White House Now Allows Health Officials To Be Interviewed By CNN

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The White House now allows health officials to be booked and interviewed by CNN to discuss the coronavirus pandemic.
• Pence’s office initially did not permit the officials to appear on CNN because the network doesn’t broadcast the complete White House COVID-19 briefings.
• The reason is due to the lengthy full briefing that runs more than two hours, according to CNN executives.

The White House, through the Office of Vice President (OVP) Mike Pence, now allows the country’s top health officials to be interviewed by CNN and discuss the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initially, Pence’s office did not permit these health officials to do so for days because the network does not broadcast the entirety of the White House coronavirus briefings.

The office would only allow key experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci or Dr. Deborah Birx if CNN shows the complete briefing including the vice president and other members of the COVID-19 task force.

CNN habitually televise only the president’s, and sometimes the health care officials’ question and answer session of the briefings, live on-air.

Once President Trump gets off the podium, the network would often cut out of the briefing to move to the discussion and fact-checking of Trump’s statements.

The reason is due to the lengthy full briefing that runs more than two hours, according to CNN executives.

Still, CNN did broadcast Pence’s part of the briefing on Wednesday evening.

Nevertheless, the OVP, which is in charge of booking health officials on news networks throughout the coronavirus pandemic, refused to book them with CNN in the previous seven days.

On Thursday morning, a spokesperson for Pence told CNN, “when you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air.”

Regardless of the fact that CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox News do not also generally show the complete briefings, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, Fauci, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, and Birx have all guested at these networks during the last week. But they blocked all appearances with CNN since Thursday night last week.

After the publishing of this news, the OVP has allowed the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, for an interview on Thursday night for CNN’s COVID-19 town hall. Dr. Anthony Fauci is also set to appear on “New Day” on Friday.

Source: CNN