Hurricane Ian hitting South Carolina as we speak, the lead starts right now.

Ian strikes again this time lashing South Carolina's low country, pushing heavy rains

and wind into cities that are already vulnerable to flooding.

This after Ian's destructive path already wiped out parts of Florida's West Coast, leaving

other parts of the state swamped, the flood waters in some areas, chest deep, draining vital

resources, long waits for gas, stores wiped out, emergency rooms, forced to turn away

patients, all this, in what may end up being the state's costliest hurricane on record.

Plus, Putin makes his land grab official the biggest annexation and absorption in Europe

since 1945, as protesters here in the U.S. leaving their mark, vandalizing the Russian

consulate.

Welcome to the lead, I'm Jake Tapper, Hurricane Ian right now making its third landfall

in South Carolina.

After previously hitting Florida and Cuba earlier this week, residents of South Carolina are

looking southward no doubt at what happened in Florida with dread.

In the sunshine state, cleanup just beginning, Ian decimated parts of Fort Myers Beach,

winds ripping hotels, restaurants, even the pier itself right out of the ground.

It's a similar scene on Santa Bel Island in Florida, homes, hotels, docks, destroyed,

littering the beaches with debris.

Listen to how President Biden described the destruction earlier today.

We're just beginning to see the scale of that destruction.

It's likely the rank among the worst of the nations and the worst in a nation's history.

You have all seen the television, homes and property wiped out.

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