This week on “Sunday Morning” (March 16)

The Emmy Award-winning “CBS News Sunday Morning” is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.  “Sunday Morning” also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. (Download it here.) 

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Hosted by Jane Pauley

COVER STORY: Government expert on Elon Musk and DOGE’s “slash-and-burn exercise”
In the opening weeks of the Trump administration, drama has been in high gear, thanks in part to Trump campaign funder and government disrupter Elon Musk, who has moved to quickly eliminate thousands of federal jobs and shutter entire programs and agencies, using tactics that have raised questions about transparency. “Sunday Morning” national correspondent Robert Costa talks with Katie Drummond, of Wired, which has investigated Musk’s and the broader tech industry’s efforts to exert power within the U.S. government; Elaine Kamarck, who headed the Clinton administration’s efforts to “reinvent” government and cut regulations; and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who supports the speed and scope of Musk’s efforts.

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ALMANAC: March 16
“Sunday Morning” looks back at historical events on this date.

WORLD: The enduring glow of London’s historic gas lights
London’s gas lamps, which have cast their glow on the city for more than 200 years, have been nearly extinguished by the prevalence of cleaner, more efficient and brighter light sources, like LEDs. Correspondent Seth Doane talks with one of London’s last lamplighters, and with gaslight enthusiasts who have fought to protect these historic fixtures.

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EDUCATION: Restoring classic cars in the classroom
McPherson College, about an hour north of Wichita, Kansas, is home to the nation’s first, and only, four-year automotive restoration program. There, car-crazy students restoring classic vehicles (from a 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300S Cabriolet, to a 1965 Porsche 356C) learn to become mechanics and detectives, artists and historians.  Correspondent Lee Cowan reports.

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BROADWAY: Sarah Snook on “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Sarah Snook, the Emmy-winning star of “Succession,” earned an Olivier Award for playing multiple characters in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” in London. And now, she’s bringing her chameleonic performance to Broadway. The Australian actress talks with correspondent Faith Salie about capturing the horror, humor and humanity of the characters in Oscar Wilde’s original story; why she was most attracted to Disney villains growing up; and how acting with a camera crew as part of the show’s mix of illuminating projections and live performance is like dancing on the Broadway stage.

To watch a trailer for “The Picture of Dorian Gray” click on the video player below:

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PASSAGE: In memoriam
“Sunday Morning” remembers some of the notable figures who left us this week.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Overcoming division: The friendship of Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson
Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, of Wyoming, has died at the age of 93. In this 2018 “Sunday Morning” story, Lee Cowan talked with Simpson and with Democratic Senator Norman Mineta, whose friendship began when both were Boy Scouts, separated by the barbed-wire fence of a World War II Japanese-American internment camp.

U.S.: How DOGE cuts are jeopardizing our national parks, “America’s best idea”
As part of the Trump administration’s effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce, approximately 1,000 employees have been laid off by the National Park Service. In the weeks since, protests have erupted at many of the 433 units of the park system, from Acadia to Zion. Correspondent Conor Knighton visits Grand Canyon National Park, and talks with rangers and park employees about how the cuts will impact the public; and with a “Resistance Ranger,” one of hundreds of employees tracking the cuts and speaking out on behalf of their fired coworkers.

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HARTMAN: Rainbow glasses
     

GARDENING: Martha Stewart on seed starting

READ AN EXCERPT: “Martha Stewart’s Gardening Handbook”

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SCIENCE: Fusion energy: Unlocking the power of the stars
Scientists are conducting experiments to generate clean energy through fusion, the same sub-atomic reactions that power our Sun, with the aim of constructing plants that produce more energy than they consume. Correspondent Ben Tracy visits the National Ignition Facility, in Livermore, Calif., where the largest laser ever built is used as part of the process; and Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Massachusetts, where super-heated plasma burns around 150 million degrees Celsius.

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COMMENTARY: Adm. William McRaven and Kelly Marie McRaven on the power of storytelling
The retired Navy four-star admiral and his daughter, who have co-authored the children’s book “Be a Hero with Skipper the Seal,” discuss a family tradition of telling stories – and the lessons that they teach.

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NATURE: TBD
      

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WEB EXCLUSIVES:

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Buena Vista Social Club on its U.S. tour (YouTube Video)
After years of obscurity, the Cuban musicians who recorded 1997’s “Buena Vista Social Club” became a worldwide phenomenon. Their album won a Grammy, and enabled them to perform worldwide. But their music – while seeming to cross the barriers of U.S.-Cuba politics – also enflamed passions among anti-Castro exiles in America, then in the midst of a tug-of-war over young Elián González. In this “Sunday Morning” report that aired March 5, 2000, correspondent Martha Teichner talked with “Buena Vista Social Club” singers Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo and pianist Ruben Gonzalez (then on their third tour of the United States); Miami club owner Debbie Ohanian; anti-Castro lawyer Nick Gutierrez; and Cuba expert Pamela Falk, about the intersection of art and politics.

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The Emmy Award-winning “CBS News Sunday Morning” is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Executive producer is Rand Morrison.

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