Laura Jarrett co-hosts Saturday TODAY, which announced the verdict of Donald Trump’s hush money case live on air, with the guilty verdict for each of the 34 charges read out as crowds of people cheered and jeered in the streets of New York City .
Jarrett, an attorney and legal analyst, has followed the historic trial throughout. On May 30, Trump became the first former US president to be convicted of a crime. He had pleaded not guilty to 34 charges of falsifying company records in connection with a hush money payment by his former attorney Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential election.
Jarrett clearly remembers the moment that set her on the path to covering the Trump trial — the moment she decided to leave a secure career in law to pursue her dream of becoming a TV legal analyst.
“I had been an attorney at my law firm for six years and started thinking about trying to become a partner,” she told TODAY.com in an interview in September. “And I realized there wasn’t a path for me that I would enjoy long term.”
Jarrett, who was 30 at the time, knew that if she wanted to change careers, it had to happen quickly.
“I felt like if I didn’t jump before I had kids, I wouldn’t have the courage to do it — and I didn’t want to get stuck,” she explains.
Jarrett wanted to become a legal analyst for TV news.
“I’ve always loved putting the pieces together and figuring out how to tell a complicated story in the most simple and compelling way,” Jarrett says.
Because she had no TV experience, she said she started ‘knocking on local news stations’. She was willing to start at the bottom.
“They said, ‘Get out of here. No thanks,” Jarrett remembers, laughing. “But I just kept going”
CNN was the first network to strike.
“They turned me on at four in the morning,” Jarrett says. “Even though I knew no one was watching at that hour, I was so nervous. I would be shocked if someone dug up the clip, but I would also laugh because it would remind me of how far I have come.
“I worked hard to get where I am today,” she adds.
After six years at CNN, Jarrett joined NBC News in January 2023 as a senior legal correspondent. Seven months later, Laura was announced as co-host of Saturday TODAY, replacing Kristen Welker who was named moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press. Jarrett began her new role on September 9, alongside Peter Alexander.
Jarrett says she found her way to CNN shortly after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in 2016. She remembers “essentially living” at the U.S. Department of Justice. Although Jarrett was the new kid in town, everyone knew her mother, Valerie Jarrett, who served as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama during his eight years.
“My mother worked in the Obama White House and I was asked to cover Trump’s Justice Department,” Jarrett says. “I had to work very hard to gain the trust of those people.”
Jarrett, who worked around the clock, was happier than ever before, and that wasn’t lost on her husband, Tony Balkissoon.
‘Tony would say, ‘You’re so happy. You are so enthusiastic about your work – and it makes you a better partner,” says Jarrett.
She and Tony met as second-year law students at Harvard University in 2008 and tied the knot in 2012. The couple shares four-year-old son James and 13-month-old daughter June.
“Tony and I waited a while before having kids, which I think was super valuable because we just got to have fun. Children are great, but they can put a huge strain on marriages,” says Jarrett. “The two of us had a ball for a long time and I think it really set us up for success.”
Jarrett is excited about sharing the anchor desk with Peter Alexander, father of daughters Ava, 10, and Emma, 8.
“He’s so decent and smart and a great listener,” she says. “His girls are a little older, so he can give me tips on what’s coming down the pike!”
On her first day behind the anchor desk, September 9, Jarrett said she slept about 2 hours the night before due to nerves and partly for a reason many parents can relate to: potty training.
“The sleeping doesn’t happen in the house, but that’s OK,” she said.
Every morning after her TV appearances, Jarrett rushes home to make breakfast for her children before continuing the workday, she said.
Read on to learn more about Laura Jarrett’s two children:
James Anthony Balkissoon, 4
According to his mother, James is a ‘ham and a half’.
‘That boy is taking over a room. He just has a presence,” Jarrett said. “He talks non-stop and has 1,001 questions about everything.”
The preschooler also has a wide variety of interests, including Sudoko puzzles.
“I tried to help him the other day and I got the wrong answers! He’s already smarter than me,” Jarrett jokes.
“We’ll be in the park on the swings and he’ll ask me to give him math problems,” she continues. “It’s fun for him — he’s super smart — but I’m afraid people will judge me, like, ‘Why is this mom making her son do math exercises?’
As a baby, James “was so difficult,” Jarrett says.
“He cried constantly. I took him for a walk and he cried. I took him in the car and he cried. He was exhausting,” she recalls. “I couldn’t wait for maternity leave to be over. I was like, ‘Get me back to work!’”
Fortunately, James is much easier these days. Jarrett says life became easier when he started talking and being able to express what he was feeling. Lately, James has spoken out about his sister, June, stealing his toys.
“At first he was very gentle and affectionate and was immediately interested in making bottles for her,” she says. “But now that she’s starting to crawl and walk, she’s in his stuff and he’s not happy!”
TODAY Jarrett’s husband Tony told James is “very proud” to see his mother on TV and how hard she works.
“I just watch her break the news to everyone,” James said when asked about Jarrett’s job.
June Tahay Balkissoon, 13 months
Born on July 17, 2022, June was named after Laura’s mother, Valerie June Jarrett, and Tony’s mother, Tahay.
“If I could have drawn the opposite of James, it would be June,” Jarrett says. “There could be chaos and total destruction happening around her and she would be quietly playing and laughing.”
The toddler is “completely captivated and entertained” by her big brother.
“I sit them next to each other while they’re eating—James in his big chair and June in her high chair—and she just pets his head,” Jarrett says. “She adores him.”
June also likes to eat.
“She literally eats everything and is happy with it. If she gets cranky, it’s because you have food and you’re not sharing it with her,” Jarrett says. “You can give her a Sichuan green bean and she’ll be sad.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
