Rick Sanchez

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Rick Sanchez (born Ricardo Sanchez on July 3, 1958) is an anchor/correspondent on CNN and presently serves as a contributor to Anderson Cooper 360°. Based in the network’s world headquarters in Atlanta, Sanchez was instrumental in the network’s Peabody award winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina. He anchored the networks coverage for eight hours as the levees broke in New Orleans and filed live reports from the flooding the next day.

Sanchez was also among the first journalist on the scene after the September 11 terrorist attack on New York City filing live reports from the scene in New York as the south tower crashed to the ground.

Throughout his career, the Emmy Award winning Sanchez has pushed the envelope and has helped redefine the role of TV Journalist. He was one of the nation’s first Cuban American news anchors, made broadcast history with two shows on two mediums in two languages,[link] and has covered a multitude of national and international stories. Sanchez, at 22, was the youngest television anchor in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale TV market when he was appointed as weekend anchor at WSVN (formally WCKT) in 1982.

The son of Cuban immigrants who immigrated to the United States in the 1950’s, Sanchez grew up in the city of Hialeah, Florida. He graduated from Hialeah High School in 1977 and accepted a football scholarship to Moorhead State University in Minnesota. He transferred to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on a CBS/WCCO Journalism Scholarship in 1979.

Sanchez reported on major events across the United States and around the world, including on-the-scene coverage of Hurricane Andrew and the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Sanchez has also reported on wars in Afghanistan and Nicaragua, the invasion of Grenada and the fall of the Duvalier regime in Haiti. Additionally, Sanchez has traveled to report live from Havana, Cuba, numerous times.

Before joining CNN, Sanchez worked for MSNBC and was a longtime popular anchor on Miami's WSVN 7.

Sanchez is married with four children.

Highlights

Sanchez was born in Guanabacoa, Cuba.
He attended Mae M. Walters Elementary School in Hialeah, Florida.
He attended Henry H. Filer Middle School in Hialeah, Florida.
He attended Hialeah High School in Hialeah, Florida.
He worked as a delivery truck loader and as a Hialeah Parks and Recreation youth mentor.
Earned a football scholarhip to Moorhead State Univeristy in Minnesota (wide receiver).
Transferred to the University of Minnesota after earning a CBS journalism scholarship.
Sanchez began his broadcasting career at KCMT in Alexandria, Minnesota, while still in college.
Began working at WSVN in Miami, Florida in 1982. Became Weekend Anchor shortly thereafter.
Briefly worked for KHOU in Houston, Texas in mid 1980's.
Sanchez was hired at MSNBC in 2001.
Won an Emmy for a series entitled "Cuando sali de Cuba" (When I left Cuba), documenting his transformation from young non-English speaking Cuban immigrant to American television reporter.
Sanchez was one of the first reporters on scene during 9/11.

External links

[CNN staff biography]

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