CBS Evening News Anchor and Managing Editor Norah O’Donnell Will Lead CBS Coverage of Both Conventions

By A.J. Katz 

CBS News announced today its coverage plans for the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, to be featured across all broadcasts and platforms beginning next week.

CBS will dedicate one hour in prime time on CBS TV (10-11 p.m. ET) to coverage on each night of both conventions: Aug. 17-20 for the Democrats and Aug. 24-27 for the Republicans.

CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell will lead the coverage from Washington, D.C., and will be joined by 60 Minutes correspondent and CBS News political analyst John Dickerson and CBS News contributors María Elena Salinas, Jamal Simmons and Leslie Sanchez. 

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CBS News’ coverage will include CBS News political correspondent Ed O’Keefe, who has been reporting on former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign; Face the Nation moderator and CBS News senior foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan on foreign interference into U.S. elections and misinformation; CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on the challenges of voting and identifying voting irregularities during a pandemic; CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang and correspondent Nikole Killion on President Trump’s reelection campaign; and CBS News chief justice and homeland security correspondent Jeff Pegues on race and policing in America.

CBS News’ coverage will include live analysis from experts, such as Valerie Jarrett, the former White House senior advisor to President Barack Obama; Reince Priebus, the former White House chief of staff for President Trump; former Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign manager Robby Mook; Democratic strategist Joel Payne; and former 2016 Marco Rubio campaign manager Terry Sullivan, as they discuss the latest developments from the conventions and what they mean for the future of the country and its political parties.

Also contributing to the coverage, Anthony Salvanto, CBS News’ elections and surveys director, and his team’s robust polling via CBS News’ Battleground Tracker polls.

CBSN will provide live coverage of the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention each night beginning at 5 p.m., ET with Red & Blue, anchored by Elaine Quijano. Quijano will continue coverage at 8:30 p.m. ET with preconvention analysis.

CBSN’s streaming coverage of the conventions will include O’Donnell, Dickerson and others from the CBS News political team. CBSN will also be talking with the 2020 CBS News campaign reporters joining from across the country.

Throughout each evening, Quijano will be joined by a slate of guests reporting on the major issues impacting voters in 2020, including CBS News politics reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns, Salvanto, CBSN contributors, representatives from each party and campaign, as well as reporters nationwide as part of CBSN’s Local Matters series.

CBSN will simulcast the network’s prime-time special reports from 10-11 p.m. ET each night of the conventions and provide live analysis and reporting afterwards. CBSN is available live, 24/7 via CBSNews.com/live and on all CBS News mobile apps. Stream CBSN anytime, anywhere on your phone, tablet or connected device for iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and game consoles like Xbox and PlayStation.

Additional coverage plans include:

  • CBS News Digital will offer complete coverage of both conventions at CBSNews.com and the CBS News mobile app. CBSNews.com’s live blog coverage will start each day at 5 p.m. ET and include updates and analysis of all major convention speeches. Miss a notable moment from our coverage? Highlights of CBS News and CBSN will be shared on the network’s Twitter and Facebook accounts during the conventions.
  • CBS News Radio will provide live anchored coverage and short-form special reports by Steven Portnoy, Steve Futterman and Peter Maer with analysis from Leonard Steinhorn. The CBS Weekend Roundup will feature coverage anchored by Allison Keyes.
  • CBS Newspath, CBS News’ newsgathering organization providing news and information to 200+ affiliates nationwide and to broadcasters around the world, will feature extensive coverage and digital content on both conventions. O’Keefe, Jiang, Killion, Natalie Brand and Skyler Henry will report from Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, Del.

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