This week on "Sunday Morning" (February 20)
Host: Jane Pauley
WATCH THE FULL FEBRUARY 20 EPISODE!
COVER STORY: How free speech is under attack in the U.S. | Watch Video
America was built on the premise of free speech, but today's news is filled with examples of limiting people's expression – from prohibitions against misinformation, to book bans and state laws restricting how teachers can discuss such topics as racial injustice, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Correspondent David Pogue talks with writers and academics about free speech and a corresponding climate of self-censorship; and with a New Hampshire history teacher who says, "The ghost of Senator McCarthy is alive and well in some of our state house hallways."
For more info:
- "Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media" by Jacob Mchangama (Basic Books), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon and Indiebound
- Follow Jacob Mchangama on Twitter
- John A. Powell, professor, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
- "Silicon Values: The Future of Free Speech Under Surveillance Capitalism" by Jillian C. York (Verso), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon and Indiebound
- jilliancyork.com
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Jillian York photo: Nadine Barišić
HEADLINES: Fighting escalates in eastern Ukraine (Video)
With up to 190,000 Russian troops massed near Ukraine's borders, the U.S. and its allies are now bracing for a land war in Europe. There has already been an escalation of violence in the eastern part of Ukraine, where the military has been fighting Kremlin-backed separatists. Correspondent Holly Williams reports on the latest.
HEADLINES: Defense Secretary Austin: Russia "poised to strike" Ukraine (Video)
In a threatening show of force, Russia test-fired nuclear-capable weapons, intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, as President Vladimir Putin moved his nation's military into attack positions around Ukraine. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the latest.
MUSIC: Tears for Fears returns with "The Tipping Point" | Watch Video
Performing as the group Tears for Fears, English pop rockers Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith had hits in the 1980s with such songs as "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." But after an acrimonious split in 1991, the two didn't speak to one another for nine years. They have since reunited, and are about to release Tears for Fears' first album in 17 years, "The Tipping Point." Correspondent Tracy Smith sits down with Orzabal and Smith – soon to embark on a U.S. tour – to find out how their musical collaboration helped heal a personal tragedy.
"The Tipping Point" by Tears for Fears (Concord Records) will be released February 25. To watch a music video for the album's title track, click on the player below:
For more info:
- tearsforfears.com
- U.S. tour info (Beginning May 20)
ART: The revelatory art of Joseph Yoakum | Watch Video
Joseph Yoakum (1891-1972) didn't start creating art until he was in his 70s. Self-taught in his use of ballpoint pens, colored pencil and pastels, Yoakum (who claimed Native American ancestry, and whose mother was a formerly-enslaved African American) created fanciful landscapes, now currently on view at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Correspondent Rita Braver reports.
For more info:
- "Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw," at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City (through March 19), followed by the Menil Collection, Houston (April 22-August 7)
- Catalogue: "Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw" (Art Institute of Chicago)
- Artist Cynthia Carlson
PASSAGE: Satirist P.J. O'Rourke (Video)
Humorist and political commentator P.J. O'Rourke died this week at the age of 74. Jane Pauley looks back.
BUSINESS: Byron Allen on the road to media mastery | Watch Video
Four years ago, comedian and media mogul Byron Allen became the first Black American to own a 24-hour mainstream cable news network when he purchased The Weather Channel for $310 million – in cash. Now, Allen is preparing a bid to buy the Denver Broncos, which – if successful – would make him the NFL's first Black majority owner. Correspondent Lee Cowan talks with Allen about his entrepreneurial spirit, and his success at increasing minority ownership in broadcasting.
For more info:
HARTMAN: A snowman that melts hearts (Video)
At Southshore Charter Academy outside Tampa, teacher Robin Hughes realized that most of her students had never seen actual snow – it hasn't snowed in Central Florida in 45 years. So, she reached out to her sister in Kentucky who agreed to ship Hughes a snowman. Steve Hartman reports on how the snow-deprived children gave the snowman, nicknamed Lucky, a very warm reception.
STAGE: Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick: The show does go on | Watch Video
Two years ago, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker were set to star in a New York revival of Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite" when COVID-19 shut down Broadway theatres (and practically everything else). Now, the show is finally set to open, and two years after interviewing the husband-and-wife duo, "Sunday Morning" anchor Jane Pauley sits down once again with Parker and Broderick to talk about the unprecedented hiatus.
For more info:
- Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite," at the Hudson Theatre, New York City; previews begin February 25 | Ticket info
HISTORY: Franklin Pierce – America's handsomest president? | Watch Video
No survey of America's worst presidents would be complete without our 14th president, Franklin Pierce, whose reputation for amiability and good looks (and his introduction of perforated postage stamps) was offset by his support for the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, which led to clashes between pro- and anti-slavery forces. Correspondent Mo Rocca looks at the legacy of a president whose actions in office brought the nation closer to civil war.
For more info:
- Pierce Manse, Concord, N.H.
- Michael Holt, Department of History, University Of Virginia
- Franklin Pierce (whitehouse.gov)
COMMENTARY: How the killings of two Black sons ignited social justice movements | Watch Video
New York Times columnist Charles Blow reflects on the similarities between the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till and the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and how they each sparked protest movements led by mothers with tears on their cheeks but steel in their spines.
For more info:
NATURE: Eagles in Washington state (Extended Video)
"Sunday Morning" leaves you today among bald eagles on the Nooksack River in northern Washington state. Videographer: Mike Griffith.
WEB EXCLUSIVES:
OLYMPICS: The sport of Olympic pin trading
Collectors go for the gold in what is one of the most competitive of Olympics events: trading hard-to-find pins that commemorate the Games. "CBS Sunday Morning" producer Roman Feeser provides the play-by-play.
CBS NEWS SPECIAL: "Here Comes the Sun" (Video)
It seems like Andrew Garfield can do it all, from blockbuster hits to teaming up with Lin-Manuel Miranda for his most recent role in "Tick, Tick ... BOOM!" Also: We take a peek behind the counter at some of New York City's bodegas, where the proprietors are drinking a special kind of coffee.
The Emmy Award-winning "CBS Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Executive producer is Rand Morrison.
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