CNN Host Grills White House Spokesman Over Planned Parenthood Videos

CNN host Chris Cuomo called out the White House on Monday for supporting Planned Parenthood in the wake of allegations that the organization unethically sells fetal parts after abortions.

During a segment on "New Day," Cuomo challenged White House press secretary Josh Earnest over sting videos shot by a controversial anti-abortion group that purportedly show a California Planned Parenthood medical director meeting with potential buyers of aborted fetal specimens.

Earnest said he has not seen the sting videos but that Planned Parenthood says it holds itself to "the highest ethical standards in the industry," a talking point about the organization he has used repeatedly.

"[There are] no high ethical standards at play there," Cuomo said. "Base stuff, ugly stuff."

The White House has been pressed in recent days about its ongoing support of Planned Parenthood, which provides a variety of health care services to men and women, and the ethics of selling fetal specimens.

"It sounds like you're saying we should just believe Planned Parenthood because they've said they've upheld the highest ethical standards," ABC News' Jon Karl said last week at a press briefing when he asked Earnest about who in the White House had seen the videos in question.

In response, Earnest denounced the videos as "deceptive" material put out by "extremists with an ideological agenda."

Despite the recent questions raised by the allegations Planned Parenthood unethically sells fetal specimens, fetal tissue research has largely enjoyed bipartisan approval since at least the 1990s, The Atlantic notes.

The Senate is expected to vote on Monday on a motion to defund Planned Parenthood. The Republican-backed motion is expected to fail; as NPR notes, calls to cut off the organization's funding are nothing new.

H/T Mediaite