♪

>> a final goodbye for the nation's 39th president, the commander-in-chief jimmy carter served in the white house 1977- 1981. he died at the age of 100 on december 29. today washington honors him one last time at a service at the

national cathedral in the nation's capital with all five of the nations living presidents attending, president biden delivering remarks. president biden was serving in his first term in the senate during the carter administration. outside the cathedral there will be another small ceremony, military, that will continue with their owners to their commander-in-chief outside the nothing cathedral -- outside the national cathedral before a motorcade takes the late president and his family to joint base andrews where for the final time he will lift off from washington to make it home to georgia where he will be buried at his home next to his beloved wife rosalynn carter.

[sound of wind blowing]

>> present. >> present. ♪ [military band plays]

♪

s] >> the president from plains,

georgia is on his way home leaving washington one last time. current and former presidents gathering at the national cathedral along with first ladies and vice presidents, members of congress, supreme court justices paying their respects today in the nations capital for the 39th president of the u.s. it's been six days of tributes for the 39th president jimmy carter, the peanut farmer from georgia, became president of the u.s. joining us is lindsay driven ski, executive director of the george washington presidential

library at mount vernon. what stood out to you from this service today? >> a couple things. the eulogies demonstrated carter's appeal to people from multiple sides of the aisle and who president stone always necessarily -- and who presidents don't always necessarily get along with. the last couple decades, the vice presidential relationship can be challenging. it is tricky. carter and mondale were instrumental in setting the tone for what it meant to have a productive relationship. that's the first thing. the second thing was the building itself was filled with 20 century american history. presidents, former president, first ladies, their families, people from policy.

it was fun to see that span of history in one building. host: how did it become customary that you have state funerals in the nations capital and this service at the national cathedral? >> in 1893, congress decided there should be a spot for a national morning location, a cathedral place, some spot where this type of service, prayer or worship could be held. construction of this building didn't start until 1907. as early as woodrow wilson's passing in 1924, there started to be services on the grounds. not always funerals. the funeral of wilson was at his home. the funeral of fdr was in the white house. there was recognition you wanted to have an opportunity for the country to mourn. the national cathedral is

designed to embody that for all people. host: is that the point of a state funeral? the country mourns the passing of a former president? guest: i believe so. it can mean different things to different people. there is recognition even if the president is not in office, they were the former head of state so it makes sense to have a service for them in the nations capital on behalf of the people in recognition even if they don't currently hold powers, they did at one time, and that is a tremendous burden, service and sacrifice. host: we spoke when the former president, the late president came to washington for the final time. you spoke about these state funerals. who gets to decide, who gets to plan them? guest: every element of these funerals, commemorations of the last six days, sometimes it is eight days, reagan had eight

days and carter had planned for a tears but because of new year's, they had to shorten it. they start that process almost the moment they go in the white house. what they learned from john f. kennedy's you don't want to have a president dies suddenly and have no plan. you start that plan in the white house. once they leave, they update it, they evolve, their family expands and grows, they take on new interests, they pick every song, person in attendance, every speaker, every detail is decided by the president and their family. host: the hearse is leaving the national cathedral now. 40 minute estimated drive to joint base andrews where than the casket carrying the late president will board air force one. today, it's call sign is special air mission 39. when the president is not

aboard, the call is special air mission. 39 added today to mark our 39th president. we will continue to watch as the motorcade takes the late president and his family to the air force base. lindsay is the executive director of george washington presidential library, mount vernon, talking about the customs here. what else is customary about the tributes we have seen over the last few days? guest: a lot of customs have evolved since ronald reagan's funeral. he was the first president to have a televised funeral. this is the age of television. every step could be found. prior to that, services tended to be modest, even if they had a state funeral. very customary to have two funerals, one in d.c., one at their final resting place. in terms of carter, we saw three

ceremonies, georgia, d.c. and back to georgia again. some other elements that play a role, the military is involved. the military district of washington dc is in charge of overseeing security and logistics of the moving pieces. if a president has a special connection to a particular branch like carter and the navy, they may choose to honor that through music or symbolic presence. if they have a particular business interest or something in their past they want to highlight, peanuts have been discussed a lot, you might see something like that. usually family, close friends and people important to them when they were in the white house. we usually see some advisor or official that understood them or can speak to who they were and what mattered to them. host: the national cathedral. who is invited? do you have to be invited to be

part of the service? guest: you do. this sounds strange. those invitations are hot commodities. one of those events in d.c. where if you are in that space, you want to be seen and you want to see the people there. there's a lot of clambering over who gets to go to what service. some of that is people want to pay respects and be a part of that memory. there is a decision within the family about who to invite to which place, who to include, usually heads of state are represented, different branches of government, former officials, family members, friends. there are never enough seats for the number of people who want to attend. there sometimes ends up being difficult choices or last-minute juggling if people have to pull out at the last minute. a lot of behind the scenes logistics happening. host: politico said "carter will

accomplish perhaps what no other president could do at this moment, bringing together all five living and current former president, two republican and three democrat." we saw that scene unfold before the service. is it customary for a former president, first lady, vice president, to attend? guest: it is. we talk about the presidents club. we are often referring to them while they are alive and activities they take to support one another. usually there is a visit to the white house. we see photographs. the advice they can give each other because so few people understand what it means to be in that position. they all typically gather when one of their members passes away. we've seen that over the last several decades. that doesn't mean it's always a friendly club. any observer who watched the body language can see some

people were more excited to see others, who did and did not speak to who. the power of that club, of the president of showing up, the institution and recognizing the institution, the fact you don't force them all into one room says a lot. host: usa today reported the president told them, president biden he promised carter he would deliver his eulogy in '21. you heard the president talk about that visit he made to jimmy carter and his wife in '21. "i bent down. he was in tough shape, to kiss him goodbye and he asked me to do his eulogy." the final conversation the two had which marked biden's 100th day in office at that time. is that customary, the current president would deliver these remarks? guest: it's often customary for a current president to deliver a

eulogy especially if they had a decent relationship. george w. bush delivered reagan's eulogy. what was interesting about that state funeral was he and his father delivered eulogies because bush 41 was reagan's vice president. the difference was interesting. bush 41 talked about their personal relationship. some of the funnier stories about reagan. the current president at that time president george w. bush gave more of the biographical approach. it's customary as long as the relationship is somewhat pleasant. host: let's talk about the age jimmy carter lived to. 100. the longest living president. as we watch the presidents club come together today, what if these others were to live to 100? guest: interesting. interesting tradition in

american history were typically presidents don't have that long post presidential lives. partly modern rumson -- partly modern medicine is. we have younger presidents. there was a great series of stats about what would have happened if former president had as long a post presidential life as carter. sometimes that's not possible if they are older in office. if lincoln had had as long of a post presidential life, he would have died in 1909. if theodore roosevelt had one, he would have seen the advent of nuclear weapons. my favorite is if kennedy had died, excuse me, if he had as long a post presidential life, he would have died in 2017. it makes you think about the history carter witnessed and the

time he was able to contribute to making the world a better place. host: president biden said he led on civil rights, he was a hard-working farmer, a president who redefined the relationship with a vice president. interesting coming from joe biden who served as vice president and now is president. guest: at times it seemed like biden and obama seemed close. they appeared close in office. all of those great bromance memes on the internet. as history has come out, there have been stories about there being more tension. since then, there have been some rocky waters in the relationship. we've seen more reporting with kamala harris and president biden. it's hard to have a good relationship between the offices. the vice presidency is weird. it doesn't have citutiol responsibilities. it entirely depends on the

president. their job is to be supportive but clearly they are waiting around. it does not set up easy friendships. host: interesting then that the son of vice president mondale gave those remarks today and talked about the relationship the two of them had. guest: clearly a warm relationship, one that meant a great deal to carter. otherwise i don't think he would have singled mondale out. host: president biden said jimmy carter was a model of post-presidency. what did you make of it? guest: he was. in some ways he was a model for a new type of post president. prior to carter, most former presidents went home, relatively quiet. they didn't participate in politics. they also didn't have a lot of public presence. carter was young. he wanted something to do. he created the carter center. now most presidents have centers

that are not just affiliated with their libraries but also have a philanthropic element. they usually have missions, whether democracy, medicine, health, human rights. carter did all those. he carved a new path for what was possible for former presidents to consider with their time, influence and power. host: his grandson in his eulogy marking, noting the presidential carter center has 3500 employees, 100 and america and the rest across the world. guest: incredible. carter was clearly focused on global affairs. that was true during his presidency. some of his biggest contributions are with foreign policy. i attribute that to his time in the navy. he lived all over. he got to see different types of people. i attribute it to his christian faith.

there's an element of wanting to lift up those struggling the most and he found spaces like the guinea worm or river blindness where he could make a tangible impact on millions of lives. host: jimmy carter the late president on his way home to plains, georgia right now, the motorcade on your screen, still inside washington, under the kennedy center right now, making its way to the beltway, then to joint base andrews. from there, there will be another ceremony. the military will honor the commander-in-chief there with more hail to the chief, 21 gun salute, before the casket is put on air force one today called special air mission 39. carter family will also board there and go to plains, georgia, back home. the late president will be

buried at his home in georgia next to his wife, rosalynn carter, who died over a year ago. being buried, this is his preference, at his home, his wife buried there as well. talk about their home in plains, georgia. is it a public site? guest: it is now. taken over by the national park service. this was the carter's wish. it is not uncommon for presidents to do so once they are no longer living in that particular place in recognition this was where they were formed and their story began. often they will have a presidential library or museum accompanying the site. a good example is the eisenhower museum in kansas. the childhood home of eisenhower next to the museum and presidential library. that is a national park service site. it is not unusual.

what's amazing about carter's decision to go home is he is not being buried at the presidential library. he's being buried at his home with rosalynn. that's a more unusual choice. host: the home built in 1961. you heard his grandson talk about it. modest home, ranch style, pictures all over the refrigerator. what did you make of the description his grandson had of his grandpa? guest: it's not what we typically associate with presidential homes. not that all presidents have been wealthy but usually once they leave office, they write books, give talks, and up living in slightly different circumstances then when they came into office. the commitment signifies a commitment to the community, the church community, the people, neighbors he grew up with an recognition of how much his presence could continue to do for georgia. he didn't have to go back and he

chose to. it's less about the house and more about the roots and wanting to make sure as long as he was able to, he gave back to that space. host: when he left office, he discovered his family farm was in debt. a million dollars in debt. they had to make money. guest: they did. the way he chose to do so was books. he didn't want to give a lot of speeches. he could have. he worried it would somehow shift his preferences or make him seem biased toward a certain group. if he wrote books, he was paid for his words, he felt that was a more honest living. he wrote more books than any other former president, something like 32. as someone who has written books, that makes me feel like a slacker. i am nowhere near that number. it's impressive. it's on all different subjects. he took his hand to poetry.

he wrote about foreign policy. he wrote about his life. incredible way to spend one's time. host: he was honored for his post-presidency work with a nobel peace prize. guest: if you were to add these things up, you almost think you are making it up. how could he fit all these things into their life? his work in foreign policy, trying to continue diplomacy in the middle east, but also a lot of work with democracy and election monitoring. they would serve as election monitors, not involved in any of the political process, such that they could be honest brokers. that's an incredible way to contribute to the spread of democratic ideals. host: his dedication and commitment to public health. he was quoted as saying he wanted to make sure he was alive long enough to see the end of the guinea worm. his grandson talking about the

devastation of that disease in africa, going from millions of cases to 14. guest: unbelievable. remarkable about that choice -- it's not necessarily a disease a lot of people would know about in the u.s. it's not the sexiest cure to come up with. he understood it as something that could make a tangible difference. if you put the weight of the carter center, the funds, power and research behind it, they could move the needle. that's a remarkable thing to do. host: i want to read from politico. the motorcade today is bringing the president and his family to joint base andrews, another ceremony will follow there before special air mission 39 takes off for the final time from washington and brings the president home to plains, georgia.

there will be services there as well. six days of tributes to the commander-in-chief. "son of the south, a former southern baptist and native of south georgia with the accent to match, carter was unambiguously of the deep south with his open hand to black voters, he was not a reminder of the battle days. in 1976 the images from little rock, oxford, tuscaloosa, philadelphia, selma and memphis were all fresh memories, closer than what 9/11 is to today. he was a beneficiary of exquisite timing as well, by running 11 years after the voting rights act, he was able to win over millions of enfranchised southern black people while still retaining the votes of southern whites who remained loyal to their ancestral party, many of them having come of age when franklin

d roosevelt was as popular there as air conditioning." guest: jimmy carter won the south the same way donald trump did this year, this past year. the only southern state he didn't win was virginia. the only state trump didn't win was virginia. the shift of the electorate from the civil rights era and today. carter was shaped by his formative experiences in the south. he grew up in a deeply segregated town. his father was a segregationist. he had a black nanny, housekeeper who was a central figure in his life. when he gave interviews about her, even into his '90s, he would tear up, because of how special she was to him. in his second gubernatorial campaign, he had to play ftse

with segregationist ideas, he towed the line with some of that but the minute he was elected, he said the time for segregation is over and he never looked back. he had the support of people like martin luther king senior, and he brought those ideas to washington and appointed more people of color to the federal judiciary than any president prior combined. host: what also shaped him was his faith and we heard that today. january 9, days away from our next inauguration of the 47 president. washington post "for jimmy carter, faith was inseparable from politics and life. in his inaugural address january 1977, president jimmy carter spoke just for sentences before quoting from scripture." guest: i will go out on a limb and say i don't think we will see that in a week and a half. carter is probably the most

religious former president we have had. it was central to his presidency. not to say all presidents have to be that way. he didn't always like politics. he saw it as a means to an end. he was driven by his faith to make the world a better place. politics was a useful way to do that. sometimes his frustration with politicians, his unwillingness to participate in the d.c. culture reflected that distaste while ultimately still wanting the power to try and actually do something with it. host: one lighthearted moment from today's eulogies was when one of those speakers said "god should be ready for jimmy carter's letting him know how heaven could be a more harmonious place." guest: there were some funny moments today. i'm glad people brought that humor. these are somber events but they should be human events. i appreciated his grandson jason

talked about the time he called him and thought he was taking a picture and did not know how to use his telephone despite being a nuclear engineer. that was one of my favorite moments. host: what about the separation of church and state? faith, religion is always brought into services receipt like this, not just jimmy carter's. devout christian. we've seen it in other services for former president. guest: good question. national cathedral is under the episcopalian umbrella, if i remember correctly. this service is considered nondenominational. it is christian. it has representatives from different christian traditions and backgrounds. yet you raise a valuable point. we have a strict separation in our constitution, the first amendment, that the church and

the state are not necessarily supposed to combine. they can individually for someone's preferences. in this case it was a particularly religious service because carter was so religious himself. you raise a good question. these are things we should be thinking about. what is the appropriate level of religion and commemoration? the appropriate level of religion in the presidency? i suspect every person would have a different answer. they are questions worth discussing. host: the motorcade underway over to joint base andrews and from there the late president will go home to plains, georgia along with the carter family, the four children he and rosalynn had, as well as the many, couple dozen grandchildren and great-grandchildren, many of them attending today. the honor guard on your right at

joint base andrews marching into place. there will be more tributes and honors given to the former commander-in-chief. why do we do things like four flourishes and ruffles and hail to the chief and 21 gun salute? what's the significance? guest: it is in honor of jimmy carter's personal military service. if anyone attended a funeral for someone who served in the military, typically there is a military element toward the end, a salute, a flag presented, that's pretty common, also in recognition he was commander-in-chief. he was commander of the military. he was no longer in that position. as a former commander, receives the honors due to a commander at his passing. host: 21 gun salute, the significance? guest: that stumps me. i should know that. host: that's all right, there's

a lot of details. [laughter] the military overseas this, the joint task force for the capital region overseas this entire funeral. how do they quickly get all the resources we have seen on our screens over the past six days, quickly put everyone in place? do they practice? how is it they pull this off? guest: they do. because this is well-planned, they have a good sense of what is supposed to happen at any given moment, how it is posed to happen, who is involved, where those resources are coming from. as a former president, if it seems somewhat predicable, thankfully carter had a long and glorious life, they are usually given a heads up as things are starting to look like the moment might be nearing. because it is well-planned, there are funds set aside.

the military district is ready to go. that does not mean there is not last-minute scrambling. there always is to pull in people around the holidays. i'm sure people were on leave. some of that leave was canceled. there is a good plan in place. host: the motorcade has entered maryland. we are moments away from the presidential hearse making its way to joint base andrews. the military honors will continue. we have been talking with lindsay, the executive director of the george washington presidential library at mount vernon. when this is over, what are the lessons learned? what does history say about a week like this? guest: couple things. legacies take a long time to unfold. if carter died a couple weeks

after leaving office, we would be having different conversations. partly because the policies he put in place hadn't yet unfolded. we did know how they would work or if they would work or if his diplomatic efforts would pan out. history takes a long time to understand people's roles in it. people will come away with an appreciation of much of what we celebrate carter is above politics. his decency, goodness, humanitarian commitment, service. those are not political things. that is something worth remembering. there are things that are not political. the last piece, i would encourage everyone to think about, we've seen all these ceremonies and regardless about how you feel about the president, they look a lot like ceremonies we have seen across the pond for kings and queens. there's a question about whether we want to do that and what is

the right way to celebrate a former president who was just a citizen like everyone else. host: there is a cost to this as well, we have seen it range and former presidents. and who foots the bill for these state funerals? guest: the american people do. we pay for the servicemen and women, the security, the flights, for all of the services. there is also the cost of -- these are usually national day of mourning, that was true for reagan, ford, h w bush and that was true for today and that means all federal employees are given the day off and their income is paid. so as you said, the cost can really range. but the estimates for reagan's funeral including that day of service was 400 million dollars. we have of course since then,

seen inflation, so ask it would be higher. the executive director of the george washington library, we thank you for your insight and for teaching us about history today. thank you very much. guest: thank you for having me. i appreciate it. host: we will continue to watch the motorcade in maryland, just outside the nation's capitol, the presidential hearse carrying the late president along with his family to joint base andrews . we will be able to watch the motorcade and what is happening just outside of special air mission 39, that is air force one, you can see the cars arriving, carrying the family and other dignitaries. there will be a short military ceremony here at joint base andrews. let's watch.

host: jimmy carter, the late president, 39th president of the united states, leaving washington for the final time here in the series, a weeklong series of tributes to him. the commander-in-chief will take off in air force one. today it is known though as special intermission 39, which marks him as the 30 ninth president of the united states. at joint base andrews there are 200 members with their families there. what we will see here as the motorcade arrives, the hearse will open.

the joint chiefs will move into their positions to honor their commander-in-chief. the family then will also get into place for more military honors. it will include 4 ruffles and flourishes, which is the highest military honor. "hail to the chief," will be played. interestingly, the former president wanted to ban "hail to the chief" being played when he entered the room as president. and today they will be another 21-gun salute, all the military honors for the 39th president. following that, the air force band will play "o master, let me walk with thee." then on the first note is when a joint service team will carry the late president's remains through the aircraft loader. once the aircraft is ready,

special air mission 39 begins to taxi for departure. as it does, a special honor guard will remain in position to render one final salute as the aircraft departs washington, and jimmy carter leaves the nation's capitol for the final time.

host: jimmy carter, the longest living president. he was a citizen quarter after he served in president and was known as mr. jimmy. he was be -- will be buried at the home he shared with his wife. they built it in 1961. according to georgia 11 alive news, the current home and

garden is part of this elite of the jimmy carter historical park in plains, georgia, but is still fully a private residence and not accessible to the public. a private internment will happen later today at the carter home at 5:20 p.m. eastern time where president carter will take his final resting place next to his beloved rosalynn, who died november 19, 2023 at the age of 96. we heard from his grandson, jason carter, that in his final days, the late president jimmy carter said he wanted to go see his rosalynn.

host: the motorcade carrying the late president jimmy carter is now on the grounds of joint base andrews, just outside the nation's capitol in maryland. you can see the special honor guard in place along with their spouses. the joint chiefs also there. 200 military members on site to say goodbye from washington, to

their former commander-in-chief. jimmy carter, the 39th president of the united states. we will see military honors take place here once again throughout this week along tribute to the late president. he has seen military honors of ruffles and flourishes "hail to , the chief," a 21-gun salute, and others. let's listen and watch.

♪

[gun salute]

[♪ceremonial music plays♪]

host: air force one, getting ready to taxi to the side of the nation's capitol. the carter family have climbed

the steps to air force one and are aboard. today,'s call sign is not air force one, it is special air mission 39, to mark the legacy of our 39th president, jimmy carter, who died at 100 on december 29. the special honor guard departing from their positions. we expect special air mission 39 will taxi soon and what you will see then is the national honor guard getting in place for one final salute as it departs joint base andrews for that loss on army airfield that fort moore , georgia. then from there, a motorcade will take the president and his family to plains, georgia where there will be a private internment at the carter residence, before the president then is laid to rest next to his wife, rosalynn carter. they were married for more than 70 years.

[♪steady drumbeat♪]

host: we are waiting to hear from andrews air force base, for the departure of lee president jimmy carter, aboard air force one. today's call sign is special air mission 39. at the bottom of your screen is the special honor guard remaining in position to render one final salute of the aircraft departs from washington to go home to georgia.

host: the nation's 39th president, jimmy carter, the commander-in-chief, receiving one final salute from the military, as the air force one known as special air mission 39 taxis just outside of washington for the final list of from the nation's capital -- the final lift-off, from the nation's capitol. the former peanut farmer and president of the united states, is going home to plains, georgia, where he will be laid to rest later today.

[airplane engine roars] [wind howling]

announcer: the casket carrying the remains of late president jimmy carter on his way to georgia for a private funeral and internment service at the carter home in plains, georgia. look for live coverage of those events on the c-span networks.

coming up, senate minority leader chuck schumer and senate democrats, holding a press conference on their priority for the 119th congress, live at 2:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span3. ♪ announcer: c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more, including sparklight. >> what is great internet? is it strong, is it fast? is it reliable? at sparklight, we know connection goes beyond technology. from monday morning meetings to friday nights with friends, and everything in between. that the best connections are always there right when you need them. how do you know it's great internet? because it works. we're sparklight, and are always working for you. announcer: sparklight supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat for democracy. ♪

south dakota governor kristi noem has been nominated to serve as homeland security secretary mnuchin trump administration. she was first elected in 2018 after serving in the u.s. house of representatives for eight years. prior to congress, she was also a state representative from 2007 until 2011. up next, a look at governor kristi noem in 2021 as she addressed the annual conservative political action conference known as cpac. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome south dakota governor kristi noem. [applause]