a new football dynasty solidified. patrick mahomes and the kansas

city chiefs come back from behind in overtime to win a second straight super bowl and their third in five years. we've got the highlights coming right up. but it's not just the big game people are talking about. usher lit up las vegas with a star-studded halftime show filled with r&b superstars' biggest hits of the last two decades. new criticism against the former president. donald trump facing backlash from both major parties this morning after suggesting he would encourage russian adepression against nato allies who didn't pay enough for defense in the military alliance. monarch spotted. king charles makes his first public outing since his cancer diagnosis. and a mission to cure blindness. we'll introduce you to the eye doctor who is helping patients in south sudan see again, some for the first time in years. it's monday, february 12th. "early today" starts right now. hi there. glad you're with us up early. i'm frances rivera.

here comes the next great american dynasty, the chiefs are back-to-back super bowl champions, pulling off the comeback to beat the 49ers in overtime. it was all san francisco in the first half after a scoreless first quarter. 49ers got on the board in vegas with a little trickery. >> second and 10. great play. the ball is in the air for a long time. able to pull it down, and he is going in for the touchdown! >> wan with the touchdown pass. >> the defending champions had to settle for field goals for most of the three quarters. a 16-yard touchdown pass from patrick mahomes gave kc their first lead of the night. in fourth quarter, the second super bowl in history to head into overtime. the niners had to settle for three points from kicker jake

moody, giving mahomes and the chiefs just enough time to do what they do best. >> first and goal. mahomes. >> it's there! hardman, jackpot kansas city! >> the chiefs won it 25-22. mahomes takes home mvp honors, and kc is the first team to run it back since the patriots two decades ago. after all the celebrating, they'll have the chance to pull off what no team has done ever before, win three super bowls in a row. for now, there is a lot of other super bowl excitement, including of course appearance by that one right there. we'll have that for you coming up. let's turn now to the race to win the white house. president biden is calling donald trump dangerous after the republican front-runner made remarks putting the nato alliance in jeopardy. allie raffa has the latest board from the campaign trail.

>> reporter: former president donald trump under fire tonight after saying he would support russia attacking u.s. allies that don't pay what he deems their fair share. >> i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. >> reporter: his comments threatening to upend the nato alliance if he retakes the white house, and sparking swift backlash from both sides of the aisle. the white house slamming the comments as appalling and unhinged. and this reaction from mr. trump's sole gop opponent nikki haley on the campaign trail today. >> trump said the most irresponsible thing. you certainly don't want to give them the right to invade a friend. >> reporter: haley also firing back at trump for questioning why her husband, who is deployed overseas, is not by her side. >> what happened to her husband? where is he? he is gone. >> donald trump clearly doesn't understand that in south carolina, we love our military men and women. >> reporter: the former south carolina governor betting big on the republican primary in her home state, despite trailing her former boss there by double-digits.

haley trying to capitalize on the age gap between her and the race's two front-runners. >> do we really want to have a country in disarray and a world on fire and have two 80-year-olds as our candidates? >> reporter: the issue of age a political vulnerability of president biden's, taking on a new significance in the days after the special counsel's report on mr. biden's handling of classified documents revealed scathing allegations about his memory struggles, which the president denies. >> he is sharp, intensely probing, and detail-oriented and focused. >> reporter: biden's team on defense, blanketing the airwaves. >> and this kind of sense that he is not ready for this job is just a bucket of bs. >> reporter: the biden team continues to dismiss recent polling, showing more than 70% of voters s now.

defense secretary lloyd austin is back in the hospital with what the pentagon calls a, quote, emergency bladder issue. austin was admitted to walter reed medical center sunday after a series of tests and evaluations, according to a statement from his doctors. he is now receiving supportive care and close monitoring. the pentagon says he has transferred his duties to his deputy kathleen hicks. it's not clear right now how long austin has to stay at walter reed. the secretary was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year. his doctors say the bladder problem is not expected to interfere with austin's, quote, excellent prognosis. ahead of an anticipated ground offensive, israel has conducted preliminary air strikes in the southern city of rafah in gaza. palestinian authority reports dozens killed. hamas is threatening to withdraw from hostage negotiations if israel pushes into the city with ground forces. the israeli army says their forces rescued two hostages seized on october 7th. for the latest, let's go trade

to claudio lavanga. claudio, good morning. let's start with the hostages. what do we know about them? >> good morning, frances. well, in israel, a spokesperson for the israeli defense forces said the israeli soldiers stormed a heavily guarded building in rafah and managed to rescue the two hostages and fly them out of gaza. well, now they were named as 70-year-old louis har and 60-year-old fernando simon marman. they carried out heavier strikes to enable the team of rescuers and the freed hostages to reach a special airstrip that was set up specifically to get them out of gaza. but there was immediate concern about the impact that these air strikes could have on the million of palestinians who have found refuge around rafah. according to the president at least 60 people were killed and more than 100 injured including women and children. an nbc news crew on the ground

said they witnessed several people being taken to hospital in rafah either injured or dead. there is concern the air strikes could have on the hostage negotiations. now al aqsa television, which is run by hamas quoted a senior hamas official saying that any ground offensive in gaza would blow up the hostage deal, just as on sunday, a senior administration official in the u.s. administration said that major progress was expected on the hostage negotiations as early as this week starting from today after a telephone call between president biden and the prime minister of israel benjamin netanyahu. frances? >> claudio, thank you. a child is in critical condition after a shooting at the church of prominent pastor joel osteen. police say a woman in her 30s entered the lakewood church in houston with a long rifle. she started shooting as people were arriving for a spanish service. the woman threatened that she had a bomb before two off-duty officers opened fire, killing

her. a 5-year-old was critically injured and a man was shot in the leg. police did not find any explosives. for the first time since his cancer diagnosis, britain's king charles has appeared in public. here we see charles with his wife camilla attending church in the east of england yesterday. it was a week ago today that buckingham palace announced the king had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer. charles has postponed all of his public engagements for the time being while he undergoes treatment. we're starting the week off with a new round of heavy storms and a system making its way towards the east coast. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking how soon we can also see some snow. good morning. >> good morning. snow in the northeast, parts of midatlantic by tomorrow morning. we'll start off with some rain. lots of alerts this morning. another powerful storm system. 30 million people under winter alerts. that's includes portions of new england, and also the northeast, and we have flood alerts because we're looking at really heavy rain, the chance for severe

weather, and portions of the southeast. we're seeing strong storms, even early this morning. 18 million people under flood alerts as they go throughouted on this monday. lots of lightning here. it's pulling that warmth, that moisture off the gulf. so we're looking at really strong storms and could see the chance of gusty wind, damaging hail and tornadoes as well. on the back side snow falling throughout portions of the central and southern plains. as we go throughout tonight into tomorrow, we're going see the snow into parts of the northeast and also into new england. this is what it looks like. severe storms targeting the southeast today. rain and snow expected in th we portions of the midwest, though dry, lots of sunshine in chicago. and that's your monday forecast. >> okay, michelle, thank you.

not off the hook for playing hookie. "early today" is back in 60 seconds with how some parents are paying for their truant students. and the halftime show had fans saying omg, plus all the other big moments from the super bowl. [clanking] [gasping] nooo... aya... quick, the quicker picker upper! only bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and bounty is 2x more absorbent so you can use less and get the job done with one. you've got a bit of your face on your face. bounty, the quicker picker upper. and get four rolls in one with the bounty mega roll. our longest lastng roll. some people have minor joint pain plus stomach problems. they may not be able to take just anything for pain. that's why doctors recommend tylenol®. it won't irritate your stomach the way aleve® or even advil® or motrin® can. for trusted relief, trust tylenol®. alice loves the scent of gain so much, for trusted relief, she wished there was a way to make it last longer.

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some parents are being prosecuted and locked up. >> i don't want to miss out on high school. >> reporter: texas sophomore diego ruiz says he is a diligent student, excited about the high school experience. >> it's really important years of your life. >> reporter: but he and his mom felicia perez were tied up in court, both charged with violating the state's mandatory attendance highs, after in pain with a stomach ulcer. >> i thought this was ridiculous because of the accusations. >> reporter: in addition to a $200 fine against her, perez's son was ordered to do 16 hours of community service, and she could face jail time. what would happen to your family if the police were to arrest you for these truancy charges? >> that would be very counterproductive to what it is that they were trying to do, which was get him to school. >> reporter: this story an example of some of the more

draconian truancy penalties across the country. >> no one is prosecuting people like me. >> reporter: missouri attorney ellen flot month worked on appealing a mother who served 15 days in jail for her son's absence. >> they're prosecuting indigent poor single mothers like my client. >> reporter: some districts are partnering with outside agencies to combat the problem without quickly moving to prosecution. >> we'll do in-home family assessments, or they'll do family assessments at the school. >> reporter: mobile, alabama district attorney keith blackwood says early intervention is having a tremendous impact in his district. >> as of december, we had ten petitions filed. but it's still far less than the hundreds of petitions that were filed over the last four or five years. >> reporter: almost 61,000 cases were petitioned to juvenile courts in 2018, according to a national report from the council

of state governments justice center. their research show that's an arrest, court involvement, or suspension, decreases the chance of kids attending classes and completing high school. in texas, truancy laws require intervention before the courts get involved. the district says if a student continues to be absent ten or more days after it has exhausted all resources available, it is required by state law to refer the student to truancy court. perez disputes this claim in describing communication with school officials there. >> should be some sympathy in there and there should be some concern there was nothing. there was no go-between. >> reporter: how do you feel about this fine and the potential arrest of your mother? >> i passed all my classes last year. i got masters on all the tests. but despite all of that, it's still an issue. it shouldn't be. it shouldn't have been in the first place. >> reporter: rehema ellis, nbc news. still to come, why usher had

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♪ ♪ got me feeling this, know what it is, but it's got me twisting ♪ ♪ it started when we were younger ♪ ♪ yeah, yeah, next thing she was all upon me ♪ ♪ ridiculous, in the club looking so conspicuous ♪ >> so good. fans got caught up in usher's super bowl halftime show. showcasing 30 years in 13 minutes, more than 30 years of his work, i should say. and he shared the stage with the likes of alicia keys, you saw her there in red.

also her, will.i.am, ludacris, lil jon. and this is the finish that was spectacular. my kids were oh, my gosh, alicia keys, and that awesome red piano of hers. >> and him on roller skates. 30 years. it kind of makes us feel better. >> in 13 minutes. so good. after hinting at me music, beyonce announced a new album titled act 2. queen bey released two singles, texas hold 'em and 16 carriages on title. they're expected to drop on other streaming services shortly. i sort of love that taylor and beyonce are kind of on the same page with everything. >> yeah. >> they support each other. there is girl power. >> i love it there. their presence felt so strongly at the super bowl. last year, ben affleck showed us his love for dunkin' by work the drive-through. this year with a little help from his best buddies from boston. you have matt damon, tom bradie

brady. and they crash to perform his hot new single. ♪ the boston massacre, the dunkings ♪ >> play it, coach. >> got it. >> no interaction, my partner. >> sometimes it's really hard to be your friend. >> you said you were going to support me. ♪ ♪ why you dunking me, girl ♪ >> done king! >> iced coffee is available today. if you have not seen this entire thing, watch it. you have to get to it right now. it was my all-time favorite. >> and the boston accent i love. >> they nailed it. atspe tronauts on the ac stion have their own super bowl fun in zero gravity. n it! simparica trio is the first chew with triple protection. whoa fleas! and ticks! (♪♪)

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team of doctors giving those in need new hope and the gift of sight. for eye surgeon dr. lloyd williams, this moment when the bandages first come off says everything. after a life-changing eye surgery, this woman is seeing again for the first time in years. that moment repeated over and over again as people who had surgery the day before adjust to the light. what is that moment for you? >> when i first saw it happen, i thought i could do this for the rest of my life and never feel like i wasted a minute. >> reporter: dr. williams, an ophthalmologist at duke university has travelled with the himalayan cataract project for a decade on a mission to cure blindness. the latest trip in december to south sudan in africa, a country with the highest rate of blindness in the world. dr. williams worked alongside two local surgeons. >> for the most part, i don't even get up. i just sit, do surgery. next, do surgery, next.

>> reporter: they call these surgical boot camps, performing nearly 2,000 cataract surgeries in just ten days. people walked from as far away as 40 miles to be here, some arriving in wheelbarrows, many led by a stick. the results are immediate. 5-year-old kuwal, confused at first in this new world of sight before finally spotting his mom. many families here have a child take care of the person who is blind. >> you cure the blindness in the individual. you improve the economic situation of the family. you put one of their children back in school. >> reporter: this woman seeing her adult son for the first time in five years. >> imagine if you hadn't seen your child for years. >> yeah. >> it's really quite remarkable. >> you don't need to speak the language to understand what's

happening. she locks eyes with her son. >> we had one boy say to us "i don't deserve to have any friends because i'm blind." and when i see that in them and think i can do something about it. it just makes it all worthwhile. >> reporter: these boot camps changing lives as patients come out of the darkness to see the world in a new light. >> those reactions are priceless, and how fulfilling for that doctor. i hope he gets to continue on. our thanks to kate snow for that report. and thanks to you for starting your week with "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a great monday. see you right back here tomorrow. your news continues right here on nbc and our nbc stations.

what we've been through the last year, it hasn't been easy. for it to go like that, where

it's close at the end, it's tough. i'm still