>> reporter: a soft-spoken, small-town girl, rosalynn smith carter became one of america's most charmed first ladies. born in plains, georgia, on august 18th, 1927, she was valedictorian of her high school class and met and married jimmy carter when he was in the u.s. navy. >> i love and respect and cherish and honor my wife, rosalynn. [ applause ] >> reporter: when mr. carter's father died in 1953, they moved back to plains to manage the family's peanut farm. >> i didn't want to go home. i was having a good time. i think i had thought i had outgrown plains, georgia. i had gotten a little too big for my britches. i only pouted for about a year after we got home. >> reporter: they had four children, three boys -- jack, chip, and jeff, and later daughter amy. in 1962, jimmy carter entered politics and rosalynn hit the campaign trail. >> campaigning was fun up to a certain point because i got to travel and see the whole country. the most fun are the people you meet. >> reporter: she supported her husband's successful bids to become governor of georgia and, later, president of the united states. >> so help me god. >> congratulations. [ applause ] >> reporter: mrs. carter was actively involved in her husband's presidency, attending camp david meetings and cabinet briefings. she was a strong advocate for equal treatment of the mentally ill. >> if they had coverage for their mental illness, then the overall health care costs would come down. >> reporter: when the carters left the white house in 1981, they spearheaded a new challenge, habitat for humanity, building houses for the poor. >> the whole community has come together to get rid of poverty. >> reporter: a year later, they established the carter center, a foundation devoted to promoting human rights, resolving conflicts, and eradicating diseases. mrs. carter continued to focus on reducing the stigma of mental illness. >> i'm really, really proud of you and very impressed. >> reporter: another focus, caregiving, an issue close to her heart as she told a tral committee. >> it's been part of my life since i was 12 years old and my fathers with diagnosed with leukemia at age 44. we lived in a very small town, and all the neighbors rallied around. but i still vividly remember going to my secret hiding place, the outdoor privy if you can believe that, to cry. that's where i could be alone. >> reporter: in 1999, rosalynn and jimmy carter were honored with the presidential medal of freedom, the nation's highest honor for civilians. >> rosalynn and i have visited now more than 150 234nations ine world. >> reporter: mrs. carter was irritated that her husband was praised more for his achievements after his presidency than during his administration. >> it doesn't matter what you do. you're going to be criticized for it. and so do what you want to do. >> reporter: and they were a remarkably close first couple. jimmy carter used to say rosalynn was much more than his wife. >> it's always rosalynn to whom i turn for the primary advice, and we make the decisions together. she's the matriarch when our 11 grand children and our 4 children have a problem. they call rosalynn first because they know they'll get a sympathetic ear. >> reporter: she remained by his side, occasionally joining with other first families, and later supporting each other in their twilight, she with dementia and mr. carter in hospice. and in the 39th president, rosalynn carter got more than just a husband. >> my life with jimmy carter has been more adventuresome than i ever dreamed it would be. >> cnn's wolf blitzer joins us now on the phone. wolf, you spent a lot of time with the carters down in plains, georgia. tell us what you learned about rosalynn. >> reporter: it was always very, very special, paula, to be with both of them together. it was a really loving couple. no matter how many years they were married, almost eight decades, it was a special relationship. i remember four years ago or so in 2019, i went down to plains and spent some time with them. on sunday morning, we all went to church. it was special to see the two of them holding hands all the time, talking to each other. it was a beautiful relationship and a really loving relationship. and especially loving when all of their kids and grandkids were around, and they usually were. it was just very meaningful and powerful to see that, experience that with the former president of the united states and the former first lady of the united states. so it was just a nice thing to see and very moving always for me. >> we're showing video right now of you with the former first couple. it appears that you're in some sort of service. talk a little bit about how they really redefined the post-presidency. >> reporter: it's amazing what they did after leaving office, after the presidency. they both dedicated their lives to helping other people, poor people, people with mental illness, people who needed housing, habitat for humanity. they really got involved. and the habitat for humanity, not only did they raise money for people who needed housing, but they actually went in and did some of the building themselves. it was always so nice to see that. and i was always very, very impressed with what they did after leaving office, and jimmy carter, you know, he was an important president. i remember covering him, you know, when he was president of the united states and i was a young reporter. and during the camp david peace accords between israel and egypt, you know, he was very much involved in working to bring peace between israel and egypt, the largest and then most important arab country, and he succeeded. and you know who was there with him at camp david almost every step of the way. it was rosalynn carter. she was a peace maker all of her years, during her years at the white house and ever since. peace was so important. i could see that then, and certainly in more recent years when i went down to plains to interview them, i could see that as well. at one point i had dinner with them in plains, georgia, and it was a moving experience. she was a wonderful, remarkable woman, and she will be missed. >> she was also a staunch defender of democracy around the world. tell us more about that part of her work. >> reporter: yeah, she traveled all over the world, especially in latin america and south america, central america, to try to promote democracy and do good. and he was always supporting her. and the presidents that followed always praised both of them for what they were doing to help people all around the world, not just in the united states. and they were deeply, deeply loved, deeply respected, and i have to give rosalynn carter a lot of credit for all the achievements that president jimmy carter did because she was by his side. and even, you know, i remember on friday when we were reported that the carter center had announced she was going into hospice, and he was already in hos hospice, it was just a moment they would be together. and they were together all the time. they would spend a lot of quality time together all the time. and it was just a moving moment for me in simply reporting that they had announced she was in hospice. she had been suffering from dementia for several years. and president jimmy carter is almost 100 years old, and he had been suffering from various illnesses, and she was always there to take care of him, to be by his side. i'm sure now that she has passed, you know, he's missing her a lot, and it's a very sad moment for me to just try to comprehend what president carter is going through right now without his wife by his side. she's been there for almost 80 years of marriage. so that must be so painful and difficult for him to be going through what he's going through now. >> absolutely. i want to talk a little bit more about this marriage, about this partnership. what did you observe between the two of them while you were down in plains? >> reporter: i observed a lot of love, a lot of mutual respect, and a lot of deep commitment to various good causes, like housing for poor people and mental health and democracy. and i also observed a lot of love between them and their kids, the children and the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren. it was just a very, very wonderful, moving experience to see that kind of experience with the former president of the united states, former first lady. it was just always so special to see that, and i felt so privileged that here i was on an assignment to interview president carter, but i was able to really enjoy what i was seeing. i'm sure so many other reporters who covered them could see that as well. >> she devoted so much of her time in the white house to advocating for better care for people with mental illnesses. now mental health is sort of a buzzword, but she really changed the conversation for that time. >> she wanted to make sure that people who suffered from mental health would be able to get the health care benefits that they clearly deserved. this is a medical issue. and she worked hard, and she really made enormous progress in that field. and it was always so special for her. it was her main cause all of those years. and of course president carter supported her every step of the way. so it was just a wonderful, wonderful experience to see what they were doing, got that they were achieving. sure, there were political differences when he was president and when he was defeated in his bid for re-election. but i think most people, especially now, look back on what they did not only as president but as former president and all got deeds that they did, and they admire them greatly. they admire both of them greatly. and as he always made clear, he could not have achieved what he achieved without rosalynn by his side. and he gave her an enormous amount of credit, which she, of course, deserved. >> and, wolf, what will you remember most about rosalynn carter? >> reporter: i will mostly remember the love that existed between president carter and rosalynn carter and how it was demonstrated when i could see that up close. it was just always so special and wonderful to experience that and to see that. and i of course will remember all the important work that they did in the white house and then after the white house in helping people. just normal people, average people, poor people. they were dedicated to doing what they were doing, not only in the united states but around the world. and i think people around the world deeply admire both of them for all their achivements and all their hard work. >> absolutely. wolf blitzer, thank you so much. >> thank you. we'll have much more on the life and legacy of former first lady rosalynn carter. plus the israeli military shows cnn what they say is a tunnel at al shifa hospital. that's ahead. there is immense pressure from around the world for israel to show more evidence of its claim that the al shifa hospital was the site of an underground command center for hamas. today the israeli military released new video showing the inside of a tunnel on the hospital's grounds. cnn's oren liebermann joins us live from tel aviv with more on that footage. oren, you got a chance to enter gaza with the israel defense forces saturday. tell us what you saw. and i also want to get your take on this newly released video. >> reporter: paula, we spent about six hours in gaza with the idf, and it was all at night. we went in and crossed the border from israel into gaza about 9:00 p.m. and didn't come out until 3:00 in the morning, crossing the gaza strip, then taking an apc to the hospital itself. an exposed tunnel shaft. the idf had revealed it a day or two earlier. the key question, what was inside? that's the question we went to answer. take a look at this. we go in under cover of darkness. as we cross the border fence, it's lights out across the gaza strip. escorted by a tank, we switch into an armored personal carrier for the final stretch. even through a night vision screen, you can see the magnitude of the destruction on the streets of gaza city. we off-load at the al shifa hospital and pick our way along what's left of the street. we have to keep our lights off most of the time or risk exposing our position. cnn reported from gaza under israel forces escort at all times. as a condition for journalists to join this embed with the idf, media outlets must submit footage filmed in gaza to the israeli military censors for review. now at the hospital compound, we wait inside a structure to make sure the area is secure before moving short distance to the exposed tunnel shaft. and here's the entrance. you can see what looks like a ladder accessing to it. as i step over here, it's very difficult to see how far down it goes. but it looks like there's almost a central shaft for a staircase, and then it -- the shaft of it disappears then down into the darkness. we move around the opening for a better look at the shaft itself. what's clear is this is meant to go deep underground. >> which direction does the tunnel go? >> we assume that the tunnel goes out, and it has another corridor to this way. >> towards the hospital? >> towards the hospital, meaning it connects the hospital to outside, which implies with the way that hamas is working, hamas is going out somewhere and going back inside to a safe place. >> reporter: we weren't allowed to enter the shaft, but the israeli military sent special gear down to see where this leads. inside, the video shows a spiral staircase, and as the camera orients itself, it moves forward into a tunnel. the tunnel makes a sharp left turn and at the end of another path with concrete walls, a metal door they say they have not yet opened because they fear it's booby traps. admiral daniel hagari says some of the israeli hostages taken on october 7th were brought through the hospital. he says a body was discovered 50 meters from the compound. >> we have evidence they were holding hostages in rantisi, but we have evidence they were bringing them to shifa hospital. we're still looking for the places they might have held them. >> reporter: this is not proof of a command center underneath the hospital, but israel continues trying to build its case that israel uses the sanctuary of the hospital for cover, which the hospital and hamas officials have denied. the idf's ability to continue the operation in gaza and the credibility of israel are at stake here as the number killed in the fighting surpasses 12,000. the idf says one of its missions is to destroy hamas, but with international criticism mounting, israel has to show the terror organization is using gaza's civilians and infrastructure as cover to justify an ongoing war. now, we couldn't see how deep the shaft went and certainly not at night given how dark it was around us. but the idf, when they sent in other gear to measure the tunnel itself, says it goes about 10 meters down, 30 or 33 feets or so, and then continues about 55 meters to the metal door you saw. and the idf promises as they keep investigating that area and looking for more tunnels, that they will put out more evidence as they obtain it and as it becomes available. in addition, earlier this evening, during the daily briefing that comes from the israeli military, a spokesperson released information that they say they have about three more hostages. first was 19-year-old corporal noah marciano. they say they know now based on intelligence she was brought into the gaza strip alive, was held there and was injured in an israeli strike that killed her captor. then they say she was brought in by hamas to the hospital and killed in the hospital itself. so the idf saying that's based on intelligence and independent pathological report since they have now brought her body back into israel. they also released these two videos. i have to warn you these are a bit graphibc. they say this video shows two people, two hostages who were brought in from israel, a nepali citizen and a thai citizen who were brought into the hospital itself. they say this shows that hamas used the hospital on the day of the attack itself and has continued to do so. although it may sound surprising there are nepalis and thais taken hostage, there are a number of these citizens who are workers here. paula. it's been six weeks since the horrific hamas attack on israel, and it's still unclear what's happened to the more than 200 hostages seized by hamas. but the biden administration is indicating that could soon change. >> what i can say about this at this time is we think that we are closer than we have been perhaps at any point since these negotiations began weeks ago, that there are areas of difference and disagreement that have been narrowed, if not closed out entirely, but that the mantra that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed certainly applies here to such a sensitive negotiation. and there is no deal currently in place. >> cnn's priscilla alvarez is following the latest developments. priscilla, these are, of course, complicated negotiations. the u.s. has no direct communication with hamas, so is there any kind of timetable here? >> reporter: well, as you heard there from a senior white house official, nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed upon, which goes to show just how sensitive these negotiations have been and how unclear it is at any given moment whether the talks will succeed or fall apart. now, what we did see over the weekend from several negotiators spanning various countries is rare optimism that there has been a path forward here. and sources tell cnn about a draft of a possible deal. it includes the following, four to five-day pause in fighting for initial release of 50 hostages, and potential pauses there after for more releases. now, according to these sources, this is a deal that's not yet been struck, and there have been texts going back and forth for weeks now of what a potential arrangement could look like. but what you heard there from the deputy national security adviser, jon finer, is that the areas of disagreement that there have been have been narrowed. and that is a positive sign and perhaps why we're hearing that tone of optimism over the last several hours. but just how tenuous these talks are, just an example of that, hamas whent dark for a period of time, at least once in these negotiations, after the israel raid of al shifa. now, also what is remaining in these talks, or a key issue at least, is how to implement the deal, including aid shipments. so there's still a lot of moving parts here. the president was asked about this while he was in norfolk, virginia, earlier this afternoon. he said he didn't have anything to share at the moment. but these are intensive, sensitive, delicate talks that are ongoing, minute by minute, hour by hour according to officials. but when we may see the results of that, still very much in question. >> priscilla alvarez, thank you. more news in a moment. we're continuing to follow the breaking news. the world is remembering the extraordinary life of former first lady rosalynn carter. she has passed away at the age of 96 in her hometown of plains, georgia. her death was announced by the carter center in atlanta, and that's where cnn's rafael romo is. just moments ago, the carter center, we're told, issued a statement. rafael, what does it say? >> reporter: that's right, paula. a very sad day here at the carter center. it was only two days ago that this institution had announced that rosalynn carter had been put on hospice care at her home in plains, georgia. now it is confirming that the former first lady is dead at the age of 96. in announcing her death, the carter center described the former first lady as a passionate champion of mental health, caregiving, and women's rights. it added that she passed away at 2:10 p.m. at her home in plains, georgia. they said that she di