Dr. Erica Schwartz was confirmed Wednesday as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the first Black woman to hold the position.Schwartz’s nomination was confirmed in a 51-44 Senate vote.The former deputy surgeon general was nominated by President Donald Trump in April. He described described Schwartz as “incredibly talented” and said, “She is a STAR!” in a Truth Social post at the time.After thousands of cuts to the agency at the start of Trump’s second term, the CDC is currently responding to a surge in measles and cyclosporiasis cases. Latest Live UpdatesEl-Sayed Responds To Trump’s Attacks: ‘The Man Can’t Stay On Focus’Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed responded to President Donald Trump’s recent invectives in a CNN interview on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Trump had lashed out at El-Sayed during a speech in Las Vegas, claiming that he was “full of shit.” Additionally, Trump exaggerated the pronunciation of El-Sayed’s name and falsely stated that he “hates Jews and he hates Israel.”“Abdul El-Sayed, lovely gentleman. He’s a man of hate,” Trump said. “I’m glad he thinks I’m a lovely gentleman. A lot of people think so,” El-Sayed quipped when asked about Trump’s remarks by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. El-Sayed went on to note that Trump’s tirade was off-topic, and urged the president to focus on substantive policy discussions instead. “Look at the background. It says no tax on tips. The man can’t stay on focus,” El-Sayed said. “That’s like the one thing that he did to offer any economic relief. But instead of that, he’s more focused on me and what I’m going to do while we’re living through an affordability crisis that is generational.”Trump and other Republicans have targeted El-Sayed since his primary win, with several engaging in Islamophobic attacks. “There are people like J.D. Vance or Donald Trump or Mike Rogers, who want to define America as being too small to include some kinds of people, and they point to my name, they point to my faith, they try to insinuate that somehow I’m less American because of those things,” El-Sayed told CNN. “...They want America to be small. I believe that America is big.”This American City Briefly Had The Worst Air Quality In The WorldPortland, Oregon, briefly had the worst air quality in the world on Wednesday as it continues to endure wildfires and their smoke, according to IQAir, which tracks air quality internationally.At the time of writing, Portland now sits in the number two slot with an AQI of 166, just three points behind Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are closely followed by the cities of Jakarta in Indonesia, Kampala in Uganda, and Lahore in Pakistan. Portland’s unhealthy air quality has been caused by wildfires that have engulfed more than 2 million acres across the Pacific Northwest. The National Weather Service said it expects air quality in Portland to improve by Thursday night. Trump, Hegseth Reportedly Sparred At Camp David Over Iran Missile Depletion FearsPresident Donald Trump privately raged at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week at Camp David, accusing him of misrepresenting a munition shortage that could hinder military operations, sources told The Washington Post.Trump has reportedly become frustrated with a shortage of long-range guided missiles and air-defense interceptors that has forced him to retreat from his promise to launch massive strikes on Iran. Read more in The Washington Post: Trump Targets El-Sayed After Win In MichiganPresident Donald Trump on Wednesday leveled a series of crude attacks against Abdul El-Sayed, the newly minted Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan.“When I watch Abdul, he’s full of shit,” Trump said in a Las Vegas speech, during which he also criticized El-Sayed’s stance on Israel. “He’s a man of hate,” Trump falsely claimed while re-upping longstanding jabs he’s levied against the so-called “radical left.”Earlier in the day, Trump described El-Sayed’s win as “Great news for the Republican Party.”Trump’s ‘Golden Fleet’ Of Warships Expected To Cost Upward Of $275 BillionThe price tag for President Donald Trump’s “golden fleet” of warships is set to be about $275 billion, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office.The cost includes the 15 new Trump-class nuclear-powered ships that the president aspires to build through 2056. The first ship, the U.S.S. Defiant, is expected to cost around $23.4 billion, and the other 14 are expected to average $18 billion. However, Trump has also indicated that he’d like as many as 25 ships to make up the fleet, which would cost approximately $455 billion, per the report.Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who is the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, requested the report. In a statement Wednesday, he condemned the lofty cost of Trump’s so-called “golden fleet.”“At a time when families are struggling to afford groceries, gas, health care, and child care, Congress cannot throw hundreds of billions of dollars at Trump’s ‘Golden Fleet,’ including plastering his name across a new battleship. Just like Trump’s ‘Golden Dome,’ the ‘Golden Fleet’ is expected to cost much more than previously estimated,” Merkley said.Merkley added that he plans to work with the Appropriations Committee to “reject moving forward with this wasteful project, and instead invest in programs that help families thrive.”CIA Reportedly Creates Secret Cuba Task ForceThe CIA has formed an undisclosed task force in Cuba to help President Donald Trump achieve his goal of pushing out top officials who have defied his demands, sources told The New York Times.U.S. officials reportedly want the task force to create a divide among Cuba’s high-ranking military officials and leaders of its Communist party, who have decried Trump’s threats of a military invasion. However, the group’s operations will differ from those of the CIA’s earlier Cuban task force created in 1960 before the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Read more from The New York Times: Trump Criticizes Liberal Supreme Court Justices In Vegas SpeechPresident Donald Trump on Wednesday quipped that he’d “fire” the liberal Supreme Court judges if he had the ability to do so. While speaking in Las Vegas, Trump railed against the more progressive justices, who he said stick together “like glue.” “They never veer, and in many ways I respect that, I must tell you,” Trump said. “They’re horrible for our country.” “Fire ‘em!” someone in the crowd appeared to say. “I’d like to fire them. I’d fire them if I could,” Trump said. “I’m just responding,” he added, while gesturing to the audience member. “...They’ll say ‘Trump wants to fire the judges.’ That’ll be the– No, I’m just responding. I’m just responding. A man said, ‘Fire them, sir, fire them.’” Trump’s comments are just the latest broadsides he’s levied against the judiciary. In another part of his speech, he also called for a crackdown on so-called “Marxist prosecutors and rogue judges who are a horror show for our country.”Dems Demand Probe Into Trump Family Influence Over Defense Dept. InvestmentsA group of Democratic lawmakers is asking the Pentagon to investigate a number of companies tied to family members of President Donald Trump, after The Washington Post reported that the businesses have garnered billions in federal contracts, investments and loans during his second term.The lawmakers said they were troubled that investment companies linked to the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, have given money to at least 15 companies that, in turn, were offered $3.2 billion in awards and $3.1 billion in future contract options by the Defense Department. The letter noted that the family’s apparent influence over government decisions would undermine a process “used to ensure that service members have the best equipment and most effective technologies and weapons systems on the market.”The letter also outlined a series of demands for Defense Department Inspector General Platte Moring, such as a review of the Pentagon’s policy for award-making decisions to determine whether it effectively prevents conflicts of interest. “Your determination of whether any Trump-affiliated company may have obtained financial benefits from DoD contracts or awards is particularly important in light of President Trump’s admission that his children ‘have inside information’ in ‘almost anything they do’ with regard to their investment portfolios,” read the letter signed by a number of congressional Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Robert Garcia (California). AIPAC Reportedly Weighs Boosting GOP Fight Against Abdul El-SayedAIPAC is reportedly considering plans to spend a massive amount of money to boost Republican Mike Rogers' Michigan Senate campaign against progressive Abdul El-Sayed in the November general election, after the latter was declared the victor Wednesday in the expensive Democratic primary against moderate Rep. Haley Stevens.The pro-Israel lobbying group had spent a record $32 million on Stevens’ campaign because she described herself as a “proud pro-Israel Democrat” and backed the U.S. continuing to provide aid and weapons to Israel. The Muslim Michigander’s populist platform includes speaking up for Palestinian rights.“While disappointed that some of our AIPAC-backed candidates did not prevail, our community is proud to support pro-Israel Democrats and Republicans who stand for our values,” AIPAC said in a Wednesday statement.According to The New York Times, half a dozen people who have spoken with AIPAC’s leaders said the lobbying group was considering funneling tens of millions of dollars into Rogers’ campaign, which has already launched racist attack ads against El-Sayed. A spokesperson for the group’s main super PAC told the Times that no decision had been made about spending in the race.“Our members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November,” AIPAC said in its statement.New Mexico Sues Blanche, DOJ Over Access To Redacted Epstein FilesNew Mexico is suing Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice over access to evidence in its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.The state’s Attorney General Raúl Torrez alleged that the federal government had refused to cooperate with his office during its renewed examination of the late convicted sex offender’s potentially illegal actions during frequent visits to Zorro Ranch, a sprawling property he owned near Santa Fe. Torrez also claimed his office had been blocked from seeing unredacted records, despite the DOJ’s promises to cooperate. Lawyers for the state argued in court filings that the Trump administration was “refusing to facilitate the investigation of state law crimes by hiding information about Epstein and his co-conspirators from Attorney General Torrez and state law enforcement, when New Mexico is one of few jurisdictions that still may have an opportunity to hold Epstein’s associates accountable or otherwise provide some sense of justice to survivors.”See All Updates