“CNN This Morning” co-anchor Don Lemon got emotional Monday morning as he announced Griffin's passing.
[according to CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/us/drew-griffin-obit-invs/index.html). In 2015, Griffin won a Peabody Award for leading a CNN investigation into more than a dozen military veterans who had died due to appointment delays at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Griffin won an Emmy Award in 2017 for his coverage of Trump University, the real estate training program operated by former president Donald Trump’s Trump Organization from 2005 until 2010. “It is a very sad morning for the CNN family here because there is no one we’d rather have sitting with us right now than our award-winning senior investigative correspondent, and that is Drew Griffin,” Lemon later said. [>> Read more trending news](/news/trending/) “A highly acclaimed investigative journalist, Drew’s work had incredible impact and embodied the mission of this organization in every way.”
His reporting on delayed care for military veterans at Veterans Affairs hospitals led to the resignation of the secretary of the department.
Mr. In 2017, Mr. In January 1994, Mr. Licht noted that Mr. Griffin joined CBS 2 News in Los Angeles, where he was a reporter and anchor, and helped create an investigative reporting team. Griffin earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and began his career in journalism as a reporter and cameraman for WICD-TV in Champaign, Ill. [Michael James Griffin](https://www.hjfunerals.com/obituaries/2020/05/22/michael-james-griffin/), served in the Army and later worked as a civil engineer with the Cook County, Ill., Highway Department. Griffin led a team that investigated the deaths of at least 19 military veterans after their appointments at Veterans Affairs hospitals had been delayed. The cause was not immediately made public, but Mr. “Drew’s death is a devastating loss to CNN and our entire profession,” Mr. He cared about seeking the truth and holding the powerful to account.” Chris Licht, CNN’s chief executive, announced the death in an email to staff members on Monday.
CNN investigative reporter Drew Griffin, who died of cancer, was remembered as a 'tenacious, curious, honest, dedicated and kind' colleague.
“So many of us are gutted by his loss. He was admired by all of us @cnn.” ... May he Rest In Peace.” Don Lemon of “CNN This Morning” broke down in tears while reporting Griffin’s death live on air alongside co-anchor Kaitlan Collins, who praised their late co-worker as “a gifted storyteller.” “He was tenacious, curious, honest, dedicated and kind. “Drew’s work had incredible impact and embodied the mission of this organization in every way,” Licht said.
CNN investigative journalist Drew Griffin has died at the age of 60. His colleagues Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper reacted on air to the announcement.
Don Lemon teared up on air when reporting on the death of Griffin, apologizing as he wiped away the tears when talking about his friend. Griffin earned four Emmys during his career for his work on: reporting on faults at the Ford Motor Company that resulted in deaths, the CNN documentary How to Rob a Bank, an Anderson Cooper 360 segment Hidden Spending, and his investigation of Trump University. Decades long CNN investigative journalist Drew Griffin has died at the age of 60 from cancer, CNN reports.
Drew Griffin spent nearly two decades at CNN and won a Peabody Award for an investigation into fatal delays at veteran hospitals that led to legislative ...
His [mother](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/judith-griffin-obituary?id=34218857), a lawyer, served as a lead lawyer in the Illinois state appellate research division. A communications graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he began his career as a reporter and cameraman for WICD-TV in Illinois and later in Florida, Washington and South and North Carolina. Griffin pushing Palin on a report that found she had made an [ ethics violation ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/sarah-palin-emails/post/background-troopergate/2011/06/09/AGrOxuNH_blog.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_15)in her handling of the firing of her estranged brother-in-law, an incident that became known as “Troopergate.” “We were bringing in the money,” [the instructor](https://edition.cnn.com/videos/cnnmoney/2017/03/31/trump-university-settlement-griffin-lead-sot.cnn) shared with Mr. A compilation video prepared by CNN showed subjects slamming doors in his face, or walking — or even running — away to avoid him. [of Trump University](https://www.cnn.com/videos/cnnmoney/2017/03/31/trump-university-settlement-griffin-lead-sot.cnn). [A Fatal Wait](http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/23/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html?iref=allsearch),” in which Mr. While reporting on Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017, he In Somalia, he covered a devastating famine, in Singapore he reported on illegal drift net fishermen and in El Salvador he narrated stories of gang members. Mr. Griffin and his team revealed how a Veterans Affairs hospital in Arizona falsified records to hide the prolonged waiting times. The name is Louis, not Louise.
The Phoenix VA hospital officials had been keeping a secret list to hide a backlog of patients waiting for care, some for as long as nine months. At the time, ...
“They were doing the run-around to management.” “A lot of times they told us we were wrong.” And he forced those in power to see it, too. Huge honors, but the one that meant the most to Drew was The Fourth Estate Award from The American Legion – from the veteran community itself. “Until those stories started to run, most of America trusted the VA, unnecessarily. So it was important to reveal the dysfunction which, at worst, can cost people their lives.” We call it keeping them honest.” Either it will be good, or it might be bad, but it will never be the same,” DeWenter said. The VA was even paying bonuses to senior staff whose facilities saw veterans within a timely manner. But eventually new management came in and DeWenter said the environment completely changed. In 2015, there was no avoiding the award ceremonies. DeWenter, Drew and Bronstein would meet several times as she provided background information, her identity shielded in his stories.