Biden consoles families and survivors of Surfside condo building collapse
CBSN
President Biden paid a visit to Surfside, Florida, a week after a towering condo building in the town came crashing down. Eighteen people are confirmed dead in the tragedy and more than 140 are unaccounted for.
The president, along with home-state Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, met with families of the victims for about three hours, staying to speak with every family member who wanted to meet him. The president and first lady also visited a makeshift memorial site by the condo, reading homemade signs and gazing at photos. In brief remarks the president said federal government and state and local authorities are doing everything they can.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.