homes, the carter center, trying to eradicate different diseases, rare diseases around the world. this is someone who did not rest after he left the presidency. he could have left and gone into the shadows and he stayed in the spotlight. not because it was about him he stayed in the spotlight to help other it's an absolutely remarkable legacy and one that's the modern template for post presidency and by the way, david template that hasn't really been equal so david spunt justice correspondent thank you so much for joining us today. a day where president jimmy carter has died at the age of 100. very much appreciated.

length of pennsylvania avenue

from the capitol to the white house. the first president ever to do this. born in plains, georgia in 1924 to peanut farming parents, carter attended the naval academy, earning the rank of lieutenant. in 1946, he married rosalynn smith and returned to plains in 1953 to run the family farming business. it was there that carter developed an interest in politics. he was elected state senator in 1962 and governor of georgia in 1970. i am a candidate for president. when he announced plans to run for president in 1974, carter was largely an unknown, but he managed to win his party's nomination and edge out incumbent president gerald ford by just 2% of the popular vote, one of the closest margins in recent history. president carter's greatest triumph came in 1978, when he brokered marathon diplomatic talks between israel's menachem begin and anwar sadat of egypt. the

resulting camp david accords ended years of fighting between the two countries. >> we've got to stop crying and start sweating, stop talking and start walking. stop cursing and start praying. >> the late 70s were a time of oil shortages, high unemployment, and double digit inflation. carter worked diligently to solve these problems, but the economy slipped into a recession. then, an event that would dominate the remainder of carter's presidency, iranian militants captured and held 52 american embassy employees hostage in tehran. unable to negotiate their release, carter ordered a rescue mission which ended in disaster. eight american servicemen died when their helicopters collided in the iranian desert. >> americans in iran were mistreated. >> in 1980, voters rejected carter's bid for a second term.

and to add insult to injury, on the day he left office, the american hostages in tehran were released to the new reagan administration. carter returned to georgia and through his nonprofit carter center, remained active in efforts to promote peace around the world. his efforts were successful, and he garnered more respect after he left office than while he was in it. despite countless controversial statements in recent years, including calls for the u.s. to legitimize the terror group hamas, which is openly committed to the destruction of israel, he helped convince haitian military dictator raoul cedras to relinquish control of the island nation to elected leader jean-bertrand aristide. he monitored elections in nicaragua and helped end a standoff over inspection of nuclear facilities between the u.s. and north korea. carter was often seen with hammer in hand, poor. as part of his continuing support for the habitat for humanity project. he wrote

countless books, including one book of poetry and a memoir. in may 2002, carter took his first, but not last, trip to cuba, the first american president to visit in more than 40 years. he called for the u.s. to end its trade embargo while challenging fidel castro to institute democratic reforms. later that year, the former president won the nobel peace prize for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts. during a trip to the middle east in the summer of 2009, an alleged assassination plot by an al qaeda linked group was uncovered. though the president's aides said they had no knowledge of the plot against him, in the summer of 2010, carter traveled to north korea, successfully securing the release of an american citizen who had been sentenced to eight years of hard labor after allegedly entering the country illegally. upon his return, carter advocated the

need for a comprehensive peace treaty with the isolated country, arguing pyongyang was ready to talk and that the u.s. should come to the table. carter didn't hesitate to criticize the only other living president to be awarded the nobel peace prize, denouncing president obama for carrying out widespread drone strikes and warrantless wiretapping. he also said the obama administration waited too long to respond to the rising threat of isis. just months later, carter announced he had melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. tackling the diagnosis with a measure of faith and fortitude through his cancer treatment, the former president remained active, continuing his charitable and religious activities. >> i don't know what the results will be, but i'm ready for whatever comes. >> months later, he was declared cancer free. he continued to hammer away at his charitable work with habitat for humanity all the way into his 90s. >> i feel like we always get more out of it than we than we

put into it. although we work sometimes very hard and overwork on occasion. >> and in one of his last major public appearances, made a show of bipartisanship, joining four other living presidents at the funeral service of george h.w. bush in 2018. second chances james earl carter thrived on them. >> i've had a wonderful life. i've had thousands of friends and i've had an exciting and adventurous and gratifying existence. >> and over time, americans developed a renewed appreciation for a man who resoundingly lost a reelection bid. this gentleman farmer from plains, georgia, who rose to become the 39th president of the united states. in washington, bret baier, fox news. >> again, our condolences to those who loved and have now lost the former president of the united states, jimmy carter. we've just received a statement from president clinton and secretary clinton on the passing of president

jimmy carter. they say hillary and i mourn the passing of jimmy carter and give thanks for his long, good life, guided by his faith. president carter lived to serve others until the very end, from his commitment to civil rights as a state senator and governor of georgia, to his efforts as president to protect our national resources in the arctic national wildlife refuge. make energy conservation a national priority. return the panama canal to panama and secure peace between egypt and israel at camp david. to his post-presidential efforts at the carter center. supporting honest elections, advancing peace, combating disease and promoting democracy to his and roseland's devotion and hard work at habitat for humanity. he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world. hillary and i met president carter in 1975 and were proud early supporters of his presidential campaign. i will always be proud to have presented the medal of freedom to him and rosalynn in 1999, and to have

worked with him in the years after he left the white house. our prayers are with jack, chip, jeff, amy and their families. of course, the carters had four children mediabuzz host howie kurtz joining us now. he is on the phone. howie, thank you for calling in and chatting with us. and as we look back at a long and remarkable life, your thoughts, your reflections now. >> well, what jimmy carter did in getting himself elected, a little known peanut farmer and somebody who most people have never heard of was to create the modern day iowa caucuses, because he went there and just sort of camped out for two years. and the fact that as a former one term governor of georgia, he won the election. what resonated? people forget now, because it's been a long time, is he said, that i will never lie to you. and this was proved to be a winning message in the wake of richard nixon

and watergate and running against the unelected president gerald ford. that's not to say that his presidency didn't have a lot of problems. it did, as brett has just recounted. but it showed that, you know, the next time around, everybody went and camped out because that became the route to a potential victory. of course, most of them didn't manage to win election, and i interviewed him once after he was no longer president. and it kind of summed up jimmy carter, the person which is i ended up asking him about the killer rabbit story, because there was this tale that supposedly had his aides had told over a few drinks to reporters about him being in a boat and being attacked by a rabbit. >> only you, howie. >> and he had and he had good. he was good natured about it, and he said it was exaggerated and all of that. so while jimmy carter, as president and as brett pointed out, you know, with the notable exception of

bringing israel and egypt together during an arduous 13 day negotiation at camp david, it nevertheless, he was a very decent human being, and he once gave a speech that was called the malaise speech, even though he never used the word malaise when he was trying to reset his presidency. so i don't think, in retrospect that we ought to, you know, overly glorify what he did. but he was president for four years, and during that time he got some things done. but of course, it was the hostage crisis. i think that ultimately proved his undoing. >> yeah, some great points. he certainly faced enormous challenges during the course of his administration, as many presidents do, i suppose. but he also was unique in, in essence, where, you know, we had talked just briefly in one of the prior hours about his his efforts to reach across the spectrum in the music world and how he brought in all of these

different kinds of personalities. there was even a documentary made about it. i think it came out in 2020. jimmy carter, rock n roll president, the allman brothers. i mean, it was really kind of a raucous time. he seemed to really be enjoying himself. >> yeah. you know, after a lot of presidents who were photographed on the beach, you know, wearing suits he did, coming from georgia, have the support of the allman brothers. that was a big deal for him. and he would often wear jeans. and he seemed and he you know, people forget this at the beginning of his presidency when the country was still behind him, he would do these fireside chats, did one of them with walter cronkite, another legendary name, obviously, from that period. and so he got off to a pretty good start. you know, we should all obviously live to be 100. that would be nice. and it wasn't until later that, you know, those struggles, particularly with the economy and particularly with inflation raging out of control, that he had a more difficult time, but he was not

unlike being a southern democrat, i think was crucial for him. and i covered that 1976 convention. and, you know, again, people had never heard of him, and he got himself elected. but the fact that inflation was soaring out of control, little echo of what we face today, i think, was also proved to sort of be his undoing. and it was thought to be a very close race until that one debate, when ronald reagan shook his head and said, there you go again. and carter seemed kind of overly tight and wired. and that ended his four year run. now, it's a cliche, i suppose, to say that carter was a better post president with, as again, brett pointed out in his obituary package, doing things like habitat for humanity and building houses and all that. but i wouldn't be so quick to write off the carter presidency. anybody who serves four years has to deal

with a lot of difficult crises, and by the end, people were ready for a change from jimmy carter. >> and he was a poet and a prolific author and so many other things over the course of that long lifetime. yes. howie kurtz, thank you so much. we really appreciate you joining us and sharing your insights tonight. my pleasure. rich, molly. >> more statements pouring in this from house speaker mike johnson, who says because of his work, carter in brokering the camp david accords and his advocacy with habitat for humanity. the world is a more peaceful place and more americans have a place to call home. his republican counterpart over in the senate, john thune, the incoming senate majority leader, said today we mourn the passing of a dedicated public servant and a man of faith. we've got more statements than that. lucas tomlinson is now joining us from saint croix. lucas, some presidential reaction to jimmy carter's death. what can you tell us? >> that's right. rich, just in the last few seconds, we've now heard from president biden. of

course, president biden was one of the first senators in congress to endorse jimmy carter for president. i'm going to read president biden's statement for you right now. it's quite lengthy. it says today, america and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian over six decades. we had the honor of calling jimmy carter a dear friend. but what's extraordinary about jimmy carter, though, is that millions of people throughout america and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. with his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, and house the homeless, and always advocate for at least the least among us. he saved, lifted and changed the lives of people all across the globe. he was a man of great character and courage, hope and optimism. we will always cherish seeing him in rosalynn together, the love shared between jimmy and rosalynn carter is the definition of partnership, and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism. we will miss them both dearly, but

take solace knowing they are reunited once again and will remain forever in our hearts. to the entire carter family. we send our gratitude for sharing them with america and the world to their staff. from the earliest days to their final ones, we have no doubt that you will continue to do the good works that carry on their legacy. and to the young people in this nation, for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning, the good life study jimmy carter, a man of principle, faith and humility. he showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people, decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong. to honor a great american, i will be offering an official state funeral to be held in washington, dc for james earl carter jr, 39th president of the united states, 76th governor of georgia, lieutenant of the united states navy, graduate of the united states naval academy, and favored son of plains, georgia, who gave his full life in service to country and to god. now i also

have a statement from former president, president elect donald trump that just came in as well. i'll read that. i just heard of the news about the passing of president jimmy carter. those of us who have been fortunate to have served as president understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the greatest nation in history. the challenges jimmy faced as president came at a pivotal time for our country, and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all americans. for that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude. melania and i are thinking warmly of the carter family and loved ones during this difficult time. we urge everyone to keep them in their hearts and prayers. so it's notable we did not hear a date for that funeral, but we can expect it after the holidays. it's not clear right now if we're going to hear from president biden in person, but we do have that statement right there. and we just read that from president elect trump. it's also notable, rich, that when president biden was senator biden in 1978 as a 35

year old senator, he was the first to warn jimmy carter that ted kennedy was launching a bid to oust him for the nomination. the democratic nomination in 1980, after his time as president. of course, it's worth noting that as we heard from david, not only is jimmy carter the first naval academy president in 1953, jimmy carter thought he had a career in the navy. he was a submarine officer. he worked for admiral rickover. admiral rickover had just put in, said he should be promoted, and. but jimmy carter's father died very young, at age 59, in 1953. and then lieutenant jimmy carter had to leave the navy. he was set for a career in the navy. his wife, rosalynn, loved the navy, didn't want him to leave the navy. when his father, earl, died in 1953, jimmy carter returned to plains, georgia to take over the family business. and the rest is history. >> of course, i guess there is

no better person to talk about his career in the united states navy and his history with the u.s. naval academy. than you and i want to talk a little bit about what kind of naval service he entered at the time. it was a new frontier for the united states navy. when he graduated the academy. what was his service like and broaden that out in the context of what was ongoing in naval warfare in the late 1940s and 50s? >> well, rich, of course, the nuclear navy was in its infancy. you know, the uss nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine to circumnavigate the globe that was the brainchild of admiral hyman rickover. he took jimmy carter under his wing again. he recommended him for promotion. after a tour aboard a submarine, jimmy carter, then lieutenant carter, worked for hyman rickover, admiral rickover, and so jimmy carter was a navy man through and through. he loved the navy. he thought he was destined for a career in the navy, and certainly his time in the navy

helped him as president. it's worth noting that much has been made of the defense budget being cut under the carter administration. but it's worth noting that even when he left office in january of 1980, the united states was still spending about 4.5% of its economy on defense. you compare that to today, that number is about 3%. and many people would argue the threats to the world today are much greater than they were during the cold war with a single adversary, the soviet union. but there's no question, you know, the iranian hostage crisis at the u.s. embassy in tehran played a large role. it's very notable that during the hostage crisis, just a month into it, the soviet union invaded afghanistan, bringing in new crisis to the carter white house. he put an embargo on u.s. grain to the soviet union. many american farmers were unhappy about that. he also led a boycott of the 1980 olympics in moscow, much to the dismay of some of the athletes and many americans. what's notable

there was another embassy crisis, this one in london at the iranian embassy in london in april of 1980. it was a it was a six day siege, and it was the first time the world learned about the sas, the special air service equivalent to the navy seals and the delta force, or seal team six. and margaret thatcher was in her infancy as prime minister. and she did not want. these were iranian arabs that took over the iranian embassy in london, and they were a separatist group. they wanted independence for a small province in southwest iran called arabistan. they called it. today it's khuzestan. it was a, you know, oil producing region. there was a lot of pressure on the british to free those hostages. the sas went in after six days. and this, of course, was weeks after the failed desert eagle when special forces were launched to rescue the american hostages in tehran. so just days after the failure of the u.s. military to rescue those 52 americans in

tehran, the british had a much different outcome. they were very successful. it helped give margaret thatcher, you know, her her nickname, the iron lady. and certainly that led into, you know, the reagan administration as well. and of course, those american hostages weren't released until minutes after ronald reagan became president. so, as we've heard from other guests this evening, that certainly president carter was known more for his failures for his stagflation, for the, you know, how things went in the country. but certainly after his time in office, his work with habitat for humanity and certainly the camp david accords in 1978, when for 13 days he had the president of egypt and prime minister of israel essentially holed up at camp david, a place he spent about a quarter of his presidency. he loved going there. we heard of that from some other guests. he loved woodworking. he loved spending time on the lake. but certainly the camp david accords, you know, it was the first time, you know, after the 1967 war, that israel had given some territory back and helped

secure some peace, and something that president carter was later recognized for with the nobel peace prize 24 years later, major peace treaty between israel and egypt and its arab neighbors. >> a watershed moment in the history of the region, one that was spearheaded by then president jimmy carter. lucas tomlinson, thank you so much for that perspective down in saint croix, traveling with president biden, molly rich, we're now joined by east stanly godbold, author of jimmy and rosalynn carter a biography, a long life, that we are looking back on. >> and, sir, we're grateful to have your insights. you wrote a very unique, a very expansive biography, perhaps one of the most expansive ever written. and we're looking back on the life of a man who was a man of service and faith, a president. he was a poet and an author. he led this great love story to some extent. it's like, where do you even begin? so i just want to get your opening thoughts. >> well, it is it's tough to know where to begin because as you said, he did so many things. and it's hard to

summarize in a few words, but i would say we have to remember him and rosalynn both as two of the greatest humanitarians and peacemakers of their era. almost everything they dealt with had to do with humanitarian causes and with peace efforts. the camp david accords, of course, are celebrated. but in diplomacy, anytime he sent a diplomat to the soviet union, he also was to discuss getting political prisoners out of jail and other political and other humanitarian concerns. he, of course, did negotiate the salt two treaty, which was never ratified. as things as things changed, one of the unknown things about a lesser known things about jimmy carter is that he's the president who actually rebuilt the us military after the war in vietnam. he was a strong man,

capable of dealing with any challenges. and his idea was powerful piece. if the us was to be the peacekeeper of the world, it also had to be the most powerful military nation in the world. and so he and his advisors developed much of the technology that was used in the gulf war. and since in american military efforts, he also believed in freedom. he believed in democracy. he is well known for his religion, for his faith, but he believed passionately in the separation of church and state. he understood and lived his life. directly, manage the presidency and the post-presidency with the argument that for a people to be free, there has to be a separation of church and state, no religious domination,

religious freedom, freedom from religion. that's one of his. that's one of his major legacies. and in his post-presidency, he pursued the same things that he pursued while he was president. there's only one jimmy carter. he was consistent from his governorship, through the presidency and through the long post-presidency. he is well known for his work with habitat for humanity, of course, but that was only one week out of the year. the other 51 weeks he worked with the carter presidential center to promote peace, human rights, health, democracy around the world. it should also be noted t

was helping people who were mentally ill, which was expanded into any kind of. caregiving. so they not only left the legacy of the institution in atlanta. the carter presidential center, but also the rosalynn carter institute in. america, said their alma mater, georgia southwestern university. so besides what we know about him through history, the magnificent example they set for what a president and first lady should be not only president and first lady, but any decent human being should be. they left behind institutions to carry on their work. well established and financed institutions that carry on their work. one of your other guests mentioned carter's writings. that's another thing that is often not given enough emphasis about him. he was a writer. he wrote

more than 20 books. they are autobiographical. they are also historical. an hour before daylight, which deals with his growing up in the jim crow era, right before the civil rights era in plains, georgia. it's just a masterpiece of historical memoir, as well as presidential memoir. we the world owes the carters all the respect that it can possibly muster to give them. and since i first interviewed carter in 1994, both carter's in their living room in plains. we've gotten to be very close to them. and of course, we are extremely saddened at his passing, but we also are happy to have known them. and we think that our world today is much better than it would have been had they never lived. and we hope his legacy and influence will live for quite a

long time, for generations to come. >> east stanly godbold beautifully said and our condolences to you as one of jimmy carter's many, many friends, which he had talked about loving and having so much throughout the course of a very unique and long life time. thank you very much for sharing all of that history with us and so beautifully said. thank you sir. >> thank you for inviting me. >> and we also have a statement right now coming in. this is from president george w bush on the passing, of course, of president jimmy carter. he writes, laura and i send our heartfelt condolences to jack, chip, jeff and amy and the entire carter family. james earl carter jr was a man of deeply held convictions. he was loyal to his family, his community and his country. president carter dignified the office and his efforts to leave behind a better world didn't end with the presidency. his work with habitat for humanity and the carter center set an example of service that will inspire americans for

generations to come. we join our fellow citizens in giving thanks for jimmy carter and in prayer for his family. >> rich molly, we're following reaction across the country and around the world to the death of jimmy carter, the 39th president of the united states. stay with us. we'll be right back. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states. the office of president of the united states. >> and will, to the best of my ability. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> preserve, protect and defend. preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. congratulations. >> in this family, we never give up. saint jude has helped push the overall survival rate from 20% to more than 80% within the us. but that means 1 in 5 children still won't survive. and every kid in this

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defeating incumbent gerald ford. but term was married by domestic, marred by domestic and foreign issues. he faced several economic challenges, including high inflation and gas shortages. he also struggled with problems overseas, most notably the iran hostage crisis. carter lost his 1980 reelection bid to ronald reagan in a landslide. after leaving the white house, carter devoted his post-presidency to humanitarian efforts and won the nobel peace prize in 2002. he also worked extensively with habitat for humanity, volunteering to build houses well into his 90s. we now have on the phone ed rollins, a former campaign manager for the reagan bush campaign in 1984. and ed, thank you for joining us this sunday, this sunday evening here. you know, if you could just sort of describe the era in which carter served here, he took over, defeated gerald ford, the president then, who was nixon's vice president in 1976. and, you know, came as this obscure candidate in in 1976, won the

democratic nomination and then the white house all the way through, you know, really losing quite badly in 1980, unexpectedly, carter won the nomination in 1980. >> and i think what the one major change as far as politics is, he went out and he campaigned not as a traditional democrat, but as someone who basically went into the grassroots of iowa, slept in individual people's homes and did a real grassroots campaign that had not been done in a long time. he obviously had some support among the evangelicals, being an evangelical himself. at the end of the day, he was he had one term as governor of georgia. he was not very experienced as a governor and wasn't very experienced as a president. and i think he came along at a very complicated time, both economically and internationally. and i think he'll be remembered as a decent human being who cared very much for human rights. i differed with him obviously a lot on politics, and i served in the white house, reagan white house

right after he left, and a lot of things we had to change. but at the end of the day, his long life, his his good works, his constant love of america, i think is what he'll be remembered for, you know, and he and his administration tend to reflect a little bit on an administration from a one term democrat more than 40 years later, and that in the current president, president joe biden, how similar do you see these, these one term presidents? well, i think they'll both be when historians step back and measure their presidencies, both of them will be sort of at the bottom of the list, not as human beings, but as as what they accomplished as presidents. and i think to a certain extent, biden had been the exact opposite. biden had sort of been in in town forever as a senator and as a vice president before he got elected. he knew the town. he just couldn't function effectively. and carter did not know the town and the things that the people he picked didn't, didn't get him moving forward. and a very complicated

world at that time. and in the 80s and, and the late 70s. so i think to a certain extent, you know, he served he served his time well. he'll be remembered fondly by many democrats and fondly by americans. but he was not a historic president. >> when you look at his relationship with congress and at times, a democratic congress, he still was was at odds with his own party at times, wasn't he? >> he absolutely was. he was he he and speaker o'neill were not were not close. and obviously he didn't come. he came to town with sort of an attitude that i'm the president, i can do whatever i want to do. and he treated them sort of like the legislature in georgia. and they weren't they were a very established congress. they had gone through nixon and ford teams. a lot of people had been elected in 74 and 78 that hadn't been there before. so he had he had tough times. >> i guess part of it would be a credit to longevity, just given how long that he had a post-presidency. but he had

arguably the most prolific post-presidency in the modern era. do you think that we are ever going to see a president have a career after leaving the oval office like this? >> i don't think so. i don't think anybody anyone's going to leave and go back to their well, he was a peanut farmer. he went back to being a peanut farmer. he was not a not a rich man. he was a poor man and a well-to-do but not not rich in the terms of today's politics. and i don't think anybody can ever run a campaign like he ran before. the total grassroots, those worlds have changed dramatically. but i think he did good. the habitat with he was involved in the building of over 4000 houses for the poor. he always he'd go to four communities across the world. he'll be well remembered. >> you know, of course, with president trump's term out of office, he was not shy about commenting on things going on around the world. but we have seen among more recent presidents, a retrenchment a

little bit from politics and not necessarily commenting on the stories of the day. president carter, when he left office, directly inserted himself into into developments around the world. he traveled to haiti and negotiated there and north korea. i mean, we see something like that again. >> what happened with carter was carter forgot he wasn't president anymore. and when he was asked by reagan and other presidents to go on various missions, he would go and particularly in the in central america and probably messed up a lot of things that he that he did by giving his opinion as opposed to the administration that had sent him there. they sent him as an envoy, and he thought he was still the president. so i think after after a while, i know the reagan white house, we quit using him. and i think every other white house did too. >> so looking forward now, we're going to have a state funeral and the services with with the president. this with

all the statements that are coming out from from republicans and democrats alike. this is a time much like it was when president george h.w. bush died six years ago, to come together as a nation and remember a president who we've lost. do you think that this is probably going to be one of the last times that that we have that that sense of comity going into the second trump term? >> the nation is a lot more polarized than it was when he was president. i mean, reagan never attacked him in the course of the campaign. and i think, to a certain extent, the politics have changed. and i'm not saying for the better, they just have changed. and we are very divided as a country today. you know, he was a president who won in 1980. he lost 44 states four years later to ronald reagan. in 1976, he won. and reagan won 44 states in and 49in 1984. so the

landscape changed on carter. and carter again. was was not a traditional democrat. no one thought he would he would be the nominee, and he ended up being the nominee through a complicated primary process that's no longer out there. >> all right. well, ed rollins, thank you so much for your time and perspective this evening. very much appreciated. >> my pleasure. thank you very much, molly. >> we now have a statement. this is from nancy pelosi on the passing of former president jimmy carter. she says today, our nation and our world has lost a leader who embodied dignity and decency, grace and goodness. paul and i join in mourning the loss of president jimmy carter and in giving thanks for his life, which was saintly in its devotion to public service and peace. at the heart of president carter's public service was his fervent commitment to honoring the spark of divinity within every person. he always defended that spark, whether teaching sunday school in his beloved marantha baptist church, brokering the landmark camp david accords to pave the way to peace, or building homes with habitat for

humanity. as president, his work to restore integrity to the political arena during a difficult chapter in our history was a testament to his firm faith in the sanctity of the public good, which he always placed above his own. after leaving the white house, he carried on his service, leading perhaps the most impactful post-presidency in history. president carter's love for his wife, first lady rosalynn carter, is immortal. their beautiful bond and partnership in service were a wonder to behold. may it be a comfort to their children jack, chip, jeff and amy, and the entire carter family that so many mourn their loss and are praying for them at this sad time. we have former georgia democratic senator sam nunn joining us to talk about the long life of jimmy carter, the legacy that he held. sir, can you hear us? >> i do, what a beautiful tribute you just made.

>> this was a lovely sentiment that that nancy pelosi had relayed, that there were a great many mourning and praying today, and you were among those that had a very long relationship with the former president. if you could talk a little bit about what you're thinking right now as we're looking back on his lifetime, on his presidency, and really a much broader lifetime and love story, well, what a wonderful love story with rosalynn. >> they were both tremendous leaders. both rosalynn and jimmy made an indelible imprint on georgia, on our nation and the world. and for jimmy carter, what a full life of leadership, of discipline and of courage, of accomplishments. it was a remarkable life, and i think he set an example for public service and for faith and for dedication to human rights. that will be a permanent imprint for the good on our nation and the world.

>> you know, you were serving as a u.s. senator at the time that jimmy carter was also in washington, compatriots of sorts. so you were able to witness really a long life, a political life. there's been this long story beyond his time serving in government. but your thoughts, looking back on that time during the administration? >> well, i think if you look at his record, it's quite remarkable. the camp david accords, that's the part of the middle east that the peace accords that have held that that's held. and even right now, it's hell with egypt and israel. and that's a remarkable and permanent accomplishment. he followed through, and many people don't know the tremendous credit he's due for following through on the nixon and kissinger accomplishments in breaking through with china. the carter came behind that, and he could have gone in another direction very easily

and could have benefited him politically. but he did not. he stuck with the accord that they had made involving very sensitive issues like taiwan. and so that was a remarkable act of leadership resulting in normalization. and so carter accomplished a great deal both in the middle east and i think with china. and he also had a tremendous effect in terms of his example on human rights, which has affected the world and continues to affect the world in terms of a standard of behavior that leaders all over the world are held accountable to. now, even if they don't honor those commitments, it makes a big difference. and as far as georgia is concerned, i mean, he made a big difference in the way the south is perceived by the nation in terms of civil rights and our ability to get along. black and

white citizens working together. carter inspired a great deal of that. he moved the ball forward on civil rights and made an indelible imprint on that for good. and so it's just a series of things that jimmy carter accomplished that were remarkable. and probably right at the top of the list was his faith, his servant leadership. so he not only expressed his religion and his deep devotion to the bible and his teachings and the example of jesus, but he also showed with his good works that he really was a very sincere and devoted what i would call a servant leader. so all of those things i would think will be a part of what jimmy carter is remembered for in history. >> senator nunn, you touched on something just a moment ago that i think might get to where some of the heart came from, and former president carter

wrote a little bit about this in his book about growing up in the segregated south and how deeply that affected him in these close relationships that he had with other african-american families. and how that changed, how he thought about even broadly american education and, and all sorts of things that affected his heart seemingly throughout the course of his entire life. >> well, he did, and jimmy carter was a person with tremendous courage. he did not display that courage in ways that others did. but his moral courage, his physical courage, the places he went, the risk he took, his spiritual courage and his intellectual courage. remarkable. i travel with him to china. i travel with him to haiti. he and general powell and i went there twice. a lot of risk in that. in that regard. he was a person of tremendous faith, which propelled also tremendous courage.

>> you know, when it's that is one of the most remarkable things about him and about his faith journey and how steadfastly he held this wasn't necessarily a plus as he was running for the presidency. oftentimes, the faith of a given president can come under question. your thoughts on how he dealt with that? >> well, he lived the life that he preached, and that was evident to people. it was not as evident while he was president as it was after he was president. but it was there all along. he had deep faith. he believed in, in the example of jesus. and he believed that example applied to all religions. it was not necessarily the christian faith, but it was the example of jesus as a servant leader that jimmy carter followed. and he did it with tremendous, i think, modesty. he did it with humility. he did it out of real, i would call it very apparent love for his fellow human beings. and that came

through. people understood that about jimmy carter, even if they didn't agree with his politics. so i think he'll be remembered as a servant leader as much as a political leader. >> former senator from georgia, sam nunn, thank you for your reflections as we're looking back on a long, remarkable life. the former president, jimmy carter. thank you, sir rich. >> thank you, thank you molly. >> reactions pouring in from across the political spectrum lucas tomlinson is joining us now from saint croix, where president biden is spending his holiday. lucas, even more from carter's successor, including former president obama. >> that's right. rich, we just received a statement from former president barack obama. i will read it. it says, quote, for decades, you could walk into maranatha baptist church in plains, georgia, on some sunday mornings and see hundreds of tourists from around the world crammed into the pews and standing in front of them, asking with a wink if there were any visitors that

morning would be president jimmy carter preparing to teach sunday school, just like he has done for most of his adult life. some who came to hear him speak were undoubtedly there because of what president carter accomplished in his four years in the white house, the camp david accords he brokered that reshaped the middle east, the work he did to diversify the federal judiciary, including nominating a pioneering women's rights activist and lawyer named ruth bader ginsburg to the federal bench. the environmental reforms he put in place, becoming one of the first leaders in the world to recognize the problem of climate change. others were likely there because of what president carter accomplished in the longest and most impactful post-presidency in american history, monitoring more than 100 elections around the world, helping virtually eliminate guinea worm disease and infection that had haunted africa for centuries, becoming the only former president to earn a nobel peace prize and building or repairing thousands of homes in more than a dozen countries. with his beloved rosalynn as part of habitat for

humanity. but i'm willing to bet that many people in that church on sunday morning were there, at least in part because of something more fundamental president carter's decency. elected in the shadow of watergate, jimmy carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. and he did. advocating for the public good, consequences be damned. he believes some things were more important than reelection. things like integrity, respect and compassion, because jimmy carter believed as deeply as he believed anything, that we are all created in god's image. whenever i had a chance to spend time with president carter, it was clear that he didn't just profess these values, he embodied them. and in doing so, he taught us all what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service. this nobel acceptance speech, president carter said, quote, god gives us the capacity for choice we can choose to alleviate, alienate suffering. we can choose to work together for peace. he made that choice again and again over the course of his 100 years. and the world is better for it. maranatha

baptist church will be a quieter place on sundays, but president carter will never be away. buried alongside rosalynn next to a willow tree down the road, his memory calling all of us to heed our better angels, michelle and i send our thoughts and prayers to the carter family and everyone who loved them, and learned from this remarkable man and rich. just reading that statement and touching on president carter being one of the first environmental presidents is notable. president carter was the first to put solar panels on the roof of the white house. president reagan later took him down, but certainly that's one key aspect of president carter's presidency. now, we have another statement that we just received from jd vance, this one via x, which i'll also read. it says, quote, jimmy carter dedicated his life to serving this country. our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones. may he rest in peace. so there you have it, from the former president barack obama and the incoming vice president, jd vance. of course, we remember president

carter's own vice president, walter mondale. and for president biden, certainly this is something near and dear to his heart. he was a big supporter of jimmy carter. he was one of the first senators to endorse jimmy carter when he ran for president and became president in 1976, and he was the first to warn jimmy carter that ted kennedy was coming back. he was going to try to primary him in that 1980 election, which, you know, lucas, you think about internationally, the parallels and the issues that have persisted from the carter administration all through today. >> you have iran. you have recognizing the people's republic of china. you have what's going on with the panama canal today. i mean, just just really the parallels between these two one democratic terms, the one that that was in the late 1970s and the one that you're covering right now. >> well, rich, when you think about the problem of islamic fundamentalism, you could argue that that problem still hasn't been solved today. certainly when the americans were taken

captive at the u.s. embassy in tehran, that was a standoff that lasted for 144 days. it involved 52 americans that failed. rescue attempt in april of 1980 that gave rise to joint special operations command. the delta force had been in its infancy, but at the time of that rescue a lot of complex moving parts. you had the uss nimitz, a u.s. navy aircraft carrier, marine helicopters, air force cargo planes. in short, it was a failure in the u.s. military knew they had to change. so carter is known not as much for his successes in office, but certainly for his post-presidency. rich. >> okay, lucas tomlinson live for us, covering the president in saint croix. lucas. thank you. molly. >> jimmy carter, the 39th president of the united states, has passed away at the age of 100. the hundreds of dignitaries, world leaders and officials now sending their condolences, sharing their memories of the former president. our coverage continues after a short break. we will be right back. >> i would hope that the nations of the world might say that we had built a lasting,

peace based not on weapons of war, but on international policies which reflect our own most precious values. these are not just my goals, and they will not be my accomplishments, but the affirmation of our nation's continuing moral strength and our belief in an undiminished, ever expanding american dream. >> who knows what tomorrow will bring? but as for me, i'll wait

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