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Dallas Police: 5 Officers Killed, 6 Wounded; President Obama Addresses Dallas Police Killings. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired July 08, 2016 - 05:00   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.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world.

[05:00:00] This is "NEW DAY." You've got John Berman and Chris Cuomo here for you this morning.

And we have made the worst kind of history in America. It has been the deadliest day since 9/11.

Here's what we know: five police officers murdered. At least 11 shot during protests in Dallas. They were ambushed by snipers.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Eyewitnesses capture the execution-style killings on cell phone video. The officers were there protecting a peaceful protest in downtown Dallas following the shooting deaths of two African-American men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota.

Dallas police exchanged gunfire with one of the gunmen in an hours- long standoff. Three other suspects are in police custody.

President Obama is expected to address the attack from a NATO summit overseas. He spoke last night before this happened about the violence in Minnesota and in Louisiana, but again, the shootings took place overnight, President Obama expected to address this for the first time shortly.

CUOMO: The business of NATO will take a backseat to this. As soon as he gets to the podium, we will bring it to you.

But there's a lot of news to cover right and around Dallas. So, let's begin our coverage there.

We have Sara Sidner with breaking details -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, the scene here is still an active one. We are still seeing lots of police officers behind me. If you will look, you can see the lights flashing. This is Main Street.

We are in the middle of downtown. Behind me, the Bank of America building with those big green lights. And just a couple blocks down is El Centro College, both the parking garage and building.

And what we've been hearing from witnesses is, that there were some large flash bangs that police officers used to try to enter that building, that they saw SWAT teams going in, they saw bomb-sniffing dog going in. And they could see the SWAT teams inside of the building. So, it is assumed that is where they believe that the two shooters or one shooter is at this moment in time.

We are waiting to hear if they are able to neutralize that shooter. We are at five police officers who have lost their lives in the shooting. Six officers are wounded.

I want to let you go ahead and listen to some of the dramatic moments of how this all unfolded earlier this evening.

(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.

(GUNSHOTS)

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

(GUNSHOTS)

(SIREN WAILING)

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)

SIDNER: Now whether folks were marching earlier today against police brutality or police officers here during the shooting or across the country -- this country, I think we can say clearly is united in grief tonight.

I do want to tell you we have breaking news to share with you. We are now learning that police are telling us a suspect, one suspect that we know of so far has been killed. We do not know whether or not this scene is active still or not. We know that a suspect has been killed according to Dallas police.

Now, remember, earlier today, not long ago, they said they believed there were two snipers, two shooters.

[05:05:02] But we have just learned one -- at least one of the suspects has been killed. We will try to get more information to you as soon as we can get it here on the ground.

BERMAN: Sara, do we believe that suspect has been killed in that parking garage, the area where the siege has been taking place overnight?

SIDNER: They are not releasing details, but I can tell you, John, that basically, we were hearing that the SWAT team was actually inside of one of the El Centro College buildings. And so, at this point, we don't know if that happens in the garage were they initially said they believe there were two snipers shooting from a high vantage point and literally picking police officers off one by one in this terrible barrage of gunfire or if the suspect was inside of the college building and somehow was apprehended or cornered there and killed. We will get more information to you as soon as we can.

CUOMO: One of the reasons that police are being slow in reporting it as over is that the threat is not just human. There are reports that suspect they were dealing with in the El Centro campus said there were bombs planted in and around Dallas. They consider those bombs a threat as well, obviously. And they are doing sweeps right now. That's going to take a long time.

BERMAN: Sweeping for bombs and also for people. They don't know if there is an additional suspect out there.

Sara, you know, walk us down over what we know of the people in custody right now. There is a bit of confusion. So, right now, there is one suspect dead. There was one woman who was picked up near the scene, and there were two men apprehended in a vehicle some distance from the scene?

SIDNER: Yes. You know, they are not releasing a lot of information. We do know about one of the people who came and apparently turned themselves in to police. That person, the police had shown a picture earlier in the day. As they did a live briefing about what was going on.

They said, look, we want to speak to this person. This person is a person of interest. They did not call him a suspect initially.

Later on with electronic media, they sent a tweet and said he was a suspect. That person has come forward and very, very upset, saying he had nothing to do with any of this. And the police have said one of the people they spoke with did not seem to be involved at all with this.

I do want to mention something because I think Chris brought up a really important point. And he talked about the fact this is going to take some time. This is a crime scene in the middle of downtown. It's a huge area. There were tons of shots fired. There's going to be a huge investigation here.

And they were telling people do not come to work tomorrow downtown. They are going to have much of downtown, the area where this all happened shutoff. This is Main Street. We're right in the middle of downtown, just the street over is Commerce. That is all shut down.

City hall is not too far from here. There's a federal building not far from here. A lot of people have cars sitting where they were earlier today when they came to work because they could not get to them. But this is a massive crime scene.

And I want to mention one last thing because I worked in Dallas for many years. Just down the road, just down that way is where JFK was assassinated. And I spoke to someone here in Dallas who said, you know, this is the worst thing to happen here since that day -- Chris, John.

BERMAN: Sara Sidner, simply awful to see what's going on in the streets there.

I want to quickly go to Kyung Lah. There's a huge show of support at the Baylor Hospital where the injured officers and there are many injured officers are being taken.

Kyung, what do you see there?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You mention the huge show of support. Police are dealing with the active crime scene. They are also trying to deal with their grief here. What we're looking at right over my shoulder is something we have seen outside of Baylor University Medical Center, a vigil of sorts. Police officers standing outside here in the emergency room, a sign of support.

But you are also seeing one of these towed away from here. This is a reminder. We are not exactly sure what happened with this vehicle and how it is involved and what happened in downtown Dallas.

We can tell you this is one of a couple of vehicles we have seen towed out of this hospital. We don't know if an injured officer was brought here by that vehicle or if it was involved in the shooting. But, again, we have seen a couple of the vehicles towed out of the hospital.

There has been a show of support at a second hospital right across town at Parkland Hospital. That is a hospital where at least a few officers are being treated and we saw this extraordinary scene. One of our affiliates captured officers saluting as one of their injured was brought to the hospital.

So, police very much trying to deal with that grief, that loss that they are experiencing.

[05:10:03] Six police officers remain in the hospital. Five officers have been killed in what is the deadliest day since 9/11 for law enforcement.

We want to show you a picture of one of the fallen officers. DART Police say 43-year-old Brent Thompson did die in downtown Dallas in the shooting -- Chris and John.

CUOMO: All right. Kyung, thank you very much.

DART stands for Dallas Area Rapid Transit. He was there in support of the officers, the other officers, it's been reported that were killed, are local Dallas police. We will get you more information on those lives lost when we get it.

The salute by the officers has been profound sense of their commitment. We saw it all night.

Now, the president is about to speak on this issue. Let's get to CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski traveling with the president. She joins us from Warsaw.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's really incredible, this evolving situation. I mean, as soon as the president landed in Warsaw last night, as he got to the hotel, he wanted to give a statement to the press. It was a long one. Ten minutes long he spoke.

This was not a situation where he had a prompter or anything. These are notes that he prepared himself on the way over here. You could tell he felt this deeply. I mean, his staff said that he was deeply disturbed by the shootings that happened as he was in transit.

He spoke about America needing to do better, about the anger, frustration and grief across America. He said that's something that he and the first lady are also feeling.

He spoke a lot about not just black lives mattering, but all lives mattering. Blue lives mattering. Of course, at that point, things had not started in Dallas yet.

So, now, as he begins his day, he is in a meeting right now with European leaders. He is again going to deliver a statement. This time talking about the latest developments.

I think this will be quite an emotional address. You can hear some of that last night. As the president said, this is something that is not an isolated case. It has happened and keeps happening. It is something that he is very frustrated about and wants to say something again.

So, we expect him any minute now to come out and deliver more of the remarks. I think it will follow on from what he said last night. It is emotional, but it's also a serious problem as he described it in America, the violence, the racial tension. So, we're going to hear much more pretty soon, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Michelle, also, keep us informed if there is talk about the president coming back. I mean, this was a previously scheduled trip. Things changed here. Let us know if you hear about a quick return.

KOSINSKI: Right.

CUOMO: Obvious need for leadership here. We'll check back with you. Let us know when the president is getting ready to speak.

KOSINSKI: Yes.

CUOMO: All right. Let's discuss what's been happening overnight in Dallas and what it means going forward. We have a panel of experts for us. We have law enforcement analysts Cedric Alexander, we have CNN law enforcement analyst and former ATF executive Matt Horace, and CNN political commentator and BET news host Marc Lamont Hill will be joining us and NYPD Detective Harry Houck will bee with us as well.

Matthew, sorry to call you in for this type of story. But give us your sense of what we saw all night long, which was those officers knew they were being hunted and yet stayed on the scene, kept doing their job, kept moving the public away.

MATT HORACE, FORMER ATF EXECUTIVE: I say it often in speeches and talking to groups. Police officers go where others might not go. We do things others might not do. We go into situations where others run away from.

This is what we trained for, this is what we are paid for. And this is exactly what you saw happened last night in Dallas. I am proud to have carried a badge and gun for so many years when I see what happened last night in Dallas.

BERMAN: They stayed on the scene all night long and into this morning, up until a few minutes ago when we learn a suspect is dead right now in this.

The area is still being swept, Cedric. There could be explosive there. We do not know if there's another person is still at large. Give us a sense of what's happening, Cedric, on the ground right now.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, if there is one suspect that is down and has been killed, we don't know if there are others that may be in the hunt for. But in addition to that, they are going to continue to advance on that entire crime scene.

In addition, as well, they're going to continue to look for any possible IEDs. That scene you see there is probably going to be under the direction of Dallas police for some time. That is a huge crime scene. There is a lot of evidence that needs to be collected, a lot of photographing that needs to be done and interviewing as well that still needs to be done. This is still an active investigation.

We have been very fortunate to be informed on a periodic base by the chief and mayor as things progress.

[05:15:08] And that's a good thing.

CUOMO: And, obviously, the threat of explosives there is leading the urgency. They have a complex and large area to sweep. We'll stay on the ground with them and get information to the audience as it comes to us.

Matthew, look, the big question that looms over this attack is, was it done in retaliation? This was done during protests. We do not believe or have reason to believe the shooters or snipers as they were called by local police, were part of the protest.

But what is your since of the perspective on what the attack on police means?

HORACE: My sense is it may seem like it with the timing is right to consider that. This was calculated. It may have been rehearsed. It was planned by more than one or two or three or four people. I do not believe based on what we're seeing and hearing now that it was in response to what we have seen over the last several days in Minnesota and in Louisiana.

BERMAN: Some of the questions being asked and some indications from the police chief there is a belief that some who carried out knew where the protest would be. They were pre-positioned, these snipers.

HORACE: Yes. I think everything we see now would tell us that and there would be a lot of police officers there and also, those community policing police officers on the scene in addition. So, it was planned. People knew certain things about the protest. That's what I believe.

CUOMO: Cedric, do you feel similarly to Matt about this? We know from the police they say at least two of the people that they were taken fire from were from elevated positions. But the big concern is was this done in response? Was this part of the protest? We don't have any basis to know that yet from the police. But what do you make of this?

ALEXANDER: I'm reluctant to tie what happened last night to that protest. As you well know, Chris, we live in a time that we know that we hear right here on this homeland. We have those who are trying to hurt and kill Americans.

And in light of what happened in San Bernardino as well as recently again on the homeland in Orlando, there is still the possibility this could be outside terrorist attack. Now, if we think about Minnesota, we think about Baton Rouge, was this retaliatory in nature? We don't know.

But we know this. We had protesters out there that were peaceful, that were respectful and who had exercising their First Amendment right, and who had to flee for their lives.

But our hearts go out to the officers who lost their lives and those injured -- Chris and John.

BERMAN: Cedric, stand by.

I just want to explain what you are looking at right now. You see Secretary of State John Kerry right there, Defense Secretary Ash Carter. This is Warsaw in Poland. There has been a NATO meeting there.

Also, a meeting of the European Union leaders that President Obama is attending. President Obama will step behind the microphone any minute now. He will also be there with the European Union leaders. There are three podiums.

The president will address for the first time what happened overnight, the murder, assassination of five police officers. We are waiting to hear what the president has to say about this. We are waiting to hear, frankly, if the president plans to come home.

CUOMO: Yes. I mean, look, one of the things that supports what Cedric is saying. People are of mixed mind of what is happening right now. Everybody agrees it is a horrible thing to have happened. What motivation for it is going to be key.

The police reported early on when they were dealing with the last shooter and who they believe maybe the last one in the El Centro building who said the end is coming. That is something that does suggest some sense of deranged purpose, separate and apart from what we saw with the police shooting.

HORACE: One hundred percent. We said it before, Chris. Who knows what goes in the mind of a madman. And these rants and these things that people say have no consequence as to what is actually going to happen. Are there explosives? Aren't there explosives? Are there more people involved? Aren't there more people involved?

CUOMO: All right. We have the president of the United States right now. Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, everybody.

Let me begin by thanking Presidents Tusks and Juncker for the opportunity to meet today.

With your understanding, I want to begin with a few words about the situation back in the United States, specifically the situation in Dallas, Texas.

My team has been keeping me updated throughout the morning of the evening in Dallas. I spoke this morning with Mayor Rawlings of Dallas to convey the deepest condolences of the American people. I told him that the federal government will provide whatever assistance Dallas may need as it deals with this tremendous tragedy.

[05:20:07] We still don't know all the facts. What we do know is that there has been a vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement. Police in Dallas were on duty, doing their jobs, keeping people safe during peaceful protests.

These law enforcement officers were targeted, and nearly a dozen officers were shot. Five were killed. Other officers and at least one civilian were wounded -- some are in serious condition, and we are praying for their recovery.

As I told Mayor Rawlings, I believe that I speak for every single American when I say that we are horrified over these events, and that we stand united with the people and the police department in Dallas. According to police, there are multiple suspects. We will learn more, undoubtedly, about their twisted motivations.

But let's be clear: There is no possible justification for these kinds of attacks or any violence against law enforcement. The FBI is already in touch with the Dallas police, and anyone involved in these senseless murders will be held fully accountable. Justice will be done.

I will have more to say about this as the facts become more clear. For now, let me just say that even as yesterday I spoke about our need to be concerned, as all Americans, about racial disparities in our criminal justice system, I also said yesterday that our police have an extraordinarily difficult job and the vast majority of them do their job in outstanding fashion.

I also indicated the degree to which we need to be supportive of those officers who do their job each and every day, protecting us and protecting our communities. Today is a wrenching reminder of the sacrifices that they make for us.

We also know that when people are armed with powerful weapons, unfortunately it makes attacks like these more deadly and more tragic. And in the days ahead, we're going to have to consider those realities as well.

In the meantime, today our focus is on the victims and their families. They are heartbroken. The entire city of Dallas is grieving. Police across America, which is a tight-knit family, feels this loss to their core. And we're grieving with them.

I'd ask all Americans to say a prayer for these officers and their families. Keep them in your thoughts. And as a nation, let's remember to express our profound gratitude to our men and women in blue -- not just today, but every day.

With that, I want to thank Presidents Tusk and Juncker for our work here today in Warsaw.

CUOMO: He is in Warsaw, Poland, for a NATO meeting. The Brexit vote that just happened. The larger terror threat, but he had to deal with what happened in Dallas.

The big line that came out of it, what he said, that this is a wrenching reminder of the sacrifices our police make for all of us.

He also mentioned the weapons that were available to these murderers in Dallas.

Let's get to CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski, traveling with the president in Warsaw.

You heard the message and the larger concern of what the president will do now. Will he come home? What's your take?

KOSINSKI: Yes. So far, there hasn't been any mention of that. I mean, the White House staff is facing a lot of questions today about his plan. It is not clear if they fully decided what he will do from here. He has meetings in Warsaw for NATO and then he is onward to Spain, which is less important, less urgent, there's less urgent business to contend with their.

So, it is possible he may cut this trip short and leave off the Spain leg. Not clear on that yet. We expect more later.

I think it is interesting to hear the president. Whenever something like this happened, a shooting in the past, the president is careful to really speak for if it is a civilian that was killed by police, but also speak of the sacrifices police make. So, last night when we heard him come out and speak for more than ten minutes, the heartfelt remarks, including statistics on how people of color are more likely to be arrested and convicted. He also had a few words for police and the risks they face in their jobs.

I mean, never knowing this now was going to happen overnight. So, it is clear the president wanted to make more remarks and this time focused on the police sacrifices. I mean, he called this vicious and calculated and despicable, saying that he speaks for all Americans really that he is horrified by what has happened.

So, it's strange that he always tries to speak of both the police and civilians and trust that needs to be there. Here we have the killing of civilians by police and within 24 hours, the execution of police officers. So, his words, you know, you feel what he is trying to convey there. I think we will be hearing more soon -- Chris.

BERMAN: I'll take it, Michelle. Michelle Kosinski in Warsaw, in Poland right now, where the president just spoke, calling the attacks in Dallas vicious, calculated and despicable.

Five officers killed, the president pointed out we still don't know the facts of what happened. We know one suspect was just killed. We got confirmation a short time ago.

The president made clear we do not know what he called the twisted motivation of the people who did this, but he said, no matter what that was, there could be absolutely no justification for attacking law enforcement officers.

I want to -- Dallas police along with the mayor holding a news conference hours ago as the events unfolded. This is a little bit of what said.

All right. We don't have that. We collected some sound of a news conference of police as soon as we can.

CUOMO: We will get it to you. You have to remember this was all done in the context of a fluid situation. The police were trying to get information, trying to protect civilians, at the same time they knew they were being targeted and hunted on the streets of Dallas.

Here's the sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DAVID BROWN, DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: 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.

As I mentioned in the press ne of our officers in surgery that we had hopes would survive passed, bringing the total account of officers passed to four. Three Dallas police officers and one DART officer.

We are continuing to ask for the public's prayers and support and encouragement. But I can just tell you, I've never been more proud of a police officer and being a part of this great, noble profession.