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Can Donald Trump United GOP?; Manhunt Underway In Three Deadly Shootings; Is Media Coverage Of Donald Trump Shifting? Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired May 06, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

HEALY BAUMGARDNER, SENIOR PRESS REPRESENTATIVE, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: You know, I think that at this juncture the most important thing is for us to unify and I think that that's Mr. Trump's goal.

[14:30:02]I mean, look, he has energized the Republican base, the conservative movement. Americans are speaking and they're speaking loudly. And I think that, you know, the goal now is to unite so we can take the White House in November.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Kevin, I want to come to you and I'm glad, Healy, you say unify. Yes, so many Americans are speaking, speaking and they love Donald Trump. But Paul Ryan essentially told Jake yesterday it's not just about talking unity. It is about taking action. Here's Speaker Ryan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Saying we're unified doesn't in of itself unify us, but taking the principles we all believe in, showing there's a dedication and running a principled campaign that Republicans can be proud about and that can actually appeal to a majority of Americans, that to me is what it takes to unify this party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was speaker an. Let me jump to Reince Priebus talking about how once that news broke on CNN Donald Trump reached out to the chair of the RNC. Here's that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump called you within minutes.

REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: You're pretty good. I can't lie. No. I wouldn't lie anyway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

PRIEBUS: That's right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was his mood?

PRIEBUS: You know, it wasn't like furious or anything. It was like what do I -- you know, what do I need to do? I know Paul really well and I know he's being honest and I know he feels. And so, I'm comfortable with the idea that it's going to take some time and some cases for people to work through differences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Kevin Sheridan, obviously, you know, Reince is caught off guard that Mr. Trump called him up. What do I do? What do you think looking ahead to the meeting to be a fly on the wall next Thursday between the speaker of the House and Donald, what do they need to get done?

KEVIN SHERIDAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT: I'm glad Donald Trump actually wants his support. You know, we were kind of wondering whether or not he wants conservative support. He was saying he doesn't necessarily need it.

BALDWIN: Clearly he does.

SHERIDAN: If he's going that way, look. This is going to have to be accommodation on both sides. Paul Ryan has built a very serious agenda for addressing poverty, addressing entitlement reform, tax reform, and corporate tax reform.

He wants to make sure all of the things are represented in Republican presidency and I think his design was originally to hand over his agenda to the presumptive nominee.

That's not going to happen in total because Donald Trump has run and won on a totally different platform. They have to make accommodations on both sides and we'll see if they can actually get there.

BALDWIN: Finally, go ahead jump in.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORESPONDENT: Just really quick. I think one of the things that really illustrates how hard it is going to be for them to find common ground Kevin was talking about is how Lindsey Graham answered my question about whether or not he, Lindsey Graham, is out of step with the Republican Party because voters chose Donald Trump and his answer was, maybe.

You know, he wasn't just being, you know, kind of quick or hang a quip there. It may be that the two of them are out of step with one another's ideals and philosophies and the direction of the party to go, which is why it is -- it is in such a shambles right now as we move forward and as they try to figure out if they can unite.

BALDWIN: I also loved your question, the third party Teddy Roosevelt question and he said no way. Finally, just quickly, Nia, final thoughts. Might we have a yes from Paul Ryan as early as next Thursday or no?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: We will have to see what Donald Trump sort of -- if he moves. I think everyone has been waiting on Donald Trump to kind of fill the chair, right? To make people believe that he can fill the oval office chair and that's what you sort of heard from Mitch McConnell that he has to live up to these obligations of leading the Republican Party. I think one of the things that we will have to watch is Donald Trump's behavior going forward.

BALDWIN: Thank you all. Nia-Malika Henderson, Kevin Sheridan, Healy Baumgardner, and Dana Bash, great conversation. We'll all be watching and talking about it next Thursday.

As a reminder, as well, here on the Democratic side, here on CNN, we'll hear from Senator Bernie Sanders. He'll be talking to wolf on "THE SITUATION ROOM." That's starts at 5:00 Eastern here on CNN.

Next, we are following that breaking news out of Maryland, a manhunt is underway for a suspect potentially involved in three separate shootings in the last 24 hours. We'll bring you another briefing when we get it. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:39:16]

BALDWIN: We are following breaking news out of Montgomery County, Maryland essentially suburban Washington, D.C. Authorities are investigating these multiple shootings they say may be connected. Three shootings. All of them fatal. Happening outside of the Montgomery County Mall.

One nearby outside of a Giant supermarket grocery store. Those happened today. One person was killed at each scene. A third shooting happened yesterday outside of a high school in a parking lot. A woman died there.

In total, three people have died. Police say they're looking for this man. A 62-year-old former law enforcement official who was estranged from his wife. Police say she was the victim in yesterday's shooting.

Joining me, CNN law enforcement analyst, Art Roderick. Art, what are you hearing?

[14:40:03] ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I'm hearing that, number one, I think we got to realize this is a federal protective service officer so there's voluminous information on his background, relatives, cell phone numbers, vehicles, finances. You name it, that's in his personnel file.

So I'm sure the law enforcement's already dug into that. And I wouldn't be surprised because of the amount of information that's out there on the individual that they're probably very close to wrapping this particular case up.

I mean, once you bring in the troops and I'm talking about the federal law enforcement officers who are used to tracking these types of individuals specifically, the U.S. marshals who are experts at cell phone tracking, communication tracking, I wouldn't be surprised if they're fairly close to getting this individual.

Another interesting thing, too, Brooke is all these shootings occurred in a parking lot. I think probably for two reasons. One, a quick getaway. Number two, less people to maybe confront him. So the parking lot seemed to be the best way for a quick hit and get away.

BALDWIN: As we get more information, we'll bring you back in. Again, three people have been killed. Separate shootings in the last 24 hours in the Washington, D.C. area. Art Roderick, thank you so much. We'll talk again.

Coming up next, do candidates get enough sleep on the campaign trail? Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of "The Huffington Post" will talk to me about why sleep plays an all-important role in the life of a candidates and what she makes of the current state of the race. Is coverage of Donald Trump shifting? We'll discuss this and talk about her book next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:06]

BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me on this Friday. When the news came down that Donald Trump was to be the presumptive nominee for the Republicans, perhaps no other news outlet was quite as withering as "Huffington Post," which at least early on had moved Trump coverage to the entertainment section of the website.

I have the editor-in-chief of "The Huffington Post," Arianna Huffington with me now to talk about that and her new book is called the "Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life One Night At a Time." It is so nice to have you here at CNN, Arianna.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "THE HUFFINGTON POST": Great to be with you, Brooke. Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you for coming through. I'm not of the ilk is for the dead. I need my sleep and how it factors in on the cam trail. First, Dana Bash sat down with Senator Lindsey Graham who just broke news saying he is not in good conscious voting for either Trump or Clinton this fall.

HUFFINGTON: He actually said that the reason is that Trump does not have the judgment or the temperament. And I think this is really in the best interest of the Republican Party what he is doing.

BALDWIN: For the senator not to vote.

HUFFINGTON: Absolutely. Because nobody can say that Donald Trump has the judgment and the temperament to be president.

BALDWIN: Many Americans, millions would disagree with you.

HUFFINGTON: No one when's actually aware of what he has said, of what he believes, including that the president of the United States was not born here. He remains a birther. Including banning 1.6 billion Muslims, including inciting violence in his rallies.

Nobody in good conscience can really say this is the right man to have his finger close to the nuclear button. So anything he can do to save his own party from the catastrophe that have having Donald Trump as the president means for the party and for the country is great. Good for Lindsey Graham.

BALDWIN: Good for Lindsey Graham. The Huffington Post made a decision early on to cover Trump as an entertainer in the entertainment area. We have screen grab here today. This is I believe under the politics section now and counted at the time, an hour ago, more than ten pictures of Trump on the page. So now that he is officially the presumed nominee, that then shifted for you editorially?

HUFFINGTON: No, no, no. We have been covering him in the politics section since he proclaimed that he wanted to ban an entire religion from the country because from then on --

BALDWIN: That was the change for you?

HUFFINGTON: Yes. We believe he had to be covered as a clear and present danger. Every story we do, every single story there is an editor's note at the bottom that says we want readers that Donald Trump called for the banning of an entire religion. He's a birther. He's a xenophobe. A serial liar, et cetera, et cetera.

We see our responsibility to remind voters every day who Donald Trump really is so that they stop treating him as an entertaining figure and treat him as the clear danger he would be for this country.

BALDWIN: President Obama, he weighed in on this today. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is not entertainment. This is a contest for the presidency of the United States, and what that means is that every candidate, every nominee needs to be subject to exacting standards and genuine scrutiny.

At some point, there's going to be a conversation between Clinton and Bernie Sanders about how we move towards the convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:50:01]BALDWIN: On the last note, on the Dems, even Hillary Clinton talked to Anderson the other day and she reminded all of us before she had to bow out in '08 she was on a winning streak winning 9 out of last 10 contests and could be what we see in the future for Bernie Sanders and yet mathematically, don't know how that works for him. How do you think Hillary Clinton should address this and Bernie Sanders should address the supporters unifying the party?

HUFFINGTON: It is only a matter of time because the delegate math is the delegate math. I have no doubt that the Democratic Party's going to get behind Hillary Clinton. I don't think that will be the issue. I think Bernie Sanders has run an amazing campaign, has raised incredibly important issues for the country and these issues will be taken much more seriously on the Democratic platform because of his campaign, but I don't think they have concerns in terms of coming together. The Republican Party, that's another story.

WHITFIELD: On your book, on the sleep revolution, and on sleep you fell, stitches on your face because we're all running around sometimes like zombie. We have heard Donald Trump talk about it, I only get four hours of sleep and Hillary Clinton being jet lagged and you were pointing out to me about Ted Cruz bragging about not getting sleep. Why is this important to you?

HUFFINGTON: We have a lot of scientific evidence now, Brooke, that makes it clear that when our leaders are sleep deprived, whether political leaders or business leaders, their judgment and their decision making are degraded, and we see that all around us.

We have scientific evidence. This is not my opinion and yet we have politicians like Donald Trump bragging that they only get four to four and a half hours of sleep and displaying all the symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation in terms of mood swings, comprehension problems and all that stuff.

And we also see it when Ted Cruz, you know, two weeks before he should have left and bowed out and sent out an e-mail, a fund raising e-mail I have it here. Health and sleep are limited. Fighting morning and night and little to know sleep. Why should we celebrate that? Why should we want --

BALDWIN: How much sleep do you get?

HUFFINGTON: I actually -- since my collapse when I broke my cheekbone, et cetera, I now prioritize my sleep. I get eight hours.

BALDWIN: Eight hours.

HUFFINGTON: Yes. You said seven, perfect. Again, the universal consensus is seven to nine hours. So once you get that, you're going to be more effective, be better at your job. You will be happier and be healthier.

I'm much more effective and I believe any leader would be more effective. So my hope is that you know now, Brooke, no politician would be seen in public smoking. Right? Even if they smoke in private.

I want politicians to stop bragging in public about how little sleep they get because it's not in our interests. Actually, they smoked it be less troubling for us than sleep deprived.

BALDWIN: Not in their interest, but it matters for us if they're not sleeping. Arianna Huffington, thank you so much. By the way, little factoid, they have sleeping pods. That's how important this is for her.

HUFFINGTON: Two.

BALDWIN: That's how important this is for you. Arianna, thank you very much.

HUFFINGTON: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thanks to have you. And now to this, this year's America's Latino population will play a key role as it has in the past in electing the next president. Could Donald Trump's tweets on Cinco Demayo help or help him in a general election? We'll talk to Kamau Bell.

Plus breaking news out of Maryland, this manhunt for the suspect who police now say they believe he was involved in these three different shootings. We're expecting another police update moments from now and now live. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:55:00]

BALDWIN: Welcome to CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's get straight to our breaking news here. We have been watching and listening to law enforcement, Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. where we can now tell you they have a suspect in custody after we have been reporting three different shootings in 24 hours leaving people dead. News conference has just begun. Let's listen.

DARRYL MCSWAIN, ASSISTANT CHIEF, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: -- has been taken into custody minutes ago. Thankfully it was without incident. He has since been taken to our headquarters for further questioning.

We do have reason to believe that this incident and the one in Aspen Hill potentially the one also in Prince George's County and High Pointe was, in fact, related. That will obviously be further vetted through the investigative process. The chief manager will give away information later with the press conference to follow later this evening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you say anything about the --

MCSWAIN: Thank you all very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The circumstances under which he was arrested. Talk about the circumstances --

MCSWAIN: Members of our tactical team and others conducted the arrest of the individual in question. Fortunately no innocent citizens, officers were injured in the arrest itself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The victim here and Aspen Hill related to him?

MCSWAIN: That's all still under investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you took him into custody, was he driving? Walking? How did you encounter him?

MCSWAIN: further information regarding that will be coming out later. Thank you all very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- his man has now killed two other people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll have more details and also there may be a location change for the next presser. But we'll do our very best to give you as much notice as possible about where that will be and what time that will happen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- why the mall was not on lockdown?