♪ ♪ hello and welcome to our viewers watching from around the world. i'm anna coren live from hong kong ahead on "cnn newsroom." >> no, i would not protect you. in fact, i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. >> the white house condemning comments by donald trump after the former president invites russia to invade nato countries that fail to pay their dues. israel says it has found hamas tunnels under the u.n. relief works headquarters in its latest blow to the embattled agency. a helicopter crash in southern california leaves six people dead, including the ceo of a major nigerian bank. those details in a live report.

we begin this hour in washington where the white house is going on the offensive on multiple fronts. the administration is working to get ahead of controversy over a recent special counsel report with aides, allies, and the first lady pushing back on suggestions that the president's memory lapses have revealed a lack of mental fitness. meantime, the white house is also blasting remarks made by the likely republican presidential candidate that could alarm europe and impact u.s. relations with nato allies. those comments were made saturday at a campaign rally in south carolina. donald trump said he'd "encourage russia to do whatever the hell they want" to nato allies if they didn't pay up. take a listen. >> i came in, i made a speech, i said you've got to pay up. they asked me that question. one of the presidents of a big country said, sir, if we don't pay and we're attacked by

russia, will you protect us? i said, you didn't pay, you're delinquent? he said, yes, let's say that happened. no, i would not protect you. in fact, i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. >> that statement is extraordinary in many ways. it goes against the core premise of nato, which is collective defense. and nato countries are not actually delinquent on any financial obligations, as all of them pay their share of the common budget. the white house slammed trump's remarks in a statement late saturday saying, "encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged, and it endangers american national security, global stability, and our economy at home." donald trump is also blasting the idea that the u.s. would give any of its allies aid unless there are, quote, strings attached. he wrote on social media saying

the united states is stupid for offering support without the hope of payback. and he celebrated the failure of a $118 billion border deal and aid package earlier this week. >> i said, why do we do this? if you do, you give them not $100 billion, you give it to them as a loan. it's called a loan. give them the money, and if they can pay it back, they pay it back. if they can't pay it back, they don't have to pay it back because, you know, they've got some problems. if that happens to our country, then very simply, we call the loan and we say, we want our money. >> trump is speaking out about a lot of topics on the campaign trail. he's not just attacking foreign aid but targeting his republican opponent, nikki haley, in a very personal way. alana treene has the details. >> reporter: former president donald trump set foot in south carolina for the first time this year and had a clear message to deliver to his supporters which

is that this is his state to lose. donald trump and his campaign really do look at south carolina as the place where they will deliver the final blow to nikki haley's campaign. and they tell me that's because he continues to do so well in the polls in this state. if you look at the past several months, he's consistently been leading her by an overwhelming margin. it's also because of the intensity they've seen for him on the ground. saturday, for example, many people showed up, the venue was packed, a lot of people could not get in, it hit full capacity very early on. that gives you a sense how strong the energy is for donald trump here in the palmetto state. but look, donald trump spent a lot of his speech on saturday going after nikki haley. even though they are very confident in his chances here, he continued to ramp up his attacks on her. at one point, he even questioned the absence of her husband on the trail, take a listen. >> where's her husband? "oh, he's away." what happened to her husband? what happened to her husband?

where is he? he's gone. >> reporter: i want to be very clear here that michael haley, nikki haley's husband, is currently deployed in africa. that's why he's not appeared on the trail alongside his wife. i also think it's important to note that melania trump, the former first lady, has not been appearing on the campaign trail or in any court appearances with her husband, donald trump, as well. the only time we really saw her appear with him so far in the 2024 election cycle was when he launched his bid for the white house in 2022. but look, donald trump did not just attack nikki haley, he also spent a lot of time testing his general election rhetoric against president joe biden. he attacked biden's handling of the southern border. he also ramped up criticism of the justice department's decision not to charge biden over his handling of classified documents. he also repeatedly criticized joe biden's mental fitness and what special counsel robert hur

described as a poor memory. alayna treene, cnn, conway, south carolina. >> nikki haley fired back at trump after those remarks about her husband saying, "michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about. someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander in chief." michael haley tweeted a m meme @donaldtrump which read, "the differences between humans and animals, animals would never allow the dumbest ones to lead the pack." the first lady is adding her voice to criticisms of the language in that special counsel report. in an email late saturday, she argued that the president's age is an asset, saying, "joe is 81. that's true. but he's 81 doing more in an hour than most people do in a day. joe has wisdom, empathy, and vision. his age with his experience and expertise is an incredible

asset, and he proves it every day." cnn's priscilla alvarez reports from washington. >> reporter: the white house is going on the offensive and taking direct aim at republicans and president joe biden's critics over his age, saying in a newly released memo saturday, "this undeniable record," referring to the president's legislative accomplishments, "speaks to why it's no surprise why republican officials continue their desperate age attacks after many years of failure. they're afraid of joe biden." this memo also goes on to make notable mentions of people like general mark milley and former house speaker kevin mccarthy, who have called the president alert and engaged. but of course, this comes on the heels of that special counsel report that also mentioned the president's age and apparent memory lapses. now, this had aides to the president fuming over the course of the week, who pushed back and said the president is sharp and tireless. we also saw that anger spill into public view from the president himself, who took particular issue with the

special counsel, suggesting he had forgotten the day his son died. all of this is part of what is going to be a defining theme for the presidential election year. that being the president's age and fitness for office. senior campaign officials say the president is best when he is out on the campaign trail, engaging with voters. we have seen an uptick in traditional retail politic stops for him to do exactly that. it is ultimately them, the v voters, who are going to pass judgment on whether the president is fit to serve a second term. but of course, polls show that there is still some concern here about how old he is. again, campaign officials and white house officials well aware of that, seeing it as something they can navigate, reminding the american people who he is and what he is like when he engages on the campaign trail. jonas gift joins us from london. he's the director of the center on u.s. politics at university

college, london. welcome. good to have you with us. let's start with jill biden's assessment. she says, yes, he's 81, but that's an asset because of the experience that he brings to the table. would you agree? >> it's good to be with you, thanks for having me. i think the problem for biden is this. he's tried to make the case that 2024 is the most important election of our lifetime, that it's a battle between democracy and authoritarianism. and yet he's going into that fight as an 81-year-old with a sub 40% approval rate hog just got blasted by a special prosecutor appointed by his own attorney general for lacking the mental acuity to face criminal charges are that is a real problem politically, regardless how joe biden tries to spin this. the white house knows it. a lot of experts keep saying biden's advisers need to put their foot down and force him not to run. but biden's the only person who make that decision. he's in a tough spot, especially with a very unpopular vice

president. there's no obvious successor and kicking the choice down to the democratic national convention could really throw the party into disarray. but the reality is that there are legitimate questions about biden's mental sharpness. voters are taking that into account. and republicans are doing a very effective job so far of exploiting it. >> but why is age hurting biden and not trump? there's only 3 1/2 years between them. donald trump is making as many mistakes and faux pas as joe biden is. >> i think you're absolutely right. some of it is just how the narrative has evolved. this has been the main issue surrounding joe biden. despite the fact, i totally agree with you that donald trump goes over and over and over and makes the same types of mistakes. one of the issues quit biden i just think is how people see him. it's sort of more about frailty and not being as energetic, not being as dynamic.

so trump is out there yelling and screaming. that may not be a very good assessment of his mental acuity, but that's not how people perceive it. they perceive him as sort of being strong for his age, still relatively robust. whereas they see joe biden as the opposite. so whether this is fair or not, it's hard to judge. but i think that this is the narrative that biden's dealing with. >> mixing up the names of leaders and countries, that's one thing. but telling russia that it can do whatever it likes with nato countries that don't pay its bills i would say is definitely another. i mean, some would say, and the white house has said, that those comments from donald trump are unhinged, designed to throw the world order into disarray. what would you say to that? >> 100%, they are unhinged comments. they're more of the same from what we've become so accustomed to from donald trump. with donald trump, we expect this. we've become desensitized to it.

almost to the point where it barely registers in the news feed. he has to say something so outlandish to get attention now on cnn. but i think a lot of people just hold joe biden to a higher standard. potentially for good reason. it's not fair. everything that donald trump says reflects the fact that he really isn't in control of his mental faculties but that's not the narrative that's developed. >> what does biden's team need to do to change public perception? >> i think that's really difficult. because the dilemma is that for biden, there's really nothing he can do to change his age. he's 81. he would be 86 by the time he finished a second term. it's very difficult to pr yourself out of that reality. maybe biden is capable of running the white house for another four years, but the question is whether he's up to

the rig gones of a campaign. he's going to need to be in the spotlight, take questions, probably debate. you can't go into a presidential contest just hoping for the best. in the impromptu press conference that he held, joe biden said, "i know what the heck i'm doing." it's not a hard and fast rule, but usually when you're in the position of having to tell people i know what the heck i'm doing, it's a good indication you don't. he should probably stop that kind of rhetoric and show people, not tell. it's really difficult right now. this is going to be the achilles heel that joe biden is going to have to deal with. >> thomas gift with university college, london, thanks so much. israel says it found a hamas tunnel under the headquarters of the u.n. relief agency in gaza. the israeli military released this video claiming to show the tunnel, including what israel

says was an electrical connection to unrwa headquarters. the head of the u.n. agency says it left the building on october 12th after israel ordered evacuations and had no knowledge of what might have happened there since, nor of the tunnel's existence. israel's foreign minister is calling on him to resign. israel is said to be preparing for an offensive in the southern gaza city of rafah. that's where the idf told palestinians to flee for safety. more than 1 million people are now sheltering there. hamas is warning against attacks in rafah, which it says are aimed at displacing palestinian people. palestinian police say israeli air strikes killed at least five police officers. it's not clear if the incidents are related. medical officials in the hamas-run enclave tell a palestinian news agency air

strikes and shelling killed 25 people on saturday, many of them women and children. the idf says it takes what it says are feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm. journalist elliott gotkine is live in london with more. let's start with those hamas tunnels the idf says it's discovered. what more can you reveal about this video footage and the details? >> reporter: for unra wa, this is the latest and perhaps most damning tunnel the idf says it has discovered underground in the gaza strip that would have taken years and vast sums of money to build. this particular tunnel, it entered a tunnel shaft near an unrwa school and went directly underneath unrwa headquarters in the gaza strip. it's about 18 meters below ground. not only did it go underneath

the unrwa headquarters, idf said, but there were cables running from unrwa down into this what it describes as a hamas military intelligence center. and actually this data center that said hamas was running directly underneath the unrwa headquarters drew its electricity from the headquarters above. it also discovered vast quantities of weapons. it says as well, unrwa as you say has denied all knowledge of this tunnel existing or this data center existing. it says it doesn't have the capacity to investigate to understand exactly what's going on underneath, either. this comes at a delicate time for unrwa, given the allegations by israel that a dozen of its employees were actively involved in hamas-led terrorist attacks of october 7th, prompting many countries to suspend funding which to organization which is stretched to the limits trying to provide humanitarian aid to all the civilians in desperate need in the gaza strip.

>> the rafah ground offensive, we know it's imminent. the israeli prime minister has said as much. when will this happen? and where are the 1.3 million there expected to go? >> we don't know the answer to all of those questions. we understand israel's plan is to finish this ground operation in rafah in time for ramadan on march 10th. prime minister netanyahu in excerpts of an interview to abc says israel will provide safe passage to the more than 1 million palestinians there in rafah. but it's unclear exactly where they will go. and we've heard concerns expressed from regional players such as the united arab emirates expressing concern from thes sawis, with whom israel hopes to form diplomatic relations, expressing its concerns, concerns from the european union's foreign policy chief saying there could be unspeakable humanitarian

catastrophe. a lot of concern, but the war itself has already come to rafah in the form of those air strikes. >> elliott gotkine in london, thank you. u.s. military officials say they conducted what they call self-defense strikes in yemen on friday against houthi weapons targeting ships in the red sea. u.s. central command forces struck five missiles and two unmanned surface missiles, saying they posed an imminent threat to u.s. navy ships and commercial vessels in the region. the u.s. targeted several other drones and missiles in houthi-controlled territory over the past few days. up next, six people are killed in a helicopter crash in california, including two leading figures in nigeria's finance and public health sectors. we'll get a live report from lagos. pakistan has finally released the official results from thursday's election. we'll break it down next.

helicopter crashed in san bernardino county, california, on saturday night. they include nigerian banking

ceo herbert wigwe and his wife and son. he served as the chief executive officer of access bank holdings and was described as a colossus in nigeria's financial sector. abimbola ogunbanjo, who was the former group chairman of the nigeria stock exchange, was also killed. the director general of the world trade organization confirmed the deaths and released a statement expressing her deepest sympathies and condolences to the victims' families. joining us now is cnn's stephanie busari in lagos, nigeria. what more can you tell us about the victims of this crash? >> reporter: yes, so a nation is plunged into mourning, anna. details are still emerging, but herbert wigwe, as you mentioned, is believed to be involved in this crash along with his wife and his eldest son. they were their way to watch the super bowl game.

and it's really been seen as a national tragedy here in nigeria. herbert wigwe touched many lives, as well as being a colossus in banking. he was a philanthropist who gave scholarships to many students, home and abroad. and herbert was very ambitious about his plans for building africa. he was involved in many transformative projects, including a world-class institution, a university in his own name that he was building at the time of his death. and he vowed at the time that this university would provide world-class education for africans to give them a level to compete globally. sources close to him tell me that he had also earmarked thousands of scholarships for students to attend this university. herbert was also a patron of the arts. he sponsored leading

contemporary art festivals here in west africa and also was in the interests of transparency was a sponsor of a cnn series known as "africa avant-garde." reactions are pouring in. people feel this loss keenly as someone they know, because he just touched so many lives. and his wife and his eldest son on that flight with him, anna, and he actually has five children. so other children here in nigeria being comforted by relatives, i understand. but really, this is a big loss for the nigerian financial institution and also for many nigerians who will feel his loss keenly. >> as you say, a huge loss to his family but also to the country. stephanie busari joining us from lagos. authorities in florida have tentatively identified the two victims of a small plane crash

that happened on an interstate near naples on friday. the pilot and the second in command. >> is there anybody else in there? >> pilots! >> the coleia county sheriff's office announced 50-year-old edward daniel murphy, and the second in command 65-year-old ian frederick hoffman, both from florida. three others survived. an investigation is under way. the pilot told air traffic controllers before the crash, the plane had lost both anyones. children still head to school despite new deadly strikes on ukrainian cities.

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♪ welcome back. ukraine is forging ahead with a reboot of its top military command as it seeks to change its battlefield strategy. on saturday, president zelenskyy appointed five more senior commanders. they'll take charge of ukraine's drone programs and military innovation as well as logistics and training. the announcement came just days after mr. zelenskyy replaced his top military chief. his replacement, general oleksandr sevsky, is under pressure. a family of five killed after being trapped in a fire caused by a russian drone strike, among seven who died in

kharkiv on friday when drones hit a fuel depot and set part of the neighborhood on fire. a couple was trapped in their burning home and died along with their three children, including a 10-month-old. russia is making new advances, according to a ukrainian open source mapping site. it shows moscow in control of a railway line north of the town and possibly just a few hundred meters from its main supply route. ukraine says it's still able to bring supplies into the town. russian strikes are a regular occurrence in the city of kharkiv, but officials have come up with an idea how to protect children in school by moving their classes underground. fred pleitgen has the story. >> reporter: extra-special is what 6-year-old elmira wants for school, because simply going to school is special in kharkiv. it's dangerous, so dangerous

they had to move classes underground. for many children in kharkiv, this is the reality of their school day. they go into the subway, because everywhere else in the city is unsafe. the city built classrooms here. they call it the metro school. >> how are you this morning? >> i'm fine, how are you? >> reporter: here we won't hear anything, she says. "hear what?" i ask. "the bangs," she says. "bangs" happen nearly every day in kharkiv, russia's army shelling the city, killing and wounding hundreds since the beginning of the invasion. but down here, kids can be kids. the classrooms are soundproof, blocking out not just the noise of the subway, that's still running, but also the thunder of the war that has already affected these youngsters so much. "on my birthday, for some reason, a war broke out," she

tells me. february 24th, 2022. all elmira wanted was to celebrate her 5th birthday. but vladimir putin's troops were storming kharkiv. firing from russian territory towards the territory around kharkiv. reporting from the russian side of the border, i saw the invasion firsthand. on the receiving end, instead of the birthday party, elmira and her friends had to go to the bomb shelter. "i even started crying," she tells me. "i thought it would be the end." they try not to talk too much about the war in the subway school, but the children coming back here now have been scarred for life, the teacher says. "they had the look of adults who had already experienced hardships," she says, "experienced the hard days and months of this war." there are no regular functioning schools in kharkiv. it's either the subway or online classes.

and the city doesn't believe that will change soon. they're building bunker schools because children here wouldn't even have enough time to get to an air raid shelter, the mayor tells me. the s-300 missiles reach kharkiv in 35 to 40 seconds, he says, therefore no air alarm can work and the only way out is to build such underground facilities, real underground schools, he says. back at the subway school, every day, a minute of silence for those killed by vladimir putin's war against ukraine. but then the kids sing their national anthem, showing the russians and their leader that no matter how many missiles they fire, ukraine is growing stronger, its future brighter every day. official election results in pakistan are now in.

independent candidates backed by the country's jailed ex-leader, imran khan, won a plurality of seats but no majority in the assembly after thursday's vote. before the results came out, khan had apparently sent word that protests should be held today outside polling offices where his party says election results had been withheld and delayed. joining us now is cnn's sofia saffie in slam bad. let's start with whether people are not heeding khan's call to take to the streets in protest? >> reporter: anna, the protests are due to take place in about half an hour from now. the announcement this morning by khan's party members was for a larger-scale protest across the country, sharing timings, and locations for these protests. they've sailed those back in the

past couple of minutes. they've said they're going to be having them very specifically outside those polling stations because this morning there had been a decision shared by them for why their protests -- because of the anger that's there, according to them, because of their seats being stolen from them and because of the rigging that they say has taken place. so again, a lot of anger amongst these young supporters of imran khan. but again, compared to what happened on may 9th, the most recent protests in this country, what followed was an immense crackdown. multiple party members are still under arrest. so there's a scaled-down protest. we'll have to see if that, too, becomes violent with potential clashes or not. >> tell us about the latest results are what does this mean for who will become pakistan's next prime minister? and will the people accept the

outcome? >> reporter: none of the parties have received a majority. they need 169 seats. khan's candidates aaffiliated with his party have won the most seats. what we're going to see is a coalition potentially of the parties along with minor parties as well. the pti party has not indicated they're willing to be in talks with anybody to form this kind of coalition. so still a few days before we have the announcement of the next prime minister of the country. it's not blatantly that he'd be winning a fourth term. backlash was leveled by the lead that the independents affiliated with inram khan have received. >> truly extraordinary. we'll see how things play out today. sofia saffie, good to see. >> hungary's president has resigned over the pardon of a

man implicated in a child sexual abuse case. protesters had called for her to step down after she pardoned a man accused of covering up a sex abuse scandal in a children's home. novak said the pardon was a mistake. she apologized to child abuse victims and their families. novak has been a close ally of conservative prime minister victor owe ban. king charles is making his first public statement since buckingham palace announced the 75-year-old has an undisclosed form of cancer. he thanked the public for their support, saying it brought him "the greatest comfort and encouragement." the british none marc ad added, his diagnosis has strengthened his admiration for organizations that help cancer patients. the palace says he's been stepping back from public duties while he undergoes treatment. people tlatss gathered? atlanta saturday to remember the youngest son of slain civil

rights leader dr. martin luther king jr. and his wife, coretta scott king. a memorial service was held in honor of the chairman of the king center, dexter king. >> reporter: the king family has called the church their spiritual home for over a century, so it's no surprise they chose this church to say good-bye to dexter. when the king family was making plans to hold a memorial service for dexter king, they said that the event would be what they called a candlelight musical experience. the memorial was open to the public, and it was also streamed live on the king center's website. we have previously reported dexter king died after a battle with prostate cancer on january 22nd. only days before he was going to turn 63 years old. the day after he died, his sister, bernice king, the ceo of the king center, wanted to honor

the memory of her brother, and this is what she had to say. >> i always admired his brilliant mind. his ability to innovate. but i told him this year, i said, "dexter, you to me, you have the most strategic mind that i know." dexter was a strategist. and most people didn't understand and know that. >> reporter: dexter king was the youngest son and third child of civil rights leader dr. martin luther king jr. and his wife, coretta scott king. he was only 7 when his father was murdered in memphis, tennessee in 1968. according to the king center, he was named after dexter avenue baptist church in important, alabama, the church where his father first served as pastor before coming back to atlanta. at the time of his death, he was not only the chairman of the king center but president of the king estate.

coming up, the stage is set for super bowl lviii in las vegas where tackling the matchup, security preparations, and the latest on taylor swift's efforts to make the game from her tokyo concert tour.

♪ super bowl lviii is just hours away. the reigning champs, the kansas city chiefs, are hoping to score back-to-back titles as they take on the san francisco 49ers at allegiant stadium. taylor swift seems to have arrived back in the united states from japan in time to attend the big game. by the way, her boyfriend's playing, in case you didn't know. you'd have to be living under a rock. security preparations are under way to keep the super bowl and travelers flying to the game safe. cnn's josh campbell explains.

>> reporter: as fans await super bowl kickoff, law enforcement in the united states has been planning for months for this big event. the hundreds of thousands of fans who will be in and out of allegiant stadium protected by this massive deployment of law enforcement officers, some of the resources they're bringing including physical scanners for everyone going into the stadium. there are explosive detection k-9s. also sensors deployed that essentially sniff the air for any type of chemical, biological, or new cler threat. that's happening on the ground. in the air, a national security temporary flight restriction will be instituted just about an hour before kickoff. that will be enforced by military fighter jets. one area of focus for law enforcement pertains to drones. drone technology is obviously very cheap to obtain. there are a number of ways that bad actors could cause harm using a drone. the fbi and other law enforcement agencies have brought in counter-drone technology.

the capabilities include being able to take over a drone, either drop it out of the sky or take control, move it to another area if there's concern it might contain a dangerous payload. at this point, all of this is precautionary. law enforcement tells us they haven't identified anything specifically that gives them concern, but they're ready. >> there is no known specific or credible threat to the game or any of the events surrounding the super bowl. you'll see an increased security presence, not only around the stadium but other events. >> we have fbi stationed in our emergency operations there and at every joint command post and intelligence center operating throughout the las vegas valley. we are monitoring and sharing every scrap of information that indicates a potential threat with all of our inner agency, law enforcement, and appropriate private sector partners. >> reporter: the work of law enforcement doesn't end with the final score the game. they have to get all of these people safely home. we're told by tsa that they will have increased personnel at harry reid international

airport. all security checkpoint lanes will be open for a period of about 48 hours. we know that not everyone leaves las vegas a winner, particularly for crestfallen fans from the losing side. tsa will be making their exit a little bit smoother. special students from hawaii will take part in the big game. members of this high school football team will serve as honorary coin toss captains six months after catastrophic wildfires leveled their community on maui. the nfl says it's honored to showcase the players and recognize their resilience and success after everything they went through in the deadly fires back in august. plenty of happy faces in qatar right now as their team wins back-to-back titles in the asian cup. they're the first team to do that since japan two decades. ago "world sport's" patrick snell has reports. >> the asian cup, the hosts

beating jordan 3-1 with one penalty grabbing headlines. jordan 87 in this the world rankings playing in their first-ever final. both teams line up ahead of one huge final. the home fans' expectations, at the 20-minute mark, qatar take the lead. akram afif converted the opening goal of the final and he celebrates, pulling out a card from his socks. a magician's trick if ever there was one. afif would be stretchered off with an apparent knee injury, but he wouldn't stay off the field of play for too long as he would then come on to play again. what a part he would play. jordan leveling with a great piece of skill from yazan al neimat in the 67th minute.

great control and finish for 1-1. the drama was only getting going. qatar with another penalty, afif again stepping up to convert, another party trick, smashes it home for 2-1. would you believe this, a historic hat trick of penalties from the very same player sealing a 3-1 victory for qatar over jordan. absolutely wonderful scenes there for qatar and their fans. qatar are defending asian cup champions. they're now back-to-back champions, and they did it in front of their home fans at world cup stadium as well, 3-1 over jordan. what an incredible weekend for them. our congratulations to them, as well. for now, it's right back to you. >> patrick snell, thank you. partygoers in ryo may have a rude awakening, celebrating carnival. the reason revelers could find themselves in the middle of a health emergency.

♪ some call it the greatest show on earth, but there's a potential spoiler hanging over the famous carnival in rio de

janeiro which got under way on friday. the city is grappling with an outbreak of dengue fever, a potentially deadly disease. officials are concerned the mass celebrations could make a bad situation even worse. >> reporter: let the party begin. with drums thumping, dancers parade through rio, dressed in bright colors and dazzling costumes to celebrate carnival. it's a kaleidoscope of fun, with lines of revelers shaking and shimmying in the southern summer heat. brazil's ministry of tourism says 49 million people are expected to take part in the festivities this year across the country before lent, a christian period of prayer and penitence, beginning on wednesday. >> translator: parading is about celebrating life.

it's very important to celebrate life, and that's why we're here. >> reporter: even one of the biggest parties on the planet. >> immune from buzzkill. last week the mayor of rio de janeiro declared a public health emergency. officials say the number of dengue infections is surging across the country, four times higher than the same period last year. >> translator: with this increase in cases, rio de janeiro has a classic dengue epidemic. we've experienced a few dengue epidemics in our history, and now in the year 2024, we unfortunately have a new epidemic. >> reporter: with millions of people partying outdoors for carnival, authorities say there could be an uptick in infections, which is spread by mosquitos. a mass vaccination drive is under way in brazil with children 10 to 14 getting the first doses and several treatment centers set up to treat the sick. health officials are advising people to cover up and use

repellent to avoid getting bitten bit insects, but some people say all the precautions aren't dampening their spirits. >> translator: i'm protected. i'm covered with repellent. it's all right. i'm blessed. >> reporter: the good times still rolling in brazil, but what comes next once the party is over could be a sobering experience. michael holmes, cnn. thanks so much for your company. i'm anna coren. we'll be back with another hour of "newsroom" after this short break.

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i know what year it is.