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Manhunt for Two Men Wanted in Copenhagen Shooting; ISIS Attacks Base Housing U.S. Troops; Shelling in Eastern Ukraine Ahead of Ceasefire; Mobile Online Dating Apps

Aired February 14, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

This breaking news we're following, the attack on Freedom of Speech Panel in Denmark which also led to the deaths of one person and as we understand the shooting and the wounding of three police officers there in Copenhagen during this shooting taking place.

A manhunt is under way for the two suspects who police say are on the loose but we understand from Danish authorities that the getaway car we were told earlier that they got away in a Volkswagen vehicle that we understand according to police right now that vehicle has been found abandoned, so the search continues for the at least two alleged gunmen.

You're looking at images shot earlier that presumably one of the police officers who was shot and wounded because we were told that the police officers did not suffer life threatening wound but confirmation that one person was killed.

This attack taking place, the shooting rather, taking place in Copenhagen during an event organized by the Lars Vilks Committee. And Vilks was actually at that event. If you'll call that Vilks is a Swedish artist who was physically attacked himself a few years ago after drawing the Prophet Mohammed. Well, today's discussion in Denmark was titled "Art Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression."

The French ambassador to Denmark was also at that event and he had tweeted earlier that he was alive and still in the room. Of course, we know about an hour and a half ago that entire building was an old theater where this forum was taking place, has been evacuated and many of those attendees continue to be at the police department for continued questioning.

And now the French foreign minister is calling this an act of terror. What took place in Copenhagen today. It happened just a month or so a little more than a month after the massacre at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" which had come under fire for its publishing of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Joining us right now with more is CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson and on the phone with us is Peter Bergen, CNN national security analyst, who also knows Lars Vilks.

So, Peter, I'll get to you in a moment, but Nic, if I could go to you first because now we understand that this vehicle, the alleged getaway vehicle was found abandoned. The search continues for at least two gunmen. What more can you tell us about the expected law enforcement, you know, resources to try to get to the bottom of this crime?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I've talked -- I've talked to a security contact in Copenhagen and he tells me right now there are a large number of police out on the streets. Of course this is being treated as a very serious incident. Thirty rounds were fired from an automatic weapon outside the theater through the windows into that crowded room about 50 people inside the room.

The people in the room had to go into -- had to go through screening, security screening to get into the room. But the location was quite a remote location. The theater by a car park near the national stadium close to a residential area. But in it of itself a fairly isolated location.

There was a concern that finding the vehicle may be difficult because the police didn't feel that they had a good make on the license plate of the vehicle. But I'm also told that the police as the vehicle made its getaway the police came out and were shooting after that vehicle. So this was -- the gunmen were trying get away while the police were -- although three have been injured they were putting up resistance and trying to, if you will, capture these men before they could get away.

But at the moment the information that we have is that these men are still on the loose. There are a lot of police out looking for them. And of course it's an absolute high priority to Danish authorities to get ahold of them because they don't know how many weapons they have and what else they might be planning or be prepared to do -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then clearly there was already a security concern because one -- as you underscore and we talked to one of the attendees earlier who said yes, everyone was searched, you know, before going into the theater to be a part of this forum, so there was a -- a concern about security and I wonder if that's in large part because of the sponsor of the event and that Lars Vilks, who was the Swedish cartoonist, who had his own death threats in the past and perhaps ongoing was actually there in attendance.

ROBERTSON: Well, I've talked to one source who has some knowledge of this. He wasn't there. But he would have a working knowledge or at least some working knowledge at this stage. He said that it did appear to be -- appear to be a plan to take Lars Vilks to a safe location in that building, that he was taken to the basement, to a safe area in that basement as a result of the shooting. So there was a plan.

But he's been the target of attacks before. His house has been fire bombed. You're looking at pictures in there before he gets -- before he gets into his car in the morning. He checks underneath his vehicle. He knows that there are threats -- that there are threats against him. There's $100,000 bounty been put on his head by the former head of ISIS, before the current head of ISIS took over, with a $50,000 bonus on top of that, quote, "if he was killed like a lamb.

And there have been threats from Swedish jihadists in Africa threatening to do just that. So he is fully aware. But there did seem to be a plan to get him to a more secure place inside the building as this attack was happening.

WHITFIELD: And, Peter Bergen, let me bring you into the equation. You know Lars Vilks' story and his experiences very well, also. So knowing that he continued to have this kind of fatwa on him, these death threats that seemed to be ongoing.

Isn't -- is it not surprising that an open forum kind of Freedom of Expression seminar would take place and he would actually be there in attendance, and I would imagine that all of the attendees would have to feel like they got to worry about their own lives, too, knowing that there continues to be this fatwa on Lars Vilks?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I mean, I think that's a fair point, Fredricka, but obviously, you know, Denmark, this issue is very much an issue where Danes feel very strongly that they are, you know, entitled to say and draw what they want and also defend those who draw and say what they want. But, you know, Lars Vilks has been the subject, you know, an American citizen, Jihad Jane, a 47-year-old woman from Pennsylvania, plotted to kill her with a number of other -- plotted to kill him with a number of others.

She is now serving a lengthy sentence in a U.S. jail and there's a constellation of cartoonists in Copenhagen who have been the subject of very serious threats. Kurt Westergaard who's a Danish cartoonist, he was attacked in his house by a Somalia man wielding an axe. He luckily had a safe room into which he were retreated.

And Jyllands-Posten newspaper which is the most important newspaper in Denmark is right there in Copenhagen. It's basically a fortress right now, Fredricka, because this is a newspaper that has printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Its cultural editor and foreign editor, Flemming Rose, who I know pretty well, is, you know, constantly being threatened and all of these people have been identified by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on multiple occasions as key individuals who should be attacked.

So, you know, it's not simply just Lars Vilks who's got this problem in Denmark, it's others as well.

WHITFIELD: Peter, I thought what was pretty remarkable to hear from our Nic Robertson reporting earlier that Denmark has a big problem. And that it has a very large number, disproportionately larger number, than its European neighbors, number of young men who leave Denmark who are either recruited or take part in radical groups, extremist groups like ISIS or like al Qaeda find their way back into the country.

And that Denmark makes a concerted effort as a government to try to re-integrate some of these people if not to kind of rehabilitate according to one of our guests who is a Danish citizen, that was his word earlier. And that it is really a significant problem.

Danish authorities are not willing to say this was an act of terror, French foreign minister is calling this an act of terror. But do you think that this is purely a coincidence, this kind of targeted event, or do you think that it might be related to this kind of problem that Nic was under scoring Denmark has?

BERGEN: Well, I mean -- I mean, I don't believe in this kind of coincidence. I mean, clearly this is a terrorist attack. It's -- civilian targets were targeted. It was an event that was supposed to honor Lars Vilks. You know, I think -- I think we can make a common sense deduction that this was an act of terrorism directed at the committee that's -- you know, trying to sort of give him a platform and Denmark does have just as every other Scandinavian country, by the way, sort of -- dozens or scores of Danes have gone to Syria to get training.

They do have this rehabilitation program, Fredricka, which is quite interesting, really the first country to try and do this, to bring people back into the mainstream after they've gone Syria and try to get -- get them to re-integrate into society. But I think the jury is out if that -- you know, if that's working or not, and obviously there's some risk because, you know, no program like this has 100 percent success.

But, you know, we also don't know for a fact that these assaulters are Danish. I mean, they could be from other countries. Obviously it's the EU, you can travel from nearby countries. We don't know. They could be Danish but they also could not be Danish. We do know that they targeted this event and essentially, you know, when you draw these kind of cartoons you kind of have a life sentence where, you know, it's like cancer. It's in remission, it may suddenly come up again.

You just have no idea. Another example of this is Molly Norris who is an American cartoonist who's been in hiding now for the last four and a half years who similarly has drawn cartoons. So, you know, this is not simply something that happens in Europe. This is something that we've also seen in the United States.

You may recall, Fredricka, that the creators of "South Park," you know, were threatened very seriously because they had a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed on the show. So this -- unfortunately it's one of these issues that's going to continue. We're unfortunately going to continue to hear of these kinds of plots and even these kinds of attacks going forward.

WHITFIELD: Peter Bergen, thank you so much for your expertise. Appreciate it. And Nic Robertson also joining us from London earlier.

All right. We're also watching a developing story out of Iraq. ISIS fighters have come within nine miles now of U.S. troops stationed there. Seizing most of the town of al-Baghdadi just outside this massive Iraqi air base. American helicopters even being used to support Iraqi troops as they battle ISIS insurgents. Separately a key Sunni tribal leader is raising the alarm over ISIS

advances. He says that if Iraqi troops pull out Anbar Province would, quote, "fall within hours."

So is this a new threat level from ISIS gaining ground so to speak?

CNN's Erin McPike is covering the latest from Washington for us.

So, Erin, as we reported 13 Iraqi soldiers were killed when insurgents attacked the air base. What are you hearing from Pentagon officials about the next step?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the Pentagon's big message in the wake of this attack has been to keep it in perspective. Spokesman Admiral John Kirby spoke to CNN yesterday about it and you'll hear him trying to downplay concerns about the immediate and imminent danger to American troops.

Listen here to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: We readily admit that al- Anbar is a contested region that ISIL continues to want to pose a threat there. But again this is a huge sprawling base roughly the size of Boulder, Colorado. I mean, it's not just a small outpost somewhere. In fact there's many bases inside the big base. So very, very big area. And I would say that this incident, though not that we're not taking it seriously, happened nowhere near where U.S. or coalition forces were operating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: The Pentagon is stressing that this attack is mostly another example of ISIS propaganda, simply knowing they'd make a big splash by hitting this huge protected base. But Kirby also pointed out that it was a suicide mission so ISIS wasn't going to gain substantial ground anyway.

At the same time we've been hearing for months this deep skepticism on Capitol Hill about Iraqi Security Forces that they may be ill prepared or at least under prepared for this war but because they beat back ISIS in this case, defense officials are casting this event almost as a success. It gives them a way to say Iraqi Security Forces can defend their own territory but look that is a very tricky assertion to be making just a couple of days after Iraqi forces could not stop ISIS from capturing that nearby city of al-Baghdadi.

And in fact as you mentioned at the top there, Fred, American air power was a significant factor in defeating the attack on the base. Now we're hearing from some military analysts who are warning of mission creep and you're also hearing this call for the potential involvement of American ground troops. That's becoming louder even though the Pentagon says that for now the policy is still no combat mission for American ground troops. But of course look for lawmakers on Capitol Hill who want to step up

American involvement in Iraq and Syria. You hear them use this attack to make their case as the debate heats up in Congress over the authorization for the use of military force in the next few weeks -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Erin McPike in Washington, thanks so much.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko warns if separatists do not adhere to a planned cease-fire he will impose martial law throughout the country. Tonight's deadline is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That's midnight in Kiev.

But in the run-up to the cease-fire violence has not stopped. Shelling could be heard in at least two cities including central Donetsk. And today Reuters is quoting a military spokesman as saying seven Ukrainian servicemen have been killed in just the past 24 hours.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mikhail and Kristina (ph) only planned this two weeks ago for Valentine's Day, not knowing a cease-fire was meant to fall on their wedding night. The shelling has not frozen all life here. It doesn't shake Sergei's hand. It goes past, he says.

(On camera): There's a serene quiet out here on the ice. And some routines that will never broken even by that sound of shelling, you can sometimes hear in the distance. But when the cease-fire comes in at midnight tonight so many ordinary civilians here in Donetsk whose lives have been put on hold because of the violence will be hoping for some sort of semblance of normality.

(Voice-over): But if this uprising felt a little artificial and imported when it began nine months ago, the repeated shelling of civilian areas has turned some hearts.

This huge crater made when a rocket, locals say, detonated at 4:00 a.m. blowing earth into the air. Landing on this roof. A new game here is spot the damage. One huge piece of earth crashing through the roof and hitting a 12-year-old girl as she lay here. This was presumably the target, a separatist base next door where missile parts are already on display.

I met Victor last year north in Sloviansk and he is still fighting now and doesn't expect to stop tonight.

Today I don't expect a cease-fire, he says, because the Ukrainians don't keep their word.

Hours remaining until a supposed truce whose details and viability seem distant still.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Now you may be able to hear behind me, Fred, the noise of shelling that is continuing here. Reasonably close to the center of Donetsk. We are at this stage just hours away from that midnight cease-fire.

We hear that Ukrainian president spoken to his French and German counterparts to confirm the desire for a cease-fire to happen. But there's one big outstanding question. The town of Debaltseve. It is in the northeast of where I'm standing. Inside it, a hundred if not thousands of Ukrainian troops. They're surrounded, the separatists say. And the separatists say that town is technically theirs, they believe, under the Minsk agreements.

That's not going to please Kiev. That could well be the place where this cease-fire is derailed if it even gets under way -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.

And we'll be right back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. More information now on that shooting in Copenhagen, Denmark earlier today during a Freedom of Speech Forum.

Now we understand from Copenhagen Police that they are indeed considering this a terror act, that they are investigating. And, again, they say two men in dark clothing drove up to this location where this forum was taking place, opened fire. But there was return fire that came from the personal body guards of Lars Vilks.

Lars Vilks is the Swedish cartoonist who had already depicted the Prophet Mohammed many years ago and offended many Muslims, and there had been several attempts on his life taken in recent years, and so he would travel with bodyguards.

It was Lars Vilks who was actually sponsoring this Freedom Forum at this location in Copenhagen. So, again, the bodyguards of Lars Vilks actually returned fire and those two alleged gunmen then fled.

We do understand from Danish authorities that the vehicle that they allegedly got away in has been found abandoned but, again, the manhunt continues for those at least two alleged gunmen there in Copenhagen.

More information as we get it. And also more information now on the one person killed. We understand it to be a 40-year-old man but the identity has not been released and three others who were shot and injured they were police officers.

All right. Now let's return to other news that we're following.

Here we go again, in the United States another big snowstorm on the way. This time millions of people in the path. Blizzard warnings taking effect tonight from Long Island to Maine. And that means more snow for cities like Boston. Already dealing with truck-sized piles of snow in some places.

Ivan Cabrera, oh boy, here we go again. So what's the timeline? That was hopeful with that little chair there. Kind of like a sunning chair with all the snow, but guess what? Folks are going to have to stay inside.

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I think the chairs in the next few days again are going to be used to reserve the parking spaces that people are going to have to dig out of here as they do in Boston, and they're going to have to be digging out potentially another foot of snowfall here.

It's going to come, Fredricka, with significant wind here. That's why we have the blizzard warnings extend from Long Island all the way up into New England. We're talking about significant snow that's going to be coming down. And I'll tell you what. As far as the snowfall tallies, we could be looking at anywhere from about eight to as much as 12 inches of snowfall across this region. This is going to be a big deal for Boston.

Once the (INAUDIBLE) is offshore the winds are really going to get going. So the timeline again is going to be tonight and heading in through the day tomorrow, significant accumulations but also the winds gusting to as much as hurricane force 75 miles an hour right along Cape Cod here as we talk about Sunday, and into Monday, we're going to continue with wind and because of the arctic air mass in place, wind chills, we're going to be seeing 25 to 35 degrees below.

That's how it's going to feel outside, and that's not where you want to be, trust me, in the next couple of days if you are in New England and in the next few hours we're also tracking a new winter storm. That one may get us -- we may have to be dealing with some winter storms here in Atlanta as well.

WHITFIELD: Wow. OK. So we hear. All right. Thanks so much. We will all brace up and down the East Coast.

Ivan Cabrera, thank you so much.

And we'll have much more in the NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here's your look at mortgage rates.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

WHITFIELD: All right. More now on the breaking news on this attack taking place at a Freedom of Speech Panel in Denmark. Police are now investigating it as a terror attack.

We have learned that the victim who was killed, a 40-year-old man, but he has not been identified. Three police officers were also wounded in the shooting. A manhunt is under way for two suspects who police say are on the loose and opened fire outside of the building where that forum was taking place.

The alleged suspects fled the scene in a Volkswagen, which has been found abandoned, according to police. And Police say they were dressed, the alleged gunmen were dressed in dark clothing when they opened fire from outside the building. The attack taking place in Copenhagen during this event organized by the Lars Vilks Committee.

And Vilks, who you know as a Swedish satirist cartoonist, was at the event. Police say they believe that this is an isolated incident.

Joining us right now on the phone is Astrid Sandberg. She's a reporter for TV2 in Copenhagen.

So, Astrid, you were just at the police briefing. What was said?

ASTRID SANDBERG, REPORTER, TV2 IN COPENHAGEN: It was quite a brief briefing because the police are very busy at this moment. They tell us that they have called in every officer available in Copenhagen. They consider this as a terrorist attack and they do that because it seems that it has been thought about beforehand.

WHITFIELD: And what do you mean by that? Police say that they believe this was a planned attack? Is that what you mean?

SANDBERG: What we know is that two men came and they had machine guns or machine pistols, and they started shooting from outside onto the building where this meeting was taking place, and because of the Swedish -- Lars Vilks was there, then the police was there also. And they started to fire back and those men who came, they were dressed in black clothes, they ran away from the police.

And they stole a car. They actually grabbed a man out of the car and drove away, and the police is now looking for the men. They had no idea this attack would be there. The police tells us that this Swedish person has been in Denmark a lot and there was no signs that this would happen today.

WHITFIELD: But Lars Vilks, and he's the Swedish man that you're talking about, Lars Vilks was there with his own personal bodyguards, and you just underscored and mentioned that police are saying his bodyguards are the ones who returned fire. So perhaps they helped from keeping this shooting to, you know, have even worse results, right? Because they -- the alleged gunmen fled after being fired upon by these bodyguards, right?

SANDBERG: We don't know that much yet. But, yes, from what the police tells us that is what happened. Unfortunately, a man, a 40- year-old or about 40-year-old man, he was dressed in short sleeves. It's cold in Copenhagen today but he wasn't wearing a jacket. So he might have been at the event or he might have been at a bar close by, we don't know that. We don't know who he is. But he got caught in the crossfire probably from the two attackers. WHITFIELD: And then did police say anything about what eyewitnesses

have been telling them because earlier I spoke with one man who was attending this Freedom of Speech forum and he says that he was at the police department where he was going to be questioned and others were going to be questioned.

Did police at that briefing say anything about what the eyewitnesses or the attendants have said?

SANDBERG: They didn't tell us more than that they are talking to witnesses. But I'm now out at the scene where it happened and earlier today I saw a last bus coming here. So they have actually taken a lot of the witnesses into a bus and taken them to the police headquarters where they are talking to them.

And the police tells us that they are, of course, also talking to the guy who had the car that the two men got away in, so they do have some kind of what they are looking for, but they tell us only until now that it's two men that were dressed in black and we think that they spoke Danish.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now, and so, Astrid, just so I understand, because you had mentioned that they, you know, took a man out of his car and then they fled with that Volkswagen, that car where they later abandoned it. So are we saying or are police saying that these alleged gunmen walked up with these machine guns and with these -- with this weaponry and opened fire or did they drive in another vehicle and then ditched that car and they get into, you know, essentially carjack another vehicle?

SANDBERG: It's actually not quite clear. I also asked the police if they -- if we know that they still are carrying their weapons and they haven't found any weapons yet so they presume that these two men who left the car, by the way, somewhere between two train stations in the central Copenhagen. They suppose that these guys are -- were armed and they are somewhere in Copenhagen.

WHITFIELD: What about, you know, people in the area or was this an area where other shops or, you know, restaurants or cafes were open or is this an area where only that theater where this -- where this forum was taking place was the only thing open?

Looks like we lost Astrid. There you are. Sorry, go ahead.

SANDBERG: It's close to the National Football Stadium and a big park. So it's actually quite a secure area even though it's in the middle of Copenhagen, so it's mostly like people running around here, football players having an evening training who is around here. So that means that there were witnesses who saw the car driving away but it's not like there were a lot of people on the street.

WHITFIELD: Can you talk to me about the fear or the expectation that something like this would ever happen? Have people been talking there in Denmark about their concerns about this kind of violence coming their way? SANDBERG: I think that all country and everybody in Europe after the

attacks in Paris have been considering will this happen, can it happen to us, and because Denmark has been doing what we are doing internationally I think -- people are not surprised that it can happen in Denmark. We have had a few things, there was a bomber who kind of -- he misfired and blew the bomb up at the wrong place.

And there has been some people who are trying to attack Jyllands- Posten, the Danish paper, but they were caught. This is -- it may be the first actual attack, but I don't think people are that surprised.

WHITFIELD: All right. Astrid Sandberg, thank you so much. Very valuable information. We appreciate your reporting.

And we'll have much more from NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The FBI is opening up a preliminary inquiry into the killing of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This as faith and civil rights leaders call for a federal hate crime investigation. Police say it looks like the shooting was over a parking dispute.

CNN's Jason Carroll examined the social media accounts of suspect Craig Hicks. What he found appears to show a distaste for religion in general.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hicks' Facebook page did not appear to show him targeting Muslims. There were anti-religion posts. One reads, "Atheists for Equality." And this quote. "People say nothing can solve the Middle East problem. Not mediation, not arms, not financial aid. I say there is something -- atheism." And on January 20th, he posted this picture with the caption, "Yes, that is one pound, 5.1 ounces for my loaded .38 revolver."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Jason Carroll reporting.

So just because the community wants a hate crime investigation, does that mean that the killings were a hate crime?

The FBI defines a hate crime this way. Quote, "As a traditional offense like murder, arson or vandalism with an added element of bias," end quote.

Let's bring in our legal guides. Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor in Cleveland.

Good to see you.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: Hi, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: And Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney

and law professor joining us from Las Vegas.

Good to see you as well.

OK, Avery. So you first. You know, from what you know about this case, does it fit the criteria for a hate crime?

FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, the statute doesn't require someone looking out to hurt someone or kill someone based on a religion but rather religion. And here we have some evidence of motive that relates to his anti-religious stance.

Yes, there were people that were not Muslims with whom he got into disagreements over parking. But he didn't kill them. So the reality is that there may very well be a hate crime claim. The U.S. attorney, the FBI are looking at it. Let's see what happens.

WHITFIELD: So, Richard, just because there is a track record that he may have had this sentiment doesn't it also have to be used that that sentiment is what motivated this crime and that would help define it as a hate crime or not?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That's entirely the key, Fred. You know, you can analyze this key emotionally and do an emotional analysis or a legal analysis. We see him being charged with three counts of first-degree murder. That's life without parole. If he gets convicted which he most likely will on all three of those for the execution type killing those are going to run consecutive. So that's three life terms without parole. That will be his sentence.

The clamoring for the hate crime it may be coming from an emotional response that well, he must have hated them that's why he killed them. Bring a hate crime prosecution. But a legal analysis of the federal law requires, Fred, as you said, that there be an ultimate bias and that the killing was motivated by that bias and that's why he did it. Here, the bias would be religion. He didn't like their religion so he killed them because they were Muslim.

They are looking for an investigation. They are seeing if they can uncover anything, looking at his social media accounts and everything else. So far it's basically coming out pretty much from his wife who are getting divorced, is that he basically hated everyone and he had no motivation or bias against Muslims per se.

FRIEDMAN: I don't know how you conclude that.

HERMAN: If that's the case, it's not going to happen, Fred.

FRIEDMAN: I don't know how you conclude that.

HERMAN: They're not going to bring this prosecution to the federal statute.

(CROSSTALK) WHITFIELD: And why would it be important for there to be a distinction, Avery? We're already talking about -- just as Richard just said, we're already talking about a potential sentence which is very severe.

HERMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: I mean, he'll never see the light of day if convicted just as a crime, period. But then you put on top of it a hate crime. Why would that be significant or important to establish?

HERMAN: Well, I think it would be a principled thing that reflects that the United States will not tolerate any kind of discrimination or harassment or intimidation or in this case death, based on not a religion but religion. That's what the statute says. So I think it's premature to make a judgment and there was some reference to clamoring.

No, let's get an investigation. Let's find out what's going on. And if religion factored into it there should be an additional count. That's all.

WHITFIELD: OK. And, yes, because, Richard, apparently, you know, Craig Hicks' Facebook page, it doesn't appear to show him targeting Muslims but as already stated, he was kind of -- he had an anti- religion sentiment, you know, promoting atheism.

HERMAN: Right. And, Fred, they're going to have to prove that that was the motivation for this killing because of their religion. It's really a long shot, Fred. And I'll tell you something else, the president of the United States stepped out and made a statement about condemning this type of killing and he's right to do that. But then to take it further and say people should not be targeted I think that was wrong.

The investigation is in place. Let's let the investigation unfold. And if it's there they'll bring this federal hate crime prosecution. If not, they are going to walk away from it because they can't prove it.

WHITFIELD: OK. Avery, why do you disagree?

FRIEDMAN: Very simply, the president was right. He said we can't tolerate it. There has to be a competent investigation. Again, he -- he was angry at other people who weren't Muslim, he didn't kill them. What's the differentiation? It may very well be motive. Let's see what the investigation shows.

WHITFIELD: All right. Avery, Richard, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

FRIEDMAN: OK. Take care.

HERMAN: Fred, you should be in that presidential challenge, Fred. You'd get my vote.

FRIEDMAN: That's right.

HERMAN: I know you --

FRIEDMAN: And happy -- and the red dress says it all, Happy Valentine's Day.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Happy Valentine's. That's right.

HERMAN: There we go.

WHITFIELD: Richard got it right. I appreciate it. All right. Hey, Happy Valentine's, fellas. All right. Thanks so much. Good to see you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Today is Valentine's Day, and if you're single, love may be just a swipe away.

CNN Money's Laurie Segall heads out on the town to show us how smartphones are the new way to find the love of your life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There's really no better way to talk about how things have changed, and, like, the online dating scene than to actually go offline to a bar in New York City on a Friday night.

Do you use apps to date?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I use Hinge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tinder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OkCupid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been on Cupid for a few years.

SEGALL: I think the bar right now is littered full of people on online dates.

(Voice-over): The modern dating game, where you're a click or tap away from love, or something like it. Apps that let you swipe through your options. People are pixels where the formula for love is coded into your smartphone, filtered by location, age, gender, what are you into, what's your religion.

True love may not change, but the way we find it has evolved, and here's the thing about love now. Mobile has changed everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

SEGALL: Remember when you used to ask a friend to set you up? Hinge is an app that browses the network of your Facebook friends and comes up with a match. Happn connects you to people you crossed paths with, and Tinder, which uses geo location to link up nearby people who are both interested.

Swipe right if you're interested, swipe left if you're not.

Sean Rad founded Tinder. He's managed to gamify finding a date.

(On camera): We used to have these worlds where there's online and then there is offline.

SEAN RAD, FOUNDER, TINDER: Online and offline, the distinction exists when I'm behind a computer, usually at a fixed location. But with our phones, it's with us everywhere we go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then you get, like, good morning emoji penis.

SEGALL: Oh, my gosh.

Do you think that technology changes things for the better or changes things for the worse?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think definitely for the worst. You don't feel like meeting anybody in the bar, now like 50 matches on the phone. It stops you from meeting people when you go out.

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WHITFIELD: Wow. Quite innovative.

All right. We have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, and it starts right after a short break.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: Hello, again, everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome to the NEWSROOM.

Still following breaking news on the attack on a Freedom of Speech Panel in Denmark. Police are now investigating it as a terror act, and the prime minister is calling it a terror act as well. A massive manhunt is now underway after police say the suspect's Volkswagen was found abandoned between two subway stops.

The suspects are also believed to be heavily armed, carrying machine guns and pistols, and dressed in dark clothing. Denmark is not known for -- as being a country where people have a lot of guns. And we also now know the victim who was killed was a 40-year-old man, but he has not been identified. Three police officers were wounded in the shooting. The attack took place in Copenhagen during an event organized by the

Lars Vilks Committee, and Vilks was at the event.