60 Minutes

The Prosecution of Jan. 6 – More than 1,000 Americans have been convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that stopped the count of electoral votes and triggered the largest prosecution in U.S. history. As the FBI continues to search for suspects, Scott Pelley meets with some of those at the center of the story: a man who was among the first to breach the Capitol, a Metropolitan police officer who was injured that day, a retired judge who studied the 2020 election and top prosecutor U.S. attorney Matthew Graves.

Danger in the South China Sea – It's been called "the most dangerous conflict no one is talking about," and Cecilia Vega sees firsthand just how dangerous it can be when the Philippine ship she is traveling on gets rammed by China's coast guard. Vega examines how the growing tensions between China and the Philippines over territory in the South China Sea could lead to U.S. involvement. 

Dua Lipa – Many teenagers want to become pop stars, but few convince their parents to let them pack their bags and move to another country to make it big. That's precisely what Dua Lipa did when she was 15 years old, trading Pristina, Kosovo, for London. Anderson Cooper talks with her about her journey from unknown songwriter to international sensation, with her songs streaming more than 45 billion times. 

Scourge of Our Time – The synthetic opioid fentanyl was designed to help patients in unbearable pain. But after making its way from hospitals to communities in every corner of the country, it has ignited the worst drug crisis in U.S. history, killing more than 70,000 Americans last year alone. Bill Whitaker investigates the root causes, from prescription opioids peddled by some of America's largest drug companies to the Mexican cartels' takeover of the illicit fentanyl market, and questions top U.S. officials about what's being done to stem the deadly tide. 

The Trustbuster – Lesley Stahl interviews the youngest-ever chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan. The powerful and polarizing trustbuster discusses her determination to enforce antitrust policies as part of the Biden administration's breaking away from 40 years of a hands-off approach.  

Inside the Archives – After former President Donald Trump and then-Vice President Biden held onto documents that should have been turned over to the National Archives, the small federal agency that is supposed to safeguard America's past was thrust into the national spotlight. 60 MINUTES spent several months inside the Archives, where Norah O'Donnell was granted rare access not just to the nation's founding documents, but restricted vaults and priceless artifacts, including Revolutionary War-era oaths of allegiance signed by George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, Adolf Hitler's will and President Nixon's resignation letter. O'Donnell also spoke to the recordkeepers responsible for preserving presidential papers about why that mission is so vital. The story covers the Archives' past, present and also contains some news about a major change in its future: the Emancipation Proclamation and 19th Amendment will go on permanent display in the Archives' Rotunda in Washington in 2026, joining the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights in time for America's 250th birthday. Keith Sharman and Roxanne Feitel are the producers.

After the Hurricane – As Hurricane Helene strikes Florida this week, Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the difficult aftermath of another storm in the Sunshine State. In 2022, when Hurricane Ian ripped through Florida, it left behind an estimated $113 billion dollars of damage, and a long trail of litigation. After a year-long investigation, Alfonsi finds that an estimated 50,000 homeowners affected by Ian are still fighting with their insurance companies to repair or rebuild their homes. Alfonsi interviews insurance insiders and whistleblowers, who are licensed damage adjusters who worked claims during Ian. They say that several insurance carriers were in some cases using materially altered damage reports that resulted in dramatically lower claim payouts. They say that, after years of dutifully paying premiums, impacted homeowners may not even know if their damage reports were altered. Florida has opened a criminal investigation, but so far, no arrests have been made. Oriana Zill de Granados is the producer. 

Vladimir Kara-Murza – This past August witnessed the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. Scott Pelleygoes behind the scenes of that historic swap through conversations with key players. He interviews Vladimir Kara-Murza, the Russian opposition leader who spent more than two years in prison for opposing the war in Ukraine. Pelley also speaks with Jake Sullivan, President Biden's national security advisor, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who discusses his role in the deal for the first time. Maria Gavrilovic and Alex Ortiz are the producers. 

Welcome to the W – In its 27th year, the WNBA is having a breakthrough season. A rookie class, as good as advertised, has made a seamless transition from college to the pros, blending with established stars. Attendance, TV ratings, and corporate sponsorships have all spiked as The W has become a fixture in the modern sportscape. Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever is the driving force behind this growth, but not the only one. Jon Wertheimspeaks to Clark about this signature season and meets her Fever teammate Aliyah Boston and Minnesota Lynx star veteran Napheesa Collier. Nathalie Sommer is the producer.

 The Mezcaleros – Mezcal is having its moment. This handcrafted Mexican spirit, made from agave, has seen exponential growth in popularity and production. For this special two-parter, Cecilia Vegatravels to Oaxaca and meets the mezcaleros laboring to quench the world's thirst for mezcal. The deeper you travel into Oaxaca's countryside, the harder mezcaleros cling to their ancestral methods and the louder they'll tell you: there's a price to pay for this mezcal boom. Nathalie Sommer and Kaylee Tully are the producers.

The 2024 Presidential Ticket – Bill Whitaker joins the Democratic ticket on the campaign trail for in-depth interviews with Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz to gain insight into their platform's priorities and values and what the candidates believe voters should know. This is a double-length segment. Marc Lieberman and Rome Hartman are the producers. Scott Pelleyaddresses why the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance will not be participating in a 60 MINUTES interview for this election special. 

Belief in the Ballot – Scott Pelley travels to Arizona's Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of Arizona's voters and a critical battleground in a key swing state, to speak with the county's election leadership and hear from their critics as the election approaches. Aaron Weisz and Ian Flickinger are the producers. 

The Last Minute – Whoever wins the presidential race in November will inherit an expanding Middle East conflict. On the one-year anniversary of Hamas' terror attack on Israel, Lesley Stahl reflects on the aftermath, the consequences to the region, and what it may mean for a new administration.

Pennsylvania Counts – This November, all eyes will be on the Keystone State, the most pivotal battleground in the race for the White House. Cecilia Vega travels to Pennsylvania for an in-depth interview with Secretary of State Al Schmidt, a key figure in the election process. They discuss the process of counting mail-in ballots, preparing for potential conspiracy theories, and the measures Schmidt is taking to educate Pennsylvanians about the state's election process to ensure voter confidence. Sarah Koch and Madeleine Carlisle are the producers.

The Vatican's Orphans – From 1950 to 1970, the Vatican sent thousands of Italian children to eager American Catholics for adoption. The children entered the United States on orphan visas. The trouble was most of the children were not orphans. They were the children of unwed mothers, many of whom were alive and searching for their children. How the Vatican got into the orphan business is the subject of a new book, The Price of Children. Bill Whitaker speaks to author Maria Laurino and to American adoptees still struggling with the decades of separation from their birth families. Heather Abbott is the producer.

Ballmer's Ballgame –As the former CEO at Microsoft, where he witnessed the company's growth from a startup to a tech giant, and now as the basketball baron of the L.A. Clippers, billionaire Steve Ballmer knows how to play the long game. And he's counting on that skill and his trademark enthusiasm to score points with players and fans as the 2024-2025 NBA season tips off. But before he does, Jon Wertheim takes us inside the gleaming new Intuit Dome, the arena Ballmer built for his Clippers, and delves into his love of basketball and drive to win a championship. David M. Levine is the producer.

RELIEF, N.C. – Reporting from the Appalachian Mountains, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi surveys one of the hardest hit areas of Hurricane Helene, a category four storm that tore through six states more than three weeks ago. Alfonsi visits communities in rural western North Carolina where the search for the missing goes on as most residents endure life without water, electricity, communications and passable roads. All are attempting to rebuild – most have no insurance. Ashley Velie is the producer.

NAVALNY – Months after anti-Putin activist Alexei Navalny died in a Russian prison, his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, now the leading figure of his political movement, speaks with correspondent Lesley Stahl in her first U.S. interview about her late husband's posthumous memoir. Navalnaya discusses the book, Navalny's last act of defiance against the Kremlin, which chronicles his final three years behind bars under often brutal conditions, believed to be ordered by Russian president Vladimir Putin. She details his clandestine operation for penning the memoir inside a high-security prison and then smuggling it out, why the couple decided to return to Russia after Navalny was poisoned and her daring campaign for justice in the wake of his death. Richard Bonin is the producer.

THE SWINGIEST COUNTY – Correspondent Jon Wertheim travels to Door County, Wis., a bucolic coastal community where political party loyalty is up for grabs and residents have successfully voted for the winning candidate in every presidential election this century. Door County is the only swing state county with this distinction. Wertheim travels to Door County to get to know its residents and look for the mystery voter who's voted both Republican and Democrat successfully in every election since 2000. Draggan Mihailovich is the producer.

THE CAP ARCONA – Bill Whitaker reports from Germany's Baltic Coast on the bombing of the Cap Arcona, a little-known human tragedy in the closing days of World War II in Europe. Once a luxurious German ocean liner, the Cap Arcona was commandeered by the Nazis and, at war's end, turned into a floating concentration camp. Thousands of prisoners were killed in the aerial attack. Whitaker interviews historians and Holocaust survivors who witnessed the bombing to bring this largely overlooked chapter of history to light. This is a double-length segment. Marc Lieberman is the producer.

DEPORTATION: Cecilia Vega examines former President Donald Trump's campaign promise to conduct the largest deportation in American history. She goes out with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Maryland as they arrest undocumented immigrants with criminal records, and she talks with one of the people Trump is likely to ask to oversee the mass deportations if he's elected: Tom Homan, who led ICE when the Trump administration separated about 5,000 migrant children from their parents at the southern border. Andy Court, Annabelle Hanflig and Camilo Montoya-Galvez are the producers.

SANCTIONS: More than two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the fighting continues, and despite thousands of economic sanctions, Russia's wartime economy is expected to grow. Sharyn Alfonsi sits down with Daleep Singh, the architect behind the U.S. sanction strategy, to discuss his past predictions and uncover new details about what's fueling Russia's economy. Her investigation leads to waters off the coast of Greece, where she tracks Russian oil tankers evading sanctions and raises questions about how Russia is making its money. Lucy Hatcher is the producer.

SURFMEN: Bill Whitaker ventures out to one of the most dangerous inlets in America, nicknamed the Graveyard of the Pacific, at the mouth of the Columbia River. The mission? Document the training of elite members of the U.S. Coast Guard determined to graduate from the National Motor Lifeboat School and earn the coveted title of certified Surfmen. Whitaker speaks with some of the best water rescue professionals in the country as they push their limits, tackling the roughest waters and toughest test, to hear firsthand what it takes to operate in huge breaking surf in order to save lives. Rome Hartman is the producer.

ELECTION TRUTH – Days before America elects its 60th president of the United States, all eyes are on Georgia after it was a center of the scheme to overthrow the 2020 election. In this year's high-stakes race, correspondent Scott Pelley reports on how Georgia officials plan to ensure public trust, combat election fraud conspiracy theories and protect the safety of poll workers. Henry Schuster and Sarah Turcotte are the producers.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES – Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, 20 states have either banned or severely restricted abortions, six states have voted to protect access to them, and this Tuesday voters in 10 states will decide on adding abortion rights to their state constitutions. To better understand the profound impact of the fast changing and complex legal landscape, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi visited Texas, the first state to change its abortion laws. Alfonsi interviewed doctors and mothers who say the laws intended to stop abortions are resulting in unintended consequences, hurting women with desired pregnancies and the people who care for them. Ashley Velie is the producer.

THE LAND OF NOVO – Tiny Denmark – with its population of 6 million of the world's wealthiest and healthiest people – is suddenly home to Europe's largest company, Novo Nordisk. The company's weight loss wonder drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have slimmed down millions while adding great heft to the Danish economy. The firm now has a market cap of roughly half a trillion dollars, which is larger than the entire country's GDP. Jon Wertheim travels to the Baltic to see how a country with a slender ego is coping with this unlikely injection of fantastic wealth. Michael Gavshon is the producer.

The Shift – Days after President-elect Donald Trump won the election by moving nearly every county in the country toward the right, Scott Pelley travels to Northampton County, Penn., to report on the shift. It's the state's bellwether county, which voted for nearly every president in the last century, including President Biden in 2020 and President Trump last week. Why did Northampton flip this election cycle? Pelley speaks with longtime residents to find out. Maria Gavrilovic, Henry Schuster, and Nicole Young are the producers.

The War Reporter – CBS News senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams turns the lens on a fellow war reporter on the frontline of the Russia-Ukraine war. She travels to Kharkiv to meet the fearless Andriy Tsaplienko, a Ukrainian journalist who uses his reporting to fight for his country's survival. As Williams discovers, Tsaplienko's relentless search for the facts is a powerful weapon to counter disinformation and propaganda. His battle to reveal the truth underscores the critical role journalists play in actively shaping the outcome of global crises where information is a battlefield. Erin Lyall is the producer.

Robo – For centuries, the giants of the art world, like Michelangelo, have made a beeline for the world-famous Carrara marble quarries of Northern Tuscany, turning the white stone into marble masterpieces. Now, a fleet of robots has moved in, carving with pinpoint precision and sparking an art world fracas. Correspondent Bill Whitaker travels to Carrara and jumps into the fray: can a robot make art? While many contemporary A-listers are turning to robots for help, many of Italy's hammer-and-chisel brigade are up in arms. They claim Italy's artistic heritage is on the line. Heather Abbott is the producer.

Mysterious Russian Deaths – Correspondent Cecilia Vega reports from Spain on the unsolved shooting of a Russian defector in the seaside town of Villajoyosa. It's part of a pattern of recent falls from top-floor windows, poisonings, and accidental deaths of a growing number of enemies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Vega investigates the suspected links to Russian intelligence services and examines how European governments are responding to Russian aggression on Western soil. Finally, she asks U.S. Intelligence officials whether Putin's "War on the West" has reached U.S. territory. Oriana Zill de Granados and Michael Rey are the producers.

THE PROMISE – Twenty-three years later, over a thousand families are still waiting for news of loved ones lost in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. Correspondent Scott Pelley looks at how efforts to search for and identify their remains have never stopped, driven by the promise made by the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Pelley visits their laboratory, which is using new advancements in DNA research and breakthrough techniques to provide answers for families holding on to hope. This is a double-length segment. Nicole Young is the producer.

AUSSIEWOOD –Correspondent Jon Wertheim reports on a phenomenon that has long captured Hollywood: the outsized presence of Australians earning top billings and awards on the American silver screen – in front of and behind the camera. Wertheim interviews Aussie actress Sarah Snook and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann about the country's renowned training grounds for the dramatic arts, their pathways to international theater, film and television and the Australian mindset on stardom. Jacqueline Williams is the producer.

BHUTAN –Correspondent Lesley Stahl travels to the remote, Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, a tiny country that has fiercely protected its unique culture, declaring that within its borders, Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product. But today, the country is facing a crisis – 9% of its population has left Bhutan for higher-paying jobs abroad, so the government has launched a high-stakes plan to help the economy and lure young Bhutanese back by developing an entirely new city from scratch – what the king is calling a "mindfulness" city. This is a double-length segment. Shari Finkelstein is the producer.