Brian Abel has been promoted to CNN anchor and correspondent, the network announced Thursday.
In this new role, Abel will appear across CNN platforms, including CNN, CNNi and CNN Headlines, the network’s domestic FAST channel, to deliver up-to-the-minute reporting while continuing to anchor on a fill-in basis across CNN.
Abel was previously a correspondent for CNN Newsource, based in Washington, D.C., reporting for the network’s more than 1,000 affiliate partners. Since joining the network, Abel has extensively covered the White House, the 2024 election, multiple hurricanes, the early 2026 unrest in Minneapolis, and the attack on a Michigan synagogue.
He has also served as a fill-in anchor and was a key part of the CNN team nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Breaking News Coverage for Hurricane Milton.
Before joining CNN, Abel was an Emmy Award-winning evening anchor for WXYZ, where he covered political stories across metro Detroit. He secured multiple one-on-one interviews with presidential candidates during the 2020 election cycle and led coverage of major breaking news stories, including the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the mass shootings at Oxford High School and Michigan State University.
In 2020, Abel was honored with an Emmy Award by the Michigan chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for “Connected in Crime: Detroit to West Virginia,” which highlighted the consequences of and prevention efforts surrounding a drug pipeline.
