Who is Norah O’Donnell? What to know about the CBS anchor moderating the Walz-JD Vance debate

Less than a month after former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris engaged in a heated debate over the upcoming 2024 presidential election, their candidates are now ready to do battle in New York.

Two vice presidential candidates, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, are scheduled to participate in Tuesday’s debate on CBS News, which begins at 9 p.m. ET.

Vance and Walz will face each other for the first and perhaps only time at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. The 90-minute debate will have two four-minute commercial breaks and will have no live audience, just like the presidential debate.

“See you October 1, JD,” Walz wrote on August 14 on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Vance agreed to a debate on October 1 the following day, while also proposing a debate on September 18 on CNN. Michael Tyler, Harris’ campaign communications director, told CBS News later that day that Walz would not participate until the Oct. 1 debate.

Moderating duties will be shared by CBS anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan.

LEFT: Vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance addresses members of the media outside police headquarters in Shelby Township, Michigan, on Aug. 7, 2024. RIGHT: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign rally with Vice President Kamala Harris at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, August 9, 2024

Vice President’s Debate: Will Vance and Walz draw audiences like the record-breaking Biden-Palin debate?

Here’s what you need to know about CBS News moderator and anchor Norah O’Donnell.

Who is Norah O’Donnell? Current job, show

Norah O’Donnell attends the 44th Annual News Emmy Awards at the Times Square Palladium on September 27, 2023 in New York City.

Norah O’Donnell is the anchor and editor-in-chief of the CBS Evening News and the only woman currently hosting a nightly newscast on television, according to her online biography. She is also a correspondent for “60 Minutes” and host of “Person to Person” on CBS News 24/7.

The 2024 presidential election will be O’Donnell’s seventh presidential election as a journalist, and in July the presenter announced that she would leave her anchor position after the election and take up a new position at the network.

“I spent 12 years as a top executive at CBS News, associated with the daily broadcast and the rigors of an unrelenting news cycle,” O’Donnell said in a statement. “It’s time to do something different.”

CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell in the broadcast booth during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum. On the last day of the RNC, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivered the keynote address.

O’Donnell joined CBS News in 2011 as chief White House correspondent covering President Barack Obama’s administration. In 2012, she joined “CBS This Morning” as a co-host.

In a prolific career spanning more than three decades, O’Donnell “has interviewed every living president of the United States,” her CBS News biography says, as well as many prominent figures, including Pope Francis, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and President South Korea’s Moon Jae-in, Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, Malala Yousafzai, Dalai Lama. Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Oprah Winfrey and Dolly Parton, among others.

The Education of Norah O’Donnell

O’Donnell earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in liberal studies. from the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University, according to her biography on CBS.

Before joining CBS News, O’Donnell worked at NBC News, where she covered the Pentagon, Congress and the White House.

Has Norah O’Donnell ever moderated a debate before?

Although O’Donnell has hosted several election specials on CBS News, including primaries, debates and election nights, this will be her first time moderating a vice presidential debate in a general election.

More about: Norah O’Donnell

Norah O’Donnell speaks on stage during the 2023 duPont-Columbia Awards announced at the awards ceremony hosted by Norah O’Donnell and Amna Nawaz at Columbia University on February 6, 2023 in New York City.

O’Donnell is the wife of Geoff Tracy, president of Chef Geoff’s Deluxe Hospitality in Washington. They met while in Georgetown and have three children together.

She is also the recipient of several awards, including an Emmy Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, a Scripps Howard Award for Excellence in National and International Broadcasting, and the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award. Her biography on CBS News says. O’Donnell received an Emmy Award and was recognized by the prestigious White House Correspondents’ Association for her reporting on sexual assault at the United States Air Force Academy in 2018.

Contributions: Gabe Hauari, Sudiksha Kochi, David Jackson, Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY

Saman Shafiq is a popular news reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Norah O’Donnell? About the vice-presidential moderator of the debate