l. ron hubbard, the founder of scientology.ut in your work how your great grandfather apparently hid thousands of dollars in shoe boxes, etc. do you think for him this was all about the money? >> i think that l. ron was not all about the money. that was a precipitating factor. he was shocked himself with how much money he made with dienetics. he was building this track in front of him and he was selling secrets, secrets of immortality and all this super human power alien and god knows what. but then at a certain point he was not making super humans and everything was based on lies and stuff he had completely conjured out of thin air. then at a certain point he had to keep inventing new steps new levels and new layers to keep people on this hook and dangling a carrot that you could never sink your teeth on. over time he wrote himself in the mythic outlaw character that he always wanted to be and had always been writing about "b" in all of his science fiction books. you look at blood brother indians and nuclear air physicists and

l. ron hubbard.joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> cenk: now, i believe that you have charges against the church, as well, what are those? >> charges against the church. i have a legacy when i spoke out about them. they showed up at my door, hunted me quite a bit. since then, i've met tons and tons of scientologist that have left the cult at this point and seen the damage that it continues to execute on people all over the world. >> cenk: so, first of all when they come to your door, is that a legal issue? did you call the cops? >> no. my mom actually handled them. l. ron hubbard's granddaughter actually kicked them off the porch. i don't think they understood that that's what they were walking into. usually people handle critics are part of a branch they have called osa, used to be known as the guardian's office until l. ron hubbard's office went to jail and they changed the name of it. they handle the dirty tricks that they call black ops send private investigators after you tap your phones, di

l. ron hubbard in 1954.tated goals to help people "live in a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights." members pay to take courses designed to help them work through issues from their past and reach a higher state of consciousness. to understand what's holding them back, church members are tested with a device called an e-meter that's used to monitor their feelings and reactions. l. ron hubbard died in 1986, and since then this man, david miscavige, has been the leader. he, like hubbard before him, oversees a religious order inside the church, an order that is responsible for church management called the sea organization. members of sea-org sometimes wear naval-style uniforms. they dedicate their lives to the church, signing billion-year contracts, promising to remain in the church for many reincarnated lives to come. the church of scientology says it's opened some 170 churches around the globe and claims 10 million members

l. ron hubbard. >> cenk: an then did you know that the nfl is a non-profit?t until you find out how much they're paying their current ceo and past ceo when they're not paying any taxes. great story, great show. go time. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: all right, welcome to "the young turks." so now we've got a lot of trouble in the middle east. for example in syria we have yet normas kerr. this one in alepo. at least 65 bodies found by a riverbed up to as many as 80 now people are reporting. they were brought to that school that you're seeing now and people are picking through to see who was massacred there. their hands were tied behind their backs, and they were shot in the head. now, one more story about syria iran has jumped in the mix here, in aid to the ayatollah said syria plays a very key role in supporting or god forbid destabilizing the resistance front. for this reasons an attack on syria is considered an attack on iran and iran's allies. the reason why that is devastating is if there is any action taken in syria here we go. it's a much larger war. the

l ron hubbard died in 1986 and since then this man, david miscavige has been the leader.rder that's responsible for church manage the called the sea organization. members of sea org sometimes wear naval style uniforms, they sign billion-year contracts promising to remain in the church for many reincarnated lives to come. the church of scientology opened some 170 churches around the globe and claims 10 million members worldwide, 6 million in the u.s. in 2009, tommy davis put it this way. >> dave miscavige is responsible for the renaissance and the church has doubled in the last five years and flourished under his leadership. >> reporter: a survey cites lower numbers. the number of self-described practicing scientologists in the u.s. actually dropped from 55,000 to 25,000 in the years between 2001 and 2008. the church is a famously vocal critic of psychiatry, opposing what it calls brutal and inhumane psychiatric treatments. but for most, this is how the public identifies with scientology through high-profile believers. the church reaches out to well-known performers and ca

l. ron hubbard known to his followers simply has lrh courted stars from the beginning. >> tom cruise has introduced lrh technology to over 1 billion people. >> it's a privilege to call yourself a scientologist. >> he's being awarded scientology's first freedom of valormedal by david miscavige. >> what moral responsibility do these stars have to know about the alleged abuses in the church? >> these stars have been in my opinion, exploited, to advance scientology. so people join it because of them. and therefore, i think they have a tremendous moral responsibility to know what actually is happening inside the church. >> when you left the church, you described it as an act of treason. >> yes, it was a treason act. if you have an enemy who has declared them selve an enemy, that's a bad thing, but if you have a friend who stabbed you in the back, that's worse. and that's what they claimed i did, and that's actually what i did. >> strong words, and after the break, when harry's reporting continues, a family who devoted their lives as you heard to scientology, they're describing practices a lot

l. ron hubbard, as was pointed out in the piece, courted stars. why are celebrities so important, do you think, to the church of scientology? >> it's product endorsement. from the very beginning of scientology where they set up the church in los angeles, that's where it was originally begun, l. ron hubbard had an idea that celebrities would be the way to success for the church. and there was a list of celebrities they had on their desired celebrity -- walt disney, marlena dietrich, bob hone, these were ideals, and never reeled in anybody like that until they got tom cruise. >> there are a number of people who are members -- the church has members of members. clearly they must get something out of this religion and of this faith. what do you think they are getting out of scientology? >> let's start with millions of members which the church says that they have. according to census figures, 25,000 people in the u.s. call themselves scientologists. that's half the number of rastafarians. in the entire world there may be 30,000. this figure, millions o

l. ron hubbard so its current leader. >> i've never met a more competent, a more intelligent, a more tolerantompassionate human being. >> reporter: but some have accused him of being physically abusive. debbie cook once ran the flag base in clear water, florida. >> i witnessed him physically punching. >> reporter: as part of a now settled court battle with the church, she testified she saw him punch a fellow scientology executive and did order his secretary to hit her. you're in a room with her and he tells his secretary to hit you? >> yes. >> reporter: why did he ask her to do this? >> because he was displeased how i was answering a question. >> reporter: the church says the claims are lies and dismisses her as a defrocked apostate. and his own niece, jenna, says more than two decades ago she and other children of scientology's elite sea org were given grueling physical tasks, ranging from weeding to planting to hauling rocks for walls. >> they make rock chains. >> reporter: you're 6 years old doing this? >> yeah, from when i was 6 to 12. >> reporter: did it cross your mind that most childre

l. ron hubbard, to its current leader, david miscavige. >> i've never met a more compassionate being.ou. >> reporter: some high-ranking church officials have accused miscavige of being abusive. debbie cook once ran the mecca in florida. >> i witnessed mr. miscavige physically punching. >> reporter: she testified that she saw miscavige punch a scientology executive. while he never hit her, he did order his secretary to do so. you're in a room with him. and he tells his secretary to slap you? >> yes. >> reporter: hard enough that you fell down? >> yes. >> reporter: why did he ask her to do this? >> he was displeased how i was answering a question. it wasn't what he wanted to hear, in some way. >> reporter: church has claims that miscavige punched or slapped anyone, has dismisses cook as a defrocked apostate who is defaming the church. the church dismisses as lies, david miscavige's own niece. she says more than two decades ago, she and other children of scientology's elite sea were given grueling tasks, ranging from weeding to planting to hauling rocks for walls. >> they would pass it u

l. ron hubbard in 1986 nascavich at time uses physical violence to get his way and punish subordinates,ims again church leaders vigorously denied in the book and to cnn in 20020. >> the allegations are untrue, there is nothing of the sort as they're describing. >> he's never kicked somebody? >> absolutely not. >> never pumpbld somebody? >> absolutely not. >> never strangled somebody? >> absolutely not, never, never, never. >> reporter: the church says the book is full of many mistake, unfounded statements, and utterly false facts, it is infused with religious bigotry. publishing in the uk and canada have shied away from publishing the book. the church has a rebuttal to the book. still the book is in its second printing. >> miguel this book names names of major players in the hollywood. what's the reaction been? >> the reaction has been swift and furious from the church of scientology, both to mr. wright and his publisher and even to cnn at this point. mr. wright does say, lawrence wright, who wrote that book says that he has been threatened with legal action, that several of the people

l. ron hubbard. >> mike: i think that tom cruise is doing a great job fighting aliens, when is the lastk. and the people around the countries, the long lines? philadelphia had to wait seven hours on thursday to get a flu shot. what are we going to do about this? we break down the difference between the needle and the nasal spray vaccination, just as good. >> tucker: forget the thin mint. get your hands on the latest vitamin packed girl scout cookie coming up. ♪ ÷÷ >> well, the flu is an epidemic in the u.s. for decades we had only one type of flu shot. and now the newer shot or the flu mist. pediatrician joins us to explain the difference as well as how to prepare your kids tomorrow for school with all of this. doctor, great to see you. >> thank you, alisyn. >> alisyn: what is the difference of the spray versus the shot? >> well, they're two completely different vaccines. the shot is an inactivated vaccines, it cannot give you mild symptoms. >> alisyn: that's a great myth. >> right. >> alisyn: people think i'm going to get the flu shot and get the flu. you're saying it's not a live vi

. >> reporter: the book traces the faith of its founding ron l. hubbardssionate being. we are lucky it have you and thank you very much. >> reporter: but some have accused >> reporter: but some have and miscavige of being physically abusive. debbie cook once ran the flag base in clear water, florida. >> i witnessed mr. miscavige physically punching. >> reporter: as part of a now settled court battle with the church, she testified she saw miscavige punch a fellow scientology executive and that while he never hit her, he did order his secretary to do so. you're in a room with her and he tells his secretary to slap you? >> yes. >> reporter: hard enough that you fell down? >> yes. >> reporter: why did he ask her to do this? >> because he was displeased how i was answering a question. >> reporter: the church says the claims that miscavige punched or slapped anyone are lies and dismisses her as defrocked apostate. and then miscavige's niece says more than two decades ago she and other children of scientology's elite sea org were given grueling physical tasks, r