HBO's 'Going Clear' exposes secrets of Scientology

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HBO's 'Going Clear' exposes secrets of Scientology

Former Scientologists allege abuse in documentary on 'The Kelly File'

This is a rush transcript from "The Kelly File," March 26, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MEGYN KELLY, HOST: Well, the players are famous, the charges are ugly and the backlash has already been fierce. A riveting new HBO documentary details what filmmakers call the dark side of the Church of Scientology. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone had told me there's this cult and it can make anything possible in your life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was deeply convinced that we were going to save the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a transcendent experience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You feel euphoria.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything you do for endless trillions of years depends on what you do within scientology.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They sell it all in the beginning as something quite logical. You take on a matrix of thought that is not your own.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so strong that it sticks you like glue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very suggestible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just don't see it happening to you. You justify so much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is no logical explanation other than faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: Mike Rinder is a former Scientologist who spent years defending Scientology. He's featured in the HBO documentary film "Going Clear: Scientology In The Prison Of Belief," which will debut on March 29th on HBO. Mark, thank you very much for being here. And so, it's interesting the prison of belief based on a book by a Pulitzer Prize winning author who's featured in the documentary as well shot by an academy award winner, and already the Church of Scientology has come out swinging against you, which we'll get to in a moment. What does that mean the prison of belief?

MIKE RINDER, FORMER SCIENTOLOGIST: It means, Megyn, that Scientology has means or a way of getting people to believe that they have the answers to everything, that your very future depends upon your activities and commitment to Scientology and remaining a dedicated and committed member of the church. And to stray from it is something that will result in very dire consequences.

KELLY: I watched the documentary and apologies for calling you Mark. I watched the documentary, Mike, and it talks about how there is allegedly abuse against members who want to leave the church, there's blackmail, there's allegedly tapping of people's phones who try to speak out against Scientology, that some are put in a sort of prison called the hole where they're not free to leave, monitoring by security guards, and an absolute commitment not to speak out against the religion, a commitment you say you were actually one of the enforcers of for years.

RINDER: Yes, that's correct, Megyn. I mean, it's ugly. There is no question. And that's the reason why I and others are speaking out because we feel that the abuses that are ongoing within the Church of Scientology need to have the light of day shone on them and be seen for what they really are. Because there is a perception that the church tries to put forward that everything is all butterflies and unicorns with the church of Scientology. And yet on the other hand, there are a lot of things that happened that are very egregious violations of human rights. And things that.

(CROSSTALK)

KELLY: That would be illegal -- things that would be illegal as well. You're talking -- not you, but the film talks about Tom Cruise who's the most famous Scientologist, and his marriage to Nicole Kidman suggesting that marriage was divided by the church because she was not a Scientologist. Her father was a psychologist and they don't believe in that. At one point, her phones were tapped. All of which the church has denied. Did they engage in these tactics?

RINDER: Yes, absolutely, Megyn. This is the patent and practice of the church in dealing with things and people that they feel are not in step with them, or in disagreement, or seeking to expose what's going on. I mean, you've seen the reaction that the church -- I'm sure you were flooded with all sorts of information about every single person that ever speaks out about...

(CROSSTALK)

KELLY: They're extreme litigious. The viewers should know about this. We did a segment on them a few years ago and we got threatened. I mean, they love to threaten if you say anything about them, even if you are not a Scientologist. But they're really upset with you. Moments before we came on the air, this comes at 8:46, "Dear Ms. Kelly, I hear you may be doing a program with Mike Rinder regarding the documentary. Why are you going ahead with a self-admitted liar who has admitted under oath he's paid $175 an hour by litigious plaintiffs attorney. He left the church in disgrace for severe and gross malfeasance. These are vicious, strident falsehoods."

RINDER: And that's par for the course for Scientology. And in fact, that sort of reaction and response is what proves much of what's shown in the film. Look, Megyn, they say that about every single person, Alex Gibney, an Academy Award winning documentarian has now become a bigot and propagandist. Lawrence Wright, a Pulitzer Prize winning author is also a bigot and gets everything wrong. Nobody who says anything about scientology that they don't like.

(CROSSTALK)

KELLY: They go after you.

(CROSSTALK)

KELLY: I'm up against a hard break. I've got 30 seconds. Tell us why we should care. Why should people care?

RINDER: You should care because there are people that are being hurt. And there are abuses that are going on. And they're being hidden behind the First Amendment. The church claims all sorts of religious protection, which certainly is a good thing or a great thing in this country. But it's bad when abuses and people are abused and that is covered up by reason of nobody being willing to take it on.

KELLY: The church denies the allegations in the film and that the film is shocking. It airs on Sunday night. Mike, thank you. We'll be right back.

RINDER: Thank you, Megyn.

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