Victor Blackwell Settles In As Co-Anchor Of CNN's Weekday ...

The former Milford Mill Academy class president and Howard University graduate got emotional at the end of his rebuke and his poignant commentary garnered national attention. But on a daily basis it’s been Blackwell’s poise, preparedness, and interview skills—like when a Texas legislator suggested he should read his education bill and he lifted up his own highlighted copy of the proposed law—that set him apart behind the desk.

With CNN since 2012, Blackwell earned a well-deserved promotion last April from weekend co-host to afternoon co-anchor of CNN Newsroom. Not that it’s been an easy path. He’s paid his dues, starting as an overnight assistant at WBAL Radio while in high school, and then as a reporter and anchor in Hagerstown and Jacksonville, Florida. He later became the first Black lead television anchor at WPBF in West Palm Beach before CNN scooped him up.

We caught up with Blackwell to ask him about his career, the state of broadcast journalism, and how his deep Baltimore roots inform his work.

Can you recount the scene on set after Trump’s tweet attacking Rep. Cummings and Baltimore hit Twitter? We had a nine o’clock break and then we were back on at 10 a.m. I saw the tweet and I knew Rep. Cummings well because I was a participant in his youth program in Israel. When I saw it, the word “infested” jumped off the screen at me. I remember the president having used it in reference to The Squad [Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib] a couple of weeks prior. I did a simple search and saw how many times he has used the word “infested” and found it in reference to Ebola and to sanctuary cities in California, and that was it—in the entire eight-to-nine years of the account.

I told my producer I was going to write something in the break and I wanted to highlight when the president uses this. Then I thought, “Should I take the next step and talk about the district and idea that no human being would want to live there?” I went back and forth. But I decided there was really no one else in my position, on a national network at that point, who could speak from the 7th District, so I decided to. The emotion was a surprise to me because I do my best not to let my emotions carry me away. So I held back, which is why I was as silent on air for as long as I was. Trying not to continue with a cracked voice. But I wrote that myself, in probably about 10-to-15 minutes.

And your first broadcast gig was the morning announcements at Milford Mill? Well, I did the morning announcements at Woodlawn Middle School, too. But yeah, I found a little theme song on a cassette that I’d play into the microphone before I started the announcements.

Why Howard University? My mom always gave me three options as a kid: “You can take a job and take care of yourself. You can join the Army and Uncle Sam can take care of you. Or you can go to college and I’ll take care of you.” I chose college. She tried to talk me into Howard because she knew of the alumni. When I started choosing, she said, “You can go to any school you want. I’ll pay for any HBCU you choose.”

Your mother sounds like the kind of mom who never missed a school play. My mom literally texts me after every show.