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Anderson Cooper
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CNN Special Investigations Unit is an American investigative documentary program on CNN weekends. Expanding upon CNN Presents, SIU focuses on each episode being an in depth investigative report about news stories being covered, commonly featuring a number of interviews with experts on the issue and people who have witnessed the story taking place. The reports are commonly long-form, allowing for the network to cover more information and perspectives than would be available during a 5-minute report on another CNN program, such as CNN Newsroom. Compared to Presents, the show has taken a slightly larger point of the reporting being done by CNN reporters, the first commercials promoting the program largely showing pictures of anchors and reporters on locations, asking questions to people on the locations. In addition, the look and feel of the show has changed somewhat drastically, adding more emphasis on the graphics used to present the program itself, in addition to the stories being covered. In addition, presentations on SIU are shorter in length than on Presents, which is now used as a special event for larger special reports that take place on a long-term basis. Since the program's introduction, the network has slowly shifted towards relabeling past Presents presentations into SIU formatted ones, changing the graphics to reflect the new general label given to long-form reporting done by the network.
2005
Anderson Cooper examines the gang-plagued L.A. neighborhood of Hollenbeck, which has the highest concentration of gangs in the city. The program includes comments from a 26-year-old gang member; LAPD gang-enforcement officer Jake Dugger; a mother who lost both of her sons to gang violence; and Father Greg Boyle, a priest who runs an employment agency for former gang members.
Anderson Cooper
2008
Arwa Damon reports on how the Iraq War has impacted Iraqi women. Included: inside al-Kadhimiya, a women's prison.
The reasons for the housing crisis are investigated in this collaborative effort with "Fortune" magazine, which features "Fortune" managing editor Andy Serwer, CNN's Gerri Willis, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, securities expert Janet Tavakoli, investment strategist Peter Dunay and Lenox Financial CEO Jon Shibley. Included: insights from former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
The safety measures colleges have implemented to prevent further campus rampages are examined. Included: whether students should be permitted to have guns on campus; the Northern Illinois University tragedy; a young man whose planned assault on his high school was stopped by his mother. Abbie Boudreau reports.
Christiane Amanpour travels to North Korea with the New York Philharmonic for its February 2008 performance in Pyongyang. Included: a tour of a nuclear facility; a visit with a North Korean family; and interviews with Christopher Hill, the lead U.S. negotiator with North Korea; North Korean deputy foreign minister Kim Gye Gwan; Madeleine Albright; former defense secretary William Perry; and the Philharmonic's Lorin Maazel and South Korean-born violinist Lisa Kim.
Expanding upon her award-winning investigative series God’s Warriors, CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports in a new documentary that examines the nexus of politics and faith. For Buddha’s Warriors, Amanpour explores a new generation of Buddhists who are actively engaged in political struggle. These believers of love, kindness and nonviolence struggle to remain true to their beliefs while at the same time confronting severe political and cultural oppression. In Buddha’s Warriors, Amanpour investigates the roots of the conflict between Chinese authority and ethnic Tibetans. Nearly 50 years ago, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising against communist rule. Tibetans say that all but 13 of 6,000 Buddhist monasteries were destroyed under Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. Those that have been rebuilt are now under the close, watchful eye of the Chinese government. Monks there say that they are forced to denounce the Dalai Lama and swear allegiance to China.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on the toll that serving as president has taken on the health of past commanders in chief. Also: what the medical records of John McCain and Barack Obama reveal about their readiness to serve as president. Included: interviews with former White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer, Joe Lockhart, Jody Powell and Ron Nessen; former Reagan White House chief of staff Kenneth Duberstein; and former White House physicians Rob Darling, Burton Lee and Connie Mariano.
The opulent lifestyles led by some Wall Street insiders, including Lehman Brothers chairman and CEO Richard S. Fuld Jr., are explored. Also: an interview with one-time stockbroker Jordan Belfort ("The Wolf of Wall Street"); who racked up millions---and served time for securities fraud and stock manipulation; a Wall Street cigar party; the reactions of middle-class Americans.
Streaming availability information not available
2004
Sigourney Weaver narrates this review of historical evidence and theories regarding the life of Jesus. Included: Jesus' early life; and his betrayal, trial, execution and resurrection.
Topic: the physical and mental health of U.S. presidents. Included: the medical care provided to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
An examination of the roles of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene within Christianity. Included: the historical reality of the two main archetypes of Christian womanhood; how they're being reimagined today; what it means for the future of Christianity.
2010
A look at what led 53-year-old Joe Stack to fly his small plane into the IRS building in Austin on Feb. 18, 2010. Included: the manifesto he left behind; interviews with people who knew him as well as with victims of the assault. Abbie Boudreau reports.
2009
Abbie Boudreau and Drew Griffin report on stimulus spending, including controversial transportation projects, mayoral "wish-lists" and mortgage bailouts.
2006
Anderson Cooper anchors this look at the Jan. 2, 2006, Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia. Included: the rescue effort; how miners are trained.
Kyra Phillips examines the March 11, 2005, shooting rampage in the Atlanta courthouse that resulted in four deaths; and how Ashley Smith, who was taken hostage by the alleged perpetrator, Brian Nichols, talked him into surrendering to the authorities. Included: comments from Claudia Barnes, the widow of slain Judge Rowland Barnes; Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Don Briant.
Frank Sesno examines what might happen if a major hurricane hit Houston, the center of U.S. energy production, and the disaster was followed by terror strikes at oil installations in Saudi Arabia. Included: how much oil the earth has left; alternative fuels; and insights from Richard Branson and automobile designer Bob Lutz.
Delia Gallagher reports on the final days of Pope John Paul II. Included: interviews with those closest to the pontiff, including Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul II's personal secretary; Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls; Mother Tekla Famiglietti, who prayed over the pope's body the night he died. Also: Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, governor of Vatican City; Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago.
The paparazzi's pursuit of a pregnant Angelina Jolie is the prime example in this look at the world of celebrity media. Included: insights from gossip reporter Ted Casablanca; People's Larry Hackett and Peter Castro; Mariah Carey; Ashlee Simpson; photographer Kevin Mazur, who only works the red carpet; P.R. consultants Cindi Berger and Ken Sunshine; American Media Inc. editorial director Bonnie Fuller; and Frank Griffin, who heads the paparazzi agency Bauer-Griffin.
Drew Griffin reports on modern methods of looting bank accounts, such as identity theft. Included: a thief who had more than 100 credit cards under other people's names; an identity-theft ring; a scheme that affected AOL subscribers.
Alex Quade reports on the care wounded soldiers receive, from Iraq to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany to the U.S.
An examination of the July 17, 1996, tragedy involving the Paris-bound TWA Flight 800, which exploded 12 minutes after taking off from New York's JFK International Airport. Included: animation that shows how a fuel-tank explosion caused the plane to break apart; a look at initial concerns that terrorism may have been to blame, and how the National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause---an electrical short circuit. David Mattingly reports.
Kathleen Koch reports on how the people in Bay St. Louis, Miss. (her hometown) are faring a year after Hurricane Katrina leveled their homes.
An examination of the 10th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, where five doctors, 14 nurses and 22 medics treat U.S. and coalition casualties, as well as civilians and insurgents. Included: a calm Memorial Day 2006 turns hectic when 12 casualties, including CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier, arrive at the hospital. Also: comments from medical personnel; the difficulty adjusting to work in a combat setting; and how the staff tries to maintain a semblance of normalcy.
2007
Christiane Amanpour examines Muslim extremism in the U.K. Included: the alienation many Muslim youths experience in Western societies.
Christine Amanpour narrates report on the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, whose investigation of Islamic militants resulted in a fateful meeting with Omar Sheikh in Pakistan in 2002. Included are remarks by Pearl family members; and acquaintances of both men.
Soledad O'Brien profiles Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., via interviews with former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and activist Dorothy Cotton. Also: how part of King's I Have a Dream speech was ad-libbed; the genesis of his Letter From Birmingham Jail.
A report on a Jan. 26, 2005 ambush on the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in Haqlaniyah, Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of four soldiers.
An examination of the March 2, 2007, accident in Atlanta involving a charter bus carrying the Bluffton University baseball team. Seven people died, including the driver and his wife.
John Roberts examines the Shia death squads operating in Iraq and their alleged connection to government officials. Included: insights from former Iraqi interior minister Bayan Jabr; L. Paul Bremer III, the former administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority; and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad.
The world of young doctors is examined at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital, one of the busiest Level 1 trauma centers in the region, through the eyes of four interns and CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is an attending neurosurgeon at the hospital.
A look at the tenets of Christianity and how they apply to science. Included: whether science and religion can coexist. Anderson Cooper hosts.
Based on Dr. Sanjay Gupta's 2007 book “Chasing Life,” this episode features the CNN chief medical correspondent's look at longevity. Included: the importance of diet and exercise; stem-cell therapy; the aging process.
Soledad O'Brien anchors an account of the rampage at Virginia Tech that claimed the lives of 32 people, plus the gunman. Included: a minute-by-minute account; how the shooter acquired his weapons.
Anderson Cooper hosts this look at how prepared the U.S. is to face another Hurricane Katrina-level natural disaster or terrorist attack. Included: “soft” targets in the nation's food supply, port security and power grids; the level of readiness for biological and germ attacks.
CNN International anchor Michael Holmes reports on what life is like in Iraq. Included: bombings in markets and at universities; attacks on civilians and military troops.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates the safety of the nation's food supply, which the CDC estimates is responsible for causing some 76 million people to become sick every year, with an approximate 325,000 requiring hospitalization and 5,000 dying. Included: an interview with Dr. Robert E. Brackett, the director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition; the experiences of a family who became ill after eating E. coli-contaminated greens.
John King reports on the unintended consequences of the Iraq War, which include more than 3500 American dead; a cost of some $500 billion; and the fact that two-thirds of the Army's 42 active brigades aren't battle ready. Included: comments from Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.); and Stephen and Kay Castner, whose son Stephen died in Iraq.
Soledad O'Brien reports on criminally insane felons and why the warning signs in individuals are sometimes missed. Included are interviews with Lionel Dahmer, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's father; and David Kaczynski, brother of the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.
The Minnesota bridge collapse is investigated by Soledad O'Brien, Drew Griffin, Jim Acosta and Ted Rowlands.
Soledad O'Brien examines Princess Diana's early years. Included: inside her childhood home; where she and Prince Charles first met; how her parents' divorce impacted her; and remarks from family members, friends and a childhood nanny.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien and Spike Lee help 11 Gulf Coast teens tell their Katrina-recovery stories in video-diary form. Filmed between January and August 2007, the entries detail their hopes, as well as challenges they continue to face.
Anderson Cooper reports on Afghanistan, where the Taliban is using profits from the poppy trade to fuel its resurgence. Included: efforts by NATO and U.S. forces to eradicate the drug trade; a visit to a Taliban-controlled area.
In this powerful follow-up to the 2001 “CNN Presents” episode “Beneath the Veil,” about life for Afghan women under the Taliban, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy traversed Afghanistan to see whether conditions have improved since the Taliban were ousted. She discovered that while some hope exists, change has been slow. For example, though the government no longer requires women to wear burqas, their husbands and families do. Included: women who committed self-immolation; a girls' school.
Kyra Phillips reports on the “Jena 6” case, in which six black Jena, La., high-school students are being prosecuted for injuring a white classmate during a schoolyard brawl, while none of the white youths involved were charged.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines diet's impact on the brain and the rest of the body. Included: Dr. Mark Jacobsen (Center for Science in the Public Interest); Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa); LaDonna Redmond, a Chicago agriculture activist; and psychiatrist Joseph Hibbeln.
Christiane Amanpour profiles Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and discusses modern-day Iran. Included: an interview with Ahmadinejad about Iran's nuclear program.
Soledad O'Brien examines the Beltway sniper case that terrorized the mid-Atlantic region in October 2002. Included: comments from the families of convicted snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, and Charles A. Moose, former chief of the Montgomery County (Md.) Police Department; an interview with Muhammad.
Kyra Phillips reports on an upsurge in incidents in which nooses are displayed in an attempt to intimidate black people. Included: the historical significance of the noose; insights from historian James Allan and the Southern Poverty Law Center's Mark Potok; investigating hate crimes in Nassau County, N.Y.; what Philadelphia educators teach students about racial intolerance in America's past.
An interview with WWE chairman Vince McMahon accents this look at pro wrestling, whose participants are more likely to die young than their counterparts in other professional sports. Drew Griffin reports.
Problems facing the Veterans Administration are examined via the experiences of Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth, a former Blackhawk pilot and double amputee, who is the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.
Christiane Amanpour examines modern-day Russia, which critics say has devolved from democracy to autocratic rule under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin.
A look at what's known about Iran in light of the NIE report about its nuclear capabilities. Included: remarks from former secretary of state Madeleine Albright; former Afghanistan special envoy James Dobbins; former presidential adviser David Gergen; former UN chief weapons inspector David Kay; and American Enterprise Institute vice president Danielle Pletka. Campbell Brown and Frank Sesno report.
A report on terrorism in Pakistan, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.