Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20150216

Christians. The terror Group Released a video showing the apparent beheading of a dozen christians. The egyptians say it is their right and their duty to avenge the blood of their christian countrymen and to punish what they call the criminals and the murderers. The killings of the egyptian christians highlight the concern about the rising influence of isis throughout the region. In response egyptian f16s took to the skies, targeting isis locations in derna, libya, not far from the egyptian border. Ian is joining us with more from cairo. What can you tell us about the targets of these latest egyptian air strikes . Reporter there has now been two air strikes targeting derna. They are now going after isis depots and training facilities. This is a city that isis controls. Its clesose to egypt, about 200 miles, and also close to europe about 200 miles from there as well. It sounds like theyre planning a prolonged campaign against them. The foreign minister is heading to the United States to talk to the u. N. Security council, to ask for what he says is an international effort. They would like to see the same sort of coalition that is operating in iraq and syria operate in libya as well. Theyre talking for more weapons. I talked to a retired general. He told me the Egyptian Military can keep this up for quite some time but theyll start running out of bombs and ammunition. Theyre going to need help from partner countries if theyre going to keep up these strikes. Egypt sees this as a very real threat to its national interest. Right now it is sandwiched between isis and the Sinai Peninsula and isis in libya. Theres thousands of egyptians still in libya trying to get out. The Egyptian Government is trying to charter planes to get them out. Once they cross the border. But its a very dangerous situation for them now that egyptian has stepped up these air strikes. Ian, these latest video released by isis appears to show a dozen egyptian christians being beheaded. 20 egyptian christians were killed. What do we know about them . Why were they in libya . Give us the information that we have. Reporter well these men were laborers. The many thousands of laborers go to libya before the 2011 uprising. There were millions of egyptians there going to work. A lot of them are very poor. These christians come from the southern part of egypt, a large Christian Community there. This isnt the first time there have been killings of christians in libya. There have been several across the country. But this is really the first large scale kidnapping of these christians. Back in december in january. And now were seeing them executed. What this video shows is that isis has a very Firm Presence in libya. Its expanding its presence there, taking advantage of the political and security vacuum that has been libya since 2011. Were going to have more on this story later. Lets turn to copenhagen where theres a much more visible Police Presence throughout the city following a pair of deadly shootings over the weekend. One at a cafe. One at a synagogue. Nick robertson is on the ground for us and has more. Reporter this morning, copenhagen. The latest european city traumatized by an apparent act of terrorism. As new details emerge about the 22yearold gang member who killed two civilians and injured several Police Officers in a frightening attack over the weekend. He recently served time in jail after being convicted of a knife attack onboard a commuter train. According to the police there were no known ties of islamist extremism and they believe he didnt travel to syria or iraq. The chilling moment the gunman opened fire saturday afternoon in the middle of a free speech debate obtained by the bbc. The turning point, is but. Why do we still say but when we [ gunfire ] reporter you can hear gunshots. Cnn is unable to aweuthenticate the recording. The assumed target lars vilks, a controversial cartoonist on al qaedas most wanted list for satirical drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. They took me and brought me into a storage room. Reporter hours later, the suspect attacked a synagogue. The gunman killing 37yearold dan uzan a guard providing security for a bat mitzvah party. We will do everything we can to protect the Jewish Community in our country. Reporter the terrorfilled weekend ending sunday outside these apartments. When the Police Killed the 22yearold in the third gun battle in less than 24 hours. And what more are we learning about the shooter and any possible accomplices . There appear to be two accomplices. The police have said all along that he acted alone, but theyre actually beginning to piece together some more information. What we have heard from prosecutors this morning, two People Police arrested yesterday. Prosecutors have charged these two young men arrested yesterday. One 19 years old. One 22 years old. Prosecutors say they had a prior agreement with the gunman to hide him out between the attacks, between the first attack and the time that he was killed by the police. Prosecutors also say these two men hid the weapons. Theyll be charged with accomplices to murder. The appearance is there were people these two men, who knew in advance, that this attack was about to happen or going to take place in some shape or form. So the security effort is to find out if there are any more accomplices like this or the concern about a potential for a copycat attack. Theres deep concern about that. Nick thanks very much. Following the deadly attack on the copenhagen synagogue, Benjamin Netanyahu urged jewish communities in europe to leave, and im quoting, israel is waiting for you with open arms. Alyse is joining us now. Many angry about the Prime Ministers remarks. Not necessarily forced to go to israel. How are the Prime Ministers remarks being received where you are in israel . Reporter from the Prime Minister in denmark to the chief rabbi there, who said they were disappointed with remarks from president hollande, and his Prime Minister said those remarks were offensive. In europe, theyre saying jews are an important part of europe. Those comments are not coming off very well in israel either. Ramon perez said this is the wrong thing to say. That right now jews should not be coming to israel out of fear. They should be saying its every jews birthright to come to israel and should come out of faith and love for the country, not out of fear. Thats a similar sentiment being felt all throughout europe right now. As you know the cabinet of the Prime Minister approved a 46 billion plan to encourage more jewish immigration, specifically from france belgium, and ukraine. So how would that work . Reporter well it really runs the gamut. It could be anything from more seminars and fairs for jews in europe to learn more about coming to israel and doing what they call coming to israel and becoming a citizen of israel. It could be teaching hebrew in those countries so jews would be ready. It could be anything from housing allowances to Job Opportunities to integrating these people into the communities. Basically the israeli cabinet. Right now theyre just discussing this 45 million plan. Its very significant and one of the biggest of its kind wolf. All right thanks very much. Appreciate it. And were just getting this in now. Lars vilks, the swedish cartoonist who escaped the attack in copenhagen is now confirming to cnn he has begun into gone into hiding. He says he is not afraid but he is going into hiding for understandable reasons right now. Well have much more on this story coming up later. Our next guest says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus comments came at the wrong time and he says normal life will continue for the jewish communities of copenhagen and elsewhere in europe. Denmarks former chief rabbi standing by to join us live. And later, first jordan now egypt. They are on the offensive. Will the change will this change the fight against isis . Stay with us. Lots of news happening today. The lightest or nothing. The smartest or nothing. The quietest or nothing. The sleekest. Sexiest. Baddest. Safest,. Tightest,. Quickest. Harshest. Or nothing. At mercedesbenz, we do things one way or we dont do them at all. The 2015 cclass. See your authorized Mercedes Benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedesbenz financial services. Rma. Checking your credit score is for chumps. I have great credit. How do you know . Duh. You know those change, right . Tattoos dont change. Try credit karma. Its free and you can see what your score is right now. Arent you a little bit curious . I just got my free credit score credit karma. Really free credit scores. Really free. I have got to update my ink. French authorities are questioning five teens in connection with a desecration of hundreds of graves in a Jewish Cemetery. Tombstones were broken and defaced. Some were painted with swastikas and nazi slogans. The teens claim they didnt even know it was a Jewish Cemetery until after they began vandalizing the tombstones. Police are still looking into that story. This is quite unnerving to many jewish families after a number of antisemitic attacks in france. Just a month ago a gunman killed four hostages four jewish men in a kosher supermarket outside paris. The incidents in france coupled with the deadly attack on the copenhagen synagogue have reignited fears in jewish communities across europe. For more lets bring in the former chief rabbi of denmark. Rabbi lexner thanks for joining us. Give us your reaction. Theres no concrete motive yet for the copenhagen synagogue attack. Theres suspicion that they may have been inspired by the events in france last month. How worried are you . How worried is the Jewish Community in copenhagen about more potentially antisemitic attacks . Listen we have expected that. We know that denmark as a country is a goal for terrorism. We know that when terrorism is the word, the jewish are endangered. So we have known that it could happen. We wouldnt have believed it would happen. Now we saw it. And we were not afraid. We were not afraid today. We are worried, of course. We try to live a normal life a jewish life and we hope that what happened here gave us some strength. I just came from the synagogue. We said to people come and be in the synagogue. We had a thousands people just coming to the synagogue, just to be there. And we had flowers around the synagogue. You wouldnt have believed i think i saw your show during the day. That people came from the Prime Minister a little girl yesterday evening with flowers. Since sunday morning, there have been people the whole time in the street where the synagogue is. We have got mail telegrams, from those in denmark and also from the muslim communities. We are not scared. We want to live in denmark. Rabrabbi, the man killed at the synagogue, 37yearold dan uzan i understand you delivered the news of his death to his family. I wonder if you want to share your thoughts on how that all went down. Listen everybody can imagine, dwhauz it mean that you get a phone call at 1 30 in the night, the police said please could you come to us. And when they get there, they say you are the one who are going to tell the parents. We knew that if something was going to happen the rabbi would go to the family. So i went with two policemen to the family in the middle of the night. And i was sitting there for i think five hours. And listen to lose a child for parents is the worst thing you can imagine. So of course it was hard. And sometimes its better not to speak, just to be quiet. Just to cry with them. Just to shout together with them. And other times, you speak a little bit. And little bit little you get people to understand what is going on. And that is one thing, i said i can do everything in the world for you but giving back that. So this was a hard time for me but you can imagine a thousand more hard for the parents. Yeah of course. This afternoon, i will just tell you that this afternoon, the parents and the sister came to the synagogue and we explained to them what really happened. And also, this is part of the bereavement. I wonder if you want to react to what Benjamin Netanyahu said when he suggested its time for the people in your country, to pick up and leave those countries and come to israel. I wonder if you want to react to what the Prime Minister said. I have reacted already. First of all, let me say, in 1961 israels Prime Minister came to denmark and said the same thing. And came here a media storm, the chief rabbi went out in the media and said this is not the way to come here and tell people to leave. I will say this was not the commentary i have expected. Im a father of three children who have left denmark and are living and establishing families in israel. We are happy. They did not leave denmark because they were afraid. They went to israel because they wanted to live in israel. And i want those people that come to israel they should come to israel because they want to go. Not because theyre afraid to be in another european country. Rabbi, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck to you. Good luck to everyone in copenhagen and denmark. Awful, awful attack over the weekend. Well, of course stay in touch with you. We need a lot of sympathy. Thank you very much. Thank you, rabbi, and police pass along our deepest, deepest condolences to the families there in denmark. Up next, as you saw, denmark has been shaken by these two deadly attacks. Were going to take a closer look at the shootings. The possible links to last months paris attacks. Whats that thing . I moved our old Security System out here to see if it could monitor the front yard. Why dont you switch to xfinity home . I get live video monitoring and 24 7 professional monitoring that i can arm and disarm from anywhere. Hear ye the awkward teenage one has arrived dont be old fashioned. Xfinity customers add xfinity home for 29. 95 a month for 12 months. Plus for a limited time, get a Free Security camera call 1800 xfinity or visit comcast. Com xfinityhome. The gunman was known by police for several criminal acts including severe violence. And he was also known to be linked to a criminal gang in copenhagen. What i want to also make very clear that we have no indication at this stage that he was part of a cell. Denmarks Prime Minister talking about the suspect in the deadly shootings in copenhagen over the weekend. Two people were killed. Five others were injured in the shootings. The suspect was later killed by police in copenhagen. Lets talk about more of this. Joining us our National Security analyst and our cnn intelligence and security analyst, former cia operative. Peter, the Danish Government you just heard the Prime Minister say no known connections to isis or any other terror groups but she used that phrase at this time. Whats your suspicion about whats going on here . I mean, theyll be looking for this guys connections but it wouldnt be the first time that weve seen people motivated by isiss ideology. In canada and australia, weve seen these lone wolf attacks. On the other hand the Danish Government has arrested other people so its early to make a definitive statement. It looks like the shooter did have links to other crimes. Theres a lot of similarities apparently to what happened in paris a month ago and what happened in copenhagen over the weekend. Yeah, wolf. This looks like a copycat attack right now. But the daner police will be going through the metta data. Thats what its good for, to see if he had any links to the middle east, if he traveled there. What sort of connections, cell calls, encrypted communications which is always possible. This will take a couple days. A good algorithm will tell them whether this is a lone wolf or not. But peter is absolutely right. Whats scary is that someone can purchase guns in a place like denmark, where theyre not readily available and carry out these attacks. Ill say it again. Having shot these policemen was some skill. So where he learned how to handle a gun also interests the Danish Police. A lot of questions. But these lone wolf attacks, which scare the fbi and europe. Theres a whole notion of this copycat, because in paris, there was first the attack against the magazine then the attack on that kosher supermarket supermarket. In copenhagen the attack on this magazine and cartoonist where they were having a discussion about freedom of the press and a few hours later the attack on the synagogue. Yeah both attacks involved attacks on policemen and both attacks involved people who seemed to have radicalized in prison. So what do you do about this . All over europe and maybe even here in the United States what do you do about copycats who may be inspired they may be gang members, but they may be inspired by this kind of ideology and they go ahead and do Something Like this . Its very tough. If they really are lone wolves theyre not communicating with other people, not part of a group. Its hard to detect. But president obama is convening this week at the white house, a twoday conference on countering violent extremism, bringing people around the world who are concerned about this subject. I dont think its very easy to come up with answers because countering violent extremism, how do you know when you succeed . If you succeed, Somebody Just doesnt do anything. And the police there in copenhagen the police have picked up these two suspected accomplice accomplices. I guess theyre being held for ten days during this investigation. Presumably if there are accomplices, that raises the level of this kind of attack right . Of course, wolf. What they have to determine is whether they were just part of this gang and he converted all by himself. Or they actually shared the ideology. But the Danish Police face the same problems we do here in this country, you actually have to commit a crime before they can haul you in and truly investigate this. The department of justice has been worried a long time about our prisons of people going in and joining muslim gangs and coming out, selfrecruited if you like. Or recruited in prison, and carrying out attacks. Its always a concern and if Law Enforcement is on top of it. But we just really dont have the mechanisms to stop it in its tracks. Thanks very much. It was six months ago when isis forces took key tones in Northern Iraq including the mount sinjar area. Up next cnn is going back to see what has happened to the yazidis after isis took control of that area. This is an exclusive report you will see only here on cnn. Meet the worlds newest Energy Superpower. Surprised . In fact, america is now the worlds number one natural gas producer. And we could soon become number one in oil. Because Hydraulic Fracturing Technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. Supporting millions of new jobs. Billions in tax revenue. And a new century of American Energy security. The new Energy Superpower . Its red, white and blue. Log on to learn more. Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer reporting from washington. Isis fighters are gaining critical new ground in western iraq. And iraqi troops are in danger of actually collapsing there. Thats the word from a senior sunni tribal leader in the region. He had been warned that if the troops withdraw anbar could fall within hours to the north. Isis still has a strong grip over the predominantly kurdish areas. It was just six months ago when isis arrived in the area triggering an exodus from the town of sinjar. Cnns phil black takes a closer look at whats happened there since then. Reporter sinjar is now mostly empty. Blackened and battered by war. Isis holds this town firmly. From a peshmerga position we hear fastmoving aircraft followed by explosions below. From this position you can see the smoke rising above the town. There is the occasional burst of small arms fire from down within its streets and there is a surprising amount of traffic coming into the main road from the west from the direction of the Syrian Border towards sinjar and isiscontrolled territory. Cars and heavy trucks an endless stream moving at high speed. Proof the coalition has not achieved its goal of stopping isis from moving fighters and supplies across the Syrian Border. The arrival of isis last august triggered a panicked stampede. Much of the population hundreds of thousands, led up the slopes of neighboring mount sinjar. They found safety from isis but no food and water. No shelter from the scorching heat. Some remain on the mountain. Most have moved on. Many others have disappeared. This fighter says he hasnt seen his brother or nephew since isis entered the town. At a large refugee camp in kurdish iraq now full of people from sinjar we hear stories that help explain the disappearances. This woman and her niece were captured by isis. She says they killed the men, she saw her cousin beheaded. Both say they were moved repeatedly with other sinjar women, first to syria, then back to other isis areas in iraq. She says she saw women being raped again and again. Her daughter just 13 says she was kept with other young girls who were told to embrace islam and marry isis fighters. She tells me one girl refused and they cut off her hand. Aunt and niece were held separately but both escaped at different times. Like almost everyone from sinjar they follow the yazidi faith, a religion especially loathed by isis. Yazidis are now scattered across Northern Iraq in camps like this waiting for isis to be driven from their towns and villages. But they say they will never go back to sinjar because they will never forget what they saw and would never feel safe there again. Phil black is joining us now live from erbil in Northern Iraq. The u. S. Led coalition, theyve been targeting these air strikes in these air strikes against isis targets in the region lately. Does it seem to be having much of an impact . Reporter it has, wolf. Theres no doubt. Together those air strikes along with those Kurdish Peshmerga fighters on the ground they have successfully cleared thousands of square miles. Driven isis out. But as we know air power alone wont finish the job. And also theres every sense that these kurdish fighters are very much aware of their limits as well because while they are prepared the clear small villages open ground, theyre not moving into big towns and cities. Thats why theyre not yet moving into sinjar, for example. They are holding off, waiting, druing perimeters around these towns, circling them. It would seem waiting for the iraqi army to finish its preparations its retraining to be ready to rejoin and lead offensive operations to liberate these much larger urban areas. In the case of sinjar this means there is no major offensive plan in the future so it will be some time yet before the world discovers exactly the extent of the horrors that took place there. How many were killed. How many were taken. Wolf . Reporter phil black on the scene for us. Thanks for that report. Appreciate it. Meanwhile, egyptian fighter jets there targeting isis in libya, as egypts offensive now a potential gamechanger. Our panel of experts standing by to weigh in. Their analysis of the war against isis and where it stands, thats next. T i maximize good stuff like my potassium and phytosterols which may help lower cholesterol. New ensure active heart Health Supports your heart and body so you stay active and strong. Ensure, take life in. You total your brand new car. Nobodys hurt,but there will still be pain. It comes when your Insurance Company says theyll only pay threequarters of what it takes to replace it. What are you supposed to do, drive threequarters of a car . 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Jordan on the offensive, as we know now for a couple of weeks against isis targets in the region and syria, and not necessarily in iraq but maybe in iraq. Is this a gamechanger . Whats going on right now . Or is it just more of the same . No, no, no, its a game changer. What you have, wolf clearly is the momentum has built. The threat is now imminent. Its been defined as imminent. Its getting closer and closer. So the egyptians going into libya, at least they dont have to ask for permission to keep going into libyan air space. But theyre clearly striking against targets, as they present themselves. And then with the jordanians into syria. That obviously is a gamechanger. As long as we can maintain the pressure and keep this coalition together, it could be a gamechanger. So isis what are they thinking . You studied these terrorist groups. They go ahead and they slaughter 21 egyptian christians. Most of them they behead them put it out there on video, show the whole world whats going on. Theyve got some guy speaking in english, talking about all of this. Do they think theres not going to be a reaction from the Egyptian Military which is still a pretty powerful military largely u. S. Supplied, u. S. Trained. I dont think theyre rational actors. Beheading the american journalist caused a huge reaction. Killing the jordanian pilot brought jordan into the fight. Its not an effective strategy to keep adding to your enemies and thats what theyve been doing. But they have an apocalyptic view that the end of the world is near and theyre part of this kind of force for good thats going to help. Of course that doesnt make any sense. But they truly believe that they are in a cosmic struggle which theyre on the good side. Do they think do they want this kind of reaction jordanian reaction to the brutal burning of that f16 Fighter Pilot in that steel cage . Do they want an egyptian reaction to the beheading of these egyptian christians in libya . And obviously the beheading of the americans and killing of the americans who were being held hostage. What is their objective here . Well peter hit the nail on the head. Its apocalyptic. They want to go to war with egypt, with the Egyptian Military. The Islamic State is getting a lot of recruits from egypt, from jordan and now from saudi arabia. I oddly enough read the obituaries in the arabic press and theres a lot of saudis dying in iraq as well as libya and other places. So what theyre hoping is if they can draw the west and our allies whether its egypt or jordan into this into a real confrontation, you know crusaders against islam, that these states will eventually fall. I think theyre wrong. But this is the war theyre fighting. So when they christians this goes against tenets but they want to provoke us into a war of really putting boots on the ground taking american prisoners, and the rest of it, and they think at the end of the day they can win this fight. So when peter says apocalyptic, hes right. Theres a lot of experts on iraq and ive been speaking with them lately they think isis might be destroyed eventually inside iraq. But not necessarily thanks to the u. S. And the Coalition Air strikes. Not necessarily thanks to the Iraqi Military which is basically pretty much useless. Not because of the peshmerga and the kurdish fighters but largely because of the shiite militias backed by iran. Tens of thousands of them are going after isis right now. Theyre having the huge impact. And if in fact isis is destroyed, the shiite militias backed by iran may emerge as the big victor in iraq to which you say odd story, isnt it . That now our biggest ally in the region might be teheran in terms of what theyve been able to accomplish in terms of the heavy lifting going against isis. Its not an outcome that we would prefer. Its clearly an outcome that is potentially inevitable based on what we see on the ground right now. I would challenge the efforts that are now ongoing by the United States and Coalition Partners as really doing a very just a heavy amount of lifting against isis in terms of containing them and not letting this spread geographically elsewhere, although we are seeing motivations and seeing successes in places like libya. But if we can hold it there, were good. Its a complicated story with no clear end in sight but well watch it guys. Thanks very much. Were now into day two, by the way, of that ceasefire in ukraine. Observers say its shaky, but holding for the most part. Were going live to donetsk for a live update. Two weeks later. Look, credit karma are you talking to websites again . 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Liberty mutual insurance. All right, this just in to cnn, the copenhagen artist who was the possible target for the attack has gone into hiding. Lars vilks is on al qaedas most wanted list for an illustration he made dedepicting the Prophet Muhammad. I realize this was many years ago in 2007 and there are other artists who have rendered pictures of the Prophet Muhammad and angered many in the muslim community. There are other authors among them and then of course the most recent with Charlie Hebdo being targeted as a result of the same sentiment. Do you feel response nlible or do you feel that you have contributed to this sentiment that has inspired some people to resort to violence to express their anger about how the Prophet Muhammad has been depicted . Well when you pose the question on the political responsibility i mean the reledgere religious symbols they are carrying they are carrying political decisions almost so if you question the basic symbols of this its a part of a political conversation. And if you have people with guns who start murdering people the thing you do is to start to put these people in prison because we cannot accept people murdering and trying in that way to stop the discussing our questions which you do with the freedom of speech and in a democracy. So its a responsibility and, of course not one for following the rules and keeping a reasonable discussion going. Its those people who try to stop it with violence and murder. During the shooting bodyguards moved lars vilks, the cartoonist into a storage room. Denmarks Prime Minister praised security in copenhagen saying that the shootings could have been much worse and overall the city was lucky. Were almost two days into the ceasefire in ukraine. Officials say its officially holding but theres been some shelling. Fighting between rebels and ukrainian officials have increased leading up to the ceasefire. Nick paton walsh is joining us live right now. Nick from what you have seen there, have there been any violations of the ceasefire . How is it holding up . Reporter well certainly weve come down from the key town which is at the heart of the disagreements around the ceasefire and there was a lot of shelling begging the question, what do you really cause the ceasefire when people havent stopped firing. That of course is what people are dealing with right now. There were shelling on both sides and civilians are cowering in basements, simply terrified to leave there. And, of course the other issue as well being how to resolve the hundreds and thousands of ukrainian troops trapped inside that particular town. We spoke to some ukrainian tank troops who had just come out and they said trying to go back in there, in their words, was a oneway ticket to their grave. Very far from a ceasefire. The monitors say its holding apart from the bouts. The bouts are always going to be the key town that both sides want to sad bee that would derail the ceasefire. That seems to be happening as we speak and until theres a political solution that resolves the fate we could see a perilous situation ahead of us. Wolf . Nick as you know both sides are supposed to be moving heavy artillery out of the hot zones. Whats the timetable for that to happen . Reporter well, that is supposed to begin to happen right now and unfortunately what we saw on the ground was, in fact ukrainian heavy weapons and heading in the opposite direction, it seemed to be back towards the front and there are reports that separatists have their weapons in place and both sides seem to be waiting for the other to make the move and the previous agreement there was a moment of silence that preempted that withdrawal of heavy weapons. Nick paton walsh, be careful over there. Well stay in close touch. Well take a break and be right back. Here in the United States last night, a cultural icon celebrated its 40th birthday. Im talking about saturday night live as part of the celebration. They rolled out some of the classic classic characters like these. I love the blues brothers. For 40 years, they have lampooned our world and i consider it a badge of honor that i have been spoofed by snl a lot over the years. So which wolf blitzer do you prefer . Watch this. Good evening. Im wolf blitzer. Im wolf blitzer. Worse name cnn correspondent wolf blitzer. Wolf blitzer, cnn news. Im wolf blitzer, such an exciting name for such a boring name. What kind of a name is wolf, anyways . Its so obvious that god made it up for the war. Im wolf blitzer and this is the situation room. Homey, where you at . Im in the situation room. Haha, straight up. All right. Yeah. Im going to do pushups for everyone and i want you to count them out loud. Blitzer, get up here and sit on my back. One, two, three the crawl is a privilege, not a right. My face is being haunted by the ghost of an old beard. Its like hi we now take you to our war correspondent. So let me warn the gunslinking buccaneer. Youre watching the situation room. Very funny stuff. Just laughing. Today, by the way, is president s day here in the United States and tonight our north american viewers will get to see six cnn anchors testing their knowledge of president ial trivia. It airs tonight for our north american viewers at 9 00 p. M. Eastern. Thats it for me. Thanks for watching. Ill be back in the situation room for our international viewers, amanpour is next. For north america, newsroom with Brooke Baldwin starts right now. Here we go. Im Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for being here with me on this president s day, monday. We begin a new phase in the war on isis. Its just begun with this. 21 egyptian christians kidnapped, lined up on a beach and beheaded. Another brutal mass murder at the hands of isis. But this time it didnt happen in syria, iraq this was