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Egypt Launches Airstrikes Against ISIS in Libya; White House Slams Libya Beheadings; Two Charged with Helping Danish Shooter; Ukraine Ceasefire Remains Fragile

Aired February 16, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This Islamic State thing is nothing like I have ever seen before.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mass beheadings of Christians in Libya.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Egypt launching air strikes against ISIS targets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are a very firm presence in Libya and they have intentions on spreading.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bang, bang, bang. Very quickly we could understand that something was going on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a shooting incident in Copenhagen during a free speech forum.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard a lot of noise and we realized it was a shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And shot him dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay calm and stay focused. Stay off the roads. Stay indoors, stay safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hit him and then someone else hit me and then someone else hit me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't see anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: There is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Monday, February 16, President's Day. It is 6:00 in the East and Chris Cuomo is off today. So we have had had some breaking news overnight to tell you about.

Egypt launching airstrikes against ISIS after gruesome video shows the beheading of more than a dozen Egyptian Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya. Before they were killed, the Christians yelled, "Oh, God" and "Oh, Jesus."

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: This appears to indicate a shift in tactics for ISIS. The video shows the actual beheadings, compared to past propaganda that just showed before and after shots. Could this latest brutality bring Egypt into the U.S.-led coalition? We have team coverage for you this morning, beginning with Ian Lee, on the ground in Cairo -- Ian.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, what we know this morning, in the early hours, under the cover of darkness, F-16s flying out over -- over Libya, bombing the city of Derna. What we're hearing is that they were targeting warehouses, weapons depots, as well as ISIS training centers. They made it back safely.

Derna is a city about 200 miles from the Egyptian border on the Mediterranean coast. It is a city that has had a long history of sending militants to fight in wars, jihadis to fight abroad. This is a city that ISIS took quickly, recently.

Now this video that we saw shows these 21 Christians being brought out onto the beach, as you said, some of them saying, "Oh, God," "Oh, Jesus," before they were being beheaded. In the video, a message from one of the militants, giving warnings to the Christians here in Egypt, to the Egyptian government and as well as Europe. Libya is on Europe's doorstep.

But what this video shows most is how ISIS has a firm presence in Libya. Last month they attacked a hotel in Tripoli. It's showing how they're expanding, taking advantage of the political and security void that is Libya after the 2011 uprising that overthrew Moammar Gadhafi, which was backed by the west.

But for Egypt, this is very concerning. They have ISIS militants in the Sinai Peninsula that they're battling. They have hundreds of security personnel who have died in that battle. And now they have another front in Libya -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Ian, thank you for all that background. It's just so sickening to see this video. Thank you.

The White House slamming the terror group, following the release of this latest video, calling these murders "despicable and cowardly." Let's get to CNN's Sunlen Serfaty. She is at the White House.

Tell us what they're saying, Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Well, the White House says this is a heinous and cowardly act of murder, a very strongly-worded statement coming from the White House. The press secretary overnight reading in part, quote, "ISIL's barbaric -- barbarity knows no bounds. It is unconstrained by faith, sex or ethnicity. This wanton killing of innocents is just the most recent of the many vicious attacks perpetrated by ISIL-affiliated terrorists, against the people of the region, which only further galvanizes the international community to unite against ISIL."

Now, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on the phone Sunday with the Egyptian foreign minister. He expressed his condolences, and he also agreed to stay in close contact with Egypt as they decipher what their response will be.

Now, I should note that all of this really serves as a poignant backdrop to a White House summit that they will host here in Washington this week with foreign ministers about how to combat violent extremism. Now, the White House continues to insist that it won't solely focus on Islamic extremists. But of course, given this latest attack and a long list of others, you can imagine that will largely dictate a good portion of the conversation -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: Sunlen, we thank you for that.

We turn now to Denmark for our other big story we are following. Two men charged this morning with helping a gunman after his deadly rampage in Denmark. We're also learning more about that man, who stormed a forum being attended by a cartoon artist who was listed on an al Qaeda hit list. The gunman later opened fire on a synagogue before police shot and killed him.

CNN international correspondent Nic Robertson joining us from Copenhagen with these new details for us this morning -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michaela, what we're hearing from prosecutors is that these two men arrested Sunday, they say that they have, by prior agreement, had agreed to help the gunman. The implication there is that they had full knowledge of all these attack, possibly one attack, possibly both attacks. So that an indication now of the net, if you will, is spreading out here.

But we are beginning to learn more details about this gunman.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am shocked, exactly.

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 plane. 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 gunmen 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...

(GUN SHOTS)

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ROBERTSON: You can hear more than 20 shots fired through the cafe windows. The suspect killing 55-year-old filmmaker Finn Norgaard and injuring three officers before escaping. CNN is unable authenticate the recording. The assumed target, Lars Vilks, a controversial cartoonist on al Qaeda's most wanted list for satirical drawings of the Prophet Mohammed

LARS VILKS, CARTOONIST (via phone): The bodyguards, they immediately became active, and they rushed onto the scene and took me and threw me into a storage room.

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

HELE THORNING-SCHMIDT, DANISH PRIME MINISTER: 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.

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CAMEROTA: Those attacks in Copenhagen have reignited fears in Jewish communities all across Europe.

We want to bring in now Rabbi Bent Lexner. He is the former chief rabbi of Denmark.

Rabbi Lexner, thanks for being with us this morning.

RABBI BENT LEXNER, FORMER CHIEF RABBI OF DENMARK: You are welcome.

CAMEROTA: We want to start with this deadly attack on the synagogue. It happened on Saturday. There were 80 people inside, and they were celebrating a bat mitzvah. And the beloved security guard, 37-year- old Dan Uzan, was killed in this attack.

We understand that you were with his family afterwards and, in fact, you delivered the news to them of his death. Can you tell us what you said to them?

LEXNER: Listen, can -- you can imagine that this is something which nobody wants to do. But unfortunately, I have some experience, and I went with two policemen. We waked the parents up in the middle of the night. And because they did not hear us in the first time I was able to contact them by phone. So when I came, they knew that something was wrong. And I was very clear, and I said to them, "Listen, something very bad happened." And they were -- I wouldn't say they were not very surprised, because we knew that something could happen. But, of course, they were shocked, and we are shocked.

CAMEROTA: And in fact, I heard you said just that, that you were shocked by this violence but not surprised. Can you explain that?

LEXNER: Listen, as a Danish citizen, we know that Denmark is on the top list of countries where terrorists will try to do whatever they can. And where there is terrorism, where there are fightings and terrorists against you. So we have prepared ourselves for these -- for years, but we didn't think that we should use all the preparations.

It happened. We are shocked. We are not surprised. And we are sure that we will be able also to overcome these moments.

CAMEROTA: The day after the shooting at the synagogue, in northeastern France, hundreds of Jewish graves were desecrated. Do you believe that these are both part of a rising tide of anti-Semitism in Europe?

LEXNER: Listen, we have a problem of anti-Semitism in Europe. But I will tell you that, if you have seen the Danish population, from the prime minister to children, numerous children coming outside the synagogue, placing flowers, giving -- writing letters, sending mails, being on Facebook. We feel that we do not have any problems, and if we have, we have a lot of people who are behind us.

CAMEROTA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a statement saying that Jews in Europe can find, basically, safe haven in Israel. Let me read to you what he said. He says, "Jews deserve security in every country."

LEXNER: I know what he said.

CAMEROTA: OK. So he's basically saying that he's -- to his Jewish brothers and sister, come to Israel if you want safe haven. Do you think that's the answer, Rabbi?

LEXNER: No. Listen, I am one of many where all the children went from Denmark to Israel. I think that the prime minister of Israel is allowed to say what he wants. I don't think it was the right time. I don't think it was the right way to say it.

I hope that other Danish Jews want to live in Israel. But I think that, if they're going to Israel, it is because they want to live in Israel. Not because they are afraid of living in Denmark.

CAMEROTA: Do you believe that Jews are safe in Denmark today?

LEXNER: Yes, I believe it. We live a normal life, and we have our security. And we have to do the things, and we live a normal life. We had open -- we had a mourning service already, and we will continue. Tomorrow, hopefully, we'll open the Jewish day school again. And our people who want to deny us our rights, they will not see a victory.

CAMEROTA: Rabbi Ben Lexner, thank you for being on NEW DAY. Our prayers are with Denmark this morning.

Let's go over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Alisyn. Also breaking overnight, we have learned that several Ukrainian forces have been killed since the ceasefire went into effect this weekend in battle-scarred eastern Ukraine. The ceasefire remains in place, largely holding but terribly fragile.

Let's bring in Fred Pleitgen, who joins us from eastern Ukraine with more -- Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Michaela. And I just got away from a briefing from the Ukrainian security forces, and they said that so far, in the first 24 hours of the ceasefire, as many as 129 infringements of that ceasefire. That includes small arms fire, but it also includes things like artillery shelling. And if you look at the region where I am right now, which is sort of in the southern part of the battlefield. It's a place called Mariupol, which is on the front line. There is apparently fighting that's going on in this area today on the outskirts of the town. It's mortar fire right now. However, Ukrainians are saying that pro-Russian separatists are amassing forces.

That is, of course, the opposite of what's supposed to be happening right now. It's actually a very key day today in the ceasefire, because is the day that both sides are supposed to start withdrawing heavy weapons from the battlefield. However, neither side is doing that at this point. As I said, both sides are blaming each other for these infringements.

The Ukrainian forces are saying that, as long as there isn't a ceasefire along the entire ceasefire area, as long as there are these infringements, they are not going to move their weapons back. They say that plans are in place. They have plans ready. They know exactly where they want to put these heavy weapons, but they're not going to do it at this time.

So the overall situation right now is that both sides are saying that the ceasefire is holding, but there are a lot of infringements that are happening, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Fred, thanks so much for all of that background. Back here at home, bitter freezing temperature gripping tens of millions of Americans on this Presidents' Day. It feels like 20 below zero in cities along the East Coast, including Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Temperatures nearly as cold in Washington, D.C.

They could be responsible for a pipe burst inside the control tower at Dulles International Airport. Departures have resumed after workers had to evacuate the tower for a brief period. Officials say they are working to restore full operation. Brr. PEREIRA: Brr indeed.

Well, the FAA is proposing new regulations on the use of drones. They would allow drones weighing less than 55 pounds to fly up to 500 feet above ground. These rules would help television producers, real- estate agents, even police departments. Operators would need a special certificate; would have to follow strict rules, including avoiding restricted airspace. Now this proposal still faces a lengthy public review process.

CAMEROTA: All right. We need some levity, and "SNL" delivered. It was a star-studded trip down Memory Lane for the "Saturday Night Live" 40th anniversary special. Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake kicked off the night with a musical tribute to some of SNL's most memorable moments.

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JIMMY FALLON, HOST, NBC'S "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON": We are.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, SINGER: We are.

FALLON: We are.

TIMBERLAKE: We are...

FALLON AND TIMBERLAKE: We are two wild and crazy guys, chopping donuts with a samurai.

TIMBERLAKE: From Tina, Dana, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

FALLON: I'm living in a van down by the river.

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CAMEROTA: They are so good at that.

PEREIRA: So great.

CAMEROTA: Michaela, this was a nearly four-hour-long special. It included several "SNL" alumni re-creating some of their most beloved characters. The night also included performances from Miley Cyrus, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon who wrapped the show with "Still Crazy After All These Years."

PEREIRA: My goodness, it's the stuff of our youth. Right?

CAMEROTA: Totally.

PEREIRA: Saturday nights were spent watching the show. And you can walk back through your life. I remember so many of those skits from all those years, and to see how many of the past "SNL" alumni showed up.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. I mean, every catch phrase we have culturally said was included in that.

PEREIRA: Are you kidding me? That was fantastic. We'll have more on that coming up, because we certainly do need some levity today.

CAMEROTA: All right. Back to the breaking news, because Egypt has started a big offensive against ISIS following the gruesome deaths of dozens of Christians. Will this prompt even more military action against the terrorists? We'll brick that down.

PEREIRA: Also, hundreds of Jewish graves in France defaced, many smeared with Nazi graffiti. Can a rise in anti-Semitic crime be slowed down? We're going to take you live to France.

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PEREIRA: Welcome back.

Egypt launching airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya, following the release of an outrageous and heinous video showing the beheadings of over a dozen Egyptian Christians. Egypt's president had vowed to avenge those murders and could do more military action against ISIS, and that could be in the works. But ISIS expanding, though, what can only be called a religious war.

Let's bring in CNN global affairs analyst, former U.S. Delta Force commander, Lieutenant Colonel James Reese. Haras Rafiq also joins us. He's the managing director of Quilliam Foundation, a counterterrorism think tank.

Gentleman, we need your smart minds on this. This is a hard thing to understand this brutality. Colonel Reese, I want to talk to you. Other than the sheer viciousness that we see in this outrageous video, what else stands out to you? What's significant that we should see from this video?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE (RET.), CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Michaela, good morning. What I took after watching the video -- unfortunately, I had to watch it several times -- was that one is the plethora of different ethnic aspects that ISIS has brought. There are some African aspects there. There's Anglo members, you know, of that -- of that element, that they're the executioners. So that was very interesting to me.

But what I also believe, what we're starting to see here is, really, ISIS is bringing together just a band of mercenaries. There's a lot of military aged men out there who have learned to fight in all these different conflicts around the world. And now they're out of work in a lot of places, and ISIS can pay them. And I believe they use -- I believe they're using this whole Islamic extremist piece as really a crutch to bring them into the mix...

PEREIRA: What an interesting perspective.

REESE: ... economic aspect.

PEREIRA: Economic aspect. I want to pick up on that a little bit more, but first, Haras, let's talk about this atrocity. It's a new level of brutality. They show the entire beheading. It's not sort of before and after. And I understand this is very difficult to even talk about and very graphic. But this also speaks to sort of a new level that ISIS has reached. No?

HARAS RAFIQ, QUILLIAM FOUNDATION: Well, ISIS actually had a video very similar to this about a month ago, when they showed the actual beheadings and the marching down of people with knives being picked up of a number of Syrian members of the military. So it's something that they have done before and something that they probably will do again.

ISIL are running out of western hostages, so they're actually looking at other ways, new ways of actually trying to instigate this so-called holy war, this so-called holy war that they see in the end days, that they feel that is inevitable. And a number of things that were interesting to me on this particular video, as well, is one that they are continuing to use and grow this so-called British, converted Jihadi John brand of executioner and speaker.

Secondly is that they are trying and ensuring that they actually try and exploit the crusader narrative, because they mentioned Rome in the video. They're trying to create further polarization to try and get support, to try to get people in other countries to be influenced and inspired by these kind of attacks. And of course, we're seeing in Europe right now over the last month or so. These type of attacks are becoming more prevalent, even on home soil.

PEREIRA: It's really interesting, Colonel Reese. You talk about this achievement of reaching this band of mercenaries and sort of getting this band of mercenaries. You talk about the branding, Haras, of how they're reaching out to these people. We've seen the slickly-produced videos. But there is captivating a group of men that they can control and have them do their bidding. That is a really difficult thing to counteract. Is it not, Lieutenant Colonel?

REESE: It is, Michaela. And you know, I really look at the whole Libya perspective right now. You know, in that video, you see all the members dressed in black.

PEREIRA: Yes.

REESE: You remember months ago, we saw that with ISIS up in Syria and in Iraq. But now in Syria, based off the execution we saw of the Jordanian pilot, they were now all in the camouflaged uniforms. So now what I see is, it shows the development of ISIS in Libya with the one -- with the one lone, you know, speaker there dressed as the Syrian member who comes down and kind of leads this new element into Libya and is the expansion of ISIS throughout the region.

PEREIRA: And that's a concern that Libya is now another front, Haras. It is awfully close to Europe. It is a place that is having its own challenges within its country. Talk to us about the threat it poses and do you see a way for the western forces to confront that?

RAFIQ: Well, yes, first of all, absolutely. This is -- this is no closer to home. This is closer to Europe. ISIL have been expanding both ideologically and in real terms over the last six-to-eight months and, right, you know, as we mentioned before, they are paying people. They are bribing other people around the world. But also giving people a cause as they seem as men of action.

How do we cancel this? There's two elements of how we counter this. First of all, we need to insure that, from a military perspective, we've got to strike at the center of gravity. We've got to insure and make sure that we take out this threat and we -- by we, I'm talking about the coalition -- forces as best we can.

I think we for too long allowed ISIL to exist in Syria and Iraq. Through, I guess, the whole inadequacies of the Arab nations in the region in terms of ground troops into the -- into the field.

But the other thing we've got to do, is we've got to take the propaganda war on, head on. We're not doing that. We're talking about it. We've had lots of conversations over the last six to eight months. We still haven't gotten to how do we counter the propaganda elements of ISIL and al Qaeda. Let's not forget them and other Islamist groups around the world, as well. We need to do more on that. And we now need to be people of action rather than just people of words.

PEREIRA: I want to thank you both. Haras Rafiq and Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, we appreciate you joining us today -- Alisyn.

REESE: Thanks, Alisyn.

RAFIQ: My pleasure.

CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela. Jewish graves smashed and smeared with anti- Semitic remarks. We have the disturbing details ahead in a live report for you.

And $1 billion swiped in a record-banking bank heist. Wait until you hear how the hackers were able to steal the cash from 100 banks, including some right here in the U.S.

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