>> we are covering the death of the champ, announced tonight, surrounded by his family in arizona. the end of the journey for muhammad ali. death came at the age of 74 for a man who as we've been and his largeness of a human made that title come true. born cascius clay. what a journey for a man that was easily the most famous map in the world for

decades at a time. as we said, death came earlier this evening. a lot of journalists are reacting to this. the most care eus maltic sports figure of the 20th century, died on friday. he was 74 years old. as i was saying earlier this evening, our friend matt lauer had the great luck and good fortune in life to have been a friend of mohammad ali and remained a friend later in life. matt was close as well to members of the ali extended family. and tonight, for us, matt lauer

has a look back. >> i'm the king of the world. >> hold it. >> he called himself the greatest. he was both adored and at times scorned. >> he had a lot of threats against him. >> but with superior skill and a unique style of boxing, mohammad ali became a cultural icon. >> i'm so grateful. >> an dundee, over 21 years, was with ali during some of his most memorable fights. >> we had to put a mike on him. he was sensational. i mean, he was so go. >> mohammad ali was born cascius clay in louisville, kentucky. when he was 12 years old on, his bicycle was stolen. he was so angry that he vowed to

whoop whoever stole it. that determination propelled clay to win two national golden glove titles and qualify for the u.s. team at the 1960 olympics in rome. >> i met him in 1958. in 58 he told me he was going to win the olympics. he won the olympics in '60. >> clay wore his gold medal for two days straight. he would later throw it into the ohio river, disillusioned by his second class treatment when he returned home. with his olympics behind him, he began his boxing career. his first test against sonny lifton. >> if you would like to use your money -- >> liston was heavily favored. at 22 years old, clay became the

youngest heavyweight champion. he quickly shook up the world again by announcing he had joined the nation of islam, and change his name. >> cashes clay is my slave name. i'm no longer a slave. >> howard cosell, fiercely defended his decision saying they wanted another joe louis, a white man's blackman. instead, they got ali. a man who would not conform regardless of the circumstances. at the height of the vietnam war, ali refused to serve, famously saying, i ain't got no quarrel with the viet kong. >> he was stripped of his

heavyweight title and banned from boxing. for the next three years, he reached the principals of islam and speaking out on race relations. >> we black people are fighting the same common enemy. >> his conviction was overturned. ali, now 30 years old, is allowed back into the ring. with a couple of wins under his belt, his next opponent, current heavyweight champion joe frazier. >> mohammad ali goes down. >> ali suffers his first professional defeat. determined to reclaim the title he trains harder than and epic fights soon follow. in swraoeueer, rumble in the jungle. then the thrilla in manila, the

third and final fight with frazier. he would become boxing's first three-time heavyweight champion. in 1981, with 56 wins, he retires at the age of 39. his agility and speech pattern now noticeably different. just three years after retiring, ali was diagnosed with parkinson's. and for the rest of his life, that disease would affect his movements and eventually silence his voice. >> i believe all of you remember ali's pre-parkinson's days when he many with his vibrant voice and poetic expression. his surprise appearance at the 1996 olympics would move the world once again. 3.5 billion people watched as

the champ delivered another great movement. >> this was a moment where the whole world was saying thank you. ali was married four times, including current wife lonnie, his partner of 25 years. he also had nine children, seven daughters and two sons. all of them he called a gift from god. ali wrote that he would like to be remembered as a man who tried to be a good father, who stood up for his belief. mohammad ali, the greatest. >> those of who you generation alley may be new will hear that term a lot the next few days. the greatest. believe us who were there then and watched it all. and hopefully this is part

tutorial. you will learn the next few days why that title is appropriate and right and real and perfect. knowing about mohammad ali, being a fan of mohammad al is what people had in common for generations in this country. our thoughts also turned to the current president of the united states. how he would sum up the life of mohammad ali. what he meant to him. and the other presidents of the united states. everyone who came up during that era. he was the subject of great fascination. dave remains with us. dave, kind of nicely left out of that affectionate look back by

matt lauer, one of the subjects that will come up is very few people in life know how and when to leave the stage currently. and one of the nicks on the reputation of mohammad ali was his departure from the sport. it wasn't all at once. there were some 'em pwraeursmentes and physical degradation. >> this is part of the ali legend, what he sacrificed and what he was. there are two mohammad alis in boxing. there was when he was suspended for standing up to the draft. he had no quarrel with that viet kong and the ali that came back three years later. we discussed it a little bit earlier but it is worth saying.

ali before 1967, to retire at 30 years old, rich, pretty, and the best of all time. yet that wasn't the plan. before 1967 his amazing ability was he was never hit. it was thought in boxing -- until before 1967 it was thought that he didn't have a good chin. it was thought he couldn't take a punch because he never had to take a punch. he was so fast. the numbers are insane. he would be hit eight times in 10 rounds. it was unbelievable. when he came back, he was in financial duress. he needed to come back and box. he was certainly, as bob puts it so well, addicted to the warm. in other words, he missed the glow of the crowd, the affection, the love. but at the same time it also because he had to come back and fight after that three-year layoff. when he came back he found to his own surprise that he had a jaw made of granite, maybe the best jaw in the history of

granite. maybe he didn't have his speed, but he could do the rope a dope. you could tire yourself out punching him and he would still stay on his feet. of course he paid just a horrific price for that over the next decades of his life. but even though he did lose that power of speech, my goodness, you talk to people that were close to him as i have, you would not meet a more is ser sraoepb, happy person. that's the part about it for all of us, he was always at peace inside his own body. he had a tweet sent out in october 2014 where he said i wish people of the world loved each other as much as they loved me. that's kind of the lesson i'm thinking about in my own head. there's never been anybody this country has ever produced who is as comfortable in their own skin as mohammad ali. >> absolutely.

mike, you deul cruelty of a man so physically beautiful and verbally beautiful. his 6'3" inch frame -- and if memory serves, 78-inch reach -- stooped in the end by disease. his fluid tongue -- he was the father of trash talk, the father of sports poetry all at the same time. >> of guarantees. >> you got it. both were faded by time and illness. >> it's funny. i was listening to dave talk about it. for all the punishment he inflicted on opponents, his defining moment really became the thriller in manila. i read mark's amazing piece in "sports illustrated" where he goes and sits with frazier in a darkened room after the fight that night. and frazier said i hit him with

punches that would have knocked down the walls of a city. and then he said lordy, lordy, lordy, what a champion. and ali after that fight says that was as close to dying as i've ever been. >> we hope among our viewers, again, this news having come in tonight in the death of a champ, mohammad ali at the age of 74, we hope our viewers include good old-fashioned boxing fans. and those will appreciate our next guess. a hall of fame boxing comment either. larry phefrp ant. it thrilled mike lube ka. i can tell you that because i'm sitting next to him. really if you were a boxing fan, if you watched hbo's coverage, it was like you had a dedicated corner man explaining to you what was going on. he sat ringside to cover

ali/frazier, madison square garden, march 3rd, 1971. larry, it's kind of you to join us. what are your thoughts at this hour? >> very much, brian. well, as my wife put it -- it was was a punch in the gut. ali was a genius. and a man of his times who became an international symbol of those times. and i doubt that there's been somebody in pop culture anywhere near him who had that kind of

worldwide impact. >> as you have been talking larry, we're watching this endless parade. and we could watch them all night. actually, we may end up watching them all night. of still photos mostly of mohammad ali. one of them we just went by is ali meeting jimmy carter at the white house. jimmy carter famously had him over for dinner at the white house. in the background is the painting of abraham lincoln. it's all just some killer imagery. and as i said earlier, he's a figure former presidents have in common. everyone watched him. no one had ever heard or seen anyone like him before.

>> he told me how he had been known by every human being in africa and what an inspiration he was. it is hard to measure the impact he had on the world. i mean, this is a time when colonization was ending in africa. and along came this brilliant, handedsome athlete from america. speaking up during that whirlwind time of social change when the establishments of governments all over the world were being challenged. he had changed his religion.

he had been this controversial lightning rod socially. and this extraordinary snowman at the same time. i think it's fair to say there has never been anyone like him before or since. >> a mankind enough to join us by telephone larry phefrp ant covered boxing close enough to be covered in his life with the percent operation of mohammad ali in the ring. because larry was ringside. and by extension he brought us all there too. larry, a real pleasure. sorry this brings us together at least in a broadcasting sense. thank you very much. and we're sorry about your friend. >> thank you, brian. let's go now to phoenix, arizona. mohammad ali had many homes in

his lifetime. for a while he was in the philadelphia suburb of cherry hill, new jersey. for a while he was in suburban michigan. and for a long time late in life, he called the state of arizona home, specifically in and around the suburbs of phoenix, arizona. correspondent ron not is there where there will no doubt be a lot of remembrances there. he was a favored citizen of that place, ron. # >> reporter: a fixture in this community in the valley of the sun, brian. everyone wants to take some ownership of mohammad ali. he was such an attractive character. he has raised a lot of money here for parkinson's with his foundation that he started with some friends here in the phoenix area. they hold celebrity fight night every spring that is quite the event bringing a list celebrities, athletes, actors from around the country, around the world to come here really to

pay their respects to him. he was always the honored guest. this started back in 1994. they have raised, according to the charity, more than $118 million. not just for parkinson's but for some other charities as well over the years. so folks who have gone to bed here in the valley are going to wake up with pain in their heart as well, as are people all around the world. if i could just take a moment for personal reflection about when you guys have been talking about it on the air. as a young black kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, what struck me is i felt he was not only in the ring to fight for himself, not getting rich and famous for himself, but actually fighting for me and other people who looked like me growing up. that's why he was crushed when he stepped into the ring in 1978 and actually lost. because i didn't think such a thing was possible. i was too young, i was 10 years

at the time, to know that he was at the end of his boxing career and it was possible for him to lose to a younger guy. i felt like the world had gone off the tracks because this man i so looked up to had lost in the ring. and of course he went on to do many more things in those years. he won the title a few months back in 1978. the boxing career was not nearly as tpwhror kwrous as in the prime. that's the case with a lot of athletes. what he did after he left the ring. you talk about the atlanta olympics. it still brings a tear to my eye watching him at the top with that light. >> april 12th, 1945, children of age 12 in this country would have ever reason to believe we had a permanent president.

just one guy who is going to have the job. that was fdr. and the world changed on that day. just as a child of 10 on the day of that loss, the night of that loss and subsequent nights would be so sad to see this man really carved out of stone who went that to all of our child hoods and all of our lives in obviously different ways. this man actually lost. ron mott in phoenix, arizona. now morgan radford in louisville, which is of course the real hometown of a young man who left there as cassius clay is remembered as a legend. louisville, morgan, is where the funeral will be held, correct? >> reporter: that's right, brian. in fact, before he was the greatest of all time, he was the louisville lift. it started here in kentucky. the mohammad ali center opened

10 years ago dedicated to preserving his legacy. the mayor has ordered all flags to be lowered to half-staff. people are reminding this is a legend born and bred of kentucky soil. cassius clay was born in 1942. when he was just 12 years old, his bike was stolen. a police officer came by and saw him agitated. he asked what he was wrong. and mohammad ali said, i'm going to whoop him. and the police officer said, well, you're going to have to learn to box. he won his first heavyweight title at the age of 22. after that he converted to the nation of islam. it's interesting, brian, even when i was here tonight, one woman said she grew up, born, bred and said i have never heard of such a thing.

i've never heard of a black muslim. she had never even heard of such a thing. and another man was born and bred in this region. he said what's interesting is i noticed, in his opinion, my opinion of him changed as america's opinion of the war changed. i'll be honest. i came on the scene, he was young, tall, handsome, but he was air grant and brash. but as the american sentiment changed, it shifted. suddenly he became colorful, confident. all of these things he was once criticized for he was lauded for. tonight the people here in louisville are saying everyone though they share this legend with the war he was their hometown hero here. >> morgan, thank you very much for that. morgan just mentioned this life of mohammad ali intertwined with

wartime. a particularly unpopular conflict in vietnam. fast forward to another modern day wartime in this country. 2005, a different president in the white house. george w. bush. presidents get to award the medal of freedom to notable americans. here now a snip et when president bush placed the medal around ali. >> only few athletes are the greatest in their sport or in this time. but when you cisse say the greatest of all time is in the room, that is quite a claim to make. as mohammad ali once said, it's not bragging if you can back it up. and this man backed it up. from the day he won the gold medal at the 1960 olympic games, we all knew there was something

special about this young fighter from louisville, kentucky. in his record of 56-5, including 37 knockouts and 19 successful title defenses hardly begins to tell the story. forward to the future. fans and students of boxing will study the films. some will even try to copy his style. certain things defy imitation. the ali shuffle. the lightning jabs. total command of the ring. above all, the sheer guts and determination he brought to every fight. this is a man who once fought more than 10 rounds with a fractured jaw. and he fought to complete exhaustion and victory. and that legendary clash of greats in manila. the real mystery i guess is how he stayed so pretty.

probably had to do with his beautiful soul. he was a fierce fighter and a man of peace. just like odessa and cassius clay, sr. believed their son could be. across the world many people know mohammad ali as a brave, compassionate and charming man. and the american people are proud to call mohammad ali one of our own. [ applause ]. >> there he was 2005 sitting beside carol burnett, another icon from a very different walk of life and very different occupation. you heard president bush there say his record was 56-5. the more important number, that is 61 professional bouts in a punishing profession. that's a lot of punishing blows. even as good as mohammad ali

was, things like the ali shuffle, this enormous man who was at the same time so graceful, had such fluid movement. we now know the price he paid for those crushing blows. he delivered scores more than that. it is just part of the life and legacy we're covering tonight with news of the death this evening of mohammad ali at the age of 74. back with more right after this. >> i love boxing. that's why i'm the greatest of all times. and i'm just pretty, this colorful, this intelligent, this fast, this witty. this charitable.

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the stage is set. to be recognize the not as the

greatest boxer but the greatest athlete of all time. >> years ago in 1980. as we mentioned, he was the father of nine children. seven daughters, two sons. and as happenstance would have it, an nbc news crew sat down with his beautiful daughter laila. also in the context of the next generation boxer in the ali family. we were interviewing her about a boxing profile for the upcoming summer olympic games in rio. but on this day, the legacy of her father and her family name. >> when i first told my father i wanted to box. being i'm the youngest girl, of course he's going to be concerned about me. also being he's the greatest of

all time, he has his daughter coming behind, he didn't want me to embarrass him. i made it clear to him that i was okay. i was a big girl. and i was ready to face whatever i had to in the ring as far as getting hurt or pain or things like that. but i wasn't going to embarrass him. once we had that conversation and we were eye to eye, he supported me. i felt there are always going to be people to hold you back from your dreams. you have to do what's in your heart. you only have one life to live. if you don't listen to yourself, you're going to be an unhappy person. everything needs to be thought out. you need to make smart decisions along the way. ultimately you have to do what's in your heart. >> wow. what better legacy could the champ leave. laila ali talking about bringing on a family friend. reverend al sharpton is with us.

it doesn't get more impressive in young athletes than that. >> no, they really don't. when she talked about concern, those that knew him and had heard him discuss it, can attest to that. but she, like her father, defied a lot of the skeptics. she ended up being a tremendous athlete and maintain her beauty. it is something that he, i believe, got to be very proud of. >> i had the good fortune of meeting her a few years back as i had the good fortune of meeting her dad. family folklore is he really came around in his position. it took some convincing that his beautiful daughter, that it was a good idea to climb into the ring. >> well, it was a long, long process. but from all indications he came

around. and, you know, i knew ali since my teens. we got to know each other when he supported me a lot in my youth work. and then down through the years his wife, we talked yesterday. it was interesting growing up and then as he dealt with age and then later parkinson's. but it was always something you hear from the older children how he had really come to terms with laila's boxing career. >> i think you will agree with me kind of what we have been saying here tonight, there will never be another like him. a truly singular figure in the history of the world. both in his combination of god-given gifts physically, verbally, mentally. and the time he came up in.

the world called for a transform active figure and there he was. >> he probably defined it if we are using the term. from the time he came from his emerging as an unlikely champion, i remember i used to tell ali the only members i had of going to the movies with my father, he took me when i was a kid obviously before my parents broke up to see him fight closed circuit against sonny liston. i was 9, going on 10. nobody thought he could beat sonny liston. he went from this unbelievable figure that one considered full of brag tkoerb that to be a champion to this float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

then he became a black muslim, then a controversial figure. then the army where he stood up and gave it all up and became a man of unbelievable controversy. but unbelievable and unshakeable beliefs. and he became an anti-war hero. and a second-time champion. i remember the night that frazier knocked him down at the garden here in new york and it was all shattered. and he fought his way back of all places in the skies -- under the skies of africa with george foreman and regained the title of a man who was just as awesome as sonny liston. if that wasn't unbelievable enough, he began to transform into the statesman figure, lost the title again in an unlikely defeat and came back again... it was like the reinvention, rein carnation.

and each one iconic in nature. as he fought this parkinson's, i don't know if float like a butterfly, sting like a bee is more memorable than him shaking hands, lighting that torch, showing against all we face and all of our flaws that we can still light a torch. there's so many things that ali came to symbolize and mean to people. but i think the thing that i remember most is that he would always talk about how he believed in something and stood for it. and i would always say to something how he could go from the one of the most hated domestic figures to a globally loved figure in one lifetime is something that we will never see again i think not only in our lifetime but i don't think we will ever see again in history. >> reverend al sharpton, you were lucky to know him. you make me really realize all

over again i wish my dad had been willing to spend the money for those closed-circuit fights. we sat in the dark and waited for the results and hoped to see clips the next day. thanks, reverend, very much for coming on to us. mike lubica, this is your world. >> yeah. i was thinking there was no more important civil rights figure in the history of this country than jackie roosevelt robinson. he retires in '57. as he leaves the stage -- >> like somebody ordered it. >> cassius clay is about to take the stage. >> yeah. >> and then he's at the olympics in 1960. my life friend arthur ashe and mohammad ali couldn't have possibly been more different in demeanor. >> right. >> as arthur said, how could i ever let somebody tell me i couldn't do something living in the same world with mohammad

ali. >> ashe was this stately, courtly figure. suffered terribly in the richmond, virginia of his youth where, as i recall, he wasn't allowed to use public courts. >> and we talked about john carlos and smith in mexico city. i was center court wimbledon when arthur upset jimmy connors. you remember when the match was over that day, he put his fist up in the air. >> for a specially conservative white sports fans it was, as i was saying earlier, a long journey for them to come back around to ali. they were off kilter and scared by the race talk. and then not wanting to serve in vietnam sent a lot of them away for many, many years.

>> my dad was in the army, air force, my 92 years young father. if anybody was going to take an aggressive posture what ali stood for, it would have been my dad. but he said they call us the greatest generation. they talk about how brave we were. he said that man was brave. for my dad, that's all it took. >> yeah. that was an act of bravery in its time. charlie pearce is with us. former sports columnist for the boston herald. these days with esquire. charlie, i know you want in on on that conversation, especially placing him in the history of our society the last several decades. >> yeah. ever since the news broke, i keep having the walt whitman line ringing through my head. do i contradict myself. very well i contradict myself. i am large i can pay multitudes.

i don't think there's ever been a better line written about america than that. and i don't think there's ever been a more american life than the one that born cassius clay, later mohammad ali, lived. he was one of the great manifestations of the most basic contradiction of american life, which is the first paragraphs of the declaration of independence. all men who are created equal, except those who aren't. >> charlie, how long do you think boxing will be around? i'm looking at these old videos realizing what a different age it was. and now we view it through such a different caution and head injuries and parenting is different. our society is different. i'm saying certainly he came

along in the golden eras of boxing. >> at the same time we can't call ourselves a gentler society when somebody is making an awful lot of money off ultimate fighting and mixed martial arts. >> that's right. >> which are much more savage than boxing is. yeah. you like at the fighters who are around when he was in his prime or when he came back. he missed most of his prime. you look at joe frazier, of course, and george foreman. but also the level below that. ron lyle, shavers, these are all people mohammad ali had to go through. if you are talking a golden age of at least the heavyweight

division, he was in the middle of it. >> charlie, i'm going to bring in mike and dave, who are champing at the bit to in on this. >> i was thinking as a fellow boston ian, ted williams, people wondered how many times he would have hit a home run because of all the time he lost serving his country. think about ali for four years electing not to serve his country. >> one of the great contradictions. the difference between ted williams and mohammad ali is the difference in the wars they were confronted with. yeah. i don't know what those missing years would have been like. i do remember right before it all hit the fan "sports illustrated" ran this incredible series of pictures which at that point were straight of the art using strobe lights and time lapse photography and things to demonstrate how fast and how athletic he really was before he

went away. >> incredibly fast. and, charlie, i was just going to add that it is his decision about vietnam, his conviction about vietnam. that was a tough sell. it was seen as anything as courageous at the time. it was polarizing. it was chewing up thousands of our young man every year. a very tough time in society. dave, you want in on this conversation. >> absolutely. you mentioned the war in vietnam. one of the undersold part of ali's history is 1968 he's banned from boxing. he has nobody in his corner. he had been sentenced to five years in federal prison at that point. he was out on appeal and waiting to appeal the case. the

government took his passport away. in one respect, he had nowhere to go. but he had a new generation of people, anti-war activists, black freedom struggle activists who wanted to hear what he had to say. he spoke on over 200 campuses in the course of a little more than a year. he is speaking three, four campuses a week. there's a terrific documentary, the trials of mohammad ali, that charts his speaking at these campuses. in the beginning, he's stilted and feeling a little bit insecure talk to go these college kids. by the end of the year, he's at the ivy, just knocking people down left and right with his debating skills. it's really a remarkable thing. and i think part of his great story is how he redefines intelligence in our minds. the other thing i want to say is i have to go back to the previous segment when you were showing the bush clip. this makes ali so relevant and why people were mourning in so many different ways.

that was september 2005. george w. bush puts the medal around the neck of mohammad ali. there was a protest in new orleans after hurricane katrina where a woman held up a son that said no iraqi ever left me to die on a roof. a direct reference to what ali said about no viet kong ever called me the "n" word. it still speaks to people today that does speak truth to power and challenge people in powerful positions is one reason why his relevance will never die. >> charlie, one of the topics we handled with dave earlier in our conversation was the part of mohammad ali's life and career people don't dwell on much. he had trouble exiting the stage cleanly, grace. ly and at the right time.

>> yeah. i think it was oates who said -- were i don't remember if she was referring to the first or second fight. but one of the worst things about those fights is when he learned he could take a punch. before the exile, he didn't have to worry about that because they couldn't hit him. again, i go back to the same theme of contradiction. this is a guy for all of his benevolence could be cruel in the ring. he was cruel to ernie terrell. he was in a very cruel business. and i don't think that ever eluded him. >> we were talking about his tour of the ivy leagues. speaking in any form on any ivy league campus would quick most of us to our boots.

it is something he later found a comfort level in, a part of his appearance at harvard. >> love can be seen in all aspects of life once we understand it. love for those who depend on one. love for those who one comes in contact with in everyday life. one for one's race. love for one's country. and love for the smallest creature, an insect. if we study the qualities of the heart we will find that the heart quality is a loving quality. it becomes the loving manner, the manner of god himself. and all such attributes, greatness, tolerance, mercy, compassion, spring from the heart. the great teachers and the great prophets of god did not become what they were by miracles or wonder workings. what was most apparent in them was the loving matter. read the lives of the prophets.

look at the way jesus christ treated a all of those who came to him. great sinners who were condemned from society, when they were brought to the master, he raised them up with his compassion. jesus was on the side of the guilty. the fischerman never understood him. yet "the master" lived with all of them and won the hearts. this is by loving manner. so the first and most important thing we all must understand is the cultivating of the heart quality. there is only oneway to cultivate it, that is becoming selfless. that is the thought of the self. the more we think of self, the less we think of others. until at the end of the, the giant will prove to be the stronger. but with the first step we take.

if we take it on the spiritual path we struggle with this giant. >> wow. 1975 on the campus of harvard. i'm told refuse represented al sharpton is still able to see hear us. that was preaching by any other title, something you have a little bit of experience in. >> you know, if you were ever around him, he would go over these quotes. and he would always have these little sayings. and he was almost like always testing his material. he had all of these pairables, quotes and sayings. brian had a side of him that would front. he liked to do magical tricks. just a couple of years ago one

of my board members is brought representing cam newton, the quarterback. and he called and said for cam's birthday he wanted to surprise him and could i arrange to have mrs. ali talk to cam as a surprise to wish him happy birthday. so i called her. i set it up. she told me what time to call the house in phoenix. i called and wished happy birthday. and i said hold on. and i put on mrs. ali. i connected through my cell phone. and mrs. ali said you have cam on? and he said yes. she said this is mrs. mohammad ali. he said oh, my god, your husband was my idol. and she said hold on a minute. he had problems speaking. he had, man, you pretty like me. and this kid went bananas.

even when he had those moments to break through, he would use on it. and he just became the biggest guy in football generations after ali's great stature, just excited probably the biggest birthday because mohammad ali got on the phone and through his fighting with this disease wished him happy birthday. this is cam newton. relevance is never going to be an issue. >> cam newton among the better looking young athletes out there. reverend, since you have been talking, we just saw the history of men's fashion and icons through the years. that picture, oh, my goodness, look at that. ali, the godfather of soul, and on the right 200 pounds ago is al sharpton. >> that's 1981, mohammad ali and james brown brought me on the

tom schneider show. they wanted to talk about reagan and the '80s. they wanted to introduce me to america. probably the first network show i did. and to be introduced to the nation by the two biggest legends of that time, and ali arguably the most famous man in the world at that time, is something i would never forget, notwithstanding the one you mentioned. >> james brown, may he rest in peace. he proves if you are going to wear the v-neck and the vest and the cowboy hat, be sure to own it. and he owned it pause he was james brown. >> mike lubica is looking at this like great comic relief. i was in high school recovering from knee surgery after a tragic high school football career, visiting a hotel in new york with my family.

elevator door opens, there's the greatest. july 4th, 1976. it was like being in the presence of a diety. i didn't know what to do. it was such an unbelievable feeling. >> i'm watching the speech at harvard. i'm thinking this is a convert to islam. but the more he got revved up i'm thinking that would play great on sunday at the abyssinian on sunday. >> he probably has touched all the themes going across college campuses by that time in his life, 1975, that is extemporaneous beautiful speech with a theme and pace to it. >> no, no. that's a star. i mean, there's qualities to stardom that you can't define. there's a magic to this man. and we have spent a lot of time tonight talking about the force of his talent.

but the force of his talent wouldn't have been the same without the force of his personality. when he would get going like that, you had an insight into this man's heart and soul. it sounds corny, but it's not. anybody who is ever in his presence. it was -- it could be overwhelming. >> and the point you made earlier tonight, we have the very good fortune in our line of work especially in this city to going to star-studded charity functions. i was at one of the bonaconi charity dinners, mohammad ali in his final years. you would go up to greet him and he would do that great thing like he was going to haul off and smack you. then he would break into a wide smile. it was his way of communicating. you felt magical, 10 feet tall. >> when you look at the sweep of this man's life, this american

life and extraordinary sports career, we were talking before we came on the air, we have had a lot of boxers in this country. back to jack johnson and tony versus dempsey. >> and jersey show. >> and lewis. all that stuff. and you can make a case that the man we're talking about passed away tonight fought the three most famous fights in history. ali/frazier, rumble in the jungle, and thriller in manila. >> we are nearing the end of the hour. pick up right where he left off. >> i spoke at the muhammad ali center 10 years ago, got out of the cab in louisville. he was a vietnam vet sniper, listening to rush limbaugh, talking about how angry he was about these anti-protesters. i guess he thought i would be a

sympathetic ear on that. and then i couldn't help him. i said, you know, i am going to the muhammad ali center. i have to ask you as a vet, what do you think about ali? and he said, oh, you've got to love ali. and i said what do you mean you've got to love ali. he said, look, ali was brave. and ali risked it all. you've got to respect that. >> you know,ive keep coming back to this title, the greatest. and how many people, how many millions of people are really going to learn what they know about mohammad ali over the next few days. those of us lucky to share a planet and a time frame and part of a lifetime with him, i'm not talking about those of us who were lucky enough to know him. i did not. those of us who were lucky enough to watch him, to see him, to exist alongside of him. he was the only one who pro

claimed himself the greatest and then backed it up. and it's through tracing his life and times that you trace american life over the past few decades. mike, we've been saying warfare, race relations, the struggle, athletics, marketing, branding, to be gross about it, communications. and just being a charismatic icon. >> brian, think about it, the moment we circle back to is the olympics in atlanta in 1996. even in that impaired state, his voice stolen, his grace stolen. we were wondering key get the torch lit. one more time this man made the world stop and watch and hold its breath and pay attention. not bad. >> we wanted to let everyone know that coming up in the next hour is a special look at the life and times of muhammad ali.

there will be many hours of commemoration on the days to come up to and including the final service for muhammad ali in his hometown of louisville. to put a finer point on it, a point we made earlier this evening, he became famous in the era before social media when either through your word or deed you had to back it up. and you became famous the hard way. these days on social media, it takes you a few minutes you can find a few thousand people no doubt proclaiming themselves to be the greatest. but for this man, in our times and what will now become the time of muhammad ali, trust as, as you'll see over these next few days, he really was. again, we will continue remembering the life and times, the career, the magic, the

brilliance, the charisma of this man born cassius clay, became muhammad ali, became a living legend. thanks to our guests who have helped us through ♪ i am the greatest. >> he knew it before the world did. >> i will be the youngest heavyweight champion in history. >> knew it when he was cassius clay. >> i'm fast, i'm pretty and can't possibly be beat. >> magnetic, charismatic, brash. >> i'm cocky, some say i need a good whooping. > and unpredict he brought spectacle and theater to the ring. >> float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. >> then changed his name. >> cassius clay was ni slave