we are carrying out search and rescues across the state. there have been at least 700 rescues confirmed as of thursday. >> first responders are doing targeted searches. going home by home, checking to see if people are okay. there will be many more rescues that are added. the absolutely expect to have -- from the surrogate. so far, at least 19 people are confirmed dead.

>> there was a significant number of people that remained on the island during the catastrophic weather event. right now, it is important for us to go ahead and say, are you okay? it will take a few days to get to all of the places that have reports continue to to get them coming in. >> the scope of the overall destruction is coming in. areas cut off by rubble. >> look at this mess.

we met they were left without power in central florida. >> falling debris, tornadoes, life-threatening storm surge. in some cases, we need to rebuild rather than simply repair. >> reporter: cruz look to restore power. floodwaters continue to rise. crews are using airboats to pull people from their homes. >> in 2004, we had a hurricane, but it wasn't that bad. we took off -- there was water in the street, but not like this. >> the destruction in southwest florida, massive. homes underwater, torn apart. some, even on fire. people's entire lives, uprooted by ian. these images show how powerful

hurricane ian was. it came into florida as a category 4 storm. bringing with it, destructive winds, record rainfall, and storm surges. >> when you have a hurricane it is a massive hurricane coming in at 155 miles an hour, producing this type of storm surge, dumping rain, causing flooding. if you can make it through that, the probably did it pretty good. this is a 24/7 effort to stabilize and to restore. >> that was from a both above and below. >> very quickly, we got people out of the icu. the problem then was that the water went down the stairwell. >> saw scenes of flooding all over central order. residents say they had never seen the water ride so fast the rain was unrelenting for hours.

reporting in orlando, florida, ryan young, cnn. >> we have been tracking the storm for hours. karen, the key question, where is it headed? >> it would be wonderful if we could absolutely nail that down. we know somewhere along the south carolina coast, all of the computer models are in fairly good agreement. i want to show you this, it should be making its way on shore. also to coastal georgia. now, we are seeing the rainfall pick up. that is a lovely beach area on the southeastern coast -- 62 miles per hour. let's get into the nitty-gritty here. it is at about 170 miles to the southeast of charleston.

this is what we are anticipating, as far as the -- is concerned. you can see it moves fairly rapidly, so that doesn't just that range failed is probably going to be picking up. this is not a classic looking hurricane. far from it. the hurricane hunters investigated, and it looks like there was a window where the wind went from 75, to 80, to 85 miles an hour and higher gusts. now, that wind coming out of the north and northeast along the south carolina coast, the entire state is under a state of emergency. that will allow for them to clean up for help and assistance once it passes through. you will notice definitely this will get heavy and heavier, maybe 10 inches of rainfall. 85 mile an hour winds. that is the latest update.

it is moving at about 10 miles an hour. not slow, not fast. wow, there is a lot of rain here. from florida, all the way out to northern north carolina. about midday, we think it will make landfall. where? computer models are suggesting somewhere between charleston and myrtle beach. could be at the point of high tide. what would that mean? a 4-7 storm surge. if you have a plan, hope you stick with it. i hope it is successful for you. we saw what happened in florida. it is not a category 4 system. it is a category 1. it still has a chance to develop. it takes it in, probably splitting the difference between myrtle beach and charleston. i know i have taken a lot of extra time there, but i wanted to really show that, kim. this is an area where folks really need to take precaution. back to you.

>> as you highlight, this could be extremely dangerous. thank you so much. the best way to fully appreciate the enormity of hurricane ian is to survey the destination from the air. we rode wrong -- along with lee county sheriff. let's take a look. >> all of that debris and litter everywhere. these were buildings. this was a building right there? >> they are buildings, restaurants, and what use to be the fort myers pier. >> how far back does this go? >> straight through to the bayside. >> the empty spots that you see there were homes. >> so these on this beach year, there used to be homes?

>> those lots right there, those were homes, hotels, real properties. 2-3 property, washed away. the buildings just ripped off of their foundations. >> that's right. there are actually both thrown into the vehicles inside the water, submerged. >> did you see that? >> this is like mexico beach. look at that. i can see the foundation where they were right there. how many rescues have you done

today? >> dozens. let's look to the front. these are major, major boats thrown into the main grows. >> what? >> both in the mangroves right there. >> how long will it take to get this back? >> when i look at this, this is not a quick fix. this is not six months. this is long term. this is long-term. you are talking about not refurbishing structures. you are talking about the structure left. foundations, concrete. homes that were thrown into the bay. this is a long-term fix. it was life-changing. >> hurricane ian left a trail

of destruction, including sanibel island's. they tried people in their homes, ripped apart a causeway, flooded streets and knocked out power. his she is. >> no. it is total devastation. i never dreamed i would see anything like this in my lifetime. a lot of people will be financially devastated from this event. a lot of people didn't like -- did not carry flood insurance. i'm sure the ones on the island were more prone to have it. a lot are facing total financial devastation. you look at it and it doesn't look real. it is so overwhelming. you are right. you can't wrap your brain around it. i don't think many of us have totally processed it yet. >> the entire town was reeling after feeling the full force of

hurricane ian. coastal waters forced the historic city. ashley has the latest. >> reporter: taking a look at what it still looks like even hours after the water breached the the seawall. you can see people are still walking through shin deep water. we want to show you what the other side looks like. you can see at one point, those bicycles were almost halfway submerged. it started to reseed a little bit. sandbags are out for local businesses. over here, other businesses have boarded up, as well. if you look straight down to where we are looking, there are still floodwaters there. people are urged and advised to be as safe as possible. it does take time for floodwaters of this matter to

to fully reseed again. we have saw that water breached the seawall near the -- and the bridge of lions. that alarmed a lot of people in this area. >> if you would like to safely and securely help people affected by hurricane ian who need shelter, food, and water, please go to cnn.com/impact. please stay withth cnn for continuing coveragage of hurricanane ian. wewe will have more on the catastrophic damage and the flooding and its path in florida. we will all have what is expected next coming up. stay with us. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ hurricane ian is taking aim at the southeastern u.s. coast after becoming deadly through florida. debris scattered across the area. still submerged from the storm surge in parts of the state. it has killed already 19 people. those numbers, expected to rise. more than 2 million homes and businesses are without power. hurricane ian is now turning over the atlantic as a category 1 storm. it is expected to make a second landfall in south carolina in the coming hours. over and over, we have been hearing from residents who are shocked with how quickly it turned from an inconvenience to life-threatening. >> reporter: up and down florida's west coast , the flooded homes, neighborhoods

underwater. streets littered with abandoned cars, roofs torn off, boats, -- floating in debris. rushing water and last-minute escapes, category 4 hurricane ripped through. >> our house flooded. it just started going deeper and deeper. by the time we were walking out, we were made by in water. >> reporter: carrying out water rescues, even though some of their own were flooded. he says the water reached 2 or 3 feet in his house. >> that will give you some sense of how much water was here. there was at least three feet of water. >> reporter: fort myers, among the hardest hit. >> those pictures, memories.

>> reporter: for members beach, now a -- >> we got people out of the icu. the problem ended up being that this washer -- water came down the stairwell and on the upper floors. breached in several places. anyone who stays there, now cut off to the mainland. more than 2.5 million customers lost power. officials, warning residents that hazards remain. there are things that can truly hurt you in the water. electricity, downed power lines. it is not just the west coast. it is willing to situate florida. >> reporter: they saw more than a -- >> this trailer here is actually underwater. >> reporter: they had a nursing home evacuated. trapped victims, brought to

safety with airports. they said they lost everything and were taken out of a window. another woman wishes she evacuated before the storm. >> that car was submerged. with thought, get the vehicles out. it was too late. remixing coastal flooding and strong winds, and you come across things like this, people -- all over the city of naples. telling reporters that they believe the proper damage to the city itself could go as high as $20 million. personal property like this could be as high as $200 million. brian todd, cnn, naples, florida. >> hurricane ian is far from over. it is now setting its eyes on south carolina. a look at the damage in southern florida. >> when the seararch took out -

i mean, within 10 seconds, the water was up to my arms. at that point, you know, to struggling to get out of the hous

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comcast business. powering possibilities. ™ ♪ welcome back to -- all of the watching here in the united states, canada, and around the world. this is cnn newsroom. is gaining strength heading toward the south carolina coast. it is not expected to make

landfall near myrtle beach in the coming hours. it has already killed at least 19 people in florida. the vessel is rising. fort myers beach, the official -- there's nothing to come back to. indians of people across the state still have no electricity. the community, devastated by high winds and flooding brought by ian. he takes us through some of the damage left by the storm surge. >> we are just on the edge of legacy harbor. we are not in a boat yard. this is not ever a boat yard. these boats are now on dry land. here is one, for example. these were now in the storm, but they ended up here. the high winds that came along with hurricane ian. i just want to show you. you can see you back here, from this size, there are about 1,

2, 3, 4, 5 boats. they are right next to each other. they weren't in the water. they are not where they are supposed to be. they're still supposed to be in the water, but they are on dry land. this is a huge piece of the dock. this is also in the water. the water is well on the other side of where we are area this giant piece of the dock, as well. i just wanted to show you something from another perspective here, which is really remarkable. let me carefully climb over here. just look at this. on this book, which is also on its side, supposed to be here, this is the both line. this, john, if you look, is still attached to the dock. this piece of dock came along. this boat brought it's piece of dock here with it to this new boat yard that was never supposed to be. >> all right, i want to bring

in meteorologist , tracking it in the trajectory. the storm has been really, really bad. what do the numbers say? >> we had a couple of updates over the last six hours, or so. we look at the data coming in, observations from cities and -- the wind has picked up in the rain has gotten heavier. now, we are seeing it. it is heavier, the winds are getting stronger. it is starting to make its way in and across the south coast, south carolina. this will also tie the island -- off the coast. that was a 62- mile-per-hour wind gust. all right, what do we anticipate? somewhere along the south carolina coast, a projection or

a forecasted and will be making landfall. not just there, we have this broad field. even going into the weekend, we had that participation feeling up into virginia, maryland, new jersey, pennsylvania. you would not see that heavy rainfall like we are looking at, protect the -- in some of these regions right around myrtle beach, pollys island, into the sullivan's island, they really hit in -- this is not -- that was 1899, category 4. this is category number one. the category number one will still be very broad. it could be a seven foot storm surge because it is low-lying, very vulnerable, lots of

movement in the region. we love because it is beautiful, but environmentally challenging. we have ian, by wonder 70 miles to the southeast of charleston. ian is moving toward the north. at some point, it will make a little jog along the coast. this is a fairly good agreement somewhere between charleston myrtle beach. you may remember that ian was supposed to make landfall in tampa. it didn't. it went further south. just the level of devastation. not just there, but in puerto rico. it is devastating there. the puerto rican island was without power, and 16 reported deaths so far. >> yeah. absolutely. thank you for highlighting that.

we will keep coming back. we really appreciate that. hours away from starting the process of annexing parts of ukraine. still ahead, on the hills of -- stay with us.

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hold a ceremony. annexing about 18% about ukraine. the move comes after reprimand him's in occupied territories in the east. voters overwhelmingly supported joining russia. they were also held at gunpoint. this is video that is forcing -- they can't verify the location. the referendums have been dismissed. the u.n. second terry -- secretary, everything the committee stands for. u.s. president joe biden makes it clear this is -- for washington. >> the united states will never , never, never recognize russia's claims on ukraine sovereign territory. this so-called referenda was a sham.

an absolute sham. >> one of the big questions about the annexation is what will put -- it is not anything he can call a victory. >> of the outcome, never in doubt. it is never more than a pretext to annex to russia. >> he is trying to create a situation in which he claims that they are an integral part of russian territory. he is engaging in self-defense on these territories. >> peden did it with ukraine -- 2014. illegal invasion, illegal sham referendum, illegal annexation to russia. >> translator: we were ready to

do it. >> threats of nuclear attacks. it is the same play this time. last week, re-upping -- over the referendum region. >> is not a bluff, he says. putin looks weak, his bluff, already called. >> if russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences. the united states will respond. >> putin is in a corner. battlefield losses. >> there should be something that could be presented to the public as a victory. >> he has a legacy as a great russian leader. this rightfully should belong to russia. >> ukraine's president says putin plans to constrict ukrainians for the newly next

territory. the fight for russia, just as he has done. >> trying to steal our territory. >> zelensky vows to fight back. specifically on pollutants annex. in moscow, he would not read the reality of what is happening with his disastrous war. he is ready to sign into law -- it will have little meaning outside of moscow. >> he cannot speak on behalf of the states that appear in union. none of them will recognize this . >> all of this may be part of his counter. >> what he must be striving for is to brand his nuclear weapon,

make all kinds of threat, and then say, okay, so let's negotiate a settlement. >> it is just like the beginning of the war. in plain sight, putin creates the sham loss to get what he wants. the miscalculation now, he is losing the war. he can't dictate terms. nick robinson, cnn, london. 23 people were killed in an explosion in an educational center in kabul, according to a doctor at a local hospital. 36 others were wounded. she joins us now from london. just a horrific attack. i spent some time reporting in that neighborhood. it has a history of being targeted by extremists. tell us what happened. >> absolutely terrifying suicide attack in the early

hours of this morning, taking place at an education center. this is for young men, young women who are trying to take mock university exams, not the real exams. it is unclear who the perpetrator of this attack is. no group has claimed responsibility yet. pointed out two pointing -- concerning. an eyewitness pointed out that it predominately to this i witness that the victims were young women. of course, that is highly concerning in afghanistan where the issue of -- controversial . whether they are of course pushing for. the second hallmark, the one you pointed out, this attack took place in a neighborhood that is predominantly a -- community area. that is a minority group. in afghanistan, the heaven targeted in the past by terror attacks. 100s of members of that minority

group, killed in attacks. they have done little to protect them. questions here, fears here about what the target was in this attack, who was behind it. again, that fear of what it means to be a young woman trying to get educated in afghanistan. >> expanding and looking at the larger security situation across combo and afghanistan now, >> that is a very complex and difficult question to answer. in many ways come you have to look at the lead up to what happened before the tele-band takeover. i remember being on the ground for that. when isis and the tele-band seem to be competing over who can do more horrific attacks. of course, they are trying to restore. you stare very much have eyes on the ground. we don't know

who is behind this attack. that is where eyes will be today. >> absolutely. thank you so much for the update. coconducting more missile tests after the vice p presiden visit his the -- after the break. stay with us. ♪ ♪

on thursday, u.s. vice president, the harris visited with -- just hours after she left, they fired two short-range missiles from the west coast. two from the east coast the day before. paul joins me now.

this is just the latest on what seems to be a record-setting number of missiles fired by north korea. >> yes. they have launched so far this year, it is a record. there have been so many missile launches. 21 lunches have happened so far this year. 19 of them, ballistic. what we saw over the past they are so was really north korea giving a tiny book and to that when they visit by the u.s. vice president, kamala harris. they were short-range, but it is certainly seeming as though they were meant to send a message. they fired them in the evening, which is unusual for north korea. while we always try to put significant on the timing, the

fact that they were but ending this visit so conveniently is too much of a coincidence to believe it is not connected. another reason north korea may not be happy at the moment in carrying out these launches is because there is currently a naval exercise going on today, this friday. they were naming the exercises earlier in the week. japan, -- and the united states are carrying out submarine drills in international waters off the east coast of korea. we actually heard from the south korea office that just last week, their national security department had warned that the -- they believed the summary launched test might be coming up from north korea. this is one of the preventative exercises that the three nations are carrying out at this point. the meeting and the visit of self -- it did go through the

zone between north and south korea. it is an area where presidents and vice presidents traditionally go to show the defense commitment that the united states has for south korea. there is an observation post. she looked through binoculars into north korea and said, quote, it is something to actually see this with your own eyes. she will also address the launches from north korea saying that they have indeed a stabilizing effect. >> thank you so much. time as president has made a second appearance this week, putting to rest internet rumors about his political downfall. ♪ ♪ on friday, he honor the people who died for the establishment of the mount ida. earlier, he was absent from the public eye for days, which led

to online speculation that he may have been overthrown. so far, the hashtag was trending over the weekend. >> translator: without saying a word, he silenced the internet. the chinese president reappeared on state media this week. his first public appearance in 11 days. ending rumors of his downfall. >> the road is asking one question, what is going on in china? >> the rumors were explosive. removing china's most powerful leaders since now. >> it was on the evening of the 16th. he was in control of the -- and is now under house arrest. >> some ran with the rumor. a trending topic on twitter over the weekend called ridiculous by many china

experts. >> i think the origin of the rumors were questionable, at best. the validation, or the people who sought to validate the rumors were taking a big leap and a big stretch. >> how did the rumors go viral? experts say -- it is the nature of the communist regime that had allowed this rumor to have so much oxygen people just don't know what is going on. certainly the lack of transparency gives rumors that -- certain possibility. >> no official explanation for try to three. they say it was likely china's mandatory 10 day quarantine. >> the issue with china, it is so difficult to get access to credible information. speculation becomes rapid.

>> fueling the frenzy, unverified, undated video of a military convoy supposedly near beijing. along with routine events taken out of context, like a top chinese general leaving his command post, and thousands of domestic flight cancellations. blame those on covid. the rumor comes at a politically charged time for china. days before a crucial communist party. xi is all but certain to secure an unprecedented third term. >> prior to a major political event in beijing, it is already accompanied by have a level of speculation. >> high-level of speculation spread on social media, silenced when one of the world's most powerful leaders reappeared, still very much in control. >> it says a lot about the

chinese system that you can have a leader of a country at 1.4 billion people banished for 11 days, and there is no explanation, no mention of it. not even any attempt to try to address the rumors that were spreading like wildfire around the world. the united states, europe, and of course in india. from the chinese perspective, it didn't really matter to them. it doesn't matter what happened outside. they controlled so much. the narrative inside china from the media, to the internet. the political views of people themselves. if they speak out, they can very well be punished. it just goes to show that the amount of power that he has consolidated for himself, he will be publicly coordinated at that in the next couple days. >> thank you so much. thank you for joining us. i'll be back with more coverage after this short break. you are watching cnn. ♪ ♪

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♪ >> live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with ken brunhuber. hello and welcome to all of you watching us in the united states, canada and all around the world. i am ken brunhuber joining you