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Josh Earnest Talks Dallas Shooting; Officer Names Released in Philando Castile Death Amid Calls for Justice; New Information in Alton Sterling Death; Officials Believe Micah Johnson Acted Alone in Dallas Shooting. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 08, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:52] DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So this is around the time the White House briefing is held, and there is, indeed, one being held today in Warsaw, Poland. White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, traveling with the president, speaking now about Dallas. Let's listen to

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JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You had the opportunity here directly from the president early this morning, and he did discuss how the entire country is grieving alongside the people in Dallas. There are five Dallas area police officers who didn't come home last night. And that's a tragedy. And as the president himself said, there is no justification for violence against law enforcement officers. These are men and women who put on a uniform every day, prepared to put their lives on the line, to protect all of us. That's exactly what happened last night in Dallas. You had a large number of police officers who put on their uniform, and were on duty last night to insure the safety of innocent citizens who were making their voices heard and expressing their concerns about inequities in the criminal justice system. Yet those police officers still fulfilled their responsibility to protect their fellow citizens. That's what makes the loss of those police officer all the more tragic.

And the president had an opportunity to convey his condolences on behalf of the country directly to the mayor when he spoke to him earlier today. And if there are additional conversations that the president has with officials in Dallas, we'll certainly let you know. I know that White House officials have been in touch with officials in Dallas, not just through the night, but also over the course of the day today.

The attorney general spoke earlier today, and she discussed how there are a range of federal law enforcement agencies offering their support to law enforcement in Dallas.

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LEMON: And that is the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, speaking about Dallas. And again, the two -- we have learned the two officers who have died,

at least two of the five. One is Transit Officer Brent Thompson, 43 years old. The other is Dallas Officer Patrick Zamarripa, father of two and also a war veteran.

Again, an awful tragedy playing out in Dallas, and the White House press secretary speaking on that.

Also, tragedies playing out in other cities across the country, including Minnesota. We have learned the identity of the police officer who shot and killed Minnesota resident Philando Castile. He's 28-year-old Jeronimo Yanez, a four-year vet of the St. Anthony Police Department. A second officer also on the scene was identified as Joseph Kauser. Both are on administrative leave.

As the community calls for justice in Castile's death, many are reacting, including his fiancee, Diamond Reynolds.

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DIAMOND REYNOLDS, FIANCEE OF PHILANDO CASTILE: Today is not only about justice and getting justice, but it's about all of the families that have lost people. This thing that has happened in Dallas, it was not because of something that transpired in Minnesota today. This is bigger than Philando. This is bigger than Trayvon Martin. This is bigger than Sandra Bland. This is bigger than all of us.

So today, I just want justice for everyone, everyone around the world. Not just for my boyfriend and the good man that he was, because I'm going to continue to stay strong for him, and I want all of you guys to do the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:35:40] LEMON: CNN's Brynn Gingras is in St. Paul with the latest on this investigation.

What do we know today, Brynn?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we know the state agency overseeing this investigation planned to talk to both of those officers that you mentioned, Yanez and Kauser, yesterday. That's part of their investigation. We also know they also plan on looking at dash-cam video from their patrol cars.

Really, as far as the investigation, those are the main details.

We do know, though, that the medical examiner has ruled Castile's death a homicide at this point. We have been hearing from the governor, hearing from the Ramsey County attorney. Remember, this is going to be a case that takes some time. So everyone has to be patient. They said they want to be methodical and they also want to keep the integrity of this investigation -- Don?

LEMON: All right, thank you very much. We appreciate your reporting. You know, we're getting new information in now on the original police

shooting that sparked much of the anger that you see playing out. It happened in my hometown in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I'm talking about the cell phone video of two police officers tackling and fatally shooting 37-year-old Alton Sterling. The two officers involved in Tuesday's shooting, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake, have been placed on administrative leave.

I want to go now to our correspondent on the ground in Baton Rouge. That's CNN's Nick Valencia.

Nick, you spoke with the Louisiana State Colonel Mike Edmonson after this tragic overnight ambush and killing of the Dallas police officers assigned to the Black Lives Matter protest. What did he tell you?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He said they're on high alert, Don. They know there's a bull's eye on their chest right now in light of the events in Dallas. Those tensions have shown their head here as well. We're getting reporting from WBRZ that earlier this morning at 2:00 a.m., the early morning hours, there was a Baton Rouge Police Department cruiser set ablaze by a Molotov cocktail. That happened two miles away from where Alton Sterling, that 37-year-old black man, was shot and killed by two white police officers. It underscores the tension and anxiety in the community. Something not just the residents are feeling but also the local and state law enforcement agents -- Don?

LEMON: Unbelievable. Nick, it comes after law enforcement in Louisiana received online threats via social media and anonymous members. Do we know -- does that play into Louisiana State, this high alert they're talking about?

VALENCIA: Well, Colonel Edmonson said they had looked into last night the social media threats against the Louisiana State Police Department. They said they were not credible, but that they did look into them. They went to the homes of these people that posted these things online to say that it was unacceptable.

Really, the high alert has a lot to do with the current situation, but really, specifically, with what happened in Dallas, the ambush of police officers there. We're told that the local police department here is actually now patrolling in pairs as added precaution -- Don?

LEMON: Nick Valencia on the ground for us in Louisiana. Thank you, Nick. We appreciate that.

We're going to bring you much more on our special coverage of the tragic shootings of 12 Dallas police officers in just a moment.

First, here's what President Barack Obama had to say about this deadly ambush.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We still don't know all the facts. What we do know is that there has been a vicious, calculated, and despicable attack on law enforcement. Police in Dallas were on duty doing their jobs, keeping people safe during peaceful protests.

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[14:43:30] LEMON: We do have some braking news to share with you. I want to get to Ed Lavandera with that news.

Ed, you have learned some details about the investigation. What are you hearing?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, my colleague, justice correspondent, Evan Perez, learning from federal law enforcement officials that they now believe that Micah Johnson acted alone, as the only shooter during last night's attack on Dallas police officers and DART police officers in downtown Dallas. Now, this is according to law enforcement officials that have been briefed by Dallas police. If you listen to the wording and the language that the police chief of Dallas has been using over the last several hours, he keeps referring to a possible suspects involved in this case, and suspects that have been interviewed in all of this. Federal law enforcement sources telling us they believe now at this point that Micah Johnson acted alone -- Don?

LEMON: Yeah, and it's saying, Ed, here, it says, "Through our investigation of some of the suspects, it's revealed to us it was well planned, well thought out, evil, a well thought-out evil tragedy by the suspect, and we won't rest until we bring everyone involved to justice."

But they're saying now they believe he was the only one who acted in this. Initially, they thought because of the amount of fire power it may have been more than one person.

LAVANDERA: Well, and that's what brings us back to this neighborhood that we're in, in Mesquite, Texas, just east of Dallas, a suburb of Dallas. This is where Micah Johnson lived, and according to neighbors, lived here with his mother. One neighbor told us that Micah Johnson often talked about how many weapons he had. As we have seen law enforcement investigators coming in and out of the House throughout the morning, several brown bags that were pulled out appeared to be long guns. We couldn't tell if they were shotguns or rifles or what kind of weaponry it was, but it was clearly in the shape of a weapon. A lot of this evidence taken away from the home here. Investigators that were here throughout the morning would not speak with reporters here at the scene, but several neighbors did tell us it was about 1:00 in the morning or shortly after that police investigators starting arriving and descending on the neighborhood here in Mesquite -- Don?

[14:45:47] LEMON: Ed, thank you very much. Appreciate the breaking news.

They believe Micah Johnson, 25 years old, acted alone.

Ed Lavandera reporting. I want to bring in now CNN political commentators, Van Jones and Charles Blow. Charles is also a columnist for "The New York Times." And I want to bring in Officer Anwar Sanders as well. He's a police officer in New Mexico.

And here we go again, gentlemen, with a tragedy befalling our nation. We were on the air late last night talking about where we go from here.

And, Van Jones, in think you pointed out something that was very poignant last night. You said we're living in a culture of fear.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, we are. And it could get -- we could get pulled into a cycle of retaliatory violence, if you where that leads you to, just Google the word Syria. What we have to do now, as we're going to now go into a week of funerals, everybody has to reach deep down and find some empathy. If you cried for the brother who bled out next to his fiancee but you didn't cry for the police officers, it's time to do a heart check. If you cried for the police officers, but you have a hard time taking serious all these videos coming out with African-Americans dying, it's time to do a heart check, because we're either going to come together or come apart now. There's enough pain on both sides that there should be some empathy starting to kick in. And frankly, there are probably only two groups who can understand the situation. Young African-Americans and police actually have more in common this week, given the funerals on both sides, and anybody else. We should be able to find some way to come together and say, you know, let's stop this cycle of violence. Nobody is winning.

LEMON: Yeah. I want to play something -- well, Charles, let me talk about this. I saw you this morning and you said, you know, you had empathy for everyone involved in this, and that you refuse to politicize it or turn it into an us-against-them situation.

We lost Charles Blow. We'll get back to Charles.

So, Anwar, in want to bring you in now.

As a police officer in New Mexico, you can speak to, you know, the pain and the emotions that police officers are dealing with over the past 24 hours -- not even 24 hours -- that they're dealing with right now. And you heard what Van Jones said. Van Jones said young African-American men and police officers have more in common this week than just about anyone else.

ANWAR SANDERS, NEW MEXICO POLICE OFFICER: He's spot on. I mean, this morning, in woke up and in was afraid. You know what in mean? For my safety, jumping into my patrol car to go to work, in was afraid. It's so much going on, and we need to take a step back before things get much worse. And we're at a breaking point right now, and we can't get into that us versus them. If you heart didn't hurt this morning for those officers, then you do have to do a heart check. There's still so much that needs to be found out about both of these shootings, the Dallas one and the one in Minnesota, and there's too much to really speculate on so far, but it's too much violence, and the violence, wrong plus wrong doesn't equal right, you know what in mean?

LEMON: Yeah. Two wrongs don't make a right. One wrong doesn't, two wrongs, you can add multiples on top and it still doesn't make a right.

I want you, Anwar, to talk about what the police chief said that they don't feel that they have support out there anymore. Officers don't feel that support from the community. Do you feel that?

SANDERS: I do. I mean, in feel it. And in can't really blame the communities that much because it comes down to this. OK, it comes down to this institutionalized racism is what in refer to it as. It's these officers have this perceived fear or even the public has this perceived fear. Even when I'm in uniform, they have a perceived fear of me as a black man. Why are you so much more afraid of me? I can say the same thing to you as a white cop, and when in say it, they're afraid of me. I hear it at least once a week, you're so scary. Why is there this perceived fear of me as a black man and not the same of a white man? It's institutionalized racism. That's the root of it.

[14:50:14] LEMON: Yeah. I think, Charles Blow is back with us.

I think that the mayor said something this morning that in found very important that we touched on last night, is that you can deal -- both of these are issues. They are not mutually exclusive issues with the community and police on both sides. Issues that police have with young black men and also many times the way young black men interact with officers. Both of them must be dealt with.

CHARLES BLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I think that that's correct. But I think, you know, at moments like these, these are kind of epic moments in a society, and it calls us to step kind of look for what --

(AUDIO PROBLEM)

Sorry about that.

Speak to that for me, Van Jones, will you?

JONES: Yeah, well, listen, both groups have, you know, some room for improvement. Certainly, one thing that has happened with law enforcement is that the good cops are afraid to arrest the bad cops. That would fix it right there. Everybody -- look, I don't care who you are. Wherever you work, you know who the nuts are. You know who the people who are not doing right are. In law enforcement, I grew up in a law enforcement family, there's a code of silence and that sense that you really should not go and put handcuffs on your coworker. So that creates a whole situation where often there's an internal culture, I think, that is too permissive of bad stuff.

LEMON: Anwar -- I don't think Anwar --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Yes, are you disagreeing, Anwar? You don't agree with that? SANDERS: I have to disagree. It's hard for someone not in law

enforcement to understand it and to say it, but there's no hidden code or no blue line of family hood, that's not the way it goes. At the end of the day, we make our decisions based off our experiences that we went through in our life. I keep going back to that institutionalized racism. I don't think we're afraid to arrest people. We're held to a higher standard as law enforcement officers. And we get in trouble. We deal with repercussions for our actions. So I don't think it's safe to say that we have some blue line and we're going to protect each other. I saw these videos of these shootings and I don't agree with them. I don't know all the facts, but as a black man looking at the videos, I didn't agree with them right off the bat.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Van, hold the thought. I have to take a break, Van. I'll let you have the first word out of the break.

We'll be right back.

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DAVID BROWN, CHIEF, DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: There are no words to describe the atrocity that occurred to our city. All I know that this must stop, this divisiveness between our police and our citizens.

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[14:55:11] LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. I want to get back to our conversation about this devastating week for both the black community and law enforcement, the law enforcement community.

This morning, Dallas police chief, David Brown, made this emotional plea to his city and America.

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BROWN: Please join me in applauding these brave men and women who do this job under great scrutiny, under great vulnerability, who literally risk their lives to protect our democracy. We don't feel much support most days. Let's not make today most days. Please, we need your support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: How can you argue with that after he has lost so many of his officers?

I want to bring back now CNN political commentators, Van Jones; and Anwar Sanders, a police officer in New Mexico. Before the break, Anwar was disagreeing with you. He is saying he

doesn't think that there's this blue wall of violence, so to speak, that you say is there.

JONES: Well, you know, and he may have a different experience in his department, and his career, but I can say that talking to my dad who was a cop in the military, talking to my uncle and other family members, they say it was there. And I have spent 20 years of my life trying to reform police departments and criminal justice departments and I have heard officers say it is there. We may have a difference of opinion.

What I do want to say is that was a remarkable statement by the chief of police. This is a chief of police who got out ahead of the Ferguson curve, who has done everything right. He has a community policing program that is top notch. He's got diversity that's off the scale. And he has really tried to create a model relationship, and for his department to be shattered in this way is tragic beyond words.

And I think that when he said we don't feel supported and that they feel misunderstood, African-American young people and parents also feel there's a narrative out there that makes them unsafe, and they don't feel supported, and they don't feel seen. And that is an opportunity for some real common ground and shared empathy. I don't want to make sure we don't miss that moment.

You literally have a Ben Ferguson sounding like a Charles Blow, because they're both talking about communities that do not feel respected and safe.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Speaking of that dichotomy, I want to play this. You know Harry Houck. You and Harry often disagree on CNN. Very emotional moment this morning speaking to our John Berman. Look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Let me tell you something, John, I am in awe of the bravery of those police officers. I really am.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Harry --

HOUCK: You have a .9-millimeter handgun --

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Go ahead, Harry, please.

HOUCK: And you're taking on somebody with an automatic weapon. And you have a bulletproof vest that will not stop that round. I hope people can really appreciate what these police officers did. It's hard for every police officer to see this. I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Definitely no need to apologize. You're feeling that as well, police all over the country are.

SANDERS: Yeah. It's just -- I feel for the families, too. Like I said, I live both of those lives. I kind of feel like a martyr a little bit right now because obviously, from me speaking up, puts the biggest target on my back whatsoever, and I feel there's so much to be said. We're at a breaking point where there's so much with law enforcement and young black men like myself are at a common ground, and we're at a place where we need to come together and talk about these problems.

LEMON: Yeah. So, Anwar, what do we do then? I think we need to get -- it would be great if we could get people all across the country together. I think we're going to try to do that here on CNN, to get police officers and young black men together and have a really serious conversation. What do we need to do, Anwar?

SANDERS: I think we need to -- we really need to find out what this fear is of black men. Because it's not just. Like I said, I'm a victim of both sides. I'm a victim of being a black man. Off duty, I don't look like I do in uniform. In uniform, I go through this same kind of racism, being discriminated against. I mean, it's just so -- it's hard to --