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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Remembering Robin Williams; Unrest in Missouri; Crisis in Iraq; Robin Williams: Public Life, Private Pain; Daily Beast: Obama Outraged Over Syria Criticism

Aired August 12, 2014 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Real loss only occurs when you have loved something more than you love yourself. That's Robin Williams from "Good Will Hunting."

I'm Jake Tapper. This is THE LEAD.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN WILLIAMS, ACTOR: Hello.

Good morning, Vietnam!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The pop culture lead. It is almost beyond belief that he's been taken away and that he was the one who did the taking. New details on the apparent suicide of actor and comic tour de force Robin Williams and the pain he played through for much of his long career.

The world lead. ISIS, the reason that America is once again intervening in Iraq, but how much do you really know about the enemy the U.S. is taking on? They have been described as the face of evil. We will try to separate fact from the fiction.

And the national lead. As unrest continues, police refuse to name the officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in Missouri. Does the officer's safety outweigh the public's right to know?

Hello, everyone. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

We will begin today with a rather sad pop culture lead. Maybe you're familiar with the old joke from Alan Moore. A man goes to the doctor, says he's depressed, says life seems harsh and cruel, says he feels all alone in a threatening world, where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. The doctor says, treatment is simple. The great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see Pagliacci. That should pick you up. The man bursts into tears. But, Doctor, he says, I am Pagliacci.

The world lost its Pagliacci yesterday when actor and comedian Robin Williams apparently took his own life at age 63. Police today filling in more of the picture surrounding his sad final hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LT. KEITH BOYD, MARIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Preliminary final results of the forensic examination revealed supporting physical signs that Mr. Williams' life ended from asphyxia due to hanging.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Those findings show That Williams hanged himself with a belt in his home. Cuts were Also discovered on his wrists.

Whether he left a note, police are not saying right now. And while the most appropriate question after something like this is why, it feels like we may already know why. Williams was much more than that sad clown cliche, of course. But it also seems irrefutable that Williams' manic need for love and laughter and attention was part of his genius, that his comic explorations of the dark recesses of his own soul provided the rest of us with an escape from our own.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAMS: Remember me, Mork from Ork? You once called me the nutso from outer space?

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER (voice-over): For many of us, this is how Robin Williams came into our lives, as the backwards-aging Mork from Ork, quite a break for a man whose audience beforehand had been just pedestrians.

Show creator Garry Marshall later said that when he was casting Mork, his sister told him he just had to see this street performer. What has he done, Marshall asked?

GARRY MARSHALL, PRODUCER: He's done nothing. He stands on the street corner and he does mime and he passes his hat around and they give him coins. That's what he's done so far. And you have to see him.

TAPPER: From the very beginning, there was something unpredictable, even unsafe about what Williams brought to the small screen sitcom world. You just never knew what was scripted and what was his manic improvisation.

WILLIAMS: Fly, be free.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: He was a marvel of perpetual motion like one of the Looney Tunes come to life, but even in the earliest days of his career, Williams' co-stars knew there was a flip side to his energy, some of it fueled by drugs, as he acknowledged on "The Tonight Show" with his idol, comedian Jonathan Winters.

JONATHAN WINTERS, ACTOR: When I first met him and on "Mork & Mindy," we did. We had a marvelous time.

WILLIAMS: Those were good days.

WINTERS: You had access to more medication in those days.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: -- real quick.

WINTERS: I noticed the stuff wore off tonight.

TAPPER: Williams never really gave the impression that he was trying to hide this darker side from anybody. It was right there.

In one episode, Robin Williams as Mork met Robin Williams as Robin Williams, and the show became a meta-commentary on the shadows that fame casts.

WILLIAMS: Today, I was chased by a mob of people who wanted to tear my clothes off, because they said I look like you.

Well, there's kind of a resemblance. Sounds like you just went through celebrity 1-A. How did it feel?

Oh, frightening.

Why do you want to take a job where they take your clothes off and throw you in the air?

TAPPER: The drugs, he would later say, were a way to cope with on only depression, but with celebrity madness, a way to fill the fear.

Harsh criticism, he would admit, could immobilize him. But however messy his personal life, divorces, rehab, Robin Williams' career was meteoric. After a string of comedy hits, directors began to channel Williams' undercurrent of sadness in dramatic roles. Suicide figures prominently in 1989 "Dead Poets Society," the film in which Williams played the English teacher we all wish we had.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Captain, my captain.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Sit down, Mr. Anderson.

TAPPER: It wasn't a hard-and-fast rule, but often when a bearded Robin Williams showed up on screen, that was serious Robin Williams.

WILLIAMS: It's not your fault.

TAPPER: For his turn in "Good Will Hunting," Williams won the Academy Award for best supporting actor, a crowning achievement for any actor that Williams would later tell Marc Maron that the natural high from that Oscar did not last long.

WILLIAMS: People say, you won an Academy Award. The Academy Award lasted about a week and then one week later, people were going, hey, Mork.

TAPPER: Williams, whose legend is rooted in stand-up, returned to the stage in 2009. The title of his final HBO special, self-aware and sadly appropriate on this day, "Weapons of Self-Destruction."

WILLIAMS: Yes. As an alcoholic, you will violate your standards quicker than you can lower them. You will do (EXPLETIVE DELETED) that even the devil would go, dude.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: There were constant demons, as he told Maron in a conversation that soon took a turn toward one time when Williams thought about suicide.

WILLIAMS: When I was drinking, there was only one time even for a moment where I thought (EXPLETIVE DELETED) life. And then I went like -- then even my conscious brain went, did you honestly just say (EXPLETIVE DELETED) life? You have a pretty good life. First of all, you don't have the balls to do it.

TAPPER: Williams made so many of us laugh. He provided comfort to millions, but ultimately, tragically, the demons won.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: I'm joined now by Willie Brown, former mayor of San Francisco. Robin's family moved to the Bay Area when he was young. He was of course found dead in his home just across the Golden Gate Bridge. Let's bring in Ted Johnson, senior editor for "Variety."

Let's start with you, Mr. Mayor. What did Robin Williams mean to the city of San Francisco? He identified so strongly with it. What did he mean to the film community and San Francisco writ large overall?

WILLIE BROWN (D), FORMER MAYOR OF SAN FRANCISCO: Well, first of all, Robin was probably equal to Francis Ford Coppola as it relates to filmmaking in San Francisco. He was like number one.

Number two, San Francisco's made up of a ton of characters. And Robin was one of the most important and the most beloved and the most respected and symbolic of this extraordinary city. And, then, finally, Robin was incredibly generous with his time and his talent to all of the organizations that needed help, organizations like Guide (ph), Project Open Hand.

You name it, and Robin was always there as a true San Franciscan.

TAPPER: A very philanthropic man. Later in the show, we will have more on his work with the USO.

Ted, let's talk about where Robin's career was. Obviously, he leaves behind a gigantic body of work, amazing films and television performances. But where was he right now? He just had had a TV show canceled and he was doing some smaller roles in limited release films.

TED JOHNSON, "VARIETY": Well, yes, his next movie was going to be "Night at the Museum." Actually, he completed that movie. That will be out later this year. It's the latest in that film series where he played Teddy Roosevelt.

He also had a number of independent movies that have been completed. So those have yet to be released. And there were plans to do a sequel to "Mrs. Doubtfire." That was in pre-production. So, obviously, that will probably be put on hold or reconceived now that he has passed.

TAPPER: Mr. Mayor, you had a law practice, and I hear that sometimes Robin Williams would just drop by to hang out a little bit?

BROWN: Yes, Robin Williams was actually represented by one of the lawyers in the office, Phil Ryan. And we had accommodations for our clients. We had obviously showers and we had a hot tub.

And Robin, who was quite an athlete, he rode bicycles all the time, he jogged, but he would always come to the office if he's in town and he would hang out there and enjoy all of the accommodations. And I'm going to miss that.

TAPPER: Yes, we're all going to miss him today. For those people who knew him, it must be especially painful.

Ted, Robin did a lot of political humor. There's a ton of it, for instance, in his last HBO special. And yet, he really wasn't perceived as a political comedian.

JOHNSON: Yes, in fact, he not only did political humor. A lot of it was pretty biting.

His last HBO special, he really went after Sarah Palin. He went after President George W. Bush. He told the womanizing humor about President Bill Clinton. The strange thing was, I think his comedy was so frenetic and I think the audiences really caught on to the warmth that he had personally, that they really weren't offended by it.

We're not going to remember Robin Williams as a political humorist. You are going to remember him for this just amazing type of comedy that was so unique to the culture, especially when he came on the scene.

Remember, he was almost a star overnight with "Mork & Mindy." That show took off, and he was viewed by -- I think it was about 60 million viewers. That's unheard of today. I think it begs the question, you know, could someone really have that same type of career in this era of really niche audiences?

TAPPER: It is such a loss.

Willie Brown, Ted Johnson, thank you so much for coming and talking to us today.

BROWN: Thank you.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up next, he made no secret of the depression he fought for years, but what ultimately drove Robin Williams after so long to take his life now?

Plus, we saw the looks on the faces of women and children as they escaped ISIS. Now new details on exactly what they were running from, beheadings, crucifixions, women sold. And that's just the beginning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD.

O captain, my captain, rise up and hear the bells, rise up for you the flags is flung, for you the bugle trails. A little Walt Whitman to you, an homage to Robin Williams in "Dead Poets Society." That's our pop culture lead today, one that is shining a light on a problem.

Just hours ago, Marin County police offered more details about how legendary comedian Robin Williams took his own life. The question as to why someone commit and what if anything could have done to prevent suicide -- that's one that haunts so many of us. Still, others are haunted by those same issues that Williams fought. They find it difficult to discuss their struggles.

More people in the United States now die because of suicide than because of car accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And the rate of deaths by suicide -- well, that's rising in the U.S. more than 100 people a day. And experts say the actual numbers are likely higher.

Joining me with more on this issue is CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, good to see you as always.

So, why was -- I think it's a very superficial question, one that's uninformed. But there are a lot of people out there who think Robin Williams was rich, he was famous, he had kids, a wife, people who love him. But that doesn't matter when he you have depression. Please explain.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a brain disease. I mean, if you substitute the word "depression" for just about any somatic or other body disease out there, you wouldn't ask the question about -- you know, you have all these things in your life, the wealth, the resources. How could you have diabetes? That wouldn't be the question.

And I think it's that's a fair comparison, Jake. We know more about depression than in the past. We know some of the objective signs in the brain, things that are different in someone's brain that has depression. So, this isn't just subjective or anecdotal. There's really objective data now behind the fact that this is a brain disease, compounded by the fact that he had a genetic predisposition toward it. He had issues with addiction that he was transparent about.

And, then, you have -- you know, oftentimes at a time when something like this happens, overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and helplessness and inability to see light at the end of the tunnel, even if you've had ebbs and flows in your depression in the past.

What I would say, you know, and it's interesting, we've talked to lots of people covering mental health over the years. And as much as we say, you know, there's a specific event that may have pushed somebody over the edge, typically, it tends to be an accumulation of stressors in life that just become overwhelming.

I don't think that any answer anybody will give you, Jake, or give anybody will make this make sense. I think that may be too audacious a goal to try and make sense out of this. But I think this is some of what happens in the brain in someone who has depression.

TAPPER: It seems a lot of great artists take their lives. Could the same traits that made him a great comedian and a great actor have been part of his suffering?

GUPTA: I think so. And again, there is science behind some of this. I think we've believed that for a long time, that some of the greatest artists were tortured in some way and, you know, oftentimes dealt with the mental illness.

But purely from a neuroscience perspective, looking at the fact that there are these connections that someone like a Robin Williams makes in his brain that few people can do. They just don't see those connections. It informed his comedy and informed his genius and it's something few of us could do on our own. It can't be taught really.

Sometimes as one researcher put it, sometimes you realize that over time, the connections that you have in your brain they don't really exist in the real world. And that can be quite jarring. It could be something associated with meant illness.

So I think there are some real connections there. The idea that people who have this sort of genius, this creative genius use their minds in different ways, I think is real. There does seem to be a real interplay or connection between mental illness and creativity.

Just really quick, Jake, there was a fascinating study looking at character traits of comedians. And they looked at all sorts of different character traits. Where they scored the highest was on something known as introvertive anhedonia, people who just sit at home and do nothing, just no joy seemingly, and people who were non- conformist and impulsive, people out there just completely impulsive, breaking the rules. Completely opposite character traits, and that's where they scored highest.

If that sounds familiar, Jake, those are some of the same things that they see in people who have sort of a bipolar depression, fluctuating wildly between these two character traits.

TAPPER: Wow, fascinating and depressing, as well. Sad.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much.

We also want to provide our viewers to the number to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. That number is 1-800-273-TALK, 1-800- 273-TALK. You can call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also find more resources on coping with depression online at CNN.com/impact.

Coming up, he was dealing with his own personal struggles, but Robin Williams never wavered in support of the U.S. military. Coming up, his best moments entertaining the troops.

But, first, Hillary Clinton calling the president to make sure there are no hard feelings about her recent critical comments about his policies in Syria. Was it enough to smooth things over?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. The politics lead now.

Remember when they were so close they didn't have to use words?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I consider Hillary a strong friend.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I mean, very warm, close, I think there's a sense of understanding that, you know, sometimes doesn't even take words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Hmm. Well, sometimes, apparently, it does take words.

According to a Hillary Clinton aide, the former secretary of state just called the president to assure him that nothing she said in an interview with "The Atlantic's" Jeffrey Goldberg was an attempt to attack him, his policies or his leadership. This comes the day before Clinton and Obama are supposed to be meeting at a party on Martha's Vineyard where the president is vacationing and the former secretary of state is signing copies of her book. In fact, we're told by an aide to Clinton that Clinton looks forward to hugging it out with the president.

But what exactly did Clinton say about the president's policies that required hugging?

Quote, "The failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who are the originators of the protests against Bashar al-Assad left a big vacuum which the jihadists, read ISIS, have now filled."

Josh Rogin, senior correspondent for "The Daily Beast" joins me now.

Josh, you have some interesting reporting on President Obama pushing back on criticism of his Syria policy. What did he say?

JOSH ROGIN, THE DAILY BEAST: Right. Only a few days before this interview with Hillary Clinton came out, President Obama was meeting with lawmakers in the White House. And he was confronted with this very same argument, why didn't you arm the rebels? Couldn't we have prevented what's going on in Syrian and Iraq if he had done so? He gave a very long defense, he got visibly and stated, and then, he said all of those argues amounted to horse poop although he used a more expletive word.

The bottom line here is that President Obama is very, very upset this narrative is being set into history that what's happening in Syria and Iraq can be traced back to his reluctance to use more forceful intervention in Syria. Hillary acknowledged in her interview that we'll never know had we armed (ph) the Syrian rebels if it really would have solved the problem. But she said --

TAPPER: The moderate Syrian rebels, I should point out.

(CROSSTALK)

ROGIN: Some of them, right.

TAPPER: ISIS, obviously, is Syrian rebels, too.

ROGIN: That's correct. But we'll never know what would happen. But we would have had better eyes on the ground, and we would have been in a better position now. That's her argument.

TAPPER: And we should point, Secretary Clinton wasn't the only one pushing for arming the moderate rebels. There was CIA Director Petraeus, Defense Secretary Panetta, a bunch of State Department officials.

ROGIN: Right. Not to mention members of Congress, and not to mention a lot of people in the Syrian opposition who are begging for these arms. So, for President Obama to be so dismissive, let's remember in his "New York Times" interview, he said it was a fantasy these doctors and pharmacists would be able to beat the Assad regime.

Well, to the doctors and pharmacists who are fighting for their lives in Syria, that was seen as an insult. After all, we're in American Revolution, leaders, doctors and pharmacists and farmers, and -- so, this sends a message to people all over the world who are fighting for dignity and democracy that may not have been what President Obama meant. And, of course, he said this in a private meeting I was able to report.

That is the feeling a lot of these people have now given his remarks.

TAPPER: And there's also a pushback to Secretary Clinton saying that don't do stupid stuff which has been described as a principle of the Obama administration, is enough of one. And there's some pushback to that. MoveOn.org put out a press release today. And then, David Axelrod, former senior adviser to Obama, 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."

A tragically bad decision, hint, hint --

ROGIN: That Hillary Clinton supported at the time and voted to authorize, although she said --

TAPPER: And it cost her a Democratic presidential nomination probably --

ROGIN: Right. So, we're tearing open the wounds of the 2008 primary on foreign policy. And let's remember, this is not an isolated incident. In that very interview, Hillary said she disagreed with the Obama administration's stance on Iran negotiations. She said she was the most skeptical inside the administration about the Vladimir Putin only a couple weeks ago.

So, this is part of a broad strategy of Clinton to position herself and also might be what she believed the whole time. It could be both of these things.

Some people say she's not in line with Democrats right now on foreign policy. But this may be an indication she's not looking at a primary. That she's looking more towards a general election. We'll have to wait and see.

TAPPER: And we should point out that in the interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in "The Atlantic," she does give a lot of praise to Obama, a lot of areas where they agreed. But, of course, we're looking at the areas of disagreement.

ROGIN: And as his poll numbers go down on foreign policy and as we get closer to the election, that's going to continue.

TAPPER: Josh Rogin, thank you so much.

Coming up on THE LEAD, they don't just kill their victims. They crucify them. They behead them. We'll get a report on how just ruthless the ISIS fighters in Iraq really are.

And in national news: Ferguson, Missouri, bracing for what could be a third night of protests after an unarmed teenager was shot by police. Coming up, why police say they won't release the name of the officer involved.

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