President Trump will touch down in Florida and Georgia today to be briefed on the damage wrought by Hurricane Michael, the Category 4 storm that leveled parts of the Florida Panhandle last week. Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), who is in a tight Senate battle against Sen. Bill Nelson (D), called the damage "indescribable and unprecedented." At least 19 people are dead. That number is expected to climb as search and rescue efforts continue. The Associated Press reports from Mexico Beach, Fla.: "Some victims stranded by the storm managed to summon relief by using logs to spell out 'HELP' on the ground … official said someone from another county was using an aerial mapping app, noticed the distress message and contacted authorities." Florida's Tyndall Air Force Base, home to dozens of F-22 stealth fighters, was destroyed (The New York Times). Tyndall is home to the 325th Fighter Wing, which flies the F-22 Raptor, the most sophisticated fighter in the Pentagon's arsenal. Although many of the warplanes were evacuated, aerial photos of hurricane damage appeared to show that aircraft left behind in hangars took a beating in the storm (The Pensacola Journal). "It basically is a total wipeout. And it's hard to imagine it ever being able to recapture the exact identity it once had. It'll be rebuilt. It'll all be rebuilt at some point. But it's going to take a long time." – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on NBC's "Meet the Press" For Trump, the visit presents a test for the commander in chief just three weeks before midterm elections. The president has at times struggled to show empathy or hit the right notes about sensitive or emotionally charged events. The Hill: Disasters become big chunk of U.S. deficit. In addition to the hurricane, the president this week is juggling a handful of other complex issues at home and abroad: > The bizarre tale of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who entered the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey last week and has not been heard from since, has consumed Washington. Pressure is mounting on the White House to retaliate against Saudi Arabia, as Turkish officials believe Khashoggi was killed inside the facility by a Saudi entourage. The Saudis have denied those claims and say Khashoggi left the facility. In an interview last night on "60 Minutes," Trump said that "nobody knows what happened" to Khashoggi but that he would call King Salman of Saudi Arabia to discuss the matter. Trump also warned that there would be "severe punishment" if the Saudi government is found to have murdered the journalist. "There's a lot at stake. And maybe especially so because this man was a reporter. There's something – you'll be surprised to hear me say that, there's something really terrible and disgusting about that if that was the case so we're going to have to see. We're going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment." – Trump The Saudis appear to have responded through an unnamed official quoted by the state-run Saudi Press Agency (The Telegraph, U.K.): "The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations." – Saudi official The Associated Press: Saudi Arabia lashes out as its stock market dives. The Trump administration bet heavily on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a reformer in Saudi Arabia and the response to these potentially explosive developments is being closely scrutinized. The Hill: Five things to watch in escalating Saudi Arabia controversy. The Hill: Senators pledge action in response to Khashoggi's disappearance. > In the same "60 Minutes" interview, Trump was asked whether his Pentagon chief, James Mattis, might be leaving the Pentagon soon. "I don't know. He hasn't told me that. ... I have a very good relationship with him. I had lunch with him two days ago. It could be that he is. I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth. But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave." – Trump The Trump administration has churned through officials in its first two years, both at the Cabinet level and in the West Wing. Washington was rattled last week by the announcement that Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, would be leaving that post at the end of the year. "I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. That's Washington." – Trump > And what's on tap this week for the markets? Stock futures are pointing down for Monday's open. The president has been fuming at the Federal Reserve and chairman Jerome Powell, blaming the recent market swoon on the Fed's rate hikes. The economy is a touchstone for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections, but the recent volatility in the stock market has injected new uncertainty into the economic landscape and has ignited debate about whether a slowdown is around the bend. The Wall Street Journal: U.S. stocks have been an anomaly in the global markets. Not anymore. The Hill: Lawmakers, Wall Street shrug off Trump's attacks on the Fed. | 
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