Brian Naylor

President Obama travels to New York Thursday to get a first hand look at the continuing recovery efforts and lingering damage from Hurricane Sandy. Damage and lost economic activity from the storm have been estimated as high as $50 billion. State officials and lawmakers from the affected region say they intend to tap the federal government for as much assistance as possible.

Political leaders from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have not been shy about their intent to seek as much federal funding as possible for their storm-struck states. Damages and lost economic activity as a result of Hurricane Sandy have been estimated as high as $50 billion.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., wants $30 billion in federal assistance to help rebuild his state. This request, and others, come at a time when Congress is already consumed with reducing the deficit.

Following Superstorm Sandy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has received good grades from politicians and even some survivors of the storm. In part, that's due to lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina seven years ago.

For Staten Island resident Deb Smith, whose house was flooded by the storm surge from Sandy, FEMA has been a savior.

Official Washington shut down today for Hurricane Sandy, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was on the job. It's mission: preparedness. Among other things, the agency is stockpiling water, meals, blankets and cots.

Women's issues were back front and center in politics on Wednesday after Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said in a debate Tuesday night that when a rape results in pregnancy "it is something that God intended to happen." Democrats pounced and Mitt Romney distanced himself from the remarks. But the Romney campaign did not ask Mourdock to pull down a TV ad Romney taped for him. Mourdock is in a tight race with Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in an overall fierce contest for control of the U.S. Senate.