as a downgraded tropical cyclone. the historically destructive storm made landfall for the second time yesterday. this time in south carolina. more than 180,000 residents lost power almost immediately. that number, reported to have grown to nearly half 1 million as the storm has carved its way through the carolinas. of course, nowhere has been more devastated than florida, where ian s wrath after touching down was deadly, as 77 people confirmed dead. homes literally washed away. entire communities, recovering from being nearly submerged. the president, planning to visit the state to thank its first responders. said yesterday that eons destruction in florida is almost unmatched for our nation. the situation in florida is far more devastating. we will just be beginning to see the scale of that destruction. it s likely to rank among the worst in the nation s, and the worst in the nation s history. you have all seen the scene on television. homes and property wiped out. it s go
destruction in its wake. governor ron desantis says more than 1,600 rescues have been made so far. after the storm turned roads into rivers, destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings and homes, leaving some coastal communities just unrecognizable. that s right. and right now nearly 600,000 homes and businesses are still this morning without power in florida. some floridians still have no clean water. officials say they are only now beginning to really assess the full scope of the damage. in lee county where more than 42 people died as a result of the hurricane, that is more than half of the deaths from hurricane ian, officials in that county are defending their actions after facing quite a bit of criticism over the evacuation timeline there. critics are asking where mandatory evacuations were not issued in lee county until one day before ian s landfall. while surrounding counties had already been told to evacuate prior. our reporters, correspondents, are all standing by t
touch with her. and remember, also, jim and poppy, there is a criminal investigation underway with the san antonio sheriff s department that is tieing to gather more information as to how exactly the flights came together and there is a possibility of human trafficking criminal charges that could be filed in all of this. jim and poppy. so many more threads, much more could come. thank you you for that update. well next hour, the supreme court will begin hearing its first oral arguments of this new term. and for the first time an african american female justice will sit on that bench. justice ketanji brown jackson will take her place on the bench next hour. they re taking up a lot of big decisions this term and it comes at a time when public trust in the judiciary has plunged. 58% of americans disapprove of the job the supreme court is doing now. the supreme court slated to take up the clean water act,
the supreme court begins its new term on monday. yesterday, the court held a historic ceremony to welcome the courts first african american female justice, justice jackson will join the liberal minority. but it s the 6 to 3 majority of conservative justices who will be steering the court. last session, the high court made a series of controversial rulings. most notably, the reversal of roe v. wade. and in the next nine months, it will weigh into questions about race, lgbtq rights, and federal elections. joining me now is melissa murray, an attorney, professor of law at new york university,
and former supreme court clerk for justice, sonia sotomayor, thank you for being with us tonight. miss murray, let me go right to it and let s start with justice jackson. what role was she playing on the court in this upcoming session? and in the years to come? anytime a new justice joins the court, the introduction of that justice really changes the dynamics. at least for the short term, justice jackson is going to have kind of a disruptive effect, as the rest of the court sort of recalibrate to accommodate her new position on that court. but as you say, she will be part of a three justice liberal minority. there is not going to be a lot of room there on the cases that really matter. she s likely to be a dissent in most of those cases, but she may have the opportunity to form some unlikely coalitions of people like justice gorsuch, for example, on criminal justice issues. i think she s going to be a lot like clarence thomas was at the beginning his career. really playing a long ga