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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Dallas Police: 5 Officers Killed, 6 Wounded. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 08, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:16] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNSHOTS)

(SIREN WAILING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's an officer down. I think another officer's down around the corner over here. They got SWAT over here. I can't really -- I can't really get any closer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A devastating night in Dallas.

Our breaking news this morning: snipers kill five police officers and wound six others at a rally against police violence. Thousands of people were in the streets when that shooting began. There are three suspects in custody and a tense hours-long standoff with one more gunman is still under way right now.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Boris Sanchez. It's Friday, July 8th, 4:00 a.m. on the East Coast.

We welcome all our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world.

We begin this morning with some heartening breaking news at this hour in Dallas. Snipers shooting 11 police officers overnight, killing five of them, as thousands march through the city, protesting the shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota.

Right now, police say they're in a tense standoff with one gunman. He's holed up in a downtown two-story parking garage. They have other three suspects in custody right now.

Here's the latest from police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DAVID BROWN, DALLAS POLICE: Currently, we are in negotiations with a suspect involved in the shootings at the garage of El Centro in downtown Dallas. This suspect we're negotiating with for the last 45 minutes has been exchanging gunfire with us and not being very cooperative in the negotiations. Before I came here, I asked for plans to end this standoff. And as soon as I'm done here, I'll be presented with those plans.

In addition to this second floor garage as we recap the previous press release, we have in custody a female who was in the same area of the El Centro garage.

And we followed a Mercedes with two suspects who had camouflage bags who officers ended up stopping on traffic in the Oak Cliff area near Polk and 67th. They are in custody and being interviewed.

The suspect that we are negotiating with that has exchanged gunfire with us over the last 45 minutes has told our negotiators that the end is coming and he's going to hurt and kill more of us -- meaning law enforcement -- and there are bombs all over the place in this garage and in downtown. So, we are being very careful in our tactics so that we don't injure and put any of our officers in harm's way, including the citizens of Dallas as we negotiate further.

We still don't have a complete comfort level that we have all the suspects. So, we will continue a very, very rigorous investigation and search of downtown. We will likely be working throughout the early morning hours of Friday until we are satisfied that all suspects have been captured and have an opportunity to be interviewed so we can fully understand what's motivated this attack on our officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Much of the city of Dallas is still shutdown right now. It's a giant crime scene as you heard from police. They are not sure they have all of the suspects. There is the potential for explosives to be located across the city.

For the latest, let's bring in CNN's Polo Sandoval.

Polo, witnesses have been describing really a harrowing scene where people were running and gunning police officers near point-blank range.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Harrowing, Boris, and also very horrified according to these reports that are coming from the ground immediately after that shooting broke out. It's important to add some perspective here. This is a major American city under siege right now, according to the Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund, the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since 9/11. So, it's important to remember that as the investigation presses forward here.

[04:05:03] And, of course, as that individual remains holed up in that garage, as of the last update, he claims that he will kill more officers and that the parking garage is actually rigged with explosives. This initially started as a peaceful protest that was reportedly nearing an end when the sound of gunfire erupted. Video actually shows those demonstrators and also police scrambling for coverage. In fact, this image right here captures it. As that protests

continued and that moments later, gunfire erupts, people sent scrambling for cover there. Many of them using their phones to capture the images on social media, even webcast live.

One in particular, Ismael Dejesus. He was inside his hotel room in downtown Dallas. He told our CNN's Don Lemon overnight that he grabbed his phone, looked out his window, and started rolling on the horrifying scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISMAEL DEJESUS, WITNESS: Basically came out to the balcony. I heard some popping sounds that I think it was fireworks at first. Came out and a man had a rifle, AR-15 clear as day. Pretty big magazine. You could see toward the end of the video here, he goes in and drops a few mags.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This is him behind the railing. This is him behind the railing next to the column, correct?

DEJESUS: Yes. This is him right here to the right of that white pillar, shooting to the left and turns to the right and shoots to the right. Shoots on the other side of the pillar. He was shooting at something and aiming at somebody.

Then, he turned around and checked his back to make sure no one was coming. But the officer did come across the right side of the screen to that pillar to the right. He tried to take him one on one in the firefight. It didn't end very well. It was very tragic.

LEMON: That's the officer getting shot right there?

DEJESUS: No, I didn't get the video of the officer getting shot. That is the officer down right there. It was -- it looked like an execution, honestly. He sat over him after he was already down. Shot him maybe three or four more times in the back.

At that point, I didn't know if he was confirmed dead or anything, obviously. He was down for about five more minutes until anybody could come get to him.

LEMON: You heard the shooting. You started filming. The shooter had lots of 30 round magazines, correct?

DEJESUS: Yes. That's my guesstimate. They were not short mags. They were high class magazines.

LEMON: So many they were falling out of his pocket?

DEJESUS: Yes. He dropped about two of them. You can see at the end of the video, two dropped out of his pockets. He had multiple pockets. You can see in the resolution of the video, he did have three or four pockets coming down the front of his pants.

LEMON: You said it looked like he was wearing body armor. DEJESUS: Yes, he did definitely look like he was wearing something

underneath his shirt. The police officer did shoot him in the back. But it did not faze him. He just turned around and shot the officer as if nothing ever happened.

So, I can only assume there, unless he was a very big guy, he had some kind of body armor on underneath that shirt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The man you heard from along with several other witnesses will now not be able to be in the area for a long time. Yesterday, we heard from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings who said you are looking at a massive crime scene downtown. People live downtown. People work downtown. So, as we get ready for the next business day, it's important to keep that in mind.

Authorities encouraging people to take the day off if they live in and around the area. As they learn more about some of the victims here. In fact, just a few moments ago, DART, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority there, identifying the first of those five officers as one of their own. Officer Brent Thompson, 43 years old, killed during that Thursday protest. First DART officer killed in the line of duty. He joined the agency in 2009.

The mayor asking for everybody to keep his family in their prayers, but also the rest of the dead, the rest of the injured and, of course, the rest of the community there, Christine and Boris, as they continue to come to terms with what took place yesterday.

SANCHEZ: It is impossible to come to terms right now. Polo, thank you.

ROMANS: It is still under way here, essentially a siege on an American city. A coordinated sniper attack against police in a middle of a peaceful rally.

Let's break down the scope of this attack and what happens next. We are joined by CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander, the public safety director for DeKalb County, Georgia. He is the author of the book "The New Guardians: Policing in America's Communities for the 21st Century."

Also with us here is former ATF executive Matt Horace, a senior vice president at FJC Security Services.

[04:10:02] Cedric Alexander, I want to start with you here. We are talking about a peaceful rally and then, snipers from multiple locations, from multiple angles almost triangulating onto police officers. A fifth officer has died.

Polo reported this is the deadliest day for American law enforcement since 9/11. This is a public safety official's worst nightmare, is it not?

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, it is. Let's say my heart and prayers go out to the officers who lost their lives, along with their families and loved ones in that community and that police department. Absolutely so. This is a sad day for law enforcement not just there in Dallas, but across this entire country.

This community is watching. The world is watching. Let me say something about the attack. From what we know so far, in terms of what's been gathered, this appeared to have been a well-calculated attack and assassination, ambush upon these officers. They were heroic. They did everything that they could to protect the citizens in that community to get them out safely. And five of those officers lost their lives last night. And six are still very much injured and the rests are traumatically injured as well, too.

But that community is going to move through this. But as the entire community across this country, we've got to find a way to push past this and make sure that those who are responsible for the deaths and injuries of those officers in that community are brought to justice.

SANCHEZ: Certainly, Cedric.

An extremely tense time for a nation. I did want to ask Matt Horace about the situation that's unfolding right now. In terms of the standoff with the final suspect, it appears this person has a death wish. They are still shooting office officers. They are saying we are near the end, we're -- you know, we're facing the end. How do you approach a suspect?

MATT HORACE, FORMER ATF EXECUTIVE: Well, you know Chief Brown is a professional. The Dallas Police Department are phenomenal at what they do. They have been here before. This is the last stage of this event, and this cannot end well for the suspect.

ROMANS: What about this idea? We have these three people in custody right now? Clearly, they are trying to get whomever is involved. At this point, it is not clear if all of the people who are firing have been identified or picked up.

HORACE: Well, nothing is clear right now. But they are interrogating each suspect. They're gaining intelligence. They are following up on other leads. They are taking that information to help them understand what's going through the mind of the remaining suspect.

And over the course of the next several hours, hopefully, we see this thing come to a conclusion.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

Cedric, I do want to ask you, when you see some of this video, when you hear accounts from eyewitnesses that describe the fluid movements of some of these gunmen. What does it tell you about potentially any level of training or preparation for something like this? It seems like they were very coordinated in this attack.

ALEXANDER: It does appear very coordinated. And if you look at the footage where you showed the subject and his movement behind the pillar, some other earlier footage that we saw witnesses who described how they attacked and killed another police officer on the street, in terms of their movement, in terms of their confidence in which they made this attack, certainly do strongly suggest that either they have some prior military training or they have been exercising or preparing for this exercise that occurred last night.

But here is something I feel confident about and I certainly do agree with Horace. This is not going to end well for this subject. All those that were involved that knew about this or had knowledge of it, did nothing about it, I'm confident they will be brought to justice. If we look back at San Bernardino and recently in Orlando in this country, Bangladesh, Baghdad, we don't know the motive of this threat. Whether it has something to do with past events in both Louisiana and the other city, but was this possibly, possibly, also another terrorist attack?

ROMANS: Yes.

ALEXANDER: And that is yet to be determined. So, I don't want to speculate too much, but certainly the incident that occurred in Minnesota, an incident that occurred in Baton Rouge, we don't know whether that was in response to those as well too. So, we've got a lot of work yet to do.

ROMANS: I'll say.

And the situation is still unfolding. You know, Matt Horace, I think that's a really good point. I mean, he calls this an assassination on police. It comes as they were, you know, 1,000 people in the street who are protesting against the deaths of two African-American men at the hands of police officers over the past two days and very public video that has really just heart wrenching for the country. But this is so coordinated, this is so sort of precise, this sniper event. It is unclear if they were related other than a large scale gathering.

HORACE: Well, it's unclear at this time. But hopefully, we can get the suspect in custody without another tragedy and find out what is the reason for this.

[04:15:02] Is this a revenge -- is there a revenge motive? Is there a revenge motive to try to help bring attention to police?

There are so many different variables here that will come into play over the course of the next several hours and we'll find out in the next press conference, I'm sure. Chief Brown will have more information for us.

ROMANS: All right. For those just joining us, it is 15 minutes past the hour.

I want to get you up to speed on what's happening here. We have snipers opening fire on police last night as thousands protested. Deadly shootings by police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana.

Here is what we know right now. Five police officers shot and killed. Six others wounded. There are three suspects in custody. Dallas police are now engaged in the long, tense standoff with one gunman holed up in a downtown parking garage.

This has been devastating night for Dallas. It has been tragic. It has been taken a look at the video taken by the sniper attacks taken by eyewitnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

(GUNSHOTS)

(SIREN WAILING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blacks, whites, Latino, everybody, there was a mixed community here protesting. And this just came out of nowhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody's really armed to the teeth. This is not -- this is not one person.

(GUNSHOTS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This just came out of nowhere. As a matter of fact, we were towards the end of the protest when the shots started firing off.

POLICE OFFICER: Get back! Get back! Let's go! Back! Let's go, let's go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden, I saw and heard six to eight shots. It looked like two officers went down. I didn't have time to get a good look. I ran back and I was screaming, "Run, run, run. Active shooter. Active shooter."

(GUNSHOTS)

(SIREN WAILING)

MAYOR MIKE RAWLINGS, DALLAS: Let's all come together and support our police officers. Please, let's come together right now as a city.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

SANCHEZ: An important message to come together as a city.

Dallas just one of many cities across the country where huge crowds gathered peacefully for the most part to protest this week's police shootings of two black men, Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota.

In Oakland, hundreds of people rally downtown and walk into major interstate and shut it down in both directions. It was a similar scene in Chicago where protesters were chanting "black lives matter" as they blocked a key intersection and Dan Ryan Expressway. In Washington, D.C., thousands marching from the White House to Capitol Hill chanting, "Hands up, don't shoot."

It was the second night of protest in Philadelphia, with demonstrators walking through city streets. You can see there arm in arm. And this was the scene in New York, with hundreds of people jamming Times Square, holding signs and banners and chanting against police violence. Police say there were more than a dozen arrests here in New York.

And in Minnesota, where police shot and killed Philando Castile, thousands protested all day and all night. And there was an emotional moment when Castile's mother addressed the crowd outside the Montessori school where he worked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIE CASTILE, VICTIM PHILANDO CASTILE'S MOTHER: He lived by the law, but he died by the law, and it's got to be a time when we all come together as a nation of people and demand that this stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Ryan Young is in St. Paul, Minnesota, covering the protests for us. He has more on that and the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christine, Philando Castile's name is one you heard over and over. You hear the crowd chanting "power to the people". This is one of the most diverse protests scene we've seen in quite some time as people have been gathering out here for hours outside the governor's mansion here in Minnesota. In fact, the crowd has swelled to over 2,000 people at one point.

They have been making their voices heard. They want to make sure the governor knows they want answers in this case. In fact, the governor came out and addressed the people for some time.

GOV. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: I can't say how shocked I am and how deeply, deeply offended that this would occur in Minnesota to somebody who got pulled over for a taillight being out of order. Would this have happened if the driver and passenger were white? I don't think it would have.

[04:20:00] So, I'm forced to confront and I think all of us are forced to confront this kind of racism exists.

YOUNG: But they want to make sure this video that so many people have watched with a child crying and screaming and woman narrating her boyfriend dying doesn't go unanswered in terms of the ideas of what will happen next in this investigation.

They want a time period for the DOJ and they want answers for why the officer opened fire. As you can hear their voices now, they are still very loud. People are saying they claim to be out here as long as it takes to get the answer they need and a change to the system -- Boris and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROMANS: All right. That's Ryan Young in Minneapolis.

In Dallas right now, a siege under way in a parking garage. There is a man in that parking garage armed to the teeth. Five officers have been killed. Six others wounded in an ambush of law enforcement who were protecting peaceful protesters. People who are protesting that very story that Ryan Young was just reporting to you.

Let's talk about this a little bit further. CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander and former ATF executive Matt Horace.

Cedric, I want to listen to something that the police sort of an emotional moment from a police chief after two days of just criticism of police, two days of questioning of police tactics, this is an inflection point really in this country right now. Listen to this emotional moment from the police chief in Dallas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

ISMAEL DEJESUS, WITNESS: Basically came out to the balcony. I heard some popping sounds that I think it was fireworks at first. Came out and a man had a rifle, AR-15.

BROWN: I have never been proud more proud to be a police officer. Seeing the courage and professionalism and grit to stay on scene in an area looking for suspects knowing that we are vulnerable. We don't know where they are and our downtown is very large with a lot of high buildings.

Some of those stories I heard from officers talking about what happened running toward the gunfire, to help the injured officers to get them transported to the hospital by patrol car, not having the time to wait for ambulance. Just so many stories of great courage.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

ROMANS: Cedric Alexander, the worst nightmare for public safety.

ALEXANDER: It's a nightmare for this country. Certainly, I think we all feel the pain of chief brown and what he and his department is experiencing. Many of us who are police administrators, we have shared some part of that experience somewhere in the course of our career, unfortunately.

But that's a horrific scene they have tonight. It's a horrible situation. It touches all of us throughout this country. We are going to continue to be supportive of Chief Brown and what they're doing.

Here is something I must note. In light of the relationship between police and community, the strain relationship that still exists to this day, particularly with the recent events that we are very much aware of, these men and women still go out here and get it done for us every day. We have seen this. We saw this last night.

Unfortunately, these officers lost their lives. But they lost their lives protecting those who are exercising their First and Second Amendment rights. Just to begin with. They lost their lives o protect them, to get them off the streets. No civilians lost their lives last night, but five police officers did and six are severely injured. It's a lot to be said about that.

And I think as we go through this very challenging time between police and community, we must remind ourselves that we have to do this together. And as we move forward and whoever this enemy is, whoever did this attack tonight, whether they'd be domestic or foreign, we as community and we as police got to stand together. We cannot separate now. We just can't do it.

SANCHEZ: Cedric, you hit the nail on the head. You cannot understate the bravery of the police officers that ran toward the gunfire and protected those who needed safety.

As we move forward, though, the question is why would they attack a peaceful protest? Obviously, tensions are high right now. It didn't seem like there was anything that would trigger this kind of violence.

Cedric, how do you -- how do you read that?

ALEXANDER: I mean, it is very hard to read. This is still an active investigation. We don't know who these attackers are. We don't know whether they're local, when they are part of some radical group or rather they are domestic in nature retaliating over what happened over the last few days.

[04:25:02] But within a matter of hours, within a matter of days, we're going to know more. And I think from there, we'll be able to draw some other conclusions around what was the motivation behind all of this. But I'm really very reluctant to speculate at this point. This is going to be very revealing to all of us.

ROMANS: There still is a situation under way. We should point out the breaking news situation we're in here.

Matt, let me talk to you about that. A man talking about the end is coming. He is inside a parking garage. He is apparently armed to the teeth. He is shooting at police officers.

They are using the word negotiating. They have been talking to him apparently.

Tell us about the tense moments there and what officers are trying to do right now to end this situation.

HORACE: Well, officers are trying to end this peacefully without more bloodshed if they can. This suspect has already demonstrated a cold and calculated and callous disregard for police officers and for life in general. They want to bring it to a safe conclusion if they can.

But as we talked about earlier, the way things are going and the way things are sounding, this will not end well for the suspect if the suspect does not give up.

ROMANS: The nerves of steel to talk to someone who has killed five of your colleagues.

HORACE: Well, remember, these negotiators are very experienced. The police department is experienced. Dallas has been here before. Chief Brown has been here before. We will win this battle today.

ROMANS: All right. Matt Horace, Cedric Alexander, thank you so much, gentlemen, for walking us through this, as this situation unfolds.

We have five police officers who are now dead. We have six other police officers wounded. Dallas police are negotiating with one suspect holed up in a parking garage. He claims -- the suspect claims more violence is coming. He claims bombs are everywhere. We will bring all of this to you live next.

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