Laura Jarrett

Jarrett earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard University.

Jarrett joined CNN in 2016. In January 2020, she became the co-anchor of Early Start.{{cite web |last1=Weprin |first1=Alex |title=CNN 'Early Start' Anchor Laura Jarrett Jumping to NBC News |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/cnn-early-start-anchor-laura-jarrett-joins-nbc-news-1235262898/ |website=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=8 September 2024 |date=16 November 2022}} Jarrett left CNN for NBC News in November 2022.{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Ted |title=Laura Jarrett To Depart CNN For NBC News |url=https://deadline.com/2022/11/laura-jarrett-nbc-news-cnn-1235173720/ |website=Deadline |access-date=8 September 2024 |date=16 November 2022}} Since January 2023, she has worked for NBC News as a senior legal correspondent succeeding veteran Pete Williams who retired in 2022.{{cite web |last1=Steinberg |first1=Brian |title=Laura Jarrett Joins NBC News to Cover Supreme Court, Exiting CNN |url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/laura-jarrett-joins-nbc-news-supreme-court-1235434229/ |website=Variety |access-date=8 September 2024 |date=16 November 2022}} She became co-anchor of the Saturday edition of Today on September 8, 2023, succeeding Kristen Welker, who became moderator of Meet the Press.{{cite web |last1=Steinberg |first1=Brian |title=NBC News' Laura Jarrett Joins Saturday Morning's Intensifying TV-News Wars |url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/laura-jarrett-saturday-today-nbc-news-peter-alexander-1235717550/ |website=Variety |access-date=8 September 2024 |date=8 September 2023}} In her role with NBC News, she frequently fills in as a co-anchor across all four hours of Today, substitute anchors and reports on NBC Nightly News, and anchors and reports on NBC News special reports and special events coverage like Election Nights.

On May 30, 2024, Donald Trump was prosecuted 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.{{cite web |last1=Grynbaum |first1=Michael |last2=Koblin |first2=John |title=A Historic Verdict Made for Riveting TV. Then the Punditry Began. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/business/media/trump-verdict-media-coverage.html |website=The New York Times |date=31 May 2024 |access-date=16 September 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Barr |first1=Jeremy |title=How the Trump verdict hit TV news: 'An incredibly consequential day' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/05/30/trump-verdict-tv-news/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=16 September 2024 |date=30 May 2024}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Jarrett |first1=Laura |title=Laura Jarrett recounts what it was like to read Trump's historic verdict on live TV |url=https://www.today.com/news/essay/laura-jarrett-trump-veridct-rcna154857 |website=TODAY.com |access-date=16 September 2024 |language=en |date=31 May 2024}}

Jarrett is the daughter of Valerie Jarrett, a former Obama administration senior official; and Dr. William Robert Jarrett. Her maternal grandmother, Barbara T. Bowman, was an American early childhood education expert/advocate, academic, and author.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/us/barbara-bowman-dead.html | title=Barbara Bowman Dies at 96; Visionary Educator for Preschoolers | work=The New York Times | date=6 December 2024 | last1=Roberts | first1=Sam }} Jarrett is of African and European descent{{failed verification |date=November 2024}} Her father died of cardiac arrest in 1993.{{cite web | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/11/23/dr-william-jarrett-of-jackson-park-hospital | title=Dr. William Jarrett of Jackson Park Hospital | website=Chicago Tribune | date=23 November 1993 }}

She married Canadian attorney Tony Balkissoon {{cite web | url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/obama-attends-wedding-of-toronto-liberal-mpp-s-son/article_bb416846-6cd6-5845-91fc-d6ceb92b92f6.html | title=Obama attends wedding of Toronto Liberal MPP's son | website=Toronto Star | date=20 June 2012 }} in June 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. The couple have two children, son James (2019) and daughter June (July 2022).{{cite web | url=https://www.today.com/parents/moms/laura-jarrett-mothers-day-rcna151870 | title=Laura Jarrett thanks mom Valerie Jarrett for showing her how to 'embrace the chaos' this Mother's Day | date=12 May 2024 }}

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Category:Living people

Category:African-American women journalists

Category:African-American journalists

Category:NBC News people

Category:American lawyers

Category:21st-century African-American lawyers

Category:African-American women lawyers

Category:Women lawyers

Category:Harvard Law School alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

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