02/02/2025: What Will Mitch Do?, Robert Lighthizer, A Psychedelic Journey

THE DOMINO EFFECT – A woman in the United States is currently twice as likely to die during pregnancy as her mother was a generation ago, indicating that the country is experiencing a maternal health crisis. Sharyn Alfonsi visits Louisiana to report on the state of maternal healthcare in the United States, which has some of the highest maternal mortality rates and where women already face additional obstacles to care due to the state’s abortion ban. The producer is Ashley Velie. OUT OF THIN AIR – Carbon dioxide’s heat-trapping effects are worse than anyone expected, according to a 2023 United Nations climate report, as oil and gas emissions hit record highs. Bill Whitaker visits Iceland to observe the first commercial direct air capture plant, which could help solve climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it underground. Whether or not a climate disaster occurs depends on how quickly this new industry can expand. Heather Abbott is the producer. AN AMERICAN DOWN UNDER – Mason Cox, the lone American in the Australian rules football league, is the subject of a profile by correspondent Jon Wertheim. Cox, who is nearly seven feet tall, is a native Texan who had never heard of football before moving to Australia to play for the legendary Collingwood Magpies. Jacqueline Williams is the producer To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1 Touko 202346min

After catastrophic earthquakes devastated war-torn northwest Syria in February, Scott Pelley travels to the battleground to meet an American medical charity and volunteers for the White Helmets who braved the odds. Pelley speaks with healthcare workers, survivors and first responders about the earthquakes and the constant attacks on healthcare ordered by Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad and his ally, Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Bill Whitaker meets with Ray Epps and his wife Robyn. Epps is notorious among consumers of right-wing media as the man who initiated the January 6th attack to undermine President Trump. The convoluted theory posits Epps was a secret agent of the "deep state,” and it has been promoted by members of Congress. Death threats and harassment forced Epps and his wife Robyn to sell their Arizona ranch and go into hiding. So who is Ray Epps? Actor Nicolas Cage invites 60 MINUTES into his eclectic Las Vegas home to meet his African crow Huginn and discuss his over 40 years of making movies, including his latest role as Count Dracula in Renfield. Sharyn Alfonsi speaks with Cage about his love of cinema, his wide-ranging catalog of inspiration and the ups and downs along the way. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

24 Huhti 202348min

Scott Pelley is given exclusive access to Google’s AI lab in London and their Mountain View, California, headquarters as society moves closer to embracing the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. How quickly machines can learn and teach themselves in the real world, the future of the artificial intelligence revolution, and other questions are discussed during Pelley’s interview with Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other senior executives in charge of these systems. The Wager tells the true story of an open-water adventure in the 18th century that turns into a saga of shipwreck, anarchy, betrayal, and murder. Bestselling author and darling of Hollywood developers David Grann sits down with 60 Minutes before the release of his new book. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

17 Huhti 202347min

Scott Pelley explores images captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s most powerful space telescope. Speaking with astrophysicists and astronomers, Pelley reports on the telescope’s discoveries of distant galaxies, including one that’s over 33 billion light years away, and an observation that, if confirmed, could upend the belief on how the universe formed and more. In the days of the Roman Coliseum, they called it “Bread and Circuses”—leaders using entertainment to distract citizens from genuine problems. Today, Saudi Arabia is accused of using the same tactic with a different name: "sportswashing." Is the Kingdom diversifying its economy, as they insist, or covering up human rights abuses and political repression? Jon Wertheim traveled to Saudi Arabia to find out. Four years after the Cathedral of Notre Dame was nearly destroyed by fire, Bill Whitaker returns to Paris to witness the resurrection of the medieval structure and powerful symbol of France. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

10 Huhti 202347min

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, nicknamed MTG, isn’t afraid to share her opinions, no matter how intense and in-your-face they are. She sits down with Lesley Stahl. Following his testimony before two Senate committees this week, United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas talks with Sharyn Alfonsi. They discussed the record numbers of migrants trying to cross the U.S. border with Mexico and why he refuses to describe the situation there as a “crisis.” Bill Whitaker explores the discoveries Icelandic scientists have made in forecasting eruptions like we forecast the weather and could apply to similar volcanoes in the United States, Japan, or Russia. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3 Huhti 202347min

Norah O’Donnell is aboard the USS Nimitz, a United States Navy aircraft carrier operating southeast of Taiwan and China in the Western Pacific. She reports on the state of the Navy amid threats of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan - an important American ally - and speaks with the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Admiral Samuel Paparo at sea. Florence’s ACF Fiorentina soccer team hasn’t won a championship in decades. The club’s fans ran their last owner out of town, but Rocco Commisso says he’s here to stay, on one condition – “I control, or no money from Rocco.” Sharyn Alfonsi reports. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

20 Maalis 202348min

One year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Holly Williams is in Kherson, the first major Ukrainian city and only regional capital captured by the Russian Army. Residents of Kherson endured a brutal occupation until the Ukrainian army forced the Russians to retreat. After U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan and the country fell to the Taliban, Afghan girls have been barred from school beyond 6th grade. Lesley Stahl travels to meet a group of Afghan girls who are continuing their education in an unlikely place, the African nation of Rwanda. The girls are students of a school called SOLA, led by a remarkable Afghan woman whose commitment to educating girls began under the first Taliban regime, when she attended a secret school disguised as a boy.   To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

27 Helmi 202347min

Anderson Cooper investigates the brutal past of Canada’s “residential school system.” Leslie Stahl talks with the Miller family, who purchased a large house for family celebrations. Little did they know that property had a secret. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13 Helmi 202346min