Kaitlan Collins on hosting new CNN show, covering Trump and Biden, loving Alabama football
Fans of Kaitlan Collins will see a lot more of the CNN star — and hear more about her beloved Crimson Tide — beginning today with the debut of the cable news network’s “reimagined” morning show “CNN This Morning.”
Collins, who was named CNN’s chief White House correspondent in January 2021, will now serve as co-anchor with Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow on the network’s “reimagined morning show,” CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Chris Licht announced in September.
It marks Licht’s first major programming move since taking the job in May. The new morning news program, called “CNN This Morning” debuts today, airing every weekday at 5-8 a.m. central. According to the network’s website, the show promises “stories from across the world and refreshing conversations with Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins.”
READ: Kaitlan Collins, a die-hard Alabama football fan, has perfected her gameday routine
Kaitlan Collins talks ‘huge’ differences between Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations
“There is no stronger combination of talent than Don, Poppy and Kaitlan to deliver on our promise of a game-changing morning news program,” Licht said in a CNN release. “They are each uniquely intelligent, reliable and compelling; together they have a rare and palpable chemistry. Combined with CNN’s resources and global newsgathering capabilities, we will offer a smart, bold and refreshing way to start the day.”
Collins became CNN’s youngest-ever chief White House correspondent at 29-years-old and will now serve as co-anchor and chief correspondent for the show. “Since joining CNN in 2017, she has become one of the most influential journalists in the nation due to her tough questions, objective reporting and signature style,” the CNN release said. “Kaitlan has broken numerous stories of consequence from both the Biden and Trump administrations, including significant policy decisions and major staff changes, traveling the globe extensively to report on their presidencies. Collins has also reported on the Senate special election in her home state of Alabama.”
Collins replaced Jim Acosta as chief White House correspondent in 2021. She joined the network in 2017, covering the Trump White House and quickly rising to the top of her field. Collins is from Prattville and graduated from the University of Alabama in 2014.
She recently spoke to AL.com about transitioning from White House correspondent to anchor, covering the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations and representing her die-hard Alabama football fandom on national television as often as possible.
You were named CNN’s chief White House correspondent in January 2021, and now you will serve as co-anchor with Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow on what CNN has called a “reimagined morning show.” Why was this the right time and opportunity to move into this role, away from correspondent work?
Kaitlan Collins: I love reporting, and obviously covering the White House was my pride and joy. I loved doing it. I truly enjoyed doing it. And for a job like that that requires so much of you, you really have to love it. You can’t just kind of like it. You have to be fully passionate about it. But I had also been covering the White House for five-and-a-half years — every year of the Trump presidency, and then a year-and-a-half of Biden — and so I think in life when you get an opportunity, especially one as important as this one, to be part of this reimagined morning show, you kind of have to take it. I really didn’t even think twice about it because I know it’s a new challenge. It’s a different skill-set that I’ll be developing compared to being at the White House. And I’ll still be able to bring that background of reporting from the Whit House, I think, into this new role. That actually was a big selling point for me because now I’ll still be talking to my sources, lawmakers, this group of people I’ve relied on for the last several years. I’ll just be bringing it to the morning show in a more expanded format. We have three hours of television in the morning. And especially at this time, when politics is the number one thing, I think that’s going to be hugely beneficial, bringing that reporting to the anchor desk.
How do you think the pace and stakes of covering two presidencies, which often included live hits and off-the-cuff reporting, helped prepare you for this new role in a daily live television setting?
I think it’s really prepared me because I feel — I don’t want to say completely unflappable — but I do feel that I’ve been battle-tested in that sense, going into these press conferences with Trump where you get a 20-minute heads-up that the president was having a press conference, and of course the topics would range from foreign policy and development in the Middle East to what he had tweeted that morning about a political rival of his. So you were really well-versed in so many different topics, and I think that is something that will translate really well to the morning show because you’re covering so many different things. As we’ve been rehearsing, we’re talking about what’s happening in London with the third prime minister there in seven weeks, but we’re also talking about what’s happening in Pennsylvania and the senate race there. So covering the White House is great preparation for anything, I think, but especially so for this because you’re already used to covering a broad range of topics. You’re used to analyzing and assessing them quickly, and putting it in context for viewers. And that’s what we want to do in the mornings.
How does your daily schedule change? The White House obviously has a public schedule and agenda, but it seems like things can change in a heartbeat, and with breaking news, you can get pulled in so many different directions. What do you expect from a more structured but no less challenging routine as you make this transition?
One thing I’ve been thinking back to is when there was the parade shooting on July 4th, I was actually filling in that day. I was in the anchor chair in the 1 o’clock and 4 o’clock hour. That was the first time I’ve covered something when you in the chair, where you’ve got a few moments to think about what’s happening. You’re the one who is asking those questions, trying to gather accurate information. That’s definitely something that could happen, and you’ve got to be prepared for being the anchor of the morning show.
From the White House when it comes to the schedule perspective, it’s completely different. At the White House, you still had to be prepared for anything. Just because it was a Friday night does not mean news is not going to happen. With this, I think it’s going to be the same way, and you have the responsibility of if something happens in your hour, you are the person that is taking the viewer through what happened, informing them, giving them this context and letting them know why it’s important to their daily life. So the schedule will be completely different because I’ll getting up in the middle of the night. But the job and responsibility is still the same, to a degree.
The contrast seems obvious to the public, but from your vantage point as someone who was there every day, what were the biggest differences between the Trump and Biden administrations, maybe that we might not expect?
There were huge differences. Probably the most tangible one I noticed right away on day one was the relationship between the press office and the press. In any form of government — from the city council to the White House — it’s a naturally tense relationship. You kind of disagree on things. They’re pushing one thing, and you’re asking questions they don’t like. That’s always there. And it certainly existed still with the Biden administration. They did not love my questions all the time. But I think there was a level of professionalism in the press office with the Biden administration that I had not experienced necessarily in the Trump administration. That was the biggest tangible difference.
But when it comes to the president himself, you’re still covering a lot of the same issues. COVID was still an issue with Biden as it was with Trump, in different ways. I was in the room when Trump came out and talked about bleach and sunshine and what COVID was going to look like. But it’s still as important of a topic. Your job remains the same, which is to get information. There’s huge differences in the way that they governed, in their staffing and the day-to-day lives of their West Wing and how they ran. But the job in and of itself still has a similar relationship.
One thing I will say that’s different, and I think this is always interesting to people who aren’t there on a daily basis: Despite all of Trump’s criticisms of the press and CNN, of which there are many, when we were on Air Force One and we’d go on a trip somewhere, he’d usually come to the back of the plane to talk to us off the record. Obviously we could not report what he said, but he’d come back and talk with us all the time. So even though publicly he was really critical of us, he also would come back and chit-chat with us and ask us questions. Biden doesn’t usually come back on the back of the plane. I’ve never seen him come back on Air Force One since I’ve been there. I think he might have done it once.
How do you think your Alabama and Southern background has helped you in the field you’re in? Do you encounter many Southerners in broadcast journalism?
I think it totally helps. Being from the South, you’re naturally chatty. My nickname was “Mouth of the South” when I was growing up because I never shut up and I could talk to anyone. That’s a huge skill in journalism. You’ve got to be comfortable going up to people you don’t know and asking questions and calling them. They think you’re a pest. They think you’re annoying sometimes. They don’t always want you calling them. But you’ve got to call and be able to converse with people and talk to them, whether it’s someone who works in the West Wing or is a voter in Alabama or whatever state when you’re covering an event. And in that way, I think being a Southerner really helps. Also, if you meet someone else who’s from the South and you guys make that connection, I feel like it’s a really strong bond automatically. Southerners trust other Southerners. I think that’s helped me in my reporting. Also, I’ve bonded with lawmakers and people over my Alabama [football fandom]. When you’re talking about something as serious as politics and what’s going on in a policy debate, that’s something you can start the conversation with, like, “Did you see the game Saturday?” It just humanizes the conversation a bit.
Your Alabama football fandom is well-known by now to CNN viewers, certainly those of us in Alabama. When did you begin talking about it on television, and what do you like about sharing that part about yourself with your colleagues and audience?
What I learned being on TV is when I first started at CNN, I tried to be just super professional. I never smiled. I was just delivering a straightforward report from the White House, because I was like, “I must be serious. I’m a White House reporter.” People like learning more about who they’re getting their news from. It takes it to a level where they feel like they can trust you more. It builds credibility, I think. It also reminds people we’re not all from Washington or the east coast or New York. My whole family still lives in Alabama. I talk to them every day. I know what’s at the top of their minds. If gas is really high, my dad will complain about it. I try to bring it up as much as I can, because I think it’s important to remind people that the people bringing you the news are regular, normal people just like those who are watching it.
What is your Alabama football gameday routine now when you can’t be in Tuscaloosa?
So, I’ve perfected the gameday routine. It’s actually becoming problematic as I get older because it’s so unhealthy. On Saturdays, I wake up and…I kind of really started this when I moved to D.C. and I wasn’t surrounded by all my football fan friends all the time. I just assumed, growing up in the South, that everybody got up on Saturdays and watched college football. They don’t, and I learned that when I moved to Washington and people tried to make plans at 3:30 on a Saturday, and I was like, “No, that’s kickoff.” But I wake up, I get Chick-fil-A, and I watch “College GameDay.” And I do that every single Saturday, and I’m convinced if I don’t do it, then I will somehow jinx the team.
What was your gameday routine as a student at UA?
I went to almost every game as a student. We’d always go. We’d sit in the student section, or if my dad came up, I would sit with him. But I lived in a sorority house right across the street from the stadium. They’ve moved them around now because they’re huge, but mine was right there on the corner. So I would wake up on gamedays to a guy on the corner of the street yelling, “Program! Get your program!” That was how you woke up in the morning. You knew it was gameday. And so we’d all get together, we’d go to a friend’s house, we’d put on our jerseys or whatever we were wearing that day, meet up with our families if they set up tailgates and we’d all go to the game. I was there with my brother the other weekend, and I was having so much nostalgia. I was like, I really wish I could be a college student for just one more weekend and just come back and go to a game because you don’t realize how good you have it until you’ve graduated.
How often to you get back for a game in person?
I definitely go every season. I didn’t during COVID. That was probably the first year I haven’t gone back for any games. It was 24/7 at the White House, and the games were limited. I’ve already been back this year. I went to Texas A&M, and I’m definitely going for the Iron Bowl. And we may have a surprise game appearance, so we’ll see.
Now that we’re basically halfway through the 2022 season, what’s your prediction for Alabama the rest of the way?
I’m hesitant to say because I’m so nervous. I was there at the end of Texas A&M. I had a feeling Tennessee was not going to go well for us. I think we have an amazing team. It’s tough to make predictions. I’m not superstitious in any other area of my life. I never check my horoscope. I don’t believe in any of that stuff. But when it comes to college football, I’m a little ‘stitious. But I really want to go the national championship at that new stadium out in L.A. so hopefully it works out in our favor.