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Trade Fight in the House; New Details Behind the Dallas Shootout; The Controversy of Rachel Dolezal's Race; Warning Signs for Gunman Who Attacked Dallas Police. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 15, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), CHAIRWOMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: So we need to do more of that for sure because this is complex. It's not easy. And we need to balance our need to make sure that we don't have China writing the rules for trade, with making sure that we can protect our workers and our environmental standards. And that's the -- that's the balance that Democrats are trying to strike.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Gotcha.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Unfortunately, Republicans aren't giving us a whole lot of help. They don't care so much about those things. And that's why this needs to take a little bit longer to sort through.

COSTELLO: Well, I don't think some Democrats are giving you any help either. But, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, thank you so much for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM --

You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, he might have ambushed cops in Dallas over the weekend, but his parents say his violent act wasn't much of a surprise to them. So could this have been prevented? We'll talk about that next.

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[09:35:05] COSTELLO: We're learning new details about the crumbling mental state of James Boulware, the gunman who ambushed Dallas police over the weekend, hiding pipe bombs on the street and unlearning a barrage of gunfire at police headquarters before leading officers on a car chase that ended with his armored van in flames and a sniper taking him out when SWAT negotiations failed. James Boulware's father tells CNN his son was boiling over with anger before the attack because of a custody battle and blamed cops for taking away his son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BOULWARE, SHOOTER'S FATHER: Every one of us has a breaking point. Every one of us.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did your son hit his breaking point?

BOULWARE: He hit his breaking point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: His mother paints an even more disturbing picture, telling us her son claimed he could see the future. He talked and laughed to empty chairs, spoke about planning a school shooting, and even choked his own mother and threatened to crucify her in the backyard. CNN's Nick Valencia, live in Dallas with more.

Good morning, Nick.

NIC VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

This is the exact spot where 35-year-old James Boulware carried out his attack on police over the weekend. Investigators spent their time digitally mapping this area to try to figure out exactly how Boulware coordinated this attack. In the last several days we're learning more about his history, a very troubled history, one haunted by mental illness. We spoke to his mother who told us about the struggle her son was going through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNINE HAMMOND, JAMES BOULWARE'S MOTHER: And then police came by to check to see if there were pipe bombs or bombs here, and there were none. Evidently he did not single us out. I would have thought that I would have been the one he singled out since I got custody of his child.

He had had some problems when he was younger, but he began to -- when he was 14, but he had begun to start talking to just a chair or something like there was somebody in it, especially outside, out back where we have a little table and chairs, and he would laugh weirdly, and he would say that he had precognitive dreams such as back in 2011 when the Japanese tsunami happened, he claimed afterwards that he had told his brother and me and others that -- all about it and nobody would listen to him, but he had not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Chilling details from the mother. We also spoke to the father in a very emotional interview who said his son was with him just three hours before carrying out this attack. He had mowed his father's lawn and promised to be back in a couple of weeks.

Now, what we can tell you this morning is that officers', their nerves have just started to settle, many of them counting their blessings, lucky to be alive. We were given a tour of the crime scene yesterday, showed one of those officer's vehicles that was first engaged by the suspect. And, Carol, it's just really a miracle that anyone was able to survive this assault.

Today, the medical examiner will continue their autopsy. We hope to learn more new details about James Boulware in the coming hours.

Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Nick Valencia reporting live from Dallas this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, under pressure to speak out about whether she's pretending to be an African-American. An NAACP leader makes another controversial move.

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[09:42:45] COSTELLO: New calls this morning for Spokane's NAACP leader to step down and explain why she's apparently been posing as a black woman.

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KITARA JOHNSON, SPOKANE NAACP MEMBER: People want resolve. That's what they want. They want some type of culture. They want to hear a statement that is not ambiguous, that is clearly stated what the problem is and what a potential solution could be. The Spokane community is ready to forgive Rachel. We just haven't heard anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Rachel Dolezal was expected to answer questions today, but that meeting has now been postponed. For years, Dolezal has presented herself as an African-American, but her family say she's white. She was outed last week when her parents released this picture of Dolezal, a blonde-haired Caucasian teenager. They say that's her on the right. But the NAACP is treading lightly, releasing this statement. Quote, "one's racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership."

A seemingly funny headline at first glance, the story is now sparking a furious and fascinating conversation about race and social justice. To talk about this, I'm joined by author Tim Wise and political analyst and cultural critic Goldie Taylor.

Thanks to both of you for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

TIM WISE, AUTHOR, "DEAR WHITE AMERICA": Thank you.

GOLDIE TAYLOR, POLITICAL ANALYST & CULTURAL CRITIC: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So, Goldie, what should Rachel Dolezal say when she finally comes out and talks about this?

TAYLOR: Well, I think we ought to hear the truth from her. We ought to hear the truth about her history. We ought to hear, you know, the narrative as it is -- as it's banked (ph) in history. I don't think we should hear a lot about tepees and hunting for food with bows and arrows. But what we ought to hear if she does, in fact, relate to, feel a part of the African-American community, we ought to hear a lot more about how she came to be in his place. I agree with the NAACP, that in this broad tent of inclusiveness, you know, your race, it should not be a criteria for leadership. But integrity is absolutely a criteria for leadership and I think on that she should be judged.

COSTELLO: So the NAACP in Spokane, Tim, is treading lightly.

[09:45:00] They're not saying anything extremely negative about her just yet. They're in a tough place, aren't they?

WISE: Oh, I suppose, but I think the tougher place that we all are in -- and I think that Rachel Dolezal herself needs to acknowledge -- is there is a role for her as a white person in this work. Those of us, myself included, who are trying to be allies, working in solidarity with folks of color, there's a long history. William Lloyd Garrison, John Fee, the Grimke sisters, Anne and Carl Braden, Bob and Dottie Zellner -- white folks throughout history who have said, as white people, we want to insist that we reject white supremacy. As white people, we fight for justice. As white people, we insist that black lives matter.

And the sad thing that Rachel, instead of joining that struggle, which would have welcomed her, frankly, with open arms, decided, nah, I don't think I want mess with that. I want to cut out the middle man and go straight to being black, and thereby rejecting that long and noble history of attempted white solidarity. That's the thing. We've got to figure out a way to create a positive, authentic, anti-racist white identity. And what she has done, that's not the way to do it.

COSTELLO: And along those lines, Goldie, you wrote a letter to Rachel. Your first line, quote, "It's OK to be white." And I want to read further about what you said. You said, quote, "You adopted what you believed was my language, hair styles, fashions, and mannerism. Seeking out a love of sense and sisterhood that was already available to you, you altered your complexion. Along the way, you used these caricatures as currency to pave your way to prominence."

Expound on that.

TAYLOR: What I really believe here, and Tim Wise is right about this -- there is an infinite level of space for people of all walks of life to come together under this tent of solidarity. I absolutely believe that.

There is no more community more welcoming, more embracing of difference, than the African-American community. We believe in social adoption. I am everybody's auntie, for instance. And that would have been the same for someone like Rachel Dolezal. We would have welcomed her into our community, into our homes. We would have given her that safe share and be an ally, a lifelong, credible ally.

But I think she forfeited that by becoming an interloper instead, by deciding to take the space of what may have been an African-American man or women in various leadership roles, to lie about her background or ethnicity to afford her scholarships, to afford her public positions, to afford her positions as an ombudsman in Washington State. And so those kinds of things call her into question.

I've seen an instance, and I think Tim can probably expound on this a little bit, where she actually pushed other white allies out of these spaces, claiming that she was more, I guess, credible in terms of being a black woman and speaking on certain issues. She said that Eminem is an appropriator of black music and maybe that is and maybe that is not. But Eminem is one thing he has never done is claimed to be a black man.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there, unfortunately. I wish I could go on. Thanks to you both and we're awaiting to hear what this woman has to say. Maybe she'll decide to speak in the coming days. We'll keep you posted.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the signs were there. James Boulware was a violent man. The question now -- what, if anything, could have been done to prevent him from going on this weekend's shooting rampage?

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[09:52:51] COSTELLO: The mother of the gunman who attacked Dallas police over the weekend is revealing details out her son's mental state. In a new interview with CNN, she tells us that, around the age of 14, her once, quote, "sweet son" started showing signs of mental illness. He even spoke about wanting to shoot up a school to prove that schools needed to be protected from people with guns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNINE HAMMOND, JAMES BOULWARE'S MOTHER: Whenever the Sandy Hook thing came, he just couldn't believe the kids were killed like that. And about that time some people were advocating armed guards at schools, which I am for also, for that very reason. But anyway he thought that it would be a great idea to go shoot up a school, not necessarily kill anybody, I think, but -- not aim at kids for sure, but just to make people aware that they needed to have an armed guard at the school, and the rest of us said no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Psychologist Wendy Walsh joins me now for more. Good morning.

WENDY WALSH, CNN HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So supposedly, you know, this man was in a custody fight for his child, and his mother was awarded custody. And during the court proceedings, Mr. Boulware threatened the judge as well. Could anything have been done to commit him or could anything have been done?

WALSH: You know, every time a shooting like this happens, the conversation comes up again, Carol, what were the warning signs? Why didn't anybody do anything? But really what can they do? The law is pretty clear. You have to be

an imminent danger to yourself or somebody else, and you also can't just say this person needs to be in a mental hospital if you don't have the insurance to cover it or the wherewithal or the means to get him mental health services, which are lacking in many places.

So, you know, the parents obviously knew he had a mental illness, just like the Arizona shooter whose parents kept him and just tried to keep him safe. But I don't know that a lot can be done unless he says I am going to commit this crime now.

[09:55:05] COSTELLO: That's just -- you know, he also dialed 911 and went on this rant against police because he blamed officers for him losing custody of his child.

WALSH: Yes. The first thought I had when I heard about this is almost like he was committing suicide by police, that going to shoot up the police station, he knew he wouldn't make it. He knew he was suffering. He was trying to reach out for help in different kinds of ways, but, again, in this country we don't treat our mentally ill very well unless you have a lot of health insurance and a lot of money to get the services that you need. I mean, this guy could have probably been very -- functioning very well on medication.

COSTELLO: I don't know. You know, it's just sad we let our police deal with such things. They shouldn't have to deal with such things.

Wendy Walsh, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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