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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

Terror in Denmark; Egypt Attacks ISIS; Killer Freeze; CNN Poll: 58 Percent Say ISIS War Going Poorly; Copenhagen Gunman May Have Had Help

Aired February 16, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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


JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Who is this new English-speaking messenger for ISIS?

I'm Jake Tapper. This is THE LEAD.

The world lead: Egypt retaliates, scrambling its fighter jets to Libya after ISIS signs a new video message for the West with blood, 21 Egyptian Christians murdered on video and their killers vow to conquer Rome. But do U.S. officials have any clue who the English-speaking executioner making his bloody debut is?

Plus, one man's rampage terrorizes Denmark's capital, targeting police, cartoonists and Jews. Officials say the suspect went to prison. He was a run-of-the-mill gang member, but did he come out a homegrown Islamic extremist? We will talk to a bystander snared in the middle of the shots.

And the national lead, states of emergency up and down the East Coast, 55 million people shivering through wind chills so cold, they can actually kill.

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

We are going to begin today with our world lead, the ISIS war against the West spreading even more as Egypt now volunteering its pilots and jets to help wipe these terrorists off the map. Today, that country's military said its warplanes staged two waves of airstrikes targeting ISIS terrorists inside Libya, Libya, the newest front line in this war.

Egyptian fighters honed in on weapons caches and terrorist training grounds. Egypt's president warning the terrorists this is only the beginning, and the raids are part of his nation's right of retaliation, vengeance, they say, for another set of sickening killings recorded and posted for the world to see.

In the video uploaded to jihadi Web sites, ISIS terrorists robed in black parading Egyptian Christians with their hands zip-tied behind their backs in single file. They are forced to kneel. A masked lunatic in camo fatigue delivering another invective directed at the West.

When he finishes, he and the other terrorists kill their captives, beheading some of them, the waves running red with blood. Like all the ISIS YouTube entries before it, it is brutal, it is stomach- churning, but unlike the other videos, this snuff film was not set in the barren war-shredded hills of Syria or the deserts of Iraq, but instead on the Mediterranean coast of Libya.

Let's go to CNN international correspondent Ian Lee. He's live in Cairo.

Ian, what can you tell us both about Egypt's response to this gruesome video and anything we might know about the men who were killed?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jake, there has been a lot of pressure here inside Egypt against the president to respond. We saw him do that early morning hours here. As night falls again, we are expecting the airstrikes to continue using the cover of darkness.

We know that the Egyptian foreign minister is now in the United States. He is going to go to the U.N. Security Council to push them to increase their support for the Egyptian government in this operation. What Egypt ultimately wants to see is that coalition that's operating in Iraq and Syria to expand to Libya as well.

Now, these men, these 21 Christian men, we know them. They came from the southern part of Egypt, a very Christian-dominated area. These were just laborers. Egypt has thousands -- before the revolution in 2011 in Libya, millions of laborers in that country, a lot of them Christian. A lot of them are trying to flee the country right now, getting out of there, trying to save their lives, Jake.

TAPPER: Ian Lee in Cairo, thank you so much.

In this latest taped butchering of innocent men, ISIS delivering a familiar message: The West is not safe. Sadly, of course, we have become used to in a sick way seeing the terrorist with the London accent nicknamed Jihadi John wave his knife at the camera. But this time, the English-speaking messenger is not Jihadi John. He is unfamiliar.

Let's get to Barbara Starr now. She's live at the Pentagon.

Barbara, what are U.S. officials doing to try to figure out just who this new character in ISIS is, this executioner?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, right now, if they know who he is, they are not saying. But they are saying they are looking at every frame, every single frame of this videotape to learn whatever clues they can.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): Some of the ISIS hostages cry out, "Oh, God, oh, Jesus," as they are pushed to their knees -- a five-minute ISIS execution video with slick production, multiple camera angles and utter brutality on a beach in Libya, 21 men, Egyptian Christians who came to Libya looking for work, killed. The video shows at least a dozen beheaded.

One masked jihadi in well-spoken English:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recently, you have seen us on the hills of as- Sham.

STARR: His English raising questions about who he is and where he's from.

In Egypt, Christians in mourning. Egyptian's President Al-Sisi responding with airstrikes inside Libya against what Egypt says are ISIS training camps. ISIS, however, achieving one of its goals, using violence to get attention.

AKI PERITZ, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Terrorism is political theater and they know how to sort of create spectacle to get into the media. And that's why we're really talking about it today.

STARR: The video raising concern that ISIS capabilities are now spreading across the region.

ROBERT GRENIER, FORMER CIA OFFICIAL: ISIS is clearly in communication with others who have taken on the ISIS name and the ISIS brand, not just in Libya, but elsewhere in the Islamic world as well.

STARR: Not just in Libya, but also in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, far from strongholds in Syria and Iraq.

But for the U.S., Iraq remains the top priority right now, where still fragile Iraqi security forces are struggling to hold on. One Iraqi tribal leader telling CNN that ISIS is gaining ground in Anbar province west of Baghdad and predicting a collapse there of Iraqi army units if tribal forces withdraw, exactly what the White House doesn't want just as it's asking Congress for new authority to fight the militants.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our coalition is on the offensive. ISIL is on the defensive and ISIL is going to lose.

STARR: But even if the U.S. can push ISIS back out of Iraq...

LEON PANETTA, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The big question mark in my mind is Syria and just exactly how long is it going to take us to be able to confront ISIS in Syria? Because, if they have a safe haven there, they may continue to be trouble for a long time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: But there is one very interesting development now, as you mentioned right at the top. Jake, Egypt has responded with these two waves of airstrikes. We saw the same thing in Jordan when their pilot was killed by ISIS, the Jordanian military taking to the air.

It's exactly what the Pentagon wants to see. It wants to see some of these Arab military forces in the region step out in front and challenge ISIS -- Jake.

TAPPER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you so much. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is live in Amman, Jordan.

Thanks for joining us.

ISIS has been making a play into Libya for some time now. Do you think this video, evidence that the terror group has firmly established itself in the country, do you think it shows that it is entrenched in Libya?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Jake, as you mentioned, for years now, we have seen extremist groups really tightening their hold in Libya and gaining more ground there.

And with ISIS over the past few months, we have seen groups there pledging allegiance to ISIS, to its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But there have been no direct links that can be seen, of course hundreds of Libyan fighters, jihadis joined the fight in Syria. They joined al Qaeda there, Jabhat al-Nusra, and also ISIS.

And there have been reports over the past year of them returning to Libya, but there has been no real clear alliance until now. When we are seeing this video, you are looking at those same kind of -- the same production, the slick kind of video that we have seen produced by ISIS in Syria and Iraq in the past. And also, Jake, the way we heard about this video, a few days ago in that English-language propaganda magazine of ISIS, they promoted this video before it came out and published some still photographs of the video that we are now seeing.

So the message is really clear. This is ISIS in Libya saying, confirming we are here and that they are so close to the shores of Europe.

TAPPER: Now, Jomana, you are in Amman, Jordan, right now, but for our viewers who don't recall, you were in Tripoli, Libya. You were held by Gadhafi loyalists at the beginning of the end for him when he lost control of the country.

In the three years-plus since then, obviously Libya has been ruled by chaos. Do you think what's left of the Libyan military is capable in any way of stopping ISIS from taking over that country?

KARADSHEH: It is such a chaotic situation, Jake, there. You are looking at a country that is so divided, two governments, two parliaments. You don't really have a military in the country. It's militias that are divided along so many lines that have been fighting over the past few years since the fall of Gadhafi for power, for control of the country.

And that is the chaos, that political and security vacuum that really has allowed extremist groups -- now we're seeing ISIS -- gain ground in Libya. So it looks very difficult right now at this point. We have seen some militia groups, especially in the eastern part of Libya, with elements from the former military trying to fight back extremist groups and jihadi groups in the east. But this is really the kind of chaos we have seen allowing this situation to happen and allowing groups like ISIS there to emerge and gain a foothold. So it's a very difficult situation, Jake, very hard to see how Libyans

can deal with this on their own. And speaking to Libyans in recent months, there has been this feeling that the international community that four years ago helped the Libyans overthrow the Gadhafi regime did not really do enough to try and build a military, build a state, try to demobilize and disarm the militias in the aftermath of the Libyan revolution, and many feel that the international community really has neglected Libya since, Jake.

TAPPER: Jomana Karadsheh in Amman, Jordan, thank you so much.

Back here in the United States, Americans are losing faith in President Obama's handling of ISIS -- new CNN/ORC poll numbers just coming out show a majority of the American people are not happy with President Obama and more now support sending in ground troops to Syria to fight ISIS. Will that make a difference to the White House?

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

Some breaking news right now in our world lead. Brand new poll numbers about the United States' fight to beat back ISIS, a group whose savagery has the public more and more convinced that this may be the time to send in troops. But when it comes to how the president plans to defeat ISIS, more Americans doubt that just bombing the terrorists is the way to get the job done.

Let's go to Michelle Kosinski at the White House.

Michelle, these new numbers suggest Americans could be warming, I don't want to overstate it, but they could be warming to the idea of putting troops on the front lines in the Middle East.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's one of the things it shows. This is interesting, because what we are basically seeing now is a country pretty much split down the middle on whether or not people trust President Obama as commander in chief. Also, this growing discontent over how he's handling the biggest security and foreign policy issues, especially ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI (voice-over): ISIS, medieval in its brutality, shocks the world almost daily now with its executions of Muslims, Christians, Jews, including Americans.

And Americans in this latest CNN/ORC poll are now increasingly disapproving of how the president is handling the fight against ISIS. Fifty-eight percent now feel it is going poorly, up from 49 percent just in October. Even among Democrats, nearly half are not happy. Despite the coalition response that's been lauded by the administration.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are taking out their commanders, their fighters and their leaders.

KOSINSKI: And maybe because most Americans feel, it is actually not going well, now, there's less opposition to the U.S. potentially sending ground troops to battle ISIS. Today, almost equally split on whether that would be a good idea, 47 percent of Americans would like to send troops, up from 43 percent in November. But that's something the president has been against from the beginning.

Last week, asking Congress to approve a new authorization for military force more tailored to ISIS.

OBAMA: The United States should not get dragged back into another prolonged ground war in the Middle East. That's not in our national security interests and it's not necessary for us to defeat ISIL. Local forces on the ground who know their countries best are best positioned to take the ground fight to ISIL and that's what they're doing.

KOSINSKI: What the vast majority of Americans, nearly eight in 10, do agree on is that Congress should vote on what the long-term fight against ISIS will look like.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: And more bad news for the White House. According to this poll, 57 percent of Americans disapprove of the way President Obama is handling foreign affairs in general, 54 percent disapprove of his handling of terrorism and 60 percent disapprove of his handling of cybersecurity -- Jake.

TAPPER: Some bad numbers for the president.

Michelle at the White House, thank you so much.

I want to bring in CNN terror analyst Paul Cruickshank, who is here in studio with me in New York, and CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd.

Phil, I just want to check in with you on these numbers -- 58 percent of the American people say that the war against ISIS has gone poorly and while 50 percent still oppose troops on the ground, boots on the ground to fight ISIS, 47 percent -- which is a number that's increased from 40 percent -- now support it. So, the country's basically split on whether or not the U.S. should send troops on the ground to fight ISIS.

What's your take? Are the American people right that the war against ISIS is going poorly and what do you think about sending troops on the ground?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Boy, I hate to say this on national news, Jake, but I think the American people are dead wrong on this. That is because we don't understand from a Western optic what's going on throughout the Middle East. If you -- if you look at the transition after the Arab spring, what

happens from transition to power brokers like Gadhafi or like Mubarak in Egypt is you get a power vacuum. The transition to democracy means people start to say if I don't win the election, I'm going to create my own militia or I'm going to start staging terror attacks to oust this new government.

So, you look at places that have undergone transition -- Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, even Afghanistan, 14 years ago, except for Tunisia in every one of these circumstances, and throw Libya in there as well, we are seeing a power vacuum that the United States has limited capability to affect. So, unless you want to try to ease this transition, this ugly transition to democracy across the Arab world and into South Asia, you better say there's not much we can do here beyond helping some of these people from the outside.

TAPPER: And, Paul Cruickshank, one of the reasons why the American people likely feel like the war is not going well is because of how good ISIS is at propaganda. It's disgusting and vile propaganda but it is effective nonetheless. In this latest video, it again shows the murder of Christians, making threats against the West but this one purportedly filmed in Libya.

How much of a cause for alarm is that that this is one that is in another country, not just Iraq or Syria but in a different country, one not far from Europe?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERROR ANALYST: Well, there's a lot of concern because ISIS have made a big push into Libya. This is very deliberate. The ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sent a top deputy last year, Abu Ali al-Anbari to lead the charge and there are 300 returning ISIS Libyan veterans who came back, they are able to take control of Derna in the east, a town of 100,000 people, and then spread their operations along the coast to Sirte, where they abducted these Coptic, and to Tripoli, where they carried out that deadly attack killing an American last month at the Corinthia hotel.

A lot of concern they are expanding, taking advantage of this simmering civil war in Libya.

TAPPER: And, Phil, we have seen al Qaeda attempt to expand before in Yemen and elsewhere. Is ISIS trying to copy the al Qaeda model or is this different and perhaps even more dangerous in some ways?

MUDD: I think this is different in the short term, more dangerous. I'm not sure it's more dangerous in the long term. Simple reason why -- believe it or not, al Qaeda when they started transition to what we call franchises was pretty conservative allowing people to publicly say that they were going to become members of the al Qaeda organization.

In my world, there's a famous story, a back and forth between the Somali group that wanted to be al Qaeda and the al Qaeda core guys in Pakistan. And the core guys, unlike is, kept saying no, no, we're not ready for this.

I think what ISIS is doing is saying, we'll take geography over a perfect alignment of leadership. In other words, ISIS leadership is saying if you want to fly the flag, even if we don't have a close connectivity between the franchises and the ISIS core in Syria and Iraq, go for it. So, very quick geographic expansion unlike al Qaeda.

What that means, though, on the flipside is that ISIS doesn't control these guys. I think long term, that's a disadvantage for ISIS.

TAPPER: And, Paul, quickly, if you would, the big fear obviously is that Libya with such a power vacuum with no one really controlling huge swaths of the country, could become another Syria with ISIS taking control of it, except a Syria much, much closer to Europe. How serious a concern is that?

MUDD: There's a lot of concern because Derna, this town they have taken charge of, is just 200 miles away from the southern shore of Crete, the southern shore of the European Union.

A couple obstacles for ISIS in Libya: one is there are a lot of other armed militias. And the other one is there's not the Sunni/Shia sectarian card that they can play. A lot of concern about their expansion into Libya, given the proximity to Europe, right on Europe's doorstep.

TAPPER: All right. Phil Cruickshank, Phil Mudd, thank you both so much.

Coming up, who is this gunman behind two deadly terrorist attacks in Denmark? Was he working for ISIS? Was he working for al Qaeda? New details on the suspect coming in right now. And two men arrested in connection with the attacks.

Plus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now urging Jewish Europeans to leave their countries and move to Israel. What's the reaction in Europe? That's next.

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