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White House Responds to Omarosa's Recordings; Teen Medically- Kidnapped by Mayo Clinic; Turkey's Lira Continues To Sink Rattling Investors; Omarosa; Lab-Created Meat No Longer Science Fiction. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 14, 2018 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour stabbed in the back. Turkey's President lashes out at the U.S. President blaming him for the crashing Lira and the country's worst economic crisis in years. Who's taping her? A paranoia steps in at the White House after fired senior aide Omarosa Manigault Newman releases another secret recording this time a conversation with the President. And later a CNN exclusive escape from the Mayo Clinic. The world-renowned hospital stated life but she says they wouldn't let her leave. With the stepfather by her side and her mother behind the wheel, they made their getaway. Hello, thanks for joining us, I'm John Vause, this is NEWSROOM L.A.
Turkey is facing its worst financial crisis in nearly two decades sparked by a political confrontation with the U.S. On Monday Turkey's Ambassador in Washington met with the National Security Advisor John Bolton. Global markets have been rattled after the collapse of Turkish Lira, a decline which began at the beginning of the year but made worse after the U.S. ramped up sanctions on Ankara over the detention of an American pastor. For more now is CNN's, Arwa Damon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Times are tough here, to say the least and it's not just because of the deteriorating relationship with the United States. It's important to remember that the Turkish Lira has slowly been losing value but yes it most certainly was dealt a devastating blow by America's more recent actions to include the sanctioning of two Turkish ministers and then of course those tariffs that the U.S. slapped on imports of aluminum and steel, akin some analysts are saying to punching someone in the gut when they're already down.
And the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called this a stab in the back made of course all the more bitter because these two countries are meant to be NATO allies. But America and Turkeys relationship has really been spiraling rapidly downwards stemming from a number of issues to include for example the opposing views they have on Syria's Kurds as well as America's refusal to extradite Fethullah Gulen who Turkey blames for that failed 2016 coup. And more recently Turkey's refusal to release detained American Pastor Andrew Brunson whom it accuses of having links to terrorism and what we're seeing right now is really shaking investor confidence despite measures that the Turkish government has put into place to try to reassure not just investors but the population as well.
Turkey and America's relationship currently has a direct and significant impact on this country's economy which is why the president here is that America is basically waging a war on the economy. Turks who we've been talking to as you can imagine filled with anxiety as they're watching not just their economy deteriorate but there are very futures hanging in the balance. Some of them saying that they feel as if they're sinking in quicksand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Arwa Damon, there with that report. Andrew Sullivan is a Market Economist and a former Head of Sales Trading at Haitong International Securities. He's with us this hour from Hong Kong. Andrew, good to see you. Turkey's benchmark interest rate it's unchanged at 17.75 percent, compare that to Argentina which is dealing the contagion from Turkey. There they've risen interest rates from 40 to 45 percent, it's the highest in the world but at this point is a hike in interest rates the most effective move for Ankara and a move which for some reason they're refusing to take to try and stabilize the currency.
ANDREW SULLIVAN, MARKET ECONOMIST: Well, I chose you the bank there isn't really that independent. It's still coming under pressure from the government itself. And the leader there he's made it clear that he doesn't want to see interest rates being that high and I think the investors do not want to see at least another 10, 15 you know, basis points on that interest rate to make them convinced that the bank is going to take the drastic action that's going to be necessary to recover.
VAUSE: So you think interest rates what, they need to go back to 27, maybe 32 percent?
SULLIVAN: Well you've got -- you've got a situation where you know, realistically they've been selling down their U.S. dollars for years. They just don't have the reserves to back up their own currency. And in order to attract money back into the country they've got to take some drastic actions.
VAUSE: OK, would you listen to President Erdogan trying to reinsure investors that everything's going to be great.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY: I believe that the currency rate will come back to a reasonable level within the rules of the economy. Don't worry, we have never compromised the rules of a free market economy and we never will.
(END VIDEO CLIP) [01:05:10] VAUSE: You know, Erdogan can believe whatever he wants but the reality is his government sort of tinkered around the edges and hasn't done a whole lot here. Many fear you know, if this continues, the outcome will ultimately be default.
SULLIVAN: Well, I think that's very likely outcome. I mean he's been asking you know, the residents of Turkey for years to be selling their dollars and protecting to cut their own domestic currency but they've really got nothing left now and they've seen the value of the Lira go down in the meantime. So -- but you know, he's really you know, bankrupted the country with his own idea of what -- how the economy should be run. And there was a lot of hope that you know, when he appointed the new head of the bank there that there might be more sway and influence and a little bit more reasonableness but that just hasn't been evident.
VAUSE: You know, if we look at the situation right now, contingency needs to be limited to emerging market but when it's volatility in the currency markets it often spills over it's the U.S. stock market in a major way. You know, already looking at the situation with the rising U.S. dollar which could hit profits for multinationals and there's you know, earning seasons coming up where many people are expecting some warnings from some of these big companies, companies rather I should say.
SULLIVAN: Yes, but I think you're going to see a lot of the U.S. investors you know, in these sort of circumstances with the dollar firming deciding that it's you know, to bring their money home so that whilst the performance which these some of these companies in overseas markets might be quite good that the risk is that you lose money on the F.X. trade at the end of it and hence there's a repatriation of U.S. dollars in the meantime which further strengthens the dollar and kind of compounds the effect. VAUSE: You know, part of blaming the U.S. President Donald Trump for
increasing those tariffs on aluminum and steel Erdogan actually has a very long list of who's responsible for this again. Listen to the Turkish President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERDOGAN (through translator): There are economic terrorists on social media. The judiciary has taken measures. We are pushing them with the capital markets board and we will impose the necessary punishments once we seized them. All these are all treason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, the this all sounds like profit bubbles really because ultimately this is the problem which many people have pointed out is of Erdogan's making and it's all being fueled by foreign debt.
SULLIVAN: Well, that's the problem. And the risk has been you know, people have been raising debt even -- you know, in the last few weeks and that's going to come back to really bite them as the -- as the economy goes forward. So you know, we're looking at he's been sort of implying that he's looking for a bailout from somebody and kind of threatening leaving NATO as a -- as a bargaining pool. But I can't really see that the U.S. is going to compromise on that. And it's very difficult to see who else would be willing to come in and bail them out at this stage and hence the need for some drastic action on the interest rates.
VAUSE: Yes, well the Russians are in trouble. We don't know if China wants to find me up a couple of billion dollars as well so yes, it seems option is a little bit, but Andrew thank you. We're out of time. I appreciate you being with us.
SULLIVAN: Pleasure.
VAUSE: Well, for more on this joining me now CNN Political Commentator, Democratic Strategist Dave Jacobson and Republican Strategist Chris Faulkner. Welcome back to the second hour. It's good to have you with us. OK, the Turkish President over the weekend made it pretty clear that the sanctions in the form of these tariff increases that were coming from the U.S. are putting the alliance with western nations at risk. Here he is. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERDOGAN (through translator): Our response to those who wage a trade war against the whole world and include our country that would be heading towards new markets and new alliances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK, so when you hear new alliances, we think Russia and China. Now whether that's you know, a reality, whether it could happen, we just (INAUDIBLE) saying well, who knows? But you know, Chris putting aside the politics of all of the statement you know, in the American Pastor being jailed, is the problem with this administration when it comes to diplomacy, when you only have a hammer you end up seeing every problem as a nail. In other words, you know, these houses are just basically too strong for the issue at hand.
CHRIS FAULKNER, SENIOR NATIONAL STRATEGIST, MAJORITY STRATEGIST: President Erdogan is been tying his own noose for a long time long before President Trump. When he said he was going to run for president, ever since he's taken office he's been erratic, he's been overspending on giant public projects alienating large parts of his political base and constituencies and corporate -- just the spending isn't --- it's unsustainable and it conceives to hurt his own economy by one of their main -- their main mainstays is tourism. And if Turkey looks like an unstable country people aren't going to want to go there.
VAUSE: Yes. And Dave, you know, the consequences of Turkey turning his back on the U.S. and maybe leaving NATO as remote as they are they are huge. You know, the air base which the U.S. uses for the war against ISIS in Syria, Turkey plays a key role in holding back in front of refugees you know, which otherwise would end up in Europe. So you know, there is a lot at stake, there is a lot to be earned by keeping Erdogan on the good side if possible. [01:10:01] DAVE JACOBSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. Like
there's a lot of challenges with Turkey right. It's not a democracy, right? It's a dictatorship but at the end of the day they're a key military ally that we need as a key element of NATO and to sort of kick an ally down to the curb when they're down I think is an inappropriate or at least irresponsible and reckless play by Donald Trump. But this is indicative of his larger strategy with allies across the globe whether it's Mexico or Canada or NATO allies is just he fans the flames and creates distant and animosity between our friends and allies as he hugs Vladimir Putin, invites him to the White House or says he's going to go to Moscow so it's just baffling how he approaches our allies versus our adversaries but this is reflective of what we've seen over the last two years.
VAUSE: But, you know, we thought that he was mates with Erdogan at one point but it looks as if you know, Trump and Erdogan we're friends but it seems like that may have changed. (INAUDIBLE) reporting all this from Bloomberg which says his National Security Advisor met the Turkish Ambassador Monday night and the Ambassador's request we talk bluntly, the U.S. has nothing to offer until the American Pastor is released. And you know, Chris, playing hardball that's one thing but is it smart to play hardball you know, when it comes to a country which has a lot of your nuclear weapons being stockpiled.
According to open -- the group arms control open-source estimates the United States may store as many as 50 pc2 and gravity bombs at Incirlik. Those making about 130 of approximately 150 nuclear weapons that we house in five nations across Europe as part of NATO. I mean these guys have your nukes.
FAULKNER: I leave the determines they neither confirm nor deny that they have nuclear weapons in Turkey. Having said that aside though, I -- you know, whether it's accusations about Russia or now with Turkey, you know the President's diplomacy and people saying it's erratic or it's not well thought out, the thing that the President has proven to us time and time again is he's going to put America first. He's going to do things for the best interests of America and we got to pick the narrative here. Either Donald Trump is a crazy person who isn't you know, want to negotiate with other people or alienate our allies or he's an American President who's going to stand for the American economy and American ideals which may include sometimes isolating dictators or bad actors like President Erdogan. The United States, unfortunately, has the long history of propping up some of the you know, the lesser evils and it has never worked out well for us.
VAUSE: I always (INAUDIBLE) the question is consistency, I mean, every policy like you know, one -- I mean, one dictator is as bad as the other right?
JACOBSON: Yes, for say-say we're not getting consistency from this White House, that's a challenge.
VAUSE: OK, well there is consistency when it comes to White House senior aide who was fired Omarosa Manigault Newman. She does seem to be out-trumping Donald Trump at the moment, releasing a second secret recording of a conversation shared with the President shortly after she was fired by the White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. This is part of that recording.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Omarosa, what's going on. I just saw in the news that you're thinking about leaving. What happened?
OMAROSA MANIGAULT-NEWMAN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE AIDE: General Kelly -- General Kelly came to me and said that you guys wanted me to leave.
TRUMP: No, nobody even told me about it, nobody. You know, they run a big operation but I didn't know it. I didn't know that. God damn it. I don't love you leaving at all.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK, apparently there are a lot more recordings to come according to Politico Omarosa Manigault Newman has told friends and associates that she has tapes of private phone calls from First Daughter Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner according to two sources with whom she has discussed the recording. Then we got Newman's claim about the new tape provides additional confirmation that she was looking to build a case not only against Trump whom she alleges has been recorded by others using the n-word but also against his top aides and family members.
Dave, the President possibly the best, the best people, only the best, we should note that you know, n-word it was literally recorded while he was Host of The Apprentice show, the reality T.V. show on NBC. Mark Burnett who owns that show tweeted apparently to Trump that you know, there's no such recordings. And I guess at the end of the day you know, should we even be reporting what this woman says given her lack of credibility?
JACOBSON: Sure, why not. I mean, it's making news. I mean it's fascinating to hear this recording. I mean, look you are the company that you keep right? The reality is whether you're Michael Flynn or Paul Manafort or scores of others you know, who have lefty the Trump Administration, the reality is this is the type of personality that he surrounds himself with and these are the type of people who probably shouldn't be in the office. Now, that being said, when the -- when the President went out and insulted Omarosa today for her intelligence, you know, I think that was a step too far.
I think is clearly very intelligent and smart but she's a glaring hypocrite right? I mean, like she's stuck with President throughout the -- President Trump throughout the course of the 2016 campaign, two years almost in the White House when he has said time after -- you know time and again racist, the bigoted comments and the reality is she's an opportunist. She's just taking advantage of this. It was a mutually beneficial relationship throughout the course the campaign and in the White House and now with her book deal.
[01:14:50] VAUSE: OK. Here is part of CNN's reporting on the effect all of this happening on the White House. "The tapes had only deepened a pre-existing sense of paranoia among Trump staffers, according to senior administration officials. Fueling an underlying suspicion that everyone inside the West Wing is out for themselves. Several senior aides said Monday that they doubt that Manigault Newman was the only person taping the conversations at work."
Chris, just how dysfunctional is this administration at this point?
FAULKNER: Kind of a question or (INAUDIBLE)?
VAUSE: I mean if you know.
FAULKNER: The reality is any administration.
VAUSE: OK, you just say any administration dysfunctional.
FAULKNER: Any administration, when you switch out that many people, you're going to have a couple of Mulligans. And clearly, Omarosa is definitely one of those were, "Yes, we'd like to do over on that one."
Somebody who is so manipulative and so calculated never degree so conniving and smart, she's been recording conversations for months?
VAUSE: Yes.
FAULKNER: Years?
VAUSE: For the security, if she says come with that too.
FAULKNER: Yes, and at the same time, you know, whatever her pay was or her position, it wasn't senior enough where she would -- you know, I don't know this, I wasn't there.
VAUSE: Well, (INAUDIBLE) anyway at the White House anymore.
FAULKNER: No, the idea that she somehow was perverted national security issues or was in the -- in the Situation Room is kind of -- kind of ridiculous.
JACOBSON: But, again, if you're selling books it sounds good.
VAUSE: That's true. I'll give you that one. OK, sometimes it's not what the president says, but what he doesn't say which is important.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm here today to sign our new defense bill into law, and to pay tribute to the greatest soldiers in the history of the world, the United States Army. Thank you. Thank you.
The National Defense Authorization Act is the most significant investment in our military and our warfighters in modern history. And I am very proud to be a big, big part of it. It was not very hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: OK. On Monday, the President signed the defense bill which was named after John McCain, his name was in the title of the defense bill. You know, this is Chris, the war hero who spent five years as a prisoner in North Vietnam. As the son of an admiral, he could have been released early, he refused to go.
You know, after all the other Americans were detained, he was -- you know, badly beaten up, he got minimal medical care. He is battling brain cancer right now. And yes, you know, I get it, these guys have a history but at this point, shouldn't the president be the adult in the room and just move on?
FAULKNER: Well there's -- number one, I take issue with what the president said in terms of the army being the greatest warfighters is a Marine Corps veteran. We would disagree on that. But anyway, having said that, I would say that whether you're Senator McCain or President Trump trying not to politicize this anymore, is probably a really good idea.
This should be about the military, should be about the troops, should be about supporting our troops and their families, and that's what this bill is really designed to do. And the bad history between the president and Senator McCain is not a secret to anybody. Mentioning Senator McCain is only probably going to add fuel to that fire.
VAUSE: OK, I just read quickly on Twitter. This came from the president. "It was my great honor to sign on your defense bill into law," no name. "And to pay tribute to the greatest soldiers in the history of the world, the U.S. Army." Not the Marines. "The National Defense Authorization Act," it should be the John McCain, but anyway, "is doing significant investment in our military and our warfighters in modern history."
OK. This tweet is actually four characters short of a maximum 280 which you're allowed. But here's the suggestion they -- maybe he can take out the stuff which is this outright wrong about the investment, most significant investment in the history of whatever, because that's not true. And shoot that out. You guys he says like you mentioned McCain.
JACOBSON: He was at hashtag thank you, John McCain, for your service.
VAUSE: Yes, thank you for making service. Yes.
JACOBSON: Yes, look, John McCain and I disagree with him on policy. The man is a patriot, risked his life for this country. He's a hero. It was a 2008 presidential nominee for the Republican Party.
Donald Trump should have mentioned his name at least once today, and he didn't. He did the opposite. Why? Because he's a child, he's petty, he's an egomaniac and he's got a grudge against John McCain because John McCain has stood up to the president time and again when he said racist misogynistic horrifying things that a president of the United States who sits in the Oval Office should never say.
And because John McCain is not scared to stand up to the president, makes an even more patriotic than just serving himself. Deserving in (INAUDIBLE).
VAUSE: Yes, we're not talk -- because the very quickly. Just the base, just Trump's base like this stuff when he goes after McCain? Is this political?
FAULKNER: You did mention, McCain.
VAUSE: Well, you know, maybe by or by admission? I mean, as he went off the blame of the day as other does.
FAULKNER: You know, the base is always at -- you know, how are we describing, or you talk when the Republican Party as a whole, are you talking about 20 percent of expenses.
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE)
FAULKNER: At the end of the day, the people that are the most hardcore supporters of the president look at what the other options out there in terms of with the Democratic Party's offering in terms of Democratic socialism, and it's horrifying.
VAUSE: OK.
FAULKNER: And you can hate what the president says, the numbers don't lie, and the numbers for the United States right now are pretty darn good.
VAUSE: OK, at that point, we still leave it. So, thank you, guys.
JACOBSON: Thank you.
VAUSE: for us coming in. Heavy week, always (INAUDIBLE). OK, we will take a short break. When we come back, Syria and Russian forces are preparing for a major battle.
A Russian general's perspective on the fight that for Idlib, that exclusive just coming up. And concerns also about the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin now said to be gravely ill.
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[01:22:36] VAUSE: Well the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin is said to be gravely ill and is now in hospice care at home. The 76-year-old has been in failing health for years, according to reports. Say, six- decade career, she turned out a lot of chart-topping hints like Respect, Chain of Fools and a Natural Woman.
She was the first woman inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that was 1987 and a year before the Beatles.
There's still be no public comment from the U.S. president and vice president after last week's deadly air strike in Yemen by Saudi Arabia. But the Pentagon is sending a three-star general to press the Saudis for a transparent investigation into the strike which kills 51 people, 40 of them children who were on a school field trip. Thousands attended a mass funeral on Monday for many of the victims. Mourners and Houthi leaders blaming the U.S. for its support of the Saudi-led coalition which carried out the strike.
Well, in Syria's seven-year Civil War, the battle for the final rebel- held enclave could be imminent. The fall of Idlib would set the stage for the country's reconstruction. And as Fred Pleitgen reports in this exclusive Russia and Syria plan to call the shots.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It could be the last major battle in Syria's Civil War. Idlib, the final major enclave held by anti-Assad rebels. Russia's Air Force has allegedly been bombing targets there in the past days.
In an exclusive interview, a top Russian general now tells CNN, the fight for Idlib could start very soon.
MAJ. GEN. IGOR KONASHENKOV, CHIEF SPOKESMAN, MINISTRY OF DEFENCE, RUSSIAN FEDERATION (through translator): When it comes to Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra, it's useless to make arrangements with them. And it shows there is constant shelling in the areas controlled by them. They take hostages and use civilians as shields.
So, of course, there is a prospect to something decisive happening in there.
PLEITGEN: The comments came on a Russian organized visit to Syria. Moscow's message is clear. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces have essentially prevailed in the Civil War. The rebels are on the ropes, some of the millions of displaced are returning.
The local administration in this area of Syria says tens of thousands of people have come across this border crossings the past few weeks alone. They also say, they want international financial help to aid those who are coming across, but they want it on the Assad government term.
Russia and the Assad government have called on the U.S. and European countries to help with reconstruction. Both have been accused of severe crimes against civilians which they deny.
The Russian general calling for the U.S. to cooperate with Moscow's forces.
[01:25:16] KONASHENKOV: Of course, so many things depend on such great countries such the United States and Russia when it comes to a resolution. When there are even some specs of mutual understanding, there are ways to find cooperation and opportunities to do real work. And, of course, not allow this breeding ground for terrorism to God forbid, resurfaced again.
PLEITGEN: Russia's military clearly believes only it can prevent new conflicts, for instance, between Iran and Israel breaking out in this region. KONASHENKOV: From day one of our presence here, we've established contact with everyone who has had any part in this of any degree. Direct lines with Israel, Turkey, Iran, and the so-called U.S.-led coalition.
Of course, these contacts are very useful because we are solving issues in a much more effective way. And let's say dialogue is way better than any confrontation. Especially in such complex issues.
PLEITGEN: As Syria's war seems to be reaching its twilight's and new conflicts are already destabilizing this ravaged region, Russia believes it holds the key to pacifying Syria, but only on its terms. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Damascus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, next here on NEWSROOM, L.A., amid all the public name- calling between the U.S. president and former senior aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman, there's potentially a bigger issue of a gross violation of White House security.
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VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.
Turkey's economic downtown is having a ripple effect on global markets. Stocks in the U.S., Asia and Europe were all down on Monday as the Turkish currency, the Lira continued to tumble. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is blaming so-called economic terrorists on social media.
Accusing them of trying to harm Turkey by spreading false reports. Still, no public comment from the U.S. president after last week's Saudi air strike in Yemen which killed 40 school children, instead of three-star general will press Riyadh for a transparent investigation.
A mass funeral was held Monday for dozens of the victims that the Saudi's say were killed in a legitimate military operation and denies targeting civilians.
And the president of the United States visited a New York military base on Monday, signing into law defense bill named after the ailing Senator John McCain.
Trump thanked multiple members of Congress except one, John McCain, as well no other two do not like each other despite both being from the same Republican Party. Senator McCain is suffering from a rare brain cancer.
[01:29:54] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: And the President of the United States visited a New York military base on Monday signing into law a defense bill named after the ailing Senator John McCain. Trump thanked multiple members of Congress except one -- John McCain.
It is well known the two do not like each other despite both being from the same Republican Party. Senator McCain is suffering from a rare brain cancer.
Well, there will also be no thanks from Donald Trump also for his former aide, Omarosa Manigault-Newman. Like many others she's written a book about her experience working in and getting fired from the White House. But unlike many others in the past, Omarosa has some secret recordings of the President and his chief of staff to name a few.
Kaitlan Collins has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (voice over): President Trump addressing soldiers at Fort Drum.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm here today to sign our new defense bill into law.
COLLINS: As former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault-Newman escalates her war with the administration revealing she recorded her conversations with the President.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Omarosa -- what's going on. I just saw in the news that you're thinking about leaving. What happened?
OMAROSA MANIGAULT-NEWMAN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE STAFFER: General Kelly -- General Kelly came to me and said that you guys wanted me to leave.
TRUMP: No. Nobody even told me about it.
COLLINS: Omarosa breaching major security protocols secretly taping her firing by John Kelly in the White House Situation Room. One of the most secure places in Washington with no devices allowed.
GENERAL JOHN KELLY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I think it is important to understand that if we make this a friendly departure, we can look all be -- you know, you can look at your time here in the White House as a year of service to the nation. And then you can go on without any type of difficulty in the future relative to your reputation.
COLLINS: Trump tweeting today that despite intense pressure to fire Omarosa, he kept her around because "she only said great things about me" adding "Wacky Omarosa skipped work, missed meetings and was a vicious colleague," despite promising this on the campaign trail.
TRUMP: We're going to get the best people in the world.
COLLINS: Asked about Omarosa over the weekend Trump said this.
TRUMP: Low life. She's a low life.
COLLINS: Omarosa had no defined role in the West Wing but raked in nearly $200,000 tax-payer funded dollars and carried the title assistant to the President. She's also claiming the Trump 2020 campaign offered her a $15,000 a month position if she agreed to keep silent. Something she said she refused to do.
Trump also admitting for the first time she signed an NDA, writing on Twitter, "Wacky Omarosa already has a fully-signed nondisclosure agreement." When CNN reported that senior staff signed NDAs earlier this year, the White House denied it. But Kellyanne Conway said this yesterday.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: We have confidentiality agreements in the West Wing -- absolutely we do. And why wouldn't we --
COLLINS: One White House official telling CNN they don't consider Omarosa's recordings to be a national security threat but noting, they're worried she wasn't the only staffer recording conversations. All this, as Omarosa threatened more trouble for the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have more recordings?
NEWMAN: Oh, absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you planning on releasing them?
NEWMAN: I don't know. I'm going to watch to see. They've been threatening legal action. They're trying to figure out how to stop me. I'm expecting that they're going to retaliate and so I'm just going to stand back and wait.
COLLINS (on camera): Now Omarosa is denying that she signed the White House version of a nondisclosure agreement so it is unclear which nondisclosure agreement that the President was referring to in his tweet.
What we do know that Omarosa has done is create a sense of paranoia here in the West Wing. People who long suspected that she was recording their conversations, and now those conversations seem to be coming to light and Omarosa is only promising that there could more.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN -- the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, much of the focus on this story has been about the politics and the fallout for the President. There's potentially a much bigger issue here for the White House and what appears to be a gob-smacking security breach which in any other administration would be a major controversy in and of itself.
For more, we're joined now by CNN analyst Juliette Khayyem former assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security during the Obama administration. Juliette -- good to see you.
JULIETTE KHAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you.
VAUSE: Ok. Let's start this out with, you know, by saying we're assuming that all of this happened the way Manigault-Newman said it did. You know -- ok, so leave it at that. Here's the statement which was issued by the White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. "The very idea a staff member would sneak a recording device into the White House Situation Room shows a blatant disregard for our national security and then to brag about it on national television further proves a lack of character and integrity of this disgruntled former White House employee."
It's a rare day but Sanders is actually 100 percent right in what she says but that statement doesn't deal with the other half of it which is how this actually happened in the first place.
[01:34:58] F1: That's exactly right. I mean look, Omarosa took advantage of the blatant disregard for security procedures that were established by the President himself. I mean we've seen throughout the administration whether it is the use of his unsecure cell phone or the lack of permanent security clearances for some of the top staff or the way he is very loose with the fact he brings, you know, Russians into the Oval Office to discuss, you know, covert operations.
The -- what we call in my world the sort of, you know, security culture begins at the top. And we haven't seen with it this White House. So Omarosa's just basically steps into that vacuum and takes advantage of a White House that has already sort of essentially let its guard down.
VAUSE: And just to back up a little. How much can you tell us about the specific security arrangements in place in the situation which is the White House one, not Wolf Blitzer's?
F1: Right.
VAUSE: You know, this was meant to be the most secure part of the West Wing which presumably supposedly makes it one of the most secure places in the world, or at least in theory.
F1: Right. That' right. So the Situation Room is what is called a SCIF, it's a secure, compartmentalized room which essentially means that you do not bring anything into the room that has the capacity to be compromised because the room itself is secure.
So you just basically don't bring in cell phones, beepers or whatever else. So when you are invited -- so I was in an agency -- so when you're invited to the Situation Room, you put your phone into essentially just a cubby. You take a number and you walk into the Situation Room just with paper and pen. That's essentially all you should really have to discuss whatever the security or safety issue is of the day.
I will tell you though that that whole process is sort of self- executing. In other works, you know, to work for the President of the United States or for a cabinet secretary, to go through the security clearance process, assumes a level of sort of preservation for classified information for the secrets of your country.
So it's not like you get frisked on your way in. I mean there's just an assumption that people will behave with the country's interests in mind. We have not seen that with this White House.
And so essentially, you know, she's in the Situation Room. She's bringing in a phone that can be compromised on the way out. We have no idea the security features on this phone. Does it even have dual authentication? Any of those issues and she brings it in, we assume does a tape-recording from there.
VAUSE: Ok. So a lot of people are, you know, obviously questioning Omarosa's credibility. But when you put it in context with everything else that we know about the President and others who are working at the White House and within that security culture that this administration has which doesn't seem to place a high importance on security, that all comes with some pretty obviously consequences.
F1: That's right. I mean there's sort of two takeaways from this that I think is sort of bigger than, you know, Omarosa and Trump and them fighting, you know, over Twitter.
I think one is that it would be inconceivable that secrets have not been disclosed at this stage. The leaking and the tape recordings and the phones in the wrong places and the briefing that aren't occurring in secure rooms -- all of it. It would be hard to believe that this White House has not been sort of negligent in how it is retaining our secrets.
And then the bad side of that -- so that's just negligence -- the bad of that is, of course, the rest of the world is watching. This isn't a fight between a former staffer and the President. Those vulnerabilities are noted by our enemies as well as our allies about what might be compromised, ways that they could take advantage of that.
And certainly the drama that surrounds this White House in terms of the personnel -- each of those people is potentially an access point for foreign entity, for even a -- even an ally who might want to get more information about Trump or the inner workings of the national security apparatus.
And so, you know, it is not just us watching. It is the Chinese and the Russians and even, you know, the British or whoever else. And that's a big vulnerability that's just being played out on television at this stage.
VAUSE: Yes.
F1: I know. I know.
VAUSE: Juliette -- thanks.
F1: What can I tell you?
VAUSE: Yes. Good to see you. Thank you.
F1: Good to see you. I have to say one thing. When Omarosa and your national security expert are combined, it's a bad day.
VAUSE: It's a weird day. And there's lots of it.
F1: It's a weird day. I'll see you soon.
VAUSE: Cheers.
Next on NEWSROOM L.A., medically-kidnapped -- after the world-renowned Mayo Clinic saved her life, an 18-year-old girl says she was then held against her will.
[01:39:54] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: More than 300 people were hurt when a platform collapsed at a music festival in Spain. They were at a concert late Sunday night in Vigo in Spain's northwest coast. Dozens were left trapped or were rescued from the sea as well after the wooden structure built around the harbor gave way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): many people were on the boardwalk. We heard a low creak and all of a sudden everything collapsed. We found ourselves between the wood and the concrete. The concrete was covering our heads. We saw people trying to get out but nobody managed and people were screaming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The area has been sealed off as investigators try to find out what caused the collapse. Nine people remain in hospital.
In the U.S., Florida's controversial stand your ground laws are once again under scrutiny after an unarmed African-American man was fatally shot. The local sheriff initially refused to arrest Michael Drejka because under stand your ground, he was acting in self-defense.
A month later and after reviewing the evidence the state attorney intervened and determined charges were warranted. It started with an argument over a parking space between Drejka and Markeis McGlockton. Surveillance video shows McGlockton pushing Drejka to the ground then pulling out a handgun and shooting McGlockton in the chest as he was backing away.
Well now to a shocking accusation against the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. A teenager says the hospital which saved her life quickly became her prison and her family had no choice but to try and help her escape.
CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Alyssa Gilderhus and her family say they experienced the seemingly unthinkable. In this e-mail to police, Alyssa's mother says her 18- year-old daughter was medically kidnapped by the world famous Mayo clinic.
(on camera): Do you think they were trying to medically kidnap you?
ALYSSA GILDEHUS, FORMER MAYO CLINIC PATIENT: Yes. I completely do. Not a doubt in my mine.
COHEN (voice over): This was Alyssa on Christmas Eve in 2016 with her family in Sherburne, Minnesota. On Christmas day, a blood vessel burst inside her brain. She had emergency surgery at the Mayo clinic. Doctors gave her a 2 percent chance of surviving.
(on camera): How did those neurosurgeons do?
DUANE GILDERHUS, FATHER OF ALYSSA: Fantastic.
AMBER ENGEBRETSON, MOTHER OF ALYSSA: They saved her life.
COHEN (voice over): After a month, she moved to the rehabilitation unit at Mayo with new doctors.
(on camera): When you had opinions or thoughts about Alyssa's care, did they listen to you?
ENGEBRETSON: No.
GILDERHUS: I don't feel they did at all.
[01:45:00] COHEN: Did they seem annoyed with you?
ENGEBRETSON: Yes.
GILDERHUS: Because we were parents not the doctors because they knew everything and we didn't.
COHEN (voice over): The tension eventually exploded. And Mayo kicked Alyssa's mother out of the hospital after they say she interrupted a meeting. In a statement Mayo told "The family members may be restricted in situations where care may be compromised or the safety and security of our staff are potentially at risk."
Alyssa's mother said she didn't do either. Alyssa begged for her mother. Family friend, Joy Schmidt.
JOY SCHMIDT, FAMILY FRIEND: She cried.
COHEN (on camera): Was that tough?
SCHMIDT: Very.
COHEN (voice over): Alyssa says she finally had enough.
(on camera): Did you want out of the Mayo clinic?
A. GILDERHUS: As bad as possible, yes.
COHEN (voice over): But what happened next is alarming. Alyssa and her parents say Mayo wouldn't let her go.
(on camera): Did you ask to have her transferred to another hospital?
ENGEBRETSON: We did.
COHEN: And what did Mayo say?
ENGEBRETSON: They said no.
COHEN: A lawyer even wrote this letter asking for an expedited transfer to another hospital.
D. GILDERHUS: It felt like you went from a healing place to a prison.
COHEN (voice over): So Alyssa's parents hatched an escape plan. They pulled a trick on the staff to get her out of Mayo and they documented it on video. They told them that Alyssa's Grandma Betty had come to visit but was too frail to come inside the hospital and so Alyssa had to come to her. But when they arrived at the car, there is no Grandma Betty. It's Alyssa's mother.
ENGEBRETSON: Going home.
COHEN: Watch as a nurse's aide grabs Alyssa's arm.
Come organization honey. You're going home.
D. GILDERHUS: Just get in and grabbed my daughter.
ENGEBRETSON: Come on, baby -- we're going home?
COHEN (on camera): How did it feel the minute that you hopped into your parents' car?
A. GILDERHUS: It's like a relief. Like the biggest weight on your shoulders pulled off. It was phenomenal. The longer I am away from Mayo Clinic, the better.
COHEN (voice over): After Alyssa left, Mayo called 9-1- and said they'd had a patient abduction. But Rochester police tells CNN that Mayo was wrong. They said Alyssa was 18, an adult making a legal choice to leave the hospital.
CAPT. JOHN SHERMAN, ROCHESTER POLICE: That there was no abduction; there was no violation of law. Essentially you had a patient that left the hospital under their own planning with the assistance of family members.
COHEN: Months later, Alyssa and her family learned a secret while looking at police records. Just before Alyssa escaped, a Mayo social worker had tried to get court orders for emergency guardianship for Alyssa.
(on camera): If you had not gotten Alyssa out of the Mayo Clinic, where do you think she would be right now?
ENGEBRETSON: She would not be in a good place.
D. GILDERHUS: I think it would have been the end of us ever getting to see Alyssa again.
COHEN (on camera): So why was Mayo trying to get emergency guardianship for Alyssa? A county official told police that the Mayo Clinic was concerned for the medical decisions being made for Alyssa.
Alyssa signed this privacy release form so Mayo could speak freely to CNN but Mayo wouldn't answer our questions on the record. We will not address these questionable allegations or publicly share the facts of this complex situation because we do not believe it is in the best interest of the patient and the family.
Our internal review determined that the care team's actions were true to Mayo Clinic's primary value that the patient's needs come first. We acted in a manner that honored that value for this patient.
Alyssa and her parents think Mayo was trying to get guardianship in retaliation for questioning doctors.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN -- Sherburne, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, next up here on NEWSROOM L.A., grow your own bacon at home, or any piece of meat for that matter. It is called clean meat and it could be the start of a revolution.
[01:48:55] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: It was April of 1973 when the movie "Soylent Green" opened in cinemas across the U.S., a dystopian sci-fi drama set in 2022. The U.S. is overpopulated, polluted and pretty much everyone survives by eating a mysterious mass-produced food called Soylent which leads to one of the most famous film endings of all time when the lead character played by Charlton Heston finds out what's in the mystery meat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLTON HESTON, ACTOR: They're making our food out of people. Next thing they'll be breeding us like cattle for food. You have to tell them. You've got to tell them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I promise -- Tiger, I promise. I'll tell the exchange (ph).
HESTON: You tell everybody. Listen to me -- Hatcher. You've got to tell them. Soylent Green is people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ok. It's unforgettable. That sci-fi future though was set just four years from now. And while the planet is facing, you know, similar serious problems, we're a long way from eating dead grandma and grandpa.
In fact the reality could be very different. Scientists say it is only a matter of time until meat created in a lab, looks, tastes and feels just like the meat bought at a supermarket.
In fact farmers may soon be growing the parts of a meat -- what -- just like potatoes or oranges are grown. It's called "clean meat".
Paul Shapiro is the author of "Clean Meat: how growing meat without animals will revolutionize dinner and the world. And he is with us from Sacramento.
Ok. Thank you -- Paul. This is kind of a little bit of a creepy story in some respects. But it's good to have you with us. Ok.
PAUL SHAPIRO, AUTHOR, "CLEAN MEAT": It's great to be with you -- John. I'm a big "Soylent Green" fan and, you're right that growing clean meat is not the same but it is still a funny opening.
VAUSE: Thank you very much.
You know, it's a bit weird to think that one day -- and I could have this wrong, correct me if I'm wrong here -- but can we each have like a bacon tree? Bacon -- growing in our backyard -- is that what we're looking at?
SHAPIRO: Not so much of a tree but imagine if in the same way that it's unremarkable if you have let's say like a bread maker or an ice cream maker in your kitchen now, maybe one day it won't be so unremarkable to have a meat maker where you could drop some cells from an animal in and grow real animal meat that is identical to the meat that people eat today except grown without needing to raise and slaughter animals which is much better for the planet, it's far safer from a food safety perspective, and it would also allow us to experience a lot of culinary enjoyment that aren't really available to us today.
VAUSE: Ok. So just to continue here with some of the, you know, the pop culture moments. There is a long affair with beef in the United States. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know it to be --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is the manager.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the beef?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's putting us on to the supervisor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you ask me, which you didn't, we should call the owner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ok. So with this new meat -- this new meat product, will it actually be considered meat? Or you know, put another way, you know -- where's the beef?
SHAPIRO: Yes, absolutely -- John. So growing clean meat is growing real meat -- this is meat that is identical to the meat that people eat today except it is produced through this innovative technology just in the same, for example, think about how for millennia, the only way we had to get ice was from nature. Now we all have freezers that use technology to make ice but the end result, even though it is not made in nature, it is made by technology -- the end result is still ice.
In this case, growing real meat, so-called clean meat from animal cells produces meat that is the same as the meat that people eat today except again it is just much safer from a food safety perspective. It takes only 99 percent -- it takes 99 percent less land to produce clean meat than growing meat today; 96 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions; and enormous savings in other resources as well.
Because right now a meat-intensive diet is a diet that is frankly quite bad for the planet and it is also wrought often with food safety concerns like e Coli and salmonella. But when growing clean meat you have far fewer of those concerns.
VAUSE: Yes. The sort of the meat industry is killing us and killing the planet both at the same time. Yes, it's a one-two punch.
What I read is that clean meat would be healthier because all the bad stuff would be removed sort of at a cellular level. And you mentioned this, the benefits for the environment because of the, you know, huge amount of resources which are used.
[01:55:00] The economist who was quoted by Bloomberg who said this, "The technology if it can reach the right price point and be brought to scale is nothing less than the disruption of agriculture as we know it.
Aside from impacting the meat industry, there would also be substantial effects on global grain production which exists mainly to feed animals and on water and on air quality."
So if we do get to this point, this is a revolution waiting to happen.
SHAPIRO: You're so right -- John. This is a revolution waiting to happen. And in the same way that we have changed the way that we eat in the past in order to get much more efficient about how we produce food so we can feed billions and billions of humans -- we're going to have to get even more efficient because more and more people are coming on to the planet.
In fact by the year 2050, we're going to have probably around 9 or 10 billion humans walking around and if we want to feed them, we're going to have to do it in a much more sustainable way than the way that we're doing it now. Right now meat production causes all types of problems from enormous contributions to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change to other ecological disasters. And by being able to produce meat without having to raise and slaughter animals we can solve so many of these food sustainability and food security problems.
VAUSE: Yes. We're almost out of time but I just want to jump in because what are the down sides though? Because you know, what of the law of unintended consequences?
SHAPIRO: Well, just in the same way, if you think about it, that Netflix displaced blockbuster, or that digital photography displaced Kodak, yes it is true that becoming more efficient about how we produce food could result in some changes in the economy and there could be winners and losers just in the same way there were for those other examples that I just mentioned.
But if we want to be able to have our meat and eat it too, we're going to have to figure out ways to produce that don't involve so many of the negative externalities that it includes today from animal welfare concerns, to climate change concerns, food safety problems and more. And growing real meat without animals, growing clean meat, is a great solution to those types of problems.
VAUSE: You know, I'm sure that people who made lead complained when lead was taken out of paint but everyone agrees that that was probably for the best at the end of the day. Paul -- thank you. Great chat. Good to see you.
SHAPIRO: Thanks so much -- John.
VAUSE: Cheers.
You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. The news continues right here on CNN after a short break.
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