CNN announced a series of changes to its Washington, D.C. lineup on Monday, January 11, 2021, with Jake Tapper’s The Lead expanding to two hours and Tapper taking on the role as lead anchor for all major Washington events.
Meanwhile, Dana Bash has been named co-anchor of the Sunday morning program State of the Union with Tapper.
Jim Acosta will switch to a new role from chief White House correspondent to anchor and chief domestic correspondent for the network, with more details on his weekend anchoring duties to be announced. Kaitlan Collins will be the new chief White House correspondent, with Phil Mattingly as senior White House correspondent.
Abby Phillip will become the anchor of Inside Politics Sunday with Abby Phillip from 8 AM and 9 AM ET. She also has been named the network’s senior political correspondent. John King will continue to host Inside Politics with John King on weekdays and serve as the chief national correspondent.
Pamela Brown will anchor CNN Newsroom on Saturdays and Sundays from 6 AM ET to 9 AM ET, starting on Jan. 23, and serve as senior Washington correspondent for CNN.
Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room will now air for an hour at 6 PM ET.
Other assignments announced: Arlette Saenz, Jeremy Diamond, John Harwood, MJ Lee, and Kate Bennett will all be correspondents covering the White House, and they will be joined by Kevin Liptak and Jasmine Wright. Jeff Zeleny will be chief national affairs correspondent and also will cover the first year of the Biden White House.
Joe Johns will remain senior Washington correspondent and shift his focus from the White House to a variety of Washington-related stories. Sunlen Serfaty will become Washington correspondent, covering D.C. at large, and Suzanne Malveaux will continue as national correspondent.
Manu Raju has been named chief congressional correspondent and will be joined by Jessica Dean, Lauren Fox, and Ryan Nobles, with Daniella Diaz as Capitol Hill reporter.
Acosta tweeted about the changes. “On to the next adventure! After eight years at WH, I’m moving into a new role as anchor on weekends and chief domestic correspondent for @CNN, a new challenge I’m very excited about. Will miss my WH colleagues. But I know they’ll be great covering the Biden admin. See you soon!”
