Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins will anchor CNN’s new morning show, set to debut later this year with a new name, format and set.
The retooled show has been a top priority of CNN’s chairman and CEO Chris Licht, who started in May.
Lemon will end his nightly Don Lemon Tonight to host the new morning show. Harlow start a few hours earlier from her 9 AM to 11 AM slot to join the show, and Collins, who has been the network’s chief White House correspondent, will serve as co-anchor and chief correspondent on the program.
John Berman and Brianna Keilar, who have been anchoring the current show New Day, will take on new roles at the network, CNN said.
“There is no stronger combination of talent than Don, Poppy and Kaitlan to deliver on our promise of a game-changing morning news program,” Licht said in a statement. “They are each uniquely intelligent, reliable and compelling; together they have a rare and palpable chemistry. Combined with CNN’s resources and newsgathering capabilities, we will offer a smart, bold and refreshing way to start the day.”
Licht helped develop Morning Joe as its founding executive producer, making it an influential show to Beltway and New York insiders with a more casual yet newsier format than broadcast network morning shows. He then went on to bring some of those ideas to revitalize CBS’s This Morning, before departing to take the helm of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
CNN has been undergoing a series of changes in recent weeks, leading to speculation over the future of some its on-air personalities. Lemon, who has been anchoring his primetime show since 2014, was a frequent target of allies of Donald Trump during his presidency, but he has more recently taken a major role in coverage of breaking news events, including the ceremonies for Queen Elizabeth this week in Edinburgh and London.
The exit of Lemon from CNN’s primetime lineup means that the network will have an even larger hole to fill, as it already has been featuring a rotating series of hosts at 9 PM ET with CNN Tonight, which replaced Chris Cuomo’s show after he was fired.
More to come.