border. we're live for you in moscow on this order. plus another party hangover for boris johnson. new reports the prime minister attended his own birthday party during lockdown. and inflation has the u.s. president hot under the collar and caught on a hot mic. we'll explain. >> announcer: live from london, this is "cnn newsroom" with isa soares. welcome to the show, everyone. it's tuesday, january 25th. we begin with a significant step by the u.s. as fears that russia could be on the verge of invading ukraine. the pentagon has announced that as many as 8500 american troops are now on heightened alert for possible deployment to eastern europe though no final decision has been made. have a listen. >> in the event of nato's activation of the nrf or deteriorating security environment, the united states would be in a position to rapidly deploy additional brigade combat teams, logistics, medical, aviation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, transportation and additional capabilities into europe. >> now u.s. president joe biden says he and his european allies are on the same page after all of these urgent talks with the group discussing preparation to impose massive consequences if moscow takes military action. >> i had a very, very, very good meeting totally in unanimity with all the european leaders. >> the biden administration plans to send a written response this week to russia addressing ideas and concerns regarding security. russia, remember, has been demanding a reply to its demands last month. and there's more than 100,000 russian troops remain amassed near the ukrainian border. nato is bolstering its forces sending fighter jets and ships in the region and placing troops on stand by. >> we are considering to further enhance our presence in the eastern part, this could include employment of additional nato battle groups. these deployments are proportionate and in line with our international commitments and they reinforce european security for all of us. >> now the pentagon says russia is showing no signs of de-escalating and is actually sending more forces to the western frontier. moscow has also sent additional troops and military equipment to belarus ahead of military. >> has their presence enlarged or changed in a qualitative way that is escalatory? >> yes. it's gotten bigger. absolutely. they continue to adeyeye tallian tactical groups to the western -- to their western border, to the border with ukraine and in belarus as well. numbers there are increasing so they have not only shown no signs of de-escalating but they are in fact adding more force capability. >> ukraine's leader is trying to calm nerves inside of the country telling citizens there's no need to panic as authorities work for full deescalation of the situation. we are also learning the marines has bolstered security at the embassy. additional measures were deployed recently but didn't say how many were sent. this came one day after the state department announced it was reducing staff. cnn's oren lieberman is at the pentagon with more on the latest. >> reporter: the pentagon is making clear first that diplomacy is still the number one option when it comes to russian forces that are near on the eastern side of ukraine with russia as well as on the north side as russia keeps sending forces into its ally belarus there. given that situation, the pentagon has decided to put as many as 8,500 troops on prepare to deploy orders. essentially on heightened alert getting them closer or quicker to be ready when that order comes. john kirby says the order would likely come from nato. nato activates its response force, a 40,000 strong multi-national force that it could use to bolster eastern european allies to send them into that area and send a message to putin that the u.s. and nato are serious about the strength of the alliance and its intent to deter from any russian actions and defend against any russian aggression. pentagon press secretary said there are other scenarios where the u.s. might decide to deploy some troops on its own but most of those 8500 if they are deployed would go to that nato response force and that's how seriously the u.s. views the situation in eastern europe at this time. some of u.s.'s european allies will speak with russia and ukraine later on this week. crucially that window of diplomacy seems to be shrinking quickly as the u.s. and nato are very much preparing to move forces to that part of the region. some have sent fighter jets and ships realizing the gravity of the situation. the order to deploy hasn't come yet but it seems that's what the pentagon is getting ready for. press secretary john kirby making it clear that that might not be the only movement of troops. u.s. troops within europe could also move suggesting the troops that are in western europe could be pushed east towards europe's eastern flank and nato's eastern flank to be ready for whatever russia decides to do. oren lieberman, cnn, the pentagon. >> thanks, oren. let's get more on this story. cnn's nic robertson joins us from moscow. give us a sense of what the kremlin is saying, especially that the u.s. is ready to deploy 8,500 troops. is it rattling putin a bit? >> it doesn't appear to be. it can potentially play into his hands in a way. the current sort of escalation tensions and the draw down of diplomats by the british, the united states and the australians in ukraine has caused a little bit of tension with ukrainians. this is something that the leadership in ukraine is concerned about because it grows fears among their population that something bad is about to happen. one of their senior defense council officials said that they don't see -- ukraine doesn't see an imminent, huge threat of an imminent russian invasion, that the russian forces on their boarder and the threatening posture is something the country has become used to. it was interesting last night that the foreign ministry spokeswoman picked up on this and the fact that the pentagon is saying that they're essentially seeing an escalation and pointing out this sort of difference between those two positions. you have this sort of diplomatic tension between the ukrainian officials and the united states in one context, you know, russian officials are picking up on this and saying, look, the united states is just trying to undermine the morale of the ukrainians. in a way the buildup of forces and the sort of tensions that rise with it are something that the kremlin can exploit. the ball is essentially in president putin's court at the moment because he's waiting for those written responses from the united states and nato. so at the moment it really -- the sense here is that the kremlin is pushing the blame on ukrainian authorities for building tensions in the east of the country. >> we're waiting to see what those written responses include and whether it meets any really of the guarantees that russia was seeking. nic robertson in moscow. thanks very much, nic. the possible invasion of ukraine and the federal reserve has investors on edge. it was a frenzied day. stock traders traded in the red. at one point the dow was dow could. we have seen gas and oil prices very high recently. how much does ukraine and the geopolitical tensions play into this, anna? >> there are exit risks weighing on the markets. tensions between russia and ukraine are beginning to weigh on it ever so slightly more. one analyst said he felt the selloff we saw yesterday was very dramatic on wall street. the turning point was that the u.s. and the u.k. announcing they were withdrawing some of their embassy staff from ukraine, suggesting they see the risk increasing for conflict there. that's the rift of sanctions as well-being imposed on russia. this is something president biden was discussing with european leaders yesterday. they're looking at costly sanctions to punish russia for any kind of incursion. those would have a much broader impact. repercussions beyond russia's border. added to that is the federal expectations for rate rises, particularly looking at inflation numbers. it has been a roller coaster. we've had earnings season. shocking earnings report from the likes of peloton, netflix and stay at home stocks. a lot is weighing on the market. wall street had an abysmal day but it did climb out of it. europe wasn't so lucky. today it's looking like it's trading higher. i think we're going to be talking about volatility relating to all of these factors for days and weeks to come. >> only see the european markets trading there. all green arrows across the board. you'll stay on top of this as well as the federal decision to see whether they can tame inflation. anna stewart there for us. thank you so much. now the u.s. and its nato allies say their efforts are focused on deterring russia, but if russian forces do invade, one expert says ukrainians will put up strong resistance. listen to this. >> president putin has had -- done the opposite of what he's interested in doing, which is he has united ukrainians, certainly the military, united the civilians on the east and west, no matter what language they speak, united them against him. they will resist. mr. putin has the decision. we hope he's deterred. we hope he'll cost up. decide it's just not worth it. better to sit down and have that discussion with president biden. but if he does go, if he does not deter, then he will have a fight on his hands, first with the ukrainian military but also the ukrainian people will resist, will fight guerrilla warfare. they will fight in the villages, on the streets, in the towns. it will be very difficult. >> cnn will continue following this story as well as every detail, every angle and development. we'll bring you the very latest. now the u.s. house select committee investigating the capitol insurrection could soon get access to emails between former president drumponald tru and a form jer attorney. a federal judge is forcing john eastman to respond to a subpoena. eastman's legal team is set to sort through thousands of emails to determine which they should provide. now the house committee has reportedly had a preliminary discussion with former attorney general william barr. lawmakers wanted to know if barr had any information regarding the january 6th capitol insurrection. he said he didn't know much because he resigned in december weeks before former president donald trump launched his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. meanwhile, a district attorney in the u.s. state of georgia will have a special grand jury for donald trump's election interference. >> reporter: the fulton county, georgia, district attorney has been investigating former president trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election for over a year and now she has been granted a special grand jury to hear evidence exclusively in this case. the district attorney said she needed the special grand jury to issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify. she told the court that she's had difficulty getting key witnesses, including georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger to comply with her investigations. clearly an essential part of any probe into trump's efforts to overturn or undermine the result of the election. now that she has this grand jury, it can help her gather that evidence. she says she will be making a decision about whether or not to charge trump by summer of 2022. paula reid, cnn, washington. still ahead, could boris johnson's birthday bashes during a lockdown be the last straw? the latest allegations over the embattled prime minister. and a winter wildfire in california. good news coming out of california as it relates to the colorado fire. yes, the winds still gusting into southern california but right there around the southern coast, the winds have calmed down giving the firefighters maybe the upper hand over the next several days. talk about this and the brutally cold temperatures across the northern tier of thehe u.s. comg up in a couple of minutes. want fresher drives every day? get febreze car vent clips. just click, install and febreze steady release technology uses your fan to circulate freshness throughout yr car. so, you can enjoy up t40 days of consistent scent. febreze car. - [narrator] as you ge ready for what's next, custom geafrom custom ink can help make the most of these moments. we've developed new tools to make it easy for you. custom ink has hundreds of products to help you feel connected. upload your logo or start your design today at customink.com blendjet's new year's sale is on now! make your resolutions come true with this incredible deal on blendjet 2. it packs the power of a big blender on the go, and it crushes right through ice. just drop in your favorite ingredients, even frozen fruit, and make a smoothie any time, anywhere. blendjet cleans itself. just add a drop of soap, water, and blend. recharge quickly with any usb port. order now on blendjet.com and kick off the new year right! if i go to sleep right now, i can get more.... four hours. that's not good. what is time? time. time is just a construct. construct. construction. there is a crack. oh god are you kidding me?! oh god... hi, aren't you tired of this? -yes! good days start with good nights. seems like a good time to find out about both. why are you talking like that? is this an ad? are we in an ad? more parties, more problems for the british prime minister. he is now accused of attending not one but two parties celebrating his own birthday at 10 downing street when it was incurring the first covid lockdown. his office denies breaking any rules. these new allegations come just days before the results of an official investigation into the pandemic gathering that could end up toppling his premiership. scott, it's only tuesday and that list of parties is growing ever so long. will this change his conservative party's mind, do you think? >> reporter: sort of a drip, drip, drip. what's odd here, isa, is it's weird to think a prime minister having a birthday party could possibly boot him from office but that is the bizarre and very real possibility for boris johnson right now. you mentioned this itv reporting of these two gatherings that were held at downing street. one of them was held with four colleagues in the cabinet office where there was singing of happy birthday, they presented him with a cake. a second one held later with his family up in his apartment. downing street acknowledges that these happened, however, as you mentioned, they say they didn't break the rules. on the cabinet office one, they say that, look, this was a meeting and afterwards they sort of just presented the prime minister with a cake, wished him a happy birthday, he was there for less than 10 minutes. for the later one they say this didn't actually take place indoors, they say that it took place outdoors. earlier in that day the prime minister had visited a school outside of london. there's a photograph of him, you're looking at him holding a birthday cake. when he got back to downing street he was presented with a second one. the transportation secretary has been tasked with making the rounds of all of the british television networks and he sought to diffuse the situation by saying, look, it's not like boris johnson presented himself with a birthday cake and many people at that gathering, of course, they would have been working with him anyways. they would have been in the same room with him anyways. that's a familiar defense we've heard in that, look, maybe this was more a work gathering than a party. the last time boris johnson was accused of the garden party, he wasn't aware it was a party, he thought it was a work event even though it said byob on the invitation. >> he started by saying there were no parties and all the rules were followed. then he said, ah, there were parties, i just found out and i'm furious. then there was evidence he said i didn't realize it was a party. then last week he was on the fourth defense, which is nobody told me it was against the rules and now these allegations meaning that all of that can't possibly be true. >> now a senior civil servant named sue gray has been tasked with investigating all of this. her report is expected to be released later this week. the transportation secretary says this particular incident is already on the radar. the big question with that report is will it change any minds within the conservative party. will more and more mps call for a no confidence vote? >> we normally don't present ourselves with our own birthday cake. my son was very unhappy when he had to celebrate his birthday party via zoom. now the u.k.'s supreme court has ruled that julian assange can continue his fight for extra digs. he's accused of violating the u.s. espionage act. now an unusual january wildfire is threatening hundreds of homes and buildings south in california. here's what's happening across parts of california, the weather pattern is widening out a bit. the winds diying down over the next several days. staying in the upper 50s, lower 60s in this region. the damage already done. the containment numbers on the increase. up to 50% containment. 700 acres consumed. the broad perspective shows you how rare it is to see fires across the united states in the month of january. large active fires, 12 of them scattered across five states. the majority of them are located here across portions of south central u.s. the winds might be stronger across southern california. not the case in the central coast region of california. that's the good news moving forward. the other story we're following, what's happening across portions of the great lakes, upper midwest. how about this? wind chill alerts. don't adjust your sets. that is minus 50. 50 below zero and it feels like northern north dakota and parts of wisconsin as well and minnesota where wind chills are in the territory of 35 to 50 below zero. this pattern really goes to continuing a significant balance of cold air the next several days that eventually set up shop around the northeast. that's where we take you now where temps in the early morning hours. generally upper 20s, low to mid 30s. these are in boston, on into portland maine. not much in accumulations. the southern portion of the u.s. along the gulf coast, showers in place. the state of florida getting in on wet weather as well. the heaviest rainfall is in central florida and points just towards the south. leave you with this, temperatures across chicago. 13 for an afternoon high. climbing up to 33, eventually moderating out. isa? >> thank you very much. just when you could need it most, the warnings from the irs. u.s. tax refunds could be delayed. the reasons why ahead. the shout of inflation getting a mutual response from the president. we'll have the details ahead. why burn a candle when you can switch to air wick essential mist? it's the modern way to transform fragrance infused with natural essential oils into a mist. air wick essential mist. connect to nature. welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm isa soares. if you are just joining us we have our top stories this hour. the pentagon is putting as many as 8500 troops on stand by for deployment to eastern europe in response to russia's military buildup at the ukrainian border. u.s. president joe biden spoke to military leaders saying they are on the same page if russia chooses to invade ukraine. prime minister boris johnson is facing backlash that he attended two parties in 2020 when the u.k. was in the middle of its first lockdown. >> we'll have more in 30 minutes. rising inflation is one of the challenges president biden is dealing with as journalists were being ushered out of a meeting with the president's council on efforts to lower prices. he was shouted a question. the hot mic captured the president's response. have a listen. >> on inflation then? do you think inflation is a political -- >> what a stupid son of a bitch. >> a source says president biden has called him to apologize. it's not uncommon for politicians to use harsh language. donald trump made a point of insulting them without hesitation. while americans are dealing with higher prices, they may also face a much needed tax refund. reports internal revenue service is coping with a number of challenges. >> reporter: a warning from the irs. expect another frustrating tax filing season marked by processing problems and refund delays. the agency is in crisis facing a backlog of close to 10 million returns. >> we're working as hard as we can. >> reporter: dealing with new staffing problems from covid and wage competition with nearly 200 job openings posted on their website on top of a long list of other issues like outdated software, tedious paper filings and most notably a lack of sufficient funding. since 2010 the number of tax returns is up 19% but the agency's funding and staffing are down close to 20%. >> i think it all boils down to funding. >> john c. >> if you have to call, that's where the problems begin. >> last year the irs only answered 11% of customer calls with many waiting hours to get through. meanwhile, tax filing is getting more complicated than the pandemic with new programs around covid relief and child tax credits. traffic to the irs website nearly tripled in 2020 and rose again last year. now millions of taxpayers are still waiting for their refund. >> it's been frustrating. >> paul wantsing and his family need $7,000. he's on disability and his wife runs small business. >> knowing it's out there and we can't access it and we could use that money is a challenge. >> the build back better plan would include $80 billion to strengthen the irs but with the bill stalled in the senate, the white house is now calling on congress to provide another source of stable funding. >> the agency has not been equipped with the resources it needs to adequately serve taxpayers in normal times let alone during a pandemic. >> everyone is stuck. >> reporter: janice xi runs a low income tax program. >> we are trying to help individuals. we can't always get answers from the irs. >> it's been frustrating. >> jasmine jones has been days away from having her third child. >> she's waiting for an $11,000 refund. >> the irs is urging people to file early and electronically, use direct deposit, collect all documents before starting and make sure everything is accurate, especially with stimulus payments and the child tax credits all to avoid a frustrating wait. >> it makes me think i won't receive it this year. >> with tax season now underway, again, the irs says file as soon as possible. the deadline for most people is set for april 18th and they are not expecting that to be delayed even if some refunds might be. gabe cohen, cnn, washington. a new york state supreme court judge has struck down the state's mask mandates. the courts ruled the governor and state health officials did not have the authority to enact such a mandate without the approval of a state legislature. now the judge noticed this is not the ruling on the merits of whether mask mandates are legal, it's strictly on the governor's authority. the first batch of free, that's right, free n-95 masks are hitting store shelves this week at major grocery stores and pharmacies in the midwest. they already have stock available while more will have them in the coming days. if you are looking to travel, the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention have moved another 15 destinations into the highest risk. that includes many caribbean nations. this follows 20 destinations that were added last week. some u.s. officials are optimistic things will get back to normal. have a look. >> i think things will change. you will not have to be concerned every time you get a sniffle. i mean, obviously we don't want to be living under those circumstances, but we will have a lot more testing available importantly. and i think this is critical, which we don't emphasize enough, as we get more and more of these effective antivirals available when people who do get infected, who are vulnerable like the elderly, underlying medical conditions, if you treat them within the first few days you dramatically diminish the likelihood they will go out to a severe outcome like hospitalization. >> meanwhile, a new study is giving it the first glimpse into the pfizer biontech booster shot. researchers found the antibodies remain robust four months after that. that study has not yet been done. although the antibody levels do drop over time and microbiologists at the university of texas told people and i'm quoting here, there is neutralizing activity against omicron. meantime, the ceo of pfizer says he hopes the vaccine will eventually become an annual shot rather than everyone needs boosters every four to five years. >> what i am hoping that we will have is a vaccine that we'll have to do once a year like we do for many other things. once a year it is easier to convince people to do it, it is easier for people to remember. from public health perspective, it is an ideal situation. >> the world health organization is warning that it's dangerous to assume the omicron variant is the end of the coronavirus pandemic. it's asking nations to stay vigilant although some skype 'tises are hopeful the omicron variant could move 9 pandemic closer to an endemic stage. >> i'm a card carrying epidemiologist of 46 years. i've written a lot about this in the medical literature. i can't tell you, i don't know what endemic means. is it endemic if we go the next four months and a new variant emerges and we have an omicron redo? does that go from pandemic to endemic back to pandemic? they're just words. what we have to be mindful of, we are not done with this virus. we need to have therapeutic drugs readily available to everyone around the world if they get infected. if we do things like that, we can take it off the table. we're not there yet. with the beijing winter olympics and the lunar new year coming up, china is scrambling to curb outbreaks. it's going to start in ten days. cnn's kristie lu stout joins us from hong kong. give us the latest inside and outside the olympics. >> reporter: isa, covid-19 cases are rising inside and outside the beijing olympic bubble. they said there are 15 new cases of covid-19 among olympic personnel. among the cases 12 were detected at the border before they entered the closed loop system or bubble. we heard from beijing officials announced five new locally transmitted cases of the virus, five. this is a handful of cases. we're talking about zero covid china at the time of the beijing games. mass testing is underway. 2 million people in the district of beijing are undergoing mandatory covid testing right now. snap lockdowns, that's happening. a number of people in the district following 13 residential buildings have been sealed off. they're not allowed to leave their homes for 21 days. beijing officials have issued a curious directive telling all people who have purchased cold or fever medicine, they have to go get themselves tested for covid. they're trying to prevent people from using these medicines from masking symptoms of covid-19. if they don't get tested, they will be punished. they won't be allowed to travel or use the beijing city health app to use public services or go out to restaurants. as you can imagine there's been a very angry reaction to that on chinese social media. we have a couple of those reactions. let's bring it up for you. one wrote this, i haven't been out for several months but i bought chinese medicine online. now my health app is not working. i want to underscore without that health app, you're not able to go to restaurants, supermarkets or other places. here's another response. i bought medicine 15 days ago. now my health app is not working. my flight is tomorrow. i can't go anywhere. unquote. isa, this test order over cold medicine just underscores the level of control, the level of surveil labs in zero covid china. isa. >> with a lunar new year around the corner what this means for someone who might not be able to travel to see loved ones. i know you'll stay on top of this story. new government following a military coup. why he can protect the country better than the former president. we'll have the latest after the break. blendjet's new year's sale is on now! make your resolutions come true with this incredible deal on blendjet 2. it packs the power of a big blender on the go, and it crushes right through ice. just drop in your favorite ingredients, even frozen fruit, and make a smoothie any time, anywhere. blendjet cleans itself. just add a drop of soap, water, and blend. recharge quickly with any usb port. order now on blendjet.com and kick off the new year right! the army says it has to solve the government and ousted the president in a military coup. the move comes after the former president's political party was ran sacked by protesters demanding his resignation. soldiers say they believe the government is safer in the hands of the military. the president is safe and being held in an undisclosed location. we have more on the story. stephanie, it's not often you read of celebrations on the streets post a coup. what is the latest you're hearing from your contacts? >> reporter: yes. so good morning, isa. the people of bukina faso are waking up under this new military era. it's a popular development. we've seen scenes of people cheering on the streets, honking in support of the military announcement on monday when they announced that the default government. what we're hearing is there's a planned rally later this morning to welcome this group. the military are telling us it was simply time for the president to go because he just did not have a handle on the jihadist insurgency which is linked to al qaeda and islamic state that has plagued this tiny country since 2018. and according to the u.n., 1.5 million people have been internally displaced by this conflict. so the soldiers themselves say that they have born the brunt of many of the attacks and the president simply was not living up to his responsibilities as a leader. now some aid agencies such as refugees international have expressed concern about what this military regime may mean because some have been accused of the worst atrocities. that remains to be seen if it will be as effective and what the implications will be for human rights abuses. the u.s. has said it's deeply concerned about this new development and is watching the situation closely, but, yeah, so, isa, also we don't know what has happened to the president. we haven't heard from him since two tweets that he sent yesterday afternoon but we'll be watching the situation closely and bringing you the latest developments, isa. >> we'll wait to hear from the president in lagos, nigeria. thank you. coming up on the show. three former minneapolis police officers are facing federal civil rights charges nearly two years after george floyd's death. we'll have the latest on george floyd's trial. you are watching. are you a christian author with a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! in the coming hours the federal trial of three former minneapolis police officers who helped derek chauvin restrain george floyd in may of 2020 is set to resume. we've learned one of them plans to testify in his own defense. cnn's omar jimenez has more from st. paul, minnesota. >> reporter: over a year and a half later the federal trial for the other former minneapolis police officers charged in the killing of george floyd is taking jurors right back to the day floyd was murdered by derek chauvin in may of 2020. monday was dominated by opening statements by both the prosecution and the defense. the prosecution largely stuck to the charges arguing that thomas lane, jay alexander king and tu tou were dlub beliberately indifferent to george floyd's needs. they did not intervene and stop chauvin when the prosecution argues they had the chance to. all three have pleaded not guilty. part of the defense over the course of the day from their individual attorneys ranged from, well, they tried to intervene but were denied. they were deferring to the senior officer and the crowd didn't see the full story of what happened that day. one of the points they tried to intervene but couldn't as they said in the opening statements, lane will testify. lane asked to put on an added restraint to floyd that would have flipped him on his side and he asked chauvin at one point to turn him over and in both cases chauvin said no. the prosecution says bottom line you saw george floyd in need of medical aid and did not render that aid. when court gets back going on tuesday morning we are going to see the testimony resume from the fbi forensic examiner, which is where things left off on monday. the first witness called in this trial in what is expected to be a four week trial. omar jimenez, cnn, st. paul, minne minneapolis. more than 1.6 million kilometers away. unlike the hubble telescope, the james webb space telescope will be or bitting the sun. nasa says the telescope will peer into the atmosphere and bring us closer of uncovering the mystery of the universe. they have unveiled sun shields the size of a tennis court. from the center of the solar system to the outer planet, the new study shows it may be home to an underground ocean. the moon is known for being almost completely made of ice. so a liquid ocean means it may be capable of supporting life. at least two of saturn's other moons and one orbiting jupiter are considered oceans. science fiction plans promised flying cars for decades. they might have one in slovakia. regulators have approved the air car, it runs on an electric motor and it's developed and is compatible with eu aviation. the aircraft has completed 70 hours of flight testing with 200 takeoffs. last summer it landed in the slovakian capitol and drove downtown. in florida news a cruise ship took an unexpected detour on saturday to avoid an arrest warrant. crystal symphony was headed to miami where it would have been seized by authorities because of unpaid fuel bills. the ship headed to the bahamas with guests on board. around 300 passengers were taken to florida by ferry. it's still docked in the bahamas. they have suspended operations for the next two weeks. finally for you, a kingdom in search of its king or queen. a small island off england's northwestern coast is looking for someone new to take the helm. technically they say they need a landlord to take care of the 58 islands. each landlord needs to be found. they're looking to hire someone. that does it here for me. thank you very much for joining us. our coverage of the tensions of russia and ukraine continue with "early 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25th. 5 a.m. in new york. thanks for getting an "early start" with us. i'm christine roman. >> hey, christine. i'm laura jarrett. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. new moves in the escalating face-off between russia and the west over ukraine. each side now raising the stakes. the pentagon says up