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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Police Officers Killed in Baton Rouge Shooting; GOP Convention Kicks Off in Cleveland; Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 18, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

[04:31:38] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news from Baton Rouge. Three police officers killed. We have new information about how the killer lured them on to the street and new information on these three heroes that were lost.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The Trump show rolls into Cleveland. This is day one of the Republican National Convention with a lineup that's anything but conventional.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans here in Cleveland.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman live in Baton Rouge this morning. It is just after 4:30 a.m. in the East. I'm in front of the Baton Rouge police headquarters. You can see behind me the flag is at half staff. What you can't see around here is the incredibly high levels of security. Heavily armed officers guarding these headquarters. And that's perfectly understandable given what's happened here.

Three officers gunned down in broad daylight. Apparently by this killer who lured them on to the street either with a 911 call or merely walking around with a mask and an assault rifle to get them out there.

We have information now about the three officers who were killed. 41- year-old Matthew Gerald. He was relatively new to the force but he's been in the Marines and the Army, done several tours in Iraq on a helicopter crew. Montrell Jackson, 32 years old. He'd been on the force for 10 years. He had a new son just 4 months old. And he recently had been posting on Facebook. He said please don't let hate infect your heart.

Brad Garafola, 45. He was a sheriff's deputy. He had four children. People on the street loved him. He was known as a jack of all trades. Even fixing up a car for his 15-year-old daughter who was getting ready to drive.

These are the lives that were lost. Gunned down on the street by a killer who drove some 800 miles from Kansas City just to be here.

We are getting new information about this killer. This assassin. He'd been in the Marines for five years, rose to the rank of sergeant. He'd also been connected to black separatist groups. And he posted online not long ago about using violence to stop bullies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAVIN LONG, BATON ROUGE SHOOTING SUSPECT: Victims fighting their bullies. 100 percent have been successful through fighting back. Through bloodshed. Zero have been successful just over simply protesting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Let's get the latest on the investigation now. CNN's Nick Valencia.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, it has been a very dark period in Baton Rouge. Over the course of the last two weeks, this city has been strangled from within by violence. Violence that began with the shooting death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling at the hands of police officers. In the days that followed we saw massive demonstrations that nearly turned violent here.

And though no one was injured in those protests, there were plenty of arrests. In three days we saw nearly 200 people arrested. Police remained on heightened alert throughout the week. On Tuesday, the state police announcing that they had thwarted a plot to kill police officers. And there were some discrepancies in that announcement. No one was officially ever charged with that plot. But it certainly underscored the anxiety and tension in this community, especially among law enforcement.

They feared after what happened in the event in Dallas with those handful of police officers who were shot and killed. Many people here thought they would be next. And they were.

[04:35:03] On Sunday, it happened here in this city. With six police officers shot. Three of them shot dead at the hands of a gunman who had traveled from Missouri to take out police officers, it seems. The youngest victim in that shooting was 32 years old, Montrell Jackson, who just recently had taken to Facebook to talk about his fears and concerns of being a beat officer in this city at this time, saying he loved Baton Rouge, but he wasn't sure if the city right now loved him back -- John.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. I'm joined now by Matt Horace, a former executive with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, also senior vice president with FJC Security Services.

Matt, thanks so much for being with us. This killer drove 800 miles from Kansas City via Dallas where he was apparently after the shooting there to be here. It certainly give you the sense that this person had been planning for some time to kill police officers.

MATTHEW HORACE, FORMER EXECUTIVE, BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, AND FIREARMS: Well, it sounds exactly that way, John. And also it gives us an idea as to his commitment to his pathological ideology. Certainly in past incidents like this, people have been exactly the same. They go through undo lengths to pull off these sort of capers.

BERMAN: What's so tragic here among the multitude of tragedies involved is that Montrell Jackson, aged 32, one of the officers killed, he'd been writing lately about how challenging it is to be a police officer. Of course, here in Baton Rouge, they were dealing with the death of Alton Sterling killed by police, an African-American man killed by white police officers. There's been protests here.

And Montrell Jackson who was African-American wrote this, "I swear to God, I love this city, but I wonder if the city loves me. In uniform I get nasty looks and out of uniform some consider me a threat. I've experienced so much in my short life in these last three days have tested me to the core." He also wrote, "Please don't let hate infect your heart."

This is an officer, Matt, like so many officers around the country, good officer doing good things who have been struggling with the difficulties of his job.

HORACE: Well, you know, John, he makes great points on. You know, we're here in D.C. now with the NOBLE cop. We discuss these very same issues. One minute we're protecting the public, the next minute we're concerned for our own safety because we don't want to be considered threats. 250, 260, you present that same visual threat to some officers that you may not present to others. So he makes great points and God rest his soul.

BERMAN: You know, and you heard from him and we've heard from officers all over country that they feel right now that they're being targeted, that they're being hunted, Matt. And they have to take precautions.

How could you not think twice if you're an officer right now when answering a 911 call?

HORACE: Well, you know, it's very true. And you don't know if it is a set-up or sinister plot. At the end of the day, the overall majority of people that you come in contact with are good solid citizens, and we have to always remember that when we put that back (INAUDIBLE). There will be those people like the suspect, anti- government zealots that are out on a mission that we have to be concerned with but they rarely give you a clue as to what they're going to do next.

BERMAN: And police officers need to do their jobs. In the investigation here, two people had been detained and questioned and now released. We do understand from law enforcement that they believe this killer had been in contact with people here in Baton Rouge. They don't know whether or not or given any indication whether anyone else was involved with this attack. But you can bet, Matt, that that's exactly the kind of thing they're looking into right now.

HORACE: You better believe it, John. Investigators are going to be looking into his social media, his cell phone, his computers to try to determine who he was speaking to, what the extent of those conversations were and what is the extent, if any, anyone else had in this plot.

BERMAN: Because this guy is everywhere online. We are just looking at a few clips right now that we've cleared for use. But all over social media. Spewing hate in some cases. And not -- when not spewing hate, just strange conspiracy theories.

HORACE: Well, you know, John, he wouldn't be the first one to do that. The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks organizations and people who do this for a living. They sit at their computers, they blog, they put out messages of hate all over. And, you know, the intelligence community follows these groups to the extent that it involves criminal behavior. But absent that, as you know, you have that freedom of speech issue here in the United States, and people do this quite often.

BERMAN: All right. Matt Horace, our security analyst. Matt, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate it.

HORACE: Thank you. Have a great morning, John.

BERMAN: All right. President Obama who just last week went to Dallas to address people after the loss of five officers there. He was in the White House Briefing Room talking about the loss of three officers here in Baton Rouge. He advised calm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't need inflammatory rhetoric. We don't need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or to advance an agenda. We need to temper our words and open our hearts. All of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:40:14] BERMAN: All right. You can bet this will be a campaign issue. And it should be. Keeping America safe. Keeping police officers safe is something that should come up in the campaign. Hillary Clinton commented on it yesterday. She put out a statement, saying, "There is no justification for violence, for hate, for attacks on men and women, who put their lives on the line every day in service of our families and communities."

Donald Trump posted on Facebook, "How many law enforcement and people have to die because of a lack of leadership in our country? We demand law and order." On Twitter later Donald Trump wrote, "Our country is a divided crime scene."

And of course law and order will be a subject at the Republican National Convention tonight in Cleveland. You can bet speakers will bring it up on that stage. Donald Trump already talking about it. How will security fears around the country and specifically in Cleveland affect the convention?

Christine Romans comes back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:45:23] ROMANS: Politics and protests colliding in Cleveland. It is day one of the Republican National Convention and this city is preparing for anything. After a weekend of mostly peaceful demonstrations, security this morning is very tight in Cleveland in the wake of the Dallas and the Baton Rouge shootings. Today, though, is all about a Republican Party seeking unity and first steps toward the coronation of their nominee Donald Trump.

CNN's Phil Mattingly joins me live this morning from the CNN Grill in Cleveland. And lights not even up -- the sun is not even up yet, but clearly you can see just how tight security is and the excitement for this convention.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it. Look, security is paramount outside the perimeter and inside the convention hall. You're going to hear a lot about national security and not just over the course of the next four days but specifically today. That is the focus of the agenda today. And for Donald Trump and his newly minted running mate, Mike Pence, that's the focus of their campaign. You've heard over and over again, law and order, national security, strength.

That is the message that the Trump campaign hopes to hammer home today. And we just look at the list of speakers that they've got laid out. It's a message they believe can be delivered today. You've got Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, obviously a top national security official who was once on the short list for vice president. You have Senator Joni Ernst, an up and coming star, first-term senator from Iowa, a military officer, will be speaking as well.

But I do think it's important also to note, Melania Trump. A press shy -- want to be first lady who Donald Trump will actually be introducing, a very unorthodox way of doing things tonight. So you really get a first view at her but I think it's also important to know that you're going to see throughout this week, Mike Pence, the Indiana governor, kind of an awkward rollout on Saturday, an awkward rollout over Twitter on Friday, you're going to see him in primetime on Wednesday.

But first he and Donald Trump may need to work a couple of things out. Take a listen to what they said on "60 Minutes" last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Clearly this man is not a politician. He doesn't speak like a politician.

LESLEY STAHL, "60 MINUTES": He's done pretty well.

PENCE: He speaks from his heart.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think that's a good thing.

PENCE: He speaks from his heart. And --

TRUMP: Well, I do speak from my heart and my brain. Just so we understand.

PENCE: That's right.

TRUMP: This is maybe more important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Still working a few things out there, I think. But we're going to see that over the course of this week. Something definitely to keep an eye on -- Christine.

ROMANS: There's the ticket. All right, thanks so much for that, Phil.

All right. Let's talk more about day one of the Republican convention and security concerns here in Cleveland. A great panel rejoins me this morning. Josh Rogin, CNN political analyst and columnist for the "Washington Post." CNN political commentator Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist, Amanda Carpenter is here. She's a CNN political commentator and a former communications director for Ted Cruz. And to my right -- and on the right, John Philips, CNN political commentator, KAVC Radio talk show host and a Donald Trump supporter.

Let's talk a little bit here. Amanda, if you were writing the speech for Melania Trump or the introduction remarks for Donald Trump, I mean, a really unconventional way to start the convention.

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And it's really interesting because it is the security theme night, so is Melania going to try to play into that theme? We don't hear from her a lot. We see her a lot. But we don't get to hear her speak a lot. And then also how does Donald Trump introduce her? Because he's -- we don't hear him talk about his wife, his relationship with his wife. And so are they going to get equal time as we saw in the interview with Pence and Trump yesterday? He may still dominate that conversation. I could see him take longer to introduce his wife than his wife gets to speak. So it'll all be very interesting. He'll talk a lot about their relationship.

ROMANS: Will it soften him or humanize him or bring him a more personal Donald Trump to the table?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That is the reason why.

ROMANS: The point.

CARDONA: Right. Exactly. That she's going to be speaking. She'll -- she's going to try to bring us a different view, a different perspective of Donald Trump. But I think the challenge is, is that -- and I think she is lovely. A lovely woman. She seems very nice. But she doesn't -- I don't see her connecting with any real segment or community of the American people which is what you try to have a potential first lady do.

And you've seen in the past potential first ladies have tried to do that. But I don't see how she can really do that because we don't really hear from her that much. We -- the American people don't know her very much. Maybe tonight that will change. But that's what I will be looking for to see how she does that. How they have her make that connection with the American people that she currently does not have right now.

ROMANS: John?

JOHN PHILIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The family did very well during the town hall with Anderson Cooper. That was I thought one of the high points of Donald Trump and his family speaking. But tonight is about safety and security. And I think Melania Trump is going to go out there and show that side of Donald Trump as a father, as a guy whose kids -- who many rich kids, particularly of celebrities, they go out and they get involved in drugs, they get problems with the law. His kids didn't do that.

[04:50:06] And I think to show him off as a father figure, as someone who can run a house and run it successfully, I think that's going to be a big portion of tonight.

ROMANS: But could it backfire, Josh? Because here you have this, you know, uber beautiful couple, right, with the rich kids. The whole -- I mean, does it set him apart from the American people who he is trying to woo?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think most people are open and warm to Melania Trump. And he has -- she has a sort of calming effect on some of the more sort of angry, sort of distant feelings. Absolutely. But what we're going to see tonight is a dichotomy. Right? You're going to have Pat Smith, the mother of Sean Smith, who was killed in Benghazi. You're going to have Mike McCaul, Rick Perry, then you're going to have Melania Trump and Scott Baio, right?

So you're going to have this sort of dissidents where you have people screaming about Benghazi, ISIS, Obama-Clinton foreign policies made the world an unsafe place. And then you're going to have "Charles in Charge," and Melania Trump. And it's just going to be a very weird conflagration of people made to soften Trump's image, and then people made to shout about Benghazi and Hillary Clinton.

ROMANS: And you're not going to have two living former Republican presidents. You're not going to have the two prior nominees. You're not going to have the Republican governor who wooed the RNC here. But, you know, as Donald Trump says, he says this is about winners and champions. And he's saying this is about winners and champions.

PHILLIPS: Right. Tonight is a spinoff of "Charles in Charge." It's Donald in charge. And without all of these people who were here, without Mitt Romney, without John McCain, without the previous nominees, you know what, he's still doing fine in the polls. He's within the margin of error in many national polls, he's doing fine in swing states, states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida. States that were lost by Mitt Romney and John McCain. So he is doing fine on his own. CARPENTER: Yes, but I will say, this convention has to go well for

him. He has to look like a president, act like a president, also lead that room. I'm not sure how the room is going to receive all these speeches. They might like the people who speak on behalf of him. But when Donald Trump comes himself on Thursday night, are people going to be standing on their feet, clapping and cheering, or is it going to be more of a golf clap?

ROMANS: Let me ask you something, one of the things that has really propelled Donald Trump to the scene is his book, "The Art of the Deal" and how he talks about it a lot. It's almost his sort of business bible. Right? So a lot of attention this morning to a "New Yorker" piece quoting the ghost writer of that book, Tony Schwartz. I want to tell you what he wrote in this piece.

"I put lipstick on a pig. I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is. I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes, there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization."

A dramatic conclusion. But for the ghost writer of "The Art of the Deal" how damaging is this for Donald Trump? This is part of his brand.

CARDONA: I think it is scathing because "The Art of the Deal" and his image as an uber-successful entrepreneur or businessman is what propelled him to the presidency. I mean, in fact you could say that that -- if it wasn't for that book, he might not be where he is.

ROMANS: And draw the direct line to the "Apprentice" and everything.

CARDONA: Exactly. Right.

ROGIN: And I think he's pointing out what Hillary Clinton was pointing out that there's a real concern about Donald Trump on national security. Right? This is someone who's auditioning to be the leader of the free world. And as we saw just this past weekend, we had the crisis in Nice. We had the crisis in Turkey. And Donald Trump -- if there was ever a 3:00 a.m. call, that was it. He didn't really pick up the phone.

And when he ended up talking about Turkey, he didn't make a lot of sense. He didn't really seem to know what he was talking about. So even people who are sort of inclined to give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt, they see these actions and they say, oh my god, what if this guy really did have his finger on the button. What if he really did have the nuclear codes? What does that mean? And it's kind of a scary proposition.

ROMANS: Yes. We'll leave it there but I know we're going to talk about money this week as well. You know, he wants to make America safe again, he wants to make people better off again. But stock markets are probably going to open today at a record high. So it is kind of interesting time.

Everyone, thank you so much. Nice to see you. We'll see you again later this week.

Fifty-three -- 54 minutes past the hour. Our breaking news this morning, three police officers killed. Three more shot. They were lured to the scene in Baton Rouge by a 911 call and ambushed by a gunman. "NEW DAY" picking up that developing story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: To our viewers in the United States and around the world, you are watching NEW DAY. It is July 18th. It is Monday. It is 4:00 a.m. in the morning local time. 5:00 a.m. in the East. That's where Alisyn Camerota is, in Cleveland, of course, for the Republican National Convention.

We're going to cover both what happened here in Baton Rouge involving six police officers and the events of the convention for you this morning.

Beginning here. This story comes down fundamentally to the names of the officers involved. That's what happened here. There was a murder that happened here in Baton Rouge of six police officers. We know of the three who died. We know the names of two of those who are injured. We're going to tell you about these gentlemen throughout the morning.

The fact pattern of the deaths of the men on your screen is fairly simple. This all started with a 911 call at 8:40 a.m. local time of a man walking down the street dressed for battle and carrying a long gun. And when the officers showed up, the shooting began.

We have Boris Sanchez here with the latest on the investigation. Let's get to him right now.

Boris, what do we know at this hour?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. To give you an idea of where we are, we're less than a mile from police headquarters where you are. This convenience store behind me is where all of this unfolded as officers chased this man down several businesses bravely going after him, even though he was targeting them. Right now obviously, except for camera crews, you couldn't really tell that anything happened here yesterday. The scene is mostly clear. But the investigation is still unfolding. We're told that last night officers detained two people and questioned them --