Norah O'Donnell Of CBS News' Dramatic Transformation

Norah O'Donnell is no stranger to those who watch television news. Since first appearing on TV screens in the 1990s, O'Donnell has risen through the ranks of network news at two different networks. During those decades, she's covered the Pentagon, Congress, the Senate, and the White House, while also covering several presidential elections.

O'Donnell has held the prestigious position of White House correspondent, along with anchoring the CBS network's morning show and, more recently, its evening news broadcast. She's also maintained a boots-on-the-ground work ethic that has seen her travel to Tel Aviv to report on the aftermath of the Hamas terror attacks, and she was the first network news anchor to visit Maui after the Hawaiian island was ravaged by wildfires. Meanwhile, her versatility as an interviewer is unmatched, having sat down with everyone from television icon Oprah Winfrey and country music superstar Dolly Parton to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Prince Harry, and the Dalai Lama.

O'Donnell announced a big career change in 2024 that will see her embark on a whole new challenge that will take her in some exciting new directions. To find out more about the extraordinary journey of this talented journalist, keep reading to delve into Norah O'Donnell of CBS News' dramatic transformation.

Norah O'Donnell's childhood was somewhat rootless, although it would certainly be familiar to anyone who grew up with a parent serving in the military. That was because her father was a doctor with the U.S. Army, which led to she and her family living on military bases in various parts of the globe while she was growing up. "I always describe myself as an 'Army brat,'" O'Donnell told Parade in 2021.

"We lived all over the world," O'Donnell recalled during a 2014 interview with Irish America, revealing that her younger brother was born in Germany, and her younger sister was born in Seoul, Korea. "We loved it," she said of the family's time in Seoul. "We lived there for two years and traveled all over Asia." Years later, O'Donnell visited her former home on a Seoul military base for "CBS This Morning." "It was a great place to grow up," she gushed.

In fact, the future journalist has come to credit her unique childhood for placing on the path to her eventual career. "I wouldn't have become a journalist had I not grown up in a military family," she declared to Parade, explaining that her early exposure to life in America's military "taught me a lot about flexibility and adaptability and being exposed to the world."

While she and her family lived in Seoul, 10-year-old Norah O'Donnell gained her first on-camera experience when she was hired by the Korean Educational Development Institute to become part of a very special project. "They needed people to make those tapes and appear on kind of an English-teaching television program, so I got a job doing that," she explained in a 2018 interview with Parade. The future journalist was tasked with uttering an array of English words and phrases, with an intent of teaching Korean viewers to become fluent in English.

Despite her youth, O'Donnell proved to be a natural in front of a TV camera, and even got paid for her efforts. "That became my first job, essentially anchoring an English-learning program once a week on Korean television," O'Donnell told Glamour. "I got a small paycheck every week, and I'd go get Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie tapes. That was the beginning."

When excerpts from those broadcasts were aired on "CBS This Morning," O'Donnell appeared slightly embarrassed by watching her childhood self. "I was hoping those tapes would never make the light of day," she said with a slight cringe.

After being stationed in Seoul, Norah O'Donnell's family returned to America, where she attended Georgetown University for college. "I interned my senior year [of college] at ABC News when it was 'This Week With David Brinkley,'" she recalled in her 2018 interview with Parade.

After graduating with a B.A. in philosophy in 1995, her ABC News internship helped her to land a job as a reporter for Roll Call, an influential newspaper covering Capitol Hill. During her tenure with Roll Call, O'Donnell went all over the U.S. to report on House and Senate elections, and also covered impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton. "That was really kind of like, wow, you've made it and you see your name in print," she recalled of her first real job as a journalist.

That job paved the way for her eventual career, shifting from print to broadcast journalism, and in an interview with Glamour, she revealed the key lesson she'd taken away from that entry-level position. "I have always said yes to opportunities and experiences," she explained. "Be willing to do almost anything," she advised. "The chance to get your foot in the door is incredibly important."

The experience that Norah O'Donnell gained at Roll Call proved to be crucial to the next step in her career, when she was hired by veteran journalist Tim Russert as a correspondent at NBC News in 1999, when she was just 25. As O'Donnell told Parade, Russert wasn't just her boss, but a friend and mentor whose own relentless pursuit of breaking news influenced her own work ethic as a journalist.

"He was always such a strong supporter," O'Donnell said of Russert. "The first thing he would always say to me — other than good morning — he would say, 'What do you know?' That sticks with me to this day ... It's that simple question, what do you know? My job every morning is to say what I know that's different than what's already been reported."

O'Donnell went on to spend more than a decade with NBC News. During that time, she served as congressional correspondent, before eventually landing the coveted role of White House correspondent. She also reported on the war in Afghanistan and covered breaking news stories for NBC and its cable news outlet, MSNBC, including the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

Attending Georgetown not only set Norah O'Donnell on her career trajectory as a journalist, it was also where she met Geoff Tracy, her future husband. "It was meant to be to meet each other there," O'Donnell said in an interview with their alma mater, recalling how she and Tracy met while waiting in line at the cafeteria during their first week of school. For Tracy, it was love at first sight. "That was it right away," he said, but admitted, "It took her a little bit longer to come around."

They got engaged in 1999 and tied the knot in 2001 at the Dahlgren Chapel on Georgetown's campus. The couple eventually became the parents of three children, twins Henry and Grace, followed by a second daughter, Riley.

While O'Donnell forged her path in journalism, Tracy went a completely different route by becoming a chef after studying at the Culinary Institute of America. He went on to launch his own Washington, D.C. restaurant, Chef Geoff's, which spawned a second location, and eventually several restaurants under the umbrella of Chef Geoff's Deluxe Hospitality restaurant group. O'Donnell and her husband combined forces to collaborate on their 2010 cookbook, "Baby Love," in which they share recipes for easy-to-make and highly nutritious baby food.

After more than a decade with NBC News, journalist Norah O'Donnell said farewell to her longtime home in 2011 in order to embrace a new opportunity with rival CBS News. Her initial duties with CBS News included subbing in as anchor on occasion for "Face the Nation," in addition to serving as chief White House correspondent. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," O'Donnell in a statement (via Politico). "I'm thrilled to cover the White House for CBS News. It is an honor and a privilege to join the great journalists at this legendary network."

The following year, O'Donnell embarked on a new challenge when she was appointed co-anchor on the network's morning show, "CBS This Morning." Replacing her predecessor, Erica Hill, O'Donnell joined Charlie Rose and Gayle King for the creation of a brand-new morning show team.

Tasked with revitalizing the show, O'Donnell's high-profile new role meant that she had to commute from her home in Washington, D.C. to Manhattan each week, until her family eventually moved full time to the Big Apple to accommodate her new gig. "It's not the kind of a job you turn down," O'Donnell told AP of the personal sacrifice required by her job. "Morning TV is the crown jewel of broadcast journalism. Where else can you do two hours of live television with the audience that we have?"

By 2017, the on-air "CBS This Morning" team of Norah O'Donnell, Gayle King, and Charlie Rose had become a well-oiled morning show machine. However, that three-way partnership was not destined to last. That November, The Washington Post unveiled a scathing exposé in which multiple women accused Rose of sexual harassment. After CBS suspended Rose, King and O'Donnell spoke out about the allegations — and both were shocked by what Rose's accusers were alleging. "I really am still reeling," said King, as recounted by CBS News.

For her part, O'Donnell took an unequivocal stance that implied Rose would never again be seen sitting in that studio. "Let me be very clear: there is no excuse for this alleged behavior," she said. Declaring that the charges against Rose were going to be investigated, she drew a line in the sand. "This has to end. This behavior is wrong. Period," she added.

In a 2018 interview with The Palm Beach Post, O'Donnell opened up about how difficult that situation had been for her. "The whole Charlie thing was incredibly painful, to learn that about a colleague, and to hear the women who believe they were abused by him," she said, reiterating what she'd said on the air. "But I thought, 'This is wrong.' Simple as that. And it has to end."

Health and fitness have been a lifelong passion for Norah O'Donnell, and she's been a devoted runner since she was a teenager. "I started running track when I was 13 years old, as a freshman in high school," she revealed in an interview with Runner's World.

She has continued to run, although her hectic schedule — juggling her family duties with those of being a top broadcast journalist — doesn't make it easy. "As a working mom, I struggle to find time to work out and go for runs," she admitted. "I usually run two to three times a week and work out with a trainer once a week." Not only does running help her keep in shape and clear her head, it also prepares her for the grueling nature of her job as a journalist. "Running certainly gives you endurance, and there can be some really long days in journalism," she observed.

She also revealed the playlist of music that inspires her on her runs, sharing it in another interview with Runner's World. "When I go for a run I'm interested in hanging out and listening to Maroon 5 or Carly Rae Jepsen, or whatever silly fun music helps me forget about everything," she said, commenting on a list of songs that included "The Fighter" by Gym Class Heroes, Lady Gaga's "Just Dance," and, most obviously, Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run."

After Charlie Rose was exiled by CBS, Norah O'Donnell and her morning show co-anchor Gayle King continued on at "CBS This Morning." As is often the case whenever two women are partnered on television, media reports began to emerge alleging that there was friction between the two.

Those rumors were crystallized in 2019 when Page Six reported that a key factor in King's contract negotiation was that O'Donnell be dumped from the morning show. However, another source insisted that report was bogus, and that the two were good friends. "There's no bad blood between Norah and Gayle, in fact they are very close," that source said.

King and O'Donnell confronted the rumors on the air, not only insisting there was no truth to them, but also pointing out the sexist nature of such reports. O'Donnell later spoke with Extra, explaining why it was a no-brainer for them to shoot down the gossip on their show. "Gayle and I talked immediately when that silly report came out and said let's talk Monday and we will have the last word," O'Donnell said.

Those reports claiming that Gayle King was pushing Norah O'Donnell out of "CBS This Morning" did contain one grain of truth: O'Donnell did in fact exit the show — not because she was ousted, however, but because she was offered the position as anchor of "CBS Evening News." Arguably the network's most prestigious gig, O'Donnell was hired to helm the network's venerable newscast, which had previously been anchored by the likes of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, and Katie Couric.

When O'Donnell made her first appearance behind the desk at "CBS Evening News" in 2019, she brought not just her skills and experience as a journalist, but also her considerable reputation. "[Viewers] want to know that [they] can tune in and say, 'I trust this person to deliver the news in an unbiased way, and provide me real news, because my time is short,'" she said during an interview with CBS News Sacramento. "It's incredibly humbling and historic to take on this role as anchor of the 'CBS Evening News,' to sit in a chair once held by Walter Cronkite," O'Donnell continued, "and our mission is to tell news with a trusted voice."

Norah O'Donnell remained anchor of "CBS Evening News" for more than five years until, in the summer of 2024, she announced that she'd be stepping away from the position. In a memo, Wendy McMahon, the president and CEO of CBS News and Stations, revealed that O'Donnell would step down from the anchor role after the 2024 presidential election. She wouldn't be leaving the network, however, but would remain as a special correspondent for CBS News, conducting high-profile interviews with newsmakers for CBS specials. In addition, O'Donnell would continue to file special reports for "CBS Evening News" and "60 Minutes."

"In this new role, Norah will have the time and the support to deliver even more of the exceptional stories she is known," wrote McMahon, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. "There's so much work to be proud of! But I have spent 12 years in the anchor chair here at CBS News, connected to a daily broadcast and the rigors of a relentless news cycle. It's time to do something different," added O'Donnell.

CBS subsequently announced that O'Donnell would be replaced by a two-person anchor team consisting of Maurice Dubois and John Dickerson — a move that raised the ire of one of O'Donnell's "CBS Evening News" predecessors, Katie Couric. In an op-ed for The New York Times, Couric admitted she felt "it was a little disappointing to read that Ms. O'Donnell would be replaced by two men ... It's odd and more than a little out of touch."

Before ending her run at "CBS Evening News" after the 2024 presidential election, Norah O'Donnell offered viewers a sneak peak at the kind of newsmaking interviews she'd be doing as a CBS News special correspondent when she sat down with Pope Francis in May 2024.

Speaking about the interview during an appearance on "CBS Mornings," O'Donnell revealed that the network had been chasing an interview with the pontiff for a decade. "As a journalist, this is the biggest interview I think I could get," said O'Donnell. During the wide-ranging hour-long discussion — which O'Donnell described as "the interview of a lifetime" — the pope discussed topics ranging from war to climate change to his stance on same-sex couples.

After it was over, O'Donnell shared her impression of Pope Francis. "This is a different kind of pope," O'Donnell said. "He's the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, the first Jesuit. And he has been much more progressive and inclusive."