Joe Biden Didn’t Recognize Old Friend George Clooney at 2024 Fundraiser: Report

Joe Biden Didn't Recognize Old Friend George Clooney at 2024 Fundraiser: Report

At a June 2024 fundraiser for the Biden presidential campaign, Joe Biden did not recognize longtime friend George Clooney. In the new book "Original Sin,"excerptedin The New Yorker, CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson tell the story of the Biden White House's ultimately failed attempt to control the story around his advanced age and his faculties. As the story indeed broke open following the disastrous June 27, 2024 debate between Biden and Donald Trump, Clooney's July 10 New York Timesop-edcalling for Biden to quit the race was a milestone in how bluntly it described the president's decline. More from Variety George Clooney's 'Good Night, and Good Luck' Recoups $9.5 Million Broadway Investment Joe Biden's 'The View' Interview Was a Botched Attempt to Restore His Legacy 'Jay Kelly' First Look: George Clooney Leads Noah Baumbach's New Movie as Netflix Sets Awards Season Release Dates for Theaters and Streaming Tapper and Thompson note that, before the fundraiser, Clooney and Biden had last met in 2022 at the Kennedy Center Honors, where the President called the actor "Amal Clooney's husband" and thanked him for his activism. By contrast, in 2024, Biden was reportedly unaware of with whom he was speaking until prompted that it was George Clooney. Tapper and Thompson write: "Clooney was shaken to his core. The president hadn't recognized him, a man he had known for years. Clooney had expressed concern about Biden's health before — a White House aide had told him a few months before that they were working on getting the president to take longer steps when he walked — but obviously the problem went far beyond his gait. This was much graver." Clooney, with Julia Roberts, was headlining the fundraiser, whichginned upat least $28 million but at which, the authors write, Biden was seen as "slow and almost catatonic" with "obvious brain freezes and clear signs of a mental slide." After a group interview between Biden, Jimmy Kimmel and Barack Obama, Kimmel and Obama began to walk offstage, but Biden made headlines for wandering to the edge of the stage alone. Tapper and Thompson also report that, ahead of Clooney's op-ed, the actor received word from Senator Joe Manchin that Democratic senators, as a group, "were planning to confront Biden, to try to convince him to step aside." Following a defiant July 8 letter in which Biden declared that attempts to push him aside were subverting democracy, Clooney, disgusted, reached out to Obama, who advised against, as "doing so would only make Biden dig in deeper." After writing the op-ed, Clooney sent it to media mogul and Democratic megadonor Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had attended sessions of Biden's debate prep. "Your process is not the correct one to get the end you desire, [Katzenberg] told Clooney. He really wanted Clooney to cut the line about the befogged Biden at the fundraiser being 'the same man we all witnessed at the debate.'" Clooney ignored him, and the Times published his op-ed on July 10, less than two weeks after the debate. Eleven days after that, Biden left the presidential race. "Original Sin," published by Penguin Press, will be available May 20. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival Sign up forVariety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram.

byRicky Wilson

in

May 13, 2025

Joe Biden Didn’t Recognize Old Friend George Clooney at 2024 Fundraiser: Report

Joe Biden Didn't Recognize Old Friend George Clooney at 2024 Fundraiser: Report At a June 2024 fundraiser for the Biden presidential cam...

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With Trump's plans for America's 250th in mind, Iowa lawmakers don't want cities to limit fireworks

With Trump's plans for America's 250th in mind, Iowa lawmakers don't want cities to limit fireworks

Iowa lawmakers wantPresident Donald Trumpto know that their state is eager to be at the center of next year's celebration of the nation's 250th birthday and shares his vision of fireworks filling the skies — so much so that they don't want local officials blocking any small, neighborhood displays. The Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill this week that would ban local limits on people setting off their own rockets, mortars, aerial spinners and Roman candles on July 3 or 4, or Dec. 31. There was nothing to stop big, public shows — say, a Fourth of July display as part of Trump's proposed"Great American State Fair"in Iowa's capital of Des Moines — but a relative handful of cities, including Des Moines, haven't allowed people to shoot them off, even on the nation's birthday or New Year's Eve. The bill headed to Republican Gov. Kim Reynold's desk after the state House approved it Tuesday,51-39,with the GOP majority overriding Democrats' concerns that it could undermine fire safety or harm military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Des Moines and at least six of its suburbs, as well as the cities of Ames, Cedar Rapids and Dubuque bar people from setting off their own fireworks even on Independence Day. In arguing for the bill, Republican state Rep. Bill Gustoff quoted founding fatherJohn Adams'desire for national celebrations involving parades and "illuminations" of fireworks, from "one end of this continent to the other." Gustoff, who is from the Des Moines area, also cited the proposal Trumpfirst floated in 2023to have a yearlong national exposition on the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. "Mr. President, we welcome that idea in Iowa and we're ready, willing and able to host the party," Gustoff said during Tuesday's short debate. "We need to enable Iowans to be part of that celebration." While communities around the world have celebrated events with fireworks for hundreds of years, people's fondness for setting them off themselves has often been a bane of local police and firefighters. Still, only one state —Adams' home of Massachusetts— imposes an outright ban on their use by individual consumers. For years, Pennsylvania only allowed the use of sparklers and similar novelty fireworks. But in 2017, it permitted the sale of the full array of products, onlyto narrow those salesin 2022 to July 2-4 and Dec. 31 amid complaints. Georgia ended a decades-long ban on consumer fireworksin 2015and doesn't allow cities and counties to restrict them. Iowa banned consumer sales of fireworks for decades, spurred on bya June 1931 firethat engulfed about 100 buildings in the small town of Spencer, which started with a sparkler at a drugstore. However, in 2017, Iowa lawmakers allowed cities and counties to license firework sellers and allow people to set off fireworks from June 1 through July 8 and from Dec. 10 through Jan. 3. Iowa state health department datashows that in 2017, the number of fireworks-related emergency room visits in Iowa nearly doubled from 2016 and remained higher than pre-legalization levels through 2023. The state associations for fire marshals, fire chiefs, firefighters and emergency managers, opposed the fireworks law, as did the Iowa League of Cities. Democratic state Rep. Larry McBurney, from the Des Moines area, said the flash, noise and smell of gunpowder from fireworks can trigger veterans' PTSD. Fellow Democratic state Rep. Eric Gjerde, a Cedar Rapids police officer, said people who call to complain about fireworks in his city often think they're hearing gunfire. "We have to take every single one of those extremely seriously, so we send multiple officers to investigate," he told his colleagues. Fireworks manufacturers and retailers supported the bill, as did the state association for retail stores and the small-government, free-market group Americans for Prosperity. But in arguing in favor of the bill, Gustoff cited next year's celebration ofthe Declaration of Independence'ssigning in 1776. "Current law allows a patchwork of ordinances that are a trap for the unwary, patriotic American in Iowa who simply wants to celebrate Independence Day the way it was intended by our founding fathers," he said. ___ Associated Press Writers Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa; Jeff Amy in Atlanta and Marc Levy, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, also contributed.

byRicky Wilson

in

May 13, 2025

With Trump's plans for America's 250th in mind, Iowa lawmakers don't want cities to limit fireworks

With Trump's plans for America's 250th in mind, Iowa lawmakers don't want cities to limit fireworks Iowa lawmakers wantPresident...

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Alabama governor signs speedy trial bill into law, seeking to speed prosecution of violent crimes

Alabama governor signs speedy trial bill into law, seeking to speed prosecution of violent crimes

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation Tuesday to allow visiting judges to be brought in to handle violent criminal cases to get them to trial more quickly. The law known as the Speedy Trial Act allows the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court to appoint a sitting or retired judge to preside over a specific case or cases involving a violent offense. Under the act, the attorney general or a district attorney must request the appointments. On the same day the bill was signed, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall asked Chief Justice Sarah Stewart to appoint a visiting judge to handle the case of the man accused of the 2019kidnapping and killingof college student Aniah Blanchard, 19. Her disappearance from an Auburn gas station drew national attention. Marshall wrote in the letter to Stewart that "our entire state has watched the repeated delays in this case with angst and frustration." Blanchard, a Southern Union student and stepdaughter of prominent UFC fighter Walt Harris, was last seen on Oct. 23, 2019. Her remains were discovered about a month later in a wooded area of Macon County. A trial date has not been set for Ibraheem Yazeed, the man accused of killing Blanchard. He has pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges. Recently, Marshall's office had urged lawmakers to pass the legislation. "There are significant bottlenecks in certain circuits in our state where violent crime cases are not moving quickly and victims are getting frustrated," Katherine Robertson, who serves as chief counsel for Marshall, said last week after lawmakers approved the bill. Ivey also referred to the Blanchard case while signing the legislation into law.

byRicky Wilson

in

May 13, 2025

Alabama governor signs speedy trial bill into law, seeking to speed prosecution of violent crimes

Alabama governor signs speedy trial bill into law, seeking to speed prosecution of violent crimes MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay I...

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California senator calls on NOAA to restore 'billion-dollar' disaster database

California senator calls on NOAA to restore 'billion-dollar' disaster database

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic Senator Adam Schiff on Tuesday urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's acting secretary to restore a database that tracked billion-dollar U.S. disasters. He said its removal prevented lawmakers, insurance companies and taxpayers from seeing the growing cost of more frequent natural disasters and from planning for future extreme weather events. NOAA announced last week it was removing the "billion-dollar weather and climate disasters" database from its website "in alignment with evolving priorities," the latest example of the agency ending ongoing scientific datasets. Schiff, who represents California, also warned that sweeping job cuts at NOAA have left the agency understaffed ahead of hurricane season, which begins June 1, saying that 30 of 122 weather forecast offices at the National Weather Service lack chief meteorologists. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The database showed that the number of billion-dollar disasters grew from just a few per year in the 1980s to an average of 23 per year over the last four years, which climate scientists have attributed to a rise in global temperatures. In 2024, the database showed 27 confirmed disaster events whose losses exceeded $1 billion each in 2024. CONTEXT The Trump administration has moved quickly to reverse and remove all federal spending related to climate change and remove any regulation aimed at addressing greenhouse gas emissions as part of its effort to bolster oil, gas and mining operations. KEY QUOTE "The termination of this database ... suggests that this program may have been targeted because it shows the American public just how much climate change has been fueling more frequent billion-dollar weather disasters," Schiff said in a statement. "If this is the case, it is disturbing that the administration would prefer to keep the public in the dark about the effects of climate change and hinder the country's ability to prevent and mitigate the human, economic, and environmental costs of extreme weather events." (Reporting by Valerie VolcoviciEditing by Rod Nickel)

byRicky Wilson

in

May 13, 2025

California senator calls on NOAA to restore 'billion-dollar' disaster database

California senator calls on NOAA to restore 'billion-dollar' disaster database WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic Senator Adam Schiff ...

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Georgia Republicans look to rally behind a challenger to Sen. Jon Ossoff

Georgia Republicans look to rally behind a challenger to Sen. Jon Ossoff

ATLANTA (AP) — WhenGeorgia's governorand alightning-rod congresswomandecided last week to not run for the U.S. Senate, it seemed like the waiting game was over among Republicans seeking to challenge DemocraticU.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents a district on the Georgia coast, had become thefirst major Republican candidate to declarewhen he announced on Thursday. Then, stateInsurance Commissioner John Kingdid the same on Monday. "I expect a competitive primary — Senate seats don't come along that often," said Eric Tanenblatt, a top national GOP fundraiser and Kemp ally who has backed Trump's rivals in presidential primaries. But after the exits of Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, there's a new waiting game going on. Hopefuls are looking toPresident Donald Trumpand Kemp for support. The governor told reporters last week that he'd like to unite with Trump behind a preferred candidate, which could head off an expensive and tumultuous primary that could weaken a nominee. "I had a good conversation with President Trump about my decision. And I'm going to continue talking to him about the races in Georgia," Kemp said in Forsyth, Georgia. "I think if it's possible, it would be great if we can line up on things. That's hard to do sometimes in primaries." Kemp and Trump met Sunday in Washington,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, and some possible contenders are waiting to see how things play out. Republican congressman Mike Collins said on the day that Kemp stepped aside that he wanted to hear from Trump. "I will speak to President Trump and his team and do whatever is necessary to ensure he has another vote in the Senate for the America First agenda," Collins said on the day Kemp stepped aside. Five other GOP officeholders have acknowledged interest in the race, including two other Republicans in Congress, Rick Allen andRich McCormick. Also mulling it over are Secretary of StateBrad Raffensperger, state Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper and state Sen. Greg Dolezal. Trump's own desires could elevate others. U.S. Rep. Brian Jack, Trump's White House political adviser during Trump's first term, is in his first term in Congress. Jack has vaulted onto a leadership track in the House, becoming deputy chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the GOP House campaign arm. Having also served as an aide to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Jack was elected as the freshman representative to the House GOP Steering Committee. Jack has shown no public interest in the Senate seat but may be closer to Trump than any Georgia Republican. Republicans have flagged Georgia and Michigan as prime opportunities for expanding their Senate majority in 2026. But in Georgia, unlike Michigan, the Democratic incumbent is seeking reelection.Ossoff is trying to show he can deliverfor Georgia and work with Republicans while also offering a sharp critique of Trump. While Georgia backed Trump in 2024, the state's voters have sometimes supported Democrats. They chose Joe Biden in 2020. They handed Senate control to Democrats in January 2021 runoffs byelecting Ossoff and Raphael Warnockafter Republicans David Perdue and Loeffler lashed themselves toTrump's false claimsthat his 2020 defeat was rigged. They thenreelected Warnock in a runoffover Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee in 2022. Any Republican challenger to Ossoff must win a primary that could be decided well to the right of the broader electorate. "Republicans don't want business as usual. They want disruption," said Chip Lake, a GOP campaign consultant who worked for Walker in 2022. But a primary in which every candidate tries to be the most conservative and most loyal to Trump could cause problems later. "If we nominate someone that is just too extreme, I don't think it's going to go well for us in a general election," Tanenblatt said. Rallying around a single candidate might reduce that risk. That's where Trump and Kemp, who hashis own fraught historywith the president, could play key roles. Kemp pledged that hispolitical organization, considered the most effective in Georgia, will work for a Republican Senate win in 2026. Victory could burnish Kemp's reputation. "Just because my name's not on the ballot, that doesn't mean that I won't be on the political playing field," Kemp said. But some time to campaign without a Trump endorsement would give candidates time to prove themselves, said Brian Robinson, a Republican political consultant. "We'll see how hard they're working. We'll see how much money they're raising and we'll see what machinations go on in the third-party groups out of D.C.," Robinson said, alluding to politically active conservative groups such as Club for Growth. Carter, a pharmacist, mayor and state lawmaker before he went to Congress, is trying to get a jump on that process. Tanenblatt said Carter is the kind of Republican who can appeal to the Trump base and the party's more traditional wing. His challenge, Tanenblatt said, is that he's largely unknown in metro Atlanta, home to most Georgia voters. Collins, a second-term congressman, might benefit from representing a northeast Georgia district that includes some of Atlanta's suburbs. Besides Greene, he's maybe the most like Trump stylistically, with a string of inflammatory social media posts and a big, booming personality. It's not an act, said Jay Morgan, a longtime Republican strategist. "This is not something he made up," Morgan said. "He's gotten a little better at it, he's gotten a little more polished and he is a hard worker. Nobody will work harder than Mike Collins." Maybe the best-known Republican prospect is Raffensperger, but his notoriety could cut both ways. Raffensperger is best known for clashing with Trump whenTrump asked him to overturnBiden's 2020 win in Georgia. "The best argument Brad Raffensperger can make is he can win," Morgan said. Raffensperger appealed tomoderates and even Democratsin his 2022 reelection bid, but he is despised by many Republican activists. "Donald Trump is the leader of this party, and you're not going to have success at all in a primary as a candidate running for any office in Georgia if you don't acknowledge that and be supportive of that," Lake said, The right nominee will tap into GOP hunger to win back one of Georgia's Senate seats after three consecutive losses. "They are tired of losing," Morgan said. "And this could be a critical, critical race. Depending on what happens in the country and the mood of the country, this is a race Republicans can win again." ___

byRicky Wilson

in

May 13, 2025

Georgia Republicans look to rally behind a challenger to Sen. Jon Ossoff

Georgia Republicans look to rally behind a challenger to Sen. Jon Ossoff ATLANTA (AP) — WhenGeorgia's governorand alightning-rod congres...

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