JUST IN: CNN Anchor Laura Jarrett Exits to Join NBC News

Laura Jarrett has ankled CNN for NBC News, where she was named senior legal correspondent, the network announced Wednesday.

In an internal email, NBC News Investigations vice president and executive editor Richard Greenberg said that Jarrett will join the network in January as a senior legal correspondent. The hire comes in the wake of the retirement of the iconic NBC News justice correspondent Pete Williams.

She’ll be covering “the Justice Department and Supreme Court while also serving as a leading voice on national legal, law enforcement, and other major breaking news stories.” In addition to NBC News, she will also appear on MSNBC, NBC News NOW, and NBC News Digital.

Jarrett “will work hand-in-hand with Justice and National Security Correspondent Ken Dilanian, Senior Legal and Investigative Correspondent Cynthia McFadden, Investigative Correspondent Tom Winter, Homeland Security Correspondent Julia Ainsley, Supreme Court Reporter Lawrence Hurley, and more,” according to Greenberg.

Since the departure of Pete Williams, Kelly O’Donnell has covered the Supreme Court on a tentative basis in addition to her responsibilities as senior White House correspondent.

Jarrett, the daughter of Valerie Jarrett, the senior adviser to President Barack Obama, worked at CNN for six years. Most recently she served as co-host of CNN’s Early Start With Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett.

Before joining CNN, Jarrett practiced law in Chicago.

Here is the note to NBC News employees in its entirety:

All,

I am pleased to announce that accomplished legal journalist Laura Jarrett will join NBC News as a Senior Legal Correspondent in January.

In her role, Laura will report on the Justice Department and Supreme Court while also serving as a leading voice on national legal, law enforcement, and other major breaking news stories. She will report to me and work with the network’s Investigative Unit and closely with the Washington Bureau’s reporting teams. She will appear across the network’s flagship news programs in addition to reporting for MSNBC, NBC News NOW, and NBC News Digital.

Laura joins us from CNN where she spent six years covering the Justice Department and major legal cases for the network. Most recently, she was the co-anchor of “Early Start” and served as an on-air legal analyst for several notable legal stories including the Supreme Court’s decision overruling Roe v. Wade, the Congressional investigations into January 6th, the investigations into former President Trump, and the legal battles over Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

She was a key correspondent covering the Depp-Heard trial, Alec Baldwin’s settlement with Halyna Hutchins’ family, the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, and Derek Chauvin’s sentencing following the killing of George Floyd. She played a lead role in reporting out and covering Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, former President Trump’s travel ban and family separation policy, the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information, and more.

She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and worked in private practice prior to joining CNN, where she focused on defending companies and individuals in government investigations, in addition to devoting significant time to pro bono cases.
Laura will work hand-in-hand with Justice and National Security Correspondent Ken Dilanian, Senior Legal and Investigative Correspondent Cynthia McFadden, Investigative Correspondent Tom Winter, Homeland Security Correspondent Julia Ainsley, Supreme Court Reporter Lawrence Hurley, and more. And, a collective thank you to Kelly O’Donnell for masterfully covering the SCOTUS beat in addition to her daily White House duties over the last many months.

Please join me in welcoming Laura to NBC News and congratulating her on her new role.

Rich Greenberg