60 Minutes
Mark Esper | Crisis | Ballet in Exile
Season 54, Episode 29 · Aired 2022-05-08
Synopsis
Mark Esper – 60 MINUTES' Norah O'Donnell speaks with former U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in his first interview ahead of the release of his new book, A Sacred Oath. A West Point graduate and then an Army officer for ten years, Esper served as President Donald Trump's second defense secretary until he was fired six days after the 2020 election. Esper talks about how his relationship with Mr. Trump deteriorated, what Esper considered to be some of the "crazy" ideas coming out of the White House, why the murder of George Floyd was a turning point in his time at the Pentagon, his thoughts on the Biden administration's handling of the war in Ukraine and more. Crisis – According to the CDC, the rates of suicide, self-harm, anxiety, and depression are up among kids and teens – a trend that began before the pandemic. A deficit of mental health care workers and facilities for young people, a depletion of resources during COVID-19, and a lack of school mental health specialists have created extraordinarily challenging conditions for families who need help in already troubling times. Wisconsin is one state struggling to meet these needs. 60 MINUTES' Sharyn Alfonsi travels to Milwaukee to chronicle how the pandemic has impacted the mental health of their youth and how families and communities have responded. Ballet in Exile – 60 MINUTES pulls back the curtain and looks at how Russia's invasion of Ukraine is developing on the most delicate of fronts: the world's ballet stages. Correspondent Jon Wertheim meets Russian dancer Olga Smirnova – one of the world's leading ballerinas – who condemned the invasion, left Moscow's famed Bolshoi company in protest, and fled the country. He sits down with a young Ukrainian dancer who's found a safe haven in Amsterdam to continue her dreams; the American who helped relocate her and more than a hundred Ukrainian dancers through the international ballet community; and a Ukrainian dancer turned soldier as conflict rages at home.
In the series
This episode is part of 60 Minutes (1968–present) on CBS.
Tick-tick-tick — Sunday night investigative theater that outrated sitcoms.
Key cast
- Mike Wallace as Correspondent
- Morley Safer as Correspondent
- Harry Reasoner as Correspondent
- Ed Bradley as Correspondent
- Diane Sawyer as Correspondent
Also in season 54
- S54E01 9.11 the FDNY
- S54E02 Take the Fight to the Night | Rep. Liz Cheney | King of the Deep
- S54E03 The Facebook Whistleblower | Unforgiven | The Final Act
- S54E04 Deepfakes | 1,000 Children | Deep Springs
- S54E05 Robert Gates | The Green River Drift | Whither Ye Olde English Pub
- S54E06 Prince V. Spy | Running Dry | Michael Keaton