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CNN NEWSROOM

Shooting Takes Place at Denmark Free Speech Forum; ISIS Fighters Threaten Iraqi Airbase Housing U.S. Military Personnel; U.S. Strategy to Combat ISIS Examined; Violence Continues in Ukraine Ahead of Planned Ceasefire; Progressive Neurological Disease Affecting Children Examined; Severe Storms Threaten Northeast

Aired February 14, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Three police officers were wounded in the shooting.

The attack took place in Copenhagen during in an event organized by the Lars Vilks Committee, and Vilks was at the event. Witnesses say the gunmen tried to shoot their way into the building, and police say they believe this is an isolated attack. Vilks is a Swedish artist who was attacked a few years ago after drawing the Prophet Mohammed, many threats being made on his life. Today's discussion at this freedom of speech forum was titled "Art, Blasphemy, and Freedom of Expression."

Joining us now with more is CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. So Nic, we also understand that Lars Vilks had his own personal bodyguards and they actually returned fire when these alleged gunmen opened fire outside the building. What more do you know?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. So 30 shots fired at this gathering of about 50 people, shots fired from outside the building, two men involved, not clear if both were shooting or one of them was the getaway vehicle driver. That vehicle, of course, now has been found by the police. But the three policemen injured. Vilks, we're told by a source who is close to this, that Vilks was taken away to a safe area in the basement of the building.

But at the same time, we now know that body guards also came out were shooting at the men as they made their getaway. The police now have a massive man hunt on in Copenhagen and the surrounds. They want to catch these men, although they say there is no reason to believe this is nothing but an isolated incident. The concern is that these men are armed and it's not clear what they may plan to do next if cornered or when the police are sort of on the verge of capturing them. So this is a very big concern in Copenhagen right now tonight, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Is it clear what the subway system is like? If these two were believed to have gotten out of their vehicle, abandoned the vehicle not far from two subway stops, is this a very expansive system, rail system, or is it relatively small? Does it help them as they try to, you know, distinguish the parameters in which to conduct the search? ROBERTSON: You know, the rail network is a pretty comprehensive rail

network. One of the stops, and I've been there in Copenhagen to this particular stop in the suburb to the city, one side of it is fields, and the other is actually the intelligence, internal intelligence headquarters for Denmark. So, you know, if they get in the wrong line, they could end up in the very wrong place.

But this is a modern system, as well, and as with modern systems, this is something that would be very likely monitored by cameras. So this is going to give the police some additional information and leads if that's the route that they finally go. But the indications are that that's an avenue open for them, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then the counterterrorism efforts that take place there in Denmark, clearly, the country is very savvy. You have reported, we have had other guests talk about this rehabilitation, so to speak, program involving people who may leave, find themselves in the web of extremist activity. But is there, you know, great confidence in the way in which they conduct investigations of the caliber?

ROBERTSON: Well, if these perpetrators prove to be men who have been through this rehabilitation program, then that's going to shake confidence in the system. Until now, there's been nothing that's made public to give the public of Denmark cause for concern that it's not working.

However, having spoken to people who know radicals inside Denmark, who are familiar with the way ISIS and these other groups, Al Qaeda operate, and, again, having looked at what happened with the "Charlie Hebdo" attackers, they had a profile. The police were watching them. They played down that profile, they blended in, and the police stopped watching them. So there is a real concern by people, you know, people who understand the thinking of ISIS and Al Qaeda and how it tells people to hide in plain sight.

You know, these men may come back, may go through the program, and pretend that they are no longer associated with terrorism, yet they fully intend to carry something out. So we're really in the very early stages, but it's certainly shaken the confidence at the moment of the people in Copenhagen. They were not expecting this, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, thank you so much for joining us from London.

Let's continue the conversation now CNN global affairs analyst Lieutenant Colonel James Reese. All right, Colonel, Nic touched on this. If, indeed, these alleged gunmen abandon their vehicle and went straight to the subway system, how helpful will all of these cameras be?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Fredricka, good afternoon. They will be helpful. A lot of these CCTV cameras are all lined up and they're all connected to that allows law enforcement now to continue to track these guys. However, if they dumped into the subway station, that might have been

part of the getaway, again, where they could drop off. So they will have to go back right now, review a lot of series of CCTV to see if they can pinpoint where these guys got on the train and then jumped off.

WHITFIELD: And then it sounds as though -- well, I guess it was a little unclear. We talked to a Copenhagen television reporter who went to the police briefing who said that these alleged gunmen approached after the shooting, approached a vehicle, pulled the driver out. It sounds like there was a carjacking, took that vehicle before dumping it. So it's unclear whether they walked to this theater where this, you know, freedom of speech forum was taking place or whether they were in another vehicle.

This city is a very sophisticated city. Likely there are cameras all throughout the city. Will there be heavy reliance on that, or will investigators also be trying to, you know, try to get a handle of any kind of cellphone correspondence taking place at the time? How will they go about trying to backtrack and back time?

REESE: Well, you know, said this a couple of hours ago. There is two actually parallel efforts going on. You have the law enforcement aspect that is making sure everything is safe, and, you know, sealed off the crime scene. The second piece is the intelligence analyst piece that are going through all the different pieces of intelligence to help them build a picture to allow that to get to the police and law enforcement to start the man-hunting inside.

WHITFIELD: And then what about, you know, the general public? I mean, people, clearly, they have to be very frightened about this, and if they -- this these alleged suspects are on foot, on a subway, and if they have the kind of arms that we heard being described during the press conference according to the reporter there in Copenhagen, machine guns, pistols, that would be very difficult to hide unless they also had bags which nobody has reported on yet.

REESE: Yes, you're right. I mean, one of the things we have to watch here closely is if they -- you know, my assumption is they probably have some type of camera work they've been able to put a still out and get a shot of what these terrorists were like and who they were. I'm surprised, though, they have not put that out publicly. Now, that could be it is because they are hot on the trail and they don't want to give any of their accomplices any ideas that they do identify these pieces. So, again, we'll see what happens here in the next couple hours, but I guarantee you law enforcement and intelligence agencies are all over this.

WHITFIELD: And what do you envision when you hear, oh, these authorities used, you know, the words "act of terror," because it can be argued any crime like this where violence is unleashed on the public in public spaces, that those are acts of terror? But what comes to mind for you when you hear those words used in this case?

REESE: Well, for me, I believe we have to be very careful. And unfortunately, these events become emotional and people start throwing out words like "terrorism" in these pieces, where is it criminality or is this truly terrorism where it's aligned with a type of ideology or some type of aspect like ISIS or Al Qaeda per se? I mean, we see this almost every day here in the U.S. where there's criminality. It is terrorism because if, you know, they are trying to make an effect against the populous. But again, it becomes emotional, and we just have got to wait and see and kind of pull back a little bit.

WHITFIELD: All right, Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, thanks so much for your time and expertise. Appreciate it.

REESE: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, also still ahead, the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is set to begin in less than three hours, but the violence still hasn't stopped. And now Ukraine's president is threatening to impose martial law if separatists don't put down their arms.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we're now just three hours away from the deadline for the planned ceasefire in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warned if separatists do not adhere to a planned ceasefire he will impose martial law throughout the country. But in the run-up to the ceasefire violence has not stopped. Shelling could be heard in at least two cities including central Donetsk. And today Reuters is quoting a military spokesman as saying seven Ukrainian servicemen have been killed in just the past 24 hours. So what are the prospects for peace in Ukraine? Bill Richardson is the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He's joining us now from Chicago. Good to see you, ambassador.

BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Critics have argued that they don't believe Vladimir Putin wants a diplomatic solution to this crisis in Ukraine. Do you have much faith in this ceasefire just three hours away?

RICHARDSON: No. It looks like its' falling apart, but we have to hope for the best. I think the issue is Putin is already, the Russians violating the spirit of the agreement. There is supposed to be a ceasefire, a line of demarcation. But it's obvious that the Russians are providing weapons and ammunition. They are not on the ground themselves, but it's a proxy war.

So I'm very dubious. What I hope this will result in is Britain, France, and Germany, the key players, recognizing that Russia's not serious, so possibly they'll join the U.S. and hopefully the U.S. will impose new economic sanctions and possibly provide defensive equipment to Ukraine. But who knows?

WHITFIELD: You know, Britain, France, particularly France and Germany said they really don't want a military solution here, which says they would not be interested in the latter at all.

RICHARDSON: Well, that's right. And the danger here is that diplomacy, I think that is the best solution. But when Germany, the key player --

WHITFIELD: Mr. Ambassador, I'm sorry to interrupt you. Real quick, though, I have to take us to eastern Ukraine. That's where our Nick Paton Walsh is. And we know there's shelling going on while he undergoes these live shots for us just with three hours to go before this ceasefire. So, Nick, bring us up to date on what's happening there.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you mentioned, there is shelling here in central Donetsk. It seems to be not in the center but moving around it, relatively consistent. Other than that, as you might expect, a very quiet city indeed. There's real fear, certainly, that the next hours won't suddenly bring a silence to the weapons.

We are expected to hear from Ukrainian Petro Poroshenko in the hours ahead of that particular statement, but the major concern is, of course, city of Debaltseve, that's the town to the northeast of where I'm standing. Now, that is certainly an issue that has many people concerned and confused. The separatists say it was not referred to in the Minsk agreement and it's technically their territory, they think, because they believe it's encircled. There are still hundreds if not thousands of Ukrainian troops inside. It is heavily being shelled, and I'm sure Kiev considers it to be theirs under that deal, too. So the fallout over that dispute could well derail the ceasefire in its entirety.

And then of course there is this sort of constant backdrop of selling here in these areas and other populated areas too, the concern being that the civilian casualties caused by indiscriminate shelling by both sides, I should point out, is causing a level of fraught emotion on both sides that will make the idea of a sustained ceasefire hard to implement or certainly not sustained.

So a lot problematic in the hours ahead. Petro Poroshenko has spoken to Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande, his French and German counterparts. The real question is -- apparently he's also spoken to Barack Obama too in the last hour or so. The real question is has that diplomacy, sequenced cautious, flawed as it was, is it going to quiet the guns in about two-and-a-half hours from now?

WHITFIELD: OK, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much. We know you're in a very potentially dangerous and precarious situation there. So thanks so much for that report.

I want to return now to Ambassador Richardson. So sorry to have to interrupt you, ambassador. But as you can see, you know, with shelling going on, it was our Nick Paton Walsh there kind of in the crosshairs. We have to take advantage of the narrow window of opportunity.

So you heard him talk about really this backdrop of further shelling, and you have to wonder, is this shelling just, you know, an effort to further intimidate with just hours to go before this ceasefire, or does that shelling send a different message there will be no ceasefire? What's the best guess? RICHARDSON: Well, the best guess is that there is a ceasefire in

three or four hours, and this is the Russians and the separatists making a last run before a ceasefire comes in. That's the good news. The problem, though, is that the worry is that, all right, if the ceasefire collapses, what happens to help the Ukrainians?

And I think it's very important that the leaders in Germany and France and Britain and us, that we come up with a strategy that involves diplomacy and some defensive equipment so that the Ukrainians can find ways to defend themselves, and what we're talking about is air-to- ground missiles.

And then secondly, additional sanctions. The problem is that Putin doesn't seem to be moved by additional sanctions. Maybe the defensive equipment will do the trick. But I have my doubts. The Ukrainian economy is in bad shape. There's a lot of joblessness, factories are falling apart. So it's a very tense period, and we have to stand behind the Ukrainians, but it makes sense to do it with the allies, with the Europeans and us. But I'd say the odds are that this ceasefire is very fragile. But the hope is that once this very vital railway hub that is being contested, if there's something definitive there, that that will bring some kind of a pause and a ceasefire so that the diplomacy can work.

WHITFIELD: Mr. Ambassador, when you're talking about the defensive equipment, we know there have been some expressions that the U.S. might want to provide some weaponry, but, of course, then there's the issue of training. You know, you can't just have these, you know, these, you know, ground to air missiles that are provided to Ukraine without the wherewithal on how to use it. So it would engage U.S. military assets to be on the ground to help train, wouldn't it?

RICHARDSON: That's right. And you're talking about radars. You're talking about not just the air-to-ground missiles. You're talking about possibly some drone equipment. But, yes, training. And the issue is will Russia use this American military involvement as justification to take more action?

And the second issue is, can the Ukrainian military handle this equipment, maintain this equipment we provide them. You know, they are outgunned. So the options are not very good to make the situation better. The best option is diplomacy, is the Europeans and U.S. sticking together. I think we are a little more forward than wanting to do military assistance, some kind of defensive equipment. But, you know, when Germany and France don't want to do it, and they are worried about natural gas from Russia and Putin, you know, the options are not that good to help Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's hard to determine what this end game or what the next hurdle will be so to speak. All right, Bill Richardson, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., thank you so much.

RICHARDSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, following our breaking news on the attack at a freedom of speech panel in Denmark, police are now investigating it as a terror act. And the prime minister is calling it a terror act. A massive manhunt is now underway after police say the suspect's Volkswagen was found abandoned between two subway stops. The suspects are also believed to be heavily armed carrying machine guns and pistols and dressed in dark clothing. Denmark is not known for a country where people arm themselves.

We also now know the victim who was killed was a 40-year-old man, but he has not yet been identified, and three police officers were wounded in the shooting. The attack took place in Copenhagen during an event organized by the Lars Vilks Committee, Lars Vilks being a satirist cartoonist who once depicted the Prophet Mohammed, and many threats on his life have been made over the years. Vilks was at that event, and witnesses say the gunmen tried to shoot their way into the building as a whole. Police believe that this is an isolated incident.

Vilks is Swedish, and he has been, you know, his life has been threatened many times. He actually had bodyguards with him at the event who, police say, returned fire when the alleged gunmen opened fire outside that discussion, which was titled "Art, Blasphemy, and Freedom of Expression."

All right, now here back in the U.S., another weekend and another big concern about some severe weather on the way. Up to 50 million people are in the path of yet another massive winter storm this time. Blizzard warning in effect from Long Island to Maine. And right in the crosshairs, Boston, already hit hard by successive storms in recent weeks. Joining me not from Atlanta, CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera and CNN's Will Ripley in Cape Ann on the north shore of Massachusetts. So, Will, let's go to you first. Is the governor particularly concerned about more snow and storm surges on the way?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People absolutely are concerned, Fred. This is a tourist area. We're actually in the town of Rockport on Cape Ann. About 7,000 people live here in the offseason. Some of the businesses are open and they are taking advantage while they can of people actually being able to get out on the roads. You see a blizzard sale here.

This is actually a busy weekend here in Rockport because it's a holiday weekend, so a lot of the bed and breakfasts are full up with people. And there are also some residents who are out and about including George and Nikki who told me that you guys wanted to get out while you could because you got a robo-call a short time ago. What did it say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police called all the residents to tell them that on Sunday, 5:00 in the morning until Monday, 5:00 p.m., no traffic, no parking, and no driving on the roads.

RIPLEY: You're ready to hunker down. Are you stocked up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to. We went shopping as well today. RIPLEY: We were out at the grocery store Fred, and we saw a lot of

people stocking up like these fine folks getting ready for the storm. And again, you heard it, no driving on the roads from Sunday morning until Monday, which means if you're here, you're going to stay here for a while.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much, Will. Appreciate that. Let's check in with Ivan Cabrera. So Ivan, folks are bracing. They have been given warnings. What's coming?

IVAN CABRERA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. I think, in fact, this time tomorrow where you see Will there in Cape Ann, Rockport, Gloucester, you will not be able to stand up without assistance if you're going to be outside. That's the kind of wind we're talking about here. And I think that is what will differentiate this storm from the last huge storms. This one will be remembered for the wind, not so much the snow.

Not that it's not going to snow. It will. In fact the storm is already getting going here, but I think we are going to be talking about the kind of winds that will be producing coastal flooding and the potential of significant power outages across the entire area in Orange from Long Island, coastal Connecticut, Rhode Island headed into Massachusetts, and, of course, parts of southeastern New Hampshire and into Maine as well.

What are we talking about? We're talking about 50 to 60 miles per hour winds, the potential for hurricane force wind gusts, especially Nantucket. I'm thinking of you. This is the place that of course is surrounded by water, less friction, and that's when you get the winds really howling here.

So here are the coastal flood warnings from Portland, and there's Cape Ann, Gloucester to the essentially south of it here, so I think Rockport just to the north there, probably get it a little bit stronger as far as the potential for coastal flooding because it will be on the north side with those north winds.

So as far as the snow potential, anywhere from eight to 10 inches and heading up towards Maine, that's where the blockbuster snowstorm totals are going to be as far as accumulation. But I think the rest of us are going to be talking about this wind.

And look at this. By Monday morning, long gone, the storm is gone by Monday, but we're still howling the winds, and that means with the arctic air mass of appeal, it's 20 to 30 below zero. And that means a ground blizzard because the snow that would have fallen is going to blowing around. So here we go.

WHITFIELD: That is tough stuff. Thank you so much Ivan Cabrera, appreciate it, and Will Ripley. And we will have more in the Newsroom after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which paper do you want? DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The Golds may look

like a typical family. But look closer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at me. Look at this paper.

GUPTA: Six-year-old Eden can't walk, talk, or do most what a girl her age should be doing. She has a progressive neurological disorder called Mucolipidosis Type IV, or ML4. It's a rare genetic disorder more common among Ashkenazi Jews, people of eastern European and central European Jewish dissent. Eden's development stopped at 18 months. Doctors say she'll be blind by age 12 and will probably not live beyond early adulthood.

CAROLINA GOLD, MOTHER: Every dream that we had for our daughter was just ended with one phone call.

GUPTA: The Golds thought they were thoroughly screened for genetic diseases before they got married. Their first child was born healthy.

CAROLINA GOLD: My doctor tested me for a total of eight diseases, and Randy's doctor tested him for a total of two diseases. Neither one of our doctors tested us for ML4.

GUPTA: The couple didn't want other families to suffer the same fate. They started an online education and screening program for genetic diseases common among Ashkenazi Jews. At-home screening kits are mailed out and a genetic counselor delivers their results over the phone.

RANDY GOLD, FATHER: J-Screen's mission is to make sure parents know that they should be screened for genetic diseases before they get pregnant. We can provide them information on how to have healthy children of their own.

GUPTA: Just like the Golds, who added another daughter to their family.

RANDY GOLD: Eden is here for a purpose. She saves lives every day.

Oh, my goodness.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: Hello, again. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We want to update you on the shooting attack that took place in Denmark today at a freedom of speech panel. Take a look at this photo that authorities, Copenhagen police, are now revealing. They are asking the public on Twitter, even, if anyone has information on this individual who they say is connected to the terrorist attack today. And now a massive manhunt is underway after police say the suspect,

maybe at least two, their getaway vehicle was a Volkswagen and it was found abandoned between two subway stops not far from the location of this shooting. You see the bullet riddled windows there. Eyewitnesses say upwards of 30 shots fired.

Police say from the exterior that these gunmen did not make their way inside the building. They shot at this location from the exterior, but there was also return fire from the bodyguards of Lars Vilks who was sponsoring this event. Lars Vilks is known to be a Swedish satirist who had drawn a cartoon years ago of the Prophet Mohammed and ever since has received many death threats on his life. His bodyguards actually returned fire according to the police today, and then at least two suspects got away in the Volkswagen that I spoke of, and they found it abandoned near two subway stops.

So now, of course, police will be likely going through all kinds of video surveillance, cameras, images from the subway and around the area looking for these suspects. Last hour, I also spoke with Astrid Sondberg over the phone. She is a reporter for TV2 in Copenhagen and actually attended that police briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASTRID SONDBERG, REPORTER, TV2 IN COPENHAGEN: And they started shooting outside into the building where this meeting was taking place, and because of the Swedish -- there, police was there also, and they started to fire back. And those men who came, they were dressed in dark clothes, they ran away from the police. And they stole a car. They actually grabbed a man out of the car and drove away. And the police is now looking for the men. They had no idea this attack would be there. The police tell us that this Swedish person has been in Denmark a lot, and there was no signs that this would happen today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The investigation continues. So the search continues for these alleged gunmen.

Meantime in light of the terrorist attack in Denmark, CNN, we have a very timely special about a Danish man who embraced radical Islam before switching sides and becoming a top level secret agent. Morten Storm says he worked for many different intelligence agencies, British, Danish, and the CIA, tracking down the world's most dangerous terrorists. CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reveals this extraordinary spy tale in this CNN special report "Double Agent, Inside Al Qaeda for the CEO." That's airing tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern time. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, in Iraq we're following a new threat from ISIS. ISIS fighters have come within nine miles of U.S. troops stationed at a major Iraqi base, and they've almost completely taken over a nearby city. Separately, a key Sunni key tribal leader is racing the alarm over is' advances. He says if Iraqi troops pull out, Anbar province would, quote, "fall within hours." This comes as President Obama is asking Congress for war powers to fight ISIS.

Joining me right now Lieutenant Colonel Tony Shaffer, he's a retired army officer and intelligence officer, and Lieutenant Colonel Reese. He's a CNN global affairs analyst, and Nick Burns, professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, former U.S. undersecretary for political affairs. All right, good to see all you gentlemen, appreciate it.

REESE: Thank you.

LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER, U.S. ARMY (RET): Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Colonel Shaffer, to you first. What are these war powers going to do that's different than which is already in place, different from what is already in place?

SHAFFER: From what the president's asked for from looking at the language is really nothing extraordinary or different. Essentially he's talking about formalizing the authority he's already been executing. And some has to do with budget. They're been using something called the overseas contingency fund, the OCO. It's a slush fund the Pentagon has. Frankly he could have used to next year because there's $50 billion in that.

So I think this is a debate point. And members of both sides of the congress, both parties, my friend Jim McGovern, my friend Walter Jones, Democrat and Republican, have both been calling for this. And I think it's long overdue. So I think what this does is it puts it into the debate format, which should have been really last summer, and starts to formalize the process as well as stipulates some level of, I think, self-restraint regarding the left and right limits of what he wants to do.

WHITFIELD: Colonel Reese, is this a prelude to a new strategy in the wings?

REESE: No, Fred. I think the president's just trying to get ducks in order here. It's a new type of, you know, the enemy we're fighting now in ISIS, it kind of gets us, moves us past 9/11 and moves us past the old Iraq, allows him to get what he wants to do, his policies in place. But it also, you know, also gets Congress now involved, which Congress has been asking for several years.

WHITFIELD: And so, Ambassador Hill, does this underscore that there's only a military solution here, that diplomacy, you know, is out the window, as it pertains to helping to offer better support, more support to Iraq, or trying to encourage coalition forces to take a different approach?

NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER U.S. UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE: No, not at all. But I do think this is necessary, this authorization. The authorization the president is currently working under is from September 11th, 2001. This authorization is important because it hopefully will get the president, the Congress, and the American people on the same page. It should identify ISIS as the enemy, but, in my view, it should leave the military and president flexibility. I wouldn't want to see a resolution that limits the president to one to two years of military operations or that limits the way he can conduct ground forces, because we should want this resolution to intimidate ISIS, not to reassure it.

But wrapped around the military effort, obviously, is diplomacy to try to isolate ISIS internationally, dry up its financing, and, very important, it's to try to get the Sunni-Arab states to be the ground force here, the Iraqi army, the Pashmerga, and the Syria moderate rebels, get them together in a coalition. So this is a diplomatic strategy as well as a military strategy.

WHITFIELD: I wonder, Colonel Shaffer, if there is this overall sentiment that the Iraqi forces can't stand alone, and even through the Peshmerga is making more of a dent, more of a concerted effort or organized effort than Iraqi forces, isn't there a feeling that no matter what there's going to have to be this coalition support if not U.S. support, because it does not sound like anybody sees that Iraqi forces can stand up on their own two feet? I don't know if it's an issue of, you know, the technology, the armor is not there, or the willingness is not there.

SHAFFER: Well, it's complex. I agree with Ambassador Burns. You've got to look at this as a two-phased effort. First off, yes, they can't do it on their own. We know that. The Peshmerga, God bless them, have done well pretty much on their own. Kobani is a tribute to their do-whatever-it-takes-ness, if you will.

We've put forward, the Center for Policy Research I belong to, put forward the very policy recommendations, strategy recommendations, of bringing together the Sunni, the Egyptians, the Jordanians, the Saudis to get together and put together a NATO type organization, a ground force, if you will, to go and do this.

And then, as Ambassador Burns stipulated, you have to have a civil plan to come into that because once you retake the territory, you've got to put good governance in, because lack of governance and those tribes, the Sunni tribes who feel they were essentially be shortchanged by President Malaki, who was essentially a Shia leader, really stimulated the whole ISIS move. So we have to do both. We've got to do ground forces. We've got to take back the terrain, and then bring in some level of civil, diplomatic solution that will take a long term path towards fixing and stabilizing the region.

WHITFIELD: OK. Gentlemen, if I can ask you to shift gears with me, and let's talk about Denmark and what's taking place, and now the ongoing investigation looking for these alleged gunmen who may be heavily armed, machine guns, pistols, who appeared to have dumped their getaway car near a couple subway stations. Yes, cameras will be a great tool, but I wondering to you first, Ambassador Burns, what is the greatest concern about what's transpiring here and how it's Denmark now in the centerpiece of what many call an act of terror?

BURNS: It certainly looks like an act of terrorism. This attack was reprehensible, and hopefully the Danish police and the international authorities helping them will be able to isolate these terrorists and apprehend them. The concern here, of course, is following the January 7th attacks in

Paris, following the breakup of one ring in Brussels. You're really looking at a pan-European threat, a threat in many different European countries that have large Muslim populations of terrorist cells. And that threat has got to fought not just by military means but by intelligence, obviously, by judicial cooperation, by economic and political cooperation. So just as we were talking about ISIS, the way to combat terrorism is with a comprehensive military and diplomatic strategy. It has to be short termed and it's going to have to be long term to look at how these young people get radicalized and try to take steps to prevent that from happening in the future.

WHITFIELD: OK. Colonel Shaffer?

SHAFFER: Oh, agree. There's a network that now exists, we know, in Europe. We believe the intelligence I've been told about really looks like it's linked to Yemen, and the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. So I think we have to understand this is a global approach and we must do both. We must be very severe in our application, special operation forces, and then using clandestine human intelligence, interrogations, not torture but interrogations, to walk back and map the network, and defeat it.

We will find out soon, I believe, if this attack today was linked to the same network that conducted the attacks in Paris. But we've got to take it seriously. Right here in Washington, I don't want to reveal security measures, but every news organization is now taking seriously the threat of ISIS or Al Qaeda doing something here. So it's a very serious threat.

WHITFIELD: And Colonel Reese, last word on this?

REESE: Yes, you know, Fred, here's the bottom line. Right now, the Islamic extremism, whether it's coming from ISIS or Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, we have to figure it out. The intelligence folks are going to figure it out. We're going to backtrack it, like Tony said, and we have to start working it. One of the things we're not doing very good, though, is countering propaganda and bringing in this recruiting base. So that's something we have to take a hard look at it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Colonels Tony Shaffer, James Reese, and Ambassador Nick Burns, thank you to all of you. I think, Ambassador Burns, I think I may have referred to you, to your colleague, Chris Hill earlier, so my apologies on that. But I know you all are friends, so it's OK.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Thank you very much.

BURNS: We sure are. Thank you very much.

REESE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, and tomorrow, former secretary of defense and CIA director Leon Panetta on is "State of the Union" at 9:00 a.m. eastern time hosted by CNN Washington correspondent Jim Acosta. We'll have much more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A follow-up on this breaking story that we're following out of Denmark. Take a look at this picture. Copenhagen police are asking the public on Twitter if anyone has any information on this individual who they say may be connected to the terrorist attack where at least two gunmen opened fire at a location where a freedom of speech forum was underway. Three police officers shot and injured, one person, a 40-year-old, was killed. Police continue to look for the suspects after also finding what was believed to be their getaway car, a Volkswagen that was abandoned between two subway stops. And, of course, surveillance video just might be helpful in searching for these suspects if, indeed, they took to the subway system.

The suspects are also believed to be heavily armed, carrying machine guns and pistols and dressed in dark clothing. The victim who was killed, again, a 40-year-old man, but has not been identified, and the three police officers wounded, it is believed their injuries are not life-threatening.

This happened during an event organized by the Lars Vilks committee. Lars Vilks is known to be a satirist cartoonist who in the past has drawn pictures of the Prophet Mohammed, and his life has been threatened over the years. He was actually at this event, but he was unharmed.

And a quick check of other stories today. Terrifying moments caught on camera in Minnesota when a school bus with 11 kids on board lost control. Watch this police dash-cam video. It shows the bus swerving into oncoming traffic there. The bus driver reportedly was suffering from a medical condition. A state trooper was able to use stop sticks to get the bus to stop. None of the children were injured. And the bus driver was treated and released from the hospital yesterday. A close call.

Oregon's four-term Democratic governor is resigning effective next Wednesday. John Kitzhaber had been facing growing pressure to step down as a criminal investigation opens into his fiance's consulting and policy work. Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown will take over as governor now.

And we'll have much more news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In this this week's "Tomorrow Transformed," how technology is changing the way we not only manage our money but how we will plan for retirement. Here's CNN's Richard Quest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A ringing bell, frantic investors, all symbols of a bygone trading era. EYAL SHAHAR, PRESIDENT, ONLINE TRADING ACADEMY: The stock exchanges

as we know it are long gone. The vast majority of all the volume that is happening in transactions right now is all electronic.

QUEST: It's all now happening online with robo-adviser firms using algorithm driven robots instead of human financial planners. Eyal Shahar has built a business teaching people how to handle their financial investments online.

SHAHAR: I think the era of people getting up in the morning and saying to themselves I'm too stupid to deal with my financial future are gone.

QUEST: The growth and success of robo-advisers has traditional brokerages looking to join the robot ranks. Charles Schwab already has plans to launch a robo-adviser program in mid-2015.

NAUREEN HASSAN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHARLES SCHWAB: The robo- adviser is an evolution of what we have historically done, and we are keeping up with that revolution and taking a leap forward. So it's really taking the technology and applying it to an aspect of the industry.

QUEST: Managing our wealth online is now part of the lives. Whatever technology comes in the future, the goal must be the same -- make money, don't lose it.

Investors, beware. There are down sides depending on your level of risk and want for personal interaction. Humans or robots levy room for both. Only the masses determine who they trust more to manage their money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Hey, we've got so much more straight ahead in the Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for being with me this afternoon. Jim Acosta is up next from Washington.