we go further, so you can. ♪ ♪ >> reasoner: good evening. this is "60 minutes." >> wallace: really. >> safer: ah ha! >> bradley: where'd it come from? >> reasoner: it's a kind of a magazine for television. >> kroft: congressman? >> yes, sir. >> kroft: steve kroft from "60 minutes." >> what? >> no, i don't want to do "60 minutes." >> you want to just get over here. >> i'd like you to get out of here. >> let's stop the interview for a minute. >> bradley: will she come out and talk to us? >> no. >> simon: answer some questions. >> pelley: doctor eckland, i'm scott pelley with "60 minutes." >> oh, great. ♪ ♪ ( applause ) >> where's the camera? >> stahl: i want to ask you about the tweeting. >> pelley: you're not very popular in the country right now, to be frank. i wonder-- >> i'm afraid you're right. >> i don't care what they say. >> i probably shouldn't say that on tv. ♪ ♪ >> kroft: mr. president. >> look-- >> kroft: they're not happy with the way you're doing your job. >> this is a tough business. >> kroft: why's it taking so long? ♪ ♪ >> pelley: right here, across

the bridge, you can see the black flag of isis. ♪ ♪ ( gunfire ) >> logan: so this is what you can expect in mosul? >> yes. ♪ ♪ ( explosion ) >> bradley: most people think you are the face of evil. >> what did i do wrong? >> and i'm going to jail for that? >> kroft: only the bad ones go to jail? >> only the stupid ones go to jail. >> mr. madoff! >> safer: you must have known. >> i trusted him. ♪ ♪ ( applause ) ♪ ♪ >> "hamilton" certainly changed my life. ♪ ♪ ( laughter ) >> you want to talk about sex? >> it's not 60 swinging minutes. >> kroft: good drive! >> go. ♪ ♪ >> logan: how did you get around

that? >> well, that's a damn good question. >> you had no problem asking that question. >> whitaker: no, i'm asking because i'm seeking an answer. >> wallace: come on. >> safer: come on. >> pelley: come on >> simon: come on >> stahl: come on >> i think you should keep quiet. >> cooper: really? >> wallace: why? why? why? >> pelley: and to all those questions, you answered what? >> "60 minutes." >> "60 minutes." >> "60 minutes." >> "60 minutes." >> that is being on "60 minutes." >> i'm mike wallace. >> i'm harry reasoner. >> i'm morley safer. >> i'm dan rather. >> i'm ed bradley. >> i'm diane sawyer. >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm meredith viera. >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm bob simon. >> i'm scott pelley. >> i'm katie couric. >> i'm lara logan. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm byron pitts. >> i'm david martin. >> i'm sharyn alfonsi. >> i'm oprah winfrey. >> i'm bill whitaker. tonight, 50 years of "60 minutes." (avo) when you have type 2 diabetes, you manage your a1c, but you also have a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. non-insulin victoza® lowers a1c, and now reduces cardiovascular risk.

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>> kroft: looking back at 50 years of "60 minutes," it's worth noting that the longest running broadcast in prime time television history was created by a man with a notoriously short attention span. don hewitt was bored by hour- long documentaries, and thought any story worth telling could be done in ten or 15 minutes. so he dreamed up this broadcast: three different segments, a little something for everyone. a half a century later, we're here to celebrate don's very big, and very successful idea. we'll be profiling "60 minutes" itself tonight: inside stories about its history and its greatest moments. from the archives, we'll have some outtakes and backstage footage you've never seen before, and interviews we've done over the years with the

"60 minutes" pioneers who are gone now, but whose stamp on the broadcast is still on display, every sunday night. this is "60 minutes" episode 2325. >> we're good. >> kroft: and this is where it all comes together. >> wooo! >> kroft: the pictures, the interviews, the writing, and the ticking of the clock. the formula for a good "60 minutes" story: keep it timely, keep it relevant, and never be dull. some examples, from this 50th season. puerto rico in the aftermath of hurricane maria; we surveyed the damage with the island's governor, ricardo rossello. there was no safe haven. >> ricardo rossello: there was no safe haven. >> kroft: just a few weeks earlier, it had been houston's turn. scott pelley found widespread dismay that the city's flood control system was no match for hurricane harvey.

>> cynthia nealy: it's going to rain, we're going to have hurricanes and tropical storms. so, by golly, do something to protect your people from it. >> kroft: also this year, an old warrior's last stand. lesley stahl with john mccain. >> stahl: i had to ask him about cancer. he didn't want to go there and i was pushing him there. >> john mccain: i have feelings sometimes, of fear of what happens. but as soon as i get that, i say, wait a minute. you've been around a long time, old man. you've had a great life. >> kroft: bill whitaker's recent story with producer ira rosen about the opioid crisis got washington's attention. >> joe rannazzisi: this is an industry that's out of control. if they don't follow the law in drug supply, people die. >> kroft: joe rannazzisi once ran the d.e.a.'s war on the illicit sale of prescription drugs. a war undermined on capitol hill. an investigation by "60 minutes" and the "washington post" found that under heavy lobbying by the

drug industry, lawmakers quietly passed a bill last year making it more difficult to stop the sale of addictive pain pills to shady pharmacies and doctors. >> whitaker: i'm bill whitaker with "60 minutes," and we'd like to speak with congressman marino. congressman tom marino, who pushed this legislation through congress, was tapped by the trump administration to be the new drug czar. and two days after the story ran, congressman marino withdraws his name from being considered. and i would like to think that our story had something to do with that. >> jeff fager: we want to be relevant. we want to be current. we want to be about today's news. >> kroft: jeff fager succeeded don hewitt in 2004 as executive producer of "60 minutes." >> fager: and when we cover a story and report it on sunday night and it has impact on monday morning, that's what you hope for. >> wallace: you are the last major communist dictatorship. >> kroft: over the years, we've landed timely interviews with world leaders. >> me?

>> wallace: yes you! >> kroft: putin of russia. assad of syria. saddam hussein, with dan rather in 2003. the iraqi leader denied having weapons of mass destruction, a key justification for the impending american invasion. >> saddam hussein: i think america and the world also knows that iraq no longer has the weapons. >> kroft: it was a controversial interview, but events would prove that what saddam said about the weapons was correct. ( church bells ) in 2015, pope francis was about to embark on a trip to the united states. a big story and a rare opportunity for a few questions from "60 minutes." >> pelley: what is your goal for america? "to meet people," he told us. "just to meet with them." >> fager: i think we're more current now than we were in past years, but the values and the standards that we live by are the same as they were the very first broadcast that went on the air in 1968. >> wallace: i'm mike wallace. >> kroft: some behind the scenes

footage of the taping of that first broadcast has survived. >> wallace: well done. >> kroft: it began with harry reasoner getting rid of a cigarette. >> thank you. >> kroft: it was, after all, the '60s. >> "60 minutes," volume one, number one. new opening. take one. >> wallace: good evening. >> kroft: harry and mike wallace thought the introduction was perfect. >> don hewitt: mike, i want to do it again; you're sitting. >> kroft: but in the control room, don hewitt wasn't happy with the way mike was sitting. and as always, don got what don wanted. he was a brash and brilliant man, who not only came up with the idea for the broadcast, but ran it for 36 years. >> new opening, take two. >> kroft: and on this day, they rolled the tape again, and rolled the dice on don's grand experiment. >> reasoner: this is "60 minutes." it's a kind of a magazine for television. >> wallace: richard nixon and his entourage. >> kroft: and the very first story set the tone for what was to come. "60 minutes" had the only camera in the room as richard nixon and

friends watched the vote at the republican convention. ( laughter ) it gave him the nomination for president. ( applause ) >> richard nixon: sit down, get to work! ( laughter ) >> wallace: how does richard nixon, if elected by a majority? >> kroft: interviewed by mike on the second program, the candidate made a remark that history would note. >> nixon: the most important thing about a public man is not whether he's loved or disliked, but whether he's respected. and i hope to restore respect to the presidency at all levels by my conduct. >> bill clinton: we moved into this place. >> kroft: virtually all of the presidents of the last half century have fielded questions on the broadcast. >> jimmy carter: you didn't anticipate all these questions. >> stahl: are you really going to build a wall? >> donald trump: yes. >> kroft: lesley got the first television interview with donald trump shortly after he won the 2016 election. >> stahl: are people going to be surprised about how you conduct yourself as president? >> trump: you know, i'll conduct myself, in a very good manner. >> stahl: he was thoughtful.

he answered all my questions. but are you going to be tweeting? >> trump: i'm going to do very restrained, if i use it at all. >> stahl: and i thought, okay, he's not going to tweet anymore. we're going to see something completely different. got that wrong. >> mr. president. >> kroft: we interviewed barack obama 18 times. afghanistan, the unemployment problem, health care bill. you want me to keep going? >> barack obama: yeah. >> kroft: very smart man. always a pleasure to interview. >> obama: i think it's fair to say, steve, that if-- >> kroft: let me just finish the thought. >> obama: okay. >> kroft: he was always in the moment, thoughtful and relaxed. >> obama: what else you got? ( laughs ) >> kroft: i don't kid myself. the reason he did so many stories with us was because of "60 minutes," not because of me. because of the power and the influence of the show. >> it's called bald mountain. mike had known ronald and nancy reagan for years. >> wallace: nancy, of course, was an old, dear friend of mine. >> let me finish now. ( laughs ) >> kroft: he'd worked with her mother in his early radio days. even so, mrs. reagan gave as good as she got in their

interviews. >> nancy reagan: oh mike. come on now. you're putting words in my mouth, mike wallace. >> wallace: you can take them out right now. ( laughs ) >> kroft: and in a 2006 interview, mike had no use for the idea that mr. reagan was a lightweight. >> wallace: baloney. he knew enough to bring an end to the cold war. >> okay, everybody settle. we have tape rolling. steve. >> kroft: an important interview for the clintons in 1992, when he was running for president. >> bill clinton: let me just say one other thing-- >> kroft: 34 million people watched as the couple fielded questions about gennifer flowers. >> kroft: she's alleging a 12- year affair with you. >> bill clinton: that allegation is false. >> hillary clinton: you know, i'm not sitting here like some little woman standing by my man, like tammy wynette. i'm sitting here because i love him. >> kroft: and for added drama, a light fell off the wall and nearly hit them. >> person-- jesus, mary and joseph! >> kroft: no one was hurt-- but it was a close call. >> pelley: you know, mr.

president, it occurred to me that-- >> kroft: an unusual presidential interview, recalling a dark time. scott pelley and george w. bush on air force one, on the first anniversary of 9/11. >> george w. bush: i can remember sitting right here in this office and realizing it was a defining moment in the history of the united states. i knew we were at war. >> pelley: this is the center of the rescue effort behind me. >> kroft: scott had seen firsthand the horror of that september morning. >> pelley: i spent about two weeks at ground zero, reporting continuously. the agony of watching these firefighters digging through, trying to find somebody alive. it was a mountain of misery. ( rocket launch ) >> kroft: for nearly two decades, the most important and dangerous assignments for "60 minutes" correspondents and crews-- ( explosion ) --have been covering the seemingly endless cycle of violence in the middle east. >> that's incoming! >> kroft: for 15 years, lara logan has covereiraq and

afghanistan for "60 minutes" and "60 minutes ii." ( gunfire ) most recently, she was in mosul, during the successful campaign to retake the iraqi city from isis. >> logan: i think we were there just a few minutes, before you heard "car bomb, car bomb." and you know it means suicide car bomb. ( gunfire ) and everyone's shooting because the only thing that can stop that vehicle reaching its target is a hail of gunfire. and it's terrifying. >> kroft: the "60 minutes" crew took cover in a house commandeered by iraqi special forces. the man at the window, cameraman scott munro-- ( explosion ) --was unhurt. the car had exploded just 50 feet away. with war, came refugees. by land, and by sea. thousands landed on the greek island of lesbos, after a

dangerous trip across the aegean sea from turkey. anderson cooper was there. >> cooper: it was an extraordinary thing to witness. so many of them were just exhausted and afraid. people drown on the way over all the time. they're buried in unmarked graves. and to die without your name being known, in a foreign land, and your family doesn't even know what happened to you, to me, that's an unspeakable tragedy. >> kroft: television is, of course, a feast for the eyes; an electronic window on the world. >> but there's something else. >> kroft: but at the heart of every great "60 minutes" story are the interviews. >> pelley: he is one of the men who shot osama bin laden. you shot him. >> a handful of times. >> pelley: and at that point, his body was still. >> yes. >> kroft: you have to ask the right questions. >> leon panetta: well, that's a damn good question. >> kroft: and you have to be fast on your feet. >> logan: how many times have you been indicted? >> safer: what goes through your mind? >> stahl: what is it with you? >> wallace: you demanded special treatment. >> kroft: did you think you were going to get away with it? >> pelley: that's not all that's

going on here. >> whitaker: it almost seems unbelievable. >> kroft: there are rules for conducting a "60 minutes" interview. number one: do your homework. >> wallace: let's get this straight. >> simon: talk to us for a minute. >> kroft: number two: don't be shy. >> simon: the prosecution says you're a con man. a thief. >> kroft: number three: take your time. wear them down, if need be. >> stahl: let me interrupt you. >> kroft: and even when you've mastered all that? >> simon: i want to ask you some personal questions. >> kroft: it's still not as easy as it looks. >> bradley: what kind of person would do that? those are the facts, they're not in dispute. does that seem strange? >> kroft: ed bradley explained in 2001. >> bradley: my job is to put someone in the chair and get them to talk and tell their story as if there are no cameras, no lights, not seven people in the room. just the two of us sitting there talking. >> okay, let's get serious. ( laughs ) >> kroft: ed found mick jagger candid, and funny. >> bradley: the clicheé that was associated with the band for so many years-- sex, drugs, and rock n' roll, is-- you're beyond that? >> mick jagger: some of that's still in there, i think. ( laughs )

♪ ♪ >> kroft: bob dylan was something else. >> bradley: you know, bob dylan hadn't done a television interview in, i guess, almost 20 years. i read somewhere that you wrote "blowin' in the wind" in ten minutes. is that right? >> bob dylan: probably. >> bradley: sometimes you'd ask a question and he'd say "yep." >> dylan: yeah. >> bradley: uh-huh. >> dylan: um-hmm. >> bradley: you know, you want to say "come on bob, give it up, give it up." >> dylan: uh-uh. >> wallace: do you know something? >> kroft: mike wallace, of course, was the very model of the hard-nosed reporter asking point-blank questions. >> wallace: who wants to kill you? you don't care about money. truly now. when you boil it down to low gravy, it's quite apparent that something was going on there. >> kroft: there was his famous encounter during the iranian hostage crisis of 1979 with iran's ayatollah khomeini. mike asking him, in essence, if he was nuts. >> wallace: president sadat of egypt calls you, imam-- forgive me, his words, not mine-- a lunatic. >> kroft: mike remembered

getting a non-answer and icy stares from the other iranians in the room. >> wallace: well, the guy that was translating, he looked over at me and said, "you're the lunatic, if you think i'm going to translate that question to the ayatollah." he did, and it got the ayatollah's attention for the first time. can i take you back to november 22, 1963? >> kroft: one of mike's finest hours came 42 years ago, talking to clint hill, one of the secret service agents protecting john kennedy in dallas the day the president was shot. >> wallace: was there anything that the secret service, or that clint hill, could have done to keep that from happening? >> clint hill: clint hill, yes. >> kroft: hill was on the running board of the car just behind the president. >> hill: if i had reacted about maybe a second faster, i wouldn't be here today. >> wallace: you mean, you would have gotten there and you would have taken the shot? >> hill: the third shot, yes, sir. >> kroft: as it was, he'd made it to the car in five seconds,

just as the fatal shot rang out. the guilt consumed him for years. >> hill: it's my fault. >> wallace: oh, no one has ever suggested that for an instant. what you did was show great bravery and great presence of mind. >> hill: mike, i don't care about that. if i had reacted just a little bit quicker-- and i could have, i guess. and i'll live with that to my grave. >> kroft: it's not always easy to get people to talk, and to open up the way clint hill did. that took a long time and mike wallace was very patient. and sometimes-- and ed bradley used to say this-- sometimes you just have to wait for them to talk. in washington, a very talkative town, there's one group that's long been camera-shy: the justices of the u.s. supreme court. but in recent years, several of them have appeared on "60 minutes."

the late antonin scalia in 2008; lesley took him back to his grade school. >> stahl: straight a's? the whole time? come on. >> antonin scalia: would i lie? >> stahl: no. >> scalia: if you can't trust me, who can you trust, right? ( laughs ) >> clarence thomas: this is what we spent our time doing this, still got it. ( laughs ) >> kroft: scalia's fellow conservative, justice clarence thomas, grew up poor in georgia. indoor plumbing? >> thomas: no, goodness, no. there was an outhouse that we shared with some other families. >> welcome to your old neighborhood. >> sonia sotomayor: gracias. >> kroft: justice sonia sotomayor; her parents immigrated from puerto rico. she grew up in a public housing project in new york. >> pelley: you know, your brother told us that more than once in this neighborhood, he got beaten up. >> sotomayor: yep. and more than once, i beat up the person who beat him up. ( laughs ) >> why don't you just stop filming now? >> kroft: "60 minutes" has done its fair share of exposes, large and small. congressman! congressman!

we blew the whistle on insider trading in congress. >> we'll make a deal. okay. >> kroft: and the never-ending parade of small-time cons, like turning back the odometers on used cars to get a better price. this is not exactly legal, right? >> bill whitlow: this is not exactly legal, no. ( laughter ) >> kroft: bill whitlow told us how it's done. i want to show you one thing. and, we showed him how we do it. see that picture? there's a tv camera back there. >> whitlow: yep. >> kroft: sometimes you have to ruin somebody's day, but it's always somebody who deserves to have their day ruined. the good news is we're not cops. >> whitlow: well, i didn't think so. ( laughs ) >> kroft: the bad news is, is we're "60 minutes." he did six years in prison for that. >> wallace: there's a law now against you're selling kiddie porn. >> kroft: but it was mike, of course, who pioneered the art of confronting the bad guys. >> these is my films. >> father kirsch: you guys. >> wallace: track them down, follow them into the office or into a bar room or whatever.

no, i have no intention of leaving until you tell me what's on your mind. >> i just want to make sure. >> kroft: it became a trademark for the broadcast, and got to the point that just a glimpse of anyone from "60 minutes"-- ( screams ) --produced panic in the streets. gradually, the broadcast backed away from ambushes and hidden cameras, except when it's the only way to get the story. >> pelley: i'm scott pelley. >> kroft: like this one: an especially cruel scam, selling phony stem cell cures to people with devastating illnesses. >> steve watters: if i opt for the permanent fix, will it keep me out of the wheelchair? >> larry stowe: oh, yeah. >> pelley: you know, mr. stowe, the trouble is that you're a con man. >> stowe: really? >> pelley: he was just selling biochemical garbage, that he was putting in these people's veins. and he was taking their money from them, $100,000, cash only. >> really? okay. >> kroft: because of the story, stowe is serving a six-year sentence in federal prison. over the years we've tackled

some tough investigative reports. in 2006, ed bradley examined the racially-charged case involving three duke university lacrosse players falsely accused of rape. >> bradley: the evidence we've seen reveals disturbing facts about the conduct of the police and the district attorney... >> kroft: ed and the "60 minutes" producers spent six months going over the records of the case, the timeline, photos, medical tests on the accuser, and concluded there had been a rush to judgement. >> bradley: ...and raises serious concerns about whether or not a rape even occurred. >> kroft: the charges were dropped, and the district attorney was disbarred. >> wallace: what dr. wigand told us. >> kroft: the story mike and producer lowell bergman did in 1996 with whistleblower jeffrey wigand told how the tobacco industry lied about the dangers of smoking. a story so controversial-- >> wallace: cbs management-- >> kroft: --that cbs corporate lawyers blocked its broadcast

for months, fearing a huge lawsuit. >> fager: the company said "you can't air it." it's the only time that ever happened in the 50 years of "60 minutes." >> kroft: after wigand's disclosures were published elsewhere, the report finally ran. >> jeffery wigand: it's a delivery device for nicotine. >> wallace: a delivery device for nicotine? put it in your mouth, light it up, and you're going to get your fix? >> wigand: you'll get your fix. >> fager: it's incredible in retrospect, because the story itself about tobacco was as important as stories get. >> wallace: dr. wigand. >> kroft: from the start, the "60 minutes" reporting on the tobacco story was rock solid. but there have been some other cases where stories we've broadcast were on shaky ground, containing serious flaws. there was the mule, a 1997 story about smuggling heroin from colombia to london. the footage came from an award- winning british documentary, which turned out to be fake, with paid actors playing the drug dealers. a 2004 report on "60 minutes ii" suggested george w. bush got

preferential treatment in the texas air national guard. it was based in part on documents that came into question and could not be verified. and a 2013 story about the attack on the american diplomatic compound in benghazi, libya was built around an interview with a supposed eyewitness who, as it turned out, had lied. fortunately, the mistakes have been few and far between. >> fager: i think the most important thing is to own up to it, to help the viewer understand how we made the mistake, and to move on, one story at a time, earning our credibility back. >> kroft: when we return, around the world with "60 minutes." >> good evening.

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thing that did work-- and works to this day-- is the travelogue. trips to exotic places, foreign and domestic. you'd think that, after half a century, we'd run out of destinations, but there's always something new under the sun. ( african music ) just about every day of the year, somewhere on earth, there's a "60 minutes" crew at work, documenting the beauties of nature and the landmarks of ancient history. our cameras have been to the top of the world, and the bottom of the sea. in the waters off capetown, south africa, anderson cooper went swimming with the sharks. >> cooper: this is amazing. diving with great white sharks is among the stupidest things you can do. >> pelley: but shark expert mike rutzen believes they're smart, curious, and not as threatening as you'd think.

rutzen studies the great whites with no cage, no protection. anderson did the same. >> cooper: i would do it again, but it was really scary. yeah. i don't know if i'd do it again, actually. >> pelley: in 2010, we hiked to the edge of an active volcano in iceland. the eruption sent a huge cloud of ash and rocks the size of cars 1,000 feet into the air. look at the earth just erupting up into the sky. in 2007, bob simon and producer draggan mihailovich landed in a remote village in new guinea, to a hero's welcome. >> who are these people? >> these are the papasena people. they seem to like you. ( train whistle ) >> pelley: but the original pathfinder for "60 minutes" was morley safer. >> safer: first class on the orient express. >> pelley: the most prolific, and entertaining, tour guide of all. >> safer: here we are, on board the good ship "dandehaloo." >> pelley: one of his first

journeys was sailing the indian ocean. >> safer: it is on rare days like this that you must ask, "do they really pay me to do this?" yes! ( tango music ) >> pelley: in finland, morley and producer john tiffin found that, for some reason, the tango was all the rage. but they found the argentinian dance-- ♪ ♪ --didn't quite translate. >> tango finlandia: it's a sad shuffle in a minor key. with lyrics to reaffirm a couple's instinctive sense of hopelessness. >> safer: vincent was enormously proud. >> pelley: morley loved art, and knew his way around the galleries and museums. there was no better companion for viewing the sublime, and what he considered the ridiculous. >> safer: a sink went for $121,000, and a pair of urinals for $140,000. >> pelley: he'd take a shot every once in a while at the pretentions of the modern art establishment. >> safer: it's a white rectangle.

>> right. he's a minimal artist. >> safer: i'd say so. ( laughs ) >> pelley: and then he'd move on, to the next airplane. ♪ ♪ and, as he later recalled, to the next adventure. ♪ ♪ >> safer: you get to travel the world, you get to meet some of the world's most atrocious people and some of the world's most interesting ones, and somebody else is paying for it. is there a better job than that? >> pelley: bob simon felt the same way. ( chanting monks ) >> pelley: six years ago, he traveled into the past for one of his favorite stories. visiting mount athos, home to ancient greek monasteries seldom seen by outsiders. ( chanting ) during his long career at cbs news, bob covered dozens of wars and rebellions, from vietnam to the west bank to tiananmen square. but in his later years, he was ready for something more peaceful.

>> simon: they always want to be close to each other and to you, don't they? >> pelley: and carved out a role for himself as the dr. doolittle of "60 minutes." the wildlife editor. >> simon: i feel like i'm in an elephant sandwich. >> pelley: bob talked about it in 2011. >> simon: an animal is never duplicitous. an animal will never get involved in gratuitous cruelty. and, it's very refreshing to go see them, after you've spent a lot of time interviewing politicians. >> pelley: he went to central africa, where scientists are beginning to understand how elephants communicate. ( elephant roar ) >> simon: excuse me, we have a vocalization. >> that's a protest. >> pelley: he went to a remote corner of brazil in search of jaguars in the wild. >> simon: we happened to be there as a jaguar swam from one side of the river to the other. it was a once-in-a-lifetime shot in the dark. >> pelley: he traveled to the edge of the north pole with filmmaker john downer, whose

remote cameras record life among the polar bears. >> simon: is he trying to intimidate us? >> pelley: but elephants were his favorite. he and producers michael gavshon and harry radliffe did three stories on them. >> simon: you fall in love with them, and you don't want anyone to hurt them. >> pelley: but as "60 minutes" has reported over the years, african elephants and giraffes are slaughtered by poachers. other species are affected by climate change and encroaching civilization. their numbers are dwindling. >> simon: we would like to see wild animals survive. that's one of the few editorial positions we can take and get away with. and anyone who disagrees with us, feel free to write a letter. >> pelley: when we come back: 50 years of music, sports, television and the movies.

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>> stahl: don hewitt's model for "60 minutes" was "life" magazine. back in the day, "life" did serious stories and picture essays each week, as well as interviews with movie stars, athletes, and other celebrities. don figured the mix would work well on television-- and he was right. many of the best profiles we've broadcast feature the big names from the studios, the stadiums and the playing fields of america.

>> bradley: ha, ha. that'd be the best shot of my career. >> stahl: tiger woods, at the top of his game. lebron james, self-proclaimed king of the basketball court, showing steve why. >> kroft: how many times can you do that in a row? ( laughs ) >> lebron james: i'm one take, baby, that's all. i'm just one take. >> stahl: tom brady. you would think that being called the greatest quarterback ever, as he often is, would be the ultimate. but: >> tom brady: me, i think, "god, there's got to be more than this." >> kroft: what's the answer? >> brady: i wish i knew. i wish i knew. >> wallace: and these are not allowed. >> stahl: in 2005, mike did an interview that turned the spotlight on the darker side of sports. >> wallace: what you are saying is that the national pastime is juiced. >> jose canseco: yeah. it is. >> stahl: former baseball star jose canseco said he and many other players had used performance enhancing drugs, p.e.d.s. and soon, other athletes came

under suspicion. in 2007, katie couric asked alex rodriguez about it directly. >> couric: have you ever used steroids or any other performance enhancing substance? >> no. >> stahl: but rodriguez later admitted he did-- after anthony bosch, who ran a miami drug clinic, told "60 minutes" in 2014 about the drugs he supplied to rodriguez and other athletes. >> pelley: all of them banned? >> anthony bosch: all of them banned. >> lance armstrong: where's evidence of doping here? >> stahl: though he'd denied it many times, cycling champion lance armstrong finally admitted using banned drugs after his former teammate tyler hamilton came clean on "60 minutes" in 2011. >> tyler hamilton: there was epo, there was testosterone. >> pelley: you saw lance armstrong inject epo? >> hamilton: yeah, like we all did. >> stahl: and rounding out our sports report, ed's encounter with muhammad ali in 1996.

ali's parkinson's disease had worsened. >> bradley: ali, ali, ali? >> stahl: and at lunch, he appeared to nod off. >> bradley: somebody told me, sometimes when he sleeps, he punches in his sleep. you know, i'm sort of looking at him, and all the sudden, he just went-- ( laughter ) --i almost jumped out of my chair. >> stahl: it was all a prank, a put-on, engineered by the greatest. >> muhammad ali: yeah. >> bradley: you got me. >> action! >> stahl: as for the movies: >> you looking at me? >> yuch. >> now, i'm a great actress. ( laughter ) >> can you do anything you want right now? >> i thought "60 minutes" was a high class show. >> stahl: our star interviews go back 47 years, to elizabeth taylor. >> elizabeth taylor: you've got to be kidding. >> stahl: old hollywood. >> woody allen: it's so insane. >> stahl: new hollywood. >> denzell washington: i'm the man for the job. >> stahl: and some-- >> al pacino: who-ah! >> stahl: --who are timeless.

>> meryl streep: i'm doing me. >> stahl: in 2011, morley interviewed three-time oscar winner meryl streep. >> safer: and then there's the streep enigma, that hint of a mona lisa smile, or as the italians call the painting, la giaconda. >> streep: is that a snake? what is a giaconda? >> safer: no, you're thinking of an anaconda. it's the mona lisa. ( laughter ) >> streep: okay. fine. sorry. >> stahl: growing up, streep watched old movies, and fell in love with actress katharine hepburn. >> streep: i like girls with attitude, you know, moxie. there's an old word. >> stahl: and naturally, morley had interviewed hepburn, 32 years earlier. >> safer: do you feel like a legend? >> katharine hepburn: i don't think you ever feel like anything. you feel like a bore. >> tina turner: you must be good to me. >> stahl: many of mike's showbiz interviews-- >> kirk douglas: come on, mike! >> stahl: --were in his trademark take-no-prisoners style. >> wallace: you'd love to control this piece. >> barbra streisand: absolutely. are you kidding?

>> stahl: barbra streisand. >> wallace: how many years have you been in psychotherapy, off and on? >> streisand: why do you sound so accusatory? >> stahl: shirley maclaine and her somewhat unconventional ideas. >> wallace: you really believe that you lived lives before? >> shirley maclaine: oh, yes, mike. there is no doubt in my mind about it. >> wallace: and you really believe in extraterrestrials? do they come visit you on the porch? "now you're being unpleasant, wallace," is what you're saying. >> maclaine: yes, this is what i was a little afraid of. but you don't have to be that unpleasant. it doesn't become you, you know? >> johnny carson: cruel, you're cruel. >> stahl: mike was equally direct with the king of late night television, johnny carson, about his past troubles with drinking. >> wallace: there was a time, when-- >> carson: i used to have a little pop, i sure did. i don't handle it well. >> wallace: you and-- really, you don't? >> carson: i don't handle alcohol well at all. no. >> jay leno: where's kroft? kroft, up next. >> stahl: steve interviewed carson's successor, jay leno. >> kroft: do you-- uh... >> stahl: and had a senior moment.

>> kroft: i just lost my train of thought. and i was trying to remember this question i wanted to ask him. >> leno: he's had a stroke. can we stop? i was ready to jump in with the paddles. ♪ ♪ >> stahl: morley hung out with television icon jackie gleason, and played some pool-- nearly beating the great one. >> safer: gleason looked at me. eyes narrowed, ready to kill. and he thought he'd been hustled. >> jackie gleason: hey. hey. >> safer: goodnight, mr. gleason. >> gleason: that little snide remark will cost you. >> safer: of course, at that point, he just cleaned the table. >> gleason: did you like that one, pal? >> safer: please. >> stahl: for whatever reason, musicians often make the best profiles. most of them, like lady gaga, are smart, talented, and-- gaga. >> cooper: what are you wearing today? >> lady gaga: i just didn't want to wear clothes today.

♪ ♪ >> stahl: backstage moments: mick jagger insisted ed try a more rock and roll look. ( laughter ) >> lovely to meet you. >> stahl: bono gave me a back rub. oh, my god, i'm getting a bono massage! are you rolling? >> well, steve, this is our home. >> stahl: there's a "60 minutes" playlist for all sorts of music. >> chris martin: ♪ six feet of snow ♪ oh, christmas lights >> stahl: steve with chris martin of coldplay. ♪ oh, christmas lights >> kroft: you wrote that yesterday? >> martin: yeah, yeah. that's going to be good, though. ♪ ♪ >> stahl: johnny cash and his wife june, 35 years ago, with harry reasoner. >> ♪ and old harry, too. >> you sing harmony? >> no, i can't carry a tune. >> stahl: the story ed and producer ruth streeter did about comedian george burns featured

bradley and burns, the harmony boys. ♪ ♪ ( laughter ) >> adele: ♪ there's a fire >> stahl: and anderson with adele, and the song that put her on the map. >> stahl: and we're indebted to beyonce and company for a backstage interpretation of the "60 minutes" theme song, otherwise known as the stopwatch, to accompany the line "we'll be back with some final thoughts in a moment." >> beyonce: up next. >> join our executive producer for a tour of 60 minutes. >> i can hear mike wallace here. >> go to 60minutesovertime.com. sponsored by ucrisa. for mild-to-moderate eczema? it can be used almost everywhere on almost everybody.

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>> whitaker: here at "60 minutes," we stand on the shoulders of giants. a few thoughts from this relative newcomer, on those who came before. first and foremost: don hewitt. without his drive, his enthusiasm, his uncanny ability to shape an everyday story into something truly memorable, the broadcast would have folded long ago. mike wallace: tough, funny, difficult, the beating heart of "60 minutes." it made his day to walk through an airport and hear people say, as they often did, "give 'em hell, mike." morley safer spent 46 years

here, longer than anyone. a sophisticate right down to his pocket squares, he was a great writer, and a gentleman, in a business populated by a fair number of maniacs. ed bradley. versatile, compassionate. always the coolest guy in the room. when i was growing up, there was hardly anybody who looked like me on television news. and along came ed, paving the way for me and many others. bob simon was proud of the fact that in nearly a half century traveling the world for cbs news, he never missed a single flight. he did his last story with the same curiosity and energy as the first. and finally, andy rooney, who spent 33 years here as the resident grouch. since this was his spot in the broadcast, we cede the floor and let andy speak for himself. >> rooney: i don't like to

complain all the time, but that's what i do for a living. and i'm lucky because there's so much to complain about. public toilets, car mufflers, faucets, fences, cookbooks, the doorknob, christmas catalogs, gloves, cardboard, cats. it wouldn't hurt if we could improve certain parts of what we're like and how we behave. maybe the drug companies could come up with a pill that would cure us of the evil in our nature. things like hate, jealousy, dishonesty, selfishness. and one more thing-- but this may be asking too much-- i wish there was something we could all take to cure us of stupidity. >> whitaker: we close tonight with thanks to the many people who have made "60 minutes" tick over 50 years. to all the producers, editors, studio personnel, camera and sound people and others who contribute to this broadcast each week. we especially thank you, our

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hi, everybody, and welcome to the 50th anniversary celebration of the carol burnett show. i'm not your host, stephen colbert, but i am a lifelong fan of carol burnett. it's hard to explain how huge the carol burnett show was. every saturday night, people didn't go out. they stayed in and watched carol. in fact, when the show ended in the late '70s, they had to invent disco just to give people something to do on weekends. carol felt like a friend or a family member. and we thought we knew her, because, at the top of her show, she used to answer questions from the audience. it was like a press conference, only funny on purpose. ♪