Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Is Trump's Personality Just an Act; Prince Autopsy Complete, Awaiting Details; Former Band Member Talks about Prince. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 22, 2016 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:31:35] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's talk politics in the 2016 race for president. Get ready for the remaking of Donald Trump. His top adviser telling the RNC the brash off-the-cuff Trump is an act. Trump adviser, Paul Manafort, telling a group of Republican insiders the Trump act is now, in his words, evolving into something more professional.

Listen to this audio of a closed-door meeting obtained by CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN CONVENTION MANAGER (voice-over): Trump is an outsider. Many of you don't know he's sitting in a room, talking business and he's talking politics, in a private room, it's a different persona. He's out on the stage talking about the kinds of things he's talking about stuff, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose. The part he's been playing is evolving into the part that now you've been expecting but he wasn't ready for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's bring in Trump supporter, Pax Hart; and Lanhee Chen, who worked on both Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio presidential campaigns.

Gentlemen, welcome.

And, Pax, let's begin with you on the notion of evolving. Would you as a Trump supporter betrayed if this is all an act?

PAX HART, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Absolutely not. You know, he stepped into this race ten months ago as a nonpolitician. He positioned in a cut throat party primary of 17 candidates. Positioned himself as the front runner. It happened. He started making it happen. I was looking the other day at some re-runs of "the apprentice." He knows showbiz and how to work the media and a crowd. I would not have expected anything less of him to once he's repositioning himself as a party nominee for a national election, he's going to, you know, he's going to start trying the appeal to a much wider audience. I'm sure there have been Democrats and Independents, which, by the way, flipping left and right to support him, many people they've only been seeing the head lines and the sound bites and now he reaches out an appealing to these people and he is going to be more statesman-like. This is great. I have seen brilliance in his strategy. He's a smart guy. He knows exactly what he's doing.

BALDWIN: I want to come back to that point in a minute. You point out showbiz.

But, Lanhee, I have to ask you, 2012, and your candidate Governor Romney, and moments caught on tape, the 47 percent bit, which didn't go well for him. And I'm assuming you'll agree that this, this audio tape won't hurt Trump like it did Mitt Romney. I'm curious why that is. When's the difference?

LANHEE CHEN, WORKED ON MITT ROMNEY AND MARCO RUBIO PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS: Well, Brooke, you know I think that Donald Trump is held to a different standard, first of all. Second of all, he managed to get away with apostasies. Now he's talking about being a different candidate and always the problem, Brooke, with Donald Trump. There's no core there. That he's not a conservative. His record is all over the map. His statements on issues are all over the map, too. This is what worries conservatives. This just plays into that narrative. I tend to agree it's not going to hurt him. The interesting thing to see, though, is going to be as he transitions from the pirate ship to the campaign how that transition will go. I'm not convinced to go well.

BALDWIN: Well, on that point, Pax, respond to that sort of and you mentioned showbiz and critics saying he is just a reality TV, you know, brilliant TV producer and puts of an act. Ahead to the general election, this gives whoever the Democratic nominee is more fodder, more material that this is, you know, the Jekyll and Hyde, this is a reality TV guy.

[14:35:14] HART: Pat Buchanan said a couple of days ago Trump supporters are the future of the GOP, not the never Trump or the Cruz supporters. I think it's fantastic. You know? He's -- Donald Trump representing a much more inclusive party. He's appealing to moderate Democrats. He's appealing to Independents. You know?

BALDWIN: What about those on the far right? Starting to go more to the middle and to appeal to more folks, why won't that, you know, be drawback for those who have been, you know, passionate about Trump as he's been farther on the side of the spectrum?

HART: I hear over and over again this -- this is particularly coming from Ted Cruz supporter. Donald Trump's not a real conservative. Donald Trump is a very moderate Republican. If you take away the personality, you take away the bombast, he's a moderate Republican. He's very -- people trust him in business. People trust him on the economy. People -- he's got decades of real world experience with a phenomenal record of personal success. You know? This is what people are attracted to. You know, you've got Ted Cruz going apoplectic about the comments on the bathroom issue. You know, they're like, these are not the priorities facing this country. The priorities facing this country are creating jobs, the economy, immigration, building our military. These are things we trust Donald Trump.

I met Donald Trump last week. I had a conversation with him. He's a phenomenal personal success. And he doesn't have to be doing this. And he's doing it because he cares about this country. And if we can -- he's offering his services to this country, the same, you know, the same intellect that's created an incredible company for himself.

BALDWIN: OK.

BALDWIN: He's offering to mentor the country.

BALDWIN: I hear you. And not everyone agrees. But I appreciate your perspective.

I wanted to talk to a Trump supporter.

But, Lanhee, to you, on Reince Priebus, the chair of the RNC, he was at an RNC meeting in Florida, and slammed the Never-Trump movement, and he's calling for unity within the Republican Party. Quoting him, he said, "It is essential to victory in November that we all support our candidate. This goes for everyone, whether you're a county party chairman, an RNC member, or a presidential candidate. Politics is a team sport and we can't win unless we rally around whoever becomes the nominee."

What has to happen so that, you know, Donald Trump when's been calling over and over the process rigged and RNC to -- I don't know -- have a Kumbaya.

CHEN: You know, I don't know that it's possible for Donald Trump to unify the Republican Party and what it really goes back to is if you look at issue after issue, Donald Trump has taken positions that simply are not conservative. And this is not an argument that's coming from Ted Cruz conservatives. This is an argument from all conservatives. The reality is that Donald Trump has a problem uniting the party because he does take on in many cases views that run counter to what most Republicans believe so I recognize the chair trying to do. Of course he's trying to unify the party. Win an election. Ultimately beat Hillary Clinton. But we're not going to do it with Donald Trump. I think that's one of the issues the never Trump folks latching on to it and done it with some success and Wisconsin. It's going to take a miracle for 1,237 before the convention. Probably not going to get there.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: We'll see. We'll see.

Lanhee Chen, Pax Hart, we'll leave it and talk again.

Thank you so much.

Coming up on CNN --

HART: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You got it -- tributes pouring in for the legendary Prince, we are now learning the examiner's autopsy is completed. We'll talk to Sanjay Gupta about Prince's health in recent months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:44:06] BALDWIN: While people around the world mourn his sudden and shocking death, investigators are working right now to solve the mystery of how this music icon died. And the medical examiner has just completed the autopsy. We learned that, that happened minutes ago.

Let's bring in CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, with more.

We're waiting for some details. There's a news conference in a little while. What is the latest that you know?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest is what you said. This autopsy took about four hours and, you know, they do a pretty thorough examination. We know that the Prince's body will go back to his family at this point.

What I would say, Brooke, is that they probably are going to be cautious in releasing anymore details. They may certainly know more they have to piece it together with so many things. There's an autopsy, toxicology. Looking at blood. Those tests sometimes have to be sent off. What are you looking for, exactly? How much are you looking for? There's the pieces of the puzzle, and then layer it all on top of what his life is like. Did he have any other medical problems? When's the last weeks been like? Episodes of being sick and recovered and sick again. It's a bit confusing. And part of the reason that he had this autopsy is because he's a 57-year-old man, pretty young, who had an unexplained death. And that's typically what triggered a medical investigation.

[14:45:27] BALDWIN: How long might it be until we really know?

GUPTA: How long until we know may be different than when they know. They want to be sure. Sometimes the toxicology means doing the tests again, confirming it. Making sure. And making sure it fits. You see a test result completely abnormal, is there anything else in the life to suggest it's true. Should it be repeated?

What I would say is autopsy results from the autopsy itself may be several days. Toxicology can sometimes take weeks to come back and they may not release anything until they have everything to say.

BALDWIN: To be safe, they should hold off. Sanjay, thank you so much.

GUPTA: You got it.

BALDWIN: For now, again, waiting for the news conference. We'll take it live. Coming up next, a member of Prince's band, the Revolution, Dr.

Fink, joins me next. His stories about early days of Prince. Do not miss this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:50:32] BALDWIN: As fans celebrate the life of Prince, it is no surprise the top 11 songs on iTunes right now are all of his, "Purple Rain," "Little Red Corvette, "When Doves Cry," "Kiss," and "Let's Go Crazy," all on the list.

Prince's impact on culture and music goes far beyond the songs. His style, his funk. He conducted his business, this is all part of legacy for fans and musicians around the world.

Joining me, by phone, Matt Fink. You know him as Dr. Fink. He was a member of Prince's band, the Revolution, for 12 years, way back in the early '80s.

So awesome to have you join us, sir.

And Kamau Bell, CNN host of "United Shades of America" and Prince fan.

Nice to see you as well.

Matt Fink, Dr. Fink, my condolences to you. I cannot imagine how you feel.

I know you have a band, Purple Experience, and you're in touring, in Chicago tonight. Your late friend, but can you take me back and tell me a story from the early '80s backstage? Tell me an anecdote.

MATT FINK, FORMER BAND MEMBER, PRINCE'S REVOLUTION & CURRENT BAND MEMBER, PURPLE EXPERIENCE (voice-over): Well, Prince was quite the practical joker at times. And he wanted the band to play a joke on one of the local music critics because they were going to come back and interview Prince backstage before a show. And I believe this was -- have been either the controversy tour or even an earlier one, maybe "Dirty Mind." I can't remember. But he asked all of us to suddenly get into a major fight amongst ourselves in the background while he's doing the interview in the dressing room, start yelling at one -- at each other and throwing furniture around in order to disrupt the interview and --

BALDWIN: Did you?

FINK: Oh yeah. Oh yes, we did. It was all in good fun.

BALDWIN: Oh, my gosh. That's what I'm hearing so much of his sense of humor.

"Purple Rain." You were in the Academy Award-winning film. What the heck was that like working on that? And what do you make of today, just the impact in 2016 of this man and his work?

FINK: Well, for all of us growing up in Minneapolis to be in a film was most exciting thing that could possibly happen. We didn't grow up in Hollywood or New York. And to be from part of that and involved in such a big project, it was extremely exciting and a great learning experience. And, you know, what more can you say? It's a dream come true when those kinds of things happen for young Midwestern boys, you know?

BALDWIN: He stayed there and the - estate is there. I speak volumes of Prince, the man, and the Minnesotan.

Kamau, to you, I've listened to you talking about him and what strikes me is how, you know, his business acumen and fight the good fight and control of his stuff and fighting music labels. You agree with that, yeah?

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA: Yeah. I think first of all his music is incredible.

BALDWIN: Incredible.

BELL: We know everything about everybody now and he had a sense of mystery around him and he fought for artists. We wanted to control his own art and that sort of teaches all artists not that you make the art but you can control it afterwards and that's a real lesson. Like you put up the stop 10, 11 songs on iTunes, you have to pay for them. We can't go to Spotify and listen to Prince. We have to pay for him. He taught us the art, and we should have to pay for it if we want to experience it.

BALDWIN: Uh-huh.

Dr. Fink, back to you, when you step on that stage tonight in Chicago and you play part of this catalog, how are you -- how will you feel?

FINK: Well -- excuse me. Just the thought of that brings tears to my eyes. So it's really hard. But we're going to do the best we can to console everybody and entertain them as best we can tonight in light of when's happened. That's all I can say. You know? We're all in shock and in disbelief. Very difficult. [14:55:11] BALDWIN: I cannot imagine for you just as a fan but just

for you being with him and knowing him as well as you.

Good luck tonight. And we'll be thinking about you. And thank you for calling in.

And, Kamau, my friend, stick around. I have more for you in just a second.

But, again, on Prince and on the investigation here, we have just learned the autopsy has been completed. Moments from now, we are awaiting the first news conference on Prince's death. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)