About this season
CNN Presents is an American documentary program on CNN weekends. The program used to be replaced with CNN Special Investigations Unit, which features the same documentary format, but differs from it in a number of ways and is shorter in length. The program was originally a regular weekly series that looks in-depth in the important news stories of the times. More recently, it became a "special event" documentary that airs every time a larger, more long-term special report went into making. Notably, the program has been a winner of a number of different awards, including the International Documentary Association Best Documentary Series award. Previous to his departure from CNN, Presents was hosted and narrated by Aaron Brown. While CNN Presents was broadcast on the network, a specialized CNN Presents logo was shown in the corner without the news ticker on the screen. CNN Presents has been revived since its presentation of God's Warriors by Christiane Amanpour in August 2007, and later with Planet in Peril, Black in America, and Latino in America, all of which have received follow-up documentaries later on. In July 2011, the format of CNN Presents changed to a series of three investigative reports aired together in a one hour documentary, instead of a documentary about a single topic.
Episodes (16)
1. Rogue Justice
Aired 30 January 2011 • 60 min
Drew Griffin reports on an audit of North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation's crime lab that uncovered irregularities in more than 200 cases, including three that resulted in the defendants being found guilty and executed.
2. Waco: Faith, Fear, and Fire
Aired 17 April 2011 • 60 min
Recalling the Branch Davidians, the cult led by David Koresh that came to a fiery end in April 1993 following a 51-day standoff with the ATF and FBI at their compound near Waco, Texas. Included: a timeline of events leading up to the tragedy; recordings of conversations between FBI negotiators and Koresh. Drew Griffin reports.
3. The Women Who Would be Queen
Aired 24 April 2011 • 60 min
A profile of Prince William's fiancée Kate Middleton, featuring remarks from university friend Jules Knight and royal photographer Arthur Edwards. Also: how the pair have honored the life and legacy of Diana, Princess of Wales. Soledad O'Brien reports.
4. Murder Abroad: The Amanda Knox Story
Aired 8 May 2011 • 60 min
Drew Griffin examines the 2009 conviction of American exchange student Amanda Knox in Italy for the murder of her flatmate, focusing on the evidence used against her and prosecutorial behavior that may call into question her conviction. Included: an interview with the chief prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini.
5. Inside the Mission: Getting bin Laden
Aired 14 May 2011 • 60 min
Chris Lawrence reports on the long hunt for Osama bin Laden that ended May 1, 2011, with his death during a Navy SEAL raid on his Pakistan hideout. Included: insights from terrorism analyst Peter Bergen, former CIA director Michael Hayden, former CIA officer Gary Berntsen and CNN correspondents Barbara Starr, Ed Henry and Nic Robertson, as well as political analyst Gloria Borger.
6. Acting Out: The Mel Gibson Story
Aired 22 May 2011 • 60 min
Mel Gibson is profiled.
7. A Twister's Fury---In the Path of Destruction (1)
Aired 28 May 2011 • 60 min
Detailing the tornado damage in the central U.S. Reporters: Drew Griffin; David Mattingly.
8. A Twister's Fury---In the Path of Destruction (2)
Aired 29 May 2011 • 60 min
Detailing the tornado damage in the central U.S. Reporters: Drew Griffin; David Mattingly.
9. WikiWars: The Mission of Julian Assange
Aired 12 June 2011 • 60 min
Kaj Larsen reports on WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, detailing the controversy that surrounds the Web site and the evolution of Assange from hacker to provocateur. Included: remarks from Assange via interviews he gave journalist Mark Davis, former WikiLeaks spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt (USA Ret.) and Guardian journalist Nick Davies, who shares the concerns he had with Assange's decision to release sensitive military reports without redacting names.
10. iRevolution---Online Warriors of the Arab Spring
Aired 19 June 2011 • 60 min
Amber Lyons reports on the roles played by online activists in fomenting change in North African and Middle Eastern countries, including Tunisia and Egypt. Also: the revolutionary movements in Libya, Syria and Yemen.
11. Beyond Atlantis---The Next Frontier
Aired 3 July 2011 • 60 min
The U.S. space shuttle program is examined. Included: NASA administrator Charles Bolden on NASA's future; a family that witnessed the first shuttle launch in 1981; inside Discovery, the shuttle that has flown the most flights; the site in Utah where the shuttle boosters were built. Reporter: John Zarrella.
12. How to Catch a Serial Killer
Aired 9 July 2011 • 60 min
Brooke Baldwin reports on an effort to solve a series of slayings of young Midwestern women by sending a convicted drug dealer into a prison to befriend the man suspected of killing them.
13. A Larry King Special: Harry Potter---The Final Chapter
Aired 10 July 2011 • 60 min
Larry King interviews the cast of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Helena Bonham Carter and Robbie Coltrane. Also: James and Oliver Phelps (aka the Weasley twins) lead a tour of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Universal Orlando Resort in Florida.
14. Episode 2011x14
Aired 17 July 2011 • 60 min
The hunt for and arrest of alleged Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger; the U.S. presence in the Arctic; the sport of cheerleading.
15. Episode 2011x15
Aired 24 July 2011 • 60 min
Possible civil-rights abuses in Minneapolis' Anoka-Hennepin school district, where bullied students have committed suicide; the mystery behind the bodies of four prostitutes found along a Long Island beach; a Costa Rica refuge for poached monkeys.
40. Beyond Bravery: The Women of 9/11
Aired 5 September 2011 • 60 min
Among the heroes of September 11th were female rescue workers who raced to the Twin Towers in the wake of the attack. Anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien tells the stories of female law enforcement officers, fire fighters, EMS workers and others who spent their lives defying macho stereotypes as they fought for access to jobs that require them to risk their lives for others. Among the heroines is an African-American probationary firefighter whose company lost 7 of the 343 that died that day, and a young mother and decorated police officer last seen directing others to safety just before the WTC collapsed. O’Brien profiles these unsung heroes and, of the survivors, reports their present-day health struggles, their continuing mourning, and their determination to be prepared for the next attack.