Storytelling is at the core of what CNN does, and in a week-long series beginning Sunday, October 12th, thirteen of the network’s prominent hosts and anchors set out on a journey to find their ROOTS. These journalists embark on an emotional journey across continents as they discover never-before-known details of their family histories. CNN anchors Anderson Cooper and Michaela Pereira will host a two hour special featuring 12 of the network’s hosts and anchors stories. The special will also include interviews with Anderson Cooper, Michaela Pereira, Erin Burnett and Dr. Sanjay Gupta about what the experience has meant to them personally.
On the evening of October 17, 1989 — as the first pitch was about to be thrown in the third game of the World Series — disaster struck as the world watched live. It was the most powerful earthquake the Bay Area had seen since the one that devastated San Francisco in 1906. In a CNN Special Report San Francisco Shaken: 25 Years Since the Quake, CNN’s Randi Kaye reports on the aftershocks – of the emotional kind – that can still be felt decades later.
In ‘Weed’, a one hour documentary, CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spends nearly a year traveling the globe to shed light on the debate. While it is part of a lifestyle for some, it is a lifeline for others including five-year-old Charlotte Figi. Charlotte suffers from a rare condition called Dravet’s syndrome, making her prone to up to 300 seizures per week. Like many people who use marijuana for medicinal purposes, parents Paige and Matt Figi tried every other option before resorting to this type of prescription. Dr. Gupta follows their journey. Gupta takes viewers to Colorado where weed dispensaries and pot cafes have become the norm. Dealers, doctors, users – Gupta meets with various people, like the Figis, offering a raw insight to what’s been dubbed “The Green Rush.”
In "Lady Valor", former U.S. Navy SEAL Christopher Beck embarks on a new mission as Kristin Beck as she lives her life truthfully as a transgender woman. In 2011, after 20 years of service on SEAL Team 1, she retired from service though continued to hide her true identity while working for the United States Government and the Pentagon. In 2013, a year and a half after retirement, Kristin came out publicly through LinkedIn and confirmed her true identity on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 taking many friends and family by surprise. While many people have been supportive, some in the some in the public have expressed more bigotry than she ever expected. After a lifetime of service, Kristin has learned that her fight for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness did not end on the battlefield.
Meet “Molly”, a synthetic drug that, along with “N-Bomb”, “Bath Salts” and “Spice”, is wreaking havoc on America’s youth. These dangerous synthetic drugs are sold under store counters and over the Internet, with hundreds of websites delivering them straight to your door. And the kicker? There’s no way of telling what’s in them. Manufacturers continually change the chemical composition to stay ahead of law enforcement; and there’s no quality control over the 300-plus chemical variations that have come into the United States over the past four years, mainly from China. In the CNN Special Report Deadly High: How Synthetic Drugs Are Killing Kids, Senior Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin will take viewers on an in-depth journey into the world of synthetic drugs, focusing on the deaths of two teenagers in Grand Forks, North Dakota.