tv Morning Joe MSNBC August 13, 2014 3:00am-6:01am PDT
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morning joe. a wake for kevin ward is being held today after being killed by a car driven by tony is expecte update on his wife, nancy's condition. she's being treated for the ebola virus. that's going to do it for this edition of "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ good morning everyone. it's wednesday, august 13. welcome to "morning joe." with us onset morning joe contributor jon kyle man. former communications director for president george w. bush, nicolle wallace. washington we have columnist for "the washington post" david ignatius as well along with willie, joe and me. >> did you read the papers? nicolle is going to be on "the
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view." >> we're republicans. we know everything in the paper is not true. >> it is biased. >> it is biased. >> you republicans think that about everything. >> is it not true? >> it's not true. >> i think there are definitely shades of it. that's a fantastic conversation for dinner, friends in the media. >> unbelievable. extraordinarily biased. >> do you believe everything in the paper? >> no, of course not. >> i like to see who i'm reading, who i'm listening to, i look at their world view and i see within that what they're talking about. but that's not ral. >> okay. >> those clintons and obamas. >> this is so good, i cannot take it. >> i think the bigger question is will there be a hug, like a
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hug-hug. there will be a hug picture. >> not sure what you're getting at. >> the dr. pierzynski hug. >> so cynical. >> we have a couple of things to get to. lauren back ba call passed away. still learning new details in the death of robin williams. investigators in northern california confirmed early indications that the comedian and actor hanged himself. it apparently happened sometime between sunday night when his wife last saw him alive and late monday morning when his body was discovered by shis stand. there are suggestions the actor was troubled over his financial situation. his estimated net worth was nearly $130 million. in an interview with "parade msh magazine, robin cited his two divorces as a source of his final woes saying, quote, divorce is expensive, i used to
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joke they were going to call it "all the money" but they called it alimony. and they rip your heart out through your wallet. >> it's way too much. abc news had to apologize. they had aerials of robin williams' home. the family asked for privacy. they had the screen grab that says family asked for privacy and to draw an arrow to the top, that we're buzzing the house with helicopters. i refused to watch the coroner's report, graphic with all this detail. was that necessary? >> it's public information. i'm not sure how you have to read it outside. >> the media can find themselves and vet it. but on television they went through every last detail of what happened. you had to look away from it.
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>> a helicopter over the house. why? people's time of complete mourning. >> last night, though, there was an emotional tribute. jimmy fallon offered his tribute to the great robin williams. >> before we get into the show we, like all of you, were shaken up a bit last night when we learned genius xheed your and actor robin williams. one in a million. he was unbelievable. if you don't know his standup you should youtube it right now and watch it. he was amazing. he was funny and he was fast. he would weave in and out of characters. he would get shakes speern. what the hell going on there. martha, ball and chain and kick and yes, thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> you'd watch him and you would
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cry laughing, and you would think i'm never going to see anyone like this human ever. just amazing. his brain was always thinking ten steps ahead of what he was saying. he was like the muhammad ali of comedy. for the taste of divine madness, here is a clip of robin's first ever tonight show appearance with johnny carson. >> a man who know himself but yet not touch himself. >> what is that from? "mid summer night's dream." >> the self abuse soliloquy. look, come be hither. no. thou has forced me to wear designer jeans for no reason!
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[ cheers and applause ] >> oh captain, my captain, you will be missed. >> that was the way to do it. that was beautiful. also this morning, a star of what is considered hollywood's golden age is being remembered this morning. lauren bacall passed away on tuesday at the age of 89 after suffering a stroke. known her her sultry voice and a look, she was a model. >> heilemann has the look. >> not like that. might be a different look. made more than 40 movies. owned tonys for her broadway performances and penned two auto biography. for two dozen years she was married to humphrey bogart. >> speak of horses, i like to play them myself. i like to see them work out
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first. see if they're front-runners or come-from-behind. find out what their whole card is, what makes them run. >> find out mine? >> i think so. >> go ahead. >> i'd say you don't like to be rated. you like to get out in front, open a little lead, take a little breather in the back stretch and then come home free. >> don't like to be rated yourself? >> haven't met anyone that can do it. any suggestions. >> heilemann's look is more do you have any wings? >> the hunger in the eyes. >> how about the voice? the look is one thing, but the voice, until the end. so seductive. political news. an interesting dynamic happening today. hillary clinton is hoping to patch things up with president
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obama. it's often important to patch things up, joe, after a clash over foreign policy. the dust got started when the former secretary of state took some not-to-subtle digs at the president in an interview with "the atlantic." she said? part this, quote, great nations need organizing principles and do not do stupid stuff is not an organizing principle. clinton's comments drew a sharp rebuke from david axelrod in an apparent reference to clinton's such port of the iraq war in 2002, axelrod tweeted, quote, just to clarify, don't do stupid stuff means stuff like occupying iraq in the first place which was a tragically bad decision. it all goes back to what's described as the president's foreign policy doctrine. last month "the new york times" described the credo with a baseball analogy, you hit singles, you hit doubles. every once in a while we may be
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able to hit a home run. in private conversations the president has used a saltier variation of the phrase "don't do stupid stuff." clinton's comments criticizing the comment drew a lot of attention. her camp is trying to end the back and forth. a statement issued yesterday reads in part, quote, earlier today the secretary called president obama to make sure he knows that nothing she said was an attempt to attack him. >> blah, blah, blah. >> his policies or leadership. >> we're not stupid. who thinks we're that stupid. >> i wasn't finished with the statement. >> it was an attempt to attack barack obama. john heilemann, you obviously lived with both of these campaigns in 2008. people forget how much hatred, how much animosity, how much rage there was between these two families. at one point the obama camp suggesting that bill clinton was a racist in south carolina.
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the bitterness runs deep. it looks like it's spilling out. >> it does. people do forget. hatred is a strong word. i don't know if i would go that far. certainly bitterness, a lot of acrimony in that campaign. you had the clinton campaign and people around them suggesting publicly that barack obama had not just been a using of drugs, but a dealer of drugs while in college. hillary clinton privately wanting to push that out into the media. president obama, then candidate obama provoking the clintons in nevada by suggesting ronald reagan had been a better president than bill clinton. bill clinton then acting out in south carolina. the obama campaign sending a truth squad to follow president clinton around south carolina and make those insinuations. president clinton playing into that by suggesting obama winning in south carolina had been like jesse jackson winning in south carolina. later, trying to prod the media
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into investigating whether michelle obama had used the fraet whitey on a videotape someplace. this was an incredibly bitter, fast stay campaign which made the fact that they were able to come together after the campaign was over so extraordinary. both barack obama and hillary clinton seemed on a personal level to kind of let that go when she joined up to be secretary of state. the animosity between the camps is still there. now we're in a new phase and hillary clinton is distancing herself from obama, a lot of the olden mes on both sides are bobbling to the surface. >> nicolle, everything they said about the history is true. do you think it's strategic for hillary clinton to put herself out there way in opposition? >> jeffrey goldberg raised the phrase don't do stupid stuff. do you think she thought through saying she's going to set herself from obama.
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>> it's hard to think of clintons as spontaneous. this is delicious. i remember as a republican watching the democratic primary in abject dismay at the treatment of hillary clinton, not just by the obama camp but by the media. it was a total pile on. it was shocking. as a woman he was shocking to see her, she was still winning primaries and the media was dancing on her grave. you talked about a lot of things that the clintons did. the obamas did plenty of things to fuel that, too. the deliciousness of this feud and the twitter will fade away. we'll be talking about something else next week. what will endure is hillary clinton making perfectly clear not just to democratic primary runners who we think of as her audience but to a squlen voting public and to the world that she will take a very different posture on global affairs. there is a hunger for that. anyone who thinks there isn't is
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delusional. >> at the end of hillary clinton's statement it says like any two friends who have to deal with the public eye she looks forward to hugging it out when they see each other tomorrow night. the event is a birthday party at the home of fernan jordan. >> i like when hillary clinton uses an ari gold phrase. >> hug it out? >> yes. >> i don't think -- barack obama and hillary clinton may be many things, but good friends i wouldn't put that on the list. but there's no doubt that hillary clinton is doing david ignatius, exactly what nicolle just said. you have barack obama who has now defined himself and he did during the 2008 campaign as the antithesis of eight years of foreign policy failures in his eyes. now here we are six years in to it and actually barack obama's approval ratings on foreign
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policy even lower than george w. bush's at this point which is even after the 2006 sunni uprising. so now she is doing the same thing to barack obama that barack obama did to george w. bush. and you have bush people going around using the terms delicious and -- i mean george w. bush must be loving this. >> but a freud moment. >> to a bigger, more important point, there obviously is going to be a readjustment in foreign policy after six years of barack obama's lay say fair approach, lead from behind approach. >> one thing that strikes me as interesting about this latest frack between secretary clinton and obama, i reviewed her memoir, "hard choices." one theme of that book is she got foreign policy issues right earlier than the president did.
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it's on page after page. i collected a whole list of them. guess what? the white house was really upset and thought this is unfair to us, this comparison between the two. so this theme has been around. she dug it a little deeper in the interview with jeffrey goldberg. but she was pitching the book and the book's theme is i get foreign policy better than the president does. i think your point, joe, that we're going to be having a debate about how to get a different kind of foreign policy is absolutely right and she's getting out early. >> we're focusing on what hillary clinton said to jeffrey goldberg. you also need to look at what barack obama said to thomas friedman where he basically said hillary clinton's argument on syria was fantasy. a lot of people would disagree with that. it's going back and forth, both ways. >> i always sort of -- ever since that exit interview which i think we have the sound bite
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of where she left as secretary of state and they sat awkwardly next to each other, the whole thing spoke to me as a deechlt they're both unwilling prince pants in the deechlt ron fornier writes in the "national journal," clinton's risky hedge against obama. i'm reading the public correctly. americans want somebody they feel they can be proud of who puts them first and keeps them safe. they want what obama promised to be. clinton may be aiming for that sweet spot between bush's bell lidge rens and obama's neglect, i could think of safer more calculated of going about it than stiff arming the democratic base. in her memoir "hard choices," clinton apologized for her support of the iraq war but made no secret of her interventionist streak, she wanted more troops in afghanistan than obama, for example and was not swept up in the drama of the arab spring
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like other younger white house aides. call me naive, but maybe clinton is simply being honest. after all that's really what americans want in a leader. >> willie or john, i've always said she's more of a neocon than 50%, 60% of the republican party. >> john mccain and lindsey graham may talk more loudly and be on every single show every week, but they're in the distinct mine now. >> she's always been morale lined with john mccain than her own party. if this is all calculated, it's calculated around a premise and the premise is she's going to go unchallenged effectively in the democratic primary. if that's the case -- >> what does this give you? ezra klein yesterday, josh marshall. a lot of influence with people
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on the left saying hold on a second, suddenly she's not looking quite so -- >> here is what i don't understand -- why not? because she's for doing more than nothing on the world stage? that's preposterous. >> barack obama is catching flak over iraq from the left and the right. >> there's an element in the republican base and the democratic base that is for this -- i want to call it's lagsist, that it is not for aggressive military intervention around the world. and she i think -- as i said, i think the premise of this is a general election kind of strategy, the broader country will be more in favor, she can take the democratic base for granted. >> maybe she thinks more of the base, not for doing nothing. >> but it does open the door. i think those commentators yesterday are right. there already have been people who thought her closeness with
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wall street opened the door. this will only entice -- if there are democrats out there who want a challenger, she's opening herself up -- >> what you said, what we've been saying around the table for months, the close ties to wall street, her neocon streak -- >> her breadth of experience also poses -- >> it also sets up a possibility, depending on who the republican nominee is and if hillary clinton does decide to run where the republican can be more dovish than the democrat or more isolationist. >> -- run against wall street and a decade of occasions and war, hillary clinton would be to the right. >> did you hear what rand paul said about chris christie? we'll talk about that later. >> david ignatius since we have him chained to a raid iter in our washington bureau. it hurts. it hurts.
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i'm not going to let him go until he answers this question. we're talking about what's hatching in washington, d.c., my god, in bagdad, maliki, it looks likes yesterday he's going to have a coup, not only barack obama but the iranians say enough. it looks like maliki will back down. i guess, david, was it because of the iranians? >> with enemies like the united states and iran joined at the hip you've got to figure this guy doesn't have long for the world. i think we are now seeing the process of transition that the u.s. has been aiming for for the last three or four weeks. president obama eats basic line has been i'm prepared to help iraq provide weapons, provide air strikes so long as you get a new broadly representative government. getting maliki, the world's most stubborn prime minister at this point out of office has been difficult. he lost the support of the
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shiite ayatollah assistant any weeks ago. they thaef made official their opposition to him and still he hasn't gone. talking to iran kis over the weekend, they're expecting it will happen soon. one question as always with dictators is where are they going to go once they leave. there's not a lot of places that would want maliki. a discussion of various destinations in the gulf. once upon a time he would surely have gone to syria. syria is in the middle of its own war. does iran really want him? doesn't look like it. that's part of the question of the end of this transition. the tough fascinating thing for someone like me who watches foreign policy is watching president's, i wrote this morning, is on the slippery slope of iraq. it's very poignant for a president who works so hard to get away from iraq, moving back in, adding troops. we have another 130 troops that
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were announced today. it's up to about 1,000. they're nominally advisers. folks, we all know what that means. we're getting air strikes now, multiple air strikes a day as the u.s. deals with the reality of this very dangerous terrorist group that's taken root in iran from syria. obama is trying to react to that and show some american power without frightening the american public. a very tricky business. >> still ahead on "morning joe," the democrats have narrowed down their choices for top three cities to host the 2016 con vechx. >> where are we going? >> it's going to be fun. >> we've got cleveland on the republican side. >> could hillary be celebrating the nomination in her own back yard? >> heilemann is back there. >> also, did get an office there. >> temporary office. also, new revelations on who raised the white flags on the brooklyn bridge. now we may have firsthand video
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of the incident. that's next in our morning papers. later, could the balance of power in the senate be tipped in alaska. kasie hunt traveled north to talk to senator mark begich. our stay to play series continues straight ahead. first bill karins with a check on the forecast. mika and joe, historic flooding under way right now in long island. hearing reports that many of the major highways are closed, people are trapped in their cars. water rescues are going on as i speak. fire departments are sending crews in trying to get these people out of a dangerous situation. why have we have all these rescue? we've had 7.25 inches of rain at the islip airport in the last six hours. in one hour alone, five inches of rain. that's torrential rain that no storm drains can keep up with. it's still pouring. it just jumped up another inch in the last ten minutes. now at 8.5 inches of rain. that's this much rain everyone in the islip area in central long eye and land.
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that's why the long island expressway is closed, a life-threatening dangerous situation. it's all on the island. yet baltimore got hit very hard. these were the pictures in baltimore. i'm sure the exact same scene is playing out right now on long island. this is the same storm that two days ago did the exact same thing in detroit. we'll track it for you today. connecticut, providence, boston, heavy rain is heading your way next. we'll continue to bring you pictures and give you anymore information i have on the historic flooding taking place only 30 miles due east of new york city. stay tuned. more on "morning joe." i make a lot of purchases for my business.
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behind the white flags raised atop the brooklyn bridge last month. the artists submitted video to the times which they claim documents the incident. they say they did not intend to, quote, embarrass the police and were instead honoring the anniversary of the death of the german engineer of the bridge. the nypd considers the ordeal a serious security breach. so far no word on how city officials intent to move forward. police commissioner bill bratton will join us later on the show. from the "wall street journal," brooklyn, new york, is facing off against four other cities for the chance to host the 2016 democratic national convention. the other contenders are columbus and philadelphia low waeted in swing states and birmingham and phoenix. the decision will be decided before the end of the year. >> we might know where we're going. the new jersey "star-ledger," dramatic video shows the coast guard helping to free an 800-pound leather-backed
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turtle caught in fishing gear. look at this poor baby. a fishing boat first noticed the animal trapped 30 miles off the coast of south jersey. crew members used gps coordinates to locate the turtle. leather backs are one of the largest rep tiles in the world. from "the miami herald" justin bieber will agree to a 12-hour anger management class. he was arrested for allegedly racing in south beach. at the hearing today the court is expected to accept lesser charges of careless driving and resisting an officer without violence. he's also going to have to donate 50 grand to charity. >> what does anger management have to do with drinking alcohol and getting in a car? >> sounds like he needs to go to rehab. anger management though. anyhow, the "los angeles times," a giant panda at a zoo in panda
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gave birth to a rare set of triplets. the only surviving trio of pandas in the world. the zoo says it's an incredible occurrence as pandas have a low reproductive rate. the cubs are expected to survive. it will take time to figure out their gender. for now the zoo is holding off on choosing names. still ahead on "morning joe," he calls himself a patriot. the u.s. government says he's a coward and traitor. edward snowden is stepping out of the shadows giving an extensive interview to "wired" magazine. willie sits down with a man who spent three days with snowden in moscow. plus, a picture, it's fascinating to say the least. not wearing really anything. >> what? >> we'll be right back.
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shelly sterling. sterling gave her reaction during a news conference yesterday. >> i hate losing the team, but it's going to a wonderful person who is going to make us all proud. you know, in life sometimes you have to step down and have somebody come along and just go from there. i know he's going to bring a championship to this city and he's going to make us all proud. >> sterling will remain visible in the clipper organization which has agreed to offer several perks including a pair of courtside tickets for all home games. >> that's important. >> and recognition as clippers' number one fan for the rest of her life. >> oh, that's important to have that in the deal. >> that was the bargaining chip. that had to be in the deal. >> she didn't do anything wrong. >> donald sterling's attorney immediately filed an appeal seek ag reversal. the nba filed a federal suit against sterling says has done devastating and incalculable
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harm to the league. >> i've been critical of the nfl for not having a drug testing policy. the guys can get roided out, take hgh, kill each other basically. but use a little molly, then there's that -- wow, that's going to really cause concussions and broken necks and everything. >> there's ped testing and recreational testing. this sort of covers both of those. dallas cowboys corner back orlando scandrick after apologizing for his suspension. he violated the league's ped policy after testing positive for amphetamines, the result of recreation mdma use. he used molly like miley cyrus during a vacation in april. >> it happens. >> i made a bad decision. i'm responsible for what goes in
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my body. a very humbling experience. i'm very sorry. i apologize to the jones family, very sorry to my teammates, very sorry to the fans of cowboy nation and my family. >> mdma alone would not subject him to suspension -- >> depends on what kind of performance you're talking about. >> ecstasy? >> a form of ecstasy. >> it's true there's an nfl player who recently beat his wife and was suspended for two games. there's now an nfl player suspend for taking ecstasy and suspended for four games. can someone explain that? >> yes. >> taking it on vacation obviously for his own recreational use in a way -- >> i'm not saying that's good. >> not to enhance his
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performance on the football field half as much as the rest of the stuff you know most of these guys put in their bodies. >> i guarantee that while he was on molly, he was not beating anyone. >> hugging them. makes you hug them for a long time. >> sweating a lot, hugging people and telling long stories. >> sometimes putting pacifiers -- >> i haven't been following baseball this year. i know we've got to go. quickly, just opened up the newspaper -- it's like august. what's going on in the american league? the american league it's total retro. this is like '70s. kansas city in first place, oakland in first place and baltimore in first place. i'm going to go and celebrate by getting one of those atlanta braves 1976 -- >> can we go to a game in baltimore please? >> lower case a. >> baltimore, we should go cover
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it. >> kansas city on an eight-game winning streak, but oakland beat them last night. >> and we're going to baltimore. i can follow my daughter. >> he says we got to go. i don't mean to cut you off. kim kardashian coming up. coming up, a feud in alaska is coming at the worst possible time for the democrats. why republican senator lisa murkowski told this guy, stop using my face in your ads. >> lisa murkowski and mark begich vote as much as 80% of the time together. i don't think we should break up that team. i've been a lifelong republican. i voted for ted stevens, lisa murkowski, now i'm voting for mark begich. >> the ad is factual, talks about 80% of the time we vote
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together. thaets that lays out what alaskans tell me they love. >> this tease is longer than "stairway to heaven." >> kasie hunt takes us to anchorage in the late estates of play, next on "morning joe." hey, i heard you guys can help me with frog protection? sure, we help with fraud protection. if there are unauthorized purchases on your discover card, you're never held responsible. you are saying "frog protection"? fraud. fro-g. frau-d. i think we're on the same page. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. fraud protection.
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>> reporter: it's called the last frontier, alaska, a state that might also be the end of the road for the democratic senate. >> we come up here for various reasons. my parents came up here pre statehood when what we're standing on today didn't exist. >> reporter: alaska is more than twice the size of texas but more people live in delaware than here. for democrat mark begich it's small town campaigning that spans thousands of miles of some of the most remote wilderness in america. >> about the third row over from the left. >> reporter: begich is usually lifted as one of the top five most vulnerable democrats. in 2008 barely beating ted stevens who had just been indicted. on a single day in code yack, begich toured aa fishing boat, salmon cannery and opened a new campaign office. >> this race is going to be a tight race. when done and said we'll be
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probably a 1% or 2% race which is -- in alaska we would call those landslides. >> reporter: it's nearly 5,000 miles away, but decisions in d.c. have a real impact here on everything from fish to oil. that makes washington gridlock particularly hard on begich, he's left pitching himself as a thorn in president obama's pro verbal back side. >> when it hurts alaska, they'll hear from me. there's not going to be this ma'am see pamby straight talk. >> do you think alaskans want more than a thorn? >> some might call it i'm going to fight for alaska. >> reporter: to unseat begich, national republicans bet big on dan sullivan, a marine reservist and former state attorney general. >> senator begich has voted with barack obama 97% of the time in 2013, one of the most liberal voting records in tuchlt s. senate. >> reporter: but he's come under attack from both sides. national democrats are already spent more than $3.5 million on
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dads like this. >> dan sullivan was going to cut people out from decisions regarding the land and the water. >> this idea had to have been cooked up by somebody who wasn't from him. >> reporter: republican lieutenant governor meade treadwell said he's new to alaska. >> a 47,000 alaskans that work in aviation and fishing. i've worked with these communities. dan sullivan just got there. >> reporter: back for another round is joe miller, endorsed by sarah palin in 2010. he won the republican nomination and lost to senator lisa murkowski in the general election. in some ways he's pushing the whole field to the right. do you think president obama should be impeached? >> i do. >> you're asking a guy who is going to be a judge in a senate chamber on a bill coming forward from the house that hasn't been written yet. i haven't read it yet. >> if i'm in the u.s. senate articles of impeachment would come to the u.s. senate, under the constitution the u.s. senate
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stands as the jury. if happens, i would take that very seriously. >> reporter: as the primary season closes, polls show a tightening race. as mark begich tries to hold on to his seat, he'll have to convince voters he's still less washington and morae alaska. >> what you hear over and over again, this desire to split the government up, democrats here, republicans here. that's not who alaskans are. >> kasie, first of all, beautiful piece. i have to get to alaska. >> nicolle spent a lot of time in alaska. >> it was pretty. >> good. >> so let's go there. sarah palin, how does she loom over this race? >> she has not actually endorsed this time. she obviously sent joe miller over the top in the republican primary in 2010. so far she's not decided to endorse him this time. she is still looming over the
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race. >> i think in a lot of ways sarah palin is not alaska. >> why not? >> i think she quit on being governor. alaskans are not quitters. no matter how tough it gets, how hard the road is, we keep fighting through it. i think in her case when it got tough she quit on alaska. alaskans don't like quitters. i think alaskans were very disappointed when she decided to step down and made a case that she was doing it for alaska's benefit. i have yet to see that. >> kasie, is sarah palin going to get involved this time. >> those around her say she has bigger fish to fry this time around. mark begich would love for palin to be involved in the race. her popularity is way down in alaska. they would probably like nothing more than to see joe miller win this republican nomination. >> a couple of people here talking about impeachment. are you hearing rank and file republicans talk about, hey, we
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want somebody to go to washington, d.c. so they can impeach barack obama. >> it doesn't seem that way. this electorate in alaska is so unpredictable, such a fragmented place. miller was down dozens of points last time. >> we've heard from the politicians. what do you hear from the people? >> you don't hear about impeachment. what seems to be the chief concern among the rank and file voters? >> the voters up there, there are miller supporters who talk about constitution and impeachment. also very concerned about the nsa. even mark begich cut an ad basically trashing the president over the mass data collection program. he's actually basically on the same page with all these republicans who are obviously running as you saw pretty far to the right on that. privacy is a very important issue up there. >> kasie, thank you very much. >> it took 17 days to do that package, coincidentally in august in alaska. >> states of play has a nice travel budget.
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you and i can't get this place to pay for a cab. kasie is galavanting. >> people actually want to hang out with kasie. >> red eye flights. >> thank you so much. coming up, president obama urges calm as tensions flare in the aftermath of the shooting of an unarmed black teen. now the police say their helicopters are being targeted by gunfire. we'll have the latest from that developing situation. in the 7:00 hour we'll talk to nypd commissioner bill bratton. also ahead, the u.s. sends more support to iraqis fleeing the rath of isis as we finally get good news about the government there. we'll talk to global news editor gideon litchfield in just a few minutes. a coffee table book to end all coffee table books. willie and i actually helped edit this. kim kardashian's newest project is going to make you proud, my friend, to be an american.
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the beginning of the end straight ahead on "morning joe." we're changing the way we do business, with startup ny. we've created tax free zones throughout the state. and startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. no property tax. no business tax. and no sales tax. which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. it's not just business as usual. see how new york can help your business grow, at startup.ny.gov today, more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about long-acting levemir®, an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. and levemir® helps lower your a1c. levemir® is now available in flextouch® - the only prefilled insulin pen with no push-button extension. levemir® lasts 42 days without refrigeration.
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thing, let's bring back -- >> since i never saw scarborough country, now i'll get a taste of it. we're figuring it out. speaking of cruise ship, still missing -- it's going to be like clue. "morning joe" cruise ship, but a scarborough country deck. >> we need to do a "morning joe" cruise. >> that would be like a punishment where you can get on and can't leave. >> i have worked so hard on you. >> why am i so at this time lated. >> time for the entertainment news you may or may not be able to use. here is louis berg door of. >> i'm louis berg door of. let's get holly wooerd. >> hundreds of now when the story of western civilization's
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fall from glory is written, expect to trace it to the release of kim kardashian 352-page book of selfies, "selfish" will be $23 and hits shelves on the 14th. "new york times" reporting bona fide a lister emma stone is set to make her debut in "cabaret." she'll take the role when michelle williams steps aside on november 8th. the network gave a taste of better call sol, based on sol goodman. it's set six years before he meets bryan cranston's character. >> lawyers, we're like health insurance. you hope you never need it. man, oh, man, not having it? no. finally vladimir putin may
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only score a 4% approval rating in america, don't tell that to mickie rourke. he was spotted in russia buying a t-shirt with his face on it. saying the purchase was not a political statement. i have a russian girlfriend. her father is a good person. her mother is great and her bub bush ka is wonderful. >> who doesn't love their bub bush ka. >> that was awesome. >> poor mika. >> i was a couple times a holly weird panelist in like 2006. >> really? >> listen to the music. >> found it. >> is "american idol" too mean? >> this is my favorite. jon stewart, is he bad for america? let's see. then we'd play 30 minutes of jon
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stewart, i'd go out and smoke a cigarette -- i don't smoke. just joking, and come back in and say no, i don't think so. we'll be right back. always rated. >> you idiot. >> what did pat buchanan should happen to that kid? that's what should happen to louis. hillary clinton and barack obama are expected to be in the same place tonight. will there be a hug-it-out photo. next bill bratton joins us live on "morning joe." with nfl mobile on verizon. yes! get in there! go, go, go, go, yes! let's go, drew. the "not-so-good more" would be them always watching you. go for it, paul! get open! come on, paul! let's go! hustle! what is that, chamomile tea?! uh, lattes. you wanna take a nap?! get the "good more" with nfl mobile, free with the more everything plan.
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♪ welcome back to "morning joe." john heilemann, nicolle wallace and david ignatius are still with us. joining us now, senior editor of the news website ports, gideon litchfield. in washington pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and nbc analyst eugene robinson. good to have you with us. >> a lot to talk about. >> let's get some of the major headlines out of the way and have our conversation with gideon. we'll start with the death of actor robin williams. there are updates. investigators in northern california tuesday confirmed early indications of the comedian and actor hanged himself. the sheriff's office is coming under fire for the graphic details they shared of williams' suicide during a press conference as is the media for
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reporting the information on and on and on, over and over and over again. in california that information is public record, but there's also a matter of respect that we're talking about here. abc news has also apologized for streaming a live aerial camera of williams' home on monday afternoon. what would they see? >> up on the website and a lot of tweeters pointed this out. the headline was "family asks for privacy," and then in blaring read it says watch live video of helicopters over williams' home. >> what would they see? people walking out of the house? >> unbelievable. >> mindless. >> we have editor at large for time mag zen. >> belinda rascon here to reveal the commemorative issue on robin williams. thanks for being with us. tell us a little bit about the coverage and also probably the very last-minute changes "time"
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had to make. >> we decided to go with robin because he hit so many generations from his performances as mork which were so important to kids, you could be different, you could be an alien, to his later work, his oscar. i think he's a guy that many people felt changed their life and obviously a prodigious talent, obviously someone who was also quite troubled. so all those things make him for us a very valid news subject. >> here is a look at an interview you had with him in 2011 when you asked about how standup can sometimes be therapeutic for comedians. >> billy crystal has said standup is how comedians process things that are painful. >> yes. >> does that mean we have to wish more painful things on you? >> you don't have to. i find them. turrets is the thing where people say nasty things. is there a positive things with
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turrets. >> turrets, is beautiful, you are nice. you really are lovely, nice eyes. your teeth are beautiful. >> why does it have to go the other way? >> actually because it's the subconscious creeping up. is there a nice side to your subconscious. i really like you! >> john heilemann. >> it seems, also, one of the things that have come out of this, a learning moment for people about depression. do you deal with that in the cover story at all? >> we do. we do. i think it's very interesting that some of the news coverage -- the cdc has put out guidelines about that suicide stuff, very clear that that is a very bad idea to go into too much detail. it makes a huge impression on the kids who will be watching this coverage because robin williams had a wide appeal, and we'll be looking at -- if you look at so many celebrities and so many of the ones we lost,
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depression has played a huge part in that, not just celebrities, people all over. that will obviously be part of our coverage. >> great interview. bell ly belinda, thank you so much. just moments ago, the french government released a statement saying it will supply the kurds in iraq with weapons. those arms, according to france, will be delivered in, quote, the coming hours. meantime, it appears the iraqi prime minister's role in government is on borrowed time. countries around the world are supporting the man picked to replace nuri al maliki. that includes iran which was one of maliki's top allies. maliki who initially showed signs of defiance is urging the military to stay out of the impasse, offering support to the country's new leadership. meanwhile president obama has spent 130 more american advisers and special operations forces to iraq. >> gideon, so much going on, moving very quickly.
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talk about waking up the sleeping giant. it looks like the world has awakened all at the same time. you have the iranians telling maliki to get out. america is telling maliki to get out. you also have barack obama saying no boots on the ground, right? we had this discussion last week. this is about genocide, we're not going to do anything else. i'm not criticizing him. we've got to respond to this. you called it poisoned gas last week. you're right. it seems like the momentum is picking up. 130, quote, military advisers going in. as david ignatius said last hour, we all know what that means. a lot moving very quickly in iraq. >> well, do we think this is going to turn into the u.s. getting involved militarily to try and prop up the regime. that's the question. so far it's still plausible that this is purely humanitarian. i think what's struck me most out of the things we've seen in
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the last day or so is the new prime minister who the u.s. is supporting is also someone iran is supporting. doesn't iran have common interests in iraq, they both want to see isil defeated. there are lots of ways in which iran and the u.s. is not on the same page. the thing that worries me is this. the u.s. president, whoever it is, barack obama, whoever comes after him, is going to be in washington deciding how much he or she can do with whatever congress authorizes. the iranians are right next to iraq and have thoroughly infiltrated the iraqi intelligence services and military. who is going to have more sway. >> david ignatius, the iranians have had such sway over the past several years. we were talking about it last hour. you wonder, was it the iranians pro whoebl followed the advice of assistant any and said enough is enough, maliki, get out of there.
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whoever the u.s. president is, isn't it safe to say we will never allow as a country isis to make significant gains going into bagdad, taking over even more of the country. >> they've taken overall most a third of the country as it is. i think the question is whether the u.s. is going to be part of an effort really to roll them back, to retake cities like moss all, like tikrit, like ramadi in western iraq. that's going to be a big job. the u.s. is getting more involved. now sent 1,000 military personnel. but to deal with that scale of problem is going to take a lot more force. i think that's what the obama administration is looking at carefully. this is a slippery slope. once you start the cries to do more will increase. i hate to say this, but baghdadi, the head of isis, gets a vote in this. as the u.s. moves toward
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attacking his forces, it's likely he'll attack u.s. targets. where he can find them and what kind of situation that will produce, obviously none of us know. hillary clinton is hoping to patch things up today with president obama after a clash over foreign policy. the dust-up started when the former secretary of state took some not so subtle digs at the president. in an interview with "the atlantic" she said, quote, great nations need organizing principles. do not do stupid stuff is not an organizing principle. clinton's comments drew a sharp rebuke from david axelrod president obama's former senior adviser and msnbc political analyst. axelrod tweeted, quote, don't do stupid stuff means stuff like occupies iraq in the first place which was a tragically bad decision. it all ties back to what's been described as the president's foreign policy doctrine.
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last may "the new york times" noted how mr. obama described his foreign policy credo with a baseball analogy. you hit singles, you hit doubles. every once in a while we may be able to hit a home run. in private conversation the president used a saltier variation of the phrase don't do stupid stuff. clinton's camp is now trying to end the back and forth in a statement saying when she sees the president next she looks forward to hugging it out with him. >> ron fornier writes, clinton's risky hedge in obama, i'm reading the public correctly, as much as americans want a pragmatic leader, someone who puts them first and keeps them safe. they want what obama promised to be. clinton may be aiming for the sweet spot between bush's belligerence and obama's neglect. i could think of ways other than stiff arming the democratic base. in "hard choices" she apologized for her support of the iraq war
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but made no secret of her interventionalist streak. she wanted more troops than obama. call me naive, maybe clinton is being honest. ron fornier has since taken that back. praised her for being sincere, gene robinson, but after she backed off and gave the most insincere of statements, her camp, about how this wasn't meant as a slight to barack obama. ron fornier was forced to retract his praise of sincerity. come on. who is hillary talking about when she says don't do stupid stuff? >> there's only one person she could possibly be talking about. obviously that was aimed at the president. but, look, i think ron's earlier point is that, if you look at what the leaders say and do over a period of time, there is a certain honesty and integrity to that. if you look at hillary clinton's record over time, then clearly,
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yes, she's more hawkish and more interventionist. >> gene, would you call her a neocon? >> i don't think i would quite go that far. she's in the same zip code. >> is it safe to at least describe her as an interventionist? >> i think so. look, she has apologized for her vote to authorize the iraq war and given what happened, she's obviously rethought that and will continue to rethink that. is she as much of an interventionist as she was, say, ten years ago? probably not. but certainly a lot more than president obama is and that's going to be an interesting thing for democrats to contemplate as we get toward 2016. >> i don't know if we picked this apart too much, john heilemann, isn't she just a bigger version of what democrats are facing in midterms ahead as they deal with obama and the foreign policy and moving
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forward trying to win their elections? >> yes. i think that's right. she's very calculated politician. >> hard to calculate this though. >> when she left the white house -- when she left the state department at the end of 2012, there was still the prospect of barack obama might remain very popular in the party and in the country. at that point it seemed as though what she wanted to be was his buddy. now as barack obama's approval ratings have fallen and foreign policy ratings have fallen even more precipitously, she's looking to put distance between herself and the president. >> nicolle you've been flinching and twitching since axelrod's tweet. >> hillary clinton didn't vote to authorize an occupation. she voted to authorize a war. the whole extreme liberal reaction to iraq is completely off base. i think hillary clinton makes a point that not just republicans
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are heartened to hear, but it's an indictment of obama's foreign policy that i hear from democrats, not on television, but behind closed doors. no one thinks obama's foreign policy has been successful. no one feels good about america leading from behind in every global conflict. the fact that she backed away from it is the only thing that makes me squirm. >> what do you think she would do? >> she has a partner ideologically deep inside obama's foreign policy seem, samantha power, also an interventionalist, who believes in using america's might, not just militarily, but to come in when there's a humanitarian crisis. hillary clinton is hardly an outlier. >> keeping a humanitarian crisis from exploding is one thing. keeping iraq together is another. >> hillary clinton's point is you don't avoid doing bad things, you actually try to do good. i have more faith in the democratic party that that's not going to disqualify her from being the nominee. >> gideon. >> here is the question. the u.s. -- since the invasion,
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the last decade stuck to this idea that iraq has to be unified and has resisted ledding kurdistan have autonomy. >> the iraqis have, they don't want to divide their own country. >> a lot of people are saying why is the u.s. still supporting that? >> it's not for us to say split up your country. kurdistan has all the oil. until the iraqis say help us 134ri9 up our country, it's not our role. joe asks richard engel, biden had a point. and he says every time that's not what the iraqi people want. >> the question is what do american people want. they don't want to be intervening in this iraqi warment i did see a poll last night showing movement on bombing, air strikes by a pretty wide margin americans support the air strikes right now. they don't want boots on the
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ground. i think we're waking up in august after watching gaza in july and after watching also russia and the ukraine and through the spring waking up to the fact that isis is a threat and we can't hide any longer. >> the world does seem to be coming unglued this august. it's interesting that president obama has been very careful about how he has described what he's doing. this is a humanitarian effort. it's an attempt to save desperate starving refugees on a mountaintop. it's an attempt to save american diplomats in erbil. so the initial steps were let's take out a mortar position in erbil, get humanitarian supplies to these poor refugees. after a week of this we face the question what is this really and how deep is the united states in the process of pushing isis back. >> so those 130 advisers,
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exactly, if this is a humanitarian response? are they carrying corn, wheat, some mres? >> i just talked with iraqi leaders who say they desperately need american help. their army has crumbled, the iraqi army has collapsed. >> david, i'm not criticizing it. they need military advisers, they need military help. i'm just saying the white house is still painting this as just a humanitarian effort. this is not a humanitarian effort. let's tell the truth. this is a military response to a growing crisis to a poison gas as gideon said. let's call it what it is. >> i think the president, if he's going to go forward, he's got to lead the country. this is not a country that wants to go back into iraq. so if the president wants to do more, he's really going to have to make the case and he's going to have to pull republicans,
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foreign policy leaders from both parties toward him, toward a center to get advocacy. otherwise i think the public is going to rebel. >> napoleon said what? if you're going to take vienna, take vienna. he's got to tell the american people what he's doing. this leading from behind bit, gene, you wanted to get in quickly, this leading from behind bit is not going to work with a group like isis. >> well, it seems to me there's a big decision that the president has to make, and maybe he's already made it. my question for david ignatius, absent some really robust u.s. involvement, not just perhaps bombing, but more than just advisers -- absent that, is there anything that's going to keep isis from consolidating its territory and establishing what we would certainly consider a terrorist state in the heart of
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the middle east? >> i would say no. isis has weapons, it has money, it has very competent strategic leadership. that's one of the things that amazes our intelligence analysts. so pushing them back is going to be a long-term proposition. again, this is not something that can be done in a month or two. so it's a big consequential decision that if president obama decides to make it, it's going to dominate the remainder of his time in office. >> david ignatius, thank you so much. eugene and gideon, stay with us. still ahead, nypd commissioner bill bratton joins us. serious questions about the use of force by police after a deadly incident during a recent arrest. bill karins has an update on serious flooding in long island, new york, dozens of cars spleetly swamped along the soirnth state parkway. look at that. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. [ female ] birdhouse plans. nacho pans.
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n the case of eric garner, i'm here to tell you there were numerous violations committed by the police officers as well as the sergeant on the scene. all of the officers that participated in the death of eric garner, all of them should be disciplined and we're not going to accept anything less. >> that's retired nypd detective carlton berkeley speaking out about the death of eric gardner killed during a controversial choke hold arrest in staten island. with us nypd commissioner william bratton. we've been looking at this. a lot of people looking at this. if you're just looking at the video, it's horrifying. it looks like it was unprovoked. you say it's an eight-minute video. what are we missing? >> actually quite a lot. in the business of trying to get to the truth, we still have a way to go. the first story is never the last story, as you know.
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a criminal investigation by the district attorney in staten island, very competent individual, 15 officers at that scene ultimately. quite a few civilian witnesses. we have a way to go before we come to any conclusion on whether there's any criminal action. >> any conclusion on your part as to whether the officers acted in line? >> not at this stage, joe. the way it will go, my investigation for policies and procedures is parallel to the d.a., but his takes precedence. we don't acted until he finishes. >> can i ask you about -- we look at this case where there was somebody doing a videotape. we look at the case that's going on obviously in missouri. it's a he-said, she-said situation. some police forces are starting to use body cams. if we had had that in missouri, we would have known exactly what was happening there. wouldn't that make sense to have police officers have body cams
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on? >> that's the direction where american policing is going. that's where we're going in the nypd. we're working closely with the lapd, about a year ahead of us in putting cameras in place because it does reduce some of the elements of he-said, she-said. even in video there are still circumstances around the event that we have to look at. >> let's talk about what you think might need to be done within the department. are changes being made in terms of procedure in light of garner's death, especially pertaining to the choke hold? >> one of the things that's come out of this, it's accelerated the processes of change that we have put in place in terms of training, already identified that the department needs to put more focus on training. a lot of these skills are perishable skills. we changed the recruit training component. we'll accelerate the training of about 20,000 officers over the next several months over reenforcement of the takedown
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skills, judo skills, and we owe that to our officers. we ask them to go in harm's way. we ask them to interact with the public in a lot of different circumstances. we're going to be putting a lot of folk kug cuss on that, not just now but going forward. >> john heilemann. >> commissioner, let me ask you a more macro question. there have been a series of deaths which have had a racial component in police departments around the country that have gotten a lot of media attention over the last couple years for sure. when you were in l.a. you had to deal with a minority community that was very suspicious of police power. it seems like in new york city this incident and others have increased minority suspicions of police power here. you did a really great job of reducing that in l.a., what are the lessons? how do you go about dealing with the community aspect of this and trying to rebuild, lessen the tension and rebuild the trust? >> great question. the way you go about it is to take these tragedies, these crises and go about it in a way that the public feels that
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they're trains parent to the greatest degree possible. they're thorough, efficient and honest in their findings. in l.a. we had more than our share of these types of incidents during the seven years i was there. similarly this one here we'll seek from it -- an awful tragedy, but can there be gains made, building police confidence in terms of their skills. that's the focus. >> eugene robinson has a question. >> commissioner bratton, the question that occurs to me is officer discretion. in these encounters, one thing that several have in common is the officer initiated the contact with the subject in a way that seems to me to have been designed to escalate rather than to tamp down the potential for a bad outcome. is that -- do you agree with
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that assessment and what are you going to do about it? >> from all of these events we attempt to learn. the idea that the training we give our officers, simply from this one, we will learn intimately what occurred there, were there things that could have been done differently. we don't know at this stage. but you always try to learn from these things, to improve the training and get to our officers and to move forward. >> let me ask you about the flag. i see it. okay -- >> i see it and i'm upset. >> i saw it and i thought what wacko risked their life to do that, right? and then the next day everybody is freaking out in the tabloids like somebody has just taken down the empire state building. i don't see it as the end of the world. >> actually i do. >> but mika does. now we find out it's the germans. it's always the germans, isn't
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it? what is going on with this flag thing? how the hell did we let the germans do this? [ laughter ]. >> as john belushi would say, first pearl harbor, now this. >> i have to go more to mika's perspective. >> so you were very disturbed. >> it's something to be concerned about. it was certainly a security lapse. we're continually trying to improve our security. the idea that two individuals did, in fact, risk their lives going up there in the dark, if, in fact, it was only two. our investigation is continuing. >> might have been more than two? >> we feel that's the case as our investigation is going forward. they have very intimate details about the flag and its materials that were not publicly known. we're comfortable that there's an involvement on their part. but as to whether they did it alone or not, we're pursuing our investigation. >> if you have more than two people climbing the the top of the brooklyn bridge and being
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able to cut the lights and change the flag, that's actually incredibly serious in this day and age. >> it's very serious. we're treating it as such. >> how did something like that happen? >> well, part of the investigation has focused on what we in fact have on that bridge. as we reviewed it, we determined we have enough in the way of cameras and alarms. the bridge interestingly enough is an active construction site. every night there are hundreds of workers on that bridge. >> all of us in brooklyn are well aware of that. >> there's hundreds of people crawling up and down -- >> people probably thought it was a construction worker. >> but at the same time we've learned a lot from that which we always try to do. >> for all bridges. >> overall picture, how are things going in the city? crime rates right now? >> overall crime is going down
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for the 20-odd-straight year. this year murders may hit 300 down from 250 20 years ago. principally the bronx. traditionally for 20 years that has been the case. we've got a lot of initiatives going on knocking those numbers down. we're making very good process. it's a very, very safe city. we want to make the whole city as safe as manhattan. we get to enjoy living and working in the manhattan area and don't have the murders and shootings that some neighborhoods have. the goal is to make all the cities feel as safe. >> commissioner bill bratton, thank you for being on the show. always great to see you. coming up, a live look over the southern state parkway in new york. look at this. portions of that highway shut
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down due to flooding. one of the areas getting drenched across the nation this morning. bill karins standing by with a check of the weather next on "morning joe." ♪ she's still the one for you. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure.
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baltimore to the jersey shore and now long island. probably one of the worst morning commutes they've ever experienced. the southern state parkway near islip. this has estimates of 10 to 12 inches of rain officially at the airport we're about 12.2 inches, a foot of rain since midnight. that's in seven hours. in a two-hour period from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., nine inches of rain. as you can see, the water rushed in way too fast and the cars got stuck. the good news for this area if there is any good news, the radar is finally showing the heavy rain finally moving out heading up into new england. now slowly the water will be receding in long island. in new england no airport delays. we'll have to watch areas like providence, boston and everywhere in between down in western connecticut especially to see if we get flash flooding through this morning. in baltimore yesterday, mika, we had six inches there. that was bad enough. but a foot of rain officially on
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long island, not even a hurricane, pretty incredible stuff. >> i'm headed to baltimore, all right. thank you very much. up next, after already making so many sacrifices, how much more does iraq expect of the united states? we'll ask the country's ambassador to the united states. "morning joe" is back in a moment. (vo) get ready! fancy feast broths.
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political experts say hillary clinton is trying to distance herself from president obama as she gears up for 2016. i think she's been trying to distance herself from obama for a while. check out this interview. >> her discipline, her stamina, her thoughtfulness, her ability to project, i think it made her an extraordinary talent. she already was already a world
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figure. >> thank you very much. >> here with us now from martha's vineyard, nbc news senior white house correspondent chris jansing. i guess we'll start with the lead of it, the clinton-obama dust-up, however you want to call it. how do you expect this hug to play out? >> reporter: kerfuffle. whoever would have thought martha's vineyard would become the epicenter of political drama? few of us have ever seen anything like it. this escalated very quickly. suddenly this tension between hillary clinton and the barack obama camp just kept escalating to the point where yesterday both sides felt like they had to do damage control. you saw this statement that was put out by hillary clinton's camp suggesting that they were going to hug it out at some point. and then to the surprise of all of us, the white house puts out the deputy national security
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adviser, a policy guy, to deal with the politics of all of this. i should say that this birthday party where they're going to come face-to-face for vernon jordan's wife at a local golf club is close to the press. so whether they hug it out or have a handshake, we aren't probably going to see it. having said that, this is not good for either side. i don't think we'll see any kind of explosion at the golf club tonight. >> no. i think we'll see a hug. nicolle, i don't think we thought that tension existed. am i wrong? >> you're absolutely right. it has roots in 2008. i wonder how confident the people at the top of each organization feel about their ability to keep everybody in each organization from escalating this and dragging it out. nobody likes an august political melodrama more than all of us. it seems like if they can't control the people in all their camps, this will go on and on and on. >> believe me, that is a
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concern. it's not just about the politics of it, although that certainly is a concern. in some ways, a word that was used to me talking to folks yesterday was it's kind of unseemly. but more than that, it's happening at a bad time. i think part of the pushback from the obama camp, they expected that at some point hillary clinton was going to distance herself. they know what the polls say about the president, plashly as it relates to foreign policy. he's in the middle of major crises on at least three different fronts. so the timing of it really isn't very good, and i think that's part of why they sent out ben rhodes yesterday. let's all tamp this down, let's all make nice. this doesn't serve anybody's best purposes. >> nbc's chris jansing. thank you so much. here from manchester england, american ambassador to the u.s. thank you for being on the show this morning. we have breaking news overnight that there's more military support on the way. i guess my first question to
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you, sir, would be what do you think about the extent of the u.s. engagement is so far in support of iraq in the face of the threat from isis? is it enough or is that still a question? >> we've had before a discussion on this program with you and with others regarding the extent of u.s. support. the iraqis are facing a transnational, international terrorist organization. it's a battlefield spearheaded by isis, and it's becoming a victim to this international terrorist organization, a threat to the integrity of iraq. united states is our key partner. it's been providing substantial amount of previously aid. now we're talking about further military appropriation and also further aid in relation to the people trapped in the north and in our common fight. >> you call this a battlefield. is there a possibility that a full-on war is inevitable? or is what the united states
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doing, does it look like it's going to be enough? what more might be expected of the united states? mr. ambassador? i think he's lost audio. we lost audio. we'll try and get him back, guys. we'll just pop back in. he called it a battlefield, gideon. i guess the question is what will expected of us in the future if the threat of isis is so real, is so severe, is so frightening, and appears to be. is what we're doing enough. >> i was reading an interview that tom friedman did in "the new york times" with president obama a few days ago. obama said my goal here is not to be the iraqi air force or the kurdish air force for that matter. it seems like the u.un wants to keep supplying some kind of military assistance and aid but leave the iraqis to sort it out.
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my question to the ambassador if we get him back is going to be part of the key to defeating isis is going to be sunnis and shias which prime minister maliki was the divisive leader. is the new prime minister going to unify? >> our apologies to the ambassador about the technical problems we had. we'll try to get him back. still ahead, the latest cover of wired magazine is sure to cause some controversy. up next, some of the most touching tributes are coming from some of his fellow actors. henry winkler joins us next on "morning joe." (vo) ours is a world of passengers. the red-eyes. (daughter) i'm really tired. (vo) the transfers. well, that's kid number three. (vo) the co-pilots.
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whoa, whoa, whoa. >> greetings, fonzie. remember me? mork from ork? you once called me the nutso from out of space? >> i must be dreaming or something like that, you know? i mean of course i'm dreaming. that's why mary never heard of me. >> sorry, real thing. i had to zap your mind to make you forget. didn't want you to go bozo city. >> i love the fonz.
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>> he's amazing. >> that was the moment the world was introduced. >> he's also known as henry winkler, by the way. >> i love the fonz. he's a big "morning joe" viewer. he's a fan. he even likes you. maybe you'll hug it out. anyhow, that was when we heard from mork from ork for the first time and henry winkler was there to see the magic of robin williams for the first time too, and henry winkler joins us now. good morning, it's great to have you on the show today. >> good morning. i'm very happy to have you in my ear. >> usually he's watching. so i guess the legacy of robin williams as you see it since you were there at the very beginning. >> the legacy, i would have to say even in this moment of extreme sadness would be joyful. because this very quiet man, this very gentle man came on the set, picked up the script and all of a sudden it was the
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fourth of july right in front of you. he was the fireworks. and if you were smart, you knew to just get out of the way and let him be, because there was no way a mortal was going to stand toe to toe with robin williams. >> who could have imagined from those early scenes when we saw him first work with you what would happen after that, that not only would he become one of the world's best-known, most beloved comedians but also an extraordinary actor with extraordinary range. >> you know, it is always the comedian the tremendous depth for empathy. you know, out of that pain comes the comedy. all i knew was i knew i was in the presence of greatness. i said to him, hey, you want to rumble? and he went rumble?
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oh -- and all of a sudden we were in the middle of "west side stor story." you never knew what was going to come next. >> henry, i feel like it's hard to address you as anything other than mr. fonzarelli. when robin williams first appeared in the world and on our radar screens and he's talked about this a lot so it's no great secret, the drugs, the alcohol, john belushi was a good friend of his, doing a lot of drugs, a lot of the energy in his stand-ups seemed fueled by that. people that knew him well talked about the struggle that he had that went on his whole life. how much contact did you have with him around those issues and the interconnection about the things that fueled a lot of his genius and ultimately also caused him a lot of pain. >> i'm not the man to talk to about that because i did not see
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that. he came late to the rehearsal process. they couldn't find anybody to play mork so we start monday morning rehearsing and we shoot the show friday night. he came wednesday afternoon. >> wow. >> so there were two days for him to create this explosion. i never saw drugs, we never talked about drugs. all i saw was this incredibly warm man. every time i saw him for the next 30 years, i was embraced with this incredible hug and he always called me papa. now, i don't know if he called other people that, but he did. and he never said hi, henry. he always said, oh, papa. and it made me melt. i just melted. >> we've heard that story on so many levels. we heard yesterday from a tape of christopher reeve talking
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about how when he was at the lowest point of his life, he came there, robin williams came there and showed him love and got him out of that. we heard how steven spielburg was so depressed at the end of every day and he'd call him and say, please, can you make me smile, can you make me laugh. we heard when he went to uso gatherings overseas, he would hug every troop member there that wanted to hug him and talk to him. just sounded like an extraordinarily warm man. >> all i will say is that in every case, it was completely genuine. this is who he was on the earth. this was not -- he wasn't making it up, he wasn't trying to be somebody, he was being himself. >> henry winkler, so much. >> thank you, henry. >> great to have you on. >> always a pleasure. coming up on "morning joe" they were a team of rivals, at least for a couple of years. how a split over foreign policy
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between president obama and hillary clinton could shake up the democrats' game plan. >> finish that sentence. they were a team of rivals. >> i'll try. >> now, dot dot dot. they just hate each other. or now they're going to be stabbing each other in the back. i mean i don't know. isn't that great? >> we'll be right back. moderate to severe is tough, but i've managed.
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we can make everybody else happy but really not be happy inside. it's sad. >> people are reacting to the sudden news of the death of robin williams. >> it's hard to imagine unstoppable energy stopped. >> you know how to whistle. you just put your lips together and blow. >> the world has lost another great, great talent. >> lauren bacall, gone today at 89. >> it is to portray the gentle giant that he was. >> police in ferguson, missouri, once again had to put down and head off violence in the streets. >> now the police chief and his decision. will he reveal the name of the officer? >> we started getting death threats. based on that we have decided to postpone the release of any information. >> what would you say to this police officer. >> the same thing i would say to my son. if he did something wrong, he know he did something wrong. you take your punishment. >> two helicopters have been getting the most needy off the
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of the mountain. >> today one of them crashed. >> the lost of a helicopter means even more will have to get off the mountain themselves. >> the u.s. is sending additional military advisers to help address the refugee crisis. >> it seems like the momentum is picking up. we now have 130, quote, military advisers going in. we don't know what that really means. >> these are the men confronting isis. today we met kurdish commanders outgunned using weapons from the past. isis is well armed but terror may be their best weapon. >> this is without one redeeming quality of offering people a job other than saying don't live any other way than the way we tell you. >> welcome back to "morning joe." john heilemann, nicolle wallace and gideon lichfield all still at the table. joining us is ezra klein. ezra, good to have you. >> good morning. >> also columnist for "the
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washington post" dana milbank and megan mcardle joins us as well. >> everyone has such strong opinions. ezra klein says the interview makes hillary clinton's inevitability less inevitable. dana milbank says it's okay for barack obama to go on a vacation but looking a little too detached. >> as the world burns. >> megan mcardle, when obama beat hillary clinton, we all lost. where do i start with that? let's go dana, he's always fun. not wearing a vest today, dana, but the right wingers love you this morning. last for that -- get used to that. >> my honeymoon with the right wing i think has already worn off. >> but what an exciting 12 minutes it was. >> it was very enjoyable to be stripped across the top of drudge.
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you don't see that every day. the president should be allowed to go on vacation. he's a human being and wherever he goes, all his telecommunications and advisers go with him. i'm just saying did he really have to do it 36 hours after starting that bombing campaign? and does he really have to keep going out on the golf course being photographed doing that and then going to fund-raisers? why can't he just play checkers or something or play basketball out of sight and just, you know, relax and be a human being but not give this sort of overtly visible sign of leisure sports. >> it does seem, doesn't it, that the president, dana, he seems to be a stubborn guy. there are some people that are more stubborn than others and he's like he's not going to let expectations -- whether it's mika and i were talking to the white house a long time ago about him going down to the gulf coast right after the bp spill. he just wasn't going to go until he was ready to go. you could say the same thing
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about the border crisis. >> it's worked out great. he's got a 39% approval rating? >> he doesn't like to be pushed around by expectations, does he, dana? >> considering how miserable of america is, a 39% approval rating isn't really that bad. >> that's true. >> believe it or not. but here's the thing, he is -- how can he get around this vacation problem here. he is very stubborn when it comes to getting out there on the golf course. president bush said, look, after his famous "watch this drive" moment, he said, look, i'm going to give up golf for the rest of my term. the president isn't doing that. but why isn't he as forceful when it comes to, say, getting unemployment insurance through, when it comes to getting more of his domestic agenda through, gun control, all the other things where he seems to give a speech and then tiptoe away from it. if he could be as stubborn as he is about continuing his golf
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game about some of his domestic policies, i think we might get some results. >> i'm sure a line the bush white house didn't like, mika, was "now watch me hit this drive." ezra klein, hillary clinton's interview says she's not inevitable. you'll see her weakness as a candidate. she's more hawkish than the democratic party and upset she lost the internal administration debate over whether to intervene in searia, focused on the expansive ambitions of radical jihadists, she takes a hard line on iran's nuclear ambitions, she's dismissive of obama's short hand foreign policy principle, don't do stupid stuff. she sounds like a democrat from 2002 rather than 2014. 2002, sort of an important year in examining hillary's political career, right? >> yeah. so i should say in the paragraph before that i say you also see her strength. she is much more fluent and authoritative and capable of
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discussing foreign policy than any of her obvious challengers in the democratic party but also frankly in the republican party right now. you do see why in a primary she is not inevitable. i think the great question of hillary clinton's 2016 campaign has been how is hillary clinton now different than she was in 2007 and 2008 because it's been an eventful eight years. a lot of people have changed quite a bit. in the press we tend to assume we haven't changed at all. what surprised me about this interview is actually how little she had changed. what surprised me was how much she was taking very much the same position she had in the democratic party in the early 2000s and then in the 2008 democratic primary campaign where she is a more aggressive interventionist, old school hawkish democrat than frankly a lot of the post-iraq democratic party is going to be comfortable with. >> talk about hard choices to need to be made now, megan, you write when obama beat hillary we all lost.
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you say in part this, i think hillary clinton would have been more cautious when dealing with republicans and ultimately more successful in some ways. at the very least she would not be facing the same level of vehement opposition in congress. is there still hope then? >> you can't roll back the clock. the tea party was created in 2009, first in reaction to the stimulus and t.a.r.p. and so forth but ultimately it gained emotional energy and strength from obamacare. the first tea party express was focused on health care. similarly, when those people got power in 2010, they primaried and elected a lot of very strong ideological republicans who didn't want to do business as usual, including things like raising the debt ceiling. and obama has been facing that for his whole term.
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but hillary clinton will face those people too because they're now in office, they're incumbents. they have the ease that incumbents generally have of getting back in office. i i think the election of obama in 2008 changed things in a way that won't go back and we're seeing this ratchet towards greater partisanship. the ratchet only goes one way, unfortunately. >> john heilemann, just the approach to foreign policy for hillary clinton as she navigates president obama's foreign policy and the criticism that she's giving him. david axelrod tweeted out it shows the landscape that she has. >> the most interesting thing to me about that interview is it is entirely consistent with what she wrote in the book. it's true that the comment about don't do stupid stuff kind of put a fine point on her distancing herself from the administration but she has been very open about she wanted to super veen in syria when he did not. she was much more forceful about
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intervention in libya. she's been more skeptical at the arab spring. this interview focused it in a laser beam like way and i think she will persistently now, although she is half-heartedly apologizing for that interview, she's going to spend the next two years making this case that she would prosecute a different kind of foreign policy. that is what she believes and what she said throughout the time he was secretary of state. >> gideon, do you apologize for telling the truth and what she believes in? what she believes in is throughout her book. her book should have had the subtitle why i'm better at foreign policy than the president of the united states because she went through this. there certainly was a subtext. >> i think axelrod's tweet was actually perfect for her. it simply is what she wanted which is to stake out with laser beam precision, john, the position that she has on whether or not -- how she would move in
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iraq. even though she's going to kiss and make up with the president, she's made it very clear to everyone this is what i would do. that's what she needed to achieve and axelrod helped her. >> ezra, i made the same point earlier today that you made in your piece which is she is doing things that have opened her up more and more to a primary challenge, but that leaves out one big question which is there has to be a challenger. so who is that populist that could take her on in in 2016? >> i have no idea. the one thing that i would say is i think the thinking in politics has been that the challenge from hillary will come from a progressive populist, an elizabeth warren type. i don't think hillary clinton is that conservative on economic issues. i think that her ability to say in a race with someone like elizabeth warren, i'm for health care too, i'm for stronger financial regulation. she does not disagree so much directionally with the democratic party or liberals
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there. they both want to go further than a republican congress would let them. it's foreign policy where you saw her lose in 2008 and i think her actual true convictions separate her more from at least the liberal base than will be easy in a primary where there was a strong challenger. but as you say the fundamental question is who is that strong challenger and also is this an election in 2016 where foreign policy is salient enough to create space for that kind of challenger. >> i think that's an important point. dana milbank has written a lot about the topic of competence. i think that it's a media construction to instantly thrust her into the role, and david axelrod fell for it as a hawk. i think this was more about obama's incompetence than it was about his inaction. and i think that saying that an organizing principle on foreign policy has to go beyond, i won't just do stupid and i don't think stuff was the word that actually described it was more about his
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incompetence. that is what the democratic party is looking, for the republican party is looking for. you look at obama's poll numbers on foreign policy, those aren't just republicans that think he's doing a horrible job, that's a whole lot of democrats and independents too. >> so you think she shouldn't have walked it back? >> i think the last 48 hours was suggesting a hug. i think she should have doubled down on the criticism and said that that is absolutely not how i would carry out my foreign policy. it would be more competent. because i think that she has now fallen for another media construction around her views which is that she's the hawk and he's the dove. i think the media always puts her in a place where she didn't intend to go. she's not very adept at taking herself out of it. but to the degree this was about obama's incompetence, she's on to something. >> but she needs the support, it's a long campaign, right? >> i don't think there's much of a choice. >> dana, you write in "the washington post" the very essence of the american dream. an irrepressible confidence that
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our children will live better than we do and now it's gone. a wall street journal/nbc news poll put an exclamation on americans lost optimism when asked if life for our children's generation will be better than it has been for us. 76% said they did not have such confidence. only 21% did. that was the worst ever reported in the poll. in 20014, 49% were confident an 43% were not. americans are reacting in part to the breakdown of the political system which leaves people quite rationally worried about american decline and the nation's diminishing ability to weather crises. there was a poll that showed the next 15 years there will be a significant real decline, not just your opinion of the decline, we are declining. the next generation will not do as well. >> well, you know when dana milbank, who is -- i mean dana is a half glass full guy. you know that when dana is writing that americans are losing their optimism, dana, i
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mean locusts from the heavens are next. >> they have come on over to my side, joe. yeah, i'm sorry to be your resident depressive here but that's what i was saying. given this environment that president obama is at 39% approval, wow, he should be popping the champagne corks in this. yeah, this isn't about -- this isn't obama's fault. yes, pessimism has gotten worse during the great recession, but this really isn't about economics because when you look at it, americans were pretty darn pessimistic about their children back in 2006 before the economy headed south. so this seems to be something of an enduring trait in american politics. i don't think either side has figured out what, if anything, can be done about it because the fact is it's true. it's not only that we have a perception that our children are not going to live as well as we are, they're not. the millennials are the first generation in american history not to be doing as well at this
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stage as their parents did. the prospects for this really turning around, can't see it. >> megan, dana touched on also the political dysfunction in washington, which i think feeds into that lost optimism that americans have. >> i think that that's absolutely true, although i also think that a lot of this is economic. the fundamentals of politics are ultimately the economics. the economy isn't as good as they expected when they elected obama six years ago. and i think that we go into the deep economic roots even of these crazies in politics right now where fundamentally we're out of money. it's harder and harder to find extra money to fund spending or tax cuts that people would like to do. instead of arguing about what we're actually going to do that's new, we're arguing about defending these old ideas that people have had for decades and who is going to have to take the
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losses as the deficit grows, as we have to do fiscal tightening in order to cope with a lot of the challenges on entitlements and other things that we're going to have in the future and that's a bitter, bitter argument. >> megan, thank you. dana, thank you very much. so i mean there are -- there are statistics that prove we are in decline. is there any other way of looking at it? >> yeah, i think there is. roger altman wrote an article in "time" magazine that i agree with. we've got a lot of things to be actually optimistic about. you look at the energy revolution that's not only going to change how things go on domestically in our economy, it's going to also recalibrate our foreign policy to make us more positive, less interventionists. we're in the age of technology and the age of -- you know, the chinese say eight of the top ten universities on the planet are here in this country. we've got a lot of things to be excited about. i do think, though, the gloom
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over washington, d.c., has an impact on people, how people answer a lot of these questions. i still am stupid enough to be optimistic. i've heard this before, we hear this all the time. the last time we heard it, 1989. it was going to be japan and america was going to be japan's granery in 20, 30 years. how did that work out? i'm feeling pretty good right now. >> our thanks to ezra klein as well. >> i'm the 2%. i'm the 2% that feels good. >> i'm with you. >> no, i like it. coming up on "morning joe" senator mark begich said he'd be happy to drag the president around alaska. that gives you an idea of the tough fight he has. kasie hunt traveled there for a firsthand look and she joins us straight ahead. up next, the man who knows too much. willie has a revealing new look at edward snowden who stepped out of the shadows and into the world of trouble. but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> he's trouble. >> troubling forecast. >> definitely a troubling forecast. we're watching one of the more
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historic weather events that we've seen in the new york city area and even this year around the country. let me throw two numbers at you. 13.78 inches of rain in islip, new york, is the most they have ever received in any month. a little over 13 inches in a month. this morning they picked up 13.1 inches. and since midnight in a little over eight hours, they have picked up almost as much rain as they have in any month of their recorded history. very impressive. you get that much rain in that short of a period you're going to get pictures like we just showed you. the southern state parkway. a lot of the water has peak andy it will slowly come down. water in homes in some places, highways flooded out and a lot of vehicles too. so here's the radar. it does show you that there are showers left but the heavier rains are shifting to the north a little bit. as we go through the afternoon, we're still going to watch the flash flood threat right through the morning into the afternoon from worcester to boston, providence to hartford. right now it's relatively mild. we're watching about a half inch
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to an inch. but all that heavy rain is just moving in, it's just the beginning of it. we'll track it this afternoon. the airports are actually doing okay, believe it or not. even the new york city airports are not reporting any delays. this is just an epic three or four days of flash flooding. from detroit to baltimore yesterday, overnight washington, d.c., was okay but the jersey shore got it bad. then all the way up into new england today. so again, islip, new york, and long island, over a foot of rain in eight hours. haven't seen reports like that in a long time. new york city, just showers for you but flooding will be pretty bad this afternoon when new england. more "morning joe" when we come back. wondering what that is?
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edward snowden is not going quietly. he's fresh off a three-year extension of his stay in russia and now this. a cover photo for "wired" magazine with snowden wrapped in the american flag. u.s. officials have called him a traitor and a coward. i sat down with the writer and editor at "wired" magazine who got exclusive access to edward snowden. >> out from the shadows. >> my name is ed snowden. i used to work for the government and now i work for the public. >> in front of the flash bulbs. appearing at times exhausted, at times defiant. wearing a bouncer's t-shirt. >> did you feel like he took a different tact in making this a little more about himself than he has previously.
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>> he came in quite nervous to the shoot and said i love my count country, i feel like a patriot. it was at that moment we knew we had the cover. >> jim banford had unprecedented access, recently spending three days with snowden in moscow. >> there was a bit of intrigue there because i didn't know when, where or how i was going to meet with him. >> i received a phone call at my hotel room and it was ed. he knocked about 15 minutes later. >> so what's it like to open your door and see who you call the man who knows too much? >> it's a remarkable moment. >> snowden told "wired" of a top secret program called monstermind, first revealed here, which automatically retaliates to cyber attacks from foreign countries. >> if you turn around and automatically fire back, you may be starting an accidental war. >> it released new audio recordings of its time with snowden. >> our generation is facing a
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time where governments around the world are questioning whether or not individuals can be trusted with the power of technology. and while i don't know the answer to that question, what i do know is that governments shouldn't be the ones to decide. we should. >> snowden disputes that he took 1.7 million documents as the government alleges, saying the number is much smaller and he wouldn't comment on recent reports that he has inspired other leakers. >> there is another snowden out there someplace. the question is whether he's still in there, whether he's out, whether nsa is looking for him. >> snowden says he left a trail of digital bread crumbs to show the nsa exactly what he took from an internal server, but the nsa missed the clues. i figured they would have a hard time, snowden told "wired." i didn't figure they would be completely incapable. >> he had access to material
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well beyond top secret. way over most anybody's head at nsa. >> i gave this information back to public hands to give you back a choice about the country you want to live in. >> snowden told "wired" he wants to come home and he would even volunteer for prison as long as it served the right purpose. for its part the nsa told us if mr. snowden wants to discuss his activities, that conversation should be held with the u.s. department of justice. he needs to return to the united states to face the charges against him. back to you guys. >> willie, thank you. does anyone here at the table have an unequivocal point of view about snowden? >> i think that -- yes, i'm going to go there. i think he did absolutely the right thing. i don't think that it's possible to continue managing secrets and security in the same way that it was before. you can debate whether or not he -- you can argue that he shouldn't have revealed them in this way, but i think by forcing the issue, he forced us
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everywhere in the world to have a debate about how information is protected, how privacy is handled, how government security is handled, how governments communicate with each other. there are so many ramifications of this that i think the net result can only be positive. >> one of the implications is that he put us in danger from terror networks so i think the government should take him up on his offer to sit in jail. >> okay. do you want to chime in? >> i'm with them. >> that's what i mean. >> a new report says hollywood celebs are coming to the rescue of vulnerable democrats. among them, senator mark begich of alaska. kasie hunt has more on the race that could go a long way in determining the balance of power on capitol hill. we'll be right back with much more "morning joe." ahhh! what is it? there are no marshmallows in this box of lucky charms! huh... weird... seriously?
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brian: 25 years. matt: that's how long we've been talking about the most important social issues. savannah: education. al: conservation. chris: uniting the nation. jim: with a bit of imagination. the more you know. a new piece in the hill says hollywood is trying to save the senate for democrats. the article notes how big-name celebrities are ponying up cash for candidates. among the contenders allison lundergan grimes in kentucky. everyone from ben affleck to danny devito are contributing to her campaign. >> republicans want to know why don't we get any people like this. >> who would you take of that
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list? >> well, i'd take them all. i like them all. >> frank them, though, one to four. >> i mean tom hanks and spielberg changed the world. i mean, come on. >> as did seinfeld. >> seinfeld changed tv, he's a great guy. >> well, republican candidates also cash checks. >> chuck norris. >> here we go. from some well-known names. >> scott baio. >> you get john elway. >> imagine planning a convention with scott baio and john elway. >> is that like chaci? >> we'll take support wherever we can get it. >> donald trump. >> they get spielberg, we get baio. >> scott baio? >> they get spielberg, we get chaci. it's painful, it's just painful. >> one of the republicans --
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>> libertarian artist, a guy that likes to smoke a lot of pot and have low taxes, can't he give his money to republicans? come on, it's painful. and the conventions are so unfair. you go to democratic conventions, it's like hey, the beatles -- >> that's true. >> and the stones and elvis. we resurrected him. then you go here and it's like chuck norris. >> we need like a dj because we can't even get a band to play. >> meatloaf. >> chaci only gave us 500 bucks. >> that really happened. >> okay. so one of the democrats reportedly cashing in off hollywood is senator mark begich of alaska. he's among several incumbents facing tough challenges that could make or break republican hopes of taking back the senate. kasie hunt traveled to anchorage for the latest installment of
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our states of play series. >> reporter: it's called the last frontier. alaska, a state that might also be the end of the road for the democratic senate. >> we come up here for various reasons. my parents came up here prestatehood when what we're standing on today didn't exist. >> reporter: more people live in delaware than here. for mark begich it's small town campaigning that spans thousands of miles of some of the most remote wilderness in america. >> at the fisheries meeting you're about the third row in over to the left. >> reporter: he is one of the top five most vulnerable democrats. in 2008 he barely beat republican senator ted stevens who had just been indicted. on a single day he toured a
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fishing boat, salmon cannery, met with natives and opened a new campaign office. >> this race is going to be a tight race. when done and said, we'll be probably a 1% or 2% race. which in alaska we call those landslides. >> reporter: it's nearly 5,000 miles away, but decisions made in d.c. have a real impact here on everything from fish to oil. that makes washington gridlock particularly hard on begich. he's left pitching himself as a thorn in president obama's proverbial backside. >> when it hurts aalaska, they'e going to hear from me straight ahead. they're going to hear directly from me. >> reporter: do you think ala a alaskans want more than a thorn. >> i'm going to fight for alaska. that's what it is. >> reporter: to unseat alaska, republicans have bet big on dan sullivan, former state attorney general. >> senator begich has voted with barack obama 97% of the time in
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2013, one of the most liberal voting records in the u.s. senate. >> reporter: but sullivan has come under attack from both sides. national democrats have already spent more than $3.5 million on ads like this. >> dan sullivan was going to cut the people out from decisions regarding the land and the water. >> this idea had to have been cooked up by somebody who wasn't from here. >> reporter: and republican lieutenant governor meade treadwell says sullivan is too new to las. >> we have 50,000 alaskans work in fishing and 47,000 in aviation. i've worked with these communities and dan sullivan just got here. >> reporter: back for another round is joe miller, who was endorsed by sarah palin in 2010. he won the republican nomination, then lost to senator lisa murkowski in the general election. in some ways, he's pushing the whole field to the right. >> do you think president obama should be impeached? >> i do. >> you're asking a guy who could actually be a judge in a senate chamber on a bill coming forward from the house that hasn't been written yet. i haven't read it yet. >> if i'm in the u.s. senate,
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articles of impeachment would come to the u.s. senate, you know, under the constitution, the u.s. senate stands as the jury. if that happens, i would of course take that very seriously. >> reporter: as the primary season closes, polls show a tightening race. as mark begich tries to hold on to his seat, he'll have to convince voters he's still less washington and more alaska. >> what you hear from maybe the lieutenant governor or dan sulliv sullivan, you hear over and over again this desire to split the government up. democrats here, republicans here. that's not who alaskans are. >> sounds like there's a lot of disdain for washington no? alas alaska. >> if begich has one problem, it's how dysfunctional congress is. he's one of the people most affected by that because alaska is so reliant on the federal government. the regulations matter a lot in people's everyday lives and that's why he made that comment about being a thorn for the
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president. compared to some of alaska's previous legislators he's been reduced to being a thorn and he has to explain why it is -- exactly what he has managed to accomplish when nothing is moving through congress. >> speaking of thorns, joe miller. joe miller is already saying if he doesn't win, he seemed to be suggesting to you that he's going to return and run as an independent, doom the gop's chances of taking the senate. let's take a look at what you got from him. >> you said that the majority of republicans want a new party. would you count yourself among those republicans? if you don't win this republican primary, will you run under another party? >> first of all, we fully intend to win this nomination. in fact as you saw on the grassroots, probably the grassroots support out in the rain waving signs, we have a lot of activism behind us and we have every reason to believe that if that stays with us that we will win the primary. >> but you're not going to rule out a potential third party bid? >> we're not going to make any
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commitments. if we're going to make a commitment, even vicariously through you, you have to have a baseline of trust and we don't have that with either of them. >> you're not going to pledge to support dan sullivan or mr. treadwell. >> i made it clear there's not a baseline of trust sufficient for us to make an agreement like that so i'm not going to make that commitment even through you. >> and you're not ready to make a commitment that you won't run against one of them? >> i fully expect to win the republican nomination. >> oh, my. >> okay then. >> joe miller is -- this has gone from what was a tea party crusade in 2010 to being something of a personal vendetta. he just remembers these guys jumped behind the murkowski write-in campaign and feels they did not do very well and they are sort of paying for it in how he is driving this race to the right. >> and that's understandable. if you're joe miller, you win the nomination, then all of these guys dart to support somebody that lost to run as an
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independent, don't come and ask joe miller for support a couple of years later. >> but it's kind of an outside thing. if he were to run as a third party, politics there are so unpredictable, there are republicans worried it would throw the race for begich. >> kasie hunt, great job. up next, what you need to know before today's markets open. "business before the bell" is next. plus chris christie gets pulled into the ice bucket challenge? >> what? did thomas get -- >> it gauot passed along. we'll show how the governor got soaked and who's on his hit list. plus rand paul. we'll talk about that as well. lashed out.
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competed with the strikeout als ice bucket challenge to raise awareness. >> you did good. >> i did well. i really liked this. and you know i run warm, so it was nice. the movement and donations have been growing by the day. check out this video. the kennedy clan taking part at high janua hi -- even the matriarch getting involved. >> welcome to cape cod, president obama. i nominate you. >> she said welcome to cape cod, president obama. i nominate you. >> so the president decided to send a donation instead of do the challenge, which you can opt to do. in new jersey, though, the governor chris christie, he
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challenged three friends. we get cory booker, mark zuckerberg and our very own jimmy fallon. >> let's go. then after being challenged -- >> the kids loved that i bet. >> being challenged by so many people, justin timberlake, jimmy fallon and his guests, the roots, they were all in. >> i was challenged by "the daily news," i was challenged by governor chris christie, i was challenged by new york jets owner woody johnson today. >> you're getting called out by everybody. >> this just happened today. and yesterday i was challenged by justin timberlake. >> ooh. >> i'd like to nominate the new york jets to do. you have 24 hours. are we ready? 1, 2, 3.
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>> it was really great, right? so because erica hill at the "today" show nominated me and then all three of the people i nominated, rachael ray, manny machado and gavin newsom, i donated $500. when you go to the als website, there is the match, company match. so $1,000 ends up going to als. and they raised over $4 million in two weeks. this has been a huge, huge bump for them for their research. so don't forget about it. if you do the ice bucket thing, don't forget to kick in some cash too. >> i love it. thomas, thank you. that is so great. i like the way jimmy fallon did it. business before the bell now, michelle caruso-cabrera. what have you got? >> the markets are going to open higher even though we're waiting to see what happens with this big convoy coming from russia to ukrai ukraine. there's concerns that this is a
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trojan horse rather than humanitarian aid and the market has been susceptible and vulnerable to both good and bad headlines coming out of russia. we got some retail sales data at 8:30 this morning east coast time. it didn't disappoint, it was flat. that shouldn't move the markets one way or the other. seaworld is getting hammered in the premarket, down by nearly 20%. they reported their profitability but it was not what was expected. attendance is down. they're saying a couple of reasons. we're waiting for details specifically. part of it was did the school year last longer because of the bad winter and hence cut into what would traditionally be the summertime? and also don't forget there's this big controversy still related to this documentary about the killer whales and whether that's still impacting them as well so we're watching for that. macy's reported numbers as well and they disappointed in some form or fashion because the shares are down by roughly 5%. >> all right, michelle, thank you so much. on tomorrow's show we have the creator of "mad men" here. >> that's going to be exciting. coming up next, mika, we're
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going to talk about a beast slouches towards bethlehem, the center cannot hold. this will be the moment we describe coming up next, holly weird when western civilization as we know it begins its collapse. >> i think it's the decline of -- we're the places you call home, when you're away from home. 12 brands. more hotels than anyone else in the world. like wyndham, we're awaiting your arrival. for a chance to win one million dollars, visit wyndhamrewards.com
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it's fitting. so i always say it takes about 15 to 20 selfies that someone really takes on their phone before they post the right one, so there was this selfie where i was wearing a white bathing suit after i had the baby and it was a sexy pic. it took about 15 pictures to get the one that i posted so you'll see all the ones that didn't make it. >> that's great. >> and that's $20 a book that people will pay for. >> oh, i'm paying for it. >> louis bergdorf has more on that important story. >> and we wonder why we're on decline. >> no, we don't. holly weird. take it, lewis. >> i'm louis bergdorf, let's get holly weird. hundreds of years from now when the story of western civilization's wretched fall from glory is written, expect historians to trace that decline to the release of kim kardashian's 352-page workloaded with 1200 selfies.
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it will retail for $20 and hit shelves april 2015. meanwhile reports coming from hollywood are sure to get you and yours to -- ♪ come to the cabaret >> emma stone is in talks to make her broadway debut as sally bowles in "cabaret." she would take over the role when michelle williams steps aside on november 8th. the network gave binge watchers a better call saul. the series is set six years before he means bryan cranston's character. take a look. >> lawyers. we're like health insurance. you hope you never need it but man, oh man, not having it? no. >> finally vladimir putin may only sport a 4% approval rating in america, but don't try telling that to actor mickey rourke. the wrestler was spotted in russia buying a t-shirt with putin's face on it.
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he thinks the russian president is a good guy but the purchase was not a political statement adding, quote, i have a russian girlfriend. that's all i care about. her father is a good person, her mother is great and her bubushka is wonderful. back to you, joe. >> thomas, do you have a suggestion on how louis should do this? >> i do. >> do you want to show everybody? >> i think he should open it with let's get holly weird. >> don't do that. don't do that. >> do it again. yeah, yeah, one more time. >> holly weird! >> oh, my lord. coming up next -- well, i just learned something, what, if anything, did we learn? mika is disturbed.
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i'm meteorologist bill karins. tracking torrential rain -- the last 24 from detroit to baltimore and now it's moving up through new england. areas of connecticut and massachusetts especially at risk of flash flooding during the day today and of course airport delays possible. significant delays from new york to boston. also some afternoon storms in the southeast and the southwest. ? that, my friends, is everything. and with the quicksilver card from capital one, you earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase. not just "everything at the hardware store." not "everything, until you hit your cash back limit." quicksilver can earn you unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you could possibly imagine. say it with me -- everything. one more time, everything! and with that in mind... what's in your wallet? lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, because it's milk without the lactose.
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hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. no property tax. no business tax. and no sales tax. which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. it's not just business as usual. see how new york can help your business grow, at startup.ny.gov it's time to talk about what we learned today. mika, what did you learn? >> well, i learned that i'm going to be off tomorrow and friday and i'll see you monday on the other side of dropping my daughter off at college. >> i saw some tweets that you sent out. it's not good, is it? >> sniff, sniff. >> eugene robinson is like you know that was the most gut-wrenching day of my life. i said thanks. >> thanks, gene. >> nicolle. >> i'm going to wish you luck and i learned that thomas roberts has some mad skills.
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>> thomas, what did you learn? >> the kardashians are like the geese that lay golden eggs. >> i learned that some of nicolle's friends on twitter like to refer to her as a right wing winch, not a wench or a witch, but a winch. >> mika, we'll be thinking about you and hope it goes well. it will be tough. send pictures. >> okay. >> when joey went off to school, i remember saying good-bye to him and was actually walking up the stairs and i had to stop about four stairs in. my legs just completely -- legs completely just went out and i just sat there for about two hours. it's a nightmare. on that happy news, if it's way too early, it's "morning joe." i hope i cheered you up. stick around now. we've got chris cizzilla. he's the fix, you know. "the
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