Return to Transcripts main page

Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Remembering Slain Baton Rouge Officers; Behind the Shooter's Beliefs and Mindset; Interview with Rep. Garrett Graves; Cleveland Police Ask Governor to Temporarily Suspend Open Carry for RNC; Clinton, Trump Condemn Baton Rouge Attacks; In the Wake of Turkey's Failed Coup. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired July 17, 2016 - 21:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:01:21] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. We're in Cleveland tonight. Our hearts of course are in Baton Rouge where three law enforcement officers lost their lives this morning in a shoot out, apparently with a lone gunman.

Just six minutes after it began it was over. Three officers were dead, including Baton Rouge police officer Montrell Jackson. Just six days ago, Officer Jackson posted an emotional appeal online. It read in part, "these are trying times. Please don't let hate infect your heart. This city must and will get better. I'm working in these streets so any protesters, officers, friends, family or whoever, if you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer, I got you".

Officer Jackson was just 32 years old. His son Mason is just 4 months old. Two other officers lost their lives this morning, we have just got in their names, three others were wounded. One critically fighting for his life, we were told earlier today. The man identified as the killer died in the shootout, he is 29 years old. His name is Gavin Long of Kansas City, Missouri. Now we're naming him, which we rarely do, because investigators had said they do want to know more about him and they're appealing to the public for information.

CNN's Pamela Brown just moments ago learned that he was in Dallas on July 10th, days after the shootings and posted a video on YouTube from there. CNN's -- or excuse me, our CNN's Drew Griffin joins us momentarily for more on hi apparent beliefs and potential his state of mind. But first our Chris Cuomo joins us with the very latest on what he did this morning. Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": All right Anderson, thank you very much. A lot of this information are still coming in, certainly about the shooter's background. There's a lot of complexity and layers of hate there that will be coming out. Drew Griffin has been all over that with the investigative unit today.

The story begins with the lives that were lost. You had Montrell Jackson, you had Matthew Gerlad, and Brad Garafolo. Those were the three officers who lost their lives, are all young man, Montrell Jackson was 32. That just had a son. Matthew Gerald is only 41. Brad Garafolo, who is 45. We had three other officers were also in difference levels of injury right now. Two of them are listed as critical. One of them has a surgery and still in critical and then one of the officers has non-life threatening injuries.

But we'll keep monitoring their situation. In terms of why this happened, there's a lot of motive that certainly leads us back to hate. We have members of the community here right now talking about what they believe there abuses by policing. As you know Anderson all the same questions circle around every time we have violence against police or violence against the citizenry. We do know that all of this started with a 911 call. They believe it was directing police toward a man with a long gun on this boulevard about a mile from this site. And from there, when they encountered the shooter, he opened fire, hitting six of them. Reinforcements came in took the shooter down and as you mentioned within 10 minutes this had started and ended.

COOPER: It's amazing just how quickly this all took place. I mean to have three officers killed in the course of, say, six minutes or so and three others wounded. Chris Cuomo, thank you.

As we said at the top, authorities have been busy all day trying to trace whatever information they can find. Trace contacts, start talk to acquaintances. Searching for the gunman's online postings and browsing history.

Our senior investigator correspondent Drew Griffin has late news on that front, joins us now from Baton Rouge as well. What do we know about this person?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATOR CORRESPONDENT: First of all Anderson, we should explain that the man that you're hearing in the background (inaudible).

[21:05:00] This is an area where many people in Baton Rouge have been protesting the killing of Alton Sterling. In fact marches have been going on up and down this street for days since that shooting. But as for the shooter this morning, we knew -- we now know he was a U.S. marine, 29 years old. His birthday was today. You can hear the person in the background again.

But we also know that he was online posting some radical sounding viewpoints. He belonged to several groups which followed conspiracy theories about police following members of community and we were also talking about a couple of posts that he would have on his website under the name of Cosmo Setepenra, two websites, he called himself a freedom strategist. And many of his posts involved following these attacks against police, what they thought were attacks against police and police brutality on the black community, Anderson.

COOPER: I understand he also posted on Twitter overnight.

GRIFFIN: Ominously Anderson, as I said today is his birthday. So at midnight tonight he turned 29 years old. And at 12:12 a.m. he posted this tweet., just because you wake up every morning doesn't mean that you're living. And just because you shed your physical blood, body, doesn't mean that you're dead. Again that was posted at 12:12 a.m. this morning. We also know that he rented a car to get here. He rented a car in Kansas City. Drove it here to Baton Rouge, because of the postings he made in Dallas, we believe he made a detour. Went to Dallas before going to Baton Rouge. Anderson?

COOPER: Well, he shot to death earlier today, Drew, thanks very much.

Back now with our law enforcement panel. Art Roderick, I mean the police in Baton Rouge are saying there really only was this one gunman, though early on there were reports about potentially other people. They said early on today around I think it was around 4:00, they said the active shooter situation is over. It's done.

But in terms of the investigation, as Pamela Brown was reporting, he stayed at some people's houses in Baton Rouge. Clearly they want to kind of see any kind of network he actually was linked to.

ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Exactly, they're going to trace -- they're going to really open up his life here over the past month or so at least. I mean we do know about some of his past history. Up until this point in time, but when we were in Dallas, we were talking about law enforcement's concerns about a copycat.

COOPER: Right.

RODERICK: And here we have him in Dallas shortly after the shootings there. And, you know, was he listening to ...

COOPER: He had apparently tweeted or said on some online, you know, some unfavorable things about the shooter in Dallas.

RODERICK: Right, exactly, so now we have him coming here to another hotspot here in the country, besides Minneapolis and ...

COOPER: Right.

RODERICK: ... Dallas, he comes to Baton Rouge and commits this heinous act.

COOPER: You know, Harry, I mean investigation like this, part of it, obviously, I guess it's kind of two -- focused on two fronts. There's one, figuring out what happened. The exact, you know, the tick tock, the timeline, but also figuring it out, is there something else planned by anybody else if he was involved with others? Is there anything else planned? So it's sort of, I would assume, both backward looking and forward looking.

HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yeah, exactly. You know, police are concerned. You know, we've had two shootings in a close period of time here, so is there a third one out there, is there a fourth one out there? We don't know, is there some kind of conspiracy. And like Art who said -- Art said, you know, we've got to look back on this guy pretty that -- pretty far. And to me, it's, how did the United States Marin radicalize himself to the point where he did something like this five or six years later. That's really astounding to me.

So we're going to have to go back and find out where this guy finally -- were something happened to his brain where he decided, this is the kind of thing that he wanted to do.

You know, going back in his background, talking to neighbors, talking to all his friends, talking to people who was in the Marine Corps with, going through each and every bit of his records, telephone records, home records, best friends, you know, all things like that. That's how we're going to find out whether or not there's a conspiracy. We're going to have to look into all these organizations that he supposedly is a member of. That's going to be very important in the investigation.

COOPER: And certainly Cedric we know about the shooter in Dallas. Also had some military background had served overseas. The shooter posted videos to Cedric on YouTube talking about the need to -- or about fighting back and that, "zero had been successful just over simple protesting."

He also talked about what people should say about him if anything happened to him. It's interesting that in this day and age, people sort of telegraph these things now on social media in advance of committing an act like this.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yeah. It is interesting, and certainly we see that a lot in law enforcement today.

[21:10:01] But, of course if you have someone who very well may be psychologically unstable, he's going to find that as an outlet, a way to vent and a way to seek attention as well. So I'm not surprised that it, and I think we've seen it before in other cases as well too across the country where we've seen this types of mass shootings.

COOPER: Sheriff Babeu, there's also information that the shooter was a member of a -- what is sort of a sovereign group, in this case something go a black sovereign group. Essentially, I think, their belief is that the sovereign groups that they're not beholden to the central government. Is that your understanding?

PAUL BABEU, PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA SHERIFF: Yes, we're hearing more information there. And he actually has some what you'd call a manifesto and actually YouTube videos where he's talking about protests and he's talking about surveillance by the government or gang tracking by law enforcement of individuals.

And so when you have somebody, and I think your other guest is spot on that there's clearly some underlying, not just mistrust but likely some mental health issues afoot here, and, yet, on this manifesto, he talks about not just protesting accomplishing nothing that you actually have to fight back. And so this is the culmination and the evolution that he took and is very dangerous. And whether it's a copycat or it's the environment that we're in where not just the protests, the perceptions and dealing with race and dealing with us in law enforcement who are sworn to protect and serve and the perception out there being there's a lot of race driving our enforcement. COOPER: We're going to have more from Baton Rouge after the break. I'll speak with a local congressman about what the people in his city are going through at this point. Later with law enforcement now on edge in Ohio, an open carry weapon state, security challenges here at the Republican Convention as our coverage continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:15:12] COOPER: A tragic day for Baton Rouge. And the fallen officer Montrell Jackson acknowledged in his Facebook posting well just a week, the city was already hurting deeply before the shootout this morning that took his life.

Nearly quarter million people live in Baton Rouge including retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore, who told me today tension cannot be hire, U.S. Congressman Garret Graves represents Baton Rouge. He joins us now by phone. Congressman, thanks so much for being with us, again sorry it's under these circumstances. What is your message to the people in Baton Rouge right now?

REP. GARRET GRAVES, (R) LOUISIANA: You know, the main message, number one, everyone here knows this. This is not Louisiana. This is not Baton Rouge. What you saw today, number two, we cannot, we should not let this shooter dictate what happens here and how we respond and proliferating hate.

What happened with the shooting several days ago with Alton Sterling, it's something that absolutely we need to learn from, that we need to be coming together and not allow this to further divide our community.

COOPER: One of the officers killed is actually from your district. I assume when you -- I mean obviously the death of any officer, but to hear that he's actually from your district must just be an additional burden to hear.

GRAVES: It is. I mean look, these people, these are our friends, and neighbors. I mean you see their faces on TV. It makes it very, very real. Anderson, I was out this morning out on the scene of the shooting, on the scene to the command center talking to officers that looked like they could bench press a car and these guys are sitting there in tears. You know, this is very personal. It's very close to home. And threatening to rip our community apart.

COOPER: Does it -- I mean, obviously, it's a law enforcement issue, but does it change the way law enforcement needs to start, you know, operating on the streets? I mean we were already hearing police forces around the country talking about having their officers, you know, even on down time taking meals together or no longer going out in one officer in a patrol car but at least having a minimum of two officers.

Do you think this needs to have -- will have some sort of a ripple effect?

GRAVES: I think it will. I think it needs to until we get a better handle of exactly what the threat is. The reality is that you have people like this, like the shooter today, that obviously have major mental problems. And things like that are very difficult to defend against in terms of this type lone wolf type attacks, as it apparently is.

We need to take all precautions, and then if we lose the rule of law because our law enforcement can't go out there and safely patrol our streets, then that results in chaos.

COOPER: In terms of the gunman, there's been some indication that the gunman was with other people in Baton Rouge, staying with people at the very least. It's unclear if they were in any way part of this. It's obviously very much an active investigation. Are you able to speak to that at all? Do you have any information?

GRAVES: We certainly have heard similar information. I think it's best for us to wait for law enforcement to come out and confirm those things. But Anderson, what I think is most important is that this, in fact, is, you know, sort of imported violence.

You know, we said early this morning that this is not our community. This is not how we respond, and learning that the shooter was actually from Missouri confirms that. That this is not how we would act here in this community. And look as you came down here for the oil spill and hurricanes and others, and people would give the shirt off their back to help out other people in our community. And they quite frankly have.

And so to see this type of division, divisiveness and hatred it is very clearly is not what our community is about.

COOPER: Congressman Garrett Graves, I appreciate you talking to us in this difficult time, thank you very much.

The shooting in Baton Rouge ...

GRAVES: Thank you.

COOPER: ... being felt here in Cleveland as well, in 11th hour effort to temporarily suspend the state's open carry law amid fears about security.

Plus the extra measures that are being taken to keep the city safe over the next four days. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:23:15] COOPER: More breaking news today. Repercussions nationwide already from Baton Rouge. We have just learned that the New York Police Department is instructing officers to double up on foot patrols. Officers are being instructed to take all meals and even personal breaks in pairs.

Repercussions here in Cleveland as well. Today the head of one of Cleveland's largest police unions called on Governor Kasich to temporarily restrict the state's open carry gun laws during this week's Republican National Convention. Six police officers in Baton Rouge this morning prompted the request.

The terror attack in Nice, France, last week, had already rattan it up, concerns about security here in Cleveland, were an estimated 50,000 people are expected to add the convention.

Martin Savidge tonight joins me here. So, let's talk about how the recent events impacted security, how it's handled here at the convention, Martin?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's been staggering. I mean almost every single day in the lead-up in the last week to this convention there's been some new security issue that has raised as a result of some tragedy, whether it be terror attack overseas or whether the shooting incidents in the United States.

The police have been working with the secret service for over a year and a half working on the security plan here. They made adjustments in the last few days. They say that they openly admit that. Even going down to putting snow plows out in public places to act as a barrier against anyone it might be crazed enough to use a vehicle to break through.

The latest concern now is of course that those who are trying to secure the convention are themselves now being targeted. And you heard the police union chief who was asking not only for that there be a lifting of this open carry rule here in the state of Ohio but also is asking that their officers be teamed up. That's not a problem here. The officers here are working not in just pairs, they're working in groups. And everywhere they go, they are usually backed up by federal authorities as well as military personnel that have their back as well.

[21:25:01] I can't tell you how many people in total they are trying to secure this convention, but 4,000 military troops have been brought in. There's at least 3,000 police troops that have been brought in. And then there is a whole host of federal entities that are here.

The big thing is trying to protect it all for the delegates and they're all coming out of the welcome party that was taking place tonight so far only one arrest. This happened the person that barely attempted to try to steal an officer's gas mask. Anderson?

COOPER: So in terms of the open carry because Ohio as we said is an open carry state, no guns are being allowed inside the secret service area. Guns are allowed inside the event zone. Is that correct?

SAVIDGE: That's right. And the event zone covers much of downtown Cleveland. So, the specific area around the arena where the convention is, no. And in fact tonight just before this, this event, this welcome event for thousands of delegates got under way, the secret service tweeted out, remember, you can't bring your gun to the concert tonight.

So it just shows you, it's really bizarre environment in which we're operating in which you have this incredibly intense security, level and yet at the same time, state law allows, the constitution demands that people can openly carry. That is they can wear it on their hip where they can hold it on their shoulder.

In fact it was at least one person downtown today with a rifle walking around on public square. There were a lot of cops monitoring but nobody steps in because it's perfectly legal for him to do. But it is a nightmare of concern for both the officers and the local and federal level. Anderson?

COOPER: And have there been -- I mean today was Sunday, haven't actually started yet but have there been protests already?

SAVIDGE: It's actually been protests for the last eight days. And up until today, there haven't been any arrests. Now, today there were two demonstrations. One of them was an open carry in which not only one individual showed up. The other one was a holding the hands ceremony. It was sort of a circle the city with love. This was meant to be a unity gathering.

And there were well over 1,000 people for that one, but then there was an anti-Trump one tonight of about 100 people. Again, it was peaceful but the police officers, I would say, outnumbered the protesters at least 3 to 1. So, so far, we have not seen significant protests but those really will start up tomorrow.

COOPER: Martin Savidge, thanks very much for being out there for us.

Joining us now is Bob Reid, former sheriff of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. What do you think about this request to suspend open carry for the time of the convention?

BOB REID, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I spoke to (inaudible) this morning at length about this and I agree 100 percent.

COOPER: From the police union.

REID: The Police Union.

COOPER: Correct.

REID: Cleveland Police Department Union. I agree with him 100 percent. I don't -- I really don't believe that it's stepping on the constitution for five days. I think just makes it total common sense. It's, to my belief, it's a common sense approach to policing during this extraordinary time that we're living in over the last two or three weeks.

COOPER: In might essentially (ph) from a security standpoint, obviously from a constitutional standpoint, Governor Kasich has already said, look this is not possible. You can't just suspend it like this. How does the attack today, you think, in Baton Rouge and obviously the attack also in Dallas change security here? I mean does it? Does it alter it?

REID: You know, they have been putting this plan together for over a year. Does it heighten this security -- they would be less than human if these officers weren't -- they weren't heightened security issues. Yes, in a sense, some of them I think they're going to be with two and three and four officers where they're originally scheduled for one officer or two officers. So I think that -- I don't think it puts a strain on the number of officers because we have a lot ...

COOPER: By the sheer volume of people here is huge.

REID: We have a lot. But, you know, with the 1.7-mile radius of the event zone, it still stretches law enforcement. We had a 3.3-mile event zone in which reduced by a federal judge after one of the organizations sued. But it's now 1.7. we have to deal with it. But I think that we have the manpower for it.

COOPER: You think the city is ready for this?

REID: I do. I do. Even in light of everything that's happened.

COOPER: Yeah. Difficult day. Bob Reid, thank you very much.

REID: Thank you.

COOPER: You've been with us. We're going to take a short break. A lot more ahead in this hour. Donald Trump and his chosen running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence giving their first interview together on the eve of the convention. What they said and how they seem to be side by side talking that some of their differences as well as similarities. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:33:18] COPPER: We're hours away now from the start of the Republican National Convention. It kicks off tomorrow here in Cleveland in the wake of a string of terror attacks and shootings in the U.S. and overseas, from Orlando, to Dallas, to Nice, today again in Baton Rouge. Tonight Donald Trump has chosen running mate Mike Pence. Give their first interview together. CNN's Sara Murray has more in how the day unfolded in the presidential race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sharply condemned the killing of police officers in Baton Rouge today, as another horrific shooting scrambles the political landscape.

Clinton released a statement saying there is no justification for violence, for hate, for attacks on men and women who put their lives on the line everyday, in service of our families and communities. And Trump took to social media saying, "We are trying to fight ISIS and now our own people are killing our police. Our country is divided and out of control. The world is watching."

The latest incident comes as Trump steps out with his new running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence. And argues they are the ticket most prepared to take on security threats, as Trump reiterated his call to declare war on ISIS.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to wipe out ISIS. These are people that ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With troops on the ground?

TRUMP: I am going to have very few troops on the ground.

MURRAY: Trump touted his decision to team up with Pence as a step toward party unity.

TRUMP: One of the big reasons that I chose Mike so many people have said party unity, because I'm an outsider.

MURRAY: Even as divisions on policy and presentation emerged within the ticket. While Pence decries negative campaigning, his running mate has a habit of branding his opponents with insulting nicknames. Something Trump says he won't pressure Pence to take part in.

[21:35:02] TRUMP: I call her crooked Hillary, she's crooked Hillary. I didn't ask him to do it. But I don't think he should do it because it's different for him.

MURRAY: Ultimately RNC Chair Reince Priebus says those splits will elevate the ticket, not divide it.

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: The difference in demeanor is something that would be very valuable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's for sure.

PRIEBUS: Well, you know what? But people want strength. People love that about Donald Trump but it's also good and reassuring to see a diversity in style.

MURRAY: A long time Pence ally, Indiana GOP Chairman Jeff Cardwell echoing that sentiment in an interview with CNN, and insisting Pence isn't harboring hard feelings over reports that Trump had second thoughts about his V.P. pick.

JEFF CARDWELL, INDIANA GOP CHAIRMAN: This is the most important decision I think that many presidential nominee makes. And he wanted to take time, he want to be sure about that selection. And in the end, he felt comfortable with Mike Pence, he chose Mike Pence that they're going to be great president and a vice president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Sara, Trump says he's comfortable with Pence. They clearly do not see eye to eye on every issue, the Iraqi War came up in that interview with them, that was aired just a few hours ago.

MURRAY: That's right. There are a number of issues where they split. But we've seen Donald Trump go across the country hammering Hillary Clinton for authorizing the war in Iraq. And Mike Pence also voted to authorize the war in Iraq, and when Donald Trump was asked about that tonight on "60 minutes" he said I don't care. He said that Mike Pence is allowed to make some mistakes here and there that people were misled and he was also asked, is Hillary Clinton allowed to make some mistakes? Donald Trump says no. Anderson?

COOPER: All right. Sara Murray, thank you.

A lot to talk about with the panel. XM Radio host, and anchor of CNN's "SMERCONISH", Michael Smerconish is here; CNN Senior Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson; Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany joining us; also Jeffrey Lord; also Conservative Trump critique S.E. Cupp; and Former Senior Obama Advisor Van Jones.

And Nia, do you buy Reince Priebus' argument that the differences between Trump and Pence are actually valuable or is it a liability?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: You know, I think it depends on how this whole kind of shotgun arranged marriage goes. I think we're going to see what the Democrats try to do with Mike Pence's record. You can see that Donald Trump is obviously trying to in part run on Mike Pence's Indiana record. I think Democrats are going to make hay out of that.

And I also think, you can imagine that Democrats will try to into some of these states like Ohio and the Rust Belt particularly and say, "Listen, Mike Pence also was a supporter of NAFTA. He was also a supporter of TPP." So, you know, I think it's an evolving thing. Of course if you're a Republican, you have to put a good face on this. I think for Mike Pence, the real problem is going to be whether or not he expands the base of voters. He is I think, shoring up those Republican voters. But is he going to be able to expand into some of those Sun Belt states where it's a more diverse population.

COOPER: Michael, I mean there are always differences between a vice presidential candidate and presidential candidate. Often they've run against each other, as Jeffrey pointed out Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush had called Reagan's, you know, policies voodoo economics. Is this just business as usual? Is it just the way it always is?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, "SMERCONISH": There's nothing business as usual at all, about what's about to take place next door, right? But I get your point. Typically you can say, well this is a sign of a healthy attitude of welcoming different points view from your vice president, from you cabinet or whatever the case might be. I think I would answer the question a little differently which is to say, he may -- Pence may have voted the same way as Hillary relative to Iraq. The only thing that matters to these 5,000 folks is he's not Hillary.

And this is a group that is united in one purpose, they are against her. I don't think they're yet united that Donald Trump is the guy. I've been speaking to many of folks who are gathering already and many are just not thrilled about the fact that he's about to become the nominee.

COOPER: As we mentioned earlier, Governor Pence and Trump gave their first interview to "60 Minutes" airing tonight. I want to play just a bit more and get the panel's reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think about your running mate's campaign and the tone and the negativity of it?

GOV. MIKE PENCE, (R-IN) U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think this is a good man who's been talking about the issues the American people care about.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But name calling? Lyin' Ted?

PENCE: In the essay that I wrote a long time ago, I said campaigns ought to be about something more important than just one candidate's election. And, this campaign and Donald Trump's candidacy has been about the issues the American people care about.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But what about the negative side? He apologized for being a negative ...

TRUMP: We're different people. I understand that. I'll give you an example. Hillary Clinton is a liar. Hillary Clinton -- that was just proven last week. Hillary Clinton is a crook.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's negative.

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton is a crook. I call her crooked Hillary, she's crooked Hillary. I didn't ask him to do it. But I don't think he should do it because it's different for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Van?

[21:40:04] VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, that looked like a ketchup and peanut butter sandwich, right? Ketchup is good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've never had one of those?

JONES: Peanut butter is good. On the same sandwich it's a nasty mess. Those two people should not be in the same conversation. And part of the thing is now, NAFTA. That was his big Trump card, to run through the Rust Belt and save NAFTA. He's now married to Mr. NAFTA. I think that this was too clever ...

COOPER: Does it matter though what the presidential candidate thinks?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: People vote for the top of the ticket. And I don't think if you are an undecided voter you were swayed by the fact that Donald Trump has one feeling on trade and his running mate to have a different one. I don't really think that's going to be the problem.

The problem is that this pick was designed to satiate anxious conservatives, to calm down anxious conservatives. Trump's position is so weak that he is still trying to shore up his own voters. A pick that could have reached out to other kinds of voters, minorities, women, millennials would have looked quite different than Mike Pence.

So the problem is Mike Pence doesn't necessarily bring in new voters to Trump's ticket. He barely is going to bring conservative voters.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No matter who he picked, we would have been having the discussion, why he didn't pick the following X number of people and leaves people out because of that. I think this is the fairly standard conversation that goes on when we have nominees. And one of the things that I think we just have to be real about, other than Lyndon Johnson carrying Texas for John F. Kennedy, I can't think of a single vice presidential nominee of either party that determine -- I mean when you think of Agnew and, you know, all the negative press he got, Nixon still won. Ditto with Dan Quayle and George Bush. Favorable press, for Lloyd Benson didn't help Michael ...

JONES: But honestly, we're all friends here. Didn't you feel weird watching that? Wasn't that an awkward and bizarre? No?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, because here's something. For a long time, Republican voters have been very frustrated because we got the McCains, the Romneys who didn't adequately attack and go after the other party the way they needed to. Finally we have an attack dog at the top of the ticket willing to call out the left. And this was very important, the selection of Mike Pence because Donald Trump came into a party that stood for certain values for hundred years and said, the platform needs to budge on these issues, and he was right about that.

Nevertheless, he is showing loyalty to the Republican Party by saying I respect this party. I respect where it came from. I respect what it stands for. I'm putting my foot out there ...

JONES: Let's just be honest, it looked like he was running this dude over. You go on a date with somebody and the guy just over talks the date and everybody is sitting there awkward. That's what it looked like.

(CROSSTALK)

CUPP: The vice presidency. It's an incredibly -- it's already an emasculating position, right? The whole job is to go around carrying someone else's water. Pretend you never had the beliefs you did. You've always supported this new person that maybe you didn't. Under Donald Trump it's 10 times more emasculating just because Donald Trump wants the stage, Donald Trump doesn't have Mike Pence sitting there so that the can hog this interview. Donald Trump is not going to empower Mike Pence, that's not his brand. Whether you think that's a good thing or bad thing ...

COOPER: It will be interesting to see what role Mike Pence -- if it gets to Donald Trump being elected president, what role Mike Pence actually plays in the administration.

SMERCONISH: I agree with S.E.'s point in terms of this was a pick to salve the concerns of conservatives who are delegates. There's not a growth strategy here, though. This is a declaration that in the minds of the Trump campaign, it's a turnout election. There are enough folks and frankly they're white and they're primarily male and older and we are going to drive that core constituency and people of color and women in terms of trying to win them over, be damned.

(CROSSTALK)

LORD: But if you had put somebody on there, I mean he's a justice of the supreme court, but leave that aside. If you put say Clarence Thomas on there, who is very conservative, you would have people going around today saying, "Oh, my god, you can't have him on the ticket." Well, he's there because this will appeal to African-Americans. That's not the way this works. I mean, whenever you put somebody on there, they're always going to say you should have put somebody else on there.

(CROSSTALK)

CUPP: Of course that's true. But you can't argue that he is starting from a position of weakness here. If he had put someone like Marshall Blackburn who might have been able to pull some women in, maybe even conservative women. Then you could argue that this was -- he had completely relinquished getting new voters.

MCENANY: Do you think a V.P. that way has never proved successful looking at identity politics, trying to put someone in that place to win a certain constituency. Donald Trump approached this way any president should by saying, who can take my place in the event something happens to me? Who can be the liaison between me and Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and that is the role that Mike Pence ...

(CROSSTALK)

[21:45:08] HENDERSON: I mean, I thought he -- I mean, one of the main reasons he talked about was because of party unity, right?

He never said that I think this guy could be president in the event that I die, he said that the main goal was party unity.

COOPER: And in fact he actually made fun of Hillary Clinton for saying -- he said politicians always say that's what they say a vice president is for.

MCENANY: He says from the beginning he wants someone that knows Congress. That's been in Congress. That knows how to govern this atmosphere.

COOPER: And that could help him in relationships with Congress. S.E.?

CUPP: Yeah, but he's very nakedly said that the party -- essentially the party is not unified and Mike Pence was a nod to party unification.

LORD: What's wrong with that?

CUPP: Well there's nothing wrong with that, it's not just what Kayleigh is saying that Donald Trump is looking at in Mike Pence, someone that is prepared for the office. He is, by the way. I know Mike Pence. He's a great conservative and a credible politician, very skilled. But what Donald Trump has nakedly admitted is that the party is not unified and Mike Pence was sort of ...

(CROSSTALK)

LORD: Then by doing what they want and now you're upset.

CUPP: I'm not upset. I'm saying what Kayleigh is saying is not what ...

COOPER: Van?

JONES: I think what Democrats are going to do, they're going to try to benefit here. They're going to say, Donald Trump has a divisive personality. You're going to play that up. Pence has divisive policies, going to play that up. This is a divisive ticket. And so, I think that what was unfortunate about that interview, if you are on Trump's side, is that Pence's personality is actually great, which in that interview was the worst of all possible worlds. You have a guy with a great personality not able to show that big asset. Of course he can't show that because Donald Trump is doing what he always does, being the bully, being the bulldog.

But I think what you're going see Democrats do, Pence I think is an extraordinarily capable and prepared guy. If he -- maybe if he'd gotten a Sarah Palin I would be saying peanut butter and ketchup, I'd be saying that's the same brand, he didn't do that. He goes and gets somebody that's a little bit more prepared. Democrats are going to have to show that even though he is prepared, what he's prepared to do is bad for America.

COOPER: Just about Sarah Palin does not have a speaking role at ...

JONES: Yes, he used her and threw her in the garbage can.

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: It's too far to fly from Alaska apparently.

JONES: Well, I mean he was so proud to have her, pulled her up there, showed ...

(CROSSTALK)

LORD: I don't know what it is but I certainly don't think there's any rift between the two of them. She really likes him and he really likes her.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: A huge name.

LORD: Right, exactly, exactly. I mean, surely there is some reason here that ...

SMERCONISH: But it's not as if there are other speakers Monday through Thursday who's been revealed where you sit back and say, "Oh, I see. They put so and so in that slot as a result ... (CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: He's great at these settings. I mean -- I've always said she in some ways was Donald Trump before Donald Trump was Donald Trump. I mean she is fantastic in these big, large, you know, arenas. And so I think ...

LORD: But again, I would just say I've never heard anybody say, I heard so and so speak at the convention and therefore I cast my vote.

JONES: Bill Clinton in 2012.

COOPER: A third American now confirmed dead in the Nice, France terror attack. Also, Turkey after the attempted coup, what the government is vowing to do when "360" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:53:30] COOPER: Breaking news from France tonight. Prosecutors say they have arrested an Albanian couple in connection with last week's truck attack in Nice. They've released no specifics. Meanwhile there's confirmation, a third American death in the attack. U.C. Berkeley says that Nicholas Leslie who is one of the missing is among the 84 people who died Thursday. Nicholas was 20-years-old, part of a school's study program abroad in Nice.

In Turkey at this hour, people are still filling the streets protesting the attempted coup there two nights ago, large crowds still answering the call by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to fill the nation's streets. Today, President Erdogan attended funerals for some of the victims of the coup attempt and vowed that all those involved will face justice. Nearly 300 were killed in the botched uprising. About 1,400 others were injured and around 6,000 have been arrested accused of taking part in the coup attempt.

Our Arwa Damon joins us from Istanbul tonight with more. So there's a lot still going on in Turkey. What's the latest at this hour, Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There really is. And those pro-Erdogan or anti-coup demonstrations or celebrations as they most certainly appear to be, at least here in Istanbul in Taksim Square, Anderson, only just ended in the last half hour. Erdogan really trying to push forward and show his opponents that he does truly have this people power. And it was at the end of the day his ability to rally people into the streets that arguably allowed him to stay in power and led to the failure of this very disorganized coup.

But we do have these countrywide mass round-ups that are taking place, thousands of people now being detained, among them some very senior generals. And this is causing some concern. There are very real fears that Erdogan is going to use this failed coup to go after anyone who dares oppose him, Anderson.

COOPER: Turkish officials have also made an extradition request to the United States. Sort of -- part of the drama that's taking place here in the U.S., for a man that they believe or they claim is behind the coup, can you talk more about that?

DAMON: Yeah, and that is a cleric named Fethullah Gulen who is basically living in self-imposed exile in the United States. And Erdogan and his government accuse him of having a terrorist organization, a terrorist movement whom they say is actually behind this attempted coup. Gulen himself denies this, the Turkish President has, however, said he'll be presenting the U.S. with evidence that he says will prove that Gulen is behind this.

[21:55:10] And then turkey says fully expect the United States to extradite him, extradite Gulen to turkey. And Erdogan says this will be a test of America and Turkey's friendship. So there is some significant tensions possibly ahead, depending on how this all plays out and how the U.S. reacts.

COOPER: And, do we know exactly what's going to happen next? I mean the coup is considered to have failed. There's been all these round- ups of people. But, what's the next step?

DAMON: And that's what we really don't know, Anderson. And that's why so many people are so afraid. Look, this was a country that was bracing itself for violence. They thought maybe another attack by ISIS, maybe more targeted attacks by the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK. No one expecting this type of violent military coup, and that's why there's so much uncertainty because no one really knows exactly how the Erdogan government is going to react or deal with those that's it has thrown behind bars.

COOPER: Arwa Damon, be careful. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We began the program this evening with the hard facts, the killings in Baton Rouge in Louisiana. They are -- terrible, what happened there. Three police officers killed, three more hospitalized. We end with a friend talking about the fried he lost. We just go this picture of Officer Matthew Gerald.