Obama, Romney Suspend Campaigns to Focus on Sandy

US President Barack Obama said Tuesday the crisis over superstorm Sandy was not yet over and announced plans to go and view devastation in New Jersey on Wednesday. Meanwhile, White House hopeful Mitt Romney participated in a storm relief event in Ohio, accepting donations and checks from supporters for the American Red Cross.

Published

7 months ago

Categories

US

Topics

US Politics, United States

People

Barack Obama, Mitt Romney

Places

United States of America, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Jersey City

Transcript

SHOTLIST: WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 30, 2012, SOURCE: US POOL ** NO RESALE for non-editorial purposes** SOUNDBITE 1 Barack Obama (man), President of the United States (English, 17 sec): "This storm is not yet over. We've gotten briefings from the National Hurricane Center. It is still moving North, there are still communities that could be affected." SOUNDBITE 2 Barack Obama (man), President of the United States (English, 26 sec) "And so my instructions to the federal agency has been 'do not figure out why we can't do something. I want you to figure out how we do something.' I want you to cut through red tape, I want you to cut through bureaucracy, there is no excuse for inaction at this point. I want every agency to lean forward and to make sure that we are getting the resources where they're needed as quickly as possible." - Obama arriving at the Red Cross NEW YORK, OCTOBER 30, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR of flooding in NYC JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, OCTOBER 30, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR of Jersey City post-Sandy KETTERING, OHIO, OCTOBER 30, 2012, SOURCE: US POOL **NO RESALE for non-editorial purposes** - VAR of Mitt Romney distributing bags of food to hurricane Sandy victims, in a crowded gymnasium. ------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: US-weather-storm-politics-Obama-remarks,lead Obama warns superstorm Sandy not yet over WASHINGTON, Oct 30, 2012 (AFP) - US President Barack Obama said Tuesday the crisis over superstorm Sandy was not yet over and announced plans to go and view devastation in New Jersey on Wednesday. "This storm is not yet over," Obama said during a visit to the headquarters of the American Red Cross in Washington, warning that some northern states could still face flooding and high winds. Obama said that he had ordered federal government officials dealing with the storm to short circuit normal government procedures to get help quickly to millions of people affected by the huge storm. "Do not figure out why we can't do something. I want you to figure out how we do something," Obama said. "I want you to cut through red tape, I want you to cut through bureaucracy, there is no excuse for inaction at this point. I want every agency to lean forward." US-weather-storm-politics-vote-Romney-relief Romney to attend 'storm relief event' Tuesday in Ohio DAYTON, Ohio, Oct 29, 2012 (AFP) - Mitt Romney will participate in a "storm relief event" in Ohio on Tuesday, his campaign said, as the Republican candidate seeks a role in helping Americans cope with a brutal superstorm one week before the US election. The campaign provided few details late Monday of Romney's participation in the event at a sporting arena in Kettering, in the crucial battleground state. Romney's team had canceled some campaign events Monday and Tuesday, as had President Barack Obama, who returned to Washington from planned campaigning in Florida to oversee the federal government's response to one of the biggest natural disasters to strike the United States in years. The Kettering storm relief event is in the same arena where a Romney campaign rally had been previously announced for Tuesday. Stockcar-racing legend Richard Petty and country music's Randy Owen are scheduled to appear with the Republican nominee. Mega-storm Sandy, which roared ashore in New Jersey on Monday, has to a large degree overshadowed the home stretch of the neck-and-neck presidential race, and thrown campaign schedules into chaos. The huge storm brought hurricane-force winds and heavy rains to a wide swath of the US East Coast, impacting tens of millions of people and potentially leaving millions without power for days in the run up to the November 6 election. Romney's running mate Paul Ryan is now scheduled to visit a campaign "victory center" in La Crosse, in his native state of Wisconsin, where he will thank volunteers who are collecting or delivering items for storm relief efforts, the campaign said. Romney, who was spending the night in Ohio, urged supporters at campaign rallies Monday in Ohio and Iowa to keep those in the path of the storm in their hearts and prayers, and urged people to contribute to the American Red Cross or other relief operations. mlm/sst