Rita Braver

Rita Braver has been a national correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning since 1998.

She reports on everything from arts and culture to politics and foreign policy. Over the years, Braver has reported stories on the Columbia space shuttle disaster and the run up to the war in Iraq. She has traveled to Haiti to report on the U.S. effort in that country and to Kosovo to cover former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, and her interview subjects have included newsmakers from First Lady Laura Bush to film legends Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.

Before she joined Sunday Morning, Braver spent four years as CBS News’ Chief White House Correspondent (1993-97). She traveled the world on the White House beat, covered Bill Clinton through the 1996 Presidential campaign and served as a floor reporter at the 1996 Democratic National Convention.

Prior to that, Braver spent a decade as CBS News’ law correspondent (1983-93), reporting primarily for the CBS Evening News. Her beat included the Supreme Court, the Justice Department, the FBI and the DEA. Braver covered the Iran-Contra case, including the trials of former National Security Council officials Oliver North and the drug trial of former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry. She also covered issues including abortion, civil rights, drugs, organized crime and espionage. Braver broke the story of the Walker family spy ring, as well as the story of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard.

She has won five Emmy Awards, including one for investigative reporting and two for coverage of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Braver received the Joan Barone Award presented by the Congressional Radio and Television Correspondents Association, the Media Award of the National Association of Women Legislators and a 1998 Star Award from American Women in Radio and Television. She has also been named an Outstanding Mother by the National Mother's Day Committee.

Braver grew up at CBS News, having joined the organization's Washington bureau in 1972 as a news desk editor. She spent 11 years as a CBS News producer and has reported for the CBS Evening News With Dan Rather, 48 Hours, Face The Nation, “CBS News This Morning,” “Street Stories” and “Public Eye.”

Braver began her career in broadcast journalism as a “copy girl” for WWL-TV, the CBS affiliate in New Orleans. She was graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in political science.