WH correspondents slam CNN for excluding outside press from Biden-Trump debate | 27 June 2024 | The White House Correspondents' Association blasted CNN on Thursday in a last-ditch attempt to expand access to the evening's first presidential debate of 2024 to reporters outside the network. The debate between Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was brokered by the campaigns and will be different from past showdowns in its lack of an audience and the muting of microphones when a speaker's time is up. The move means TV viewers may entirely miss off-mic remarks and that coverage will be limited to what CNN cameras show at the time -- with CNN moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper expected to be the only journalists [sic] in the room if there is other related significant news to tell. Reps for both Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, said it would be okay to allow the daily White House press pool to observe the face-off, but CNN allegedly refused. The Atlanta-based cable news outlet has instead relegated journalists unaffiliated with CNN to another building.