Branson Says Mandela Was One Flight Away From Trying to Stop Iraq War
Sir Richard Branson reflected on Nelson Mandela’s life and legacy, saying that he had “a wonderful sense of humor” and didn’t want any conflict in the world. He said that Mandela was one flight away from trying to get Saddam Hussein to step down in an effort to prevent the invasion in Iraq. However, bombing started as “the plane was due to leave South Africa.”
Branson said, “The one word I think that sums him up the most is forgiveness. And I think that he would want all of us individually, in our own lives, to pick up the phone today. Talk to somebody that you’ve fallen out with. Invite them to lunch. Embrace them. Life is too short to have any enemies. On the bigger picture, he would have welcomed the talks with Iran. It’s so much better to try to become friends again with nations that you’ve once fallen out with, rather than drop bombs on each other. He was incredibly angry about the invasion of Iraq. I spoke with him before the invasion of Iraq. And actually sent a plane to take him to Iraq to see Saddam Hussein to try to persuade Saddam Hussein to step down. Him and Kofi Anon were going on a secret mission. The day the plane was due to leave South Africa, sadly the bombing started and they never had the chance to try to get Saddam Hussein to step down in the interest of his country and the people. He was trying all the time to try to resolve conflicts, rather than encourage the starting of conflicts to resolve problems.”
Mandela Made Racism Seem "Stupid," "Old-Fashioned"
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair told CNN that Nelson Mandela’s influence on the peace process in Northern Ireland was “hugely important” and his leadership “made racism seem somehow stupid and old-fashioned and irrelevant” to people in Western countries.
“As a leader, he was just a huge inspiration. I remember when we started our own peace process in Northern Ireland, he was such an example for reconciliation, forgiveness, the ability to put the past behind you,” Prime Minister Blair said. “He was hugely important in all the work we did for Africa and for ushering in a whole new generation of leaders in Africa. But I will also remember him as a man coming and visiting me in Downing Street, and he’d come in the door and after saying hello to myself and my wife, he’d say hello to the people on the door, the people making the tea, the staff members. He had a wonderful way about him. And to be with him, by the way, was enormous fun.”
Blair added, “I think for a lot of people in Western countries, he made racism seem somehow stupid and old-fashioned and irrelevant, as well as, wrong. He had that quality because his greatness as a leader was so obvious, he just stood frankly taller than anyone else.”
“The best advice I got was particularly I remember around the Northern Ireland peace process,” Blair said. “It was very, very difficult because there was so much bitterness and suffering, actually…. And he used to always say look, ‘The suffering is there and it’s real. And you can’t wish it away.’ He said, ‘You don’t pretend it hasn’t happened. And you can’t forget it. But what you can do is embrace the future in a way. That means that you triumph over that adversity and that suffering.’ And that was for me, what he represented…. It was hugely important for us.”
Rep. Schock (Ill.) on Tornadoes: "Warning Systems Worked"
Live from Washington, Illinois, Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) revealed what he’s seen when walking around the communities hit hardest by the deadly tornadoes. Rep. Schock also addressed the response system.
“Well, it's amazing. I came over yesterday right after it hit and we're standing in neighborhoods that literally the only thing left is the pavement. Not a single structure. Not a single light post. The homes are completely vacuumed up,” Rep. Schock said. “And standing there talking to people who are just dazed and confused and in shock that, you know, they woke up in the morning and their house is gone now.”
He added, “I think the reason that there was only one loss of life in a community like this was because of the emergency response or the emergency warning system. I live in Peoria, and my phone was alerting, giving me the flood or the tornado warning system on my phone, which I was surprised I was getting it. And as I talked to neighbors and I said, you know, how did you know this was coming, the sirens were going, our cell phones were going off, and one neighbor amazingly came outside, saw his neighbor across the street mowing the lawn with his headset on, and went over luckily and said, hey, there's a tornado coming, get in the basement. So neighbor after neighbor was looking out for each other. The warning systems worked and I think that's why, despite the disaster you see, that there was such minimal loss of life.”
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