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CNN Live Event/Special

The State Funeral Of President Jimmy Carter. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired January 07, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the thing that makes this, to me, incredibly poignant and important, and I can only speculate that if Jimmy Carter decided that this is the way that he wanted to go out, it was because the -- this spectacle that we are seeing here is a commemoration of America and its institutions and the institutions that he was a part of, both the presidency and the United States military.

[16:00:15]

And I think it's -- it's almost like the inauguration for me personally just to watch this, because we don't see this often as a country. And it's important to see that when we celebrate our leaders, we do so under the auspices of the United States of America, not Jimmy Carter, the king, or any other president, the king or the queen. That's part of the tradition of this country. And it's so important.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Boris Sanchez is alongside the route of the procession -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake. And we're just watching as the military honor guard first approaches this part of Constitution Avenue, obviously, followed by some advanced motorcade. And then the national color guard -- color guard.

We should note there is a street honor cordon as well. These are military personnel that are set to render a hand salute as that horse drawn caisson approaches. This obviously was an enormous undertaking by folks here in the nation's capital, in part because there was a large weather event over the weekend, and they've spent much of the last day and a half or so getting snow out of the way and getting guardrails up to host several hundred mourners that have come out to pay their final respects to President Carter as he makes his way from the U.S. Navy Memorial to the U.S. Capitol.

And I should note, it is not certainly a warm out here. It's freezing temperatures outside, and I've spoken with several people that have come in from out of town because of the significance of this moment. And as that advanced motorcade moves further, we can see in the distance the actual caisson itself, where the former presidents remains are, you know, I spoke with a woman earlier from Pittsburgh who said that she had attended Sunday school, watching President Carter, speak to young folks and talking about his faith and the significance of this moment for her as someone who admired President Carter, both for his time in office but also his time, as just an everyday citizen in his post-presidency and the things he did via Habitat for Humanity and other organizations to try to help folks.

We'll send it back to you, Jake, as we watch the caisson get closer.

TAPPER: All right. And not including President Carter, a total of 12 U.S. presidents have lain in state in the capitol rotunda.

Wolf Blitzer, the procession is making its way to you up there at the Capitol.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: You know, it's interesting, Kaitlan. I think they're going to be coming right behind us on their way to the where they're going to be resting at the Capitol.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, you can actually see people gathered on the steps from the view that we can see here from -- from our vantage point of, of where the motorcade and where this procession will be coming. And as we're sitting here watching this, this procession happen and happening and listening to the band that obviously accompanies every president, as you know, Wolf, from -- from covering several administrations.

You know, Jimmy Carter, when he first took office, he didn't let them play hail to the chief when he entered the room, as they do for every president. He didn't like that. He didn't -- he didn't feel that it fit with his image as -- as this man of the people that he wanted to, to keep and maintain when he came into the White House, that he was just like everyone else.

He was someone who carried his own bags when he got on Marine One. Obviously, you know, as reporters stand there and watch the president get on Marine One, he doesn't carry his own bags. It's typically an aide and a bodyguard who does that. But President Carter felt that it was important to carry his own bags as -- as he got on Marine One for that very purpose.

You know, he later said, decades after leaving the office, that he regretted not playing "Hail to the Chief" initially because he realized how important moments like this are to the American people, that it's all not all, just pomp and circumstance and flourish, that it actually does resonate with the American people in a real way. And I just thought it was -- it was always interesting to hear his reflections on the presidency and what he learned from that.

BLITZER: And they're making their way to the capitol rotunda, where the body will lie in state, Jamie, and there will be a formal program that's about to begin as well. And well be hearing from the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the vice president, Kamala Harris of the United States. There will be eulogies that will be delivered, and I presume, in great tribute to the 39th president.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. He'll be lying in state starting tonight through tomorrow. Then, the funeral at the National Cathedral on Thursday.

I just want to point out, for people who may not know Washington, D.C. geography, that's a long walk from where his family's coming from, where the naval memorial is. And we can hear it actually in the background now as, as they're getting closer.

There are we can see there are a lot of people standing on the steps over there waiting to greet the casket and his family. We can't quite tell yet who is standing there. I know when former President Bush 41, died, there were members of his cabinet who were there to greet him.

One of the things about Jimmy Carter at 100 years old, he has outlived, really most of his cabinet, many of his staff. I mean, Stuart Eizenstat and Jim Fallows are with us, but Hamilton Jordan, Jody Powell, so many of the cabinet members have -- have predeceased him. But I believe the lying in state will start at about 8:30 this evening and go until late tonight, and then tomorrow as well.

COLLINS: And I think -- I think it's a little earlier.

GANGEL: Correction, 7:00 p.m., sorry, 7:00 p.m.

BLITZER: I think 7:00 p.m. lying in state. Well, people will be able to come up here to Capitol Hill and honor the 39th president.

COLLINS: And several of the Supreme Court justices are already actually have arrived. We've already started to see that they'll get a -- they obviously get an earlier access to -- to see him lying in state as he's initially brought here after this lengthy walk that Jamie just noted here for this procession.

I mean, people have already started to gather, Wolf. We can see were on the opposite entrance of where the actual procession will come into the Capitol based on what it looks like from here. But we can see them preparing. They're already waiting outside for -- for his arrival to happen.

We saw buses of the diplomatic corps coming in earlier to arrive. So you can see just everyone who is coming in, coming in and preparing. And, Wolf, you know, as we were talking a few moments ago about the parallels and the very stark contrast of the Trump presidency -- presidency, we saw in the Carter presidency, we will see all of the current living presidents gathered here in Washington 48 hours from now for the official funeral of Jimmy Carter here in Washington.

BLITZER: At the national cathedral. And that will be a moment in and of itself to see all of them gathered. Obviously, that's not always something that President-elect Trump has, has come to. And so to see that moment and them gathered here for Jimmy Carter.

BLITZER: And that will be Thursday morning. We'll, of course, have live coverage of that as well.

Manu Raju, our chief congressional correspondent, is up here on Capitol Hill.

Manu, tell us exactly where you are and what you're seeing.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I'm on the east front plaza of the Capitol, where we do expect Jimmy Carter and his motorcade to come into right behind me. And then after he arrives, just in a matter of minutes here, his casket will be pulled out by the military honor guard. They will walk up the center steps of the Capitol directly into the rotunda. He'll be greeted with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, who will be on the center steps of the capitol, along with Carter family members.

Then the casket will be left put on a black structure that has actually been used since Abraham Lincoln was lying in state in the Capitol back in the late 1800s, been used for many important services like this one. And then when this takes, this ceremony begins, we expect to hear from the Republican leaders of Congress who will be eulogizing Jimmy Carter and John Thune, the new Senate Republican leader, as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson, will be among the people who are eulogizing him, along with Vice President Kamala Harris.

And we do expect a lot of bipartisan accolades to be showered over Jimmy Carter and his service John Thune for one, earlier this morning talked about his humble upbringing. He talked about Jimmy Carter's work while in office, some of his achievements that he -- that that he secured, as well as his work after he left office with the Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center and the like.

So expect a lot of bipartisan praise, bipartisan as well, in attendance, Kaitlan mentioned, I saw the chief of staff of the United States Supreme Court, sorry, the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts, just walk in moments ago, along with a couple of other justices, Justice Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh.

So expect people from both sides of the aisle, wolf, to honor Jimmy Carter's life and service -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A beautiful honor that's about to begin and will continue for a while. And we'll have extensive coverage.

And, Manu, stick around. Don't go too far away.

To all of our viewers, stay with us for the ceremonies once the Carter funeral procession arrives up here at the U.S. Capitol, including eulogies delivered by the vice president, Kamala Harris, and top congressional leaders from both parties.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: The funeral procession with Jimmy Carter's flag draped casket is approaching the U.S. Capitol right now, Washington insiders. Governors from around the country, a bipartisan group of people waiting, gathered, as well as American citizens to pay tribute to the late president, who prided himself as an outsider.

We are watching this procession on an absolutely just the light of this at this time of day and the winter. A beautiful light to watch this casket on that caisson, horse drawn carriage approached the Capitol.

Kai Bird, your years as a biographer of Carter, approaching this Capitol, not a place that he loved in terms of his dealings with Capitol Hill. I was reading Peter -- Peter Baker's great piece in "The New York Times" today. He had spoken to you and you were saying, you know, he was an outsider. Jimmy Carter ran against the establishment.

When he gets into the Oval Office, you note he declined more than one dinner invitation from the Georgetown set.

[16:15:05]

Peter talks about how he didn't want to have dinner in the home of the publisher of "The Washington Post", Katharine Graham. Who knows what he'd think about that now? Um, but that that really defined him. That sort of, I don't know, his disdain. The word that you would use for the set of pomp and circumstance of Washington.

KAI BIRD, AUTHOR, "OUTLIER: THE UNFINISHED PRESIDENCY OF JIMMY CARTER": He just didn't enjoy Washington cocktail parties. You know, he -- he was -- when I was interviewing him, he was in his 90s. He was still working. He was still relentless. And he was focused on the future, on his work.

And so when he arrived in Washington, he disdained the sort of social butterflies of the Georgetown set. And yeah, he got numerous invitations from Katharine Graham, the publisher of "The Washington Post. And he turned them down. Now, he admitted later to me that this was probably a mistake, that you have to he realized you have to groom and cultivate the Washington establishment.

But he really had a disdain for that whole scene. He would much prefer to have pizza and beer with Hamilton Jordan and his press secretary, Jody Powell, you know?

BURNETT: Yeah.

All right. Let's send it back to Wolf at the Capitol, where, of course, that procession is heading right now, Wolf, to where you are down those old streets of Washington.

BLITZER: And we hear from where we're sitting here up on Capitol Hill, we can already hear the procession coming, the music in the background. It's always so, so moving to hear that military band play these very, very moving renditions of the traditional songs that we all love.

Manu Raju, our chief congressional correspondent is up on Capitol Hill as well. Manu set the scene for us. What we're about to see unfold.

RAJU: Yeah, we're watching right now. This military band play in anticipation of Jimmy Carter's arrival here in just a matter of moments, I'm watching this procession play out right in front of my eyes, Wolf. And soon we're going to see the caisson come up down this from in front of the east front of the plaza, up until the center steps of the capitol. There we will see members of the honor guard there, representing all

six branches of the military, will remove Jimmy Carters casket from the caisson and walk directly up the steps of the Capitol in just a matter of minutes to watch for the leaders of both parties to line the steps of the Capitol. And just a matter of minutes to watch for the leaders of both parties to lie in the steps of the Capitol, to greet Jimmy Carter as he arrives here for this memorial service.

But right now, Wolf, just a very moving tribute. We are seeing here a solemn moment as members of the military wait here, march in unison and wait for Jimmy Carter's arrival here in just a matter of moments, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we're going to be hearing more military -- military music coming along, including "God of Our Fathers" and, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past", the U.S. Army band "Pershing's Own", as it's called. It will be playing.

Jamie, we're watching this unfold, and we're not very far away from this. It's so -- it's so powerful, so moving for all of us who are actually nearby.

GANGEL: We can see actually pulling up right in, in over your shoulder, Wolf. His grandchildren, 11, I believe of his grandchildren, will be the honorary pallbearers. But, you know, we were just listening to Kai Bird, who wrote this extraordinary biography of Jimmy Carter, talking about how Carter really didn't like Capitol Hill and Capitol Hill didn't like him. I think it was said that Jimmy Carter really didn't like politics or politicians.

I -- Tip O'Neill wrote in his biography that that Jimmy Carter, that -- and his group, they were amateurs who came to Washington with a chip on their shoulder. So this was something that, you know, in later years, Carter realized that he did need to schmooze and -- and get to know people, but it wasn't something he liked to do.

One of his staffers had convinced him to invite some members of Congress over to play tennis one day. And when the tennis game was done, Jimmy Carter sort of curtly said goodbye and went back to work, and the staffer was saying, no, you should have invited them in for -- for a drink, that this is a town of relationships.

But he was always his own man.

COLLINS: He never changed. Well, that's, you know, the comparison of him as an outsider, Trump, as an outsider. Jimmy Carter was a true outsider in the sense that he had no desire to belong, not to Washington, not even really to, you know, the pillars of his own party in Washington.

It was Democrats that he also famously snubbed, as you were mentioning. But just thinking, Wolf, as you know, he's here arriving on Capitol Hill, you see these members of Congress, senior figures waiting --

[16:20:04] BLITZER: Hold on a second. Let's listen in.

(STATE FUNERAL CEREMONY)

BLITZER: Kaitlan, the remains will be escorted from the base of the Capitol rotunda stairs all the way up. And that's where the coffin will remain. And folks will be able to come later tonight, starting later tonight, to pay their respects.

COLLINS: Yeah, not just members of Congress, not just Supreme Court justices. Members of the public can come and wait in line and pay their respects and see President Jimmy Carter as he lies in state here for for the next two days. It's a very special moment for -- for people who are in Washington or visiting Washington at a time like this.

There's a few dozen staffers and tourists behind us actually standing, watching as all of this is unfolding. What were seeing on the right side of the screen, we have an eagle's eye vantage point from -- from where we're sitting, Wolf. But just as he's entering the halls of Congress, Wolf, you know, when Jimmy --

BLITZER: You see the rotunda now on the left part of the screen.

COLLINS: And when Jimmy Carter took office, he had big legislative goals. He had a lot he wanted to get done. He had this famous whiteboard in the Oval Office with every different legislative achievement that he wanted to get done. All of these different major policies, you know, typically a president entering office would pick 1 or 2 big ones they wanted to tackle. He wanted to go after all of them.

And he was, you know, someone who, as governor of Georgia, read every bill from beginning to end. He was very tedious and took the time to look at everything. He didn't famously like to delegate very much.

You know, he was even criticized at one point for wanting to introduce too much legislation in the White House. And that goes back to what Jamie was saying about the importance, obviously, of fostering those relationships whenever he took office with -- with key members on Capitol Hill, that he just didn't famously see -- see the need for or the desire to kind of have that horse trading, handshake kind of relationship with them.

It didn't mean he didn't have legislative dreams. He had a lot of them, actually, and wanted to get a lot accomplished. And that's famously why, you know, part of when he lost, they had felt like they were just catching their stride in terms of figuring out how Washington works and getting everything underway, when, of course, he lost his reelection.

And so to see him returning to the halls of Congress here, where he will be honored by our senior congressional figures today, a look back at that moment in his presidency, as well.

BLITZER: Yeah, it's a chilly day indeed here in Washington, maybe even worse than chilly. It's very, very cold here in Washington today. But these folks are walking. They're escorting the coffin. They'll be going up to capitol rotunda stairs, and they'll make their way indoors. And then there will be a formal program that will begin beginning with the chaplain of the U.S. Senate -- Jamie.

GANGEL: Also, I believe speaking will be Vice President Kamala Harris. She will speak, I think Speaker Mike Johnson, and other leaders will speak.

BLITZER: The new majority leader of the Senate, John Thune --

GANGEL: John Thune --

BLITZER: -- will speak as well.

GANGEL: -- will be speaking.

I think that just to go back to what Kaitlan was saying about his time in Washington and his aggressive agenda, he did get a lot accomplished, but he didn't do it the easy way. You know, he got it through, but it wasn't always easy.

And --

BLITZER: These are the family members who are coming. The pallbearers, honorary pallbearers and others who will be special guests inside at this ceremony.

COLLINS: Yeah. His grandchildren, who are the Carter grandchildren, are the pallbearers that are going to be here.

Obviously, family was such a big part of Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn's life long after they left Washington and has continued to be a mainstay for them, and it also just goes back to Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn themselves and their relationship when he was -- when he was in office and how close they were.

And, you know, they had a weekly lunch, Wolf, that it wasn't a wife and husband lunch. It was a policy lunch that Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn had where they would sit down and talk about big issues that that were important to her or important to him. She played a key role in so much of that. She actually would come to his cabinet meetings and sit alongside the wall at times and listen in and weigh in, obviously, later in their conversations.

That was so rare. I don't know if ever a presidential spouse had come into the cabinet meetings before.

GANGEL: It really was groundbreaking in this way -- it's not that first ladies did not have an influence behind the scenes, but it was a very public, you know, image of her influence that she would actually come and sit in.

[16:25:16]

COLLINS: Yeah. And she wanted to pay for his staff. And they became much more influential under -- under Rosalynn Carter. You know, she was out in the public as well. She went out with Dale Bumpers' wife of Arkansas, to push for childhood vaccinations and making them mandatory in schools. That was a huge effort of hers that she did.

I mean, she was such a partner to him, obviously, that it doesn't even need to be said because its just their relationship and their dynamic was so clear. But to see their family here surrounding for such a special moment, Wolf, obviously.

BLITZER: Seventy-seven years of a marriage, that's pretty amazing, 77 years for Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter. And he's being honored now. And you can see they're getting ready for that.

Once the actual program begins, Jamie, the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club will be performing. I'm really looking forward to hearing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee". And then later, they'll be performing "Eternal Father Strong to Save", which is the U.S. Navy hymn.

And, of course, as we all know, Jimmy Carter went to the naval academy, graduated from the Naval Academy. It was one of his pride events.

COLLINS: Yeah. That was -- that was initially what he saw. He wanted a lifelong career in the Navy and, you know, didn't really have Washington on his vision board necessarily until, of course, you know, when he was trying to be an engineering officer, his father passed away unexpectedly in 1953, and he returned home to plains to -- to run the family farm. And that is what positioned him for politics, and eventually the presidency.

And, Wolf, to think of when President Carter was -- was here in office. And Joe Biden and he had a relationship as well. And Joe Biden once was quoted as saying he didn't know if it was worse to be his enemy or his friend, and it just spoke to that relationship that, that they had. And obviously, we'll see that come full circle on Thursday at the National Cathedral. Wolf, when -- when President Biden eulogizes President Carter.

BLITZER: Yes, it will be -- will be covering that, of course, as well.

We're about to hear "Hail to the Chief" once again as this -- this procession continues.

COLLINS: So funny because he hated having it played when he first took office. He later relented and let them play it in his later years in office, but initially he did not want them playing "Hail to the Chief". He didn't -- he didn't like it. He didn't like the pomp and circumstance. And obviously we're seeing that that come to light today. And how he later said he understood why it was so important to Americans.

But Jimmy Carter did not want "Hail to the Chief", played as he entered the room, and that just spoke to how he viewed the role the president should have.

BLITZER: And this will be very, very moving as they take the coffin and they go up the capitol rotunda, stairs to the rotunda, where the body will lie in state.

This is a special moment indeed, that were about to see, Jamie.

GANGEL: So I think what were seeing there from the back would be his grandchildren, who will be the honorary pallbearers as the military actually will move the casket up the stairs. I'm also told that waiting either at the top of the steps or waiting in the rotunda are members of his administration, former cabinet members, I believe Joseph Califano is going to be -- be there.

You know, one other thing I think we should remember that was very, very difficult for Jimmy Carter was the hostage crisis and --

BLITZER: When American -- when American diplomats and others were taken hostage in Iran and held for 442 days, you can see the family beginning to go inside right now. They'll be waiting at the top of the rotunda for the coffin to actually arrive.

But go ahead.

GANGEL: It really did have such an impact on so much of his presidency, and in the end, the hostages were released. They -- but there was this bittersweet moment because Iran did not release the hostages until after President Reagan was inaugurated. They didn't want it to happen on Jimmy Carter's watch.