Donald Trump spars with CNN at news conference, calls it "fake news"

Donald Trump got into a verbal scuffle with CNN on live TV Wednesday, when he refused to allow a reporter from the news organization to ask a question at his press conference. 

Trump was responding to the explosive report CNN published Tuesday night alleging that Russia has compromising information that could be used to blackmail the president-elect. 

"I am not going to give you a question," Trump yelled at CNN reporter Jim Acosta. "You are fake news."

Acosta didn't back down: "Since you are attacking our organization, can you give us a chance?" to which Trump spit back "No" before moving on.

Other reporters in the room yelled over Acosta as he attempted to ask his question.

Trump took a large chunk of his news conference — his first since July — to attack CNN and BuzzFeed, both of which published reports Tuesday evening based on an unsubstantiated claim alleging Trump's deep ties to Russia.

CNN reported that Trump surrogates met with Russian government officials during the campaign to exchange information, and that Russia purportedly has compromising personal and financial information on Trump.

BuzzFeed went a step further, publishing the details of the compromising material, which included a report that Trump ordered Russian prostitutes to urinate on a hotel room bed that President Barack Obama once slept in.

Trump and his incoming White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, vehemently denied the accounts, calling the report "pathetic," "shameful" and "fake news."

CNN, for its part, defended its reporting in a statement after the scuffle with Trump, saying they are "fully confident" in their reporting and calling on the Trump administration to "identify, specifically, what they believe to be inaccurate" in their report.

But the impassioned denials from Trump and Spicer thrust the question of "fake news" — which once referred to the fabricated news stories that circulated during the campaign — back into the news cycle.

Now, Trump and his supporters have co-opted the term to describe any news with which they disagree.