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President Obama Hold Press Conference In Warsaw, Poland; People Gather In The Streets To Honor Slain Dallas Police Officers. Aired 1- 2p ET

Aired July 09, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So that doesn't lessen, I think, people's understandable fears, if they see a video clip of somebody getting killed. But it is important to keep in perspective that in places like New York, or Los Angeles or Dallas, you have seen huge drops in the murder rates. And that's a testimony to smarter policing and there are a range of other factors that have contributed to that. So that should not -- we should never be satisfied when any innocent person is being killed. But that should not be something that is driving our anxieties relative to where we've been in the past.

And with respect to finally the issue of police shootings, there is no doubt that the visual records that we're seeing, have elevated people's consciousness about this. But as I have said before, for African-Americans or Latinos in the pre-smartphone age, I don't think that people were not aware of the fact that there is evidence of racial bias in our criminal justice system. It's been well- documented. And it's been experienced. And even before I got to the U.S. Senate, when I was in the state Senate in Illinois, I passed legislation to try to reduce the incidents of racial profiling by collecting data. That was prompted by evidence that it was taking place in certain parts of the state.

And the fact that we're aware of it may increase anxiety right now. And hurt and anger, but it's been said sunshine's the best disinfectant. By seeing it, by people feeling a sense of urgency about it, by the larger American community realizing that God, maybe this is a problem. And we've seen even some very conservative commentators begin to acknowledge this is something maybe we need to work on. That promises the possibility of actually getting it done. So it hurts. But if we don't diagnose, we can't fix it. (INAUDIBLE) Reuters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. President. As you come to the end of your term, there's a lot of talk about your legacy. I know you may like to leave that to the historians.

OBAMA: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But when you look back on your presidency and consider race relations, what do you hope your legacy will be? How do you think the shootings in Dallas and the high profile shootings by police and other events will shape the way your presidency is remembered? OBAMA: I do want to leave legacy questions to the history books. But

what I can do, maybe this is a fair response to your question, is to say how I have tried to lead the country on this issue. More than anything, what I hope is that my voice has tried to get all of us as Americans to understand the difficult legacy of race. To encourage people to listen to each other. To recognize that, you know, the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and discrimination didn't suddenly vanish with the passage of the civil rights act or voting rights act or the election of Barack Obama, that things have gotten better, substantially better. But that we have still got a lot more work to do. And that as was the case with the police task force that we set up that I have tried to encourage people to come up with practical concrete solutions that can reduce, if not eliminate, the problems of racial bias. And if my voice has been true and positive, then my hope would be that it may not fix everything right away. But it surfaces problems, it frames them, allows us to wrestle with these issues. And try to come up with practical solutions. And that that perspective may lead to continued improvement so that not just Malia and Sasha, but their children can experience a country that is more just and more united and more equal. And that's not going to happen right away. And that's OK. You know, we plant seeds. And somebody else maybe sits hat we planted. And I would like to think that as best as I could, I have been true in speaking about these issues.

Justin Singh (ph).

[13:06:37] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Mr. President. Throughout the summit EU leaders have echoed your confidence about Brexit happening in an orderly way. They have also expressed the UK has to have access to an open market must continue to respect the freedom of migration for workers. Someone who has repeatedly advocated for globalization and extolled (INAUDIBLE) immigration, shouldn't that principle be pre- baked (ph) in a negotiations? What specific assurances did you get during the summit from other leaders that make you confident that currency markets are wrong and the political turmoil in Britain and subsequent effort to leave the EU will go smoothly? And finally, both you and Secretary Kerry have used if to describe Brexit. So I'm wondering if you see any way for the British people to put the tooth paste back in the tube on this issue.

OBAMA: I think we have to assume that a referendum having been passed with a lot of attention, a lengthy campaign and relatively high participation rates is going to stick. And that the incoming government, a conservative government, is going to invoke article 50 and begin the process of negotiations.

How that process unfolds, how the negotiations work, I think is going to be up to the parties involved. The main message I have had here is we are close friends, allies, commercial partners with the UK and with the EU. We will remain close friends, allies, partners continue to have strong relationships on both sides of the channel. Our primary interest is to make sure that the negotiations and this process are as orderly and as sensible as possible. Recognizing that it is in the interests of both sides to get it right. They are major trading partners. That's where goods get sent, back and forth. And it's important that neither side harden positions in ways that ultimately do damage to their respective economies, and ultimately to the world economy at the time when, you know, our world economy is still pretty wobbly in places.

I want to make a further point. I'm not sure it's accurate to say I am a huge booster of globalization. What is accurate to say is that I believe the process of globalization is here to stay as a consequence of technology and cargo containerships and global supply chains. And conceivably we could run back the tape to 50 years ago and see whether we could rearrange some of that process, but it is happening. It's here. And we see it every day in our lives. Everybody who has a smartphone in their pocket is seeing it.

And my argument has been there are enormous benefits to be gained from that global integration just as their enormous benefits to be gained from European immigration. So long as we recognize that with that integration there is the danger of increased inequality of workers having less leverage and capital having more leverage. That it threatens to leave people behind. And if we don't take steps to make sure everybody can participate in that global integration, making sure that wages are high enough, making sure that we rebuild the social compact so that pensions and healthcare are taken care of. Making sure that communities are not completely abandoned when a factory leaves. And there's an economic plan for transition. If we do not do that effectively, then there's going to be a backlash.

With respect to immigration, it is America's experience that immigration has been by far a net plus for our economic growth, our culture, our way of life. Now, in America, that's by necessity because unless you're a Native American you came -- everybody came from someplace else. Europe may not have as many of those traditions. But keep in mind, one of the huge macroeconomic advantages that America has is we are still a relatively young country, our birth rate is not dropping off like Europe's or Russia's or China's or Japan's. And that's as a consequence of immigration. And it is economics 101, if you got a younger population your growth rate is going to be higher.

And Immigrants are strivers and they work hard. And they are looking to build a better life, otherwise they wouldn't move from where they were. And that's been part of our tradition and our culture and our society.

Now, you know, huge influxes of the sort that we have seen in Europe that's always going to be a shock to the system. And I think it is entirely appropriate for Europe, even as generous as it has been, and I think that chancellor Merkel deserves enormous credit and other European leaders who have taken in, you know, these migrant populations deserve enormous credit. Because that's hard. It's a strain on the budget. It's a strain on politics. It is a strain on culture.

It's legitimate for them to say, look, we have got to slow this thing down. We have got to manage it properly. That's why we are setting up a UN conference of refugees on the margins of the United Nations general assembly because a few countries shouldn't be shouldering the burden for 60 million refugees. And we have got to come up with strategies to allow people in countries that are very poor or are in the middle of a war zone enjoy some peace and prosperity. Otherwise the world has shrank and they are going to want to move. And that's not going to go away anytime soon. So it's one more reason why given the fact of global integration. We have to think globally. More broadly. Because our security interests, our economies, are all going to depend on the institutional arrangements that we have across boundaries. And NATO is an example of really enduring multilateral institution that help us get through some very difficult times.

But even the best of institutions have to be adopted -- adapted to new circumstances. That's true for organizations like NATO. It's true for the organizations like the UN. It's true for organizations like the EU. It's true for all the architecture that has helped the world and our countries improve their standard of living and reduce overall violence between states substantially over the last several decades. Mark Lander.

[13:15:40] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, very much, Mr. President.

You have been scrupulous about saying you would not comment on the justice department investigation of Hillary Clinton's email. That investigation is now closed. And I hope that I could ask you about some of the comments that FBI director Comey made a few days ago. As you know --

OBAMA: You may, Mark, but I want you to make sure you're not wasting your question. I'm going to continue to be scrupulous about not commenting on it. Just because I think director Comey could not have been more exhaustive. My understanding is not only did he make a full presentation, but while we were over here or at least flying, he was presenting to Congress for hours on end -- but I just want to give you a chance just in case you didn't want to burn your question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually have a backup.

OBAMA: There you go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe I could cut to the chase and ask you about a broader question. Let's leave aside Mrs. Clinton at the moment. He did talk at the end of his presentation about how he feared there was a broader cultural issue in the state department toward the handling of classified information that troubled him. And I wonder whether you, since you rely on the state department to conduct your foreign policy, whether that concerns you as well?

And if I may could I ask the other question? Because I think it might get an interesting response. You last May passed a milestone in that you were president longer when the country was at war than your predecessor George W. Bush. And if you complete your presidency as you will, with troops in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq you will be the only two term president in American history to have served with a country at war.

And I wonder, given the way that you ran for office and the aspirations you brought into office how you feel about that reality. And then a second follow up on that, should the American people simply resign themselves to living in a state of perpetual war, even if that war is not the all-out war we think of in the 20th century.

OBAMA: That was an interesting question. First of all, with respect to the state department, I am concerned. And the challenge that we've got is primarily driven by the changing nature of how information flows.

Look. The advent of email and texts and smartphones is just generating enormous amounts of data. Now, it is hugely convenient. It means that in real time, I'm getting information that some of my predecessors might not have gotten for weeks. But what it also is doing is creating this massive influx of information on a daily basis, putting enormous pressure on the department to sort through it, classify it properly, figure out what are the various points of entry because of the cyber-attack risks that these systems have. Knowing that our adversaries are constantly trying to hack into these various systems. If you over classify, then all the advantages of this new information suddenly go away because it's taking too long to process.

And so, we have been trying to think about this in a smart way. And I think Secretary Kerry's got a range of initiatives to try to get our arms around this. It reflects a larger problem in government. We just recently, for example -- I just recently signed a bill about FOIA requests, freedom of information act requests, that build on a number of reforms that we have put in place. We're processing more freedom of act requests and doing so faster than ever before. The problem is the volume of requests has sky rocketed. The amount of information that answers the request has multiplied exponentially.

So across government you are seeing this problem. And it's a problem in terms of domestic affairs. It becomes an even bigger problem when you're talking about national security issues. So it's something that we are going to have to take care of.

With respect to reflections on war. When I came into office we had 180,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, we have a fraction of that. They are not involved in active combat situations, but are involved in train, advice and assist situations. Other than the direct attacks that we launch against ISIL in conjunction with Iraq government and Syrian government.

So in some ways, Mark, I think you would recognize that our military operations today in Iraq and Afghanistan are fundamentally different than the wars that we were engaged in when I came into office. But I think you are making an important point which is when we are dealing with non-state actors, and those non-state actors are located in countries limited capacity, our ultimate goal is to partner with those countries so they can secure their borders and eliminate these terrorist threats.

But as we have seen in Afghanistan, for example, that takes some time. The Afghans are fighting. They are much more capable now than they were when I came into office, but they still need support because it is really tough territory and it is a really poor country with really low literacy rates and not much experience in things that we take for granted like logistics. And so, we have an option of going in, taking out Al-Qaeda, pulling

out potentially then seeing a country crumble under the strains of continued terrorist activity or insurgency and going back in. Or we can try to maintain a limited partnership that allows them to continue to build their capacity overtime and selectively take our own actions against those organizations that we know are trying to attack us or our allies.

Because they are non-state actors, it's very hard for us ever to get the satisfaction of McArthur and the emperor meeting and a war officially being over. The AQI was defeated in the sense we were able to execute a transition to a democratically elected Iraqi government. But for all of our efforts and incredible courage and bravery and sacrifice of our troops, the political structure there was still uneven. You had continued Sunni resentments, continued debathification (ph). And as a consequence those vestiges of AQI were able to reconstitute themselves move into Syria as Syria began to engage in civil war. Rebuild and then come back in. Some have argued that this is the reason why we should have never pulled out of Iraq, or at least we should have left some larger presence there. Of course, the problem was that we didn't have an Iraqi government that wanted them, unlike Afghanistan where we've been invited. And it's very difficult for us to - for me as commander in-chief to want to put our troops in a precarious situation where they're not protected.

So I think that we have been trying to do, what I have been trying to do is to create an architecture, a structure, and it's not there yet that emphasizes partnerships with countries. Emphasizes building up fragile states, resolving internal conflicts wherever we can. Trying to do as much as we can through our local partners, preserving the possibility, the necessity to take strikes ourselves against organizations or individuals that we know are trying to kill Americans or Belgians or French or Germans. Combine that with much more effective intelligence gathering. But it becomes more of a hybrid approach to national security. And that I do think is probably going to be something that we have to continue to grapple with for years to come.

The good news is that there are fewer wars between states than ever before. And almost no wars between great powers. And that's a great legacy of leaders in the United States, in Europe and Asia after the cold war -- after the end of World War II that built this international architecture. That's worked and we should be proud of that and preserve it. But this different kind of low grade threat, one that's not an existential threat, but can do real damage and real harm to our society and creates the kind of fear that can cause division and, you know, political reactions.

You know, we have to do that better. We have to continually refine it. So for example, the reason that I put out our announcement about the civilian casualties resulting from drone attacks. Understanding there are nose who dispute the numbers. What I'm trying to do is to institutionalize a system where we begin to hold ourselves accountable for this different kind of national security threat and these different kinds of operations and it is imperfect still. But I think we can get there and what I can say honestly is whether we're talking about how the NSA operates or drone strikes operate or how we are partnering with other countries or my efforts to close Guantanamo, by the end of my presidency, or banning torture, by the end of my presidency I feel confident that these efforts will be on a firmer legal footing, more consistent with international law and norms. More reflective of our values and our ethics. But we are going to have more work to do. It's not perfect. And we have to wrestle with these issues all the time. And as commander in-chief of the most powerful military in the world, you know, I spend a lot of time brooding over these issues. And I'm not satisfied that we have got it perfect yet. I can say honestly it's better than it was when I came into office.

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you, Poland.

(APPLAUSE)

[13:29:47] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, SITUATION ROOM: The president of the United States wrapping up a one hour news conference in Warsaw at the end of the NATO summit there. But much of it focusing in on what's going on here in the United States, especially the aftermath of that massacre of police officers in Dallas, Texas.

So the president made a specific point of suggesting America is not as divided racially today as some have suggested. And he went in depth on that specific issue.

I want to bring in our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski who is traveling with the president in Warsaw right now.

Michelle, the president certainly went through a whole lot of issues, but the focus, his focus clearly cutting short his decision to visit Europe right now. His focus is on what's going on here in the United States.

[13:30:31] MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is the third time and as many days we have seen him top his remarks with the events in America. I mean, often on this trips, they are overshadowed by international terrorism. But this time it's at home. I thought it was interesting that he didn't want to try to put a box around what happened. He didn't want to call it domestic terrorism or a hate crime. He said it's at this point pretty tough to untangle the motives. This is, obviously, a disturbed individual. But he really wanted to get beyond the details and look at the broader themes in America.

The divisions that everybody's talking about right now, he wanted to hone in on the unity. He wanted to try to make that the theme of today's kind of discussion of what has been going on saying that Americans are really united in their outrage, their anger and their frustration of what's been going on.

I also thought it was a strong point he made, that this shooter in Dallas, he said no more represents t views of most black people than the Charleston shooter represents those of white people or the Orlando shooter of Muslims.

And he talked about one area of division, though, I mean, he sort of evolved from talking about the unity versus division into talking about guns, saying that you can't not talk about this. This is something that has to be an ongoing discussion. And he said that there are ways of doing it in line with the constitution. But he used some strong descriptions. I mean, saying that this is really a matter of a very vocal intense minority versus a majority of Americans who would like to see some changes made. So he said that's where there is a real division between making changes to who can get a gun in America. And how the guns are working, versus those who want to see changes.

So I think that's kind of how he wrapped up that matter by at least broaching the subject again of guns - Wolf.

BLITZER: So now he's going to be an abbreviated visit to Spain, his first visit to Spain, a NATO ally since becoming president. But tomorrow night he will be back at the White House. And early next week, Michelle, He will be heading to Dallas at the invitation of the Dallas mayor, right?

KOSINSKI: Right. And that's something that we weren't sure would happen at first. I mean, it seemed like they didn't want to change the trip, but that Spain leg, obviously, is less urgent than these NATO meetings that have been happening over the past couple of days in Warsaw. So the president did ultimately decided after talking with the mayor of Dallas, with the police chief, with the attorney general, that he did want to try to make that visit. Now he is, early next week, where he will be meeting with community leaders likely families. We don't have a whole lot of details yet on what exactly he will be doing there, whether this is going to be another opportunity to make a lengthy speech. I mean, three times now as I said he's given remarks and they've been lengthy, they be been emotional, so I think it will be interesting to see how he handles this trip there. What exactly he does and how he kind of evolves this discussion. How much in depth he can get.

And he has been focusing, too at the end of these remarks that he has made while he has been traveling on what he has been trying to do with community policing, with practical solutions that he has been trying to propose and recommendations that have been out there. And the White House has mentioned, you know, with his task force on community policing that has called for a lot of meetings between police and community leaders, there have been a string of recommendations made, but there have been a lot of communities that have not adopted those recommendations. And those things include things like training, better discussions, and better look at the inside of the communities that police departments hire more officers that are more representative of unities. That's an area where more work needs to be done and the White House acknowledges that. So I think they are going to make a stronger push for starting with the more simple and most basic of changes within communities to try to at least put a dent in what the White House says is a serious problem in America, Wolf.

BLITZER: Certainly is. All right, thanks very much, Michelle Kosinski traveling with the president in Warsaw, Poland.

Let's bring in CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson. He is a Dallas radio talk show host. And our law enforcement analyst, Cedric Alexander.

The president, and I'll start with you, Ben, the president was very specific. He said I firmly believe that America is not as divided as some have suggested. When I heard that I immediately thought of what Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee suggested in that video he released yesterday in the aftermath of the Dallas shootings, listen to what Trump said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:35:30] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Too many Americans are living in terrible poverty and violence. We need jobs and we're going to produce those jobs. Racial divisions have gotten worse, not better. Too many headlines flash across our screens every day about the rising crime and rising death tolls in our cities. Now is the time for prayers, love, unity, and leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: President also specifically said that racial relations in the United States have gotten better, although there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Did that jump out to you as well?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, it certainly stepped out I think more as a hope and a wish than reality. I will quote three Dallas police officers who I talked to this morning who said they feel like the divide now is the worst hey have seen in their careers. These are decades old policemen on the force who said that. They said they never felt as much of a division racially in some of these police officers who are African-American. And they have divisions than they have right now. So I don't think that the president's perspective is what you are seeing on the ground.

I mean, you obviously - behind me, you can see the love and support you have of police, men that are black, white, Hispanic and all different races coming out to support them. But there also is a massive divide right now. You cannot talk to police officers without hearing that. Politically I think the president is saying something that most people realize is probably not reality. Look how divisive, Wolf, this election has been between, you know, both sides whether it be Bernie Sanders on the extreme left and Donald Trump on extreme right and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

This is a divided time in politics and it's divided in the country as well. And it divided especially when you have a Dallas police chief who said I go to work every day and my officers do not feel the support of the community. For the president to somehow say we are not that divided you have an African-American police chief with a very diversified force with community policing who is saying he doesn't feel the support of the community. That's very telling.

BLITZER: Cedric, let's get your analysis. You have spent your whole career in law enforcement. Where do you see the situation right now?

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: If you're speaking in terms of race relations, Wolf, you and I both know that's complex subject. But it's all going to be relative. It's going to be relative to who you are and where you live in America.

But let's just say this, no community, no police department is going to be 100 percent absolute in lock step with each other. But we know this, we have come long way in this country as it relates to race. Certainly, we got a lot of work left to be done. That's what I heard the president saying. I didn't hear him say it was perfect. He said that we have issues. There are still work to be done. And if we look historically, there is no way any of us could disagree with it.

Now, from a policemen's perspective, from a law enforcement perspective, we have had long-standing issues between police and communities of color for years. There's been great progress made in that regard. But we also have to remember, Wolf, what may be happening in one community that may not be that well or that strong as it relates to police relationships may be very strong in another community somewhere across the country.

When we look at the two incidents that occurred more recently in both Minnesota and in Baton Rouge, what we are finding as we move forward, something will happen oftentimes that sends us back two steps. It doesn't mean it's the worst thing in the world. What it means is that we have got still got a lot of work to do in terms of building those relationships.

Dallas, Texas, Dallas itself has one of the best relationships with communities in the country. They are a model. That has been recognized by the attorney general, Loretta Lynch and those inside that department. And you can ask the chief as well will tell you that. But does that mean they don't have challenges? Certainly they are going to still have challenges.

I have challenges in my own county of DeKalb which predominantly African-American. Now, I should say it's about even between African- American and white. So nowhere is going to be perfect. But it is going to be challenges, but we have made a lot of progress going forward.

BLITZER: Ben, you are in Dallas. You live in Dallas. The president's going to be there early in the week at the invitation of the Dallas mayor. What do you want to hear the president say when he comes to Dallas in the aftermath of this police massacre?

FERGUSON: I want and I think most people that I have talked to do not want this speech when he comes here to be a political in nature as in calling for some sort of gun control, calling for some sort of reform in that way. They want him to come here and be very clear that the president of the United States of America backs the police in Dallas and all over the country. They want a very simple and clear message from him. That we are not going to tolerate the abuse of the police officers because of the actions of very few police officers in the country. And most police officers that I have talked to since Friday when this happened have said they need to know that the president of the United States of America is backing them 100 percent and the other leaders are backing them 100 percent. Without any other agenda, without a pause, without asterisk as one police officer said to me this morning, without advocating for some sort of gun control. Because they said to me this morning, gun control do not have an issue with the shooting. This was hate of the police. This was an individuals who is allowed to buy a gun. This was hate of the police and we have to fix that problem.

[13:41:02] BLITZER: I'll give you the final word, go ahead Cedric.

ALEXANDER: Well, you know, here again, we have some issues that have been dealt with, whole gun control issue is another very complex issue. Do we need to continue to have conversation around it? Yes. Do it need to be talked on - and I agree with Ben on this, we don't need to talk about that right now. What we need to talk about is help heal that community, help heal that police department. Give that police department support that they need. But give that community support that they need. But we cannot negate the fact, Wolf, that we still have questions and we still have to find some resolve about some of the complex issues around gun control. But at this very moment, that community needs healing and I think they are going to get that when the president comes next week.

BLITZER: You did hear the president say he's not going to stop talking about guns in America. He sees that as a huge problem.

All right. Ben Ferguson, Cedric, Alexander, to both of you, thank you very much.

ALEXANDER: Thank you.

BLITZER: Coming up, the Dallas mayor, Mike Rawlings had just answered some questions over the investigation into the deadly shooting. We will give you an update right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:45:20] BLITZER: The Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings just visited the makeshift memorial outside police headquarters in Dallas honoring the five police officers killed in Thursday's shooting and only moments ago, as he was walking away, he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MIKE RAWLINGS, DALLAS: Senseless and just useless. It made me determine this morning for it not to be senseless and not be useless. And that's the job of all of you. That's the job of everybody that's seeing this to decide for themselves whether this wants to be a senseless and useless absurd moment in life, or if it has a purpose in a grander plan to make us a stronger country, a stronger city, and a stronger world. And so as I look at this, I realize there are a lot of people that want to make it that way. I hope there are millions of more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Mayor of Dallas speaking from the heart. Mike Rawlings at that makeshift memorial outside Dallas police headquarters.

I want to bring back our CNN law enforcement analyst, Cedric Alexander and Tom Fuentes. Also joining us Steve Moore.

But first, let's go to CNN's Martin Savidge. He has got new information on the investigation that's unfolding right now.

Martin, what are you learning?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, they continue to process what is essentially a huge murder scene in the heart of downtown Dallas. The streets where the shootings took place on Thursday night remain closed. The FBI was seen, a number of agents walking in close proximity down the street. What they are trying to do is essentially catalog all the gunfire that took place. Now, we know that on top of the shots that were fired by the gunman there were at least 12 Dallas police officers that were able to return fire over a drama that lasted for several hours. And even though that gunman says he acted alone, authorities are not going to just take his word. They are investigating that fully. That's the one thing they want to make sure of. If there were any accomplices, they want to find out about them and they want to bring them to justice.

So even though the gunman is dead, they have to very efficiently work on the crime scene. One of the haunting images down there, a police car belonging to one of those officers killed is still on the street. The street is very much the way it was on Thursday. It's a crime scene that has to be gone through -- Wolf.

BLITZER: So as far as the crime scene is concerned, it's a big area, Martin, and they are forensically, they are going through literally every square foot, right?

SAVIDGE: Right. They are documenting, of course, with photographs. They are documenting with all sorts of all other technology even the line of fire of the bullets. You know, one of the things that was confusing at the beginning of this -- on that night was the fact they thought there were multiple gunmen. We know the reason for that confusion was one, the shooter was using a technique called shoot and scoot. In other words, firing and then moving. Whether that was his military training or something he learned later. It was tragically highly effective at killing police officers and confusing them as to where he was shooting.

Now add to that, an urban environment, anyone hearing gunfire in that kind of setting, it's very difficult unless you see a muscle flashed to know where it is coming from. So that is part of the reason there were these fears that you had a number of shooters. We now know and it has been confirmed that he is the only one, but a very deadly one - Wolf.

BLITZER: Very deadly indeed.

All right. Let's get some analysis.

Tom Fuentes, take us behind the scenes right now. If others, one person or several others knew about his plan to go out there and kill these police officers, how does the FBI, how does local law enforcement, how do they find out about that? TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, through his social

media and the techniques they always use in cases like this, his computer system, friends, neighbors, colleagues, who he might have told about it. What postings he has done on social media. So there is a wide variety of methods. And this is just standard procedure. We see this on every major case like this to try to figure out who was talking to the individuals, what were they saying, was he part of a group or not. You know, the wider network.

And as Martin Savidge just said they are going to account for every bullet casing they can find at the scene on all of the city streets and then parking garage and determine did they all come from his weapon or do other casings not match the weapons that he had and the police also had.

[13:50:05] BLITZER: Steve Moore, how difficult is this investigation going to be?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: It's going to be incredibly difficult but it's not going to be impossible. In addition to what Tom just mentioned, they are probably going to go back and look at cell phone records and find out who he was talking to, first of all, but then go back to cell tower hits and find out where he was in the 48 hours before the attack. They are also going to look at his finances and say, you know, somebody bought the guns. Somebody bought the ammo, who paid for it? And they are going to try to find out whether momma gave him the money or he had a job somewhere. But somebody financed this somehow because he is not really that well employed.

BLITZER: Yes. That he was released from the U.S. army more than a year or so ago. And they did find according to the Dallas police inside his house, he was living with his mother, they found bomb making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition and a personal journal of combat tactics.

Cedric Alexander, none of that is cheap. You got to have money to buy all that stuff.

ALEXANDER: You're right. None of it is cheap, but I certainly do agree with both guests. And I think what the investigation is also going to disclose hopefully over time, whether, here again, whether he acted alone. And even if he acted alone at the crime scene, were there others that helped and supported and financed him securing the equipment that he had both on him and found at his home.

BLITZER: Martin, the mayor of Dallas, Mike Rawlings, he also was asked some questions as he was leaving that make shift memorial. Listen to this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAWLINGS: Guys, this is crazy. I've been talking as much healing as in my body. So -- it's all about race. It's all about race. Let's get over it. Build a bridge and let's get over it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your message to the people?

RAWLINGS: I've spoken enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You can see he's clearly understandably frustrated. He is angry, Martin. I assume that's the mood out there. People are very, very depressed over what happened.

SAVIDGE: They are, I mean clearly this is a city that is still in shock and I don't even believe they have got to the grieving part yet. And as a result of that you have very mixed emotions that are out there.

I was at the vigil that was held yesterday at noon and this is really shortly after the horrific revelation of how many officers had died. It was all walks of life, all colors, all creeds and all faiths who represented. And the atmosphere there was that very much a coming together, very much people embracing one another and saying, look, you know, we are either going to divide into each other and turn into something awful or we take this moment and we come together. That's something the mayor talked about as well.

But then there have been others that have come forward with messages that are not as unifying and that is the problem. And also, that is human nature. People are frightened. People are grieving. And people are angry and all of that mix is being felt in the streets of Dallas right now.

BLITZER: And how does that impact police, Tom Fuentes? They got a job to do right now in Dallas. Not only in Dallas but all over the country. And they saw what happened to these five police officers who were shot and killed, seven more who were shot and injured. You got to assume that police departments all over the country are taking extra precautions right now.

FUENTES: Well, of course, before the police officers hit the street on their tour of duty, you know, each roll call, the sergeant lieutenant captain will be telling them, be careful, watch out. You know, that goes out over and over but they already know that. And they know that from the first day of police academy training to be cautious and careful and be vigilant and observant and don't let your guard down. So nothing, I think from that standpoint is going to change.

But you know, again, especially not going to change in some of the inner cities communities where we do have so much gun violence, we do have street gang violence, the community leaders aren't out on that street. The politicians aren't out on street. The church leaders aren't. It's the police. The police are only people out there 24/7 trying to keep young children alive, you know, from gun violence. And I think that the frustration of most law enforcement agencies is that they are not appreciated for what they are doing. They are really trying to do something and nobody else is out there doing what they are doing.

BLITZER: Steve, what's your message to police departments all over the country right now?

MOORE: I would be twice as careful of two things. Number one, you have your fundamentals for safety. It's kind of like we all know buckle your seat belt, this type of thing. But after you have seen a horrible accident you start remembering stuff like that. They need to go back to their safety fundamentals, but they need to go back humanity fundamentals here and realize that whether they believe it or not, there is a racial perception right now that they need to deal with and they need to take extra steps to make sure that there's not even a hint of bias against any class of persons.

[13:55:19] BLITZER: Good point. And finally, Cedric, you advised police departments all over the country right now. What's your message?

ALEXANDER: Well, certainly, I agree with your last guest there and this the whole humanity piece. All these police officers are human beings. They have feelings and they have reactions just like anyone else in the population. This is a tough time for policing in America.

But I'm going to tell you something, Wolf. The men and women out there in my community and across this country, they are keeping their heads up and they are going out there and doing the job every day. They are maintaining those relationships with people in and around their communities. But time is going to heal these wounds, but we have to continue to move forward. We have to continue to build and bridge those relationships. We have to continue to build legitimacy between ourselves and the community and community with police. And we're going to be OK but it's going to take some time. We still got work to do.

BLITZER: It's going to take work indeed.

Cedric Alexander, Tom Fuentes, Steve Moore, Martin Savidge, guys, don't go too far away. Our special coverage continues right after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: And so, as tough as hard as depressing as the loss of life was this week, we have got a foundation to build on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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