After Roberts and Chetry left in 2011, the show did not have a permanent anchor team and was shelved by CNN at the end of the year.

Others who appeared regularly were Rob Marciano with the weather, Sunny Hostin on legal news, and CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta as well as Elizabeth Cohen with health-related reports.

The program mainly aimed to attract viewers who prefer a more straightforward morning show, without the amount of anchor banter found on the competition.

After years of operating from a streetside studio at the 1271 Avenue of the Americas in New York City, the show moved north to an indoor set at the CNN studios in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle which was shared with the HLN show Showbiz Tonight.

Paula Zahn began anchoring the program five months early due to the 9/11 attacks which had occurred the previous morning.

In February 2002, Bill Hemmer moved to New York to become Paula Zahn's co-host, replacing Anderson Cooper.

In April 2003, Bill Hemmer anchored the program solo when Paula Zahn moved to CNN primetime.

Heidi Collins and Daryn Kagan temporarily hosted with Bill Hemmer before Soledad O'Brien debuted as co-host.

The show moved to the Time Warner Center, and shared a set with the CNN Headline News program Showbiz Tonight.