captioning funded by cbs and ford. we go further, so you can. >> tonight a rare interview with the chairman of the federal reserve, jerome powell. on the health of the u.s. economy, interest rates, and the threat of cyber attacks. >> i would say of the risks that we face, that certainly is the largest one. >> we also talked with his two predecessors. i wonder what kind of advice you've given chairman powell about the withering criticism that you might get from the public, congress, business, the president. >> what we saw after president trump was elected was the most energized citizenry around civil liberties and civil rights that i have ever seen. be right back. >> that's what democracy looks with moderate to severe crohn's disease, like. >> the a.c.l.u. has been flooded

i was there, just not always where i needed to be. with new money an members. and it's using controversial new tactics like an ad opposing the is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. kavanaugh nomination. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms its former director isn't pleased. of crohn's disease after trying other medications. >> for the a.c.l.u. of all and the majority of people on humira organizations to be complicit in saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission converting accusations into in as little as 4 weeks. convictions without a trial... humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, >> i'm excited. including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, >> we have been following a cutting edge clinical trial at and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, the national institutes of and new or worsening heart failure. health using gene therapy on a before treatment, get tested for tb. brutally painful disease, tell your doctor if you've been to areas sickle-cell anemia. you'll hear the surprising where certain fungal infections are common, results that one day may lead to and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, cures for thousands of other are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. diseases. >> to see that emerging not just don't start humira if you have an infection. as hoped for advances for, but real data showing cures for people. >> you is just cuesed the "curing" word. you're willing to say that? >> this looks like a cure.

>> >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm scott pelley. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm jon lapook. >> i'm bill whittaker. those stories tonight on "60 minutes." ♪ i can do more to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. to activate my body to release it,licity onca like it's supposed to. trulicity is not insulin. it starts acting in my body from the first dose and continues to work when i need it, 24/7. trulicity is an injection to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes >> stahl: the american civil when used with diet and exercise. liberties union-- the a.c.l.u.-- don't use it as the first medicine to treat diabetes, has been a thorn in the side of government for the nearly 100 or if you have type 1 diabetes years, since it was created. or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take trulicity if you or your family with its unflinching devotion to the bill of rights, it has have medullary thyroid cancer, you're allergic to trulicity, angered just about everyone by or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. representing violent criminals, communists, and famously, in stop trulicity and call your doctor right away skokie, illinois, neo-nazis-- if you have symptoms of a serious allergic reaction,

always insisting that if rights or severe stomach pain. don't apply to everyone, they serious side effects may include pancreatitis. apply to no one. a.c.l.u. lawsuits and friend of taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin the court briefs have won huge increases your low blood sugar risk. expansions of rights in this common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, country-- miranda warnings from abdominal pain, and decreased appetite. police, access to contraception, these can lead to dehydration, internet privacy, inter-racial which may worsen kidney problems. and same-sex marriage. i choose once-weekly trulicity to activate my within. and yet, the a.c.l.u. has always if you need help lowering your a1c, been something of a pariah-- ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. being called a "card-carrying member" suggests being to the left of the left. thanksmrs. murphy. unitedhealthcare, hi, i need help getting an appointment with my podiatrist. but in the trump era, that thorn in the side of power has found how's wednesday at 2? new power, and you'll be i csday a10? agility. surprised at the direction it's taking. >> a-c-l-u we are here; we stand with you! m how about the 28th at 3? a-c-l-u >> stahl: january 28, 2017. donald trump had been president for a week and a day when the itasier get thearhen ed idulins a.c.l.u. scored its first legal victory against him--

>> thank you, a.c.l.u. lawyers! >> stahl: they won a temporary injunction against the seresto, serjake...eresto. president's order banning seresto, seresto, seresto. travelers from seven majority- whatever your dog brings home to you, muslim countries, the night it shouldn't be fleas and ticks. after he signed it. seresto gives your dog 8 continuous months a.c.l.u. executive director anthony romero looked a bit of flea and tick protection stunned by the crowd. in an easy-to-use, non-greasy collar. >> anthony romero: i've come out seresto, seresto, seresto. of many courthouses. i have never come out of a courthouse where there were ohh no, jake. 3,000 people who spontaneously seresto. amassed. 8-month. seresto, seresto, seresto. so, we want to thank you, very, very much. cheeri ) >> stahl: am i correct that soon thereafter you started to see bumps in your membership? [indistinct conversation] >> romero: there were almost 400,000 new members just on that one weekend, after the muslim ban. >> trump: we are also taking strong measures to protect our nation. [friend] i've never seen that before. >> stahl: at president trump's ♪ first address to congress, some senators and congressmen wore blue a.c.l.u. ribbons, that also ♪ turned up on hollywood red i have... ♪ >> romero: that was new. >> stahl: that was definitely new. >> romero: yeah. >> david cole: what we saw after

president trump was elected was the most energized citizenry around civil liberties and civil rights that i have ever seen. >> stahl: david cole is the a.c.l.u.'s national legal director. >> cole: we had all these people coming to us, newly joining the a.c.l.u. and wanting to engage. not wanting just to write a check or push a button, but wanting to actually take action in defense of liberty. >> stahl: you owe it all to donald trump. >> cole: exactly. he has reminded people of the importance of standing up and defending liberty. >> stahl: the a.c.l.u. senior staff saw membership nearly quadruple, and online donations came pouring in. how much? >> pelley: friday's surprisingly >> romero: over $120 million in the first year. weak job creation numbers wereas >> stahl: what? $120 million in the first year slowing. after trump was elected? economists and the president will debate whether the federal that was 25 times the previous reserve is the reason. year's number. did you think that was going to the chair of the federal reserve happen? >> romero: never. is arguably the most powerful >> lawyer: we have won every person handling our economy. single one of those motions.

but, interviews with the head of the fed are rare. money to wor hirin chairman jerome powell was and filing lawsuit after lawsuit appointed to the board of against the administration-- governors by president obama and 115 of them, so far. was elevated last year to chairman by president trump. >> cole: so we sued him over the since then, the fed has raised muslim ban. we've sued him over family separation. interest rates four times, we sued him over the adding-- leading mr. trump to call the citizenship question to the federal reserve "crazy." census. last week, at the fed's >> stahl: are you busier than headquarters in washington, we you've ever been against an administration? asked powell about interest >> cole: i think without rates, whether the president can question. fire him, and what he believes >> faiz shakir: one, two, three! are the greatest threats to >> people power! prosperity. >> stahl: but the a.c.l.u. did have you stopped raising rates? more than file lawsuits. >> jerome powell: well, that's a good question. it set out to turn all those we see the economy as in a good place. people wanting to take action we t tfaon into a grass-roots civil inflation is muted, and our liberties army called "people policy rate, we think, is in an power," modeled after a group appropriate place. so what we've said is that we would be patient. that might seem an unlikely >> pelley: what does patient mean? source of inspiration for the >> powell: patient means that we a.c.l.u.-- the n.r.a., the don't feel any hurry to change national rifle association. our interest rate policy. you're looking to the n.r.a. for what-- what's happened in the guidance? ( laughs ) last 90 or so days is that we've >> romero: yeah.

>> stahl: come on. seen increasing evidence of the the a.c.l.u. and the n.r.a.? global economy slowing down, >> romero: we're very different. although our own economy has continued to perform well. >> stahl: no kidding. >> romero: we believe in the regulation of firearms. >> pelley: where do you see they focus on one amendment. weakness in the u.s. economy? i've got the rest of them. but there's a lot we can learn >> powell: generally speaking, from them. the u.s. economy is coming off a very strong year last year. >> stahl: as a.c.l.u. political we had growth, just a touch-- director, faiz shakir has been higher than 3%. in charge of implementing some we have high levels of employment, low levels of of the n.r.a.'s lessons. unemployment, wages are moving up. what is it in their model that consumer confidence is high, you like? business confidence is high. >> shakir: they're building civic society around their we've seen a bit of a slowing, issue. you go to gun clubs and gun but i would say the principal shows, even p.t.a. meetings and risks to our economy now seem to church meetings, with your be coming from slower growth in fellow activists. and i think that is china and europe, and also risk events, such as brexit. inspirational in some regards for us, to think about >> pelley: a record seven mobilizing your issues as a-- as million amanhale a lifestyle. behind on their car payments. >> stahl: and, as the deciding never happened before. factor at the ballot box. what do you make of that? just as the n.r.a. built a bloc >> powell: car sales have been quite high for a number of of gun rights voters, theanloc c years. so, the whole body of outstanding auto loans is much larger than it was. rights a voters. i think it also, though, shows that not everyone is their slogan-- "vote like your experiencing this widespread rights depend on it."

prosperity that we have. but they're not taking and that's something we pay everything from the n.r.a. attention to as well. playbook. >> romero: what is different is >> pelley: retail sales declined in december, the fastest pace that we don't pick a candidate. since 2009. we don't give money to a candidate. are these things, taken we don't have a pac. together, suggesting that the >> stahl: that's because the a.c.l.u. has a strict and long- system is blinking red? >> powell: there's also standing policy of non- evidence, by the way, that partisanship-- never supporting spending has popped back up in january. a political party, and never but we'll-- that's a endorsing or opposing any surprisingly weak reading, and candidate for elective office. we'll be watching the next month's reading shortly. the idea is to remain free to >> pelley: but the overarching challenge anyone in government question is, are we headed to a recession? whose actions violate civil liberties. >> powell: i think growth this year will be slower than last >> we're calling about amendment four... year. last year was the highest growth >> stahl: so, as the a.c.l.u. that we've experienced since the dove into the fall midterm financial crisis, really in more than ten years. elections with more funds and fight than ever... this year, i expect that growth, continuebele federal res cagned forlot system was createdco aia initiatives in several states to expand voting rights, a longtime a.c.l.u. goal. s mission is to create mimum >> shakir: i want to move to races real quick. >> stahl: but shakir's team also employment, while keeping inflation under control. got involved in two governor's

you mentioned growth last year being slightly over 3%. races, leading to complaints they violated their own policies. that was with the tax cut, and with unemployment in this in kansas, then-secretary of country at a rate that we state kris kobach, a president haven't seen in decades. trump ally who the a.c.l.u. had is that the best the economy can sued several times, alleging do now? voter suppression, was in a are the days of 4% growth over? tight five-way race for governor. >> powell: you can break it down >> kris kobach took an oath to into a couple of things. uphold the constitution, and one is, how fast is the labor force growing? then, as secretary of state, he and the other part is, how fast was held in contempt of court is productivity growing? for refusing. >> stahl: the a.c.l.u. ran tv the labor force, back when we used to have 4% and 5% growth ads and sent mailers critical of kobach's record. years, the labor force was growing quickly, 2.5%, 3% in >> ...threatening children with disabilities. some cases, back in the '60s and '70s. regardless of who you vote for we have an older population now, on november 6, we the people and our labor force is growingy. must demand that politicians respect the rule of law. the a.c.l.u. does not endorse or oppose candidates. sustain the kinds of growth >> stahl: here's what i smile rates that we had when at. >> shakir: yes. population and the labor force >> stahl: you have that ad. was growing more quickly. you tell the voters of kansas >> pelley: so 4% is something we all the things that you strongly shouldn't expect in the future? disagree with about him. >> powell: there will be years of 4% growth. and then at the bottom it says, but it would be... it would be "we don't endorse candidates."

>> shakir: yes, that's right. challenging to see sustained 4% growth, again, because of the we are also advertising to slow growth of the workforce. people that we are a nonpartisan organization, that we don't endorse and oppose candidates. so when you watch an issue-- >> pelley: powell's experience >> stahl: it's like a wink thing. in the workforce is a privileged ha, ha, we don't endorse-- >> shakir: i don't think it is a one. wink thing. princeton led to georgetown law, >> it was the most horrific day which led to a wall street of my life. hl: in geo addicted to drugs. career that made him a multi- millionaire. now, as chairman, he's been governor's race, the a.c.l.u. ran an ad touting democrat raising rates in tiny increments to control inflation. stacey abrams' record on but the president thinks he's criminal justice. gone too far. >> and stacey abrams will end >> trump: no, i think the fed is dependence on private prisons, saving millions that could instead be used for treatment. making a mistake. they're so tight. >> we were so destroyed as a family. i think the fed has gone crazy. >> a.c.l.u. does not endorse or oppose candidates. >> powell: i don't think it would be appropriate for me to >> ira glasser: they ran an ad comment on other elected which you could show to 1,000 officials, or on the president. people, and 1,000 people would say, if you asked them, "oh, >> pelley: isn't it your duty to that's a political ad for stacey respond, when the president abrams." calls the fed a "much bigger >> stahl: ira glasser spent problem than china?" >> powell: my duty is one that 34 years at the a.c.l.u.-- 23 of congress has given us, which is them as executive director. to use our tools to achieve maximum employment and stable he believes the a.c.l.u.'s prices, and to supervise and involvement in candidate races regulate banks so that they haos treat their customers fairly and partisanship, and he's concerned

enough about it to so that they're strong, well-pim speak out. their critical function in good >> glasser: i think it's strategically weakening its times and bad. that's my job. mission. >> pelley: can the president fire you? the best strategy of protecting >> powell: well, the law is civil liberties is not to be partisan. clear that i have a four-year >> stahl: the current leadership term. and i fully intend to serve it. of the a.c.l.u. would say, what >> pelley: so no, in your view? >> powell: no. they're really doing is just >> pelley: how independent is the fed? telling you where stacey abrams stands on issues, and where her who do you answer to? opponent-- >> glasser: no, but that's not what they're doing. >> powell: we are directed to there's nobody could look at take, to execute policy, in a that ad and not think it was a campaign ad for stacey abrams. strictly non-political way, it was. serving all americans, and that's what we do. look, we are living in a time we are independent, in that now where trump has made it a sense. our decisions on rates can't be cultural habit to say-- to do reversed by any other part of government. something and then, while you're doing it, deny that you're doing our accountability runs through it. so the fact that they deny it is mmtees ined representatives and just dissembling, it's just-- ress. it's just, you know-- dishonest. >> pelley: traditionally, chairs of the fed don't do interviews. >> stahl: ira glasser says that their words can upend markets.ky this is a key principle of the a.c.l.u., not to get involved with candidates. ben bernanke on "60 minutes" he thinks you crossed a line. during the great recession. >> cole: he's welcome to his views, and we'll defend hist tod recently, we assembled bernanke, his successor, janet yellen, and powell.

and i wonder what kind of advice you've given chairman powell whether the government is going about the withering criticism that you might get from the to respect civil liberties or public, congress, business, the violate civil liberties. president? >> ben bernanke: well, i kept and so why would you not ask the on my desk a quotation from abraham lincoln to the effect citizenry to think about that issue when they are choosing who that, "if you're right, it won't matter what they say. they want in office? if you're wrong, it won't matter what they say." >> romero: it would be almost so the best thing to do is to malpractice if, in this moment, make what you believe is the right call. we said, "oh, we're not going to >> pelley: chair yellen, what advice did you give to chairman engage the political process powell? >> janet yellen: we worked because we're afraid of being called partisan." together closely, and i knew when our issues are at play, that he knew everything that one like immigrants' rights, and voting rights, and reproductive needs to be a successful chair-- rights, and l.g.b.t. rights, we to be inclusive in decision- have an affirmative obligation to step up. making, to bring many voices to the table, to listen carefully. >> stahl: but glasser says >> powell: being in this role is they're stepping up too much, a very humbling thing. putting progressive politics and you learn to listen to other aheaieconcerns-- like the people's perspectives pretty well. presumption of innocence. >> pelley: powell listens to a lot of perspective in the fed's boardroom. case in point-- the a.c.l.u.'s the federal open market decision to oppose brett committee sets interest rates. kavanaugh's supreme court nomination...

>> christine blasey ford: you've had four interest rate i believed he was going to increases in your tenure. rape me. >> stahl: ...based on christine i wonder, were any of those blasey ford's allegation of unanimous? sexual assault and kavanaugh's response. >> powell: they were all unanimous. >> pelley: all four? the a.c.l.u. bussed and flew in >> powell: that's not to say that we don't have vigorous discussions, and a range of large numbers of women to perspectives. capitol hill to lobby key >> pelley: the fed wants to senators and ran an ad in four maintain inflation at 2%, about where it is now. states, insinuating kavanaugh's but powell told us he's guilt by association. flexible-- to a point. >> we've seen this before, if the inflation rate rises denials from powerful men. >> clinton: i did not have something over 2% for a limited period of time, that doesn't sexual relations with that woman. mean the fed's going to jump on the brakes? >> powell: i think we wouldn't >> cosby: i've never seen anything like this. >> kavanaugh: i categorically overreact to inflation modestly and unequivocally deny the allegation against me by dr. above 2% any more than we ford. overreacted to inflation >> america is watching. modestly below 2%. oppose the confirmation of i think we'll always be moving judge kavanaugh. >> stahl: we've heard criticism inflation back to 2% with our policy. that the a.c.l.u. would oppose but i think we do that in a someone on an unproven charge. >> pelley: it's taken nearly a decade to worry about inflation you're usually defendieople again. when there's an unproven charge. the collapse in the 2008 >> cole: right. financial crisis was the worst and if the question was whether since the great depression. brett kavanaugh should go to

mortgage fraud on a massive jail, we would have defended him. but the question was not whether he should go to jail. scale caused the dow to fall 54% the question was whether he should be appointed to one of and unemployment to rise to 10%. the most powerful positions in taxpayers were force government, for life. >> stahl: this wasn't a criminal out reckless wall street excess. trial. it wasn't even a civil trial. it was a job interview. back then, tighter restrictions >> glasser: i agree with the were imposed on banks. fact that it was a job interview and not a criminal trial, but but now, powell and congress are loosening those rules. we're talking about the a.c.l.u. are american banks safe today? taking out a million dollars' worth of ads, arguing that an >> powell: the american banking accusation was the equivalent of system is much, much stronger a finding of guilt. and more resilient than it was for the a.c.l.u., of all before the financial crisis. organizations, to be complicit particularly the largest banks in-- in the national pastime now have double or more the amount of converting accusations into of capital, which is to say, convictions without a trial-- resources to absorb losses. in addition, we've required them >> stahl: ira glasser, who had to undergo resolution planning your job for many years... >> romero: a great director. o, which doesn'volve a taxpay >> stahl: he has said that the bailout. changes that have come about >> pelley: but in 2007, the fed recently under your leadership are short-sighted, and may missed the reckless, criminal undermine the credibility of banking that was happening. this organization. >> romero: i think he gets it

how do you know today that the wrong. we're more relevant now than banks are safe? we've ever been. >> powell: we spent ten years we're more impactful than we've ever been. i think that's a sign of our analyzing, understanding what success, that we are willing to went wrong, and trying to correct it. take kind of on new tactics and new strategies, even as we >> pelley: a collapse of the remain true to the core financial system like we saw in principles. 2008 cannot happen again? >> shakir: yeah, look at that! ( cheers ) >> stahl: on election night in >> powell: "cannot" is a strong statement. november, all the voting rights measures the a.c.l.u. fought for passed. you know, i would say that our ( cheers ) system is vastly more resilient. and in kansas, kris kobach was >> pelley: how concerned are you defeated. but, victory didn't silence the about either criminals, or more criticism. importantly, hostile nations, three a.c.l.u. state affiliates attacking our banking system have gone on record opposing through the computer system? what one called the "abandonment >> powell: we devote very large of non-partisanship," and amounts of time and resources to "turning the a.c.l.u. into an protect the fed, but also to advocacy organization." do you see yourself now as a protect financial institutions critic of the a.c.l.u.? and the financial markets. >> glasser: no, i see myself as the banks we supervise are a critic of some of what the required to have plans in place a.c.l.u. is doing. the a.c.l.u. probably still does and state of the art, you , more good work on issues i care about than any organization in america.

the sacred importance of their primary mission, and there's i just hit on the thing that keeps you up at night. nobody else to do it. >> powell: i would say, of the risks that we face, that certainly is the largest one. >> stahl: political director >> pelley: it's become your top priority. faiz shakir recently announced >> powell: the kinds of risks his departure from the a.c.l.u. that we faced in the financial his new job-- bernie sanders' crisis are very real, but we campaign manager. know, i think, generally what to do there. cyber is a relatively new kind of a risk with nation state actors, and it's one where-- the playbook is still being developed in real time. >> welcome to cbs sports hq presented by progressive insurance. >> i'm greg gumbel in new york. >> pelley: powell told us about one week from selection sunday, another risk, hidden in our economy. and the field of 68 is beginning to fill up. it includes an estimated half a earlier today on cbs in college million workers who've given up basketball, bradley overcame an 18-point second-half deficit to looking for jobs. win the missouri valley >> powell: we have an unusually conference title. gardner-webb is going to their large number of people in their first ncaa tournament after prime working years who are not winning the big south in the labor force. championship. the united states has a lower and in the atlantic sun, liberty knocked of labor force participation rate than almost every other advanced tournament ticket since 2013. country. that is not our self-image as a country. m . >> pelley: where did these

people go, who are no longer -i'm not calling him "dad." looking for work? -oh, n-no. >> powell: part of it is -look, [sighs] i get it. evolving technolog some new guy comes in helping your mom bundle and save with progressive, requires rising skills on the part of the people. but hey, we're all in this together. u.s. educational attainment has right, champ? not moved up as rapidly as it -i'm getting more nuggets. has in other countries. -how about some carrots? globalization's also a factor. you don't want to ruin your dinner. -you're not my dad! for many advanced economies, -that's fair. manufacturing to some extent, overstepped. has moved into developing countries. so for whatever reason, and the opioid crisis is related to, i think, to those other factors. >> pelley: the opioid crisis? >> powell: the opioid crisis is millions of people. they tend to be young males. and it's a very significant problem. and it's part of a larger picture. >> pelley: you seem to be talking about part of this generation being lost. >> powell: that is the issue. when you have people who are not taking part in the economic life but when i started seeing things, of a country in a meaningful i didn't know what was happening... way, who don't have the skills

so i kept it in. he started believing things that weren't true. and aptitudes to play a role, or who are not doing so because of i knew something was wrong... because they're addicted to but i didn't say a word. drugs, or in jail, then in a during the course of their disease sense, they are being left around 50% of people with parkinson's behind. may experience hallucinations or delusions. >> pelley: still, these are not bad days to be chair of the fed. but now, doctors are prescribing nuplazid. unemployment is near a 50-year the only fda approved medicine... low, wages are growing at a pace proven to significantly reduce of more than 3%, and if the hallucinations and delusions expansion lasts another three related to parkinson's. don't take nuplazid if you are allergic to its ingredients. months, it will be the longest nuplazid can increase the risk of death in history at ten years. in elderly people with dementia-related psychosis how long can it last? and is not for treating symptoms >> powell: i would just say, unrelated to parkinson's disease. there's no reason why it can't continue. nuplazid can cause changes in heart rhythm >> pelley: for years? >> powell: eventually, and should not be taken if you have certain expansions come to an end. abnormal heart rhythms or take other drugs the business cycle has not been repealed. that are known to cause changes in heart rhythm. but i would say there's no reason why this economy cannot tell your doctor about any changes in medicines you're taking. continue to expand. the most common side effects are swelling of the arms and legs and confusion. we spoke up and it made all the difference. ask your parkinson's specialist about nuplazid. >> cbs money watch sponsored by the capital one saver card. what's in your wallet? morhave discoveredour their irish roots. >> good evening. which means your smiling eyes, might be irish too. a boeing technical team is

headed to ethiopia after the order ancestrydna, deadly crash of a new 737-8 max and find the surprises in you. just $59 through march 18th. jetliner. president trump's budget get your kit today. tomorrow is expected to boost military spending and cut domestic priorities. and the longest bull market in history begins its 11th year monday. i'm elaine quijano, cbs news. ♪ tto harrison, the wine tcollection.. to craig, this rock.

the redwoods to the redheads. the rainbows to the proud. i leave these things to my heirs, all 39 million of you, on one condition. that you do everything in your power to preserve and protect them. with love, california. dearest britain. we love you. maybe it's your big hearts. your sense of style. welcome to ba100. (ba100, you're clear for take-off). how you follow your own path. you've led revolutions... of all kinds. yet you won't shout about it. it's just not in your nature. instead, you'll quietly make history. cake. beds. poetry. trouble. love! hope! and rather a lot of tea. the best of britain, from the moment you step on board.

>> lapook: nearly 20 years ago, scientists stunned the world when they announced they had decoded the genes that make up a human being. they hoped to use that genetic blueprint to advance something called gene therapy, which locates and fixes the genes responsible for different diseases. now, a clinical trial at the national institutes of health is doing exactly that in an attempt to cure sickle cell anemia-- a devastating genetic disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year. for the past 15 months, we've been following the scientists, and patients, who are ushering in a genetic revolution. >> jennelle stephenson: i'm excited.>>tephenoday ithe big day. >> lapook: it's the day after christmas, 2017, and 27-year-old jennelle stephenson has come with her father and brother from ida nio institutes of health, just outside washington, d.c.

>> jennelle stephenson: good morning. >> dr. john tisdale: good morning. >> lapook: she's one of a small group of patients to receive an infusion containing altered d.n.a. >> nurse: this is what they look like. >> jennelle stephenson: merry christmas to me. >> brother: best christmas present ever. >> jennelle stephenson: yay. >> lapook: the clear liquid in the bag contains jennelle's stem cells, that have been genetically modified. >> dr. tisdale: there are about 500 million in there. >> jennelle stephenson: oh, my goodness. >> lapook: the hope is the new d.n.a. in the cells will cure jennelle of sickle cell anemia-- a brutal disease that causes debilitating pain. at its worst, on a scale of zero to ten, how bad was your pain? >> jennelle stephenson: we can go beyond a ten. it's terrible, it's horrible. >> lapook: pain where? >> jennelle stephenson: everywhere. my back, my shoulders, elbows, arms, legs, even my cheekbones, just pain. >> lapook: can you actually describe it?: 's aleeike bonerushing

releasistantl >> lapook: pain from sickle cell can occur anywhere blood circulates. that's because red blood cells, normally donut-shaped, bend into an inflexible sickle shape, causing them to pile up inside blood vessels. the resulting traffic jam prevents the normal delivery of oxygen throughout the body, leading to problems that include bone deterioration, strokes and organ failure. the gene that causes sickle cell anemia evolved in places like sub-saharan africa, because it protects people from malaria. there, millions have the disease, and it's estimated more than 50% of babies born with it die before the age of five. >> dr. glassberg: right on the bone there? it affects 100,000 people-- mostly african americans. for jennelle, having the disease as a child often meant spending christmas in the hospital.

as an adult, she struggled through pain to complete college, but keeping a job was tough because something as simple as walking up stairs could trigger "a pain crisis." do you have friends who've died from sickle cell? >> jennelle stephenson: i do. yes, younger than me. >> lapook: and you've known this your whole life growing up? >> jennelle stephenson: right. >> lapook: that you could potentially die early? >> jennelle stephenson: right. yes. >> lapook: did you think you would die early? >> jennelle stephenson: i did, actually. when i hit about 22, i was like, "you know, i'm-- for a sickle celler, i'm kind of middle-aged right now." >> lapook: what are some of the things that you've always wanted to do that you couldn't do? >> jennelle stephenson: honestly, everybody laughs at me for this-- i just want to run, to be honest. >> lapook: things that most people would take for granted. >> jennelle stephenson: just basic things. >> lapook: one of the most cruel parts of the disease, jennelleh, is being accused of faking pain to get narcotics, being labeled a "drug-seeker." during one trip to the emergency department, when she fell to the

floor in pain, a doctor refused to help her. >> jennelle stephenson: and i'm looking up at her, and i'm in tears, and, i'm like, "i'm doing the best that i can." >> lapook: and you've got to be thinking... >> jennelle stephenson: i just, sometimes i don't understand, i don't get it. like, sorry. i'm in so much pain, and you think i just want some morphine. and it just makes me sad that some people in the medical community just don't get it. >> dr. francis collins: so this would be my lab. >> lapook: dr. francis collins is director of the national institutes of health, the largest biomedical research he oversees budget that funds more than 400,000 researchers world-wide. >> clinton: dr. collins, please come up to the lectern. the n.i.h. in 2000 when he made

a landmark announcement: after a decade of work, scientists had finally decoded the genes that make up a human being. >> dr. collins: today, we celebrate the revelation of the first draft of the human book of life. >> lapook: when did it all start for you? >> dr. collins: i got excited about genetics as a first-year medical student. a pediatric geneticist came to teach us about how genetics was relevant to medicine. and he brought patients to class, and one of the first patients he brought was a young man with sickle cell disease who talked about the experience of sickle cell crises and how incredibly painful those are. and yet, it was all because of one single letter in the d.n.a. that is misplaced, a "t" that should have been an "a." and that was profound. you could have all of that happen because of one letter that was misspelled. >> lapook: the double helix of d.n.a. is made up of billions of pieces of genetic information. what dr. collins is saying is...

out of all that, it's just one error in the d.n.a. code-- a "t" that should have been an "a"-- that causes sickle cell anemia. fix that error, and you cure the disease. but figuring out how to do that would take more than 20 years of research... ♪ do you remember when we used to sing ♪ >> lapook: ...and a little serendipity. ♪ ♪ dr. collins was playing in the n.i.h. rock band in 2016 when his bass player-- hematologist dr. john tisdale-- started riffing on an idea. >> dr. tisdale: we'd finished setting up and went for a pizza, before-- >> dr. collins: i remember that. >> dr. tisdale: --before the gig. and at this point, i pitched to th wdo something definitive for sickle cell disease. >> lapook: in dr. tisdale and his collaborators created a gene with the correct spelling. then, to get that gene into the patient, they used something with a frightening reputation: h.i.v., the virus that causes

aids. it turns out, h.i.v. is especially good at transferring d.n.a. into cells. >> dr. tisdale: so this shows the process. >> lapook: here's how it works. the corrected gene, seen here in yellow, is inserted into the h.i.v. virus. then, bone marrow stem cells are taken from of a patient with sickle cell anemia. in the laboratory, those cells are combined with the virus carrying that new d.n.a. >> dr. tisdale: this virus will then find its way to one of those cells and drop off a copy or two of the correctly-spelled gene. and then, these cells will go back to the patient. >> lapook: if the process works, the stem cells with the correct d.n.a. will start producing healthy red blood cells.i capl s out there, thinking, "wait a second, how do you know you're not going to get aids from the h.i.v. virus?" >> dr. tisdale: the short answer is, we cut out the bits that cause infection in h.i.v. and we really replace that with the gene that's misspelled in sickle

cell disease, so that it transfers that instead of the infectious part. >> lapook: the stakes here are enormous. >> dr. collins: yes. >> lapook: there's really very little safety net here, right? >> dr. collins: make no mistake, we're talking about very cutting-edge research, where the certainty about all the outcomes is not entirely there. we can look back at the history of gene therapy and see there have been some tragedies. >> lapook: deaths? >> dr. collins: yes. >> lapook: in 1999, 18-year-old jesse gelsinger received altered d.n.a. to treat a different genetic disease. he died four days later, from a massive immune response. and in another trial, two children developed cancer. jennelle stephenson understands this is a trial, with huge risks, and no guarantees. >> jennelle stephenson: this is it. >> lapook: when she arrived at the n.i.h. clinical center in december 2017, jennelle asked her brother, ray, for some help. >> jennelle stephenson: there

goes ray, cutting my hair. oh, snip. >> lapook: she decided to cut off all her hair, rather than watch it fall out from the massive dose of chemotherapy needed to suppress her immune system so her body wouldn't reject the altered stem cells. >> jennelle stephenson: i don't know how to feel right now. i'm a little emotional. but i'm okay; it will grow back. >> lapook: a few days after the chemotherapy, jennelle received the infusion of genetically modified cells. >> dr. tisdale: is it going good now? >> nurse: yes. >> jennelle stephenson: it's just a waiting game. >> lapook: but the wait was a painful one. not only for jennelle, but also for her father, ray... >> ray stephenson: let me fix this heating pad a little bit. >> lapook: ...who did what little he could as the effects of the chemotherapy kicked in, stripping jennelle's throat and stomach of their protective layers. >> jennelle stephenson: oh, that hurts. >> lapook: she was unable to

speak for a week, and lost 15 pounds. and, because having a severely weakened immune system means even a mild cold can turn deadly, jennelle had to stay in the hospital for nearly a month. last spring, she moved back to florida and returned to the n.i.h. for periodic check-ups. >> dr. tisdale: these are her red blood cells. >> lapook: it didn't take long for dr. tisdale to notice something was happening... this is jennelle before any treatment? >> dr. tisdale: right. all across her blood you can see these really abnormal shapes. this one in particular is shaped like a sickle. >> lapook: nine months later, this is what dr. tisdale saw: not a sickle cell in sight. was there ever a moment where you saw one of these normal- looking smears and thought, "is this the right patient?" >> dr. tisdale: oh, absolutely.e skeptical all the time. so, first thing you do is look and make sure it's that patient, go grab another one, make sure it's the same. and we've done all that. and, indeed, her blood looks

normal. >> teacher: move. switch your arms and move. >> lapook: remember, jennelle used to struggle just to walk up a flight of stairs... >> teacher: and you fall. >> lapook: ...and a fall like this would have landed her in the hospital. >> teacher: boom. yeah. good job. you did it. bam. >> lapook: jennelle. you look amazing. >> jennelle stephenson: thank you. >> lapook: i have to say, i was a little nervous when you were thrown and you went down on the mat. >> jennelle stephenson: it was nothing. it was nothing. my body just felt strong. >> lapook: tell me about the adjustment that you need to make, to go from the old you to the new you. >> jennelle stephenson: my body, it almost felt like it was, like, itching to do more. and i was like, "all right, well, let's go swimming today." "let's go to the gym today." i'm like, all right, my body loves this. i kind of like it because my, i guess, all my endorphins started pumping. >> lapook: the endorphin high, something you had never experienced. >> jennelle stephenson: never experienced before. yup. >> lapook: what was going through your head as you were thank you for medical science. and thank you for giving her a

new life." >> jennelle stephenson: new life, indeed. >> lynndrick holmes: i've never lived before. >> lapook: eight other adults with sickle cell anemia have undergone the same gene therapy as jennelle. so far, all are responding well. dr. francis collins says it will take years to improve the treatment to make it more widely available. >> dr. collins: here's another dream. there are 7,000 genetic diseases for which we know the precise d.n.a. misspelling. couldn't this same strategy, this same set of principles work for lots of those, maybe someday all of them? >> lapook: you've been working on this for decades. you're at a moment which is significant. >> dr. collins: to lead the human genome project and to put that foundation in place. and now, to but real data showing cures for people. >> lapook: you just used the "curing" word. you're willing to say that?

>> dr. collins: i believe that this looks like a cure. i've got to be careful. but from every angle that i know how to size this up, this looks like a cure. >> to learn more about the nih trial that may have secured janelle and dr. jon lapook's thought on genetic therapy, go to 60minutesovertime.com, sponsored by pfizer. cold turkey.ng soprhe you quit.elp you quit "slow turkey."g , is with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting. chyou'll be more ready to kissen cigarettes goodbye. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix. you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

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