tv Americas Choice 2016 CNN July 18, 2016 11:00am-1:01pm PDT
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i'm john berman live in baton rouge. sources now saying a videotape proves the attack on police officers here was "planned and meticulous." in minutes we're expecting a news conference from baton rouge authorities. their first since yesterday, we could learn a great deal of new information. three officers killed, three others hurt including one still clinging to life. after weeks here of protests against baton rouge police for the death of alton sterling, now many people bringing flowers for
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police. the community and the nation pleading for the bloodshed to stop, including hillary clinton not long ago at the naacp conventio convention. >> this madness has to stop. [ applause ] . watching the news from baton rouge yesterday, my heart broke. not just for those officers and their grieving families but for all of us. the slain officers were husbands and fathers, 41-year-old marine corps veteran matthew gerald, 45-year-old brad garafola, and montrel jackson had a baby boy just four months old.
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with me to discuss now is an associate professor of the law center. i'll start with drew griffin. give us the information. >> it seems as though it was an ambush killing. what they want to know now is was he involved with anything else? we know that he claimed to be a black separatist. he was involved with many hate groups online. did any of those people have relations with him? and once he was in baton rouge, how long was he here? did he have any contact with any people here. the chief has said yes we are talking with people who did cop verse with him. we don't know what that means. we don't know if that's a hotel operator, some place he stayed forthere or if there's any contact with the people involved in the alton
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sterling protests. we can't find a single person involved in those protests who recognized him, saw him hanging around, talked to him or had contact with him. we're not sure. we're anticipating we might get more information from the police but the working assumption is this guy, kansas city, enraged by police brutality in his own mind decided to come out here and kill baton rouge police officers. >> already enraged by some things, apparently, by the trail he left on social media. i talked to the mayor earlier today who told me he knew, they knew believe this man was here for a few nights prior to the shooting on sunday. and the mayor also told me it was his gut, his gut, he didn't have any proof about an hour and a half ago but it was his gut that someone here in baton rouge, a local, was connected to this man. >> well, that's a gut of a politician. the detectives are out there trying to find people who did have any contact with him. we're not getting any indication that that took place in terms of any kind of planning or aid but it's primarily because they're
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tight-lipped here right now. >> they made clear after the news conference they wouldn't talk until today. the new news conference just a little more than an hour from now. we should get more information. drew, stand by. professor, i want to talk to you about the atmosphere here in baton rouge because the last two weeks was difficult already. already before what happened on sunday. >> indeed. our hearts are heavy. we've spent the last two weeks under an international microscope and now that intensifies is this grief, this grieving process takes on an entirely different and tragic dimension. so this is unlike anything we've experienced before as a community and we're grieving but doing so together. >> the killer not from baton rouge. the killer came here apparently to exploit whatever situation was on the ground here to commit whatever heinous acts he was going to do, but not local. >> not local. and we've seen peaceful demonstrations over the last few weeks. we've seen conversations begin to take place between law enforcement and the community as they should and hopefully will
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continue to do so. so to have somebody come in and violate those bonds, those relationships and exploit this moment is so tragic and something i think no one in this community saw coming and no one would sanction. >> disrespecting the conversation that was happening. >> i was speaking to the head of the police officers' association of louisiana who told me that his officers around the state are having to balance now the need for their own safety with the need to do their jobs. he says when you get the 911 call you've got to think how will i approach this to guarantee that i go home after. >> and our hearts are with those men and women who everyday put their lives on the lines and who we understand take on a very serious responsibility. they do so valiantly and courageously and he want to support them this moment. >> so difficult for them and the entire community. stand by, as we said, this news conference less than an hour
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away where we could find out a great deal more information about what happened here, how it happened and the timeline. in the meantime, let's go to brooke baldwin in cleveland, the site of the republican national convention now under way. brooke? >> we'll see you here later this week, john berman, thank you so much. great to be here in cleveland, ohio, i'm brooke baldwin, it's monday. you can feel the excitement inside the quicken loans arena. the cleveland cavaliers got the big win now mr. trump hoping for the same thing. live pictures here. this is the opening against this backdrop of racial tensions in this country and hours before he takes the stage donald trump has said something today that has some folks in this country concerned. he called into fox news this morning when he when he was asked about president obama's response to the deadly police shootings that john berman was just reporting on in baton rouge and also in dallas and this is what mr. trump said.
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>> i watched the president and sometimes the words are okay but you just look at the body language and something going on. look, there's something going on. >> what does that mean "there's something going on"? >> there's just bad feeling and a lot of bad feeling about him. i see it, too. >> all right, let's begin there. i have bakari sellers sitting here with me this evening, andre bauer is here with me as well. republican commentator and donald trump supporter and also lisa booth is here, republican strategist and contributor to the "washington examiner." let's, andre, begin with what mr. trump just said. "something going on." what was he saying? >> i couldn't hear your question. >> my question is when you heard mr. trump call into fox news and they asked what happened to n baton rouge and beyond and he was questioning the president's body language and reiterating
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something's going on and they were canning him what does that mean. that's my question to you as a trump supporter. >> you know, i don't know. even as a trump supporter i wish he'd continue with his message and not get bogged down in what the president is doing. he won't be the president for a short time and donald trump is going to be so i want him to get more presidential and explain his vision and not worry about what the president is doing. >> you can understand why people are questioning that especially after some of what he said in the wake of the orlando massacre at the nightclub, perhaps questioning police officers. it's what he's not saying that's generating some buzz. let me ask you. that's what some folks are coming forward and questioning. >> i think donald trump after you've had orlando, nice, these crises in our country has failed every single time. i think his statement this morning was ham handed. i think his statement was cowardly. he did the same thing. >> how do you mean? >> he did the same thing by alluded to the fact that barack obama may be a muslim or barack
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obama may be somehow tied to islamic religion. >> but he's not saying that. >> he's doing the same thing here by saying that something's going on. his bod delanguay language is st somehow he agrees with what's going on. that's not what's going on. if donald trump has something to say, he should flat out say it. but more importantly, donald trump has -- he's actually very articulate and atetempting to show the world is going into chaos. >> he said it's divided? >> but what he's never been able to do is show that he's the person that can unify the country and we don't need the divisive rhetoric. if donald trump wants to be president of the united states he needs to stand up and show he can be a leader. >> let me turn to you, lisa. we know tonight of all the different nights there are different themes. tonight is make america safer again. he said there was a leadership vacuum in this country. he said in the wake of these horrendous attacks that our country divided. what does he need to say to andre's point to stay on message
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and be specific? >> i think saying "there's something going on" i think we're doing it speculation. you've given it more thought than he just did. >> that's sad, though. >> it's a one off. it doesn't mean anything. but ultimately what donald trump is trying to do which we heard him say, i'm the law and order candidate. when americans look around, they see chaos, whether it's on the world stage with the rise of isis or even in america with racial tensions at an all-time high and the majority of americans think they'll get worse. saying he's the law and order candidate, talking about trying to bring the country together, trying to restore order to the country and further it can cuts to the lawlessness of hillary clinton with her private e-mail server and this feeling americans have that she thinks she's above the law. >> yes, that has been a criticism over and over of hillary clinton. it will be interesting to see what she says while we're all here in cleveland as the democratic national convention is next week. we're having an important conversation about race in this country.
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i was just in nice yesterday and we have to talk terror and about what happened there and what could continue to happen because that's something he addressed in that "60 minutes" interview. let me tell you this, right now in cleveland protests are under way outside of this arena. krousds are speaking out against and also on behalf of donald trump. we'll paint the picture as far as what's happening outside and what could continue through the rest of the week here. also ahead, the fascinating moment when donald trump jumped in to answer questions in that "60 minutes" interview as -- this was the first time now that mike pence was announced as his running mate, the two sat together and gave the interview to lesley stahl. we'll talk to police holding a news conference holding that attack against the baton rouge police officers. they could be offering up new details on the investigation and also the motives of the shooter. i'm brooke baldwin, john berman
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. welcome back. i'm brooke baldwin, we are live in cleveland, ohio, the republican national convention officially under way. the gavel fell just about an hour fifteen ago by rnc chairman reince priebus, gavelled it into session 1:00 eastern. >> this convention will come to order. [ cheers and applause ] delegates and alternate, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2016 republican national convention. >> and we are here perched inside our booth, one of many within this mega convention hall at cleveland's quicken loans arena. it is here where donald trump and his family, his running mate mike pence and other republican heavyweights will gather over the course of the next four
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days. there could be some surprises, some celebrities, we shall watch and see. let's get to our senior white house correspondent jim acosta who is not too far from me inside this convention hall. jim acosta day one. tell me who's speaking tonight. >> it's a very interesting lineup. as you know, brooke, today's theme is "make america safe again." and perhaps it's safe to let your wife go first because donald trump is having his wife melania trump speak tonight and in a very unprecedented move donald trump is going to be here in cleveland to introduce melania to this crowd of delegates here. it's sort of an unusual step that donald trump is taking, you usually hear from the presumptive gop nominee and then official gop nominee later on in the week. but, you know, one thing we'll have to be watching for tonight, brooke, is whether donald trump turn this is into what we saw on saturday. remember, on saturday when he introduced governor mike pence as his running mate, that introduction went on for 28 minutes and included whole chunks of donald trump's standard stump speech from hillary clinton to the iraq war,
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veterans issues and so on so we'll be watching that tonight. there are other speakers on hand. lieutenant michael flynn who -- lieutenant general michael flynn who is, of course, on his vice presidential short list and there will be a tribute to former presidential candidate bob dole who will be sitting in trump's vip box tonight. so a big tribute to bob dole as well. brooke, this is a big moment for donald trump. he wants to lead the country but the house of lincoln is a house divided. the republican party is just not on the same page here. part of the reason why you're seeing melania trump and his children introducing donald trump to the world is because he doesn't have people like former president george w. bush, former presidential candidate mitt romney and on and on, john kasich, the governor of this state, will be skipping this convention, we're told because of this divide inside the republican party. but we're told by talking to people inside the trump campaign the theme all this week will be law and order. you look at those events in
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baton rouge, nice, turkey and so on, that's something donald trump and the speakers will be going back to time and again, brook. >> jim acosta, thank you, my friend. meanwhile, as jim mentioned, donald trump is ledding his wife go first, although we could be seeing him introducing her. melania trump is about to step from the sidelines into the spotlight as tonight's headliner, the trump campaign chairman paul manafort tells cnn she wants to help get voters -- get to know her husband better by talking more about his personal side and cnn's anderson cooper sat down with her as she openly talked about her husband and how she is ready to be first lady. >> you know, your husband had been criticized sometimes for his tone on the campaign trail. one of the things he said to me is that as president -- campaigning is one thing, as president he would have a different tone if he was in the white house. do you think he can have a different tone? >> yes, yes. he can have a different tone. he really can have a different tone because to build the empire
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and the business he built you cannot always use that kind of a tone and he can really change. he could really change the words and the tone but he is who he is and you could see he's following and people agree with him because they're tired of washington and politicians in washington, they don't do much. and he's a doer. he does things and he's not just talking it, he will have things done for the states, for the america, for american people. >> when you hear people saying he's racist, hearing him saying he's anti-immigrant -- >> no, he's not. he's not racist, he's not anti-immigrant. he wants to keep america safe, he wants to have illegal immigrants taken care of that they will not be in the
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"courant"ry that they don't pay taxes, that they are criminals and that they're not good for the america. he wants -- he was talking about the illegal immigration not about everybody. >> if your husband is elected president, i think you would be the second foreign-born first lady. i think john quincy adams' wife. have you thought about -- being a first lady, what it would mean. >> we are in the 21st century. i will be me, i will be different than any other first ladies. i will -- i will help women. i will help children. they are our future. they need our guidance and help and also i'm involved in many, many charities already so i will choose one or two that they are very dear to me and work on
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that. >> when you say "help women and children" do you have a sense of how? >> well, i don't have -- i have ideas i have but let's see what happens. i take it day by day. we don't know what will happen and we will see so then we could talk. >> i saw the interview you did in 2000 when your husband was thinking about running with the reform party you said you'd sort of be a traditional first lady, you named betty ford, jacqueline kennedy. is that sort of the model you're still thinking of? >> well, i see around they compare me to jackie kennedy. it's an honor but, of course, we're in 21st century and i will be different and she had great style and she did a lot of good stuff but this is different time now. we have a different problems that we need to take care of and we will focus on that.
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>> all right, let me bring my panel back in, andre bauers, lisa boothe a. so speakers, scott baio, antonio cc sabathia t sabato, jr., paul ryan and people could be cynical when you look at some of his selections but isn't that how he rose to fame being unorthodox? >> we all live in the political world so we judge donald trump or people judge donald trump in the political world because he doesn't say things the way hillary clinton does. he's not reading a tell prompter, he's not scripted but that's how americans speak i think that's why he's so popular with americans because the reality is people want to hear real talk and they look at hillary clinton, they look at the fact she's on every side of every issue. she's been a politician for decades. this is the way she's lived her life. you look at polling in key states like ohio, pennsylvania,
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and florida and you have 70% of americans who say the system is broken and they want radical change and donald trump comes from outside of the system, he's talking about issues and ways and manners that i care about and you even look at the issue of trade which even though it's unorthodox and republican talk to look at an issue like that, you're talking about a majority of americans in pennsylvania, ohio and florida -- sorry, florida and you've got a majority of americans who believe what donald trump has been saying that it's taking jobs away from americans so donald trump is speaking about issues in a manner which americans -- >> resonates, you're saying? whether it's issues or what some of these speakers -- >> about issues they care about. >> we have to talk about the "60 minutes" interview. i'm turning to both of you. one headline from the "washington post" when they were writing it up jumped out at me. the headline was "donald trump's interview with "60 minutes" was eye opening, also mike pence was there." >> well, it's ironic because you just laid out all of these points about donald trump being an authentic persona americans are gravitating towards which he does read off tell prompters now
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that he's in a general election. but mike pence is the polar opposite. mike pence was for nafta. mike pence thinks tpp was the gold standard. mike pence praised hillary clinton for the invasion into libya. mike pence voted for the war in iraq. so here you have these two people and it was a really, really chilly relationship. if that was an arranged marriage, it probably won't make it past the phase of annulment. >> well, if it was arranged, you have a lot of paul ryan republicans who are cheering it on which could lead for an awesome week for donald trump because finally this coalescing of a fractured party. on that, though, actually, i'm going to pin you down as a trump supporter, though, because to your point in the "60 minutes" interview leslie stahl was asking about terror in syria and then she pivoted "well, governor pence, you voted like hillary clinton for the war in iraq." here's what happened there. >> that was a war she shouldn't have done because iraq did not knock down -- >> your running mate --
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>> excuse me -- >> your running mate voted for it. >> i don't care. >> what do you mean you don't care that he voted? >> it's a long time ago and he voted this way. they were also misled. >> but you harped on this. >> i was against the war in iraq from the beginning. >> but you've used that vote of hillary's that was the same as governor pence's as the example of her bad judgment. >> many people have and, frankly, i'm one of the few that was right on iraq. >> but what about him? >> he's entitled to make a mistake every once in a while. >> but she's not? >> no, she's not. >> how is that fair? >> a couple points. if you go back to the 80s when lee atwater talked about creating the big tent, bringing new folks in, that's what's happening. it's not a room filled with politicians anymore. it's average hardworking folks that are fed up with the system and refreshed by someone that doesn't have absolute every talking point that's perfect. when you pick someone like mike
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pence, he showed that he didn't have to have a yes, sir/no, sir man. a ceo brings in people to give him different perspective and view point and that's what donald trump has done. he's found someone that can help him get things done in washington, someone that's governed but may have a different vantage point and mike pence will find his stride. yes he didn't find it in that interview but it will come in time. >> thank you for being with me. appreciate it. coming up from cleveland, we'll take you back to baton rouge after that shooting police across the nation including here in cleveland they're on edge and understandably so. cleveland's police union, one of the leaders here says this is the last thing they need. we will look at the debate over
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whether or not it should be allowed because here in this state open carry is okay and they called for it to be suspended for the week even though the governor said it's not legal. protesters are another. thousands and thousands of them in this city are projecting a different kind of chaos to this convention, we'll take you outside this arena to see what's happening on this monday afternoon. yoo
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. we're back live at the republican national convention brooke baldwin taking a peek outside here, security around the quicken loans arena. it's tight, teams of officers for what are expected to be thousands and thousands of protesters descending upon cleveland. many have marched outside the convention site. all of this. keep in mind the context and backdrop of this week, the deadly ambush of police in baton rouge haas officers and protesters in cleveland reassessing their approach and tone. i have sara sidner in the thick of things outside this arena. in the cleveland public square. sara, tell me what you're saying. >> we're walk iing a mile and a half around the entire area that's been heavily protected, protesters got into the streets but police have calmly been on the side, it's been a very calm but very loud protest. i want to let you knee a few seconds ago we saw someone
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holding a long gun strapped across his back, proof that it is an open-carry state here in ohio. the police handled him calmly. the protesters basically ignored him with a couple yelling at him that he was an idiot, according to the protesters but there were no issues between the two. what you're hearing is a lot of people who are against trump becoming president. there are people here from the immigrant community. there are people here from black lives matter, people here from the latino community. people here from the muslim community as well as just some folks from around the world who do not support trump. we have not yet seen pro-trump supporters yet but we have certainly seen hundreds upon hundreds of people marching in the streets slow ly, deliberately, loudly but calmly. brooke? >> sara sidner with what's happening outside. increased security not enough for cleveland's largest police union. the anxiety over the deadly police ambushes both in baton rouge and in dallas has prompted the group's president to demand that the governor here in ohio,
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governor john kasich, restrict guns near the convention site. keep in mind, the state of ohio is an open carry site, meaning you have the license you can carry as sara just mentioned, a long gun, a gun on a holster open. the city has assigned 500 officers but they have gotten all kinds of other officers and jurisdictions around the country to help. the governor has said with regard to suspending open carry that it's not legally possible. we have the assistant director of if u.s. marshals office. so between two of you i'm sure we have many, many years in law enforceme enforcement. do you think they should restrict open carly. do you think folks should be able to walk around openly with handguns just outside the perimeter? >> i think they should be restricted. i think for the next five days you should not be able to have an open carry. when this was discussed with law
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enforcement is over the last 18 months, a lot of this with us discussed six months ago before the last 10 days with dallas, with baton rouge and all of those issues that have happened over the last ten days. so i think things have changed a little bit. i get the governor saying okay, that's not what -- he doesn't have the power to do that but i think if he would create a state of emergency in the county i think he can. i'm no lawyer but i only in step with the union in reference to open carry restrictions. >> there may be a change depending on the tone and tenor. but let's roll along assuming you can carry a weapon. you said one of the things that makes you nervous is these two crowds, the pro-trump folks, the anti-trump folks, could clash. >> they could. >> and it could get worse over the week. >> it could and it probably will get worse over the week.
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we heard there have been some verbal judo going back and forth between the two groups and i know law enforcement is trying to keep these groups separate so they can have their protests, peaceful protests and move on. we are hearing that there are some open carry weapons. i think sara's report mentioned -- >> she did. >> -- that there was a long rifle scene and, brook, as you recall from dallas there were protesters carrying long rifles. the minute the shooting started they ran up to law enforcement and gave them their rifles and said "i'm not part of this." so i think some groups -- i've heard some groups have voluntarily put out to their people please don't bring any weapons. let's keep this calm in honor of the law enforcement officers killed in dallas and in baton rouge and hopefully a lot of these groups will hear this. but the secret service has already prepared for this. >> i know we're all holding our collective breaths that everyone
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is allowed to protest and go for it, but let's keep the peace this week. gentlemen, thank you so much. coming up, we will talk to one of tonight's speakers here at the republican convention, actor, model antonio sabato, jr., joins me live in the convention studio. we'll talk to him about why he wanted to be here, why he wants to speak on behalf of mr. trump and he has some personal stories about his time growing up and traveling to nice given what happened there. also we are going to take you back live to baton rouge, police are telling us more about the man who lured officers out to kill them and the brave, brave police officers who lost their lives. i'm brooke baldwin, we'll be right back. you both have a
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welcome back. john berman here in baton rouge. just moments from now we're going to have a news conference. we will get new details about the attack just more than 24 hours ago that left three officers dead. a source with knowledge of the investigation now tells cnn that a videotape of the attack shows a "meticulous, planned approach toward the officers." he went in designed to kill police. two policemen and a sheriff's deputy were shot and killed, three other officers were wounded, one in critical condition clinging to life. authorities are also learning more about the killer, an ex-marine who ambushed these officers just a mile from where i'm standing right now. the officers were responding to a 911 call about a man dressed in black armed with an assault-style rifle. police eventually killed this gunman in a fire fight. joining me now with more on the
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officers involved in this confrontation, cnn's brian todd. brian, what are you learning? >> john, we got good news just a few moments ago. we've learned from the people at our lady of the lake regional medical center not far from here in baton rouge that one of the law enforcement officers that was treated for injuries has just been released. there is another one there in critical condition, that officer's names is nicholas tolier, 41 years old. but at least one officer officer who was treated at the medical center has been released so that officer's condition has been improving. this is the scene where this played out. this is the be quick convenience store and gas station here in baton rouge this is where the shootout occurred and where it ended and what strikes you is how busy this area is i'll take you over here a little bit. our photo journal iist has been
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walking over here. there's a lot of members of the media here, we have to shoot past them a bit but you can see this is a huge section of airline highway here where there's a lot of traffic, a lot of business, there's a huge shopping center just across the way. a lot of businesses lining this end of the street as well so it's astonishing, john, that even though it was at 8:45 on sunday morning when this occurred, astonishing that really more loss of life also did not occur. what we are getting from sources is that this killer gavin long planned this attack. there are indications he might have tried to lure the officers to this spot by wearing all black, by wearing a mask by, of course, carrying the long gun he had, an ar-15 style assault rifle knowing someone would call 911. there could be ibndications tha he might have called 911 himself to lure the officers here. it was a virtual ambush that
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occurred, him luring the officers to the spot and what is also astonishing here is the level of violence that took place in a short amount of time, from the time officers first got the call at 8:40 a.m. local time to the time it was all over, seven minutes. an astonishing amount of violence in seven minutes with at least three law enforcement officers dead, three others injured and the killer dead as well. >> had they not responded as quickly and powerfully as they did perhaps there could have been a greater loss of life. brian todd, thank you so much. meticulous planning. that's what we've learned since yesterday about this attack. there are many many questions. did this killer who drove 800 miles from kansas city, did he have any help here in baton rouge? did he have any contact with anyone in baton rouge? did he know anybody here in this city? these are key, key questions, we could get answers in just a few minutes. a news conference here from law enforcement and officials here, we'll take it when it happens,
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brook, mieanwhile, back to you. >> john berman, thank you so much. back here in cleveland, melania trump is the headliner tonight, prime time speaker at the republican national convention. also on the stage this evening, actor, model, donald trump supporter antonio sabato, jr. he'll join me live right here in the cnn convention studio. plus as we're just watching, we're waiting for the update on the deadly ambush on the police officers in baton rouge. a live news conference is set for the top of the hour. we will take you there. calling all go-getters. all providers. all self-motivated self-starters. drive with uber and put a dollar sign in front of your odometer. like this guy. technically i'm a cook. sign up here. drive a few hours a day. make $300 a week. actually it's a little bit more than that. that's extra buy-you-stuff money. or buy-them-stuff money. calling all early risers, nine-to-fivers and night owls. with uber-a little drive goes a long way. start earning this week. go to uber.com/drivenow
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all right, the band has started to play in cleveland inside the big republican national convention. at this 11th hour, let me just add this. we're hearing about a little bit of drama developing at the convention on day one. some "never trump" delegates are making a last-ditch effort to we'll say complicate things, i have political director here at cnn david chalian, mike shields a cnn delegate analyst and the
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head of the super pac dedicated to electing republicans to congress. what's going on? >> this is the business part of the convention where the delegates are going to vote and this is where we're going tv never trump moment. this is where it would have happened. that won't happen today. there won't be an unbinding vote, that sort of thing, we're focused on the rules package, the rules of the rnc and there are some pro-cruz forces that want to change the nominating process so in some ways we're seeing an effort to start the 2020 campaign for ted cruz. >> 2020 campaign for ted cruz? >> they want to change the nominating process and if they lose they're victims and the establishment shoved them aside and if they win they'll try to have closed primaries and there could be a vote on the floor on the rules package and the ability to change the rules and nominating pro dress. >> mike, you know this better than i do so correct me if i'm wrong but although you say this is more about the rnc rules process in the 2020 calendar, if, indeed, the full rules package comes up for a full role
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call vote up or down, obviously the unbinding votes, even though they failed in committee will take some pleasure from that, right? because the binding is part of the rules right now, too. the whole rules package goes down, won't they feel a sense they made a mess? >> i think part of their desire is to cause a little embarrassment and chaos. since they can't nominate their candidate they want to prove a point so one way they can do that this whole week is on the rules packages coming on the floor. >> but this is it. after that happens it's like donald trump week, right? >> that's right. >> make no mistake. >> and brooke what we're watching for is whether or not they can force a full floor vote on that full rules package. may not happen but if it does it's still expected to fail. this is a little blip today to embarrass trump. >> david chalian, mike shields, thank you so much. and if there is one word, and when we talk about the speakers as we're talking about donald trump if there's one word that sums up the speaker list it
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could be eclectic, it includes a mix of politicians, military veterans, donald trump's family members and some familiar faces from hollywood, including my next guest. he is antonio sabato, jr., perhaps best known for his soap opera roles, calvin klein model, hosts a syndicated home renovation show. nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you also. >> welcome to cleveland. >> good to be here. i love this town. >> for folks watching who know you not from politics, why are you here? >> because i love this country. i love it very much. i've been here since 1985. >> from italy. >> from italy, yes. i'm very passionate about this nation and i'm here to support our next president of the united states. >> you have never been to a political convention before. >> no. >> thoughts? impressions so far? >> i love it. i've met a lot of amazing people, officers and sheriffs and politicians but at the end of the day i think they want the same thing, they want this country back to where it used to be, even better if we can make it and they love this nation,
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they love america. >> we were talking about the phone earlier today and i said "how long have you known mr. trump?" and you said you go back to the '90s. >> yeah. >> talk about what he was like circa 1994 versus now? >> he was just always a gentleman, he's always the guy that would open a door and let you in and ask you questions, how are you feeling? how are you doing? you need anything? he's always been like that. and he's there now. he love this is country so much that he's willing to put everything he's worked so hard for on the side and focus on this nation. he doesn't have to be a politician, people say -- he doesn't have to. he has all the money in the world. he's said. he's good to go. >> let me push back on the "lying ted" and "crooked hillary." >> you need to have somebody who will fight, be a leader, tell you the truth and cut between these lies and after seven and a half years of obama in which he's lied to everyone constantly telling not the truth you have a
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guy in between these parties. he's not a republican, not a democrat, he says i love this country and i want to do what's best for this country. you might not like what i have to say but at least it's the honest truth. that's refreshing. >> you're speaking tonight. >> i'm speaking tonight. >> you've met a lot of celebrities through the decades. in terms of politicians who are you geeking out over meeting this week? >> well, i mean, from -- i've loved both parties, i don't want to really pick on one more with than the other from the cruz to rubios. i want to meet the officers, the police officers who are working here, the dea agent, sheriff's department, secret service, these guys that i admire and i want to be there for them and obviously trump's family and my thanks go to jesus christ everyday. i have admiration for god, i love the lord. i mean, i don't know, why would i be here?
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i'm here for a reason, it's good. it's a good reason. >> antonio sabato, jr., thank you very much. coming up next, you mentioned law enforcement, we know police in baton rouge are holding a news conference in a matter of minutes here giving us new information as far as what happened earlier this week. we're expecting to learn those details and what drove that man to kill. stay with me.
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here we go top of the hour, you're watching cnn's special live coverage. i'm brooke baldwin in cleveland where the republican national convention is officially under way. and let me add anti-trump delegates are mounting this 11th hour pitch to change things, to complicate things, those details coming up. >> i'm john berman live in baton rouge. any moment now we're expecting to learn more about the ambush of officers here in this city that left three officers dead, a forth this afternoon clinging to life. authorities holding a news conference which we'll bring to you as soon as it starts. you're watching closely. we'll get to you as soon as it begins. a source close to the investigation says a video of the attack provides information that it was a planned and meticulous attack, this attacker
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knew what he was going going in. with me now, baton rouge native christopher tyson, also an associate professor at lsu enforcement officer. ana cabrera is in kansas city at the killer's last-known address and brian todd at the crime scene where these officers were attacked more than 24 hours ago. brian, let me start with you. we know three officers are dead, we know a fourth is clinging to life. we know the attacker himself is dead and there is no other shooter on the loose but there are unanswered question this is afternoon aren't there? >> john, a lot of unanswered questions, frankly, we want to know more about what kind of planning this killer took to do all of this. we know from sources they believe he tried to lure the officers to this spot. this is the be quick gas station and convenience store here there baton rouge, a busy part of town. this might have been part of his
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calculation, we're trying to find out more about that. maybe we'll learn more in a few minutes. also, who might he have been staying with in the baton rouge area. who did he come in contact with when he got to baton rouge from dallas getting here a short time before the shootings took place. all of those are questions we want want answers to. john, this is the area where it played out where the shooting took place. the parking lot, the drive through area of the be quick mart over here right over here a makeshift memorial. people have been coming here all day placing flower, cards and balloons and praying, there's a police pastor here from another town. look that the thoroughfare here. it's midday on a monday and maybe early on a sunday morning it wasn't quite as busy but you can tell any time of the i da or night this section of baton rouge will be busy.
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you have a major thoroughfare with traffic constant here and the fact more people were not killed or hurt is astonishing. >> had to do with the quick response of the officers involved there. they were on the scene quick ly they confronted him and eliminated him. we are learning more about the shooter. he drove 800 miles from kansas city to commit this attack. ana cab rare is in kansas city. ana, what are you learning? >> he grew up in the kansas city area, graduated high school in the nearby grand view area in 2005. we got his senior yearbook picture there. his family still lives in this neighborhood, a quiet neighborhood. we've seen law enforcement presence out here today, neighbors didn't know the family well, they tell us and family isn't talking right now we know he went on to serve in the marines for five years and had a short tour of duty in iraq. what motivated him? we don't know a lot from family
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members. we're learning a lot about the killer from his own writings, his postings on social media and youtube. he was prolific on the internet and had a message he wanted to share with the world. i want to talk about a couple postings he made leading up to this killing spree. in july 10 he was in dallas, he says, a stop along his way to baton rouge and he made a posting saying that people needed to fight back. he said protesting accomplished nothing, that 0% has been accomplished and only those who have fought back through bloodshed, he says have been successful. and he urged others to fight back. on july 8 he made a post that early seems to foreshadow the violence to come he talks about making sure people knew should something happen to him that he is not affiliated with any group. he says he's only affiliated with the spirit of justice, nothing more, nothing else, he
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says. although investigators have told cnn that they did find a membership card on him after the killings and after the shootout with police and he seemed to be a member of a group called withashitau nation. a black sovereign citizens group that came to come from decemb descendents of black inhabiters before european settlements. this is a group that rejects authority. fbi sources have said they don't believe any specific group directed the attacks. they want to know who and what may have influenced these deadly moments. john? >> ana, let's listen in, stand by, the news conference is beginning. >> good afternoon, thank you all for being here today to cover
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the ongoing events of this officer-involved shooting. this investigation is on going, many moving parts but we felt it important to give you an update from what we know up to this point. our speakers today will start with opening remarks by governor john bel edwards. next will be baton rouge mayor kip holden. co colonel mike edmondson will provide an update. next will be the east baton rouge parish sheriff followed by chief carl dabadie of the baton rouge city police and then u.s. attorney middle district walt green and special agent in charge of the fbi and louisiana jeff celet. we will be posting the pictures you will see to the state police facebook page. we will open up the questions at the end of all the briefings is. >> thank you, doug, good
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afternoon, everyone. we wanted to have this press conference today to update you on what we now know about yesterday's horrific attack on law enforcement and on the entire baton rouge community. specific information related to that attack will be given to you shortly and then we will take questions as well. first -- and you all know this, it's no secret -- but the shooter was, in fact, gavin long. that information was not given to you yesterday by us because it had not been forensically confirm confirm confirmed as it was last night. he's a 29-year-old from kansas city, missouri. he came in here from somewhere else to do harm to our community and specifically to the law enforcement officers in our community. and what's telling about that is
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for six days prior to the violence of yesterday morning there had not been a single arrest in baton rouge related to any protests or demonstrations arising out of the alton sterling shooting. at this point state and local officials are partnering with federal agencies to keep people safe and as governor of the state of louisiana i have no higher priority than public safety and i am confident we have a team on the ground to not only complete this investigation but to maintain law and order in ensure the safety of our public. those people who live here and those people who are visiting. we have partnering with us federal agencies, some which you're going to hear from today i have spoken today with officials from the white house and i will be in further communication later today with the united states attorney general and i want to thank them
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for their support at this time this investigation will leave no stone untern ed the actions of the l the law enforcement community yesterday were nothing short of heroic. they ran towards danger in order to protect the public. they ran towards danger in order to render aid to fellow officers. yesterday i visited with families at the hospital. these are good men. we know the story but it bears repeating now. "no greater love hath any man than to lay down his life for
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others." so we're going to continue to mourn the loss of the three officers who were killed and we're going to pray for the recovery for the three injured officers. this was a diabolical attack on the very fabric of society and that is not hyperbole, that is not an overstatement, there is nothing more fundamentally important than maintaining law and order so that people can have good quality lives. that's what he attacked, the very fabric of our society. and that is not what justice looks like. it's not justice for alton sterling or anything else that's happened in this state or anywhere else. it's not justice for anybody. it's certainly not constructive. it's just pure unadulterated evil. and we're going to start our conversations here in louisiana and around our communities with
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community leaders, government officials, faith leaders so that we can find out where we can go from here. and there isn't anyone of us who can fix this but all of us can and will fix this problem and certainly i don't have all the answers and i know it won't happen overnight but it will happen. and i know that we're going to come out of this stronger than ever and better than ever. there is no division in louisiana and make no mistake and let there be no doubt we support our law enforcement officers and our law enforcement agencies. at mass last night in the diocese of baton rouge they distributed the peace prayer of st. francis of assisi. and i just want to go over the first two lines of that. if "lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
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where there is hatred, let me sow love." the kind of love modeled by all of these police officers yesterday, and i want to direct your attention as i sum up to the words of officer montrell jackson from a facebook post of july 8 and this is the last part of that post. "finally i personally want to send prayers out to everyone directly affected by this tragedy. these are trying times. please don't let hate infect your heart. this city must and will get better. i'm working in these streets so any protesters, officers, friends, family or whoever, if you see me and need a hug or
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want to say a prayer, i got y . you." i'm going to be followed by colonel edmondson. he's going to give you more specific information as will the other presenters at this press conference. and then as i mentioned at theened of the conversation we will take questions. >> good afternoon, everyone. let me thank you for getting our messages out to people across the country. this has been a trying day and a half all of us but let me again -- all of these law enforcement professionals that are here today are making sure that they get as much as we need to make if there are others out there we bring them to justice as well. let me compliment them for the diligence they've shown in this role of making sure we have all
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of the facts as we move forward. let me also say this morning mayors from across the country have been calling all day since early this morning. from boston to los angeles they've been calling. but you also have orlando where the mayor is still reeling from the disaster that happened in their city. b what they are saying to baton rouge, just let us know what you need and we will be there. mayors from all over the city the most touching call came from mayor rollins of dallas. mayor rollins said "mr. mayor, last week we were going through the same thing that y'all are going through this week.
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it's going to be tough for you and the families of these officers as we try to bring our city back together. know we stand ready to hold hands with you and let people know that it will be tough but you won't be walking alone. but we said we want you to know that when you find the details of funeral services we will have representatives in baton rouge to be here for you, law enforcement as well as government. so today we thank them for reaching out to us. they feel our pain and many have witnessed the same kind of suffering. and i'll just leave you with this. people said how are you all going to come back and take it from this punch in the stomach. i thought about it and i said
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well, all you have to do is look at job. job faced all kinds of atrocities in his life. and there are a lot of people saying just give up, man, god is not looking out for you, just give up. then even job's wife tried to turn him against goff. but job made the statement, "yea though you slay me, i will rise again. yea though you have slain some law enforcement officials, this city, this state and this nation will rise again, thank you and god bless you. >> i'm colonel mike edmondson. i want to go to an update of the case itself you know, we're just a little more than 24 hours ago when it brought us all together. i want you to think about that. so right at 30 hours it was an
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ordinary sunday morning. what happened after that was anything less than that. what we saw was extraordinary police officers. first responders become extraordinary, become heroes. that's what i'm talking about this morning. our hearts are broken but our spirit is intact. our soul has survived an unthinkable crime committed against this community. what we're going to see as we progress through this and we're going to talk about one of these is you're going to see some photo photos we'll go through a mapping in just a minute because my intention is to take our viewers, our public, our community, i want to walk them through exactly what they were going through. you saw what was reported on tv, it was chaotic, multiple active
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shooters people were scared, worried, concerned. you'll see unfolding in front of you what happened that day. in this ongoing investigation, the most compelling piece of evidence is the video. it is the sheer brutality of the shooting. there's no doubt whatsoever that these officers were intentionally targeted and assassinated. it was a calculated act against those who worked to protect this community every single day. that, indeed, ladies and gentlemen, is the shooter, that is engagement you'll see that his movements are articulated, they're intact, they're combative and they're real. we are building a timeline from 8:40 yesterday morning and working back toward determine where this suspect has been. as the lead agency, the louisiana state police is going
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wherever this investigation takes us. we are working hand in hand with the assistance of the police, the baton rouge police department, east baton rouge sheriff's office, our federal partners within louisiana and around the united states this timeline which will take us from 8:30 and going back fwrards that, we'll look at who he may have been associated with or spoken with and if anyone else was involved in this assault or had advance knowledge of his intentions. however, we are confident this suspect was the only shooter at this scene actively involved in the attack, whether officers may have been involved in some other fashion remains to be determined. we do believe the suspect has been in our community for several days. we do believe that. this is the actual weapon, this is the one that killed those officers. you see the strap that he carried on him. that strap kept that rifle in
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place so when he engaged those police officers they were deliberate and extremely accurate. with respect to the weapons, three guns have been recovered and those are being analyzed both through forensics and determining the ownership history. he has an iwi sar 556 caliber rifle. he was also armed with a springfield xd 9.9 millimeter caliber pistol. there you see in the front of you and also a stags arm m-4 variant 556 caliber rifle that was staged on the vehicle that placed him inside the vehicle where he could get to it once he's parked. i'll take you through that in a couple moments. a chevy malibu rental from missouri is recovered from the scene. we're working to determine where the car has been and will continue to process it for evidence. what we're doing with the phone that we have at the scene of this car, we're looking at the footprint. where did it go?
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where did that car come from from the missouri area one of the moring aspects of the investigation is examining the social media footprint of the suspect. it appears he used social media extensively. you saw after the shooting when he has been killed by a baton rouge police officer someone was actively on a facebook they had created to say he was still alive. those are the things we are dealing with and even though many in the media said it was a hoax, we can not take it that way. which is why we didn't release it immediately even though most of y'all had that particular name. we want to go through an evidentiary factor where we from a forensic standpoint we can take his fingerprints, we were able to work with the fbi, take prints from his military background where we can positively identify so just because it's read about doesn't mean we haven't thought after it and investigated it and vetted
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it. but before we release it, it will be based on fact not on rumor. multiple other piece of evidence have been seized and we are deploying all investigative methods to explore their evidentiary value including forensics, electronics, ballistics and behavioral ex examinations. we ask anyone who has information about the suspect to call 800-callfbi. same number as yesterday. 1-800-callfbi. we're asking for your help in protecting the integrity of the investigation and while there's much more that we know, there's also much that remains to be learned. this is a big puzzle. you're looking at a crime scene probably 300 to 400 yards. we owe it to these officers. three officers are dead. one is fighting for his life. we owe it to them to do it right and to get it right. we owe that to them and i think the public demands nothing less.
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what i want to do just real quick quickly just so we get a picture this is airline highway. even though this is an older picture we put this together because we want y'all to have something. this is where fitness expo is, vinnie's car wash, the b-quick where he tried to engage a baton rouge police officer, party city, this location. back right here is the beauty salon where we're going to walk through the situation exactly how it happened. we believe while this individual was in the city we were looking for locations to specifically target police officers, no doubt in my mind you're going to see as we walk through this there
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were citizens walking through the area. he never encountered, he completely dismissed every single one. his intentions were accurate and they were engaging and they were all aimed at police officers. when he first came to this particular b-q mark, this location. you had a sheriff's deputy east baton rouge sheriff's deputy working extra detail. he provided by security to this location. he was at this location, a baton rouge city police officer in a marked unit was parked right here. as he came by, he came into the area, took his car and parked it right here along this area and we saw it because we could see the shadow. multiple cameras in this location. the shadows, he comes around here, he's tactically moving along the back part of that building watching what's going on around him. you saw the earlier pictures where he has the gun going forward holding that. as he comes into and goes
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straight for this car, as he gets to the car, i think this is most chilling, as he approaches that car he engaged into a manner like this. he then sees that there's no one in it. he then comes back, he's back in his car, comes back on the highway and he's coming out he noticed a baton rouge police officer vacuuming his car at vinnie's car wash. he sees that, pulls into the fitness expo, parks his car right here. keep that in mind as we go back to that in a few minutes. -the-then comes out, this police officer has left the scene. he then starts making his way back around, comes back around through the area, comes back over here. at this point that's when the calls came in to say there was an individual, exact words, a dude with a rifle going down airline highway. so people are engaged, the police have got on the the scene
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now. they go to where he went a while ago, they actually go this way. he comes in along the side here and he works his way again down this side right here. he actually at this corner right here, instead of going right around the corner he comes out. tactically involved, ready to fire. he comes back around these two baton rouge police officers and a sheriff's deputy. remember, that's where he was running. that was the location he was going into. when he came back around, these two baton rouge police officers were right here standing, he shot both of them. one falls right here, this location. another moves himself back around here. this one is dead, this is wounded at this point. he comes back around, a deputy that was with him, he goes back to a dumpster in this area right here and kind of hides behind the dumpster. he takes cover in that location with his gun drawn, he has a
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clear view on the police officer that is wounded right here lying there, you can see him moving. we see that in the video. he comes back around and starts going to aid. think about this. he hears -- heard the gunshots, he saw the guys in that area. this sheriff's deputy, he leaves his cover with his gun drawn and goes back. that's what we're trained to do. we're trained to take care of our own, he is going back to help that police officer. he comes back around, sees the deputy and shoots him. he sees movement on this guy right here and kills him. he comes tactically moving around running through this area. somehow gets over this wall we believe, there's an air conditioning unit, goes into
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this area at this point you have a sheriff's deputy sitting in this car, he was going back in it to run the license plate, he's sitting in his car when he comes back out. he shoots the deputy in the car, that's the one fighting for his life right now. shot the to upper torso. when he's making his way around. no doubt in my mind, he shoots a police officer and wounds him right here real quick a deputy back over here and when he was shooting these two police officers something got his attention, a city policeman that was responding, he shot and wounded this city policeman right here. three dead, one injured this location. shoots the deputy. he is going back at this location, he is going back to the deputy not? the car which is back over here is. at this point he shoots and
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wounds a police officer in this location right here. let me just tell you something, the responding baton rouge police swat team, from this location right here as this gunman is coming across right here that is the fatal shot where he shot the shooter, over 100 yards. the presence of mind taking this shot right here, that puts you in a position where the viewers can see exactly what was unfolding based on what they herd on television, saw in the news and heard everybody talking about. what i want to do is certainly have the sheriff and chief dabadie come up to talk about their officers and give you more rundown of where those officers were to the best of our ability. keep in mind, it's an ongoing investigation. you've heard this from us all the time, the public has a right to know and we want to give that but we want to protect the integrity of the case and where it is leading us to. a lot of moving parts, a very
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large puzzle, some of these pieces are moving. keep that in mind as we provide this information to you. there have? >> i'm here today to update you as far as the sheriff's office goes. as an agency and family we're grieving the loss of deputy brad garafola. we've been in constant contact with his family. he leaves behind a wife and four children. i know they are hurting but i want them to know that we are here for them now and forever, they are our family. we're also getting our deputies assistance they need to cope with this tragedy. we still have another deputy that is currently fighting for his life. he was shot in the head and the stomach and has extensive damage. he's currently in icu and is on a machine helping him breathe. he's in very critical condition.
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we ask for your continued prayers for his healing and for his family. and finally we have a deputy that has non-life threatening injuries but serious injuries and that's sergeant bruce simmons. he is going to a second surgery this evening. it will be one of many. the bone running from his elbow to his shoulder was completely shattered. he now has a titanium rod in his arm. he has other reconstructive surgeries ahead of him and we also ask for your continual prayers for healing with him as well. i want to reiterate some of what colonel edmondson said. we watched the video and we watched the actions of our deputies and officers, they ran to the threat, not from the threat, in an attempt to protect and preserve life. they were ambushed by a man who was clearly targeting law enforcement.
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deputy garafola died attempting to get a baton rouge officer to aid. deputy garafola died as a hero, protecting and serving, so did the other officers. it's important that we remember as we move forward they are gone but they are not forgotten. we will be forever grateful for their service, the baton rouge city police swat team arrived quickly on the scene, as the colonel said, and they were able to take down the lone shooter, preventing any further injury or loss of life. i want to say this. there's no doubt in my mind after watching those videos and seeing how this guy moved, how he operated, his proficiency and his determination and i'm going go back to this. the first engagement as the colonel showed you was in this
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area here where he killed one baton rouge city officer and wounded a second here then he shoot the third baton rouge city officer here. that city officer got around the corner and was calling this way. they were out of sight of my deputy when the shooting started. he stayed behind. when the shooting started he ran to take cover behind the dumpster, but when he saw the officer lying there and clearly still alive he moved along the building and as the colonel said was moving down the building to get the officers to render aid. that's when the subject came from back around this side of the bidding and engaged my officer. my deputy went down fighting. he returned fire to the very end.
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he was in a prone position returning fire. we could see in the video the bullets hitting the concrete around him. once he knew he had taken that deputy out he turned his attention back to the wounded officer he turned around and shot him twice then he moved back through here as the colonel said. so we've had one city police officer injured here, two killed, one deputy killed. he moved back through this area and his car was parked generally here as the colonel said already the corporal got out of his unit, checked the license plate, had just gotten back in his unit when the guy came out, he started immediately firing into the car. all the time walking that way. his attention was drawn to a second deputy that was parked here and at which time he started firing in that direction. that was the other deputy who
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was shot in the shoulder. he told me last night when it got hit it went numb. nothing, no control. i am convinced that if he would have continued in that direction and finished off this deputy and that deputy as he did to these other officers and deputies over here i am convinced baton rouge city swat had not arrived on the scene we would have had two more deceased deputies, this guy would have been in a position get in his car and go on, travel, seek other targets. but baton rouge city swat, you can't understand the shot that was taken here, in this area right here, they had to shoot through structure and they took the subject down right here. the men and women responding to this scene yesterday are heroes. just like the men and women that put on a uniform each morning
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and each night, they are everyday heroes and i ask this community to continue to keep them and their families in your prayers and i ask this community to continue to pray for peace we will get through this. baton rouge is better than this. >> chief dabadie? >> good afternoon. i stand here as a chief with a heavy heart, number one. this has been a whirlwind of, as colonel said, 30 hoursz that has been devastating to the baton rouge police department officers and our families but tools the city of baton rouge. i would like to take this opportunity to thank the overwhelming 99.9% of this community who have supported, who have sent me messages, who
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have sent my officers messages, who have showed their support for the baton rouge police department, sheriff's office and our state police, for law enforcement in general here. it's completely overwhelming the amount of support that we've gott gotten. i'm not going to get into the tactics here. i'm going to stand here as a chief and former instructor at the academy of tactics and just tell you how proud i am of our department, our training staff, our instructors, our swat team, they did exactly how they were trained. without his station, without fear, but with courage, with methodical movement they did exactly how they were trained. they went to the fire, they didn't run, they didn't go the other direction, they didn't blow it off. they went straight to it and i could not be more proud of these
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officers. i could not be more proud of my swat team. we've been questioned for the last three or four weeks about our militarized tactics and our militarized law enforcement. this is why. because we are up against a force that is not playing by the rules. they haven't played by the rules. they didn't play by the rules in dallas and they didn't play by the rules here. this is why -- we don't ever want to use it. but we have to have the ability to use it when we needed it and we needed it here. as several have said, this guy was going to another location. he was not going to stop here. after he was finished here i have no doubt he was heading to our headquarters and he was going to take more lives. our militarized tactics as they're being called saved lives here. that shot that our swat team made was a held of a shot but it had to be made. we had to neutralize the threat right there. we could not let it go any
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further. one of the officers who ran to this fight, matthew gerald, 41 years old, served less than a year with the baton rouge police department. matthew was a devoted husband and father of two. before joining the baton rouge police department, let me tell you a little bit about matthew. matthew served in the united states marine corps and served united states marine and the united states army. he was a black hawk crew member and served three tours in iraq. he served his country proudly and with honor. he served -- his sense of service drew him to law enforcement when he got out of the military. he spent his whole life serving this country and our city and he's a hero for everything that he's done. corporal montrell jackson is 32 years old a-10-year veteran.
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montrell and his wife have been together for a total of 10 years. montrell's son turned four months old today. montrell was a loving and devoted husband. as an academy director, i served as montrell's instructor and for 20 weeks i tested montrell physically, mentally and emotionally every single day. montrell stood tall everyday. he never wavered, he never quit. his heart was in service to this community a couple of days before this happened i went down in third district and was talking to the guys trying to lift their spirits, montrell ended up giving me a pep talk. as you heard as his post that he left on his facebook page, his devotion was to the baton rouge city and to our apartment and he gave -- he endeded up giving me the pep talk, i didn't give it
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to him and that was the last time that i spoke to montrell and i'll never forget it. he is a true hero. i have something from his wife tarnisha who wanted me to share this with you today and i'll read what she said. "montrell was my everything. he was an amazing husband, an outstanding father, a respectful son and a loving brother and an amazing uncle, a trustworthy godfather and a loyal friend. he loved his family and he loved his fellow officers. i know without a shadow of a doubt he loved his job and his city knowing this is what gives me a little peace and comfort. i know he made the ultimate sacrifice and paid the ultimate price in doing what he loved, protecting and serving a city that he loved. thank you.
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>> good afternoon, i'm walt greene, u.s. attorney. first we continue to keep the law enforcement victims and their families in our prayers on a daily basis. we stand here together committed a team of federal, state, and local law enforcement to investigate this horrific tragedy that was committed in our community. and i say again it was our community. we are coordinating with federal authorities to include u.s. attorneys offices fbi and atf to investigate this matter. in baton rouge, u.s. attorney's office federal bureau of investigation, atf, united states marshal service and the dea continues to provide assistance in this investigation attorney general loretta lynch continues to monitor this situation very closely.
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yesterday as i said we will continue to investigate this matter and wont e continue to devote all needed federal law enforcement resources until justice has been served. and as the governor said, no stone will be left uncovered in this information, we think thank all of our law enforcement partners here today and the ones not here on the podium as well as the mayor and governor in attendance for their cooperation and team work in investigating this case. i say to all law enforcement you have our deepest sympathies while dealing with this tragedy. now i would ask fbi justice solette to give some additional comments. >> good afternoon. first, on behalf of the men and women of the fbi i want to extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the men and women of the baton rouge city police department and east baton rouge
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sheriff's office. as has been said up here numerous times, these men and women are heroes. something that comes to my mind is the first responders' motto during 9/11, "they called, we responded." think about that human instinct is do run away. they ran into the fight to protect us. as a law enforcement officer and a citizen of this country i am in awe of the men and women of this department and the strength of the men and women of this department. we will leave no stone unterned as what has been set up here before. we are committing all resources to identify coconspirators or facilitators, bring them to justice and most importantly and in parallel to bringing justice
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keep the safety of our community. at the core of american values is unity. as toddlers we learn the pledge of allegiance i'm going to quote seven words from the pledge. "one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all." standing up here before you is a unified team. baton rouge, unified. louisiana, unified. america, unified. this will only make us stronger. we will work tirelessly to ensure safety. >> this community and throughout the nation and please everyday when you see a local or state police officer, thank them. they're the ones that are keeping you all and me and our
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families safe. i want to thank governor edwards and the mayor for your leadership. governor edwards has been an incredible leader in this state and for the country throughout the past two weeks with the events that have been occurring in the state of louisiana and thank you for your partnership and your commitment, thank you. >> we're going to have time for a few questions for either myself, the chief, the sheriff or governor edmondson. >> colonel edmondson, our heart felt condolences to all of you. i'm from fox 4 news in dallas. we just went through this very similar scenario and it was hauntingly familiar to the scene that you just described and i want to let you know think that my organization has confirmed that gavin long was in dallas recently trying to recruit, sell his book, are you guys aware of
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that? >> well we know he's in several locations, as we work backwards from 8:40 yesterday morning we were looking at the footprint of that call, who did he contact? who did he talk to along the way? any cell phone information we can extract and work on that we're diligently doing because it's important to look at the timeline that got him to yesterday morning and why. why did he come to baton rouge? why did he pick baton rouge? why did he pick that location right there and why did he kill police officers? that's what's important to us. we'll get to that. >> reporter: can you and the sheriff do something for me with this map? i'm steve osunsami with abc news. can you tell us where the officers were and their names if you can on the map? >> we'll do that after. >> reporter: my other question is, it looked like he was moving -- he was running or did he have a car? how did he get from this location down here --
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>> he ran. by car back over here and he ran. he was in shape, clearly he was in shape. clearly he was concentrating on exactly what he was trying to do. he was articulate in all manners of engagement i'll leave it at that, i think as you saw him he was articulate in that. >> reporter: have you ruled out the possibility that it was in retaliation for what we saw here in baton rouge with alton sterling? >> we haven't ruled out anything. but there's nothing to believe at this point that we can say it has something to do with that. clearly the landscape has changed since dallas. i think y'all have seen that. >> reporter: two questions can you confirm that gavin long was in texas in the days before he came to louisiana and, secondly -- >> i cannot confirm that at this time, no, sir.
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>> reporter: can you confirm that his twitter handle was cosmos? >> we're hearing the same things you are. we are not prepared to factually say that. >> colonel edmondson -- >> reporter: [ inaudible question ] >> as we look back from 8:40 yesterday morning, that's what our investigators are trying to do. interviewing those individuals that we believe and know he came in contact with. why did he pick this location? was it because police officers frequent this location on a morning getting coffee, getting their car washed? we want to know those same answers that you have to the questions. yes, sir? >> reporter: colonel edmondson, ted williams from fox news. have you been able to trace these guns at this stage of the investigation? >> we're in the process of doing that. we're working closely with atf. the guns are at a crime lab. from a dna standpoint, a forensic stand point, a ballistics standpoint, we're putting all those pieces together. >> reporter: do you know how long the gunman was in baton
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rouge. do you know if he attended the alton sterling protests? can you give us a length of time he was here? >> we believe he was here for several days. that's what our timeline is telling us. we don't want to go into more than that because of the fact this that there's some individuals we're trying to interview but we believe he was here several days. >> as far as the officer in the ic unit, can you tell us what is his prognosis? >> talked to both surgeons that worked on him. one of the surgeons is a personal friend of mine. he has operated on me in the past. their biggest concern is the head trauma. and his prognosis, he is in very, very critical condition. it's been touch and good for the family. he's been in and out, so to speak. his vitals have gone up and down. and that's all i can say at this point.
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as i said earlier, we're just praying for him. it's in god's hands and we have to see what happens. but he's not in good shape at all. >> tell us about the officers you're bring flg to fill the ranks right now. >> what we did is two things. one thing, we activated louisiana sheriff's association statewide emergency task force. we have deputies coming from all over the state to fill in, to spell our people. not just us but as well as baton rouge city. chief of police has a similar task force and they are doing the same thing. all of this relief effort is being coordinated through the state police and we're having deputies at this particular time and officers that are coming in to supplement both of our departments and patrol function. so we can get these people rest. some of these deputies and officers have been working for 12 days straight. you know. and i mean, it is very
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stressful, you know. everybody's been feeling stress since -- you know, through the protests, through now. and it is an emotional drain on us as well as a physical drain. so we are making sure that we don't have people completely wear out. people out there that can make good decisions. and are ready to serve the public. >> can you talk about the ideology. what kind of groups that mr. long was involved with. or anything like that. >> we're exhausting all areas within social media. we know there's a gamut of information that's out there. we are looking at each one of those individually. but until we can apply fact to it. before we make it a specific part of the puzzle or piece of the puzzle, we're not going on information. please rest assured that everything you're talking about, kwet you're getting, we are looking at every single one of those on a constant basis. >>. [ inaudible ] >> we do know this much.
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we do know that person that killed those police officers and the person that was killed by the police department is this gentleman right here. that's what we do know. whether or not he had any other help on this particular location in that particular car at that time, no. but but outside of that, that is all part of the investigation we're trying to tie in together. >> when did he rent the car? who took the shot? >> that's going to be part of that time line as we go forward. to tell us skktly that. but the s.w.a.t. -- are you talking about who took the shot, the baton rouge police officer s.w.a.t. [ inaudible ] >> want to be accurate with a time line. >> the person on 911 called -- [ inaudible ] were there multiple 911 calls? did the suspect make the call himself? >> no indication the subject made the call himself. calls came in from the public. i think you saw that. this is public all in this area.
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going to that store at that time. they were there. he completely dismissed them. walked by them. they saw him. that was the phone calls that you came in, on airline highway, carrying a rifle. >> that first 911 call came in the middle. he was already moving around police officers before the -- >> within that timeframe. >> sew already -- i think you said he identified -- if you can show us on the map, where it first started and when the first call was made. >> let me say this. the chief is not ready to honor that request. he is not ready to identify where the police officer was. we will let the sheriff identify where his deputies were, please. >> part of the reason, the person who he went to, i'm curious if you can give us the name of that deputy. i don't know if that's possible. the deputy he ran to. he put himself in danger -- >> which scenario.
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first engagement or second? >> let's start with the first engagement. where the first engagement was before the 911 call happened. second question is, one of your deputies put themselves in further harm's way to help another officer. i would like that name. i think garafola. >> let me answer both. when the suspect vehicle pulled up here, the baton rouge city unit here, officer had gotten out and went inside. when the suspect vehicle parked here, and the suspect was walking down the side of this building with this gun, there were other people walking around here totally ignored him. like they weren't even there. walked up half way here to the police vehicle. was looking inside of it. like he was looking for somebody to shoot. he didn't see them. he nonchalantly walked back. this time people had noticed
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him. i'm speculating as we are, i don't know the exact time line, that someone at that time called 911. because by the time he got in his car and went around, that's when we started having responding units. there was one responding unit that came here. that's deputy tullier. to answer the question about the deputies, deputy behind the building here, deputy brad garafola, he is a deceased deputy. this is the shot. when he first heard the gunfire break out, he came here behind a dumpster. and took cover. and he saw this battery city officer come around and collapsed in an attempt to crawl in his direction. that's when he went here and started in the direction of the officer when the subject came around here and opened fire on the deputy and killed him. then right after he did that, he
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saw that the battery police officer was still alive and he fired two more shots into him. >> last question. >> governor, you -- you come from a law enforcement family. i saw tears in your eyes when the chief was describing his last encounter with the officers. tell us a little bit about how this hits home to you. >> well, it hits home to all of us. and i don't know that it's good for bad for our governor to cry, but i do on occasion. especially like this. as you mentioned, sue, i do come from a law enforcement family. my sheriff happens to be my brother. i've got another brother who is chief of police of the town of independence here in louisiana. my father, my grandfather, my great grandfather, all sheriffs of perishes as well. but this community is grief
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stricken whether or not they were related to law enforcement. but for those who were direct family members with whom i visited yesterday at the hospital, i will just tell you that the -- that experience was profound. and i contrast that the innate goodness of those goodness and those families with the evil of this shooter. and having seen the video last night of how this shooter conducted his attack on these officers, and i tell you it is unsettling. and it is emotional for me. but i remain convinced that the baton rouge community and state of louisiana is going to come together as a result of this. i already see that that's happening. we are better than this. and i'm going to say this and we are going to wrap it up. i want everyone to know around the country, for six days prior to this incident yesterday morning, there had not even been
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an arrest in baton rouge related to the unrest that followed immediately on the heels of the alton sterling shooting. not even an arrest. and none of the arrests that were effectuated happened because of a significant act of violence. that did not happen in baton rouge. until this individual, from out of state, came here and yesterday engaged in this just horrific act of violence directed towards our law enforcement community. and so it's obviously have troubling for me. it is an emotional time for everybody. but we are going to get through this. we're going to be more united than ever. and we stand behind our law enforcement. thank all of you. is. >> all right, better part of the last hour, you have been
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listening to multiple layers of law enforcement there in about the yn ruth. and you will hear from a number of different law enforcement analyst here. sitting with art roderick, in the final seconds i have with you, he was saying that is the most extraordinary, most emotional and raw conferences you have heard from law enforcement. 20 second. >> riveting, chilling and the tactics just blew me away. you dent see press connen frfer like this. >> you don't. we are going to jake tapper. jake, to you. >> live from the republican national convention. allow me to gavel myself in. i'm jack tapper. welcome to "the lead." in cleveland where lebron james is normally king and reign
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