ABC is set to announce that George Stephanopoulos will become the new anchor of their long-running morning show Good Morning America, confirming rumors that have placed the political correspondent as the replacement for Diane Sawyer.

The 48-year-old Stephanopoulos was a former political adviser to President Bill Clinton. Post-White House, he took multiple hosting gigs on ABC News. He appeared many times during political events along with regular appearances on the network’s news programs.

It was also rumored that Stephanopoulos had concerns about relocating for the GMA role and losing “news cred” by giving up his hosting duties on his current news program This Week. Stephanopoulos will keep his current show “”for the foreseeable future”, one source said within ABC News.

He was reportedly wary of losing the hard-news cred he’s built up over the years. When he first came to ABC, many dismissed him as a Democratic lapdog, but he’s become a respected analyst who is tough on both parties, and who also serves as the network’s chief Washington correspondent.

Stephanopoulos had wanted to restructure the GMA hosting role to allow him to work the first hour of the broadcast focused on hard news, pushing into the second hour of the show with the softer, more feature stuff that sets the morning shows apart from the evening newscasts.

Stephanopoulos will start his new job on Good Morning America on December 14th and will join current host Robin Roberts.

Good Morning America is the nation’s second most-watched morning program behind NBC’s Today.

Along with Stephanopoulos’ move, the son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, Chris Cuomo, will replace JuJu Chang as co-anchor on the ABC news magazine 20/20.

Sawyer departed Good Morning America to replace Charles Gibson on ABC’s World News on December 21st. Gibson, who was also once a host on Good Morning America, announced he would step down last fall. Sawyer joins CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric as each network’s leading news voice.

Couric left NBC’s Today to become the first female anchor on a nightly news program. Her tenor has been turbulent with an initial spike in viewers once she took over, but viewership has declined in recent years. CBS Evening News trails both ABC and NBC during this time spot. Rumors persist of Couric leaving CBS Evening News before her contract expiration in 2011.

ABC says R&B singer Chris Brown will appear on their news show, 20/20, on December 11th for an exclusive interview. Robin Roberts, anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America, will conduct the interview which has already taken place.

ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider says clips may also air on Good Morning America.

In what’s billed as an “in-depth” sit-down, the singer will discuss his assault of ex-girlfriend and recording superstar Rihanna for which he is on probation.

The 20-year-old singer, whose new album Graffiti debuts December 8th, will only answer questions and is reportedly not performing.  His interview comes just a month after Rihanna’s revealing sit-down with Diane Sawyer, which appeared on November 5th on 20/20. The 21-year-old star said she was “embarrassed” that she still had feelings for Brown after the incident.

Brown is performing community service as a part of his assault sentence. The ex-couple must also steer clear of each other until 2014 as a part of Brown’s probation terms.

ABC recently came under fire for canceling Adam Lambert’s appearance on Good Mornings America at last minute due to the singer’s sexually-charged performance at 2009 American Music Awards. Lambert was replaced by Chris Brown. However, an ABC insider said that, “[Lambert] was not canceled over a gay kiss. He showed himself to be unpredictable on live TV. …Chris Brown’s interview was booked way before Adam Lambert took to the stage. It is to give him a chance to respond to Rihanna’s interview. The possibility of him performing a song will be worked out next week.”

In a recent interview with CNN’s Larry King, Brown appeared apologetic and surprised when he reads police reports. “I’m in shock, because, first of all, that’s not who I am as a person, and that’s not who I promise I want to be. I just don’t know what to think. I’m just like, wow,” Brown said. “It’s crazy to me.”

He added: “I’m pretty sure we can always be friends and I don’t know about our relationship, but I just know definitely that we ended as friends.”

He insisted again and again that he still loved Rihanna, saying, I’ve said countless times how sorry I am to Rihanna. I accepted full responsibility but it’s just one of those things I wish I could have relived and just handled totally different.”

Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts is still waiting to see who her new co-host is when the replacement for Diane Sawyer is chosen in December. The long-time anchor will be taking over for Charles Gibson at World News at the end of the year. Roberts insists that the network is “showing her some love.” Besides an upcoming special prime time interview with Janet Jackson, Roberts is also hosting an hour-long special titled Bright Lights. Big Stars. All Access Nashville. “I always want to be a team player,” she told the AP. “I’m not making any demands, or feeling like, ‘Ah-ha, now it’s my turn.’ I’m the nice one. I do throw some elbows under the basket, though.”

ABC’s Good Morning America has been the mainstay for the network though solidly ranks No.2 behind NBC’s powerhouse Today. Speaking on the upcoming change on the GMA set, the 48-year-old said, “I have my routine in the morning and when it changes a little bit, I feel off-kilter. I can’t imagine any sweeping changes, but you’re always evaluating what your audience wants.” Former President Clinton aid, George Stephanopoulos, who has become one of the network’s most prominent faces, recently emerged as a top candidate to replace Sawyer. Sources say Stephanopoulos—who anchors This Week and leads ABC’s Washington coverage—has expressed concerns about protecting his hard news credibility. Ouch.

Nabbing two high-profile specials could be seen as both internal and external signs of Roberts’ growing importance to ABC’s news division. She’s worked at ABC News or cable sister ESPN since 1990 and her contract expires in the spring. Roberts has spent the past week preparing for her Janet Jackson interview, which will be filmed at the singer’s home in Malibu, California.

Roberts said she hasn’t determined in advance how much of the interview would be related to the passing of her brother Michael Jackson. Janet Jackson will also be releasing a greatest hits CD around Christmas. “I don’t go in with a stack of questions and say three-quarters are going to be about this and one-quarter will be about that,” says Roberts. “I like to have a conversation. I like to walk away and have the person say, `I thought we were going to do an interview and we just talked.’”