CNN announced today that it has hired John Roberts, formerly CBS’s Chief White House Correspondent, as Senior National Correspondent.

John Roberts, a veteran broadcaster and award-winning journalist, will join CNN as senior national correspondent, it was announced today by Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S. Roberts’ new assignment with the cable news network will begin Monday, Feb. 20.

Drawing from his years of experience covering the White House, breaking news and international assignments, Roberts will report on a broad range of pressing stories developing in the nation’s capital. He will contribute as a correspondent to programs throughout the network.

“As part of CNN’s commitment to providing viewers with more context on stories that really matter out of Washington, John will go beyond the daily news to deliver in-depth and enterprising reports on a broad range of important topics,” Klein said. “John is one of the most accomplished broadcasters in the business. By giving him the freedom to report beyond the halls of the White House, he will be able to dig deeper into the political stories that have been breaking around the nation’s capital and beyond.”

“I am tremendously energized and excited by the opportunity to join an organization that time and time again has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to rock-solid journalism, a dedication that has rightly earned CNN recognition as the global leader in news coverage,” Roberts said.

Did anyone see this coming? At one point Roberts was tagged as one of the successors to Dan Rather. Now he’s jumped to CNN.