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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Crisis in Ukraine: Push for Peace; Snowstorm Slams Northeast; Grammys: Sam Smith Wins Big

Aired February 09, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now:

U.S. and world leaders mapping out a peace plan for Ukraine as the violence escalates between the country's military and pro-Russian rebels. This morning, how President Obama plans to get involved and a prize that Russia may have to pay for its role in the fight. We have team coverage breaking down this story, ahead.

Bracing for impact. The Northeast smacked with a monster snowstorm. Flights canceled. Schools closed. People warned to stay off the roads. Just how bad will this one get?

And then, Sam Smith, he conquered the Grammys. Big win for the singer soul on music's biggest night. We'll breakdown some of the big surprises from the Grammys. That's ahead as well.

It is Monday, February 9th, 4:00 a.m. in the East. Welcome to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

The big story this morning, the diplomatic struggle to save Ukraine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting face-to-face with President Obama in Washington this morning. The German chancellor favors sanctions against Russia if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to the plan to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine by Wednesday. President Obama is facing mounting pressure to arm Ukraine, something the German chancellor strongly opposes.

Our Frederik Pleitgen is live in Kiev this morning.

Good morning, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Although state media is reporting that at least 30 (AUDIO GAP), there are some people who are saying they want these sanctions, obviously, to go forward. One of the things that's been going on is that there is a little more optimism here in Kiev now. What's happened is that because of the telephone call that took place yesterday between Vladimir Putin, Petro Poroshenko, as well as Merkel and Hollande for the European, they at least managed to map out the system where they wanted to meet in Minsk to try and get some sort of ceasefire agreement going.

Now, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done. It's interesting because Vladimir Putin actually gave an interview to a newspaper in Egypt where he said that not all issues have been sorted out.

There's a working group that's meeting in Berlin, Germany, today to try and get some of these issues off the table. The biggest one certainly is going to be, how much territory would the pro-Russian separatists being able to keep in Eastern Ukraine? Of course, they have a lot more territory than they did the last time all these sides sat together.

And then the other big question for the Russians is, what about NATO membership for Ukraine? Will Ukraine say, we're never going to become a member of NATO? That's something that's very high on Russia's agenda.

So, at this point, negotiations are being given a chance. But on the other hand, the Europeans have said for a very long time, if this goes bad, they do want additional sanctions. In fact, they are talking about sanctions as early as today on individuals, not on all sectors of the Russian economy. But, of course, there is always that idea that's been floated out by people like Senator John McCain saying that perhaps it is time to arm the Ukrainians. And, of course, the Obama administration has said that at this point, they don't think it's a good idea. But it certainly something that isn't off the table at this point in time, John.

BERMAN: Nothing is off the table, especially as they'd seen these deals go sour in the past.

Frederik Pleitgen in Kiev for us this morning, thanks so much, Fred.

European leaders are moving forward with this new round of sanctions against Russia as Fred was saying. Targeting nine unidentified organizations in nearly 20 Russian or Ukrainian individuals. The highest profile target is the Russia's deputy defense minister.

So, let's go live now to Moscow bring in senior international correspondent Matthew Chance with the Russian perspective.

Good morning, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. That's right.

The Europeans speaking about ratcheting up these sanctions. But they're very clear that what they want to see out of this summit that's being planned on Wednesday between the leaders of Russian and Ukraine and France and Germany is a diplomatic solution to try and bring this crisis to an end. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, of course, traveled to the United States, and she will be meeting President Obama at the White House later today.

And there is this sort of strange difference of opinion that emerged between the Europeans and United States on this issue. This conversation going on, of course, in Washington about whether or not to arm Ukrainian government side in the civil war in the country. The Europeans and Angela Merkel at the forefront of this categorically opposed to that, even though the (INAUDIBLE) are saying, look, it could increase the costs on Vladimir Putin for backing the rebels in eastern Ukraine. The big concern is if you add weapons to that volatile crisis, it could make it much, much worse and, of course, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the region are at stake, John.

BERMAN: Yes, the Russian response is one that the United States is very, very worried. Matthew Chance in Moscow, thanks so much.

Secretary of State John Kerry insists the West does have a unified front in its effort to stop the conflict in Ukraine. But, as Matthew was saying, there is a lot of disagreement over arming the Ukrainians in the struggle against the Russian separatists. And that makes the diplomacy here very delicate.

Let's get more now from Washington with CNN's Erin McPike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The ongoing crisis between Ukraine and Russia is certain to top the agenda of the meeting today between President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And we'll hear from the two of them later today in a press conference after that meeting. That's all happening as the debate is growing between American and European leaders about whether providing lethal aid to Ukraine could be counterproductive that it would escalate the situation with Russia, rather than deescalate it.

Now, that debate will be a key point of talks of preliminary diplomatic talks in Berlin tomorrow and again at a proposed peace summit in Belarus on Wednesday. Remember, the Obama administration is still hoping for a political solution to this crisis, but they are leaving an opening. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Europe for a security conference over the weekend, and on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, he left room for the U.S. to alter its strategy if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't stand down. Listen here.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF THE STATE: The solution is a political diplomatic one, but President Putin has got to make the decision to take an off-ramp. And we have to make it clear to him that we are absolutely committed to the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine, no matter what.

MCPIKE: Kerry and Vice President Biden continued to stress in Europe this weekend that Ukraine does have the right to defend itself, but they're obviously trying to stop short of creating conditions for an all-out war. Although as some Republicans are now calling on the administration to provide that lethal aid, it appears some senior officials are beginning to open the door to some new option.

BERMAN: Our Erin McPike, thanks so much.

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson is warning that now is not the time for Congress to play politics with funding for Homeland Security. Some Republicans are trying to reverse the president's executive actions on immigration in any spending bill for Homeland Security, any funding bill for homeland security. DHS funding dries up in less than three weeks. The secretary says if this happens, 30,000 DHS workers will have to be furloughed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEH JOHNSON, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Just say, well, we'll just make them come to work without pay, first of all, is a real challenge for working men and women of my department. Second, it means furloughing at least 30,000 of our department and cutting back very significantly on our operations, our operations to pursue homeland security. So, this is not a situation to make light of in these challenging times. We need a fully-funded Department of Homeland Security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Johnson is actually asking for an increase in funding over last year's level to pay for extra Secret Service agents during the 2016 presidential election and more equipment for state and local police agencies.

If an agreement is not reached in the coming weeks, it will be impossible to extend nuclear negotiations with Iran. That is what Secretary of State John Kerry says. He insists that major points of agreement must be in place by next month. He claims the Iranians have had more than enough time to prove their nuclear program is peaceful.

All right. The weather, man, Boston and much of the Northeast in the grips of a huge storm. Snow is already falling hard in some parts of New England, with some areas facing up to two more feet -- two more feet -- of snow. Boston is still digging out from 55 inches of snow it has already had there. The mayor says there is just no place to put any snow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTY WALSH, BOSTON MAYOR: Adding to last week's snowfalls in a span of time, this is an unprecedented area that we're heading in now here in the city of Boston as far as the amount of snow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Some parts of New England already half a foot has fallen overnight. I want to get the forecast now from meteorologist Karen Maginnis.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, estimates of as many as 43 million all across the Northeast and New England corridor are going to be impacted by this long duration snow storm. Look at Boston, already 63 inches of snowfall. This is the third storm that we have seen in as many weeks.

Now, we haven't met the top five snowfall totals, but very well, this system, in addition to what we will see possibly with the next system by the end of the week, we will be edging closer to that top five.

It looks like for New York, extending down towards Philadelphia and Baltimore, we could see an icy mixture. That has its own set of problems. They are trying to figure out where to put the snow in Boston. Eastern Massachusetts, that's going to be the area that will be hit the hardest. But look for some freezing rain or sleet or ice in Philadelphia, extending through New York, also into Long Island and right around the cape of Massachusetts.

And then it looks like that big chill towards the end of the workweek. We could see record-setting temperatures. But we'll keep you updated on that.

John, back to you.

BERMAN: A lot of snow, a lot of snow is not going to melt.

Time now for an early start on your money. Cristina Alesci is here.

Good morning.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Not a great morning for stocks so far. U.S. stock futures are moving lower. That's because there are a few things weighing on the market right now, especially negotiations over Greece's bailout. But that aside, stocks finally seem to be on track this year. Last week, the Dow climbed almost 4 percent, and that made up for some big losses in January. We are actually slightly up for the year right now.

And breaking overnight, a new report says mega bank HSBC used its private Swiss arm to hide accounts and help customers avoid taxes. That unit had more than $1 billion in assets. And there were some really high profile clients, including people close to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and current President Bashar al-Assad. In its defense, HSBC says it's reformed that business in recent years and greatly reduced the number of those accounts.

What's amazing to me in this report is not only was the bank helping these people avoid taxes, but it was promoting itself as the place to come if you didn't want to pay your taxes in your home country. So, it was out there saying like, hey, we've got this great product, it could save you a couple million dollars a year. It's impressive.

BERMAN: Giving their clients what they want. In this case, some pretty shady clients.

All right. Cristina Alesci, appreciate it.

The music industry's biggest night, it was big for singer/songwriter Sam Smith. He took home four Grammys, including two of the biggest prizes, song of the year, and record of the year for "Stay with Me". Online, you can find out the difference between those two categories.

Album of the year went to Beck which was a big surprise. He also won for best rock album. Beyonce, she won some stuff, best R&B for song "Drunk in Love." Joan Rivers won a Grammy in the best spoken word category. Her daughter Melissa was there to accept on her behalf.

As always, the show featured a lot of live performances. Among the highlights, Madonna performing her song "Living for Love." As one person describes to me, she looks more like Madonna than she has in a while.

There was also a duet by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett. They have been touring together. Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCarthy, they did their song "For Five Seconds." There it is right there, you can see it if not hear it.

Happening now: new airstrikes pounding ISIS as the family of an American woman taken hostage waits to hear if their daughter has been killed. We are live with the very latest, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Coalition air strikes are pounding ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq. At least a dozen attacks were launched in Mosul, a city in northern Iraq. It has been overrun by ISIS, occupied by ISIS for months. Kurdish forces are now trying to surround Mosul to cut off ISIS supply lines from Syria. This as the parents of American hostage Kayla Mueller plead with ISIS to contact them. They believe their daughter is still alive despite claims by the extremists that a Jordanian air strike killed her last week.

Becky Anderson tracking the latest developments from Amman, Jordan.

Good morning, Becky.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

The United Arab Emirates, the very latest to get involved in this fight, flying a squadron of F-16s into Jordan where I am here, to fight alongside their counterpart in the Jordanian army who, of course, have taken a pivotal role over the past three or four days in this fights against Daish.

As far as what happens going forward is concerned, well, this is what the chief of the air force had to say over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. AL JABOUR, COMMANDER OF THE JORDANIAN AIR FORCE: The war against Daish is going to continue. We are determining to achieve objectives of this war. And not only to degrade the Daish capabilities, we are going to destroy Daish. And that is the aim. Our weapons are on that target and, definitely, we are going to achieve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And he went on to say at that briefing, John, there is absolutely no evidence it was a Jordanian strike that may have taken the life of that American hostage. And no more details at this stage as to whether she is indeed alive or not. This is a very big fight so far as the regional allies are concerned that needs attention now.

Jordan, for example, is a very small nation buckling under the influence of refugees. I mean, this is a host country suffering. If you don't get the money and military might quite frankly, they say, the festering pockets of support for the perverted ideology will continue to grow not just in Iraq and in Syria, John, but in other countries around the region. There was a real fear.

You see evidence of jihadi fighters going from here into Syria and in Iraq. You have seen evidence of ISIS in Egypt and in Libya and indeed in Saudi Arabia. This is an Arab war, they say. It's not a Western war, but they need a lot of help. They need money and military might. And they need it now, quite frankly -- John.

BERMAN: Becky Anderson for us in Amman this morning, thanks so much, Becky.

Police in France have detained six people suspected of financing jihadi networks that recruit for terror groups like ISIS. This is the second sweep in five days. The arrests were in southwest France, in Albi and Toulouse. Just last week, eight suspected territories were arrested in Paris and Lyon, an estimated 1,200 French citizens have left that country to join ISIS and other groups in Iraq and Syria.

The Egyptian government suspended all Premier League soccer matches in that country after a deadly clash Sunday between fans and police. A government newspaper reports 30 people were killed before the game even started. They blamed the violence on stampeding fans who did not have tickets. But supporters of one of the teams are claiming on Facebook that they were tear gassed as they tried to enter the stadium. Two years ago, more than 70 people were killed during a stampede at a soccer game in Port Said in Egypt.

Happening now, a showdown over gay marriage in Alabama. Gay marriage there becomes legal today, but the state's top judge, he has other plans.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Alabama's top judge has ordered all other judges in the state not to perform same sex marriages, even though they become legal starting today. Chief Justice Roy Moore claims that a federal judge's decision to strike down the state's ban on gay marriage last month is creating confusion and disarray. He insists any marriage of the same sex in Alabama is invalid. Gay couples are expected to line up for marriage licenses later this morning. It is not clear if they will be granted to them.

New problems in Ferguson, Missouri. It is one of two St. Louis suburbs hit with lawsuits over an abundance of traffic tickets that have led to warrants and jail time for minorities unable to pay the fines. The suit alleged that Ferguson has created a modern-day debtors prison and a real purpose of the ticket is to raise revenues so that the two municipalities, Ferguson and Jennings, can stay afloat.

Potential billion dollar settlement and concussion claims against the NFL is reportedly close to be approved by a federal judge. The deal was expected to cover some 20,000 retired NFL players. It would compensate players who develop dementia or neurological problems related to concussion suffered during their careers. Critics say that the NFL should have to pay even more.

Former fashion model is the latest Bill Cosby accuser as the comedian cancelled back to back show in Boston on Sunday. Helen Gumpel claims that Cosby made sexual advances toward her while in his dressing room on the set of the Cosby Show. At least 15 women accused the 77-year- old Cosby of sexual assault. He has not been charged with any crime.

Bruce Jenner says he is cooperating with police in their investigation of the deadly crash over the weekend in Los Angeles. Authorities say Jenner's SUV rear-ended another vehicle, sending it into oncoming traffic where the driver was struck and killed.

Jenner initially told police he was being chased by paparazzi. But investigators say they played no role in the crash. Jenner released a statement saying, "It is a devastating tragedy. And I cannot pretend to imagine what the family is going through at this time. I am praying for them. I will continue to cooperate in every possible way."

NBC News anchor Brian Williams has backed out of a scheduled appearance this week with David Letterman. Williams is at the center of controversy over his inaccurate reporting of an Iraq war mission in 2003. Williams has said the helicopter he was in came under RPG fire, a version that has been contradicted by soldiers. Williams announced he was taking a hiatus from the "Nightly News" for several days. NBC is now conducting an internal investigation.

Happening now, U.S. and world leaders pushing for peace in Ukraine trying to end the deadly war that has killed thousands. What is being done this morning and why Russia might not like it.

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