CNN’s Berman Baffled By Trump Decision to Spike New CDC Coronavirus Guidelines: Do They Want People Not to Be Safe?
CNN anchor John Berman reacted to the Trump administration’s decision to shelve new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on reopening during the coronavirus pandemic with shock, even wondering if the administration doesn’t want people to take measures to be safe.
On Thursday morning’s edition of New Day, correspondent Nick Valencia expanded on reports that the White House has blocked the release of a detailed 17-page set of guidelines for reopening public businesses and institutions, a decision that perplexed Berman.
And in a follow-up segment with panelists Dr. Rochelle Walensky and Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo — both infectious disease experts — Berman repeatedly expressed shock at the decision.
“I’m just confused. I’m just flat-out confused this morning, because this isn’t an argument about whether to reopen. Right?” Berman said. “The White House has made that argument, states are doing it. What this is is a 17-page document for guidelines to how to do it safely if you’re going to make that decision to do it. Why on earth wouldn’t you want people to see this?”
“And what’s the larger message here of the administration somehow blocking something that the CDC, which is the place that’s supposed to be putting this stuff out, blocking the release of this?” he asked.
“I couldn’t agree with you more, it is hard to make sense of it,” Dr. Marrazzo agreed, and added “This whole reopening is like learning to walk again and you can’t learn to walk on your own. We have to talk out the details of how this is going to be done.
“It’s very hard for me to imagine what could be controversial in those guidelines, they [CDC] are very versed in crafting language that is sensitive to the realities of all of the things that we deal with,” Marrazzo said.
Co-anchor Erica Hill pointed out that “There are practical implications here that one would think the administration would want out there,” such as guidance for schools and summer camps.
Berman went on to say that the White House decision “is internally contradictory, the messages being sent from the White House to me, they are incongruous. If you’re going to encourage reopening, how can you not provide help for how to do it? It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Unless you’re nervous that when people see what they have to do, that they’re going to think it’s too hard to reopen,” Berman continued. “Unless you don’t want them to take these measures to be safe. I just simply don’t get it.”
Watch the clip above via CNN.
