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Jimmy Carter, Oldest Of All U.S. Presidents, Dies At Age 100; Biden Honors Jimmy Carter As "A Statesman And Humanitarian"; Grieving Families At Muan Airport Wait For Information; Interview With CEO Of Habitat For Humanity Jonathan Reckford. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 30, 2024 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paul Newton. And we do begin with reaction pouring in from right around the world the death of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The Carter Center says the 39th president was surrounded by family in Plains, Georgia, where he died Sunday at the age of 100. He had been in home hospice care for nearly two years.

Jimmy Carter, known for his dignity and devotion to service, dedicated his life to fighting for human rights and brokering peace in many parts of the world. It was also a key message during his inaugural address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: The American flag is flying at half-staff at the White House at this hour where Jimmy Carter served from 1977 to 1981. President Joe Biden says the world has lost a remarkable leader, calling him a statesman, humanitarian and a dear friend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The entire Carter family, on behalf of the world, the whole nation, we send our whole heartfelt sympathies and gratitude, our gratitude for sharing President Carter with us for so many years. You know, Jimmy Carter stands as a model of what it means to live a life of meaning and purpose, life of principle, faith and humility. He is life dedicated to others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump offered his highest respect to former President Jimmy Carter, even though he says he strongly disagreed with him politically and philosophically. Trump shared a post on social media writing, quote, I just heard of the news about the passing of President Jimmy Carter.

Those of us who have been fortunate enough to serve as the 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.

And as well, the U.S. State of Georgia is mourning and honoring its famous son, former President Jimmy Carter, and his life and achievements are being looked on with pride. CNN's Rafael Romo has more now from the Carter Center here in Atlanta.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Georgia Governor Brian Camp has already ordered that flags around the state be flown at half-staff to honor the memory of Jimmy Carter. We have also heard from political leaders across the state praising the 39th president of the United States. And here at the Carter Center, where we are, we have seen how many people, regular people have come here to bring bouquets of flowers. They've also brought candles that they have lit right there behind me at the sign.

And we also saw a gentleman that brought a jar of peanuts to honor the memory of the peanut farmer who became the 39th president of the United States and this institution behind me. The Carter Center is very significant because after leaving the White House, he came back to Georgia and was able, through this place, keep on working on some of the causes that were near and dear to his heart, including promoting democracy, fighting disease and seeking international peace, causes that he took and worked on all over the world.

I was able to have a conversation with Craig Withers earlier. He is the vice president for operations here at the Carter Center.

[01:05:02]

And when I asked him to describe how he is going to remember the 39th President of the United States, he said a couple of things. Number one, he said he lived a life, well lived. And the second thing he said is that Jimmy Carter was a person who stuck to his principles, a very principled individual who always adhered to those principles. We are also hearing from the senators, both senators here in Georgia. Jon Ossoff said, for example, that among his lifetime of service and countless accomplishments, President Carter will be remembered for his commitment to democracy and human rights, his enduring faith, his philanthropic leadership and his deep love of family. We also heard from Senator Raphael Warnock, who called Carter one of

his heroes. His leadership was driven by love, his life's project grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity. And of course, President Carter was admired and respected around the world. But nothing really compares to the love and pride many people here in Georgia felt for the 39th President of the United States. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Max Baucus is a former U.S. ambassador to China and a former senator for the state of Montana. He does join us now from Bozeman, Montana. I want to thank you for being here in what really has been quite a celebration of this man's incredible life. Knowing him as well as you have for the last few decades, what comes to mind chiefly about the life that he led.

MAX BAUCUS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: I think he's unique. I doubt we'll ever see anybody quite like him. We will not see anyone with such dedication to disservice, whether he or she is in the White House or state House or governor or out office, always working hard to help people and serve people, making good use of his title, get recognition to get results. I mean, he's amazing. And nobody as decent, as virtuous as he.

NEWTON: That was certainly him as a person and as a president and obviously in his extensive endeavors outside of the presidency. And yet it was not without controversy when it comes to those controversies, especially when it came to foreign policy. I mean, how do you believe he interpreted it? Because he was very, very blunt about the fact that he suffered losses politically and that they hurt him.

BAUCUS: He called them as he saw them. He was a visionary. For example, he knew that the United States would probably have to have a good relationship with China. And it meant a lot to him to be the first president, the president, to diplomatically recognize China. And it's very courageous. He would go to China every single year after he was president. And the recognition in 1979 was courageous because at that time, the United States recognized the PRC as in the Security Council, not Taiwan. That would be very, very difficult to accomplish today.

He was a visionary. And other work he did overseas, monitoring many elections. He wanted people to be able to vote freely. Or in Bosnia, to try to get Herzegovina and the Bosnians together, in North Korea, for example. He was always trying to help solve problems and help people. It's stunning.

NEWTON: It is stunning. Is there one philosophy that he brought to this? I know many have discussed his devotion to human rights. Is there one ideology that he brought to this? Or was it always in the name of what he felt was service, but also embedded in his just incredible faith?

BAUCUS: I think it was his faith primarily. He's a Southern Baptist, very religious, would teach Sunday school virtually every Sunday. In fact, I at one time was called by President Jimmy Carter when I was in the Senate early one Sunday morning. I said, Max, why don't you come on over? We could go to Sunday school together and we can go to church. Well, fine. I drove over, got his limousine. He had his Bible, and he taught Sunday school that day. Then afterwards, they had a little chat before going off to church.

He was just a person of deep, deep faith. That was his calling. And as a Christian, too, with his emphasis on love, that I think really was a major driving force behind him.

NEWTON: And when we talk about love, what a love story. He and his wife married more than 75 years. I mean, think about that. Do you have any personal reflections on the relationship that you saw between the two?

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BAUCUS: They were a team, no question. They were a team. Always together, talking together. She counseled him more than anybody else did. And it was wonderful just seeing a couple like that. In life sometimes we know a man and woman who married a long time, really together as a team. Rosalind and Jimmy were that. And again in Beijing, I mean, watching the two of them hold hands and smile each other is a sight I'll never forget. And frankly, I'll try to emulate with my marriage too, because it was really something to behold.

NEWTON: It is charming. We are looking at photos of them together and you really see the warmth radiate between the two of them in almost every photograph and video that we show. It is absolutely incredible, a consequential presidency and beyond, to say the least. Ambassador Max Baucus, we really appreciate you sharing some of your memories with us.

BAUCUS: You bet.

NEWTON: Now world leaders are offering their condolences to the U.S. and the Carter family. French President Emmanuel Macron celebrated the Nobel Peace Prize winner on social media, stating, throughout his life, Jimmy Carter has been a steadfast advocate for the rights of the most vulnerable and has tirelessly fought for peace. France sends its heartfelt thoughts to his family and to the American people. That sentiment was echoed by Great Britain's King Charles. He writes, he was a committed public servant and devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights. His dedication and humility served as an inspiration to many.

Now you, of course, think of Jimmy Carter's greatest accomplishments and the Camp David Accords are likely to come to mind for so many. But as Will Ripley explains, that's not necessarily how Carter himself saw things.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A smile and a handshake between two very different men who saw a common future. U.S. President Jimmy Carter and China's communist leader, Deng Xiaoping both knew the fate of the world would one day hinge on relations between the U.S. and China.

It was 1979. Washington established diplomatic ties with Communist Beijing. For a president who got a deal done between Egypt and Israel and struck a nuclear accord with the Soviet Union, Carter believed ending hostility with Beijing was among his greatest achievements.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: What are you most proud of?

CARTER: I help promote peace between other countries that were potentially at war. I reached out to long term adversaries like China.

RIPLEY (voice-over): His decision came at a cost. The U.S. no longer officially recognizes Taiwan. U.S. troops pulled out the island democracy of 24 million people now facing the growing threat of a possible Chinese attack.

LEV NACHMAN, POLITICS SCIENTIST, NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY: From Taiwan's perspective, that meant that it officially became a unrecognized state. And that really is what put Taiwan in this very compromised position internationally.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The U.S. maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan, regularly selling weapons to its military. China experiencing huge economic growth due in large part to its relationship with the US. Now China is the world's second largest economy, but prosperity did not trigger political reform. Chinese leader Xi Jinping could potentially stay in power for life with a military more powerful than ever. Bilateral relations dropping to the lowest level in years. Carter always maintained people to people ties will prevail.

CARTER: The best thing to do is to try to find some accommodation with China and to respect each other and to try to find ways to cooperate rather than to confront one another with the differences that do exist.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He made several trips to China after leaving office, warmly welcomed by top leaders. The 39th president of the United States proud of his legacy, normalizing ties with China, now seen by many as the most important bilateral relationship of the 21st century. Will Ripley, CNN, Taiwan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: CNN Correspondent Marc Stewart is following this breaking news from Beijing and following all the reaction. I mean, Marc, as we just heard from Will, just one component of what is an incredibly complicated legacy. Just curious to see how this is being received in Asia.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A complicated legacy, no question, Paula. We've talked about this many times, but it is a framework that remains in place, a framework that was established under the Carter administration. It was just after 5 o'clock in the morning, local time, when we

learned of President Carter's death. We are going to hear from the Chinese government in just about an hour during the Ministry of Foreign Affairs daily press briefing. I am curious to see if and how this comes up, if this relationship and his passing is something that is brought up by Chinese journalists. That's something that we'll look for at around 3:15 local time here in Beijing.

[01:15:05]

Nonetheless, early this morning we did see one line of reaction in Chinese state media from the state news service Xinhua, which is essentially the government's messenger service, that one line simply messaging, mentioning the US Established diplomatic relations with China under the Carter administration. This has been a trending topic all day on Chinese social media.

I want to share with you some of the remarks that we noticed on Weibo, one of the top social media platforms here in China. One person saying, good old Carter, a president who truly deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Another person saying among all the living former U.S. presidents, he is relatively friendly to China. And finally, someone saying this is the last foreigner to appear in history textbooks.

One area where we have not heard reaction from has been from Taiwan and as we've discussed, that's been a very complicated part of this U.S.-China relationship. No official reaction just yet from Taipei, but that's something certainly we're going to be looking for as the day moves forward.

Finally, I want to share with you some remarks from the Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba. He released a statement just a few hours ago reading in part, President Jimmy Carter achieved historic accomplishments throughout his tireless efforts, not only during his presidency for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I renew my deep respect for President Carter who contributed significantly to strengthening the amicable Japan-U.S. relations and to maintaining peace and stability in the international community.

You know, President Carter, Paula, did make several visits to China after he left office and there is no question, at least from his view and from the Carter Center, his foundation, this U.S.-China relationship is something that is very important to his legacy. Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, and in fact, though he made a point of making those trips and they were indeed consequential, especially for what he intended his legacy to be. Marc Stewart, we will continue to look to that. Perhaps some reaction from the Chinese government will await that in the next hour. Marc Stewart for us meantime live from Beijing, appreciate your coverage.

Now, our coverage of the death of Jimmy Carter continues after a quick break. Here we have a look back at the talks at Camp David that changed his presidency and the world.

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NEWTON: Our breaking news continues on the death of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the age of 100. Now, one of his most significant achievements was the Camp David Accords, a peace deal reached after exhaustive negotiations between Egypt and Israel. Our Christiane Amanpour looks at what the ensuing agreement meant for the Carter presidency and the world.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Peace in the Middle East, the impossible dream. But President Jimmy Carter wasn't afraid to take it on, inviting two of the world's fiercest enemies to the White House retreat at Camp David in 1978.

Jimmy Carter had been derided for his administration's foreign policy failures, partly because he's considered to have lost a U.S. friendly Iran to the Ayatollahs. But the Camp David Accords were his geopolitical triumph. He managed to strike a deal between Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat. But this moment really got started a year earlier, when the cameras flashed and rolled to capture Sadat's journey into enemy territory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has never in all these years been anything as striking and dramatic as this.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Indeed, Sadat had made a massive gamble that coming in peace to Jerusalem, becoming the first Arab leader to visit Israel and speak directly to its people, would pay off.

But the two Middle East leaders failed to reach a deal on their own. Enter the American president. Carter recognized a rare opportunity to act as the indispensable mediator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost never in our history has a president devoted so much time on a single problem.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): He had studied the characters and histories of the two leaders who deeply mistrusted each other. He wrote Sadat and Begin personal letters inviting them to Camp David. And when they arrived on the American soil, it was high stakes for all three men involved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Failure here would just increase the impression that Mr. Carter is a nice man, but an inept president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This meeting is truly historic, and the people who will participate know it.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): 13 days of intense negotiations. Crucially, behind closed doors, no leaks, no social media, no media at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Israeli delegation is totally zipped up. Even less is coming out of it than is coming out of the Egyptian delegation. AMANPOUR (voice-over): At Camp David, Carter and his team shuttle back

and forth between the two men and their teams, often negotiating late into the night. Carter's national security advisor, the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, described what looked like Mission Impossible.

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Sadat, to sign a peace treaty with Begin, had to break ranks with the entire Arab world. He had to face isolation. Begin, to agree with Sadat, had to give up territory for the first time and to give up settlements.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): When direct talks between Sadat and Begin became too heated, Carter kept them apart and quashed any attempt to call off the negotiations.

After two weeks of complications, drama and false starts, the men finally returned to Washington to deliver the good news. They had reached a deal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just look at two weeks ago what the situation was. Peace process all but dead.

CARTER: An achievement none thought possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears that the president won, and he won big.

[01:25:02]

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Decades after Camp David, I sat down with President Carter and asked him how in the world he had done it.

AMANPOUR: There you were. You brought peace with Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. It all seemed so much easier then. Was it? Or is that just what we think now, all these years later?

CARTER: I think it was much more difficult because I was negotiating between two men whose nations had been at war four times in just 25 years.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): The magnitude of that accomplishment lives on in the image of that three way handshake. The Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin summed it up like this.

MENACHEM BEGIN, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: At Camp David Conference should be renamed. It was the Jimmy Carter Conference.

AMANPUR (voice-over): The final result, Israel would return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, a piece of land the two had fought wars over. Egypt would finally recognize Israel's right to exist and give Israel access to the crucial Suez Canal shipping lanes. Both leaders declared no more fighting.

All three men would eventually be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But one thing wouldn't change. Arabs called Sadat a traitor. Three years later, he was assassinated by Muslim extremists in his own country. Still, many years later, President Carter told me that he was proud of this first peace deal between Arabs and Israelis. CARTER: The peace treaty that was negotiated between Israel and Egypt

over extremely difficult circumstances was beneficial to both sides. And not a single word of the treaty has been violated. It was much more difficult than the altercation between the Israelis and the Palestinians is today.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): And that conflict, the one between Palestinians and Israelis, still rages on to this day. But it doesn't alter the fact that there was a shining moment when Jimmy Carter engaged the full and indispensable role of the United States and changed one corner of the Middle East forever. Christiane Amanpour, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: OK. Still to come for us, more on the life and service of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Our breaking news coverage continues after a short break.

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NEWTON: And welcome back to our viewers from all around the world.

I'm Paula Newton. And you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. Current President Joe Biden on Sunday remembered his dear friend as a man of courage and decency. The two worked together in politics, but their families also helped each other through tough personal situations like the death of Biden's eldest son Beau, and Carter's cancer diagnosis.

CNN's Julia Benbrook has more now on the President Biden's remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: During remarks here in Saint Croix, President Joe Biden paid tribute to former President Jimmy Carter, a man Biden called an incredible leader, statesman and humanitarian, as well as a dear friend.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a sad day, but it brings back an incredible amount of good memories. Today America and the world, in my view, lost a remarkable leader.

BENBROOK: Biden was one of the first U.S. Senators to endorse Carter in his 1976 presidential bid. And Biden said that one of his fondest memories with Carter is when Carter grabbed him by the arm and said, I need you to help me with my presidential campaign.

Now four years ago, Carter was unable to attend Biden's inauguration because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the two spoke on the phone before and Biden thanked Carter for his lifetime of service in that speech.

The current president and first lady visited the Carters in Georgia in 2021. That was actually on Biden's 100th day in office.

The president has spoken with all of Carter's children and says that he wants to make sure that the former president is remembered appropriately.

Traveling with the president in Saint Croix -- Julia Benbrook, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Larry Sabato joins me now. He is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Good to talk to you, Larry as we continue, really to cover this extraordinary life.

You know you, as an academic from the University of Virginia, perhaps come from it from a different point of view. Many people have remarked that, look, in his era, in his time, the fact that was extraordinary that he even won as president, but he won as someone who was from Georgia, someone from the New South, someone who looked at things like race relations in a completely different way.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: He really did. And many people commented at the time, he was the first president from the Deep South since 1848. So this was really a big thing for the south. And he carried every southern state except for Virginia, which he lost very narrowly and Oklahoma border state.

He swept the south. If he had not swept the south, he wouldn't have won, because frankly, a lot of the rest of the country had doubts about him, mainly because of his evangelical faith.

And they found him odd in various ways, you know, talking about the lusting in his heart, the kinds of things that you might say from a religious perspective that didn't fit into politics in 1976.

NEWTON: Do you think he does have an enduring legacy when it comes to what the New South looks like? What, you know, certainly in the 70s still so far to come in terms of race relations and civil rights.

SABATO: Oh, there's no question about that.

Carter was one of about a dozen governors we called the New South governors, who were basically saying the era of segregation is over.

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SABATO: Now, I've got to tell you, most of them didn't say it until after they were elected. Often it was in their inaugural addresses. That was true for Jimmy Carter as well.

But they were good to their word. They did do what they could do as governors to bring the races together at a time when there was still a lot of racial strife. You know, the 1960s, that was a very fresh memory.

NEWTON: Very fresh memory. And given how it dovetailed to what was an incredibly fraught time in the United States domestically, do You think that for those four years that Jimmy Carter was in office, do you think there was healing that happened in those four years?

SABATO: I do believe racially there was. And actually, leaders in both racial camps agreed on that at the end of Carter's presidency, that that was one of his contributions to American society.

He had a very integrated staff and integrated administration, really more so than any prior. People think, well, Kennedy and Johnson had a lot of integration. Actually they didn't. It was a big deal when an African-American was appointed to the cabinet, for example, you know, one. And the same with the Supreme Court, one African American on the Supreme Court.

So Jimmy Carter really regularized the integration of the races at all levels and for all appointments. So that's something people don't remember and they really ought to talk about more.

NEWTON: In terms of his legacy for the Democratic Party itself. Obviously, politics has changed, but the Democratic Party as well has changed. What do you think his contributions will be in the years and the decades to come? How do we see his political imprint?

SABATO: One of Jimmy Carter's secrets to success was he was determined in 1976 to move the party away from what he thought he saw as pure liberalism toward a more centrist view of what the country really wanted.

And we were still a much more moderate, even conservative, country in 1976. He won a close election against President Gerald Ford. If he hadn't done that, I don't think he would have won.

But it's interesting because the very fact that he did it caused liberals to immediately mobilize against him, and that led eventually to Senator Ted Kennedy's challenge to Jimmy Carter in 1980 in the Democratic primaries. That's one of several factors that defeated Jimmy Carter in his reelection race.

NEWTON: Even from within there was all that strife. And do you think he just wasn't cut from that mold? What -- was it his fiscal conservatism? Or does it go back to the way he was speaking as an evangelical Christian?

SABATO: Well, I think religion definitely had a piece of it. But a key part was the fact that he believed in a balanced budget. He wanted to cut the budget deficit. He did not go for the full national health insurance program that Senator Kennedy and other liberals were pushing, and so they wanted more.

They thought, mistakenly, that Democrats were back in control, that the Nixon-Ford years, those eight years had been the exception. In fact, they turned out to be the rule until Bill Clinton won in 1992.

And how did he win? By adopting a Jimmy Carter-like program of moving the Democratic Party back to the center.

NEWTON: Absolutely. It was more centrist. Larry, listen, thank you so much for helping us parse his life. It is

a long and extraordinary life, and just trying to go through all of the details, I think, does us such a world of good as we continue to honor this man and his legacy.

Larry Sabato for us, thank you so much.

SABATO: Thank you very much, Paula.

NEWTON: Now, as you might have guessed already, Washington is going to be a very busy city in the coming weeks. Even busier now, of course, with the former president expected to lie in state at the Capitol.

A state funeral for Carter will be the third distinct national event requiring special security, the other two being the certification of election results and the inauguration of Donald Trump.

And in just a few days, the House and Senate will meet to swear in new members and elect a new Speaker of the House.

Ok, just ahead for us here on CNN, desperate for news about their loved ones, some relatives of the 179 people killed in Sunday's South Korea plane crash are camping out at the airport where it happened.

[01:39:12]

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NEWTON: South Korea's acting president is ordering an emergency safety inspection of the entire country's airline operation system. This comes after Sunday's Jeju Airlines crash in Muan, South Korea that killed 179 people. Only two people on board survived. The U.S. is sending a team to assist with the investigation.

The White House released this statement from President Joe Biden, "As close allies, the American people share deep bonds of friendship with the South Korean people. And our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by this tragedy. The United States stands ready to provide any necessary assistance."

Now, right now, grieving families are waiting for more information, and many are camped out at the Muan airport, where Sunday's flight tragically crashed.

CNN's Mike Valerio is there and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we see all around us, this would normally be the departures hall for Muan International Airport, but instead of families who would be gathered here getting ready to go on vacations to celebrate the New Year, instead its replaced with this.

Scores of families huddled together waiting for the latest information on when their family members could be positively identified by DNA. Now, so many people have chosen to stay. They're not going anywhere, and that's seen evidenced by all of these tents that go from here pretty much to the end of the terminal.

They go back three tents to the edge of the check in counters. These are set up by the South Korean Red Cross. And this is where families are starting to live beginning overnight. And you see food deliveries throughout the day.

Let's keep going this way.

And the echoes of grief. People are -- people are choosing to stay here because this is where information comes first.

[01:44:49]

VALERIO: It's not received online, but there are briefings about every half hour here in this terminal with the latest details on what is happening in the investigation and how long it could take for family members to get more and more answers.

So as we keep going, this will be the entrance to the terminal and you see kindness on full display. To my left, church groups serving coffee, fruit snacks, any kind of drinks for everybody who's deciding to congregate here.

It is inspiring. It is quite moving and there are so many here who aren't quite prepared yet to tell their stories, at least to our cameras.

They speak to us when we're not recording, but their faces absolutely tell the story. Dark crescents under their eyes. Sleepless nights, preparing for more sleepless nights and no telling on when so many people here are going to leave.

Mike Valerio, CNN -- Muan, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Ok. Still to come. For many, President Jimmy Carter is best known for the humanitarian work he performed after leaving the White House. We'll take a look at his outsized impact.

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[01:49:52]

NEWTON: Some of President Jimmy Carter's most visible and enduring work happened while volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. The international nonprofit provides affordable housing for families in need.

President Carter and his wife spent some four decades volunteering with the group. They led thousands of volunteers in the annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project.

Habitat for Humanity says it joins the world in mourning President Carter. The group also says, quote, "The Carters put Habitat for Humanity on the map and their legacy lives on in every family we serve right around the world."

Jonathan Reckford joins me now from Atlanta. He is the CEO for Habitat for Humanity. And it is really good to speak to you.

I mean, look, these are iconic photos. And if people -- and video, if people believed that the Carters were there just for the photo opportunity of building these homes, they most certainly were not. I saw it up close and personal myself.

Tell us what their legacy is for your organization and why it meant so much to them as a couple.

JONATHAN RECKFORD, CEO, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: Well, first, if you say Habitat for Humanity in word association, the first thing most people would say is Jimmy Carter. So they were so connected.

And I think their personal example and the way they loved so much the work and the connections to the families who are purchasing the homes inspired so many. And then the sustained commitment was so extraordinary.

So you know, in 1984, Habitat was a tiny organization. And when President and Mrs. Carter rode that bus up to New York City and slept in a church basement to rehab a tenement building on the lower east side of Manhattan, that's when the world found out about Habitat.

And that started a 35-year-run of every year going somewhere in the world to build homes alongside families in need.

And President Carter told me frequently that working with Habitat for Humanity was the best way he knew to put his Christian faith into action in a very tangible and practical way.

And I think certainly it was one of the great privileges of my life to get to see him in action and watch him all those years.

And you couldn't be more right about the opposite of a photo op. President Carter was notorious on the build site that he would say always on the first day after he gave devotion and said, you know, don't come around and look for pictures.

At the end of the week, he'll do a photo with every house. But he said, if you're taking a picture, then you're not working. I'm not working. And the person with the camera is not working. So we're not going to do that.

And he just cared deeply. He loved to build. But I think much more he loved to see that chance as he talked about to break sometimes what is the toughest divide in our world, the socioeconomic divide and build meaningful relationships across all kinds of difference.

And he said often that he felt he got more out of it than anything he could bring to it. And I think that's the not-so-secret, beautiful part of volunteering. NEWTON: Yes. And it just seems so natural to us now. But this was four

decades ago, right? And as you said, you have to have fortitude to see these projects through and to make a place like Habitat what it is today.

What do you think his vision was when he spoke to you about what it meant to him? And I know you're saying its very much based on his faith, but at the same time, I mean look, it is all around us, right Jonathan? I mean, we see homelessness in all of our communities today.

And yet he understood that it was the bedrock of community, of faith, of dignity, of love, to have that house.

RECKFORD: Very much so. And of course, you know, he grew up in the depression and had, you know, certainly had a decent home. But I think people forget he was the last -- the first president born in a hospital, and he didn't have indoor plumbing in his home, you know, when he when they first built that Sears kit house.

And so I think he understood at a visceral level what it meant to have housing and not have housing, and the impact it would have. But he certainly saw that while it's certainly not the only need and we need all kinds of things in life, but if you don't have housing, in some ways that's a prerequisite for everything else.

Housing leads to better health, better education, the ability to have livelihoods, the ability to dream about a future. And I think seeing that transformation take place kept him coming back.

NEWTON: How much was this so connected, though, to his practicality and his humility? As I said, he knew his way around with a hammer, with a saw, with whatever in terms of the way he lived his life.

And in, look in Plains, Georgia, we've heard the stories. He himself lived in a very modest home, in a home that they had for decades.

RECKFORD: You know, it's so true. My final interview to join Habitat back in 2005 was to go interview with President Carter in their home. And the Secret Service house is bigger than the Carters' home.

[01:54:48]

RECKFORD: And, you know, usually you'd expect all sorts of staff. No staff, you know, he answered the door. He and Mrs. Carter sat in a double rocker, holding hands as we had the conversation. And just so down to earth and so gracious.

And I do think his long-term servant leadership set an incredible example of, you know, how leadership should look in terms of making a difference.

And that deep passion for making things better. He did love to build. I think he really enjoyed the -- and that was part of coming back. But he talked much more about the transformation he got to be a part of in terms of seeing the impact on the families. NEWTON: Yes. And remembering that these were community impacts. I

laugh though, and that sounds like him, right. The house for the Secret Service was larger than the one he and his wife were living in.

And Jonathan Reckford, we will leave it there for now. But continually remembering the legacy that he brought to Habitat for Humanity. Thank you so much.

RECKFORD: Thank you.

NEWTON: So now we might wonder, right, how did Jimmy Carter want to be remembered? It is a question he answered on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" nearly two decades ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, FORMER CNN HOST: One more call. Ogden, Utah, hello.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. President Carter, I would like to tell you that the first time I voted, I voted for you. I've never regretted it. And I would like to know what your -- what you want to be remembered as?

KING: The legacy.

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, the things that a lot of people remember about me is that I was not reelected for a second term.

KING: What's your own legacy, do you think?

(CROSSTALKING)

CARTER: Well, I kept our country at peace. You know, I never sent a soldier into battle. I never bombed anybody. I negotiated peace for other people like in the Mideast and Zimbabwe. And I promoted human rights to the utmost of my ability.

So if people 100 years from now remember me, I would like for them to connect peace and human rights to my name.

KING: It's an honor being in your presence.

CARTER: Thank you very much, Larry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Peace and human rights.

I want to thank you for your company this hour. I'm Paula Newton.

I will be right back with more news after a short break.

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