Tag Archives: Secret Service

Channing Tatum Plays Dad And President Protector In ‘White House Down’ Trailer

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Channing Tatum Plays Dad And President Protector In White House Down Trailer

The second trailer for the second “White House in peril” movie, “White House Down,” just premiered over at Yahoo! Movies, and unlike the first ominous preview, this actually plays to Channing Tatum‘s comedic chops and star power.

The trailer introduces us to Tatum’s wannabe Secret Service agent, John Cale, just a normal guy who brings his daughter along to a job interview at the White House. Though the interview doesn’t go as planned, a perfectly timed terrorist attack on Washington, D.C. gives John the opportunity to go full-on John McClane. Not only will he have to save his daughter, who has been taken hostage by the invading terrorists, but also protect the prez, played by Jamie Foxx.

Take a look at the new trailer for “White House Down” after the jump!

That’s a lot funnier than the doom-and-gloom teaser we got a few weeks ago, right? It’s hard to say where “White House Down” will fall on the action-comedy scale, but this preview certainly wants us to think this will be in line with Bruce Willis’ “Die Hard” quips.

“White House Down” opens on June 28.

What did you think of the new trailer for “White House Down”? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!

Fun. Talk ‘Crazy’ Week: From Paisley Park To Meeting President Obama

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It’s becoming increasingly difficult for Fun. to keep track of the highlights these days, what with their six Grammy nominations and sold-out tour and all … but it’s safe to say the past week of their lives will be one they remember for a long time.

After all, it’s not every day you get to serve as the opening act for the Leader of the Free World, which is exactly what Fun. did at Monday’s (January 21) Inaugural Ball, where they took the stage directly before President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle thrilled attendees by slow-dancing to Jennifer Hudson‘s version of “Let’s Stay Together.”

It was the kickoff of a very eventful week for the band, who wedged the show in-between rehearsals for their tour (which also started this week). And as it all comes to a close, MTV News spoke with Fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff, to get his take on the past seven days … and a gig that they’ll never forget.

“The day was crazy; we were in Minneapolis, in Paisley Park, rehearsing for the tour, so we literally had a 3 a.m. lobby call to get to D.C., we took off and landed before the sun even came up,” he laughed. “We went right to the hotel, and from that point on it was this constant stream of Secret Service taking us to different places. It’s such an intense process; you go somewhere, and you have to stay in a room, and then we had sound check which was really intense because it had to happen at this particular time; it was like being at Bonnaroo or Coachella, where everything is on a grid, except times infinity, because it’s the Secret Service running it, and not a bunch of festival people.”

After doing sound-check, Fun. were basically sequestered in a dressing room at the Washington D.C. Convention Center, waiting for their time on stage, and the arrival of the president. And when that arrival actually happened, it turns out they nearly finished with their set … which means that they had a front-row seat to history.

“We get word he’s coming in, we get rushed off to the side of the stage, and there’s Secret Service everywhere. And he came out, [Obama] danced while Jennifer Hudson sang, we were like 100 feet away and it was insane to witness that,” Antonoff said. “And then we get ushered into a small pipe-and-drape room, and it was us, John Legend, Brad Paisley and Stevie Wonder, all in this bizarre little room. And we’re all kind of waiting there, with this vibe that I’ve never experienced before, which is waiting for the president to walk in, which is kind of like when you’re going on a date, and you’re waiting for your date to show up, only once again times infinity.

“And he walks in, and it was just so surreal; he looks like he looks on TV,” he continued. “And all I remember is him walking into the room and just going ‘Stevie! Stevie! What’s up Stevie!’ And then we met him, he said hi to him and the first lady, we took a picture and then we walked out, and it was just like ‘Well, that just happened.’”

Antonoff said meeting the president happened so quickly that his original plan — thanking Obama for his support of LGBTQ rights — went out the window (“All I could say was ‘It’s an honor to meet you,’” he sighed). But still, it’s a moment that he’ll remember for the rest of his life. And, almost a week later, it’s still all he and his bandmates can talk about.

“The idea of being nominated for Grammys or selling out big shows or having platinum albums or whatever, those are impossibly far off dreams, but they’re still in the arena of dreams that exist when you have a band,” he said. “Playing at the Inaugural Ball, that’s not something most artists get to do, it’s a crazy, once-in-a-lifetime experience. And I think that might have been the first experience that we’ve had together where it’s like ‘Well, this wasn’t even on the list of dreams we had.’”

What did you think of Fun.’s Inaugural Ball performance? Let us know in the comments below.

‘Twilight Saga’ Supercut: Watch Everyone Protect Bella Swan

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For a seemingly average girl living in the unremarkable logging community of Forks, Washington, Bella Swan sure requires a lot of protecting — a fact we’ve been recently reminded of thanks to a marathon viewing of the first four “Twilight Saga” films.

And while the newborn vampire will stand valiantly against the villainous Volturi in the film franchise’s finale, “Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ — hitting theaters November 16 — Bella suffered a lot of close calls along the way that had nothing to do with the ruling vampire class. Indeed, her foes have been many and varied and include a mini-van-driving classmate, a Port Angeles gang, a trio of nomadic vampires and her own two left feet. So you can see why Edward would be worried.

Vote for your favorite “Twilight” character in our Twi-Fight Saga!

But, as we already alluded to, the teen has had a Secret Service-level security detail flanking her ever since she caught the bloodsucker’s eye (and nose!) in “Twilight.” Included in that top-notch team are best friend Jacob Black and his Wolf Pack, the entire Cullen clan and sheriff father Charlie Swan. It truly took a village, you guys.

So, in celebration of the upcoming release of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” your intrepid MTV News producers have put together a supercut of all the best moments in which Bella’s safety reigns supreme. Click play on the video above to relive all the over-protective moments for yourself!

Get ready for “Twilight” Takeover this Saturday and Sunday! Host Josh Horowitz will treat fans to exclusive interviews with Kristen, Rob, Taylor and the rest of the vampire saga cast. Whether it’s looking back on their first days on set or their craziest Movie Awards memories, we’ve got you covered all weekend throughout MTV‘s scheduled programming.

Barack Obama Fields Your Questions, Reps The Roots On ‘Ask Obama’

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You asked, and he answered. On Friday (October 26), President Barack Obama fielded tough questions from young voters during “Ask Obama Live: An MTV Interview with the President” — everything from lowering the skyrocketing costs of student loans and jumpstarting the economy to guaranteeing equality for same-sex couples and protecting women’s reproductive rights — and even managed to work in a shout-out to the Roots.

Sitting down with MTV News’ Sway Calloway in the White House, Obama didn’t have long to prepare. Within the first minute, he was getting grilled about lowering the cost of higher education — a hot topic among the young voters we’ve been speaking to on the road with our Power of 12 campaign — and was asked if he had a “game-changing idea” to help out students loaded with debt.

“One thing I want folks to know, right at the onset, is that an investment in a college education still pays off. The unemployment rate for college graduates is half for somebody who didn’t go to college,” Obama said. “But … the costs have gone up so much faster for a college education that young people are coming out with an average of 23 to 25 thousand dollars’ worth of debt. So here’s what we’ve done: We have already put in place an expansion of Pell grants [and] keeping interest rates on student loans where they were; they were scheduled to double.

“What we’ve also said is, we now have to go directly to the source, the colleges and universities, and say, ‘You’ve got to work on cutting tuitions,’ ” the president continued. “And we’re going to reward those schools who do a good job, providing good value for their students while keeping tuition low, and we’ll stop directing federal aid to those colleges and universities that that are loading up their students with debt.”

Obama also spoke about rewarding graduates who want to start their own businesses by eliminating the capital gains tax and making it easier for young entrepreneurs to raise money through the Internet. And he touted the successes of the Small Business Administration, pointing out that Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank once got a hand from the SBA and now runs a company with revenues near $1 billion a year.

He was also asked if the federal government would step in to ensure equal rights for same-sex couples, saying that, while personally he believes that they should be treated the same as heterosexual couples, he thinks the issue would be better left to the states and the courts to decide.

“Historically, marriages have been defined at the state level. And there’s a conversation going on. … There’s some states that are still having the debate. And I think for us to try to legislate federally into this is probably the wrong way to go,” Obama said. “The courts are going to be examining these issues. I’ve stood up and said I’m opposed to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. … There are a couple of cases that are working their way through the courts, and my expectation is that DOMA will be overturned. But, ultimately, I believe that if we have that conversation at the state level, the evolution that’s taking place in this country will get us to a place where we are going to be recognizing everybody fairly.”

Obama also took time to highlight the differences between his views on women’s reproductive rights and those of his opponent, Mitt Romney — “I believe women should be able to make their own health care decisions; Governor Romney disagrees. He wants to defund Planned Parenthood … he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade; I think that’s a profound mistake,” he said — and address hot-button issues like gun control and reforming our nation’s energy policy.

Of course, the discussion wasn’t always about public policy. Obama joked that, if re-elected to a second term, he wouldn’t worry about his daughter Malia dating, since “she’s got Secret Service,” and even admitted that he sadly hasn’t had much time to update his iPod (“I’ve been working a little hard right now,” he deadpanned), but he does still listen to the Roots, and he wants to see more musical acts follow in their political ways.

“I think that the most vibrant musical art form right now, over the last 10 to 15 years, has been hip-hop, and there have been some folks that have kind of dabbled in political statements, but a lot of it has been more cultural than political,” he told Sway. “You’ve got folks like Springsteen that are still putting out very strong political statements, but I’d like to see a more explicit discussion of the issues that are out there right now, because music’s such a powerful mechanism.

“You think about a lot of the music of the ’70s, there was a sense of engagement in what was happening with the anti-war movement and what was happening with respect to the civil rights movement,” Obama continued. “So I would hope we’re going to see more of that, because young people, they communicate in a lot of different ways, and … you can set the world on fire in a positive way just through a message.”

He then jokingly remembered buying albums or 8-tracks in the 1970s, adding, “That’s old school.”

MTV also invited Obama’s opponent, Mitt Romney, to participate in a similar live special, and hopes to conduct an interview with him in advance of Election Day on November 6.

Check back for up-to-the-minute coverage of the debates and stick with PowerOf12.org throughout the 2012 presidential election season.

Kim Kardashian, Drake Get Punk’d Before Movie Awards

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MTV‘s original punkmaster, Ashton Kutcher, returned to his roots tonight for a very special episode of “Punk’d,” that aired right before the 2012 MTV Movie Awards.

During the spicy episode, he pulled two certain-to-be memorable fast ones on reality-TV starlet Kim Kardashian and Young Money rapper Drake.

In the episode, after he unlocked his signature trucker cap, Kutcher made a confession. “I haven’t had much going on in my life,” he said. “It’s been relatively mundane. I’m going to be hosting ‘Punk’d’ this week because what’s happened thus far has been a f—ing travesty. I think it’s time to step it up a notch.”

Although the show has had A-listers like Justin Bieber on hand to punk their celebrity pals, this episode was all about going big or going home. In a meeting with his punking team, Kutcher said, “I’m thinking Gaga. I’m thinking Drake. I’m thinking Kardashian — only the one that dates the football players.”

Drake, it seems, had been the A-lister producers had been hankering to get on the show. “We have to give him something that he can’t not show up for. Even though he knows we’re out there, we just have to go for perfection,” the host said, before pitching that he always wanted to throw a star in an earthquake scenario.

But how will he make it perfect? Well, Kutcher wants Drake caught in the earthquake while in a parking garage on the way to meet the vice president.

“We’re gonna shake things up for Drake a bit,” the “Two and a Half Men” star said. “I highly anticipate Drake urinating; he might scream a little bit.”

Cut to the prank day: The rapper is in the car with the “Secret Service,” whom he pleasantly accepts compliments from. From behind the scenes, Kutcher adds, “If we can sell this, we own it.”

While in the parking garage, the car begins to shake and the MC looks visibly afraid. “Why are we in a parking garage?” a very scared Drake says. “Yo, that is no joke … that’s my first earthquake ever.”

Things quickly begin to crumble. A random, frightened person gets in the car, and Drake gets into a bit of a screaming match with a couple. The woman goes into labor, which exasperates Drake even more.

While Drake is shaken by the events, Ashton is in the back laughing at what is unfolding.

“We don’t have the keys!” Drake screams as another aftershock happens, and just as Drake is on the verge of tears, Ashton pops out and picks him up for a hug. “Yo, that sh–’s no joke. So we don’t get to meet the vice president? I called my mom and everything!” he told Ashton.

Afterward he confessed, “I said very early on in my career that this is such a sign of feeling like you really accomplished something when Ashton decides to punk [you], so today is a semi-feeling of accomplishment, but at the same time, f— you! I do not appreciate that at all!”

Ashton, pleased with the first punk, says, “I told you we wouldn’t miss,” and from there, he moves on to Kim.

Kanye West‘s better half is taken for a ride with her prank, which also includes scaring sister Kourtney’s baby daddy, Scott Disick. “Right now, what we’re doing, we’re keeping it Kutcher,” Ashton says before kicking off the prank. “Kim, you’re about to learn what a real reality show looks like.”

In the control room, Ashton directs the practical joke. It starts off with Scott talking to a superfan and takes a photo with him, with Kim completely unaware of what is happening. Soon, the fan knocks on the window and takes a photo with her, per Ashton’s instructions.

When Scott comes back in the car, he realizes his wallet is missing, goes to chase down the fan/suspect, all with the gas nozzle still in the car. Boom, explosion. “OK, something weird is really going on,” Kim says.

As one man shouts at the twosome for blowing up his car in the gas-station explosion, an increasingly upset Kim says, “I am literally shaking.”

The cops arrive, and Scott gets put in cuffs for the incident, shouting the entire time that his wallet was stolen by the fan — the same one who is still taking pictures and video. Soon, though, it gets more ridiculous when Kim discovers the wallet in their car, and with that, Ashton appears, alleviating all the pressure.

As the episode closes, Ashton has this final message: “I feel like it’s complete. Everything I learned from Beyoncé to Kanye to [Justin Timberlake] and everyone we did before, it all built to this moment. I feel like the Drake bit completed a cycle for me.”

And, with that, he once again retires the trucker hat.

The 2012 MTV Movie Awards are officially under way! Stick with MTV News for minute-by-minute coverage, and don’t forget to go to MovieAwards.MTV.com to cast your vote for Best Movie!

‘Hunger Games’ Director Gary Ross Circles ‘Houdini’

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“Hunger Games” fans were dismayed when director Gary Ross released a statement saying he wasn’t going to helm the film’s sequel, “Catching Fire.” His previous works have been few and far between. Before adapting the dystopian novel, Ross directed “Pleasantville” in 1998 and “Seabiscuit” in 2003, and fans wondered if he would disappear off Hollywood’s radar for a while. But Ross’ next project might happen sooner rather than later.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ross is in talks with Summit to direct “Houdini,” an adaptation of the book “The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero” by William Kalush and Larry Sloman. While recounting the master escape artist’s life from poverty to fame, the biography suggests that the magician who commanded the attention of countless audiences worked as a spy for Britain and the Secret Service.

In Lionsgate’s own statement on Gary Ross‘ departure from “The Hunger Games” franchise, they wrote, “[Gary Ross] did an incredible job on the first film and we are grateful for his work. This will not be the end of our relationship, as we consider Ross to be part of the Lionsgate family and look forward to working with him in the future.”

Since Lionsgate bought Summit earlier this year, it’s quite possible this is the other project they had in mind for the director. THR also reports that Summit optioned the rights to the book back in March of 2009 and their goal is to turn it into an action franchise in the same vein as “Indiana Jones” and “Sherlock Holmes.” Noah Oppenheim already wrote the script, but having penned every screenplay he’s directed, it’s possible Ross may want to edit or re-write it if he signs on for the project.

Coincidentally, THR notes that Francis Lawrence, the director who signed on for “Catching Fire,” is attached to his own Houdini venture for Columbia Pictures.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Ted Nugent Gets Secret Service Visit After Obama Comments

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At this point in his career, Detroit rocker Ted Nugent is known for a two things besides such trademark hits as “Cat Scratch Fever“: shooting animals and saying potentially actionable things about President Obama.

The Motor City Madman was at it again last week, when he said of the Obama administration, “We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November,” while attending the National Rifle Association‘s annual gathering in St. Louis. He added that he would be “dead or in jail” next year if Obama was re-elected, which appears to be the quip that earned him the attention of the President’s security detail.

According to Reuters, Nugent, 63, said on Wednesday that the U.S. Secret Service had requested a meeting with him following the criticism of Obama. During an appearance on Glenn Beck‘s radio show on Wednesday, Nugent told the conservative talker, “We actually have heard from the Secret Service, and they have a duty, and I salute them. I support them and I’m looking forward to our meeting tomorrow.”

Nugent, a avid gun rights enthusiast and conservative supporter, is set to perform in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on Thursday (April 19) night. When asked to confirm the meeting, a Secret Service spokesperson declined to comment. In a statement released later, spokesman Brian Leary said, “We are aware of the incident with Ted Nugent, and we are conducting appropriate follow-up … We recognize an individual’s right to freedom of speech but we also have a responsibility to determine and investigate intent.”

The Secret Service is tasked with protecting the president and investigating any threats or perceived threats to his safety. In a presidential election year when Obama is expected to face a tough challenge from presumptive Republican candidate Mitt Romney, the Democratic National Committee was quick to jump on the controversy and use it in a fundraising email sent out on Monday. DNC chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said of Nugent’s comments that, “Threatening violence — or whatever it is that Nugent’s threatening — is clearly beyond the pale.”

Nugent, who has previous referred to the Obama administration as, “Vile, evil, America-hating,” brushed off those allegations during his sit-down with Beck, denying that he was calling for violence against the Commander-in-Chief. “Every reference I made, whether it’s a shot across the bow or targeting the enemy, it always ended the sentence with ‘in November at the voter booth,’” said the rocker, who has endorsed Romney.

Less than 24 hours before, Nugent appeared on another conservative talk radio show and doubled-down on his comments, describing himself as, “A black Jew at a Nazi-Klan rally … and there are some power-abusing, corrupt monsters in our federal government that despise me because I have the audacity to speak the truth.” He also referred to Wasserman Schultz as a, “Brain-dead, soulless idiot.”

Katy Perry Ditches The Crown And Bros Down In London

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You might not see Katy Perry when she arrives on set, but you definitely hear her — and the whirl of humanity that surrounds her every step of the way.

There are publicists and managers, stylists and makeup folks, at least one assistant, the odd journalist and a few rather fashionable gentlemen whose roles are not clearly defined (though they smoke cigarettes and usually speak French). And on Monday, when I met up with Katy in London, there was also a documentary crew in tow — two camera guys, a director and a field producer — bringing the sum total of her posse to 15. And they make their presence known from the second they descend on the scene, snapping Polaroids, hanging wardrobe, moving furniture, gabbing, texting, dabbing, smoking, quietly judging (I am nothing if not insecure). It’s a whoosh of activity that not only announces her arrival, but makes you realize that it truly takes an army to make the Katy Perry machine operate on a daily basis.

At the center of it all, of course, is Katy herself, who today strides into the penthouse of London’s Corinthia Hotel wearing sunglasses, singing about fish filets (she’d just covered Jay-Z and Kanye’s “Paris” on BBC Radio 1′s Live Lounge). Probably due to the past two years of her life, in which she rose from curio-case pop star to one of the most famous people on the planet, she seems completely oblivious to everything transpiring around her (or at least is used to it), and as she is encircled by her team, she’s still singing, her blue hair the only part of her that’s visible in the crowd.

At this point, having spent enough time around the Britneys and Gagas of the world, I’m used to entourages — though Katy’s struck me as different. Maybe it’s the fact that her personal life has become very public, or that her every gesture is discussed ad infinitum on the Internet, but they seemed less like hired hands as an actual army, determined to protect their leader at all costs. They’re kind of like the Secret Service, only, you know, way more fabulous.

Katy definitely knows this, as she explained during our interview — we’re premiering her brand-new “Part of Me” video tonight, which was the impetus for this chat — most of her favorite memories all involve her team. A recent one being the night she was reunited with some 40 members of her California Dreams Tour crew for a dinner that quickly devolved into an impromptu dance-off, which is why her neck was totally killing her on this day. She may be the queen bee, but she’s definitely not opposed to getting down and dirty with her drones. Not as if she’d ever refer to them as such.

Though it’s impossible to truly get a read on anyone in an hour, I will say this about Katy Perry: Unlike Britney Spears or Lady Gaga — both of whom are plenty nice — she still seems like a pretty normal person, albeit one with blue hair. She screws around a lot (she jokingly threatened to punch me in the face if I kept screwing up my lines), displayed an impressive acumen for swearing and even worked the word “bro” into our conversation on at least six occasions. She spoke with great pride about the rigorous boot-camp training she underwent for the “Part of Me” video, even extolling the virtues of the MRE rations she dined on during production (“they tasted like a McRib!”). She can play the piano surprisingly well, as she displayed on the baby grand in our penthouse and openly pined for McNuggets (and if you’re keeping score at home, that’s the third time she referenced McDonald’s during our interview).

She is, at this juncture in her career, still trying very hard to remain close to her roots, to the point where she keeps mentioning them when talking about making the follow-up to Teenage Dream. And she still seems determined to prove that all this success was not a fluke, mostly through sheer work. She’s currently promoting the reissue of Dream and has a 3-D concert film on deck after that. The next open spot in her schedule seems to be this summer, at which point she may “pull on a beanie and backpack across Europe” before getting to work on album number three. “Tireless” doesn’t seem to do her justice. Perhaps “driven” is the right term.

Of course, one could wonder just how long all this normalcy can last, especially given everything that goes along with it (most folks I know certainly don’t travel with a documentary crew, after all). I’d wager she’s aware of that and hell-bent on proving that it can be done; that she can still have her McNuggets and eat them too. I wouldn’t bet against her, because she knows she’s got plenty of folks counting on her, and she’s determined to reciprocate their level of dedication. Just like you or me, she doesn’t want to let her loved ones down.

Can Katy pull it off? We’ll all just have to wait and see. But if she does, the next time I catch up with her, there’s a pretty good chance her entourage will have doubled in size, meaning that you’ll know she’s arrived before she’s even in the building. And at that point, not only will she probably own several McDonald’s, but she’ll be able to staff them too. A girl can dream, after all.

Don’t miss “MTV First: Katy Perry” tonight, when the pop star will debut her long-awaited video for “Part of Me” at 7:23 p.m. ET on MTV. Then head over to MTV.com for an exclusive 30-minute interview with Katy herself!

George Clooney Arrested During Protest

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George Clooney was arrested on Friday (March 16) in Washington, D.C., after participating in a protest. The Oscar nominee was taken into custody outside the Sudanese embassy.

According to MSNBC, the group was protesting Sudan’s blockage of food and aid from entering the Nuba Mountains and aimed to bring attention to the treatment of the people in that area of Sudan. His father, journalist Nick Clooney, was also arrested, according to MSNBC, as well as Martin Luther King III, NAACP President Ben Jealous, Rep. Jim McGovern and Rep. Jim Moran and former Rep. Tom Andrews.

Clooney and the other protesters knew that, because the embassy is private property, they would be arrested if they refused to move. MSNBC reports that the protesters were warned three times before police moved in.
The group reportedly held a sign that read, “Sudan: Stop Weapons of Mass Starvation.” He told the large crowd at the protest, “We need immediate humanitarian aid into Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”

He asked “the [Sudanese] government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children. Stop raping them, and stop starving them.”

According to People.com, the group was then taken to a Secret Service van.

“He’s being charged currently with disorderly crossing of a police line, which is a misdemeanor and he will be transported to the second district of the Metropolitan Police Department for processing,” Max Milien, spokesman for the Secret Service, told the site, noting that Clooney was being cooperative.

“They were protesting the violence committed by the government of Sudan on its own innocent men, women and children,” Clooney’s rep said in a statement. “They were demanding they allow humanitarian aid into the country before it becomes the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.”

The actor has been trying to bring change to the area, even meeting with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Obama in the Oval Office on Thursday. One day before, he attended the White House state dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron. He is expected to appear on “Hardball with Chris Matthews” on Friday.

Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney Score Big Super Tuesday Wins

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Republican voters looking for clarity out of Super Tuesday instead got more of the same: a split vote that failed to once and for all give them a runaway presumptive GOP presidential candidate. And though he had a good night, Mitt Romney put a good face on a night of wins and near-wins that once again proved he can’t quite close the deal with the party’s conservative base.

Instead, Republicans had both the former Massachusetts governor and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum taking a handful of states each, with the vote in crucial swing state Ohio still too close to call at press time.

In that race, Santorum led most of the night, but Romney enjoyed a late surge that could change the equation. At press time, Romney was up by nearly 3,000 votes with 88 percent of precincts counted, leading Santorum 38 percent to 37. However, because the Santorum campaign failed to register for a full slate of delegates in the early, poorly funded days of what once looked like a long-shot bid, even if Santorum ends up on top in the Buckeye State, his margin of victory will be slim enough that he will almost certainly get fewer delegates out of Ohio than Romney. And there is also the possibility that it could be so slim as to trigger a recount.

The nail-biter went late into the night for the second-biggest prize in the crucial swing state, where 66 delegates were at stake. Not only is Ohio considered a pivotal state in the general election, but no Republican has made it to the White House without carrying the state in the general election.

Romney was hoping that the 10-state contest would help him finally solidify his status as the leading GOP presidential candidate. He did pull off a decisive victory in his home state of Massachusetts, as well as a win in Virginia, where his only opponent was Congressman Ron Paul.

For the night, Romney was predicted to win 17 delegates in Vermont, 46 in Virginia and 38 in Massachusetts. He also seemed poised to win Idaho, where he was polling at 78 percent at press time with less than a quarter of precincts reporting. Romney added those wins to previous victories in Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire and Maine.

“I’m not gonna let you down. … I’m gonna get this nomination,” Romney said while thanking his home-state supporters for giving him a win. “Tonight we’re doing some counting. We’re counting up the delegates for the convention, and it looks good. And we’re counting down the days until November, and that looks even better.”

In a victory he said he needed to secure in order to stay in the mix, former Georgia Congressman and House Speaker Newt Gingrich was able to pull off a big win in Georgia, the state with the day’s richest prize. Though he will share the 76-delegate count with either Romney or Santorum (depending on how much of the vote they end up getting), it was likely enough of a victory to keep the Lazarus-like Gingrich in the hunt and to secure him Secret Service protection as of tomorrow. At press time, he had 47 percent of the vote to Romney’s 26 and Santorum’s 24.

It looked, however, to be the only bragging point for the still bluster-filled former congressman. “It’s all right. There are lots of bunny rabbits that run through; I’m just the tortoise,” Gingrich told his supporters in Atlanta after ticking off the gallery of opponents who have crowded him out of the picture over the past year only to fall back again as he pushed ever forward.

With 92 percent of the vote in at press time, thanks to his social-conservative bona fides, Santorum was the projected winner in Oklahoma, where he took 34 percent of the vote to Romney’s 28, as well as in Tennessee, where he had a 37 percent to 28 percent advantage over Romney. He also appeared to have triumphed in North Dakota, where he held a large lead with nearly 90 percent of the vote in, besting Ron Paul by a 40 percent to 27 percent margin.

“This was a big night tonight. Lots of states — we’re gonna win a few, we’re gonna lose a few,” an upbeat Santorum told a crowd in blue-collar Steubenville, Ohio, earlier in the night. “But as it looks right now, we’re gonna get at least a couple of gold medals and a whole passel full of silver medals.” With his four wins, Santorum upped his total number of W’s so far to eight, including previous victories in Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.

Results from caucuses in Alaska were not available at press time.

Just before 11 p.m. ET, The New York Times predicted that Romney had picked up 112 delegates on Tuesday, with Gingrich well behind at 42, Santorum with 38 and Paul with 10. Added to their previous delegate count, that gave Romney an estimated total of 315, Santorum 130, Gingrich 75 and Paul 35.

Super Tuesday boasted a total of 419 delegates total, the biggest haul to date in the 2012 GOP race. But as gaudy as that number is, it represents about one-third of all available delegates. The winning candidate will have to roll up 1,144 to secure the nomination and face off against President Obama in November, and with the winner’s circle still overstuffed, that path seems like it will continue to have a number of significant obstacles.

MTV had Super Tuesday covered, with reporters on the scene in Georgia, Ohio and Massachusetts! Stick with Power Of 12 throughout the presidential election season for more from the ground.