this morning, the nation remembers former president jimmy carter. his lasting legacy stretched far beyond the walls of the white house, thanks to his lifetime of service. his dedication to human rights and the pursuit of international peace. the 39th president of the united stes died at his home in

plains, georgia on sunday. we're live in d.c. with the tributes pouring in from around the world. deadly storms ravaged the southeast. dozens of tornados from texas to georgia. our team is tracking the severe weather threat this morning. tragedy in south korea. a fiery plane crash on the runway killing 179 people. the worst ever on south korean soil. the latest on the investigation into what went wrong. and the health challenge that brought two friends closer than ever. the bond we now share as we kick off the last week of 2024. "early today" starts right now. ♪ ♪ good to be with you on this monday. i'm frances rivera. we begin with the loss of america's longest-living former president. after nearly two years in hospice care, jimmy carter has

died at the age of 100. the carter center says he was surrounded by loved ones at his homeme in plains, georgia. carter went from peanut farmer to governor to the white house. but was best known for his decades of humanitarian work after leaving office. here's lester holt. >> my name is jimmy carter, and i'm running for president. >> reporter: he went from being jimmy who? to winning the white house itself. then struggled with crises overseas and a troubled economy at home. a one-term president whose time as ex-president was the longest in among the most active in american history. james earl carter jr. he always went by jimmy. was born in small-town plains, georgia, growing up on a farm without electricity or indoor plumbing. he attended the u.s. naval academy. married roslyn smith, a friend of his sister's, eventually

becoming governor of georgia. >> the time for racial discrimination is over. >> reporter: a year later he ran for the white house. >> i'd like to announce that i am a candidate for president. >> reporter: and won. a born again christian, who promised voters, i will never lie to you. >> i, jimmy carter do solemnly swear. >> reporter: at his best, he scored historic achievements, leading successful peace talks between israel and egypt. when the economy tanked, so did carter's popularity. he seemed to blame americans themselves. >> the erosion of our confidence in the future. >> reporter: and it got worse. in iran, scores of americans were taken hostage. and then came a grueling reelection battle. >> i'll bring new hope to america. >> reporter: jimmy carter lost in a landslide. through it all, carter was sustained by his faith. you were faced with some huge crises as president.

did you drop down to your knees and pray? >> often, yes. in fact i pray more per day, per hour when i was president than any other four years in my life. >> reporter: and his defeat marked the beginning of a remarkable post presidency. he establied the carter center, committed to advancing human rights and democracy. carter built houses for the poor. and in 2002 was awarded the nobel peace prize. an extraordinary ex-president, proud of his years in the white house. >> kept the peace. we never went to war. we told the truth. never lied to the american people. never misled the american people. so, in general terms, i feel perfectly at ease with my term. >> reporter: he brought discipline and devotion to everything he did. including his battle will cancer. >> everything's been a blessing for me. so i'm thankful and hopeful. >> reporter: despite the diagnosis, he continued building houses alongside roslyn, and

marked their 75th wedding anniversary in 2021. >> 75 years, i can't believe. >> reporter: roslyn died two years later, marking the longest presidential marriage in history. in 2024, carter marked another milestone, his 100th birthday with an outpouring of gratitude for his life of service. he brought that devotion to everything he did, for family and for country, until the end. >> thanks to lester for that. and, tributes have been pouring in for the former president. president biden shared this photo and said over six decades, he and the first lady had the honor of calling jimmy carter a dear friend. nbc's chris pollone joins me from d.c. president biden said that jimmy carter had a way of making millions of people feel like he was their close friend. >> reporter: that's right, frances, president biden addressed the nation last night.

and, in his remarks, he focussed on president carter's decency, and life's work. >> millions of people around the world feel like they lost a friend as well. he forged peace, advanced civil rights. human rights. promoted freedom for elections around the world. he bought housing for the homeless with his own hands. >> reporter: former president obama shared similar sentiments, saying jimmy carter did not just profess his values, he embodied them. former president george w. bush said that he would inspire generations. and president-elect trump said the challenges jimmy faced as president came at a pivotal time in our country and did everything in his power to improve the lives of all

americans. for that we owe him a debt of gratitude. last night the empire state building was illuminated in red, white and blue. there will be a national day of mourning on january 9th. in the days to come, there will be more details to come about the memorial services that will be held both in georgia and here this washington, d.c., frances. >> as will the tributes come in those days as well. chris, thank you. and many of those tributes were about carter's life after he left office. nbc's peter alexander has more on the former president's long life of service. >> reporter: no one's had a longer and perhaps more productive presidency after office. he spent time appropriating peace and human rights. >> when i left the white house, i didn't know what i was going to do. i had been defeated unexpectedly, from my point of view. >> reporter: he formed the

carter center, waging peace, fighting disease and building hope. he traveled to more than 125 countries. >> jimmy carter recognized that being an ex-president opened doors for him. and he was determined to use that access for doing as much good as he could in the world. >> reporter: serving as a freelance ambassador of sorts, carter met foreign leaders, led international missions and mediated disputes. pressing some of the world's most notorious dictators, like in north korea. and making a historic visit to cuba, meeting with fidel castro, while calling on the u.s. to improve relations with the communist country. still his diplomatic work was not always sanctioned by the u.s. >> jimmy carter was a bit of an irritant, i think, to a lot of presidents who succeeded him, because he was very frequently interjected himself into

political matters. especially foreign affairs. >> reporter: but his efforts earned him respect and recognition, including the nobel peace prize. and monitoring democratic elections around the world. >> to call jimmy carter the greatest former president if history as many have, however, does not do justice to him or his work. >> reporter: carter's hands-on approach was unmistakable. alongside his wife rosalynn carter, tirelessly building thousands of homes with habitat for humanity. >> what kind of person do i want to be? >> reporter: and sharing his lessons in the pews, teaching sunday school well into his 90s. a man of faith and a life guided by service. >> the bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. god gives us a capacity for choice. we can choose to alleviate

suffering. we can choose to work together for peace. we can make these changes, and we must. >> reporter: peter alexander, nbc news. at least four people are dead as multiple tornados and storms wreaked havoc on the south over the weekend. now millions are picking up the pieces as we head into the new year. saturday's storms alone produced more than two dozen preliminary and confirmed tornados across texas, louisiana, mississippi, alabama and georgia. two deaths in mississippi, one in texas and another in north carolina. and this morning the east is bracing for another round of rain and snow. let's turn to nbc meteorologist angie lassman with more on your forecast. good morning, angie. >> that same system bringing the potential for showers and snowshowers across parts of the northeast, specifically, and the great lakes. the severe threat has diminished today. we're not going to worry about that. instead it's just going to be

wet weather you'll have to deal with across that region along with lingering snowshowers and gusty winds that will be behind that system as it moves out across parts of the northeast. meanwhile, big picture look. we'll see slick roads across the plains. plenty of sunshine for the southeast. looking ahead to your tuesday, that next storm system works across the ohio valley and into the northeast. we'll see cooler conditions for the south and a whole lot of sunshine for most of the western half of the country. most locations look good, all be it cold in some spots. but we do have rain that could impact plans into the midnight hour and beyond by tomorrow, rather new year's morning. we'll see those windy and chilly conditions stay with us for the northeast and another storm system for t and little rock.

77 with full sunshine in dallas today. 70 degrees with mostly sunny skies in mobile. and that's a look at your forecast, frances. back to you. >> thank you, angie. a tragic end to a search for sasquatch in oregon. two men died from exposure while looking for big foot inside gifford pinchot national forest, northeast of portland. a family member reported them missing on christmas day after they did not return it the outing. the 59-year-old and 37-year-old were found in a heavily-wooded area after a grueling search by dozens of volunteers. still to come, the tragedy in south korea. and remembering a media pioneer. a look at the hbo and cablevision founder charles dolan. (splash) protect mode. adding lysol disinfectant spray to your cleaning routine is 3 times more effective at stopping the spread of germs. ♪♪

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runway and slammed into a barrier, bursting into flames. and a warning, some of the images are disturbing. south korea's education ministry now confirming that 11 of the victims were elementary, middle or high school students. there were just two survivors who were hospitalized after being pulled from the wreckage. south korean officials say the plane's pilot issued a bird strike alert. investigators including the ntsb are looking into the deadly incident. federal authorities are investigating a train crash that injured 15 people, including firefighrs in florida. a fire truck with its lights flashing drove around the warning arms and into the path of a train. 12 aboard the train suffered minor injuries. charles dolan, the founder of hbo and pioneer in cable tv passed away saturday at 98 years

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two rookie quarterbacks gave us a back and forth battle with nothing less than the playoffs on the line in sunday night football. jayden daniels and the washington commanders controlled much of the second half. but michael penix jr. brought the falcons right back into it, throwing the tying touchdown

pass to kyle pitts. after atlanta missed the walk-off field goal, daniels ensured only one team would be touching the ball in overtime. >> it is jayden daniels end zone. it is -- caught for the touchdown! >> the rookie capped off the season of sensational plays by finding veteran tight end zach ertz for the game-winning score. they punch their ticket to the playoffs, 30-24. when it comes to the falcons, they need to win their last two games to clench the nfc south. atlanta's only hope is to beat the panthers next week and hope the bucs lose as well. >> these are exciting eeks for nfl fans. we'll be watching, of course. sadly for atlanta, last night's loss isn't the only thing standing between them and the playoffs. baker mayfield served up a five-touchdown masterpiece against the panthers sunday, as

the bucs keep their hopes of a fourth-straight nfc title alive 48-14. the bills had no problem locking up the two seed, dropping five touchdowns of their own on the jets. aaron rodgers earned the honor of being the most sacked quarterback in nfl history. the eagles locked up a division title with a little history of their own. their rout of the cowboys featured saquon barkley becoming the ninth player in nfl history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. and it's going to take one final game to crown the kings of the north and nfc itself. sam darnold led the vikings to a huge win over the rival packers. the victory sets u up a prime te match with the lions to determine who will have home field advantage for the playoffs. no surprise, i will be rooting for the lions of course. they play the niners, that game, whatever, we're really looking forward to them playing the

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here's what's making headlines this morning. if you spend more than ten and a half hours a day sitting or lying down, a new study suggests that exercise may t be enough to offset the detrimental heart health impact. the data showed it put people at 40% higher risk at heart failure and 54% higher risk of cardiovascular-related death. a single cigarette can take up to 20 minutes off a person's life, nearly double what a story found in 2000. and good news for teenagers in the u.s. drinking, smoking and marijuana use declined this year. cigarette use in 2024 was also the lowest ever recorded since the survey began tracking 12th graders in 1975 and 10th and 8th

graders in 1991. the bald eagle has officially become the national bird after president biden signed a bill into law last week. this marks the first-ever national bird for the united states. "early today" will be right back after this quick break. ♪♪ every parent knows when it's time to go into... protect mode. kill 99.9% of bacteria when you add lysol laundry sanitizer to your laundry routine. ♪♪ what's up, you seem kinda sluggish today. things aren't really movin'. you could use some metamucil. metamucil's psyllium fiber helps keep your digestive system moving. so you c feel lighter and more energetic. metamucil keeps you movin'. and try the 2 week challenge at metamucil.com dad i got a huge barbeque wing stain. this bottle says i need to pretreat. that stuff has way more water. a little bit of tide goes a long way, so you can save your shirt and maybe even a little money. moat the... library.s right... for a better clean with less...

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cincinnati this month. >> i'm so happy. >> reporter: relief after jessica haas finally got a life-saving kidney transplant. it was a gift from donor megan schultz. >> the first thing i asked when i woke up was, megan? like, is she okay? >> jess was so incredibly thoughtful. when i finally got to go to my hospital room, she had it decorated. >> oh, thank you! >> there were balloons that said hero and banners. she made me feel so incredibly special throughout the whole process. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: but how these two connected is able. they first met as sorority sisters at ohio state. they lost touch. but when jessica's kidney disease got worst, she posted a message on social media and soon got a call that changed her life. >> i have exciting news for you.

i am a match. >> no, megan, you're not! >> yes. i'm excited to be able to do this for you. >> oh, my god, i love you so much. >> reporter: megan had gotten tested and turns out was a perfect match. it just feels like fate brought you guys back together. >> whatever higher power you believe in, they put us in each other's lives for this reason. >> reporter: the surgery a success. these long-time friends back in each other's lives, and now sharing a bond forever. you guys were sorority sisters before this. now you're closer than actual sisters. >> yep. everything. dna,verything. >> they're family now. >> this is your christmas present. >> oh, thank you. >> reporter: the season of giving, gifts of love, life, and new beginnings. >> oh, my god. i love that. >> reporter: megan, did faith motivate you here? >> this whole process has really made me look around and appreciate friends a lot more.

it really shows that there's still good, and still a lot of love out there. >> reporter: there's the kidney, which is an incredible gift, but the gift of perspective, right? >> i feel just reborn. it was just, the feeling was indescribable. i'm like, i don't need anything. like, i've got a second chance at life. like, what more could you ask for? >> if they only knew that would be their path when they were pledging and rushing, how great a story. our thanks to gadi for sharing it with us. thanks to you for startioung

remembering an american trail blazer who touched lives around the world. former president jimmy carter has died at the age of 100 at his home in plains, georgia. he shaped the model for life after office, leaving his mark as a human rights champion,