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Quest Means Business

Five Police Officers Killed and Seven Wounded. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired July 08, 2016 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. As we continue, Breaking News coverage, it has been a week of bloodshed in the United States, and one

that will continue to resonate on the American psyche bouts for generations to come after the killing of five Dallas Police Officers on Thursday night,

not followed the deaths of two black men shot by police in the days before.

The United States on this Friday night is a country that's rolled by grief, anger and fear. So allow me to tell you what we know at this hour about the

attacks in Dallas.

A man who said he wanted to kill white people specifically white police officers open sniper fire on Thursday evening at a demonstration of

ironically that was protesting police violence.

After an hour long standoff, the shooters is dead and been blown up by a remote control device sent in there by the police. He's been identified as

25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson.

His actions caused the lives of five police officers and there's left seven wounded. It amounts to the deadliest day for American law enforcement

since September 11, 2001.

The Dallas ambush though is more than just what it seems on the surface, because it brings to a close a week to this country fraught with violence.

Two shootings of black men by white police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana, both of those incidents were captured on video and then posted

online.

And police departments in the U.S. are taking extra precautions today. CNN's Tom Fuentes is in Washington, our Senior Law Enforcement Analyst and

a Former FBI Assistant Director.

We have much ground to cover, Tom, so thank you for joining us. And, you know, the police officers involved in the -- I mean, I think has to be the

ultimate irony. They were protecting a march against the police. This is, you know, the democratic role of law in its most perfect form and have got

shot dead. But how did the police protect themselves against snipers or sniper from a rooftop when that protecting a demonstration?

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Richard, as we saw last night, they don't, not completely. And you raise the irony that they

were protecting protesters who were protesting against police use of force. But when the shot started, those very same police made definite moves to

protect protesters even further and trying to get them out of the line of fire. One protester is saying that he was shoved out of the way by a

police officer and then was shot and killed himself.

So, you know, you have this tremendously heroic action on the part of those officers to not only protect the march itself, but when the shots broke out

to protect all of the of the protesters from the shooter.

QUEST: Tom, I need to -- I need some help from for obviously understanding how deep this crisis is going within the United States. And I wish this

isn't first occasion where we have seen, you know, black youth shot by white officers, but it always -- the subject always sort of seems to drift

off into the into the younger after a few days. Do you see difference in the events of the last seven days?

FUENTES: I don't know, Richard. I do not know how much will change and how much can change, you know, in the short run. You know, we hear the

cries for community relations, the police and the community talking to each other. But in this case, this shooter was from Mesquite, Texas, and he

would have been involved in a single discussion, he would have been involved in one program of community policing. And Dallas Police are the -

- one of the most progressive city departments in the United States. So all of the efforts by Dallas to have better relations in their community,

better trust, better support are for naught if you have people from another city come rolling and an open fire on your police officers.

QUEST: Tom Fuentes, thank you. I appreciate it, Tom. Thank you.

FUENTES: You're welcome.

QUEST: Dr. Seema Yasmin is a Staff Writer for the Dallas Morning News, and joins me on the line now, a professor at the University of Texas at Dallas.

She was in the hospital right where two of the murdered police officers died.

And Dr. Yasmin, I cannot -- I can't, as said, I can imagine but I frankly can't imagine the level of shock that must be in your city. And to all

viewers around the world, please give us some idea.

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, DALLAS MORNING NEWS STAFF WRITER: It's a really stubborn (ph) and serious and sad day here in Dallas. So, I'm in the Dallas Morning

Newsroom where -- right in the center of downtown. It's usually a bit more of bustling area that you leave the newsroom now and it's airily quiet and

still there's a large number of blacks have been cordoned off by police and is still being treated. It's a really big crime scene.

[16:05:00]

And I was outside one of the hospitals, Weston, where the slain police officers were taken last night and also where civilian victims was taken

there, as well a woman who was shot in the leg, and just talking to family members there and then driving home in the early hours of the morning. It

was still dark and Dallas is known for its very beautiful skyline, and some of the really prominent building doesn't have their lights on. And that

felt emblematic of the mood here of people waking up and not really knowing what to do and just being very confused in trying to make sense of a

distressing situation.

QUEST: Yes. The demonstration by all accounts, and last night I got caught up in a demonstration and you are the one in Time Square which was

noisy. I would say was well-behaved, but it was noisy, and it certainly felt aggressive at some stage. But the one in Dallas, we understand

yesterday, was not particularly aggressive. I mean, police in marches were cohabiting, if you like, as best they can when one side is basically road

running up the streets and badmouthing the other.

YASMIN: Yeah, you're right. Which our police and demonstrators were taking photographs together at this data demonstration last night. It was

overwhelmingly peaceful. I haven't had anyone use any other words to describe it ready. It was diverse. People took their children. It was a

family event. And, you know, when I was speaking to the family members of a woman who was shot in the leg at protest, and she was shot while

shielding her three sons when she had shots fired. And I said to her sisters, your sister is in this hospital now. And in fear to having

surgery of life, why did she take her children? And they said because she expected it to be peaceful rally and it was a peaceful rally. And she

wanted her children, three black boys growing up in America to know that you can descend, you can disagree, you can protest peacefully and sadly

this was how it ended. But it really -- people are saying it wasn't a part of the protest. It was us, people, assaulted (ph) to disperse and head

home, that's when the shots were fired. So, it's very separate to the protest itself.

QUEST: Doctor, thank you.

YASMIN: Thank you.

QUEST: We appreciate that you given time. We know you're busy and you have duties to attend to.

Sheds light on why a racial tension in the U.S. is also high at the moment.

Data compiled by the Washington Post sheds light on why racial tensions in the U.S. also high at the moment. The publication found a total of 509

people have been shot and killed by police so far this year. I would write these numbers down because I'm going to be talking about it with my next

guest.

Five hundred nine people this year.

A black people of about twice is likely to be killed by police as their population numbers would protect, 24 percent of victims have been black, 13

percent of the country is of that killing. The post found that more than half of those killed by police had a gun.

Civil Rights Attorney Charles Coleman Jr., he's a Former New York Prosecutor, trial attorney, and he joins me now.

Sir, good to see you.

CHARLES COLEMAN JR. CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good to see you too, Richard.

QUEST: You had those numbers. Can I just spoke about them?

COLEMAN: Sure.

QUEST: I was listening to my colleague Don Lemon ...

COLEMAN: Right.

QUEST: ... himself African-American, talking about the stimulus statistics. And he said, well, there will be those who say these numbers

are not surprising because the evidence of the incidence of crime amongst the black community is high than amongst the white community.

COLEMAN: Right.

QUEST: That's the standard argument.

COLEMAN: Of course. But there's a flow on that argument, and Don and I had this very conversation yesterday.

QUEST: I think I was listening to you.

COLEMAN: Absolutely.

QUEST: I'm listening.

COLEMAN: Absolutely. I was on the pheno (ph) with Don yesterday and we had this very conversation. Part of the problem with that logic is that

police have for years used that as a justification to the increased policing. The flow is that it's self-fulfilling. So, if you say that

you're going to police areas where there is a higher mass of crime, because that's what's necessary, because if black people commit more crime, and

then that's where you are and that's where you concentrate your resources, well, that's what you're going to find. It's somewhat of the old odd is

that, if you're looking for something, then you're going to find it.

And so for years, there's been over policing of communities of color, but that's been justified by saying, "Where there a higher mass of crime?"

Well, you're only finding the crime because that's where you're concentrated.

QUEST: So, in that chicken-and-egg situation ...

COLEMAN: Sure.

QUEST: ... how do you break the cycle? Because you clearly called (ph) just withdraw the policing.

COLEMAN: Right.

QUEST: Because there will be members of the community who will say, "Well, hang on a second." You know, we still need to be protective. So, how do

you break that cycle?

COLEMAN: I don't necessarily know that is a question of the amount of policing in as much as there's a question of the tactics. There's over

policing of communities of color across America and that is about the tactics that things are just stopping people for and not being pretext for

other things in ways to discriminate that now you're seeing in the other communities.

QUEST: OK. Now, the -- I think that you heard Former Secretary of States Hillary Clinton just talking a moment ago. You know, I felt I heard it all

before.

COLEMAN: Sure.

QUEST: When the community needs to be brought together and people need to understand each other. I thought I've heard these words repetitiously, but

I don't see how you break this cycle.

[16:10:00]

COLEMAN: Right. I think that what you have talked about, you stress the service on a very important issue. The one component that is often tossed,

not discussed. When you're talking about bringing the community together, is the police's responsibility and law enforcement's responsibility to come

to the table with open hands?

QUEST: No. You know, I just want -- again, I asked Joey Jackson last night on this program. I want all viewers to understand what it is like

for young black man living in the United States to who have a different perception of the police as I -- than maybe I do as a white man. So,

teller our viewers what your parents told you about how to react with the police or what you may tell your children.

COLEMAN: I'll be as candid with you as possible.

QUEST: Be as candid as you like.

COLEMAN: I'm 36 years old, I'm an attorney, I've never been to jail, I don't have any children, I've never arrested, whatsoever. Right now, with

tensions as high as they are, I walk around with as much concern, as much apprehension and as much feeling of being unsafe as if I was a convicted

fellow walking around with drugs and guns on me. And that's important to understand because ...

QUEST: But is there a difference to the way you are treated when you're in court and when you're in a suite than if you're walking around in the track

such a naughty (ph)?

COLEMAN: You would think that there is, but there isn't, because I'm not always in a suite, none of us are. See, and that's the thing that people

needs to understand. We experience the police very differently because I'm not always dressed like this, nor should I have to be.

In order to, you know, be treated like a human being with dignity and with respect, and not be a fear for my life, and that's a critical point.

That's why so many of us are experiencing law enforcement so differently.

QUEST: Charles, I can talk much more about this but unfortunately we have to turn to our normal agenda descent (ph).

COLEMAN: I understand. I understand.

QUEST: Thank you very much.

COLEMAN: Thank you so much.

QUEST: And we will come back in just a moment. The business agenda has moved onto in the course of the day, we need to put that into perspective

for you as well.

This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

(OFF-MIC)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: And hiring (ph) at United States is having its first slowdown into us urgent tonight, the jobs report for June.

It absolute smashed all expectations and got rid of getups (ph) for May's bug number. The 287,000 jobs were added, that's a 100K more than expected.

The best than what we have last year in employment rate tic-tac, but we shouldn't be too concerned about that. It's a sign of all people, all I.T.

looking for jobs.

Huge rebound from May, that's an outline.

Let's talk about this with Heather Long who joins us from CNN Money.

What was the force behind this number?

HEATHER LONG, CNN MONEY SENIOR WRITER: Well, if you're an economist, you're sitting there saying, it was kind of a time for a good number

because we have had such low-hiring in May that it was almost of a version to the mean in some levels.

[16:15:00]

If you're a little bit more optimistic, you say wherever is the hiring, it was hotels, it was ledger or some more activities, health care.

QUEST: But hang on, why now? I mean, we have had a good -- we had this sort of average number of a hundred and whatever it is, then you get May,

which is, well, truly (ph) in the toilers and then it bounces back up again.

LONG: That's right, Richard. And some of that comes to just -- when people report numbers in statistics. And I think what the federal reserved

and what a lot of Wall Street was looking today was to take a step back and say, look, you can't get to low, low, low in May, you can't to get too high

or highest in May. So, breathe in. So, what was different about July? It doesn't make any sense. You have to understand that it's actually been

pretty consistent job growth in the United States.

QUEST: In a sentence, is this going to change the view that there will be rate rise in 2016 from the fed?

LONG: No.

QUEST: No.

LONG: It's not. So, there's a little bit of a discrepancy between -- the Wall Street traders are saying, no rate hikes this year, the economists are

saying when, maybe in December.

QUEST: And the tally was up 250 points because who knows in the promotion of the markets why it adds.

Thank you very much. Have a lovely weekend.

And the news never stops here on CNN and neither the week when we return in just a moment around the walls, around the clock.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Our coverage of the shootings in Dallas continues here on CNN. And I'm Richard Quest in New York.

We go to Washington next to Waltz Blitzer is in the situation of where you're going to have of course more information in the interview with the

Former Secretary of State and the Presumptive Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton.

All of that is coming ahead because the news never stops neither the week. This is CNN, Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM".

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