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 . Then sam smith, he conquered the grammys. We will breakdown some of the big surprises ahead. It is monday, february 9th 4 00 a. M. In the east. Im john berman. Angela merkel meeting facetoface with president obama in washington. She favors sanctions with russia if Vladimir Putin does not end fighting in Eastern Ukraine by wednesday. President obama is facing mounting pressure. Our Frederik Pleitgen is live with the latest. Good morning, fred. Reporter there are some people who are saying they want these sanctions, obviously, to go forward. One of the things that is going on is a little more optimism here in kiev. Because of the telephone call that took place yesterday between Vladimir Putin, Petro Poroshenko and Angela Merkel they managed to map out the system where they wanted to meet in minsk. Vladimir putin gave an interview to a newspaper in egypt where he said not all issues have been sorted out. A Meeting Group meeting in berlin germany, to get issues off the table. The big one is how much territory would the prorussian separatists keep in ukraine. They have more territory than the last time these people sat together. What about nato membership for ukraine . That is high on russias general. At this point, negotiations are continuing. If this goes bad, they are talking about sanctions on individuals, not sectors of the russian economy. There is always that idea that has been floated out by people like senator john mccain that perhaps it is time to arm the ukrainians. Thes the Obama Administration says nothing is off the table. These deals have gone sour in the past. Frederik pleitgen thank you. European leaders are moving forward with the new round of sanctions as fred said. Targeting nine unidentified organizations. The highest profile target is the Russian Deputy defense minister. Lets bring in Matthew Chance with the russian perspective. Good morning, matthew. Reporter good morning, john. That is right. The europeans speaking about ratcheting up the sanctions. What they want to see out of the summit planned on wednesday with the leaders of russian and ukraine and france and germany is a diplomatic solution to the crisis to an end. Angela merkel traveled to the United States and she will meet president obama later today. There is this strange difference of opinion that emerged with the europeans and United States on this issue. A conversation going on 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. They said it could increase the costs on Vladimir Putin for backing the rebels in Eastern Ukraine. The big concern is if you add weapons to the crisis it could make it much worse and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the region are at stake, john. The russian response is one the United States is worried of. Matthew chance thank you. Secretary of state john kerry insists the west has a unified front to stop the conflict in ukraine. There is a lot of disagreement over arming the ukrainians in the struggle of the russian separatists. Lets get more now from washington with cnns erin mcpike. Reporter the crisis with ukraine and russia is certain to top the agenda of the meeting today with president obama and chancellor Angela Merkel. We will hear from the two of them later today in a press conference after the meeting. That is happening as the debate is growing with the american leaders about providing lethal aid to ukraine could be counter productive. It could escalate the situation with russia. That debate will be a key point of talks in berlin tomorrow and again at a proposed peace summit in belarus this week. And president obama is hoping for a peaceful solution to the crisis. Secretary of state john kerry was in europe over the weekend and on nbcs meet the press he left room for the u. S. To alter strategy if Vladimir Putin doesnt stand down. The solution is a political diplomatic one, but Vladimir Putin has to take an offramp. We are committed to the sovereignty and integrity of ukraine. Reporter kerry and biden continued to say ukraine has right to defend itself but they have the right to stop short of conditions of an allout war. Now some are calling on the u. S. To provide that lethal aid. Erin mcpike, thank you. Dhs secretary jeh johnson says this is not the time to play politics with funding for homeland security. Some are trying to reverse the actions on immigration on any spending bill for homeland security. Dhs funding dries up in three weeks. The secretary says if this happens, 30,000 dhs workers will have to are furloughed. Just say well we will just make them come to work without pay. First of all, that is a challenge for the men and women working in my department. Then this means furloughing 30,000 in our department and cutting back on our operations to pursue homeland security. This is not a situation to make light of in these challenging times. We need a fully funded department. Johnson is asking for an increase in funding over last years level to pay for extra secret service for 2016 elections and more state and local police agencies. If an agreement is not reached, it will be impossible to extend Nuclear Negotiations with iran. That is what secretary of state john kerry says. He says the agreement must be in place next month. He claims the iranians have had more than enough time to claim the Nuclear Program is peaceful. The weather. Boston and the northeast in the grips of a huge storm. Some areas facing up to 2 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. Adding to last weeks snowfalls in a span of time this is an unprecedented area here in the city of boston as far as the amount of snow. Some parts of new england have had over a half a foot. Lets get the forecast from meteorologist car even macginnis. All of the people across the corridor are impacted by the snow storm. Boston 63 inches of snow. This is the third storm we have seen in as many weeks. We have not met the top five snowfall totals but 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 and down toward 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 is the area that will be hit the hardest. Look for freezing rain or sleet or ice in philadelphia and extending through new york and long island and right around the cape of massachusetts and then it looks like the big chill toward the end of the workweek. We could see recordsetting temperatures. We will keep you updated. John. A lot of snow and a lot of snow will not melt. Time for an early start on your money. Cristina alesci is here. Not a good morning. U. S. Stock futures moving lower. A few things weighing on the market. Especially over greeces bailout. That aside, stocks finally seem to be on track. Last week, the dow climbed almost 4 . That made up for big losses in january. We are slightly up for the year. Breaking overnight, a new record says mega bank hsbc used the private swiss arm to hide accounts and help customers avoid taxes. That unit had more than 1 billion in assets. And including people close to former egyptian president hosni mubarak. Hsbc has reformed the policies in recent years. What is amazeing to me is not only was the bank helping people avoid taxes, but promoting itself as the place to come if you didnt want to pay taxes in your home country. They have a great product, it could save you a couple Million Dollars a year. Giving their clients what they want. Cristina alesci, thank you. The music industrys biggest night. Big for sam smith. He took home four grammys for song and record of the year. Album of the year went to beck which was a big surprise. He also won for best rock album. Beyonce, she won best r b for song drunk in love. Joan rivers won for best spoken word category. The show featured a lot of live performances. Among the highlights, madonna performing her song living for love. One said she looks more like madonna than they has in a while. Then a duet with tony bennett and lady gaga. And then the song for five seconds. 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Reporter the United Arab Emirates flying a squadron of f16s into jordan where i am to fight along the Jordanian Army who have taken a pivotal role in the last three days against daish. As far as what happens going forward, this is what the chief of the air force had to say over the weekend. The war against daish is going to continue. We are determining to achieve objectives of the war. Not only to the great daish capabilities we are going to destroy daish. Our weapons are on that target and we will achieve it. Reporter he went on to say the briefing john there is no evidence it was a jordanian strike that may have taken the life of that american hostage. 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 that needs attention. Jordan is a very small nation buckling under the influence of refugees. This is a host country suffering. If you dont 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 syria, john but other countries around the region. There is 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 libya and indeed in saudi arabia. This is an arab war, they say. This is not a western war, but they need a lot of help. They need money and military might. John. Becky anderson thank you. Police in france detained six people of finances the jihadi networks. This is the second sweep in five days. The arrests were in southwest france. Just last week eight suspected territories arrested in paris and lyon. Egyptian government suspended all soccer matches. 30 people were killed before the game started. They blamed it on stampeding fans that did not have tickets. Some claims they were tear gassed when they were entering the stadium. Two years ago, more than 30 people killed. Happening now, a showdown over gay marriage in alabama. Gay marriage becomes legal today, but the states top judge has other plans. Stay with us. Hey guess what day it is . . Hump day hummmp daaay its hump day yeah hey Mike Mike MikeMike Mike MikeMike Mike Mike mike mike. Hey he knows hey guess what day it is hey camel guess what day it is its not even wednesday. Let it go, phil. If youre a camel, you put up with this all the time. Its what you do. sigh if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Ok. Alabamas top judge has ordered all other judges in the state not to perform same sex marriages. Although they are legal today. The states chief justice insists any marriage of the same sex in alabama is invalid. Gay couples are expected to line up for licenses 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 jail time for minorityies unable to pay for the fines. This is a purpose to raise revenues so ferguson and jennings can stay afloat. The concussion claims against the nfl is reportedly close to be approved by a judge. It would compensate players who develop neurological problems during their careers. Some say the nfl should have to pay more. Former fashion model is the latest cosby accuser. Helen gumpel claims that cosby made sexual advances toward her. At least 15 women accuse cosby of sexual assault. He has not been charged with any crime. Bruce jenner says he is cooperating with police in the investigation of the deadly crash in los angeles over the weekend. Jenners suv rearended another car and struck it into traffic where the driver was killed. Investigators say paparazzi played no role in the crash. Jenner released a statement saying it is a devastating tragedy. I cannot pretend to imagine what the family is going through at this time. I am praying for them. Nbc anchor Brian Williams backed out of a scheduled appearance on david letterman. 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 for several days. Nbc is 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. When you dont get enough sleep. And your body aches. Youre not yourself. Tylenol® pm relieves pain and helps you fall fast asleep and stay asleep. We give you a better night. Youre a better you all day. Tylenol®. Ending the crisis in ukraine. President obama and other World Leaders trying to stop the violence. The United States considering Arming Ukrainian military against prorussian rebels. How will russia respond . We are breaking down the latest. A new huge storm splamlamming the northeast. Records could be broken. Flights are grounded. Schools are canceled. People warned to stay off the roads. The morning commute could be treacherous. We will tell you what you need to know ahead. A big night at grammys. Big wins and big surprises. We break it all down. It is coming up. Welcome back to early start. Im john berman. Christine romans is off today. We begin with the west struggling to stop the carnage in ukraine. Angela merkel meeting facetoface with president obama this morning. Merkel favors sanctions against russia if Vladimir Putin does not agree to end the fighting by wednesday. President obama facing pressure to arm ukraine. Something merkel opposes. Our Frederik Pleitgen is live in kiev this morning. Good morning, fred. Reporter good morning, john. The eu is getting together earlier today and they are deciding whether or not to expand sanctions against russian individuals. Not sectors of the entire economy, but individuals. However, one of the things that we always need to point out is until this point in time sanctions have had virtually no effect on russia as it pertains to the battle in Eastern U