CNN plans suicide prevention town hall

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CNN’s Anderson Cooper will host a town hall on suicide prevention:

  • The special is planned for Sunday, June 24, 2018 at 7 p.m. eastern.
  • As the country mourns the deaths of chef Anthony Bourdain and designer Kate Spade, this special hopes to raise awareness, according to CNN.
  • Cooper’s younger brother, Carter Cooper, died by suicide in 1988, when Anderson was 21.
  • “He was so much smarter than me, he had gone to Princeton, he was working at American Heritage as a book editor, and it was so inconceivable to me,” Anderson Cooper said on Sirius in 2014.

The network has lined up a slate of health professionals and those directly touched by suicide including:

  • Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer for The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
  • Glenn Close, award-winning actress and co-founder of Bring Change to Mind, a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging open conversation about mental health to reduce stigma.
  • Zak Williams, the son of the late actor and comedian Robin Williams, who died by suicide.
  • Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush and author of recent op-ed about his mother’s death by suicide.
  • Jane Clementi, co-founder of the anti-bullying Tyler Clementi Foundation and mother of Rutgers University student Tyler who died by suicide after a private moment was secretly recorded by his roommate.
  • David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, whose father died by suicide.
  • Talinda Bennington, widow of the late Chester Bennington, the lead singer of the band Linkin Park, who died by suicide in 2017.
  • Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent and neurosurgeon, adds his perspectives on the roots of this national crisis and the latest medical techniques on how to fight it.

 

During the hour, CNN will provide information on available resources for anyone in the US and around the world who is struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts.

In addition to the TV airing, CNN will stream FINDING HOPE, Battling America’s Suicide Crisis beginning at 7pm ET on June 24, without requiring log-in to a cable provider. The Town Hall will be available to watch on CNN.com’s homepage and on CNNgo (at CNN.com/go and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Android TV) and on the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android unauthenticated. After airing, viewers can also watch the full Town Hall on CNNgo starting Monday.