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Musician Prince Dies; China Chemical Warehouse Explosion Investigated; President Obama to Meet Royal Family and British Prime Minister. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 22, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: We are talking about the loss of a legend. We look at the life and the legacy and the death of Prince.
I'm George Howell.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: And I'm Natalie Allen. This is CNN Newsroom.
Prince died Thursday morning in Minnesota. He was 57 years old. Certainly we lost him too soon. Medical examiners are planning to perform an autopsy in the coming hours.
HOWELL: Paramedics found Prince unresponsive inside an elevator at his Paisley Park estate. According to emergency transcripts Prince was dead before help arrived.
Just last week, an ambulance rushed the singer to a hospital hours after what turned out to be his final live performance right here in Atlanta, Georgia. The next day he said that he was fine.
ALLEN: Apparently he had had the flu. But fans have been of course leaving tributes and a lot of purple there and celebrating Prince's life all over the world. But especially in his hometown of Minneapolis. He loved him some Minneapolis.
HOWELL: He did.
ALLEN: This outpouring of love is outside the nightclub wear his stardom was born.
HOWELL: Our Tom Foreman has more on the life and career of Prince in this report.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prince was the perfect performer for his time. A blast of brilliance arising just as MTV and the Walkman were revolutionizing music. He had the sound. He had got a look, and he had a vision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE ROGERS NELSON, SINGER: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: For almost 40 years he stayed in the vanguard of musical innovation. A fan says he captured his final performance in Atlanta only a week ago and posted it on Twitter.
And this is how it all ended. Police and rescue workers at his studio in Minneapolis, stricken fans outside. Prince had not been well. He had to cancel some concerts and his plane even had to land at one point for treatment. He spoke to some fans about it just a few days back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
He talked about what happened. He said he was OK. He said, don't waste your prayers on me right now. You know, wait a few days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: Like the character he played in his first movie "Purple Rain," Prince Rogers Nelson came from Minneapolis, the son of a jazz pianist and social worker, and he remained tied to the city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, TV HOST: We don't think of L.A., Nashville, or at least New York places, Minneapolis gets it done too.
ROGERS: Minneapolis always been the bomb. You don't have to go outside of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: But his influence was global. Prince produced more than a dozen chart-topping songs, won seven Grammys, an Oscar, celebrity tributes are pouring in.
Justin Timberlake "numb, stunned." Katy Perry, "the world just lost a lot of magic." Whoopi Goldberg "this is what it sounds like when doves cry." Prince contributed songs to endless other acts and was renowned as a musical perfectionist.
A virtuoso at both composing and performing. But he was also noted for his personal humanity. Taking care of struggling friends and even contributing a song to Baltimore in the wake of the devastating riots.
Prince was endlessly prolific. His memoir was supposed to come out next year. As it is, he is gone at 57. Some of his final words on stage, "if I could I would give you the world."
HOWELL: Gone but never forgotten. Prince had a unique style that earned him millions of fans around the world.
And for international perspective on his death, CNN's Phil Black joins us now live this hour from London. Phil, it's good to have you. Look, this is a man who transcended nationalities, he transcended race, and like the late David Bowie in the U.K., he could take on sort of an androgynous style that seemed to make him only more popular. He was bold, he was unapologetic. What's the reaction about Prince's death?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. A huge star here. One that was embraced here for all the reasons you just described there, George. A truly international performer. Nothing showed that more than his record-setting residency here at London's O2 arena back in 2007, where he sold out 21 nights in a venue that has a capacity of around 20,000 people.
[03:05:05] That he toured here regularly. He played huge gigs at Wembley Stadium and smaller, more intimate, surprise, guerilla-style gigs as well and the fans generally loved him for it. So, he was I guess hugely loved and the response certainly on social media, from so many people who got to see him perform here, it has been huge distress and sadness. But not just from fans but also from really legendary performers here as well.
A lot has been spoken about him the last 12 hours or so, about Prince's influence across the music industry. Throughout people of his earlier days and since then as well. Let's take a look at some of them now.
Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones. He wrote a few tweets. This is what he said. 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 startling guitar player, his talent was limitless. Prince was one of the most unique and exciting artists of the last 30 years."
And some very strong words as well from Elton John site on his Instagram. He said 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 onstage, what an honor. Rest in peace, you purple warrior."
But it's not just legends, as I say, but also more recent musical stars as well. Rita Ora wrote a fell lengthy post in which she talked about the music, the dance-offs, the laughter we shared, the funk oozing out of you was uncontrollable, she said. "I love you my dear, kind friend."
So, there was this certainly great distress, sadness, but very much a celebration. Not just in the United States but around the world as well.
HOWELL: The reaction is being heard from around the world. CNN's Phil Black live for us in London. Phil, thank you for your report.
ALLEN: And right now in Minneapolis, there is an all-night dance party at the famed First Avenue. That's the club where Prince filmed most of his ground-breaking movie "Purple Rain." Fans started filling the streets as soon as word of Prince's dead broke.
Our Kyung Lah has been right in the middle of that massive crowd you see there.
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Minneapolis is remembering Prince in the only way he would want to be remembered. There is music and coming out and dancing the night away throughout the night into the early morning hours.
All these people, this entire crowd that you're seeing here, they are packing the street outside the club. And inside the club the music of Prince is blaring on the speakers. People are dancing. There is no cover charge. Anyone over the age of 18 is being allowed in to celebrate Prince's life through his music.
And outside the club here, what we're seeing is a memorial that has continued to grow. You can see that there are flowers, there are notes, deeply personal notes, talking about what various songs meant, notes saying that it is raining purple, that their hearts are broken.
And despite the size of this crowd what we're seeing is, yes, it's a somber mood but it's also a celebratory mood as people here in Minneapolis remember someone who was not just a great musician but someone who united the city in the 1980s and continued to be a breakthrough artist for this city, someone who never gave up on the State of Minnesota.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Minneapolis.
HOWELL: Never gave up on Minneapolis for sure. The crowds of fans also gathered outside of Prince's recording studio since he was found dead there on Thursday.
And Ryan Young has this part of the story from Paisley Park in Minnesota.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The big question we heard over and over as people have walked by this memorial is what happened to Prince? They wanted to know if there was any more information. That so far has not come out in terms of the investigation that's going on here.
But what we do know is thousands of people have shown up and want to pay their respects. If you look behind me you can see this memorial. In fact, we've talked to people who have traveled more than seven hours to stand out here at Paisley Park, wanting to be a part of the celebration for Prince's life.
All across the world, and especially here in the city, people are playing his music tonight. What we do know about what happened to the 57-year-old singer that is he's found unresponsive in an elevator. And someone called 911. And from the 911 transcripts that we know there was some confusion in terms of getting someone here to this address.
And once they did arrive, they tried to perform CPR but that did not work and he was pronounced dead here at the scene. We do know an autopsy will be performed Friday. But so many people have questions about how this could happened. But we do know he's been battling some illnesses, but hopefully there will be some answers to find out what happened to Prince.
Ryan Young, CNN, Minnesota
[03:10:03] ALLEN: I want to go live out of London and talk with Darren Redick to reflect on Prince's legacy there in Sony Center with Planet Rock, the U.K.'s national classic rock station. Thanks for joining, Darren. And we appreciate it.
DARREN REDICK, PLANET ROCK PRESENTER: My pleasure, nice to be here.
ALLEN: What are people saying about the loss of Prince? How is Planet Rock going to commemorate this genius of a musician?
REDICK: Well, first of all, it's been amazing, the outpouring. Because the amount of artist that have come out in, you know, and praise Prince, not altogether surprising but I just saw some tweets and stuff from a bunch of Heavy Metal and progressive rock guys.
Just Prince reached to everybody. With regard to the radio station, we don't generally play a lot of Prince, but every conversation I have ever had with either an artist or a listener or anybody like that, the respect for the guy is amazing. He just crossed so many barriers.
I think any time you heard a Prince song there was sort of this pedigree where you'd be hearing Jimi Hendrix or James Brown or anything. Something about the genuine nature of his music just reached rock people, anybody that liked music liked Prince. I've never met anybody who went, oh, Prince.
ALLEN: Yes. Exactly. You're right. He was universal and loved around the world. I heard someone say earlier there was never a scandal around Prince, he was just a good guy. But I've seen numerous tweets that said, when Eric Clapton was asked what it's like to be the best guitar player in the world, he said, "I don't know, ask Prince."
REDICK: Yes.
ALLEN: That's quite a compliment. And talk about, we've talked about his singing and his songwriting, that he was just a phenomenal guitar player as well.
REDICK: Well, the thing about his guitar playing is I think -- I don't like to call anybody underrated. I think generally artists get the audience they deserve. But Prince is absolutely the exception to that. Prince was an amazing guitarist. The thing that is he's thought of as so many other things before you actually get to guitarist.
You think of him as a songwriter, as an icon, as a sexy guy, as any number of things. And then there's the guitarist part of him. And you listen to any of a number of songs. I mean, "Purple Rain" would probably be the obvious example, or maybe "Let's Go Crazy" where you just like, this guy can actually shred, he's unbelievable.
But I think, you know, when you go for sort of your top five guitarists or something, you're going to go, you know, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton. But Prince is up there with them. ALLEN: Yes. I just watched a video, where he was playing guitar, all
of the guitarists onstage were playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and he just stole the show, he just kills it.
REDICK: He did. And he was not with, you know, unknown company there.
ALLEN: Right.
REDICK: That was with Jeff Lynn and Tom Petty and Stevie Winwood. And I've seen that video. I remember watching that and going, this is all very nice and everything. And then Prince steps up and just takes it to the next level.
ALLEN: Yes. Exactly. And then did you see he just tossed his guitar into the crowd when he was done like, that's it. I want to ask you this. How do you begin to categorize him? I mean, he produced his first album and played every instrument apparently on the album at age 19.
REDICK: Well, how do you categorize him? I don't know, but the interesting thing I think is I remember him specifically when he just came onto the scene. He was one of my generation's artists. You know, I think we all sort of -- he got our attention with the "1999" album.
And that was right about the time I was probably 13 or 14 or something. And then, of course hotly followed by "Purple Rain." He was our artist. But he just came onto the scene as a fully formed rock star, rock God. At my school we had a guy just right off the bat who just dressed exactly like him. He wanted to be Prince.
ALLEN: That's awesome. Hey, do you have a favorite album?
REDICK: Probably those first two albums that I just mentioned. I mean, I guess that's album two and three or something like that, "1999" and "Purple Rain." But every album he's put out he's had a song here a two or three that you go, yes, like "Gold" was amazing, "Most Beautiful Girl in the World," was amazing, "Rock 'n' Roll," "Love Affair" more recently was great. But, you know, you put on "Little Red Corvette." come on.
ALLEN: Yes. I know, it's just so hard to choose, right? They're all too good. Darren Redick, we appreciate it so much, thank you for joining us.
REDICK: Thank you.
HOWELL: And here's a guy, he sang, he played every instrument. And, you know, he was also very serious about owning his own music. And he fought to own his own music. That was important to him.
[03:15:05] ALLEN: That's why he went by a symbol for a while to make a point.
HOWELL: Yes. That is true. Yes. The tributes are pouring in from all corners of the globe for Prince. This is one, look at that, from outer space, NASA tweeting this photo of the crab Nebula in purple. ALLEN: I love it.
HOWELL: The remnants of a supernova in honor of the late music star.
ALLEN: There way to go NASA. Everybody's in on it. Even the NFL did a tweet about his spectacular performance at halftime.
HOWELL: Absolutely. Look at the superdome; watch it light up there in purple. That is one of the many venues where the music legend performed to thousands of people.
ALLEN: Even mother nature is paying tribute. Check out this rainbow.
HOWELL: Wow.
ALLEN: How about that. That appeared over Prince's estate Thursday afternoon.
HOWELL: That is just awesome.
Coming up, special coverage of Prince continues. We will hear from friends and fellow musician Stevie Wonder about how much Prince's music meant to him. Stay with us.
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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We have active weather on both coasts of the United States. First we start in California where San Francisco on Friday should expect rain and wind. Maybe double-check your flights in and out of that particular airport.
New York City, thunderstorms for the afternoon. Thunderstorms near Atlanta as well. Temperatures in the middle and upper 20s. Still cool for the upper Midwest. Chicago 11 degrees. But we'll see some sunshine break out overhead from time to time.
Now here's the overall setup. You can see the storm in for the New England coastline stretching all the way to the Florida Panhandle. We also have an area of low pressure moving in across the Pacific Northwest. Stretching as far south as central California that will bring some much-needed rain. Thank you, El Nino. Perhaps even some snowfall for a late-season ski trip for some of the resorts that are still open there.
And you can see on our temperature map going forward. We do have some warmth building across the central and Eastern U.S. Maybe a slight cool-down for Maine into Vermont. And that is generally a cool system that's settled into the western half of the U.S.
Here's our temperatures through the weekend. If you're located in D.C., 23 on Saturday, 24 on Sunday. Temperatures pretty nice near New York City for the weekend. We do cool off however by Sunday. Temperature in the upper teens. There's trouble little further south where temperatures are remaining in the lower 30s but with a few showers and thunderstorms across Central America.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: It is a sad day around the world but you can't help but smile when you hear Prince right there.
ALLEN: Absolutely.
HOWELL: This is a man who won five number one hits, seven Grammy Awards, an Oscar. His name is Prince. And fans around the world are celebrating his musical genius.
ALLEN: Every time we come back with some of his music I want you and me to shut and up just listen to it.
HOWELL: I know. It's like let's listen to the whole song, right?
ALLEN: Well, here's the scene after medics and officials arrived where he died. Prince passed away unexpectedly as you probably heard by now at his Paisley Park studio in the State of Minnesota Thursday. He was just 57. And as we've also been reporting there will be an autopsy performed Friday to determine how he died.
HOWELL: The life of Prince. What a career, what a legacy. I'm even having trouble realizing that he's no longer with us. It's a very difficult thing for so many people around the world.
To talk more about this with us now is Randy Jackson, he is an American bassist, a singer, record producer, music manager, and better known most recently as a judge on "American Idol." Randy, thanks for joining us on the line.
RANDY JACKSON, SINGER & PRODUCER: Thank you.
HOWELL: I was telling our -- yes, thank you. I was telling our viewers that this is a tough day for so many people.
JACKSON: I mean, it's a tough day for me. I can't even believe, as you said earlier, I can't even believe this has happened. I can't believe Prince is no longer with us. You know, at least his spirit and his music will live on forever. The greatness that he left us and he showered us with. But man, it's just such a depressing day. I had to cancel most of my day today, I couldn't take it.
HOWELL: I, you know, I know that you've had some personal interactions with Prince. What can you share with us about his character, about who he was as an individual?
JACKSON: Yes. I've had various interactions with him through various artists that I was working with. And through the great Sheila E, who had worked with him and just all along his career. You know, we've had many touches. And we even had him on "Idol" in one of the finale shows on "American Idol."
And you know, one of the things I must say is that he is probably -- if you have Elvis, Michael Jackson, and David Bowie as one pillar, Prince is that side of the pillar of male icons that just changed the face, the history, the route, wherever music was going, and in the most fearless, controversial, whatever kind of way, that they really took the bull by the horns themselves and went in their own direction and charted their own course to unbelievable greatness.
I mean, some of the times that, you know, I interacted with Prince, with new artists that I was working with, you know, he loved this artist Nick Acosta that I was worked with I used to manage. He loved Van Hunt, another artist that I used to manage from the Atlanta area.
He was all about the legacy, because, you know, he loved James Brown, he loved Sly and the family Stone, Larry Graham and his company. And he loved new artists as well. So, music, fashion, art, culture, everything was so his life. And I so loved that. And he was truly one of a kind.
HOWELL: You know, he played in Atlanta and I was talking to my wife about this. We were debating about getting tickets. I wish we would have gotten those tickets to see that performance. But I do remember seeing him once before. And this is a guy who wouldn't miss a beat. You know, regardless of the situation. You think back to the Super Bowl performance back in 2007. The rain's coming down but Prince is on top of it.
JACKSON: Yes. I mean, the greatest entertainer, one of the greatest musicians, greatest songwriters, greatest producers. I'm telling you I loved him because he took everything from the past legends and everything from the future and brought it together and made it his own personal stamp.
I mean -- I'll never forget he played a show at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. He was opening for the Stones. And I heard this story being told to me by someone that was there. That the late great Bill Graham stopped the show because people didn't know who Prince was and they were like starting to boo and throw things.
[03:25:08] And he came out and stopped the show and Prince started over. And the crowd just went crazy by the time he was done. I mean, he just electrifying performer. I don't think you'll see anything quite like it ever again.
HOWELL: Randy Jackson on the phone with us talking about the life and legacy of Prince. Randy, we appreciate your time today.
JACKSON: Thank you so much.
ALLEN: Prince influenced a countless number of artists from every genre of music, but in an interview with CNN's Larry King in 1999, Prince said he modeled himself after fellow music legend Stevie Wonder, calling him an inspiration and a role model. The two became friends. Earlier, Wonder spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper about what Prince's music meant to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVIE WONDER, SINGER: You know, I love "Purple Rain," I loved the whole album, it was incredible. But I loved all the stuff he did. You know, the song that I liked the whole album but I think I liked "Vicki Crime." It was like an interesting kind of song. But again, as people I heard say earlier today on CNN, it was someone that said he was able to mix the blessing of life, of God, and yet, you know, the marriage of sex and passion.
So, that's very, very true. He had fun doing it. And you know, it's rare for me that I can feel, you know, with every single breath how he just passionately loved music. It's like when musicians can jam there's nothing like it in the whole world.
I guess it's like when, you know, ball players are playing, they are excited about the game. Well, this is the same thing with us. As musicians, to be able to say, OK, you can do that? Watch me do this. You can do that? I'll do that. It's just a lot of fun and he was incredible with that.
He was a great artist of picture, of sound picture, and music. So, this is an amazing day. As we see so many things happening. The heartbreak is to see this man who is so talented be taken away from us. But I know that the almighty God has far greater things for him to do eternally.
So, I just hope that we celebrate his music and celebrate the purpose that he fulfilled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Stevie Wonder there. And the list goes on and on of people talking about Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Beyonce, even the U.S. President Barack Obama. Their comments just ahead here on Newsroom.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom and we continue to follow the news of the death of Prince.
I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. This legendary artist died Thursday morning. Prince was 57 years old.
ALLEN: Right now the cause of his death is unknown. There are reports that he'd been sick with the flu. That according to his publicist. The medical examiner in Minnesota will perform an autopsy in the coming hours.
HOWELL: Now celebrities are expressing their grief, their shock, all coming across social media, and even the U.S. President Barack Obama has offered condolences to Prince's family, to the band, and anyone who loves Prince.
CNN's Randi Kaye has this for us.
RANDI KAYE, CNN'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Pop. Funk. Rock. He did it all. The passing of Prince has left legions of fans and celebrities alike stunned. Many taking to Twitter today to remember the purple one. Whoopi Goldberg tweeting, "This is what it sounds like when doves cry.
Prince, RIP. Condolences to his family and to us all. Lenny Kravitz. "My musical brother, my friend, the one who showed me the possibilities within myself." Spike Lee, "I miss my brother. Prince was a funny cat. Great sense of humor."
Justin Timberlake, who idolized the rocker, posting a heartfelt message on his Instagram. "They say don't meet your idols, that they let you down. But some of my greatest, funniest, yes, he was hilarious, and most prolific encounters and conversations about music came from the moments that I spent with him."
Even the president chimed in saying, in part, "Prince did it all. Funk, R&B, rock 'n' roll. He was a virtuoso instrumentalist, a brilliant band leader and an electrifying performer." His impact was and continues to be undeniable.
Here's Beyonce describing her Grammy performance with the pop idol in 2004.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEYONCE, SINGER: I was like -- is that -- are you serious? I was on the stage with Prince? Like, are you serious? That is crazy. I still can't believe it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Alicia Keys upon Prince's rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame induction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA KEYS, SINGER: There are many kings. King Henry VIII, King Solomon, King Tut, King Kong. But there is only one Prince.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Jamie Trott even talked about how Prince influenced his career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE TROTT, SINGER: Everything about this guy, does everything his music because of what it was, I call it delicious music. It's like you can almost taste the music that he was making.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Composer, performer, and artist. Prince was one for the ages. And for that he will always have a place on the stage.
[03:35:07] Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
ALLEN: Joining me now is former editorial director of Billboard magazine, Bill Werde. And, Bill, thank you for joining us.
BILL WERDE, FORMER BILLBOARD MAGAZINE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Absolutely. A pleasure to be here.
ALLEN: And I know that you've had some experiences with Prince. We'll talk about that. But first I want to start with this. Years ago when I was anchoring on CNN, when he became a symbol, we were all in a tizzy about how did we do stories on Prince now? Do you remember those days?
WERDE: Absolutely. Well, that tizzy is what led to Prince becoming known as the artist formerly known as Prince. Because none of the journalists and none of the folks in media knew how to pronounce the symbol. And so, ergo.
ALLEN: Yes. And I think it's interesting all the things we know about -- we knew he was quirky, he was sexy, he was a little bit mysterious. But what I'm hearing now is that he was also mischievous. He had that part in him. And a good sense of humor.
WERDE: Yes. That was the Prince -- you know, I mean, right now everyone's kind of going through their memories, thinking about all the times that Prince's music touched them. You know, I was fortunate to be in some situations where I got to interact a bit with Prince and that's the Prince that I think I tend to remember right now is a guy that was quite mischievous.
You know, in 2013, Billboard was redesigning our magazine. And we were going to re-launch with an issue with Prince on the cover. And, you know, getting the interview with Prince was a little fraught. We sent a reporter to his house. You know, not only did it turn out that Prince wouldn't let her record anything, but he wouldn't even let her take notes.
But we finally got the story, it was a great story. And as the minutes were ticking down, literally to the point where the printer is calling us and asking for the cover, Prince still hadn't sent us any images, he wasn't going to be photographed, he was going to supply us some images.
And, I mean, I'm telling you, not at the 11th hour but the 15th hour I get a text from Prince's management and they say, you know, Prince is right here with us, he has selected an image for you, he thinks you're really going to like it, we're sending it now. I go to my e-mail, open it, you know, the photo's downloading. And it turns out to be a photo of a random old woman who has nothing to do with Prince.
And, you know, I will add as a footnote that immediately after that, he sent three images, one was more beautiful than the next, we put it on the cover of our re-launch issue, and that issue went on to win all sorts of awards for design and for a single issue of a magazine. So, you know, Prince had a real sense of humor and he also had a real vision for how people should interact with his art.
ALLEN: Yes. Someone likened him this way. James Brown -- where James Brown would meet Charlie Chaplin. That was kind of the little part he had of himself. I know I heard you talking about "Purple Rain." And Time magazine right now I just noticed on the internet has a story how "Purple Rain" totally dominated 1984. WERDE: Yes, well, I think there's very little question about that. As
a guy who sheepishly will admit to being pretty close to a teenager in 1984, that movie and Prince in general was really inescapable then. I think for people of a certain age will really appreciate that (AUDIO GAP).
ALLEN: Joining me is former editorial director of Billboard magazine, Bill Werde. And, Bill, thank you for joining us.
WERDE: Absolutely. My pleasure to be here.
ALLEN: And I know that you had some -- we're sorry about that technical glitch. We didn't want to that run interview for you twice. Sorry about that.
HOWELL: It happened last hour with me too.
ALLEN: And little king in our system. We'll figure it out.
HOWELL: Thank you for being with us. We'll be back after this with more on the life and death of Prince.
[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: Welcome back. We will have more on the life, the death and legacy of Prince in just a moment. But first, we turn to some other news that we're following around the world.
ALLEN: Chinese authorities are looking into what caused an explosion and fire at the chemical warehouse in eastern Jingjiang province. Local official say there are no reports of casualty and the fire is now under control.
HOWELL: Chinese state media reports the factory stored liquid oil and gas products. Nearby factories have been evacuated as a precaution.
In a few hours' time, Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the royal family will welcome the U.S. President Barack Obama. He'll also meet with the British Prime Minister as the so-called Brexit debate flares.
ALLEN: Our royal correspondent Max Foster has all the details on the visit.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: President Obama's first appearance here in the U.K. will be here at Windsor Castle where he's due to fly in by helicopter and have lunch with the queen.
We won't get told about any of these discussions during what is a private occasion but we can assume he's going to wish her a very happy birthday for her 90th year. He then heads off to Downing Street for a bilateral with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron. They're going to discuss a wide range of foreign policy issues but most notably Britain's position within the European Union.
David Cameron very much spearheading the campaign for Britain to stay in the European Union. And President Obama widely seen as a backer of that stance. Very unusual for an American president to get involved in a highly politicized debate here in the United Kingdom, but it's clearly something the White House feels strongly about.
After that bilateral meeting there will be a press conference. No doubt the president will be asked about that, so it will be a very interesting response to that question. And then, President Obama and Michelle Obama will head over to Kensington Palace to finish the day off with another regal dinner with Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry.
Michelle Obama having worked very closely with harry on issues around war veterans and supporting them.
Max Foster, CNN, Windsor Castle.
ALLEN: We have another tragic story unfortunately to share with you about the problem with migrants in unsafe boats. The U.N. says as many as 500 people may have drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe.
HOWELL: It all happened last week when human traffickers crammed people into an overcrowded ship and then that ship sank.
CNN's Atika Shubert talked to one of the 41 survivors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUHIDIM HUSSEIN MUHAMED, SURVIVOR: The captain of this, he say that he shouted. He say that, whoa, whoa, ship coming, ship don't want to go down.
The ship was going down like this.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, completely over.
MUHAMED: So, completely down like this. Then I'm watching people swimming. They don't know how to swim. They're like this. They are making like this. They are saying help us, help us, help us.
(CROSSTALK)
[03:45:04] SHUBERT: Drowning down.
MUHAMED: Yes, help us. I'm wanting my brother. (Inaudible) My brother told me that, please help me, brother, please. I didn't. The water coming very badly. They ship was going immediately down. I'm not seeing any ships. I'm seeing that -- I just felt it, I just cried. I can do nothing.
People that cried saying, the say, help us, help us. The people are going very far, the water is taking, the water is taking like this. The water is taking. They're going very far. I've seen only the jacket. You know, the jacket of the sinking. We have something light. I'm seeing light, yes, going very far. I can do nothing. I'm watching my brother. I'm just looking for my brothers. Small. No. Nothing. SHUBERT: What happened to your brothers?
MUHAMED: They are dead. Six brothers dead.
SHUBERT: All six of your brothers?
MUHAMED: Yes, my six brother, all dead.
SHUBERT: I'm very sorry, that's terrible to see.
MUHAMED: Watching my brother, he told me, Muhitin, help me. I can't help. I can't. I can't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The very sad story. He lost six brothers.
HOWELL: Yes.
ALLEN: Well, the death toll from Saturday's 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Ecuador has risen to 587. More than 8,000 were injured and some 150 others remain missing.
HOWELL: Meanwhile, a 6.0 quake that struck the country just hours ago. CNN's crew said they could feel the tremor just a few hundred kilometers away.
ALLEN: Friday is Earth Day and 155 countries are celebrating in a historic way. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has that.
DAM: Today is Earth Day, celebrated by over 1 billion people in 192 countries. Highlighting earth's fragile environment and hopefully spurring some action to help protect it along the way. But this particular day is going to be unique.
Because leaders from all over the world are gathering in New York City at the United Nations to help put pen to paper for the Paris agreement, which if you recall was established in December of 2015. This aims to keep global warming below two degrees and even striving to curb that to 1.5 degrees.
But this will be no easy feat considering that we have had record- setting temperatures so far in 2016, with spikes across the globe from North America to Africa and parts of Europe.
And just highlighting the urgency of how important this Paris agreement is, take a look at this. Our warmest years ever on record, 2010, 2014, and 2015. They pale in comparison to what's happening this year. Look at 2016. We're over 1.2 degrees Celsius above average.
Now there are many things we can attribute to our warming temperatures, including the recent strong El Nino event that we're starting to phase out of. And look how this is impacting temperatures across the globe.
We have recorded our hottest March on record in Australia, Asia and Africa. Number three warmest March. And North America continues to sizzle, their warmest March on record. This is impacting sea ice extent in the Arctic, it's at its lowest maximum extent in the wintertime. And this has major ramifications for the world' environment, especially when you combine that with glacial melt.
This is actually an artist's rendition of the coastal city of shanghai and how a 2-degree warming world could flood even the financial district. Back to you.
HOWELL: Derek Van Dam, thank you. The reactions continue to come in from around the world about the death of Prince. Stay with us as our special coverage continues on this music legend's death.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.
Arsenal moved up to third place in the English Premier League by beating West Brom 2-0 on Thursday. The undoubted star was Chile Alexis Sanchez. He kept up his sparkling form of late with two first-half goals as the Gunners comfortably saw off the baggies.
That makes it six goals and three assists in his last eight league games. Arsenal are now two points ahead of Manchester City in fourth, though could still theoretically win the league.
The IAAF have announced that Russian athletes could find out whether or not they will be eligible for the Rio Olympic games on June 17th. Russia is currently suspended from all athletics after accusations of state-sponsored doping and a string of alleged doping offenses. The Russian Athletic Federation has been working to convince the IAAF that it has put in place significant improvements in its anti-doping program.
And less than two days after suggesting he was quitting, Conor McGregor has said he is not retiring from ultimate fighting championship. In a lengthy statement released on Saturday, the 27- year-old Irishman said he was being asked to do too much promotional work by UFC and was unable to concentrate on his training.
UFC president Dana White has already announced that McGregor will not be fighting Nate Diaz at UFC 200 on July 9th.
And that is a look at your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: You know, it's so sad, the death of Prince. But when you hear his music you can't help but just feel great.
HOWELL: It makes you feel good. I mean, the man was a legend and the music is just incredible.
ALLEN: We have a little tribute behind us. The symbol he adopted. Prince's death has led to a number of tributes from fans and fellow artists as you've been saying.
HOWELL: Take a look on Broadway in New York, on the cast of "Hamilton" they honored Prince at the end of their show Thursday night with a dance set to his song "Let's Go Crazy." Take a look.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: This was a tough day for a lot of people, though. Just the passing of Prince has led to an outpouring of grief and disbelief from fans, friends and fellow musicians around the world.
ALLEN: Yes. The world, everyone is in disbelief over this. And as the news of his death continues to spread, we've seen a number of touching tributes to one of the best-selling recording artists of all-time. For more on that here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He took us for a spin with his music.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
[03:55:01] And with his style. When word came...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prince has left us.
MOOS: Aretha Franklin put it like this.
ARETHA MARTIN, SINGER: It's such a blow.
MOOS: The purple tributes started to rain down. Rest in purple. From the unknown and the famous. Madonna Instagramed this photo. Katy Perry tweeted, "And just like that the world lost a lot of magic." The Apollo Theater changed its marquee in honor of the beautiful one, or as the media used to call him...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The artist formerly known as Prince.
MOOS: Those were the days when he had surrendered his name for a symbol.
KING: Could you tell us what it signifies?
NELSON: Me.
MOOS: CNN even identified him on screen by the symbol morphing between male and female.
KING: Let's say you're different.
NELSON: As compared to what?
MOOS: Nothing compared to Prince. He wore his fame lightly.
NELSON: I'm Prince. How rude of me, I haven't given you enough time to freak out yet. You may do so now. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god!
MOOS: His interviews were rare.
NELSON: I don't look back much at all. I try to stay in the now, and live in the now. I think it keeps you young.
MOOS: And now he's died, relatively young...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the age of 57.
MOOS: He played the guitar as if it were a woman and a woman as if she were a guitar. Even rode his instrument. One of the more touching tweeted tributes was simply captioned, when my teacher found out Prince died.
It's one of those days to just hold your head in your hands.
Jeanne Moos, CNN. New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: What a life. What a legend. What a legacy. And he played his last live show right here in Atlanta.
ALLEN: Just a few miles from us here, wish we were there.
HOWELL: Yes. Wish we were there, indeed.
ALLEN: Thank you so much for watching. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. The news continues live from London with Hannah Vaughan Jones. Stay with us.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
