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the israel defense forces says two hostages have been rescued from the southern city of rafah. >> it was complex. it was fast. the idf say this was something that had been in the planning for a long time. >> no, i would not protect you. in fact, i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they wanted. >> what we heard was a very swift and a very stiff push back from those within nato itself. >> the super bowl has finished in las vegas. the kansas city chiefs defeating the san francisco 49ers. >> what a game we had in vegas. the first ever super bowl in vegas did not disappoint.

live from london, this is "cnn newsroom" with max foster and bianca nobody bow low. >> hello. welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world and the u.s. i'm max foster. >> i'm bianca knobolo. a covert operation led to the rescue of two hostages. >> two men, 6-year-old fernando simone hahn and they were in good condition. they were kidnapped by hamas on october 7th. >> they are at a medical facility in tel aviv. benjamin netanyahu issued a statement welcoming the men home. a special operation took place in the southern gaza city of rafah. that's where they said they conducted a series of strikes. >> the crescent society said more than 100 people have been killed in strikes including children. there is a chaotic scene inside

the hospital. >> the overnight strikes only adding to concerns over possible israeli ground offensive inside rafah. prime minister netanyahu was asked about that on sunday. >> the biden administration says it will be a disaster if you go into rafah in this way. the it's not just the biden administration, it's your allies in the region. we've heard from the egyptian foreign minister it will be disastrous consequences. the uae is warning of exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe with. is any of this giving you a second thought to you going in and doing this? >> the answer is no. victory is within reach.

this will be the best thing that will happen. i can't see a future if hamas is in control. >> a moment for the two families. >> it was a coordinated covert operation. it started at 1:49 a.m. it was involving special forces from the israeli police and from intelligence they deducted that these two israeli argentine hostages were on the secretary st -- second story of a building. they put their own bodies around the hostages to protect them from fire. extrakted them and then the

airstrikes began. they managed to successfully extract the two hostages. one israeli soldier was injured mildly. they've already been visited by members of their family, some of whom were previously released in a previous hostage deal with hamas. they've lost weight and are in good spirits. they are trying to come to terms with the fact of being four months in captivity they are now free. >> i've read reports they are generally in good condition. we are talking about 60 and 70-year-old men. we don't know if they were kept in tunnels at some part or if they were in buildings the whole time, if they were well looked

after. some of the hostages have been taken by other militant groups. some have been kept in tunnels and above ground. their treatment seems to vary quite widely. these two particular hostages who are argentine and israeli citizenship are well. they're being hailed by the president of argentina. >> also being held by the israeli government, presumably going to suggest that this is evidence that we don't have to negotiate, we can actually go and get hostages anyway? is that right? also saying we need to go into rafah. >> prime minister netanyahu in a statement saying this shows it is the military pressure on

hamas which will ultimately lead to -- >> there's already been two successful hostage releases. >> that's right. but i think what netanyahu is getting at, they are going to be able to go in and carry out operations and rescue more than 100 other hostages. it will prompt hamas to moderate its demands which netanyahu described as delusional and there by make a hostage deal easier to come by. >> elliott, thank you so much. iraqi and u.s. officials are discussing how to phase out the coalition operations in it iraq. they plan too assess the threat and set a time line for them to

leave. >> they still have troops in the country to prevent a resurgence of isis. u.s. strikes against iran-backed militants in baghdad put an end to that coalition. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin is back in hospital. biden officials were quickly notified this time unlike the previous hospital stay. >> kathleen hicks has assumed austin's duties. although officials didn't say how long he would be staying at the hospital, he has taken classified and unclassified communications systems with him. sanjay gupta has more. >> typically, especially in the wake of having had prostate surgery, it means that someone who's unable to empty their bla

bladder. it's known as urinary retention. it can be really painful and cause a lot of abdominal pain but it can also cause other symptoms in the body. people can drop their blood pressure. they can have heart rate abnormalities. this was described as an emergency so, you know, in addition to the pain he may have had some of those other things going on there. just, again, the time line of this just to remind you, it was an early december that he was first diagnosed with prostate cancer and december 22nd when he had the operation, scheduled it over the holidays, some people do that. the it sounds like that operation went well. he was discharged the next day. it was a couple weeks later, january 1st, not even two weeks later that he was admitted to the hospital for an infection at that point. significant hospitalization. two weeks and he's back in the hospital again. it's described as a bladder issue. we don't know specifically what that is.

in the context of having had prostate surgery, the possibility that he has developed what is known as retention, urinary retention, that seems to be the most likely culprit here. that can lead to an emergency. a $95 billion foreign aid bill that provides crucial assistance to ukraine. >> it comes after republicans blocked a wider bill that included a bipartisan border bill. if it is passed by the senate. it is unclear whether house speaker mike johnson would hold a vote on it. now donald trump's controversial comments on nato are facing intense criticism. here's what he told supporters at a campaign rally in south carolina. >> one of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, well, 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. >> trump's comments drew condemnation from the nato chief. the political opponent . >> this is not someone you ever want to pal around with and you certainly don't want to give them the right to invade a friend. i am all for making nato pay their fair share, but the reason that that has been the most successful organization in 75 years is because russia's never

invaded a nato country. they know that together we're united. they know together they can't touch us. >> and u.s. president joe biden says trump will, quote, abandon our nato allies. >> they say they will throw away comments. they will pay their dues. they will say how comments like that will have an impact and lead to grave miscalculations. >> bianca, we know what donald trump thinks of nato. when he was president he threatened to pull the u.s. out of the alliance. he has also called it obson bso

in the past. the sentiment is not a surprise. just how far they've gone has taken many by surprise. it will be listened closely to by leaders around the world especially those who remember alliances were not as sacred to donald trump as they are to u.s. president joe biden. there are many world leaders who will be expecting a certain level of disdain from a future president donald trump because they have seen what he has done in the past. there is a concern because within nato the cornet tur of nato, article 5, if one member nation is attacked then it is attacked on all. all of the member nations come to the defense of that one country. that's really what it hinges upon. if one country in particular, one as large and powerful as the united states, decides it is not going to step up if that were to be the case, then there are serious repercussions.

any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the united states and puts american and european soldiers at increased risk. we've also heard from the european counsel, president charles michelle saying these are reckless adding they serve only putin's interests. so there will be concern about these comments. there have been some within the republican party that have dismissed them. even agreed with the sentiments. when it comes to many member nations there will be concern. what we've seen in recent years is that the u.s. president joe biden has managed to sustain a certain level of unity within nato in particular after russia's invasion of ukraine and

this is really just a reminder to all of what a potential second u.s. presidency of donald trump could entail. max, bianca. >> paula hancock in abu dhabi. here's what she had to say about the international impact of trump demands. >> america has important alliance relationships with south korea, with japan. we're always looking back very concerned about what a trump presidency would mean, whether the u.s. would continue to support those countries and, remember, those are countries that are sitting in a very -- potentially very insecure region. china, north korea, nuclear power. south korea has allied on the united states for their security. there is a veil of uncertainty

that is hanging over america's allies but also its close partners around the world. we'll wait and see what happens in this election. a surprising thing always to me is many more europeans believe that donald trump will be successful in that election in november so i think the level of fear and concern and at some level it doesn't really matter if donald trump were to remove america's formal commitment, it's the daily blast of saying that he might that creates an extraordinarily uncertain and unpredictable environment to here in europe as we know we're seeing many people say that it's time for europe to plan for an alternative scenario of america really coming to its defense. >> he has a point, though, to some extent in terms of the money. european countries don't put in as much mean and some don't live

up to the promises of what money they are going to put in. there is that. when you consider russia, china, if he goes through with this promise to effectively weaken the power of nato without america behind it the same way, it does open an opportunity for russia and china to fill that vacuum on the world stage and does change the world order. >> well, i think certainly putin is enjoying the fear that donald trump is instilling in america's closest partners and perhaps waiting to see if he'll have a friend in the white house but i think just to be very clear, that call for members of nato to step up their defense spending, 2% of the budget, that came in 2014 before donald trump and we have seen consistent movement forward. in 2014 there were only three

members hitting that target, now we're over ten. there's a long ways to go. who's spending on defense. the top defense spender is poland, not the united states. the europeans have stepped up a lot especially since russia invaded ukraine. so i think the commitment is serious. the direction of travel is correct. i think europeans know that they need to do more and that there is a question of how do you motivate and creating chaos and fear and signaling support in effect to russia is not a way to do it. not only for europe but also the united states. the kansas city chiefs have done it again. they are now back to back champions. we have a story with taylor swift. >> plus the halftime shows that fans had yelling "yeah."

musicians. >> they always do.

super bowl provided a fantastic finish. i watched it. did you? >> no. >> the kansas city chiefs beat the san francisco 49ers with a touchdown in overtime. the chiefs have now won back-to-back super bowls. >> in kansas city thousands of chiefs fans came together outdoors in very cold temperatures to cheer for their team and the chiefs most famous fan, taylor swift, was at the game to congratulate her boyfriend travis kelce with a kiss. andy scholes is there. andy, max and i might not have been able to watch it so tell us the unmissable moments. the what should everybody get to see? >> well, i'll tell you what, guys, the first super bowl ever here in las vegas, it certainly did not disappoint. it didn't start off that way. the first half, it was just an offensive struggle. it was punt, punt, field goal,

fumble, punt. we were looking like we were in for a dud of a super bowl but in the end patrick mahomes delivering once again, and he's truly cemented himself as one of the all-time great players to ever play the game. show you how it all went down. taylor swift in attendance to cheer on her boyfriend travis kelce. they showed her on the jumbotron, she chugged her drink for all her fans. like i mentioned, not a lot of offense. chiefs down 10-6. they were actually punting here. this is the play that just changed the game. the ball hit the niners player's foot. they can't field it. totally swinging the momentum. very next play mahomes. the chiefs take their first lead. they go 13-6. niners, they would come right back. brock purdy going to find ja'whaun jennings for the touchdown. niners back on top but jake moody's extra point gets blocked. that would be huge because the

chiefs in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter drive down and kick a field goal to tie the game and send it to overtime. just the second overtime game in super bowl history. and niners, they would get the ball first and end up kicking a field goal. then mahomes, the chance to being 75 yards to win it all and he did just that finding hardman for the 3-yard touchdown to win the super bowl. chiefs beat the niners 25-22. taylor swift joining in on the celebrations on the field giving her boyfriend travis kelce a big smooch. mahomes named the mvp for the third time in his career. they're the first team to go back to back since the patriots in '05. mahomes thinking of a three pete. >> i'm going to celebrate tonight and whatever i can. try to go for the threepete. once you win that championship, you have those parades, you get

those rings, you're not the champ anymore. you're the comeback of the same mentality. >> i don't care what people tell us. i won three in whatever years. you can call us the dynasty, whatever you want. i know what we've got is something more special than really what you see in the nfl. the guys in this locker room and the head coach. >> i will say las vegas has got to be the best place to win the super bowl. the chiefs are still partying up somewhere on the vegas strip, guys. their head coach andy reid, the two previous times he won the super bowl he said he was going to enjoy the night by eating a big old cheeseburger and i can only imagine that's exactly what he's doing somewhere right now. >> sorry we're keeping you from the party, andy. it will be going on for a while at least. i wonder if andy ever realized going into sports and beening a revered sports correspondent that he would end up transitioning into showbiz and talking about taylor swit.

>> i don't think any of us would. >> mahomes. >> it really is amazing. >> thank you, andy. from a covert overnight operation to a potential ground operation in rafah. we'll speak about it just ahead. millions of people across the u.s. under the threat of severe weather. the latest with the massive issue across the east coast. that's ahead for you.

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it is with comcast business. keeping you up and running with 99.9% network reliability. and security that helps outsmart threats to your data. moaire dida twoo? your data, too. there's even round-the- clock customer support. so you can be there for your customers. hey billy, how you doin? with comcast business, reliability isn't just possible. thanks. it's happening. get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to a $1000 prepaid card with a qualifying internet package. don't wait, call and switch today! . welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm bianca nobilo. kansas city quarterback patrick mahomes is awarded mvp after the chiefs defeat the san francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime to win the super bowl. nato's secretary general says donald trump's controversial comments about the alliance puts

european and american soldiers at increased risk. trump had said that he would encourage russia to, quote, do whatever the hell they want to nato countries who don't pay their full quota for the year. two hostages are back on israeli soil and receiving medical care after the israel defense forces say they conducted a joint operation to extract them. to tel aviv now. peter learner joins us. thank you so much for joining us. can you tell us how those hostages are? >> good morning. they are in good condition. we have conducted a combined special operations mission in rafah in a residential area in a civilian building they were being held on the second story of that building. we had to breach the place they were being held from the

terrorists and bring them home. >> in terms of that operation, obviously hugely complex. is the palestinian red crescent society said 100 civilians ended up dying as a result of that? our correspondent was suggesting there was a targeted military operation effectively to create cover for getting those hostages back out? >> no, max. the operation was extensive in both where it was conducted but also in the means it was conducted by. i wouldn't accept any figures coming out from gaza this morning. there are a broad range of different numbers being told. our operations focus on bringing them home. why are they being held in rafah in

? from our perspective, our goal is to bring home the hostages, every last one of them. today we had a military operational auk ses at bringing the hostages home. indeed, there remain 134 hostages remaining in the clutches of hamas. this war can be over tomorrow. all it needs is for hamas to let the hostages home and unconditionally surrender. >> i'd like to give you the opportunity to address something which is trending online and that is the hashtag or phrase super bowl massacre. trying to allege the idf chose this moment for special operations, beginning strikes in rafah to coincide with rafah so global attention would be diverted. i'm not asking that in an adversarial way but to respond to that. >> four months into a war, a war

that hamas chose to launch strategically against israel, we are responding with force against hamas wherever they are hiding. the reality of this war is a tragedy for so many people. i want to be cautious, that the s sin know civil of this is hamas launched the war. we have no way but to change that. we've seen what they do with it. they build a terrorist army. they build capabilities of an army capabilities. they tunnel under u.n. facilities into mosques, into schools and they abduct people. we need to get rid of hamas. we need to make sure that they never have this power of government again. for the safety and security of all decent people in this region. this is the tragedy.

it's not to do with the super bowl, it's in order to bring home the people that are unlawfully being held by hamas. so we should not plan our operations, we should not conduct operations because a super bowl is taking place. i would say, no. the when the operational reality permitted us to conduct the operation, that is when it was clear to go. we jeopardize our forces going into this hornet's nest. when the operation was being conducted they came under extensive heavy fire. the reality is that hamas chooses the battleground. time and time again, that battleground is behind civilians. time and time again it's beneath or leaching off of u.n. facilities, u.n. capabilities. time and time again they are putting the people of gaza at risk. we are trying to limit the civilian casualties. we are evacuating people out of harm's way. we are operating in a reality

where this is where hamas chooses to fight. would you suggest we don't fight back and raise a white flag of surrender in light of these terrorists? we won't do that. >> on limiting civilian casualties, you have a huge challenge coming up if you are ordered to go in on a ground invasion in rafah, aren't you? because there are, as we understand it, a million people there displaced in many other areas. inevitably you'll have a higher rate of civilian casualties if you go in with a ground invasion there than other parts of the country. it raises the question of how you would avoid that, get civilians out of the way while getting hamas fighters you are targeting. >> max, throughout the war we have proven time and time again that we can evacuate civilians from potential combat zones. it is a huge challenge. we are very attentive to our allies that are raising concern. the reality once more is that's

where civilians, the uninvolved, those that have not chosen to be part of this are always going to get caught up in the warfare. the civilians are not involved and hamas terrorists. we've proven time and time again that we can do that and we have. as you rightly pointed out, the government has instructed the idf to create a plan of action but we need to mobilize. i think what we learned in the aftermath of this rescue operation, that that may be a reality that we need to mobilize. there are still 134 israelis being held in the clutches of hamas. they need to be brought home. we could avert a need for a ground operation in rafah if hamas releases them. we are creating the conditions to either bring them home through operations or through diplomacy. those are the two options. there is no other option.

we will not stop it in light of the aggression and the fact that they hold them hostage in dungeons, in residential areas. our operation is to bring them home, every last one of them. >> when you succeed in a complicated and dangerous rescue operation like what's just happened, how do you balance the imperative probably to gather intelligence from those individuals who might have some of the best chances of giving you information that might lead to the rescue of more hostages with their need to acclimatize and how traumatized they must be? >> as we learned from the previous hostage release at the end of november, we learned a lot of information and intelligence from them about the whereabouts of the extensive tunnel system and dungeons that you covered in khan younis. there is a period but their

state of mind, their health condition are top priority in the aftermath of the operation. i'm sure they will be willing and interested in sharing the information that they have. as we move forward, as this operation develops further, we are gathering more and more intelligence. the databases of hamas that we revealed just this week revealed even more information about the network, about the capabilities of hamas, about the mechanisms that they are using, that same database that was beneath the united nations unrah headquarters. there's a lot more information coming forward to conduct this extremely challenging rescue operation this mornings was a result of precise intelligence and highly professional capabilities. >> critics are arguing, there will be politicians arguing that

your successful operation in this case is evidence that the idf can extract hostages which takes the pressure off a hostage deal with hamas. this is only the second successful idf war. it doesn't prove that point, does it? >> you're raising a question that critics or analysts would say. i would say we are increasing the pressure constantly on hamas to create the conditions to bring home hostages, either with our forces, special forces or combined forces or through diplomacy. the operation can result in a hostage release. that is what we are trying to do since the outset of this operation, since the outset of the war, since hamas abducted the 240 people. we have to keep in mind the families of the remaining 134

people being held by hamas. their lives have been torn to pieces through hamas's actions. we need to bring them peace. we need to bring them and their loved ones home. we need to do it through all of the means that are at our disposal, whether it's operations or diplomacy. >> the world learned that the palestinian girl that was trapped in a car in southwest gaza had died after riding in the car with her family workers. two a.m. bu laps workers were dispatched. the idf is looking to see whether they are responsible for that. do you have any update you can provide? >> i know we are looking into the incident. tragedy of civilians and medical staff. of course, it needs to be investigated and we are looking into the circumstances of that. unfortunately, i don't have anything to report at this time.

>> peter lerner, thank you for joining us. we'll be right back.

a massive storm system on the east coast. the second round is bringing severe weather to the gulf coast and southeast. >> it's expected to leave a blanket of snow in the region with central pennsylvania and eastern maine. cnn meteorologist has a look at this week's forecast. >> reporter: our storm is on the move. that severe risk is sliding east as we go into monday from alabama, georgia, the carolinas. you're looking at the threat for the 70 mile per hour wind gusts, large hail, few tornadoes, heavy rain. the line continues to push east and move north into the carolinas as we go into monday. late monday into tuesday, it

starts to clash into cold air up in parts of the northeast going into new england. that will pump snow from central pennsylvania, upstate new york and parts of new england and we'll find that snow come with gusty winds, could drop visibility late monday, early tuesday morning and going into tuesday night all of that starts to exit. here's your footprint of the snow. you see the deep pinks and purples. snow totals, 6, 8, upwards of 12 inches of snow. one to three inches per hour. couple that with gusty winds and you're looking at really messy conditions below visibility peeking as we go into tuesday. really again exiting tuesday night. now we haven't really seen too much snow up in the east. a lot of our snow depth so far this year has been to the west. 25% snow cover for the lower 48 and a lot of it from the sierra nevadas and intermountain west.

seasonal departure our normal from snow has been well below average for places from the upper midwest, great lakes area and you see the brown dots going into new england. some places that you really see snow. minneapolis, buffalo, haven't seen too much this year. part of the reason is we've had a really warm winter. you see all of the red dots. the cities in the great lakes region and then in the northeast there are looking at their warmest winter on record. it's just kind of spring like, really lacking a lot of the cold and lacking a lot of the snow. we know that winter is warming across the lower 48 since 1970. you can see those same places, the upper midwest, great lakes going into new england and some places with the biggest fever. the four to five degree that makes winter the fastest warming for a loot of these places. here in england, king

charles going on his first public outing a week after buckingham palace said he had been diagnosed with undisclosed cancer. >> he attended church from his estate. they shaird he would step back from his public duties while he's undergoing treatment. charles has expressed his gratitude with the public support saying it's brought him, quote, great comfort and encouragement. you said, max, there is a chance he might be more specific about his diagnosis if he thinks it might be able to help. >> i think in the same statement he talked about how heartened he was to have raised awareness for people to suffer from cancer and the people to support them and many organizations they supported in in the past. i think there could be a logical progression that he would want to have even more impact by naming the cancer but it's a private matter and no other monarchs have done that before.

i think it's quite a big decision. still ahead, it was a game for the ages on the ivory coast. a report on the african cup when we return.

the super bowl wasn't the only championship game that had fans glued to their screen this weekend. the west african nation pulled off a victory for the ages on sunday winning the africa cup of nations for the third time. we have the remarkable story for you. >> the africa cup of nations tournament this year has been wildly unpredictable. we've witnessed so many upsets. for example, the top five ranked teams were all out before the quarterfinals.

the only thing it seemed that we could count on is we should never be counting out the hosts, ivory coast. they have been dead and buried so many times and they find ways to continue to keep on fighting. they took on nigeria in the final. despite dominating they fell behind. nigeria going ahead late in the first half with a brilliant header. it was nigeria's first serious attempt on goal and it stunned the stadium into complete silence. however, i doubt the elephants of ief vvory coast would have panicked. the stadium erupted. but that was nothing compared to this moment. nine minutes from time when the ivory coast went ahead. this is a story within a story. he was sidelined with cancer just a couple of years ago and 18 months later he's doing this. he scored the decisive goal in

the semifinal and that turned out to be the winner. and this is just an incredible story. ivory coast have been through it all in this tournament. they barely made it out of the group stage. they were behind in two of the knockout games. they fired their manager halfway through the tournament and yet somehow they held on and prevailed in the end. absolutely brilliant. they're going to be making films and documentary movies about the run this team has taken to the final. this is one of the all-time great sports stories. congratulations. ivory coast beating nigeria 2-1 in the final africa cup of nations. back to you. stories in the spotlight this hour. singer usher's super bowl halftime performance had fans saying yeah. >> yeah. >> bianca likes it when i say that. the r&b crooner -- that does make me sound old. >> yes. >> up there with sinatra.

a show stopping spectacle thrilling fans by throwing his shirt into the crowd. he later changed costumes, even roller skated onto the stage. >> the eight-time grammy winner was joined by some of the artists he's collaborated with. he ended the show with a shout out to his hometown, atlanta, georgia. >> that is the biggest gig. we've got to go. >> thanks for watching "cnn newsroom." >> i'm max. >> i'm bianca. see you tomorrow.

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