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New Day

Dallas Honors Fallen Police Officers in Vigil; Trump Warns It's 'Just the Beginning' of More Violence; Bernie Sanders to Endorse Hillary Clinton. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 12, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's time for our hostility against our police to end.

[07:00:03] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There is too much hate. There is too much violence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They throw him onto the ground. Both cops got on top of him, and that's when they shot him.

DR. BRIAN WILLIAMS, TRAUMA SURGEON, PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: This killing, it has to stop. We have to come together.

JAMES JOHNSON, FATHER OF MICAH JOHNSON: I don't know what to say. I didn't see it coming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY, with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Alisyn is off. Poppy Harlow is joining me.

And today, our big story...

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good to be with you.

CUOMO: Absolutely. Always -- is the power of healing. President Obama is going to travel to Dallas this morning to speak at a memorial for the five slain police officers killed in a murderous ambush attack. The president is hoping to deliver a message to ease the pain of a heartbroken city and a divided nation.

HARLOW: Certainly a very difficult task, especially right now.

Last night, a very emotional vigil there in Dallas. Look at that. Hundreds gathering as Dallas's police chief compared the victims to superheroes. He suggested anti-police protestors join the force. He said, "We're hiring. Stand with us."

We begin our coverage there in Dallas this morning with our Victor Blackwell. Good morning, Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, good morning to you.

We know the president has been heavily involved with crafting his remarks he'll deliver at the interfaith ceremony today.

And the president has been intensely frustrated by the inability to have what he considers to be a rational conversation about gun control.

But as you said, this is a day for healing. He will speak. Former President George W. Bush will speak, as well, and of course, they come after a very emotional night here in Dallas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIEF DAVID BROWN, DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Hundreds gathering Monday night for a candlelight vigil to honor the fallen officers killed in the Dallas ambush.

JAMIE CASTRO, SENIOR CORPORAL, DALLAS POLICE: Lorne, I know you're up there listening, brother. And I want you to know I was there outside the window by your side to see you take your final breath.

BLACKWELL: The doctors who fought valiantly to save lives struggling to cope with their deaths.

WILLIAMS: And I think about it every day, that I was unable to save those cops when they came here that night.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Brian Williams telling CNN something must be done about the senseless violence.

WILLIAMS: I don't understand why people think it's OK to kill police officers. I don't understand why black men die in custody, and they're forgotten the next day. It has to stop.

BLACKWELL: Dallas Police Chief David Brown says the country is putting too much of a burden on police to solve societal issues.

BROWN: We're asking cops to do too much in this country. Not enough mental health funding. Let the cop handle it. Not enough drug addiction funding. Let's give it to the cops. That's too much to ask.

BLACKWELL: Brown's message to protestors: become part of the solution.

BROWN: We're hiring. Get off that protest line and put an application in. And we'll put you in your neighborhood, and we will help you resolve some of the problems you're protesting about. BLACKWELL: This as the parents of the killer are breaking their

silence in an interview with "TheBlaze."

J. JOHNSON: I didn't see it coming. I love my son with all my heart. I hate what he did.

BLACKWELL: His mother says it was his time in the military that changed him.

DELPHINE JOHNSON, MOTHER OF MICAH JOHNSON: He was very disappointed. Very disappointed. But it may be that he -- the ideal that he thought of our government, of what he thought the military represented, it just didn't live up to his expectations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Now since that shooting, so much of downtown Dallas had been shut down, really cordoned off as a crime scene. Well, today, we've learned that some of those roads will begin to reopen as this city tries to get back to some semblance of normalcy -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Victor, thank you so much. What a day it will be, certainly, in Dallas.

Also this breaking overnight: more protests across the country against the police shooting deaths of two black men, one in Louisiana, one in Minnesota. Police arresting at least 16 people in Atlanta there. Hundreds taking to the street, some staging a sit-in at the governor's mansion.

And a third day of protests in downtown Chicago. Up to 1,000 people took to the streets there. Those demonstrations did remain peaceful.

This as funeral arrangements have now been set for those two men gunned down by police. Philando Castile will be laid to rest in Minnesota Thursday. Alton Sterling's funeral is Friday in Louisiana -- Chris.

[07:05:04] CUOMO: Poppy, we'll cover those events, as well.

Let's discuss the latest with Dallas Police Department deputy chief and chairman of the National Black Police Association, Malik Aziz.

Malik, it's good to have you back on the show. We hear tell that the investigation is going to review 170 hours of body-cam footage and lots of statements from those involved. Why? What needs to be investigated in this regard?

MALIK AZIZ, DEPUTY CHIEF, DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, I think what you're seeing now is a very thorough Dallas Police Department at the direction of our chief, David Brown. As he says, no stone will remain unturned. We'll turn over everything.

Those investigators are working tireless hours. Many of them have been ordered to go home and get some sleep, get some rest. They're running on fumes. What they're going to do is look at every angle. They're going to try to make connections to connections that we're making and those take hours upon hours. And they're going to keep looking at video footage of a horrific and tragic encounter. And they're not going to get any rest trying to do it.

So the world will know in the coming weeks and the coming months just what was the insight into this mind of what made a person turn into a killer and cause such great havoc to our Dallas Police Department and harm to law enforcement officers across this nation.

So we're -- we know what needs to be done. And we're looking at it. And I trust our Dallas police investigators and homicide investigators. They're some of the best in this world that this world has to offer. So you're going to see some things come out. And you're going to hear from our chief. And he's going to keep the public updated. And we can look at this in detail of what was the actual outcome, Chris.

CUOMO: OK. So I guess the goal is to see if anybody else was involved or if there was a larger plot.

We know that the take from the house, while rumored to be a huge cache, didn't really turn out to be that way. There were several pounds of different types of potential low-grade explosive devices, not -- or materials. Not a lot of weapons there. Do you think that this man had just ideas in this head or really did he have any designs to be able to do anything bigger?

AZIZ: Well, the only thing I can answer that is the idea of destruction should be enough. That's what started it right here a few blocks from me to kill five of my brothers, so I'll leave it at that. I'll leave it to all of the analysts and criminologists and experts to determine when is enough enough? Because enough for us was just a few days ago when five of my brothers fell in the street right here, down the street, and caused so much hurt up here in the Dallas Police Department and to law enforcement across this nation. So I'll leave it at that, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Let me ask you something else. There are a lot of statistics being flown around right now about the reality of policing and its impact on black communities.

In your experience, working with the community and working on the job in many different capacities, do you believe that African-Americans receive harsher treatment from police in general?

AZIZ: You know, that's like a double-edged sword type of question. All of this is revolving around treatment that African-Americans are perceiving, whether that is real or perceived, in law enforcement, delivering services to a community in some form or fashion.

And so whether that is millions upon millions of contacts that are given each and every day across this country with the large amount of law enforcers versus the complaints that are generated, unnecessary force or even necessary force, force period, across this nation.

So we're getting into that -- and getting into a political conversation right here today on the backs of our brothers who fell. That would probably be wrong for me to deliver that from -- I can't separate myself from being a black man. I can't separate myself from the badge that I wear. I can't separate myself from the 100,000 black police officers that I carry a voice for.

So it's a political type question to me, laden with stats. And I heard that earlier. So yes, treatment we know sometimes, treatment is harsh, and treatment is real and treatment is also perceived.

CUOMO: Let's talk about the memorial, then. What are you hoping to hear from the president today?

AZIZ: Well, you know, what I -- what I want to hear from the president is I know there are political agendas on each side, from you know, whatever side of the aisle you sit on. But I think for those families, they're going to see the leader of the free world and two of the most powerful men in the world sit among them and speak to them.

And I think that's going to mean the world to them that a president of the strongest country in the world is going to speak to them and talk about his -- the sympathy and extend condolences to the family and give hugs and give some love.

[07:10:14] But he's also going to say where he thinks the conversation should go, where law enforcement should be. And we hope that it's not politicized and we remember the people and the families who are in the audience who are listening, that today would be a day for them to actually have a moment to embrace leadership and feel this from the highest level -- highest levels of government that this country has to offer.

So I'm expecting him to deliver a really direct message to the family and to the world. And I hope that both sides of the aisle can come in the middle of today and just let it be what it is, an appreciation for law enforcement today, an appreciation for law enforcement today.

CUOMO: In that regard, let's put up for the audience, I'm going to put up the slain officers, their faces and their names. Brent Thompson, Michael Krol, Lorne Ahrens, Michael Smith and, of course, Patrick Zamarripa.

And what do you think the legacy of these officers to be?

AZIZ: You know, I think you heard last night some of the friends who are around them at that time, at the time of the tragedy. You seen it last night, a display of love. I think the legacy for fallen law enforcement officer is for us to never forget them.

See, we never forget. We have memorials on National Police Week every May. And it seems like it's just us. And pretty soon when the cameras are gone and the lights are dark and the people go home, then they forget about that we lose brothers and sisters every year.

We lose 40, 50, 60 or more officers every year. And it's often forgotten. So the legacy is to never forget, never forget the contributions in your city of what law enforcement officers have made. They've made a great sacrifice in your cities. They've given the ultimate sacrifice just so citizens can live and live in a peace and safe environment in the greatest country in the world. I want that legacy to be played out across this nation.

In Dallas, I don't want our residents, our business and our residential community to forget about us every day. And especially don't forget about us during National Police Week. Don't forget about us when our names are inscribed on a wall, on a memorial, because we don't forget. We live with it every day. We see pictures on the wall every day. We talk about them every day. We wear wristbands around our wrist every day. We wear these things every day: Operation Blue Shield. The community loves us, the thin blue line. We remember our brothers.

I'm asking the citizens to remember us every day just like we do. Let that be the legacy.

CUOMO: Malik Aziz, thank you for the thoughtful words. Appreciate it on NEW DAY.

Coming up in our next hour, we're going to talk live with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. What does he see as the challenges today and moving forward?

Tomorrow night, we're going to have a special two-hour town hall, "Black, White, and Blue: America 2016." We all know what the problems are, and they all deserve discussion. And they're going to get that with Don Lemon moderating at 10 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN -- Pop.

HARLOW: Good lineup. Important discussion. Chris, thank you.

Donald Trump predicting, last night in an interview, potentially more violence ahead this summer. He says this nation is far more divided than President Obama believes it is. This all as new audio of Trump praising Hillary Clinton and President Obama surfaces from 2008.

Jason Carroll with us, has the details. Good morning, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Poppy.

Not only is Donald Trump saying that the nation is divided. In an interview with the Associated Press, he criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, saying the name in itself is divisive. And during his speech yesterday, he borrowed a page from the Richard Nixon campaign, saying he is the law and order candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: It's time for our hostility against our police and against all members of law enforcement to end and end immediately, right now.

CARROLL (voice-over): Donald Trump addressing for the first time out on the campaign trail the Dallas ambush and recent police-involved shooting deaths.

TRUMP: I am the law and order candidate. CARROLL: And blasting his Democratic rival.

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is weak, ineffective, pandering, and as proven by her recent e-mail scandal, she's either a liar or grossly incompetent.

CARROLL: This as the "Wall Street Journal" uncovers contradicting audio from Trump's old syndicated radio segment called "Trumped!"

(MUSIC: "MONEY, MONEY")

[07:15:01] CARROLL: The audio clips, owned by the radio network Premiere, revealing yet again inconsistencies in the billionaire's rhetoric. His own words in 2008.

TRUMP: I know her, and she'd make a good president or a good vice president. A lot of people think a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton pairing would be a dream ticket in November.

CARROLL: A far cry from his attacks on the trail now.

TRUMP: Wherever Hillary Clinton goes, corruption and scandal follow.

She'll never be able to do the job. Her judgment is horrible.

She will be such a lousy president, folks.

CARROLL: And in May of 2008, Trump condemned West Virginia lawmakers for proposing gun classes on hunting in schools.

TRUMP: We hear way too many stories about school violence. So the thought of voluntarily putting guns in the classroom seems like a really bad plan. It's a dangerous risk that might not be worth the payoff.

CARROLL: And then Trump eight years later.

TRUMP: You know what a gun-free zone is to a sicko? That's bait.

I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools, and you have to. And on military bases.

(via phone): I don't want to have guns in classrooms, although in some cases teachers should have guns in classrooms, frankly.

CARROLL: Vice President Joe Biden and former primary foe Jeb Bush questioning Trump's ability to deliver on his promises.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look at Donald Trump and what he's saying and ask yourself, "Is it believable?"

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think people are going to really feel betrayed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Well, Bush did compliment Trump for being able to, in his words, "exploit the media."

Trump also telling the Associated Press providing more jobs would help solve many of the problems in the country, especially those problems being faced by African-American communities. And when asked what he would say to African-Americans who feel targeted by police, Trump said we have to talk to them and build up their spirit -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Jason, appreciate the reporting very much.

There's certainly enough challenges to be had. How will our leaders and potential leaders deal with it?

Well, on the Democratic side, you've got Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton poised for a unifying moment that the Democrats have certainly been waiting for, for months. Sanders is expected to endorse Clinton today. How will he do it and what will it mean to the Clinton candidacy?

We have CNN senior Washington reporter Jeff Zeleny live in New Hampshire with details -- Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

It has been 35 days since Hillary Clinton effectively clinched this Democratic nomination. Ever since then, Democrats have been rallying to her side. Well, today here in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders completes that circle. And just in time: one week before the Democratic convention.

You may wonder what has been taking him so long. Well, he wanted to move the Democratic Party platform a bit to the left. He wanted some concessions from the Clinton campaign. The Clinton campaign was willing to be patient up until a point, because they need him to take on Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am going to do everything that I can to defeat Donald Trump. I think Donald Trump would be a disaster for this country. I think it is inconceivable that we have -- would have a president who insults Mexicans and Latinos and Muslims and women and African-Americans. And I'm going to do everything I can to defeat Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY (voice-over): important that this is happening here in New Hampshire. That is by design. Bernie Sanders won this critical battleground state by 22 points back in February. The Clinton campaign believes they need him to help win over some voters to her side.

I'm told by his advisors he is all in. He will be campaigning here in New Hampshire, in states like Michigan, like Ohio, trying to get some of those working-class voters to his side. Poppy, he has one other incentive to do this. He wants Democrats to

win control of the Senate, as well. If they do, he could be chairman of the budget committee. That's one other reason he is falling in line today here in New Hampshire.

HARLOW: Right. And he got the Democratic platform on board with $15 minimum wage. And his team said they got about 80 percent of what they wanted. So no one gets everything, right? Right, Jeff?

Jeff Zeleny live for us this morning, thank you so much.

President Obama and former President George W. Bush joining forces today in Dallas, trying to help a city heal and help a nation heal. A congresswoman who lives just blocks away from where that ambush all played out will join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:23:19] HARLOW: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

President Obama and former President George W. Bush are heading to Dallas today. They will honor those five police officers ambushed on Thursday night. This marks the 11th time President Obama has had to visit an American city and try to comfort its people following a mass shooting.

Texas congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson will travel with the president aboard Air Force One today down to Dallas. She represents the Dallas district where the ambush attack happened; lives just a few blocks from there.

Thank you so much for being with me, Congresswoman. I know it is tough.

REP. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (D), TEXAS: Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate the invitation.

HARLOW: Of course. I think the word that I have heard the most over the past week is "divided." Let's talk about your Dallas. Is your Dallas divided right now, or is there more hope, more healing than perhaps the national conversation is embracing?

E. JOHNSON: My Dallas is divided, but we're working on it. We recognize there is a divide. It's always been a divide. But we put a lot of effort in working on that divide.

The mayor of the city has worked with it. I have been working with the police force since the early '70s, where we've interim studies. My first interim study as a young lawmaker was on police relations in Dallas. From that point until now, I've had a working relationship with every police chief, including the present police chief. There has been great effort made, and I think we have a good police department.

HARLOW: I think you just look at the relationship between the mayor of Dallas and the police chief -- we're going to have the mayor on as a guest; he'll speak with us later in the program -- as an example, really, for much of the nation, right?

[07:25:05] E. JOHNSON: I think so. I would certainly recommend the Dallas police force as a model police force for the nation. Not perfect. But made great strides and working very well with the community.

HARLOW: So let's talk about President Obama and President Bush. Part of why they're coming together today is to show a Republican and a Democrat coming together as one.

What are the words that the people of Dallas, on both -- on all sides need to hear from both of these men?

E. JOHNSON: Well, I think that they need to emphasize that we need to get rid of the proliferation of guns on the street, war weapons that are being -- that are killing many people at one time. And also, we need to improve our mental health care in this country.

HARLOW: Let's talk about mental health. It's an important conversation Chris had with our guest at the top of the show. Look, it -- we'll see if the president does bring up gun control in these -- in these remarks, but addressing mental health. Do you feel like that has been given enough of a focus in this situation and so many other mass shootings?

E. JOHNSON: No. I don't think we've given enough attention to mental health throughout the nation, but certainly, it has not been given any attention in my state. We simply are treating mentally ill people in our jails and our prisons.

HARLOW: And here's why I ask, because that is something that the police chief, David Brown, brought up yesterday that struck so many of us. He said, "We cannot do it all," and he mentioned mental health. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: We're asking cops to do too much in this country. We are. We're just asking us to do too much. Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve.

Policing was never meant to solve all those problems. I just ask for other parts of our democracy, along with the free press, to help us, to help us and not put that burden all on law enforcement to resolve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Is he right? Are they being asked to do too much?

E. JOHNSON: He's exactly right. Yes, I believe he's exactly right. We've got to support what the police need. You've got to go to the academies, and I've even tried to impact that curriculum over the years. They've made some efforts, but they cannot do it all by themselves. We have got to make sure that we not only have laws, but we enforce them. There have opportunities for intervention when people have obvious mental problems. We also must take these war weapons off the street. They're not

hunting weapons. They are war weapons. We need them off the street.

HARLOW: Congresswoman, I know you have quite a day ahead. We wish you and the city all the best. And I know you have a very important meeting on Saturday with community leaders, members of the police trying to figure out a way to come together. We wish you all the best with that. Thank you for your time this morning.

E. JOHNSON: Thank you very much.

HARLOW: Of course, Congresswoman there for us.

Programming note for you, the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, speaking about Donald Trump, his party, his party's agenda. It is a live town hall hosted by our very own Jake Tapper tonight, 9 p.m. Eastern only right here -- Chris.

CUOMO: More headaches for Hillary Clinton over the e-mails. Top Republicans want the Justice Department to investigate whether she lied to Congress. Is the request worthwhile? Is it overkill? The Clinton campaign responds next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)