nic stay with us. i also want to bring in cnn political and national security analyst, david sanger. david as, as we're just hearing there from nic, as he's reminding us right. of the work, the life's work in many ways of alexey navalny, the fact that he could still communicate with the outside world and continued to influence conversations and perhaps even some politics, resistance politics within russia. can you put that into context for us? what it will mean if in fact these reports are confirmed well, it seems very likely that they that it is true and of course it's come out as an official statement by the russian >> prison sentence. >> know, erica, there is never really been a dissident in modern times, like navalny one who had such a charismatic affect about him such followers and such an ability to communicate as you suggested even from prison. and his decision to go back to russia from germany, where he had been recovering from the last effort to kill him with a poisoning was remarkable. it see

thanks, nic. >>> all right. now we're going to be taking you back to the super bowl with andy scholes and coy wire after the break. >>> and welcome back live to las vegas. on the field at super bowl lviii, where it is a kansas city chiefs party right now. celebrating right behind me as you can see. travis kelce just had all the chiefs fans going. he had them singing "viva las vegas." he had them singing "we have the right to party." and the fans just loving it. taylor swift was right by the stage back there almost in tears watching her boyfriend travis kelce celebrate his third super bowl title in the past five years. and what a game this was in the end. patrick mahomes, he had the chance in overtime to go 75 yards to win the super bowl, and he did just that, hitting miko hardmon with time winding down to beat the san francisco 49ers. mahomes the super bowl mvp for the third time in his career. and here he was on the podium just moments ago. >> it's the start of one. we're not done. i know we're going to celebra

cnn's nic robertson joining us live from tel aviv.if israel signals these evacuations could come soon, many palestinians where they have to go? >> reporter: a lot of them feel they have nowhere to go. a lot of them feel they've already moved multiple times to get to rafah. rafah is at the end of the gaza strip and the idf has been making their way north to south, evacuating people as they go. you have 1 million people evacuated, more than 1 million, according to the u.n., around rafah, plus the 300,000 who were living there before. it's densely populated the egyptian authorities are afraid if the idf starts a mill tale ground operation, that people are so desperate they'll try to flee over the fence in huge numbers over egypt. the u.n., as you say, is concerned about what can happen happen, about the humanitarian situation, food for people, which is already desperate. but so many people potentially being caught up, you know in a military operation. and the idea being proposed by the prime minister here, netanyahu, that the operation c

up next to nic robertson live in tel aviv tonight. nic, notably iran said after the three u.s. soldiers were killed on sunday they did not want war. the u.s. was clearly trying to send a message to iran with this, so what do we know about how they're responding? >> well, we don't have any indication from the iranians per se yet, however, i think it's worth noting as well the president of iran also said in that same statement that they would do with bullies authoritatively and with strength. so i think the indication is that the iranians will choose to hit back through their proxies. undoubtedly indeed one of those proxies this evening just minutes before the strikes took place in iraq saying they were waiting for orders. clearly the implication seems to be they're waiting for orders from iran. they're an iran-backed proxy, so that would be a reasonable conclusion. we don't have anything from iranian officials about this yet. it's very clear that there have been strikes on some of these targets previously. not as devastating as the ones we've witnessed tonight. what we have seen

nic tell us how they managed to get these hostages out. >> this was something the idf said they were planning a long time waiting for the right window of opportunity to arrive. that came up this morning. 1:49 is the precise time the idf spokesman said the special forces were able to covertly get into the building where the two hostages were held. they described the idf describes the intense firefight where some of the special forces threw themselves on the hostages to make sure they were protected in this firefight but this was intense hi fast because the idf spokesman said one minute later 1:50 the israeli air force came into play and started laying down cover strikes in that area to prevent hamas from getting to that building and allow the hostages to be taken out of the building safely, taken outletly under fire taken to a safe place. that time 1:50 a.m. is when the palestinian red crescent began indicating they were receiving casualties from israeli air force strikes in the area, that they're now saying as many as 100 people were killed many injured women and children among them.

our team coverage now, ben wedeman, nic robertson, kevin liptak are with us. the u.s.it dozens of targets in iraq and syria, and the statement came out in the 4:00 p.m. eastern hour yesterday after those strikes were carried out. >> reporter: victor, the u.s. military striking a variety of different targets, 85 different targets associated or used by these iranian-backed militia groups, as well as iranian personnel themselves in iraq and syria, targets that included everything from rockets and missiles and other munitions stores to intelligence centers, to command and control hubs, as well as logistics centers as well. now, the u.s. military in the coming hours and days will be doing a battle damage assessment, trying to use their intelligence capabilities to independently confirm as much as they can the level of damage that they were able to exact on these militia groups, as well as the number of casualties. the iraqi government saying that 16 people have been killed, including civilians, but, again, we will await sort of the u.s.'s own assessment as well about the le

let's go to cnn's international diplomatic editor, nic robertson.yria is warning that these strikes will further fuel conflict in the middle east. what else are they saying? >> reporter: yeah, that's their position, and it's probably broadly accurate by iran and iraq, they haven't used that language specifically. they are all sharing, all of those three countries are using the same language, that this is a violation of the sovereignty of iraq, the sovereignty of syria, the syrian military is describing civilian casualties, military casualties, significant damage to civilian property, and also public property as well, privately owned property and public property. but i think we get the strongest understanding of where these groups lie and where the intent lies and how the likely response will shape up from the iraqi government, who have been -- who have spoken more about this, 16 people killed, 25 wounded. you mentioned the mayor of al qaim on the border who said some of the houses were used as weapons storage facilities by these iran-backed militia

cnn's nic robertson joins us live from tel aviv.israel signals these evacuations could come soon, a lot of palestinians say they have nowhere to go. >> reporter: and they're very worried about that. many of the families, of the 1 million people that are displaced in rafah, plus, of course, the 300,000 that live there already, those displaced are concerned because they've already moved, some of them, on average, maybe five times already, as they have sort of moved south in gaza strip, because the idf is moving the north, to the south, this is the last place they've been able to go to to take refuge. the nearest town north of them is under the one under the idf efforts to take out hamas there for the last two months. so, this is the last place they can go. the egyptian authorities are afraid that if the idf goes into rafah, this will cause people to panic and try to flee across the border into egypt. u.n. officials and ngos are talking about the potential for a bloodbath there. this is an environment where there's already a desperate

cnn's nic robertson joins us now from tel aviv. nic, what are you learning about this special israeli military operation that rescued two hostages in rafah? >> reporter: well, it is, of course, huge news here in israel. it's what everyone in israel has been waiting for for the release of more hostages. it's only the second time that the idf has been able to go in in a military operation and free hostages. it was the end of october for the last one. this was a lightning covert operation which had the special forces going in into the center of rafah covertly at 1:49 in the morning getting onto the second floor of the building, having a big firefight with hamas there. the two people, the two hostages they were going in to recover and extract, were on the second floor. within a minute of arriving there, the air force was conducting those supporting strikes that we now are learning resulted in the death of 60 palestinians according to the palestinian red crescent, the local hospital where many of the injured and victims were taken sayin

nic robertson joining us. what are the houthis saying? >> saying that they're going to meet escalation with escalation. remembering that the houthis fought an eight-year war with saudi arabia, they believe they're in a fight with the united states right now and they have, they believe, the experience withstanding year after year after year of ariel bombardment. now given saudi arabia doesn't have quite the fire power, the number of munitions, the large coalition to bring to bear on the houthis, they know at a time when the saudis were fighting them from the air, they were getting intelligence and getting air refuel capability from the united states. so, the houthis already feel they've got some experience fighting the united states and they feel at the moment that they can still punch back. they will find clearly that the level of strikes and the capacity of strikes and the frequency of strikes that the united states and its coalition partners come out, will be bigger and are bigger than what the saudis are able to do. but this doesn't al

nic robertson is following the developments from tel aviv. nic, what more are we learning? >> reporter: well, these strikes seem to be developed from very precise surveillance of what the houthis are actually doing on the ground because they picked up two of these unmanned surface vehicles, basically a small boat packed with explosives and targeted those before they hit shipping in the red sea and also four anti-ship cruise missiles. houthis often keep these in bunkers or caves. and it appears when they are brought out prior to use, they are targeted. and as well one mobile cruise launcher targeted as well. this was between the early hours of friday and early friday evening yemen time. so this designed to keep the shipping lanes in the red sea safe and designed specifically as well to protect u.s. naval vehicles that are patrolling the coastline there. >> and there is also growing concern about the situation in rafah in southern gaza along the border with egypt, more than a million palestinians are sheltering there and now israel is indicating that it will begin operations

. >> nic robertson joins us live from tel aviv. look, nic, we talked about it earlier. when i heard that, i thought that was a major, major moment in a press conference that has gotten a lot of attention. what are israeli officials saying about what the president said last night? >> reporter: well, perhaps because it has got a lot of attention, they haven't addressed it directly yet. in fact, they have yet to say anything about it. they may wait a few days to choose their words. they're also look back to december, just when the major ground operation was beginning in khan younis that is still going on, that was early, mid-december when it got going. back then, it called the bombing indiscriminant, and at that moment, you felt the same thing, maybe this will make a difference. we know antony blinken when he was here was doubling down to hear from the israeli generals in charge who was prosecuting the war on the ground to know how they're going to protect civilians in rafah, the u.n. officials are saying that there are areas and parts of gaza that are now close to famine.

nic robertson, thank you very much for that report. we appreciate it. we'll have much more news straits ahead. stay with us. >>> just a bit more than 24 hours until kickoff of super bowl lviii in las vegas. this year's event pits the kansas city chiefs who are looking for back-to-back titles against the san francisco 49ers. the super bowl is not the only biggest game of the year in the u.s. it has some of the tightest security of any event in the world. cnn security correspondent josh campbell is in las vegas for us. josh, a lot going on there to make sure everybody's safe getting to the game. >> reporter: that's right. security will be extensive. months of preparation have been undertaken here to get to this point. there will be hundreds of law enforcement officers protecting the hundreds of thousands of fans in and outside the stadium. authorities rolling out a host of resources including scanners for everyone that's going inside. there are explosive detection k-9s. there are similar to what you have in washington, d.c., during special events, these s

nic robertson, thank you for that reporting. speak to a spokesperson for the israeli government in a few moments. >>> new fallout after donald trump's stunning comments that he will not abide by the collective defense agreement as the heart of the nato alliance if he's elected president. and he went further. listen to this carefully. >> the presidents of a big country stood up 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 have to pay. >> that's important to know. we're in year eight or nine of trump not understanding how nato funding actually works. each country does have a target minimum spend of 2% gdp on defense. it's not a binding contract. no kitty where everybody drops their cash in. now u.s. allies are criticizing trump's remarks and posting messages with nato's motto one for all and all for one. jim sciu

let's bring in cnn's nic robertson. he is in tel aviv for us, struck curtas off nic with some of the details of this plan that netanyahu has unveiled >> some of the details we've heard before, like there would be the complete freedom of military movement, movement for the idf two then gaza, that's right at the top that israel would control all the borders. and now this includes the border with egypt, which means it's real, it's going to have to take control of a strip of gaza right along that border, about 6.5 miles long. so it will it will own a new length of border. the idea is that israel would work with palestine indian officials inside gaza to help run gaza. but that's really not a lot of specificity around that. so it's really not clear who they're talking about or how that would actually work, who would come forward and in gaza to fill that role it would be financed all of this would be financed and the rebuilding in gaza would be financed with partners it's from the region, arab partners in the region that israe

nic, to you first because let's talk about the trump team wanting to block this lower court decision. you, say it's likely a longshot for a variety of reasons. for one, it would undermine the supreme court would be undermining their decision which said no one is above the law. >> no question about it. i mean, first of all, you have to look at what the status of this is right now. what we have is an indictment. these are just allegations the supreme court is going to have another shot at this issue after trump is likely to be convicted in this election, interference case, at that point, a jury will may have made a finding based on evidence that goes before them and then they'll have a real record if they want to talk about this. the fact of the matter is the dc circuit issued a very detailed, well-thought-out, reasoned opinion that went on for 40, 57 pages covered every single issue that trump raised. and then on top of it, i don't think the supreme court wants to get involved in another election issue in 2020 for when they're already dealing with the 14th amendment issue, which i thin

let's turn to nic robertson, live for us in tel-aviv. the biden administration is keen to frame this as iranian antagonism rather than tying it back to the war in gaza. how does what we've seen play out in the last few hours play into this increasingly complex web of efforts to lower the heat across the region? >> i think there's many ways to look at it alex. perhaps a simple way is to look at jordan. a week and a half ago jordan was not in the frame really to be drawn in to the -- you know, the wider concerns about escalation. but all that changed when that iran-backed proxy chose to strike u.s. troops in jordan. they could have chosen to strike u.s. troops in iraq or syria. but they chose jordan which essentially an iranian proxy putting jordan on the map, hosting u.s. troops knowing that there's a large percentage of the population in jordan who are palestinians who are enraged in some cases ability what israel is doing in gaza, thinking the united states supports israel. so from an iranian perspective stoking problems and lighting a

nic robertson in tel aviv, oren lieberman in the pentagon.nk you both. >> joining me is cnn global affairs analyst kim dozier and lieutenant general mark hertling. thank you both for being with me. general hertling, i want to start with you because we heard oren lieberman rattle off the group of targets including underground facilities, missile systems, storage sites. it seems like a broad range of targets, 36 of them in 13 different locations. so to what extent do you think, general, that the u.s. and its coalition partners have been effective at degrading houthi capabilities? because it doesn't seem like they've been effective at deterring them. >> yeah, i believe based on the number of targets and the types of weaponry that was used, based on what the -- over-the-counter intelligence is saying is that it was both an air and cruise missile strike, alex. that's going to strike a lot of targets that are conducive to the houthi's continuing to attack the sea-based platforms, the shipping that's going through the area. they talked about the und

nic robertson, cnn, tel aviv, israel. >>> u.s.retary of state antony blinken will travel to the middle east on sunday to continue hostage negotiations. the u.s. state department says he will travel to israel, the west bank, qatar, egypt, and saudi arabia to work on a deal to secure the release of hostages held in gaza. the leaders of hamas and islamic jihad are calling for a, quote, complete end to the aggression and the full withdrawal of israeli forces from gaza as part of any deal. however, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said as recently as this week that he would not agree to a full withdrawal from gaza until israel has completed its goal of eliminating hamas. >>> the u.n. says the escalating fighting around khan younis is forcing thousands of civilians to flee further south. the u.n.'s humanitarian office says the surge of people into rafah has turned the city into a, quote, pressure cooker of despair. israel's military claims it killed dozens of hamas fighters in recent days. the health ministry in gaza said i

of the opponents, ukraine's kind of the new equipment is nic puts an abrupt end to really stream even if the disappointment is momentarily overwhelming. real still has a shot at 3rd place in the world rankings. and looking at the bigger picture, there's plenty to be happy about. unlike in grand sing both and the church cmo does seem to have a problem. recruiting young wrestlers based on the increasing number of competitions women sumo in japan, has had particularly high growth and popularity over the last decade. but you can't get excited about to grow into something that you don't even know about the golf. lot floor that should i like to that so i don't want that many people don't know. not assume that the slit in there and the fact that women sing that exist associate, not the one idea and it, i really hope this change and, and i can help inspire people to give it a try. what they don't like. don't tell faith tossing up on and that's a long day of competing real needs hung gary and roxanna ball here in the ring. the secures the bronze and real will keep on fighting, not just for her

only way to qualify for the index bus emits these financial challenges the beacon of hogan matched the nic signing community. rally to support please note competition asian qualify in jakarta. they connected and sunrise more than 2400 years. within 24 hours. his sons had the face and he did not disappoint. finishing 15 among the best time is in asia. the trying not any for him, but for the entire climbing community in india. being sponsored by your friends and follow is also means pressure not to let them down. well, the natural passion for climbing the whole idea of being sponsored by the community was not able to make the i have a mentor who i've been climbing with since i was a boy in his name is caught up saying my climbing skills and performance is world cups, i think he encouraged me to try for the olympics. he reached out to the indian climate community to posted a message about me wanting to compete at the olympic. and so they took months, they started from there and a lot of people came forward to help out. the kid wasn't out when they, when they're part of the local shared with t

kid whose fund loving personality shines the brightest when he's cheering on his favorite team, the nics. he was one of 240 men, women, and children brutally kidnapped by hamas terrorists. mr. molinaro: he's still held captive today. i join my colleagues in demanding that hamas release him immediately, along with the remaining hostages. those who have been released have shared horror stories of sexual abuse, children being forced to take drugs and inhumane and barbaric conditions. i continue to stand with israel as it works to eradicate hamas and free innocent people wrongfully held by this terrorist group. it is time to bring omar home. it is time to bring them all home. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: thank you, mr. speaker. families in south carolina have been negatively affected by

ms porter, thank you very much, nic. >> we're moving on now to the topic of donald trump. and we begin with you, mister garvey. you voted for donald trump twice, but it declined to answer if you would vote for him again. have you spoken with him since entered the race and would you accept his endorsement if he offered it? you have 30 seconds. >> question seems to pop up frequently. i did vote for him twice. i believe the greatest single currency we have as americans is the right to vote. i think it's personal. i make that decision when the time comes. and i hope this puts too 2 the constant badgering. and the use of the former president's name as attack against me to try to paint me into a corner and that's what career path. >> they tried. >> thank you, hear the question was, have you spoken to him and would you accept his endorsement? you 15 seconds. i haven't spoken to. would you accept his endorsement? these are personal choices. i only i answered it to guide my wife, family and to the people of california. and i hope you respect that. i have personal choices. mister th

. >> i want to get to nic robertson who is in tel aviv. this sharpening criticism, is it having any affect? >> reporter: i think it is. we heard from prime minister men gent -- benjamin netanyahu's office today. he said the military should go ahead and go into rafah and take down the last four battalions of hamas that he says are there. he said do that, there's civilians and the civilians need to be moved out of the way. he is calling on the army to give the cabinet -- his cabinet a plan of how the army is going to make sure the civilians are not in harm's way. it gives the impression of the prime minister feeling the political heat and pushing off the resolution or tamping down the heat to the military. the military has had a plan for trying to protect civilians. it used in khan yunis. it calls for certain neighborhoods to be told by text, leaflets to take a certain route, leave at a certain time and go to a certain safe area. what we have witnessed is that those routes are sometimes not safe. people get killed along the way. they are not

but nic, this brings up the issue that the u.s. is now having with iraq or rather iraq is having with the u.s. we've heard a lot of anger from iraq about the u.s. carrying out these strikes inside their country. most notably a strike in baghdad that took out a senior militant commander. where will that conversation go, do you think? >> well, it's already gone quite a distance because there's already been discussions between the pentagon and other u.s. officials with the iraqi government. the iraqi government is very heavily influenced, not only by these iranian-backed militias, but by iranian political strains, if you will. the iranian are leaning heavily on the iraqis to get u.s. forces out of iraq and the iraqi government is saying that the actions last night by the united states were a violation of sovereignty. violation of the u.n. charter. and this will probably further add to these discussions that are under way for the united states to draw down its presence inside of iraq. which all troops were pulled out in 2011. it was on

cnn's nic robertson is joining us live from tel-aviv and nic, rayleigh officials we'll says military leaders are hoping to have direct influence in these negotiations. has there been any progress on the surface? >> it sounds like the mood music. i think probably bubbly changed yesterday. brett mcgurk president biden's national security council coordinator for the middle east was in cairo yesterday. i'm with her yesterday as well. that is smile haniah, the leader of what political one of the political leaders of hamas was also in cairo's absolutely no indication that the pair met. but the fact that hamas had sent representative back to cairo because the egyptians have been an intermediary, seem to indicate that hamas was beginning to come round to perhaps some of the pressure that is israel has been putting on it to given more to israel's terms of what a temporary cease-fire might look like and what hostages might be released as part of that deal. so that was one indicator. and then today, brett mcgurk was meeting both with the defense minister and with the prime minister. the other i

on think about anything else other than one. >> do i see my son again >> nic robertson, cnn, the west bank the. >> white house is ramping up its pressure on lawmakers to approve billions of dollars in additional funding for ukraine as the war there enters its third year after that and just only unitedhealthcare, medicare advantage plans come with the eu card one simple member card that opens doors where it matters for you what do we need to see a dr. waivable, you guard gets you in with medicare advantage is largest national provider network. >> how about using it at the pharmacy? yes. you're you card is all you need >> that daisy? >> and it helped keep my smile looking good. >> yep. use your eukarya, the denis say jeez, get access to what matters with the eu card only from united health care i'm hearing different ways for me to screen for colon cancer. >> it's time to use my voice i thought it was >> i sat down and with my dog, rahel to talk. you just want to say i asked for cola guard and didn't buy cologuard is a one-of-a-kind way to screen for colon cancer. that's effective and no

cnn's international diplomatic editor, nic robertson is covering the story from tel-aviv. nick, i just wonder what you make of this very public split as these netanyahu and these qatar, if it qatari officials are going back and forth while they're still hostages being held, that there is still at the center of this. and what to you about the status of those talks >> yeah, it's not a good sign is at right now, prime minister netanyahu is trying to put every bit of pressure he can on hamas and he was at a conference here with the presidents of some major american jewish organizations here in tel aviv, in jerusalem. and he told them, look, the only way to get the hostages bag is for you and everyone else to put more pressure on the katara is. and this is what the katara is. we're responding to the foreign ministry spokesman saying this this the israeli prime minister it's recent statement calling on qatar to pressure hamas to release the hostages are nothing nothing but a new attempt to stall and prolong this war for reasons that have become obvious to everyone. if that doesn

nic robertson. thank you so much for explaining that. >> so well and kate, i will take it, john. thank you so much. >> the co-chair of harvard's newly formed task force to fight against anti-semitism on campus. just resigned barely a month after joining the team. seen as matt egan has this reporting is joining us now, matt harvard continues to struggle here in these leadership posts. what's happened? >> well, kate, the timing here is stunning. normally, if everything's going smoothly, you don't step down from a high profile position after just five weeks on the job. but that is what is happening here. harvard business professor raffaella sadun is resigning as the co-chair of this antisemitism task force that had just been put together. this news was sort of buried in the middle of a longer announcement from harvard laying out the full list of members of this task force. and another one, islamophobia. now the question is, why, of course, and the stated reason is that she wants to double down on academics harvard's interim president alan garber, he put out a statement saying that s

nic robertson is in tel aviv. nic, what's the latest? >> reporter: yeah, there's certainly a lot of concern coming from the u.n. the saudis have also just released a press release saying they are extremely concerned about what could happen in rafah. they are saying that there should be a meeting at the u.n. security council to discus this. it is really highlighting the precarious predicament of about 1.4 million people, gazans who most of them, have been moving homes since the incursion began four months ago. now they don't feel like they've got anywhere to go. their food is in very short supply. a lot of them, about a million, are just living in tented plastic sheeting shelter. so the idea that there could be a ground incursion into rafah as they've witnessed in other parts of gaza, that's scaring them. people are saying where are we going to go? the egyptian officials just over the border are worried that people may try to scamramble ov that massive border fence there to escape what happens. it's not clear that tit is goin to happen. t

nic robertson, cnn, israel. >>> the white house calling operation a success, but warned this is just the beginning of the u.s. response. president biden tweeted, quote, we do not seek conflict in the middle east or anywhere else in the world, but to all those who seek to do us harm, we will respond. now the weather in the middle east played a role in the timing of the strikes. a top u.s. military official said that friday was the best opportunity to ensure the u.s. was hitting the correct targets and avoid any unnecessary casualties. meteorologist chad myers has more on that and the conditions in the region in the days ahead. >> weather has played a role in military operations for hundreds, if not thousands of years. and yesterday was no different. the skies were completely clear over syria and iraq. not a cloud in the sky. but that is about to change. there will be significant clouds come ing over the mediterranean from the west to the east over syria and then over iraq. this is going to happen later on today and some of those clouds will be so thick and so moisture laiden from it t

paul is mr nic he's “you know,ipetitive. >> they think, oh, paul is mr nic he's “you know,ipeti otherow, the other thing they don't course, thing they don't see, of course, is wearing shorts. is that you're wearing shorts. yeah. not wearing anything. is that you're wearing shorts. yeai've not wearing anything. is that you're wearing shorts. yeai've rtakenaring anything. is that you're wearing shorts. yeai've rtaken them anything. >> i've just taken them off. >> i've just taken them off. >> shorts. those >> i've just taken them off. >> very shorts. those >> i've just taken them off. >> very dangly shorts. those >> i've just taken them off. >> very dangly shorts. 5. those >> i've just taken them off. >> very dangly shorts. it'siose >> i've just taken them off. >> very dangly shorts. it's got are very dangly shorts. it's got are very dangly shorts. it's got a letter. to let it a letter. it's got to let it breathe. you're right, paul, breathe. but you're right, paul, i am sure i feel about i am not sure how i feel about you adding the waistcoat. i i am not sure how i feel about you adding

our nic robertson is live from tel aviv for us right now. nick, what do we know about this operation and how the israelis pulled it off? >> reporter: yes. a 660-year-old and 70-year-old, middle of the night operation, covert. this was a long time in the planning. they were waiting for the right opportunity. the task force, the special forces went in, literally 1:49 a.m. they entered the building where the two hostages were being held on the second floor. the idf said the forces engaged in an intensifier fight with hamas. they say that a couple of those special forces literally threw themselves on the hostages to protect them. one minute later the israeli air force began airstrikes in the same area. we understand from the palestinian red crescent that about the same time there were airstrikes. they say about 100 people, civilians, many of them according to the palestinian red crescent were killed, injured women and children among them. it's not immediately clear whether these strikes were the same ones as the rescue operation. they were at th

nic robertson, cnn, tel aviv, israel. >>> well, iran's foreign minister reportedly told the u.n. that these strikes make it difficult to reach political solution in the region. according to state run media he is slamming the u.s. for trying, to quote, resolve issues by force. russia also criticized the u.s. and requested an urgent u.n. security council meeting. that's according to sources is happening on monday. the russian ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement saying, quote, the united states is purposefully trying to plunge the largest countries in the region into conflict. >>> well, as tensions grow in the region, israel's government is facing new pressure at home. thousands of protesters took to the streets saturday demanding a new government and the return of hostages still held in gaza. in tel aviv they held signs that slammed benjamin netanyahu and called for bringing the hostages home. hamas is reiterating the only way for it to happen is to stop the fighting in gaza and to have a complete pull out of israeli troops. the group was commenting on a cease-fire propo

nic robertson has the regional state of play. >> one of the big concerns for the united states going into the strikes as it did not trigger a further escalation in the region, the tensions already clearly very high. the northern border of israel with hezbollah has exchange of fire every day. the idf is engaged with hamas inside of gaza. the question is, could the strikes then trigger a misinterpretation of another move? could it trigger one of the -- one of iran's proxies in iraq and syria to strike back aggressively and therefore escalate the situation. the first we have heard is from the iraqi government, a spokesman for the army there is saying it is a violation of their sovereignty. we have heard them say this before, so that in and of itself, not necessarily an escalation. the biggest and strongest of the iran backed militias inside of iraq, kata'ib hezbollah, minutes before the strikes, telegram channel, they said they were waiting for orders about what to do next. an indication they are waiting for tehran, their main sponsor, to tell them to how to respond to the events of the

cnn international diplomatic editor nic robertson has the state of play for us. >> reporter: of course, one of the big concerns for the united states going into these strikes is that it didn't trigger a further escalation in the region. the tensions already clearly very high. the northern border of israel with hezbollah has exchange of fire every day. the idf is engaged with hamas inside of gaza. the question is could these strikes then trigger a misinterpretation of another m move. could it trigger a proxy to strike back aggressively? the first we've heard is from the iraqi government. a spokesperson is saying it is a violation of their sovereignty. we've heard them say this before so that in itself is not necessarily an escalation. the biggest and strongest of the iran-backed militias inside of iraq continue to hit hezbollah. minutes before the strike they say they were waiting for orders about what to do next, an indication that they're waiting forte tehran, their major spon, to tell them what to do after the events of the night. it's not clear how many buildings were damaged and de

thank you for that, nic. let's go to elliott in london.hat more are you learning about israel's deadly strikes on rafah and its planned ground offensive for that city? >> reporter: rosemary, these would appear to be the most intense strikes israel has carried out on rafah since the start of this war on october the 7th with the hamas-led terrorist attacks. let's not forthis isn't the first time war has come to rafah. it's been a part of this war since day one with israel carrying out strikes every now and then. i suppose the countries and the leaders around the world who have been expressing grave concern about the possibility of an israeli ground operation in rafah will perhaps feel even more concerned after this operation, to see more than 100 fatalities, albeit with a successful rescue of two israeli hostages. i suppose the big questions which everyone is still asking is, how exactly does israel propose to evacuate more than 1 million palestinians, more than half the population of the gaza strip, many of whom have been displaced multiple

nic robertson, cnn, tel aviv, israel. >> as tensions grow in the region israel's government is facing new pressure at home. thousands of protesters took to the streets saturday demanding a new government and the return of the hostages still held in gaza. in tel aviv, they held signs that slammed prime minister benjamin netanyahu and called for bringing the hostages home. hamas is reiterating the only way for that to happen is to stop the fighting in gaza and have a complete pullout of israeli troops. mr. netanyahu has dismissed those preconditions. >>> now to the u.s. presidential race and a crushing victory for joe biden. cnn is projecting that the president has won south carolina's first in the nation democratic primary with 96% of the vote over two rivals. the party holds its nominating convention in august with mr. biden well on his way. on saturday he visited the campaign headquarters, and he took the opportunity to rally staff ahead of what's shaping up to be a challenging rematch against his likely republican rival, former president, donald trump. >> this is not just a campaign

it is remaining frozen for hungry for now, nic and key. if you call this a big deal, i'm yeah, and it's coming at a time and ukraine has had few successes on the front line. what would it mean for the country? british, if you just look at the news here at what people are talking about, it is all pretty grim. we have the power struggle saving a between presidents, the lensky and his top general fathers illusion. and you have the good luck in the united states. and there is a real growing sense here in ukraine that after slow start with the us and to so the k to less extent were very fast in sending ukraine weapons and money at the beginning of this rule that now finally the you is realizing what needs to be done is getting kind of a handle on things and helping the numbers. we've had calls from olaf schultz involving a warning of the european countries to not think they've done enough that they need to keep on cranking up that production of weapons. and those provide more in the way of money. so there's a real sense that, you know, increasi

nic robertson, keep us posted there from tel aviv. thank you. >>> back in this country, the white house is firing back at assertion was a special counsel report into president biden's handling of classified documents. special counsel robert hur did not recommend any charges in the inquiry, but he did make unflattering comments about president biden's mental acuity, characterizing him as elderly with a poor memory. democrats including vice president kamala harris are blasting the report as gratuitous and inappropriate as it pertains to those characterizations. priscilla alvarez is in washington for us. how is the white house planning to counteract some of these claims from the special counsel? >> reporter: first and foremost, the white house is making clear that there were no criminal charges brought against president biden after this investigation concluded. but of course, this report also hits directly on one of the defining themes of this presidential election cycle, and that is the president's age and his fitness for office, all of

nic robertson is live at the hospital where the hostages were taken.dibly 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 the

. >> cnn international diplomatic editor nic robertson joins us live from tel aviv. has israel responded to that comment from president biden? >> i think what we heard from the prime minister today is a response to that. obviously, the presidents criticizing the civilian death toll inside gaza. i think that's very evident from what he says. and the prime minister has his office issued this statement, which, in a way, shift the focus from prime minister netanyahu on to the military, because they are saying, okay, military over to you, you come up with a plan. tell us, the cabinet, how you are going to execute our orders in rafah, where there is 1.3 million people doing, without creating civilian casualties. however, i think the backdrop to this is that the military does have already a plan for trying to get civilians out of the way. and we've seen them try to do that in many parts of the country. thinking of khan yunis, where the military operation began a couple months ago. they tell areas of the population in certain districts that you need to evacuate and you need

as you just heard from nic robertson, negotiations will continue. we're told for a few more days with diplomatic insecurity channels, there's lots of about progress and you're being positive, but from your experience when negotiations end this way without closing the gaps one delegation going home and so the no real mechanism to continue them in any formal way. is there much reason for optimism? >> oh, there is, there's these constantly go back and forth. >> this one was >> very out in the open. they couldn't get to where they needed to go, probably because they realized this is going to be their last chance to get what they are. hamas is last chance to get really get what they want out of this i mean, israel's we want all hostages. hamas is trying to get as much as they can out of this one. so they're kind of playing it hard, hard to hardball to get those final things. but they go back and forth all the time. i wouldn't worry about it. it's going to happen. the details are going to get worked out by people that are just constantly going at this pho

not clear yet >> all right, nic robertson in tel aviv. thank you coming up back in this country, donald trump is lashing out after the judge in his new york civil fraud trial did not hi, the former president's request to delay the judgment. what he's saying still ahead >> this is the big game. >> cain, who that do. >> how far would you go to control the fragrance in your home? there's an easier way. dry air wake vibrant with two times more natural essential oils, but up to 120 days of amazing fragrance per dual pack. now, that's a breath of fresh air if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover a different first treatment. immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer, but up devo plus year-boy is the first combination of two immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that is spread tests positive for pd-l1 and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene up devo plus your voice is not chemotherapy. it works differently. it helps your immune system fight cancer in two

nic robertson, cnn tel aviv, israel >> a group of united nations experts are calling for an immediate arms embargo on israel in a statement friday, the group said, quote, any transfer of weapons or ammunition to israel that would be used in gaza is likely to violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately. the experts cite the geneva conventions and last month ruling by the international court of justice stating that there is a plausible risk of genocide in gaza. israel's foreign minister shot back, accusing the un of cooperating with hamas and ignoring hamas war crimes the us and the uk have carried out a fourth round of strikes against houthi targets in yemen. us officials tell cnn, the strikes hammer dozens of targets in multiple locations. cnn, pentagon correspondent oren liebermann has more all right the us and uk carried out another round of strikes coalition strikes against houthi targets in yemen on >> saturday night, yemen time after a number of recent attacks from the houthis have hit ships associated with the us and the uk in this case, the us and the uk s

our nic robertson has more now from tel-aviv >> well, these were anti-government protests calling for the overthrow of prime minister benjamin netanyahu's government organizers say they what tens of thousands of supporters out on the streets. but we have seen some of the toughest police measures used in these protests so far. they've been occurring almost every saturday for a number of months now and growing in scale each time. the protests focused around the main security administration center. in the center of tel aviv and the police saying that the protesters were blocking some of the thoroughfares in the center of town tel aviv. and that's why they bought in water cannon and horses to clear the protesters off the road. at the same time, prime minister netanyahu, indicating that here phil discuss the progress made in the paris talks to get the hostages released his head of intelligence was there along with the head of the cia? gypsy intelligence, qatari officials there as well. the prime minister, not really saying much about the content of those discussions in paris tzachi hanegbi

let's get to cnn's nic robertson. he's in tel aviv for us talk to me about this possible expansion in rafah >> yeah, i think that speaks to two things. having a deadline set. it speaks to the government here trying to put more pressure on hamas to come to the israeli government's terms of any deal to release the hostages, hamas wants a permanent ceasefire the israeli government is offering a six-week pause at best. so there's that, but i think it also speaks to the fact that the military operations that are going on in han eunice, that big city where the hospital or who you were just mentioning, the nassau hospital is effectively out of bounds, has become an idf camp for one of a better expression, the idf said they rounded up about 100 terror suspects, sara over the weekend. the who just managed to evacuate 14 critical care patients for five of them on dialysis but the point i'm trying to make here about hahn yunis's that military operation has been going on for much longer than the idea yes, expected. so just a coup

this will likely change a lot of those discussions before we get to that impact though, nic just give us a sense of where things stand this morning given that we are learning from the prison service, that alexey navalny has in fact died >> we don't have independent confirmation, but frankly, given how information function putin's russia is close to it, as you might expect, the prison service itself from the region where annexin-v one was incarcerated near the arctic circle, very tough conditions in colony number three, they're saying that he lost consciousness during a walk on the morning of february 16? doctors were unable to revive him. now, we're not hearing from his team confirmation as i say, and they are dependent on information from the prison service. and indeed, apparently his lawyer is traveling the harp, the city in the uml note, the nets kill autonomy is region where that prison is located. but given what we know about the fate of opposition figures in putin's russia, the fate indeed, even if you yevgeny a former putin confidant, to turned against last year and then died i