Kristen Welker is an American journalist who was born on July 1, 1976, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She is the daughter of Harvey and Julie Welker, and her father is white while her mother is black. Welker graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in American history in 1998. She is currently working for NBC News as a White House correspondent based in Washington, D.C. . Welker has also served as co-anchor of Weekend Today, the Saturday edition of Today, alongside Peter Alexander from 2020 to 2023. On September 17, 2023, she took over hosting duties for Meet the Press, the longest-running program in television history. Welker is the first black journalist to moderate a Sunday program and only the second woman in the history of Meet the Press. She is married to John Hughes, and they have a daughter together. Welker is an American national.