CNN’s Jessica Dean named Anchor for Primetime Weekend Edition of CNN Newsroom 

Jessica Dean has been named CNN Anchor/Correspondent, the network announced today. In this new role, Dean will host the primetime weekend edition of CNN Newsroom based in New York City, while continuing her extensive political reporting as a seasoned and tenacious correspondent in the field.   

Dean previously served as a congressional correspondent on Capitol Hill, playing an integral role in CNN’s political coverage while also serving as a substitute anchor for CNN’s dayside programming on CNN News Central, CNN Newsroom, CNN This Morning, Inside Politics and more, where she led coverage for historic breaking news, notably including the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump and Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel.  

Prior to this, Dean spent nearly two years following President Biden’s presidential campaign and traveling across the country, covering the first modern presidential campaign to take place during a global pandemic. She also covered the Biden transition, reporting extensively from their headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.  

Dean joined CNN in 2018 as a Washington correspondent. Prior to that, she worked at KYW-TV in Philadelphia where she co-anchored the weekday evening newscasts. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Dean also previously covered Arkansas politics and the state legislature as an anchor and reporter in Little Rock. She began her career as a general assignment reporter in Fort Smith, Arkansas and graduated in 2006 from the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism with a degree in broadcast journalism.