Laura Jarrett is an American television journalist working for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

. She currently serves as co-anchor for the Saturday editions of ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' alongside

Peter Alexander Peter Alexander may refer to: * Pete Alexander (born Grover Cleveland Alexander; 1887–1950), American baseball player * Peter Alexander (Shakespearean scholar) (1893–1969), professor of English language and literature at the University of Glasgo ...

, and is NBC News' senior legal correspondent.

Education

Jarrett earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

and a Juris Doctor degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Career

Jarrett joined

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

in 2016. In January 2020, she became the co-anchor of ''

Early Start ''CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish'' is an American early-morning news program broadcast by CNN. It is currently anchored by Audie Cornish and airs from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. ET. It first premiered on January 2, 2012, as ''Early Start'', acti ...

''. Jarrett left CNN for

in November 2022. Since January 2023, she has worked for NBC News as a senior legal correspondent succeeding veteran Pete Williams who retired in 2022. She became co-anchor of the

Saturday edition ''Weekend Edition'' is an Australian news and current affairs television program on Sky News Live on Saturdays and Sundays. It is the weekend incarnation of ''First Edition''. Saturday Edition ''Saturday Edition'' is a weekly Australian new ...

of ''

'' on September 8, 2023, succeeding Kristen Welker, who became moderator of

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since th ...

. In her role with

, she frequently fills in as a co-anchor across all four hours of ''

'', substitute anchors and reports on ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

'', and anchors and reports on

special reports and special events coverage like Election Nights.

Reading of Donald Trump verdict

On May 30, 2024,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

was

prosecuted A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible f ...

on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records. Jarrett is known for breaking this verdict live on NBC News by reading all 34 counts Trump was charged with. Jarrett on ''Today'' said that she and her news crew believed that the jury was going home for the day prior to the verdict coming out and did not expect a verdict that day. She was told the verdict in real time from a fellow NBC News reporter in the courtroom.

Personal life

Jarrett is the daughter of

Valerie Jarrett Valerie June Jarrett ( Bowman; born November 14, 1956) is an American businesswoman and former government official, who has been the chief executive officer of the Obama Foundation since 2021. She was the longest-serving senior advisor to U.S. Pr ...

, a former

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

senior official; and Dr. William Robert Jarrett. Her maternal grandmother, Barbara T. Bowman, was an American early childhood education expert/advocate, academic, and author. Jarrett is of African and European descent Her father died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

in 1993. She married

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

attorney Tony Balkissoon in June 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. The couple have two children, son James (2019) and daughter June (July 2022).

References

External links

Laura Jarrett
on X Living people African-American women journalists African-American journalists NBC News people American lawyers 21st-century African-American lawyers African-American women lawyers Women lawyers Harvard Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-journalist-stub