Videos of the Day: Trump, First Lady Visit Hurricane-Ravaged Florida Panhandle

Trump, First Lady Visit Hurricane-Devastated Florida and Georgia

President Donald Trump, accompanied by the First Lady, visited Florida and later Georgia on Oct. 15 to survey the destruction caused by Hurricane Michael. The hurricane left the seaside town of Mexico Beach as a pile of rubble.

Before boarding a helicopter with Governor Rick Scott at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, the president spoke briefly to reporters, telling them that the government’s priority is providing food, power, and safety to victims.

“You know many of these people, they have no homes,” Trump said. Earlier, he remarked that he is “just making sure everyone is safe.”

Hurricane Michael made landfall on Oct. 10, about 100 miles west of the base where the Trumps landed. The Category 4 hurricane was one of the most powerful storms on record to hit the continental United States. It caused at least 18 deaths across four states, as dozens remained missing in the Panhandle, according to Reuters.

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Trump Sends Pompeo to Saudi Arabia as King Denies Involvement in Columnist’s Disappearance

President Donald Trump dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Saudi Arabia on Oct. 15 after speaking with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, who told the president he has no knowledge of what happened to missing columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

“I asked the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to immediately get on a plane, go to Saudi Arabia, go to other places if necessary, which he probably will, with regards to this—go to Turkey if necessary. The King told me Turkey and Saudi Arabia are working hand-in-hand very closely on getting to the bottom of what happened, so we’ll see what happened,” Trump said outside the White House on Oct. 15.

“We are going to leave nothing uncovered,” Trump added. “With that being said, the king firmly denies any knowledge of it. He didn’t really know, maybe—I don’t want to get into his mind, but it sounded to me like maybe it could have been rogue killers, who knows?”

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Sears Files for Chapter 11 Amid Plunging Sales, Massive Debt

Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 15, buckling under its massive debt load and staggering losses.

The question now is whether a smaller version of the company that once towered over the American retail landscape can remain viable or whether the iconic brand will be forced out of business.

Sears, which started as a mail order catalog in the 1880s, has been on a slow march toward extinction as it lagged far behind its peers and incurred huge losses over the years.

“This is a company that in the 1950s stood like a colossus over the American retail landscape,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail consultancy. “Hopefully, a smaller new Sears will be healthier.”

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Scuba Divers Take a Halloween Tradition Underwater

In Florida, locals put their own twist on the Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins—by taking it underwater.

Outfitted in scuba gear and wielding knives, contestants went 30 feet below the surface to participate in the annual Keys Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest on Oct. 14. The theme for this year’s contest was marine life and contestants could be seen carving sharks, a sea turtle and schools of fish into their pumpkins.

The winning contestants were brothers Sebastian and Gabriel Gimeno, who carved a dolphin into their pumpkin. Besides bragging rights, the brothers from Weston, Florida will receive a return trip to the area paid for by the event’s organizer, the Amoray Dive Resort.

Sunday’s competition took place near a reef roughly five miles off of Key Largo.

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