What you need do you know i got it all im asking is for a little respect would you come on . We gonna call it exactly what it is what it is what it is what it is hear my plea all the time i should marry mary, dont you weep 18 grammy awards, countless accolades. The first woman inducted into the rock n roll hall of fame. She sang for kings and queens and u. S. President s. Who could forget her soulstirring performance that brought former president barack obama to tears. When i knew i had the faith that left me so tired before the day i met you life was so unkind but you were the key to my peace of mind you make me feel you make me feel you make me feel like a natural woman goose bumps. Franklins family says she died from advanced pancreatic cancer and ill read this statement. It reads, in one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. Thank you for your compassion and prayers. We have felt your love for aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on. Don lemon, roger friedman, rogers editor in chief of showbiz, 411, both are friends of miss franklin. And just, today, all i want to do is hear her music and hear stories. Right. So lets just do that. We have lots. I woke up listening to you. We have lots. The tears from this morning, its just its a sad day, but lets celebrate her. So starting with we were we were talking about the kennedy center. So that was taped at the beginning of december, two years ago and i didnt go to washington, but i heard what happened. And she had knocked them out with natural woman. And then, the show aired like december 29th on tv. So people saw it for the first time. And two days later on new years day, aretha played mohegan sun, she booked the date. So i met her and were walking in and the venue manager said, were going to start a little later, we had to add 300 seats. So we said, why . Aretha says, why . She says, i dont know, but its really sold out and now there are people waiting online and theyre all asking if youll sing this song called natural woman. Like theyve just discovered so aretha says, ive been singing it for 50 years. I think its the fifth song in the set, its no big deal. And this woman goes, no, you have to sing it. And she goes, dont worry, ill sing it. And she says, 50 years, im an overnight sensation. Thats hysterical. Of course, carole king, who wrote it, we saw her in the clip. You know, how could you give this beautiful song to Aretha Franklin. And hearing about her, growing up, moving to memphis, singing in her Fathers Church choir at a young, young age. And well get into all the hits and everything else. But it seems like from everything im hearing, she was a gospel singer at heart. Just listen to her music. And the piano, thats her playing the piano. And, you know, i heard someone on cnn earlier. And i said it before them, too. She was a musician. She was a real musician. She learned to play music on her own. Because her dad said, can i get you lessons . Later on in life, she did get lessons. I think she went to juilliard. Every summer, aretha came to new york for a summer. And she would stay in the hamptons for a week and stay in manhattan for a week and she would go to juilliard and have a piano instructor and it was all about technique and form. Can you imagine being that piano instructor at juilliard, by the way . They probably learned a lot from her. Yes. But she is just really naturally adept. She can just do anything. And they taught her to she would say to me, look, im keeping my hands down. She would do it in the hotel room and show me what she had learned that day. Sure, sure. Another story, and of course, i want to hear from broet oth of but her last big public show was in philadelphia last august. Yes. You were there. I was there. I was at i think she did the elton john. Elton john, with clyde davis. Yes. When she came here to do radio city. Which is how you got connected. Tell me about that show. The last she was now i can talk about it. Shes been sick for a long time. And then she rallied. She got sick first in 2010 and things were very bad. And then she really rallied. Shed never discussed her condition. She would never tell us what was wrong, exactly. But she got better and really started doing great shows. And also, because of the illness, she lost weight. So the irony was that she her voice was stronger. So she was really singing great, and she knew it. So come the time for philadelphia, she had done a show in ft. Wayne, indiana, in july last year, and it wasnt so good. I could see it on youtube. I called her and i said, im meeting you in philadelphia on august 26th. So we had dinner. And then she went out and did this show. And it was remarkable. And it was it was her last show. But ill tell you, the people who were there will tell you, it was like she had never been sick and her voice had top power. And we were all everybody backstage was shocked about how great it was, but she really put it out there. And she said to she said on stage, i think this is my last show. And i remember i got a text from her lets read Aretha Franklins text. Don, just dive on into your phone. From the 14 different phone numbers. Something that i can share. This is from just before the clive show. She said, hi, don. Watching you last week, you look really great and on the money. Back in new york, april 19th for clives big night at radio city. Movie premiering, Robert De Niro producing after myself, earth wind and fire, jen hudson, barry manilow, dionne warwick, let me know if you would like to attend. Best, aretha. So i attended, of course. I had to leave early for work. I said, thank you for thinking of me, i would love to. And we started talking and just kept texting each other. And she said she thanked me for coming. And i said, of course, you sounded great, but queen, you looked amazing last night, amazing. Thank you, and she goes, thank you, don. Looking at you, xxooo, aretha. This was her on stage at the clive davis thing. And she looked absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous. That night. That was just not long before the philadelphia show. But she would not you know, youre right. She would not share her personal business and her Health Information with even some people who were extremely close to her. Because she very private in that way. Extremely private. And i spoke to someone who had been close to her for a long time, and she said, don, for the longest time, we didnt know. And she wouldnt confirm exactly what it was. We did find out it was cancer, but she wouldnt even confirm the type of cancer. Very private. Why duo you think . I think part of it was, her siblings all died of cancer in their 60s, and i think she was a little resigned to it, like this was something that was coming, was expected. And she didnt want to get involved in it. She wanted to keep pushing through. So as long as she could get the treatments for it, she would just keep performing. Thats all she was interested in. But did you notice over the last couple of years, she was always very gregarious, but it seemed like she was embracing life even more. I thought she was looking great and that she was in a good place. And she would always say, well, lets kick it, right . Yes. And in a way that she hadnt done before. Now, looking back, maybe i think she sort of had a feeling like, lets live life to the full etc. Right now. You know, that was a big part of it. So youre in philadelphia with Aretha Franklin. This is, what, a couple of years ago . This is last year. Ahead of the you know where im going with. For the pope. Two years ago with the pope. She was hired by there was a group that staged a musical show for the pope, in the big square in philadelphia, so i got this email, and she said, do you want to come meet the pope. Do you want to come meet the pope . And the group of people we went with included Jesse Jackson and al sharpton. So we all all of us got on the train and whatever we had to do to go to philadelphia. I said to her, you know im jewish, and she said, he wont mind. Very quick wit. She was fast. She was fast. And we had it was amazing. And they seated us when they performed for the pope, we sat right in the front row. Of course. And i have great pictures i have to pull out. Some are on showbiz 411 of you can see the pope the pope had no idea who she was prior to this, but he was beaming through the whole thing. He was taking pictures of her like, who is this . This is the greatest thing ive ever heard. Okay, okay, so you guys have all of these Text Messages from Aretha Franklin. I have great pictures. And her gazillion phones. She kept losing her phone, changing phone numbers, like, couldnt figure out this was this is the clive party. No, this is at the ritz carlton. Her her Birthday Party i think this was 2016. Oh, my god, i love her so much. Look at that. And she loved her fur coats. Like, she just loved. And she loved performing in them and she loved being the diva and taking oh, there she is. She loved coming on stage and taking the coat off and the crowd would go crazy. Do you remember once, remember she pulled her hairpiece off that one time. Oh, yes, yes. No shed kick her shoes off, whatever was comfortable. I love listening to you guys talk before about her purse and about cold, hard cash. Oh, the cash. Well, james brown told me that he taught her to do this. And i asked her, and i think it was true that they used to tour in the 60s in the south and the white promoters would not pay them. They would stiff them when the show was over. So james brown, he was the first to do it, he would say, im only taking i want the cash upfront and then ill perform. So thats what aretha did. And she would get it and she would put it in her purse. And as the years went by, the purse got nicer and nicer and nicer. And bigger and bigger and bigger. And like a suitcase. And willie wilkerson, her boyfriend and the manager of her band, would come out with her and put the purse locked under the piano. And she would not you knew that there would be an encore if the purse if the purse stayed under the piano. The purse was always in her eye line. And it was always even at the parties, the purse would be under the right next to her foot or on a chair that was reserved for her. When she came on my show, she would put the purse on the floor. But she didnt have the cash in the purse at no, i didnt have to pay her. But even when she was paying the folks at the party for her Birthday Party, aretha would open her purse and hundred dollar bills like, i have never seen anybody weve got to go. I could keep listening to these stories. Quickly, you want to make a note . I want to say to the people in detroit, there are amazing women who have been taking care of aretha for the last eight months. Her niece, her cousin, another wonderful woman named beverly. These people must be exhausted. Her son, eddie, was sleeping in the apartment every night. Willie wilkerson with, the greatest guy. Aretha coleman, her assistant. And these people were so dedicated to her and devoted to her and i want to send them a lot of love today. And can i just say the world i mean, everyone can learn, especially Young Musicians coming up, women can learn something from Aretha Franklin. Do it the right way. She did it all. She was a musician at heart. And she didntust,you now, rely on just her talent, she also wanted to learn more and give more and be a really great person. And she did. Listen, learn, respect, gentlemen, a pleasure. Thank you so much for that. We have much more of our coverage, our special coverage of riAretha Franklin as we celebrate her life over the next two hours. Also ahead, we have breaking news. Former white house aide, Omarosa Manigault newman releasing another secret recording of her private recordings of members of the president s private circle. Omarosa claims it shows an attempt to buy her silence. Stay with me. With moderate to severe Crohns Disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. Is she alright . I hope so. So i talked to my doctor about humira. 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Grab your wallet. beeping sound computer voice access denied. And if thats still not enough to help you save. Oh the new one well bring out the dogs. Mush dogs barking the old ones just fine well do anything, seriously anything, to help our customers. Thanks. Ally. Do it right. We are back. Well get you back to the special coverage of Aretha Franklin here in just a moment. But first, former trump adviser, Omarosa Manigault newman has just released a another secret recording of conversations with people in the president s inner circle. This time, its a phone call with President Trumps own daughterinlaw. So in this recording, lara trump offers omarosa this 15,000 amount a month job after she was fired from the administration. An offer coming after the New York Times published a story suggesting that omarosa might break her silence following her firing. Listen, obviously, with like the New York Times article and stuff, you know, its whats the New York Times article . The one that the one that, um, it was with maggie haberman, they wrote about you. It sounds a little like, obviously, that theres something that they could pull out. Clearly we cant have weve got to oh, god, no everybody positive, right . So the only thing that we have to consider when were talking salary as far as the campaign is concerned is that, as you know, everything is public. And all the money that we raise and that pays salary is directly from donors, small dollar donors for the most part. So i know you were making 179 at the white house and i think we could work something out where we keep you right along those lines, specifically, i havent even add up the numbers, but we were talking like 15k a month, let me see what that adds up to. Yeah, so thats 180,000. Does that sound like a fair deal for you . In terms of your position, specifically, i really feel like your position would require, you know, you to be able to be flexible in terms of where with your. Sometimes, you know, company you work for has occasional meetings, but i would love you could occasional go to these speaking engagements and that sort of thing for us. I think you would be awesome doing that. And so it doesnt really matter where you are. If youre comfortable staying in d. C. , were more than happy to have you lara trump just released a statement explaining why she would make such an offer just days after soomarosa was fired. She said, we still wanted her on our team, because we cared so much about her personally. Thats why i reached out to offer her a position with the 2020 Trump Campaign, before we knew anything about the gross violations of ethics and integrity during her white house tenure. Another one of omarosas bombshell tapes is a fraud. The conversations about a position with the campaign took place in numerous phone calls over the course of several weeks. Thats lara trump. Omarosa claims she never signed that deal, but the Trump Campaign says its taking legal action against her, accusing omarosa of signing and breaching a nondisclosure agreement she signed with the campaign back in 2016. So lets discuss. Cnn chief political analyst dpl Gloria Borger is with me, barrett burger is with me as well, a former federal prosecutor for the eastern and southern districts of new york. So ladies, welcome. And gloria, just first to you. Whats the big headline for you out of this tape . Well, there really isnt a huge headline other than the fact that lara trump feels the need to respond to omarosa and say, look, you cut and pasted a bunch of take place here that took place over a period of several weeks. But she really doesnt deny at all that they were trying to pay omarosa to remain with the campaign and be, quote unquote, positive. Which is what they were worried about after they saw that piece in the New York Times, in which omarosa hinted, very strongly, that there was more to come. Theres one interesting part of this statement, at the very end of it, brooke, where she says lara trump says to omarosa, i hope its all worth it for you, omarosa, because some things you just cant put a price on. So, there you are. Not friends anymore, i would have to say. Nope. Not friends. And barrett, youre saying, your takeaway just listening to this conversation is that essentially, it was a noshow job. Thats exactly right. And there could be significant legal implications on this. How so . Look, on the one hand, if they were actually offering her a job for this kind of money, perhaps theres no problem. But it doesnt really seem like they were actually offering her a legitimate job. Here they had just fired her very recently and in firing her, general kelly had made reference to, you know, these real integrity issues that she had. And clearly, she was somebody that knew a lot of dirt that had gone on. And so then right after that, they offer her this fairly lucrative job. The question is, look, is this something that she actually would have, you know, had to show up for . Would she have had to actually do work . Or was this for lack of a better word, hush money they were paying out. And legally, you cant use Campaign Finance money to pay hush money to someone who may have personal dirt on you. Its not allowed. No, you cannot. And we also know that the president has tried very hard to discredit her, tweeting about it quite a bit, gloria, but the call is pretty strong evidence that this is an attempt to have omarosa, as barreerit was just saying, do very little or nothing for the same salary, even though the white house just fired her. Right. And lara trump claims in this statement that they did not know about the ethics issues and the other issues that had been raised by general kelly in firing her. So, you know, shes saying, we didnt know anything about the gross violations of thethics an integrity during her white house tenure. I think that sort of strains credulity here. It seems to me that the white house chief of staff fired her. He had clearly talked with the president about it. And then somebody had to say to lara trump, you know, what do we do now . How do we keep her how do we keep her onboard here in a positive way so she doesnt go spilling the beans to the New York Times . It seems to me, you can call it hush money, whatever you want to call it, that for lara trump to say, we didnt know why you were fired, why wouldnt anybody ask the question . Why was she fired . And then, maybe, withey would he gotten an answer from general kelly. Yep, yep. Gloria and berit, thank you so much. Next, an explosive response from the former cia director, whose security cleerarance was revoked by President Trump. Well talk live with the journalist who did the impromptu interview with the president about this move. And much more on the life and legacy of Aretha Franklin. How shes being remembered from the Apollo Theater in new york to her Hollywood Star there in hollywood to all around the world. Well be right back. Chain, chain, chain chain, chain, chain chain, chain, chain thats the time to really shine. Elvive extraordinary oil. In just one use, elvive revives dry hair. Introducing custome be your own. Fabric design. Fakind. Exclusively from Budget Blinds. You design it. You pick the pattern, the colors, the fabric. Budget blinds does the rest, creating drapes and pillows. Thats style and service for every budget. Yours alone. For your oneofakind home. Call Budget Blinds for your free consultation right at home if these packs have the same number of bladder leak pads, i bet you think bigger is better. Actually, its bulkier. Always discreet quickly turns liquid to gel, for drier protection thats a lot less bulky. Always discreet. Does it look like im done . Yet . Shouldnt you be at work . [ mockingly ] shouldnt you be at work . Todd. Hold on. [ engine revs ] arcade game fist pump your real bikes all fixed. Man, you guys are good well, we are the numberone motorcycle insurer in the country. Wait. You have a real motorcycle . And real insurance, with 24hour customer support. Arcade game wipeout oh well. I retire as champion. Game hog champion. Welcome back. Im brooke baldwin. Moments ago, President Trump declined to answer questions on why he revoked the security clearance of former cia chief john brennan. Lets go lets go make your way out were finished were finished lets go. Well, a new report reveals it had to do with the russia investigation. This coming from the president himself. The wall street journal asked him about his move against brennan and these nine others, whose clearances are now under review. And the president said this, quoting him. I call it the rigged witch hunt. It is a sham and these people led it, so i think its something that had to be done. Brennan has fired back in this column in the New York Times today, accusing the president of silencing anyone who dares to challenge him and brennan says the president s assertions that there was no collusion with russia are, his word, hogwash. With me now, peter nicholas, the wall street journal reporter who interviewed President Trump. Peter, good to see you. Good to see you, brooke. So on this headline out of this whole interview you had, the president is connecting that hes revoking brennans security clearance with the special counsel russia investigation, so if im understanding this correctly, it is trump who feels that brennan is also part of the blame here for this investigation in the first place . Well, yeah, he mentioned brennan and also mentioned peter strzok, the former fbi agent, and also Andrew Mccabe of the fbi. And he basically said they and others led this investigation. He believes its a witch hunt and a sham. He discussed that with us. And he said, made clear that when he was, is revoking or evaluating his security clearances, he has had the russia investigation in mind. So he did draw that connection. To say that one you know, these are hes thinking about these in the same context. Doesnt this strike you as similar to that lester holt nbc President Trump interview when they were talking about his firing of james comey and he was blaming that russia thing, insert onbrennan here . It does have echoes of that, where the staff is saying one thing about these security clearances, saying these people really cant be trusted or these people have forfieited the righ to have these valuable security cleer clearances. And then the president does say that the russia investigation is in the back of his mind, too, or is driving this decision, as well. So it did remind me of the lester holt thing. And its another example, i think, of a possible disconnect between the message that the staff is putting out and what the president is saying and thinking. John brennan, just reminding everyone, the cia chief under pra president obama, and as you point out in your piece, he was one of the ones just before President Trumps inauguration, he brought this issue of russia interference to incoming president donald trump. Let me play some sound, peter. This is a clip of a leading republican on trump revoking brennans clearance. I dont know why former Government Employees continue to carry their security clearance with them, anyway. As al uniform policy. I dont see mr. Brennan attempting to help the trump administration. And i think the president s concern is that people are monetizing these security clearances and using them to combat the administration. So that was senator cornyn. Obviously, hes not protesting this. But you point to, and weve talked to folks in the intel world who are saying, there is an issue here in terms of the impact on the intelligence community, which is what . Well, one other question here is, are you silencing critics . Are you targeting people in democratic administrations . So theres appearance that this is a political reprisal, and not a legitimate National Security concern or question. Which these gentlemen are saying, we will not be silenced, we will not be muzzled, we will continue to speak up and speak out. But in terms of the ic impact, what is that . Members of the ic Community Want to have their security clearances even after they leave government so theyre available to discuss sensitive issues with people who are in government. And that expertise is needed and often relied on from one administration to the next. If youre going to start revoking those privileges, a white house deprives itself of a potentially valuable source of information from proceeding administrations from whom you can presumably learn things from. Peter nicholas with the wall street journal with the interview with the president , peter, thank you. Thank you, brooke. Coming up next, imagine this. Imagine attending a wedding and out walks the queen of soul. One person who was there tells us the energy was so high, it felt like the chandeliers could come down. Well talk to the couple who got married that night, who had Aretha Franklin singing at their wedding. Well be right back. [burke] at farmers, weve seen almost everything so we know how to cover almost anything. Even vengeful vermin. Not so cute when theyre angry. And we covered it. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum and its also a story mail aabout people and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you my mom washes the dishes. Before she puts them in the dishwasher. So what does the dishwasher do . New cascade platinum does the work for you, prewashing and removing stuckon foods, the first time. Wow, thats clean new cascade platinum. Oh, la, la, la, la we should have been a duo. Im telling you, its not too late. The queen of soul with smoky robinson singing his classic, oh, baby, baby. We are remembering one of the most prolific musical voices in history, Aretha Franklin. She passed away today in her detroit home at the age of 76. Her star on the hollywood wake of fame covered with flowers and harlems famed Apollo Theater tweeting out a vintage marquee photo that reads, rest in peace to our queen of soul, apollo legend Aretha Franklin. My next guest has a very special connection to miss franklin. When they got married, she performed at their wedding. And word is when aretha got going, the chandeliers almost fell off the ceiling. Watch. That fortunate couple, bill white and brian yore, gentlemen, welcome. And first of all, may i just say, whatever you are doing so right in right to have Aretha Franklin singing at your wedding, i would like a little dose of that. Nice to have both of you on. Welcome. Hi, brooke, how are you . Hello from mykonos. Hello to mykonos. Thank you for taking a minute from your vacation to talk to me. Can you take me back to that night . First, its the best night of your lives, and then the icing on top to have Aretha Franklin basically serenading you, what was that like . Well, if i could just say, i know brian wants to talk about that, but i would like to offer our condolences and our prayers to the franklin family, to her closest loved ones and to her friends, to our friend, clive davis, who really was like a brother, a father, a partner, and a mentor to Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul. So we extend our heartfelt condolences, our prayers, and our thoughts and there are no words. Its unfathomable, this loss. But it was an incredible, amazing night for the two of us. You know, the right to marry in new york state was given. We had been illegally married, you know, for nine years before that and that night was a great night for us to stand up with marriage equality. And brian will tell you the story of how it happened. And then we can take it from there. Well, so billy was very excited. Seven years ago, the law passed, and he had invited 700 people to our wedding. And i was like, 700 people want to come and see more than just us exchange our vows. We need a serious talent. And thanks to clive davis, he arranged for aretha to sing at our wedding. And it was Pretty Amazing how, you know, im a huge fan of hers, but i didnt realize how instrumental her music was in the Civil Rights Movement back with africanamericans and she looked at the gay Rights Movement as the next civil rights thing and she wanted to sing chain of fools and respect and bridge over troubled waters. It was unbelievable. She sang for over an hour and closed with a cover by whitney houston, i will always love you. And this is a woman who is, by far, the most beautiful voice in the world. And she also has a fear of flying. She lives in detroit. So she drove all the way down from detroit to be in new york for the wedding. It was one of the most amazing nights of our life. But i really feel like she was excited and she had the full band. Well, if i can just you mentioned civil rights and gay rights, i mean, what does it say this was your wedding was 2011. So what does it say about Aretha Franklin in 2011, this was before the Supreme Court ruled on samesex marriage, that she wanted to perform at a wedding for two men. Yeah, she she was a pioneer every step of the way. And we were actually very just very humbled. Our hearts sang, the idea of having somebody of her stature and her entrepreneurial and creative spirit come and, you know, she was she was just better than weve ever heard her before. I mean, everything was thinking, wow, Aretha Franklin, shes in her 70s. And i can tell you one thing, im getting a little emotional, because having such a great person be part of such a great lifes memory is something you cant even describe. Its just indescribable. Folks had to take their jackets off and their shawls off at the four seasons restaurant because when she sings, the room has to be a certain temperature, and the temperature actually is close to 80 degrees. And that keeps that great vocal cords in shape. And we didnt really understand it. And everybody could have cared less, sweating up a storm in the poolroom there. All 700 of them, singing every single song, word for word with her. They told us she was going to perform for 20 minutes. She stayed for an hour. Oh, my gosh. Barbara walters was there and she said, oh, this thing is, you know, going to be 700 people. She was the last person to walk out of the restaurant youre like, barbara walters, we need to go, like, wedding over, i know aretha was amazing. Talk about an incredible pinchme moment for a lifetime. Bill and bryan, cherish that. Were just hanging on your every word. Thank you so much and enjoy greece. Thanks, gentlemen. And our love to her family and condolences. Absolutely. Condolences from all of us. Thanks, guys. We have much more as we are honoring the queen of soul, celebrating her today. And well share some of the pivotal moments in history that she has been a part of. To Severe Plaque Psoriasis is not always easy. Its a longdistance run and you have the determination to keep going. Humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for over ten years. Its the 1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists. More than 250,000 patients have chosen humira to fight their psoriasis. And theyre not backing down. For most patients clearer skin is the proof. 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What you need do you know i got it all im asking for is a little respect would you come on i feel like i feel like Aretha Franklin, the legendary queen of soul, passing away today at the age of 76. Miss franklins brilliance came early on, a selftaught piano prodigy, recording her first album at age 14, winner of 18 grammy awards. Let me bring in one of her longtime friends, sydney miller, he is the founder of black road exclusive magazine. Mr. Miller, a pleasure. Thank you so much for joining me. Im glad to be here for aretha. I am celebrating the loss of aretha, because its it was time for her to go. And i just sorry that she and i did not get an opportunity to do what we had planned to do, and that was, she had agreed to fly again. And she and i were going to be on the same i was going to take her on the plane, sit by her, make her feel good. And then we were going to plan a tour of europe. She did not like flying, did she, sir . Well, you know, we still have not figured that out, because the last flight she was on was flying into atlanta to play chastain park. And when that when that show was over, andrew young came up on stage and announced that he was going to make monday Aretha Franklin day and ask her to come by his office and they were going to celebrate. And she and her band checked out early and went down to the office and just as he, as andrew young walked into the room, somebody called him, and he had to go away and she told us she would be right back. Well, he was gone for over an hour. And when he finally got back, he had to rearrange her flight. And when she got off the plane in detroit, she said she wasnt going to fly anymore. So, if the ambassador is listening, maybe thats part of the reason . Who knows . Nevertheless, she took buses all over the place. But lets talk about you and miss franklin. I understand, you all knew your relationship, your friendship goes back half a century when you first met down in new orleans at jazzfest, where she was performing. Can you just take me back and what was your First Impression . Well, first of all, she was always someone that i admired, but i had never met her before. But a local jock, in fact, he was the number one jock in the city of new orleans, larry mckinley, larry took me backstage to meet all the artists, you know . Because he was running the show. And when we got to arethas, she says, oh, youre the one with that magazine. She says, you know, thats where i get all of my 411, from your magazine. And you said, thats good to hear. Yeah, so we became friends. In fact win foll, i followed he from there to mobile and from mobile to pensacola where she went by my mothers house and my mother cooked for them. And then we went to atlanta, and you know, she just she just kept putting it off. First, we were going to fly last july. Then she said, no, wait until september. And then september came, and she just wouldnt return my calls until i didnt talk to her anymore until march, when it was time for her birthday. And i went to her Birthday Party in new york at the four seasons hotel. And it was really, really nice. She was expecting Hillary Clinton to come. She had i had got the allstar band to play for her. And she sent up this trellis behind her seat and she had another seat there for someone who was supposed to come, who didnt show up. All kinds of a candidate. Sure. The names im hearing of all of these people who would show up for, you know, her birthday parties, just to be a fly on the wall, its incredible. And just what a special relationship, what a special woman. And perhaps shes flying now in another sense, sidney miller, thank you so much for coming on and sharing these stories. I appreciate you. Mmhmm. We have much more of our coverage of Aretha Franklin, her life, her legacy, celebrating her coming up for you here on cnn. Also ahead, former white house aide, Omarosa Manigault newman releasing another secret recording of her the president and his inner circle. This time its the president s daughterinlaw who is also now responding to this. Were back in just a momentum. Your digestive system has billions of bacteria, but life can throw them off balance. Realign yourself, with align probiotic. And try new align gummies, with prebiotics and probiotics to help support digestive health. Top of the hour. Youre watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. Thanks for being with me. Her prolific sound, her soulstirring voice was like no other. Aretha franklin, the queen of soul, has died at the age of 76. She is an american icon. A music legend whose transformative songs and divine talent crossed all social, racial, and economic barriers. She commanded respect. Respect find out what it means to me