Cook, with more on todays talks between president obama and german chancellor Angela Merkel. Good afternoon. Peter good afternoon, mark. Striking a united front today at the white house and criticizing russia for destabilizing the ukraine, even as they may disagree on the next moves to come to get Vladimir Putin to change his policy, most notably providing more military for the ukrainian government. Highstakes meetings behind closed doors for both leaders. Ukraine dominated the conversation, but there were other topics as well. Angela merkel thing she cannot guarantee her push for a ceasefire will be successful. But she feels like she has to try. They both said a military solution to the crisis in ukraine is not possible, and even the merkel objects, the president said he had not yet decided whether or not to provide legal defensive weapons to ukraine, as members of both parties of congress have been asking to do. Take a listen. President obama it is true that if what we are doing right now fails, i have asked my team to look at all options. What other means can we used to change mr. Putin path oculus . And the possibility of mr. Putins calculus . And we have not made a decision. Chancellor merkel you may rest assured that no matter what we decide, the alliance between the United States and europe will continue to stand, will continue to be followed. Peter again, displaying the united front. The president said they could have tactical differences going forward. That unity, mark, both of them saying a critical component in the push against Vladimir Putin. Mark if not more weapons for ukraine, then what . Peter they have talked about keeping sanctions on the table and further ratcheting of sanctions against russia. The president said they had a measurable impact on the russian economy and there could be more pain to come, more cost for Vladimir Putin down the road. And just the merkel said the same thing. If anything, the germans would like to go that route before the talk of weapons comes back onto the table. The question is whether the president will wait that long and how much time he will give Angela Merkel to try to get a writ a peaceful resolution to this. Mark the president was also asked about the situation in greece the chancellor was also estimate the situation in greece. How did she respond . Peter you could see the discomfort in her face and the efforts to walk away from austerity measures in place. She said, listen, if the greeks want to talk, they have to put something on the table to begin negotiations. The basic framework in place now made make the starting point for negotiations. Mark peter, thank you so much. John lipsky is a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins senior farm policy institute and a former first deputy managing director for the International Monetary fund and he joins me in studio. Dr. Lipsey, welcome back to bottom line. John good to be here. Mark , we were just talking about mark we were just talking about the situation between ukraine and russia and World Leaders trying to navigate that. They will hold talks in belarus beginning on wednesday. Ahead of the negotiations, the European Union decided today to does to hold off on imposing more sanctions. Our diplomatic efforts working echoed are the sanctions working . Are diplomatic efforts working . Are the sanctions working . John many believe it is keeping russia from obtaining funding from abroad. It is computing to the russian economy weakening. Right now, russia is looking at a recession this year. Mark peter also mention that chancellor merkel was asking about greece was asked about greece, and perhaps she did not want to get into that. Germany is the biggest european contributor to greeces bailout, so the germans have been consistent that antiausterity measures must remain in place, whether there is a new government or not. Does greece have clear negotiating strength when it comes to changing the discussion about the terms of debt relief . John in practical terms, greece is in a very precarious position financially, because their banks are very much dependent on financing from the European Central bank. And the country at this time, it would find it very hard to raise money in the international markets. So the success of negotiations with the socalled troika of the European Union, the European Central bank, and the International Monetary fund will be crucial. And that is still forthcoming. Mark dr. Lipsky, Bloomberg News obtained a draft from the g20 meeting underway in his dental. He did not mention the greek debt crisis. Does that surprise you . John not really. The g20 members represent 180 of the voting power in the imf and given that the imf is deeply involved, they will have a say. But right now, i dont think the g20 wants to insert itself in a situation in which greece is not a member and not involved director. Mark the finance minister of greece said the finance minister said it is important to work while vertically cooperatively. Does that mean you have to stick to the terms of the agreement that was come up with before the new government was sworn in . John i dont think thats the idea. Anything constructive engagement on both sides. The european position has been so far that greek authorities have not put forward a concrete plan on what they would like to see changed. In the meantime, they have a set of obligations if you will, policies that were agreed with the troika for 2015. Mark last week, the imf chief, christine lagarde, was talking about the situation in the eurozone. She said she would call for a decisive push for Structural Reforms. Is that something that the finance ministers are pushing . Are they pushing hard enough for that to happen . John Structural Reforms are very much a key element of the agreement between the troika and the greek authorities. The idea is to try to improve the competitiveness of the Greek Economy that is at the heart of their economic weakness. The issues on austerity and financing are really issues just that, shortterm financing issues. The real heart of the issue are the Structural Reforms producing improved competitiveness. That will be that will have to be discussed. Are they going to carry through on those elements . Mark its one thing to be a candidate and then another to actually govern. Mr. Suppress when he was running for Prime Minister mr. Sipras 20 was running for president mr. Sipras, when he was running for president , he said he would change the dynamic. Has that reality sunk into the office that they are probably not going to get much relief . John they will have to enter some real discussions and negotiations. The European Authority among the troika, gave very largescale funding to greece at a time when no one else would. And moreover, because the terms are so favorable, debt payments by the greek authorities are only about 2 of gdp, which is relatively low. The greek authorities seem to be saying that what they want first of all, is more lending i. E. More debt. I think they will have to have brought discussions on concrete policies here. Mark john this is senior fellow of the Johns Hopkins university, former first deputy of the and managing director of the imf. Good to have you on. Lets get you top stories is monday. We are getting word on some breaking news, Standard PoorsRatings Services made a call of saudi arabia, the outlook going from stable to negative. Falling oil prices there for the First Time Since june and we are paying more for gas. The average price of regular gas rose almost . 13 in the past two weeks to 2. 20 per gallon. Prices are still more than a dollar lower than they were a year ago. A startling study about the price of oil according to citigroup, crude prices may fall more than 50 in the next two weeks to 20 range. The reason, oversupply of oil is putting oil things for storage to capacity. And there has been a slowdown in drilling. Oil supply will roll only half as fast as it did last year. More on opec and oil coming up later on bottom line. As we been discussing, greece is on a collision course with its creditors with the rejection of the international bailout. The new contract between greece and europe, will plea which will be reflected in a midterm plan for reconstruction will respect the eurozone rules for reconstruction, but will not reflect irrational and unreal surpluses, which is a new word for austerity. Mark mr. Tspiras also saying they are playing with fire. European finance ministers are meeting on wednesday to discuss giving more money to greece. Up next, the latest world news. And later, the 2015 Grammy Awards are in the books. Who were the big winners . Decide sam smith, of course. Besides sam smith, of course more on that in just a moment. Mark it is 15 minutes past the hour. Lets check bloomberg world news this monday. There are reports that boko haram have kidnapped more than 30 people in northern cameroon. Fighters have completed their attacks outside nigeria striking multiple times in neighboring cameroon and niger in recent days. Neighboring countries are planning a military effort to subdue the group, which is claimed blamed for doing 10,000 in the past year. Auditing some 2300 account holders named in secret papers that outline how hsbc bank helped the wealthy dodge taxes. The comment came after 120 billion in assets were analyzed by investigative journalists in france england, and elsewhere. According to people with knowledge of the situation with ubs, investors want to know if ubs misled client investment. It is more about whether the currency market has been manipulated. The 7. 5 increase in the octoberdecember timeframe in india. Government economists are questioning the growth surge because the way gdp is catholic and aiming cap has changed is calculated in india has changed. We will have another update in about 30 minutes. Coming up promoting albums to streaming to renting music, we will look at how music has changed in the digital age. Mark later today, a bloomberg exclusive. Federal governor j power will be Jerome Powell will be interviewed. That is coming up at 5 30 p. M. New york time on taking talk. Taking stock. Jeb bush has a slight lead over his republican rivals. That is according to a recent poll. He was backed by 16 of those surveyed, followed by rand paul and Governor Scott walker. New hampshire holds the first primary. 25 Million Viewers tuning in the grammys bus night. The broadcast highlighted how big, live events still ruled the airwaves. Analyst and director of research at bloomberg, paul sweeney joining me here in studio. Good to see you. Lets talk about those numbers from last night. As expected, a big hit for cbs, but still down from last year. Why . Paul they were slightly down, but still good numbers over the competition any day of the week. A competitive threat was Better Call Saul something that was widely anticipated. A big night for cbs and for the Music Industry. It goes to show you how no matter how the Music Industry changes, this is still something there is a lot of interest in. Mark and live events, whether music or sporting event, have advertisers figured out that even though people could probably take it and watch it later, they would still rather sit at home and watch it live . Paul yes, we see this more with choices for video. It is not just broadcast tv netflix or other programming. There is still a huge audience for the live event. Super bowl, for example, the oscars, the grammys, some of these events that still put together 20, 30, 40 million homes are more in cases of the or more in cases of the super bowl. Advertisers are intent on reaching that audience. Mark paul, as you alluded to, people consume music differently than they did five or 10 years ago. Consumption habits might change, but the value and importance of music still revealing it tell. Should these shifts have changed things . Paul i think what we have is we have gone from where you owned it down, a cd even but then it became owning just individual songs through apples itunes. Now with some of these streaming services, consumers are not just are not owning music that much anymore, but just renting it. It is a different economic model. Its a different model for what defines a breakout hit. But still, people are paying for music. But it is incumbent on the music business to make sure they are paid every step along the way. They made some big mistakes on apple came on in they lost some pricing control, but they are wanting to get it back. Mark where is the art for Something Like the grammys when this translates not so much sales of their music, but when these artists to he when these artists tour . Jump are we seeing a big jump in the box office . Paul yes, if you are a big artists like the Rolling Stones or youu2, you dont make much on the cd. It is in devices you to go out and make money on the road. Mark sam smith has now 122. W on 22. Sam smith is now only 22. I was shocked. He seems more mature and more Business Savvy at the age of 22. Maybe he started when he was 12. Paul i thought interview where hes really had to change the way he makes music and some of the people he works with to find the right commercial makes. Judging by last night, he has found that right makes. Mark is this a curse . Some rappers save could be, because then you might lose the streak read. Some people think you went to mainstream too mainstream. Paul it depends on the music you play, but if you are backed by a good agent you should be able to translate that in front of a big audience into some success. Mark never mentions of Domestic Violence and other recent issues. If you are not as and millions if you are an artist and millions will be tuning in think of the temptation. Think about george sees got when he sent a native American Woman of their two get people to George C Scott when he sent a native American Woman up there to get people to think about the plight of native american people. Paul calls call at least there was not a wardrobe malfunction last night. There were some different issues and it was a bit somber, but it is kind of their prerogative when they get these 15 to 30 seconds to say there thank yous. Their thank yous. It is an investment and it keeps paying off for cbs. Mark did anybody say to tone it down . Paul nobody did. It is the number one watched network for the past 10 years. Cbs goes for the biggest audience not necessarily the youngest audience, but the biggest. Mark paul sweeney, appreciate it. Up next, opec to reaction setting is forecast. Bottom bottom line continues in just a moment. Mark welcome back to the second half hour of open bottom line on bloomberg television. Im Mark Crumpton in new york. Thank you for staying with us. Sales keep falling at the Worlds Largest restaurant chain. Samestore sales at mcdonalds fell 1. 8 last month, worse than expected. Mcdonalds has already announced it will replace ceo don thompson. Japanese automaker nissan has raised its profit forecast for the year. Nissan is been helped by a weaker yen and a stronger demand in the United States. That may help the company offset the impact of a recession in russia and slowing growth in japan and china. It was nogo for an Unmanned Falcon rocket from elon musk spacex corporation. The planned launch in florida was grabbed minutes before liftoff because of problems with the air force radar designed track the flight. Spacex will try again tomorrow. That is a look at the top stories we are following at this hour. Lets get to the price of crude oil as floor trading comes to a close here in new york. New york crude is up about 2. 5 52. 96 per barrel. Opec has cut its forecast for countries outside the group. The cartel says a cross route price route means u. S. Rulers will have less than anticipated. Tom petri joins me from denver, colorado. Mr. Petrie, thank you for your time. Tom good to be here. Mark it is estimated that nonopec countries will pump about 400 million 400 Million Barrels per day less. What will this mean for the shortterm . Tom well, it still growth, and weve got more than we need. Its on the margin into beating the surplus. And i think in general it will keep oil somewhat pressured. I would expect to trade in the 50s and possibly below yet again as we go into the spring. Mark our oil prices now starting to show signs of prices bottoming out . Tom cole and it looks that way but he could be deceptive. There is a seasonality tom it looks that way, but it could be deceptive. There is a seasonality to the prices. Weve got some big offshore deepwater project yet to come on , and those are different from these unconventional projects. No question, weve laid down a lot of rakes, and that will stretch out the unconventional a lot of rigs and that will stretch out the unconventional approach. Mark opec decided not to raise its prices even as the price was falling. Did the cartel decides not to pass the buck onto American Drillers . Tom that is one interpretation. It was definitely their desire to have a price reaction that would reduce the rate of growth. Last year, the u. S. Grew by well over one Million Barrels per day probably 1. 2 million, 1. 3 million. And the Global Growth demand was only about 800,000 or 90