David Culver

Senior National Correspondent

David Culver is a senior national correspondent for CNN Worldwide, based at the network's Los Angeles bureau.
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David Culver Profile
David Culver Profile
CNN

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Officers detain migrants near the US-Mexico border on April 10.
Evelio Contreras/CNN
These are the border officers that migrants fear – and they are not the Americans
Apr 12, 2024
From blocking holes in the wall to launching 24/7 desert patrols, Mexico is introducing new measures to cut undocumented border crossings.
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See inside Mexico’s new border security site 1:15
Apr 12, 2024
To curb the amount of people illegally crossing the US/Mexico border, Mexican authorities have built temporary bases equipped with cots and kitchens at locations where migrants have been known to easily pass through.
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CNN
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See what happened after CNN crew arrives in Haiti 5:34
Apr 2, 2024
CNN senior international correspondent David Culver reports on the situation inside Haiti after he faced days of difficult logistics getting access due to mounting unrest in the Caribbean nation.
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Exclusive: Americans trying to escape Haiti are facing dangerous journeys 3:03
Mar 24, 2024
As Haiti teeters on the brink of collapse, the US is ramping up evacuation flights from the capital city, Port-au-Prince. CNN followed one of the early flights out of the country.
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‘Oh my God’: Women shield children’s eyes from horrific scene in Haiti 4:27
Mar 22, 2024
CNN’s David Culver reports on community-led vigilante killings in Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince amid rising gang violence.
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Evelio Contreras/CNN
Carnage on the streets of Port-au-Prince as world stalls on a promised intervention for Haiti
Mar 22, 2024
Human remains lie in the streets of the Haitian capital, yet a multinational security mission long touted by the country’s neighbors as a gamechanger for its gang problem is nowhere to be found.
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Charred bodies line the streets amidst gang violence in Haiti 0:59
Mar 21, 2024
With police overrun and overwhelmed, communities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti are defending themselves from gang violence the only way they know how. CNN’s David Culver reports on community-led vigilante killings in the country’s capital city.
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CNN
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Machete-wielding militias in Haiti take on gangs in battle for control 4:35
Mar 19, 2024
Criminal groups have been attacking with unprecedented coordination in Haiti, a moment marking a culmination of years of growing gang control and popular unrest in the country. CNN’s David Culver reports on how vigilante groups are taking matters into their own hands.
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Evelio Contreras/CNN
Vigilantes battle gangs in Port-au-Prince as Haiti’s elites vie for power
Mar 19, 2024
The wide road that passes in front of Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport has a post-apocalyptic stillness these days. Where cars and crowds of people once massed, only tendrils of smoke rise from smoldering piles of trash, sending a bitter taste into the air.
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CNN
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See where kids in Haiti are turning for shelter amid surge of gang violence 1:46
Mar 18, 2024
CNN’s David Culver visits a school in Haiti’s capital that has been transformed into a shelter for those fleeing rampant gang violence.
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She’s a ‘child raising a child’ after being raped on the street 4:44
Mar 16, 2024
Gang violence has ripped through the lives of children in Haiti. CNN’s David Culver uncovers the violent reality of what’s happening on the ground, speaking to a rape victim, a girl shot while playing and a teen forced to burn bodies.
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CNN
Inside Haiti: A lucky few escape, while millions face gang rule, hunger and chaos
Mar 16, 2024
The only thing coming into Haiti’s violent capital Port-au-Prince are the private evacuation helicopters – a bitter reminder of the inequality that has plagued Haiti for decades.
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CNN
Four children in Haiti describe harrowing stories of survival
Mar 9, 2024
One made to burn dead bodies. Another raped as she searched for food. Chilling details emerge in interviews with children and teenagers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
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14-year-old gang member was recruited at 11. How innocence is shattered for many in Haiti’s gangland 6:14
Mar 5, 2024
Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil for years and gangs are tightening their grip. CNN’s David Culver explains why many fear the country is on the brink of exploding.
People drive past a burning blockade as demonstrators hold a protest calling for the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry outside the Canadian Embassy, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti February 25 2024. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol
Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters
Gangs rule Haiti’s capital. Some say they’re ready to overthrow the government too
Mar 5, 2024
Haiti’s gangs treat human life as a commodity, kidnapping and killing thousands to seize control of an estimated 80% of capital city Port-au-Prince.
José Adolfo Macías is one of Ecuador’s most notorious gangsters and is the only founding member of the Los Choneros gang who is still alive.
Ecuadorean Armed Forces/AFP/Getty Images
Ecuador’s most notorious gang leader lived ‘like a king’ while locked up. His jailbreak shines a light on the country’s lawless prisons
Feb 21, 2024
Ecuador’s prison system has turned into the headquarters for criminal groups that have amassed foot soldiers and influence across the country, say experts. In less than a decade, organized crime has turned the relatively peaceful country into one of the most dangerous places in Latin America.

About

David Culver is a senior national correspondent for CNN Worldwide, based at the network’s Los Angeles bureau. Culver’s award-winning work has played a central role in CNN’s coverage around the world. Most recently, Culver has reported on the ongoing migration crisis from the U.S.-Mexico border and delivered an hour special with immersive reporting on psychedelics from Jamaica. Culver was previously based in Beijing and was responsible for covering major news stories from China and the Asia-Pacific region.

In China, Culver reported on the coronavirus and the country’s unprecedented containment measures, remaining within China’s near sealed off borders for more than two and a half years. His coverage included traveling to the original epicenter of Wuhan and living through the punishing Shanghai lockdown. His reporting at the start of the outbreak, and while in the midst of hotel quarantine, led to Culver being recognized with three of the most prestigious awards in journalism: the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in TV Journalism, the Overseas Press Club of America’s David Kaplan award and the George Polk Award, marking the first time in the 73-year history of the Awards that the top honor for Foreign Reporting went to a television report.

Culver has also reported on China’s alleged human rights abuses and in 2021 he and his team traveled to Xinjiang to investigate the separation of children from their families. Culver’s work in China also includes coverage of the controversial 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the U.S-China trade war, the NBA controversy, and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, chronicling the military and economic superpower’s rapid rise.

Prior to joining CNN, Culver was an anchor and reporter for NBC Washington, covering crime, politics and education. He also reported on multiple national breaking news events, covering the Parkland Florida school shooting, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and various hurricanes that ravaged parts of the US.

Of Cuban-American descent, Culver has traveled multiple times to Cuba, reporting on the reopening of the U.S. Embassy, Pope Francis’ visit and the death of Fidel Castro. He also produced a 30-minute Emmy award winning documentary, “Rediscovering Cuba: A Journey Home”, which chronicles his mother and grandmother’s return to their native Cuba more than 50 years after they fled the island-nation. Before NBC Washington, Culver was an anchor and reporter for WAVY-TV in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Culver graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Hispanic Studies from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He minored in Middle Eastern Studies and studied Arabic. He is fluent in Spanish.