world, it is tuesday, january 25th. i m brianna keilar with john berman. we do begin with the drum beat of war. the united states placing up to 8,500 troops on heightened alert for possible deployment to eastern europe. a russian invasion of ukraine appearing all but certain and imminent, and according to the pentagon, the u.s. troops will be ready for any contingencies. president biden held an 80 minute secure video call with european leaders. we are told they discussed preparations to impose, quote, massive consequences and severe economic costs on russia if it invades ukraine. again, that s after the fact. the president said there is total ewe nam anymorety the u.s. and its allies frankly there s been questions about ancon september that vladimir putin has been testing. the world seems to be testing president biden. breaking this morning, north korea test fired two cruise missiles. this is according to the south korean military. this is the fifth such action this year by the kim r