That wasn't how I interpreted it, though I understand your point. He was saying we should never forget (as the CNN reporterette did) that the originals by comparison were stone cold killers. The CNN interview with Seale was almost worshipful.
The whole history of the originals was distorted by what came to be called "radical chic." Leonard Bernstein hosted an upscale party for them and Marxist Hollywood stars like Jane Fonda buzzed around them like flies, giving them near-star status in the media and public mind. Seale himself was implicated in the torture-murder of Alex Rackley but escaped conviction. David Horowitz's friend Betty Van Patter was murdered by the Panthers but the crime went unpunished.
This "Human Events" article gives only a partial accounting of the originals' violent history: Original Black Panthers Writing in his autobiography Horowitz makes an interesting point about why so many of the Panthers' crimes went unpunished.
"It was interesting just how little concern there was for such crimes by people who considered themselves 'society's conscience.' But I understood why this was so...Once the Panthers [were found guilty of] the crimes, the truth was a threat to the progressive cause."