i think trump's influence is huge and it's telling how much influence he's having in a democrat controlled senate with republicans poised to take back the senate. his influence is really, really critical and he knows he's playing that up warning senators especially in some of the key races and house lawmakers as well that they need to be careful in the decisions that they make. >> right. i think so many of them are looking to them, especially those as you mentioned who are going to be up in this year, those really critical senate races as well. mika, thanks so much for joining us. great to see you this morning. and thank you so much for joining us. i'm jessica dean in for casey ♪

four-man front, receiver motion, low snap, he runs and he throws, caught, touchdown! it's caught! he caught the ball, the chiefs have won! the chiefs have won! >> i'm just glad you came to work today. >> just going to keep sticking the knife in all morning. >> i'm sorry, phil. i was rooting for you. >> it was a wonderful halftime show. >> but not. go chiefs. it was a wonderful halftime show. usher was everything. good morning. glad you're with us. glad you're with us early this morning. it came down to the touchdown in overtime. the kansas city chiefs are once again super bowl champions. they beat the san francisco 49ers in an overtime thriller. we're going to take you life to vegas for the highlights of the big game and, of course, usher's epic halftime performance. also, overnight the israeli military says its forces rescued two hostages in southern gaza after 128 days of captivity.

we're now learning exactly how they did it. and two people were injured, one a child, when a woman shot up joel's lakewood church on sunday. a child in the other, long rifle in one. what happened overnight? "cnn this morning" starts right now. ♪ it's the start of one. we're not done. i know we're going to celebrate tonight. celebrate the pride of kansas city. we'll keep this going. >> and keep this thing going they certainly did. the super bowl -- three super bowl wins in just five years the kansas city chiefs took down phil's 49ers with a stunning touchdown drive in overtime. the chiefs have just become the first back-to-back nfl champs in 19 years. >> could have been luck. it could have been skill. maybe it was just taylor swift. taylor, of course, in the box with her famous friends.

you probably saw them a couple of times, cheering on the chiefs and her boyfriend, travis kelce, after a quiet first half, kelce exploded in the fourth quarter. so did fans. look at this video. full watch party in kansas city. >> the chiefs will once again visit the white house after their big win. president biden posted this video on social media last night writing the kansas city chiefs aren't just champions today, they're a dynasty. ready to welcome back to team to the white house. also, hillary clinton tweeting congratulations to taylor's boyfriend and the entire kansas city chiefs community. >> our coy wire is up early in las vegas. not totally sure eever actually went to bed. coy, it was a hell of a game. kind of just want to focus on usher and every millennial finding new life last night. tell us what you saw. >> spoken like a true 49ers fan. night is over. 38 minutes of sleep, i know i

got that. i'm good, baby. but this super bowl felt a lot like the super bowl four years ago when the 49ers started off hot but then those kansas city swifties came roaring back, crushing phil mattingly and 49ers hearts and found a way to reign supreme yet again. >> viva las vegas! viva las vegas! >> reporter: in the first-ever super bowl in las vegas, taylor swift was all of us, screaming, cheering, maybe chugging a drink, biting their nails as the defending champion chiefs were down 3 with 75 yards in front of them and second of ever overtime in history. >> kansas city are never underdog, know that. >> reporter: patrick mahomes found a way to win again. dissecting the defense with his favorite target, travis kelce, 330 yards passing, 2 touchdowns, including the game winner. >> he runs and throws.

it's caught, touchdown, he caught the ball! the chiefs have won! the chiefs have won! >> a party for the ages in kansas city. at just 28 years old, mahomes is now a three-time super bowl mvp, just the fifth quarterback ever to win three titles. >> i can't ask for anything better than this. we're super bowl champs. kansas city, i'll see you all at the parade. let's do it, baby. >> brotherhood. family. i love you. showing that we sacrifice. >> we bought into everything. and i mean, there's confetti on the floor, a nice hat. >> reporter: andy reid, 11 years as the chiefs head coach, tied for the third most ever and big red isn't done. >> what's going to be your celebratory meal. >> cheeseburgers. >> reporter: dynasty complete. kansas city third title in five years. they're the first back-to-back champs in nearly 20 years. >> we get a chance to do it

three times in a row. >> reporter: travis kelce getting a celebratory kiss from taylor swift. while brother jason and momma donna stuffed confetti in their pocket. the most hyped super bowl --. ♪ >> reporter: delivers. from usher's halftime performance to thollywood ending that couldn't have be skrifted. any ways, seems like nothing can stop the chiefs and their super bowl eras tour. >> so how many super bowls can the chiefs and patrick mahomes, this dynasty get? i guess that maybe is the next question. and maybe when we see or hear wedding bells in the near future for travis and taylor or when we see taylor perform at the championship parade in kansas city. that will be on friday. >> coy, can i -- i know we're focussed on the important things, taylor swift. former player on the field with these guys, the chiefs were not

good like six weeks ago. they were not good. the dynasty was not going to continue. everything was falling apart. what happened? >> reporter: yeah. so, they embraced that. right? they weren't playing at the top of their game. as an elite competitor, when your back is against the wall, you feel like the world is against you. that can rally you. if you have the right personnel the patrick mahomes, the travis kelces in the world, incredible defense and leader like randy reid, you pull together and you pull off one of the most incredible super bowl wins we have seen in overtime. absolutely phenomenal what they were able to do. they certainly have that championship pedigree, a dynasty no doubt. >> no question about it. every 49ers fan, myself included, knew exactly what was going to happen when patrick mahomes had the ball the last drive. thank you, coy wire. we appreciate you, my friend. >> can we also talk about biden's team and posting this. ifif you went to bed right afte the game and you missed this. let's pull it up. because this was -- okay.

so, phil, how would you describe this? >> um, a digital and social media team that doesn't feel bound by the traditional campaign restraints. right? everything is scripted. taylor and travis are a plant. the dark branded meme, just like we drew it up. >> is everything. >> i had to explain that to my husband last night. you haven't been following this. >> digital native, like yourself, explaining social media, like always. also, turning the page -- we'll get back to football soon. breaking big news, the israeli military rescuing two hostages from southern gaza in a special operations. a helicopter taking them to a hospital in israel after they were held in captivity for 128 days. the idf says the two men were rescued after an intense gun battle with their captors. we are told israeli special forces hugged and protected those hostages with their own bodies as they came under heavy fire. israeli air strikes pounded targets during the operation.

hamas claims the overnight strikes in rafah kills more than 120 people. it's home to now more than half of population. hundreds of thousands of civilians have been seeking refuge here with nowhere else to go. there is mounting international concern that an israeli ground offensive could again be coming soon. nic robertson is live at the hospital where the hostages were taken. incredibly important news for their families to receive after 128 days they are now safe and getting the treatment they need. do we know how they're doing physically? >> reporter: yeah, we do. and i have to say, big news for the country as well. this is what everyone has been hoping for, that more hostages would get released and these freed -- and this lightning covert military operation. they're here in the hospital. i talked with a couple of their relatives. they describe them in good spirits. so they're a little bit dazed and confused.

>> they're a little thin -- a little different -- >> they lost some weight? >> they lost a little weight. >> very thin. walking. at least, so i can say they are walking. but i believe that they're still on high adrenaline and we will see how physically good or bad they are or how mentally good or bad they are, only when days will come. >> reporter: so, two hostages fernando, 60 years old. 70-year-old. so two slightly elderly men. hospital officials say they'll keep them here for some time. run all sorts of different medical checks on them. psychological well being is the big thing. but when you look at this video of the family greeting and meeting and hugging them here, so emotional. such a big deal for these families. such a big deal for the idf as well to be able to put on a rescue like this. it was covert. and it was all over so fast.

they went in to this house at 1:49 in the morning in rafah. they took on hamas, who were guarding these two hostages. as you said, a couple of their special forces threw themselves over the hostages to protect them. within a minute of getting in that building, then the idf started this diversionary, dropping bombs, hitting targets, hitting hamas that was coming towards the building, the idf says. in that process, they then extracted the hostages under fire to a safe place, put them on a helicopter, brought them to this hospital. so okay, that took a minute to happen there in rafah, within two hours the families were getting a call that their loved ones were safe and that they were in the hospital here and to come visit them. so it's a really -- it's a big day for the families. but i have to say again, a big day here for israel, of course. >> it's a great point. what it means for israel and their aim to be able to do this

much more going forward. the phone call that biden had with bibi netanyahu, i understand, two thirds of that call was focussed on hostages but also president biden stressed to netanyahu the need for a credible plan to ensure civilian safety in rafah as they carry out these operations. any reporting on that what this rescue hostage does to the increasing tension between the u.s. and the netanyahu regime? >> reporter: i think it really puts into really sharp focus what happens on these military operations. we understand from palestinian health officials that about 100 people were killed overnight and what appeared to be raids that were part thof rescue effort. that those 100 people who were killed and others injured, many of them were women and children. and it really again just shows the stakes of civilian casualties, particularly in

rafah, 1.4 million people, more than a million of them displaced, many of them displaced from homes elsewhere in gaza. this is a point of last refuge, if you will, for them. they say they have nowhere else to go. so, it will put a lot of focus and attention on the civilian cost of military operations inside of gaza and pressure on the government here, not just from president biden but we heard from egyptian authorities. we heard from saudi authorities, uae saying there will be serious consequences for israel if the civilians cannot be protected. that's a language similar to that being used by european union leaders as well, who want to see a cease fire out of this. >> nic robertson reporting from the hospital there. thank you very much. well, also this morning, defense secretary lloyd austin back in the hospital and being treated in the critical care unit at walter reed.

the pentagon says he was brought there yesterday afternoon for, quote, an emergent bladder issue. officials confirmed his duties have been transferred to kathleen hicks. the white house and congress were notified within hours, unlike austin's previous hospital stay for prostate cancer when no one was told for weeks. katie bo lillis has been covered this story. s there a different process of notification. in terms of the health of the secretary of defense, what do we know right now? >> reporter: phil, at this point what we know is that secretary austin has been admitted to walter reed for monitoring and supportive care. the hospital saying in a statement that these latest complications are not expected to impact what is anticipated to be a full recovery from his original surgery for prostate cancer on december 22nd. and also that his prognosis for cancer remains as the hospital put it excellent. but the hospital also saying that they don't know how long he will remain hospitalized, which means we don't know how long defense -- deputy defense

secretary kathleen hicks is expected to retain the duties of the defense secretary. this obviously, again, as you say, very different handling of how they went about this when he was originally hospitalized for complications from that initial surgery on january 1st when he did not notify either the white house or other senior members of his -- of the biden administration for days. still, kathleen hicks taking over the duties here, clearly not originally the plan. yesterday when pentagon press secretary pat rider initially made his public notification that austin was on his way back to walter reed, he said that hicks was standing by but that austin was traveling to the hospital with beet the classified and unclassified systems necessary to perform his duties with him. obviously something changed was he was evaluate and decision was made to admit him. the defense department i think expected to provide as many updates as they are able to through a coming days in an effort to avoid the criticism that austin received after his

first hospitalization on january 1st when the notification wasn't made for days. obviously the defense secretary key in the chain of command at a moment when the u.s. is at least tangentially involved in two separate hot wars across the globe. they'll be looking to avoid that with as many updates they're able to avoid. >> our best wishes to the secretary and his health. thank you. >> thank you, phil. it is pouring in fast and furious after donald trump said he would encourage russia to, quote, do whatever the hell they want to nato allies that don't meet the financial targets. next. what trump said about nikki haley's husband that had president biden coming to nikki haley's defense.

♪ 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. in fact, i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. you got to pay. that was donald trump suggests he would not just suggesting, saying he would encourage russia to attack nato countries in europe if they didn't pay on time. and funding nato. the white house responded

saying, it quote, is encouraging invasions of their closest allies by murderous regimes. it is appalling and unhinged and endangers our economy at home and global security. let's talk about this with jamal williams, s.e. cupp and lee carter. good morning, guys. it's not that surprising given what he did while he was in office and said to advisers about why would we support folks if they don't pay up to that 2%. what i think is so striking here is that he said it outloud, jamal. it wasn't just the biden white house who said that. you know, yen stoltenberg said that, said it puts people on the ground, soldiers in danger. >> yes. it's against our entire national security framework as kind of the western alliance. right? we have this article 5 commitment with nato that if one country is attacked, all the other countries will come to that country's aid and benefit. the only time it's ever been

invoked was for us after 9/11 in afghanistan. >> yes. >> so i think it's irresponsible. it's very serious time in the world. and we see people in ukraine, watching videos of people being displaced from their homes, people dying and the president saying he would invite that upon our allies. i can't imagine this is the kind of person we would entrust with the white house and our most sensitive national security secrets. >> you keyed on the same thing, poppy, which is that jen stoltenberg saying something and being specific and explicit was a big deal. we interviewed him often. he is wonderful, does not die verge from a straight line. understanding the delicacies. nato countries don't pay into a pot of money. it's about how they pay up for eight years. former president hasn't figured that out. i feel like we're reverting back to nine years ago where we see things like this. take a listen. >> he told the story about how he used leverage to get people to step up to the plate and

become more active in nato. he is not the first american president. virtually every american president complained about other countries in nato not doing enough. you know, trump is just the first one to express it in these terms. >> we're back to the seriously not literally stick i feel like january 6th blew out of the water. and it's surprising when you hear people like him or lindsey graham defending this which has been a pillar of western democracy and stability over the course of seven decades. >> i mean, it is and it isn't. we have watched this emasculation of the gop and guys like marco rubio used to talk tough bending over backwards to contort and defend and explain and translate donald trump. but the bottom line here is donald trump doesn't know what an ally is. his interest in loyalty flows one way. it's one way. your loyalty to me. he has no interest in a loyalty to other people. the idea of allies is so

completely lost on him that i don't think there's any point in explaining or even pointing out how grotesque this is. he just doesn't care. truly doesn't care. >> lee, can you talk how this plays with the republican base? >> so, i think this is one of the things that it's like not what you say that matters it's what people hear. on one side you hear you're offended, horrified, all of the things we just discussed. then if you're a supporter of his, you think this is a tough guy and he's fighter and i like it. and it's almost like no matter what he says, he can get away with it because that's part of the persona, 8 in 10 trump supporters are angry. they don't like the way things are going. they want somebody who will go down to washington, d.c., back in the white house, and blow things up. that's exactly what he's suggesting with statements like this. and whether the rest of us understand it or not, it plays very well to his base. and they're going to forgive him and it will be forgotten in no time. it's amazing because really for two years we were hearing from -- we were not hearing

directly from trump we were hearing about trump. he didn't have a platform in the same way. now we're hearing directly from him. and we're reminded, oh my gosh, these are the kinds of things he says all the time. for his base, i don't think it will make a little difference. >> the base cares about -- lee is absolutely right. the question is what do the rest of americans think, the average americans will show up and vote. republicans my entire life, even as a democrat fighting campaigns against republicans, you know, the entire life, the republicans were strong on national security, strong on defense, democrats were always trying to prove they were as tough as republicans to have a shot at it, right? that's not what this is. this is a president saying, we're done with it. that's not what we do anymore. >> marco rubio can say, but he was the main push -- >> republican sponsor. >> a president cannot pull the u.s. out of nato. it has to be congress. he can go on tv and say that. but what he did behind the scenes was to ensure that congress has to weigh in.

>> he understands it's a threat. >> but this is the really amazing trick that donald trump has managed to pull off. first he managed to get conservatives to stop caring about conservatism. then he got christians to stop caring about scripture the bible, what would jesus do. now jesus is woke. he got republicans and americans to stop caring about america and what democracy should mean. and in this instance, he got, you know, the patriotic, you know, military loving, far right to stop caring about national security. and to stop caring about our servicemen and women, our troops. i mean, it's a feat what donald trump has done to the right in this country in a very short period of time. >> lee, can i pull on that a little bit because nato is like the perfect capture of trump's talent, right? you don't really understand how the payment process works. you don't understand how other countries -- i'm not mocking or being demissive.

you don't understand why it's benefitted. you never seen it in your day to day life. that's ripe for him to take advantage of. attacking nikki haley's husband who is currently deployed, that feels different but lines up with that. this is what he said. >> where is her husband? oh, he's away. he's away. what happened to her husband? what happened to her husband! where is he? he's gone. >> and this was how nikki haley responded. >> donald, if you have something to say, don't say it behind my back. get on a debate stage and say it to my face. if you mock the service of a combat veteran, you don't deserve a driver's license let alone being president of the united states. >> now again, he's deployed. the commander in chief confirmed as much when he tweeted in support of nikki haley -- >> serving, serving. >> and her husband serving. but, does that have -- that's

different than nato. that's personal. >> that's very different than nato. it is personal. and you would think that it would have an impact. i don't think it will. i i mean, this is a man who cou go after john mccain. >> yeah. >> a war hero. and have no repercussions. i think -- i think there's going to be very little repercussion. the question really is did he -- was he saying this as -- with a memory gaffe? i mean, if biden had done the same thing, people would say does he know what he's talking about? it's an unbelievable statement that he made and yet i guarantee you, his supporters are going to say, it doesn't matter. >> to them -- >> we just lost toby keith last week, one of his best songs is "american soldier" when i worked for wesley clark, we used to play it when wes clark would walk into a room, right? democrats are grab ahold of national security. it does pain me to see that we have somebody who is -- who wants to lead our troops, who really does not care about them. >> s.e., to that point -- >> yeah. >> jake asked marco rubio about

this in a really good interview and reminded rubio when trump said those things about mccain, that rubio had called that disqualifying. >> right. >> but his answer yesterday to jake about what trump said is i think they're part of an increasing nastiness of this campaign. >> that's exactly what i mean. there would have been no stomach for this in the republican base to go after a man who is serving our country whether you're mocking or just forgotten, whatever the point of that was. there would have no appetite for that. and it would have been -- it would have been disqualifying to attack a man who is serving our country and by extension all american men and women in service. but this party doesn't care anymore because trump is so indifferent to service. he doesn't understand public service or understand the role of it. the presidency was really to line his own pockets and consolidate power and ego trip. so, none of this -- he doesn't care about any of this. the crazy thing is he's

conditioned the base not to care either. >> not just the base, republican lawmakers who used to stand up for things like that. >> yes. >> thank you. stay with us, guys. also this, overnight a woman walking into joel osteen's megachurch with a young child and a rifle opening fire. that woman is now dead. the child is in the hospital this morning. authorities are trying to figure out why this happened. we have the details ahead. plus, senate republicans defying trump and moving one step closer to passing a bill to aid ukraine and israel. we'll tell you the latest next.

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♪ we're devastated. we have been here 65 years and have somebody shooting in your church. but you know, we don't understand why these things happen, but we know god is in control. >> well, that was pastor joel osteen after two people were injured, including a child in a shocking and terrifying shooting at his houston megachurch. police say a woman entered the building with a child at her side and a rifle and started shooting. >> now, authorities say two off duty law enforcement officers in the church fired back. the woman was killed but the child and another person were struck and wounded. cnn ed lavandera joins us now life from the scene. what more do we know more about this stunning story? >> reporter: well, the feeling here is that this could have been infinitely worse. thousands of people flock to this once basketball arena turned prominent megachurch every sunday.

and the timing of all of this really led investigators and people who were here to think this could have been much, much worse. >> reporter: a terrifying scene at one of america's biggest churches. >> i started screaming there's a shooter, there's a shooter, there's a sheooter. >> we hid about ten adults in a closet. and there was one child in there. and no vent. but we were all praying. >> reporter: an armed woman entered pastor joel osteen's megachurch in houston on sunday afternoon and opened fire. >> she was armed with a long rifle and a trench coat with a backpack. accompanied by a small child, approximately 4 to 5 years old. >> reporter: houston's police chief troy finer says two off duty law enforcement agents working security at the church confronted the woman, getting the situation under control. >> she's deceased here on the scene.

i want to commend those officers. she had a long gun. and it could have been a lot worse. but they stepped up and they did their job. and i want to thank them for that. >> reporter: however, the child who came to the church with the woman was also shot. >> unfortunately the 5-year-old kid was hit and is in critical condition at a local hospital. >> reporter: the chief says it is unclear who fired the shot that struck the child and the child's relationship to the suspect is still unknown according to police. the officers involved in the shooting told investigators the woman claimed to have a bomb. but an immediate search found nothing. >> searched her vehicle, our bomb squad and also the backpack. no explosives were found, but she was also spraying some type of substance on the ground. >> reporter: witnesses described a chaotic scene. >> my mom was screaming. and then my mom said, come,

come. and we ducked because the -- i called my mom, the bullets were till repetitive and they were still going. and the attacks were in the sanctuary. >> reporter: one bystander was injured. >> 57-year-old man who didn't have anything to do with it, i don't think. was shot in the leg. he's seeking treatment in the hospital. >> reporter: pastor o teen says he's thankful the shooting did not happen earlier in the day. >> i can only imagine it if it would have happened during the 11:00 service. anything good of it, you know what, she didn't get in there and do a whole lot worse damage. >> reporter: and he's left hoping the decades' old church will continue holding services without another scare like this. >> we're going to stay strong. we're going to continue to move forward. there are forces of evil, but the forces that are for us, the forces of god are stronger than that. >> reporter: so right now investigators really trying to

figure out what the motive behind all of this might have been. but the police chief also acknowledges that given that the suspect was killed at the scene here yesterday, nailing down what this was all about might be very difficult, if not impossible. phil and poppy? >> still so many unanswered questions. ed lavandera, thank you. the white house, president biden and his campaign, they're all pushing back on special counsel report calling out his age and memory issues. next what americans think. a new poll is out this morning.

♪ it's a beautiful view of new york city and the sunrise. the senate, they actually worked this weekend, sort of. now one step closer to passing a critical foreign aid package on super bowl sunday. the chamber voted 67-27 in a critical procedural step to move it forward and gained one more republican yes vote despite donald trump lobbying against any legislation that could be considered a win for president biden. the bill would support ukraine's fight against russia, include assistant for israel and gaza. 60 billion to ukraine, $14 billion for israel and $9.2 billion for humanitarian assistance. if the bill eventually is passed by the senate, and it will be at this point, it would go to the house. right now it's unclear if or when speaker mike johnson would put it on the floor for a vote. >> the white house and president bind's allies pushing back on

parts of the special counsel report into his handling of classified documents. the report does not suggest criminal charges should be filed but did delve several times into biden's memory loss. >> this is a man who is sharp, who is on top of his game, who knows what's going on the middle east and around the world. small gaffes are a part of what all of us in public life do. speaker johnson of the house, just confused iran and israel. he said we are beginning to send aid to iran. donald trump confused nancy pelosi and nikki haley. >> the special counsel did this in the case, made a conclusion that there is no case. case closed. then made gratuitous, unnecessary and inaccurate personal remarks and those are improper. >> our team back with us at the table. jamal, let me go to you because you worked on team biden. >> oh, sure, let's start with me. >> those allies of the president to senator koons to alejandro

mayorkas, has his own stuff going on are mad. i was struck by jill biden, the first lady's email to fundraisers, really going after the fact that the special counsel said he couldn't remember when his son beau died. hi hope you can imagine how it felt to read that attack. not just as joe's wife but as beau's mother. >> yeah. >> what is happening that we're not hearing behind the scenes? >> the white house is angry, right? they're angry at the special prosecutor. they're angry at the fact that this document came out with all this editorializing. you saw a press of people come out, right? former attorney general eric holder put a tweet out talking about how it was inappropriate. we saw my old boss, the vice president come out and talk about what she thought he was political. she doesn't usually take strong stances on things like that. trust me. she doesn't. [ laughter ]. >> go on. >> but she did. and so we have seen this kind of as a full court press. also, some people are taking a

look at this, former justice department officials, here this special prosecutor, mid career, was going to let the president off the hook because he didn't find anything he could bring a case on but needed to do something to preserve his own viability for a future republican party people think perhaps this was political in the sense that the special prosecutor may want to look at something down the line and he needed to take after joe biden and put something on the record that republicans can use. >> s.e., there is the personal here. where, i've been told how furious the president s specifically about the beau mention, which you also heard from the first lady. >> yep. >> then there's the political. this feeds directly into what -- you can pull up the latest abc poll found that 86% of americans think the president is too old to be president. that is a political issue that they have to address. >> yeah. >> how do they do so? >> that report was gratuitous. they're right to be pissed. it's out there. what do you do? it's cementing a narrative already out there.

getting mad, sure. i mean, you have a couple of options here. you ignore it. i don't think the country is ignoring it. that poll proves it's on people's minds. you get angry, you get passionate. you defend yourself. maybe you send your wife out to defend yourself. i'm not actually sure that that was a great thing to do optically. but if politics is perception, this is the perception. it's really hard to combat it. you could tell focus on policy. just talk about the things you've done and the things you're going to do. but this is the big albatross over the biden campaign at this point. >> and i think -- look, he can't hide from it. we were talking about this and you were saying it's a television problem more than you see in person. he does much better in small groups than he does in these televised events. and the language of it was so piercing, right? it is what is on 86% of voter's minds think he is a well-intentioned elderly man. this is what everybody -- bless

his heart. >> you're quoting. that's a quote. >> it is a quote. it is absolutely so damaging. the only thing he can do is counteract it in some way. he can't do it by addresses. he does more big events, has more gaffes. it doesn't work. we need to see him in small settings doing what he does best and brokering conversations because otherwise this is what we're going to see. it's a symbol. now we have him on tape saying i'm a well-intentioned elderly man. we have him on tape saying that. >> but finish the sentence of what he said. he said who remembers things just fine. >> who remembers things just fine so much so i called on -- >> but the thing is it's there. and it's not going to go away. as you said, the word commented is the exact right word. it is cemented now in the minds of voters. he did it. he repeated the language. media train 101, don't repeat the attack. >> every time he walks on television, wow, that guy is

moving slower, looks older. that is a thing that people will look and see. on the other hand, they will also look and see donald trump saying we're inviting russia to take after our nato allies, right? they will also see donald trump coming out and saying -- taking after american soldier who's nikki haley's husband while he's serving overseas. so there is a contrast that will exist here between a well-intentioned senior, right? and a man who actually wants to do is wrong thing and he's doing the wrong thing very compellingly. >> i'm not going to vote or look at the alternatives. you have jfk, you have rfk out there saying -- with 20% of the vote in some polls. >> can i drill in on that, though? i think this is an important point. if you watch all hour of any donald trump speech or event, there is at least ten to 12 minutes of complete incoherent rambling. flubbing who leads which country. turkey being the laidest. biden said we'll go around the

traditional media. he connects better in different venues. tiktok last night, putting out a tiktok video last night the campaign's first resident youth advisers on our show team said it did pretty well overnight as well. is that enough? does he need to do traditional stuff as well. >> he has to do traditional stuff. people need to see him. only way to counterbalance is to do something about it. what he has out there is that a number of gaffes. we can compare him to donald trump. but donald trump has a different kind of gaffe. when he's talking -- he's forgiven for different reasons an just keeps going. >> yeah. >> and i think biden has to do the same. he has to get out and keep going. and show us that he's capable. >> donald trump is the counternarrative for the democrats. >> that's the hope for the campaign at least. thank you, guys. appreciate it. big storm making its way to the northeast. how much snow is it going to bring? we'll tell you next. ♪

♪ welcome back. more than 35 million people are under winter storm alerts as a nor'easter is set to hit the region this week. officials say the storm will bring powerful winds and heavy snow that could damage trees, power lines and disrupt travel. some of the areas could see up to a foot of snow. let's get straight to cnn meteorologist derek van dam. derek, it was like 60 degrees 48 hours ago. where are we expecting this storm to hit the hardest?

>> yeah, that's the big question everybody is wondering in new york city. hey, look, temperatures today 50 degrees. how the heck is it going to snow tomorrow? trust me, the cold air is coming and the snow is coming as well. last time we had enough snow in tral park where it covered the grass was january 29, 2022, 743 days ago. it looks like we will break that streak of les -- more than two inches of snow because the current forecast, as long as it holds, is 6 to 8 inches in and around the the new york metropolitan region including long island. higher amounts as you travel inland, just south of the massachusetts turnpike. that's where we anticipate the heavier snowfall bands upwards of a foot possible within that region. this is part of a broader winter storm that's impacting the ohio river valley all the way to the ozarks where some isolated totals there with the snow occurring now could stop 6 inches. but the immediate threat across the southeast is flooding and severe weather. in fact, we have a tornado watch across portions of alabama and into the florida peninsula --

panhandle i should say through 9:00 a.m. central standard time. this moisture that's creating this flood threat just south of the atlanta region that will ride along the east coast through the course of today, strengthen and deepen as it does. i think we'll have a rain/snow mix tuesday morning in and around new york city along the i-95 corridor, quickly changes over to heavy wet snow. wind picks up and see the system exit just as quickly as it entered the equation. in materials of rain fall totals on top of what's already fallen, the potential here exists for another 2 to 4 inches. that's why the flash flood threat is in place. but across the northeast, this is where we anticipate again anywhere from 6 to 12 inches depending on where you're located. we think kentucky, rhode island, central massachusetts where we'll see our heaviest snow. new york city, the potential exists for a half a foot of snow if your forecast. people asking how is that possible? today's temperature too warm? well, tomorrow morning it will

be a different story. poppy, phil? >> happy kids coming up. i can tell you that. >> get those sleds ready. >> appreciate it. this now, two israeli military -- the israeli military i should say has freed two hostages that were held by hamas for 128 days. we have details of this overnight operation ahead.

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♪ israel's military says two hostages have been rescued from the city of rafah. >> by distraction, they targeted a hamas battalion in that area. >> an israeli military operation in that city should not proceed without clear plans for how to evacuate civilian population. >> those who say that under no circumstances should we enter rafah are basically saying lose the border. you didn't pay. you're delinquent, no i would not protect you. >> trump saying he would encourage russia to attack american allies if they hadn't met their financial commitments to nato. >> donald trump's potential return to the white house could mean the broader american retreat from the continent. ♪ just know that the k