# CNN Transcripts Scraper (`jungle_synthesizer/cnn-transcripts-scraper`) Actor Scrape broadcast transcripts from transcripts.cnn.com. Extracts full segment text, speaker labels, show metadata, and airtime info for any CNN show and date range. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle\_synthesizer/cnn-transcripts-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community) - **Categories:** News, AI, Automation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## CNN Transcripts Scraper Scrape broadcast transcripts from CNN's public archive at [transcripts.cnn.com](https://transcripts.cnn.com). Covers every CNN show from recent history (archive dates back to ~2000), with per-segment granularity, speaker-label extraction, and structured metadata. ### What you get Each output record represents one broadcast segment: | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `show_slug` | CNN show identifier (e.g. `cnr`, `fzgps`, `sotu`) | | `show_title` | Full show name (e.g. "CNN Newsroom") | | `aired_date` | Broadcast date — `YYYY-MM-DD` | | `segment_number` | Index within the show-date (1, 2, 3 …) | | `segment_title` | Segment headline and topic summary | | `segment_url` | Canonical URL on transcripts.cnn.com | | `body_html` | Full transcript HTML (preserves timestamps, paragraph breaks) | | `body_text` | Plain-text version with speaker labels and newlines preserved | | `speakers` | Comma-separated list of detected speaker names | | `aired_at_local` | ET broadcast time (e.g. `02:00 ET`) | | `source` | Always `transcripts.cnn.com` | | `scraped_at` | ISO timestamp of when the record was scraped | ### Usage #### Basic — scrape all shows for a single day ```json { "startDate": "2026-05-08", "maxItems": 50 } ```` #### Date range with show filter ```json { "startDate": "2026-05-01", "endDate": "2026-05-08", "showSlugs": ["cnr", "fzgps", "sotu"], "maxItems": 500 } ``` #### Input fields | Field | Type | Required | Description | |-------|------|----------|-------------| | `startDate` | string | **Yes** | Start date `YYYY-MM-DD` | | `endDate` | string | No | End date `YYYY-MM-DD` (defaults to `startDate`) | | `showSlugs` | string\[] | No | Filter to specific shows (e.g. `["cnr", "fzgps"]`). Leave empty for all shows. | | `maxItems` | integer | No | Cap on total segments returned. `0` = no limit. Default: `0`. | #### Common show slugs | Slug | Show | |------|------| | `cnr` | CNN Newsroom | | `fzgps` | Fareed Zakaria GPS | | `sotu` | State of the Union | | `acd` | Anderson Cooper 360 | | `ebo` | Erin Burnett OutFront | | `cg` | The Lead with Jake Tapper | | `sitroom` | The Situation Room | | `ip` | Inside Politics | | `ctmo` | CNN This Morning | | `ampr` | Amanpour | ### Dataset size - \~30 active CNN shows, 1–22 segments per show per day - \~30–50 new segments published daily - Archive goes back to approximately 2000 ### Notes on speaker extraction The `speakers` field parses ALL-CAPS labels preceding a colon (e.g. `ANDERSON COOPER:`, `TRUMP:`) using a regex pass on the plain-text body. It covers named hosts and guests; unnamed contributors appear as `UNIDENTIFIED MALE` / `UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE` where present. ### Responsible use Transcripts on transcripts.cnn.com are published publicly by CNN for informational access. Users are responsible for ensuring their downstream use of transcript data complies with applicable copyright law and CNN's terms of service. # Actor input Schema ## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`): Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler. ## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`): Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements. ## `sp_contact` (type: `string`): Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you. ## `startDate` (type: `string`): Start of date range to scrape (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to today. ## `endDate` (type: `string`): End of date range to scrape, inclusive (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to startDate (single day). ## `showSlugs` (type: `array`): Optional list of CNN show slugs to filter by (e.g. cnr, fzgps, sotu). Leave empty to scrape all shows for the date range. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of transcript segments to scrape. Set to 0 for no limit. ## Actor input object example ```json { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "startDate": "2026-05-08", "endDate": "2026-05-08", "showSlugs": [], "maxItems": 10 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "startDate": "2026-05-08", "endDate": "2026-05-08", "showSlugs": [], "maxItems": 10 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/cnn-transcripts-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "startDate": "2026-05-08", "endDate": "2026-05-08", "showSlugs": [], "maxItems": 10, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/cnn-transcripts-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "startDate": "2026-05-08", "endDate": "2026-05-08", "showSlugs": [], "maxItems": 10 }' | apify call jungle_synthesizer/cnn-transcripts-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jungle_synthesizer/cnn-transcripts-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "CNN Transcripts Scraper", "description": "Scrape broadcast transcripts from transcripts.cnn.com. Extracts full segment text, speaker labels, show metadata, and airtime info for any CNN show and date range.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "DC2TgHl8xi6GgvX0l" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~cnn-transcripts-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jungle_synthesizer-cnn-transcripts-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~cnn-transcripts-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-jungle_synthesizer-cnn-transcripts-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~cnn-transcripts-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-jungle_synthesizer-cnn-transcripts-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "startDate" ], "properties": { "sp_intended_usage": { "title": "What is the intended usage of this data?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler." }, "sp_improvement_suggestions": { "title": "How can we improve this crawler for you?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements." }, "sp_contact": { "title": "Contact Email", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you." }, "startDate": { "title": "Start Date", "type": "string", "description": "Start of date range to scrape (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to today." }, "endDate": { "title": "End Date", "type": "string", "description": "End of date range to scrape, inclusive (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to startDate (single day)." }, "showSlugs": { "title": "Show Slugs", "type": "array", "description": "Optional list of CNN show slugs to filter by (e.g. cnr, fzgps, sotu). Leave empty to scrape all shows for the date range.", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of transcript segments to scrape. Set to 0 for no limit.", "default": 0 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```