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The Best Episodes of CNN Special Investigations Unit

Every episode of CNN Special Investigations Unit ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of CNN Special Investigations Unit!

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

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2004 Episode 1 - The Mystery of Jesus
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    #1 - The Mystery of Jesus

    S2004:E1

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2004 Episode 2 - The First Patient: Health & the Presidency
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    #2 - The First Patient: Health & the Presidency

    S2004:E2

    Topic: the physical and mental health of U.S. presidents. Included: the medical care provided to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2004 Episode 3 - The Two Marys: The Madonna and the Magdalene
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    #3 - The Two Marys: The Madonna and the Magdalene

    S2004:E3

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2005 Episode 1 - Homicide in Hollenbeck
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    #4 - Homicide in Hollenbeck

    S2005:E1

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 1 - Hope & Heartbreak---Inside the Sago Mine Tragedy
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    #5 - Hope & Heartbreak---Inside the Sago Mine Tragedy

    S2006:E1

    Anderson Cooper anchors this look at the Jan. 2, 2006, Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia. Included: the rescue effort; how miners are trained.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 2 - 26 Hours of Terror
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    #6 - 26 Hours of Terror

    S2006:E2

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 3 - We Were Warned: Out of Gas
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    #7 - We Were Warned: Out of Gas

    S2006:E3

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 4 - The Last Days of Pope John Paul II
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    #8 - The Last Days of Pope John Paul II

    S2006:E4

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 5 - Chasing Angelina---Paparazzi and Celebrity Obsession
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    #9 - Chasing Angelina---Paparazzi and Celebrity Obsession

    S2006:E5

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 6 - How to Rob a Bank
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    #10 - How to Rob a Bank

    S2006:E6

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 7 - Wounded Warriors
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    #11 - Wounded Warriors

    S2006:E7

    Alex Quade reports on the care wounded soldiers receive, from Iraq to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany to the U.S.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 8 - No Survivors: Why TWA Could Happen Again
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    #12 - No Survivors: Why TWA Could Happen Again

    S2006:E8

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 9 - The Town That Fought Back
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    #13 - The Town That Fought Back

    S2006:E9

    Kathleen Koch reports on how the people in Bay St. Louis, Miss. (her hometown) are faring a year after Hurricane Katrina leveled their homes.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2006 Episode 10 - Combat Hospital
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    #14 - Combat Hospital

    S2006:E10

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 1 - The War Within
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    #15 - The War Within

    S2007:E1

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 2 - The Journalist and the Jihadi
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    #16 - The Journalist and the Jihadi

    S2007:E2

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 3 - MLK: Words That Changed a Nation
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    #17 - MLK: Words That Changed a Nation

    S2007:E3

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 4 - Ambush at the River of Secrets
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    #18 - Ambush at the River of Secrets

    S2007:E4

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 5 - Fatal Journey
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    #19 - Fatal Journey

    S2007:E5

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 6 - Death Squads
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    #20 - Death Squads

    S2007:E6

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 7 - Grady's Anatomy
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    #21 - Grady's Anatomy

    S2007:E7

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 8 - What Is a Christian? God, Faith and Hard Science
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    #22 - What Is a Christian? God, Faith and Hard Science

    S2007:E8

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 9 - Chasing Life
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    #23 - Chasing Life

    S2007:E9

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 10 - Massacre at Virginia Tech
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    #24 - Massacre at Virginia Tech

    S2007:E10

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. CNN Special Investigations Unit Season 2007 Episode 11 - We Were Warned: Edge of Disaster
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    #25 - We Were Warned: Edge of Disaster

    S2007:E11

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Mystery of Jesus" is the best rated episode of "CNN Special Investigations Unit". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 2/22/2004. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "The First Patient: Health & the Presidency".