a real threat. the fbi arrests three metropolitan from new york for trying to join -- three men from new york for trying to join isis. straighten up. a major u.s. airline warns its pilots to to pay better attention after some dangerous mistakes. and ouch -- madonna falls off stage in london. we will explain what happened and how she's doing. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. this is "cnn newsroom." we begin this hour in new york where three men are now in custody on terror charges over a list of isis-related plots. >> the fbi says the case is especially alarming because of the level of planning among would-be terrorists in the u.s. pamela brown has the details. >> reporter: the fbi says one of

the men arrested today boasted about wanting to kill president obama and blow up coney island in new york city. another man proposed shooting police and fbi agents. plans they allegedly said they would put into place if they weren't able to join isis in syria. >> two of the individuals were seek ing seeking to fly to syria. one was arrested at jfk airport as he was getting ready to board the flight. a second individual had a later flight scheduled. >> reporter: in court documents prosecutors point to conversations on line including one last summer in which he wrote of his desire to "shoot obama or get shot ourselves. will that due? that will strike fear in the heart of inif idles." that alarming post brought agents to his front door. >> they identified them as such.

>> reporter: one of the men began communicating with an isis administrator in iraq who encouraged him to join the terrorist group overseas according to court documents. investigators say later communications revealed the two men began coordinating travel to turkey. often seen as a gateway into syria by foreign fighters. >> to prove a conspiracy, you only have to show that there's been a material effort or forward step in furtherance of the conspiracy. and clearly those communications would indicate that there's been a forward step in the conspiracy. >> reporter: in court documents released both suspects are accused of purchasing roundtrip tickets to turkey with the help of their friend who allegedly provide more than $1,000 for their travel. one of the men told a confidential informant if he was detect at the airplane they could kill a police officer and use the -- at the airport, they could kill a police officer and used officer's gun to shoot

other officers that arrived on scene. pamela brown, cnn, washington. a u.s. military official tells cnn coalition warplanes have struck a new target. an isis training camp on the syrian border. the official would not confirm reports that senior isis leaders were killed. meanwhile, iraqi forces say they've retaken most of the town of al baghdadi in anbar province. military convoys shown in and around the city close to an air base where u.s. military personnel train iraqi pilots. let's get the latest on the battle against isis. ian lee is monitoring developments from cairo. how much to we know about the welcome to on the isis training camp and, of course the overall battle against the terror group? >> reporter: rosemary, we don't have too many details about what the air strike if the air strike killed an isis commander

or what -- other than that it was striking an isis training camp. it is on the border with syria in the city down the road from al baghdadi, part of the anbar province leading from baghdad all the way to syria. the iraqi road security forces battling it out with isis as we heard around the city of al baghdadi. this is part of the lead up to the spring offensive we're hearing about from the u.s. military where there will be targets -- at least trying to go after and retake the city of mosul, something the iraqis haven't been too happy that the u.s. leaked information. it's to be seen if they can mount a full-out offensive and take the city. rosemary? >> there's much concern about the assyrian christians kidnapped by isis. what more are we learning about their fate this hour?

>> reporter: really we don't have much more details about what has happened to these people. the attack took place along a string of syrian christian villages in the eastern part of the country, to the southwest. there's a mountain range where isis fighters have been in control. they went into villages pushing out ypg kurdish fighters as well as christian militias. those militias and fighters were able to retake part of the towns. these roughly 90 people taken captive, isis has not been good to the peoply before. we've known that they have sold women as sex slaves. we've also seen them kill their captives. we're waiting for the fate of those people. >> indeed. a great deal of concern regarding their welfare. ian lee monitoring situation was cairo. many thanks to you. let's check some other stories we're following for you at this hour. we now know a turkish military

vehicle was the target of a suicide attack in the afghanistan capital, kabul. the vehicle was hit outside the iranian embassy next to the turkish mission. the explosion killed two and injured two others. a member be of the turkish military personnel and member of afghan security forces are among the dead. the taliban are claiming responsibility. australian prime minister tony abbot has made a direct flee indonesia's president to spare the lives two of australians on death row. the men were convicted in the bali 9 drug trafficking case in 2005 and are scheduled to be executed by firing squad. the u.s. federal communications commission will finally vote on the divisive issue of net neutrality on thursday. the five-member be board is expected to approve the chairman's plan. the new rules aim to preserve an open internet and prevent internet service providers from discriminating against content

creators. united airlines issues a strong warning to its pilots after a few near misses in the cockpit. details coming up. prince william begins a week-long visit to japan and china while he leaves two important companions at home. and another round of winter weather blasts the southern u.s. canceling flights and causing major headaches on the roadways. [ male announcer ] you wouldn't leave your car unprotected. but a lot of us leave our identities unprotected. nearly half a million cars were stolen

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welcome back. three al jazeera journal visits been arrested for -- journalists have been arrested for flying drones over paris. the city prosecutor's office says they're not connected to the recent string of drone sightings over famous city landmarks. >> al jazeera says its crew was doing a story about the mystery. more drones were spotted over paris wednesday, making that the second night in a row. police are investigating the sightings. united airlines is warning its pilots to shape up after some major mistakes. >> airline officials sent out a safety memo after recent safety events and near misses raised alarm with officials. >> it include an incident where pilots had to pull off an emergency maneuver to avoid crashing. in other case the crew let the fuel run dangerously low. >> the memo blames personnel shifts among pilots including retirements, new hires, and transfers, and different

aircraft types. no word if pilots will receive additional training. our aviation analyst joins us from charleston south carolina, to talk about this. mary this two-page memo noted for how blunt it is is simply asking all airline staff to be compliant with aviation procedures. should we be worried by this? >> we should. we should be worried about the fact that it took management and top brass of an airline to remind pilots and safety staff and trainers that this aviation safety rule is serious, and you must follow them. that's alarming. what's encouraging is that the brass did step for and to. that safety has to start at the top down. the fact that they did it was good. the fact this they needed to alarming. >> let's talk about the need to the memos notes there were emergency pull-up maneuvers and all sorts of other close calls

that happened at many airplanes across the summit. what should we make of the fact it took a lot of near misses to get the airline to get its acts together? together? >> those near misses are pretty significant. the emergency pull-up means the ground proxim warning system went off. that basically means that you're going to fly a perfectly good plane into the grown or into an obstruction -- into the ground or into an obstruction. for a commercial airliner to get that close and have the warning go off is unusual. and it's very serious. obviously the flight crew should have been paying better attention. the fuel situation where they had run dangerously low on fuel is a violation of a federal aviation regulation. turns out they weren't actually about to run out of fuel they simply forgot to turn the fuel on. there have been many crashes where the planes have gone down because of fuel starvation. that's usually a mistake made by general aviation. and private pilots puddle jumper pilots that's often a

common cause of a crash. not in commercial aviation. >> considering what we have to go through at airports, the amount that we pay for tickets, i'm sure viewers will fine it unacceptable that they be on a flight where the pilot forgets to turn on the fuel. you mention it's more of the puddle-jumping pilots. what about staffing? the airline employs some 12,000 pilots, but you you have people who are retiring one report notes that they're hiring an average of 50 piles a month. is there a generational aspect -- pilots a month. is there a generational aspect to this? >> there's a generational aspect but you know generally it's just kind of a perfect storm. it's not necessarily the ages or the different generations. it's the fact that an airline is dramatically hiring and staffing up at the same time it's changing some of its floats and planes. that's usual -- its fleets and planes. that's usually a perfect storm when you have a recent merger new hires coming on new aircraft and now routes. they'll have new procedures.

planes pilots, procedures, when they're all in flux that's a perfect storm. management needs to be involved to make sure accidents don't follow. >> now that we've scared everyone from flying what will you say to the average commuter about the state of air travel to or from the u.s. today? >> it's funny that you mention commuters because it's regional planes in the united states that have had crashes in the last years and the majors have not. this is a will beup call for the majors -- a wake-up call for the majors. they fly the big boeings and air buses and have a terrific safety record in general. there's complacency, pilots that are relying too heavily on the auto pilot, and this they have these near smisz a good wake-up call for management. the good news of this is that management responded forcefully as it should. now it has to follow through, apply discipline and training and make sure they really do what they have commanded all

these pilots and their trainers to do. >> we'll be watching closely as will you. our aviation analyst, thank you for joining us from charleston, south carolina. >> thank you. southwest airlines missed required inspections on 128 of its boeing 737 aircraft. the lapse led to the cancelation of dozens of flights this week. >> southwest notified u.s. aviation regulators about the problem on tuesday, then voluntarily growned more than 100 -- grounded more than 100 planes. the federal aviation agency says the planes can keep flying up to five days while the inspections are completed. >> all unnerving for those of us who like to fly. officials across the sunrise u.s. are asking drivers to stay home. snow and ice are making roads dangerous. the latest on the winter storm coming up. plus, prince william embarks on a week-long visit to japan and china. a look at his groundbreaking trip next. septic system breakdowns affect over

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avalanches have fallen for a third straight day in afghanistan killing at least 168 people. this is happening in a mountainous province north of kabul. >> the area's seen heavy snowstorms for days. the governor there says about 100 homes have been destroyed. >> pedram javaheri, our meteorologist, is here with us to talk more about the avalanches. what exactly triggered these.

>> it's prone, this region, mountainous to hindu regions, this of the most mountainous areas, afghanistan and areas of pakistan to the minority. officials saying there's a 40-kilometer barrier that they have to plow through get to assistance needed in the region. kind of shows how treacherous the terrain is. i want to show the google earth depiction of the area. it's been a mild winner across the leaf actually. temperatures -- winter across the middle east actually. temperatures warmer than usual. the province here, official saying this is the worst avalanche they've seen in some 30 years in the region. we had one in 2010 another in 2014. large- large-scale fatalities associated with that. here's the snow cover of the mountains of northern areas of afghanistan and pakistan. this is christmas eve. the color indication shows the snow across the mountain range. look what happened on the 14th of february. literally an explosion of color to the north and to the east. so this is the concern in recent

days. and avalanches typically occur spontaneously when you have a fresh coating of snow if it's hef and wet enough could cause stress on the tops of the mountains. if you're getting perpendicular winds to the mountaintops you've got to have a significant slope. the mountains meet the category and criteria of 25 to about 55-degree angle. when that's in place, you certainly can waken the top slabs or layers of snow and ice causing avalanche, what we believe occurred in the region of northern afghanistan. in the united states wintry weather in place now exiting the southeast. pushing for the mid-atlantic states. in charlotte, one of the areas across north carolina charlotte we're seeing some 500 flights canceled. some snow showers push in across the region over the past several hours. nearly a foot in and around alabama. far northern alabama. we see this on social media. eric brown posting this on twitter, an igloo they put together in a few hours' time

from all of the snow that came down across portions of alabama. temperature warming up. snow moving to the minority. the nation's capital could see an inch or so. southern areas of virginia could get to another foot of snowfall over the area. to the south, brazil had historic drought taking place over the past months. i want to show the past 24 hours. heavy rainfall on the order of four inches or 100 millimeters in an hour's time has come down causing a lot of problems for a lot of people. yes, conditions going to remain wet for the next couple of days. little rainfall to go with and the ground has a tough time taking in -- >> the saturation. >> it's been a problem. want to leave with a spectacular sight out of an island in the pacific ocean not far from japan. this island over the past several months has grown some 11 times its original size. the growth spurt, yeah believed to be because an underwater eruption that began some 15

months ago. it create a new salon. lava had connected to a previously existing island nearby. t the combined islands cover almost 2.5 square tillometers of land -- kilometers of land in the pacific. >> incredible. >> amazing. >> the power of the volcanos. >> thank you very much. a royal visit to asia. prince william the duke of cambridge, has kicked off a week-long visit to japan and china. and here we have these live pictures. he has arrived there in tokyo. not a particular bely nice day. there's a lot ahead -- particularly nice day. there's a lot the ahead. >> live pictures now. our max foster's watching all of this from london and talks about what we can anticipate on this trip. on the surface, visits look pleasant and formal to some degree. obviously prince william is selling brand britain while he's in asia. what is on the agenda? >> reporter: here you see soft diplomacy really i guess. if we take you to the live

pictures terrible weather it seems in tokyo. he's arrived at the gardens. these are the gardens that used to belong to a showgun. he's going to have tea. what's interesting is the spot is where prince alfred arrived in japan in 1869. he was the first-ever european royal to go to an official visit there. prince william traveling in his footsteps, then goes for tea in the traditional tea house. a ceremony presented boy master of ceremony. green tea. the palace saying it will likely be a lovely welcome to tokyo. they're trying to go there. billion relationships with the japanese. and then around that there will be some u.k. government-sponsored events where they try to billion up business ties between -- to build up business ties between the two countries. prince william will pursue his own interests, as well. these are complex affairs

because prince william can't get involved in the politics of the country but wants to build bonds and ties and work on behalf of the british government at the same time. >> it is a delicate operation, isn't it? he will also go to fukushima and meet with people there, taste the food perhaps and the prime minister will be with him. >> reporter: exactly. there's some concern about this locally. the prime minister definiteliness to proposal the message around the world that there's been a great story of recovery around fukushima. by eating local food and stopping at a local playground prince william will be aware of that possibly. we'll see how he juggles that with local concerns that that's sending the wrong message. there's still problems there, and it's not necessarily always okay for kids to play outside. not necessarily the message some want to promote. it is the message the prime minister wants to promote. as you say, this is a typical thing that they try to negotiate without offending anyone. but also doing what their hosts would like them to do as well.

>> max foster live from london as we look at the live pictures as prince william arrives amid rainy weather. he'll be anxious to get to that green tea which we understand is waiting for him. max, thanks a lot. fox news host bill oriely is defending himself once again against accusations that he embellished or lied about some of his reporting in the '70s and '80s. he was a correspondent for cbs news. >> he told a story about his photographer being injured while the crew was in argentina. multiple cbs staffers interviewed by cnn say that man was never hurt. >> all hell breaks loose. the people start to storm the casa rosata. the argentine troops shoot the people down in the street. shoot them down. not like rubber bullets or gas. it's people are dying. i great my crew and grab my crew away. we're down a side street, shooting all this stuff. it's unbelievable. people -- falling, ding ding,

ding, ding ding. soldier runs down the street. i'm there, photographer gets trampled. he's on the ground. i grab him and the camera and drag them in through a doorway. the soldier comes up and is standing maybe ten feet away. he's got the m-16 pointed at my head. i thought it was over. i said -- "journalist, don't shoot, por fiver." >> in his no medicine zone that he -- no spin zone that he maintains, he stan by his words. the photographer will not comment. the brit awards is one madonna would probably like it forget. check it out. ♪ >> oh boy. gets worse the more you see it. madonna wearation cape is yanked down -- wearing a cape is yank down flying downstairs. one of her backup dancers pulled it. >> she was supposed to release

it. fortunately the 56-year-old was able to get back up moments later and finish her performance. it was incredible. after warz on instagram -- afterwards on instagram she said she was fine. she said her cape of tied too tight. we will have more on madonna and the awards just a little later in the program. >> yeah. all right. coalition forces are training front line fighters in the war on isis. coming up why some kurdish soldiers say training alone just want? enough. plus -- just isn't enough. plus a fight over homeland security funding is pitting the white house against republicans once again. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans they could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs.

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hello, and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." i'm errol barnett. >> i'm rosemary church. we do want to check the headlines for you this hour. the fbi says it has foiled a plot by three men to hijack a plane to isis territory. one of them talked about assassinating president obama. two appeared in a courtroom wednesday. the other was arrested in florida. turkey's military says one of its military vehicles was the targets of a suicide attack in kabul near the iranian and turkish embassies. there was a stein a turkish envoy who is nato's top civilian representative in afghanistan. two people were killed. a number of turkey's military and a member of the afghan security forces. two others were wounded. egyptian authorities say at least one person is dead after a string of bombings in cairo. two of the bombs went off outside mobile phone stores.

the heard it fatal bombing was outside a restaurant. police were on their way to check on a report of a suspicious package when that bomb exploded. we'll get you to northern iraq now where coalition forces are hard at work training kurdish fighters to battle isis. they're teaching them to use grenade launchers and to detect explosives. >> the kurds say they need more than just training to be effective. they need better weapons. senior international correspondent ben wedeman reports. >> reporter: kurdish fighters rushed to battle stations crawling to take up positions behind sandbags. moments later they opened fire. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: isis is a long way away. these men have taken part in an expanding coalition training program for the peshmerga. instructors are from the german army. for security reasons, they decline to be interviewed on camera and ask that we not show their faces.

many of the peshmerga like 18-year veteran jalil abdullah are no strange force war. nonetheless, this modern training makes a difference. "when we return to the front," he tells me "i'm hoping we'll take fewer casualties and inflict more on the enemy." in iraqi kurdistan, training is conducted by german dutch, itall can, and british troops. elsewhere in iraq troops are working to update the beleaguered army. dutch soldiers train the fires in the most basic of battlefield first aid. how to protect and evacuate the wounded during a fire-fight how to tie a tourniquet. peshmerga units don't have medics. the wounded are simply thrown in the back of a car, and if they're lucky will survive a drive to the nearest hospital. one aspect of training the peshmerga have asked for says

their spokesman is urban warfare. foreshadowing perhaps a role in the battle for mosul. if that battle happens, the worry is that isis will sow the city with thousands of improvised explosive devices or ieds. here the troops are learning how to deticket i-- detect ieds, one of most deadly tactics used by isis. casual fees and fatalities -- many casualties and fatalities caused by ieds. the training program started last smooth already showing results. >> the platoons we train at the front lines. we got the answer from the peshmerga general, this those platoons are much more efficient than before. >> reporter: and perhaps more deadly. here italian troops are training the peshmerga on the italian-made an i tank weapon.

a weapon likely to make an impacts when they take -- an impact when they take it to the frontment ben wedeman, cnn, outside urerbil, northern iraq. to the latest sign of the worsening dispute between the united states and israel. the u.s. korean state is openly questioning the israeli prime minister's judgment. >> it comes as the summit and other western powers try and secure a nuclear deal with iran. john kerry's comment came as benjamin netanyahu prepares for a speech in washington next week where he's expected to suggest the west has given up on thwarting a nuclear iran. >> reporter: from the agreement coming together, it appears that they have begin occupy this commitment and they -- giving up on this commitment, and they are accepting of iran. gradually in a few years would develop the means to createtorial for the public sector of very many nuclear

weapons. >> the prosecutor as you recall was profoundly forward leaning and outspoken about the importance of invading iraq under george w. bush. we know what happen with that decision. he may have a judgment that may not be correct here. >> and just by way of background republican house speaker john boehner invited mr. netanyahu to the u.s. without consulting the white house. some u.s. democratic lawmakers plan to skip his address because they say it will directly oppose president obama's diplomatic efforts with iran. all this tension comes as iran participated in what it wants to appear as military war games in the strait of hormuz. >> iran flexed its military muscle wednesday by staging

exercises that included an attack against a replica of a u.s. aircraft carrier. >> as the u.s. homeland security shutdown deadline approaches all eyes are on house speaker john boehner. he has two choices on this issue -- abandon his party's fight against the president immigration actions -- >> or stand with them and take the blame for shutting down the agency tasked with protecting america's borders. dana bash has more. i'm waiting for the senate to reactment. >> reporter: with days until they run out of money, the top republicans who run congress john boehner and mcconnell, met after not talking for two weeks. >> our staff talked back and forth. listen senator mcconnell's got a big job to do. so do i. >> reporter: it's a window into their challenges of governing. >> i'd be happy to have his cooperation. >> reporter: conservatives furious that senator majority leader mitch mcconnell gave in to democratic demands to fund

homeland security without blocking the president's immigration plan. boehner wants his rank and file to know he had nothing to do with it. >> right he harry reid is running the senate. that's a sad day. >> there's no way on god's green earth that i will support an effort to illegal conduct. >> reporter: a familiar headache to boehner. with the majority now in both chambers of congress conservative expectations are even higher that leaders won't back down to fights against the president's policies. are you concerned that if you bring up a clean bill to fund the homeland security department like mcconnell says he'll do in the senate it will be the end of your speakership? >> i'm waiting for the senate to act. the house has done its job to fund the department of homeland security and to stop the president's overreach on immigration. we're waiting for the senate to do their job. >> the clerk will call the roll. >> reporter: with the senate moving forward on funding homeland security the tough

choice will squarely fall in boehner's lap, fund the department or let conservatives down. despite the no-win situation, boehner aides dismiss any notion that he'd be in trouble. [ applause ] >> reporter: and they point to him pleasing conservatives by inviting israeli prime minister in the the netanyahu to speak -- benjamin netanyahu to speak next week angering the white house. >> on both sides there has been injectsed a degree of partisanship which is not only unfortunate, i think it's destructive of the fabric of the relationship. >> that was our dana bash reporting there. once again, the u.s. department of homeland security is set to run out of money this friday at midnight. >> right. in the united states another win in the fight to legalize marijuana. this time in the nation's capital. >> recreational marijuana use became legal in washington, d.c. as of midnight thursday. the district joins alaska colorado and washington state as places where people can legally smoke weed.

a quick break now. officials say they know what caused this massive explosion in the u.s. that destroyed a new jersey home and damaged a dozen others. russia could be shut you off ukraine's gas supply in a matter of days. we'll get you live to moscow for details on that. are you ready to feel the difference of truly hydrated skin? new neutrogena hydro boost water gel. discover our newest breakthrough and bask in the glow healthy skin hydration. see what everyone is raving about at neutrogena.com

now an update on a story we brought you yesterday.

official say they know what caused the explosion that rattled a u.s. neighborhood on tuesday. >> the video is incredible. they say this home in new jersey blew up just like that after a gas leak -- after gas leaked into the basement from a cracked main. the pilot light in the house then ignited. incredible to consider no one of killed. 15 people were injured. about a dozen other properties were damaged. >> the force incredible. the shaky cease-fire in eastern ukraine could be holding at least for now. >> keefe says no soldiers -- keefe says no soldiers were killed in the past 24 hours. favorite since the cease-fire began a week ago. ukraine is concerned about the rebels. they could be eyeing the vital city of mariupol. diana magnay reports. >> reporter: pro-russian rebels pull armor back from the front. it's not following protocol. they haven't said what's going where, but it's a start.

on wednesday they said it will toughen sanctions on russia if pro-russian rebels target mariupol feared next in line if the cease-fire fails. and there's still fighting in a nearby village. this is pretty much the easternmost point of mariupol. the shelling 15 kill normt that direction. this area -- kilometers in that direction. this area has been shelled and many kill around the corner a few weeks ago. you see some of the strafing on this building. if you live in this block of flats, there isn't much to protect you beyond a concrete wall and some glass. we were here in september. then a family asked our advice where best to hide from incoming fire. we're surprised to find them still here. most other families have left. seven in the stairwell. "when the shelling's than loud it's okay," she says. "when it's louder i get scared for my grandma and grandpa

because they won't leave." the grandmother shows me her icon of the virgin mary one in every room. "i don't know what will happen next," the she says. "but so far we've been safe." that's how the war has worn people down in the east. living as best they can. fearing they have nowhere else to go. "who would take us europe?" this lady says. "they don't need us there. what jobs would we get? we'll need to know a foreign language. we only know russian and ukrainian." mariupol would be hard to take. a city of half a million, crucial to ukraine's economy. kiev has massively upped its defensive positions around the city. and things are calming down. the number of cease-fire violations casualties down over the past days.

"this war can't last forever," this mans. "they'll shoot out all the shells and then there will be peace." a prospect that can't come soon enough for ukraine's tormented east. mariupol ukraine. even amid the crisis in eastern ukraine, vladimir putin seems to have the approval of his constituents. fred pleitgen joins us live from moscow. let's look at the latest approval ratings for putin. >> reporter: absolutely. one of the phenomenons if you will of the crisis in ukraine is that it seems as though every time there's no sanctions and the west increases pressure on vladimir putin, his poll numbers in russia appear to rise. we've a couple of minutes ago received the latest poll numbers for february and he's gone up in the approval ratings. he went from 85% in january to 8 % in february. that doesn't seem like much of

an increase, however, if you look at the factors going on all the external factors, it is quite surprising if you will. the economy, of course here in show isn't doing very well. the rubble has been in decline for a long time. russia is suffering from oil prices suffering unemployment as well. never theless, it appears as though in these times most russians are rallying around the president. we went to red square yesterday. and we asked people what they feel about how their president is performing in office. let's listen in to what some had to say. >> translator: magnificent. putin is the best president in the world. i'm happy to live in russia. i like what my president is doing. >> translator: as someone from the young generation i thank him for bringing our country for. he's a strong man. >> translator: i generally feel positive. the way he explains every step he takes makes me support him. i totally agree with his policies.

>> reporter: we looked very long asked people if there was anything people felt he could do differently. there wasn't much criticism. some say the come could go better. some lamented the amount of educated russians who are leaving the country. by and large, they said they feel the problems that this country had are due to external factors rather than to anything their president may have done wrong. >> right. putin flying high in the polls, and he's also threatening to cut off natural gas to ukraine and even europe. we talked about this yesterday didn't we? talk to us about how that's likely to pan out and if europe will likely be affected. >> reporter: he said that it's a very real possibility that europe could be affected. this is something that we've seen several times in the past even before the ukraine crisis kicks off disputes between ukraine and russia.

a couple years fwak did affect gas supplies to -- back. it did affect gas supplies to europe. it need to be seen in the context of the conflict going on. vladimir putin went on national tv here yesterday and said that ukraine had made payments for gas over for the next couple of days, about three days. that's a really real possibility that gas supplies to ukraine could be shut off if ukraine doesn't make further payments. he also said frankly that europe could be affected by this as well. it's an ongoing dispute. one of the things at the center of this by the way, is that there's a dispute between the russians and ukrainians about supplying gas to the separatists' held areas. russians have been doing. ukrainians refuse to pay for the gas. that's one of the things that's sets all of this in motion. >> all right. the war on ukraine on two fronts there coming from russia. fred pleitgen many thank,s, reporting live from moscow:a pop legend takes an unexpected fall.

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stolen in recent security breaches, so be ready in case your data is part of a breach with identity-theft protection from lifelock. call now to try lifelock risk-free for 60 days. act now and get this document shredder free. that's a $29 value. or go to lifelock.com/ready. that's lifelock.com/ready. try lifelock risk-free for 60 days and get this document shredder free, a $29 value when you use promo code "ready." call now. we don't know for sure but it's likely madonna is nursing a few injuries after falling off a stage in london wednesday. >> her spill was one of many memorable moments from the annual brit awards. cnn was on the red carpet and has more from london.

>> reporter: dressed like a matador, the queen of pop's performance was always sure to be dramatic. the 20 years since madonna last performed on the stage. her comeback fell flat when she took a nasty tumble following a wardrobe malfunction. madge was a trooper and plowed on. ♪ soon she was calming the nerves of her millions of followers telling them her cape was tied too tight. in the eyes of her fellow performers she could do no wrong. even before the show she was the star attraction. ♪ celebration come together in every nation ♪ ♪ like a virgin ♪ >> you must trust, trust within you that it's -- ♪ >> reporter: before madonna's fall it started out as the battle of the british voice with sam smith, ed sheeran and, facing off in the top

categories. fans turned out at london's arena for selfies and autographs. everybody wondered which englishman would come out on top. five heim time grammy winner sam was complimentary about ed. how much competition is there between you? is it more of a bromance? >> i adore him as a person and friend. and i want him to win everything tonight. he truly deserves it. >> reporter: ultimately honors were even. sam smith and ed sheeran taking two each of the design statutes home. the show itself was sprinkled with stardust. literally. in the case of taylor swift's performance. ♪ >> reporter: kanye west was a late addition and whipped fans into a friends when he dropped into a nearby chicken restaurant on his way to the show. his wife kim, pouted with the hosts. it was his performance that set the stage alightment surrounded by huge dancers some fiery flame-throwers and later heart-stopping performances

some clearly more try youumphant than others. -- triumphant than others. cnn, london. danwe have been closely monitor the awards show and has more buzz. >> he joins us live from london. despite the awards most are talking about madonna's wardrobe malfunction. this may be a controversial question but did see ing thating that happen at this stage in her career -- i can feel rosemary's eyes on me -- does it mean she's too old to be a pop star jumping like that period? >> no. no. would we say that about a male performer doing the same sort of thing? she's definitely not too old. the fact that she got up and carried on performing to the

point where people weren't sure if it was choreographed speaks to the talent madonna has. it was a show must go on thing. she leapt straight to her feet and carried on. she made it through when she was in excruciating agony. >> to credit her, a fantastic career. >> to your point, no one complains about the rolling stones. >> that is a val i point. they don't -- valid point. they don't say that about male performers in their 50s or 60s. >> sam smith and ed sheeran won two awards each. ed's best buddy, taylor swift, took her first brit we. all clearly deserved. were they the biggest wins or most memorable moments of the senate what else stood out? -- of the night or what else stood out? >> the u.s. contingent had all the headlines. let's be honest everyone is talking about madonna. everyone's forgotten what

happened before that. before that happened the big hit of the night was kanye west who came on stage and performed a new single. he had a huge amounts of people had british artists with him. flame-throwers. the big story is the show goes out thrive british audiences at home. they actually had to mute so much of his performance because of the profanity and lyrics. apparently the viewers at home almost had nothing of him rapping. the performance was stunning and got people on their feet. sam smith's performance, they were trying to go for the big adele moment the stunning moment that silences the room. it felt overplayed like they were trying too hard. i think the big british group, a rock band teamwork a two-piece from brighton. they-minute drive formed two years ago and -- they hadn't

formed two years ago and performed in the room. it was electric. >> all right. an interesting show. we've got to give credit to madonna. she got up. she was singing live. and really overshadowed. that moment overshadowed all the other big performances and awards. >> extraordinary. soldiered on. thanks for chatting with us. this is "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. "early start" is next for those of you in the states. for everyone else, stay tuned for max foster in london.

terror arrests here at home. three brooklyn men accused of trying to join isis and this morning, the fbi is warning this could be just the tip of the iceberg. revealing there are people in various stages of radicalization in all 50 states. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. this is thursday february 26th. happening now, three brooklyn men in federal custody charged in connection with an alleged plot to join isis in syria. the men committing acts of terror on american soil including an attempt on