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CNN Live Event/Special

Special Coverage of the State Funeral of James "Jimmy" Earl Carter; At Least 5 Dead As Tens Of Thousands Flee Raging Wildfires In Los Angeles Area. Aired 8:55-9:30a ET

Aired January 09, 2025 - 08:55   ET

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

[08:56:16]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: At the U.S. Capitol, a final salute to President Jimmy Carter begins just minutes from now, with more of the fanfare of the nation's highest office and an extraordinary gathering of five American presidents.

Welcome to CNN's special coverage of the state funeral of James Earl Carter. I'm Jake Tapper in Washington.

President Carter's flag-draped casket is about to be carried down the Capitol steps from inside the Rotunda, where he has been lying in state. The first of many solemn rituals in Washington, D.C., on this national day of mourning.

We will, in minutes, see the hearse and motorcade travel through the streets of Washington, D.C., passing near the White House where the flag is at half-staff in honor of President Carter.

Then it's on to Washington National Cathedral for the funeral service. The Carter family will join with us and U.S. and world leaders to pay tribute to Jimmy Carter's 100 years of life and his legacy. A bipartisan moment as Washington is on the brink of dramatic change.

Five of President Carter's successors are expected to be in the cathedral. Current President Joe Biden, the former president and now president-elect, Donald Trump, and former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

President Biden will be the one to eulogize Carter, his longtime friend, whom he endorsed in 1976, just days before his own presidency ends and Trump's begins. We're going to be closely watching all the interactions among the presidents, of course.

We're also following breaking news on the most destructive wildfire disaster ever to hit the Los Angeles area. And we're going to bring you updates on this very fast moving and dangerous situation.

But right now, as we wait for the Carter funeral ceremonies to begin, let us go to Washington National Cathedral, where we find CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, official Washington is about to honor a proud D.C. outsider, Jimmy Carter.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, one of the ultimate outsiders, Jake. Of course, Jimmy Carter himself later said maybe he should have been less of an outsider in attempting to get his legislative agenda passed. He has been here for over 48 hours now, lying in state at the nation's Capitol. It ended just after a few moments after seven this morning.

And, Jake, it's one of the most special things in Washington, to see when a former president does lie in state because members of the public wait in line. It is cold, if you can't tell, here in Washington. It hasn't even hit 30 degrees this morning yet. And overnight, late into the hours, people were waiting in line outside to go in and pay tribute to President Jimmy Carter as he was lying in state and his legacy that so many people have been remembering over the last several days.

That includes everyone from former presidents, we saw President-elect Trump there last night, senior members of congressional leadership, but also just general members of the public who wanted to have that chance to go in. It's quiet in there. There's no pictures taken. It's very solemn. And just to take that time before, of course, today's funeral, where we are going to see all of the former presidents who are living gathered here today, in addition to so many other dignitaries paying tribute to Jimmy Carter and his funeral and his final goodbye from Washington this afternoon before he returns to Georgia.

We're here outside the National Cathedral, where everyone will be gathered inside in just a matter of moments. Jeff Zeleny and Kasie Hunt are with me.

[08:59:57]

And, Jeff, you know, when President Biden, who is going to - to eulogize Jimmy Carter here in just a few hours from now, comes in, you know, when he first took office, one of his first trips, he was going down. He was in Georgia. He made a side trip over to Plains to visit with President Carter and with Rosalynn.

[09:00:00]

JEFF ZELENY, CNN NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: He did. And that was back in 2021. And during that meeting, it was at that point we didn't know it at the time, but that is when President --

COLLINS: One moment, Jeff, the casket's coming out. I wanted to take a second to listen it.

(FUNERAL CEREMONY)

[09:07:11]

A reverent moment there as President Jimmy Carter's casket was brought down the steps on the east side of the Capitol, placed in that hearse. And now they will begin the motorcade procession here to where we are at the National Cathedral. They will pass by the White House on the way here as President Carter leaves the Capitol for the last time.

And Jeff, you know, looking at this and just thinking of so much history that is in this moment that we're looking at on the screen. And as you were talking about that moment just a few years ago where President Biden and President Carter were meeting to talk about the very moment that we're all going to listen to shortly, where President Biden eulogizes President Carter.

ZELENY: It is so pointing. And neither of the two men back in 2021 could have envisioned the world that underway right now. But for President Biden, this eulogy, he has delivered countless eulogies over nearly a half century in Washington. But for Jimmy Carter, I am told by his advisers this is one of the most personal and poignant and important. I'm told he was working on this speech last night when he was flying back to Washington aboard Air Force One.

I'm told that he's going to implore Americans to take lessons from Carter's life and he'll tell people to study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, of faith and humility. But for Joe Biden, of course, he was a young senator in, you know, in his 20s and then 30s, and he was the first senator to endorse Jimmy Carter.

And he was an --

COLLINS: And he could have endorsed other Democrats.

ZELENY: Absolutely. He was an improbable candidate for sure, from the peanut horn to the presidency. And that was not a sure thing. But Biden endorsed him early. But today, I'm told will give a very poignant reminder of Jimmy Carter's life and the lessons that we should take from it still today.

KASI HUNT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: And of course, you know, Jimmy Carter represents and comes from a time and an era. Obviously there they were many, you know, a number of years apart. But generationally it's, we're at a time where this torch is passing, right, where we're in a new kind of political era.

And the symmetry between what Jimmy Carter experienced, the challenges he had during his presidency, of course, the fact that he ended up being a one term Democratic president, they're echoing in this moment as President Biden remembers things.

COLLINS: But just that relationship with President Biden and President Carter, I mean, they weren't always the closest of allies. There was that moment where I was you know, they disagreed on busing and, you know, tactics there and whether or not it was constitutional.

And there was this famous quote from President Biden, then-Senator Biden at the time, saying, referencing Nixon's enemies list and say, you know, I don't know if it's better to be on Jimmy Carter's enemies list or his friends list because of just how he operated.

[09:10:00]

And you know, as he leaves the Capitol, just reflecting for a final time on how he didn't like the Washington deal making and the back room and so much of how, you know, getting stuff done legislatively is the way to go. Jimmy Carter just resisted that.

ZELENY: And how he's going to be riding up Pennsylvania Avenue. A reminder of during his inauguration that he and Rosalynn and Amy walked out because he wanted to be seen with the people. And he was proudly an outsider and never became part official Washington and didn't mind that. And then when he took his leave after his defeat, he also stayed far away from just the trappings of Washington. Except today, he planned this funeral service today for one last really poignant move through the city.

HUNT: Yes, it was a remarkable decision, I think, for considering the way that he lived his life. But he both set out a map for what a post presidency could look like right after he left. But he also rejected many of the things that other presidents gone were willing to do. They were willing to take payments for speeches.

They were not necessarily living the kinds of humble life that Jimmy Carter really exemplified in the years after he was president of the United States. And of course, part of why he may have lost reelection, why he may have been a one term president, was because he was unwilling to play the game here in Washington that can get you reelected. And that sort of lack of cynicism in a way may have ultimately been part of why his presidency is remembered as it is.

COLLINS: And President Biden has just left the White House. He's on his way here to the National Cathedral where he will eulogize President Carter. It's going to be a rare gathering of what is known as the President's club. All of the living former presidents will be here. That includes the President-elect Donald Trump. Notably, is going to be in the same room for the first time with his former vice president Mike Pence in four years.

This is all coming as we are tracking the Carter funeral motorcade. It's going to head here to where we are at the Washington National Cathedral. Dignitaries arriving by the moment. The service is set to begin less than an hour from now, including that rare gathering of those five presidents. We'll show you it all right here.

Straight ahead. We're also going to get an update on the L.A. wildfires, the death and devastation that we have been seeing. The evacuation still underway. Our social coverage continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:55]

TAPPER: James Earl Carter, the nation's 39th president, beginning a final journey through the nation's capital right now. The funeral motorcade now leaving the U.S. Capitol and driving to Washington National Cathedral where the leaders of Washington, D.C. and the Carter family will pay their respects to the late president. That includes the five men alive who have also served as commander in chief. As we stand by there, you see former Vice President Al Gore, as you

stand by for the funeral service. There is, of course, the breaking news on the wildfire catastrophe in Southern California. Residents in Los Angeles County are waking up to continued mass devastation this morning with thousands of homes and businesses now reduced to rubble and ash.

You're looking at live pictures from the Pacific Palisades, courtesy of our affiliate KABC. At least five people have died in these fires, but officials expect that number to rise sadly as the most destructive fire is still 0 percent contained. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is in Altadena. Julia, tell us what it's like there on the ground.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, scenes like this one, this house is still on fire. It's street after street. And you see, you know, this vegetation dried out California vegetation that is so ripe to just ignite as the fire makes its way through construction materials and destroying people's homes, their memories, their lives in these homes.

We see on my other side here, a neighbor has a gas leak that's been going for at least a few hours since we've been here. Firefighters working tirelessly to try and contain this. As you mentioned, 0 percent contain. This is the Eaton Fire that has come down from the Angeles National Forest on the hills that are just behind Altadena and Pasadena, these cities just east of Los Angeles.

And it's ravaged through these neighborhoods. We've witnessed people here trying to make their way back to their homes, trying to check on their homes and being faced with just rubble, skeletons of what it used to be.

Meanwhile, firefighters working 36, 48 hour shifts. And we have support from National Guard and firefighters coming from as far as Oregon to help fight this. The main aspect that might change the luck of these firefighters in the coming hours is the wind, Jake.

You know, I've described this event as kind of a hurricane of fire, and it's because the winds are the most important element here in the containment of this fire. Firefighters have had a lull for the past almost 16, 24 hours of just having being able to get some aerial support with the winds not being so high.

But we are expecting for them to pick up back again this afternoon, Thursday afternoon. And it's anyone's guess what that could do. We're still looking at 10,600 acres out here in Altadena and in Pasadena and up in these hills. Who knows where that will go next?

What I will say is the scale of this destruction is jarring. Driving through the streets, going through these neighborhoods, it is people's homes and it's businesses. It will take a really long time for these communities to get back to what they used to be. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, thank you so much. Let's go to meteorologist Derek Van Dam, who's in the CNN Weather Center. Derek, what kind of conditions are we expecting in the coming hours as firefighters attempt to contain these blazes?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, residents, Jake, in Los Angeles County were encouraged to hear the sounds of helicopters, see them drop their water on the firefighting efforts here. That is a big difference from 24 hours ago when they could not fly that aircraft. So now we're getting that aerial support, at least for the time being.

[09:20:00]

And so the wind, as Julia was saying, is so incredibly important, an important weather factor for the flames that are still ongoing. And right now they're generally weaker than that was 24 hours ago. But I want you to see as we go through time, through the course of your Thursday. This area will see more Santa Ana winds picking up intensity 60 mile per hour ridgetop winds, 40 to 50 mile per hour winds in the canyons, the valleys and near the coastline as well in some of the hardest hit areas. We have to wait till Friday until we experience more calm weather and wind conditions.

So, when we look at the five fires that we're monitoring right now, the five large fires, we've got Palisades near the coast, but the Eaton Fire just north of Pasadena coming down the mountainside, threatening these homes and continuing to burn this area. The shade of red, of course, are the already burned acreage that is currently ongoing.

So spot fires will ignite new fires, especially as the Santa Ana winds pick up through the course of the day today.

Now I'm going to take you into Santa Monica. There's the famous pier, the shoreline there. And then going into the actual, this would be the eastern flank of the fire, western L.A. County near Santa Monica. You can start to see this spiral effect of the residential communities here. This fire continues to encroach on heavily populated areas of the western L.A. county region.

In fact, satellite imagery proves just that. What an incredible sight to the charred homes from space on this recently released satellite image. I mean, just incredible, Jake. The level of destruction from these fires that's still ongoing.

TAPPER: Derek Van Dam, thanks so much. We're going to keep bringing you updates on those fires. And if you need information right now, obviously please go to CNN.com where we have all the updates from local authorities. But we are going to continue to cover these devastating fires.

Still ahead, we're going to turn back to the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. Washington National Cathedral is filling up with U.S. and world leaders there to mourn the 39th President of the United States.

We're told that President Biden and Vice President Harris have both arrived at the cathedral. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:32]

TAPPER: It is a cold and somber day here in the nation's capital as President Jimmy Carter's funeral motorcade is due to arrive any minute at Washington National Cathedral, passed by the White House just moments ago.

Mourners are awaiting the start of a service that will combine the pomp and ceremony of the presidency with the very personal touches reflecting Carter's roots and his deep religious faith. We have seen all sorts of officials going into the pews, walking into the pews of the cathedral. We saw former Vice President Mike Pence just a few minutes ago. There he is. He was talking to Al Gore, the former vice president, at one point. There he is, Mr. Gore's head on the left there of your screen.

And Anita McBride, one of the things that's so remarkable, when you live to be 100, you tend to outlive a lot of other people. And we're going to hear two eulogies today from individuals with whom President Carter was close. One, his vice president, Walter Mondale, and the other, the man he defeated for the presidency in 1976 and became a good personal friend of his former President Ford. Both Mondale and Ford wrote eulogies for Jimmy Carter, but Jimmy Carter outlived them.

ANITA MCBRIDE, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO LAURA BUSH: Well, again, here we see this wonderful display. This church to house and to have these ceremonies was built specifically by the founders in mind to be a great place of national significance and to have people like former presidents be together and to honor each other. And it's interesting, you said about the eulogy that President Ford has left a letter at President Ford's funeral.

Jimmy Carter was not a eulogist. It was Tom Brokaw. It was him. Henry Kissinger. It was Bush 41. It was Bush 43. It's very interesting. Doesn't dispute the fact that their relationship was close. So, I think that's going to be a very moving moment to hear the words from former President Ford.

TAPPER: Yeah. Read by his son Steven.

MCBRIDE: Read by his son.

TAPPER: And Walter Mondale's eulogy read by his son, Ted.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And just to go back to what we're already starting to see in that cathedral, just the notion of let's just start with the people we have seen on the screen, Mike Pence. When was the last time Mike Pence was in the same room as Donald Trump?

TAPPER: Four years ago.

BASH: That's going to happen today. Mike Pence there with Al Gore, who we now know was a sort of North Star for him in on January 6, 2021, when Mike Pence -- there he is. There he is talking to Al Gore.

MCBRIDE: I'm also he --

BASH: And Dan Quayle, I mean, that's the vice president's club, three of them together. We learned that Mike Pence on that fateful day, that horrible day, said he was going he decided to buck Donald Trump and not overturn the will of the people, in part because he remembered being a young member of Congress.

TAPPER: Hunter Biden.

BASH: Seeing Al Gore doing it. And there's Hunter Biden, a new grandfather. His grandson was born yesterday in L.A. amid all the fires going on there. There you see Marilyn Quayle, the former second lady, in addition.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At moments like this, number one, you see all the dignitaries paying due respect, the former President Carter. You try to trace arcs of history, like what is happening today, that you can trace back to those days. And you can look in our American politics, you could certainly look in the Middle East and find arc of history, that things that began or these gained fruit in time and space during the Carter era.

Still with us today, I would posit that what we're seeing right now, which is wonderful, a moment of bipartisanship, people coming together, will not be an arc. It will be a brief moment. We are days away from the return of Donald Trump and bipartisan Washington. We should celebrate it today.

We don't get enough of it in this town where people have respect for service, respect for individuals, respect for bigger things than party labels. So, I would celebrate it today because we will in days, we will not see Mike Pence in the same room as Donald Trump after this day.

[09:30:00]

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So the reality is Jimmy Carter lived to be 100. You saw in the picture before, the vice presidents were laughing.