Election Truth; Unintended Consequences; The Land of Novo | 60 Minutes Full Episodes

US Election and Election Integrity

• Election day in the US is approaching, and Americans are anxious about the outcome, but there are processes and policies in place in all 50 states and the district to ensure the election's correctness (17s).
• On election night, it's unlikely that the winner will be known immediately, but a clear idea of the presidential winner might emerge by Thursday or Friday (33s).
• In Texas, new abortion laws are creating unintended consequences for medical professionals and the women they care for, with doctors facing life imprisonment for discussing evidence-based care with patients (58s).
• In Denmark, the demand for the Danish-made drug Ozempic is boosting the country's economy, creating thousands of jobs, and keeping mortgage rates low, with the pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk having a market cap larger than Denmark's entire GDP (1m30s).
• Americans will consider a vital question on election day: whether they have faith in the ballot, and Gabriel Sterling, the Republican Chief Operating Officer for the Georgia Secretary of State, emphasizes the importance of faith in election outcomes (2m40s).
• Sterling argues that election fraud lies are aimed at destroying confidence in the ballot and that ballots are essential to avoid violence and ensure a healthy democracy (2m56s).
• Every state in the US has reviewed and improved its election processes, ensuring one person, one vote, and nearly every state conducts audits after the fact and tests equipment publicly before use (3m25s).
• Despite these measures, millions of people remain skeptical about the election's correctness, with skepticism reaching a different level in the 2020 and 2024 elections (3m40s).
• In the 2020 election, President Trump lost Georgia by 11,779 votes, which was confirmed by two recounts, but he claimed the election represented significant fraud (3m57s).
• Trump called Georgia's Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensberger, four days before the vote was to be certified, asking him to find 11,780 votes, but Raffensberger stood up to Trump (4m28s).
• An investigation by the state police, FBI, and Raffensberger's office found no evidence of voter fraud in Georgia, contradicting claims made by Trump's lawyers, including allegations of 66,000 underage voters and 2,423 non-registered voters, which were found to be zero (4m57s).
• Republican Gabe Sterling received death threats to his election workers, prompting him to call for an end to the violence and for leaders to condemn the actions and language used (5m36s).
• Sterling's warning came five weeks before January 6th, and he emphasized the need for leaders to step up and show some leadership to prevent potential acts of violence (6m11s).
• Over 1,000 rioters have been convicted in connection with the election lie and chaos, and Trump filed 64 lawsuits, losing 63 of them (6m26s).
• Lawyer Rudy Giuliani was sued to bankruptcy after falsely accusing Georgia election workers of fraud, and Fox News paid $787 million to settle a suit that said they knew they were lying about the election (6m35s).
• Trump was indicted in Georgia for election interference and pleaded not guilty, while four codefendants pleaded guilty to related charges (6m54s).
• Sterling hopes his message will get through to everyone, but acknowledges that some people will never be convinced, and that the vast majority of Americans who have questions can be reached by telling them the truth about voter suppression and voter fraud being fake (7m6s).
• Trump has a history of denying election results, starting from the 2016 Iowa caucus, and has used election denial to rile up his supporters and raise money (7m40s).
• A fraud commission appointed by Trump disbanded when it couldn't find evidence of widespread voter fraud (8m9s).
• Experts like David Becker, a CBS News election consultant, emphasize that claims about election theft and fraud are driven by whether a candidate won, rather than actual policies or evidence (8m48s).
• Tens of millions of Americans have been targeted by disinformation about election theft and fraud, often for financial gain, with losing candidates and foreign adversaries spreading lies to raise hundreds of millions of dollars (9m7s).
• Conspiracy theories of election fraud include the claim that bogus votes are electronically inserted into tabulation machines, but these machines are not connected to the internet and are under strict physical chain of custody, making it difficult to access and manipulate them (9m32s).
• Another conspiracy theory is that illegal immigrants are voting by the millions, but this is false as every voter must provide a driver's license number or social security number, which is matched against databases to ensure the voter's eligibility (10m0s).
• States that have investigated non-citizen voters have found very few cases, such as Ohio, which found six possible cases of non-citizens voting over a decade (10m25s).
• While election fraud does occur, it is extremely rare, with dozens of votes affected in a big national election, rather than millions or hundreds of thousands (10m38s).
• The decentralized nature of the US election system, with almost 10,000 different jurisdictions run by Democratic and Republican officials, makes it difficult to steal a big national election (10m59s).
• The use of paper ballots, which are verifiable and auditable, is a key factor in ensuring confidence in the election, with over 95% of Americans voting on paper ballots (11m14s).
• Election officials, who are often motivated by a sense of calling rather than personal gain, work to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the election process (11m47s).
• Trained poll workers, such as those near Atlanta, report that problems are usually caused by mistakes made by voters, rather than any intentional wrongdoing (12m1s).
• Election doubters are welcome to volunteer and observe the process, and many have been convinced of the integrity of the system after doing so (12m29s).
• Voters are advised to stay off the internet and fact-check information through reputable sources, rather than relying on social media (12m45s).
• Election workers in some areas, such as Georgia, have taken steps to ensure their safety, including carrying panic buttons and being armed with antidotes in case of an attack (13m7s).
• A recent post claimed that illegal Haitian immigrants were voting with Georgia driver's licenses, but the FBI traced it to Russia, and election consultant David Becker stated that there will be more disinformation and mistakes, but not necessarily fraud, in the upcoming election (13m36s).
• On Election night, it is unlikely that the winner of the presidency or the party controlling the United States House of Representatives will be known, with some close races taking days or weeks to resolve, although the presidency might be clearer by Thursday or Friday (14m0s).
• Gabriel Sterling, the Republican Secretary of State's Chief Operating Officer in Georgia, expressed confidence in the state's election system and its ability to withstand disinformation and myths (14m26s).
• Sterling described his role as the "chief operating firewall" against election lies and myths, and stated that the 2024 election will be the safest and most secure in history, with the winner being the correct one (14m38s).
• To keep election workers safe, Georgia has implemented a texting tool for counties to report any issues, similar to a "see something, say something" system (15m20s).

Impact of Texas Abortion Laws

• After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, 20 states banned or severely restricted abortion, while six states voted to protect access to it, and 10 states will decide on measures to add abortion rights to their state constitutions (15m33s).
• In Texas, doctors claim that the laws designed to stop abortions are creating unintended consequences, hurting women with desired pregnancies and their caregivers (16m1s).
• Dr. Danny Mott, an OBGYN in Texas, shared her personal experience of having a pregnancy with a lethal fetal diagnosis, and the challenges she faced in seeking medical care due to the state's abortion laws (16m29s).
• Mott's pregnancy was planned, but a routine fetal anatomy scan at 20 weeks revealed severe abnormalities, including a non-formed brain, one kidney, and a bent spine, making it a lethal diagnosis (17m1s).
• Mott sought multiple opinions and ultimately decided to terminate the pregnancy, but faced concerns about getting arrested due to the state's abortion laws (17m43s).
• Senate Bill 8 (SB8) went into effect, banning abortion at 6 weeks with no provisions for victims of rape, incest, or severe fetal abnormalities, and included a novel enforcement method deputizing citizens to sue people for aiding or abetting an abortion, with a $10,000 bounty for successful lawsuits (17m59s).
• The bill included an exception for medical emergencies but didn't define what those were, causing confusion among doctors, as seen in Mat's case, where her doctors seemed scared and confused about what counted as aiding and abetting somebody getting an abortion (18m31s).
• Mat and her husband turned to her mother, a physician, for help, and she secured an appointment for Mat to end her pregnancy at a clinic in neighboring New Mexico, a non-banned state, and paid for the abortion in cash to avoid a paper trail (18m56s).
• A year after SB8 went into effect and Roe was overturned, Texas enacted another more restrictive law banning all abortion from conception, except when the mother's life was in immediate danger (19m35s).
• In 2023, Mat joined 19 women with similar stories in a lawsuit against the Texas government for denial of care, seeking to clarify which exceptions were allowed under the law, but the Texas Supreme Court ultimately rejected their case (19m49s).
• After the women filed their lawsuit, Texas legislators quietly passed a new law to include two exceptions to the ban: one for ectopic pregnancies and the other when a woman's water breaks prematurely, but these instances only make up 5% of all pregnancies (20m15s).
• Dr. Emily Briggs, a family medicine practitioner in Central Texas, stated that the inconsistencies and misunderstandings in the law have created fear among physicians, causing them to limit their conversations with patients about treatment options, and that she could face losing her license, life in prison, or huge fines for having a comprehensive conversation with her patients (20m46s).
• Despite no physician being prosecuted for violating the ban, the threat of prosecution has created fear, leading hospitals to require physicians to consult with staff attorneys when treating complicated pregnancies, even miscarriages (21m45s).
• In Texas, physicians face challenges in providing comprehensive maternity care due to the state's abortion restrictions, which can lead to worsened outcomes for patients, including increased risk of losing their uterus or life (22m46s).
• According to CDC numbers, maternal deaths in Texas rose 61% from 2019, compared to an 8% increase nationwide, after the state restricted abortion (23m11s).
• Dr. Emily Briggs states that physicians can no longer offer comprehensive maternity care to women in Texas, leading some obstetricians and family physicians to consider leaving the state (23m19s).
• The number of OBGYN resident applicants in Texas dropped 16% last year, indicating that future obstetricians are acknowledging the complexity of the rules in Texas and may not want to train or practice in the state (23m37s).
• A resident, Adrian Smith, transferred to the University of New Mexico hospital after a case in Texas where a young woman became extremely ill after trying to end her pregnancy with an unknown medication, highlighting the risks and challenges faced by physicians in Texas (24m2s).
• Dr. Eve Espey, chair of the OBGYN department at the University of New Mexico, notes that residents in Texas lack opportunities to learn essential skills, including trauma-informed care, diagnosing pregnancy complications, and miscarriage care, due to the state's new laws (24m46s).
• As a result, OBGYN residents in Texas must leave the state for 2-4 week rotations to receive the required training, which Dr. Espey believes is not enough time to learn the necessary skills (25m32s).
• The University of New Mexico hospital has seen an enormous increase in out-of-state patient volume, with over 34,000 Texas women traveling out of state for care last year, and a 300% increase in out-of-state patients in 2023 compared to 2019 (26m3s).
• Six Texas counties have imposed travel bans, which threaten to further restrict access to care for women in the state (26m39s).
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit to access the medical records of women leaving the state for abortion services, sparking concerns among patients and doctors about the state's abortion laws and the potential consequences for women's health (26m45s).
• Many patients, including those who have experienced miscarriages, are choosing to seek medical care outside of Texas due to concerns about the state's laws and the ability of doctors to provide adequate care (27m8s).
• Dr. Emily Briggs is urging Texas lawmakers to work with doctors to make changes to the state's abortion laws, citing concerns about the safety of women in Texas and the potential loss of physicians and healthy mothers if the laws are not changed (27m50s).

Novo Nordisk and Denmark's Economy

• Denmark is home to Novo Nordisk, a pharmaceutical company with a market cap of half a trillion dollars, thanks in part to its products that combat obesity, including OIC and wovi (29m1s).
• The company's success has had a significant impact on Denmark's economy, but the country is also known for its high standard of living and equal access to healthcare (29m18s).
• Scientist Dr. L Baronin, whose research at Novo Nordisk led to the development of OIC and wovi, is humble about her role in the company's success and emphasizes the importance of teamwork in achieving her goals (29m51s).
• Dr. Baronin is also not interested in the wealth that has come with her success, preferring instead to focus on the benefits of living in a society with equal access to healthcare and a high standard of living (30m39s).
• Denmark, the country that gave the world Lego, has seen significant economic growth due to the success of Novo Nordisk, a pharmaceutical company that has created thousands of jobs and bolstered national pension plans, with a market cap larger than the country's GDP (31m7s).
• In Denmark, pharmaceutical advertising is illegal, which is unfamiliar to Danish people, and the company's advertisements in the US are not typical of Danish culture (31m48s).
• Novo Nordisk is a source of national pride for Denmark, with many Danes delighted that the company's success is benefiting the country, and it is seen as a way for Denmark to compete with neighboring countries like Sweden (32m10s).
• The company was founded in the early 1920s by August Krogh, a Nobel laureate, and his wife Marie, a doctor, who was diagnosed with diabetes and motivated to find a cure (32m43s).
• The origin story of Novo Nordisk is a love story, as August Krogh fell in love with Marie while teaching her as a medical student, and they traveled to Toronto to obtain the rights to manufacture insulin in Scandinavia (33m27s).
• The Canadian scientists who discovered insulin asked that nobody should profit from it, and it should be to the benefit of humanity, which led to the establishment of a nonprofit foundation that controls 77% of Novo Nordisk's voting shares (33m56s).
• The foundation, which is the largest philanthropic organization in the world, bigger than the Gates Foundation, uses its revenues to support research into physiology and medicine (34m34s).
• Novo Nordisk initially focused on diabetes drugs but later branched out into other areas, including laundry detergent, with the goal of making useful products (34m46s).
• A researcher discovered a naturally occurring gut hormone called GLP1 that lowered blood sugar levels and suppressed appetite, which could potentially revolutionize treatment for diabetes and obesity (35m10s).
• The researcher, with red hair, presented the idea to her boss, Matt Krogsgaard, who is now the head of the foundation, and he was excited about the prospect (35m30s).
• The researcher and Krogsgaard had to convince senior management that obesity was not just a behavioral choice, but also influenced by genetics and environment (35m45s).
• Novo Nordisk worked on the GLP1 molecule for 20 years before it was finally approved as a type 2 diabetes drug, and another four years before it was approved for weight loss (36m7s).
• The success of the GLP1 molecule transformed Novo Nordisk from a niche player to a large company, bigger than Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble (36m19s).
• The CEO of Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, has a relatively modest compensation package of around $10 million and works in a co-working space designed in the shape of an insulin molecule (36m27s).
• Jørgensen emphasizes the importance of the company's values, known as "The Novo Nordisk Way," which includes being open, honest, and accountable (36m50s).
• Jørgensen's approach is seen as humble and grounded, reflecting Danish cultural values that discourage excessive displays of wealth (37m35s).
• In Denmark, it is considered unrespectable for rich people to flaunt their wealth, and CEOs are expected to be modest (37m45s).
• Despite Novo Nordisk's high-minded values, the company has faced criticism in the US over allegations of price gouging, with Senator Bernie Sanders accusing the company of ripping off Americans (38m21s).
• Jørgensen has responded to these criticisms by arguing that the benefits of Novo's drugs to global health will ultimately save trillions of dollars, and that the high prices are due to the fractured US healthcare system (38m40s).
• Novo Nordisk's business model is driven by a combination of capitalism and values, as the company aims to keep up with the global demand for its products, with less than 1% of sales coming from inside Denmark (39m31s).
• The company is investing billions into new plants worldwide, and its success is having an impact on various sectors of the global economy, including fast food and big box stores (39m38s).
• A health facility in Denmark, which is state-subsidized, has seen a decline in enrollment for its obesity treatment program, and some of the empty beds are being filled by newly recruited Novo employees who are struggling to find permanent housing (39m55s).
• Lars Jorgenson, a therapist and life coach at the facility, believes that Novo Nordisk's anti-obesity drugs may not be a perfect solution for everyone, as obesity is often a symptom of deeper issues (40m20s).
• The success of Novo Nordisk's anti-obesity drugs is also having an impact on the global economy, with companies like Krispy Kreme tightening their belts in response to decreased demand (41m12s).
• Chinese companies are already in clinical trials for generic versions of Novo Nordisk's anti-obesity drugs, which could potentially disrupt the company's economic surplus (41m21s).
• Peter Lun madson, a Danish investor, owns Novo Nordisk stock and is feeling positive about his investment, but acknowledges that the company's success may not last forever (41m33s).

Closing Note on Election Day

• The segment ends with a note on Election Day, referencing a memo written by Abraham Lincoln in 1864, in which he vowed to cooperate with the president-elect to save the union, even if he were not reelected (42m6s).