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Death of Prince Examined; Negative Approval Ratings of Presidential Candidates. Aired Midnight-1a ET

Aired April 22, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:00] ["When Doves Cry" and "Purple Rain" by Prince plays]

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. We begin with the unexpected and shocking death of music legend Prince at the age of 57. We don't know how he died. Medical examiners in the U.S. state of Minnesota will perform an autopsy on Friday.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Paramedics found him unresponsive in an elevator at his estate, Paisley Park. Prince was already dead before help arrived, according to an emergency caller.

["Purple Rain" by Prince plays]

SESAY: This video is from Prince's last performance; it in Atlanta, Georgia, last Thursday. Hours later an ambulance rushed him to a hospital after his plane made an emergency landing on his way home.

VAUSE: Fans all over the world are mourning his death but celebrating his life. They gathered at the world famous Apollo Theatre in New York to dance to some of his biggest hits.

SESAY: Yes; even Mother Nature, take a look at this, Mother Nature paying tribute. A rainbow appeared over Prince's estate Thursday afternoon.

All right, well, let's go to Ryan Young, who is live for us outside Prince's Paisley Park estate in Minnesota.

Ryan, it's just after 11:00 p.m. where you are. Describe the scene outside Prince's home right now.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT via satellite: Really, what an atmosphere to talk about. If you look to the side here, we have dozens of people still coming at this hour to pay their respects to this great artist, that people have talked about forever now, in terms of the music he was able to perform and produce.

We have seen a mixed crowd here of all generations, all colors, all ethnicities, all coming out here to talk about Prince. You know, a lot of people are silent but besides that, they are standing next to each other having conversations about what Prince song they like the most. We saw people come here and do art on the sidewalk, drawing Prince the artist, or talking about -- I saw one woman do a poem that she wrote about Prince and how he touched her life. So you see this community really coming together. Evan at this hour, I want to tell you, the crowds behind me now are

much smaller than what they were even just an hour ago. But, steadily, people are walking up the street, because police have blocked it off. People are making the journey over here so they can drop their flowers off and remember this artist.

SESAY: Yes; the people still out there to pay their respects and people having so many questions having seen him up and around so recently. Are we learning any more about Prince's final hours?

YOUNG: You know, that's the big question right now. So many people walked over to us to ask us that same question: hey, do you know more information about what happened?

You know, you talked about the concert in Atlanta. I had friends who went to the concert and they were disappointed the first time because he had to cancel because he had the flu. That Thursday that he performed was the makeup performance for the first concert he was supposed to have. They said he was picture perfect. They loved it; they enjoyed it. Now, of course, everyone wants to know what happened here.

We know he collapsed inside an elevator. Someone dialed 911. There was confusion about where they were. They were having trouble tracking the cell phone. Once the ambulance did arrive here, they tried to perform CPR. That did not work. He was pronounced dead here on the scene. We did talk about the autopsy that's going to be performed.

So many people have questions about how this could happen. Prince just 57 years old. People have talked about his health and some of the things he was struggling with, maybe having walking pneumonia. Right now, really, not a lot of answers to the questions so many people have.

SESAY: Ryan Young joining us there from outside Prince's Paisley Park estate in Minnesota. Appreciate it, Ryan; thanks so much.

VAUSE: Kyung Lah is at an all-night dance part at the First Avenue Club in Minneapolis, where Prince filmed much of "Purple Rain". So, Keung, would you say the mood is a celebration of Prince's life rather than mourning his passing?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via satellite: It's a bit of a mix, John. I want to give you a sense of what we're looking at here, and that will really [00:05:03] go a long way to explain what's happening. You can't see -- I wish I could elevate my cameraman (Inaudible) about six feet because this entire area behind these people, this entire area around this club is completely packed with people. It is wall to wall people. I don't have an accurate count, but there are a ton of people on the street.

I want to you look over here. These are flowers that have been dropped throughout the day, people leaving remembrances, flowers, a lot of purple. People saying it's raining purple love. Over here to your left, these are a number of stars that have been painted on the walls. All the way to the left corner, the most prominent star here is Prince.

This is "First Avenue." This is the club that you saw in "Purple Rain." This is where Prince was born. This is where he grew up, and he became the patron saint of this club. For the people here in this crowd, and again, like Ryan said, it is a mixed crowd, he is not just a star. He is their favorite son. He is somebody who did not give up on the city, who did not leave this town. He remained here. He remained in Minnesotan to the very, very end. So they are here to, yes, mourn. but also to help celebrate.

The doors have just opened here at the club. Everyone 18 and over is allowed in free of charge. They are going to dance the night away to his songs, the way Prince would have loved to be remembered by his fans. John? Isha?

VAUSE: Yes; and, Kyung, when news first broke that Prince died, many people started gathering at the club. It's a special place there in Minneapolis. This will not be just a one-night dance party, will it?

LAH: Certainly not. They are thinking that this is going to be something that remains throughout their lives. They want this to be just more than just one event. They want Prince's music to live on. Certainly, in this club, this club that really is intertwined with Prince's legacy, they want this to be something that's forever remembered. They feel that Prince is someone who brought this city together, across race, across income. He is somebody who really changed Minneapolis' music scene in the 1980s. So throughout the decades, he is someone who brought this to more than just one night and they certainly plan on it being more than one night; John?

VAUSE: Kyung Lah there, in Minneapolis, outside that nightclub. We appreciate it, Kyung; thank you.

SESAY: Well, joining us on the phone now is Tommy Barbarella in Minneapolis. He was a keyboardist who was part of Prince's band, The New Power Generation. Tommy, first of all, let me say thank you for joining us at this difficult time. We are so sorry for your loss. I know he was a good friend of yours.

Let me ask you, what was it like working with Prince, a musician known for being a perfectionist?

TOMMY BARBARELLA, KEYBOARDIST, "THE NEW POWER GENERATION", via telephone: Yes, it was, um, you know, for me it was a dream come true. I was in high school when "Purple Rain" came out and I have friends who remind me that I said, someday I want to work with him and a few years later I did. He was -- like I said, it was a dream come true.

He was definitely challenging. It was -- I will say, it was probably the toughest gig I've ever done in my life but it certainly prepared me for the rest of my career. In the industry, everybody knows that at that time of the '90s, it was like you worked for Prince, everybody knew that you were -- you were qualified, that kind of said that you -- it set you up for the rest of your career because everyone knew how hard that gig was. So I was honestly quite grateful for the opportunity.

SESAY: And Tommy, tell us a little bit about what made it so hard. I mean, just from the outside looking at it, here was a man who just seemed like he could go on and on and on on the stage, these three- hour plus performances, which as I understand it, they would end and they he would go to a club and play another show.

BARBARELLA: Yes.

SESAY: You know, he lived, breathed music. Tell me about it; you know, what made it tough?

BARBERELLI: It was all that, for sure. It was 24/7. I usually describe my -- those years with him as life in the bubble. You were in the bubble. Your life was that 24/7, you know? Like you said, he would play a concert. You know, I remember we were in Europe a lot and we would play a concert; we [00:10:02] would play at a club at 3:00 in the morning and we would get up at -- we would get up early and play some kind of radio thing at 9:00 a.m; you know? That was typical -- a typical day on tour with Prince in Europe.

So there was that, but not the -- but we were the most rehearsed band in the land. We rehearsed six days a week. If he wasn't there that day, we would still rehearse. He was a perfectionist. It was perfectionism. He was a bandleader in the tradition of James Brown. You had to come correct or there would be consequences, so to speak.

[Laughter]

SESAY: Yes, we have heard that. He is a special soul and we're just so grateful that you could join us, and at this time. Tommy Barbarella, thank you for sharing some of the memories with us.

BARBEAELLA: Yes, my pleasure; thank you.

VAUSE: Let's bring in Segun Oduolowu, who is an Entertainment Journalist and Pop Culture Contributor to Access Hollywood Live. Also Bob Lefsetz who is the Music Writer and Author of "The Lefsetz Letter," which I've been reading. It has been an enjoyable read.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: Thank you both for being here.

SESAY: Welcome, Gentlemen.

VASUE: Bob, first to you, if Prince had stopped right after making "Purple Rain" would he still be considered one of the greatest of all time?

BOB LEFSETZ, MUSIC WRITER AND AUTHOR, "The Lefsetz Letter": Absolutely; because he went through many genres. First he was a soulster. Then he was a big funkmaster. Then he had rock hits. Then he had the gargantuan success of "Purple Rain."

I think what really makes him a legend though is he threw off all the other tracks for other people: "Manic Monday" for The Bangles; "Nothing Compares to You" for Sinead O'Connor. He seemed to have no limit to his talent. There was nobody working when he did, and that encompasses these decades who had all the facilities. There are all these people who can maybe play, but they can't write or they can't sing. He could literally do everything.

He was arrogant, but he was not arrogant in the way that Kanye is.

VAUSE: Right.

LEFSETZ: He just said, here I am and you were just wow. As far as the worldwide event known as the Super Bowl, not only did he have the best musical performance of all time, and people were getting further from the target, he had the best performance ever other than the '69 Jets.

VAUSE: Okay.

SESAY: Segun, I mean, he was a soundtrack to our lives, you know, and that's what I keep thinking of. So many hits, to Bob's point; it's hard to pick one. Such a prolific creator of music.

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: I think Bob struck the surface, so let me dig even deeper. He won an Oscar for the score of "Purple Rain." We're talking about a guy who sit at the piano with a guitar strapped to his back, jump off and play guitar better than any guitarist in the business. When guys like Eddie Van Halen, when Slash and world renowned guitarists are -

SESAY: When Eric Clapton --

ODUOLOWU: When Eric Clapton -

SESAY: Yes; yes.

ODUOLOWU: -- they are telling you how good this guy is as a songwriter; but to me, as an activist, he was gender bending. He was androgynous. He was sexual, when that wasn't the thing to do. He did it before it was PC, before it was, you know, on everybody's now easy to do. He was doing that stuff, taking chances with his music, but willing to speak out.

The fact that he won a Golden Globe for a song on "Happy Feet".

[Laughter]

ODUOLOWU: Do you realize that this guy who did Darling Nikki, where it was being banned -

SESAY: Yes.

ODUOLOWU: -- he was one of those early pop artists to have censors and people say, your music is so sexual.

VAUSE: Al Gore's wife went after him.

ODUOLOWU: He made it okay.

VAUSE: Yes.

ODUOLOWU: I mean, how many guys do you know can wear six inch boots, do the -

VAUSE: Not a lot.

ODUOLOWU: -- splits.

VAUSE: Not many.

ODUOLOWU: Come on, man.

SESAY: Bob, when you look at the musical landscape today, as we talk about how prolific he was, can you point to his influences on the landscape today?

LEFSETZ: He was an influence, sure. He was not somebody - certainly he absorbed all the rock and --

SESAY: Yes, and as an influencer, can you see it?

LEFSETZ: He is a guy who ran on instinct. He legendary had a fight with Warner Brothers Records in the '90s. The fight was over how much material you could release. The irony is 20 years later, the internet, both is hard to get attention and we have unlimited. People post videos every day. Despite all his wrong statements about the internet being over, etc., he learned it's about experiences. We live in a changing culture where it's not about what we own but where we have been and what we have done. When you went to a Prince show, you thought you were at the epicenter of the culture having a peak experience.

VAUSE: I want to get to that because Naomi Campbell was talking to Don Lemon a short time ago and she said Prince really tried to make that experience unique. Each concert was different to the other; this is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAOMI CAMPBELL, SUPERMODEL, via telephone: He was unpredictable. He never played the same concert twice. It was never going to be -- I mean, in the [00:15:01] days he played in London at the arena, I think I went 11 times and it was never the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAUSE: And these days, you know, when records sales being less and less, it's about the show. To a very big degree, he was the ultimate showman.

LEFSETZ: Yes, but as I say, let's not focus on the economics and the changing paradigms because things change all the time in society. What he basically said is, in a world where we are never going to own our own cars, where it's not about your possessions, he said, you come to me and you have an experience that you will talk about for the rest of your life.

I saw him the night after Reagan was shot. The flippers roll their disco on the Dirty Mind Tour. I am talking about -- I not only talked about it on his death, my mind was blown. It was one of the three best concerts I have seen.

SESAY: Wow.

LEFSETZ: And that was long before this last heyday of performances (inaudible).

ODUOLOWU: Bob, I got to disagree just a slight. He was the ultimate businessman. Don't forget him adding a record to his concert sales --

VAUSE: Yes.

ODUOLOWU: -- so that as you came to his concert you got a cd with it and that boosted his sales so he could go platinum, so he could fulfill his contractual agreements with different people. I like Prince the businessman, because he was smart. he was all about his music and he has let his music speak for him, and it sold the world over.

SESAY: And that savvy has influenced many artists -

ODUOLOWU: Oh, absolutely.

SESAY: -- that come after him, who understand the need to own your material and not give away --

LEFSETZ: Having said that, he was a legendary spendthrift and anybody that ever worked with him -

[Laughter]

VAUSE: Okay; I'm going to sound like a record executive here because I want to go through the numbers very, very quickly. He had an incredible career. Take a look at the numbers here: he had seven Grammys, 30 nominations; an Academy Award for the song "Purple Rain"; he sold 100 million records, 40 top 100s; "When Doves Cry" was number one for five weeks; the last number one hit, though, was "Cream," back in 1991.

Being a cold, hard, calculating -

ODUOLOWU (off camera): You're going to go somewhere that's not -- you are not going to go somewhere - don't go there.

VAUSE: Is this the sum total of his career or is there a whole lot more to him than --

LEFSETZ: We live in an era where number one is not what number one is. Mariah Carey has more number one's than the Beatle's, okay. This guy's cultural impact, he wrote the song of the millennium. "1999", we sung that for 12 years.

SESAY: We did.

LEFSETZ: His song about a corvette is more famous than the corvette.

ODUOLOWU: He made purple and paisley -- you could wear it. You could wear pink. You could wear bright yellow. You could feel masculine. I mean, Prince was sexy. Dudes -- straight dudes is like, Prince is sexy.

SESAY: Yes.

ODUOLOWU: He made it okay.

SESAY: He was a sex symbol.

ODUOLOWU: He made it okay to talk about things. He was in movies. I mean, come on. "Purple Rain," "Under The Cherry Moon," "Graffiti Bridge", he -- he did movies. He was an artist. He was an actor. He was and activist.

"Baltimore", that song he wrote "Baltimore" -

SESAY: Yes.

ODUOLOWU: -- for the riots that were going on. Then, like I said, you have a generation of kids that knew him from "Happy Feet," are the same ones whose parents knew him from "Purple Rain." He is that influential.

You see what Jay-Z did when Jay-Z released his album, through Samsung, to sell records ahead of time. You see them doing stuff like Title right now. That's all Prince influences. Prince made you want to own your music.

LEFSETZ: I don't want to cause sparks, but I don't agree with any of this.

[Laughter]

VAUSE: Very quickly.

LEFSETZ: The point - the point being this guy, as beloved who he was, he was not a man of the people. That's what we loved about him. He was not Jon Bon Jovi, oh, I'm your friend. Prince was never your friend. He was incredibly shy. You loved his music but you adored him from afar.

VAUSE: Come back next hour.

SESAY: To be continued next hour.

[Laughter]

SESAY: Round Two we'll pick this up. Gentlemen, thank you.

VAUSE: Thank you very much, and we will take a short break. When we come back, hear from Stevie Wonder on the legacy and how Prince's passing has affected him.

SESAY: Stay with us.

["When Doves Cry" by Prince plays]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

["1999" by Prince plays]

SESAY: I love that song.

VAUSE: Yes; you know, we have been playing that song for 16 years. It's such a great hit. "1999", a massive hit from the catalog of that music legend Prince. He influenced countless number of musicians as well.

SESAY: Yes, he did; but in an interview with Larry King, back in 1999, Prince said he modelled himself after fellow music legend Stevie Wonder, calling him an inspiration and a role model. The two, well, they became friends. They performed together several times, including last year at the White House, at a secret event they had. Stevie Wonder told our Anderson Cooper the news of Prince's death was a total shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVIE WONDER, MUSICIAN & FRIEND OF PRINCE: It's heartbreak and I was shocked. I didn't believe it. As I find it still hard to believe, you know, in this journey of music we as artists that sort of create the reflection of society and reflect the people that really want to see a better world, a better people, a unity of people, all those things as did his music, too, and will continue to do for those of us who will continue to listen to it. It's a heartbreak to lose a member of that army of love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: An emotional Stevie Wonder there. It has been an emotional day for everybody. An emotional day for you, Van Jones. Normally we talk politics; sadly, today we are talking about your friend.

SESAY: Very sad.

VAUSE: Just quickly, can you recap for us how did your friendship start. How did you get to know this guy?

VAN JONES, FRIEND OF PRINCE: Well, you know, I was working in Oakland, California. I was getting -- I was running a program to train young kids off the block to put up solar panels. He saw me talking about it on TV to Tavis Smiley and he just reached out. He wanted to help. At first he sent an anonymous check. Now, I don't take anonymous checks because it could be from anybody; and I kept sending it back. He kept sending and I kept sending it back. Finally, a lawyer called and said, listen, this money is from a guy whose favorite color is purple. Would you please take it? Now I'm going to frame it. [Laughter]

JONES: We just became really good friends. He used me to do a lot of the charitable work that he couldn't do publically because he is Jehovah's Witness. They're not supposed to brag about his good works. So he had things he wanted to do and fund and help and he did a lot of that through me. So we launched something called a "Yes, We Code." We got 13 technology companies to agree to train up kids from the 'hood for Silicon Valley jobs. That was Prince. I was the face of it, but it was Prince's idea and his money.

"Green For All," a campaign to get solar panels in the 'hood. There are people who have solar panels on their houses and community centers in Oakland, who have no idea it's Prince's money.

VAUSE: That's great.

JONES: So he was just that kind of guy.

SESAY: Where did that come from, that spirit of wanting to help, that spirit of wanting to help not just his friends, because you shared stories about him helping those in the musical community, but beyond?

[00:25:01] JONES: It's just hard to say. Some people are just that way.

SESAY: Yes.

JONES: You try to talk to him and if you want to talk about music, forget it. He wants to talk about philosophy. He wants to talk about ancient Egyptians. Cometic iconography. He wants to talk about theology.

SESAY: And they say he was a world class theologian.

JONES: I mean, he could have been. He could have been. I mean, his knowledge of the bible was stunning, but - and also he was so into it that he was able to pull lyrics out of it. You have to remember, when you've got lyrics that resonate on seven continents, when your name is one syllable - your name is one syllable -

VAUSE: Yes.

JONES: -- and it's known on seven continents, penguins know who you are --

[Laughter]

JONES: -- that is sitting on top of a lot of knowledge. He studied. He worked very hard and he wanted people around him who knew about the world.

VAUSE: Can you recall an exchange, because I read this. An exchange you had with Prince. It was about black kids in hoodies and white kids in hoodies. Do you remember it?

JONES: It changed my life.

VAUSE: Can you share it?

JONES: No, it changed my life. Listen, we were over at Prince's house and the Trayvon Martin killing had happened, and the killer of Trayvon Martin, unarmed African-American kid that was shot, had been exonerated. Everybody is upset. Prince is upset. Prince said to me though, because the fact that Trayvon had a hoodie was a big deal. He goes, well, you know Van, whenever you see a black kid in a hoodie, they say, well that's a thug. If you see a white kid in a hoodie, you say, there goes Mark Zuckerberg.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: Yes.

SESAY: Yes.

JONES: Because that same hoodie is a uniform in Silicon Valley, especially at that time. He said, why is that Van? I said, because of racism. He goes, maybe; or maybe we haven't created enough black Mark Zuckerbergs'.

SESAY: Yes.

JONES: Now why don't you civil rights guys focus on that?

VAUSE: Wow!

SESAY: Yes.

JONES: I mean, it just - it blew me back. I said, you know what, you're right. Out of that we created "Yes, We Code." He was always that way, about every issue. He would push you and push you because he really believed that there was goodness in everybody and genius in everybody, and that had you to push people to find their own genius.

SESAY: How would he like to be remembered?

JONES: I believe he would like to be remembered, believe it or not, as a Jehovah's Witness, as a man of faith.

VAUSE: Van Jones, good to speak with you; thank you so much.

SESAY: Thank you, Van.

JONES: Thank you.

SESAY: His heart is broken.

VAUSE: Yes, you can tell.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: (Inaudible). SESAY: Tributes are pouring in, literally, from all corners of the globe for the music legend. This image was tweeted out earlier from folks at the Super Dome in New Orleans. It reads, "Tonight the Dome will be lit in purple in remembrance of Prince, a true music legend." Here's another view of the Dome from CNN affiliate WDSU. Watch as it is lit up. Pretty cool.

Stay with us for more of our special coverage of the death of Prince in just a moment.

["Little Red Corvette" by Prince plays]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:31:48] SPIKE LEE, FILM DIRECTOR: Well, Anderson, right here in Brooklyn, New York. We're having a great time celebrating the Prince. Now we're going to go -- let's go crazy in a moment. Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today, for this thing called life --

["Let's Go Crazy" by Prince plays]

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: We mourn but we celebrate, too --

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

SESAY: -- the musical genius of Prince.

VAUSE: You can't help but feel good when you listen to the music.

SESAY: Yes, you can't help it; and the tributes, they are pouring in from all over the world to honor the music legend, especially in his hometown.

VAUSER: There is an all-night dance party going on right now at the First Avenue Club in downtown Minneapolis. This is where Prince filmed a lot of that movie, "Purple Rain".

SESAY: Yes, and the 35W-Bridge is bathed in purple, as you would expect; Prince's trademark color.

VAUSE: Prince had a sound that transcended time, out of pure love for what he did.

SESAY: Yes; Anderson Cooper has more on the music legend's legacy and how his career got started.

["Let's Go Crazy" by Prince plays]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prince was born Prince Roger Nelson in 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Music was in his blood. His mother was a singer and a social worker. His father, a jazz pianist.

PRINCE: My father left his piano at the house when he left and I wasn't allowed to play it when he was there because I wasn't as good as him. So when he left, I was determined to get as good as him. I taught myself how to play music and I just stuck with it and I did it all the time.

COOPER: A singular dedication to music was the guiding force of his life and career from the very beginning. Through five decades of music, songs that immediately set down anchors in countless hearts. Prince's debut album, "For You", came out in 1978 when he was 19 years old. He played all the instruments and produced the record himself. Two more albums quickly followed.

PRINCE: I am here today because of the golden age of the '60s, '70s and '80s of music. This is when artists played their own instruments, wrote their own songs.

COOPER: Prince's first smash hit came in the early '80s. The album included "Little Red Corvette." The title track, "1999."

["1999" by Prince plays]

LARRY KING, HOST, "THE LARRY KING SHOW": How would you describe your music?

PRINCE: The only thing I could think of, because I really don't like categories, but the only thing I could think of is inspirational. I think music that is from the heart falls right into that category. People really feel what it is they're doing.

COOPER: In 1984, Prince and The Revolution released "Purple Rain" packed with timeless hits including "Let's Go Crazy", "I Would Die for You" and "When Doves Cry."

["When Doves Cry" by Prince Plays]

[00:35:01] COOPER: That album, and the movie of the same name, made Prince an international super star. The "purple reign" had begun.

["Raspberry Beret" by Prince Plays] ["Kiss" by Prince Plays]

COOPER: Ever the prolific songwriter, Prince released an album a year through the Mid-Eighties and Early-Nineties. In 1987, he unveiled the Paisley Park Recording Studio and estate, just outside his hometown of Minneapolis. A few years later, during a dispute with his record label, he changed his name to a symbol and was often referred to as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" or simply, and appropriately, just "The Artist."

PRINCE: I had to search deep within any heart and spirit and I wanted to make a change and move to a new plateau in my life and one of the ways in which I did that was to change my name.

COOPER: Eventually, he went back to being called Prince and continued making music and touring. He was passionate about performing live. He wanted to interact with audiences, to play and sing without using a prerecorded track.

PRINCE: I think that's cool for the circus, you know, the trapeze artists has to catch the other person right on cue; but music is not like that. it should be organic and unexpected. COOPER: An absolutely electric performer with unparalleled skills on the guitar, he took the stage in 2007 for what many consider the greatest Super Bowl performance of all time. In pouring rain, he showed millions why there never was and never will be anyone quite like Prince.

["Purple Rain" by Prince plays]

COOPER: In recent years Prince kept releasing music and performing. His last album, "Hitting the Run, Phase II" was released just a few months ago. He announced the Piano and a Microphone Tour of smaller venues. After seven Grammys, an Oscar and five number one singles, Prince's legacy is what his life was, music.

PRINCE: Ultimately, all music is or can be inspirational and that's why it's so important to let your gift be guided by something more clear.

[Applause]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: What an incredible career. One of the greats.

VAUSE: You can say so many words about the music, but the music speaks for it.

SESAY: Oh, the music and when he took the stage, he owned it. He redefined being an entertainer.

All right, well earlier, right next door to us here at CNN in Hollywood, Queen Latifah stopped at Amoeba Music to join fans signing a poster for him.

VAUSE: Her message reads "The world became bigger, better and more beautiful because of you."

Stay with CNN as we continue our special coverage of remembering the music legend Prince.

SESAY: Take a look at this as we go to break. A look at City Hall in San Francisco lit up, yes, in the color purple in memory of the legend that was Prince.

["Purple Rain" by Prince plays]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:51] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody; we'll take a look at the U.S. race for the White House and our senior analyst, Ron Brownstein is in the house.

SESAY: Brownstein in the house.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST & SENIOR EDITOR, "THE ATLANTIC": In the house. VAUSE: In the house, and long journey back.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, long journey.

[Cross talk]

BROWNSTEIN: In Philadelphia, Hillary Clinton last night.

VAUSE: Okay; I mean, there's a lot going on today, especially in the Trump camp. We have this meeting down in Florida. The Trump campaign went; Trump did not go. Essentially they are trying to convince the Republican National Committee that Trump's negatives are easier to overcome than Hillary Clinton's negatives.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: For a start, can you quantify a negative like that, and can they do it?

BROWNSTEIN: It's an interesting argument. Trump is looking at the highest unfavorable ratings of any candidate -

VAUSE: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: -- at this point in the process.

VAUSE: And Hillary Clinton's numbers, too.

BROWNSTEIN: Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz are close behind, which may reflect a structural change in politics as well as their own individual problems; but, look, Bill Clinton, in 1992, was probably the candidate who came out of the process with the highest negatives. He was battered and bruised by the revolutions about Jennifer Flowers, about the draft and

particularly when he came out of the process in '92, the idea he was a child of privilege. People thought he was a rich kid, who skated around the rules his entire life. He probably had more success than any candidate ever, at reducing his negatives. He did so by changing the information.

People thought he was a rich kid. He had gone to Georgetown and Yale. When he kind of portrayed himself as really a product, and thus a champion of the middle class, he significantly reduced his negatives. Does Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton have something comparable? Do they have a different story that reframes their experience in a different way? We will see. I think Donald Trump -- both of them are pretty sticky on the down side right now.

SESAY: Staying with the issue of an uphill crime, let's talk about Ted Cruz, and Ted Cruz today trying to make the issue of the controversial North Carolina -

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

SESAY: -- bathroom bill, trying to make it a wedge issue, obviously hoping to capitalize it. I mean, tell me, are there enough social conservatives left in the races ahead for him to gain victory with this tactic?

BROWNSTEIN: First of all, Donald Trump continues to show how much of a departure he is from what has been the consensus republican thinking on everything from foreign policy and NATO to not cutting entitlement to all of his signals on social issues, which probably won't be surprising that he is an embodiment of New York values. I mean, he's a guy who has operated in the New York milieu for many years.

VAUSE: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: Now, for Ted Cruz, the problem --I don't think this solves his problem.

SESAY: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: Ted Cruz's problem is the opposite. There's one state, Wisconsin, is the only state where he has won voters who are not evangelical Christians. He didn't even win evangelicals who were voters in Texas, his home state. If you look at what's coming next week, you are looking at states across the eastern seaboard where there are small shares of evangelical Christians and he could be looking at a very tough time. It's better for him when he goes back to the Midwest, Nebraska, for example, maybe Kentucky, some of the other states, Oregon has a lot of evangelicals on the Republican side. But, I think going to the right on this social issue doesn't deal with his biggest challenge, which is of more secular and less socially conservative voters.

VAUSE: You talk about Donald Trump not being your typical conservative candidate. I mean, he's also now talking about the Republican Party platform -

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: -- when it comes to abortion, and he said that he would like to include the three exceptions for rape, incest and, you know, in instances of the life of the mother is in danger. I mean, this again is against what you expect -

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: -- from a traditional candidate. Is this an attempt to try and improve those negatives because he is very unpopular with women? Will this work?

BROWNSTEIN: It just reflects, I think, that he has a different coalition, even within the Republican Party. He has almost carved a third-party out of the existing Republican Party, and it tends to be voters who are less motivated by social issues.

I mean, he is doing well with evangelicals but some people call them T-vangelicals -

VAUSE: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: -- you know, who are more disaffected from the political system than they are driven by those culturally conservative views, tend to be less church going, his constituency. So he is showing that he has room to do this, but, boy, is he pushing the envelope, in terms of what the Republican Party has been about and continually kind of violating these - I think the next one that's coming is if he is the nominee, I think he will propose a big public works program -

[Laughter]

BROWNSTEIN: -- no, as a way of putting a "T" on every bridge and highway in America, as his way of trying to talk to African-American and Hispanic [00:45:01] communities that are skeptical of him and going to say, I'm going to put you back to work rebuilding America. Who better to do it than me? Paul Ryan's head is going to explode as the price tag.

VAUSE: He should have run as a democrat.

SESAY: Yes, and the road ahead --

BROWNSTEIN: Oh, well; except on things like immigration and Muslims.

[Cross Talk]

BROWNSTEIN: He is carving a third-party, in effect, out of the existing parties.

VAUSE: Is that a Venn Diagram though? It's like Democrats here; Republicans here --

BROWNSTEIN: It is. It's a Venn-- that's exactly what it, but it overlaps at this kind of blue collar -

VAUSE: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: -- popularism that doesn't have the religious -- similar to Pat Buchanan but now veering off and not having the social conservative element.

SESAY: I was going to ask you about the 1,400 delegates that his campaign is touting they can reach, but can you do that in 30 seconds?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I can do that in 30 seconds. He can reach mars, I think. Look, he's not going to reach 1,400 delegates. He is on the knife's edge of getting to 1237, and you can see he is giving the Republican Party's carrot and stick. I can be more moderate. I can be more presidential, if you nominate me. If you don't, we are going to war.

VAUSE: Always good to speak with you, Ron.

SESAY: You did that well in 30 seconds.

BROWN STEIN: Thank you.

SESAY: Thank you, Ron. VAUSE: Okay, we'll get back to our top story shortly, the death of music legend Prince and reaction from Parliament Funkadelic's George Clinton. that's next here on "Newsroom" L.A.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:50:10] ["Kiss" by Prince plays]

VAUSE: Can you believe that song was released 30 years ago?

SESAY: Can you -

VAUSE: 1986.

SESAY: Can you believe that falsetto? That unmistakable Prince falsetto?

VAUSE: Yes; well, George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic collaborated with Prince and was at one time signed to his Paisley Park label.

SESAY: Clinton says that Prince was often quiet and mysterious, saving his energy. He also loved to talk about social issues and politics and he knew how to have fun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE CLINTON, COLLABORATE WITH PRINCE, PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC: I had no idea. He always seemed in great shape. I don't know anybody that could work that hard, you know, from morning to night every day, and then get up and go party. I just never seen him as being ill like myself. I can't picture myself being ill, you know, but he was strong as far as I knew.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Prince meant a million different things to a million different people. So many were touched by his music, his showmanship, his unique style.

CNN Anchor, Don Lemon is with us now from New York for more on this. Don, this is one of those shared moments today when you heard the news, it was just so hard to believe. Why do you think that was?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is 57 years old. In this day and age, John, that's very young. And you know, someone has the flu, -- we don't know the cause of his death, but when someone has the flu, you don't expect them to die from it, although it does happen.

Prince was a legend. He was a super star, still going, just had a concert last week in Atlanta. So it was not only shocking - I mean, it was traumatizing because no one expected it. If we had expected it, it would have been sad; but, my goodness, this was just unbelievable.

VAUSE: The people did not want to believe that something like this could happen.

LEMON: Yes; well, listen, we all have to go; but no one expects to go at such an early age. When someone is this popular, known worldwide, someone who has added so much, not only to music but just to the culture, you know, it comes -- it's traumatic. So yes, people don't want to believe it, because he means -- still means, and I won't say meant, because he still means, even in death, so much to so many people.

And guess what; his music lives on. So for many people -- and I think - I know he was a person of faith, he was Jehovah's Witness, that his body is no longer here; but his presence is certainly here and will be felt for decades, if not centuries through his music.

VAUSE: We've talked a lot about the music, the dancing, the fashion, the style, all that, but what about his activism?

LEMON: Well, you know, even recently, you know, with the Black Lives Matter movement here in the United States, for our international viewers, but here in the United States, what happened in Baltimore, he recently wrote a song about Baltimore. He has been very active when it comes to issues that have to deal with culture and race. Always, he has been that way.

He has been very outspoken in his lyrics about other issues as well, about drugs, about crack cocaine and about -- even very explicit about love and about loving someone else.

But what's really interesting is that what Prince did was, if you look at his clothes and you look at his hair and you look at the fashion and the heels, yet he always had a beautiful woman with him. He was very androgynous. He brought androgyny to the fore, especially for people of color here in the United States, back during a time in the late Seventies, when, you know, most entertainers were hyper- masculine; R&B and then this was sort of burgeoning hip-hop, really early hip-hop or before; but most everyone had to be the man, talking about loving a woman and I'm the man and all this stuff.

Here comes Prince and this falsetto singing about things, about, you know, controversy, am I black or white, am I straight or gay. You don't know if he will have an afro or if he's going to have his hair pressed out, Little Richard style or James Brown style, if he was going to have his hair in a flip like Farrah Fa - you didn't know if he was going to have on heels or come on the stage with no shirt or on an album cover.

So he really made people feel, especially young people like me, that you can be an individual and that you don't have to follow a certain chart or map that people have for you. Don't let people put you in a box; be who you want to be.

VAUSE: Yes.

LEMON: He really sort of broke the -- tore down the barriers when it comes to identity, especially sexual identity, and how people would perceive a man, [00:55:02] the way a man should dress and carry himself.

VAUSE: Very quickly, Don, it seems that he shied away from publicity, especially sort of in these later years. Do you know why he rarely gave interviews?

LEMON: Because he was -- he liked the art. As I have said throughout the day here on CNN, you know, he wasn't about the machine. He was about the business, meaning about the business of his music and making sure he owned his music and about the artistry. He wasn't about feeding the machine and making sure that he was doing this for this record label. He stayed on top of the charts with this.

He did an art and part of the art was that media was not part of that art. If he had to do media, every once in a while he did an interview. But he was a very private person. He was also very humble and by all accounts from those who knew him well, he was a gentleman and a thoughtful person, which doesn't happen much in this society lately.

VAUSE: Don, always good to speak with you; thank you my friend.

LEMON: Thank you, John; good to see you as well. Wish it was for a better occasion.

VAUSE: Yes, absolutely.

SESAY: What's your favorite Prince song?

VAUSE: "1999" "Let's Go Crazy."

SESAY: You stole mine. Thank you for watching CNN Newsroom, live from Los Angele; I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause; our special coverage of the death of Prince continues right after this.

["Raspberry Beret" by Prince plays]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)