CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007, Episode 25: The Noose: An American Nightmare

1

The War Within

Christiane Amanpour examines Muslim extremism in the U.K. Included: the alienation many Muslim youths experience in Western societies.

60 min

2

The Journalist and the Jihadi

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.

60 min

3

MLK: Words That Changed a Nation

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.

60 min

4

Ambush at the River of Secrets

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.

60 min

5

Fatal Journey

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.

60 min

6

Death Squads

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.

60 min

7

Grady's Anatomy

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.

60 min

8

What Is a Christian? God, Faith and Hard Science

A look at the tenets of Christianity and how they apply to science. Included: whether science and religion can coexist. Anderson Cooper hosts.

60 min

9

Chasing Life

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.

60 min

10

Massacre at Virginia Tech

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.

60 min

11

We Were Warned: Edge of Disaster

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.

60 min

12

Month of Mayhem

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.

60 min

13

Danger: Poisoned Food

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.

60 min

14

Battlefield Breakdown

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.

60 min

15

Criminally Insane

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.

60 min

16

Road to Ruin: Are We Safe?

The Minnesota bridge collapse is investigated by Soledad O'Brien, Drew Griffin, Jim Acosta and Ted Rowlands.

60 min

17

Growing Up Diana

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.

60 min

18

Children of the Storm

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.

60 min

19

Narco State: The Poppy Jihad

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.

60 min

20

Afghanistan: Lifting the Veil

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.

60 min

21

Judgment in Jena

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.

60 min

22

Fed Up: America's Killer Diet

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.

60 min

23

Ahmadinejad: Soldier of God

Christiane Amanpour profiles Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and discusses modern-day Iran. Included: an interview with Ahmadinejad about Iran's nuclear program.

60 min

24

The Minds of the D.C. Snipers

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.

60 min

25

The Noose: An American Nightmare

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.

60 min

26

Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling

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.

60 min

27

Bloodspilled

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.

60 min

28

Amanpour Reports: Czar Putin

Christiane Amanpour examines modern-day Russia, which critics say has devolved from democracy to autocratic rule under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin.

60 min

29

Iran: Fact or Fiction

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.

60 min

30

Pakistan: Terror Central

A report on terrorism in Pakistan, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

60 min