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Protesters Gather Outside Trump Rally In Costa Mesa; South Korea's Defense Ministry Says Pyongyang Fired Two Failed Mid-Range Missiles On Thursday; North Korea Sentences South Korean-Born American To Ten Years Hard Labor For Subversion And Espionage; Deadly Airstrike Hits Pediatric Hospital In Aleppo. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 29, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:16] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour: the deadly and possible deliberate strike on a Syrian hospital; doctors and children among the dead.

"Lucifer in the flesh"; an SOB; a former U.S. House Speaker does not hold back describing Ted Cruz.

And, they served honorably in the U.S. military but now they have been kicked out of the country and can't return until their death.

Hello, everybody; we'd like to welcome our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause; Newsroom L.A. starts right now.

Those stories in a moment, but first a developing story here in Southern California. Crowds of protesters have gathered outside a Donald Trump rally in Costa Mesa. Police are on the scene. They're in cruisers as well as on horseback. A number of protesters have been blocking traffic outside the event.

Trump has been speaking to a large crowd at an open air venue, as he brings his presidential campaign to California. The Golden State holds its presidential primary June 7 with 172 Republican delegates at stake.

Joining me now for more on this, Ron Brownstein, our senior political analyst. So, Ron, I guess the problem for Donald Trump is that he goes into these big venues like this and, increasingly, he is being confronted by protesters outside.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, almost every urban area in America is diverse. Almost every urban area in America is -- is (inaudible, music) but is there a city that Donald Trump can go into without facing this kind of protest? He certainly has his supporters but you saw in Chicago, what you see elsewhere, it's kind -- it's a revealing microcosm of the challenge he faces because he is essentially mobilizing non-urban America, blue-collar, more religious, more rural and this kind of urbanized, cosmopolitan, tolerant, diverse blue America, you see it on street tonight in Costa Mesa. These are the battle lines in the elections, defined very sharply on your screen.

VAUSE: It's interesting because if you look at the polling in California right now Donald Trump is ahead.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: And it's more of a liberal republican state if you like. It's certainly not Ted Cruz country. Then, if you look at these protesters that he continues to face, I mean, in some ways it's also a reflection of the high negative ratings that he has; right?

BROWNSTEIN: Right; well, first of all, the underlying reality is we have the sharpest political divide between urban and non-urban America since the 1920s. I mean, President Obama won a higher share of his vote in just his 100 best counties of any winner in at least the last 100 years. He lost over 80-percent of the counties in America, but he won woman by 5 million votes. Democrats are now the party of dense urbanized America.

Republicans dominate everything outside of that. Trump compounds all that. He kind of reinforces all that. His message, I think, you know, is very much seen in urban America as kind of a rejection of those cosmopolitan, tolerant, diverse values. So he is someone who, if he is going to win the election, he is going to have to run up big numbers outside of the cities because he is going to face a lot of resistance, not only among the diverse elements of the cities but the whites who live in urban America tend to be more culturally and socially tolerant. He is going to have a lot of trouble there.

VAUSE: Okay; now, of course, his main rival in California is Ted Cruz. So let's talk about -- Ted Cruz was in the news today. He was described by the former U.S. House Speaker, John Boehner, as "Lucifer in the flesh." That it makes "Lyin' Ted" seem tame.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes; really.

VAUSE: I mean, we should look at the background here though because this has been all part of Ted Cruz's scorched earth policy -

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: -- for a very long time when he was in the Senate.

BROWNSTEIN: Right; absolutely. John Boehner felt Ted Cruz orchestrated the government shutdown, also was mani - also would intervene in internal house politics trying to mobilize conservatives against him and it's really just a great little measure of how difficult the challenge has been for the Republican establishment. Ted Cruz is now the closest thing they have to someone to try to stop Donald Trump, it may be too late anyway; but the idea is that that is who you ended up, someone who the former House Speaker describes as "Lucifer in the flesh," really shows how completely their first, second and third choice failed before you get to Ted Cruz.

VAUSE: And you say, this now the -- Ted Cruz is the one to stop Donald Trump but he doesn't have a lot of support among fellow -

BROWNSTEIN: No. VAUSE: -- republicans. This was Peter King, a senior Republican Congressman, responding to the remarks that John Boehner made, that insult. Let's listen to Peter King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PETER KING (R-NY): I fully agree with John Boehner, and maybe it gives Lucifer a bad name by comparing him to Ted Cruz.

What John Boehner was concerned about was Ted Cruz perpetrated a fraud and a hoax when he brought about the shutdown of the government, some kind of a vague promise that he was going to be able take Obamacare out of the budget, end Obamacare. Ted Cruz knew it would never work, that it was never going to work, but he went ahead and did he it anyway; shut down the government; cost [00:05:01] the government money; served no purpose whatsoever, other than to boost his name identification. So, I agree with John Boehner on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWNSTEIN: Not only does Ted Cruz face that resistance from elected officials, he has had a very, very narrow coalition throughout this primary and caucus season.

We've talked about this before, the fundamental promise of the Ted Cruz campaign was that he was not going to be Mike Huckabee or Rick Santorum, a creature just of evangelical Christian. He was going to bring together economic and cultural conservatives. He hasn't done it.

There's one state, Wisconsin is the only state, where in the exit poll he's won the most voters who are not evangelical Christians. Last week, in the last two weeks he's won 16-percent or less of voters who are not evangelical Christians. He's run out of states where he can win it. Indiana may be one where there's a bunch and he can be competitive, but he's just been too narrow, ultimately, to truly challenge Trump.

VAUSE: He is in a dire situation in Indiana.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: Indiana has gone from being almost a backup win to an if he doesn't win, does his campaign collapse?

BROWNSTEIN: I think - yes - look, you know, Donald Trump may have broken down the barriers on Tuesday night. You had that feeling of that -

VAUSE: Things changed.

BROWNSTEIN: He posted his highest numbers in New York, Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania among men, among women, among voters who are not evangelicals, among non-college voters who have been his core, and he tied for his best among college educated. Almost all groups of the coalition moved toward him. Missouri was the closest race so far; 2,000 votes victory for Trump

over Cruz. Indiana is very similar demographically but slightly tilted more in Trump's favor, a little less evangelical than Missouri. I think it's going to be an uphill climb for Ted Cruz and I think a lot of Republican's may feel that the race is over if Donald Trump wins there.

VAUSE: Well, to be fair, Ted Cruz does have his supporters, like Jeb Bush. He gave his first interview since dropping out of the presidential race. He gave it to CNN, and this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JEB BUSH (R-FL) FORMER GOVERNOR, FLORIDA: He is behind, but after the first ballot, anything can happen. I believe that the likely occurrence, if Donald Trump doesn't win the nomination on the first ballot, is that Ted Cruz is the only other candidate that is it likely to win the nomination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Again, if that is going to happen, then California will be the key here.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: And, again, if you look at the rally that Donald Trump is having, thousands have turned out.

BROWNSTEIN: Look, as Donald Trump's big night on Tuesday lowered the threshold for him to get over the 1237. He now needs to win about half of the remaining delegates. That's doable but it's not a slam dunk by any means. So it is still possible that if the forces skeptical of Trump can rally, they can keep him just short of that 1237. It's looking more and more like he can get there, particularly, again, as you saw, it felt on Tuesday night -- maybe it was a regional blip, could have been, but it felt more like something giving way, like one of those movies where the castle is under siege and the door -

VAUSE: Right, the barbarians are coming over the top.

BROWNSTEIN: Exactly. It was (Inaudible) from "Lord of the Rings," it felt a little like that.

VAUSE: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: When you look at the numbers he posted in the 60s among some of the groups - you know, until New York, John, as you know, he had not reached 50-percent in any state. He's now reached 50-percent in six consecutive states. He is finally starting to see that rally around the winner affect among voters. Some of them clearly are saying, Look, this is basically over. I'm going with the guy I think is winning.

VAUSE: The funny thing is, if you look at Donald Trump right now, he does seem to be on a roll. He was addressing the crowd here in Costa Mesa a short time ago and, again, he was slamming Ted Cruz and the crowd was eating it up. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have this guy "Lyin' Ted Cruz." We know "Lyin' Ted".

[Booing]

TRUMP: I mean, nobody likes him. I have never seen a guy like this. In fact, --

[Chanting "Lyin' Ted"]

TRUMP: Have we branded this guy or what? He probably -- I see him walking into these beautiful spots and they will say, "Lyin' Ted", how are you doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: He's not that - you know, build the wall. build the wall.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

VAUSE: "Lyin' Ted". It's the whole response.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, you keep waiting for that presidential pivot. He is --

VAUSE: It's not going to happen.

BROWNSTEIN: -- his aides, Paul Manafort have talked about it, and there have been stories about him pushing back. There's the pushback.

Look, Donald Trump is in a commanding position for the nomination. If anything, he should look at again election where he is facing, as we've talked about these unprecedented negatives, usually a double digit deficit to Hillary Clinton in most polls. Enormous negative ratings among the key elements of the Democratic coalition.

He just - he wants to be who he wants to be. The problem is while that energizes, mobilizes, excites his audience, it also, I think, cedes those doubts among everybody outside his audience about whether this is someone who truly has the temperament, personality, skillset to be president. So, it's kind of a -- it's a short-term/long-term play here.

VAUSE: Tactically smart, strategically not so good.

BROWNSTEIN: Not so much.

VAUSE: Yes; okay, Ron, thanks for coming in.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Thank you for jumping in there and talking us through that rally [00:10:01] there, in Costa Mesa, with Donald Trump. It seems to be a big event.

Okay, we will move on now. The U.N. Security Council is working on a response to what appears to be North Korea's latest missile test. South Korea's Defense Ministry says Pyongyang fired two mid-range missiles on Thursday. Both appear to have failed; and, we have this just in to CNN: we're learning North Korea has just sentenced a South Korean born American to ten years of hard labor for subversion and espionage, that's according to China's state-run media.

Paula Hancocks monitoring these developments for us. She joins us now live from Seoul, South Korea with more details. So, Paula, what do we know about this man who was just sentenced?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via satellite: Well, John, this was a man who was arrested in October, 2015. CNN spoke to him exclusively in January. He also gave a press conference in Pyongyang in March. It's not known if either of those were of his own back, whether he was coerced into what he was saying. We know that he has given a public apology and admitted to spying for the South Korean authorities. Now he has said that he was arrested while receiving a USB stick containing military and nuclear secrets from a source. That's what KCNA, the North Korean state-run media has said and said that he was approached by South Korean intelligence officers in 2011 to work with them.

Now we don't know exactly the details beyond he has been sentenced to ten years' hard labor in North Korea, this is according to, as you say, the state-run news media. So just another example of an American -- he is a South Korean who was naturalized American according to what he told us back in January. Another example of an American being detained and now sentenced in Pyongyang. John?

VAUSE: We also have a situation with these continual missile tests. It appears that this is the third missile test which has failed in recent weeks but it seems unlikely it will be three strikes and they are out.

HANCOCKS: That's right; it was actually quite surprising Thursday that we had two on the same day. Usually, if they -- they did one early Thursday morning, it failed. They would dutifully wait a few days or weeks to try and rectify the situation before they try again. Then early evening on Thursday local time, they tried once again. Both missiles believed to be, according to South Korean Defense Ministry officials and according to a U.S. military official, didn't get beyond 200 meters from the launch pad.

It just shows another indication of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, carrying out relentless missile and nuclear tests. This year has been relentless. The assumption is because this time next week there's the Workers Party Congress which hasn't been held in more than 35 years. There is a wide assumption among experts that Kim Jong-un wants to go to that armed with plenty of achievements, but I think it's fair to say that those particular missile failures will not be mentioned. John?

VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks there with the very latest, also on that breaking news that Kim Dong Chul, the South Korean-born U.S. citizen sentenced to ten years' hard labor for espionage.

We'll take a short break but when we come back more details on that air strike on a hospital in Aleppo, Syria, that left 50 people dead and now has some very serious implications for a ceasefire which is on the brink.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:17:16] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody; we go to Syria now. There is anger, outrage and condemnation after a deadly airstrike on a pediatric hospital. At least 50 people were killed. Witnesses says a fighter jet fired a missile on Wednesday. A nationwide ceasefire is on the brink of collapse.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is blaming the Syrian government. Syria and Russia are blaming U.S. forces. Nic Robertson has more now, and a warning, his report contains disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Syria's ceasefire is in tatters (inaudible) the latest, an air strike on an opposition hospital in Aleppo, this one supported by Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross. Dozens killed, including children and at least three doctors, one of them the last pediatrician.

So severe the attack, the Red Cross issued a statement saying the destruction of the hospital "are putting millions at grave risk."

The bodies, the grief, piling pressure on faltering peace talks on Geneva.

STAFFAN DE MISHURA, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY: In the last 48 hours we have had an average of one Syrian killed every 25 minutes, one Syrian wounded every 13 minutes.

ROBERTSON: Three weeks of talks, 1,000 miles from the front lines, little progress; the two sides using the ceasefire to talk about political transition but accusations, not compromises, traded.

BASHAR JAAFARI, SYRIAN AMBASSADOR, UNITED NATIONS, via translator: The threats that emanated from the opposition who were here in Geneva before they sulked and got upset and left, these declarations were translated into attacks.

ROBERTSON: The opposition, for their part, pausing their participation, blaming the government for renewed offensive, making talks meaningless.

Within days of pulling back from the talks, opposition fighters last week on ceasefire, shown here in their own propaganda video, back to the battle front.

The U.N. Envoy urging Russia and the United States to step in again, save the ceasefire, save the talks. MISHURA: We need that to be urgently revitalized and only the Russian Federation and the U.S. as they did when they launched, suddenly, everything related to the cessation of hostilities needed to come back again and [00:20:01] relaunch it.

ROBERTSON: In the meantime, the killing is escalating. No date set for the next round of peace talks, the U.N. Envoy planning a visit to Moscow, next week.

Urgency and peace, both in short supply.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Hassan Twiet is the President of the Los Angeles chapter of the Syrian American Council. He is with me here in the studio; and CNN Military Analyst, Rick Francona joins us live via skype Port Orford in Oregon.

Rick, first to you; what is behind this surge in violence, especially around Aleppo, in recent weeks or days?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST, via satellite: Well, when the opposition pulled out of the talks in Geneva, the government felt no compunction about stepping up their attacks. Of course, John, you and I have talked before, and I have always maintained that it hasn't been much of a ceasefire. The ceasefire really only restrained the opposition. The Russian Air Force, Syrian Air Force have bombed all over the opposition areas saying they're going after ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, but in reality, they're going after anyone that opposes the Assad regime. I think you are seeing them doing that.

After they took Palmyra, they pivoted; and they're really going after Aleppo with a vengeance. I think we're going to see renewed action in Aleppo, and I think it's only a matter of time before the government forces actually take the city.

VAUSER: And with regard to the hospital, the Russians, the Americans, the Syrian regime, they're all denying their forces are to blame for that attack, but it would certainly fit a pattern by the Assad regime.

FRANCONA: It certainly does. I mean, we have seen the Syrians go aft - the regime primarily, go after bakeries, hospitals, produce markets, anywhere they are going to attack the civilian infrastructure, the people that are supporting the opposition. They regard them all as terrorists.

So this is just a continuation of what we have seen. This is not the first hospital they have hit. I think we have to place the blame squarely on the Syrians here. I don't think the Russians will be part of this, as bad as what they and what they're doing in Syria, this is too bad for them.

VAUSE: Hassan, the hospital which was hit, that's in the rebel controlled part of Aleppo. This is a city which is now pretty much on the brink of collapse people are saying and there's a looming humanitarian disaster. For the one hospital, which I imagine was so vital for this city, which has been hit so badly, to be a target here, what sort of impact will that have?

HASSAN TWIET, PRESIDENT, SYRIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL-LOS ANGELES CHAPTER: Oh, it has a great impact on the ground. this is not the first time that we have seen the Syrian or the Russians, the only two groups that have planes are the Russians or Syrian army. This is part of the military campaign to

destroy and to uproot every infrastructure that supports the free rebel area.

So we see systematic -- what we have seen before, bombing of the mosque, schools. There's almost by the Seam, as in Saan's and Doctors Without Borders and PHR, IRC, IMC, all these organizations have reported that there has been almost 360 hospitals have been destroyed. So this is part of the campaign is to really surrender the city. They want to lead the city into submission. Unfortunately, this is a very sad outcome by the Russians

and by the Syrians, and the international community have blinked an eye on them.

VAUSE: I was just going to ask you, when you look at the response from countries around the world, there's been blame and there's been outrage but there hasn't been much else has there?

TWIET: No, it hasn't. Unfortunately, just recently, the Turkish government, the German government, the Saudi government have demanded that there's no-fly zone. We demanded, as a Syrian American four years ago, we said we need a no-fly zone. Until now, unfortunately, last week President Obama have encountered this with negative comments. Unfortunately, we've seen the fruit today. On this rate, we're seeing almost every day the Syrians are dying and nobody is helping. the international community is unfortunately on the verge of collapsing morally, when it comes to Syria. There's almost about 2000 people that are leaving every single day, Syria. On this rate there will be a Syria without Syrians in 2039. So, we are seeing - the Security Council is actually paralyzed by the politics.

VAUSE: Yes.

TWIET: So we are seeing a city - we have seen this before. The Syrian people have seen it before, from (Inaudible) to Maida, to Hommes they all have seen it. Surrender, besieged, bombardment and then actually take the city over.

VAUSE: I want to go back to Rick Francona and ask a specific question about a no-fly zone. Why -- what's the rational; why is that not really an option? Why wouldn't something like that work, Rick?

FRANCONA: John, it was an option up, until the Russians intervened. Once we saw the Russians move in there, I think any hope of a no-fly zone has passed because the Russians are not going to permit it. They're not going to allow us to dictate that there's going to be a no-fly zone. They regard themselves as the primary power. They're there at the invitation of the Syrian government. So, I just don't see the United States or the U.S.-led coalition is going to be able to enforce a no-fly zone.

I think the time for that has passed. I wish we had done it; it would have solved a lot of these problems. We hesitated. and I think it's just too late for a no-fly zone.

VAUSE: Colonel, -- Hassan, I want to get, very quickly, your response to that. I think that's a fair point.

TWIET: Yes; history have repeated itself. We have seen wherever the Russians go, whether by the permission of the government or occupations, for the Syrian people, they do really see this intervention by the Russian as an occupation, not as an intervention to fight ISIS. As a matter of fact, they have killed more Syrian than anybody else. So we have -- they are destroying the country. They are destroying the web of the social structure.

So every time the Russians went and intervened, there's nothing but destruction and chaos. We have seen it in Chechnya. We have seen it in Afghanistan. This is only the missions of the Russians to deter the Westerns from paying attention so what happened in the Baltic and Ukraine and Georgia.

VAUSE: Okay; Hassan, I'll give you the last word there. Hassan, thank you for coming in. Colonel Francona, also appreciate your military analysis there, guiding us through all of this. Thank you to you both.

TWIET: Thank you very much; thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Well, up to 16 members of the U.S. military are expected to be disciplined over their role in the October air strike that hit a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. As many as 42 people were killed. According to two U.S. officials, none of the military personnel are expected to face criminal charges, but a top special operations commander is likely to lose his job. The U.S. president apologized for the strike saying it was a terrible mistake.

We'll take a short break. When we come bac, there are new details on the death of music icon, Prince. more information on what authorities say they found in his home. And, HLN's Dr. Drew weighs in on what could have killed the legendary singer.

[00:30:36] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You are watching "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles; I'm John Vause. The headlines this hour: North Korea has sentenced a South Korean born American to ten years of hard labor for subversion and espionage, according to China's state-run media. During an interview with CNN in January, Kim Dong Chul admitted to gathering information about Pyongyang's nuclear program and military facilities. CNN was unable to determine if he made that confession under duress.

An air strike on a pediatric hospital in Syria has killed at least 50 people. The United Nations says the situation in Aleppo is now catastrophic. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is blaming the Syrian government for the attack. Syria denies involvement.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Thursday. He is there because the U.S. is ramping up its fight against ISIS and hopes to liberate the key city of Mosul. Mr. Biden encouraged Iraqi leaders to remain united as the country faces political and financial obstacles.

French police arrested at least 100 people when protests got out of hand in Paris and elsewhere in the country. Thousands of people hit the streets on Thursday rallying against proposed labor law reforms. Two dozen security forces were uninjured.

An update now on our top story. Protests outside a Donald Trump rally not far from here, in Costa Mesa, California, just a few moments ago we saw demonstrators rocking a police car. Authorities say the protests have been mostly peaceful and right now, they are trying to separate them from Trump supporters, as those supporters were leaving the Donald Trump rally.

New details have emerged in the death of music legend Prince. Investigators tell CNN there's no indication the artist had a valid prescription for opioid painkillers. The medication was discovered in Prince's home and in his possession according to a law enforcement official. The singer was found dead in his home one week ago after being treated for an apparent opioid overdose the week before.

CNN has learned the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will aid the investigation into Prince's death. Our Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[Prince singing "Purple Rain"]

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just days before his death, he pushed himself to perform with two concerts in Atlanta. He had suffered from a bad hip, often seen carrying a cane. Now new information that Prince was also carrying some powerful pain drugs at the time of his death. A law enforcement official telling CNN authorities found prescription opioid medication on his person and in his Minnesota home. The official says nearly a week before his death, a reaction from the medication likely caused an emergency landing of Prince's private plane in Illinois when the pop star passed out.

CONTROLLER: What's the nature of the emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An unresponsive passenger.

TODD: The official says in that incident, Prince was treated for a possible overdose of the medication. He was later released from a hospital and returned to Minnesota.

Opioids are effective for pain but there's a prescription drug overdose epidemic in America that has experts worried.

DR. DANIEL LIEBERMAN, PAIN MEDICATION EXPERT: The biggest risk is overdose, causing respiratory suppression. We know that when we take -- these, people become drowsy because they slow down the activity in different parts of the brain and if it slows down the breathing center too much, people stop breathing and that's what kills them with an overdose.

TODD: It's not clear where Prince got the medication and whether it was prescribed to him. Experts say there's an antidote to opioids, called Narcan, which would could have saved Prince after the emergency landing.

LIEBERMAN: It can reverse an overdose extremely rapidly. The key is though you have to get the Narcan in them in time.

TODD: Investigators have hinted there may not have been time to give Prince Narcan at the time of his death.

JIM OLSON, SHERIFF, CARVER COUNTY, MINNESOTA: All of our officers carry Narcan. We have been carrying that for approximately two years and that was not used at all.

TODD: And there may not have been anyone else there to revive the pop star. The sheriff says Prince was alone in his 55,000-foot home, Paisley Park, when he died; but at some point, someone got there and called 911.

Regarding CNN's reporting on the opioids, we reached out several times to Prince's representatives for their response to that reporting. So far, they [00:35:02] have given no response. We asked the medical examiner's office if Prince had any opioids in his system. They said so far, they have no new information to give on that. Friends and those who worked with Prince told news outlets they don't remember him being on any medication. His lawyer saying he was not on any drugs that would be cause for concern.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I've been speaking with Dr. Drew Pinksy, the host of the Dr. Drew Show on HLN. He said if Prince died from opioid use, the music icon became another casualty in an American epidemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST, "DR. DREW SHOW": 81-percent of the Percocet prescribed on earth between 1993 and 2013 was prescribed in this country. Nearly 100-percent of the Vicodin in this country, nearly 90-percent of all opiates in this -- in the world prescribed in this country. We are utterly too liberal and too prone to seeking opioid pain medication without appreciating their potential to do serious harm. My greatest fear is that we have been robbed of a great talent, he has been robbed of his life because of a medical misadventure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The full interview with Dr. Drew on Prince, pills and pain killer, next hour.

A short break; when we come back, Donald Trump bringing his presidential campaign to California. We will tell you what he had to say about Mexico at that huge outdoor rally. Also, we will hear why some veterans of the U.S. military are being kicked out of the country. Meet one man who tried to help his fellow deported vets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Donald Trump is here in southern California with a huge rally at an open air venue in Costa Mesa. The Golden State holds its presidential primaries June 7. 172 republican delegates at stake. Crowds of anti- Trump protesters filled the streets outside the arena. Inside Trump took aim at some his favorite targets, Mexico and illegal migration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will build a wall. Mexico is going to pay for the wall. We're going to stop drugs from coming in.

[Cheering]

TRUMP: The drugs are poisoning our youth and a lot of other people and we're going to get it stopped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The U.S. has a deal with some immigrants: come to the United States, serve in the military and you will get a Green Card; permanent residency here. For some vets who went overseas and served their country, put their lives on the line, and they feel they completed that side of the bargain but now, as Gabe Ramirez reports, because of a mistake, because of a bad decision, they're being kicked out of the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABE RAMIREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George S. Patton, the general, he once said [00:40:02] if a man does his best, what else is there. What if you did your best? You served your country; you risked your life; but one day, you made a terrible choice and because of that choice, the country you served, your best was no longer good enough?

HECTOR: I was born originally in (Inaudible). I came to the United States at seven years old and eventually I was able to get a Green Card through my parents. I grew up watching G.I. Joe and I wanted to be a soldier. For me, joining the military was one of the best things that happened to me.

Towards the end of my military service, I had some problems with alcohol and drug abuse. I pled guilty to a discharge of a firearm in 2001, which they gave me a sentence of three years. When I finished my time, I was supposed to parole. They said, you might. They might put an immigration hold on you because you are not a citizen. What do you mean? I served in the military. No, don't even worry about it. You served in the military. You're going to be all right.

RAMIREZ: But things weren't going to be all right. He grew up in southern California. He was honorably discharged after serving six years in the U.S. Army; and still, Hector Barajas was deported to Mexico.

BARAJAS: I was under the assumption that, you know, I took the oath and I'm a U.S. citizen, which soldiers are similar to the Oath of Naturalization, and, you know, you're 18 years old, and, hey, Uncle Sam will take care of you. I thought Uncle Sam would take care of me.

Citizenship was never mentioned. I was never counseled, nothing. There was no program for it. When I got in trouble, I paid my debt to society. I own what have I done.

We did what most Americans won't do; we put our life on the line. I think it's unjust that we're deporting American veterans. Why not change those laws?

RAMIREZ: Barajas he has been working to change those laws ever since. He opened a shelter for deported veterans in Tijuana, Mexico, called "The Bunker" in 2013. The men who gather at this store front all lived in the United States and served its military, but for one reason or another they were deported back to the country they were born in. Right now, the only legal way for them to return to the United States is to die.

BARAJAS: So that's the only way going home, you have to be on your death bed or you have to be dead.

RAMIREZ: They span generations: Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan; but there are no statistics on deported veterans. Barajas estimates 40 or so came through the bunker over the years and they need all kinds of help. Because of their status, they can't access the V.A. system. So injuries some sustained as a result of service go untreated, indefinitely.

BARAJAS: They had families at one point and they went overseas and risked their lives. They did that for their country and now the country is going to do this to them. It's just a travesty.

RAMIREZ: The men at The Bunker have all made mistakes, they acknowledge that; but the fact is they served. Like so many veterans adjusting to civilian life, they may have strayed from their path but these men paid a heavy price. They lost their country.

BARAJAS: You know, in the military we have a motto "leaving no man behind," support our troops, honor our veterans. We're not honoring our veterans by deporting them. It should be more than a sticker on the back of your car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Our thanks to Gabe Ramirez for that story. Thank you for watching "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

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