Golf legend Gary Player is one of South Africa's most celebrated sports figures. Back in 1966 he was also a staunch apartheid supporter. Times have changed, and so has Gary Player. He credits Nelson Mandela for changing his thinking.

Today Patrick Gaspard is the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa. But he tells Anderson about the first time he met Nelson Mandela during his visit to New York City in 1990. Gaspard also describes the mourning going on in South Africa right now.

George Bizos was on the legal team that represented Nelson Mandela. The two first met as classmates in the late 1940's. Bizos tells Anderson about visiting Mandela in prison and his unexpected introduction with the prison guards.

Congressman Charles Rangel talks about how African-Americans in New York City were able to reconnect with their roots through Nelson Mandela.

Filmmaker Spike Lee cast Nelson Mandela as a school teacher in his film on Malcolm X. He explains why Mandela would not recite the famous line "by any means necessary." Lee also goes on to criticize America for the period of time when the U.S. government labeled the African National Conference a terrorist group.

David Turnley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who documented Nelson Mandela's fight to end apartheid. He talks to Anderson about the inspiration Mandela took from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and America's civil rights movement.

Flags at the White House are flying at half-staff to honor Nelson Mandela's legacy. Throughout his life, Mandela earned the respect of countless leaders including U.S. presidents past and present.

Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree knew Nelson Mandela and spoke to Anderson about his legacy. Ogletree says he expected Mandela to live forever "even when he was sick and it was clear he was going to die."