Kasie Sue Hunt (born May 24, 1985)[1] is an American political correspondent for CNN, and host of CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt. From 2013 to 2021, she was NBC News' Capitol Hill correspondent, covering Congress across all NBC News and MSNBC platforms, and was the host of MSNBC's Way Too Early with Kasie Hunt and Kasie DC.[2]

Kasie Hunt
Hunt in July 2017
Born
Kasie Sue Hunt[1]

(1985-05-24) May 24, 1985 (age 39)
EducationConestoga High School
Alma materGeorge Washington University (BA)
St John's College, Cambridge (MA)
Occupation(s)Political reporter and anchor for CNN
Years active2007–present
Spouse
Matt Rivera
(m. 2017)
Children2

Early life and education

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Hunt was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and was raised in Wayne, Pennsylvania.[3] She is the daughter of Bruce and Krista Hunt, and has a younger sister named Carly Hunt. Her father manages real estate design and construction for Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, while her mother is a yoga teacher in Easton.[1] Her sister is a former golfer for both the Georgetown Hoyas and Maryland Terrapins women's golf teams.[4][5]

Hunt graduated from Conestoga High School in 2003. She attended George Washington University and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in international affairs in 2006.[6] She went on to earn her master's degree in sociology from St John's College, Cambridge,[7][8] UK.

Career

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Hunt interviewing Michael Bennet in 2020 for Kasie DC

Hunt started her career in journalism as an intern in the political unit of NBC News.[9] She was a health policy reporter for the National Journal's CongressDaily, writing about the passage of the Affordable Care Act. She wrote for Politico, covering the 2010 midterm elections. She started working as a national political reporter for the Associated Press in August 2011 and covered Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.[10]

In January 2013, Hunt joined NBC News as an off-air reporter and producer covering Congress and politics. She started appearing regularly on MSNBC as a political reporter and in November 2014 became a political correspondent.[11] She wrote for msnbc.com and appeared regularly on MSNBC and Bloomberg shows, including Morning Joe, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and With All Due Respect.

In October 2017, Hunt began anchoring her talk show on MSNBC, Kasie DC, which aired in two separate segments on Sundays at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET[12] The final episode of Kasie DC aired on Sunday, September 13, 2020. In November 2017, Hunt stated that an attack on senator Rand Paul by his neighbor was her 'favorite story'. Paul's wife criticized the comment and Hunt later apologized.[13][14]

On September 21, 2020, Hunt began anchoring a restart of the MSNBC talk show Way Too Early under the new name Way Too Early with Kasie Hunt. The program aired on weekday mornings from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. ET. On July 16, 2021, Hunt announced that it was her last day with the network.[15]

On August 10, 2021, CNN announced via Twitter that Hunt would be its first hire of its new streaming service CNN+, on which she would anchor a new show, The Source with Kasie Hunt.[16][17] Additionally, it was announced that Hunt would serve as chief national affairs analyst.[18] Hunt's new program debuted on CNN+ on March 29, 2022.[19] It ended on April 22, 2022,[20] the day after it was announced that CNN+ would be shutting down.

In August 2023, CNN announced that Hunt would take over as the anchor of its Early Start morning show.[21] She made her debut the following month. Since September 2023, Hunt has been hosting State of the Race, a weekday political show on CNN International.[22]

In April 2024, a segment on CNN discussed the renaming of Hamilton Hall, on the Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus in New York City by student protesters. Protesters participating in the ongoing pro-Palestinian campus protests had unfurled a large banner renaming the building as "Hind's Hall" in honor of the young child, Hind Rajab,[23] who was killed by the Israeli forces.[24] During the segment, Hunt referred to the 6 year-old victim as "a woman who was killed in Gaza". This description has been criticized as an example of the adultification of Palestinian children and a pro-Israel bias on CNN, as well as other Western mainstream media.[25]

On June 24, 2024, Hunt removed President Trump's spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt from her CNN This Morning program after Leavitt attempted to quote CNN's Jake Tapper's comparison of Trump to Hitler in response to questions about the preparedness of the candidates in the upcoming Presidential debate between the incumbent, Biden, and challenger, Trump.[26][27]

Personal life

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Kasie Hunt married NBC News producer Matt Rivera on May 6, 2017.[28] In September 2019, she gave birth to her first child, a boy.[29] In March 2023, she gave birth to her second child, a girl.[30]

In October 2021, Hunt underwent a four-hour surgery for the successful removal of a benign brain tumor.[31][32]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Kasie Hunt, Matthew Rivera". The New York Times. May 7, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  2. ^ "Kasie Hunt Bio". MSNBC.com. October 11, 2017.
  3. ^ "Kasie Hunt on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  4. ^ Georgetown University. "Carly Hunt". Georgetown Hoyas. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  5. ^ University of Maryland, College Park. "Carly Hunt". Maryland Terrapins. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  6. ^ "Alumni Newsmakers". GW Magazine. Fall 2011.
  7. ^ "Kasie Hunt to join AP as political reporter". Townhall. AP. August 19, 2011.
  8. ^ Santora, Joyce E. (May 18, 2017). "Social edition: NBC News/Stoga star Kasie Hunt's wedding (exclusive!) & other Derby Day soirées". Mainline Social. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  9. ^ Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (December 27, 2012). "Political Reporter Kasie Hunt is Leaving the AP for NBC". Observer.
  10. ^ "Kasie Hunt Joins NBC News as Off-Air Political Reporter". BWW TV World. December 27, 2012.
  11. ^ Massella, Nick (September 4, 2014). "Kasie Hunt Named MSNBC Political Correspondent". Adweek.
  12. ^ "Kasie Hunt Gets Her Own MSNBC Sunday Night Program". TVNewser. October 12, 2017.
  13. ^ Paul, Kelley (October 6, 2018). "My husband, Rand Paul, and our family have suffered intimidation and threats". Fox News. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  14. ^ Flood, Brian (November 27, 2017). "MSNBC host sorry for saying assault on Rand Paul one of her favorite stories". Fox News. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  15. ^ Steinberg, Brian (July 16, 2021). "Kasie Hunt Leaving NBC News, MSNBC". Variety.
  16. ^ "Kasie Hunt announces the name of her new show on CNN+".
  17. ^ Hunt, Kasie (February 24, 2022). "Former NBC news correspondent Kasie Hunt announces the name of her new show on CNN+". Instagram. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  18. ^ "Kasie Hunt Joins CNN". CNN Press Room (Press release). CNN. August 10, 2021. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  19. ^ Jackson, Dory (March 29, 2022). "Kasie Hunt Is Ready to Host New CNN+ Series After Recovering from Brain Surgery: 'Really Grateful'". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  20. ^ Newsbusters [@newsbusters] (April 22, 2022). "It's over for @Kasie Hunt. At the end of her Friday show on @CNNPlus, she announced it was the final episode of The Source with Kasie Hunt" (Tweet). Retrieved April 27, 2022 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Johnson, Ted (August 14, 2023). "CNN Unveils Lineup Overhaul: Abby Phillip And Laura Coates Get Nighttime Shows, Phil Mattingly and Kasie Hunt To Host In Mornings". Deadline. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  22. ^ Mwachiro, Mark (September 26, 2023). "Kasie Hunt to Anchor Politics Show on CNN International". Adweek. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  23. ^ Watkins, Ali (April 30, 2024). "Columbia Protesters Rename Hamilton Hall to "Hind's Hall"". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024 – via NYTimes.com.
  24. ^ "Hind Rajab: Were Israeli troops around where the six-year-old was killed?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  25. ^ Mahdawi, Arwa (May 4, 2024). "The adultification of children has consequences from Palestine to the US". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  26. ^ "Days before debate, Trump spokesperson clashes with CNN anchor on air". Politico. June 24, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  27. ^ "CNN's Kasie Hunt cuts off interview with Trump spokesperson over attacks on moderator". The Hill. June 24, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  28. ^ "Kasie Hunt, Matthew Rivera". The New York Times. May 7, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  29. ^ "NBC News correspondent Kasie Hunt, husband Matt Rivera welcome baby boy". Today. September 6, 2019.
  30. ^ Andaloro, Angela (March 3, 2023). "CNN's Kasie Hunt Welcomes Second Baby at Home in the Bathroom After '13-Minute Sudden Labor'". People. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  31. ^ Jackson, Dory (October 15, 2021). "CNN's Kasie Hunt Reveals She Had Surgery to Remove a Benign Brain Tumor: 'Pretty Surreal'". People. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  32. ^ "Kasie Hunt Had Brain Surgery at Penn Medicine Ahead of Her CNN+ Show - Kasie's Story". Penn Medicine. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
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