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New Day Sunday

Fifty Protesters Arrested In Minneapolis; Anti-Police Brutality Protests; Friend: Killer Disturbed By History Of Violence; Interview With Bishop T.D. Jakes; President Barack Obama Responds To Week Of Violence; Black Lives Matter Activist Arrested. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 10, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:32] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The black lives matter movement has only called for a de-escalation of violence, not an escalation of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everywhere in the United States, police say they are on a heightened state of alert. Some believe they're being targeted now more than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His Facebook page was covered with Black Nationalist symbolism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was an individual choice for whatever reason that shook our city, black and white, to its core. All of Dallas is traumatized.

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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: You know, we're always grateful to wake up in the morning, sit down in front of you and know that you are with us. Good morning. I'm Christi Paul.

Victor Blackwell in Dallas again this morning. Victor, help us understand what it's like there this morning maybe even as opposed to yesterday.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Christi, good morning to you. Good morning to you at home. Another peaceful night here. This memorial behind me in front of the Dallas police headquarters growing again even after some tense hours yesterday.

But I want to go through what happened across the country overnight because this was a third night of protests against police brutality. Watch this.

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BLACKWELL: I want to take you through some of the cities. I'll start here in Minneapolis where there was a peaceful demonstration that really turned dangerous. Five police officers were hurt. That's happened when people in the crowd threw bottles, rocks, fireworks even.

Hundreds of protesters gathered all day into night furious over the death of 32-year-old cafeteria supervisor, Philando Castile.

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BLACKWELL: This is Chicago. Three people arrested here. Activists snarled traffic downtown, some gathering along the city's famed magnificent mile. We'll have more from there.

You heard the crowds here in Washington. Hundreds marching along city streets, including a young girl you saw there. Her shirt reading, my life matters.

And now to Baton Rouge, Black Lives Matter activist, Deray McKessin (ph) was arrested.

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BLACKWELL: The video you're seeing here, this is what was caught live as he was streaming the protest. We'll have more on that arrest later in the hour.

But we're beginning our coverage in Minneapolis where at least 50 people were arrested during violent protests there. Our Brynn Gingras is following that part of the story for us. Brynn, I understand that the protest ended really early this morning, not last night. What have you learned?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's actually two separate protests is what we are hearing from the people that were involved. They all originated here at the governor's mansion where we should mention the last four days have been very peaceful protests.

But today they did end in a number of arrests and some violence. As you've already alluded, George, but yes, that second protest that just ended, that was about an hour ago that it ended and 50 people were arrested.

We were over there when we actually saw two buses full of people being loaded up, people detained. We're told now they're at the police department being processed at this point.

What we're being told from protesters is that that one -- the people that marched from here to that location two blocks from here, sort of got barreled in by the police.

They pretty much just stopped them in the streets from continuing to march and then that's when the arrests occurred. Now I want you to hear from woman who said she got woken up by a phone call from her daughter who was getting arrested. Take a listen.

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VIVIAN MIMS, DAUGHTER ARRESTED IN ST. PAUL PROTESTS: My daughter was a protester at the governor's mansion I guess they decided to walk. She called me and said I'm surrounded by police. They got guns on me and I'm probably going to get detained for walking. And I got out of bed and this is what I saw.

GINGRAS: What do you think about what you're seeing right now?

MIMS: I want to know where my daughter is. It's ridiculous.

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GINGRAS: Yes, the streets were full, Victor, of people who -- family members just like that, protesters who left the scene, and then people who just live in that area trying to figure out what was going on.

[06:05:02]Now to that earlier protest that you talked about, the one that shut down I-94, major interstate here between St. Paul and Minneapolis. That one did have a number of violent incidents reported by St. Paul police.

We're talking about fireworks being thrown at police officers, bricks, concrete slabs, and pieces of construction. As far as the protesters, they tell us that they were mazed. They tell us there were smoke bombs thrown at them.

So it did get violent. That one shut down the highway for about five hours. We're not quite sure yet how many people were arrested in that particular protest -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Brynn Gingras there for us in St. Paul. The clarity is appreciated. Brynn, thank you so much.

Back here in Dallas now. Authorities are defending their use of a bomb carrying robot that killed the cop murderer, Micah Johnson, during a standoff with officers. A first of its kind takedown.

Dallas police say they used the robot like this one as a last resort. This was after negotiations failed and the gunman kept shooting at them. Johnson ambushed and assassinated officers during an anti- police brutality protest on Thursday.

Actually the protest ended when the shots rang out. The bullets sprayed into the crowd. Two civilians also shot. Twelve officers shot. As we know five of those officers killed.

We have Sara Sidner with us now. Sara, what more can you tell us about this bomb-carrying robot? We heard about this initially from the chief several days ago and now coming out and again defending the use of it.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. There isn't a great amount of criticism. We should be very clear about that. There are groups that are coming out in numbers saying this was the right thing to do. But the chief did first detail and he is the one that told world about what they ended up doing, and said very clearly why they ended up using this device.

We will talk a little bit about the device now. It's a remote tech Model F5 claw and arm extension. On that claw and arm extension there was C-4, highly explosive, a pound of it.

I want to let you listen to the chief because this is what he initially said as to why they decided this was so important to use. Keeping in mind that negotiations, it appeared had failed and from what we can ascertain a police officer was shot during those negotiations.

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CHIEF DAVID BROWN, DALLAS POLICE: We saw no other option, but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger.

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SIDNER: Other options would have exposed their officers to grave danger. And not just their officers, they had cleared out the public, but remember that two civilians were also hit. At this point, the police were thinking, look, this is our only chance.

Five officers had been killed. Seven officers had been wounded. This is what they decided was their best option to make sure no one else, none of their other officers died.

BLACKWELL: Last resort as the chief said there. Let's go to what happened yesterday. After what we saw here on Thursday night into Friday morning, there were people who flip on the television, checked Twitter, and saw that there was another lockdown here at headquarters. Streets were shut down. Do we know more about what prompted that?

SIDNER: So what we heard from police is that there was some sort of a call to them, some sort of information to them that there was a credible threat. As you might imagine, everybody is on heightened alert right now.

BLACKWELL: Of course.

SIDNER: The officers are on heightened alert, the citizens frankly are on alert, and so somebody said there was something going on inside of a parking structure. Police decided to go in. They locked this area down, no one getting in.

They went into that structure, checked it several times and found that there was no threat. But of course, when you get that call after what happened here, you are going to react and take it as seriously as you would any other threat, especially because so many police officers were targeted.

BLACKWELL: Of course. We checked through that. The police did their due diligence for hours and found nothing there. Sara Sidner, we'll continue the conversation about the investigation throughout the show.

I've got law enforcement analyst, Art Roderick, just off camera here. We're going to talk later this morning about impact of this threat and this continued trauma, I would call it, on the officers who have been on high alert for several days now. We'll have that conversation with us.

Also overnight, we're getting word of multiple shots fired at police headquarters in San Antonio. Police are on the hunt for a suspect there.

[06:10:01]Plus, we're learning more about the motivations of the Dallas police shooter through his online profile.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His Facebook page was covered with Black Nationalist symbolism, the black liberation flag. His photo fist raise in a black power salute.

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COREY PEGUES, FATHER OF NYPD OFFICER: As a parent of a cop, you are worrying about them all the time. It's a dangerous profession, one of the most dangerous jobs. There's not so many jobs where you know when bullets are being fired, you have to run into it.

I'm always, always thinking about my daughter and my nephew every day and anytime, I hear about New York City police officer crashing their vehicle or getting shot at or getting shot, those are the first two calls that I make.

NENA RAMSEY, WIFE AND MOTHER OF LOS ANGELES POLICE OFFICERS: No one want their child or their significant other to get hurt in the line of duty, but it's just something that, you know, you learn to appreciate everyday with him.

SHERRY SUTTON, WIFE OF DALLAS POLICE OFFICER: My husband always tells me he became a police officer to protect the community. And if there ever was a time that he was killed in the line of duty, he did what he wanted to do, was to protect others.

STEVE STRIBLEY, DALLAS POLICE OFFICER: I have dangerous job and that someday I may not come home. I'm a realist. I'm not going to (inaudible) in the sky and tell them that everything is going to be all right.

ANGEL LEON, FATHER OF LOS ANGELES POLICE OFFICER: They've got to pray every single day for that. I just pray that everybody else will be thinking about our officers throughout the country.

DANIELLE BOLTON, WIFE OF ENNIS, TEXAS POLICE OFFICER: Most officers are good people and they choose every day to walk away from their families and put their lives on the line every day.

STRIBLEY: I'm here to protect everyone, my children as well as somebody else's children.

RAMSEY: There are still good law enforcement officers out there. But I'm proud of my husband and my daughter.

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[06:15:08]BLACKWELL: There you're hearing from the family members of police officers. They're sharing their biggest fears as their loved ones put on that uniform and put themselves in harm's way every day.

With me now, CNN law enforcement analyst, Art Roderick. Art, I want to start with something we talked about in the last block. Overnight, the officers injured in Minnesota, we saw fireworks there, bricks, bottles tossed at police. What's your reaction to what you're seeing here?

ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know, this is how protests go unfortunately. Some people try to co-op these protests. They want to have peaceful protests. That's what law enforcement wants to see.

But you're going to have this. This unfortunately follows any large group that has a protest going on. Since this incident happened and the FBI has put out alerts regarding these protests and law enforcement being in a hyper vigilant state, hopefully this will calm down because we've got the RNC and the DNC coming up very shortly.

We know we're going to have protests there. I'm sure since this incident in Dallas that law enforcement in both Cleveland and Philadelphia are ramping up even more.

BLACKWELL: Yes, of course. Let me ask you about San Antonio, the breaking news overnight that shots were fired at police headquarters there. What's your concern about copy cats specifically as we are seeing this across the country?

RODERICK: The minute this happened, I think we all came out and said, oh my gosh, I hope there won't be any copy cats. Unfortunately, this is starting to happen. I think within 24 hours of the shooting here in Dallas. We had at least five or six incidences of law enforcement being ambushed.

So this is going to be, unfortunately, an ongoing process and I think when the alert came up in the FBI, you saw law enforcement around the country step it up even higher, doubling patrols, making sure that no officer was by themselves that they had a partner with them. So unfortunately, this is going to continue for some time.

BLACKWELL: The problem really did not start on Thursday, right? Because we've learned from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund that at this point so far this year 26 officers across the country have been shot and killed in the line of duty. At this point, last year it was 18. "Washington Post" also reporting that more people have been fatally shot by police this year than by this time last year. What is going on?

RODERICK: I think there's a correlation between these two. This just didn't start on Friday on Wednesday. This has been going on now for probably a year. We've seen this uptick in violence against law enforcement, but also law enforcement officers responding with deadly force.

I don't know when the tipping point is going to happen. I hope this was the tipping point here in Dallas, but only time is going to tell here.

BLACKWELL: What's the impact? This is what we talked about a few minutes ago as well, on these officers who are still in many respects grieving their partners, their friends after what happened on Thursday. And then you have that heightened alert again on Saturday, this up and down?

RODERICK: Anybody who went through 9/11 remembers this same type of scenario where you've got adrenaline pumping through you for 30 hours and then boom you come down, and then bam, you're right back up again like the incident last night here behind the police station. This is like an effort quake and these are the aftershocks.

And this is going to continue for some days now where every little incident law enforcement is going to respond to the max. They have to just to make that none of these types of incidences occur again. So it's going to be very tough on law enforcement.

I know the chief is aware of this and he's more than likely looking at how he is going to give these men and women of this police department a break, get them some rest because he's going to need them here in the upcoming weeks.

BLACKWELL: And they are certainly going to need some support, of course, as they are receiving from the communities here, but also some rest and recovery.

RODERICK: Exactly.

BLACKWELL: All right, Art Roderick, thank you so much.

More now about the possible motivations of the killer here in Dallas by looking at his online activity.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's clear Micah Johnson was visiting, liking and absorbing messages that could have inspired him not just to hate but to strike.

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[06:23:12]

BLACKWELL: Welcome back. I'm Victor Blackwell here in front of Dallas Police Headquarters. You know, before he shot five Dallas police officers, 25-year-old Micah Johnson was very active online.

As our Drew Griffin reports, we may be able to learn more about his motivations by looking at the groups he followed on social media.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His Facebook page was covered with Black Nationalist symbolism, the black liberation flag, and his photo fist raised in a black power salute.

CNN has been speaking with a former friend of Johnson, who says that Dallas police killer was disturbed not just by recent police killings of black men, but on the history of violence against his race. Johnson repeatedly viewed the videotaped police beating of Rodney King, the friend told CNN.

And he knew everything about the history of Martin Luther King's assassination and the teaching and murder of Malcolm X. And through his electronic fingerprints, it's clear Micah Johnson was visiting, liking, and absorbing messages that could have inspired him not just to hate but to strike.

The friend, who wants to remain anonymous, says Johnson was a good black man with a little bit of an anger problem.

(on camera): That combination of history, pride and anger is visible when you scroll through Micah Johnson's Facebook likes.

Captured by CNN, they show the shooter visited and liked a multitude of African-American groups, black Lives Matter, African-American history, Alternative Afro Centric news sites, the New Black Panthers, sites devoted to covering the experience of blacks in the United States.

But you also come across these, groups that espouse more than just black awareness or empowerment, but hate and violence.

[06:25:09]The African-American Defense League is one of them. Shortly after news broke of a black man being killed in Baton Rouge this week, the AADL posted then deleted this call to arms, calling on the gangs across the nation, attack everything in blue.

The postings are similar to what led to this nationwide alert issued by the FBI on Thursday, a warning to all law enforcement that attacks on police were being called for with images so graphic of cops being killed, CNN has chosen not to repeat them.

One shows an artistic version of an officer's throat being cut, similar to ISIS style propaganda.

J.M. BERGER, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Certainly they're putting out incendiary content and there is somebody who is inclined toward violence is reading that, they may fixate on that content as the reasons to take action.

GRIFFIN: J.M. Berger studies extremist groups for the George Washington University. He knows the FBI is monitoring sites like these and while he says they haven't risen to the level of actual terrorists, he's troubled where the sites may be headed.

BERGER: So you know, we don't see the same enforcement action against white nationalists and black nationalists that we do see against jihadist groups and that's probably going to be an impending problem for us. What we do see is that extremist groups are getting on the internet more. They're exploiting the lessons from ISIS's success.

GRIFFIN: Almost like a page from the ISIS play book, domestic hate sites are making Micah Johnson a martyr. This from the site devoted to the teachings of Elijah Mohammad, "Rest in peace," the site declares of the murderer. He stood up to injustice. Drew Griffin, CNN, Dallas, Texas.

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BLACKWELL: Our thanks to Drew for that report. Now, as the country mourns both the death of the Dallas police officers and the deaths of two black men killed by police earlier this week, there are a lot of people turning, of course, to faith, especially on this Sunday morning to heal.

I'm going to talk with the leader of a Mega Church here in Dallas, Bishop T.D. Jakes, on how to move forward through love and prayer.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God didn't pull that trigger. One of the great things about those of us who believe in God is that he gives us free will. Generally it works in our favor. But occasionally it works against us when somebody's will decides to make a choice that is detrimental to humanity and such was the case here in Dallas.

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[06:31:14]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Firework is being thrown at the police. Wow!

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (INAUDIBLE) the revolution. We want justice. We want peace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's hundreds of people out here still.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heads (ph) up (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just threw it right at us. They just threw a concussion grenade right --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Good morning everybody. I'm Christi Paul. Victor Blackwell is in Dallas as we recap what has been going on today. Some of what you just saw there a lot of protests overnight and a lot of arrest as well at some of those protests, Victor. BLACKWELL: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) third night these protests over police violence. And we just learned from New York Police Department that at least 20 protesters were arrested overnight in New York City. So 20 there.

Let me take you to Saint Paul, Minnesota where 50 people have been taken into custody. At one point during the protest there was a police officer was hit in the head by a piece of concrete we're told.

In Minneapolis five officers were hurt after demonstrators they threw rocks, bottles, fireworks at officers. San Antonio, Texas -- the list goes on. Several shots fired into police headquarters there leaving behind shell casings there, bullet holes in the headquarters. No one was hurt, the good news. But police are searching for a man seen running down an alley.

You know, tragedy after tragedy, shooting after shooting. There's so many people across the country who are wondering how to heal, how to move forward. Well, Bishop T.D. Jakes, the pastor here in Dallas who's really known around the world is trying to help with that journey. He's the senior pastor of The Potter's House. It's a megachurch here in Dallas, 30,000 members.

During the vigil for the fallen officers he asked the community, asked the country to come together.

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BISHOP T.D. JAKES, SENIOR PASTOR, THE POTTER'S HOUSE: Many of us do not recognize pain until it's on our front porch. As we come together today we cannot be oblivious to the plight of this nation.

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BLACKWELL: I sat down with Bishop Jakes to talk about what it means to truly heal, to move forward. And the special message he has for his congregation this morning.

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JAKES: It was a bit shocking to me. You know, it was horrible. I mean, the demonstration had been calm and peaceful and the relationship between the demonstrators and the police had been amicable. And then out of the blue this crisis comes and rattles our city down to its very core.

BLACKWELL: There will be inevitably and there are people right now, Sunday morning, asking the question, why is this happening? How could this happen? Maybe how could God let this happen? What do you tell those people?

JAKES: You know, God didn't pull that trigger. One of the great things about those of us who believe in God is that he gives us free will. And generally it works in our favor but occasionally it works against us when somebody's will decides to make a choice that is detrimental to humanity and such was the case here in Dallas. BLACKWELL: Young black men, the concern that they're being targeted by police, to those young men in your congregation what do you tell them?

JAKES: I mean -- first of all I have three sons. I have two daughters. And you have the same talk with your parishioners that you have with your children to be very, very careful and be very, very respectful, not to allow your temper to overwhelm you. And yet there is a certain degree of worry that goes along with it.

[06:35:00]

It is not the police that we're afraid of. We need the police in our communities like anybody else. It is those particular officers who are either not well trained or should have never been selected in the first place. It's not what happens in the mainstream it is what happens on the isolated back roads that makes me concerned.

BLACKWELL: With so many thousands of men of The Potter's House of this congregation you of course have some members of law enforcement.

JAKES: Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: And what do you -- how do you counsel those police officers?

JAKES: You know, I have had the privilege of speaking for the black association of police officers from time to time. It's a really tough job and there are a lot of good police officers who really give of themselves unselfishly every day. It's a (INAUDIBLE) job without the encumberment (ph) of being targeted like this. Now it becomes even more difficult for them to do their job.

I think that it is possible to have great respect for the police department and still be able to hold them accountable when designated individuals go awry. Because for some reason in our country we think that if you are concerned about sidewalk justice, which is what I call it, that then you are disloyal to the police officers. But the two notions are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to hold them accountable and still respect the ones who are heroic every day.

BLACKWELL: You're a man whose face is recognizable, famous. But are you ever concerned if you're pulled over by an officer about your safety if they don't know they've just pulled over Bishop T.D. Jakes.

JAKES: I've had experiences in my life.

BLACKWELL: Tell me about that.

JAKES: I've had experiences where I was pulled over, badly handled or mistreated. I've had experiences where my sons were pulled over and calling me on the phone screaming and crying and I'm scared to death that something is going to happen. Because I don't know which kind of police officer pulled them over, the good one or the bad one. There are a lot of good ones that (INAUDIBLE) by God. So I (ph) get (ph) those (ph) and we get some police officer who may not actually be a bad person but in a split second makes a bad decision.

You don't have to be bad person to make a bad decision. That happens. What we are concerned about is when that does happen, why does the criminal justice system look the other way? OK. You can't totally control -- there are bad reporters, bad preachers, people who make bad mistakes who are good people in any profession.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

JAKES: That's human. But our systems need to be of such that there is an accountability and there are consequences for bad choices just like there are for all of us. That same reality needs to also be true for the police department.

BLACKWELL: This is a city you've lived in for how long?

JAKES: Twenty years.

BLACKWELL: Twenty years. What do you feel when you look back over the last couple of days after the shooting and what we've seen at the Dallas police department and people bringing flowers, bringing cards, bringing notes and stopping to just thank and in some cases embrace members of law enforcement.

JAKES: First of all, I'm very proud of our city. We've come a long way. So we've got a long way to go but overall I'm proud of our city.

We've got problems. We've got a lot of problems but you must realize that what happened in Dallas is not a reflection on the city of Dallas itself because the march was successful. The police were protective. This is one individual.

And I think it would be a travesty for us to think that Dallas is in an uproar because of the divide that exists between our communities. There is a divide.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

JAKES: But that isn't what happened -- this was an individual choice for whatever reason that shook our city, black and white, to its core.

This particular Sunday I hope to sit down with some of the victims from Baton Rouge. And we're working to bring in the family from Milwaukee and to talk to them on stage and to talk to my congregation. Because I realize that my congregation is traumatized, all of Dallas is traumatized, both black and white. And this is an opportunity to bring healing, individually and collectively, so that we can go back to the business of being better for the betterment of Dallas and working on being better as brothers and sisters. We had mastered that.

The reality is these guns shots, series of shots and the death of good police officers, the explosion of somebody's child because of the choice he made, cuts me to the core. That young man, as horrendous as what he did may have been, that's somebody's child. And we're in the business of healing. It is a tragedy that the purpose of the march got distracted by the choice of one individual.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Very, very valuable words there from Bishop T.D. Jakes here in Dallas.

[06:40:01]

Before I toss it back to Atlanta I want to share with you the front page of "The Dallas Morning News" this Sunday. A crying eye here. And the editorial headline, "This city, our city, has been tested before. Now we face a new test."

Yesterday the front page was we are hurting and the faces of those officers. And now this morning the path forward toward healing. Christi, a message of transition from what happened here Thursday into what this city will continue to be as it moves forward. Back to you.

PAUL: And what a great interview with T.D. Jakes there. I mean, his words...

BLACKWELL: Yes. He offered a lot.

PAUL: ... they're quite profound. No doubt about it. I know we'll hear more of it next hour as well. Victor, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

PAUL: Listen, as he's wrapping up his European trip, President Obama does have a message for all of us watching the response to the violence of this past week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We cannot let the actions of a few define all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: We'll have more of that in just a moment.

First, mortgage rates picked up this week for you. Here's a look.

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PAUL: President Obama is in Spain now. He spoke there about the difficult week we've had here in America. He's cutting his European trip short in fact and will be back in Washington tonight.

Earlier though he told his European audience not to believe what so many are saying about divisions in America.

[06:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I firmly believe that America is not as divided as some have suggested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: A. Scott Bolden, an attorney and Hillary Clinton supporter with us now, as well as Scottie Nell Hughes, CNN political commentator and political editor at RightAlerts.com. Thank you both for being us this morning.

A. SCOTT BOLDEN, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Good morning.

PAUL: Scottie, I'd like to start with you. Good morning.

I do want to read something to you from the "New York Times." A quote from a history professor saying that unity is the wrong goal. Here's what she said. Quote -- "often in our past unity has meant burying disagreements rather than solving common problems. What we need now is someone who can work across differences, not erase them. I think there's no way Trump could do this. The jury is still out on Clinton."

Now, I know that there are millions of people who believe that Donald Trump can bring unity. But when we look the past divisiveness of his comments and his rhetoric, how do you believe Donald Trump can bring some sort of unity or at least bring some of this division back?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I love the question -- right. I love the question of how but first let me also commend the president for his words because that's exactly what I would love to see. That's the leadership that we need to see right now out of our top officials, especially our president of the United States that there is unity.

The problem is that it is not the same as what we've seen in the past. Unity is all about perception, about your environment. And thanks to the internet and social media, our environment is not just our zip code anymore. We actually feel very close to those even if we have never met them before thanks to technology.

That being said it is about how. It is about solutions. And the solution that we need to be talking about is why are we not encouraging more law enforcement to have more diversity? Right now there's one million -- almost one million police officers, law enforcement across the United States only 12 percent of them are black officers.

President Obama, when he first got in office (INAUDIBLE) 12 years old. Right now they could be applying for the laws enforcement academy. We need to have more solutions. And unfortunately every time there's a situation like this the automatic solution that comes from the Democrats, that comes from the president and Hillary Clinton has to do with gun control. But you never actually see ideas -- specific ideas. More just these generic statements and once they get an (INAUDIBLE) from the second amendment which doesn't create anything in the end.

PAUL: So what are the specific solutions that Donald Trump is going to bring to the table? HUGHES: I think it comes back to economic development. I think he is saying let's go into these urban areas. Let's restore hope by giving them respect -- restore respect in their communities by making them take actual advantage and pride in their communities. You do that by bringing jobs and bringing money back into these areas. Let's also talk about education.

And not just sitting here and throwing money at it that often time we've seen within the Democratic (ph) Party (ph). Let's actually teach the people to fish for a long term and continue to grow these communities. It's what he's done in the past when he partnered with the Rainbow Coalition and he built a building on Wall Street.

Let's actually go in use this from the inside instead of going from the outside.

PAUL: All right. I want to, Scott, come to you with some historically high end favorables that we're looking at for both candidates this morning. According to the latest poll Trump's at 59 percent edging out Clinton by only 57 percent. And on top of that, a new "Time" magazine report cites "USA Today/Suffolk University" poll that, "likely voters across the country found that 61 percent of them are alarmed," they are alarmed, "about the presidential election." Only 23 percent are excited. That less than a quarter of our country is excited about these two candidates.

How is Hillary Clinton going to be able to bridge this gap between as she's been talking about between police officers and the communities and the African-Americans and the whites and the racial divide that we see?

BOLDEN: Well, I think Hillary Clinton has a long history of reaching across not just racial lines but political lines. Certainly -- but Donald Trump doesn't have that history. And given his employment and business history with minorities and women and the business failures that he's experienced.

But let's talk about Hillary Clinton for a second because she's been in the Senate, she's been in the White House. She has a long history of working across racial and political lines on healthcare issues, on family issues, on civil rights and human rights. Now her high negatives may go to the whole trust issue. And of course when she's been under attack for the emails, you're going to get that.

This is an incredible political year because it's the first time you have these high negatives. But if you listen to the Democrats, if you listen to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, they have a message of hope. They have a message of unity. It's not one of divisiveness. It's not one of attacking.

I mean, Donald Trump and the Republican Party are in complete disarray. He can't even reach across intraparty lines to give (INAUDIBLE) a complete and unified support because his message is offensive. He's message is divisive.

He's the last thing we need right now. And what we really need right now is healing and resolution and creating a safe space for people to talk about their differences and not to bury disagreements but to really resolve them and have racial tolerance.

[06:50:14]

And right now --

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: ... and we'll see how these conversations continue to evolve. I apologize we're out of time.

BOLDEN: Sure.

PAUL: Scottie Nell Hughes, A. Scott Bolden, we always appreciate your voices in these conversations.

BOLDEN: Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you.

Protesting in a digital age. It's live. It's raw. It's unfiltered isn't it to the world. Brian Stelter is looking at why live streaming these rallies is in a sense becoming the new normal. Yes, Brian?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Just a few hours ago among the many arrests in Baton Rouge was the best known Black Lives Matter protester in the country, DeRay Mckesson. I'll show you how he live streamed his own arrest. Coming up.

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PAUL: New this morning, CNN has just learned at least 125 protesters were arrested overnight in Baton Rouge including one of the best known Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson. The moment that he was taken into custody it was captured live on Periscope. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: City police. You're under arrest. Don't fight me. Don't fight me.

DERAY MCKESSON, BLACK LIVES MATTER ACTIVIST (ph): I'm under arrest you all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now police say he's charged with simple obstruction of a highway. Witnesses told the "Washington Post" DeRay Mckesson was targeted.

CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter joining me now. Mckesson by the way as we understand it is still in prison at the moment. Take a look at this #freederay is trending.

[06:55:04] Number one in the U.S. this morning and those are all the places there where is it is trending as you can see it on the map. What do you make, Brian, of the rise in people live streaming protests?

STELTER: One thing this reflects his stature within the movement. Mckesson is in some ways the best known, most famous activist within the Black Lives Matter movement. He has been that way since Ferguson in the events there in 2014. And he was in Baton Rouge along with other high profile activists last night in order to witness and participate in the protests.

It sounds like a bond will be set this morning and perhaps he'll be released later today. The fact that he was live streaming his own arrest is it's not surprise people to follow him. He is very media savvy. The last time I saw him about a month ago his phone was always in his hand. He is known for always being on Twitter and often times on Periscope.

But (INAUDIBLE) happens when a high profile protester is arrested and live streams it it's a reminder -- it's a very up close personal or intimate perspective for these protests. Now, you think about what it's like if you're in Baton Rouge and you're protesting and you're able on your phone to watch the protesters also in St. Paul at the same time, also in Philly and in New York at the same time. You're able to see what your counterparts and other cities are doing which gives you more support. That's something that Mckesson has talked about in the past.

I think one other point is significant here. The fact that he's been arrested for better or worse it means that there is a famous face for these arrests last night. Sounds like about 200 people arrested in various protests. But when you have someone that is relatively well known and now trending on Twitter it does create more attention both for the protests and for the arrest.

PAUL: No doubt about it. All right. Brian Stelter, we appreciate it. Thank you so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

PAUL: And we are live from Dallas when we come back. Do stay close.

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