On Wednesday’s CNN Newsroom, purported CNN “fact-checker” Daniel Dale was a little irked by some naughty “right-wing commentators” and “people on the right” for spreading misinformation around the internet about COVID-19 deaths and comorbidities. But the kicker is that the misinformation originally started with a piece of video poorly edited and aired by ABC News during last Friday’s Good Morning America.
“ABC News removed 22 seconds worth of comments, cut them out of the comments made by CDC chief Dr. Rochelle Walensky about the role of comorbidities in COVID-19 deaths,” announced co-host, Victor Blackwell, at the top of the segment. “These were, however, crucial seconds for context.”
Before we get into Dale’s wailing, let’s look at what was in those “crucially important seconds.” (the bolded text is what they ended up cutting):
WALENSKY: If I could summarize, this is an important study that looked at 1.2million people who received their first series of vaccines between December and Oct. It showed that severe illness occurred in around 0.015 per cent of these people and that death was only.003 per cent.
People with more than four comorbidities were at greater risk of death, which is a significant number. It is encouraging to see this news given the context of omicron. It means that you will not only get your primary series, but also your booster series. We are encouraged by these numbers.
And here’s what ABC aired, notice they cut out the first half of Walensky’s answer:
CECILIA VEGA: A new study has shown that vaccines can prevent severe illnesses. Now is the time to rethink our lives with this virus.
WALENSKY. The vast majority of deaths occurred among people with at most four comorbidities. These were actually people who weren’t well to begin with. It is encouraging news for Omicron. It means that you will not only get your primary series, but also your booster series. We are encouraged by these numbers.
Dale laughed that after quickly noticing that ABC had removed some of the Walensky statements. “some right-wing commentators cut down the comments even further to just 11 out-of-context seconds and described her comments falsely.”
Picking on a tweet from radio and TV host Clay Travis, Dale note he wrote “The CDC director just said over 75 percent of COVID deaths occurred in people with at least four comorbidities,” then whined: “Walensky was wrong., as you’ll hear in a moment.”
Travis’s video only included Walensky saying, “The overwhelming number of deaths, 75 percent, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities”
“So once again, Alisyn [Camerota]Victor See the comments for Walensky’s full statement.,” he griped after playing her full comments.
Despite ABC’s edited video being responsible for the spawning of commentary from the right, Dale’s criticisms of ABC were an afterthought. “[T]hey released the full footage, as I said, on Monday, at the end of the full footage, they put in a text note saying that the Friday footage on TV had been edited they said for time reasons,” he recalled just before the end of the segment.
Daniel Dale’s vindictive fact-checking was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from ADT Security Services and Humana. The following links provide their contact information.
Below is the transcript. Click “expand to read:
CNN Newsroom
February 12, 2022
Eastern: 2:56 p.m.VICTOR BLACKWELL – 22 second of comments were removed by ABC News. They are now taken out from comments that Dr. Rochelle Walensky made about the impact of comorbidities on COVID-19 death. These were, however, crucial seconds for context. Now, let us listen to the Walensky sound.
[Cuts to video]
CECILIA VEGA – This study shows how vaccines work to prevent serious illness. Is it now that we need to rethink how we live with the virus that could be here forever?
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC director: 75 percent of all deaths occurred among people with at least four comorbidities. These were actually people who weren’t well to begin with. It is encouraging news for Omicron. It means that you will not only get your primary series, but also your booster series. We are encouraged by these numbers.
[Cuts back to live]
ALISYN CAMEROTA : Ok. This clip was poorly edited and created a tsunami of misinformation. CNN’s resident fact-checker Daniel Dale conducted a thorough investigation on the matter. Daniel: How did it happen? And how was this seized on?
DANIEL Dale: Two problems were at play here. Many people got a false sense of the CDC director’s words.
Number one, as Victor pointed out, ABC’s Good Morning AmericaWalensky had some important sentences deleted, but they were not aired. ABC claims it did so for time reasons. However, the edit rendered the meaning of her comments less clear. Number two, right-leaning commentators reduced comments to only 11 out of context seconds. They also mischaracterized her comments.
Clay Travis, a radio host and television presenter made a false tweet. Travis wrote, “The CDC director just said over 75 percent of COVID deaths occurred in people with at least four comorbidities.” But this is not actually what Walensky said, as you’ll hear in a moment.
Talking about over 75 percent of people with four or more co-morbidities did not refer to all of the deaths attributed to COVIDs, which are estimated at 800,000.
The study surveyed 1.2 million people who had been fully vaccinated. Just 36 deaths were associated with COVID-19 among the total 1.2million people. Of those, 28 (or more than 75%) had at least four risk factors that could lead to severe COVID outcomes.
These include people who are 65 years old or have a number of serious chronic conditions. Since 2020, the CDC made it clear that COVID risks are higher for people who have health problems than those without. Travis was wrong to suggest that this information has been kept secret. Walensky wasn’t saying, however that 75 percent U.S. COVID deaths occurred in people who had four or more comorbidities.
Now after this controversy erupted on Monday, ABC finally released Walensky’s full comments online, adding back the key sentences they left out of the TV segment on Good Morning AmericaFriday. Hear her real comment.
[Cuts to video]
WALENSKY – This is a really important study. It looked at 1.2million people who had been vaccinated in December and October. The results showed that severe diseases occurred in approximately 0.015 percent and death was in just.003 percent.
People with more than four comorbidities were at greater risk of death, which is a significant number. It is encouraging to see this news given the context of omicron. It means that you will not only get your primary series, but also your booster series. We are encouraged by these numbers.
[Cuts back to live]
DALE
CAMEROTA – And Daniel. Has ABC now loudly, completely and correctly corrected the record?
DALE: No. They released all the footage as they had said on Monday. At the end, they added a note stating that Friday’s footage was being edited. When I asked for their comments they refused to provide them with any. They simply said that they’d take a look at it.
CAMEROTA : Daniel Dale. Thank you for your explanation.
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