Jane Pauley hosts a wide-ranging edition of Sunday Morning, featuring reports on escalating Middle East strikes, a new memorial to Operation Desert Storm, an Arizona digital art installation, profiles of public figures, conversations with artists and composers, and an exhibition of resilience in nature.
The broadcast opens with breaking developments in the Middle East. U.S. and allied forces carried out coordinated strikes targeting regime headquarters, missile sites and other installations. Officials reported that Iran’s supreme leader was killed in one of the attacks. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes against Israel and U.S. positions across the region, including bases in Qatar and Bahrain. In Washington, President Trump framed the operation as protecting Americans and removing imminent threats, and urged Iranians to pursue change at home. The strikes and reprisals have provoked protests, heightened security measures at home and abroad, and intensified debate in Congress about the legal authority and risks of further military action.
David Martin reports on a very different kind of remembrance: the long campaign to create a Desert Storm memorial on the National Mall. Led by Scott Stump, a Marine lance corporal who served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, supporters pushed for decades to honor more than half a million Americans who served. The drive faced skepticism — critics questioned whether the brief, low-casualty conflict belonged on the Mall — and required persistent fundraising and congressional approval. The planned Storm Wall, sited near the Lincoln and Vietnam memorials, aims to restore the Gulf War’s place in public memory as a post–Cold War military effort that liberated Kuwait.
Lee Cowan travels to the Sonoran Desert to visit ScanLAB Projects’ digital art installation, which used repeated 3D LiDAR scans to capture the desert’s subtle motion and seasonal rhythms. By transforming millions of data points into immersive time-lapse sculptures, the exhibit reveals saguaros’ slow movements, wildlife patterns and the imprint of urban expansion. The work invites viewers to slow down and reflect on the desert’s vitality and fragility amid climate change.
Mo Rocca profiles Jack Schlossberg, the 33-year-old grandson of John F. Kennedy, now campaigning for Congress in New York’s 12th District. Schlossberg seeks to balance his family name with his own agenda, emphasizing tenants’ rights, cost-of-living measures and grassroots organizing. He speaks candidly about personal challenges, including a back injury and the recent death of his sister Tatiana, and describes a campaign that blends humor with a modern, energetic approach to politics.
Tracy Smith interviews composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman, whose career spans film, television and Broadway. A Tony, Emmy and Grammy winner, Shaiman discusses collaborations with performers and directors, his musical method, and memorable scoring moments. He reflects on creative partnerships and shares insights from his recently published memoir.
Luke Burbank profiles Dana White, the outspoken president of the UFC, whose leadership transformed mixed martial arts into a mainstream global sport. White recounts the organization’s evolution from loosely regulated beginnings to a tightly governed, lucrative enterprise, and discusses major media deals, expansion into new combat formats, and controversies over fighter pay and personal conduct. The piece examines White’s role in popularizing the sport and the tensions that have accompanied its commercial rise.
David Pogue offers an appreciation of Neil Sedaka, the pop songwriter and singer who recently died at 86. Pogue traces Sedaka’s early 1960s teen-pop success, his 1970s reinvention — aided by allies like Elton John — and celebrates his craftsmanship and the joyful, almost effortless way he described songwriting.
Jo Ling Kent reports on a standoff between the Pentagon and Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude. CEO Dario Amodei recounts pressure from the Defense Department for broader access to Anthropic’s models for lawful military uses. Anthropic resisted handing over systems without safeguards, citing two firm limits: preventing mass surveillance of Americans and barring fully autonomous weapons without human oversight. President Trump later directed federal agencies to halt use of Anthropic’s models and canceled major contracts, citing national security and supply-chain concerns. The dispute highlights deep questions about private companies’ ethical boundaries, government authority, and the governance of advanced AI.
David Martin returns to the Desert Storm story to underscore the memorial’s continuing journey to recognition on the Mall. Lee Cowan’s segment on the digital desert closes with reflections on how technology and art can reveal hidden natural processes and inspire conservation.
The show pays tribute to longtime producer Mary Walsh, remembering her decades of reporting and craftsmanship alongside David Martin. Sunday Morning ends with a natural-world moment: fur seal pups on a South Georgia Island beach, a quiet image of resilience and renewal until the program returns next week.