Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20160717

Store holding a rifle. At approximately 8 42 a. M. Reports received of shots fired. At approximately 8 44 a. M. Reports received of officers down on the scene. At 8 45 reports received of more shots being fired. At 8 46 a. M. Reports received of the suspect. Again he was wearing all black standing near a car wash located right next to the Convenience Store. At 8 48, our emergency ems unit started arriving at the scene. They were staging so they could start approaching and getting the bodies that were at the scene to render first aid. Officers engaged the subject at that particular time and he ultimately died at the scene. Those were officers that were responding to the scene itself. Once again, momentarily, the president of the United States will be speaking from the white house on this shooting of Police Officers in baton rouge, louisiana. Were going to go there in a moment, but i want to bring in nick valencia. Hes just arrived. Hes near the scene in baton rouge. Hes joining us on the phone. Nick, whats the situation right now . Wolf, we will be verbally constrained about what were allowed to say. We want to be very careful about what we show. We arrived here just in the matter of the last ten minutes to an ongoing and very active Police Situation on airline highway where those three officers had their lives taken earlier this morning. What i can tell you from my Vantage Point now is i see at least two officers in Tactical Gear, one with their long rifle pointed in the direction across the street towards the car lot, another officer in Tactical Gear also has his handgun out. We did see a number of police cars. At least two police cars head in the direction where these officers are currently standing about 250 yards away from the corner of goodwood and airline. That is just about a half block up from the Baton Rouge Police department headquarters. There are several helicopters in the sky right now. We assume at least one of them is a police helicopter, perhaps other affiliate choppers in the sky right now. The situation is not quite as tense as it was when we arrived, but officers are still looking at an area that is a heavily wooded area. There is a number of bushes and brushes right next to this area near a car lot. This, as we were told earlier at the press conference, is still a very active area. Though they believe the person responsible for the shooting the president is now about to speak. As all of you know now, this morning three Law Enforcement officers in baton rouge were killed in the line of duty. Three others were wounded. One is still in Critical Condition. As of right now, we dont know the motive of the killer. We dont know whether the killer set out to target Police Officers or whether he gunned them down as they responded to a call. Regardless of motive, the death of these three brave officers underscores the danger that Police Across the country confront every single day, and we as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against Law Enforcement. Attacks on police are an attack on all of us and the rule of law that makes society possible. Earlier this afternoon, i spoke with governor edwards and mayor holden and i offered them the full support of the federal government and reiterated my full support for Law Enforcement in baton rouge and for Police Officers across the country. I also spoke to the attorney general. The fbi has already been on the scene and through the work of all levels of government, justice will be done. Most of all, our hearts are go out to the families who are grieving. Our prayers go out to the officer who is still fighting for his life. This has happened far too often, and ive spent a lot of time with Law Enforcement this past week. Im surrounded by the best of the best every single day, and i know whenever this happens, wherever this happens, you feel it. Your families feel it. But what i want you to know today is the respect and the gratitude of the American People for everything that you do for us. Five days ago, i traveled to dallas for the Memorial Service of the officers who were slain there. I said that that killer would not be the last person who tries to make us turn on each other, nor will todays killer. It remains up to us to make sure that they fail. That decision is all of ours. The decision to make sure that our best selves are reflected across america, not our worst. Thats up to us. We have our divisions, and they are not new. Around the clock news cycles and social media sometimes amplify these divisions, and i know were about to in a couple of weeks at conventions where our political rhetoric tends to be more overheated than usual. And 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 dont need inflammatory rhetoric. We dont need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or to advance an agenda. We need to temper our words and open our hearts, all of us. We need what we saw in dallas this week as a Community Came together to restore order and deepen unity and understanding. We need the kind of efforts we saw this week in meetings between Community Leaders and police, some of which i participated in where i saw people of goodwill pledge to Work Together to reduce violence throughout all of our communities. Thats whats needed right now, and it is up to all of us to make sure we are part of the solution and not part of the problem. Now someone once wrote, a bullet need happen only once, but for peace to work we need to be reminded of its existence again and again and again. My fellow americans, only we can prove through words and through deeds that we will not be divided, and were going to have to keep on doing it again and again and again. Thats how this country gets united. Thats how we bring people of goodwill together. Only we can prove that we have the grace and the character and the common humanity to end this kind of senseless violence to reduce fear and mistrust within the american family, to set an example for our children. Thats who we are and thats who we always have the capacity to be and thats the best way for us to honor the sacrifice of the brave Police Officers who were taken from us this morning. May god bless them and their families. May god bless the United States of america. Thank you very much. The president of the United States delivering a short, but important statement urging everyone in his words to temper our words right now, open our hearts. This is clearly a very, very sensitive moment in the United States. Three more Police Officers shot. One Police Officer now fighting for his life. The president said justice will be done. He said our hearts go out to the families, especially that one officer right now fighting for his life. Art roderick, youre with us. Youre a former assistant director of the u. S. Marshals office. Youve worked in Law Enforcement your entire career. When you hear the president say those words, as a Law Enforcement officer, whats your reaction . Well, its comforting to hear him say that. I think he struck all the right chords there with his speech. I think hes absolutely correct. He just came back from dallas. We saw him out there in dallas talking to the Police Officers, talking to their families, and i think hopefully were turning a corner here where we can start bringing the community and Law Enforcement together around the country to work out a lot of these issues. But i think in this particular instance with what happened there in baton rouge its horrifying and unfortunately he might have to go to another three funerals and talk to other family members of Law Enforcement. Its a horrific situation. Bob reed, youre a former sheriff in Cuyahoga County in cleveland. Whats your reaction when you hear the president . Its comforting. To be a part of Police Deaths over the last 10 to 15 years in Cuyahoga County, i know how difficult it is. Its difficult for the families. Its difficult for the whole Law Enforcement family. And to hear the president s words, it is comforting. Its becoming all too familiar, gloria, this whole notion of the president as comforter and chief. He feels he has the responsibility right now to go out and make a statement along these lines, only five minutes, but a powerful statement and a statement urging everyone to be careful precisely now because the feelings are so raw. I think his statement went beyond comfort into kind of a sort of a warning to a degree, which is to the country, which is you cannot make this let us turn on each other, that we cant let that occur. He made the point quite directly that were going to enter a couple weeks of political conventions. He said rhetoric will be overheated, more overheated than usual. He sort of let the American Public know that we dont need inflammatory rhetoric or accusations that advance a political agenda. What he said is we need to kind of calm down and make sure that we understand were better than what happened in baton rouge or what happened in dallas. And so but it was quite clear to me that he was sort of saying to political leaders of all ilk, i would say, lets just kind of cool it here because you dont want this to continue. The president said it remains up to us to make sure that these killers fail. We said we have our divisions. They are not new, but its very important that we all stop engaging in careless accusations. We just did get a statement in from Hillary Clinton, the Presumptive Democratic president ial nominee. Todays devastating assault on Police Officers in baton rouge is an assault on all of us. There is no justification for violence, for hate, for attacks on men and women who put their lives on the line every day in service of our families and communities. Hillary clinton adds, we must not turn our backs on each other. We must not be indifferent to each other. We must also stand together to reject violence and strengthen our communities. Our thoughts and prayers with the families of the Police Officers who were killed and injured today. Pamela brown, you cover the justice department. You heard the president say he spoke today with the attorney general, loretta lynch. The fbi is now deeply involved. What are you hearing about this incident . We have learned now the identity of this shooter, 27yearold gavin long. 29 i should say. In fact, this was his birthday, so we have learned that he was killed in that shootout with police on his birthday. 29yearold gavin long. Still trying to learn more about him, where hes from, why he was in that area, and what his motive was, but at this point Law Enforcement officials ive been speaking with are skeptical there are more shooters than just this one, this 29yearold gavin long. Wolf, as you very well know, in the beginning theres an assumption that there are more shooters. At this point, it hasnt been ruled out. But the thinking is it could just be this one 29yearold, gavin long. Someone called in and said there was someone wearing all black in a face mask with a long rifle. One scenario Law Enforcement are looking at is whether this was an intentional phone could made by someone to lure police in or whether police were just responding to another situation. Then there was this long firefight. There was video that captured the firefight. That video has been taken down in social media, but that is a key piece of evidence in this investigation. The speaker of the house of representatives said, we will not tolerate brutal violence against Law Enforcement, the people who dedicate their lives to protecting americans. Our nation grieves are louisiana today. My prayers are with the fallen officers and their families. Theres more developments happening right now. Were going to go to the scene of the shooting momentarily. Lets take a quick break. Much more right after this. T me. Shmorange and it rhymes with the color of our bottle. 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How many Law Enforcement and people have to die because of a lack of leadership in our country . We demand law and order. Lets go to baton rouge right now. Nick valencia is on the scene for us. Just before the president spoke out and delivered that statement, you were updating us on what you were seeing and hearing in baton rouge right now. For viewers just tuning in, start from the beginning and tell us. Reporter it was about 30 minutes ago that we arrived here on the scene about a half block up from the Baton Rouge Police department headquarters. As we learned very quickly when we arrived, it is still an ongoing Police Situation. Within five minutes of getting here on the ground, we saw at least two officers were our own eyes in Tactical Gear, pointing their long rifles across the street into a car lot in an area that has a lot of bushes. Within a few minutes after that, we saw police cars head south to try to check out perhaps a lead in this investigation. We heard earlier in the press conference from colonel Mike Edmondson that man responsible for these killings is dead. Helicopters were hovering overhead, presumably some Police Officers. Others affiliates. Still a very active scene when we arrived. A lot of anxiety here in this area right now, wolf. Does it still seem to be a very active scene right now . Reporter within the last ten minutes, that anxiety subsided. We saw the officers that were pointing their weapons across the street put their weapons down. The officers that went to check out the scene 200 yards away from me, behind my back here, it seems to have died down for a moment. We see a lot of police presence, a lot of Unmarked Police cars. Some other Baton Rouge Police departments. East baton rouge parish sheriffs Police Officers. There were initial reports that there was suspected to be more than one person involved. Police officers want to make sure Public Safety is a priority here and ensure everything is clear. For right now, we cant reiterate enough how tenses in this environment hours after three Police Officers who were shot and killed after the city is still healing from the death of alton sterling, putting this community in turmoil. We saw a lot of grieving from residents. Police on high alert in the days after that. Just a couple of days ago, we reported there were suspects who were involved in a burglary of a pawnshop. They were suspected or alleged to want to use those weapons against Police Officers. There were some discrepancies. None of those suspects were charged in a plot to kill police, but it speaks to the level of anxiety in this area that Something Like dallas could happen here. Wolf . And nick, stand by for a moment because the alton Sterling Family has released this statement. I want to play it for our viewers. We dont call for no bloodshed. Thats how this all started with bloodshed. We dont want no more bloodshed. Leave. Go home. Go wherever you come from. This is our house. You cant come in our house killing us. Thats what youre doing because at the end of the day when these people call these families, they tell them that their daddies and their mommas are not coming home no more. I know how they feel because i got the same phone call. No justice. No justice no justice no peace thats what were calling for. Stop this killing stop this killing stop this killing very emotional statement from the alton Sterling Family in baton rouge, louisiana. Republican senator bill cassidy is joining us now live from baton rouge. Senator, thanks so much for joining us. I wish we were talking under different circumstances. As you know, the president , he just spoke moments ago about the killings of these Police Officers in baton rouge. I want you to listen to a little bit of what he just said. Everyone right now focus on words and actions that can unite this country rather than divide it further. We dont need inflammatory rhetoric. We dont need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or to advance an agenda. We need to temper our words and open our hearts, all of us. Important words from the president. Senator, what do you make of the president s words today . You heard his statement. Are they enough from your perspective . It is. I agree. I tell folks right now we just need to support Law Enforcement as one example. If you have any kind of complaint about anyone, dont even make a casual comment. There may be someone who is unbalanced and this tips them over. Right now we need to focus on the fact that were americans, that we are all together, and not the divisions that the folks that killed these Police Officers are hoping to open up. In baton rouge, were not divided like that. We have problems. We have made so much progress over the last 20 years and we have more to make. We have much more to make. On the other hand, these folks are trying to move it backwards. That must be resisted. Senator, what are you hearing from your Law Enforcement investigators who are in the state right now . What can you share with us about what precisely happened . We know that gavin long, 29 years old, has been identified as the killer. What, if anything, can you tell us about him . Wolf, i dont know what you know that hes actually from kansas city, missouri, and that he came here and that he is obviously we dont know yet, but we can imagine wanted to kill Police Officers to open you are divisions not just in our community, but elsewhere. Someone like that man in charleston, south carolina, walked into the street killing people, hoping to start racial strife. They win if that happens. It is up to us to not allow that to happen. This individual gavin long, is it your understanding he acted alone, that theres no search now for accomplices, if you will . All ive read again is what youve read that two folks have been picked up for interest and there are no active shooters at large. So i assume that means if there is someone, they feel like as if they have them or there are no others. Aside from the press conference and what you know, that is what i know. What about a motive . Is there any indication what this individual, this 29yearold, may have had as his motive for doing this horrible, horrible murder . Im told theres a Facebook Page that he is on, the organization to which he belonged is one that has been associated with hate, if you will. But again, this is what i picked up on a website, not that i know personally or has been told by Law Enforcement. And i think that will develop. When you say hate, this individual was associated on his Facebook Page with an Organization Associated with hate, hate of whom . Hate of what . And that i dont know. Was it hate of the police . Is there any indication of that . Again, we can only imagine. I think the investigation will show. Its my understanding one of the Police Officers is an africanamerican. So if you will, it may be directed more towards police, in which case the man he shot, as i gather, had a 2monthold or 2weekold son, and its a terrible tragedy. Theres a war right now on police. And we who wish to stop that must do everything we can to support the Police Officer. Anything negative we say can be interpreted by others as an excuse to attack them. We must not give that excuse. Senator, how is your community there in baton rouge and in Louisiana Holding up . Its holding up well. And i will say again theres been lots of progress building bridges between races over the last 10 to 20 years. Theres more to do, but theres been much progress. And i think everyone is fearful that this will move it back. And people of goodwill are just working to make sure that does not happen. At my church, which is predominantly white, went to a predominantly black church, after the alton sterling shooting and protest just to connect. One of the people at my church was given a note. The note said thank you for being here. It gives me hope that others care. It was given to her by an africanamerican woman. And so there is in our community those that wish to bridge the gap to keep us together. Thats in baton rouge and also our state and our nation. Thats what we have to focus on now. Senator bill cassidy of louisiana, senator, thank you so much for joining us. Our deepest condolences to you and especially the families of those Police Officers who were killed and were praying for that Police Officer right now fighting for his life. Appreciate it very much. Well take a quick break. Were getting more information coming into the situation room right now. Well update you when we come back. Think fixing your windshield is a big hassle . Not with safelite. This family needed their windshield replaced, but theyre daughters heart was set on going to the zoo. 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At the same time, it has been rather tenuous within the last couple of weeks after the shooting death of alton sterling by two white officers and now you have this. Hearts are heavy because you hear the governor who said today an attack on one is an attack on all of us. We noticed this twomile radius thats been cordoned off not far from the Baton Rouge Police headquarters here. The location of the shooting just behind me. As we approached, we saw Police Officers who were hugging each other, comforting one another. I spoke with one officer who said this hurts very deeply. Tears in his eyes. He knew two of the three officers that have been killed. One we know is of course fighting for his life. Among those who were injured here, this goes very deep. Of course, all of this happening on the heels of what we saw just recently in dallas with the sniper shooting five officers there. This is neighboring louisiana. This is a very tightknit community, and officers here are wondering at what point, you know, is this going to come to some close. Theyre looking to each other for comfort. Theyre trying to figure out what is behind this 29yearold gavin long of missouri. Why did he have this long arm rifle that witnesses called in and said they saw this person in this location not far behind me . And when officers arrived, witnesses say he simply opened fire, taking down killing three officers and of course the others who remain hospitalized, one in Critical Condition fighting for his life. Wolf . And the community there is im sure in shock right now as a result of this. The community has been going through an awful period over the past week and a half or so as a result of the killing of alton sterling as well. Give us a little sense, if you can, right now of what people are saying to you on the streets, fred . Reporter well, you know, this is a neighborhood. If you look around me i dont know if we can kind of loosen the tripod right now and just take a look behind me. This cuts right through a residential community. We drove through the neighborhoods. People were still out biking, trying to, you know, continue on their sunday kind of ritual, but this has impacted everyone. Because given the size of this community, someone knows someone who is a Police Officer or has a loved one who is a Police Officer. What we have learned about the Police Officers, some with as little experience as one year, others with as much experience as nine, ten years. It is a tightknit community. Were seeing people who have been coming up, just trying to get a look about whats going on. This entire area, this is a fairly commercial strip. Youve got car dealers here. Youve got restaurants. This is a major thoroughfare, but right now its cordoned off for about a twomile radius while police remain here. It is still an active crime scene, even though officials said earlier they have no reports, they have no reason to believe, there is still an active shooter. They do believe that the 29yearold gavin long may have acted alone. They took him down. No active shooter, but of course it does remain an active scene. All right, fred. Well get back to you. Fredricka whittfield is on the scene for us in baton rouge. Joining us on the phone right now from louisiana, the Grayson Police chief, Mitch Bratton. Its a former president of the Louisiana Association of chiefs of police. Chief, thanks very much for joining us. The association, i know your association is headquartered in baton rouge. Chief, what are you hearing from your fellow Police Officers . Well, wolf, we just had a statewide conference the last three days of last week, and it was discussed obviously, it was on everyones minds. Theres an increased sense of vigilance, but we have to counter that with maintaining the same level of service for our citizens in the communities that they deserve. We are all fairly in agreement that we dont have a black and white issue. We dont have a police versus nonpolice issue. We have a right and wrong issue. And there are people from all aspects that are on both sides of that. I assume Police Officers in baton rouge and elsewhere in louisiana are now stepping up their own efforts to enhance their security. Theyre worried about their security. What are you hearing from them on that front . Well, obviously, different departments are taking different measures. I talked to some Police Chiefs that were restricting their patrols to two officers per car instead of having one officer. We have some that were taking steps to solidify the security at their administrative buildings, dispatch centers, things of that. Obviously, theres some training. Theres awareness going out to officers in my area and other areas of the state im sure. Its most definitely something thats in the back of everyones mind when they walk out the door. Chief Mitch Bratton of the grayson Police Department. Chief, good luck. Our deepest, deepest condolences to everyone there as a result of this horrific, horrific murder today. Thank you so much for joining us. Were getting new details on the investigation. Theyre just coming into the situation room. Stand by for that. Were also getting reaction from donald trump to the statement just made by president obama. Well have all of that and much more coming up right after this short break. To learn about medicare, and the options you have. You see, medicare doesnt cover everything only about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. So if 65 is around the corner, think about an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare Insurance Company. 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Insulins, including toujeo®, in combination with tzds thiazolidinediones may cause serious side effects like Heart Failure that can lead to death, even if youve never had Heart Failure before. Dont dilute or mix toujeo® with other insulins or solutions as it may not work as intended and you may lose blood sugar control, which could be serious. Toujeo® helps me stay on track with my blood sugar. Ask your doctor about toujeo®. Were continuing to follow the breaking news out of baton rouge, louisiana. Very disturbing news. Three Police Officers have been shot and killed. Another three are wounded. One of those Police Officers fighting for his life right now. Police say a single gunman was killed on the scene. They arent looking for any other suspects. Thats what police are saying right now. I want to bring in representative Cedric Richmond. Hes a democrat from louisianas second district, which covers baton rouge. Hes also a member of the House Homeland Security committee. Thank you very much for joining us. Were just getting confirmation of the shooter, 29yearold gavin long. Law enforcement sources confirming he is a 29yearold black male from kansas city, missouri. Is there any more information you can tell us about gavin long, congressman . What else are you learning about him and his possible motive . The truth is, wolf, were so early in the investigation that that information is not known. I know that therell be an update tomorrow at 2 00 by Law Enforcement, the governor, and others. Really right now its just a real fact finding in terms of making sure we gather enough information so by the time we go into answering those questions we know absolutely the absolute fact. You have to imagine that baton rouge is at a very fragile, fragile place right now. We want to be overly cautious that everything is done with a lot of thought behind it. Because we also heard from senator cassidy and i dont know if you have confirmation of this that apparently this individual, gavin long, on his Facebook Page has some sort of association with some sort of hate group, if you will. Do you have any indication what that hate who this individual may be associated with as far as hate is concerned . Well, i dont think i dont know that for sure. Weve heard that, but no one has confirmed it and Law Enforcement has specifically not confirmed it. So thats all in the works of being confirmed. I want you to listen, congressman, to what the sheriff of east baton rouge said just a little while ago. Ill get your reaction. Listen to this. Okay. This is not so much about gun control as it is about whats in mens hearts. And until we come together as a nation, as a people, to heal as a people, if we dont do that and this madness continues, we will surely perish as a people. All right, congressman. When you hear those words and theyre poignant, obviously whats your reaction . I think the sheriff is absolutely right that we do have to we do have to change hearts. I mean, i think that that is at the root of it, but the other part is our officers can be outgunned. But the sheriff is absolutely right. Were at a place in this country, which i think may be an alltime low when you start looking at american citizens doing acts like this. Then we need to search our soul and our hearts. We need to watch our words, and we need to engage in some very honest congressman Cedric Richmond of louisiana who represents the baton rouge area. Thank you so much for joining us. Youre welcome, wolf. Thank you. Thank you. Once again were getting more information on the investigation. New details coming in. Were also going to share with you Donald Trumps reaction to what we just heard from president obama. Much more right after this. En, dairy or artificial flavors. So we invented a word that means that. 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Know youre getting a superior clean. Im never going back to a manual brush. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Were here in cleveland on the eve of the Republican Convention. Were following breaking news. People are reacting to the shooting of six baton rouge Police Officers today. Three of them were killed. One right now fighting for his life, the other two in stable condition. Here with us, our chief correspondent dana bash, michael sp sperconish, and our legal commentator also. I want to read to you two tweets, donald trump reacting to what the president of the United States said just a bit ago at the white house. Trump tweeted, president obama just had a News Conference but he doesnt have a clue. Our country is a divided crime scene and it will only get worse. He also tweeted this moments ago. Our country is totally divided and our enemies are watching. We are not looking good, we are not looking smart, we are not looking tough. Your reaction . I thought that the divided crime scene comment was awkward and strange. There is no divide in america when it comes to the brutal sleighing of three Police Officers slaying of three Police Officers. Its almost like hes ex ten wa extenuating a divide for political purposes. He now brand himself as the law and order candidate. Thats a major theme. Well hear it tomorrow at the convention. Its just that, its going to be about law and order. Theres no question, as you said, that donald trump thinks that he can capitalize on this politically, and you know what, he might be right. Its kind of ironic given the fact that Hillary Clinton from the second donald trump became the presumptive nominee, began to paint him as somebody who is not ready and doesnt have the temperament to be president. And yet hes trying to seize on the notion that people are upset and worried and angry and fearful and try to turn the way he is into a positive. Well see if that works. When donald trump says the country is divided, hes right, the country is pretty divided. It is divided but we just had the president of the United States make a truly appropriate and dignified and very sensible response to what has gone on. And we have a dialogue in this country that has been promoted by donald trump going back to the birther question in which the demonization of the president of the United States and the cultural moment were at in which the language and rhetoric of our politics has become debates with these kind of attacks on our leaders as well as you cant have a reasoned debate, you cant have a factbased debate in our political culture today. And this campaign is an example of it. But as dana says, he is the beneficiary of this. Hillary clinton has been unable to meet him on anything like an equal basis on this, and shes in terrible trouble as a result of these cultural moments. The president said all of us have to be very careful right now. He warned us against using what he called inflammatory rhetoric and careless accusations. But you know there is going to be a lot of inflammatory rhetoric coming up and a lot of careless accusations in this new world of social media. Thats right, and donald trump certainly the social media candidate, the social media presumptive nominee of this party, and i think we saw today that rather than doing something differently, he goes back to his same strategy, which is to react on twitter, to use lots of exclamation points and rhetoric that many, i think, consider overheated. Its an open question as to whether or not he will be able to politically capitalize on that. Sure, i think he is trying to do that, but i think just as many people who might be drawn to trump are also turned off by him, particularly demographics, College Educated white women, collegeeducated whites generally. I think well see what this tone is at this convention. We have a line of speakers, a lot of them have already been released. Well see what he continues to do at events like this. This convention this week takes place just in the immediate aftermath not only after this horrific shooting in baton rouge, but what we saw in nice, france. 84 People Killed in a coup. This will certainly hover over this event in cleveland and also in philadelphia. This town is in a security lockdown, and my first consideration are for the Law Enforcement officers who are charged with keeping us all safe, and wolf, as you know and have been discussing, its an open carry environment, and im concerned about the trump rhetoric in firing up individuals who would be inclined to show up with their weapons as some Second Amendment solidarity movement. Its a time for lessening the emotions and taking it down a notch, in my opinion. Youve been speaking to a lot of people, dana. What are you hearing . Certainly there is concern. Just to add to that, there was a call from the head of the Police Officers union today for the governor, john kasich, to try to suspend the concealed carry during the convention, and i just asked the Governors Office for a statement, and the answer was, hes not constitutionally able to do that. It just doesnt work like that. He just cant wave a magic wand or use his pen to do that. In that sense, nothing is going to change. But i do think its interesting that the police union themselves seem to be concerned about it. Hope. Ly their concerns are not going to be realized. Ive covered a lot of these conventions and youve walked around here. Cleveland security is very tight. Its very tight, but i think you get a sense all over the country, including some of the delegates here that ive talked to, including Trump Supporters yearning for real leadership in this country that is not coming from either party with their prospective nominees. So this Convention Takes Place with great dissatisfaction about who the two candidates are. This is not a love fest were about to watch here. At the same time there is unity about Hillary Clinton being almost the antichrist, and that, too, is indicative of how our cultural warfare has now defined our politics to the point where we cant come together. Trump is right about this. We have an inability to come together because we have no common ground, even about what our problems are and a way of going about solving them. Its a really sensitive moment in the air right now. Everyone feels on edge. Walking around here with all the barricades here and all the security, i think the country is on edge. And i do think there is this yearning for leadership. I think some people obviously think obama has done a good job. Hes recuperating Something Like 51 and some think trump is the answer as well. And well see how republicans themselves react to these events. They have obviously in some ways been upset with trump. They think hes not always been president ial. Well see if anything else happened to the candidate. Stand by, were following the breaking news out of baton rouge, louisiana. Once again, we want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Were live here in cleveland, this on the eve of the Republican National convention. Well get to more on that in just a few minutes, but first the horrific breaking news weve been following. Three Police Officers have been shot dead. Three other Police Officers wounded in baton rouge, louisiana. One of the wounded is in Critical Condition right now, fighting for his life. This was captured on video by a witness. Officials say the gunman was killed on the scene. Our sources have identified him as 29yearold gavin long from kansas city, missouri. Authorities stressed there is no active shooter situation under way right now. President obama just spoke in the last hour about this horrific murder, calling on the nation to condemn violence against Law Enforcement. At approximately 8 40 a. M. , baton rouge Police Officers at a Convenience Store observed the individual. He was wearing all black standing behind a Beauty Supply store, holding a rifle. At approximately 8 42 a. M. , reports received of shots fired. At approximately 8 44 a. M. , reports received of officers down on the scene. At 8 45, reports received of more shots being fired. At 8 46 a. M. , reports received that the suspect, again, that was wearing all black, standing near a car wash located right next to the Convenience Store. At 8 48, our emergency ems unit started arriving at the scene. They were staging so they could start approaching and getting the bodies that were at the scene to render first aid. Officers engaged the subject at that particular time, and he ultimately died at the scene. That was officers responding to the scene itself. Fredricka whitfield arrived on the scene just a little while ago. Shes joining us now. Fred, what is the latest youre getting on this investigation . Well, its still unclear, this 29yearold gavin long of missouri. Thats all we know thus far. We dont know his motivation, we dont know if he lives in the area, but is from missouri, or if he traveled here from missouri. We dont know anything more about him, just the i. D. Just as you heard, the Police Officers there talking about how he was spotted, with a long arm weapon behind a Beauty Supply store. A call went in. Police responded. And then there was gunfire. And we know now three Police Officers were killed. Were told that their experiences range from one year to nine years. When we first rolled up here just about an hour ago, just trying to get through this area, a twomile radius is still cordoned off. This is a major authorithorough where there are a lot of restaurants. There are car dealers, et cetera. You can see the blue lights behind us where its still an active crime scene. When we rolled up and just tried to get direction of where we were permitted to go, i saw Police Officers embracing one another, comforting one another. One of the Police Officers that i spoke with, a Baton Rouge Police officer, he knew two of the three officers who were killed today, and his eyes were filled with tears. He says, this hurts very deep. You heard the louisiana governor earlier today also say during that press conference just bearbea barely say an hour ago an attack on one is an attack on all. You heard the Sheriffs Department deputy who said, this is a police force that was already feeling very depleted over the last 12 to 14 days following the alton sterling death by two Police Officers. There had been protests here. It has created a much more tenuous relationship between some Community Members here and the Police Department. So already people, civilians, Police Officers revealing very taxed about all that has transpired, and then you have this and people still trying to figure out what precipitated this, who is this 29yearold, how did this happen . I spoke to a couple people who live in this neighborhood just a few minutes ago, and they said, you know what, wolf, we are undeterred. They set up a Voter Registration table here on their own. Theyve been doing this for the past two weeks, because they say this kind of violence between citizen and police is something much deeper, much bigger. Those were their words. Theyve been putting up these Voter Registration booths ever since the alton sterling shooting, and they say, and theyre trying to encourage people, the only way to help a Community Heal is to be actively involved, and thats how theyre starting, and they say even with the backdrop of these blue lights, even though the investigation is ongoing, even though police say there is no active shooter and that they took down what they believe to be the primary suspect, the 29yearold, the people i talked to here in the neighborhood with the Voter Registration booth set up, they say they will continue to encourage people to be involved in the community, at the same time also trying to encourage a better relationship between members of the community here and police. Wolf . Fred, i want you to stand by for a moment. Our Law Enforcement analysis bob reed is here, also pamela. Youve been getting new information. Speak to our viewers. Were learning that the fbi is running names of possible associates of this gunman, trying to figure out if any of these associates actively or knowingly were involved. But officials i spoke to in Law Enforcement say without a doubt this was an ambush on Law Enforcement. Law enforcement was targeted by this gunman, 29yearold gavin long. Right now theyre trying to figure out if he had any affiliations with any hate terrorist groups. Theyve been in touch with some of these terrorist groups and they claim theyve not been sending out this message to their followers to attack police, but of course there is a possibility that these people could be aligned with these groups and go rogue. Whats interesting to note here is this was the gunmans birthday, so what theyre looking at is whether the gunman wanted to do a suicide by cop on his birthday, whether he wanted to go down in flames and send a strong message, but of course that is something theyre factoring in. Another possible scenario, wolf, theyre looking at is the question of whether a gunman or an associate called 911 to lure in the Police Officers. Weve seen similar tactics used in other places in the country. Recently there were some arrests from people in hate groups that wanted to use this tactic. What theyre trying to figure out now is whether this 911 call was made to police. And for Police Officers who are are trying to protect the communities, now when they respond to 911 calls, they have to ask themselves, am i being lured into an ambush . There is big concern of Police Across the country. One said it feels like its open season on Law Enforcement. Its a big concern. We spoke to bill cassidy who said, apparently, he has heard that on this individuals Facebook Page, there were references to hate and perhaps some sort of association with a hate group. Have we been able to follow up on that . Have we heard anything about that . I know our Investigative Team right now is scrubbing all social media sites. We have to be careful because sometimes well put up fake social media sites of a shooter after a situation like this, so were verifying what we see. We know this was an africanamerican from kansas city, missouri. The question is what brought him to baton rouge, louisiana and what were his affiliations . Senior Law Enforcement analyst, sheriff near Cuyahoga County. What are they doing right now to find out if others may have been involved in some way and whether this individual is now dead, 29yearold gavin long from kansas city, missouri may have had some hate motivation, if you will. I think it complicates things a little bit with him being out of state. Now they have to coordinate themselves with officials in kansas city, which theyll be doing. The logistics of it are a little more difficult, but at the same time, a lot of manpower is going to be assigned to a case like this. Theyll have a lot of people doing a lot of things and very quickly. We have some eyewitness accounts of what they saw and heard. Let me play a little bit of that. Brady, from what weve gathered from a witness and from Law Enforcement, there have been reports that officers were targeted. Do you believe that based off what you have seen and heard . Im not entirely sure. I dont think Police Officers were targeted. It could have been a plan to attack, but not from my assumption, what i witnessed as i walked around the fence and saw a man laying on the ground in a red shirt that wasnt a Police Officer, and hes in an kbat parking lot with another gunman running away as more shots were being fired back and forth from several guns. About 45 seconds later, thats when police start to pull up on the scene. Did you see one of the suspects wearing a mask . Weve heard reports of a masked gunman, military style, ninja style. Did you witness that . Yes, maam. He ran as he was running down the fence, i guess to run away from the scene, he was running towards me. He wasnt military or ninja style at all. He was in black shorts or black shirt and he had a rifle in his hand. This was just a pedestrian running with a rifle in his hand more than someone with trained skills moving with a rifle, so if anything, this is just a man on the street acting out or having, you know, a problem. Im not entirely sure. I just know from what i saw, i dont believe that it was Police Target targeted. Brady, this is greg measu merriweather. Youre hearing that this may have been an ambush, is that right . From officers, and this is not a consensus, but people i have spoken with believe that police were targeted, that this was an attempt to target police only heels of dallas and other scenarios weve seen across the country. But, again, you know, we havent really heard from officials on the ground why Police Arrived on that scene, exactly. So thats what theyre trying to figure out. We know this 911 call was made, but the question is, was there a crime and Something Else going on . Why were police there . So theres still unanswered questions, but the way its being viewed is Law Enforcement was targeted and this is certainly raising concern for Law Enforcement across the country of doing their jobs. And particularly as we sit here in cleveland, security here in cleveland with protesters and Law Enforcement outside. Director of the u. S. Marshal service and previous officer before he sbiwent into the mars service. What is your take on this . Its hard to know when he left kansas city. Did he come from kansas city to the police station, stake it out and then make his move . This timeline is going to be key, and i agree with pamela that they were targeting Law Enforcement. We think you know, obviously we have a tinder box going on in baton rouge, and more than likely were going to find out thats why he came to baton rouge from kansas city. A lot of things are pointing to that. Nothing has been confirmed yet. We all know the killing of africanamerican alton sterling. He may have wanted to go to baton rouge. Once they get into his apartment to get his key to basically letting us know what his mindset is. Were getting a lot of information about this individual, 29yearold gavin long from kansas city, missouri. Were updating our viewers. Stand by, theres other information coming as well. You heard the president speak out very passionately about this a little while ago. Were going to have the president s remarks and a lot more coming up right after this. Im not a customer, but im calling about that credit scorecard. to dog give it. Sure its free for everyone. Oh well thats nice and checking your score wont hurt your credit. Oh to dog im so proud of you. 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You gotta see this guy. Ahh, i dont know what i said, ahh. I dont remember. Hes going like i dont remember blades here, blades there. Some more over there. Whoa thats not a blade. This is gillette shielding. With lubrication before and after the blade. Shields from irritation for a close, comfortable shave. Proshield from gillette. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Were getting more information on the breaking news. Were following three Police Officers shot and killed in baton rouge, louisiana, three other Police Officers injured, wounded, one of them right now fighting for his life. The president just a little while ago went into the Briefing Room at the white house to speak out on this senseless killing. Regardless of motive, the death of these three brave officers underscores the danger that Police Across the country confront every single day. And we as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against Law Enforcement. Attacks on police are an attack on all of us, and the rule of law that makes society possible. Our correspondent athena jones was there when the president spoke out. You can see, athina, the president visibly clearly moved. He has to do these events way too often. Thats right, wolf, thats one thing he said in his remarks, this happens far too often. This seems almost routine that hes called upon to come out and give these words of comfort and help americans make sense of what is going on. You mentioned before the break him talking passionately. I also thought he seemed weary simply because this is something hes had to do so much. We heard him offer words of support for police. One thing we did not hear him do, as we often hear him do after shootings or similar shootings, is talk about guns or gun control. Its something hes been criticized for in the past. He may have left that out because theres still so much to learn about the events there, what went down in baton rouge, the weapons used and all of that. But one thing we also heard from him is this call to unity. Hes been trying to make the point, including in the Memorial Service in dallas last week, that america is not as divided as it would seem from these shootings and from the rhetoric weve seen out on the campaign trail. He didnt try to make that case today. Its a case thats difficult to make seeing all this violence occur. Instead he made a challenge to the American People to unify. He said at one point its important for everyone, regardless of race or profession or Political Party right now to focus on their words, focus on words and actions that can unite the country rather than further divide us. He said, we dont need inflammatory rhetoric or careless accusations and that only we as a people, as American People, can prove through words and deeds that we will not be divided. So i would say he appeared very serious, as one would expect, somber and weary at having to come out to give these kinds of soothing remarks yet again, wolf. He also said we must temper our words, open our hearts, and he promised that justice will be done. Athena, thank you very much. I want to bring in cedric alexander, and Cheryl Dorsey is a retired policewoman from the lapd. Right now, cedric, one of those scenarios, the officers were responding to a 911 call and encountered the suspect and were shot, or it was all a setup with that fake 911 call to draw police there and to ambush those Police Officers. Its pretty stunning if, in fact, that was the case. You heard pamela brown, our justice correspondent, say that the fbi and others are investigating this possibility that it was an ambush. Well, wolf, let me say this. It certainly is leaning towards that direction that it may very well have been an ambush situation. And if it is, certainly that is very frightening to all of us because were seeing this way too often. And this is just a very, very challenging time for us in this country at this moment. But let me add quickly here, there is no time thats important as this very moment that police and the community have to Work Together to get us through this. We do have to be really careful about the language that we use, and we have to use a great deal of temperament, but at the same time, we have to be able to communicate with each other so that we can stand together. Any time a Law Enforcement official is attacked and killed in senseless ways that we have seen here in the last couple of weeks, that is an attack upon every american citizen in that community, because its those Police Officers that are there under the call of the law to protect and service. An attack on them is it an attack on all of us. Theres no other way to put it. Cheryl, you worked at the lapd. You were a Police Sergeant there. You know there is a lot of concern right now that these killings of Police Officers will create this culture of fear, if you will, among Police Officers when responding to legitimate 911 calls in the future. Theyre going to have in the back of their minds, is this really a 911 legitimate call or not . You appreciate that, im sure. Absolutely. And so there are legitimate concerns on both sides of the arena, and understand, i come from both worlds as a Police Officer and as a black mother and a mother of young, black men. Lets not ignore the elephant thats in the room, wolf, and lets not pretend that these things dont have a correlation. So unless these Police Departments stop minimizing and mitigating the bad behavior of officers, i think its my fear that well see young men like this gavin long who feel hopeless in their situation act out in a way thats inappropriate. Wolf, as a National Coalition of officers for reformed justice and accountability, we are available to speak to the president and anyone else who wants to have a real candid dialogue about how we need to bridge the gap between minority communities and the Police Department so theres no loss of life on either side. The family off alton sterlin, the man who was killed about a week and a half ago, they reacted to this shooting of Police Officers today. Let me play the clip for you. We dont call for no bloodshed. This is how all this started, with bloodshed. We dont want no more bloodshed. If youre not with us, leave, go home, go wherever you came from. This is our house. You cant come to our house killing us. Thats what youre doing, because at the end of the day, when these people call these families, they tell them that their daddy and their mama is not coming home no more. I know how they feel because i got the same phone call. No justice no justice no peace thats what were calling for. Stop this killing stop this killing stop this killing heartbreaking reaction from the the family of alton sterling. When you hear that, whats your reaction . It is very heartbreaking, but what i hear her saying as she talked to the American People in her own way is that shes still in pain because of her own loss. Shes in equal pain at the loss of the officers there in her community. She may very well have known those officers. Baton rouge is a very small community. My heart goes out to all of those who have lost their lives in the last few days. When i listen to her, i hear her pain, and it is certainly very hurting to all of us. She just dont want any more bloodshed and shes crying out for everyone in this country to come to peace with each other, and that is certainly what we need to do at this moment. Cedric alexander, thank you. Cheryl dorsey, thank you as well. The governor of louisiana, bobby jindal, hes standing by. Im going to speak with him momentarily. Well get the latest on the investigation. Lets take a quick break. Well be right back. Away with t. Woo oh, dont worry about it. They cant hear me, im just in your head, announcer vo no matter how you use your data, verizons got your back. Introducing the new verizon plan. Now get 30 more data. No surprise overages. And keep the data you dont use. All on americas best network. Why settle when you can have everything . Switch to verizon now. The still feels better after 10 shaves than a disposable on its first mach 3 blades have twice the coatings. For a closer shave with zero redness shave after shave after shave gillette. The best a man can get. Igoing to clean betteran electthan a manual. Was he said sure. But dont get just any one. Get one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. Go pro with oralb. Oralbs rounded brush head cups your teeth to break up plaque and rotates to sweep it away. And oralb delivers a clinically proven superior clean versus sonicare diamondclean. My mouth feels super clean oralb. Know youre getting a superior clean. Im never going back to a manual brush. You live life your way. We can help you retire your way, too. Financial guidance while youre mastering life. From chase. So you can. We would ask for prayers from this community for our officers, for our families, for the families that have been affected by todays senseless shootings that went on this morning. Prayers for all Law Enforcement, not just the brpd, but for all of us. As the sheriff said, we stand united, and this is a united front. Make no mistake about that, this is very united. Well get through this as a family, well get through this as a community, but i want all of the brpd officers to know that i support you. Every single one of them, i stand with you, i stand beside you, but were going to get through this and get through this together. This is not going to tarnish this city or this department. Were going to move forward. Powerful words, indeed. Welcome back. Im wolf blitzer. Were following the breaking news. Three Police Officers shot and killed, three other Police Officers wounded in baton rouge, louisiana. When a Law Enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty, organizations like the Blue Alert Foundation step in to help the families these men and women leave behind. Were talking to the founder and director of the blue light organization. Tom, thank you for joining us. Our deepest condolences. Have you had a chance yet to reach out to the families of these three Police Officers who were murdered today . Ant as of yet, wolf. Were still waiting for the identification of them. I had to get up here in two hours, so in the lead time i did not get that information yet to reach out to them. What do you do once you get in touch with them . What can you say to these families who are so grieving right now . Well, wolf, its hard. A spouse knows that their husband or their wives are going out in the field to do their job and do their job correctly. And they never know at that time that theyre going to come back home. But having this certain climate going on right now is even making it worse for them. Theyre in fear. Theyre trying to figure out what to do. Theyre coming to points where theyre taking off stuff on their car saying i support Law Enforcement or my husband is a Police Officer because theyre in fear of whats happening in the United States now with our Law Enforcement. All of us are so dependent on Law Enforcement to protect us. Whats your advice to people who may be watching and listening right now . What needs to be done to get to move on right now and stop this kind of madness. Were trying to get stuff done. Were trying with a summit. Were going to put that out real soon on it at the un. They bring World Leaders in and celebrities and athletes and Law Enforcement to figure out, what can we do . We want to open up dialogue. We want to be on an even Playing Field to get this to stop so we can trust everyone and trust to protect everyone out there, Law Enforcement and the community. This is not a oneway street where im concerned, this is a twoway street to protect the communities that our Law Enforcement are there to serve and to protect. You heard the president of the United States say earlier, we have our divisions. They are not new, but we must stop all these careless accusations out there. All of us, he said, must temper our words and open our hearts. I assume you believe thats appropriate advice from the president. Absolutely. Weve got to open up our hearts but weve got to both sides, weve got to stop it and stop the rhetoric thats going on there with Law Enforcement. I mean, i dont know what to do as one person, but i know if we get a group of people together, we can absolutely try to make a dent and stop whats happening right now. Tom berry is the founder and director of the Blue Alert Foundation. Tom, thank you very much for joining us, and once again, our deepest, deepest condolences. I want to go to Paulo Sandoval right now. Hes getting new information about the officers. What are you learning . Reporter were getting new details about one of the Police Officers who died in the line of duty. The first one, 31yearold Montrel Jackson who had been with the department for 10 years. 32 years old. There are a lot of stories coming on line that were able to confirm and bring you some of these stories. But as you may imagine, he was somebody who was a member of the community, somebody who ultimately gave his life now defending that community. So expect more information regarding officer jackson and also the other two officers, one of which is a 41yearold who was with the department for less than a year, and then the third individual, wolf, who actually worked for the east baton rouge Sheriffs Department. So, again, these are now the stories that are beginning to surface slowly as we begin to learn more about those three officers who were shot and killed today. We at least know a little bit about one of those right now. And our hearts and prayers, our condolences go out to the families of those three Police Officers. We know one of the Police Officers who was shot is fighting for his life right now. Paulo, thank you very much. There is more information coming into the situation room right now. Lets take a quick break. Well share that with you right after the short break. Bud light party here to discuss equal pay. Women dont get paid as much as men and that is wrong. And we have to pay more for the same stuff. What . Yeah. 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I wish we were speaking under different circumstances. You know your community in baton rouge well. First of all, how is the community dealing with this . Wolf, our hearts are broken. Youre right, i do know the Law Enforcement community. They helped take care of me and my family these last eight years as i was governor. These are incredible heroes. They run towards danger, not away from it, so we can safe. Awful for the baton rouge people today. Are you being briefed as a former governor on the current investigation . Wolf, you know, i do have contact in the Law Enforcement. Ive talked with them throughout the day, but im not sharing information theyre not making public. Its their role to brief the public as its going on, and i respect their roles. Im very close to Law Enforcement, and i have been talking to them. The response was immediate, it was heroic, it was what you would expect. I think this will help bring our community together. People are going into and coming out of churches as they hear about this news. I know our pastor talked about the importance of unity, of crossing divides. This is a time for us forget idealogical divides, forget racial divides, this is a time to remember were all created in gods image, were all valuable. Baton rouge is a great community. I was born and raised here. We care for each other, we love each other, but theres been a lot of tense days these last few days. We need to start healing. We need to put this violence behind us. All lives are precious, all lives matter. We need to stop dividing ourselves by race or other artificial divisions. This is an awful, awful tragedy done by an evil person, but hopefully we can start that process of healing. The irony is in the last couple of days, friday was obviously a very emotional day for a lot of people with the Memorial Service, the funeral service. But ironically in the last few days, it felt like things were beginning to return a little bit to normal. It began to feel like the tension was leaving. We had our protesters, we had Law Enforcement from around the state come into baton rouge to help protect and provide security. But again, even that had begun to be reduced, so in the last few days, i think Law Enforcement felt like maybe they were turning a corner, maybe things were getting back to normal. These are incredible men and women. Ive seen them around my young children. Ive spent countless numbers of hours with them. Their wives, their husbands, their children, they just worry about the safe return of their loved ones. Its a very dangerous job. Even a routine job can become deadly. I know these families are grieving when one of them is killed in the line of duty, much less three. I know it impacts every single Law Enforcement official in our community. Were these Police Officers ambushed . Can you share that with us based on the information youre getting, governor . Well, like i said, im going to defer. I think the governor and the state police, you know, the superintende superintendent. They provided briefings. What theyve said publicly to date is the officers responded to a call on airline highway and i want to emphasize to folks this is a very narrow part of town. The Police Headquarters is near the hospital where i was born, where my kids were born. Theres a second mall in our city, and now theres a third mall in our city. This is a very normal, highly frequented, visited area. This is a normal neighborhood you would see in any city, in any community in america. This was a sunday morning. They get this call. There is a man in a mask in black clothing walking down the street with a gun. They respond and he opens fire. Wolf, coincidentally, i happened to be near that area i didnt see the shooting, i didnt see firsthand, but i happened to be near that area and i saw police units all of a sudden turn on their lights and rush both toward the hospital and toward that area. It was a very Rapid Response from state and local Law Enforceme enforcement. Even when they werent sure if there were additional shooters, they bravely went in there. They do the opposite, they run towards the unsafe. This was apparently an out of state shooter. Theyll investigate his motivations. Not that you can ever understand evil like this, but they did what they were trained to do. They ran toward those shots to make sure there werent other deaths, other injuries. Good point. Bobby jindal is the former governor of louisiana. Governor, thank you very much for joining us. Wolf, i would just ask for your viewers prayers and thoughts for these families. I lot of them wont be seeing their loved ones again. I know they could definitely use your prayer at this time. Thank you. Yes. And we know the identity, governor, of one of the three Police Officers shot, 32yearold Montrel Jackson. He was one of the Police Officers shot and killed. Our deepest, deepest condolences to the Jackson Family for that loss. All right, governor, thank you very much. Fredricka whitfield is on the scene for us in baton rouge. Fred, what are you hearing from people there near the scene . Reporter i talked to a number of people who happened to live in the neighborhood. You can see behind me, wolf, this is a residential community. You heard the governor talk about this airport highway, which really is a vital, commercial district. There are car dealerships, there are restaurants, there is the beauty shop where we heard this gunman, eyewitnesses saw him behind this beauty shop with this longarm assault weapon of sorts, and thats when police responded. And just here to my right, steve, im going to ask you to unlock your and youve got a number of trees. But just next to these police squad cars, that is the Police Headquarters for Baton Rouge Police. So they didnt have to go far to respond to the call, just down the street here about a mile and a half, and thats when, of course, when the Police Arrived, we know from eyewitness accounts, we know from police now, that these Police Officers were shot, three of whom were killed. I spoke with a number of Police Officers earlier, one in particular with tears in his eyes. He knew two of the Police Officers. He says this hurts very deep. The Police Community here is a very tight one. But then the flip side to that, i talked to a number of residents in the area who say the relationship between some members of the community here and the Police Department, its been very tenuous and its been that way, according to some of the people that i spoke to who didnt eyewitness the event, but they were in the vicinity who say there has been a problem between some communities and the Police Community here for a very long time well before the shooting of alton sterling, and this has now just reached a bubbling point. But of course, they say theyre undeterred. Theyre hoping that this community, the Police Community, civilian community can build, you know, together, can close any gaps there might be between some, wolf. Lets hope that happens. All right, fred, thanks very much. Just a little while ago, president obama spoke out about these murders. Regardless of motive, the death of these three brave officers underscores the danger that Police Across the country confront every single day. We as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against Law Enforcement. Attacks on police are an attack on all of us and the rule of law that makes society possible. Donald trump wasted no time in replying to the president tweeting out this, and im quoting donald trump. President obama just had a News Conference, but he doesnt have a clue. Our country is a divided crime scene, and it will only get worse. Lets get some analysis. Joining us now Political Writer with the atlantic. Our senior plital analyst david gergen is with us. Mark preston and our chief political analyst gloria borger. So very different responses from the president and donald trump. Polar opposites. You know, Donald Trumps response was exactly what president obama said the country does not need, period. You know, in the president s speech, he said we dont need an inflammatory rhetoric or careless accusations to advance a political agenda. He was clearly referring to donald trump in that. What you see is not only a polarized country here, but we have polarized politics that reflects that country and, you know, i think that what you heard with president obama was a president who almost seemed to sound like there was some futility to his remarks, that hes done in 15 times and that each iteration to me seems to get harder and harder for him. With donald trump, it was effectively, its his fault. Im for law and order and the president doesnt have a clue. Molly, how do you see it . I think thats right. And i think that Donald Trumps campaign from the very beginning has been about this theme of america under threat. Right. Whether its from terrorism, whether its from crime. Whether its from outsiders who are immigrants or outsiders who are muslims. He is now we see him at the convention, a lot of the theming of the convention talk about make america safe again. Hes trying to be the law and order candidate who is telling people hell take on these threats more aggressively. He probably views statements like obamas as only so much political correctness. This is something that cant be solved with words, that needs tough action. We do see completely different world views and we see the theme playing out on the turf that donald trump had staked out. David, were going to see these themes played out here this week in cleveland at the Republican Convention and next week in philadelphia at the democratic convention. Absolutely. Donald trump has already scrambled monday night for the first Opening Night of this convention to focus on these issues of law and order so he can present himself as a law and order candidate. I do think what we saw today was every person responding exactly as they have. President obama was eloquent and Hillary Clinton was supportive. It was a plan of action. We seem so helpless. We hear word, words, words, what youd love to see at the convention, lay out what your three or four steps that you guys are united on. If you win the election. And the democratic convention, you guys lay out your thing and let the country choose. Right now we have nothing to choose from. Donald trump will have this theme, hes the law and order candidate. Hell do this tomorrow night, as we talked about, well hear about benghazi and trying to keep america strong and how he feels that Hillary Clinton really let the country down. But it will be about him being a law and order type of candidate, somebody who is supportive of police. But what i do think is important out of this horrific tragedy that weve seen this morning and the past couple of weeks, we only have to compare this to what we saw in turkey just a few days ago is that were going to have a convention here in cleveland where well have a set of ideas that will be diametrically different than what well see a week from now. The fact that we can have a democracy and argue this stuff out is really important. I think we forget that we are lucky to be in a country where hold on for a moment. Theres an emotional statement that i want to read to our viewers here in the United States, indeed around the world, the words of montrell jackson, one of the Police Officers who was shot and killed today in baton rouge, only 32 years old. He wrote these words on facebook on july 8th after the alton sterling shooting in baton rouge. And he writes this. Im tired physically and emotionally. Disappointed in some family, friends and officers for some reckless comments, but hey, whats in your heart is in your heart. I still love you all because hate takes too much energy, but i definitely wont be looking at you the same. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me or my wife. It was needed and much appreciated. I swear to god 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. I experience so much in my short life and these last three days have tested me to the core. When people you know begin to question your integrity, you realize they dont really know you at all. Look at my actions. They speak loud and clear. Finally, i personally want to send prayers out to everyone directly affected by this tragedy. These are trying times. Please dont let hate infect your heart. This city must and will get better. Im working in these streets, so any protesters, officers, friends, family or whoever, if you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer, i got you. Our special coverage will continue right after this. The Gillette Mach 3 turbo still feels better after 10 shaves than a disposable on its first mach 3 blades have twice the coatings. For a closer shave with zero redness shave after shave after shave gillette. The best a man can get. Im not a customer, but im calling about that credit scorecard. to dog give it. Sure its free for everyone. Oh well thats nice and checking your score wont hurt your credit. Oh to dog im so proud of you. Well thank you. Get your free credit scorecard at discover. Com. Even if youre not a customer. Our partnership with habitat for humanity at pg e, we believe solar should be accessible to everyone. Allows us to provide the benefits of solar power to the types of customers who need it most. Pg e provided all of the homes here with solar panels. 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