:00:00. > :00:10.This is BBC World News Today with me Tim Willcox.
:00:11. > :00:20.Let's take you to Minnesota, where we are expecting the sheriff to talk
:00:21. > :00:25.about Prince's death. I wish it were under different circumstances. This
:00:26. > :00:30.is a tragedy for all of us. To you, Prince Rogers Nelson was a
:00:31. > :00:38.celebrity. To us, he is a community member and a good neighbour. To his
:00:39. > :00:46.family, he is a loved one. In life, he was a very private person. We
:00:47. > :00:52.will continue to respect his privacy and dignity and we hope that you
:00:53. > :00:56.will do as well. We also respect the media's right to information.
:00:57. > :01:01.They're in mind that the information happened asthmatic the incident
:01:02. > :01:06.happened about 29 hours ago and continues to be under investigation.
:01:07. > :01:14.There is information that I will not be able to talk about. I'm going to
:01:15. > :01:20.give you a statement and a mule sake -- and then we will take some
:01:21. > :01:30.questions. Yesterday morning we received a call and the Sheriff's
:01:31. > :01:36.office and the ambulance responded to the call, which is our standard
:01:37. > :01:41.protocol, it is not unusual to have everybody responds to a medical like
:01:42. > :01:46.that. They found an unresponsive mail in the elevator. CPR was
:01:47. > :01:53.initially started but was not successful -- male. He was
:01:54. > :01:59.pronounced deceased at seven minutes past ten. We identified him as
:02:00. > :02:05.Prince Rogers Nelson, 57 years old. Staff members from Paisley Park had
:02:06. > :02:10.been unable to contact Prince yesterday morning and went to check
:02:11. > :02:15.on him. They found him unresponsive and called 911. Deputies went
:02:16. > :02:21.through the building to make sure there was nobody else inside.
:02:22. > :02:26.Because this was an unwitnessed death of a middle-aged adults, the
:02:27. > :02:28.decision was made to process the scene, which is normal protocol and
:02:29. > :02:37.no different to what we would normally do. We ended up contacting
:02:38. > :02:41.the head of the county crime lab to help us with that and there should
:02:42. > :02:47.be no inference taken from that, it isn't unusual for them to do those
:02:48. > :02:53.types of calls. We finished with our processing late yesterday afternoon.
:02:54. > :02:58.We turned Paisley Park back over to Prince's representatives. Because
:02:59. > :03:02.the investigation is ongoing, I will not be answering questions on
:03:03. > :03:11.whether there were any items taken during our processing. The midwest
:03:12. > :03:14.medical examiner's office was contacted and the Carver County
:03:15. > :03:23.medical Examiner was funded. There were no obvious signs of trauma --
:03:24. > :03:28.responded. The body was taken for autopsy and that is being done
:03:29. > :03:35.today. The results from that autopsy may take several weeks, which is not
:03:36. > :03:39.unusual. Again, this will continue to be an open investigation until
:03:40. > :03:50.the autopsy results come back. We are ready to take take questions
:03:51. > :03:53.that you may have. It was said that there were people in the home who
:03:54. > :03:58.were distraught. Can you tell us more about who was in the home?
:03:59. > :04:05.There were some staff members who were there, who had gone to check on
:04:06. > :04:10.him and that's all I can respond to. INAUDIBLE
:04:11. > :04:14.Are not responding to any kind of questions about what may have been
:04:15. > :04:19.taken -- I am not responding. We have no reason to believe that this
:04:20. > :04:26.was a suicide. But this is early on in the investigation and we are
:04:27. > :04:32.continuing to investigate. Any indication of how long he had been
:04:33. > :04:39.in the elevator? We haven't received that information from the medical
:04:40. > :04:47.examiner's office. It hadn't been in there for the couple of minutes
:04:48. > :04:54.before the first responders arrived. You said he is a very private
:04:55. > :04:58.person. INAUDIBLE I am not the person to answer that,
:04:59. > :05:10.we will let the medical examiner talk about that. Were any medical
:05:11. > :05:20.calls made to that address? I have checked calls to service for that
:05:21. > :05:24.address in the log, and his name directly and there were no calls
:05:25. > :05:30.involving Prince in the last year. Paisley Park, Prince does some
:05:31. > :05:33.concern as there sometimes and some get-togethers, so it isn't unusual
:05:34. > :05:40.for us to receive calls from Paisley Park itself. There was nothing that
:05:41. > :05:49.I'm aware of that involved Prince directly at Paisley Park. Are you
:05:50. > :05:57.unable to confirm whether Prince was taking any medication? I'm not able
:05:58. > :06:10.to confirm that at this time at all. Can you give us an idea about the
:06:11. > :06:15.investigation? INAUDIBLE We'll be talking to people who are
:06:16. > :06:21.close to him, gathering some medical records and taking a look at those
:06:22. > :06:32.and the medical examiner's office and working from there. Worthy staff
:06:33. > :06:43.members there before he collapsed -- worth were the. They were trying to
:06:44. > :06:49.reach him yesterday morning and they were not able to reach in, so they
:06:50. > :06:54.responded to Paisley Park to look for him and found him unresponsive
:06:55. > :06:58.in the elevator. INAUDIBLE We cleared and you went through the
:06:59. > :07:08.residence at the time and we did not find anybody else there. Are you
:07:09. > :07:15.cooperating with any other jurisdictions? We will be looking at
:07:16. > :07:22.all of that. Can you tell me what you have done so far? This is 29
:07:23. > :07:24.hours old, detectives are currently working on the case. There are
:07:25. > :07:30.things they are working on. INAUDIBLE
:07:31. > :07:38.Yes, of course, we always cooperate federally. You said there were no
:07:39. > :07:42.calls involving Prince, are you aware of any hospital visits? There
:07:43. > :07:52.are no calls involving the Sheriff's office that I'm aware of. Was there
:07:53. > :08:01.medication and the home? I'm not going to get specific on what was
:08:02. > :08:12.and wasn't taken -- at the home. Some reports that he may have been
:08:13. > :08:16.on medication such as Percocet. This is under investigation and I cannot
:08:17. > :08:22.comment on that at this time. INAUDIBLE
:08:23. > :08:28.Between us and the medical examiner's office we will be looking
:08:29. > :08:40.at that, absolutely. Reports that he frequented a local Walgreens, is
:08:41. > :08:47.there any surveillance? That would be our normal protocol, to pull any
:08:48. > :09:02.kind of video? That would be the normal protocol. This case is 29
:09:03. > :09:09.hours old and it continues evolving. Can you talk to us about processing
:09:10. > :09:13.the scene, how they are working? The head of the county crime lab is
:09:14. > :09:16.helping us from the processing standpoint and they are meticulous,
:09:17. > :09:25.that is what they do. They are very meticulous. Photos and so on. Any
:09:26. > :09:31.indications of how long he had been in the elevator? We are going to
:09:32. > :09:40.wait for the medical examiner's office to give that information. I
:09:41. > :09:44.cut off somebody here? She is the public information officer, she is
:09:45. > :09:50.not the medical examiner. Any sign of a drug overdose? There is no
:09:51. > :09:53.information at this time with regard to attack you what they are talking
:09:54. > :09:59.about, it is part of the investigation. Let me give you some
:10:00. > :10:02.background, we are working as part of the investigative team with the
:10:03. > :10:06.Sheriff's office, so many of the answers I can give you today will
:10:07. > :10:11.include the word pending. We received a call at 12 minutes past
:10:12. > :10:16.ten to come and assist the Carver County Sheriff 's office in the best
:10:17. > :10:20.gauge and and the investigator arrived at 11:30am yesterday
:10:21. > :10:26.morning, local time and was on the scene for several hours. The autopsy
:10:27. > :10:31.this moulding begun at 9am -- this morning. It concluded at 1pm. Just
:10:32. > :10:34.shortly I received word that his body left the midwest medical
:10:35. > :10:40.examiner 's office and was released to the family. It was a very
:10:41. > :10:46.meticulous exam, it was a complete exam. Several of the pieces of
:10:47. > :10:51.information that are gathered in that process will be sent to
:10:52. > :10:55.laboratories for further testing. So that answer is pending, and it will
:10:56. > :11:03.take days and weeks to complete those investigations. Is it possible
:11:04. > :11:08.to say when he died? I know when the time of death was pronounced, but
:11:09. > :11:14.had he been dead overnight? Do you know when he stopped breathing? That
:11:15. > :11:27.information is pending. Do you know when he was removed? 1539. Was there
:11:28. > :11:36.any extra people brought in colour because this was Prince, or any
:11:37. > :11:40.extra deputies? There were a number of people that started gathering
:11:41. > :11:44.across the street, very early, as well as the media, so yes, we
:11:45. > :11:50.certainly brought in other people to help from a crowd control standpoint
:11:51. > :11:54.and to assist us with that. From the scene processing standpoint, it is a
:11:55. > :11:59.very large area, Paisley Park, so we had to bring in a couple of extra
:12:00. > :12:04.people and that is part of the reason for having assistance with
:12:05. > :12:12.them. INAUDIBLE The building is pretty big.
:12:13. > :12:14.INAUDIBLE That will be part of the
:12:15. > :12:21.investigation, I don't want to comment. Did he use the elevator
:12:22. > :12:27.because he felt he was about to pass out? Did he have access to the
:12:28. > :12:32.stairway? He certainly has access to stairways. Paisley Park is a big
:12:33. > :12:36.place. I don't think it would be unusual for him to use the elevator.
:12:37. > :12:47.The staircases are pretty long, so that wouldn't be unusual, that's why
:12:48. > :12:52.he took the elevator. He collapsed inside the elevator? He was
:12:53. > :13:00.collapsed in the elevator. Do you know when he was last seen alive?
:13:01. > :13:03.Had he retired for the night? The information we have is that he was
:13:04. > :13:17.last seen at about 8pm on Wednesday night. At Paisley Park. Have you met
:13:18. > :13:23.Prince before, and what was the interaction like? I did meet him but
:13:24. > :13:27.it wasn't in my capacity as the mayor. When I was in business I had
:13:28. > :13:33.the pleasure of riding in an aeroplane with him. The aeroplane
:13:34. > :13:37.was riding for -- waiting for departure and there were some empty
:13:38. > :13:39.seats in front of me and very soon after that, the stewardess escorted
:13:40. > :13:46.Prince and a member of his entourage. That was the only time I
:13:47. > :13:52.had an encounter. I did greet him, but as the mayor, I've never had any
:13:53. > :13:57.reason to meet him. We would see Prince from a law Forsman standpoint
:13:58. > :14:01.occasionally, he would have concerts at Paisley Park and we would help
:14:02. > :14:08.with traffic systems. He lived there for a long time and had two
:14:09. > :14:13.different residences, in County and Paisley Park. He had been a
:14:14. > :14:21.long-time member of the community and had been a good member of the
:14:22. > :14:28.community. You said no reason to believe it was a suicide. INAUDIBLE
:14:29. > :14:36.We have no reason to believe it is a suicide, the rest of it is under
:14:37. > :14:40.investigation. Can questions about medication be cleared up by talking
:14:41. > :14:44.to his doctor? It will be part of the investigation and we will have
:14:45. > :14:50.contact with the medical information, personnel he has had
:14:51. > :14:56.contact with -- with the medical personnel. Have you had any contact?
:14:57. > :15:04.This investigation is 29 years old, I don't know specifically who they
:15:05. > :15:10.have talked to. INAUDIBLE I don't have that information. He
:15:11. > :15:15.was on the first floor. Any rumours that you would like to dispel at
:15:16. > :15:20.this time about his death or any part of the investigation? There
:15:21. > :15:29.have been so many rumours, I don't know if I can dispel all of them.
:15:30. > :15:36.This is under investigation. Was a search warrant issued? We did a
:15:37. > :15:40.search warrant, yes, and that would be normal protocol. Paisley Park is
:15:41. > :15:45.very large, it is hard to say who could have given us permission to
:15:46. > :15:49.process the scene, so we thought it would be safer and better for us to
:15:50. > :15:54.get a search warrant on the front end to do that. The search warrant
:15:55. > :16:03.hasn't been filed as of yet and it will be filed probably over the next
:16:04. > :16:10.week and a half. INAUDIBLE To process the scene at Paisley
:16:11. > :16:21.Park. I don't have a copy of the search warrant. Different offices do
:16:22. > :16:32.different things sometimes -- sometimes preliminary results are
:16:33. > :16:40.released. Are you going to have a preliminary report on any Pelo
:16:41. > :16:46.information? The short answer is no. The explanation is that we are here
:16:47. > :16:50.in the capacity of serving the Carver County Sheriff 's office as
:16:51. > :16:56.part of their team -- LE per limb and information. We will get our
:16:57. > :17:01.results and we will not any -- release any admission until the
:17:02. > :17:05.results are complete -- preliminary investigation. It is up to the
:17:06. > :17:15.Sheriff, what information he releases, whether it is preliminary
:17:16. > :17:22.or when it is complete. INAUDIBLE His body was Willie is to his
:17:23. > :17:30.family. -- was released to his family. Results are pending. What do
:17:31. > :17:34.you expect the timeline to be? It may be days, depending on the type
:17:35. > :17:37.of tests, but more likely weeks before we have the complete results
:17:38. > :17:43.and then the medical Examiner's office will release it. How many
:17:44. > :17:52.investigators do you have working on the case? We have got three, four
:17:53. > :18:00.agencies working on this and they have a number of detectives working
:18:01. > :18:06.on it. This is a very large... Let me rephrase it, this is a high
:18:07. > :18:10.profile case for us. The county continues, life in the county goes
:18:11. > :18:14.on and there are other cases that we have that we are currently working
:18:15. > :18:30.on. I'm not sure how many detectives I have working specifically on this
:18:31. > :18:37.case. The plane landed in Illinois. Was there anything unusual about
:18:38. > :18:42.where he landed that you can talk about? I know as much about that
:18:43. > :18:49.currently as you do from reading the paper. Let me address that. Speaking
:18:50. > :18:53.on behalf of the Chief medical Examiner, when we say we are going
:18:54. > :18:58.to be doing a complete exam, that not only includes the present state
:18:59. > :19:05.of the body that is brought to us, but also the medical history of the
:19:06. > :19:08.individual, the family medical history, so those things will be
:19:09. > :19:14.encompassed in the medical Examiner's report that will be
:19:15. > :19:18.delivered to the Sheriff. INAUDIBLE It will include his medical history,
:19:19. > :19:28.his social history and his family's medical history as well. INAUDIBLE
:19:29. > :19:34.I assumed they would request them as part of the investigation.
:19:35. > :19:39.Absolutely, we have access to them. INAUDIBLE
:19:40. > :19:47.At this moment we have not reached out to the BCA for assistance. The
:19:48. > :19:53.family cooperating the investigation? I spoke to the family
:19:54. > :20:00.and they are trying to keep many things quiet. I've had contact with
:20:01. > :20:04.Prince's family and representatives and they have been very cooperative,
:20:05. > :20:10.we haven't had any problems. You said there are no obvious signs of
:20:11. > :20:13.trauma. That is where we will leave this press conference that is being
:20:14. > :20:19.handled by Jim Balsillie and they represented from the medical
:20:20. > :20:23.Examiner's office -- Jim Olsen. 29 hours after the death, the autopsy
:20:24. > :20:28.is being carried out. The facts of the case are that the last time
:20:29. > :20:37.Prince was seen alive was at 8am in the morning. He was found collapsed
:20:38. > :20:41.in an elevator, CPR was attempted but there was no response. The
:20:42. > :20:44.investigation continues and there are no obvious signs of trauma on
:20:45. > :20:52.his body and no indication that this was a suicide attempt either.
:20:53. > :20:55.As the debate over Britain's membership of the European Union
:20:56. > :20:57.intensifies, everyone was waiting to hear how emphatic
:20:58. > :20:58.President Barack Obama would be on the issue.
:20:59. > :21:01.His response today was explosive as he urged Britain
:21:02. > :21:05.in forthright terms to stick with the EU.
:21:06. > :21:09.with David Cameron, Mr Obama warned that Britain would be "at the back
:21:10. > :21:12.of the queue" for a bilateral trade deal with the US,
:21:13. > :21:19.as President began with lunch with the Queen at Windsor Castle,
:21:20. > :21:22.with the First Lady Michelle and the Duke of Edinburgh.
:21:23. > :21:27.to Number Ten for a one-to-one with the British Prime Minister.
:21:28. > :21:29.Mr Obama's intervention in the EU referendum debate has
:21:30. > :21:32.brought sharp criticism from Leave campaigners.
:21:33. > :21:35.Editor, John Pienaar, whose report contains some
:21:36. > :21:43.When the president comes calling, he starts at the top.
:21:44. > :21:46.Touch down at Windsor Castle for a private visit with the Queen.
:21:47. > :21:48.Well, as private as these visits get.
:21:49. > :21:50.The one place and person to whom Barack Obama defers.
:21:51. > :21:52.Protocol rules, even for the president.
:21:53. > :21:59.He is here not just as a courtesy on his farewell tour,
:22:00. > :22:02.but to have his say on Britain's place in the world before
:22:03. > :22:06.Now, which head of state is supposed to go in front?
:22:07. > :22:14.Warmer than those wanting out of the EU were about to feel
:22:15. > :22:17.about Barack Obama, especially after the business end
:22:18. > :22:23.And in Downing Street, his welcome looked even warmer.
:22:24. > :22:26.Not just because President and Prime Minister are quite good
:22:27. > :22:29.friends, you could see that, but because the biggest star
:22:30. > :22:31.in world politics was here to help David Cameron
:22:32. > :22:34.in the fight of his life, keeping Britain in the EU
:22:35. > :22:36.and in the process saving the Cameron premiership
:22:37. > :22:44.President Obama took his chance and was not holding back.
:22:45. > :22:47.I figured you might want to hear from the President
:22:48. > :22:49.of the United States, what I think the
:22:50. > :22:57.On that matter, for example, I think it is fair to say that maybe
:22:58. > :23:02.at some point down the line there might be a UK-US trade
:23:03. > :23:06.agreement, but not any time soon, because our focus is in negotiating
:23:07. > :23:10.with a big bloc, the European Union, to get a trade agreement done.
:23:11. > :23:15.And the UK is going to be in the back of the queue.
:23:16. > :23:22.Toughest warning yet by far, and he was not sorry for saying it.
:23:23. > :23:24.Ultimately, this is something the British voters have
:23:25. > :23:34.But, as part of our special relationship, part of being friends
:23:35. > :23:38.is to be honest, and to let you know what I think.
:23:39. > :23:40.And speaking honestly, the outcome of that decision
:23:41. > :23:44.is a matter of deep interest to the United States, because it
:23:45. > :23:52.David Cameron could not have asked for more.
:23:53. > :23:54.The out camp are convinced that he did.
:23:55. > :23:58.Our collective power and reach is amplified by Britain's membership
:23:59. > :24:05.When it comes to the special relationship between our countries,
:24:06. > :24:09.there is no greater enthusiast than me.
:24:10. > :24:12.I am very proud to have had the opportunity to be Prime Minister
:24:13. > :24:15.and stand outside the White House listening to this man,
:24:16. > :24:17.my friend Barack, say that the special relationship
:24:18. > :24:20.between our countries has never been stronger.
:24:21. > :24:24.But I've never felt constrained in any way in strengthening this
:24:25. > :24:26.relationship by the fact that we are in the European Union.
:24:27. > :24:31.Even before the president said a word, you somehow knew
:24:32. > :24:36.something big was coming, bigger than Prince, the Beatles,
:24:37. > :24:42.And what a show it is when Barack Obama comes to town.
:24:43. > :24:44.In there, it is about international diplomacy, high-stakes politics.
:24:45. > :24:47.Out here, forget the rain, it feels like a crowd at a rock
:24:48. > :24:52.concert, people have come to get a glance at a president more popular
:24:53. > :24:54.than any politician here even in their dreams.
:24:55. > :24:58.But can Barack Obama win minds as well as hearts?
:24:59. > :25:03.If you did not know these two were close, you know now.
:25:04. > :25:09.One of them, Boris Johnson, even doubted whether the president
:25:10. > :25:13.he called "part-Kenyan" had British interests at heart.
:25:14. > :25:17.I think it is perverse that we are being urged
:25:18. > :25:21.by the United States to embroil ourselves ever more deeply
:25:22. > :25:25.in a system where our laws, 60% of them now emanate from the EU,
:25:26. > :25:28.when the United States would not dream of subjugating itself in any
:25:29. > :25:34.way to any other international jurisdiction.
:25:35. > :25:37.Side-by-side, shoulder to shoulder, Barack Obama has
:25:38. > :25:43.The fight for Britain's future still lies in the balance and that
:25:44. > :25:46.will decide whether the dramatic support David Cameron's closest
:25:47. > :25:49.friend and ally has given today is remembered as a prize trophy
:25:50. > :26:14.It is that time of the day to look at what weather stories
:26:15. > :26:17.It is that time of the day to look at what weather stories have been
:26:18. > :26:19.dominating the headlines around the world and unfortunately we've seen
:26:20. > :26:21.quite a significant landslide in north-east