life. when i said ethnic cleansing, we know black people are disproportional atly killed by the police in this country. we have to be honest about this. this undergirds so much of these actions. we are not afraid to say those things in public. it is the truth behind the protest. >> thanks for taking the time to be with us today. >> good to be here. >> deray mckesson joining us live. that's all the time i have here. please stay tuned. wolf starts now. hello. i'm wolf blitzer, noon in dallas, 1:00 p.m. in washington, 8:00 p.m. in bag dag. where have you are watching from around the worl. thanks very much for joining us. up first, police are revealing new details about the gunman that ambushed an killed five police officers in dallas at a news conference a little while

ago. the dallas police chief said investigators are examining hours and hours of body camera and dash cam videos. they are also trying to determine what the gunman, micah johnson, planned to do with a stockpile of explosives. >> i don't know whether or not he planned to escape and then the bombing would start or he didn't have time to complete we just don't know how the bombing aspect of his plans were going to play out. we are looking for those answers and the concern is that we haven't found something that's out there. that's the concern. we don't know that that's the reality. we are asking the question and trying to find leads to see if there are any answers to that. >> in an interview, the blaz of the gunman's parents said they noticed a change in his behavior after his discharge from the u.s. army in 2015. his father said he never

expected anything like the ambush that killed five police officers. >> i don't know what to say to anybody to making any better. i didn't see it coming. >> micah was a good son. he was a good son. >> i loved my son with all my heart. i hate what he did. >> protesters were back on the streets today. the group showing up for racial justice held a protest against police violence this morning in philadelphia. over the weekend, protests took place across the country. police arrested more than 300 demonstrators. the protests started after two african-american men were killed by police in separate incidents last week. let's bring in our cnn

correspondent, victor black well and cnn investigative correspondent, drew griffin. the dallas police department just held that news conference a little while ago. victor, you were there. what else did you learn? >> really revealing news conference here from the chief of the department, david brown, painting a picture of what was found with the body or near the body of of the killer. let's go first to what was found there on the scene. this coming from a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation. i'll list the weapons found, glock 19 pistol, a frazier handgun, a variation of the ak semiautomatic assault rifle. we are also told this man was wearing a bullet proof vest. we have also learned that once this investigation went to his home in the suburbs of dallas, wolf, there were evidences of additional weapons purchased,

include gun box, a receipt for a cobra, allure, a glock handgun as well. this sounds like a large number of persons. in texas, the number of guns would not be remarkable except fort context. i want you to listen to what the chief said during this news conference about the bomb-making materials that were discovered inside that home. >> there was a large stockpile, one of the bomb techs called me at home to describe his concern of how large a stockpile of bomb-making materials. according to that bok temb tech knew what he was doing. this wasn't a novice. we don't think what he learned was from the military. we don't have evidence of that. we are trying to determine how he learned how to do that.

>> wolf, we'll talk more about the news conference in a moment. i want you to watch what's happening. a moment of silence here.

>> victor, stand by. i want to go over to drew griffin. police are now saying they are looking into johnson's online activities. what have we learned? what can you tell us about that? >> he was heavily involved in looking at the facebooks and the websites of many different black centric groups, also black nationalists and militant groups. we have reached out to some of those groups. they say they don't know him, never met him. he was actively liking and being apparently following those groups online. what we don't know is if there was any kind of connection being made to anyone else involved in this. i think by the sheer fact that there have been no additional

search warrants. we haven't dealt with any suspects. we are dealing with a lone wolf. you are starting to look at the mentality inside this person's mind. during this news conference, there was one point where the chief said, during the actual negotiations when they were trying it get the killer to give up, the killer supposedly said to the police how many did i get? in other words, how many did i kill? he was speaking directly to the police, which shows you the mind-set he was in at the moment, which must have been sheer hate. wolf? >> he was, also, according to the police chief, singing, drawing some initials on the wall in his own blood. we just heard his father say that when he came back after serving seven months active duty in afghanistan with the u.s. army, he seemed different. what else can you tell us, drew, about those elements? >> his friends have told us the same thing, that when he came

back from the military, we should say he was in the military six years and the army reserve. he only spent about nine months of that period overseas in afghanistan, in carpentry and masonry work, not battle work. during that time, he came back in 2014, during that time, he was accused by another soldier of some kind of sexual harassment or creating a hostile work environment. that female soldier asked that there be a restraining order placed against him and that he get mental help. it led to his honorable discharge. according to the attorney that represented micah johnson in those formalities, that was a plea bargain. he was able to leave from dison ashley to honorable discharge. he was kicked out of the army and after that his friends began to notice this reclusiveness and change in his demeanor.

thank you very much. i want to bring in tom fuentes and sergeant cheryl dorsey. chief brown also said they are contin continuing to download about 170 hours of body cam footage. walk us through what that process is like and potentially what it could show. >> well, hopefully, they will be able to clean some information with regards to his activities and what it is actually that this young man was doing moments before as he virtually stalked the officers and so this will certainly speak to the planning, the preparation and the tactics that he deployed against those officers. >> tom, the fact that he was singing, drawing initials in his own blood, apparently he must have been wounded if he had

blood coming out on a wall and sort of making jokes, if you will with the police saying, his goal was to kill white people, specially white police officers, what does that say to you about his mental state? >> it says what the negotiator said, that he was in such a state that he was not going to surrender. he was enjoying what he was doing, that he had killed cops. he wanted to know how many he got. he intended to kill more. so they pretty much realized and they gave that advice to chief brown that he is not going to surrender peacefully. this is going to end badly. the question then becomes, how to end it with no further loss of police officers. >> cheryl, i want you to listen to chief brown, the dallas police chief at that news conference a little while ago. he said, the police are being asked to do a lot right now. listen to this. >> we are asking cop toss do too much in this country. we are. we are asking us to do too much. every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve.

not enough mental health funding. let the cop handle it. not enough drug addiction funding, let's give it to the cops. here in dallas, we have a loose dog problem. let's have the cops chase loose dogs. schools fail. give it to the cops. 70% of the african-american population is being raised by single women. let's give it to the cops to solve that as well. that's too much to ask. policing was never meant to solve all those problems. i'll just ask for other parts of our democracy along with the free press to help us, to help us and not put that burden all on law enforcement to resolve. >> what's your response, cheryl. >> listen, we can't internalize the problems of the world. i understand that police officers are asked to do a lot and wear many hats. that's inherent to police work

and that's why it is oh so important in that hiring process, that psychological evaluation process that officers are scrutinized to make sure that they are up for the task and then once hired, they need to be re-evaluated to make sure that their heads remain on straight, so that they are able to take on these tasks and change hats frequently without any really problems going forward. if you find someone who is having difficulty negotiating through those many different hats that they have to wear, then please help them find another position. >> this police chief in dallas, chief david brown, very impressive. he speaks with a lot of credibility, a lot of authority. he knows what he is talking about. >> i like what he said toward the end of the interview. for the people out there that are protesters, if you want to make a real difference, we are hiring. come be a police officer. come on the street here. in the '70s, i finished my

college education with what was called a leap grant, law enforcement education program. they should bring that back. you get loans basically from the government to finish your college education and for each year you spend as an officer afterward, 25% is forgiven. if you are an officer for four years, you don't owe any money back. you can't ask students or young people to incur debts of $50,000, $70,000, or $100,000 and come work for $44,000 a year. what are we looking for? we want police officers to be robots, harvard debaters, olympic wrestlers and track stars. we don't look at the background. we need to look at police screening and applicant training and sustaining training after

their careers. president obama will speak tomorrow at a memorial service in dallas. what do they say to ease simmering tensions across the country? we'll update you on that. take a look at this. live pictures from virginia beach where donald trump will make a campaign stop momentarily. he is just one week away from the republican national con venlgs whe vention. we have details and a whole lot more right after this.

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a cloud of pain, anquish and anger hanging over the kufrnlt tri following the weeks after last week, two african-american men killed and five police officers killed in an ambush. the president will speak tomorrow. he is expected to talk about ways to heal divisions in the country and how to address the anger over the shootings by police. let's bring in presidential historian, douglas brinkly. michael dyson, the author of the

book about president obama. >> what does the country need to hear about press obama? >> he has made dozens of these r rabbi, priest speeches. we have to give him high marks for staying steady through these and when i sang amazing grace through the charleston killings. he needs to try to heal the police and protesters. he has a tricky dance of standing up for law enforcement and also talking about people's right for peaceful protest. >> what do you want to hear him say? >> i would prefer him go to minnesota, louisiana, and then dallas. he could bring healing to the

nation. he has to acknowledge the lethal and ferocious assault upon the police department and the lethal and ferocious assault upon black men and women's lives in america. he can do that by visiting all those ter rairains. he has to speak healing not as a renunciation of the past but in grappling of it. we must finally and forever be done with the divisions that royaled the american surface. how can we come together as a nation, not by denying the issues that our black brothers and sisters have or what the police have at stake, the desire of protection in the mid of doing their duties? >> douglas, he has been president of the united states for 7 1/2 years. he is wrapping up his final months. usually, at this moment in the presidency, press denlts fecedee liberated to say things they

might not have said in the first or the second term. is that fair? >> that is fair. barack obama is somebody who operates with a great deal of caution. when he goes to dallas, he will be thinking mainly about the families of the police officers and the families of the victims in minnesota and louisiana. he really is trying to be almost like a minister. after that, he might have an opportunity at a white house meeting next week to bring people together and start doing something more aggressive. he has tried to talk about the gun issue and have gun reform. it has gone nowhere. you have congress that doesn't want to work with him. you have an nra that is quite powerful. there may be an opening onement tall illness. the police can't constantly deal with deranged people.

the gentlemen that had killed the people. we have to find ways to lessen these amounts of death. >> have you seen a sensitivity on the part of the president? >> he felt very constrained initially after weighing in with the infamous skip gates situation. he learned the lesson. i can't weigh in there. there is going to be a lot of trauma. after the trayvon march fin situation a martin situation and some of the police misconduct according to the activists, the president was able to gird up his loins and move forward more aggressively. he was able to bring together the nation in the way douglas brinkly is calling for with a poetic eulogy about the american race. now, what he has to do is heal

the nation, specially because the police have been such controversial centers. >> should he bring up the issues of guns in his address? >> he should but he will defer that until next week. he will say this is the senselessness that is brought when we fail to come together. he won't harp on that. mostly, he will heal the grieving and being lincolnesquelike by speaking to the harm, danger and trauma. >> doug brinkly, lair rick larson, thanks very much. >> joe biden will sit down with jake tapper to discuss the dallas ambush, protests around the country, the race for the white house. that interview at 4:00 p.m. eastern on the lead with jake tapper only here at cnn. we'll take a closer look on what can be done on a more individual

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the deaths of two african-american men at the hand of police and the death of five police officers, nation on edge. where does the country go from here. joining us now, barbara lee, democrat of california joining us to discuss what's going on. >> where do you think the country is right now? >> we're mourning and grieving. the loss of these two young men

in baton ruouge and minnesota. the loss of five police officers, this violence has got to stop. i think where we are is re-assessing where we are. really understanding that we are our brothers and sisters keepers and we have to move out and do something. >> what needs to be done? >> first of all, we need to have our gun safety measures should be passed, modest measures on background checks, gun safety, on no fly, no buy. we need to look at the assault weapon ban. we need to look at how we address issues around police transparency and accountability. the republicans have defunded in our appropriations bill the cops program, the hiring portion. i have a law that would, a bill that would reinstitute that but also institute racial diversity in terms of inclusion. >> your district includes oakland where there have been a lot of these kind of issues over the years. i want you to listen to what the

dallas police chief, david browbrown said a little while ago. when asked what the protesters should be doing, he gave an important answer. listen to this. >> we're hiring. we're hiring. get off that protest line and put an application in. we'll put you in your neighborhood and we will help you resolve some of the problems you are protesting about. >> pretty important answer. what did you think of that answer? >> very important answer. we need to have police officers in our communities who look like us, who understand the cultural sensitivities, who understand institution of racism and bias and the historic reasons in terms of how we got here. we have to make it safe. >> he is telling a lot of people, you want to make a difference. don't just go out there and protest, join a police force, get involved, go into your communities. >> this police chief is

phenomenon. he made the first step. he took the first step. i think it is important. these protest movements and our protesters really get it. they want is to see change. they want to see injustices corrected in the criminal justice system reformed. i'm very proud and optimistic that young people will listen. not everyone wants to be a police officer but some may. when they see police departments such as dallas and how it has done a phenomenon job in meeting some of the standards we are trying to get nationally, i think some will heed the call. it is important to recognize, these protesters want systemic institutional change. in terms of the deescalation tension in the use of force, i think they are really demanding what need to be demanded. we have to make sure that these protests stay peaceful.

i think that the black lives matter movement and other movements and those supporters really want them to stay peaceful. i also believe that we have to have police officers who really understand the communities. we have to have more resources into community policing. our police officers deserve to be safe. they have a very difficult job. also, our communities deserve to be safe from police misconduct and police killings. >> well said. congresswoman, barbara lee, thank you for joining us. the republican national committee holding its first series of meetings where never trump forces will try to keep the billionaire from securing the republican nomination. details of their plan. does it have a shot? stand by and to keep up this pace, i need the right nutrition. so i drink boost®. boost® complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones,

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let's return to the race for the white house. donald trump getting ready to speak any moment in virginia beach. the new jersey governor, chris christie, he is at the podium right now. this will be donald trump's first public event since the shootings in dallas. joining us now, david gregory, our cnn political analyst and the host of the david gregory show podcast and with us also, jacque kucinich, the washington bureau chief for the daily beach. the speech, nia, he is supposed to get, a carefully scripted speech on veterans affairs. we don't know if he will open up with a statement on dallas. if he does whar, what should he? his reaction has been more measured than usual. >> a lot of republicans are

worried that so far, we have seen trump when these incidents happen, he didn't really meet the moment. with his statement so far, he released a paper statement and an on-air statement or an on-video statement. they want to see that continue, a measured tone, a tone that meets the moment, a presidential tone. i think people are looking for unity. people are looking for someone who can talk about what this means and balance both sides of the issues and many concerns about how the police treat certain individuals. we'll see if he addresses that. apparently, he is going to talk about the police and say they are needed most where the crime is highest. we'll see what he says. >> we'll monitor that and listen to him very carefully. the video that he posted at the end of last week, by all accounts, that was a carefully

scripted video. it did have that new measured tone, if you will. >> it did have that. that was actually an encouraging sign for a lot of his supporters and those that are watching to see what kind of donald trump shows up. i think nia has it exactly right, how a candidate, a potential leader of the country frames some very difficult issues. they are not all policy issues here. it is a question of how to recognize the pain in the black community around the country to recognize these very real difficulties with the relationship between the police and the african american community and still be supportive of police despite whatever systemic problems there may be with regard to race. he has to try to meet that moment and frame it in a way that is con strustructive. we have everybody retreat tog their corners rather than trying to be constructive. the president is trying to meet the moment by making this as constructive as possible and

recognizing the needs and sensitivities on all sides. >> the president will be delivers an address tomorrow at the memorial service. chris christie, the governor of new jersey is there with the republican presumptive nominee in virginia beach. it looks like he is seriously being vetted as a potential vice-presidential running mate. others are being vetted. trump says, maybe by the end of this week, he'll have an announcement. >> it has almost been like a carousel. we have heard a lot about governor mike pence of indiana who has been meeting with trump and will likely be with him in indiana when trump heads there. you also had michael flynn, who was floated this weekend. >> former head of defense intelligence. >> a more military standpoint. it doesn't seem like there is a firm decision for someone who was rumored to be announced this week. former speaker, newt gingrich has been in the mix as someone

who has a long knowledge of washington but also comes with some pretty heavy baggage. we'll have to see what in trump decides to do. every day seems to be different. >> jacque talks about this being a carousel. what's interesting about what we have seen with this sort of v.p. sweepstakes. people are clamoring to get this v.p. slot in this way. people don't necessarily want to be attached to donald trump and be out there as the face of the party as long as donald trump is the head of this party. >> it sounds to me like he wants someone with a lot of political experience as opposed to military experience right now. that's just what i'm hearing. what are you hear sng. >> i'm hearing similar things. he wants somebody to provide balance. he is the wild card. we all know that. i don't think he needs somebody to double down on that brand. i think he needs somebody that

is reassuring. it is interesting. when obama chose biden it was to reassure the world and others that he can handle the foreign policy test. he needs something similar and he is going to be serious enough about the ways of washington and he wants to make more of a statement to the establishment, which is why you see some of these in the midst. >> chris christie and mike pence, the governor of indiana, they all bring different things and a lot of political experience right now. donald trump is a businessman. he really doesn't have a lot of political experience. there he is getting ready to head over to the lectern. he has tell prompters. most of the speech is going to be on veterans affairs. i suspect he will open up with some words about what's going on in dallas. let's listen in a little bit to donald trump and hear what he has to say. he is a terrific guy. on behalf of all of those who have served this country in military uniform and for working

with our campaign on developing real solutions for our truly great veterans. thank you very much, jeff. i appreciate it. thank you. before going further today, however, i would like to first address the contributions of another group who serve this country in uniform. the men and women in blue. our police officers p we love our police officers. thank you. that's very nice. thank you. our police officers rush into

danger every single day to protect our communities and they often do it thanklessly and under relentless criticism. they serve thousands of lives every year, perform countless public services every day and yet their names will likely never appear in a single headline or media report. but i want our nation's police to know that we thank you from the bottom of our heart. we support you and we will always, always, always stand with you. the attack on our dallas police is an attack on our country. our whole nation is in mourning and will be for a very long

time. yet we have also seen increasing threats against our police and a substantial rise in the number of officers killed in the line of duty, a very big rise. america's police and law enforcement personnel are what separates civilization from total chaos and the destruction of our country as we know it. we must remember the police are needed the most where crime is the highest. politicians and activists who seek to remove police or policing from a community are hurting the poorest and most vulnerable americans. it's time form our hostility against our police and against

all members of law enforcement to end and to end immediately, right now. we went through an ugly chapter in our history during vietnam when our troops became the victims of harassment and political agendas. for too many police today, that is their daily reality. at the same time, the tragic deaths in louisiana, minnesota make clear that the work must be done to ensure, and a lot of work, that americans feel that their safety is protected. we have to do it. we have to get better, better, sharper, smarter. we were all disturbed by the images that we saw. we must discuss as well the on going catastrophe of crime in our inner cities, our inner cities are rife with crime. according to the "chicago tribune," there has already been

more than 2000 shooting victims in chicago alone this year. this epidemic of violence destroys lives, communities and opportunity for young americans. violent crime has increased in cities across america. "the new york times" described the startling rise in murders in our major cities. brutal drug cartels are spreading their reach into virginia and maryland. too many americans are trapped in fear, violence and poverty. our inner cities have been left totally behind. i am going to fight to make sure every citizen of this country has a safe home, a safe school and a safe community. we must maintain law and order

at the highest level or we will cease to have a country, 100%. we will cease to have a country. i am the law and order candidate. hillary clinton, on the other hand, is weak, ineffective, pandering, and as proven by her recent e-mail scandal which was an embarrassment not only it her but to the entire nation as a whole. she is either a liar or grossly incompetent, one or the other. very simple. personally, it's probably both.

not only am i the law and order candidate but i am also the candidate of compassion, believe it. the candidate of compassion. but you can't have true compassion without providing safety for the citizens of our country. every kid in america should be able to securely walk the streets in their own neighborhood without harm. everyone will be protected equally and treated justly without prejudice. we will be tough. we will be smart. we will be fair and we will protect all americans. without safety, we have nothing. it is the job of the next president to make america safe again for everyone, everyone.

that promise of protection must include taking care of every last veteran, which was going to be the sole topic of today's speech, prior to the horrible attack in dallas. the men and women who have served in our armed forces represent the very best of america. now is the time to follow their example of unity, public service, and selfless devotion to our nation. we made a promise, and we have to honor the promise that we made to these great heroes. you defend america, and america will defend you. [ applause ] thank you.

but that promise has been broken by our politicians like so many other promises our country has made. not only to its veterans, but to its citizens as a whole. president obama has allowed our veterans affairs, health care, all systems really denied them the help and the support and really has to do it. we have to get on the ball. we have to do it right. hillary clinton recently said of the v.a. scandal that it's not been as widespread as it's been made out to be. that's a quote. she actually thinks that the veterans health administration is well-run. that's because she's been part of this rigged system for a long

time. >> we're going to continue to monitor donald trump. he's now beginning the speech that he was going to give before the events of last week in dallas and louisiana and minnesota. now he's speaking about veterans affairs. we're going to monitor what he's saying i want to quickly get some reaction to what we just heard. donald trump speaking out at length right now on the events of the past few days, saying specifically, i am the law and order candidate. >> no subtlety there. it had shades in some way of nixon when he ran for president. i mean, it was very stark. i mean, this idea of standing by the police. he didn't give any inch there in terms of talking about some of the complaints that you hear from african-americans about the police. didn't give any credence to some of those criticisms of the police. so in that way, it wasn't necessarily balanced. and i think it's classic trump in some ways. not subtle. hitting you over the head. i think he may have said, i am

the law and order president twice, and believe it. he also talked about being the compassionate conservative, which has echoes of bush. but yeah, it was vintage trump in some ways. >> and it was kind of slogan, slogan, slogan, attack hillary clinton, attack barack obama, slogan, slogan, slogan. the how has not been answered on either of these fronts, be it veterans or how he would be the candidate that's going to keep you safe. >> he said the attack on dallas was an attack on the entire country, david. >> and i think president obama will agree with him. i don't think there's much disagreement between trump and the president or hillary clinton about how horrible an attack on police officers anywhere in the country is, without a doubt. when he extends that commentary, if you get to the commentary of policing nationwide, i thought he lacked a great deal of subtlety or context to the issue at hand here, which is a real problem within the policing community and our minority communities around the country. and he speaks of it as if, you

know, everybody has the same experience. that every kid should be safe walking in their neighborhood. well, there's a lot of black families in america who don't think that they have that kind of safety given their interactions with the police. so there's a lack of nuance in that, and he seems to be kind of describing this in very distinct, you know, terms, where there's not a lot of room for context or ambiguity. so in that way, i thought that was left lacking a little bit. but i think from a political point of view, coming out strong on "law & order" a on law and order, it's a place we expected him to be. >> he also addressed the shootings in minnesota and louisiana, where these two black men were killed by police officers. >> yeah, he, i think -- donald trump does what a lot of conservatives like to do. and that is sort of divert to what has typically been called black on black crime, which is in many ways sort of a misnomer. so he talked about it in that way, the murders in chicago.

he didn't really talk about what people see as systemic racism in police departments across the country. >> but he said police have to do better. >> he did. but i think his main focus was, a, on talking about police officers in standing behind them, and that's a thing that, as you said, barack obama is in that camp as well. but i think he mainly wanted to talk about sort of the safety of these citizens in the inner city and the fact that they are victims of crime. >> i also think in our political discourse, we're coming into the conventions, if there's an attempt by donald trump to essentially speak about protesters, black, white, and otherwise, about policing in america and sort of liken them to vietnam era protesters who were trying to divide america, you're going to have a left-right split here that's going to get ugly, and it is very much like nixon and reagan in the '60s. >> we're going to continue to monitor donald trump in virginia beach. much more on that coming up.

thanks to all of you for joining us. that's it for me. i'll be back, 5:00 p.m. eastern in the situation room. for our international viewers, amanpour is coming up next. for our viewers in north america, "newsroom" with don lemon starts after a quick break.

hello, everyone. i'm don lemon. this is cnn's special live coverage of the ambush in dallas. at any moment, surgeons, doctors, first responders are going to speak for the first time since that horrific night in their city. we're going to bring that to you live. you see them there, setting up for that press conference there in dallas. but first, an exhausted police chief taking questions from reporters and revealing more about the man who sprawled cryptic messages in blood after shooting 12 police officers, killing five. chief david brown also saying he and his family got