Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Saturday

Officials: North Korea Launches Missile From Sub; Fans Pay Tribute To Prince; Beyonce's Dad Reflects On Prince's Grammy Performance; Eight Family Members Killed While They Slept; Prince Fought For Control Of His Music, Art; Trump To Hold Rally In Connecticut Today; The World Bids Farewell To "The Purple One." Aired 8-9a ET

Aired April 23, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning. I'm live from Paisley Park here in Chanhassen, Minnesota with coverage all morning on the life and legacy of Prince, but first we want to go back to Atlanta with breaking news out of North Korea.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Victor, thanks very much. The breaking news is that South Korea officials are reporting this hour, North Korea has launched a missile from a submarine off its coast that is believed to be a submarine launched ballistic missile off the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula.

It is the latest in a number of missiles that the North has launched. An apparent response to military drills between the U.S. and South Korea.

This is not rare, necessarily, remember, in January North Korea claimed to have launched a hydrogen device and is doing so obviously in defiance of U.N. sanctions. The South Korean military released this statement.

Saying "South Korea's military is on high alert and maintaining all provisions against any emergency situations." CNN's Paula Hancocks is joining us live here.

So Paula, if I believe this correctly you are in Seoul. What are you hearing there this hour?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, at this point, obviously details are fairly scant. What we're hearing from the South Korean side is the Joint Chiefs of Staff saying that North Korea has fired what they assume is an SLBM, this submarine launched ballistic missile.

They're not saying whether they consider it was a success or a failure. We're hearing nothing from the North Korean side, which is not surprising.

It only happened two hours ago according to South Korean military and certainly that would be very quick for the North Koreans to announce this. But if it did appear that it was a success, we can guarantee that they will be announcing this state run media is obviously something we're watching very closely at this point.

What we understand is it was off the east coast, the South Korean military here is on high alert. They are on a state of readiness for any emergency situations that could arise at this point.

But of course, this isn't the first time that North Korea has tried to do this. They've tried this submarine launched missile at least a few times in the past.

Back in May of last year, they claimed last year they had done it successfully although few believed that. There were some suggestions that they had PhotoShopped photos in November and December when they had also claimed that they had successfully done this.

There was a suggestion they launched it from the barge rather than the submarine, but if the Joint Chiefs of Staff are saying this could be the case then certainly that is a development.

PAUL: All right, Paula Hancocks, thank you so much for bringing us the very latest there. We appreciate it.

It's been what, about 48 hours now since that news came down of the death of his purple highness, Prince, of course, and I think it's still very hard.

Victor Blackwell in Minnesota there. Very hard, Victor, for people to wrap their heads around the fact that he's gone. That's something tough to absorb.

Because obviously we didn't see him every day. The fans, I think, all of us, just have a really, really tough time thinking about a world without him, don't you think?

BLACKWELL: Yes, absolutely. I mean, we would see Prince at awards shows and of course, Prince was in our iPods and iPads and our iPhones and some people still have the vinyl. We've seen people pull out those albums over the last several days that he was omnipresent when the radios turned on, especially after a certain hour.

I'm outside the building here where Prince put his genius to work. This is Paisley Park where he lived, where he performed, where he recorded and sadly on Thursday, this is where he died.

Investigators are now trying to answer the questions surrounding his death, those final days, the final hours. Here's what we know so far.

Prince's autopsy was performed yesterday morning, but the full report we know including toxicology that could take days, maybe weeks to get the final results there.

Investigators have ruled out suicide. They say there were no signs of trauma. No evidence of foul play. They're promising of course to leave no stone unturned. His body was released to his family yesterday.

Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator. He was 57 years old and as Christi said just a moment ago it's so difficult for fans who are not only here, but around the world to just come to grips with the idea that Prince is no longer with us.

Stephanie Elam is here with me and Stephanie has been outside this growing monument, this growing memorial outside of Paisley Park where we're seeing the outpouring of love from fans who have come in from near and far to share a moment outside of this special place.

[08:05:10]What are you seeing there? What are you hearing?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Victor. Some people would love to come here and they can't. You see that outpouring of love on social media, but for the people who feel like it's worth it to make the journey here to express their joy for Prince's music, take a look at this.

This is a massive dream catcher that someone has made and it says thank you for making our dreams come true. People here showing their love and appreciation.

I just spoke to one woman who drove overnight, left 11:00 at night from Illinois in the 6 a.m. hour and she has to go back because her son has a senior prom today, but she felt it was worth it because she loves the music.

She felt very deeply connected to it and she wanted to express some love to Prince. And you see it throughout here. You broke you are heart, left us too soon, I would die for you. Flowers, scarves, obviously what you're seeing is a whole lot of purple.

People bringing balloons, there's candles out here, and I've been out here since early Friday morning. I can tell you that this memorial continues to grow. People still coming by as soon as the sun comes up.

They're coming out to pay their respects to Paisley Park because he was very much a part of this community here. People would see him out and about and as you know, he was a native son of Minnesota and stayed here his entire life. So that means a lot to the people from this community as well --Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, certainly does. Stephanie Elam there at the memorial and a lot of notes and candles and flowers as she also said. Lots of purple over there, his signature color. Stephanie, thank you so much.

It was not just the classic songs that drew fans. People of course will have their favorite tunes, but if you weren't fortunate to see him in concert then you look forward to those award show performances.

One of the most iconic was when he hit the stage with a super star in her own right, Beyonce for the 2004 Grammys. Watch this.

(VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: And right now I'm joined by the man behind the early portion of Beyonce's career and the group, Destiny's Child, Matthew Knowles, who is also Beyonce's father.

Matthew, it's so good to have you with us this morning. An incredible moment there. We've heard a lot about Prince, the perfectionist. Give us an idea of what went into that performance. Take us behind the scenes.

MATTHEW KNOWLES, BEYONCE'S FATHER, FORMER MANAGER: There were several days of rehearsal with Prince and Beyonce. I learned also is he had a passion for excellence and he asked that of his entire team. Beyonce learned a lot from that performance in 2004 and you can see that even today in her -- the way that she approaches her tours. You know, Prince did 39 studio albums. He did 28 tours. So his body of work is truly iconic and he's truly a legend.

BLACKWELL: Yes, phenomenal career with so many hits. I mean, it's difficult to list them all off because as the tributes have played on the radio, you hear one that you've forgotten about over the last couple of days, but as a fan as I'm sure you are, what did it feel like as a father to watch your daughter on stage with Prince?

KNOWLES: Well, you know, Beyonce was so excited. She was anticipating that performance and I -- you know, I'd like to say it's the best Grammy opening performance ever, but I was really truly just happy to see -- and Prince was such a gentleman.

And he was really concerned to make sure as a young artist that she had the opportunity to present herself, because she got to do crazy in love and he didn't have to do that. I mean, he could have said I'm Prince and we're doing my songs, but he truly was a team player for that.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Beyonce told "Giant" magazine that s was nervous when she hit the stage with Prince. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEYONCE KNOWLES (via telephone): Walking into rehearsals, I just was so overwhelmed and nervous and star struck and he -- he -- we rehearsed every day for an hour for a week instead of rehearsals for six hours the day before and that was so smart.

It was Prince's idea and I guess he knows people are star struck because he's so amazing and it was -- it made me really comfortable and by the time it was time to do it, it was like second nature.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:10:03]BLACKWELL: Yes, that's relatable. It's understandable. When anyone goes on stage with Prince I would imagine even a huge star like Beyonce one would be nervous. What did you feel as you watched it?

KNOWLES: Well, I felt the same excitement. Prince had a way of connecting with fans that I've never seen before. And again, I think it goes back to his passion and the work ethics that he had. He's truly going to be missed.

I tell you what, in those seven days, I got to see Prince played basketball. This guy can really play basketball. I saw him dunk a basketball at 5'2". That really blew my mind.

BLACKWELL: And we're told he played in heels too.

KNOWLES: Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: I guess at 5'2" you needed to play in heels with some of the other people you were playing with. Matthew Knowles, thank you so much for taking us behind the scenes of that 2004 iconic Grammy performance. I'm sure a lot of people agree with you, one of the greatest opening performances of the Grammy awards ever. Thanks so much or being with us this morning.

KNOWLES: Thank you guys and have a great day.

BLACKWELL: Certainly, thank you. Christi, as I send it back to you, we're seeing more people come here to Paisley Park. Some of them leaving notes, some of them leaving balloons and a few just taking a moment of silence thinking back on maybe some great memories, some of the great concerts and performances they remember from this decades long career of a man who has earned this title of icon, of legend here at Paisley Park in Chanhassen.

PAUL: All righty. Victor, thank you so much.

Ahead, a man hunt underway in Ohio after a family of eight was murdered execution style. Police say the gunman is on the loose, and he may be armed and dangerous.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:09]

BLACKWELL: Welcome back. I'm Victor Blackwell here in Chanhassen, Minnesota outside of Paisley Park. This is where Prince lived, where he created, where he performed and tragically where he died on Thursday.

An illustrious career that spanned decades and of course, the height was in the 1980s and consider this. After "Purple Rain" came out Prince had the number one album, the number one song and the number one movie all at the same time, imagine that.

But after that he didn't move to Hollywood or New York. He stayed right here in Minnesota and that's a testament to his hometown and a reflection on the city that my next guest leads.

With me now is Mayor Denny Laufenburger. He joins me now. He is the mayor of Chanhassen, Minnesota. We understand everybody calls you Mayor Denny and it's good to have you here this morning.

DENNY LAUFENBURGER, MAYOR OF CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA: Welcome to Chanhassen.

BLACKWELL: It's good to be here, unfortunately for this tragic loss. I want you to tell me about, what is it like to have Prince as a neighbor?

LAUFENBURGER: Well, I speak on behalf of the people who live in Chanhassen, who encountered him many, many times in the normal course of their day. Seeing him ride a bike on our trails or going to the grocery store. Yes, he was a superstar, no doubt about it, but he was treated with respect and he was valued as a member of this community for more than 30 years.

BLACKWELL: CNN has that video of Prince just days before his death riding his bike at a local shopping center here. How common was that?

LAUFENBURGER: When he was in town, he did that often. He wasn't always here, but when he chose to come back to perhaps relax or rest or just -- maybe he was getting ready for a production set of some sort, he would often be seen in the community and his contribution goes more than just being seen.

He was a very generous man and he has made contributions to the schools here. In fact, as I took the office of mayor I thought often about what can I do to honor Prince and I thought of the possibility of giving him a key to the city.

And I failed to reach that -- that event, however, in retrospect now, he may end up giving us a key to his inner world at Paisley Park.

I've been in touch with his family and representatives over the last couple of days and they're interested in talking about what they can do to create a lasting tribute right here in Chanhassen. So we'll be open to those wishes obviously.

BLACKWELL: Are there any suggestions on what will happen to Paisley Park?

LAUFENBURGER: Yes, we're hearing from many people in the industry, fans around the world, even yesterday morning I spoke with two young girl from the area. They were sitting on the curb, and I asked them what they were drawing.

And I said, if you were mayor, what would you do to help memorialize Prince and his career? And they both unanimously said, why don't you make Paisley Park a museum?

And for us to know him as such a private person that nobody has -- or few people have been inside Paisley Park, the fact that it could possibly be opened up to the world, I think that would be a great gesture, but again, we'll listen carefully to what the family and the representatives want to do, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Understood. And I think it may be difficult for people at home to appreciate the size of Paisley Park. When we say this is a compound, we're not just saying that because there were, you know, this was a performance space, a recording space and a home. It is quite a large, impressive building so it would be great if people were to be able to see what's inside and of course, here, the music is in this vault as it's called.

And we know you'll be working with the family for any memorials that will be coming and here to the city of about 25,000 people, I understand, of Chanhassen, Minnesota. Mayor Denny Laufenburger, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

LAUFENBURGER: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Christi, this is something that we're seeing as the day gets on. We get into the later hours of the morning, more people are coming here, leaving their flowers and notes and just in a way saying thank you to Prince for providing so many great memories over so many decades. Back to you.

PAUL: You have to think that that's what his family loves to hear, people saying thank you to him because he was such a big part of so many lives. Thank you, Victor.

Still to come, a rural southern Ohio town is on edge this morning because they're being told they need to keep their doors locked after eight family members were shot execution style including a mother who was killed while her 4-day-old baby lay in bed next to her. We are going to have details on what's happening there right now. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:36]

PAUL: It's 23 minutes past the hour. We'll get you back to our coverage of the death of Prince in just a moment, but we do want to get you caught up on a manhunt that's going on right now in Ohio.

Police are looking for the shooter or shooters, they say, who gunned down eight members of a family in Pike County as they slept. This is a small town east of Cincinnati.

CNN correspondent, Nick Valencia, is live there this morning. Nick, what are you hearing from investigators so far?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi. It was a ruthless attack. Eight members of one family shot and killed execution style in what appears to be a targeted attack. Perhaps the most disturbing part of all of this, one of the victims was shot and killed while she laid next to her 4-day-old baby. Police are warning members of the Rhoden family to take precaution throughout the day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): The search is on for the killer or killers of eight family members in Southern Ohio. Police say most were shot execution style while they slept. MIKE DEWINE, OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is a horrible tragedy that has occurred here in Pike County. Each one of the victims appear to have been executed, each one of the victims appears to be shot in the head.

VALENCIA: The seven adults and a 16-year-old boy found dead at four crime scenes. All have been identified as members of the Rhoden family. Surviving relatives are being warned, police suspect the victims had been targeted, but there is no apparent motive.

[08:25:06]SHERIFF CHARLES READER, PIKE COUNTY, OHIO: Right now, we have no one in custody. I want to urge everyone to be under the understanding that there is a strong possibility that any individuals involved with this are armed and extremely dangerous.

VALENCIA: Police say none of the victims appear to have committed suicide. The dead include a mother, killed in bed with her 4-day-old child beside her. That child along with a 6-month-old and a 3-year- old survived the massacre.

DEWINE: We talked to a number of the Rhoden family and their friends. Actually they were gathered at a local church about 100 people that we met with, and we expressed directly to them our deepest sympathy for the family and as you can imagine, this is a very, very difficult time.

VALENCIA: The Rhoden family is well known in the tight knit community about 90 miles east of Cincinnati. Toby Smalley says he knew one of the victims.

TOBY SMALLEY, NEIGHBOR: This is a tragedy that we've never had to go through. We've lost people through car wrecks and cancer and sudden death, hunting accidents, but never like this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: I was talking to the pastor of the Rhoden family. He describes one of the victims, Dana Rhoden as a nice, hardworking person. She was a parishioner at his church until very recently she stopped showing up.

The attorney general last night saying there's still no clear motive for this shooting saying there are people being interviewed for this case, but he would not go so far as to call them persons of interest. We are expecting a news conference later this afternoon where hopefully we'll get more answers -- Christi.

PAUL: Certainly hope so. All right, Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

And we have much more coming up for you on the death of Prince, something that is everybody is still talking about. Victor is in Minnesota this morning. He's outside Paisley Park. Fans are still streaming in to pay their respects. Victor, give us a sense of the energy that's there right now. BLACKWELL: There is a feeling of reverence coming here. Yes, Prince was a performer. He was a pop star, but for a lot of people here in Chanhassen he was a neighbor. He's lived here in this community for a very long time.

They're coming here, taking pictures, bringing flowers, lining the fence outside this compound. There is a steady flow of people who have come here to say thank you for some of the great times over the years.

We're going to come back in just a moment with more about Prince. He was a very private person, but we'll take a look at what's being done to protect his copyrights and of course, his legacy when NEW DAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. So grateful to have you here. I'm Christi Paul. We're going to get back to Victor Blackwell. You see him there live in Minnesota as we cover the death of Prince.

But there are some other stories that we need to make sure you're apprised of this morning as we're going to get to Victor here in just a second.

I want to tell you about President Obama who finished his town hall now wrapping up his trip to the United Kingdom. He was there to ask the British to think twice before leaving the European Union.

Of course, he also met the queen as she celebrated her 90th birthday and talked ISIS strategy with Prime Minister David Cameron. He ended having dinner with the duke and duchess of Cambridge and met Prince George and he is now on his way to Germany.

Officials at the Palm Beach Zoo now say a trainer killed by a tiger broke rules when she entered the big cat's area. The zoo's president saying Stacey Konwiser entered the tiger's sleeping quarters after the felines were given access. Apparently that violates zoo policy. Konwiser was the lead keeper there. The 13-year-old tiger was tranquilized after the attack and is still at the zoo.

And the ATF is looking for thieves who took 32 cases of fireworks from a freight train. Investigators say they were stolen Wednesday from a CSS train headed to Detroit from Chicago. They believe the fireworks were take while the train was stopped in Ohio.

Here's the thing, the ATF says they don't have a motive, but they emphasized the explosives are extremely dangerous because these are commercial grade fireworks. These are not for home use.

I was watching an interview that Prince had given to Larry King, Victor, who is in Minnesota in front of Paisley Park there and I was struck with him when he said I wanted to make my music -- I wanted my music to speak the loudest for me basically is what he said. And I swear, within minutes, there were so many radio stations only Prince music for hours on end. Do you see anybody there who is coming with head phones who is maybe listening to some of his music as well?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I'll tell you, anecdotally the engineers who are running the live shots, there are of course cameras lining the road here alongside Paisley Park and on the walk in today, there were people playing Prince songs as we came in.

Prince was on the radio yesterday. People were listening to Prince and talking about him at the airport as I was flying in. As you come in to Minneapolis, into the airport, you can see the purple lights over the buildings in downtown.

There is an outpouring of love, not just here in this immediate community, but around the world. And now people are waiting for answers about the death. And how did this happen, why did this happen?

Let's reset with what we know about the investigation now. The body is now in the custody of his family. It was released after officials wrapped up the initial autopsy.

Now, there were very few answers given out at this stage. But here's what we got from the sheriff. First, no signs of suicide, but we also know the toxicology results from the autopsy could take weeks to complete.

For now though, authorities are trying to find out what happened between 8:00 p.m. on Thursday night, that's when he was last seen alive dropped off here alone at Paisley Park and about 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. on Friday when he was found alone collapsed in that elevator.

Now, for Prince, perhaps the only thing as important as his music was control over the content, over the direction, over the creativity, the creative process. Control over his image, the sound and name and songs and he fought for that control from the first moments as an artist.

[08:35:05]Here's Jason Carroll with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He burst on the music scene as a teenager in the late '70s and from the beginning he rebelled against the industry. Prince turned down his first contract offer because he wouldn't have creative control.

Beyond his musical genius, he was also known for his unyielding defense of the rights to his art, his music.

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.

CARROLL: Prince's semi-autobiographical movie, "Purple Rain" mirrored the success of the companion album in 1984, but like so many musicians, Prince didn't own the rights to his music. Not even his name.

VAN JONES, FRIEND OF PRINCE: That was a searing injury for him. He was like wait a minute, my mother named me Prince, how can a corporation tell me I can't even use the name my mother gave me?

CARROLL: In the early '90s, Prince went to war with his record label, Warner Brothers, in a very public way writing the word slave on his cheek during performances and for meetings with Warner executives.

CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": He led the way for artists to feel like they could speak back to record companies and say what they wanted. It wasn't so much about money as it was that he wanted to speak out as an artist and have control over his own work.

PRINCE: I think once I started writing slave on my face, I pretty much knew the outcome. I mean, you have to understand that it -- that word on one's face pretty much changes the dynamic of any meeting that you're in when they see it.

LARRY KING: And how did people react to you when they did see it?

PRINCE: Well, the record company didn't really say too much.

CARROLL: The battle with his label so intense, Prince eventually changed his name to a symbol, impossible to pronounce. His fans for a time referred to him as the artist formerly known as Prince.

(on camera): Was the name change some sort of way of having some sort of control over his art and who he was?

JEM ASWAD, SENIOR EDITOR, "BILLBOARD": Whether they were symbolic actions because Prince was eccentric or whether they were actual legal ways to try to get around -- to get out of his contract isn't really clear.

CARROLL (voice-over): Just about two years ago, Prince and Warner Brothers finally settled their differences. He returned to the label after some 18 years and while the financial terms were not disclosed, Prince regained ownership of his catalog and of course, his name.

But he still battled the industry he called exploited. Last summer, Prince withdrew his music from all streaming services except Jay-z's streaming service, Title.

It isn't clear who will now control the artist' vast collection of music, both published and unpublished. What is clear through all the legal battles, the name changes, his music, thankfully, lives on. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, our thanks to Jason Carroll. Christi, coming up in just a few minutes, we'll take a look at the growing tributes to Prince and the impact this icon had on so many people in many ways around the world.

PAUL: No doubt about it. All right, hey, Victor, thank you.

We also want to tell you about some of the other news that's out there including this terrible story out of Delaware. A high school student is dead after being beaten by a group of other students in the bathroom just as school was beginning. We have details on what prompted the fight and who police are questioning. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:42:15]

PAUL: Well, students at a school in Delaware are just trying to come to terms with the death of a classmate. Police say Amy Joyner Francis died after a fight with other students. This happened on Thursday and the attack happened inside a school bathroom. Paramedics said Francis was alive when she was taken to a hospital but it was there that she died.

CNN Rachel Crane has been following this. What are you learning this morning about this victim?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Christi, there are still many questions surrounding how this fight escalated in this bathroom and some students say that it was about a boy. Others say that it was not.

Now, this is an ongoing investigation. We do know that police took in for questioning two students, but no charges have been made. Now, this fight broke out Thursday morning at around 8:15 just as classes were starting.

The fight broke out in the bathroom and officials tell us that it initially began between two individuals, one of them being Amy and that a group of individuals joined the fight soon thereafter.

Now, the police do not believe that any weapons were used in this fight, but Amy did experience severe injuries and was very quickly taken by air to a local children's hospital.

Now, there has been an outpouring of support and grief from the community from her loved ones, from her family. Take a listen to what one of them had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRY DORSEY WALKER, FAMILY SPOKESWOMAN: She was a wonderful young lady, and the fact that she's gone, it really affects us tremendously. She made a huge difference in society and we need more young people like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: Now, people close to the family tell us that Amy was an incredible student, that she was on the honor roll, that she was the (inaudible) of the wrestling team and that she will be missed incredibly.

PAUL: You feel for that family and those students and faculty. It's going to be hard to reconcile that. Rachel Crane, thank you so much.

CRANE: Thank you, Christi.

PAUL: We'll continue to follow this story for you as well obviously.

I want to tell you about five primaries in the northeast on Tuesday and a new poll now showing Trump, Donald Trump with a big lead in a state that Ted Cruz called, quote, "the big enchilada." That's next.

First though, Anthony Bourdain is taking on his next chapter with all new episodes of "PARTS UNKNOWN" beginning tomorrow night at 9 p.m. Eastern, and he sat down with Anderson Cooper for a taste of his episode on the Philippines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC 360": What restaurant is this?

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN": You haven't eaten here before?

COOPER: No.

BOURDAIN: Mission Chinese, this is the most fun restaurant in New York.

COOPER: The most fun? That's saying a lot.

BOURDAIN: Some of the most delicious food in New York easily. This is where they come for kicks.

COOPER: Really, you mean the spiciness?

BOURDAIN: Some of it.

COOPER: So you went to the Philippines. You've been there before. Why did you want to go back?

[08:45:06]BOURDAIN: Philippines, very proud people. There are a lot of Filipinos in this country. They apparently like my shows.

COOPER: You had planned to go to a lot of islands, but you got stuck in a typhoon.

BOURDAIN: This I think most Filipinos will understand. They'll be sympathetic to as they're all too familiar with tie typhoons and flooding. It's really a Manila show.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, guys. I've got some stuff here for you. So this is a whole tray of sea urchin from Maine.

BOURDAIN: I'm going to smear that on here.

COOPER: And these are sea urchin?

BOURDAIN: Sea urchin row with the eggs.

COOPER: Those are the things you're not supposed to step on?

BOURDAIN: The stuff you're not supposed to step on are protecting these things. I could eat all of that and out happy. Yes. Some people have textural problems with it.

COOPER: Yes. That's my issue, I think.

BOURDAIN: The food, they love whole roasted pig. They do a dish called "sisig" that you would probably hate, which is a sizzling chopped up pig face with a raw egg.

COOPER: Pig face? Why do you need to eat the face of a pig? Why do you have to eat the face?

BOURDAIN: Delicate interplay between meat and tendon and cartilage and crispy skin and fat.

COOPER: You're actually eating pig nose and cartilage and everything?

BOURDAIN: Have you ever eaten a hotdog? What do you think is in there?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:37]

PAUL: New this morning Donald Trump has a towering lead in this poll out of California, a state that could either crown him the Republican nominee or set up a convention site in Cleveland. California does not vote in a primary until June so there is some time here.

But look at this new poll showing Donald Trump already sitting in prime position with 49 percent of likely GOP voters on his side. Ted Cruz is at 22 percent. John Kasich at 20 percent.

CNN politics reporter, MJ Lee, is going to be with us here in a little bit in Waterbury, Connecticut and that's where Donald Trump is going to hold this rally in a few hours.

And we've heard some rumblings lately that we're going to see a different Donald Trump from his campaign manager as he was talking about a metaphor talking about how we're going to see a more presidential Donald Trump.

MJ, there with the still five big contests coming up this Tuesday as we look ahead and you look ahead just a few hours. Are you getting any indication that we are going to see some of these new elements of Donald Trump today?

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Hey, Christi, that's right. Next Tuesday is going to be a very big day in the Republican primary. Five states will hold GOP contests on the same day. Those states are Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and of course, the big prize is in Pennsylvania where there are 71 Republican delegates up for grabs.

Now, Trump is generally expected to do quite well in all of those states based on polling that we've seen and also based on how he has tended to do in similar east coast states, but of course, Christi, Trump is not taking anything for granted.

He is campaigning in the state of Connecticut today. Just behind me he will take the stage in about an hour or so. We are here at a high school in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Something else I wanted to mention, another very big important day is on May 3rd. That is when the Indiana GOP primary will take place, 57 delegates are up for grabs.

And he does currently have a lead, but at this point in the race, as you know, no delegate is too much to pass up and Trump needs to pick up every single delegate that he can.

PAUL: Very true. All right, MJ Lee, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Listen, after the break, we're going to go back out live to Minnesota, show you what's happening there. These are live pictures of the front of Paisley Park where Prince spent so much of his time living, recording, and of course, that memorial there because that is also where he died. Going out to Victor Blackwell in a moment. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:56:45]

BLACKWELL: Welcome back. I'm Victor Blackwell live outside the Paisley Park Compound where musical genius, Prince, this is where he created and made music and spent his last moments and now the tributes, the memorials are popping up all over the world.

You see people who have come here to place flowers, to place little notes and just to have a quiet moment. Wipe away some tears. We've seen people comfort and console one another.

We know that across the country, even on Broadway where stars were belting out some of Prince's classics, not in grief, but in celebration, all of it part of the world's final farewell to Prince.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: The opening lines of Prince's monster hit, "Let's go crazy" fitting as the world mourns the musical icon. Fans wiping away tears through the classic "Purple Rain."

The color dominating tributes. Some out of this world. NASA tweeting this picture of a purple crab nebula. Landmarks and monuments around the world washed in purple light including in his native city of Minneapolis.

Fans paying respects to the icon outside his Paisley Park Compound and a rainbow appearing over it. His music touching millions including President Obama.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It so happens our ambassador has a turntable and so this morning we played "Purple Rain" and "Delirious" just to get warmed up.

BLACKWELL: Celebrities now speaking up.

SPIKE LEE: We are gathered here today for this thing called life.

BLACKWELL: Those who influenced Prince --

STEVIE WONDER, SINGER: It's a heart break to lose a member of that army of love.

BLACKWELL: And those forever inspired by him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We loved collaborating with him because he brought the best out of us. And he was influenced by all of us as well. You know, we just had great moments.

BLACKWELL: Jennifer Hudson and the cast of Broadway's "The Color Purple" performed this powerful tribute. A blend of celebration and grief maybe best summed up by this tweet from Whoopie Goldberg, "This is what it sounds like when doves cry."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: And Christi, you'll see more people now as we're getting on into the morning coming here to Paisley Park to just pay a couple of moments of respect to Prince and his music really was not contained by any single genre.

There was a song if you were feeling great, if you were feeling bad, for new love and lost love, Prince will be missed and remembered well.

PAUL: Yes, he went deep with his lyrics and one of my other favorite quotes from him was all music can be inspirational. That's why it's so important to let your gift be guided by something more clear, very profound words from that man. Victor, thank you so much.

Victor is going to be back here again with us here at 10:00 Eastern. Right now, let's go to "SMERCONISH."