we go further, so you can. >> i don't know why people don't want to hear the truth, but it is my christian values to tell the truth and i- and i will. there is no evidence of voter fraud. it's time to move on. >> but many wisconsin republicans can't seem to get past 2020. this was last month in the state capitol, as g.o.p. legislators were urged to keep questioning the presidential vote. a third investigation of wisconsin's election remains underway. >> in wisconsin, you will no

longer cheat, you will no longer steal, and you will no longer commit election fraud. ( ticking ) >> the yeas are 69. the nays are 30. >> the infrastructure law, passed last year, will be one of the most significant investment in america's bridges, roads and rails in more than half a century, and as everyone watching this well knows, it's badly needed. how is possible that a country like the united states gets a "c-" on infrastructure? >> for a long time, everybody here in washington said," we got to do this," or" we're going to do this." it's finally happened, but we got a lot of time to make up for. ( ticking ) >> knock-a-doodle-doo. >> ah, good morning coach lasso. >> boy, that's a heaping spoonful of truth soup right there. >> what do you think the legacy of "ted lasso" is, decades from now? >> i hope folks keep watching it. hey, higgins. it's a decent chance it'll pay for my kids' college. ( laughs ) unless i-- unless i blow it all. >> you don't think it's already done that? >> you don't think i've already blown it? ( laughter ) ( ticking )

>> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm scott pelley. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm sharyn alfonsi. >> i'm jon wertheim. >> i'm norah o'donnell. >> i'm bill whitaker. those stories, tonight, on "60 minutes." but first, charlie d'agata with the latest from ukraine this evening. ( ticking ) dramatic attack not far from the polish border. at least 35 people dilled after russian airraft fired missiles. it's the first attack to take place thal far west and reflects how the russian onslaught expanded in intensity and reach. >> the northern city also come under another night of heavy bombardment. russian forces close in on the capital, but city's northwest of kyiv have been battered by

russian artillery sending residents fleeing for their lives. >> you see what it comes down to for the people without vehicles who fled the villages in the back of cargo trucks being handed warm drinks, watered and something to eat. at least their safe for now. >> covering the battle underway in irpin cost a journalist his life. he was shot dead when russian troops opened fire on his car. >> in a bid to boost morale, ukranian president zelensky sent for soldiers to thank them for service. tonight hundreds of thousands of civilians face shelling, subfreezing temperatures without food, water, electricity or a safe way out. for 60 minutes. i'm charlie dagadain kyiv, ukraine.

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>> bill whitaker: the primary season is already underway for this fall's midterm elections. and according to a cbs news poll, 61% of voters say they want politicians to address the voting process. former president donald trump insists voter fraud cost him re-election, despite having lost more than 60 lawsuits challenging the process. nearly three quarters of republicans believe joe biden's victory was illegitimate. and republican controlled legislatures in battleground states, including arizona, florida, and georgia, have rewritten election laws. republicans say it's in order to make voting more secure. democrats say it's to make it harder for their traditional

base to cast ballots. perhaps no state is more contentious than wisconsin, which joe biden won by less than one percent of the vote, and where a battle is raging over voting rights and wrongs. was the 2020 vote in wisconsin clean and fair? >> senator kathy bernier: yes. >> whitaker: the election was not stolen from donald trump? >> bernier: no. the election was not stolen from donald trump. >> whitaker: kathy bernier is a wisconsin republican state senator. she told us widespread voter fraud is all but impossible in wisconsin. how is it that you can say that with such certainty, and such conviction? >> bernier: because i know the process. >> whitaker: a diehard conservative, bernier began her political career overseeing elections as clerk in chippewa county today, she chairs the state senate committee on elections and calls the talk of voter

fraud a charade that will hurt republicans at the polls. >> bernier: if there is massive voter fraud, why wasn't it proven in georgia after three recounts? why wasn't it proven in arizona after the forensic audits? and why wasn't it proven here? because it cannot be proved. >> whitaker: you supported donald trump? >> bernier: i voted for him twice. >> whitaker: but now i hear you saying almost the exact opposite from what former president donald trump says, and his supporters are saying now. >> bernier: i don't know why people don't want to hear the truth. but is it my christian values to tell the truth and i-- and i will. there is no evidence of voter fraud. it's time to move on. >> whitaker: but wisconsin republicans can't seem to get past 2020. this was last month in the state

capitol. republicans from all over the state urged g.o.p. legislators to stand firm. rally organizer, jefferson davis, the former village president of menomonee falls, had a message for democrats. >> jefferson davis: in wisconsin, you will no longer cheat, you will no longer steal, and you will no longer commit eltion fraud. >> whitaker: republicans dominate both chambers of the wisconsin legislature, and most won on the same 2020 ballot that former president trump now contests. republican candidates hoping to unseat governor tony evers, a democrat, either deny president joe biden won the election, won't say, or question the process. four g.o.p. politicians are angling to oust this man, democrat doug la follette, wisconsin's secretary of state. over his 44 years in office republican legislatures have cut his budget, reduced his duties and moved his office to the

capitol basement where he spends his days certifying documents. >> doug la follette: so why would someone want to be secretary of state? >> whitaker: so what's going on? >> la follette: given the whole trump election phenomenon, there is an effort to get more control of elections in key states, and wisconsin is a key battleground state. >> whitaker: and republicans running to unseat him do want to empower the office to oversee elections. >> la follette: and it's going on all across the country. there are trump candidates running for secretary of state in many places trying to accomplish similar things. >> whitaker: we reached out to top republican leaders, and all either declined our request for an interview, or wouldn't respond. >> robin vos: every single process, it doesn't matter what it is, can always be improved. >> whitaker: republican robin vos, the powerful speaker of the assembly, told wisconsin public radio half the state or more believes there were serious problems with the 2020 election.

he ordered an investigation, the third by the legislature, to check for flaws in the election and propose legislative fixes. >> vos: whoever wins, the vast majority of people should think it was done fair and square. >> whitaker: this past june he appointed former wisconsin supreme court justice, and former deputy associate director of outreach, diversity and inclusion in the trump administration, michael gableman to head up the investigation. >> michael gableman: in that capacity i work directly for you, the people of wisconsin. >> whitaker: after being tapped for the job, gableman told the "milwaukee journal sentinel," like most people he didn't have" a comprehensive understanding or even any understanding of how elections work." yet right after the 2020 election, he told a trump crowd their votes had been stolen. >> gmahink anyone here can think of anything more systematically unjust than a stolen election.

>> whitaker: assembly speaker robin vos announced the gableman investigation last june, just hours after former president donald trump accused the speaker of "working hard to cover up election corruption" in 2020. not long afterward, vos flew to a trump rally with the former president and assured him of a top-to-bottom investigation by michael gableman. gableman, who also ignored our requests for an interview, draws a salary of $11,000 a month. he's made little attempt to be transparent or bipartisan. he revealed his staff only under pressure from the press and democrats; some were found to have worked in the trump administration or with stop the steal efforts. his investigation has been so secretive a judge ruled it violated wisconsin's public records law. this month, gableman released his interim report, live on cable tv from the state capitol.

>> gableman: i believe the legislature ought to take a very hard look at the option of decertification of the 2020 wisconsin presidential election. >> whitaker: the legislature's own staff attorneys say there's no legal way to decertify the election. the associated press found about two dozen people were charged with voter fraud in wisconsin in 2020 out of more than 3 million votes cast. but michael gableman says he believes the whole process was flawed. he points to grants from a nonprofit funded by mark zuckerberg, to help municipalities run safe elections in the pandemic. about 2,500 communities around the country, both red and blue, received funds, including 217 in wisconsin that got about $10 million. but gableman focused on what he calls the zuckerberg five. >> gableman: the five largest recipients were the five largest

democratic controlled cities in the state. >> whitaker: he called grants to the state's five largest cities bribes to boost votes for democrats and quoted their grant application. >> gableman: with particular emphasis on reaching voters of color, low income voters without reliable access to internet, disabilities and primary language is not english. >> whitaker: he found that language damning; but a federal judge appointed by george w. bush found nothing illegal about the grants. michael gableman blames what he calls a botched election on the bipartisan wisconsin elections commission, which was created several years ago by republicans in the legislature. he especially targets its administrator, meagan wolfe. >> meagan wolfe: my position is nonpartisan as is all of the staff at the wisconsin elections commission. >> whitaker: what does that actually mean? >> wolfe: to me, it means that i don't give any deference to political pressure, so people

trying to sway us to implement elections in a way that might be beneficial to one party, or one candidate, or the other. >> whitaker: meagan wolfe was unanimously confirmed for the wisconsin elections commission by the republican controlled state senate almost three years ago. in february of this year, she was sworn in as president of the national association of state election directors. >> wolfe: when we say that the election in wisconsin was free and fair, we're not guessing. we know that because we have audited the election. we have recounted the election. we have canvassed the election. there have been court decisions that have looked at the election and affirmed the result. >> whitaker: why are people suspicious of the outcome of this election? >> wolfe: i'm not really sure, other than it feels like people are looking for a different answer to support a different conclusion. >> whitaker: a different outcome to the election results? >> wolfe: yes. >> whitaker: where is that coming from?

>> wolfe: people's freedom to vote is a sacred right. and they take that very seriously. but then there's other people that i think are trying to weaponize misinformation to mislead people for a partisan purpose. >> whitaker: by her account, michael gableman is revising history, making extraordinary measures they had to take to run a safe election in a deadly pandemic seem sinister. this was the presidential primary in april 2020: long lines, scared, cold, frustrated voters. three weeks earlier, president trump had declared a national emergency. on election day, assembly speaker vos, in protective gear, told voters there was nothing to worry about. >> vos: it's going smoothly, seems to be pretty fine in almost every part of wisconsin so i'm proud of what we're doing. >> whitaker: with all the uncertainty... >> i will call the meeting of the wisconsin elections commission to order. >> whitaker: ...the bipartisan elections commission had to make snap decisions, reinterpret

election laws to fit unprecedented circumstances, all done transparently in public zoom meetings. the elections commission gave communities guidance on absentee ballots, which shot up from 4% to 40% of all votes. they endorsed expanded use of drop boxes. instead of holding on-site voting at nursing homes, which were covid hot spots at the time, the committee ordered election clerks to mail ballots to residents who'd requested them. in his report, michael gableman claims all those decisions were illegal. you were the first state in the country to have to have an election in the middle of this pandemic. >> wolfe: we were. i still get goosebumps when i think about the fact that in all 1,850 municipalities across our state they were able to open their polls on election day. they didn't have poll workers. they didn't have supplies. and they were risking their health. >> gableman: let's talk about cover-ups. >> whitaker: nevertheless,

michael gableman accuses the elections commission of stealing citizens' votes. 23 g.o.p. legislators are calling for meagan wolfe and elections commissioners to be investigated and possibly prosecuted for criminal conduct. gableman proposes eliminating the bipartisan commission altogether and giving its duties to elected officials, who he says would be more accountable to voters. this past week, the legislature extended gableman's contract. his investigation will continue at least through april. in your estimation, is that a-- credible investigation? >> bernier: no. >> whitaker: just flat out no? >> bernier: no. we need to close this up. we need to move on and we need to elect republicans in 2022. >> whitaker: republican state senator kathy bernier plans to retire when her term is up in january. she won't be running in 2022, but she says the stakes couldn't

be higher. >> bernier: donald trump is still the head of the republican party as i see it. he is likely going to run in 2024. he has a lot of power, and a lot of influence, and i respect that. so i don't happen to care about that. >> whitaker: what do you care about? >> bernier: that we leave this country better off now than it was in the past. we're going down a slippery slope. and maybe it's not just politics to me, it matters. ( ticking ) who's on it with jardiance? we're 25 million prescriptions strong. we're managing type 2 diabetes... ...and heart risk. we're working up a sweat before coffee. and saying, “no thanks...” ...to a boston cream. jardiance is a once-daily pill

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buttigieg is 40-years-old, a harvard graduate, rhodes scholar, and former navy reserve officer who ran for the democratic presidential nomination in 2020. now he's dealing with a pandemic-related supply chain crisis and trying to ensure that hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars are well-spent on aging transportation systems in desperate need of repair. at about 6:30 a.m. on january 28, this bridge in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, collapsed while a bus and some cars were driving across it. no one was killed, but several people were injured. federal investigators are trying to understand why safety inspectors hadn't warned that a collapse was imminent. when somebody's driving over a bridge, should they feel confident? >> pete buttigeig: yeah. i mean, we have to make sure that it's safe. there's inspection standards that we set federally. but-- but here's the issue: if a

bridge is deteriorating, you're going to feel the consequences of that, because in order to keep it safe it might have to be closed. >> cooper: 42% of america's bridges are at least 50 years old, and more than 7% are considered "structurally deficient," including this one not far from secretary pete buttigieg's office in washington, d.c. so, this does not look great. >> buttigieg: i mean, look at it, right? it-- it tells a story right there. we're right by, you know, a thriving economic area in the nation's capital, and you got literally bits of rust coming off-- pipes and the underside of our bridge. usually-- >> cooper: that's actually from-- from that? >> buttigieg: yeah, i think so. i think that used to be this bridge. >> cooper: when grading the overall state of this country's infrastructure, the american society of civil engineers recently gave the u.s. a "c-." how is it possible that a country like the united states gets a c- on infrastructure? >> buttigeig: well, you get what you pay for. and for pretty much as long as i've been alive, our country has been under-investing in public things. for a long time, everybody here in washington said, "we got to

do this," or, "we're going to do this," it's finally happened but we-- we got a lot of time to make up for. >> cooper: the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law by president biden in november guarantees at least $850 billion of spending over the next five years. there's $55 billion to help communities remove lead pipes and deliver clean drinking water, $65 billion to expand broadband internet service and make it more affordable, and another $65 billion to upgrade the nation's power grid. many federal agencies are involved, but pete buttigieg's department of transportation will be the largest recipient of funds, distributing more than $560 billion over five years to improve everything from tunnels, bridges, and roads to mass transit, ports, and airports. when was the last time that the country invested this amount of money in infrastructure? >> buttigeig: when it comes to roads and bridges, we haven't invested at this level since the

eisenhower administration, since they built the interstate highway system in the first place. >> cooper: what are people going to see different in their lives or in their communities because of this investment? >> buttigeig: i think one of the first things you're going to notice is accelerated work on roads and bridges. not just the big, famous bridges in our biggest cities. this is thousands of bridges around the country. >> cooper: one of the many things pennsylvania will do with its infrastructure money is rebuild that bridge that collapsed in pittsburgh and washington, d.c. plans to fix the "h street" bridge we saw near union station. but in many cases, it's too early to know exactly which projects will be funded. that's because some of the money will be awarded by buttigieg and his staff to communities that will compete for discretionary grants. but more money is being sent directly to the states, where governors and local leaders will decide how to spend it. in a lot of communities-- when they get money, their emphasis is on building new roads. you're trying to emphasize-- fixing existing roads.

that's not always popular-- >> buttigeig: there's always a bias toward the shiny, new thing. but the truth is, as a country, we've got to take care of what we've got. >> cooper: in earlier versions of the bill there were provisions that would've required states to dedicate money to repairing freeways before building new ones. those provisions were taken out. >> buttigeig: the requirements aren't there, but it's still a good idea and we're still going to encourage it. >> cooper: there's research showing that historically more of the grant money goes to states that voted for the party in power. under obama un-- it went to blue states, under president trump it went to-- to red states. is that going to happen again? >> buttigeig: we're really focused on taking those party politics out of the picture. >> cooper: but no administration says, "yeah, that's what we're doing." but historically that is what happens. >> buttigeig: but look at what we're actually doing. so, this last round of discretionary grants, for example, $1 billion that i had the final sign off on. we actually went over the congressional requirement for how much goes to rural areas. rural areas aren't known for supporting my political party. but they-- ( laughs ) they do have a lot of need. and so, we're funding good projects there. >> cooper: moody's analytics

estimates the infrastructure law will create 872,000 new jobs by late 2025. projects long on the drawing board may finally happen. for example: the hudson river train tunnel that runs between new york and new jersey is a crucial artery that local leaders have been trying to upgrade for years. >> buttigieg: it was absolute state-of-the-art, best- construction technology 110 years ago. ( laughs ) >> cooper: in nineteen-- in 1910. >> buttigieg: yeah. and we're going deep into the 21st century still depending on that hundred-year-old infrastructure. >> cooper: the tunnels so badly damaged crews have to work on it at night so pieces of it don't fall on the tracks during the day. if an expected infrastructure grant comes through, construction of a new tunnel could finally begin next year. kentucky governor andy beshear has said he'd like to use infrastructure money to help build a companion to the congested brent spence bridge that connects kentucky and ohio. airports all over the country

will be receiving money this year to upgrade their runways and terminals. l.a.x. will get $79 million, chicago o'hare $74 million, and atlanta's international airport $92 million. secretary buttigieg plans to use some of the infrastructure money to revitalize low-income black neighborhoods that were divided or damaged by the construction of interstate highways. but florida governor ron de santis has expressed some skepticism about that. >> ron desantis: i mean, i heard some stuff, some weird stuff from the secretary of transportation trying to make this about social issues. to me, a road is a road. so, i mean, i don't know, i'd have to take a look at that. >> cooper: is a road a road? >> buttigeig: of course a road is a road. but if a road was built in such a way that it removed, destroyed, or divided a community of color, that's something we've got to deal with. >> cooper: what do you do about it? i mean, you're not going to reroute a highway. >> buttigeig: well, you might. if federal dollars were used to divide a neighborhood or a city, federal dollars should be used

to reconnect it. now, that doesn't always mean the highway has to go completely. maybe you got to bridge over it or around it, or introduce transit or different options. but the point is, transportation should always connect, never divide. >> kamala harris: the yeas are 69. the nays are 30. >> cooper: the passage of the infrastructure bill in the senate was the result of some serious bridge-building. five republican and five democratic senators negotiated the deal and convinced their colleagues to support it. in the house of representatives, 200 republicans and six democrats voted against the legislation, but that didn't stop many of them from later claiming credit for the money it gave to their districts. when you hear a member of congress who did not vote for this money turning around and taking credit for the money that is coming to their district-- >> buttigeig: it's an amazing thing, isn't it? as irritating as that can be, as long as the project gets done, as long as it benefits the people who live there, the politics are what they are.

( cheers and applause ) >> cooper: if you hadn't noticed, pete buttigieg is, himself, a very skilled politician. in 2019, when he announced he was running for the democratic presidential nomination, most people didn't know him and couldn't pronounce his name. >> buttigeig: they call me" mayor pete." >> cooper: but they quickly learned. >> buttigeig: butt-edge-edge, butt-edge-edge. >> cooper: he led the field in iowa along with bernie sanders, and finished a close second in new hampshire. when he dropped out of the race in march 2020, he endorsed joe biden, who later offered him a cabinet post. when he was sworn in, he became the first openly gay cabinet secretary to be confirmed by congress. >> harris: congratulations, mr. secretary. >> cooper: did you think about it on that day? >> buttigeig: yeah. yeah, i mean, it was hard not to think about it. it wasn't that long ago that being gay meant that you couldn't have any job in the federal government, never mind being a soldier or a cabinet officer. you couldn't be a bookkeeper. you could lose your job-- >> cooper: and you could be fired if you were. >> buttigeig: and many people were. and to know now that-- that-- i

can be who i am and have this job, i-- i know what that means for a lot of people. >> cooper: in august 2021, buttigieg and his husband, chasten adopted newborn twins, a boy and a girl. the twins were born prematurely, and their son gus spent time in intensive care. but as supply chain problems mounted last fall, buttigieg came under attack for taking parental leave during a crisis. >> tucker carlson: pete buttigieg has been on leave from his job since august after adopting a child, paternity leave, they call it, trying to figure out how to breastfeed, no word on how that went. >> cooper: were you surprised by-- by that criticism? >> buttigeig: a little bit, yeah. because some of it came from corners that-- talk a lot about family values. one thing i wanted to make sure people understood was that, like so many parents have to do, i took care of my kids and i took care of business. >> cooper: his agency has so far made hundreds of millions of dollars available to improve ports across the country, but supply chain problems remain a major challenge.

can you say when the supply chain issue will be solved? >> buttigeig: when the pandemic ends it'll get a lot better, but it's going to take years to have the kind of transportation infrastructure that we really need to weather the next shock, whether it's a pandemic or who knows, a cyber attack certainly more extreme weather related to climate change. we've got to get more resilient for that. >> cooper: the infrastructure law includes an unprecedented $66 billion over five years for amtrak to improve its existing rails and tunnels and expand its service. there's also $5 billion to help build a network of charging stations across the country for electric vehicles. but most of the transportation money is going to roads, highways, and bridges. there's folks who have looked at-- at the infrastructure bill, and don't really see it having a net positive impact on climate. you know, all the concrete that's being made, steel that's being made, all that is a huge release of carbon >> buttigeig: that's why we got to spend these dollars in a

smart way, right? the more we get people on to transit, give them good transit options, the less they have to drive. and then when they are driving, the more we get them in electric vehicles, that's good for the climate, too. in june we awarded georgia ports authority a $47 million grant. >> cooper: giving infrastructure money to local leaders all over the country could prove to be very good for pete buttigieg should he decide to run for national office again, but it some of these projects. and before there are new bridges and improved roads, there will be lots of closed lanes and traffic jams. we were curious what the american society of civil engineers, the group that gave the nation's current infrastructure a "c-," thought the infusion of federal funds would accomplish. one of their top officials told us it was a very positive development, but still only about half of what's needed. she says that she hopes that the infrastructure grade seven years from now would be a b.

with all the money that's being spent, still only a b. have you ever gotten a b in your life? you s-- you strike me as the kind of guy who hasn't gotten a lot of b's in your life. >> buttigeig: look: you know, we're always shooting for a+. but this isn't like building a house. this is building a country, literally. and some of these things do take time. each passing year you'll see more results, and it is going to take a while. ( ticking ) >> pete buttigieg's future in politics. >> cooper: i'm going to ask you a question which i know you're not going to answer, but i'm just curious to see how you don't answer it. >> at 60minutesovertime.com. sponsored by cologuard choice a, like screening for colon cancer... when caught in early stages it's more treatable. i'm cologuard. i'm noninvasive... and i detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers... even in early stages. early stages. yep.

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improbable, but the series has become a phenomenon and changed the game in hollywood. so, when production for the third season was about to begin, we went to london to meet as many members of the ensemble cast as we could, including jason sudeikis, ted lasso's mastermind and alter ego, to find out how the show scored. >> knock a doodle do. >> good morning, coach lasso. >> o'donnell: did you set out and say, "i want a character that's all about positivity and kindness and can transform people, bring out the best in people?" >> jason sudeikis: to play the character was intentional. to play someone that was kindhearted, that didn't swear-- be like teflon towards people's negativity or-- or-- or sarcasm, 100% intentional. >> o'donnell: kindness and positivity can be transformative. >> sudeikis: yeah, and so can the opposite. but i mean, if you had to choose one at the-- at that point of writing it and wanting to play it, i'd much rather try to view the world, you know, as ted lasso. >> that way is the "lasso way." >> o'donnell: jason sudeikis

told us the comedy in "ted lasso" rolls onto the screen like a trojan horse. >> howdy y'all cowboys! >> o'donnell: sometimes farcical. >> morning ted! >> hey, higgins! >> o'donnell: often profane. >> just gonna watch your ass. >> ( bleep ) off! >> o'donnell: carrying with it, homespun wisdom and warmth. >> boy that's a heaping spoonful of truth soup right there. >> o'donnell: the show defied not just the dark times of the pandemic, but sometimes logic itself. >> do you believe in ghosts, ted? >> sudeikis: mm-hmm. i do, but more importantly, i think they need to believe in themselves. >> o'donnell: as coach of the fictional soccer team known as a.f.c. richmond, sudeikis likes to say ted lasso is the best version of himself. one quality both character and actor share is curiosity. >> sudeikis: i saw this quote by walt whitman, it was painted on the wall there, and it said, "be curious, not judgmental." i like that. >> o'donnell: walt whitman never wrote or said, "be curious, not

judgmental," yet it's become more than just a catchphrase. >> sudeikis: my mom's parish in the south side of chicago, christ the king, you know, had, like, a bible study class. >> o'donnell: and what was the bible study about? >> sudeikis: probably, like, be curious, not judgmental, the gospel according to "ted lasso," something like that, maybe, i think. it might've been something like that. >> football is football no matter where you play it. >> o'donnell: the show's success is even more extraordinary when you consider its origins. nearly ten years ago, long before ted lasso became gospel, he began as an arrogant, in-curious commercial. >> sudeikis: hey, how ya doing? this is ted lasso and i'd like to talk to the queen, please. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> o'donnell: nbc sports needed a buzzy ad campaign to promote soccer's english premier league in the u.s. so they called sudeikis, who was finishing-up a ten-year run on saturday night live. >> skip like little girls. go, not a care in the world. >> o'donnell: he said the job sounded like fun, especially when he was allowed to invite two old friends along for the ride. so, before you guys created "ted lasso," you were actually

best friends. >> sudeikis: i don't know, best, i mean-- ( crosstalk ) >> joe kelly: lot of people in our lives. >> brendan hunt: overstatement-- >> sudeikis: yeah, i think we-- we got along well-- >> kelly: we're fine. >> sudeikis: yeah, yeah, yeah. ( laughter ) >> o'donnell: how-- so, how would you describe your relationship? >> sudeikis: best-- i think best friends i think. if i had to-- ( laughter ) >> o'donnell: "ted lasso" co-creators joe kelly and brendan hunt have known each other and jason sudeikis for more than 20 years. >> sudeikis: i'm going to be okay. >> o'donnell: after the commercials, the trio developed ted lasso into a more complete character who shed his arrogant swagger for humble curiosity. in the show, ted lasso also deals with divorce. >> but you're not quitting, ted. >> o'donnell: and mental health challenges. >> sudeikis: you're getting paid to just jot down your little notes and diagnose my tears and then what? >> o'donnell: all while bringing a feminine approach to a typically masculine job. >> sudeikis: y'all got to get together and woman-up! >> think you mean man-up, mate. >> sudeikis: no, y'all be manning-up for a while now and look where that's got ya. >> bill lawrence: if anybody

claims that they thought this show or knew this show was going work, they're fibbing a little bit. no one was sure. >> o'donnell: the three friends got a boost when veteran television producer bill lawrence joined the project. what was in jason's pitch that convinced you? >> lawrence: he knew from the start that this was a guy that was putting out a optimistic face and that would be one note if he wasn't also aware that that was covering up somebody that needed to learn about self- care and being proactive in facing whatever demons they might have. >> hunt: it got moving once bill was involved. >> o'donnell: but bill said this is not a soccer show. >> sudeikis: right. >> kelly: yeah. >> hunt: he basically pounded the-- the table and shouted at a very early-writer's room session, "this is not a soccer show! this is a workplace ensemble comedy." but that's kind of been a guiding principle, you know? it takes place in the soccer world, but it's not-- it's never

about the soccer at all. >> sudeikis: yeah, the thing that i would say, in, like, the pitch meetings when bill and i went out was like, "this show's as much about soccer as, like, 'rocky' is about boxing." >> o'donnell: what happened when you shopped around "ted lasso" here in hollywood? what was the reaction? >> ( blows raspberry ) >> sudeikis: that-- ( laughter ) no. >> hunt: what-- what's the opposite of a bidding war? >> sudeikis: it was like, er," we'll take it." >> o'donnell: streaming service apple tv+ decided to take on "ted lasso," which is produced by warner bros. do you think you had more freedom because it was apple? >> kelly: we went into filming-- feeling like the underdogs that richmond were. like, we weren't coming on the heels of a bidding war. we weren't coming on the heels of, like, "here we go with this monster show." and i felt like it helped the-- the process, the tone, the feeling, the vibe, everything. >> o'donnell: the vibe behind e sc smso mi t team seen on the show. we invited brendan hunt, who plays coach beard.

>> hunt: brentford taking on crystal palace. lasso special! >> o'donnell: and toheeb jimoh and kola bokinni, who portray soccer players on ted lasso, to a proper saturday afternoon match. so, i was kind of surprised in talking to the writers that one of the things that you guys deal with on the show, are trying to dismantle, is toxic masculinity. >> toheeb jimoh: 100%. i think setting the show in-- in like, a boy's locker room, in a football locker room is. >> kola bokinni: was easy. was easy-- >> jimoh: it's the perfect place to, like, try and tackle that. i think that comes from like just like, a culture of, like-- you know, it's very competitive. like, it's like-- like, boys being around other boys, and like everyone is pretending to be, like, this version of, like, what they think, like, a man is-- or a young man is. >> bokinni: you get different versions of people in it, you know? the person that you are behind closed doors is not the person that you are in-- in real life. >> o'donnell: before he took on ted lasso, in real life, jason sudeikis hailed from kansas, just like the coach he now plays. there he was a college theater star, but just as comfortable playing point-guard on the

basketball team. he says richmond is partly based on his old team, that also happened to be called the greyhounds. bill had one of these hanging in his office he pointed out on the set. >> sudeikis: de maat, named after martin de maat, an improv teacher from second city. >> o'donnell: ted lasso's writers named members of the team after friends, family members, and former mentors. >> sudeikis: saskia maas is one of the owners of boom chicago where brendan, joe and i all worked in amsterdam. >> one, two, three, greyhounds! >> o'donnell: it's hard sometimes for one word to capture so many things, but for a lot of people, this is the iconic ted lasso? >> sudeikis: yeah. >> o'donnell: "believe." >> sudeikis: i know. >> o'donnell: believe in yourself? believe in the people around you? >> sudeikis: yeah, yeah, yeah. absolutely. believe in the-- in the process. >> o'donnell: one of the show's breakout stars, brett goldstein, believed he could play roy kent. >> roy kent: check on your ( bleep ) teammate! >> o'donnell: the gruff, washed- up tough guy, with a heart of gold. >> goldstein: i like being roy kent and i don't know if i can handle just being some loser

has-been called roy. >> o'donnell: trouble was, goldstein was hired to write, not act. >> goldstein: last time i saw eyes that cold they were going head-to-head with roy scheider. >> goldstein: while we were writing it, about somewhere around episode five i started to think, i think roy kent is living inside me. >> o'donnell: how did brett goldstein go from writer to star? >> sudeikis: just flat-out show biz gumption, you know, he just felt a connection to the character. and so, he-- he did-- taped himself, sent it to bill saying, "hey, if this is good, you know, great. if it's not, we never need to talk about this again." ( laughs ) >> hunt: they're like, "brett turned in a roy video." "oh, did he? ( laughter ) fire it up." and immediately was like, "brett's roy." it was immediate. >> goldstein: you all play like a bunch of little pricks! you hear me? >> yes, coach! >> kelly: roy's very gruff, very angry, and it's always jarring when you call brett and he

answers the phone, "hello? ( laughter ) how are you? how are you, dear friend?" he's the sweetest most gentle man. >> goldstein: he's a cauldron of emotion that he doesn't want anyone to know about, who has been raised in a culture of almost toxic masculinity, to be a ( bleep ) wall. and he has all these feelings and these emotions, but he cannot express them all. and he has to keep them pent up, which is why he talks like he talks, 'cause he's holding it all in. it's like a cork. >> o'donnell: a cork-- >> goldstein: if he pulled it out he'd cry and sing and, you know, fly off. >> hannah waddingham: you're nearly 70 and you're having a baby, what are you, a character from the ( bleep ) bible? >> o'donnell: hannah waddingham, who spent much of the last 20 years performing musical theater in london's west end, plays team owner, rebecca welton. why do you think the show

resonated with so many people? and does it have something to do with the pandemic? >> waddingham: i think it does and it doesn't. people associate it with the pandemic time, of course, because it was a massive hug. and it was a way of everyone blocking it out. >> o'donnell: the show was a massive hug. >> waddingham: yes. >> o'donnell: a hug to what? >> waddingham: to people. to humanity. it's-- it's-- i think it's what everybody needed at the time. they needed a hug and a reminder to be kind to each other. a reminder to include each other. a reminder to check in with each other, even if you think someone's got their stuff together, they haven't. i also think that had the pandemic not happened, it would have done exactly the same thing, because there's something about our show that reminds everyone that you don't have to be cutting to be funny. you can be warm, and funny, and kind, and giving, and supportive, and accepting, and funny. >> o'donnell: and that's what makes "ted lasso" distinct. >> waddingham: yes.

( laughter ) >> thank you! >> o'donnell: at last year's emmys, waddingham, goldstein... >> thank you, very much! thank you! >> o'donnell: and sudeikis all took home trophies for acting. >> i'm eternally grateful. >> o'donnell: and the show won outstanding comedy series. >> richmond was more of a cricket town than a football town. >> o'donnell: the richmond greyhounds may be a make-believe team, but richmond the town is 100% real this is the real version of the set. >> hunt: yeah. you kind of can't fake richmond, really, you know? this bar's great, we basically built an exact replica. >> o'donnell: this is not what i expected today. the day we were there, so were fans of the show, including a young woman who had traveled from germany and had just gotten a tattoo in honor of ted lasso. >> it's still in the ziploc. >> o'donnell: and it read, "be curious, not judgmental." i mean, this is pretty special, being out here? and-- >> sudeikis: yes. >> o'donnell: we also took a

walk on the field where the richmond greyhounds shoot most of their soccer scenes. i mean, it's kind of great. your pitch is right near the studio? >> sudeikis: i know. it's something else. happy accident. >> o'donnell: in typical midwestern fashion, jason sudeikis was not entirely comfortable explaining the show's success, nor taking credit for it. what do you think the legacy of "ted lasso" is decades from now? >> sudeikis: i don't know. i hope, i hope, folks keep watching it. a decent chance it'll pay for my kids' college. ( laughs ) unless i-- unless i blow it all. >> o'donnell: you don't think it's already done that? >> sudeikis: you don't think i've already blown it? ( laughter ) ( ticking ) >> welcome to cbssportshq presented by progressive insurance. i'm greg gumbel. the nap ncaa bab tournament. the overall 1 seed in the dwitionz. arizona is on top in the

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♪♪ ahhh! oh my! okay it's my turn, i'm going to drive. ♪ you've been, you've been ♪ ♪ running through my mind ♪ ♪ and i've been thinking that it's just about time ♪ ♪ we get together, together ♪ ♪ i've been, i've been ♪ ♪ doing just fine ♪ ♪ and you've been, you've been doing alright ♪ ♪ let's get together, ♪ ♪ together ♪ ♪ so come on ♪

♪ together ♪ >> whitaker: i'm bill whitaker. we'll be back next week with another edition of "60 minutes."

previously on the equalizer... (alarm stops) robyn: how's it going, harry? enjoying being dead? i'm asking rob to help me live again. federal agents! don't move! harry "keys" keshegian, you are under arrest for espionage. you always got something up your sleeve, don't you? mel: they're releasing him. robyn: so, what do you think? think i got my life back. robyn: i serve as an equalizer. it's what i was put on this earth to do. has anybody seen bert? he's 20 minutes late. anybody seen him today? yesterday? vince, get him on the damn phone! ♪ ♪ ♪ i don't care what you say anymore ♪