summing up, if you are going to san francisco, don't shake hands with anyone. if you're going anywhere overseas don't eat the ice cream, and whatever you do don't have unprotected sex with a towel in ken insiya, thanks pat. that does it for us. the following is a cnn special presentation. >> for more than 30 years the reporters and correspondents of cnn have been bringing you stories from around the world. >> tonight, though, they tell you stories you have never heard before. their own, this is "roots, our journeys home". >> ♪ ♪ ♪ but i know where to start. so wake me up when it's all over. when i'm wiser in the morning ♪

all this time i was claiming myself ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we all know most american stories started somewhere else. but what do we really know about our own ancestors and the places where they came from? >> like all journalists, we were curious and started digging. started digging hard. what we learned was sometimes surprising, oftentimes emotional. but always unforgettable. >> we begin with dr. sanjay gupta, now you may already know his story. he was born to a family who emigrated to the united states from india, he returned there with his own kids. it was a sacred journey he will likely never ever forget.

>> this is a very sacred place, and the reason it is sacred, it is the river ganges. all the way to the indian ocean. and you can see a lot of people come here to bathe. it is considered a holy river. >> does the gupta family feel a connection to this place? >> we came here lots of times. >> you see the united states, we record our lives at the time we are born. but in many places, including india, they recorded their lives at the time of death. that is why so many people bring their ashes to scatter here in

this holy river. >> they keep a lot of records over here. so you can go back several generations and find out who all came here. >> so here it is, perhaps the most important moment of our whole journey. and there is my daughter, fast asleep, passed out, really, in my wife's lap. now in her defense it was well over 100 degrees in that room and there was no fan, no breeze. >> so back to 1698, we went back. that is how far it was. >> 1698 -- the calendar year. >> so it is even before that?

>> seven years. >> so roughly how many years back are we talking about? >> about 1600. >> about 1600? >> yeah. these records go back 40 generations. that is quite incredible. they started writing on leaves, and when paper was actually created they started to write on paper and some of these records here go back hundreds and hundreds of years. we came back to find our right. and today we decided to leave some of our own, as well. perhaps our own family will leave theirs.

[ speaking in foreign language ] >> do you feel a certain connection to the gods and what do you feel? >> yeah, you do feel closer to the god over here. >> now, the last time you were here was when your father passed away? >> yeah. >> and it was important for you and your brother to come here and place the ashes here? >> right, right. >> what is the meaning of that? what is the purpose of that? >> well, they just feel that it is -- this is getting the salvation. >> so you think you want to -- cleanse your sins in the river? >> well, i'm debating, but i'm been fortunate enough -- >> are you debating whether you want to go or debating whether or not you have sins? >> well, i'm sure, i have sins. >> we all have sins. read

ready? >> there is something about searching for your roots that forces you to have experiences like that one, with your parents and with your kids. >> that is so incredible. i mean, that is so -- to have those scrolls there that go back 40 generations is remarkable. >> you know we're here for such a short time on this planet and our lives. and you know, i didn't know much about my ancestors, i'm not sure, i would have found them if not for a project like this? >> you didn't know a lot about

them? >> nothing, just -- my grandfather, he was an immigrant, their lives were so much about the future. the idea of having the luxury as he put it of searching in the past was a luxury, who had time for that sort of thing? but what i found fascinating about the scrolls, it was not just their names but it was about them. my great, great, great, grandfather was a very charitable person. he gave all of this land to these people who lived in this particular village that we visited. gave money for the temples to be built. he didn't have a lot of money but he gave whatever he had to the community. it was something about that act, i knew there was a very charitable person, a person who was altruistic. i don't know, that affected me and all of us in terms of the conversations we had. >> and also to think that you, your daughters were writing notes that could be seen generations from now, by people not even you know, in existence. what did you write in the

scrolls? >> i basically sent this message to my future progeny, that you know we had come here this day in search of our roots and decided to leave our own. and i talked about my family, some of the things that made me happy, that brought me joy, i would want to know that about my ancestors, what made you happy. joy is one of these things we all strive for but it changes throughout our lives, my daughters were very factual to the point they wrote their names and ages. i filled in a lot of details. >> what did your daughters think about bathing in the ganges river? >> they had a lot of fun jefferssome of it will settle in. you know, my dad and i joked about sins. you can't help but have fun with that i explained to my daughters, i said so part of why i did that was to cleanse my

sins, my oldest daughter without missing a dubeat, said you shou have stayed in longer. >> just about the cleanliness of the river -- >> people literally put ashes. >> and part of that it is a little frightening almost when you go into that river. you can't see the bottom. i didn't know how deep it was, the current is actually kind of fast so you have to be careful. so there was all of that sort of pragmatic thing, thinking what you're thinking, i'm taking the kids in the river. but i wouldn't say that i'm a particularly religious person. i would say i'm spiritual. and it is far larger than us. it made me have conversations with my family members i otherwise would not have had. >> absolutely. >> it made it okay to ask questions that were otherwise

too awkward or uncomfortable to ask but i'm really glad that it did. >> it is great, sanjay, thank you so much. full versions, pieces you see here, photo galleries, behind the scenes, just go to cnn/roots.com. coming up, how do you know what your family did and how they lived? and what some of my colleagues did in search of their roots has led them to some pretty strange places, coming up next. how did i wind up here? that is what i was thinking, clutching a pole covered in pig fat with men climbing over me. ♪ turn around

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how did i wind up here? that is what i was thinking clutching a pole, covered in pig fat with men climbing over me. in a place i had never heard of in italy.

but the mystery about my family that led me here was even more surprising. especially since i thought i knew the whole story. >> here we are at this convention. to remind ourselves where we come from. >> for many, my lineage will come as no surprise, that is my pop, mario cuomo, former governor of new york. he spoke for years about his struggle and his italian heritage, to make it not one, but two men holding the highest seat in the greatest state. >> we come into the chamber, we're not democrat, republicans, we're new yorkers and working for new york. >> that is andrew, my brother, the governor of new york today. i knew it all about how we got here, et cetera, or so i thought.

turns out i was right about my mom's family, but my father's side had a big, fat mystery. it is true that he was a first generation american and grew up sleeping in the basement of his grocery store in south jamaica, queens. and my grandparents came to this country working like dogs, suffering bigotry, all to build a better life thanks to the legacy of my great, great grandparents. >> so let's talk about something interesting. >> the folks at ancestry.com uncovered the story of how the cuomo's came here, was very different. looking back at records from a century ago in these tiny italian villages we found a trail that nobody had followed. donato cuomo, he came first, for months he dug ditches and saved

and borrowed to bring his loving wife, germana costaldo, or was it? >> she is listed as germana costanza. >> who was she? where did she come from? and why did she keep changing her name? the story i had grown up with about how who she was and how she came to be my great-grandmother was all wrong. fake! there would be only one way to figure out the real deal. so you believe i need to go to this place and see if i can track the roots further? >> absolutely. >> i'm just the man for the task. >> i think you can handle it.

>> my great-grandmother's life had to begin in italy. so did our journey of discovery. when i told my wife i had to go to the italian countryside on assignment, she was not buying it. so i brought her along with my oldest, bella, to hunt for some answers on where my blood came from. kind of cool, too, the latest generation of cuomos, looking for the earliest. the last document we found was my great-grandmother's birth, high above the sea. turns out she was born here in 1869. but the question is, to whom? the good news was that her name is all over this place, costaldo, turns out back in the day the family ruled here. so maybe we're not peasant stock after all, royalty, baby. word spread i was here tracking down my roots and a local historian came to help. what he had to offer took the

story in a very different direction. far from the gilded center of the city he took is down a lonely side street. in this street, in one of these doorways, there was orphanage. there was a woman who took in the orphans, the children abandoned and took care of them for somebody to adopt them. >> so this is the sad part of the story. this is the street. this is where my great-grandmother was given up for adoption. we're told that basically babies were just left on the ground, there was a knock on the door and people would take off. why? it was a rich town, maybe it was somebody who was very wealthy who had an indiscretion. maybe somebody who just didn't want a baby, either way she would be given the name costaldo, because that was the ruling family in this area, it didn't mean she came from this family, but it was just a common name in the area. this is where her life began, where someone she didn't know wound up taking care of her.

and later on she would wind up marrying the man who would come to america. >> and if you want to learn more check out cnn.com/roots. you can see all of these stories in full. now, we're turn to my other morning friend, kate bolduan, who explored what drove so many people to seek new lives in the new world, to places like columbus, ohio. >> i knew my great, great grandfather leon traveled to america in february 1912. but there is more. >> in april of that same year, the titanic sank. >> april of that same year? >> yes. >> just a few months after one of the most catastrophic nautical events in our history to this day, leon puts his

pregnant wife and daughter on that boat. >> you stop it right now. i can't imagine. i mean, i can't imagine even if i was not pregnant right now what that would be like. >> the big -- one of the big questions that i've had as i come here is why did people wt to go to america? >> there is not one reason. everyone went for a certain reason. i think the main thing is that all of them were looking for a better future. also trying to build a better life. >> i think that is what i'm learning is that is what they were kind of trying to do. that american dream, to begin that american dream. and it all began right here. >> i had no idea what my family went through just to get on the boat even before they started their voyage. makes me proud. it really is a humbling experience, but it makes me really, really proud to call them my family. >> having learned more than i ever thought possible i left belgium to continue following my

family's trip to america, eventually taking me to ohio and the toledo museum of art to try my hand at the family business of glass blowing, the profession we believe is what brought my family to america in the first place. >> let's do either a pink or red mix for my baby. >> every movement you make has an effect on the glass? >> absolutely. i can't believe i'm playing with glass like this. >> and just minutes later? >> there it is. >> oh, my gosh. i could do this all day. this is really fun. >> after following their lives from belgium all the way to ohio i finally got to meet my great, great grandparents. laid to rest here at st. joseph's cemetery outside columbus. >> she should be -- right over here. there she is. louise, amazing to finally meet her after this whole long

journey making it all the way over here. with a 2-year-old and six month's pregnant. leon, 1885. 1947. this really -- really -- this is really cool to finally meet them. about all you can say. and since i was in ohio there was one last stop i had to make. >> hi, grandmother. >> good morning. >> to tell my mom and grandmother everything i had uncovered. let me show you family tree. they put this together for me in belgium and this blew my mind just how far back they could actually read for us. >> oh, my gosh. >> all the way back to 1625. >> 1625. >> yeah. >> and my grandmother knew, her grandfather leon rouselle, was a glass blower.

>> this is your great-grandfather blowing glass. >> really? >> it looks like a movie set. >> he wore a circle. he had to have them pulled so he got false teeth. and he would take them out and put them in his pocket. he wouldn't blow this. >> it turns out, my great-grandmother who sailed to the united states when she was only 2 years old was just as strong a woman as i had hoped. >> what was she like? >> every one of them that knew her adored her. >> there was not anything she didn't think she would conquer. she was a pretty wonder woman -- >> and worked full-time until she retired. >> i love this photo. >> it is a family trait i hope now to pass on to my own daughter. >> gertrudis, that could be on the baby name list.

>> kate did not name her baby gertrudis, beautiful sicilia eve was born. and coming up, wolf blitzer finally lets history sink in. >> i feel like i have been robbed of grandparents. six billion jews were killed there i saw the documentation and i knew that is where i wanted to go.

i'm michaela pereira. this is cnn. wolf blitzer has spent 40 years telling stories. this summer, though, while

covering the israel/hamas conflict he also found himself exploring his own story. what he found was painful but also a story of great resiliency. >> my journey to learn about my family history was months in the taking. in part because of this, the war between hamas and israel. i'm in jerusalem, reporting for nearly a month. but a friend suggested i take some time to visit israel's national holocaust museum. let's go to my father's side, first. last name is blitzer. i of course, knew my parents died during the holocaust. >> concentration camp, is that what it says. and lager, camp. >> my dad, david blitzer wrote a testimony for the museum detailing what he knew about the fate of his family in poland in

world war ii. >> i didn't know until i came here this week that on my father's side, my grandparents were killed at auschwitz. i feel like i've been robbed in the experience of having grandparents. six billion jews were killed during the holocaust and i saw the documentation there. a place of extermination if you will, and i knew that is where i wanted to go. >> sets you free. the meaning that was a place for working, which was not. >> it was for slave laborers. >> yes, it was this kind of camp. but work was an instrument of

examination for the prisoners. >> it is one thing to learn about the holocaust in school or from books. but to see these places firsthand, some untouched since the war can be overwhelming. it's pretty much the same story on my mother's side. she survived, but her parents died during the holocaust. >> i am named after my grandfather, wolf. people ask me, it is the most frequently asked question, is wolf your real name? i say yes, it is my real name. i was named after my maternal grandfather. she is here to help me find my mother's roots. >> what number was it? >> number 12. >> whatever house they had is gone. >> yeah, it is closed. >> together, we found what is left of my grandfather's old factory that produced clay

pipes. not far from that factory was the slave laborer camp where my mother, her sister, paula, and two brothers worked. but this was the land where the labor camp, camp a, was. >> in this camp, 24,000 jews came in from labor. almost 18,000 died here. there was no crematorium here, but they simply burned the bodies and we're told that they buried the ashes here in this place. so -- conceivable that our grandparents are -- their ashes are here. >> we have no idea. >> we have no idea, no. >> and when you look at my mom now, she is 92 years old now, you wouldn't realize how courageous she was when she was liberated from the slave labor camp. they told the workers they would march on this death march. and mother knew if they were on

this forced death march they would die. >> this remarkable woman took her siblings and hid in the basement of the factory, and they stayed there for a few days until they were finally liberated by the russians. >> yes. pretty amazing story. >> pretty amazing, amazing woman. >> before we leave poland, we visit the only jewish cemetery still left in the town of auschwitz. and i see a tombstone that says blitzer. i don't know if this woman was related to me. but i do what my father would have wanted. i say the special prayer for the dead. [ speaking in a foreign language ]

>> after the war, after my parents were liberated, my mother, by the russians, the russian troops, my dad by the french troops, they did what most holocaust survivors immediately did once they were strong enough. they went and started to look for family members who may have survived. and so they were on a train and all of a sudden they saw each other. their eyes met, they fall in love. >> within a few months they were married by an american military chaplain, a rabbi. my dad found work in germany where my sister and i were born. >> my dad always said you know in those days you didn't know what was going to be happening a week from now, or two weeks. and the years, what they went through during the war they said you know you had to grab life when you could. >> when my dad was visiting nearby munich one day, he stood

in line, turns out it was a line for visas, the result of the president to bring displaced persons to the united states. a few months later we were moving to upstate new york. >> it is amazing, after all of my parents went through, i never sensed a vindictiveness, you know, they wanted to move on. my dad, when he died in 2002, he was 82 years old, whenever my mother and dad would see me on television, they would say this is the revenge to hitler and the nazis. >> the blitzers are a real american success story, not only did their son wolf, make good, his dad, a holocaust survivor became one of the major home developers in western new york. a true inspiration. and tonight, saying good-bye

to her childhood home, erin burnett finds a connection in ireland. and how did he deal with the news his ancestors were red coats? >> it was like poison on my lips. what if there was a credit card where the reward was that new car smell and the freedom of the open road? a card that gave you that "i'm 16 and just got my first car" feeling. presenting the buypower card from capital one. redeem earnings toward part or even all of a new chevrolet, buick, gmc or cadillac - with no limits. so every time you use it, you're not just shopping for goods. you're shopping for something great. learn more at buypowercard.com helps you find a whole range of coverages. no one else gives you options like that. [voice echoing] no one at all! no one at all! no one. wake up! [gasp] oh! you okay, buddy? i just had a dream that progressive had this thing called...

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welcome back to roots, our journey's home. you know, the funny thing about starting a family is while we embark on a new future, we look back, when erin burnett's son was six months old, her parents moved out of their farm house, the one place she knew as home. while she was losing one home she set off to learn about another, the rolling green hills of scotland. >> i grew up in a small town in

maryland, and when i saw small i mean really small. believe the last census had had a population of about 420 people. we used to buy all the rabbit food here. my parents were very idealistic. when they were very young they had a dream of having a farm. so funny hearing them talk about it now. their eyes still light up. i want my son to know what it is like to have grown up here. talking to my parents, you know, they thought they would live there forever. >> how are you doing? hello, nile. >> the definition of forever changes as you get older. when they finally got to this point that they were ready, that this was it, that the boxes were actually being moved i couldn't really believe it. want to go see where mommy's room was?

yeah, you get to go see the farm this one time. yeah, okay. that was uh-huh. it was hard for me to go through the house and see everything packed up. oh, this is my dad's den, nothing is changed here. he may be moving in two days. this is the way it looked for our whole life. oh, it is all packed up. >> that room was -- that was my home for so long. makes mommy sad. it's hard to say good-bye. so cnn says we're doing this project on our roots, i find out about it right before last weekend. isn't that amazing? >> it's a good omen. >> yeah, you reminded me to pack up all the papers i have somewhere about some of those roots. >> so you looked into it once?

>> well, yeah, i looked into a lot of it but never really in depth. >> so i had a lot of questions. there were these pictures, who were they, where did they come from? so we actually looked into our history. we start with john, he was the first generation in america. this is a passenger's contract to get -- >> this is to come from scotland to canada? >> yes. >> it tells us where in scott land they are from. >> that is where it says skye. when i first heard isle of skye, i thought that is a great name. that is a cool place. when we had this opportunity to go to skye, i wanted to share it with somebody. his name is charles, uncle buzz, i thought for about 22 seconds and then i realized uncle buzz

would want to come. if it is going to be neat and an adventure, it should involve uncle buzz. it was a beautiful day. it was perfect. it was the way i wanted to arrive. you could see the coast and the skyline of skye. and it was glorious. going to see maggie. and maggie is the historian who has been tracking family records on sky. for her, for 25 years. in this castle, actually, is an archive, where they traced a lot of the genealogy. >> this is the place where everybody played rental. and the rent was three pounds and four shillings a year. you can see that most people

were in arrears. >> he only owed one pound, 12 shillings. >> so the daughters, do you know anything about where they have resulted in ending up? >> well, their families as far as i have been able to find have stayed in skye. >> maggie said there were two relatives she knew on skye right now that we were going to meet. so it turns out that our family has been in the hotel business for about 50 years. this hotel, there was a man who runs it named malcolm, who we're related to. his brother, donald, owns a hotel around the corner, came over and had beers with us. i was eager to see him. he looked scottish to me. donald was a little bit shy. oh, you have done the family

tree. and then he went through all the genealogy, and had all the papers. a toast to cousins. it was very quiet and there were clouds and that was an appropriate time to see the land. look at that view. >> you know the one that sticks out for me, it is very emotional to be on the actual ground that our ancestors came from. >> when you hear this, you realize they were here. it is pretty incredible. they loved, this children. all that happened right here. and as the potato famine really took control of things all of a sudden they couldn't afford to pay their rent. so they were actively told to leave. and it was bigger than just my family and bigger than skye, it was scotland and ireland. we went back to the hotel and uncle buzz and i were talking

about the past few days we had had spent together. that was a moment where it all really came together for me. thank you for coming. this was really -- really special to me. to do this with you. >> thank you for having me. but suddenly, i just thought of something your grandfather would have loved to have seen your success. and to see us both in scotland. i'm starting to get weepy. when i think about it, because he just would have thought this was so wonderful. >> you know who is going to love it. my mom is going to love it. oh, my gosh. >> i would never make it in this business. >> and now we're both weeping, too, because this was such a

beautiful moment. you shared it with your uncle. you can see how special it was. a voyage for both of you. >> he is so special, the guy you can always laugh and have fun with. how many people can you call and say hey, what are you doing next weekend? you want to go to scotland, doesn't even ask me why, and says yes. >> what is so profound, erin, we watch what you can relate to, your parents leaving the family home, you're getting a chance to say good-bye at the same time you're doing this voyage. did the visit to scotland maybe help feel that void a little bit? >> it did, my parents lived on this farm for 50 years, it is a special place for all of us. they have been ready. it has been a long journey. i think having this connection to the past did make it easier.

because when we got back, we said hey, we're doing this roots project and literally the next day i was going to be going home. so it just happened. and it became part of it. and it is in a sense sort of like a good-bye present. i think, this whole project is a good-bye present. >> your parents are so proud of you, your family is so proud of you, that moment when your uncle talks about how your grandfather would be so proud of you. >> there is a picture of my grandfather holding me when i was about a year and a half, he didn't live much longer than that. i always looked at that picture and knew, he loved me, but i never knew him. and this brought that home because it brings you so much closer to who you are and to your past in a way -- >> what a voyage, thank you for sharing it with all of us. >> all right, thank you. >> up next. for don lemon, his story is quintessentially american. and moving from the point of no

return in africa. >> i kept looking for places to escape and there was no escape. ♪ want to change the world? create things that help people. design safer cars. faster computers. smarter grids and smarter phones. think up new ways to produce energy. ♪ be an engineer. solve problems the world needs solved. what are you waiting for? changing the world is part of the job description. [ male announcer ] join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring america's future engineers. energy lives here. alriwe need to do somethinguble widifferent. ranch. callahan's? ehh, i mean get away, like, away away. road trip? double wings, extra ranch. feels good to mix it up. the all-new, fuel-efficient volkswagen golf tdi clean diesel.

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for many africans the pain of their history in america is compounded by lack of historical record. that didn't stop don lemon who set out with his mom to open a window into his past and walk in the footsteps of ancestors. take a look. >> we are in a building that is

very contemporary to the time of when your ancestors lived here as well. >> i want to shift back over to katherine woods. your third great grandmother. and we don't know who her father was. but there is a candidate. black male, 68. >> born in louisiana. his father was born. >> africa. >> africa. >> so, it represents that first generation. one of the last generations. is where in africa do you think he might have been from? >> uh ha-ha. >> i am confronted with the question. who do i think i am? it is something only my

ancestral dna could show. >> so these are your results. 76% african. and 22% european. and then you have 25% nigeria, 22% cameroon and congo. 50% of your genetic makeup comes from that specific region in africa. >> wow. >> my ancestry is deep leap rooted in what is now known as the slave coast. my mom and i traveled to ghana's cape coast castle, the main exit point for slaves coming to the united states. >> nice to meet you. >> nice meeting you. >> my mother katherine. >> hi. >> why are we here? >> you are going to take a tour. i am going to take you back in time. this was constructed in round 1792. it was designed for 1,000 people. >> in here? >> yes. >> can you imagine?

they stayed here three months on average. >> in this -- for f >> it felt like a descent into hell. i figured this must be what ent. can't believe walked down here. in here. spent months in here. >> this was a dungeon. rebellions. >> but it was dark in here? >> it was dark in here. >> right. they were hemmld here in chains. see the hole on the wall. the holes on the wall. they were held in chains. and this -- this tunnel. this floor was excavated. feces, blood, decomposed bodies, clothes, food, vomit, sweat.

uh. >> i kept looking for places to escape and there was no escape. the only escape was either become a slave, go to a new world, or you escaped through death. >> what you are standing before now is a shrine. behind this wall, there was a tunnel. they were led to the exits. >> is that where the ships were? >> into the boat and ships. now the walls are dedicated to the souls of our ancestors. >> i don't know how many thousand or millions of people ended up in places like this. >> a request for a candle to light. in memory of the ancestor whose passed through here. >> that one little candle wasof.

>> we are survivors. survivors. survivor spirit. >> in 1860, the census bureau counted 3.9 million enslaved black people leaving descendants to unravel family stories. one half of my tree is firmly planted in new york city the other half has strong roots hundreds of miles away. my dad was born here in mississippi in 1927. and i journey to my dad's american south. later, john berman's search for his long lost, great dutch philosopher. ♪ ♪

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this is roots our journey home. at university of colorado in boulder there is a quote above the door of the library. who knows only his own generation remains only a child. certainly does not apply to my friend andersen here. anderson so great to be able to talk to you about a story i wanted to know about. i think so many of us have known about your story. there its parts of it that are not as explored. >> yeah, i grew up knowing a lot obviously about my mom's side of the family. my mom is gloria vanderbilt. vanderbilts in new york have a long and storied history to say the least. but i was really interested in my dad's history. and, my dad is from mississippi. i grew up knowing a lot about his family. he wrote a book about, growing up in mississippi. there was a lot i really didn't know. it's that side of the family that i have always felt more connected to. >> let's explore it, shall we.

>> my dad, wyatt cooper died when i was 10. when you are a kid and you lose a parent it is like the world as you know it comes to an end. clocks are reset. the calendar goes back to zero. after my dad died in 1978, it was just me my mom and my brother carter. my mom and dad met at a dinner party in 1962. they couldn't have been from more different background. that's the thing that interests me the most about my heritage. that the different branches my family tree mapped out by ancestri.com started off so apart and have come together in me. my dad was born here in mississippi in 1927. though growing up as a kid i never feat all that connected to the vanderbilt side of my family i was really interested in my dad's southern roots. my dad and i look a lot alike. this was him as a kid. this was me.

my dad's dad, emit cooper was a farmer. i like this photo of him a lot. his heavy lidded eyes. the air of sadness about him. he married my grandmother jenny anderson when she was a teenager. my dad was born in this house in mississippi in 1927. the house my dad was born in, long since been torn down. no soon of it any more. the land is mostly forest. owned by coopers. my dad wrote a book, families, a memoir growing up in mississippi. also a celebration of the importance of family. i reread it every year. i think of it as a letter from my dad to me. my dad's memoir is full of family stories. the tales of people whose names will never appear in history books or newspapers, but who raised families, worked hard, and struggled to make a living off the land. my dad and his family left mississippi during world war ii. and moved to new orleans.

his mother, my grandmother, jenny anderson worked in the higgins hughes factory making landing craft for the war and sold ladies hats at the department store. back in 2005 in new orleans reporting in the whack ake of hurricane katrina, i stumbled across my dad's high school flooded during the storm. this is the cool now. back then, francis t. nichols public high school. francis t. nicoles a confederate general and governor of louisiana. one thing i love about new orleans, a city that embraces its past. even if the past is painful. they don't try to erase their history no matter what that history may be. in fact, francis t. nicoles name is still on my dad's old high school. still etched in stone, his likeness above the front door. francis t. nichols was likely racist, definitely segregationist, they haven't remove his name from the school though the school is, now

frederick a. douglas high school, named after the famous abolitionist. we were invited to take a look around. people that work hat tat the sc have old files. couldn't image my dad's. they showed me closets of posters dating to the 1940s. i couldn't find anything that belonged to my dad. as i was leaving. the school nurse came outside with a surprise for me. >> oh, my god. >> that's all. a report card. they have the file cabinets. they have been -- >> this is his photo. >> that's him. >> there, there you go. >> that's so nice. my dad's report card. that's crazy. can you believe they had my dad's report card all the way become to 1944, in a file some where in the back. that's awesome. so this is what i am talking

about new orleans, history. they don't throw away the history. all here. all, all, the past is very much alive in new orleans. >> my dad worked as an actor for years, appearing on stage and tv, had a tiny bit part in "the seven hills of rome." we stayed up late one night when it was on tv when i was a kid. >> hey, ma. good luck tonight. it's a complete sellout. i will be out front. leading the cheering section. >> thanks, wyatt. >> he became a screenwriter and wrote for magazines as well. my dad is buried in staten island next to my brother who died in 19 #88. there isn't a day that goes by when i don't think of them both. and think what they thing of me the person that i have become. the thing about death, you can't remember what a person sounded like. you forget all the things you once new. the sound they made when they

opened the front door, the way they walked, the way they laughed. >> my feelings about what i want my sons to be. a couple months ago, the restoration of an interview my father did in 1975. >> my relationships with my sons, which are -- both quite extraordinary. i mean my relationship with each son is quite extraordinary. >> i listened to it at my office, the first time i heard my father's voice since i was 10 years old. >> they asked me, how much does a stunt man make. that's what he would look ike t now. >> the thing about the past, one can't help what zip code you were born in, what country, family you are descended from. all you can do is learn the lesson of those before you, their stories, their mistake and successes. you can't choose what family you are born into. >> i am very aware that i have certain expectations. >> all you can really do is choose how you want to live your

own life. >> behave with honor and going ni tee. -- and dignity. >> anderson. what a story. >> yeah, cool. >> that was so moving. >> yeah. it was. >> hear you listen to your father's voice. >> that was amazing. that is the thing when you lose some one. after a while you forget what they sound like. >> uh-huh. >> to suddenly have the radio station out of nowhere, restore this old recording that he did was, was. >> what a beautiful gift. >> incredible. really interesting. the pictures, i am always fascinated to see the familial look. you look so much look your dad. you look so much like your grandfather. the picture of yours, your favorite of his. you really feel this really strong connect tugs yoion to yo father's side of the faly. >> i do. i lost my dad early on. i was so close to him. he told me so many stories growing of in the south. because the me wrote a book about it, it really keeps it

very much alaive. seems much more real to me. and close to who i am than the vanderbilt side which, you know most people kind of always reference when they think about my family history. doesn't seem ream to me. it's like about reading abut strangers in a history book. the coopers feel very real to me. >> it is also interesting how that connection through your dad and the south and new orleans and how much new orleans has played in your professional career. >> yeah, going back, to be there. my dad brought me to new or lean. but to be back in the city. to have been there as a kid a lot. back during hurricane katrina. to go back repeatedly. it is, it is really kind of, it's very personal for me. >> aren't you glad you got to do this. >> i am. yeah, really amazing. >> so glad you did too. i learned so much about you. >> got my dad's report card. >> how did he do? >> he was all right. about as i expected. he wasn't very good in math and science. like me. so. >> you are doing okay, kid.

doing okay. all right. still ahead. the risks that he took in search of a better life. >> so he gets on the boat. and the guy who is checking his ticket says to him, why are you going to london right now? the germans are bombing london every day, every night. >> later the surprising revolutionary side of jake tapper's family.

it is ironic some one so curious about how the world works is not that curious where he personally came from. maybe because fareed zakaria's

late father, orphaned and served in the indian parliament was equally ambivalent. nevertheless, fareed agreed to dig around his own family tree with help from forensic science. his mother picks up the story from there. >> fareed was only 6 months old. when his father was in the elections and won and became a minister. >> my father, by the way, occasionally claimed turkish an ses troan -- ancestry, or did that in jest, suggesting he had some sort of warrior past that we didn't know about. since i didn't know much about my roots. i took a dna test. >> they left for bombay. >> a family historian with

ancestri.com. delivered the results to me. >> we have our, documents about your father. >> gosh. >> this is a passenger list from the 7th of july, 1944. and because this is your father, what it is saying he left bombay was headed to the uk. >> he would tell one story about this voyage. he had the highest rank at the university of bombay. if you had the number one rank you got a full paid scholarship with a first-class ticket to go to london. now he gets it in the middle of world war ii. so he gets on the boat. and the guy who is checking his ticket says to him, why are you going to london right now? the germans are bombing london every day and every night. he says to him, i am going to

get an education. and the guy is looking at the ticket tells him, you are crazy but come on board. >> we had you take a dna test. both of your parents are from india. so the 85% south asia or indian region shouldn't come as a surprise. but you have got other things here as well. when we look specifically at asia central. combined with italy greece, we believe there is definitely some middle eastern influence there as well. >> this is all the old lands of the ottoman empire. muslim migration probably from there into india. >> this european and polynesia. >> polynesia is a little twist i would not have expected.

european jewish, part of the old ottoman empire. places lick ir-- places like ir and baghdad. >> given what you know now, having your mother tested. and her dna results are coming. >> my son fareed asked me to -- to try my luck. i cannot tell how much we will get out of the little knowledge i am able to put before you. but let us see. >> i am getting ready to tape the show. but my mom's dna results have just come in. guess what, i am indian. my mother is 97% asian. but 96% being from south asia. my european dna and my polynesian traces are therefore from my father.

and the majority of my caucasian roots also come from my dad. >> who is that? >> that's me. >> my children are -- consummate americans, i mean they're not that interested in where we come from. they're more interested in, i think in where they're going. >> i am very proved the fact that i come from india. they have been to india, many, many times. >> who is that? >> me. >> wait. your glasses. >> but they don't have a deep curiosity, certainly not one derived out of a sense of crisis of identity. they have no crisis of i've dent t -- they have no crisis of identity. they're americans. >> when we come back, in search of spinoza, john berman travels to the netherlands to see if he

is a philosopher prince. >> this is baruke sichpinoza. i am john "spinoza" berman. we put all the apps you love... inside a car designed to connect you to a world of possibilities. the connected car by volvo innovating for you.

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welcome back. the particular journey for a work husband of mine, john berman who decided to ask like shakespeare, what's in a name? the answer he found out reads quite like a mystery novel.

♪ ♪ >> reporter: why am i sitting here in front of this statue in this city no less? amsterdam. city of canals, bridges, country of windmills and tulips. i am here because the two of us, we share a name. this is baruke spinoza, i am john "spinoza" berman. baruke spinoza was a 17th century, dutch, philosopher. big deal. statues, portraits even streets bear his name. >> an icon of reason and the solitary thinker who, braved his own community and religious habits and also religious intolerance. >> reporter: his idea about god inseparable from nature and his at the time, haughty notions about freedom of thought were so radical they got him excommunicated. expelled from the jewish community in amsterdam in 1656.

scandalous then, now, revered. >> he is a popular symbol for all kind of things we look to associate with. >> i would look to associate with that. good name to have. good name. great lineage. if it is mine. which is what i grew up being told. >> when you drive by friend. do you point up there. >> for years my father, gerald spinoza berman would point proudly at the spinoza name in the boston public library. >> when you see it, what would you think? >> i would think me, family, heritage. my grandfather's name was spinoza. maiden name was spinoza. we thought, that, that we were descendants from baruke spinoza. >> thought you were a philosopher prince. would make me a son of a philosopher prince? >> or something. >> reporter: according to the dutch philosophy professor. >> what do you know about

spinoza the man in terms of his family life? >> well, it's fairly simple to say. he simply did not have any family life at all. he was never married. >> reporter: no marriage. no known children. how did my family and would-be philosopher prince father account for this? >> well were brought up we believed from a long line of bastards. >> yes, a long line of bastards. remember that line. what is the truth? am i loaded with radical philosopher dna. after a lifetime of ex-per ta expectations, ancestri.com helped begin a search for an answer. an answer that intriguingly begins in amsterdam. >> the first jgeneration of spinozas in the united states was benjamin. benjamin is your second great grandfather. and he was born in amsterdam.

>> i don't speak good dutch. >> reporter: but you don't have to speak dutch to go to amsterdam. nearly everyone there speaks perfect english, including heddi. the chief curator and manager of museum affairs for the historical museum. she walked me through the historic jewish quarter. >> the girls orphanage was here. there were all kind of jewish institutions. also on the same streets. >> so benjamin spinoza was born here in 1850. 121 rafenburger strass. >> your language is a pain. >> i know. >> the neighborhood revolved around this gorous building. 339-year-old portuguese

synagogue, filled with grandeur and treasure. >> all lined with gold leather. >> built by tight-knit community of jews who like the spinoza family emigrated from the iberian peninsula. >> how many people were members? >> 4,500. po portuguese joo portuguese jews. >> this community was everything. >> yes. >> to live outside of this community would be next to impossible? >> is was not an option. baruke spinoza was the very first jew to live outside of the community. >> he got tossed. >> he got tossed. not out of free choice. >> excommunicated in 1656. a problem for him and it turns out a problem for me. and my long held belief i might be his great, great, great, et

cetera, grandson. if his story is not my story. what is my sfotory? >> you will want to see how john's mystery unfolds at cnn.com/roots. when we come back, the shocking discovery in jake tapper's family tree that has him seeing red. >> so paul hoff joined the british army. >> in 1777. >> he fought in the american revolution. but he fought on the wrong side? >> right. ♪ chevrolet is merging the physical freedom of the car, ♪ with the virtual freedom of wi-fi. ♪ chevrolet, the first and only car company to bring built-in 4g lte wi-fi to cars, trucks and crossovers. hi mom. you made it!

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>> welcome back to "roots" if you are a philadelphia sports fan. rivalries are everything. you don't want to be caught rooting for the celtics at sixers home game or heaven forbid, dallas cowboys on eagles' turf. imagine when jake trapper, true blue son of philly learned his roots led him deep into one of the storied rivalries in american history and on the wrong side to boot. ♪ ♪ this is where i am from, philly. not just cheese steaks and rocky b balboa. philadelphia is to me very much about america. my mom and dad put down roots around the corner from here,

independence hall where the founding fathers signed the constitution and declaration of independence. and the truthize never really cared that much about my ancestry. where was i from? the answer was always philly. my childhood neighborhood still looks as though george washington slept there. i mean everything about growing up during that time was americana, even the names, of the sports teams, the 1776ers, the eagles, american to its core. my dad's side of the family is jewish. immigrants from eastern europe. >> why did grandmother tapper and grandfather tapper's family leave? >> variety of reasons. a lot was economics. my mom's scotch irish via canada. >> my parents brought me here when i was 3. >> there was this family myth. your side of the family came to north america and objected to slavery and so they want to canada because there were

slavery in the united states. >> i would look to believe that, but i doubt it. >> it is great family lore. >> i think they left for other reasons. >> looking into it with ances y ancestri.c ancestri.com. i found out i have colonial roots. though not exactly what i might have hoped for. it all starts with my seventh great grandfather. eng eng engelbert huff, ended up in fishkill, new york. where i went to find out more. born in the 1600, 1637, 87. in norway. apparently he made quite an impression. he was described later in his life as having been something of a local celebrity for his scholarship and dashing horsemanship. >> willis skinner here in fishkill is the local historian, keeper of the secrets. >> my seventh great grandfather,

engelbert huff was here at some point. >> yes. >> what can you tell me about him? >> all i know is that -- he farmed. he lived to be the age of 12 years. >> 128. >> 128. >> do you believe that? >> i don't know. i don't know. there is some question about that. when he was about, 120 years old. there its a story that he courted a young lady who was 21 years old. i don't know how true that is. this is a special communion tankard. >> huff made such an impression, his story is inscribed in the communion tankard, the church uses. we searched for engelbert's grave. we made a discovery. >> the fishkill church as a record of the family. >> she has the record showing

grands grandsons paul and solomon hutch were involved in the american revolutionary war where america's founders were fighting for independence from the british. >> paul huff. >> join the british army in 1777. >> so he was, he fought in the american revolution. but, he fought on the wrong side. >> right. >> i could not believe it. my colonial ancestors were on the side of the british. let me repeat that. the british. the wring side. my fifth great grandfather. solomon huff. and his brother, paul. on the wrong side in the american revolutionary war. it was like, poison on my lips. when the american revolutionary war broke out. solomon continued to work his 200-acre farm without engaging in the conflict. it be came unbearable. resulting in solomon following the lead of older brother paul and joining british forces.

and then they went to canada. no wonder there aren't that many huffs in here. they fled to canada. >> they fled. ♪ ♪ >> so we chased solomon huff, my great, great, great, great grandfather seven generations before me to the bay of quinty where the royalists landed three hour drive from toronto. >> can't relate to it at all. i admire solomon's staying true to who he is. to side with king george iii over, over thomas jefferson and james madison is -- crazy to me. it may not seem like it there. jaek do jake does come to paeeace with s family revelation. the search for christine roman's church, reveals a great dame in denmark. >> now you are ready to go back.

>> yes. >> 1880. ♪ ♪ ♪searching with devotion ♪for a snack that isn't lame ♪but this... ♪takes my breath away sea captain: there's a narratorstorm cominhe storm narrator: that whipped through the turbine which poured... surplus energy into the plant which generously lowered its price and tipped off the house which used all that energy to stay warm through the storm. chipmunk: there's a bad storm comin! narrator: the internet of everything is changing how energy works. is your network ready?"

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>> welcome back to "roots."

the return jeez home are taking us century backs tine im. along the way, some one, some place making a monumental decision that ultimately defines who we are. christine romans went back and she learned about a poor young girl in denmark who with one ticket and one bag came to america and launched generations. this is iowa. this is where i am from. corn fields and family and every few years, we all get together. all of the grand kids, great grand kids. and my grandma. this is the picture you gave me. >> that is a lot of years ago. >> how old do you think you were? >> probably 17. >> my grandmother's name is shirley jean peterson.

and she remembers her grandma, annapederson. >> i know how much you loved your grandma. i loved my grandma. tell me what she meant to you? >> she was, a second mother. she was just a great grandma. i just love her dearly. >> growing up with a lot of stories about anna pederson. ordinary young woman, simple means, and took a chance. basically built my family. i would have nothing. i wouldn't be here if it weren't for a chance that a poor girl in denmark took, 150 years ago. we followed in the footsteps of your grandmother. i wanted to show you the book we made. it is here in iowa with my grandmother where i reveal what i learned about her. something i could only find out

by going back to her homeland. >> bye, new york. we are going to her town. denmark, here we come. >> this is the kind of house she would have lived in? >> yes it is. >> would have rented a little room there. this is a laborer's home. >> a laborer, yeah. >> all right. let's go inside. >> yeah. >> so this is, would be typical. this would be the kitchen over here. and everyone would eat and sleep and dress all in one, all in one room. >> yeah, yeah. >> something like a table. an oven. a bed. a cupboard. stuff like that. very basic things. but they didn't have much. >> she would have had a bible and candlestick probably for sure. >> of it is like going back in time. >> yeah, if you want to do time travel and go back to the 1800s, i think we need some accessories. >> all right.

let's do it. >> put that on first. don't want-up to get cold out. now you are ready to go back. 1880. >> okay. >> you have a wonderful dish of cold porridge. here you go. and you might have had a little milk. warm milk on it. if you had milk. >> there is not any variety. >> i could use a hot beer. uh-huh. >> honestly. >> fresh vegetables in the summer. they didn't have much. >> no, they didn't. >> when she was 5, she lived with the neighbor people. she would take care of the geese, to keep the geese out of the garden. >> can you imagine that? she told me the geese would get her down and slap her with the wings. she would cry for her mother. but it was a tough life then,

you snow you know? here is her immigration paper. anna arrived at port of new york october 14th, 1886 when she was 20 years old. two weeks before the dedication of the statue of liberty. >> she was a single female. she had one bag with her. >> oh. can you imagine coming -- with one bag. to a new world. i can't. >> my great, great grandmother settled in western iowa and married hans olsen this guy with the handlebar mustache. >> hi, so nice to moot you. >> nice to meet you. >> back in new york. michelle ercanbrach, a historian found for me the most moving document of all. >> you talk about how there is still today after all these years, this identity of her

buying tickets. >> they call it the bestamore traveling ticket. saved her money. buy a ticket every few years. and send it to denmark. >> they had to come way off to council bluffs, stay at her house, and learn english, and learn a trade. and then, they returned the money for the tick tell tet. another ticket went to denmark. >> who paid your passage? >> she recovered a 1930 passenger list for anna's nephew, carl pederson's ticket to america paid for in full by his aunt, anna. proof of her generosity for years to come. >> wow, that is, that's, heard about the ticket for all the years. then to seep it. then to see it. do you think bestamore, anna would be proud of the family that has grown up behind her? >> oh, she would be very proud.

i often wish she could see my kids. >> anna lived to be 92 years old. when we come back, my own journey and the unexpected embrace from a country that i never knew. >> it was the most generous gift somebody could give me. every person who heard my story and i was a child looking for connection. every single person said welcome home. it was amazing and unforgettable. ♪ ♪ l of heroes and titans. for respawn, building the best interactive entertainment begins with the cloud. this is "titanfall," the first multi-player game built and run on microsoft azure. empowering gamers around the world to interact in ways they never thought possible. this cloud turns data into excitement.

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>> welcome back to "roots our journeys home." we've seen amazing stories. now, my co-host's turn. some may know some of your background. adopted at a very young age. i know you have done research or your biological mom. for this project. you took a different approach to exploring your roots. talk about that. >> it was a tough choice. i can find out about my birth mother's side. i have a birth sister who can give me all the information. my adoptive parents are very forthcoming about our family history. i realize, that is not my biological or ancestral history. we decided to explore the part

that i think presents to most people when you see me. you think what is she? i wanted to discover a little bit more about that. >> all right. let's take a look. >> so my adoption journey began when i was young. i was 3 months old when i was adopted by doug and aimsley, mom and dad you. took one look at my family and you knew there was something here that was a little different. i was the only black kid i knew or part black kid or brown kid. anywhere. in canada, i had to go through the government if i've wanted to search for my birth family. they connected with my birth mother's family. she was a wonderful woman that i didn't get to meet. i missed her by a year. she lost a brave battle with cancer. and -- if i had found her when i started looking sunny would have been in the throes of that

period in her life. it would have been very difficult for her. but the fact is, all of what you see in front of you the color of my skin, curl of my hair come from my father's side. birth father's side. i don't know anything about him. a door has been shut to me that way. and i am not going to force it open. beyond the fact of of what it said on this piece of paper, that my birth father's family was from jamaica, that's all i know. so now i am starting the search again to fine out more about my heritage. do i need to be scrubbed. this time it all starts with a dna test. >> yes, you gave us a solid sample. we have found a second cousin, 2/two third cousins and multiple fourth cousins of yours. is that sinking in? i can tell you now that is, on your father's side. it does go back to jamaica. >> okay.

>> we have the name of the town. we have pictures of some of your ancestors. a settlement in jamaica. located in the parish in the mountains southeast of montego. >> because the doors to my birth father closed to me. i chose to investigate the place my ancestors were from instead of contacting these cousins. >> welcome to jamaica! >> my dna results pointing to montego bay and cambridge. i came here to talk it all in. the scenery, the food. the whole fish in my soup. i could not be happier. i really cannot be happier. >> most importantly, the people. >> i felt there was no way that you could come to jamaica and not get a scarf. >> worried about me being in new york and freezing. >> in the winter. >> ha-ha! >> oh, my gosh. >> wanted to soak up as much as i could to learn what it truly

means to be jamaican. ♪ ♪ >> it seemed no matter where we were on the island. for every moment, there is a song. ♪ ♪ jamaica is my home ♪ ♪ coconut water >> with the pulse of jamaica now in my soul i am headed to the heart of my journey. today we were on the way to cambridge. we believe that -- some of my ancestors come from this area of cambridge. >> this little church on the hill, my ancestors place of worship. for some their final resting place. there is the potential that ancestors of mine are buried here. that's startling, amazing and wonderful. are you from cambridge? >> yes. >> mr. griffiths lives across the street from the church.

>> you remember walking up the stairs. >> i was a choirboy. >> a choirboy at this church. do you feel a sense of pride coming back here. >> yeah. >> oh, my goodness. look at the view. >> we walked around the remains of saint stevens anglican church staring act the spot where my ancestors used to prap every sunday. >> man itch tf the walls could . >> i am grateful i got to come here. i took a moment in the church by myself. >> i remember saying that i would love to find some context for that other side of me. that i don't know anything about. and this feels, if this is it, this is great. i look at faces a little longer. and try to imagine itf they see something enemy that is familiar. to think maybe that somebody that was connected to me stood in this very church.

that's really powerful. kind of magical, really. well it has been four wonderful, warm, enlightening days. but it feels like i am not done yet. i experienced firsthand what people feel it is to beep jamaican. there is a graft sense of pride. in the people here. there its a great sense of joy in the people here. they love music. they love to dance. i can't tell you how many times people spontaneously broke out in song. it was the most generous gift somebody could give me. every person who heard my story and understood that i was a child looking for, for connection. every single person said welcome home. and it was amazing. unforgettable. it was like -- it was like

coming home. ♪ ♪ >> wow. that, that desire for connection is that something you had always felt? >> it has been. it is interesting, adoption in our family was always such a topping of conversation. all five of us. >> discussed early on. >> you looked at us. clearly there is something here. we talked about it. never a secret. but the thing was that i think i, i tried to push down to the bottom of my tummy and not every discuss was i was curious. it is natural. any adopted kid is going to feel naturally inquisitive about history and roots. i felt it would be betraying my parents and what they had given us and me. so i put ate side probably until i was, i don't know, 25, 26 before i even voiced a curiosity about it. >> amazing through the dna testing they can determine not just jamaica, the area, the town. >> incredible.

ancestry if i chose to, there are various people that have some sort of dna connection to me. and if i schochose to i could r out. that's something. this was a big, huge step for me. you understand this. it's a huge step. and i have to process this. it is going to take some time. it was really, truly one of the most remarkable voyages of my life. >> you said in the piece that this is the beginning. >> absolutely. >> you plan to look further at some point? >> i'm not sure what i am going to do. right now i feel as though you know i struck at gold with my birth sister. a great relationship. i don't know what holds for my birth father's side of the family. but of i can tell you one thing for certain, i am going back to jamaica, baby. >> had you known jamaica? >> i did. i did. it was interesting, because i think for a long time. i dreamt of going. you know how much it is. either the job gets in the way, the finances or the lack there of get in the way. then it always seemed like just

going and lying on a beach there wasn't what i needed to do. and, it just worked out perfectly that, that this opportunity allowed me to get there. >> i'm happy for you. >> thank you, anderson. >> thank you for sharing that. not an easy thing to do. well that is it for "roots, our journeys home." for full versions of the pieces you have seen here and photo galleries, behind the scenes video and more. go to cnn/roots. did our past not only tell us how we got here but they also give us a sense of who we are and what we'll become. we certainly hope you have en y enjoyed learning about our stories as much as we did. >> i'm anderson cooper. thank you for watching. tonight true crime. what if everything we believe about serial killers is wrong? from ted bundy to jeffrey dahmer to david berkowitz to john wayne gacy y. even in the movies, psycho, silence of the