Haunted by bigots who want to wipe them out. Good day. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. More on the Iraqi Air Force crash, the Helicopter Crash in just a moment. But first, today, we are remembering the life of Robin Williams. A man who could make leaf, who could make them forget their troubles. In the end, he could not do the same for himself. Williams found dead yesterday at the home near San Francisco. Ma rin county Sheriffs Office said in a statement it was an apparently suicide by asphyxiation. Last night his wife released a statement about the loss of her husband saying, as he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on robins death but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions. Condolences are pouring in from around the world, including from president obama who wrote, Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president , a professor, a Bangarang Peter pan and everything in between. He was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien but he ended up Touching Every element of the human spirit. Robin williams was 63 years old. Nbcs willie geist has a look at the legendary year of this true gift to the world. Reporter whether in comedy or drama, Robin Williams will be remembered as an innovator. His high energy rapid fire brand of comedy from the stage of the standup career im melting. Help me. Mork . Good morning. Reporter to the small screen as an alien of planet ork. Your suits on backwards. It is . Boy do i feel like a clone. At your service. Reporter before launching a long and varied film career. There, williams handled everything from waking up service men good morning, vietnam reporter to wrangling a houseful of children as mrs. Doubtfire. Aah reporter to giving some dance pointers at the bird cage. Do fossy. You do martha graham. Reporter even granting wishes as one of disneys alltime most beloved characters. You aint never had a friend like me he was not a comedian. He was a comedy machine. He was a comedy darvish whirling in front of your very eyes. There it is. Reporter williams often because mentor. I want you to find your own walk right now. Reporter like the inspirational professor leading the dead poets society. No matter what anybody ever tells you, words and ideas can change the world. Reporter or an imperfect psychologist challenging matt damon in good will hunting. If you ever disrespect my wife again, i will end you. Got that, chief . Reporter that role earned him an oscar for best supporting actor. This might be the one time im speechless. As much as he was a mad cap comedy guy, he also had a huge heart and had the ability to be dramatic and to be sympathetic in roles like that. Reporter williams talent was revered by critics, actors and fellow comics. Robin williams is the master comedian and his genius will keep us all very happy for a long time. Reporter but for generations of fans who grew up watching Robin Williams, his rare genius will live on through his work. And you are here, life exists and identity, the powerful play goes on and you make the universe. What will your verse be . Reporter and his unique verse will echo in both the laughter and the tears of others. Happy days launched Robin WilliamsTelevision Career guest starring as mork from ork and lead to a television series, of course, airing from 1978 to 1982. Heres a clip of that very first appearance when mork met thefonz on happy day ts. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Greetings, fonzie. Remember me . You called me the nutso from outer space. I must be dreaming or Something Like that, you know . I mean, of course im dreaming. Thats why mary never heard of me. Sorry. Real thing. I had to zap your mind to make you forget. Didnt want you to go bozo city. But the fonz remembers. I spoke to Henry Wrinkler earlier this morning about his friend Robin Williams. Henry winkler, you were there at the beginning. Tell me about this young actor, a graduate of jewel yard. What was so special about Robin Williams . When you first met him, when he walked up to the cast, we were standing in the set of arnolds and he walked up with the casting director, bobby hoffman. Now, we were two days into rehearsal with no mork, with no actor to play this character. So, it was really getting to be crunch time because we shot two days later. And this very gentle, quiet fellow, very shy came up and shook hands with everybody and it very quiet in his, hello, hello, how nice to meet you. How are you . And then we started rehearsal and i am telling you, it was a it was like one of the seven wonders of the world because i have seen a lot of actors with energy. I have seen a lot of actors with bravado. Here was a guy who listened very carefully to everything that was around him. Every noise. Every sound that was made. He vacuum cleanered it in. And then he turned the knob and shot it back into the world and im telling you, for a moment, you forgot what your job was. You forgot what you were supposed to do because you just looked at this miracle, at this life force. And your eyes popped out. Henry, hes been described as a genius. James lipton talked about the fact that great comedians are great actors. Tell me from your perspective, because you saw the evolution of this extraordinary talent. You know, in the beginning, you had no idea what was packed tightly packed inside this human being. And as time went on, every time he would do a project, you would go, oh my god, didnt know he could do that. Oh my goodness, here he is again. He could do comedy with drama. He could do drama. He could do he could do comedy. It didnt matter what the genre. He like a he would transform into the material he was doing. And he ripped your heart out or he made you laugh so hard you had to leave the theater. To his fellow actors, did they know about the personal struggles . A lot of people knew about his personal struggle. You know, the struggle to come back, to maintain his robinness, you know, was evident. I never saw any abuse. All i saw was a man who stood for a moment quiet and then he was a whirling dervish of ultimate comedy. I dont know how else to put it. If you didnt see it, you cannot just describe it in human terms. Let me put it that way. And thats not even hyperbole. Thats just, oh my, did you just see what i just saw . And was there any doubt among those of you who were with him at the beginning that this man was going to be a life force, a Creative Force for generations . When i met him, when we shook hands, the maybe within 30, 40 seconds of rehearsal, i thought to myself, we are in the presence of greatness. Wow. We are in the presence and my job is to not look at him and keep a straight face. And if possible, not even listen to him because he would shoot me out of a cannon through the roof of stage 19 and i would be a laughing hyena in space somewhere. And its hard to even fathom the sense of loss that those of you who knew him personally have today. Well, you know, his im ultimately, and i have said this before, but, you know, when youre in his gentleness. The warmth. The he would be with you and you would think, im the only person he knows in the universe. And he was at that time and then forevermore beloved by the universe. You know . He knew he met everybody. But when you were with him, nobody else was in the room. Extraordinary. Henry winkler, thank you so much. Thanks for sharing id like to just say that our thoughts and prayers, my entire family, are our prayers, our thoughts, our sorrow is like an arrow to the williams family. Thank you so much. Safe travels, my friend. Thank you. And for more now on Robin Williams career, james lipton, host of inside the Actors Studio joins me by phone. I have heard you recount how in 200 episodes of the Actors Studio this was Robin Williams judged to be the favorite of your vast audience. Yes. When we did the 250th episode, in fact, that was the episode that we submitted for the emmy last year and won the amy my, thanks, of course, to the people who were in it and prominently in it was Robin Williams. And we invited our viewers in america and in 125 countries around the world to vote for their favorite episode of inside the Actors Studio of the last 20 years and it came as no surprise to anybody they voted for the one with Robin Williams. I wanted to play a little bit of your interview with him when he talked about, well, let me play your question to him and how he imagined heaven. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear god say when you arrive at the pearly gates . Theres seating near the front. The concert begins at 5 00. It will be mozart, elvis and within of your choosing. Oh, or just a nice if heaven exists, laughter. God goes, two jews walk into a bar no doubt that is among the many reasons why he was the favorite of your audiences. I would just like to say, andrea, if heaven exists, god is laughing very hard today. What was the special quality of his talent, if you can imagine putting it altogether . It was that it was limitless. So in the end, it is not one thing that one can put ones finger on. He had enormous scope. I find that all comedians do, great comedians do. People like him, like billy crystal, mike meyers. Encycloped knowledge around them. I dont know how they acquire it. They have a curiosity and a reach and a scope and a range that is beyond the rest of us. Most famous moment in the episode that he did for us and most famous moment in history of the show, of inside the Actors Studio, when i finally threw down my cards and i said, tell me something. Robin, what are you doing . Youre thinking so much faster than the rest of us. Explain to me what youre doing. He started to laugh very hard. And he said, i cant explain it but ill show you. Thats when he stood up and went down to the foot lights and reached into the audience and took from a young woman in the front row a pashmina and transformed into an indian film director, iranian woman, a gay rabbi, a bull protesting at this scarf used as a cape, the iron chef and finally he folded it as if the fringe flapping back and front of him and a tire emerging from a car wash. Thats not definable. No way that i can comprehend that. All i can do is be grateful for it. All of us can do is be grateful for the time we had with him. He never stopped. His life was an improvisation. Now, privately, personally, i spent sometime with him permly. He was very quiet. Very calm. Very thoughtful. Very intelligent. Very sensitive. But the moment that the moment he was called upon, to be to be the Robin Williams that we want and love and miss so desperately now, he was there. It was always there waiting for him. Mike meyers described himself as a sight specific extrovert. Thats what most comedians are. They dont have to perform like that all the time. A few of them do. Mel brooks gets into an elevator and two people in it, he goes to work. But robin, robin was he was an entire person. It turns out that he was a tormented person. And in the end, he did something to himself that that is heartbreaking. It was he who made the decision that there would be no more Robin Williams. And that is infinitely heartbreaking. If we had known, if only someone could have known and were in the realm of psychology and im talking through the hats. James lipton, thank you so very much. Well have more on this, including talking to psychologists and experts on these issues, coming up next. But now to breaking news out of the iraq. Iraqs military spokesman tells state tv a helicopter delivering aid on mountain crashed. A correspondent for the New York Times and a freelance reporter both injured and a statement from executive editor today alissa j. Rubin a correspondent for the New York Times and Adam Ferguson were injured when an Iraqi Military helicopter carrying aid to stranded refugees crashed in northern iraq. They have been air lifted out of the region in order to receive medical care. Alyssa is a close friend and one of our most esteemed journalists. Our thoughts and prayers with alyssa and adam. Well be right back. Try alka seltzer reliefchews. They work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. Mmm. Amazing. Yeah, i get that a lot. Alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. Enjoy the relief. Ooooohh what it is, what you want . Yeah. Live your life right make the beat the bump the undeniable come into the party in a bboy stance i rock on the mic and make the world wanna dance fly like a dove that come from up above im rocking on the mic and you can call me mos love ooooohh yeah yeah. Yeah yeah. Trublcovergirl p nkrfect blend for each of us blend of rockstar and mama bear. Her trublend. Light 4 it blends in doesnt build up for a flawless nude look find your trublend at easy breezy beautiful covergirl and on that breaking news of iraq, a military spokesman there telling state television an iraqi helicopter delivering aid to displaced yazidis has crashed. The pilot is dead and the reporter is injured. Bobby gosh joins me now. We understand alissas biline is front and center out of this crisis, has been injured and airlifted out. That from the New York Times. Lets talk about the yazidis and the rescue mission. Well play a little bit of a rescue just yesterday. But what is the level of crisis there now as the air strikes are beginning to have some impact and isis is a little bit pushed back . Well, the crisis continues. I mean, theres still a large number of people out in the mountains. Clearly in the thousands. Some corridors have been created. The air strikes pushed isis back and militias both on the syrian side of the border and iraqi side able to create corridors that those stranded people have been able to use to escape into syria. Talk about going from frying pan to a fire but for the moment it would appear that things are not as dire as they were a couple of days ago. Things can change very quickly. We have seen that isis is capable of lightning strikes and weve also seen in the past that the Kurdish Forces have also sort of melted away just as quickly as they have appeared. So its too early to say that the tide definitively is turned and the people in the mountain are safe. But things are a little better today than yesterday and better than a couple of days ago. And duncan galastani on the phone from erbil and understand theres a reported crash by the New York Times that alissa robin and her photographer were among the injured. Do you have any other details from the Iraqi Military . Hi, andrea. Yeah, trying to get more information on the news just coming through to us. There have been so many of these air lifts, journalists have been embedding on them, and i think one thing that you really see from the pictures of these air lifts, the first obviously being theyre quite powerful because of how relieved and upset the people are. But the other thing is, those operations are quite chaotic. One report yesterday said what the capacity was of one of the airplanes and then counted at least ten people more because the pilot didnt want to leave anyone behind. Of course, that might not necessarily be anything to do with whats happened today but it could be one indication possibly of whats gone wrong. Duncan and bobby, thank you so much. We wanted the show you that separate helicopter mission. It was earlier when itvs john irvine filed this gripping report in a rescue flight. Thousands of yazaidis still stranded up here on what is a milehigh hell. A place where clean Drinking Water is a rare and glistening prize. Helicopter crew tried to get people to keep their distance but they wouldnt be shoed away. Theyve been through too much and the helicopter represented the prospect of salvation. As safe havens go, this mountain top really is the devils alternative. Its baking hot and bone dry. Survival depends on these air drops. But sadly, redemption from the skies has come too late for many of their kith and kin. After giving them food, the crew picked out a handful of people to take off this mount. These were hard choices. Eventually, it was too much for the pilot who changed his mind. He would not leave any of them behind and they all rushed off. Sadly, the first takeoff attempt failed. We were too heavy. Five had to get off. The young men were the obvious choice. An older man said a stoic farewell to his family and went on the ramp. The weight difference was just enough. And to the relief of all on board, we took to the air. This was a life saving flight for these people and their emotions were all too plain to see. They had survived more than a week on a barren, lofty island haunted by by gots who want to wipe them off. A pilot, a hero, came back to change his handiwork. This helicopter has the capacity for 15 passengers. I counted more than 50 on board. It was standing room only for a few of us. On the way out, there was just one surprise. But he was checking his weapon. This was a safe home run. A little triumph for good over evil. John irvine, itv news, on helicopter fox 1 over northern iraq. And you can see how overcrowded that helicopter was and just imagine all of the multiple reasons that could have caused the crash reporting with alissa rubi inform of the New York Times and a freelance photographer air lifted for medical treatment. Well have more on that coming up. And coming up first, more on the Michael Brown case, the unarmed teenager shot by police in missouri and the anger still in the community. Stay with us. [male vo] inside this bag is 150 years of swedish experience in perfecting the rich, never bitter taste of gevalia. We do it all for this very experience. [woman] thats good. I know right . Gevali