ABOUT THE GUESTS
John
Avlon
Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Beast & CNN Political Analyst
John Avlon is an author, columnist and commentator. He is a senior political analyst and fill-in anchor at CNN, appearing on New Day every morning. From 2013 to 2018, he was the editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast, during which time the site’s traffic more than doubled to over one million readers a day while winning 17 journalism awards. He is the author of the books Independent Nation, Wingnuts, and Washington’s Farewell as well as co-editor of the acclaimed Deadline Artists journalism anthologies. Avlon served as chief speechwriter to New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and won the National Society of Newspaper Columnists award for best online column in 2012.
Al
Hunt
Bloomberg Opinion columnist, Bloomberg News
Hunt joined Bloomberg News in January, 2005. Al became a regular feature reporter for the long-running talk show Charlie Rose (1991) with the segment “Al Hunt on the Story” in October, 2014. In addition, Hunt not only is a member of the Wake Forest board of trustees, the board of the Children’s Charities in Washington, and the advisory board of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University, but also has taught a course on the press and politics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communications. Among the awards Al has won are a Raymond Clapper Award for Washington reporting in 1976, the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism from the University of South Dakota in 1995, and a national citation from the William Allen White Foundation in 1999. He’s the co-author of the books The American Elections of 1980, The American Elections of 1982, The American Elections of 1984, and Elections American Style. Married to news anchor Judy Woodruff since 1980, Hunt is the father of three children: Daughter Lauren Ann and sons Jeffrey and Benjamin.
Chris
Matthews
Host of "Hardball with Chris Matthews," MSNBC
Chris Matthews, a Philadelphia native, is an American journalist and political commentator best known as the host of Hardball with Chris Matthews, a nightly talk show on the television news network MSNBC.