good morning, welcome to "cnn this morning." i'm amara walker. >> i'm victor blackwell. here is what we're watching for you. aid work ters in gaza say they need supplies including fuel and could shut down without them. and we're learning of more explosions near hospitals sheltering thousands of people. >> the fbi seized cellphones and ipad belonging to new york mayor eric adams as a federal investigation into his campaign fund raising, the dramatic way it happened and what the investigators are looking for. >> federal investigators are looking into suspicious letters sent to public officials in half a dozen states across the country. at least one laced with fentanyl. what destick differences are looking into to piece together where they came from. we're learning more about the deal that got actors off the picket lines and back to work. what the deal ultimately came down to, just ahead. all coming up on "cnn this morning." we begin in gaza with a stark warning from the red cross that the health care system there has passed the point of no return. palestinian red crescent says a hospital in gaza city is just hours away from closing. test test it will run out of fuel. doctors there are already treating patients in the dark. one humanitarian group warns 500 patients could lose vital medical care and people in the icu and infants in incubators will likely die. meantime doctors without borders have lost all contact with their staff at the largest hospital in gaza city. multiple projectiles hit it yesterday. the idf has denied responsibility claiming it was a misfired projectile from a terrorist organization. some saying it happened at a different hospital on october 17. >> the air bombardment in gaza continues this morning. heavy artillery fire and explosions could be heard as the sun rose today. as the israeli military pushes in and the urban warfare begins, it is becoming much more difficult for civilians searching for safety. israel is under immense pressure from leaders to protest the civilians. it has agreed to allow a small window each day to let people escape northern gaza, a seven hour window is open right now. ed lavendera is in tel aviv. we got new information that the hospital is surrounded. what a have you learned? >> reporter: that is coming from the director of the health ministry there inside of gaza saying israeli soldiers have surrounded that hospital. and of course this is as you mentioned, the largest hospital in gaza. and for a long time idf officials have said this particular hospital is one of their main focuses because they believe that it is one of the primary hospitals that hamas military fighters uses to protect their underground tunnel system from which the military operations of hamas are coordinated from. so that is why this particular hospital getting so much attention. but the director of the health ministry saying that the hospital has been surrounded by israeli soldiers. doctors without borders say they have lost contact with their medical teams inside of that hospital describe it as a, quote, catastrophic situation. there have been attacks on the infrastructure. apparently electricity has been lost there. so very dangerous situation and moments here on the ground for everybody inside that hospital. hospitals in recent weeks have become a place of shelter and rest refuge for many of the gazan civilians who have been fleeing their homes to escape the bombing. so very tense moments. and we're also hearing from a u.s. senior official saying there are talks in regards to the hostages, that there are talks suggesting that there could be a days long pause of a ceasefire in exchange for a large number of hostages. whether or not this will come to fruition is very hard to say. according to this senior official, there have been talks like this before and everything has stalled out or fallen apart. but it also comes at a time where israeli officials continue to say that they believe the way to release the hostages is to continue maximizing the military pressure on hamas fighters there inside of gaza. but there is also growing skepticism that this strategy will ensure the safe release of all of these hostages, some of the family members of hostages released a statement yesterday saying that this strategy of going after hamas militarily and saving the hostages isn't going to work. the statement went on to say that victory should not be viewed as the assassination of the military, hamas military leaders that carried out the october 7 attack. instead it should be viewed as releasing all of the hostages safely and alive and back to israel. >> some important reporting there, ed lavendera for us in tel aviv, thank you. american diplomats in the middle east gave a stark warning to the biden administration over its continued support for israel and resistance is growing within the u.s. too. >> this is the new york city police department. >> protestors marched through the street of new york city last night snarling traffic, blocking roads and demanding a ceasefire in gaza. joining us now is arlette saenz. good morning to you. how are u.s. officials mediating this? >> well, president biden is grappling with his growing frustration around the globe and here at home over the u.s. support for israel at a time when the civilian death toll in gaza has been mounting. but we have seen this subtle but notable shift in language from the administration over the course of the last days. secretary of state antony blinken speaking in his most blunt terms yet against the number of palestinians who have been killed. he told reporters traveling yesterday that there are far too many palestinians who have been killed and that more needs to be done to protect them. this comes as the administration has long talked about israel rights to defend itself, its ability to make its own decisions about its military campaign. but the white house has really been grappling with the growing discontent over that civilian death toll and the way that the u.s. has supported the israeli decisions. now, this comes as the u.s. has been pushing for those humanitarian pauses. the white house said thursday that they had secured an agreement to allow for a foyer hour humanitarian pause to move civilians, get more aid in, that is something that we've seen play out over the course of the past few days. but the administration is also receiving very stark warnings about the discontent in the arab world. there was a diplomatic cable obtained by cnn that was sent by a u.s. official in the embassy oman that warned about the arab world frustration with the fact that the u.s. continues to support israel even as these death tolls are mounting. that cable said that the administration is "losing arab public regenerations." they also said that there is this trueview that the u.s. sup is seen as material and moral culpability and warning of the long term impact this could have with with the arab world as the campaign continues. but the president is also seeing the frustration firsthand here at home, traveling out in the country earlier in the week, he was at an event in illinois interrupted by an audience member calling for a ceasefire. there are protestors lining the streets. white house trying to make clear that they have been pushing for more to be done, pushing for the humanitarian pauses. the question is how much longer it will take to try to get some steps put in place to try to prevent these civilian casualties from piling up even more. >> the pressure is growing. arlette saenz, thank you very much. to talk more about this is retired major general mick ryan from the australian army and author of "war transformed." general, thank you so much for your time this morning. we'll get to those warnings from these u.s. diplomats in a bit. but i do want to begin with gaza's largest hospital which is reportedly surrounding by the idf. we're hearing from staff there that they are basically trapped inside, tanks are outside, it has come under reported bombard himself, hamas has embed itself under the hospital. do you expect the civilians will be allowed to evacuate before the ground troops actually move in and how will combatants be separated from the noncombatants? >> well, good morning. israelis have advanced on the hospital from the north and south. it will be very difficult to evacuate those who are remaining. many of the patients couldn't be moved. so as much as the israelis want to capture the hospital, they will probably catch it with a lot of doctors and patients there and they will be responsible for their safety and well-being. >> logistically when they are on the ground, how do they go about doing that? >> well, they are going to have to bring in additional support to look after them. if they can't evacuate them out of danger, they will have to protect them and look after them. you have to protect the civilians under your car. and so even if there is a hamas command and control center underneath. >> so you expect the idf will go out of its way to separate the combatants from the noncombatants and get the civilians evacuated? >> if they can. they will certainly try. but they also want to capture what they believe is the command and control center under the hospital that will be a significant decapitation exercise. >> i want to play sound for you from the secretary of state antony blinken who spoke on friday in new delhi. he was on a tour through the mideast and asia. this is the first time we've heard the direct condemnation of the civilian deaths in gaza. listen. >> far too many palestinians have been killed. far too many have suffered these past weeks. and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them. >> what is your take on what really is a notable shift in messaging from the white house? do you believe that it is aimed at placating the growing anger that we're seeing here at home and abroad or is it more for israel and increasing pressure to, i guess, change its military strategy? >> i think it is a bit of both. the united states has forces deployed through the middle east who have come under attack on dozens of occasions. it wants to mitigate against those kind of attacks. u.s. reputation in the middle east is suffering because of this. but i think to the administration, it wants the israeli military to solveften i approach to civilians. in the laws of war, you are supposed to be proceed portion n proportionate and discriminate. and there is aimperative. finally i think the administration is looking beyond military phase and that it will be hard to establishing enduring peace in gaza with so many civilians being killed. >> and as the civilian deaths continue to increase, i think last count was over 11,000 from the hamas controlled health ministry, i do want to ask you about the cables, stark warnings issued by u.s. diplomats, basically underscoring that there is a lot of anger over america's support for israel. do you think that the u.s. -- or how do you think the u.s. is taking this into account for its next steps? >> well, it is certainly part of the consideration. but the u.s. also supports israel. and it also supports the normalization of israel's relationships with a range of countries in the middle east who might have put those things on pause publicly, but in the background they will still be keen to normalize their relationships with israel at some point in time. so the cable are important, but just one of many things that the administration will be considering. >> major general, appreciate your time. still ahead, we'll tell you about the campaign fundraising investigation that prompted the fbi to seize electronic devices belonging to new york mayor eric adams. plus federal officials are investigating suspicious envelopes continuing powdery substances sent to election officials. more on that coming up. cnn learned federal agents seized electronic devices belonging to mayor adams. fbi agents approached the mayor in public monday evening, this is a few days after federal agents raideded homes of his chief fundraiser. >> this is part of an investigation into allegations of illegal donations from the turkish government during his 2021 campaign. gloria pazmino has the details. >> reporter: it is certainly a significant escalation of the investigation into whether the mayor's 2021 campaign conspired with foreign nationals to help funnel donations coffers. foreign nationals are not allowed to make political contributions here in the united states. and last week we learned that the mayor's chief fundraiser was raided by the fbi. now, she has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but now almost a week later we have learned that fbi agents approached mayor eric adams on a new york city street and presented him with a warrant to seize his electronic devices. the mayor was delivering a speech at a public engagement on monday evening and after he left that engagement, sources close to the mayor tell me that the fbi agents approached him in public, they asked his nypd detail to step aside and then they got into the mayor's city issued vehicle and presented him with this warrant. the mayor then turned over his devices, two cellphones and an ipad. and then he went home later that evening and collected more electronic devices including two old phones and turned them over to the federal authorities. now, we should make it clear that the mayor has also not been accused of any wrongdoing. and here is what he had to say in a statement, he said as a former member of law enforcement, i expect all members of my staff to follow the law and fully cooperate with any sort of investigation. and i will continue to do exactly that. i have nothing to hide. following the raid of the mayor's top fundraiser last week, the campaign conducted a review of records to determine if there had been any sort of wrongdoing. they apparently came up with some information showing that there was wrongdoing by one person, that is according to my sources close to the mayor. what is less clear is whether or not that wrongdoing amounts to criminal activity. that will be determined by the investigation. but this is certainly getting closer and closer to mayor eric adams. >> gloria, thanks so much. cnn reached out to the fbi, it declined to comment on this. now let's bring in political commentator errol lewis. you are the right person to talk about this because you cover new york politics very closely. >> oh, no. >> all right. well, maybe we'll get him back and we can talk about this case. >> he looked colorful today. >> he was ready. all right. this morning election officials nationwide are on high alert following the discovery of suspicious letters sent to multiple election offices. the fbi has launched an investigation into these letters as they are concerned some may have been contaminated with the lethal substance known as fentanyl. the states targeted include california, nevada, washington, texas and georgia. and nick valencia has the story. >> reporter: this is terrifying. investigators are treating all of these letters as if they are connected. more than a dozen were sent to multiple states and all sent around the same time. investigators will use that fact to figure out exactly who was behind it. in the meantime, the department of justice is investigating as well as the u.s. postal service. and one of the elections offices that was targeted ed was right e in fulton county, it is one of the sooilt sooilts w s the sooiltites where the former president was indicted and the target of far right conspiracy theorists. the secretary of state raffensperger otook to the podim to call it domestic terrorism. >> this is domestic terrorism and it needs to be condemned by anyone who holds elected office and anyone who wants to anywhere in america. >> there are some crazy people out there who will go to any extreme to disrupt, interrupt fair open transparent elections in our country. it is my personal belief that this is just probably a forerunner to what we can be prepared for in 2024. >> reporter: the suspicious letters were spent amid the backdrop of a lot of harassment and tensions for election officials across the country. here in fulton county, the commissioner said it is his personal opinion that it could be a forerunner for what we should all be prepared for in 2. we can only hope he's wrong. >> you're right. still ahead, hollywood actors union says its voters will start votes next week on the tentative agreement. you want to be able to provide your child with the tools or resources they need. with reliable internet at home, through the internet essentials program, the world opened up. fellas, fellas. that's how my son was able to find the hidden genius project. we wanted to give y'all the necessary skills to compete with the future. kevin's now part of this next generation of young people who feel they can thrive. ♪ ♪ let's talk about what we're learning from the sources that the fbi seized cellphones of mayor adams as part of the federal investigation into campaign fund raising. we now have errol lewis. i think we figured out the technical element. good to see you. so let's start here with the investigation is into in large part potential illegal campaign funding and fundraising between the turkish government and other turkish sources. what interests do we know would the turkish government have in the election of new york city's mayor? >> well, good morning, victor. the connections are not entirely clear, but what we do know is that there is a turkish construction company that does a lot of business with the government. and it is executives from that company who were also looking for contracts with new york city which has a huge $100 million budget each year. they were looking for contracts and they were apparently they were maybe trying to curry favor. that is the theory that is out there. but a lot of this is just speculation. there is no accusation or wrongdoing sfrank lyfrankly cha against anyone at this point, but we know there are questions about it and the warrant that some of the reporters have seen strongly suggests that this is what they are looking for, that construction company might want a piece of a $107 billion annual city budget. and that alone is reason enough to try to curry favor with different officials including of course the mayor. >> the mayor's statement was pretty boilerplate, but in the past he has been kind of kurt or terse with reporters. what has been his response to this beyond the statement that gloria brought us a moment ago? >> well, what was wkind of odd,a whole session wednesday was supposed to be specifically dedicated to this and other topics. and so at least half a dozen questions were asked and of course of about 45 minutes of a press availability, and one of those questions to the mayor at the time was are you concerned about your phones being wiretapped by the fbi. and that would have been a perfect opportunity to bring up some of these things. but city hall was silent on that. the mayor said nothing about it. his counsel who was there, one of his lawyers, said don't draw any inferences and don't jump the gun. and then 72 hours later, all of this finally came out. so he was in front of the press corps knowing full well his phones and other devices had been seized, that things jumped up a step. the mayor has hired a pretty high powered law firm to represent his interests. things are moving pretty quickly. but what we've heard mostly from is it i hall, hey, there is nothing to see here. >> let's talk about congress. we are now less than a week away from a potential shutdown again because of lack of funding. speaker johnson has had the gavel for a couple of weeks now. what is on the line for him? and i wonder if he has enough good will to get to if necessary another continuing resolution, another 15, 30 days if democrats are willing in the senate to try to work out a day. >> well, look, he is in the same position as his predecessor and that is not a good thing. there is a lot of chaos going on frankly. they went home for the weekend without any kind of a decision on this. we've got members of the republican conference who are still kind of sniping, putting in all kinds of nonbudget related items to try to score political points. there is no consensus on whether or not there should just be a clean continuing resolution just to keep the government open. you know, he's pretty much in the same position as his predecessor and he does not have the option of trying to work with the democrats on this because that is what sank speaker mccarthy. so he has an unruly republican caucus, they don't have any consensus on this and it is not clear whether or not they can avoid this. thing to keep in mind, there are members of the republican conference who don't mind if the government shuts down, who almost want to happen. and in that kind of a case when you've only got five votes to spare, very hard to get all the way through it. >> and with what we do know, there is a call later this morning where the speaker will -- a meeting, rather, i expect it will be on zoom, where he will unveil what is in his plan. so that will be the first time today we'll see what the plan is from the speaker. and again, about six days or so until the government runs out of money. errol lewis, thanks for being with us. >> thank you. it came down to the wire, but sag-aftra officially accepted a deal from major hollywood studios. the actors strike is over tentatively after nearly four months, but everything is not set in stone just yet. voting to ratify the agreement starts tuesday. camila bernal explains what we know so far about the deal. >> reporter: the sag-aftra national board approved this tentative deal with an 86% vote. and the leadership here saying that they were not able to get everything they wanted, but they do say that they made significant gains when it comes to this contract. they also say there were two things that they negotiated up until the very last moment. one being artificial intelligence protections, and they say that what they were able to accomplish here was consent so that performers can make an informed decision when it comes to their use in artificial intelligence. they also say that they were able to get compensation for the use of artificial intelligence. and so these two things were extremely important not just for the leadership, but also for board members. now, the other issue that they say they negotiated up until the very end is revenue from streaming. what they are calling a fund concept. this is revenue and success-based bonuses on streaming. and so what happens here, the bonuses will go to the june and be divided between the performers on these very successful shows. and then a percentage of that money will be divided among other members of the union. but the president of the union, fran drescher, describing it as a new pocket of money. and that is why they say they are excited about what they were able to accomplish, a new form of revenue when it comes to streaming. there were many other provisions that they say were successful and that they were able to include in this contract, including things like sexual harassment and ear other thingst they are passionate about like hair and makeup. >> every single actor of color you could talk to i'm sure at this moment will tell you that there has not been one time that they have not brought their own base, done their hair. so this is empowering the artists and also the hair and makeup trailer because it gives them more skills. >> reporter: and so now members will get to see some of the detail, they will begin to ask questions over the coming weeks. the voting begins tuesday to ratify this contract and it will go until the first week of december. but in the meantime, performers and members of the union can now go back to work after very difficult moonths. so many people ready to go back to doing what they love. still ahead, as calls grow louder for a ceasefire in israel, we look closer at the humanitarian toll this war is taking on civilians. aid groups around the world are continuing to call for an immediate ceasefire in gaza, calling for an end of what they describe is a hemorrhage of human lives. >> doctors without borders says they are unable to contact their staff inside the al-shifa hospital. doctors say it is surrounded from all four directions by israel defense forces. the hospital's generator was also hit in one attack leaving the facility without power. joining us now is the executive director of doctors without borders canada. joseph, appreciate your time. you can can you tell us the last that you heard from your staff? >> we have been able to be in patchy contact with them throughout the night and yesterday. hospitals in northern gaza are indeed under constant bombardment over the last 24 hours. al-shifa hospital in particular. this is the main emergency hospital, the main surgical facility in northern gaza. it has been relentlessly hit overnight. the maternity world has been damaged. outpatient ward is damaged. they can confirm that many people have been killed. i actually received a couple messages i'd like to briefly read, one last night from a medic colleague, we might not survive until morning. we don't want to be killed here just only because we remain committed to our patients and our medical profession. and this morning, another one from a nurse who is in the basement in al-shifa hospital, we are being killed here. please do something. my kids are screaming in fear. so this -- i cannot confirm how many patients have been killed, i can't confirm how many medical care workers have been killed or even confirm whether my colleagues have made it through the night. but i can certainly say these attacks on hospital facilities are attacks on humanity. >> thank you for sharing those messages. and we hear about the attacks, we hear about the danger. as there is this lack of resources, the reserves are spent, we reported earlier that there are? medical groups that say that if they don't get fuel and resources, they may just have to stop working. what can you tell us about the resources to care for those injured at al-shifa? >> i've been stretched completely. i can confirm as well that throughout the night the electricity went off in al-shifa hospital. doctors without borders are supporting other hospital facilities in northern gaza, some of which have had to close due to the combination of the bombing and the lack of fuel. if you don't have electricity, you can't electrify incubators for new more than babies, ventilators, dialysis machines, treatments for cancer. patients die without electricity. and on top of that, severe shortages of the most basic supplies, medical supplies necessary to treat wounds. i'm talking about gauze, painkillers, an necessary at the time ticks. an necessary tnecessary and the interventions without painkillers for post operative care, without anesthetics, without the proper instruments. in many cases they are doing these surgeries just in the hallways because the hospitals are so inundated with injured people. there are still hundreds of injured people coming into these facilities every day. some of the rooms are collapsing, being hit by the bombs. and there are still thousands of people in these facilities. >> i'm sure that you and your staff at doctors without borders are scrambling to get help obviously, seems like a very difficult if not impossible task. what are you and your staff doing in terms of trying to, i don't know, save your staff members. are you in touch with the idf, have you reached out to them? >> we are certainly as much as we can be in touch with all of the parties to the kconflict an constantly requesting for respect for medical facilities, respect for the basic principles of international humanitarian law which call for distention between combatants and noncombatants and measures to protect noncombatants. the pattern that we've seen so consistently since october 7 is a complete disregard for those basic fundamental rules. so many civilians have been killed and injured. we lost a colleague on monday, this past monday, he was in his home with his family. a bomb hit his home and he was killed with his family. so we've seen egregiously the violations of international humanitarian law including the direct bombardment of medical facilities which is explicitly prohibited. we're as doctors without borders are taking a very unusual step for us to call for a total ceasefire. we'd normally say please respect medical space and humanity within the context of war. and in this case that has been completely obliterated. and doctors cannot stop bombs. so we're stepping out now and calling on the authorities and anybody with influence to have a total ceasefire. >> and of course regarding al-shifa israel saying that it was a misfired rocket by hamas and the terrorist organization. hamas pointing the finger at the idf. we'll have to leave it there. we're very sorry for your losses. joseph, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. so as we honor our veteran this is weekend, we want to spotlight stacy bucknor who is serving those in need while facing her own challenges. with over 30,000 veterans experiencing homelessness in the united states, streeit is her mn to give back a to those. >> it takes boots on the ground to get back there, find them and meet their needs. we provide clothing, food, there is a full kitchen in the back. we also do laundry. your pants are almost done spinning, baby. just filling a basic human need. >> i like this establishment, this setup you got. >> this is my brick and mortar. even though i'm not a veteran, i do have mental health issues that come with having a traumatic brain injury so i can relate. sometimes i really do surprise people with who i am. i mean, look at me, i look really rough around the edges, right? what's up, brother? what else you need? i'm all tatted up and i may throw out a cuss word every now and then, but i'm just stacy. it is important to show veterans that there are organizations out there that want to really provide support to you. >> go to cnnheroes.com to vote for her for hero of the year other any of your favorite top ten heros. we'll be right back. here is something that you can thank inflation for. the irs just announced new income tax brackets for 2024 and a higher standard deduction. >> this means that your income could be taxed at a lower rate next year. at least some of it. here is matt egan. >> reporter: this is a bit of good news from an unlikely place. the irs. thesed adjustments are somethin the isaiah does every year and like most, they all look pretty boring. adjustments are typically tiny. but because inflation has been so high, adjustment thes are more significant now. the irs is bumping up the income thresholds for tax rates for 2024. the rates themselves, they are staying the same. what is changing is the income level before you hit that next tax bracket. let me give you an example. 2023 for single filers, income above $95,000 is being taxed at 24%. but in 2024, you won't hit that 24% tax rate until you are above $100,500. that is a significant difference. the changes are not designed to ease anyone's tax burden per se. the goal is to prevent bracket creep where taxpayers get pushed in to higher and hirhigher brac. and they are also bump going the standard deduction. it is going up by 5%. single filers can claim $13,850 on their 2023 taxes. but for 2024, that is going up to $14,600. that is an extra 750 bucks. for married couples filing jointly, standard deduction is also going higher, it is going up by $1500. also good news for parents trying to raise kids in this high inflation environment, the earned income tax credit, which is for low and moderate income families, that is going higher too. that writeoff in 2024, maxing out at $7830. that is up by $400 from 2023. put all this together, these changes, they can be significant for families. but let's hope that this time next year the irs can go back to making small boring changes because hopefully by that point inflation will be back to normal. victor and amara. >> thank you, matt. can anti-semitism be stopped? dana bash investigates why the jewish community faces some of the highest threats in america. >> since the attack on israel october 7, how has your role become more vital? >> in the wake of the attack, we began to see first a surge and then a spike, and then explosion and now tsunami of anti-semitism worldwide. in paris, in london, in germany. in australia, it was gas. get rid of the jews. let have a jew-free zone. it is not about being pre-hamas or anti-israel. it is about anti-semitism. >> reporter: she was is one of the world's foremost academic experts on anti-semitism. >> do you know how when the yellow light is flashing, anti-semitism is like that amber light. and what it is signaling is that anti-semitism is coming and it is a threat to democracy. >> the whole story with anderson cooper airs tomorrow night at 9:00. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network.