Soledad O'Brien

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN UNOFFICIALLY

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Soledad in 2000
Soledad welcomes in 2000 on MSNBC	MSNBC January Soledad continues her anchor responsibilities on NBC's Weekend Today and at MSNBC. On NBC she is also an occasional reporter for Nightly News during the week. She is also a contributor to the MSNBC.com web site, and is a contributing technology editor for USA Weekend Magazine. Soledad is on the advisory board of Cyberangels, an Internet safety organization.
	Fresh from anchoring the debating digerati at the Technology Summit in Silicon Valley in late February, Soledad kicked off the FETC 2000 Apple conference with a keynote speech on the issues of technology and society.
	In March, David Bloom joined Weekend Today as co-anchor with Soledad. During 2000, Soledad co-anchors Weekend Today - a weekend morning news Bloom replaces Jack Ford. This is a weekend edition of the weekday morning news Today show. The program is broadcast from Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza in New York. The weekend broadcasts continue the Today tradition of covering breaking news, interviewing newsmakers, reporting on a variety of popular culture and human interest stories, covering health and finance issues, and presenting the latest weather reports. In addition, the show offers visitors to New York City a chance to observe firsthand the workings of a live television broadcast with its windowed studio on Rockefeller Plaza, and interaction with the crowd outside the studio is a major piece of the program.

	In April 2000, Soledad was named one of The 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People magazine. "Growing up on Long Island, you had to have the big hair," teases her brother Orestes, 32. "Solly's hair was puffy at the prom, and then two weeks into college it flattened out." "What adds luster to her beauty," says ABC's Jack Ford, her former co-anchor at Weekend Today, "is a combination of intelligence, warmth and good humor." Adds O'Brien pal, makeup artist Lisa Jear: "She has a really beautiful skin tone." That may also be the glow of pregnancy: O'Brien and her husband of almost five years, investment banker Brad Raymond, 34, expect their first child this fall. O'Brien now keeps her 5'5" form fit by walking. That body, often clad in leather pants and high heels on the job, does turn heads -- but, O'Brien maintains, "I don't think being beautiful takes away from your credibility." click image to enlarge image and article
	Selected by Newsweek Magazine Soledad was named by Newsweek magazine as one of the "Critical Más: 20 for 2000. "There's more to Generation Ñ than crossover pop stars. Another young Latino to watch is SOLEDAD O'BRIEN - TELEVISION JOURNALIST . The NBC news correspondent-anchor is a one-woman melting pot. Her Cuban-born mother is black, her father is Irish-Australian."
	Soledad (far left) spoke at an American Immigration Law Foundation event.
	In the middle of the year, Soledad announced that she was pregnant with her first child. During her pregnancy and leave from anchor duties, Soledad returned to Harvard to complete her degree in English and Literature. She had left during her senior year to take her first news job.
	Baby Sofia! Soledad gave birth to a baby girl on October 23, 2000 at 4:55 am. Her name is Sofia Elizabeth. It is a first child for Soledad and her husband Brad. Jodi Applegate filled in for her on Weekend Today until December when Soledad returned to her regular co-anchor position.