captioning funded by cbs and ford. we go further, so you can. >> since the diagnosis you've never once had that i guess that feeling in your stomach of -- >> oh yeah. >> panic? >> i have feelings sometimes of fear, of what happens. but as soon as i get that, i say wait a minute! wait a minute! you've been around olong time old man. you've had a great life, a great experience. i want, when i leave, that the ceremony is at the naval academy. and we just have a couple of people that stand upper and say this guy, he served his country. >> before you put handcuffs on

someone and take them away, you have got to make sure that you have got your case together. and that the facts add up. >> and in these cases? >> the facts didn't add up. >> the u.s. government has launched aggressive investigations and a greater number of prosecutions to stop the theft of american trade secrets by suspected chinese spies, but we've discovered the dragnet is ensnaring a growing number of americans who aren't spies at all. >> harvard's classes 2018, professional wise crackers. for more than 100 years, this castle in cambridge, part secret society, part writing room has housed the harvard lampoon. which continues to house the greatest >> honestly, smithers, i don't know why harvard even bothers to

show up. >> tonight, we'll take you inside. >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm scott pelley. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm jon wertheim. >> i'm bill whitaker. those stories, tonight, on "60 minutes." allergies with sinus congestion and pressure? you won't find relief here. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray relieves 6 symptoms... claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more.

it's the final days of the ford summer sales event. ♪ there are only a few days left to take advantage of great deals like zero percent financing for sixty months on the built ford tough f-150. so hurry and save big on ford, america's best-selling brand. get zero percent financing for sixty months plus twenty-eight hundred bonus cash on a 2018 f-150 xlt equipped with 2.7 liter ecoboost. ♪ l♪ uh-huh. whoo! f a hand! ♪ tell myself get up and dance! ♪ ♪ so i move my feet ♪ i love all of me cat and jack denim. starting at $8 all season long. ♪ whoo! we have a question about your brokerage fees. fees? what did you have in mind? i don't know. $4.95 per trade? uhhh and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee?

guarantee? where we can get our fees and commissions back if we're not happy. so can you offer me what schwab is offering? what's with all the questions? ask your broker if they're offering $4.95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab. you don't see psoriasis. you see clear skin. you see me. but if you saw me before cosentyx... ♪ i was covered. it was awful. but i didn't give up. i kept fighting. i got clear skin with cosentyx. 3 years and counting. clear skin can last. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you. cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms.

or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. see me now. i'm still clear. how sexy are these elbows? get clear skin that can last. ask your dermatologist about cosentyx.

>> whitaker: yesterday, senator john mccain died four days short of his 82nd birthday. he faced death the way he faced life: with valor, honor, and integrity. john mccain served his country for over 60 years, as a naval officer, a prisoner of war, a congressman, a six-term senator, and a presidential candidate. over that time, he became a national treasure-- occasionally ornery and profane, but a politician who placed principle over party and earned his reputation as a fighter and a maverick. in july 2017, senator mccain learned he had glioblastoma, a deadly and unforgiving brain cancer. our lesley stahl joined him for some straight talk about how he lived his life and faced his death. >> stahl: last summer, he invited us to his ranch just

outside of sedona, arizona, 24 acres of old-growth trees, a family of hawks, and a rippling creek that his dog burma likes to swim in. you know, i'm wondering if, when you're up here, if it's like medicine for you. >> john mccain: oh, yeah. oh, yeah. it puts everything in perspective. >> stahl: he and his wife, cindy, have raised four children. they have survived two grueling presidential campaigns, a battle against melanoma, and now this. you're taking both radiation and chemotherapy? >> john mccain: yep. >> stahl: you look terrific. how is this possible? >> john mccain: i feel fine, and i'm eating everything that she makes me eat, all of which-- none of which is-- >> stahl: is any good? >> john mccain: yeah, exactly. one criteria to feeding people that are under my situation, it has to taste lousy. >> stahl: he has been through so much. >> cindy mccain: uh-huh. >> stahl: i mean, the torture

and the... you were put in solitary confinement? >> cindy mccain: uh-huh. >> stahl: he's always been the indestructible man? >> cindy mccain: uh-huh. >> john mccain: crashed two airplanes. >> stahl: crashing two airplanes and walked away? >> john mccain: yeah. >> stahl: is he still the indestructible man to you? >> cindy mccain: i'm still in disbelief that this actually has happened. and then, i think, you know, cancer chose the wrong guy because, there... it's not going to happen here. >> john mccain: how are you? >> stahl: determined to stay in the arena, senator mccain has resumed his duties in washington. you'd never know it, but he starts his days with chemo and radiation, and then heads to a full day of work, including chairing hearings of the armed services committee. >> john mccain: as leaders of our navy, you must do better. i am more energetic and more engaged as a result of this, because i know that i've got to do everything i can to serve this country while i can. >> stahl: now, you have the same

cancer that ted kennedy had. does what he experienced go through your mind? is it... >> mccain: oh, yeah. i think about ted a lot. ted stayed at his job, kept working, kept going even when he was in a wheelchair. and he never gave up, because he loved the engagement. >> stahl: the senator first learned he had a problem in arizona last july when doctors found a blood clot over his left eye after a routine checkup at the mayo clinic in phoenix. he was driving back to the ranch when he got word. >> john mccain: i was driving up here, and i got about two-thirds of the way up. and my doctor called and said, "you've got to come back." and i said, "hey, today's friday. i'll just come in on monday." and she said, "no, you have to come now. it's very serious." >> stahl: you turned the car around? >> john mccain: uh-huh. >> stahl: and went immediately into surgery? >> john mccain: yes. they thought it was serious

enough that they had to act immediately. >> stahl: and before the blood clot operation, did they mention glioblastoma to you? >> john mccain: yes. but, as you know, doctors are interesting. >> stahl: they cover themselves. >> john mccain: i kept saying to them, "tell it to me straight." "well, there's always this, there's always that." you know, and... and i said, "i can take it. just tell me." and... and then they... they were more forthcoming. >> stahl: five days after the surgery, lab results confirmed he had glioblastoma, the brain cancer that took his life. what did they tell-- tell you about the prognosis? >> john mccain: they said that it's very serious, that the prognosis is very, very serious. some say 3%, some say 14%. you know, it's... it's a very poor prognosis. so, i just said, "i understand.

now we're going to do what we can, get the best doctors we can find and do the best we can," and at the same time celebrate with gratitude a life well lived. >> stahl: was he that tough? >> cindy mccain: yes. he is that tough. >> stahl: just 11 days after his surgery, he returned to washington, against doctors' advice, for the vote to repeal obamacare. you walk out onto the senate floor. you thought it was going to be normal, empty, mostly empty. and the entire senate is there. they stand up. they give you an incredible ovation. what went on, inside-- ? >> john mccain: oh, i got very choked up. and then, of course, you know, all of them coming over and giving me a hug. it was deeply moving. i had never seen anything like that. >> stahl: so, you get all this affection, and then you give them this speech, was kind of

scolding to the people who just stood up and loved you. this was a speech condemning the way the senate has been operating. >> john mccain: we're getting nothing done, my friends. we're getting nothing done, because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. >> stahl: two days later, as the repeal-obamacare vote was under way, mccain was subjected to urgent lobbying by vice president pence and the president himself, over the phone. and yet, at 1:29 a.m., mccain delivered the dramatic and decisive "thumbs down" as a dejected majority leader mitch mcconnell bowed his head. it was a huge defeat for president trump, who has mocked mccain's vietnam war record. >> president trump: he's not a war hero. he's a war hero... he's a war hero, because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured, okay? >> stahl: there are some people

who think that part of your "no" was to get back at the president and that the "thumbs down" was kind of more like a middle finger to him. >> john mccain: if i took offense at everybody who has said something about me or disparaged me or something like that... life is too short. you've got to move on. and on an issue of this importance to the nation, for me to worry about a personal relationship, then i'm not doing my job. >> stahl: but the fact is, his personal relationship with the president had been fraught. last summer, he wrote an op-ed saying the president is "often poorly informed" and "can be impulsive." do you worry that he's not fit for the office? >> john mccain: first of all, i believe in our system. the american people selected donald trump to be president of the united states. we have to respect that. second of all, he has a very strong national security team around him who i know has

significant influence over him. >> stahl: how would you describe how the president is handling his job so far? >> i think he's handling it in a fashion that is unfortunately not predictable. the one thing your friends and your enemies want is a predictable path. lesley, he changes his-- his statements almost on a daily basis. i don't know what he's going to do tomorrow. so... or say tomorrow. >> stahl: did he ever apologize for saying you're not a hero? >> john mccain: no. >> stahl: if the president wanted to have a rapprochement with you, would you be receptive? >> john mccain: of course. of course. i've supported him on national security. i've supported his team... >> stahl: but personal. i'm talking about man to man. >> john mccain: personal? sure, i'd be glad to converse with him. but i also understand that we're very different people. different upbringing. different life experiences. >> stahl: what do you mean by that, and what does it make you think about?

>> john mccain: he is in the business of making money, and he has been successful both in television as well as miss america and others. i was raised in a military family. i was raised in the concept and belief that duty, honor, country is the... is the lodestar for the behavior that we have to exhibit every single day. >> stahl: the son and grandson of four-star admirals, he's the first to admit he's an imperfect man. that's when they captured you. though he made real sacrifices for his country. when you think about your horrible time as a p.o.w., the torture and everything, do you relive it? or has it now faded so much that you can almost see it as if it happened to someone else? >> john mccain: listen, the joy of my life was the bonds that

were forged between me and my fellow p.o.w.s. they were wonderful. we fought together. we loved each other. we would tap on the walls to each other. i look back on that experience with a great deal of pride. >> stahl: do you think that this diagnosis has changed you? >> john mccain: no. >> stahl: not at all. same person? >> john mccain: no, i think you got to... you know, you just have to understand that it's not that you're leaving; it's that you... that you stayed. i celebrate what a guy who stood fifth from the bottom of his class at the naval academy has been able to do. i am so grateful. i... every night, when i go to sleep, i am just filled with gratitude. >> stahl: since the diagnosis, you've never once had that... i guess, that feeling in your stomach of... >> john mccain: oh, yeah. >> stahl: ...panic? >> mccain: oh, no. no. i have feelings sometimes of

fear of what happens. but as soon as i get that, i say, "wait a minute. wait a ( laughs ) minute. you've been around a long time, old man. you've had a great life. you've had a great experience." i want... i want... when i leave, that the ceremony is at the naval academy, and we just have a couple of people that stand up and say, "this guy, he served his country." this is not a bed.

it's a revolution in sleep. the new sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now, from $899, during sleep number's to keep you both comfortable. it even helps with this. so you wake up ready to put your pedal to the metal. and now, all beds are on sale. save 50% on the new sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus 24-month financing on all beds. only for a limited time. sleep number. proven, quality sleep. with its historical records... ancestry's dna test ...you could learn you're from ireland... ...donegal, ireland... ...and your ancestor was a fisherman. with blue eyes. just like you. begin your journey at ancestry.com.

the chili pepper sweat-out. not cool. freezing away fat cells with coolsculpting? now that's cool! coolsculpting safely freezes and removes fat cells with little or no downtime. and no surgery. results and patient experience may vary. some common side effects include temporary numbness, discomfort,and swelling. ask your doctor if coolsculpting is right for you and visit coolsculpting.com today for your chance to win a free treatment. summer's calling. ♪ and our best offers on the 2018 xt5 are ready to move during the made to move summer sales event. these summer offers won't last. visit us by september 4th and get this low-mileage lease on this 2018 xt5 for around $359 per month. visit your local cadillac dealer.

>> whitaker: espionage, orchestrated by china, to rip off american trade secrets and intellectual property, has been declared a national security emergency by the u.s. justice department, costing our economy hundreds of billions of dollars a year. the obama administration launched a new strategy to fight back, with more aggressive investigations and a greater, effort that's intensified under president trump. but, as we first reported in 2016, we've discovered the dragnet isn't just catching chinese spies. it's ensnaring a growing number of americans, who aren't spies at all.

>> xiaoxing xi: it was so urgent. the pounding was so urgent, that i run here to open the door without even being fully dressed. >> whitaker: in may of 2015, the f.b.i. paid an early morning visit to scientist xiaoxing xi at his home in suburban philadelphia. >> xi: so i opened the door, and so i see a lot of people outside. >> whitaker: they have on bulletproof vests? >> xi: yes, they did, yeah, and with guns. >> whitaker: xi was chair of the temple university physics department, but the f.b.i. was convinced he was a spy, passing hi-tech american secrets to china. he was stunned when agents burst in and handcuffed him. did you have any idea what was going on, why they were here? >> xi: no. i had absolutely no idea. so, the very first thing that went through my mind was, "this must be a mistake." >> whitaker: xi couldn't believe this was happening to him in the u.s.

he was born in china and raised during the cultural revolution, a time when families feared an unexpected knock on the door. his father, a government official, was taken away to a forced labor camp. as an adult, xi came to the u.s. to live and work in a free country. why did you become an american citizen? >> xi: my children were born in this country. my home is in this country. my career is in this country. so, it just feels natural that i should become a citizen. >> whitaker: xi established himself as a world leader in the study of superconductors that could help improve m.r.i.s. he managed nine government research projects and more than $1 million in federal funding. so, this is your lab? >> xi: yes. this is one-- >> whitaker: one of your labs. >> xi: --one of my labs, yes. >> whitaker: the arrest had a swift impact. temple told him to stay home. he was removed as the principal investigator of his own research. what's going through your mind? >> xi: so, i was saying to

myself, they're going to put me in jail, and all of these things that i have been working for years, was coming to an end. >> whitaker: so tell me about the day you were arrested. >> sherry chen: my life was turned upside down. >> whitaker: sherry chen's life was also turned upside down when federal prosecutors suspected her of spying for china. she's been a u.s. citizen for two decades, and has devoted her career to public service as a flood forecaster in the state of missouri, and, most recently, with the national weather service in ohio. you were proud of your work? >> chen: yeah, i do, i really put my heart into my work. >> whitaker: chen showed us the award she won for helping to save the city of cairo, illinois from record flooding in the spring of 2011. armed with her forecast, the army corps of engineers blew up a levee and rerouted floodwaters.

what did you feel about that, when cairo was spared? >> chen: i'm proud of that. my knowledge, my work, could really protect the properties, and saving people's lives. >> whitaker: but, three years later, chen says f.b.i. agents marched her out of her office in handcuffs. >> chen: i saw my coworkers all looking through the windows. and watched me being taken away. >> peter zeidenberg: i think prosecutors are feeling pressure to bring these cases. i think investigators are excited about bringing cases that may be high-profile. >> whitaker: attorney peter zeidenberg is a former federal prosecutor who represented both xiaoxing xi and sherry chen. he believes both american citizens are collateral damage in the government's ongoing war against chinese economic espionage. that fear of chinese economic

espionage, it's not unfounded. >> zeidenberg: no, i'm not suggesting that it is. what i'm suggesting is, notwithstanding that fact, before you put handcuffs on someone and take them away, that you have got to make sure that you have got your case together. and that the facts add up. >> whitaker: and in these cases? >> zeidenberg: the facts didn't add up. >> whitaker: xiaoxing xi faced a justice department narrative worthy of a spy thriller. prosecutors accused him of collaborating with various government entities in china, of scheming for years to obtain revolutionary american technology, and emailing photos and blueprints of that technology to the chinese. specifically, this american-made device, called a pocket heater. it's used to make a super-fine coating that maximizes the flow of electricity. in exchange, prosecutors said he would be showered with money, property and prestige in china. >> xi: the very first words

coming out of my mouth was, "that's absurd. that's really absurd." >> whitaker: why? it turns out the device xi was discussing with his chinese academic counterparts wasn't a pocket heater. it was a completely different heating device that xi was developing. he had planned to share it in scientific publications. it was an earlier generation of this one. is this in any way similar to the pocket heater that we have been talking about? >> xi: not at all. it is very different from the pocket heater. >> whitaker: so when it comes to the science, it sounds like the federal investigators flat out got it wrong? >> zeidenberg: that's correct. >> whitaker: and then there's this-- prosecutors alleged that xi's collaboration with chinese scientists was somehow sinister. in reality, it was mandated by one of his grants from the national science foundation. so, your funding was dependent on your working with chinese scientists?

>> xi: yes, yes, yes, yes, absolutely. >> whitaker: so one arm of the government wants you to collaborate, and the other arm of the government says it's a crime? >> xi: indeed, indeed. yes. >> whitaker: yet, he faced 80 years in prison. what was that like? >> xi: it put a lot of stress, and this daily stress sometimes become strikingly unbearable. so, i remember pleading with my family. "let, let's, let's try not to fold. if we hold on, we have the truth-- if we fold, we will have nothing." >> whitaker: four months after xi's arrest, his lawyer peter zeidenberg pointed out the inconsistencies to the u.s. attorney's office in philadelphia.

three weeks later, they dropped the case. zeidenberg sees disturbing parallels with sherry chen's case. so how did she get in trouble? >> zeidenberg: the story started when she went to china to visit her parents. she had a somewhat happenstance meeting with a former classmate of hers, a vice minister in the water ministry. >> whitaker: the vice minister asked chen how the u.s. pays for dam repairs. did you think there was anything, i don't know, secretive about that information? >> chen: it's never crossed my mind. it's not a secret. >> whitaker: when chen got back to ohio, she asked her boss for publicly available information, which she did send to he she also searched this government database. since she wasn't a regular user, chen borrowed a password from her colleague. sharing passwords was common in the office. she never sent information from

the database to china, but federal prosecutors charged chen with illegally accessing and stealing restricted information. prosecutors also charged her with lying about the password. chen initially denied that a colleague had emailed it to her, but she remembered after investigators showed her the email. her colleague, ray davis, initially forgot, too. >> zeidenberg: he wasn't charged with mis-remembering or failing to remember giving her the password. he only remembered it when they showed him the email, and he said, literally, "oh, god, that was almost a year ago. i forgot all about that." >> whitaker: wasn't that sherry's reaction as well? >> zeidenberg: it was. >> whitaker: why the disparate reactions from tovernm fact is, sherry chen is a chinese american, and her colleague was caucasian. and with sherry, everything she did, they looked at as somehow nefarious or somehow corrupt.

>> whitaker: you say it was forgetfulness, and they say it's a lie? >> chen: but to others, it's normal. you can, forgetting something. for me, it's a crime. >> whitaker: chen faced 40 years in prison for lying about the password and accessing the database. the week before the trial, zeidenberg took his case to carter stewart, who was the u.s. attorney for the southern district of ohio. the next day, stewart dropped the charges. in 2016, we found the justice department has won convictions in at least 14 cases related to chinese economic espionage in the previous four years. it had lost one case at trial. charges were dropped against five chinese-born scientists who are american citizens. >> xi: the fact that they would suspect us stealing secrets for china is very offensive. we're american. >> whitaker: more than 40 members of the 114th congress

called on the justice department to conduct an independent investigation of whether xi and chen were targeted because of race. the justice department denied it and didn't speak to us on camera but, in a statement, said, "we investigate and prosecute individuals based on known or suspected criminal activities or threats to national security, not based on race, ethnicity or national origin." chinese theft of american trade secrets is a real problem. >> excuse me, can i help you? >> forgive us. >> whitaker: the f.b.i. made this video to alert agents, prosecutors, and the public. the agency says it's based on real events. >> go, go! f.b.i., f.b.i.! >> there are a ton of ways the government can come at you. >> whitaker: it's all having a chilling effect. some of the most prominent chinese americans started holding seminars around the country to caution scientistsctr

innocent could look like espionage. >> if you're going to take something and give it as part of a talk at beijing university or something, you've got to think twice, because some people might look at that as being nefarious. >> whitaker: a year after her case was dropped, sherry chen was fired from her job for "untrustworthiness," "lack of candor," and other issues stemming from her criminal investigation. so why won't the national weather service give you your job back? >> chen: i don't know. i'm a dedicated worker. i didn't do anything wrong. and i love my job. >> whitaker: in an email, her employer said, "the facts fully support the action taken in this case." chen has appealed.

after spending about $200,000 to clear his name, xiaoxing xi was welcomed back at temple university, though he wasn't reinstated as chair of the physics department. he worries that lingering suspicions could jeopardize future government fundinhe lifeblood of his work. do you think the u.s. government owes you an apology? >> xi: i do think so. i didn't do anything wrong, but my family and myself had to go through this. i think we deserve some kind of apology. and, you know, it's not over, right? the scars from this traumatic experience is so deep that it's going to be with us for the rest of our life. >> whitaker: professor xi is now suing the f.b.i., the justice department, and the n.s.a. for violating his constitutional rights. in may, 3.5 years after her arrest, sherry chen won her job back. a federal judge ordered her

reinstated with back pay plus interest, concluding that chen had been the victim of "gross injustice." the federal government is appealing that decision. >> this cbs sports update is brought to you by ford. twoour-year-old american brie son de chambeau wong by four at bridgeport, new jersey. honolulu, hawaii takes the title shutting out south korea in williams port. visit cbssportshq.com. jim nance reporting from ridgewood. on the built ford tough f-150.

so hurry and save big on ford, america's best-selling brand. get zero percent financing for sixty months plus twenty-eight hundred bonus cash on a 2018 f-150 xlt equipped with 2.7 liter ecoboost. ♪ ♪

no matter when you retire, your income doesn't have to. see how lincoln can help ensure you still have income every month of your retirement, guaranteed, at lincolnfinancial.com. oh, look... another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® works in just one week. with the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to work on fine lines and wrinkles. one week? that definitely works! rapid wrinkle repair®. and for dark spots, rapid tone repair. neutrogena®. see what's possible.

>> wertheim: it sounds like the set-up for a joke-- at an illustrious ivy league university, famous for taking itself seriously, one student magazine's staff devotes itself to publishing parody, pulling pranks, and causing general mayhem.

yet, here's the punchline: 142 years after its founding, the "harvard lampoon" remains as relevant as ever, the wellspring of so much comedy in america today. over the years, the "lampoon" has changed in some ways-- a long-time male preserve, three of its last five presidents have been women. in other ways, it has stayed true to its roots, poking fun at the powerful, including the current occupant of the oval office, the recent victim of a sly "lampoon" prank. while their straight-laced and straight-faced classmates may aspire to become supreme court justices, hedge fund titans, and curers of cancer, for a core group of harvard undergrads, the "lampoon" offers vocational training for careers as comedy writers. as we first reported earlier this year, we got a rare glimpse inside the place and caught up with some of the "lampoon's" cast of characters, past and present. a winter night in cambridge, massachusetts.

as the temperature drops, a line of undergraduates forms outside the castle at 44 bow street. this is the headquarters of the "harvard lampoon," part comedy magazine, part secret society. and these students want in. akin to rushing a fraternity, the pledges are called compers, for the competencies they'll have to demonstrate before landing a spot on the magazine staff and literally scoring keys to the castle. the first test: can they make their upperclassman judges laugh? >> make room for the cameraman, please. >> wertheim: our cameras were invited into the castle library to watch upperclassmen put compers on the spot. and, right off the bat, "lampoon" staffers seized the opportunity to poke fun at us, too. using a fake microphone, they subjected compers to spoof tv news interviews... >> action. so, in the fourth grade-- >> wertheim: ...prodding them to tell their best stories, and playfully reminding them of our presence. >> so, for 30 minutes, i had a bottle of whipped cream with me... >> wait, 30 minutes or "60

minutes?" ( laughter ) >> wertheim: but the real criteria for admission here: applicants must be funny on paper. they submit six pieces of humor writing to be critiqued by "lampoon" members, including liana spiro, the current "lampoon" president. >> liana spiro: it's a whole semester of writing comedy and then having other people earnestly read it, and spend a lot of time, you know, telling you what they think about it. i believe in it strongly. i think people are funnier by the end. >> wertheim: but only the funniest survive. out of about 100 pledges last semester, six compers made the cut. the semester before that, only three. the initiated will see their name on the masthead of the "harvard lampoon," an eclectic periodical full of original illustrations and niche advertising. one recent issue on the theme "just friends"-- those two words no college kid ever wants to hear-- includes a dialogue piece on chance encounters, a comic about phone etiquette, and, in a

typical random beat, an ode to tv meteorologists. the "lampoon" is published five times a year, with a circulation barely extending beyond harvard's gates. members are under no illusions about the magazine's impact. >> spiro: there's a sense here that we are writing the magazine for ourselves, and that no one is reading it. and that, i think actually, is one of the most beautiful things about the "lampoon," that we feel like no one is watching, and we can just dance however we want. >> wertheim: you're doing this for yourself. not the kid across the hall or the kid in the dining hall. >> spiro: yeah. we could print, you know, five copies of the magazine, and it would still be worthwhile, and i think everyone would still be here just as much, trying to be just as funny. >> wertheim: officially, members major in everything at harvard from math to poetry, but the "lampoon" is their real area of concentration. take alice ju, philosophy student and former "lampoon" president. what percent of your time here at harvard is devoted to the "lampoon," versus regular school work? >> alice ju: like, 99% "lampoon" and then 1% sleep, i guess.

and then 0% regular school work. >> wertheim: i'm sure your parents are pleased to hear that. >> ju: yeah. i mean, they've already given up, so. i have a younger sister who will be, like, doing all the right things, while i do this. >> wertheim: most aspire to a career in comedy, and the "lampoon" serves as their first writer's room. just as iron sharpens iron, you might say that here, irony sharpens irony. the "lampoon" has a rich history of deploying that irony in special edition parodies of other publications. name a popular magazine, and be assured it's been the victim of a "lampoon" send-up. this parody of "cosmo," complete with henry kissinger centerfold, endures as a classic in the genre. their latest is an absurdist parody of harvard's daily student newspaper, the "crimson," but that's just the physical product. ( laughter ) pranks-- cooking them up and then carrying them out-- are as much a part of the "lampoon" tradition as actual humor writing. "lampoon" staff invited us to see how it's done. we watched as they fanned out

across campus, taking that parody issue and scheming to swap it out with the real "crimson." it's the kind of thing they live for. >> perfect. >> wertheim: for decades, the "crimson" has been the butt of "lampoon" hijinks. liana spiro's crowning achievement so far: when mark zuckerberg returned to harvard to give a commencement address, she hacked into the "crimson's" website. >> spiro: and we wrote up hundreds of these fake headlines about mark zuckerberg in the silliest comedic tone possible, extremely dumb. basically, the crux of the humor was just changing his name to, like, mink singletock, like, over and over again. ( laughter ) >> wertheim: our amusement went unshared by the harvard "crimson." how upset were they? >> spiro: they were fairly upset. my roommate actually is on the "crimson," and this was the only time that she really was upset at me. she had worked weeks on a very long piece, like 10,000 words about some corner of harvard's administration.

and then i had worked, you know, two hours on some headlines about mink zinkletonk. ( laughter ) but i'm super-pro-pranking them all the time. >> wertheim: every once in a while, the "lampoon" will pull off a prank so bold, it achieves comic glory, and tom waddick, currently a senior, may have set the new standard. this one started late one night. waddick recruited some "lampoon" conspirators to break into the "crimson" headquarters and steal the paper's famous president's chair. it was the summer of 2015, and donald trump had just announced he was going to run for president. pretending to represent the "crimson," waddick contacted the trump campaign and offered up the student newspaper's endorsement. would mr. trump like to pose for the accompanying photo in the "crimson's" chair? >> tom waddick: they say, "this seems like something that mr. trump would be very interested in." >> wertheim: waddick and crew raced from harvard to manhattan and parked a few blocks from trump tower. they lugged the chair in a freight elevator, and made it to the 25th floor.

>> waddick: by the way, the chair's about like 150, 200 pounds, so it takes like two, or three people to carry it anywhere. >> wertheim: with an eye on the chair, trump welcomed students he believed to be "crimson" editors. >> waddick: he was very nice. he had his hair fixed. >> wertheim: while you were there? >> waddick: while we were there they had sort of hairsprayed and combed it over and stuff. and he said, "people don't think my hair is real, but you can all testify, this is very real." >> wertheim: once the cosmetics were complete, it was time to capture the moment. >> waddick: so he said, "everyone do the thumbs up," so we're all doing his sort of signature thumbs up around him. and i was just like "we got it." >> wertheim: not quite. a few days later, as he was preparing to publish the endorsement, waddick received a call from trump's longtime lawyer, michael cohen. the trump campaign realized they'd been had. >> waddick: he says, you know, "i'm going to come up to harvard. you're all going to get expelled. if this photo gets out, you'll be out of that school faster than you know it. i can be up there tomorrow." >> wertheim: what's that like? >> waddick: well, i mean, it was terrifying.

he asked me to send my harvard i.d. so he could have my identity, my information. >> wertheim: did you send it? >> waddick: and i sent it right away. i was so afraid that if i didn't, he might actually be crazy enough to fly up here. >> wertheim: the trump campaign never did follow up. the "crimson," good sports that they are, published the story of the prank later that summer, complete with photo. and with that, tom waddick and company gained a measure of "lampoon" immortality. which is saying something, given the alumni rolls. early generations count everyone from william randolph hearst to george plimpton to john updike. ( applause ) >> what the hell is wrong with you people? ( laughter and applause ) >> wertheim: the modern era produced conan o'brien and colin jost, currently co-anchor of "weekend update" for "saturday night live." but most "lampoon" stars are not stars at all. david mandel, class of '92, has written for shows from "s.n.l." to "seinfeld." he's currently the show runner for hbo's "veep"... >> veep! >> wertheim: ...emmy winner for

outstanding comedy series, three years running. >> david mandel: this is for chubby jews from the upper west side. >> wertheim: what made you want to join the "lampoon"? >> mandel: the building. you kind of, you can't help but notice it. you know, you see a lot of other organizations, you go to a lot of other meetings. and there's this one place that happens to have a castle. it definitely hits you. >> wertheim: it's hard to overstate the importance of the castle. built in 1909 in a style described as "mock-flemish," whatever that means, the exterior almost winks at you, foreshadowing farce. and inside, the great hall. site of "lampoon" parties so legendary, movies have been made about them. >> ( bleep ) party. t great hall, alg with most of the castle, is strictly off limits to non-members. our cameras were not permitted anywhere but the library, no matter how many times we asked. we did, however, track down the unofficial godfather of the place. jim downey, class of '74, cuts a mythical figure within harvard "lampoon" circles.

>> jim downey: the centerfold. >> wertheim: the guy responsible for that kissinger centerfold fondly recalls his late nights at the castle. >> downey: we thought it was the funniest thing on earth to pointlessly put the word "frankly" into any answer to a question. so it could be like, "what bus goes up tenth avenue?" "frankly, the m-11." or, "what planet has the most eccentric orbit?" "frankly, mercury." you know, it's just-- see? i mean, you're laughing. >> wertheim: downey made a career of mining humor from the mundane. frankly, he has also written some of the most enduring political satire of the last 40 years. >> ...to sum up in a single word, the best argument for his candidacy. governor bush? >> strategery. ( laughter ) >> wertheim: for decades, downey's sketches cold-opened "saturday night live." yet, ask jim downey about his most memorable moment in comedy, and he hearkens back to january

of 1974, when he and the "lampoon" invited john wayne to campus and it became news. >> walter cronkite: the "lampoon" challenged conservative wayne to come to harvard. >> wertheim: wayne not only accepted, he rode through town on a tank that downey and accomplices had borrowed from a nearby military installation. you still recall the party that night? >> downey: it's traditional for people to get up and dance on the table, and wayne was right up there, with, with-- didn't have to be coaxed. >> wertheim: downey's most lasting contribution? he opened an employment pipeline, hiring and referring countless "lampoon" alumni who now fill writers' rooms at shows from "curb your enthusiasm" to "silicon valley." al jean, class of '81, came through the downey pipeline and now runs "the simpsons," the longest-running comedy in television history. half his writing staff is former "lampoon." so it is that more than a few subversive references to their alma mater make their way into "simpsons" episodes. >> i'm in! >> maybe i'll get a little respect once i get that harvard diploma.

>> al jean: i'll be honest, i read scripts to hire people, and-- i'll read a script and i'll go, "oh, that's great." and then i'll look at the background of the person, and i'll go, "oh, no, 'lampoon.' i didn't want to hire another one." >> wertheim: why, "oh, no?" >> jean: well, because i want the show to be much more diverse. >> wertheim: you're not actively seeking out "lampoon" alumni? >> jean: never, never actively. >> wertheim: we found a motley crew when we visited the castle last year, but the "lampoon" pipeline to tv writers' rooms has been called a mafia, one that favors "lampoon" alumni to the exclusion of more diverse voices. >> spiro: when alumni come back, they're almost all men. sometimes they all feel like clones of each other. it's like, white men of varying ages who are into comedy, and you just feel like, "none of these people look like me." >> wertheim: what do we do about that? >> spiro: i think just, like, saying to the world that we've noticed that we're not diverse. and that "we aren't happy with that and want to change," could do a lot. >> wertheim: back in hollywood, david mandel is watching, and reading, this current generation. he has two pieces of sage

advice. >> mandel: make me laugh. that's all i care about. make me laugh. is it funny? and then, just kind of hoping that the undergrads don't burn the place down. >> wertheim: you're carrying the torch now. your job is not to burn down this place. >> spiro: yes. >> wertheim: can you handle that challenge? >> spiro: well, the fire alarm has gone off... four times in the last year, so that would indicate, perhaps no. but the "lampoon" is still standing, so we'll see. >> for a look at how 60 minutes reports its stories -- as well as interviews with correspondents and producers, go as interviews with correspondents and producers, go to 60minutesovertime.com. for brokerage accounts. intros and zero minimums to open an account. we have fidelity mutual funds with zero minimum investment. and now, only fidelity offers two zero expense ratio index funds directly to investors.

because when you invest with fidelity, all those zeros really add up. ♪ so maybe i'll win, saved by zero ♪ but he has plans today.ain. up. hey dad. so he took aleve. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill.

>> kroft: i'm steve kroft. we'll be back next week with another edition of "60 minutes." tomorrow, be sure to watch "cbs this morning." ♪ let me give myself a han♪! ♪ uh-huh. whoo! ♪ ♪ tell myself get up and dance! ♪ ♪ so i move my fee♪. ♪ i love all of me. ♪ 50 cent school supplies, all season long. ♪ whoo! ♪ money managers are pretty much the same. all but while some push high commission investment products, fisher investments avoids them. some advisers have hidden and layered fees. fisher investments never does. and while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management.

can be used almost everywhere on almost everybody. like the fingers of a flight attendant. the side of a super hero. or the leg of a life guard. eucrisa is a prescription ointment that blocks overactive pde4 enzymes within your skin. blocking pde4 is believed to reduce inflammation. and it's steroid free. do not use if you are allergic to eucrisa or its ingredients. allergic reactions may occur at or near the application site. the most common side effect is application site pain. ask your doctor about eucrisa.

captioning funded by cbs and ford. we go further, so you can. captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> announcer: previously on "big brother," with fessy in control of the house. >> go, fessy! >> hoh boy, i'm coming for you. >> announcer: he wanted the virgin out. >> i don't trust scottie because he's been in the midst of all the vote flipping, then you mix that with him trying to pin me and haleigh against each other. it is time for scottie to go. >> announcer: looking to strengthen his ranks, fessy pitched tyler on a new alliance. >> me you, angela and haleigh. put our difference aside and say let's make it to top five, top four, whatever and bestman win at the end. >> announcer: and the hilton head hotties played along. >> i'm really glad we are having this conversation.