started out leading a peaceful movement, he was shocked like so many others with what happened at sharkville. and seeing women and children killed. and he went underground, and he formed the military wing of the anc, he goes to prison, and there is this transition. can you talk to us about nelson mandela during those prison years and that transformation. the think sing that he is both an inspirational and elegant sportsman. he is also a very practical politician. he has argued a peaceful change when that was possible, he considered that armed struggle might be necessary. he only opted the struggle in the early 1960's, and it was at that point that the south african government has banned the congress, if you were black, you could not vote, not even speak politically. even when he was released from prison in the 1990's, he did say, or he would not renounce the necessity in certain circumstances for using armed struggle. remember the south african military was threaten to have a coupe, and there was a good chance in 1994, instead of having an elected black majority, we may have seen a white rac

president nelson mandella went to sharkville to sign the constitution. today, at the age of 95, nelson mandella died at home. he says it was his wish to be buried in the town where he was born. john lewis, democrat of georgia, thank you for being with us here tonight on this historic day. >> thank you very much for having me. and thank you for that rich history. >> i have to ask, for your long career, especially as a young man in if south and the american civil rights movement, how did nelson mandella's work inform you? what's been the interplay between our civil rights movemented and his struggle? >> well, the leadership, the commitment, the dedication, the ings prags of this one man meant everything to the american civil rights movement. i remember as a young student in 1962, '63 and '64, we said if nelson mandella can do it, we can do it. we identify with the struggle. when i met him for the first time, he said to me john lewis, i know all about you. i followed you. >> it was this unbelievable relationship between what was happening in america and wha

ended foo after 69 peaceful black protesters were slaughtered by the police in what was knowns at sharkville massacre. >> there's many people who feel it's fruitless for us to continue to talk about peace and nonviolence. >> reporter: mandela was the lawyer was mandela the freedom fighter, repeatedly challenge the white minory rule until his conviction of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. at age 44, his sentence was life. mandela would be 71 before the world would see him again. nelson mandela served one term as president and then retired from public life but continued to advocate for the causes important to him like aids and to continue to meet with dignitaries all over the world. in june he was rushed to the hospital for the reoccurring lung infection he first con democratted in prison. he first went home, but he remained in critical condition. >> people all over the world, including the dc area, it was just this last fall when a statue of mandela was dedicated to him at the south african embassy. that's where we have more tonight. >> reporter: the fence here did not sto

even back to sharkville and the killing of 69 people, the kids in '76 in soweto. elementary school children who are gunned down. it's tallas power of the images. you talked about nelson mandela. we did not see him for decades because they forbid his pic churs or voice from being heard. now we have the pictures from south africa. when you have children being gunned down, that is very hard to talk about. >> when we come back, what happened when ted cruz try day friday -- tried to remember nelson mandela this week. every day we're working to be an even better company - and to keep our commitments. and we've made a big commitment to america. bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u.s. than any other place in the world. in fact, we've invested over $55 billion here in the last five years - making bp america's largest energy investor. our commitment has never been stronger. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in

turning briefly to violence after the frustrations of that movement and the massacre that occurred in sharkvillea trial. and then emerged triumphant and somebody that the entire world could look up to. this is -- you can bet that president obama's going to be heard on this before too long. and we've lost somebody that deserves emulation everywhere. >> i don't know, i just want to bring people a little bit of background information here about mandela's condition over the last couple of months. he had been three months in the hospital with the recurrent lun september, originally. but those lung problems attributed to the tuberculosis he contracted during 27 years in prison before he led his country to democracy, subject of many biopics lately. what is your view on his history in south africa and overseas? >> i think he has more stature than anyone around the world with the possible exception of the pope. a lot of continue versy around the current president as well as becky who proceeded him in that job who was nelson mandela's successor. i think this is somebody whose reputation was titanic and th