- 5 minutes ago
Category
šŗ
TVTranscript
00:06What if we told you that after natural disasters, some of those who descend on
00:12hard-hit communities with offers to help are anti-government conspiracists and
00:19white nationalists. Their motive, recruit, soften their image, and...
00:25Going to a disaster relief is directly helping our people.
00:29You're going to help white people?
00:31Yeah.
00:35Once in a while, we get to travel so far off the beaten track, there's hardly a track at all.
00:41For decades, this pristine forest in western Colombia was a no-go area because of armed conflict.
00:48But that allowed hundreds of species of birds to thrive.
00:54Some of which you can't find anywhere else on Earth.
00:59Look at that. Oh, my God. Look at that huge thing.
01:02This is the rose scentifolia. Cultivated in row after pink row, it is a flower worthy of a serenade.
01:11Piano notes play over speakers. The vibrations are said to help the buds bloom evenly.
01:18Twelve of these roses go into a bottle of Chanel No. 5, all grown here in the French town of
01:25Grasse, where century-old traditions are used to develop scents for some of the world's most famous perfumes.
01:32How do you know when it's right?
01:34It's instinct. It's like music.
01:38I'm Leslie Stahl.
01:40I'm Scott Pelley.
01:41I'm Bill Whitaker.
01:43I'm Sharon Alfonsi.
01:44I'm John Wertheim.
01:45I'm Cecilia Vega.
01:47I'm Anderson Cooper.
01:48Those stories and, in our last minute, a forgotten breakthrough in American history, tonight on 60 Minutes.
02:03A surge of tornadoes tore across a large swath of the country in April, carving a path of destruction.
02:10Over 200 tornadoes hit over 20 states, closely clustered in the last couple of weeks.
02:17And hurricane season is just around the corner.
02:20Our story tonight is about what happens after these natural disasters.
02:26A pattern has emerged in recent years in which militias, conspiracists, and white supremacists show up to hard-hit communities,
02:34as they did last week in Texas, offering help.
02:38But they've been called disaster tourists who are out to sow doubt in government, soften their own image, and gain
02:47followers.
02:49September 2024.
02:52Hurricane Helene barreled through North Carolina with forces so powerful, it nearly wiped the town of Batcave off the map,
03:01lifting homes and toppling trees.
03:05Imagine taking in a box of toothpicks and dumping them on your kitchen counter.
03:12Sheriff Lowell Griffin faced a daunting rescue task.
03:16We had already experienced days of heavy rain.
03:21And then the hurricane comes through.
03:23Like a triple whammy.
03:25Yes.
03:26Yes.
03:27Then another whammy.
03:30Outsiders started pouring into North Carolina.
03:33So we've got a lot of work to get done.
03:34Including an influx of anti-government, far-right groups.
03:39These folks that we're talking about, they were in the minority.
03:43However, that minority can create chaos.
03:47And that's what we ran into.
03:49Did some of these outsiders launch their own rescue operations?
03:54We had some folks wanting to act as a militia coming in to take over to, in their mind, bring
04:02some sort of self-deployed law and order to the area.
04:06With weapons?
04:07Yes, ma'am.
04:08So that's like taking your time from the real rescue to deal with them?
04:13It is.
04:14It is.
04:15The sheriff himself didn't see all the groups.
04:18But we know among those to show up were members of white nationalist group Active Club.
04:25Going to a disaster relief is directly helping our people.
04:29You go in to help white people?
04:31Yeah.
04:32Robert Rundo co-founded Active Club in 2020 as a place for disgruntled young white men to work out together
04:41while sharing their ideology.
04:43With nearly 90 chapters, it's been described by watchdogs as one of the country's fastest-growing white supremacist networks that
04:52are anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and anti-democracy.
04:56They also hold mixed martial arts tournaments.
05:00We get together with the boys, we box, we travel.
05:04Do you think of it as fun?
05:05Of course.
05:06You know, there's fun in fascism.
05:08Fun in fascism?
05:10I'm a nationalist.
05:11What does that mean?
05:12A nationalist?
05:13Yeah.
05:13It means I put my people first.
05:15Would you say white supremacist?
05:18No.
05:19I think that's a slanderish term.
05:21But my people are white people.
05:23European white people.
05:24You're right, and there's plenty of organizations that are geared towards other ethnic groups, right?
05:30If we don't look out for ourselves, who is?
05:32I know that your organization has gone to floods, fires, hurricanes.
05:38What if you came upon someone who wasn't white but is suffering because of the flood?
05:44Like, if there was, like, a guy on fire, would I give him water?
05:46Yeah, I'd probably give him some water.
05:48When you go into these areas, are you recruiting?
05:51We hand out flyers.
05:53You know, if somebody wants to contact us later, that's fine.
05:57But just us showing up changes somebody's opinion, someone's mind.
06:02So the next time when they put something out and they say, these evil guys, they say,
06:05wait a second, that's the guy who came when my house was on fire and helped me out.
06:09Many of these outside groups want to build, as one of their post states, a pro-white parallel system.
06:18Reclaim America!
06:19One of the more prominent white supremacist groups that showed up in North Carolina was Patriot Front.
06:26They cut down trees and handed out bread.
06:30Are you sure just one life?
06:32But Freddie Cruz from the Western State Center, a hate group watchdog,
06:37says these white nationalists go to disasters primarily to build a following.
06:42These people come in, they hand out water, they help clean up the debris.
06:48Whatever their ideology, they're doing something positive, aren't they?
06:52What we're seeing is actually these groups will show up and generate a whole bunch of social media content.
06:58We're dubbing it disaster tourism.
07:01And then they leave?
07:02That's generally what we see.
07:05That's unlike veterans relief groups like Team Rubicon or religious organizations like Samaritan's Purse
07:13that come in after disasters, coordinate with authorities, and stay a while.
07:19When you go into an area that's distressed, do you coordinate in any way with the local law enforcement, with
07:27the sheriff?
07:28Absolutely not.
07:29They would probably do everything they can to prevent us.
07:31What do you say to people who argue that you go in, the purpose is to have some video shot
07:39of you handing out some water, and then you leave?
07:42And the whole point was to get that video so that you could post it by saying that you're...
07:48That kind of sounds like what everyone does, right?
07:50That's what a president does.
07:51When he goes into a community, they have the cameras there.
07:54So is that bottle of water actually being handed out?
07:57Absolutely it is.
07:58Does our guys actually care and feel for the people that are helping out?
08:02Absolutely.
08:02Do we also video it and put it out there to show another side of us?
08:06Absolutely.
08:08These extremist groups put out videos after floods.
08:12Patriot Front is here.
08:13Continuing efforts in Central Texas.
08:15They put out videos during fires.
08:18We are here in Santa Monica Pier, collecting donations for victims of the wildfires.
08:24They figured out that videos about natural disasters can reach a whole new, large audience.
08:32I think white nationalists are interested in natural disasters because everybody is interested in natural disasters.
08:39John Kelly heads Grafica, a firm analyzing how content spreads online.
08:45There are very few things that bring the public's attention to focus on one thing in unison, and natural disasters
08:52is one of those.
08:53These groups, through natural disasters, are trying to change their image.
08:58They're trying to say we're wholesome.
09:00That's one of the things that characterizes the current groups is that they've kind of decided to leave the more
09:07triggering iconography in the closet and try to appeal to a more mainstream audience.
09:12Not to do things that turn people off the way that marching around with swastikas would turn people off.
09:17A lot of mainstream media, how they depict us, they like to show a guy who's in camo, trucker hat,
09:22maybe overweight, face tattoos, something like this.
09:25What I wanted to do was to create something positive for young guys like myself.
09:32The more macho, wholesome image, Robert Rundo thinks, gives young men permission to adopt his fascist philosophy.
09:40Another guy who appeals to young men is online influencer Dan Bilzerian, with nearly 30 million followers on Instagram.
09:50He peddles anti-Semitism.
09:52I believe that Jewish supremacy is the greatest threat to America, and I think it's the greatest threat to the
09:57world today.
09:57I truly believe that.
09:59Some of these ideas are seeping into mainstream politics.
10:04Bilzerian is running for Congress in Florida.
10:07In a group chat, young Republican leaders praised Hitler.
10:12And then there's Nick Fuentes, the online hate monger who's even more explicit.
10:18And I was thinking, what is it about Hitler that's cool? Why does it tickle?
10:23Because kids love Hitler. Kids love Hitler. Young men.
10:27While more people are advocating these ideas in the open, the young men of Active Club hide their faces when
10:35they post pictures from natural disasters.
10:38Our people come first.
10:39Rundo is their spokesman, even though he himself hasn't gone to disasters.
10:45For the past few years, he was out of pocket, so to speak.
10:50Why were you in prison?
10:52Which time?
10:54Oh boy.
10:55I was in prison twice.
10:57The 36-year-old from New York was first incarcerated as a teen for a gang fight.
11:03Did you stab somebody?
11:06Allegedly. Well, yeah, you know.
11:08Well, he had a weapon too. It wasn't like I just, you know, I just randomly showed up on somebody.
11:12And the second time?
11:14Second time is for what I'm most known for.
11:17In 2017, he got into a series of fights with anti-Trump protesters at rallies.
11:24That's him pounding and pounding.
11:27He was on the lam when he got this idea to launch a more clean-cut white pride group.
11:34But it's just a new image.
11:38We're ultra-nationalist, far-right, fascist, you know.
11:41I mean, this is, I'll lean a little bit into these terms, you know.
11:44Is your ultimate goal to turn America into a completely white Christian nation?
11:52I would also add, like, a more militant nation as well, you know, military rule.
12:00Like having a military person run the country?
12:03Well, just, you know, again, based more of democracy.
12:07What did you mean, democracy?
12:10Like, it's terrible.
12:11Because it's just such a, it's such a scam democracy, I believe.
12:15It's politicians that get lobbied.
12:17They never have the interest.
12:19Anything that's important, do they ever ask us?
12:21No.
12:22But if you have a military, you'll never decide anything.
12:26We don't decide anything right now.
12:29Going to natural disasters like Hurricane Helene
12:32also gives these groups an opportunity to slam the government.
12:37Government didn't help whatsoever.
12:39Their videos claim the government did a lousy job in the rescue,
12:43saying it was chaotic, clueless, and corrupt.
12:47And I am disgusted.
12:48The criticisms got more outsiders to descend.
12:53These militiamen from Virginia came to clear houses.
12:57When the government fails, the people come together.
13:00This is a staging area that we have.
13:02An Arizona vigilante conspiracist group, veterans on patrol,
13:06came to organize supplies.
13:09But according to law enforcement, they created chaos and did more harm than good.
13:15Look at this car.
13:16Sheriff Griffin in North Carolina says many of these disaster tourists spread conspiracies and misinformation to help their videos go
13:26viral.
13:27The misinformation took a bad situation and actually complicated a bad situation.
13:35But Sheriff, they're coming in because they think the government isn't doing anything.
13:41So what I would say for all of these outside folks that are really wanting to help,
13:47they need to get their information from official sources and not from TikTok or Facebook or whatever the flavor of
13:56the day is with social media.
13:59What was some of the misinformation that was being spread?
14:02That there were people that were still stranded, that there were bodies floating in the river, that FEMA was rationing
14:14supplies and seizing supplies.
14:17None of that was true.
14:20FEMA, the federal agency on the ground in natural disasters, is a main target of these outside groups.
14:27During Helene, FEMA rescuers had to back away for a few days when there were fears that militias were coming
14:35to hunt them.
14:37Also, a wild rumor spread that the government actually created Hurricane Helene using weather monitoring towers as a weather weapon.
14:48Now, this is a directed energy weapon utilized to manipulate the weather.
14:52These are weapons of mass destruction.
14:54So, basically, the rumor was that, you know, the government controls the weather and that this was a direct attack
15:04on the area.
15:05Is this usual now in disasters?
15:09One, that there are these false rumors, conspiracies being spread, and two, that outside groups sort of stream in and
15:19make it more difficult for law enforcement.
15:21So, what I'm afraid of is, from what I've seen, this will be the new normal.
15:31How China tries to exploit natural disasters in the U.S.
15:35Taking narratives that portray the U.S. government as being ineffective and boosting those narratives.
15:48Once in a while, we get to travel so far off the beaten track, there's hardly a track at all.
15:53That was the case last year when we went to the mountains of western Columbia.
15:57There's some 2,000 species of birds in that South American country, more than anywhere else on Earth.
16:03Partly because of its diverse geography, but also, surprisingly, because of war.
16:09Decades of fighting among the Colombian government, left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, and narco-traffickers made some areas so
16:17dangerous few people could go there, preserving the birds' habitat.
16:21But since 2016, when Colombia's government signed a peace deal with the FARC, the largest left-wing guerrilla group, it's
16:29gotten safer to travel, and all those species of birds in untouched forests have become an important part of a
16:36growing ecotourism industry.
16:37It brings in millions of dollars to Colombia's economy, and bird watchers, birders as they're known, are flocking there, hoping
16:46to catch even a fleeting glimpse of species you can't find anywhere else on Earth.
16:54On the western slope of the Andes Mountains, in an area with few roads in or out, lies Tatama National
17:01Park, a vast stretch of lush rainforest punctuated by powerful rivers.
17:09Delicate flowers blossom in the rain-soaked forest, and the sound of birds fills the humid air.
17:19This is one of the wettest places on Earth.
17:22We set off before dawn in a four-wheel-drive vehicle through untouched forest.
17:28Hidden in the lush vegetation were all kinds of birds, some shy, others curious.
17:36Their colors as vivid as their names.
17:39The blue-gray tanager, the cinnamon flycatcher, the purple-throated wood star.
17:46Okay, check it out.
17:47Check it out.
17:48This one, mate.
17:49Diego Calderon Franco knows them all.
17:51He's one of Colombia's most famous birding guides.
17:55Go above the light.
17:56Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:58Oh, the violet-tailed sylph.
17:59This is the female.
18:00It's the little one right there.
18:01The little one, actually.
18:02Oh, that's the sylph.
18:04Oh, look at that.
18:04That's the sylph.
18:04Look at the tail.
18:06That tail is so beautiful.
18:08Diego's enthusiasm is infectious.
18:10And this is the star here.
18:12This thing.
18:13Velvet, purple, coronet.
18:15There you are.
18:16Wow.
18:17This color is incredible.
18:19Nearby, we spotted some drama between two hummingbirds.
18:22Is that a family?
18:23One of them is just sitting there on a branch.
18:25The others seem to be darting about.
18:27Actually, they are both empress brilliance males.
18:30So there are actually probably two males fighting a little bit about territory.
18:35Hummingbirds, you know, they look cute, but they are real warriors.
18:38They will fight for resources.
18:40Really?
18:40Hummingbirds do?
18:41All day long.
18:42All day long.
18:43The pink right underneath the throat is incredible.
18:47Birding may sound dull to some, but in the forest, there's always something to watch out for.
18:52Whoa.
18:53Watch out.
18:55This is dangerous.
18:56Diego has studied the species here so closely, he does their calls the way some people hum music.
19:04Something like that, that I can...
19:06That's a ram?
19:06That would be like a wood ram in the forest.
19:09There is one here where we are, that is called the munchike wood ram that lives in the highlands.
19:13And it's like...
19:15But it's much happier.
19:17It has a different tone, so it's more like...
19:23Much of a, yeah, cooler vibe.
19:25You've said that being a bird guide in Colombia is like being an explorer during the Victorian age.
19:31It is.
19:32How so?
19:33It is.
19:33It is because all these explorers from the Victorian age, they were circumnavigating the globe and exploring and finding new
19:39species everywhere.
19:41And because our, you know, troubled past, you can still, you know, be in Colombia, look at the isolated mountain
19:47range, and you might find a new species for birth for science.
19:51Are there still bird species out there that haven't been in this area?
19:54Absolutely.
19:54We tend to think that we have explored it all, that we know every corner of the planet, and it's
19:59not the case.
20:00This area was a no-go area for a long time.
20:04Indeed.
20:04The fact that there were illegal armed groups in this area, you know, like, for so long prevented just people
20:10coming and slashing and burning the habitats.
20:13No one could disturb the birds, but no one could go see them, really, either.
20:16Yeah, exactly.
20:17Exactly.
20:18More than 450,000 people were killed, most of them unarmed civilians, during decades of fighting between armed groups and
20:26government forces in Colombia.
20:2850,000 people were kidnapped.
20:31Diego Calderon-Franco was one of them.
20:33In 2004, as a graduate student, he and two colleagues were on an expedition in the mountains of northern Colombia
20:41when they were seized by the FARC, Colombia's largest Marxist guerrilla group.
20:46And they didn't believe that we were bird watchers, you know, like, that we were biologists.
20:51While Diego and his colleagues were held hostage in this remote hideaway and others, birders around the world called for
20:58his release.
20:59And, like, 99% of all the other kidnappings in Colombia, it became monetary.
21:05It became like, OK, let's ask for a ransom to your families.
21:07I was 88 days, three months up there.
21:10How did you stay sane?
21:12Birds, I would say.
21:13You were being held prisoner.
21:16But we could see and hear nature.
21:18He scribbled notes about what he saw on these scraps of cigarette paper.
21:23I remember I saw, for the first time, one bird that is called slaty brosfinch, and I even made a
21:29little drawing and a little note, like, wow, this is my first slaty brosfinch kidnapped up there in the Perihal
21:34Mountains.
21:35His father finally scraped together about $30,000 to free him.
21:39And three years after his release, Diego started a business leading birding tours.
21:46This was one of his favorite places to stay, a farm at the entrance to Tatama National Park.
21:53It's owned by Michelle Tapasco and her family.
21:55She says they moved here in the 1990s to escape violence by right-wing militias in eastern Colombia, not realizing
22:04the left-wing FARC was active here.
22:08After we got here, we realized that it was the flip side of the coin.
22:15The guerrilla strike started.
22:20There were a lot of confrontations near here between the military, the police, and the guerrillas.
22:25In 2008, she says the FARC kidnapped and killed her partner.
22:29She had five daughters to support and thought about leaving, but decided to stay and build a business providing lodging
22:37for the occasional visitor.
22:38When you started this business, did some people tell you, oh, this is never going to work?
22:44Oh, in fact, they would tell me I was crazy.
22:48No one would give me a single peso for my project.
22:53Now, thanks to birders, she's fixed the place up and rebranded it as the Montezuma Rainforest Eco Lodge.
23:01Much of the food for guests is grown on the premises, and the shell makes sure there's plenty of nourishment
23:08for Tatama's hard-working hummingbirds.
23:11Colombia is home to more than 160 species of these fast-moving flyers.
23:16These guys are the very only group of birds in the world that can fly not only forward, normal, but
23:23up, down, and backwards.
23:24How fast are they moving their wings?
23:26How fast, you think?
23:27How many times per second?
23:28Per second, 10?
23:3080 times per second.
23:33You cannot wrap this idea on your brain.
23:37Ten years ago, the Colombian government reached a peace agreement with the FARC, and nearly 10,000 fighters gave up
23:43their guns.
23:44But for peace to work, they needed new ways to make a living.
23:48So Diego decided to introduce his former captors to birding, thinking some of them might make good forest guides.
23:55What was it like to go birding with people who had been in FARC, who had been combatants?
24:00We totally forgot who we were.
24:03They weren't thinking, like, oh, this is the guy we kidnapped, you know, 15 years ago.
24:06Birds connect you so much, and I think that's why they have this healing power.
24:11Marcos Guevara was once a FARC guerrilla.
24:14Now he's a photographer.
24:16Diego helped him get his first job.
24:18When he joined us at Tatama, he captured this video of a green and black fruit eater building a nest.
24:25Did you know anything about birding before you met Diego?
24:31No, I didn't know anything at all.
24:32That was really my introduction to birds.
24:37Diego gave us the chance to attend workshops and training sessions.
24:42Birdwatching became a doorway for us, not just into conservation and preservation, but also as a way to generate income
24:49for ourselves.
24:52Colombia still has plenty of problems.
24:55While we were busy birding, bombs went off in Cali, and a presidential candidate was assassinated in Bogota.
25:02Eight days ago, 20 people were killed in an explosion officials blamed on a faction of the FARC that refused
25:08to disarm.
25:10Peace here remains fragile, but more tourists are coming than ever before.
25:16At Michelle's Lodge, we ran into Gary George and Joseph Brooks of Los Angeles.
25:21We bonded over a large bird that surprised us one morning.
25:25Look at that. Oh, my God. Look at that huge thing.
25:28Yeah.
25:28Do you see this? It's right there.
25:31Oh, that's a vulture, the black vulture.
25:34Like many serious birders, they have what's called a life list, a count of how many of the roughly 11
25:40,000 species of birds in the world they've seen or heard.
25:44Some people collect salt and pepper shakers, but we collect bird sightings, so we go around the world to do
25:49that.
25:49How many birds have you seen?
25:51We're very close to 8,000.
25:538,000. So you've seen the majority of the birds?
25:57Like four-fifths of the world's birds.
25:59If you didn't notice, those tattoos on Brooks' arms are some of his feathered favorites.
26:04He says there's about 50 birds tattooed all over his body.
26:08This is a satin bower bird from Australia.
26:11This is a red-crowned crane we saw in Japan death in the snow.
26:15On this trip, they were searching for the ever-elusive Chami Antpita.
26:19In two prior trips here, they'd never gotten a glimpse of one.
26:23But this time, they finally heard its call.
26:27Let's try.
26:28And then it darted right past them, so fast our camera couldn't catch it.
26:33It's like finding a jewel, like a prize.
26:37And being in that moment, everything else goes away.
26:39You're not worrying about anything else in your life.
26:42You're only present in that moment.
26:45Oh, great.
26:48Most birds don't have it as good as those here at Tatama National Park.
26:54Worldwide, 60 percent of bird species are declining in population,
26:58victims of logging, agricultural expansion, and economic development.
27:03At Montezuma Lodge, Michelle Tapasco told us
27:06she's working to buy more land to preserve for the birds.
27:10And now her daughters are pursuing careers in biology, forestry, birding, and conservation.
27:16When you think about it, I mean, did the birds save you?
27:21Yes.
27:23They have given me everything I have, everything I am, everything my daughters are today.
27:29Two of your daughters got married.
27:31Are they married to birders?
27:32Yes.
27:34I never thought of birds as matchmakers,
27:37but it seems like here maybe they are.
27:40I believe so.
27:43On our last day birding, we got to glimpse a species
27:46that only lives in this part of the Andes Mountains,
27:50the gold ring tanager.
27:52That's the birth of this place.
27:54That's what the birders come to see.
27:56This type of bird is like a keystone for dispersing of seeds, you know.
28:00They will chew on the berries,
28:02they will travel away from the parental plants,
28:04and they will defecate, and then they plant those seeds.
28:07A little later, we got an even better look.
28:11The tanager may not be the most colorful bird in these forests,
28:14but just seeing it did feel like an accomplishment.
28:18We knew we'd probably never have the chance to see it again.
28:23Oh, wow.
28:24That's great.
28:25Now you belong to a higher cult of mortals,
28:27for you have seen the gold ring tanager.
28:43In 15th century France, the medieval town of Grasse had a problem.
28:48It reeked of dead animals from its booming leather trade.
28:52Then came a clever idea to mask the stench,
28:55a pair of gloves infused with the scent of local flowers.
28:59It sparked a new industry.
29:01Flowers were planted, techniques invented,
29:04and what began as a cover-up grew into an art form,
29:08establishing grass as the perfume capital of the world.
29:11In 1921, when Coco Chanel wanted to create a signature scent for her fashion house,
29:16she went to this town in the south of France,
29:19where fields once bloomed in abundance,
29:21but have faded over the decades.
29:23Now a revival is underway,
29:26and that's where our story begins tonight,
29:29in Grasse, where flowers for the world's most famous perfume
29:32have been grown and gathered for more than 100 years.
29:38This is the Rose Centifolia,
29:41nicknamed the May Rose because it blooms in spring.
29:45Cultivated in row after pink row,
29:47it is a flower worthy of a serenade.
29:52Piano notes play over speakers.
29:55Farmers say the vibrations help the buds bloom evenly.
30:03Twelve of these roses go into a bottle of Chanel No. 5.
30:06But the real star is this tiny white flower, jasmine.
30:12It opens at night and is harvested as the sun comes up.
30:161,000 jasmine flowers go into a bottle of No. 5,
30:20giving it the floral scent that has sat on grandmother's dressers for generations.
30:25We all have a great nose.
30:27I don't know about that.
30:28At Chanel's annual jasmine harvest,
30:31we met Olivier Polge,
30:33where he spends many of his working days in the fields of grass,
30:37sourcing flowers.
30:38He is Chanel's master perfumer.
30:40In the fragrance world, he's known simply as a nose.
30:44What should I call you?
30:46A perfumer?
30:47A nose?
30:47I prefer perfumer,
30:49because people always think that my nose is very special.
30:55Is it not?
30:55And I don't smell things that you don't.
30:57The work of perfumer is not to smell things that nobody smells,
31:02but it is to identify the scents.
31:04His job is to create new fragrances for Chanel
31:07and make sure the classics smell as they always have.
31:11It is part art, part science.
31:14A sommelier of scent,
31:16Polge can detect thousands of smells with a sniff.
31:19Do you have a favourite smell?
31:21I love the scent of iris.
31:24Violet, powder, slightly woody.
31:27I have to tell you,
31:28I was very self-conscious getting ready this morning,
31:31putting my perfume on,
31:32thinking you were going to smell it immediately and judge it.
31:35Did you when we met?
31:36No, but you forgot
31:37that we are surrounded with such strong scents of flowers.
31:42This is overpowering.
31:44Phew, okay, good.
31:45According to Chanel,
31:47five bottles of number five
31:48are sold somewhere in the world every minute,
31:51fitting since it's named after Coco Chanel's lucky number.
31:55The iconic designer came to grass during its golden age,
31:59searching for the world's finest
32:01and most expensive perfume ingredients.
32:03But over the decades,
32:05farms began to shut down
32:07as the French Riviera became a luxe real estate market
32:11and cheaper flowers were grown abroad
32:13in places such as India and Egypt.
32:16Would Chanel number five really smell that differently
32:19if you sourced the jasmine from elsewhere?
32:22Yes, it would definitely have an impact.
32:25Far from me, the idea to say one is better than the other,
32:28but you have to recognize their differences.
32:31So what exactly does it smell like?
32:33Well, this is admittedly tough to convey on TV
32:36since we're doing the smelling.
32:39This is the jasmine from grass.
32:40Okay.
32:41Oh, wow.
32:43Grass jasmine is grassy and fruity
32:46with a note of green tea,
32:48delicate like the flower itself.
32:50In the early 1900s,
32:53grass had about 12,000 acres of flower fields.
32:56Today, only 124 acres remain.
33:00And where nearly 2,000 tons of jasmine
33:03were once harvested each year,
33:05now there are fewer than 15,
33:07grown mostly by one family.
33:10Since the 1800s, for six generations,
33:14the Mules have farmed this land.
33:16What has it been like
33:18to watch the decline here in grass
33:20for us?
33:22It's very sad.
33:23It was a pity to see this evolution,
33:25but we couldn't do anything about it.
33:28It's how it went.
33:29So we had to hang in there for many years.
33:32Joseph Moule is the 87-year-old patriarch.
33:35How often are you in the fields?
33:38Every morning, 7 a.m.
33:39Is he still the boss?
33:41Oh, he...
33:42Yes.
33:43He'll always be the boss.
33:45Joseph's daughter, Colette, runs the office.
33:48Her husband, Fabrice, oversees the fields.
33:51Who's done the most picking here?
33:55We all picked jasmine.
33:58We had to help.
34:00In my case, it was my grandparents.
34:03And they would tell us,
34:04if you wish to go and swim in the sea,
34:06first you have to help us pick flowers.
34:08So every morning...
34:10No fun, pick first.
34:12That's exactly what we did.
34:14They say their jasmine has a distinct scent
34:17because, like grapes used in wine,
34:19it matters where it's grown.
34:22Here in the hills,
34:23where the Mediterranean meets the Southern Alps
34:26in a cool climate and rich soil.
34:30You can't put burgundy in a bottle of Bordeaux
34:33because people will tell you,
34:35no, that's not Bordeaux.
34:37For the fragrances we do here for Chanel,
34:39it's exactly the same thing.
34:42That's why, in 1987,
34:44Chanel offered the mules a deal
34:46to grow and sell flowers exclusively to them,
34:49the first time a luxury brand
34:52partnered directly with grass farmers.
34:55They say even the birds smell good here in Grasse.
34:58Thank you very much.
35:00I think so.
35:01It's the kind of partnership
35:02Grasse Mayor JƩrƓme Viau
35:04says helped revive the region.
35:06A lot of people thought
35:08the perfume industry here was over.
35:10Yes, a lot of people say
35:11it's the end of the perfume.
35:13Why did you think you could make a difference?
35:16Because we have the knowledge
35:18and we have the weather
35:20and we have everything to get success.
35:23So we think it's possible
35:25and we are working on it every day.
35:28Since taking office in 2014,
35:31the mayor has filled the streets
35:32with thousands of pink umbrellas,
35:34a tribute to the rose
35:36and a picture-perfect backdrop
35:38for the two million tourists
35:40who visit Grasse each year.
35:42He also helped designate Grasse
35:44a United Nations cultural heritage site,
35:47recognizing its centuries-old
35:49perfume-making traditions.
35:51And he blocked development
35:53on 170 acres of land
35:55so that new flower fields
35:57can be cultivated.
35:58A lot of mayors
36:00want the development
36:01to come to their town.
36:03What was your fear
36:04with that development?
36:05We want development,
36:06but we want to choose
36:08our development.
36:09You want it to be specific
36:10to the perfume industry?
36:12Definitely, yes.
36:12Is there a renaissance
36:14in the perfume business
36:15underway right now?
36:16I think so.
36:17You saw it.
36:18We did.
36:19It's hard to miss.
36:20Over the past decade,
36:23major luxury houses
36:24have invested in Grasse
36:25by tying their brand
36:27to its reputation.
36:29LancƓme built what looks like
36:30a Barbie dream house
36:32on a farm where it grows roses
36:34for its fragrances.
36:36Downtown,
36:37an abandoned perfumery
36:38became a workshop
36:39for Louis Vuitton
36:40and Christian Dior's
36:42former estate
36:43was restored,
36:44preserving the gardens
36:46that inspired
36:46the designer's first scent.
36:48It's nice to smell.
36:50Everywhere I go,
36:51I put my nose.
36:52You do?
36:53I smell everything.
36:55Honorine Blanc
36:56is a master nose
36:57for one of the world's
36:58largest fragrance companies,
36:59creating perfumes
37:01for brands
37:01such as Valentino
37:02and Gucci.
37:03Yes, I smell it.
37:06It's patchouli.
37:07People don't realize
37:08how much work
37:09there is behind
37:10creating a fragrance.
37:11Sometimes,
37:13I need 20,000 trials.
37:1620,000 is how long
37:17it's taken you sometimes?
37:19How do you know
37:19when it's right?
37:20I would say
37:21there's two ways.
37:23Your clients,
37:24they stop.
37:25This is practical.
37:26Or it's instinct.
37:28It's like music.
37:29As part of the Grasse revival,
37:32her company,
37:33DSM Firminich,
37:34opened Villa Botanica
37:36five years ago,
37:37a private retreat
37:38for its top perfumers
37:40to discover new smells,
37:41the good,
37:43and the bad.
37:45What can you do with this?
37:46It smells like feet.
37:49There's an undiscovered world
37:51of scent out there still?
37:52I believe so.
37:53I think there are
37:54plenty of new odors
37:55to discover,
37:56plenty of new plants
37:57to discover.
37:58For a perfumer,
37:59it's heaven.
38:01Does Grasse still hold
38:02the same significance
38:04that it did
38:04to the perfume industry?
38:05Yes, and I think
38:07even more than ever.
38:09You know why?
38:09Because we're going back
38:10to authenticity.
38:12What does that mean
38:13when you're talking
38:14about perfume,
38:15authenticity?
38:16For me,
38:17when I come to Grasse,
38:18it's a place
38:19where I can slow down
38:20and smell
38:21the value of an ingredient
38:23because, you know,
38:24everything is speed,
38:25speed, speed, speed.
38:26Today,
38:27Fine Fragrance
38:28is a more than
38:28$20 billion-a-year industry,
38:31largely built on synthetics
38:33bottled in a lab.
38:34Blanc says man-made scents
38:36are essential
38:37to modern perfumery.
38:39You create perfection
38:40by balancing notes
38:42that are unpleasant
38:44with notes that are pleasant.
38:46If your apple
38:47is too perfect,
38:48you say,
38:48oh my God,
38:49it's not organic,
38:50it's not natural.
38:51So the imperfection
38:52and this off-note
38:54are very important
38:56for your fragrance.
38:57So it's kind of like baking.
38:58You have to put a little bit
38:59of salt in the cake mix.
39:01Chanel also uses
39:03synthetic scents
39:04created in a lab.
39:05We can't tell you
39:06exactly what's in a bottle
39:08of No. 5.
39:09Olivier Polge told us
39:11the secret formula
39:12is kept in a safe
39:13in Paris.
39:14I've heard
39:15that Chanel No. 5
39:17has more than
39:1880 separate scents.
39:20Yes.
39:21How many of those
39:22roughly are from Grasse?
39:24The most important
39:25are from Grasse.
39:26Which brings us back
39:28to the jasmine.
39:30Starting at dawn,
39:32when the jasmine flowers
39:33are at their most fragrant,
39:35each one is picked by hand,
39:37too delicate for machines.
39:40The harvest ends
39:42before the midday heat
39:43can damage the petals,
39:44which are kept covered
39:46in wet cloth
39:46to stay cool.
39:48Workers line up
39:50to weigh what they've picked.
39:514,000 jasmine flowers
39:53equal just one pound.
39:55The blooms are then
39:56rushed to an on-site factory
39:58where their fragrance
39:59is extracted
40:00using a 150-year-old technique
40:03developed in Grasse.
40:05You have to work
40:06really fast.
40:06Yes.
40:07Because what happens
40:08when they get brown?
40:09The smell changes?
40:11It smells like a bad fruit,
40:13like a ripe fruit.
40:15Crate after crate
40:16of jasmine
40:16is layered into this vat
40:18and steeped overnight
40:19like tea.
40:21Then, the flowers
40:22flowers are removed.
40:24They leave behind
40:26withered petals
40:27and a liquid
40:28that cools
40:28into a thick wax.
40:30It took 35 million
40:32jasmine flowers
40:33to get this 22-pound tub.
40:36The wax is turned
40:37back into a liquid
40:38Oh, wow, so strong.
40:40and filtered again
40:41into the most
40:42concentrated form
40:43of jasmine.
40:44So, this will be sent
40:46up to our factory
40:48near Paris
40:49and a few drops
40:51will go in each bottle
40:53of No. 5.
40:54Does the jasmine today
40:55smell like the jasmine
40:57originally used
40:58in No. 5?
40:59I think so.
41:00I think this is
41:01why we are very careful
41:03in maintaining
41:04the way we harvest
41:06the jasmine,
41:07the way we extract
41:07the jasmine,
41:08and we do it
41:09exactly as it was
41:10at the beginning.
41:19The Last Minute
41:21of 60 Minutes
41:22is sponsored
41:23by UnitedHealthcare.
41:24Coverage you can count on
41:26for your whole life ahead.
41:30The summer will see
41:32many celebrations
41:33marking the 250th anniversary
41:35of American independence,
41:36but historian Jill Lepore
41:38is reflecting
41:39on another breakthrough
41:40in 1776.
41:43Our very system of law
41:45is founded on
41:46what I think of
41:47as the philosophy
41:48of amendment,
41:50the idea that we can
41:51always make things better.
41:53We amend state
41:54constitutions all the time,
41:56mostly by referendums
41:57on election day.
41:59But I worry that
42:00at this point
42:01we've all but forgotten
42:02that the federal constitution
42:03can be amended too.
42:05That hasn't even really
42:06happened in any meaningful
42:07way since 1971,
42:09when the voting age
42:11was lowered
42:11from 21 to 18.
42:14It was in 1776,
42:16even before the United States
42:18declared independence,
42:19that written constitutions
42:21were invented
42:21in the states
42:22where the people said,
42:24we govern ourselves.
42:26And they did that
42:27by writing down the rules
42:29and making sure
42:30that we,
42:31their descendants,
42:32could change those rules.
42:34Some people might say,
42:35oh, the U.S. Constitution
42:36doesn't need to be amended
42:37because it's perfect.
42:39But you'd have to concede
42:40that the U.S. Constitution
42:42is being amended
42:43all the time,
42:44not by the people,
42:45but by the Supreme Court.
42:47Is that what Americans want?
42:50I think the 250th anniversary
42:52of the first constitutions
42:54in the United States,
42:55those state constitutions
42:57from 1776,
42:58is an excellent time
43:00to ask that question.
43:02I'm Anderson Cooper.
43:04We'll be back next week
43:05with another edition
43:06of 60 Minutes.
43:12The only way to get
43:13a 360-degree understanding
43:15of America
43:16is to get out there
43:17in America.
43:19So I get out there
43:20to try to talk to people
43:21about what matters to them.
43:23And I am reassured
43:24that anything that's wrong
43:25with America
43:26can be fixed
43:27by what's right in America.
43:28America.
43:29America.
43:29America.
Comments