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Trump: Cruz-Kasich Alliance Is "Pathetic" And "Weak"; Clinton Focusing On Trump, Sanders Not Giving Up; Philippine Terror Group Kills Canadian Hostage; Gay Rights Activist Hacked To Death In Bangladesh; Who Inherits from Prince; Prince's Spiritual Side, His Church; Beyonce's "Lemonade" an Ode to Black Women. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 26, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
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VAUSE: And so much more. Hello, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Vause.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
Another big Tuesday shaping up in the race for the White House. Voters in five northeastern states go to the polls in the coming hours, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
VAUSE: Stakes are high this time. Aren't they always? A 172 delegates are up for grabs for the Republican candidates and 384 on the Democratic side.
SESAY: Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump is blasting rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich.
VAUSE: He's especially critical of their new alliance to try and deny him the nomination, even mocking how Kasich eats. Here's Sara Murray.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In politics, because it's a rigged system, because it's a corrupt enterprise, in politics you're allowed to collude.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER (voice-over): Whether it's collusion or common sense, tonight John Kasich and Ted Cruz are teaming up to stop Donald Trump.
TRUMP: So they colluded and actually, I was happy because it shows how weak they are. It shows how pathetic they are.
MURRAY: And the real estate mogul is not impressed.
TRUMP: Then I heard this guy Cruz. He's getting killed. He's getting killed. He got so badly beaten last week, and he's getting killed generally.
MURRAY: In nearly simultaneous campaign memos Sunday night Kasich agreed to pull out of Indiana while Cruz promised to back out of Oregon and New Mexico. All in the latest ploy to stop Trump from clinching the nomination before the convention. Today Cruz is even mocking Trump's outrage.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't doubt that Donald Trump is going to scream and yell and curse and insult and probably cry and whine some as well. That has been Donald's pattern.
MURRAY: And spinning the deal as his chance to take on Trump mano-a- mano.
CRUZ: It is big news today that John Kasich has decided to pull out of Indiana, to give us a head-to-head contest with Donald Trump.
MURRAY: All as Kasich appears not quite on board with the pact. Canceling his Indiana campaign events but encouraging his supporters to stick around.
JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've never told them not to vote for me. They ought to vote for me.
MURRAY: But it's also drawing Trump's ire as the GOP front-runner figures nothing is off limits. Not even Kasich's eating habits.
KASICH: What's the issue?
TRUMP: He has a news conference all the time when he's eating. I have never seen a human being eat in such a disgusting fashion. This guy takes a pancake and he's shoving it in his mouth. It's disgusting. Do you want that for your president? I don't think so. It's disgusting.
MURRAY (on camera): Now, if Donald Trump seems particularly threatened by this latest pact between Ted Cruz and John Kasich he's certainly not letting on. On the campaign trail he laid into both of those candidates, calling them losers, calling them pathetic, and even suggesting both of them should get out of the race because they have no path to victory. Sara Murray, CNN, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Also known as Monday on the campaign. Joining us now, Dave Jacobson, a Democratic strategist and a campaign consultant for Shellman Communications.
SESAY: John Thomas, a Republican consultant and founder of Thomas Partner Strategies. Gentlemen, good to have you with us. I mean, seriously. When you look how this deal is rolling out already, it seems to be floundering. It makes them both look bad, John Kasich and Ted Cruz, doesn't it?
JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Yes. It's not even been 24 hours and it's already falling apart. They're both kind of walking back on, well, I'm not telling my voters to vote for the other guy. It's too cute by half.
I can see how when two strategists get together with the Kasich camp and the Cruz camp this sounds great in a back room. But the execution is actually a lot harder than it seems.
DAVE JACOBSON, CAMPAIGN CONSULTANT, SHELLMAN COMMUNICATIONS: I think it fans the flames of Donald Trump's narrative that the system is rigged, it's corrupt, it's not democratic. And this is just going to exacerbate the support and momentum that he's going to have going into this big again Super Tuesday tomorrow with the five voting states that he's poised to win in every single one of them.
VAUSE: This is all about Indiana, right? This is all about trying to stop Donald Trump. That's the next beachhead in trying to stop tsunami Trump from taking the Republican nomination away.
And yet we heard from both Kasich and Cruz today. Kasich saying, but I still want people to vote for me in Indiana even though Kasich won't be running there.
Trump picked up on that. He tweeted this out. "Kasich just announced he wants the people of Indiana to vote for him. Typical politician. Can't even make I deal work."
[01:05:02]And you know, that's the point, isn't it? This isn't really sticking. It's kind of falling apart already. These guys can't even agree on where the votes are going to go.
THOMAS: Yes, let's not forget early voting's already been happening. So the voters already have been casting their votes for Kasich if you're a Kasich voter. But let's not -- forget you that can't just tell your voters to go somewhere else.
If you're a diehard Kasich fan, you may not agree. You're probably a moderate. You may not like Ted Cruz's hard right politics. It just doesn't translate that simply.
And let's not forget, 100 percent of Kasich's voters aren't going to go to one candidate. It's foreseeable that Trump will get a portion of those voters.
SESAY: Yes. And the bigger issue of party unity, this just goes down the road of like tearing at that fabric, Dave.
JACOBSON: Right. The party's still in the identity crisis mode. But I think more than anything this was sort of a smoke signal to the super PACs to say hey, guys, lay off of John Kasich, embrace Ted Cruz, double down on the anti-Trump movement, pour all the money behind him with the hopes this is the last stand opportunity. Ted Cruz represents to sort of blunt Donald Trump's momentum. VAUSE: John, I've asked this question before with other states, but if they can't stop Trump in Indiana is that then all over? I mean, they've been down this road before.
THOMAS: Yes, I know. The final nail in the coffin is California, of course. Indiana would be a big death blow to the never Trump movement. I think we're finally at that --
VAUSE: If he cleans up in Indiana.
THOMAS: If he wins and he cleans up. Now, this is like the five stages of grief, the last being acceptance. We're pretty much at that acceptance stage and the point is right. If we don't coalesce. And even if Trump comes up just shy, you're going to go into the convention very fractured if you don't get behind one candidate.
SESAY: Will the deal survive to California?
THOMAS: I don't think so. In fact, you saw last night, they seriously didn't talk about who gets California.
SESAY: Exactly.
JACOBSON: And look, California's going to be broken up by congressional district. If these guys were smart about the strategy moving forward, they'd divvy up the state and say you go for this congressional district, I'll go for that one. It's all going to come down to ground operation.
Even Democratic districts are worth the same amount of delegates in California the Republicans are. That's where the play that I think they've got to embrace if they're serious.
THOMAS: The problem is, look, I'm a strategist. This is what I do for a living and that hurts my head to think about it. What are the voters going to do? I live in this district and I'm supposed to vote for who? It's hard.
VAUSE: I'm glad you mentioned the Democratic side of things because Hillary Clinton is shifting her focus to Trump and the general election.
SESAY: But Bernie Sanders, he isn't surrendering just yet.
VAUSE: Stay with us.
SESAY: Brianna Keilar has the day's wrap-up and we'll talk on the other side.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the eve of primaries in five states, Hillary Clinton is taking aim at Donald Trump.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump says wages are too high in America and he doesn't support raising the minimum wage, and I have said come out of those towers named for yourself and actually talk and listen to people.
KEILAR: Clinton ratcheting up her attacks on the GOP frontrunner at a campaign stop in Delaware.
CLINTON: Don't just fly that big jet in and land it and go make a big speech and insult everybody you can think of. And then go back, get on that big jet and go back to, you know, your country club house in Florida or your penthouse in New York.
KEILAR: She's trying to position herself as the unifying alternative to Trump. Releasing an ad called "love and kindness."
CLINTON: America is stronger when we are all supporting one another.
KEILAR: But as Clinton looks to the general election, practically ignoring Bernie Sanders in her stump speech, Sanders is fully engaged in his primary battle. Hitting Clinton in Connecticut today.
BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me take a moment to talk about some of the differences between Secretary Clinton and myself. For a start, I am very proud to come before you and tell you I do not have a super PAC.
KEILAR: Trailing considerably in the pledged delegate count, Sanders pushed back on critics who say he can't catch up to Clinton on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."
SANDERS: I think we do have a path to victory. I think we have come a very, very long way in the last year. And we're going to fight for every last vote until the -- until California and the D.C. primary.
KEILAR: As Clinton faces criticism from Sanders, she's getting consideration from an unlikely place. Conservative mega donor and billionaire, Charles Koch. He said Sunday it's possible Clinton could be better than the GOP nominee.
CHARLES KOCH, CHAIRMAN, KOCH INDUSTRIES: We would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric. Let me put it that way. On some of the Republican candidates before we could support them we'd have to believe their actions would be quite different than the rhetoric we've heard so far.
KEILAR: But Clinton was quick to respond, tweeting "not interested in endorsements from people who deny climate science and try to make it harder for people to vote." Brianna Keilar, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Dave Jacobson and John Thomas still with us to talk more about the Democratic side of the race.
[01:10:03]OK. So the theory now is that, you know, Bernie Sanders is hanging in there to get some kind of input into the party platform come the convention. The more delegates he has the more leverage he has.
But Hillary Clinton, when she was asked specifically about this a couple of hours ago, about accommodating the Sanders campaign, she has ruled that out.
She told MSNBC that when she ran against Barack Obama back in 2008 and lost she did not make any demands in exchange for her support.
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CLINTON: I did not put down conditions. I didn't say, you know what, if Senator Obama does x, y, and z, maybe I'll support him. I said I am supporting Senator Obama because no matter what our differences might be, they pale in comparison to the differences between us and the Republicans.
That's what I did. At that time 40 percent of my supporters said they would not support him. So from the time I withdrew until the time I nominated him. I nominated him at the convention in Denver.
I spent an enormous amount of time convincing my supporters to support him and I'm happy to say the vast majority did. That is what I think one does. That is certainly what I did, and I hope that we will see the same this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Dave, it seems to me the Democratic Party's in a much different place than it was eight years ago. So can she actually rule out accommodating Sanders in any way?
JACOBSON: I think she's getting a little ahead of herself. She's got 82 percent of the delegates going into tomorrow's big Tuesday election.
She's poised to do well in a lot of the big delegate-rich states, Pennsylvania, Maryland. She could very well have 90 percent of the delegates moving forward.
That's not the conversation Hillary Clinton ought to have with the Bernie Sanders supporters. This is something that we saw in 2008 where Senator Dianne Feinstein sort of brought Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama together to make peace.
Perhaps that's a role that President Obama or Joe Biden or some other leaders in the party, perhaps Elizabeth Warren could have. I don't think that's a conversation that she should be having out there in the public. It's going to alienate the Bernie Sanders supporters rather than bring them into the fold.
SESAY: Hillary addressing Bernie Sanders right there in the MSNBC town hall, but really she's been stumping in recent days it's really been a general election strategy she's been employing.
And we saw in that clip from Brianna Keilar her taking a line of attack against Trump's lifestyle, his lavish lifestyle. Is that a good road to go down in terms of trying to take on Trump?
THOMAS: Not when you live in a glass house. I mean, the fact is she is fabulously wealthy. Maybe not quite as much of a billionaire as Donald Trump is. But Donald Trump I'm sure is welcoming that attack because Donald Trump's created jobs.
I don't know a job that Hillary Clinton has ever created. Look, what we can get into this dangerous road about the lavish lifestyle and the perks that she's lived. I don't think she wants to walk down that road. If she does, it will be a huge mistake.
VAUSE: Dave, what would you be telling Secretary Clinton?
JACOBSON: Look, she's got some major vulnerabilities when it comes to the Wall Street issue, particularly because Bernie Sanders has been knocking her on the campaign contributions to a super PAC from Wall Street and because she hasn't released her Wall Street speech transcripts.
I think she's fundamentally got to pivot away to those issues and highlight the fact that Donald Trump is anti-woman, anti-minority, anti-Muslim, anti-Latino. Those are the issues she's going to win the dialogue on, not necessarily on the wealthy Wall Street narrative.
SESAY: We shall see. Big Super Tuesday.
VAUSE: Dave and John, thanks for being with us.
SESAY: Thanks, guys.
VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, a terror group linked to al Qaeda has killed a hostage who was kidnapped last September. We'll have reaction from Canada and the Philippines just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
SESAY: Plus, growing concern in Bangladesh after another brutal and deadly attack in the capital. The details just ahead in a live report.
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[01:15:51]
DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Don Riddell with your CNN world sport headlines. On the day, Juventus won the Italian league without even kicking a ball. Leicester City's quest for the English premier league also got a boost in much the same way.
That's because spurs dropped two points at home to West Brom in a 1-1 draw. The Londoners hitting the woodwork three times. It means Leicester can win the league if they beat Manchester United and Old Trafford on Sunday.
The good news for the Golden State Warriors is that they can wrap up their playoff series against the Houston Rockets at home on Wednesday. But here's the bad news, superstar, Steph Curry got injured again. An MRI scan on Monday revealed no serious damage to his sprained right knee, but a Grade 1 sprain could mean he's out for two weeks.
News of an imminent decision is expected regarding England's worst football tragedy. For the past two years in a courtroom in the northwest of England a specially convened inquest has been trying to work out what happened at Hillsborough Stadium on the 15th of April, 1989.
On that day during the F.A. Cup semifinal against Nottingham Forest, 96 of Liverpool's fans were crushed to death. Nobody has ever been held responsible for what took place, but after hearing 267 days of evidence a jury of nine people has reached its findings.
Those findings will be presented to the court on Tuesday and we will of course keep you posted here on CNN. That is a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.
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SESAY: The Philippine terror group, Abu Sayyaf, has killed a Canadian hostage. John Ridsdel was one of four people kidnapped by the group last September. They killed him when a ransom deadline passed.
VAUSE: It's not clear what will happen to the other hostages or if they're even still safe. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed that he intends to bring the killers to justice.
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JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Canada condemns without reservation the brutality of the hostage takers and this unnecessary death. This was an act of cold-blooded murder, and responsibility rests squarely with the terrorist group who took him hostage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, CNN's Asia Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, is live in Hong Kong and joins us now. Andrew, we're getting more reaction to the killing of John Ridsdel. I understand we're now hearing from the Philippine government. What more can you tell us?
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR: That's right, Isha. The Department of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement extending their deepest sympathies to both the family of Mr. Ridsdel and also to the Canadian government and the people of Canada for what it calls a cruel and inhuman act.
And the government also reiterating its -- that it will continue its fight against what it calls terrorism in all its forms.
Now, Mr. Ridsdel was taken along with three other hostages from Samor Island, which is in the southern part of the Philippines back in September of last year. There had been repeated ransom demands which had not been met. Deadlines came and went. Until last month, a video surfaced from Abu Sayyaf, which showed three of the western hostages.
The two Canadians and the Norwegian man in a very emaciated state pleading for their lives. And Abu Sayyaf said at the end of that video that they would kill the hostages if the deadline was not met within a month.
Well, we now know that deadline did pass today and about five hours after the deadline was passed, Isha, the head of Mr. Ridsdel was found in Jolo town, which is on the island of Jolo, which is a particularly restive part of the Southern Philippines and a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf.
SESAY: And Andrew, are we learning any more about efforts to secure the release of John Ridsdel? Were there negotiations? How far did they get? What are we hearing?
STEVENS: There were negotiations but the hostage takers put a very, very high price on the freedom of the hostages.
[01:20:04]It was 1 billion pesos. That's the local currency. That converts to about $21 million per hostage. The governments of both Canada and the Philippines made it clear fairly early on, Isha, that they would not be involved in hostage negotiations, ransom negotiations if you like, would not pay ransom.
So it was left to the families. Now, we understand that local reports say that the ransom came down by around about a third to about $6.5 million per hostage, but there was still no way.
And this is from friends of Mr. Ridsdel, saying that there was no way that the families could afford that sort of payment. So with no payment in sight and the deadline passed, this is the result of that.
But certainly the governments have made it clear from pretty much the beginning that they would not be involved in negotiating ransom for hostages -- Isha.
SESAY: Very sad outcome. Andrew Stevens joining us live from Hong Kong. Andrew, appreciate it. Thank you.
VAUSE: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is condemning the brutal machete hacking of two men in Bangladesh. One of the victims worked for the U.S. agency, International Development.
He was also the editor of Bangladesh's first and only lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender magazine. These killings are the latest in a series of similar attacks in the capital city of Dhaka.
SESAY: On Sunday, police detained a student linked to the ambush and stabbing of a university professor at a bus stop. An official with Amnesty International says the attacks underscore the lack of security for peaceful activists in the country. VAUSE: Senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, joins me now live for more details on this. And Ivan, so many in Bangladesh are now living in fear.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A climate of fear there, John. This is the third liberal activist, or intellectual to have been murdered with machetes in Bangladesh just this month.
The 35-year-old Johash Mannan (ph), an employee for USAID, also a gay rights activist, the White House put out a statement condemning the attack and saying that he set an example of dignity, courage, and selflessness in his country.
Now this has been a growing pattern of violence and the people who are carrying out these attacks have particular anger and viciousness targeting atheist bloggers in the country.
And the campaign of real terror has prompted dozens of these atheists to flee the country.
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WATSON (voice-over): The 25-year-old atheist blogger, Anano Azad (ph) fled his home in Bangladesh last year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to meet you. How are you?
WATSON: Soon after arriving here in Germany, he says he ended up on the top of this hit list published by Islamist extremists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the ISIS flag here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says we do not forget, we do not forgive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WATSON: These online threats are not virtual reality. In the capital of Bangladesh attackers with machetes have murdered at least six atheist bloggers and secular publishers over the last 14 months.
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent claimed responsibility for the most recent murder, citing the victim's Facebook posts as justification for the killing.
Among the dozens of atheists who have now fled Bangladesh, Azad and two other online activists, all exiles in Germany.
(on camera): What do you write about?
ANANYA AZAD, BLOGGER: I wrote -- I criticized the Islamic militants. I criticized our government.
WATSON: Azad knows firsthand the dangers of angering extremists.
AZAD: In 2004 my father was attacked by Islamic militants.
WATSON: This is your father covered in blood.
AZAD: Yes.
WATSON (voice-over): His father, Huma Yun (ph), a famous atheist writer, died soon after. Even though he continues to receive daily death threats, Azad says he won't stop publicly criticizing Islamist extremism, in part to honor his father.
Atheist blogger, Asif Moihudin (ph), still goes live on Facebook even though in 2013, he was ambushed on his way to work in Bangladesh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three people came from behind and started -- they tried to cut my head from my neck.
WATSON (on camera): They were using what weapons?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like big machete.
WATSON (voice-over): He barely survived. Just three months later, Bangladeshi authorities shut down Moihudin's blog and sent him to jail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They arrested me for blasphemy.
WATSON: A top government official says atheists like Moihudin have no business insulting religion.
ANISUL HUQ, MINISTER FOR LAW, JUSTICE AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS: Reasonable criticism is acceptable. But unreasonable, abusive language is difficult to accept.
WATSON: During his three-month jail stint, Moihudin had a chilling encounter with another prisoner.
[01:25:03]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I said, no, who are you? I don't know you. And then he told me that I am the one who stabbed you that night.
WATSON: Moihudin says that man was one of several suspects arrested after his attack. Police tell CNN that suspect is currently in jail awaiting trial in connection with the suspected machete murder of another atheist blogger, Niloy Nil (ph) in 2015.
(on camera): Did you have tea with the man who tried to kill you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. He told me he left Islam, so the Sharia punishment for apostasy of Islam is death penalty. And I told him that OK, so I'm still alive, so what are you going to do now? And he told me he will try again, when he will get out of the prison he will try again.
WATSON (voice-over): Bangladeshi officials insist they will bring the murderers of atheists to justice. Meanwhile, from exile Moihudin says he still faces criminal charges in Bangladesh for insulting religion. (on camera): When will it be safe for you to go back to your country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the government tell us very clear message that writing is not a crime, expressing one's view is not a crime. Killing people is crime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: John and Isha, these were atheist bloggers, but it is now very clear that this campaign of violence is growing against liberal voices in this majority Muslim country.
Let me just read an excerpt from a blog posted by this latest victim, Xalhan Mannan in an Indian LGBT magazine in which he described the challenges of being an openly gay man in Bangladesh.
He asked, quote, "Is it really will wise and safe to come out here? Will the families and friends ever try to understand the feelings of a gay person as my own experience as a self-identified gay man, I strongly believe not all is lost. There's still hope. There's still scope for optimism."
And he warned about a backlash against the fledgling LGBT rights movement in Bangladesh and tragically appears to have possibly become a victim because of that backlash -- John and Isha.
VAUSE: Ivan Watson, that's an incredible report. Thank you for that. Ivan Watson live for us in Hong Kong.
SESAY: It's truly terrifying.
VAUSE: It's unbelievable.
SESAY: It really is.
Now we're going to take a quick break. Much of the world knew Prince as a pop star with a flamboyant flair. But for a small congregation in Minneapolis he was just a shy man who went by Brother Nelson. That story just ahead.
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[01:31:12] SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Thanks for staying with us. I'm John Vause. Let's check the headlines this hour.
(HEADLINES)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: It could be weeks before we know what caused Prince's death. According to authorities and the singer's publicist, the 57-year-old was found dead at his Paisley Park studios on Thursday.
SESAY: His death came about a week after his private plane made an emergency landing in Illinois. He was reportedly rushed to a hospital but then continued home to Minneapolis.
The Federal Aviation Administration released the 911 call on Monday.
(BEGIN AUDI FEED)
911 OPERATOR: What's the nature of the emergency?
CALLER: An unresponsive passenger.
911 OPERATOR: Is it a male or female passenger?
CALLER: It's a male passenger.
(END AUDIO FEED)
VAUSE: Another big question is who will inherit Prince's millions? For more on that, we're joined by criminal defense attorney, Darren Kavinoky.
Darren, thanks for being here.
SESAY: Hello.
DARREN KAVINOKY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: This is incredible to believe. So far, apparently, at least according to a number of reports, there is no will, which is extraordinary given just how meticulous Prince was in all of his dealings. So we go to a situation now, if that is the case, parents are dead, his one sister, couple of half-sisters, half-brothers. Who gets what and who decides that?
KAVINOKY: So generally speaking when somebody dies without a will there are laws that are referred to, intestate succession. And every state has its own formula that's applied. And first, it basically goes to close relatives. And as you pointed out, John, parents are gone, there's no known children. And so it appears that the real beneficiary here, if it's true in fact there is no will, will be the sister. She'll be able to control not only whatever the assets are now but also future decisions about --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Future earnings.
KAVINOKY: Exactly. Future earnings, which can be enormous, as we've seen with other pop stars that have passed such as Michael Jackson, who reportedly has earned something like a billion dollars --
VAUSE: Just sold --
(CROSSTALK)
KAVINOKY: -- since the time of his death.
SESAY: The sister stands to gain here. She's the only full-blooded relative. The rest are half siblings.
KAVINOKY: Right.
SESAY: Do they still have a claim? Could they mount a legal challenge if there is indeed no will?
KAVINOKY: Well, certainly we see in cases, especially where there's a significant amount of money at play, that people will launch challenges. But these things are fairly well settled in terms of the formula that's applied when there is no will.
Oftentimes, though, I'd be shocked if it turned out there was no either will or trust. And typically in the case of high-net worth individuals there will be a trust that will dictate not only where the money goes and where all the assets go but it will also keep it out of the public eye. That's one of the benefits of having a trust, is that things done privately. They don't have to go through probate court. In this particular case, it will be managed by the court if in fact there is no will.
VAUSE: Let's assume they find a will. And let's assume Prince decides to leave everything to the church, Jehovah Witnesses. Could the sister then challenge that? Can she sue? Can she say, that's not right, I'm entitled to a cut of this?
[01:35:15] KAVINOKY: Well, certainly people do mount those kinds of challenges.
VAUSE: What grounds could she have, though?
KAVINOKY: That's going to depend on some very specific facts. It would have to be that he made some representation to her. There would have to be something --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Like a relationship between the two of them? Or more than that?
SESAY: When you say representation, what do you mean? He said something to her?
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: Because if they had this conversation as to the value of the spoken word versus something written down.
KAVINOKY: And here when we're talking about how somebody's assets are to be disposed of after their passing, we're talking about documents that, generally speaking, have to be memorialized in writing. And if Prince did, to speak to your hypothetical, if he did decide to leave all of his assets to charity, then that's something that, generally speaking, would be honored. I mean, we all do have that right to dispose of our assets as we want.
And I think the real takeaway for anybody that hasn't done their own estate planning, is that this is something that should be handled well in advance. These are the kinds of decisions --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Sooner rather than later.
KAVINOKY: Sooner rather than later, really. Because it becomes very, very messy. And how many times have we seen it where especially when there's big dollars at stake --
VAUSE: It gets mean and nasty.
KAVINOKY: That's when it gets mean and nasty. And all the relatives come out and say, oh, I was promised this or that.
SESAY: He told me when we met at Christmas time that --
(CROSSTALK)
KAVINOKY: You bet.
But as it stands right now -- we're still early on. So a will or trust could certainly surface. But the way it looks right now, it looks like the sister is the one that's ultimately going to be in control.
VAUSE: Darren, thank you.
KAVINOKY: Of course.
SESAY: Darren, thank you very much.
KAVINOKY: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: And we have learned a lot over the past few days about Prince's generosity towards charity. He also had a very spiritual side.
SESAY: CNN's Kyung Lah visited his church to find out more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Isha, the people who are still continuing to show up here at Prince's home, know him and love him as a pop star. But for the people who worshiped with him, the members of his congregation, they don't know him as a pop star, they know him as a completely different man.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (SINGING)
LAH: Prince, the mega pop star known for this --
(SINGING)
(MUSIC)
LAH: -- was best known here singing these religious songs. This is a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall St. Louis Park congregation, Prince's home church for the past decade.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel it deeply. It's a sad loss.
LAH (on camera): For you, though, what is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a brother. Simply a brother.
LAH (voice-over): A brother in a little-understood religion. Prince was baptized in 2003 and embraced it.
The congregation invited CNN into this first service after Prince's death, sharing stories of a starkly different man than the one we know.
(on camera): He never acted like Prince the pop star?
JAMES LUNDSTROM, ELDER, JEHOVAH'S WITNESS KINGDOM HALL, ST. LOUIS PARK MALE: At the kingdom hall? Never. No. His dress would be very similar to what I'm wearing as well. Nothing flamboyant.
LAH: Elder James Lundstrom says he befriended Prince 14 years ago.
(on camera): Tell me about Prince as a witness.
LUNDSTROM: Oh, he would go door to door knocking on doors just like -- you're familiar with what our ministry is. A woman probably in her early 40s I would say. Says nice presentation. Then in the middle of it the woman says, excuse me, but has anybody ever told you, you look a lot like Prince? He just looks at her and said "it's been said." But going back to my ministry here --
LAH (voice-over): Here, Prince asked to go by Brother Nelson, his legal last name, dutifully knocking on doors monthly, studying his Bible, marking it with post-it notes. This conservative group, some who admit they've never heard of or danced to "Let's Go Crazy," are fiercely protective of their brother and the faith.
They tell us Prince looked healthy when he attended services last month. Prince last seen two weeks ago at his Atlanta concert walking with a cane reportedly suffered from hip problems that required surgery. Jehovah's Witness members forbidden to receive blood transfusions say that belief had nothing to do with Prince's death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody said he couldn't get surgery. Absolutely not. We're not anti-medicine. In fact, we go out of our way to find the
best medical care that we can.
LAH: A religion of eight million believers around the world, calls of sympathy and grief over Prince's loss have been pouring into this church. The only solace, the witnesses believe Prince will return to them.
LUNDSTROM: We expect Brother Nelson to be resurrected here on earth just like the Bible says. When Jehovah cleanses this earth of all its evil through resurrection we're going to welcome him back, and in flesh and blood like you and I are talking right now. It's a deep, deep belief that we have.
(SINGING)
LAH (on camera): The autopsy results are still pending. It could still be weeks before we know a cause of death -- John, Isha?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:40:28]VAUSE: Kyung Lah, thank you for that.
SESAY: Thank you, Kyung.
VAUSE: Short break. When we come back, Beyonce fans are unraveling her new album and some are calling "Lemonade" an ode to black women. We'll take a closer look at the singer's themes of love, freedom, and empowerment in just a moment.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. I like that.
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SESAY: Hello, everyone. An inquest into Britain's worst sporting disaster is finally coming to an end. A jury is expected to announce its decision Tuesday on the Hillsborough disaster.
VAUSE: 27 years ago, 96 people died and 400 were injured when they were crushed while standing in part of the Hillsborough stadium in the city of Sheffield. The inquiry began in 2014 after an earlier inquest was quashed. The central questions for the jury, though, remain the same. Why did the fans die, and were they unlawfully killed?
SESAY: The National Football League has won its appeal in the infamous Deflategate case. New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, can now get a four-game suspension.
VAUSE: The NFL accused Brady of conspiring with assistants to deflate footballs to gain a competitive advantage, which Brady denies.
U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump, weighed in. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First of all, let's start by saying leave Tom Brady alone. Leave him alone.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The NFL has not said if it will now enforce the suspension.
SESAY: Basketball star, Steph Curry, will sit out for several weeks after injuring his knee on Sunday night. The reigning MVP and the Golden State Warriors are trying to defend their championship title.
[01:45:10] VAUSE: That makes this a bad time for Curry to suffer an MCL sprain. Warriors G.M. Bob Myers says there's no definite timeline for his return.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MYERS, GOLD STATE WARRIORS GENERAL MANAGER: We know in this day and age people want timelines. We want them, too. So we said two weeks. But that's no guarantee that it will be in two weeks. It might be after two weeks. Might be before. But I think it will be somewhere in that range hopefully. At this point it's just a guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The NBA finals are in June so that leaves Curry a little bit of time to recover, if his team can get there without him.
SESAY: We're going to take a quick break. Beyonce's unapologetically candid on her new album "Lemonade" cataloging black women's struggles through lyrics of freedom and empowerment. We'll have more on her message next.
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(SINGING)
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(WEATHER REPORTER)
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[01:49:53] SESAY: Beyonce goes from the deeply personal to the political, in her new album "Lemonade." The tracks touch on jealousy, empowerment, vulnerability and freedom. Some are calling it an ode to black women.
VAUSE: Beyonce released an hour-long visual album on HBO Saturday night, showcasing a series of stylized music videos connected through spoken word. And fans and critics alike are still trying to work out what it all means.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We're joined now by entertainment journalist, Segun Odoulowu, and E News! correspondent, Zuri Hall.
Good to have you with us.
That clip from Beyonce's "Hold Up," liberated.
(CROSSTALK)
ZURI HALL, E. NEWS! CORRESPONDENT: Makes you want to ping a baseball bat, huh?
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: You want to pick up a baseball bat?
(CROSSTALK)
SEGUN ODOULOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: And you want to pick up a baseball bat.
SESAY: Talk to me about the departure here for Beyonce. Just that, in and of itself, Beyonce expressing some anger and some rage and breaking some things.
ODOULOWU: Listen, this is the same woman that sang at the inauguration of the president of the United States. To say now she's gotten political or -- this is par for the course. She's already been big-time.
I love the fact she was strong, she was fierce, she was beautiful and she was free. And I think she's giving a lot of women the ability to do that as well. And I think they're all loving --
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: You look afraid when you said that.
ODOULOWU: I am vaguely afraid because --
(CROSSTALK)
ODOULOWU: Because all of a sudden, women are like, you didn't call five minutes ago, who's Becky with the straight hair? You know, where's this good -- look. Beyonce's made it very dangerous to be a strong black man right now.
(CROSSTALK)
HALL: She has not made it difficult to be a strong black man? Is that what you said?
ODOULOWU: Well, no.
HALL: that's what you said.
(CROSSTALK)
ODOULOWU: She made it difficult for you to cheat. That's all she's made it difficult for.
(CROSSTALK)
ODOULOWU: The other woman helps the world go round.
SESAY: Oh, God.
Zuri, this album, aside from it touching on what could be the state of her personal affairs, we mentioned it being about the black woman, but it's also overtly political in the sense it brings together the mothers, some boys, some men who died at the hands of white police officers in recent months here in the United States.
Let's put up their images.
What did you think of that move to include Sybrina Fulton, Lesley McFadden and -- we're talking about the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner. What did you think of that?
HALL: I love that she did that. I feel like she didn't have to. And there are some people who are suggesting she did this for commercial gain, she did this for views, for money, for dollars. I completely disagree. I feel like a Beyonce album is going to sell regardless of what she puts out. And the idea this visual album is the story of a black woman, the black woman and her plight, I think that's a very big part of the story, the fact that a lot of single mothers, some not, are losing their young black boys and sometimes at the hands of police brutality. And to include that in her story I think was brave and bold and good.
ODOULOWU: Anyone who has a problem with it, I have a problem with, because these mothers who lost their sons didn't get the same amount of air time as the dentist that killed Cecil the lion. So like when black -- we're talking about black lives matter and all lives matter. But when you have a picture of a mom whose son has died too soon and people have a problem that she's overdramatizing it, I don't think you can dramatize it enough.
Remember just -- if you remember the cases, I mean, they were political hotbeds. Like everyone talked about them and the atrocities of what those cops did and the outrage. So for Beyonce to use her pulpit and use her voice and use this imagery to bring attention to, it God bless her for that because people aren't doing it.
VAUSE: How happy is Jay-Z right now?
(CROSSTALK) VAUSE: Tidal, his streaming service where this is available, it's now number 1 back up on the apps. But you know, not exactly a good night for Jay-Z, was it?
ODOULOWU: No. God, no. It wasn't.
(CROSSTALK)
HALL: It's not a bad night for Jay-Z. First of all, it isn't about jay. This is about Beyonce's celebration.
SESAY: We're talking about Jay-Z.
VAUSE: But they're a team.
HALL: Exactly. And that's why I'm not worried about Jay-Z and Jay- Z's not worried about Jay-Z if you ask me because at the end of the day they are a team and I feel like this is a conversation that was had. There was a private listening session that was arranged. I don't think there's anything that she's sharing with us that he didn't feel comfortable with her sharing.
VAUSE: They guard their privacy so much. Why did they do this? This is a public display of unhappiness.
ODOULOWU: Thank you. They're the Claire and Frank Underwood --
(CROSSTALK)
HALL: They're so effective.
ODOULOWU: Right. But they're the House of cards. This is what they do. They've guarded their privacy. Which is why publicity stunt -- why open yourself up now? You've never done it before. Why do it now?
[01:55:16]HALL: Why not? There's always a point as an artist you develop, you grow, you evolve.
ODOULOWU: You're allowed to change.
HALL: Exactly.
SESAY: Speaking of change, before we go I want to just flag something that Piers Morgan said. He put it in a British newspaper. And let's put up this quote. I want you guys to respond to this. He is not happy with this whole situation, Beyonce's expression. He says, "The new Beyonce wants to be seen as a black woman political activist first and foremost, entertainer and musician second." He goes on to say to the effect of "I still think she's a wonderful singer and performer, and some of the music on Lemonade is fantastic." There's a "but" coming here. We all know that. "But I have to be honest, I preferred the old Beyonce, the less inflammatory, agitating one."
ODOULOWU: Go first.
HALL: Really quickly. Once we get to you, I have a feeling there's no coming back.
ODOULOWU: Go first.
HALL: But I want to say, in that he also referenced the idea that he liked the Beyonce from about five years ago, that's when he was able to talk with her, whenever it was. And the idea that five years later you'll still be the same person, I hope I'm not the same person five years from now that I am today. And the idea that Beyonce cannot evolve, cannot change not just as a person but as an artist and decide to speak out and be political and use her platform and her voice for good, that's what disturbs me, the fact that he thinks that's a bad thing. It represents this bigger idea that we can have a seat at the table as long as we make the other people at that table comfortable with it. And --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Time. We're out. Sorry.
(LAUGHTER)
HALL: Oh!
VAUSE: You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. Thanks, everybody.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay.
The news continues with Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett right after this.
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