Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba B4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I WORLD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2025 ‘Humility, modesty and grace’ Jimmy Carter eulogized by Kamala Harris, congressional leaders at U.S. Capitol W ASHINGTON — Nearly 44 years after Jimmy Carter left the nation’s capital in humbling defeat, the 39th president returned to Washington for three days of state fu- neral rites starting Tuesday. Carter’s remains, which had been lying in repose at the Carter Presi- dential Center since Saturday, left the Atlanta campus Tuesday morning, accompanied by his children and ex- tended family. Special Air Mission 39 departed Dob- bins Air Reserve Base north of Atlan- ta and arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. A motorcade carried the casket into Washington for a final jour- ney to the Capitol, where members of Congress will pay their respects. In Georgia, eight military pallbear- ers held Carter’s casket as cannons fired on the tarmac nearby. They car- ried it to a vehicle that lifted it to the passenger compartment of the aircraft, the iconic blue and white Boeing 747 variant that is known as Air Force One when the sitting president is on board. Carter never travelled as president on the jet, which first flew as Air Force One in 1990 with president George H.W. Bush. The scene repeated outside Washing- ton. The former president’s casket was removed from the plane, cannons fired and a military band played. A hearse emblazoned with the seal of the presi- dent joined a motorcade that steered toward Washington. A bipartisan delegation of members of Congress were led into the Capitol Rotunda by Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Democrats who represent Carter’s home state. Vice-President Kamala Harris, mem- bers of President Joe Biden’s cabinet and three of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices — John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan — also were present. The U.S. Army Band Brass Quintet played as people awaited the casket. The room fell silent as three knocks on the rotunda door marked Carter’s arrival. The casket was placed in the middle of the room on the Lincoln catafalque, a platform built in 1865 to hold slain president Abraham Lincoln’s casket in the same place. Harris, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike John- son delivered eulogies celebrating Carter’s faith, military service and de- votion to service, including his hands- on contributions to building homes for those in need through Habitat for Hu- manity. “Jimmy Carter was that all too rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty and grace,” Harris said, recalling his unpretentious approach to campaigning. He slept in the homes of his support- ers to “share a meal with them at their table and listen to what was on their minds,” she said. The U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club performed the patriotic hymn My Country, ‘Tis of Thee before bipartisan congressional leaders and Harris, ac- companied by her husband Doug Em- hoff, placed wreaths beside the casket. Members of Carter’s family, including some of his grandchildren, wiped tears. Carter, who died Dec. 29 at the age of 100, will lie in state Tuesday night and again Wednesday. He receives a state funeral Thursday at Washington National Cathedral. Biden will deliver a eulogy. There are the familiar rituals that follow a president’s death — the Air Force ride back to the Beltway, a mil- itary honour guard carrying a flag- draped casket up the Capitol steps, the Lincoln catafalque in the rotunda. There also will be symbolism unique to Carter. As he was carried from his presidential centre, a military band played hymns — Amazing Grace and Blessed Assurance for the outspoken Baptist evangelical who called him- self a “born-again Christian” when he sought and won the presidency in 1976. In Washington, his hearse stopped at the U.S. Navy Memorial, where his remains were transferred to a horse- drawn caisson for the rest of his trip to the Capitol. The location nods to Cart- er’s place as the lone U.S. Naval Acad- emy graduate to become command- er-in-chief. All of the pomp carries some irony for the Democrat who went from his family peanut warehouse to the Gov- ernor’s Mansion and eventually the White House. Carter won the presi- dency as the smiling Southerner and technocratic engineer who promised to change the ways of Washington — and eschewed many of those unwritten rules when he got there. From 1977 to 1981, Carter was Wash- ington’s highest-ranking resident. But he never mastered it. “He could be prickly and a not very appealing personality” in a town that thrives on relationships, said biograph- er Jonathan Alter, describing a presi- dent who struggled with schmoozing lawmakers and reporters. Carter often flouted the ceremonial trappings that have been on display in Georgia and will continue in Washing- ton. As president, he wanted to keep the Marine Band from playing Hail to the Chief, thinking it elevated the presi- dent too much. His advisers convinced him to accept it as part of the job. The song played Saturday as he arrived at his presidential centre after a motor- cade through his hometown of Plains and past his boyhood farm. It played again as his remains were carried out on their way to Washington. He also never used his full name, James Earl Carter Jr., even taking the oath of office. His full name was printed on memorial cards given to all mourners who paid their respects in Atlanta. He once addressed the nation from the White House residence wearing a cardigan, now on display at his mu- seum and library. His remains now rest in a wooden casket being carried and guarded by military pallbearers in their impeccable dress uniforms. As Carter’s remains left Georgia, president-elect Donald Trump criti- cized the late former president during a news conference in Florida for ceding control of the Panama Canal to its home country. Pressed on if criticism of Carter was appropriate during the solemn funeral rites, Trump responded, “I liked him as a man. I disagreed with his policies. He thought giving away the Panama Canal was a good thing.” “I didn’t want to bring up the Pan- ama Canal because of Jimmy Carter’s death,” he added, even though he had first mentioned it unprompted. — The Associated Press BILL BARROW, JONATHAN J. COOPER AND FARNOUSH AMIRI SHAWN THEW / POOL VIA AP The casket of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter arrives on a horse-drawn caisson at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday. Man who exploded Tesla Cybertruck used generative AI, police say LAS VEGAS — The highly decorated soldier who exploded a Tesla Cyber- truck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI including ChatGPT to help plan the attack, Las Vegas police said Tuesday. Nearly a week after 37-year-old Mat- thew Livelsberger fatally shot himself, officials said according to writings, he didn’t intend to kill anyone else. An investigation of Livelsberger’s searches through ChatGPT indicate he was looking for information on explo- sive targets, the speed at which certain rounds of ammunition would travel and whether fireworks were legal in Ari- zona. Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Depart- ment, called the use of generative AI a “game-changer” and said the depart- ment was sharing information with other law enforcement agencies. “This is the first incident that I’m aware of on U.S. soil where ChatGPT is utilized to help an individual build a particular device,” he said. “It’s a con- cerning moment.” In an emailed statement, OpenAI said it was committed to seeing its tools used “responsibly” and that they’re de- signed to refuse harmful instructions. “In this case, ChatGPT responded with information already publicly available on the internet and provided warnings against harmful or illegal activities. We’re working with law en- forcement to support their investiga- tion,” the emailed statement said. Launched in 2022, ChatGPT is part of a broader set of technologies developed by the San Francisco-based startup OpenAI. Unlike previous iterations of so-called “large language models,” the ChatGPT tool is available for free to anyone with an internet connection and designed to be more user-friendly. During a roughly half-hour-long news conference, Las Vegas police and federal law enforcement officials un- veiled new details about the New Year’s Day explosion. Among the specifics law enforce- ment disclosed: Livelsberger stopped during the drive to Las Vegas to pour racing-grade fuel into the Cybertruck, which then dripped the substance. The vehicle was loaded with 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of pyrotechnic material as well as 70 pounds (32 kilograms) of birdshot but officials are still uncertain exactly what detonated the explosion. They said Tuesday it could have been the flash from the firearm that Livels- berger used to fatally shoot himself. Authorities also said they uncovered a six-page document that they have not yet released because they’re work- ing with Defense Department officials since some of the material could be classified. They added that they still have to review contents on a laptop, mo- bile phone and smartwatch. Among the items released was a jour- nal Livelsberger kept titled “surveil- lance” or “surveil” log. It showed that he believed he was being tracked by law enforcement, but he had no crimin- al record and was not on the police de- partment’s or FBI’s “radar,” the sheriff said Tuesday. The log showed that he considered carrying out his plans in Arizona at the Grand Canyon’s glass skywalk, a tour- ist attraction on tribal land that towers high above the canyon floor. Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said police don’t know why he changed his plans. The writings also showed he worried he would be labeled a terrorist and that people would think he intended to kill others besides himself, officials said. Once stopped outside the hotel, video showed a flash in the vehicle that they said they believed was from the muz- zle of the firearm Livelsberger used to shoot himself. Soon after that flash, video showed fire engulfing the truck’s cabin and even escaping the seam of the door, the result of considerable fuel vapour, officials said. An explosion fol- lowed. Livelsberger, an Army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan and lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., left notes saying the explosion was a stunt meant to be a “ wake-up call ” for the na- tion’s troubles, officials said last week. He left cellphone notes saying he needed to “cleanse” his mind “of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.” The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no dam- age to the Trump International Hotel. Authorities said that Livelsberger act- ed alone. Livelsberger’s letters touched on political grievances, societal problems and domestic and international issues, including the war in Ukraine. He wrote that the U.S. was “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.” Investigators had been trying to de- termine if Livelsberger wanted to make a political point, given the Tesla and the hotel bearing the president-elect’s name. Livelsberger harboured no ill will toward president-elect Donald Trump, law enforcement officials said. In one of the notes he left, he said the country needed to “rally around” him and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. — The Associated Press MIKE CATALINI K.M. CANNON / LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL VIA AP Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren shows a photo of the investigation into a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded, during a news conference at police headquarters in Las Vegas, Tuesday. Biden administration asks court to block plea deal for accused 9/11 mastermind WASHINGTON — The Biden admin- istration asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to block a plea agreement for accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that would spare him the risk of the death penalty in one of the deadliest attacks ever on the United States. The Justice Department argued in a brief filed with a federal appeals court in the District of Columbia that the gov- ernment would be irreparably harmed if the guilty pleas were accepted for Mohammed and two co-defendants in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. It said the government would be de- nied a chance for a public trial and the opportunity to “seek capital punish- ment against three men charged with a heinous act of mass murder that caused the death of thousands of people and shocked the nation and the world.” The Defense Department negotiated and approved the plea deal but later repudiated it. Attorneys for the defend- ants argue the deal is already legally in effect and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who began the administration’s efforts to throw it out, acted too late. When the appeal was filed Tuesday, family members of some the nearly 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaida at- tacks already were gathered at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hear Mohammed’s scheduled guilty plea Friday. The other two men, ac- cused of lesser roles in 9/11, were due to enter them next week. Family members have been split on the deal, with some calling it the best resolution possible for a prosecution mired for more than a decade in pre- trial hearings and legal and logistical difficulties. Others demanded a trial and — they hoped — execution. Some legal experts have warned that the legal challenges posed by the case, including the men’s torture under CIA custody after their capture, could keep the aging detainees from ever facing verdicts and any possible sentences. Military prosecutors this summer notified families of the victims that the senior Pentagon official overseeing Guantanamo had approved a plea deal after more than two years of negoti- ations. The deal was “the best path to finality and justice,” military prosecu- tors said. But some family members and Republican lawmakers condemned the deal and the Biden administration for reaching it. Austin has fought unsuccessfully since August to throw out the agree- ment, saying that a decision on death penalties in an attack as grave as the Sept. 11 plot should only be made by the defence secretary. A military judge at Guantanamo and a military appeals panel rejected those efforts, saying he had no power to throw out the agreement after it had been approved by the senior Pentagon official for Guantanamo. Defence attorneys say the plea agree- ment was approved by Austin’s own officials and military prosecutors and his intervention was unlawful political interference in the justice system. The Justice Department brief Tues- day said the defendants would not be harmed by a short delay, given that the prosecution has been ongoing since 2012 and the plea agreements would likely re- sult in them serving long prison senten- ces, potentially for the rest of their lives. “A short delay to allow this Court to weigh the merits of the government’s request in this momentous case will not materially harm the respondents,” the government argued. The Justice Department criticized the military commission judge for a rul- ing that it said “improperly curtailed” the defence secretary’s authority in a “case of unique national importance.” Preserving that authority “is a matter of critical importance warranting the issuance of extraordinary relief,” the government’s filing said. — The Associated Press ERIC TUCKER AND ELLEN KNICKMEYER ;