>> thank you. thank you. long lived the spirit of nelson mandela. long live the spirit of nelson mandela. madiba mandela. viva! thank you very much. to the president, and the pretty president -- we welcome you back to our live continuing coverage of this memorial for nelson mandela. reached the noon hour here. 5:00 a.m. east coast time in the united states on a very t unpleasant day weatherwise. heavy rain, lots of it, increasing winds. most of the dignitaries you will see are, a, behind bullet-proof glass, b, a layer of glass separates them from the crowd

behind them, but importantly, they are also covered from the rain, though. in fairness, some of it a falling close to sideways. in the v.i.p. section, as the formerer leader of south africa apparently e joys a piece of gum, you'll see people from all over the world, and the patchwork of politics is very much a part of this day. the official ceremony is getting under way, even though we don't yet i have in attendance, for example, all of the u.s. presidents, all of the official invited guests. we can report traffic is fairly well bottled up. there's a lot of pedestrian traffic coming to the stadium as one of the big goals of today was to allowes ordinary people come and be a part of this. it was very important.

security has been very important. accommodations, finding hotel rooms for these huge delegations coming from close to 100 different countries. charlane hunter doll is here with me watching. >> the former president there, aging, but still carrying on. again, winnie mandela, who wa been grieving, i'm told, endlessly. >> lester holt's inside the stadium. lester, this has the feel of an official beginning, i'm guessing? >> yeah. i think this is the official beginning, and note you're going to see t empty seats down front in the rain. but the stadium is quickly filling up. brian, there's huge significance of the location of the stadium. it's essentially the edge of

soweto. a blackk township. a lasting -- these townships, set upso for black, kind of a lasting reemlast ing reminder of apartheid, yet that street right behind you, you can see black people and white peopletr walking together. something you wouldn't have seen out of the days of apartheid. in fact, the stadium was put here, the largest in africa, the 2010 world cup was here. again, a huge statement to how far this country has come, and it is almost easy to forget what apartheid must have looked like, readily talk about it, and they view this as a teachable moment to the rest of. the world and certainly to their children. thete generations coming up behd them, that they want them to know thisth history and what nelson mandela stood for and how they're able to live their lives today. many were bused here, came on

train, many waiting at 2:00 for the gates to open and to be a part of this, to bask in the recognition of the world, that all the world is watching this and all the world is paying respects to nelson mandela and perhaps all the world has learned some of the lessons of reconciliation. >> lester holt inside the stadium. we're now told president obama's motorcade is on its way from his hotel to the arena. charlayne hunter dahl, once americans got to meet and know nelson mandela i know this is true in your case, the common denominator, often, was the struggler in the united states versus what wasin going on here which was, of course, bylaw as harsh as it gets, as suppressive as it gets, but nelson mandela at some pointas learned your ow personal history, which i hope

you don't mind me saying involves you being y one of the first two african-american students att the university of georgia, 1961. it was a big deal and a big story at the time. >> well, you know, these relationships areim intertwined the civil rights movement and the, movement to free south africa. you know, they're parallel histories. many objective, freedom and equality. many don't know this because they associatete martin luther king primarily wir the civil rights movement, but when mandela was in prison, he went in '61-62, martin luther king spoke and described south african s racism as the worst i the world and he says even denying the blacks of basic right of non-violent protest. of course, everybody is mandela to gandhi and martin luther king, although neither of them was in favor of violence, but nelson mandela

went to violence not to take over the country, but to get the white minority regime to listen to the demands of black people, but even as late, early in '64, martin luther king was calling for nelson mandela's release. in 1965, he spoke in london, and called for internal sanctions. he echoed that in the '80s and, of course you know, the free south african movement in which president obama spoke of being a part of as a young student was very much a part of the ultimate number of things that brought a man to apartheid in south africa. i was u here in '85, and as you said, it was a gruesome, gruesome period, and i went to a hilltop so that i could overlook the prison where they said nelson mandela had a garden that he used to tend, and i was so hoping, if i couldn't see him, i could see the garden, but, of

course, i was followed by state security people an d had to leae in a hurry. >> well, there you are. pictures of you, the young woman, sitting down with nelson mandela. >> that was at the council on foreign relations when he made his first visit to new york. >> we're going to listen in here. this is cyril ramaposa number two man in the anc, has gone on to be a successful businessman here in south africa. so we'll join the program and jump in here to describe events as we. -- as we find out they ae happening. >> -- succeed if we reach out to each other. this is the man that we have come to say farewell to. a man who has built our nation. in many ways, we are here today to tell madiba that his long walk is over, that he can finally rest, that he can enjoy

the view of our beautiful country, of south africa. a view he discovered when he began walking the hills of his birthplace. his long walk is over, but ours is only beginning, and with t t that, as we walk down memory lane, i would like us now to do what he would have wanted us to do. that is, to open this memorial service with an interfaith opening prayer. i would like to call upon chief rabbi warren, the hindu faith, for the muslim faith and archbishop of the christian faith to come and give us

opening prayers on an interfaith basis. please, go ahead, chief rabbi. >> god and king who is full of compassion, god of the spirits of all flesh, in whose hands are the souls of the living and the dead, receive, we besiege you, in your great loving kindness the soul of nelson mandela who has beenen gathered unto his people. remember him for the righteousness which he has done. remember, o lord, how he exemplified the finest quality of your servant joseph, about whose great leadership generosity of spirit and powers of forgiveness we read in your

hebrewew bible. joseph, the son of jacob, the son ofhe isaac, the son of abraham, was thrown into a pit with snakes and scorpions by his brothers whoho were filled with hatred and jealousy toward him and sold into slavery and skyexd from his home and father for 22 years many of which did a terrible injustice was spent in jail. joseph emerged from jail to become a leader and to a mighty nation. and when united with his brother, had an opportunity to exact vengeance and justice, and yet joseph the righteous transcendedd his personal pain and need for retribution by forgiving his t brothers so tha his family would not be torn apart f and destroyed forever.

so, too, o lord, your servant nelson mandela like the biblical joseph rose up from jail to become president of a mighty nation. he, too, transcended his personal pain and years of suffering to forgive and to embrace his brothers and sisters who inflicted so much pain on hims and so many millions of others in order that our diverse south african family would not be torn apart by hatred and division. madiba brought to life the ancient words of joseph when he said to his brothers in genesis chapter 50, verse 19 -- fear not, for am i in place of god? although you intended harm, god redirected for good. in order to accomplish as is clear this day that the people be kept alive, so now fear not,

i will t sustain you and your young ones, and so he comforted and spoke to their heart. nelson mandela spoke to our hearts. he brought us comfort, and through his mighty power of forgiveness, he sustained us and liberated our country from the pits of prejudice and injustice, unleashing the awesome generosity of spirit of millions of south africans. let his reward be with him and his recompense before him. shelter hise soul in the shadow of your wings. make known to him the parts of life in your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand liveske forever more. bestow upon him the abounding happiness that he's treasured up for the righteous. o god, who heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds, grant your consolation toea the mourners, strengthen a

support them in the day of their grief and sorrow and remember themem and their families for a long and good life. wipe away the tears of all south africans, and indeed the world. bless the people of this country, a nation of heroes, who came together to transcend the pain of the past in order to build a great nation on earth, and inspire our hearts to continue to walk in the path of nelson mandela, to look up to his majestic legacy as the bible says in the book of isaiah -- [ speaking in foreign language ] like one whom his mother comforts, so will i kmpt you, says the lord, and in jerusalem shall you be comforted. your sun should never sit, nor the moon wane for the lord god

shall be your everlasting life and the days of your mourning shall be ended, and let us say, amen.r >> let us bow our heads and pray. ♪ o [ speaking in foreign languag ] language ]. >> o lord, you are the giver of physical vigor and spiritual force. your order is carried out by all objects and enlightened persons. your grace is immortality, your disfavor is death.

to you all blissful divinity we offer our humble worship. for certain is the death of the born, and certain is the birth of the dead. then let's not grieve for what is inevertable. the end and the beginnings are unknown. we see only the intervening probations. that is why there is no need to grieve.he o supreme lord, lead us from untruth to truth, like our father nelson mandela. lead us from darkness to light, like our father nelson mandela and lead us from mortality like

our father nelson mandela. may he rest in peace. amen. >> i begin with the opening chapters of the holy koran. [ speaking in foreign language ] all praises due to the almighty, lord of the world, who is unequal and unmatched in every one of his attributes. [ speaking in foreign language ] the ba neff sit, the merciful, the master of the day of judgment. [ speaking in foreign language ] o, almighty lord, you alone do we worship. you alone do we seek assistance from.. we extend our condolence to the

mandela family and to the nation during this time of sadness for the passing away of madiba, a global icon of freedom in recent times. we place our endebtedness to madiba for his self-less efforts in salvaging the nation and leading it to the path of peace, reconciliation and harmony. and laying the foundationn of a free and prosperous south africa. almighty allah, o, our lord, our supreme lord, we besiege you that future leaders of this great country and leaders of the entire world y and people of th

country and people of the world would stand up for the ideals and vision our madiba stood for. as madiba never lost an opportunity to reconcile people. we pray to you, o, almighty lord, let us strive towards peace, harmony, reconciliation on the basis of human dignity. as he made everyone feel important whenever he met them, we ask of you, o, almighty lord, let us acknowledge each other in our places of work and our places of residence. as he stood up to injustice and illegal wars, let us do

likewise, even if it is waged by the powerful. as he stood up for the oppressed people of the world, we pray to you, almighty allah, to help us sustain that resolve and realize we preserve our freedomel by helping others towards freedom. as youed are merciful and as th prophet muhammad -- [ speaking in foreign language ] -- have mercy and kindness to people in this world, the almigh almighty's, kindness toward you. we ask of you, almighty, to plant inwe the hearts of every human being the seed of

kindness, and as madiba lived an example showing us his spirit of self-sacrifice, we ask of you, almighty lord, grant us the grace of resisting corruption and temptation, and, finally, on this prayer we ask for almighty allah, let us dedicate ourself to the good ideals he stove to in his life. amen. >> [ speaking in foreign language ]. >> creator, lord of life and love, you hold the whole universe in your hands, and yet

you also have your hand on all of our heads. you know the face of the nations and the hopes and fears of each individual. on this day of madiba's memorial service, we pray for peace of the world, for peace without, for peace within. jesus christ, prince of peace, may your shalom touch every place of conflict, division, brokenness or fear. may it fill our communities, familiesne and lives from the horrors turmoil of nations in conflict, to fractured relationships and violence in too many home, bring your

reconciling love. lord, we pray for south africa in particular on this memorial day. help us to draw and address of our past, and to build on a firm foundation that by your grace madiba laid for us.ir give us courage to hold fast, to heed values, to follow the example of his practices, and to share them with the world. we lift our hearts with gratitude for your loving care that you have now called madiba home to his eternal rest where pain and suffering are no more. we commend his soul to your keeping, and we commend his

family to your loving embrace, and we say to madiba, go forth revolutionary and loving soul on your journey out of this world in the name of god who created you suffered with you and liberated you, go home, madiba. you have self-lessly done all that is good, noble and honorable for god's people. we will continue where you have left off, the lord be our helper. we now turn to you, lord, it is our darkness, sadness pain and death in tears and mourning, we believe you will console us, that you will give us the strength to hold in our hearts and minds and the courage to

enact in ourng lives the values madiba fought and stood for. we turn to you, lord, and entrust madiba's soul to eternl rest and loving arms as he rejoins the madiba clan, to all the faithful departed, we pray particularly for his closest and de dearest for his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and all his relatives, may you surround them with your loving arms, your embrace and comfort at this dark time of mourning, at this perfect time when you have called him to rest and perfect end, accept his soul and number him with the a company of the redeemed in heaven. console and comfort his family,

console and comfort south africa, africa and the world. may his long walk to freedom be enjoyed andd realized in our tie by all. may he rest in peace and rise in glory. amen. ♪ nelson mandela nelson mandela ♪ nelson mandela [ singing in foreign language ] ♪ nelson mandela nelson mandela ♪ ♪ nelson mandela [ singing in foreign language ]

♪ [ singing in foreign language ] >> lester holt, this is coming after some of the organized prayer,alities musical interlude. >> and we'll soon be hearing from a friend and the family of nelson mandela here. you see that picture right there captures so much. that people of every color who have come to represent will be

called a new south africa here. a true tribute to mandela, as you look across this crowd here that has withstood a steady light to moderate rain all morning long. we've also been watching, of course, brian, the collection of dignitaries and we can't really overstate the complexity of the operation of getting the celebrity, the politician, the world leaders in here safely. the south africans said they've been studying the plan for quite some time and working with their counterparts in the u.s. and other b countries to get everyo herere safely. we were on that issue of security -- we were able to get in today without screening. the crowd, many of them, were bused in. screened at another point, but when they came in, we all everybody just sort of pour in to the stadium. that may be a reflection on the mood. this is aom time of joy, a timef

celebration. as you know, the dignitaries well protected behind their bullet-proof glass on the stage. at one point during one of the prayers,s, the crowd just above me, on the tier above me, broke out in spontaneous song, and you see a lot of that here. t almost -- many celebrations going on within this larger memorial. brian? >> lester, you're so right to point out, you know, viewers in 2013 see nothing unusual about the shots of the crowd. it looks like a crowd. it is revolutionary and remarkable when viewed through the prism of the former system of apartheid. and was just not possible back in the south africa where blacks were to leave the streets at 9:00 p.m. inth populated parts the city and brought back to the townships. this is andrew, an inmate along with nelson mandela, and he will

start our series of remembrances. >> nelson mandela. [ inaudible ]. >> let me just -- let me just jump in here. this is what we feared, because of the weather. this is rain fade in the tv business, and it means that waves are rain are interfering with the ability i of a satelli dish tot push the signal up to space and get it back down to you. so if you lose audio, if you see the picture digitize briefly, that's what we're dealing with, and it's just because of this rough weather we're having here, here today. lester holt can still broadcast from inside, but it's this main

camera position through south african tell installation we're having a problem with. we will try to stay with it. >> it is -- a technical marvel how quickly all of this was put together, brian. i mean, the truth is, and i think most people understand that in these situations, quietly and in a sensitive way, preparations have been under way for quite some time for the death of nelson mandela, but, of course,, things, you know, many things are d put into action he in these last severalma days, including accrediting the massive contingent of press from all around the world, wiring the stadium, coordinating all the satellite technology, and weather has been an issue here. we had issues earlier in the week with the steady rain, but i think it look it's like you're getting a clearer picture now. so we'll let you go back now to hear them speak. >> lester, th