The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper - Episode Guide

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh travels with thousands of migrants through the jungles of South and Central America and tells their stories of danger, grit, and determination to make it to America.

The journey through the Darien Gap is a perilous jungle crossing between Colombia and Panama that many migrants must face as they head north to seek asylum in the United States. Over five harrowing days, Paton Walsh hikes the entire 66-mile roadless route, documenting the heroism of everyday people, milked for cash by drug cartels and unwanted by any country, as they battle the dense rainforest in search of a better life.  In this episode, Paton Walsh hears the heartbreaking stories of his companions on the passage, from unaccompanied children, Venezuelan university students whose classmates have been killed, and a mother carrying her disabled daughter desperate for the medicine to treat her epileptic convulsions. As they traverse the mud-packed mountain slopes and treacherously opaque riverbeds, the dangerous trek reveals the enduring humanity of those who embark on this expedition together, sharing their already limited resources with the injured and helping the elderly carry heavy cargo.

CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir marks Earth Day with this captivating adventure, crossing the globe to interact with the most innovative players in the trillion-dollar race to remove carbon from the sea and sky. Since human activity has released a monster made of more than one trillion tons of carbon into the Earth's atmosphere, innovators and investors are joining the global race against time to defeat it. With tools that include everything from Icelandic geysers to humpback whales, they are putting down stakes in the most significant new industry you've never heard of.

From Silicon Valley to Cambridge and aboard hot air balloons in the Swiss Alps and fishing boats in Maine, Weir searches for perspective, hope, and ideas. "If science and stone-cold evidence are telling us that the future is screwed, how do we unscrew a planet?" Weir said, explaining the show's inspiration. "I went looking for the biggest, boldest ideas in planetary repair and came back blown away, both by the scale of the challenge and the wave of new ideas being put into action every day."

Weir analyzes innovative carbon removal techniques that mimic nature itself, including spraying the ocean with artificial whale feces made of volcanic ash, creating synthetic clouds made of seawater mist, and sinking carbon-absorbing seaweed buoys to the bottom of the ocean. He speaks with leading experts in their field, including Swiss explorer and environmentalist Bertrand Piccard who was the first person to complete a non-stop balloon flight around the globe, former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government and founder of the Center for Climate Repair at Cambridge University Sir David King, and Silicon Valley titan Peter Reinhardt, who co-founded and is CEO of carbon removal tech company Charm Industrial®.

CNN Anchor and National Correspondent Erica Hill previews the coronation of King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort. Featuring interviews with the foremost experts on the Royal Family and many close to the Windsors, Hill examines the past, present, and future of these new sovereigns. 

Hill travels to England to assemble a group of British scholars and journalists, including Kehinde Andrews, Helen Carr, Sarah Hewson, Robert Lacey, Bidisha Mamata, Jack Royston, Camilla Tominey, and Kate Williams, to debate what the monarchy means in 2023, what its new king and queen stand for, and whether this royal institution may be in jeopardy.

Former staffers to the royal family, including Press Secretaries to Queen Elizabeth Ailsa Anderson and Charles Anson and Communications Secretary to then Prince Charles Kristina Kyriacou, examine the legacy of King Charles III, from his rebellious youth to his tumultuous first marriage to Princess Diana, and how his defiant nature is reflected in his son, Prince Harry. Together, they consider Camilla's complicated path to the throne and her rising level of influence. And they question whether a new generation of British citizenry will continue to support the pomp and pageantry of the crown.

CNN Chief Investigative Correspondent and Anchor Pamela Brown investigates claims made by some of the thousands of women and men who say that Johnson & Johnson's now-discontinued talc baby powder is responsible for their cancers. 

Johnson & Johnson is an American institution. The corporate behemoth, worth more than 400 billion dollars, is the company behind Tylenol, Band-Aid, and Neutrogena, which can all be found in homes nationwide. Marketed both for use by children and adults, Johnson & Johnson's baby powder became one of the company's most iconic products. When allegations arose that the talc baby powder contained traces of cancerous asbestos, Johnson & Johnson vehemently denied those claims. They have consistently cited the safety of their product and said that it does not contain asbestos or cause cancer. Despite this, based on those allegations, there are nearly 40,000 lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson.

In this investigation, Brown hears the powerful stories of several women suing Johnson & Johnson following their cancer diagnoses and speaks with attorneys on both sides of the case – plaintiffs' attorney Jerome Block and attorney for Johnson & Johnson Allison Brown. She also interviews Senator Dick Durbin, Chair of the Senate Judiciary, on Johnson & Johnson's attempt to create a subsidiary for its talc liabilities and limit its exposure to litigation through bankruptcy court.

One of America's most beloved and beautiful cities struggles with a crisis of homelessness, drugs, and crime. How did it come to this?

CNN Anchor Sara Sidner examines the political and social issues plaguing the city of San Francisco, the metropolis at the center of the 1960s counterculture movement that became the center of the modern technological revolution. The City by the Bay is now at the forefront of the nation's homelessness, mental illness, and drug addiction crises. Some residents worry Northern California's largest municipality could become a so-called failed city. In this episode, Sidner goes behind the headlines in the city that she loves to meet the lawmakers and residents on the front lines of this issue. 

Sidner has a candid conversation with San Francisco Mayor London Breed on some of her most controversial policies and sits down with former Mayor Willie Brown, who discusses the decades-long legacy of homelessness in the Bay Area. She also spends time with mothers who have come together to fight the deadly drug problem there and talks with those struggling with homelessness and drug addiction themselves.

With new, exclusive reporting, CNN Senior Crime and Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz takes an unprecedented look inside the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last May as the fight for answers and accountability endures.

A year after the shooting at Robb Elementary School, just a handful of the hundreds of officers who responded have been held accountable. Families who lost everything still don't have a full picture of what happened and how it went so wrong. Without answers from officials in Texas, parents of Robb Elementary students who survived 77 minutes trapped with the gunman asked Prokupecz to show them the moments police finally breached the classroom and rescued their children – raw, never-released body cam footage and 911 audio that authorities refused to make public.

"It's hard to put into words how difficult it has been this past year covering the school shooting in Uvalde," said Prokupecz. "It is, without a doubt, one of the toughest stories I've reported on in my career, and it's been a persistent and somber reminder of the devastating impact that gun violence can have on innocent people and communities. I hope our coverage sheds light on the undeniable work that still needs to be done to better protect children—and adults—from mass shootings, and I am humbled and grateful to the victims' families for allowing us to share their stories."

In this episode, Prokupecz speaks with parents of victims, students who survived, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin,and Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez. Prokupecz and his reporting team were recently honored with a Peabody Award and a George Polk Award for their groundbreaking reporting in Uvalde.

CNN Chief Investigative Correspondent and Anchor Pamela Brown goes behind the headlines and into the case against former President Donald Trump. This week, Trump was indicted on thirty-seven counts in special counsel Jack Smith's probe into the former President's handling of classified documents since he left office. The indictment is a stunning development that marks the first time a former president has faced federal charges. Brown unravels the twists and turns in this investigation, starting with the day Trump left office to the new details revealed in this indictment.

Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid, Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez, Senior Reporter for Crime and Justice Katelyn Polantz, and CNN Correspondent Randi Kaye break down the incredible story. CNN Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates, Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and CNN Legal Analysts Elie Honig and Shan Wu describe the significance of this indictment and what it could mean for the 2024 election. Former Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore reviews the merits of this legal case. Also, CNN Senior Crime & Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz explores the looming threat of violence as law enforcement gathers in Miami ahead of Trump's first court appearance on Tuesday, June 13.

CNN Correspondent David Culver travels to Jamaica to explore the therapeutic benefits of medically supervised consumption of psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms. 

The naturally stunning landscape of Jamaica is the backdrop for a resort that hosts psychedelic retreats, where it is legal to grow and consume magic mushrooms. While this practice is legal in Jamaica and now Oregon, psilocybin mushrooms for medical use are currently illegal under US federal law. A new wave of research is shifting the narrative around the safety and efficacy of psychedelics, leading to what some call a "psychedelic renaissance" and showing promise in treating multiple conditions like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. However, we still don't know much about how psilocybin affects the brain, and many are asking if it's too soon to offer these treatments. This episode follows a group of everyday Americans who travel to Jamaica to try psilocybin to reconnect with themselves, curb addiction, and find inner healing.

"These retreat participants invited us in on what is a deeply personal and intimate journey aimed to find healing," Culver said. "In hopes of better understanding their mind-altering trips, I also wanted to see if the mushrooms might work their therapeutic magic on me. Having lived and reported through China's relentless ‘Zero-Covid' policies, including harsh and punishing lockdowns, I wondered if the medicine – as they call it – might help me better process my nearly three years isolated from family and loved ones back in the US. The mushrooms took me on a journey I did not expect."

In this episode, Culver also travels to Oregon, the first state to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic purposes. As more states in the US debate legalization, Culver looks inward and considers the lessons he can learn from his deeply personal experience in Jamaica.

CNN National Correspondent Randi Kaye investigates this story that has rapidly captured the world's attention. On June 18, 2023, five passengers on the Titan submersible dived 13,000 feet to view the Titanic on the ocean floor and perished in a "catastrophic implosion," authorities said Thursday, June 22. This bookended an astounding five-day international search operation near the site of the world's most famous shipwreck. Kaye unravels the timeline of events, starting with the Titan's initial descent and their last communication to the surface. As investigators continue to scour the ocean floor for debris trying to establish the circumstances of the Titan's fatal final voyage, Kaye breaks down everything we know now.

This episode features interviews with the foremost experts on submersible travel and people close to the passengers, including OceanGate Expeditions investor Aaron Newman, Expedition: Unknown host Josh Gates, CEO of Underwater Forensic Investigators Tom Maddox, senior adviser for strategic initiatives for RMS Titanic Inc. David Gallo, and CBS Correspondent David Pogue.

CNN Anchor and podcast host Audie Cornish delves into the perils of social media and chronicles the journey of three separate families, united by their efforts to hold social media companies accountable for the content published on their platforms. Cornish's investigation focuses on the experiences of three mothers and their children who have recently filed lawsuits against Meta, Snapchat, and TikTok. Their cases are part of a larger movement, with over five-hundred families currently suing the tech giants. The families claim the companies are exposing kids to harmful content and contributing to a mental health crisis among American adolescents – one that the US Surgeon General says is driven by social media. "These families are at the forefront of a new way of thinking about the value of social media in our kids' lives," said Cornish. "And their parents are helping to fuel a movement that could shape public opinion about whether tech companies could or should be made to do more to make their product safer." Cornish conducts interviews with Matthew Bergman, the attorney representing many of these families, the neuroscientists and psychology experts Mitch Prinstein and Eva Telzer about whether social media "addiction" is real, and longtime tech journalist Kara Swisher about the debate over who and how social media use should be regulated among kids.

CNN Correspondent Brynn Gingras dives deeply into the 13-year investigation into multiple murders of young women along Gilgo Beach and the man, Rex Heuermann, who has now been charged with these crimes. Last week, Heuermann was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the killings of three of the "Gilgo Four," a group of four women whose remains were found along a short stretch of Long Island's Gilgo Beach in 2010. He is also the prime suspect in the disappearance and killing of the fourth woman but has yet to be charged in that case. The alleged killer had been living a double life in a village a short drive from where their remains were found, prosecutors said.

This episode examines the decades-long investigation with the foremost criminology experts, including former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller, and author and journalist Robert Kolker (Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery). Also featured are interviews with Heuermann's neighbors and local authorities, who unrivaled the mystery, including Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney and Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison.

CNN Political Correspondent Sara Murray examines the case against former President Donald Trump over claims of election fraud and interference in Georgia and the chances of him being indicted again. 

Three months after the 2020 election, Fani Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, officially opened an investigation into former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the state's presidential election results. The sprawling case has involved some of the biggest names in the Trump orbit, and the entire investigation stems back to a single 2021 phone call between then-President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Murray takes viewers inside the Georgia fake electors scheme, a secret plot to seize voting data by election deniers, and the extraordinary challenges of indicting a former President.

"As the 2024 election heats up, the investigation into former President Donald Trump and his allies in Georgia continues to drive news cycles and impact the political landscape," said Murray. "We spoke to people who felt the former president's wrath and pushed back on efforts to disenfranchise thousands of voters. This is the behind-the-scenes story of what, exactly, happened in Georgia – beyond the now infamous 2021 phone call." Murray added, "As the cases against Trump stack up, this isn't just a story about what happened during the last presidential race; it's a story about Donald Trump's future as a candidate, juggling his legal perils, and his quest for a second term in the White House."

Featuring interviews with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, former US Attorney Michael Moore, former Georgia State Senator Jen Jordan, Georgia Election Official Gabriel Sterling, and more, this episode zooms in on the high stakes of this investigation amidst an already unprecedented moment in American history.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta's duPont-Columbia Award-winning Emmy® nominated Weed series returns to explore the drug's risks and benefits in treating chronic issues such as pain, anxiety, and Alzheimer's disease in patients over 50. 

Between 2015 and 2018, cannabis use in seniors over 65 jumped 75%, and this age group now represents the fastest-growing group of cannabis users in the United States. In this episode, Dr. Gupta travels from research facilities in Tel Aviv, Israel – often referred to as "the holy land of medical marijuana" – to a senior living community in West Palm Beach running an experimental cannabis treatment pilot program, as he learns more about how seniors are using the drug for pain relief, better sleep, less anxiety, weight gain, and more. In California, he boards a "cannabus" providing transport to seniors who cannot otherwise access dispensaries and visits one of the largest cannabis growing operations in the world, where plants are designed with seniors in mind.

"Over the last decade reporting on medical marijuana, time and time again, what has surprised me the most is the optimism, the possibility, and the impact that carefully controlled cannabis can have, even on seniors, for a better quality of life," Dr. Gupta said.

Featuring interviews with doctors and researchers at the forefront of the field, as well as first-person accounts from seniors about their experience using cannabis, "Weed 7: A Senior Moment" explores how the shifting stigma around the drug is impacting a growing number of seniors around the world, decreasing their prescription drug use, and improving their quality of life.

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay examines how the pandemic changed the restaurant industry and the unique ways chefs and restaurants across the country have adapted.

Flay, whose own New York City restaurant was among the more than 110,000 restaurants that closed in 2020, embarks across the country to meet the restaurants, chefs, and entrepreneurs that pivoted to a new way of serving customers by implementing new digital business models and offering more than just food and drinks. From establishing employee equity plans to the rise of outdoor dining and ghost kitchens, Flay takes viewers into the restaurants that are revolutionizing how we think about dining out and what customers can expect. In this episode, Flay rides with DoorDash to find out how the food delivery giant handled the enormous demand during the pandemic and has since evolved.

"The pandemic altered the restaurant industry forever, ushering technological advances that have changed our habits and how we dine out," said Flay. "This is a seismic shift that deserves the attention that only CNN can bring to it. It is an honor to join The Whole Story, which is producing the most compelling reporting on television, and I am very honored to play a part in sharing this important story."

This episode features interviews with Chef Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix and Los Angeles; Chef Esther Choi of MokBar in New York City; Chef Cat MacDowell of Downtown Louisville, KY; Chef Bonnie Morales, who owns Kachka in Portland, OR with her husband Israel Morales; and Jason Johnson who runs getREEF, a virtual food hall at the Raleigh/Durham airport in North Carolina.

A Fulton County Grand Jury in Georgia indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 co-conspirators with racketeering charges related to the 2020 election. Trump now has four indictments this year. CNN Political Correspondent Sara Murray examines everything that occurred in Georgia and how this led to the indictment. She looks at how strong the case against Trump is and what it could mean for democracy if he is convicted.

A network of pilots and organizers helps women travel to doctors nationwide to access legal abortion procedures. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, at least 21 states have banned or restricted abortions, forcing countless women to travel hundreds of miles to seek care. "Without Roe: The New Abortion Landscape" examines the ongoing state-by-state struggle over whether abortion should remain accessible in America, featuring advocates coming together to protect access to the procedure while opponents try to restrict it. 

Th1s episode follows people whose paths had never crossed before coming together to protect access to the procedure: Alamo Women's Clinic moving its practice from Texas; a goat farming reproductive rights organizer with Midwest Access Coalition coordinating funding and logistics for patients; and an underground network of volunteer pilots known as Elevated Access transporting abortion providers and patients on small, private aircraft to ease the burden of their long journeys. Many paths lead to Carbondale in southern Illinois, fast becoming an oasis of abortion access surrounded by a sea of states like Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri that have banned or restricted the procedure. With rare access inside the clinic, the documentary also features stories of women seeking care. It chronicles intimate moments of hope and fear, all shrouded in a veil of danger, as the stakes for providers, volunteers, and patients could not be higher, each with lives on the line.

CNN Sports Anchor and Correspondent Coy Wire marks the first week of the NFL season with an investigation into how new developments in the sport aim to make the game safer for players. 

From peewee leagues to flag football and Friday night lights in high schools across the country, football is a way of life for many Americans in the fall. However, the average professional football player's career is just 3.5 years, and the sport comes with huge risks to both the body and brain. In this episode, Wire, who played in the league for nine seasons, speaks with NFL head coaches Andy Reid and Sean McDermott, XFL co-owners Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Dany Garcia, and Jeff Miller, who oversees player health and safety for the NFL, about how the game is revolutionizing to prioritize players' well-being.

"This is not the game that I played – it's a whole new NFL," said Wire. "From unprecedented mid-game cancellations after injuries out of respect for players' health and well-being, to the futuristic technology being used to track, analyze, and potentially detect injuries before they happen, this experience has blown me away and has sparked even greater hope for the future of the game I love."

Wire goes behind the scenes at the 2023 training camps of the New York Giants and the Atlanta Falcons, and the episode features his reporting from the 2023 NFL Draft and XFL Championship Game. Wire also visits Biocore, an NFL-funded research lab, where he personally tests out some of the league's most cutting-edge innovations as they seek to make the game safer.

CNN's Chief International Anchor, Christiane Amanpour, covers the remarkable story of Ukrainian ballet dancers who faced the wrenching decision to either leave their homes and show the world the face of Ukrainian culture or stay behind to continue performing in a war zone. 

This episode follows members of the Holland-based United Ukrainian Ballet Company, composed of dancers displaced from Ukraine in the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. CNN's cameras capture intimate moments of dancers grappling with survivor's guilt as their families remain on the front lines, all while remaining determined to fight for their culture. The pressure rises as they prepare to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC – one of the most prestigious stages in a country with the power to determine the fate of their nation. In Kyiv, Amanpour spoke with dancers who have chosen to stay and perform at the National Opera and Ballet Theater in their home country, offering a brief respite from the war to audiences and defending Ukrainian culture from annihilation, even as sirens and air raid alerts ring out. The theater reopened three months after the war broke out and limited its audience to a fifth of its capacity – the maximum its bomb shelter could hold.

"Speaking to this troupe of ballet dancers, we learn that making art during war is a form of resistance and defiance," said Amanpour. "Ukrainians are also cementing their separate cultural heritage in the face of Russia's attempts to deny and wipe out their history."

CNN Correspondent Donie O'Sullivan presents a chilling year-long investigation into the devoted followers of a fringe conspiracy theory rooted in QAnon ideology. 

O'Sullivan tracks the stories of Americans consumed by a conspiracy theory that John F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. are still alive and descended from Jesus Christ. In reporting the documentary, he went to Dallas, where Michael Protzman, then a leader in this conspiracy theory, had convened his followers at the Grassy Knoll, waiting for JFK or JFK Jr. to reappear. Protzman had no solid answers to O'Sullivan's questions. Several months after that interview, Protzman died in a motorcycle accident, a death some of his followers refuse to believe. O'Sullivan casts more light on Protzman and his movement by speaking to his mother about how her son lost himself into the web of conspiracy theories, how it tore their family apart, and whom she blames for it all.

"Every night, an untold number of Americans sit down for dinner and often hear increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories being repeated by a loved one. Confusion and frustration give way to a sense of helplessness as many watch their moms, dads, brothers, or sisters being sucked further and further down the rabbit hole," says O'Sullivan. "With so much focus on the conspiracy theories and the conspiracy theorists, we wanted to show the real impact that this is having on American families – the true victims of our post-truth society."

O'Sullivan goes beyond the spectacle of the bizarre conspiracy theory and speaks with heartbroken family members of those whose loved ones have left home and waited in Dallas for months for the supposed return of the Kennedys. He also speaks with the founder of a nonprofit helping those leaving cults and hate groups, author Diane Benscoter, who believes this group is a cult.

CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper provides an in-depth look at the devastating attack on The Nova Festival near the Gaza-Israel border.

The outdoor music festival was supposed to be an all-night dance party, celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The rockets began around 6:30 a.m. as Gaza militants fired at the hundreds of attendees. The Nova Festival was one of multiple locations hit last Saturday morning by the most sustained and coordinated assault inside Israel ever carried out by Hamas militants. At least 260 bodies would later be found at the festival site, and some attendees were taken hostage, seen in social media videos being seized by their armed captors.

Featuring new interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses of the attack and family members of kidnapped victims, Cooper breaks down everything we know so far about the deadly assault and how this surprise attack escalated into war.

 CNN Anchor and Senior National Correspondent Sara Sidner provides a comprehensive overview of the extremist group Hamas. Sidner explores the origins and philosophy of Hamas, including their current military capabilities and how the organization just inflicted the deadliest attack in Israel's 75-year history, overwhelming the most powerful and advanced military in the Middle East.

Featuring archival CNN reporting in the region and interviews with CNN experts, including Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, Senior International Correspondent Sam Kiley, and International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson, Sidner unravels the complicated history of Hamas and the catalysts that led to the terrorist attack on Israel.

CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper provides new reporting on the families of those kidnapped from Nir Oz in Southern Israel. A mile from Gaza, the Nir Oz kibbutz was targeted during the October 7 terrorist attack, and earlier this week, residents Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper were two of the hostages released by Hamas. Speaking with survivors and family members, Cooper reveals the devastating details about what happened on that fateful Saturday and how the survivors have been coping as more than a quarter of the people who lived in the kibbutz are dead or missing.

CNN Anchor and Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash delivers an in-depth examination of the rise of antisemitism in the United States, following the October 7 attack on Israel. 

Antisemitism was already on an alarming rise even before October 7 with near 60% of religious hate crimes perpetrated against the Jewish community, despite it making up just 2.4% of the American population according to the FBI. Bash investigates not just what the attacks against Jews are but why they are so pervasive right now.  Antisemitism and its conspiracies and tropes run deep in society and has for millennia, but in modern times it has largely festered beneath the surface. In America, that changed in the last ten years with extremists from the hard right feeling emboldened by the political climate. But antisemitism has also been brewing on the hard left, masquerading as political free speech, especially at America's elite universities.

The episode features the emotional testimony of Jewish college students experiencing fear, and even an assault, following the attack on Israel by Hamas last month, as well as interviews with U.S. Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt, Director of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt, President and CEO of Hillel International Adam Lehman, and Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law Erwin Chermerinsky and more.

CNN Chief International Investigative Correspondent Nima Elbagir reports a deeply personal dispatch from her home country Sudan.

Millions of people have fled the country as stories of brutal war crimes leak from the capital. Still, Elbagir was determined to shed light on these atrocities and uncover how the people of Sudan are coping. From a refugee camp near the southern border where nearly 2.8 million people have fled the war, she travels north into war-torn Sudan, making a trek that very few Western media organizations have been allowed to make. Her destination is the capital city of Khartoum, one of two major areas where the fighting is concentrated and where her family home is located. But the journey will not be easy – she must circumnavigate dangerous checkpoints to avoid confrontation with paramilitary groups who do not want her in Sudan.

"To report on my own country, to feel so many of the wounds of those we interviewed on such a visceral level, and to know that the outcome of the war and the consequences of our reporting would impact not only my life but the lives of the people I love, was only possible because so many Sudanese were so generous in allowing us in," said Elbagir. "Whether it's in Sudan or Ukraine or any other seemingly endless conflict, too many of us know what it feels like to wake up not knowing if there will even be a home for us to go back to, with the heartbreak of knowing home is no longer a haven. I hope the audience will walk away feeling like we gave them a glimpse into that reality."

Elbagir uncovers first-person accounts from survivors and eyewitnesses of horrific war crimes, including ethnic cleansing and sex slavery. She also uncovers critical information about ongoing foreign influences funding and supporting the war.

CNN Senior National Correspondent David Culver reports a nail-biting account of the world-renowned and controversial running of the bulls from the streets of Pamplona, Spain.

Culver follows a group of runners in the weeks and days leading up to the annual running of the bulls at the San Fermín Festival in Pamplona, a tradition held since 1591. Since record-keeping began in 1910, 16 people have died participating in Pamplona, and the most recent bull run fatality occurred just last week in Valencia, Spain. Culver embeds with the group as they prepare for the perilous event, guided by experienced runners who have entered hundreds of bull runs and even been gored. As the day of the run approaches, Culver decides to suit up in the traditional white garb and red scarf and try it out himself – well aware of the dangers but hoping to understand the thrill some find.

"I was well aware of the dangers – and what some might consider to be the insanity – of running with the bulls," said Culver. "But having met folks so deeply passionate about and protective of this controversial tradition, I wanted to join for one of the eight bull runs, if only to try to better understand the thrill they speak of." Culver added, "Turns out, one run was enough for me!"

Culver also investigates the highly divisive activity of bullfighting, the ritual killing of the bulls following the morning's run. Bullfighting is condemned by animal rights groups and banned in many countries. Still, the tradition persists throughout Spain, with many there considering it an integral part of their heritage and culture.

CNN National Correspondent Nick Watt presents an enlightening report on both the promises and the dangers of artificial intelligence. 

The AI revolution is already underway and changing many aspects of human life, from creating art to fighting wars to curing disease. But leading experts warn this powerful technology is advancing at an alarming rate, posing serious risks to humanity itself. Watt takes viewers inside the global race to develop this technology and the attempts to contain it.

"AI is already inside and all over our lives," said Watt. "You can't hide. All of us have to face it and figure out how we'll fit into this inevitable future. I was scared. Now at least I know what's coming."

Watt crosses the globe, tracking some of the most stunning and innovative uses of AI, from a next-generation Hollywood film studio to a research team in Switzerland making history by restoring a paralyzed man's ability to walk. Watt also speaks with the experts on the cutting edge of these technologies now working to combat AI's threats to society and democracy and who are calling for urgent government regulation of the tech.

CNN Anchor Abby Phillip details an intimate and heartrending report on Black maternal health and mortality. she delves into why a growing number of Black women are choosing to give birth at home and foregoing the care of a doctor in a hospital. Phillip meets with some of these women and examines the deep distrust that many Black women feel when it comes to hospital care, even celebrities like Serena Williams and Beyonce with access to world class healthcare. Phillip speaks with obstetricians who have watched as the maternal mortality statistics in the US have gone in the wrong direction and she reveals her own personal story of homebirth with the help of a doula.

"The deeply personal journey to this story began with my own pregnancy in 2020," said Phillip.  "Like millions of black women, I simply wanted to feel safe and stay alive when giving birth to my daughter. The women featured are each in their own way changing the face of both the black maternal health crisis and its solutions." Phillip added "this episode is a journey from fear to empowerment with lessons that could help save the lives of ALL women."

In this episode, Phillip shadows a shift at a midwife-led maternity ward at the MLK Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles, where they credit their better-than-national-average statistics to the unusual partnership between their doctors and midwives. She also visits Kindred Space, the only Black-owned birthing center in LA, where midwives are fostering a sense of community and safety for pregnant women.

Ahead of Flight 1549's anniversary, The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper exclusively sits down with its captain, Ambassador C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger, and passengers to reflect on how this extraordinary event has changed their lives forever.

On January 15, 2009, Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles miraculously landed US Airways Flight 1549 safely in the Hudson River after both engines were disabled by a bird strike, saving all 155 people on board. The heroic act, arguably the most famous emergency landing in modern aviation history, captivated the nation and was later dramatized in the 2016 Warner Brothers Pictures film Sully.

In a series of intimate interviews with Sullenberger and his wife, Lorrie, and passengers Vallie Collins, Ric Elias, Barry Leonard, Clay Presley, Pam Seagle, and Eric Stevenson, The Whole Story reveals the harrowing details of that fateful day and the psychological effects that continue fifteen years later, leading some to alter the course of their lives drastically.

The series returns with an inside look into the exclusive and luxurious world of the ultra-wealthy at sea. CNN Anchor/Correspondent Alisyn Camerota journeys to Monaco, the richest country in the world per capita, during the annual Monaco Yacht Show, one of the greatest concentrations of wealth in the world and a major annual event for the ten billion dollar a year yachting industry. Camerota tours some of the largest superyachts in existence and speaks to owners, captains, crew and industry leaders to examine the appeal of these floating islands, what it takes to build and maintain these symbols of extreme wealth, their environmental impact and the symbolism it holds for the world's economic divide.

"Before this assignment, I couldn't imagine the level of opulence and wealth we'd find – I'd never seen floors made of wood from a 16th Century monastery or wallpaper made of Italian leather," said Camerota. "But what most surprised me was the universal desire for more – bigger, newer, more extravagant yachts – from the richest people in the world, telling us that even huge superyachts aren't enough."

In this episode, Camerota also reports on how superyachts are now a matter of geopolitical concern. As the U.S. and European countries seized more than a dozen vessels allegedly belonging to Russian oligarchs, leaving American taxpayers on the hook to shell out millions of dollars in maintenance and upkeep.

The series returns with a visually stunning dispatch from the far corners of the world, as CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir follows the humpback whale migratory journey from Antarctica all the way to the coast of Colombia. 

Humpback whales have the longest migration route of any mammal on earth, and in this immersive episode, Weir embeds with a team of researchers as they venture from Antarctic ice to rich South American jungles, hoping to discover the impact of climate change on these magnificent creatures. While humpback whales have made a spectacular comeback in the last fifty years and are considered a beacon of modern conservation, they are now having to face some of the biggest existential threats of all. On this journey, Weir confronts one of the last of the whale hunters in Iceland and while climate change deniers blame offshore wind development for a spate of dead animals washing ashore, he digs for the truth with some of the leading experts in the world. Amid the striking landscapes and diverse coastlines, Weir also learns how whales have the ability to absorb and store carbon, making them one of our greatest allies in the battle against climate change.

"I was a little boy when recordings of humpback songs sparked a movement to save the whales and reversed a manmade extinction," said Weir. "Fifty years later, artificial intelligence could help us understand the lyrics of those songs just as science realizes the enormous ocean repair services provided by whales. They are literally the biggest allies we have in the fight against climate change, and by saving them, we help save ourselves."

CNN Anchor and Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates presents an in-depth examination of former President Donald Trump's federal election subversion trial. 

In August 2023, less than a year after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel to investigate Trump, the former president was indicted on federal felony charges stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Time is of the essence with this trial as Trump is far and away the leading Republican candidate for the presidential election in November, and Coates unpacks everything at stake as the case continues to unfold. She examines little-known aspects of the case that have been revealed by court filings and connects the dots between Trump and his cohorts' attempts in court to overturn the election across multiple crucial swing states, the secretive plot to replace Biden electors with those who would vote for Trump, and how these efforts climaxed with one last desperate attempt to stay in office on January 6.  

"Finally – a comprehensive look behind the curtain with everything on the table, and everything on the line," said Coates. "We combine all the puzzle pieces and give you the most complete pre-trial picture of the definitive case for democracy."

This episode features interviews with Former US Representative and January 6th Committee Member Adam Kinzinger, Former White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews, Georgia State Senator Elena Parent, Former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia Geoff Duncan, January 6th Committee Investigator Marcus Childress, Former US Attorney Harry Litman and more.

CNN Political Commentator and former Obama administration official Van Jones delivers an incisive examination of the state of politics in Tennessee. He returns to his home state in the lead-up to the Republican primary election on Super Tuesday. 

In April 2023, Tennessee's Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to expel two Black lawmakers a week after they joined a gun reform protest in the chamber prompted by a deadly shooting at a Nashville school. This remarkably rare and emotionally charged decision set the scene for Jones' return to his home state and his former place of employment in the state capitol, where he interned for the House Majority Leader in 1989. Jones unpacks how Tennessee's politics have swung sharply to the right since then by examining how gerrymandered redistricting, racial tensions, and "culture war" rhetoric have transformed the state government into a conservative supermajority. The trend set by Tennessee has played out across the southern US.

"In the Tennessee in which I was born and raised, we always had our struggles. But people usually tried to treat each other in a decent and neighborly way." said Jones. "But I returned to find the state legislature that launched my political career transformed beyond recognition — by a ham-fisted, hard-hearted politics of open hostility to minority viewpoints."

Tennessee represents a national tug-of-war over the direction of the country's politics at large. Jones speaks with politicians on both sides of the aisle to get their take on the tribalism between parties and its implications for the future of governing. This episode features interviews with reinstated Democratic State Representatives Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson, Republican State Representative Gino Bulso, Republican Sumner County Commissioner Matthew Shoaf, Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party Hendrell Remus, local organizers, and even members of Jones' family.

CNN Anchor and Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates premieres an in-depth investigation into two missing person cases with one mysterious connection that has drawn national intrigue.

In 2003, two men of color, Felipe Santos and Terrance Williams, went missing three months apart in Naples, Florida. Both vanished on the same road after getting in a patrol car driven by the same white deputy sheriff, Steven Calkins, who remains the last known person to have seen either of them alive. Twenty years later, Santos and Williams are presumed dead, the cases are cold, and Calkins has never been arrested or charged and maintains his innocence. The case garnered little media attention until 2018 when filmmaker Tyler Perry enlisted Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Calkins on behalf of Terrance Williams' mother. Following up on CNN crime reporter Thomas Lake's meticulous reporting, Coates and Lake return to the scene of the disappearances to explore new leads and speak with a witness coming forward for the first time.

"You will be spellbound by this unbelievable story of a mother's determination to find her son in the face of every obstacle," said Coates. "What do you do when you don't know who to trust—even the investigators?"

Coates and Lake uncover disturbing allegations about former deputy sheriff Calkins' background, speaking with investigators on the case and a former colleague of Calkins who comes forward alleging newly revealed details about their time working together. Coates also speaks with Williams' family members, including his son Tarik, who speaks publicly for the first time about his father's disappearance.

This episode follows CNN Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper's efforts to shine a light on the harrowing story of C.J. Rice, a Philadelphia man convicted of attempted murder in 2013. Two years before his conviction, Rice, then 17 years old, was shot three times, with a bullet fracturing his pelvis, making it nearly impossible for him to walk. He turned to his childhood physician and Tapper's father, Dr. Theodore Tapper, to help him recover. But just three weeks after Rice was shot, he was accused of shooting four people and fleeing the scene, which, according to Dr. Tapper, would have been virtually impossible to commit in his poor physical state. Despite Dr. Tapper testifying to that fact, Rice was later convicted of these crimes in 2013 and sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.

After speaking with his father about the case, Jake Tapper published a thorough, long-form investigation in The Atlantic in October 2022 called "This Is Not Justice: A Philadelphia teenager and the empty promise of the Sixth Amendment," diving into what happened the night of the shooting, how little evidence there was against Rice, and revealing how ineffective representation led to his wrongful conviction. Rice's attorneys, Karl Schwartz, Amelia Maxfield of the Exoneration Project, and Nilam Sanghvi of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, made this precise argument that Rice was denied his Sixth Amendment right to adequate counsel to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. District Attorney Larry Krasner's office investigated the matter and agreed. On the morning of Monday, March 18, a Philadelphia judge granted a motion from the Philadelphia District Attorney exonerating Rice. C.J. Rice is a free man after more than twelve years in prison.

"Covering C.J.'s struggle and the efforts of my dad and the amazing lawyers to get him out of prison has been one of the most remarkable and rewarding journalistic experiences of my life," Tapper said. "I'm so glad the story has a happy ending, and I am immensely grateful to The Atlantic and to CNN for giving me the platforms to tell this story."

In an emotional reunion, Tapper and his father reconnect with Rice, who speaks for the first time in an expansive interview. In "Justice Delayed: The Story of C.J. Rice," Tapper recreates the scene of the shooting and the events that followed to illustrate clearly how the system failed Rice. The episode also follows Rice's time in prison in his own words through the powerful letters Rice sent to Dr. Tapper throughout the years.

CNN Anchor and Senior Global Affairs Analyst Bianna Golodryga marks the six-month anniversary of the deadliest attack in Israel's 75-year history with an emotional episode.

Six months after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, Golodryga speaks with family members of some of the over 250 men, women, and children kidnapped on October 7, 2023. She speaks with parents who have seen the capture of their children in footage released on social media by Hamas and a woman who survived by barricading herself in a safe room, only to find that her children, who had been staying in their father's home nearby, had been taken. Frustrated by little movement towards a hostage deal, one of the families set up a protest station near IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. In the past six months, some have since reunited with their missing family members, and some continue fighting.

"It is important to remember that the hostages are people with brothers and sisters, spouses, children and parents," said Golodryga. "What these families have endured is unimaginable, and I'm honored they shared their stories with CNN and the world."

Golodryga also speaks directly with released hostages about the conditions of their captivity and their emotional messages for those that they were forced to leave behind upon their release.

CNN Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh takes an inside look at the fatal conflict playing out between elephants and mankind in Sri Lanka. 

In Sri Lanka, it's an all-out war between man and the Asian elephant. As the human population surges and their territories expand, the habitats for elephants are rapidly shrinking, leading to daily confrontations between the people who are trying to protect their homes, and the elephants who are losing theirs. Paton Walsh embeds with locals on overnight patrols who risk their lives to protect their crops from being trampled and villages from being charged by elephants during the night.

"This is not just a story about us taking away the spaces and greenery elephants have existed upon for centuries: be in no doubt, we are forcing them into tinier spaces so we can have more and more for ourselves, all the time, in the name of growth. It is a story about every fight for space happening on the planet now," said Paton Walsh. "Wars, migration, land disputes – they are all a symptom of our species' ravenous need to expand. In Sri Lanka, it is visually writ large. Elephants and people do not naturally interact, but here they scrap over a pumpkin. This conflict, which kills hundreds on both sides every year, is just a very vivid way of seeing the impact of our greed on the natural world that sustains us."

There are about 6,000 elephants in Sri Lanka and in 2023 humans killed 476 of them; elephants killed 169 people. As both elephants and people continue to die at an alarming rate, this violent struggle may be an ominous sign of what's in store for other wildlife across the globe impacted by climate change and human expansion.

CNN Correspondent Donie O'Sullivan investigates the surge of misinformation on Americans' social media feeds, in their churches, and in their homes. Just over six months out from the next presidential election, a battle for facts, decency, and democracy is playing out far from debate stages and TV studios. O'Sullivan dives deep into this undercurrent of viral misinformation by speaking directly to those who believe in conspiracy theories and those trying to battle them.

"Conspiracy theories that might have been considered fringe in the past are having an increasingly important effect on the American political mainstream," said O'Sullivan. "The convincing of millions of Americans to falsely believe the 2020 election was stolen has opened a gateway to an alternate reality of more conspiracy theorists – a world where it wasn't really Trump supporters that attacked the Capitol on January 6 and a world where Taylor Swift can rig the Super Bowl."

In "MisinfoNation," O'Sullivan visits a church where scripture competes with QAnon, meets a January 6 felon who is now running for Congress, spends a day in the alternate reality of the Trump social media universe, goes behind the viral Taylor Swift Super Bowl conspiracy theory, and speaks to a Neo-Nazi skinhead turned pastor who has a warning for America about Christian Nationalism.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson takes a sweeping look at the numerous natural disasters plaguing Australia, and how its changing climate could be a cautionary tale for countries across the globe.  

On Watson's journey off the coast of Australia, he learns about the death and destruction being caused by human activity both on land and under the water. Apocalyptic forest fires, storms and floods exacerbated by climate change at an unprecedented scale are threatening communities and Australia's most iconic species. In the Great Barrier Reef, a global record-breaking marine heat wave is causing the temperature of the water to rise, resulting in coral bleaching and dying. Watson speaks with the people trying to reverse the damage and prepare for the future.

"Australia is a country- a continent- on the front lines of climate change, with entire communities and eco-systems threatened by increasingly unpredictable natural disasters," says Watson. "On this journey, I was so lucky to see amazing natural treasures worth fighting to protect and save."

In this episode, Watson traverses the rugged and remote Kangaroo Island, scubas in the Great Barrier Reef, explores the protected oasis of Lady Elliott Island and more of Australia's diverse panorama.

The series returns with immersive reporting on transgender student-athletes, a community finding themselves at the center of a culture war. 

At least 24 states in the US have already passed some form of ban on trans student-athletes. This episode deeply examines the stories of those targeted by this legislation, following them for more than a year. The episode follows the emotional journey of a trans high school softball player who advocates for her right to play on her school's girls' softball team all the way to the Ohio State Senate. It also features the story of a trans college swimmer in New Jersey hoping to successfully petition the NCAA to allow her to switch from competing on the men's team to the women's team.

"The Playing Field" also features reporting from inside the annual meeting of an advocacy group calling for a ban on transgender women in women's sports divisions, arguing that transgender athletes have an unfair competitive advantage. Although a 2017 Sports Medicine study concluded there is "no direct or consistent research" showing that transgender people have an athletic advantage, psychologists, medical doctors, and former and current athletes gather to argue otherwise.

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a groundbreaking look at the latest medical research showing that symptoms of Alzheimer's disease can be prevented, slowed, and potentially even reversed. 

In a report spanning five years, Dr. Gupta follows Alzheimer's patients through their courses of treatment and explains why so many experts are calling it the "most hopeful" era for dementia patients and their loved ones. A practicing neurosurgeon, Dr. Gupta also evaluates the pros and cons of the latest tests designed to measure an individual's risk for the disease. He even undergoes the battery of tests himself, weighing his own risk for the world's most common neurodegenerative disorder.

"Preventing problems down the road is health care, instead of sick care," said Dr. Gupta. "Today, getting off the road to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias is so much simpler than we previously thought. The decisions we make every day – to eat healthy, to move more, to learn new skills, and to spend time with loved ones – sounds easy, but the evidence is clear. It can, and it will, lead to better brain health."

Today, nearly 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease. In "The Last Alzheimer's Patient," Dr. Gupta also details what viewers can do in their everyday lives that could help drive down their own risk for developing the devastating disease.

This episode premieres with CNN Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper days before the 80th anniversary of D-Day with an incisive analysis of how the fight for democracy continues across the world today featuring insight from World War II veterans.

80 years after the Allied invasion of Normandy laid the foundation for the defeat of Germany in World War II, Tapper reflects on the sacrifices made to save democracy then, and how democratic governance is now diminishing across the globe. This year more than half of the world's population will vote in elections as democratic ideals and norms in the United States and many countries are being undermined.

"As we face the disturbing reality that democracy has been diminishing across the globe for 17 straight years, it's important to remember a time when the largest amphibious invasion in history was executed to, above all, advance the fight for democracy," said Tapper. "In the midst of a worldwide erosion of democratic institutions, I wanted to speak with veterans and military generals who most understand the human cost of protecting democracy."

"D-Day: Why We Still Fight for Democracy" features interviews with World War II veterans and generals including former US Secretary of Homeland Security General John F. Kelly, former US Secretary of Defense General James N. Mattis, and former US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley.

CNN National Correspondent Randi Kaye presents a colorful examination of how the art of drag performance has become a major target for the political right through the lens of local drag queens based in Florida.

Drag queens have fascinated audiences for centuries, establishing drag as a popular art form with extravagant balls in Harlem during the roaring ‘20s. The award-winning RuPaul's Drag Race has helped bring drag back into the spotlight in the modern day, launching franchises in more than a dozen countries and making drag performances more popular than ever. At the same time, drag queens are facing intense political backlash as right-wing lawmakers across the country are trying to push through legislation restricting their performances.

"I've reported live from festivities involving drag queens for years, like the annual New Year's Eve celebration in Key West, Florida. I'm now wondering how this campy form of entertainment has become such a target for the political right in my home state of Florida," Kaye said.

Kaye reports from Miami to Tallahassee, Florida, speaking with state politicians on both sides of the issue about why drag has become a political target and why local drag queens fight for their right to perform. Featuring insight from winner of RuPaul's Drag Race and Fulbright Scholar Sasha Velour, "Drag War" explores the history of drag and the cycles of acceptance and backlash that have repeated throughout history.