Anderson Cooper tells Las Vegas mayor she's making 'really ignorant' argument during coronavirus debate

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CNN anchor Anderson Cooper appeared visibly annoyed by Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman Wednesday as they discussed her push for the city to reopen its businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

At one point, Cooper attempted to illustrate the coronavirus' danger by citing Chinese research on how the virus spreads.

"Oh, you are good. Anderson, you are tough," Goodman said mockingly. "We're back to China, this isn’t China. This is Las Vegas, Nevada."

"Wow," Cooper responded, "OK, that's really ignorant."

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"That's ignorant to say?" Goodman asked, as a graphic of a restaurant in China appeared on the screen.

"That's an ignorant statement," responded Cooper, who also seemed distressed when Goodman said she loved watching her people being "careful" during the pandemic. As she spoke, he took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and let out a sigh.

This wasn't the first time Goodman faced intense pushback in the media.

MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle appeared stunned on Tuesday when one of her guests, Diamond Resorts founder and former CEO Stephen Cloobeck, went off on Goodman's response to the coronavirus-induced economic restrictions.

"I'm really furious about something, Stephanie," Cloobeck said. "Mayor Goodman ... she has nothing to do with The Strip and we're sick and tired of hearing this. The person in charge of the strip is Ms. [Marilyn] Kilpatrick and she's head of the [Clark] County Commission -- and that's what runs The Strip once and for all."

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"Enough Mayor! You have nothing to do with The Strip." After Ruhle started talking again, Cloobeck interjected: "It's utter b------t," he said. "Utter b------t."

Later on Tuesday, Ruhle's fellow MSNBC anchor Katy Tur peppered Goodman with questions about her response to the pandemic, at one point saying the mayor wanted to create a "survival of the fittest" scenario in her city by effectively relying on the market to regulate coronavirus protections.

"Let the businesses open and competition will destroy that business," Goodman said. "If, in fact, they become evident that they have disease, they’re closed down. It’s that simple."

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Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak said last week any changes would be incremental and insisted he would not bow to pressure from critics demanding the reopening of casinos and other businesses for short-term economic gain.

“I’m putting the lives of my fellow Nevadans ahead of dollars,” said Sisolak, who added Thursday that the state "will reopen when the time is right. It's not as easy as flipping a switch."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.