When you ask someone if something is true and they (like so many folks on TV these days) reply that they *believe* it, they are not answering your question. They are answering a different question. Instead of talking about the state of the exterior world, which is what you asked, they are answering with a statement about how they organize material inside their heads, what box they put a claim in. It's a way of evading actually having to deal with reality, often because it's uncomfortable.