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Prince Mourned; Interview with Music Photographer; Trump Advisers Claim to RNC Leaders Candidacy So Far has been an Act; Cruz Ad Attacks Trump On Transgender Bathroom Issue; Sanders Says He's Taking His Campaign To The Convention; Sheila E. Remembers Prince. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 22, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] KEN EHRLICH, TV PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR: -- He had all of it together.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Ken, there is no substitute for hearing about the man from those who knew him and worked with him and saw him make what all the other -- all the rest of us took in. So Ken Ehrlich, thank you so much. Sorry for your loss, but thank you for helping the rest of us understand what was lost.

EHRLICH: Thank you, thank you.

CUOMO: We're going to give you many different views of Prince this morning including an interview with Prince's longtime friend and collaborator, Sheila E. So let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dearly beloved it, we are gathered here today for this thing called life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was entertainment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To do what he did without fear was a wonderful thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Music was just part of who he is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prince was such an undeniable force.

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

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CUOMO: This is a tough morning because we don't want to saying anything so we can keep hearing the music, but we must speak, because there are things to tell you about. It is Friday, April 22nd, 8:00 in the east, and as you can tell right now our big story is the sudden death of Prince, one of the greatest musical geniuses of our time. Millions of fans the world over, entertainers of every style and stripe, honoring this man in every way they can.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And it's with heavy hearts this morning that we pay tribute to Prince's legacy, look at his final days, see if there were signs of trouble. Let's begin our coverage with Stephanie Elam. She is live at Prince's Paisley Park estate just outside of Minneapolis were you and I had the pleasure of being this past August.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and so thankful for that time here at Paisley Park and to see Prince here. Obviously a lot of people feeling that way. Take a look behind me. You can see with Dave rake here, people are showing up, paying their respect to Prince, a man who was from Minnesota, loved Minnesota, and never left. And that meant a lot to the people here. But the music that Prince brought the world, meaning so much to all of us who had the joy of listening to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: 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: I wanted my music, even now, to speak loudest for me.

ELAM: Prince was found unresponsive inside an elevator at his Paisley Park estate Thursday morning. 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 rain that has now passed.

(SINGING)

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 land anything Illinois, where he was hospitalized briefly for what is his publicist said were flu like symptoms and dehydration. Prince was a musical genius. The Minneapolis native's signature sound catapulting him to international superstardom, earning himself seven Grammys, and his flamboyant style defined a generation.

(MUSIC)

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

STEVIE WONDER, MUSICIAN: I think would probably breakdown 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. Whoopie Goldberg tweeting "This is what it sounds like when doves cry."

(MUSIC)

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 n' roll. He was a virtuoso 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 Green.

[08:05:00] SPIKE LEE, FILM DIRECTOR: We are stunned by the sudden death, but he is still here in the spiritual form.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And I did meet Prince once, and it's amazing how quietly he could speak and then bring down the house with his music. And in talking to my friends as I made my journey here to Minnesota yesterday, the one thing that they were sharing was that it was amazing how you could be hanging out with him and he would be so normal, and then he'd take the stage and it would just be magic. And then he would go back to being his normal, quiet Prince self. Michaela, Chris, and John?

CUOMO: At the end of the day, you have to define normal differently. The guy was a genius on several different levels which makes him more different than most of the rest of us.

All right, let's get some more perspective. We've got rock photographer Bob Gruen. He took many of the most iconic pictures of so many different music legends, but Prince as well. You know what it is like to capture somebody trying to deliver their essence to the rest of us. What was that task like with this particular man?

BOB GRUEN, PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, he was very restrictive about photography in the first place. So there was only a few times I got to photograph him. But he was absolutely amazing, easy to get a good picture because he always looked so good.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Was he dictating what you saw? Was he telling you this is what I want you to take a picture of?

GRUEN: No. He was saying don't take any pictures at all most of the time. There was several occasions when I did get a photo.

CUOMO: Shy, because he was very deliberate about --

GRUEN: Very controlling about his image.

PEREIRA: You know there are people that do come alive in front of a still camera. He seemed more comfortable in front of the microphone when his guitar was in his hand performing. Did he finally relax and get comfortable in front of your lens? GRUEN: I never had a private session with him. He didn't do very

many private sessions. Most of the pictures you'll see are him live on stage. But on stage, he was phenomenal, just phenomenal.

CUOMO: Help us understand this, because you get what somebody has to do to translate an image through the lens. It is not easy for some people. But he was so provocative when he was looking into the fisheye with his movies and his videos. Did that translate?

GRUEN: They use the word "magic" a lot. He seemed like a magician. He was magic. He was different from your average performer or most performers, even good performers. He was better at everything.

BERMAN: We're showing your pictures along with you here. You're saying provocative. I just see, you know, electric.

GRUEN: Electric is a good word.

BERMAN: What do you see?

GRUEN: He was energized, very electric. Amazing. I just don't have enough adjectives to describe him.

CUOMO: How did you deal with the gender aspects that he was trying to project? Michaela and Angela Davis or somebody was on here saying he was all man. I'm not talking about, you know, what he liked. I'm talking about what he owe projected because there was a femininity to his masculinity and a masculinity to his femininity. What did you see?

GRUEN: He projected sex. He was sexual --

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Look at that look.

PEREIRA: That red hot look. That right there.

GRUEN: That sly little smile. That was at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and they were doing a tribute to George Harrison. And you didn't even see him at first. He kind of came out of the shadows and almost just appeared with that sly little smile there and just blew people away with the best solo I think I've ever seen. Then he just slipped back into the shadows. It was magic.

BERMAN: You can have a look like that when you can pull that off.

GRUEN: Yes, because he was that good. He knew it. Everybody knew it. So he was happy, you know, being able to do that.

PEREIRA: To get into the show, I mean, this would be the challenge. You have to feel the vibe of the show, right, and you probably could probably get lost in the music.

GRUEN: I always do. I am a music fan. That's why I get the kind of pictures. I'm part of the music. PEREIRA: Then how do you focus on what you're there to do, which is

to capture the moments?

GRUEN: That's the hard part, keeping things in focus and getting the exposure right and everything, because I am singing along and I'm feeling the music. He was fantastic.

BERMAN: I'm struck by some of the things I read this morning and how the images capture perfectly what people have said, bursting with music. I also read bedroom eyes, the sly look, with the red hat right there. And the other one you just said he was sex.

GRUEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Another one of your photos there en capsulates all those things.

GRUEN: He was just a combination of everything good. Better than James Brown and Michael Jackson as far as dancing. I saw him at a show in Las Vegas in a club, I think the Rio. He came out and started the show, and about halfway through he went around. And he had an amazing band, perfect musician. But he took these instruments, the guitar, the piano, and the drums, and he sat in and he did better than the excellent musicians he had. Amazing.

[08:10:04] CUOMO: When it comes to the sex appeal with him, again, this is something that is often interesting to translate through the lens, how much of it was intentional on his part and how much do you think was just naturally what was coming out?

GRUEN: I think a lot was natural. There's a lot of people who try to do that and don't succeed. And it just flowed naturally. That's who he was. I never saw him not looking sexy.

PEREIRA: Right?

GRUEN: It is not something he had to put on.

PEREIRA: Exactly.

GRUEN: He just flowed. He had more soul and sex in his finger than most people have in a lifetime.

PEREIRA: And I imagine that stood in stark contrast when there were other people performing with him. You photographed many, many rock n roll musicians in your time. He seemed to have an aura that was above and beyond.

GRUEN: He was a step above, yes. And even onstage in Las Vegas, he had excellent musicians and yet he was better than every single one f them. He was magic.

CUOMO: Do you have a shot that stands out to you now that you've been reflecting?

GRUEN: I think all of them. The four I brought today, certainly. I think at the garden where he has his hands up in the air and looks triumphant.

PEREIRA: Blissful. Look at that.

CUOMO: Is there anybody that reminds you of him?

GRUEN: Not like Prince. That's going to be hard to follow, very hard to follow.

BERMAN: Not like Prince.

GRUEN: A lot of people have different talents, but he had them all.

PEREIRA: He really did.

CUOMO: Bob Gruen, thank you so much for helping us understand what you got to show the rest of the world.

GRUEN: Thank you.

CUOMO: Appreciate it.

GRUEN: Glad to be here.

CUOMO: All right, we're going to get another perspective from the man who tried to capture his look to a woman who helped develop his style and collaborated with him on his music. Sheila E, we all know her, but we're going to learn things we haven't heard before.

BERMAN: So we're going to shift gears and talk about the presidential race. Donald Trump's new advisors claim their candidate has been playing the part in recent months and is now ready to assume a more presidential persona. So far there's no timeline for the Trump transformation. This as Trump and his rival Ted Cruz spar over measures aimed at restricting which bathrooms transgender people can use. CNN's Phil Mattingly is live in Hollywood, Florida, a site of big RNC meetings which are very crucial this year, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, John. And Donald Trump more or less dispatched his top advisors down here to meet with these top Republican officials and basically tell them he is opposite the person than he is on the campaign trail.

Now, in head to head meetings, in just random talks in the hallways, even some talks by the pool and by the beach, Trump advisors trying to impress upon this very important and crucial group of Republican leaders that Donald Trump will transform in the weeks ahead, preparing for that general election, and despite his attacks on the party, will actually help the party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP'S CONVENTION MANAGER: He's sitting in a room talking business and talking politics. It is a different persona.

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

MANAFORT: When he is on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he talks about, he is 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. And you guessed it, the part he has been playing, it will come down, the image is going to change. Clinton will still be crooked Hillary.

MATTINGLY: Ted Cruz wasting no time firing back.

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

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

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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 people use bathrooms create ace 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: 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, winning over this group of Republicans, really the epitome of the establishment, 168 members of the RNC, is no small task. I talked to a number of them who were very skeptical of the presentations they were hearing from Donald Trump's advisers over the last couple of days.

[08:15:00] But one thing did stick out. Paul Manafort, obviously the convention manager, top advisor for Donald Trump, made very clear that despite Donald Trump's self-funding ideas over the course of this campaign up to this point, he is very willing towards the general election to raise money and raise a lot of money for Republican candidates. No matter their views on the candidate, that rings as something that these people here want to hear, guys. PEREIRA: All right, Phil, thanks so much for that.

The presidential primary pushing further into the Northeast next week. Can Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz fire back up their winning streaks that were halted in New York? We're going to talk strategy and, also the transgender bathroom battle gripping the GOP, next. And, as we try to wrap our minds around his passing, we'll have more on the legacy of musical icon Prince.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble.

QUESTION: So if Caitlyn Jenner were to walk into Trump Tower and want to use the bathroom, you would be fine with her using any bathroom she chooses?

TRUMP: That is correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Donald Trump, businessman, sounding like a whole lot of businesses and corporate leaders right now, saying transgender people should be able to use the bathroom of their choice, even at Trump Tower, sparking a new debate with Senator Ted Cruz who unveiled a new ad slamming Trump's stance on transgender public bathrooms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:20:03] TEXT: Should a grown man pretending to be a woman be allowed to use the woman's restroom? The same restroom used by your daughter? Your wife?

TRUMP: People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate.

TEXT: Donald Trump thinks so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining us now, CNN senior political commentator, David Axelrod, former senior adviser to the Obama administration, host of "The Ax Files" podcast. David, that ad from Ted Cruz came out within hours of Donald Trump's statement. There was a tweet that came out from Ted Cruz within minutes of Donald Trump's statement. The Cruz campaign and Ted Cruz jumping all over this. Policy aside, is it good politics?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I think what -- there was a confluence of events yesterday that speaks to the fears of both Democrats and conservative Republicans about Donald Trump, and that is that he is kind of a Manchurian, or maybe a Manhattan-churian candidate who is really a closet moderate or even liberal on some issues, and is, as his campaign manager suggested, playing a role in order to become the Republican nominee. And for Ted Cruz, making that case is very important, because he is trying to mobilize the base of the party, the conservative base of the party, and win some primaries and stop Trump from getting the 1,237.

BERMAN: So trying to drive that social wedge for Ted Cruz, it can work, and if not, next week, and we'll talk about next week in a second. Maybe in Indiana on May 3?

AXELROD: Well, I think Indiana is shaping up to be a really, really important date. I think Donald Trump's going to have a good day next Tuesday because of the nature of the primaries, they're located in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. He ought to do pretty well in those states. Pennsylvania is a special case because of their rules. Fifty-seven of their delegates are basically free agents, and so it's going to be hard to determine who is the winner is there. But Indiana is virtual winner-take-all state. And the Cruz folks and the stop- Trump folks believe, if he can win there and stop Trump, that they can stop him short of the 1,237. If Trump has a good day in Indiana on May 3, I think there's going to be a general consensus that he could get there. It's going take a lot of wind out of the sails of the anti-Trump movement.

BERMAN: On the subject out of the wind out of the sails right now, a lot of people are saying that's the case on the Democratic side now with the Bernie Sanders campaign. Dan Balls asking, what does Bernie want? David Fluff, your friend on your show, saying essentially, Bernie is all done. Last night, people were wondering whether Bernie Sanders would change his tone for Hillary Clinton. He didn't. He basically had the same lines on stump that he's had all along, talking about Wall Street, talking about her speech transcripts. You've been through a tough, long campaign on the other side. At that time, wondering whether Hillary Clinton would change her tone and maybe soften her attacks on President Barack Obama at that point. What's going on on the Sanders team right now? What calculations are being made, and do you think they're making the right choice?

AXELROD: Well, first of all, in the Obama/Clinton race, it was testy to the end. It was after the primary season ended that Hillary Clinton endorsed Barack Obama. She went to the convention and asked for roll call vote, but then ended the roll call vote herself and dramatically called for the nomination of Barack Obama by acclimation, but during the primary season, it wasn't as if everybody was locking arms and marching forward. So this isn't that unusual. I think that the Sanders folks are going to have to make a call, though, after next Tuesday about tone, because if, as seems likely, Hillary Clinton adds to her lead in pledged delegates next Tuesday, it's going to be increasingly obvious that there is no path for Bernie Sanders. And so the question is, how much damage does he want to do to the nominee moving forward, and how committed is he to beating the Republican candidate in the fall? And I think they're going to have to calculate that, not to get out of the race, because I don't think he will get out of the race, and he's going to go to the convention with a lot of delegates. He can influence the platform. He can negotiate for a number of things, and he has a lot of supporters, right out to California on June 7, who want to cast their votes for, not just for him, but for his position on a lot of these issues. So he is not going to drop out. I really would -- I would be shocked if that happened. But he can kind of tone it down, and the question is, will he after next Tuesday when the results will be even clearer?

BERMAN: Yes, not yet, but maybe then. David Axelrod, thanks so much for being us with. Chris --

[08:25:08] CUOMO: All right, J.B. Back to the big story -- the passing of Prince. Up next, we're going to talk to his long time friend and collaborator, the great Sheila E. There she is. It's great to have you joining us for this. Sorry for your loss. We'll be back with Sheila E. Stay with NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: "The Color Purple" means something different today, as we're remembering the musical legend and style icon of Prince. Joining us now, a dear friend, a collaborator, someone who knew him well, and a great musician in her own right, Sheila E. Sheila, thank you so much for joining us. We know that you felt it's important to get out and get the message out about him but I know this isn't easy for you. So thank you for taking the time.

SHEILA E, MUSICIAN: Thank you.

[8:29:50] CUOMO: You wrote something that everybody must read in medium.com., "The First Time I Met Prince", and it's just a beautiful write-through of the different phases of your relationship, but I want you to start with us this morning on the moment where you are at a show, you're not expecting to see Prince, and you see him -- I think you were at --