itthat's why i lovel the daily fiber wfiber choice,ood alone. with the fiber found in many fruits and vegetables. fiber choice. the number one ge recommended chewable prebiotic fiber. hello. i'm jim sciutto in for wolf blitzer. wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you so much for joining us today. sad news today. aretha franklin, a titan of music, the undisputed queen of soul, is gone. ♪ ♪

what a voice, what a legacy, what an inspiration, an influence on our country. aretha franklin dead at the age of 76, this after a hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer. she leaves behind a sprawling catalog of classic, inspiring songs, including, of course, "respect," "think," "i say a little prayer," and "natural woman." her performances just powerful. ♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies ♪ ♪ for amber waves of grain

♪ for purple mountain majesties ♪ ♪ above the fruited plain ♪ america america god shed his grace on thee ♪ >> you saw some tears there. she inspired tears from so many who listened to her during her 50-year career.

she earned every accolade imaginable. an astounding 18 grammy awards, 112 charted singles. also the honor of being the first woman inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. of course, she was more than that too. she was a voice for civil rights and feminism. her song "respect" became an anthem for people seeking respect and rights and recognition. she once said being a singer is a natural gift. it means i'm using to the highest degree possible the gift that god gave me to use. i'm happy with that. here's more of that incredible gift she shared with the world. ♪ baby baby sweet baby ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ amazing amazing grace ♪ ♪ how sweet the sound ♪ >> all you want to do is listen. well, the responses, the

reactions have been coming in. former president barack obama, who aretha franklin performed for at his inauguration, he just released a statement saying in part, quote, for more than six decades since every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine. through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, aretha helped define the american experience. in her voice, we could feel our history, all of it, and in every shade our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. she helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human, and sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance. franklin passed away at her home in detroit, michigan, surrounded by friends and family. ryan young is live outside the church where franklin got her start singing gospel. her father, of course, had been a minister. both her parents gospel singers. ryan, tell us about the

outpouring there. i know she was born in memphis, but detroit was really her home. >> detroit really is her home. the outpouring of support has just been amazing. a lot of people feel like aretha franklin is family. the church behind me stands as a large symbol not only to aretha franklin. her father did so much for the civil rights movement. think about this. i didn't even know this. sometime when is dr. king would run out of money, he would call to church here and ask her father or ask aretha to send money for the movement. jesse jackson was just over here a few minutes ago. he was talking to us. he told us one time they traveled down and were doing -- in houston, someone tried to pump tear gas into the ducts so thek they cannot have the performance. they left and came back immediately. she was there as well. she never gave up on the city. the last few days, it's been bright and sunny around here.

today is a damp, dark day here. a lot of people coming up to us as they drive up and down the street here, playing aretha franklin music, talking about the fact of how much the impact of her never leaving detroit despite the ups and downs, never wanting to give up on the people. something that also stood out that she wouldn't talk about often is apparently there was a lot of time she is would do work behind the scenes that no one knew about, especially in august. she would feed the people in this city, especially the disadvantaged people, out of this church. the reverend saying there was such an outpouring from her heart to make sure she always stayed connected. you think about a woman who had an immense talent who was connected to the world, but she always had a common touch. she loves soul food. jesse jackson also remarking about the idea that when they traveled, she would figure out the largest restaurant, have them come in, and give everybody some soul food and make sure they had that connection, that fellowship. so today you feel the outpouring of support as people's hearts are breaking, that the queen of soul is no longer here.

jim? >> ryan young there in detroit. thanks very much. joining us on the phone now is one of the founding members of another lejgend, the group eart, wind, and fire. thanks so much for taking the time to join us today. i know you met aretha a number of times. tell us a story about her. >> well, you know, first of all, she was an icon. she was a legend. she was a humanitarian. we had the opportunity to perform with her at the tribeca film festival last year. we've all crossed paths with her. so we've always crossed paths with her, and of course my late brother maurice was a big fan of hers as well. >> she was of course a musician, a legendary voice, started performing when she was 10 years old in her father's gospel

chapel. tell us about as a musician what was so special about her voice. >> you know, of course, she had the voice of the gods. coming from gospel music, which is the root and foundation of the african-american community, she stood tall, a great legacy out of detroit. and it won't be forgotten. the work they did, her father, c.l. franklin, and of course she comes from a great line of singers. clara ward and all those wonderful people. >> let me ask you this as well. beyond being such a legendary musician, she also provided voice to the civil rights movement, to the feminist movement. "respect" was a song about getting respect for not just individuals but for whole groups of people. >> that's right. and of course a great

inspiration to generations, for young women today, to all types of peoples, all genders, all races. >> will you ever forget her, verdine? >> not at all. we're going to be performing in detroit on saturday night. we're going to give it our all. >> well, listen, thanks for sharing those memories of her. we appreciate it. >> thank you, jim. >> we'll keep talking. coming up next, we're going to hear from oprah. i'm going to speak live with aretha franklin's long-time bassist. spent so much time with her. please stay with us. ♪ ♪ if you have moderate to severe

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to politics now and another secret tape from the fired white house aide omarosa newman. she says this audio recording shows how the white house tried to buy her silence. the tape a conversation with eric trump's wife in which she appears to offer omarosa a job. have a listen.

>> senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny joins us now live. just to reiterate, what you heard on that tape, reportedly, is omarosa speaking with the president's daughter-in-law lara trump. after she was fired, lara trump offering her a job in trump's 2020 campaign. offering the woman he called a dog and a low life. do i have that right from listening to that tape? >> reporter: you have that right. of course, at the time, he had not referred to -- the president, that is -- had not referred to her as a dog or a

low life. that just came this week with the release of the book. at that time, it was a job offer that was certainly happening. i think the suggestion here from the release of that tape -- and we don't know necessarily, like all these tapes, the full context or what came after or before those recordings, but the suggestion by omarosa is that the trump re-election campaign was indeed trying to secure her silence, was indeed trying to get her to say only positive things. but it also could sound like a simple job offer. several former white house employees, some including who have been fired for a variety of things are, in fact, still working on the trump re-election campaign. in this trump orbit, that's not necessarily unusual. in most campaigns, most presidencies, certainly highly unusual. so jim, the suggestion from omarosa is that she was being offered this job, you know, with the potential to buy her silence. but just by the reading of that

right there, i'm not sure we can make that leap. it did sound like a job offer certainly at an extraordinarily high salary for a re-election campaign. don't forget how these campaigns are funded. they're through small-dollar donations from individuals across the country. and it didn't sound like she would have had that big of a portfolio there had she come on. but had she come on, she would have, of course, had to sign another nondisclosure agreement. that's the rules of the trump campaign. so certainly omarosa trying to get the story, perhaps, back in the news when there's so much else going on here. the white house not commenting so far, at least, jim, on that recording. the president today at the cabinet meeting that ended a short time ago not answering any questions about any of this. jim? >> but to be clear, jeff, there does appear to be a quid pro quo offered on that tape because lara trump references -- she says something like there's word that you have something in your back pocket, perhaps a reference to audiotapes. then lara trump saying

explicitly, you take this job, and we would not expect -- i forget her exact language -- >> reporter: something positive. positive coverage. sure. i think it's a quid pro quo. or anyone signing up to work on a campaign, of course, would generally, you know, be saying only positive things. so certainly that is the suggestion there, that if you come on board, you would only say positive things. but again, without knowing the full context of all of that, it's impossible to say directly that they were offering her a job to silence her. you know, she is certainly making that suggestion. but again, there are several fired white house officials, the president e president's former body man, fired from this white house as well under different circumstances, of course. jim, it's just one more unusual bit of information. but it seems to me that omarosa is still trying to sell her book. the white house clearly trying to move on. we'll see if that happens. >> thanks very much, jeff zeleny

at the white house. let's get insight from our guest. cnn contributor garrett graff. cnn political commentator charlie dent. and our national security analyst. charlie, if i could go to you first, former republican lawmaker. have you ever offered a campaign job immediately following firing someone from their position? >> no. i've never done that. and i wouldn't do that. obviously this was done simply to shut her up. but it's hard to shut up a villain. this is what happens when you bring people into the white house are not serious. they're reaping the whirlwind. omarosa is not credible, but that doesn't mean everything she says is untruthful. >> on that point, it's interesting because she claimed she was offered a $15,000 a month job. do the math. 12 times 15,000 is $180,000 a year. lara trump just offered her a job for $180,000 a year. on that detail, the job offer and the salary, the tape seems to prove that. >> yeah, and i think that it

seems very closely aligned, as you heard on the tape, to basically her white house salary, to keep her at that same income level going forward. it seems hard to read that tape, to listen to that tape as anything other than an offer of hush money. >> yeah, samantha, you worked in the administration. you ever witness something like this happen? >> i didn't. i was going to comment on this $180,000 being paid to omarosa at the white house. i worked there. you're paid a salary based upon your rank, for sure. if you're a special assistant to the president or a senior director, something of that nature. but also based upon how much work you actually do. omarosa was reportedly doing very little work at the white house. then her salary was being matched on the campaign. we know that the trump campaign the first time around made a series of very poor personnel decisions that plagued them. there's legal issues now. >> well, the chairman of the campaign, if i remember, there's a jury deliberating on his legal

fate right now. >> indeed. >> on the first trial. >> exactly. >> barely knows him. >> now we're seeing that happening the second time around with someone who had damaging information on the president. that's a differentiating factor. >> to be clear, white house salaries follow government scale, do they not? isn't 179 the top level? you have these various levels which follow military ranking, i believe. >> it is. and it's based upon your rank and the am ount of work you actually do. >> julie, tell me your reaction to this, first of all, as you listen to that tape. credibility is the issue here, right? the classic white house tactic when anyone criticizes them is to attack them as a partisan or as just being a liar, right? now here we have a tape that at least backs up some of the claims she made. >> right. well, i think just getting away from the substance of the tape because i agree with congressman

dent but also jeff zeleny. there's a lot left unsaid. some leaps have to be made to get to the idea this is hush money. you have this former trump loyalist who was a savage, vicious defender of the president, now going savage and vicious against him the second he turns on her. in some ways, she is going full trump on trump. it's an interesting dynamic to watch. you have a president and presidential adviser. one is leaking tapes and describing tapes. the other one is calling her a dog. i mean, it's not something we're used to seeing maybe out of the commander in chief's office. >> not something we're used to seeing. that's an evergreen comment. charlie, final thought. >> as a former congressman, it's really painful for me to see that omarosa was making $5,000 more per year than a member of congress. very painful. but bottom line -- >> should have recorded more conversations. >> well, yeah, it's just inexplicable you bring in people like this to the white house.

i visited the white house a few times during the trump administration. every time i was there, i bumped into omarosa. just wandering around, doing whatever she was doing. it's just really a sad spectacle. you're going to see more tapes. let's face it. it's all about money. >> thanks to all of you. it's a story we'll continue to follow. coming up, another story we're covering, remembering the queen of soul. aretha franklin's long-time bassist is going to share his memories. ♪ ♪ you might take something for your heart...

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aretha franklin, but the picture they tweeted was a file picture from the 1970s. franklin's star on the walk of fame will soon have a memorial wreath. much more being left there by fans of hers. lionel richie wrote, her voice, her presence, her style, no one did it better. truly the queen of soul. i will miss you. paul mccartney, let's all take a moment to give thanks for the beautiful life of aretha franklin, the queen of our souls, who inspired us all for many years. she will be missed, but the memory of her greatness as a musician and a fine human being will live with us forever. then there was elton john. the loss of aretha franklin is a blow for everybody who loves real music, music from the heart, the soul, and the church. her voice was unique. her piano playing underrated. she was one of my favorite pianists. joining us now, someone who knew just what a talent she was, ralph armstrong, aretha

franklin's bass player for decades. ralph, thank you so much for taking the time with us today. >> thank you for calling. >> tell us how you, how the people who knew her best, who spent so much time with her, tell us how you're doing now. >> well, i'm a little -- right now, but i know she's in the hands of god because she was truly a great person, an intellectual, and a great american. >> tell us a story about her, the time you spent with her. >> oh, let me tell you something. if you didn't play for aretha, she will let you know it. she said, you got to give 100%. if you didn't get it, the queen behead you. >> no one would want to face

that. >> right. but the thing about her that made her special and made her a queen, and a lot of singers don't understand this, she knew music. she knew what key she was singing in. she knew what chord you were playing. she could tell you what to play. she was an intellectual. she knew about different topics, opera, musical terminology. she was a perfectionist, and she worked very hard so nurture her craft, and she truly deserved the title of being the queen of soul. >> you negotiatiknow, i've seen written many times that she couldn't read music, that she was a true natural. you're saying, of course, and we heard in her songs that didn't mean much. >> right, but she could read a little bit. she was not ill literal. no, she could read some. i don't know where they got that from.

>> self-trained. was she aware of the influence -- >> she could read music, yes. i'm telling you. >> i'll believe you. i'll believe you over the obituaries, trust me. >> okay. >> you spent a little time with her. was she aware of the influence she had beyond music, as a voice for civil rights, as a voice for feminism? >> yes, yes, she did. one thing that she did, which a lot of people don't know, she always paid into pensions for musicians. she always paid union wages. she paid above union wages. she was strong for working people. >> and i know that's important as well because through her life, she didn't have consistent financial success. she was a star, of course, but

she was not. she had her own issues at times. >> yeah, but you know, she worked around that. but she was a very good businesswoman. she worked hard. she studied the business. she took care of business. she was excellent and was very generous to me. there were times when i was struggling, she paid me thousands of extra dollars. >> there are too many songs, and i know you've been playing with her since 1987. so many songs you performed with her. is there one that was your favorite to perform with her? >> yes. the one i recorded. "you are my joy." the other one was "respect." and she deserved that. >> there's "respect" right there. i love the idea that "respect" was originally recorded as a song from a man singing to a woman, and she turned it around from a woman singing to a man. >> that's right. that's right. now you got that one right.

yes, sir. but the thing about aretha, she was a great person. she was a people person. if you did her right, she did you wonderful. i loved her. >> ralphe armstrong, thanks for sharing your memories. >> thank you, and keep up the good work with cnn. thank you so much. bless you guys. >> take care of yourself. much more on aretha's life and legacy. plus, an explosive response from the former cia director whose security clearance the president revoked. why john brennan says the notion that there's no russian collusion is, quote, hogwash.

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more politics now. president trump says it was something that had to be done. the president makes a direct connection between the russia investigation and his decision to revoke the security clearance of former cia director john brennan. that, of course, not what the white house press secretary said when this was announced. critics say the president is punishing his critics and detractors. here's what the president told "the wall street journal." referring to the russia investigation he said, quote, i call it the rigged witch hunt. it is a sham and these people lied -- led it, rather, so i think it's something that had to be done. let me bring back our panel now. first on that point, sam, it's

another case where the press secretary, sarah sanders, when announcing this rattled off a whole host of reasons why this was happening. i think she said that john brennan had been unstable, that he was profiting from his time in office by writing a book, et cetera. the president then says that's actually not why i fired him. i fired him because he was part of the russia investigation. >> this happens continuously, whether it's on the national security basis for tariffs or the president having hurt feelings and trying to punish someone who could be a net contributor to u.s. national security. there's an obvious disconnect between what happens at the podium and what the president says. this is an unprecedented action insofar as there's no basis for revoking this clearance. the president has the authority to do so, but this is a direct blow to the intelligence community. he undercut sarah sanders with that tweet, and he undercut the ic when me said, i don't care that you think john brennan should retain this access. my reviews of him are of unfavorable to, i'm going against you and making this decision on my own. >> charlie, the reaction so far

on the hill has been mostly along partisan lines, imagine that. democrats using words like nixonian. senator john kennedy of louisiana saying brennan should have had his security clearance revoked. have a listen to how he put it. >> he's been totally political. i think i called him a butt head, and i meant it. i think he's given the national intelligence community a bad name. >> do you think that it's a fair punishment -- i imagine -- you can say you disagree with john brennan's opinions about the president or maybe that he's gone too far. do you think it's fair and presidential and in america's national security interests to punish that expression by removing his security clearance? >> absolutely not. look, i think that people like john brennan, michadirector cla these people have a lot of experience, knowledge, judgment

that i would want to have access to if i were dan coats at the cia. i think this is a mistake. this is simply an act of vindictiveness. i learned a long time ago in politics, retribution is a dish best served cold. these guys serve it piping hot. i don't think there's any justification for this. i don't agree with everything brennan has said of late, but i respect him as an intelligence professional. he's a capable guy, and i think it's a mistake. the intelligence community loses out. it's the wrong decision. >> garrett, john brennan not to be deterred. he responded to trump's removal of his security clearance with a scathing op-ed in the "new york times." i'm going to quote from it regarding the russia investigation. he wrote, mr. trump's claims of no collusion are, in a word, hogwash. the only questions that remain are whether the collusion that took place constituted criminally liable conspiracy, whether obstruction of justice occurred to cover up any collusion or conspiracy, and how many members of trump incorporated attempted to defraud the government?

i wonder as you read that editorial -- because of course, john brennan was inside the intelligence community. he was the director of the cia until he left in january of 2017. he was inside the cia at the start of the counterintelligence investigation. he presumably -- not presumably, he has seen intelligence related to this investigation at the time. do you think he was obliquely referring to what he knows or what he thinks? >> both. and we know that in part because he says that in the op-ed. he talks about having had conversations with jim comey, then the director of the fbi, in the fall of 2016 about whether americans were actually involved in this. and believing, really, that there probably were going to be. sam used a word, unprecedented, in her answer, which i think is worth coming back to -- because we throw that word around a lot in the trump era. but it's worth sort of realizing and emphasizing this really is quite unprecedented to have

intelligence leaders like john brennan, like director clapper out there as strongly opinionated as they are. the reason they're doing that is because, as they say, they're so concerned about what's going on in our country. i profiled director clapper when he was the director of national intelligence. i spent four months with him trying to get him to say a single interesting, controversial opinion under any circumstances about anything. couldn't do it. the fact that john brennan, jim clapper, mike hayden sounding the alarm bells in the way they are should chill us as americans. >> julia, you cover russia well. you had the president in helsinki a handful of weeks ago, standing next to the russian president, questioning the intelligence community's assessment. dismiss it, really. now you have a president firing a former leader of the

intelligence community and citing the russia investigation. does putin cheer this kind of thing? >> of course he does. it's just more chaos, more kind of dismantling of the u.s. system, of the transatlantic alliance. you know, at this point, sanctions doesn't matter. it's all about shaking up our system, taking it down a notch, instead of bringing russia up. i have to say, though, because the russia collusion investigation it personal, it is about trump. it is about his victory in the election. it is about his legitimacy as president. so in some ways, it's not totally surprising that he -- that president trump takes this so personally. that this isn't about national security, this is about him, donald j. trump, who criticizes him, who undermines his legitimacy. i'm not saying it's right, but it is kind of understandable, especially given the healthiness of his ego and what the russia investigation is about. >> charlie, are you disappointed that no sitting republicans -- you do see bob corker criticize

this decision, but bob corker is on his way out. you saw jeff flake criticize this decision, but he's on his way out. are you disappointed that no sitting members, republican members are willing to say this is a step too far, this damages u.s. national security? >> well, first, i suspect there are some who have said something. they're not in town right now, so you're probably not putting cameras in their faces. >> we've tried to be fair. we've reached out to dozens of republicans to talk about this issue, and they're all saying no. >> if that's the case, i would be disappointed because, look, i think many members are worried about their re-elections right now. they can't get too close to the president or get too far away. they're in this no man's land. it's creating heartburn for so many of them. it's the fundamental problem. i tell republicans, you better find yourself and develop your own brand if you're going to survive in this election cycle, particularly if you're going to swing a marginal district. >> we'll see if we see that outside of an election year.

thanks very much to all of you. coming up next, again, remembering the life, the legacy, the influence of aretha franklin. ♪ ♪ say a little prayer for you ♪ forever and ever ♪ you'll stay in my heart forever and ever ♪ >> that song list is so long. how her incomparable voice made her the queen of multiple generations and helped change history. ♪ mitzi: psoriatic arthritis tries to get in my way? watch me. ( ♪ ) mike: i've tried lots of things for my joint pain. now? watch me. ( ♪ ) joni: think i'd give up showing these guys how it's done? please. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are changing the way they fight it.

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♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> that was aretha franklin singing the opera aria for the pope in 2015 in philadelphia. just to be clear, she pulled that performance off at the last second, only because the opera star pavarotti became ill. she did that performance cold. just incredible. in case you're just learning, the queen of soul passed away earlier today at the age of 76. let's bring in cnn's senior entertainment reporter, lisa france. she has covered the queen of soul for some time. tell us about her and why her music was so enduring, going back through decades. and every generation, i think,

has a favorite and influential aretha franklin song. >> absolutely. and you know, it's obvious how beloved she is, when you look at all the tributes that are pouring in, from contemporaries like elton john, all the way to arianna grande, who, of course, is much younger. aretha franklin is a woman who recorded her first album when she was 14 years old. and like many african-american singers, she started in the church. her father was a famous gospel singer and a pastor. and she was as beloved for her gospel music as she was for her secular music. and just the power of her voice, we hear it right here. she was an amazing, amazing singer, and there was so much pain and rich and depth to her voice. you couldn't help but love her. >> she started in gospel and went to pop and there were times when she returned to gospel and released albums and that quality stayed in her voice throughout her music, through those years. >> absolutely. and we allowed her to go back and forth. she could sing any genera. we saw her doing opera in 1998

when she stepped in for pavarotti at the grammys when he was ill. she had such an incredible voice, she could sing anything. in the 1970s, when it seemed like her career was fading a little bit because soul music seemed to be on the wane, she rolled into the '80s and she released, i mean, classic pop songs that we still love today. and she collaborated with the arhythmics and with george michael. so just when people thought, okay, aretha franklin's career is over, she was like, oh, no, i still have plenty left. >> you know, she had tragedy in her life, too. she rarely discussed it. her father -- her father was shot by burglars, died several years later. she had a child, i believe, when she was very young, as a young teenager, as young as 13. >> yes. >> but she never shared those details in public. she was very private. >> she was extremely private. she was a teen mother. she also lost her mother when she was very young, 10 years old. and she said the death of her father, who after he was shot

lingered in a coma for many years was extremely difficult on her. she had financial issues, but these are all things that we know about mostly from other people. i mean, she talked, of course, about the death of her father. but for the most part, we allowed aretha franklin to have her privacy, because she was truly a queen. she was regal, she did not share a lot. but what she did share with us was her tremendous talent. >> was she aware of the influence she had outside of the music world, in the civil rights movement, in the feminist movement? so many of her songs were anthems to those movements. >> i think she absolutely was. she was a woman who demanded respect, like she sang about. people used to talk about her diva ways, the way you had to have the room at a certain temperature for her and she always carried her purse on stage, but she was just a woman who was a star at a time when people were very much aware of what stardom meant. and how you needed to really carry yourself a particular way. and i think she was very aware of the influence that she had, not just on music, but outside of the musical realm. you know, she never proclaimed herself to be a feminist, but

she seemed to be thrilled that people gravitated towards her music, as a source of strength and, you know, just to say that this is something that bonds us all as americans. >> lisa france, thanks so much for helping us remember her. >> thank you. >> that's it for me today. just remarkable songs from aretha franklin. something to cherish. the news on cnn continues right now. all right. thank you so much. i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. and let's just continue remembering the queen of soul, aretha franklin. hearts worldwide are mourning the loss of this multi-award-winning music legend. she passed away this morning in her detroit home, surrounded by family and friends. miss franklin is an american icon. a music legend whose transformative songs and divine talent crossed all social, racial, and economic barriers. she commanded respect.