0 dancing. the joy is said to be infectious inside the stadium and it's fitting that the service is being held at fnb stadium where nelson mandela made his final appearance. the memorial has been under way for two hours that include tributes from world leaders, including president obama who was just seen. we'll take the president's comments in full as soon as they happen. and good morning, everyone, it is tuesday, december 10th, welcome to "morning joe." we'll be following the funeral, memorial services all morning long. with us on set, we have the host of msnbc's politics nation and president to the national action network reverend al sharpton joining us this morning. visiting professor at nyu, former democratic congressman harold ford jr. in washington, correspondent for bloomberg, julianna goldman. we have a big show today. the actor who standard in the new film of "mandela:long walk to freedom." reverend al, you've been watching the service. beautiful. >> it's beautiful and a real tribute we won't see the likes of in our lifetime. to see people gather, heads of states from around the world, world figures, people of all denominations and religions. and to come right there to soweto. you know, the stadium is right at the edge of soweto, and i was in south africa as an election observer in '94 so i went to soweto. it's unimaginable for those who came way before i even got involved to soweto which was the black township to host this but then it is so befitting because that's what mandela did is open up south africa to the world, and to democracy. so it is a fitting tribute that's unprecedented. >> very symbolic. willy gift it willie geist it's amazing how they pulled this together so quickly. world leaders from all around the earth have descended upon soweto. we have former presidents and president obama who we're waiting on right now, but what a production to make it happen. >> all you can think of as you watch this is what a life. what a life. only 40 years ago in that country south africa put him in prison for who he was and what he believed and what he spoke about. less than four years later there's an overflowing stadium both black and white cheering beautiful memorial service throughout the morning. we're going to take the president's remarks live which could happen in the next hour or so, maybe even less. we're waiting for one more speaker and then the president will dome the podium. but now some other news. republicans on capitol hill are bracing to push a last minute budget deal through congress. paul ryan and patty murray are close to striking a small deal that would avoid another fiscal showdown but far from the great bargain. it wouldn't reform entitlements or tax loopholes or address the rising federal debt but replace some sequester cuts. tomorrow is the last day the bill could be filed in the house which would be a friday vote. congressman nick mulvaney said, i'm resigned to the fact that fiscal conservatives always lose at christmas. >> we also lose at easter. our leadership will pass horrible things and then they will say we dare you to stop everybody from going home for easter. we stopped them from going home for easter in 1997 and now i know why that's hard to do. >> i thought they were okay with the sequester. i'm confused. >> the cuts. the budget cuts. >> i thought they were for that. >> especially on defense are getting a lot tougher. >> right. >> this go around. >> so, going on with the quote, will i trade a dollar worth of sequester savings today for a dollar worth of mandatory savings ten years from now? no way in hell. that being said would i trade a dollar's worth of savings for the future, maybe. >> i think it will pass. what they are bothered about is paul ryan and patty murray are saying we'll add extra money now but take care of it ten years from now. that never comes to fruition. conservatives are getting ready to get rolled. this will pass. it doesn't stop the people at heritage from being frustrated. if you want to talk about save money, save money in the next two or three years. >> well, we've seen this play over and over again and if you're not close to this or follow this like some of us "around the table" do, you have to wonder why can't they just reach a compromise? it's obvious republicans want entitlement cuts and reforms. democrats want more revenue. why can't they come together and reach some agreement like adults should. the fact we're celebrating this milestone if we can call it that between murray and ryan is representative of where we are not only in washington but where adults are in washington in trying to get things done. look, i don't like this. they haven't gone far enough. they haven't gone far enough to face the crisis we faced a few weeks ago. as a democrat i'm thankful the fellow whose quotes you put up is in the minority position. we don't want to go down the path we went down. >> republicans are tired of what happened. they don't want a repeat of what happened before. at the same time we're very worried about a $17 trillion debt. we're worried about the fact that even as the deficit drops long term debt obligations explode. >> if you were there you would try to work out a deal. listening to that comment is representative of where a lot of tea party members are which seems to be unwilling to give a little bit to get something that they may want in the long term. your approach is different. >> i'm not sure what his approach is. but the lunacy of all this is medicare and medicaid is what explodes and 20 years from now takes up every dime of our revenue and we got to figure out a smart, humane way to take care of people who retire 20 years from now so they have medicare, medicaid and social security. >> in texas there's a new tea party favorite hoping to join ted cruz. steve stockman announced he will challenge incumbent -- >> steve stockman. i know him. he's the guy that brings ted nugent to the state of the union address. >> i'll challenge john cornyn. stockman was not expected to do this. he with drew his election for the house and with drew his candidacy before the 6:00 p.m. dead lynn. he said he's running because cornyn undermine ted cruz's fight for obama care. he said it looked like cruz was right and cornyn was wrong. he made a big show of removing his name from a letter supporting cruz. he needs to be held accountable for his decisions. with the republican primary three months away cornyn holds a significant advantage financially with $7 million cash on hand. stockman has 32,000. >> in this war, willie, i don't think this is a wise move for a guy. i'm sure the tea party people didn't tell him to run. here's another example of another race that the quote tea party candidate lost. a lot of tea party members said that guy wasn't one of us, he was a member of the kook party. i don't know. >> it's amazing that senator john cornyn -- >> oh, my lord. >> it's not a plausible argument. steve stockman is right to run. his case that john cornyn is not a real conservative -- >> cruz refused about six months ago to come out and say he would support the re-election efforts of john cornyn. so that's -- >> what does that mean given the argument. former vice president dick cheney looking ahead to 2016 and the prospects of chris christie. >> i think lichristie is a promising figure. he has to do a lot of work to earn the nomination just like anybody else. >> do you think he would blow up on the campaign trail, his temper would blow him up? >> i don't know. i don't know him that well. i had lunch with him once. i watched him operate. i wasn't a fan of the way he welcomed barack obama to new jersey when the hurricane hit. >> he said he had to. >> he was the governor of new jersey and he was doing what he thought was necessary. >> you think he overdid it? >> i would have preferred -- i don't know that he had any other choice in terms of what he was supposed to be doing for people of new jersey. like all of us, we carry what we have done in the past around with us and you have to explain it and support it. >> i don't understand. he wasn't a fan of what he did in new jersey in the same sentence he had to do it. why didn't he just support him? i don't get it. >> because he's the greatest vice president of all time. >> that was a dog whistle or something. >> i think sometimes -- >> does he help your party? right now -- >> that wasn't very helpful. >> it's so funny about dick cheney. the press paints him as a demon. he had low approval ratings. lot of americans were like me they were glad cheney was there after 9/11. >> does he help your party? >> what did he say that would hurt our party. >> if he becomes the face of the party for 2016 -- >> dick cheney will not be the face of the party. >> if he's the voice. >> he won't be the voice. he's on fox business news. >> if he's the he woulder statesman, if you have to get his blessing, if tease one that has to stand up there and evaluate the christies -- >> i'm a democrat. i'm not the guy to answer this question. i like dick cheney a lot. >> that was speaking out of both sides of his mouth. >> i'm the wrong guy to ask that okay. >> watching democrats fight like that. >> sitting back with a slurpee and popcorn. >> i saw the former vice president -- i like him very much. it's a great disclaimer. but there's something dishonest about that. >> what? >> there was something dishonest. >> come on he's a politician. >> you are so clear -- it is so easy for to you criticize the president vigorously and to use descriptions of, you know, things that he said that are -- why can't you -- >> my problem -- mika, my problem really has been that i haven't criticized republicans on this show. is that what you're suggesting? >> christie doesn't deserve. >> republicans can give you a long laundry list of republicans identify attacked. that's dumb. much ado about nothing. you see dick cheney and you go crazy. i think you have a crush on him. you like that strong forceful guy, a daddy figure. i think there's -- >> should i punch him. >> in your rolls royce you roll down and look up at the cheney household, a powerful man. >> that's just off the rails. >> anybody? >> what just happened? >> i'm not sure we went there. >> she has a crush on him. >> i do like him very much. >> see there. >> but that was speaking out of both sides of his mouth. >> you lost me with the rolls royce. >> my mom drives a white pickup truck. it's a really old one. >> what is matt lauer doing? i saw some fu man chu thing. >> he had a bushey beard and he knocked it down. >> did you guys know john podesta is back. to politics. >> i'll pass. >> pass that on. >> has lewis bergdorf taken that off? has lewis taken that off? >> he's jumped the shark. >> he has a mustache. >> it looks like this. >> he shaved that. >> just a mustache now. >> just the mustache. >> look at alex. >> alex knows i'm -- >> i hear john podesta is back in the news. >> looking to get his administration back on track after the questionable roll out of obama care. the president has convince ad close ally to return to washington. the "new york times" report that john podesta has agreed to serve as counsel to the president for one year. he led the president's transition team in 2008 and advised the president from the outside ever since. he also served as bill clinton's chief of staff for three years but now podesta will be in charge of bringing credibility back to the obama administration. 53% of americans think president obama is dishonest and four in ten think he can manage the federal government. podesta will help with issues like obama care and other issues. >> julianna, it's what people have been especially democrats on the hill have been clamoring to get people back in the white house that have experience. that looks like a great step. >> if you look at the other news trickled out over the past 72 hours, you have bill schillero coming back. now you have john podesta coming in. he'll take a counselor role overseeing health care, climate issues. one thing you hear from people, criticism often of this white house is that there's so many smart experienced people who just want to give advice and they are so insular they close themselves off to that kind of advice and podesta is positioned to do that. podesta has maintained that independence being part of the obama orbit but not directly inside. so he's going to be able to bring that perspective, those fresh ideas and the experience of having worked in a crisis mode at the white house and been around for a really long time and that's something that's really missing in there right now. >> harold ford, personally for the president i think that's a great move. >> this is a smart addition. you bring an experienced deal maker to the white house. one of the shortcomings and deficiencies in washington there's an unwillingness on the democratic side and republican side to find agreement. podesta understands government works best when it works and the only way it works you achieve results. everybody has to give a little to get things moving. >> knows all the players in washington. they know him. republicans like me, we've been around through the clinton wars and everything else. he's always on the other side but, man, i like him. you can tell he likes people. and reverend al, you need that when you're making a deal. >> you're going to move forward. >> whether you're on capitol hill or the white house. >> if you're moving forward and the president is trying to establish his legacy and salvage whatever has been tarnished you need a guy like podesta that can move the ball and is not a hard ideologue. at this stage a good choice. >> we'll go back to soweto, south africa to the stadium where standing in the rain tens of thousands of people are celebrating the life of nelson mandela. you can see they are waving flags, dancing in the stands. it's not really mourning but more a celebration of his life and the music has certainly symbolized that. president obama is due to speak any moment. you see him getting ready there. we've heard from nelson mandela's grandchildren, we've heard from someone who served prison time with him. we've heard from members of his family and world leaders, from france, from 90 countries including several former presidents of the united states are on hand to celebrate nelson mandela's life. and now president barack obama will take to the stage and the will remember nelson mandela himself. we're going to take his remarks live as he greets people and makes his way to the stage. this moment is so poignant because, of course, the president spoke of his personal connection with nelson mandela moments after he died over the weekend at the age of 95 years old. >> julianna, willie geist was talking about how the white house reacted after mandela's death, it wasn't just -- they didn't just paint by numbers, kou tell that this really was a very personal connection that president obama felt with nelson mandela. >> that's right. i think of all the speeches that the president has given on a personal level this is the most important for him and it's my understanding that he spent a lot of time on his own crafting this speech and thinking about it. look, when we were in south africa in june we were waiting for any moment to get word that mandela had passed away. he was gravely ill at the time. this is something the president has been thinking about obviously for years and years. what a moment for him to be essentially eulogyizing his personal hero who inspired his own political activism. he didn't know that well. they met one time. spoke a few times over phone. but they are so bound by history. >> and reverend al, you were talking before about the problems that barack obama was having right now. mandela, as mandela said time and time again he made mistakes, he was a sinner but the bigger picture of mandela, the one that my children and your children and our grandchildren will read about and know about, will look at a remarkable place in history. i have a feeling that 50 years from now very few people will be talking about barack obama's struggles with obama care, but if stead talk about the remarkable historic place he has in the united states of america's history. >> i think you're right. i think, you know, the gauge a lot of people use what will it matter 100 years from now. i think all of the infighting, all of the attacks that nelson mandela went through doesn't matter in the span of history and the same will happen with barack obama as president of the united states and i think that's what he'll speak to this morning at the funeral of nelson mandela, where he places in history, where he places in terms of the curve of where we saw a nation that was divided and split based on race and based on other factors that really undergirded apartheid and what nelson mandela did to help bring the country forward. all the other stuff doesn't matter. that's where leaders on that stage have to try to govern from. >> he's on that stage now about to eulogyize a man that the whole world will be talking about for so many years to coso. it's been a remarkable transformation and remarkable transformation for our government. bobby kennedy in 1966 went to johannesburg and he had his own state department and had his own justice department and had lbj enraged he would go out and speak out against apartheid. the united states has been on the wrong side of this issue for a very long time. >> they just announced the president. >> but now you have the president of the united states stepping up there to address the crowd in memory of this great man. [ cheers ] >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you. to the mandela family, to the president and members of the government, to heads of state and government past and present, distinguished guests, it is a singular honor for to be with you today to celebrate a life like no other. to the people of south africa -- [ cheers ] -- people of every race and every walk of life, the world thanks you for sharing the nelson mandela with us. his struggle was your struggle. his triumph was your triumph. where dignity and your hope found expression in his life and your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy. it is hard to eulogize any man to capture in words not just the facts and the dates that make a life. but the essential truth of a person, the private joys and sorrows, the cry of moments and inequalities that illuminate somebody's soul. how much harder to do so for a giant of history who moved a nation towards justice and in the process moved billions around the world. mourned during world war i, fired from the corners of power, raised herding cattle, madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century. like gandhi he would lead a resistance movement, a movement that at its start had little prospect for success. like dr. king, he would give voice to the claims of the oppressed and the moral necessity of racial justice. he would endure a brutal imprisonment that began in the time of kennedy and khruschchev and reached the final days of the cold war emerging from prison without the force of arms he would like abraham lincoln hold his country together when it threatened to break apart and like america's founding fathers he would erect a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations. a commitment to democracy and rule of law, ratified not only by his election but his willingness to step down from power after only one term. [ cheers ] given the sweep of his life, the scope of his accomplishments, the adoration that he so rightly earned, it's tempting, i think, to remember nelson mandela as an icon, smiling and serene, detached from the tawdry affairs of lesser men. but madiba himself strongly resisted such a life. [ cheers ] instead, madiba insisted on sharing with us his doubts and his fears, his miscalculations along with his victories. i am not a saint, he said, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying. it was precisely because he could admit to imperfection. because he could be so full of good humor, even mischief, despite the heavy burdens that he carried that we loved him so. he was not a bust made of marble, he was a man of flesh and blood. a son. a husband. a father and a friend. and that's why we learned so much from him and that's why we can learn from him still. for nothing he achiefed was inevitable. in the arc of his life he earned his place in history through struggle, shrudness and struggle and faith. he tells us what is possible not justin pages of history books but in our own lives as well. mandela showed us the power of action, of taking risks on behalf of our ideals. perhaps mandela was right that he inherited a proud rebelliousness, a stubborn sense of fairness from his father, and we know he shared with millions of black and colored south africans the anger born of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments, a desire to fight the prison that imprisoned my people. but like other giants of the anc -- [ cheers ] -- madiba disciplined his anner and chanld hinelled his desire fight in strategies and platforms so men and women could stand up for their god given dignity. moreover he accepted the consequences of his actions. knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice carries a price. i fought against white domination and i fought against black domination. i cherish the ideal of a democratic and free society. in which all persons live together in harmony and equal opportunities. it is an ideal which i hope to live for and to achieve, but if an ideal for which i'm prepared to die. [ cheers ] mandela taught us the power of action but also taught us the power of ideas. the importance of reason and arguments. the importance of to only study not only who you agree with but those who you don't degree with. he under stood ideas can't be contained by prison walls or extinguished by a sniper's bullet. he turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid because of his eloquence and passion but because of his training as an advocate. he used decades of-- prison to sharpen his arguments. he learned the language and the customs of his oppressors so one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depend upon his. [ cheers ] mandela demonstrated that action that ideas are not enough no matter how right they must also be chiselled in the law and institutions. he was practical. testing his beliefs against the hard surface of circumstance and history. encore principles he was unyielding which is why he could rebuff offers of unconditional release reminding apartheid regime prisoners cannot enter into contracts, but as he showed in pain staking negotiations, to transfer power and draft new laws he was not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal. and because he was not only a leader of a movement but a skillful politician, the constitution that emerged was worthy of this multiracial democracy. true to his vision of laws that protect minority as well as majority rights. and the precious freedoms of every south african. and finally, mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. there's a word in south afri africa -- a word that captures mandela's greatest gift. his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye. that there's a oneness to humanity. that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others and caring for those around us. we can never know how much of this sense was innate in himself but we remember the gesture, large and small, introducing his jailers as honored guests at his inauguration, taking a pitch in a spring box uniform, turning his family's heartbreak into a call for hiv/aids that' revealed the depths of his empathy and understanding. he not only embodied -- he taught millions to find that truth within themselves. it took a man like madiba to free not just the prisoner but the jailer as well. to show you must trust others so that they may trust you. to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past but a means of confronting it with inclusion and generosity and truth. he changed laws but he also changed hearts. for the people of south africa, for those he inspired around the globe, madiba's passing is rightly a time of mourning and a time to celebrate a heroic life. but i believe it should also prompt in each of us a time for self-reflection with honesty regardless of our station or our circumstance we must ask how well have i applied his lessons in my own life. it's a question i ask myself, as a man and as a president. we know that like south africa the united states had to overcome centuries of racial subjugation. as was true here it took sacrifice, sacrifices of countless people, known and unknown to see the dawn of a new day. michele and i are beneficiaries of that struggle. but in america and in south africa and in countries all around the globe we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact that our work is not yet done. the struggles that follow the victory that form equality for universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those that came before but they are no less important. for around the world today we still see children suffering from hunger and disease. we still see run down schools. we still see young people without prospects for the future. around the world today men and women are still in prison for their political beliefs and are still persecuted for what they look like and how they worship and who they love, that is happening today. [ cheers ] and so we too must act on behalf of justice. we too must act on behalf of peace. too many people happily embrace madiba's reconciliation but passively resist reforms that challenge poverty and growing inequality. there are too many leaders who claim solidarity with madiba's struggle for freedom but do not tolerate dissent from their own people. [ cheers ] there are too many of us, too many of us on the sidelines comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard. the questions we face today, how to promote equality and justice, how to uphold freedom and human rights, how to end conflict and sectarian war, these things do not have easy answers. but there are no easy answers in front of that child born in world war i. nelson mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done. south africa shows that is true. south africa shows we can change. that we can choose a world define not by our differences but by our common hope. we can choose a world defined not by conflict but by peace and justice. and opportunity. we will never see the likes of nelson mandela again. but let me say to the young people of africa and the young people around the world, you too can make his life's work your o own. over 30 years ago while still a student the struggles of this land stirred soimething in me. it set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today. and while i will always fall short of madiba's example, he makes me want to be a better man. he speaks to what's best inside us. after this great liberator is laid to rest, and when we return to our cities and villages, and rejoin our daily routines, let us search for his strength. let us search for his largeness of spirit somewhere inside of ourselves. when the night grows dark, when injustice weighs heavy on our hearts, when our best laid plans seem beyond our reach, let us think of madiba and the words that brought him comfort within the four walls of his cell. it matters not how straight the gate, how charged the punishment the scroll, i am the master of my fate, i am the captain of my soul, what a magnificent soul it was. we will miss him deeply. may god bless the memory of nelson mandela. may god bless the people of south africa. [ cheers ] >> that was president barack obama capturing the legacy of nelson mandela before a celebratory crowd of tens of thousands of people. he spoke of mandela's legacy of reconciliation, of inclusion, of struggle. the president saying michele and i are beneficiaries of that struggle. he also spoke of the struggle that still lies ahead. he called mandela a great liberator, and president obama saying he makes me want to be a better man. reverend al? >> i thought it was a powerful address by the president. he recounted the struggles. he recounted how nelson mandela had to rise above the adversities 27 years in jail. and yet he was not afraid to compromise. he was practical as much as he was visionary. and i think the president made it clear that we have not arrived yet. we still have to deal with issues of economic and racial inequality in our world and he challenged those world leaders sitting on that stage don't just memorialize mandela but do what mandela challenged us to do. i thought it was a great address. i think he did not just get caught up in the drama of the memorial, he challenged the leaders of today to let's be about it not just talk about it today and go home and ignore the continuing inequality in our own nations. i thought it was a powerful message. >> still many more speakers at this memorial service in so wet jo. we'll be following that but there's other news as well. coming up on "morning joe," illinois governor pat quinn. thomas friedman, chuck todd and idris elba who plays nelson mandela in a new film. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. 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