chaos erupting on the streets of dallas at 9:00 p.m. >> somebody is really armed to the tee. >> reporter: gunshots raining down from the sky. officers taking cover. protesters scattering in panic as their peaceful march against officer-involved shootings wound down. >> i would say probably about 20 gunshots, rapid succession. >> i was screaming run, run, run, active shooter, active shooter. >> somebody tried to shoot at him, he got hit, fell. boom, boom, boom, kept going. >> reporter: around 10:30, police confirming snipers in elevated positions targeting officers, picking them off, ambush style, in what appears to be a coordinated attack. just before midnight, law enforcement officers cornering a suspect at el centro garage downtown. >> i think they might have got somebody. >> reporter: one witness catching the standoff unfolding from the ground. police exchanging gunfire for

over 45 minutes while trying to negotiate. >> there's somebody else down over there. >> reporter: one officer trying to catch the shooter off guard sadly shot down. another witness capturing the suspect from above, wearing body armor, holding so much ammunition it was falling out of his pocket. >> i did hear some popping sounds. i didn't thi-- i did think it w fireworks at first. a man came out, had a rifle. ar-15, clear as day. it looked planned. he knew where to stand and opened fire. >> reporter: police now say one suspect has been killed. >> the suspect told our negotiators that the end is coming and that there are bombs all over the place in this garage and in downtown. >> reporter: but police say they have three people in custody, including a woman who was in the vicinity of the garage and two suspects carrying a camouflaged bag. they were stopped on the

interstate. >> to say that our police officers put their life on the line every day is no hyperbole. we as a country must come together and lock arms and heal the wounds that we all feel from time to time. >> reporter: and i can tell you in speaking to some of those born and raised here in dallas who remember back when jfk was assassinated, they say the feeling they have right now feels like very similar to that day. they haven't seen this kind of terror since that day. >> once again, you do have a nation in mourning for unjustifiable murder. we're going to keep covering it throughout the morning. sara, let us know what you learned from there. a big part of this story overnight has been what's happening at the hospitals. we have kyung lah. she's at baylor university hospital in dallas. that's where some of the wounded officers have been taken.

you've seen some really heart-wrenching signs of solidarity overnight. not just among police officers but the medical staff there trying to save them as well. >> reporter: well, chris, what you're looking at, as our camera moves left and right, are some of the police officers and one of the coroner vehicles departing with a body of a dallas police officer and a d.a.r.t. police officer. that is coming from one of the police officers here who witnessed what is simply a somber scene and an extraordinary moment outside this hospital as many of these police officers said farewell to two of their fallen officers. i want to show you what we could see just a short time ago. we noticed that a lot of the medical personnel came out, and they formed a human chain. they wanted to offer some of these police officers some grace, a bit of privacy amid

this national horror, this violence that the police departments suffered overnight, last night, into this morning. so what we saw were these medical workers linking arms, and then we could hear the call for a salute. two salutes, two bodies removed from this hospital, this emergency room. then it was over and the vans left, and we can see police officers hugging, crying, saying good-bye. a reminder, john and chris, that what we are dealing with here is not just law enforcement. we're going to start to hear some of their stories about who they were. i want you to meet 43-year-old officer. he's a d.a.r.t. officer, brandon thompson. he is someone who wanted to be a police officer. on his linkedin page, he went to iraq and afghanistan. he wanted to train officers overseas. he wanted to teach them about

teamwork. when he came back here to dallas, he became a d.a.r.t. police officer. it was a regional transportation job. when i spoke to the spokesman, he said he's the very first casualty that the police department has suffered since it was formed in the late '80s. this today is the worst day for law enforcement since 9/11. john, chris? >> that is a sobering, sobering fact. kyung lah at baylor hospital, thank you so much. we only know the identity of one of the officers killed, 43-year-old brent thompson. four others were killed. do not be surprised if they're black, white, brown, male, female. what we know is that they are america and they are law enforcement and they were targeted in a calculated attack. now, the ambush there, this attack is raising a lot of questions. was this a revenge killing for the police shootings we have seen this week? is it terrorism? i think a lot of people will

tell you no matter what or no matter who did this, it was terrorism. cnn's evan perez is following the investigation live for us right now. evan, what are you hearing? >> reporter: that's right, john. these are the chaotic hours, really early in this investigation. investigators believe that at this point a well-planned ambush was carried out against these cops. there's no doubt that it was intended to cause terror. the question at this hour remains, who did this, and is there a broader group that was behind it. police officers were the targets, investigators believe, though one civilian was also injured. the fbi is now investigating the attack. the atf overnight deployed about three dozen agents, including bomb dogs and explosive experts. we don't know for sure how many shooters there were. dallas police at first said there were two snipers. one suspect was cornered at a community college garage and spoke to negotiators overnight, saying, quote, the end is coming. but that suspect is now dead. the atfk-9 officers are helping

to conduct a massive sweep for bombs in that area. there were at least three other people arrested near the scene as part of this investigation. investigators believe that whoever did this purposely was using the cover of those street protests, which police say was peaceful up to that point and was nearing the end when this ambush began. nothing at this point has been ruled out. police overnight say that they didn't have much cooperation from these people that they've arrested, so a lot of the early information that they've gathered so far in this investigation is expected to change. john? >> all right, evan. i'll take it. thank you very much. whatever you hear, let us know, and we'll come back to you. we are expecting to get an update from the local police at about 8:30 a.m. local time in the east. we'll bring that to you when it happens. we also have joining us right now the attorney general of texas, ken paxton. mr. attorney general, i'm very sorry to have you on the show for this occasion. obviously as you know, the entire country is watching this

and in mourning for the loss of these law enforcement lives and the others who were injured as well. there is concern here about how this ambush went down, the way these shooters were moving, the way they were armed, the way they were positioned. what can you tell us? >> well, first of all, let me just say that we're praying for the families as well. we will not forget these fallen heroes, and we will not forget the families. we will support them. but you know, i don't know much more than you know at this time. we're still investigating. the dallas police department is primarily responsible for the investigation. my office is assisting them. so as we find out details that we can release, we'll let you know more. >> the end is coming. the police chief said that the suspect suttered that while he was being confronted in that el centro parking garage. what do they take that to mean?

obviously the guy is dead now so they can't further debrief him. how seriously do they take his threats that more law enforcement would be killed and that there might be explosives in and around dallas? >> you know, i think they took it very seriously. i think they were searching potentially for explosives. they were searching for other suspects and other shooters. if you come to downtown right now, you're going to see hundreds of policemen. i used to work down here, two blocks from where i'm at now. it's very surreal to be in this location now and to see how downtown dallas has transformed into a massive crime scene that is still active. >> we keep hearing from the experts here and from the people on the ground there. something about this feels off. you know, we've seen violence grow out of protests. we've seen how it goes down and where it usually comes from. there's something about this that's in a way even more troubling because it seems that this was a real ambush, that it wasn't planned, that it was planned. is that on your mind as well? >> absolutely. it does have a very strange feel

to it. there's something missing here. obviously there's a lot of information we don't have. but it also -- dallas had a tragedy when president kennedy was shot here in the '60s. this is as close to that feeling, i think, as the city's had in decades. >> ken, what can you tell us about the suspects? do you know anything about their identity or any affiliations they have or what they've been saying or not saying? >> at this time, we don't really know much at all. we're still in the process of trying to find out more. as we get those details, we'll certainly bring them out. >> but you haven't heard anything about any claims of affiliation or who they say they are? there's nothing like that to report? >> at this point, no. i've not been told by any of my people or dallas police department anything new on that particular issue. >> what does it mean to you that not since 9/11 where, you know, of course dozens of law enforcement, over 70 rushed in to save lives and lost their own, that this now is the

deadliest since then of what we've seen law enforcement fall prey to. what does that mean to you? >> you know, it's really sad. it's something that you oftentimes watch on tv, but when you're actually living in the city where something like this happens, it definitely has a profound effect on you. i think this is going to have a profound effect on the people of dallas and north texas for a long time to come. obviously we have some healing, we're going to have to help these families, but it is significant to us. it is painful, but we will rebound and we will again encourage these families. >> i know you're busy, and i want to let you go, but the governor took time to say this is the worst of what we can see out of humanity and it is a time for americans to unify. what is your message to people who see this? they're of mixed minds. some people think it's terror. more think it was a response to the recent police shootings and that this will put even more fuel on the fire, seeing those

who are trying to protect us killed in a situation like this. what do you want people to say? >> you know what, so often in america in our most difficult and challenging times is when we pull together and we end up showing why we are a great country and why the people of this country really are great people. i think this is going to be another one of those cases where it's not just texans but all americans coming together to remember these fallen heroes and to support law enforcement and to support these families who have lost so much. >> ken paxton, thank you so much for joining us on this really difficult morning. let us know what information we need to get out. thank you, sir. >> thank you for having me on. i appreciate it. >> such an important message from the attorney general this morning. this is a time for texans and americans to come together. president obama just a short time ago said he had spoken to the mayor of dallas about this incident. president obama not in the country right now. he's in warsaw in poland for a nato summit. he spoke just moments ago. he called the attacks vicious,

calculated, and despicable. cnn white house correspondent michelle kosinski is live there with more. michelle, what else is the white house saying? >> reporter: well, it sounds like they're still assessing what they're going to do with this trip. he's here for a few days in warsaw, then on to seville and madrid in spain. so it's not clear whether he's going to complete this entire trip because of these events in the united states. but the white house is saying that he's staying updated, and they'll make updates based on developments. here's what he said just a short time ago. >> 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, 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 the federal government will provide whatever assistance dallas may need as it deals with this tremendous tragedy. 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's 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 daying, 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, it's 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. >> reporter: the president is here to deal with the business of nato and threats overseas, but now obviously preoccupied with events in the united states. this is the second time now that we'veeard him speak at length. last night, of course, the victims that he was talking about were people killed by police officers. events overnight, though, now the focus is on the police officers, talking about the threats, the risks on both

sides. the president spoke about the anger and frustration and grief that americans are feeling right now. he said those are feelings that are shared by himself and the first lady. john and chris? >> all right, michelle kosinski for us in warsaw in poland. we're waiting to hear, obviously, if the president's plans for the weekend change. the president also told us when more facts become available, he will speak again on this subject. we did just learn one more fact. we heard from dallas law enforcement that no explosives have been found in downtown dallas around that scene you're looking at right there. the standoff largely around a parking garage. no explosives found right now. >> that has to mean in that immediate area. they could never have swept that entire -- i mean, we've both been to dallas on the job. it's an extensive area for them to look at. i think they're first trying to clear the area where the suspect was. then they're going to branch out from there. but it's going to take some time. >> and to be clear, a few hours

ago when we heard from the dallas police chief, he said they were not completely comfortable there are not more suspects at large. we will hear again from them in about two hours. we expect a lot more details on the investigation. i want to bring in our law enforcement panel right now. analyst cedric alexander, mark lamont hill, and cnn law enforcement analyst and retired nypd detective harry hauck. cedric, we do not know who these people or persons are who carried out in the attack, but we do know they seemed very prepared. we heard sara sidner's piece shortly before that at least one of the suspects carries so much ammunition it was falling out of s pockets. clearly we heard earlier from the dallas police chief these folks knew where to be. they knew where to be in order to target police officers at the end of this protest. >> body armor, 30-round clips.

this was not a standard situation. >> they came for a fight. clearly, based on what we know and in terms of the attire that they came with, the weaponry they came with, if we go back to the footage where around that brick pole that you saw there earlier, how that shooter moved in and around that pole and was able to take aim at an officer and was able to take down one or two officers. just from that piece of footage that we saw. but if you go back to the footage with the young man on the street describing how they shot an officer, and once the officer went down, they shot him several times again and moved on. we very well could be dealing with those who have had some training in military, police. we just don't know. but we're going to learn more about that as we go forward. but i am glad to hear that in

their sweep, they're not finding any ieds. and yes, that is a large area down there, chris. i spent six years in dallas before coming to atlanta. i'm very familiar with that area. but however, we have to keep in mind they had a lot of support from neighboring police agencies whether it's from arlington or garland or ft. worth. i'm quite sure they brought in other k-9 sniffing dogs that helped them to maybe be able to expand out and cover more territory. >> that's the hope, that they got it secured as quickly as they could. we know they're still looking for humans as well as explosives. matthew, for another beat on this, there is going to be a lot of questions. there are going to be a lot of questions about why this happened. was there motivation? is this political? is it born out of the police shootings? but there is something that we just heard from the attorney general. ken paxton used the word

missing. there's something off about this. the way they were armed, as cedric just said, the way they moved, this elevated position, seemed to know where to be. it doesn't feel like what we usually see as violence growing out of a protest that the police are very quick to say had been peaceful to that point. >> for a lack of anything better, these guys were pros. if you look at the way they were dancing and retreating, they had received some sort of tactical training in the past. >> when cedric says how that man was moving around the pole, what does that mean? >> what cedric is saying is the way that the suspects were advancing and retreats, the way they were moving, the way they were shooting, how they were walking, they had some sort of training in the past, so they're not your average, ordinary street thugs. >> harry, what types of people have that kind of information, have that knowledge? are we talking possibly about former military here maybe? >> it could very well be former military. the kind of movement you see is the movement i train for when i

was in the marine corps. you can see the way they're moving around those columns, in and out. that's a tactical maneuver that we've learned -- that i learned in the military and also the police department. this could be somebody who, you know, was trained by somebody who has got full knowledge of tactics and maneuvers or somebody who could be former military, just like cedric said, that is trained and maybe helped train others for this specific attack. >> harry, you're an officer. you're in another big city. maybe you're in cleveland. maybe you're in philadelphia where the conventions are going to be. you wake up on the job this morning. what does an incident like this do to your mind set? >> well, i'll tell you, the first thing i thought last night when i got home from being on and seeing this happen was, you know, result of what's been going on the last couple years.

i think every police officer right now in this country who's looking at this is probably thinking the same thing i am. although, we don't have any evidence to prove the fact that, you know, we think all the anti-police rhetoric, this is a result of that, but what else could it actually be? if you sit and go through the specifics of this attack. so myself looking at it and other police officers that i've talked to early this morning and tweeted and e-mailed with are all thinking pretty much the same thing, that this has got to be the result of all the anti-police rhetoric that's been going on for a couple years. although, i don't think the last two attacks that just occurred in the last two -- incidents with police in the last two days, you know, this thing was born as a result of that. i think it was born as a result of a combination of this going on for quite a period of time

and that maybe this was the catalyst for this specific attack today. >> in both those cases this week, obviously investigations still going on. we still have to learn as many facts as we can. if you'll all give me a second, i want top put a picture of the only officer so far whose identity we know who's been killed. his name is brent thompson, 43 years old. he's a dallas area rapid transit officer. he worked as a security officer in afghanistan and iraq. he wanted to help keep people around the world safe. he was killed overnight on the streets of dallas, his hometown, where he lived. we do not know the identities of the four other officers killed. we'll bring them to you as soon as we do because these are people. we need to learn about these people. mark lamont hill, we just heard from harry, how he believes that law enforcement around the country who may be learning about this right now as they're waking up, how they're feeling this morning. what about protesters around the country who are on the streets maybe in these other cities in

what were largely peaceful protests? they're waking up this morning. what are they thinking? >> two things. first, protesters who are very vocal about anti-black violent, et cetera, we still care about human beings. no one wants this to happen. people are mourning. the first instinct is to mourn, to feel sad, to feel pain. no one wants that to happen. the protests we've seen have largely been peaceful because that's the primary strategy you seen deployed. the second thing, and it's just as human, is to say, oh, my god, i hope that's not the protesters doing this. when i heard about the officers, i prayed for their families. then i thought i hope this is just the act of a terrorist instead of a protester. it can muddy the movement. when i say terrorists, i simply mean anyone who engages in an act of violence for political purposes. >> anyone who targets down, guns down five cops --

>> absolutely. >> i have no problem calling them a terrorist. >> there's several things. murderer, coward, terrorist because of what they're trying to achieve through this senseless act. but how are you struck by what harry says, which is you keep bashing the police every time there's one of these shootings, you say it's all police. there's no question there's hyperbole involved in protests and there's anger and anger often really amps things up. we've seen it on the streets in different cities. >> absolutely. >> so what does that mean to you, the notion that maybe that type of talk led us to this point today? >> well, i would appeal to evidence and say there's no evidence of that. over the last few years, we've seen the strongest critiques of police perhaps ever. we've seen the longest resistance movement against state violence in american history over the last two years. police deaths in the line of duty have actually gone down. so there's no evidence that's the case. there are outliers. of course, there are always outliers. but there's no one-to-one

correlation. the second thing that i would say -- and i think it's important to say, is that the movement is largely about the movement. people are out here not wanting violence. the same people out here saying police shouldn't be kill iing u are saying we should have less guns on the street. we don't know the facts yet, but there's no reason to assume that. i want it to play out and see what happens. >> matt, is this a case where everyone can be right? what i hear from a lot of law enforcement, what we heard from the president overnight is what has been going on and the mistrust that has been created or has developed over the last few years with these officer-involved shootings makes people less safe. not just the people on the streets but officers as well. it creates an environment which leads to dangerous things. >> it absolutely does, but let's be clear about several things. number one, police by and large -- i'm a member of a number of professional law

enforcement organizations -- feel like they're being targeted as a result of everything we've seen over the past several years. >> i think that's clear, they do. >> they do feel that way. but i think there's another thing to point out also. i call it the coptics of what we're dealing with. the optics of dealing with police in the digital age.seeine coming right into their living rooms, right on youtube. no matter what side of the fence you're sitting on, you have an opinion about it. the police feel victimized. some of the citizens feel victimized. we're at a place where we have to complete the narrative and have to move forward. >> as we said earlier, you know, we all know people who are on the job being journalists, and they are among the first when these shootings happen to say they need to investigate, they have to find it out. the last thing a good cop wants is a bad continue in their midst. we hear it time and time again. there's a lot of news. it's now about 6:30 eastern time. we want to tell you what's going

on in dallas. there's major breaking news. all right. we'll reset it. i was waiting for a breaking news graphic. didn't get one, don't need it. let's get to sara sidner in dallas. that is the scene of this ambush-style attack on police, sara. 11 casualties involved. at least five officers killed. it was happening during a protest in response to the recent police shootings, but by all accounts, especially police, this seemed planned. this seemed different than any violence we've seen growing out of a protest to date. >> reporter: this protest was peaceful. that's what you've heard from many of those who attended. the police were also out as well. the protest was actually breaking up when the shooting began. we heard from a witness who said that the police officer actually helped shove him out of the way as the bullets rained down.

he had a little cut on his leg, but he was shoved into a building and is safe because of that police officer. the protesters, and we've talked to a couple of them now, have said this had nothing to do with us. we were basically done. it was a peaceful protest with people from all over dallas and the world. then all of the sudden this. their reaction to this, that this is either terrorism or domestic terrorism. the number of police officers killed, they say, they don't want to see police officers killed, they want to make sure that black folks aren't being killed by police officers. and that is their whole message. i do want to talk to you about what i've heard from a witness who was here just a block over when all of this started happening. she says she was inside the mcdonald's with a lot of other people. she heard what sounded like fire crackers, came outside, and all of the sudden she could see what she said were bits of light going back and forth. she suddenly realized this was gunfire and this was a really

dangerous situation. she said police came rushing in, rushing past her and telling everyone to get down. she lied on the ground. she was terrified for her life. and she was part of the black lives matter protest. she said, i have never been so scared for my life. when police said the shooter has a rifle, she got up and ran for her life. this is just one story of many, very similar stories, in dealing with what turned out to be a barrage of gunfire that lasted about an hour. there was 45 minutes of back and forth between police and the suspects. they say there were two snipers who were up high, either inside of a parking garage at el centro college, looking down, and literally picking police officers off one by one by one, killing five, wounding six. people are devastated here.

>> vicious, calculated, despicable. that's exactly what the president called those attacks. sara sidner, thank you so much. keep us posted as to what you learn. i want to give you one new piece of information. the new york police department is increasing security around precincts in all of new york city in responses to what happened in dallas. that's new york. i have to believe that's going to happen everywhere or many places around the country this morning as this is understandably a nation on edge. >> look, that's the right way to look at it. certainly we know what's going on in this country. we know what the dialogue is, but this takes it to a different level. this is the most deadly attack on law enforcement since 9/11, when you had over 70 officers enter those buildings trying to save people and lost their own lives. there's no question that the country is on edge. the question is what will our leaders do about it. one of the big scenes in dallas that we've been covering in and around this story is what's been happening at the hospitals. kyung lah is there at baylor university hospital. you're there not just because of

the worst of what's been seen there, but the best as well. >> reporter: this is a community that's trying to protect the officers because these officers from two different departments, chris, have suffered losses that they simply could not imagine in one single day. five deaths in two different departments in this city. what we're seeing here at a couple different hospitals are a community trying to come to grips with that. so what we've seen for hours here at baylor university medical center is vigil. constant vigil being kept by police. then we saw what can only be described as a heartbreaking scene. employees from the medical center came down, and they tried to create a human barrier, tried to give these officers some peace as they said good-bye to two fellow officers. there was a line of police officers that we couldn't see because of the medical employees. they saluted as two bodies came

out of the emergency room. the bodies of a dallas police officer and the body of a d.a.r.t. police officer. they were loaded into a white van. we heard the call for two salutes. and then the white van left. we can see police officers hugging and crying. you could see the medical staff here incredibly moved. and it's not just here at this hospital. at parkland hospital, which is just a short distance away from here, it's also a level one trauma center, there were police officers saluting also as they said good-bye to their fellow brothers or sisters. this again the deadliest day for law enforcement since 9/11. we want to introduce you to at least one of these people. he's the only one who's been identified. he's a d.a.r.t. police officer. his name is brent thompson. he's 43 years old. he's someone that he wrote on his linkedin page that he felt the most important part of policing was to try and be a team. i want to add on to something

sara was talking about. she talked about how the police were there with the black lives matter protesters. the police department had been posting pictures throughout the day for hours before this shooting happened. they were there among the protesters, showing how peaceful it was. this is a big city police department that is unique from other departments, other big cities because they focus so much on community policing. they talk about how community policing will then prevent police shootings. it is something that this community certainly knows and that this department is known for. so to suffer this kind of loss is simply unspeakable. i want to close the police chaplain, who my producer spoke with very briefly. he said simply watching all of this happen is, quote, there are no words. john, chris? >> there are no words. i think there is only compassion this morning for the families of the 11 people shot last night, the 11 officers. five killed, six wounded. we only know the identity of

one, brent thompson. we will learn the identities of the others, including those wounded. we don't have confirmation yesterday, but i can see some of the names. they will be men, they will be women, they will be black, they will be white, they will be hispan hispanic. these are all races targeted last night in dallas in what the president called a vicious, calcula calculated, despicable attack. joining us now, cnn commentator ben ferguson, who's in dallas. also joining us, cnn political commentator bakari sellers. ben, i want to the start with you since you're there in dallas. talk to me about what this night has been like and what you're hearing from your fellow texans this morning. >> horrific, anger, and outrage. many police officers that i've talked to last night and into this morning, including three different officers that are african-american, said to me they want to make it clear the police were targeted in an

assassination and a killing and they're tired of it. they don't feel like there are people in this country in positions of leadership that are backing them the way they should. this was a terrorist attack, an assassination against police officers. as one police officer said to me early this morning when i talked to him, he said, my life has been put as a target, and it's been months of rhetoric, as he put it, against police officers. when you continue to have people, whether it be in new york when there was chants over a year ago saying, what do we want, dead cops, when do we want them, now. or in minneapolis, they were calling for pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon. yesterday, and this is his words, and he's african-american. when you have the president come out and imply that somehow the police are in some way the bad guys, this puts their lives at risk. these police officers, not only do they feel discouraged, but they feel like it is open season

on them and that their lives do not seem to matter in this conversation. they're obviously angry. they're frustrated. another officer told me this. he said last night that police were at a 7-eleven after the shooting at almost 2:00 in the morning. there was young men out there who were celebrating that police officers had been shot, and we knew at that point had been killed. they were out there still trying to keep people safe. we as a country have got to make it clear, the president has to make it clear, every leader in the u.s. government needs to make it clear that we stand behind these police officers everywhere in this country and that there is no justification. i know we talk about this, but this is what they're saying. there is no justification because the actions of a few that you do not like, bad cops, call them that, they're fine with that, but the fact we have not seen a massive standing with

the police recently from the top leadership is putting their lives at risk and they're being targeted with assassinations and people who celebrate this. >> the idea that anyone would be celebrating this overnight, if that's in fact what happened at a 7-eleven or anywhere else -- >> i witnessed it, just so you know. >> simply repugnant. when you used the words no justification for what happened, those are the words president obama just used a few minutes ago. to be fair, last night when he was talking about what happened in minnesota and louisiana, he made clear just because you say black live matter doesn't mean you're saying blue lives don't matter. he spoke about the police last night, spoke about them at length this morning. he said we need to stand behind the police officers. he said this is a wrenching reminder of the sacrifices that they make for us. i know that the entire country should stand by those words. bakari, i want to get your response to what ben was saying. >> well, thank you, because i was going to echo the same

points you just made, john. when i woke up this morning, i immediately thought i was still in a very bad dream. our country has to do better. it seems like every time we wake up, our heart is going out or we're sending pieces of our heart out to someone else, someone else's family. so today my prayers go out to not just the law enforcement in dallas but the law enforcement throughout this country. you know, that brings me to another point. last night what we saw, it was an interesting dynamic. what we saw was a peaceful protest, and the police officers actually protecting our fundamental first amendment right. then you saw police officers doing something that was even more extraordinary because after the protest was over and what we know is the gunshots started raining down, we saw police officers going into life-saving mode, when they always do, and throwing protesters out of the way and saving lives. so when you think about all of those dynamics, you can't help but to grieve. but even more practically, and

just so ben understands this and just so the rest of the country understands this, my heart can go out and i can grieve and not want young people to be killed in a theater in colorado, my heart can go out and i can grieve and not want young people slaughtered in an elementary school in sandy hook. my heart can go out and i can grieve for young people, young african-americans who are killed at traffic stops. and that has to stop. i can also grieve and say my heart can go out and it has to stop because police do not deserve to be targeted, assassinated by terrors from above. these things are not mutually exclusive. we can all grieve together. we can all say this violence has to stop. there's no room in our discussion. there's no room in our dialogue for divisiveness. we can all equally pray that these things don't happen. >> right, the problem is that that doesn't happen, except in the worst of moments. the politics of whether it's excessive force or as we saw the president fold in the gun issue,

and we're going to hear more about that because these guys were armed to the teeth that did these murders, it is never about the balance of both of these things, ben. look at what we're hearing this morning. we can have this as a healthy discussion. we all know each other. we all know we're coming from a good place. cops feel that they've been targeted all the time, but that's not what goes on in these dialogues. very often it is about the specific incident that happens. we hear from cops as much as anybody that those incidents have to be investigated, and whatever infection is there has to be rooted out because that's as bad for police as anything that they hear from politicians or in the media. as much as those situations happen where you have excessive force, that is the worst pr for the police force in general. that's the root of this, not the politics of it. >> i agree. i think the police officers and the point they made to me as i spoke with them, these dallas

police officers, is they feel like the majority of the conversation in this country is negative and anti-police now. and it has moved to the point where there is a boldness by those that do not like the police, a purposesful disrespect to the police by many who think that is now somehow the right thing to do, to be disrespectful, to not comply, to not respect police officers. we have to change that trend. i don't think this has to do with republican or democrat, but right now i think it's very clear that the police that you talk to all over the country, they feel like there truly is a target because they wear a badge. we have not done a good enough job, i think, in this country recently of making it clear that as a nation we believe the majority of police officers are good people. they want the bad cops to be rooted out. they want the bad cops to get out of the police force. they want them to go to jail if they commit crimes. but the police that i saw and

the police that i've talked to, they feel like as a whole in this country right now, police officers have become now the bad guys and that it is justified to hate them, to disrespect them, and even target them, and that's where we have to come together to make it clear as a nation we back every police officer everywhere, and we believe they're good people trying to protect lives, whether it's protecting back lives matter or anybody else. >> bakari, you do know there are officers around the country even before this morning who felt like they were being targeted, who felt like they were coming under unfair criticism. in just the last 24 hours, you have heard sometimes explosive language about police officers. you've heard people say that black people are being hunted by police officers. you heard diamond reynolds, the woman who filmed what happened in the car in st. paul, minnesota, saying she believes police officers are trying to

assassinate african-americans. is that rhetoric, is that type of language, does that contribute to the at mos fomosp right now? >> i think we have to be mindful of all of our language. i can't sit here and condemn e diamond reynolds. i can't condemn her for those thoughts when she witnessed what she witnessed in her vehicle. we have to have sympathy and empathy on both sides of this issue. there has been divisive language by some, like joe walsh, who have just pushed these narratives. i can't condemn diamond reynolds for saying that when she went through that trauma. that's first. more importantly, let me tell you what this does. this act of terror last night does nothing but further divide us. not only does it have our cops, who have to wake up this morning and see, if they didn't know already, it's not hyperbole to

say their lives are at risk every single day they go out. not only that, but you have now a group of people like myself and many others who don't want cops to believe that i am the one who's persecuting them. that's not the goal. i don't want any cop out there to believe that i am a greater threat. i'm afraid that what happened last night, i don't want law enforcement to believe that i am inherently a greater threat than i am. i think that is why this terror last night causes many of us to fret, many of us to worry. i'm afraid that that terror may instill some fear in many of us. i don't want anyone to believe i'm a greater threat than i am. i just want the discussion of people of good hearts and good minds to continue like the one we're having this morning. >> i'll say this -- >> go ahead, ben. take the last word. >> i want to be clear. there have been a lot of people that are trying to somehow separate the shooting from the black lives matter protest last

night. we have to, i think, be candid. there are people that have been outspoken that are a part of the black lives matter movement that are not advocating for peace, that are not advocating for peaceful protests, that are advocating for hurting police officers. you can see it on social media. you can see it last night with some of these men that i witnessed that were at this 7-eleven that were literally celebrating police officers being shot and killed. and to somehow say that there is some complete divide here, there is not a total divide. we have to do a better job of calling out when you see people that are part of a movement advocating for police being killed. we saw it in minneapolis months ago in that black lives matter protest. what do we want? dead cops. when do we want them? pigs in a blanket. the idea we can separate this, it needs to be called what it is. there are people that do want police officers to be harmed. some of them are, in fact, a part of black lives matter

movement. they need to be called out for that and not be politically correct on this issue. >> there's a lot to be called out in this situation, ben. we know that. there's no reason to get ahead of where police are. they keep saying we're not going to give information about who did this until they know. you know enough about what you saw on the streets of dallas to know this is different than anything that we've seen grown out of a protest from the way they were armed and equipped, the way they moved. there are a lot of open questions. one thing we can take from this, it's always good to think before you speak. it's always good to think about the impact of your words. it's terrible that it takes something like this to bring that lesson into focus. ben, bakari, thank you very much. appreciate the discussion this morning. >> we want to focus on what was lost last night, the five lives that were lost. not just officers, but people. we know the identity of one of the people killed so far. brent thompson, 43-year-old officer for the dallas area rapid transit. we want to learn about him, know

who he was. the chief of the dallas transit police joins us after a quick break.

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years old. joinings now is garry thomas, the president and executive director of d.a.r.t. and james spiller, the chief of d.a.r.t.'s police force. chief, let me start with you. first, our hearts go out to you, your entire force, and your entire community this morning. brent thompson, 43 years old. we just learned that within the last two weeks, he got married to another officer. heartbreaking. what more can you tell us about this man? >> brent was a great officer. you know, he came to us from corsicana, texas, police department. he was an outstanding patrol officer as well as a rail officer. we have the highest respect for him. i just spoke with him a couple weeks ago. he was in great spirits from his recent marriage. he was just a great officer overall. >> and obviously we're going to learn more identities of other officers, but can you tell us, what was he doing there?

what was his job for the protest? >> well, what our primary function is, is to making sure we're taking care of our assets. our assets being buses, train stations, and rail line. at that particular time, our plan was for them to be at one of our transit centers, which is where the trains will stop. they were there simply watching the protest, making sure no one got in the way of our trains or our buses. more importantly to make sure the egress and ingress of passengers getting off the trains, they were able to do that safely and unimpeded by other things going on. subsequently as they were standing near their car, watching all those things happen, that's when the shots started ringing out. >> and gary, we learned that brent thompson had worked overseas as a security officer in iraq and afghanistan. he wanted to keep people safe overseas, wanted to keep people

safe at home. he lost his life doing his job last night on your streets. >> he was a dedicated officer, dedicated to the safety of americans, all over the world certainly, but we had the opportunity to have him with us since 2009. a great officer and did a great job for us. we'll miss him very much. >> chief, have you ever seen anything like what the officers had to deal with last night in terms of the type of equipment they were up against, the type of coordinated movements that they seemed to be up against? >> not in the city of dallas. this was a horrific event that took place, something that's totally out of character for the greater north texas region, especially in the city of dallas. our officers, along with the

dallas police officers, responded appropriately, making sure that we took care of those protesters, getting them out of the way of fire, and allowing other officers to come in and address those suspects. so the training kicked in. two departments working together between dallas police department and d.a.r.t. police department. and that happens all over the country. that happens especially well here in the north texas region. our hearts are out with the dallas police department, personnel that were killed or injured, as well as our personnel also. >> chief, i wonder if you can just tell me what the emotions are this morning in the department. i imagine there just has to be so much grief for the loss of your brothers and sisters but also pride in the job that was done overnight, making sure that this attack, this war that took place on the streets of dallas

wasn't even worse. >> the emotions are running high, you know, because of the loss, because of the situation that took place. but the pride remains. the officers are there doing their job. we're making sure we have all of our employee assistance programs in place as well as medical personnel there to provide counseling. i have met with the families of all of the injured officers as well as officer thompson's family. we have officers assigned with them. you know, we're worried about their care and well being as well as those of the officers that are yet out there performing their duties. and we're working closely, hand in hand, with the city of dallas throughout this investigation and helping them as we continue to keep the streets of dallas safe as well as through our 700-square-mile area we cover. >> mr. thomas, what can you tell

us about where the hearts and minds are of the officers under your control right now, coming out of something like this? we've seen the scenes at the hospital where medical personnel and before that lines of officers were saluting and were holding hand in hand in solidarity. >> well, the well being of our entire d.a.r.t. family is first and foremost in our minds. certainly when it comes to our officers making sure that they're taken care of during this period of time, but as the chief said, they take a great deal of pride in their job. they know they have a job to do. they get up and do that every morning. they're prepared to do that again today. i was at the hospital talking to many of them. they're very proud people. >> well, i know this is very

difficult for you gentlemen. it is unimaginable what your officers had to fight their way through last night. all along not putting the defense of themselves first but the defense of the citizens that they were there to protect. thank you for being with us this morning. please send our condolences to the families and let us know what we can do to help. gentlemen, thank you. >> thank you very much. >> all right. we're going to have much more on our breaking news coverage of the dallas police killings. let's get right to it. good morning. welcome back to your new day in the united states and around the world. john berman, kwchris cuomo reporting here on what is a dark day in american history. the deadliest for law enforcement in the united states since 9/11. here's what we know. in dallas there were protests going on in the wake of these recent police shootings. then there was an ambush by murderers targeting police. five officers have been killed.

there were 11 targeted. six others were injured in this. you're going to see tons of cell video from eyewitnesses who watched this. it went on for over an hour. this started about 9:00 p.m. local time in dallas. there are several suspects in custody right now. the last one that they know to be a shooter that they had pinned down at this el centro college parking building, he wound up being killed. before he died, john, he said that the end is coming, that more police would be hurt and that there were bombs in and around the city of dallas. >> we do know they have swept that area, and they did not find any explosives. >> none yet. >> right now that's the latest situation that we have from there. just a short time ago we also heard from the president, who called this a vicious, calculated, and despicable attack. we are learning more information on the ground right there.

let's get straight to sara sidner in dallas. sara, what are you learning? >> reporter: we're learning that two of the officers' bodies have now been removed from the hospital. one of those officers, d.a.r.t. officer brent thompson, had just gotten married in the last two weeks. this is a heartbreaking situation for the people of dallas, for the dallas police department. 11 officers gunned down, five of whom have lost their lives, six who are wounded. it all happened at the end of a black lives matter protest. chaos erupting on the streets of dallas at 9:00 p.m. >> somebody is really armed to the tee. >> reporter: gunshots raining down from the sky. officers taking cover. protesters scattering in panic as their peaceful march against officer-involved shootings wound down. >> i would say probably about 20

gunshots, rapid succession. >> i was screaming run, run, run, active shooter, active shooter. >> somebody tried to shoot at him, he got hit, fell. boom, boom, boom, kept going. >> reporter: around 10:30, police confirming snipers in elevated positions targeting officers, picking them off, ambush style, in what appears to be a coordinated attack. just before midnight, law enforcement officers cornering a suspect at el centro garage downtown. >> i think they might have got somebody. >> reporter: one witness catching the standoff unfolding from the ground. police exchanging gunfire for over 45 minutes while trying to negotiate. >> there's somebody else down over there. >> reporter: one officer trying to catch the shooter off guard sadly shot down. another witness capturing the suspect from above, wearing body armor, holding so much ammunition it was falling out of his pocket.

>> i did hear some popping sounds. i didn't -- i did think it was fireworks at first. a man came out, had a rifle. ar-15, clear as day. it looked planned. he knew where to stand and opened fire. >> reporter: police now say one suspect has been killed. >> the suspect told our negotiators that the end is coming and that there are bombs all over the place in this garage and in downtown. >> reporter: but police say they have three people in custody, including a woman who was in the vicinity of the garage and two suspects carrying a camouflaged bag. they were stopped on the interstate. >> to say that our police officers put their life on the line every day is no hyperbole. we as a country must come together and lock arms and heal the wounds that we all feel from time to time. >> reporter: and i can tell you -- and we should mention this is

the deadliest incident for u.s. law enforcement since 9/11. guys, back to you. >> sara sidner in dallas. only september 11th, the oklahoma city bombing killed more officers in this country in the last 60 years. that gives you a sense of just how horrific this was. that's the bad. the good is some of the coming together and compassion we're seeing right now. one of the most remarkable scenes is unfolding at a dallas hospital with police and medical personnel hand in hand as the injured are being treated inside and those who have been killed are being taken away. kyung lah is at the baylor university hospital right now with more. >> reporter: you get a sense, john that, the reason why this is happening is because they just don't know what else to do. this is so senseless, and they feel so powerless that all they can do, at least the hospital employees here, is to try to give some of these police officers some sort of privacy amid all of this public who hor.

what we saw just a short time ago and throughout the evening, we saw police officers holding vigil out here. as they were moving two bodies out of this emergency room, the body of a dallas police officer and the body of a d.a.r.t. police officer, we saw the medical staff come out and link arms. they stood side by side. we could not see beyond them. what one of the officers told us was happening was police officers saluting as though gurneys and two bodies were moved into the white vans and that van left. we could see police officers hugging and crying as they said farewell. this is something that's happening not just here at this hospital but also at another hospital on the other side of dallas, another level one trauma center. police officers there also saluting as some of their fallen were taken away. we don't know many of the stories of the people who have died. we have heard some of these

unconfirmed reports of who they are. the only person who has been identified is someone we've been talking about a lot this morning. 43-year-old brent thompson, he's the first officer in d.a.r.t. history to be killed in the line of duty. this is a police department that was formed in 1989, a rail, transportation -- trying to keep people on the rail lines and buses safe. he just married two weeks ago. the person he married was a fellow d.a.r.t. police officer. this is not that uncommon. police officers are known as a giant family. this family in particular is really struggling as to what to do. this is a community that certainly believes that its police officers want to work with the community. what we've seen throughout the day from the dallas police department are a number of tweets as they saw the protest peacefully happening for hours before the gunfire happened. and this is a police department also known for trying to engage

in community policing. if you do that, then it prevents further police shootings. >> kyung lah for uses in dallas. we saw the police out there engaging with protesters on the streets up until those last awful hours. those police doing their jobs, keeping people safe during the protests and then saving lives once the shots rang out. there are so many questions this morning about what happened and how it happened. was it revenge for the killings that have taken place by police over the last few days? was it an act of terrorism? cnn's evan perez is following the investigation right now in washington. what are you hearing from your sources? >> reporter: john, as we've been talking about, these are still the chaotic first hours of this investigation. investigators know that this was a planned ambush of cops. that much they're sure of.

at this point, investigators don't see any connection to international terrorist groups. obviously that's one of the first places they start looking. investigators believe whoever did this was purposely using the cover of these street protests against these police killings. police say that this march was peaceful and was nearing its end when this ambush began. so the question at this hour remains, who did this, and is there a broader group that's behind it. police officers were obviously the targets, and investigators believe the one civilian was also injured, but the atf and fbi are helping to investigate this attack. we still don't know for sure how many shooters there were. dallas police at first last night said there were two snipers. one suspect was cornered at a community college garage. he's now dead. he spoke to police negotiators, saying, quote, the end is coming. there were at least three other people arrested near the scene as part of this investigation. there's a lot that doesn't

really make sense here for these investigators. dallas is seen as a model of community policing in this country. the police department there is viewed as having built some of the best relationships with the communities it protects. still, at this point no possible motives have been ruled out. i want to add one quick thing. i've been hearing a lot from some of the law enforcement folks that i talk to, that i deal with daily. they keep getting worried about the tone of the conversation about police and about some of these shootings. clearly that's what's hanging over everything that's happening in dallas at this hour. chris and john? >> look, there's no question that this is a country on edge because of what just happened to these officers. also, there are these bigger issues going on. just think about what we've had the last couple days. two different incidents, two different states. one, baton rouge with a history of police controversy. the other one, a small place in minnesota. the result the same in both places. cops, black men, and wind up

dead in police stops. but what happened in dallas changes everything. we have never seen this kind of result during a protest, as unjustified as the president and everyone agrees it was. we have new i havideo for you oe actual incident. here's a look. >> is that a cop dead? dude, that's a cop down. dude, that's a cop down. >> there's four cops down. >> four? >> yeah, he shot five, seven times. >> it's a dude? >> no, it's a sniper from up here somewhere. >> it's a sniper? >> get down, get down. >> obviously some people on their cell phone there excited. showing you what's going on there. that's brand new video of the incident. there's a lot of cell phone video out there. it does show, john, what was their early concern, the man there saying he'd seen four officers down. the police have confirmed they were dealing with at least one

shooter. they did report overnight two, but there's so much gunfire it's tricky to know, from elevated positions. the one guy they were dealing with definitely had body armor, long guns, and lots of ammo. >> ammo falling out of his pockets. want to discuss right now with former atf executive. matt, let me start with you. first of all, we heard from our reporting earlier today that the gunmen that we know of armed to the teeth with ammunition literally falling out of his pocket. we heard in that new video that we heard just for the fist time an eyewitness saying four officers down in rapid succession. as many as seven hit in rapid succession. did one person do that?

>> one person could, but what we also heard was eyewitnesses saying there was a sniper on the roof of one of the buildings. so we have to take that into consideration. >> we saw a person on the ground and heard shots from above. >> and there were a lot of rounds going off in that one segment we heard. it sounded like a war zone. >> again, another point of concern for the police, and matthew, you echoed this this morning, the way this person was moving, the way they were armed, and just because you're in an elevated position does not mean you'll be able to hit any target, let alone multiple targets in rapid succession without training. >> 100%. >> that winds up leading to questions about what kind of person they're dealing with it. >> is it military? might it be ex-security, ex-law enforcement perhaps? but it has to be someone that knew how to advance and retreat just like what we saw on that video. these were not amateurs. they weren't shooting amateurs. they weren't movement amateurs. they weren't tactical amateurs. >> let's look at it one more time. this is video we just got in of an eyewitness telling us what

was going on. >> is that a cop dead? >> that's a cop down. >> dude, that's a cop down. dude, that's a cop down. >> yeah, there's four cops down. >> four? >> yeah, he shot five, seven times. >> it's a dude? >> no, it's a sniper from up here somewhere. >> it's a sniper? >> you hear the shots? get down, get down. >> you can hear the disbelief right there. four cops down then told seven cops were shot. then the word it was a sniper from somewhere up high. harry houck, i want to bring you into this discussion. it does seem by what we're hering and the results, the horrific results, that this was planned. someone went into this with a plan. >> john, let me tell you what's going through my mind right now. is this part of a larger conspiracy against police officers? are there groups out there connected to this group that are planning to attack police officers in the country? we're hoping that the fbi and law enforcement will be able to

find that out. the second thing i'm thinking about right now is that this demonstration was probably just planned within the last day or two. police need to go back to video in that area from a day or two ago and look to see if any of the suspects they have under arrest or the suspect that is dead, see him walking through that area and doing a recon of the area. that will be able to put them back on the scene, especially the people that have been arrested, and see if they're part of that conspiracy and doing the recon in that area. it definitely appears like they knew the area very well. >> ben, you were dealing with people who were on the ground there all night long. you were in dallas yourself. how difficult was this for them to process and deal with, not just in the immediacy of the event, but in the aftermath of knowing what had just happened? >> well, it was very hard, mainly because of just the total

chaos that this was. we were at a point where you had game wardens that were being called in. you had police officers showing up from police departments that were more than 60 miles away from where this shooting happened. one of the things about this area that i think was talking about the planning of this is, this is incredible vulnerable area for police officers. there are a lot of parking garages in this area. there are a lot of places for people to hide. this was an area where traditionally you have celebrations, parades. recently there was an lgbt parade in the same area. this is a place where consistently you have protests. this is consistently a place where you have the fourth of july parade, for example. so this is an area that is -- if you are planning this attack, you would know exactly the corridor. you would understand how the police move when they're protecting these parades or protests. this is an area where obviously

i think these individuals, from what police have said to me, they knew this area well. they knew exactly how the police move in this area and how these protests work their way through the street. this is right by not only the federal building there, it's right by the d.a.r.t. station. it's also right by the greyhound bus station. there are four different corridors that come into this area when it comes to different major roadways are, whether it be 45 or 30. that's why last night you saw the police where they caught that mercedes benz with the two suspects in it. they were fleeing downtown with those bags. there are four different directions with major highways that you can leave within probably a minute and a half. you could be on the highway headed north, east, west, or south. completely different parts of the country. but if you go down there, and this is where i work, where you saw this all unfold is literally where i go to work, almost every single day, there are so many places where the police could be targeted. with it echoing off these

buildings, as one of the police officers said to me, we couldn't tell where the shots were coming from because you couldn't tell with the echoes of where the shooter may be happening or shooters, as we now know. that's why i think the shooter was also so successful in assassinating and murdering and killing these police officers in downtown dallas. that's why you see so many police that were in shock and running around because they're trying to figure out where the threat even is. >> it was a great deal of confusion and a great deal of bravery at that moment, dealing with it, particularly because a lot of the folks that were there, were there to keep protesters safe, to manage traffic. the one death we know is a dallas area rapid transit officer, brent thompson, the first d.a.r.t. officer killed ever. it gives you a sense that dealing with this type of event is not something typically in the line of that duty. one of the things that's horrible about this is dallas is

an example where community policing is working. >> yeah, and what we're learning is that this is extreme terrorism. you have to call it what it is. these protests were happening throughout the country. we saw people in new york. we saw people all around the country who were protesting these incidents because they felt some specific pain dealing with the killing of two individuals at the hands of police. you know, i can't help but to believe that this act of terror that rained down on dallas right now -- of course we know it was just meant to further divide us. when we say that we're praying for law enforcement, we can pray for law enforcement and say that everything that happened last night was terror, but we can also in the same breath continue to remember the two persons who were killed in those recent incidents when they came across law enforcement.

philando castile and alton sterling, we can still call their name. i only hope we begin the process of coming together and not let what happened last night further divide us. let me tell you something about the people at that protest. they don't want anymore violence. they don't want anymore violence at the hand of law enforcement. they definitely don't want law enforcement killed. i have to push back on that narrative. that's not what these protests were about at all. >> one of the things we have seen is people coming together this morning, some of the images we've seen at the baylor medical center in dallas simply heartbreaking. people joined arm in arm there, medical professionals and law enforcement in solidarity with those who were shot and wounded. our thanks to the panel for that discussion. president obama addressed this just horrifying incident. he is in warsaw in poland for a nato summit. the president called what happened overnight vicious, calculated, and despicable. cnn white house correspondent michelle kosinski is live in warsaw this morning following the president. michelle, what else are you

hearing from the white house? >> reporter: this is the second time we've heard the president speak on this and he's been in warsaw less than 24 hours. first, last night as soon as he arrived, he wanted to say something. he prepared these remarks on his way over. you could hear the emotion in his voice talking about the victims being people who were shot by police, how this too often falls along racial lines and further devolves into a divisive political issue. he said we as americans can do better. he did make reference to the risks that police officers face. of course, not knowing that hours later this then would happen in dallas. so early this morning, first thing, he wanted to speak again. this time saying he, like the rest of america, is horrified by what has happened and necessarily focusing on police being the victims. listen.

>> 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. there is no justification for these attacks. >> reporter: the president also made mention of the fact that powerful weapons were involved. that's an issue he's been working on for a long time, but there hasn't been action in congress while he's been president. as for that question as to whether the president is going to cut this trip short, he has this leg in warsaw, then on to spain. the white house is really watching, looking at the developments and seeing if that's necessary. at this point, though, it seems unlikely that he would make changes to his schedule. chris? >> all right, michelle. thank you very much. keep us apprised of what happens

on the president's circle there. we just learned from evan perez that a triple sourced report on this is that they don't believe that this murderous ambush of police had any connection to international terror. now, that still leaves open a lot of avenues of possibility. it's definitely a terror attack because of what its effort was to inspire. but who did it? we know there are suspects in custody right now. whether or not they're connected to the event, we don't know. we know one of the suspects is now dead. they're gathering information about him, but there's still a lot of unanswered questions. let's bring in congressman william herd of texas, also former cia and obviously on the homeland defense committee in the congress. so sorry to have to be talking to you in this context this morning, congressman. obviously everybody feels the pain of the families affected in dallas of these law enforcement officers. what do you want people to know?

>> people need to know that despite the tragedy, we need to be working together to try to solve these problems. this is a time right now where we should be also praying for law enforcement because they're the ones right now that are reconstructing the scene to try to figure out what happened, understand the motives, interrogate the folks that the three individuals that we have in custody to see if this is a larger plot. to see if law enforcement across the country need to be concerned. they're going forward in a very professional way. the reality is dallas is already coming together. though shows the resiliency of our american people. >> are the you concerned equally as the local police there about what was observed in these murderers, whether it was just the one shooter or more, as they originally believed? we don't know where they are on that in terms of the number. the quality, the movement, how armed they were, the plan manager of this attack.

does it concern you also? >> it does. i think just some of the initial reports show that these individuals had some sophisticated tactics, techniques, and procedures to mount an attack of this sophistication in a fairly short period of time. i believe the peaceful protest had only been planned for probably less than 48 hours. if this was multiple people being coordinated, to be able to go forward on an attack at that level of sophistication takes a pretty high level of understanding of how to kill people. this is an issue again that law enforcement right now is looking into to see what were the motivations and whether something like this is going to happen in some of our other cities. >> obviously that's the big concern, officers waking up all over the country this morning worried about whether or not this could happen in their city as well. please weigh in on this bigger discussion that's going on. you have two theories right now

from the police. one is that these were opportunists that took advantage of this protest to launch an attack. maybe it's part of a different coordinated effort. we don't know. the other is that this is a manifestation of anger toward the police in what has become increasingly hot rhetoric every time there's one of these police shootings. obviously we just lived through back-to-back days of them. how do you see it? >> the reality is it's too early to try to determine what those motivations were. these are two larger problems that we need to address going forward in the future, but we got to have facts first to understand what actually happened. the reality is the people that perpetrated these killings are trying to divide american citizens. they're trying to divide the people not only of dallas but the united states. we can't let people that are killing innocent folks to divide us as a country.

we can't let them win. they won't win. because i know the resiliency of our people. >> when you think about what they had to do last night, these officers, they knew very early they were being targeted by shooters who had superior equipment and superior positioning. yet, they spent so much of their time and energy protecting others. what does that say to you? >> well, it tells you the professionalism of the men and women in blue in dallas that, one, they were protecting people that were protesting them and not necessarily them specifically but in general. and then when things turned wrong, they continued to protect those same people. that's what makes our country so great. this is the dangers that our men and women in law enforcement face every single day.

and they do it proudly. they do it without fear. our heart goes out to all the families that are suffering from the loss of a loved one. there's still people that i don't think are out of the woods yet. law enforcement is such a tight-knit community that you have people grieving all across the country. >> there are politics at play here also when you have the shootings and the response to the police shootings. this is a more obvious case for unity, what just happened to these law enforcement officials. you know, you have congress down there, and there are questions about what will you do. you know these shootings continue. you know they put police officers at risk. i'm talking about these use of force shootings. nobody wants them to be investigated and justice to be applied more than police officers because this puts them at risk every time there's an incident of bad policing. what can congress do? >> i think congress can have a

sober conversation on this. my fear is any time something this major happens, that people retreat to their corners and try out their old talking points. we need to follow the example of the community in dallas and actually work together and talk about the solutions together and not try to divide each other. i hope that we can do that, you know, after such a horrific event. but the reality is congress can lead on having a national conversation on some of these problems. but we have to be both sides of the political aisle, have to be willing to talk about real solutions and be willing to gather facts on this issue and make sure that we know -- you got to identify the problem first before you're able to move towards finding solutions. i'm still hopeful we can do that. it's going to be hard, but right now we need to follow the

example of the community of dallas and heal together, work together, and not let such a horrific action and senseless murders divide us. >> congressman hurd, obviously all hearts and minds are focused on dallas this morning. please let us know how we can help any efforts you have down there to make this situation better. we'll certainly give it attention. i promise you that. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> there's a lot of news to tell you about this morning. it is still a developing situation of breaking news in dallas. five police officers murdered, six others wounded during an ambush that came in the midst of a protest over recent police shootings in dallas. >> this is the deadliest attack on police in this country since september 11th. five officers killed. the deadliest in the country in the last 60 years, not including september 11th and oklahoma city. that gives you a sense of the scope of what we saw last night. i want to give you a sense of

the horror of what we saw last night. we're getting a new look at some of the moments caught on video. watch this. >> is that a cop dead? >> it's a cop down. >> dude, thas a cop down. dude, that's a cop down. >> there's four cops down. >> four? >> yeah, he shot five, seven times. >> it's a dude? >> no, it's a sniper from up here somewhere. >> it's a sniper? >> you hear the shots. get down, get down. >> confusion of these young guys who had their cell phone out, echoed by what the police officers were dealing with. >> one thing you hear right there from a very early point there is clearly several officers were down and very quickly. >> and that speaks to the preparation of potential training of the murderer or murderers who did this. just because you have lots of equipment doesn't mean you know how to use it. you're going to hear throughout our reporting that what happened during this ambush really gives concern to how well prepared and how planned this was. we have sara sidner on the

ground live in dallas with the latest. sara? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, when you look at the number of police officers killed, when you look at the fact that the police officers say there were two snipers on a parking garage and literally picking officers off during this standoff that lasted 45 minutes, gunshots going back and forth between the officers and the snipers, and you consider that one of the witnesses said they saw one of the suspects with so much ammunition it was falling out of the suspect's pockets. clearly there was planning that went into this. was this part of the protest? the answer to that at this point, even from the police standpoint, is no. the protest was breaking up. that protest against police

brutality. and what happened after that, some of the witnesses saying, hey, police actually saved our lives trying to push us out of the way of all the barrage of bullets coming from up above. a nightmare not just for the police department but for this community who is reeling after seeing their officers gunned down. 11 officers hit by bullets, five of whom are dead, six of whom are wounded. >> the juxtaposition, sara. you and i have lived it in different cities where there have been protests and violence surrounding police shootings, where police officers, male and female, still do their job. we've heard from police officers that they, most of all, want to see excessive force cases investigated and justice applied because it's a stain on all of them. then you have this situation. there's a protest going on that's certainly negative towards aspects of policing, and this ambush and murder of

police. >> reporter: you know, i wanted to share this with you, and i'm glad you brought it up. i was on the phone with a young woman who was the sister of a victim. i'm seeing the emotions well up in the citizens' and police's eyes. even the protesters here saying, listen, we don't want to see police officers killed. we don't want to be killed by police officers either. we have to come together and do something. but i have to tell you that my heart certainly aches in talking to that sister who had lost someone she so loved. then when you see and think about the number of families who are going through hell right now because their loved one has been gunned down.

not only those who have deceased five people, including a dallas area rapid transit officer, the first ever to be killed, but also those loved ones who are still in the hospital after being shotted a multiple times. it really is heartbreaking to watch this happen and to know just how many people are going to be suffering for a very long time because of the shooting. >> sara sidner for us in dallas. sara, thanks so much. 11 people shot, five of them killed. we only know the its identity of one. brent thompson, dallas area rapid transit officer, 43 years old. we will bring you the identities of the others who were killed as soon as we learn them because these are people with families, with lives that were taken from them. i'm joined right now by democratic member of congress bonnie watson-coleman. you've been at the nexus of a whole lot of news events over the last 24 hours. originally you were coming in to talk to us because at the hearing yesterday in congress

with fbi director james comey, you made a point of bringing up the officer-involved shootings that we'd seen in baton rouge and st. paul this week to get his reaction. then this happened overnight with five dallas area police officers killed in the line of duty, protecting protesters who were protesting those officer-involved shootings. i first just want to get your reaction when you woke up this morning like so many people across the country right now waking up to learn that this is the worst attack on law enforcement in this country since september 11th. >> my heart is absolutely broken. i mean, they were peaceful protests across this nation in various cities, including here in washington, d.c. the police here were just absolutely fabulous and supportive and protective, as they were apparently in dallas. my heartbre breaks for those wh have lost their lives and for those who have been injured, including one of the protesters. i pray for the souls of those

who died, and i pray for the families of those who have had these injuries. this is tragic. it is horrific. it is heartbreaking. i watched it until i could no longer watch it last night. it just is so sad. >> it's hard to watch. it's hard to talk about. those officers doing their jobs on the streets during the protests while they were peaceful. they're doing their jobs so well, so heroically, after the fact trying to apprehend the perpetrators, the murderers, the killers. the news this morning, one of the suspects is dead. a few others in custody. we're learning more about them right now. representative, we are hearing from some people connected to law enforcement this morning who say that they feel targeted, cops feel targeted right now in this country. they feel like they are not respected, their jobs are not respected. some of the things we have heard over the last several days in the wake of the officer-involved shootings, we've heard people say african-americans, that they

feel hunted by police officers. we heard from the fiance of the man killed in minnesota that she feels cops are out to assassinate african-americans right now. her grief and her anger understandable. but do you think that level of discourse, that rhetoric, do you feel it's contributed to the environment where these five officers were killed last night? >> well, first of all, let me say that i don't think that there's a wholesale disparagement of law enforcement. on the most part, law enforcement does what it's supposed to do. it keeps our communities protected. we respect the jobs they do, which are very dangerous. we want them to be able to go home at the end of the evening to their families, just like we want every other individual in this country who is peaceful to be able to go home to his or her family. i think that we're at a very heightened time right now. there are so many factors taking

place right now that kind of contribute to the tension that we're experiencing now, and we need to be able to talk about this. we need to be able to apply resources in areas that will be helpful to communities and police coming together and being mutually respected. i understand particularly african-american men are feeling targeted. neither should be targeted. the one element here that i think is very consistent with a majority of the sort of killings that are taking place is that we need to address the whole gun issue. with regard to law enforcement, we have some police that need retraining. we need to look at how our police forces can be trained in de-escalation, in keeping peace and in discouraging and ensuring

that the force between police and an individual is not deadly force unless absolutely necessary. on the other hand, we in this country need to have a conversation about the danger associated with guns in the hands of wrong people. those police officers that were killed last night, those police officers that were in the hospital, that peaceful protest that is in the hospital and surgery right now, this is not america. this is not what we should be expecting. >> this is not america. we shouldn't be seeing this, this morning or any morning. representative bonnie watson coleman, thanks so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me, and god bless us and god bless america. >> and yet the problem is, it is

america. today you are just seeing outside baylor university there officers saluting the fallen, medical workers joining arms with police, creating a barrier there of solidarity because of what just went down on the streets of dallas. now, one of the main parts of focus of this ambush was this building, a parking lot for el centro college. the dallas police officers were ambushed from there, it became a scene of chaos. police wound up in a standoff with one of the gunmen or the sole gunman, we're not sure yet how many were involved. patrick cooper was there. he's a security guard on campus. he was inside one of the buildings when the shots rang out. he took cell phone video. here it is. >> oh, my god. >> get down, get down! [ gunfire ]

>> [ bleep ]. >> they're shooting at el centro college downtown. [ bleep ]. >> show me your hands. >> my hands are good, sir. i'm a security, sir. okay. [ bleep ]. >> why can't they shoot the guy? >> i don't know. they can't apprehend him. i don't know. yes, sir. we're right here, sir. >> there's like 20 police. they keep shooting. i don't know if it's more than one person. >> i think it's just one person. sounds like he's got a rifle, so it sounds like. or a semiautomatic pistol. they're just letting it go.

>> why haven't they tackled him? >> i don't know. he's just running loose. >> [ bleep ]. >> all right. patrick cooper was the one you just heard speaking to another woman who was with him in this building. now he joins us live from dallas. patrick, we trust that you are okay. tell us what it was like being in that building. >> man, it was crazy. i never thought i'd be put in that situation. that situation is like, you know, you're supposed to be sitting at home watching this and i'm actually living this in real life. i was petrified. i didn't know what to do. the gunshots that were all around me, and i'm thinking they're fire crackers or something else. when i come outside to look, i see a suspect, somebody just running, running towards where i'm at and going upstairs. i'm in the bathroom. i close the door. i take a peek and just hear

gunshots. they tell me to stay inside. president lady with me, she's trying to leave. i'm telling her to stay put, keep calm, stay put, you know, and wait for further instructions. i just never thought something like this would actually happen. >> patrick, the person you saw running toward you and going up the stairs, do you think that's a security guard? do you think that might have been a shooter? >> it was the shooter. because right when i did that and i slammed the door, they told me the suspect is going upstairs. he's in the stairwell. i had just left the stairwell and went inside the bathroom when they told me to go to the bathroom. they said, go ahead, go to the bathroom, hide in there. >> but you didn't see -- >> right when i did that i -- >> you didn't see a weapon? could you make out anything about this person? was it a man, how old, what can you tell us? >> the person was carrying a long weapon. i don't know if it was a shotgun or a rifle. i just know it was a long

weapon, man. it wasn't no pistol. it was a rifle or a shotgun, a sniper rifle. i couldn't really tell because i was so scared, you know. they were coming towards me. so i just -- yes, sir. >> can you describe the person at all? was it a man? was it a woman? >> from what i seen, it was a man, but the thing about it is it happened to fast. that person had on so much clothing, i couldn't tell. i couldn't really, you know, make a good description of the person. so i'd be lying if i said that. but at the same time, they were like, the shooter is going upstairs, the shooter is going to the stairwell. i was right next to the stairwell in the restroom, right next to the door. it was like he was coming right at us. i heard them slam the door. guy in the stall, i just said keep calm, keep calm. trying to keep her under control. after that, they told me to come

out of the bathroom. i had my hands in the air, about 20 guns pointed at me. told me to put down my bag of chips, put that down, had my hands in the air. the rest is history. i could hear so much gunshots going off all around me. i didn't know really what to do besides, you know, survive. but i tried to get what i could on camera because, you know, i didn't know if it was my last day on earth. i didn't know if this was going to be it. >> is that why you pulled out the cell phone and started to video, just to let people know where you were? >> that's krcorrect, sir. that's correct. >> how long do you think it all lasted? were you able to tell if the gunfire in that building was coming from only that one person? >> oh, no. it had to be multiple people. there was somebody already running upstairs. then there was already somebody in the far corner, which was around the 7-eleven entrance.

so it had to be at least two gunshots from two different areas of the school. so that's my observation. everything i heard, you know, it was going so fast. i couldn't really tell what was actually happening. i just know, you know, survive, survive, survive. that's why i was running back to the bathroom. once i heard the gunshots and today told me he's coming your way, i kept trying to turn my camera off, turn it back on, and get more footage. you know, my life is on the line. i'm not going to do that. at the same time, you know, it's a life changing experience. i'm thankful for my life. i'm not going to take it for granted. that's really it. >> what does it mean to you that that man and maybe other men were hunting police officers, killed five of them, hurt six

others? >> it's a cold world we're living in right now. just to show you, you're not safe out here. you always got to be prepared for anything. you know, these officers gave their lives for us so that we could be free, we could be okay, we could be safe out here. i just feel sorry for their families. i just show my utmost respect to all of them, especially the ones who have fallen. thank you for getting me out of that situation. that's all i can do. that's all i can do. >> patrick cooper, we're glad you're okay. thank you for sharing with us your experience. good luck going forward. i know this is going to be tough to deal with it. >> i appreciate it. >> you be well. >> i am. thank you. >> more of our breaking news coverage on the dallas police killings. the mayor of dallas joins us right after a quick break.

>>announcer: this is cnn breaking news. all right, our breaking news out of dallas. five police officers killed in what was the deadliest attack on law enforcement in this country since september 11th. the deadliest attack in this country over the last 60 years, not including september 11th and oklahoma city. that gives you a sense of the historic night in dallas. five officers killed. now we're told seven officers wounded, we're also told two civilians have been injured as well. we'll get an update on their condition as soon as we can. joining us on phone is the mayor of dallas. we are standing by your city. i'm wondering if you can give us an update on the investigation. we heard about an hour and a half ago that one suspect is dead. is there currently a search for more? >> thank you, john. i think we feel that the support

from the country. we are in the midst of this investigation. and we don't have any new information, except that we were able to take out one of the suspects in the garage with an explosive device. we've got other possible suspects that we're interviewing. they're not being real cooperative at this point. we've called in a lot of people to make sure that we've got all the background material we need. >> was this suspect killed by police, or do you know if he took his own life? >> we haven't announced the final results, but it seemed to be a gunshot sometime after the

explosion took place. so we're going to have all of and make sure we have our is dotted and ts crossed. >> what explosion, sir, are you talking about? was there some sort of flash bang used? >> no, we have a device that we were automatically, robotically send in robotic device. he was being -- he was saying he was going to take everybody out. he threatened other bombs, and we felt that was the safest way to get in and it was. >> is there any information you can give us about the identity of the suspect, who he was, and/or the or people in custody. do they have any connections to any groups? >> no. there is no information i can give you it.

i know we fingerprinted the the perpetrator, and we're doing background work with them, using all the agencies that everybody has got. i talked to the president. he was very supportive. the governor has brought in texas dps, so we've got a lot of people working on it. >> what about the gender, the race of the suspect or suspects? >> well, the one that we killed was a male. we know we have another female that we're interviewing. other than that, i have no more information. >> no more information on the race of the suspect killed? >> not it. we know that -- excuse me. i do know the female was a light skinned african-american. that's what the chief told me last night. >> at this point, we have the identity of one of the law

enforcement members who was killed last night, brent thompson, 43 years old, a member of the dallas area. our heart goes out to him. we're still waiting to learn more about the identities killed and wounded. i'm sure at this point -- >> we're being very focused on our -- the families. one officer, we were still trying to reach their families, and a couple of others, we're not ready for us to release the names. and so we will hopefully do that this morning. >> have you had a chance to speak to these families? what are your thoughts for them this morning? >> yeah, i did. and they are, all of them are in shock. yes, there is grief, but more shock there that is significant. and i just was there to honor them on behalf of the citizens of dallas. they put their lives on the line, lost their lives for the

safety of citizens, exercising their right to speech. and it is a terrible tragedy when that happens. this has never happened in the city of dallas at this level i would say. not very places in the united states. but i will say that the officers that made it through, the officers that are there, the force is coming together in a steely eyed way, and we were very happy to take the suspect out. >> you're talking about the bravery of law enforcement there, they were there keeping protesters safe, walking arm in arm with protesters. and then after -- go ahead. >> it says that we live arm and arm. i don't know why we have to constantly be angry at each other. we're living the same town. we drive in the same highways. we eat at the same restaurants, and we've got to make sure that

we love each other this way, and not argue with each other. we've got it tough enough issue to deal with some bad guys overseas. >> we're altogether this morning. one of the remarkable pictures we've seen is at the baylor university in dallas, where we saw police arm and arm. that's where some of the officers being treated were taken. it is a remarkable picture of solidarity. mayor, i wonder if you had a chance to talk to the law enforcement community, and how they're feeling this morning as they go back on the streets today to do their job. >> well, they're tired, first of all. they were up all night. we called in every police officer. that's why i'm pleased to get from the texas officers these guys, but they are there, and you know, i swear to a man, they

would step in harms way for each other. i met one man who was shot in the leg, and he was so distressed, not because of his wound, but because he saw some of his colleagues go down around him. that was the pain he was feeling. >> we're all feeling that pain this morning. again, our heart goes out to you and the community in dallas, the victims, five law enforcement officers, seven people wounded. again, we're learning the identity of some of those. we'll bring them to you as we find out that information. our thanks to the mayor. breaking coverage of the dallas police killings continues. >>announcer: this is cnn breaking news. good morning, you're watching "new day." if you're here in the united states or around the world, our breaking story this morning, john berman and chris cuomo

reporting in dallas. the deadliest incident for police in america since the 9/11 attacks. right now, five dallas police officers, murdered, killed by what is called snipers, multiple. we are not able to get the police to confirm that yet. they're still working on the investigation. seven other officers were wounded. civilians, two of them at least, were wounded. this happened during a protest of recent police shootings there. the protest obviously taking place in dallas at about 9:00 p.m. eastern time, and then it turned into an ambush. >> again, this follows the protest after the police shootings of two african-american men. the protest across the country, largely peaceful. what unfolded on the streets in the hours after, simply horrifying. one gunman, an hour long standoff with police is now dead. i just spoke to the mayor of dallas. he would not confirm whether he took his own life or whether he

was shot by police. but police officers confronted him with some kind of blash bang, an explosion to distract him and it was after that that he had some kind of wound. three other suspects or three other people are in custody, including the mayor, just confirmed to me, one who is a woman. president obama spoke just a short time ago. he called the attack despicable, calculated and vicious. he is calling on all americans right now to support police. i want to get to the ground, sara sidner is live in dallas. sara. >> reporter: some new numbers coming to us. it is now 12 officers who have been shot, according to the mayor's office. there were two civilians who were wounded. so those are things that a lot of us haven't heard yet. two sieve i wicivilians, five od not make it out alive. a lot of people grieving in this town, not only the families of the police officers and the police departments, two police

departments, including the bay area rapid transit department who lost their first officer in the line of duty during this shooting. the shooting was unbelievably loud, and we heard from witnesses exactly what they heard and saw as all of this was going down around 9:00 at night. chaos erupts on the streets of dallas at 9:00 p.m. >> somebody is armed to the t. >> gunshots raining down from the sky. officers taking cover. >> move back! get back! >> reporter: protesters scattering in panic, as their peaceful march wound down. >> i would say about 20 gunshots. >> i was screaming, run, run, run, active shooter, active shooter. >> turned around and shoot him and got hit. book ma boom, boom, boom. >> reporter: snipers in elevated

positions, targeting officers, picking them off, ambush style, from what appears to be a coordinated attack. just before midnight, law enforcement officers cornering a suspect at el centro garage downtown. >> they might have gone somebody. >> reporter: one witness, catching the standoff unfolding from the ground. police, exchanging gunfire for over 45 minutes. while trying to negotiate. >> somebody else down over there. >> reporter: one officer trying to catch the shooter off-guard, sadly, shot down. another witness, capturing the suspect from above, wearing body armor, holding so much ammunition, it was falling out of his pocket. >> i've been here some popping sounds, i thought it was fireworks at first, came out, man had a rifle, ar-15, clear as day. it did look planned. i mean, he just parked and he knew where to stand and opened fire. he had ammo ready and ready to go.

>> reporter: police say one suspect has been killed. >> the suspect told our negotiators that the end is coming, and that there are bombs all over the place in this garage and in downtown. >> reporter: but police say they have three people in custody, including a woman who was in the vicinity of the garage, and two suspects carrying a camouflage bag. they were stopped on the interstate. >> to say the police officers put their life on the line everyday is no hyperbole. we as a country must come together, lock arms, and heal the wounds that we all feeling from time to time. >> reporter: and he is not the only one saying that. we talked to some of those who were involved in the antipolice brutality protest, who said the exact same thing. i do want to give you an idea of what's happening on the scene here on main street. if you look over my right shoulder, you'll notice the police presence has lessened

over the last couple of hours. we're seeing traffic go through on one of the roads, but there is tell a scene that is cordoned off to the majority of people downtown, and there are still quite a few police officers who are further down this street here. chris. >> all right, i'll take it sara. we did get information from the mayor. five officers killed, seven officers wounded. two civilians injured as well. we are going to get an update from dallas police in about 25 minutes, and the mayor seemed to indicate we'll be getting new information as well about the identities of those killed and wounded. maybe some new details about the investigation as well. dallas police have been holding vigil for their own at baylor hospital for the injured and killed were taken. some remarkable images from there. >> reporter: what we've been seeing overnight are police officers who have been standing outside the emergency room and they have been waiting here.

we didn't know exactly what they were waiting for. because all of the injured had already arrived. but then a few hours ago, what we saw were some extraordinary images. we saw some of the medical staff of this hospital come down and link arms. arm in arm, they create aid barrier between the public and what was happening at the emergency room doors. what one of the officers told us was happening was a line of police officers, and they saluted, saluted as two officers, their bodies left the emergency room. the body of a city police officer, dallas police officer, and another body of a dallas area rapid transit officer. we don't know their names. we know what the department did. they saluted, they said farewell, and this community. police who aren't police officers, wept, they held hands of police officers. it was a sign that they needed to try to cope. they needed to do something.

because in many cases, john and chris, this community right now just does not know what to do. >> well, and yet out of instinct, what they did in the worst situations was demonstrate the best, and that started and really in many ways ended with the police on the scene there. they knew they were being targeted, and yet they protected the civilians first. we saw unfortunately something that's a very rare supply in america right now, unity in this situation at that hospital. we also heard from evan perez that there is an understanding among investigators that this does not have a connection to foreign terrorism. they're not looking at it this way. the mayor told john that one of the suspects in custody is female, light skinned african-american. they haven't released any information. we're waiting on a presser at 8:30 local time, eastern time, this morning. we expect more information then. we are getting tons of cell video from witnesses there.

we want to show you something. we want you to listen to something. first, the audio. this is police dispatch responding to the dallas ambush. let's take a listen. >> officer shots fired. code 3. officer down. >> we got a guy with -- we don't know where he is at. >> now, just to bring you up-to-date with reporting. first of all, context. these officers were there for protest. many of them as you've been commenting were mingling in around the protesters, what

we've seen as a peaceful protest. they were not ready for some type of ambush with somebody that had body armor. the second thing is, we're not clear if it was one or two shooters. last night, they said two. but because of the echo effect and how much fire power was being used on them, it could have seemed like two, but was only one. we just heard from an eyewitness there who believes he thought there were two. that is soft information at this point. but now we want to show you something also. because this is what is giving investigators the most pause for concern right now is that did this grow out of the protest or not. well, they heard from the suspect they took out that the end is coming, he said, this kind of dilution of grandgre, but there was also the way that this murderer moved. we want to show you video of one of the officers who wound up

being taken out by this suspect, because it shows the tactics and what they're concerned about. >> right there, man. >> all right, now what -- that was harder to see than anticipated. what it showed, among those pilings that you see there, there was an officer trying to engage the shooter, but he was

able, the sheert, ooter to mane around. and i'm not complimenting him in any way. this goes to his level of preparation. he had body armor on and he was able to win the confrontation and wound of executing him. that's giving investigators about what level of individual they were dealing with. >> and how heavily armed, ammunition falling out of his pockets, the fact that they were positioned in the garage at a high point, seemingly to pick off as many people as -- >> and able to do it. just because you have high position, which the shooter did, doesn't mean you're going to be accurate. and he was accurate. >> let's talk about this more. new york times op-ed columnist, also with the st. louis police officers association and harry howe, nypd detective with us as well. harry, again, let's start with the investigation right now. we heard from the mayor a short time ago that there will be a news conference in 20 minutes.

we'll be hearing a lot more details there. would not tell us in the suspect killed himself or was shot by police, but he did say there was some kind of explosive device, law enforcement used, set off to distract him right before his death. what does that say to you about the confrontation? >> well, the explosive device probably was a flash bang, so that the police officers can enter and take the shooter on. so as the police officers on the scene will know whether or not they fired at the suspect and he went down or he may have killed himself. we'll have to wait for ballistics for that. let me tell you something, john. i am in awe of the bravery of those police officers. i really am. >> harry, we know this is -- >> you have 9 millimeter handgun, okay, and you're taking on somebody with an automatic

weapon and you have bullet-proof vest, that will not stop that round. i hope people can really appreciate what these police officers did. it is hard for every police officer to see this. i'm sorry. >> don't be sorry, harry. i mean, if you can't feel in a situation like this, when are you going to feel anything that's real and as raw as this situation is. you don't have to be a police officer to appreciate the sacrifice that was there. if they had a vest, they were lucky if they had a vest on. a lot of them were dressed for community policing, and weren't prepared to deal with a military style ambush. >> the one officer killed, brent thompson, dallas area rapid transit, the first of killed in rapid transit. they were not suspecting

approxima anything like this. >> to make your point, harry, what happened they started to protect the citizens, even though they knew they were being targeted. >> exactly. you know, from a group that has had rhetoric against the police for a long time, they still put their lives on the line, and pushed people out of the way. >> they did their jobs. >> they still did that. >> they did their jobs, and that's what we ask them to do, and that's what they do everyday. >> i want to bring in charles. always happy to see you, charles. i can't believe i've seen you three-days in a row under these circumstances. two officer involved shootings. first, the protest, at the conclusion of the protest in dallas, which had been peaceful up until that point, this horrible mass murder of police officers. i just want your reaction this morning. >> well, i mean, the protest themselves are ultimately about life. the ability to live out your

life and not have it taken. your response to this has to be about life. you can't have selective outrage and selective grief. if you're human being and feel for other human beings, and you believe that people need to be able to go about their lives and their daily lives and do their jobs, and go home to their families, then you have to be able to grieve for what is happening too. i don't even understand, you know, what a lot what i've a seen over the last few hours have been people rushing to try to figure out ways to see if something adds to an argument or doesn't add to an argument. i don't understand where you stop being human enough to slow down enough to say yes, the two people who were killed, they had families and they are hurt. and they are angry. these people have families too. there is somebody at home who knows that that person left home that morning, and they're never going to come back home that night. and you know, this is not an

arms race of atrocities. until we break out of that sensibility to say that everybody deserves to go home after being outside of the home, whatever they were doing, whoever they encounter when they're outside of that home, deserves the right in america to make it back there without being targeted for whatever reasons they are targeted. that is really important for us to always bring it back to being -- to the humanity of us as a country, and as a people. you know, these guys, you know, the -- dallas police department, by the way, is one of the most diver d diverse police departments we have. the police chief is a black man. the idea that it is some sort of race war, we have to slow down on that.

remember, these are just -- at this point, these are people. they have the suspects in custody and killed one. they know who they are. we just don't. when we feel that void of our lack of knowledge with speculation, with hotness and rhetoric and rather than dealing with the fact that these people are lost and that they have people grieving for them and we should all be grieving for them, we hurt us. >> that's a lot of the concerns the officers have. this is a worst case scenario for many officers in america. jeff, we've been on the ground together, trying to figure out what to do and you hear from officers all the time that this type of thing happening in the wake of a police shooting is their nightmare, right, that they're going to be targeted in a way because of the acts of a few that all become vulnerable. >> sure it is.

i'm with harry. i'm very sad this morning. i'm appreciative of the heroism of the dallas police. if you think i'm coming on to participate in the charade, hate speech against law enforcement, it has culminated in this coordinated deadly attack against law enforcement, you got the wrong guy. and for charles to say let's not fill the void with speculation on what happened in this police shooting, that's what we have ee done for the last two days with these shootings in baton rouge and falcon heights. that's what we've done for the last two years in every high profile that has ended badly for law enforcement. >> this is precisely what you don't want to do, right. and i won't engage in that. i don't even know this man. >> of course you're engaging. >> we're not going to argue. that dehuman nizes and -- >> this planned killing.

>> chris, if you want to do this, let him talk. i won't. >> hang on one second, jeff. >> i won't even do that. >> charles was talking. >> i'm not -- i refuse to try to politicize. i won't do it. i am going to say this again and again and again. if you were out there protesting because you believe that that is about life, that people have a right to live their lives and not be targeted by anybody for any reason, you believe that for every human being, and i believe that just as strongly for those police officers as i do for anybody else whose life is taken, i refuse to take part in anything that any -- i don't know that man who is talking. i won't do that. >> i want to do one thing that we can all agree on. we know the identity of one of the officers, brent thompson. let's put up his picture. 43 years old, all right, married, we understand, just two

weeks ago. we know this man, brent thompson, had been overseas working as a security officer in iraq and afghanistan. this is a man we talked to as chief of police, who said he loved his job, he went to work with enthusiasm every morning and loved seeing people on the streets everyday. so look, we're looking at brent thompson right now. everyone here agrees our hearts go out to him. we will learn more names of those who were killed and wounded last night in dallas and our hearts will go out to them as well. >> gentlemen, thank you for dealing with a difficult situation, and of course, any time we see the worst, we always expect the best of ourselves coming out of it. thank you for being part of that this morning. >> obviously context is everything in these situations. the protest going on in dallas was about the recent police shootings and the question able uses of force. you have seen them across the country, after these two black men were killed by police. the latest cases that raise the same issues, the names are new,

the situation the same. philando castile, shot by a police officer during a traffic stop wednesday, his fiancee, diamond reynolds, changed our recognition of the situation by taking to facebook, live to record the aftermath. not what led to the shooting. but the reaction after it. now, for the first time, we're going to hear from her. we have philando castile's fiancee, diamond reynolds, and we have his mother and uncle, and the attorney for diamond reynolds. thank you to all of you for joining us this morning under the toughest of circumstances for you personally and now for the entire country. mom, i want to remind you first, you came on the show yesterday and you said what we want is justice. what we want is for protests to be peaceful. and there were protests all over this country, but then we saw what happened in dallas, which seems to be a calculated planned

assassination of police officers. your reaction? >> your reaction about the dallas thing? >> me, i don't know anything about what happened in dallas. i'm sure what we have planned here in the state of minnesota is not of that caliber. we are having a peaceful protest, and i don't know anything about what happened in dallas. my son died just the other day. i haven't had sleep in almost 48 hours. so no, i haven't been watching any television, so i can't answer that. >> all right, i appreciate you being with us. we know how difficult this situation is for you and the entire family. diamond, you're there. everybody came to know you in this country through this episode where you took to facebook live. how are you doing? >> i'm not doing so well. emotionally, i'm tired. my daughter, i'm just trying to

keep her strong and encourage her and constantly keep praying for justice. >> there have been a lot of questions about you and yo daughter. she is 4 years old, we heard her speaking to you afterwards, trying to console you, which was hearbreaking for all of us to witness. how is she? >> she is not doing well, but she is the typical 4-year-old girl. she is as smart as ever. brilliant. she is going to be graduating preschool today. phil would have been there to watch her graduate, because he was like a father to her. so she is very hurt, but she -- with the help of family, we will get through this. we will. >> and diamond, as you're dealing with your own personal pain, what do you want people to know about what you want for philando, we see your shirt, it says rest in peace.

we see your crucifix. >> today is not only about justice and getting justice, but it is about all the families that have lost people. this thing that has happened in dallas, it was not because of something that transpired in minnesota today. this is bigger than philando. this is bigger than treyvon martin. this is bigger than sandra bland. this is bigger than all of us. so today, i just want justice for everyone. everyone around the world. not just foyr my boyfriend and the good man he was, because i'm going to continue to stay strong for him. i want all of you guys to do the same. >> valerie, what are you hearing from the authorities about the investigation into your son's death. we understand that the department of justice is going to be involved. are they in contact with you? >> in reality, i have not heard

anything about his death or i have not been in contact with any type of investigators. no one has reached out to me as far as anything concerning him. as a matter of fact, since my son has been killed, murdered, executed by the state of minnesota's police officers, i have not yet to see his body. >> have they given you a reason for that, valerie? you mentioned that yesterday, you wanted to be able to identify your son, that they hadn't given you that opportunity. what is the reason they're offering? is it the investigation, the autopsy? >> well, it was the autopsy at the beginning, and i don't understand why it was important for them to have dental records or fingerprints, because i think my eyes could inform them this is my son. so they kept me from seeing him, and once they completed the

autopsy, i was told by individual that works at the coroner's office they did not let people view bodies at that facility. i was denied access, and i have yet to see him now. they called me and said that i could come and see him after other things had transformed as far as my time limitation. >> clarence, you've been sticking close in this situation, to make sure that your nephew is treated with respect by investigators. are you satisfied with what you're getting from the authorities? >> no. as my sister said, the authorities haven't shared any information about the investigation. they took a long amount of time before his body was released. actually, we found out late last night that my body's nephew was released and in a facility and we will be viewing his body today. but no, i'm not satisfied with

how things are going. i believe that, you know, the autopsy report said that there was a homicide committed. normally when there is a homicide committed, somebody is arrested and there are charges. >> absolutely. absolutely. >> at this particular time, we haven't heard about anybody being arrested or any charges. and we are going to have an investigation done by the department of justice, and not the bca. >> independent source. >> you want it to be -- >> bca was the ones that came to the scene, contacted me and questioned me, and chris olson was the one who gave me his business card. he has yet to reach out to me. i've been calling him. he has yet to reach out to his fami family, to myself or my daughter. i feel very sad and outraged that a police officer could take a man's life, but there is

absolutely really nothing being done behind it. >> diamond -- >> this is undoubtedly a murder of this young man. we absolutely need an independent department of justice investigation. this is a murder that has been captured on videotape. thanks to the presence of mind of diamond, and everyone saw it. we can see what happened here. we want justice. people are tired of what has been happening to young black men across the city, across this country, we need justice by way of an independent department of justice investigation. we'll be requesting that the congressman step up and request that. i understand that the governor has made that request. and these -- this family wants an independent investigation that they can trust and rely upon. the trust has been lost in the local police department and local law enforcement. so we need that independence if we're going to trust that investigation. in addition to that, we need our own investigation.

we want to do our own independent autopsy. we want to do our own independent forensic evaluation of the video. we want to capture all of the sound that was recorded by diamond. so we can see what they were saying as he was dying in that car, and they placed her in a different car, and they were putting together a story about what happened. all of that needs to be evaluated thoroughly. we want to do it ourselves and we want it done by the department of justice. >> understood. thank you very much. understood. valerie, diamond -- >> everyone needs to be held accountable. >> understood. you want the closest thing to the truth you can get, and that's going to lead to the accountability that these situations deserve. we understand. diamond, you're the only one who was there. and we see your video from what happened after the shootings. what can you tell you about how the shootings happened. what do you remember? >> it happened fast. they said that it was a truck

stop. >> traffic. >> traffic stop, and it really wasn't. only the officer at hand knew what he was thinking when he was transferred from a different state to come to minnesota. and i just feel like at the end of the day, there has to be justice served. minnesota is a state where everyone comes together. i just would really, really appreciate it if everyone, every force can come together on this case and stand together. because this is something much bigger than me. i'm going to be strong, but it is my daughter that has to live with this on her little brain for the rest of her life. >> diamond, take this -- >> diamond, as hearbreaking as it is that your daughter had to be here, and you did too. you know it is not easy for you. what did you see when the officer came up? you said it was called a traffic stop but it wasn't. supposedly it was about a busted taillight. you're saying that's not true. what happened when the officer

came to the window? >> he asked did we know why we were being pulled over. and he asked if we had license and registrations. those were the only two questions asked. >> and what did philando do? did he comply with the request? >> he absolutely complied to the request. he absolutely did everything that the police asked him to do up until he was killed. >> now, one of the things that comes across as your exchange with the police officer -- >> the officer was doing, what he was thinking. >> right. that would be a better question. >> right, but i can't -- >> what was the officer thinking. >> i can't get that from you, though, diamond, right? >> i'm grieving, i'm grieving the loss of a loved one, a best friend, role model and father figure to my child. you guys are constantly keep asking me all of these

disturbing questions. and i've already made my statement. i don't want to keep reliving this moment. >> absolutely. >> i want my justice. i want that police officer's name to go public, and i want people to know who did this to us. who did this to our city. our state, our country. it is not the -- it is not you. it is not you, it is not you. it is none of us. we didn't do this to ourselves. i just want the world to know that. >> understood, diamond. >> we won't. >> we appreciate you coming on to talk to us. >> you want justice. larry, let me ask you something as the counselor for the family. what i'm trying to get at, there is all this confusion about what happened before the video. how do you think that we'll be able to find out the closest estimation of the truth of what happened there? >> they're asking you that they want to know what happened. >> what happened. >> before the video.

what would you say. >> i can answer that question. >> how to determine. >> there is dashboard cams. >> what happened to the police cameras that were supposed to be recording. he pulled up behind us, two police officers came out. one on the driver and one on the passenger, so therefore, there should have been police cameras recording. >> we need the opportunity to get access to the information that should be public. this is a public municipality. they had cameras on the dashboard. we want the cameras. we want her phone back. it is her phone. she posted the video. you have the video. give us that information. we want access to his background. we want -- my understanding he has been on the force less than four years in st. anthony. there is a consistent pattern, if you look at these shootings. these are inadequately trained officers. >> absolutely. >> that are put in -- given badges, and given weapons, and they are -- >> license to kill, absolutely. >> because of the inadequate training they've received.

we need access to this information. we need to do our own investigation. >> independently. >> and also have an independent department of justice investigation. that's what we're calling for right now. we hope everyone will join in that call so that everyone can see exactly what happened to philando and we can have justice in this case. >> valerie, we do know the police have put out a couple of the names of the officers that were there. we're going to learn more about them, but what do you want people to know who your son was, so he is not just remembered for how he died, but how he lived? what do you want people to know about who was lost? >> i would like to speak. >> i want people to just pay attention to the marches and the protests that has gone on, and the protests as far as where he worked. he worked, and people as a whole know him. they understand him. they shared their independent --

>> thoughts and feelings. >> thoughts and feelings for him. >> he was a good man. >> he was a good man. he was a good son. >> he was a law-abiding citizen. he died by the law. that's as far as i can tell you about that. >> he was the ideal man for every mother would want their daughter to have someone like my babe. every woman would want a hard-working man with no kids like my babe. every woman would want a man to accept their child out of wedlock that was not his, everyone would want that man to be their son, their brother, their husband. anything. because he was a family oriented man. he was raised by these men and this woman right here. he would never even harm a fly. he was very happy. he was very calm. he was the most laid back, loving person. if you guys know anything about

cancers, you guys know that we are very emotional people. we are very loving. whole hearted, sensitive people. yes, he may have died against his will, but i and my daughter will not let his name go down in vein. that's all i have to say. >> we will not. we will not. >> the families will not let his death be in vein. this is not over. we need justice. that's the bottom line. without balance and checks, there is only chaos. that's the only thing left. if you don't have balance and check, in the department of justice, then there will only be chaos. >> clarence, you said earlier that you haven't heard from the authorities the way you want to going from being able to identify your nephews body for valerie to go in and see her son and you haven't heard about the state of the investigation either. is that accurate?

>> that's accurate. but as i said earlier, the body has been claimed, and we will be visiting with him today. the investigation, we haven't heard anything in regards to that. >> nothing. >> but we're looking forward to hearing something soon, i hope. but we'll be doing our best to get justice served after philando is laid to rest. that's what we're working on next. getting my nephew laid to rest and then we'll work on getting justice served. >> clarence, valerie, i know how difficult this is for you to be dealing with a nephew and a son. we appreciate you being with us and we'll stay on the story. we're taking you back to dallas, listening to the mayor right now with the latest on the ambush. police there. >> a calm determination to make our city safe, and to arrest anybody that did us harm. i also want to thank the county,

judge jenkins. i want to thank the fbi. i want to thank the governor, lieutenant governor flew in last night. the president called me from poland, and all your commentators have wished us well, and are praying for us. i want to say from our heart, we feel that. and so thank you. i am now going to tell you some not good news for you reporters. and that is, we've got a criminal investigation going on. our number one job is to make sure the citizens of dallas are safe. so we're not going to tell you anything about the suspects. and we're not going to answer any questions on that. we will, when it is the right time. now is not the right time. but a lot has happened in the last five or six, seven hours

since we talked. i guess it was early in the morning. and i want chief brown to give you an update on that. i'm proud of him. he has been working so hard these last few hours. we've been with families and we've been trying to make sure that the city is safe this morning, and i believe it is. chief brown. >> thank you, mayor. we're hurting. our profession is hurting. dallas officers are hurting. we are heartbroken. there are no words to describe the atrocity that occurred to our city.

all i know is that this must stop. this divisiveness between our police and our citizens. to update you on what has transpired since we last spoke, let me walk through the standoff that had occurred, or that was occurring on the second floor of the college there in downtown dallas. we cornered one suspect, and we tried to negotiate for several hours, negotiations broke down. we had an exchange of gunfire with the suspect. we saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a

device on the - its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was. other options would have exposed the officers to grave danger. the suspect is deceased as a result of the detonating the bomb. the reporting that the suspect killed himself is not accurate. we have confirmed that he has been deceased because of the detonation of the bomb. our hostage negotiator did an exceptional job getting this suspect to talk before he died. during the hours of negotiating. that eventually broke down. i want to share with you some of the comments from the suspect.

the suspect said he was upset about black lives matter. he said he was upset about the recent police shootings. the suspect said he was upset at white people. the suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. the suspect stated he will eventually -- that we'll eventually find the ieds. the suspect stated he was not affiliated with any groups, and he stated that he did that loan. the suspect said other things that are part of this investigation, so that we can make sure that everyone

associated with this tragic event is brought to justice. so as the mayor said, we won't expand on any further on what other suspects we have interviewed or looked at or their status. this will we get further into this investigation and get closer to a conclusion of what and who are all involved. but let me just say just some closing comments about dallas police officers and d.a.r.t. police officers. some of the bravest men and women you ever want to be associated with. you see video footage of them running toward gunfire from an elevated position, with no chance to protect themselves. and to put themselves in harm's

way, to make sure citizens can get to a place of security. so please join me in applauding these brave men and women, who do this job under great scrutiny, under great vulnerability, who literally risk their lives to protect our democracy. we don't feel much support most days. let's not make today most days. please, we need your support to be able to protect you from men like these, who carried out this

tragic, tragic event. pray for these families. i spoke with the families of the deceased and the injured. they are not having a good time trying to deal, absorb this, trying to understand why, and they need your prayers. so please join us in helping us comfort the grieving officers' families. i trust that soon, because we're working very diligently in pr processing the crime scene to bring any other suspects, but please pray for our strength through this trying time. thank you. >> i want to add that there are

public safety officials that protect our cities and our institutions all across america everyday that aren't police officers. we lost one of those last night. a d.a.r.t. officer was one of the victims. and i want to just take a moment and say the professionalism the d.a.r.t. organization was great, and i appreciate better school police officers, campus college police officers, standing shoulder to shoulder with our police officers, and that's the way we work. chief brown told the victims' families last night and the police officers he was a man of faith. i'm a man of faith too. and that we need prayers and

prayer is good. so today, at 12:00, at thanksgiving square, a leadership group of interfaith ministers will be leading us in that prayer. i would ask that if you are at your home or at your office or at your school, to join us today at noon, in that spirit of prayer to bring our city together and our country together, to heal wounds, not create them. thank you. >> any questions that were not off limit? t >> the injured officers, most of them have been released. there are some that will need

follow-up. i'm not going to go into detail of what types of injuries. their families are being very private for obvious reasons right now. but again -- excuse me. what's the question? yes, they're doing better. some have been released. some of the status, they're still needing more treatment. but they're being very private about any further details about their health. >> you have worked and the department has work with the community have good relations, can you speak to that, and to the fact that something like this, you know, could happen? >> so we have to be right 100% of the time in the way we police this city. suspects like this have to be right once. they don't have to work very hard to do cowardly acting like this, to snipe at officers from

elevated positions and to ambush them from secreted positions around corners. all of that hard work is not for naught. this city has shown great support for this police department, this may i don't remember and council and city manager's office has supported this department and these officers, and we expect that to continue. and this community, i'm born and raised here, dallas is a great city. our officers will continue to put themselves in harm's way, to protect these great citizens. so it is worthwhile. >> i want to brag for a second for, if anybody hasn't heard us say this. this police department trained in deescalation far before cities across america did it.

we are one of the premiere community policing cities in the country. this year, we have the fewest police officer related shootings than any large city in america. so we are working hard to prove, and there is always room for improvement, but we are best in class, we feel. >> the people in dallas watching at home, are you confident -- >> no, i'm not going to be satisfied until we turned over every stone. we've got some level that this one suspect did do some of the shooting, but we're not satisfied that we exhausted every lead. we're not going to be satisfied until every lead is exhausted. if there is someone out there

associated with this, we will find you. we will prosecute you. we will bring you to justice. >> as of right now, it is a total of four suspects? >> we're not counting or expanding on who or how many. we're going to keep these suspects guessing. >> chief, can you talk about the -- i know your first focus right now is on the officers and the investigation, but can you and the mayor talk about the impact the demonstrations and the protests? >> well, i'm going to let chief brown make any strategic decisions. but i think it is important for citizens to realize that we want to give everybody their freedom of speech. we've been through several protests in the last five or six years. they've all gone in a safe

manner. but the chief makes decisions at times that people could be critical of, do you escalate it too much. do you put too much body armor of. if we're being critical of those things, just think about today. this is what you're risking if you don't do it right. and so from a policy standpoint, we are -- we believe in the right to protest peacefully, and these were peaceful protests until this happened. but we also have to believe in keeping our police officers safe. i know i'm going to redouble my efforts on that.

[ inaudible question ] >> again, i just want to expand on the mayor's comments. police officers are guardians of this great democracy, the freedom to protest, the freedom of speech and expressions. all freedoms we fight for with our lives. it is what makes us who we are as americans. so we risk our lives for those rights. so we won't military our police standards, but we'll do it in a much safer way every time. like we chose to do it this time. we had an adequate amount of officers at this scene. and we were blocking traffic and doing all the things to protect people's right to protest. and their free speech. we are not going to let a coward who would ambush police officers change our democracy. we're not going to do it.

our city, our country is better than that. [ inaudible question ] >> can you say at all this is having mental stability problems, and just looking for an opening to react or is this something organized? can you talk about that? >> all of those questions would just be speculation to answer. we can't get into the head of a person that would do something like this. we negotiated with this person. they seemed lucid during the negotiation. he wanted to kill officers. he expressed killing white people. he expressed killing white officers. he expressed anger for black

lives matter. none of that makes sense. none of that is a reason or legitimate reason to do harm to anyone. so the rest of it would just be speculating on what his motivations were. we just know what he said. that's what he said to our negotiators. >> guys, thank you. we have a lot of work to do. we're going to take off. >> all right, let me recap what you heard. there was a news conference, mayor mike rawlings, we learned a lot of information about what developed overnight in the murder of five dallas area police officers, one member of the transit authority. number one, there is a suspect dead. how he died, we learned that he was killed with an explosive device. an explosive device on a robot that law enforcement used to neutralize him. they're going to stand off for hours and hours. >> an understanding it may have killed himself. the mayor told you and then they repeated at the press conference that they believe that this

robot was the safest way to deal with this man during the standoff, and that's what took his life. >> that's what killed him. we also learned that dallas police at this point, this man told him he was the only one involved in the shooting. he also said a number of other things, that he has been upset about black lives matter. that was the exact words used by the dallas police chief. upset at white people. wanted to kill white people. wanted to shoot white police officers specifically. so there was a lot to discuss on this. joining us now is charles below, former nypd police department. harry hauk, as well as evan perez. >> charles, when we were listening to them, there was a very -- it was a very mixed bag there, right, a call for unity, a clarifying that dallas is, you know, one of the best police forces of a major city in the country in terms of community relations and homicide rate. there was a request that we

don't make this day like most other days, and an emphasis on unity. then this information that is going to go right into the teeth of people's fears about who did this and why, which was maybe one, maybe more people who are motivated by anger against police. >> absolutely. i mean, what you got from that press conference was that they were identifying this guy as a terrorist, who also was a motivated by racist kind of beliefs. he was targeting specific people, targeting white people. i mean, that is kind of the very definition of terrorist and racist, right. and you can't gloss over that. but what you have is a person who has basically a cause that doesn't help anybody. he said the police chief said he specifically said that he is not identified with any group. so he is not necessarily, may not be identified with black lives matter, but he was, according to the police chief, sympathizing with the concept

around it. that doesn't help anybody. it doesn't -- it actually, i just keep wanting to come back to the idea. these people have families at home. it doesn't bring anybody back. it doesn't bring those officers back. it doesn't help. it doesn't help the families who are seeking justice. >> is it proof that the talk is too hot, that police are targeted, that they are painted with a broad brush when the excessive force cases come up. >> what we're doing in america is living with some a.mbient level of terror. people in minority communities feel like they are victims of that ambient terror. i believe that police officers can legitimately make a case that they are also, they feel some ambient level of terror, and we as americans need to step back and say we don't want a saturday in which everybody is

living with an ambient level of terror. that has to stop. >> one of the key questions is dallas safe this morning. were there more people involved. the dallas police chief seemed to indicate that that suspect said he acted alone, and right now, they have reason to believe he may have been the only one to fire shots, but they're leaving no stone unturn zd they have other people in custody. let's get to evan on that. what are they saying about the idea that this man acted alone? >> well, i think john and chris, i do think that the -- it is increasingly clear there was only one shooter. i know last night, obviously in the chaos and in the early parts of this investigation understandably and given the sounds of the shots, that people thought there was two or perhaps more shooters who were carrying out this attack. this doesn't make sense. i think said that over the last couple of hours. it really does look like it was one man who tried to -- who carried this out.

obviously, the dallas police are not going to rest. they're going to try to see if there is anybody else who might have supported this, might have known about this. and whether or not there is anybody who provided the weaponry, and any -- has any responsibility for what was -- >> evan -- evan, what about the people in custody? are your sources telling you they were suspicioustious at the time but maybe not connected. >> they were suspicious at the time and the dallas police have not released all of them and so that questioning is still ongoing, chris. but it does appear that this man did not have any ties, certainly to international terrorists. there is no isis relationship yet that has been uncovered by the early parts of this investigation, and really, he may have just been what he said there. he was obviously deranged. he was motivated by hatred. domestic terrorist, if you will, but motivated by his hatred of white people, apparently hatred of police officers, and felt

inspired by this black lives matter movement, obviously, we don't know if he had any ties at all to this group. or to this martha was taking place last night in dallas. >> ben ferguson, the chief of police, david brown is african-american, was speaking there, abnd he said police do feel under a lot of pressure. he said we don't feel much support most days. don't let today be most days, the chief said. he noted the bravery of those overnight who were running toward gunfire, who made sure the incident wasn't even worst than it was. this horrific incident and he talked about their bravery. >> this speaks volumes to how police feel all over the country. i mean, my father wears a badge. i grew up in a police family. air seeing an african-american police chief who in one of the most diversified police departments in the america, has incredible relations with the