ali: tonight on pbs news weekend, former president jimmy carter, the nation's 39th president, a man who redefined what a post-presidency could look like, died today at the age of 100.

we look back at his extraordinary life. then, a disaster in south korea. all but two people on board a passenger plane die in a crash landing. now south korea begins the task of figuring out what happened, as the u.s. lends its assistance. >> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by -- >> in 1995, 2 friends set out to make wireless coverage accessible to all. with no long-term contracts, nationwide coverage, and 100% u.s.-based customer support. consumer cellular. freedom calls. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

and friends of the news hour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ali: good evening. i'm ali rogin, john yang is away. we begin with breaking news tonight as we learn that former president jimmy carter has died. the 100-year-old, known for his humble beginnings and unlikely road to the white house, served from january 1977 to january 1981. history shaped carter's one term in office, including an economic recession, the iran hostage crisis, and the camp david

accords between israel and egypt. carter was this country's longest-living former president and he died today at his home in plains, georgia, surrounded by family. special correspondent judy woodruff looks back at his towering life. >> in december of 1974, there was a major headline on the editorial page of the atlantic constitution that said, jimmy carter is running for what? judy: he was seemingly the longest of long shots when he jumped into the 1976 presidential race, but jimmy carter wound up celebrating on election night. >> i pray i can live up to your confidence and never disappoint you. judy: it was the pinnacle of a wide-ranging life that began in 1924 in plains, georgia. james carter was born to lillian , a nurse, and earl, if you know former.

after a depression era upbringing, he went to the u.s. naval academy and married hometown sweetheart rosalind smith. in time, the newly minted officer rose to lieutenant in the nuclear submarine service. but he cut short his navy career after his father's death in 1953 so he could return to georgia to try to revive the families struggling peanut farm. >> we have always worked for a living. we know what it means to work. judy: within a few years, politics beckoned and jimmy carter began his ascent, winning election as a state senator, then governor. he called for the state to transcend deep divisions over race and inequality. >> i say to you frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over. no poor, rural, weak, or black

person should have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity of an education, a job, or simple justice. judy: georgia law then limited governors to a single term, but jimmy carter had his eyes on a much bigger prize. on december 12, 1974, he announced he was running for president. >> jimmy carter. >> jimmy who? judy: outside his home state, jimmy carter began as a virtual unknown. jimmy who became a campaign punchline. but it was also an asset. voters had soured on washington after the vietnam war and watergate. and mr. carter embraced his outsider status and began climbing in the polls. >> i remember when we couldn't find a microphone.

judy: in april 1976, he mused on his appeal in an interview with the mcneil-lehrer report, a precursor to the news hour. >> it's a testament to the commitment of my campaign and the depth of sacrifice of people who give up their vacation time to go to new hampshire and wisconsin. other candidates don't have this. judy: that connection with voters carried him to the democratic nomination and on a course to face incumbent republican gerald ford that november. >> i, gerald r. ford, do solemnly swear -- judy: mr. ford had been appointed vice president during watergate and became president when richard nixon resigned in august 1974. years later, former president carter spoke to jim lehrer on what it was like as a challenger, debating a sitting president.

>> i had been quite successful in the primary season, but it was a very disturbing concept for me to be on the stage with the president of the united states. i saw it as a good opportunity to let the people know that i could indeed deal on an equal basis, hopefully, with an incumbent president. judy: the two men faced each other three times that fall. >> he says he's learned how to match unemployment with inflation. that's right. we've got the highest inflation we have had in 25 years right now. judy: but the third debate, just two weeks before the election, saw mr. carter on the defensive. he had given a candid in-depth interview to playboy magazine, and on his religious beliefs was quoted as saying, "i've looked on a lot of women with lust. i've committed adultery in my heart many times. this is something that god recognizes i will do and god forgives me for it."

>> as you know, that "playboy" interview could have cost me the election. it was a devastating blow to our campaign. i thought the best way to handle it was to say i'm sorry the interview came out, but i couldn't deny that the answers in "playboy" were my own answers. judy: mr. carter's lead steadily dwindled through the fall, but on election day, his strength in the south and the east was just enough to carry him to victory, in the closest presidential contest in decades. the pride of plains -- now the president-elect -- brought the celebration to his hometown the morning after. >> i think the sun is rising on a beautiful new day, a beautiful new spirit in this country, a beautiful new commitment to the future. i feel good about it. and i love every one of you. hi, jimmy carter, do solemnly swear -- judy: he took that theme of a

new beginning into inauguration day, breaking with tradition by walking most of the way down pennsylvania avenue, from the capitol to the white house. once there, the new president carter soon resolved to try for the seemingly impossible, peace in the middle east. he reflected on that time at a forum in washington in 2010. >> there had been four wars in the previous 25 years against israel, all led by egypt, the only arab country with enough heft to really challenge israel. and i wanted to bring peace between israel and egypt. that was my pre-eminent goal. judy: to that end, mr. carter brought egyptian president anwar sadat and israeli prime minister menachem begin to camp david in the late summer of 1978. for 13 days, he mediated until the breakthrough, on september 17th. the camp david accords laid the foundation for an egyptian-israeli peace.

>> i'm so proud of both of you. judy: and there were other carter foreign policy initiatives. he restored full diplomatic relations with china, following through on a process that began under president nixon. he worked to pervak the u.s. and work -- worked to pare back the u.s. and soviet nuclear arsenals. and he negotiated and signed the treaty to return the panama canal to panama. but on the domestic front, the president grappled with an economy beset by spiking inflation and interest rates, and an energy crisis. just two weeks into his tenure, a cardigan-clad carter urged americans to conserve, during a televised fireside chat. >> all of us must learn to waste less energy. >> why didn't they come out and tell us there was no gas? judy: but by the summer of 1979,

the public's patients was wearing thin. >> i have been here since 4:30. it's ridiculous waiting on line here. >> i'm in a line two hours, can't get gas. this is baloney. carter doesn't get my vote next year. judy: with his popularity plunging, president carter set out to turn the country's mood. >> i want to speak to you tonight about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation. i want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to american democracy. the threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. it is a crisis of confidence. judy: he never actually used the term, but it came to be known as the "malaise" speech, and it brought new ridicule. then, in november of that year, half a world away, the greatest crisis of the carter presidency began -- the capture of 66 americans in iran, most of them

at the u.s. embassy, all with the tacit backing of that country's new supreme leader, ayatollah ruhollah khomeini. in april 1980, the president authorized an ill-fated military operation to try to free the hostages, but the mission ran into mechanical troubles and one helicopter crashed, killing five u.s. airmen and three u.s. marines. it was the iran crisis and the nation's deep economic trouble that haunted the carter re-election bid. senator ted kennedy mounted a primary challenge that lasted until that summer's democratic convention. meanwhile, republicans coalesced around former california governor ronald reagan. >> good morning, how are you? judy: and illinois congressman john anderson, an also-ran in

the gop primaries, turned independent for the general election. >> give me your help. give me your votes on the fourth of november. judy: for weeks, the carter campaign declined to have the president debate both reagan and anderson on the same stage. >> the man who should be here tonight to respond chose not to attend. judy: but finally, just a week before the election, mr. carter did square off with reagan but found himself outmatched. >> now we have the opportunity to move to a national health insurance. governor reagan typically is against such a proposal. >> governor -- there you go again. judy: reagan used the debate to disarm depictions of himself as an extremist, and thus sees voters fears. he closed with a simple question that summed up his indictment of the carter presidency. >> it might be well if you would

ask yourself, are you better off than you were four years ago? judy: reagan would later call it a critical moment in the campaign. but in president carter's eyes -- >> the major factor in the election had nothing to do with the debate. it was a fact that we went through election day, which was the exact one-year anniversary of the hostages being taken in iran. judy: by then, the iranians had freed 14 of the original 66 american hostages. the other 52 remained captive, and iran refused to budge. >> the parliament decided under khomeini's pressure that they would not release the hostages. and this devastating, negative news about hostages swept the country on election day. i've always been convinced that this was a major factor. judy: whatever the reason, president carter was trounced that night, and at 9:50 pm, more than an hour before polls closed on the west coast, he conceded.

>> i promised you four years ago that i would never lie to you. so i can't stand here tonight and say it doesn't hurt. judy: he spent much of his remaining time in office trying to free the americans held in tehran, while he still could. >> at 10:00 on inauguration morning, all the hostages were in an airplane ready to take off, and khomeini held them until five minutes after i was no longer president. and then they took off. but that was one of the happiest moments of my life. every hostage came home safe and free. judy: the landslide election defeat returned the carters to civilian life, but they set about on a new life of service that won new respect. in 1982, the former president and wife rosalynn carter founded the carter center, their platform for advancing democracy, peace, and health policy beyond america's borders. the work took them around the

world, to places like nicaragua to monitor elections, and bosnia to try to end years of fighting. as he told the news hour during the 2000 democratic convention, it seemed to be ideal work for a former president. >> the best times of my life have been after the white house. you have served a great nation, the greatest nation on earth, and then you have freedom from political obligations. you have an almost unlimited menu of things that you can either choose or say no. judy: his new agenda did lead to occasional run-ins with his successors in the white house. as in 1994, when the clinton white house balked at mr. carter's talks with north korean leader kim il-sung on freezing his government's nuclear program. and in 2002, when he made waves in cuba, meeting with president fidel castro, and calling for an end to the decades-long u.s. embargo.

he was also a vocal critic of the u.s. invasion of iraq. but his diplomatic work, including the camp david accords , ultimately won him the 2002 nobel peace prize. he remained in the public eye through his final years, and he minced no words in his attitude about president trump. >> there's no doubt the russians did interfere in the election, and i think that interference, though not yet quantified, if a lien investigated would show trump did not actually win the invested -- the election in 2016 and he was put into office because of the russians. judy: in 2015, he was diagnosed with melanoma, a cancer that spread to his liver and his brain, but underwent a new treatment that sent it into remission. >> i've had a wonderful life. i had thousands of friends.

but now i feel it's in the hands of god, whom i worship, and i'll be prepared for anything that comes. judy: through it all, jimmy carter remained active, especially in his well-known work for habitat for humanity, building homes for the poor. and he continued teaching sunday school, in his home town of plains. president biden visited the carters there early in his term, and said the former president had shown the nation what it means to be a public servant. age and illness ultimately forced mr. carter into home hospice care, and in late 2023, he suffered his greatest loss when rosalynn carter died at 96. they had been married for 77 years.

ali: in today's other news, south korea is in mourning following the deadliest air disaster ever on that nation's soil. flight 2216 was landing in the city of muan, in the southwestern part of the country, following a five-hour trip back from bangkok, thailand, when tragedy struck. a warning, some of the images you're about to see are disturbing. at 9:03 a.m. at muan international airport, a chey-ju air passenger plane sped down the runway, its front landing gear nowhere in sight, and slammed into a concrete wall, bursting into flames. 179 of the 181 people on board were killed. two crew members, who were at the very back of the plane, were rescued with non-life-threatening injuries. jeon je-young's daughter didn't survive. >> [translated] she was almost

home. she didn't feel the need to make a call. she thought she was coming home. by the time she took out her phone, the plane probably had crashed. ali: jeju's air's ceo offered contrition, but few answers. >> [translated] firstly, i bow in apology to everyone who has cherished jeju air. above all, i want to give my sincere apology and condolences to those who have lost their lives in the accident and their families. at the moment, it is hard to presume the cause of the accident and we have to wait for the official investigation result from the authorities. ali: investigators are still combing through the debris of the boeing 737-800, trying to piece together what happened. south korea's transport ministry says a control tower warned the plane against possible bird strikes and the pilot sent out a distress signal shortly before the crash. the u.s. sent a team of investigators led by the national transportation safety board to assist. in a post on x, boeing said they were in contact with jeju air

and extended their condolences. the disaster comes as seoul is embroiled in an unprecedented political crisis, triggered by successive impeachments of the country's top two officials. the deputy prime minister choi sang-mok is now the acting president. he expressed his sympathy to those grieving and declared the crash area a "special disaster zone." >> [translated] i offer my deepest condolences to those who tragically lost their lives. i feel an indescribable sorrow and profound regret. we are fully mobilizing all possible resources with all ministries, the local governments, and relevant associations to dedicate every effort to recovery and support for those who received the harm. ali: but amid political turmoil, some residents are uncertain about how the government will deal with the incident. >> [translated] now, with the presidency vacant, and with things like this happening, i am quite concerned that the

handling of the accident may not go smoothly. i feeling more anxious and i am heavy-hearted. ali: leaders around the world expressed their sympathies, including president biden, china's president xi jinping, and pope francis. in azerbaijan, where that country's president officially blamed russia for the deadly plane crash there last week, president ilham aliyev said today russia is responsible for downing its airliner, although not intentionally. aliyev also criticized russia for what he said was an attempt to, quote, "hush up" the issue after the plane went down over kazakhstan. experts believe russian air defense systems shot down the plane while targeting ukrainian drones. russian president vladimir putin apologized this weekend, but he has not taken responsibility for the crash. israeli hostages were tortured and abused while being held by hamas. that's according to a new report set to be shared with the united nations this week. the report is based on interviews with israeli medical teams that helped treat more than 100 hostages after they

were freed -- according to reporting by reuters. the medical teams say hostages were sexually assaulted, beaten, starved, and burned. relatives of those still in captivity say this should add urgency to ceasefire talks. >> [translated] the report clarifies beyond any doubt that all of them have been subjected to severe torture for 450 days. it's either a deal and the end of the war or continued torture to death. ali: israeli officials believe about half of the 100 hostages still held in gaza may be alive. and in gaza city, the israeli military struck the upper floors of two hospitals today. seven people were killed and others injured at al wafaa hospital. the israeli military said the compound no longer served as a hospital and the strike was aimed at members of the hamas areal defense unit, which used the compound to plan and execute attacks against israeli troops. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu underwent surgery

today to remove his prostate. doctors this evening said he was awake and recovering and is expected to remain hospitalized for several days. that means netanyahu will likely miss some testimony this week in his ongoing trial for alleged corruption. the new president of georgia was formally inaugurated today in what the country's opposition calls a blow to its aspirations to join the european union. former soccer player mikheil kavelashvili is a hardline critic of the west and a member of the georgian dream party, which has been accused of becoming increasingly authoritarian. georgia's outgoing pro-western president left the presidential palace, but insisted she is still the country's only legitimate leader. founder of hbo and cablevision charles dolan has died. along with those media companies, dolan also announced the american movie classics television station and news 12 in new york, the first 24 hour

cable channel for local news in the u.s. dolan's family owns controlling stakes in madison square garden, radio city music hall, the new york knicks, and the new york rangers. charles dolan was 98 years old. >> this is pbs news weekend from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington, home of the pbs news hour, weeknights on pbs. ali:e leave you this evening, we returned to our lead story, the death of jimmy carter. president biden said today, america and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesmen, and humanitarian. president-elect trump said former president carter did everything in his power to improve the lives of all americans. for that we owe him a debt of gratitude. president carter died today at his home in plains, georgia, more than a year after entering hospice care. that's our program for tonight.

on mondays pbs news hour, we bring you more about the remarkable life and legacy of former president jimmy carter. i'm allie rogan. for all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us. have a good week. >> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by -- and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> it shows us something between what you see and what you don't see. >> this is the story of the most curious man in history. >> the influence of leonardo's

vision was enormous. >> he is doing things no one had ever done before, and that is simply astounding. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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