>> i have no hope this conflict will be resolved in the next century. i think it will be an immutable fact of the middle east. israeli/palestinian conflict. >> this is where i turn to religion and prayer, god, you know, really the core. that's helping me get through this. >> reporter: francis geller was planning to spend a year in israel before going to college. that plan is now uncertain. >> i truly believe that perseverance is in our dna. we have been around for all this time. they try to get rid of us. they won't. and how can you not believe that's who we are, hopefulness and fighting? >> reporter: another thing that struck me about our conversation was overwhelming desire on the part of those teens to help. to be able to do something. this sense of guilt that they can't do anything to resolve this conflict from here. a young man said he and his best friend were on the same path for

years and then the best friend's family moved to israel and now that best friend is preparing to zbloin u join the israeli military. so it really, really hits home to the students. >> important piece. thank you. and "cnn this morning" continues right now. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> it is the top of the hour. we are following breaking news this morning. injured palestinians are now, as we speak, arriving in egypt one by one after a deal was reached to allow hundreds of foreign nationals and critically injured civilians to leave gaza after being trapped for weeks in the middle of the war zone according to the egyptian ministry of health. the u.s. government says americans are not expected to be in this first batch of people being allowed to cross into egypt today, but americans will be allowed to exit as early as tomorrow. >> sources tell cnn qatar brokered a deal with hamas, israel and egypt to allow up to 500 foreign nationals to cross into egypt with the palestinians

patients. we are told hostages held by hamas are not a part of the deal. this morning we have been seeing ambulances rushing through the crossing and we are being told officials from several foreign consulates are standing by on the egyptian side. becky anderson in doha with how this deal game together. melissa, you were at the rar a bo rafah border crossing yesterday. what's the latest? >> what was remarkable yesterday was how little was happening at the rafah crossing, phil. all of a sudden very quickly these two breakthroughs. first of all, the news that the most severely wounded palestinians were coming out. we got that yesterday. we have been hearing that the first ones are making their way through the rafah crossing. to be clear, these are the first palestinians leaving gaza since the conflict began. these are people who need immediate surgical intervention. they are going to be taken by ambulance straight from the rafah crossing to a field

hospital that egyptian authorities set up about nine miles away. and in a separate series of people who are expected to make their way through the rafah crossing later today, these are the foreign nationals. there are many hundreds of them believed to be inside gaza. some 400 americans for a start. as poppy said, they are not expected to be amongst that first group of foreign nationals that will, we understand, be allowed to leave the gaza strip today. that first group will include between 450 and 500 people. what we are hearing from the rafah crossing right now is that services from countries as diverse as austria, indonesia, japan, are now present the crossing, a large number of egyptian military and officials as well to receive these foreign nationals that we expect to make their way through the crossing at some point today. they will then receive these consular services. they will be allowed to come on

to cairo and back home. this is a huge development. again, all day yesterday we stood at the rafah crossing in front of lodge ng lines of aid g if painfully slowly for three weeks, 217 trucks of aid made it in. no palestinians have made it out. there have been a handful of hostages and today we expect to see many people make it through the crossing and that is a huge development. >> and can you speak to what happens when they are finally able to get through both checkpoints and cross? then what? >> reporter: well, its, as you say, mentioned a moment ago, a complex procedure goat them out. they have to get through with the agreement of israel, hamas, egypt, and through the mediation of qatar. that first gate on the gaza side. then they get through the crossing. then they get to the egyptian side where they will be received by the consular officials of

their respective countries. they will do things like help them with their documents, their insurance, all the paperwork that needs to be done. bear in mind, many of these people will be civilians who have been trapped at the rafah crossing now for many days, since you will remember that the order was given early on by israel for anyone north in the gaza strip to head south. many people only understanding that if they had foreign nationality they could get through. many have been waiting for weeks now. this under the continued bombing of the idf. so these are some fairly desperate people who will be making their way out. some won't have documentation at all. that could be quite a lengthy procedure to receive them at the rafah crossing before they are able to make their way back to cairo and hem. for the family of the foreign nationals, and many hundred inside the gaza strip, great news and the beginning we expect of many more hundreds of people who will be allowed out. >> melissa bell, thank you for that reporting.

>> cnn's becky anderson joins us from doha, qatar, now. i thought that was fascinating. melissa was at the rafah crossing yesterday. no activity. today it's a huge rush of activity. things happening, real break through. qatar was central to this, kind of ran quarterback here. how did it happen? >> reporter: difficult to say. i can say i have been in touch with my sources now for days and these talks about getting the foreign nationals and dual citizens out of gaza through that crossing and those palestinians who are critically injured, those talks have been going on for some damaging hail days parallel with the talks about securing the release of hostages held by hamas. and those negotiations, as i understand it, continue. but those are separate from what we are seeing today.

look, these are hard-earned successes at this point. none of this is easy. we do know when we spoke to the advisor to the prime minister here over the weekend, and we were talking about the release of hostages at the time, he told me that all of of this has been made a lot more difficult because of the uptick in israeli activity and this was when we know that the israelis were on the ground in gaza. be that as it may, today i got news earlier on this morning that we do now have this success. we are talking of as many as 500 nationals and dual citizens as clarissa reported, upwards of, we believe, some 80 to 81 severely injured, critically injured palestinians who will be allowed through the gate, as elisa reported. that is one by one. so you are not going to see a

huge rush through that gate or those gates as well described by melissa. it's one by one. we know field hospitals are set up for the critically injured in egypt now. we have got images of those. of course, the ambulance is waiting to get them to those hospitals. as i say, hard-earned success in the first instance. the negotiations on the release of the hostages ongoing as far as i understand it. no breakthrough there to speak ever since the weekend. >> yeah, an important distinction there. becky anderson, great reporting. thank you. >> as some of those injured palestinians are making their way out of gaza through that rafah crossing, the. >> israel defense forces are defending their decision to strike gaza's largest refugee camp. it happened yesterday. those are images of it. witnesses say the strike killed a large number of palestinian civilians and caused massive

damage at tjabaliya refugee cam. they claim a commander was killed. hamas denies that leader was there at the willing camp. joining us the senior diplomat for the israeli consulate in new york. >> thank you. >> will israel providest evide evidence that that hamilton lead wears killed? >> takes time. we need to make sure that israel isable with the information it's giving out. we remember the story about the hospital, it took a few hours to make sure we have the right, credible information. also need to make sure that israel is not guilty until proven innocent. >> so you are saying they will? >> of course, that's the pros we do. when we have information, we share it. i suggest be cautious about the information from the ministry of health from gaza. at the end of the day it's a party of the conflict. one side of the conflict. >> there is an eyewitness account from a man on the ground in the refugee camp when the idf

struck yesterday. his name is mohammed. here is what he told cnn by phone as we look at images of that strike. the scene was horrific. children were carrying other children and running. bodies were hanging on the rubble. many unrecognized. some were pleading. others were burnt. i saw women screaming and confused. they didn't know whether to cry for losing children or run and look for them, especially since many children were playing in the neighborhood. israel has said this is self-defense. we are going after hamas. does israel consider airstrikes on refugee camps legitimate self-defense? >> start by saying this is heartbreaking. nobody wants to see innocent citizens hurt. certainly not the butchering and massacre on the israeli side. who bears this responsibilities here? a liberal democracy or terror organization that committed triple war crimes?

butchering innocent israeli citizens, kidnapping innocent children, 9-month-old, 2 years old, 6 years old, and last, but not least, hiding behind innocent palestinian children and creating that situation. i think they bear the responsibility -- >> there is no question they are keeping palestinians in danger and using them as human shields. another doctor without borders doctor who was there said young children arrived the hospital with deep wounds and severe burns. many screaming for their parents. the question i am trying to ask you and a lot of people are waking up with this question this morning, is there a red line? how many civilians are going to lose their life? does israel think it is legitimate to take those lives to kill hamas militants? what's the line? is there one? >> at the end of the day it's legitimate to defend yourself when you have atrocities coming towards you.

you are right. there has to be a seek lib rum. we go through calculations when we going through these terrorists hiding behind the innocent civilians, make sure that the fact that we are going after these terrorists saves innocent civilians and -- >> how do you make a calculation like that the a refugee camp? >> it's tough. the united states has had to go through these kinds of things. unfortunately, our enemies are not across the atlantic ocean. they are a mile and a half from us. >> you bring up the united states. as you know, president biden has given israel, bibi netanyahu, advice to look at the mistakes that the united states made post-9/11. listen to this from the president. >> justice must be done, but i caution this while you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it. after 9/11 we -- in the united states. while we saw justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.

>> is israel heeding that advice? >> 100%. i think we are in consultation with the united states, the moral clarify message from the united states of america, including the president, secretary of state blinken yesterday, israel has the duty to protect the citizens in a matter consistent with the humanitarian law. >> how are you sure this is at this stage consistent with that? you have accused hamas of war crimes. i don't think anyone would dispute that. many human rights organizations -- not just the u.n., right? the u.n., amnesty international, human rights watch, the siege of gaza at this point in this manner is consistent with showing evidence of war crimes. a recent report from amnesty international says, quote, there is damning evidence of war crimes and in their stated intent to use all means to destroy hamas, israeli forces have shown a shocking disregard for civilian life. what is your response? >> the best proof in the humanitarian conduct of israel's

war is through the way that hamas is actually handling their activities. they are hiding -- why are they hiding behind the hospitals? why are they hiding under mosques, at schools -- >> those are all legitimate questions. i am asking about israel's actions. >> i am talking about israel's actions. israel does not go after innocent citizens, mosque, schools. they target when we know there is a terrorist about to -- is a ticking bomb about to go off to israeli citizens -- >> even if they are surrounded with refugees? >> to a set equilibrium. if we know the terrorist going to be shooting at our innocent citizens, killing hundreds of israelis. that's the dilemma. >> a final question on some important cnn reporting. a document leaked from the israeli intelligence ministry proposing the relocation of millions of palestinians to the sinai peninsula in egypt.

the israeli government acknowledged the document by planned it. is that part of the plan? >> this is not the publish the of government of israel. we will go after hamas, eradicate their military capabilities, remove the threat -- >> what about after? what about the palestinians after? >> after? at this point we are conducting the warl. there is a lot of opportunities, international communities involved including the united states, french, british, the egyptians, qatar. we are nothing going to stay in gaza. we extracted ourselves to the last .18 years ago. there is no occupation in gaza. there was not when they came with atrocities against us. >> it is a crucial question what has to be addressed. >> 100%. >> thank you. we are continuing to follow breaking news. a deal was reached to release injured civilians from gaza. we are following that very closely.

also, new cnn poll shows strong numumbers for formerly known as twitter and concecerns for r president t biden in s so cacarolina nexext.

welcome back. you are looking at live pictures of gaza gaza where smoke continues to rise. we have seen hundreds of strikes day after day after day. they appear to be continuing now. at the same time, keeping an eye on the rafah crossing as well as injured and foreign nationals start to cross slowly. we will keep you updated there. also, a large number feared dead after israel defense forces attacked a refugee camp. ed idf said it killed one of

hamas' commanders responsible for the attack on israel. >> yes, ibrahim biari was killed and along with him are were dozens of other hamas combatants. they were running operations, military operations against our forces in a tunnel complex underneath the jabaliya area. i want to say we do not target the civilian population. we target hamas operatives and the fact that there may be civilians affected by the fighting is because hamas embeds itself under the civilian population and uses them as their human shields. >> meanwhile, hamas denies its leader was at the camp and accuses israel of trying to justify a, quote, heinous crime against civilians, children and women in the jabaliya camp. with us now journalist and former policy analyst rule a jab raul. i am not sure if you heard the interview we just had with the israeli official from the

consulate here in new york. we were discussing is there a red line, where is the red line to take out hamas terrorists who attacked and slaughtered more than 14 jews on october 7th, you know, to go after them, but also knowing that they are surrounded by civilians, the latest strike in a refugee camp. is there a line? >> it should be a line. according to international law, what israel did yesterday, did not meet the requirements of proportionality. you know, 2 million civilians. they didn't offer them a pathway, a way out. they told them to go to the south. the south was bombed. and again they didn't offer them a path to go even in the occupied territories where they have families. they could have hoped humanitarian corridor and took the civilians, children and women who are 50% of the population, and allowed them to go to the west bank where there is, you know, they would be

welcome. the million says they don't see a difference between militia an militants and starting line-up and this a huge problem because it's creating mass radicalization in the middle east and triggering actors like iran and others, militias who are now declaring war not only on israel, but also on the united states as we've seen yesterday from the, you know, the militias, the houthis in yemen. this is really a dangerous moment. a moment that can led america to become part of this war. >> you raise an interesting point. i think a very good point in the sense of american officials say israel has a right to defend itself. the president forceful in his support of actions post-october 7th. the warnings to take into account humanitarian issues, to be cautious and careful to not redo what the u.s. did in wake

of 9/11 is as much about the humanitarian causes as it is the point you are making. trying to keep regional actors from feeling like they have to get in, hezbollah to have to cross the border in a significant way, iran to have to come in. do you have any idea -- what's the red line there? what's the threshold where those entities feel like they have to get involved? >> look, when we look at the wider region, the region continues to convey in a clear way that international law for them, you know, it's considered optional somehow, especially with the united states, you know, look at what gaza -- what's happening to gaza to where the civilian population, the killing of thousands, thousands, thousands of children. israel dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on a refugee camp. let's think of that. so with that be acceptable eventually to be dropped on any american city after timothy mcveigh blew up a federal

building? and again they look at also what america did post-9/11, especially in iraq and look at the surge and they reference to the surge in iraq. it wasn't a military surge. it was a surge of ideas. and that meaning that they know that the americans and also their counterparts and their allies in the region, you cannot kill your way to defeating an idea. you have to address the underlying causes that feeds that idea. killing thousands and thousands of civilians strengthening that idea. empower it. and this what they point out to. you had a success and you had many defeats. today you have the taliban in afghanistan. you have iran controlling iraq. you have the houthis who are threatening the americans and they think this administration is underestimating the threat and the conflagration of the region that is happening in front of our eyes. and they wonder, do americans

want another war in the middle east? and i think the answer has to be answered in a formula not only for a military operation, but a political path to forging a way forward for palestinians as the head of the -- used to be head the fbi in israel, he said absent a political solution, an accident a palestinian state, sadly we will be in 100-year war. >> thank you very much. continuing to follow the breaking news. deal has been reached for the release of fluloreign nationals from gaza. politics in the u.s. a cnn poll shows south carolina is big on trump and may not be the stronghold it was for president biden in 2020. thatat's next.

you are looking at live features of the rafah border where we have learned over the course of the last several hours a deal to allow some injured civilians from gaza to receive medical support outside of gaza and egypt and also 400 to 500 foreign nationals will be able to start crossing. we are learning that the biden administration officials are tracking the agreement that has been reached to allow the foreign nationals to leave gaza through the rafah crossing. americans are not expected to depart until tomorrow but they are in part of this process. also, there are some serious warning signs from president biden getting closer to 2024. a new cnn poll, former president trump dominating again the republican field in the early primary state of south carolina.

former governor of the state, nikki haley, a distant second. the same poll finding president biden struggling with a key demographic group. 2020 lead was solidified. joining us, senior reporter, man, myth, legend himself, harry enten. >> you remember that black voters in the state of south carolina helped launch biden's 2020 bid. and take a look here. south carolina black voters with a positive view of joe biden, his rating come election time in 2020 among black voters in south carolina was 86%. look where his job approval rating is today among black voters in that state. it's just 63%. and over 20 points dropped. the question, we see this in south carolina, do we see it nationally? yes, we do. so, okay. national, black voters with a positive view of joe biden in october/november of 2020, 82%. look where the job approval rating is today. that same 63% we see in the

state of south carolina. >> yeah. views on the economy not helping biden for sure. what about a hypothetical biden/trump matchup? >> you know, it's one thing in a singular with just joe biden, right. but what happens when we match up biden versus trump? this is nationally. in the 2020 pre-election surveys, biden had a 75 point lead over donald trump. look where we are today. biden with a 54-point lead over donald trump. we have seen again a double-digit decline. now, what states are we looking at that may be most important for black voters? black voters were ten percent plus in these states. georgia 29%, north carolina 23%, michigan 12%, and pennsylvania 11%. so the decline among black voters we have seen for joe biden could see a big effect in the key swing states. it's a reason why the race between biden and trump is so close. guys. >> harry enten, my man, thank

you. a. joining us national correspondent for "the washington post,". how worried should the biden team and democrats be? >> i think the biden team is very unhappy to see these numbers. as harry mentioned, south carolina was huge to his to 20 win. it turned around the primaries for biden. he knows he needs to win this again. i think the same trends that we are seeing in south carolina is also true of the trends we are seeing it georgia when it comes to black voters. it's systemic of a larger problem he has with this key demographic and a lot of the things i heard from black voters is student debt relief. they really wanted to see. >> they couldn't carry it through? >> exactly. and views on the economy. people feel like inflation is too high and for most people they say they want the economy to go back to the way it was. for many people, that's before the pandemic and before biden took office. >> i have to ask, when i saw these numbers i thought of, you had a story about georgia. it was july, sometime

july/august timeframe this summer. the problems were so acute and seemed wider spread than anybody in white house either wanted to acknowledge or knew, what have they done in the last several months to solidify this critical group? >> i think they are trying to shore up data. they are reaching out to some of these groups on the ground, voting rights groups, voter engagement groups, trying to get those kinds of data. a lot of things i hear from meme on the ground they want to see investment early. black voters want a sincere engagement before it becomes 2024 and know that they are not just wanted for their votes, but they want to know that their concerns are being heard. >> talk about nikki haley and this poll. big bump here is what she had to say about that. >> it's pretty remarkable. we have gone up ten points in the last two months. we try to touch as many hands as we can and answer every question. >> still a big spread for her to

catch up to trump, but notable? >> yeah. also consistent spread if you look basically since the end of august. it's been about 30 points in iowa, south carolina and whatever, new hampshire. you see this consistently. what we are seeing in iowa is, yes, nikki haley has surged relative to donald trump to some extent, but mostly to ron desantis. desantis was flat. nikki haley was eating into other people's support. south carolina an outlier because she used to be governor there. she is well known. ron desantis has lost the mantle. he had the mantle of i am the non-trump the guy to con sal date behind and i could win this thing and he was always in danger of losing that a there is only one trump. infinite number of non-trumps. i think nikki haley is that person. her support is soft in the iowa poll. not like people are i'm gung-ho for nikki haley. they are like i'm supporting nikki haley.

that suggests they are looking for -- >> not a good sign? >> no. >> nor is forgetting new hampshire as you list off three states. live free and tie. not happy about that. real quick, we are running out of time, the debate won't include trump, will include nikki haley and chris christie and others. does it change anything. >> she is polling well in iowa and south carolina. he has has continued also to strategically take on trump in a way that hasn't isolated some of his rotors. i think that's what we will be watching for again. if desantis can get out of the background, he faded in many of these debates. nikki haley is sort of leading the narrative right now as the strongest alternative to trump. >> what do you think on the debate stage? >> i think that's right. i don't think it will make any difference, right. the first debate made no difference. >> the moderators are prepping so hard for this. they are not going to like hearing that. >> this last debate, is this the least -- you know, the least consequential debate in history? no consequence.

i am not sure this will be different. >> being surrounded by three ohio state buckeyes? >> we will allow it, it's big ten-ish. >> you are all from the best part of the country. >> big game against rutgers this weekend. thank you. a few hours a crucial hearing in the mar-a-lago documents case that will answer whether the former president will be tried before the 2024 presidential election. we will be live in florida. also, george santos facing a vote to expel him from the house. the latest on the congressman's future.

by carvana. carvana. they'll drive you happy. right now we are showing you a split-screen live pictures of the rafah border crossing, and gaza gaza. the border crossing, a deal has been reached to allow some civilians to receive medical attention after crossing the border, also foreign nationals will now be allowed to cross as well over gaza city who continue to see smoke as strikes continue

in the ongoing war between israel and hamas. >> as you get your morning started here, five things to know. today former president trump's eldest son don jr. set to take the stand in that $250 million new york civil fraud trial brought against the trump organization. he is a accused of inflighting his father's net worth to obtain loans and insurance policies. >> and texas installed a razor fence without a permit again along the border of mexico. the biden administration over the border crisis. >> george santos facing expulsion from the house today after members of his own party to introduced a resolution against him citing 23 counts in this federal indictment and the many lies he told to voters during his campaign. and teachers in portland, oregon, are striking after the district and the teachers union failed to degree on a three-year contract. top issue, class size, student discipline and wages. closing arguments set to begin in the case against the

former crypto billionaire sam b bankman-fried. yesterday he denied knowing pleas were spending $8 billion of customer funds until shortly before that crypto exchange collapsed. >> download the five things podcast every morning. a crucial hearing in the mar-a-lago cloouds case. lawyers for former president trump expect today formally make another attempt to delay this until after the election. >> they complained they haven't had proper access to classified evidence. kevin polantz is live in fort pierce, florida. any sense which way the judge may lean here? >> reporter: well, she has already had a trial date on the books right now. this is judge aileen cannon here in florida in federal court. but this is really judge cannon's first opportunity to truly revisit whether that trial timing of next year right after much of the bulk of primary season is through for trump

running for the republican nomination, whether she wants to choose on moving this case to a later date. now, donald trump's team, they have legal arguments that they are making right now. they want to move this trial at least until mid-november. that's what they have told her in recent weeks. they are saying that the prosecutors are trying to have a rush to trial. the other thing that they are saying is that they haven't had a lot of time to do the sort of work that they need to do pretrial. they are very busy. they want to access classified documents. now, the justice department has come back in court filings leading up to this hearing saying these guys are dragging their feetk being hyperbolic about how much work they are able to put in as a defense team. donald trump and his lawyers were in miami yesterday at what's called a skiff. so specialized compartmented facility where they can access classified information in this case. that's something you do as a defense team to prepare for trial, a necessary step.

trump's team wants a little bit more time, they want to move deadlines back and ultimately they hope that that will convince judge cannon today to move the trial date back from when it's set in may. but we are going to have to see exactly how she responds. she has given trump a lot of leeway. we don't expect to be -- to see him here in person today at this federal courthouse as of now. but there is a lot to talk about today about when we will see donald trump in person in this federal courthouse for his trial. >> big day on that front. thank you for the reporting. wall street investors on age as they await the fed fetd ate least policy decision. the central bank expected to hold interest rates steady, but the possibility of future rate hikes may not be completely off the table as the fed continues to work to bring inflation back to its 2% target. joining us now cnn's business correspondent rahel solomon. there has been some good kmuk

data over the course of the last couple of weeks. does that change what people are expecting? >> not really. we expect the fed to pause. not do too much, pause with the rate hikes but keep them elevated. they are elevated and the reason why is they have done so much since march of 2022, hiked interest rates five percentage points. they are taking a wait and see poach, see how the interest rate hikes have impacted the economy. the labor market is strong. the gdp is strong. consumer spending a huge boost to gdp. so they are going to wait to see how this impacts i think what may be more interesting is less what they do, what they say. at 2:30 jay powell will make his statement and take questions from reporters. this is the part of the meeting that gets most interesting, most juicy and this is where we will learn the path moving forward. do they see more rate hikes at the december meeting, even into

2024. also when do we start to see rate cuts. anyone who has a variable interest rate has noticed that borrows costs are very high. you name the thing. mortgage rates very high, 8% for a 30-year, credit card rates at record highs. a lot of folks are wondering what are we going to see rate cuts. we will be listening closely at 2:30 for that. this is a meeting where less interesting what they do, more interesting perhaps what they say. >> and we see wall street, but it's about main street and the -- people who are just trying to build their net worth, trying to buy a first home. 8% is prohibitive for a lot of them. >> very expensive to buy a home now. >> thank you. heroes. >> i needed this. cnn heroes is back. voting opens today. our anderson cooper joins us to announce the top ten cnn heroes of 2023. stay with us.

here is some good news for you this morning. for the last 17 years cnn heroes has shined a spotlight on every day people changing the world. cnn has shared these inspiring stories with you all year long. here to announce the top ten cnn heroes of 2023 our own anderson coopers the host of cnn heroes an allstate tribute that will air live on sunday, december 10th at 8:00 p.m. eastern. good morning. >> good morning. certainly in this time of turmoil and, you know, all the horror that we have been witnessing it's nice to have a focus on just people who are doing extraordinary things around the world.

so we've had, you know, hundreds of folks that we've looked at and profiled over the last year on cnn heroes and these are the top ten cnn heroes. >> from washington, d.c., yasmeen arrington grew up with a father in and out of prison. today her scholarship and mentorship program is helping children of incarcerated parents succeed. in ghana this mobile clinic is delivering essential health care to communities where hospitals are often hours away. from fayetteville, north carolina, stacy buckner and her converted offroad vehicle provide showers, laundry services and meals to local homeless vets. in the florida keys, mike goldberg recruits an army of recreational divers to heal our oceans by transplanting coral and restoring dying reefs. in northern montana tesha is

providing a health care lifeline to her remote native-american community. she offers free patient transportation and fresh food to people on her reservation. from new york city former schoolteacher alvin's innovative reading program is strengthening the literacy of african american boys in neighborhood barber shops across the country. from burlington, vermont, after his brother kevin suffered a traumatic brain injury adam pearce witnessed the healing power of yoga and meditation. he now shares that power at transformative retreats for tbi patients and their caregivers. from los angeles, this woman uses buses transformed into mobile classrooms to provide education and stability to migrant children living in shelters along the u.s./mexico border. in detroit the hit and run death of her 2-year-old son inspired mama shu to transform her neighborhood by purchasing abandoned lots and providing needed services, she's built a flourishing eco village.

and from san diego, california, veterinarian dr. stewart brings free medical care to the pets and people experiencing homelessness across the country. and they are truly an extraordinary group of people. anybody that is interested they can go to cnnheroes.com and learn more about each of the heroes. they can donate to the heroes if they want. but also they can vote for the cnn hero of the year, vote multiple times and get your friends to vote and the winner will get $100,000 to continue their life-changing work. >> you, i believe, actually go through every single submission, right, and you make the choices? >> it is not up to me, no. >> because you have nothing else going on. >> nothing else going on. >> i think as you do this every single year what i'm struck by is there is always an amazing story i never could have expected or somebody doing things every time. is that always the case for you? >> you know, i find they are all obviously doing incredible

things and, you know, it's often at the actual cnn ceremony that we put together these really beautifully produced films about their work and to actually get to meet them and hear from them in-person, you kind of fall in love with them all over again. i think that's one of the things that i love about doing this, getting to actually, you know, meet these people and you leave so inspired. i leave feeling like just -- like, i mean, what am i doing with my life? nothing compared to what these people are doing. it certainly inspires me to try to be better >> same here in the audience, i feel like i have to do more. can you just speak to the importance of this work and these stories when a lot of what people are consuming right now is the worst of humanity? >> yeah, it's so interesting. there's all these awards ceremonies for celebrities and people for all different things. these are people who have no access to power necessarily, they don't have a lot of money in many cases, they are people

who just saw a need in their community and decided to roll up their sleeves and do what many of us think about doing or talk about doing, but they actually just start doing something good. and sometimes it's just opening up their homes and working out of their homes and then they are able to get some donations and grow an organization and, you know, that's what's been so extraordinary over the 15 years or so we've been doing this to see how this, you know -- people voting on cnnheroes.com how that changes their work and their ability to reach more people. >> that's what i was going to actually ask. of the 15, 16, 17 years you've within doing this do you still stay in touch? >> and i run into cnn heroes all around the world and you see them in disasters when disasters strike somewhere. we know who will be in what spot because this is what they do. so it's been amazing to see these people over the years how their work has evolved and grown. and even the cnn heroes things, i mean, it mobilizes whole

communities to come out and vote for a person. you can vote -- >> and you can vote as much as you want right? >> you can vote a number of times. it's all at cnnheroes.com. >> thanks, anderson. we needed that. i'm very excited. there will be ten individuals you can vote obviously online, anderson just laid out the entire detail that matters, but what we are showing you right now is still the breaking news, the rafah border crossing, we are being told the first group of foreign nationals has arrived, we also know of course that civilians, 80 plus from gaza that have been going out to seek medical attention one by one have been going through as well. >> we will keep you posted on this. it's a huge development this morning, the first time that these people are being allowed, some of them, over the crossing and more to come in the days ahead. >> we're continuing to following breaking developments across gaza, israel, the rafa crossing. "cnn news central" starts after this break.

♪