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Trump celebrates 78th birthday in West Palm Beach as Rubio makes surprise appearance
West Palm Beach, Florida — Former President Donald Trump Friday night celebrated his 78th birthday in a packed Palm Beach Convention Center filled with supporters — including Republican Sen. Marco Rubio — while he continued his familiar attack lines on President Biden regarding immigration and foreign policy.
“Under my leadership, we had no wars,” Trump declared. “Instead of a globalist warmonger in the White House, you had a peacemaker at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee seized on the arrests this week of eight Tajik nationals accused of having links to ISIS. Prior to their arrests, the men had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without proper documents and were given notices to appear in immigration court, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official.
“Our country has never been in danger like it’s in danger right now. Just this week, ISIS arrested not one, not two, but eight suspected terrorists at the highest level of terrorism,” Trump said.
The birthday bash was hosted by Club 47, a Palm Beach-based Trump fan club. Tickets to the celebration — which were priced between $25 and $60 — sold out several days prior.
Before his speech, Trump was presented with a six-tiered cake decorated with images of Trump and topped with a red MAGA hat in fondant.
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It was a show of loyalty from Florida supporters and congressional allies for Trump about two weeks after he was found guilty in his Manhattan “hush money” criminal trial of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Also in attendance Friday was Rubio — who has been among those named as possible running mate for Trump, sources previously told CBS News. Rubio delivered a speech before Trump took to stage, also attacking Mr. Biden about the border.
“We now have terrorists, criminals and drugs entering our country across the open border, and he invited them to enter the United States,” Rubio said.
Last week, however, the president issued an executive order which makes it easier for U.S. immigration officials to deport large numbers of migrants without processing their asylum claims.
This was Rubio’s first time appearing on the 2024 campaign trail alongside Trump. It also came two days after the senator — in an interview with Telemundo — defended previous controversial comments from Trump in which he said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
In Wednesday’s interview, Rubio claimed Trump’s comment was not really about race.
“That’s a saying that he uses, but it has nothing to do with race, because in the end, he’s talking about the country, not the population,” Rubio said. “The country is threatened by this influx of people, which we now know even includes criminals and terrorists.”
Trump could face legal barriers in selecting Rubio as his running mate, as both claim residency in Florida. The 12th Amendment of the Constitution stipulates that, under the Electoral College, “The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves.”
The birthday celebration comes as concerns about the ages of Trump and Mr. Biden persist among voters. In 2016, Trump was at the time the oldest person elected to the presidency at the age of 70, a mark which was surpassed by Mr. Biden when he was inaugurated in January 2021 at the age of 78. If he were to be re-elected, Trump would surpass Mr. Biden as the oldest person inaugurated as president.
Meanwhile, Mr. Biden would be 82 if he were re-elected, and 86 years old by the end of a second term.
Trump seems to hold an edge over Mr. Biden among Americans concerned about the cognitive abilities of both, according to recent CBS News polling. Only a third of voters think Mr. Biden has the cognitive ability to serve, whereas half of voters think Trump does.
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Senate passes $895 billion defense bill with controversial gender-affirming care restriction
Washington — The Senate approved the mammoth $895 billion National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, despite concern from some Democrats over a controversial policy restricting gender-affirming care for children of servicemembers.
In a 85 to 14 vote, the Senate approved the legislation, which the House passed last week. Eleven Democrats and three Republicans voted against it in the upper chamber. The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
The 1,800 page national security legislation to authorize funding for the Defense Department for fiscal year 2025. But the bill includes a handful of controversial policies, like the gender-affirming care restriction, and lost support from the majority of Democrats in the House.
The Democratic-controlled Senate pushed forward with the measure nonetheless. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted that while the NDAA “isn’t perfect,” it still “includes some very good things that Democrats fought for” — citing provisions aimed at standing up against the Chinese Communist Party, boosting the use of artificial intelligence for national defense and expanding domestic tech innovation.
“Congress has passed the NDAA on a bipartisan basis for over six straight decades, and this year will be no different,” Schumer said ahead of the vote on Wednesday. “We’re passing the NDAA and that’s a very good thing.”
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Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, derided the gender-affirming care restriction earlier this week, calling it “the product of a nationwide campaign against trans rights” and arguing that the legislation’s approval would mark “the first anti-LGBTQ law passed by Congress in decades.”
Still, the outcome of the vote was all but guaranteed after the Senate advanced the measure on Monday in a 83-12 procedural vote.
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, celebrated the NDAA’s “immense accomplishments,” including a 14.5% pay raise for junior service members and investments in recruitment capabilities. But he said Congress “missed an opportunity to strengthen the president-elect’s hand as he takes office in a precarious world situation.”
Wicker outlined that the Armed Services Committee proposed $25 billion for modernization programs, including for missile defense, ship building and counter-drone technology, saying “this should have been part of the bill today.”
Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee, called the legislation a “strong, forward looking bill that we can all be proud of.” But he said he “strongly” disagrees with the inclusion of the gender-affirming care provision, calling it a “misguided provision.”
“I share many of my colleagues’ frustrations that the bill includes a provision that would prohibit gender-affirming health care for minors under certain circumstances,” Reed noted, adding that he voted against the provision in committee. “We will continue to work to ensure the health care rights of all military personnel and their dependents.”
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A person in Louisiana has the first severe illness caused by bird flu in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.
Officials determined the patient had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks, though an investigation into the source of the infection in the state is ongoing. This is also the first case of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. that has been linked to exposure to a backyard flock, a news release noted. Officials have not shared details on the patient’s symptoms.
The case was first confirmed by health officials Friday, adding to the total of 61 reported human cases of H5 bird flu reported in the United States. Another severe case of H5N1 has been reported in a teen in British Columbia.
A release from the Louisiana Department of Health Wednesday added the patient, a resident of southwestern Louisiana, is currently hospitalized. Until now, the H5N1 cases in the U.S. have been mild, including conjunctivitis and upper respiratory symptoms.
“While the current public health risk for the general public is low, people who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have recreational exposure to them, are at higher risk,” the state’s health department added.
Mild illnesses have been seen in dairy and poultry workers who had close contact with infected animals. In two cases, no known source of the illnesses have been identified, which has worried infectious disease experts about the possibility of human-to-human transmission, which could trigger a pandemic.