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Connect the World
U.S. Embassy in Tehran Stormed, Staff Taken Hostage During Presidency; Helped Orchestrate Camp David Accords, Historic Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty; 39TH U.S. President was Born in Plains, Georgia on October 1,1924; International Tributes Pour in for Jimmy Carter; Milan Imposing Near-Absolute Smoking Ban in Public Places; Rosalynn Carter, His Wife of More than 75 Years, Died in November 2023 at 96. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired December 30, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, hello. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi, and you are watching "Connect the World". Well,
flags are flying at half-staff at the White House and across the United States today, as the country remembers its 39th President. Arrangements for
a state funeral are underway now for Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday at the age of 100 surrounded by his family. He'd been in hospice care for
nearly two years.
Well, before becoming President in the late 1970s Carter was a peanut farmer and a U.S. Navy Lieutenant. He was elected Governor of the State of
Georgia and then went on to serve one term in the White House. But it was Carter's work after leaving office that made him one of America's most
celebrated former presidents. Current President, Joe Biden, knew Carter for decades, he declared January the 9th National Day of mourning and paid
tribute to the man he called a dear friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: What I find extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though millions of people all around the
world, all over the world, feel they lost a friend as well, even though they never met him, that's because Jimmy Carter lived a life measure, 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 and homeless -- from homeless with his own hands and his compassion
and moral clarity lift the people up and changed lives and saved lives all over the globe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Nic Robertson takes a look at the impact of Jimmy Carter's diplomatic efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIMMY CARTER, 39TH U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm Jimmy Carter -- this way.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Jimmy Carter's presidency lived in the shadow of America's Cold War with the
Soviet Union, but he refused to be constrained by East West, communist versus capitalist tensions.
CARTER: We expect that normalization will help to move us together toward a world of diversity and of peace.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): He improved relations with China and tried for the same with the Soviets. In his foreign policies, he pushed for nuclear non-
proliferation, democratic values and human rights. He cut off military supplies to Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet and -- bag support for other
Latin American leaders in Nicaragua, Argentina and Brazil.
One of his signature White House legacies was the Torrijos "Carter Treaties that returned the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999. He also calmed Middle
East tensions. Brought together Israeli and Arab leaders at Camp David, opening the door to the Israeli Egypt Camp David Accords. He normalized
relations with China, weakened U.S. ties to Taiwan, in a vain hope Beijing would weaken ties with Moscow.
But after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 the last year of his presidency, he toughened his Soviet stance, backed the Afghan
Mujahideen in a war against the Red Army. The same year, 1979 Islamic revolution in neighboring Iran dealt Carter a double domestic blow. Spiked
oil prices and led to a humiliating, failed raid Operation Eagle Claw in April 1980 to rescue Americans captured by the theocratic revolutionaries
in Tehran in.
CARTER: I can't stay here tonight and say it doesn't hurt.
[09:05:00]
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Events overseas contributed to his 1980 election loss.
CARTER: The people of the United States have made the choice, and of course, I accept that decision.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): But out of office on the limelight, his global peace making grew. In 1994 he was the first Former U.S. President to visit
North Korea, met Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of today's leader Kim Jong-Un at a time of U.S. North Korean tensions. Won concessions on North Korea's
nuclear program, dialling back tensions for a decade.
But 1994 was his big year of high-profile peace making. In September, he went to Haiti -- the Caribbean nation's unpopular leader was holed up in
Port-au-Prince. Carter convinced him to step down, quite literally, as the U.S. 82nd airborne troops were inbound aboard Black Hawk helicopters, ready
to remove -- by force.
Carter won the day saved lives. The U.S. troops landed as de facto peace keepers, and later that year, Carter went to the dark heart of Bosnia's
Violent Ethnic Civil War met the Nationalist Serbs in their mountain stronghold parley tried to stop their bloody, murderous siege and shelling
for the capital Sarajevo, bring an end to the killing that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives during horrific ethnic cleansing.
Success came slowly in steps, Carter helped initiate a short Christmas ceasefire, and by his presence, push the horrific conflict toward greater
international attention.
CARTER: We have work to do. We have to go back to it now. Thank you very much.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Less than a year later, another U.S. Diplomat Richard Holbrook parlay Carter briefed harm into the war ending Dayton
Peace Accords. 1994 marked a peak in Carter's peace making. But far from the end of it, he helped found a group of seasoned international diplomats
known as the elders, whose work span the Mid East and far beyond.
He helped the charity Habitat for Humanity, change lives, building affordable homes, often showing up to help with construction himself. In
2002 he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy
and human rights and to promote economic and social development. It was a path he picked a post presidency with meaning, and he followed it right up
to his death. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, condolences are coming in from around the world. CNN's Clare Sebastian, following that for us. Clare, it's good to have you. Have
we been hearing from?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky, all sorts of different leaders, from the King of England to leaders across Europe. And there's a
key theme across all of them, which is, of course, his commitment to peace and in particular, elevating human rights as part of U.S. foreign policy.
He's been mentioned in particular for his work on the Camp David Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and Egypt in the 1970s. This is
something that German Chancellor Scholz brought up, calling him a great mediator for peace in the Middle East.
The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also talked about this. He said his presidency will be remembered for the historic Camp David Accords between
Israel and Egypt, and it was that lifelong dedication to peace that saw him receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which, of course, he did in 2002. Now Keir
Starmer also talked about how he redefined the post presidency and his remarkable commitment, he said, to social justice and human rights at home
and abroad.
But look here in Europe, I think, given that we're now almost at the three- year point of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine. That is one of the lenses through which his legacy is also being viewed. He had, at the age of 97
roundly condemned that invasion in February 2022 and said the U.S. should stand with Ukraine.
And of course, he had his own experience of an invasion, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980. So, he had a certain amount of experience
with which to make that condemnation, but we got a heart-felt tribute, also from President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who said he was a leader who served
during a time when Ukraine was not yet independent, yet his heart stood firmly with us in our ongoing fight for freedom.
He ended his statement saying, today, let us remember peace matters. And the world must remain united in standing against those who threaten these
values.
[09:10:00]
Now, of course, Carter, he presided over a significant worsening of relations between the U.S. and the then USSR after the invasion of
Afghanistan. But he was, in his sort of way, of elevating human rights at the fore of U.S. foreign policy. He was also committed to weakening the
Soviet grip over Central and Eastern Europe.
He didn't want to tar all Eastern Bloc countries with the same brush. And we got an interesting statement from Prime Minister Viktor Orban of
Hungary, who said the memory of Jimmy Carter, he said, in a post on X, will always be cherished in Hungary by returning the Holy Crown. This was a sort
of a crown that was spirited from Hungary to the U.S. at the end of the Second World War.
To the people of Hungary at the end of the 70s, he gave freedom loving Hungarians hope in a hopeless time. I would like to express my deepest
condolences, he says, to the Carter family and the American people, Hungary was one of the countries where, controversially, at the time, President
Carter did try to sort of foster those liberal leanings that he saw among the people, and that is why this symbolic crown was returned.
Of course, now we do see that Hungary is shifting back towards Russia's orbit, and a Russia that we know is harkening back, is reversing some of
its own democratic values and back to what Viktor Orban did call that hopeless time, but again, this is the lens through which his legacy
President Carter's legacy is being viewed today by leaders.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. Clare Sebastian is in London for you. Well, folks still to come here on "Connect
the World" we remember Jimmy Carter's most significant achievements which still endure today, including that historic peace deal that Clare was
referring to between Egypt and Israel. More on that is after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER: War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is, always evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in
peace by killing each other's children. The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, during his presidency, one of Jimmy Carter's most significant achievements was the Camp David Accord, a peace deal reached
after exhaustive negotiations between Egypt and Israel. My colleague Christiane Amanpour looks at what the ensuing agreement meant for his
presidency and indeed for the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Peace in the Middle East, the impossible dream the. 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.
[09:15:00]
Jimmy Carter had been derided for his administration's foreign policy failures, partly because he is 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.
CARTER: Almost never in our history has the 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.
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, CARTER'S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An achievement none thought possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.
[09:20:00]
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)
ANDERSON: And in New York at 20 past 9 this morning. The New York Stock Exchange observing a minute of silence in Jimmy Carter's honor. And this is
one of the many tributes that we are seeing to the 39th president. Let's get you to Jerusalem with our Paula Hancocks, who is there for you live.
And we've just been listening to Christiane's report around the interview that she did with Jimmy Carter. And parallels now, of course, with the
struggles to push through a peace deal in the Middle East. We should talk about Jimmy Carter's legacy in the region. I mean, surely the achievement
was monumental. He would hope to have lived out, to have seen a peace deal, of course, at this stage, but didn't, Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Becky, yes, it was an historic agreement that he did achieve between Egypt and Israel. But we do know from
President Carter himself that he hoped for so much more when the Camp David Accords were under way. He -- it really had two parts, as far as he was
concerned.
One was to create the peace and the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. But there was a second part that he wanted to be able to create
negotiations, the space for a move forward towards Palestinian autonomy, that he wanted Palestinian statehood, and he fully supported the two-state
solution that remains elusive for him, as it has for consecutive presidents and leaders around the world to this day, that has not yet been realized.
But it was a historic agreement, and it was an enduring agreement as well. And it's really shown in the condolence messages that we have heard from
the presidents of both Israel and Egypt of today paying tribute to the man who brought their countries together.
Isaac Herzog, the President here, called him a brave leader, saying quote, in recent years, I had the pleasure of calling him and thanking him for his
historic efforts to bring together the two great leaders, Begin and Sadat, and forging a peace between Israel and Egypt. He went on to say, his legacy
will be defined by his deep commitment to forging peace between nations.
And then Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the Egyptian President, in his condolence message, said President Carter was a symbol of humanitarian and diplomatic
efforts, his deep belief in peace and justice has inspired many individuals and institutions around the world to follow his path.
His efforts in preserving the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel will remain etched in history. Very warm words from both of those presidents,
and we also can speak of President Carter's role in the region beyond his days as U.S. President, because when he left the presidency, and as years
went on, he did become more critical of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinian people, specifically in the occupied territories.
He wrote a book in 2006, which was entitled "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid". And in this book, he did compare Israel's treatment of the
Palestinians to the South Africans, former apartheid regime and the system of racial repression there. Now it did cause controversy.
President Carter acknowledged that controversy and said he chose the word apartheid because he wanted to spark a debate. He wanted to open the
conversation, specifically in the United States as well, to make sure that there was an unbiased view of what was happening here in the Middle East,
Becky.
[09:25:00]
ANDERSON: Many, many people in the Middle East have read that book, pilloried by some who had said that it was -- you know, he was bigoted in
his ideas, but read widely and appreciated by so many. Paula Hancocks, thank you. You are watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson.
Still to come, the world remembering then Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday at the age of 100. We can get you live to his
hometown, Plains in Georgia are next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi for you and you are watching "Connect the World". Well remembering the life and legacy of the
longest living U.S. President Jimmy Carter, as America now prepares to honor him with a state funeral. Overnight, President Joe Biden declared
January the ninth as a National Day of Mourning.
Now the 39th U.S. President died at the age of 100 on Sunday afternoon, surrounded by his family in Plains inside of Georgia. Mourners gather and
left messages outside the Carter Center in Atlanta as the world continues to pay its respects. Well, let's get you there. CNN, Ryan Young is live in
Plains, Georgia, the home of the Carter family.
And Ryan from humble beginnings there the peanut farmer who became president. Quite remarkable. How is he remembered in his hometown?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Just a giant that's the best way to explain this. But I want to tell the viewers here just how small Plains is.
You're talking about a town of about 700 people. We feel like we're a world away from Atlanta, that course, that's where the Carter Center is, and they
do outreach across the world.
But here, you really do feel the impact. And talking to folks who live in this community, there's really a big sense of pride for the former
president. I mean, even people saying, look, if you can be president from here. You can be president from anywhere, and that's just a part of the
process.
If you think about it, this was a man, the first president ever born in a hospital. So, you just put that in perspective. Didn't even have a bathroom
at one point. They would go outside and use it.
[09:30:00]
But we were talking to community members here who say, not only do they love him, but they understood how much he meant into this community, how
much he meant to farmers. Take a listen to the Mayor of Plains talk about the man known as Jimmy Carter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOZE GODWIN, FORMER MAYOR OF PLAINS, GEORGIA: I known as -- child, he was not only my friend, though he's a friend of everybody in town, and we've
lost not just a president, but a friend and a person that never forgot the people here, regardless of what a position he held. Also, he's going to be
buried here, and that's a deliberate move to keep people coming about to visit on his part, even in death, he hadn't forgotten the town.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Becky, you know, we love covering game changers, and I think that's kind of how people here talk about the former president one, he really
wanted this town to survive. He wanted to make sure that they would have economic boost, and he knew tourism was coming.
Fact, he told all the shops behind us in this very small downtown. He wanted them open after his death, because he wanted some place for the
tours to go. Now we know there'll be some remembrance here. They'll move to Atlanta, then D.C. January 9 will obviously be the big day when they'll
have that state funeral.
But when you talk about the outlining impacts, you think about a farmer who served in this country's Navy, and he had so much knowledge about what
military life was like, then came back to planes to be a farmer, and then that second life where he did habitat for humanity.
We even talked to a woman who went from here to Jordan to help build homes because he -- she wanted to be a part of that international community that
Jimmy talked about all the time. Or, should I say, the former president talked about all the time, Becky.
ANDERSON: -- I know so many of the CNN staff over the years have been part of the same organization.
YOUNG: Absolutely.
ANDERSON: And taking the same opportunities to get out there and give back. Thank you so much, Ryan. Ryan Young is for us in Plains in Georgia. Well,
joining me now CNN, Political Historian and Associate Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, Leah Wright Rigueur.
And sometime in now, the news will be sort of settling that Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100 and this for so many people, not just in the
U.S., but for the broader international community, has really sort of, you know, meant so much. You've written extensively about racism in America and
the black American experience. What legacy does Jimmy Carter leave behind for black Americans?
LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: Well, I think one of the biggest legacies that Jimmy Carter leaves in his larger scope as
president, but also as post president, is the creation of the department of education in this country. And one of the reasons that the Department of
Education was created that I think a lot of people don't realize is that there was unequal treatment under the United States and how the states
distributed education funds and things of that nature.
One of the things that the Department of Education has consistently done has leveled the playing ground when it comes to distributions of funds,
things like Block grants, Pell grants, that have made it much easier passage for students of color, in particular African-American students,
students of African descent, to go to not only to exist as students in their respective country, counties and towns and cities.
But also, for them to go to college and to pursue education as part of the American dream. I think this is a legacy that we've often overlooked and
yet has incredible reach and incredible importance over the years.
ANDERSON: Yeah, you are -- you know, an expert in modern African-American history. You got an -- on race and political ideology. You done a sort of
deep dive on the American presidency and on presidential elections, policies and civil rights movements. So, from your perspective, given the
research that you have done, what would you hope the legacy might mean going forward as we look towards a new American President on January the
20th?
RIGUEUR: Well, I think one of the biggest legacies of the Carter Administration is that Jimmy Carter came from humble beginnings. He came
from contested beginnings. He didn't have the easiest racial path into the White House. Coming up and growing up under segregation, growing up in
racist Georgia, but also going back and forth over what should be the place of African-Americans in political society.
And eventually coming to the realization, once he was in the governor's house in Georgia, but also during the presidency, that it was vital to take
up the cause of civil rights for African-Americans.
[09:35:00]
And we see this with the appointment, for example, of Andrew Young as U.S. Ambassador, but also other fights that he has taken up over the years. And
I would expect that the legacy of Jimmy Carter is just his vast capacity for humanity and his emphasis on humanity and on human rights, that was a
centerpiece of his presidential administration.
One of the things that he should be remembered for, is actually putting human rights and humanity on the policy table, the global policy table. But
then, even after suffering a defeat in the 1980 presidential election, this becomes his lasting legacy, right? He's awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize
because of this large body of work that isn't just relegated to the United States, but that spans Asia, the continent of Africa, Europe, right, all of
these areas that are deeply contested.
This is Jimmy Carter saying, actually, what we can do is give the world a kind of peace, a kind of healing that comes through the pursuit of human
rights, and that is a life richly lived. And I think that is his legacy, and that is how we should remember him.
ANDERSON: And he would of course, be the first to acknowledge and did over the years that there is so much more work to be done. Thank you for sharing
some of your insight with us today. Thank you. Searching for answers in South Korea, desperate relatives of the victims in Sunday's plane crash --
at Muan airport, hoping for any information on their loved ones. What we are learning about what was that deadly crash, is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, we're learning more about the deadly Jeju airlines crash in South Korea that has killed 179 people. The crash, of course, on Sunday,
officials say the pilot reported a bird strike minutes before the deadly landing. South Korea's Acting President now ordering an emergency safety
inspection of the country's entire airline operation system. A team of U.S. Federal Investigators will assist in the investigation. CNN's, Mike Valerio
reports.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we getting a better sense of how expansive the debris field is. And right now, we're only a couple yards
away from the epicenter of the debris field. That is the tail section of the Boeing 737-800 which managed to survive relatively, and I stress,
relatively intact, 15 yards high.
And this is the section of the plane where the two survivors were pulled from rescued by first responders' minutes after this plane was engulfed in
flames. So, we're going to pan to the left, that's where you can see this massive yellow crane that will be charged with moving pieces of the
wreckage.
[09:40:00]
Then we're going to pan down and you can see parts of the aircraft that were hurled jettison beyond the cinder block perimeter of the airport. And
this is what investigators from South Korea, the NTSB from the United States will be pouring over, scouring over as they investigate.
Certainly, what went wrong and were there any mechanical issues that contributed to the landing gear not deploying. But you know, I think we got
a better sense during the day as we pan further to my right, just showing you that some of this debris was hurled from the aircraft a distance longer
than a football field.
Just to give you the sense of the force of this crash during the daylight hours, we saw tray tables, yellow inflatable vest seats that were mangled,
and members of the military that were combing this area that we're looking at after sunset, looking for potential human remains, looking for
passenger's belongings, and cataloging certain elements of the aircraft, certain pieces of the aircraft.
We are waiting for the NTSB team to get on the scene to begin their work. That is the next part of this equation when it comes to the investigation,
figuring out what went wrong. And we do know that one of the black box components has been damaged, and it's questionable, an open question,
rather, whether or not it will have to be sent to the United States for examination. Mike Valerio, CNN, Muan, South Korea.
ANDERSON: Well, let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now. And the President of Azerbaijan has accused
Russia of accidentally causing the plane crash that killed 38 people last week and covering it up. The country's leader told state media, quote, no
one can deny that Russia shot down the plane, adding, we are not saying this was done intentionally.
The aircraft's flight recorders will now be sent to Brazil, where the Embraer 190 was manufactured to be analyzed. Well, Syria's New De Facto
Ruler, Ahmed al Sharaa met with a Ukrainian delegation led by the Foreign Minister in Damascus. According to a statement, Ukraine is urging al Sharaa
to expel Russia from Syria, arguing that the Russian and Assad regime supported each other because they were, quote, based on violence and
torture.
Well, the Head of the World Health Organization warns the health system in Gaza is under severe threat. That is after an Israeli military raid put
Northern Gaza's last major functioning hospital out of service. The Israeli military has claimed the facility was being used as a Hamas command and
control center, but did not provide evidence.
Well, still to come, Milan is imposing a near total outdoor smoking ban. The move getting mixed reaction. Details on that are just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You watching "Connect the World". Can you believe that there is a dress code controversy in the world of championship chess?
World number one champion, Magnus Carlsen, now says he will play in a top Chess Championship today in New York, after initially bowing out because of
a dispute over his refusal to change out of jeans.
The International Chess Federation said Carlsen breached the tournament's dress code, or Carlsen paid a $200 fine, and the federation has agreed to
be a little bit more flexible on its dress code going forward. Well, pollution has long been an issue in Italy's Northern Lombardy region.
Smoking part of that problem. Back in 2021, Milan prohibited smoking in some outdoor areas. And starting next month, officials there are expanding
that ban. Well, not everybody is happy about that. CNN's Paula Newton with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON (voice-over): Last call for a smoke outside in Milan. As of January 1, Italy's second most populated city is banning smoking in most public
spaces. That means smokers can no longer light up on roads and streets as well as outdoor cafes unless they are 10 meters away from other people.
It's an extension of a ban in Milan that took effect in 2021 which prohibited smoking at public transport stops, sports facilities, parks and
playgrounds. The city says the new measure will help to reduce smog and safe guard public health. And so far, it's getting mixed reviews.
MORGAN ISHAK, SMOKER: I'm a smoker. In my opinion, the new law is excessive. I agree not to smoke indoors, not to smoke near an elderly
person or a child, but banning smoking outdoors for me, somewhat limits a person's freedom. For me, it's over the top as a law.
STELLINA MARIA RITA LOMBARDO, NON-SMOKER: I've never in my life been a smoker. I strongly agree, because smoking causes a lot of pollution. In
this era, when we suffer a lot from climate change, such a measure can help to scale down the effects of pollution that's devastating the planet.
NEWTON (voice-over): Authorities say the ban applies to tobacco products like cigarettes and cigars, but e-cigarettes are permitted, and those
breaking the new rule risk fines of up to $250. It's part of an initiative by Milan to improve the city's air quality, which on Sunday, was labeled as
unhealthy for sensitive groups by an Air Quality Index.
The Lombardy region's Environmental Protection Agency says cigarette smoke is partially to blame, as it makes up 7 percent of fine dust emissions,
which can cause air pollution and serious health issues. And like it or not, Milan hopes its new ban will help to snuff some of this out in the new
year. Paula Newton, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, back to our top story this hour, the death of Jimmy Carter. CNN's Wolf Blitzer looks back at the life and legacy of America's 39th
president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARTER: We just want the truth again.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jimmy Carter was elected president barely two years after the law breaking and cover ups of the
Watergate scandal force President Richard Nixon to resign. His candor seemed like a breath of fresh air.
CARTER: There's a fear that our best years are behind us, but I say to you that our nation's best is still ahead.
BLITZER (voice-over): James Earl Carter was born on October 1, 1924 his father ran an agricultural supply store in Plains, Georgia. His mother was
a nurse. He was smart enough and tough enough to receive an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy just after graduation in 1946 he married Rosalynn
Smith.
His naval career took him from battleships to the new nuclear submarine program, but when his father died in 1953, he left the military and
returned to Georgia, where he spent the next two decades running the family peanut farm business and slowly and steadily beginning a political career
that saw him elected Governor of Georgia in 1970.
[09:50:00]
LATE. JODY POWELL, JIMMY CARTER'S FRIEND AND FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: To use an old 1950s term, if there ever was a classic example of
an inter directed man you know, Jimmy Carter --
BLITZER (voice-over): His close friend and associate, was Press Secretary, Jody Powell, who died in 2009.
POWELL: They enjoyed people, and he enjoyed talking to people. I think he enjoyed those early days of campaigns, when there was much more personal
interaction with the voters than he did, the latter stages, when it was a series of set piece speeches and large crowds.
CARTER: My name is Jimmy Carter. I'm running for president.
BLITZER (voice-over): In 1976, the Former Georgia Governor went from being Jimmy who to the White House, not everyone in Washington was happy to see
him.
TOM OLIPHANT, THE BOSTON GLOBE: Washington even more than New York is the snobbiest city in America, and Carter and the Georgians were treated like
dirt, condescendingly and with hostility. If he had a fault, it was that he matched Washington's hostility with his own.
BLITZER (voice-over): Early on, Carter was accused of presidential micro managing of excessive attention to detail.
OLIPHANT: At his best, Jimmy Carter mastered a subject and then led sometimes very effectively because of his mastery of its details.
BLITZER (voice-over): That mastery of details enabled Carter to negotiate the Camp David Peace Accords, a deal between Egypt and Israel that led to a
peace treaty ending decades of war between their countries. His most difficult presidential days came after Iranian militants took dozens of
Americans hostage in Tehran in late 1979.
They were held for 444 days and 8 U.S. service men died after President Carter ordered an elaborate rescue attempt that failed. The Iran hostage
crisis was only one of the challenges that confronted President Carter.
CARTER: We must face a fact that the energy shortage is permanent.
BLITZER (voice-over): During Carter's term, Americans endured a sharp, steady increase in oil and gasoline prices, which forced everything to cost
more to some Carter star comments began to sound like moralizing.
CARTER: The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.
BLITZER (voice-over): In 1980, Carter faced Republican Challenger, Ronald Reagan, who exuded sunny optimism and asked voters a simple question.
RONALD REAGAN, U.S. REPUBLICAN CHALLENGER: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
BLITZER (voice-over): Jimmy Carter lost the election, but not his resolve to make a difference. He and Rosalynn founded the Carter Center, in part to
promote peace, democracy, human rights, as well as economic and social development all over the world. Carter monitored elections for fairness.
He went to North Korea and Cuba and met with leaders usually shunned by the U.S., including Representatives of Hamas, the Palestinian organization,
both the U.S. and Israel have branded as terrorists.
POWELL: This is a man who has a really unique commitment to public service. It really is a calling with him.
BLITZER (voice-over): In autumn of 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the culmination of an incredible career as a world leader and as a
citizen.
CARTER: I'm delighted and humbled and very grateful that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has given me this recognition.
BLITZER (voice-over): He still wasn't done. Carter remained active into his 90s, traveling, writing books, building habitat for humanity homes and to
the discomfort of his successors, speaking out on the issues of the day. he criticized Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky called George W.
Bush's international policy quote, the worst in history
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But for your definition, you believe the United States under this administration has used torture?
CARTER: I don't think it. I know it, certainly.
BLITZER (voice-over): He also took on President Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does America want kind of a jerk as president?
CARTER: Apparently, from his recent election, yes. I never knew it before.
BLITZER (voice-over): Carter survived a cancer scare in 2015 and kept going.
CARTER: Didn't find any cancer at all so.
BLITZER (voice-over): When he attended George H. W. Bush's funeral in late 2018, he was the oldest of America's living presidents. He celebrated his
own 100th birthday in 2024. His beloved wife Rosalynn passed away in 2023. She had been a steadfast partner through 77 years of marriage.
Carter's diminished health prevented him from speaking at her memorial service, so their daughter, Amy read a letter he wrote to Rosalynn while
deployed with the Navy 75 years earlier.
[09:55:00]
AMY CARTER, JIMMY CARTER'S DAUGHTER: My darling, every time I have ever been away from you, I have been thrilled when I returned to discover just
how wonderful you are. While I am away, I try to convince myself that you really are not, could not be as sweet and beautiful as I remember.
But when I see you, I fall in love with you all over again. Does that seem strange to you? It doesn't to me.
BLITZER (voice-over): Husband, statesman, a connection to an era now gone, Jimmy Carter was a defender of values forever current.
CARTER: Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity, and who suffer for the sake of justice. They are the patriots of this cause. I
believe with all my heart that America must always stand for these basic human rights at home and abroad. That is both our history and our destiny.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, I'm Becky Anderson. "Connect the World" continues after this short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
