Karen Hua is a CBS News national reporter based in Houston. Since joining CBS News in January 2025, she has covered Texas politics, the deadly Hill Country floods, immigration, and a variety of issues.
Previously, she worked as a general assignment reporter at NBC Philadelphia, where she reported on the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, the Baltimore bridge collapse, and Philadelphia's gun violence crisis. She's part of the Edward R. Murrow Award-winning team that covered the 2022 active shooter at the 4th of July concert.
Earlier, she was a reporter for News 12 in New York, where she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo's scandals and resignation, and multiple devastating hurricanes. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her exclusive sit-down with Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah during the height of anti-AAPI hate, questioning why charges were dropped in the attack of an Asian grandmother.
Hua began her broadcasting career as an investigative reporter and lifestyle host for KGET-TV, the NBC affiliate in Bakersfield, California. Her investigative reporting on police officer-involved shootings prompted the state to require body cameras for all county sheriffs' deputies.
Hua started her journalism career as a lifestyle writer for Forbes magazine.
Born and raised in Boston, Hua is a proud first-generation American to parents from China. She is fluent in Mandarin and Spanish. She studied English, psychology, and film at the University of Michigan.