Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Sniper "Ambushes" 12 Dallas Officers, 5 Dead. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 08, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ben Ferguson, and the chief of police, David Brown, we should note he's African-American, was speaking there, and he said that police do feel under a lot of pressure. He said, "We don't feel much support most days. Don't let today be most days," the chief said. He noted the bravery of those overnight who were running toward gunfire, who made sure that this incident wasn't even worse than it was. This historically horrific incident and he talked about their bravery.

You're in Dallas right now, Ben. Your thoughts?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is -- I think this speaks volumes to how police feel all over the country. I mean, my father wears a badge. I grew up in a police family. But you're seeing an African-American police chief who in one of the most diversified police departments in the America that has incredible relations with the community, coming out on TV and saying, I do not, and my officers do not, and we do not feel like we have support from the community.

I don't think he is even talking outside of Dallas. I think he is talking about directly here. When he goes to work as an African- American man and puts a badge on, he is saying most days, I do not feel support. This is an alarming moment for the entire country. We have got to reverse this. The police officers that I've talked that protect and serve in this area who were on the scene last night, they were echoing from last night all the way until you heard this police chief, who is African-American, say this saying, we feel like we are at war. We feel like people want to kill us. We feel like people hate us.

That's what you saw from a police chief, who is in a very diversified, unbelievably cooperative police force. There has not been issues with racism in the Dallas area. This police chief is a guy that is one of those that's doing it so well, and his officers are doing so well. The DART officer who was shot and killed. DART are community policemen. They are on the public transportation to help protect you.

They have incredible relations --

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right.

FERGUSON: -- with the people that use public transportation, and you heard him say it, and I think it's important. We have got to change this narrative that police officers are not evil people.

CUOMO: All right, Phil Banks, let me get you in on this. The ideas of balancing what these different pressures, sometimes hostilities, are, when these shootings come up and there is a semblance of injustice to them, and there is that feeling, there is then this negativity towards the police. Then if the pendulum goes too far, you get to where Ben is, which is where all police are seen as being targeted, as part of the problem, as potential murderers themselves. Where do we find the balance?

PHILIP BANKS, FORMER NYPD CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT: Well, I have a slight difference of opinion than Ben. I think that in a day-by-day basis that the community, especially African-American, Latino community, is very supportive of the police officers. And I think if you question police officers while riding in the cars and walking, every single day the conversation and the actions that they have from these communities are very supportive.

The African-American and Latino community know we need the police, we love the police, we support the police. So I think we need to separate the fact that someone is looking to make a change. I think that we would be remiss if we did not bring out that the criminal justice system has been ripe with racism and biases if you go back to the '60s and probably beyond. And for you to ask for a change or look for support does not mean that you're anti-police.

It also means -- it actually means you're very supportive of police and that together, that we can do better. But certainly I understand police officers' feeling. Reading the paper and, look, some agitators who may have political motivations, their message sometimes is actually overvalued, and therefore I can understand how the police department on a regular basis can feel as though that we are under attack.

But I think by and large the majority of the people in these communities love the police, support the police and need the police. And I think they express that.

BERMAN: All right, gentlemen. Thank you so much.

Again the breaking news overnight, five law enforcement officials in Dallas killed. Four Dallas PD, one transit authority, 12 others injured. Most of the injured are doing OK at this point. Two civilians injured as well.

The suspect killed at this point. They're still looking for others but they think he probably acted alone. A suspect who told police that he was out to kill white people, specifically white police officers.

CUOMO: There's a lot to cover here. There are a lot of open questions. CNN is going to stay on this story. The Dallas ambush. It will continue right now with Wolf Blitzer.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, guys, thanks very much. An extraordinarily tragic night. We're going to have full coverage. NEWSROOM, a special edition, starts right now.

Good morning, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Thanks very much for joining us.

Ambush in Dallas. The city's downtown transformed into a killing field.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go. Get back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A sniper perched high above a peaceful protest in Dallas opens fire. The demonstration against recent officer involved killings of African-Americans. Just moments ago, you heard it live here on CNN. Police reveal that there was a major motivation for the gunman in question, who was killed by a robot, when a bomb -- with a bomb, that robot had a bomb when negotiations failed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DAVID BROWN, DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: To update you on what has transpired since we last spoke, walk through the standoff that had occurred, or that was occurring at El Centro on the second floor. The college there in downtown Dallas. We cornered one suspect and we tried to negotiate for several hours. Negotiations broke down. We had an exchange of gunfire with the suspect. We saw no other option, but to use our bomb robot, and place a device on the -- its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed the officers to grave danger.

The suspect is deceased as a result of the detonating the bomb. The reporting that the suspect killed himself is not accurate. We've confirmed that he's been deceased because of the detonation of the bomb. Our hostage negotiator did an exceptional job getting this suspect to talk before he died during the hours of negotiating that eventually broke down.

And I want to share with you some of the comments from this suspect. The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter. He said he was upset about the recent police shootings. The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. The suspect stated he will eventually -- that we will eventually find the IEDs. The suspect stated he was not affiliated with any groups and he stated that he did this alone.

The suspect said other things that are a part of this investigation so that we can make sure that everyone associated with this tragic event is brought to justice. So as the mayor said we won't expand on -- any further on what other suspects we have interviewed or looked at or their status until we get further into this investigation and get closer to a conclusion of what and who are all involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: The sniper gunned down 12 police officers, mingling with demonstrators who were out there marching against officer-involved killings. Five of those police officers were murdered, seven wounded. Two civilians also were hurt.

The "Dallas Morning News" capturing the shock even before the death toll was finalized. "Ambush," the headlines screams. Here is the frantic radio traffic of police officers pinned down in the area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Assist officer, shots fired. Code 3, scout the radio, officer down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a guy with a long rile. We don't know where the hell he's at.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Parking garage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slow down, he's in the damn building right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't know where he's at. He's in that building. We're hearing shots from that building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have got (INAUDIBLE) down here right now. Get them here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're on their way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe possibly in the El Centro College building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect is inside the El Centro building. Inside the El Centro building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As a police motorcycle escort leaves the procession of the slain officers, this, the deadliest day for police officers here in the United States since 9/11.

[09:10:09] Our correspondents and guests are covering all of the breaking developments. We'll take a look at all of the angles. Let's go to the scene. First CNN's Sara Sidner is following the investigation.

Sara, what's the latest you're picking up.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I just want you to get a look at the scene behind me a bit. Basically this was absolutely chalk full of police officers. Their cars. Some of them in gear in order to go into the building and now it is much removed. There is still a scene. There is still an area blocked off here downtown. People are coming down, trying to go to their jobs. They cannot do so. But we've heard a lot from the Dallas police chief just now. And he talked earlier about how much he felt, how much pride he felt in the way that his officers handled this situation.

This day started out with an intense amount of fear and adrenaline. That fear and adrenaline, now turning to sorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Dallas police officers and DART police officers, some of the bravest men and women you'd ever want to be associated with. You see video footage after video footage of them running toward gunfire from an elevated position with no chance to protect themselves. And to put themselves in harm's way to make sure citizens can get to a place of security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: And just behind our camera, I want to mention something. We're right now watching as the city of Dallas flag is being lowered to half staff here on main street. We will see the other flags lowered as well.

I do want to talk about, though, what started all of this. At 9:00, this place turned into what felt like to many a war zone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (voice-over): Chaos erupting on the streets of Dallas at 9:00 p.m.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody is really armed to the teeth.

SIDNER: Gunshots raining down from the sky. Officers taking cover.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move back. Get back.

SIDNER: Protesters scattering in panic as their peaceful march against officer-involved shootings wound down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say probably about 20 gunshots in rapid succession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was screaming, "Run, run, run, active shooter, active shooter."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turned around and shoot him and got hit, boom, boom, boom. Kept going.

SIDNER: Around 10:30 police confirming snipers in elevated positions targeting officers, picking them off ambush style in what appears to be a coordinated attack. Just before midnight, law enforcement officers cornering a suspect at El Centro garage downtown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they might have got somebody.

SIDNER: One witness, catching the standoff unfolding from the ground, police, exchanging gunfire for over 45 minutes while trying to negotiate. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's somebody else down over there.

SIDNER: One officer trying to catch the shooter off-guard, sadly, shot down. Another witness capturing the suspect from above wearing body armor, holding so much ammunition it was falling out of his pocket.

ISMAEL DEJESUS, WITNESSED SHOOTING: I did hear some popping sounds. I did think it was fireworks at first. I came out, man had a rifle, an AR-15, clear as day. It did look planned. I mean, he just parked and he knew where to stand and opened fire. He had ammo ready and he was ready to go.

SIDNER: Police now say one suspect has been killed.

BROWN: The suspect told our negotiators that the end is coming and that there are bombs all over the place in this garage and in downtown.

SIDNER: But police say they have three people in custody, including a woman who was in the vicinity of the garage, and two suspects carrying a camouflaged bag. They were stopped on the interstate.

MAYOR MIKE RAWLINGS, DALLAS: To say the police officers put their life on the line every day is no hyperbole. We as a country must come together, lock arms, and heal the wounds that we all feel from time to time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And what we are seeing here is now another flag going to half staff. It is the state of Texas flag, next will be the American flag. An emotional scene here right now, as police officers continue to do their job. And we've also been told that they're telling folks not to necessarily come down here to go to work today because this area is a crime scene. You can imagine that after 45 minutes of bullets flying back and forth from the suspect to police and police back at the suspect, that there is going to be a lot of forensic evidence that they need to collect -- Wolf.

[09:15:04] BLITZER: Sara, we did learn a little bit about the sniper who was killed in that robot bomb explosion, and we don't know a whole lot more about him, other than he wanted to kill white people, he wanted to especially kill white police officers. He was angry about black lives matter.

But what else have you learned about this individual?

SIDNER: Yes, he also said to police that he acted alone, according to the police. And we're hearing from investigators that there are no, at this point, no indications that there is any connection with international terrorist organizations. We have heard from police that the suspect said he was not affiliated with any group or organization.

And so, that's coming from the police themselves. We're also hearing from investigators from their looking into this, and from their digging into trying to find out about the background of this person, that so far, no links to foreign terror organizations.

What people are saying here, though, is right now, that doesn't matter, because to them, this is terrorism. Whether it be domestic or international, to them, this is a day of terror, that the residents and the police officers have experienced here in Dallas. It is a heartbreaking day for everyone, especially, of course, and most poignantly, of course, for the families of the officer who have been killed and wounded -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Five killed, seven injured. Let's hope those seven who are injured, they're going to be OK.

All right, Sara, stand by.

I want to bring in Kyung Lah right now. She's outside the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas where some of those injured had been taken.

What are you seeing, what are you hearing over there, Kyung?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, if there is any good news out of what we heard from that press conference with the police chief is that he announced that of those seven officers who were wounded and taken to hospitals like this one and another hospital, parkland, it's the most of those officers have gone through surgery and they are either released or in the process of being released.

So at least with those conditions, that is certainly some positive news out of this. It has been a very rough night, though, out here at the two area hospitals, where those officers were taken. Because many of those officers who arrived here, some of them just did not survive. Those five officers we've been talking about throughout the day, on this deadliest day for law enforcement since 9/11, what we've seen outside Baylor University Medical Center is officers who have been holding vigil.

And in a very unusual sign of unity from the hospital, we saw some of the employees here come down to the very front of the emergency room and we saw them link arms, stand shoulder to shoulder. Created a human wall between where the officers were standing and the public, and the reason why is one of the officers told us that what was happening, just behind where those employees wall, they had lined the path, they were saluting two gurneys that were exiting from the emergency room and on those two gurneys was a police officer, a Dallas police officer who had died, and a DART police who died, the regional transportation police officer who also did not survive.

Their bodies loaded into a white van, and that van taken away. Police officers here, holding a vigil, a memorial for their fellow fallen officers.

So that's something we've seen here at this hospital. We don't know yet who those two officers are, or any of the other officers, except for one, 43-year-old Brent Thompson. He is a DART officer, Dallas regional -- Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer. And he is an officer who went overseas. In his LinkedIn account said that he went to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The reason why is he wanted to train those officers overseas, so that they could understand the teamwork that is required for policing. Then when he came back here, he wanted to start a life. He became a police officer, and just two weeks ago, he got married. He married a fellow DART police officer.

So, we're going to start hear more of these stories, Wolf, about who these people are. Not just the way they died, but the way they lived, Wolf.

BLITZER: Our deepest, deepest condolences to that police officer from the DART, Dallas Area Rapid Transit system, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, came back fine, only to get killed in Dallas, Texas. How heartbreaking is that, coming a few weeks after he was married.

All right. Kyung, we're going to get back to you.

We have a lot to discuss. We have a panel of experts standing by. They'll be joining us in a few moments.

But, first, here is what President Obama had to say about the ambush in Dallas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We still don't know all the facts.

[09:20:00] What we do know is that there has been a vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement. Police in Dallas were on duty during -- doing their jobs, keeping people safe protests.

I believe I speak for every single American when I say that we are horrified over these events, and that we stand united with the people and the police department in Dallas. There is no possible justification for these kinds of attacks, or any violence towards law enforcement. The FBI is in touch with the Dallas police and anyone involved in these senseless murders will be held fully accountable. Justice will be done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:25:11] CHIEF DAVID BROWN, DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: The suspect said he was upset about black lives matter. He said he was upset about the recent police shootings. The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Dallas police chief, David Brown, speaking moments ago. Welcome back to our breaking news coverage of the ambush in Dallas. A

devastatingly historic day in Dallas. Twelve police officers shot, five of them murdered, as a sniper launches an attack, the worst loss for law enforcement here in the United States since 9/11.

Let's bring in the panel of experts joining us. Our senior law enforcement analyst, the former FBI director, Tom Fuentes, our CNN legal analyst, the criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson, and the president of the St. Paul, Minnesota NAACP, Jeffrey Martin.

To all of you, thanks very much for joining us.

Tom, even as we're speaking about this horrendous situation in Dallas that has unfolded overnight, we're just getting word there is a lockdown here in Washington up on Capitol Hill. Apparently something happened that triggered a lockdown at the Rayburn House office building. We're watching that story carefully. A lockdown on Capitol Hill right now. We'll see what that unfolds and we'll have more information as it develops.

But that's obviously a disturbing development as well. You served in the FBI for a long time, Tom. Before that you were a police officer, yourself. When you hear, and you see the anguish from that Dallas police chief, David Brown, it came through his comments obviously very poignantly, what goes through your mind when you see these awful developments that occurred overnight?

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: The first thing goes through my mind is how do we as a society deescalate this, because, you know, we've had anti-law enforcement rhetoric now for a couple of years, in some cases, it may be deserved, in some cases it wasn't. And when that goes out, people may get inspired to do something.

We talk about the inspiration of ISIS when they hear messaging, and it causes them to take action. We have a similar circumstance here. We have enough wacko people in this country as well.

And so, you wonder, how do we bring a stop to this? You know, very good friend of mine, Phil Grievos (ph), a retired FBI agent ran their SWAT program, called me yesterday and says, Tom, I'm afraid we're going to have dead officers by the end of the week.

BLITZER: He said this before?

FUENTES: Before Dallas.

BLITZER: Because of the rhetoric?

FUENTES: Because of the anguish of the victims in Louisiana, as well as Minnesota. It wasn't being critical of, you know, it was saying, look, these police officers, you know, shouldn't be doing this. Don't they understand what is going on? Don't they understand to be more sensitive?

But I see instances over and over where police departments say, we're not going to spend the money to have a good auto screening program. We're not going to spend the money to have a good training program. And then they turn around and we've heard almost one after the other after the other, later pay $6 million to the family of Tamir Rice, the family of Laquan McDonald in Chicago, the family of Freddie Rice in Baltimore.

So, you hear, you know, and you say to yourself, that would pay for training and screening for the next 25 years for your department. When are the police chiefs and the public officials going to get the message that we need everything -- screening, training, discipline, and good community policing.

BLITZER: These are live pictures we're showing the viewers of Dallas. They're still investigating. This was a sophisticated operation. It was going on for 45 minutes, they were trying to get this guy, but they eventually had to send a robot with an explosive device, a bomb, to go out towards this individual and blow him up.

FUENTES: You know, we just had an incident within the last couple of years where Dallas police headquarters was attacked by somebody, and witnesses thought it was three, four, five shooters. In a tall building area like downtown Dallas, it creates an echo canyon. One shot can bounce back and forth off the buildings and sound like five. Not the bullet bouncing back, but the sound of it bouncing around.

So, that creates a lot of confusion.

BLITZER: He must have some sort of sophisticated training, this sniper, because he was gunning down police officers over a long period of time.

FUENTES: He was. And you know, I've reviewed a number of the cases that the FBI has had over the last few years involving militia groups and hate groups and KKK and Aryan Brotherhood, and all these types of groups, and it turns out that Texas has the most hate groups of any state in the country and you hear reports that they're out in the open land, or in the -- you know, the fields, practicing, shooting, and shooting, and shooting.

So, maybe they had military or he had military training, and maybe he just spent a lot of time practicing.