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Storm Kills at Least 19, Now Taking Aim at South Carolina; Moscow to Declare 18% of Ukraine Part of Russia; Harris on Pyongyang Missile Launches: 'Clearly a Provocation'. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 30, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.

[00:01:09]

It seems Hurricane Ian is not done yet. After leaving Florida with a rising death toll, ongoing rescues and looking like a war zone, this killer storm is gaining strength, right now a Category 1, bearing down on Charleston, South Carolina, with landfall expected later Friday.

The death toll in Florida stands at 19, a number which almost is certain to rise in the coming days. The U.S. president on Thursday warning of a substantial loss of life from Ian, which one official has described as likely the biggest natural disaster his state has ever seen.

And that has triggered the biggest disaster response in Florida's history, tens of thousands of emergency workers deployed statewide. At this hour, almost 2.2 million homes and businesses remain without electricity. Large areas of the state are underwater. Meteorologists say Ian produced a one-in-1000-year rainfall, and after touring some of the worst-hit areas, Governor Ron DeSantis described the storm surge as biblical.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Some of the damage was, you know, almost indescribable: to see a house, just sitting in the middle of Estero Bay. Literally, must have gotten picked up, flown because of the massive wind speed and the storm surge, and deposited in a body of water. There was cars floating in the middle of the water. Some of the homes were -- were total losses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ian is expected to hit South Carolina around the same time on Friday as high tide, greatly increasing the potential for flooding. And the state governor there is warning human error, the biggest risk factor the state is now facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. HENRY MCMASTER (R-SCC): We know what's coming. So there's a little bit of wiggle room in exactly how strong the rains, and how strong the winds will be. But the biggest variable is human reaction. It's people failing to take the necessary precautions. That's the real danger that we have, is -- is human error.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And while Ian has now moved away from Florida, the deadly threat from flash flooding and heavy rain remains. The full extent of damage caused by Hurricane Ian will not be known for days, if not weeks. But when describing the devastation, officials in Florida have repeatedly used words like "historic" and "catastrophic."

Here's CNN's Ryan Young.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at this mess.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 2 million people still without power after Ian left behind a wake of destruction in Southwest and Central Florida.

BRYAN GARNER, FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT: Flying debris, falling trees, tornadoes, life-threatening storm surge, and flooding have created significant restoration challenges across the state. And in some cases, the need to rebuild rather than simply repair parts of our energy grid.

YOUNG (voice-over): As crews rushed to restore power, floodwaters continue to rise, leading to water rescues across the Orlando and Kissimmee area. Crews are using air boats to pull people from their waterlogged homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 2004, we had a hurricane, but you know, it wasn't that bad. I mean, we took off, we evacuate. And when we came back, there was water in the street. But not like this.

YOUNG (voice-over): The destruction in Southwest Florida, massive. Homes underwater. Torn apart, and some even on fire. People's entire lives uprooted by Ian.

These images show how powerful Hurricane Ian was when it slammed into Southwest Florida as as a Category 4 storm, bringing with it destructive wind, record rainfall, and storm surge reaching 12 feet in some places.

DESANTIS You've got a hurricane that's a massive hurricane coming at 155 miles an hour, producing this type of storm surge, dumping rain, causing flooding. If you can make it through that, then you probably did it -- did it pretty good. So this is a 24/7 effort to stabilize and to restore.

YOUNG (voice-over): And Ian swamped this hospital in Port Charlotte from both above and below, forcing hospital employees to move patients.

[00:05:07]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very, very quickly, we got people out of the ICU. The problem then ended up being that this water gushed down the stairwells, as you see there and onto other floors.

YOUNG: Yes, we saw scenes of flooding all over central Florida. Residents say they've never seen the water rise so fast. The rain was unrelenting for hours, and people were just hoping to dry out sometime soon.

Reporting in Orlando, Florida, Ryan Young, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Live now to meteorologist Karen Maginnis, who's tracking the path of Hurricane Ian for usu.

So where it is now? And where is it heading, more importantly?

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Now, this is very interesting, John. You would think we'd have very solid information and we wouldn't see very much wiggle room as far as what is going on right now.

But in fact, the National Hurricane Center issued an advisory that came out at the top of the hour, 11 p.m. Fifteen minutes later, we saw the winds associated with Ian have increased. Now 85 miles an hour. That may seem like such an incremental, nothing kind of bump up, but as meteorologists, when we see things like that, we know something is evolving with the system.

And indeed, right now, 85-mile-an-hour winds. It's moving towards the North and Northeast, and yes, those vulnerable areas along coastal South Carolina, then extending up towards North Carolina. It is very vulnerable, because it is low-lying area. Ecologically speaking, it is also very fragile.

In addition to that, Charleston, South Carolina is very historic. All of these areas are magnificent in their own way, but Charleston near and dear to my heart, because it is such a historic city and very prone to flooding. We've said that all day long, because it is the low country.

So as it tracks towards the North and Northeast at about ten miles an hour, so it's not moving slowly, not as slowly as it moved when it was making its way; took about 20 hours to make it across the peninsula of Florida. But it is moving at about ten miles an hour.

It is not a classic-looking hurricane by any means, but frankly, when it got out here and then we watch it in with that Gulf Stream area that is just off the coast here, we saw that with Hugo back in 1989.

That is a warm current that is just kind of parallel to the coast, to the East Coast of the United States. That was fuel to increase Hugo. But now we're talking about Ian. Different situation; not entirely different.

But we do think that there will still be some energy that's going to be left over. And so these coastal areas are going to be very fragile and very prone to flooding.

Now, here's the other shift. And that is, as it moves towards the North, you can see where this cone is, between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, whereas before, it seemed as if it were more aimed in that vicinity of Charleston. And that is where the Ashley River and the Cooper River come together. A lot of people have moved there, because they find just how divine Charleston is.

But now we're looking at this area a little bit further towards the North. Now Charleston, you're not out of the woods, but John, we're going to keep another eye on it. And in the next 20 minutes, I'll have another update. Maybe we'll get some additional information for you.

VAUSE: Karen, thank you. I remember Hugo. That's a very good comparison to make. We appreciate that. Thank you.

Well, judging by early damage assessments, the total cost of Hurricane Ian will be in the tens of billions. One city alone, Naples, just to the South where Ian made landfall in Florida. The damage to government buildings, vehicles and equipment, as well as the city's pier, $20 million, according to city officials.

As for private homes and businesses? A drive-by assessment by the city manager put the damage bill at more than $200 million.

Whatever the cost, recovering and rebuilding is likely to take time. And for more on that, Commissioner Rick Locastro is on the phone from Marco Island. He's one of five district commissioners for Collier County, which includes the city of Naples.

Ricky, thank you very much for being with us once again. When we were talking last night around this time, the biggest fear was from the damage caused by that 12-foot storm surge. So now what's your assessment?

RICK LOCASTRO, COLLIER COUNTY COMMISSIONER (via phone): Well, I spent all day yesterday driving the community in my district. So it's Marco Island, Isles of Dupree (ph), and a big chunk of Naples falls into District 1. And I got to see firsthand the damage.

Folks that didn't evacuate, obviously, were on hand, and they were starting to pull a lot of things out of their houses. But to see the level of water rise, the level of flooding was something I'd never seen before.

I mean, you're talking people that had four or five feet of water in their houses.

And I heard from a lot of people who are currently evacuated, wanting to know when they can come back. The roads are open, and so nothing is impeding them from coming back. But a lot of them are going to be really surprised, really shocked at the devastation that we've had here, due to that excessive storm surge.

[00:10:04]

VAUSE: And when you talk recovery here, are we talking in terms of weeks? More likely, months? Do you have a timeline here? Any idea of ow long it will be?

LOCASTRO (via phone): Way more than months. And even when I heard you say that a few officials are giving sort of estimates for damage, No. 1, I think it's really premature. Because I think there's a lot of things that we haven't even seen yet.

I spent some time talking with the senior leadership from our utility company. And one of the reasons why we all still are without power in most places. I mean, Marco Island's totally dark. I would say the vast majority, vast percentage of my district is still all totally in the dark. Is instead of repair, as you would have sometimes from normal storms, where things have been knocked out, and transformers.

There's so much damage due to the excessive amount of water from the surge that you're talking about replacement of major components, transformers. Major, you know, pieces of our utility system down here. Just for the power alone. Not to mention, you know, all the other damage that we've -- that we've -- that's impacted our community here.

VAUSE: And just to be clear, the power grid, it wasn't like the situation in Puerto Rico, where it was in, you know, pretty bad shape before a hurricane arrived. What was the power grid like around your area, around Marco Island and around Collier County? It was -- what, new, fairly well, fairly good shape?

(CROSSTALK)

LOCASTRO (via phone): -- around here. But you can only do so much to protect yourself against that type of -- of seawater hit. You know, this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime storms.

And as I said before, this one was less about wind for us, and it was more about the storm surge. We had recently, in 2017, we were recently hit by Hurricane Irma, which was a strong Cat 4. But that was more of a classic hurricane.

I heard your last caller say there's -- there was nothing classic about this -- this hurricane. And that could not be more -- more true. The -- the high levels of storm surge. A lot of times that are estimated. But then many times, you get much less than what is estimated, because they're trying to give you estimates on the side of caution.

This hurricane, the way that it hit us, and we were on that Southern, Eastern side of the eye, so maybe the eye didn't hit us directly. But we were on, as they would say, that dirty end of the hurricane impacted my community directly.

And these are coastal communities. These are little pieces of paradise that are all along the water. So the storm surge was something that was horrific for us, and we saw every inch of what was projected. And I saw the damage yesterday firsthand throughout our county, and it's extensive.

VAUSE: Very quickly, for the second night, Collier County is under a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. Why is that being called? Why is that needed?

LOCASTRO (via phone): You know, I mean, that's normal, just to ensure that we keep -- it really helps our first responders and our sheriffs and whatnot. You know, to keep people in their homes and, you know, to make sure that we don't have any kind of -- it's more of a preventative.

And I'm hear to tell you, John, I got several updates yesterday on the big heavy muscle (ph) movement type of things that we have going on in our community. And we have had no issues with the curfew or pushback from people.

I think folks know when you don't have power, when you have an entire, you know, huge chunks of your county, of your community that are in the dark, it's a matter of just public safety.

And down here, people understand that. You know, this is a -- this is a part of Florida that, you know, we're no stranger to these type of storms. And so folks know that that's part of the checklist to ensure public safety and to, you know, have a proper and safe environment for our first responders that are out there, especially -- especially in the evening.

VAUSE: Rick Locastro. Thank you so much for being with us, Rick. You -- it sounded like you need to give your voices a rest, but we appreciate your time on the phone.

LOCASTRO (via phone): Yes, sir.

VAUSE: Thank you very much. Stay safe.

LOCASTRO (via phone): Good talking to you, John.

VAUSE: You, too. Thank you, sir.

LOCASTRO (via phone): Bye.

VAUSE: Well, Southwest Florida devastated by hurricane, Ian destroying lives and leaving communities in shambles. Survivors' stories after a short break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYDNEY VAN HORN, SURVIVED HURRICANE IAN: Being so hard-working honestly doesn't matter. It just is destroyed, and it's ruined. And then you have to start all over again. And honestly, where do you start? How do you start in this?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:18:43]

VAUSE: Hurricane Ian again taking aim at the Southwestern United States coast, after cutting a deadly swath through the center of Florida.

Scenes of destruction, with debris scattered across the disaster zone. Homes are still submerged from the storm surge that engulfed parts of the state.

At least 19 deaths have been connected to Ian, and officials confirm at least 700 rescue statewide. Those numbers, though, are expected to rise.

More than 2 million homes and businesses still without power. And Ian is now churning over the Atlantic as a Category 1 hurricane. Forecasters say the storm is strengthening, expected to make a second landfall in South Carolina in the coming hours.

When Ian made landfall on Wednesday, Fort Myers was one of the first communities to take a direct hit. High winds and heavy flooding left the city devastated. And CNN's Randi Kaye is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Hurricane Ian hit, this woman was alone in her home.

GAIL SIMS, SURVIVED HURRICANE IAN: When the surge took out my sliding glass doors, I mean, within ten seconds the water was up to my armpits. And at that point, you know, it was just struggling to try and get out of the house.

KAYE (voice-over): Gail Sims is 85 years old. She didn't evacuate her home in the River's Edge mobile home community in North Fort Myers, because she thought the hurricane was heading more toward Tampa. But when it didn't --

SIMS: We got clobbered with all the furniture and stuff that was floating inside. That's how I got this. I got shoved into the wall. And anyway, when I got the front door open, and there was a surge, and it -- it took me to the middle of the yard. And I fought to get back on the porch.

[00:20:15]

KAYE (voice-over): Gail suffered some bumps and bruises, but luckily, her neighbor, Tom Podgorny, was just a few doors down, riding out the storm with him family. When he saw Gail's car, he knew she may need his help.

KAYE: What did you find when you want to Gail's house?

TOM PODGORNY, RESCUED NEIGHBOR DURING HURRICANE IAN: I couldn't go at first, because the river was coming across at 40 miles an hour.

I found her on the front porch, kind of in water, in a chair, shaking really bad, kind of hypothermic. Calmed her down. And then we made a long, slow walk in four feet of water to my house.

KAYE: You're 85. How grateful are you that somebody came and rescued you?

SIMS: Yes. Tom -- Tom is a blessing.

KAYE: A blessing?

SIMS: A blessing, yes.

KAYE: She told me you're a blessing.

T. PODGORNY: Well, she's a blessing. I don't know about me. She's a blessing.

KAYE: What made you go over and check on her?

T. PODGORNY: I love her. I mean, there are -- you know, there's a lot of great people on every street like this in America.

KAYE (voice-over): Meanwhile, Tom and his family have their own story to tell.

T. PODGORNY: It was fine until some water started coming in the back from the river, and we were bailing until water started coming in the front. By then, we got 5, 6 feet of water in the house.

KAYE: Was it scary?

MADELINE PODGORNY, SURVIVED HURRICANE IAN: Yes, it was a little scary. It was scary when it kind of crashed through the windows and the doors.

KAYE: The water?

M. PODGORNY: Yes, it was like a big -- a big wave came through the windows and doors.

KAYE: That sounds terrifying.

M. PODGORNY: Yes, it was really terrifying.

KAYE (voice-over): Another neighbor, Marvin Johnson, told me the water came up two feet in this house. He rode out the storm with his three dogs.

KAYE: How come you didn't evacuate?

MARVIN JOHNSON, SURVIVED HURRICANE IAN: It was safer in the house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I missed you for a while.

KAYE (voice-over): Throughout the day, a steady stream of neighbors checking on neighbors, and homeowners returning to assess the damage and take whatever they could save, no matter how small.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had to pick up our gecko, my wife's leopard gecko. She's had it for 22 years. So --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That thing used to be way over here.

KAYE (voice-over): This couple had evacuated but took us inside their home to survey the damage.

VAN HORN: It's very flooded. It's ruined, completely ruined, the fridge is on the floor. The couches are turned upside-down. The toilets are on the floor. There is water seeking in our cabinets. Everything's flooded. Everything is ruined.

KAYE (voice-over): They'd only been living here a year before the hurricane hit.

VAN HORN: It just is destroyed, and it's ruined, and then you have to start all over again. And honestly, where do you start? How do you start in this?

KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, Fort Myers, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Evan Peterson is the regional communications manager with the American Red Cross. He joins us this hour from Orlando in Florida. Evan, thanks for taking the time to be with us.

EVAN PETERSON, REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Thank you so much for making the time to talk to me. We really appreciate you all getting this message out there to your viewers.

VAUSE: Thank you, absolutely.

Now, look, in the hours after Ian made landfall on Wednesday, you had tens of thousands of people in Florida headed for safety in, what, more than 200 shelters that you are operating by the Red Cross.

What are those numbers looking like tonight in these overnight hours?

PETERSON: That's correct, yes. The last night's numbers we had were just over 30,000 people who were taking shelter in these pre-storm evacuation shelters, about 260 of them either run by the Red Cross or our community partners. And that required a volunteer disaster staff, primarily volunteers, of more than 700 people all across the state.

Tonight, those numbers, they're shifting a bit. We are expecting them to go up. But because the storm has primarily moved out of Florida, right now, we're taking an assessment of the damage. We're talking with local emergency management services all across the state, as well as local municipalities. What are they seeing in their community now that they've come out of their shelter.

Fortunately enough, we did a lot of storm prep ahead of Ian making landfall. So as the need arises and we need to shift around resources and open stuff up, we are able to do so accordingly to those needs.

VAUSE: And just on the issue of destruction here, it's likely -- I mean, we haven't really got an official word on what the end total here is, but it's going to be extensive. It's going to be widespread, just by the size of the storm.

How long will the Red Cross offer shelter, especially to those who really have nowhere else to go?

PETERSON: Certainly. Well, the Red Cross has made its mission to combat and eliminate human suffering wherever it is. And whenever there are disasters like this, we are committed to staying on the ground and helping people for as long as we are able to, as long as they will welcome us.

So we are going to, again, right now we're taking care of those immediate needs, and start transitioning once we get the timing communication with emergency management services, with local municipalities' approval, to that long-term care and figuring out how we can help people get back on their feet and assessing what their needs are.

VAUSE: And it's still early, obviously, but clearly, there will be a lot of long-term needs, it seems, after Ian.

[00:25:0]

PETERSON: That's correct. We've heard from the governor. We've heard from the Hurricane Center. This is one of the top four most aggressive and total damage hurricanes to ever hit this state. This is something that they're calling catastrophic.

And we know that, as we continue to do damage assessment, that this is going to be something that is not going to only impact people for the days ahead but weeks and months and possibly even years to come. And we're going to be here to help people get through it.

VAUSE: And just in the immediate term, there could be another state impacted by Ian. It has once again headed over -- over water. It's gained strength and reached a hurricane status and seems to be ready for a second landfall somewhere in South Carolina, maybe around Charleston in about 12 hours or so.

Is the Red Cross ready to deal with two natural disasters, if you like, in two states at the same time?

PETERSON: Absolutely. The Red Cross has been dealing, for as long as we've been around in this country, with multiple disasters going on at any given time, not just the big disasters like the wildfires out in California to the major hurricanes here in Florida, but even just the home fires that happen, even in Atlanta, for example, where I'm from back Georgia. We are constantly responding to those overnight home fires.

So big or small, the American Red Cross is going to be there to help people, make a difference, and we're constantly planning and preparing for the next big thing to come.

VAUSE: At this point, as far as survivors from Hurricane Ian and the Red Cross, what do you guys need, more than anything else?

PETERSON: I would say there are two things right now that we could really use. First is blood. We did a really good job, pre-storm landfall for Ian, getting hundreds of blood products from all across the country onto the shelves of medical centers and hospitals and EMS centers so that, as they were needed when this emergency started, doctors and EMS crews were able to grab it off the shelves and go.

But while we kept those shelves full for now, we know we're going to need more supplies coming in. So I would encourage people, if you have a blood appointment on the books, please keep that appointment.

And if you haven't made an appointment, then please call up the Red Cross or go to RedCross.org and make a time to donate.

Additionally, monetary donations are greatly needed. I know sometimes people want to donate other things -- food, clothing. Right now, because of what we're trying to figure out in terms of the needs at these communities, that would actually do more harm than good, if you were to donate to us, because we don't have the resources to process and sort it all.

But with making a monetary donation, we're able to spend that money most effectively immediately in these communities to help them.

The easiest way to do that is go to RedCross.org. You can make a donation there. You can call 1-800-Red-Cross and talk to someone and make a monetary donation.

Or if you don't even want to deal with somebody, simply text the word "Ian," "I-A-N," one word, to 90999, and it will automatically make a ten-dollar donation, going towards this hurricane relief.

VAUSE: Great pitch at the end. Evan, thank you so much. That is good information, because people do want to help, and it's good to get it out there. So appreciate it, and we appreciate what you're doing there in Florida. Thank you.

PETERSON: Thank you.

VAUSE: And you can find more ways to help the victims of Hurricane Ian. Please go to CNN.com/impact.

Well, while Georgia and the Carolinas prepare for round two with Hurricane Ian, in Florida, they're only now counting the costs in terms of lives and property damage. Those numbers are only rising. More on that when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:51]

VAUSE: Thirty-two minutes past the hour. Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause at the CNN Center. At least 19 deaths have been reported so far from Hurricane Ian in

Florida. On first light Thursday brought the first chance for many to assess the extent of Ian's destruction.

From Fort Myers to Orlando, entire communities have been left devasted. Countless cars and homes now sit in lakes of stagnant water. Power lines are down. Tap water is not safe to drink.

Pleasure boats normally tied up in marinas, left high and dry in the middle of residential areas.

The recovery costs will be staggering. The U.S. president, Joe Biden, set the federal emergency response in motion, with a major disaster declaration on Thursday. While visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters, he said the preliminary reports from Florida are not good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida's history. The numbers are -- are still unclear, but we're hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ian left Florida as a tropical storm but soon regained strength out over the Atlantic to become a Category 1 hurricane. Again, CNN's Nick Valencia is each in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Myrtle Beach, residents are bracing for that impact from Hurricane Ian. Right now, we're at Myrtle Beach State Park, where the waves are already starting to look rough. You can see behind me, that's a lot more rough than it usually is. In fact, there's a double red flag warning in effect, meaning the local officials here want no one in that water.

It's actually surprising to not see anyone in the water. You usually see one or two surfers trying to test their limits.

There is a hurricane warning in effect. There are some gusts of winds. Probably around 20 to 25 miles per hour. It is a factor (ph) wind at this point. There's only a light drizzle.

But the major impact of the hurricane expected to come into the overnight and morning hours.

A short time ago, I did speak to the Horry County emergency management. They tell me that they are in wait-and-see mode, knowing that they are soon going to feel the impacts of the hurricane. As I'm just getting hit by another gust of wind here.

We know that there is a potential for major flooding, especially along the coast. Right now, though, there's no mandatory evacuations as they just wait and see for the worst to come.

[00:35:04]

Nick Valencia, CNN, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Meteorologist Karen Maginnis joins us again with the very latest on Hurricane Ian.

And you mentioned again that it's sort of deviating off that path that we were all expecting. Where is it now?

MAGINNIS: Well, right now, we're watching it. It is just off the coast. The deep convection is off the coast of South Carolina. And I do think that this is where our eyes are going to be focused. We had singularly just kind of focused on Charleston, because it's so vulnerable. It's historic, it would be devastating. Not just patrols but all these other areas like Hilton Head, Buford, into Folly's Beach and Sullivan's Island you.

You may remember with Hurricane Hugo. So decimated that area back in 1989. Well, we're not looking at a classic hurricane anymore. As it makes its second pass across the mainland United States after having moved across Puerto Rico, the peninsula in Florida now taking aim probably along coastal South Carolina. The deep conviction is not there yet but it is definitely on its way.

Here we do have our latest information: 85 mile-an-hour winds. So that's up about ten miles an hour from what we saw on our last report on 5:00, the wind cost of the round -- moving to the North and Northeast.

But this wind field is enormous. It's 600 miles, extending all the way from the coastal sections of North central Florida all the way up through Georgia into South Carolina and North Carolina.

And you are going to feel the effects of this increasing as we go through the early morning hours a then about midday. We think about midday or early afternoon is when we are going to anticipate landfall.

Where is landfall going to be? Difficult to say now. If you had asked us about six hours ago everyone was staring at Charleston but now perhaps somewhere between Charleston with Myrtle Beach.

I don't want you to think that Charleston is going to not be impacted by this. They certainly will, because we know Charleston is deeply affected by the springtime rain or thunderstorms. It floods very easily.

Still, a beautiful area. But here's what we think. It's out of the warm waters here. It's going to travel towards the North, and its last pass it doesn't here as if Charleston is going to be kind of in that bulls-eye, with wind gusts perhaps 60 miles an hour.

However, it does look like midday. It is high tide. And we could see some of the storm surge there between three and seven feet certainly possible. And it will continue this way, more towards he North. As it does, it's going to wring itself out. But a lot of these areas are still very vulnerable.

John there's so much information. I'll be back just at the top of the hour. And we kind of expand on what we know more on hurricane Ivan (ph) now.

VAUSE: Worth sticking around for. Karen we appreciate that. Thank you.

Well, Vladimir Putin is about to illegal annex Ukrainian territory on the back of a shame referendum. And after the break, why a signing ceremony in the Kremlin and a celebration in Moscow's Red Square won't make this farce any more credible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:52:15]

VAUSE: Coming up to 42 minutes past the hour. Welcome back.

Florida only now counting the costs of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian. Massive fields of debris littering some of the beaches along the Southwest coast. Some areas are still flooded from the massive storm surge.

CNN's Bill Weir witnessed the sheer devastation in one community.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: this is just unbelievable. The amount of damage in this one neighborhood, but between the river and San Carlos Bay, Ian just wrecked this thing.

I've been talking to locals who tell me that the water came up so fast, chin high. A lot of retirees, elderly folk, families in here, working class. Sort of manufactured housing here. More expensive condos near the river. You've got a mix here, a socioeconomic mix.

And ultimately, it comes down to where do you have to go from here? This is not stable. These people have lost everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ian is now back over the Atlantic moving towards South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane, forecast to make a second landfall in the coming hours.

The stage is now set for Vladimir Putin to announce the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian provinces after widely discredited referendums.

In just a few hours, a signing ceremony will be held at the Kremlin. The Russian president expected to deliver a major speech.

According to Moscow-backed officials in those four provinces, voters overwhelmingly supported joining Russia, but there have been multiple reports of election officials, escorted by armed Russian soldiers, moving from door to door, with many votes cast at gunpoint.

This video is from occupied Zaporizhzhia, but CNN cannot verify the location. The referendums have been dismissed as illegal and a sham in much of the West.

On Thursday, the U.N. secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, condemned any annexation effort as a violation of everything the international community stands for. And the U.S. President, Joe Biden, made it clear it's a nonstarter for Washington.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States will never, never, never recognize Russia's claims on Ukraine sovereign territory. The so-called referenda was a shame, an absolute sham, and the results were manufactured in Moscow.

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VAUSE: CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now live from London with more. And Nada, we know that the script essentially for this was written in back in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea.

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, John. We have seen this before, that pretext being laid out by those sham referenda in those four key regions in Ukraine, much as we saw with Crimea in 2014, that's supposed overwhelming vote in majority in favor of joining the Russian federation, repeated once again now in these four key regions.

[00:45:08]

We saw those results announced earlier this week, an overwhelming majority, as was expected, really, by the international community.

This is no surprise. We've seen this played out before by the Kremlin. Of course, this has been widely criticized by members of the international community as a sham referenda.

Those votes, as you mentioned, were held at gunpoint, people going door-to-door, household to household, essentially asking households whether or not they want to join the Russian federation.

So this has come as no surprise. As expected, this referenda as really laid out the tents of all this annexation that we are expected to be formally signed in that ceremony by the Russian president later today in the Kremlin in Moscow today.

We are releasing images circulating around social media of those preparations already underway in Moscow's Red Square. Posters carrying the names of those four key regions as Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk.

And of course, last night, actually we saw the so-called independence decree being signed by President Putin for Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. And that is expected to be followed by the South, the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

And that has really drawn widespread criticism from the international community and no lease, of course, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has warned this will essentially render any prospect of future talks with Moscow as essentially impossible. Take a listen.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia will not gain new territory in Ukraine. Russia will only annex itself to the disaster it has brought to the occupied territory of our country.

A special meeting of the National Security Defense Council, which I convened, will take place tomorrow. There will be decisions. We know how to react to any Russian actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: In addition to those meetings being held in Ukraine, we are also expecting now the U.N. Security Council to meet today to vote on a draft resolution condemning these sham referenda, condemning the expected annexation of those four key regions, and calling on member states not to recognize the annexation of these four key regions.

We also heard criticism from the European Union. They are now threatening also another packet of sanctions against the Russian federation -- John.

VAUSE: Nada, thank you. Nada Bashir there in London, for a very early morning live shot.

Well, a rare admission from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Mistakes were made, apparently by others, while selecting the 300,000 men eligible to be called up due to the current mobilization, incorrectly drafting the elderly or those who are chronically ill.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In the course of this mobilization, many questions arise, and it is necessary to correct all mistakes and prevent them from happening.

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VAUSE: The process has led to demonstrations in parts of Russia. It's being criticized by commentators on state television. Protesters accused the military of drafting students, fathers and men who are either too young or too old to fight.

The damage to the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline appears more extensive than initially reported. Sweden has confirmed a fourth leak in the undersea pipelines built to send Russian gas to Germany. Geologists in Denmark also say there may have been three explosions

before the leaks began, not two. European officials say sabotage is the most likely explanation. An investigation is still ongoing.

Still to come here on CNN, the U.S. vice president goes to the DMZ, and as expected, North Korea goes ballistic. Details in a moment.

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VAUSE: Early damage assessments from Hurricane Ian are coming in, with one senior state official saying the hurricane may be the largest national disaster in Florida's history.

The storm brought huge amounts of rain, wind, and caused storm surges, leaving catastrophic damage across the state. The death toll from Ian stands at 19.

More than 2 million homes and businesses remain without power. Some water systems in many towns and cities are completely broken down.

CNN's Don Lemon spoke with first responders rescuing residents in a lander.

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So you launch here and you don't know what's under this water. How deep it is or what you're going to hit?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely not. At the start of this morning, the -- part of the big issues that we had is navigating these waters. Even though we know we're in a neighborhood and, you know, the streets, you know, dictate where we go, we've gotten hidden mailboxes, culverts.

LEMON: The street signs right here? You can see how -- where they are. I mean, some of them are covered, and others are just peeking out at the top here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Hurricane Ian has picked up strength over the Atlantic, a Category 1 storm right now, heading towards South Carolina; expected to make landfall again in the coming hours.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has visited the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone, which divides North and South Korea. Through binoculars, she could see a tower in North Korea, as workers on the other side looked back.

Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the country's west coast just hours after Harris left. Launched two missiles from the East Coast today before.

CNN's Paula Hancocks live in Seoul where the missiles count (ph). So we're up to four missiles for Harris. They're expressing their displeasure, I guess?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, they really provided a fairly tidy bookend to her day trip to South Korea.

As you say Wednesday night, they fired two short-range missiles. The same just hours after she had left the region.

Now it's unusual for North Korea to fire these missiles in the evening. It's usually an early morning launch that they favor. Which leads may need to speculates that it was for the U.S. Vice president herself. But that's not the only thing that's happening at the moment that is likely displeasing Pyongyang.

[00:55:05]

There's also been military drills, naval drills, between the U.S. and South Korea. And today, this Friday, there's a trilateral drill, which involves Japan, as well.

So you have the USS Ronald Reagan here, along with a destroyer from Japan and South Korea, carrying out anti-submarine drills, which always annoy North Korea.

Now we have heard from the presidential office here that President Yoon Suk-yeol was briefed just last week about the concerns from the national security department; that they believe North Korea was likely to carry out a submarine-launched ballistic missile. Launch imminently. So this could be while be to do with that as well. To show that they are able to counter any kind of attack that would come from the water.

Now, while Vice President Harris was here, she did talk about North Korea. She did point out that -- that what they are doing at the moment is destabilizing. Also, just by the very nature of going to the DMZ and following many presidents and vice presidents before here, this tradition of standing very close to the border, looking into North Korea.

She said that she wanted to really highlight the defense commitment that the United States had to South Korea, as well. And that really is the message that many of these officials -- the British foreign minister was there just the day before. This is what those officials go to the DMZ for. To show the support for South Korea.

And in the case of Vice President Harris, she did look across using binoculars saying, quote, "It's something to actually see this with your own eye" -- John.

VAUSE: Indeed it is. Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks, live for us in Seoul.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Our live coverage of Hurricane Ian continues after a very short break. See you in a moment.

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