live. plus the republican national convention gets under way in cleveland this morning amid nightened security. we'll tell you what's on tap as the gop prepares to make its nomination of donald trump official. and the latest on that failed coup attempt in turkey. hundreds are dead, and thousands arrested in a massive crackdown. so what will happen to one of america's critical allies going forward? it is 5:30 here on the east coast, 2:30 out west, this is "way too early." good morning. it is monday, july 18th. i'm alex witt. this morning we're following new developments in another instance of deadly violence against police. three officers in baton rouge, louisiana, are dead, and another three injured in what the city's mayor is calling an ambush-style

attack. the officers were responding to a call of shots fired when they were gunned down about a mile or so away from police headquarters. law enforcement officials have identified the suspect. nbc as gavin long of kansas city, missouri. he was shot and killed during an exchange of gunfire. military records show long was a marine veteran who searched in iraq he turned 29 years old yesterday the day of the shooting. according to nbc news, long maintained a robust social media presence, calling himself koss mow. in several posts on his youtube channel he references police shootings of black men and said he planned to stand up to injustice. in baton rouge, relations between police and the community have been frayed to say the least for the last two weeks mass arrests from protests have filled the streets following the death of alton sterling. yesterday's shooting came five days after president obama traveled to dallas to speak at the memorial service for those five officerses slain in another ambush-style attack. he found himself addressing the

nation again last night. >> i said that that killer would not be the last person who tries to make us turn on each other, nor will today's killer. it remains up to us to make sure that they fail. that decision is all of ours. >> let's bring in nbc's chris jansing who joins us live from baton rouge, good morning, chris. i know we've learned a lot about the gunman in a relatively short amount of time, including his declared involvement in the sovereign citizens group. >> that's right. a lot of what we're learning about gavin long comes from online. he had a robust online presence, including a blog and podcast, and as you mentioned he calls him solve cosmo. a member, some people have suggested, of an offshoot of the sovereign nation group, now these are people who believe that the government has no control over them. that they shouldn't have to pay taxes. that they shouldn't have to follow laws. in fact that they make their own

laws. and you saw when you go online and you look at his profile, just how strongly he felt that. he had a blog called convoes with cosmo where he tried to, he said, help men realize their full masculinity. but there were a number of rantings recently, including post-alton sterling shootings here where he made it known that he was very upset about the shooting of african-american men. so police say this is where he came. this is the airline highway area of baton rouge. there's a large commercial strip here. there's a car wash. there is 24-hour convenience store. and this is where he came dressed all in black, and opened fire killing those officers and wounding the others. but one of the things that he wrote online was very telling. even though police have not officially given out a motive. he said 100% of revolutions, victims fighting their oppressors, have been successful

through fighting back, through bloodshed, he wrote. zero have been successful just over simply protesting. we also know a little bit about his background. absolutely no run-ins with the law that we have seen. he had no trouble in the military. he was in the marines, and, in fact, from 2005 to 2010 obtained the rank of sergeant. he was in iraq for about eight months. he was a data network specialist. essentially an i-ty guy which may explain his very large online presence. again, no criminal record, was married very briefly according to public records for about two years, but again in that online presence, alex, he said while he had been a christian, he had been a muslim, now his religion, he said, was justice. yesterday, in late yesterday, in kansas city, missouri, where he's from, there is a house that is his last known address owned by his mother according to public records. our local tv affiliate went to the door, knocked, there was a

man who came to the door with a gun. later he was taken into custody by local police. it is believed to be his brother who also lived there although nbc news has not confirmed that. we expect to get an updated briefing from police this afternoon. here. alex? >> okay. all this carnage on his birthday. thank you very much chris jansing. this morning we are also learning more about the three officers slain. there was montrell jackson, 32 years old, married and the father of a brand-new baby boy. just days after the death of alton sterling he wrote an emotional note where he talked about being an african-american police officer. i love this city but i wonder if this city loves me. in uniform i get nasty, hateful looks, and out of uniform, some consider me a threat. he went on to say these are trying times, please don't let hate infect your heart. this city must and will get better. 45-year-old east baton rouge sheriff deputy brad garafola, a

father of four was killed in yesterday's attack. in an interview with the paper his wife said he was a great guy, not just a great law enforcement, he was a great husband and a great father. he didn't deserve this. he always helped everybody. and 41-year-old officer matthew gerald joined the baton rouge police department just last year and according to "the washington post" he served in both the marines and the army and deployed to iraq three times. well, donald trump reacted to the news of the baton rouge attack yesterday tweeting, we are trying to fight isis and now our own people are killing our police. our country is divided, and out of control, the world is watching. trump also wrote, we grieve for the officers killed in baton rouge today. how many law enforcement and people have to die because of a lack of leadership in our country we demand law and order. governor of louisiana john bell edwards is going to join us live just ahead on "morning joe." meantime, the 2016 republican national convention officially gets under way today. the theme of tonight is make america safe again.

and the head liners include trump's wife melania, lieutenant general michael flynn and senator joni ernst of iowa. tomorrow will feature trump's children tiffany and donald jr. as well as ben carson and soap opera star kimberlin brown. trump's choice for vice president indiana governor mike pence headlines wednesday night along with newt gingrich and trump's son eric. and thursday night's acceptance speech will be preceded by billionaire investors and his daughter ivanka. with the top slots largely going to family members and employees of the trump organization and not some of the party's top officials chairman paul manafort explained the theme. >> it's going to be a very personal convention. you're going to have his family speaking. friends who have known him speaking. people who have worked with him, both inside the company and outside of the company. and so you're going to see how he's built his successful empire. you're going to see how he's taking care of people who, you know, he just meets them, you know, through newspaper stories he reads about and has that

sense of community and sense of philanthropy. so you're going to get a broader perspective of the man. >> a set of new national polls shows hillary clinton leading donald trump but not by much. in an nbc news/"wall street journal" poll she is up by five unchanged from a month ago. in an abc news/"washington post" poll she's up four. and when you add the third party candidates the margins between clinton and trump remain close to the same but nearly 20% of voters are considering a third party candidate in two of those polls. with his favorability at 27% donald trump remains the most unpopular presumptive presidential nominee in the history of the nbc/"wall street journal" poll. clinton fares only slightly better across those polls, democratic pollster fred yang of heart research said quote let me summarize the poll into four little words, they hate them both. donald trump and his running mate indiana governor mike pence sat down for their first joint

interview in which trump seemed to move away interest barring people of muslim faith from entering the united states when lesley stahl asked pence about his previous criticism of that proposal. >> in december you tweeted and i quote you, calls to ban muslims from entering the u.s. are offensive and unconstitutional. >> we're going to do territories -- >> so you change -- >> call it whatever you want. we'll call it territories. we're going to have extreme vetting. they're going to come in, and we're going to know where they came from, and who they are. >> you just asked me if i'm comfortable with that, and i am. >> well trump and pence were also forced to reconcile some of their other policy differences on issues like the iraq war and trade. >> that was a war, by the way, that was a war that we shouldn't enter because iraq did not knock down -- >> 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 that way, and they were also misled. a lot of information -- >> but you -- >> but i was against the war in

iraq from the beginning -- >> yeah but you used that vote that of hillary's that was the same as governor pence -- >> many people have. >> -- 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 -- >> he's entitled to make a mistake every once in awhile. >> but she's not. >> no, she's not. >> you're supporting the trans-pacific partnership that mr. trump says would rape this country. now are you going to be able to go out and campaign in support of his protectionist positions? >> well, i support free trade, and so does donald trump. >> not really -- >> i do. no i'm free trade but i want to make good deals. >> what do you think about nafta? >> you're absolutely right, i've supported free trade throughout my career. but i really do believe when the american people elect one of the best negotiators in the world as president of the united states we could do well -- >> we're going to bring back -- >> -- to negotiate individually with countries.

donald trump won't have ohio all to himselves as republicans convene in cleveland. hillary clinton will be in cincinnati announcing plans to launch a major voting drive tomorrow. she's expected to unveil the initiative during a speech at the naacp convention later this morning. the first events are expected to take place at an islamic center in ohio and you a bilingual day camp in pennsylvania. meanwhile clinton continues to vet potential vp possibilities. at her washington home on friday she met with senator elizabeth warren, colorado governor john hicken looper and hud secretary julianne castro and we're told each meeting lasted for about an hour. turkey's president erdogan has announced he is considering reinstating the death penalty following a deadly failed coup attempt in his country. erdogan made that revelation yesterday in istanbul at a funeral service for his campaign manager. reacting to the crowd use call for capital punishment over friday's attempted coup. turkey's justice minister has confirmed that as many as 6,000 people were detained yesterday over the uprising. the very latest on this let's go to ayman mohyeldin in istanbul.

good day to you. what's it like there just a couple days now for this failed military coup. >> right now turkey is as divided as we've ever seen it. in fact if you ask people on one side, those that perhaps oppose president erdogan they'll tell you what is happening here is nothing short of a purge or a crackdown on members of both the security services, the justice ministry, even some free media that oppose the president. but if you ask others and there are thousands who took to the streets to support the president last night what they say is taking place is a cleanse of the state and its institutions of those that tried to topple the regime. life here is beginning to get back to normal. shops are opening up, streets feel safe enough for people to hang out and go out at night as well. funerals are still taking place. we attended one of those funerals yesterday and that is where the president made those comments after crowds chanted they wanted the death penalty. he said that the will of the people cannot be ignored. alex? >> ayman there are concerns of some harsh crackdowns.

the president had already been under pressure in his own country and abroad over dealing with dissent. >> yeah. absolutely. in fact, you're talking about the crackdown that's taking place, and you mentioned 6,000 people have been arrested. among those that have been detained, a senior military officer that oversaw the incirlik air base, one of the most important air bases could have implications for the u.s.' war against isis because that's the air base where so many of these planes take off but in addition to that some of the president's inner circle including his top military aide was detained in this crackdown that is taking place among those that have been also arrested justice officials or members of the judiciary. so a lot of people are watching this very closely to see how far president erdogan's going to go in rounding up these individuals that he alleges were part of or behind this failed coup attempt. >> okay, nbc's ayman mohyeldin. the man erdogan is blaming for the failed coup says it was president erdogan who staged it. fethullah gulen is a cleric in exile in pennsylvania.

he made that accusation yesterday. he rejected claims of being involved. his self-imposed exile in this country has long been a point of contention between the u.s. and turkey. officials there have said they are putting to the an extradition request for gulen. secretary of state john kerry said saturday the u.s. would consider any formal request, and gulen says he's willing to be extradited. still ahead on "way too early," we're going to tell you where police and activists with black lives matter actually came together yesterday. and another american discovered dead in nice as we learn some new revelations about how the suspect practiced for his deadly attack. those stories and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. hey, honey?

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student at the university of california berkeley was in france as part of the school's study abroad program. he was initially unaccounted for following the attack thursday night which left 83 others dead and dozens more wounded. meanwhile new details are emerging about the man who carried out that rampage. the french prosecutor says cameras recorded mohamed bouhlel conducting test runs tuesday and wednesday driving that same truck on the same road where he would eventually drive through a packed bastille day celebration. as the investigation continues, bouhlel's ex-wife has been released following questioning. two other people were taken into custody yesterday bringing the total number held to six. let's get a check now on the weather. nbc meteorologist bill karins. so what's up out there for us? >> a lot of heat, alex, and some thunderstorms from our friends that are all in the cleveland area this morning as we get ready for our coverage there. cleveland has a thunderstorm to the south of it. there's another batch that's about to head over the city limits itself. this will be the worst weather they're going to see all week long in cleveland. it will actually improve after

this. stormy weather over the next hour and a half and that will be about it. this storm extends all the way back into areas of central indiana. we've had some flash flooding overnight, too. the red polygons. indianapolis has thunderstorms now, give it about a half hour and it will be all over with for you. we have a very hot atmosphere and this line of storms heading to the east. it's going to kick off more additional storms. 21 million people from columbus, ohio, to pittsburgh all of pennsylvania, northern new jersey, much of new york state, not including new york city, though, and areas of northern new england, again, damaging winds are possible with these storms. and some maybe some isolated small hail. but that's about it. here's the forecast for cleveland today, those storms will be exiting by 10:00 a.m. they'll probably be gone by 8:00 a.m. in cleveland. then a nice day today, nice evening today and actually the weather all week looks perfect. today's weather, hot almost everywhere there's a lot of heat advisories through the middle of the country. we're kind of used to it now after about a month and a half of this but it will still feel like 100 to 105 from texas up

through kansas. and it's going to get much hotter this week in areas in the northern plains, billings at 96, minneapolis could get near 95 to 100 by the end of this week and eventually that heat in the middle of the country will return to the east alex next weekend. we're looking at the possibility of maybe near 100 degrees somewhere from d.c. to new york on saturday. so you know, you expect it. this is typically our hottest time of the year. >> wow, is it july or something? thank you very much bill karins. time now for sports and the final round of golf's british open to scotland henrik stenson began the day with a one stroke lead on phil mickelson and the two battled down the stretch matching birdies, swapping the lead five times in the front nine. but it was stenson who caught fire in the home stretch sinking a handful of long range putts. his final shot a masterful 20 footer to birdie the 18th ending that tournament at 20 under par and securing his first major. stenson shot an 8 under 63 on sunday matching the lowest ever closing round for a major champion. it is a tough loss for mickelson

who's minus 17 at the end of the tournament was still 11 strokes better than the third place finisher. wow that's some golf. turning now to major league baseball in detroit the royals and the tigers in a stalemate since the 6th inning kansas city trying to retire the home team in the bottom of the ninth and send this game to extras. >> deep to right field. way, back. game winner! >> saltalamacchia there from detroit with a two-run blast in the final frame to walk the tigers off with a 4-2 win. from walk-off to balk off, the giants boast the best record in baseball but their bull pen is still a little of a problem. balking with runners on the corners in the bottom of the tenth inning giving the padres a 7-6 win. and the nation's capital the pirates and nationals battle through an 18-inning epic as broadcasters capture the emotional roller coaster from the perspective of a young pittsburgh fan.

>> this has been our guy that we've been following, this is right after the pirates had the lead and lost it. had a chance. in extra innings. oh, my goodness, the poor thing. 1-1 the bottom of the 17th. yeah it's time for dinner. >> don't say that. i pay a lot for hot dog. >> i hope he didn't make reservations. >> and this one is deep to left, and no doubt about this one! starling marte gives the pirates the lead in the 18th. >> so glad they found that kid aren't you? anyway sure to be a memorable outing for that one. the pirates win it 2-1. still ahead a minor adjustment goes a long way for the trump campaign. we'll explain that next here on "way too early." you focus on making great burgers, or building the best houses in town. or becoming the next highly-unlikely dotcom superstar.

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welcome back to "way too early." the trump campaign is already making adjustments after announcing mike pence as his running mate. it's just a minor tweak to the campaign logo which was the subject of much ridicule and mockery on social media. some had a hard time understanding what was happening with the interlocking "t" and "p." well the campaign has dropped that part of the logo. it knew features the last names and the campaign slogan on the bottom. what was supposed to be a protest in kansas yesterday instead turned into a meaningful space for tie log.

black lives matter originally intended to protest but decided to host a barbecue after meeting with the police chief of wichita. we are told it drew a diverse crowd and the police chief took questions. the goal, to open up the lines of communication, and to build some trust. and finally, an anti-violence summit attracted an eclectic group yesterday in los angeles. the mayor, the chief of police, current and former gang members, entertainers, activists and preachers from the nation of islam, they all gathered at a community center for an anti-violence summit organized by the rapper known as the game. the instagram post advertising the event was captioned before we can get our lives to matter to anyone else we have to show that our lives matter to us. the idea to be better role models for youth and try to find a way to put an end in neighborhood gang violence. the multiplatinum selling rapper organized the event after his foster brother was killed by gunfire last month. that does it for me and "way too early." a special edition of "morning joe" coming up live for you from cleveland where, of course, the

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we have our divisions and they are not new. >> we have our divisions and they are not new. around the clock news social sometimes amplify these decisions. we are about to enter a couple weeks where our political rhetoric tends to be more overheated than usual. that is why it is so important that everyone, regardless of race or political party or profession, regardless of what organizations you are a part of. everyone right now focus on words and actions that can unite this country rather than divide it further. we don't need inflammatory rhetoric. we don't need careiloless accusation a