Last summer CNN’s Jake Tapper interviewed former President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jimmy Carter on The Lead. After thanking the president for joining the show, Tapper congratulates the 39th president on his new “beautifully written” book, A Full Life: Reflections at 90. Here are excerpts from the interview with a great man.
JIMMY CARTER (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much, Jake.
TAPPER: But, first, I do, of course, have to ask you a little political question.
CARTER: Thanks to that (ph).
TAPPER: So, Senator Sanders' message seems to be resonating with a lot of Democratic voters are out there. His crowds are going up. His polls numbers are shooting up. He's raising more money. There seems to be something of an enthusiasm gap, compared with supporters for the front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Why do you think that is? What do you think Clinton needs to do to turn it around?
CARTER: Well, I think a lot of people wanted Elizabeth Warren to run, and when she decided not to, when Bernie Sanders came in, he kind of filled a gap there. You know, Hillary has been out of the limelight as far as political realm now for a number of months, and she’s getting back in. But I don't think there's much doubt that in the long term, Hillary is still the preeminent candidate for the Democratic nomination.
Former President Carter was asked about his 1980 reelection bid and the segment in his book where he says, “A serious political mistake was not being more attentive to the Democratic Party, both in preparing it for the 1980 election and in avoiding the schism between my supporters and those of Senator Ted Kennedy."
Tapper: Do you see Hillary Clinton making some of those mistakes?
CARTER: No, I don't think so. I think she and Bill together have made probably the most acutely aware and knowledgeable and competent of political team that we’ve ever seen. And I think they maintained their close ties with the Democratic Party.
And they have also kind of healed wounds within the Democratic Party, much better than I did, because for the last two years I was in the White House, Ted Kennedy was running against me for president. And I didn't reach out to him adequately to try to get him to stay as one of my allies instead of an opponent.
At a time when the Iran Nuclear Weapons Agreement was being negotiated, former President Carter gave his thoughts. As always, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate was supportive of peace.
TAPPER: I know you're supportive of President Obama's efforts to reach a deal over Iran's nuclear program. But I have to ask, given your experience with the ayatollahs, and the extremists running that country, do you trust the Iranian government?
CARTER: Well, I don't think it's a matter of trust. I believe whatever John Kerry negotiates - and I hope he's successful - I think would be the better for the country and the world, as well as Iran. If we reach an agreement, I think we’re going to monitor very carefully - and my understanding is we will lift the sanctions step by step as the Iranians comply with their commitments.
Tapper also asked former President Carter about his long love affair with former First Lady Rosalyn Carter. The great humanitarian couple and founders of The Carter Center were celebrating their 69th wedding anniversary. Tapper asked former President Carter if he had a secret to his long happy marriage.
CARTER: Well, yesterday was our anniversary as a matter of fact. We were in 1946, and Rosalynn has been the foundation for my entire enjoyment of life. And we have just had, first of all, it's best to choose the right woman, which I did, and secondly we give each other space to do our own things.
We try to be reconciled before we go to sleep at night, and try to find everything we can think of that we like to do together. So, we have a lot of good times. We have a big family now. We have 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, 38 of us in all. So, we try to hold our family together and just enjoy the family life.
TAPPER: President Carter, thank you so much. I’m writing it down as soon as the commercial break comes. Find things you like to do together, never go to bed - thank you so much, Mr. President. Good luck with the book.
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: Thank you, Jake.
END