♪ >> 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

live from atlanta. ahead on cnn newsroom. >> it is destroyed and it is ruined and you have to start all over again. honestly, where do you start? how do you start in this? >> there is no way i am walking in that filthy water. there are snakes, fire ants. alligators and alligators. >> a lot of great people on every street like this in america. it is friday, september 30th. 4:00 a.m. on the east coast where rescue crews are struggling to reach residents. the national hurricane center says the category 1 storm regained strength and is expected to make landfall in the coming hours.

the u.s. president has ordered federal assistance. in florida ian killed at least 19 people, and that number is expected to increase. florida's fire marshal says it is shaping up to be the largest natural disaster in state history. over 700 rescues have been carried out and over 2 million homes and businesses are without power. >> it is historical, a worst case scenario here. we are projecting 10 to 15 inches of rain. we are closely approaching the 14 inch mark today. we had areas of kissimmee and other areas that have never seen that before. >> the situation in flood-ravaged parts of the state remain so dicey there are some

mandatory curfews. all right. now let's go to hard-hit fort myers, florida. a community devastated by high winds and heavy flooding. here is what they endured. >> reporter: when hurricane ian hit this woman was alone in her home. >> when the surge took out my sliding glass doors, within ten seconds the water was up to my armpits. at that point, you know, i was struggling to get out of the house. >> reporter: she is 85 years old and did not evacuate her home in north fort myers because she thought the hurricane was headed more towards tampa. all of the furniture was floating. i got shoved into a wall. i got the front door open and

there was a surge, it took me to the middle of the yard. >> reporter: gail suffered bumps and bruises but luckily her neighbor was a few doors down riding out the storm with his family. when he saw gail's car, he knew she may need his help. >> i couldn't go at first. the river was coming across at 40 miles per hour. i found her on the front porch, in water, in a chair, shaking really bad. calmed her down. and then we made a long, slow walk in four feet of water to my house. >> you are 85, how grateful are you that someone came and rescued you? >> tom is a blessing. >> reporter: a blessing. she told me you are a blessing. >> she is a blessing, i don't know about me. >> reporter: what made you go over and check on her? >> i love her, you know, there

are a lot of great people on every street like this in america. >> reporter: meanwhile tom and his family have their own story to tell. >> it was fine until water started coming in from the river. we were bailing until water started to come in the front. by then we got five or six feet of water in the house. >> it was scary when it crashed through the windows and the doors. >> reporter: the water? >> yeah. it was a big wave coming through the windows and the doors. >> reporter: sounds terrifying. >> yeah. it was really terrifying. >> reporter: another neighbor told me the water went up two feet in his house. he rode out the storm with his three dogs. how come you didn't evacuate? >> safer in the house. >> reporter: a steady stream of neighbors checking on neighbors and homeowners returning to assess the damage taking whatever they could save.

>> we had to pick up our gecko. she had it for 22 years. >> reporter: this couple evacuated but took us inside to -- >> it is ruined. the couches are turned upside down. there is water in our cabinets. everything is flooded. everything is ruined. >> reporter: they only have been living here a year before the hurricane hit. >> it is destroyed and ruined. honestly, where do you start? how do you start in this? let's go to karen who has been closely following ian's path and wind speed. where are models suggesting it is heading now? >> what we have seen most dramatically in the past hour is that the rain has become heavier along the south carolina coast and the georgia coast, and the

wind and the wind gusts are definitively higher as well. here is kind of a look along the southern edge off of the coast of georgia and much uof the southern coast of south carolina. all very vulnerable. charleston, especially. it is really built up. it is not just the threat to people but also environmentally we have big threats taking place here as well. i talked about the wind gusts. savannah, 30 miles per hour. hilton head, the wind gusts have really increased here over the last hour or two. at last report, 52 miles per hour. even in charleston, wind gusts close to the 30 miles per hour and all the way up towards myrtle beach. where is it going to make

landfall? the computer models are suggesting in this vicinity. along the central and northern coast of south carolina. charleston apparently was in the line of sight in the cone. we were looking at it earlier in the day. it shifted a little further north along the south carolina coast. it isn't just south carolina and north carolina, it is virginia and maryland and west virginia where it will advance northward. we are looking at fairly substantial rainfall totals across south carolina. as we look at this, all the way from charleston and into the north carolina coast we could see substantial rainfall. four to eight will be the common comments but there could be 10 to 20 inches.

as the storm system approaches the coast if it were charleston, midday. that is about the time of high tide. that will produce a storm surge of four to seven feet possible. not just charleston but sullivan's islanders, buford, garden city, surf side, myrtle beach. i know this area so well. i hope you have a plan and kept your important personnel documents. if you are stranded that you have a plan for that as well. and hopefully people have thought about this in advance way before the 85 miles per hour category 1 hurricane ian begins to trek closer and closer to the coast. >> yeah. excellent advice. thank you so much. those living in ian's path are

taking no chances. coastal communities are bracing for the storm's arrival filling up sand bags and preparing for the worst. >> we will be at 12 feet. that is about the maximum a lot of houses can take. might be a little wet. we will pray for dry. >> in charleston storm surge and flooding from ian are expected in the coming hours. >> reporter: the city is handing out sand bags by the thousand to residents. this is an area of charleston that floods a lot. these guys are prepped. these are filled with water and they are protecting one home. a couple of other substantial barriers as well in the

neighborhood. this will protect the home from water. water coming from the sky and from the ocean. between 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. is when they expect the worst of the storm. you are going to have the storm surge, a ton of rain coming down. they have everything from trucks with very high lift trucks so that they can affect water rescues by truck, inflatable rafts and boats if it comes to that as well and they have utility victories at the ready to help with the trees if they come down and electrical wires. they are prepared as they can be. >> it has been a busy few days. >> how about your neighbors.

>> hold people. >> they were in florida where two people and three cats were air lifted to a chopper. and this man air lifted with his dog by his side. florida's governor is calling the storm biblical. rescue teams are being transported by helicopter to the island where they are going door to door to check on residents. the mayor says the residents safety is her first priority. >> it is such a coordinated effort before we can even allow the residents to get back on the islanders. we need to make sure it is safe. to clean up everything. wildlife is all over the island as you can imagine.

we want to make it safe even if people can get on to look at their homes to see what is there. >> the governor says that the causeway will be rebuilt, but it will take time. in the aftermath of hurricane ian. crews are focused on rescuing residents. and moscows is hours away from starting to annex occupied parts of ukraine. also students run for their liveves after an explosion in n afghanistan. mamany of those close to the blt did not make it.

first responders in florida began pulling vulnerable residents to safety as soon as they were able. more than 700 rescues were carried out so far. not all of the rescues involved rising water. stranded people with mobility problems are often unable to navigate through the debris by

themselves don lemon went with emergency personnel to get to as many stranded people and pets as quickly as possible. have a look. >> this is what we are seeing now in orlando. rescues from people stuck in their homes. you can see the folks on the scene and the people rescued here. >> it is kind of crazy. i have been trained to be emergency response team. we did the training here in the park for this type of thing. but nobody can plan for this type of thing. >> there are people waiting in this very dangerous water. the water is neck-deep for some of these folks and it is dangerous because we are told to

be careful because there are gators in this water. we are out with lieutenant fernando. they have been going in, at least 150 rescues from this area for folks. >> at least 200 starting this morning. >> you don't know what is under the water. >> absolutely not. part of the issues we had is navigating the waters even though we know we are in a neighborhood and the streets dictate where we go, we have hidden mailboxes. >> there are street signs here. some are covered and others peeking out of the top here. this area is prone to flooding but it has gotten more water this time. >> this is the highest that it ever has been.

these three lakes crested early this morning. completely devastated. completely underwater. >> this is eight to ten feet tall just poking out of the water here. that gives you an indication of how high the water is. the pumps went out before the electricity? >> i believe that is what it was. they failed. >> how much water have they gotten so far? six to eight feet of water,

minimum. >> this looks like a river, you know, you are usually navigating through on a boat. that is not meant to be a water way. but we are also told that many people decided to stay. what are they saying? >> a lot of them want to stay because their home means a lot to them. a lot of the people lost a lot. those that do come into the boat are thankful. >> the mailbox and the car in the drive way. imagine a malfunction with the battery and the lights are on. >> when we started this morning, it was in the pitch dark. all of the cars were just all of them alarms going off. lights going on. no control at all.

>> some of them you can just barely see the top of the roof. >> it is unbelievable. look at the cars and the mailboxes. there are people still inside some of these homes. >> reporter: why did you decide to stay? >> i know the shelters were open. there was not many places we could go. the flooding is more than we thought it would be but i don't feel terribly like my house is go to float away. >> this much water. >> this much water, no. the level it is at is surprising. it was in the road around 6:00. by 7:00 it was up to the first

stair. it did rise very fast but it has been decently stagnant. >> has it reached the floor? >> it is not inside yet. there are other people around. we have been checking in on each other. we are mainly concerned about our cars. our cars are shot. >> the taliban are condemning today's deadly explosion in kabul, afghanistan. a doctor from a local hospital says 23 killed and 36 others wounded. many of the casualties are girls. i spent a bit of time reporting specifically in that neighborhood because it has historically been the target for extremists. take us through what we know so far. >> a shocking morning attack on an education center where young

men and women can take mock university exams. that is what was happening earlier this morning when a suicide attacker hit the building. as you said there are a couple of hallmarks that terror highly concerning. as you pointed out the area that it took place is an area predominantly where members of the minority group are persecuted in afghanistan. there were reports from human rights groups about how they have not been protected under the taliban. the second thing i want to point out is something an eyewitness told us.

saying a majority of the victims appeared to be young women. female education in afghanistan is a controversial issue. unclear if that was part of the motive. the education center is for young men and women. the taliban issued a condemnation of the attack. serious fears and concerns and a reminder of how terrifying it is to educate yourself as a young woman in afghanistan. >> absolutely so. appreciate that.t. hurricane ian is taking aiaim a south carolina's low country. we will have more on where the storm may come ashore for a second time. stay with us. ting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and rning. i was printing out lels and saving money. one or two clicks shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamls. pick an order, print everything y you need,seamls. slap the lel onto the box,

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welcome back to cnn news r room, i am ken brunhuber. flight aware reports more than 1,600 flights have been cancelled in the u.s. so far but operations at orlando national airport are expected to resume at noon. tampa and jacksonville is expected to reopen this morning. downed trees and flooding are making it difficult to return. disney world will reopen this morning starting with the magic kingdom, universal studios also will reopen today. karen mcginnis has been tracking the trajectory of hurricane ian. when it comes to the search and rescue and recovery and things like getting the power back on.

the weather has a huge role to play. what is it looks like on that front? >> we are seeing the wind really increasing along the georgia kalnins and south carolina kalnins. even inland the chances for flooding is certainly there. you can almost see the spin on the radar depiction with the heavier bands pushing in to the southern sections of south carolina. the wind has picked up here as well. we are seeing wind gusts between 50 to 60 miles per hour. this is only going to get worse. we are going to see it at the top of the hour another update from the national hurricane center to see if that 85 miles per hour wind associated with

ian has increased or changed in the trajectory. and my colleague will be here at the top of the hour and will give you the latest from the national hurricane center. me myrtle beach, 29. the rain and the wind field is enormous spanning about 600 miles. it looks like this is an atypical looking hurricane at this point. it looks s s elongated or cohes. we saw the rainfall all day

today and yesterday on cnn, fort myers devastated. i don't want it to happen to you. we know there will be a storm surge. the charleston harbor midday, it is high tide. that could spell four to seven foot surge across the region. well, what happens with ian? will it make landfall in charleston, myrtle beach? right now computer models are saying maybe somewhere in between. one suggested georgetown. still 170 miles to the south, southeast of charleston. it is northeast, 10 miles per hour. a category 1. it does show a little bit of organization finally taking

place here. entire state of success under a state of emergency. top of the hour, the latest updates arrive. >> thanks karen, appreciate it. and hurricane ian carving a path of destruction in cape coral, tearing off roofs, ripping up trees, houses, businesses. many residents are now returning to homes affected by coastal flooding. >> i told pat, there is no way i am walking in that filthy water. there are snakes, fire ants,

alligators and alligators. >> but this is still florida. >> they are here now. it is absolutely amazing what that water will do. >> my goodness . >> this is disgusting.

i would say it's done. what do you think? >> i think so, i hate to say. i know that you were so hopeful. >> i guess there are people worse off than us. >> russia prepares to make a big move on annexing parts of ukukraine with president putin taking center stage at a ceremony in moscow. thatat is ahead and more on hurricane ian when we return as the storm m heads for a second landfall in the carolinas after devastating parts of florida. stay with us.

moscow is about to start making their final push on annexing parts of ukraine. the kremlin is set to hold a

ceremony in the coming hours. the move comes after so-called referendums in the east according to pro-russian officials voters overwhelming supported joining russia but it has been dismissed as illegal and a sham in much of the west. the u.s. president joe biden made it clear it is a non-starter for washington. here he is. the united states will never, never recognize russia's claims on ukraine's sovereign territory. this so-called referendum are a sham and the results were manufactured in moscow. >> nick payton walsh. this annexation is cones

consequential. >> reporter: it is a bit of a change. it is clear that kyiv's own motivation are unchanged by the annexation. yesterday areas for the most part russia has occupying forces in. they were expecting as saying they are parts of russia. the other two areas that were brought into that entirely fictitious fold. i think the hope is that it may deter western allies thinking russia will make good on threats to use nuclear weapon but it

does give russia extra say and means in terms of what it can do to defend the particular areas. we are expect to see a ceremony in red square. what it is not doing is altering the situation on the battlefield. we are expecting the u.s. and the e.u. to come through with more sanctions but does it change what vladimir putin is willing to do or can do. his conventional force is losing to a better equipped and higher morale ukraine force. his partial mobilization, the biggest impact it had is

domestically. we have not seen a change on the battlefield. ken. >> you mentioned the battlefield. news of more ukrainian advances and the horrific attack there on a convoy. what are the latest developments? >> it is important to pause and think of what we have seen. a rocket attack. you usually will use that for airports. a convoy of civilian cars moving through to occupy an area as of yesterday russia said was it

territory. 23 lives lost. 28 injured. people trying to go in there to deliver aid and food and take people out afterwards. i think it is telling of how russia functions in territory that it claims as part of its own. we are seeing very important developments near where i am standing. a consistent ukrainian push towards a big railway station, but the ukrainians have been trying to encircle it for a matter of weeks and there are indications from pro-russian sources they may be nearing the goal and video released from ukrainian soldiers showing them in a key town suggesting russia may have pulled back forces

leaving some who are beginning to be encircled. if leman does fall it could have a knock on effect to all of the russian positions behind it. not a rout, far too early to say that but a complete reassessment of russia's defensive line in the area area russia will falsely say is now part of russia. on paper they say it is part of russia and ukraine takes more of it back. showing that ukraine continues to move forward on the battlefield. >> thank you so much. i want to bring in the former moscow bureau chief and professor at georgetown, university.

we started with the annexation, following putin's playbook that we saw in crimea, is that fair? >> i think it is definitely fair. these are far more serious in the sense they are being carried out in the middle of a war. many of the people in those areas supposedly joining russia have fled. even the people there voting are minimal. the word sham has been used and it is illegal. if you look at the way the kremlin is trying to fig leaf

this as a legal process where it is illegal. >> you talk about the spin there. i mean it will be presented later today to the russian public as a victory. will it be enough to generate more support for the russians in spite of the mobilization which has drawn widespread protests. >> you have to look deeply at what russians are thinking. it is impossible to do real polling, but there are indications that russians are extremely concerned about what is happening with the mobilization. they have been shocked into reaction to something many of them were not paying that much attention to. right now if you look at the moon, and it is difficult to judge, but there appears like there is a high level of concern and high level of horror about

the fact that more people who never expected to be drawn into this could be sent to the front and probably will be sent to the front. i think it undermines support for the war. it could leave some to think we need a peace agreement and get out of this. the kremlin is focused on removing the blame from putin and putting it on others, including joe biden. >> speaking of blame, putin was forced to apologize for the way that the mobilization was carried out. as he tries to turn the

narrative of the war what consequences could it have for the united states and for the rest of the world? you would hope that the idea of annexation and if it is russian land we can defend our land with nuclear weapons. if you are sitting in the kremlin, that is what you are hoping. it will scare the west and the west will pull back saying end the war or stop providing weapons to ukraine. judging by what president biden is saying that is not going to happen. this war is go to continue. the kremlin hopes that it will help russia. i think in the end it will exacerbate tensions as if they could get even worse with the west and with the united states

and i think ukraine is going full speed ahead with as many weapons that they can get from the united states. >> we heard president biden say they would not recognize the annexation. the pentagon is working to form a new command to coordinate arming ukraine. creating a formalized command infrastructure. putin said the u.s. is becoming closer to becoming a comkcombat in this war. >> that is how the kremlin is going to depict it. but it has become a major operation. the united states is putting huge amounts of money into arming ukraine. i can see the logic that the kremlin has in terms of what weapons you supply, how do you

train the people to use the weapons, et cetera. i think it is important to remember, ken, that the kremlin is trying to depict this as a far with the west. knock down drag out conflict with the west at which the survival of russia is at stake. that is what they want to do. and the west is trying to say ukraine, let's get back to the reality of this. ukraine is defending itself from an invasion by russia. so there are two very different concepts of this. i think that it is important, at least for the west, to look at it very objectively and not to even answer these complaints by russia because they really are untrue. russia invaded ukraine. ukraine is defending itself. and that is simply the fact. >> yeah. that is what it all comes down to. i really appreciate all of your

analysis. thank you for taking the time. i really appreciate it. north korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles hours after kamala harris toured the demilitarized zone dividing the korean peninsula. it was the u.s. vice president's last stop on a trip to asia. alall right. an update on hurricane ian is ahead. we will tell you where and when the deadly storm is headed next. stayith us. inside, outside, big or small, angi helps you find the right so for whater you need done. with angi, you can connect with and see ratings and review just search or scroll to see upf on hundreds of projects. and when you book and pay throug you're covered by our happiness it's easy to make your home an a check out angi.com today. angi... and done.

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all right. before we go a quick update from florida, the state's death toll from hurricane ian has risen to at least 19 people, and the figure could rise as authorities assess the full scope of the damage from fort myers to orlando, entire communities have been devastated. countless cars and homes are in lakes of stagnant water. live power lines are down everywhere and tap water is not safe to drink.

hurricane ian is gathering strength and is a category 1 hurricane and is expected to make landfall near charleston, south carolina with a storm surge up to seven feet in places. tom brady along with buccaneers team owners announced they will be making donations. the glazer family is giving $1 million. brady tweeted the team was happy to head home to play the kansas city chiefs on sunday as scheduled but said so many people won't be able to do the same. brady spoke about the role sports play in times of crisis. here he is. >> sports has an amazing way of kind of healing wounds and bringing people and community together and a common interest and common good. any time you can participate in things like that it is a great feeling. i know it means a lot for us to play for our fans always. after what so many people have

gone through and the state. it is great to go out there and give them something to cheer about. >> with a hurricane bearing down on sunday's game potentially moved to minneapolis. the bucs left the tatampa area earlier inin the week to hold practices in miami. thanks for joining me. our coverage of hurricane ian continues next. please stay with us.

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