Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Tuesday accused CNN of being a "disgrace" to journalism and cited a new undercover video in which a producer for the network suggested that the news media are sensationalizing its coverage of the Russia-collusion story.

Sanders said during the White House press briefing Tuesday that President Trump is "frustrated" by the "constant barrage of fake news" about his administration and the federal investigation into whether his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.

She noted that CNN had to retract a Russia story last week, and told reporters in the room to watch the undercover video, produced by the conservative sting activist James O'Keefe.

"There's a video circulating now, whether it's accurate or not I don't know, but I would encourage everybody in this room and frankly, everybody across the country, to take a look at it," she said. "I think if it is accurate, I think it's a disgrace to all of media, to all of journalism."

"I think that we have gone to a place where if the media can't be trusted to report the news, then that's a dangerous place for America," she added.

In the sting video, published online Monday night, John Bonifield, a CNN producer who covers medical issues, says, "I just feel like they really don't have it [proof of collusion] but they want to keep digging."

He continued, "And so I think the president is probably right to say, ‘Look, you are witch hunting me.'"

Bonifield also says in the video that that federal investigation into whether Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with the Russian government "could be bullshit" and that it's "mostly bullshit right now."

The Project Veritas video was apparently produced without Bonifield's knowing he was being recorded, a tactic O'Keefe has used before to undercover supposed wrongdoing by liberals and Democrats.

CNN has since said that it stands by Bonifield.

The network fell under scrutiny in recent days after it retracted a report related to Trump and Russia, leading to three journalists at the network resigning for their involvement.



