The wind is whipping stronger than it has in the last 24 hours. The eye did make landfall in Wrightsville Beach six miles from where i am with a wind speed of about 90 miles per hour. We are just now hitting about the 24hour mark from where this storm hit in you heard there, Wrightsville Beach. A wilmington, rather. And now were trying to figure out what is left of the storm. Onethird of it is still in the water, as you can see. Guess whos there to keep us posted. Im christi paul in studio. Victor blackwell is in myrtle beach, South Carolina. Youve been experiencing different kind of weather out there. Reporter yeah. The wind is picking up. The rain is continuing. The headline this hour first light and the lifting of curfews in myrtle beach in conway and across horry county in South Carolina. Peoples first opportunity to see if theres been damage caused by the speed of the winds that have picked up over the last several hours. Of course, the big headlines out of this story, out of this storm so far, made in North Carolina. 780,000 of the more than 900,000 Power Outages are in North Carolina. Of course, you mentioned at the top of the last hour, two of the five People Killed in wilmington. A mother and infant were killed in wilmington when a tree fell on their house. There was a 77yearold man in North Carolina who went to check on his hunting dogs. His family said the wind knocked him over. There was a woman in hampstead who suffered a cardiac arrest. When authorities tried to get to her, there were trees in the road, and they couldnt weve her. Also a man couldnt reach here. And a man in len or county who was lenore county who was pronounced dead after running into electrical cords. We have more from nick valencia. He started the morning in myrtle beach, now has moved across 501 into conway near one of the rivers that authorities are most concerned about. All the flooding in North Carolina, going to come through the rivers into the state, making this a threat over the next several days. Nick, what are you seeing and hearing . Reporter yeah, were about 20 miles inland as we mentioned in conway, South Carolina. An area according to managers that is more money to flood that happen myrtle beach more prone to flood than in myrtle beach. We wanted to see what were dealing with. This is the first time weve seen daylight today. This is the river here. This is the Waccamaw River, a tributary of one of the local lakes in South Carolina. And as you deal with the wind there in myrtle beach, the story here in conway is really the steady rain thats been falling which is why Emergency Managers are very concerned. Theyre doing exactly what were doing this morning and traveling throughout the area, trying to find local flooding to see if anyone needs help, if anyones in any dangerous type of situation. We mentioned the curfew. The 7 00 a. M. Curfew that was lifted. The only cars besides our own were Police Vehicles going around to see if there is significant damage. We have yet to see any significant damage. The story of the day, how lucky the state got compared to North Carolina. The situations, major situation thats our colleague, diane gallagher, is reporting on. Terrific work all week long. This is the steadiest rain weve seen perhaps all morning, really the last couple of days. There was a lot of nervousness here. We dont want to underestimate how nervous officials were throughout the week. This was anticipated to land as a category4 hurricane. By midweek, the trajectory had turned south putting myrtle beach and the surroundi ining a in the cross hairs. An area that has become used to over the last decades, used to hurricanes and severe weather. Even the most seasoned resident here got nervous and started to exit. We saw a lot of evacuations on highway 501, the main that oh fare that connects myrtle beach to conway. Hundreds of cars streaming out, traveling, trying to get to safer areas like tennessee, neighboring florida. I even heard from a woman who was going as far away as west virginia. Residents dodged a bullet. They are dealing with the rain, a rain that could cause major flooding in the days to come. The mayor saying cresting is expected in the next three to five days. Victor . Nick valencia in conway just a few miles away. And the South Carolina governor mcmaster says even further inland hes concerned about the flooding as the days continue after the majority of the storm, the worst of it, jogs west and heads north. Well check in with chad for the path of the storm moving forward. I have on the line with us, the pio, Public Information officer, for myrtle beach. Mark, good morning to you. We spoke yesterday, and you had some pretty good reports. Give us an idea overnight of what happened, if you got any major calls for help. Caller thank you very much. Yes. There would be a near miss for myrtle beach. Unfortunately, North Carolina took the brunt of that. Were getting the back side of the slowmoving storm. No new problems overnight. Minor damage. We had about 60 reports of trees down, a light pole down, over the last couple of days. Were in remarkably good shape. If the weather cooperates, crews will begin to set things right today. But as we discussed all weekend, this was to be a direct hit for myrtle beach, and the storm just moved to the north and struck North Carolina instead. Reporter you said there were minor reports. Were there any injuries reported . Caller i am not aware of any injuries in the myrtle beach area. On the back side of the storm we may get beach erosion. We may get additional wind here this morning. Again, weve got a beach renourishment that was scheduled to start last monday. It will begin as soon as florence gets. On well get a brandnew beach here along the coast. Reporter the winds have picked up pretty significantly over the last several hours. I know in our last conversation that that would have been a point at which each if there were calls that even if there were calls that it would have been unsteafe to send us on cre. Are officers able to drive to locations if called . Caller i can speak to myrtle beach, and yes, weve been able to respond to calls. The winds are surprising. The front side goes through, get near the eye, and you think that was a whole storm. Then the back side smacks you in the face. But yes, our police and fire folks have been able to get out and about even in this weather. Reporter there are a couple of businesses around myrtle beach, driving around, that have some pretty stern messages spray painted for looters. Theres one bar that i saw that had on the plywood looters will be shot. Have there been any report of looting across myrtle beach . Caller no, fortunately weve not had any report of looting. People have been on their tiptoes, highly sensitive. Weve had reports of spacious activity, but it may just be that people are overly sensitive right now. So weve not had any reports of looting. Folks have obeyed the curfew, as you mentioned. Reporter the curfew lifted at 7 00 a. M. Do you expect another to be tonight at 7 00 p. M. . Caller i suspect, in all likelihood yes. Wont know if the crews see what the damage is. Were pleased here. Were very sorry for North Carolina, and the flooding thats going to come to this corner of South Carolina the next few days will put maybe a bigger story for us than storm. Reporter the first couple of chapters of the story are looking pretty good for myrtle beach. Thank you very much for spending a couple of minutes with us this morning. Caller youre welcome. Everybody, be safe. Absolutely. You, too. All the folks you work with in myrtle beach. Hospit lets go to chad myers. Weve had winds, gusts picking up. Whats happening over the last several hours,ive and gi and gi trajectory. You are near the center, and unfortunately the devastation is happening 100 miles north of you. Yes, well get winds to 45 or 50, but the beach erosion. Houses that wont be here anymore, its happening to the north. Heres oak island. Up here, we have reporters up the string of islands. Jacksonville flooding. Some areas, almost 30 inches of rainfall trying to run back down hill. Even in conway where nick valencia was, where he was standing, will be 11 feet higher than what weihes looking at ri now in three days. Record flooding at the Waccamaw River in conway. Its not there yet. The water has to get here. The water is coming up, the wind is still blowing in. Everywhere that you see white. Thats 20 inches or more already. Thats where its still raining. Thats where the continued flash flooding, flash flood emergencies will be going on. Im not saying you may see 30 or 40 mileperhour winds, but its coming up across the gulf stream, the water is here. Well talked about the upwelling. At the gulf stream, water coming out of the gulf, around florida, back up here, it remains warm. Thats where youre going to get the convection. The Stormy Weather rolls on up into nuclear and wont move. The same places have seen all of this water and will see more water. Wilmington could get another foot to the north and east of the eye. The west of the eye, not as bad. The east of the eye, always the worst side of the storm. Its not going to change. This is 18 hours worth of a forecast radar. This is what it should look like the next 18 hours. Youll get rain and wind, but the blasting, the true devastation, is occurring right now in North Carolina. Reporter thank you very much. As i give it back to christie, i want to reiterate something i heard from our crew a couple of minutes okay. The back half of the storm and also the flooding thats coming really could be the greater challenges for not just myrtle beach and horry county but all of South Carolina. Its difficult to oversmestimat the true dangers could be the continued flooding and people coming out. Now the expectations of a worse storm were not fulfilled, that the curfew has been lifted, people coming out at first light to assess the damage. This is when with the growing wind the trees can be challenged, that people can be hurt by the saturated ground here and some of the dangers still to come over the next 24 to 36 hours and still to come. With that, ill toss back to you. Good point to make. When the waters come up, sometimes they come up very quickly. Theyre so strong, you dont know what youre dealing with there. If you look at the radar, you know its swirling but swirling in the same place. It is just not moving. Good reminder. To help people impacted by Hurricane Florence, by the way, i know that sometimes it can be confusing to know where to donate, give time. You can give blood, get in touch with charities that are responding. We want to help you do so. Visit cnn. Com impact. We have ways mapped out for you to help with what works best for you. Thank you for economicing that out. In economicing that out. In a little more than 90 minutes well check with fema officials on Tropical Storm florence. The leader, brock long, under growing scrutiny. The wall street journal reporting the white house has considered getting rid of long. Hes allegedly misused funds for cars. The chief of staff, john kelly, decided to keep long at least until the department of homeland securitys Inspector General issues a final report there. Long contends he will fully cooperate in this probe. Dht sells cnn its dhs tells cnn its committed to responding to and recovering from Hurricane Florence and the storms in the pacific. 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Tropical storm florence is tearing through the carolinas as we speak, but we have another story. The huge win it seems for the russian special. Former chain manager Paul Manafort stood before a federal judge and said three important words, quote, i plead guilty. Now as part of the plea deal, manaforts going to cooperate with the special counsels russia probe. Heres cnns sara murray. Reporter former Campaign ChairmanPaul Manafort striking a plea deal and agreeing to cooperate with the Justice Department and special counsel Robert Muellers russia investigation. Manafort pleaded guilty in washington, d. C. , friday to one county of conspiracy against the u. S. And one county of conspiracy to okay instruct justice. To obstruct justice. Thats after tampering with witnesses, according to court filings. Agreeing to cooperate fully, truthfully, and completely on any matters the government considers relevant. Its unclear what prosecutors want from manafort. But the agreement requires him to turn over documents, testify in court proceedings, and provide interviews to the special counsel. Now manafort even waived his right to have lawyers present for the interviews. The plea deal comes after manafort was viced on eight counts of bank and tax fraud crimes in virginia and was facing another trial in d. C. In exchange for his cooperation, prosecutors dropped a number of outstanding charges against manafort in both d. C. And virginia. President trumps allies distanced him from manaforts illegal activities which were related to manaforts business dealings rather than his campaign work. Trumps lawyer, rudy giuliani, saying once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the trump campaign. The reason the president did nothing wrong. Still, the news is a blow for the president. He has decried muellers probe as a witch hunt. That even as mueller has secured guilty pleas from manafort, trumps former Campaign Chairman. Trumps campaign deputy, rick gates, as well as National Security adviser michael flynn. As for his personal attorney, michael cohen, hes also pleaded guilty to charges in new york. Sara murray, cnn, washington. Thank you very much. Julian zelizer with us, scholar at harvard. I want everybody to see what sara talked about. Some of the people who not only have pleaded guilty or been found guilty but are cooperating now with special counsel mueller, weve got george papadopoulos, michael flynn, michael cohen, rick gates, all people here who have said i want cooperate. My question, moont seanafort se be the holdout, he was defiant through this whole thing. He wasnt going to do it. The fact that he has caved, has the plea deal, said i will tell you whatever you need to know even though up to this point, we need to be clear, has not been about russia per se. But what does this turnabout tell you about where mueller, the investigation stands, how much power mueller has right now . Well, muellers leverage is clearly pretty immense at this point. And hes now been able to get a key player in this whole story to cooperate with him. And manaforts internet two respects. First he was at the nexus of this effort by prorussian interests to lobby the u. S. Government. And second and the part we dont know about at this point is he was at the top of the campaign during critical months for donald trump before he was president. Muellers been able to turn him. I think its a slow process. But you see how effective he is right now. Now the question is what kind of information comes from him. There are people and in this cooperation agreement, the language is interesting. Hell testify fully, completely, and thoroughly before all grand juries about essentially everything. Some argue this guy is 69, 70, hes going to say whatever he needs to say to save himself, to save himself family. What evidence do you think needs to be present to prove truthful testimony . Look, thats where all these other people come into the story. Mueller isnt basing an entire case on what manafort says. Hes basing his case on all