it wasn t being pompous, of course, it was his sense of purpose. that s what i want to ask for you, perspective on, we hear about his gentility, his amazing ability to forgive. talk about the fire within this man, the forcefulness, the passion, the fierceness that he brought to what he thought was right. it s a miracle that nelson mandela was the one who led us out of apartheid in south africa, because he was the one who said i m not going to treat the whites as they treated us. he says we re all one, south africa. we re all south africans. and that was the greatest miracle that ever happened. his commitment was strong. if you looked and talked to him, he always talked about others in the movement. he never accepted the credit. every time i was in his presence and i would say to him how much i admired him and all the great things that he did and accomplished, he says, no, it was not me. i was not alone. there were many, many others. but the other important principle was that he belie
arwa? reporter: we are talking about a nation being in mourning but this is also, at the same time, a nation very much celebrating the man whom very few here can actually find words to describe. he has been called a hero, a legend. but for so many of the people here that really felt the profound impact of what nelson mandela, in essence, truly was. they are at a loss for words to describe how they are feeling right now. the crowd behind us gathered in front of his house in johannesburg, has been singing and chanting and just finishing singing the national anthem now. a little bit of moment of silence. tps he it was here in this house he passed away last night and his body moved to a military hospital and embalmed the next three or four days before going to a soccer stadium here in johannesburg for a public memorial. the casket will then lie in state before finally moving on to be buried in mandela s
president of south africa. we thank you all for joining us to share your recks and time with mandela. we start with you, congressman. i m curious, as a man, as a politician, tell me about the impact he had on you after meeting him. wow, no one has presented the question as you have. as a kid, i m embarrassed to admit i knew very little about africa. if you wanted to insult a black kid, a colored kid, you killed him african because the world, including the united states, had allowed us to believe that africa was so underdeveloped, that the world had an attitude that they were inferior people as opposed to the europeans. when nelson mandela became a world leader and was on
hardened him. one day he said to me, i came out mature. very rare, a mature man. i told you, he said it to more than just you, why he is adamant that i am not a saint. he said that often. i think there s a lesson for all of us. he wasn t a saint. what he was was and he was proud to call himself this he was a politician, a politician that managed to bridge these unbridgeable divides and he was very pragmatic. he had one unyielding, undeviating principle, freedom for his people. everything else was a tactic and everything else helped him achieve that goal. do you remember in 1990, the posters, the t-shirts. power to the people. right. one of the frustrations now is, he had obviously slowed down and changed. he was not the power figure that he had become. but he is gone now and now there
welcome home. we love you. we love you. we love you. it says welcome home again. many south africans find a home here in harlem and today a tribute to the newspapers here by the newspapers here in new york city. this is the daily news. it says farewell, dear friend, the world mourns the death of south africa s giant. kate, chris? beautiful headlines on many newspapers this morning. remember how he changed this country when he came in 1990. the t-shirts, power to the people. he was an extraordinary man. as a result he ll have an extraordinary farewell. the first public event will happen on monday when mandela will receive a memorial service in johannesburg s soccer stadium. some heads of state are likely to attend, including president obama. starting tuesday, there will be three days of lying in state in pretoria.