Obama, Bush to Honor Fallen Officers as Hurting Nation Ponders the Future

President Barack Obama is traveling to Texas Tuesday to pay tribute to the police officers killed by a sniper last week. Obama will be joined by President George W. Bush at an interfaith memorial service in Dallas at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.

Tuesday's service follows a weekend filled with honors for the five officers who lost their lives, comfort for those who survived, and candid conversations about what lies ahead. 

Bishop Harry Jackson spoke about the current racial tensions plaguing the U.S. and what needs to be done to move toward healing. Watch above.

Two patrol cars sit outside Dallas police headquarters, covered with cards, flowers and teddy bears. It's a memorial that grows with each passing day.

People are traveling from near and far to add to their gifts to the memorial. They are also personally extending thanks to the officers who pass by.

The city saw chaos Thursday, following a rally and peaceful protest. Rev. Michael Waters, pastor of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E., was a speaker at the rally, which called for an end to police brutality following the deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota.

"While we were dispersing, the gunfire began," Waters told CBN News, following his Sunday morning service in the heart of the city.

Recalling the people at the rally that night, Waters said, "It was white people, it was Latino people, it was Asian people, it was young people. There were children in that crowd."

"Everyone who was there in that non-violent peaceful rally and march was there because they love life and want to preserve it," he continued. "It has broken all of our hearts that life was taken that night."

Police say the gunman, Micah Johnson, claimed he was angry about the deaths the protesters were marching against. That's why he took aim at white officers, killing five and injuring seven.

"You would still hear the gunfire," Waters recalled. "And it was a shock because you went from total peace and tranquility to total chaos at a moment."

The sniper attack on 12 Dallas police officers reminded some of another dark day in the city's history. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 in Dealy Plaza, just two blocks from where the gunman took aim at the officers, delivering a painful blow to the city and the country.

On Sunday, the pain gave way to praise at the Potters House Church, where Bishop T.D. Jakes canceled his regular sermon and hosted a townhall conversation.

"We have had a very challenging week in our city. Been tested to our very core, shaken to our very foundation," Jakes told those in attendance.

His townhall panel included the city's mayor and an officer who watched a colleague die in the tragedy, shot in the face.

Officer Steve Gentry told the packed congregation, "Sometimes you dream that this person is sitting next to your bed or standing next to your bed, asking you why -- those are the hard times."

The family of the man shot and killed in Louisiana last week was also there. Saundra Sterling, who raised Alton Sterling, recalled her final moments with him, just two days before he died at the hands of police officers. They visited the graves of family members.

"We went to his brother's grave," Saundra told CBN News. "His brother, his mother, my father and his dad and we (were) visiting each one of those graves and that was the last time I saw or heard from him." 

Jakes ended the service, reminding all of the hope believers have in Christ.

"Injustices, police killings, domestic violence, black-on-black crime – we got a lot of stuff to pray about. But we are going to make it," Jakes said.