that's now my life. >> wolf blitzer, cnn, tel aviv, israel. >> and "erin burnett outfront" >> and "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "outfront" next, breaking news. new explosions in gaza as israeli troops surround hospitals that are already on the brink of collapse. why the u.s. is sounding its loudest alarm yet tonight. plus, more breaking news. the fbi seized new york mayor eric adams' phones. agents approaching the mayor on the street to get the devices. the mayor of the country's largest city responding tonight. plus, the rock for president? dwayne johnson says both parties want him to run for president. and tonight "outfront" is learning he wasn't kidding. let's go "outfront." good evening, i'm brianna keilar in for erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, we have breaking news. new explosions over gaza, and this video of an intense fire fight, flares lighting up the sky, our nic robertson on the border with gaza telling us this usually means ground troops are on the move. this assault comes as northern gaza's overcrowded hospitals are now bearing the brunt of israel's intense strikes. the head of a pediatric hospital telling cnn they're completely surrounded. he says there are tanks outside the hospital, and they inside cannot leave. that is raising new fears that the lives of vulnerable patients are at risk. according to the palestinian ministry of health, which relies on numbers from the hamas-controlled ministry of health in gaza, more than 11,000 people have been killed from strikes like this one at a school. now, cnn cannot independently verify those numbers. today, america's top diplomat, secretary of state tony blinken warned that far too many palestinians are being killed. >> much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that the humanitarians reach them. far too many have been killed and suffered these past weeks. >> we have been trying to get in touch with mahmoud shalabi, an aid worker from northern gaza whose story we have been following closely. but, unfortunately, our repeated messages are not even going through. we do, however have, an audio message that he sent to us the last time he had a phone connection. >> oren liebermann is "outfront" live in tel aviv. and, oren, what is happening on the ground tonight? >> reporter: you saw those pictures provided to us by my colleague nic robertson. his team and his cameras are there that have seen a heavy israeli bombardment in northern gaza. the idf says it's deepening its operation on the ground there, trying to go after the tunnels which is a difficult and complex operation. now, weeks into the israeli ground incursion, the number of civilians killed in gaza is mounting as we hear perhaps the most vocal criticism yet from the u.s. administration of what's happening. in waves of humanity, palestinians fled. tens of thousands made their way along salah hadin street in gaza. there was a brief window to escape as the israeli military urges the palestinians to move south. more than 11,000 palestinians have been killed in gaza since october 7th. on wednesday, the u.s. assistant secretary of state for near-eastern affairs told the house committee, the overall casualties may be higher. >> and it could be that they're even higher than are being cited. we will know only after the guns fall silent. >> reporter: antony blinken voiced some of the harshest criticism yet of israel's campaign in gaza. >> much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that the humanitarians reach them. far too many palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered these past weeks. >> reporter: on friday, the israel defense forces moved deeper into gaza city, targeting hamas leadership and their center of power. the idf says it has struck more than 15,000 terror targets in gaza and seized about 6,000 weapons. >> near the heart of gaza city our troops are deployed and are preparing to launch additional attacks against hamas infrastructure. again, not against the civilian population. they aren't the enemy, but hamas is. >> reporter: gaza's medical system edging toward collapse faced another danger as israel carried out strikes in the hospitals in the northern part of the strip. the israeli military has now surrounded the al nassar hospital according to the hospital director with tanks visible on the streets outside. the staunch u.s. support for israel has come with a cost. a state department cable warns that u.s. support for israel is being seen in arab countries as material and moralical pablt in what they consider to be possible war crimes. despite growing international calls for a ceasefire, prime minister benjamin netanyahu said israel will continue until hamas is defeated and cannot return. >> reporter: the fight not only on one front. in tel aviv, a barrage of rocket fire triggered red alerts and interceptions. on israel's northern border, the idf says it struck hezbollah targets after an antitank missile injured three israeli soldiers at a military post. and for the first time, israel used its most advanced long-range air defense system, the arrow 3 to intercept an incoming attack over the red sea. at this point the idf says it has encircled gaza city and is making its way toward the center of gaza city as they prepare for what they are saying will be the next phase. perhaps going after in a bigger and more concerted way, hamas' underground infrastructure. and that will come with both challenges and consequences. >> yeah, they certainly will. oren liebermann in tel aviv, thank you for that report. and "outfront" now, retired army major general james spider marks and seth jones whose analysis of this conflict is being extensively utilized by the u.s. government. he is the senior vice president at the center for strategic and international studies. general, you just heard the idf saying it is now near the heart of gaza city. what does that fight look like tonight? >> well, what it really looks like is an extremely difficult fight. w let me show you how this will unfold. now when we go back to when the idf entered into gaza, they essentially came along three axes. and by doing that you've isolated where the primary fight is taking place right now. going to the next map, what you really see with gaza city is if you could fly a drone over gaza city right now, what you would see is the idf has created an outer ring essentially with strong points in different locations that are interconnected visually through communications, through supporting fire, and the intent of that is to keep hamas fighters or reinforcing kinds of capabilities out. what you would also see, then, is kind of an inner ring where most of the fighting is going to take place and most of the clearance of those tunnels in those individual locations where inventory of weapons systems, where the latest locations of where the hamas leadership might be located, and what that is intended to do is to keep hamas inside so the israelis can do some very precise and some very hard fighting. but this is described as a three-block war. on one block you're doing some very high intensity fighting. on the second block you may be doing some very precise targeting going after individuals, you may be trying to separate combatants. and on the third block, which is important to understand. on the third block you're probably conducting humanitarian efforts. so the issue all along is can you conduct operations and conduct humanitarian operations? yes. there is doctrine that supports that. so the international claim that you need to take a tactical pause, which is not a military term. there is no term for pause. you're either attacking or you're defending. you can simultaneously conduct humanitarian efforts, which should take place, which could take place here along the sea, you can bring in some mercy ships to handle a lot of the medical requirements as well as humanitarian -- you could create humanitarian corridors and you can bring in resupplies. >> and, seth, to that point, this kind of fighting, consequences, as oren was talking about, what kind of casualties could the idf -- when it begins conducting these kinds of operations in the heart of the city there? >> well, we're already seeing the idf incur some casualties already. they're facing a range of improvised explosive devices in and around those areas of gaza city. they've got rocket propelled grenades that hamas has shot, and other groups, frankly, in the area. they've got other types of snipers that have shot at idf forces. and then we certainly see a range of hamas operatives coming into and out of the tunnels with additional weapons. so, this is a very difficult environment for the idf. they know it well. and this is really where intelligence is so important to identify where those hamas islamic jihad and other fighters are, what they have and where they're going. >> and spider israel intercepting a missile that was fired at the southern israeli city of elot on the red sea. this was targeted in a drone attack. israel says it was launched from syria. but yemen's houthi rebels have also claimed that attack. and the idf and hezbollah trading fire after more attacks were launched on northern israel from lebanon. at what point is this not just a missile fired here or there, but instead it's israel getting drawn into a multifront war? >> you need to look at what tehran is directing. let's be frank with each other, and we have discussed this many times. hamas conducted an air attack on the 7th of october on the direction of iran. and what hezbollah does is at the direction of iran as well. and, so, clearly the intent -- i must say the strategic objective of the attack on the 7th was hopefully to draw the rest of the arab world into this so that israel would collapse. that's their charter. that's why hamas and hezbollah exist. and that's what iran is trying to achieve. so, what's happening is, clearly, is you think that tehran hopes that the israelis are focused, laser focused in on gaza and might not be completely engaged as they should be along the northern border up here. clearly what the israelis have been through before is that type of requirement to fight a multifront war. what may happen if hezbollah begins to create a number of missiles that would overwhelm the iron dome system that israel has and if they were to use the tunnel system, which exists, in northern israel and southern lebanon as well so that there could be hezbollah fighters infiltrating in, we now look at the possibility, not the probability, and this belongs to our defense department and state department to engage in. so we've got the eisenhower carrier strike group, do they then go after targets in southern lebanon that are conducting these missile strikes into israel? that is the key question. that broadens the fight into another country. >> and i do want to mention that we are seeing some new flares up in the region there in gaza where this fighting is going on. you know, seth, look, this is difficult territory. and if there's anyone who knows it, it's america post-9/11. so where is the line here for israel between responding to valid anger over a horrific attack on civilians and that same response creating more terrorists than you are defeating? >> well, it's a very difficult objective that the israelis have set out to eliminate hamas. i actually don't think it's entirely possible. part, because hamas is an ideology more than just a group. but i would point out that this type of urban combat is extremely violent. it does impact civilians. that state department cable is certainly true that u.s. diplomats have been under pressure. but i would just remind everyone that as we look across the middle east over the last several years, the saudis pounded targets in yemen, over 15,000 civilians were killed. the syrians killed well over 200,000 with the russians targeting hospitals and humanitarian aid convoys. 10,000 in mosul itself that were killed by iraqi and other forces as the iraqis and the u.s. moved into mosul. so, i would just remind everyone, too, that this type of warfare is violent, including for other arab regimes that have been involved in it. so, again, this is not just an israeli or even a u.s. situation. >> general marks, seth jones, thank you so much to both of you. we do appreciate it. and "outfront" next, we having breaking news. the fbi seizing the phones of new york city mayor eric adams. agents walked right up to him on the street, and once a rising star in his party responds. plus, cnn learning democrats did in fact reach out to the rock about running for president. would he have a shot at winning? and ukraine sinking two russian ships today, using sea drones as russia turns back to wagner fighters for help. breaking news. the fbi seizes new york city mayor adams' phones and ipad. it's a dramatic escalation in the federal investigation into the adams' campaign. and it comes just days after fbi agents raided the home of the mayor's top campaign fundraiser. polo sandoval is "outfront" at gracie mansion, which is the official residence of the mayor. polo, this is the mayor of the country's biggest city, a rising star in the democratic party. what more can you tell us about what's really a stunning fbi seizure here? >> reporter: it's stunning and quite significant here, brianna. at the mansion itself, no obvious signs of any federal investigation. though, as you point out, this seizure of the mayor's electronic device has actually happened earlier this week, though it's just coming tonight. and some pretty remarkable color coming from our colleague's reporting now paints a clear picture of what went down on monday night as the mayor, according to city sources-just wrapped up his speaking engagement here in manhattan, specifically at nyu, when he was approached by fbi agents, the mayor's security detail asked to step aside. it's at that point according to sources that fbi agents then boarded the mayor's suv and then served him with that search warrant, that court-authorized search warrant that required the mayor then to hand over his cell phones and also that ipad that he often uses to carry out his mayoral duties. now, the fbi not commenting tonight. though it's important to point out, as you just mentioned, that this happened just days after the chief, really, the chief fundraiser for the mayor's campaign, her home raided by federal agents last week. again, just to remind viewers, the focus of that investigation by federal authorities seeking to confirm or at least look into the possibility that the mayor's campaign received foreign funds, which would be illegal. sources close to adams saying immediately after that seizure happened on monday, he returned home and actually ordered a review. and according to city hall and also some other members of the adams' administration that they were able to identify at least one person within that campaign that, according to officials, acted improperly. however, they declined to say exactly who that person is, and that they intended to hand over even more electronic devices to federal authorities as they intend to fully cooperate with this investigation. i want you to read a little bit of the statement that was released by eric adams himself through his campaign attorney tonight as the mayor wrote, 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. though, it's important to mention here that this development says a lot about what federal agents may potentially find on the electronic device of the mayor of america's largest city, a mayor who insists, brianna, that he has nothing to hide. >> certainly, polo sandoval live for us outside of the mayor's official residence tonight. and "outfront" now, former fbi agent and a new york city-based democratic strategist. rob, starting with you here. we just heard this. the fbi approaching the mayor on the street serving him a warrant right there in his car to seize his phones and his ipad. how extraordinary is this? >> it is a big step. and the fbi doesn't take it lightly that they're doing this to the mayor or the city and the country. and i guarantee headquarters was very involved in it. and the courts itself look at the seizure of phones to be probably the next closest protected one except for, like, listening in on phone calls. so, it wasn't light from the courts and it wasn't light for the fbi to do this. >> he is repeatedly denying wrongdoing but this isn't the first time he's been linked to troubling allegations. his former building commissioner indicted on 16 felonies for trading favors for bribes. a former deputy mayor named an unindicted co-conspirator in a corruption scheme. a retired police inspector adams worked. and former pastor was charged with fraud and extortion. do you find his denials credible? >> well, i think everybody is just doing a wait and see right now. but with all of these denials, one wonders what is the end of all of this. so -- that's i think what we're all trying to figure out here. just consider the fact that the entire political establishment of new york city right now, actually new york state, is in puerto rico for their post-election conference and that they all probably got this news at the same time. and, so, as we've looked at what's happened really since the summer, these individuals being arrested because of concerns or allegations around straw donors in his campaign. the former commissioner being arrested on bribery charges. the fundraisers home being raided just a few days ago and now this. there is this escalation which is the word that has been used. and it is problematic for the mayor. there is a wait and see. but i think so many in the political world here in new york are saying this is just too much, and are waiting for him to have a more definitive response to what's happened here and be able to talk more about his involvement or a lack thereof so that the city can move forward. >> rob, let's talk about the range of outcomes here from, you know, nothing to maybe a possibility of evidence tieing him directly to illegal donations from a foreign government. what would that mean for him? could that possibly be jail time? >> it depends. if it's just getting money from a foreign government and it's a violation of the campaign laws, i don't think jail time is likely. but if you look at it as a quid pro quo, was there something in it that the mayor did for those donations or implied at that point or even something else even more serious, was he acting as an agent of the turkish government, which then gets into very severe fines or very severe jail time of almost up to ten years? so, it depends what comes from this. i think this is just the beginning of the thread being pulled. once you get someone's phone, with apps today that people have that they think are secure, i think that's probably one reason they took it very quickly. because if word got out, some of these apps, if you delete those messages, they're unretrievable without having that device. so i think that's why you saw the act right there on the street getting him into the vehicle and taking his phones and his ipad. >> giving him no notice, obviously. he was once considered a rising star in the democratic party. you can see him in a lot of photos. he's here with former house speaker nancy pelosi. he's with president biden. he once called himself the biden of brooklyn, the "new york times" ran this headline why top democrats are listening to eric adams right now. i mean, are those days now behind him? >> well, he's definitely had some tough days. he's gone after president biden and the governor of the state of new york kathy hochul, a member of the same party, because of his