Monster Snowstorm Breaks Records; Crisis in Ukraine: How to End the War; The War on ISIS: New Terror Video Released
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Records shattered again. A monster snowstorm burying millions on the East Coast. We will show you the areas -- excuse me -- the areas hardest hit and the new storm -- yes, the new storm fast approaching. Ending the war in Ukraine. President Obama clashes with world leaders on how to stop pro-Russian rebel leaders. This morning, we'll break the disagreements and what comes next. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman. It is Tuesday, February 10th, 4:00 in the East. And we begin with the city of Boston at its breaking point, buried by two more feet of snow. This is the third major storm in two weeks. It is shattering snowfall records. Boston snow depth registers 37 inches. That is the deepest ever recorded there. The weight of all that snow is too much to bear for so many roofs, including the sheet metal plant. Seven workers were trapped inside, when the roof collapsed there, but they all made it out safely.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly heard a big hissing sound. Knew right away what it was.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was real quiet. And all of a sudden, it was like a hissing sound and like a creaking sound. And all of a sudden, ceiling just started to buckle underneath.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guys I work with just started yelling, you know, get out, get out.</s>BERMAN: The entire city of Boston is shutdown today. Subways are offline, too. Forty-eight passengers had to be evacuated when the train got stuck on the red line. The big problem is the mountains of snow everywhere and just no place to put it. Everyone has been told to stay indoors. Miguel Marquez shows us why.</s>MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, we are not on your beloved streets of Boston, but we are very, very close. We are in hull. We can usually see Boston and the airport from here if it weren't such a stormy night. I will don the goggles for a very good reason and show you something. They had about over 24 inches of snow here in just this snowstorm. This is a drift that we probably would be buried if we stay here much longer doing this for you, John. I want to show you the front in what looks like our front here. They have worked tirelessly to keep these roads clear. This one area, though, goes on a bit longer. They are not able to do. The Atlantic Ocean on this side, the Quincy Bay on that side. They have tried to keep all of the roads clear. It is amazing how much snow they can move here in the New England, but it's not enough. Schools have closed. Courts have closed. Government offices have closed. The transportation system completely shutdown. In some cases, the wheels were literally falling off trains. If they can make it through these next several hours, though, it looks like they will make it. Certainly Boston is used to lots of snow in this area in general used to a lot of snow. But the forecast, there is another storm ahead. So, it's looking like Boston is not going to get much of a reprieve from Mother Nature -- John.</s>BERMAN: Unbelievable pictures from Miguel there. A dangerous mix of snow and ice turned into a deadly 15 vehicle pileup on the Jersey highway last night. One person was killed, dozens more injured near Cranston, New Jersey, just outside Manhattan. Four tractor-trailers and two box trucks were involved in this. Police say the I-95 corridor turned slick in a hurry when temperatures plunged below freezing. A snow emergency has been declared in Upstate New York. A new foot of snow falling in the Albany area. Up to 18 inches reported in the Catskills and southern Adirondacks. Another snow emergency has been declared in New Hampshire, where up 15 inches of fresh snow has fallen. All parked cars in Manchester have been ordered off the streets or they will be towed. The airport in Manchester, though, is open. There could be more extreme weather on the way for the Northeast. You're going to want to hear about this. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at your weather.</s>PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. Yes, it's hard to believe potential for another storm system later in the week. This will be for Thursday into Friday. Another storm that has the potential for a nor'easter in the making here. So, you take a look. One of the models, of them suggests this comes closer to land. If that's the case, based on this American model, that produce far more heavy snowfall around eastern portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, in Connecticut. The European model wants to take offshore. If that plays out, then we see far less snowfall. So, how much are we talking? The lesser amount would be six to eight around Boston. Two to four around New York City, but Friday afternoon and Friday night, the higher amount if the storm comes closer to land, would be over a foot yet again around Boston, four to six inches in the forecast for New York City. The Massachusetts governor saying, hey, the amount of snow we had to remove across the state so far this season could fill up Gillette Stadium, home of the Patriots, 90 times over. That's how much snow fall has come down. Of course, top ten in the way of snowiest seasons of all time. Notice, another 10 to 15 in the forecast potential there would take the 77 we have on the ground and put it in the top two scale for some of the largest snowfall in any season we've seen in recorded history -- John.</s>BERMAN: They do not need that. All right. Some other news, Secretary of State John Kerry is the highest ranking U.S. official to endorse sending arms to Ukraine. He shared these feelings with lawmakers on Monday. But President Obama right now is taking a wait-and-see approach. The president met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday and will hold off until on the decision until Merkel meets Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Let's get more now from senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to show a united front when it comes to dealing with Russian aggression in Ukraine. But the two leaders, they sounded very far apart on that key question of sending arms to the Ukrainian military. President Obama made it clear he may will take his confrontation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to the next level and ship arms to Ukraine to fight those pro- Moscow separatists. Here's what the president had to say to news conference here at the White House.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I've asked my team to do is to look at all options. What other means can we put in place to change Mr. Putin's calculus. And the possibility of lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that's being examined. But I have not made a decision about that yet.</s>ACOSTA: Chancellor Merkel wants the White House to wait at least until Wednesday when she's expected to sit down with Putin to try to hammer out a peace deal, but with Russia already accused of violating past agreements and sanctions having little effect on Putin, the Obama administration is dropping plenty of hints it may move forward with those armed shipments if the talks fail. But in a sign of the internal debate within this administration, the president downplayed the impact of helping Ukraine to defend itself. It's worth nothing the president was asked whether he had a red line for dealing with Vladimir Putin, he offered no red line for when Russia might go too far -- John.</s>BERMAN: All right. A big meeting coming up in Belarus. Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany, they meet face to face tomorrow. The presidents of all four countries have been communicating for days. But the question is, can they agree on a real deal to end the bloodshed in Eastern Ukraine? I want to bring in Erin McLaughlin live from Moscow. Doesn't look like a deal could happen, Erin?</s>ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. Well, that very much remains to be seen. All signs are saying that they see no alternative to a peaceful resolution to this conflict. However, as we heard from German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday, success in the talks are anything but guaranteed. Now, today, the Russian defense minister that it would allow Ukraine military experts to tour and inspect the Rostov region of Russia which borders southeastern Ukraine, in an attempt to counter accusations that Russia continues to supply military equipment and personnel into the conflict zone. This can also be seen as a gesture of goodwill ahead of those talks scheduled for tomorrow. As for those negotiations, few details have actually been made public, difficult to tell how far apart the sides are away from some sort of compromise. Today, president Putin is in Egypt meeting with leaders today. He is expected in Minsk tomorrow. However, his attendance is not 100 percent confirmed. He has said he wants all sides to agree on certain issues beforehand -- John.</s>BERMAN: First sign we'll know if these talks are going anywhere is if everyone even shows up, which at this point is still uncertain. Erin McLaughlin, thanks so much. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is determined to move forward with the controversial address before the U.S. Congress next month. Netanyahu has been under fire for accepting an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner without the White House knowledge. The Israeli prime minister says he cannot allow politics to stop him from sounding a warning about what he calls a bad nuclear deal with Iran. The president insists diplomacy has to play out.</s>OBAMA: The prime minister and I have a very real difference around Iran, Iran sanctions. It does not make sense to sour the negotiations a month or two before they are about to be completed. What's the rush?</s>BERMAN: President Obama has reiterated he does not plan to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits Washington in March. Let's get an early start on our money right now. Correspondent Cristina Alesci is here with that. Good morning.</s>CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. It looks like a better day for the markets. U.S. futures are barely moving right now. It's too early to tell if stocks can shake off yesterday's slide. The Dow dropped 95 points. Worries about Greece's debt and bailout conditions are dragging markets around the world down. Investors are, of course, weighing the possibility of a Greek default or an exit from the Eurozone. Now, the only sector that actually rose yesterday was energy. That's a welcome change for the sector, which has been hammered for months because crude oil prices have been slashed in half since July. But prices seem to be stabilizing a bit hovering at $52 for a few days. So, the big question is it a floor or a pause? There isn't a bunch of consensus on this right now. In fact, one Citigroup analyst came out yesterday. He says we could be looking at oil at $20 a barrel soon. That would have ripple effects across several economies around the world, including Russia. That would be a big blow to Russia.</s>BERMAN: As you say there, conflicting opinions. That analyst says that, "The Wall Street Journal" has got a big story today about how the fact that oil prices are on their way up again.</s>ALESCI: Exactly, exactly.</s>BERMAN: So, who knows? Cristina Alesci, thanks so much. Ten minutes after the hour. A battle brewing over same-sex marriage. Dozens of counties in Alabama refusing to issue licenses on the first day that gay marriage was to become legal there. So, what comes next? That's ahead. Plus, breaking overnight: Jesse Matthew reportedly charged with the murder of missing student Hannah Graham. We have new information, next.