CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Political activist, political prisoner, political leader. Nelson Mandela, towering figure in South African and in global politics has died. He spent a good part of his life fighting for equality. For decades, Mandela`s home nation of South Africa practiced apartheid. It`s a social system where black South Africans were forced to live separately and didn`t have the same rights a white South Africans. Mandela`s efforts led to the end of apartheid and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. Mandela battled health issues in recent months. He was 95 years old. When South African President Jacob Zuma announced Mandela`s death yesterday, he said, "He`s now resting. He`s now at peace. Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father."
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nelson Mandela`s struggle for freedom defined his life. He was born in the remote hills of South Africa`s Eastern Cape. He was given the name Rolihlahla, which means "troublemaker". He was only given the name "Nelson" by a school teacher later on. After moving to Johannesburg and studying law, Mandela`s trouble make in politics began. And as a boxer, he became adept at picking fights and sparring with the Apartheid authorities, which had increased its oppression against the black population. It was there that Mandela made the crucial decision to take up an armed struggle, launching the African National Congress`s armed wing. He was militant and a firebrand, defiantly burning his passbook, a dreaded document the Apartheid authorities used to control the movement of South Africa`s black population.
NELSON MANDELA: The Africans, (inaudible) want the franchise on the basis of one man, one vote. They want political independence.
CURNOW: That simple demand end the methods Mandela took to fight for democracy eventually saw him and others tried for treason and sabotage by the Apartheid government, (inaudible) punishable by day. (inaudible) got life imprisonment instead, banished to Robben Island, one of the country`s most brutal and isolated prisons. Another political prisoner, Mac Maharaj remembers the first time he saw Mandela in the prison yard.
MAC MAHARAJ, FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER: I could see from the way he walked, and from his conduct that he was a man already stamping his authority on prison regime.
CURNOW: Mandela was released 27 years later.
MANDELA: I have spoken about freedom in my lifetime. Your struggle, your commitment and your discipline has released me to stand before you today.
CURNOW: And his lack of bitterness toward the Apartheid authorities helped him to lead one of the most remarkable political transitions of the 20th century. Mandela, the trained lawyer and life-long rebel outmaneuvered the Apartheid leaders. And he steered South Africa`s peaceful transition to democracy. He won a Nobel Peace Prize together with his former enemy, the Apartheid leader F. W. de Klerk.
MANDELA: And to devote myself to the well-being of the republic and ...
CURNOW: And then he became South Africa`s first black president in 1994,
MANDELA: So help me God.
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MARTIN MEREDITH, MANDELA BIOGRAPHER: What marked Mandela`s career as president more - almost more than anything else, this is after five years, he stepped down. There`ve been very few presidents in Africa who`ve ever given up willingly.
MANDELA: Don`t call me.
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MANDELA: I`ll call you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His retirement years were busy with fundraising for charities close to his heart. He celebrated his 90th birthday with much fanfare. And told CNN in a rare interview that looking back, he wouldn`t do anything differently.
MANDELA: I don`t regret it because the thing that attracted (ph) me were things that pleased my soul.
CURNOW: Now, those who loved and respected him look to his legacy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if we want to learn from him, learn that life is not made up of straight victories, is made up of mistakes, zigzags, stumbling, picking yourself up, dusting off the dirt, treating the blues and walking again - and that`s what Mandela is.
MANDELA: Good bye.
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CURNOW: Robyn Curnow, CNN, Johannesburg, South Africa.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just the facts.
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PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT: December Seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Franklin Roosevelt talking about the attack on Pearl Harbor on December Seventh, 1941, Japanese forces launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Naval base in Hawaii. 240 Americans were killed. Hundreds of military planes and 21 Naval shifts were destroyed or damaged. The attack led the United States to enter World War II. Pearl Harbor day is this Saturday. Every day on December Seventh, Americans remember that date which will live in infamy.
AZUZ: All right, on next story today, when you hear the economy is good or bad, you might be wondering, how do people know. There are different factors, different indicators that experts are looking at. One example is the national unemployment rate, the one for November comes out today. Another economic indicator is GDP, growth domestic product, that`s the total value for all the goods and services that a country makes in a certain amount of time. During the third quarter of this year, that`s July, August and September, the U.S. GDP went up 3.6 percent. That`s more than economists expected, and it could be a positive sign for the economy. Another economic issue, the minimum wage is at the center of protests happening around the U.S.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a growing movement. Workers banding together, fighting to raise minimum wage with protests planned in nearly 100 cities across the country.
This summer, thousands of fast food workers gathered in nearly 60 cities coast to coast. In New York and Chicago, fired up protesters swarmed McDonald`s restaurants, trying to persuade their fellow workers to join them in their fight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Living on 7.25, you cannot do it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many fast food workers making minimum wage, are struggling to get by. Eduardo Shoy lost his job a few years ago. Now, at 58 with two children headed to college, he works at Kentucky Fried Chicken in New York, earning $7.25 an hour. He also works a night shift as a forklift operator at Kennedy Airport.
EDUARDO SHOY, KFC WORKER: It`s tough. Real tough. It`s - I can`t do none of the things that I used to do. I want to pay my mortgage, I want to pay my car payment, I want to take my family out to dinner. That we had to cut it out. You know, we had to sacrifice a lot of stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Median pay for fast food workers is $9 an hour or $18,720 a year, well below the Census Bureau`s poverty line of about $23,000 for a family of four.
DORIAN WARREN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Workers are taking these jobs because they are desperate in an economy that is still not creating enough work for people who want to go to work. And still not creating enough middle class jobs or jobs that have a ladder to the middle class.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president is paying attention to the issue calling for a raise in the federal minimum wage.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It`s well past the time to raise a minimum wage that in real terms right now is below where it was when Harry Truman was in office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the industry says it has created jobs in this difficult economy. In response to the strikes, the National Restaurant Association said in a statement, "Dramatic increases in a starting wage such as those called for in these rallies will challenge that job growth history, increase prices for restaurant meals, especially in the value segments and lead to fewer jobs created."
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AZUZ: Wrapping up this week`s "Roll Call" in the southeast, but first, we are making a couple of stops at west. First, we are roping in the cowboys and cowgirls from Culbertson High School in Montana. Then we`ll steer over to Denver Colorado to check in with the Mustangs from Mullen High. And this wagon train pulls into the station in Kennesaw, Georgia, so we can include the North Cobb High School warriors.
Our last story seems like a Thanksgiving leftover. That`s because we are talking turkey. But this one isn`t for eating. It`s for fighting. At least that`s what it`s doing to this delivery driver. The flightless and fearless fowl is scaring the staffing at some folks in this town. It packs at wheels, it parks itself in the middle of the road, it even chased one driver out of his truck. No word on why the gobbler is so grumpy, but it`s certainly determined to ravel some feathers. Listen, this is no laughing matter. The situation is gravy, because if you are a delivery driver, you don`t want to run a fowl of that bird. Gobbles up, our time for today! Have a great weekend.