Washington — Bruce Springsteen endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president on Thursday, arguing the Democratic nominee supports a more unified and inclusive country while calling former President Donald Trump “the most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime.” 

“Perhaps not since the Civil War has this great country felt as politically, spiritually and emotionally divided as it does than at this moment. It doesn’t have to be this way,” the rock star said in a short video shared on social media.

He said Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “are committed to a vision of this country that respects and includes everyone, regardless of class, religion, race, your political point of view or sexual identity.”

Harris’ proposals, he said, would grow the economy for everyone, not just the wealthy. 

“That’s the vision of America I’ve been consistently writing about for 55 years,” Springsteen said. 

He offered a harsh condemnation of Trump, saying the Republican nominee “doesn’t understand the meaning of this country, its history or what it means to be deeply American.” 

“His disdain for the sanctity of our Constitution, the sanctity of democracy, the sanctity of the rule of law and the sanctity of the peaceful transfer of power should disqualify him from the office of president ever again,” he said. 

The endorsement from Springsteen was no surprise. He has endorsed Democratic presidential candidates for years and has long been critical of Trump. 

In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Springsteen called Trump a “moron.” When Trump was running for reelection in 2020, Springsteen told The Atlantic he didn’t know “if our democracy could stand another four years of his custodianship.” 

It’s also unclear what impact major celebrity endorsements will have on the race. Taylor Swift drove more than 400,000 visits to vote.gov, a website with information about how to register to vote, in the 24 hours after she endorsed Harris. 

A number of other music stars have spoken out in this campaign, including some who support Trump.

Springsteen acknowledged that his “opinion is no more or less important than those of any of my fellow citizens.” 

“Like you, I’ve only got one vote and it’s one of the most precious possessions that I have,” he said. 

The roughly 70 million people who receive Social Security payments will soon learn how much they’ll receive in their 2025 benefit checks, with the program’s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to be announced within days. 

Each fall, the Social Security Administration sets its annual COLA based on the recent rate of inflation, part of an overhaul to the program that began in the 1970s that ensures senior citizens and other beneficiaries aren’t losing purchasing power in the face of rising prices. 

When will the 2025 Social Security COLA be announced?

Typically, the Social Security Administration announces its annual COLA on the same day the Labor Department releases its September inflation report, with the benefits announcement released shortly after the inflation data.

The September Consumer Price Index report is scheduled to be issued on Thursday, October 10. 

What will the COLA be for Social Security in 2025? 

The 2025 cost-of-living adjustment is forecast to come in at about 2.5%, according to the Senior Citizens League (TSCL), an advocacy group for older Americans. 

That will mark the smallest COLA since 2021, when seniors received a 1.3% adjustment due to the pandemic’s low rate of inflation. Because inflation surged in 2022 and 2023, Social Security provided unusually large COLAs for those years, at 5.9% and 8.7%, respectively.

Seniors received a 3.2% COLA for the current year. 

How would that impact Social Security benefits?

The average Social Security check for retirees stands at $1,907 in 2024, according to the Social Security Administration. 

If the agency announces a 2.5% COLA increase for 2025, as forecast, the typical benefit check would rise by about $48 a month, for a total of $1,955 per payment. 

What is the VA benefits COLA increase for 2025?

Earlier this month, Congress passed a new law that ties veterans’ benefits to Social Security’s cost-of-living  increase. Called the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2024, the law directs the VA to increase veterans’ benefits by the same inflation adjustment percentage as Social Security payments. 

“Boosting our veterans’ hard-earned benefits to keep pace with the cost of living is a necessary cost of war,” said Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana who co-sponsored the bill, in a statement. 

The COLA increase for VA benefits will apply to disability payments, clothing allowances and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children, according to Military.com. 

Based on the Senior Citizens League’s forecast, those VA benefits would increase by 2.5% next year. 

What is the current rate of inflation?

Inflation has cooled considerably after hitting a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022. The Federal Reserve engineered a flurry of rate hikes that have helped to drive down inflation, which stood at 2.5% on an annual basis in August — its lowest in three years.

Inflation is expected to continue to cool, with economists forecasting that the rate of price increases slipped to 2.3% in September, according to financial data firm FactSet. 

The Social Security Administration sets its annual COLA based on inflation during the third quarter, or from July through September. 

The agency takes the average inflation rate over that period from what’s known as the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, which tracks spending by working Americans. Because inflation has receded during the past several months, the 2025 COLA is expected to be lower than in prior years.

When former president Donald Trump takes the stage once again tomorrow in Butler, Pennsylvania, the security apparatus around the GOP nominee will look starkly different from the day of the first assassination attempt against him, when he took cover behind his podium as a gunman opened fire. 

Secret Service and the second Butler rally

U.S. Secret Service personnel will be stationed both inside and outside of the secure perimeter. That area includes the roof of a glass company warehouse where investigators say 20-year-old Thomas Crooks fired off eight rounds on July 13, grazing Trump’s ear, killing one attendee and injuring two others. 

“Since the attempted assassination of former President Trump on July 13, the U.S. Secret Service has made comprehensive changes and enhancements to our communications capabilities, resourcing, and protective operations,” U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. “Today, the former President is receiving heightened protection and we take the responsibility to ensure his safety and security very seriously.”

Federal law enforcement and local police began planning for Trump’s return to Butler roughly two weeks ago, multiple law enforcement officials told CBS News. The first in-person planning meeting with local law enforcement took place earlier this week, on Monday. 

“Regarding the October 5 event in Butler, we are coordinating closely with the Pennsylvania State Police as well as local law enforcement in and around Butler Township,” Guglielmi added. “We are also leveraging other federal security resources to expand personnel and technology.”

Those federal resources will include agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, who will stand post inside and outside the security perimeter. TSA agents will be working the magnetometers along the perimeter of the site, according to law enforcement sources. 

And while the 45th president’s security footprint will include more personnel and assets – complete with counter sniper teams, enhanced counter drone technology and counter assault teams – there will also be additional Pennsylvania State Police officers on site, with tactical team members blended alongside U.S. Secret Service teams throughout the event. 

Senate report on Secret Service and Trump Butler rally

Last month, an interim Senate report identified planning, communications and security failures in the U.S. Secret Service’s efforts during former President Donald Trump’s July rally that “directly contributed” to the assassination attempt against him. 

The joint investigation of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations indicated that several Secret Service officials experienced chronic problems with their radios on July 13. In one notable instance, a Secret Service countersniper was offered a local radio to help with communications through the day, but he didn’t have time to pick it up because he was working on “fixing” his own Secret Service radio. Because of failures of radios on site in Butler, the special agent in charge gave away his radio to a lead advance agent and went without one for the rest of the day, the report said. 

Trump’s detail now travels with a radio communications specialist from the U.S. Secret Service’s Office of the Chief Information Officer, whose primary purpose is to share real-time information with Trump’s team, as relayed on all law enforcement radio channels, according to multiple law enforcement sources. 

Addressing Butler rally site vulnerabilities

A number of tall buildings lining the perimeter of the Butler Farm Show create line-of-sight vulnerabilities for Trump. The Secret Service is mitigating that threat with stage enhancements, rows of farm vehicles parked around the rally site and bulletproof glass, according to the sources. 

Unlike the July 13 rally, members of the U.S. Secret Service, Pennsylvania State Police and Butler County Police will sit together in a unified command post. 

Trump in Butler amid assassination threats from Iran

The two attempts on Trump’s life followed the arrest of a Pakistani national with ties to Iran, charged with allegedly plotting a murder-for-hire scheme targeting current and former U.S. officials, including Trump. 

Matthew Olsen, head of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, said in an interview with CBS News Thursday that the U.S. government has been “intensely tracking Iranian lethal plotting efforts targeting former and current U.S. government officials – and that includes the former president.” 

Olsen added, “I would say that we are very concerned – gravely concerned – about Iranian plotting.”Last month, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence briefed Trump on “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him.”

“I think we’ve been very, very clear that that is a threat vector that we are extremely concerned about monitoring very closely, working to gain as much information and fidelity on as we possibly can,” a senior DHS official told CBS News in a reporter briefing, Wednesday. “That is a U.S. government wide effort to involve all of our partners across the United States government.” 

A Homeland Threat Assessment released by the Department of Homeland Security Wednesday stated that Iran “maintains its intent to kill US government officials it deems responsible for the 2020 death of its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-Quds Force Commander and designated foreign terrorist Qassem Soleimani,” an action carried out during the Trump administration.  

“It is no secret that this is a challenge we are confronting on a daily basis right now,” the DHS senior official added.

Authorities anticipate roughly 25,000-30,000 will be attending the rally Saturday. 

Nikole Killion, Daniel Klaidman, Clare Hymes, Michael Kaplan contributed reporting. 

contributed to this report.