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What’s especially dangerous about Hurricane Idalia · Apple News Today

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  Gideon Resnick, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, August 30th. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show: Family of U.S. troops killed during the pullout from Afghanistan demand accountability, why things are about to get messy if you've got student loans, and how to see tonight's super rare, super blue moon.
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  But first, Hurricane Idalia is hitting Florida with full force. It came ashore this morning near Keaton Beach, which is south of Tallahassee. It hit as a powerful Category 3 storm, bringing 125 mile per hour winds and heavy rain to Florida’s Gulf Coast. In the final hours before landfall, Idalia went over some of the warmest Gulf water, intensifying the storm.
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  The National Hurricane Center warns that some areas may have extensive power outages, possibly being uninhabitable for weeks or even months. And there's life-threatening storm surge expected in some coastal areas. National Hurricane Center deputy director Jamie Rhome talked to "CNN" about how dangerous the rising water could be for Florida.
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  Jamie Rhome: If that forecast were to materialize it would be on par to the worst surge that we saw in Hurricane Ian. And I think many people saw the utter destruction that that storm surge brought to the community of Ft Myers, Ft Myers beach, and so think about that imagery, and just how powerful that surge was for that storm and imagine it impacting these communities here.
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  Officials have been urging people to evacuate low-lying coastal areas. They're worried some people may be at risk because they decided to hunker down. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis talked about preparations in the state.
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  Governor Ron DeSantis: We have all eight urban search and rescue teams with almost 600 personnel ready to deploy to help with search and rescue efforts. Hopefully that's not necessary, hopefully everyone heeded the warnings, and hopefully nobody ends up in harm’s way when the storm hits. But we know that that's likely to be a necessity to have some rescues. So, these folks are ready to go.
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  [END CSPAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Residents in the path of the storm aren't sure what they'll find when they come back to their homes. Amanda Chillcott talked to "CBS" as she was packing up.
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  Amanda Chillcott: I'm not worried about the winds. I'm worried about the water. So, the water raising, like, that's going to come in the house, you know, it's going to ruin your car.
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  [END CBS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  There will be impact beyond Florida. Travel in the region will be heavily affected for a while with airport and road closures. Idalia is forecast to move through Georgia and South Carolina and head out to the Atlantic. That means North Carolina and Virginia could be in for severe weather as well.
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  Two years ago today, the last U.S. troops left Afghanistan. They were there for two decades after 9/11. The long presence in the country ended abruptly and chaotically. Many people died. Days before the last plane took off, a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed at least 183 people. That included 13 U.S. service members. Yesterday, families of the American victims were on Capitol Hill to demand accountability.
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  [START CSPAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Greg Page: Needless to say, the knock on our door on August 26th turned our world upside down.
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  That's Greg Page telling members of Congress about the moment he learned his son, Marine Daegan Page, was killed in the attack.
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  Page: To this day, I can't describe the emotion that I felt when I saw two Marines at our door in the shadows. You know why they're there when you see that. It's an emotion I hope to never experience again. We were thrown into a world that we never imagined, and I can't even begin to explain.
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  It was a day filled with emotional testimony. Coral Briseno lost her son Humberto Sanchez, also a Marine.
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  Coral Briseno: I raised those kids to love and respect this country. And foremost, to appreciate the opportunity to live in the land of the free, and the home of the brave. It was never, ever in my plans to lose my kid at the age of 22.
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  In a statement last week, President Biden said he will "forever honor the memory" of the service members who were killed.
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  But family members want more than condolences. "CNN" reports on how they've been pressing the administration and Congress for answers, as to why there wasn't adequate security to prevent the bombing. Several agencies have looked into this too. A Biden administration report largely places blame on problems leftover from the Trump administration. A State Department review criticized both presidential administrations.
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  A Pentagon investigation concluded that the attack could not have been prevented "without degrading the mission" to evacuate as many people as possible. And it said that leaders on the ground followed proper procedures. Now, Congressional Republicans have been very critical of the U.S. withdrawal, making Biden's actions the focus of multiple hearings and investigations since they took leadership in the House.
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  Many of the family members feel these investigations don't reveal enough about what happened that day. Jacqueline Schmitz's stepson Jared Schmitz was one of the Marines killed in the bombing.
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  [START CSPAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Jacqueline Schmitz: We were pitched a well-executed defense and evacuation, and ultimately spit in our face by referencing the evacuation as an extraordinary success. Is losing 13 of our servicemen and women successful? Is success ending a 20-year war where veterans feel they fought for nothing, they lost their brothers and sisters in arms for nothing? Is success hundreds of other people seriously wounded?
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  If you want to understand more about what was going on behind the scenes when Biden made the decision to pull out of Afghanistan, the "Atlantic" has an excerpt of Franklin Foer's upcoming book. It's called "The Last Politician." In it, he gives us the inside story of how Biden and his team handled the withdrawal. You can read that on the Apple News app.
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  If you have federal student loans, get ready for things to get very complicated. The pandemic pauses on interest and payments are ending. Interest on loans restarts this Friday and payments start to become due a month later. There are some new options for help with loans, but it can all get pretty confusing.
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  "The Wall Street Journal" recommends that you start getting ready now. And that you will need to be patient and persistent. People are already reporting that they are having trouble getting through to loan servicing companies to understand what it is they owe. The companies are swamped with callers, placing people on hold and dropping calls.
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  Part of the reason it's hard to keep track of what is happening is that the Supreme Court struck down President Biden's plan for widespread debt forgiveness. The administration has scrambled to put other options in place. Most recently, it announced a new income-based repayment plan that could bring down the cost of monthly payments for many borrowers.
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  But getting a handle on what it is you qualify for is complicated. If you owe money and are not sure whether there is a path for you to get assistance, the "Journal" recommends reading up on all the options the government offers. And if you need to call the loan servicer, do it when you have a big chunk of time because you could spend a while listening to hold music. The "Journal" reports that companies are adding staff to deal with the wave of calls. But they still might not be able to keep up with all the questions.
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  And be ready for surprises. This is a $1.6 trillion federal program that has basically been in a deep freeze since COVID hit. And there's no real precedent here on how to reset it.
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  You know what they say, blue moons don't come around all that often. Neither do super moons. Even more rare is when they coincide and that is happening tonight. The super blue moon will be the closest and brightest moon we can see all year.
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  "USA Today" explains the science behind this. So, a super moon is when the moon is at or near its closest point to Earth in its orbit. That makes it look much bigger and much brighter. A blue moon is when there is a second full moon in a month. An alternate definition of a blue moon is the third of four full moons in a single season. Are you still with me?
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  So, it's extremely rare for these two occurrences to happen at the same time. There are not supposed to be any more super blue moons until 2037. So, if you want to see this unusual celestial moment for yourself, the peak time is around 9: 30 p.m. Eastern tonight. Go check that out.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we have got a narrated article coming up next. "Bloomberg Businessweek" takes a look at Chris Christie's presidential run. The man who once stood at the side of Donald Trump is now shaping his campaign on attacking the former president.
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  Sit back, enjoy taking a listen to that, and we'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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