Laura Jarrett announced as co-anchor of Saturday TODAY

Laura Jarrett, senior legal correspondent for NBC News, has been named the next co-anchor of Saturday TODAY.

Jarrett will continue covering legal issues for NBC News, while also sitting at the anchor desk alongside Peter Alexander beginning September 9.

"When I got the news, I was stunned! It is such a huge honor, and I am so excited about the opportunity," Jarrett tells TODAY.com. "And of course, I'm excited for how much fun Peter and I are going to have together."

Alexander predicts the TODAY audience "is going to love" Jarrett.

“It’s been an absolute joy getting to know Laura since she joined our team at NBC News,” said Peter Alexander, co-anchor of Saturday TODAY and NBC News Chief White House Correspondent. “I’m so thrilled to welcome her as my teammate on Saturday mornings. Not only is she one of the smartest journalists around, she’s so much fun to be with.”

Jarrett previously worked at CNN, and has been with NBC News since January of 2023, when she joined to cover the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court. In her role as co-host of Saturday TODAY, she is replacing Kristen Welker, who was recently named moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press."

Welker says she could not be more "thrilled" to pass the baton on to Jarrett.

“Anchoring the show with my best friend was the highlight of every week. I am so thrilled that my friend Laura will now join Peter as the next co-anchor of Saturday TODAY," she tells TODAY.com. "We have all seen Laura's brilliant legal analysis, and now we can’t wait to watch her shine on Saturdays.”

Jarrett, 37, was born and raised in Chicago, before she attended Amherst College and later, Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, Laura met her husband, Tony Balkissoon. The couple now lives in New York City and shares two children: James, 4, and June, 1.

"Peter and I are very much aligned about wanting to meet people where they are on Saturday mornings," she says of her co-anchor. "We're both parents of young children."

She adds that she often has Saturday TODAY playing while she's making pancakes for her children. "When you have that perspective, it helps a little bit when thinking of what viewers are looking forward to," she says.

Jarrett shares that she practiced law for several years before she decided to delve into journalism in 2016, right before former President Donald Trump was elected.

"Taking the jump from leaving my law firm to journalism was the biggest," she says when asked about her greatest milestones to date. "It was actually the perfect training for what I'm doing now. I went from being an associate at a law firm to needing to hit the ground running as a journalist."

Jarrett says that her mother, Valerie Jarrett — formerly the senior advisor to President Barack Obama and now CEO of the Obama Foundation — couldn't have been happier to hear about her daughter's new position with TODAY.

"She was very excited," Laura Jarrett says of her mom. "I love that she's been super encouraging about helping me take this plunge. I think because she pivoted a lot in her career and had her own sort of non-traditional path, she gets it and has been so supportive."

Another person who's played a pivotal role in Jarrett's career? TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, who also went from lawyer to journalist.

"She was one of the people that I talked to who I knew had a legal background and was able to make that pivot," Jarrett says. "She encouraged me so much, and said, 'You can always go back to being a lawyer, but don't you want to have more fun?' She was so supportive, and I think back to that moment a lot. I think back to where I would be if I hadn't taken the plunge."

Jarrett is looking forward to sitting in the anchor chair at Studio 1A in New York in September, alongside NBC News correspondent Joe Fryer, who has also recently been named Saturday TODAY's Feature Anchor, as well as Alexander.

“I think that all of us want to do something that’s smart, but also joyful," Jarrett says. "We want to have fun with it, and make people come away feeling like they have a little bit of bounce in their step. It's Saturday!”

This article first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

• Hoda FaceTimes with Jenna while celebrating her birthday with family
• Teachers tell all: 5 things teachers wish parents knew before school starts
• Man loses 450 pounds after reaching 'rock bottom.' 1 key diet change helped