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New Violence in Ukraine Despite Truce; Egyptian War Planes Pound ISIS Targets; Netanyahu Tells Jews to "Come Home" to Israel; Jewish Cemetery Desecrated with Graffiti in France; East Coast Bracing for Major Winter Storms; Hicks Indicted for Murder in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Aired February 16, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

A cease-fire is supposed to be in effect in eastern Ukraine, but it doesn't exactly appear to be holding. A Ukrainian defense spokesman says five Ukrainian security forces were killed in fighting with pro- Russia separatists and there have been more than 100 violations of the cease-fire, 100, since it went into effect just two days ago. Today, both sides were supposed to withdraw their heavy weapon, but thus far that has not happened. CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is live in eastern Ukraine, in the Donetsk region.

And, Nick, is anyone where you are calling this a cease-fire at all?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the question really is, what can you call a cease-fire when the sides haven't stopped actually firing. Now, here in Donetsk, where normally you would hear artillery in the background, it's quiet. That's the case. But the center of the fighting, the place that was always going to cause the problem, Debaltseve, that's the key railway hub that both sides so desperately want in which hundreds if not thousands of Ukrainian troops are trapped, well, that's still very violent indeed.

We went down very close to it today, saw people trapped in basements again, getting delivered food, hearing shelling around them, not having seeing the likes of them for three weeks, there clearly artillery. We're not quite sure who is firing at who but both sides involved and also a sense of fear, too, that the road was completely cut off. Those Ukrainian troops inside were not going to get out. In fact, one who had emerged from around that town said they tried to drive down that road and it was, quote, "a one-way trip to the graveyard." A very bleak situation, indeed. No sign of that violence ending. Debaltseve is always going to be what could potentially break the cease-fire entirely.

Finally, the OSCE, that monitoring group, they say, well, the cease- fire is holding apart from Debaltseve. That's key. That's where the fighting is always going to be worse. That is the key undecided element in the border between both sides here and that's where people are going to be looking very closely in the next two days to see if that can be resolved somehow and keep it from getting worse hour by hour -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: So if in that region a few days pass and the violence continues, then what?

PATON WALSH: Exactly. When do you actually say that the cease-fire is not a cease-fire? That's a political gesture that somebody has to make. Both sides have quite a bit of political capital invested in that Minks agreement, so someone is going to have to blink first. Events on the ground may change and make it impossible to pretend the cease-fire is still happening. But people are deeply concerned as to when that moment of recognition will happen because that will again cause violence to escalate again. And, I should point out, this is on the doorstep of the European Union, this war raging still -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Nick Paton Walsh, in eastern Ukraine, thank you so much.

Coming up next, as the terror attacks in Denmark target a synagogue, now a Jewish cemetery in France has been vandalized with anti-Semitism graffiti. What's happening? Is Europe experiencing a rise in anti- Semitism? We'll take you there.

Plus, Egypt launching a second wave of air strikes against ISIS militants after the brutal beheadings of Egyptian Christians in Libya. How will this affect the U.S.-led coalition, this fight against terror?

You're watching CNN. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Right now, war planes are pounding ISIS targets, not in Iraq, not in Syria, but in Libya. A second wave of military strikes found a new active player in this war on ISIS -- Egypt. Is this considered retaliation for a new horrific act by this terror organization, the brutal beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians who had moved to Libya for work?

Joining me now, our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

Barbara, you had to spend the time looking at this video and specifically the masked men speaking with very well-spoken English. I mean, does the U.S. have any clue who he is?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, tough to say at this point. The U.S. intelligence community and administration is certainly looking at this video frame by frame. It's been noticed clearly by anyone who listens to it, that this person speaking on the tape appears to have well-spoken English. So who is he? We don't know. But this tape, many experts will tell you, is just the latest example of ISIS pushing to more and more violence, more and more brutality, because they know that their propaganda is achieving their goal, which it is getting them in front of the world's media, getting the world attention for their acts and their purported causes.

But this time, the men that they chose to attack, really some of Egypt's least fortunate citizens. These are Egyptian Christians who came to Libya looking for work, you know, people who didn't have a lot, really just looking to get by. Some of them as they were executing, crying out. Once again, really one of the most horrific videos, and we seem to say this week after week.

BALDWIN: Every time. Every time. You are in Washington. We know President Obama has laid out his war plan to Congress, keeping the options open to fighting ISIS beyond the borders of Iraq, beyond the borders of Syria. And now with this video of these Egyptian Christians, do we expect this coalition war, will this change or evolve at all?

STARR: Well, it's interesting. You know, ISIS adherents -- let's call them adherents. Are they mainstream ISIS -- not card carrying members. It's not that kind of organization. But people who are swearing their allegiance and adherence to ISIS, are now popping up in so many places, hundreds and hundreds of miles away, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Egypt's Sinai area. It's not likely the U.S. will be able to consider military action in all of these areas.

But the goal is to partner with governments in the region, as we have seen Jordan, after the murder of its air force pilot, coming front and center of the coalition, partner with them and get them to take on some of this. This is not going to be a U.S.-led military coalition by any stretch. The U.S. not looking to do that by any measure, but trying to get other countries across this region to also step in. It looks like the Egyptian government right now so angry about all of this that they are going against what they call these ISIS training camps, these ISIS targets across their borders deep inside Libya -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Barbara Starr, thank you.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drawing some criticism here for his comments after the shooting attacks in Denmark over the weekend. He called on Jews to leave Europe and move to Israel, similar to comments he made after the terrorist attacks in Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translation): Israel is your home. We are preparing and calling for mass immigration from Europe. And I would like to tell all of the European Jews, and all Jews, wherever they are, Israel is the home of every Jew.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With Israeli elections coming up next month, some European political leaders and Jewish community leaders in Denmark say Mr. Netanyahu is politically motivated here.

But in France, five teenagers face charges after dozens of graves at a Jewish cemetery were desecrated.

Our senior international correspondent, Jim Bittermann, has that story -- Jim?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Five teenagers are being held and being questioned, ranging in ages from 15 and a half to 17 years old, and decided to go into this cemetery in the eastern part of France and began tipping over headstones. The youngest of the five, who, in fact, turned in all the rest of the group, said they didn't even know that they were Jewish graves until they started vandalizing them. 250 headstones were vandalized in all, including one or two tombs in which they tried to break into them and get into the bodies down below.

They are still being held and still being questioned. And they could be charged with destruction of public property. They could also be charged with a much more serious crime, which is to say vandalizing tombs for religious reasons. That carries a sentence of up to seven years.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just unspeakable.

Jim Bittermann, thank you so much, in France.

Coming up next, here at home, it's cold for a lot of you. Parts of the southeast bracing for bitter winter weather as northeastern states face another wave of snow.

Nick Valencia is live in Nashville, where it's snowing -- Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, hey there, Brooke. The freezing rain has been relentless since this morning.

I'm Nick Valencia, in Nashville.

We'll tell you how they are dealing with it after the break. You're watching the CNN "Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's talk about this weather. Severe winter weather bearing down on more than a dozen states with upwards of 100 million people stuck in the middle of this. The northeast is still buried under so much snow, record-breaking snow. A weekend blizzard leaving bitter cold in its wake. 55 million people under warnings or some kind of advisories for wind chills down to 40 below zero. Another 50 million people under winter storm warning stretching from Oklahoma to South Carolina to New Jersey. The south is also getting hammered, in Nashville, for example. Winter crews are out in full force.

And that's where we will begin with CNN's Nick Valencia, in Nashville. I also have CNN's Will Ripley, in Boston, and we have Meteorologist Jennifer Gray to put this in perspective for us and hopefully to tell us when we will be done with all of it.

Nick, to you, perspective-wise, how often does Nashville get hit with something like this?

VALENCIA: It's been miserable, Brooke. Last year, they had a couple of incidents like this but nothing near to what we saw today. To give you a context, that's a chunk of ice off of a car. That's how much freezing rain has fallen in the few hours that we've been here. That's what is on the road. Take a look behind me. This is Broadway. This is the main drag in the entertainment section in Nashville and those roads could look a lot worse if not for the work of the emergency crews out here all morning and really all weekend long treating those roads, salting. Even so, on Interstate 40, there's been a handful of accidents, reports of a 30-car pile-up on interstates. And Nashville International Airport canceling more than 50 percent of their flights. And the mayor telling people to stay indoors. Some people are still out and about wondering what all of the fuss is about here on the streets -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: People hanging out and enjoying Broadway. Hey, it's a great city. How cold is it now? But how chilly is it now and how chilly will it get tonight, Nick?

VALENCIA: It's been in the 20s. And we heard, coming into this trip here in Nashville, it could get -- feel like negative -- below negative 10 but that really hasn't been the case. It's been cold. It's actually warmed up quite a bit. It's good news for folks braving the elements in Nashville -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Downright balmy compared to Boston.

Let's go to Will Ripley who we normally see in Tokyo.

You get snow duty apparently for the next couple of days, Will Ripley.

Let me talk to you and the massive snow mound you're in front of. I'm concerned for all of my friends in Boston with old pipes and old roofs. What did the Boston mayor say?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the mayor is really warning people that they need to be careful right now, even though the worst of the blizzard is over. It's a balmy 18 degrees. Because the wind is calm, it feels a lot better than it did over the weekend when we were running around in the midst of this storm.

But one big danger, Brooke, is people were shoveling this snow, this is heavy stuff. We got a weather report, sadly, that there is one death because of snow that has fallen. It can be dangerous. People get out there and shovel for a few minutes and raise their heart rate up dangerously high. That's what the mayor thinks happened in this case.

BALDWIN: The mayor is saying "hey" to all of you out there, it's one thing to go across the town on cross-country skis, but it's another to hope on a snow board with an ATV. I mean, don't be reckless, right?

RIPLEY: Yeah. There's been a social media movement. There's a hash tag online. And people are getting into second-story windows and jumping into these snowdrifts, snowdrifts like this. Listen to the mayor. He compared this behavior to a very popular ski

resort in New Hampshire, saying, "Boston is not a resort."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTY WALSH, MAYOR OF BOSTON: First of all, it's a foolish thing to do, and you could kill yourself. So I'm asking people to stop that nonsense right now. These are adults, and this isn't Loon Mountain. This is the city of Boston.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Loon Mountain, Brooke, a very popular place to go skiing. The problem is, this is hard-packed snow. If you tried to jump on a pile like this, you'd find yourself in a world of hurt because you're not going to get very far. It's rock hard in some areas -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: OK. Be careful getting down. I'm feeling like your mother a little bit, Will Ripley. I appreciate the vantage point from down here.

Will Ripley, in Boston, thank you, Will.

Jennifer Gray, to you. I know you spent quite a bit of time in Boston for the first round of snow but they keep getting hammered and hammered every single weekend. Why is this happening?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They are going to get hit again in a couple of days and people are getting cabin fever if they are doing stuff like that. It's going to continue. We're seeing a mess across the south. Look at Nashville. North end of the city, all snow. South end getting freezing rain. We get the ice and freezing rain and forget about traveling. It's going to be very dangerous conditions on the roads around Nashville, Chattanooga as well. D.C., the snow is knocking on your back door. We could see up to eight inches of snow by the morning. The morning commute will be trouble for you as well as New York City.

Here you have the winter storm warnings and watches in effect. We have winter weather advisories in effect as well. The ice is the biggest concern because of the danger in travel and it collects on everything. We could see power outages. Anywhere from Little Rock, Memphis, Knoxville, Charlotte, Raleigh, it's going to start as snow for you and turn into ice as we get into the overnight hours. Also looking at up eight to 10 inches, we're going to see quite a bit of snow and two to four inches in New York, possibly. Boston, it's not going to be as big of a deal for you. You're only going to get a couple of inches. Of course, we don't want it because we have so much snow on the ground. Timing this out, Raleigh changes over to ice. This is 10:00 p.m. tonight. D.C., already it has snow. For the morning commute, you'll see a couple of inches and then it skirts by Boston by the time we get into the morning and afternoon -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: We're keeping you updated on our website. Jennifer and her team doing so. For weather updates, go to CNN.com.

Jennifer Gray, Will Ripley and Nick Valencia, thank you for covering this for us.

Right now, though, thousands of people are gathering at this candlelight vigil in Denmark. They are there tonight, with the winds whipping, for the victims of the shootings over the weekend. What officials have to say now about the suspect. We'll check in with our CNN's international correspondent, Nic Robertson. We'll take you there live, coming up.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: New developments in the fatal shootings of those three Muslim college students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Craig Hicks was indicted today on three counts of first-degree murder. The victims were neighbors of Hicks at the apartment complex in Chapel Hill. The killings apparently grew out of an ongoing dispute over parking but they are investigating.

Jean Casarez is working on this for us today.

It's huge. Beginning with this indictment.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is. The grand jury met this morning and they have now returned an indictment. Three counts of first-degree murder and discharge of a firearm into an occupied dwelling.

Now, what this means is, now it's a formal case with a formal charge in superior court in Durham County, North Carolina. It will move forward and he will have to have an additional initial appearance, which will be the first week in March, I'm told, and then the case will proceed.

Here's the big question: Are we going to see the prosecutor move to give notice of intention to seek the death penalty?

BALDWIN: Right.

CASAREZ: We don't know.

BALDWIN: That could be on the table in the state of North Carolina. We also heard from the president, releasing a statement a couple of days ago in the wake of the senseless murders here of these young people in North Carolina. The federal government investigating as well.

CASAREZ: Yes. Right now, the Council of American Islamic relations is having a press conference, as we speak, in Maryland. They came out last week saying that they wanted a full-fledged intensive investigation on this for several reasons. Number one, the brutality of the crime, the anti-religious statements that the suspect made, the religious attire that the victims wore, and what they say is the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in this country.

BALDWIN: I hope that investigation is thorough on all parts.

Jean Casarez, thank you so much.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We'll be listening for an update on that news conference in Maryland.