Radio station admits it edited Biden interview at campaign’s request
A Wisconsin progressive radio network said it made two edits to an interview last week with President Biden at his campaign’s request, in a decision the station admitted violated “journalistic interview standards.”
Civic Media released a statement Thursday admitting that after an interview of Biden by host Earl Ingram recorded on July 3, the Biden campaign “called and asked for two edits to the recording before it aired.” The interview aired the following day with two brief portions excised, including one where Biden made an incorrect remark about the “Central Park Five” case.
“On Monday, July 8th, it was reported to Civic Media management that immediately after the phone interview was recorded, the Biden campaign called and asked for two edits to the recording before it aired,” the network said. “Civic Media management immediately undertook an investigation and determined that the production team at the time viewed the edits as non-substantive and broadcast and published the interview with two short segments removed.”
The station has posted the two edited segments and the full, unedited interview, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel first reported.
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“Given the gravity of the current political moment, the stakes in this election, and the importance of public scrutiny of public officials in the highest office, we believe it is important to share this information,” the station said, later adding, “With a high-profile interview comes a listener expectation that journalistic interview standards will be applied, even for non-news programming. We did not meet those expectations.”
According to the station, the first edit came at 5 minutes and 20 seconds into the 18-minute interview, removing Biden saying, “and in addition to that, I have more Blacks in my administration than any other president, all other presidents combined, and in major positions, cabinet positions.”
The removed portion came while he was boasting about his record of diversity in his administration and appointments, such as the confirmation of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The second edit came at 14 minutes and 15 seconds, where he was roasting former President Trump’s call for the death penalty in 1989 for the “Central Park Five,” the name for the wrongfully convicted Black and Latino youths in the rape of a New York jogger.
“He’s falsely accused the Central Park Five, those guys who were arrested, he said they should all be convicted,” Biden said. He went on to say, in the portion that was excised, “I don’t know if they even call for their hanging or not, but he, but they said convicted of murder.”
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The victim in the infamous Central Park case, however, survived the brutal assault. It appeared the campaign wanted to remove Biden’s gaffe that he thought she had been killed.
A Biden campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “Hosts have always been free to ask the questions and air the segments they think will best inform their listeners.”
Civic Media scolded the show for agreeing to the changes but said it “unequivocally stands by Earl Ingram and his team.”
“Earl is an invaluable voice for Milwaukee and Wisconsin, and remains a crucial member of the Civic Media organization,” the station said. “The decision to make the requested edits to the interview was made in good faith. While we disagree with the decision, we stand by our team. This has been a learning experience and we will do better moving forward.”
Ingram, a Biden supporter, was one of two radio hosts last week that received suggested questions from the Biden campaign for the interviews. Another, Andrea Lawful-Sanders of WURD in Philadelphia, parted ways with her station after the revelation.
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“The interviews were scheduled in an effort to reassure voters of the president’s abilities. But the revelation that both hosts were given questions ahead of time has raised doubts about the confidence the president has in navigating unscripted conversations,” the Journal-Sentinel reported.
In statements given to ABC News, Ingram confirmed that he was given five questions to ask Biden during their chat and wasn’t able to get through all of them before the interview ended.
Trump hits close to home when taunting Biden with Clooney movie clip
Former President Trump took shots at actor George Clooney on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, including a video with President Biden’s face superimposed onto a scene from one of Clooney’s movies.
“So although I wish I were here with better news, the fact is you and I are sitting here today because this will be your last week of employment,” Clooney’s character in 2009’s “Up in the Air” says in the clip posted by Trump. Footage of Biden looking into the camera during a recent interview with ABC’s George Stephanopolous was featured in the clip.
“This is not an assessment of your productivity,” Clooney continues. “Try not to take this personal.”
“Well, I just had a bad night,” Biden responds.
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The video mocking President Biden came shortly after Trump blasted Clooney on Truth Social following the actor’s call for Biden to drop out of the race weeks after a Hollywood fundraiser he attended with Biden.
“So now fake movie actor George Clooney, who never came close to making a great movie, is getting into the act,” Trump wrote Wednesday in the post. “He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are. What does Clooney know about anything?”
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“Clooney should get out of politics and go back to television,” Trump continued. “Movies never really worked for him!!!”
Clooney wrote in his New York Times article that Democratic Party leaders needed to stop trying to convince Americans they “didn’t see what we just saw,” and accused them of ignoring “warning signs” concerning Biden.
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Former Obama adviser Jon Favreau, a member of the group often referred to as the “Obama bros” during his tenure in the White House, was also at the Hollywood fundraiser and followed up Clooney’s announcement with a similar sentiment.
“It was not surprising to any of us who were at the fundraiser,” Favreau told CNN. “I was there. Clooney was exactly right, and every single person I talked to at the fundraiser thought the same thing, except for the people working for Joe Biden, or at least they didn’t say that.”
Biden has said he will not be leaving the 2024 race, and his campaign is continuing to go “full steam ahead,” as one source put it to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign and Clooney’s representatives for comment but did not receive a response.
Foreign leader ditches NATO summit to meet with Donald Trump
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban departed the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to meet with Donald Trump in Florida, a source familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital.
The New York Times first broke the story, citing a Trump campaign official and a person close to the former president. The report did not indicate what the pair would discuss at this impromptu meeting, but Orban has crisscrossed the globe over the past week after assuming the role as president of the European Union.
Orban arrived in the U.S. this week to attend the multi-day NATO summit, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of the organization’s founding and occurs at a time when members remain concerned about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and what the future holds for the broader European Union.
Hungary’s presidency will last six months as part of a rotating leadership scheme for the bloc and does not provide much actual power, but Orban wasted no time in using that office to start holding discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping before his meeting with Trump.
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Orban has long admired Trump, going so far as to invoke the former president with a quip that Hungary would “make Europe great again,” and Trump met with Orban at Mar-a-Lago in March when trying to court foreign policy in the U.S.
During an interview with German journalist and author Paul Ronzheimer, Orban said that there is a “very, very high chance that the next American president will be not the same president who is today,” and he refused to be drawn on questions about President Biden’s fitness for office.
The rest of Europe has remained less than enamored with Orban, though, especially in light of his foreign visit blitz in the past 10 days. An EU diplomat confirmed to Fox News Digital that a majority of member states already have considerably lowered the level of participation in the informal council meetings that will be held in Hungary during the presidency term.
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In some capitals, also, officials have discussed how to use EU treaties to limit Orban’s impact. The diplomat argued that “EU institutions should not have fallen into Orban’s trap in the first place, and Hungary should not have been allowed to assume the role of the presidency.”
“The EU legislation shall be used to protect the Union and the unity, not the imaginary idea of imagined unity,” the diplomat said.
Orban’s visit to Russia shocked many of his peers, leading European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell to rush out a statement stressing that Orban has no mandate from the union in discussions with foreign leaders and that he is “not representing the EU in any form” during the visits.
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Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo described Orban’s visit to Putin as “disturbing” news, writing on social media platform X that the visit shows “disregard for the duties of the EU presidency and undermines interests of the European Union.”
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Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on social media platform X that “Mr. Orban might be abusing the position of the EU presidency, but what he is certainly not doing is representing either NATO or the EU.”
“He does not speak for my country or any country except his own,” Landsbergis stressed.
A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by the time of publication.
Jen Psaki floats best Biden ‘alternative,’ but worries America is too ‘sexist and racist’
MSNBC host Jen Psaki declared Vice President Kamala Harris is the best candidate to replace President Biden as the Democratic nominee if he withdraws, while mourning the “sexist” and “racist” country that might reject her.
The former Biden flack made the point during a Wednesday interview on the “Pod Save America” podcast, singing Harris’ praises as a campaigner and communicator. She also defended the vice president from criticism that she’s too unpopular a candidate for the top of the ticket.
“There’s a lot of really amazing Democrats on the bench, but because of the timeline and everything, I think it is clearly Kamala Harris,” Psaki told podcast co-host Jon Lovett about Harris being the best alternative to Biden.
However, she later posed a theory as to why the vice president isn’t more popular: “It’s almost like public opinion hasn’t caught up with what she is doing out there, and also we live in a country that is sexist and racist, so, like, there is that.”
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Psaki’s comments come as pressure builds within the Democratic Party to get Biden to step aside following his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump last month.
Following the debate, Psaki called out her former boss’ performance on X, stating, “It was a bad debate. I have no doubt they were tough, strategic and direct. (Believe me I have seen them in action) but prep does not always determine the outcome. Biden was bad. Important convos about what happens next. But if you are directing your ire at ‘prep’ you are not talking about the right things.”
The former press secretary has also given voice to those saying Biden needs to leave, and warned Democrats in recent days that “the clock is ticking” for them to make a move on whether to replace him or not.
During her conversation with Lovett, Psaki discussed alternatives for Biden, saying, “There is a question out there that, again, I think campaigns are talking about, about the alternative.” She continued, noting that the best option is “very clearly” Harris.
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Psaki lamented the fact that the vice president isn’t a more popular replacement.
“I don’t know why there hasn’t been kind of an overwhelming ‘Kamala would be a great president and she would be a fierce, amazing campaigner,’ right?” she said.
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After issuing her warning about some Americans being “sexist and racist,” Psaki clarified, “Not everybody at all, but there is a level of it that does impact elections.”
Biden fundraising drying up amid increasing calls for president to end campaign
Two well-connected Democratic Party consultants who work closely with top party donors confirm to Fox News that there has been a major slowdown in President Biden’s fundraising over the past week.
The news comes as Biden continues to push back against a rising chorus of calls from within the Democratic Party for the president to step aside and end his 2024 re-election campaign following last month’s disastrous debate performance against former President Trump, his Republican challenger.
“People are starting to tap the brakes a bit. They want to see how it’s going to play out,” one of the bundlers, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News.
The other bundler – who also asked for anonymity – concurred, emphasizing that “major donors are pausing” until “things are settled.”
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The development was first reported yesterday by NBC News, with stories soon after from a handful of other news organizations, including CNN and Politico,
Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt, responding to the stories, said that they were “not accurate.”
“On grassroots fundraising, the first seven days of July were the best start to the month on the campaign — and many of those were first-time donors. On the high-dollar side, we’ve had folks max out since the debate, as well,” Hitt said in a statement.
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The president, in a call earlier this week with top donors, tried to reassure them and argued that he is still the best candidate to defeat Trump in November.
However, actor George Clooney, who is among Biden’s biggest supporters and donors in Hollywood, and who was one of the hosts of a mega-fundraiser last month in Los Angeles with Biden and former President Obama that hauled in $28 million for the president’s campaign, urged Biden to step aside on Wednesday.
The Biden campaign touted that they hauled in a staggering $38 million in fundraising in the immediate aftermath of the June 27 debate in Atlanta.
Biden is scheduled to appear at several high-dollar fundraisers this month, Fox News has confirmed, including one in Austin, Texas, early next week, and a West Coast swing at the end of the month.
However, organizers for at least one Chicago-area fundraiser scheduled during next month’s Democratic National Convention have decided not to proceed with their event, a Democratic source confirmed to Fox News. A spokesperson for the Biden campaign says the event was not affiliated with their official fundraising schedule.
Following his extremely rough debate performance in his first face-to-face showdown with Trump, Biden has been attempting to prove that he still has the stamina and acuity to handle the toughest and most demanding job in the world. He is trying to prove that he has the fortitude to defeat Trump.
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The debate was a major setback for Biden, who at 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history. His halting delivery and stumbling answers at the showdown in Atlanta sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and a rising tide of public and private calls from within his own party for him to step aside as its 2024 standard-bearer.
Since the debate, 10 House Democrats and one in the Senate have publicly called on Biden to end his re-election bid and a growing number of both House and Senate Democrats have publicly and privately warned that the president will lose to Trump in November.
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Biden, in a letter sent to congressional Democrats on Monday as they returned from the July 4 holiday recess, reiterated that he’s “firmly committed to staying in this race” and argued that “the question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it is time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump.”
“Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us,” the president added. “It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”
‘ALF’ child star Benji Gregory and his service dog both found dead inside car
Benji Gregory, the child star who portrayed Brian Tanner in the 1980s television series “ALF,” has died. He was 46.
The former actor was found dead in his car in Arizona, his former brother-in-law, Max Pfaffinger, confirmed to Fox News Digital. Gregory’s service dog, Hans, was also found dead in the vehicle.
According to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s office, Gregory died on June 13.
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Born on May 26, 1978, in Los Angeles, Gregory kick-started his TV career at a young age. He made appearances on television shows such as “The A-Team,” “T.J. Hooker,” “Punky Brewster,” “The Twilight Zone” and more.
After his time on “ALF,” Gregory voiced Edgar the Mole in the 1993 animated feature “Once Upon a Forest.” This seems to be his last known credit.
According to Deadline, Gregory left the entertainment industry in the early 2000s and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In 2005, he received an honorable medical discharge.
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Since the news of his death, fans have been leaving their condolences and sharing their fondest memories in the comment section of Gregory’s Instagram page.
“Heartbreaking! I cried reading the details about this passing, and that his beloved dog (that meant so much to him) passed too,” one fan wrote. “Life can be so cruel. It’s such little comfort but I hope they are together and in peace.”
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“I’ve been watching ALF on YouTube literally everyday since 4 months ago, that’s why quite shocked with this sudden news,” another wrote. “You’ll be greatly missed.”
An additional comment read, “R.I.P. to you and your sweet dog Hans! Condolences to your family and friends,” along with praying and heart emojis.
Family fighting neighbors’ junkyard ridden with hazardous waste is at breaking point
One California family is at its breaking point, warning their neighbors are “endangering the entire community” with their hazardous, makeshift junkyard as they struggle to get support from government officials.
Los Angeles resident Elena Malone and her family purchased what they thought was their dream home in Sun Valley in 2021, but things quickly changed after their neighbor allowed the property to spiral into a hoarding nightmare – one ridden with hazardous material, trash, melted car batteries and even stolen vehicles.
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Malone, who is concerned about her two children and husband who is fighting cancer, told “Fox & Friends First” she is at her “limit” in trying to mitigate the dangerous waste site.
“We are at our limit here,” Malone told co-host Todd Piro on Thursday. “I have two young children. Both of us are working. We just dealt with cancer treatment, but we are trapped here. I would never sell this property to another family and have them have to deal with that… I don’t know what I can do. I can’t sell the property, and I can’t seem to get the city or the state or the federal government to do anything to remove this hazardous waste from the property, so I’m stuck.”
Malone, who contacted one dozen government offices, argued officials passed the buck in handling the property.
She said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Highway Patrol (CHP) have both skirted responsibility for cleaning up the property as the hazardous material continues to mount.
“They’re passing the buck. The EPA has declared the site a hazardous waste site in 2021. They say the soil’s contaminated, but will not clean the soil until CHP removes some of the 100 vehicles, five of which have been either identified as stolen or involved in crimes,” Malone said. “But EPA will not go until the CHP clears. CHP will not enter the property until they feel it’s safe for officers. So, each agency has basically said they aren’t willing to engage with this person on this property because it’s not safe.”
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Despite her efforts, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez’ office said in a statement she “isengaging with city departments on immediate next steps to resolve this issue.”
Malone told KTLA that the amount of debris also worries her because of wildfires, since she has been trapped on the property before by the neighbor’s cars.
The LA Times previously reported that the property owner, Mary Ferrera, allows her son, David, to live on the property and even brings him food each day.
“She’s worried about her son, as we all are as parents, but she is really endangering the whole community,” Malone said. “We’ve already had two fires in this canyon this week. Two brush fires and the week’s not even over yet.”
But that isn’t what has pushed Malone “over the edge.” She explained how her husband’s cancer journey brought her concern to a heightened level.
“When he was in the peak of his treatment, doing chemo and radiation every day, we were in and out of the house and asked the neighbors to at least keep the gate free,” Malone said. “There was a time when… [it] was a very difficult day of chemo, and my husband was vomiting, needed me to come get him, and I was trapped in my house because of the cars blocking the gate, so that was really the point where I felt like I broke.”
“I could not imagine someone not being able to see the empathy and move their car so that they could… allow their neighbor to go get their husband and their family,” she continued.
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Caitlin Clark sets herself apart from basketball world with historic numbers
Caitlin Clark recorded a stat line on Wednesday afternoon against the Washington Mystics that no professional basketball player has ever completed in the NBA or the WNBA.
Clark finished with 29 points, 13 assists, five rebounds, five made 3-pointers, five blocks and three steals. The WNBA said she was the first player in either league to hit those marks.
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The Indiana Fever said she was also the first WNBA player to “have 25+ points, 10+ assists, 5+ rebounds, 5+ steals, and 5+ three-pointers in a game.”
The Fever fell behind early though and needed a heroic effort to get back to within single digits to catch the Mystics. Indiana outscored Washington, 29-13, in the fourth quarter but ended the game with a loss, 89-84.
“I wasn’t going to give up,” she said, via the team’s website. “… It’s still really hard to win. You need everything to fall in your favor to really be able to complete the comeback… I wasn’t going to give up.”
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Clark had five of the team’s 23 turnovers but made clear it’s really hard to win basketball games when they’re turning the ball over that much.
With the loss, the Fever sit in eighth place in the WNBA standings. If the season ended on Wednesday, the team would be the last one into the playoffs. They have two more losses than the Chicago Sky, which sit at 9-12 on the year. The Phoenix Mercury have three more wins than both the Sky and the Fever and are sixth in the standings.
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Clark is now averaging 16.7 points, 7.6 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game this season and is among the favorites to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Prosecution, defense stall ‘Rust’ trial due to conflicts over evidence
The prosecution and Alec Baldwin’s defense stalled the second day of the involuntary manslaughter trial multiple times as they battled over which evidence could be admitted.
At one point Spiro attempted to admit a handful of exhibits, which special prosecutor Kari Morrissey objected to. Morrissey quipped that they should have reviewed the evidence prior to the “Rust” trial.
Later in the day, Baldwin’s lawyer wanted to show crime scene technician Marissa Poppell a lapel video. Morrissey objected and they had a side bar with Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer.
The judge ruled that Poppell could view the video since she was there at the time the video was recorded. The crime scene technician agreed to watch the video to refresh her memory during the lunch break.
State prosecutor Kari Morrissey successfully argued to admit another Alec Baldwin statement into evidence in a motions hearing Thursday, July 11, during the “Rust” involuntary manslaughter trial.
A portion of transcripts showed Baldwin, 66, acknowledging the danger of ammunition when he stated that “blanks can kill.”
“Mr. Baldwin even indicated he knew that it could kill someone,” Morrissey argued to the court.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled in favor of a motion brought in by the prosecution against Alec Baldwin in his involuntary manslaughter trial.
The “Rust” actor allegedly attempted to plan a vacation with his family over the phone after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued Baldwin’s state of mind “directly contradicts” what was previously presented to the court.
“They can’t get their money back for their plane tickets,” Morrissey read documents to the judge.
Baldwin was on the phone shortly after the shooting when he was allegedly overheard saying, “Still come to New Mexico, we’ll have a good time.”
In addition, Morrissey stated that Baldwin had a “bit part for his daughter in the movie.”
Alec Baldwin is facing two special prosecutors in the “Rust” involuntary manslaughter trial.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey has worked in law for nearly two decades and is one of the top attorneys in Albuquerque.
She typically focuses on criminal defense and criminal rights cases. Morrissey graduated from University of New Mexico’s law school.
Morrissey is joined by special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson. She typically works as a criminal defense and personal injury lawyer.
Johnson graduated from University of New Mexico School of Law and began her legal career as an assistant district attorney in Albuquerque.
Johnson is most known for her role defending former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran in the high-profile corruption case where she was accused of using campaign funds for an alleged gambling addiction.
At the beginning of the “Rust” shooting investigation, First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies
was assigned the case. She brought on Andrea Reeb as a special prosecutor before they both resigned.
The “Rust” crime scene technician agreed there is “zero evidence” linking actor Alec Baldwin to the live ammunition found on the Western film set after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
“There is zero evidence in this case that Alec Baldwin brought the live round on the set,” Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro said in court.
“Correct,” Marissa Poppell responded.
“There is zero evidence that Alec Baldwin loaded that live round into that gun,” Spiro added.
“Correct,” the technician testified.
Hutchins died on Oct. 21, 2021 after a gun Baldwin was holding discharged. The actor and Hutchins had been practicing a close up scene where Baldwin cross-drew the revolver.
Seth Kenney seemed to be a key focus of attorney Alex Spiro’s cross-examination during the second day of witness testimony in the “Rust” case.
Kenney worked as the main prop distributor for the Western film back in 2021. His company, PDQ Prop, supplied blank and dummy ammo to the “Rust” set.
While the investigation found live rounds at PDQ prop, the prosecution previously claimed the rounds did not match the live round fired on set on Oct. 21, 2021. According to prosecutors during “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s trial, the live rounds on the “Rust” set were seen in photographs taken on Oct. 10 — two days before Kenney’s dummy rounds arrived.
Spiro brought up Kenney’s involvement during his questioning of crime scene technician Marissa Poppell at Baldwin’s trial, implying that an outsider could have introduced live rounds onto the set.
Attorney Alex Spiro questioned why law enforcement waited a week to search the “Rust” prop truck that housed the blank ammunition and dummy rounds used during filming.
While live ammo was found in different areas of the Western film set, there was no live ammo recovered from the prop truck.
“You’re finding these live rounds all over the set, right? Sort of seemed to be a little bit of everywhere without much, cohesion between where you’re finding them,” Spiro said during the involuntary manslaughter trial
. “And they’re housed originally in the truck. And so you go a week later to the prop truck, which has all of the ammunition. And there’s not a single live round there, right? Why did law enforcement wait a week to go to the prop truck?”
“The search warrant needed to be written,” crime scene technician Marissa Poppell explained.
“I’m not sure of why the time difference occurred exactly,” she added.
Spiro claimed that a search warrant for the church at Bonanza Creek Ranch, where “Rust” was originally filmed, was written and filed the same day of the shooting. Poppell clarified the search warrant was done the next day, Oct. 22, 2021.
“So if you could do a search warrant in one day, for one thing, why does it take seven days to do a search warrant for something else?” Spiro questioned.
“I do not know the circumstances of why there was that time frame,” Poppell testified.
Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial began on July 9 with jury selection. The trial is scheduled to last until July 19.
The prosecution will be given five days to question their witnesses, completing the state’s argument against Baldwin by July 16. Baldwin’s defense was given the following three days to question witnesses.
Closing arguments will begin July 19 as well and the jury will then be dismissed for deliberations.
The prosecution accused Baldwin of placing his finger “on or around” the trigger of the F.LLI Pietta Long Colt 45 Revolver the actor was holding at the time of the shooting. However, Baldwin has maintained he did not pull the trigger.
The 66-year-old actor’s lawyers argued the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was “not foreseeable.”
“No one had any idea that it was on that set or in that gun in that world,” Alex Spiro explained. “They were all in it together.”
Actor Alec Baldwin is standing trial for the charge of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Halyna Hutchins, who died in October 2021 after being shot with a prop gun.
This case brings to mind another tragic incident that occurred nearly three decades ago: the accidental shooting of Brandon Lee
by a prop gun on the set of “The Crow,” by co-star Michael Massee.
The son of martial artist Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee was shot on March 30, 1993 in Wilmington, North Carolina. He died the following day during surgery from the injuries sustained.
Although some of the details are similar to the shooting on the set of “Rust,” the main difference is the bullets in the gun.
While in Baldwin’s case, the gun was loaded with a live round rather than a blank, the weapon that led to the death of Lee was loaded with blanks and no live round. A portion of a dummy round was left in the barrel from a past scene and was projected from the firearm into Lee’s abdomen with the force of a live bullet.
Following an investigation, no criminal charges were filed.
While filming on the set of “Rust,” Alec Baldwin had a live round inside his gun belt, according to evidence shown during the involuntary manslaughter trial.
Attorney Alex Spiro showed the jury a photo of the gun belt.
“This is a close up of the gun holster that was belonging to Mr. Baldwin that has a live round in it,” crime scene technician Marissa Poppell testified.
Spiro then showed a second close-up photo of a different gun belt.
“Mr. Ackles, another actor on the set, turns out that he — as he acted, as he performed — had a live bullet in his bandolier,” Spiro claimed.
“Correct,” Poppell responded.
“And you have no reason to think Mr. Ackles had any idea that was there, right?” Spiro continued.
“Correct,” the technician replied on the stand.
During the “Rust” armorer’s involuntary manslaughter trial, prosecutors argued Hannah Gutierrez Reed unknowingly brought live rounds onto the set and failed in her duty to safety check.
Alec Baldwin’s team
began day two of the “Rust” involuntary manslaughter trial by cross-examining SFCSO crime scene technician Marissa Poppell.
Alex Spiro immediately zeroed in on the “destroyed” firearm, which the attorney previously argued was grounds to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charge.
“As to the firearm, I think where you left off yesterday is ultimately that firearm was destroyed in the testing, fair?” Spiro asked Poppell.
“Not destroyed, but, broken,” she replied.
“It’s fair to say that the firearm can’t be put back in the original condition that it was in at the time of the incident,” the lawyer continued. “Is that fair?”
“I believe it could be put back together with replaced parts. But as far as, in my terms, destroyed — meaning no longer in existence — It is not the case,” the crime scene technician explained.
“But as part of the investigation and entrusted with the evidence in this case, the gun will never be in exactly the same condition that it was in on October 21st [2021]?” Spiro further questioned.
“Yes,” Poppell conceded.
Alec Baldwin received continued support from his family on the second day of the “Rust” movie shooting trial.
The 66-year-old actor entered the courtroom with his wife, Hilaria. Baldwin’s brother, actor Stephen Baldwin, and his sister, Beth Keuchler, also were spotted sitting in the courtroom for the second day in a row.
Hilaria and Stephen also attended the “30 Rock” star’s jury selection on July 9.
The benches inside the courtroom designated for press, attorneys and the public were half full for day two of the involuntary manslaughter trial. Baldwin could spend up to 18 months in prison, if convicted.
The jury will continue to hear witness testimony Thursday, July 11 as the prosecution continues arguments.
Former Santa Fe County Sheriffs Nicholas LeFleur and Timoteo Benavidez took the stand during the first day. Both recounted their arrivals on scene in the immediate aftermath of the October 2021 shooting that killed “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
As the years have passed since the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021, Alec Baldwin has had little to say about the accidental shooting that led to his day in court.
In the first year after a gun the actor was holding on set discharged, killing Hutchins, Baldwin sat down for a handful of interviews in which he attempted to give his defense. Baldwin maintained he did not pull the trigger of the gun in his very first sit down interview with George Stephanopolous.
“I didn’t pull the trigger,” he said. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never.”
Baldwin went on to tell Chris Cuomo that “every single person on the set of the film” knew what happened on the day of the shooting.
The 66-year-old actor even revealed he lost five jobs due to the on-set shooting during a 2022 interview with CNN.
Alec Baldwin arrived around 8 am local time for his second day of the “Rust” involuntary manslaughter trial.
The actor pulled up to the courthouse in a black SUV with attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro. His wife, Hilaria, was also with him as the group walked into the Santa Fe, New Mexico courthouse.
He passed by the press silently as people shouted questions.
“Do you want to hear from Hannah Gutierrez Reed?” a member of the press shouted, referencing the “Rust” armorer who was convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter.
Fox News Digital’s Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
Many key players are expected to testify in Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” involuntary manslaughter trial.
The prosecution’s final witness list included firearm experts, film industry experts along with members of the “Rust” cast and crew.
Director Joel Souza, who was hit in the shoulder by the bullet that struck cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, will be called by the state. Crew members Mamie Mitchell, Cherlyn Schaefer, Gabrielle Pickle and more are expected to be called. Prop master Sarah Zachry, who never faced criminal charges despite her role working with armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, will also testify.
Gutierrez Reed, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for her role in the fatal shooting, will not take the stand.
Others who testified in Gutierrez Reed’s March trial will testify in Baldwin’s case, including medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell.
Gutierrez Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on March 6 after nearly two weeks of testimony from some of the same witnesses Baldwin will see.
The armorer was sentenced to 18 months in prison.