Actor / Director Profile

CNN's main anchor in Washington, D.C., Shaw, who co-anchored "The International Hour" and "The World Today" (1992), made a name for himself in the 1988 U.S. presidential debates when he shocked candidate Michael Dukakis with his opening question asking if Dukakis would drop his opposition to the death penalty if his wife were raped and killed. It is thought that Dukakis, being caught off-guard and responding meekly, lost a lot of momentum and support. Shaw, in an interview later that year, angered vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle by asking him if he had joined the National Guard out of fear of being drafted and killed in Vietnam. Before joining CNN, Shaw worked at ABC news for three years, during which time he was a senior Capitol Hill correspondent and bureau chief. He was one of the first reporters on scene at the Jonestown, Guyana, mass suicide, as well as being on the scene early during the 1979 Tehran hostage crisis. He began his career at WNUS in Chicago, Illinois, one of the country's first all-news radio stations.