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New Day

Remembering Prince, Dead at 57; Trump Has a 'Different Persona' in Private; Sanders Admits He Has 'Hard Path' to Nomination. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired April 22, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

(MUSIC: PRINCE, "PURPLE RAIN")

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

[07:00:20] CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome back to your NEW DAY. Alisyn is off. John Berman is with Michaela, and me and we are telling a very sad story this morning. The mystery surrounding the death of music royalty, a man who was a pioneer in music, in style, in the industry and production. Prince, dead at just 57.

Tributes, of course, pouring in from millions of fans the world over. The globe apparently bathed in purple now that this splendid reign has ended.

PEREIRA: There only was one Prince. Throughout the morning we're going to pay tribute to his music and his legacy. What were those final days like for him, and were there health issues battling him?

We begin our coverage with CNN's Stephanie Elam. She's live in Minneapolis -- outside of Minneapolis in Paisley Park, the estate where he died -- Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Michaela, I am just sitting here thinking about what the effect Prince had on the world. If you look at how Twitter's responded, how social media is responding, how the conversation about the race for the White House dimmed for just a second, because everyone has some recollection of a Prince song that may have touched them or moved them, and that is why across the world you see so many people responding to the loss of this icon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (voice-over): This morning, medical examiners working to determine the cause of death for music legend Prince, beginning with an autopsy to be performed later today.

PRINCE, MUSICIAN: I wanted my music, as even now, to speak loudest for me.

ELAM: Prince was found unresponsive inside an elevator at his Paisley Park estate Thursday morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Person down, not breathing. ELAM: Medics dispatched to his home performed CPR but failed to revive him, pronouncing 57-year-old Prince Rogers Nelson dead at 10:07 a.m. As fans mourned his death, this rainbow appeared over the artist's home, perhaps a symbol of the purple reign that has now passed.

(MUSIC: PRINCE, "PURPLE RAIN")

ELAM: This video shows Prince performing one of his most famous songs just one week ago in Atlanta. His flight home forced to make an emergency landing in Illinois, where he was hospitalized briefly for what his publicist said were flu-like symptoms and dehydration.

Prince was a musical genius. The Minneapolis native's signature sound catapulting him to international super stardom...

(MUSIC: PRINCE, "RASPBERRY BERET")

PEREIRA: ... earning him seven Grammys. And his flamboyant style defined a generation.

(MUSIC: PRINCE, "1999")

ELAM: A heartbroken Stevie Wonder remembering his friend in an interview with Anderson Cooper last night.

STEVIE WONDER, MUSICIAN: I think I would probably break down if I do a song right now. I'm just glad that I was able to say to him "I love you" the last time I saw him.

ELAM: Celebrities around the world sharing their shock and memories. Whoopi Goldberg tweeting, "This is what it sounds like when doves cry."

(MUSIC: PRINCE, "WHEN DOVES CRY")

ELAM: Madonna writing, "He changed the world. A true visionary."

His death even garnering a statement from President Obama. "Prince did it all. Funk. R&B. Rock and roll. He was a virtuous instrumentalist, a brilliant band leader and an electrifying performer."

Fans gathering throughout the night to celebrate the singer's life and music. From his home in Minneapolis, to Brooklyn, where Spike Lee hosted a block party, calling all fans to join him in Fort Greene.

SPIKE LEE, FILM DIRECTOR: We're all stunned by his sudden death, but he's still here in the spiritual form.

ELAM: Landmarks across the country going purple to honor the music legend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And to see Prince live was something special. I saw him in Madison Square Garden when I still lived in New York, and I could look around and see so many celebrities in the audience who were just transfixed by his magic.

Take a look here at Paisley Park. There's a makeshift memorial that has been growing here. As the sun is starting to come out here over Paisley Park, some people coming out to pay their respects. It continues today as people remember him.

And Michaela, Chris and John, this is one of those moments in time where people will always remember where they were, when Prince passed away, because his music so -- affected so many people, even if they didn't know it, because he wrote so many songs for other artists, as well.

BERMAN: Most of us knew him, though. Most of us knew just how much we loved the music so well. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much.

[07:05:06] Joining us now with their remembrances of the man who was a musical force of nature, Michaela Angela Davis, cultural critic and Prince's former stylist; also with us Mark Goodman, host of "The Big '80s" an Sirius XM Radio, one of the original MTV veejays.

Michaela, I have to clear the air. A stylist? How is someone a stylist to someone who is, in fact, styled?

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, CULTURAL CRITIC: You know, let me -- make the record clear. I wasn't his stylist like they are today. I worked with him. He brings creative people in to work on projects just like a band, and so I worked with him, ironically, in 1999, during about a year during that span.

And so he was -- he was one of those people where you can't nail down his style, because he kept changing and he kept moving. And it was lace one day and tunics another day, and, like, raincoats and midriffs. Like, this is the only dude that could wear a midriff and take your girl. Right? You know what I mean? I mean, it was...

PEREIRA: He always got the girl, and he had more lace on than we did.

DAVIS: Or in a G-string...

PEREIRA: Right.

DAVIS: ... and curls.

CUOMO: All in one moment.

DAVIS: Because it was -- all of the intersections all at once. He embodied so many -- he challenged you on so many levels, but made it look effortless.

And when we worked together, it was -- and I think what he was wearing on the "Larry King" interview, I think I might have gotten him that. We were doing, like, tunics at the time. North African-inspired tunics. And I think he had on this black thing, with like, gold brocade. I think I got that... CUOMO: What did the man wear around the house? I was wondering.

PEREIRA: Like how do you kick back? In sweatpants?

DAVIS: No, no. He was wearing tunics.

CUOMO: Really? Around the house. Come on in I was grabbing something to eat and...

DAVIS: Literally, he was wearing very '70s-inspired loungewear. He has -- and I wish I could remember this woman's name. His very dedicated staff that were making things and clothes for him around the clock. There was this -- there was like a tailor studio in Paisley Park. Those are the real heroes of his style.

PEREIRA: For real.

DAVIS: Everything was made -- you can't just go into Nordstrom and get something off the rack for Prince. Because they were tailor made.

PEREIRA: May be.

DAVIS: but he wore, like, loungewear. He was so sexy and you -- the guys, the girls, everybody.

CUOMO: Everybody found him attractive.

DAVIS: Yes.

CUOMO: Did you know when helping project his image around the world through MTV, did you see him as something fundamentally different from a musical perspective? You know, beyond the trappings?

MARK GOODMAN, SIRIUS XM HOST: There was no question that this guy was unlike anyone else. No question. And the people that I had spoken to, I spoke yesterday to Lenny Waronker, who was the president of Warner Brothers Records, and I was asking him about those moments. He was signed when Lenny was there. It was -- his tape. He was 17, 18 years old. There was no question, and the -- from the very first album where he looked at the credits, his name and then everything on the album was him.

BERMAN: Written by Prince, produced by Prince, drums by Prince, guitar by Prince.

GOODMAN: Every instrument.

PEREIRA: You guys did wall-to-wall coverage on MTV. I was just thinking about those days, because we were all remembering -- all of us have been sitting back thinking about the '80s when that was all happening. You remember vividly, and I'm sure you were recalling some of those memories last night as you were doing your coverage. He stuck out even then. But it was unapologetically he did that. Right? I mean, and if you wanted to come join his party, you were welcome, but he wasn't going to impose it on you. GOODMAN: He did what he did. I think that people have been talking

about his influence, ad infinitum, as we will. One of the things that I haven't heard anyone mention is, in addition to all the other things the he began in the '80s and the other musicians, he was the reason for the PMRC. He was the reason that Tipper Gore founded the Parents Music Resource Center, because...

PEREIRA: Yes.

DAVIS: "Darling Nikki."

PEREIRA: "Darling Nikki."

BERMAN: I happen to remember that.

GOODMAN: Her daughter was, like, 12 years old.

PEREIRA: Glossed over that.

GOODMAN: And oh, man. They found her listening to this and watching, you know, that movie. And that was it. He was one of the Filthy 15. He was the first on the Filthy 15 list.

DAVIS: And you know what's interesting about him and one of the things I have been talking a lot about, is that he was able to talk about God and sex at the same time. He did not make you choose. A lot of people...

CUOMO: They were intertwined.

DAVIS: They were intertwined. Made "Darling Nikki," and he made a song called "God," and so many in between. Like all the love was the same. The love of God. The love of sex, the love of community. He was an activist. Like, he even wore a, a choker that said, "Emancipation," around his neck.

CUOMO: When we usually have you on the show, we're talking about things of cultural conflict. We're talking to this woman whose career he helped start last night, Tajer Saville (ph). And she was saying, "Don't forget his humanity. Music is amazing, but everybody's going to get that right." You know, she's like, "Don't forget what he did for the industry. You know, he helped launch my career after taking on" -- you know, he took on a fight of his own when wrote "slave" on his head. And he said, you know, when you stop -- when you stop -- when you start discouraging a man to dream, then what is he? He's a slave. That's a bold move at the time when no one took on the companies.

[07:10:23] That's right.

BERMAN: We actually have, "1999," wearing a tunic styled by you. He talked about the idea. He wanted to control, he wanted to own what he was producing. Listen to what he told Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PRINCE: I don't consider it proper that my creations belong to

someone else. I can go up to a little kid on the street and say, "Do you know that I don't own 'Purple Rain,' and they're appalled by that.

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

CUOMO: Mark?

GOODMAN: He finally just got his masters. Just got them. And he's absolutely right, and he was groundbreaking in that way. He was -- he is the reason that people fight so hard now to get to own their masters. He -- it's outrageous that he wouldn't own what he has created.

DAVIS: I think he was, you know, really aware of -- the heritage that he was a part of and how people like Little Richard or Ray Charles, or all of these great black musicians who didn't own anything, or died poor. That was not going to be his story.

CUOMO: He told people that he made more money from "Crystal Ball," which he put out on his own site, through his own company, than he did off "Purple Rain."

PEREIRA: I love when you gave us the glimpse -- the glimpse of trying to imagine Prince kicking it around the crib. Right?

But I want to -- I want to know what it was like interacting with him. Was he fastidious? Was he particular about some of the things that he wanted, the elements that were brought into the world? What do you know of that?

DAVIS: If you were at Paisley Park kicking it with Prince, he was -- he was like a Midwestern dude, deeply funny. He cursed in a way -- like your grandfather. Like, he used curse words. He called himself that little -- "M-F." He called himself that. He would refer to himself, "That little M-F wants some fried chicken." You know?

And I remember, he was -- we were watching basketball. And he was, like, throwing chicken at the -- like at the screen. Massive jokes. But at the same time, you could be in conversation with him, and he would just get up and leave. And you thought perhaps he was being rude, but he said, "I think in music. You think in words, I think in music." So if something was compelling, he had to go and put it down. It was remarkable.

GOODMAN: One of the reasons he said he did all the stuff on his own albums, was essentially because he's the only one who worked as much or as hard as he could. No one else could keep up with him and wake up at 4 a.m.

DAVIS: He heard it all. All going all the time.

GOODMAN: That was why he would wind up working late at night, into the night, would have these late-night parties. And he was the guy who would call everybody in and do -- have all kinds of crazy sessions and invite people in the middle of the night. Anderson Cooper last night was talking about being invited to parties that would start at 2 a.m.

PEREIRA: They start at 2 a.m.

DAVIS: He was -- you would get the call at 2. He'd be in the lobby at 2:30. Then you would go to a club, and they would open at 3 a.m. in the morning.

PEREIRA: My goodness.

DAVIS: And then...

GOODMAN: You talk about his involvement with the community. So many people I spoke with on the air yesterday at Sirius were saying how much he was involved with the community in that town. And how many -- we talk about the artists that he's helped and how prolific he was and how he -- he changed his name. He wrote so many things. But he started giving himself pseudonyms for the music that he was writing.

But when -- when he started the Revolution, that was -- what we saw in "Purple Rain" from a live performance.

PEREIRA: Yes.

BERMAN: Guys, so much more we've got to discuss throughout the morning. Coming up in our next hour, Prince's longtime friend and collaborator Sheila E., she will join us here live exactly right here live on NEW DAY.

PEREIRA: And we will pivot away from Prince. We'll get back to that in a minute and go back to politics. Donald Trump apparently ready for a makeover. Not of the Prince variety but according to the GOP -- no tunics for him. According to the GOP's front-runners, their new advisors, their candidate has been playing a part up to now and is now ready to embrace a more presidential image.

This as Trump and his rival, Ted Cruz, spar over measures aimed at restricting which bathrooms transgender people can use. Ooh.

Let's begin our political coverage with Phil Mattingly in Hollywood, Florida. Hey, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Michaela.

Well, there are two Donald Trump. There's the Donald Trump you see on the campaign trail and the Donald Trump behind the scenes. At least that's what Trump's top advisers were telling senior GOP officials right here yesterday at a crucial meeting with the Republican National Committee.

Now, one of the big issues they're facing here is a lot of those members very skeptical and with good reason. Donald Trump has relentlessly attacked them over the last couple of weeks. That said, Trump's advisers trying to mend fences and hopefully gain some of their support.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP'S CONVENTION MANAGER: When he's sitting in a room, talking business, he's talking politics, in a private room, it's a different persona.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Audio emerging from the "Washington Post" of Donald Trump's top advisers making their pitch to the RNC top brass in a closed-door meeting in Florida.

MANAFORT: When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking the kinds of things he's talking on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose.

MATTINGLY: Insisting the Trump you see on TV isn't the Trump who will take on Hillary Clinton in November.

MANAFORT: That's what's important from our standpoint. For you to understand that he gets it. And that the part he's been playing is evolving, negatives come down, the image is going to change, but Clinton's still going to be "Crooked Hillary."

MATTINGLY: Ted Cruz wasting no time firing back.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via phone): He's telling us he's lying to us. You look at what his campaign manager says, it is that this is just an act. This is just a show.

MATTINGLY: New battle lines drawn as Trump pushes to lock up the nomination, calling on Cruz and John Kasich to drop out of the race on Twitter, and, again, at a rally in Pennsylvania.

TRUMP: Cruz and Kasich have no path to victory. It's over.

If you're going to vote for anybody else, other than me do not go out to vote. OK? Don't go out and vote!

MATTINGLY: All as a North Carolina law dictating how transgender individuals use public bathrooms creates a schism on the stump. Trump saying the law went too far.

TRUMP: North Carolina did something that was very strong, and they're paying a big price. You leave it the way it is. There have been very few complaints the way it is.

MATTINGLY: Ted Cruz immediately attacking Trump's position.

CRUZ (on camera): Have we gone stark raving nuts? Here is basic common sense: grown adult men, strangers, should not be alone in a bathroom with little girls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Now, one of the big questions here has been, how will Donald Trump's candidacy affect Republicans up and down the ballot? One thing Paul Manafort did tell RNC members is Donald Trump would spend whatever it would take not just to win the general election but also to help all Republican candidates -- Chris. CUOMO: All right, Phil, thank you very much.

Let's look at the Democrat's side right now. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battling it out ahead of the northeast primaries coming this Tuesday. Sanders's wife taking a jab at Clinton for politicizing the families of Sandy Hook.

For that, we have CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns live in Philly -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Chris, Bernie Sanders continuing his campaigning here in Pennsylvania, at one point toning down his attacks on Hillary Clinton, only at another point to sort of ramp them up.

Now, Bernie Sanders also admitting in an interview with NBC News that it will be difficult for him to win the nomination if he doesn't win the delegate count, but also leaning on polls that suggest he runs better than Republican front-runner Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, for her part, also appearing to ease up on the attacks on Bernie Sanders, and not even mentioning him much at an event in Connecticut. However, still leaning on the issue of gun control, which happens to be an issue she runs to the left of Bernie Sanders on, to the point that his wife, Jane Sanders, appearing in an interview with CNN, suggested Hillary Clinton had, in fact, flip- flopped on the issue of gun control since her run for president in 2008.

Both of these candidates continuing to campaign here in Pennsylvania with three stops throughout the day.

John, back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Joe Johns in Philadelphia, thank you so much.

So after Donald Trump's new top adviser told the RNC that Trump will be more presidential, were the party leaders reassured? That is next, and much more of our coverage on the passing of Prince. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:23:04] Cruz is only, what, 10 or 11? I've won 22 or 23. Millions of votes ahead. I think they both should get out. What are they doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Donald Trump once again calling for rivals, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, to drop out and clear a path for him to the nomination.

This as one of his top aides, Paul Manafort, openly admits that Trump is affecting a persona, one that he changes depending on where he is and what he's trying to achieve. Very odd to hear in politics.

Let's discuss. Jeffrey Lord, former White House political director and Donald Trump supporter; and Tim Miller, former Jeb Bush spokesman and an adviser to an anti-Trump super PAC.

Gentlemen, lest I be blamed for coming out of context with what Paul Manafort said, here is the sound of it coming out of his own mouth, according to the "Wall Street Journal."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANAFORT: When he's sitting in a room and he's talking business and he's talking politics, in a private room, it's a different persona. When he's out on the stage, he's talking about the kinds of things, when he's talking about himself, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: "Washington Post," "Washington Post," "Washington Post." Not the "Wall Street Journal."

Now, Jeffrey Lord, why is that OK? The idea that this man would be one thing to you and another to me?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Chris, frankly, I don't think there's that anything different there with any public personality. You can bet that President Obama doesn't wander around the kitchen saying, "I will lower the seas and save the environment!"

I mean -- politicians have a persona when they are onstage, and they are different people when they are off. I mean, do you really think John F. Kennedy woke up with Jackie and said, "Ask not what your country can do for you"? I mean, I just -- I think that's pretty normal to say that people are different when they're on stage than they are when they're, you know, in a private setting.

CUOMO: Tim Miller, is that all you take from it?

TIM MILLER, ADVISOR TO ANTI-TRUMP SUPER PAC: It's bizarre that the Trump people are now admitting to basically what's been the big lie of his campaign.

[07:25:05] Trump has been trying to sell that he's the one authentic person. That he's the truth teller among all these politicians. Well, here he is admitting, and here's Jeffrey, admitting that he's just like one of them. He's putting on a persona.

And guess what? This idea that he's going to be able to come up with a new persona for the general election and improve his numbers is insane. People have been watching Donald Trump for a year on CNN, on your network, on other networks. They've rendered judgment about him. They hate him. He has historically high negative ratings, and he will get crushed in the general election. There's no new persona that's going to be able to save him.

LORD: He just won 60 percent of the Republican vote in New York. Sounds pretty dreadful to me. Yes?

MILLER: And Jeffrey always likes to change the subject.

CUOMO: Well, that is...

MILLER: Here's the thing. No. 1, he's a phony. No. 2, his general election numbers are terrible. The point I'm trying to make.

CUOMO: Right. Then comes a flash point yesterday, where it seems that Donald Trump was the one building the big tent and Ted Cruz taking a decidedly more limited view, and that, of course, is about these laws that are popping out all over the south about bathroom restrictions.

Donald Trump -- and Jeffrey, correct me if I get this wrong -- basically says there has been no trouble with transgender people using the restroom of their choice. So why change anything? Is that his position, Jeffrey?

LORD: Well, I think he approaches this as a businessman. You know? He's -- you know, he's not a lawyer. He's not an ideologue in this sense. He's just saying -- I believe the exact quote was, leave it the way it is, so that people who run businesses can go about their business. I think that's all he's saying.

CUOMO: And then...

LORD: I don't find any really remarkable about that. I mean, obviously -- obviously, the laws of the state of Texas are different from the new law in North Carolina, and I don't see Ted Cruz pushing Texas to change its laws.

CUOMO: But then Ted Cruz comes out and says, "This is crazy. You shouldn't let full-grown men go into bathrooms with little girls."

Tim Miller, you're an anti-Trump super PAC, but you've often endorsed positions of Cruz. Do you endorse this one?

MILLER: Well, look, I think on the merits of this issue, I think that's really less important than when you look at Donald Trump. This is another example of his phoniness.

Last night on "Hannity," he flip-flopped on this again. He says, "This is a state issue. States can do whatever they want." Sounded like a normal politician again.

And this is the thing. Donald Trump has been pretending to be a social conservative.

CUOMO: Tim, hold on a second.

MILLER: Sure.

CUOMO: The guy said, "Leave it alone." That's his position on this.

Ted Cruz said, this, that we're -- the world's going crazy. Is it? Or is it crazy to advance the notion of a bathroom predator problem that does not exist as studied by law enforcement, social experts and people who are in the business of understanding criminality?

MILLER: You know, look, on the merits of this issue, I have decided the fact that states should be able to do whatever they want. But I think when it comes to Trump on this issue, you can see that he's the one that keeps changing his views.

Say what you want about Ted Cruz's view. He's consistent. You know where he stands. He's authentic. He's a real social conservative.

When it comes to Trump he's pretending to be a social conservative. That's why he came out and made statements on the transgender bathroom issue and on abortion in the past few weeks...

CUOMO: So you would rather have...

MILLER: ... and walking it back the next day...

CUOMO: You would rather have someone...

MILLER: ... to try to keep that persona.

CUOMO: Come on. I want to get something clear about what your rejection of Trump is about.

MILLER: Sure.

CUOMO: So -- so you would rather have Ted Cruz, who's making something up about what the risk is with these types of laws, than someone like Trump, who moves around based on the issue and, on this one, may come out on the better side from your own point of view?

MILLER: Chris, I don't know that what you're saying is accurate about Ted Cruz making something up. I think that Ted Cruz' position on this has been abundantly clear since the beginning of this campaign. Nobody has any doubt where Ted Cruz is when it comes to social issues.

CUOMO: Having a clear position is different than having the right position, though.

If you're a social conservative in a Republican primary, which obviously you're not, Chris, but if you're a social conservative voting in a Republican primary; and you want somebody who's telling the truth to you, you should go for Ted Cruz, not Donald Trump, who's making up his positions on the fly.

CUOMO: As everybody knows on this television screen right now, this isn't about being conservative or not. This is about the law and what the law will allow. And that's how it will play out.

Jeffrey Lord, thank you very much.

Tim Miller, as always, appreciate it.

MILLER: Thanks, Chris. LORD: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: Mick.

PEREIRA: All right. Back to our coverage of Prince. Not only a prolific musician, he also, I mean, this man embodied the word "style." We're going to discuss his impact on fashion and artistic freedom.

(MUSIC: PRINCE, "PURPLE RAIN")

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