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Obama Advises Britain to Stay in the E.U.; The Artist's Last Days; Nations Sign Historic Climate Change Pact; More People are Choosing Green Burials. Aired 2-2:30a ET
Aired April 23, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The U.S. president is in England, making a bold intervention into a very touchy matter. He's urging British voters to stay in the European Union.
Mr. Obama's stance is being praised by some while critics are telling him to butt out of U.K. affairs.
As Nic Robertson reports, Mr. Obama's remarks came with a stark warning.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): On the chilliest of streets, the warmest of welcomes. President Obama, a friend for British prime minister David Cameron just when he needed one the most.
The American president wading into the hottest political debate this tiny island has seen in decades: in or out of the European Union, backing Cameron's In campaign.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're more prosperous when one of our best friends and closest allies has a strong, stable, growing economy. Americans want Britain's influence to grow, including within Europe.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): So, intent on keeping the U.K. in Europe, Obama writing a emotive letter to Cameron's wavering heartland in the shires of England.
"The tens of thousands of Americans who rest in Europe's cemeteries are a silent testament to just how intertwined our prosperity and security truly are."
But when pressed on what a vote to leave might mean, a stark warning.
OBAMA: Maybe some point down the line there might be a U.K.-U.S. trade agreement. But it's not going to happen anytime soon because our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc of the European Union to get a trade agreement done. And U.K. is going to be in the back of the queue. ROBERTSON (voice-over): On streets of the capital, most happy for the world's most powerful politician to get involved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I definitely, definitely want us to stay in. So I'm happy for him to say that. And my thinking is important that our biggest trading partner outside the E.U. is supportive of us staying in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got no idea what this -- has been researched or how much thought he's given to it. But he's got every right to weigh in, in my opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have always been close with America. It's ridiculous to think that he shouldn't have a say. I mean, he doesn't have a direct say but he should have an opinion.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Not so for their flamboyant mayor, Boris Johnson, a leader of the Out campaign.
BORIS JOHNSON, MAYOR OF LONDON: I think what perhaps our friends in America don't appreciate is that the E.U. has really changed in the last 43 years. It has become something else. And it's something to which the Americans would never submit their own democracy.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Polls put both In and Out too close to call. Voting two months away. The PM seemingly happy for the timely help.
DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER, GREAT BRITAIN: Britain's membership of the E.U. gives us a powerful tool to deliver on the prosperity and security that our people need and to stand up for the values that our countries share.
And now I think is a time to stay true to those values and to stick together with our friends and allies in Europe and around the world.
ROBERTSON: If nothing else, President Obama has drawn the big guns of the Brexit fight out onto the field of battle, armed with their sharpest prose -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
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ALLEN: Those remarks from President Obama you heard in Nick's report about the U.K. going to the back of the queue ruffled some feathers. Twitter blew up with angry comebacks from the U.K. Here's a little sample for you.
Quote, "While at the back of your queue, you will be at the back of ours while we create India and China trade."
And this one: "Obama sticking his hooter in the Brexit debate, well, I suggest the USA become part of the United Kingdom again. How'd you like them apples?"
And one more: "I think Obama and U.K. should go queue up at an airport and bugger off back to the U.S. Keep his nose out of U.K. business." And, well, despite that kind of criticism, Mr. Obama said he wanted to make it --
[02:05:00]
ALLEN: -- very clear, he is there as a friend to give his thoughts.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a decision for the people of the United Kingdom to make. I'm not coming here to fix any votes, I'm not casting a vote myself, I'm offering my opinion and in democracies everybody should want more information, not less, and you shouldn't be afraid to hear an argument being made.
That's not a threat, that should enhance the debate, particularly because my understanding is that some of the folks on the other side have been ascribing to the United States certain actions we will take if the U.K. does leave the E.U. -- they say for example that we will just cut our own trade deals with the United States.
So they are voicing an opinion about what the United States is going to do, I figured you might want to hear from the President of the United States what I think the United States is going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: But the Obamas' visit to the U.K. wasn't all business. The first couple received a warm welcome at Kensington Palace in the rain, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with Prince Harry, treated them to dinner.
Even Prince George was allowed to stay up past his bedtime to meet the president and first lady. Dressed in his tiny bathrobe and playing on his rocking horse, the young royal spent about 15 minutes visiting with the grownups.
He's adorable.
Earlier President Obama was treated to a royal ride, when Prince Philip drove him around the grounds of Windsor Castle. Mr. Obama sat in front with the prince; Queen Elizabeth and Michelle Obama were in the back.
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ALLEN: It could be weeks before we know how Prince died. The medical examiner in Minnesota has finished an autopsy on the music legend and released his body to his family. Paramedics found Prince unresponsive Thursday morning at his estate. He was 57.
The sheriff says there was no sign of obvious trauma or suicide. Prince had some medical scares over the past few weeks. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner thanked everyone for respecting the investigation.
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MARTHA WEAVER, MEDICAL EXAMINER: This is something that we remember and we take very, very seriously and we appreciate the respect and the dignity and the outpouring of support that everyone has shown, not only to his family but to the law enforcement officers working on this, to the state of Minnesota, that so proudly claimed him and adored him.
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ALLEN: CNN's Kyung Lah takes us through Prince's last weeks, including exclusive video of the artist riding his bike just days before his death.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators here in Minnesota say that they are still working to try to piece together an accurate timeline.
What was Prince doing in the days and weeks leading up to his untimely death?
And while this is happening, CNN has obtained exclusively this video from a strip mall, right near where he lives. A woman captured this video.
He appeared healthy enough just five days before he died to be riding a bicycle, doing something that any normal healthy person would do. The woman said that he looked quite healthy, yes, thin but healthy enough to ride a bicycle.
Investigators say what they have been able to concretely learn is that, the night before Prince died, he was dropped off here at his home at 8:00 pm. He wasn't discovered again by staff until he stopped picking up calls. They found him unresponsive, collapsed in an elevator. CPR did not revive him.
Investigators say now that they have conducted an autopsy; the results are expected to come in in days, if not weeks. They also want to try to talk to as many people as Prince had contact with. They want to know what doctors was he seeing, where did he go, was he on any medications -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Chanhassen, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Up next here, world leaders sign a major climate change deal on Earth Day. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry brought his granddaughter to the historic event at the U.N. We'll tell you what the deal means for global warming -- coming next.
Also ahead here, the growing trend of green burials. People take their efforts to preserve Earth to their graves.
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[02:10:00]
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ALLEN: Now to this story just in from Bangladesh. Police say a university professor was hacked to death near his home in Western Bangladesh near the Indian border. The 58-year-old was waiting for a bus when two or three assailants attacked him from behind.
The reason behind the assault is still unclear but under investigation. Earlier this month a blogger was murdered, Nazimuddin Samad, was murdered when attackers hacked him with machetes, then shot him. This is just the latest in a string of killings in Bangladesh, targeting secular writers.
As millions of people around the world marked Earth Day on Friday, leaders from almost 200 countries came together at the U.N. to sign a historic pact, the Paris agreement, the accord that aims to slow global warming.
Already the first three months of this year have broken temperature records. American Secretary of State John Kerry signed the accord for the U.S. while holding his granddaughter, his 2-year-old granddaughter, on his lap.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says this is a race against time.
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BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: With their signature today, governments have made a covenant with the future. The children who were with us this morning reminded us of our responsibility to them and to future generations.
The words they wore on their shirts said it clearly, I quote, "Your promise, our future," unquote.
Today's signing is a vote of confidence in a new approach to climate change. It is imperative there is a strong political momentum that continues to grow.
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ALLEN: The Paris agreement aims to keep average global warming below a 2-degree rise from preindustrial levels. It even strives to curb it to 1.5 degrees and to rapidly reduce global emissions and greenhouse gases.
It also requires all participating countries to implement their proposed action plans. Leaders have one year to sign the document, which is meant to take effect in 2020. But it could start sooner, once 55 countries representing 55 percent of global emissions sign on.
Derek Van Dam from our department of meteorology has been following global warming and what's going on on our Earth. And it's not too promising. So hopefully what they sign will happen.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's optimistic to see what's happened at the United Nations in New York City. It is just that Mother Nature really doesn't have a timetable for us here and may not be wait willing to wait along too much -- too much longer because, Natalie, some serious climate milestones have actually occurred since the agreement in Paris --
[02:15:00]
VAN DAM: -- which was established in December of 2015. And only now starting to get those ink to paper from the 175 countries that have signed; again, this global agreement.
But there is a few different of these milestones that are so crucial, Natalie. I'm going to try to go through them because these have all occurred just within this three-month time period. Let me explain.
We have had a very hot start to 2016. In fact, we are blowing records away, because if you recall, 2010, 2014 and 2015, the three hottest years on record. But look at the temperature above average for those three particular years.
And now look at 2016. We are roughly about 1.2 degrees Celsius above those preindustrial average temperatures. And this is significant, considering that we have also had the warmest month on record, that being March of 2016. And this comes on the heels of 10 months that were also the consecutive hottest months in the record.
So we have 11 consecutive months, three of which have occurred here in 2016. So there is another milestone.
And then on top of that, our third milestone that we just want to quickly cover here. It is all about the arctic sea ice. We as scientists and meteorologists look at this very deeply because it's a gauge. It's almost this barometer, let's say, for the environment and the health of our planet.
Well, there has been a significant reduction in the winter extent of the arctic sea ice. This is significant, because it covers about 1.12 million square miles below where it should be or where it normally is this time of year.
Now you add on the melting of glaciers across the world and we have the potential for a multi-meter sea level rise going forward over the next 50 to 150 years. And you know what this means for some of the coastal cities. We've covered this so much in our weather reports.
It's all about the greenhouse gases, these heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. We've got our three biggest emitters across the world, we've got China, we've got India, we've got the United States, all trying to come into some sort of agreement, how can we reduce our global climate change impacts and reduce our heat- trapping gases, like carbon dioxide, for instance.
Natalie, you know, we are trying to associate climate change and different weather patterns. And we've seen this extreme flooding in Texas, for instance, in the United States. And so we are starting to see the fingerprints of climate change all over our weather patterns. And it's just something that we just have to be cognizant of as we go forward.
ALLEN: You will probably have a busy year keeping up with it.
VAN DAM: We will. It was certainly keeping me employed.
ALLEN: Thank you, Derek.
VAN DAM: All right.
ALLEN: Well, some people are taking their environmental efforts to the grave. Tim Cassidy from our affiliate, News 12, in Westchester, New York, explains.
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TIM CASSIDY, NEWS 12 (voice-over): More than 200 miles north of the Hudson Valley, just south of Ithaca, sits nature at its best. Thousands of acres of protected forest surround rolling meadows, dotted with evergreen groves.
KEN ZESERSON (PH), GREEN BURIAL ADVOCATE: This is where she is.
CASSIDY (voice-over): But it's what's beneath this pristine landscape where this story lies.
ZESERSON (PH): This is a stone my sister picked out.
CASSIDY (voice-over): In September, 2014 Ken Zeserson's (ph) stepmother made a final wish, to sleepy eternally among this beauty without embalming, without a casket and without a headstone.
ZESERSON (PH): She had been wrapped in Irish blankets because she was Irish. And so we lowered her into the grave and then the people of Greensprings had cut these green branches, which we laid on her, because this is all about the Earth and being green.
CASSIDY (voice-over): The green burial, an alternative to traditional burials, was offered here at Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve in Newfield, New York.
CASSIDY: This is another burial area here at Greensprings. And as you can see from some of the plots, they are really simple. This is Jennifer. She chose just to put her first name on the nameplate. And that's really what these green cemeteries are all about. They are simple, they're more affordable and they're environmentally friendly.
JAN JOHNSON (PH), BURIAL COORDINATOR, GREENSPRINGS: Completes that natural cycle of life.
CASSIDY (voice-over): Jan Johnson (ph) is the burial coordinator at Greensprings. JOHNSON (PH): I don't think there has ever been a burial when people didn't come up to me after and say to me, this is exactly where they belong.
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CASSIDY (voice-over): In 2004, HBO's "Six Feet Under" was one of the first programs to examine the concept of a green burial. And yet today, only a handful of states in this country offer the green option.
CARRIE POTTER KOTECKI (PH), GREEN BURIAL ADVOCATE: The more I read about it the more I realized it truly made sense as a burial choice.
CASSIDY (voice-over): Carrie Potter Kotecki (ph) is looking to bring a green cemetery to Rockland County.
KOTECKI (PH): Green cemetery, to me, is the best way --
[02:20:00]
KOTECKI (PH): -- to return to the Earth.
CASSIDY (voice-over): Kotecki (ph) points to the fact that the land in a green cemetery is not cleared. And that's why this land can be used for other events. In fact, a wedding just took place here at Greensprings.
KOTECKI (PH): Land preservation has been a challenge in our community. It hasn't been a priority. But this could be an answer as well as providing an option for environmentally conscious people.
CASSIDY (voice-over): Kotecki's (ph) voice may be larger than most. She uses her monthly radio program to show Rocklanders they have a choice. And there are other options besides being wrapped in blankets, like the biodegradable pine casket.
Or the ecopod, where your body becomes the root of a new tree. Also available, the infinity burial suit, a shroud that helps the body decompose.
Those who are dying to be green believe the green choice just makes sense.
KOTECKI (PH): When you think about how much effort we put into teaching our kids about recycling those soda cans, you drive a more environmentally friendly car, well, why stop there?
ZESERSON (PH): OK. Well, see you later, Pat.
CASSIDY (voice-over): Because of his stepmother's decision, Ken, his wife and father will also be buried at Greensprings the green way.
ZESERSON (PH): It's just more natural.
CASSIDY (voice-over): Here they follow one simple motto: save a forest, plant yourself. Renew, sustain, endure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the ultimate recycling you can do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Tim Cassidy with that green burial report for us.
Millions of fans are mourning the loss of Prince. Up next here, we'll show you how they are paying tribute to an icon.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Members from a popular musical there, singing "Purple Rain" at the end of their program. And you are seeing how the world has lit itself up in purple to remember Prince.
Even the inside of a Delta airliner had its running lights in purple there with the passengers sitting there.
And tributes to Prince just continue to come in from all over the world. His music touched lives everywhere. From his home in Minneapolis, his beloved home, to countries thousands of miles away, our Jake Tapper looks at the many fans remembering Prince.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The world has got the look of Prince today. Emotional tributes unfolding across the performer's front gate in Minneapolis and coloring the world's landmarks, thousands of miles away.
In London, President Obama prepared for a meeting with the British prime minister by listening to a little bit of Prince.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It so happens our ambassador has a turntable. And so this morning we played "Purple Rain" and "Delirious," just to get warmed up.
TAPPER (voice-over): Back home in the States, Niagara Falls roared into a new hue, at first for the birthday of Queen Elizabeth and then for Prince.
From the Great Wheel in Seattle to landmarks in San Francisco and Los Angeles, America turned the color of rock royalty, New Orleans Superdome --
[02:25:00]
TAPPER (voice-over): -- alight, Baltimore beaming.
The rapper, The Game, penned a new song in Prince's honor. "Rest in Purple" was posted on SoundCloud mere hours after the news broke.
Not only paying tribute to Prince but to the other icons lost. The song's title a shared expression among Prince fans, who left flowers and messages at Paisley Park, where Prince performed just a few days ago.
Fans took Prince with them into the streets as well, celebrating his life at iconic First Avenue in Minneapolis, where he got his start.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prince, we love you!
TAPPER (voice-over): In Brooklyn, Spike Lee orchestrated a block party for The Purple One. It drew thousands.
SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR: Dearly beloved, we're gathered here today for this thing called life.
TAPPER (voice-over): And for a star this bright, Broadway did not dim its lights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We lost a giant today.
TAPPER (voice-over): Instead, the cast of "Hamilton" concluded their performance with a dance.
And Jennifer Hudson and "The Color Purple" cast began to sing -- what else?
Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Hopefully it's a comfort to his close friends and loved ones and associates to see how the world is sharing its purple outpouring for Prince.
And as we heard earlier, still very much a mystery as to why Prince died. We'll continue to bring you the very latest on the investigation into that.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. We'll have our top stories right after this. And we leave you now with a musical tribute to Prince, the cast of "The Color Purple," as we mentioned, singing "Purple Rain" at the end of their performance. That's Jennifer Hudson.
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