Biden's fundraisers bring protests, a few celebrities, and anxiety for 2024 election
CBSN
Los Angeles, California — After President Biden was presented with a shiny gold membership card from the Carpenters' union in Las Vegas in recognition of his pro-union bona fides, he darted off to Los Angeles last Friday to continue an eight-day fundraising swing — one that featured growing protests, the star power of a few celebrities and warnings about the future of democracy if former President Donald Trump is elected next year.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, protesters have become a fixture at nearly every stop for the president across the country. They gather and call for a ceasefire in Gaza as Israel continues its forceful military response to the Oct. 7 attack by the militant group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 Israelis, and the kidnapping of hundreds.
Outside Friday's fundraiser at a sleek mansion in the Beverly Hills area, hundreds of protesters gathered in a nearby public park with signs and noisemakers. Protesters were seen chanting at some of the attendees, and according to several people who went to the fundraiser, the protests dissuaded some donors from attending.
President Joe Biden said France was America's "first friend" at its founding and is one of its closest allies more than two centuries later as he was honored with a state visit Saturday by French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at showing off their partnership on global security issues and easing past trade tensions.
The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau last week launched an inquiry into what the agency is calling "junk fees in mortgage closing costs." These additional fees, involving home appraisal, title insurance and other services, have spiked in recent years and can add thousands of dollars to the final cost of buying a home.
Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90.