This Weekend's Programming 12/23/11

SATURDAY, December 24, 2011
Please see below CNN SPECIALS PROGRAMMING NOTE


SUNDAY, December 25, 2011

STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY – Airs Sunday 9:00AM – 10:00AM, NOON – 1:00PM
Topic: Future of North Korea, congressional gridlock, Tea Party
Guest: Sen. Dick Lugar (R) ranking member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Topic: 2012 Race preview
Guest: Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst
Guest: A.B. Stoddard, columnist for The Hill
Topic: Condoleezza Rice on her time in the Bush Administration
Guest: Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state
Anchor: Candy Crowley

FAREED ZAKARIA GPS – Airs 10:00AM – 11:00AM and 1:00PM – 2:00PM
Topics: How will history view the rancorous cultural and political times we live in today? The President? The Congress?; Also, a look back at a time when Americans were curious about the rest of the world
Guest: David McCullough, author (most recently) The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
Topics: What does the author of Bloodmoney say about where reality meets fiction in his book? What kind of cover businesses does the CIA use? Are the CIA and Pakistan’s ISI in a never-ending game of cat-and-mouse?
Guest: David Ignatius, columnist for The Washington Post
Topics: Innovation, building construction, and design; Should architectural be subject to sustainability?
Guest: Frank Gehry, architect
Anchor: Fareed Zakaria

RELIABLE SOURCES – Airs Sunday 11:00AM – NOON
Topics: Scandals, Politics, and Foreign events of 2011
Guest: Jamie McIntyre, NPR Newscaster
Guest: Lauren Ashburn, former managing editor, USA Today
Guest: Fred Francis, former NBC special correspondent
Topics: Transitioning to Buzzfeed
Guest: Ben Smith, Politico
Host: Howard Kurtz

CNN SPECIALS PROGRAMMING NOTE:
Please note the following CNN schedule and program descriptions – all times below are EASTERN.

Friday, December 23, 2011
8:00pm – 9:00pm Anderson Cooper Special: CNN on the Frontlines
10:00pm – 11:00pm Anderson Cooper Special: CNN on the Frontlines

Saturday, December 24, 2011
1:00am – 2:00am Anderson Cooper Special: CNN on the Frontlines
4:00am – 5:00am Anderson Cooper Special: CNN on the Frontlines
7:30am – 8:00am SANJAY GUPTA MD (description to come)
2:00pm – 2:30pm Big Stars Big Giving
2:30pm – 3:00pm Giving in Focus
3:00pm – 4:00pm CNN Presents: Mystery of Jesus
4:00pm – 5:00pm CNN Presents: The Two Marys
5:00pm – 7:00pm CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE
7:00pm – 8:00pm AC 360’s All the Best, All the Worst 2011
8:00pm – 9:00pm Anderson Cooper Special: CNN on the Frontlines
9:00pm – 10:00pm A Piers Morgan Christmas
10:00pm – 12:00am CNN Presents After Jesus – The First Christians

Sunday, December 25, 2011
12:00am – 1:00am A Piers Morgan Christmas
1:00am – 2:00am Anderson Cooper Special: CNN on the Frontlines
2:00am – 4:00am CNN Presents After Jesus – The First Christians
4:00am – 5:00am CNN Presents: Mystery of Jesus
5:00am – 6:00am CNN Presents: The Two Marys
6:00am – 7:00am Anderson Cooper Special: CNN on the Frontlines
7:30am – 8:00am SANJAY GUPTA MD (description to come)
10:00am – 11:00am FAREED ZAKARIA GPS (description below)
1:00pm – 2:00pm FAREED ZAKARIA GPS (description below)
2:00pm – 2:30pm THE NEXT LIST (first show – please see description below)
2:30pm – 3:00pm THE NEXT LIST (second show – please see description below)
3:00pm – 4:00pm Your Money
4:00pm – 4:30pm Big Stars Big Giving
4:30pm – 5:00pm Giving in Focus
5:00pm – 7:00pm CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE
7:00pm – 8:00pm Anderson Cooper Special: CNN on the Frontlines
8:00pm - 9:00pm Piers Morgan Tonight
9:00pm – 10:00pm Piers Morgan Tonight
10:00pm – 11:00pm A Piers Morgan Christmas
11:00pm – 12:00am Anderson Cooper Special: CNN on the Frontlines

Program Descriptions:
BLACK IN AMERICA: THE NEW PROMISED LAND – SILICON VALLEY
While much of the country struggles to emerge from a recession, California’s Silicon Valley is booming, and technology companies like Facebook, Skype, and Apple are seeing their valuations soar. CNN’s Soledad O’Brien profiles a unique technology-focused “accelerator” – a collaborative of African-American start-up founders with Internet-based businesses developed to help diversify the technology sector. Eight participants – strangers – lived together for nine weeks in a modest, three-bedroom house in Mountain View, CA, were mentored, worked on their business proposals, and pitched for venture capital funding. Viewers see their journey, learn who secured funding to develop their Web-based companies – and who is still waiting.

ANDERSON COOPER SPECIAL: CNN ON THE FRONTLINES
CNN’s international correspondents Matthew Chance, Arwa Damon, Hala Gorani, Kyung Lah, Nic Robertson, Sara Sidner, Ivan Watson and Ben Wedeman join anchor Anderson Cooper for their personal reflections of the international breaking news they covered in 2011, including the fall of long-held dictatorships in Egypt and Libya, and the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

CNN PRESENTS: The Mystery of Jesus
Exploring the stories and questions surrounding Jesus, CNN Presents uses research techniques, medical modeling, and analysis from biblical scholars to try to answer: When was Jesus born – and was it in Bethlehem? What did he look like? And how did he really die? From Nazareth to Galilee to Jerusalem, this documentary, narrated by Liam Neeson, recreates Jesus’ largely unknown early life as a young Jewish boy, and then probes the mysteries of his betrayal, trial, execution, and the miracle of his resurrection.

CNN PRESENTS: The Two Marys
Sigourney Weaver narrates this documentary of the biographies of the "Founding Mothers" of Christianity – and what the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene mean to believers today. CNN Presents traveled to Galilee, the northernmost province of Israel, where Jesus, and Christianity, was born to visit archeological digs, Jerusalem, and popular shrines in Rome and Fatima, Lourdes and Vézelay to show the great influence of the two women closest to Jesus. Scholars grapple with the reality of who these women were and how their roles continue to change the world's largest faith.

A Piers Morgan Christmas
CNN’s Piers Morgan hosts a holiday special featuring his interviews with Beyoncé, Lenny Kravitz, Donny and Marie Osmond, and Tony Bennett and Mitch Winehouse remembering Amy Winehouse. Also featured are musical performances by Il Divo and 2011 America’s Got Talent winner Landau Eugene Murphy Jr.

CNN presents: AFTER JESUS – THE FIRST CHRISTIANS
As two billion Christians worldwide prepare for the celebration of Christmas, CNN examines archeological evidence and insights from renowned authorities on the ancient church to explore how a faith challenged by the martyrdom of its earliest followers and apostles, could also survive controversy and vigorous debate over its orthodoxy, to become the world’s largest religion. Narrated by Liam Neeson, After Jesus explores the sometimes surprising early history of Christianity, and the challenges and struggles of the early church.

THE NEXT LIST (12/25/2011 – first show)
Graffiti artists take risks to tag forbidden walls and public spaces with their creations. CNN anchor Dr. Sanjay Gupta interviews Tristan Eaton. Now an artist, illustrator, and toy designer, Eaton still remembers jumping fences and occasionally even having a gun pulled on him during his wilder youth. Now Eaton is sought after by rock bands, celebrities, and companies - and in 2008, he even created art for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama.

THE NEXT LIST (12/25/2011 – second show)
CNN anchor Dr. Sanjay Gupta interviews social roboticist Heather Knight about her inspiring visions and creations for human interaction with technology. Knight describes to Dr. Gupta how people relate to technology and introduces him to “Data” – a talking robot that tells jokes, dances, and remembers human behaviors.

BIG STARS, BIG GIVING
CNN national correspondent Alina Cho interviews celebrities Jennifer Lopez, Will Ferrell, President Bill Clinton, Tony Bennett, Jeff Bridges and more about their foundations and charitable lives.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports: BIG HITS, BROKEN DREAMS
Football is a way of life at many high schools across America, and that’s true at JH Rose High School in Greenville, North Carolina, as well. But football glory has come at a cost for JH Rose. In the fall of 2008, Jaquan Waller, a JH Rose junior, died from "second impact syndrome," a fatal swelling of the brain that occurred when he took a blow to his head before his first concussion injury had healed, just weeks later Matt Gfeller, a sophomore at Reynolds High School in neighboring Winston-Salem, NC, died from a single concussion. And even last year, the J.H. Rose Rampants lost their star quarterback when his 6th concussion took him out of the game forever. Nationally, less than 40% of high schools have certified trainers – the key medical personnel who can help diagnose and treat injured players. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with the coaches, parents and kids trying to learn how to prevent this danger in youth sports.

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.