CNN’s Omar Jimenez Reports in “The United States vs Harvard” for The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper
EPISODE PREMIERES SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 AT 10PM ET/PT
NEW YORK, NY – (September 22, 2025) – The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, a six-time Emmy® Award-winning CNN Original, returns with an inside look at how the Trump administration’s crackdown on academic institutions came to a head at Harvard University. “The United States vs Harvard” with CNN Anchor and Correspondent Omar Jimenez premieres Sunday, September 28 at 10pm ET/PT on CNN.
Harvard, a monument to America’s higher education system, and the oldest, richest and most influential American university, has become a figurehead for an emerging conservative focus on reshaping academia in recent years. DEI policies, critical race theory and affirmative action became partisan rallying cries against universities like Harvard.
“This is really a battle between two of the world’s most powerful institutions in their respective categories,” Jimenez said. “What happens with Harvard will likely set the tone for what other universities do if faced with similar headwinds. That’s why this story is so important,” Jimenez added.
In “The United States vs Harvard,” Jimenez reports on-the-ground from Harvard’s campus, finding a range of perspectives among the student body and faculty tracing how the political drama has unfolded on campus and its impact. He investigates how Harvard quietly made changes aligning with the conservative agenda even as they publicly fought what they considered government overreach into a private university. Jimenez also uncovers why the world’s richest university needs federal funding, and the devastating consequences on potentially life-saving scientific research when that funding was cut off.
The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper is a collection of unique and immersive single subject, one-hour episodes from CNN’s award-winning longform storytelling team showcasing character-driven stories, special interviews, and investigative deep dives featuring reporting from CNN’s anchors and correspondents. The series, which has been honored with two consecutive Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Recorded News Program, is executive produced by Susan Chun.
The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Sunday, September 28. “The United States vs Harvard” will also be available on demand beginning Monday, September 29 to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms. Past episodes of The Whole Story are available to stream on demand now on Max.
The Whole Story is also available as a CNN Podcasts showcast. Visit CNN.com/audio or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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About CNN Originals
The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Flashdocs, and CNN Studios. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 60 multi-part documentary series and 70 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 120 awards and 450 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films’ first Academy Award® for Navalny. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid directed by Matt Tyrnauer; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy® Award-nominated “Decades Series”: The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars, directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; the Emmy® Award winning Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; Luther Vandross: Never Too Much, directed by Dawn Porter; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television, executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; This is Life with Lisa Ling; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; the American version of the long-running UK comedy series, Have I Got News For You, hosted by Roy Wood Jr; and the six-time Emmy® Award-winning The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, the CNN Originals FAST channel, and for pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.
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