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Biden and Trump plan dueling visits to U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Thursday
Washington — President Biden and former President Donald Trump are both set to visit the U.S.-Mexico border in separate events on Thursday, setting up a showdown over immigration, a defining issue of the 2024 election.
Mr. Biden will visit Brownsville, Texas, to meet with Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and local leaders as he puts pressure on Republicans to take up a bipartisan deal on border security provisions, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday.
Jean-Pierre said the president would also see for himself what Border Patrol agents do every day to secure the border, adding that “they need more resources.”
Trump is expected to be in Eagle Pass, Texas, a little more than 300 miles away. His campaign said he will make remarks during the visit.
A new Monmouth University poll released Monday found that more than eight in 10 Americans see illegal immigration as a serious problem, with concern about the issue increasing among Republicans, Democrats and independents in recent years.
Republicans have repeatedly hammered the Biden administration on immigration heading into the election year. Earlier this month, House Republicans impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border.
But Republicans failure to pass the bipartisan border security deal that took months to negotiate and included many of the concessions that the GOP has demanded for years has given Democrats an opportunity to go on offense. Senate Republicans killed the deal after Trump announced his opposition. Democrats have accused Republicans of posturing instead of working toward solutions to the border crisis.
The president’s visit also comes as he’s weighing whether to severely restrict access to the U.S. asylum system, which has been strained amid record levels of migrants arrivals, sources previously told CBS News.
Mr. Biden “will reiterate his calls for congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more,” Jean-Pierre said.
Mr. Biden last visited the border in January 2023, making a trip to El Paso.
Trump’s campaign called Mr. Biden’s visit a “last-minute, insincere attempt to chase” him to the border.
Nidia Cavazos, Jacob Rosen and Bo Erickson contributed reporting.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.