been referring to it as the interview of the lifetime.

For me it indeed is. I'm thrilled the day has finally arrived.

Today a legend comes to life as we welcome one of the world's great heroes: Nelson Mandela.

(A song dedicated to Mandela) He is a universal hero.

One of the most extraordinary people of all times. A man whose warm, courage and unshakable commitment

to freedom has inspired millions of all ages and races all around the world.

When he was 12 his father died, but his guardian the tribal king insured he received the best

education. When he was 23 he defied the king and fled

to Johannesburg. In that city he confronted the ruthless system

of segregation called apartheid for the first time.

Under those laws brutally enforced by South Africa's whites, blacks could not vote, move

to the country without showing the passbook or owned property.

Injustices which angered and humiliated Mandela. Soon he became a prominent figure in the fight

to end apartheid even risking prison by burning his passbook. Then in 1960 security forces

viciously attacked a peaceful demonstration killing 69 black protesters.

That brutal massacre changed everything. Leaving his family, Mandela went underground.

He directed a foreign journalist with secret hideout and gave this inflammatory interview

rejecting non-violence. It made him South Africa's most wanted man.

''There are many people who feel that it is useless and futile for us to continue talking

peace and non violence against a government whose reply is only savage attacks''.

He was arrested and in 1964 four charged with treason, facing the death penalty.

He showed incredible courage and in active shocking defiance Mandela astonished nation

wearing tribal dress in his trial and by giving this speech one of the century's great rallying

cries for freedom. I had fought against white domination.

And I have fought against black domination.

I have cherished the ideal of a perfect democratic and free society.

If needs be, It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Just 46 years old Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island the Alcatraz

of South Africa. He lost his older son and beloved mother each

time the authorities refused to let him attending to funeral.

By the 1980 the campaign to free Mandela had ignited at home and abroad.

His long captivity had made him a legend. In the late '80's,

responding to international pressure the government opened secret negotiations with Mandela.

On February 11th 1990 Nelson Mandela walked free for the first time in 27 years.

It seemed and those first joyous moments of freedom that the struggle was over but it

had only just begun. It was among his country's saddest hours,

as the white minority resisted calls for the country's first open election - violence erupted.

Soon South Africa stood on the brink of civil war and Mandela was the only hope.

Using the force of his moral integrity he worked to unite his divided country.

Urging South Africans to seek reconciliation not revenge.

Go back to your schools, factories, mines and communities, we are going forward.

Through it all Nelson Mandela continue pushing the true democracy and the right to vote for

all. South African's first ever free election will

take place April 26th 1994. Nelson Mandela with a run for president.

For 2 days millions of people lined up across South Africa. Waiting to exercise the basic

right Nelson Mandela had sacrificed so much to attain.

For black South Africans including Mandela it was the first time ever they could vote.

As he casts his own ballot. Nelson Mandela told reporters it made him

feel like a complete man. It's one of the greatest honors of my career

to welcome Nelson Mandela. (A song dedicated to Mandela)

(Shouting) I think in the world of heroes, living heroes

he stands, he stays number one for me because his ability to withstand years of apartheid.

And 27 years in prison and to come out of it with the grace and forgiveness.

It's the greatest lesson of our time. How does the man spend 27 years in prison

put thereby an oppressor and come out of that experience with not a harder stone, not a

cold heart but a heart that is willing to forgive and embrace.

Are you remembering talking to you, one night over dinner and you had said to me that our

hatred for the oppressor was so intense we did not see the value of talking to him.

So at what point did you see the value of letting go of the hatred and begin the process of

talking. Well, let me say first that it's a great tragedy

to spend at the best of your lives in prison. But if I had not been to prison, I would not

have been able to achieve the most difficult task in life and that is changing yourself.

I had that opportunity because in prison you have what we don't have, in our work outside

prison. The opportunity to sit down and think which

is an important part.... Did you need 27 years of it?

You could have taken few days or week, a vacation. Did you need 27 years?

Well even to try to change yourself is a process.