Open VISIONS Forum: Kaitlan Collins- Sunday, November 12 at 3 P.M.

“I never thought I’d be covering the White House for CNN,” admitted Kaitlan Collins. She was thrown into the lion’s den of Washington media at age 27.  “So when people say, ‘Don’t make plans; don’t have expectations,’ I am living proof of that. It’s so important to be ready for whatever is going to be thrown at you.”

Forbes commented, at the time, on how well Collins had “flourished in her new role.” For a young media star she admitted, “I think the best way to earn the respect of your colleagues – not just within your own team but with the entire White House press corps – is to be well-read on what’s going on and to have good reporting.”

The Alabama native joined CNN in 2017 and a year later was already temporarily banned from the Oval Office for asking the president questions he didn’t feel were appropriate. “It didn’t take long,” she joked about the ousting.

The whiplash-inducing news cycle of this year has resulted in Collins working pretty much nonstop while overcoming endless unforeseen challenges. Her meteoric rise was marked when broadcast journalism’s prodigy left her White House beat for bigger challenges. Collins co-anchored CNN This Morning and now is the anchor her own primetime show The Source with Kaitlan Collins, airing weeknights on CNN. Since joining the network in 2017, Collins has broken several stories in her coverage of both the Biden and Trump administrations, including major staff departures and consequential policy decisions.

Collins is included in Mediaite's list of the 50 most influential people in news media. She was also named to Crain's NewsPro's 12 to Watch in TV News in January of 2019, as well as one of Forbes magazine's "30 under 30: Media" in the same year. She joined CNN from The Daily Caller, where she served as White House Correspondent.  Collins is a graduate of the University of Alabama.