Norah O’Donnell Could Make Stunning ‘CBS Mornings’ Return After 7 Years as Ratings Slide

Norah O’Donnell could be headed back to familiar territory as CBS Mornings searches for a permanent host to fill its long-vacant third chair.

According to the New York Post, which cited a Monday, August 17, report from the newsletter Status, O’Donnell, 52, is now among the top candidates to join Gayle King and Nate Burleson as a permanent co-host. The third seat has been open since Tony Dokoupil moved to CBS Evening News in January.

Per the report, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is said to “very much like” O’Donnell, describing her as a reliable anchor with broad experience — a dynamic that could work in O’Donnell’s favor as network brass weighs its options. Status also cited sources claiming O’Donnell has sought to “ingratiate herself” with Weiss, 42, though no final decision has been made, according to the report.

Per the report, O’Donnell isn’t the only name in the mix — Status also identified Eva Pilgrim, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and CBS News anchor Kelly O’Grady as candidates under consideration.

This isn’t the first time O’Donnell’s name has surfaced in connection with mornings. Per the New York Post report, in February her guest-hosting stints had already sparked internal chatter about a possible return, though a source close to CBS downplayed it at the time, insisting she was simply part of the fill-in rotation.

O’Donnell’s profile at the network has climbed steadily under Weiss, who took over as editor-in-chief in October 2025. She was recently elevated to a full correspondent role on 60 Minutes by the newsmagazine’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton, and she launched Healthful, a weekly podcast exploring women’s health topics like menopause and reproductive health, the outlet reported.

Before any of that, O’Donnell spent years on morning television — co-hosting CBS This Morning with King and Charlie Rose, 84, before departing in 2019 to anchor CBS Evening News, a post she held for six years until stepping down in early 2025.

Any potential return would come as CBS Mornings battles a historic ratings slide, with the program recently dipping below 1.6 million total viewers for the first time, per the report.

As Globe previously reported, O’Donnell has already been positioning herself carefully amid the network’s shifting power structure. Following the firing of longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley in June, sources told Rob Shuter‘s Naughty But Nice Substack that while other high-profile CBS journalists were clashing with new leadership, O’Donnell was taking a more accommodating approach, seemingly figuring out how to thrive under the new regime rather than push back against it. Management reportedly viewed her as a team player, though not everyone inside the building saw it that way — some insiders suggested her focus had less to do with editorial independence and more to do with safeguarding her own standing within the company.