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(CNN) –- Actor and sustainable housing advocate Brad Pitt brought his pitch to the nation’s capital Thursday, meeting with President Obama at the White House and Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill.
After a brief stop by the executive mansion to meet with the president and his climate czar, Pitt met with Pelosi in her Capitol office to share details of his charity housing efforts in New Orleans.
One thing’s for sure: policy conferences on the Hill don’t usually pull out a crowd like this.
A throng of giggling fans, mostly female, gathered to catch a glimpse of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" star as he posed for pictures following their meeting.
“It really is an honor to have him here and I know for some of my staff, and for bragging rights for my children and grandchildren, a real treat for me as well,” she said.
Pelosi, posing with Pitt and South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn at the congressional photo-op following their meeting, said the actor had been telling her about how the homes his foundation has built built to a "green standard," with utility bills of less than $10 a month.
The actor’s foundation, "Make it Right," works to construct sustainable housing for low-income residents in New Orleans who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina. Launched in 2007, Pitt's project focuses on NOLA's Lower Ninth Ward, a region ravaged by the 2005 hurricane. Pitt shares a home in the French Quarter with hi...
“I just want to say thank you to the Speaker for opening up the doors for us to come in and discuss the rebuilding efforts, the current rebuilding efforts going on in New Orleans, and to how we can expand this idea of affordability and sustainability which we think we have a model that works," Pitt said, amid a flurry ...
Only the diitoheads and rabid right could find so many complaints about the good works of one person helping others. It would be nice if you found inspiration in his example and stopped thinking about all you own selfish whining..
Guess that is too much to expect from a crowd that is so shallow and self-absorbed.
How much charitable work has $ 100 million Rush, done? (Donating to far right wing wackos doesn't count).
Shame on you Sarah Parker!!! Brad Pitt and Angeline Lolie share lives, have children together, share goals and do work together that benefits others....and you refer to her as his girlfriend and/or companion. You are a writer...pay attention to the use of your terms....How more denegrating could you have been in referr...
I like Brad, He seems to do a lot of good things. Certainly can't knock the guy for caring about others and not being all about himself! Most Hollywood types are extremely self absorbed and wouldn't even think about doing some of the things he's done for others!
First Clooney and now Brad Pitt! It's amazing who gets the President's ear. What about the rest of us? Will we get an invite to the White House to share our views? I am disgusted by all these ridiculous photo ops!
How many other people are doing something th really help the people like this? He dosen't have to to this...He WANTS to something, and IS doing something.
So instead of the mocking of those who want to help improve the lives of those whose needs are great, why not offer whatever skills you have, get out there and do something...There's plenty to do. And who knows you might feel better about yourself.
Good job in N.O. Mr. Pitt. Now show some respect and button your shirt.
This is exactly what we need people to get together and work for a greater America to help each other, let's roll up our sleeves and work hard, if all of us stick together we will prevail. This is great, people like Pitt and Clooney, and regular people just helping each other. Thank you President Barack Obama, we are g...
Hey there you go ; an adviser of outstanding import and credentials ! We shall all swoon now !!
Great job, and you know they just could use a little more of you in the kentucky Blueridge Mountains. thanks for all the work, it makes me proud you stepped up to the plate.
Brad Pitt needs to stay out of politics. His family is a disgrace to the nation. Why not adopt kids from your own country that need help? We have starving children too ya know. Don't forgot, Angelina is such a great role model though, I mean, look at Octo-mom.
Pelosi is not going to get reallected at the rate she is going. That will be the best thing that has happend to the President. I always said that it would be the left that brings him down. Oink, Oink. stop the Bill in the Senate, before it ruins the presidency of Barack Obama.
Brad should be able to straighten everything out in short order. He's got that "genius" look about him. Did he bring his wife,,,she could show the O man her tats. He can put them in charge of FEMA since they are hanging out in New Orleans anyway.
wow.......repugs actuallly dismissing someone who's helping out the country......just goes to show you were their priorities are.......america it's time for you guys to stand up to this non-sense from the right and stick it to them......you guys won and should lead the country as you see fit and not as the repugs see t...
Brad is doing an admirable job and it's great to see people with resources working towards goals that make differences in other people's live.
Disclaimers aside, I felt like throwing up at the thought of our highest levels of politicians wasting time being enamored by Benajmin Button. What in the hell makes them think that NOW is a good time to waste time entertaining celebrities for "bragging rights"?
Don't they have a damned "to-do" list?
Joey: Brad and Angelina can adopt children from wherever in the world they choose to do so. Although some of their children are from foreign lands, they represent the changing face of America. It's called diversity.
Who cares about this fluff? A washed-up pretty boy philanderer and a bunch of fat cats talking about what? The real deal is that the Obama administration in cahoots with the Congress and Senate including Republicans are leading this country to one world economy by deliberately adopting policies designed to kill off per...
@Indy,Jumboand joey from sd are you Idiots Related ??
Who is the biggest actor/actress in this picture? Pukelosi wins hands down – she pretends to care about America all the time and we all know it is a lie but she just keeps on pretending. pitt is just there for more free publicity.
In case your brain can't comprehend...Hollywood already took over the white house back when Reagan was elected. After all he WAS an actor you know. You know...the former president that you all love to place on a pedestal. Oh and let us not forget AHNOLD, the Republican Terminator...I mean governor. It's funny how repub...
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Photo: Zach Gibson/Getty Images.
The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday the launch of a nationwide e-cigarette education campaign to combat the "evidence of sharply rising use among kids."
The big picture: "The Real Cost" Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign is a continuation of the agency's Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan as it aims to educate teens about the dangers of e-cigarettes. The FDA is still in the process of investigating whether certain e-cigarette products from Juul and other companies are be...
The details: The Real Cost Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign, which the FDA says is a nearly $60 million effort funded by fees from the tobacco industry.
Images and messages from the campaign will be visible in high school bathrooms, which is the first time the FDA has made such a move.
Messages will also be spread through social media.
"There’s a difference between some casual use by teens – a low level of use that we’ll never fully eliminate – and widespread abuse, misuse, and addiction, to nicotine by kids. The growth in use of e-cigarettes has reached a level that’s shocking."
When then-Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson won the 2016 Heisman Trophy, he defeated a field that included Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, who finished third in the voting.
Fast forward two years later, and Jackson and the Ravens will welcome Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns to M&T Bank Stadium for Sunday’s regular-season finale. Jackson, who was the final pick of the first round of this year’s NFL draft, said his relationship with Mayfield, the first selection, began during the Heisman ...
Jackson has completed 85 of 146 passes for 1,022 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. More importantly, he is 5-1 as a starter since replacing Joe Flacco after the veteran sustained a right hip injury Nov. 4 in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Terrell Suggs, the longest-tenured Ravens player, insisted Wednesday morning that he has not given much thought to whether Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns will be the last of his 16-year career.
Mayfield has connected on 287 of 444 attempts for 3,349 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Despite a 6-6 record as a starter, Mayfield has helped guide Cleveland to five wins in its past six games.
Ravens rookie tight end Mark Andrews, who played with Mayfield when they were Sooners, said both Mayfield and Jackson have a knack for inspiring their teammates.
On Sunday, Jackson and Mayfield will meet as adversaries. But since they will not be directly competing against one another, Jackson said he does not feel like there’s a personal battle between the two.
The Ravens opened their week of preparation for Sunday without three starters in wide receiver John Brown, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs and right guard Marshal Yanda. Brown and Suggs dealt with hamstring injuries, while Yanda enjoyed a day off as a veteran.
Cornerback Tavon Young was the fourth player to sit out practice because of a groin injury that has bothered him for the past five games.
It’s almost hard to believe that the Ravens are sitting atop the AFC North standings and are one win away from hosting their first playoff game at M&T Stadium since they began their march to the Super Bowl title six years ago.
Defensive back Anthony Levine Sr. was limited by toe and ankle injuries, while left guard Alex Lewis practiced fully with a left shoulder injury.
The Browns were without their own trio of starters in defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (biceps), center JC Tretter (ankle) and rookie cornerback Denzel Ward (concussion).
Tight end David Njoku (knee) was a limited participant. Linebacker Jamie Collins Sr. (shoulder) practiced fully.
Ravens players and coach John Harbaugh chimed in on the organization’s effort to generate enthusiasm among fans to attend Sunday’s game.
On Christmas eve, outside linebacker Matthew Judon wrote via Twitter, “All I want for Christmas is a full house at M&T this Sunday,” and his sentiment was retweeted by teammates such as Tony Jefferson, Eric Weddle and Marlon Humphrey.
» Harbaugh has had to oversee a quarterback transition from Flacco to Jackson. he’s also had to endure questions about his coaching future before Friday’s announcement that he would return for the 2019 season and that the organization is working with him on another extension. But Harbaugh said this year has been the sa...
» Ravens inside linebacker Patrick Onwuasor was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday. He had a team-high nine tackles, including two sacks, and forced the game-clinching fumble that was returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
In the recent contest for the 4th District House seat, supporters of Republican Art Robinson accused Democratic incumbent Peter DeFazio of marching in lockstep with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
It was a political distortion of the first order. DeFazio has been a frequent source of aggravation for Pelosi, opposing several of the speaker�s top legislative priorities, including the stimulus bill and cap-and-trade climate legislation. Only a last-minute concession by the Democratic leadership correcting federal M...
Anyone who still believes that Pelosi has DeFazio in her back pocket should consider his recent leadership role in a caucus rebellion against Pelosi, who was seeking election to the post of House minority leader in the next Congress.
Earlier this month, DeFazio and Rep. Marci Kaptur, D-Ohio, sent a letter to Democratic colleagues in the House asking them to support a plan to delay leadership elections until December.
In their letter, DeFazio and Kaptur emphasized that they were not endorsing an alternative leadership candidate. But it�s no secret that DeFazio opposes Pelosi continuing as the top Democrat in the House. Before the election, he told The Register-Guard�s editorial board that he�d favor replacing Pelosi as speaker if th...
DeFazio and Kaptur clearly were trying to win time for anti-Pelosi forces to organize and for alternative candidates to step forward. In recent days, they introduced a motion to delay the vote, arguing that rank-and-file members needed time to more fully absorb the largest loss of seats since 1938.
The effort to delay their party�s caucus elections failed Wednesday by a vote of 129-68, clearing the path for Pelosi to become minority leader.
But DeFazio surely weighed the risk before making his move, and he may be counting on Pelosi�s need to be seen as a party unifier in the wake of the Democrats� devastating losses in the election.
One thing, however, is certain: DeFazio is not, as Robinson�s camp claimed, a loyal soldier in Pelosi�s army.
Kayhan Ozer, AFP \| Handout picture taken and released on July 20, 2016 shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chairing a meeting of the National Security Council at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as he widened a crackdown against thousands of members of the security forces, judiciary, civil service and academia after a failed military coup.
Erdogan said the state of emergency, which would last three months, would allow his government to take swift and effective measures against supporters of the coup and was allowed under the constitution.
The state of emergency would go into force after it is published in Turkey’s official gazette and would allow the president and cabinet to bypass parliament in passing new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms as they deem necessary.
Erdogan made the announcement during a live television broadcast in front of government ministers after a nearly five-hour meeting of the National Security Council.
“The aim of the declaration of the state of emergency is to be able to take fast and effective steps against this threat against democracy, the rule of law and rights and freedoms of our citizens,” Erdogan said.
About 60,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended, detained or are under investigation since Friday’s military coup attempt.
The failed putsch and the purge that followed have unsettled the country of 80 million, which borders Syria’s chaos and is a Western ally against Islamic State.
“We will remain within a democratic parliamentary system. We will never step away from it,” he said.
Academics were banned from travelling abroad on Wednesday in what a Turkish official said was a temporary measure to prevent the risk of alleged coup plotters in universities from fleeing.
State TRT television said 95 academics had been removed from their posts at Istanbul University alone.
Erdogan blames a network of followers of a U.S.-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, for Friday night’s attempted coup, in which more than 230 people were killed as soldiers commandeered fighter jets, military helicopters and tanks to try to overthrow the government.
Erdogan, who has led Turkey as prime minister or president since 2003, has vowed to clean the “virus” responsible for the plot from all state institutions. The depth and scale of the purges have raised concern among Western allies that Erdogan is trying to suppress all dissent, and that opponents unconnected with the p...
Around a third of Turkey’s roughly 360 serving generals have been detained since the coup attempt, a second senior official said, with 99 charged pending trial and 14 more being held.
The defence ministry is investigating all military judges and prosecutors, and has suspended 262 of them, broadcaster NTV reported, while 900 police officers in the capital Ankara were also suspended on Wednesday. The purge also extended to civil servants in the environment and sports ministries.
The threat of prolonged instability in a NATO member country, which had not seen a violent military coup for more than three decades, has shaken investors’ confidence.
The lira fell to a record low after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Turkey’s foreign currency credit rating, citing the fragmentation of the political landscape and saying it expected a period of heightened unpredictability.
Around 1,400 people were wounded as soldiers commandeered tanks, attack helicopters and warplanes, strafing parliament and the intelligence headquarters and trying to seize the main airport and bridges in Istanbul on Friday night.
At the height of the abortive coup, the rebel pilots of two F-16 fighter jets had Erdogan’s plane in their sights as he returned to Istanbul from a holiday on the coast.
Erdogan said he was almost killed or captured by the mutineers.
Turkey’s Western allies have expressed solidarity with the government over the coup attempt but have also voiced increasing alarm at the scale and swiftness of the response, urging it to adhere to democratic values.
On Tuesday, authorities shut media outlets deemed to be supportive of Gulen. More than 20,000 teachers and administrators have been suspended from the education ministry.
One hundred intelligence officials, 492 people from the Religious Affairs Directorate, 257 at the prime minister’s office and 300 at the energy ministry have been removed from duty.
Those moves come after the detention of more than 6,000 members of the armed forces, from foot soldiers to commanders, and the suspension of close to 3,000 judges and prosecutors.
About 8,000 police officers, including in the capital Ankara and the biggest city Istanbul, have also been removed.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein voiced “serious alarm” on Tuesday at the mass suspension of judges and prosecutors and urged Turkey to allow independent monitors to visit those who have been detained.
The foreign ministry has said criticism of the government’s response amounts to backing the coup attempt.
Erdogan’s spokesman said on Tuesday the government was preparing a formal request to the United States for the extradition of Gulen. U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the status of Gulen in a telephone call with Erdogan on Tuesday, the White House said, urging Ankara to show restraint as it pursues those responsibl...
Gulen, 75, whose religious movement blends conservative Islamic values with a pro-Western outlook, lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania but has a network of supporters within Turkey. He has condemned the abortive coup and denied any role in it.
A former ally-turned critic of Erdogan, he suggested the president staged it as an excuse for a crackdown after a steady accumulation of control during 14 years in power.
Washington has said it would consider Gulen’s extradition only if clear evidence was provided, prompting Prime Minister Yildirim to accuse the United States of double standards in its fight against terrorism.
Erdogan struck a more conciliatory note in his comments to Al Jazeera, saying he did not want to link the issue of U.S. use of Turkey’s Incirlik airbase with Ankara’s request for Gulen’s extradition.
“We need to be more sensitive. Relations between our countries are based on interests, not feelings. We are strategic partners,” Erdogan said.
I read a piece about Kobe Bryant a couple of days ago. The way it described his fall made me think of Bryant as a parable of America in the Bush years, that maybe even W himself could understand. No longer the big guy leading the winning team to victory over Commie scum, but a street-corner lout, picking on victims qua...
This business of Uncle Sam’s true face brings me to Gary Webb and why they hated him. Few spectacles in journalism in the mid-1990s were more disgusting than the slagging of Gary Webb in the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. Squadrons of hacks, some of them with career-long ties to the CIA, sprayed...

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