thiss ne >> tonight, state of emergency. florida bracing for ian, powerful and dangerous. >> this is a really, really big hurricane at this point. >> mandatory evacuations under way. >> we weren't expected to come right at us, but now it looks like it is. >> people across the state boarding up homes and businesses. the tampa bay area preparing for what could be their first direct hit in a century. plus, escape from russia. vladimir putin's new military draft fueling chaos and a massive exodus. more than 250,000 fleeing. >> i think this does speak to the domestic political problem that putin faces through this mobilization. >> others are staying, taking to the streets in protest.

violence erupting at recruitment centers. and sporty spice. ♪ tell me what you want, what you really, really want ♪ >> we all wanted girl power. >> the group, the soundtrack for generations. and could we soon see a spice girls reunion? >> i really hope so. we talk about it constantly. plus, asteroid strike. nasa's daring mission to save planet earth. >> three, two, one. >> oh, wow. >> the unprecedented dress rehearsal. >> fantastic! >> "nightline" will be right back. ♪♪ dry skin is sensitive skin, too. and it's natural. that's why aveeno® daily moisture lotion and body wash are formulated to be gentle on dry skin. with nourishing prebiotic oat and rich, soothing emollients. together this duo locks in moisture all day. for softer, healthier looking skin.

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good evening. thank you for joining us. there is a state of emergency in florida as hurricane ian turns closer to landfall. it's been more than 100 years since a storm as powerful and potentially dangerous could take direct aim at the tampa bay area. water from ian could potentially swallow the region, drowning homes and businesses, under up to 10 feet of storm surge. people across the state are packing up and boarding up. here is abc's chief meteorologist ginger zee from tampa, florida. >> byron, here along the hillsboro river, just one of the bodies of water so susceptible around tampa bay. so let me start you out with the

latest track. this shows you, and it has edged east over the last 24 to 48 hours. we've watched that cone kind of bend back. and what's ending up happening is you've got this stationary front that is going to kind of catch it, slow it down, and let it spin way too close to the coast here of florida. where it makes exact landfall is still unclear, but unfortunately, right now we still have the surge threat up, heavy rain inland. you could see 5 to even 20 inches of rain with this, and then tornadoes also a threat, all the way to the satellite coast or up to jacksonville. byron? >> our thanks to ginger. stay safe, my friend. there is turmoil and chaos across russia as vladimir putin's new military draft unleashes fury, protest, and flight from the country. some waiting up to 50 hours in traffic to cross the russian border into neighboring georgia. more than a quarter of a million russians are estimated to have left. others taking to the streets in protest. here is abc's tom sophie burrage.

. >> reporter: the road to freedom is a short distance but a long and arduous path. miles and miles of cars snaking along the russia-georgia border, where russian men and their families are desperate to cross oer. fearing they could be forced to fight in ukraine under putin's new military draft that could enlist 300,000 civilians. georgia now threatening to close its border, which normally can only be crossed in a vehicle. at one point today, te authorities allowing people to enter on foot because the crowds were so large. this man saying it took him three days to get to georgia from moscow. and reports that people are waiting 40 to 50 hours in their cars to cross over, an

exhausting but necessary journey, they say. this man explaining he is completely against the war and immediately fled with his family because putin will draft us to go and kill peaceful people in another country. that is an increasingly common sentiment, according to russia policy experts alex breedlove. >> i think this does speak to the domestic political problem that putin faces. suddenly you have 300,000 peoplg to be directly affected by the war, and then a pool of up to 25 million people and their families who also potentially could be included iia into othe the rush to exit russia causing a surge in demand for flights, with only the very rich now able to exit by air. an indirect ticket on google rights to kazakhstan on thursday is costing more than $11,000, more than a quarter million russians have fled since putin

announced the draft just a few days ago, according to independent russian media. protests breaking out in 38 cities around the country. human rights activists say more than 2300 people detained by police over the past six days. >> in recent years, we've seen significant repression against the opposition in russia. going out on the streets risks quite a bit if you're going criticize the government. but at the same time, i think for many people, there is a feeling that they do not want to go to war there. they do not want their family members to go to war. and that's why we're seeing many of these protests take place. >> reporter: protests and violent actions. today one man opening fire inside a draft office in siberia. hours earlier, cctv final circulate i don't think line showing another man throwing molotov cocktails at another office.

and yet others have made the agonizing decision to stay. tearful goodbyes and what could be final farewells with their loved ones before heading off to fight in putin's war. this 25-year-old student saying he was called up to the reserves in the afternoon with little advance notice. the kremlin had promised students wouldn't be called up. putin's mobilization a response to russia's failing military campaign in ukraine. an offensive by ukrainian forces in the northeast liberating more than 2,000 square miles. >> i think that there is this question about just how desperate putin might be. i think that the support for putin at this point is still strong enough that certainly it does not reflect a risk to him that he is suddenly going to lose power, that we might see some major domestic unrest that would threaten the regime. >> russian officials now stating

so-called referendums in occupied eastern and southern ukraine. bizarre scenes captured by security cameras inside apartment blocks as election officials carry ballot boxes door to door, accompanied by armed russian forces. people being asked if they want to join russia. the videos posted by ukrainian officials. by the end of this week, putin could suddenly declare that those ukrainian regions are part of russia. the west calling russia out. but even countries with warmer ties to moscow like turkey and kazakhstan also saying they will not recognize the results, and the white house saying putin has been lying all along about ukraine. >> he tried to call this some kind of special military operation when in fact it's a war of conquest. what you see inside russia right now, this call-up of troops, the sham referendum that they're trying to run in the occupied territories, these are definitely not signs of strength or confidence. quite the opposite. they're signs that russia and

putin are struggling badly. >> reporter: now an independent u.n. appointed commission has concluded that war crimes have been committed in ukraine, accusing russia of indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations. sexual violence against victims as young as 4, and executions. >> we were struck by the large number of executions in the areas that we visited. >> reporter: our team visiting a mass burial site in the newly liberated city of izyum. buried among the victims this woman's mother-in-law and her husband. >> she says so many people have died. too many people, she says. i'm sorry. >> reporter: in six months of war, more than 15 million

ukrainians have fled their country to save their lives and those of their children. that fear now reverberating in putin's own russia. >> our thanks to tom. coming up, sporty spice. spice up the lives of a generation, opening up about her life and struggles as a spice girl. i'm lindsey vonn, and ever since i retired from skiing, i've had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. you know, insomnia. before i found quviviq, an fda-approved insomnia medication for adults. you would not believe the things i used to think about when i couldn't sleep. hey, linds. i need you to sign this business contract. all 114 pages. lindsey, lindsey!! hey, lindsey! it's workout time. hey, big man, we're in the middle of something here. yeah, it's called physical fitness. just a couple dozen more questions, lindsey. don't forget to pack your phone charger for tomorrow morning's flight.

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mel c. is a member of one of the most successful girl groups of all time. the spice girls music and girl power movement inspiring generations. but behind the scenes, she struggled with life under the spotlight. she shares those details and more with abc's maggie rulli. >> we had this vision that we knew we wanted to be the biggest band in the world. we never entertained that we might not do it. we knew if we had that belief, then maybe possibly we could do it. >> reporter: mel c., aka sporty spice reflecting on the meteoric rise and lasting legacy of the spice girls. from wanna-be -- >> i tell you what i really want. >> so tell me what you really want. >> to star. ♪ ♪ thank you very much, i need somebody with a human touch ♪ >> to spice up your life. ♪ every boy and every girl, spice up your life, people of the world, spice up your life ♪

>> the soundtrack for generations. >> it's been quite a few decades now since some of these songs came out. they're still bangers. they're still so good today. >> they're kind of timeless in a way, aren't they? there was such a uniqueness to the spice girls that it's wonderful we have new generations of young people discovering it. >> reporter: in her new memoir "the sporty one," melanie takes us back to the days before spice mania when she was just a girl from northern england. >> you drew a melanie c. superstar into your high school notebooks. >> yeah. >> that's incredible. how did you have that sense of i'm going to do this, i'm going make it. >> i became single minded and was on that mission. >> reporter: a 20-year-old melanie showed up for an all female pop group. the rest is history. ♪ if you want to be my lover, you got to get with my friends ♪ >> reporter: their first single, wanna-be in 1996 reached number one in 37 countries. their debut album "spice" still the best-selling album from a

female group in history. the women revelled in celebrating their individuality. >> we were in rehearsals and looking in the mirror. and i remember the day. it was just like i was often in spor sportswear. i remember a little baby doll dress. why don't we just wear what we wear? a lot of people were it's a bit chaotic, it's not great on the eye. but it worked for us. and we were working with top of the pops magazine, and they gave us these nicknames that everybody has gone on to know. >> those nicknames, posh spice, scary spice, ginger spice, baby spice, and sporty spice stuck. >> for us, it was really fun because we were able to become caricatures of ourselves. and the thing, you know, many years have passed and so much has gone on. but when we get together, there is no denying we are those spice names. there is no getting away from it. >> you kind of always will be sporty. >> absolutely.

>> the band also used their voice to introduce the world to girl power. >> we famously shouted about girl power. and that wasn't our intention originally. we wanted to make music. we wanted to have fun. and then we were told by lots of people girl bands don't sell. young girls want to buy records by boys. and we were like no way. we want to do this for the girls. we have a point to prove. >> you guys came up with girl power before me too, before time's up. this really broke boundaries. >> yeah. women were finding more of a voice and being heard. and we were so lucky to be part of that wave. >> there are so many boy bands and so many boy acts. i think girls like to see some of the girls doing it for a change. >> those shouts of girl power soon heard around the world. >> ready. >> are you filming? >> go! >> their popularity in the late 1990s garnering dolls, clothing lines, and even a movie, "spice

world". >> i like the blond one. >> no, no, no. sporty. >> and in full disclosure, i was one of those preteens obsessed with the spice girls in the late 1990s. and in a career highlight, mel c. indulged me with a special lesson. >> i'm so excited because i'm learning from the master right now. this is like every dream i've ever had. >> so i think a good little spice girl's routine to learn is stop, yeah? excellent. okay. so we go ♪ stop right now, thank you very much, i need somebody with a human touch ♪ ♪ hey you, always on the run, got to slow it down, baby, got to have some fun ♪ >> how did i do? >> you were great. >> here you were, five young women on this ride of a lifetime. but you really were these five friends. >> you know, the thing which i love, when we look back, the video for "wanna-be" that was

very much how we operated. we were going into record labels before we were signed. we were going into publishing companies, and i was jumping on the table and doing a backflip, and we were playing our songs and causing mayhem wherever we went. >> even taking that mayhem and sense of fun to the royal family with a new famous meeting between the spice girls and a then prince charles. >> so good. >> haven't changed a bit. >> didn't he tell you he was so excited to meet you as well? >> he said it was the best day of his life. so there was a little bit of bottom patting. and some lipstick left on cheeks. >> but as their fame increased, so did the scrutiny. melanie became a target for tabloids. it can almost be toes forget how horrible some of those headlines were, especially about a young woman and her body. >> uh-huh. >> and the way she looks. >> uh-huh. >> were the comments from the

tabloids directly related to your disordered eating? >> i think it was a combination of things. i think the most painful thing here was i'd been open and honest. i was having mental health issues. i was struggling with my eating. and i gained some weight. and they continued to criticize me. and almost make fun of me. and thank goodness now we're much more open talking about things like depression and anorexia. >> it wasn't until after she went solo in 1999 with more emotional hits like "i turn to you" that the singer finally addressed the anorexia and depression she had been struggling with. >> i want this book to be of comfort to people. inmy experience, a lot of women were very cruel to ourselves. we speak to ourselves internally like we would never dare speak to another human being. but it's like you know what? you're enough. >> now a mom to a teenager, she

continues to perform, both solo and with her beloved spice girls. >> spice girls are still the spice girls. you guys have never broken up. >> no. no matter what, we're always there for each other. and we were back on stage just before the pandemic. victoria sadly wasn't with us. but she's still very much a part of the band. and we're still working on her for the next round of shows. >> a bit of a tease. will there be another round of shows? >> i really hope so. we talk about it constantly. and i'm sure it will happen at some point. ♪ if you want to be my lover ♪ >> our thanks to maggie. up next, asteroid strike. nasa boldly going where they've never gone before with a new test. music (i swear) jaycee tried gain flings for the first time the other day...and forgot where she was. you can always spot a first timer.

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and finally tonight, nasa's big test in preparation for possible asteroid strike. 7 million miles from earth, a spacecraft deliberately crashing into an asteroid to try to knock it off course. part of what nasa calls planetary defense. in this animation, scientists showcasing how it would work. the asteroid posed no real threat to earth, but scientists say it provided the perfect conditions for the all important test. >> oh, wow. >> and just hours ago, the real thing. all systems go. >> three, two, one. oh, my gosh! >> oh, wow.

>> the spacecraft hit the target, leading to cheers, hugs, and high-fives inside mission control. >> fantastic! >> it could be months before scientists know how much the asteroid was knocked off course. an that's "nightline" for this evening. catch full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night. life is busy. so, come to shell and get three things done at once. first, fill up with shell v-power nitro+ to help keep your engine running like new.