PERSON: Leyla Santiago
Position
Correspondent
Biography
Leyla Santiago is a correspondent for CNN based in Miami and has been at the forefront of CNN’s coverage on natural disasters, immigration, the Covid-19 pandemic, politics, and the relationship between the United States and Latin America.
After her extensive coverage of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Santiago was nominated for a Peabody Award and her team won an Edward R. Murrow award. She was one of the first to reach some of the most remote parts of the island after the hurricane. Officials added more cases to the list of hurricane-related deaths after her investigation exposed inaccuracies in the government’s low death toll.
More recently, during coverage of Hurricane Ian in Florida, Santiago was the first journalist to broadcast live from Sanibel Island. Her reports shed light on the aftermath of the hurricane and gave voice to devastated low-income communities.
In 2020, Santiago joined CNN’s political team to report from the campaign trail. She covered the presidential bids of Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Senator Elizabeth Warren and captured the campaigns’ courtship of voters, focusing on the issues that mattered most to communities across the country.
In April of 2018, Santiago spent nearly a month traveling through Mexico with a caravan of migrants thrust into the national spotlight after President Trump tweeted about the group. Santiago introduced viewers to the families of the caravan and explained the complexities of U.S. immigration laws. She also garnered the prestigious Alfred I. DuPont award for the documentary, The Journey Alone,” about the surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America and Mexico crossing the U.S southern border in 2014.
Santiago was named to Crain’s NewsPro’s 12 to Watch in TV News in 2019.
Before joining CNN, Santiago reported as a journalist for WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina, KBAK/KBFX in Bakersfield, California, KTUU in Anchorage, Alaska, and for NBC29 in Charlottesville, Virginia. She is a proud graduate of the University of Florida.
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After her extensive coverage of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Santiago was nominated for a Peabody Award and her team won an Edward R. Murrow award. She was one of the first to reach some of the most remote parts of the island after the hurricane. Officials added more cases to the list of hurricane-related deaths after her investigation exposed inaccuracies in the government’s low death toll.
More recently, during coverage of Hurricane Ian in Florida, Santiago was the first journalist to broadcast live from Sanibel Island. Her reports shed light on the aftermath of the hurricane and gave voice to devastated low-income communities.
In 2020, Santiago joined CNN’s political team to report from the campaign trail. She covered the presidential bids of Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Senator Elizabeth Warren and captured the campaigns’ courtship of voters, focusing on the issues that mattered most to communities across the country.
In April of 2018, Santiago spent nearly a month traveling through Mexico with a caravan of migrants thrust into the national spotlight after President Trump tweeted about the group. Santiago introduced viewers to the families of the caravan and explained the complexities of U.S. immigration laws. She also garnered the prestigious Alfred I. DuPont award for the documentary, The Journey Alone,” about the surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America and Mexico crossing the U.S southern border in 2014.
Santiago was named to Crain’s NewsPro’s 12 to Watch in TV News in 2019.
Before joining CNN, Santiago reported as a journalist for WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina, KBAK/KBFX in Bakersfield, California, KTUU in Anchorage, Alaska, and for NBC29 in Charlottesville, Virginia. She is a proud graduate of the University of Florida.
ClipsBank (19)
Full
Compact
02/15/2023: CNN: Hundreds Protest Against Florida Gov. DeSantis’ Plan to Ban AP African-American Studies Course
Views: 5
Purchases: 1
0:03:23
12/16/2021: CNN Airs Segment on Organization ‘Mom’s For Liberty’ About School Curriculum, CRT, and Mandates (clip)
Views: 1
Purchases: 0
0:07:16
12/16/2021: CNN Airs Segment on Organization ‘Mom’s For Liberty’ About School Curriculum, CRT, and Mandates
Views: 3
Purchases: 1
0:07:16
![Media: It’s Time to Topple Mount Rushmore [Supercut]](https://storagealpha7.grabien.com/clipsbank/0963/framelarge/963467.jpg)
07/05/2020: Media: It’s Time to Topple Mount Rushmore [Supercut]
Views: 21,905
Purchases: 9
0:01:34
07/03/2020: CNN: Mount Rushmore Features ‘Two Slave Owners’ and Is on Land Taken from Native Americans (clip)
Views: 0
Purchases: 0
0:03:37
07/03/2020: CNN: Mount Rushmore Features ‘Two Slave Owners’ and Is on Land Taken from Native Americans (clip)
Views: 0
Purchases: 0
0:03:37
07/03/2020: CNN: Mount Rushmore Features ‘Two Slave Owners’ and Is on Land Taken from Native Americans
Views: 70
Purchases: 4
0:03:37
11/01/2019: CNN: Beto O’Rourke Drops Out of 2020 Presidential Race
Views: 7
Purchases: 0
0:03:47
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