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Former President Jimmy Carter Dead At 100; Prominent Palestinian Hospital Director Detained By Israel; Grieving Families At Muan Airport Wait For Information. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired December 30, 2024 - 10:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
[10:00:33]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, welcome to the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson here in Abu Dhabi. Our Middle East
programming hub time here is 7:00 in the evening.
And former president, Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. He was known around the world for his human rights advocacy, especially in this region,
when it came to the Israeli occupation of Palestinians.
And as that conflict continues to this day, Israeli forces raided the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza, emptying it out of medical staff and
patients, arbitrarily detaining hundreds of people.
Well, the sounds of sobbing and anguish echoing through a South Korean airport on Monday as families of the victims killed when a passenger jet
crash landed over the weekend waited for their loved ones to be identified.
Well, preparations for a state funeral are now underway in the United States for former president, Jimmy Carter. He died, of course, on Sunday at
his home in Plains, Georgia. The Carter Center says that he was surrounded by his family when he passed away.
Well, Carter was the only former U.S. president to reach 100 years old, and he is being remembered for his commitment to faith, to family, democracy,
and to human rights, and for his decades of work at home and abroad after he left the White House.
Well, the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken paid tribute. Saying that Carter understood how the fates of Americans were tied to people in other
countries, and that Carter's efforts showed what can be achieved through, "tireless and principled diplomacy."
Let's start with CNN's Nic Robertson now, who takes a look at the impact of those efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIMMY CARTER, 39TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear --
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
nonproliferation, democratic values and human rights.
He cut off military supplies to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and dial back support for other Latin American leaders in Nicaragua, Argentina, and
Brazil.
One of his signature White House legacies was the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The return the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999. He also calmed Mideast
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.
CARTER: I can't stay here tonight and say it doesn't hurt.
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 and the limelight, his global peacemaking 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, dialing back tensions for a decade.
[10:05:05]
But 1994 was his big year of high-profile peace making. In September, he went to Haiti. Raoul Cedras, 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 Cedras by force. Carter won the day save lives. The U.S. troops landed as de facto peacekeepers.
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 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 cease fire, and by his presence, pushed the horrific conflict toward
greater international attention.
RICHARD HOLBROOKE, FORMER AMERICAN DIPLOMAT AND AUTHOR: 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 Holbrooke, parleyed Carter's breathed calm into the war ending
Dayton Peace Accords.
1994 marked a peak in Carter's peacemaking, but far from the end of it. He helped found a group of seasoned international diplomats known as The
Elders, whose work spanned the Mideast 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, the state funeral is set for next week in Washington. And then, Jimmy Carter will be buried in his hometown of Plains in Georgia. And
Ryan Young is there.
Ryan, in much of America and around the world, Jimmy Carter will be remembered as a one-term president who then became a globe-trotting elder
statesman, as Nic was reporting.
How will he be remembered very specifically there in Plains, in Georgia?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think that's a great question. And when you think about just how small this place is, you get a sense of
just how big he was, especially to this community.
You're only talking about 700 people live here, went across the street, and everyone who works in the downtown over here has their own personal Jimmy
Carter story. We talked to one shop owner who said, when he got sick, Jimmy sat down with him for over an hour and just went back and forth about
politics and life and really made sure he was okay.
Even reflected that when he died, he wanted to make sure these shops were open. So, when tourists came to town, they had a chance to get memorabilia
and make sure that downtown was thriving.
And you think about this peanut farmer who went on to the Naval Academy, who then went on to be president, the outside growth of what he was able to
do, even outside the presidency, is so large that even people who grew up after his presidency know him for something.
And take a listen to this woman who talked about the reason why she came here today because she wanted to pay her respects to the former president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHANNON TILLEY JONES, RESIDENT, GEORGIA: I have done habitat builds in Albany. I've done them in Atlanta. I've done one in Thailand, and I've done
one in Jordan.
And every time that I was on any of those builds, it was always spoken, you know, Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter, and how involved they are. So, the
fact that you could be in Atlanta or in Thailand, and people know who he is and what all he's done, not just for being president, but for the things
that he did after, I think, is amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: That woman went on to reflect that she grew up in a small town, maybe about half hour from here.
And she tells her kids all the time that if he could come from here and be president, then there is nothing that you can't do. I've been looking on
social media and something that really struck out to me, especially if you live here in Atlanta or Georgia, Delta and Coca Cola are one of our biggest
companies and worldwide companies.
[10:10:02]
Delta just posted, every time Jimmy Carter rode a plane, he would walk down the aisles and shake everyone's hand. They even have video of it, of the
president walking down and shake hands. He wanted to meet people. And that's why, when you talk to folks, especially here, he was someone that
folks knew and actually had a personal connection with.
We can see the house almost down the way. They are obviously preparing here for all the memorials. Really a special man, especially for this state and
for what it meant to this country. Becky.
ANDERSON: And to many people at CNN, which of course, started in Atlanta, Georgia, and Jimmy Carter held CNN in really high esteem from the outset.
(CROSSTALK)
YOUNG: Absolutely.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you, Ryan, always a pleasure. And a Happy New Year to you, if I didn't speak to you again before that.
YOUNG: Happy New Year.
ANDERSON: Still to come, a prominent Palestinian hospital director now said to be held at a notorious Israeli detention center.
What we know following a major IDF raid on a hospital in northern Gaza. That is up next.
Plus, grieving families await news of their loved ones involved in South Korea's horrific plane crash.
What we are learning about that deadly crash is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Can you just confirm that with (INAUDIBLE)?
Well, days after a massive Israeli raid on what was northern Gaza's last functioning major medical facility, there has been no public sighting of
its prominent hospital director.
However, recently released detainees from a notorious Israeli military detention center, tells CNN that he and other medical staff are being held
there.
Well, these are the last images that we have of hospital director, Abu Safiya, one of the last remaining doctors in northern Gaza. You can see him
walking through rubble towards an Israeli tank before he was detained.
The Israeli military says the doctor is being held as he is, suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative.
Well, CNN has not seen any evidence to support that claim.
Doctor Abu Safiya was also Gaza's lead physician for the U.S.-based non- profit, MedGlobal, that NGO's president called for his colleague's release on Sunday. Saying, "Dr. Abu Safiya has dedicated his life to protecting the
health and lives of children in Gaza, providing care under conditions no medical professional should have to endure. His arrest is not only unjust,
it is," he said, "a violation of international humanitarian law.
Well, Dr. Zaher Sahloul joins me now. When was the last time that you heard from your colleague and friend, sir?
[10:15:10]
DR. ZAHER SAHLOUL, PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER, MEDGLOBAL: Thank you for having me, and happy holidays and New Year for your audience. I pray for
peace in the region.
Last time I spoke to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was last week. And at that time, the hospital was under siege. It has been under siege for the past 84 days.
He was telling me about the bombs falling. There was an incident where five medical staff were killed nearby the hospital, and he was traumatized.
But at the same time, as always, resilient, and wanted to provide care for his patients (INAUDIBLE).
You know, he cares more about getting electricity to the incubators and the ventilators and food for the medical staff. And today, I spoke with his
family also. The situation is horrible, he is detained, and they are worried that he may end up similar to other physicians from Gaza who are
tortured and some of them were killed.
ANDERSON: The Israeli military says that the doctor is being held as he is, suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative. Let me be quite clear, CNN
has not seen any evidence to support that claim. What do you make of it?
SAHLOUL: I think these fabrications and lies, no one believed them anymore. I think every time we have a situation where hospital is under attack by
the Israeli armies, they accuse the doctors and the nurses of being Hamas operatives, have been in this hospital, 2019 in Kamal Adwan hospital and
2020. And it's a humble but dignified hospital. I haven't seen anything that indicates otherwise. It's similar to my small hospital in Chicago.
My colleagues were there few months ago. No one believed these lies anymore.
Practicing medicine, by the way, during conflicts and war is not a crime, providing healthcare is not a crime.
ANDERSON: Yes.
SAHLOUL: But attacking hospital is a crime under international -- humanitarian law.
ANDERSON: Sir, CNN did an extensive piece showcasing the work of Dr. Hussam, and his testimony from inside the hospital when Israel's offensive
in the North began over two months ago.
I just want our viewers and you to have a listen to what he told us then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dr Abu Safiya, here with his hands up in the air, says he was interrogated for hours.
DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA, DIRECTOR, HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA (text): A special forces unit was here a short time ago. They assaulted me. They had dogs with them,
they made me go into some of the wards, with a drone to check if there were any armed individuals, which is nonsense.
I don't have a surgeon. They took the surgeons and the orthopedic specialists. I don't know what to do with all these cases, most of them
amputations and burns.
KARADSHEH: Still, Abi Safiya refused to abandon his patients.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: He'd been interrogated before. Israel, as I say, now, say that they have detained him for being a suspected Hamas terrorist.
Just for our viewers purposes, you say, you know, practicing medicine is, you know, in a conflict zone is not a crime. Just tell us, what do you --
who is Dr Hussam? I mean, you know him well. What would you tell us about him?
SAHLOUL: He is one of the most kindest people I've got to know in Gaza. He has, by the way, he had the option to leave Gaza and work in any other
place. He is a pediatrician who specialized in Kazakhstan. He holds Kazakhstanian (PH) citizenship. His wife is from Kazakhstan. He has six
children, one of them was killed couple of months ago by a bombing. He prayed for his son. And then he was injured himself last month, another
bombing.
But he told me one time that he will treat an injured Israeli soldier the same way that he will treat a Palestinian a child. He is -- he is the -- he
represents what medicine is about, which is caring for anyone who is sick and injured. He deserved Nobel Peace Prize not being detained and torture
in a prison in Israel.
By the way, the Israeli army entered the hospital multiple times in the last year, and they found nothing. And now, they are detaining him, and
they detained 69 other medical staff from Kamal Adwan hospital.
This person, really, you know, represents the essence of being a doctor in a conflict zone, and he deserves the support of every physician on Earth
and medical organizations. I really ask everyone who has influence in the Israeli government to push for releasing him, especially, Biden, Dr Jill,
Biden, Secretary Blinken and President Trump.
[10:20:11]
This person deserved to be awarded, not being put in a prison.
ANDERSON: So, it's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.
And I'm just going to close this part of the show by saying, as far as we know, the patients from Kamal Adwan hospital were transferred to the nearby
Indonesian hospital, which the WHO says is not functioning or is out of function.
It's not clear at the moment what condition that hospital is actually in, and it's not clear what will happen to the sick and wounded, of course,
from the Kamal Adwan hospital at this point.
I know that you will wish them all well and hope for their safety. Thank you.
South Korea, mourning a deadly plane crash that killed 179 people on Sunday. Flags are at half-staff as the country grieves for the victims of
the Jeju Air crash, officials say that the pilot reported a bird strike minutes before what was a deadly landing.
South Korea's acting president, now ordering an emergency safety inspection of the country's entire airline operation system, a team of us, federal
investigators will assist in that investigation.
Well, right now, grieving families are camped out at one airport where Sunday's flight tragically crashed, hoping to get any new information about
their loved ones. CNN's Mike Valerio is there at the airport. He filed this report a short time ago. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is the unmistakable outcry of grief, heard throughout South Korea's Muan
International Airport.
Families unable to absorb the anguish of the Jeju Air catastrophe. Hundreds of relatives huddling in the departure hall, waiting for news of whether
their loved one's remains are found.
A friend of a couple killed in the crash said he came here to confirm for himself his friends of 30 years are simply gone.
I have nothing to say, but it's tragic, he told us. I watched the news all day, and for now, they say bird strike could be the cause. I'm so shocked
and hurt. I cannot even put it into words.
VALERIO: Now, so many people have chosen to stay. They are 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 tenths to the edge of the check-in counters.
You see food deliveries throughout the day. Let's keep going this way.
And the echoes of grief.
VALERIO (voice over): The scenes inside are just a short drive from the cataclysmic crash site, the tale of the doomed airliner still jutting above
the field, a mountain in the middle of the debris.
More than a thousand people now mobilized to sift through pieces of the plane.
VALERIO: The crash scene is absolutely harrowing. Just a few steps away, you can see where the doomed Jeju Air jetliner careened through the
embankment and burst into flames. And more than a day later, you can still see forensics teams in their white suits combing through the debris, along
with members of the police force as well as members of the South Korean military.
Now, to my right, you can see soldiers looking through the fields and around them, to give you an idea of the force of this crash. A full
football field away from where we're standing, you can see mangled, twisted chairs thrown from the jetliner.
A representative of the victim's families urging an even larger response.
PARK HAN-SHIN, REPRESENTATIVE, JEJU AIR CRASH VICTIM'S FAMILIES (through translator): What I want to request from the government is to increase the
manpower so that the recovery can be carried out more swiftly. I hope my siblings, my family, can be recovered and returned to us, even if only 80
percent intact.
VALERIO (voice over): For now, Muan remains the epicenter of a nation in mourning, the weight of unspoken farewells and quiet desperation made
unbearable of an absence of answers.
Mike Valerio, CNN, Muan, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, that South Korea crash follows what was another deadly plane disaster. Azerbaijan's president, blaming Russia for what was the
Christmas Day crash that killed 38 people. He accuses the Kremlin of accidentally downing an Azerbaijan Airlines plane and then covering it up.
Well, Russia has apologized for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace, but President Vladimir Putin not accepting
responsibility.
The aircraft's flight recorders will be analyzed in Brazil, where the Embraer-190 was made.
[10:25:02]
Well, joining me now is professor of -- and head of aviation and transport at Technological University Dublin, Stephen Wright. And stimulus (PH). You
know, it is really distressing to consider there have been three deadly incidents just in the last few days.
Let's start with South Korea. What do you make of the crash there, and of the pilot saying that there was a bird strike as we understand it right
before that. What do you make of that information to date?
STEPHEN WRIGHT, PROFESSOR, TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY DUBLIN: Hello, Becky.
The event in Korea is just awful. The air traffic control announced that there was a risk of bird strikes. The pilots then confirmed it after they
hit birds. What is particularly unusual with the Korean Jeju Air event is the effect on the hydraulic system. This shouldn't have happened that the
aircraft --
I mean, Boeing aircraft, special in so much that compared to others, the Boeing design is that pilots will always have the last authority. So, there
are loads of cables, manual controls. There is computers, there are hydraulics to help them. But you can fly a Boeing from the flight deck, you
can do things. You can manually lower landing gear and so on.
So, I just can't quite understand why things like the landing gear weren't extended, why the flaps weren't extended. It's most unusual.
ANDERSON: And this is going to have people watching this show, and, you know, wondering around the world what to make of the industry and what it's
going through at this point, and whether indeed it is safe.
WRIGHT: Well, the industry is fantastically safe. It's one of the most highly regulated industries in the world. To get near an aircraft, you have
to have years of education. So, people come into my university, they may wish to work on live aircraft. So, if they are going to go down the
maintenance route, then they need four years of education, that's before they can actually touch, you know, live aircraft and then sign for their
work.
People that want to become commercial pilots, they have to do number of years of education and then follow that through. And then, the whole
business is highly regulated in itself, the way that you do it. The maintenance, the frequency. It is a very safe industry. But sometimes
things do happen.
ANDERSON: Russia, apologizing for the fact that the tragic Azerbaijan airlines incident occurred in their airspace, not admitting to playing any
part in that, which does bring up the fact that there are conflicts around the world.
There are drones flying in, you know, certain airspace, at present. It will seem to many that there is an awful lot going on. There is congested
airspace. You've talked about why you believe the industry is actually fantastically safe? But what is going on off times in the airspace that
people are flying through is unbeknownst to many.
What do you say to those who may be concerned?
WRIGHT: Well, it depends, for instance, with the Azerbaijan event, this was a commercial airline that then entered Russian airspace. And I think the
difficulty here is that it's a conflict area.
But by proxy, so, you know, the neighboring country of Russia, i.e. Ukraine, is engaged in hostile activities. And other commercial airlines
have then decided to operate in this conflict region. And unfortunately, for whatever reason, something has happened, something has gone wrong, and
a commercial aircraft has been identified as a potential target, and has been damaged, and as a result, has then crashed, and there is been a
significant loss of life.
What I would say is most of the carriers, when the Ukraine conflict kicked- off two years ago, most of the European carriers immediately canceled every flight in or over the top of both Ukraine and also Russia, and that's a
significant difference from other parts of the world.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
Important analysis and insight folks. Well, still to come, the world remembering former U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday at the
age of 100.
[10:30:06]
More on his life and legacy is after this. And we look at how he made history in the Middle East with the peace agreement that endures to this
day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me Becky Anderson. Broadcast from our golf programming hub here in Abu Dhabi. Time
is just after half past 7:00 in the evening. And as we remember the life of the 39th U.S. President Jimmy Carter who died on Sunday at the age of 100
in Plains, Georgia, America now preparing to honor him with a state funeral on January the 9th, that is a week from this Thursday.
Overnight, President Joe Biden declared that same day as a national day of mourning. It will be to honor or be to honor, the peanut farmer who became
an American president and who lived a life of great service for so many years after leaving the White House.
Well 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. My colleague Christiane Amanpour looks at what the ensuring agreement meant for his presidency and
indeed for this part of the world and further afield.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Peace in the Middle East. The impossible dream. But President Jimmy Carter wasn't
afraid to take it on, inviting two of the world's fiercest enemies to the White House retreat at Camp David in 1978.
Jimmy Carter had been derided for his administration's foreign policy failures, partly because he's considered to have lost a U.S. friendly Iran
to the ayatollahs. But the Camp David Accords were his geopolitical triumph. He managed to strike a deal between Israel's Menachem Begin and
Egypt's Anwar Sadat.
But this moment really got started a year earlier, when the cameras flashed and rolled to capture Sadat's journey into enemy territory.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has never, in all these years, been anything as striking and dramatic as this.
AMANPOUR (voice over): Indeed, Sadat had made a massive gamble, that coming in peace to Jerusalem, becoming the first Arab leader to visit Israel and
speak directly to its people would pay off.
But the two Middle East leaders failed to reach a deal on their own. Enter the American president. Carter recognized a rare opportunity to act as the
indispensable mediator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost never in our history has a president devoted so much time on a single problem.
AMANPOUR (voice over): He had studied the characters and histories of the two leaders who deeply mistrusted each other. He wrote Sadat and Begin
personal letters, inviting them to Camp David. And when they arrived on 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.
[10:35:06]
AMANPOUR (voice over): Thirteen 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 adviser, the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, described what looked like mission impossible.
ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Sadat to sign a peace treaty with Begin had to break ranks with the entire Arab world. He
had to face isolation. Begin, to agree with Sadat, had to give up territory for the first time, and to give up settlements.
AMANPOUR (voice over): When direct talks between Sadat and Begin became too heated, Carter kept them apart and quashed any attempt to call off the
negotiations. After two weeks of complications, drama and false starts, the men finally returned to Washington to deliver the good news, they had
reached a deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just look at two weeks ago what the situation was. Peace process all but dead.
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: 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 (on camera): There you were. You brought peace with Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. It all seemed so much easier then. Was it? Or is that just
what we think now all these years later?
CARTER: I think it was much more difficult because I was negotiating between two men whose nations had been at war four times in just 25 years.
AMANPOUR (voice over): The magnitude of that accomplishment lives on in the image of that three-way handshake. The Israeli prime minister, Menachem
Begin, summed it up like this.
MENACHEM BEGIN, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: 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.
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: Well, my next guess is renowned for writing biographies and historical accounts of American historical figures. And Kai Bird is the
author of Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter. And he joins me now. The Outlier, sir. Why the title?
KAI BIRD, OUTLIER: THE UNFINISHED PRESIDENCY OF JIMMY CARTER: Well, Jimmy Carter was an outlier from the very beginning. He, you know, was born in
Plains, Georgia, and grew up as a child. All his playmates were black African-Americans. He was an outlier in that way. So he had growing up in
empathy for and a sensitivity to the issue of race, which is, you know, central in American history.
He was also just an outlier personally. He was extraordinarily intelligent and well read. And as a politician, he learned to focus on issues and teach
himself what was the right thing to do, the most intelligent thing to do and to do it, to do the right thing, irregardless of the political
consequences. So, this made him an outlier in -- as a politician. Not many politicians acting that way.
[10:40:02]
ANDERSON: What he was not, yes, and what he was not was part of the sort of Washington
political elite. In fact, he didn't have a background of being connected to that elite at all, which many will say is the reason why he, sort of, you
know, he struggled with Washington, and he didn't -- he didn't play by those traditional sort of rules. And he struggled to a degree with
Congress.
BIRD: He ran against Washington. He was a populist, a southern populist, a liberal at a time when politicians were, you know, still defending
segregation. So, yes, he was very much an outlier and a populist running against the establishment. And this, of course, was one of the reasons why
he was elected in 1976. But it was also a reason why he was only a one-term president.
He alienated some of the powers that be in Washington and took tough political decisions that alienated some of his own democratic constituency.
ANDERSON: You say in the book that -- or you've certainly said before, that Jimmy Carter's achievements are underrated. We just played the report from
Christian Amanpour, my colleague on the Camp David Accords, the coming together of Israel and Egypt so many years ago and still today, that is
enduring at a time when so little else is, to a degree enduring in this region.
And we still seek an Israeli Palestinian solution at this point, or at least, many will say, in this region, a solution to the Palestinian plight.
You know Jimmy Carter, and you've written so deeply about him. What did he make of where things are at now, and what would he hope his legacy in this
region might be going forward?
BIRD: Well, he was very proud of Camp David and the Camp David of peace accords that brought a sort of cold peace between Egypt and Israel. But I
think it's important to say that President Carter always believed that he had also negotiated an agreement with Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime
minister, to have a five-year freeze on all Jewish settlements -- built settlements in the West Bank.
He thought he had a deal on that, which would have been a road map to a Palestinian autonomy and eventually a two-state solution. And so, you know,
this is one of his great regrets, that Menachem Begin sort of reneged on that part of the negotiations. And he -- Carter spent the rest of his life
warning the Israelis that by building more settlements in the West Bank, they were walking down the road towards apartheid.
And he got a lot of criticism for doing this, but look at where we are at. You know, he's turned out to be extremely prophetic and tough minded in his
analysis of what was going on in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine.
ANDERSON: As you wrote, yes, and your analysis on this is will be spot on for so many people watching around this region where I am here in the Gulf
and Middle East. So, when you were doing the research for this book, and when you, you know, took this deep dive into Jimmy Carter's life, what
surprised you most?
BIRD: Well, I'd done several other biographies before, but nothing of a president. And, you know, when you tackle a president, you're tackling a
whole range of issues. Now, I'd written, you know, two books on the Middle East before. I'd written a biography of American foreign policy
establishment figures like McCloy, but when you tackle the president, you know, you go to the presidential library and there are two million pages of
formally classified materials.
You can't possibly read three pages, but -- so one of the surprises I had in my very first interview with Carter. He was in his 90s. He was still
extremely hard working and articulate and a little bored with talking to the biographer. You know, he's not a man who looks back. He was looking
forward to working hard at the Carter's bring peace to the Middle East and wiping out guinea worm disease.
But in my first interview with him, I happened to point out that I couldn't find in the Carter Library any of the memos that letters that he
had exchanged with his personal long-time lawyer Charlie Kerbo.
[10:45:02]
And Carter was surprised by this. I got his attention and he turned to his aide, and he said, well, we must find those documents. And few days later,
they found four boxes of materials in the attic of Charlie Kerbo's widow and that formed the backbone for my presidential biography, because these
memos were an insight into the personal views and advice that Carter was getting from his personal lawyer over -- and it was a surprise and a great
discovery.
You know, biography is all about the treasure hunt and finding the proverbial suitcase in the filled with documents. So, I was very lucky on
that score.
ANDERSON: X marks the spot, good stuff. Kai, it's good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed. Kai Bird with you here on the show and ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am on my knees begging you to end this brutal life. Brutality.
I am very am begging.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, protests in Kenya know that an alleged new wave of abductions of government critics. We'll tell you what the president there
is now promising.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, new images from Nairobi in Kenya this hour of police firing tear gas at protesters in the capital. Now, there has been mounting anger
over alleged new disappearances of dozens of government critics. In an apparent change of stance, the Kenyan president has vowed to stop the
abductions. But at least 82 critics have allegedly gone missing since the protest movement erupted in June.
Now, CNN's Larry Madowo was in the thick of that protest movement getting tear gas while covering those protests from the Kenyan capital. He was on
our show live when that was happening. He joins us now live from (INAUDIBLE) in Luanda, the capital of Angola. And Larry, what do you make
of what is going on and of the president's vow to stop these disappearances? Who is responsible for these abductions at this point? Is
any of this clear?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a bit of a mystery in Kenya about who is abducting government critics who have been disappearing since these
protests began in June, at least 82 people, according to the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights. And what seems to happen is, as soon as
somebody becomes critical of the government on social media or organizes a protest, they disappear.
[10:50:10]
Some of them have come back and said they were tortured. They were chained to the floor naked and questioned about the source of the funding or just
why they're being so vocal against the government of President William Ruto. He says that he will stop the abductions, but he also had a
conditional part of that, that he will stop the abductions, but the young people of Kenya have to be -- they have to behave, they have to be polite,
and they have to be disciplined, which people saw as a tacit endorsement or at least an admission, that his government has been abducting some critics.
In the last two or three weeks, several more people have disappeared, some of them young people in their 20s who posted A.I.-generated images of
President William Ruto in a casket. One of them a popular cartoonist who's been sharing satirical silhouettes over President William Ruto. They've all
disappeared. Their families believe they were picked up, tracked on their phone and picked up by Kenyan security forces.
I want you to listen to one of the family members.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I am here as a parent, please. I am begging. I have cried enough. I do not have strength. I feel like dying,
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: And so, a short while ago, a judge in Kenya has ordered the National Police and the security agencies to unconditionally release the
abducted people that are in their custody, even though the police have claimed they don't have them the custody and they're investigating why.
Many in the country just don't believe them. The families don't believe them because they haven't made any attempts to investigate who exactly is
not in these critics off the road, and they've disappeared, some of them for several months now, Becky.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed to Larry who is today in Luanda in Angola. Right. More news after this short break,
folks, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Donald Trump will not be getting a new trial in the defamation case involving writer E. Jean Carroll. A federal appeals court has just
upheld the jury's verdict, which found Trump liable for sexual abuse and ordered him to pay $5 million in damages. Let's bring in our Kara Scannell
and this is not going to be the news that Donald Trump wanted not to lease just before New Year's Eve, Kara. Just remind us what this case was about
and why this is such a significant decision.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, the appeals court here is upholding this jury's verdict. And this case went to trial where E. Jean Carroll had
sued Donald Trump civilly and accused him of sexually abusing her at a New York department store in the mid-1990s and then defaming her when he went
on to deny the assault and saying that she wasn't his type and that she made up the claims to boost sales of her book.
So, that had gone to jury verdict. The jury awarded Carol $5 million finding that Trump had sexually abused her and defamed her. So, Trump then
appealed this to the federal appeals court saying that the judge had made mistakes, including by allowing the testimony of two other women who
separately said that Donald Trump had sexually assaulted them, and the appeals court saying that their review of the case files indicate that the
judge did not abuse his discretion by allowing that testimony and other evidence in.
[10:55:12]
And they said that even if he did make mistakes, that the strength of Carroll's case against Trump would outweigh them. And so, their -- appeals
court saying that Donald Trump does not get a new trial. So, this means that E. Jean Carroll is one step closer to collecting that $5 million
verdict. But that's not the only case. Carroll also sued Trump for defamation in a -- separately, for repeating the statements that he had
made years earlier.
A jury awarded her $83.3 million, that case is still on appeal, but the same judge the same essential evidence that came into that. So once that
case does get through the appeals process, assuming it's upheld, then Carroll will get closer to getting all of the money that the jury has
awarded her. Now, she and her lawyers say that they're gratified by the appeals court's decision.
Trump's lawyers saying that they will continue to appeal this. Their next steps here would likely be to the Supreme Court, but it's entirely up to
the court to decide whether they would take up a case against evidentiary rules, which is really not something that they often do. So certainly, a
win here for E. Jean Carroll, having her case upheld and getting one step closer to getting that $5 million.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. It's good to have you. Happy New Year. Thank you. And that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. We will see you tomorrow for our New
Year's Eve special programming. You won't want to miss that. So do join us. Meantime, it is a very good evening from Abu Dhabi, from the team
working with me here and around the world. Good night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
