A Minnesota native, Brown attended the University of Minnesota as a political science major before joining the U.S. Coast Guard reserves.

Aaron Brown, who anchored CNN's coverage of 9/11 and other important national and world events, passed away Sunday at age 76, his family announced. They did not release his cause of death.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Brown started his career at the network earlier than expected, anchoring from a Manhattan rooftop as the attacks were happening.

Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown, who earned widespread acclaim for his coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, died Sunday at 76, his family told CNN.