Biden, Trump, former US presidents pay tribute to Carter

THIS MORNING – WE ARE REMEMBERING FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER — THE PEANUT FARMER FROM PLAINS, GEORGIA WHO WENT ON TO BECOME THE 39TH  PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE LONGEST-LIVED PRESIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY.  CARTER, WHO AFTER LEAVING THE WHITE HOUSE FOCUSED ON HUMANITARIAN CAUSES AROUND THE WORLD, PASSED AWAY SUNDAY AT 100 YEARS OLD ON SUNDAY. OUR LAUREN TAYLOR HAS MORE NOW ON HIS LIFE AND LEGACY. 

OUR LAUREN TAYLOR REPORTING. — IN ADDITION TO THE PRIVATE CEREMONY — THERE WILL ALSO BE A STATE FUNERAL FOR THE FORMER PRESIDENT IN WASHINGTON – AS WELL AS PUBLIC OBSERVANCES IN ATLANTA. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN ISSUED A PROCLAMATION SUNDAY EVENING – DECLARING JANUARY 9TH AS A NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING.

TRIBUTES FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD FOR FORMER PRESIDENT CARTER HAVE BEEN COMING IN SINCE HIS PASSING on SUNDAY AFTERNOON – INCLUDING FROM PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP AND OTHER FORMER PRESIDENTS. 

BIDEN DELIVERED REMARKS BROADCAST LIVE SUNDAY EVENING – CALLING CARTER –  “A REMARKABLE LEADER” AND “A DEAR FRIEND.” 

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN 

“What I find extraordinary about Jimmy Carter though, is that millions of people all around the world, all over the world, feel they lost a friend as well, even though they never met him, and that’s because Jimmy Carter lived a life measured 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, he advanced civil rights, human rights, promoted free and fair elections around the world. He built housing for the homeless with his own hands and his compassion and moral clarity lifted people up and changed lives and saved lives all over the globe.  

“We may never see his like again, you know we can all do well to try be a little more like Jimmy Carter.” 

PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP RELEASING A STATEMENT SAYING, “THE CHALLENGES JIMMY FACED AS PRESIDENT CAME AT A PIVOTAL TIME FOR OUR COUNTRY AND HE DID EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF ALL AMERICANS. FOR THAT, WE ALL OWE HIM A DEBT OF GRATITUDE.” 

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON SAYING  –“FROM HIS COMMITMENT TO CIVIL RIGHTS AS A STATE SENATOR AND GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA; TO HIS EFFORTS AS PRESIDENT TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, MAKE ENERGY CONSERVATION A NATIONAL PRIORITY, RETURN THE PANAMA CANAL TO PANAMA, AND SECURE PEACE BETWEEN EGYPT AND ISRAEL AT CAMP DAVID; TO HIS POST-PRESIDENTIAL EFFORTS AT THE CARTER CENTER SUPPORTING HONEST ELECTIONS, ADVANCING PEACE, COMBATING DISEASE, AND PROMOTING DEMOCRACY; TO HIS AND ROSALYNN’S DEVOTION AND HARD WORK AT HABITAT FOR HUMANITY—HE WORKED TIRELESSLY FOR A BETTER, FAIRER WORLD.” 

FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH SAYING JIMMY CARTER WAS A MAN OF “DEEPLY HELD CONVICTIONS” – ADDING, “HIS EFFORTS TO LEAVE BEHIND A BETTER WORLD DIDN’T END WITH THE PRESIDENCY. HIS WORK WITH HABITAT FOR HUMANITY AND THE CARTER CENTER SET AN EXAMPLE OF SERVICE THAT WILL INSPIRE AMERICANS FOR GENERATIONS.” 

AND FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING, PRESIDENT CARTER “BELIEVED SOME THINGS WERE MORE IMPORTANT THAN REELECTION — THINGS LIKE INTEGRITY, RESPECT, AND COMPASSION. BECAUSE JIMMY CARTER BELIEVED, AS DEEPLY AS HE BELIEVED ANYTHING, THAT WE ARE ALL CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE.”

TURNING TO INTERNATIONAL NEWS — WE ARE LEARNING MORE THIS MORNING ABOUT A FIERY PLANE CRASH IN SOUTH KOREA THAT LEFT 179 PEOPLE DEAD IN ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S WORST AVIATION DISASTERS.  

IT HAPPENED SUNDAY AT THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 180 MILES SOUTH OF SEOUL. THE JETLINER SKIDDED OFF THE RUNWAY INTO A CONCRETE FENCE AND BURST INTO FLAMES — AFTER ITS LANDING GEAR APPARENTLY FAILED TO DEPLOY. 

ONLY TWO PEOPLE SURVIVED. 

SOUTH KOREAN OFFICIALS SAY THEY WERE CREW MEMBERS AND DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE ANY LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES. 

NOT LONG BEFORE THE CRASH,  THE CONTROL TOWER ISSUED A WARNING ABOUT BIRDS AND GAVE THE CREW PERMISSION TO LAND IN A DIFFERENT AREA. IN FACT, THE PILOT REPORTED A BIRD STRIKE,  BUT THE EXACT CAUSE OF THE CRASH HAS NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED. 

OFFICIALS SAY THE CREW ALSO SENT OUT A DISTRESS SIGNAL SHORTLY BEFORE THE CRASH. 

SOUTH KOREAN TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS SAY IT COULD TAKE MONTHS TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. 

THE PLANE THAT CRASH-LANDED WAS A BOEING 737-800, MARKING YET ANOTHER SETBACK WHEN IT COMES TO DISASTERS AND SAFETY FOR THE PLANE-MAKER.

BACK HERE IN THE U-S — AT LEAST FOUR PEOPLE ARE DEAD AFTER A STORM SYSTEM TORE ACROSS THE SOUTH OVER THE WEEKEND. 

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS RECEIVED DOZENS OF REPORTS OF TORNADO DAMAGE ACROSS TEXAS, LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, AND GEORGIA.   CREWS ARE NOW DOING SURVEYS TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE. 

THE N-W-S CONFIRMED AT LEAST FIVE TORNADOES HIT NEAR HOUSTON, TEXAS ON SATURDAY, KILLING ONE WOMAN AND DESTROYING OR DAMAGING DOZENS OF HOMES. 

A MAN IN NORTH CAROLINA DIED IN WHAT A STATE TROOPER DESCRIBED AS A QUOTE “FREAK ACCIDENT” AFTER A TREE FELL ON THE PICKUP TRUCK HE WAS DRIVING. 

THE SEVERE WEATHER KILLED TWO PEOPLE IN MISSISSIPPI — WHILE AT LEAST 10 OTHER PEOPLE, WERE INJURED, ACROSS THE STATE.

TWO OREGON MEN WERE FOUND DEAD IN THE GIFFORD PINCHOT NATIONAL FOREST IN SOUTHWESTERN WASHINGTON SATURDAY, AFTER THEY DISAPPEARED LAST WEEK WHILE SEARCHING FOR SASQUATCH. 

ALSO KNOWN AS “BIGFOOT” — SASQUATCH IS A MYTHICAL CREATURE SAID TO INHABIT FORESTS IN NORTH AMERICA. 

A RELATIVE REPORTED THE MEN, MISSING, CHRISTMAS DAY AFTER THEY FAILED TO RETURN FROM THEIR SEARCH WHEN THEY SAID THEY WOULD. 

AUTHORITIES SAY THE MEN APPEAR TO HAVE DIED FROM EXPOSURE AND WERE NOT PREPARED FOR THE “BRUTALLY COLD WEATHER”. 

THE MEN HAVE ONLY BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A 37-YEAR-OLD AND A 59-YEAR-OLD FROM PORTLAND.

FINALLY THIS MORNING – IT WAS A BATTLE AT THE BOX OFFICE OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND BETWEEN A FAST-MOVING HEDGEHOG AND A BRAVE LION. 

IN THE END – DISNEY’S “MUFASA: THE LION KING” OVERTOOK SONY’S “SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3” ON THE CHRISTMAS BOX OFFICE LEADERBOARD. 

THE LION KING PREQUEL EDGED OUT THE “SONIC” SEQUEL OVER THE FIVE-DAY STRETCH – BRINGING IN NEARLY 64 MILLION DOLLARS – WITH “SONIC” GARNERING JUST UNDER 60 MILLION. 

HOWEVER – IF YOU WERE TO ONLY LOOK AT TRADITIONAL WEEKEND BOX OFFICE NUMBERS – IT WAS SONIC THAT CAME OUT ON TOP – 38 MILLION TO 37 MILLION. 

MEANING — IN THE END, BOTH HEDGEHOGS AND LIONS CAME OUT WINNERS IN THIS BOX OFFICE BATTLE.