Breivik lawyer: Case suggests my client is insane

Geir Lippestad, the defense lawyer for Anders Behring Breivik, who has confessed to the July 22nd attacks in downtown Oslo and on a Labor party summer youth camp on the island of Utoya. According to Lippestad Breivik said he was sorry for the deaths but that they were "necessary." / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

Last Updated 8:35 a.m. ET

OSLO, Norway - Anders Behring Breivik's defense lawyer said today that Breivik is not aware of the death toll or the public response to attacks that left 76 people dead, and the whole case suggests his client is insane.

Geir Lippestad did not say whether he would seek an insanity defense for Breivik, but told The Associated Press that his client's actions were absurd and horrible.

Geir Lippestad also told reporters Tuesday that Breivik took drugs to be "strong, efficient, awake." Lippestad says Breivik's family has not asked to see him and that he thinks the client believes his "operation" is going according to plan.

"He expects that this is a start of war that will last for 60 years. but his mind is very ... well, I don't want to comment more on his mind, but that's what he believes," he said. "He looks upon himself as a warrior. And he started this war, and takes some kind of pride in that."

Breivik has confessed to last week's bombing in the capital and a rampage at a Labor Party retreat for young people that left 76 people dead. But he has pleaded not guilty to the terrorism charges he faces, claiming he acted to save Europe from what he says is Muslim colonization.

Breivik claims he is part of an organization with several cells in Western countries and his attacks in Norway were necessary because he's in a state of war, Lippestad added, saying Breivik talked about "two cells in Norway but several cells abroad."

Earlier, Norway's justice minister told reporters Tuesday that employees from his department are still missing. Police plan to start publicly naming the dead for the first time Tuesday.

Prosecutor Christian Hatlo told the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten that Breivik may also face charges of crimes against humanity.

Lippestad said Breivik was giving not him instructions for his defense, and that he wouldn't take such instructions.

Police say he has given them additional information - that he may have worked with two other terrorist cells, both capable of future attacks. For that reason, he'll spend four weeks in solitary, with no communication. Eight weeks total of initial detention, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor.

The attacks he does not deny: The massacre at a youth campground, where 68 died and the car bombing in Olso, which killed 8.

Lippestad confirmed that yesterday's arraignment hearing was closed to the public and media over concerns that his client could send signals to other cells.

As Breivik began his first full day in solitary confinement, flowers still fill the streets of Oslo today from Monday's Rose March - an extraordinary outpouring of remembrance in downtown Oslo, spurred first by a single user on Facebook.

Crowds eventually swelled to over 200,000.

29 Photos

Norway mourns massacre victims

And it wasn't just Norwegians, Americans as well.

American Lee Danielsen also marched, carrying both Norwegian and U.S. flags: "Well, I just want the Norwegians to know that everyone is supporting them."

Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said, "We are heartbroken, but we are not letting fear break us."

Breivik thought he could revolutionize Europe, returning it to a land of white Christian domination.

So far, his fellow citizens have shown no interest in that radical plan.

Breivik's worldview is about as extreme as it gets, but this tragedy IS launching a new debate in Norway over security, where police almost never carry weapons. The police union here said it would take a new look to see if the rules should change.

Norway's justice minister today defended the actions of police responding to Friday's terror attacks, in response to a question about the mounting admissions of missteps.

Norway's justice minister defends police