it s the top of the hour on cnn newsroom. i m alisyn camerota. hurricane ian just made landfall as a category 1 storm on the south carolina coast. it hit near georgetown, 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 in myrtle beach. 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 warn, though, that that number will likely rise. some areas like ft. myers beach are still impassable at this hour. stores and homes there have been reduced to shells, even if they are still on their foundations. a loc
still quite dangerous. rescue crews are looking for survivors now five days later and the death toll is climbing. officials have confirmed 76 people have died. most in lee county where ian stormed ashore as a category 4. it is feared there had be more victims. now the power is slowly being restored in florida. more than 6,000 homes and businesses still in the dark this morning and it could be months before many are back on the grid. many don t have clean tap water, that makes the overwhelming task of rebuilding that much harder. and now officials in lee county are facing questions about why the first mandatory evacuations weren t ordered until a day before landfall despite a plan that said evacuations should have happened earlier. governor ron desantis defending their actions. they informed people, and most people didn t want to do it. are you going to grab somebody out of their home that doesn t want to? i don t think that s the appropriate use of government. florida res
After willis. we have people calling for special sessions so she can be disbarred, which the general assembly can t do. it s not even like they are looking at this as a moment where we can sit there and say, okay, let s take a breath, let s give thereis guy his time in co. they are pushing further more ridiculous conspiracy theories. we should cold democrats accountable for joe biden s policy positions, on the border, foreign policy, everything. even democrats don t have it s hard to do that when you have your guy getting booked and being indicted. that s right. you maud my case for me. the split screen world, this is the argument republicans are making. look what happened when the department of justice went to the court to seal up hunter biden s plea deal. it fell apart.
This country needs to hear that. why would he admit publically i know. it s the only thing that s going to get us back on tracks. if we don t use this as a pivot point for republicans, it s our fault. i would say this. it s a split screen world we live in. i don t know what fox is showing. i guarantee it s different what we are showing. they think they believe this is the persecution and prosecution of donald trump not the prosecution, the persecution of donald trump. he is raising money on it. by the way, they are talking about last night s debate. they don t mind that their dollars are helping defend donald trump. they are contributing they know that s happening. there is no daylight. i m not sure they know the average donor knows how much is going to his legal bills. i think it s to build the wall or take the country back. if you give mrnoney to donal
I know all the attorneys lawyer they talk about jail and penalties, but a win, i think a win for this country is donald trump having to admit that he is a liar. i think this process getting us to the point were you having to publicly admit that he has lied and misled us as a party we certainly need to hear that we can get ourselves back on track. the country needs to hear it. why would he publicly admitted? no but that s the only thing that will get us back on track. if we don t use the mugshot as a pivotal point for republicans it is our fault. i would say this, jeff. it s a split screen world we live in i don t know what shows folks are showing right now but i m sure it is different than what we are showing i want to fox viewers of thinking it s 180 degrees up. they believe that they believe the persecution of prosecution of donald trump. he is raising money on it because they believe that. by the way they re talking about last night s debate.