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CNN NEWSROOM

Suspect Found after Ambushed, Killed Iowa Officers; More Disciplined Donald Trump Emerges Six Days from Election; Florida, Michigan in Play in Presidential Race. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 2, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:32] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: This is a breaking story we're following. The hunt is over for a suspected cop killer in Iowa. Investigators say they have captured 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene. This is the man accused of ambushing not just one but two police officers from separate police agencies very early this morning. Both officers, totally unsuspecting victims just sitting inside their patrol cars at the time of the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. PAUL PANZEK (ph), DES MOINES POLICE DEPARTMENT: On the Des Moines Police Department side, there was Sergeant Anthony Beminio. He goes by Tony, and he's been with us since 2005. He had some prior service at another local police department prior to that. He was promoted last year, a great guy in this department, a good friend, fantastic family man. It's hard to lose Tony.

Chief McCarty (ph) will speak a little bit about the Urbanville officer killed. I'll give you his name. It's Officer Justin Martin. It's my understanding he's been employed with the Urbandale Police Department since 2015.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jean Casarez has been following this.

Our hearts go out to the families and communities.

How did this happen?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It all started this morning. A little after 1:00, Justin Martin, the officer you saw on your screen, he was patrolling and he was about to go through an intersection in his squad car. And what they said, minutes ago, in the last press conference, is that he probably didn't even know that, to the side of him, that one was about to shoot him as he sat in his patrol car. And he was walking. They believe the perpetrator, they say, was walking, not in a car himself. He was dead on the scene.

Then 20 minutes later, a Des Moines Iowa in his patrol car conceivably going to help other officers, because of what had of their own, was shot in his patrol car at an intersection. He was taken to the hospital and then he died.

We don't know too much about the suspect. And we're still calling him a suspect -- because he was not arrested. He was walking down the street in Dallas County, another county in Iowa, and summoned a state employee saying he needed medical help. He's in a hospital. They want to question him. He has not been arrested, but they did say at the press conference he has a daughter himself in the local high school. They don't know his criminal background, but they did say that several weeks ago he was at a high school football game and he was allegedly waving a Confederate flag in the faces of black people sitting in the stands. The officers asked him to get off the private property. He finally, reluctantly, did it and they issue him a warning for trespassing, no charges, but a warning. And they will not say if they believe that has anything to do with today, but he has not been charged.

[14:35:25] BALDWIN: Keep us posted if that changes.

Jean, thank you so much.

Moving on, after 17 months of campaigning, a new Trump in the final week, a disciplined Trump. We'll talk live with one of his advisors about their strategy and how they are keeping him off Twitter.

Plus, oops. The Bush family playing cleanup after Jeb Bush's son says the former presidents and his family may vote for Hillary Clinton. Their reactions, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:17] BALDWIN: And we're back. You're watching CNN. Thanks for being with me.

Have you noticed Donald Trump, who loves dominating the news cycle, he's been relatively quiet in these final weeks? Doing few interviews, spending less time on Twitter, staying on script as the Clinton campaign faces new headaches.

Joining me now, Bill Press, a CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton supporter; and Sarah Huckabee Sanders is back with us, a senior advisor to Donald Trump; and Nancy Collins back as well, reporter for the "Hollywood Reporter" who interviewed Donald Trump in '94.

So great to have all of you with me.

Sarah, let me begin with you on Trump's discipline. He's talking about Obamacare and those premiums going up. He's talking about the FBI investigation. He's working off a teleprompter script. Steve Bannon is apparently traveling with him and minding his Twitter. Can he do this for six more days? And what took him so long?

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, SENIOR ADVISOR, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I think he is making a closing argument to the American people and he's doing a great job. Hillary is coming off of the worst week of campaigning she's had in this entire cycle. Obamacare premiums are spiking. She's under criminal investigation by the FBI, not just her, but the Clinton Foundation. And I think it's been a great opportunity for Donald Trump to talk about his reason to vote for him while Hillary Clinton's campaign has become nothing but personal attacks. And, frankly, I don't think she has a real reason she's giving the American people to vote for her and Donald Trump does. It's a great contrast for us moving into the final week.

BALDWIN: You, Nancy, spent quite a bit of time with Mr. Trump some years ago. We wanted to talk to you because a piece of your interview has landed in this new Hillary Clinton ad. Before we go there, just knowing Donald Trump as you do, what do you think this is like for him to stay so on message?

NANCY COLLINS, REPORTER, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: I think probably agony. You never want to get in a fight with somebody who has nothing to lose, and he's had nothing to lose up until the last two weeks. I think he's stunned that he's in the position he is. And, suddenly, somebody said, "OK, you might win." So he's shut up and they've snatched his cell phone away from him.

BALDWIN: Bill Press, let me bring you into this. Something else we've been hearing from Donald Trump, I wanted to get to his point about buyers' remorse. People, I don't think, realize this, but there are a certain number of states where if you early vote, you can actually change your vote and Donald Trump is saying to them, change your vote, not too late.

BILL PRESS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's too late for everything Donald Trump is trying to do. But first, I must say --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Not for some of these people.

PRESS: Well, as a talk show host, I have to say that I'm thinking of suing Donald Trump. Because it's hard to fill three hours when Donald Trump doesn't say anything outrageous. This is not fair to talk show hosts. We depend on Donald Trump to keep giving us new ammunition everyday and it's been too damn quiet the last three days.

BALDWIN: Are you disappointed, Bill Press? You sound disappointed.

PRESS: Disappointed? No. Absolutely. Again, I count on Donald Trump. I think it's too little too late.

And the fact is that if you really depend -- so 24.4 million people have done early voting, according to CNN. If you really depend on that many people to go back and get their ballot and change it, and out of 38 states you can only do so in seven states, if that is your thread to 270 electoral votes, that's a mighty thin thread. I wouldn't want to count on it.

BALDWIN: Well I don't know if he's depending solely on that --

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: -- but it's a piece of it and it could work in his favor.

(CROSSTALK)

PRESS: Even a little tiny, tiny piece.

BALDWIN: On this new ad from the Hillary Clinton camp, it included a piece of your --

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: A couple of clips.

BALDWIN: Yeah, a couple of clips from your '94 interview with Trump. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing.

When I come home and dinner's not ready, I go through the roof.

Grab them by the (EXPLETIVE DELETED). And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Remind us, you've been on the show and talked about this interview from '94 before. You had a lot of time with him.

COLLINS: I had four hours. It was unheard of. I was down there for "Prime Time Live." He was very respectful but he got into this race for attention, not politics, because this guy, you can't underestimate how much he needs attention. As I said to you before, he's an eight- year-old kid screaming for attention in a 70-year-old guy's body.

But you know he is -- there is a different side, so I do understand why his family might see somebody different, because he is a showman. He made a mistake one time when he was talking about campaigning, he said, "In my performances," which was a real Freudian slip because that's how he's seen them.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: I'm hearing Bill laugh, but I'm watching your face listening to her.

Let's be fair --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: -- as a showman, she's saying.

[14:45:14] HUCKABEE SANDERS: Well, at one point in life, he was a showman. He had a TV show. But that's not why he ran for president. He certainly didn't need this job.

BALDWIN: You don't think he's a showman a little itty-bitty bit now?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I don't think anybody in politics isn't in some way a showman. You can't step on stage in front millions of people and not be comfortable with who you are. And I think Donald Trump is exactly that. And that's the only thing I think he probably is similar to other politicians. In no other way is he conventional and that's why he's done so well. Americans are desperate for something different than what we have. They're sick and tired of politics as usual. They're tired of the corruptions and scandals. And that's all they've seen. And they know they'll get that if they vote for Hillary Clinton. That's one of the reasons Donald Trump has done so well this entire cycle, but particularly over the last 10 days. We have seen the scandal and corruption and conflict --

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: What about experience? Experience is very important. I want a candidate who -- a president who walks in there and doesn't have to have a guide to find the Oval Office.

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Well, look, I think experience does matter, but it's executive experience that matters. He has the ability to take in a lot of information quickly, make a decision, and move forward with it. Hillary Clinton may have experience, but it's bad experience. Everything she has done in the last 30 years in government has been failure.

COLLINS: That's not true. That's absolutely not true.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: -- she was a Senator who worked very, very well --

HUCKABEE SANDERS: She may have worked hard but she didn't do anything.

BALDWIN: Bill?

PRESS: If I could jump in here just a minute. First of all, two points. On the showman thing, that's who Donald Trump is, that's all he is, that's why he is where he is. Let's face it. He's a celebrity from "The Apprentice" and that's why he got the votes in the primary. He wouldn't be there if he were not a TV star. Sadly, the American people are in love with celebrities and that's why Donald Trump is there.

In terms of change, I agree with Nancy. People want change. Change is good. But Donald Trump is an experienced businessman? He's had four failed casinos, a failed university, a failed airline, a failed steak business. Go down the list, I mean, he's a failure. He's only succeeded in being good on television. That's not good enough for the Oval Office. And I don't think it will get him there

BALDWIN: We have to wrap it. But I'll say, despite everything, it's a close race. We have six days

to go. And I think it's -- no one can predict who might win next Tuesday, being fair to both camps.

I want to thank all of you.

And a big moment on the campaign trail. Any moment, President Obama, just hours after pleading with black voters to show up, will speak live in North Carolina. We'll take him there to Chapel Hill.

I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Oh, James Taylor. Let's listen.

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:52:13] BALDWIN: All mighty, Florida. Six days until this country chooses its next president and the all-important Sunshine State, still very much in play. Check out these numbers. A new CNN/ORC poll showing Clinton ahead just a little bit. Donald Trump is there in Florida today taking his battleground blitz to Miami. Clinton also spending a lot of time in Florida.

New campaign moves indicate deeply blue Michigan may be the latest state to gain battleground status. Clinton just added a last-minute rally in Detroit on Friday. And we learned the campaign has dropped six figures on political ads in Michigan, paying unusual attention to a state that has voted for a Democrat the past six elections.

So that's why we wanted to talk to Kathleen Gray, a reporter for the "Detroit Free Press." Also back with me, Adam Smith, political editor at the "Tampa Bay Times."

So great to have both of you.

But can we start with Michigan, Kathleen? Why is she going to the reliably blue state such as yours?

KATHLEEN GRAY, REPORT, DETROIT FREE PRESS: Well, Donald Trump has been making some moves on the state as well. He was here on Monday at a couple big rallies with thousands of people. His three kids are here, two of them today, Donald Jr and Ivanka. Mike Pence is here tomorrow. Eric Trump will be here Friday. Trump is dumping, I think, $750,000 into advertising in Michigan as well. So he's making a play for the state. So Clinton has to respond in kind. We have Bernie Sanders here today having a couple rallies and she'll be here on Friday for a "get out the vote" rally in Detroit. It's an important area for her to get minority votes out.

BALDWIN: You mentioned Bernie Sanders. During the upset during the primaries, he took Michigan, so now he's trying to help her out.

Adam, to you. Florida, you wrote about this, this week, Latino vote soaring, but the African-American and also the Millennial turnout is down. Why do you think the last two groups aren't quite as excited about her? What do you make of the set up there?

ADAM SMITH, POLITICAL EDITOR, TAMPA BAY TIMES: We're kind of in unchartered territory because we have got so many more people voting earlier day. You had four million people cast votes, so it's hard to tell how many people would already have voted that are voting early. Right now, I can tell you the Democrats are feeling very good about two weeks ago, and less good today. African-American turnout is slow compared to the early vote four years ago. It may get better, but it has a ways to go. and Republicans are doing a bit better than people thought they would do.

BALDWIN: There's been talk about how could there possibly be the same African-American excitement as there was initially with President Obama, the first black U.S. president. But in talking to voters, just quickly, what do you think Hillary Clinton could do, could say, to get them on her team by next Tuesday?

[14:55:25] SMITH: Well --

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: -- I think they're doing it. You see Bill Clinton here. You see Hillary here. They're going all over the state, to urban areas, and targeting African-American voters. Obama is on the radio all over the place. So they are reminding people this is very much about Barack Obama's legacy.

BALDWIN: You mentioned the president. We're keeping out ear to the ground. He is speaking momentarily in North Carolina.

Adam and Kathleen, thank you so much, both talking Florida and Michigan.

Meantime, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the scene is set. Air Force One has landed. And the great Chapel Hill's own son, James Taylor -- love him -- singing for the crowd. A nice lead-up act to the president. We'll take it live. Stay with me.

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