Brianna Keilar, the political correspondent and news anchor for CNN, is one of the top American news anchors. With her gritty reporting style and beauty, she has made fans all around the world.

Brianna Keilar was the homecoming queen in highschool

Brianna Marie Keilar was born on September 21, 1980, in Canberra, Australia. She was born to father Glenn and mother Marian Keilar. In 1982, her family moved to Orange County, California, where she would spend her childhood. 

She graduated from Mission Viejo High School in 1998, and in her senior year, she was voted the homecoming queen.

Brianna Marie Keilar anchoring for CNN.

Keilar graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001 where she joined the Phi Beta Kappa Society. She graduated with a dual bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and Psychology. 

She saw her future in journalism and after graduation, she worked as an intern and production assistant at KTVU Channel 2, a CNN and FOX affiliate in Oakland, California. After the internship, she worked as general assignment reporter at KIMA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Yakima, Washington. She also worked in a radio show as a weekend news reader and morning show personality.

Brianna Keilar’s time with CNN

In 2003, Keilar moved to New York and became the anchor, reporter, and producer for CBS newscast on mtvU that aired on MTV’s college network. She also was the fill-in anchor for CBS News’s overnight newscast, Up To The Minute and also a freelance reporter for CBS Evening News. 

She joined CNN in 2006 as a correspondent for the CNN Newsource where she provided the breaking news from the nation’s capital for 800 CNN Newsource partner stations. 

Brianna Keilar writing at a desk, there's a CNN mug on the table

She became the general assignment correspondent for CNN and she covered many interesting stories. During the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, she was the first CNN correspondent on the scene. She acquired a good reputation and was made the congressional correspondent for CNN. Keilar was responsible for covering the activities of both the U.S House and Senate.

In fall of 2008, she covered the $700 billion bank bailout. She also worked as the senior White House correspondent reporting on the Obama administration from the government shutdown to ObamaCare. In the 2016 presidential campaign, she covered Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.

Brianna Keilar’s personal life and accomplishments

Brianna Keilar has married twice in her life. Her first marriage was to Dave French. They got married in 2009 in Sedona, Arizona. Her first marriage came to an end but she found herself a better fitting match in 2016 as she married Fernando Lujan. Brianna does not have any children yet.

Brianna Keilar smiles for a picture in arms of her husband

Brianna was awarded the National Press Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress in 2008 for her coverage of the $700 billion bank bailout. She was also awarded the Aldo Beckman Memorial Award for her coverage of the Obama administration from the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2014.