Africanamerican Community Feels unfairly targeted and Police Department that fear, they can never understand each others experience. It is hard not to think sometimes the center wont hold, and things might get worse. The center is where he hoped to draw registers and police. He criticized each for ignoring the truth to be found in the middle. President obama when anyone, no matter how their intentions might be called police bias or bigots, we undermine those officers we depend on for our safety. Study after study shows that whites and people of color experience the criminal Justice System differently. If you are black, you are more likely to be pulled over or searched or arrested. We cannot simply turned away and dismiss those in peaceful protest as troublemakers or paranoid. Mr. Obama eulogized the five officers, but he also brought into the room the memory of the two men killed by police this month who were the reason for the dallas protest. President obama even those who dislike the phrase black lives matter should surely be able to hear the pain of Alton Sterlings family, just as we should hear the students and coworkers describe their affection for philando castile, as a gentle soul. As a nation, mr. Obama said, we ask too much of police and not enough of ourselves. President obama we choose to under invest in decent schools. We allow poverty to fester so entire neighborhoods offer no prospect for gainful employment. We refuse to fund drug treatment and Mental Health programs. [applause] president obama we flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a gun and then to get his hands on a computer or even a book. [applause] president obama and then we tell police, you are a social worker, you are the parents. You are the teacher. You are the drug counselor. We tell them to keep those neighborhoods in check at all costs, and do so without causing any political blowback or inconvenience. Dont make a mistake that might disturb our own peace of mind. And then we feign surprise when periodically, the tensions boil. The president said, we must reject despair. We are not as divided as we seem. Manuel has more from the service. Oh say can you see by the dawns early light manuel there were five empty seats at the memorial, each holding an American Flag representing the officers that were killed. Dallas mayor Mike RawlingsMike Rawlings we realize that our pain is your pain. Well do what we want to do. Honor the lives of these five officers. Lorne ahrens, michael krol, michael smith, brent thompson, patricio zammaripa. Mike rawlings he honored not only dallas but Police Chiefs, Police Officers, the higher calling across the United States of america. Manuel chief brown, known for never being at a loss of words, used lyrics from a stevie wonders song to honor the officers. Sometimes david brown we all know sometimes it can make you wish you were born in another time and place. But you can bet your lifetime and twice is doubled that god knew exactly where he wanted you to be placed. [applause] manuel the theme of the service was unity. Former president george w. Bush who lives in dallas, only miles from where the attack happened, directly addressed the fallen officers families. George bush your loss is unfair. We cant explain it or stand we cannot explain it. But we can stand beside you, we can pray that god will comfort you with the hope deeper than sorrow and stronger than death. Manuel he also acknowledged their sacrifice. George bush they went or duty called. They defended us, even to the end. They finished well. We will not forget what they did for us. Charlie we begin with president obamas speech in dallas. Five Police Officers were killed by a racially motivated gunmen an whose killings followed the killings of two black men in louisiana and minnesota. He urged the nation to meet the challenge of the difficult moment. President obama ive seen how inadequate words can bring leaving lasting change. I have seen how inadequate my own words have been. And so i am reminded of a passage in johns gospel. Let us love not with words or speech, but with action and in truth. If we are sustaining unity, we need to get through difficult times. If we are to honor these five outstanding officers who we have lost, then we will need to act on the truths that we know. And that is not easy. It makes us uncomfortable. But we are going to have to be honest with each other and ourselves. Charlie george w. Bush also spoke at the memorial. George bush it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples, well judging ourselves by our best intentions. Charlie on the campaign trail, clinton praise reforms made by the Police Department in dallas. She spoke from New Hampshire where she accepted the endorsement from Bernie Sanders. Hillary clinton i am asking for all of us to really search our hearts and minds to make sure we dont, we dont have those implicit biases. Lets learn from Police Departments like dallas that had made strong progress and applied their lessons nationwide, because everyone in every Community Benefits when there is respect for the law, and when everyone is respected by the law. Charlie peter baker joins me, who covers the president and knows president obama well. Tell me what you thought of the speech today, and is this message, is this a role he handled well, because you can see the anguish in the president as he spoke in dallas. Peter this really serves as a bookend, kind of a sad one. 2004, he came to National Attention with a speech to the country at the Democratic Convention in which he talked about how there is not a black america and a White America and a red america and the blue america but the United States of america. It was that hopeful sentiment of common purpose that he rose to the white house four years later. Here he is now at the end of his presidency, and he has faced series of episodes like this so searing and painful that even he said today, i am beginning to doubt. I have moments of doubt about what is happening in our country. He said not to give in to that doubt, understand the Race Relations as they are, still better than in the past, and pull together to a more hopeful future. Charlie how would he define what is happening in america . Peter he would talk about the effects of a long period of racial history that goes back to slavery and jim crow and so on and so forth. While progress has been made, he thought the progress the country had made, it does not mean every bit of bias and hatred has been wiped out. He had to straddle a tough line today between black and blue, trying to say, we are not taking sides between police and africanamerican communities. Those sides have to find ways to Work Together to get past this kind of incendiary moment. Charlie did he write the speech himself . Peter i think he had a lot to do it the speech himself. He has been working on it. It is difficult because he has given a version of this so many times in the last few years. He struggled and talked about in the speech, he struggled to find words that convey something that will actually have impact. He said i dont know my own words are having the impact, or are adequate exactly. That is a real admission for a politician who has lived on the strength of his oratory. He finds in this moment the oratory, the speeches, the words had not been enough. They have not enough to heal the country. Charlie it is interesting, and i am asking here is a man with extraordinary skills and resonates so to speak with harvard and harvard law and all that he has done. A black man with a kenyan father, a white mother, written beautifully about it, talking about his father and growing up as he had. As a man, who as president , basically did not want to come head on, correct me if i am wrong, talking about racism. Peter i think that is right. He came into office wanting to be a president for all americans, not just the first africanamerican president. He knows his place in history, it was written the day he took office. The first africanamerican ever to serve as a president. That is the first lines of his obituary. He understands that. He went to go beyond that and not be identified in those terms. He had a lot on his plate, economic crisis, two wars. He did not talk much about race and his first term. It was in his second term he opened up more. That is a function of circumstance as much. He does not have an election to worry about anymore, and a series of events from ferguson to baltimore to minnesota and louisiana and dallas, they forced him to become more of a leader on these issues, talk about them more. It has to be a disappointment that a presidency that hoped to be a symbol of progress is now finding itself in the end of its term with issues that seem so painful. Charlie we are joined by alan blinder in new york, also of the new york times. Tell us about dallas today and the president coming and joe biden and former president bush. Alan it was extraordinary. The event that they spoke at was invitationonly. It was largely, the symphony was the with Police Officers. Most of them dallas officers. Most of it also from los angeles. South carolina, massachusetts. The mood in the room was also one of hope in a lot of ways, but there were tough issues to talk about. President bush touched on them, president obama touched on those. It was interesting how the reaction evolved before and after the speech. When i spoke to people before, they werent sure what to make of president obama coming to dallas, what he would say amid all the turmoil. A number of Police Officers were quite skeptical of what he might say. Afterward, positive response. Charlie what do you think it was about the speech that touched them . Alan the chief of the Los Angeles CountySheriffs Department sought the president straddle the line very well. There saw the president straddle the line very well. There are people called in every day, but the black American Experience has been difficult. Law enforcement is often blamed for that. He said he thought the president managed to weave together a few different narratives in American Life and talk about how they affect everybody. Charlie peter, back to you. Some sense of this president this is, he has said before the worst day of his presidency was the bombing in newtown. He feels deeply these acts of violence. Peter he does, because he is such a detached personality at times, he does not necessarily emote in a public way like bill clinton and george w. Bush did as president. He does feel these things very deeply. You can see the emotion on his face today in that speech. He talks to people who see him every day. These are the moments that trouble him, haunt him. They are beyond his control, and to some extent, they are a function of Larger Forces he has failed to tame. They weigh on him. They would on any president. Charlie alan, in dallas, Great Respect for the dallas Police Department because of its leadership, am i correct . Alan absolutely. I have had more people come up and say they wish the chief would run for president. Deep respect. It should be said that he has critics. He is popular, has been popular since last thursday. A few months ago, some of the officer groups were criticizing him in very pointed ways. One had called for his resignation. It has been up and down 10 years for david brown, the chief here. The department in general has a deep well of respect for the city. Charlie how would they characterize it, simply that he stood up for them but at the same time go ahead. Alan officers in dallas were concerned about shift scheduling. But now they have been talking about how chief brown stood up and told how these needed to be discussed on a National Stage but were not being talked about in a highprofile way. There was a News Conference he talked about the burdens placed on modern Police Officers, talking about how in dallas, there is a loose dog problem, and the police are having to help with that. So despite the tensions in turmoil that have sometime shadowed the chiefs tenure in dallas, he has become a popular figure. How long that will last, we will see. Charlie is there a sense that dallas is healing . Alan it is a slow healing process. The funeral begins tomorrow. Tomorrow in dallas, we will say goodbye more formally to two of the officers that will continue throughout the week. People want to see how the funerals go. Chief brown made the comment that he would be, this would be the hardest week of his life. Charlie peter baker, who has written about so well, so many politicians and have as president and leadership, soon will be going to jerusalem as a bureau chief. We wish him well, look forward to a book he is doing on the former secretary of state of president bush 41. Thank you both. Back in a moment. Charlie we continue with bill bratton, the new York City Police commissioner announced yesterday the number of shootings in the city have hit historical lows since the first half of 2016. I am pleased to have him back at this table. Bill please to be with you as always. Charlie lets talk about dallas and many ramifications. You have always been viewed as a Police Commissioner, you look to the future and try to maximize the best there can be in police work, both in terms of culture, in terms of technology, and training the best possible Police Officers. With that context, talk about dallas. Bill dallas is certainly an american tragedy. As you recall, charlie, we had a similar experience in new york where detectives were murdered before christmas, and we had this conversation. I have been admiring chief brown. Since that time, he helped ring america to understand the dilemma American Police face in todays society. We have become the catchall for all of the ills of society, an off a lot of of burdens of young Police Officers. He is also reflective of something not often recognized, how chiefs in major cities, the progression of professionalism in my profession over the last 40 years since i joined the Police Department in 1970. It has been extraordinary, the creativity, the passion American Police chiefs bring to the profession. He is represented if of that. He served charlie tell me about the professionalism he is, and how you achieve it. Bill it is the idea we recognize we are a profession that is continuing in need of improvement. We have come a long way of journeying. You would never get to the final destination. I have watched changes over the last 45 years. I would argue as a profession of american policing, it has progressed much more rapidly than American Society as a whole. Charlie because of leadership in Police Departments . Bill leadership and creativity in the Police Departments, most of them found changes originated at the local police level. The concept of Community Policing, problemsolving. Charlie why are we having so many incidents . Clearly they would all recognize we have more evidence of it, and we see more of it, so it is easier to prove. Bill the number of incidences relatively small. But they are magnified incredibly by the world we live in, social media. Is it more than the past, or are we more accurately reflecting what it has always been . I think we have much less than the past. During the 1960s and 1970s, we were dealing with the issues of those times are you we are further along than we were. Charlie what is your reaction to obamas speech. Bill i had my opportunity to read it on the way up to this interview. He hit all the right notes, as he usually does. He is incredibly eloquent in these times of crises. The high wire act as a black that he has to walk as president , that he has to walk, in some respects, the same highway where American Police chiefs are on. People look to see it. Charlie heres what he said, words are inadequate. My words have been inadequate. Need to act on the truths we know. What can we do better . What action must we undertake . He quoted john, let us not love with words or speech but with action and truths. We have had a lot of speech. In terms of what when a Police Officer is shot or there is action by a Police Officer, which is a tiny minority of the police. But at the same time, we walk away from these with words, the president is saying we have to act. Bill think of the term, we have to speak with truth. To fix the problem, you have to admit we have the problem. We have been upfront in american policing recognizing we have many problems. Among our ranks him a racist, people who are criminals. There is less than there was right into the profession. They were still that percentage, 1 or 2 . We choose to allow myself, my department, my profession to be defined by 1 or 2 , if we cant tolerate them. At the same time, we have to admit we have things to correct. In my 30 months as Police Commissioner in new york, to address so much of what the black lives Matter Movement for e