Natalie Morales Wiki | Miss Universe 2010Natalie Morales joined TODAY as a National Correspondent in February 2006 and was named co-anchor of the third hour of TODAY in March 2008. Morales also serves as a National Correspondent for all NBC News platforms including "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," "Dateline NBC," and MSNBC.
Prior to joining TODAY, Morales was an anchor and correspondent at MSNBC from March 2002 to February 2006. While working for NBC News, Morales has reported on and contributed to several major breaking news stories, including the 2009 presidential inauguration; the Southern California wildfires; the Minneapolis bridge collapse; Hurricane Katrina and the recovery efforts; the Tsunami disaster; the death of Pope John Paul II; the 2004 presidential election; the war in Iraq; and the Columbia Shuttle explosion.
Morales was an integral part of the network's coverage of the 2010 and 2006 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Torino and the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. In August 2008, Morales had the exclusive, news-making interview with the infamous "Clark Rockefeller," interviewing him from Suffolk County Jail in Boston.
Additionally, Hispanic Magazine named her one of the "Top Hispanics to Watch" in 2005 and one of the "Top Trendsetters" of 2003.
Prior to joining MSNBC, Morales spent three years at NBC's WVIT in Hartford, Conn., where she was the morning co-anchor and a correspondent until 2002. She also co-hosted and reported for the Emmy-nominated documentary, "Save Our Sound," a joint production with WNBC-TV New York on preserving the Long Island Sound. Morales began her on-air career at News 12 - The Bronx, where she also shot, produced and edited her own reports. Early in her career, she spent two years working behind the scenes at Court TV, and another two years in finance before making the jump to journalism.
Morales, who speaks Spanish and Portuguese, was born in Taiwan and spent much of the first 18 years of her life living overseas in Panama, Brazil and Spain as an Air Force "brat." She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University, New Jersey, with dual majors in journalism and Latin American studies. Morales was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Suma Cum Laude. She currently resides in New Jersey with her husband and two sons.