>> california is burning, on track for its worst year ever. drought-parched forests are burning so hot, they generate their own fire tornadoes. >> look at that! >> these fires get so large that there aren't enough firefighters. aren't enough airplanes, helicopters, bulldozers. >> and "60 minutes" found out, there is also more than a whiff of bureaucracy in the smoke- filled air, which seemed to slow the deployment of new, high- tech, nighttime aircraft during the height of the emergency. ( ticking ) >> speaker nancy pelosi asked you to join the january 6th

panel. and-- who would've thought that conservative liz cheney from wyoming, nancy pelosi, the california, san francisco liberal, being on the same team, fighting on the same team? >> you know, all of us are americans. and we all have sworn the same oath-- to the constitution. and you cannot let an attack like the one that happened on january 6th go uninvestigated. ( ticking ) >> imagine launching yourself hundreds of feet deep into the sea, with little more than a mask, a heavy dose of bravery, and one deep breath. welcome to dean's blue hole. this is the king of the sport known as free diving. and tonight, we will follow him 39 stories deep, as he holds a sinle breath for nearly five minutes. >> touchdown-- coming up! ( cheers )

( ticking ) >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm bill whitaker. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm sharyn alfonsi. >> i'm jon wertheim. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories and more, tonight, on "60 minutes." ( ticking )

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>> bill whitaker: california is burning, on track for the most savage fire year in its history. drought and scorching mpatures havrbare xtreme than ever. two of the biggest fires into

more than a million acres in northern california, burning dangerously close to lake tahoe. firefighters haven't had a day off in months. fire chiefs warn, there aren't enough aircraft to go around. "it's a war," one told us. now, fire chiefs from southern california have stolen a page from the military: take the fight to the night. a new fleet of high-tech helicopters will fight wildfires 24/7. and for the first time, the giant chinook-- you've seen them in other war zones-- will lead the night assault. it's an $18 million pilot program the fire chiefs hope will be a game changer. the u.s. forest service was already short-staffed when the caldor fire exploded last month, churninghoe.s forced to flee.

to the north, the dixie fire has been rampaging for months, demolishing historic gold rush towns. the drought-parched forests burn so hot, they generate their own fire tornadoes. between the two infernos, more than 8,000 bone-weary firefighters have been waging a relentless battle. orange county fire chief brian fennessy, a former hotshot who's been fighting fires in southern california for 44 years, told us there is no more give in the system. >> brian fennessy: these fires get so large that there aren't enough firefighters, aren't enough airplanes, helicopters, bulldozers >> whitaker: i would think that would be worrisome? >> fennessy: you know, we're to the point where, if we were to send much more, we're going to have firehouses that are empty. and for the people that we've sworn to serve, you know, our taxpayers, it's not acceptable to have firehouses empty for any length of time. >> whitaker: everything is stretched to the limit? >> fennessy: everything is

stretched. you're suppression power. >> whitaker: we met brian fennessy at the truckee airfield, about 45 miles from the fires. after caldor destroyed the town of grizzly flats, fennessy volunteered to send his new firefighting choppers north. more like flying computers with rotors on top, they're called the quick reaction force. fennessy calls the fleet, "the hammer." >> fennessy: this is the hammer! >> whitaker: so if someone calls 911-- >> fennessy: if something breaks out-- >> whitaker: you hit it with everything you've got, these big guys, and knock it out. >> fennessy: in case of fire, break glass. >> whitaker: the star of the show is the massive chinook. this one used to fly in afghanistan for the u.s. army. it's been retrofitted to fight a different war, dropping water or retardant. now, fennessy told us, they have this powerful new tool to take that fight to the night. >> fennessy: the ability to la retardant line, to continue to sundown, that's a first. >> whitaker: that's going to change the way you fight fires?

>> fennessy: we hope so. >> whitaker: the chinook can drop 3,000 gallons. that's about ten times what most firefighting choppers drop. no bigger helicopter has ever fought fires at night. >> wayne coulson: they work hard. >> whitaker: wayne coulson, the c.e.o. of coulson aviation, which built the fleet, is a pioneer in night firefighting. he showed us the specially- designed tank. computers control the tank's doors, opening at precise g.p.s. points. you can zero in exactly on the spot you want to drop? >> wayne coulson: we can fly the aircraft to those g.p.s. points and the doors will automatically open and close between those two points. >> whitaker: coulson told us it's a more surgical strike. flame retardant can be dropped in almost straight lines. at night, there's an added advantage: the fire usually dies down. is that a better time to hit the fire? >> wayne coulson: it absolutely is. that's when it's at its weakest. >> whitaker: usually its weakest?

>> wayne coulson: that's the time to attack an enemy, at its weakest point in time. >> whitaker: the quick reaction force works in pairs. the chinook gets its orders from this aircraft. think of it as a traffic control tower, but in the air. wearing night vision goggles, orange county air attack officer joel lane uses infrared cameras to see through the smoke to map the best targets for the chinook. >> joel lane: it's a no-go for anything on the east side. we're turning around now. >> okay, copy that. >> whitaker: lane has spent the last 23 years in the air. improved night vision technology has revived night firefighting. most agencies halted night flying after a mid-air collision in the 1970s. lane told us the technology means they can attack fires at any hour. >> lane: if you time a fire, let's say for one minute, and its two acres-- in two minutes, it's not going to be four, it's going to be nine. and in three minutes, it's going to be 27. >> whitaker: and the fire's going faster?

>> lane: and the only thing that stops that is speed and force. >> whitaker: and that's what you get with the aircraft? >> lane: that is exactly what you get with the aircraft. >> whitaker: in early september we flew with britt coulson, wayne's son, and tech wizard at coulson aviation. he turned on the powerful thermal imaging camera and the caldor fire burst into view. >> britt coulson: those flames are higher than the trees. >> whitaker: as we flew closer, we watched a fountain of flames exploding over the tree tops. there was fire everywhere, every point of light a potentially hellish new blaze. >> britt coulson: the embers that come up when it's really intense, they're going to spot out far ahead. >> whitaker: zooming in, britt coulson showed us a spot fire that had leapt over a containment line dug by firefighters. >> britt coulson: so let's say if they were trying to catch it along that ridgeline there? >> whitaker: this has already jumped over? >> britt coulson: it's jumped over. without this type of technology, they're never going to see that. >> whitaker: we circled the fires at 13,000 feet.

below us, we spotted the command helicopter with joel lane. a thousand feet below that is where the chinook flies. lane directs the big chopper to the drop zone. from our perch, we could almost count the trees as we flew over a blackened landscape. then, we saw boats, docks, and houses: south lake tahoe. >> britt coulson: that's south lake tahoe airport right there. and then you got the fire right there. >> whitaker: right behind it. >> britt coulson: so there, you've got all the individual embers coming up. >> whitaker: that's burning heavily. >> britt coulson: yeah. >> whitaker: the chinook sweeps across the flames... >> britt coulson: start drop. i can see the wet rock down here. i mean, we're getting water down on it. >> whitaker: ...drops its water, then heads to the nearest lake to refill. unlike fixed-wing craft that have to return to base, the chinook can refill anywhere. hovering like some prehistoric bird, it sucks up 3,000 gallons in 90 seconds. >> snorkel contract. snorkel's deploying. >> whitaker: this doesn't come

cheap. a helitanker can cost up to $15 million, and $8,000 an hour to operate. but joel lane told us it's money well spent. >> lane: i gotcha. >> whitaker: he told us about the tuna fire, which ignited in dry brush near malibu in july. it was promptly doused by a quick reaction chinook, at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars, a fraction of what it would have cost if the fire had gotten out of control. if you never heard of the tuna fire, says lane, that's a win. >> lane: so the ten-acre fire that you-- that we catch, 98% of the time, it's never going to make the paper, you're never going to hear about it. public wakes up the next day and, unless they drive by it, they never know it happened. and we do that very successfully, especially in southern california. >> whitaker: the finances that you're laying out, that, yes, it's expensive to have these aircraft, but it's more expensive if you don't catch the >> lane: exponentially. >> whitaker: exponentially more expensive? >> lane: correct.

>> whitaker: in northern california, the dixie fire is now the largest single fire in state history. exhausted firefighters are still fighting the caldor fire. the cost? more than a half-billion dollars and climbing. yet during our trip, the helitankers flew only one out of four nights. we wondered why. so did orange county fire chief brian fennessy, who had sent his best equipment to fight the state's worst fires. did they not put it to work as soon as you brought it up here? >> fennessy: not-- not initially, no. >> whitaker: why not? >> fennessy: it took a lot of-- they didn't have any familiarization with, you know, flying at night. and so, we had to slow down. >> whitaker: but it's proven. >> fennessy: and we're in the middle of chaos and uncertainty, and homes are burning. that doesn't work. >> whitaker: in the week we were there, the caldor fire grew by 40,000 acres. perhaps as alarming? we discovered the slow-down was fueled, in part, by infighting between the u.s. forest service,

which oversees federal lands, and cal fire, responsible for state forests. chief fennessy told us he twice offered up his new fleet, and twice met with discord and confusion. >> yeah and on to our go, no-go check list. >> whitaker: we saw the forest service sign off on decisions, only to have them changed by cal fire. firefighters told us the agencies disagreed about night missions, radio frequencies, how to feed firefighters. they both challenged the credentials of the orange county flight crews. that doesn't seem like the most efficient way to handle the resources, especially in the face of a huge fire. >> fennessy: extremely frustrating. we have a system, the fire service, where we honor each other's qualifications. yeah, it is frustrating, because, you know, when there's a delay in accepting these qualifications to the detriment of the public, yeah, that's a concern. >> whitaker: when chief fennessy first sent his choppers, two crews sat on the tarmac for 48 hours.

fed up, he protested in an email, which we obtained through a freedom of information request. "i don't think the public will understand this nonsense," he wrote, "especially if our crews are grounded and there are no aviation safety issues to address." cal fire told us the crew check was a standard safety procedure, and that smoke and wind prevented flying some nights. chief fennessy told us, only when he threatened to take his choppers back south did the agencies give the green light to fly. still, brian fennessy and two other southern california fire chiefs were so dismayed the fleet was being used so little, they complained in an email to the forest service. "there was ample opportunity for the safe, consistent operation of the quick reaction force, both during the day and at night, but this did not occur." >> fennessy: well, i have an expectation that, if i'm going to loan you, you know, my stuff, because you're having an emergency, you're going to put it to work.

if you're not going to put it to work, send it home, because i've got work and i've got citizens here to protect. we're going to go to work. >> whitaker: fennessy told us the intensity of these fires demands a new approach to fighting them. >> fennessy: i'd heard from agencies at the highest level, that there was not a concern for aviation safety. it was more of a concern for-- >> whitaker: bureaucracy? >> fennessy: you said it. >> whitaker: the fires are changing? >> fennessy: the fires are changing. we've got to be more-- >> whitaker: the climate is changing? >> fennessy: oh, we-- we've got to be more nimble. we've got to be able to pivot very quickly-- >> whitaker: fires aren't going to wait for you to get your act together. >> fennessy: no, they're not. >> whitaker: we repeatedly asked cal fire and the forest service why the night-flying choppers weren't used more. weeks later, they did get together to issue a joint statement about their "shared mission." they wrote, "each fire presents its own unique challenges and fire managers stand shoulder-to- shoulder every day to overcome these hurdles." day after we left, chief

fennessy took his quick reaction force back south, where thenta r of fires are picking up. fennessy told us, with fires getting more extreme, cal firest afford to sideline the big hammer. >> fennessy: these aircraft are being credited with saving countless property because they were available at night to do that. >> whitaker: and you've proven it. >> fennessy: we've proven it. it's a program that i believe needs to expand, not just to northern california, but throughout the west. >> whitaker: what's the resistance? why the resistance? >> fennessy: you know, my gut tells me, based on decades of experience in the fire service, that there's just an inherent resistance to change. but we've got to evolve. we've got to pivot. we are standing, you know, in a new world. it's not a new norm. it's the norm. ( ticking )

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>> lesley stahl: this past week, the house select committee investigating the january 6th attack on the capitol shifted into a higher gear. on thursday, it subpoenaed four of former president donald trump's top advisors, including his chief of staff, for documents and depositions about the former presidents' actions on the day of the siege, and days leading up to it. at the center of the select committee's probe is wyoming representative liz cheney. like a lone ranger riding out of the west, she is one of the few republicans willing to-- daring to-- stand up to mr. trump, and house republican leaders who opposed her joining the committee.e sp can cheney ae l on akcypelo >> liz cheney: she called me,

and asked me to be a member of the committee. and i accepted and-- >> stahl: right away? >> cheney: right away. >> stahl: no hesitation? >> cheney: none. because it's so important. and-- and because i also know that-- that my participation in the committee makes that committee bipartisan. no one will question, you know, my conservative credentials. >> stahl: but most republicans in the house see what you're doing as a betrayal. they look at nancy pelosi-- even you have said-- you said this. i've got a quote here. you said, "the democrats, under nancy pelosi's leadership, have become the party of anti- semitism, infanticide, and socialism." direct quote from you. and yet, here you are. it's considered nancy pelosi's committee. >> cheney: i think that millions ofple cou een betrayed and misled, and deceived by donald trump. he has said that the election was stolen. he continues to say that.

he continues to say things that aren't true, and continues to raise money off of those claims. and so to me, there's just not a question. >> stahl: she's one of only two republicans on the nine-member committee, and a prominent face of it, since she was elevated to vice chair. >> cheney: we must also know what happened every minute of that day in the white house. >> stahl: republicans in congress feel that by joining this january 6 panel, you are helping to keep the focus on trump instead of on the shortcomings of the biden administration. >> cheney: those who think that by ignoring trump, he will go away, have been proven wrong. and in my view, the american people, they deserve better than having to choose between what i think are the really disastrous policies of joe biden-- in a

whole range of areas, really bad for our economy. from a national security perspective, what's happened, what he's done in afghanistan-- very dangerous policies for the country. but the alternative cannot be a man who doesn't believe in the rule of law, and who violated his oath of office. >> stahl: her unabashed defiance of donald trump has him fighting back. >> donald trump: the liz cheneys of the world, we've got to get rid of them. >> stahl: he singled her out at his rally on january 6, and later said she's a "warmongering fool" and a "horrible human being." he's made defeating her next year in her re-election in wyoming one of his top priorities. she's risking her political career. most republicans we've spoken to feel that you miscalculated, that you didn't figure out ahead of time that it was going to be this intense, this hot, this perpetual. >> cheney: you know, it wasn't a calculation. >> stahl: you didn't weigh and measure?

>> cheney: no. >> stahl: there wasn't a yellow pad with the pros and the cons and--? >> cheney: no. it was, this is what-- what he has done. ( protests ) >> protestors : fight for trump! fight for trump! >> cheney: i watched while the attack was underway-- understood very clearly what he did on january 6; what he failed to do on january 6. instead of stopping the attack while it was under way, he was busy calling up senators, trying to get them to delay the count. so, there was no calculation. i think he's very dangerous. >> stahl: here in wyoming, liz cheney, at 55, is having to fight like hell to win her fourth term, as mr. trump endorsed one of her opponents, harriet hageman, a long-time cheney supporter and family friend. the republican party here has disowned you. they've called for your resignation. we've been told your approval rating here is down around 30%. can you win this seat? >> cheney: absolutely. i think it's going to be the most important house race in the

country in 2022. and-- and it will be one where people do have the opportunity to say, "we want to stand for the constitution." >> stahl: do you think a vote against you is a vote against the constitution? >> cheney: a vote against me in this race, a vote for whomever donald trump has endorsed, is a vote for somebody who's willing to perpetuate the big lie, somebody who's willing to put allegiance to trump above allegiance to the constitution, absolutely. >> stahl: being in trouble in wyoming is almost unfathomable for a cheney. >> cheney: help to ensure that the voice of wyoming is heard in washington. >> stahl: despite criticism of her father dick cheney's tenure as vice president, when he pressed the case for the broadly-discredited war in iraq and harsh interrogation techniques, he's been long- admired here, having been wyoming's congressman for ten years. did you go to your father and ask for his advice on this?

and did he encourage you to wage this rebellion? >> cheney: well, i talk to my dad probably just about every single day, and he sees things the way that i see them. >> stahl: she was exposed to the highest levels of power in washington when her father was president ford's chief of staff. but, she says her roots are in wyoming, where the cowboy ethic of the maverick loner runs deep. she's been called steely, and "as emotional as algebra." but she softens up when she talks about her family. >> cheney: i miss these years when they were little babies. >> stahl: most people don't know that she's been married for 29 years, and is the mother of five children, ranging in age from 15 to 27. as they grew up, she became a "rodeo mom." >> stahl: one is a rodeo barrel racer. >> cheney: gracie is-- that's right. she gave me the phrase, "cowgirl

up," which is, you know, if things are- things are rough, you gotta "cowgirl up," and, and keep going. >> stahl: she's having to "cowgirl up" a lot in washington. in may, her fellow republicans stripped her of her leadership position in the house, and she began denouncing minority leader kevin mccarthy in scathing and personal terms. >> cheney: what he's done is embrace donald trump. and if i were doing what he's doing, i would be deeply ashamed of myself. i don't know how you explain that to your children. when you are in a situation where you have somebody who did what donald trump did, it is absolutely clear he cannot continue to be somebody you embrace. >> stahl: but are you saying you can't support anybody who supports him? >> cheney: i'm saying that there are people who supported donald trump because of his policies. but there's a difference between somebody who voted for donald trump, and being the republican leader after an insurrection, and setting all of that aside and going to mar-a-lago, and

rehabilitating him, bringing him back in. that, to me, is unforgivable. >> stahl: once she began assailing donald trump and republicans who support him, a record amount of money has poured into her campaign-- some of it, we're told, from democrats. you have become, in a way, a hero to the liberals. which is kind of funny because, as you say yourself, you're one of the most conservative members of the house. you're anti-abortion. >> cheney: i'm-- yeah. i'm pro-life, yes. >> stahl: you're pro-life. >> cheney: yes. >> stahl: you're pro-gun rights. and you voted to repeal obamacare. do you regret that vote? >> cheney: i do not. no. >> stahl: waterboarding, a.k.a. torture. >> cheney: well, it's not torture. >> stahl: but you support waterboarding. >> cheney: i do. absolutely. >> stahl: and then there's her long-held opposition to same-sex marriage, which prompted a bitter falling out with her sister, mary. >> stahl: your sister's gay. she's married.

she has children. and in 2013, you came out against same-sex marriage, while your father went the other way. and it was looked upon as courageous when he did that. how do you defend what you did? >> cheney: i was wrong. i was wrong. i love my sister very much. i love her family very much. and-- and-- and i was wrong. it's a very personal issue. and very personal for my family. i believe that my dad was right. and my sister and i have had that conversation. >> stahl: wow. i was not expecting that. >> cheney: this-- this is an issue that we have to recognize, s beingsat we ed to wogainst discrimination of all kinds in our country, in our state.

we were at-- at an event a few nights ago, and-- and there was a young woman who said she doesn't feel safe sometimes, because she's transgender. and nobody should feel unsafe. freedom means freedom for everybody. >> stahl: her change of heart is a rare break for her from traditional party orthodoxy. once donald trump became the republican nominee for president in 2016, she supported him. you stuck with him through the hollywood "access" tape, through his insults on john mccain, through his bullying tweets. >> cheney: i supported donald trump's policies. i voted with him something like 93% of the time, because his policies were-- were the right ones, in many ways. when i disagreed with him, i spoke out. but on the issues that mattered? >> stahl: but not on-- not on character. >> cheney: on the issues that mattered for wyoming, i stood with him.

you yosayou disagree with him, you think that his character was bad, which it was-- all of those things. but the line that can't be crossed is what happened after the election. >> stahl: it's not that liz cheney doesn't have any republican support. former president george w. bush is holding a fundraiser for her, and senators mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham have sent in donations from their political action committees. but most republicans in office have shied away. have members of congress, republicans, come up to you privately and whispered in your ear, "way to go, liz," and encouraged you, but won't come forward and say that publicly? >> cheney: yes. >> stahl: a lot? >> cheney: yes. both in the house and the senate. >> stahl: i mean, if they really think what you're doing is right, and they admire it and they encourage it, and they won't do it-- what is that? >> cheney: the argument that--

that you often hear is that if you do something that is perceived as against trump, that, you know, you'll put yourself in political peril. and that's a self-fulfilling prophesy, because if republican leaders don't stand up and condemn what happened, then the voices in the party that are so dangerous will only get louder and stronger. >> stahl: polls say that 78% of republicans do not think that joe biden was legitimately elected. and i wonder, how do you fight an untruth? how do you stand up to the anti-vaxxers? how do you stand up to q-anon? how do you stand up to a president who says that the election-- falsely-- that the election was rigged? >> cheney: when you look at the- - the spread of these mistruths and the spread of the disinformation, you know, silence enables it. silence enables the liar. and silence helps it to spread.

so the first thing you have to do is say, "no-- i'm not going to accept that we're going to live in a post-truth world. it's a toxin, lesley, in-- in our-- in our political bloodstream. because when we allow that to continue, to go on in the face of rulings of the courts, in the face of recounts, in the face of everything that's gone on, to demonstrate that there was not fraud that would have changed the outcome, then we all-- if we do that, we are contributing to the undermining of our system. and it's a really serious and dangerous moment because of that. ( ticking ) > >> examine to cbs hq presented by progressive insurance. the score from the nfl today. justin herbert, and patrick

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( ticking ) >> sharyn alfonsi: if you've never heard of free-diving, imagine this-- launching yourself hundreds of feet into the sea with little more than a mask, a heavy dose of bravery, and one deep breath. spear fisherman and pearl divers have been free-diving for thousands of years. but a growing number of people are now doing it for sport. there are hundreds of competitions around the world, with athletes testing their limits-- and good sense-- by diving as deeply as they can, without scuba gear. you may remember, our bob simon gave us a first glimpse into that world about eight years ago. but now, there is one man who is dominating the sport-- 34-year- old russian free-diver alexey molchanov. he is known within the diving community as "the machine," the

undisputed king of the deep. off the turquoise coast of long island in the bahamas you'll see deans blue hole. from overhead, it looks like an ink well. 663 feet deep, it is the perfect place for dozens of the worlds elite free-divers to try and re- write the sport's history. this is the annual "vertical blue competition." we went there to meet alexey molchanov. to watch him glide through the water is to glimpse something other-worldly. he looks part golden poseidon, part porpoise, kicking from the sparkling blue water into the dark. molchanov can dive more than 39 stories deep, while holding a single breath, for nearly five minutes. it doesn't seem like a gid dee d

your breath that long. >> alexey molchanov: right. ( laughs ) for me it does. >> alfonsi: it does? >> molchanov: right. enjoy finding new boundaries and pushing them further, because i know i can. i know through all these years and, like, thousands of hours of training and diving, how well i can use my oxygen, how slowly i can use it, and how efficient is my technique. >> alfonsi: what does it feel like? >> molchanov: it feels very much like flying, actually. very much like freedom. just pure joy of flying, like staying and feeling no urge to breathe. >> alfonsi: but you're enjoying it? >> molchanov: yep. yeah, without joy, it doesn't work. >> alfonsi: we were given the sports equivalent of a side-line pass. our photographers circled beneath the surface, as free- divers tested themselves in four disciplines-- with, or without fins; with, or without the use of a rope to pull them down. going into this year's

competition, molchanov held the world record in three of the four disciplines, and wanted to break them all. we watched as he prepared for his most ambitious a--e hegtofi >> judge: four, three, two... >> alfonsi: with judges looking on, he takes in his final breaths. he looks like a goldfish desperate for water. he's packing his lungs with air. then, slips beneath the water's surface, his whale-like monofin helping him fight buoyancy. >> judge: alexey molchanov, russia, constant weight. 131 meters, 4:10, world record attempt. >> alfonsi: at around 65 feet, he drops his arms to his side and enters free fall. his lungs are now a third of their surface size, and he stts tnk he is clipped to a dive line

that can yank him back to safety. once he reaches his designated depth, he grabs a tag to prove he's gone the distance. >> judge: touchdown! >> alfonsi: he's already been underwater for almost 2.5 minutes. then, he begins the most dangerous part of the dive. with his last reserves of air, and his lungs now a tenth of their normal size, he transfers air between his mouth and sinuses, equalizing the pressure in his body to prevent his ears from rupturing, and makes his way slowly toward the light-- a team of safety divers circling along the way. but that's not it. he then has to prove he's alert, not disoriented by the water's crushing pressure, by giving the okay sign within 20 seconds of surfacing, and then presenting his tag. if he's unable to do this, in this order, the dive is disqualified. ( cheers and applause )

molchanov does it. diving 430 feet, for four minutes and 33 seconds, setting a new world record with a single breath. >> molchanov: in free-diving, during the dive, it's very important to be zen, very important to be relaxed and not to think about the goal, how far or deep you want to go. because that will damage your mind state, your current state where you need to stay to be very focused, very still, and relaxed. >> alfonsi: people think of free-diving as this very extreme sport. how dangerous is the sport of free-diving? >> molchanov: the most dangerous side of free-diving, i would say, is if you go out to sea and free-dive alone. then that's very dangerous. because there is a risk of blacking out underwater. >> alfonsi: black-outs happen when divers push their limits too far... >> breathe! >> alfonsi: ...and oxygen reserves are drained.

a fate that claims the lives of about 60 recreational free- divers each year. that's something the world of competitive free-diving has worked hard to prevent, by adding safety divers, underwater monitoring, and doctors at every event. there has only been one death during a competition in the last 20 years. have you ever had a blackout? >> molchanov: i had. when i was a beginner free-diver i would be very stubborn and i would push it to the end. i wouldn't listen to the signals my body gives to me. and now i have much better awareness of what's going on. >> alfonsi: when i was sitting out there watching you guys dive the other day, and i was watching the competitors, a lot of them would come up and they would gasp for air. and you emerged from the water, and you smiled. >> molchanov: i think that's an essence of being able to do really deep dives and records. like, it's very hard to do those

deep dives being stressed, and it would look from outside that it's really easy. but it's not. of course, by the time i finish my dive, it's hard. my muscles are tired. they're heavy, they-- sometimes burning, muscles will be burning. and, i will feel that. but still i surface, and i train this positive mindset. so i, like, do a couple of recovery breaths. and then-- just this difference between a few seconds before and now, like, when i got those couple of breaths, is so big-- that it just gives so much joy. ( laughs ) >> alfonsi: alexey molchanov's famously easy temperament is how "the machine" earned his other nickname: "the golden retriever." what's it like to compete against him? >> arnaud jerald: for me, it's like a dream. all the time he's laughing or smiling. all the time he enjoys life. and it's beautiful. >> alfonsi: arnaud jerald and camilla jaber are friends and competitors with molchanov.

jaber holds a national record for mexico, and jerald has french records to his name. what makes him so good? >> camila jaber: that is a very good question. >> jerald: i think experience. >> jaber: he has a very, like, sportsman mindset. so, this confidence in himself, in his training, on what he believes on growing the sport. he's also encouraging and pushing other athletes to become better. >> alfonsi: 25-year-old jerald is one of the only divers to have beaten one of molchanov's records. do you push each other, do you think? >> jerald: yeah, we push each other, not too much because i'm less competitive than him. i prefer a more romantic to alexey. >> alfonsi: he's more competitive, you are more french? >> jerald: exactly. >> alfonsi: only a russian might think this was a good idea. last year, alexey molchanov swam

beneath a frozen quarry outside of moscow. holes were cut in the ice in case he needed to surface, but he held his breath for nearly three minutes, swimming nearly 600 feet across. this past spring, he stepped into the ice in siberia for a swim. it was 14 degrees outside when he broke another world record: the deepest dive under ice with fins. on a single breath, molchanov swam to 262 feet deep in 37- degree water. >> it's okay. >> alfonsi: that does not sound joyful to me. >> molchanov: that was not. it wasn't as joyful as here, for sure. >> alfonsi: and does the cold add additional stresses to your body? >> molchanov: it does. it makes the face numb. and you just lose heat very fast and it-- it gives you a very short period of time when i was able to dive. and i would need to focus fast. >> alfonsi: molchanov gets "dive

ready" on land. he does daily stretches, and deep breathing exercises, something he calls "lung gymnastics," to build diaphragm, rib and back mobility. >> molchanov: i will just demonstrate. it's inhale... ( breathes ) full inhale. and then it's relaxation. and then there's this portion in the neck and in the mouth, which i-- which i just grab and then i push it in the lungs. >> alfonsi: researchers who studied molchanov and the impact of free-diving on his body estimate he takes in two gallons of air before a dive. it's a technique he learned from his mother, natalia molchanova, considered the greatest free- diver of all time. she came to the sport at 40 years old, after a successful swimming career in russia. >> molchanov: she was my coach in swimming. and i was following her

trainings. we would go together to the pool. she would do her training, i would do my training. so, this transition to free- diving and me following her as a free-diver coach, that was very natural. she started to be, like, best, very, very fast, and yeah, i was proud. i was very proud of her. >> alfonsi: what did she teach you about the sport? >> molchanov: the main thing that she taught me about free- diving is that i should enjoy it. it's not about records. numbers come later. >> alfonsi: together, they took on the free-diving world and commanded it. alexey achieved his first world record at 21. by the age of 53, his mother natalia held 42 world records and 24 gold medals. in 2015, she was teaching a free-diving lesson off the coast of spain-- when she disappeared. her body was never found. at that point, you kept free- diving. no one would've blamed you if you had said, "you know what? i'm done." why did you keep going? >> molchanov: i felt that free-

diving is actually the best thing for me to do. it was the best therapy, being in the water. >> alfonsi: really? >> molchanov: yeah, because it just helped me to be, like, in peace and helped to just live through that. >> alfonsi: molchanov seems most at peace underwater, chasing whales, not records. >> molchanov: this is amazing! >> stephen: and on land with his new son... >> molchanov: next generation! >> alfonsi: ...and wife elena, a former olympic swimmer. the family is expanding the free-diving schools his mother started, certifying hundreds of instructors in 20 countries. >> molchanov: ( speaking russian ) >> alfonsi: and as the sport grows, alexey molchanov seems confident about his place in it. at 34, he holds two dozen world records. you don't think you've reached your limit to free-dive as deeply as you could? >> molchanov: no, no. i don't think that. i know with all the skills i have, with all the mind-control i have, i can go deeper.

and so, because i can, then i will. ( ticking ) >> watch alexey molchanov's 4:33 second world record-setting dive. at 60minutesovertime.com. [music stops] and release. [deep exhale] [fast upbeat music resumes] [music stops] ♪ thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women +,

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[chimes] >> stahl: "60 minutes'" 54th season. it's not a particularly significant anniversary. but, after nearly two years of covid, impeachment trials, elections, travel restrictions, and remote interviews, this marks the beginning of our return to normal-- to taking you where you've never been, showing you what you've never seen, investigating the concealed, and celebrating the extraordinary. for instance, in the coming weeks on "60 minutes," anderson coopxa legey rfmers, to bennetand g y ra" ♪)

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