Brian Abel joins CNN as a correspondent for CNN Newsource

Brian Abel

Brian Abel joins CNN as a correspondent for CNN Newsource, reporting for the network’s more than 1,000 affiliate partners, the network announced today. He will be based in Washington, D.C.

Before joining CNN, Abel was an Emmy-winning evening anchor for WXYZ, also covering political stories for metro Detroit. He secured multiple one-on-one interviews with the presidential candidates during 2020, and he led breaking news stories, including the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and the deadly 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 highlighting the consequences and prevention efforts of a drug pipeline in “Connected in Crime: Detroit to West Virginia.”

Previously, Abel reported for Scripps sister station KSHB in Kansas City, where he was the lead reporter during the 2016 elections. He also served as a reporter in Fargo, North Dakota for WDAY and served as the primary anchor for WDAZ in Grand Forks.

Abel graduated from Western Michigan with a degree in journalism.