Oh, really?
Echinoderms are exclusively marine invertebrates, so how in the world are they "closely related" to early vertebrates?
Sheesh...
Obviously, the science reporter is a bit challenged when it comes to understanding science. I think what he meant is, of all living inverterbrates, they think echinoderms are the most closely related to the early vertebrates. Of course, if that’s true, it means they could be our very, very, very distant cousins, not our distant evolutionary ancestors.