0 plus, dangerous ice storm. >> it's real slick roads. >> perhaps the worst in decades. flights canceled, thousands without power. >> this is the sixth time i've had to stop and get the ice off of there. >> but millions more in its path. we're live across the storm zone. this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. >> good morning. welcome to "new day," it is friday, december 6th, 6:00 in the east. we have two major stories this morning. the world mourning iconic leader and freedom fighter nelson mandela. >> here in the u.s. we're tracking a dangerous ice storm. forecasters saying it could be the worst ice storm ever for the region. people are waking up without power but millions could end up losing electricity for weeks, they fear, this as temperatures continue to plummet. >> we'll continue to what's going on but we want to react to the passing of nelson mandela. here's a live look at the crowds that have been gathered outside the late south african leader's home. they're singing, their dancing, nations, of course, showing their respect. flags around the world at the white house we'll show you, see it, half-staff. this morning, honoring the anti-apartheid leader's life and legacy. we'll follow the developments from every corner of the world. let's bring with robyn curnow. she's in johannesburg. >> the news came just before midnight south african time that nelson mandela had gone. so many south africans woke up to this stark, gut wrenching head line. this says "hamba kahle madiba." >> it was an announcement heard around the world. >> our beloved nelson mandela, the founding president of the nation has departed. >> after a long battle against a recurring lung infection and a leif time spent fighting for freedom and equality, nelson mandela died at 8:50 p.m. thursday night inside his johannesburg home. >> our nation has lost its greatest son. our people have lost a father. >> mandela's family stood by his side until the very end. >> love live nelson mandela! love live the spirit of south african people! >> reporter: his people, rushing to his old house, others flooding the streets outside his final resting place, some even in pajamas, celebrating his life, despite the announcement made just before midnight. hundr hundreds singing his anti-apartheid rally cry ♪ nelson mandela nelson mandela ♪ >> reporter: nelson mandela, nelson mandela, there's no one like you. >> gave hope to the world. >> reporter: this morning, archbishop desmond tutu leading those around the world and in capetown in prayer for mandela. >> thank you for the gift of man de -- madiba. . >> reporter: today south africans paid tribute to father as they call him with makeshift memorials. december 5th now marks the day of south african's deepest sorrow. but it's also a day that the country's president said should mark their greatest determination to continue nelson mandela's legacy. >> to live as madiba has lived, to strive as he has strived and to not rest until we have realized his vision of a truly united south africa. >> reporter: many south africans today, there's a bittersweet sense, they're relieved that he's not suffering but they're sad that this man who created this nation has gone. when i think of it, when i talk to people, the two phrases that keep on coming up, all they're saying, all people here are saying is thank you and good-bye. >> robyn, thanks so much with starting us off with our tribute to nelson mandela. nelson mandela changed the world and now the world is honoring him. the african-american community here in new york among the millions paying tribute to him. don lemon is at the apollo theater, you were there through the night, don, hearing the reaction. >> absolutely, kate, good morning to you. that tribute is still up on the marquise here at the apollo theater. it says in memory of nelson mandela, from 1918 to 2013 he changed the world and he certainly did. he came to harlem back in 1909. it's fitting the people here in harlem were the first to pay tribute to him last night, the first south african black president. >> reporter: from the white house to buckingham palace, the entire world remembers a man who changed it forever. >> he taught us world peace. he taught us how to love. >> i thought he was a great man because he kept his people from rising up after they gained their freedom. >> he has empowered each and every one of us. >> reporter: nelson mandela, a man who spent 27 years behind bars, now eulogized by presidents and monarchs. in washington, flags at the white house were lowered to half-staff. president obama spoke of the man who inspired him. >> we've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings any of us will share time with on this earth. he no longer belongs to us. he belongs to the ages. >> reporter: and former presidents clinton, bush and carter united to mourn the leader, in cities across the nation, people coming together to honor the man who has become a global symbol for justice and humanity, a touching tribute lights a marquee at the legendary apollo theater in harlem where nelson mandela visited to his first trip to the u.s. in 1990. >> he came to the state office building, drew about 200,000 people out here that day. and those struggles that we have here in the united states, he was very familiar with and they were going through the same in south africa. >> reporter: news of his death traveled swiftly around the world. prince william and kate middleton heard the news while attending the premiere of the film "mandela: long walk to freedom." >> we are reminded how extraordinary nelson mandela was. >> reporter: at the united nations, silence. and the remembrance of his enormous impact. >> no one did more in our time to advance the values and aspirations of the united nations. nelson mandela showed what is possible for our world and within each one of us, if we believe. >> reporter: and so far, the only official tribute right now is the one in lights behind me but i want to show you the marquee back in 1990 when nelson mandela visited here. it says, mr. and mrs. a&m, welcome home. we love you. we love you. we love you. over the course of that visit to new york city, 750 people throughout the city saw him and of course, chris, you might remember that. mario cuomo was the governor, dinkins was the mayor and nelson mandela made a big splash here and big impression on new york when he visited here. >> i remember many said they never met anyone like nelson mandela. we'll check back in with you later on. right now we get perspect e perspective, though, nelson mandela devoted himself to humanitarian work. sir richard branson worked with nelson mandela on many projects and helped him form a group called the elders. a very important part for nelson mandela to what should be his legacy. sir richard branson joins us now. thanks for joining us. great to have you on the show. i want to say first, nelson mandela was a personal friend as well as a role model and i am sorry for your loss this morning. but thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much. i think everybody who knew him well is actually relieved for him and for his family, because he was having a very tough last two years. and now -- now he can rest in peace and we can move forward. >> and that's going to be the difficult part, right? obviously you want comfort at the end for somebody, for anybody but especially for him and to live 95 years after what he lived through is amazing. but now we have to deal with not having him in the world. let's start, please, with your understanding of the man. before we get to the meaning, what impressed you about him personally? what might surprise us about him personally? >> as a man, he just had a wonderful sense of humor. he always had a naughty twinkle in his eye. he would laugh and dance with anybody and everybody around him. and he was an absolute delight to be with. then there was the other side, the side where, you know, he really wanted to make a difference in the world. he would get angry when other people weren't. even when he stepped down from being president, and he realized that the new government weren't addressing the problem of hiv and aids properly, he decided to speak out. i remember a wonderful concept, 4666 where he got up on stage and told people in africa, look, you've got to protect yourself. you've got to look after yourself. and he told governments, you know, you've got to help get antiviral drugs, you have to save millions of people instead of letting millions of people die. almost everything he touched he made the right decisions and as far as his legacy is concerned, he did set up the elders. he wanted -- he didn't want his life to be wasted. he chose the 12 men and women that he felt had the greatest moral authority in the world, who could carry on his good works for many, many years to come. and could also go in and try to address conflicts in the world. and so people like archbishop tutu, kofi annan, mary robertson, president carter from america. an extraordinary group of people. >> let me ask you, you know, we were showing people his first trip to the united states in 1990. i remember the chance of power to the people, and what nelson mandela came to mean to people here and all around the world. when you think about what nelson mandela would want his legacy to be going forward with what the world faces today, what do you think that would be? what do you think his wish would be for what leaders do going forward, the elders and others. >> the one word i think most sums him up the most is forgiveness. 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. and then, you know, on a bigger -- on a bigger picture, you know, he would have welcomed the talks with iran. so much better to try to become friends again with countries you've fallen out with than drop bombs on each other. he was incredibly angry about the invasion of iraq. i mean, 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. and he and kofi annan were going on a secret mission. the day that 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 through his province. >> nelson mandela was a flight away from trying to stop the iraq war before it happened. i hadn't heard that before. >> no. and you know, he said he'll be willing to go as long as we could get kofi annan to go with him. and kofi annan agreed to go with him. it was a great pity that it never happened. history might have been changed if it had happened. but it just showed the lengths he would go, even as a very old man, to try to avoid the misery of conflict. >> sir richard branson, thank you very much. it's important, i heard you use the word he did get angry. people need to know that. it wasn't that he didn't feel anger, but it's what you do with it. very sorry for your loss. >> thank you very much. as a leader, nelson mandela was inspiring but also quite a sense of humor as you heard sir richard say. you'll hear from him in his own words. we'll also hear from those who knew him well and interviewed him often. kate? turning back here to home right now, let's bring you up to date on that large and severe storm that is bearing down on much of the country. winter advisories are under way from texas to the ohio valley as sleet and freezing rain are creating dangerous ice conditions. several states are declaring states of emergency and airlines have canceled hundreds of flights, many schools also closed for the day. we have team coverage of what could be the biggest winter storm in recent memory, beginning for us indra petersons live in memphis, tennessee this morning. good morning, indra. >> reporter: a potentially catastrophic ice storm blanketed the nation's midsection overnight. >> this is the sixth time i've had to stop and get the ice off thereof. >> reporter: treacherous roadways forced arkansas, oklahoma and tennessee officials to declare a state of emergency. northeast arkansas frozen by up to an inch of ice, leaving many without power. temperatures are expected to stay below freezing for many days. this icy mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain caused multiple rollovers in arkansas, including this seven-car pileup in washington county and in oklahoma, the driver of this truck lost control on an icy bridge and plummeted into a lake. >> it's real slick. he tried to get up the hill and couldn't get up the hill. the best thing to did is stay home today. >> reporter: in illinois, vehicles slide right off the highways as accumulations of sleet and ice reach up to a quarter inch in southern counties. in the skies, hundreds of flights canceled thursday and more expected for friday as the warnings spread from texas to eastern ohio. it could be the worst ice storm to hit the region since 1994 which caused over $3 billion in damage. it's not just the ice. the national weather service says this massive arctic air mass is dropping temps 20 to 30 degrees below normal, leaving millions to battle a dangerously bitter cold into the weekend. well, here in memphis, tennessee right now, we're seeing temperatures just above the freezing mark and the line storms is pushing its way slowly into the area. you can see that on the satellite picture. the concern? we are talking about an experimental index. it's an ice impact index by the national weather service that says this could be a category 3 ice storm here in memphis ice storm. we're talking about half an inch of isolation. just the north of us in arkansas they have a threat for a category 5 ice storm, which means that is catastrophic. the power is on behind me. although that could all change as the storm moves into memphis here over the next few hours. >> you've been telling us how quickly the power lines can get loaded up with ice. then they fall and you lose power. we're watching that. we also know many many states accidents are piling up. the ice storm is expected to cripple much of north texas as a result. in dallas, district schools are closed, weekend events canceled. from wednesday's high of 80, a low of 20 forecast for later tonight. cnn's alina machado is in dallas. >> reporter: good morning, chris. we are seeing some light sleet coming down right now here in downtown dallas. the danger is not gone. take a look at these bushes. you get a sense of just how much ice we're talking about here. these bushes are frozen. you can see that clearly here. the roads here by the way are also a slippery, slushy mess. heightened alert in north texas as it sits in the path of what could be one of the worst ice storms to hit the u.s. in years. sleet, started falling in denton county late thursday. slushy surfaces slowing traffic. reports of up to a half inch of sleet and ice, accumulating on bridges and overpasses. making them more treacherous. denton police responding to more than 50 vehicle wrecks and calls for assistance in an eight-hour span. >> in dallas, dozens of salt trucks an employees are on standby, ready to treat dangerous road conditions. >> we stand ready as the city of dallas to address the ice and hazards that might come. >> reporter: the threat serious enough to cause the cancellation of saturday's holiday parade for the first time in its 26-year history. classes at the dallas independent school district, one of the largest in the state, are also canceled friday and on thursday, flight cancellations started popping up on departure boards inside dallas-ft. worth international airport, the hub for american airlines. american alone nixed nearly 500 flights ahead of the storm. >> you took an earlier flight. >> out of las vegas, yes. >> because of the weather? >> because of the weather. >> they're comparing it to what happened to us about three years ago. >> reporter: that's what happened during super bowl week back in 2011 after a winter storm slammed the area and brought the city to a standstill. residents now are bracing for what could be yet another wintry mess. >> probably pack it in for the worst and hopefully try to keep safe. >> reporter: you are looking at a live look at the roads here. it will be a very slow and treacherous commute this morning. by the way, more than 100,000 people are waking up today in north central texas without power and that number could rise if this continues. michaela? >> we'll be watching that with you. stay warm. we are going to return to our coverage of the storm and, of course, nelson mandela's passing. first, let's bring you up to date on your other headlines. president obama spoke out in defense of healthcare.gov in a wide-ranging interview with msnbc. the president says the website is now working and there's no reason for people to go without insurance. he defended his management of the rollout saying he is holding every cabinet member accountable. no claim of responsibility yet in the shooting death of an american teacher in libya. ronald thomas smith was killed in a drive-by shooting in benghazi on thursday. his death comes days after al qaeda called for libyans to attack u.s. interests as revenge for october's capture of a suspect off the streets of tripoli. american officials are pushing authorities in libya for a vigorous investigation. secretary of state john kerry meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu before returning to the united states. he was pledged to support the jewish state security throughout separate negotiations with iran and the palestinians. kerry's comments served as a peace offering to netanyahu called the deal between iran and world pou pers and his torque mistake. the engineer behind the controls of the commuter train that derailed in the bronx is now suspended without pay and the ntsb says drug and alcohol testing for william rockefeller have all come back negative. his attorney and union representative said he was in a days when the train took a sharp turn at 82 miles an hour four people died when the train jumped the tracks sunday. fast food workers across the country went on strike sunday, demanding $15 an hour. organizers say they there were rallies in 100 cities. workers are seeking the right to unionize as well. the growing movement began about a year ago and is being bank rolled by the service employees international union. those are our headlines at this hour, guy. >> thanks, michaela. coming up next on "new day," we continue our breaking coverage of nelson mandela's death overnight. that as south africans gathered at his home, singing, dancing, celebrating the man they called father. we'll return live to south africa.