A new documentary, called "Totally Under Control," reveals startling new details about why Messonnier and her CDC briefings disappeared after that bombshell warning.
"Nancy thought the green light had been given for that new message to be delivered before briefing the president," he said, adding, "so at her next conference call for reporters, she went to town."
On the morning of February 25, she warned that the coronavirus was inevitably going to spread and could soon lead to a "disruption to everyday life" — including school and office closings.
It was a stark departure from the CDC's previously calm messaging.
"I remember being shocked, thinking, 'Does she realize what she just said?'" Bright said.
Messonnier's statements, according to Bright, were the first to "prepare the psyche of Americans for what we, the scientists, knew was coming."
But they sent the stock market on a downward spiral. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 1,000 points, then another 900, on consecutive days.
Azar held an afternoon news conference after Messonnier's briefing to try to bring the narrative back under control. But investors were irreversibly spooked, the stock market was sliding, and the president was already furious.