08/17/2025: The Promise and The Land of Declining Sons

Twenty-three years later, over 1,000 families are still waiting for news of loved ones lost in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. Correspondent Scott Pelley looks at how efforts to search for and identify their remains have never stopped, driven by the promise made by the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Pelley visits their laboratory, which is using new advancements in DNA research and breakthrough techniques to provide answers for families holding on to hope. This is a double-length segment. The world’s population may have recently surpassed 8 billion, but it’s a misleading figure. Growth is unevenly distributed, and many countries are experiencing a decline in population – in some cases, steeply. Consider Japan. The country is now facing a rapidly declining birth rate, and a population projected to shrink in half by this century’s end. Correspondent Jon Wertheim reports from Japan, examining how these demographic changes are affecting the country and its culture.