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CNN NEWSROOM

Obama Advises Britain to Stay in the E.U.; The Artist's Last Days; Bangladesh Professor Hacked to Death; Remembering Shakespeare. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired April 23, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Leave Europe behind and the U.S. might do the same to you. President Barack Obama's warning to Britain ahead of its referendum on E.U. membership.

An autopsy is carried out on the body of music icon Prince. But full results aren't expected for weeks.

And four centuries of classic storytelling. We mark the life and death of William Shakespeare with the help of an actor helping to keep his legacy alive.

It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live from Atlanta. Thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

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ALLEN: Our top story: the U.S. president has sparked controversy after intervening in the politics of one of Washington's closest friends. Barack Obama is urging Britain to stay in the E.U. He warns that if the U.K. votes to leave the 28-member bloc in a referendum this year, trade with the U.S. might suffer.

Mr. Obama made his arguments Friday in an opinion piece in a British newspaper and later during a news conference with the British prime minister. As international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson reports, some Britons are siding with Mr. Obama; others want him to butt out.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): On the chilliest of streets, the warmest of welcomes. President Obama, a friend for British prime minister David Cameron just when he needed one the most.

The American president wading into the hottest political debate this tiny island has seen in decades: in or out of the European Union, backing Cameron's In campaign.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're more prosperous when one of our best friends and closest allies has a strong, stable, growing economy. Americans want Britain's influence to grow, including within Europe.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): So, intent on keeping the U.K. in Europe, Obama writing a emotive letter to Cameron's wavering heartland in the shires of England.

"The tens of thousands of Americans who rest in Europe's cemeteries are a silent testament to just how intertwined our prosperity and security truly are."

But when pressed on what a vote to leave might mean, a stark warning.

OBAMA: Maybe some point down the line there might be a U.K.-U.S. trade agreement. But it's not going to happen anytime soon because our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc of the European Union to get a trade agreement done. And U.K. is going to be in the back of the queue.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): On streets of the capital, most happy for the world's most powerful politician to get involved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I definitely, definitely want us to stay in. So I'm happy for him to say that. And my thinking is important that our biggest trading partner outside the E.U. is supportive of us staying in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got no idea what this -- has been researched or how much thought he's given to it. But he's got every right to weigh in, in my opinion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have always been close with America. It's ridiculous to think that he shouldn't have a say. I mean, he doesn't have a direct say but he should have an opinion.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Not so for their flamboyant mayor, Boris Johnson, a leader of the Out campaign.

BORIS JOHNSON, MAYOR OF LONDON: I think what perhaps our friends in America don't appreciate is that the E.U. has really changed in the last 43 years. It has become something else. And it's something to which the Americans would never submit their own democracy.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Polls put both In and Out too close to call. Voting two months away. The PM seemingly happy for the timely help.

DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER, GREAT BRITAIN: Britain's membership of the E.U. gives us a powerful tool to deliver on the prosperity and security that our people need and to stand up for the values that our countries share.

And now I think is a time to stay true to those values and to stick together with our friends and allies in Europe and around the world.

ROBERTSON: If nothing else, President Obama has drawn the big guns of the Brexit fight out onto the field of battle, armed with their sharpest prose -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

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ALLEN: Those remarks from President Obama you heard in Nic's report, about the U.K. going to the back of the queue, upset more than just the mayor of London. Mr. Obama said he was simply offering an opinion. But the world of social media was quick to offer its own.

Here are just a few of the British comebacks.

"While at the back of your queue, you will be at the back of ours while we create India and China trade."

And this one: "Obama sticking his hooter in the --

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ALLEN: " -- Brexit debate, well, I suggest the USA become part of the United Kingdom again. How'd you like them apples?"

And one more: "I think Obama and U.K. should go queue up at an airport and bugger off back to the U.S. Keep his nose out of U.K. business."

The Obamas' visit to the U.K. wasn't all business. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge treated them to dinner at their home in Kensington Palace. Even young Prince George was allowed to stay up past his bedtime to meet the president and first lady, all decked out in his robe. Here's Max Foster.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're not going to get any real sense about the true conversation around the dinner table here at Kensington Palace and that's because Prince William and the whole royal family are desperate to stay out of that highly divisive and charged debate about whether or not Britain should stay within the European Union.

The royal family stays out of politics; it's why they've had their position for such a long time. Even if they do have views and they share them with the Obamas, they're not going to share them with us; they're staying well out of that debate.

What was quite interesting, though, about this dinner was that Kensington Palace tweeted some pictures of the Obamas and the Cambridges and Prince Harry in the Cambridges' apartment. We've never seen inside, despite the fact that millions of dollars' worth of taxpayer money was used to renovate that apartment.

So we had a look inside. We saw a rocking horse, we saw a cuddly toy, we saw some family photos in the background. And we got a sense of the Duchess of Cambridge's style.

The British media certainly analyzing those images in great detail and no doubt that will be the talking point in the British media tomorrow.

But certainly a pleasant finish to the day for the Obamas. They've had a very busy time here in London and out at Windsor. And they had an end to the day, which was regal, to say the least -- Max Foster, CNN, London.

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ALLEN: And within the next couple of hours President Obama will mark the 400th anniversary of the death of British playwright William Shakespeare. The president will visit London's Globe Theater to pay tribute to the man behind some of the world's most famous theatrical works.

And we'll also pay tribute a little later in CNN NEWSROOM in a few minutes.

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ALLEN: As fans continue to mourn the loss of music legend Prince, the sheriff investigating his death says no stone will be left unturned. He says there was no obvious sign of trauma, no indication of suicide. The medical examiner has finished the autopsy but it could be weeks before the results are complete.

Prince died Thursday inside an elevator on his Minnesota estate. He was 57 years old. A big part of Prince's death investigation is putting together a timeline of his last days. Kyung Lah shows us those final weeks, including exclusive video of the artist riding his bike just days before his death.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators here in Minnesota say that they are still working to try to piece together an accurate timeline.

What was Prince doing in the days and weeks leading up to his untimely death?

And while this is happening, CNN has obtained exclusively this video from a strip mall, right near where he lives. A woman captured this video.

He appeared healthy enough just five days before he died to be riding a bicycle, doing something that any normal healthy person would do. The woman said that he looked quite healthy; yes, thin, but healthy enough to ride a bicycle.

Investigators say what they have been able to concretely learn is that, the night before Prince died, he was dropped off here at his home at 8:00 pm. He wasn't discovered again by staff until he stopped picking up calls. They found him unresponsive, collapsed in an elevator. CPR did not revive him.

Investigators say now that they have conducted an autopsy; the results are expected to come in in days, if not weeks. They also want to try to talk to as many people as Prince had contact with. They want to know what doctors was he seeing, where did he go, was he on any medications -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Chanhassen, Minnesota.

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ALLEN: Millions of fans the world over are mourning Prince, people celebrating his career and his tribute. To all of us in his music, the tributes are pouring in from just about everywhere. Our Jake Tapper shows us.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The world has got the look of Prince today. Emotional tributes unfolding across the performer's front gate in Minneapolis and coloring the world's landmarks, thousands of miles away.

In London, President Obama prepared for a meeting with the British --

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TAPPER (voice-over): -- prime minister by listening to a little bit of Prince.

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

TAPPER (voice-over): Back home in the States, Niagara Falls roared into a new hue, at first for the birthday of Queen Elizabeth and then for Prince.

From the Great Wheel in Seattle to landmarks in San Francisco and Los Angeles, America turned the color of rock royalty, New Orleans Superdome alight, Baltimore beaming.

The rapper, The Game, penned a new song in Prince's honor. "Rest in Purple" was posted on SoundCloud mere hours after the news broke.

Not only paying tribute to Prince but to the other icons lost. The song's title a shared expression among Prince fans, who left flowers and messages at Paisley Park, where Prince performed just a few days ago.

Fans took Prince with them into the streets as well, celebrating his life at iconic First Avenue in Minneapolis, where he got his start.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prince, we love you!

TAPPER (voice-over): In Brooklyn, Spike Lee orchestrated a block party for The Purple One. It drew thousands.

SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR: Dearly beloved, we're gathered here today for this thing called life.

TAPPER (voice-over): And for a star this bright, Broadway did not dim its lights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We lost a giant today.

TAPPER (voice-over): Instead, the cast of "Hamilton" concluded their performance with a dance.

And Jennifer Hudson and "The Color Purple" cast began to sing -- what else?

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TAPPER (voice-over): Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

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ALLEN: How wonderful is all of that.

Next here, joining forces at the U.N., Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio urges world leaders to stop global warming before it's too late. And how they are heeding his message. We'll have that.

Plus you may recognize him as the former Dr. Who. But David Tennant has also played Hamlet, Romeo and Richard II. Ahead here, he tells CNN's Richard Quest why Shakespeare still matters 400 years after his death.

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ALLEN: We turn now to a story we're following from Bangladesh. Police say a university professor was hacked to death near his home in the west of the country near the Indian border. The 58-year old was waiting for a bus when two or three assailants attacked him. The reason --

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ALLEN: -- behind the assault still unclear but under investigation.

Earlier this month, blogger Nazimuddin Samad was murdered when attackers hacked him with machetes and shot him. It was the latest in a string of killings in Bangladesh targeting secular writers.

Two of the world's biggest polluters, the U.S. and China, are pledging to formally adopt a historic climate change deal by year's end; 175 countries signed the pact at U.N. headquarters in New York on Friday, which was Earth Day. The Paris agreement aims to curb greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held his granddaughter as he signed the accord. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, an official U.N. Messenger of Peace, whose focus is climate change, told world leaders they are providing hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR AND U.N. MESSENGER OF PEACE: An upheaval, a massive change is required right now, one that leads to a new collective consciousness, a new collective evolution of the human race, inspired and enabled by a sense of urgency from all of you.

We all know that reversing the course of climate change will not be easy. But the tools are in our hands if we apply them before it is too late.

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ALLEN: One nonprofit environmental group is enlisting other celebrities to help as part of its Nature is Speaking campaign. Actress Reese Witherspoon narrated this clip called "Home," produced by Conservation International.

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REESE WITHERSPOON, ACTOR (voice-over): I am home. I give you comfort. I shelter your family. See me for who I am, home, sweet home.

I am your refuge. I am the floor that supports you, the foundation that keeps you steady, the walls that give you shelter the roof that protects you.

I am your home. If you don't take care of me, I cannot take care of you.

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ALLEN: I spoke earlier with Peter Seligmann; he's the chairman and CEO of Conservation International, a U.S.-based nonprofit environmental group that produced that video and many others similar to it. He told me the accord signing by so many nations is a big and much-needed step forward in the fight against global warming.

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PETER SELIGMANN, CEO, CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: It's not only the biggest event; it is probably the greatest agreement that humankind has ever reached. So it's a huge deal. It's a massive market signal.

And we're going to succeed. We're going to have to focus on renewables; we'll have to tax carbon and we're going to also, also we're going to have to make certain that every single country on Earth focuses on protecting nature because actually the only way we can solve the climate issue is if we embrace and include nature's own solutions as part of the path forward.

Forests have to be protected so that we can eliminate emissions from the burning of forests. And we have big trees to absorb carbon. The same with oceans. We have got a huge opportunity to succeed. We got to go all cylinders fast forward now. The bottom line is simply that people need to understand that humanity needs nature to thrive.

The good news is that we're talking about it. The bad news is that so many people think that their water comes from a tap and their food comes from a grocery store. And they don't understand yet. And this is the biggest challenge we have.

They don't understand that water comes from forests, aquifers, rivers and lakes. And your food comes from rich, healthy soil, pollinators and you need forests to achieve that.

So if we can get the public to get that, we actually will turn governments around. The good news, every government, every good business and every community is now aware of these challenges. And the conversation has become global. That's why I'm optimistic.

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ALLEN: We're glad he's optimistic because that's his life's work.

So Derek Van Dam is here. He's got more about Friday's agreement and some figures about the weather we're seeing so far this year.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And Natalie, his optimism is definitely warranted but Mother Nature may just not play along, may not be patient and willing to even wait for us to get our act together. But it's definitely good to see the 175 nations coming together, putting ink to paper during the Paris agreements, now being officially signed by so many world leaders.

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VAN DAM: I want to show you some of these graphs because this is going to prove many, many points to you, help you understand exactly what we're dealing with here. So many different climate milestones just since December 2015, when COP 21 took place in Paris.

We had 2015, the warmest year on record. We had the warmest March or month on record, which was March of 2016. And record month -- record warmth each consecutive month in 2016. Just to start off the year with quite a bang. On top of that, arctic sea ice at its lowest maximum extent.

This is what we're dealing with at the moment. So we had 11 consecutive months, starting in May of 2015 right through the present moment in time, where we have had the warmest months on record. So we are in a hot streak; of course, there's so many things and so many variables to discuss here, including the current phase of El Nino that we're in right now.

But the bottom line is that the carbon capturing, rather, the greenhouse gases that we have into the atmosphere are these warming capabilities that continue to just show astounding figures just like this. Look at our three warmest years: 2010, 2014 and 2015, just being

paled in comparison to what's actually happening now. We're over 1.2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial averages. And that equates to catastrophic problems across the planet.

And one way to gauge this, one barometer here, at least by scientists and meteorologists, is to look at sea level ice or rather arctic sea ice. And this has really proven to be quite a concern because it continues to melt.

On top of that we have glacier melt. So this could mean in the future a multi-meter sea level rise. And we know what that means for coastal cities. This is an artist's rendition of London, for example, just to show you exactly what this could potentially make its way into.

I want to just talk about this to end off, Natalie. We're starting to see this strong correlation between extreme weather events and climate change, starting to pinpoint exactly that fingerprint.

And we have had a 50 percent increase this past decade in weather disaster events per year, compared to the decade from 1985 to 1995. So it has been a rapid increase, something that we have never witnessed before.

ALLEN: All right, Derek, thanks for that, we appreciate it.

Saturday marks the 400th anniversary of literature's most famous playwright. Scholars believe William Shakespeare may have been born on April 23rd, 1564, and died 52 years later on the same date in 1616. During that time, he wrote at least 37 plays and more than 150 sonnets and other poems.

As the world remembers Shakespeare, CNN's Richard Quest talked with an acclaimed "Hamlet," better known as "Dr. Who," David Tennant. Quest started by asking him about The Bard's relevance in the 21st century.

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DAVID TENNANT, ACTOR: I believe there is something about these words written 400-odd years ago that are still connecting with people and that are still saying something to us about what it is to be a human being that we need to hear.

RICHARD QUEST, CNNMONEY EDITOR AT LARGE: Shakespeare teaches us or tells us or reflects life, love, power, sex, greed, every facet of human good and bad emotion, doesn't it?

TENNANT: He does. And he does it extraordinarily deftly so that his villains are as understandable, as identifiable as his heroes. His men of God are as fully briefed as his atheists. It can be quite deceptive. We start to believe we know what Shakespeare thought or how he felt about certain things because every viewpoint that he presents is done so expertly.

QUEST: When you are choosing or when you've decided to do another Shakespeare play, do you find it difficult and even somewhat intimidating, even after all these years, knowing that there is to be a new interpretation or that you've got to give something different to it?

TENNANT: Oh, yes, of course. But that's part of the challenge of it. That's part of what's rather delicious about it. Yes, because these plays and these parts have been done down the centuries by the great and the good of the acting profession.

Then you know that either there's something juicy to get your teeth into and that you get to play, you get to have a go.

QUEST: When did you fall in love with Shakespeare?

TENNANT: I was at school.

QUEST: Because I learnt Shakespeare at school. And I had a miserable experience.

TENNANT: Well, I did, yes, but I didn't --

QUEST: Miserable!

TENNANT: I know. I didn't fall in love with it from reading it in the classroom. I didn't because that's tough, that is hard, especially when you're -- when you first hit those words on a page --

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TENNANT: -- they can seem archaic and they can seem difficult.

QUEST: They are!

TENNANT: They are. But when I fell in love with it by seeing it performed and that's when it works. So that it's down to the actors and the directors to unlock the meaning of it because it's when you see a performance that it flies, that it connects with you.

QUEST: As a snotty-nosed 13-year-old with an inky-fingered copy of a play script, it doesn't work.

TENNANT: No, it's tough. You need an inspirational teacher to get you through that first bit. It's just -- it's scraping away -- it's scraping away the antiquity just so that you can get to the stuff that really connects.

QUEST: So the latest technique, the latest trick, is to try and put Shakespeare into modern language.

TENNANT: Right.

QUEST: So that hopefully the generation -- the social media generation, the 140 characters of Twitter, attention span of a newt, will enjoy Shakespeare.

TENNANT: Right.

QUEST: We have a little bit of "Hamlet." But I'd like you to tell me when we performed it whether or not you think it works.

TENNANT: Right. Right.

QUEST: Come and join me in the "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" Globe Theater.

Hamlet, Act I, Scene V, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: the translated version.

TENNANT: Right.

Now Hamlet here, it has given out, is sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me.

QUEST: Now Hamlet, it's been reported that sleeping in my orchard, a snake bit me.

TENNANT: So the whole ear of Denmark is by a force process of my death rankly abused.

QUEST: So the ear of Denmark has been grossly abused by a fraudulent account of my death.

TENNANT: But know, though, noble youth, the serpent that did sting my father's life now wears his crown.

QUEST: But know this, you noble youth. The serpent that did take your father's life now wears his crown.

TENNANT: Yes, I mean, it's a bit reductive. But I don't think -- I think this is what you'd see in rehearsals. This is the first thing we'd do. We'd sit down and we'd go through the script and we'd make sure that everyone knew what it meant in colloquial English.

Because if you don't have a grasp of the immediate meaning, then you can't go back to the real work.

QUEST: He's given out that sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me.

It's been reported, sleeping in my --

TENNANT: Yes, but that's fine, this is a tool. You have to go there to come back to this, to be able to really understand the meaning and get the whole -- so that you can transmit the meaning of this to an audience.

QUEST: Would you ever be in favor of performing it in colloquial or modern English?

TENNANT: No. That's daft. There's no point. Do another play if you want to do that.

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ALLEN: It's been 400 years since the world lost William Shakespeare. But his work carries on, even if Richard Quest can't quite grasp it. Thanks for watching; our top stories are after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)