This week on "Sunday Morning" (February 25)

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 12:00 p.m. ET. (Download it here.) 

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Guest host: Mo Rocca

COVER STORY: UAW president Shawn Fain on labor's comeback: "This is what happens when workers get power"
Last year unionized auto workers who walked out at the big three car makers won generous contracts, making up for pay cuts they'd taken during the Great Recession. It marked a comeback for the labor movement, and a notable achievement for United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, who came up the ranks as an auto plant electrician, and still carries his grandfather's union pay stub in his pocket. CBS News chief election & campaign correspondent Robert Costa talks with Fain about the increase in public support for unions; and about efforts to organize auto workers in Southern states that are traditionally less friendly to unions.

For more info:

• Shawn Fain, president, United Auto Workers
• Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research, Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations

       
ALMANAC: February 25
"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.

HISTORY: The rise and fall of Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was our eighth president and the first to be born an American citizen. But what was the polished politician with the out-there sideburns best known for? Besides creating our two-party system, how about a presidency that corresponded with the worst depression the U.S. had experienced up to that time? Correspondent Mo Rocca talks with historian Ted Widmer, whose biography aimed to make an obscure president less obscure; and visits Lindenwald, the Hudson Valley home in New York State where Van Buren spent the remainder of his life, which proved more successful than his time in the White House.

For more info:

• Martin Van Buren's Lindenwald, Kinderhook, N.Y. (National Park Service)
• "Martin Van Buren" by Ted Widmer, from "The American Presidents Series" (Times Books), in Hardcover and eBook formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• "Paysage à Chasses" wallpaper from Zuber

MOVIES: The adventurous life of Billy Dee Williams
The actor celebrated for romantic roles (such as in "Lady Sings the Blues") that earned him a nickname as "the Black Clark Gable," and who brought swashbuckling to his performance as Lando Calrissian in the "Star Wars" films, admits it has been easier to be someone else than to be Billy Dee Williams. He talks with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz about his new memoir, "What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life," and why the 86-year-old actor has always been – all evidence to the contrary – rather shy.

For more info:

• "What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life" by Billy Dee Williams (Knopf), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

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

      
HISTORY: U.S. Army restores honor to Black soldiers hanged in Jim Crow-era South
In 1917, at an Army training camp in Houston where members of the all-Black 24th Infantry Regiment were stationed, a series of run-ins with white police and a false rumor that Black soldiers were about to be attacked set off a race riot. One-hundred-and-ten soldiers, all Black, were convicted; 19 were sentenced to death and hanged. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin talks with families of the executed men, and with Army officials about its decision, more than a century later, to reverse all convictions and restore honor to the Black soldiers who suffered a miscarriage of justice. 

For more info:

• Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio
• Historian John A. Haymond
• Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo
• Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, Houston
• Houston Memorial Park, Camp Logan
• South Texas College of Law, Houston Mutiny and Riot Records

      
HARTMAN: Forgiveness

     
MUSIC: Rock legend Rod Stewart on recording some oldies-but-goodies
Rock 'n' roller Rod Stewart and big-band leader Jools Holland share an enthusiasm for model trains, and music. So, when the two decided to get together to make an album of swing-era jazz classics from the 1930's and '40s, they were definitely on the same track. But don't assume the 79-year-old rocker is slowing down; in fact, Stewart tells correspondent Mark Phillips, he's actually speeding up.

To hear Rod Stewart and Jools Holland perform "Pennies From Heaven," from the album "Swing Fever," click on the video player below:

For more info:

• "Swing Fever" by Rod Stewart with Jools Holland (Rhino), available February 23
• rodstewart.com
• joolsholland.com

         
COMMENTARY: David Sedaris on why you should dress like a corpse
The humorist has noticed that some people just don't know when to dress their best. C'mon, people, is it so hard to put on a tie?

For more info:

• davidsedarisbooks.com
• "Happy-Go-Lucky" by David Sedaris (Little, Brown), in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

SUNDAY PROFILE: Bill Bradley reflects on a life of wins and losses
He was a college basketball star, Rhodes scholar, Olympic gold medalist, and part of the world champion New York Knicks in the early 1970s, before embarking on a political career in the U.S. Senate. Today, Bill Bradley looks back at his successes and failures on and off the court in a new documentary streaming on Max, "Bill Bradley: Rolling Along." He shares his secrets for living a full life – and shoots some hoops – with "Sunday Morning" anchor Jane Pauley.

For more info:

• "Bill Bradley: Rolling Along" is streaming on Max

      
NATURE: TBD
       

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WEB EXCLUSIVES:

GALLERY: Notable deaths in 2024
A look back at the esteemed personalities who've left us this year, who'd touched us with their innovation, creativity and humanity.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Toby Keith (YouTube Video)
Country singer-songwriter Toby Keith, who garnered chart-topping success with such hits as "Should've Been a Cowboy" and "How Do You Like Me Now?!", died February 5, 2024 at the age of 62. In this "Sunday Morning" profile that originally aired September 10, 2006, Keith talked with correspondent Cynthia Bowers about his songs, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" and "American Soldier," written in the aftermath of 9/11, and said that, despite his patriotic hits, he's "not a real political guy."   

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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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"Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. (Download it here.) 

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You can also download the free "Sunday Morning" audio podcast at iTunes and at Play.it. Now you'll never miss the trumpet!

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David Morgan

David Morgan is senior producer for CBSNews.com and the Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning." He writes about film, music and the arts. He is author of the books "Monty Python Speaks" and "Knowing the Score."

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