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Prince Remembered On U.K. Front Pages; Hillary Clinton Stumps In Pennsylvania Ahead Of Vote; Prince's Genius Matched By His Business Sense; Teen Girl Killed In School Bathroom Fight Aired 10:30-11:00a

Aired April 22, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:31:07]

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We want to continue now with our coverage of the death of the music legend Prince. The superstar found unresponsive in an elevator inside his Minneapolis studio. Paramedics unable to revive him after trying to perform CPR and right now an autopsy is under way to try to determine his cause of death.

Knowing the cause though will be little consolation to fans around the world who are mourning today. CNN's Phil Black is in London with more on that part of the story. Hi, Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

As the queen turns 90 and President Obama arrives in London today they are sharing the front pages of almost every major British newspaper up with images of Prince. In some cases they have been kicked off entirely and the full front page spread is an image of the pop star who has passed away.

It's because he has a huge fan base here. Not only do the fans here love his music, but he toured her regularly playing Wembley Stadium, coming back and playing small intimate gigs in surprise locations at very short notice and, of course, back in 2007 he played a 21-night residency at London's O2 arena. That's a venue that sits 20,000 people. It's estimated he played to around 500,000 people over the course of those dates.

So there's a lot of people who don't just love his music here but who also had the chance to see him in concert so they're feeling a real special connection to him today. Not just fans but also peers as well. Some of the towering figures of the music industry have really paid glowing tribute to this man. Let's take a closer look at some of them.

We'll start with Mick Jagger, the frontman of the Rolling Stones. On Twitter he said this, he said, "I am so saddened to hear of Prince's passing. Prince was a revolutionary artist, a wonderful musician and composer. Prince was an original lyricist and a startling guitar player. His talent was limitless. Prince was one of the most unique and exciting artists of the last 30 years." From Elton John, there was this, "This is truly devastating news. The greatest performer I have ever seen. A true genius. Musically way ahead of any of us. Sang with him twice on stage. What an honour. Rest in peace, you purple warrior."

And from Paul McCartney, the former Beatle. He said, "God bless this creative giant."

So today in London fans are mourning but also celebrating, and those who are influenced by him and continued to be are also paying tribute to this remarkable artist, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Phil Black reporting live from London. Thank you.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, "The New Yorker" sums up with one image how we're all feeling today. There it is. I'll be right back.

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[10:38:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (VT-I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not unrealistic. It's a hard path. I admit that. If we don't have a majority I think it's going to be very hard for us to win. This is a two-way street, Andrea. What will Secretary Clinton do? I wish it had not gotten that negative. In many cases I have been attacked by the Clinton people very unfairly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So Sanders is not giving up, but Hillary Clinton supporters wish he would cool it with the language. Sanders' attacks against Clinton already being used by Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know. I think she's qualified, I guess, but that doesn't mean she's good. I mean, I actually like he said, she's not qualified to be president. Now, what he meant is because her judgment is so bad, so Bernie Sanders, not me, said, she's not qualified. So now I'm going to say she's not qualified, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Although Vice President Joe Biden didn't do Clinton any favors either when he praised Sanders in "The New York Times" saying -- quote --"I don't think any Democrat has ever won saying, we can't think that big. We ought to really downsize here because it's not realistic." He added sarcastically, "come on, man, this is the Democratic Party. I'm not part of the party that says, well, we can't do it." So let's about all of this. I'm joined by Maria Cardona, a Clinton supporter and Democratic strategist, and Jonathan Tasini who's the author of "The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America". Welcome to both of you.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you, Carol. Good morning.

JONATHAN TASINI, AUTHOR, "THE ESSENTIAL BERNIE SANDERS AND HIS VISION FOR AMERICA": Good to be here, Carol.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you both here.

So Jonathan, should Bernie Sanders cool it with the attacks?

TASINI: I want to answer that, but actually can I -- I want to start with something very positive that I think Maria and I could potentially agree on.

COSTELLO: (INAUDIBLE).

TASINI: No, I like Maria. We have good conversations off camera and maybe it's because it's earth day, it's the first day of the -- the first night of Passover and I'm about to go to the Seder I've been going to for 20 years with my friend Ed (ph) (INAUDIBLE) so I'm feeling big spirited.

You know, the big issue I don't want us to forget is what happened in New York with the loss of 126,000 voters who were -- I mean, they were disenfranchised from voting.

[10:40:07]

I want to say quickly this affected both Clinton supporters and Sanders supporters. This wasn't some conspiracy. And I think it goes to something -- to the heart of our Democratic process that I hope that we both factions (INAUDIBLE) both wings, both supporters of candidates can come together at the convention address.

We have had a very messy process throughout the campaign. Look at Utah where there are huge lines and they have to photo copy ballots. We got to figure this out. I think we should have same-day registration for our primaries and caucuses. We can debate that (ph). I think we really need to address that at the convention. And maybe I'd give (ph) Maria -- before I go to the other thing and let Maria address that before jump in on the --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: No, no, no. And I do think that most people, most voters on both sides think that you're right, that we do need to look at these things, but it is what it is at the moment.

CARDONA: Yes --

(CROSSTALK) COSTELLO: And Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are running to win the, you know -- to become the Democratic nominee so I will ask you again, Jonathan, should Bernie Sanders cool it?

TASINI: Sure. OK. I was trying to be nice and positive.

So the answer is sort of what Bernie said in the lead up. Look, if you took a real, honest look going back to the early part of the campaign, there has been a relentless negative attack against Bernie, both falsehoods and outright I think lies once we were trying to correct those about Bernie Sanders' position, the health care position, what it would do to the Affordable Care Act, which the "PolitiFact" rated mostly false.

The attacks against his plan (ph). You go all the way up to now when the attack by Bill Clinton was --

COSTELLO: But Jonathan, we're at a fork in the road. We're at a fork in the road. So maybe both candidates should cool it.

TASINI: Let me finish though because I think this is important.

There's a distinction between personal attacks and legitimate criticism. I do not think that we should at all stop the attempt to talk about the issues. We should not, for example, draw back from continuing to ask Hillary Clinton to release the Wall Street transcripts, 77 days now. And the reason for that, Carol, is because it's a fundamental question about how our government because of legalized corruption, I want to underscore, legal corruption, is bought...

COSTELLO: Wow.

TASINI: ... and sold to lobbyists and Wall Street donors. This is a fundamental...

COSTELLO: OK.

TASINI: ... question for our country.

COSTELLO: OK. And I think many Democrats would agree with you there, and that is a policy issue, but that is different, Maria, isn't it...

CARDONA: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... from saying that Hillary Clinton isn't qualified to be president or has bad judgment.

CARDONA: Absolutely. And Jonathan lost me right there at the very end. I was agreeing with him on everything up until the very end where I do think that it is -- the Sanders campaign and Senator Sanders himself, they have a choice to make moving forward. If they want to continue to hurt the party and hurt our chances of winning in November, then they can continue with these character attacks because let's be very clear. The issue that Jonathan brings up is a character attack against Secretary Clinton because Senator Sanders and his campaign have never been able to point to anything tangible that would prove any connection to the connections that they're trying to make between her taking money from Wall Street and her speeches and any kind of position that she has changed.

So they're impugning her character, they're impugning her honesty. What we have seen in New York and in the other places, all the primaries and caucuses that she has won is that that is not something that voters care about. They want to talk about the issues.

So let me go back to something that Jonathan brought up where I do agree. Let's talk about the issues. And the candidates' positions on the issues are fair game moving forward and that's where we should be making the --

COSTELLO: Absolutely. Absolutely. But I just want to go back to the character thing for just a second because Paul Manafort, who is one of Donald Trump's top advisers who is giving this big speech before members of the RNC in Florida, and he talked about Hillary Clinton's character.

He says that Clinton has character flaws, and you can't fix those, and Donald Trump has personality problems. You can fix those. So it seems to me that as we get into a general election, if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, that Donald Trump will go directly to Hillary Clinton's character and attack her.

CARDONA: So --

TASINI: So are you asking that question of me, Carol?

COSTELLO: No, Jonathan, I'm just asking you if --

TASINI: OK. So --

COSTELLO: OK.

TASINI: First of all, I want to correct the record. It is factual that Hillary Clinton switched her position on the bankruptcy bill because of money that flowed to her from Wall Street.

CARDONA: No, absolutely (INAUDIBLE) wrong, Jonathan.

TASINI: And I can quote -- excuse me, Maria. Maria, Maria, I was -- I listened to you. I'll quote from Elizabeth Warren and if you want to attack Elizabeth Warren, who is the gold standard, Elizabeth Warren wrote in her book "The Two-Income Trap" in the spring of 2001 the bankruptcy bill was reintroduced in the Senate and at that time freshman Senator Hillary Clinton voted in favor of the bill and the reason was --

CARDONA: Yes. We have heard this, Jonathan. That doesn't make a connection.

[10:45:03]

TASINI: I know you want to interrupt because you don't want the facts -- the viewers to hear the facts.

CARDONA: No, I want the truth.

TASINI: She was the number two recipient of money from the banking industry in the Senate.

Now, to go to the general election, look, the fact is that...

CARDONA: OK.

TASINI: ... there will be a very, very sharp contrast vis-a-vis Donald Trump whether Hillary Clinton is the nominee or Bernie Sanders is the nominee. I still believe that Bernie will be the nominee, but either of them is going to have to confront Donald Trump.

And, frankly, I think that we will do very well against Donald Trump. We will defeat Donald Trump and I think it will be a very (INAUDIBLE) victory.

COSTELLO: OK. I got to get Maria in here for the last word.

CARDONA: Thank you. Thank you.

So first of all, the banking bill, Hillary Clinton has already been on the record as to what she did in terms of voting for that at the beginning and then when it came up again she voted against it. We all know why that was and had nothing to do with money that she got from anybody.

On the comments that Paul Manafort made, of course we expect Donald Trump to go after Hillary Clinton on her character, on what she's wearing, on her makeup, on everything, Carol. Of course we're going to expect that. And that's why I think Senator Sanders needs to be careful not to give him more ammunition.

But here's a point I will make about Manafort. What he said is, you know, talking about how Hillary's character is in question, all of that is already baked into the cake. And what we've seen in the polls is that Hillary Clinton beats Donald Trump right now, so, yes, they're going to go after with everything plus the kitchen sink and she will be ready to respond, and voters will understand that she's the one who is on their side.

COSTELLO: All right.

TASINI: Carol, I agree with Maria about that.

COSTELLO: I have to leave it there. I do -- I have to leave it there. Well, that's good. See you had a come-to-Jesus moment another (ph) one (ph) -- two in one segment. Maria Cardona and Jonathan Tasini, thanks to you both. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Prince's musical talent was unmatched. Next, how his financial moves could have been -- well, they were just as shrewd.

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[10:51:12]

COSTELLO: Prince was an artist whose musical talent seemed unlimited, but as good as he was at music, his business instincts were just as sharp. And he exercised tight control (INAUDIBLE) both (ph) aspects (ph) of his career. CNNMoney's chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins me now to tell us more about that. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The business history of music is just littered with these examples of people who just got screwed by music companies, record companies. Not him, not him. He was a business-minded performer. He kept a tight grip on his music and his brand, even from the very beginning.

TwinCities.com dug up an article from the September 1st, 1977, issue of the "St. Paul Dispatch." Carol, look at this. Here it is, "A just turned 18-year-old Minneapolis youth has signed a six-figure recording contract with Warner Brothers. Known only as Prince, the youth is reputed to have signed one of the largest contracts ever for a new act."

The article goes on to say that A&M Records and Columbia were also interested in signing him. And that early ambition was really correct here. Here he is on "American Bandstand," just 19 years old. Please watch this. It is amazing.

Nineteen. That was the first time America really saw him, and he went on to this hall of fame career, 16 platinum albums. The industry certification for a million copies is a platinum album, 16 of them, 7 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for best song for "Purple Rain" and he's back on top of the charts again right now.

Here are the top five songs in iTunes at the moment. "Purple Rain" is number one, has been since yesterday. The entire top 10 now, Carol, is Prince songs. You won't be able to stream his music today unless you have a subscription to "Tidal". That's the service Jay Z created. Prince pulled his music from other streaming services, an exclusive deal with "Tidal" he struck instead.

He also struck a deal back in 2014 to buy back his entire catalog from Warner Brothers and sign a new contract at the same time. This guy is a legendary musician and artist and innovators but a keen businessman and entrepreneur too. Really along the way he had an eye on the business the whole time.

COSTELLO: And he had that huge giant studio in Minneapolis.

ROMANS: Yes. And he was a home town -- you know, a home town guy. He didn't, you know, pick up and buy a big ranch out, you know, in L.A. He stayed right there and built the whole music presence, you know, the Minneapolis sound, the whole music presence in Minneapolis. So, a really interesting businessman from the start.

And what's so interesting when you watch that clip from "American Bandstand," Dick Clark is completely enamored of him. He said when he was 15 or 16 he had a couple record deals already and he didn't want to do them. He wanted to wait until he was a little bit more seasoned. This is the seasoned -- this is the seasoned Prince at 19. And you can already see what the -- you know, look at the confidence and the style already at 19.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes. That's so awesome.

ROMANS: And Dick Clark attempted to interview Prince, and Prince wasn't giving up much. Dick Clark asked him I heard you can play every instrument, you know, in your band and Prince goes maybe. Really shy, but brilliant.

COSTELLO: Definitely so. Christine Romans, thanks. We'll be back.

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[10:58:33]

COSTELLO: All right. We understand that investigators in Minnesota, in Minneapolis, will be holding a 4:00 p.m. Eastern press conference. They'll update you on the investigation into Prince's death. We don't know what they'll say. We don't know much more, but we do know an autopsy is ongoing. We don't know if any results from the autopsy will be announced later this afternoon, but of course CNN will carry that presser live at 4:00 Eastern.

A teenage girl is dead after getting into a fight with other girls at her high school in Delaware. Classmates held a vigil for Amy Joyner- Francis. Described as a popular student and the manager of the school's wrestling team.

School officials say the fight happened Thursday morning in the girls' restroom. They say weapons do not appear to have been used. The mayor was distraught.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DENNIS WILLIAMS (D), WILMINGTON, DELAWARE: This is a tragic time that we come before you. My heart is broken. I am so upset that a young lady lost her life today. Things like this shouldn't happen. My heart bleeds for the family, the kids that go to this school, and the administrators and our city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Two female students were taken to Wilmington police headquarters for questioning. No charges have been filed.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" starts now.