>> this is why superman works alone. >> i'm batman. nice coat. >> forget there have been bad batmans out there over the years. val kilmer, i didn't remember him. good morning, friday, august 23rd. on set washington anchor for bbc world news america, katty kay who i gave her a cold. she's upset. >> we're sharing everything. guys, be careful. >> okay. >> don't overshare, please. >> drugs here if anyone touches them. >> always be in england. >> can i just say, does every boy grow up dreaming of saying, i'm batman? >> i don't know. it's a funny joke. >> every boy doesn't grow up. >> that's good. >> oh! >> oh. >> discuss that also. pulitzer-prize winning historian jon meacham. pulitzer-prize winning column t columnist, msnbc political ans list, can we shorten the title please, eugene robinson and vice president and executive editor of msnbc.com richard holt. >> he's also the author of the book "the message, the reselling of president obama." >> and that's all we have time for this morning. back to you. >> if we did the subtitle of richard's book we would run into chuck's hour as well. >> i want to say something, i have to go on record with this ben affleck thing. this is funny, we make a big deal but he's had a great career comeback with the town and -- >> "argo" so he directs himself and does well. he's had bombs when he does this stuff and we had a huge debate in the office over who has had a better career, him or matt damon because they're so linked. affleck had a better last couple years and this is a disastrous mistake. >> i think he's going to be great. >> really? >> i think it's -- like when daniel craig did james bond no one expected him to pull it off because daniel craig was too serious, reinvented the james bond character. i think affleck will do the same with batman. every woman will be happy. i am be standing in line to see it. >> very quickly here, during the british invasion, the -- no. why are we against affleck? i don't understand. >> when he goes for these big commercial movies he seems to implode. >> i don't see it. >> it better be a good script. >> don't think it's going to work. >> maybe if they can -- >> he's like an esteemed director now. respect. academy award worthy. now he's going to do a budget-busting film all it has to do is not profit and he will get panned. >> don't put on the tights, is that the rule? >> i don't know. >> that's very wise. >> i'm going to frame that one. >> ben affleck in tights is okay. >> for some of us, there's never a point you should put on the tights. >> that's true. you were right, they didn't grow up. should we get to these? shall we? >> this morning we've got more information about how the shooting at the georgia elementary school unfolded. antoinette tough, the bookkeeper heard on the 911 call described how she diffused the situation as the gunmen and police exchanged fire. >> i was actually praying on the inside. i was terrified but i just started praying. knowing that if i got as hysterical as i was on the inside on the outside he would wind up panicking. the bullets was coming from everywhere and i said to him, come back in here right now. come from out there. come back in here. don't worry about it. come back in here and stay with me. we're both going to be safe. i said to him, bullets don't have no name and if they shoot you, they're going to shoot me. >> wow. that is one cool woman. i bet she talks to her kids like that. >> i can see her say you go to your room now. >> where was she when i was raising my kids. i want her to come over and say that. >> classic way to do it. she came face to face with the dispatcher on the other end of her 911 call for the first time. >> how are you doing? oh, god. wow. >> we made it. >> we did. oh, my god. oh. thank you. oh, wow. >> meanwhile the brother of the gunman believes that stronger gun laws would not have prevented the shooting. >> in our reality there's no gun law whatsoever. nothing anybody can do or say that's going to prevent somebody that wants to get their hands on a gun to get their hands on a gun. >> you know what i think is amazing all these teachers are trained to deal with that kind of thing, but when it actually came to it, she did the kind of thing with that extension of humanity to this guy in saying listen, i understand and sympathize with you and acting in a maternal way that is cia trainers take years to master. >> i went into this and john you can respond or anyone can, thinking about gender. if it were a man in that spot i think the result probably would have been much uglier. i think that the response -- i mean i don't know, crazy, but i think people think about all the time what would i do in such situation. the male response, how do i disarm this guy, get him into a headlock, how do i -- i think that it would have been maybe a disastrous outcome. >> yeah. we throw the word hero around a lot but that's genuinely heroic what she did. i mean dealing with grace under pressure, in a life-threatening situation with that kind of skill, and that kind of good sense, is just remarkable. i think you're right, i think arguably a man, since we screw up most things, would have screwed that up too. >> so maybe not having so many guns in schools, but having more people like antoinette tuff who reach out with words and -- >> what did you think of the brother's comments? i mean -- >> well, object ittively it's wrong. yeah, there's lots of stuff you can do to keep people from getting guns. we won't do it in this country because of the second amendment and gun culture, but i think more guns, more bullets and more shootings. so i do think there are measures that can be taken to keep, you know, dangerous weapons out of dangerous hands. >> it's not -- >> we can't even do background checks in this country. >> it's not a zero sum game. to say if everyone were like this remarkable woman, we wouldn't need x or y. >> he could have responded differently. that's possible. he may not have put down the gun. >> exactly. worked in any of the other school shooting. >> right. >> i doubt it. >> there's no shortage of criticism being directed at president obama as lawmakers hold their town hall meetings across the country. congress is in recess. some cases that includes talk, believe it or not, of impeachment. event in oklahoma senator tom coburn said he believes there is some, quote, intended violation of the law which could lead to trouble for the president. >> what you have to do is you have to establish the criteria that would qualify for proceedings against the president and that's called impeachment. those are serious things but we're at a serious time, and so whether -- i don't have the legal background to know if that rises to high crimes and misdemeanors, but i think they're getting perle lusly close. >> he's in a difficult situation he's put himself in. if it continues we're going to have another constitutional crisis. >> politico noted coburn isn't the first one to talk about impeachment. a michigan congressman called it a dream come true to write an obama impeoplement bill. then the congressman from texas saying he believes the congress has the votes to impeach. nicolle wallace said earlier in the week, there's nothing approaching anything impeachable the president is doing. nothing. >> what's fascinating about senator coburn, he's an intelligent man, a smart politician. one day he goes out and says, let's talk about shutting down the government and defunding obama care. crazy talk. goes to a town hall and he panneders like there is no tomorrow. that's what this is. he knows there is no grounds. maybe he feels insecure. maybe he wants to get out of town hall in one piece. but he knows, being medically trained, this is crazy. there is no basis to even use the word impeachment. why would he feel that vulnerable? what in his voting record, never mind what he says on tv, what in his voting record would make him vulnerable, answer nothing. >> there are legitimate criticisms that can be levied on obama, right? you can have legitimate concerns about the policies that he's enacting or not enacting but they go all the way out here and negates their credibility. >> what happened to the i disagree with you phase goes all the way straight to the impeachment phase. it is crazy talk. i wonder if it's, you know, what's in coburn's record, i wonder if it's something he's planning to do. maybe it's -- >> immigration reform. what is it? >> immigration reform, not voting to defund obama care, you know, to try to inoculate himself. >> protect obama care, impeach the president. let's do it. >> we need an esteemed historian at this point, somebody who really -- >> wish we had one. >> wish we had somebody who -- >> meacham. >> we can call somebody. we can call somebody. >> come on, jon. the context of this. >> we talk about it now like it's going in our breakfast cereal. it's a big deal. >> it is a big deal. i would love to know the context. he was referring to some question there. so that -- what is that is getting allegedly the president close. is it nsa stuff, what is it? it has become more common since the late 1990s to talk about this. obviously because the country did it, went through it in '98 with president clinton. it's not, you know, impeachment is always a political tool. there's always some political element to it, obviously, because there is no definition of high crimes and misdemeanors. what is that? every generation, every congress, whoever wants to do it can redefine it. it's a kind of crazy armageddon. and i think that it's a sign of a certain derangement as we've talked about a lot on the part of any opponent of an incumbent president to go to this because you're trying to delegitimize the president who holds the office. it happened when conservatives did it with bush. it happened with conservatives and clinton that was strong push to delegitimize the president and a lot of people did not believe deserved to be president and that's what this talk is about now. it's the deepest, most significant kind of attack that you could make on a president and it will be interesting to see if it's coburn just talking in a hostile setting, but it's not a responsible use of the word. >> to play devil's advocate, if there's no definition of high crimes and misdemeanors, could they actually be legitimately thinking that maybe he has crossed the line and exited an impeachable offense? >> what would that be? >> i can't think of one, but i mean i'm wondering if there isn't a clear legal line here, is there? >> the irs doesn't seem to fit. >> no. that would be -- again, what are the things that are in people's minds. but it's an attempt to delegitimize the president. >> and we'll see how, quickly, what he follows up with when asked about it moving forward. we'll see if he kind of backtracks on it. >> more republicans and one prominent republican is speaking out against his party's push for stricter voter id laws. colin powell blasted north carolina's voting law during a speech in raleigh and he did it right in front of governor pat mckrorry who signed the bill into law. the restirds four-star general who spoke moments after the concluded his opening remarks and say the new law punishes minorities and will hurt the republican party. quote, i want to see policies that encourage every american to vote, not make it more difficult to vote. it immediately turns off a voting block, the republican party needs. these kinds of actions do not build on the base. it just turns people away. what north carolina has done is shrunk the amount of time for early voting, they've said you have to have the -- your i.d. with you when you vote, the classic voter i.d. registration things. it was interesting colin powell took it in front of mckrorry there. >> he's been consistent on voter access issues and consistent in trying to convince the republican party to look at demographic projections of this country's population over the next 30, 40 years. >> he travels with it. >> and see that if you are going to continue to write off african-american and hispanic votes you're not going to be a national party. and he keeps saying this and he keeps pointing this out. as a practical matter and a matter of doing what's right. he has seemingly no traction in the party. >> maybe this goes back to what joe scarborough says all the time. if your goal is to win why would you do something like this? >> yeah. >> maybe some say it helps you win because you will disenfranchise this group and get the votes but long term, that just can't be a solution because i mean they're going to be able to vote. >> yeah. can i say colin powell is a national treasure. he is. he is. he doesn't have to do any of this. he's getting paid on the speaking circuit. he could glide through it. he doesn't have anything to prove and he speaks out ons these issues of principles. this is a fundamental american principle, people should vote. participation is key. no matter whether you're republican or democrat. so i -- you've got to salute him with respect, really. >> you also wonder he is becoming this kind of republican cassandra. he appears about once a year somewhere, said it on "meet the press" and whatever the hot thing of the moment is, he'll offer a kind of moderating view. and if the party doesn't heed that, i think they are on a kind of glide path to ir relevance. >> do republicans still see colin powell as a republican? >> that's a terrific question. depends on -- to go back to president clinton, depends on your definition of republican. you know, he's sort of -- there are about six moderate republicans left and he's the most famous one of them. >> you know, contrast him to san diego mayor bob filner, you talked -- >> national treasure. >> in a different way. >> i really -- >> yeah. >> that segue. >> that's nice. >> i'm leaning away from that. physically. >> you go from this esteemed figure to someone so ridiculed over the last weeks and months and might finally come to an end. >> it was a good try. >> he's expected to resign part of a deal reached during mediation in his sexual harassment lawsuit. in exchange for his resignation the city will pay some, if not all of filner's share of damages awarded in the lawsuit. the attorney who represents irene mccormick jackson to counter this they have not side anything and stress the taxpayer money should not be used to bail out filner. filner's attorney has a letter of resignation drafted for his signature upon approval of the tentative settlement by council members. >> national nightmare. >> imagine if the taxpayers picked up the damages of his civil suits. >> i can't imagine the taxpayers are going to be happy about that. i -- you know, i think if i lived in san diego i wouldn't be happy about that. i would say that if the mayor -- >> say no. >> the mayor did stuff he's personally liable for and you can be personally liable for sexual harassment he ought to pay. >> we've been talking about impeachment. the san diego city statutes are. i mean, of all the places where this might be a reasonable action, that seems pretty clear. >> the recall effort is still ongoing with that story which is kind of a national embarrassment to be quite honest. coming up on "morning joe," david axelrod will be here, moderator of "meet the press" david gregory and the reverend al sharpton and martin luther king iii. they're teaming up 50 years after dr. king's march on washington. they join us straight ahead. up next, the top stories in the politico playbook. but first mr. bill karins who does not know his '80s movies good enough this morning. >> i don't know what i was doing in the '80s. wild cats you mentioned. what was it "16 candles". >> yeah. >> even meacham brought up "six teen candles". >> i've never seen sixteen candles". >> don't tell me you've never seen "star wars." >> no. i've done that more than i care to admit. denver, colorado, areas around littleton, this was incredible the hail that fell from the sky. some areas had almost a foot of hail accumulate. one of the vehicles got stuck here. a snowplow had to be called in in in the middle of august. also more than just there. this backyard photo looks like something i would show you in the winter time with accumulating snow, hail and ice accumulation. as far as the tropics go, i can't stress enough we're in the peak of the hurricane season. this is when we not just get hurricanes but we can get the beasts, those major hurricanes. we have nothing out there. it is unbelievably quiet in the tropics for this time of year. so check another week off of just, you know, we are being blessed so far this hurricane season. let's hope it continues. as far as the weekend forecast goes, we got great weather today in the great lakes. it's all heading for the east coast as we go throughout the weekend. the exception will be the southeast as we go through saturday, some of that rain could be found down there along the gulf coast. and as we go into sunday along the northern gulf but as far as areas from north carolina to maine, back to michigan and illinois, it is going to be perfect as we go throughout the upcoming weekend. we've also had a lot of nasty weather in areas of the deserts and we can get the crazy dust storms. i'll leave you with this. watch this time lapsed video in yuma, arizona. gets pitch-black in a hurry. it's good to watch like this. not to be in. everything gets covered in filth. by the way, one direction is performing today down on the plaza. it is absolutely gonzo nuts with teenage girls. incredible shot. they have no view whatsoever of the stage. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. it starts with something little, like taking a first step. and then another. and another. and if you do it. and your friends do it. and their friends do it... soon we'll be walking our way to awareness, support and an end to alzheimer's disease. and that? that would be big. grab your friends and family and start a team today. register at alz.org you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec® love the air. ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ time to take a look at the morning papers. "forbes," delta air lines warnings its health care costs will rise by $100 million next year when obama care kicks in. 38 million of the total attributed to obama care while the airline says it does not plan to cut hours to avoid providing health care, it may reduce benefits before the tax on high value insurance plans goes into effect. "new york times," former today show anchor lou wood passed adue to kidney failure. he covered stories such as the assassination of jfk and accompanied martin luther king during one of his marches. wood left "today" in 1976, prior could nbc worked for cbs and wnbc. he was 84 years old. >> and from the seattle times, a man from ohio was suddenly revived yesterday after being clinically dead for 45 minutes. talk about immortality. hospitalized for erratic breathing he remained in stable condition several hours until his heart stopped beating. as he was being prepared to be seen by his family he showed signs of life. doctors have no explanation as to how or why this happened. >> happened to me before i had this coffee. >> that by the way was not fiction. that is a real news story. >> 45 minutes? >> maybe we're going to find out later we talk about immortality and batman. >> 45 minutes. that's what it usually takes -- >> were they paying attention the whole 45 minutes? monitor detached or something. >> he changed his doctor. >> i want reporting. >> we need to delve deeper here. "washington post" for the first time since may of 2011 this is kind of fascinating, yahoo! beats out google for web traffic. comcourse says yahoo! had more than 196 visitmillion. the results after marissa mayer took over as ceo of yahoo!. combines everything. you know the web as well as anybody. is this something that she can sort of say -- >> bragging rights. >> it is. >> it's meaningless. the google is in much better condition than the yahoo! >> this is not a symbol of a comeback? >> you know, she has done a great job of turning around the morale and the impression but does the whole thing hang together as yahoo! really the same company? i think most people in the industry have -- the jury is still out. she's incredibly impressive. she's made some smart acquisitions. >> inside "parade" civil rights experts explore the question what would dr. king say today? >> what would he say? >> we'll see what -- >> he wouldn't be very happy. >> he wouldn't be very happy. he would have a lot to say. >> we're going to have a good conversation with reverend al and martin luther king iii later. joining us with the politico playbook john harris. >> good morning. >> lead story, good morning, the question are democrats missing an opportunity by giving the new jersey governor an easy road to re-election? >> yeah. there's this kind of interesting debate going on within democratic circles. some democrats who think the party's blowing an opportunity. there's no way governor christie on his current path will not roll to election with a big, big margin. but the fact is, some democrats think they could reduce that margin, basically rough up christie, raise his negatives, put a couple dents in his fender and he would be a less formidable candidate into 2016 when everybody thinks he's going to run for president. effectively the party's top strategist has decided that's money not well spent. giving christie a pass. not pumping money into new jersey to fund negative ads. >> who would be able to do that job, to rough christie up in this election and what would be the price to pay if it were unsuccessful? i mean, you know -- >> the democratic national committee could be spending diverting money there. the democratic governors association spending a little bit, not much. and basically they would run negative ads. they would fund an operation, come up with, you know, bruises in christie's record an then they would really promote those. people say we've been hearing this guy is so great. i didn't know these other bad things about him. effectively they would be running a national campaign rather than a new jersey campaign. anyway, the smarter money says that's foolish. let republicans fight it out. christie versus paul fight and we don't need to get in the middle of it. >> john, what is the relationship at this point between christie and the base? >> you know, it is -- it seems to me that it is recovering. people did not like that hug. i think maybe there were two hugs last fall between obama and christie. but christie is basically his connection with the base is about attitude and mindset. he's seen as a tough guy. he's seen as somebody that's willing to kind of offend liberal sensibilities, willing to break china, and that attitude that he conveyed is able to help him overcome what would be a lot of really difficult ideological problems for a conventional republican because of his views on certain issues. definitely to the left on some issues compared to the base. >> politico also reporting this morning how house republicans are planning to handle the anticipated fight over the debt ceiling. anything new on that one? >> basically it's groundhog day. we're going to have another version of this debt ceiling fight that's going to preoccupy the fall. john boehner got on a conference call with republicans yesterday. his message is he's trying to link raising the debt ceiling which republicans don't want to do to the sequester fight. democrats want changes to the sequester in order to get those changes they're going to have to make concessions. >> gene, you wrote on this, right. >> i wrote about the republican effort to defund obama care and how that seems to occupy a lot of the party's time and energy. john, does anybody in washington or the country have a worse job than john boehner? he's always in the middle. he's the guy that's on the hot spot and in the end, he's going to have to find a way through this, right? >> he is. and you know, there's a kind of this fantasy, maybe more democratic fantasy than republican fantasy, but that boehner at some point will say just to hell with it. i'm sick of dealing with my base. i'm going to cut a deal and that will be my last act and then i'm leaving washington. so far he seems even though i agee with you, he seems like he has a terrible job, he seems to like it and trying to muddle through. in this case he's muddling through with a weak hand because most people don't believe that the party's willing to go to the brink on a government shutdown or defaulting on the debt so what is his leverage? that's the question, gene. >> john, have a great weekend. john harris, from politico, appreciate it. coming up next the lions put up 40 big ones on the patriots in the preseason. signs of trouble perhaps? in new england? >> it was ugly. >> it was bad. >> the yankees continue their late season run for the playoffs getting back in a wild card contention if only they could play the blue jays every single day. sports is next. i think farmers care more about the land than probably anyone else. we've had this farm for 30 years. we raise black and red angus cattle. we also produce natural gas. that's how we make our living and that's how we can pass the land and water back to future generations. people should make up their own mind what's best for them. all i can say is it has worked well for us. like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. it's great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. at&t mobile share for business. one bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones. now, everyone's in the spirit of sharing. hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend? no. [ male announcer ] share more. save more. at&t mobile share for business. ♪ time for sports. i know preseason football is what it is, but i've learned this year, the third preseason game out of four is the one you actually pay attention to. >> is that what they said in england? >> i'm taking notes. >> got that, write that down. >> church hill said that. >> no. >> it wouldn't be the last one because you're not going to want your stars to get hurt in the last one. >> right. >> but the third one you want to see what they can do. >> want to see what the patriots could do, the answer is not very much. they played the lions first quarter, tom brady connects with zach sudfeld, coughs it up, turnovers. turnovers are the key to losing football games. brady on 42. >> anthony eaton rule. >> of course. >> picked off you do not like to see. breaks my heart. huge patriots fan. they have a lot of work to do. the lions put up 40. the patriots put up 9. 9. >> 9. >> third out of fourth game is the important one. >> the key -- >> you couldn't name three baseball players the other day. do you know who ryan braun is? >> no. >> the shadow finance minister. >> there you go. >> new batman. >> so you understand. >> shadow. >> shadow batman. >> there you go. there you go. >> studying. >> the empire is fading. >> he's coming clean president m former ml mvp admitted to using performance enhancing drugs and apologized for his actions. he said in part i felt wronged and attacked but looking back i was the one that wouz wrong. i am beyond embarrassed that i said what i thought i needed to say to defend my clouded vision of reality, end quote. >> who cares about his feelings. there's a lot of feelings in there. >> at least he said he's sorry after he's been caught. >> he's sorry that he felt the appropriate thing was to lie. >> made that much money from cheating. >> yeah. >> and ruined a career of somebody who was responsible for his test sample. ripped him to shreds. braun ax accepted a suspension for the rest of the season following mlb's season. go to baseball, brian wilson, that beard, it's back. now it's with the comers making its debut. he got a fear of the beard in the strikes out to end the game in his debut. the dodgers win 6-0. by the way, somebody reportedly offered him a million bucks to shave that off. i would do that for a million bucks. >> absolutely. >> beat the marlins which isn't saying a lot. pirates and giants, san fran's matt cain and san francisco, the world series champs in last place, things get worse, right off the forearm. >> they actually make the play. he would leave the game. x-rays came back negative. pirates win. >> blue jays and yankees. curtis granderson, who knows upp to the second deck he can hit. still in the fifth, vernon wells boots one to center. caught by rodger davis but ruled a trap and a run scores. but let's take another look. >> that was a catch. >> he caught that ball. >> that's a catch. >> he's coming out and saying i don't agree with you and i don't agree with you and you can leave the game now. >> this is why the replay rule will be important. >> exact play that would be changed. >> i have a baseball story. >> you do? >> i really do. >> did it just come out like admiral stockdale. >> i bet you don't know. for the first time ever players from cuba's main baseball team will be coming to america legally to play against some of those who defected from cuba who used to play. >> that's a foreign policy story. that's not a baseball story. >> that's a huge deal. that is a huge deal. >> i got the name of the team right, the sport right. >> right. >> that was a bit -- >> and we'll see how many of their players defect while they're here. >> hear what the conversation is between them. nicolle wallace admitted she couldn't name three baseball players. >> is that true? >> i think it was a very harsh test. >> you should be able to name two now, right? >> i have a bad short-term memory the guy with the long beard. >> the big one for the yankees. >> long beered guy that tells us one. >> the nice -- handsome jewish guy for the brewers. >> the guy with the -- ryan braun. ryan braun. >> there you to and the guy with the hair. >> sort of slurring those words together. >> it could be ryan. >> to golf, first round of the barclays at liberty national golf club in jersey, tiger woods, four birdies, boeigey-fr round. this does not go in but close enough for us to show you he taps it in. the shot of the day from scott brown. this is -- >> crazy. >> this is unbelievable actually. so it's a par 14 16th, tee shot, straight into the water. bounces off the water. it's like a holy ball. and it rolls all the way out and it -- this does not go in either. but he taps in for an eagle. that is awesome. yeah. >> what did that ball bounce off of? okay. >> i didn't see the splash either. >> water? the bridge? >> obstruction under the surface of the water? >> it was water that sea of galilee stuff. >> i have seen golf balls at a flat angle skim off water, it happens, but not at that angle. >> you never hit one that did that. >> of course not. >> you're not suggesting foul play? >> straight into the water. >> we need an investigation. >> i think we do. we need to send you down there. >> okay. it's only over in jersey, though. so this is not -- >> it's okay. >> over there. >> golf should be more in your comfort zone. >> still ahead on "morning joe," nearly 50 years after dr. king's march on washington a few generation of leaders is continuing the course. the reverend al sharpton and martin luther king iii join us straight ahead. up next the must-read opinion pages. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. rebecca: whe renewal notice. by about $110 a month. roll the dice. care act was passed, company to go down by about $60 a month. little guy rebecca: the law works. anncr: expedia is giving away a trip every day. whewhere would you go? 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[ male announcer ] with 15 calories per serving and real cream, the sound of reddi wip is the sound of joy. beautiful shot of the white house this friday morning. it is still august. look, it looks like summer out there. thank goodness. time for quick look now at the must-read op-ed pages. richard haas writes in the "financial times" america must respond to the atrocities in syria. the u.s. essentially opted not to do anything when it became clear that syrian regime did use chemical weapons against its own citizens several months ago. so what should be done if the new allegations of chemical weapons use are true? it is essential to respond directly and meaningfully to any use of such weapons so they are not used again by the regime. but the reasons for a strong response transcend syria. it will be a different 21st century if weapons of mass destruction, whether they are chemical, biological or nuclear, come to be seen as just another type of weapon. there needs to be a robust surrounding their use. any leader must know the decision to deploy themp will sacrifice sovereign immunity. we are starting to hear by the way out of washington that the white house is thinking of some kind of a response to these -- these pictures that came out yesterday were horrendous. >> and they said there was a red line and it was crossed. >> the state department said i don't want to talk about red lines and talk about the color red at all. they're regretting that. the point that this sends a message to others with weapons of mass destruction, perhaps particularly to iran, if you use these things there will be some kind of international reaction is what people are talking about at the moment. >> richard haas is a very smart guy. a friend of the show. and he knows exactly not just the moral point here and there is a strong moral point and a point about american leadership in the world, but also the point of leverage with this president. this president wants to be seen as someone who does not support, who actually works hard in his whole career against proliferation. mostly nuclear but in this case chemical, biological weapons. he's absolutely on the money, richardp haas. if this is allowed to move forward, they don't care about the rhetoric or thinking about an option, they have to take some strong action, otherwise proliferation and the use of these kinds of weapons will continue. richard haas is absolutely right. in addition to thousands of innocent people dying in this brutal way. >> so what's the action. >> right. that's my question. >> we're back to no-fly zone talk. we're back to actually some -- look, there's going to have to be serious engagement. this is not cost free at all. so the american people need to understand that it's worth losing jet fighters, taking out syrian air defenses which are robust, russian made and recently renewed, because there's a humanitarian and global security interest here. >> i think you can make a very good argument that there is that interest. but i think it takes more than a no-fly zone. i think if you're talking regime change, i think -- i don't think a no-fly zone does it. if it does simply topple assad, the result might be less to the west's likiing than the status quo frankly. so if -- i mean if you're going to do it, do you do it if do you line them up and swing them in. >> obama doesn't want to be defined by regime change so he doesn't know how far it can go without being labeled as -- obviously he wants assad out of there and, you know, it's funny in that seat, dan senor said same thing yesterday, you have to go to no-fly zone whether it's enough or to th-- not. occupation or sending troops. that is something obama clearly with his past experience in the other countries does not want to do. >> you had a no-fly zone in iraq for a long time. and that didn't change the regime. >> no. >> now -- >> different situation. but -- >> it does turn out that it had made -- played some role in not having weapons of mass destruction. those are the two things -- >> that's true. >> the discussion? washington at the moment is specifically how to respond to these chemical weapons attacks and prevent other countries from thinking they can get away with this with impunity. may be what we're looking at is some kind of robust strike against some syrian government facilities, not necessarily against the chemical weapons sites themselves because that's tricky, but something to send a shot across the bows, if you do this again, there will be reaction. >> our position has already been weakened the fact that we're going to discuss this and then we're going to talk about this. you do or you don't do and i think the lag time already compromises credibility. may even give credence and embolden people who have access to these kinds of weapons. >> there's no token strike. no-fly zone sounds like it's not very much but it's all out war because they are a -- the syrian military is a robust thing so the establishment of a no-fly zone means it will be part of the country that the syrian rebels will be able to maintain control of, but it involves destroying the syrian defenses. that's not a small thing. that's dangerous and american lives are likely to be lost. it has to be seen to be worth it. the president has to go out and make the case for why that's necessary. >> these images, the images we're seeing right there of children being gassed. image after image that changed the feeling on bosnia back in the 1990s. if we keep seeing images like those that came out yesterday you could start seeing public opinion shifting. >> it is interesting in political public opinion terms, how iraq was possible only after the attacks of september 11th and this is actually a reversion right now to an american habit of mind of restraint, is the best possible way of looking at it and a kind of isolationism. it's a kind of holding back because we don't know exactly what to do. >> it was richard haas's book, "the reluctant sheriff" that explained that. being reluctant still means that america is the sheriff. there is no other power, as in bosnia, who can actually restore what needs to happen for global security. >> there's an argument that some think we're not the sheriff anymore. i will say about those images to see people suffering when there's no blood it's almost like jarring -- >> and the children. >> after the visual because you're used to seeing blood and people suffering. it's surreal. still ahead on "morning joe" we will continue the conversation with former white house senior adviser david axelrod and moderator of "meet the press" david gregory. first the speech that took the internet by storm, but it turns out there's a lot more to this story and we really want to show it to you because it changes your view on what was the awesomest introductiontry speech in college history. we'll be right back. we're here at the university of colorado with master griller and pro-tailgater, matt connor who's secretly serving steaks from walmart. it's a steak over! dude, it's so good. it's juicy. it's nice and tender. only one in five steaks is good enough to be called walmart choice premium steak. all these steaks are from walmart. oh my gosh! top ten most tender steaks i've had. i'm going to start buying meat at walmart. walmart's prices are so low you could have steak at every game. it's 100% satisfaction guaranteed. try it. the beach on your tv is much closer than it appears. dive into labor day with up to 50% off hotels at travelocity. and you know what i walked out with? 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[ male announcer ] it's the car you won't stop talking about. ever. hurry in to the volkswagen best. thing. ever. event. and get 0% apr for 60 months, now until september 3rd. that's the power of german engineering. time for news you cannot use. i'll characterize this as kind of a bummer. let's start with the follow-up story, follow-up to a story on wednesday. that georgia tech sophomore, nick selby, amazed his audience and the country with his internet speech from georgia tech. >> if you want to build the iron man suit, you're at georgia tech. you can do that. if you want to play theme music during your convocation speech like a bad -- we're at georgia tech, we can do that! i am doing that! >> the delivery was still pretty impressive, it turns out it was not an original work. >> if we want to write a science fiction story that doesn't involve captain kirk or luke skywalker, that's allowed. you can do that. want to do transformers as [ inaudible ], that's allowed, you can do that. if you want to play music like a bad -- that's allowed. i can do that. i am doing that. >> that's selby's speech coach from high school performing back in 2006. on selby's facebook page he writes, quote, he agreed to let me use the end of his award winning speech. i feel bad for the kid. he still did a great job with it. >> i have to say, we had this discussion the other day with donny, i was kind in agreement i hate to say it with donny deutsch. sort of annoying. >> i loved it. >> i don't know. it was attention seeking. >> donny thought he was a jerk. >> young people like that. >> attention seeking and annoying. >> i am stealing that. >> i don't know. >> you plaj rised 30, 40 years ago, no one would have known. if john nen nonwere alive today -- john lennon were alive today he would be 72 years old. his music and teeth live on. michael zhuk bought one of lennon's teeth in 2011 for $31,000. now the canadian has a plan. he's getting the tooth tested for dna in the hopes of creating a john lennon clone. i'm reading this. yes, i'm reading this. oddly enough he plans to keep his search for genetic material private and i'm glad that colbert and stewart are on sabbatical. >> we're all going to lift our jaws up. >> may never know how this works out. lennon's teeth. >> friday in august. random. >> at least it's that lennon. >> yeah. >> i look at meacham. is he looking at. coming up next colin powell blasts new efforts to create voter i.d. laws. why he says it will hurt the gop in future elections. "morning joe" will be right back. i save time, money,st, and i avoid frustration. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare, written by people just like you. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. [ sneezing ] she may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec®. powerful allergy relief for adults and kids six years and older. zyrtec®. love the air. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ apple is introducing a brand new iphone. seemed like just a few weeks ago we were getting a brand few iphone. >> really. >> know we have a new iphone. it's different. this one you can actually stand on it and it tells you how much you weigh. i suppose it will be more secure, this iphone. we all know about that. look at this message from apple about the new iphone. >> introducing the iphone fingerprint scanner, most way to protect your phone and history. >> that's not your finger, anthony. >> the iphone only from apple. >> get a kick out of that. >> love that one. >> welcome back to "morning joe." eugene robinson and the giggle, jon meacham still with us. joining us from washington, moderator of "meet the press," mr. david gregory. good morning, david. >> good morning. >> on set "fortune" magazine's assisting manager editor leigh gallagher and author of "the end of the suburbs." of course we want to talk about i believe we want to talk about -- >> the nasdaq. >> so the nasdaq yesterday shuts down for three hours. you have google and apple trading. you can trade this across the world but they are listed on this exchange, probably the second most important exchange in the country. for three hours it shuts down because they couldn't get prices out so you couldn't get bid and asks and you couldn't basically trade. we're going to call to carl quintanilla but since we have you at the table, leigh, is this something people should care about? they reopen and everything is fine. is this important to the average american or non-story? >> it's totally important to the average american. this is now becoming a pattern. i mean if we remember back when facebook had its ipo there were technical glitches. we all remember the flash crash a few years ago this like ghost that came out of nowhere and was -- i think the problem is, it's very -- it's hard to understand exactly what happened in all these cases and we've said this every time this comes up, you know, there's no proof that it won't happen again tomorrow. so, you know, this is all the results of our increasing reliance on electronic trading. this is what happens. this is progress, right? but this is -- the market ended up a little bit yesterday, but, you know, as you know, brian, people are getting in and out of stocks, this is about volume, volume was down so it becomes, you know, difficult for people to make money. >> more about a lack of trust. >> lack of trust. i think the more these things happen it's a psychological impact. people are going to really feel like is my money safe in the markets. so -- and, you know, chances are it's not as bad as it seems but it can seem bad especially to the everyday investor. >> pretty nervous about that one. president obama heads to pennsylvania today for a second day of speeches on the rising cost of higher education. yesterday in upstate new york the president rolled out his new plan to make college more affordable. his proposal includes a new ranking system that will give colleges a grade on their overall value to students including the school's ability to keep tuition and loan debt low. >> at a time when a higher education has never been more important, or more expensive, too many students are facing a choice they should never have to make. either they say no to college, and pay the price for not getting a degree and that's a price that lasts a lifetime, or you do what it takes to go to college but then you run the risk you won't be able to pay it off because you have so much debt. now that's a choice we shouldn't accept. bottom line is higher education cannot be an election. it's an economic imperative. every american family should be able to afford to get it. >> david gregory, with a child in college now, i have to say this is all very personal to me. those large bills that i seem to be paying. but there's already push back against the president's plan. this morning bloomberg is saying that costs will carry on rising despite what he's proposing. >> you know, we all face a reality when we have kids at all different levels in society where, you know, college can't be too expensive for families to afford. and i think the president's trying to address that sweet spot that a lot of middle-class families are feeling. i also think there's a practical end to this as well. it these are middle class concerns. they go beyond that. but in this case the president is trying to build what he can of a middle-class political agenda that he might have a chance of actually getting some compromise on in congress. and so this is timely with students returning to college for the fall, but i think it's also an attempt to steer clear of some of the thornier issues he has to deal with, with congress. >> jon? >> one of the few things that i think almost everyone engaged at all in any level of american politics agrees on is that the gi bill, after world war ii, passed in 1944, was called the serviceman's readjustment act, something eloquent like that, one of the single greatest government programs in american history. it paid for college for returning veterans, it helped with some mortgages, it gave some loan support. it created the greatest economic boom arguably since rome, sorry. sorry about the whole east thing. but it is -- it built the middle class and i think what the president is, to david's point, he's trying to tap into, as every democratic president has done, trying to get some of that magic back and i think that government programs work in the country when the benefits are universal and when people see the effect if their own lives and i think that this is something that's hugely important. >> right. i also think the economic concerns too, we know based on the statistics and nbcnews.com had an interesting piece about this, that, you know, those students who are graduating and coming back to live with their parents, in most of the cases, those who actually have a college degree those numbers are far lower. those who only have some college are living back at home with their parents. your ability to get a job after college, if you go to college, is what is really affected by that upper education. >> you know, i spoke to people at the white house about this program the other day and it's really not aimed so much at, you know, students who are aspiring to go to harvard and yale and princeton, where tuition costs are going to continue to rise, demand is still going to be there, still going to be expensive and people are going to be willing to pay because they'll have higher earnings going forward. it's the kids for whom this really makes a difference at the kind of middle to lower end public colleges. kids, you know, either decide to go to college or not based on an economic calculation. >> you think that things in this policy truly will help them that much? to me it's incremental when the problem is fundamental. that's the issue that i have, it's a good politic stump speech and there is something to be done in 2015 by the way which is two years from now and in some ways if you know colleges, there's this huge problem now where there's full pay kids and no pay kids an the middle-class is getting screwed because they have good jobs but they don't make enough to pay for it and this does not help them. >> i think that's certainly a valid criticism. this doesn't in a global way try to solve the problem of higher education. it doesn't, for example, address the gap between our underperforming secondary schools and college and the need perhaps for some sort of bridge, two-year program that people could complete that would prepare them for something. it certainly doesn't address the fact, you talked about the creation of the middle class through the g.i. bill. back then we kind of -- there were places for those people to go and to work. they could go to ibm, they could go -- >> that's true. >> run manufacturing plants. where in the economy do these newly minted college graduates go to be the next middle class? that's the big question. >> okay. between speeches, president obama had lunch with a handful of college students and their parents. as one toddler found the conversation much more engaging on the floor of the restaurant. i feel for all those college parents. okay. there is no shortage of criticism being directed at president obama as lawmakers hold town hall meetings across the country and some cases that includes talk of impeachment. at an event in oklahoma senator coburn said he believes there's in violation of the law which could lead to trouble for the. >> the you have to establish the criteria that would qualify for proceedings against the president. and that's called impeachment. those are serious things, but we're at a serious time. and so whether -- i don't have the legal background to know if that rises to high crimes and misdemeanors, but i think they're getting perilously close. he's in a difficult position he's put himself in and if it continues i think we're going to have another constitutional crisis in our country in terms of the presidency. >> david, i want to bring you in here. i know it all goes for the time of ruckus town halls and drumming up the base and others speaking of impeachment too, but are you surprised to hear somebody more moderate like tom coburn talk like this? >> when you say moderate, i mean i don't know what you're -- certainly not politically moderate. moderate in terms of having a real relationship with president obama, friendship even, and in that particular clip i didn't hear the broader context of it. i don't know what he's talking about in terms of him getting per lusly close to a constitutional crisis. i've talked to republicans who are in their home districts, the question of defunding obama care. you have the speaker of the house saying, well, let's put that fight off so we can get the government funded in september. according to reports this morning. and a lot of other republicans saying that this is a fool's erra errand, you're never going to defund obama care, it's the law of the land. a lot of effort right now to stir up the base. talk of impeoplement i think gets into the realm of birth certificates and this die-hard opposition to the president that he's faced. again, based on that clip i don't know what coburn is speaking of that would be the background for it. again, it's striking that someone who, by the way, is not up for re-election and who considers himself close to the president, allows that kind of conversation to just sort of go on by saying, well i don't really have the legal background for it but they're getting per lusly close. i don't understand the background for that. >> david, do you have a sense of how this budget fight we're about to go into in the fall is going to work out, a fight over the debt ceiling, a fight over the continuing resolution? what's your feeling today about how that looks? >> well, it's interesting to me, gene, again what you're seeing is house leaders start to position themselves and bucking some conservatives on this to say let's get a short-term spending bill through in september. so there's not the threat of a shutdown in september. i think house republicans have to be looking at the idea that the president wants to go to the brink more than he did before. at least that's how they're positioning it. and then they want a fight at the end of the year about raising the debt ceiling. i don't know how either side thinks that's a good idea, but if republicans want to put off the idea and make it a fight over raising the debt ceiling and defunding obama care, it sounds like a lot of what they have to figure out is what's dividing their own caucus. both in the house and the senate. although they don't have the same kinds of numbers in the senate. so that's what's striking to me. i mean, i think this will just look painfully familiar to a lot of people who don't have a lot of credibility or don't place a lot of credibility in politicians right now in terms of how they're maneuvering. >> david, what are you hearing about the sir syrian debate within the white house? we've been talking about richard haas' piece and the need for some kind of action, but what action? >> well, i don't think there's a lot of strategy and i think it's striking that the white house is not really discussing strategy. you don't see them coming on "meet the press" to talk about their broad foreign policy vision at a critical time for the arab spring, for the future of egypt, for the future of u.s. aid to egypt, or an ongoing syrian crisis or iran. it's unclear what the strategy is other than to sort of wait it out. you reference the "wall street journal" piece there. the plan as outlined in that piece and in other reporting and in people i've talked to, is more or less to punish assad. i can see a scenario where they use air strikes, for example, to try to contain assad, beat him back a little bit, to give the opposition more room. but let's be very clear about whatever moral outrage americans or others in the world have. the united states appears completely unwilling to take over syria, which is what a lot of experts believe would be required for ten years or so in order to change the culture and really deal with all of the sectarian issues and that's i think where we are in our foreign policy right now. >> let's get the perspective of nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel who joins us. richard, i guess all of the potential actions that are being discussed, what is your sense of how they would be received on the ground and would they be effective? >> well i don't know what potential actions are really being discussed. just echoing david's comments. i don't see and most people in the middle east don't see what u.s. strategy is right now and that the only option seems -- that seems to be discussed publicly is to do nothing at all and just watch this situation get worse and worse. today the u.n. said a million children have become refugees. let alone the alleged chemical weapons attacks that just took place a couple of days ago. let alone the daily violence that is happening in that country that is spilling over into lebanon, that has spilled over into iraq. that was just bombings earlier today in lebanon. more of the sectarian violence that is spilling out of the entire region. and i don't know when you talk about what the u.s. is considering. i haven't heard any concrete options. i've spoken to many people in washington, many people in the military, and they say that there's not a lot of guidance they don't -- is it going to be a no-fly zone, cruise missiles, is it going to be push for democracy, push for containment, is it a push to support the arab spring, the military, to contain iran? there are a lot of strategic things that can be done and i don't know which one washington is pursuing right now. >> richard, katty kay here. do you think any discussion there might be of a no-fly zone would be effective in stopping the war spilling over as you described in countries like lebanon, and the launching of any of these chemical weapons and what are you hearing from israel on this? they came out much quicker than the u.s. and europe after this chemical weapons strike and said this can't happen. >> i've spoken with many syrian rebel leaders and there are some rebel leaders, particularly the movement of madris, who are rationale, they have a vision for the country, they are largely secular, largely moderate. these are the people the united states is already backing, but in such a tiny way to be really insignificant. they want a no-fly zone. they say a no-fly zone would help them, perhaps two no-fly zones, one from jordan, one from turkey, to allow them to establish a base, to establish a safehaven where refugees can start to congregate, where aid can be given and they can actually start to clear out some of these radical groups like jeb ba miss ra which is an al qaeda affiliated group that are thriving in the death and chaos and lawlessness that is the situation in syria right now. many syrians believe something has to give, that a chemical weapons attack, if that is what, indeed, happened and many experts believe -- we've spoken to believe has happened they just don't know who is responsible for it, that should change the calculus for syria. >> president obama actually spoke about the recent events in syria earlier this morning. have a listen. >> what we've seen indicates this is clearly a big event of grave concern. there is no doubt that when you start seeing chemical weapons used on a large scale and, again, we're still gathering information about this particular event but it is very troublesome, then that starts getting to some core national interests that the united states has. both in terms of us making sure that weapons of mass destruction are not proliferating as well as needing to protect our allies, our bases, in the region. >> david, you talked about the discussions or lack thereof in the white house on this particular issue and i'm wondering, does the sort of the slow speed with which there is a reaction here at all, does that further hurt the credibility here? >> understand what i'm saying, brian. they're obviously talking about it within the white house. my observation they're not talk about it publicly what their strategy is or overall vision. you have to unpack what the president is saying there to understand he's ramping up the language but being quite vague. talking about it being a grave event, not consequences. now you get to the level where it's getting ready to core national interests. i mean, so all the casualties and all the deaths so far, with conventional weapons didn't register but now it's getting to a level where it gets to core national interests. does the united states do about that? what interests will be protected? i'm sure these are -- and i know these are the issues that are now being discussed in terms of outcome. i do know this talking to foreign policy advisers within the white house. they are not quick to try to look decisive without thinking about what that decisiveness looks like the day after and what kind of follow-up is necessary. another part of this equation, what about the rest of the world? russia obviously is being very difficult in terms of getting to a solution in syria. they're em bolding the assad regime. what about america's allies and their willingness to take action and play a more permanent role. these are the calculations the president has to make. >> i want to thank nbc's richard engel for coming on the show. david, thank you as well. what do you have on "meet the press" this sunday? >> well, we're going to look at the 50th anniversary of the march on washington and a special discussion on the state of the american dream 50 years later. we'll also have a special "meet the press" broadcast, nbc news special reairing dr. king's appearance on "meet the press" 50 years ago, three days before the march. >> wow. >> have you watched it again, david? >> yeah. it's fascinating particularly fascinating is, how much fear there was of violence. the preponderance of the questions were about what if you have 100,000 largely black people coming to the capital. aren't there going to be riots. and both roy wilkins head of the naacp at the time and dr. king really dismissed that. "the new york times" correspondent russell baker at the time chartered a helicopter to fly over the mall because they were so concerned about riots. it was so peaceful, that baker writes later that what he actually did is divert the helicopter and have them fly over his house so he could check on the state of his roof. >> jon? >> yeah. downtown was empty. >> yeah. >> and you wrote about this, jon. your piece was great last week in "time." >> thank you. >> but no one went to work because they were just convinced if you had all these black people it was going to -- the city was going to explode. >> jon, one other thing, roy wilkins who you remember head of the naacp at the time, i was speaking to taylor branch yesterday, the historian, about the appearance on "meet the press," and wilkins and king had a fair amount of tension between one another about the tactics of protests and mass demonstration. yet, wilkins was really in the position of saying no, this is going to be peaceful and this is the right thing to do. but remember, it was a march on washington for jobs and freedom. and that's why dr. king on "meet the press" was so powerful when he said, you can't have economic equality unless you first have social equality. >> david, let's hear from the man himself on august 25th, 1963. >> i think that we must face the fact that in reality, you cannot have economic and political equality without having some form of social equality. i think this is inevitable and i don't think our society will rise to its full maturity until we come to see that men are made to live together as brothers as that we can have genuine intergroup, interpersonal living and still be in the kind of society which we all long to achieve. >> amazing to watch him speak on a talk show that almost no one gets to see him speak in a regular situation and not a big speech. we'll be watching for sure. thank you very much. frustration on wall street after nasdaq shuts down for hours due to technical problems. a live report explaining who's to blame and a little bit later willie geist sits down with dolly parton to discuss her life, music, and some big plans for the future. >> must see. >> huge. >> you're watching "morning joe." >> he's huge she's tiny. vo: two years of grad school. 20 years with the company. is resentations. and one hard earned partnership. resentations. it took a lot of work to get this far. so now i'm supposed to take a back seat when it comes to my investments? there's zero chance of that happening. avo: when you work with a schwab financial consultant, you'll get the guidance you need with the control you want. talk to us today. because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet. [ female announcer ] only aveeno daily moisturizing lotion has an active naturals oat formula that creates a moisture reserve so skin can replenish itself. aveeno® naturally beautiful results. . little bruce. 7:26 a.m. eastern time on a friday. it's been a long week for a lot of people, including some execs at the nasdaq. more than 3,000 stocks that trade there, including google and apple, with an estimated combined market value of almost 6 trillion, yesterday basically shut down because of problem with its data system. here with us on set co-host of "squawk on the street" at cnbc, carl can't nia. good to see you. >> make it sound like it's -- >> it is a big deal. when i first came to cnbc, i remember being on "squawk box" and say carl quint fee ya and joe kernen would scream at me, it's keents nia. >> who are you, you little punk. leigh gallagher chimed in on this. i mean, americans, i want to give you the question, should we as average people be concerned about this or is everyone out of the market and so it's not a big deal and it's just the folks here. > >>. >> i think the key phrase is average people. the trading desks were fine. why? because they were getting e-mails explaining what was going on. the pr effort from nasdaq was so pitiful in the minds of most on wall street it was the average joe who was completely in the dark. i'm sort of surprised by the polarity of responses. this headline on "usa today" wall street yawns. the former chairman of the s.e.c. calling this unacceptable, right, cramer, he's going to rant about it later on today on our show, and yet market was up, people are saying if you're an investor why does this matter? >> right. >> nasdaq had a series of glitches, squirrel once brought it down in 1994. some people say we live in a technological age and just like your pc fails, or crashes from time to time, this is going to happen too. >> but if you were sitting in south dakota at that time in the afternoon, watching your portfolio not understanding what was happening, that was a pretty scary three hours. >> i think leigh would agree, if this had been say a jobs day or a day there was high volume and we are in the dog days of august, you needed liquidity, you might have seen an impact on the dow on names that could trade because you would have to sell things, you couldn't sell apple, maybe i'll sell my ibm. i think the biggest frustration and embarrassment for those of us who cover the markets is, we have the best capital markets in the entire world, it's one of the best selling points on our calling card all around the world an this shouldn't happen. >> it shouldn't. it's inexplicable. yes, this maybe happens with technology, but my e-mail hardly ever goes out. you know, there should be an answer for this and i think we don't have an answer as to why this happens and keeps happening. you have to wonder, what does the s.e.c. say about this? are they, you know, too busy investigating, they oversee the markets, too busy investigating insider trading and other things that are important but has this fallen through the cracks. >> that brings up the man versus machine. do we have to, no matter how complicated and advanced we get, need to have a human component to this? is the nasdaq model a bad mottle where the nyse would say we need a person when there's problems to be able to execute this? >> you're going to hear a lot of floor specialists on the floor of the big board, the new york stock exchange, where there are human beings still to some degree, using this as a rallying cry. >> they are neck and neck. the economy sigs between the nyse and nasdaq is like coke and pepsi. is this also going to affect where companies list. i mean that is the race here, where companies choose to list, whether they go to nyse or nasdaq. >> the joke yesterday, oracle just moved to the nyse. they must have been feeling pretty good when this happened. twitter if they go public later this year, next year, does this make nasdaq an absolute no-brainer no? >> the facebook ipo, most americans know about, national, even global story, the ceo of this company and it's the second huge strike against him. he's made about $20 million in the last three years, mary thompson had the fact today on cnbc. people hate ceo pay. is his job in jeopardy? >> most people i talked to yesterday said after facebook any ceo after that debacle on one listed name would have had a plan, if this were to happen again. it happened again only on a few thousand names and they would be surprised if he were in his job six months from now. >> here's a layman's question. did anybody make money off this? >> that's a good question. >> that's a good question. good question. >> they canceled all the orders. >> someone is always making money. >> don't sound so surprised. >> well, that's a good question. >> the market went up, right. that was one interesting thing. anecdotally, i don't know if you heard traders making a bullish bet in the afternoon because it did seem like there wasn't any panic and reopened, there might be a sigh of relief, right? barring any headlines about being hacked or anything like that. >> right. >> your point about high frequency trading my favorite catch phrase on the street is, quote, blur where as the prices change so often in the milli seconds that as the human brain cannot process where any stock is trading at any given moment because the moment is too small. >> it's computers. it's not humans trading anymore. it's humans perceiving micro moments and making billions after something that happens. >> doing it in such volumes -- >> like office space times 100. >> it's going to happen again. >> my favorite tweet from jane wells our colleague who said, bradley manning is changing his name to chelsea, the nasdaq is changing its name to foobar. >> okay. you can catch carl on "squawk on the street" cnbc week days at 9:00 a.m. thanks for coming in. we haven't seen each other since 2004, the campaign on the road. >> yes. >> where did those years go? >> quintanilla. coming up on on "morning joe," 50 years later dr. king's dream lives on and new leaders rising up to carry the torch. martin luther king iii and reverend al sharpton will join us. 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>> any time that i -- in fact, i was just sitting here listening to the intro and fighting tears a little bit because it's very emotional. but it also sets a tone, dad was a person who brought so many people together in our nation and throughout our world but he forecast what the future could become. and what's most interesting is, we are at a juncture where 50 years ago, the march was for jobs and freedom. today the march is really still for jobs, freedom and justice. just because what has happened over the last two months, specifically the gutting of the voting rights act and the trayvon martin verdict that many are concerned about. >> how would you assess, martin, the status of the dream, essentially? and i'm wondering whether your father talked in the home the way he talked to us americans? i mean, was he the same person at home that he was publicly? >> well, certainly he was the same person principally. i'll give one quick example. when i was a child, we -- someone gave us some toy guns. we took those toy guns and we could burn our own trash back then and we took them and to put them in an incinerator and burn them up because of what guns represented as it relates to violence. so from a principle standpoint we were one stantly influenced by what -- who he was and my mom was. there's a second part of the question. reverend sharpton and i have launched an initiative called the national action initiative to realize the dream. that really tells us where we are. we've not realized the dream, particularly in communities of color. i don't think we've realized the dream for americans in general but for americans of color, disproportionate numbers. when we look at the fact that 18-year-olds between 30 -- 18 and 30 the unemployment rate is 20 to 40%, that's a remedy for disaster. we've got to address that. that's what the march -- part of what the march is about on saturday, the 24th. >> your father is such an iconic figure now. people think about the dream speech and it's hard to imagine anyone saying there's anything wrong with it, but at the time, people weren't fearful about what he was saying about racial equality, they were upset about what seemed like radical ideas about war and economic justice. looking back at what he was saying specifically about economic justice, do you think he would still be considered a radical today talking about unions and strikes and fair wages? >> well, he always would be considered a radical, but i don't think so today. i think that his positions were well documented and needed positions, but he really was -- maybe radical to some degree because he was talking about a full employment economy and ensure that everyone had opportunities. i talked about the 18 to 30-year-olds and unemployment rate, so some would probably consider him still radical. even he said talking about redistributing wealth and resources, that's where people probably would have some issues. but that's something we have to actually look at if we're going to really create opportunities in our nation for others. >> reverend sharpton, the -- i was struck by figuring out dr. king was 34 years old on -- during the march on washington. john lewis was 23. would you talk about, when did you first become aware of these great figures in the movement and what impact did this rhetoric have on you and your work? >> well, i was 8 years old when the march on washington happened 50 years ago. and i was already a boy preaching the pen coastal church when i was 12, my mother and my pastor brought me to operation bread basket, the economic arm of dr. king's organization and at 13 i became the youth director and i've been involved in the movement ever since. so i became aware in my preteen years when i was 8 or 9. dr. king came and preached at my church when i was around 9 or 10. so i grew up looking up to these figures. other kids wanted to play baseball. i wanted to be a civil rights leader because i admired dr. king and the like. and i think they shaped and molded a lot of us and i think that that's what we're seeking, martin and i, to do for the generation behind us and continue the generation ahead of us, because the issues are still here. i think we've made a lot of progress and we'll be saying at the rally saturday, we've come a long way, but we have a long way to go and it is a betrayal to them to stop now and not fully achieve the dream. if you really believe in it, you stay until you achieve it. you don't do it until you make progress in some areas. >> reverend, you're expecting i think something like 100,000 people to show up for the march this weekend. if dr. king was speaking to them this weekend what do you think he would say? >> well, i didn't put a number out. we expect a lot of people. i think we have a lot of people out there organizing. we expect a good number. even "morning joe" has taken the week off, i think he's helping to organize. but i think that -- we think that if dr. king were to speak this weekend, he would say basically the same principles and no one knows exactly what he would say, but the same principles he said then. and that is, that we've got to have the right to vote and the right to vote means that you don't put impediments there when we started talking about voter i.d. last year, now you have colin powell even talking about it. the fact that we have been able to mainstream that issue i think he would address that. he would address unemployment. the gap in the unemployment between blacks and whites in 2013 is almostp the same gap as it was in '63. he would still be talking about jobs, but he would also be talking about union busting and be talking about right to work states. walter ruther and labor helped put that march together 50 years ago. labor today from people like randy wine garden and lee sanders helped us today. he would be talking the same thing, but he would also challenge us to dream beyond the pain of our circumstance and achieve a greater america and i think when you played that clip of his dream about four little children living in that nation to have his oldest son, one of those four children, and his daughter, ber niece and dexter, lead this weekend with those of us active, i think he would be proud of them, that they did not in many ways let his dream go unfulfilled. >> as quickly as we can. you wonder what he would say about the trayvon martin case. you said it was about jobs and freedom then and jobs and freedom and justice now. of course that case brought a lot of important issues to the for. stand your ground, stop and frisk. do you think that component would be as prominent had we not had that case? >> i think that the fact that you could say it wouldn't be as prominent without that case, but you could say if some us had not gone down as activists the case wouldn't be as prominent. i think the case came from the fact a movement was built and dr. king in that speech talked about governors lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification and our opinion, stand your ground interposes state law over federal law and nullifies federal law. trayvon martin had the federal civil right to go home. state law said he could be interfered with and the one responsible could walk away. we got to deal with that on saturday. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. reverend al will be leading the 50th anniversary of the march on washington tomorrow. he'll also host a special two-hour "politics nation" tonight at 6:00 p.m. martin iii will be on tonight. >> "morning joe" will be right back. 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[ female announcer ] only aveeno daily moisturizing lotion has an active naturals oat formula that creates a moisture reserve so skin can replenish itself. aveeno® naturally beautiful results. some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb. >> i want you to do me a favor. i want you to tell all your friends about me. >> what are you? >> i'm batman. >> i sent the signal. >> you called me here for this right? the bat signal is not a beeper. >> we could give it a try. >> i want a car. chicks dig the car. >> this is why superman works alone. >> i'm batman. nice coat. good morning, everybody, 8:00 a.m. on the east coast, 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. as you take a live look at new york city. brian schachtman here along with kathy kay. jon meacham and eugene. ben affleck, a great career comeback with "the town" and "argo." we had a huge debate in the office over who's had a better career, right now, him or matt damon. i think affleck's had a better last couple of years. i think this is a disastrous mistake, he's going to be batman. >> i think it's great. >> really? >> like when daniel craig came in and did james bond. no one expected him to pull it off. he reinvented the james bond character. i think affleck's going to do the same with batman. >> every woman's going to be happy. i'm going to be there standing in line to see it. >> we go to ian fleming very quickly here, the british invasion. no, why are we against affleck, i don't understand. >> because when he goes for these big commercial movies, he seems to implode. >> i'm with schachtman. >> thank you. >> i don't see it. >> it better be a good script. >> i just don't think it's going to work. he's a really talented -- >> he's like an esteemed director now. respect. academy award worthy. now he's going to do some budget busting film that all it has to do is not profit and he's going to get panned. >> at a certain point in the career, isn't the rule "don't put on the tights"? >> that's very wise. >> i think ben affleck in tights is okay. >> for some of us, there's never a point you should put on the tights. >> you were right. end of story. should we get to the news now? >> yes. >> this morning, we've got more information about how the shooting at the georgia elementary school unfolded. antoinette tuff, the heroic bookkeeper, described how she defused the situation as the gunman and police exchanged fire. >> i was actually praying on the inside. i was terrified but i just started praying. knowing that if i got as hiss star hysterical as i was on the inside on the outside, that he would panic. the bullets were coming from everywhere. i said to him, come back in here right now. company ba come back in here. stay with me. we're both going to be safe. i said to him, bullets don't have no name and if they shoot you, they're going to shoot me. >> i bet she talks to the kids like that. >> i can hear her saying, you go to your room now. >> where was she when i was raising my kids? i wanted her to come over and say that. >> classic. anyway, she also came face-to-face with the dispatcher on the other end of her 911 call for the first time. >> how are you doing? oh, god! wow. we made it. >> we did. oh, my god. >> it's good to see you. >> oh, thank you, oh, wow. >> the brother of the gunman believes that stronger gun laws would not have prevented this shooting. >> and in all reality, there's no gun law whatsoever, nothing anybody can do or say, that's going to prevent somebody that wants to get their hands on a gun to get their hands on a gun. >> you know what i think is amazing is that all of these teachers are trained to deal with that kind of thing, but when it actually came to it, she did the kind of thing with that extension of humanity to this guy, saying, listen, i understand you, i sympathize with you, acting in a maternal way, that is cia trainers take years -- >> i went into this. you can respond, anyone can, thinking about gender. if it were a man in that spot, i think the result probably would have been much uglier. i think that the response -- i don't know, crazy. i think people think about all the time what would i do in such a situation? the male response is, how do i disarm this guy, how do i get him into a head lock? i think it would have been maybe a disastrous outcome. >> we throw the word hero around a lot, but that's genuinely heroic, what she did. i mean, dealing with -- grace under pressure, you know, life threatening situation with that kind of skill and that kind of good sense is just remarkable. i think you're right. i think arguably a man -- since we screw up most things, would have screwed that up too. >> so maybe not having so many guns in schools but having more people like antoinette tuff who reach out with words and -- >> what did you think of the comments? >> well, objectively, yes, there's lots of stuff you can do to keep people from getting guns. we won't do it in this country because of the gun culture. but i think more guns mean more bullets and more shootings. so i do think there are measures that can be taken to keep dangerous weapons out of dangerous hands. we can't even do background checks in this country. >> it's not a zero to sum game. to try to say if everyone were like this remarkable woman, then we wouldn't need xy -- >> he could have responded differently. that's also possible. >> right, would this have worked in the other school shooting, you know. i doubt it. >> there's no shortage of criticism being directed right now at president obama as lawmakers hold town hall meetings across the country. congress is in recess. in some cases that includes talk, believe it or not, of impeachment. at an event, senator tom coburn says he believes there is some, quote, intended violation of the law, which could lead to trouble for the president. >> what you have to do is you have to establish the criteria that would qualify for proceedings against the president. and that's called impeachment. those are serious things. but we're in a serious time. and so whether -- i don't have the legal background to know if that rises to high crimes and misdemeanors. but i think they're getting perilously close. he's in a difficult position. he's put himself in. and if it continues, i think we're going to have another constitutional crisis in our country in terms of the presidency. >> politico notes that coburn isn't the first republican to talk about impeachment at these summer town halls. michigan congressman called it a dream come true to write an obama impeachment bill. then this politician saying he believes the house have the votes necessary to impeach. these town halls get the froth going. nicolle wallace said earlier in the week, there's nothing approaching anything impeachable the president's -- >> nothing. >> nothing. >> you know what's fascinating about senator coburn, he's an intelligent man. >> right. >> he's a smart politician, you know, one day he goes out and says, let's talk about shutting down the government and defunding obama care. crazy talk. then goes to a town hall and panders like there is no tomorrow. i mean, that's what this is. let's be honest. he knows there's no grounds for impeachment. maybe he feelings insecure. maybe he just wants to get out of the town hall in one piece. but he knows, being medically trained, that is crazy. there is no basis to even use the word "impeachment." why would he feel that vulnerable? what in his voting record -- never mind what he says on tv what in his voting record would make him vulnerable? >> there are legitimate criticisms that can be levied on obama. you can have legitimate concerns about the policies he's enacting. they go all the way out here. it sort of negates the credibility. >> what happened to the "i disagree with you" phase? it is just crazy talk. i wonder if it's -- you know, what's in coburn's record, i wonder if it's something he's planning to do. maybe it's -- >> immigration reform, what is that? >> well, immigration reform. not voting to defund obama care, something, you know, to try to inoculate himself -- >> impeach the president, let's do it -- >> we need an esteemed historian at this point. somebody who really -- >> i wish we had somebody. >> meacham! >> we can call somebody. we can call somebody. >> what's the context of this? >> we talk about it now like it's going in our breakfast cereal but it's a big deal. >> it is a big deal. also, i'd love to know the context. he was remembering ining some n there. what is that that is allegedly getting the president close? is it nsa stuff, what is it? it has become more common since the late 1990s to talk about this. obviously because the country did it, went through it in '98 with president clinton. it's not -- impeachment is always a political tool. there's always some political element to it obviously. because there is no definition of high crimes and misdemeanors. what is that? every generation, every congress, whoever wants to do it, can redefine it. it's a kind of crazy armageddon. i think it's a sign of a certain derangement as we've talked about a lot on the part of any opponent of a incumbent president to go to there. because you're trying to delegitimize the president who holds the office. it happened when conservatives did it with bush. it happened with conservatives and clinton. that was a strong push to delegitimize the president. a lot of people did not believe deserved to be president. and that's what this talk is about now. it's the deepest most significant kind of attack you can make on a president. and it will be interesting to see whether it's coburn just talking in a hostile setting. but it's not a responsible use of the word. >> to play devil's advocate, if there's no definition of high crimes and misdemeanors, could they actually be legitimately thinking that maybe he has crossed the line and committed an impeachable offense? i can't think of one, but i'm just wondering if there isn't a clear legal line here -- >> irs doesn't seem to fit -- >> no, that would be, again, what are the things that are in people's minds. it's an attempt to delegitimize the president. >> quickly, we'll see how he follows up when he's asked about it moving forward. >> more ares. and one prominent republican is speaking out about his party's push for stricter voter i.d. laws. colin powell blasted north carolina's voting law during a speech in raleigh and he did it right in front of governor pat mccurry who signed the bill into law. the general concluded his opening remarks and said the new voter i.d. law punishes minorities and will ultimately hurt the republican party. quote, i want to see policies that encourage every american to vote, not make it more difficult to vote. it immediately turns off a voting bloc the republican party needs. these kinds of actions do not build on the base, it just turns people away. what north carolina has done is shrunk the amount of time for early voting. they said you have to have your i.d. with you when you vote. the kind of classic voter i.d. registration things. it was interesting colin powell took it right in front of mcqueary there. >> he's been consistent on voter access issues. he's been consistent in trying to convince the republican party to look at demographic projections of this country's population over the next 30 or 40 years. >> he travels with a graph with him. >> exactly, and see if you're going to continue to write off african-american and hispanic votes, you're not going to be a national party. he keeps saying this and he keeps pointing this out. as a practical matter and as a matter of doing what's right. he has seemingly no traction in the party whatsoever. >> maybe this goes back to what joe scarborough says all the time. if your goal is to win, why would you do something like this? and maybe say it helps you win because you will disenfranchise this group and you'll get the votes. but long term, that just can't be a solution. because, i mean, they're going to be able to vote. >> yeah. can i just say, kolb powecolin a national treasure. he is. he doesn't have to do any of this. he's getting paid on the speaking circuit. he can just glide through it. he doesn't have anything to prove. and he speaks out on these issues of principle. this is a fundamental american principle. people should vote. participation is key. no matter whether you're republican or democrat. so you've got to salute him with respect, really. >> you also wonder, he is becoming this kind of republican cassandra, you know, he appears about once a year somewhere. "meet the press," whatever the hot thing of the moment. he's offer a kind of moderating view. if the party doesn't heed that, i think they are on a glide path to irrelevance. >> do republicans still see colin powell as a republican? >> that's a terrific question. depends on your definition of republican, you know, he sort of -- there are about six moderate republicans left and he's the most famous one of them. >> contrast him to san diego mayor bob filner. >> a treasure in a different way. >> i really aced that seque. >> wow, that's nice. >> see i'm leaning away from you. >> can go from an esteemed figure to someone who's been so ridiculed. and now it might -- >> it was a good try, brian. >> he's expected to resign today. it's part of a deal reached during mediation in his sexual harassment lawsuit. the city will pay some, if not all, of filner's share of damages awarded in the lawsuit. the attorney who represents accuser irene mccormick jackson says they have not signed anything and stressed that taxpayer money should not be used to bail out filner. filner's attorney has a letter of resignation drafted upon approval of the tentative sentiment by council members. >> national nightmare. >> imagine if this taxpayers picked up the damages of his civil suits. >> i can't imagine the taxpayers are going to be happy about that. you know, i think if i lived in san diego, i wouldn't be happy about that. i would -- i would say if the mayor -- >> you would say no? >> if the mayor did stuff he's personally liable for, and you can be personally liable for sexual harassment, then he ought to pay. >> we've been talking about impeachment. i wonder what the san diego city statutes are. i'm interested. of all the places where this might be a reasonable action, it seems pretty clear. >> the recall effort is still ongoing with that story. which is kind of a national embarrassment. still ahead on "morning joe," one author travels the globe to answer the question, can we live forever? adam gollner joins us for our faith on fridays segment, his new book "immortality." first, a check of the forecast. >> this is going to be a gorgeous weekend for some, but other areas, we're cleaning up from yesterday. denver, thunderstorms in the area, and littleton, colorado, got nailed with hail. it was only pea-sized hail. but it accumulated like snow in some areas. and a couple cases, they had to bring out the snowplows to get rid of the ice. look at the car. this got caught in a river of ice and water. when the water went away, all that was left was the ice to play in for the kids. the heat's going to be the story as we go throughout the middle of the country. it looks like it's here to stay right through the end of the month. look at kansas city. going to easily be 90 to 95. through the weekend into the beginning of next week. that's the same forecast for st. louis and even chicago will get hotter in the days ahead also. philadelphia, beautiful, look at you, 82 on saturday and sunday. there's a lot of gorgeous weather out there. the golf's going to be one of those areas right along the coast that we could have rain to deal with and possibility of washing out your weekend. of course in washington, d.c., the 50th anniversary of martin luther king jr. i have a dream speech. the forecast could not be any better. low humidity and plenty of sunshine for all the millions of people that will be arriving. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. 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[ male announcer ] share more. save more. at&t mobile share for business. ♪ what we've seen indicates this is clearly a big event. of grave concern. there is no doubt that when you start seeing chemical weapons used on a large scale and, again, we're still gathering information about this particular event, but it is very troublesome. then that starts getting to some core national interests that the united states has. both in terms of us making sure that weapons of mass destruction are not proliferating, as well as needing to protect our allies, our bases in the region. >> here with us now, former senior adviser to president obama, director of the university of chicago's institute of politics and msnbc contributor david axelrod. good to see you face to face. >> yes, sir, good to be here. >> i know it's probably not the easiest topic to start on. we can go in many directions. i think the richard haass piece we talked about is extremely important. what do you do now? and does waiting to react create even more problems? >> well, first of all, i think you have to do something. clearly, you have to do something. you know, there's nothing more impact fall than film, pictures, images. those images are searing. everyone's seen them. and plainly there needs to be action. the question is, what action. the question is, what action? and whether what you do ultimately is effective, whether it embroils the united states in a way we shouldn't be embroiled, whether you empower people in syria that are worse and more threatening to the united states and others than the people who are there. i mean, all of these things have to be considered. brian, remind you of one thing. this president got elected, in part, because he was a skeptic about the war in iraq. and he said, we shouldn't get into a war of unknown cost, consequences and duration. so he was elected because he reflects on these things rather than being bellicose about them. >> but we had a red line. >> understood, and i think -- >> we promised some things -- >> yes, there was no -- >> and we had the speech in egypt, you know, we wanted to repair the reputation of america overseas and, yes, we don't want to go all the way to be called regime changers, right, he does not want that label. there's a lot of middle ground, right? >> it's not just about what you're called, it's about what you do, what the long-term consequences are. it's easy when we sit here around this table b.s.ing. it's easy to make those kinds of determinations. when you have lives under your command, you have to make those decisions with more precision. >> you're suggesting that governing is harder than just talking about it? remarkable. >> having done both, that's what i've discovered. >> none of these decisions are easy, we all understand that. but people talking to bill clinton, and actually the first president bush, when they looked at the yugoslavian civil war, they said, you're going to get embroiled in a mess, this is complicated, who knows what kind of duration it will be. then there were massacres. then the pressure was unbearable. many people lost their lives. we america finally intervened, it actually didn't turn out to be this long quagmire. the question here is, for this president, can he unburden himself of the legacy of president bush and all the mistakes and critiques and everything else that he ran against, and say he can chart his own course, and a moral course in this case? >> i'm a little bit abused by that because how many conversations around this table has there been about how he has been too unrestrained in his use of drones, that maybe he's been imprudent in crossing the border, going after osama bin laden. i don't think he's burdened by the history bush. i think he's burdened by his sense of responsibility here. in terms of the analogy you draw, it's slightly different here. it's a different region. we have now the threat of al qaeda that bill clinton -- at least in that instance, wasn't dealing with. you don't want to be in a position where in some way you empower the wrong people which is why, brian, rushing in there was not necessarily the smartest thing to do in the past. but now you have a situation where these weapons have been used. the president did draw a red line. >> there's no ambiguous wmd that we don't -- >> and listen to the president -- >> -- in afghanistan that in the end means nothing -- we've seen children dying -- >> yes, without question. seems to me just listening to the president this morning that he was signaling that he recognizes that as well. i expect they will take action, whether it's the no-fly zone that general wolffe is recommending or surgical strikes, we'll see. >> i understand this, the images are searing. it was in a way the images out of bosnia that made clinton change his mind in the mid-'90s. what is really the difference between the people who have died from this chemical weapons atack? why should that be the incident that triggers retaliation? rather than the fact that 100,000 people have died, including women, including children, just like we saw on the television. they've been dying for two years and it hasn't triggered response. is there something -- and the president hinted at it when he talked about broader national security interests. is there something quantifiably different about the use of wmd insofar as it concerns america? >> absolutely, and one of the concerns is if they're used here, where else might they be used? will they be conveyed to others? to hezbollah, for example, for use in israel? will it be conveyed to terrorists for use elsewhere? the use of weapons of mass destruction is a serious -- a serious, grave matter for the world, not just for the united states, but for the world. >> so it's a shot across the bow to assad but also a message perhaps to iran? >> a message to anyone who might use weapons of mass destruction. and that's why he does have to act here. i believe he will act based on what he said and based on what the facts on the ground appear to be. >> let's switch geers. earlier, senator coburn responded to a question during a town hall meeting that suggested the president's actions were approaching a legal standard for impeachment. >> what you have to do is you have to establish the criteria that would qualify for proceedings against the president. and that's called impeachment. those are serious things, but we're in a serious tyime, and s whether -- i don't have the legal back ground to know if that rises to high crimes and misdemeaners. but i think they're getting perilously close. he's in a difficult position he's put himself in. and if it continues, i think we're going to have another constitutional crisis in our country in terps ms of the presidency. >> that referred to the irs scandal. we talked about this earlier. jo jon meacham makes the point, you can't just throw that around. >> that was his considered legal opinion as an obstetrician, what he is. plainly absurd. first of all, by the way, i don't know if you heard the whole tape, but me said, now, the president's a good friend mine. can you imagine how he treats people who aren't his friends? you know, when you think about the history of the last 20 years and the escalation of this kind of rhetoric, there are consequences for this country, not just for this president. i mean, obviously, there's not going to be an inpeachment. what we've seen is a serial attempt to disqualify -- i think more so by the republicans, disqualify whoever's the president of the united states. not just debate them. not just disagree with them. but render them illegitimate. that is dangerous for this country. i was disappointed. coburn generally has been -- he, for example, opposes the move to defund obama care. because it is an absurd -- it is an absurd move. but on this, i think he was way out bounds. he speaks to a kind of virus that's infected our politics that really has to be curbed. >> i think you're exactly right. the first president bush was the last president who -- about whom -- against whom there were not delegitimizing efforts. you spent a lot of time with data. you helped elect a president twice. why is that, do you think? why did clinton and the second bush and president obama, why are they the presidents who have been in office as this kind of really derangement has taken over? >> i think it has to do with changes in the environment. >> it's a cultural comment, right? >> it is. i think the advent of talk -- of cable, talk radio, morphing on to television, has had something to do with it. this show obviously is an admirable aberration in that regard. >> thank you. >> we've talked about the account -- right now, it's a shrinking party demographically. you have folks playing to the base more and more and more. which is white southern old evangelical base. there are rewards for this kind of rhetoric in places in this country. but the country as a whole rejects it. >> to be fair, there's also the talk about president bush. so there's something going on on both sides. >> i think what happens is you get escalating -- it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle. that's the danger here. i'm concerned when and if there is a republican president, i assume they'll correct their problems and they'll elect a president that people in my party will react in the same way. that this will -- that delegitimization of the president and this kind of politicians will become legitimate and both sides which do it. >> whether it's president obama or, as jon mentioned, president bush? >> we've had 40-some-odd presidents, 41 before this overtook our politics. many of them did things that were controversial. let's be fair, jon's a historian, we've had feverish periods in our politics before that just haven't been -- they haven't been amplified by the media that we have today. but we haven't seen anything quite like this. i think that there are political factors. there are economic factors that have polarized the country as well. and then there's this structural issue that you have congressional districts that are dominated, that are homogoness, by groups that accept this rhetoric and embrace it. so anti-bush rhetoric, so redistricting has had something to do with it as well. >> do you support the next term of batman and ben affleck? >> that's something -- i like ben affleck. i think he's got a lot of potential. but -- >> that's not what i asked. >> he says he wants a career in politicing, politics, so if he becomes batman, can he swoop into the united states senate and rescue them? >> i was put on the spot with baseball players. can you name three members of one direction? >> harry. and then -- >> the others. >> harry. and then the third guy's harry, right? >> i didn't know any. david, good to see you. >> i think ryan braun's in there too. >> growing the mustache back? >> talk to my wife, she says no. >> it looks like there's a little something. >> did i not shave well this morning? >> i don't know. coming up, our faith on fridays segment will take you to david copperfield's island where legend says it contains a hidden lake with healing properties. that's right. "morning joe" comes right back. [ dad ] so i walked into that dealer's office and you know what i walked out with? [ slurps ] [ dad ] a new passat. [ dad ] 0% apr. 60 months. done and done. [ dad ] in that driveway, is a german-engineered piece of awesome. that i got for 0% apr. good one, dad. thank you, dalton. [ male announcer ] it's the car you won't stop talking about. ever. hurry in to the volkswagen best. thing. ever. event. and get 0% apr for 60 months, now until september 3rd. that's the power of german engineering. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? faith on fridays, today, adam gollner, author of "the book of immortality, the science, belief and magic behind living forever." you say you're agnostic. are you now convinced it's possible? >> that what's possible? >> immortality. >> living forever physically, no. >> okay, cleared that up. >> okay, so this is a spiritual book. you traveled around the world. you met sufis, you went to a cave. what is the conclusion? our souls live forever? >> this book looks at immortality in every possible way. religions, faith, science, magic. yes, there's the traditional idea of spiritual immortality. that a part of us, our soul or spirit or consciousness, will live on in the afterlife. it also looks at scientific immortality. the notion that we can find a way to make our bodies persist indefinitely. >> in the spiritual rerealm, whh one has it right? >> i relate to the buddhist's idea that death is real and the dalai lama con step platemplate death every day. so they say let's accept reality as it is. they also have a number of interesting stories about what's to come. >> what surprised you the most in reporting it? >> so many things surprised me. one of the things i really was constantly astonished by was how people of belief are so sure. they've attained this level of certainty, about things that we cannot know. but to them, it's no longer a belief. it's knowledge. they know. and i think that's really fascinating. >> what about the people -- david copperfield has an island in the bahamas that people pay to visit because he claims there's a lake that rejuvenates them. what are they saying when they get back? >> they say they've attained immortality. >> check back in with him 20 years later or something? it seems farcical but it's real. >> he's announced he found the fountain of youth on his private islands in the bahamas. i remember when i first heard about it, i thought that's crazy. >> he knew it from the graffiti saying ponce de leon was here? >> exactly, little flag. no, what he said was he found this liquid that reverses genes. you can take dead insects -- >> reverses genes, what does that mean? >> people pay $35,000 a night plus tax. minimum five-night stay. >> this is a con and people fall for it. >> it's a story and that's the whole beauty of magic. >> another way of -- >> beautiful for him. >> if that line wasn't rehearsed -- perfection. all right. adam gollner. "the book of immortality." good luck with that. >> thank you very much. >> a glimpse into the life of a legendary country singer dolly partner. she sits down with willie geist. ♪ islands in the stream ♪ [ male announcer ] staying warm and dry has never been our priority. ♪ catering to the conveniently located has never been our priority. our priority is, was and always will be serving you, the american people. we get to see everyone in america almost every day. and we've noticed that you're sending and receiving more packages than ever. so we wanted to give you a more reliable way to ship them. with improved priority mail flat rate. don't just take our word for it -- now we'll prove it every step of the way with tracking up to eleven scans, specified delivery dates, and free insurance up to $50 all for the same low rate. we'll never stop delivering for every person in this country. [ woman ] we are the united states postal service. [ man ] we are the united states postal service. 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[ female announcer ] only aveeno daily moisturizing lotion has an active naturals oat formula that creates a moisture reserve so skin can replenish itself. aveeno® naturally beautiful results. ♪ jolene ♪ jolene >> this is huge, legendary country singer dolly parton recently sat down with willie to reflect on her long career and share the next big thing for dollywood. >> it may feel like dolly has always been a living legend. she once was a self-described dirt poor little girl here in rural east tennessee. >> i came in here on dolly part be parkway and we're sitting outside a giant theme park that bears your name. what would that little girl in the cabin think about you sitting here right now? >> oh, she'd be overwhelmed. she'd be so excited. because i always dreamed big. i was always telling my mama some big something. mama's line was, oh, you and your dreams. you know, i wanted to get out. i wanted to see the world. i wanted to know what was beyond these hills. >> dolly didn't waste any time beginning her climb. you sang at the grand ole opry by the time you were 13 years old. it was clear you were a prodigy. but do you remember a point in your life, in your career, when you said, oh, my gosh, i think i've made it? >> i don't even think i've reached that point yet. >> comen, dolly. >> i'm serious. >> there's a theme park with your name. >> they're like steps. i'm always dreaming of bigger and better things. ♪ dreaming and you >> an icon many times other. from the studio. ♪ he'll come again to the stage. and the big screen. she's the most honored female country performer of all time. she sold more than 100 million records worldwide. if you had to pick one song to sing from the catalog, which would it be? >> that's a trick question question. i have a couple songs. my personal favorite song is "the coat of many colors" because it's a true story. ♪ my coat of many colors that my mama made for me ♪ it always makes me think of mama and daddy. appreciate them. it's what family stands for. >> her family and her roots are always front and center. that's why she built dollywood back home in tennessee's smoky mountains. >> anybody tell you you were crazy when you said, here's what i'm going to do, start a theme park. >> a lot of people. a lot of businesspeople, my lawyers, my accountants said no, this is not a good thing. i said, well, i'm going to do it anyway because i know that it's the right thing to do. >> they should have known better than to doubt dolly. >> hi there, how are you? hi. >> opening in 1986, her park became just her latest hit. >> dolly, my name is jolene. >> hi! are you really jolene? good to see you! >> in dolly's kingdom, as you might imagine, she is royalty. >> i'm like a cinderella to them. like an over exaggerated do ed >> still get a big thrill? >> yes, i do. >> amidst all the glitz, a reminder. a replica of the modest home where she grew up, just a stone's throw from the park. >> why was it so important to put in here? >> kind of the heart of the matter so to speak. >> now dolly's dream is about to get a lot bigger. >> we just made $300 million commitment over the next ten years, which is more money than we spent on it since we started, but a part of that is going to be, we're going to start a new resort, which was also a dream of mine. from the time i started the park. >> in that expansion, thousand, of jobs will be created. a new family roller coaster next year. and in 2015, a brand-new resort hotel. >> it's going to be a big deal. i'm so excited about that. it's got a southern flair but it's done very classy. >> dolly parton is full speed ahead. as popular as ever. in this tiny platinum powerhouse shows no signs of slowing down. >> i'm 67 now. i feel like i'm just starting. i really do. so i think, well, i've had a chance to really get to be part of and enjoy this. not something that was left behind. i'm still trying to grow and come up with new dreams every day and make them come true. ♪ the dreamer in you >> meacham and i are on waiting list for the hotel. >> fabulous. southern and classy. >> she works a lot more than 9 to 5. >> she does. >> she's a hard-working -- >> coming up next, the "morning joe" week in review. we'll be right back. it's back to school time and we're talking with diane about the walmart low price guarantee, backed by ad match. you got your list? i do! let's go! here we go cinnamon toast crunch. yay! a perfect school day breakfast. i know if you find a lower advertised price they'll match it at the register. that's amazing. look at that price. i like that. they need those for school. we're always working to lower costs so you get more savings. now your kids have everything they need. all in one place. more school for your money. guaranteed. ready? wow! that's the walmart low price guarantee backed by ad match. save time and money getting your kids ready for school, bring in ads from your local stores and see for yourself. ♪ even superheroes need superheroes, and some superheroes need complete and balanced meals with 23 vitamins and minerals. purina dog chow. help keep him strong. dog chow strong. what areow! that hurt!k there? no, no, no, no. you can't go to school like this, c'mon. don't do it! no! (mom vo) you never know what life's gonna throw at you. if i gotta wear clothes, you gotta wear clothes. (mom vo) that's why i got a subaru. i just pulled up. he did what now? no he's never done that before! oh really? i might have some clothes in the car. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. so you want to drive more safely? of smart. stop eating. take deep breaths. avoid bad weather. [ whispers ] get eight hours. ♪ [ shouts over music ] turn it down! and, of course, talk to farmers. hi. hi. ♪ we are farmers bum - pa - dum, bum - bum - bum - bum ♪ yes, it is that time of the week. "morning joe" week in review. >> someone's got to be second. the world needs ditch diggers too, joe. >> amen. i don't know what that means. i'm going to keep moving. ♪ when al calls me a red neck, he does it with love. >> joe, i haven't even talked about the alabama football team and asked you whether you're going to have more first round draft choices or felons. >> whoa! >> what is this? welcome back. look at that, nothing, nothing to it. just like the flintstones. it is a memory of warmth i can only hope to leave my son the same. she's already cried once this morning. you make her cry the next time on twitter. he never cries, never cries. >> true, true. >> conservatives don't cry, joe. >> went to bull fights every day, just like hemingway. that is a great thing to do with my kids. >> my kids, we did something almost as good. we got one of those metal detectors, going through the sand in northwest florida trying to find a bottle cap. >> you're "morning joe," regular joe. >> i'm "morning joe," boom, you're on tv right now. >> wow. >> janet, a lot of women going to be angry about this and brian schachtman already wondering what he does with his fanny pack. it's huge. like, he carries so much there. >> we see our own lives aging. >> philosophy on wednesday morning. >> yes. >> how many bracelets you have going on there? >> kind of makes me seem sensitive. it's all a ruse. >> why does john heilman call you, quote, the angry jockey? >> that's one of the nicer things he calls me. >> any congressman who shows a picture of himself in the gym, you're out! >> i'm "evening john." you're "morning joe." >> i'm "morning joe." it's a little too early. >> you'll survive. >> we didn't read the headlines. in our business around here we just don't read news. after you -- >> surely you at least saw the headlines. >> no, no, no. ♪ even if the sky is falling down ♪ ♪ ♪ it's more than a game ♪ it's every fan's right ♪ it's why we're all waiting for it sunday ♪ >> that's how things can be around here. up next, what if anything did we learn today? people join angie's list for all kinds of reasons. i go to angie's list to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec® love the air. like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. it's great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. at&t mobile share for business. one bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones. now, everyone's in the spirit of sharing. hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend? no. [ male announcer ] share more. save more. at&t mobile share for business. ♪ it's important to know, can superman be fast underwater too? what if anything did we learn? richard? >> i learned david axelrod, he speaks for authority if anyone does, said the president will do something on syria. >> i learned i can live forever if i paid david copperfield $35,000 a night -- >> five-night minimum. college education. >> i wonder if you get breakfast. i learned that we've been misreporting or at least not fully accurately reporting, misrepresenting the ben affleck -- according to this, batman affleck is going to be in a "man of steel" sequel. so

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