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Not only did Bush hide his secret wiretapping program from the Department of Justice, but its scope was much larger than was believed, according to a new report. The Washington Post reported Friday that former President Bush conducted a “warrantless eavesdropping program that only three Justice Department lawyers were aware of,” and a team of federal inspectors general now says that the program pulled in “mountains” of information far beyond what was previously acknowledged. The so-called “unprecedented collection activities” began after Bush signed an executive order following the September 11 attacks, the inspectors’ general watchdog report says. The report called the arrangement “extraordinary and inappropriate,” and said the White House “undermined” the Justice Department’s ability to work. The three lawyers who knew about the wiretapping were Attorney General John Ashcroft, Office of Legal Counsel lawyer John Yoo, and intelligence policy lawyer James Baker. Most of the intelligence leads had no connections to terrorism, the report says, though the primary architect of the program, Michael Hayden, said the "extremely valuable" surveillance prevented future al-Qaida attacks.
Have all the world’s problems now been solved? Suppose we’ll have to wait and see: President Obama met with Pope Benedict XVI on Friday for what the Associated Press calls “frank but constructive talks" where the men agreed on the need to help the poor but didn't see eye to eye on abortion or stem cell research. It was the first meeting between the two men, and as Obama greeted the pope, he was heard saying it was a “great honor.” The pope reportedly gave Obama a treatise on stem cell research and abortion from the Vatican, and Obama gave the pope a letter from Senator Ted Kennedy and asked him to pray for Kennedy, who is in failing health. Obama also promised to reduce abortions in the United States. Michelle Obama joined her husband and the pope a half hour into their meeting.
During the election, when Sarah Palin said Barack Obama “pals around with terrorists,” some said it was evidence that the Republican vice-presidential nominee had “gone rogue.” Turns out, however, that she was simply following orders: According to Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson’s new book, The Battle for America, McCain’s top advisers, Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis, and Nicolle Wallace, fed Palin almost the exact line, telling her to say that “[Obama] is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”
Gross: Talking today on MSNBC, New York Times columnist David Brooks said, “I sat next to a Republican senator once at dinner. He had his hand on my inner thigh the whole time.” Coy Brooks, not one to kiss and tell, refused to say who it was. Brooks was loopy throughout the interview, prompting the anchor to ask him if he’d drank before his appearance.
Dick Cheney will be able to sleep soundly tonight. President Obama granted continued Secret Service protection to the former vice president for an undisclosed length of time. Vice presidents typically are cut off from their security detail once their stint in office ends, so extensions must be approved by the president. The additional protection for Cheney, who is writing an autobiography in Virginia and Maryland, is reportedly the result of continued threats, which haven’t let up since his departure from the White House.
Did you know Paris Hilton starred in a movie in 2006 called Pledge This? Neither did we—and that’s all her fault, according to prosecutors. The heiress, actress, and model testified in court today that she did her best to promote the box-office bomb during its crucial DVD and foreign market release stage. "If I have my name attached to something, I want it to be as big as it can be," Hilton said. "It could have been a lot better if it was done more professionally. I wanted it to do as well as possible." The lawsuit seeks $8.3 million in damages and claims Hilton violated her contract by ignoring requests for promotional appearances. The heiress claimed ignorance, saying she was unaware of any contractual obligation to plug Pledge This! after its release, and insisted she promoted the film for two years prior to its premiere in October of 2006.
Lance Armstrong's comeback may have hit a hitch: The seven-time Tour de France winner has dropped to third place after Friday's race, with rival and teammate Alberto Contador (who had started the day 19 seconds behind Armstrong) finishing 21 seconds ahead of him to claim second. Brice Feillu of France won the 140-mile leg of the tour, which stretches from Spain into Andorra and is the first in a high-mountain range. Up next? Two more days of racing in the Pyrenees await before a rest day Monday. The Tour ends July 26 in Paris.
Byrd and Melanie Billings, a Florida couple that parented 16 children (12 were adopted), were found dead in their Beulah home on Thursday night. Police responded to calls around 8 p.m. regarding shots heard at the house, but it was an employee of the couple who found their bodies. Eight children were found in the home—all alive—and ranging in age from an infant to about 11-years old. The Billings were apparent victims of a home invasion. Police are looking for three males in a red van.
As Michael Jackson's family squabble over what to do with his brain-less remains, they have stashed the King of Pop's body in a crypt owned by Motown record label founder Berry Gordon, the New York Post reports. At least, the gold-plated casket is in a nice neighborhood—the Gordon family crypt is located in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills. Next door to Jackson's temporary digs is the grave of actress Sandra Dee. Bette Davis and Liberace can be found nearby as well. Half of Jackson's family wants to bury the singer in Neverland, hoping to recreate a Graceland-like resting place for the star. The other half wants to follow his wishes to never to return to the ranch after Jackson was acquitted of child-molestation charges.
It will be a brave, brave company that moves into Bernard Madoff's former office. "Some people may see a stigma associated with it," says the manager of the three-floor firm on the 17th floor of the "Lipstick" building in New York City that's recently been put on the market. Even if Madoff's karma is gone, the office is still haunted by little ghosts—built-in cabinet files with Madoff names on them and a minimalist color scheme favored by the disgraced financer. The 18th floor is set to be home to a new broker-dealer firm, but any potential buyers for the 17th floor may be discouraged by FBI agents who will be busy there for another year. For those in the market, the 16,182-square-foot 19th floor is also up for grabs. (Just beware that its dark palette is in need of remodeling).
Things may be looking up, but according to President Obama in a Friday press conference, when it comes to the world's financial future, a "full recovery is still a ways off." Obama stopped for a short press conference in L'Aquila, Italy, on the final day of the G-8 Summit. He said that the Summit had been productive, adding that, when it comes to global warming, "we have not solved all our problems." Obama met with African leaders on Friday morning, and is traveling to Ghana next. He told reporters that he is committed to Africa, as his father's community in Kenya has seen hunger, and "there is no reason why African cannot be self-sufficient when it comes to food. It has enough arable land."
Although York, Maine is a resort town with a 350-year old history, the past five years have seen a dramatic--and often traumatic--upswing in cocaine and heroin abuse. In 2004, when the heroin-induced death of 17-year-old Bethany Fritz sent shockwaves through the small town, York's police department did not even have a full-time narcotics investigator. "If you had asked me back then how many teenagers were using heroin, I'd have said very few and I couldn't name one. Today, I can name 20," says Tom Cyran, the detective on Bethany's case. Often working undercover, Cyran is now part of the new Seacoast Narcotics Interdiction Force, which investigates both cocaine and heroin rings. But the problem is more a war than a battle: as Dr. Patrick Maidman of an addiction treatment center in Maine said, "We're not able to manage the volume of people looking for help."
Chinese officials in Urumqi have banned visits to mosques on Friday—an important day for Muslim prayer—in an effort to minimize ethnic violence. After a week of unrest, in which 156 people have been killed and at least 1,000 more injured, five of the major mosques were closed at their imams’ suggestion. But as hundreds of Uighur worshippers gathered outside of mosques to pray, the ban was loosened, and Chinese authorities allowed for short services. Uighur leaders have condemned the unrest, saying that it was against the spirit of the Muslim faith. Elsewhere in the province, foreign journalists have been officially banned. In Urumqi, where a nighttime curfew has been imposed, armed soldiers are patrolling the streets.
The running of the bulls was all fun and games this year—until it took a violent turn. A bull gored a man to death at the San Fermin Festival on Friday—the first fatality there since 1995. The bulls, which were known to be an especially violent breed, left three others gored, and six badly injured. A "rogue" bull reportedly left the group early in the run and fatally gored an unidentified young man in the neck and lung. This was the fifteenth death at the Pamplona festival since record-keeping began in 1924.
Was Sarah Palin better off in Wasilla? According to The Hill, “Republicans facing tough elections in 2010 don’t want Sarah Palin campaigning with them.” Many of these Republicans come from districts that President Obama won, and they’re carefully putting some distance between themselves and the soon-to-be-former Alaska governor. “There’s others that I would have come in and campaign and most of them would be my colleagues in the House,” said Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska. “I don’t generally need people from outside my district to do a fundraiser,” said Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia. Another anonymous representative from a vulnerable district tells The Hill that, if Palin visited him, his opponent would “probably be doing a dance of joy.” Peggy Noonan, meanwhile, uses her Wall Street Journal column to say good riddance to Palin. “She was out of her depth in a shallow pool,” Noonan writes. “She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity.”
Rupert Murdoch's fallen into some hot water. The Guardian reported this week that three of Murdoch's British newspapers paid more than $1.5 million to settle court cases that alleged his journalists hired private investigators who illegally hacked into the cell phone messages of "numerous public figures," including Gwyneth Paltrow, Elle MacPherson, the deputy prime minister, and even aides to the royal family. And more wronged public officials are coming out of the woodwork, The Guardian reported Friday, with potential victims consulting their lawyers. The Telegraph reports that Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer has apparently initiated an "urgent" review of the situation while Murdoch, meanwhile, has maintained that he knew nothing about payments to the investigators. "If that had happened I would know about it," he told Bloomberg News.
Confirming what diet advocates have been saying for years, a long term study begun in 1989 has concluded that rhesus monkeys who reduce their calories by 30% enjoy longer, healthier, lives. The Wisconsin study found that over 20 years, 14 of 38 monkeys on normal diets died of age-related causes, versus only five monkeys on a reduced calorie diet. But despite its findings, the professor who led the study, Richard Weindruch, has been slow to evolve. "I found it difficult to adhere to such a diet, despite studying it for so many years," he told the Wall Street Journal. "I'm not the poster child for human application."
Just when we thought it was all over for Moneyball, The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin is taking a swing at the movie's script, which is based on Michael Lewis’s book about the Oakland A’s. Rumors have surrounded the movie since its conception last year. Studio execs reportedly scrapped the film just days before production was set to begin last month after a script turned in by Steven Soderbergh was deemed too different from Lewis's book. Things are apparently back on track: Sorkin could turn in his adaptation of the best-selling book, which will draw from the script already written by Steve Zaillian, as soon as next month. Brad Pitt remains on board to star in Moneyball as A’s General Manager Billy Beane.
It was a touching moment when Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) presented House Resolution 600—dedicated to "honoring an American legend and musical icon"—at Michael Jackson’s memorial. The crowd went wild. Congress, however, did not. The resolution has exactly one sponsor, Rep. Diane Watson (D-LA.), with Jackson's questionable personal life scaring off politicians from directly associating themselves with the fallen star. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has rejected Resolution 600 altogether: “Michael Jackson was a great, great performer, and lots of sadness there for many reasons,” she said at a new conference. “What I have said to my colleagues over the years, and certainly as leader and as speaker, is that there’s an opportunity on the floor of the House to express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish. I don’t think it’s necessary for us to have a resolution.” Despite Pelosi’s statement, Jackson Lee has vowed to fight for the resolution.
With even members of the Obama administration (OK, Joe Biden, to be fair) admitting that the White House underestimated how bad the recession was, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is calling for a second stimulus bill. He begins his latest piece with an "I told you so" moment, writing that the latest numbers confirm his earlier call, during the stimulus debate, for a larger package. According to Krugman, another stimulus bill would be politically treacherous given growing Congressional opposition to new spending, but with monetary policy tapped out, Obama needs to argue that only fiscal policy can jump-start the economy. "What Mr. Obama needs to do is level with the American people," Krugman writes. "He needs to admit that he may not have done enough on the first try."
She's all yours, America. The new government-owned General Motors is expected to announce a restructuring Friday that takes it out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and puts it back on the path to profitability. CEO Fritz Henderson is set to announce moves, including cutting another 4,000 white-collar jobs, aimed at making the company leaner and more efficient. But despite successfully shuffling off debt in bankruptcy court, GM faces the same underlying problem—a lack of a product people want to buy. "It is the smaller, leaner, tougher, better-cost-focused GM," one automotive analyst told The Washington Post. "But they still have to deal with the problems that they faced longer-term," he added. One early success: A new Chevrolet Camaro is selling well despite the recession.
Sarah Palin may be carefully skirting questions about her resignation, but, as always, we can count on Levi Johnston to spill the beans. On Thursday, Bristol Palin's ex-fiance—and the father of the governor's grandson—offered the reason he thinks Sarah Palin stepped down: money. He said that Palin "had talked about how nice it would be take some of this money people have been offering us and just run with it, and saying forget everything else." Johnston also explained that Palin resigned to spend more time with her family. "I've seen how stressful this job was for her and she came home late at night and things like that," he said. Responded a Palin spokeswoman: "It is interesting to learn Levi is working on a piece of fiction while honing his acting skills."
American International Group is preparing to pay $2.4 million in bonuses to 40 top executives after a round of bonuses in March outraged the public. The insurance company has been waiting for the federal government’s blessing to give more bonuses with its $180 billion bailout check, even though AIG doesn't officially need permission from Obama's executive compensation czar, Kenneth Feinberg, since the bonuses are delayed from 2008. An AIG official told The Washington Post the company was reluctant to distribute the cash. “We would want to feel comfortable that the government is comfortable with what we are doing,” he said. In March, it was revealed that AIG paid more than $165 million in retention bonuses to 400 employees in its Financial Products unit, whose derivative contracts almost destroyed the entire company. Refusing to comment directly on the latest round of bonuses, a Treasury Department spokesman released a statement. “Companies will need to convince Mr. Feinberg that they have struck the right balance to discourage excessive risk taking and reward performance for their top executives,” he said.
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