Trump is protecting dead Confederate generals -- but not protecting Americans from COVID-19: CNN's Berman

John Berman on Wednesday delivered a blistering opening statement on CNN's "New Day," in which he hammered President Donald Trump's misplaced priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"What's the plan?" Berman asked at the start of the show. "Seriously, what's the plan? The U.S. is hovering near an all-time high in coronavirus cases, more than 44,000 new cases just yesterday. Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that number could reach 100,000 if we don't take action. So, where is that federal action?"

In particular, Berman scalded the president for tweeting more about the removal of Confederate monuments than about plans to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"The president has said next to nothing about this," Berman said. "He's not even acknowledged this huge jump in cases. Overnight, he vowed to protect the legacy of Robert E. Lee, who was at no risk of catching coronavirus. So he has a plan for Robert E. Lee, but what about the pandemic?"

Co-host Erica Hill then pointed out that even some Republican lawmakers have been calling on Trump to at least start promote wearing face masks during the pandemic -- but said that "Mr. Trump continues to ignore those calls, and he also continues to ignore the science."

Watch the video below.