you serve the american people. you can't just go around being a dictatorship, like what these people are trying to fight against. >> that is incredibly absurd. i can't believe you're serious about it. you're saying that the president realizes that he has to change policy to save the lives of the american people and to protect american interests, he shouldn't do it? >> the first time we went into iraq was against a sovereign country. this time we're going in against terrorist organizations. these are two completely different calculations that you're asking the president to go -- to take into evaluation and under president bush and under dick cheney, it was completely different than what

you're asking the president to do this time around. >> of course it's different. it's a different situation. it's a terrorist organization. the first time we've had a terrorist organization control such a large land mass. it's a threat to the middle east, to the united states. for to you say that somehow the president has to lock himself into what he said two or three years ago, if he was wrong there, circumstances have changed and he has to do it. you can't lock yourself into what you said. >> congressman, thank you. siobhan, how freekd out is the intelligence community? what's the worst case scenario of what might happen if isis continues to expand their control on the ground? >> the military has been clear that they don't expect the air strikes to really curb the ooh isis efforts all that much and the intelligence community is incredibly concerned that it could expand both in iraq and syria. >> could they take baghdad? >> the safe haven has shocked a

lot of those folk. >> do they think that they could take baghdad? >> it's certainly something that they're still looking at. and i think that, you know, from time to time, over the last few weeks, it's looked like it's -- it could possibly happen. it hasn't happened yet. i think that at this point, there is a sense that that would be a bit of a bridge too far. it's not clear if that would be isis calculation or because the iraqi military could really hold them off. >> congressman peter king, thank you. siobhan gorman, thank you as well. >> thank you, peter. driving business before the bell, next. [ aniston ] when people ask me what i'm wearing, i tell them aveeno®. [ female announcer ] aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion has active naturals® oat with five vital nutrients. [ aniston ] because beautiful skin goes with everything. aveeno®. naturally beautiful results™. today, more and more people with type 2 diabetes

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all right. joining us now for business before the bell, sara eisen, what have you got? >> shrugging off the international concerns. we're coming off our best two-day stretch of gains for stocks in about four months, looks set to make it number three today. small business optimism, index, forward-looking index of small business pointed to signs of strength, greater propensity to hire. kate spade out with results. that company is just on fire. 55% increase in north american sales, especially a standout, given the challenged retail environment. we'll be watching kate spade and

also tesla is one to watch, trading at a record high. consumer reports, which help launch the success, giving it a nearly perfect driving score a while back is now saying long-term reliability issues are surfacing, the 17-inch display screen stops functioning. slightly negative. we'll be watching tesla as well. >> sara eisen, thank you. >> can i just say really quickly, mark haperin gave me from page six, the markets, donny deutsch in the hamptons playboy theemd party last night. >> bold faced name. >> donny deutsch. if you want to know why there was a hiccup in the asian markets, this was it right here. >> that's it. >> can i just say, i'm going to

be safe -- the hot tubs that were emptied out. james lipton with more on robin williams. and the moment the robin williams manager said was the best performance he had ever given. straight ahead.

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manager said was the best performance ever. >> we've lost a genius. genius is very hard to define, isn't it? geniuses do naturally what comes in their dna what we do with great effort having to learn. robin was born to entertain us, and he succeeded brilliantly. you mentioned steven spielberg a moment ago in the introduction. spielberg told me when he was doing "schindler's list" on the site of the holocaust, every night he would call robin in los angeles and say, "make me laugh." that's a gift. >> it is a gift. and he did it in such a way, so frenetically that when he came on the scene in 1978 with a

television show, two weeks, three weeks later, robin williams was a star. 60 million would watch "mork & mindy" but none of us could have seen the type of performances he turned in, in "garth," an extraordinary performance early in his career. "good morning vietnam." >> one of my favorite object robin williams' performances is in "aladdin," the genie. when he prepares aladdin for what is to come. would you like to come how many characters he played in that 2 1/2 or three minutes as the genie? 52. 52 entirely unique, discreet characters, switching like that. and it was all improvised in an empty studio in front of a microphone. >> that is unbelievable. robin, of course, ad libed his way through the role of genie in "aladd "aladdin." let's take a look.

♪ got a punch only aul you've got to do is rub that lamp ♪ ♪ hang on a second mr. aladdin sir what would your pleasure be let me take your order sxwlnchts jot it down you ain't never had a friend like me ♪ >> he was extraordinary. walked out on the set and normally i wear my wings of a pilot, lapel association. the symbol of it is wings are face down. he walked over to me and turned it upside down so that i would look right to him. i turned it back up. he said what are you doing? i said that's airplane pilot association and that's the way it goes. he said the wings go down? that's like a parachute with no parachute. then he got up and did five minutes of a drunken pilot. and the president of the airplane pilots association called me and said i would like

to open every meeting with that clip and he did ever after that. >> oh, my gosh. >> wherever robin went he left an indelible mark. >> james lipton's thoughts on robin williams earlier in the show. we'll be right back. our money. kid: do you pay him? dad: of course. kid: how much? dad: i don't know exactly. kid: what if you're not happy? does he have to pay you back? dad: nope. kid: why not? dad: it doesn't work that way. kid: why not? vo: are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed? wealth management at charles schwab in the nation, the safest feature in your car is you. add vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance and get $100 off for every year of safe driving.

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tomorrow on "morning joe," we'll be joined by iraq's ambassador with his thoughts on the future of the country. and on thursday -- >> guess what's coming up on

thursday. >> oh, yeah. >> the creator of "mad men." >> yes. >> a genius. we're going to talk about the last season which i loved. >> did you actually have time to watch it? >> i had so much time in swrul. >> i'll have to binge watch between now and thursday. >> they're so great. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today? i'm meteorologist bill karins. heavy rain that flooded areas of detroit yesterday is on the move. headed into the atlantic and tonight into the northeast. we will see rainfall aestimates around 3 to 4" in the highest locations. also in the southeast, widespread thunderstorms in the

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welcome back to "morning joe." 1947. what did you learn? >> i learned it's emma and lyla's two-year anniversary. >> mark halperin, it doesn't seem anything more than a year and a half. >> never been the same. >> no, they haven't. of course, i'm very patient. >> move on. >> those are children, joe. >> what did you learn? >> contrary to what donny has told me, when he's in hampton

beach, he's at the shakespeare -- >> i wanted to get my kid as way from wifi and computers this summer. i took them up the mountains, no cell phone reception. it was great. get your kids away from those gadgets. >> i love that. >> great idea. >> what did you learn? >> celebration of life, robin williams who we're going to sorely miss. i wanted to leave on a happy note. i did the als ice bucket challenge on the "today" show. i nominated three people, rachel ray, gavin nusol. all three of them did that. >> no way. >> look at this message. >> what's up, thomas? who are you doing? i heard your challenge and i'm taking on the ice bucket challenge today for als. my three nominees are my all my boys from miami. alonso, a-rod and pitbull.

>> oh, look at that! how big is that, thomas? >> i'm impressed. >> he said hi, thomas. >> dream come true. >> what? >> all right, kids. >> and the orioles beat the yankees last night. he got a little injured. it was not my fault. >> all your fault. >> not my fault. >> tight, hamstrings were tight because he was cold. >> i'm donating 500 bucks to als. >> it is not going to buy the pennant that you just cost the orioles. >> mika, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> it's time for "morning joe," but now it's time for the daily rundown with chris alissa in for chuck todd. iraq's prime minister desperately tries to hold on to power as president obama makes it clear it's time to move on without