RNC in Cleveland: a hot, boiling pot

Everything at the Republican National Convention was supposed to be scripted. It's not working out that way.

The streets are definitely not scripted and that's what has police worried.

It's now a hot, boiling pot.

Add to that, the fact Ohio's an open carry state. Now, considering the events in Dallas and Baton Rouge, the Cleveland police union asked Ohio Gov. John Kasich to suspend the law for the week.  The governor refused, saying he doesn't have the power.

"Hey give the police a little bit of help here," said Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Patrolman's Association. "I'm not talking about changing the Constitution of the United States of America or the laws of the state of Ohio. But you can't take a gun into the football stadium or to the baseball stadiums or anyone where else."

LEDUFF: "Why did you bring it?"

"Because I can," said Jesse Gonzalez of Lakewood, Ohio.

LEDUFF: "Because you can?"

"Because I can."

LEDUFF: "You for law enforcement?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Gonzalez said.

LEDUFF: "Those guys are begging you to leave it at home."

"I know that's all right. It's my right to do so," Gonzalez said. "They can beg me to do it, they can beg me to do something that's not in my interest and I'm not going to do it."

LEDUFF: "What if some (blank) goes off?"

"I'm not going to be a part of it," Gonzalez said.

With 4,000 police officers and 3,000 military personnel, Cleveland is either the safest place in America right now or the most volatile. Cops now driving to a car.

"It's a very, very dangerous time for us right now," Loomis said. "We don't know. How easy would it be for somebody to infiltrate a peaceful group? One guy."

Michael Steele, the former national chairman of the Republican Party says that as a black man he sees both sides of the police versus the people coin. He's asking everybody to keep their heads.

"I understand it and I know, that everything can explode in a heartbeat," he said. "It won't if we stop it. It won't if we're in that space."

LEDUFF: "Please leave your guns at home. Do the police a favor."

"Yeah," Steele said. "Really."