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Cat 1 Hurricane Ian Makes Landfall In South Carolina; Mayor Brenda Bethune (Myrtle Beach) Talks About The Situation In Myrtle Beach Amid Hurricane Ian Landfall; White House Responds To Russia Claim It Annexed Part Of Ukraine; Sarasota County: 2 Elderly Deaths Due To Oxygen Machine Outage. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired September 30, 2022 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: It's the top of the hour on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alisyn Camerota.

Hurricane Ian just made landfall as a category one storm on the South Carolina coast. It hit near Georgetown. That's between Myrtle Beach and Charleston. And just as it did in Florida, it's bringing life threatening storm surge and heavy rains. It currently has 85 mile per hour winds.

The tide has been going up in Myrtle Beach by a foot an hour. Look at some of these images on your screen right now of all of the flood waters there in Myrtle Beach. Now, in north Myrtle Beach, this pier collapsed during the storm. Obviously we'll see much more damage once the storm passes through this area.

And then in Florida, utter destruction after the West Coast got hammered. At least 25 people are dead as of last count. Officials warned though that that number will likely rise. Some areas like Fort Myers Beach are still impassable at this hour. Stores and homes there have been reduced to shells if they are even still on their foundations.

A local official says 90 percent of that island is now destroyed. Sanibel Island also wrecked. Its causeway was destroyed, as you know, so people who are on that island can only get off by boat or helicopter at the moment. The - let's go to Nick Valencia right now who is in Myrtle Beach, I believe for us live. Nick, tell us what the situation is.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn. The most significant damage we're hearing around this area is that pier that you just showed Emergency Management saying that some of the piers, several of the piers in this area have sustained damage. But what they're really concerned about at this hour is the wind and you can see just how intense the wind is here.

We're just getting a little bit of a calm portion in the hour here so far, but the intensity of this wind has really dramatically picked up and they're concerned that it will only continue to increase in intensity over the course of the next hour or two. The good news is that some of this water is receding. Just last hour, it was ankle deep. Right now, the water has slowly receded down (inaudible) down just a little bit here.

Thirteen thousand people remain without power throughout the county and there are some road closures around Myrtle Beach but for what we know now at this hour at this point, Myrtle Beach has, by and large been spared by the intensity of this storm. Though, that wind continues to pick up, it's not as rainy, so they're more concerned about the wind right now at this hour than any of the heavy rain that is not really expected going forward. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: That's really good to know, Nick. We're very happy that you do seem to have dodged a bullet though. Obviously, when we talk to you with your live shot, it seems as though the situation there is very intense. And as you say, thousands of people still without power. Nick, take cover. We will check back with you as soon as we can.

But right now joining us is the Myrtle Beach mayor, Brenda Bethune. Mayor, thank you very much for being here. Where are you and what's the situation around you right now?

MAYOR BRENDA BETHUNE, MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, I'm actually at home, looking out the window over at the ocean across the street. It's pretty scary sight.

CAMEROTA: I bet. We're looking at it on video and it's a scary sight, just the fierceness of the waves. And obviously, I know storm surge is a big concern, so what is your biggest fear for the next several hours?

BETHUNE: Mainly that people are not staying inside and I'm right on Ocean Boulevard, I'm seeing way too many cars passing by. And I think people just don't realize how dangerous it is to be out in these types of conditions.

CAMEROTA: Agreed. I mean, every time we see cars - people don't understand that they might be driving through - they don't know what they're driving through, basically.

[15:05:04]

And we've seen so many cars get stuck and obviously emergency personnel have to go out and rescue people. And so is there a shelter in place order? I mean, is there anything you can do about that?

BETHUNE: Well, it's a little too late at this point. The main thing we're trying to do is to get the message out to people to stay home and wait it out there. It's not worth risking your own life or our public service people's lives. Our first responders, they don't need to be out in this either.

CAMEROTA: Yeah, for sure. Obviously, I know, you've seen the devastation that Hurricane Ian brought to places like Fort Myers Beach and that whole area of Florida. And so in terms of your concerns for Myrtle Beach, is it storm surge or is it wind? What do you think Ian will do the most damage through there?

BETHUNE: Well, I'm hearing reports from our emergency management people that it's wind right now. We have one hotel and one business that have both lost their roofs. We have some traffic lights that are down and out. Getting reports of water damage, mainly to the south of us and to the north, near North Myrtle Beach. But I haven't heard of a lot of water damage yet in Myrtle Beach, so hopefully that will continue to be the case.

CAMEROTA: I mean, it sounds like from our Nick Valencia who was just reporting from Myrtle Beach. It sounds like you guys did basically dodged a bullet, though it's hard to see that as we look at the ocean right now. But it hit near Georgetown, which is south of you rather than Myrtle Beach taking a direct hit. But we have also heard from so many people that this is a historic storm like nothing they've ever seen before. I mean is - was Myrtle Beach able to be prepared for something as epic as that?

BETHUNE: We did do a lot to get prepared. And mainly, our staff were out this week, lowering the levels of our stormwater retention ponds, which is so important so that they could hold the capacity for the water that we were expecting. Cleaning out our ditches and other stormwater ponds.

So do - taking precautions like that will help. We have a great drainage system here in the city. We've invested a lot of money in it. And typically when we see storms, the - any flooding that we get is short-lived.

CAMEROTA: That's really good to hear. Well, Mayor Brenda Bethune, take care, stay safe. Thank you very much for your time. We really appreciate checking in with you. And we're thinking about everybody there in Myrtle Beach.

BETHUNE: Great. Thank you all so much. Take care.

CAMEROTA: Okay. Let's go to the White House right now because National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is speaking there. He's giving a briefing. He's expected to lay out the U.S. response to Russia having annexed illegally parts of Ukraine.

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: And if you'll indulge me just a word on what was a very important foreign policy development yesterday, President Biden hosted a historic U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit. He released the first ever U.S.-Pacific Island strategy. He announced over $810 million in additional expanded programs to help these countries combat the climate crisis, provide development assistance, enhance maritime security and more.

And finally, President Biden and all 12 Pacific Island presidents who joined him here at the White House for this summit issued a joint declaration to strengthen our partnership and to chart an affirmative vision for the region. Today, as you all saw just a little bit ago, President Biden issued a strong condemnation of Russia's fraudulent attempt to annex sovereign Ukraine territory. This act is a flagrant violation of international law, and it has no legitimacy. Unfortunately, it's also not surprising. It's straight out of Putin's

playbook, of deceit, disinformation and aggression and we've been warning about it for months. In fact, I've stood at this podium and warned about it several times, including as recently as last week. Based on our information, every aspect of this process was pre-staged and falsified under orders from the Kremlin.

The sham referenda were held at gunpoint. Ukrainian civilians were forced to cast ballots through coercion, intimidation and, in some cases, under the watch of armed guards. Saying that it somehow reflects the will of the people is an absurdity. The United States will never recognize these actions. The world will never recognize these actions. And we will stay the course as the President told you earlier today. We have built, led and maintained an extraordinary and coordinated response with our allies and partners and that response will continue.

[15:10:01]

As President Biden said, we will not be deterred.

So what does that mean specifically in reaction to what has just happened? First, as we saw from the Treasury Department and as the President and underscored, we are sending a clear warning from the United States government, supported by all of our G7 partners. We will sanction and impose export controls on any individual, entity or country that provides political or economic support to these attempts at annexation.

We have put in place authorities to enable us to do that rapidly and efficiently. We are also announcing new sanctions today that target additional Russian government officials and leaders, including State Duma members who are accomplices in these fraudulent actions and including the central bank governor.

We are also sanctioning Russian and Belarusian military officials and we have specifically targeted defense procurement networks, including international suppliers supporting Russia's military industrial complex.

Second, we will continue to provide military equipment so that Ukraine can defend its territory and its freedom. Today, President Biden will sign legislation from Congress that contains more than $12 billion in additional funding for Ukraine and we are grateful for the continued support.

There is no stronger, more bipartisan rebuke of what Russia has just done, no more timely, rebuke and no more assertive statement that we can make through resources and not just through words that we are going to continue to help Ukraine defend its territory and to de occupy those parts that Russia has occupied.

Earlier this week, we announced a significant new billion dollar arms package which included 18 new HIMARS for Ukraine as part of our long- term commitment to strengthening Ukraine's armed forces over the years ahead and we expect to have another announcement of immediate security assistance to announce next week.

Next, the United States and the international community have been crystal clear that we will use diplomatic tools at our disposal to fundamentally reject Russia's attempts to take its neighbor's territory by force. Today, the United States is supporting a resolution at the U.N. Security Council to condemn these sham referenda and to call on Russia immediately to withdraw its forces from Ukraine. If Russia seeks to shield itself at the Security Council, the United Nations will work with partners around the world to take action next week at the U.N. General Assembly.

Leaders around the world have spoken out about what's at stake the independence of the democratic nation of Ukraine, the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the very foundation of the United Nations' Charter and the modern international order. As the Secretary General ...

CAMEROTA: Okay. We've been listening there with the National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, talk about the strict and severe sanctions that the U.S. is now leveling against Vladimir Putin for his illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine. Basically, Jake Sullivan just said it was a fraudulent attempt to annex these parts. It has no legitimacy and the world will never recognize this.

Let's bring in CNN White House Reporter Natasha Bertrand, also with us live from Ukraine, CNN International Security Editor Nick Paton Walsh.

Natasha, let me just start with you. So obviously, there are more sanctions to be leveled. I mean, every time there's an - yet another package of sanctions, we hear how strict this is. How will this be different?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Alisyn, essentially what the U.S. has been doing over the last several months is studying how Russia has been able to circumvent the worst impact of the sanctions and now they're trying to course correct. Now, they are implementing new sanctions in an effort to try to cut off the supply chain that Russia has been able to continue having from other countries, for example.

So now, any countries that provide this kind of military, political economic assistance to Russia in a way that is deemed inappropriate by the U.S., by its Western allies, that will be subject to sanctions. And also, the U.S. has taken a very interesting step here, which is to impose sanctions on Russia's central banker. That is someone who the US believes has been exceptionally talented and adept at keeping Russia's economy afloat, even in the face of these withering sanctions that the U.S. and its allies have imposed.

So now, they've implemented these sanctions on her and it remains to be seen how, of course, those are actually going to impact her actions when it comes to keeping Russia's economy afloat here. But still, what this represents is, of course, a new step in the United States, trying to hold Russia accountable here and trying to implement sanctions that actually do work and that actually impact the Russian economy so that Putin can't continue his war of aggression there. CAMEROTA: So Nick, you're in Kramatorsk for us, so tell us what does

this annexation mean in Ukraine?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, frankly, I mean, even though in the Kremlin's viewpoint are now standing in somewhere they referred to as Russia.

[15:15:00]

It means absolutely nothing frankly in terms of how the battlefield has been prosecuted today and we have seen Ukraine make significant advances particularly around the strategic hub of Lyman, which has possibly thousands of well-equipped Russian troops in it who may now be encircled by Ukrainian forces. That could have a rolling impact positions behind it and some suggests significantly alter the Russian control of the territories, which it has just falsely suggested are now part of Russia proper.

Now, this is all part of the weird splitscreen world that we're seeing here and I think what may possibly be reflected in some of the measures announced by the United States is how this process while it seems to have raised the geopolitical stakes, we have Vladimir Putin talking about how nuclear weapons may be in the background, although he didn't specifically threaten to use them to defend Russia's newly claimed expanded territory here.

This is all essentially about trying to change the narrative so Russia feels it's, again, in control of events, but it does not alter the progress being made by Ukraine here and that has been stark and it continues in Ukraine's response to the pageantry we saw in the Kremlin has been to say, none of that changes anything we're doing. We're going to continue taking back territory and also too in almost the same breath in the same hours, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that they would be applying a fast track mechanism to join NATO.

Now, NATO's response to that is that any entry like that has to be unanimous decision by all 30 NATO members. But it's all essentially I think about both sides here trying to raise the stakes. Ukraine is trying to get under NATO's protective umbrella and Russia is trying to extend its protective umbrella to the occupied areas that it's still fighting for control of.

But we do have this key moment for Russia whose conventional forces here are simply unable to hold Ukraine's advanced back, Ukraine definitely having a sense of momentum and a real question is to exactly what cards left Russia has that it's willing to play. And I wonder whether or not the sanctions we've seen today, it's always been hard for us to find things left to sanction in Russia, to know when to press the harder buttons or to go slightly softer in escalating the way it punishes Russia's economy.

Today, it doesn't feel like they're taking massive steps and it may be because there's less left to do or they want to keep something potentially in reserve for the likely harrowing days and weeks ahead here, because this is just day by day getting worse in terms of rhetoric, worse in terms of Russian losses and internal Russian chaos, but also worse for Russia on the battlefield because Ukraine is getting more effective, better equipped and further on the front foot every day, Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Nick Paton Walsh, it's so helpful to have you on the ground there for us and explain what's happening. Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much for your reporting.

Okay. Back to Hurricane Ian, it was a category four as you know when it made landfall in Florida. It has just made landfall in South Carolina. But in Florida, several cities including North Port are still having water rescues underway right now. So we're going to take you there live.

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[15:22:27]

CAMEROTA: We're keeping our eye on South Carolina where Hurricane Ian just made landfall as a category one near Georgetown. Ian's maximum sustained winds at landfall were 85 miles per hour. As you can see, there's just so much heavy rain and gusty conditions and it will impact millions of people across the Carolinas and the Mid-Atlantic States over the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, in Florida, 1.8 million people are still without electricity. Now, in Sarasota County, the sheriff just announced the deaths of two elderly people who relied on oxygen machines and lost power. CNN's Carlos Suarez is live in North Port, that's in Sarasota County. So Carlos, are there still rescues going on?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, there's a rescue that's happening right now in airboat, and another boat just pulled up a few minutes ago with some folks that have been stranded in their home presumably for the better part of this day. The - a search and rescue team rather from Central Florida is working alongside the army as well as firefighters and folks who just live in this neighborhood trying to reach folks that have been stranded at home because of the severe flooding that we've seen the better off, for the better part of the last two days.

They're using any type of equipment they can, just get into some of these neighborhoods. And to give you a sense of the type of flooding that we're talking about, this is a canal. You can't see the bottom of that bridge there that crosses over into this part of Charlotte County. We are in the city of North Port just south of I-75.

On the other side of this neighborhood, we found a family that has been stuck at home for two days. Included in that family are four- month-old twins. We're told that they were rescued this afternoon after they began calling 911 saying that, again, they've been stuck inside of their home without power for the better part of 48 hours.

We also talked to one woman who said she made the decision to leave her home. She wanted to bring her grandmother with but her grandmother said no and she regretted that decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESTINY, GRANDPARENTS STAYED BEHIND DURING HURRICANE IAN: My grandparents are still at the house. We have animals there. They don't want to leave the animals, so whenever we left on the boat, it was just a scary feeling like you don't know if you're ever going to see them again, if you're going to see your house again, your animals again. So that's why I was a little shaken up. It's just you never know what you're going to come back to.

I mean, we already lost both of our cars, so it's very scary feeling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:25:00]

SUAREZ: All right. So the army is taking the folks that have been rescued from their homes. They were taking them to a nearby high school, but then we got word that there was flooding going on at that high school and so the decision was made to take the folks from that location to a church, the folks out here: police, emergency officials tell us they do not expect these waters to recede until at least tomorrow. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Carlos, what an emotional moment with that young woman and everyone can understand their - her fear about not seeing her grandparents. Thank you very much for that report.

So in Fort Myers, Florida, officials say 90 percent of the structures are gone. One city councilman says you cannot even ride a bike through there and rescues like the ones you were just saying with Carlos and the one you see here are still underway at this hour. The Coast Guard says it rescued 95 people yesterday.

Joining us now is Marty Lawing. He's the City Manager for Fort Myers. Marty, thanks so much for being here. I know how busy you are. And so, we just heard that an official in Fort Myers says 90 percent of the structures are gone for homeowners who have lost their entire homes, I mean - Marty, can you hear me?

MARTY LAWING: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Oh, good, good. Marty, Marty ...

LAWING: Yes.

CAMEROTA: ... for homeowners who've - we've been watching all the videos, for homeowners who've lost their homes or their homes looked destroyed, where do they even begin today?

LAWING: Well, I want to make one clarification before we go any further. Most of the footage you've seen is in Fort Myers Beach, which is a separate municipality than City of Fort Myers. And they're on the on the Gulf of Mexico, City of Fort Myers, we're 14 miles inland on the Caloosahatchee River, so that's the difference.

Now, we had significant impact here in Fort Meyers, heavy rains, hurricane force winds and record setting storm surge. And we had boats pushed out of our Yacht Basin or marina, cars floated down streets, water went in some homes, we had some structural damage to roofs, et cetera, but not at the magnitude that you've seen on the videos for the city of Fort Myers Beach.

CAMEROTA: Yeah, you're right. I appreciate that. That they are totally two distinct places and Fort Myers Beach got hit even harder. But still, Fort Myers has obvious - we've had our reporter, Randi Kaye, there and it has also been - it looks like devastated. Do you have power and water in Fort Myers right now?

LAWING: Partially, there were about 98 percent of the city was without power yesterday morning after the storm moved on. And now I think it's - somewhere in the 15 percent has been restored, so we've got a long way to go with power. But the local utility and some of the forces that have moved in to help are making good progress and we think that'll even ramp up over the next day or so.

A lot of our city is without water service or either has very low pressure, so some residents actually have no power or no water at this time. But both utilities are making significant progress in getting that rectified.

CAMEROTA: Marty, I was just in Fort Myers Beach and Fort Myers six months ago visiting a friend. We had a wonderful time. I was going around the pier there looking at all the adorable beach shops and I saw all of the development that was going on and all the construction, is that still going to be able to happen in Fort Myers now?

LAWING: Yes. I think it may slow them down for - slow the construction down for several weeks, but those are construction sites and contractors know handle - how to handle that situation, so I don't think there'll be much of a delay associated with new construction projects.

CAMEROTA: And so what about that first question, Marty, about homeowners? I mean for - in Fort Myers where people's homes are destroyed, where do they begin? What do you suggest - what steps do they take today?

LAWING: In Fort Myers, most of the people can get to their homes to assess the damage and whether that is water in the home or roof damage, damage to windows, et cetera, they'll be able to assess that or - and call their insurance companies and begin that process of submitting a claim. And if the house is not habitable at this time, there's a bout 12 shelters still open within Lee County that they can - they will be available to them for the next period of time.

[15:30:00]

CAMEROTA: Okay. That's good to know. Marty Lawing, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us and tell us what's happening in Fort Myers.