[Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Got some revealing new details about the death of Prince. CNN has learned that an addiction specialist was making plans at the request of Prince's representatives to admit the star to a clinic in California hours before Prince passed away. Specialist is nationally known. His name is Dr. Howard Cornfield. His program recovery without walls treats patients for pain and addiction management and Dr. Cornfield's son who initially took the red eye to Prince's compound at Paisley Park. He is the one who was in that building when he was found unresponsive in the elevator and he is the one who dialed 911. At a news conference today, the Cornfield attorney described the plan as a life-saving mission.
[William Mauzy, Attorney For Opioid Specialist By Prince's Team:] That mission was to get Prince to a doctor in Minnesota on Thursday morning. He contacted a trusted colleague of his. That Minnesota doctor cleared his schedule for Thursday morning to provide privacy to Prince. The second part of Dr. Cornfield's plan was to send his son, a staff member, for recovery without walls. Andrew's purpose in being there was to describe the recovery without walls program to familiarize Prince with that. Prince could go there for pain management and any addiction issues.
[Baldwin:] Joining me now, CNN's Stephanie Elam who attend that had press conference today and has some new details for us. Also here, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and criminal and civil attorney Eric Guster. So, a lot to get to. And Stephanie, first, to you. We now have information what about a Percocet addiction. What do you know?
[Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] Right. And it's important to put this all in context here. What we're understanding from the lawyer representing the Cornfield is that this was an intervention being waged by Prince's camp. That they made the first call Wednesday night and that he was supposed to see this local doctor on Thursday morning. Obviously, we know now that he passed away. And this new revelation that CNN has learned from a lawyer who used to represent two of Prince's half siblings, both of whom are now passed away, in particular Duane Nelson who is the source of this information saying that according to this attorney had said that he had seen Prince use Percocet in the past, not just seen him use it, had helped procure it for him decades before the iconic singer lost his life. We do know also that Duane Nelson used to work for Prince. And that he worked for him at Paisley Park but then was fired, and then went on to sue his half-brother. But he said that Prince was using this Percocet to come down after performances. Now, this is according to Prince's half sibling who is deceased, but the lawyer who used to represent this brother is saying that he told him this before he died. So this is something that CNN has learned. And this is a new development in this case Brooke.
[Baldwin:] OK. So, with that huge piece of news, Sanjay Gupta, the question is this, if this is, again, putting this on this attorney who represented these two half-brothers who are no longer with us saying one of them used to, you know, get the Percocet for Prince. He wanted, you know, the Percocet to come down and help him deal with the rigors of performing. It was said Prince was in no way just a recreational user. Have you ever heard of Percocet being used in this fashion?
[Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] No, not really. I mean, look. Percocet is a pain killer. It's an opioid narcotic. It is typically used to treat pain. What is being described as someone coming down after a performance, I don't know. You know, you think someone using an anxiety medication or something like that or a sedative or something. So I haven't really heard of it being used like this, but that's not its intended use either.
[Baldwin:] Remind us what it is.
[Gupta:] Well, it's a pain killer. Percocet is a pain killer. And, you know, if he was having pain for as long as Stephanie Elam was just describing over a decade or however long it was, you can be rest assured that Percocet probably wouldn't have effectiveness for that long. Typically these medications are used short term. So to to have been using it for a decade or so, it wasn't being used as intended by any means. I don't know if he was using it more as a sedative just because it can make you sleepy as well, but it certainly wouldn't be a medication of choice. The way that it was just described, Brooke.
[Baldwin:] Right. Right. And it's also tricky because we don't know was he addicted according to this lawyer, according to the deceased half-brother? Were they using it for decades? Were they off and on using it for decades? Eric Guster, let me bring you in. Let's put the, you know, the nationally known doctor and son aside for a second. And the crux of this is how was Prince getting this, if it was Percocet or whatever the drug was, it was found on him and in Paisley Park the day he died, the DEA is in there, and they are going to figure it out.
[Eric Guster, Criminal And Civil Trial Attorney:] This is almost deja vu with Michael Jackson's death. When you think about a performer who died at the hands of a doctor and someone who was giving them drugs. And Prince, if he had this addiction and he was he was getting these major prescriptions, someone had to supply them. Someone had to write prescriptions for him or his aliases or people to actually fill these prescriptions, and that's what the D.A. wants. They want to know who was providing these drugs, who was getting them filled, and who was basically overseeing all of this and who should have stopped it, because if someone was enabling this and writing these prescriptions illegally, then that doctor can be prosecuted, could lose his or her license as well.
[Baldwin:] Obviously, somebody knew something was up. To pick up the call, to call this, you know, California doctor, Dr. Cornfield who is, you know, very well known in this kind of thing. They were going to bring him in and have around-the-clock nursing and care in California, you know, confidentially to improve his health. Still, it's like they miss him by hours.
[Guster:] Yes. Literally hours. And the person who made the call, it may have been one of his one of his concerned family members. So it may not have been a person who was actually providing the drugs. It could have been a family member saying, look, Prince, we need to get you some help. We're going to call this specialist. They are going to come and see you and we're going to try to save your life because you're going down a bad road. But they just did not make it in enough time which is so heartbreaking.
[Baldwin:] That is so sad. Eric Guster, thank you. We're also again waiting for the toxicology reports and all that's come back with the autopsy. That is all pending. Stephanie Elam knows that very well. Stephanie, thank you and Dr. Gupta, thank you as always as well. Coming up next, back to politics. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both face unfavorable ratings like any other presidential candidates in history, the highest since I think the early '90s, but smart VP picks could help them turn it around. CNN is learning that possible candidates are being vetted. Find out who is on the short list next.