Go to cdc.gov. I was just there and their number is 69,000.
There are too many numbers posted that are fiction.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/, a real website from the CDC, shows 38,575. What CDC page from the cdc.gov shows 69,000?
Note that I am not claiming that the 38,575 number is the correct one. But it is an official number from the CDC. From the archive.org screenshots it does seem that the report by LifeZette claiming that the CDC has changed the number is incorrect. It is possible that the CDC is posting too different sets of numbers. I am just trying to figure out what is going on.