Rita Cosby

From 1995 to 2005, Cosby worked at Fox News. At Fox, she hosted both The Big Story Weekend Edition with Rita Cosby and Fox News Live with Rita Cosby.[3]

Rita Cosby with Ariel Sharon.

She has interviewed over twenty world leaders, conducting historic back-to-back interviews with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.[4] She was the first reporter to see prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. She also interviewed Serbian president Slobodan Milošević who called her from his prison cell at the Hague.[5] Years earlier, while broadcasting live from Belgrade during the NATO bombing, she broke the news that three American POWs were going to be released.[3]

Cosby also made national headlines for her interviews with boxer Mike Tyson, singer Michael Jackson and convicted serial killer David Berkowitz, "The Son of Sam," who wrote to her during the Washington, D.C. sniper shootings in October 2002. As that story unfolded, Cosby secured another major first, by reporting the names and license plate numbers of the sniper suspects. In 2001, Cosby's interview with flight attendant Anne Marie Smith led to a U.S. Attorney's Office investigation of Rep. Gary Condit for obstruction of justice and witness tampering.[6]

Cosby served as a lead reporter during the 1996 and 2000 Presidential campaigns. During the Monica Lewinsky investigation, she broke the news that President Bill Clinton was about to be subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.[7] After receiving an exclusive letter from Timothy McVeigh, who carried out the Oklahoma City bombing, she was granted a rare meeting with Pope John Paul II to discuss death penalty issues.[8]

In 2005, Cosby moved to MSNBC to host a primetime weeknight show, Rita Cosby Live & Direct.[4] It became the network’s highest-rated show that year, and she did extensive reports for other NBC programs, including The Today Show. She traveled for the network, originating live for several weeks from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region to report on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as from the war zone in Afghanistan and along the U.S.-Mexico border. She conducted the last broadcast interview with former Crips gang leader Stanley “Tookie” Williams and was one of a few journalists to witness his execution at San Quentin Prison. Additionally, she conducted rare interviews with Erik Menendez and Dr. Jack Kevorkian, both also behind bars. She left the network in 2007 to pursue other media offers and projects.[9]

Since 2009, she co-hosts the worldwide broadcast of The National Memorial Day Parade simulcast to all US military installations around the globe. Well known in the Mideast, Cosby also interviewed candidates about foreign policy on Israel's TV show, “The Ambassador.” [10] Additionally, Cosby has co-chaired various events internationally, including the Intersec Security Conference in Dubai in 2009.[11] and the Euro-American Women’s Council Forum in Greece in 2010.[12] She was selected by Cosmpopolitan Magazine as a “Fun and Fearless Female.”[13]

Cosby often fills in for Nancy Grace on the latter's HLN program,[14][15][16][17][18][19] and is heard daily on her WOR Radio program called The Rita Cosby Show. Cosby’s interviews have included: Jimmy Carter, Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney, Ross Perot, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mark Burnett and Donald Trump.[20]

On September 4, 2007, Cosby released a book about Anna Nicole Smith, Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death. The book details the circumstances around the death of the model in 2007. The book has become a New York Times bestseller.[21] Blonde Ambition gained the attention of members surrounding Anna Nicole Smith's estate, resulting in a civil lawsuit against Cosby and her publisher.[22] Two years later the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed.[23] Part of the proceeds from the sale of the book support D.A.R.E..[24]

In 2010, Cosby released a memoir, Quiet Hero: Secrets From My Father’s Past. The book became a best-seller on several lists, including the New York Times, USA Today, and the Washington Post.[25][26] She uncovered a story of heroism and courage in her own family, detailing her father’s youth as a Polish Resistance fighter who battled the Nazis during the Warsaw Uprising in World War II. Senator John McCain called it, “a loving, poignant tribute to her P.O.W. father and freedom.” Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said it’s “a beautiful tribute to the strength of the human spirit.” Lech Wałęsa, former President of Poland, said of Cosby’s father, “One of Poland’s great treasures has now been found.” [27] In 2010, a resolution was passed in the South Carolina Legislature honoring Rita Cosby and her father.[28] The book has raised money for the USO to help wounded soldiers and their families.[29]