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CNN's Breaking News Coverage on the Death of Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 30, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S., the U.K. and around the world. I'm Max Foster in London, this is "CNN Newsroom".

And we begin with reaction coming in from around the world following the death of the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. He was 100 years old, living longer than any other U.S. President. The

Carter Center says he was surrounded by family in Plains, Georgia when he died on Sunday after being in a home hospice care for nearly two years.

Jimmy Carter, known for his dignity and devotion to service, also spent time building homes for Habitat for Humanity and teaching Sunday school after leaving the White House, but he 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, THEN-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)

FOSTER: The American flag flying at half-staff at the White House where Jimmy Carter served from 1977 to 1981. President Joe Biden declared January 9th as a National Day of Mourning and says the world has lost a remarkable leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: What I find extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people all around the world, all over the world, feel they lost a friend as well, even though they didn't ever meet him.

That's because Jimmy Carter lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds. Just look at his life, his life's work. He worked to eradicate disease, not just at home, but around the world.

He forged peace, advanced civil rights, human rights, promoted free and fair elections around the world. He built housing for the homeless with his own hands, and his compassion and moral clarity lifted people up and changed lives and saved lives all over the globe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The exclusive club of former U.S. presidents paid tribute to Jimmy Carter, praising his character, dignity and service.

Donald Trump said the challenges he faced as president came at a pivotal time for the U.S., and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans and added, quote, "for that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude."

Barack Obama, said President Carter, taught us all, taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice and service, and that he didn't just profess those values, he embodied them.

George W. Bush called him a man of deeply held convictions, who dignified the office of the presidency, whilst Bill Clinton gave thanks for his long, good life.

So how did Jimmy Carter want to be remembered? This is a question he answered on CNN's "Larry King Live" in 1997.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": One more call, Ogden, Utah. Hello.

OGDEN, UTAH VOTER; 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 you're what you want to be remembered as--

KING: The legacy.

CARTER: The things that a lot of people remember about me is it was I was not reelected for a second term.

KING: What's your own legacy?

CARTER: Well, I kept our country at peace. You know, I never sent a soldier in the battle. I never bombed anybody. I negotiated peace for other people like in the Mideast, in 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 of being in your presence. CARTER: Thank you very much, Larry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, the U.S. state of Georgia is mourning and honoring its famous son and his life and achievements are being looked at with great pride. CNN's Rafael Romo has more from the Carter Center in Atlanta.

[03:04:56]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp 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. 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. John 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.

Raphael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Despite Carter's deep roots in the deep south and his evangelical Christian faith, he proved to be a trailblazer and unifier on several divisive issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: 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. 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. He was an important figure of cultural reconciliation in a lot of ways after the 1960s.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST AND SR. EDITOR, "THE ATLANTIC": He was an ardent, devout Christian evangelical Protestant to embrace rock and roll. He was a southerner who embraced civil rights. He was a Navy veteran who pardoned the Vietnam draft resisters.

And, you know, he was someone in a marriage that to all the world looked like a very traditional union, but accepted and celebrated a more assertive role for women in all these ways. I thought he sort of cemented a lot of the cultural change that came through in the 60s. But if he was a figure of cultural integration, as I said, in some ways he was a figure of political disintegration.

You know, he was presiding over the Democratic coalition that was really starting to come apart at the seams. And the best kind of model of how that, you know, upended his presidency was that many of his legislative achievements were attempts were blocked in Congress by conservative Southern Democrats.

And then in 1980, he got a challenge in the primary from the left, from Teddy Kennedy, who thought that he moved too far to the center. He pioneered some of the, I think, reforms in the Democratic Party that Bill Clinton completed 15, 20, you know, 15, a dozen years later. But in some ways, he was a man ahead of his time in recognizing the Democratic Party had a change. He just couldn't bring enough of his party along with him, either on the right or the left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:10:00] FOSTER: Well, Washington is going to be a very busy city in the coming weeks, even busier now with the former president expected to lie in state with the capital there. A state funeral for Carter will be the third national event requiring special security in the days ahead, the other two being the certification of election results and the inauguration of Donald Trump.

Now, Carter only served one term, but he left behind a legacy that endures to this day, as we've been hearing. We look back at how he changed the history of the Middle East and beyond, next on CNN.

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): Fans, please join us as we observe a moment of silence to honor the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, who passed away earlier today at the age of 100.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The moment of silence there during Sunday's NFL game between the Washington Commanders and the Atlanta Falcons in honor of Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. president died on Sunday at the age of 100. Carter's late wife, Rosalynn, passed just over a year ago now. The two were married for 77 years.

Now, during his presidency, one of Jimmy Carter's 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 his presidency and indeed the world.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Peace in the Middle East, the impossible dream.

[03:15:01]

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.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): 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.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): 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 American soil, it was high stakes for all three men involved.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Failure here would just increase the impression that Mr. Carter is a nice man, but an inept president.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): 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.

UNKNOWN: 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 adviser, the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, described what looked like mission impossible.

ZBIGNEW BRZEZINSKI, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER UNDER JIMMY CARTER: 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.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Just look at two weeks ago, what the situation was. Peace process all but dead.

CARTER: An achievement none thought possible.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): It appears that the president won and he won big.

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, THEN-ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The Camp David Conference should be renamed. It was the Jimmy Carter Conference.

AMANPOUR (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.

[03:20:05]

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)

FOSTER: Let's bring in Paula Hancocks from Jerusalem. It was extraordinary to think, wasn't it, looking back what President Carter achieved there and that glimmer of hope that Christiane referred to that whilst there isn't peace in the Middle East there is always a potential for it and he really brought that alive at the time.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Max. And it's also the fact that many decades later that peace between Egypt and Israel, the peace treaty, still stands.

It has been standing for decades and even despite the pressures between the two countries given what is happening in the region at the moment it is still in place.

So, it was a remarkable moment and a remarkable turning point for Israel to sign its first peace treaty with an Arab nation. And you hear this respect when you see the responses and the condolences being given by leaders in the region.

For example, Israel's President Isaac Herzog. His response has said that he is a brave leader saying that he had the pleasure in recent years of calling him and thanking him for what he calls his historic efforts to bring together the two great leaders.

We've also heard as well from Egypt's current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi saying he will be remembered as one of the world's most prominent leaders in service to humanity.

So the responses there, the condolences being given by the current leaders and current presidents of both Egypt and Israel shows just how secure that peace treaty is and the magnitude of the efforts made by President Carter.

Now, the Camp David Accords themselves were supposed to be two parts so a very key part of this was to secure that peace between Egypt and Israel. But one thing that did elude President Carter that he did want to secure was the second part of an agreement and that was really to push the process forward to be able to have meaningful negotiations on Palestinian autonomy that we know that he was keen to also push forward the two-state solution, the creation of a Palestinian state. But that is something that did elude him and something he did refer to in later years.

And we also did see in later years once he had left the presidency that he did become more critical of Israel and what he saw as Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories.

In fact, in 2006, he wrote a book called "Palestine, Peace, Not Apartheid," a very provocative title which did cause backlash among Israel's allies and within that did compare the treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories to that of South Korea's former apartheid system and that certainly was brought up many times in the years later and President Carter himself said he knew that it was provocative but he wanted to start a conversation.

He wanted those in power in America to look at the situation through unbiased eyes he was concerned he said in this book that the pro- Israel lobby was skewing the debate and he wanted a much more unbiased look at what was happening in the region.

But there is no doubt Max that what he achieved in this region was hugely significant and it still stays to this day many decades on.

FOSTER: And it's that independence you refer to there that he's really remembered for isn't it not taking sides and not being afraid to criticize both sides as well, which is what many people I think in the region probably think is missing right now that independence everyone's taken sides and there's an intransigence there that only an independent figure can really break through and they're missing at the moment.

HANCOCKS: Well, that's right. And during the Camp David Accords during those negotiations well he was president he was an honest broker, he was very unbiased and that was what allowed this agreement to be created.

[03:24:58]

But of course, once he does leave the presidency he is allowed more freedom and once you are not constrained by the politics of being the U.S. president, you are able to speak more freely and that is certainly what we saw from President Carter.

And in his criticism of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, he said he was trying to create a space to have a conversation and to be able to look at it through unbiased eyes and to be able to deal with the situation at hand, and he was far more critical than we have seen in the years since President Carter and that 2006 book. Max.

FOSTER: OK, Paula, thank you so much such a big part of the president's legacy there in the Middle East.

Also making a huge difference in Asia, we'll take a look at how Jimmy Carter is being remembered there. Just ahead.

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FOSTER: Welcome back to our viewers in the U.S., the U.K. and around the world. I'm Max Foster, in London.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter being remembered for his dedication to public service. Carter passed away on Sunday at the age of 100.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: My name is Jimmy Carter and I'm running for president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, that was candidate Jimmy Carter's address to the 1976 Democratic National Convention in New York.

[03:30:00]

He went on to become the 39th president determined to restore morality and truth to politics.

Carter's widely known for redefining a president's role after leaving the White House. Along with his wife Rosalynn, he worked to bring peace and hope to the world through the Carter Center and made strides in the fight against poverty and homelessness by partnering with the charity Habitat for Humanity.

World leaders offering condolences to the U.S. and the Carter family. French President Emmanuel Macron celebrated the Nobel 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 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."

Meanwhile, the Australian Prime Minister recognized Carter's service posting that his legacy is quote, "best measured in lives changed, saved and uplifted."

Think of Jimmy Carter's greatest accomplishments and the Camp David Accords are likely to be top of the list but as Will Ripley now explains that's not necessarily how Carter himself saw things.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SR. 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?

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I helped 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, POLITICAL 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 U.S. 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)

FOSTER: CNN correspondent Marc Stewart following this breaking news from Beijing. Interesting looking back at that relationship between the Chinese and American leader at the time. How are they responding to this? Do they hark back to that sort of relationship they've had in the past?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Max. In fact, it was just about an hour ago that the death of Jimmy Carter came up during a daily briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It's a topic that was raised by a reporter, not necessarily raised by a spokesperson, but she did respond to a reporter from a global news service about the death of Jimmy Carter.

Let me share with you the remarks from Mao Ning, a spokesperson from the Chinese government. She said China expresses deep condolences on the passing of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Former President Carter was a key promoter and decision maker in the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.

Over the years, he made significant contributions to the development of China-U.S. relations and the friendship between the two countries, which we highly commend.

Now, it's interesting if we look back at the last four years of the Biden administration, there have been some very low points. I'm thinking back to 2023 after the balloon was shot down over the United States. The Chinese balloon was shot down.

[03:35:08]

Things really remained silent from a diplomatic perspective, but then things began to thaw. And in the past year or so, we've seen, you know, more visits between U.S. and Chinese officials.

You could argue that that framework is what perhaps allowed things to go through a very difficult point, or at least that's what the feeling is, I think, very much from Beijing right now on all of this.

His death came very early in the morning here in China. It was just after 5 o'clock that we learned of Jimmy Carter's passing. It's interesting because it has become a trending topic on social media here in China.

Let me share with you just a few remarks that we saw on Weibo, which is one of the top social media platforms. Among the responses to his death, one person saying, good old Carter, a U.S. 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. Someone else saying this is the last foreigner to appear in history textbooks.

As we heard in that previous story, the relationship with Taiwan is one that became precarious, strained for the United States and China. We've not heard any response from Taiwan, at least officially, just yet upon Jimmy Carter's passing.

Max, I should also tell you that we are hearing from the Japanese prime minister. He made some remarks talking about the fact that he spent a life in diplomacy, not just during his time as president of the United States, Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Marc Stewart remembering Jimmy Carter across Asia today.

Now, in New York, a tribute for the former president, one of the most iconic landmarks in the U.S., the Empire State Building, lighting up in red, white and blue on Sunday in honor of his life and legacy. Carter was the only former U.S. president to reach 100 years old. To put things into perspective, the Empire State Building opened on May 1st, 1931, just five months before Jimmy Carter's seventh birthday.

Much more on President Carter's life and legacy ahead, but next, desperate relatives of the victims in Sunday's horrific plane crash gather at Muan Airport for any information on their loved ones. We'll have the latest when we return.

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[03:40:00]

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FOSTER: New information now on the Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people in South Korea on Sunday.

Officials now say the plane's pilot reported a bird strike in the minutes before crashing. They say the pilot said mayday, mayday, mayday. And they used the terms bird strike and go around. Go around indicates that the pilot decided to delay landing. South Korea's acting president is ordering an emergency safety

inspection of the country's airline operations system. And the country's transport ministry says it'll inspect each of the country's Boeing 737-800 planes.

Meanwhile, flags in South Korea are at half-staff as the country grieves the victims of the crash. Families gathering at International Airport hoping for any information on the crash or their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEON JE-YOUNG, FATHER OF CRASH VICTIM: 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 was crashed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, many families are camped out at the airport waiting for any news or updates on their loved ones. CNN's Mike Valerio is there. He filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN 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 it's 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 choosing to stay here because this is where information comes first. 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 would 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 of a sleepless night, 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)

FOSTER: Azerbaijan's president says Russia is to blame for the Christmas Day crash of an airliner that killed 38 people. He accused the Kremlin of accidentally downing the Azerbaijan Airlines plane and for covering up the cause of the disaster with, quote, "absurd theories."

The accusations come just a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace but stopped short of admitting fault. On Sunday, a funeral was held and tributes were paid to the pilots and passengers in the Azerbaijani capital.

Meanwhile, Air Canada Express says one of its flights has suffered a suspected landing gear issue. It appears the plane carrying 73 passengers skidded down the runway after it landed in Nova Scotia on Saturday.

One passenger claims she saw flames on the aircraft's left side with smoke coming through the windows. The plane never reached the terminal and customers were offloaded by bus. No injuries reported and the incident is under investigation.

Now still to come, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says one of his goals in life was to love his neighbors. We'll take a look at how his deep faith informed his life, his presidency and his humanitarian legacy.

[03:45:05]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: Well, the best thing I ever did was marrying Rosalynn. That's the pinnacle of my life and we've had 69 years together, still together. And so that's the best thing that happened to me. But I think getting involved in politics and going up, you know, as a State Senator and then Governor and President of the United States is obviously a glorious event.

So, and we have a growing family. We have 22 grandchildren and great- grandchildren, 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren now and they come in every year. So, we have a good and harmonious family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Amazing. That was former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, of course, speaking in 2015 about his love of his family. He also extended that love to the people he considered his neighbors, his fellow Americans and to all people around the world.

President Carter showed it with the prolific humanitarian work he did after leaving office. He and Mrs. Carter spent four decades volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. The international non-profit provides affordable housing for families in need. Habitat for Humanity says it joins the world in mourning.

The organization's CEO described President Carter's outsize impact.

[03:50:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN RECKFORD, CEO, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: 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 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.

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

President Jimmy Carter was open about his deeply held Christian faith long before anyone spoke of the evangelical vote or the need to appeal to that particular group. Jake Tapper looks at how faith shaped the man and his presidency.

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CARTER: I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jimmy Carter faced the American presidency the same way he faced nearly everything else in his life, with unflinching faith.

CARTER: I have just taken the oath of office on the Bible my mother gave me just a few years ago.

TAPPER (voice-over): And as Americans look to President Carter to lead them, President Carter looked to God for guidance.

CARTER: With God's help and for the sake of our nation, it is time for us to join hands in America.

TAPPER (voice-over): As a devout evangelical, the pride of Plains, Georgia was active in his hometown church well into his 90s.

CARTER: Well, thank you for coming this morning.

TAPPER (voice-over): Both as a student of faith and as a teacher.

CARTER: My father was a Sunday school teacher. He taught me when I was a child. I still teach Sunday school when I can.

TAPPER (voice-over): A commitment to God and family were long-held hallmarks of the Carter home.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: The scripture was part of his daily childhood life. Every night at supper, they would not only say the Lord's prayer, but would read the gospel.

TAPPER (voice-over): When Carter left home for the Naval Academy, his faith followed.

BRINKLEY: He would spend his weekends on leave doing Bible classes, tutoring people in scripture. He talks about Jesus Christ all the time.

TAPPER (voice-over): But in 1966, the lifelong Christian came to question his beliefs, his faith shaken after losing the Georgia governor's race in the primary.

CARTER: I really felt let down by God.

TAPPER (voice-over): Carter's younger sister read him scripture from the book of James, reminding the future president--

CARTER: That a setback in life should be an institution that results in perseverance and patience and self-analysis and renewed spiritual commitment.

STUART EIZENSTAT, PRESIDENT CARTER'S FORMER POLICY ADVISER: She made him into what evangelicals called a born-again Christian.

TAPPER (voice-over): With renewed conviction, Carter went on to serve as Georgia's governor. And later as America's commander-in-chief.

The 39th president and his new vice president, Walter Mondale, had Christianity in common. They bonded over it.

WALTER MONDALE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I grew up in a minister's family and he recognized what I was about. And I think that's one of the things that pulled us together. TAPPER (voice-over): It was also one of the qualities that helped

Carter become the first president to welcome the Pope to the White House.

CARTER: Let all of us here of every faith stand as one under God for peace and justice and for love.

TAPPER (voice-over): The president's knowledge of world religion played a key role in his brokering of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty in 1979, a key accomplishment of his administration.

PETER BOURNE, PRESIDENT CARTER'S FORMER ADVISER: Because of his intimate reading of the Bible and other religious documents, he felt an intimacy with almost the land of the Middle East. And he just thought that was the most important thing that he could do as president.

TAPPER (voice-over): But Carter's devotion to service did not end with his presidency. The former peanut farmer dedicated his energy to humanitarian work, building homes for the poor, even as he neared his 95th birthday.

[03:55:03]

CARTER: I happen to be a Christian and it's a practical way to put my religious beliefs into practical use.

TAPPER (voice-over): While he continued to refer to himself humbly.

CARTER: I'm a Sunday school teacher, but I have a lot of people that confide in me.

TAPPER (voice-over): President Carter and his namesake Carter Center touched the lives of millions.

CARTER: Well, the work at the Carter Center has been, I'd say, more personally gratifying to me.

TAPPER (voice-over): Founded in 1982 as part of his presidential library, the Carter Center has worked to ensure the fairness of more than 100 elections in nearly 40 countries and is credited with virtually eliminating diseases like guinea worm that had long burdened parts of Africa.

CARTER: Guinea worm is probably the one of the oldest diseases remembered by human beings. It's in the Bible. We think it's a fiery serpent.

TAPPER (voice-over): For his work, Jimmy Carter earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

In addition to his philanthropic work, Jimmy Carter was a prolific author. He published more than 25 books touching on his belief in God, country, and kindness.

You only have to have two loves in your life, he wrote, for God and for the person in front of you at any particular time.

The person with Carter most was his wife, Rosalynn, who worshipped alongside him for more than seven decades.

CARTER: When I'm overseas or when she is, we read the same passage in the Bible and we kind of, you know, communicate silently.

TAPPER (voice-over): Even when cancer threatened to take Mr. Carter from his wife and from the life he loved, he kept his faith and looked again to God.

CARTER: Now, I feel, you know, it's in the hands of God whom I worship and I'll be prepared for anything that comes.

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FOSTER: Thank you for joining me here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Max Foster in London, back with more news and the latest on the response to Carter's death after the break.

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