Michigan Senate Race; Cuba in Crisis; Wemby | 60 Minutes Full Broadcast
In a Nutshell
Michigan's Senate race is a dead-heat between socialist-leaning Democrat Abdul Elsed and Republican Mike Rogers, with Elsed's Israel stance and Muslim background fueling attacks from Trump and Rogers. Cuba is in economic freefall—blackouts, bare pharmacies, and dying infants—while the U.S. tightens sanctions to force regime change. Victor Wembanyama, 7'4" Spurs star, dominates the NBA at 22 with elite defense, self-taught footwork, and Buddhist training.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
On Tuesday, Michigan could decide who controls the Senate. Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul Elsed disagree about a lot of things, especially Israel. Elsed stated, "I don't pay my taxes to buy another country a bomber a tank." Rogers responded, "I passionately defend Israel's right to defend itself." With passions running high, a November surprise emerged when Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary to Elsed, endorsed Rogers. Stevens described it as "a personal and private decision."
This Tuesday, control of the US Senate may be decided in the battleground state of Michigan. The Democratic nominee, Abdul Elsed, could be the nation's first Muslim senator. He is running on transformation, busting monopolies, Medicare for all, and an arms embargo on Israel. The Republican candidate, former Congressman Mike Rogers, is focused on Michigan jobs and education. The contest is close and contentious, with the two men having no kind words for each other. Elsed accused Rogers of being "kind of like a glitchy AI chatbot" who says the same things repeatedly. Rogers told Elsed to "own up to it" regarding his positions.
Abdul Elsed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, won the Democratic primary against a more centrist rival by a sliver of a percentage point. He won a Rhodes scholarship and earned a medical degree from Columbia University, then went straight into public health administration and politics. He is often associated with the Democratic Socialists of America, but he is not a member and keeps his distance from the label. When asked about his economic priorities, Elsed stated, "Monopolies and oligopolies. I'm a capitalist. If you read Adam Smith, he'll tell you the biggest risk to capitalism was never government regulation. It was always monopoly and oligopoly." He endorsed a version of Medicare for all that would leave private health insurance options intact, funded in part with a sweeping tax on billionaire wealth.
When asked what the most important issue is that he hears about from Michigan voters, Elsed stated, "I think right now we are barreling toward a world where the most important issue I hear about every day is AI." He described two concerns: students who took out loans for jobs that may not exist in 10 years, and rural communities worried about data centers affecting their utilities and water supply. Elsed wants a cabinet-level agency to regulate AI and called for a "full on pause" on frontier AI research that some fear threatens the human race.
Mike Rogers, 63 years old, is a former army officer and FBI agent who left Congress after 14 years. Michigan has not elected a Republican to the Senate in decades. Rogers focuses on local issues rather than national politics. He identified literacy as the number one piece of legislation he would want to work on on a bipartisan basis, stating, "If we don't fix this literacy problem... in 2026. If we don't change that, we are all in trouble." He noted that one reason for military recruiting shortfalls during COVID was that kids weren't reading well enough to pass the test.
Elsed took a bus tour with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez through Trump country in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Rogers has been going into predominantly Black neighborhoods that rarely see a Republican, trying to persuade African Americans that Elsed is taking them for granted. Rogers stated, "He went to New York with AOC to talk about how they're going to change the world in 2028. You know what I want to do? I want to take care of Flint. I want to take care of every Michigander who has kids and grandkids who want to stay in this state."
Trump's trade wars, especially tariffs on Canada, have cost Michigan an estimated $23 billion since January 2025. Rogers stated he doesn't like the Canadian tariffs and has raised concerns with the Secretary of Commerce, but received the response "I'll get back to you." When asked if he would support overriding the president on tariffs as a Republican senator, Rogers said, "If I can't work it out, and it came to that, yeah, absolutely."
Rogers supported the war with Iran but now says it needs to "wind down." When asked if the Trump administration has a corruption problem, Rogers stated, "I'm an FBI agent by training" who worked on "organized crime and public corruption." He said he would act as United States senator with the best interest of Michigan. Regarding President Trump accepting a jet from a Middle Eastern nation, Rogers said, "That's not what I would have done, but I don't think it's illegal for the president to do that."
President Trump campaigned with Rogers in Port Huron, Michigan, stating, "I'm here to keep a jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator." Rogers has accused Elsed of having links to the Muslim Brotherhood, citing a 2012 letter that Elsed signed after the Arab Spring in support of Egypt's new democratically elected government, which was backed by the Brotherhood. Elsed has declined to comment on the letter but says he disavows the Muslim Brotherhood. He argues that Republicans are targeting his Islamic faith.
When asked how his faith shapes his politics, Elsed stated, "There is this notion of speak the truth even if it be against yourself. And I try to be like radically honest." Regarding US support for Israel, Elsed stated three problems: the US has been told it is pursuing a two-state solution while arming those trying to foreclose on a second state; he doesn't pay taxes to buy other countries bombers or tanks; and "the state of Israel did a genocide." Rogers responded, "I passionately defend Israel's right to defend itself and to exist as a Jewish state. That sets me at odds with my opponent right off the bat. He refuses to even acknowledge that Israel has the right to exist." When asked directly, Elsed stated that both Palestine and Israel have the right to exist, advocating for equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis alike.
After a terrorist attack on a Michigan synagogue and preschool in March, Elsed condemned the violence, stating, "There is never a justification for attacking innocent people or houses of worship. Never." He later apologized for appearing to blame Israel by saying "hurt people hurt people." Rogers stated that Jewish students at the University of Michigan have to hide their Star of David to walk across campus because of harassment. Michigan has one of the nation's largest Arab American populations and about 100,000 Jewish voters. The state's more than 200,000 Arab Americans are expected to turn out for Elsed in record numbers.
Cuba has been under communist rule since the 1960s. The Cuban government employs most of the country's workers and runs the hospitals and schools. Opposition parties are illegal. For decades, a US embargo cut the island off from American trade. The Trump administration has tightened sanctions, strangling Cuba's oil supply and threatening to sanction those who do business with the Cuban regime. Washington blames Havana's corrupt communist regime for mismanaging the country. Havana blames Washington, saying the sanctions are designed to turn Cuba into a failed state. Caught between them are more than 9 million Cubans.
In Cuba today, pharmacy shelves are bare, lines for bread stretch around the block, and during daily blackouts most of the country disappears into darkness. Carlos Fernandez De Cossio, Cuba's deputy foreign minister, stated, "The United States has no legitimacy to what they're claiming. They just have brutal power against the whole population of another country. That is criminal." He described the new restrictions as much tougher than the 60-year embargo, with the US now threatening punishment and sanctions against countries and companies that engage commercially with Cuba.
The crisis was desperate inside Cuba's hospitals. At the William Solair Hospital, an infant was rushed into intensive care, dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition, barely responsive. The baby was about 2 months old, weighed less than 5 pounds, had no name and no family, and was abandoned and brought in by protective services. Dr. Alejandro Chong, head of the ICU, stated the prognosis was critical and the infant's life was in immediate danger. Doctors make do with formulas made from malanga, a starchy root vegetable, and chicken, instead of specialized formulas from the United States.
Since early January, only a single tanker of oil has reached the island according to Cuban officials, crippling the electrical grid. During power outages in the pediatric ER, there is an interim period between when electricity turns off and generators turn on. When generators fail, doctors have had to finish surgeries using cell phone lights and pump oxygen for critical patients by hand. Dr. Chong owns a food stand where he makes more money than running the ICU. Dr. Lauren Rodriguez, a second-year resident in pediatric surgery, supports herself as a radio host. Cancer drugs, anesthetics, and lab equipment are all in critically short supply.
For one toddler, a part for an artificial lung machine critical to her surgery had been delayed 68 days. Normally it would have arrived in 2 days. Paloma Blanco, a dancer with the National Ballet of Cuba who is 8 months pregnant, has asked friends in the US to send surgical supplies in case she needs a C-section. She stated it is common for expecting mothers to bring C-section kits to the hospital when they have the possibility.
Since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, nearly every American administration has tried to force change in Havana. President Trump stated, "Actually, what we're going to do with Cuba is we're going to come back from Iran, those beautiful ships. We'll pass Cuba. We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They'll raise up their hands, and then we're going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal." Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has made regime change in Cuba his signature issue. Rubio stated, "Biggest problem Cuba has is that their regime is a disaster. Their economic model doesn't work and the people who run the country don't know what the hell they're doing. All they're most interested in is holding on to power."
Earlier this year, negotiations between the US and Cuba stalled. During a speech by US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, tensions exploded when Waltz stated, "This is the United Nations. This isn't your communist dictatorship." Cuban officials confronted him, stating, "Back up, ambassador. Back away. This isn't Havana." One Cuban diplomat was expelled from the US. When asked what the US wants from Cuba politically, the Cuban deputy foreign minister stated the US has spoken of taking control of Cuba and making political changes of its liking, not chosen by the Cuban people.
A spokesman for Secretary Rubio stated, "The failing Cuban regime continues to blame the US and everyone else for their own incompetence and corruption. They hide billions in overseas bank accounts instead of investing in electricity, infrastructure, and the daily needs of its people." When asked how much responsibility the Cuban government bears, the deputy foreign minister stated, "Every government has responsibility for other people... But our government has a lot of responsibility because there could be decisions that could have been better." This year, Cuba made the biggest economic reforms in more than six decades, including dropping monopolies on fuel, banking, and other sectors. US companies have started exporting fuel to Cuba's private sector, but it is prohibitively expensive. A carton of eggs can cost more than a
A carton of eggs can cost more than a month's salary in Cuba, forcing citizens to find their own solutions. A thriving black market for medicine exists at street markets. Cuba enacted 176 economic reforms during the past summer. When asked why political reforms have not accompanied the economic changes, the Cuban official stated that political reform should occur in the United States rather than Cuba, asserting that Cuba does not threaten the US or any country.
"Cuba does not threaten the US or any country."
When asked how the impasse between the two nations might end, the official stated it would require a change of attitude from the United States. When questioned about sustainability of US policy, the official asked, "How long is that sustainable? How acceptable is that? Just because power exists in the hands of the United States, does everybody have to bend to that?"
A two-month-old baby who needed formula made it out of the ICU but suffered respiratory complications and was readmitted, dying on Thursday. When asked whether Cuba owes the United States policy changes to appease the country, the official stated they owe parents the duty to ensure their children live in a sovereign nation and to protect them from being overtaken by a superpower whose interest is not their livelihoods.
San Antonio Spurs star center Victor Wembanyama, nicknamed "the alien," stands at 7 foot 4 and can dunk without jumping. He is the NBA's reigning defensive player of the year at age 22 and is considered the new face of the NBA as LeBron James turns 42 and Steph Curry turns 38. Wembanyama comes from France, plays pickup chess in Manhattan parks, and trains at Chinese monasteries.
Wembanyama's favorite play involves alley-oops, which he describes as "telepathy" between teammates. He can also throw alley-oops to himself. Despite his size, he shoots three-pointers and dribbles effectively, combining devastating offense with demoralizing defense.
Wembanyama is comfortable not knowing answers and walking through uncertainty. He described brief moments of clarity as his head peaking through fog to see the sun. In February of an unspecified year, the Spurs did not lose a single game during a stretch when everything clicked. The team won the Western Conference but lost in five games to the New York Knicks in the finals.
Wembanyama acknowledged his poor performance in the finals, including a cheap shot against Knicks star Jalen Brunson. When portrayed as a villain, he stated he was not paying attention to external narratives during the finals.
Wembanyama appeared on scouts' radars as a young teen from France. His father Felix, a former track athlete, stands 6'6", and his mother, a former basketball player, stands 6'3". He was the most anticipated rookie since LeBron James 20 years earlier and was the top pick in the 2023 draft.
Wembanyama joined the Spurs, citing the franchise's history with Greg Popovich and its French connections. Popovich's most important lesson was about humility: after a win, players are rarely as good as they thought, and after a loss, rarely as bad as they thought. Popovich suffered a stroke and retired from coaching in 2025 after leading San Antonio to five NBA titles.
After a blood clot in his shoulder ended his second season, Wembanyama became obsessed with foot conditioning. He trains barefoot and wears minimalist shoes, arguing that big men historically have foot problems and that foot strength affects knee, hip, and back development. His shoe size is 20.
In summer 2025, Wembanyama traveled to China to study kung fu and meditate with Buddhist monks. His first day included one hour and 40 minutes of complete silence meditation. The longest he maintained focus was approximately 30 minutes before spending the remaining hour and a half wondering how much longer the session would last.
Wembanyama meditates briefly between free throws, centering himself by thinking of shots as regular rather than technical exercises. His free throw percentage stands at 82%.
Wembanyama returned to France in summer and hosted an annual tournament in Nanterre combining basketball with chess. He played one-on-one against a nine-year-old prodigy named Louise. He explained that chess overlaps with basketball through decision-making, with theoretical good moves existing in both.
When hosting teammates in France, Wembanyama wanted to show them cultural refinement and demonstrate care. He noted that hosting meant more to him than to his guests.
When asked about living in the US, Wembanyama stated he does not live a normal life but rather the life of an athlete and wealthy person where everything is taken care of. He identified the best aspect of the US as never being judged for ambition, while noting that social interactions feel more shallow compared to other countries.
Following student protests in France, Wembanyama stated he heard and supported the students. A blood clot condition in early 2025 changed his outlook, leading him to refuse to waste life being someone else. He believes he should have won MVP the previous year and should win it in the current season.
The final segment addressed voter turnout in American politics, noting that only 7% of registered Texas voters participated in a Republican primary runoff between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn. In contrast, 77% of registered Israeli voters participated in recent elections. The segment encouraged participation in America's democracy during the country's 250th anniversary year.
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