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New Day Sunday

Police: Suspect in Copenhagen Attacks Killed; Boston Sets New Snow Record; NBA All-Star Weekend

Aired February 15, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: You hear all of that gunfire from yesterday morning, but now, police say they shot the lone gunman who fired those shots. One after another in Denmark. That shooter sprayed bullets into a Copenhagen cafe where a Swedish cartoonist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad and had received death threats was set to speak. He had escaped unharmed. A filmmaker however was killed.

MARTIN SAVIDE, CNN ANCHOR: That was the first of two deadly attacks that put the Danish capital on edge. It still remains that way. The other happened near a synagogue, killing a 37-year-old.

Following a massive manhunt, the suspect in both of those attacks was killed in a shootout with police overnight.

PAUL: So let's talk on the phone here to journalist Astrid Sondberg. She is in Copenhagen right now.

And, Astrid, I understand that you've got some new information for us about these victims.

ASTRID SONDBERG, JOURNALIST (via telephone): We're learning more about the man that police consider to be the same man who has been behind both shootings. He was shot dead by the police tonight. They're awaiting at an apartment where a taxi driver had dropped the man off.

The police tells us that they actually knew about this man before the shooting. We are not sure why, but the secret police in Denmark has been looking into this guy. We are not sure if he has been in an area of the police system. No evidence puts him in Syria or anywhere else but we know that the police were aware of this guy.

PAUL: OK. What do we know about the victims in this case?

SONDBERG: We know that the filmmaker who was 55 years old was killed at the first shooting. He was there because he was very interested in freedom of speech. He was interested in the right to talk freely, especially after the "Charlie Hebdo" shootings in Paris. And we know that the second victim was a Jewish man standing guard at a bar mitzvah party which was being held at the synagogue in Copenhagen.

PAUL: All righty. And is there any indication at this point, Astrid, how long it may be before we'll learn more information about this suspect who's now dead?

SONDBERG: We have talked to some in the police and they tell us that they are very close to having a clear identification of the man. When they say that, it normally means that they actually know who he is now but they just have to conclude some investigation. So, we may hear more about who the man is later today.

We do know, by the way, that he was a person living in Copenhagen. He had an address and was living in Copenhagen. That we know for sure.

PAUL: All right. Astrid Sondberg, we appreciate it. Of course, we know that police are at his residence. They're combing through evidence and they will give us the latest as soon as they can.

Meanwhile, the controversial cartoonist apparently targeted in yesterday's attack first angered a lot of people back in 2000 sense because that's when Lars Vilks depicted the Prophet Muhammad with a picture of a dog.

So, we want to talk to the person who was with Vilks, the forum with Vilks. Dennis Brink is with us.

Dennis, thank you so much for being with us.

So, you are in the cafe. This free speech meeting had just started. Talk to me about the moment you heard the shots. What happened?

DENNIS BRINK, WITNESS (via telephone): Yes. Well, I guess it was about 1/2 an hour into the meeting when we heard about, I think, 30 shots from the entrance room of the hall next to the meeting room in which we were. It took some seconds before we realized what was actually going on. But then as soon as people realized that, they -- panic broke out and everybody rushed to the doors and I was myself in a small group of five or six people who rushed to one door and just before we opened it we heard shots on the other side of the door that was in the street. Therefore, we didn't dare to go out of the door.

So, we basically most of us stayed in the room just trying to hide between tables and chairs that were turned over. We were lying on the floor simply just hoping for the best.

PAUL: Now, I know that police got there fairly quickly. You said to me earlier you believe that he -- that this gunman may have gotten into the shop had the police not gotten there when they did?

BRINK: That -- sorry. I didn't get the last thing you said. PAUL: Do you believe that this gunman might have tried to get

into the shop itself had the police not gotten there as soon as they did?

BRINK: Oh, yes. Definitely. The police were on the spot already. There were some -- two police officers in uniform and there were some people from the Danish intelligence service there. And then, they prevented him from getting into the room.

He tried -- as far as I'm informed, he tried to get in the back door first and there were no police guards there but the door was locked and so he apparently gave up that plan and went in through the main entrance. And there was a lot of police intelligence service there. They opened gunfire against him. Yes, that prevented him from getting into the room where we are.

PAUL: Well, Dennis, we are certainly grateful that you are OK. Thank you so much for sharing with us what you know. And your experience from that incident. Best of luck to you. Thank you.

BRINK: You're welcome.

SAVIDGE: Let's bring in now retired Army lieutenant colonel and Pentagon consultant, Bob Maginnis.

Colonel Maginnis, was Denmark really prepared for this kind of attack? We know they have heightened security. But it didn't seem that that they were fully cognizant that it could very well happen.

LT. COL. ROBERT MAGINNIS, U.S. ARMY (RET): Yes, Martin, we won't know until after we heard about the investigation in the apartment and whether or not they actually reveal what they were doing. Based upon what we heard from your telephone calls, there were plenty of police there. There were intelligence police there.

They, obviously, according to one of the callers, they knew about this individual. So, they were tracking, they were doing their counterintelligence types of activities that are absolutely essential when you're dealing with lone wolf types of attacks like this. It's incredibly man intensive. It takes a lot of people to track only a few people constantly.

You know, being there as they were at that particular cafe scene, you know, precluded, you know, perhaps a mass attack or a mass killing like we saw in Paris last month. So, you know, give credit to the local police. They were doing their job stopping all of these in a free society is very, very difficult.

SAVIDGE: And if the police were responding to what they may have seen in Paris, is it also possible that the gunman may have been wanting to emulate something he saw in Paris?

MAGINNIS: The copycat types of events are not uncommon. The hatchet attack against police in New York City. We saw the Sydney attack and, of course, the Paris attack. These seem to be spun up results of, you know, some pretty terrible ideology that, you know, if this turns out to be another radical Islamist, then we'll have more evidence that this is something that is perpetrating across the globe.

Clearly, you have law enforcement on the edge. Europe, of course, is really turning anti-immigrant, which is a tragedy but something that understandably, given this type of random violence, is very disconcerting to the local populations.

SAVIDGE: The first attack appears to have been motivated to maybe strike revenge against a cartoonist. The second attack appeared to have been against a synagogue which, of course, suggests something else completely different.

MAGINNIS: Well, it does. If you go back to -- especially if you see what the statements out of ISIL are, they're saying, go after any unbeliever, and they name Jews as well.

And so, if you're doing what they told you to do and you believe that your cause is correct, then you're going to -- you know, you're going to visit local synagogues, you're going to visit local cafes where that particular group of people may go and that's going to help spin you up. Now, of course, the local police are going to go after evidence of purchases of weapons, IEDs, evidence of, you know, looking at a particular facility, you know, more than once.

And, of course, this particular event would have drawn a lot of attention in the papers even if it hadn't been a shootout because of Mr. Vilks and his past reputation.

So, I think people around the world are going to see, you know, there is some forensic evidence here to suggest that these types of events are going to draw lone wolves, therefore, we must be vigilant, we must do our due diligence in preparation for this, and I think we'll see a better local police. But the real answer here is not a military operation, not a worldwide attack against a particular group of people. It's local police, local citizens being vigilant.

You know, thinking about where they can escape to if something like this were to happen. If you're going to an event like this, Martin, you have to anticipate there's going to be at least a verbal confrontation if not a violent confrontation.

SAVIDGE: Yes, personal awareness. Very good point.

Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis, thank you very much.

MAGINNIS: Thank you, Martin.

PAUL: So, the second big story we're following is the blizzard that I know a lot of you are probably sitting at home looking out the window and you see it right there. We're going to take you live to hard-hit Massachusetts where they're expected to get some of the worst from the storm, but they are not the only ones.

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SAVIDGE: You've just got to feel for the folks in new England because another blizzard is hitting new England and Boston this morning.

PAUL: Uh-huh. It is.

SAVIDGE: We'll show you the video.

PAUL: There it is.

SAVIDGE: Overnight. It is daylight already and that city is now, I think, setting a record after weeks and weeks of snow. This new storm is affecting millions of people across that region.

PAUL: Uh-huh. I mean, the headaches for air travelers alone. You don't even live there and this is going to affect you in some capacity.

More than 1,600 flights have already been canceled. Boston's Logan and New Jersey's Newark among the hardest hit at this point.

We've got CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera tracking this storm and crews spread out across Massachusetts.

SAVIDGE: We do, indeed. In fact, they look frozen out there.

Let's begin with CNN's Will Ripley. He is in Cape Ann.

I'm sorry -- first, we're going to begin actually with Ryan Young.

You're in the seacoast. And give us the situation report if you can even hear me, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I know you've dealt with this from being from Cleveland but, look, it is very windy here. As you look behind me, you can just see all the snow that is swirling.

In fact, we decided to go for a drive this morning -- near whiteout conditions. You're talking about the airport, talking to friends who are trying out of Boston. They're telling me they won't be able to get out of here until Wednesday.

But, look, there is more snow hitting the ground than what I think some people expected. In fact, we cleared more than 12 inches of snow from this deck so we can just stand up here. But this morning, we even saw a thunder snow.

It has been blustery. It hasn't been super cold. Right now, we're told it's in the 20s. It's about 19 degrees. Sometimes it's fluctuating. Of course, there is a wind chill factor involved in this as well.

Now, we got close to the coast line because we wanted to see if there was going to be any flooding.

So far, we're told coastal areas have had some flooding but not anything significant at this point. Now, look, they've been trying to clear the roofs to make sure there are no problems with anything collapsing. I can tell you so far, all good news. Nothing collapsing so far from what we've learned. Also they've been clearing the roads to make sure they stay passable for people.

PAUL: All right. Brian, thank you so much.

So, we understand Will is out there a bit incapacitated at the moment. The equipment is sometimes cold as well.

I was interested in the fact that Brian said they cleared that deck. They're working hard, they cleared that desk.

SAVIDGE: Also interesting, the winds sculpted the snow around him. Look at that, it was like, wow, the winds whipped through there.

PAUL: (INAUDIBLE) Ivan.

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Incredible. In fact, weather service reporting upwards of 20 inches in places like Ipswich. That coming from ham radio. I'm not sure if that total is correct, we'll get the final word. I believe it because of the snowfall rates coming down.

Boston, the lightning strikes in the loop, that is thunder snow. That doesn't happen with every storm. It is because the ocean essentially is warming up and the arctic air and that difference is so dramatic this time around that we get enough lift in the atmosphere. That is what we have going here. Where you saw our good friend there, that is snowing heavily right now. We're talking 2 to 4 inch snowfall rates.

So, yes, the blizzard warnings are still in effect. We continue to see that from New England all the way down to Providence. This is the problem with the storm. The snow is going to end later this afternoon, but the ground blizzard will continue. That is, the snow that is already fallen that you saw there, because it is arctic snow, essentially. It is not a heavy, wet snow. It's going to get blown around by the wind. That's going to continue.

And then there's this, the wind chills that are going to be dangerously low. Monday morning as you step outside, 20 to 35 degrees below zero. That is dangerous stuff. You don't want to be in this.

And here goes the storm. It moves off by later this afternoon. And I want you get into the last few frames here. Look at this, the white here coming in, oh, my goodness, it's another one heading in Tuesday and Wednesday.

PAUL: No!

CABRERA: And that one is the one that is going to get us here in the South. Winter storm warnings already posted in the Deep South. So, it keeps going.

PAUL: All right.

CABRERA: And we'll be here to cover it. PAUL: We appreciate that, Ivan.

SAVIDGE: We do, indeed.

PAUL: Thank you again to Ryan and Will out there.

SAVIDGE: Poor Will. You stand out there, wait for your moment, technology --

PAUL: And it's gone.

SAVIDGE: We'll get him back.

Well, some other stories that are making headlines. This is the real question now, can the cease-fire that is holding so far for 13 hours, can it continue? Ukrainian forces and rebels there have agreed to stop firing at each other, but we're already hearing that there is reports of renewed violence and shelling.

PAUL: Also, a scorpion on a plane. Just ahead, why a flight was delayed because of that creepy crawler.

Stay with us.

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PAUL: Want to give you a look at other stories developing right now.

Police in Copenhagen say they shot the suspect in those two deadly attacks this weekend. Overnight, they got in a shootout with this guy and he was shot dead. They do believe he acted alone. Two men were killed and five people were injured though when he opened fire at a cafe and then hours later at a synagogue.

SAVIDGE: Yes, this is interesting because authorities were able to piece together surveillance images to track down that suspect. Of course, cameras in public are much more prolific in Europe than in the United States.

Well, that fragile cease-fire in Ukraine is holding, but there is the risk that it could unravel at any moment. The truce between Ukraine and pro Russian rebels started 15 hours ago. Unfortunately, though, CNN crews in the area have heard small arms fire on the streets of Donetsk. Others report minor clash violations around the conflict zone

PAUL: And passengers on a plane headed from LAX to Portland were delayed because of a scorpion. The Alaska Airlines flight made a U- turn after the creepy crawler bit a woman while the plane was taxiing. Now, the woman was treated. She's doing just fine thankfully. No word how that thing got on the fly though.

SAVIDGE: I would love to know.

The NBA all-star weekend is in its final day. Just ahead, why some of the Minnesota Timberwolves were talking about rookie Zach LaVine, the show he put on. Some are calling it the greatest show of all time.

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SAVIDGE: We're in the final day of the NBA weekend. Last night the slam dunk contest. Always a highlight.

PAUL: Uh-huh. Coy Wire is with us.

Zach LaVine, he was the man of the hour, is that it?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Oh, he was. He brought this place down. He set the Barclay's center on fire. I'm talking about blazing, high- flying and amazing. The Minnesota Timberwolves rookie, he put on a show that some are saying might be the greatest of all time.

Check this out. LaVine started the party with amazing "Space Jam" themed dunk. He's wearing that Jordan number 23. When you do that, you better bring it.

That one right there brought a perfect 50 and the crowd to the feet. Between the legs one handed.

Check this one out though. This is the one that gets me. He puts the ball up in the air behind the back, watch it in slow-mo, guys. Talk about leaps, hops.

This kid is only 19 years old. Not the youngest slam dunk champ, though. Kobe Bryant was only 18. Wow, awesome performance.

Now, the three-point contest got people talking. Somebody stole Steph Curry before the contest. It's all good though. He stole the show. He beat out his fellow splash brother star and teammate Klay Thompson in the final round. Curry went drain know behind the arc flushing 13 threes in a row at one point.

PAUL: My God.

WIRE: So money.

Now, listen, tonight the action gets started. The game on TNT with the NBA tipoff pre-game show at 7:00 Eastern. The main event, 64th all-star game, at 8:30. It's going to be a fun one.

SAVIDGE: There's a game, almost forgot.

WIRE: Finally. Finally.

PAUL: Coy, so good to have you here. Thank you.

WIRE: Thanks.

PAUL: All righty.

And thank you all for starting your morning with us. We're going to obviously continue all of the breaking news out of Denmark and the blizzard. But go make some great memories today.

SAVIDGE: "INSIDE POLITICS" with John King starts right now.