ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called Nelson Mandela "the most remarkable man" he'd ever met as he paused before a statue of the former leader outside the South African embassy in Washington D.C..<br/> <br />Biden recalled a trip he'd made as a senator to South Africa, and how his request to a then imprisoned Mandela had been denied. Years later after Mandela was elected president, Biden said the South African leader thanked him for his support of sanctions against apartheid.<br/> <br />The Vice President also marveled at Mandela's warmth and forgiveness for his captors.<br/> <br />"He (Mandela) said, 'I learned to like my jailers. They were just doing a job.'"<br/> <br />Biden signed the condolence book for Mandela who died on Thursday (Dec. 5) at age 95.
