CNN's Fiery Morning News Anchor Is Getting Ready For Her Next Big Move

Soledad O'Brien, the tenacious anchor of CNN's "Starting Point," is getting ready to leave her post and take on a new role at the network, part of an ongoing effort by CNN's new president to remake the struggling cable news channel.

With O'Brien's departure from the anchor's chair, CNN loses one of its rising onscreen stars. Over the last year, O'Brien has burst onto the national stage, building building a brand based on her fierce challenges to her show's guests.

During the 2012 election, O'Brien continually drove the day's agenda. She pressed Mitt Romney on a comment he made about not being "concerned about the very poor," slammed Rudy Giuliani for questioning her journalistic integrity, and engaged in frequent sparring matches with Romney's curmudgeonly campaign co-chair John Sununu.

But the brand O'Brien built up did not earn her an extension of her role under CNN's new president Jeff Zucker. Last week, she and the network announced a partial departure in which she will no longer host "Starting Point," a split O'Brien says was "amicable." She will continue to produce documentaries for CNN, but she and her new production company, Starfish Media, are now free to produce content for other networks and mediums.

In an interview with Business Insider earlier this week, O'Brien made clear her desire to eventually return to an anchor chair.

"I don't think this closes the door on the chapter of me anchoring at all," O'Brien said. "I think it's very likely I will take an anchoring gig somewhere down the line. ... I like reporting. I like telling stories. And anchoring certainly is a big part of that."

O'Brien's role at the network had been in limbo since Zucker came on at the start of the year. But she applauded new president Jeff Zucker's "entrepreneurial" side in working with her to find new ways she could continue to contribute to the network.

"In terms of what Jeff's vision is for the morning show, I don't really know," she said. "I know he's got a very different vision than what we were doing. But he's in charge. And it's his vision that he's going to put in place."

O'Brien wouldn't comment on Zucker's overall changes at the network, which has already earned him intense scrutiny in the past few weeks. Earlier in February, CNN was mocked for its round-the-clock coverage of the deteriorating conditions on the Carnival Triumph Cruise ship.

A CNN spokesperson declined to provide details about the network's new vision for the morning show, referring back to a statement last week in which Zucker said the network continues to see O'Brien as an "asset."

For now, O'Brien has plans to produce three documentaries for CNN by next year, which puts her in a role she had before becoming a morning-show host. The three documentaries will include two installments of her acclaimed "Black in America" series, one of which is being shot in Chicago.

After she leaves CNN, O'Brien will get to work on the documentaries and build up her production company, Starfish Media, which will produce scripted and non-scripted material for other networks. It's a step she said she has wanted to take for years.

"The nice thing about the flexibility and the freedom is that you get to pick and choose the projects you want to invest your time in," O'Brien said.

O'Brien said she's "incredibly proud" of what she accomplished as the anchor of "Starting Point," and that she wants to continue to have that presence in a crowded field.

"I intend to continue to have a voice. I think I have a really important voice," O'Brien said. "I think there are really interesting stories to cover that can be riveting — some, in documentary form, and others in stories that are just undercovered."