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! hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and right around the world. i'm isa soares in london. and i'm michael holmes in ukraine. just ahead on "cnn newsroom." military action could happen any day. >> the world is on edge. >> mr. putin had a plan to see how much he could sneak in and see what he could get away with. >> for president putin to make a decision to invade ukraine, it would be very bad for him, for

russia and for europe in general. >> still a challenge for diplomacy. u.s. and vush shan officials say they are open for negotiations despite vladimir putin sending more troops to ukraine's border. plus, the russian figure skating star facing a doping scandal is returning to the rink. not everyone is happy. and former u.s. president donald trump is hoping to see some major fina -- looking to see so major financial troubles ahead. >> announcer: live from london, this is "cnn newsroom" with isa soares. >> welcome to the show, everyone, tuesday, february 15th. president biden is facing the biggest crisis yet that they are more concerned than ever that

russian troops will move into ukraine. they have increased the ability to invade ukraine. 50 helicopters have arrived at a military base. >> we have said for a while now that military action could happen any date. i won't get into a specific date, that won't be smart, but it is entirely possible he could move with little to no warning. >> reporter: now here in ukraine president vladimir zelensky is asking the nation to remain calm in the face of the russian threat and is calling for a day of national unity. the united states is moving embassy staff from the capitol kyiv to western ukraine. they have opened a welcome center to help u.s. nationals

leaving ukraine. the state department is telling americans to leave both ukraine but also belarus to the north immediately and members of congress say they are concerned. >> this is a very dangerous situation. >> the concern is very high. the only good news is diplomatic exchange continues. >> the forces the russians have amassed, they could launch at any point. >> now the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov briefed vladimir putin on monday telling him there is still a chance for diplomacy. russia needs to do more than talk and it needs to show it wants a peaceful resolution. >> in order for diplomacy and dialogue to succeed, it has to take place in the context of deescalation and we have not seen anything resembling deescalation. there is not that context yet. if foreign minister lavrov's comments are followed up with

concrete, tangible signs of deescalation, we would certainly welcome that. >> reporter: cnn is covering this story from every angle. our brett pleitgen is standing by in moscow. let's start with cnn's sam kiley in ukraine. sam, you're right there on the border. russian troops not far away. give us a sense of what it's like there and how the locals are feeling. >> in short, pretty relaxed. there is this fervid language coming from the united states which is in no way matched by the atmosphere here on the ground or indeed on the border. yesterday i traveled up to the border right with absolutely no sign of ukrainian troops. that doesn't mean that they're not there, that they're not dug in. indeed, the border area is nominally closed to journalists walking around with cameras.

of course they might reveal military secrets to the potential enemy. there was a handful of border guards. large numbers of trucks from ukraine waiting to explore various goods from ukraine or elsewhere within europe. a few vehicles coming in from belegrad just to the north. belgrade is an area with satellite imagery and social media posts have seen a significant increase in the number of helicopters deployed there alongside the first guard's tack army which is a vast organization with surface missiles. very substantial military buildup being treated almost with indifference here. we've also got no information that 60 helicopters have appeared on satellite imagery.

they haven't been there in the south in crimea which was seized by russia back in the 2014, 2015 conflicts. all of this building up a picture external to the ukrainian borders causing this very, very anxious language coming from the united states and allies. here in ukraine you really wouldn't know it. there has been no mobilization of home. no mobilization of reserves. there are some reports leave has been canceled. national police force has been put in a high state of readiness. president zelensky's message of don't panic seems to be getting through. michael? >> sam kiley, appreciate that. fred pleitgen in moscow, let's turn to you. despite all the troop movements, tanks, et cetera, you've been hearing russia says it wants more, not less diplomacy. >> yeah, you're absolutely right, michael. i think another quite

significant thing that -- or possibly significant thing that we've just heard from the russian ministry of defense is they say some of the troops that have been participating in the exercises in the western military district near the east of ukraine, that those have started and are returning to their bases. now what exactly that means, how significant that is is certainly something we're going to see over the next couple of hours, next couple of days. at the same time we are getting the messages from the kremlin that they say that more diplomacy, they believe, is in order. in fact, yesterday i was in contact with the spokesman to the kremlin dmitry peskov and he says vladimir putin has always been for diplomacy and the russians say ukraine is only one of the issues they have with the broader security structure in europe at the moment and the security guarantees that the russians have been asking for. i think one of the things that was really significant yesterday, michael, was the fact that vladimir putin had a meeting with sergei lavrov, his

foreign minister. you eluded to it. he said diplomacy still has a chance. it started with a question from vladimir putin asking whether or not negotiations still actually make sense. let's have a look at what the two men said. >> translator: if we are ready to listen to some counter proposals, it seems to me our possibilities are far from being exhausted. of course, they should not continue indefinitely, but at this stage i would suggest they be continued and increased. >> and before that vladimir putin had asked does all of this still make sense? so certainly the messaging that's coming out of moscow over the last 24 hours or so is one that the russians continue to want to diplomacy and today olaf schultz, the german chancellor is already here for further talks with vladimir putin, michael. >> all right. fred pleitgen appreciate that. our thanks to you and sam kiley. and we're going to have much

more on this sort of bubbling conflict, if you like, a little later in the program. meanwhile, let's send it back to you, isa. >> michael holmes will return in about 20 minutes or so live from western ukraine. thank you, michael. russian invasion could have major economic implications who are dealing with inflation. russia is one of the top oil and gas producers. as it is, americans are already paying nearly $1 more a gallon for gasoline than they did a year ago. and worries about disruptions have sent oil prices to nearly $96 a barrel for the first time since 2014. jpmorgan global equity research predicts short falls in opec plus production as well as capacity could send prices to $125 per barrel as early as the second quarter of this year. and we have a quick look at u.s.

stocks today. this is on monday. the nasdaq there pretty flad. word the u.s. was closing the embassy in kyiv underscored that fear and if we have a look at u.s. futures and how they're expected to open, it seems like a new day starting fresh. nasdaq up -- expected to open up 1.5%. dow just almost 1% and s&p 500 fairing a bit better than it did. accountant for former u.s. president donald trump are cutting ties with the trump organization and say that nearly a decade's worth of financial statements are unreliable. george connroy explains what ths is. >> they're basically saying there is we have no idea what the right numbers should be and you can't rely on them. the fact that they are resigning as his accountants basically means they're pointing the

finger at him. they have a conflict of interest with him according to the letter which means, as i interpret it under these sentences, they're playing on team ag and ta and not trump anymore. they're pointing to the trump organization. the information if it's wrong, they gave it to us. that's not helpful. particularly it's unhelpful for the investigation -- part of the investigation that's being conducted by leticia james, the attorney general. she has the authority to bring a civil case under a new york statute called the martin act. the martin act, because it's a civil statute and because of the way it's written doesn't require the prosecutor to prove intent and fraudulent intent. if these statements are -- basically if the accountants are saying these contain false statements, basically that case is proven. meanwhile, trump's former attorneys are complying with a

january 6th committee. sort of. the panel expects him to cooperate fully despite his request to reschedule his deposition. cnn's paula reid explains. >> reporter: while it's not unusual for witnesses who receive a subpoena from a house committee to negotiate or enter into preliminary negotiations, what's unusual about rudy giuliani is that his lawyer had previously said giuliani would not cooperate with the house committee investigating january 6th citing privilege. cnn has learned giuliani through his attorney has been engaging with the committee and a source familiar with these negotiations says there is a chance that giuliani would be willing to testify under oath about some topics. but let's be clear, there is no date for him to testify. he has not turned over any documents. there neesa agreement between him and the house select committee at this time. what could he potentially cooperate about? it appears that election fraud is the most likely subject where he would potentially be willing

to answer some questions. we know that because the first 12 or so questions that he received in his subpoena from the house select committee have to do with election fraud. these are issues that are not likely covered by executive privilege or attorney-client privilege and a source familiar with his negotiations says that's one area where he could potentially be willing to cooperate. right now the cooperation, negotiations are in the very early stages. it's not clear if giuliani's legal team will be able to come to an agreement on a way for him to cooperate. the fact that he is engaging, that is notable. it will make it harder for the committee to argue that giuliani was ignoring him or for them to try to proceed with contempt if they believe that he has not fully complied with their requests. he is represented by the same attorney who represents steve bannon who has, of course, been criminally charged with contempt. giuliani is in a slightly different category because he was a personal attorney for the president at the time in

question but, again, the fact that he is at least engaging, that he is not completely stonewalling, that will help him if the committee is unsatisfied with his level of cooperation and tries to proceed with contempt even if they cannot come to an agreement on a way for him to co-op perfect rate. paula reid, cnn, washington. ♪ ♪ just a few hours to go until controversial russian figure skater kamila valiyeva is set to compete in the women's single skating program at the beijing olympics. the 15-year-old skater was cleared to compete after testing positive for a banned substance. the situation has sparked fierce debate as well as reactions from athletes and officials in the

olympic community but some say valiyeva's natural talent is too much to ignore. here's a former coach. >> translator: she's simply a prodigy in her gift. she is a brilliant child, there is talent plus hard work plus ability plus desire. >> and illegal substances. kristie lu stout is here. she's blaming it with a mixup on her grandfather's medication. what more can you tell snus. >> reporter: yeah, it's an interesting new development. kamilia valiyeva saying her positive drug test was a result of a mixup with her grandfather's heart medicine. an official told this to the media. of course it was on friday, that's when we heard the international testing agency say

that she had tested positive for band substance in december. the band substance was a heart medication that can be used to enhance performance or boost performance. it wasn't until last week during olympic competition when that test result came to life. on monday that was when the court of arbitration decided to clear her, give her the go ahead for competition. she is favored to be the winner for the women's single event due to take place a few hours from now. if she wins there will be no medal ceremony. a number of people including former olympians are quite upset about that decision to allow her to compete. for example, let's bring up one reaction for you. this one from tara lipinski. she of course was the women's olympic champion in 1998. i strongly disagree with this decision. at the end of the day, there was a positive test and there is no question in my mind that she should not be allowed to compete. we have this from the 2010

champion along with a black image. athletes who violate doping cannot participate. finally i want to share this from the u.s. sprinter sha'carri richardson who missed out on the 2020 tokyo olympics. she asks this question, quote, can we get a solid answer on the difference of her situation and mine? unquote. kamila valiyeva is one of the youngest olympic athletes to test positive. 9:52 a.m. beijing time. >> kristie lu stout in hong kong. stay with us. we'll have a live report in about 15, 20 minutes. tennis star novak djokovic says he'd be willing to miss the next two grand slam tournaments.

his comments come a month after he lost his visa challenge and a chance to play in the year's first major. in an exclusive interview with the bbc djokovic, who is not vaccinated, says he's not against vaccinations but understands the consequences of choosing not to get the shots. >> and i understand that not being vaccinated today i -- you know, i am unable to travel to most of the tournaments at the moment. >> that's a price you're willing to pay? >> that is the price i'm willing to pay. >> this now means the world number one could miss out on both the french open as well as wimbledon later this year. still to come right here on the show, why america's top infectious disease expert says a covid vaccine holdup for young children is is not necessarily a setback. new research found stunning data about the prolonged drought in the western u.s. and it's

only unfortunately expected to get worse. >> 2022 has started off on an extremely dry note. it is the wet time of year. but rainfall deficits as much as 9 inches into parts of california. in a moment we'll break down this and the sobering study showing us the driest pattern potentially in over 1,000 years being experienced in the western u.s.

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upload your logo or start your design today at customink.com for the first time this year average daily covid cases in the u.s. have dropped below 200,000, that is according to johns hopkins university. cases in children are down more than 50% from the previous week. but the number is still higher than during the delta variant peak according to the american academy. meanwhile, fda advice is still waiting to recommend the pfizer vaccine in children 5 and under. dr. anthony fauci says the fda's decision was made for the right ree reasons. have a listen. >> i think it's disappointing that parents who have children

in the age group are anxious and want their children to be vaccinated but you want to make sure it's done right. what the fda is doing is there doesn't appear to be any age range at all. they want to make sure the dose range is the correct one. in california the mask mandate in schools will remain in place for at least two more weeks. that's according to the state's top health official. he says state leaders will reassess the latest data and trends before making any trends to that requirement. california's still relaxing its mask mandate for vaccinated people in most other indoor public spaces. and we'll be watching a new york courtroom today where a u.s. district judge is expected to dismiss sarah palin's defamation lawsuit against "the new york times." jurors are still deliberating, but the judge says lawyers for the former vice presidential candidate did not prove the "times" acted with actual malice.

pal lynn thanked the jurors after leaving the courthouse on monday as you can see there. "new york times" issues statements welcoming the judge's decision. two federal trials are now underway, one in georgia, the other in minnesota following the killings of two unarmed black men , ahmed arbery and george floyd. at least two of the men plan to testify in their own defense. in georgia opening statements took place monday in the federal hate crimes trial of three white men convicted of murdering ahmed arbery nearly two years ago. prosecutor told the court arbery would not have been killed if he were white. cnn's nadia row mehra has the latest. >> reporter: tuesday the prosecution will present their first witness in the federal hate crimes trial against the three men convicted of murdering ahmaud arbery.

those men have already been sentenced to life in prison. this is about the reason why they killed ahmaud arbery. they saw him on surveillance video and they believed he wasburg glar rising their homes and cars, stealing things and he was running away from a home that was under construction and that's why the three men went after him and ultimately killed him in self-defense. the prosecution will argue that they targeted him simply because he was black. they plan to present new evidence, social media posts, text messages for the men that used the "n" word and racial slurs and talked poorly of them as animals and less than human. ahmaud arbery's mother was in the courtroom for the first time during this federal trial. here's why she believes they will be victorious in the end. >> i think we'll get another victory out of this. i think it's going to be a long, long hard trial. a whole lot of hard evidence is going to come into play so i've

got to be prepared for that each and every day. >> reporter: ahmaud arbery's mother and father both mentioned the makeup of the jury. in the state trial it was 11 to 1 white to black but in this federal hate crimes trial the jury is made up of a much more diverse panel of jurors. eight white people, three black people and one hispanic person. both parents say it doesn't matter the diversity of the jurors because the evidence is there to convict the men of killing their son simply because he was black. nadia romero, cnn, brunswick, georgia. the city of minneapolis, minnesota, will conduct special review of the police department no knock warrant policy led by the city's stifl rights department. it comes two weeks after the death of a 22-year-old black man. amir locke was killed when they served a no knock warrant. he was not named on any of the search warrants. the office of police conduct

review say they'll look at the policy to recommend specific changes as well as improvements. locke's family and attorney are calling for a complete ban no knock warrants not wanting any other parents to experience obviously what they have. ♪ ♪ now to some really eye popping data about the impact of climate change. a new study found the past two decades in the western u.s. with the driest in at least 1200 years. the region is going through a mega drought. pedram javaheri has more. >> isa, so often we talk to the western u.s. as it relates to drought. after we have incredible amount of rainfall in november and december, would you believe january 2022 and some of the

larger cities around the western u.s. and parts of california have seen significant rainfall. san francisco, almost 6 inches below where it should be this time of year. this is the wet season. this is when you expect to see the rainfall. that's a new study from the journal nature climate change. it suggests since the year 2000 this is the driest period in about 1200 years across the western united states and portions of north america. that says quite a bit especially when you consider the data prior to this shows that from 1980 to about 1998 we have the wettest period in over 1,000 periods. so dramatic shift within just a matter of a couple of decades. the study's talking about this are being related to human-induced climate change. when you take a look at the data it's accounted to about 42% in the western u.s. twice the amount of severity from the previous century when it comes to how dry the

landscape has been, again, coming off of what has been a very wet period into the 1990s and 1980s. tree ring data, thousands of sites around the western united states and sample trees, dead trees, live trees, wood beams preserved from archaeological sites. all of this revealed significant data when it comes to not only forest fires over the course of the last 1,000 or so years but within tree rings you can clearly see where rainy seasons have been based on how wide apart the tree rings are. if the tree rings become very compact that tells us your dry spell. we saw this dramatic shift which, again, suggests human induced climate change could play a role in all of this. give you a more recent sample size here. los angeles, one of the wettest december on record. january, one of the driest januarys on record. reversal a significant one in a very short time period.

>> very worrying, indeed. pedram, thank you very much. still ahead, the drum beat of war seems to be growing louder in ukraine as diplomatic efforts of a conflict push ahead. we are live in ukraine ahead for you next. e sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to relieve pressure points. and it's temperature balalancig so you both sleep just right. and now, save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited ededition smart bed. plus free premium delivery when you add a basese. ends monday

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom," everyone. i'm michael holmes in ukraine. >> i'm isa soares in london. if you're just joining us, top stories of the hour. tennis star novak djokovic says

he's willing to skip out on the french open and wimbledon over his covid vaccination status. and the accounting company working for donald trump and the trump organization are ditching the former president saying nearly a decade's worth of financial statements are unreliable. we'll have much more ahead on both of those stories on "early start" in less than 30 minutes. now meanwhile here in ukraine the u.s. is issuing some of its most urgent warnings yet that a russian attack could come at any moment. americans are also being urged to leave ukraine and also belarus to the north immediately. all of this coming as new satellite images show 60 russian attack and transport helicopters have arrived at a military base in crimea. several strike bombers have been deployed to southern russia. russia saying some of its troops in western and southern districts have started returning to base after carrying out

military exercises in the west but there are plenty more troops still on exercise and the kremlin says russian president vladimir putin is still open to negotiations. the german chancellor olaf scholz is in russia to meet with the chancellor. more now from cnn's matthew chance in kyiv. >> reporter: the first strike on ukraine could start with a barrage of ground and air troops. they could move across the ukrainian front here. as tensions mount, the latest images released by the russian defense ministry are further jangling nerves. they have the capability, but in moscow a decision to attack does not yet appear to have been

made. the fact that this carefully choreographed scene is on russian state television looks designed to show diplomacy remains very much on the table, very long table. is there a chance to reach agreement with our partners president putin asks his foreign minister, sergei lavrov, or is it an attempt to drag us into endless negotiations? i must say there is always a chance. it seems to me the possibilities are far from exhausted. this should not be carrying on indefinitely but at this stage i would suggest they be continued and increased. it is an important sign. the kremlin may still see negotiations very fruitful. others haven't given up either. from the ukrainian capitol germany's new chancellor was greeted warmly by the embattled ukrainian leader who despite bitter disappointment germany

hasn't done more to deter russia and amid the urgent and dire u.s. assessments of the attacks and the ukrainian president is keeping the country calm. even declaring a national celebration. >> reporter: we are told february 16th will be the day of the attack. we will make it the day of unity. the relevant decree has already been signed. on this day we will hoist national flags, put on blue and yellow ribbons and show the world our unity. >> reporter: but ukraine is also desperate to show the strength of its defenses. conducting its own military drills and releasing dramatic videos like this one set to music faced with an overwhelming russian threat, ukraine seems it is at ease and bracing for an

attack. matthew chance, cnn, kyiv. >> reporter: now as to the timing of all of this, cnn military analyst mark hertling believes mr. putin may have been planning this for a long time but was surprised with the nato and u.s. support. nato was struggling with people like merkel leaving the alliance. she was -- changed the election in germany. so a lot of things were happening then that aren't happening now but what we don't know is what is putin's next move? he wants to have plausible deniability if he decides to attack, he's going to attack. if he doesn't, he can say, hey, i was just there for an exercise, what the hell is nato all concerned about? >> reporter: and a former

ambassador says if there is a war there will be significant costs for putin at home. >> the russian people are not particularly angry at the ukrainians. the russian people have a good attitude towards the ukrainians. they're going to wonder why president putin is sending their sons, daughters, fathers, brothers into combat and are getting killed and going back to be buried in russian towns. that is not a -- that could have -- that could disrupt president putin's regime. it could be destabilizing to his regime. he has a lot to think about. i think he will look for the offering. >> that was william taylor speaking to us earlier. i'm michael holmes. we'll have much more coming up on "early start" in 20 minutes or so.

meanwhile, isa soares, thank you very much. >> thanks for your company. for the first time bahrain is going to meet with the crown prince, the prime minister at this hour. israel has increased cooperation and shared concerns about iran. we'll keep you updated on this story. flying in the unfriendly skies. new details of an american airlines flight that had to be diverted after a passenger tried to open the plane's door. that's just ahead. plus, athletes and former olympians are speaking out over the russian doping scandal at the beijing olympics. they're not happy. we'll have the latest reaction from the winter games and beyond. boss.how your sore throat w's new mucinex instasoothe. works in secececonds, lasts o hours.

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canadian prime minister justin trudeau has taken the most aggressive approach yet. invoking the government's emergency act for the first time ever to try and end more than two weeks of blockades as well as demonstrations. >> this is about keeping canadians safe, protecting people's jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions. >> the law passed in 1988 can temporarily restrict people's freedom of movement and allows authorities to go after people who financially support the process. the u.s. has halted avocado imports. it's a response from a threat to

an official. texas is suing facebook's parent company meta claiming it illegally captured facebook recognition data of tens of millions of residents for a de decade. they say the former photo tagging feature did not get texans approval. meta says the claims in texas are without merit. and a scary moment in the skies. we are learning more details about american airlines flight that had to be diverted over the weekend because a passenger was being unruly. cnn's tom foreman has an ex example. >> reporter: the approximately 6'3", 240 pound man confronted the crew right outside the

cockpit according to court papers holding a plastic utensil like a shank and kicking a service cart into an attendant. he tried to open up the cockpit door. an attendant hit him with a coffee pot and other passengers rushed up, punched him, tackling and securing him. the flight from l.a. to d.c. was diverted to kansas city where revis was taken into custody. the faa says on average about 10 unruly travelers are reported every day. >> steep rise in these cases, flight attendants have been asking every single day when they put on their uniform, is this going to be a sign of authority and leadership in the cabin or is it going to be a target for a violent attack? >> you [ bleep ]. you gave me one [ bleep ]

warning, one warning. >> reporter: incidents of upset, angry and violent passengers soared to 6 thousand. so far this year many states are dropping mask mandates, federal authorities still require them on airplanes and the tension is real. >> you [ bleep ]. >> combine that with a record number of guns caught at security checkpoints and some industry groups want no fly lists for disruptive travelers and the biden administration says they might consider it. >> you simply should not behave this way on the airplane. you should not behave this way on the ground either. >> many flight attendants continue training to defend themselves, other passengers and even their planes when fellow travelers for whatever reena take. the man in that weekend incident is now charged with interfering

with a flight attendant and he is still being held with no word on how he will answer that accusation. tom for man, cnn, washington. and we are counting down the hours until the russian figure skater involved in a doping scandal competes in the beijing olympics. that's not all that's going on. coy wire has the latest from the winter games. coy. >> reporter: huge day for the host nation. eileen gu going to the next medal and switzerland are the fastest on skis. two of the stories i have to show you, isa, coming up. air wick essential mist. connect to nature.

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! it's been an exciting day of competition in beijing. tuesday's events featured some career firsts on the podium as well as athletes like eileen gu winning more medals for china. coy wire is outside of beijing with the latest on events.

coy, it has been another terrific performance for the ice princess. not quite gold but still pretty impressive. >> impressive. the free slopestyle final for women. eileen gu, she is capturing the hearts of spectators here. biggest crowd in the snow park. folks wanting to snap the pictures and already winning the gold in the big air competition. gu puts down another solid performance to win a silver. she was holding heart hands above her head. the 18-year-old has another opportunity to win another medal. the lowest scoring qualifier to olympic champ. she already won bronze at these games in big air competition. she adds to her silver from four years ago.

ma tilda can say she's hanging an olympic medal of every color back home. women's downhill was delayed because of wind gusts. switzerland shows once again why nobody's touching them on the alpine slopes. the swiss skier beat the defending olympic champ for gold. the 27-year-old overcame injuries that put her on crutches for a month. she said afterwards, isa, this was the biggest dream of her life. switzerland repeating a fete from 50 years ago. they won gold in the women's and men's downhill events. this is the first time ever that four alpine skiers one nation have won individual gold and mikaela shiffrin finished 18th in her first ever olympic downhill competition. history made for host china

suy ming before his 18th birthday. he's the first chinese olympic athlete to win a gold in snowboard. he's pursuing his passion for snowboarding hoping to represent his nation one day. clearly he has taken full advantage. he's representing the next generation of winter sport athletes from china. 1.4 billion population, isa. not many familiar with winter sports. china has 6 gold medals from four years ago. >> 17 years of age, such an over achiever there. coy wire, thanks very much. good to see you. that does it for us here on "cnn newsroom." i'm isa soares. our coverage of the russian/ukraine crisis continues on early start with christine

romans and laura jarrett. i shall see you tomorrow. bye-bye.

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good morning, everyone. it is tuesday, february 15th. it's 5 a.m. here in new york. thanks so much for getting an early start with us. i'm laura jarrett. >> i'm christine romans. we begin this morning with russian forces seen moving towards the border with ukraine. videos like these posted recently to social media and checked out by cnn show russian military convoys on the move, this one in western russia just across the border from kyiv in ukraine. at the same time russia now says some