Omarosa: Trump Will 'Lose His Mind' If Dems Win Big in November
*By Jacqueline Corba and Carlo Versano*
Former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman told Cheddar Monday that she "started to see things that concerned me and alarmed me" in the Trump White House.
That's why she surreptitiously recorded an untold number of conversations she both had and overheard.
She wouldn't comment on how she taped the president, citing ongoing arbitration with Trump campaign lawyers. But the most recently released recording, [which she played Monday morning](https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1039184332919730176) on ABC's "The View", consisted mostly of a discussion between Trump and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders which involved Hillary Clinton and the so-called Steele dossier. In the audio file, which was supposedly recorded in October 2017, Trump claims Clinton's campaign paid $9 million for a "phony report" that detailed collusion between his campaign and Russia.
According to Manigault Newman, Trump vastly underestimates "the depth and the breadth" of the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation on Russia and wishes she "rang the alarm" on the president's misconduct earlier.
"If you discover that your friend is an arsonist, you gotta stop giving them matches," she said. "Unfortunately, I was a co-conspirator in doing that, and I don't want to be a part of that anymore."
Manigault Newman gained some notoriety as a contestant on the inaugural season of "The Apprentice" and parlayed her 15 minutes into a reality-show career before joining the Trump administration as a director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison. She was fired from her post last December after about a year on the job. Lately, she's been on a weeks-long publicity tour for a new book, "Unhinged," in which she calls the president unfit to lead.
Manigault Newman said she originally supported Trump, though she became concerned almost immediately after the president took office. "It went straight to his head," she said. "Power is the most addictive drug in the world."
The former aide also said she believes she knows the anonymous author of last week's explosive [New York Times op-ed] (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html), which also dubbed Trump unfit. By looking at old correspondence and noticing style, tone, and word similarities, Manigault Newman said she thought the essay was penned by Nick Ayers, Vice President Pence's chief of staff. Pence has adamantly [denied](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pence-confident-no-one-on-his-staff-wrote-nyt-column/2018/09/10/b2d4ca90-b4b0-11e8-ae4f-2c1439c96d79_story.html?utm_term=.9531e8b547e0) having anything to do with the editorial, telling CBS on Sunday that he was "100 percent confident" no one on his staff wrote it.
"Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House" is available now.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/what-its-like-to-work-inside-the-trump-white-house).
Americans continue to feel the pain at the pump as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, joined Cheddar News to discuss how prices are being affected by the war and how much worse it could potentially get for drivers. "It's obviously a fluid situation. In one field today, I might feel differently in a half hour. But for now, I think we could see the national average realistically go somewhere into the mid $4 range, maybe $4.40 to $4.65 based on what we're seeing," he said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its 12th day following what Ukrainian authorities described as increased shelling of encircled cities and another failed attempt to evacuate civilians from the port city of Mariupol.
Gasoline prices are pushing even farther above $4 a gallon, the highest price that American motorists have faced since July 2008, as calls grow to ban imports of Russian oil.
Jay Hatfield, Chief Investment Officer at ICAP, believes a lot of the bad news regarding the fighting in Ukraine and Fed is already priced into the market and looming uncertainty factored into Friday's movement. However, he also believes the upcoming Fed decision will be good news for Wall Street.
News of Russian forces taking control of a Ukrainian after artillery bombardment of a nuclear power plant raised concerns this week. Nuclear policy expert and Quincy Institute Distinguished Fellow Joe Cirincione joined Cheddar News to discuss the implications for a potential disaster. “I’m with the director general of the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency. He says that he is extremely concerned, and that this Russian attack is a severe risk and that Russia clearly violated the fundamental principle of preserving the integrity of nuclear power plants," Cirincione said.
Amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, major businesses from BP to Big Tech like Apple have been pausing their business dealings with the invading nation. Brian Walker, chief strategy officer at commerce software company Bloomreach, joined Cheddar News to discuss how some companies are showing support for Ukraine and what this could mean for consumers. "Whether it be impacts on energy or operational costs, shipping and logistics, or frankly impacts on the financial services industry, these will have long term implications on retail prices," he said.
About 678,000 jobs were created in February, hundreds of thousands more than predicted, according to the latest Labor Department report, showing a broad economic recovery despite inflation woes. Heather Boushey, member of the Council of Economic Advisers for President Biden, joined Cheddar News to talk about the employment figures. "This really shows that the economy is now more resilient because of the tools that we have in place," Boushey said. "So I'm optimistic that we'll be able to weather future storms."
Ramit Varma, Independent candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, joins Cheddar News to discuss the race and how he plans to tackle critical issues in the California city.
