Check out these behind-the-scenes images from Dan Rather Reports.
Dan Rather Reports, 8 pm ET: Kidney Pirates - A look into the growing criminal trade for human kidneys run by traffickers exploiting desperate buyers and sellers.
HDNet World Report, 9 pm ET: Homegrown: American Kids, International Terror; How to Save Lives for Dummies: Dr. Peter Pronovost; Viewfinder: Shooting Sumatra - Greg Dobbs investigates American kids recruited to fight with a fundamentalist Islamic terror group. Next, Dr. Peter Pronovost has come up with a brilliantly simple, but incredibly effective, checklist that can save thousands of lives a year. So why are so many other doctors refusing to follow his prescription? Finally, a World Report Viewfinder: ‘Shooting Sumatra’ — battling climate change, one picture at a time.
InFocus: Baker Boys, 10 pm ET: Money is a Weapon - Baker Company begins to pay the local Sunni militias, known as the Sons of Iraq, with tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for handing in Al Qaida’s munitions and running security detail in their own villages. Use #bakerboys on Twitter during the episode to connect with soldiers, viewers and the documentary’s producers.
Dan Rather Reports, 8 pm ET: The Castle Doctrine - A new breed of laws is rapidly giving Americans more rights to use deadly force to defend themselves and their property.
HDNet World Report, 9 pm ET: Democratic Republic of the Congo: The U.N.’s Ultimate Peacekeeping Test; Refugee High - War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has left millions dead; millions more have been displaced, raped, or tortured. UN troops are there to try to stop the killing, but the mission is difficult, and has repercussions not only for central Africa, but for peacekeeping missions around the world. Then, we’re inside the halls of an Oakland, California high school, where young refugees from war-torn countries strive for an education, and a chance at the American Dream.
InFocus, 10 pm ET: Enigma: Silo, Sage of the Andes - In 1969, Argentina was in a war of disappearance and torture when a young philosopher descended from a stone hut high in the Andes to speak. He was denounced as a false messiah but his message has spread worldwide to influence leaders and activists.
Dan Rather Reports, 8 pm ET: Mind Your Loan Business - Dan Rather continues his investigation into truck driver training schools, this time in Michigan, where former trucking students claim they were defrauded out of thousands of dollars for a new start that ended up to be a dead end. Also, small investors who lost big to Wall Street giants try to get their money back.
HDNet World Report, 9 pm ET: U.S. vs. China: A Race for Resources in Africa; Viewfinder: Boy Poet - Chinese investment in Africa is rising exponentially, but what some see as economic bridge-building, others call a grab for the continent’s abundant resources. World Report travels to Zambia, Uganda, Botswana, and South Africa, to explore how China’s growing focus affects stability, human rights, and U.S. interests in the Sub-Saharan continent. Then our series Viewfinder introduces a brilliant inner-city poet, who is all of 13 years old.
InFocus, 10 pm ET: Enigma: The Houdini Code - Houdini won renown by escaping from every kind of restraint imaginable, but could he escape death itself? His wife had testified that he communicated a message to her from beyond the grave, but she later recanted. What really happened?
Dan Rather Reports, 8 pm ET - Busted - Las Vegas now has the dubious distinction of double digit unemployment and a huge number of home foreclosures as the economy goes bust.
HDNet World Report, 9 pm ET - Cuban Crossroads; Cons Cashing In; Mavericks: The Human Crash Test Dummy - Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Havana’s Revolution Square a few weeks ago for a concert featuring an artist based in Miami, it was the latest sign that Cuban - U.S. relations are undergoing big changes. But not everyone is happy about this, not by a long shot. Paul Beban reports from Havana. Next, we meet ex-convicts who are cashing in on their dark pasts. And finally, a World Report Maverick — Rusty Haight, a human crash test dummy. He’s been in over 1,000 car wrecks and counting.
InFocus, 10 pm ET - Enigma: Madame Blavatsky: Spiritual Traveler - In the 1880s a revolutionary religious movement - Theosophy – brought Eastern religions into fashion in the West for the first time. Was its founder Madame Blavatsky, the “Grandmother of New Age”, a gifted psychic or charlatan?
This Tuesday on HDNet: Premieres of Dan Rather Reports, HDNet World Report and InFocus: Enigma
Dan Rather Reports, 8 pm ET: Treasure Island - Madagascar is a treasure island famous for its exotic wildlife and valuable timber - an investigation of how logging may be costing this poor country its natural heritage. And a New England town sparks another American revolution, this time in how we eat.
“Dan Rather Reports” will feature never-before-seen footage from the island of Madagascar, where an ecological horror show is taking place. Madagascar’s national parks are, according to scientists, being raped by loggers who are illegally chopping down rare and extremely valuable rosewood trees. The recently obtained video shows loggers hauling the trees out of the forests by hand.
Each of these trees is worth thousands of dollars on the international market, but the desperate residents of Madagascar are cutting them down for only a few dollars a day.
The images presented in this story were taped as a part of an undercover investigation by two international conservation groups, looking to make the case for prosecutions in the trade of these trees and prosecution of foreign businesses who use this illegal wood for their products.
The illegal logging also threatens the habitat for the rare silky sifaka lemurs, which live exclusively on the island. Originally thought to be extinct, scientists have found a few groups on the island, but their habitat is now threatened by the logging. Tomorrow’s program will also air the only known high definition footage of these unique creatures in their natural habitat.
In February 2009, there was a coup - dozens of people died as the military opened fire into a crowd, unleashing panic across the country. The military went on to oust the country’s president - chaos reigned and the economy dissolved. The impoverished people streamed into the forests looking to make a quick buck in the illegal rosewood trade. Ebony trees are also taken from Madagascar’s forests and the precious lumber is in high demand.
HDNet World Report, 9 pm ET: Dr. Lee Carhart; Low Born, High Minded: India’s Untouchable Hero; Viewfinder: Inside Afghanistan’s Drug War - Dr. Lee Carhart is an abortion doctor, one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, one of only ten in the country that will do late-term abortions. Jennifer London has an exclusive interview. Then, born into India’s lowest caste, she’s rising up on behalf of her country’s most vulnerable population, at great personal cost. Then, a World Report Viewfinder. Inside Afghanistan, where the cost of drug abuse is measured in American and Afghan lives.
InFocus, 10 pm ET Enigma: Tarot - To this day, Tarot cards remain a popular means of fortune telling. This documentary explores the mysterious past and hidden meaning of the Tarot deck. Is it no more than a harmless diversion? Or is the Tarot a doorway into a forgotten world of myth?
Check out the full episode of “Truck Talk” from Dan Rather Reports. In this episode, Dan Rather talks with big rig drivers about keeping America’s economy moving, and safety on the road.
“Truck Talk” is a follow-up to “Queen of the Road,” which can be viewed here:
Watch Dan Rather Reports on HDNet, every Tuesday night at 8 pm ET
Dan Rather Reports, 8 pm ET: Truck Talk - Dan Rather visits the big truck stop at Carl’s Corner, Texas, to hear from the American Truckers Associations and big rig drivers from across the country who are concerned about their profession.
HDNet World Report, 9 pm ET: Suicide Tourism; Beyond Belief: Jesus of Siberia; Viewfinder: Honor Guards - People suffering from debilitating or terminal illnesses travel to a clinic in Switzerland because that nation has some of the most liberal assisted suicide laws in the world. A court case in Montana may make it a constitutional right there, too. Next, a journey to Siberia, where a reclusive mystic claims he is Jesus Christ. Finally, for Veterans’ Day, a special group of veterans who make sure that their brothers-in-arms from World War II get burials befitting heroes.
InFocus, 10 pm ET: The International Yo-Yo Open 2009 - The best players from fourteen countries converge on the Big Apple, showcasing the latest in mind-blowing tricks and jaw-dropping moves and wowing the crowd of thousands in the historic South Street Sea Port, Pier 17.
DAN RATHER REPORTS NOMINATED FOR AN EMMY AWARD FOR BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL REPORTING
Weekly news program garners Emmy nod for in-depth story on a copper mine in the Congo
HDNet is proud to announce that “Dan Rather Reports,” the network’s award-winning weekly news program has been recognized with a nomination for Outstanding Investigative Reporting of a Business News Story - News Magazines - by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
The nominated program “All Mine” focuses on an American company, Arizona’s Freeport McMoran, which, when it bought a massive copper mine from the government of Congo, also took control of part of the impoverished country’s economic future. Critics of the purchase said that the contract for the billion-dollar mine left the war-torn African nation with little in return, and that the U.S. government played a part in what many are describing as a modern day land grab. The episode originally aired on September 23, 2008.
“Once again ‘Dan Rather Reports’ has been recognized by a highly respected, national organization,” said Mark Cuban, president and co-founder of HDNet. “To have this nomination from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences just backs up the fact that Dan and his staff put out an amazing program each and every week.”
“Dan Rather Reports” airs every Tuesday at 8:00 ET as a part of the network’s News and Documentary programming night. The program is entering its fourth year on HDNet.
Dan Rather Reports, 8 pm ET PREMIERE Carbonomics - Understanding an issue you need to know. Cap and trade and a plan by the Obama administration to reduce pollution.
HDNet World Report, 9 pm ET PREMIERE To the Moon, Or Not?; Puerto Rico: Island Under Siege; Viewfinder: The Littlest Tulku - NASA is testing the new Ares rocket, designed to bring us back to the Moon and on to Mars. But can we really afford to explore anymore? Next, to the island of Puerto Rico, which is awash in drugs. Addiction is at epidemic levels, and it is a major transit point for traffickers on their way to the U.S. mainland. We go inside the shooting galleries and the drug busts to investigate. Finally, a great Buddhist lama dies, and a search begins for his reincarnation. The search ends in Washington DC, and with the enthronement of ‘The Littlest Tulku.’
InFocus: Trinity and Beyond, 10 pm ET PREMIEREThe Atomic Bomb Movie - Trinity and Beyond is an unsettling yet visually fascinating documentary presenting the history of the design, development, production and testing of nuclear weapons between 1945 until 1963.
