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Save health care, save the economy, was President Obama's message in a televised prime-time speech and appearance Wednesday. After recounting successes with the economy and job market, Obama argued that reining in health-care costs and moving away from an employer-centered insurance system will help "rebuild [the economy] stronger than before." The president discussed protecting individuals from overspending on health care and underscored his pledge not to increase the national deficit. The president also took on his right-wing detractors, quoting (but not naming) Bill Kristol's urge for Republicans to "go for the kill" and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint's desire to "break" him: "This isn't about me. I have great health insurance, and so does every member of Congress.... This debate is not a game." During the question and answer session, Obama reiterated his desire to keep health-care costs off "the backs of middle-class families," noting that the Senate Finance Committee is still working on their portion of the bill. He'll try to win the support of "Democrats and some Republicans."
U.S. officials announced Wednesday that Saad bin Laden, a son of Osama bin Laden, has likely been killed in Pakistan. The suspected cause is Hellfire missiles fired from a U.S. Predator drone sometime this year. A senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NPR that "without a body to conduct DNA tests on, it's hard to be completely sure," but U.S. spy agencies are "80 to 85 percent" certain that the junior bin Laden, who officials think was in his late 20s, is dead. Saad bin Laden reportedly spent years under house arrest in Iran before moving to Pakistan in 2008, former National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell says. And while he was active in al Qaeda, he wasn't believed to be a major player—for this reason, he wasn't important enough to target personally, but was simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time." "We make a big deal out of him because of his last name," the counterterrorism official commented.
Here's news that likely won't inspire a Moment of Zen for the networks: In a poll conducted by Time magazine, Daily Show host Jon Stewart has been voted America's Most Trusted Newscaster, post-Cronkite. Matched up against Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson, and Katie Couric, Stewart won with 44 percent of the vote. Williams came in second, followed by Gibson; Couric finished last. Time has broken down the results state-by-state, for the especially curious. As The Huffington Post points out, "Stewart finished no lower than second place in all states, except, curiously, Vermont."
Fifteen cars full of Los Angeles detectives and federal drug agents arrived Wednesday morning at the Houston clinic of Michael Jackson's doctor after obtaining a warrant based on preliminary autopsy results that indicate a drug overdose linked to Jackson's demise. Dr. Conrad Murray is the last doctor to have seen Jackson alive and is suspected of administering the drug in question, Propofol, which is usually only used in hospitals. Murray and his lawyer aren't saying whether the drug was administered, but say they're eager to close the case. "The coroner wants to clear up the cause of death, we share that goal," explained Murray's lawyer. The site of the raid is located in the Armstrong Medical Clinic, owned by a doctor whose DEA license was revoked in 2005 for "over prescribing," according to officials.
On the heels of suspicions that painkillers caused Michael Jackson's death, actress Jamie Lee Curtis has revealed that she also suffered from an addiction to prescription drugs. "I too found painkillers after a routine cosmetic surgical procedure and I too became addicted," Curtis, 50, wrote in her blog on The Huffington Post. "The morphine becomes the warm bath from which to escape painful reality." Curtis empathizes with Jackson, she writes, whom she believes was trying to numb the pain of his own life. And while she doesn't disclose many details of her struggle, she says she has since overcome it. "My recovery from drug addiction is the single greatest accomplishment of my life," she writes. "But it takes work—hard, painful work."
The final question during President Obama's prime-time press conference on Wednesday was about the controversial arrest of African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for breaking into his own home. President Obama came down on the side of those who say race played a factor, saying the Cambridge (Mass.) Police Department acted "stupidly." Noting that Gates is a "friend," Obama cracked jokes about the difficulty of breaking into the White House, but returned to a serious tone when he argued that Gates' arrest demonstrates how "race remains" an unresolved issue in America.
A rare sight in Washington D.C. Wednesday: Politicians actually stood up to the all-powerful gun lobby by rejecting an amendment to a defense bill that would have allowed concealed weapons permits to apply in other states. If the amendment had passed, people allowed to carry a weapon in more gun-friendly states like Arizona or Alaska could do the same in New York, which is known for strict gun laws. 450 U.S. mayors took out an ad in USA Today against the bill. The New York Times and New York Daily News both ran scathing editorials against it as well. A gun-rights advocate summed up the challenge of the amendment: "Folks in Minot, N.D., and New York are going to have different conceptions about what's right for their locality. In some states you have to show a real need (to get a permit)... in other states you have to show that you can stand on two feet."
Discord among Democrats over Obama's health care reform bill just won't stop: Indiana congressman Baron Hill, a Blue Dog negotiating with leaders on health care, disputed Speaker Nancy Pelosi's statement on Wednesday that Democrats have the votes to pass the bill in the House, CNN's Political Ticker reports. Hill believes the assessment was an honest mistake because "she was hearing optimistic things"—and Blue Dogs are making progress in their negotiations—but the numbers don't yet add up. "It would be easier to fit a camel through the eye of a needle than to pass this bill," said fellow Blue Dog and Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak, who is trying to change the bill to ensure that it won't use taxpayer money for abortions. Stupak said Democratic leaders can't lose 40 votes if they want to pass it and predicted Pelosi "would lose more than 40 on the right to life issue alone. There's just no way." Meanwhile in the Senate, Majority Whip Dick Durbin says he's unable to push the bill through before the August recess, which was Obama's deadline. Politico reports that the hold up is in the Senate Finance Committee which is "still days, if not a week, waay from reaching an agreement" unless the recess is "significantly delayed" or Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation vote is pushed back.
Reports that newly single Jon Gosselin and tabloid reporter Kate Major are "just friends" seem increasingly dubious. The couple has been spotted vacationing together in the Hamptons for three days, Us Weekly reports. And tonight they're set to have dinner with Michael Lohan, father of LiLo, and Real Housewives' Jill Zarin. (Is the group preparing for a reality show face-off, Real World/Road Rules-style?) "He's a nice guy," Lohan Sr. said of the father of eight, who also recently vacationed with 22-year-old Hailey Glassman. Meanwhile, as Jon jet sets, Kate #1 has been watching over the kids in Pennsylvania.
Bryant Neal Vinas, a 26-year-old born in Long Island, has made quite a journey from the New York area to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and then back to New York, this time in shackles. Vinas pleaded guilty to trying to kill U.S. troops in a rocket attack against a military base in Afghanistan, according to court papers unsealed on Wednesday. He also confessed to assisting Al Qaeda by providing “expert advice and assistance” that was “derived from specialized knowledge of the New York transit system and the Long Island Rail Road.” Vinas, who converted to Islam in Long Island, was arrested in Pakistan last November. Days later, he switched teams and began providing U.S. authorities with information about Al Qaeda, "including particulars of a plot to blow up a Long Island Rail Road train" inside Penn Station, The New York Times reports; he is now a valuable source to authorities. He is expected to be a key witness in two upcoming terror cases in Europe.
Their marriage may be on the rocks, but Mark and Jenny Sanford are traveling this week anyway—for the sake of the kids. The South Carolina governor has decided to go through with a two-week continental tour with his wife and four sons, the family's last trip before the eldest son leaves home for college. "Obviously, critics will criticize," said Sanford, noting that, in the aftermath of his international sex scandal, the governor "thought about pulling the plug" on the sojourn. The State notes that this will be Sanford's fourth out-of-state trip since his mid-June disappearance to Argentina and subsequent confession to an extramarital affair with a woman who lived there. "Since that time, Sanford has been in his office 14 of 24 work days," the newspaper notes.
A Thai television reporter got the scoop: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it is "unlikely" she will ever be president, though she did not completely deny the possibility. Asked if she still dreamt of being the first female president, she said, "That's not anything I'm at all thinking about." Clinton, not surprisingly, said she is completely focused on her current job. She also blew off reports that she is being forced into a less-public role by playing second-fiddle to Obama. One interviewer told Clinton that he thought she was going to win the presidency last year, to which Clinton replied, "So did I."
Silvio Berlusconi has a knack for stating the obvious, apparently. He told attendees at the unveiling of a construction project, "I am not a saint. Everyone understands that, we hope that our friends at La Repubblica will also understand that." La Repubblica is the Italian daily that released the tapes of Berlusconi's purported conversations with an escort, Patrizia D'Addario. True to form, Berlusconi also noted the "beautiful young girls" at the gathering. The lurid details of his conversations with D'Addario are still coming out. The latest: Berlusconi does not use condoms. The Italian prime minister's popularity is finally starting to show signs of decline amid the relentless embarrassments. D'Addario, for her part, is enjoying the publicity and did a racy photoshoot with a Spanish magazine, Interviu.
Standing side by side at a joint press conference at the White House's Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon, President Obama and Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke positively about America's troop withdrawal and the "rebuilding of a nation destroyed by dictatorship and war," as Maliki characterized his country. Obama affirmed his troop withdrawal timetable, saying the United States will "seek no bases" or "resources" from Iraq. Maliki thanked the "sons and daughters" of both America and Iraq, saying they had "succeeded" in their mission to stabilize and integrate Iraq, and noted the value of commercial relations between the two nations. As Maliki spoke about the "strategic friendship" between the U.S. and Iraq, Obama—listening to a simultaneous interpretation via an earpiece—nodded with a bent head. Obama also announced that Maliki will visit Arlington Cemetery.
After suffering a stroke at the ripe old age of 15, Gidget, the famed chihuahua face of Taco Bell, died late Tuesday. Gidet's owner reports that the pooch's final moments were pleasant: "She had a good day and was running around as normal." Gidget rose to stardom in 1997, with her first "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" ad. In 2003, she played the mother of Reese Witherspoon's chihuahua in Legally Blonde 2. "She lived like a queen," said her owner. "She had a great life."
The "birther" movement got a boost Tuesday evening, as Liz Cheney, the former vice president's daughter, appeared sympathetic to the conspiracy theory that President Obama is foreign-born. Appearing on Larry King Live, the host pressed Cheney on the issue, asking her if she believed Obama was born in Kenya. Cheney said no, but added, "I'm saying that people are fundamentally uncomfortable and fundamentally I think increasingly uncomfortable with an American president who seems to be afraid to defend America, stand up for what we believe in." James Carville, who was also on the show, seemed baffled before saying, "These poor pathetic people are believing stuff just like Ms. Cheney tonight. She refuses to say this is lewd, ludicrous because she wants these people to believe this."
If you want Barack Obama to do something, there are two people to talk to: Michelle Obama or Valerie Jarrett. A new profile in The New York Times Magazine describes the genesis of Obama’s trusted adviser and close friend, who he met shortly after arriving in Chicago. When Obama was young, smoking cigarettes, and preparing his memoir, Jarrett helped guide him through the process. Jarrett, like Obama, has a bit of a cosmopolitan background, having been born in Iran. Now, Jarrett, who is quite accomplished in the business world, serves as a liaison between the White House and business interests. (The article notes that the White House is filled with academics and regulators, in contrast with the Bush team, which was filled with businessmen.) But Jarrett's role goes beyond business, "she is Obama’s intermediary to the outside world."
Fashionistas, take note: bobs are still in. First lady and fashion icon Michelle Obama has chopped her locks into a sleek bangs-less bob. Michelle revealed her new hairstyle at a celebration of country music at the White House Tuesday night, and paired the elegant 'do with a patterned white dress. Perhaps President Obama really is the "frumpy" half of the couple.
The front row at the Michael Jackson memorial was filled with familiar faces. One, though, raised some questions. The Mirror is reporting that Norwegian Omer Bhatti, who sat with Jacko's siblings, is actually the pop star's secret love child—and is seeking a DNA test to prove it. The 25-year-old was originally thought to have become close with the King of Pop by being "a childhood superfan and an impersonator of the star." The Mirror does not cite any sources for the revelation, though it does point out "facial similarities" with Jacko's son Blanket. Bhatti's mother, reached on the phone, said, "He was the King of Pop. But for us he was so much more."
Hotel concierge worker Andrea McNulty has filed a civil suit against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger accusing him of raping her in a penthouse suite at a Lake Tahoe casino last year. McNulty said that last July she worked as a concierge during a celebrity golf tournament that Roethlisberger attended, the New York Post reports. McNulty alleges that Roethlisberger asked her for help with his television, but that after she established that his TV was working fine, he blocked her exit from the room and raped her. McNulty says she did not go to the police under pressure from the hotel, and quoted the hotel's chief of security as saying, "Most girls would feel lucky to get to have sex with someone like Ben Roethlisberger." Roethlisberger's lawyer vehemently denied the allegations.
Somewhere, somehow, there is always something lower than rock bottom: Fox News host Neil Cavuto ran a segment Tuesday entitled “Is Surgeon General Appointee Too Fat?” suggesting that Dr. Regina Benjamin doesn’t fit the bill for a national role model. “The bottom line is, Dr. Benjamin is 50 pounds overweight—she’s obese,” said guest commentator Michael Karolchyk, CEO of the Anti-Gym in Denver, which emphasizes getting clients in shape for sex. “Would you want your head of the Fed Reserve to be a guy who lives in a box under the highway because he understands the plight of poor people?” Karolchyk, sporting a shirt with the phrase “No Chubbies” emblazoned on its front, argued that Benjamin is “lazy” and makes poor food choices, making her an ineligible candidate for the title of surgeon general. For his part, Cavuto doubted the accuracy of Karolchyk’s claims. “If she’s 50-60 pounds overweight, then I’m on a separate planet,” he said.
Where's Dumbo when you need him? The New York Daily News reports that an undercover video of Ringling Bros. circus handlers beating elephants has surfaced. Evidently, a worker with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals posed as a stagehand for six months and toured through seven states with the circus in order to secretly film the alleged abuse. The video shows trainers randomly whipping elephants with bull hooks—poles tipped with a metal point—across the heads, legs, and bodies. The bull hooks were also used to pull the animals by the trunk to herd them. Ringling Bros. officials said they weren't aware of the video and couldn't comment on its contents, but said their animals were properly treated. This is not the circus' first elephant incident. In 2003, a former employee sued the show for "harming, harassing and wounding" the elephants, and in 1998, the circus donated $20,000 to elephant-care groups to settle a case relating to the death of a 3-year-old elephant.
Jack Bauer has wriggled out of another one. The New York Daily News reports that misdemeanor assault charges against 24 star Kiefer Sutherland have been dropped. In May, Sutherland allegedly head-butted fashion designer Jack McCollough at a party, breaking the Proenza Schouler label designer's nose. Evidently, Sutherland got angry after McCollough bumped into actress Brooke Shields but failed to apologize. Sutherland delivered a mea culpa on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and reached a settlement with McCollough. A spokesperson for the district attorney said the department dropped the prosecution because McCollough was "uncooperative."
This is no way to go about the business of "progressing Alaska." A legal fund set up by Sarah Palin to cope with her mounting legal debts may have been a violation of ethics laws, an independent investigator has found. The investigator's report alleges that the fund amounts to "unwarranted benefits and receiving improper gifts." The report does not recommend further legal procedures however, instead only advising that Palin does not accept money from the fund. The Associated Press reports that the total amount of donations the fund received is unclear, though a fundraising drive over the Internet last month earned $130,000. Palin has said she owes at least $500,000 in legal fees. The man who filed the ethics complaint regarding the fund noted that Palin has not directly addressed it. "When ethics complaints are dismissed, she's quick to publicly respond, but this one, she's sitting on," he said.
Ahmadinejad is having a rare spat with his most powerful backer, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Los Angeles Times reports that Iran's president is refusing the Ayatollah's mandate that he dump his new vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. Mashaei earned the ire of hardliners last year when he insisted that Iranians had no quarrel with Israelis. Ahmadinejad has to watch out for more than Khamenei—the leader of a conservative group of scholars said his group would propose its own "desired Cabinet lineup" to the president. The dustup in Iran's upper echelons comes amid a weeks-long crackdown on supporters of opposition figure Mir Hossein Mousavi.
CNN and radio host Lou Dobbs is taking the “birthers” mainstream, with his own signature, xenophobic touch: Dobbs wondered aloud on his radio show whether President Obama might be “undocumented”—a word Dobbs typically reserves for the illegal immigrants he rails against nightly. “I’m starting to think we have a document issue,” Dobbs said. “You suppose he’s un—no, I won’t even use the word undocumented, it wouldn’t be right.” Dobbs agreed with a caller that Obama’s presidency could be “illegal.”
To the dismay of millions, what is said to be the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century could be seen in India and China on Wednesday, but was not visible to most parts of the countries due to thick cloud coverage. The village of Taregna, India, deemed by scientists as the clearest place to watch the eclipse, had been overrun for the past week with scientists and tourists who were hoping to track the bizarre changes in the atmosphere and animal behavior brought on by eclipses, marking a boom in the local economy. The eclipse became visible in the eastern city of Gauhati, and reached its peak Wednesday morning at about 6:20 a.m. local time. Over the course of six minutes and 39 seconds, it moved northeast to Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and China. Unfortunately for almost everyone, there will not be a longer eclipse until 2132.
A showdown in the Senate over gun control could shine the spotlight on a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012. The Senate votes on Wednesday on an amendment by South Dakota Senator John Thune that would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines—an amendment that Chuck Schumer has acknowledged Democrats are unlikely to block. Chris Cillizza at The Fix notes that Thune is quietly well-positioned to run for president in 2012. He is “one of the top four members of Republican leadership in the Senate”; faces no serious opposition for reelection in 2010; has proven to be a strong fundraiser, with more than $5 million on hand; and has a talented staff surrounding him.
It feels like the Cold War all over again. According to BBC News, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the U.S. is prepared to extend a "defense umbrella" over the Persian Gulf should Iran develop nuclear weapons. During a regional summit in Thailand, Clinton said that although the U.S. was still willing to talk with Iran, the "nuclear clock was ticking." She also called "crippling action" against Iran a possibility. Furthermore, Clinton said that if U.S. bolsters defense of its Gulf allies, "It's unlikely that Iran will be any stronger or safer because they won't be able to intimidate and dominate as they apparently believe they can once they have a nuclear weapon." Over to you, Ahmadinejad.
Blue Dog Democrats in the House won a few big concessions on Tuesday: “Moderate House Democrats and a key committee chairman emerged from a three-hour meeting at the White House on Tuesday with a tentative agreement to give an outside panel—rather than Congress—the power to make cuts to government-financed health-care programs,” according to Politico. Democratic leadership hopes that the concession is enough to bring the seven crucial Blue Dogs on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce into the fold. OMB Director Peter Orszag called it “probably the most important piece that can be added [to the bill.]” Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, told the rank and file that they were still on schedule to approve the bill before going on August recess at the end of next week.
Kenya—a corrupt country recently snubbed by President Obama despite his roots there—has another problem to contend with: its porous borders with Somalia are ideal for Islamic extremists. The Shabab militia rules most of southern Somalia, and according to the New York Times has been on a rampage, "beheading detractors, stoning adulterers and threatening to kill any Americans or Europeans who get in their way." The Shabab launch attacks from Somalia deep into Kenya, and then retreat back into their lawless haven. Kenya's capitol, Nairobi, which is far from the border, does not escape the militia's wrath. Last month, Western counterterrorism experts sent out messages that expats should stay away from Nairobi malls for fear of suicide bombings.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is in Washington on Wednesday. What’s on the agenda? “U.S. concerns over the slow pace of political, religious and ethnic reconciliation in Iraq are expected to dominate President Barack Obama's talks at the White House with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki,” according to the Associated Press. The White House and Defense officials are expected to pressure Maliki and his Shiite allies to share more power with minority Sunnis and Kurds. Maliki, meanwhile, “will seek foreign investment and stronger ties to the U.S. in education, culture and trade,” according to The Wall Street Journal, which notes “Mr. Maliki is positioning himself as the person capable of moving Iraq beyond the security concerns that have consumed the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.”
The two-pronged war reached a grim watershed on Monday. July became the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan and the combined casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan passed 5,000, USA Today reports. June 2008 was the previous deadliest month in Afghanistan, when 28 died, but because of a roadside bomb that killed four Americans in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. death toll this July is at least 30. To date, there have been 4,332 military deaths in Iraq, 669 in Afghanistan, and 14 defense-department civilian casualties in both countries.
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