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Prince's Siblings in Probate Court; Indiana's Blitz Ahead of Primary; World Leaders to Save Ceasefire; First U.S. Cruise Ship in Decades Visits Cuba; Political Ads Lighting up YouTube. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired May 02, 2016 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Sara Sidner is live outside the courthouse.
Good morning.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Yes, we've seen several of Prince's siblings enter court. Tyka Nelson, his half-sister Sharon Nelson, and Alfred Jackson, we saw them all enter court. And as we speak, the procedure is going on now. It's expected to be a very short procedure that kind of tries to figure out exactly who may be a beneficiary to Prince's vast estate.
But we did have a chance to sit down with his half-brother, Alfred Jackson, who talked to us about how he'd like to see what everyone thinks may be some music that Prince has either recorded or written that has never been released to the public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALFRED JACKSON, PRINCE'S OLDER HALF-BROTHER: We've seen the vault door, but we never entered.
SIDNER: I heard that if there is music, that the public would love to hear, that you'd be open to letting that happen, letting Prince's music the public hasn't heard be released.
JACKSON: I would release it.
SIDNER: You would release it?
JACKSON: Yes.
SIDNER: How did your siblings receive your idea that the music should be released so the public can hear?
JACKSON: That's something I haven't talked about with my family yet, but it will come to that. We will start talking about it.
SIDNER: Why do you think it should be released?
JACKSON: To let people know how great he really is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Now you may think it's a bit odd that he's telling us that he's going to and wants the public to listen to this music and hear this music, which could be worth millions of dollars depending on how much of it there is, but it gives you some idea that there has been a bit of friction between family members and the very first meeting between family members about the estate we're told from a source with knowledge of those discussions that it did get contentious and there was shouting at some point.
But since then, all of the family members are trying to work things out, according to the source, and trying to do things civilly. They are all in court this morning. And we're waiting to hear what kind of procedural things were sorted out in this courtroom today.
Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Sara Sidner reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump doesn't back down from his controversial woman card comments. Is this an opportunity for his rival, Ted Cruz? We'll talk about that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:36:26] COSTELLO: Heidi Cruz and Carly Fiorina blitzing Indiana this morning. Right now they're at a bakery in Brownsburg. Senator Ted Cruz sending out his strongest surrogates to tally women voters in the state. The strategy? To contract Cruz's support of strong women with Donald Trump's woman card comments. Comments that Trump has not disavowed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you listening? She is playing the woman card. And if she didn't play the woman card, she would have no chance whatsoever of winning.
Women want strength. They want security. They want to have a strong military. They want to know that our country is being protected. They want to know about women's issues, women's health issues. I'm going to do a better job for women than Hillary can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: With me now, Miriam Weaver and Amy Jo Clark, Indianapolis radio hosts of "Chicks on the Right."
Welcome to you both.
AMY JO CLARK, INDIANAPOLIS RADIO HOST, "CHICKS ON THE RIGHT": Hi.
MIRIAM WEAVER, INDIANAPOLIS RADIO HOST, "CHICKS ON THE RIGHT": Thank you.
COSTELLO: Hi. Thanks for being here.
You guys are unenthusiastically supporting Ted Cruz in the Indiana primary. Fiorina is a factor for you. So, Miriam, why is that?
WEAVER: Why is she a factor?
COSTELLO: Yes, on the positive side.
WEAVER: Well, she was actually one of our top choices for the presidential race. So we were very, very disappointed when she got herself out of the race. And so with the remaining three presidential candidates, Trump, Kasich and Cruz, we've been almost desperately unhappy with them. And so when she was announced as a VP candidate, that was sort of a bright spot for us.
CLARK: Definitely.
WEAVER: That -- that makes it a little bit more of a -- less of a bitter pill to swallow.
COSTELLO: Amy Jo, Senator Cruz, he has a smart wife, Heidi. He has cute kids. I mean they're precocious, they're cute. Why aren't more voters warming to him?
CLARK: You know, I'm not really sure. I can't answer for them. I can just say, for me, I think that, you know, there are a lot of people at the beginning of this race that we could choose from and now that we're at the end of our rope here, I think that the three people that we have left standing -- I -- we're just not overly enthusiastic about them. I think that we had a lot of fantastic candidates to begin with. And Carly was one of them. And so we were actually really disappointed that she's not -- he's not one of the ones who is left standing for president, actually.
COSTELLO: Miriam, why can't you support Donald Trump?
WEAVER: In the primary? There's so many reasons. And we've gone into great detail about this on our show and on our website, chicksontheright.com. He's -- his behavior is so juvenile in so many ways and it's hard to -- it's hard to imagine him in -- in a presidential role when he takes out most of his fighting onto Twitter. So, you know, putting aside the fact that he has been on every side of every issue, it's the behavior that he displays on the public stage that's been really upsetting to us and that makes it very, very difficult for us to support him.
Now, that said, in the general election, we will reluctantly vote for him against Hillary Clinton.
COSTELLO: OK, interesting, because my next question was about Trump's use of the term "woman card." I just wanted to pick your brain about that, Amy Jo.
CLARK: Well, we do feel as though -- I'm -- I mean I agree with Donald Trump on that. I feel like Hillary is using the woman card and she has said in the past that it's time for a woman president. And I feel like Democrats have also said that as well. I feel like it's reminiscent of 2012. I feel like they've -- they've used this tactic before. It's time for a woman president. It's time for a woman president. I think it's time for a -- a good president and not just a woman president based on gender. So, that's what we're looking for. We're looking for something different than what we've had over the past seven years. So -- we would like to see competence (ph).
[09:40:21] COSTELLO: So -- so, Miriam, is --
WEAVER: Yes.
COSTELLO: Miriam, is Donald Trump right when he says he'll do more for women than Hillary Clinton will?
WEAVER: That he will what? I'm sorry.
CLARK: Yes.
COSTELLO: That he will do more for -- for women than Hillary Clinton will.
WEAVER: Well, you know, we're -- it's very off-putting to us to consider the fact that there are women's issues to begin with. All issues are women's issues. So, you know, I don't know -- I hope that he does what he says he will do for the country, not paying -- not treating women as some sort of a special interest group. We're not. We're simply -- we're simply part of the regular American population and all issues affect us, just like they do all families. So --
CLARK: And we feel -- and we feel like if he does one or two things that are in a, you know, a positive direction, then that's a step in the right direction because we're sick of being stagnant, you know? We're sick of just watching nothing happen. And I -- you know, frankly, I look at the -- the deck clock on a regular basis and I'm sick of that going up and up and up and I have three kids to worry about.
COSTELLO: OK, so now I'm going to ask you your predictions. Miriam, who will win the Indiana primary? Will it be Ted Cruz or Donald Trump?
WEAVER: Oh, my gosh. Our state --
CLARK: Good luck -- good luck with that. Good luck. Good luck.
WEAVER: Yes. Our state is so unpredictable right now. I mean the polls are absolutely all over the place. The calls that we receive on our show are all over the place. It's very exciting for us as Hoosiers to matter in this election. We never dreamed we would matter to this extent. But to make a prediction, I -- I can't even begin to do that. I have absolutely no idea.
CLARK: I'm glad she got that question.
COSTELLO: OK, so, Amy Jo -- no, Amy Jo, I'm going to put you on the spot now too. It's only fair. CLARK: OK. Well, gosh, you know what, I'll just -- I'll just say that
I think it's going to be Cruz and I'll probably be wrong. So there you go.
COSTELLO: I know that didn't sound very definitive, but we'll take it.
Miriam Weaver --
CLARK: I -- I just -- I just don't know.
COSTELLO: Yes. Neither do I, so I'm in your club. Miriam Weaver and Amy Jo Clark, thanks to both of you.
WEAVER: Thank you so much.
COSTELLO: Still to come -- you're welcome.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, video from inside a children's hospital as it was hit by an air strike in Syria last week and what world leaders are doing to try to save the crumbling Syrian cease fire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:47:07] COSTELLO: For the first time we're seeing what it was like inside a Syrian children's hospital hit by an air strike in Aleppo. Here is the moment the air strike hit that hospital on Wednesday. Oh. It killed at least 50 people, six of them doctors and nurses. In this chilling security footage from after the attack, you're going to see it soon, you can see the dark outline of a woman carrying what appears to be a baby out of the hospital. Secretary of State John Kerry is blaming the bombing on the Syrian government, calling it a deliberate act. The Syrian government denies any involvement. The United Nations is now warning that the situation in Aleppo has turned catastrophic. Now world leaders are gathering in Geneva, hoping to save the ceasefire that borders on collapse.
Let's bring in CNN's senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen. He has more now from Moscow.
Hi.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Yes, and you're absolutely right, the situation absolutely dire there in Aleppo. In the past 10 days alone, some 250 civilians that have apparently been killed in that city as the cease fire that was supposed to hold for the whole of the country continues to unravel. Now, Secretary of State Kerry is in Geneva right now. He is holding high-level talks. And he acknowledges that the ceasefire is in a lot of trouble. Let's listen in to what he said just a little while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: But it is a fact that in the last weeks the cessation of hostilities has been put to test, and it has frayed in certain areas and it has fallen completely in a few areas. (END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Now, what he says, John Kerry says, is that the Russians definitely need to be involved if there is going to be any sort of way forward. The Russians, for their part, Carol, are saying that they're involved in talks, in trying to get the ceasefire in the Aleppo area back on track. It's unclear who the Russians exactly are talking to, but we do know that John Kerry is going to speak to Russia's secretary of state, Sergey Lavrov, later today to try and find some way forward because, of course, so many people are at risk at this point in time and it really is of the greatest importance, the U.S. says, to try and get that ceasefire back on track. John Kerry says that some headway has been made since he reached Geneva, but he also acknowledges, Carol, there still is a long way to go.
COSTELLO: All right, Frederik Pleitgen reporting live from Moscow, thank you.
For the first time in decades, a U.S. cruise ship docks in the port of Havana, Cuba. Beyond making history, the trip has special significance for several of the passengers on board. A handful of them were born am Cuba. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more from Havana.
Good morning, Patrick.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
It's all happening right behind me. This is the first cruise ship in nearly 40 years, you know, almost -- it's really been since the Cuban Revolution in 1959 that there's been any kind of regular cruise service or U.S. tourism to the island.
[09:50:01] But let me just step out of the way here. Take a look at the Carnival Cruise ship that is arriving to the Port of Havana just behind us. Within the next hour or so, we expect this ship to dock and U.S. and Cuban-American passengers to disembark for the first time, again, in nearly four decades. And it really is very emotional for the Cuban-Americans on board because anyone born in Cuba up and through last month was banned from leaving the island or returning to the island on -- by a boat. So for these Cuban-Americans, now that the law has changed here in Cuba, it is very emotional to see their homeland from the top of this deck, to see Cuba come into view this morning as they sailed across the Florida Straits. We're hearing reports of people being in tears, waving U.S. and Cuban flags. And for the Cubans in our building here, we're on the terrace of the CNN Havana bureau, we're seeing people come out, taking photos, even though the government didn't announce that a ship was coming today, people found out about it. They're crowding the sea wall. Everyone wants to live this moment in history, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Patrick Oppmann reporting live from Havana, Cuba, this morning.
Today marks five years to the day since Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan. And in an exclusive airing tonight on CNN, President Obama and key members of his inner circle speak to Peter Bergen about the planning and preparation that went into hunting down the world's most wanted terrorist. Watch "We Got Him: President Obama, bin Laden and the Future of the War on Terror." It airs tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, on "AC 360."
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the world's most popular video site is becoming a powerful tool for presidential hopefuls and the CEO of YouTube says it's forcing the candidates to be even more careful about what they say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:55:59] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 55 minutes past.
So many Detroit public schoolteachers called in sick today that classes were cancelled at nearly all city schools. The teacher's union says the sick-out is in reaction to the school district saying it will not be able to pay teacher's salaries after June 30th.
A key decision is expected today in the murder trial of a father whose toddler died in his hot car in 2014. Lawyers for Justin Ross Harris instead want the judge to approve a change of venue. They argue the high profile case has made it difficult to find impartial jurors. If the judge denies the change of venue, jury selection will resume this afternoon and opening statements could begin this week.
Circus elephants are now officially retired from the Ringling Brother's big top. Sunday night's performance in Providence, Rhode Island, was their final appearance. Animal rights activists have long demanded the act be ended. All 11 elephants will now live out their lives with the rest of the herd at the Ringling Brothers Elephant Sanctuary in Florida.
They're not just on your TV screens anymore. More and more candidates are popping up on your smartphones and computer screens. YouTube has become a popular way for presidential hopefuls to reach out to voters. Sometimes in a much more personal way. Brian Stelter sat down with YouTube's CEO to talk about this growing political platform.
Good morning.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning.
Think about the difference between 2008 and 2016, Carol. Hillary Clinton was running for president in 2008, running against Barack Obama and YouTube was, you know, it was around, but we weren't using it the way we all do now. There really has been this media revolution in the past 10 years, and especially during the two terms of the Obama administration. And it's interesting to think about how important web video has become.
So I did -- sat down with the YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki, and we talked about both their advertising strategy, but also how political ads are lighting up the service. In fact, some of the most popular TV ads overall on YouTube are actually campaign ads from Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and others. Wojcicki argued to me that YouTube and the prevalence of all of our camera phones and smartphones means that candidates are more careful than ever. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN WOJCICKI, YOUTUBE CEO: One thing that has actually happened too with online video is it has actually made the candidates a lot more careful about with they say because --
STELTER: That's interesting, yes.
WOJCICKI: Yes.
STELTER: They know they're always being filmed.
WOJCICKI: They're always being filmed. So if they make any misstep or if they say anything that is not appropriate or, you know, they -- they're held responsible because now that clip can be uploaded and shown to a billion people. And so they -- they are very careful about what they say now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: Now the counter argument to that might be Donald Trump. As Donald Trump said to Chris Cuomo this morning, I'm saying what people want to hear. One of the appeals of Trump is that he seems, at any time he might say anything or say everything. And so maybe that's the counter argument to the idea that candidates are more careful because they're always on camera.
But I do think that she's on to something there, especially on local level elections, candidates know they're always being tracked, there's always cameras on them so they might be more sensitive to exactly what they say.
Meantime, Carol, I thought what was most interesting is to look at YouTube, you type in Trump, you type in Clinton, the most popular videos are almost always comedy videos. Yes, the campaigns do well on YouTube, but it's really comedy, Jimmy Fallon, Steven Colbert, all the rest, "SNL," those are the clips that are the most popular of all about the candidates.
COSTELLO: I just wondered if YouTube made money off these political ads.
STELTER: In some cases, yes, they run an add before the campaign ad, which is sort of funny and sort of strange, but I guess that's the way the web works sometimes. You know, these campaigns have gotten better and better about creating adds that are specifically for the Internet. I mean Donald Trump's campaign in particular makes really impressive videos that are just made for Twitter, made for FaceBook and made for YouTube. Sometimes you don't even see them on TV. It's sort of like a parallel universe of campaigning nowadays.
COSTELLO: All right, Brian Stelter reporting live for us this morning. Thanks so much.
STELTER: Thanks. COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.
[10:00:03] Happening now in the NEWSROOM --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we win Indiana, it's over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Tell that to Ted Cruz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have to tell you, I have faith in Hoosiers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The Texas senator blitzing the state in the last
