On the air, viewers will begin to notice the changes later this month, when Phillip becomes the anchor of “Inside Politics Sunday” on January 24th. John King will continue to host the week-long edition of the iconic CNN program.
That same day, Bash will become a co-anchor of “State of the Union,” changing Sundays with current anchor Jake Tapper.
Bash will continue to be the network’s main political correspondent, “and will also host quarterly specials in prime time interviews,” CNN announced.
Tapper’s role is also expanding. In April he will become the “main presenter of the network for all major Washington events,” he told CNN, as election nights. This means, for example, that when the time comes to project the winner of the 2024 presidential election, Tapper will give news.
Also in April, Tapper’s afternoon news program “The Lead” will be expanded to a second hour, which will cover from 4 to 6 p.m. in the East.
Wolf Blitzer and “The Situation Room,” described by CNN as “the network’s afternoon news reports,” will remain in place at 6 p.m. in the East.
Blitzer, a CNN legend who joined the network 31 years ago, “will also play a leading role for all breaking news and will continue to host special CNN reports,” the network said.
CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker, making the announcements Monday morning, told employees that Blitzer will stay with CNN for a long time.
Acosta, CNN’s chief White House correspondent during the Trump years and a frequent target of the outgoing president, will become a national chief correspondent along with a weekend anchor role. His time slot will be announced soon, CNN said.
Brown, currently a senior White House correspondent, will anchor weekends from 6 to 9 p.m. in the East, a key period for news coverage and analysis. He will remain in DC and will be a senior Washington correspondent.
All of Monday’s announcements were for DC posts and more announcements about time slots and anchoring features are expected to run in other cities.
Some Biden reporters have moved on to new roles in Washington now that the former president’s campaign is over.
Arlette Saenz will become a White House correspondent alongside Jeremy Diamond, John Harwood, MJ Lee and Kate Bennett. Jasmine Wright will become a White House reporter alongside Kevin Liptak. And Jessica Dean and Ryan Nobles, two campaign veterans, will move to Capitol Hill alongside Raju, Lauren Fox and Daniella Diaz.
Congress correspondent Phil Mattingly will become a senior White House correspondent. “The hill will always be my home and my love for the Capitol has only grown in the last 5 days,” Mattingly tweeted, referring to last week’s riot, which he covered live. “But he wanted me to go back to the street and work with these people.”
All corresponding changes will take effect on the day of the inauguration. “Joe Johns will continue to be a senior Washington correspondent and will change his White House approach to various Washington-related stories,” CNN’s press release said. “Sunlen Serfaty will become a Washington correspondent covering Washington in general. Suzanne Malveaux will continue to play her role as a national correspondent.”
Other networks have also made Washington-targeted announcements in recent days. Last week, NBC appointed Peter Alexander and Kristen Welker as White House chief correspondents during the Biden years. And on Monday CBS named Shawna Thomas, known for her years running the DC office of Vice News, the new executive producer of “CBS This Morning.”