♪♪ good morning. happy tuesday, and breaking overnight hurricane ian has strengthened. >> yeah, and across the south millions are gearing up for that dangerous storm to hit. it is september 27th. this is "tay." >> here it comes. overnight ian makes landfall in western cuba, lashing the island with soaking rain and high winds and creeping closer to the united states. >> we must do everything we can to protect our residents. >> tampa, florida, bracing for a possible direct hit. hundreds of thousands ordered to evacuate. we'll have complete live coverage and al is tracking the

storm. getting out. a mass exodus from russia. men now fleeing to avoid vladimir putin's draft. just ahead, the growing backlash and the impact on the war in ukraine. taking flight. the new move to crack down on hidden airline fees. what you need to know with the busy holiday travel season fast approaching. and for commuters, unwelcomed news. >> this is the one thing i hate about coming out of work. >> inside the big comeback of congestion. how the pandemic has changed rush hour forever and how you can avoid all that traffic. those stories, plus back to work. the prince and princess of wales embarking on an historic trip this morning. their first since the queen's funeral. and king charles making a new move of his own. a live report from london straight ahead. and bull's-eye. nasa's d.a.r.t. makes history.

>> oh, my gosh! oh wow. >> slamming a spacecraft into an asteroid millions of miles away. >> it was just joy. you've got to enjoy the moment. >> the crash that should have everyone on the planet celebrating. today tuesday, september 27th, 2022. ♪♪ >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. good morning. welcome to "today." it is a tuesday morning. 7:00 a.m. on the west coast. we are glad you're with us. >> when nasa scientists get excited and cheer and literally jump up and down, you know a good thing has happened, and there it is. we will have a little bit more about nasa hitting the target with d.a.r.t. in a moment. first, let's get to hurricane ian. >> it made landfall in cuba overnight as a major category 3. you can see the wind and rain

pounding on the island this morning. this storm is moving north. it could actually gain strength. >> take a look at this video released by nasa, speaking of, overnight. from space you can really see how massive ian has become. >> evacuations now a top priority in the tampa area. highways there jammed. we can tell you that flying may not be an option even later today. tampa's main airport will suspend operations a 5:00 p.m. we have everything you need to know and we'll start with al's forecast. he is down in washington, d.c. for us this morning. good morning, al. >> good morning, guys. and so here is the latest on ian. it is a category 3 storm. 370 miles south-southwest of tampa, florida, 125-mile-per-hour winds, moving to the north at 12 miles per hour. right now 19 million people at risk for hurricane watches, hurricane warnings. tropical storm warnings and watches as well as it gets ready to make its way to to the north.

we look for it making its way across the gulf and we look at sometime thursday, early thursday morning, possibly to see landfall as a category 3 storm. it's going to slow down and the big problem is it is going to intensify. why? well, these gulf waters are up to 5 degrees above average and that warm water is fuel for this hurricane. 87 degrees as you get, as it comes up the path, 85 off of tampa bay. and so we've got a potential storm surge, especially in tampa bay. we are worried about the high tides wednesday 4:52 p.m., thursday 3:39 a.m. wednesday 3:12 a.m. we will be watching that very closely. the storm surge is where we get the greatest deaths and damage, and you can see 5 to 10 feet along the tampa bay area, 5 to 8 towards port charlotte and lower down to the south. the rainfall is a big problem as well. roads turning into rivers of moving water.

houses damaged or washed away. some places maybe up to 24 inches of rain or more and with these destructive winds we are talking about significant damage to houses and buildings. st. pete beach could see a wind gust of up to 127 miles per hour, and impassable roads and bridges, of course, extensive power and communication outages. these hardest hit areas may not have power for days to even weeks. so we will continue to track this. we will get an update from the national hurricane center in just about 50 minutes, and we will bring you the latest. guys? >> al roker for us. thanks. as ian creeps closer to florida millions are racing to make the final preparations. the clock is ticking. nbc's sam brock in gulfport for us this morning. hi, sam, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it's a powerful visual, as you can see behind me, some businesses already boarding up their windows with plywood, sandbags out to prevent flooding. this ice cream shop tryi t ease the tension with

bit of humor. the reality is the focus is on hundreds of thousands of people being asked to leave their homes as hurricane ian is strengthening this morning and approaching a population of 3 million people. this morning florida is rushing residents out of a possible disaster zone. hurricane ian has grown so large, so fast the storm, which is now nearly 500 miles wide, can be seen from space. the fear, it could hit florida this week as a major hurricane. >> even if it's off the coast of having really historic storm surge and flooding is very, very real. >> reporter: the county's on florida's gulf coast issuing mandatory evacuations, many starting today prompting bumper-to-bumper traffic on many highways. >> please be patient we expect to have to evacuate over 300,000 people. >> reporter: yet time is quickly running out. especially for those seeking sandbags or stocking up on supplies empty shelves at stores

throughout the region. this video from inside a tampa home depot shows generators, plywood, and gas cans flying off the shelves throughout the day florida now activating 5,000 national guardsmen, double the initial call-up from a few days ago. an additional 2,000 guardsme are on stand-by in neighboring states fema is on the ground and ready to provide help. it's why so many are preparing to leave this person who lives near an evacuation zone, that's not an option for her she is 38 weeks pregnant. >> getting in a car makes me nervous as well because i would have to deliver somewhere that my doctor is not there. >> reporter: for others who have not been ordered to leave yet the scars from past hurricanes weighing on them heavily in mexico beach, florida, they are busy filling sandbags, remembering all too well category 5 hurricane michael's destructive power in 2018. many there taking the tried and

true advice, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. in just two counties, hillsborough and pinellas, there are roughly a million plus people in evacuation zones today is going to be crucial, crucial hours. tampa's airport closing at 5:00 today but not before the final flights help to get people out back to you. >> sam, thank you. of course, we will have the latest updates on ian throughout the morning. ukraine. fierce fighting continues to rage while in russia violent protests are spreading over vladimir putin's call-up of hundreds of thousands to join the fight. nbc's erin mclaughlin is on the ground in eastern ukraine. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, hoda. this is the aftermath of a ferocious battle that took place here in the kharkiv region a stark example of the brutality of this war and a big reason why so many russians are dodging the

draft. this morning russia scrambling to contain the chaos as men fleeing the draft shows no signs of slowing video appearing to show miles of cars lined up at the border to neighboring countries. the government responding to heated anti-war protests last weekend and violence at recruitment centers. a new video appearing to show one recruitment center on fire yesterday during a meeting with president putin the leader of belarus, a russian ally, condemning what he claims are tens of thousands dodging the draft. let them run, he says, claiming russia has enough draftees showing up showing up for draft-age men living in russian occupied areas ukraine it's not an option not only are they not letting men 18 to 35 out, some are going missing. >> they go missing right? they drag them out of their homes. and take them somewhere. >> reporter: ukrainian officials allege men and women suspected

of pro ukrainian ties being kidnapped from the now liberated village of tbilisi while intense fighting drove most of them out. ukrainian prosecutors say 80% of this village was evacuated to russia they weren't allowed to go to ukrainian-held territory now the streets are eerily quiet. residents claim there is evidence the russians turned the back of the local high school into a torture chamber they electrocuted the prisoners like this, he alleges, claiming the russians left their call sign on a nearby wall. this morning the british ministry of defense is warning russia could move to annex russian-occupied areas of ukraine by the end of the week, noting president putin is expected to address both houses of russian parliament on friday. hoda? >> thank you here at home with the holiday travel rush on its way, a big change is in the works when it comes to booking flights. under a new proposal from the biden administration hidden

airline fees would become perhaps a thing of the past. stephanie gosk is at laguardia airport with details. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. air travel like so many things costs more these days. now the federal government is demanding that airlines and travel websites be upfront about those extra costs, things like checking a bag and seat selection as soon as a price is listed so there are no surprises later. this scramble to get the holiday plane tickets is on. followed by the ticket shock compared to last year, average domestic fares are up 43% for thanksgiving and up 39% for christmas. those high prices include extras li■(ke checking a bag and change fees■g the federal government proposing new rules to ensure airlines and travel sites are transparent about extra costs upfront as soon as a price is listed. customers would no longer have to search for fees tied to

things like checking bags, canceling or changing flights, and guaranteeing seats with family the white house says the new rules would force airlines to be more competitive, driving down prices. >> are these new rule changes necessary? >> no, they are not necessary. all the information of this proposed rule is about is currently available on our websites. >> reporter: the president of airlines for america, a trade association. >> we don't need really the government to tell us to do it our carriers are so fiercely competitive, it's unbelievable.