this world. may those of us who knew and loved her as a friend and colleague honor her life by building on her legacy of caring deeply for the most vulnerable among us. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ praise for the sweetness of the wet garden sprung in completeness where his feet pass ♪ ♪ mine is the sunlight mine is the morning born of the one light eden saw play praise with elation praise every morning god's recreation of the new day ♪ a reading from the book of psalm. may this be pleasing in your site, lord, my rock and my redeemer. >> president carter, president biden, dr. biden, vice president harris, second gentleman, president clinton, secretary clinton, mrs. bush, mrs. obama, mrs. trump. distinguished guests and friends. rosalynn carter would be so pleased to see that she brought all of you together on this day. first, my deepest condolences to you, president carter, to jack, chip, to jeff, to amy, and to your families. i am honored that you asked me to participate today. news reporters and the public figures we cover don't always have the smoothest of relationships. given the nature of our different roles, our interactions can be uncomfortable at times. the first time i met mrs. carter, it was 1970 when she was campaigning hard for her husband to be elected governor. it was on the tarmac of a small airport somewhere in the middle of georgia and i sensed a weariness on her part. i was only a club reporter for an atlanta tv station so that was understandable. the weariness went away. it may have taken about 40 years for that to happen, but it had by the time she invited me to attend a luncheon in washington where she was receiving an award for her work on care giving. she knew we have a son with disabilities and that care giving is essential in our lives. i know that my respect and admiration for her goes back to the very beginning. there was always something genuine about mrs. carter. a groundedness and a quiet self-assurance despite what she wrote about her struggles with public speaking. i covered the carter through their time as georgia governor through the historic and astonishing campaign for the presidency in 1976 through their years in the white house. what we witnessed was a first lady who saw her role as going well beyond the essential, warm, and welcoming host to being a close and trusted, yes, adviser. in essence, an extension of the president himself. a first lady who understood the weight of her words and especially her actions. a first lady who cared deeply about the american people. about how government policies and actions affect their daily lives. a first lady who took on tough assignments, who was in her words, determined to be taken seriously. and who wasn't afraid of controversy. that started at the very beginning of her time in the white house when as you heard, she made big news by sitting in on cabinet meetings. as she put it, there was no way i could discuss things with jimmy in an intelligent way if i didn't. continuing her push for something to be done about mental health, the issues she adopted as first lady of georgia, she immersed herself in the subject. insisting ways be found to bring it out of the shadows, to erase the stigma associated with mental illness. she personally lobbied for legislation and she saw it become law. she lost a childhood immunization initiative that led to the virtual elimination of measles as public health problem. just five months into the administration, she took on an ambitious diplomatic mission. the two-week trip to the caribbean and south america that she described as more than a good will trip. she said she wanted it to be valuable in each country. to bring back their concerns to her husband. she had studied his foreign policy intensely. especially on human rights. she took a cram course in spanish. i was one of the reporters who traveled with her on that 12,000 mile journey. i had not studied spanish. and i'll never forget the looks on the faces of some of the laden leaders as they realized they were dealing with a serious, well informed and well briefed representative of the president of the united states. the person closer to him than anyone else. criticism ahead of time that she would be dismissed melted away. she lobbied for other important legislation including one of the earliest efforts to cut the cost of healthcare. the so-called hospital cost containment bill. mrs. carter was traveling with the president in japan to attend an economic summit when word came from washington that they were a few votes shy including from a senator traveling with them on the bullet train to kyoto. it was mrs. carter who spoke to the senator, persuaded him to phone in his proxy. the bill passed. and and there was the middle east. 13 days of talks between president carter and egypt's sadot. mrs. carter suggested first they meet at camp david. noting that it was far removed from the pressures and the controversies of washington. president carter said she was a partner in his thinking throughout the negotiations. the camp david accords have survived as one of the very few enduring agreements to come out of the middle east. i last interviewed president and mrs. carter in plains in july 2021 as they were celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary. i asked them how they thought president biden was doing early in his term. president carter was very specific on issue after issue. and quite complimentary of the new president. mrs. carter said simply it's a great relief to have him in office. and what a love story. for 77 years, they adored each other. and had much in common. intelligence, compassion, curiosity, courage, and apparently, they could both be a little stubborn. she often said the most challenging time of their marriage was when they co-authored a book. my connection with president and mrs. carter is more than professional. it was the summer of 1976 when i met my husband, al hunt, who was then with "the wall street journal" on the plains high school athletic field. where competitive then candidate, jimmy carter, organized softball games between his campaign staff, with a lot of help from the very fit secret service agents and on the other side, the press corp. the press always lost. al and i didn't see each other again until the spring of 1977 after nbc moved me to washington to cover the white house. you know, if jimmy carter hadn't been elected, we would likely have never gotten married, had three children and a grandson. so as fate and only 1,683,427 votes would have it, our lives are connected with theirs. when he ran the first time, a reporter asked rosalynn why she was campaigning five days a week, 20 hours a week. it's a labor of love. besides, i won't have any regrets if he loses because i'm doing everything i can possibly do. that explains why she did so much, worked so hard throughout her entire life. at the white house and in the many years before and since, championing the rights of the underserved, coming to the aid of the most vulnerable, doing whatever she could to improve the lives of others. so she wouldn't have regrets that she hadn't done everything in her power to do. that's who she was. without rosalynn carter, i don't believe there would have been a president carter. she and the two of you set an example for all of us. i agree with my friend, jim fallows, who wrote her memory will be a blessing. her influence on the world will be her monument, end quote. because of rosalynn carter, millions of lives are better off. what a gift she left. ♪♪ ♪ great is thy faithfulness o god my father there is no shadow of turning with thee thou changest not thy compassions they fail not as thou has been thou forever will be ♪ ♪ great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning my morning new mercies i see all i have needed thy hand hath provided great is thy faithfulness lord unto thee ♪ ♪ ♪♪ ♪ strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow blessings all mine with 10,000 beside ♪ ♪ great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies i see ♪ ♪ all i have needed thy hand hath provided great is thy faithfulness lord unto me ♪♪ >> i chose something that is hard to read without crying, so be patient. my mom spent most of her life in love with my dad. their partnership and love story was a defining feature of her life. because he isn't able to speak to you today, i'm going to share some of his words about loving and -- this is from a letter he wrote 75 years ago while he was serving in the navy. my darling, every time i have ever been away from you, i have been thrilled w just how wonder are. while i am away, i try to convince myself that you are really 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. good-bye, darling, until tomorrow. jimmy. ♪♪ ♪ what wondrous love is this oh my soul oh my soul what wondrous love is this oh my soul ♪ ♪ what wondrous love is this that caused the lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul for my soul to bear the dreadful curse for my soul ♪ ♪ when i was sinking down sinking down sinking down when i was sinking down oh my soul ♪ ♪♪ ♪ to god and to the lamb i will spring to god and to the lamb i will sing to god and to the lamb who is the great i am while millions jheme i will sing i will sing while millions join the theme i will sing ♪ ♪ and when from death i'm free i'll song on i'll song on and when from death i'm free i'll sing on ♪ ♪ and when from death i'm free i'll sing and joyful be ♪ ♪ i'll sing on and through eternity i'll sing on ♪♪ o n ♪ >> a reading from the book of galatians. chapter five, versus 13 to 14. serve one another humbly in love. for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command. love your neighbor as yourself. >> thank you all for being here. as you can see from the service, music was so important to my grandmother and it's been just beautiful, so thank you. governor and first lady kemp, thank you. senators warnock and ossof, thank you. mary dickens, thank you all. and again, a special thank you, secretary clinton, mrs. bush, mrs. obama, mrs. trump, and dr. biden. thank you all for coming and acknowledging this remarkable sister hood that you share with my grandmother. and thank you all for your leadership that you provided for our country and the world. secretary clinton and dr. biden, we also welcome your lovely husbands. i mean -- this is a difficult day for my family. while we have been so enormously gratified by the love and support that we have felt from across the world, so thank you so much. as reverend warnock told me, my grandmother doesn't need a eulogy. her life was a sermon. and it was a mighty testament to the power of faith and to the power of a deep and determined love and she lived this public love story that we all know of that has inspired the world including in these last days. i think of all the things she accomplished. her most viral moment was when they were at a baseball game and the braves put them on the kiss cam. and just like today, i mean, people were crying at the braves game, you know. but we, we heard about it for years. it's amazing, but in my family, we all experienced those more private love stories. she was my grandmother, first. and she was like everyone else's grandmother in a lot of ways. almost all of her recipes call for mayonnaise, for example. we all got cards from her on our birthdays. $20 bill in it. when i was 45, $20 bill. like, she was so down to earth, y'all. it was amazing. one of the stories we've been talking about in my family these last few days is we were on a family trip and we were on a flight on delta in here to somewhere and we were all sitting in the back of the airplane together and it took off. my grandmother took out this tupperware of pimento cheese and this loaf of bread and she just started making sandwiches. she gave it to us grand kids then to other people on the plane. people were sitting there like, rosalynn carter just made me this sandwich, you know? they couldn't believe it. but she loved people. and she was a cool grandma. she was cool. like, she did tie chi with a sword and if you want to see a 5-year-old boy be excited, they would come back, dad, you know mom carter has a sword, you know. she once told me about this trip papa that y'all took to havana in the '50s. she said y'all went down there for the night and you didn't get a hotel room. i said, what did you do? she looked at me like, we danced. we slept on the plane. they danced, didn't they? she was a rock for our family. and that's true, but in many ways, she was more as chip said, an adventurer, a voyager, a mountain climber. she learned to ski in her 60s then skied for 25 more years. as chip said, she fished trout streams in georgia to wyoming and from venezuela to siberia. visited 120 countries. climbed mount kilimanjaro and mount fuji and summited peaks and i know she went to the everest base camp in nepal and i can guarantee you she was looking up at that thing thinking, if they would just let me. and based on what she did, i think she could have done it. she was born just a few years after women got the right to vote. in this small town in the south where people were still plowing their fields behind mules. but she was made for these long journeys and she was made to summit these mountains. as they said before, when she started in politics, she had never talked to a group of people bigger than her sunday school class. then she elected governor, president, she shaped our national policies, faced down dictators herself on issues of human rights. built the carter center from an idea into a power house. human rights. and as the chair of that board, i've watched her do it and it's because she poured out her love. all over the world and especially as kathy said, the end of the road. her 122 countries included liberia and mali and sudan. it was natural for her to open up her heart to those people not with pity, but as partners. and she knew in those communities and recognized that ancient steel from rural women who carried their children and their communities on their backs. whether they're from a 600-person town in south georgia or south sudan. as the song says, she knew what comes back when you give your love away. and for my grandmother, what came back was this unshakable strength and this powerful faith and not just an abiding love, but a fierce, determined, adventurous love that sustained her all of these long journeys. journeys like kathy mentioned. guinea warm eradication. which has taken almost 40 years, but the carter center's powerful partners in these villages took a disease that affected 3.5 million people every year in the poorest parts of the world and this year, there won't be millions of cases, papa, this year. we've had seven total cases. and we're in the last mile because she could see far and she kept going. was not afraid of these long journeys. her advocacy for mental health was a 50-year climb that is as remarkable as any other and has been mentioned already, but if you imagine just how far our society has come in the last five years on issues of mental health and you think that she decided in 1970 to tackle the ancient stigma associated with mental illness, it is remarkable how far she could see and how far she was willing to walk. that effort changed lives and it saved lives, including in my own family. she was made for these long journeys. rosalynn carter institute helps care givers because you can't journey alone. even the rosalynn carter butterfly trail goes 3,000 gardens from mexico to canada. help monarch butterflies on their journeys. jon lewis once said that in all of his marches, he only really learned one thing. don't let them turn you around. that was my grandmother to a tee. one of my last memories of her was in a hospital. we were there for my grandfather, but she had her own physical limitations that made it hard for her to walk. she had to practice. she was ready to go for one of these walks and she picked up this cane and i looked at the cane. she looked at me. she said, you know, it's not a cane. and i said -- she said it's a trekking pole. she said it's the exact same kind those women use when they go to the south pole. i watched her walk down that hall with that trekking pole. i followed her. and i just pray that we never lose sight of that path. amen and thank you. ♪♪ ♪ imagine there's no heaven it's easy if you try no hell below us above us only sky ♪ ♪ imagine all the people living for today ♪ ♪ imagine there's no countries it isn't hard to do nothing to kill or die for and no religion too ♪ ♪ imagine all the people living life in peace you ♪ ♪ you may say i'm a dreamer but i'm not the only one i hope someday you'll join us and the world will be as one ♪ ♪ imagine no possessions i wonder if you can no need for greed or hunger a brotherhood of man ♪ ♪ imagine all the people sharing all the world you ♪ ♪ you may say i'm a dreamer but i'm not the only one i hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one ♪♪ >> a reading from the gospel of matthew, chapter five, versus six through eight. blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled. blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see god. >> will you stand? ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ let there be peace on earth the peace that was meant for me ♪ ♪♪ ♪ let peace begin with me let this be the moment now with every step i take let this be my solemn vow ♪ ♪ to take each moment and live each moment with peace eternally ♪ ♪ let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me ♪ ♪ let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me let there be peace on earth the peace that was meant to be ♪ ♪ with god as our father brothers all are we let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony ♪ ♪ let peace begin with me let this be the moment now with every step i take let this be my solemn vow ♪ ♪ to take each moment and live each moment with peace eternally let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me ♪♪ >> you may be seated. i also want to remind you that i'm going to give you some directions for the house. and that if you violate those directions, some of the first lady's bodyguards might just, you got my message. remain seated when the procession starts out out of respect for the family. you've heard everything about this great soul. you heard that she was from plains, georgia. you heard the fact that she loved and she had compassion even for a butterfly. you heard the fact how she loved her grandchildren. and oh, how she loved jc, jimmy carter. i also have to tell you that she loved jc, jesus christ. and i believe the reason why she did so much of the things she did because she read in spanish and english that faith without works is dead being alone. so when she read the word of god, it went to her head. and then it got in her heart. and somewhere in the kingdom of god, ambassador young, she decided to put her hands to the things of god. from her head to her heart to her hands. mr. president, she made it a habit. from her head to her heart to her hands and she made it a habit. if you love our first lady who was global, make it a habit. take your passion and make it a habit. link your passion up with compassion and then it will be peace and then there will be love and then we'll have a house united, not divided. she would say thank you to all the first ladies that came and stopped all the traffic in georgia and atlanta. mr. president, she say thank you from the time you came down to visit president jimmy carter and sat in the living room. you and your beautiful bride. she would say thanks to all of you. governor, she would say thank you. i want to tell you something. to all the staff, she would say thank you. there's somebody in here that's very important and only them are going to get what i'm about to say. there's some folks that make all this possible. their sole mission is to make sure you get home safe. for 46 years, men and women of the secret service has made sure that she got home safe. for 46 years. they left their families and traveled with rosalynn. to make sure that she got home safe. for 46 years, they gave themselves. jason, they had ice cream. peanut butter ice cream. they did all the things she did. for 46 years, they made sure she got home safe. i want to tell each and every one of them she would tell you thank you. you got me home safe. oftentimes, mr. president, we don't acknowledge those who keep us safe. rosalynn carter's in heaven and she did the work of the lord in the kingdom all around the world. and all the directors for 46 years got her and her family home safe. and i say thank each and every one of you. those that are standing close and those that are listening on their radios right now. thank you. and she loves you and ain't nothing you can do about it. we're going to have the benediction prayer. they're going to sing. and i remind you, please, sir, please, ma'am, the bible says i beseech you, governor, don't move. father in the name of jesus, thank you for this glorious celebration of this wonderful, great soul that has fallen in our midst, but she is not dead. she's alive in each and every one of us. she's alive in 122 countries. she's alive in every hall in our government. she's alive in every non-profit in this nation and around the world. she's alive. she's resting in the arms of jesus. we ask that you comfort each and every soul here today. i ask her sons and daughters of the secret service, take her back home to plains. in jesus' name i pray, amen. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ make his countenance upon you and give you peace and give you peace and give you peace ♪ ♪ and be gracious unto you and be gracious ♪ ♪ the lord be gracious unto you ♪ ♪ amen amen amen amen ♪ ♪ amen ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> and former first lady, rosalynn carter, with her husband of 77 years there as he almost was, is remembered as one of the truly good people in this world. genuine and grounded, the glue that held their family together. i want to bring back into our coverage, nbc breaking news anchor, richard lui and jonathan alter, author of his very best, jimmy carter, a life. it was beautiful. she was remembered as a boss lady at the center of the carter warehouse. a devout christian. a lot of people wouldn't know, a fly fisher, skier, mountain climber. an enthusiastic traveler who always came home to georgia and as we watch her coffin leaving the church, that is where she will go. to the small town, jonathan, of plains, georgia, where she lived most of her life. >> chris, this was a great american. and a global humanitarian. and she led a big and decent life. i liked her grandson, jason's words. fierce, determined, adventurous love. not just for her family, but for the whole world. >> as i watched this ceremony, i couldn't help but think of matriarch. somebody who led not only the family at various different levels, but of course, the country. chip carter's comments about losing his mother, he was losing a best friend. then about the butterfly trail. that symbolizes change. they're getting more calls in about her in that move for the butterfly gardens. a lot of people learning about rosalynn carter and what an amazing life she lived. >> we knew about their love story, but this was also a service that represented who she was before, after, and always. i loved the joke about how she would have been so happy to have all of those first ladies together then as an aside, jason said, their lovely husbands who also happen to be a current and former president of the united states. jonathan, richard, thank you so much. that is going to do it for our special coverage. a celebration of the life of the former first lady, rosalynn carter. our coverage continues with katy tur reports right now. ♪♪ you've been watching along with us the tribute service, the funeral to former first lady, rosalynn carter in atlanta. we've been watching two hours of family and friends who knew her well, who have been sharing stories, sharing laughs, sharing memories about her life and her legacy. joining us now is presidential historian, doug. it's good to have you on to talk about this. i