Laura Bernardini is the Vice President of News for CNN/U.S. In this role, Bernardini oversees all of CNN’s National Desk. Her teams are responsible for in-depth reporting and coverage of national stories and rapid responses to breaking news including the national coverage of the global coronavirus pandemic along with the protests throughout the United States in the Spring of 2020.

A CNN veteran of almost 25 years, Bernardini most recently was the director of coverage for the Washington, D.C. Assignment Desk and Live Production Team, and had served as the Supervising Producer of CNN’s White House Unit. She has produced coverage of several elections, including CNN’s 2008 election coverage which won a Peabody Award and CNN’s 2012 election coverage which won an Emmy Award. She has also produced CNN’s Emmy Award winning coverage of the Death of George Floyd in 2020 and Roger Stone’s arrest in 2019.

Bernardini has extensive experience producing in the field. Starting as a field producer for the network’s coverage in Tallahassee of the Gore/Bush recount in 2000. She worked with CNN Special Events to cover the funeral of Pope John Paul II and she was one of the on-site managers covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, of which she was part of CNN’s Peabody Award winning coverage. Bernardini spent six years as John King’s senior producer, including the 50-state tour of his first program “State of the Union.”

Bernardini graduated from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature/Letters. She has earned an Executive Master’s Degree in Leadership from the McDonough Business School at Georgetown University, and a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell.