Currently anchored by Kasie Hunt, the program premiered on January 2, 2012, as Early Start—a companion to CNN's then-new morning show Starting Point airing from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Executive vice president Ken Jautz, who joined in September 2010, decided to revamp the network's morning lineup by canceling the show altogether and replacing it with two new programs less focused on national politics than cable rivals Fox & Friends and Morning Joe.

[1] Banfield joined from ABC News while Sambolin was hired from Chicago NBC station WMAQ-TV.

On May 30, 2012, CNN announced ABC's John Berman would join Banfield and Sambolin as co-anchor.

ET, and was alternated between Poppy Harlow, Miguel Marquez, Alison Kosik, Randi Kaye and Victor Blackwell.

One week leading up to the 2016 United States presidential election, Early Start ran from 3am to 5am ET, followed by an extended version of New Day from 5am to 9am ET.

[17] On the January 9, 2012, edition of the show, Banfield and Sambolin attempted to call comedian Chuck Nice as part of the "Wake 'Em Up" segment.