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Two Gunmen Storm Free Speech Event In Denmark, Killing One and Wounding Three; Ceasefire Set To Take Effect In Ukraine; Interview With Rep. Ed Royce of California; Obama Officially Requests Use Of Military Force Against ISIS

Aired February 14, 2015 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington, in today for Poppy Harlow. We're following a breaking story out of Denmark. A massive manhunt is underway right now where two gunmen wanted in a deadly attack in Copenhagen. It happened just hours ago at a free speech event. Witnesses say the gunmen stormed the meeting, firing as many as 30 or 40 shots. A 40- year-old man was killed, three police officers wounded.

The possible target of the attack was a cartoonist Lars Vilks. He has stirred up plenty of controversy with his portrayals of the prophet Mohammed. A woman who accompanied Vilks to the event says the two of them ran into a storage room and huddled together holding hands until they were rescued by the police.

Vilks' life has been in dangerous for years. In 2013, he was pictured on a wanted dead or alive poster in Al-Qaeda magazine. Also, on the poster is the editor in-chief of "Charlie Hebdo" who was killed on that attack in Paris just weeks ago.

The Danish prime minister has issued a statement. It reads in part, Denmark today has been hit by a cynical violent attack, everything points to that the shooting in Osterbro was a political assassination and therefore a terror attack.

And our thoughts and sympathy go to those victims and their families.

And I want to go right now to Astrid Sondberg. She is a reporter for TV 2 in Copenhagen. He joins me on the phone.

Ash, police in Copenhagen have just issued a photo of a man they believe to be connected to the attack. What do you know about this?

ASTRID SONDBERG, REPORTER, TV2 (via phone): Well, first we believe there were two men who was behind the attack. But after they have been talking to a lot of witnesses, that supposed only one man, and it is a man dressed in dark clothes. The photo has been taken from an automatic photo system near the place where the man dropped a car that he stole from another man just after the attack. And police is asking everybody to look out for this man. And if somebody knows him or if this man has nothing to do with the shooting, they ask him to report to the police.

ACOSTA: So Astrid, the picture may or may not be connected at this point, is that correct? And you're hearing that a vehicle has been abandon somewhere near the subway? If that's true, then these gunmen could be anywhere, I suppose?

SONDBERG: They could be anywhere. I just heard a report from the border between Denmark and Germany and it seems like the border patrol is stopping all cars now. So I suppose that they think that he can be anywhere. And the prime minister and the police have asked everybody to keep an open eye and report to the police if anything looks suspicious or out of state.

ACOSTA: And Astrid, what is the response that people are having right now to this attack? Are people responding as if this is like their "Charlie Hebdo," is that what you're hearing?

SONDBERG: It is a bit -- it is strange because Denmark, we are where in Denmark that have been attacked and have been considered a target for quite a while now. And it does not seem like people are that surprised. It's happened in the middle of Copenhagen. It is basically in the center of Copenhagen, but in a place where not many people live, just next to the national football stadium. But people were perhaps expecting something to happen. And we even thought that it might be big and we were thought that it could attack our last train stations, somewhere with a lot of people. And at this point, it was a small meeting.

ACOSTA: All right, Astrid Sondberg, thanks very much for keeping us on top of this. And we'll get back to you as events warrant. Thanks for the time. We appreciate it.

Joining me now with some insight into this frightening attack, our CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes and former CIA counterterrorism analyst Buck Sexton, Paul Cruickshank, author of "Agent Storm: my life inside Al-Qaeda," and former U.S. army Delta force commander Lieutenant colonel James Reese.

Nic, let's start with you. What do you know right now in terms of what happened here?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that 30 bullets were fired or approximately 30 police were fired from what the police are describing as an automatic weapon. It may have been a small machine gun or it may have been a machine pistol they are saying. They are not clear on that at the moment.

It's not clear if both men were the attackers, or if one of them was -- one of them was the planned to be the driver, but the police did return fire. There were two -- three policemen or three people -- three police or security personnel injured. One was a police officer, the other two worked for PET which is a Danish intelligence service. There were body guards there, inside, they returned fire, and the three injured, but not seriously injured.

But what the police are saying that they are doing now is pulling in resources. They got all their staff on Copenhagen on duty. They are pulling in staff from other parts of the country in this manhunt. It's a very serious, being taken very, very seriously with the prime minister of Denmark this evening asking for the German and for the Swedish who have this sort of two land borders, road borders, with Denmark to monitor that borders very closely. We heard that German was just saying that, in fact, the border with Germany does right now appear to be closed. The road has been shut.

So this is a level it's being taken to, a huge man hunt for men who are considered, it appears, armed and dangerous -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And, Tom, Danish officials call it a terrorist attack. How -- can we call it that at this point, you think?

THOMAS FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, Jim, I think we can. Because, you know, the target has been a target for years. The attacks against the Danes and the Swedish have gone back to 2006 and 2007 publications of cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. And at the time they first came out, those many years ago, Danish embassies were attacked all over the world. There were riots. Hundreds of people died in those riots in a number of countries, so.

And the Danish police, the FBI and other authorities have uncovered a number of plots over these recent seven or eight years, to attack these cartoonists in Denmark, as well as the cartoonists in Stockholm, Sweden, who also publish cartoons. And we even uncovered the plot here in the U.S., the so-called Jihad Jane, who was putting together a group on her way to Stockholm to do the same thing. So it's nothing new. And I think that's why they are pretty sure it's terrorism.

ACOSTA: And Buck, this attack happened just weeks after the "Charlie Hebdo" massacre in Paris. We are talking about cartoonists here trying to express their, I guess, right to free speech here, but these depictions of the prophet Mohammed, obviously can provoke violence. And do you think that it's possible because it's just coming weeks after that attack in Paris, that these events are connected in some way?

BUCK SEXTON, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Well, certainly seems likely that the motivation here is the same. And what you have is jihadists essentially making sure everyone in Europe knows that if you do these sorts of things, you engage in this kind of mockery of the prophet, your life could be at risk. And they don't have to attack everyone in the matter in order for it to have a widespread effect and for people to change their behavior as a result of it.

So while I appreciate that there was very large march after "Charlie Hebdo" and there is that moment of unity, the fact of the matter is that the jihadist threat does not dissipate at all because of that. They still very much want to attack people who are seen as offending Islam or in the jihadist view point are seen as offending the prophet.

And so, you have to think that the motivation here is the same. Otherwise it would quite a coincidence that you have a shooting at a forum where they are discussing blasphemy and where there's a figure who we know had threats on his life.

One important point, by the way I think, is that this is not really a soft target. They actually went after an individual who had security, there were security personnel in place. And so, clearly, the symbolism of this attack was more important than mass casualties because they could have gone into a much easier target set area and had higher casualties, but they wanted to go after Vilks. They wanted to make this point about blasphemy.

ACOSTA: And it sounds like, Paul, from what we understand in just the initial details coming out of this attack is that Vilks had protection which is something I suppose these attackers were not counting on?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Yes, Jim. Vilks had protection from PET which is Danish intelligence. He had bodyguards. He is someone who is protected to a very significant degree when he comes over to Denmark to give these talks. And so there were fears that he could be targeted.

This is somebody who has been on ISIS and Al-Qaeda hit lists for many years. In fact, in 2007, the leader of ISIS, who was then Abu Omar al-Baghdadi put out a $100,000 bounty if someone were to go and kill Vilks and the $50,000 bonus if they were going to slit his throat.

Al-Qaeda has also threatened him. Al-Shabab have threatened him. Ever since he put out that cartoon in 2007 depicting the prophet Mohammed as a dog, he's been on a hit list for Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Not clear if they were inspired by ISIS or Al-Qaeda or people here, perhaps, connected to the groups, not clear if, perhaps, they were people who travelled to Syria, for example, about a hundred Danish radicals have traveled to fight in Syria and somehow returned to Denmark.

ACOSTA: And Colonel Reese, is this just one that continue and continue? We are just going to see these incidents play themselves out over and over again as these jihadists who have access to some major fire power in areas where there's not a lot of protection. In this case, this Lars Vilks did have protection. Are we just seeing more episodes in the days, weeks, and months to come?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE (RET.), FORMER SPECIAL FORCES COMMANDER: Yes, Jim. Unfortunately, it is. It will continue, and we'll see other attacks throughout Europe. And I think, you know, as folks back here in homeland security, they anticipate attacks back here in the United States. And it's something to watch at. And it's something we have to figure out especially countering their propaganda to bring really kind of bring down their recruiting base along Europe, and we -- that's why I think we're hurting now. It is how do we counter their propaganda to help their recruitment?

ACOSTA: All right, well, gentlemen, thank you very much for your time and laying that out there for us. Just another reminder that free speech is under attack around the world by these jihadist. And thanks for putting it in perspective for us. Appreciate it very much. Thanks for the time.

And don't miss tonight, Nic and Paul both feature in a CNN Special Report, "Double Agent: inside Al-Qaeda for the CIA," a timely CNN special about a Danish man who embraced radical Islam before switching sides and becoming a top level secret agent, double agent inside Al- Qaeda for the CIA airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

And we will have much more on the Copenhagen attacks coming up including an earlier interview with the possible target, Lars Vilks, himself.

And also, a dire warning in Iraq about the collapse of a key province to ISIS. We'll discuss that threat and ask a key member of Congress about the war and White House request for troops to fight the militants. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Dire warnings today that Iraq's Anbar province could face imminent collapse from advancing ISIS fighters. A Sunni tribal leader predicts the fall would come within hours if Iraqi forces pull back.

ISIS on Friday took control of the town of al-Baghdadi. It is less than ten miles from sprawling air base where about to 400 U.S. troops are located. The outskirts of that base briefly came under attack on Friday, but Pentagon says U.S. troops at the base were far removed from the fighting and no evacuation has planned.

But it's against this tense backdrop that Congress will soon take up President Obama's official request to use military force against ISIS. Former Middle East envoy and retired Marine Corps general Anthony Zinni said he would like to see some modifications to that war authorization.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. ANTHONY ZINNI, FORMER CENTCOM COMMANDER IN-CHIEF: I'd like to see the language changed to give him more authority to use other forces. I don't like the idea that it's limited to three years. You know, timelines don't mean anything this in part of the world. I understand why he put a time limit in, but I think it more has to do with mission. I don't think we would have given Franklin Delano Roosevelt just three years to win World War II.

So some of the language I would hope maybe gets changed in the congressional language that comes out of this in debate. But I do think that going to Congress is the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And the House committee on foreign affairs is holding hearings on the president's request, and Chairman Ed Royce joins us from Los Angeles.

Mr. Chairman, thanks for joining us. Let me ask you this, as that war authorization currently stands right now, would you vote for it?

REP. ED ROYCE (R-CA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Well, I think as the war authorization is, before Congress, we are going to debate it. In my committee, we begin this process on Thursday. I'm sure there's going to be some amendments, and there will be an attempt to bring the Republicans and Democrats together. I think it's very important we come together and support an authorization for this reason.

So far, ISIS has recruited 20,000, 20,000 fighters from around the world from 90 different countries. So unless we're going to put together a decisive strategy to show that they can be defeated on the battlefield, they'll continue to message out over what they call the virtual caliphate, out over the internet that they cannot be stopped. And in order to stop them, we primarily need Kurdish forces, Jordanian forces, Arab tribes on the front lines. As you know, so far, the Kurds and Jordanians say we have not given them the type of weaponry they need in order to really engage ISIS effectively. So, and likewise, they need air support from us and they also need some of our special forces, you know, spotting, calling in airstrikes, and providing other support behind these troops.

ACOSTA: But, Mr. Chairman --

ROYCE: So I think -- yes?

ACOSTA: Let me ask you this. I mean, as you know, though, the devil's in the details, and perhaps you are being kind to the members of your committee by not coming in too strongly on one specific provision over another, but this three-year time limit, you heard Anthony Zinni mention that he's not in favor of that, that that should be expanded, that Franklin Roosevelt couldn't have been expected to win World War II in three years, what about that time limit? Is that OK with you?

ROYCE: Well, I don't know where Congress comes down on the time limit. I will tell you some concerns that I think will be raised. One, you will notice today that both British and Canadian forces have their spotters forward deployed so that when they are helping the airstrikes, they can actually see the targets effectively, and those strikes are effective.

Ours are not forward deployed. And so issues like this, giving the authority to conduct those strikes, also, I would just point out their airstrikes are made in realtime, those decisions don't go out to Washington and wait and then hold in advance as Washington agrees on a the target or allows the airstrikes.

I think we'll have a discussion here, certainly with the Pentagon, with Special Forces about what can be done to make them effective. And certainly, with the Kurds, we know the administration has not given them the antitank missiles or the artillery, long range mortars they say they need. They are finding with fault small arms fire against ISIS artillery. We have to get engaged in this debate in order to make certain that we can have a decisive victory there.

ACOSTA: Mr. Chairman, I mean, just very quickly before I ask you about the events in Copenhagen, I want to ask you, though, U.S. forces, when they go into Iraq under this authorization, the president does not want them in an open ended sort of commitment there under this AUMF, but how far should they be able to go in these operations? You are mentioning airstrikes. You want the airstrikes to be more effective. Obviously, you want them in their calling out airstrikes. How much combat should they be seeing? ROYCE: Well, you have 3,000 U.S. forces on the ground today. So I

think it should be understood that we are involved in training right now, and assisting those Arab tribes. We are certainly -- we certainly hope to be equipping better the Kurds and Jordanians because the Jordanians also been up here asking for that support.

So I think we will be working behind them. I think they'll be carrying the major battle. We're not looking to put the 82nd airborne again into that theater of operation. But that said, you have to have need rules of engagement that will allow for victory. And that's going to require a certain cooperative relationship in which we can call in the airstrikes needed and give the support necessary for the front line forces which will be Arab tribes and Kurds.

ACOSTA: Hey, Mr. Chairman, on these events coming out of Copenhagen, they are very reminiscing of what occurred in Paris about a month ago. What's your immediate reaction to that? Obviously, this is a very serious situation if we're going to see these events sort of unfold month after month over there in western Europe. You must be very concerned about what you're seeing today.

ROYCE: Well, it's not just Western Europe. There was an attempt in Australia that was prevented --

ACOSTA: That's right.

ROYCE: I think it was Tuesday. Now you have large ISIS units operating in Libya, also operating in Egypt, certainly, we've watched things in Nigeria unfold. And so the recruitment around the world for people to join the war for caliphate is something that is going to be with us for a sometime. But it takes us back to the original point which was they have to see the caliphate defeated. They can't believe it's inevitable that this caliphate is going to wipe out other religions and wipe out the enlightenment and wipe out other points of view.

The caliphate is an attempt, frankly, to use terror to use beheadings, to use stoning, to use burning in order to strike enough fear into populations and also to recruit young men. And unless that's decisively defeated in this ISIS battle, it's going to continue to have its allure and its pull on these young men.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. And Chairman Royce, we appreciate your time very much. Thanks for coming on and talking about this and hope to talk to you soon. Thank you, sir.

ROYCE: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: Coming up, a deadline for both sides in Ukraine to stop the fighting and end the bloodshed. Ahead, we will go live to an area that has been battered by this war. And we will ask if the deal Minsk Russia's president has won. That's coming up ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Just hours from now, a ceasefire is supposed to take effect in Ukraine, but as deadline near shelling by pro-Russian separatist continue near the Russian border in the cities of Donetsk and Mariapol (ph) raising concerns that the ceasefire may not hold. The U.S. says Russian artillery is helping the separatist gain territory before the ceasefire can take effects.

The American ambassador to Ukraine even posted three satellite images on his twitter account to make that point. And meanwhile, Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko says if separatists do not ceasefire by the midnight deadline, he will impose martial law throughout his country. And one sticking point, obviously, for the separatist is that the ceasefire may be that those responsible for the rocket attacks that caused the crash of MH-17 will not be granted amnesty. That is one of the problems in all of this.

And Eastern Ukraine is a region that has been rocked by a specially heavy violence for weeks now. More than 5,000 have died and several war people, civilians and fighters have been reportedly killed today.

And CNN Nick Paton Walsh is in Donetsk, the city of where more heavy shelling today.

And Nick, from what I understand in just the last several moments, you have heard some of the shelling yourself. What's happening there?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just give a moment to pause so maybe you can hear some of the noises. There's a full-on artillery dully it seems happening on that side from the live position for a while. Just now, the sky was actually orange, what I think must have been a grand rocket system. Its devices is landing here inside Donetsk separatist controlled territory.

We have been hearing this pretty consistently for the past few hours. You can hear that, that sounds like outgoing artillery fire. That it will be answered, I'm sure, the next few seconds by something landing here. It doesn't sound of a ceasefire and we are under a hundred minutes away from this noise, post to stop perhaps. These are the two sides delivering that final blow before having to stop (INAUDIBLE) for a while. But that does feels unlikely given the tenure of what's happening now.

We know that John Kerry, according to the Russian foreign ministry has just spoken to Sergey Lavrov, that's incoming definitely. And they both accentuate the need for a ceasefire to be upheld. We heard that too, they breath out from the Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president (INAUDIBLE) with Barack Obama and Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, the German and French leaders too.

There's a lot of diplomatic activity trying to make that Minsk agreement state. But there had a major flaw. And had to put -- delay ready from when it signed to when it will be implementation. And we are hearing the consequence of that behind us now. There's another key question, a town called the (INAUDIBLE) that's now

become international currency, frankly, previously unknown a week ago when we went there. That is where there are hundreds, if not a thousand Ukrainian troops encircled, they say, by separatists. The question is what happens to them, Kiev considers, of course, that to be Ukrainian territory. But the separatists say and so who are dealt and not dealt with by the Minsk agreements. That's a potential flash point, potential bonds, they certainly, and that could derail this agreement potentially in the hour and a half before the guns are supposed to fall silent.

Give you a moment to hear the noise, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. I was just saying, Nick, I think we can hear it as you are speaking right now. If this violence does not stop, and you said a hundred minutes from now, what happens next?

WALSH: Yes, Jim. So I'm losing you in my ear. But, yes, I mean, we have been hearing this consistently since we got here about ten days ago. It does not let up. But this is particularly concerning because that sound of shelling has moved closer and closer towards the city center, four or five shells landed pretty close to our hotel actually. They, and also, say separatists close to the separatist leaders residence here. Their reports going to a witness who spoke two people died in that shelling here.

That's not abnormal in central Donetsk. It's been going on for a while. And you have to remember this plays into whether a ceasefire will work or not. Because when we first came here, the uprising separatists movement hopefully left official but a bit imported. But since the war's gone on, shelling has poorly targeted so many areas here in central Donetsk killing civilians in the wake that has hardened so many people we have spoken to here who remain in separatist area against Kiev, a sense of loathing, and a sense of almost -- you can hear more shelling behind us now -- a sense of how hard it would be for Ukraine to be united in the way it was two years ago after the war has been here, Jim.

ACOSTA: Nick Paton Walsh reporting for us live from Eastern Ukraine as the shelling is taking place. As he said, just minutes before this cease fire is supposed to take place.

Nick, you stay safe. Thanks very much. We appreciate it.

As you can see, he was getting safe there in the last seconds of that live report.

Coming up just ahead, a manhunt underway in Copenhagen after a deadly attack at the event, a cartoonist who depicted the prophet Mohammed. Can these attacks ever be stopped? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And the entire country of Denmark is on high alert after this. A deadly terrorist attack at a free speech event in Copenhagen. Two gunmen stormed the meeting killing one person and wounding three police officers. Here's how one witness described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was nothing before the shots. It was so quiet and peaceful debate. The French ambassador had just said a few words about the "Charlie Hebdo" incident. And yes, this was just a (INAUDIBLE) debates and meeting about the conditions about the freedom of speech today, and the limits on art, and self-censorship, and these things. And I think we were all of 35 people there. And it was very peaceful until we suddenly heard the shots, like, out of nowhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And police issued a photo of a man they believe is connected to the attack. They also found a Volkswagen that was carjacked near the scene of the shooting outside a subway station.

And rejoining us now are Tom Fuentes, Buck Sexton, Paul Cruickshank, Lt. Col. James Reese.

Tom, this attack comes just weeks after that massacre in Paris. You know, after that occurred in Paris, you know, the authorities, obviously, fanned out, tried to find the perpetrators, what is that process like, and how difficult will that be in this case?