Brakkton Booker
Brakkton Booker is a National Desk reporter based in Washington, DC.
He covers a wide range of topics including issues related to federal social safety net programs and news around the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
His reporting takes him across the country covering natural disasters, like hurricanes and flooding, as well as tracking trends in regional politics and in state governments, particularly on issues of race.
Following the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Booker's reporting broadened to include a focus on young activists pushing for changes to federal and state gun laws, including the March For Our Lives rally and national school walkouts.
Prior to joining NPR's national desk, Booker spent five years as a producer/reporter for NPR's political unit. He spent most to the 2016 presidential campaign cycle covering the contest for the GOP nomination and was the lead producer from the Trump campaign headquarters on election night. Booker served in a similar capacity from the Louisville campaign headquarters of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014. During the 2012 presidential campaign, he produced pieces and filed dispatches from the Republican and Democratic National conventions, as well as from President Obama's reelection site in Chicago.
In the summer of 2014, Booker took a break from politics to report on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
Booker started his career as a show producer working on nearly all of NPR's magazine programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and former news and talk show Tell Me More, where he produced the program's signature Barbershop segment.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University and was a 2015 Kiplinger Fellow. When he's not on the road, Booker enjoys discovering new brands of whiskey and working on his golf game.
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Governors of those three states announced a travel advisory requiring travelers from states with high infection rates to quarantine for 14 days. Those states include Texas, Florida and Arizona. -
A survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 25% of black respondents plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available, compared to 56% of whites. -
Noting that trials are still in the early phase, Dr. Anthony Fauci says the plan is to develop a vaccine that is safe and effective — and can be quickly scaled up for distribution. -
The state reported 478 new confirmed cases on Sunday, an increase of 5.2%. Restaurants can begin serving dine-in customers on Monday, with retail stores opening later this week. -
"Draft day 2020, much different than we ever imagined, but it's going to be fun," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a video tour of his basement where he'll preside over the three-day event. -
Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, announced his state paid $9 million for coronavirus test kits from a South Korean company. "If there were an easier way, we certainly would have taken it," Hogan said. -
Gov. Brian Kemp cited favorable data and more testing in his decision to reopen businesses such as gyms, tattoo parlors and hair salons this Friday. Pennsylvania and Tennessee also announced changes.
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the declaration will last until May 6 and that the goal is for residents to limit contact with others by up to 80%. Every citizen will get stimulus funds of about $930. -
"The American people have the power to change the trajectory of this epidemic if we come together like we have after past tragedies in this county," the U.S. Surgeon General told ABC on Tuesday. -
The state had 562 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours. In a bit of "good news," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said 1,452 coronavirus patients have been discharged from hospitals in the past day.
