air force assignment video

A TikToker's viral reaction to her Air Force assignment has ignited support and commiseration about a widely-dreaded base in North Dakota

• TikToker Callie Green's hilariously horrified reaction to her Air Force assignment has been viewed 14 million times.
• Those in the know assumed she was assigned to Minot, North Dakota, a unanimously dreaded base among airmen.
• Commenters have chimed in with sympathy and commiseration, while others are learning details about Air Force assignments for the first time.

A viral TikTok from a user who goes by Callie Green is shining a light on the Air Force assignment process for the uninitiated — specifically about an infamous base in North Dakota that is apparently widely dreaded among airmen. 

In Green's video, which has accrued 13.3 million views since it was shared on April 5, the TikToker and a colleague recorded themselves learning about their assignments. Inset text read, "POV: you put all overseas in your dream sheet, but the Air Force had other plans." 

Upon getting the news, neither verbalize the name of the base, but both dissolve into horrified laughter. "I was not expecting that," Green says in the video, as her colleague covers her mouth and repeatedly shouts, "No!"

Commenters were of two minds: They were either utterly clueless or knew precisely what the reactions meant. 

@calliegreenn finding out our assignments😍😍😍 ♬ original sound - Callie Green

"That NO made me IMMEDIATELY think she got MINOT," reads one of the video's top comments. Another said, "Me googling Minot because I ended on this side of tiktok and don't know what's happening."

Related stories

Green has not responded to commenters asking about the assignment, though she did react to going viral in response to a tweet from BuzzFeed News reporter Katie Notopoulus, who called the TikTok compelling and niche. 

Insider has reached out to Green for comment and confirmation about the speculations.

The Minot Air Force Base, located just south of the Canadian border, has become somewhat notorious, with others on TikTok bemoaning their assignments. 

In a December 2021 video with 364,000 views, the user @hutchyharley can be seen flipping off "whoever ... thought it would be funny to put me at Minot for four years." Months earlier, the user @jaciiie simply wrote, " I want to leave so bad, such a sick joke " after sharing her station with viewers.

@aimhighwhiting #military #whynotminot #minot #northdakota #airforce #fyp ♬ original sound - sp 🦈

In a video from February , user @aimhighwhiting captioned, "POV: you check your orders and see Minot, North Dakota," as he filmed himself jumping up from a chair in frustration and pretending to hurl his tablet onto the ground. 

Last year, Task and Purpose covered Minot's infamous status in the Air Force with more serious anecdotes. In addition to being in a frigid and remote location, the outlet reported that people claiming to be Minot veterans were anonymously posting on Facebook about being "overworked, mismanaged, and disrespected based on their gender."

At the time, Minot's chief of public affairs, Maj. Christopher Mesnard, told the outlet that leadership was addressing these concerns. 

Reactions to professional and educational assignments have become a massive draw on TikTok, including college acceptance results , as well as "Match Day," in which medical students learn where they will be completing their residencies.

Watch: What new Air Force recruits go through in boot camp

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Here’s how the Air Force could change its job assignment process

Air Force leaders are sifting through a list of proposed changes to how airmen are assigned new jobs, and may announce some updates by the end of September.

After about a year at work, a panel of airmen from across the service has floated more than 90 suggestions for assignment reform. Now it’s up to the Air Force’s personnel branch, the Air Force’s top enlisted leader and other officials to bring some of them to fruition.

The recommendations are part of an overarching effort to improve quality of life and career opportunities across the force.

How airmen are assigned jobs gets a fresh look from new Air Force panel

A new air force panel will rethink how the service assigns troops to new jobs, chief master sergeant of the air force joanne bass said monday..

“We’ve got to start to change some of our assignment policies to mirror what today’s military family looks like,” said Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass in an exclusive Sept. 6 interview.

Their ideas fall into three broad categories: policy changes that cost nothing; changes that require funding, possibly software and other resources; and wider-ranging updates that will take more time to flesh out.

For instance, while the Air Force tries to station two active duty spouses in the same place, it never created a similar policy on how to assign jobs to couples with one active duty airman and one Reservist or Guardsman.

That’s “kind of crazy,” Bass said. “That’s an easy fix.”

Air Force to end preferred basing for enlisted as it changes how airmen find new jobs

The "base of preference" program's last day is may 31..

The Air Force could also change how it considers airmen for emergency transfer to another base, such as sexual assault victims trying to get away from their abuser.

“There shouldn’t be any calculus,” Bass said. “I don’t care how long somebody’s been ‘time on station.’ We’ve got to expedite people and allow them to be able to transfer out of their duty station.”

Among the more complicated proposals is a suggestion to rethink how long airmen should live at each base.

“Are short tours and long tours and standard tours appropriate for today’s force?” Bass said. “What might have been considered a hardship tour 15 or 20 years ago may not be a hardship tour [now], and it doesn’t need to be a short tour.”

Short overseas postings such as at Morón Air Base, Spain, or Pápa AB, Hungary, can last one to two years. Long postings can last three or four years in places like the United Kingdom or Japan.

Air Force extends first-term, unaccompanied tours at some overseas duty stations to 36 months

The change is designed to give the service member additional time to train with the unit, along with greater “stability," the air force said..

In February, then-Air Force personnel boss Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly told House lawmakers that enlisted airmen spend just over four years at installations in the continental United States on average, while officers spend about three years at each base.

Bass argues it’s time to reconsider how long airmen remain at stateside bases. She’s open to the idea of standardizing the length of those postings, and offering extensions to people who request them — as happens for assignments abroad.

“Perhaps if it’s a win to the airman and it’s a win to the Air Force to keep that member there for another year or two years, allow our command teams to … take a look at that,” she said.

Airmen don’t necessarily have to stay in the same job if they want to remain at a particular base. If a slot is open and they meet the requirements, the Air Force can move someone into a new unit at their current base or one nearby to maintain some stability.

The service is also trying to make job opportunities more transparent and accessible so airmen can better explore their options. At the same time, it wants more flexibility to move people around — or not — as needed.

A bearish manpower outlook means the Air Force has to plan ahead to avoid stretching the force even thinner.

“We really have to be thoughtful [about], how do we keep talent on the table five years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now?” Bass said. “Assignments matter to people.”

Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.

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A TikToker's viral reaction to her Air Force assignment has ignited support and commiseration about a widely-dreaded base in North Dakota

• TikToker Callie Green's hilariously horrified reaction to her Air Force assignment has been viewed 14 million times.
• Those in the know assumed she was assigned to Minot, North Dakota, a unanimously dreaded base among airmen.
• Commenters have chimed in with sympathy and commiseration, while others are learning details about Air Force assignments for the first time.

A viral TikTok from a user who goes by Callie Green is shining a light on the Air Force assignment process for the uninitiated — specifically about an infamous base in North Dakota that is apparently widely dreaded among airmen. 

In Green's video, which has accrued 13.3 million views since it was shared on Wednesday, the TikToker and a colleague recorded themselves learning about their assignments. Inset text read, "POV: you put all overseas in your dream sheet, but the Air Force had other plans." 

Upon getting the news, neither verbalize the name of the base, but both dissolve into horrified laughter. "I was not expecting that," Green says in the video, as her colleague covers her mouth and repeatedly shouts, "No!"

Commenters were of two minds: They were either utterly clueless or knew precisely what the reactions meant. 

"That NO made me IMMEDIATELY think she got MINOT," reads one of the video's top comments. Another said, "Me googling Minot because I ended on this side of tiktok and don't know what's happening."

Green has not responded to commenters asking about the assignment, though she did react to going viral in response to a tweet from BuzzFeed News reporter Katie Notopoulus, who called the TikTok compelling and niche. 

Insider has reached out to Green for comment and confirmation about the speculations.

The Minot Air Force Base, located just south of the Canadian border, has become somewhat notorious, with others on TikTok bemoaning their assignments. 

In a December 2021 video with 364,000 views, the user @hutchyharley can be seen flipping off "whoever ... thought it would be funny to put me at Minot for four years." Months earlier, the user @jaciiie simply wrote, " I want to leave so bad, such a sick joke " after sharing her station with viewers.

In a video from February , user @aimhighwhiting captioned, "POV: you check your orders and see Minot, North Dakota," as he filmed himself jumping up from a chair in frustration and pretending to hurl his tablet onto the ground. 

Last year, Task and Purpose covered Minot's infamous status in the Air Force with more serious anecdotes. In addition to being in a frigid and remote location, the outlet reported that people claiming to be Minot veterans were anonymously posting on Facebook about being "overworked, mismanaged, and disrespected based on their gender."

At the time, Minot's chief of public affairs, Maj. Christopher Mesnard, told the outlet that leadership was addressing these concerns. 

Reactions to professional and educational assignments have become a massive draw on TikTok, including college acceptance results , as well as "Match Day," in which medical students learn where they will be completing their residencies.

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A REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT

Two Black cadets and the struggle for diversity at an elite US military institution

By Photography by KEVIN MOHATT and text by DONNA BRYSON

Filed March 30, 2024, 10 a.m. GMT

As a freshman, Tusajigwe Owens woke up every day wanting to do more

Marcus Berrette has wanted to be a pilot since he was five years old

The Air Force Academy has tried – and failed – for several years to close the graduation gap for Black cadets

Photography by Kevin Mohatt and text by Donna Bryson in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Filed: March 30, 2024, 10 a.m. GMT

Pale marble pavers crisscross the Terrazzo, the plaza at the heart of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado that cadets traverse daily, on the way to class, the library and meals. In their first year, cadets must run and keep to the narrow marble strips whenever they are on the 20-acre Terrazzo.

Tusajigwe Owens doesn’t take short cuts. He is one of 112 Black cadets in the class of 1,071 freshmen that started at the academy in June 2022.

Running the strips helps instill a sense of urgency and attention to detail that “absolutely matters for the success of yourself and the success of your team,” he said.

Older cadets share coping strategies such as organizing schedules to minimize Terrazzo trips, or walking when the marble is slippery in wet weather. “They would rather see you succeed,” Owens said.

Not everyone will. The graduation rate for Black cadets has for the last decade averaged 66%, compared to an overall graduation rate of 80%.

Graduation rates at US officer training academies

That gap has frustrated the Air Force’s stated objective of increasing diversity in its officer corps.

Only 6% of officers identify as Black, compared to about 17% among enlisted members of the Air Force, according to the Air Force Personnel Center.

Those figures have changed very little in the last 20 years, according to an Air Force spokesperson.

By comparison, around 13% of America’s population is Black.

Source: Air Force Personnel Center, U.S. Census Bureau

On June 29, days after Owens finished his first year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina in a case brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), a group that argues that affirmative action policies discriminate against white and Asian American people. Chief Justice John Roberts exempted military training academies from the decision, citing the U.S. government argument that the legitimacy of the armed forces would be undermined by having an overwhelmingly white officer corps leading much more diverse enlisted ranks.

In the fall, the SFFA expanded its challenge to the military’s elite training academies, suing to block the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, from considering race as a factor in admissions. The Supreme Court in February declined an SFFA request to intervene in the West Point case. SFFA founder Edward Blum told Reuters the group would continue to challenge the military’s admissions policies through the lower courts, where the cases are currently being heard.

West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy declined to comment on the SFFA court cases. A Pentagon spokesperson said that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin remains deeply committed to building an officer corps that draws on “the full strength of the American people.”

Reuters was granted access to the Air Force Academy for the most sustained reporting on the facility since the early 2000s. Journalists visited the campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a dozen times over the course of an academic year, interviewing Owens and a fellow African American freshman, Marcus Berrette, as well as eight members of the institution’s leadership team in the presence of an academy spokesman.

Their responses on matters of race were complex.

Reuters also spoke to two Black men who entered the academy in 2006 and did not graduate with their class.

Owens and Berrette, both now sophomores, academy officials and the former cadets offered no definitive explanations for the higher drop-out rate among African American cadets. Still, they pointed to what they see as several contributing factors. Academy officials referenced the small number of Black cadets. Cadets pointed to the importance the academy places on hierarchy and tradition. Officials and students also mentioned the country’s broader legacy of racism and underestimating Black potential.

An academy spokesperson said that the institution is “unsettled” by the higher drop-out rates among African American cadets and is working to combat it by bringing more Black students to campus and committing to their success.

The spokesperson said the academy would continue to consider race among factors for admission, in addition to gender and geography.

The Class of 2026 arrived on a bright June day in 2022. The first of their four years at the academy would involve studying “Contrails,” a breast-pocket-size manual of academy lore, and revered Air Force figures such as Jimmy Doolittle, who led the first bombing raids on Tokyo after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The cadets would also have to get used to wearing uniforms to class and to dorm rooms equipped with racks for M-16 rifles, rendered inoperable, that cadets carry during military games. And marching. So much marching.

That’s alongside what freshmen anywhere might have encountered: football games, chemistry tests, English papers.

Owens, born in 2002 in Philadelphia, planned to major in military strategic studies. While he chose the military, Owens said his mother, a nurse, and his father, an IT manager, modeled service and leadership for him at work, church and home.

Berrette, born in 2004 in Fort Myers, Florida, is the son of an Air Force officer. He has wanted to be a pilot since he was five years old, when he ran across books about planes at a school book fair. He planned to major in aeronautics.

His passion for flight inspired his mother, Ermita Charles-Berrette, to leave her job as a nurse and sign up for the Air Force. She joined in 2012 on a leadership track - the academy is not the only way to become an officer - and is a major.

As the school year started, Berrette and Owens marched onto a parade ground with the rest of their class to take the academy oath: “I will not lie, steal or cheat nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably, so help me God.”

Before he came to the academy, Berrette said he spoke to Black alumni who said he would have to work twice as hard as white cadets to gain recognition and could expect harsher punishment if he got into trouble. But Berrette and Owens never spoke to Reuters of being discouraged.

Bias to outright discrimination

In 1959, five years after its founding, the academy admitted its first Black students, three men in a class of 755. All three were among the 499 graduates of the class of 1963.

By 2008, the year Barack Obama was elected America’s first Black president, among the 1,286 students who started at the academy, just 47 were Black, or fewer than 4%.

Daryl Wells, who is Black and was then in his junior year at the academy, recalls a drawing he saw circulated among his fellow cadets during that election season showing a trap baited with watermelon – an old racist trope aimed at Black Americans – and a caption referring to Obama. He said a white cadet, whom he declined to name, told him: “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

“I didn’t realize how racist it (the academy) was until the advent of Obama,” Wells said. “It was probably just a concentrated version of America at large.”

Wells, now a Houston real estate agent, said he left the academy at the start of his senior year because of a personal crisis over his realization that he was gay. He returned to graduate in 2011, a year behind his class, and completed the five years of active-duty military service required of academy graduates in return for free college education.

“I didn’t realize how racist it (the academy) was until the advent of Obama.” Daryl Wells

Wells said the racism he encountered did not influence his decision to leave and would not impact whether he would advise anyone to go.

“That’s not how you fix the problem, not by shying away from these places,” Wells said. “You have to deal with things in order for the next generation not to have to deal with them.”

The academy did not respond to requests for comment on Wells’ account of his experiences.

In 2020, nine years after Wells graduated, the Air Force Inspector General issued its first report into racial disparities in the service. It found lower than average promotion rates for Black officers across all ranks, and that one in three Black officers did not believe the Air Force provided them the same opportunities to advance as their white peers.

“Thousands of Black service members and civilians reported issues ranging from bias to outright racial discrimination,” the inspector general wrote.

An academy spokesperson said the institution trains cadets to report discrimination up the chain of command.

Affirmative action in the military and its academies is part of a charged debate. Lawmakers including Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Wisconsin Republican who has not served in the military, have portrayed such policies, including at military academies, as discriminatory.

“It’s pretty simple. If we are serious about ending discrimination in the United States, the first step is for the government to stop doing the discriminating,” Tiffany told Reuters in an email.

Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat and former Army Ranger, said that while understanding did not hinge on military experience, his own service had taught him the importance of building a military that reflects the country’s diversity.

“Usually, people who have served and who know something about national security and military service really do support this,” Crow told Reuters.

“I can’t sit back and try to lead from the background.”

– Marcus Berrette

Finding inspiration

As classes got underway, Berrette was pleased to find a reading assignment on the Harlem Hellfighters, the Black infantry regiment that spent 191 days in combat during World War One, longer than any other American unit.

In the spring of 2023, Berrette perused the program for an on-campus leadership symposium, noting Eddie S. Glaude Jr., chair of Princeton University’s Department of African American Studies, would be speaking about the threat white supremacy poses to democracy.

“It’s just always interesting to see how our brothers and sisters made it to the top,” Berrette said. “It’s not always easy.”

During a question-and-answer session, which a Reuters reporter attended, a white cadet said some of his classmates were angry at having to take part in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) workshops. Glaude drew a standing ovation when he counseled cadets to press on, saying leaders have to say, “at some point, ’Shut the hell up and let’s go.’”

When Reuters told Joseph Looney, the academy’s chief DEI officer, about the white cadet’s question to Glaude, Looney said: “That didn’t surprise me. We’ve got that feedback a little bit.”

“Nothing here has come easy at all.”

– Tusajigwe Owens

Gaining entry in the first place

Competition for a place at the academy is intense and usually requires nomination by a state’s congressional representative.

Each member of Congress is allowed to nominate up to 10 candidates, and up to five cadets from any district can attend the academy at one time.

Col. Arthur Primas Jr., who until recently served as the academy’s director of admissions, said he dispatches diverse recruiters to reach out to high school guidance counselors and visit schools in communities of color. The Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious university admissions did not address recruitment.

“I think the academy does an excellent job now of celebrating those diverse graduates who have gone on to do great things,” Primas said, adding that it shows potential students “what is possible.”

When Owens approached lawmakers in his home state of Pennsylvania for a nomination in 2021, he said he was told he didn’t appear ready. Owens had been homeschooled and didn’t have a high class ranking or extra-curricular activities. So he enrolled in the academy’s on-campus, 10-month prep school, open to anyone whose initial application to the academy is unsuccessful.  Democratic Senator Bob Casey’s office confirmed it nominated Owens the following year.

Berrette also attended the prep school, where tuition is free.

“They’re willing to invest in you to make you completely eligible for the academy,” Berrette said.

“I wasn’t born into a family where my dad’s name would get me into the right school. I feel like I had actually to earn this.” Tusajigwe Owens

Enlisted members of the Air Force and other services also can apply to the prep school, allowing the school to tap into a larger pool of minorities. On average, African American students have made up about 28% of the prep school classes since 2014.

While entrance to the academy from the prep school is not ensured, it is “instrumental” for preparing many diverse candidates, Primas said.

Over the past decade, a total of 1,787 prep school graduates have been admitted to the academy. Of those, 396, or 22%, have been African American.

Russell Roberts enrolled at the academy in 2006 planning to study engineering after being recruited to play football, the first in his family to attend a military academy. He said white cadets, whose names he no longer remembers, often told him that they expected him to fail. When he did well on tests, suspicious white cadets told him they would figure out whether he had cheated and report him if he had.

“There wasn’t a single Black cadet that gave me that treatment,” he said.

Black upperclassmen instead tried to make first-year cadets feel at home by, for example, cutting their hair, Roberts said, adding that the academy barbers were unaccustomed to cutting Black hair.

“I do feel like some of it (the treatment) was race-related, but I don’t want to say it was racist,” he said.

Because of his hostile treatment at the academy, Roberts said, he transferred to a school in Texas that had also recruited him to play football. He’s now a manager at a big box store in Houston.

The academy did not respond to requests for comment on Roberts’ experience.

Some days, Owens said, he looks at his fellow cadets and sees “descendants of generals, of individuals who have been in the Air Force for decades.”

It’s a point of pride for Owens that he is there, too.

“I wasn’t born into a family where my dad’s name would get me into the right school,” Owens said. “I feel like I had actually to earn this.”

The academy began reducing the extent to which legacy was taken into account for admissions in 2013 and eliminated it entirely in 2022.

Followership to leadership

Freshmen cadets are known as Doolies, after World War II hero Doolittle. Some cadets say the name comes from the Greek for slave – doulos. That’s an explanation academy leaders say they would like to put behind them.

Cadets in their first year are meant to look to upperclassmen for direction as a step toward one day being leaders themselves.

“It’s not easy being a Doolie. I wake up every day thinking, ‘I wish I could do more,’” Owens said.

Owens has expressed concern that cadets are too often treated as numbers: their GPA or class rankings that determine who gets coveted assignments such as a place in flight school.

“I was worried I would face racism here,” Owens told Reuters. But “I’ve been talked down to more because of my class rank than because I’m a Black man.”

At year’s end, Owens was named the top cadet among his squad’s 26 Doolies, an honor that squad supervisor Lt. Col. Jessica Pratt attributed to the effort Owens put into military training and his dedication to helping others.

On May 22, Owens stood in the football stadium with his fellow cadets to salute the graduation speaker – President Joe Biden, their civilian commander in chief.

Biden noted that the Class of 2023 was one of the most diverse in the institution’s history. A third were minorities, according to academy figures.

“That’s why we’re strong,” Biden told the cadets. “That’s why we’re who we are.”

By Donna Bryson

Photography by Kevin Mohatt

Additional reporting by Phil Stewart

Photo editing and art direction: Maye-E Wong

Art direction and graphics: John Emerson

Edited by Suzanne Goldenberg

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Cold weather pay being introduced at nd bases.

BISMARCK – The implementation of the U.S. Air Force’s plan to introduce Assignment Incentive Pay for eligible military members stationed at cold weather locations, bases where the temperature reaches -20 degrees Fahrenheit or below was announced by Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven, both R-ND, Monday.

Eligible military stations in North Dakota include Minot Air Force Base, Cavalier Space Force Station and Grand Forks AFB.

“This announcement today from the Air Force really follows through on our intent to make sure our Airmen and Guardians, who serve in places like Minot, Grand Forks and Cavalier are properly compensated for the significant added winter expenses. Anybody that has purchased a North Face jacket knows just how expensive it is to dress for winter. I’m grateful to see this cold weather pay roll out to make these winters a little less expensive and stressful for our servicemen and women who are stationed here in North Dakota and already sacrificing so much to stand in the gap for our freedom,” Cramer said.

“Congress authorized this special pay to help our servicemembers and their families shoulder financial burdens unique to living in colder temperatures, including winter clothes and snow tires,” Hoeven said. “We’ve been pressing the Air Force to provide this cold weather pay and will continue working to ensure that the Air Force implements this policy in a way that meets the needs of those serving our country at bases in Minot, Grand Forks and Cavalier.”

The Air Force is expected to implement the Assignment Incentive Pay on July 1.

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Archaeological site discovered within the boundaries of Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico

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HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AP) — An archaeological site that might shed more light on New Mexico’s ancient history has been discovered recently within the boundaries of Holloman Air Force Base.

Base officials said geomorphologists and members of the 49th Civil Engineer Squadron environmental flight uncovered a campsite that’s about 8,200 years old and belonged to some of the state’s first settlers.

Matthew Cuba, the squadron’s cultural resource manager, said the formation of the white sand dunes inadvertently buried the site with windblown silt protecting the archaeological remains.

“This site marks a pivotal moment in shedding light on the area’s history and its early inhabitants,” Cuba said.

He said digs at the site have turned up about 70 items ranging from flake stones to a rare example of an early ground stone.

“We also uncovered a series of hearths, or community campsites, with remnants of mesquite charcoal, which is a tremendous find in and of itself,” Cuba said.

He said the site is one of 400 archaeological discoveries found within the boundaries of Holloman, which was built in 1942 and is located 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) southwest of Alamogordo in south-central New Mexico.

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Biden holds record-breaking New York City fundraiser with Barack Obama and Bill Clinton

By Aaron Navarro , Jordan Freiman

Updated on: March 29, 2024 / 6:54 AM EDT / CBS News

President Biden participated in a star-studded fundraiser with former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton on Thursday in New York City in an event expected to raise more than $25 million for the president's re-election campaign.

Thursday's New York City fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall was hosted by actress Mindy Kaling and featured performances by several musical guests and artists, including Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele. The event was capped off with a nearly hourlong discussion between Mr. Biden, Obama and Clinton moderated by "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert. 

Obama accompanied Mr. Biden on the Air Force One flight from Washington, D.C., to New York earlier in the day.  

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and first lady Jill Biden also delivered remarks during the event. 

Schumer touted several of Mr. Biden's accomplishments and spoke of the potential for not just the president's re-election, but for Democrats to control all three branches of government with key wins in the 2024 election.

"Re-elect Joe Biden as president, put Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker, keep me as Majority Leader, and the next four years will be better than this. You ain't seen nothing yet," the Senate majority leader said.

The first lady, joined by several other members of the Biden family, recalled that after she agreed to marry Mr. Biden, "He said, 'Jill, I promise you, your life will never change.' Well that, of course, turned out to be wildly untrue."

She also spoke of the large sum raised for her husband's campaign.

"This is the biggest fundraiser the DNC has ever held – the fundraiser to end all fundraisers – and we've raised a record amount," Jill Biden said.

Mr. Biden, Obama and Clinton discussed a wide variety of topics, from the economy to the border to the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, which Mr. Biden bluntly referred to as an insurrection. 

"I was supposed to make a speech on the economy, and I decided I couldn't remain silent," Mr. Biden said. "So what I did was I made a speech about January the sixth, what was happening. And I said it was an insurrection underway, and it must be dealt with and I plead with the president to stop and do his job, call these people off. He sat there in the dining room off the Oval Office for several hours and watched, didn't do a damn thing. That's why I felt obliged even though I wasn't sworn in yet. I was president-elect."

The fundraiser was interrupted by demonstrators protesting against the war in Gaza multiple times, and one who appeared to be yelling something about nuclear with Russia, throughout the night. One interruption came while Obama was discussing Gaza, to which he replied "You can't just talk and not listen," leading the audience to give him a standing ovation.

"It is also possible for us to have our hearts broken watching innocent people being killed and try to manage through that in a way that ultimately leads to both people being able to live in peace side by side," Obama said. "That is not an easy thing."

"It is important for us to understand that it is possible to have moral clarity and have deeply held beliefs, but still recognize that the world is complicated and it is hard to solve these problems," the former president added.

There were also Pro-Palestinian protests outside the music hall, CBS News New York reported . The New York Police Department told CBS News one person was detained. There was no word on why.

The demonstrators were chanting and screaming their messages, directing their anger toward Mr. Biden and, at times, at police officers.

Mr. Biden reiterated his support for Israel and its right to self defense, but said there were "too many innocent victims" and that more aid needs to get into Gaza. Mr. Biden also expressed support for a two-state solution.

"It's understandable there's such a profound anger, and Hamas is still there, but we must in fact, stop the effort resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians, particularly children," Mr. Biden said.

The campaign has billed the event as the "most successful political fundraiser in American history." 

During a swing through Texas earlier this month, the Biden campaign raised a combined $7 million from three separate fundraisers. A fundraiser for Mr. Biden in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday raised $2.3 million. 

Mr. Biden's largest single-day haul prior to Thursday came in the 24 hours after his  State of the Union address earlier in March, when he raised $10 million, according to his campaign.

But Thursday's staggering sum is a new record for the campaign, and it further illustrates the growing cash gap between Mr. Biden and his presumptive general election opponent, former President Donald Trump. 

Trump raised $20 million in the whole month of February and $8.8 million in January. He's also been dogged by legal bills and payments , with his campaign and the political action committees supporting him spending over $10 million in legal fees this year.

Mr. Biden's campaign committees have more than double the cash on hand of Trump's equivalent groups, $155 million for Mr. Biden and $74 million for Trump as of late March.

"Unlike our opponent, every dollar we're raising is going to reach the voters who will decide this election — communicating the President's historic record, his vision for the future and laying plain the stakes of this election," said Biden-Harris campaign co-chair and Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg. 

Trump's campaign sent out two fundraising emails Wednesday mentioning Mr. Biden's Thursday fundraiser, with one calling on "one million Trump supporters to donate to beat the "Obama-Clinton cartel" and the other reading, "We can't lose to Obama!"

• Democratic Party

Aaron Navarro is a CBS News digital reporter covering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign and the 2024 election. He was previously an associate producer for the CBS News political unit in the 2021 and 2022 election cycles.

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Archaeological site discovered within boundaries of Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico

Matthew Cuba, cultural resource manager for the 49th Civil Engineer Squadron, brushes off the remnants of a recently uncovered Paleo-Archaic hearth at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on March 7, 2024. (Isaiah Pedrazzi/U.S. Air Force)

HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. — An archaeological site that might shed more light on New Mexico’s ancient history has been discovered recently within the boundaries of Holloman Air Force Base.

Base officials said geomorphologists and members of the 49th Civil Engineer Squadron environmental flight uncovered a campsite that’s about 8,200 years old and belonged to some of the state’s first settlers.

Matthew Cuba, the squadron’s cultural resource manager, said the formation of the white sand dunes inadvertently buried the site with windblown silt protecting the archaeological remains.

“This site marks a pivotal moment in shedding light on the area’s history and its early inhabitants,” Cuba said.

The remnants of an 8,200-year-old hearth recently uncovered at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on March 7, 2024. (Isaiah Pedrazzi/U.S. Air Force)

He said digs at the site have turned up about 70 items ranging from flake stones to a rare example of an early ground stone.

“We also uncovered a series of hearths, or community campsites, with remnants of mesquite charcoal, which is a tremendous find in and of itself,” Cuba said.

He said the site is one of 400 archaeological discoveries found within the boundaries of Holloman, which was built in 1942 and is located six miles southwest of Alamogordo in south-central New Mexico.

Fragments recovered from a recently discovered Paleo-Archaic site at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on March 7, 2024. (Isaiah Pedrazzi/U.S. Air Force)

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