Hurricane Ian tests Florida’s DeSantis

Good morning! It's Wednesday, September 28th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news, and how the world's best journalists are covering them.

Hurricane Ian is getting closer to Florida's west coast. The storm already passed over Cuba, knocking out power across the island and bringing damaging winds and floods. And when the storm hits Florida, potentially tonight near the Tampa area, it could be even worse. Ian strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane early this morning. Heavy winds have already been lashing Florida. Millions of people there have been told to evacuate. Emergency officials are trying to persuade holdouts to leave, not to hunker down. Governor Ron DeSantis warns that this hurricane will be powerful and dangerous.

In some areas, there will be catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge.

a giant hurricane in the national media spotlight. But the state has been lucky lately, and this is the first big storm there since DeSantis took office in 2019. It's a major test for him, right in the middle of his reelection campaign. And for someone seen as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024, his response to this storm could affect his political future.

daily press conferences, mobilizing the National Guard. But openly playing politics during a storm is a no-go. DeSantis is one of the sharpest critics of President Biden, but he made a point to praise the president for declaring a state of emergency, which gives access to federal emergency resources for Florida.

You can follow the path of the hurricane and get on-the-ground reporting and updates, day and night, in the Apple News app.

So, we were planning to give you a preview of the next January 6th hearing this morning, but the committee postponed it because of Hurricane Ian. We'll talk more about the hearing when it's been rescheduled. In the meantime, let's talk about a big development related to safeguarding future elections. A bill that would change the way Electoral College votes are counted got support from a key player yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Congress's process for counting the presidential electors' votes was written 135 years ago. The chaos that came to a head on January 6th of last year certainly underscored the need for an update.

The Electoral Count Reform Act would recognize a single slate of electors in each state. That's to combat a plan like the Trump effort to submit fake electors from states that Biden won. It would also clarify that the vice president's role in verifying the election is purely ceremonial. And the bill also makes it much harder to object to a state's Electoral College results. McConnell's thumbs-up here gives the bill an important boost. It's now expected to have enough Republican votes to pass the Senate this year and get signed into law after it's synced up with a similar bill that passed the House last week.

Nutrition labels on the front of your packaged foods. Food as medicine, with medically-tailored meals covered by insurance. Free school lunches for all students. These are just some of the ideas being promoted by the White House today, as part of a conference on food, nutrition and hunger.

We'll bring together anti-hunger and nutrition advocates, food companies, local and state governments, tribal and territory communities to lay out our plan to combat hunger and improve nutrition for every American.

The conference on hunger is the first of its kind since 1969, when this guy was in the White House.

It will be possible, by the year 1976, to abolish hunger in the United States of America.

Now, 1976 came and went without President Nixon's goal becoming reality. But that conference is credited with shaping national policy to help Americans have access to a better diet. Food aid for low-income families. Nutrition labels to steer people toward healthier choices. Today at the White House, there'll be a lot of talk about the role that food can play in medical care. "NPR" spoke to Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, dean at the School of Nutrition at Tufts University. He'll speak at today's conference.

Food is a direct and very rapid treatment for very complex diseases. And with a good diet and weight loss, diabetes can be put into remission and many, many patients can go off of their medications.

"NPR" interviewed a patient who did exactly that. Bruce Caldwell was taking all kinds of medication for Type 2 diabetes. His doctors told him it was a combination of his genes, his weight and his eating habits. So, he changed his diet. He lost 55 pounds, reversed his diabetes and no longer needed the meds.

It feels so good. The way I like to put it is, "I didn't know how bad I felt until I felt better."

A surgical procedure that sounds like something out of a horror movie is getting more popular among men. "GQ" has the story on this type of cosmetic surgery, which involves breaking your legs and putting adjustable titanium nails into the bones. And after about 90 days…

They're like a taller, newer and presumably hotter version of themselves.

less stigma around male cosmetic surgery, plus the pandemic made it easier for people to work from home through the long, painful recovery. Gayomali describes it this way: post-op, as the leg gets longer, everything surrounding the bone does as well. Muscle, skin, nerves, everything.

It's kind of like the tightening of a skin on a drum. So they have to be very diligent about, like, daily physical therapy, stretching exercises, mobility, all that kind of stuff, so… One patient compared the pain, it's like imagine, like, a very excruciating migraine that you have, but it's on your leg and it's 24/7. At this point, you may be wondering, "Who wants to go through all of that for a few extra inches?"

You can check out Gayomali's surprisingly empathetic story - and yes, it's got lots of pictures - in the Apple News app, along with all the stories that we talked about today. And while you're there, keep listening to hear narrated articles from our News+ partners. I'll talk with you again tomorrow.