Norah O’Donnell Returns to CBS Mornings on September 8

Norah O’Donnell is returning to the CBS morning desk. The veteran journalist will join Gayle King and Nate Burleson as a co-host of CBS Mornings beginning Tuesday, September 8, reuniting her with a program she helped lead for seven years.

A familiar anchor rejoins the table

O’Donnell previously co-hosted the broadcast when it was known as CBS This Morning, serving from 2012 until 2019. She then moved to the CBS Evening News, where she remained anchor through 2024. Her return therefore reconnects two major chapters of her career at the network.

Executive producer Jon Tower described the appointment to staff as a homecoming. His memo emphasized the established rapport between O’Donnell and King, while presenting the new trio as a team equipped to move comfortably between hard news and the broader range of stories expected from a network morning show.

The timing is notable. CBS Mornings is increasing its political coverage ahead of the midterm elections, an area where O’Donnell’s interviewing and campaign experience can immediately strengthen the broadcast. Her reporting for 60 Minutes and her work on the women’s health podcast Healthful also give the program material that can travel across CBS platforms.

One role within a wider CBS portfolio

The morning assignment does not erase O’Donnell’s other responsibilities. She was recently named a correspondent for 60 Minutes, and the network can now use her work across the flagship newsmagazine, the daily morning broadcast and digital audio.

For viewers, the change offers familiarity without simply restoring the old lineup. Burleson, who joined the program after O’Donnell’s departure, brings a different on-air background, while King’s long tenure provides continuity. O’Donnell enters that combination with experience at both ends of the daily news schedule.

The September 8 debut will show how CBS balances those strengths in practice. The immediate task is to establish the chemistry of a three-person desk while preserving the reporting identity that the network says it wants to emphasize during a busy political season.