“Back in the day, there weren’t a lot of Wolf Blitzers. Today, there are still not a lot of Wolf Blitzers” 

— Dana Bash, host of CNN’s Inside Politics 

By Paige Albiniak

Ted Turner had just hired Wolf Blitzer as CNN’s Pentagon-based military affairs correspondent when the Gulf War started in 1990. Blitzer, who up to that point had been a print reporter for the likes of Reuters and The Jerusalem Post, as well as the author of two books, suddenly found himself globally famous as people tuned in each day to hear his constant stream of up-to-the-minute reports.
“For the first few days at the Pentagon, I thought it was going to be a slow beat because the Cold War was winding down,” Blitzer said. “But on Aug. 1, 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm began. CNN was the only 24/7 televised news channel in the U.S. and around the world. We were the only American news operation that kept its camera crews in Baghdad when the war started. Everyone was risking their lives. That really put CNN on the map.”

Sticking to the Facts
Blitzer reported the news on air, just as he had been reporting the news in print for nearly two decades. “I did what a good journalist always does: I spoke to well-informed sources, I confirmed the facts, I didn’t put anything on the air until I knew it was real and true,” he said.
“Whatever story I was covering, I always wanted to make sure we got it right.”
That simple but effective approach had everyone in the country tuning in.
“[T]he name ‘Wolf’ became synonymous with a CNN Breaking News voice from his nearly 24-hour-a-day reports from the Pentagon,” former CNN CEO Tom Johnson said. “Wolf has met every journalistic challenge with total integrity. Viewers and listeners around the world learned they could trust his voice — especially in years when confidence in media began to decline.”
As journalism has changed around him, Blitzer’s standards have not altered. During his time at the network, he has interviewed every U.S. president since Gerald Ford — including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump — and many major international figures, such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, South African President Nelson Mandela, U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and many more. Viewers have learned to rely on that informed presence whenever major news breaks, including during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“On 9/11, the head of CNN called me around noon and said, ‘Sam, you and your team are going on air tonight and Wolf is going to be our main anchor around the world on all networks from 6 p.m. to midnight,’” Sam Feist, founding executive producer of The Situation Room, former CNN Washington bureau chief and senior vice president, and current CEO of C-SPAN, said. “At that point, Wolf had only been a daily news anchor for like a year. He was extraordinary, a steady presence during a challenging time.”
Some 25 years later, Blitzer remains one of CNN’s central journalists, telling viewers the news and doing deep-dive interviews every weekday on The Situation Room, CNN’s longest-running show. Blitzer has anchored the program since it began in August 2005 when it aired from 3–6 p.m. ET weekdays. In March 2025, CNN moved The Situation Room to 10 a.m.–noon weekdays and added a co-anchor, Pamela Brown, who previously hosted her own show at 11 am ET.

“Wolf has met every journalistic challenge with total integrity. Viewers and listeners around the world learned they could trust his voice — especially in years when confidence in media began to decline.”

— Tom Johnson, former CEO, CNN

Worldwide Recognition
Blitzer has become so synonymous with The Situation Room that even North Korean leaders recognized him from it. In December 2010, Blitzer accompanied former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to North Korea on a diplomatic mission. Blitzer was the only broadcast journalist on the trip.
While Richardson was having a meeting with the North Korean leadership, the foreign minister caught sight of Blitzer standing in the back of the room. He called him to come up and said: “You are as powerful as the president of the United States. You both have situation rooms and there are only two of those in the world.”
What has kept Blitzer at CNN for nearly four decades is his constant practice of credible journalism paired with his likability and respect for everyone he works with, whether they are an intern, a producer or the head of the network.
“Wolf is very unique in his ability to do all the things that one needs to do to get to where he is and become Wolf Blitzer, and still be a kind, generous and good soul,” said Dana Bash, host of CNN’s Inside Politics and co-anchor with Jake Tapper of Sunday morning political talk show State of the Union. ”Back in the day, there weren’t a lot of Wolf Blitzers. Today, there are still not a lot of Wolf Blitzers.”