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Stephen Miller's Uncle: My Nephew Is An "Immigration Hypocrite"; New Mexico Compound Suspects Granted Bail; Turkey's Currency Plunge Sparks Fears Of Global Crisis; Iowa Student Still Missing Four Weeks After Disappearance. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 14, 2018 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[07:30:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: -- willfully ignore the fact that it's named after him?

JOE LOCKHART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER CLINTON WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I -- let me use a presidential term here that the president used the other day which is I thought it was a low-life move. It disrespects John McCain, it disrespects the service to the country.

And John, one of the things I was really taken by -- you know, we expect this from Trump. But the vice president, who is a former colleague of John McCain, got up and also gave a speech and didn't mention John McCain.

And there comes a point where you wonder what will all these people around Trump -- is there anyone who will do anything to stand up and point out just how unpresidential he can be? We found out yesterday that Vice President Pence is not one of them.

BERMAN: Maybe not saying John McCain's name was part of Mike Pence's non-disclosure agreement.

All right, Scott, Joe --

SCOTT JENNINGS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: It could be.

BERMAN: -- great to have you with us. Thanks so much. Appreciate the discussion this morning -- Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, John. Thank you.

The uncle for top White House aide Stephen Miller says his nephew is an immigration hypocrite. He joins us to explain why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:07] BERMAN: White House senior adviser Stephen Miller on the receiving end of a blistering op-ed. The author calls Miller an immigration hypocrite, saying the architect behind President Trump's hardline immigration policies never would have been born if his extended family had not immigrated to America.

The author is Miller's uncle, David Glosser, and he joins me now to talk about this.

And we should note it has been several years since you spoke with Stephen Miller. You want to say that right out of the gate. This is not someone you've ever been close to or spoken to recently.

But let me read you a passage of this op-ed which has received so much attention over the last 24 hours.

DAVID GLOSSER, UNCLE OF WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER STEPHEN MILLER: Go ahead.

BERMAN: "I have watched with dismay and increasing horror as my nephew, who is an educated man and well aware of his heritage, has become the architect of immigration policies that repudiate the very foundation of our family's life in this country.

I shudder at the thought of what would have become of the Glossers had the same policies Stephen so cooling espouses -- the travel ban, the radical decrease in refugees, the separation of children from their parents, and even talk of limited citizenship for legal immigration -- had been in effect when your ancestor Wolf-Leib Glosser made his desperate bid for freedom."

You told me you knew that this op-ed in "Politico" was going to going to get a lot of attention. Why did you write it now?

GLOSSER: The reason I wrote it now was because the administration has had an increasingly hostile posture towards desperate people trying to enter the country.

I had been posting my opinions on Facebook for the past year or two but various members of the family, as well as myself, thought I could no longer remain -- have a -- how should we say, a quiet voice on the subject in the light of the -- in the light of the incarceration of all these children. So it was an act of inexcusable cruelty.

BERMAN: The situation at the border over the last several months.

GLOSSER: Not just at the border but as the children that were incarcerated that were -- and have been held captive and whose parents, in many cases, have been sent away separate from their children. Had any other country done this at a time of war it would have been considered a war crime.

BERMAN: You say you're not close to Stephen Miller. He's your nephew but you haven't spoken to him really in 10 years. And before that, you say you didn't even know him well. Yet, you are his uncle and for you, was it hard to come to the point to go so public with criticism like this?

GLOSSER: Of course. It's -- and I write this more in sadness than in anger.

I've spent my life trying to help people and I've been working in clinical neuroscience for my entire career. I've spent my life trying to help diagnose people and help them get well. I have not been interested in any public notoriety. I've been interested in having my private life and taking care of those things which are important to me.

But as I say, I felt it was incumbent upon me to raise my voice to let people know that this is a country of immigrants. Our family were immigrants. In fact, we were refugees.

If my ancestors had not immigrated to the United States when they did -- if they'd waited a few more years until 1924, the door would have been shut. My parents would have gone up the crematory chimney. I wouldn't have been born, my sister wouldn't have been born, and certainly, Stephen wouldn't be -- would never have existed.

BERMAN: We're a nation of immigrants and your story -- your family's story is, in some ways, the American story. It changes from generation to generation in some ways.

GLOSSER: Yes, and just in the last day or two I've received over 100 e-mails and messages from people that I know and that I don't know who are telling me your story is the same as ours.

And these are folks of similar background, of dissimilar background. People from -- people of Irish ancestry, people of Polish ancestry, people from all over the world.

BERMAN: Who are you trying to reach with this? Is it the American people, is it the administration, is it your nephew?

GLOSSER: What I want to do is I want to convince people to open their minds and open their hearts to the realities of immigration.

The United States is a large country, a wealthy country and we -- we've been made strong and large and wealthy not just by our natural resources and our geographical situation, but by the strength, the smarts, the muscle, the brains, and the enterprise of millions of immigrants.

We have to realize that there are other people in the world who are facing crises. We can't solve the entire world's problems and solve all the refugee's problems in the world but we should offer help as we can in proportion to our size, our resources, and our abilities.

BERMAN: Do you have your family's support? I know you're uncomfortable talking about internal family dynamics here. But writing this so publicly, criticizing your nephew, is everyone in your family on board on this?

GLOSSER: I have a huge family. I wouldn't -- I wouldn't -- I wouldn't offer to speak for my entire family but dozens of family members have encouraged me to push forward with this.

[07:40:02] BERMAN: You don't expect to change Stephen's mind with this, do you?

GLOSSER: No, he's made -- it appears that he's made his entire political and personal career on this single issue for reasons that I don't really know.

BERMAN: And likewise, you know, you're obviously a very thoughtful man.

This is what the president ran on. This isn't surprising. Much of what's been done is what he promised to do. It wasn't the majority and the popular vote that elected him but he did win the election here on this platform.

GLOSSER: Yes, you're absolutely right.

I first became alarmed with this when Mr. Trump was running for presidency -- when he started his political ascent by falsely decrying Obama as a foreign-born Muslim, none of which was true and which he never recanted until absolutely the last moment when it was no further choice for him.

But it became evident very soon after he took office that they intended to make laws and regulations which discriminated against people or disadvantaged people based on their religion. And it's a huge mistake for any democracy to start to make laws based on factors of religion, ethnicity or national origin.

The United States has done so in the distant past. We've overcome those problems to a large extent. I hate to see us take a step backwards.

BERMAN: David Glosser, we appreciate you coming and sharing your feelings with us. We appreciate you sharing your feelings with your pen as well. It's been interesting to read.

Thank you for coming on, sir.

GLOSSER: Well, thanks for having me on and I hope folks will step up and do the right thing.

BERMAN: Erica --

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Disturbing new details as investigators tell a court what they found at a New Mexico compound where they rescued 11 children. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:21] HILL: We are learning more about what investigators found when they raided a New Mexico compound where 11 malnourished children were found living in squalor and where another child's remains were recovered.

A judge granting the five adults bail.

CNN's Scott McLean was in court and has more for us now. Scott, good morning.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Erica. The sheriff -- the local sheriff here labeled these defendants as Muslim extremists but the judge in this case said that they weren't extreme enough to warrant locking up before trial.

But we did, in her words, learn some pretty troubling things like the testimony from an FBI agent who interviewed two of the children who were taken from this compound. They describe Islamic rituals performed by Siraj Wahhaj meant to rid his disabled young 3-year-old child of demons.

These kids said that Abdul-Ghani, this child, actually died during one of these rituals but they were told that he would be resurrected as Jesus and then tell the people on the compound which so-called corrupt institutions to go after. We're talking about police, banks or the education system.

A body was discovered inside of a 100-foot long tunnel on that compound but it is yet to be identified.

The defense though said that look, this was an ordinary safe healing ritual that you might see in other religions.

But, there was more. We learned of a letter that was delivered by another suspect, Lucas Morten, to Siraj Wahhaj's brother back in Georgia. It asked him to drain his bank account, get his guns, and go to New Mexico.

And the letter also said Allah says he will protect you always, so follow until he makes you die as a martyr, as you wanted, and the only way is by joining the righteous, meaning us.

The prosecution also said that guns classes taken by Siraj Wahhaj raised red flags but the defense said he has a Second Amendment right like everyone else, and then accused prosecutors of judgment based on race and religion -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY GOLIGHTLEY, ATTORNEY FOR JANY LEVEILLE: The NRA right now is telling us that guns are a good thing and that we should be training our teenagers to go ahead and use them. But now that we have someone who is actually doing that and they're not white and they're not Christian, we think that there's some nefarious plan. Well, I guess they shouldn't be poor, either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: So, four out of the five suspects in this case, they will be released with an ankle monitor and a laundry list of other conditions. One suspect, though, Siraj Wahhaj, he will not be released because he still has that outstanding warrant for child abduction in Georgia -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Scott McLean in New Mexico. Stay on it for us, Scott. We really appreciate it.

It's time for "CNN Money Now."

A currency plunge in Turkey rattling markets around the world as investors fear it could turn into a global crisis.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans in the Money Center with the latest -- Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Hi there, John.

A real concern about what's happening in Turkey's currency crisis. The lira rebounding about six percent right now. But John, it's down 40 percent against the dollar this year.

Its president is feuding with President Trump and Turkey faces sanctions and new tariffs. But that's only the most recent drag on the lira -- a long thrash by a mix of autocratic politics, U.S. interest rate hikes, and economic instability there.

President Erdogan, so far, won't raise interest rates in Turkey to defend the currency. Inflation, John, is now near 16 percent.

For years, Turkey borrowed huge amounts of money when the dollar was cheap and interest rates low. Now it has soaring debt payments it may not be able to make.

What makes -- what happens in Turkey really matters here. The NATO ally has 80 million residents, it shares a border with Syria. The concern now, whether its problems spread to other emerging markets.

There's historical precedence. Remember in 1997, the collapse of the Thai Baht, relatively small and isolated. That triggered a financial crisis throughout East Asia.

The lira's tailspin has spread to other currencies of other developing nations like South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, and Indonesia.

But again, it's rebounding a bit this morning and because of that, Wall Street -- U.S. stocks look like, Erica, they could rebound a bit today as well.

HILL: All right, we'll be watching for that, Christine. Thank you.

An Iowa student is still missing. Four weeks after her disappearance, what her father and her boyfriend want people to know. They join us live this morning.

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[07:53:38] HILL: Police have a new Web site to help them in the search for a missing Iowa college student. Mollie Tibbetts was last seen on July 18th jogging near her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Police are hopeful that an interactive map on this new Web site will help the public remember any clues surrounding her disappearance.

And joining us this morning, Mollie's father Rob Tibbetts and her boyfriend Dalton Jack. We appreciate both of you being with us.

Mr. Tibbetts, the last time we spoke with you, just about a week ago, how have you and the family been holding up in the last week?

ROB TIBBETTS, FATHER OF MISSING IOWA COLLEGE STUDENT MOLLIE TIBBETTS: About the same. We're working with our law enforcement partners and our media partners to try and drive information, tips, and leads back to the investigation. And as I pointed out yesterday, they've generated 1,500 leads so far, so that's good.

HILL: Yes -- 1,500 leads, more than 500 interviews as we know.

And there is this new Web site -- I think we can put it up -- findingmollie.iowa.gov. And as I understand, it's had quite a response.

TIBBETTS: The response was overwhelming. In fact, I tried to get on immediately after the briefing yesterday and couldn't. And then we found out it was because the response was so overwhelming that it crashed the server and so they had to reboot it onto another server.

So the response for Mollie throughout this whole episode has been surprising to us, but encouraging.

[07:55:05] HILL: And I know you felt -- you felt so much of that -- of that support, of that love, frankly, coming at you from people that you know and from plenty of strangers that you don't.

Dalton, when you last saw Mollie on the day before she disappeared, July 17th, you actually spoke to her after that though. What was her demeanor? Was she in good spirits?

DALTON JACK, BOYFRIEND OF MISSING IOWA COLLEGE STUDENT MOLLIE TIBBETTS: Yes, of course. She's always in good spirits.

HILL: Very upbeat. As we know, we've heard so many wonderful things about Mollie over the last few weeks and just the type of person that she is.

What more can you tell us about her, Dalton --

JACK: Yes.

HILL: -- for the folks who may not be as familiar?

JACK: She's a very bubbly, giggly person. She enjoyed laughing, enjoys making jokes, and just pretty much enjoys having fun.

HILL: Yes.

And Rob, I'd imagine it's a lot of those moments that are helping to sustain you as you are waiting for your daughter to be found.

TIBBETTS: Yes. I -- you know, that's -- Mollie's also -- she was very -- she's a very strong person and so that's helping us get through this, too. But, you know, we have our dark moments but we all need to keep faith in knowing that Mollie's out there and that we're going to bring her home.

HILL: And how have authorities been with you? Are you getting the communication you need -- the support that you need from them?

TIBBETTS: Oh, absolutely. I mean, they're not sharing the details of the investigation for obvious reasons.

HILL: Yes.

TIBBETTS: They don't need to jeopardize the investigation or endanger Mollie. But they're keeping us apprised daily -- multiple times -- and they're actually very concerned about our well-being. And so, that's all been very encouraging.

HILL: And if there's someone who is watching now who may know something, what's your message?

TIBBETTS: Well, you know, it was interesting yesterday. The authorities listed and they found a Web site of a series of things to be looking out for in co-workers or classmates or family members that may be behaving differently -- may be agitated or change their appearance or were missing and had absences around that time.

And so, the authorities now are being much more specific in what we should be looking for. And so, I think that's going to be really helpful.

HILL: Helpful to focus things a bit more. We will continue to stay on top of this as well.

We do appreciate it. Rob Tibbetts, Dalton Jack, appreciate you both taking some time for us this morning.

TIBBETTS: Thank you.

HILL: And if you -- if you have tips, you see the number there on your screen -- 800-452-1111. And again, there is that new Web site findingmollie.iowa.gov.

We'll continue to stay on that story.

We are also following a lot of news on this Tuesday morning. Let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMAROSA MANIGAULT NEWMAN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE AIDE TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I am going to blow the whistle on a lot of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Clearly, Omarosa is in a very desperate situation. I really do feel sorry for her.

JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: It's just kind of unthinkable that that would happen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many people have this type of blackmail against the president?

AITAN GOELMAN, ATTORNEY FOR PETER STRZOK: He did want to stay. He loved the Bureau.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The text messaging and e-mails, they were not of sound judgment. They destroyed his reputation and now they're destroying his career.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael Drejka is a cold-blooded murderer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arrest of Michael Drejka was a result of a review of this stand-your-ground case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he didn't have to go like this. He didn't have to go like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

BERMAN: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, August 14th, 8:00 in the east.

Alisyn is off; Erica Hill joins me now.

The President of the United States just called a woman a dog. Take a moment to let that sink in and also ask is it surprising, and then let that sink in.

This is a fight between two former reality stars but when it includes the president, it is different. And this morning, President Trump called Omarosa Manigault Newman a dog, also wacky and deranged.

He's fighting back hard against her claims that there are tapes of the president using the "n" word while filming "THE APPRENTICE."

HILL: Now, incidentally, the president also, for the first time, seeming to admit White House employees have been asked to sign confidentiality agreements.

"The Washington Post" is reporting President Trump has been aggressive in his use of non-disclosure agreements for dozens of current and former White House aides in an effort to prevent them from speaking negatively about him.

BERMAN: Joining us now, "The Washington Post" reporter who wrote that new article, Josh Dawsey. He's also a CNN political analyst.

Josh, let's start with the non-disclosure agreements and then get to the news --

JOSH DAWSEY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: All right.

BERMAN: -- about the new statements from the president.

Your article this morning about these NDAs gets into the fact that the president --

DAWSEY: Right.

BERMAN: -- admitted out loud, for the first time apparently --

DAWSEY: Right.

BERMAN: -- that White House staffers were asked to sign these agreements, correct?

DAWSEY: Right. Early in the administration, Donald McGahn, the White House top lawyer, came in with a stack of NDAs and said the president wanted all new senior employees to sign them.