60 Minutes

09/13/2026: Shot Down Over Iran, The Pardon Economy, Battering Ram

60 Minutes

Show Notes

After a U.S. fighter jet was shot down over Iran 34 days into the war, the Air Force and American special forces rescued the two-man crew in one of the riskiest and most complex operations of its kind in U.S. military history. In his first interview, one of the rescued Air Force officers speaks to correspondent Norah O’Donnell about his harrowing ejection from the F-15E fighter and spending two days alone on the ground in Iran—injured, stranded, with a bounty on his head and the enemy closing in. 60 MINUTES tells the story of the two-day search and rescue operation that was completed on Easter Sunday, April 5. Presidents have pardoned criminals since the time of George Washington. It’s a constitutional power that has been controversial from the start—but perhaps never more so than during the Trump presidency. Lesley Stahl and 60 MINUTES investigate the world of lawyers and lobbyists who have created a new pardon economy. Correspondent Jon Wertheim reports from the sidelines of a Los Angeles Rams' preseason practice and sits down with the organization’s highest-profile voices: Head Coach Sean McVay, General Manager Les Snead, and MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford. 60 MINUTES gets an inside look at the Los Angeles Rams, hailed as a superteam and an early favorite to win the Super Bowl.

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