CNN's Woodruff corrected Novak's Dean misquote

Following Media Matters for America's March 1 item noting that syndicated columnist and CNN host Robert Novak had misquoted Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean for the second time, CNN host Judy Woodruff corrected Novak's error.

On the February 28 edition of CNN's Inside Politics, Novak misquoted Dean in order to assert that Dean agrees with the Bush administration that Social Security is in crisis. Novak falsely claimed that Dean said that "over the years it's [Social Security] going to lose about 80 percent of the benefits." It was the second time in three days Novak made this erroneous assertion, which he also made on the February 26 edition of CNN's The Capital Gang.

From the March 1 edition of Inside Politics:

WOODRUFF: CNN's Robert Novak reported an item about Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean. He said that when Dean spoke to students at Cornell University last week, Dean remarked that in 30 years, Social Security would lose 80 percent of its benefits. Bob Novak misquoted Governor Dean, it turns out. Bob tells us that he intended to report that Governor Dean said that in 30 years, if nothing changed, Social Security would be reduced to 80 percent of its current benefits. We apologize for the mistake and are happy to set the record straight.

—J.C.