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Erin Burnett Outfront
U.S. Special Forces On The Ground In Iraq; Robin Williams Leaves Behind Unreleased Films
Aired August 13, 2014 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Next, breaking news, American boots on the ground in Iraq. U.S. Special Forces in the country laying the groundwork for a major rescue mission.
Plus Israel launches new air strikes on terror sites in Gaza. We're live on the scene tonight.
And remembering Robin Williams, a co-star from "Mrs. Doubtfire" and Potsie from "Happy Days" tells us about his triumphs and struggles. Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight the breaking news, Special Forces on the ground in Iraq. An elite American units scouting options for a massive rescue mission on the ground.
This is the first time American troops have been on the mountain where thousands of people from the religious minority group, Yazidi are surrounded by the terrorist group, ISIS.
The breaking news comes as American forces struck ISIS targets again on the ground in Iraq today. I want to get straight to our Jim Sciutto with the breaking news. Jim, what exactly are these Special Forces doing?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a team of about a dozen, just over a dozen Special Forces. That's the normal size of a team they operate in and they're there to assess the terrain, the size of the crowd, the need.
But more importantly, more broadly, the feasibility of an air or a ground evacuation of some 10,000 to 20,000 people to get them off that mountain and to safety. These are not combat troops, but they are troops in danger. That's why those people are on the top of the mountain seeking shelter, seeking safety from ISIS fighters.
And this is something that when you put troops on the ground in that context, they are in danger, and that's one reason why our Barbara Starr who knew this for some 24 hours did not report it until those soldiers were safely off the mountain.
BURNETT: You know, I'm curious about the risks here. Kurdistan officials say there could be 20,000 people on this mountain. How big of a rescue mission would this be? You're talking already about American lives that were put at risk. You would be talking about many, many more at risk?
SCIUTTO: No question. This would be a significant operation. Think of how many planes you would need or helicopters to get 10,000 to 20,000 people off that mountain. And that would require more American forces on the ground if not combat forces.
But forces on the ground, to coordinate, to assess, to coordinate and to secure both a landing field of some sort on top of that mountain and another air field where they would be taken to safety. Then you're starting to talk about dozens of forces in harm's way. Again, not offensive combat troops but certainly in danger.
BURNETT: When you use this -- I know you're very careful on the wording "offensive combat troops" because they're not intended to go into combat. But this seems to be boots on the ground. If they're shot at, they would shoot back. It does put lives at risk and does open up the door to something bigger, doesn't it?
SCIUTTO: Well, it does. The administration is slicing the definition of combat pretty thin here. They're not combat troops because they're not at the tip of the spear going out pointing their weapons trying to take ground from the enemy, but they're certainly troops on the ground and in danger.
Ben Rhodes, the president's national security adviser, made the point today that, listen, force protection is a priority for them. If they come under threat, they would, of course, return fire against that threat.
When you're part of a country like this in Iraq that's a possibility. This is something that Americans have to prepare themselves for that when you take part in even humanitarian operations like this, there is risk.
BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, Jim Sciutto. A big question for America tonight is whether the country wants to take that risk for humanitarian reasons in Iraq.
Ivan Watson is on the ground in Iraq now. He's been to the top of the mountain where the refugees are trapped. Ivan, you have been there. How difficult from your experience would it be to rescue the 10,000 to 20,000 reported people who are there?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's nobody really organizing these desperate people on the ground. So that's why you saw scenes of people rushing helicopters when they would touch down briefly because there's not somebody lining up and saying, OK, you go first, you go second, you go third.
It's first come, first serve. So that would be a primary, I think, objective is trying to organize these desperate people who would certainly have no ill will towards any possible American troops. They would just want to get out of there. The mountain itself is a protective feature.
It's an unusual mountain rising up out of the plains. People have gone there because it's difficult for the ISIS militants, if they wanted to, to get up there. That would provide some protection to the U.S. troops, but you would have to do a lot of flights to get there.
It would take helicopters and just yesterday an Iraqi air force helicopter crashed. Its pilot died when it was overloaded. Not only that, ISIS is the same military force that we've been watching operate against -- in Syria for years now.
And the Syrian rebels, ISIS, have proven successful at shooting down Syrian government helicopters. That is a potential risk as any kind of choppers flying in there would have to fly over potential ISIS positions and could face fire, could face the danger of surface-to-air missiles while only trying to rescue desperate, thirsty, starving civilians.
BURNETT: All right, Ivan, thank you so much. We'll have much more with Ivan coming up later in the program and what he actually saw as people watching tonight are debating, does it make sense for the United States to put American lives at risk for these people?
Ivan is going to show you what those people are truly going through. We'll have that report coming up later this hour. But joining me now is Retired Army Colonel Peter Mansoor. He served as the executive director to General David Petraeus during the surge in Iraq.
Colonel, good to have you with us. This issue, as you've heard, Ivan and Jim discussing, there's a fundamental question here, which in your view, how many American forces would be needed to rescue as many as 20,000 civilians from this mountain?
COLONEL PETER MANSOOR, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, he made a good point, and that's that you have to organize the refugees on that mountain. And that's going to take troops to go in and secure the landing sites, make them safe, then to organize the refugees.
Let's say that's about a battalion of troops right there, maybe 500. Then it's going to take about a brigade's worth of helicopters to make several turns a day over a number of days, maybe up to ten, maybe even two weeks.
BURNETT: And how many of that --
MANSOOR: To get all these people. That's about 72 helicopters and making three flights a day, I figure about ten days you get 20 people off the mountain. But that's a significant number of soldiers there, maybe a couple thousand. So this is not a small operation. We're looking at 2,500 U.S. soldiers at least if we're going to do it by air.
BURNETT: And that is a lot of American lives, Colonel, that would be put at risk for this cause. The reality of it is you heard Ivan describing sort of the geological formation of this mountain, but you have ISIS positions all over.
As he said they've proven successful in shooting down Syrian military air force planes, so they would also perhaps shoot at American planes, certainly they would if they could. Is this something where the American people would need to be told the honest assessment, which is that American troops would die in this attempt?
MANSOOR: Or they could die, yes. I think the president needs to level with the American people if we're going to get the Yazidis off that mountain. But you know, the United States is a signatory to the U.N. Convention to prevent genocide, and it's incumbent upon all signatories to try to prevent catastrophe such as this.
Where you have an entire people at risk from people who want to wipe them out. So if the president is serious about rescuing the Yazidis, he's going to have to put troops at risk to do it and then let the American people know what's at stake.
BURNETT: Colonel, what happens then? And obviously so many people might ask the question, which is perhaps beyond the scope of this conversation but other places in the world where civilians and religious minorities are being targeted, why those don't merit American involvement but this would.
But even separate from that is the issue of whether this justifies American involvement and what the president would do if American troops died in this attempt, does that then mean the United States is in full conflict with is? Is that the inevitable conclusion or could he come short of that?
MANSOOR: Well, I think we're going to be in inevitable conflict with ISIS in any course, because this is a group of messianic contests that would do nothing to attack our homeland and if they have the capability to do it, they'll exercise it.
This is only a matter of time before we have a more military capability involved in helping the Iraqis and the Kurds fight this threat. And it's a threat not just to Iraq or Syria, but a threat to the broader Middle East and the world at large.
But as to why we would protect the Yazidis and not others, I don't think in any of those other cases you had an entire people at risk of being wiped out, which is the definition of genocide. So I think this is maybe falls into a slightly different category than, say, the catastrophe next door in Syria.
BURNETT: All right, well, thank you very much, Colonel. We appreciate your time, as always.
MANSOOR: Thank you.
BURNETT: OUTFRONT next, new details about Robin Williams' final days. His former co-star, Potsie from "Happy Days" is OUTFRONT.
Plus breaking news in Israel, Israel now targeting terror sites in Gaza. We are live on the scene. The cease-fire at least from the rockets seems to be broken.
The case of an unarmed black teen shot and killed by police. Today, we have new information about the officer who shot him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the people below trapped on Sinjar Mountain. A lot of women waving. Here they come. I've been doing this job for more than ten years. I have never seen a situation as desperate as this, as emotionally charged as this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Broadway theaters tonight about to dim their lights to honor Robin Williams. The actor's career spanned nearly four decade. He appeared in nearly 50 movies and more than a dozen sitcoms. Up until his death, he was still working on several major projects.
In a moment, we're going to speak to one of William's best known former co-stars, but first, our Ted Rowlands is OUTFRONT in Los Angeles tonight. Ted, Williams' legacy will live on because he's got four more movies about to hit theaters?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, four more that should come out within the next six months. Two of them will come out in the next three months. Bottom line is Robin Williams worked as hard as anybody here in Hollywood and kept working all the way until the end.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Robin Williams may be gone, but movie fans haven't seen the last of him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are there shotgun pellets in my chicken? Dad?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Because it's squirrel.
ROWLANDS: "Merry Frigging Christmas" in which Williams playing an eccentric father spending awkward holiday time with his son is due out in November, one of four yet to be released films starring the late Oscar winner.
In December, Williams will be back as Teddy Roosevelt in "Night at the Museum: Secret of The Tomb." "Boulevard," which debut at the Tribeca Film Festival last year and absolutely anything.
Which is in post-production also featured Williams who joins a list of actors like Heath Ledger, James Gandolfini and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who all tragically died before their final films premiered in theaters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there is a real interest among fans to see him on screen one last time. I think that it could also hurt these movies. And so, there's a segment of the audience that might feel a doubt of a prospect of going to see a movie starring someone who recently died. ROWLANDS: Gossip sites like Radar Online have speculated about
Williams' financial situation. His 640-acre Napa valley ranch which is listed for $30 million has been on the market since April. But people close to Williams tell CNN that any suggestion he had financial trouble is completely unfounded.
In addition to his comedy and television work, Robin Williams appeared in nearly 50 movies, that according to box office mojo.com, grossed more than $5 billion. Sadly, his next ones will be his last.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: And Erin, that's one thing that people around Robin Williams want people to know that any speculation that financial issues had any part of his death is absolutely off base. He was doing quite well.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right. Ted, thank you very much.
Well, tonight a lot of people are wondering how Robin Williams could have been so successful. I mean, that number Ted just said, $5 billion at the box office. How could that be with loving children and so many around him that admired him when he was dealing with so many personal struggles?
In 2010, William spoke openly about his battle with depression and addiction and even thought about ending his life. And we wanted to play for you what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN WILLIAMS, ACTOR: When I was drinking there was one time when even for a moment where I thought, (bleep) life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
WILLIAMS: Then I went like then my conscience brain went did you just say (bleep) life? Let's leave that over here in the discussion area? We'll talk about that. First of all, you don't have the balls to do it. I'm not going to say it out loud. You thought about buying a gun? No. What were you going to do? Cut your wrist with a water pick? Maybe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So horrible to hear that considering, of course, the marks on his wrist when he was found.
OUTFRONT tonight, neuropsychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen and Anson Williams who played Potsie on "Happy Days," one of the first shows to launch Robin Williams' career. He guest starred as the alien Mork. A character, of course, that was so popular that it led to the spin-off "Mork and Mindy."
And Ason, I want to play a clip of Williams when he appeared on your show. Here he is. (VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
BURNETT: Yes, I see smiling and then that sort of deep breath that you had to take to watch that. I mean, it was shortly after that that Williams, that people started to know about some of the struggles that he had with drugs and alcohol. Were you surprised?
ANSON WILLIAMS, ACTOR: Well, you know, sometimes who makes the clown laugh? Comedy is from pain. Someone as brilliant as Robin, I mean, God knows the pain he kept in to be funny for so much. I'm sad, I'm not surprised. You know, it's, you know, it's a terrible thing to hang on to that pain and keep performing until he's 63 years old.
BURNETT: It's incredible when you consider how he talked how openly when you looked back how many times he brought it up. Even in his, you know, funny way that he brought up such serious things and he was dealing with these demons.
I mean, Doctor Amen, you've looked at brain scans. And I know this is something our viewers have been very, very interested in learning because this is a something a lot of people struggle with. And you have pictures of a healthy brain and the brain of someone with an addiction. Obviously they look very different. And that explain, as you can see everyone on the right there, had a lot of holes in it. For a lack of a better term, it is damaged.
Why does that brain, that brain that Robin Williams would have been suffering from, lead to depression and suicide?
DR. DANIEL AMEN, NEUROPSYCHIATRIST: Well, you know, we've done over 90,000 scans on people from 111 countries. So we have a lot of experience with that. And when your brain works right, you work right, when your brain is troubled, you have trouble in your life. So healthy scan, what we are looking at there, they're called spec scans. They look at blood flow and activity. Healthy scan, even symmetrical activity, one that has suffered cocaine addiction, alcohol addiction, multiple addictions. What we see is overall low activity in the brain. And if it's low, you don't feel right. You don't feel joyful, you don't feel happy. And it can then affect your behavior in so many different ways.
BURNETT: And in addition to the fact that he would have been suffering from the brain with the damaged brain that you talked about, an addict's brain, he also had gone through heart surgery. And you've done some studies in terms of what heart surgery would do to a brain which looks very similar to the addict's brain there, so both the left and the right.
So when you put that on top of each other, an addict's brain and a brain after heart surgery, something Robin Williams may have been suffering from, what happens to the state of that person's psyche?
AMEN: So, what it does is it even can decrease the activity in your brain further, and so you begin to see these stacked stressors from addiction, depression, heart problems, which go to blood vessel problems overall so you have lower oxygen to your brain. So you don't think -- and when you get depressed, it really becomes a thinking disorder and can be devastating especially if there's psychological or social triggers that end up triggering the behavior.
BURNETT: Anson, when you think back to when you spent that time with Robin Williams, what is the thing about him that stood out the most in terms of how he was dealing with these demons at the time?
WILLIAMS: Well, I really rather -- I didn't know about his demons as much as his magic. Can I give you a magical story about Robin Williams?
BURNETT: Of course you can.
WILLIAMS: You know, why people love him? You know, Robin Williams was not the original Mork from Mork. That particular script was one of the worst scripts in the history of "Happy Days." And we start rehearsing on Monday, and we shoot on Friday. Wednesday is the last rehearsal day. Thursday it's camera blocking day without writers, strictly mechanics. We had this poor actor guest starring as Mork who was horrible, but the script was horrible. Wednesday night he quit. We have no Mork for Thursday's camera blocking day and we're shooting Friday night with this horrible script.
Garry Marshall comes to the floor of the set and says any of you guys know anyone funny? Al Molinari who played al on the show, says I'm in Harvey Lumback's improvisational class and there's this really funny kid in there named Robin Williams. And Ronnie Allen (ph) who was Gary's sister and in casting, said, yes, I hear he's pretty funny. They hire him sight unseen.
Thursday morning I come down for the camera blocking a little bit later because I was in scenes toward the end of the script. I walk on the set. Every writer of the staff is on the set writing. They're never on the set on Thursdays -- writing. They're watching this magical man, Robin Williams making up the character Mork.
Nanu-Nanu (ph) sitting on his hand, all of it improv (ph) at the moment at the time. The writers are desperately writing down all this ingenuity, all this genius. Twenty four hours later, we had a brand new script written by Robin Williams' head. One of the best shows of the year and a standing-room-only audience screaming their appreciation for this man.
And so -- and from that is when Gary took parts of that particular episode. He took an old pilot starring Pam Dawber (ph). He kind of put a little film presentation together, Fred Silverman bought "Mork and Mindy" over the phone 13 episodes after looking at that footage. And that's the start of Robin Williams' career.
BURNETT: The start of his career and helping all of you guys who were there, right? He saved you.
WILLIAMS: My god. But he had a light on him. I saw magic. I mean, I never seen such genius and kindness. The next Friday, going back, you know, the world still hadn't seen him. Months before the show aired. The next Friday night when we were taping, there was Robin Williams giving gifts to everybody, thanking us.
BURNETT: Wow. Well, thanks so much. And thank you for sharing that moment.
WILLIAMS: You bet. You bet.
BURNETT: All right. Thanks, Anson, thanks to you, Dr. Amen.
And still to come, Israel accuses Hamas of firing rockets and launches airstrikes in Gaza targeting terror sites. We're live on the scene.
And Missouri tonight bracing for more violence after the shooting death of an unarmed black teen. You're looking at pictures of police in riot gear as they stand. These are live pictures in what you are seeing right now in Missouri tonight.
We are going to have also more on our breaking news in Iraq. American troops on the ground, the dramatic rescue caught on tape.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news. Rockets fired in Israel with just a couple of hours left in the cease-fire agreement. The Israeli military says Hamas fired five rockets at Israel and the Israel defense forces say they've launched air strikes quote-unquote "targeting terror sites across Gaza in retaliation."
John Vause is in Jerusalem. And John, what more can you tell us?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now Erin, it seems that the sirens that we heard going off quite often in the last hour or so, last couple of hours actually are now pretty much silent, an indication that the rocket fire from Gaza may have ended. We know the Israeli military were carrying out limited strikes in Gaza. So I guess the hope now is that maybe this is just a quick flurry of cross- border fighting and the Israelis, as they say, they'll respond to quiet with quiet. And so, if that's the case, then maybe this new cease-fire which the Palestinians say have been extended for another five days, while it seems to have clearly have been violated and that it is fragile and it is not completely collapse, Erin.
BURNETT: All right, John, thank you very much. John Vause.
We said on the breaking story from Israel. And now the breaking news on our top story from Iraq tonight. American special forces on the ground on Mt. Sinjar for the first time. They had determine that an evacuation mission is less likely than previously thought.
The team assessed there are far fewer Yazidis on the mountain than feared. Those who are still there are in better condition than they have believed, thanks in part to multiple food and water drops by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Ivan Watson has been top of this mountain onboard a rescue and relief mission with Iraqi forces. Today, Ivan tracked down some of the people he saw rescued.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the chaos of an evacuation from Sinjar Mountain, several faces stood out. A 16-month-old baby and two very frightened sisters named Aziza and Dunya.
Two days after their airborne escape, we found their older brother Thabed who was also on the helicopter. He led us to the place where they found refuge.
(on camera): Can we see? Yes?
(voice-over): After fleeing ISIS, this is how thousands of Iraqis are living.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have sleep. It's very, very cold. It's no good.
WATSON: Up on the third floor of this derelict building, we find our friends from the helicopter.
(on camera): Hi, guys.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Look at you. I remember you. Hi.
(voice-over): It turns out 16-month-old Helene (ph) is a cousin of the teenaged sisters Dunya and Aziza.
(on camera): Aziza, hi. It's good to see you.
(voice-over): Dunya says she had mixed feelings when she escaped aboard the chopper.
DUNYA HAMID, IRAQI REFUGEE (through translator): I was happy we survived, but I was sad and worried about my father.
WATSON: The ordeal began a week and a half ago when everyone in the city of Sinjar immediately fled upon hearing news that ISIS militants were fast approaching. Amid the panic, Dunya's brother says his father refused to leave.
THABED HAMID, IRAQI REFUGEE (through translator): We all tried hard to convince my dad, but he refused to go. He said it would be humiliation. I decided I couldn't let them capture the girls and women, so we left.
WATSON: The family didn't make it far in their car before they ran into ISIS fighters shooting at fleeing civilians on a bridge.
"I jumped off of the car and off the bridge", Aziza says, "because I was scared of ISIS."
The family of 12 fled on foot up Sinjar Mountain, from the frying pan into the fire.
DUNYA HAMID (through translator): If we were able to find a tree where we could rest in the shade, we were lucky. For the first four days, we had no food, only water. Any bread we found, we fed to the little kids to keep them alive.
WATSON: The family lasted a few more days, thanks to aid drops from the sky, and several sheep that they caught and slaughtered. But they realized, they wouldn't survive much longer unless they escaped.
WATSON (on camera): The family says they tried and failed several times to get on board a helicopter to escape the mountain. When our chopper landed, they say they were lucky that they were the only people around in that particular area. The fact that in that chaos, all of them were able to get on board the aircraft is just short of a miracle.
(voice-over): Now safe in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Hamid family lives like thousands of other refugees on a few square feet of bare concrete. On Tuesday, the family got amazing news. A phone call from their missing father. He escaped ISIS and made it up to Sinjar Mountain.
Like thousands of Iraqis on the run, the Hamid family's story is one of grit and survival against terrifying odds. It is a story that's far from over.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Sakhu (ph), Iraqi Kurdistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Still to come, breaking news: police in riot gear in Missouri gearing up for another night of violence. The tension high after an unarmed black teen was shot and killed by police. There are riot police out there right now in Missouri tonight.
And the actress who played Robin Williams' daughter in "Mrs. Doubtfire" is OUTFRONT tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news. You are going to be seeing some video here that we have just coming in, in protest -- this is a protest in Missouri. These are about the unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by police. You can see protesters surrounded by police in riot gear. We have new details tonight about the moments after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot.
The police chief of the St. Louis suburb tells CNN the officer was treated for a swollen face the day Brown died. He says the officer's emotionally shaken over what happened that day. Officials, though, still refuse to release the officer's name, citing concerns for his safety.
They say Brown's body was released to his family yesterday.
And David Mattingly is OUTFRONT from police headquarters.
David, there's a lot of scrutiny on this community. Obviously, the teenager unarmed. The big question, though, of course, is what really happened that night and whether there could possibly be any justification for what happened.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. Times have been changing here slowly for over the decades. A couple of decades ago, this city was predominantly white. It has changed dramatically since then, though you would not know it by looking inside city hall.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) black shirt, please turn around. Walk away.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Even U.S. Census numbers spell it out in black and white. African-Americans in Ferguson, Missouri, outnumber white residents more than two to one. At the same time, the lack of diversity on the Ferguson Police Department is astonishing -- 53 officers, just three African-American. The death of Michael Brown at the hands of a white police officer pushes the issue front and center.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe the police department is most effective when its officers reflect the racial, cultural makeup of the community.
MATTINGLY: Police Chief Thomas Jackson says recruiting African- American officers is difficult.
CHIEF THOMAS JACKSON, FERGUSON POLICE: I promoted the first two ever African-American sergeants on the Ferguson Police Department, but we lost a few officers to higher-paying departments and so forth and officers leave. And so, we're constantly trying to recruit.
MATTINGLY: The questions coincide with an apparent racial divide in enforcement.
PROTESTERS: What do we want? Justice! When do we want? Now!
MATTINGLY: Results from a study by the Missouri attorney general show African-Americans at Ferguson are much more likely to get pulled over. They account for 86 percent of city traffic stops and they are more than twice as likely to be arrested than whites who have been pulled over.
John Gaskin is with the local NAACP.
How do you fix this?
JOHN GASKIN, ST. LOUIS COUNTY NAACP: People have got to vote. People have got to get out in elections. That's a big part of it.
MATTINGLY: In Ferguson, the majority population is vastly underrepresented inside city government. On a city council of six, there is only one African-American. This is from the city's Web site.
DWAYNE JAMES, FERGUSON CITY COUNCILMAN: You know the whole city is kind of like the bar cheers. This is the place where everybody knows your name.
MATTINGLY: Ferguson's white mayor ran for re-election unopposed and said he was originally elected with support from the African- American community.
JAMES KNOWLES, FERGUSON MAYOR: We don't get a lot of people wanting to run for city elections, to be honest with you. The last few elections have been, you know, uncontested. So, it happens. I mean, if people are happy with their leadership and if they're happy with the direction they're going, you know, they're not going to go out and take the time and effort to run just so they can put somebody's different face on the city.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: But the fact is there is a great deal of dissatisfaction here, and it runs very deep. We've been seeing it spilling out into the streets of Ferguson now since Sunday -- Erin.
BURNETT: David Mattingly, thank you so much.
And still OUTFRONT, a side of Robin Williams we didn't get to see, the father figure. OUTFRONT next, the actress who played his daughter in "Mrs. Doubtfire." And we're just moments away from a huge tribute to the actor. Broadway will go dark tonight in his honor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: It was one of Robin Williams' most iconic roles, "Mrs. Doubtfire". It hit theaters back in 1993. And just recently, there had been reports Williams was ready to reprise his role as the nanny in disguise.
OUTFRONT now is Lisa Jakub. She played Lydia Hillard, Robin Williams' daughter in "Mrs. Doubtfire".
And, Lisa, thank you so much for coming on.
That movie, I mean, I'm sure most people watching have seen it, if not, they're I'm sure going to. Just given that it was such a special one for him. I wanted to just start off, though, by showing a scene with you and Robin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA JAKUB, AS LYDIA HILLARD: Mrs. Doubtfire?
ROBIN WILLIAMS, AS MRS. DOUBTFIRE: Lydia, dear, get back inside right now before you freeze.
JAKUB: Look, I just want to apologize for being such a pain today. WILLIAMS: Oh, dear, it's all right.
JAKUB: I'm really sorry. Just I'm still kind of messed up. Everything.
WILLIAMS: We all are, sweetie.
JAKUB: What?
WILLIAMS: I just mean I understand the pain you're all going through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You were just 14 years old back then. What was it like to work with him?
JAKUB: It's kind of everything you would assume it would be. He's a wonderful person, a wonderful actor. He's a brilliant comic.
But I think what was the most wonderful thing about working with him is that very quickly you forgot he was Robin Williams, you know? You just got to know him as a person. And he was just a great guy to hang out with. And all of that other actor stuff just sort of fell away, and you just wanted to hang out with him.
BURNETT: You wrote a thank you letter to Robin, and in it you wrote, to sort of quote it for the audience, "None of us really know what fights Robin was battling, but I know his struggles were not uncommon. It's estimated that 16 million people in the U.S. have struggled with depression and include myself in that statistic."
Lisa, you credit Williams with giving you the courage to speak openly about depression and anxiety. Why did he or how did he have such an influence on you about that?
JAKUB: I think I was always really impressed by the fact that he spoke candidly about his issues with addiction and depression, and I think that's incredibly important. I think the stigma that surrounds those things is very, very dangerous, and it makes people who struggle with that feel isolated, and I have found personally that being able to talk about my anxiety and panic attacks is so, so helpful in managing them, because I realize how many other people deal with similar things.
And I think that most people really feel like they're all alone. And when you have somebody say to you like, I totally understand what you're going through, I've been there, here's what helped me, it brings it to a whole other level of feeling like you can figure it out, with help.
BURNETT: And when you were working with Robin Williams -- I mean, he obviously at that time said he was clean during the time he was filming the movie. What was your experience like working with him, though, was he open to you about the struggles he was going through? JAKUB: I definitely remember him giving me friendly fatherly
threats about staying away from drugs and alcohol, and he would talk to me about that. And you know, tell me, don't, don't go there, don't do it. It's not worth it.
Because I know that's often a big problem for other child actors. And he knew that, too.
BURNETT: I want to play one more scene, Lisa, of you and Robin Williams. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKUB: It's really you in there.
WILLIAMS: Yes, it's just a mask. And this is body suit. I didn't have any operations or anything.
JAKUB: That's good.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Oh, hey. Sorry I scared you.
Come here, Chris.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: No, no, it's OK. I get it. I just, you know, don't want to hug you or anything. Not just yet.
WILLIAMS: It's cool. It's a guy thing.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, you have the joy of being able to work with him where he was playing somebody who was vulnerable and a dramatic role, not just comedic role. And that must have been a pretty incredible thing, especially considering that you're one of the few.
JAKUB: Yes, I think that was another one of the things that made Robin really amazing was that the comedy was there and then just the really brilliant acting skills were there, too, and that was amazing to watch firsthand.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing a bit of your experience with us, Lisa.
JAKUB: Thank you so much.
BURNETT: And still to come, the very best tributes to Robin Williams as Broadway dims the lights tonight. Jeanne Moos is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you thinking faster than the rest of us? What the hell is going on?
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
WILLIAMS: Dang it, man, what is going on with you? I'm a doctor, not a busboy. I don't know why.
What is it about your mind? What is it that does this? Try to explain yourself. Come from a deep part inside myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The tributes to Robin Williams continue to pour in. Any second now, the lights on Broadway will be dimmed in his honor and we'll be showing that to you any moment. It will be just all the lights in Times Square and everything, one of the brightest places on Earth, will go dark for him.
For a look at the best tributes, here is Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What would Robin think if he could see all of the corky tributes? His own commemorative issue of "TIME". A comedy club sign saying "Robin Williams rest in peace, make God laugh". Adoring cartoons like this one comparing three aces, three of a kind to the joker, Robin Williams, captioned, "one of a kind".
Other comics choked up.
JIMMY FALLON, THE TONIGHT SHOW: We learned that the genius comedian and actor Robin Williams passed away.
MOOS: Some paid tribute by imitation. Jim Carrey posted a vintage impression, he once did of Mork.
JIM CARREY, ACTOR: Anyway, until next time this is Mork from Ork signing off. Nanu, nanu.
MOOS: Jimmy Fallon did a montage.
FALLON: He would just -- you get into, like, oh, yes, thank you, the guys sitting at home going, what the hell is going on there, yes, and the kid going, that's not the way, yes, and then he's like Martha grandma, ball and chain and kicking (ph), yes, thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
MOOS: WSB Zach Klein wove 22 Robin Williams TV and movie references into his sports cast.
ZACH KLEIN, WSB: Emilio Bonifacio who had some "Happy Feet". Julio Taran (ph) flexed his muscles like Popeye.
MOOS: Some were subtle.
KLEIN: He struggled tonight and eventually gets the "Hook".
MOOS: Just dropped.
KLEIN: One-nothing Braves, "Jumanji".
MOOS: You almost needed a movie poster scorecard.
KLEIN: Seize the day, boys.
MOOS: At least he didn't stand up on his anchor desk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Captain, my captain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit down, Mr. Anderson.
MOOS: This scene from "Dead Poets Society", when students rebel against the dismissal of their teacher --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit down, all of you.
MOOS: -- became a tweeted out photo tribute as fans took to their desks and table tops.
At the University of North Carolina's Wilson library where scenes from the movie "Patch Adams" were shot, all hands were on desk.
Even the latest Peter Pan actress Allison Williams dedicated her first training flight to that other Peter who got his pan back, and Disney tweeted out a tribute illustration showing the genie from "Aladdin" that Williams voice, as a constellation of stars.
What would Robin say about these tributes?
WILLIAMS: Thank you, boys.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --
WILLIAMS: Thank you.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Pretty nice to see those wonderful things people are doing and, of course, the lights will be dimmed on Broadway in a few minutes in honor of Robin Williams.
We want to end the show, though, tonight on a joyful note. We're so happy to announce our producer Shawna Shepherd is a proud new mom. We have watched her waiting and waiting for this moment and here it is.
This is Alice Chambers Minassian. She was born on Monday, a healthy seven pounds once ounce. She was surrounded as you can see by her loving family. Her sister and mom are there and her awesome dad Craig.
Welcome to Alice and congratulations to Shawna. We're so excited. And as we say, only a producer on OUTFRONT could look so perfect. She looks absolutely amazing as a new mom. So, we're so excited for her and her family.
Thanks so much to all of you for watching. We'll see you back here tomorrow night.
"AC 360" starts now.
