60 Minutes - 03/01/2026: Iran, Under Siege, Breaking the Cycle

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

After a surprise joint attack by U.S. and Israeli military forces on Iran killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, correspondent Scott Pelley interviews Reza Pahlavi, a leader of the Iranian opposition to the Islamic Republic and the son of the late deposed shah of Iran. Pelley reports on this pivotal moment for Iran's leadership, whether regime change is coming, who leads a future transition, and what happens to Iran’s nuclear weapons. Federal judges are under threat as never before. A 60 MINUTES investigation found that judges who have ruled against the Trump administration have become top targets. 60 MINUTES spoke with 26 federal judges – 9 Democratic appointees and 17 Republican, both sitting and retired. As Bill Whitaker reports, the sitting judges tell 60 MINUTES they feel under siege – and fear for their safety and for the future of the country. For the past two weeks, the father of an accused mass shooter has been on trial in Barrow County, Georgia. Prosecutors there say he ignored glaring red flags before his teenage son shot up Apalachee High - a tragedy that left 4 dead. This is not the first time the parent has been put on trial. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on an earlier, precedent-setting case from Oxford, Michigan where both the school shooter and his parents now sit behind bars, raising the question: Will holding parents accountable help break the cycle of school shootings in America? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You have been out of the country for nearly 50 years. Why would the people want you? When Judge John Kuhnauer blocked President Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship, he wasn't prepared for what happened. next. Death threats? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Dozens of them. Dozens, if not hundreds. He's one of 400 federal judges who were targets of serious threats last year, a 78% jump since 2021. If we're not careful, we're going to get a judge killed. Four years ago, a gunman opened fire at Oxford High School, about 40 miles north of Detroit. My son's touching me and saying they're shooting He was sentenced to life in prison. But prosecutors argued he wasn't the only one to blame.

Do you think his parents failed him? Yes. This kid was asking for help at every level, and he didn't get it, and he did something horrible. I'm Leslie Stahl. I'm Scott Pelly. I'm Bill Whitaker. I'm Anderson Cooper. I'm Sharon Alphonsey.

I'm Cecilia Vega. I'm John Worthheim. Those stories and in our last... minute, a great poet with prose on being an American. Tonight on 60 Minutes. The United States and Israel conducted a second day of strikes on targets across Iran. Iran's supreme leader has been killed. Tehran has retaliated with missile attacks on Israel, neighboring countries, and U.S. military bases in the region. At least three American service members have been killed. Scott Pelly is in Paris following events, including what could be next,

for Iran. Tonight, the most prominent member of the Iranian opposition says he believes the Iranian regime is collapsing and he would like to lead a transition that makes Iran safe for the world. 65-year-old Reza of Pahlavi is the son of the former king or Shah of Iran, who was deposed in 1979 by revolutionaries and hardline Islamic clerics. In that year of revolution, Pahlavi was 18 years old and living in Lubbock, Texas, where the U.S. Air Force was training him to be a fighter pilot. He was never able to go home.

He has lived in exile 47 years, mostly in the United States. But tonight, he's in Paris, where we asked him if he wants to be king, what Iran's policy should be toward Israel and nuclear weapons. We started our interview with the news that the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Hamani, had been killed in the opening hours of the war. It is definitely a sort of earth-shattering event in the sense that when people identify the entire monstrosity of a regime that is depicted ultimately by the chief monster of these monsters, when he's gone, the men at such a personality.

disappears. It's like elation. It was like, oh my God, it has finally occurred. Maybe this is it. This is our chance now. You call him a monster. What do you mean? Well, I mean, ever since this regime has taken over how many Iranians' lives have been lost, I don't think you can have an example of such level of atrocity ever in the history of Iran or at least contemporary Iran that has occurred under this regime. And this is all because of Ali Khamenei's insistence and persistence to keep himself, and his mafia regime in power at the expense of the Iranian people. I don't know how else can you depict it other than being true monsters, in the real sense of the world.

This past January, Iranians poured into the streets. Pahlavi urged them on, and hundreds of thousands marched. The regime gunned down an estimated 20,000 citizens. The massacre was a prelude to war. This is video overnight after the announcement of the death of the Ayatollah in the city of Isfahan. What does that mean to you? That means that finally we are ready to go back to the streets, even though I've cautioned them that for now, you better take care of your own safety and stay at home.

The time will come to go back on the streets. But then again, you see that despite that, people still are. brave enough to say to hell with it. Because to us it's liberation. To us it's like a humanitarian intervention to protect lives that could otherwise continue to be lost. It gives the Iranian people a real opportunity now when they see the end of this regime that is

was always bound to collapse. Whether there was an intervention or not, I want to make sure your audience understand that. We were prepared to fight the fight. There was too much blood between us in this regime. We were committed to fight regardless of outside intervention. They're thanking President Trump from actually standing on his word and acting upon his word. Do you actually believe this regime could fall after almost 50 years?

Of course. Prince Reza Pahlavi told us he wants to lead Iran in a transition to democracy. You don't want to be king? I'm not running for office. I'm not. Are you saying in this interview that you wouldn't lead Iran? That's a different thing. They trust me as the transitional leader, not as the future king or future president or future whatever. I'm totally focused on my mission in life, which is, let me bring the country to a point that they can make that free choice.

That would be enough for me having said mission accomplished. You imagine peace with Israel. Of course. In modern history, Iran actually gave refuge to Jews that were escaping the Nazis during the Second World War, giving them refuge and sanctuary in Iran. The strategic importance of having a partnership with Israel is critical. What are the principles on which you would build a new Iran? I think what today unites us are four core principles that I think is the subject of how we can work together towards that end.

Number one is Iran's territorial integrity. Number two is the clear separation of religion from state, which is a prerequisite to democracy, and we paid the price understanding what it means to live under a religious dictatorship. Number three is, of course, equality of all citizens under the law and individual liberties. And most importantly, the process, a democratic process to allow the people to elect and decide what their future system of governance should be. What would happen to the nuclear weapons program? I think it should be totally dismantled.

I don't think Iran has any need to pursue a military weaponizing of the nuclear program. Palavi's father was the last king. Mohamed Reza Polavi was close to the United States, but he brutally suppressed opposition and showered friends with lavish wealth. In 1979, he left Iran amid rising political tension, and a hard-line cleric, Ayatollah Khomeini, returned from exile to lead a revolution. Iranians blamed the U.S. for supporting the king. and revolutionaries overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran

and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Your father's reign is remembered for repression and opulent wealth. And I wonder why you believe the people would welcome you now. Well, you know, that's perhaps one narrative. but when you look at a lot of people who were at the time living that era, they were telling me, you know what, we recognize where we were and where we are now, and today we want to be with you, we support you, we back you. And there were people who were in those so-called prisons that were notorious or repressive

or whatever you call. They were in prison under the previous regime. People were killed in your father's regime. Look, look, my father. left Iran voluntarily to avoid bloodshed. And he said, I'm a king. A king doesn't build his throne on the blood of his own people. If the nation today wants me out, I would leave.

I will not turn my guns on them. You have been out of the country for nearly 50 years. Why would the people want you? If they thought that was an issue, I don't think they'll be calling my name by the millions, on the streets of Iran. I think that part of the reason people trust me only is because they cannot associate me in any way or form

to the revolution or to be part of this regime. The very same people who today are in the streets, all the young kids that are getting shot and massacred by this regime are a generation that turns to their parents and tell them what the hell were you thinking? What was that madness to think that this Khomeini character is going to be our solution and our path to freedom and look at where we are now? But from the day I left, I never left Iran.

Iran had been on my mind every single year of my life, every single, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing that is my mind is Iran. Pahlavi told us he is in touch with the Trump administration and members of Congress. What is your message to President Trump? My message to President Trump is that I'm here to echo and join millions of my compatriots inside and outside of Iran to thank him for having done and having the courage to do what is not easy, but intervene. And he will go down in the annals of Iranian history as the most celebrated foreign leader that changed the ball game and changed the world as a result. In January, President Trump said this about you, quote, he seems very nice, but I don't know how he'd play within his own country. I don't know whether or not his country would accept his leadership. And certainly if they would, that would be fine with me.

You don't seem to have President Trump's wholehearted support. Well, first of all, I don't think that somebody in my position will ever expect to, to have an official endorsement of a foreign government or a foreign leader. What I do know now is that millions of Iranians inside Iran and outside of Iran are calling my name. They recognize in me the person uniquely placed to play a role of transitional leadership. Not running for office, because that's not what I'm doing, but to be a breach to that destiny. Unrest has been building for months. Last June, U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran's nuclear facility.

And in 2022, one of the largest uprisings in the nearly 50-year history of the regime erupted. Iran's morality police arrested a 22-year-old woman accusing her of failing to cover her hair. She was killed in custody, and crowds moved into the streets to demand an end to the regime. Security forces killed more than 500, arrested 22,000. 22,000 and blacked out the internet. Much of the population has been seething right through today. When you see the courage on the streets that we're witnessing now, I wonder how that moves you. I think it's the ultimate definition of heroism. Do you remember that lone Chinese student in Tiananmen Square standing in front of that tank, that tank, I remember that image.

Let me give you another visual that has been going viral on the cyberspace. That firefighter was carrying a wounded person that was shot on the streets just a few weeks ago, and they shot him to death. That image, you know, I exemplify that. It's a tremendous thing to witness. Pahlavi told us there are units in the military and police who, have signaled to him that they would turn on the hardline government. He says many, but not all troops, could be given amnesty in a process of national reconciliation.

And in fact, it will be a clear indication that this is the time for them to make a decision. Do you want to join this time with the people or do you want to stand with the sinking ship? It's possible that this interview will penetrate the internet blackout and I wonder what you say to the Iranian people. Have faith in yourselves. You are a nation with an ancient civilization. I know how proud you are of your heritage, how important Iran is to all of them.

And I always said to them, I said, you know what? I know you always hoping for a better future. What I would like you to start doing, and I've started to answer my call, is instead of hoping, start believing. that it can be done. Five decades of covering Iran. He calls you, Imam, forgive me, his words not mine, a lunatic. You are like a CIA investigator.

Go inside the 60 Minutes Archive at 60 Minutes Overtime.com. Life could feel overwhelming, but you don't have to go through it alone. On my podcast, From the Heart with Rachel Brathen, I share openly and vulnerably about everything life brings us and what we can learn by living with our hearts a little bit more open. Every Friday, a new episode brings you a new story with topics on self-care, motherhood, healing, and more. You are enough, just the way you are. This podcast is a reminder of that.

Follow and listen to From the Heart with Rachel Brathen, wherever you get your podcasts. When the Supreme Court recently struck down President Trump's tariffs, he lashed out at two justices he had nominated, calling them fools and lapdogs. The president has frequently railed against judges when they rule against him. What often happens next is a barrage of violent threats from his followers against those judges. We spoke with 26 federal judges, nine Democratic appointees, 17 Republican, both sitting and retired. The sitting judges told us they feel under siege. Most would not appear on camera, fearful for their safety.

Judge John Kuhnauer, appointed by Ronald Reagan. is one of the few who would. He blocked President Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship. He wasn't prepared for what happened next. My wife and I are at home, and the doorbell rings, and I go to the door, and there's, I think, five sheriff's deputies there with long rifles. And they show up with guns drawn. Oh, yeah.

Yes, yes. Long guns. very intimidating guns. And they said to me, sir, could we see your wife? And I said, whatever for? And they said, well, sir, we've had a report that you've murdered your wife. It was a cruel hoax.

The next day, a bomb threat. For John Kuhnauer, a federal district court judge in Washington State, it didn't end there. There was a congressman that had a wanted poster. She said wanted in big legs. letters at the top and then a picture of several of us. It said everything except dead or alive. His trouble started when President Trump signed an executive order

to end the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship for infants born on U.S. soil to non-citizens. Judge Kuhnauer ruled it, quote, blatantly unconstitutional. The threats poured in. Some of them was very, very ugly and very threat. death threats? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Dozens of them. Dozens, if not hundreds. Judge Kuhnauer told us threats come with the turf. He has sentenced an al-Qaeda bomber and Montana militia members and needed round-the-clock protection. But he said he'd never had as many death threats as with the birthright citizenship case. I've been at this for 44 years. I have never encountered the hostility toward the judiciary. that has existed in this country in the last year. And I don't think it's because we're making bad decisions.

I think it's because there are people who think that they can make a lot of political hay out of criticizing the federal judiciary. And also we cannot allow a handful of communist, radical-left judges to obstruct the enforcement of our laws and assume the duties that belong solely to the President of the United States. When President Trump lost a battle in court to deport migrants, he called the judge a lunatic. When immigration crackdowns were ruled illegal, he called the judge's monsters. It's incendiary comments like that that have provoked a torrent of death threats. Our reporting found hundreds of threats were left on judges' voicemails.

This one, after a judge ruled the president, had violated the First Amendment. I hope your whole family and everybody you love is raped and, front of you and has their head cut off. And this one, after a judge ruled the president couldn't cut certain government benefits. And I wish somebody will assassinate your ass. It's a volcano of vitriol. How dumbel dares you to try to put charges on Donald J. Trump? You son of a bitch.

It falls to the U.S. Marshals to pinpoint the verbal threats that might lead to physical violence. Judges told us the marshals are overwhelmed. Last year, 400 federal judges were targets of serious threats, a 78% jump in four years. In very plain English, if we're not careful, we're going to get a judge killed. It's just that stark. It's that serious. It's that serious.

Judge John Jones is a retired federal judge from Pennsylvania, a George W. Bush appointee. He and 55 other retired judges were so concerned, They formed a bipartisan group to lobby the White House to stop demonizing judges. This is such a toxic environment where people are taking arms and can identify where a judge lives, can strike out against that judge or the judge as family members. So when President Trump attacks judges as rogue, deranged, corrupt, what do you think he's doing and why?

I think that he's attempting to de-legitimize the federal courts. Why would he do that? What's the benefit to him? It's a presidency sort of on steroids. And you have a very dormant, I think, United States Congress and a president who means to really say what the law is. Well, you know, civics taught me that Congress makes the law and the president faithfully executes the laws of the country. We've turned that on its head right now. Okay, we'll sign right here, right?

Judge Jones told us this White House is testing the bounds of presidential power. White House! Today, the Trump administration is facing 600 lawsuits contesting its agenda, from immigration to job cuts. Judges are caught squarely in the crossfire. As a judge who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and defend the rule of law, I have a duty to call this out. That's why I'm talking to you.

Judge Esther Salas is a federal district court judge in New Jersey. A Barack Obama appointee, she has become a leading voice against the personal attacks on judges, which has made her the target of death threats. She knows the stakes. In 2020, a failed litigant came to her front door, shot her son Daniel dead, and wounded her husband, Mark. It was not driven by politics, but she fears today's inflammatory rhetoric makes such horrors more likely. I'm more concerned right now than I was after my only child was murdered. Why?

Because I think that the attacks against the judiciary are only getting worse. What I'm seeing now is far different than what I've seen in the past. This is coming from our national leader on down. Judge Salas told us, vilifying judges is eroding trust in the courts. If you disagree with a ruling that we make, appeal us. If you disagree with a sentence we render, appeal us. The answer is not to dehumanize us. And that has been, I think, the active agenda as of late.

I feel like sometimes our political leaders are playing Russian roulette with our lives. Do you think the rhetoric emboldens people? I do. I think it's dangerous. In a statement, the White House said, as a survivor of two assassination attempts, no one understands the dangers of political violence more than President Trump. It went on to accuse the judiciary of brazen defiance.

with its unlawful rulings. These activist judges... Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called it a war. We are routinely getting stays and getting reversals because of local judges, just not following the law full stop. And it's the same judges, or not the same judges, but there's a group of judges that are repeat players, and that's obviously not by happenstance.

That's intentional. and it's a war, man. Todd Blanche declined our request for an interview. In a statement to us, he said some judges continue to issue overbroad and even unreasoned injunctions, but adding threats and intimidation of federal officials is unlawful. Judge John Kuhnauer told us the Constitution is a judge's North Star. So to someone who says that you are a political agent

in trying to thwart the goals of the president, you would say... I would say you don't understand what we do. We apply the Constitution for the last 250 years in this country. It's been the judges that say this is either constitutional or it isn't. If nobody's going to make that decision, nobody's going to enforce the Constitution, it becomes like the Constitution of Russia. The threats aren't just coming from the right. In 2020, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that Supreme Court justices

Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would, quote, pay the price for restricting abortion. He later apologized. In 2022, a would-be assassin was arrested for trying to kill Justice Kavanaugh at his home. But Judge Jones, a Republican appointee, told us the violent language of the right has no match. The national rhetoric from both sides has probably gotten worse over time. However, I would not concede that the Democratic Party or that Democratic office holders have conducted themselves in any way that's similar to what this administration is doing with respect to the federal judiciary. There's simply no evidence of that.

And when you look at the database, it's names of addresses of hundreds of elected officials and judges. Ron Zias is the CEO of Ironwall, a company that scrubs judge's personal data from the web. So here's another threat that we have toward a judge. Zias told us, in 14 years, he has never seen as many violent threats as today. You know, if you broadcast that message to a million people, you just need one to act on it. And that's the terrifying part that judges are having to deal with today. Zias also combs through the dark web. Look at the gallows, my God.

This. A criminal haven on the internet where anonymous threat actors try to cause real-world harm. These days, Zias is worried about a new type of threat. The threats used to be, you ruled against me, and I want to kill you. Now the kind of threats we're seeing, there's a whole other sphere of saying,

I want to influence what you do. It's mob mentality. They want to threaten you so that you make the right decision. The marshals are also investigating a strict new form of intimidation. Hundreds of unsolicited pizzas sent to judges and their children across the country, an innocuous delivery with an ominous message. We know where you live.

We know where your children live. And do you want to end up like Judge Salas' son? At least 20 were sent to homes in the name of Judge Salas' late son. The order form had my murdered son's name on it. They're weaponizing my baby boy. They're weaponizing Daniel's name to inflict fear on judges. I know that's shocking, but it must be so painful. Oh.

You know, that one took me. And you add to that for flavor that I have yet to see the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General stand at a podium and denounce these forms of intimidation. Attorney General Pam Bondi also declined our request for an interview. Judge Salas, among many others, told us the rule of law is at stake. I sit here as Daniel's mom. I sit here as a woman who lost her only child.

Mark and I have been to hell and back. And when I see that kind of irresponsible behavior coming from our political leaders and people in power, it makes me sad. And it makes me very worried because I worry for our democracy. I really do. Since the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre in Colorado, there have been 84 mass shootings at schools across the United States. Each tragedy is uniquely horrific.

But the response from lawmakers has become frustratingly predictable. Condolences, partisan rhetoric, and ultimately inaction. Which is why we took note of how some prosecutors are pursuing these cases. They're not just putting the gunmen behind bars. They're starting to hold the shooter's parents responsible. For the past two weeks, the father of an accused high school mass shooter has been on trial in Barrow County, Georgia. Prosecutors there argue that he ignored red flags about his son before the teen shot up Appalachy High in 2024, a tragedy that left four dead. It's not the

first time the parent has been put on trial. Tonight, we'll look at the precedent-setting case out of Oxford, Michigan, and ask whether holding parents accountable is enough to break the cycle of school-shooting violence. Four years ago, on a cold November day, a gunman opened fire at Oxford High School, about 40 miles north of Detroit. My son's texting me and saying they're shooting. A 15-year-old student walked the halls armed with a 9-millimeter handgun, killing four schoolmates. Among them, 16-year-old Tate Meir, a star athlete and student mentor, and 14-year-old Hannah St. Juliana, just three months into her freshman. year. Hannah was a bright light. Making people laugh is I think what most people remember about her,

her smile and her laugh. Tate had a crazy, crazy, awesome zest for life. He was an incredible soul. It's hit the community hard. Buckmere and Steve St. Juliana now find themselves on a growing list of families whose children have been killed in school shootings. How are we doing as a country moving towards this not happening again? We're not moving in that direction. We're not moving in that direction. Yeah, we're going backwards at the moment. Yep. Why do you say that? Changes that have been made at legislative level,

trying to add more mental health support, more gun control, it's all being reversed. We don't seem to be wanting to learn from them, you know? I feel like we need to get in prevention. Go. Prevention might have protected Oxford High students from this moment. There were red flags for months. Prosecutors said the gunman, Ethan Crumbly, had texted his mother on multiple occasions that he saw demons in the family home. Three months before the shooting,

he assured a friend he was just kidding after he texted that it's time to shoot up the school. And 24 hours before the attack, his troubling conduct escalated. According to prosecutors and court testimony, here's what happened. A teacher emailed administrators that she saw the sophomore looking at different bullets online in class. A school administrator left a voicemail for the boy's mother. She didn't respond, but later texted her son, L.O.L. I'm not mad. You have to learn not to get caught. The next morning, just hours before the shooting, another teacher alerted administrators that the teen's math worksheet had drawings of a gun, a bullet, and a person bleeding. Along with the words, the thoughts won't stop, help me, blood everywhere.

He was taken to a guidance counselor's office and his parents were called in. The counselor testified that he recommended therapy and suggested the crumblies take their son home, but they refused citing work. The meeting lasted just 12 minutes. They left, and he went back to class. His backpack was never checked. Two hours later, surveillance video shows the 15-year-old walked into the bathroom, pulled a gun out of that backpack, entered the hallway, and started shooting. Police found his journal on the bathroom floor, detailing his desire and plan to shoot up his classmates. Later, investigators learned that just three days before the attack, his mother had taken him to a shooting range with that 9-millimeter handgun, which his father had purchased for him as an early Christmas present.

Do you think his parents failed him? Yes. I think there was plenty of red flags there for them to be aware that he was in crisis. And their answer to that was to go buy him a gun and take him shooting. Which, there's nothing wrong with that activity in and of itself. But when that's your answer to a child in crisis, that's a problem. I'm not a forgiving, right? But this kid was asking for help at every level. And he didn't get it.

And he did something horrible. Is it your own choice to plead guilty? Yes, sir. He pled guilty to all charges and was sentenced to life in prison. But prosecutors argued he wasn't the only one to blame. His parents were each convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter for failing to secure the gun and ignoring the warning signs of their son's mental health crisis. I believe that the following sentences would be in the best interest of justice. They were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison.

It is the first time that parents, anywhere in the country, have been held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting committed by their child. Our society refuses to take significant action to protect our children. So one of the only places that we can put this back onto are the parents. What's really unfortunate here is when you want to think about this shooting and accountability, only the shooter and the parents have been held accountable. There's been no accountability at the school. Should the school bear some responsibility? Absolutely.

I mean, they're in the business of kids. I mean, the kid was in a counseling office. He was obviously in crisis. He basically already had a gun in his hand, and the counseling office fumbled it. Victims' lawsuits against school officials and the district have been dismissed citing Michigan's government immunity laws,

which protect public entities and their employees from being sued. Immunity is driving inaction. Yeah. The law enforcement says, well, we don't want to waste our time. our time doing the investigation because they've got immunity, prosecutors are the same way. They don't want to prosecute or try to prosecute because, well,

they're coming up against immunity. So why bother? So why bother? And that's where we've gone. I mean, we fought consistently just to have this investigation done. I imagine that there will be people who say, the schools are already stretched thin. They don't have the ability to do much with a kid who's in trouble.

who's in trouble. We can't let them off the hook. This was preventable. There are no national standards after a school shooting, no federal mandates for state reviews or investigations. Typically, the FBI is only required to investigate if it's considered an act of terror or a hate crime.

After months of pressure from the community, the Oxford School Board hired a private security firm called Guidepost to conduct an independent investigation. But that path was full of roadblocks. Guidepost doesn't have the legal authority to compel testimony. So of the 161 people they asked to interview,

guideposts reported that approximately 70 refused or would not respond, including two school employees who met with the shooter hours before the incident. The district told us that many staff members had given depositions in court proceedings, But according to Guidepost, those interviews didn't fully address all of their questions. Guidepost concluded the teachers at Oxford High acted appropriately by immediately raising concerns.

Guidepost investigators faulted the school for not following established threat assessment protocols, writing, this tragedy was avoidable. The Michigan Attorney General's office says it is now investigating. James Denzley and Gillian Peterson are professor. of criminology and founders of the Violence Prevention Project, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based nonprofit that studies mass shootings. You think about all the things that were learned after 9-11 and how that created an entire infrastructure and an apparatus around dealing with terrorism.

We don't see that same type of urgency with the mass shooting problem. Instead, we get sort of thoughts and prayers, we get a situation where we pit off imperfect solutions against each other because no one can agree on anything. And then that creates a situation where there's no action. So what is missing is that definitive action where we can create a template that everybody else then follows suit. One of the guys we interviewed.

Densley and Peterson have spent the last 10 years researching hundreds of mass shootings, interviewing those who knew the gunmen and also the shooters themselves, hoping to better understand their pathways to violence and how to stop them. What's the pattern that emerged for? from the data. We saw an early childhood with a lot of pretty significant violence or neglect, domestic violence in the home, that kind of laid the foundation.

Did you ever say to any of these mass shooters, could somebody have stopped you? That was one of the questions I asked every time. Is there anyone or anything that could have stopped you? And every person we talked to said, yes. One of them even said, I think anyone could have stopped. me. Their research shows that over 90% of all school mass shooters broadcast their plans online or in person before they commit the atrocity. Investigators say the gunmen in Parkland,

Florida, shoot in the window! Yuvalde, Texas, an Appalachy High in Winder, Georgia, all told people about their intent before the attacks. They're feeling hopeless and they feel isolated and they're looking for that notoriety. They want to be seen no matter how dysfunctionally. No matter how dysfunctionally, it's better than not being seen. Often you see after a school shooting, more metal detectors, clear backpacks, and drills. If a school is given this kind of emergency resources to make their kids safer, is that the best use of them? It's not the best use of them. And all of that security ends up being kind of theatrical, right? Like, it makes you feel better, maybe. But if a student is the perpetrator doesn't do anything. And so you're better off spending

resources on things like teams that communicate with each other, right? School-based mental health, crisis intervention, suicide prevention. And the data bears that out. The data over and over again bears that out. The best thing we can do to prevent violence is not to push kids out. It's up to actually pull them in. The researchers are part of a pilot program in Minnesota, designed to teach school staff how to identify kids in crisis and wrap them up with services. In 2022, after Yuvaldi,

Congress passed a bipartisan bill that included a billion dollars in grants for mental health services at schools. But last April, the majority of that funding was discontinued. The Department of Education explained the program conflicted with the administration's priorities. In December, it awarded $208 million for credentialed school mental health providers, a fraction of the original funding.

Something has to change. I mean, gun violence is the number one killer of our children in America, and our society currently seems to have its head in the ground, refusing to acknowledge this, just saying, oh, it's the way it is. No, that's a ridiculous answer. This is not something that is insurmountable. We can make great strides to prevent this from happening again. We just aren't. The last minute of 60 Minutes. Six poets have read at a U.S. presidential inauguration, including Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. Amanda Gorman was 22 when she read her poem The Hill We Climb at Joe Biden's inauguration. As the nation celebrates 250 years of independence, we asked Gorman, what does it mean to be an American?

When I think about what it means to be an American, I truly believe it's more than a pride we inherit. It's the past we step into and how we repair it, meaning that being an American is more than just remembering our history. It's how we heal it. It's how we recover. It's how we hold ourselves accountable to be. the best that we can be. Part of my American story is being someone who's descended from slaves and how that informs my own Americanhood is it teaches me that freedom, equity, liberty are not just things we can take for granted. They must be fought for, protected, and cherished. And so my rights and my role and responsibility as an American is both to love my own freedom,

but to love and defend it for other people as well. to remember yesterday and always walk pridefully into tomorrow. I'm John Worthy. We'll be back next week with another edition of 60 Minutes. A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story. But right now, you probably need more. On Up First from NPR, we bring you three of the world's top headlines every day in under 15 minutes because no one's story can capture all that's happening in this big, crazy world of ours on any given morning. Listen now to the Up First podcast from NPR.