Florida's West Coast get ready or get out to the lead starts right now.

Hurricane Ian closes in on the United States as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warns of

catastrophic flooding and life threatening storm surge.

The rush to get people out while those who stay scramble to stock up on essential supplies

and hurricane hunters fly directly into the storm to try to get Ian's latest track and

strength.

Plus, this hour we're live near Russia's border with thousands of Russians.

They're trying to avoid getting dragged into Putin's war on Ukraine.

We're going to go there next and the new lawsuit, the challenges President Biden's

plan to cancel student loans, what this case could mean if you thought you were going

to get your loan forgiven.

Welcome to the lead MJ Tap, when we start today with our national lead Hurricane Ian

barreling toward Florida.

Right now it is a category three storm, meaning Ian's winds could reach up to 129 miles per

hour.

Ian is expected to strengthen into a category four storm later tonight, with winds up

to 156 miles per hour as it churns over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect in parts of Florida's western coast, major airports

in Tampa and also in Orlando and central Florida will be shut down.

Today Governor DeSantis is warning people should expect to lose power once the storm hits

and it could be days or even longer before power is able to be restored.

Parts of Cuba lost power earlier today, with Ian slamming into the western part of that

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