WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Tonight on PBS News Weekend, a nation honors former President Jimmy Carter as nearly a week of memorial events for the 39th president begin today in his home state of Georgia.

Then, new questions are being raised in New Orleans about why the threatening social media posts made by the suspect hours before the attack went unnoticed until it was too late.

And we explore how an online investment scam known as pig butchering is leaving victims in tears and financial ruin.

WOMAN: This era is not the time to be making new friends on social media because there are way too many bad actors out there trying to take advantage of you.

(BREAK) WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Good evening.

I'm William Brangham.

John Yang is away.

The nation's farewell to former President Jimmy Carter began today in his home state of Georgia, launching six days of memorial events for the 39th President.

Carter died last Sunday at the age of 100 after spending over a year in hospice care at home.

Today, the Carter family, joined by crowds of mourners, came together to honor the life and legacy of the nation's longest living president.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM (voice-over): a place of healing transformed into a memorial.

Flags flew at half-staff at the Phoebe Sumter Medical center in Americus, Georgia, this morning, the start of a long goodbye salute to a global icon.

As the ceremony began, Georgia state troopers cleared the way.

Secret Service agents who had protected the president served as pallbearers, accompanying his casket out the doors and then gently placing it into the hearse.

Crowds gathered in the frigid morning air to pay their respects, spectators of all ages coming out to say goodbye to Georgia's own.

As the motorcade crept along rural back roads, it made a special detour in Plains, Georgia, pausing in front of Carter's family farm and boyhood home.

National Park Service members stood in formation as the procession arrived.

Outside, a ranger rang a bell 39 times each toll commemorating America's 39th president.

The motorcade then headed north to Atlanta, a city shaped by Carter's passion for helping others during and after his time as governor and as president.

At the state Capitol, a moment of silence led by Governor Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.

The former president's remains were then brought to the Carter Presidential center, where he will lie in repose for public viewing.

On Thursday, President Jimmy Carter will be laid to rest alongside his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, in a private burial service in Plains, Georgia.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For today's other top story, we turn to New Orleans, that this is the first weekend since an ISIS inspired Texas man killed more than a dozen people and silenced the city known for its joyous atmosphere.

As New Orleans recovers, officials and residents are asking what can be done to better protect their city against brutal acts of terror.

Laura Barron-Lopez has the latest from Louisiana.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ (voice-over): Strains of music once again drifted through New Orleans French Quarter while bouncers checked IDs and patted people down.

But even as people returned to bustling Bourbon Street for its nightlife, bars and live music, there were reminders of Wednesday's terrorist attack that killed 14 people.

Since then, makeshift memorials have sprung up near the site.

Flowers, candles, crosses, and notes left for those who died.

Earlier, Sarah Colbert, who lives in New Orleans, and her mother, Janeal Colbert, who was visiting from Los Angeles, stopped to pay their respects.

They were among the throngs of partygoers who packed Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve and said they missed the attack by an hour.

SARAH COLBERT, New Orleans resident: The people here, the victims, were people that we walked amongst, people that we saw could have been someone that we saw dancing and admired as we people watched down the street.

It's real close to home.

We were right there at it.

JANEAL COLBERT: I thought, man, if we would have been here at that time, I was right behind her, who knows what would have happened?

And my heart breaks for the families.

They came out here a good time, and they're not going home.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It's been three days since a terrorist attack stunned New Orleans and the nation, and local officials and residents want answers, asking how clear warning signs were missed.

JP MORRELL, Incoming City Council President, New Orleans: It's been a roller coaster.

There's a lot of anger, a lot of sadness, and I think right now people want to feel safe and want to feel like what happened could never happen again.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ (voice-over): JP Morrell, the incoming City council president, said he is confident in the safety and security of the city as it prepares to host the Super Bowl.

JP MORRELL: The influx of state and federal resources.

There will be more hardened infrastructure in the city than probably ever seen before.

But as a city, we have to really take a deep look and have a deep dive investigation on what went wrong, what things we could have done better, what things were not done correctly, and have a transparent conversation after that investigation as to what occurred, and we're doing that right now.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ (voice-over): After FBI briefings revealed that the suspect made threatening social media posts hours before the attack, Morrell wants to know why they went unnoticed.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: What do you think needs to change to make sure that something like this can't happen again?

JP MORRELL: If Facebook and Instagram and every social media platform has an algorithm to shove Amazon ads in my face, I think if someone says I've been radicalized by ISIS, something should pick up on that.

If people can go on the internet in the United States of America and say they're going to perform a terror attack and there's that much of a delay between that and even a notification to local law enforcement that it's possibility, it's just jarring.

It just -- it makes you question how astute and how focused our intelligence gathering is when people want to be safe.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ (voice-over): The FBI said in an update late Friday that nearly 1,000 tips and leads have streamed in as the investigation into the suspect deepens.

JONATHAN WALSH, Tulane University: People can go rent vehicles and cause havoc.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ (voice-over): Jonathan Walsh is a homeland security and counterterrorism expert at Tulane University.

JONATHAN WALSH: No longer do we have sort of these large actors like al Qaeda or ISIS.

We have these individual people who identify one way or the other.

And that's just something that's very challenging to adapt to.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: There are now barriers on the sidewalk that weren't there before.

Is that something that you think more cities need to replicate?

JONATHAN WALSH: Having those archer barriers is something that lots of cities can do.

It's just a matter of what can we do to make Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve more secure so that the attack doesn't occur there.

And that's really the terrible thing about security planning, is that the dedicated adversary, they're going to shoot their shot.

What you're trying to do as a security professional is make sure that it doesn't happen at your facility, in your street or in your city.

So that's always the challenge.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ (voice-over): City Councilman JP Morrell acknowledges that the New Year's Day attack will forever change this city's relationship with public safety.

JP MORRELL: We're going to have to deal with the French Quarter in a different way than we've done previously.

I think there is a tension between being this open, accepting and accessible city and also being secure.

And we can do both.

But we have to look at that problem without turning this into like, you know, a walled encampment.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Councilman Morrell also told us that the city has received everything it's asked for from the federal government in terms of security support, but he wants to see more formalized federal help for impacted families, from hospital bills to mental health treatment.

For PBS News weekend, I'm Laura Barron-Lopez in New Orleans.

WILIAM BRANGHAM: Millions of Americans are bracing for a winter storm that will send temperatures plunging and disrupt travel.

The National Weather Service forecasts the storm will begin this evening in the Central Plains and then move east and slam into the mid-Atlantic.

Heavy snow and whiteout conditions are expected in the Midwest, while freezing rain could lead to power outages across Appalachia.

New details could soon emerge about why a passenger plane crashed in South Korea, killing nearly everyone on board.

Investigators said they expect to complete a transcript of the pilot's final words just before the flight crashed.

The cockpit voice recorder was recovered from the wreckage, and officials hope it can provide more clues about what caused the disaster.

179 people were killed when the flight overshot the runway and crashed into a concrete wall.

Only two crew members survived.

President Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to big names in the worlds of politics, the arts, sports and philanthropy.

Former secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton, Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and world renowned conservationist Jane Goodall were among the 19 honorees.

The President said the recipients have made remarkable contributions to the world and put decency above all else.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. President: For the final time as president, I have the honor of bestowing the Medal of Freedom on our nation's highest civilian honor, on a group of extraordinary, truly extraordinary people who gave their sacred effort to shape the culture and the cause of America.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to those who have made contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States.

Still to come on PBS News, an investment scheme that has fleeced Americans of billions of dollars.

And celebrating the work of artists with disabilities.

(BREAK) WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Many believe we're living in the golden age of scams.

Romance scams, investment scams, fake job scams.

Even the most skeptical among us are falling prey to increasingly sophisticated frauds.

One particular scam called pig butchering, has cost victims around the world an estimated $75 billion in just the last four years.

Ali Rogin has more on what it is and how to avoid it.

ALI ROGIN: Pig butchering Investment scams have exploded over the last few years.

Named for the practice of farmers fattening hogs before slaughter, the scheme often starts with a simple hi or a seemingly innocent wrong number text on messaging platforms like WhatsApp.

Before they catch on, victims can lose hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars.

In 2023 alone, Americans reported losing $4.6 billion to investment schemes.

And it's not just the targets that are being harmed.

The imposters on the other end of the line are often human trafficking victims, forced to run the scheme by large crime syndicates in Asia.

Erin West is a former deputy district attorney in Santa Clara County, California.

Erin, thank you so much for being here.

How do these schemes play out?

And what sort of psychological tactics do these scammers use to trick people?

ERIN WEST, Former Deputy District Attorney, Santa Clara County: The way victims are usually contacted is they receive what appears to be a wrong number text.

And those have gotten increasingly clever.

They're doing anything they can to just get your attention long enough to respond so that they can drop in a picture of usually an attractive young Asian female who will say, hi, my name is Jessica.

I hope I'm not bothering you.

We're finding that people will respond to that, and they will start engaging in conversation with a Jessica who over the next 90 days will sell a dream of being with her and her fancy, elevated lifestyle.

And then what happens over time is they get these victims to invest in cryptocurrency like the scammer purports that she did.

That's how she became wealthy.

And our victims will invest a little bit, and they will see it.

They'll see a false dashboard showing their exponential increase in value, and that will lead them to invest more and more until ultimately they have invested every penny they have.

They believe they're rich and that they're going to end up with the girl only to find out that it was all a facade and they've lost everything.

ALI ROGIN: Is loneliness a factor in this in terms of how vulnerable a person might be?

ERIN WEST: What we find is that these scammers fill a void.

They become a trusted confidant.

So, yes, definitely, people who are finding themselves lonely or who are just caught on a bad day.

Sometimes I will hear from people that I would never have engaged in this conversation, but my girlfriend left me this week.

Those people are definitely more likely to engage with a scammer like this.

ALI ROGIN: And what are some of the things you've heard about how these scams are affecting the victim's lives?

ERIN WEST: By the time I see a victim, this victim has lost everything they have.

Often they've incurred more debt as part of the scam, where they believe they have to pay taxes with new money.

And it turns out that the person they trusted with all of this had been plotting against them since the very second they met.

It is a type of crashing, overwhelming, psychological smack in the face to victims.

Some end their lives, others spend their days in misery, really lamenting what has happened to them.

ALI ROGIN: What do we know about where these scams are coming from and who's behind them?

ERIN WEST: What we know is that these scams are coming primarily from Southeast Asia.

They're being run by primarily Chinese organized crime, although the Yakuza has now gotten involved in Korean organized crime after seeing how lucrative this is.

They've built compounds that are akin to small cities built for the express purpose of fleecing the rest of the world of their money.

It's massive and growing.

ALI ROGIN: The target also isn't always the only victim here.

The people who are on the other end of the phone or the computer are also, in many cases, victims of human trafficking themselves.

How does that play into all of this?

ERIN WEST: We have literally never seen a world crisis like this.

We've got Americans and people all over the world who've lost all their money.

And then on the other side, we have human trafficked victims that are forced to do this dirty work.

In order to fill these compounds where the dirty work is done, the organized criminals needed to bring in a workforce.

And to do that, they constructed websites that look very authentic.

And they offer up jobs in Southeast Asia.

And so people from all over apply for these jobs thinking they're getting a really nice live work opportunity.

And when they get there, their passports are seized, they're put in buses and they are moved to these compounds where they are surrounded with men with AK47s.

And they are locked down and forced to do this dirty work 17 hours a day.

The stories I heard of torture were beyond what I've heard in wartime.

They are horrendous violations of human rights.

The NGOs that I spoke with on the ground in Southeast Asia told me seven out of 10 women are coming out of there saying that they were sexually assaulted.

They've seen men who have had their arms broken.

They've seen men with cuts all over their legs.

They people come out with black eyes and broken bodies.

They're being tortured and forced to do this.

ALI ROGIN: Why are these scams so difficult to stop?

ERIN WEST: We've got the geopolitical issues.

We've got the fact that they are being put in countries that are less likely to react well to international intervention.

We've got the fact that they're made up of hundreds and hundreds of people.

300,000 estimated by the United States Institute of Peace are being held against their will.

And among them, there's lots of bosses, and then there are compound owners.

It's been difficult for law enforcement to connect a victim on the ground in the United States with a specific location and a specific bad actor in one of these locations.

It's just difficult to get hands on these bad actors.

Not that we shouldn't try, because we should absolutely be trying, but it's difficult.

ALI ROGIN: If someone gets a text message that they think might be suspicious, what are some signs that they can look out for if they engage?

ERIN WEST: There is pretty much a textbook operation for how these bad actors conduct this business.

What they will do is they'll begin an initial conversation with our victims, whether it is on a text message or perhaps they're in a group on Facebook where someone they didn't know is reaching out to them and then showing them an attractive picture.

The scammer will ask the victims to move the conversation to a platform like WhatsApp or Telegram.

That is to get them out of the prying eyes of the platforms who are looking for them.

But what they'll ultimately say is, you know, I don't really know how to invest in cryptocurrency either, but my uncle taught me, and my uncle can teach you.

It's always a hand off to yet another person who is more of an expert in the crypto business.

People should be wary these days.

Literally anytime someone is reaching out to you from an electronic platform of any kind that you don't recognize this person.

This era is not the time to be making new friends on social media because there are way too many bad actors out there trying to take advantage of you.

ALI ROGIN: That is former prosecutor Erin West.

Thank you so much for joining us.

ERIN WEST: You're welcome.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As major American museums continue reexamining their collections to ensure that they're representing the full breadth and depth of the artistic world, there's been a growing realization that they need more art by people with disabilities.

As special correspondent Jared Bowen of GBH in Boston first reported for us this fall, one Massachusetts organization has been celebrating that work for half a century.

JARED BOWEN (voice-over): Around 8:30 every weekday morning, artists begin arriving at Vinfen's Gateway Arts in Brookline, Massachusetts, heading upstairs to studios where they paint, weave textiles, or mold ceramics.

This is their job.

MIMI CLARK, Artist: Every day I make all kinds of artwork, including this embroidery of my house I used to live in.

JARED BOWEN (voice-over): Mimi Clark has worked at Gateway Arts for six years, a ready supply of colorful threads at her fingertips.

She's honed her skills in both fiber arts and puppetry, where she's developed a series called the Bernie and Tulip Monster Show.

MIMI CLARK: It makes me feel so proud, and I'm inspired as my two favorite puppeteers, Jim Henson and Mr. Rogers.

JARED BOWEN (voice-over): One of the nation's oldest institutions of its kind, Vinfen's Gateway Arts recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

It was founded in the 1970s when state run institutions for people with disabilities were shuttered.

Gateway opened to fill the vacuum, creating a space for people to either grow their artistic talent or tap into latent skills they didn't even know they had.

BIL THIBODEAU, Artistic Director, Gateway Arts: We have people with down syndrome, people in the spectrum.

We have head injury, people who are blind, legally blind, legally deaf.

We have people with psychiatric diagnosis.

JARED BOWEN (voice-over): When they begin work at Gateway, collaborate with facilitators who coach, coax and encourage their artistic endeavors.

Bill Thibodeau is the artistic director.

BIL THIBODEAU: These people wouldn't have as much chance to get out into the art world on their own.

It's hard enough for people graduating from art school to do that as well.

So if we can get them a foot in the door and help them as much as we can to be part of the art world, I believe that's important to us and them, especially them.

CHUCK JOHNSTON, Artist: It's like kind of an old town.

It's like supposed to be a Germanic village.

JARED BOWEN (voice-over): Painter Chuck Johnston is one of Gateway's 98 artists.

Once finished in the studio, their work may be shown downstairs in the organization's gallery, offered for sale in its shop, or even published.

Johnston's latest volume is his take on television's the Golden Girls.

CHUCK JOHNSTON: It's like to put a spin on making it look more animated.

Yeah, the Golden Girls.

Like, I mean, I did that one and it's like, well, as soon as I finish that, it's like, oh, man, I just wish Betty White could have had that one.

JARED BOWEN (voice-over): Historically, one place work by artists like Johnston and Clark has been omitted is museums.

Recently, though, some of the country's largest have begun a course correction.

At Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, it's begun with tours highlighting the work of disabled artists in its collection, both contemporary and well-known figures whose disabilities are often only a footnote in their biographies, like Frida Kahlo, whose late career paintings were made while she was confined to her bed, and Edward Manet, who had a nerve disorder that often left him unable to walk or stand upright.

JESSICA DOONAN, Manager of Accessibility, Museum of Fine Arts Boston: People within the disability community want to see that.

They want to see that people like them are creating art and that art is valuable.

JARED BOWEN (voice-over): Jessica Doonan is the manager of Accessibility at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

She says it's imperative that museums become more expansive in collecting contemporary artists with disabilities as well.

If their art is absent from museum walls, says Doonan, so are their stories.

JESSICA DOONAN: Art is such a universal language.

It is able to convey things that so few words are able to do.

And particularly for people with disabilities, for whom communicating with the rest of the world is particularly challenging, the opportunity to create art and communicate in that manner is so critical.

JARED BOWEN (voice-over): And helps break down notions that artists with disabilities somehow don't merit a place on gallery walls.

BIL THIBODEAU: We've had an exhibition once here where there were our artists alongside some mainstream Boston artists in one exhibition.

And people were walking around and said, well, who did this one?

And we'd say, it doesn't matter.

You wouldn't tell them it doesn't matter.

It's art.

JARED BOWEN (voice-over): For PBS News Weekend, I'm Jared Bowen in Brookline, Massachusetts.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Now on the NewsHour's Instagram page, Lisa Desjardins explains how the electoral vote to certify Donald Trump's election will unfold this year on the four-year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection.

All that and more is on the NewsHour's Instagram page.

And that is the NewsHour for tonight.

I'm William Brangham.

For all of my colleagues at PBS News, thank you so much for joining us.

We'll see you tomorrow.