Remembering Jimmy Carter | The Excerpt
On Monday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Paste BN Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page remembers former President Jimmy Carter. A team of U.S. investigators is being assembled to aid South Korea's probe into a commercial plane crash Sunday that killed 179 people. Paste BN Congress and Campaigns Reporter Riley Beggin looks ahead to a new Congress. A nonprofit helps foster dogs who accidentally cross over the border.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson. And today is Monday, December 30th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.
Today we remember former President Jimmy Carter. Plus we have the latest from the aftermath of a massive plane crash in South Korea. And we look ahead to a new Congress.
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Former President Jimmy Carter has died. He passed away yesterday in his hometown of Plains, Georgia at the age of 100. Carter's passing comes after his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn last year also passed away in the modest house they built together in 1961 when he had taken over his father's peanut warehouse business and was only beginning to consider a political career. After serving a single term in the White House, Jimmy Carter would hold the status of former president longer than anyone in US history. And in 2019, he surpassed George H. W. Bush as the nation's oldest living ex-president.
I spoke with Paste BN Washington Bureau chief Susan Page for more on Carter's life and legacy. Susan, thanks for making the time today.
Susan Page:
Hey, it's great to be with you.
Taylor Wilson:
So Susan, would you just start by walking us through former President Jimmy Carter's early life?
Susan Page:
Well, he was born in Plains, Georgia, a town that is now associated famous, mostly for Jimmy Carter, having been born there and returned there through his whole life, including the end of his life. He was the son of the owner of a peanut warehouse. He served in the Navy, came back to take over the peanut business from his family, and then got interested in politics.
Taylor Wilson:
He only served a single term in the White House. How will he be remembered as president?
Susan Page:
I think that while he has achievements as president, including the Camp David Accords historic peace agreement in the Middle East, that there was a general sense by Americans that he was a little overwhelmed by the job, that he had trouble with the economy. That he gave a speech that became known as the Malay speech near the end of his term, Iran took American hostages who they held until his replacement had been sworn in. So his presidency was one, I think of some turmoil as evidenced by the fact that he ran for a second term and didn't win it.
Taylor Wilson:
Susan, so much of Carter's legacy really comes from the work he did in the decades after he left the White House. What did this work center on?
Susan Page:
It's interesting because I think that President Carter gained so much respect and acclaim for his post presidency, a very long post presidency, the longest I think in American history for any president and one that he put to use for good works. He built houses for the poor for a week every year through Habitat for Humanity. The Carter Center started various projects to eliminate the Guinea worm, which had been a deadly disease in some tropical places and succeeded in virtually eliminating it and in overseeing elections in other countries. So looking after democracy in other places. So whatever issues Americans had with Carter as president, I think there was almost universal acclaim for what he achieved, what he did after he left the White House.
Taylor Wilson:
And Susan, how had he been spending these last few years of his life?
Susan Page:
He did something presidents usually don't do. He moved back home. He moved back home to Plains after leaving the White House. He lived there until the day he died. And he went ahead doing good work. He went ahead teaching Sunday school until his health just didn't make that possible.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, Susan Page is Paste BN's Washington Bureau chief. Susan, thank you for helping us remember former President Jimmy Carter here in the wake of his death.
Susan Page:
Yes. Thank you.
Taylor Wilson:
Last night, President Joe Biden honored Carter pointing to his accomplishments as president and his time as Georgia's governor while remembering his character.
Joe Biden:
Jimmy Carter stands as a model of what it means to live a life of meaning and purpose, life of principle, faith and humility. His life dedicated to others.
Taylor Wilson:
All four living former American presidents paid tribute yesterday to Carter with condolences coming from Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
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A team of U.S. investigators is being assembled to help South Korea's probe into a commercial plane crash yesterday morning that killed 179 people. It was the country's deadliest domestic air disaster ever. Two crew members aboard the Jeju Air flight survived and are being treated for injuries. The plane was en route from Bangkok when it touched down without deploying its landing gear veered off a runway and slammed into a wall at Muan International Airport in South Korea's southwest. President Joe Biden issued a statement saying he was deeply saddened and pledged any assistance the country might need. Authorities say those killed ranged in age from three to 78.
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When lawmakers return to Capitol Hill on Friday, they'll kick off a new two-year session of Congress with Republicans in charge in both the House and Senate. I spoke with Paste BN Congress and campaigns reporter Riley Beggin for a look ahead at some of the biggest talking points.
Hello, Riley.
Riley Beggin:
Hey, Taylor.
Taylor Wilson:
So Riley, we're entering a new era of Congress. Let's start by talking about the leadership positions on Capitol Hill. All eyes on Mike Johnson. Is that correct?
Riley Beggin:
Exactly. Yeah. So when Congress comes back together on January 3rd, their first order of business is to elect their new speaker. The House cannot do anything until they elect a speaker, and it's going to be potentially more complicated than you might expect. Johnson has the nominal support of the conference. They decided last month that they would support him. But when the rubber hits the road here on January 3rd, it's a little unclear how it's going to go. There is at least one member of Congress, Thomas Massie from Kentucky, who has said he is not going to vote for Johnson no matter what.
So because of the margins, which we will talk more about, that means that Johnson has to get every other Republican member of Congress to vote for him in order to keep his job. So what you can expect is some wheeling and dealing from those undecided conservative members before they throw their support behind Johnson if they get there at all. It's also possible that Massie brings a couple other people over to his side and we end up with a speaker, Jim Jordan after several votes. Of course, nobody really knows how this is going to go yet, but I think you can expect some fireworks.
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. So we know Republicans, you mentioned those margins. We know they have control in Congress, but with tiny vote margins. I mean, Riley, how tiny are we talking first off, and what will all this mean for the first few months of this Congress?
Riley Beggin:
This is going to be the smallest margin in modern history, which is a really big deal. We've had some pretty divided Congresses in the last few years. So I think people who have been watching Congress will see something that's pretty familiar to them, but it's going to be even narrower. So the base balance here is 220 to 215 Republicans in charge, but there have been a couple changes because of this new administration that the House is going to have to work through first. So Matt Gaetz, Congressman from Florida, he resigned from the House last month and he's not going to retake his seat in January 3rd. So when they come back together, they're going to have a 219 to 215 majority.
So that's the first few weeks. And then at least by January 20th, we're going to see probably Elise Stefanik and Mike Waltz, a Congresswoman from New York, Congressman from Florida who are going to leave for roles in the Trump administration. Then that will be an even narrower majority, 217 to 215. And what that means is to pass things through the House, these Republicans are going to have to be totally unified to get their policies through. That gives every individual Republican member a lot of power to negotiate for things they want, derail agreements if they disagree with it, and I think it could be potentially pretty messy.
Taylor Wilson:
You mentioned that January 20th date, of course, the countdown has begun to Donald Trump taking office again as president. How much of his agenda will we really see reflected in the new Congress?
Riley Beggin:
That's the biggest priority for Republicans as they come in. They say, we heard voters in this election. We want to make sure that we pass Trump's priorities, and they say they're unified. They're going to really work towards that. So they have a plan at the moment. They're going to use this procedure called reconciliation, which essentially bypasses this 60 vote threshold we have in the Senate, sort of forces bipartisanship. But there's this tool that you can use specifically on tax and spending related bills to pass things through the Senate with a majority vote. So this is something that Democrats have used to pass Biden's priorities. So Republicans plan to use it again themselves. So they say they want to focus on border security, domestic energy production, extending Trump's 2017 tax plan, which expires next year, and then paring down government spending and more. So we'll kind of see how they choose to do this, but that's the big focus for this year.
Taylor Wilson:
Let's talk a bit about Democrats. They're of course in the minority in both chambers. How do they plan on approaching this new math as it pertains to their legislative priorities?
Riley Beggin:
Yeah. So I mean, I talked about the power that Republicans have to derail things. Democrats have that too. If they're going to be unified against Republicans, that is really how they sort of leverage their power here in forcing Republicans to sort of splinter among themselves and do those sorts of politics. They're not going to have the committee chairmanships and the leadership roles that help you set the agenda in Congress. But what they do have is a megaphone. So they're going to focus on telling the public what they see as sort of the consequences of Republican policies as they pass, rally opposition, and hopefully convince voters to kick Republicans out of leadership in the 2026 midterm elections.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, Riley Beggin covers Congress and campaigns for Paste BN. Riley, I'm looking forward to your coverage in the new year. Thanks so much.
Riley Beggin:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
For over a decade, a nonprofit along the southern border called Bridge Pups Rescue has helped foster and adopt dogs who find themselves crossing over the border, bringing them into loving homes in the United States. Technically, even dogs need documentation to cross into the U.S. legally. Customs and Border Protection enforces the rules set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Centers for Disease Control. But if the dog has no human owner, there is often no one to stop a pup who follows his or her nose over an international bridge or through the shallow water of the Rio Grande or around steel parts of the border fence into U.S. territory. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.