Yeah, I hate imprecise wording like this too, but I think the title is technically correct. The title says that Rubio heard [someone else's] first-hand account

Yeah, I hate imprecise wording like this too, but I think the title is technically correct. The title says that Rubio heard [someone else's] first-hand account of the situation. That would make it a second-hand account for Rubio, yeah. But it is still correct to say that Rubio was told by someone their first-hand account.