Former Sen. Ben Sasse, dying of cancer, on his hopes for America's future

60 Minutes - Newsmakers Former Sen. Ben Sasse, dying of cancer, reflects on family, faith and the future of America .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-60-minutes.jpg'); } By Scott Pelley, Scott Pelley Correspondent, 60 Minutes Scott Pelley, one of the most experienced and awarded journalists today, has been reporting stories for 60 Minutes since 2004. The 2024-25 season is his 21st on the broadcast. Scott has won half of all major awards earned by 60 Minutes during his tenure at the venerable CBS newsmagazine. Read Full Bio Scott Pelley, Maria Gavrilovic April 26, 2026 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Ben Sasse would like a final word. At the age of 54, the former U.S. senator of Nebraska is dying of pancreatic cancer. But a new drug is giving him extra time — time to hear his appeal for reason in Washington and community at home. Sasse is a conservative Republican of independent thought. With a PhD in American history, he once told his fellow senators "the people despise us all… because we are not doing our job." His cancer therapy leaves him looking seriously sunburned. But we found Ben Sasse as insightful, passionate and hopeful as ever.Ben Sasse: I love America, and I think there's a lot of big and meaty things that we should've been talking about, and we still can talk about. And having a terminal diagnosis isn't really that unique. We're all always on the clock. Some of us have the benefit, maybe-- it's a weird word-- but the benefit of knowing our time is finite and defined, and it becomes an opportunity to talk about bigger stuff. Scott Pelley: And you have focus from that?Ben Sasse: Yeah. I mean, It's weird to-- be in your early 50s and get a terminal diagnosis, and people all of a sudden act like you're 93 or 94 and you have a lotta wisdom. I don't know that I have a lot of wisdom, but I have a lotta things that I think we should be reflecting on together.Reflecting, he told us,...