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NEW DAY SUNDAY

High School Prom Shooting; Loss of a Legend: Memorial Grows Outside Prince's Home; Koch: "Possible" Clinton Better is Candidate. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 24, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:00] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Take a nice deep breath. Sunday morning at 7:00. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

And this morning, we're starting with breaking news overnight. Two shootings, one at a high school prom that's in Wisconsin. The other in Topeka, Kansas, where four federal agents were shot for trying to make an arrest at a motel.

PAUL: So, let's start with the northern Wisconsin foray where police say a shooter showed up at a high school prom and started firing at students who are leaving the building. Officers patrolling the area in a parking lot reacted quickly. They fired at the suspect and they were able to get that person into custody right away.

Now, we spoke to Brandon Irish a little bit earlier. He was DJ'ing at that program at the time. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON IRISH, DJ AT PROM: Everybody was having a good time and I looked outside and I saw red and blue lights at that time. I went outside to see what was going on. At first, I saw there was a person on the ground. I thought that they maybe got hit by a car. That was shortly taken back once I saw a cop kind of running around the school with his gun drawn. I knew that the situation was definitely greater than that.

And at that time, a number of law enforcement officers arrived on scene, and started to clear the area, and set up a perimeter. They got everybody inside the field house, put us into a corner. They probably had, I don't know, five to seven officers within the field house clearing the area, making sure nobody was inside there, keeping all the students safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, police say two students are now in the hospital. It's unclear if the suspect is one of those injured. It's also unclear if the suspect is a student or former student. PAUL: Also breaking this morning, four federal agents have been shot

in Topeka, Kansas. Police say it happened outside a motel while the agents were trying to make an arrest there. Thankfully, their injuries are not life threatening, but it's not clear at this hour whether they captured the suspect. You can see from these pictures, the motel caught fire during the shooting and police aren't sure how that started. Fire crews did work through the night to put it out.

BLACKWELL: Today, there will be more special tributes and honors for Prince. His native city of Minneapolis is holding a series of memorials, movie screenings, performances. There's also a block party planned.

But it's the emotional words from tonight show host Jimmy Fallon during "SNL's" special tribute to prince that has a lot of people this morning. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN: Prince has been a special presence here at "Saturday Night Live" for the last four decades. From his debut on the show as a 22-year-old in 1981, to a surprise performance at the after-party for the "SNL's" 40th anniversary which I'll talk about later.

Tonight, we wanted to pay tribute to him by looking back at his performances on the show over the years and by remembering what he meant to us. It was a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The show even released never-before-seen video of Prince performing this rendition of his classic, "Let's Go Crazy."

PAUL: The tributes tap off a really emotional weekend. The family received Prince's remains and how the private memorial just yesterday.

CNN contributor and close friend Van Jones was there, tweeting, "small intimate memorial at Paisley, just the 20 of us, when he was alive, we felt like an army. Now we feel so small."

CNN's Stephanie Elam is live outside Prince's Paisley Park Compound.

And, Stephanie, I know that it's early there, but I think see some people behind you already.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and that's despite the fact that it's pouring out here.

Good morning, Christi and Victor. If you take a look, you do see some people coming in and out right now. I think the rain has driven a lot of the folks away. But this memorial continues to grow each day. Hundreds of people coming through here at a time to drop off flowers, notes, artwork, anything they feel would express their love for Prince, for the music he brought to the world. I talked to one woman yesterday who drove seven hours to be here for a

little time before driving back home, because she had another commitment, but feeling that power. There's notes from people all around the world. I saw some from Italy, from some Italians who said thank you for his music.

So, the love for Prince, the outpouring here is huge. And it's mark throughout the area, it's really mark throughout the world, as we know with those lights turning purple everywhere, people looking at purple rain, showing purple rain in theaters, here, also different places in the country as well, you also have the same thing happening as far as Target Field opening up yesterday for playing his music, and remember Prince and thank him for his iconic style, his music and also his influence on so many other artists.

[07:35:02] Yesterday, during that private ceremony, after it was done, some of the people who attended came out with these purple boxes. They were covered in purple cloth. And they handled them out to people who were outside here.

And inside, there was some Prince memorable, small things, but these people feeling really lucky to get that and have some sort of connection to Prince.

PAUL: Oh, my gosh. Yes, can you imagine how they'll treasure those?

Listen, we know Prince, he has no children. He's divorced. Is there any indication who is making decisions as to what is going to happen where you are to the Paisley park complex and to all of his music?

ELAM: Right. That's what everyone wants to know. He does have siblings. I mean, he's not without family. So they are here, but what is not clear is what is going to happen to all of the reportedly thousands of songs that he has recorded, that maybe in a vault inside of Paisley Park. Whether we'll ever hear that and what that could mean for his estate.

We've seen this happen before with other artists when their music has come out after they have passed on, it has increased the value of the estate. At this point, it is not clear. You know, we all know how private Prince was. Even when he was working with people, he asked them to keep it quiet. It will be one of those things where we have to wait and see, Victor and Christi.

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

BLACKWELL: All right. I want to bring in now the woman behind Prince's book, "21 Nights," Kathleen Schmidt. She joins me now. She worked with him on this book, touting photography, poetry, music, and lyrics as well.

Kathleen, good morning to you.

KATHLEEN SCHMIDT, WORKED WITH PRINCE ON "21 NIGHTS": Good morning.

BLACKWELL: So, an amazing experience I'm sure. Just give us a hint, an idea of what it was like to work with Prince on this book.

SCHMIDT: Well, I was actually his publicist, not the co-author. But it was really amazing. There is always a mystery surrounding him now. There was -- he was slightly mysterious back then, but once you were around him, you felt how magical he was.

You know, the first time I met him was at a house he was renting, really a mansion, in L.A., and i, you know, walked right through the foyer, and he and I were standing face-to-face. We said hi to each other, and then we kind of scurried away.

BLACKWELL: I would imagine that would be my reaction if I saw Prince. It would be hi, and then run off for a second.

SCHMIDT: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SCHMIDT: I was like I don't know what I'm supposed to do. So -- but, you know, later in the night, he didn't mingle at parties. It was celebrity filled party. But he performed around 2:00 a.m., and you know, I had two little kids at the time. And at about 3:00 in the morning, I said, you know, I'm going to bed. People couldn't believe I was leaving.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SCHMIDT: So, but then later on, they, you know, through the months, I would get calls from his personal assistant who would, you know, ask if I could get him courtside seats to the U.S. open. He was very interested in the William sisters and seeing them play.

And then, later on, I put on a concert on the roof of the Gansevoort Hotel in New York City for him. I had ten days to do it. But I got it done, and it was a very private event, hot ticket. Anybody who bought a ticket, you know, the money went to a charity, in Minneapolis.

BLACKWELL: That's actually part of what I think a lot of people are learning, how philanthropic he was, and did not want credit for much of it. He just wanted to support these initiatives.

I read about an exchange where you asked Prince about some of his fashion choices and where are Prince's jeans? Does he ever wear just a simple pair of jeans?

SCHMIDT: Yes, I was at his house, and you know, I guess I would call it leisure ware is what he would wear. It definitely worked for him. We were having a little chat and I said, do you even own a pair of jeans. And he said no. And I never asked why.

Because you know, it just -- I can't even imagine him wearing jeans, you know. He wasn't that person. But yes, it was a funny exchange between the two of us.

His show at the Gansevoort was really special. A lot of people still talk about that. I mean, I was four feet away from this, from the stage when he played "Purple Rain" live, and there was nothing like that in the world, seeing him in such a small venue.

[07:10:00] And you know, I managed to sneak a few of my friends in, and they still remember that show. And you know, still thank me for getting them in there to see him.

BLACKWELL: How could you forget it?

SCHMIDT: You never forget something like that.

You know, when I went upstairs to the rooftop, he was outside talking to an associated press reporter, one of the rare interviews he gave and he was dressed for the show. He was holding his white guitar, and I looked outside and I thought to myself, I will never have this moment again. This is a once in a lifetime moment I'm having.

BLACKWELL: It sounds amazing and you have some memories to treasure, some lighthearted and some you'll hold on and are pretty inspiring.

Kathleen Schmidt, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

SCHMIDT: Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

PAUL: North Korea has released new pictures of its ballistic missile launch. They claimed the test was a success and leader Kim Jong-un gave the go ahead for the launch. North Korea is saying that it will continue with nuclear tests as long as the U.S. conducts joint exercises with South Korea. Former U.S. ambassador to South Korea says this is a worrisome sign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA: I don't consider this a failure. I consider this part of the sort of head over heels effort by the North Koreans to have a deliverable nuclear weapon and I think there's a great deal to worry about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: A U.S. official said they're watching North Korea's activities, quote, "very closely".

BLACKWELL: Also, when we come back, a billionaire conservative has some complimentary words for Hillary Clinton. Some questions about if he would support Hillary Clinton over the GOP candidate. But is this serious?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00] PAUL: Fourteen minutes past the hour right now.

A surprising bit of support for Hillary Clinton from conservative billionaire and political donor, Charles Koch, telling ABC that Clinton might be best suited, not one of the Republicans running.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: So, is it possible another Clinton could be better than another Republican this time around?

CHARLES KOCH, CONSERVATIVE DONOR: It's possible. It's possible.

INTERVIEWER: You couldn't see yourself supporting Hillary Clinton, could you?

KOCH: Well, her -- we would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric, let me put it that way.

(END VIDEOI CLIP)

PAUL: All right. Let's talk to Maria Cardona here with us, Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator.

Thank you for being with us.

So, what do you make of the comments? Do they help Hillary Clinton? Do they possibly hurt her with her base?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think they really matter. I did a double take as I'm sure so many people did when they heard this.

Look, I'll never say this ever, but I agree with him. Absolutely, she will be the best choice on either side in terms of being the next president of the United States. But it very well could have been he said it because he thinks maybe it will hurt her with her base or going into the general election.

But the fact of the matter is, she is focused on, number one, ensuring to continue to earn every vote, to get the Democratic nomination, and then if she is so lucky as to get the Democratic nomination, to focus on the prize, which is in November. And this is I think what a lot of Republicans are worried about, that she is such a strong contender.

And, look, his comments actually speaks volumes, much less about her, much more about the lack of real good candidates on the Republican side. I think they underscore the disarray, the civil war, the mess that the Republican Party is in right you know and what are they expecting coming out of Cleveland at their Republican convention.

And a lot of Republicans are really disappointed and depressed about the state of their party these days. I wouldn't blame them.

PAUL: OK, social commentator and Bernie Sanders supporter, Amer Zahr, joining us now as well.

Thank you for being with us. Let's listen here to something that Rosario Dawson, a Sanders

surrogate, had to say about the online outreach of a Clinton super PAC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSARIO DAWSON, ACTRESS, BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER: We are really fending four or selves right now. We are literally under attack for not just supporting the other candidate. Now, I'm with Monica Lewinsky with this. Bullying is bad. She is actually dedicated her life now to talking about that. And now, as a campaign strategy, we are being bullied.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: What was your initial reaction to her invoking Monica Lewinsky's name there?

AMER ZAHR, ARAB-AMERICAN SOCIAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't know if it was the best idea to invoke Monica Lewinsky's name, but this idea that somehow that those of us who support Bernie Sanders and have been apart of this movement that we are somehow obligated to support Secretary Clinton, if she ends up winning the nomination, it really is sort of disrespectful and misunderstands the Bernie Sanders movement totally. It misunderstands why we're involved in the process.

I mean, if Hillary Clinton wants our support, she has to come out and get it. She has to come out and do stuff to show that she wants it, instead of the condescending things that have been going on.

PAUL: Do you think Bernie Sanders' campaign should respond to what Rosario Dawson said?

ZAHR: Well, I mean, you know, look, Rosario is a surrogate. I am a surrogate. You know, we say things.

I don't know if the campaign will respond. I don't know if they have to. But I know this is a sentiment among a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters.

Maybe it wasn't articulated in the most artful way by Rosario, but that we feel a little disrespected, and remember, this is many ways a movement in the Bernie Sanders campaign going against a traditional politics, traditional establishment way of doing things. And so, we feel sometimes like we are being told that we have to fall into line when actually, we're being -- we are a whole new crop of voters being brought into this.

So, I mean, I think that the Clinton campaign needs to be kind of careful how it deals with us.

PAUL: Maria, what do you say to that? Do you think the Bernie Sanders campaign needs to respond to Dawson's comments?

CARDONA: I think it would be good for them to respond, because I don't think she did her candidate any favors. I completely agree with Amer that it is not something that should have been said.

[07:20:01] And in fact, you saw it in the audience response. It was very tepid. It was kind of like, oh, my goodness, I can't believe she went there. People didn't like it, and I think it will backfire.

But, look, in terms of this whole bullying thing, it's got to stop on both sides. You know, there are reports on both sides of online folks being paid to go after the supporters of the other candidate. And that is wrong.

PAUL: Maria --

CARDONA: I mean, I agree that things have got to be toned down. I have gotten, e-mails, Bernie supporters that are just full of vile vitriol.

PAUL: Listen, we get it all here from everybody. It doesn't matter what anybody says.

And the thing is, we have called for the bullying to stop for months, but at the end of the day, for some reason, what do you say to the people that respond to it? Because that seems to be what people respond to, Maria?

CARDONA: Well, I think that we need to underscore the fact that what's going on in the Democratic Party is not the prize, right? Let's have this competition. Let's have this very spirited debate, which is what we were focused on at the beginning, and then let's come together and keep our eyes on the prize, which is beating Republicans in November.

So I invite all of Bernie Sanders supporters to make sure that whoever comes out to be the nominee and at this point, it really looks like that person is going to be Hillary Clinton, and she is going to do everything that she can to reach out to Bernie Sanders' supporters. She knows she needs them. She wants them. She's going to do everything she can to make them feel welcome.

But it's tough. It's a tough time. I was there in 2008. I was there with Hillary Clinton, and it's hard. But at the end of the day, we came together and hopefully that will happen.

PAUL: Amer, I have 15 seconds. Go ahead.

ZAHR: Yes, but she hasn't done anything like that so far, and those of us who do support Bernie Sanders are waiting to see, maybe some more moves for openness, transparency -- some of the things that we've been fighting for. If Secretary Clinton can speak about those things, then maybe we would be more likely to support her. Right now, many in the Bernie Sanders movement aren't going to support Hillary in the fall at all.

PAUL: All right. Amer Zahr and Maria Cardona, appreciate both of you being here. Thank you.

CARDONA: Thank you, Christi. ZAHR: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: All right. So, the 911 calls have been released in the execution style murders of the eight family members in Ohio. In just a moment, you'll hear that chilling audio. And we have details on the massive manhunt underway right now and it's growing.

PAUL: Also, a find off the Bermuda coast, possibly linked to the two Florida teens that disappeared at sea last summer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:26:11] PAUL: Well, a massive fire at an Arizona construction site puts first responders in the hospital today.

BLACKWELL: Yes, firefighters hands were burned, several police officers have been treated also for smoke inhalation.

PAUL: More than 100 firefighters, in fact, worked to get the fire out.

Also, a boat belonging to two teens that had been missing since last summer has been found. Here it is. This boat was located 100 miles off the coast of Bermuda, still carrying a cell phone, and tackle boxes. Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen were lost in the storm last July, and there's still no sign of what happened to the two 14-year- old boys.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 CALLER: There's blood all over the house.

DISPATCHER: OK.

911 CALLER: My brother-in-law is in the bedroom and it looks like someone has beat the hell out of him.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: It's one the 911 calls released as part of this investigation into the eight people killed in Ohio. The manhunt going on right now. Police trying to find who shot eight family members, all in the head, execution style. They said more than one killer may have targeted the family. This is in Piketon, east of Cincinnati.

A $25,000 reward is being offered leading to an arrest of a suspect. Most of the victims were shot while they were sleeping. One of them was sleeping next to her four-day old baby. Eight victims ranged in age from 16 to 44.

PAUL: All righty. The race to convention is heating up between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Senator Cruz wins a big chunk of delegates in Maine. Trump's team is calling foul on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)