Soledad O’Brien thinks outside the box. Literally.

O’Brien, newly named coanchor of CNN’s “American Morning,” said she checks three boxes on the U.S. Census form under “ethnicity” – African American, Hispanic and Caucasian.

“I define myself as multiracial. Definitions are important to other people. They make no difference to my life.”

O’Brien’s mother, Estela, is a black Cuban who emigrated to America in the late “50s. Her dad, Edward, an Australian, had Irish grandparents. The two met while at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

O’Brien, coanchor of NBC’s “Weekend Today” since 1999, will join Bill Hemmer on CNN’s 7 to 10 a.m. weekday “American Morning” in early July. Her NBC contract expires at the end of this month.

“This is a great opportunity,” said O’Brien, 36. “I’m going from three hours a week to three hours a day. And I’ll get to sit down and talk to newsmakers.”

O’Brien was asleep at home when NBC’s Bill Wheatley phoned her in early April with the news that her “Weekend Today” coanchor, David Bloom, 39, had died while covering the Iraq war.

“I thought he had been hit by a bomb or shot or ambushed. Then Bill told me it was a pulmonary embolism. Basically, I stayed up for the next two days.

“It’s still so horrible. He was so young. I know his family. His kids came to the show a lot. It’s very difficult. There’s no way to make it better. Your heart breaks for them.”

O’Brien and her husband, investment banker Brad Raymond, have two kids: Sophia, 2½, and Cecilia, 14 months.

O’Brien comes from a large brood: six children born over seven years. (We need a nap.) “I know it sounds cheesy, but we were like “The Brady Bunch.’ Everyone was supportive. We all did what we wanted to do, and we did it pretty well.”

What the O’Briens wanted to do – all six of them – was go to Harvard. And so they did.

Maria, 42, a law professor, went to Harvard undergrad. Cecilia, 41, an attorney for NBC owner General Electric, is Harvard Law. Tony, 40, head of a documents company, is Harvard and Harvard Law.

Estela, 39, an eye surgeon, is Harvard. And the baby, Orestes, 35, an anesthesiologist, is Harvard Med. Soledad graduated in English and American Studies.

“There’s not an O’Brien Library at Harvard, but with all our tuitions, there should be,” she said.

“It was not our parents’ dream that we go to Harvard. It doesn’t seem odd that we all went there. We were all excellent students in high school. We worked hard, and we were very competitive.”

Her parents “are the most laid-back people in the world,” but none of their children inherited that gene. “They’re all as hyper as I am. We’re crazy.

“I am a real cheerleader for people. A lot of people come to me for advice. I have a very “can do’ attitude. I believe in hard work. I believe in the American Dream.”

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VCR ALERT

TCM on Saturday is running an 11-film tribute to legendary actor Gregory Peck, who died Wednesday.

The lineup: 6 a.m., “Man With a Million (1953). 7:30 a.m., “The Great Sinner (1949). 9:30 a.m., “The Valley of Decision (1945). 11:30 a.m., “Designing Woman (1957). 1:30 p.m., “Pork Chop Hill (1959). 3:30 p.m., “The Yearling (1946). 6 p.m., “Moby Dick (1956). 8 p.m., “A Conversation With Gregory Peck (1999). 10 p.m., “The Big Country (1958). 1 a.m., “MacArthur (1977). 3:30 a.m., “The Paradine Case (1947).

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SHORT STUFF

Dennis Miller is expected to join Fox News Channel next month as a weekly commentator on “Hannity and Colmes.”

Susan Binford is the new senior v.p., communications, for ABC. Binford, ex of Turner and NBC, replaces Zenia Mucha, now with Disney.

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(c) 2003, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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AP-NY-06-13-03 2053EDT