will happen this time, president biden and president- elect trump will share the room in about 10 days. he has invited trump to come to the white house the morning of inauguration day which is customary. president biden said he will attend trump's inauguration on january 20th. as we take a shot here, all former presidents and vice presidents in the room at the same time to pay tribute to the remarkable life and career of jimmy carter. >> the service will begin shortly for the man who was a farmer from an extremely small town in plains, georgia and rose to power as the 39th president of the united states. he united for president jimmy carter. ♪ ♪

in. my home. if someone tells me hello, it is 1 it is 10:00 a.m. eastern and if you are just joining us this morning, we are watching the prefuneral moments inside of the national cathedral as the nation says farewell to jimmy carter. i'm ana caberra along side andrea mitchell who is outside of the cathedral in washington where we have been showing world dignitaries gathered to say the final goodbye to america's 39th president. it has been striking to see this rare moment of political

divisions briefly set aside today as all living presidents are inside the cathedral in attendance. >> indeed, it is. services will begin at any moment and that will inclues a eulogy from piedresident biden. and you will hear posthumous eulogies one written by walter mondale and gerald ford who expected to precede jimmy carter. they will deliver the eulogies written by the former -- former president and vice, they will be delivered by their sons. jerry ford will deliver, he's a

minister, and the son of walter mondale, the strongest relationship with a vice president. and jonathan, as we await the start of the funeral, we are waiting for the casket to be removed from the hearse in a formal ceremony. let's listen in.

for.

♪♪ ■ ■ ■ i ♪♪

■ ■ ■ i can.

write. >> with faith in jesus withis faith in jesus chris, we receive the body of our brother james for burial. let us pray with confidence to god, the giver of life that he will raise him to perfection in the company of the saints. deliver your servant james oh, sovereign lord christ from all the evil and set him free from every bond that he may rest with all of your saints in the eternal habitations where with the father and the holy spirit

you live and reign, one god, forever and ever. >> let us also pray for all who mourn, that they may cast their care on god and know the consolation of his love. almightoy god, look with pity upon the sorrow of the servants who pray. remember them in mercy, nourish them with patience, comfort them with a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace through jesus christ our lord, amen.

right now. oh, god.

>> everyone seated inside the national cathedral, now awaiting the reception of the body, which will come through the great west doors. we'll see president carter's casket coming through that aisle. and i'm just going to pause again so we can listen to this beautiful music as that reception president carter is coming through that aisle and just going to pause again to listen to the beautiful music as the reception takes place. ♪ ♪

■ ■ ■ ♪ ♪ we are hearing the cathedral choir here singing the road home. all elements of today's service chosen by president carter

himself, a song that clearly was special to him personally and we have seen president biden there with his eyes closed, soaking in this moment. we expect him to be delivering the eulogy, one of several tributes we will hear to president carter during today's service. i want to go to our aaron gilchrist who is our white house correspondent as we continue to listen and see these images. aaron, we know that today means a lot to this country as we say goodbye to the 39th president. 100 years of service in his great life. president biden has said the greatest lesson he learned from president carter was his decency. do you think that will be a big thing in the eulogy today? >> i think it could be a central theme from each of the speakers. it is something we have heard over and over again over the last several days as people have spoken about jimmy carter.

we can't help but note the fact that he was president for just four years. in the 40 plus years that followed, so many people in the country got to know jimmy carter, the decent man who wanted to help people. that i think will be a central theme of what we hear today. president biden will deliver a tribute here as will -- we will hear words written from former president gerald ford and words from former vice president walter mondale. these were tributes written years ago, obviously that these men expected to deliver but of course jimmy carter has outlived so many of our key figures through our political universe. we also after this song will hear from ambassador andrew young. he was ambassador to the united nations appointed to jimmy carter, the first african american to serve in the role. we know that the fight for equality in this country particularly during the civil

rights era and the era that followed, those were central concerns that jimmy carter wanted to fight for. >> and aaron, we are again waiting the procession with the casket to come through the cathedral. it appears that is imminent now. we know that members of family are there to also receive former president carter's body for one last time and will also be paying tribute to him with eulogies and readings today. let's listen in.

i am the resurrection and the life, sayth the lord. he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. and whoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. i know that my redeemer lives and that he shall stand at the

latter day upon the earth and though this body be destroyed, yet shall i see god whom i shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold and not as a stranger. for none of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself. >> right step, right step, right

step, right step, right step, right step. forward march. march, center face ready, down. >> for if we live and if we die, we die unto the lord.

>> ready, up. ready, face, forward march, forward march. >> for none of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself for if we live, we live unto the lord and we die unto the lord. whether we live therefore or die, we are the lord's blessed are the dead who die in the lord. even so, say the spirit, for

they rest from their labors. the lord be with you. >> and also with you. >> let us pray. oh, god whose mercies cannot be numbered, accept our prayers on behalf of your servant james, and grant him an entrance to the land of light and joy in the fellowship of your saints through jesus christ our lord who lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit, one god, now and forever, amen.

>> my grandfather started teaching sunday school when he was a midshipman in the naval academy. he taught the bible every sunday from world war ii untilcoid covid-19. he structured his plans to be home to teach on sunday. it was central to his life. every time i went to church with

him, it it was packed. the lines started before sunrise, and i was always very thankful i got to walk in with my grandmother. and as soon as we sat down, sunday school would start. my grandfather would begin by asking if anyone had been in the church before. my grandmother and i raised our hands and almost no one else instead. then my grandfather polled the congregation. we would find out the church was full of people from all over the country, of all different backgrounds and beliefs. my grandfather would address the most diverse sunday school clasassembled again. before he delivered his bible lesson, my grandfather talked about his week. if he monitored an election, he would talk about it. if he stopped a conflict, he would talk about it. if he eliminated a disease, from a village or a country, he would

talk about it. my brother jeremy died, he announced the news in sunday school. in fact, i remember my brother died on a sunday because it was the only time my grandfather was ever late toteach. my grandfather won the nobel peace prize, the sunday school class learned first. at the end of the nobel peace prize lecture, he stated the most serious universal problem on the planet as the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth. for the next two decades, as the problem compounded, he returned to this theme with stories from the bible and stories from today. the richest people in the world using they're norm s wealth to buy a nation's poverty. may the people that my grandparents helped lived on less than one dollar a day. my grandfather spent the entire time i have known him helping

those in need. he built houses for people who needed homes. he eliminated diseases in forgotten places. he waged peace anywhere in the world, wherever he saw a chance. he loved people. and whenever he told these stories in sunday school, he always said he did it for one simple reason. we worshipped the prince of peace. and he commanded it. the bed rock of my grandfather's faith comes from the apostle paul's letter to the romans, chapter 8, 1-18, 38 and 39. there is no condemnation for those in jesus christ for through christ jesus the law of the spirit set me free from the law of sin and death.

what the law was powerless to do and was weakened by the sinful nature god did by sending his own son in the likeness of man to be a sin offering. and so he condemned sin and sinful man in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the spirit. those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires. but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires. the mind of sinful man is death. but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace. the sinful mind is hostile to god. it does not submit to god's law, nor can it do so. those controlled by the sinful

nature cannot please god. you however are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the spirit, the spirit of god lives in you. and if anyone does not have the spirit of christ, he does not belong tochrist. but if christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. and if the spirit of him who raised jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised christ from the dead will also give life to your bodies through his spirit who lives in you. therefore brothers we have an abigation but not to the sinful nature to live according to it, for if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die. but if by the spirit he put to death, the misdeeds of the body, you will live. for those who are led by the spirit of god are sons of god.

for you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear but you received the spirit of sonship. and by him we cry abba, father. the spirit himself testifies himself with our spirit that we are god's children. now if we are children, then we are heirs, and co-heirs with christ, indeed we share his sufferings that we may also share in his glory. i consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us. for i am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers either height nor depth or anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of god that is in christ jesus our lord.

the word of the lord.

before i start, the carter children, my wife and i were sitting several rows behind you and we were praying for you and

i was humbly reminded that it was 18 years ago, almost to the day that our family sat in that very row and it was your dad and his great faith that supported my mom and gave her hope that week. he travelled with us for several days and we were blessed. so thank you. god did a good thing when he made your dad. jack, chip, jeff, amy, mr. president, madam vice president, former presidents and first ladies, members of the house of representatives and the senate,

justices of the supreme court, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, in the twilight of my dad's life, dad asked president carter if he would do a eulogy at dad's funeral. president carter graciously agreed and then he also asked if dad would deliver a eulogy at president carter's funeral. now dad was thrilled to agree. after that call as you can imagine, both of them got off the phone and had a pretty good chuckle considering which one of them would return in person to deliver that second eulogy. as you know, dad died in 2006

and president carter's eulogy continues to bring comfort, smile, laughter, joy, pride to our family and thus on behalf of my dad, it is an honor to share dad's eulogy to his old friend. i can just see my dad getting his yellow legal pad out with his pen and writing this for his beloved friend. by faith of a brief season, jimmy carter and i were rivals. but for the many wonderful years that followed, friendship bonded us as no two presidents since john adams and thomas jefferson. it is said that president adams' last words were thomas jefferson

still survives. now since jimmy has a good decade on me, i'm hedging my bets by entrusting my remembrances of jimmy to my son steve. according to a map, it's a long way between grand rapids, michigan and plains, georgia. but distances have a way of vanishing when measured in values, rather than miles. and it was because of our shared values that jimmy and i respected each other as adversaries, even before we cherished one another as dear friends. now this is not to say that jimmy never got under my skin, but has there ever been a group of politicians that didn't do that to one another?

during our 1976 contest, jimmy knew my political vulnerabilities and he successfully pointed them out. now, i didn't like it but little could i know that the outcome of that 1976 election would bring about one of my deepest and most enduring friendships. in the summer o of 1981, the two of us found ourselves together again, this time on air force one, headed to the great peace maker an war sadat. there is an old line to the effect that two presidents in a room is one too many. frankly, i wondered how awkward that long flight might be to cairo and it was a long flight

but the return trip was not nearly long enough. for it was somewhere over the atlantic that jimmy and i forged a friendship that transcends politics. we immediately decided to exercise one of the privileges of the former president, forgetting that either one of us had ever said any harsh words about the other one in the heated battle and we got on to discussing our families, our faith, and sharing our experiences in discovering that there is indeed life after the white house. we commiserated over the high costs of building presidential libraries and theefen more regrettable fath that most of

that fundraising for these otherwise admirable institutions fell to us personally. on the spot we agreed to participate in programs at each other's libraries, beginning with a series of conferences on arms control. if that wasn't newsworthy enough, we told reporters on the plane the lasting middle east peace would require the united states to make tough decisions, like confronting the palestinian issue directly, thereby building on the work to which president sadat had literally given his life. it was the first time but by no means the last time that our unlikely partnership ruffled

feathers in the washington establishment. now, honesty and truth telling were synonymous with the name jimmy carter. those traits were instilled in him by his love hadding parents, lillian and earl carter, and the strength of his honesty was reinforced by his upbringing in the rural south, poised on the brink of social transformation. he displayed that honesty throughout this life, as a naval officer, state legislator, governor and world leader. for jimmy carter, honesty was not an aspirational goal, it was part of his very soul. now i think jimmy wrote more books than any former president. once asked if he really enjoyed writing, he replied with that familiar twinkle in his eye, it

beats picking cotton. but i think he enjoyed writing for another reason. as an author, he was under no pressure to tailor his opinions to some political constituency or potential contributor. now both of us had experienced the harsh reality that defeat at the polls can be painful but we also came to know a more important consequence, political defeat and writing can also be liberating. if it frees you discuss topics that aren't necessarily consistent with short-term political popularity. now jimmy learned early on that it was not enough to bear

witness in a pew on sunday morning, inspired by his faith. he pursued brothers hood across boundaries of nation wood, across boundaries of tradition, across boundaries of caste. in america's urban neighborhoods and in rural villmgs around the world, he reminded us that christ had been a carpenter. and in sherd world villages, he successfully campaigned not for votes but for the eradication of diseases that shamed the developed world as they ravaged the undeveloped one. of course not all of jimmy's time was spent building houses and eradicating disease, brokering cease fires, and monitoring elections. while jimmy is probably the only former president to conduct a weekly bible class, i know for

certain he is the only former president to perform a due t of on the road again with willie nelson. georgia was not just on jimmy's mind. it was in his blood. however far he travelled, he never forgot where he came home to or where now in the end, he would finally come home to. of the many things jimmy and i had in common, the most important is this, we both married way above ourselves, way above with jimmy every step of the way was his first lady from plains, a life rich with blessings, none was greater for jimmy than the love he shared with rosalynn and the love the

two of them shared with their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. like jimmy, rosalynn was and is a symbol of american compassion. like no other first lady in our history, rosalynn carter is indeed a true citizen of the world. and she became a beloved friend to my wife betty and me and all of the ford family. while the carter and ford men were decidedly mixed record when it came to lobbying congress, rosalynn and betty were unbeatable in their advocacy for millions of people whom they brought out of the shadows of despair and shame. now is the time to say goodbye.

our grief comforted with the joy and the thanks giving of knowing this man, this beloved man, this very special man. he was given the gift of years and the american people and the people of the world will be forever blessed by his decades of good works. jimmy carter's legacy of peace and compassion will remain unique as it is timeless. to the entire ford family, we extend our love to you and we add our prayers to the prayers of tens of millions of people around the world may god bless and watch over this good man. may he grant peace to the carter family as they say goodbye to a

man whose life was lived to the fullest with a faith demonstrated and countless good works with a mission richly fulfilled and a soul rewarded with ever lasting life. as for myself, jimmy, i'm looking forward to our reunion. we have much to catch up on. thank you mr. president. welcome home, old friend.

my father wrote this in 2015 and clorely he edited it a couple of times since then but here we go. >> today we join in sadness to honor our dear friend president carter for his extraordinary years of principled and decent leadership, and his courageous commitment to civil rights and human rights. i remember the emrmg ps of jimmy carter on the national stage. in particular, his 1971 inaugural address. for the first time a georgia governor called for a commitment to the traditions of martin luther king jr. and for the decency that has leadership stood for a lifetime. i was surprised when then

candidate carter asked me to join as his running mate in 1976. he has amazed me then as he has effersince. he was brilliant and also had a great sense of humor. while we had only four years in the white house, he achieved so much in that time. it stood as a marker for americans dedicated to justice and decency. carter was a man of his word. i remember when he talked about the concept of the vice presidency. i told him i'd like to do and had only two requests. i wanted to make a contribution and i didn't want to be embarrassed as many of my predecessors had.

he agreed, welcomed my full participation, and directed his staff to treat me as they would him. he was very careful to protect me from the frustration and too often humiliation that had cursed the lives of many vice presidents. i want to thank the president for the good choices he made with his key personnel. we don't have time to mention many of them but stuizen stat comes as close to rivalling his formidable work ethic. were blessings every day to me, the president, and to the nation. one of the things that donned on me was how well we worked together and how well we understood each other. the reality that carter was a

devout christian who grew up in an a small town and was act in his faith for almost every moment of his life. i was also a small town kid who grew up in a methodist church where my dad was a preacher and our faith was core to me as carter's faith was core to him. that common commitment to our faith created a bond between us that allowed us to understand each other and find ways to work together. he allowed me to take a leadership role on issues that never would have happened before. for instance, he directed and trusted me to take a central role in trying to bring decency to the vietnamese and southeast asian boat people who were fleeing their country. by carter's orders, the boat people were picked up by our great navy from their flimsy boats which were capsizing and

taken to safety. most became good american citizens, working for a healthy and prosperous nation. joan loved her time as a second lady and we have jimmy and rosalynn to thank you for helping her champion the public arts and for just being so kind to her. these were good years for joan and i. president carter and i became very close friends. we often spent hours together throughout the day. we were working on real problems, not wasting time. the personal relationship we established while in office continued throughout our life. carter was far sighted. he put aside his short-term

political interest to challenges that demanded sacrifices, to protect your kids and grand kids from future harm. very few people in the 1970s had heard the term climate change. yet carter put his presidency on the line to pass laws to conserve energy, deregulate new oil and gas prices, and invest in clean, renewable alternatives to fossil fuels. it wasn't a perfect program but energy consumption declined by. 10% between 1979 and 1983. in many ways, he laid the foundation for future presidents to come to grips with climate change. some thought he was crazy to fight so hard to pass these laws. but he was dead right. and we know that now. we also know that president

carter elevated human rights to the top of its agenda. sometimes, sometimes we forget how seriously he pursued, he pushed to advance the rights of women. he proposed and signed the law extending the period for states to approve the equal rights amendment. he appointed women to head the departments of commerce, education, h.u.d. and what is now h.ew women on his white house staff played crucial roles in environmental and energy proposals. and he dramatically increased the ranks of female circuit and district court judges including ruth bader ginsburg. in all, in all, he appointed five times as many women to the federal bench as all of the

previous presidents had from the beginning of our country. two degades ago, president carter said he believed income inequality was the biggest global issue. more recently in a 2018 commencement address he said i think now the largest global issue is the discrimination against women and girls in this world. he concluded that until stubborn attitudes that foster discrimination against women change, the world cannot advance and poverty and income equality cannot be solved. towards the end of our time in the white house, the president and i were talking about how we might describe what we try to accomplish in office. we came up with a sentence which remains an important summary of

our work. we told the truth. we obeyed the law. and we kept the peace. that we did, mr. president. i will always be proud and grateful to have had a chance to work with you towards noble ends. it was then and will always be the most rewarding experience of my public career. thank you.

♪ ♪ ■ ■ ■ see?

crossings to. so. workers and. ♪♪ os ■ ■ ■ ♪ ♪ spirit is. no longer.

riverside. and we are. to. walk. ♪ ♪[ music ]♪

o, trinity of love and pow' r. your children shield in danger's hour ♪ from rock and tempest, fire and foe, protect them where-so-e'er they go ♪ thus, evermore shall rise to thee, glad hymns of praise ♪ glad hymns of praise ♪ glad hymns