A picture of Anderson Cooper standing in knee- to waist-deep water has been popping up on social media as an example of members of the press staging or "faking" news while covering Florence in the Carolinas.
In addition to many social media users who posted the photo online, President Donald Trump's son also shared the photo with his more than 3 million Twitter followers.
Take a look at the photo here.
THE QUESTION
Did Anderson Cooper "exaggerate" his live shot during Hurricane Florence as these tweets suggest?
THE ANSWER
No. This photo was taken in 2008 as Cooper and his CNN team covered Hurricane Ike.
WHAT WE FOUND
The photo has nothing to do with Florence and seems to be used out of context to make the media look bad.
As to whether Cooper and his team deliberately exaggerated the shot back in 2008, that's harder to answer.
Cooper addressed the photo in a segment on CNN Monday evening. He explained that he was only standing in the deep waters so that he wouldn't get in the way of evacuation efforts, which were happening on a nearby road with only a few inches of water. In the clips, Cooper is seen referring to the nearby road, along with camera footage of the clear roadways and evacuations. Cooper also explained that his cameramen were standing in the road to keep the equipment dry.
VERIFY found no evidence that they lied or deceived audiences about Hurricane Ike flooding.
At one point in the recording, Cooper even acknowledged that the water got deeper the further he moved from the road and that he'd be up to his neck if he stepped back a few feet.
At the end of the day, we can't Verify anyone's intent, so while we can say any claims this is related to or took place during Florence are false, we cannot give a judgment on their actions.
