CNN caused a kerfuffle Thursday as the final details were worked out for the first presidential debate. The host network banned the White House pool reporters from the debate room.

The White House Correspondents' Association said CNN rejected multiple requests. The rules are that there would not be a live audience, which was weird enough, but CNN took it further by banning reporters. The reporting said that both Trump and Biden were ok with the press pool being included. This was a CNN decision. 

The press pool is made up of reporters from major news organizations. They accompany the president on foreign and domestic trips. They receive access to events where the president speaks or appears in public. The goal is to keep the public informed. That is their job. 

The White House Correspondents' Association spoke out. 

"WHCA is deeply concerned that CNN has rejected our repeated requests to include the White House travel pool inside the studio," Kelly O'Donnell, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, said in a statement.

"The pool is there for the 'what ifs?' in a world where the unexpected does happen," she said, and to provide "context and insight by direct observation and not through the lens of the television production," she said.

"These reporters are there to see what is said and done when the microphones and cameras are off, and provide independent observation, she wrote, with duties "separate from the production of the debate as a news event."

CNN said that one White House print pool reporter would be allowed to enter the studio during the two commercial breaks to "briefly observe the setting." Some still photographers are allowed from other news outlets to cover the candidates inside the studio. They said they would provide a television feed to other networks. For example, I watched on the Fox simulcast instead of watching CNN. 

CNN said it is a member of the WHCA and respects the role the group plays, but them's the rules this time around. No audience in the studio, no press. 

The viewing audience is expected to be big. CNN will have the best ratings it has had in a long time. 

The National Association of Black Journalists was left out, too.

The National Association of Black Journalists has also asked CNN to accredit reporters from local Black-owned news organizations, after none of Atlanta's Black news groups got credentials to be on-site for the debate.

O'Donnell said it was about precedent for future debates. She's right. CNN arbitrarily changed the rules that normally apply to presidential debates. It was a power play. The question was - why? What didn't they want viewers to see or read about in the media reports? The press was stuck in a building across the street. 

"For weeks, WHCA has advocated for the inclusion of our White House travel pool inside the studio for the presidential debate. Our work has included outreach to the White House, the campaigns of both President Biden and former President Trump and the debate host network CNN," Kelly O'Donnell, president of the White House Correspondents' Association said in a memo on Thursday.

It continued: "We appreciate that CNN is providing a television feed of the debate to other networks and will grant access to still photographers from various news outlets to cover the candidates inside the studio.  Those are positive actions that WHCA fully supports."

"However, WHCA is deeply concerned that CNN has rejected our repeated requests to include the White House travel pool inside the studio.  Through conversations and advocacy, we urged CNN to grant access to at least one print pool reporter for the duration of the debate, WHCA has been informed that one print reporter will be permitted to enter the studio during a commercial break to briefly observe the setting" the statement continued. "That is not sufficient in our view and diminishes a core principle of presidential coverage.   The White House pool has a duty to document, report and witness the president's events and his movements on behalf of the American people."

WHCA is right to speak out. CNN's power grab was wrong.