Susan Rook (born ) is a journalist best known for her years as a

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

anchor and original host of CNN's Talkback Live. Rook started anchoring overnight news cutins, then moved up to more visible anchor assignments: co-anchoring "Newsnight" with Patrick Emory and later '' PrimeNews'' and "Evening News" (later renamed to World News), co-anchoring with

Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

and later hosting the topical daily talk show '' TalkBack Live''. Rook was one of the three panelists, along with

Helen Thomas Helen Amelia Thomas (August 4, 1920 – July 20, 2013) was an American reporter and author, and a long-serving member of the White House press corps. She covered the White House during the administrations of ten U.S. presidents—from th ...

and Gene Gibbons, in the 3rd

1992 United States presidential election The 1992 United States presidential election was the United States presidential election, presidential election, held in the United States, on November 3, 1992. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of governor of Arkansas B ...

debate with then president

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and future president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. She was also a general assignment reporter in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and Ft Myers, FL before coming to CNN. She is a graduate of

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

She originally turned down the offer to Anchor on CNN. She took the job after the News Director in New Orleans spiked her investigative story about political corruption. She turned the story over to Ron Ridenhour (an investigative reporter for City Business). Ridenhour was the soldier who sent the letter to Congress that sparked the investigation into the My Lai Massacre.

Early life

Susan Rook was born to Bill, a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

psychologist, and Edie, a teacher; her brother Bill was born about a year earlier. She was homeschooled for much of her young life and skipped 6th and 12th grades. As a result, she was younger than normal when she began attending

Career

Rook was a reporter for WBBH-TV in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

, and

WVUE-TV WVUE-DT (channel 8) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. Owned by Gray Media, the station maintains primary studios on Howard Avenue in New Orleans, with a s ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, before she was hired at

in 1987. On October 19, 1992, Rook was a panelist, alongside Gene Gibbons of

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

and

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

, for the third debate of the 1992 presidential election, hosted by

Jim Lehrer James Charles Lehrer ( ; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. He was the executive editor and a news anchor for the ''PBS News Hour'' on PBS and was known for his role as a debate ...

of '' The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. Rook was inducted into

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...

, the National Leadership Honor Society at

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

in 1994 as an ''honoris causa'' initiate. At CNN, Rook co-hosted ''

CNN PrimeNews Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a Television station, TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a ...

'' with

and was the host of '' Talkback Live'' from its inception in 1994. Rook left CNN in 1997. She hosted a panel on education for the Republican Governors Association in November 1998. Rook was a part of the coverage of the

millennium celebrations The millennium celebrations were a worldwide, coordinated series of events to celebrate and commemorate the end of 1999 and the start of the year 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. The celebrations were held as marking the end of the 2nd millennium, ...

for PBS in 1999–2000.

Personal life

Rook married Ed Turner, former executive vice president of CNN, in 1993. They divorced in 1994. Turner died of cancer in 2002. Rook is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict.

References

External links

CNN biography entry

C-Span Presidential Debate analysis interview of Susan Rook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rook, Susan American television news anchors Living people George Mason University alumni CNN people 1961 births