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War with ISIS; Two Charged with Hiding Danish Gunman; Netanyahu Urges European Jews to Come Home; Southern Freeze: Wintry Mess Expected; ISIS Gaining Ground in Anbar

Aired February 16, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Egypt strikes back against ISIS, launching air strikes in Libya after the brutal beheadings of more than 20 Christians.

And new this morning. Two people arrested in Denmark accused of supporting the man who opened fire on a Copenhagen cafe and synagogue.

What we're learning about the gunmen and why police knew him.

Plus, a winter blitz for Boston. Cars piling up on slippery roadways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was total whiteout.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couldn't see a thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could not see a thing.

COSTELLO: Roads so impassable even emergency vehicles got stuck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes us feel like we're a community that's forgotten about.

COSTELLO: Now the south is bracing for its first major snowstorm this year. Could we see a snow jam repeat?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We begin with the spread of terrorism and the widening reach of the U.S.-led coalition. Yet another country striking back.

Egypt launches a wave of air strikes into Libya. The target the training camps and weapons stockpiles belonging to the terror group ISIS. Egypt's swift actions comes just hours after the terror group released its latest grisly video. The apparent beheading of 21 Egyptian hostages, all of them Coptic Christians.

In Denmark where two attacks now raised a fear of homegrown terrorism. Police made two new arrests. The men are accused of planning to hide the gunman after his attack on a free speech forum and a synagogue.

And a shocking attack in France. A Jewish cemetery is desecrated. Hundreds of gravestones are toppled or defaced with Nazi graffiti.

But we begin with Egypt's air strike. CNN's Ian Lee joins us live from Cairo.

Hi, Ian.

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Yes, these air strikes took place in the early morning hours. We saw Egyptian F-16s taking off from bases, slipping into the night and then attacking targets in Derna. We know that they were targeting weapons depots belonging to ISIS as well as training camps. That's according to the Egyptian military.

Derna is about 200 miles from the southern coast of Europe. It's also 200 miles from the Egyptian border. The Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, convenes an emergency Cabinet meeting. We've seen him today also going to the cathedral here in Egypt to offer his condolences to the Coptic Christian Pope. All 21 of those men were Coptic Christians.

We're hearing now from the Foreign Ministry that the -- they are calling for an international coalition, the same we are seeing in Iraq and Syria to deal with ISIS in Libya, although they wouldn't give specifics on what they actually want. We're also hearing for them to calling for political and material support for their battle against the militants.

Right now we know the Egyptian foreign minister is on his way to the United States to talk to the U.N. Security Council to try to get support through there. We know that the Egyptian president talked to the French president today as well. In that meeting the French president said he would offer his support for an international agreement to deal with ISIS in Libya -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Ian Lee reporting live from Cairo, Egypt this morning.

Now let's head to Denmark where a nation is reeling following a terror attack. This morning, police have charged two people with hiding the gunman after the attack, before police killed him in a late-night shootout. But despite this weekend's tragedy, the Danish prime minister says her country will not live in fear of extremists. She spoke out just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HELLE THORNING-SCHMIDT, DANISH PRIME MINISTER: The coming days may be very difficult to get through. We need to fully understand the nature of this attack but we must also insist on living our lives as we are used to. We must go back to doing out business as normal. We must think and speak the way we want to. We are who we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, live in Copenhagen this morning.

Hi, Nic. Tell us more.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, those two men charged by the police with helping the gunman, the prosecutors saying, in fact, that they -- by prior agreement they'd helped hide him between those -- between those shootouts, the indication there being for the police at least, that these two men had prior knowledge that these attacks were going to happen and of course we're learning a lot more about the gunman himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): This morning, Copenhagen, the latest European city traumatized by an apparent act of terrorism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm shocked. It's --

ROBERTSON: As new details emerge about the 22-year-old gang member who killed two civilians and injured several police officers in a frightening attack over the weekend.

His name, Omar Abdel Hamid el-Hussein, according to Reuters. El Hussein recently served time in jail after being convicted of a knife attack on board a commuter train. According to the police, there were no known ties of Islamic extremism and they believe he didn't travel to Syria or Iraq.

The chilling moment the gunman opened fire Saturday afternoon in the middle of a free speech debate obtained by the BBC.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The turning point is but. Why do we still say but when we --

ROBERTSON: You can hear more than 20 shots fired through the cafe windows. The suspect killing 55-year-old film maker Finn Noergaard and injuring three officers before escaping.

CNN is unable to authenticate the recording.

The assumed target, Lars Vilks, a controversial cartoonist on al Qaeda's most wanted list for his satirical drawings of the Prophet Mohammed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they rushed up to the scene, and took me in and threw me into a storage room.

ROBERTSON: Hours later, the same suspect attacked a synagogue three miles south. The gunman killing 37-year-old Dan Uzan, a guard providing security for a bat mitzvah party.

THORNING-SCHMIDT: We will do everything we can to protect the Jewish community in our country.

ROBERTSON: The terror filled weekend ending Sunday outside these apartments when the police killed the 22-year-old in the third gun battle in less than 24 hours.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: But police operations are continuing. It didn't end with that gun battle where two men arrested Sunday afternoon and the police continuing to search for more information to find out if there are other accomplices. And of course the concern here particularly today, when there will be, in a few hours time, what's expected to be thousands of people attending a sort of memorial march for the -- for the victims to remember and honor the victims of a copycat attack.

That also a concern for authorities here at this time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Nic Robertson reporting live in Copenhagen, thanks so much.

The Israeli prime minister is not waiting for Europe to solve its problem. Benjamin Netanyahu is calling for an exodus of European Jews. Netanyahu says come home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (Through Translator): Jews have been murdered again on European soil only because they were Jews and this wave of attacks is expected to continue including murderous anti-Semitic attacks. Of course Jews deserve protection in every country but we say to Jews, to our brothers and sisters, Israel is your home.

We are preparing and calling for the absorption of mass immigration from Europe. We call on the absorption of mass immigration in Europe. And I would like to tell all the European Jews and all Jews wherever they are, Israel is the home of every Jew.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Copenhagen's chief rabbi is disappointed in Netanyahu, saying, quote, "People from Denmark moved to Israel because they love Israel, because of Zionism, but not because of terrorism. If the way we deal with terror is to run somewhere else we should all run to a deserted island.

Joining me now former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns.

Thanks so much for being here, sir.

NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: So is Prime Minister Netanyahu right? Should Jews just get out of Europe and go to Israel to live?

BURNS: Carol, I think Prime Minister Netanyahu is right about one thing. And that is, Israel is a refuge for the Jewish people and for Jews everywhere, no doubt about that. But I think the chief rabbi's comments are well taken. We have to defeat terrorism everywhere and Jews have to be safe everywhere. Jews have a right to live in Paris where they were attacked on January 7th. They have a right to live in Belgium. They have a right to live in Copenhagen.

And I think internationally for those of us who support both Israel but also want to support and end to terrorism, we've got to create an environment where terrorism is unacceptable everywhere and every action is taken to protect the Jewish communities of Europe and many millions of Jews will continue to live around the world, outside Israel, because that's their choice. And so we have to make it possible for them to do so.

COSTELLO: But, Ambassador Netanyahu -- Ambassador, Netanyahu was serious about this. The Israeli government has already approved, what, a $46 million plan to encourage Jewish immigration from Europe this year, especially from Ukraine, Belgium, France, and other countries. We saw record numbers return to Israel last year. I know that Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned. But is there politics at work here, too?

BURNS: Well, I don't know about politics because, you know, since the -- since the birth of the state of Israel way back in 1948, it's been the policy of Israeli governments to encourage aliyah, to encourage immigration to Israel. And one cannot argue with that. Given the history of the Jewish people one has to support, I certainly support as do almost all Americans, the security of the state of Israel.

But we also want to create an environment. I think here's where the remarks have hit a discordant note in Europe where Jews are free to live in Europe, safe to live in Europe, and there's a real danger in the Jewish communities, Carol, as you know, especially from the date of the Paris attacks in early January. It's an embattled population and the -- the national governments in Denmark, as the prime minister talked about this morning, have a responsibility to safeguard all Jewish sites, synagogues and the Jewish communities themselves.

So that I think has to be the focus of these efforts. And I think fundamentally, all of us have to condemn these attacks as reprehensible and we have to join hands around the world through intelligence, through judicial action, sometimes through military action to defeat these terrorist groups.

COSTELLO: All right, Ambassador Nicholas Burns, thank you so much for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

BURNS: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Joining me now is Rabbi Yitzchok Loewenthal. He's the director of the online site -- the online site Chabad.

Rabbi, thank you so much for being with me. I appreciate it. RABBI YITZCHOK LOEWENTHAL, DIRECTOR, CHABAD: Thank you. Hello. Good

afternoon from Copenhagen.

COSTELLO: Hello. Good afternoon. Thank you so much for being here. Where were you during the -- during the attack on the Jewish center?

LOEWENTHAL: Well, I was at the synagogue earlier in the evening. I was at the bat mitzvah celebration. And then because my wife says to wait so I decided to leave a little bit earlier. And so I went home and actually as I left the building I said -- gave Dan a warm handshake and I actually asked him why he was standing outside. And he said, you know, we've got to protect you. And that was the last words that I spoke to him. And then I went home to where I live on top of the Chabad center and so I was at home when the attack happened.

COSTELLO: And you mentioned Dan Uzan, and he was the man who was killed. The security guard who was killed. Tell me about him.

LOEWENTHAL: Yes. Well, Dan was -- Dan was a very nice person. It fell, yes. Dan was a very nice person and in that sense, he was -- he was very big, very large. We felt very safe around him. He was very friendly. He was fairly playful. He always had a good word and a warm word. He spent a lot of time guarding and protecting the Jewish community. That was where he fell in the line of duty.

But at the same time, while being a protector, he was also good to his friends. He was a great friend that everybody that knew him, he always had a warm welcoming smile.

COSTELLO: So there were already security guards in place like Dan, who were bravely protecting people, right. So in light of what's happened, will you ad security?

LOEWENTHAL: Yes. That's definitely correct. We have added security. The Danish state has been very helpful with adding security and we from the Jewish community are also adding security. So yes, unfortunately yes, security is an issue, more of an issue. It's become more relevant, especially as we've seen what could happen and especially as we've seen how actually the security guard saved what could have been a much worse situation.

If the guard would not have been there, the police probably would have been sitting in their car and not be able to react. And in that sense the guard could have gone into the bat mitzvah where there was 50 people so --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: So you're talking about rabbi -- you're talking about bulletproof doors and that kind of protection, right?

LOEWENTHAL: Well, yes, both that and obviously the Danish state being aware as to what needs to be done. And police protection. So yes, you know, Jewish institutions do need protection. There's the Jewish school in Copenhagen and there's the Chabad house and there's the synagogue. These are different things that need to be protected each one in their own way.

COSTELLO: Do you think Jews should leave Denmark for Israel as Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested?

LOEWENTHAL: You know, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, is obviously doing his job, which is encouraging people aliyah. And for those Jews in Denmark who felt that the reason they were scared to make aliyah was because of the security situation, so he's making a point that the security situation in Europe is not as good as it could be. In Israel, they're quite good at taking care of, so that might be encouragement to make aliyah.

I definitely don't think that Jewish should desert either their Jewishness or even necessarily the place where they are, because terror does need to be fought wherever it is. But for those who want to make aliyah and up until now have been discouraged because peaceful Denmark versus Israel, so unfortunately both Israel and Denmark have their troubles.

COSTELLO: And so I assume, Rabbi, you will not be leaving Denmark for Israel?

LOEWENTHAL: Listen, we represent Chabad, which has representatives in thousands of cities around the world, and including some places which are a lot less safe than Denmark, and we plan on staying here.

COSTELLO: Rabbi Loewenthal, thank you so much for being with me. I appreciate it, sir.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, southern freeze: A wintry mix is slamming the south. Nick Valencia live in Nashville.

NICK VALENCIA, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Good morning, Carol. The freezing rain has been nonstop since 3:00 a.m. this morning.

I'm Nick Valencia in Nashville. We'll tell you what's ahead in the forecast after the break. You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM with Carol Costello.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Parts of the south are facing a messy wintry mix. Louisville is getting a slick coating of snow and ice right now. Officials warning people to stay off the roads. Conditions like this, nothing new for the winter weary northeasterners though. In Boston, snowblowers alone were not enough to rescue this ambulance. Drifts so high, heavy-duty machinery would be brought in to finally free the crew. And call it the Bitter Apple, frozen solid fountains gracing New York City - well, it's beautiful anyway, right?

Nick Valencia is in Nashville with the impact there and Derek Van Dam is in New York City. Nick, we'll start with you. The south isn't used to this. I don't think any is actually. It's so cold.

VALENCIA: Yes, not that much. It's not quite what we're seeing in Boston and New York. But it is something special here for the city of Nashville. The freezing rain has just been relentless here since about 3:00 a.m. this morning, that precipitation started. And just take a look behind me, what it's done to the roads. This is Broadway, the sort of main drag through the city of Nashville, the entertainment district. And that road looks a lot better than it could. Throughout the morning, we've seen snow plows coming through here, salting and brining. They've been doing that all weekend as well to prepare for this severe weather event. They're expecting about a quarter inch of ice on those roads, which could be disastrous and we have seen this morning with the handful of accidents on the interstate.

Overall, Carol, the next 24 hours, this city, Nashville, yes, Nashville, is expecting about 3-7 inches of snow in the course of the next 24 hours. We'll see how the city handles it. But, so far, people seem to be doing OK. Carol?

COSTELLO: That's good to hear, Nick Valencia. I'm just checking the temperature here in New York. I think it's about 7 degrees. So we're going to head outside there and I'm glad I'm not outside, frankly. But Derek Van Dam is. Seven degrees in New York City, but Boston is faring worse. Parts of the Midwest are the negative, what, 2s or something like that?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you factor in the windchill value and of course temperatures well below freezing. And even though it's risen a couple degrees, just outside of Columbus Circle here, it is still frigid. I'm from Grand Rapids, Michigan, so you'd think I'd be used to this. But, no, I was just talking to my producer -- this is serious cold weather and people actually need to take it seriously because it is dangerous. So you've got the risk of hypothermia and windchill factors like this, just really leaving your exposed skin to the elements can be quite a problem.

Let's talk about what's taking place over the eastern half of the United States. Wev'e got windchill values roughly between 15 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit, below freezing. That's right. And when you factor in the wind, you can just imagine what that feels like standing outdoors. I'm feeling it now and I'm having a hard time not shivering.

So about 50 million people currently under some sort of windchill advisory. This is behind a departing nor'easter that brought the snow to Boston and the New England coast. And a lot of cold air has settled in behind this storm, and that's a problem, because we have a new winter storm that we continue to discuss. This one actually is bringing in moisture from the deep south. So when you get this cold air that settles in underneath that warm layer, you have the potential of freezing rain. And that is exactly what the I-40 corridor is going to experience the next 12 hours or so. Plus an additional 2 to even 4 inches of snow for the New England coast as the system quickly pulls out Tuesday night. Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so I'm cold looking at you. So please, please, Derek, head indoors.

Poor Derek. Thank you so much.

VAN DAM: I will visit you in the studio.

COSTELLO: Please do.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Iraqi forces in training and under scrutiny. One tribal leader fighting alongside of them said they could be on the verge of collapse in a key region. His warning next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. There are sobering reports from the battlefield in western Iraq. One tribal leader says ISIS fighters are gaining ground in Anbar Province and Iraqi government troops are in danger of collapse.

Now, these concerns take on a new urgency after ISIS militants captured the town of al-Baghdadi and attacked the al-Assad airbase. Hundreds of American personnel are based there to train their Iraqi counterparts. CNN's Phil Black joins us now live from Irbil to tell us more. Hi Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol. We've known for some time the fight in Anbar hasn't been going well, that the Iraqi army with the help of local Sunni tribes, hasn't really been able to stop the ISIS advance. But now, one of those Sunni tribal leaders has told CNN the situation is even more desperate. He suggested that if the Sunni tribes were to withdraw their support, the army would collapse within hours.

Now, they're not going to withdraw their support, because they're also fighting for their very survival. But what they would like is more support from the international community. They're talking about more airstrikes, more weapons, floating even the suggestion that boots on the ground, U.S. boots on the ground, are needed to really make a difference.

The view from the capital, Baghdad, well the prime minister has also expressed some frustrations about the time it has taken for international support to move, to be coordinated, to have a real impact on the ground. He doesn't want U.S. troops on the ground, says that there are enough fighters already, but weapons, intelligence, air support, all of these things are really crucial.

It's also interesting to note that, over the last 24 hours or so, around half of the successful airstrikes, the reported successful airstrikes, carried out by the coalition have been in that Anbar area. So it would appear that it is desperate. Everyone involved knows that it is desperate, that ISIS is making ground, and seem to be directing resources in that direction to try and stop that advance, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Phil Black reporting live from Irbil this morning.

Egypt taking action against ISIS, bombing the terror group's camps and other areas in Libya, following the release of a horrific video that appears to show the beheading of Egyptian Coptic Christians. In a statement, the Egyptian military saying, quote, "Avenging Egyptian blood and punishing criminals and murderers is our right and duty."

News of the killings only adding fears, though, that the threat of ISIS is growing, expanding from strongholds in Syria and Iraq to North Africa and over to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

I want to bring in CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Colonel, welcome.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning.