O'Donnell pushes back on Weiss critics as she returns to CBS Mornings

Norah O'Donnell is returning to CBS mornings, and she's not interested in hearing complaints about it. The anchor, who spent seven years cohosting what was then called CBS This Morning alongside Gayle King before moving to the evening news desk, will rejoin King and Nate Burleson after Labor Day. She replaces Tony Dokoupil, who shifted to anchor the CBS Evening News. It's a homecoming of sorts—O'Donnell left the morning slot in 2019 to take over the evening broadcast, a role she held until 2025.

The announcement arrived at a moment of real tension inside CBS News. Over the past year, liberal viewers have grown increasingly vocal in their frustration with the network's direction, particularly following Bari Weiss's appointment as editor-in-chief by David Ellison, the new Paramount CEO. Weiss, a former New York Times columnist known for her contrarian politics and criticism of progressive orthodoxy, has become a lightning rod for viewers who worry about the editorial independence and ideological tilt of the newsroom. Some have vowed to stop watching CBS programming altogether.

When CBS Mornings announced O'Donnell's return on Instagram, the comments section filled with expressions of this discontent. One viewer wrote that she felt O'Donnell was too talented to remain at CBS under Weiss and Ellison's leadership. Another said they would never watch CBS again after what they called the "Colbert/60 minutes fiasco"—a reference to recent upheaval at the network's flagship magazine show. A third simply stated they couldn't watch CBS anymore with Weiss in charge, though they loved O'Donnell.

O'Donnell responded directly to each complaint with variations of the same message: watch the show. "This is so silly. Just watch our show," she wrote to one critic. To another: "Thanks for commenting. Give us a try." To a third: "This makes no sense. Watch our show." She offered no acknowledgment of the underlying concerns about editorial direction or leadership, instead treating the criticism as something to be dismissed rather than engaged.

The timing of O'Donnell's return coincides with a broader reshaping of CBS News. She has also been named a new correspondent for 60 Minutes, joining a slate of recent hires that includes Ross Douthat, who left the New York Times for the role. This comes after the network fired three 60 Minutes correspondents—Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, and Scott Pelley—and after Anderson Cooper departed. The changes reflect Weiss's influence over the network's direction and personnel.

O'Donnell's previous tenure at CBS Evening News had already been marked by departures. When she stepped down in 2025, John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois took over as co-anchors. Both men left the network after Dokoupil was appointed to the evening anchor chair in January, suggesting that Weiss's leadership decisions have prompted exits among established talent.

Weiss and Ellison have framed their mission in terms of appealing to the political center—the 70 percent in the middle, as they've described it, rather than the ideological fringes. But that framing has done little to reassure viewers who see her appointment as a rightward shift. The stakes of this leadership change may grow larger still. Ellison's Paramount is pursuing a $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that would place both CBS News and CNN under his control. Reports have suggested Weiss might oversee both newsrooms, though Ellison has promised CNN will maintain editorial independence. An antitrust lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta has delayed the merger, with a trial scheduled for March 2027. The outcome could reshape the landscape of American broadcast news.