CNN's April Ryan claims White House press staffer is leaking stories on Sarah Sanders to force her out

After President Donald Trump publicly refuted reports claiming White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders would soon be leaving his administration, CNN's April Ryan read between the lines — and found that the story's origins seem fishy.

"This story was floated by someone within the White House," the veteran correspondent told CNN host Brooke Baldwin. "There is turmoil within that White House press shop, you better believe. Yes, there is. There's in-fighting, and someone stabbed her in the back. The question is who."

Ryan noted that CBS, the news outlet that first broke the report on Sanders and her deputy press secretary Raj Shah leaving the administration by the end of the year "has not backed down on that story, and it's not fake news."

She added that someone she and the host both know claimed months ago that "there would be an elegant exit for Sarah Huckabee Sanders."

"I want to see how elegant it will be, because we know when people in that White House start floating stories, ultimately something happens," Ryan added. "The question is, will it be the way they say at the end of the year or even before? You know, the president has stood by people before and then they're gone the next week. So it remains to be seen."

Despite their testy press room relationship, the veteran Urban Radio Networks White House correspondent told the host that she "feels bad" for Sanders.

"She is a mother of three kids and I know she takes this personally and she loves her job," Ryan said. "Even though we've had our public -- interesting moments, you know, she's a woman in this job. And I guess she feels when she comes to that podium, she has to deal with the audience of the president of the United States, and also has to be tough in that room of men with some women peppered through."

"I know she's hurting by this and trying to figure out where it came from," she concluded. "But someone leaked this story purposefully."

Watch below, via CNN: