Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper is a 60 Minutes correspondent and the anchor of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360˚" through an agreement between CBS News and CNN since the 2006-07 season. The 2024-25 season is his 19th on 60 Minutes; he remains a full-time employee of CNN. He is co-author of the best-selling book, "The Rainbow Comes and Goes."

Cooper's recent 60 Minutes work includes a timely report on "COVID Long Haulers," coronavirus patients whose symptoms linger for months and a story about a wreck found near Mobile, Alabama, thought to be the last slave ship to land in America.

Cooper's 60 Minutes work has made news and won awards. His profile of Jazz prodigy Joey Alexander and his story about inmates in an African prison who created Grammy-winning music are the most recent examples of Emmy winners. His story on faulty medical protective gowns raised the probability that some of them may be in America's emergency epidemic stockpile. An investigation of the formaldehyde content of Lumber Liquidators' laminate flooring revealed potentially harmful amounts of the known carcinogen and fueled a debate over the regulation of the substance in American products. His chillingly described the Afghanistan battle that turned out to be of one of the worst days in the history of the Naval Special Warfare unit. Other noteworthy pieces he has reported for 60 Minutes include an Emmy-winning story on the use of rape as a weapon in Congo and a report on the condition of coral reefs off Cuba that took an RTDNA Murrow award and an Overseas Press Club honor. He has also reported on the drug war in Mexico and got the first television interview with Abu Ghraib whistleblower Joe Darby.

His exceptional reporting on big news events has earned Cooper a reputation as one of television's preeminent newsmen. CBS News recognized his talent and invited him to contribute stories to "60 Minutes II." He reported two stories on that broadcast during the 2004-'05 television season, the second of which broke the news of a doctor who prescribed steroids and human growth hormone to several players from the NFL's Carolina Panthers. The doctor was subsequently indicted on multiple counts of distributing the drugs and pleaded guilty to some of the charges. Congress held hearings and the NFL strengthened some of its drug policies.

Anderson Cooper 360°, a nightly newscast committed to going beyond the headlines to tell stories in-depth and from multiple points of view, airs weeknights at 8 p.m. ET on CNN. Cooper, who joined CNN in December 2001, served as CNN's weekend anchor before moving to prime time in March 2003 following the war in Iraq and then to a two-hour, late evening time slot in November 2005 following Hurricane Katrina.

Since the launch of Anderson Cooper 360°, Cooper has covered nearly all major news events around the world, often reporting from the scene. He's covered presidential inaugurations, the Newtown, CT school shooting, the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, the uprisings in the Middle East, and the aftermaths of earthquakes in Japan and Haiti. During 2007 and 2008, he traveled around the world for Planet in Peril, a documentary about issues threatening the planet, its inhabitants and its natural resources.

Cooper also has played a pivotal role as part of the Best Political Team on Television for CNN's America Votes 2008 coverage, reporting and anchoring coverage from both the Democratic and Republican national conventions. In 2007, Cooper moderated the groundbreaking CNN/YouTube debates for Democratic presidential candidates from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, and for Republican presidential candidates in St. Petersburg, Florida, and, in 2008, moderated a Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

In addition to reporting for CNN, Cooper hosted his own daytime broadcast, "Anderson," a topical issue/event-driven talk show produced by Telepictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. "Dispatches from the Edge," Cooper's memoirs about covering the South Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and other news events, made the New York Times Bestsellers List and other bestseller charts.

Before joining CNN, Cooper was an ABC News correspondent and host of the network's reality program, "The Mole." Cooper anchored ABC's live, interactive news and interview program, "World News Now," as well as providing reports for "World News Tonight," "20/20" and "20/20 Downtown." Previously, he was a New York-based correspondent for ABC News, reporting primarily for "World News Saturday/Sunday."

Cooper joined ABC from Channel One News, where he served as chief international correspondent. During that time, he reported and produced stories from Bosnia, Iran, Israel, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa and Vietnam. He also reported national stories that were broadcast over the Channel One News school television network and seen in more than 12,000 classrooms nationwide.

Cooper and Anderson Cooper 360° have won several major journalism awards, including multiple Emmy awards. Cooper has also earned a National Headliners Award for his tsunami coverage, an Emmy Award for his contribution to ABC's coverage of Princess Diana's funeral; a Silver Plaque from the Chicago International Film Festival for his report from Sarajevo on the Bosnian civil war; a Bronze Telly for his coverage of famine in Somalia; a Bronze Award from the National Educational Film and Video Festival for a report on political Islam; and a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism for his "20/20 Downtown" report on high school athlete Corey Johnson.

Cooper graduated from Yale University in 1989 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. He also studied Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi. Cooper is based in New York City.