Quijano was a correspondent for CNN Newsource, an affiliate of CNN, starting in December 2000. She covered the September 11, 2001 attacks and traveled to Kuwait City shortly before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. She remained in Kuwait for about a month. Quijano also covered the 2003 Space Shuttle "Columbia" disaster and the Beltway sniper attacks. In 2004, Quijano joined CNN/US as a Washington, D.C.-based general assignment correspondent. She covered the Pentagon, the Supreme Court, the 2004 re-election campaign of President George W. Bush and campaign of vice presidential candidate John Edwards. In 2006, she was named a White House correspondent for CNN. In that role, Quijano covered major stories of the George W. Bush administration, including the War on Terror, the unsuccessful bid for comprehensive immigration reform, and the 2008 financial crisis.