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New Day Sunday

Report: Top Republicans Plot To Derail Trump; Cruz Predicts "Challenging Days" For GOP; Biker Brawl: Inside The Texas Shootout; Search Resumes For Missing Cruise Passenger; Millions of Dollars To Fight Zika Virus; Mother Of Colorado Movie Theater Shooter Speaks Out; Donald Trump's Uneven Appeal Among Women Voters; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's Inspirational Speech; Barack Obama and Macklemore Discuss Opioid Addiction; Tom Brokaw Slams University of Alabama; Celebrity Advice For The Class of 2016; Eurovision Song Contest Winner; Belgium's Beer Pipeline; "Saturday Night Live" Mocks Donald Trump and Chris Christie. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired May 15, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I'm encouraged with the beginning of this process. It is no secret that Donald Trump and I have had some disagreements.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to start winning, winning, winning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was never a boss. He was a leader.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not the old one. We get along with everybody, except one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was swallowed in the deep fog of grief. What I think of as the void.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Lazy Sunday morning, but a lot of news to talk to you about today and we are so grateful for you being with us. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

And this morning the courtship between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan that continues. They're warming to one another, but the House speaker, like many in new relationships, wants to take it slow.

PAUL: Those are words for some people, let's just take it slow. Paul Ryan did say yesterday, still not offering his endorsement to the presumptive Republican nominee, however, the divide between the two appears to be closing a bit. Ryan says that his and Trump's team will meet this week to go over policy. No word as to whether Trump or Ryan will be there in person. But while policy may be on the table, Paul Ryan does say bringing the Republican Party together for the general election is still issue number one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: It is no secret that Donald Trump and I have had some disagreements. It is no secret that we from time to time clash on an issue or two. That happens with people. That happens with Republicans.

The question is, can we put together a process that really actually helps get our party unified so that we're at full strength in the fall and based upon the meetings that we had on Thursday, I'm encouraged with the beginning of this process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: But for a group of top Republicans there is still blood in the water, after Trump chewed through the primary there. Their solution, throw a third party candidate into the shark tank there.

One person on the list, yes, billionaire, Mark Cuban. He tells CNN, he was recently recruited to run against Donald Trump. He said it would have been fun, but I thinks it is too late into the game to jump in.

BLACKWELL: All right, a lot to discuss now. Let's bring in, Evan Sigfried, a Republican strategist and a former supporter of Marco Rubio, and Kelly Riddell, a reporter for the "Washington Times" and a Donald Trump supporter. Good morning to both of you.

So Evan, I want to start with you in this "Washington Post" report that there is this effort, let's put up the list of recruiters here who are trying to draft a third party candidate, a conservative they would describe alternative to Donald Trump.

You've got William Kristol here, Mitt Romney, former governor, a former nominee, Eric Erickson of Red State, and let's show some of the faces of those they're trying to recruit, among them, former secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, John Kasich, who just left the race.

You got former Senator Tom Coburn, General McChrystal (ph) there as well as others. I'm coming to you, Evan, first. These candidates have publicly distanced themselves from this effort. One would expect that's what they would say.

How credible is this effort that you believe there would be someone on the ballot, third party alternative to Donald Trump in November?

EVAN SIGFRIED, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: This effort is very credible. Right now, Republicans have a problem, not so much in Donald Trump, but in many conservatives do not feel like going out and voting come November. And we have many vulnerable House and Senate Republicans who need to be protected and they need the Republican voters who are going to stay home to come out and support them.

Otherwise, they're going lose and the House and Senate could very well flip to Democrats. So if you get somebody who will go on essentially a suicide mission and be a sacrificial lamb like Ben Sasse (ph) or General Madis (ph), who could go out and give these conservatives an energy boost to come out and vote for them and be out there to support the Kelly Ayottes (ph), that's only a positive.

BLACKWELL: So let's go to that, Kelly.

KELLY RIDDELL, "WASHINGTON TIMES" REPORTER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: The central concern here is that people have serious concerns and will have those concerns in six months about Donald Trump will stay home. What is the campaign doing to quell those concerns, if anything?

RIDDELL: Well, I mean, it came to Washington last week. It won over a bunch of critics. If you look at how Trump can seal the deal, he certainly did so last week. He even got on the phone with Lindsey Graham, who said he had a great conversation and here is a person who is actively against Trump.

I think we're going to see Paul Ryan come on board. The courtship will take a while. We're going to talk policy, we're going to basically come together as a party. This whole idea that there is going to be a conservative white knight on the ballot is ridiculous.

[06:05:01]The Texas ballot is already closed. They won't be able to get on 50 states. It is a suicide mission for the Republican Party and no one has signed up for it, and it is a very small group of people.

The same names you hear over and over again, Mitt Romney, Eric Erickson. They're trying to make their voices seem a lot larger than it actually is.

BLACKWELL: There is a new voice here, a new face here. Let's put the possible candidates back up here. If you looked at this screen, you saw Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, star of "Shark Tank."

And Evan, I want to come to you. Mark Cuban -- are they looking for another reality show billionaire? What do we know about Mark Cuban?

SIGFRIED: Well, listen, Mark Cuban is colorful character just like Donald Trump, but he doesn't come off as having the judgment and temperament issues that Trump does. That's scary for many conservative voters.

In an outsider year, Mark Cuban is that and he portrays this, listen, I'm not in Washington, I know how to be successful after all I am a billionaire. I even run a championship NBA team. That may be a message that resonates with people who were frustrated with Washington, but more on the conservative side of the spectrum.

RIDDELL: Mark Cuban told -- but he told the "Washington Post" this morning in an article that he is not interested in running. This is all pipe dreams. There is no credible third party that's going to emerge on the ticket.

BLACKWELL: Let me read for something that reportedly Mark Cuban sent out to his followers on his social media platform. This was reported by the "Dallas Morning News" back in August.

He wrote this, "I would prefer to be a Republican. I want smaller government. I want smarter government just like most Republicans. Put aside that I disagree with Republicans on most social issues.

The Republicans have a much bigger problem that will crush them in every presidential election until this changes. The Republican Party requires that all presidential candidates conform to consensus.

Until things change, I'll sit in the middle and think for myself, unlike the Republicans." Why would these men who are trying to put together this third party white knight as Kelly said go after Mark Cuban? Did they not do the research? Have they not look enough into his political views?

SIGFRIED: No, I think the research has been done, but I think that Mark Cuban hits on an important point here. Republicans have an electoral math problem not just in this election cycle, but every election going forward.

We are viewed increasingly as a party of the past by millennials, which is the largest generation in the country. We need them to vote for Republicans candidates in the future.

Otherwise we're going to have to be relying on baby boomers and rural voters who are a shrinking group, and that's not good for the party as a whole.

BLACKWELL: Kelly, finally to you -- go ahead.

RIDDELL: Well, 90 percent of the base of the Republican base needs to turn out in order for us to win the White House in November. So it's very important that our party unite and come together as a whole. All different factions, where the big tent. We need to come together if we're serious about winning the White House in November.

BLACKWELL: Finally to you, Kelly, and then we are going to wrap this up. It seems as if this past week, Donald Trump had started to work to bring the Republican establishment into the fold, meeting with Paul Ryan, meeting with the leaders in the House and Senate.

And then there were some questions about his outsider street cred, I mean, if he gets this is group behind him, then is he as much of an outsider that he says he is. Now he has potentially a new enemy with this group that's trying to draft this third party. Is he is going to go after them on the stump, as he continues campaigning through the rest of the primaries or is he going to stay focused on Hillary Clinton?

The question is, is he going to turn fire on other Republicans or continue to focus on the Democrats?

RIDDELL: I think he is going to continue to focus on Hillary Clinton and he would be wise to do that. Because as I said earlier, this is a very small group of Republicans, and they are the same exact names, Bill Kristol, Eric Erickson, Mitt Romney.

That are trying to, you know -- that are trying to disrupt and it's best to ignore it, and they're not going anywhere.

SIGFRIED: If it such a small group of Republicans -- hold on. If it is such a small group of Republicans, how come Utah is polling it could be in reach for Hillary Clinton, same with Georgia.

BLACKWELL: All right, we have to wrap it there. We'll look at how the map is shifting this cycle. Kelly Riddell, Evan Sigfried, thank you so much.

RIDDELL: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, Christi.

PAUL: A massive explosion seen just outside Baghdad. Look at these pictures coming in. This is after ISIS militants attack a gas plant there. Five police officers were killed in this attack, and three storage tanks caught fire, as you can see. Thirteen other people were wounded. This is an attack that started with two suicide bombs, then six militants tried to storm the plant. It was stopped by security forces.

Also, we want to show you pictures of a massive fire that broke out in a crowded neighborhood in Sao Paolo, Brazil. It happened about 5:00 local time. But look at this thing quickly destroying several houses there in the country's most populist city.

[06:10:04]At least one person was injured, but thankfully so far no deaths have been reported.

Two vehicles catch fire near Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando. This happened after an SUV crashed into a bus, 11 people are recovering in hospital including a child. Eight other people involved in that crash were not injured.

Red Hot Chili Peppers front man, Anthony (inaudible) has been hospitalized. The band had to cancel their concert in Los Angeles last night, and there is no word yet as to why he had to go to the hospital, nor are we getting word on his condition. We'll keep you posted on what we hear.

BLACKWELL: This massive biker brawl in Texas, you'll see the beginnings of it here left nine men dead, nearly 200 people arrested. Well, now, a year later, the leaders of rival gangs are speaking, and only to CNN.

PAUL: Also, Ted Cruz warning the GOP about, quote, "challenging days ahead," as he makes his first major speech since dropping out of the race. We'll talk about what Cruz means by that statement.

BLACKWELL: Also a moving speech from Facebook's COO Cheryl Sandberg, opening up about the death of her husband for the first time publicly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERYL SANDBERG, FACEBOOK COO: One year and 13 days ago, I lost my husband, Dave. His death was sudden and unexpected. I took a nap. He went to work out. What followed was the unthinkable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:15:06]

PAUL: Ted Cruz is making his return to the political stage. Reemerging yesterday to make his first speech after his failed presidential bid and while he didn't mention the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, by name, he warned the crowd about the future of the GOP.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: I don't know what the future will hold. We may face some challenging days ahead. We may face growing challenges going ahead, but I am convinced that movement, the men and women gathered here will be the remnant, will the core of pulling this country back from the abyss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: CNN political contributor and political anchor for the Warner Cable News, Errol Louis with us now. Errol, good morning to you. Errol, can you hear me? Never fails on a Sunday morning. Hey, Errol, it's Christi Paul, can you hear me?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I can.

PAUL: Good morning to you. So I don't know if you just heard that we were playing from Ted Cruz. I know that you're familiar with it. And one of the things that stood out to a lot of people is when he talked about, quote, "challenging days for Republicans." What is your take on that phrase?

LOUIS: Well, it can mean either of two things. I read it as having a double meaning. One is he clearly believes, as he has said often on the stump, Christi, that he thinks the Republicans with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket could be in for a political blood bath. That they could lose quite a lot of seats. They could lose control of the Senate. They might even lose control of the House. Certainly might not win the White House at all.

And then there is this other kind of meaning that comes with it, which is that he is a conservative, and he believes that conservatives have their own sort of, in some ways separate destiny that includes perhaps winning a lot of seats with and through the Republican Party.

But stand for some things over and above and a little bit apart from the political party. So he was -- this was not a cheerful speech that he was giving. He was suggesting that there could be a lot at stake and there is a lot that people could lose come November.

PAUL: In fact, you mentioned it. Let's listen here to what he said about what it means to be a real conservative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: If you want to know how to tell if someone is a conservative, you can listen very, very carefully. If they stand in front of you and say this is what government is going to do for you, they ain't a conservative.

If they instead talk about this is how we're going to keep government out of your way so that you can achieve the American dream that means they are a conservative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Is it important for Cruz to get behind Donald Trump, and do you think it will ever happen?

LOUIS: Well, I mean, I think for Donald Trump, any and every elected Republican or person of any political weight that he can get behind him will be needed. He has a very steep uphill climb.

You know, the math is not favorable to Republicans. We saw what happened to Mitt Romney just four years ago, and Donald Trump never having run for any office before, I mean, Christi, he never ran for city council, you know. He has a lot to do.

PAUL: He has a lot to do inside, but outside look at his crowds, look at his numbers. Look at the people who show up for him. Inside the establishment, that's where his work needs to be done, yes?

LOUIS: Well, look, the crowds, Donald Trump is very proud of the fact and justifiably so he has gotten more votes than any Republican primary candidate in presidential history, and he got 10 million votes, which sounds great until you look across the aisle and see that Hillary Clinton has gotten over 12 million votes. You play that down to November, that's not going to be a winning formula.

PAUL: Talk about that for us really quickly here because the primary electorate is very different than the general election electorate. LOUIS: So that's exactly right and that's what Ted Cruz and any member of talking heads and consultants and insiders and political scientists have been trying to convey to the Trump supporters. It is a much smaller, much narrower, wider electorate that votes in the Republican primary, much more conservative frankly.

So you've got young people, you've got libertarians, you've got swing states, you've got swing voters, independents, lots and lots of people, something like 140 million people, a record number could be voting in the fall, Christi.

So that's not the kind of approach to try to talk to 140 million people. What we've heard from Donald Trump with the profanity and the gimmicks and the insults and the childish behavior, all of that kind of stuff, people have warned him, that is not going to play well.

And that's not necessarily work out for you or the rest of the Republican ticket. That's really kind of what Ted Cruz was alluding to as well.

PAUL: In the long run. All righty, Errol Louis, always good to have you here, sir. Thank you.

LOUIS: OK, thank you.

[06:20:03]BLACKWELL: So it is one of the deadliest brawls in the history, long history of outlaw biker gangs. Now two rival gangs go head to head, leaving nine dead, almost 200 people arrested, and now a year later, only CNN is going inside this Texas shoot-out to get answers.

WHITFIELD: Also we were just talking about the poll showing Donald Trump facing an uphill battle when it comes to female voters specifically, but there is one former executive who says working for him was the chance of a lifetime. A CNN exclusive for you, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: For months, CNN has been investigating one of the deadliest shoot-outs in outlaw biker history. Remember this? It was one year ago when an all-out brawl between two rival biker gangs triggered this chaotic scene.

This happened at the Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco, Texas. When the bullets finally stopped flying, nine men were dead, 177 bikers were then arrested.

Our Ed Lavandera went to the heart of the biker brawl getting exclusive interviews with rival gang leaders all to dive inside the secret and dangerous world of biker gangs. Ed, good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, even the most hardened biker will tell you that what went down in Waco last year is the wildest, most insane chapter in outlaw biker history. We are going take you inside that Texas shootout uncovering key evidence and bringing you exclusive interviews from bikers that have never talked about what happened that day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[06:25:02]MATTHEW HORACE, FORMER ATF AGENT: These are people that are the worst of the worst, badest of the bad. Not every member of the organization is an outlaw, but certainly there are members of the organizations that purport and commit criminal acts.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The majority of America's motorcycle clubs preach camaraderie and the love of riding. But in some clubs there is a more sinister side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has nothing to do with (inaudible) and philanthropist or choir boys, but on the other hand, it is not this great, huge criminal enterprise that everybody thinks.

LAVANDERA: And that Pete James would know for 16 years, he was president of the notorious, Chicago Outlaws. On the streets, he goes by "Big Pete."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Bandidos (ph) are one of the largest clubs in the world. They have chapters all over. They are a powerful club and they are 1 percenters.

LAVANDERA: One percenters like the Bandidos believe the rules that apply to 99 percent of us don't apply to them.

(on camera): One percenter biker clubs are considered outlaws. These bikers hardly ever talk, but we have managed to get exclusive access to the two rival clubs involved in the Waco shot-out.

The president of the Bandidos lives in this rural neighborhood north of Houston, behind these trees and this iron gate, he's never has allowed cameras inside, until now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here, you guys. You hungry? Come on.

LAVANDERA: It's interesting to come out here. It is real peaceful and quiet out here. In a lot of ways, your life is not that quiet and peaceful right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not right now it isn't, but it has been for a decade.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Jeff Pike has worn the Bandidos vest for more than 35 years and he has been their national president for the last ten.

JEFF PIKE, PRESIDENT OF THE "BANDIDOS": The new Bandidos are not the old ones. We get along with everybody, except one.

LAVANDERA: That's the one we are about.

PIKE: Correct.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: We will explore that rivalry between the Bandidos and the Cossacks, what led up to Waco. What happened that day and what's going to happen next -- Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right, be sure to watch the CNN special report, that's tomorrow night, "Biker Brawl Inside The Texas Shootout." Ed Lavandera takes us inside the inner circles of this rival motorcycle club tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific.

PAUL: Well, a former Trump executive is talking about her time with Donald Trump in this exclusive CNN interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, "NEWSROOM": How he is as a boss?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was never a boss.

WHITFIELD: How would you --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was never a boss. He was a leader.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Find out why she says the glass ceilings for women was only two feet high when it came for working for Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:52]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty-nine minutes until the top of the hour now. Search crews will be back out on the Gulf of Mexico today.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. They're resuming their search for a woman who fell off a Carnival Cruise ship. She fell from the 10th floor at 2:00 in the morning on Friday. So crews are searching a 3,000 square mile area. This is 200 miles of the coast of Galveston.

BLACKWELL: Millions of dollars may soon be on the way to help fight the Zika virus courtesy of House Republicans. Now, the GOP has resisted approving the $1.9 billion request by President Obama, but they are now preparing their own spending package. According to the chairman of House Appropriations, the measure will be introduced on Monday. It will provide a little less than $1 billion to fight the disease.

PAUL: For the first time we're hearing from the mother of James Holmes, the man who opened fire at a Colorado movie theater in 2012. He killed 12 people and injured 70 others. Remember this? Well, he is serving 12 consecutive life sentences now, and his mother, Arlene Holmes, condemns what he did and has a message about her experience during Mental Health Awareness Month. Seek help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARLENE HOLMES, MOTHER OF AURORA THEATER SHOOTER: Don't try and do like he did, and I did, which is try and just keep going, or solve everything yourself. You need the help of a professional.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: As Donald Trump moves toward general election strategy, one of his big hurdles according to polls will be appealing to women voters. CNN political reporter, Maeve Reston has a look at what he is up against.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We won with women. We love the women. We won with women. We won with men. I would rather win with women to be honest.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Leading toward an epic showdown this fall between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, vying to be the first woman president. The big question (INAUDIBLE) over that potential match-up, what's the deal with Donald Trump and women? There is a paradox there. Those who are closest to him, his daughters, his wife, some of the women who have worked for him over the years, say he has been a model father and boss, yet he has had high profile clashes with women over the years.

TRUMP: Rosie is a very self-destructive person. Rosie is basically a loser.

I think she has got a beautiful face and I think she is a beautiful woman. Blood coming out of her wherever.

RESTON: He has also written some eyebrow raising things about women in his books. At one point he claimed that women have one of the great acts of all time. "The smart ones," he wrote, "act very feminine and needy but inside they are real killers."

Now he is accusing Hillary Clinton of playing the woman card to win the White House.

TRUMP: The only card she has is the woman's card. She's got nothing else going.

RESTON: And suggesting that she has been an enabler for her husband's marital indiscretions.

So what do women, a majority of the electorate, supposed to make of all of that? In our March CNN/ORC poll, 74 percent of women viewed Trump unfavorably. And that's a trend line that's headed downward for Trump since last December. Trump hasn't signaled his strategy yet for how he intends to reverse those numbers this fall, other than to say that he would be a great president for women, and that no one respects them more than he does. [06:35:09]

So with numbers that challenging, can he pull it off? We're talking about Donald Trump we're not making any predictions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Despite that CNN poll, there is one woman who sings the praises of Donald Trump. Louis Sunshine, a former Trump executive who told our Fredricka Whitfield that the proverbial glass ceiling was nearly nonexistent with her former boss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUIS SUNSHINE, FORMER TRUMP EXECUTIVE: There was no boardroom. That's number one. The boardroom was in Donald's head. The boardroom was all of these ideas he had, the vision he had. And if you could buy into his vision and you were trustworthy and you were intelligent, and you were proactive -- proactive was the key. And you were proactive and you were dynamic, and you can hold your own, you were in it, the glass ceiling was about, if the ceiling today is -- my ceiling is 22 feet high. In my home the ceiling then could have been two feet high, maybe one foot.

Every once in a while, in your lifetime, there comes a person or an opportunity or a person with an opportunity, you know, and I am a woman. I mean, and women don't have these opportunities very often.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Before the hit TV show "Apprentice" Sunshine played a role in the real life version.

WHITFIELD: How was he as a boss?

SUNSHINE: He was never a boss.

WHITFIELD: How would (ph) you (ph) -- how would (ph) you (ph) --

SUNSHINE: He was never a boss. He was a leader. It is a lot different to have a boss than a leader. He was a leader.

He taught me. He mentored me. He showed me the way. I absorbed from Donald, I considered it --

WHITFIELD: You're impressed.

SUNSHINE: The greatest opportunity probably that I would ever have in my lifetime. That's it. I was like smitten.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: You can catch more of Ms. Sunshine's interview on "NEWSROOM" with Fredricka Whitfield this afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

BLACKWELL: President Obama gets some help from a superstar rapper with a very important message about addiction.

PAUL: And Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, opening up about the death of her husband, and learning to cope with grief.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:11]

PAUL: Forty-one minutes past the hour, and this is new for you this morning. A powerful moving speech from Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg to Berkeley graduates. She spoke for the first time about her husband's death, her grief, and about resilience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERYL SANDBERG, FACEBOOK CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: But I'm not going to tell you today what I learned in life. Today, I'm going to try to tell you what I learned in death. I've not spoken about this publicly before and it is hard. But I promise not to blow my nose on this beautiful Berkeley rose.

One year and 13 days ago, I lost my husband, Dave. His death was sudden and unexpected. We were in Mexico, celebrating a friend's 50th birthday party. I took a nap. He went to work out. What followed was the unthinkable.

I walked into a gym to find him lying on the floor. I flew home to tell my children that their father was gone. I watched his casket being lowered into the ground. For many months afterwards and at many times since, I was swallowed in the deep fog of grief, what I think of as the void. An emptiness that fills your heart and your lungs, constricts your ability to think or even to breathe.

Dave's death changed me in very profound ways. I learned about the depths of sadness and the brutality of loss. But I also learned that when life sucks you under, you can kick against the bottom, find the surface, and breathe again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Really strong woman there, isn't she? Sandberg's husband, Dave Goldberg, as you heard there, died suddenly last May when they were on vacation in Mexico.

BLACKWELL: President Obama is enlisting some superstar power in the fight against drug abuse. Mr. Obama teamed up with rapper Macklemore yesterday, for his weekly White House address. They tackled one of the issues plaguing the country, one we've discussed on this show and across the network, opioid addiction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACKLEMORE, RAPPER: Hey, everybody. I'm here with President Obama because I take this personally.

I abused prescription drugs and I have battled addiction. If I hadn't gotten the help that I needed when I needed it, I definitely would not be here today. And I want to help others facing the same challenges than I did. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Drug overdose has now taken (ph) more lives every year than traffic accidents.

Deaths from opioid overdoses have tripled since 2000. A lot of time, they're from legal drugs prescribed about a doctor. So addiction doesn't always start in some dark alley -- it often starts in a medicine cabinet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, you've heard part of the message there, and they say that also the president here calling on Congress to pass a $1.1 billion funding package as part of his budget to offer treatment to people addicted to opioids.

PAUL: Wondering what you think about this. Legendary anchor Tom Brokaw said something about the University of Alabama that had a lot of people talking this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BROKAW, FORMER NBC NEWS ANCHOR: If I were speaking at Alabama, I would have to use slower words and shorter sentences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:12]

PAUL: Oh, as you know, it is graduation season, which means massive (ph) celebrities giving advice to new grads.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Some speeches are inspiring, some not so much. Some are unforgettable. Andy Scholes is here with a couple of those.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. Good morning guys. You know the schools trying to bring in the big names to share their wisdom with all these students on graduation day.

Well, Ole Miss had former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw deliver the commencement address yesterday for their graduation. And he wasn't actually afraid to take a shot at one of the school's biggest rivals in his speech. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROKAW: I'm so relieved to be speaking to a graduating class from Ole Miss, if I were speaking at Alabama, I would have to use smaller words and shorter sentences.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Got lots of laughs in the crowd, but I'm sure there were some Alabama, I mean, it is not far, Alabama people in the crowd, saying whatever, roll tide.

BLACKWELL: You have got to play to the audience in front of you. You got to play the majority there.

PAUL: Yes --

(CROSSTALK)

SCHOLES: They loved it. Now another commencement address -- speech Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. He was at his alma mater, speaking to the grads at the University of Wisconsin.

The former Badgers had some sage advice for the 5,500 new graduates there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL WILSON, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS QUATERBACK: If you're dating a woman that's way out of your league, ask her to marry you. If you can throw a football 80 yards, for some reason, people think that's pretty cool. And if you're playing New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, and you've got 26 seconds left and you're down by four, and it's second and goal on the one-yard line, try not to throw an interception.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Good thing he can laugh about that now...

PAUL: Yes.

SCHOLES: ... because it wasn't so funny just a couple of years ago.

BLACKWELL: They laughed. I still think he feels something there.

SCHOLES: The crowd laughed.

PAUL: (INAUDIBLE). That would be your (ph) moment, you know.

SCHOLES: Maybe that's his inner therapy, just saying it over and over again.

[06:50:04]

BLACKWELL: Talk about it.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: I'm still trying to figure out how the dating thing came in (INAUDIBLE).

BLACKWELL: Oh, he is marrying Ciara. Yes.

PAUL: Oh, that's --

(CROSSTALK)

SCHOLES: Yes. So I'm guessing he feels...

PAUL: Thank you.

SCHOLES: ... that she is out of his league even though he's a superstar millionaire quarterback.

PAUL: All right. Thank you (INAUDIBLE) this morning. Thank you, Andy.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: All right, so we know beer comes in bottles...

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: ... and cans and barrels, but there's a town in Belgium. And if there is any town in which this should happen, it should be in Belgian. Transporting beer in pipes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A two-mile long beer pipe, underground. And this is where it begins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Justin Timberlake there debuting his new song "Can't Stop the Feeling." This is at Eurovision. The longest running annual international TV song competition, which I learned this morning. I guess there are many shows in that category. He was performing as a noncompetitor obviously.

PAUL: I would think so.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: I think he has the career. It turned out to be a politically charged night, though.

PAUL: Ukraine (INAUDIBLE) won the contest with a controversial song "1944." This is a song about the deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union on orders of Joseph Stalin. And Russian state media was quick to slam the song, calling it anti-Russian.

Timberlake there tweeted her -- #CantStopTheFeeling #Eurovision congrats @jamala #Ukraine.

[06:55:09]

BLACKWELL: OK. So we've of course heard of oil pipelines.

PAUL: Of course.

BLACKWELL: We've talked them about them on this show and the proposed to build some here in the country, gas pipelines as well. But have you ever heard of a beer pipeline?

PAUL: Yes, you heard it. A beer pipeline is being built in a Belgian town to transport beer from a local brewery directly to the bottling plant. CNN's Erin McLaughlin has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Bruges, Belgium, this medieval town is a tourist haven known as one of the best places to drink Belgian beer, but not much of it is made here anymore. Most of them breweries are long gone, except for De Halve Maan, the only one left within the town's walls.

MCLAUGHLIN (on camera); But this brewery had a big problem. The streets in town are simply too small to accommodate the large tanker trucks required to transport the beer from the brewery to the bottling plant, so the solution is right over here. A two-mile long beer pipe underground, and this is where it begins.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): For 160 years, Xavier Vanneste's family has been brewing beer within the walls of Bruges. The problem started back in 2010 when the brewery moved its bottling facility out of the town, creating a bottle of neck of beer trucks. He says this is the best way to keep the family tradition growing.

XAVIER VANNESTE, DE HALVE MAAN BREWERY: I think we are the very first ones to do this, yes.

MCLAUGHLIN: Engineers drilled through the town's canals and cobbled streets, all to lay a pipeline made of high-end plastic capable of transporting 4,000 liter of beer an hour.

MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): And how did the residents react?

VANNESTE: Well, the residents were quite enthusiastic actually. We received a lot of people spontaneously offering us to pass alongside their house. They just had one condition -- they wanted a tapping point, a private tapping point. But --

MCLAUGHLIN: Are you worried about people tapping into your pipeline?

VANNESTE: We are pretty sure this will technically not be possible.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): The pipeline's popularity gave Vanneste an idea -- crowd fund the project's $4.5 million price tag. He came up with a scheme to exchange donations for beer.

Local restaurateur Philippe Le Loup gave over $11,000, and now gets free beer for life.

PHILIPPE LE LOUP, POULES MOULES RESTAURANT: I like the beer. I drink it every day, but it is more for the friendship.

MCLAUGHLIN: And there is nothing like good friends and the crisp taste of freshly brewed beer. MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): The pipeline is still under construction. The beer is expected to start flowing the beginning of summer. In the meantime, let's have a taste.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Burges.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Nice assignment there (ph).

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: No kidding.

BLACKWELL: (INAUDIBLE).

PAUL: So Donald Trump once again taking center stage on "Saturday Night Live."

The cast spoofing (ph) the presumptive Republican nominee after allegations that he posed as his own publicist for decades.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but he was not the only one who...

PAUL: No.

BLACKWELL: .... was getting the "SNL" treatment. The cast (INAUDIBLE) some of his former rivals who could be his running mate. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL HAMMOND, COMEDIAN: Mr. Trump is the real life inspiration for Iron Man. Who am I? I'm his publicist, Joe Pepperoni. No, I'm not Donald Trump in disguise. This is just what classy people sound like, OK?

VANESSA BAYER, COMEDIAN: Dad, Chris Christie is here. He sort of wants to discuss potential vice-presidents. He sort of been waiting downstairs for two hours.

HAMMOND: Fine, send him in.

BOBBY MOYNIHAN, COMEDIAN: Hey, is that Joey Pepperoni I see? Seriously, though, Donald, I'm honored that you asked me to help you find your next V.P.

HAMMOND: I appreciate your help. I really do. I need someone experienced, loyal, strong.

MOYNIHAN: Yes. That sounds like somebody I know. It sounds like Chris Christie. Wait, who said that. Did you hear that? Where did that come from?

HAMMOND: Whatever.

MOYNIHAN: Yes, right.

HAMMOND: What have you got for me?

MOYNIHAN: Well, I thought one strong option could be Jeb Bush.

(LAUGHTER)

MOYNIHAN: OK, but seriously, what about Carly Fiorina?

HAMMOND: I do feel a kinship with Carly. She's also an outsider who ran a very unsuccessful business.

MOYNIHAN: She can help you with your women problem too. I mean, women look up to her.

HAMMOND: For what? She's a B-cup, tops.

(LAUGHTER)

MOYNIHAN: B-cup.

(LAUGHTER)

MOYNIHAN: That is very good.

I wish I could work for somebody as funny as you some day. OK, moving on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:00:01]

BLACKWELL: And moving on.

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: The show even mentioned some more controversial picks for vice presidency. I will have more on that in the next hour of NEW DAY.

PAUL: We are so grateful always to have you starting your morning with us.

BLACKWELL: Next hour starts right now.