tv Headliners MSNBC December 30, 2017 6:00pm-7:01pm PST
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thank you. [ singing ] i'm craig melvin. george clooney is the first and only person to be nominated in six different oscar categories. and he's co-founded a billion dollar business. but his true passion may be his work as a global humanitarian. "headliners" takes a look at the life of the hollywood megastar and human rights activist. twice named the sexiest man alive. >> when george enters a room, you know it. everybody turns, the room lights up.
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>> one of the country's most outspoken stars. >> i mean, we have a demagogue in the white house. >> he'll put himself in the line of fire, because he believes strongly. and he shows up in a big way. >> if we do nothing, there's a chance that hundreds of thousands of people could die. >> some say he should just stick to acting. >> let me tell you something about george clooney, okay? he's stunningly uninformed. >> if people come out and say, that's a bunch of liberal bologna, i'll have to take those hits. >> his power in hollywood is stronger than ever. >> he wants to make a movie no one wants to make, he says, i'll star in it for free. >> what impact will he have on an increasingly partisan nation? >> the world's policy on sudan is failing. >> i think he'll be more motivated than ever before. >> are we really going to be scared of the very things that have made our country great? ♪
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george clooney is an oscar winning hollywood superstar of more than two decades. who can green light films with a nod. >> hollywood is a town that runs on power. and right now clooney is at the pinnacle of his power. >> celebrities have long lent their starpower to political and social causes. >> hi. thanks for coming out. >> clooney, a global humanitarian who has worked to prevent agagenocide for more tha decade, today finds himself at odds with president trump's nationalist agenda. >> from this day forward, it's going to be only america first. >> in an era when hollywood is often vilified by washington, could clooney's influence there
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be threatened? >> under president obama he could go to the white house. now, that's lost. i don't know whether it's irredeemably lost. >> most people don't think of george clooney as a patriot. but this man is a big believer in what it means to be an engaged citizen. >> do you work for fox? >> no, i don't. >> his wife amal clooney is an oxford educated international attorney who has addressed the united nations. and she works alongside her husband to solve human rights issues in trouble spots around the world, including refugee camps. >> we're thrilled to be here, we believe in the private/public partnership to address the refugee crisis. >> i'm not sure there's a more powerful couple that could make a difference. >> together they are more than a hollywood couple, they are an
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influential global force, with an ambitious agenda at odds with trump's america first directive. clooney has been an outspoken critic of donald trump, since the beginning of his candidacy. you've minced no words about your feelings about donald trump. >> trump and cruz are making this a campaign of fear, we have to be afraid of everything, we have to be afraid of refugees, muslims, we have to be afraid of minorities. >> in the leadup to the election, clooney helped raise $15 million for hillary clinton, which the trump campaign used to cast the democrats as the party of hollywood elites. >> the only people enthusiastic about her campaign are hollywood celebrities, in many cases, celebrities that aren't very hot any more.
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>> trump rallying voters against celebrities who turn to politics, get involved in activism, is too much with irony to even comprehend. >> we proudly welcome to the hollywood walk of fame, donald trump. >> the election of the former reality show host, raises the likelihood that clooney's work on global humanitarian issues may fall on deaf ears inside the white house. >> beautiful. >> i don't know whether donald trump could find sudan on a map. i don't even know if he knows what's happening in places like darfur. >> i think what george clooney is saying, hang on, there's all sorts of things that may be wrong with america, but if we want the benefits of globalization, you have to be willing to bear the burdens. >> george clooney understands that that engagement with the world is critical to our security, and we make a
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difference on the values on which our initiatives are based. coming up -- >> i look at the situation and think, if i don't say it now, then i'm maybe not doing the right thing. my father thinks i should do it. and my father called me up and said, don't come back and look me in the eye if you don't. (chris) the very first time
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right wing pundits have tried to cast him as an out of touch posterboy for the hollywood liberal elite. his roots are firmly planted in red state america. >> donald trump who has made success painting liberal elites as the enemy, he came from money, he came from a wealthy family from queens. one really interesting irony, probably a painful irony from george clooney. he may be this big global jet set figure now. he really was born into
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heartland, kentucky. >> born in lexington kentucky in 1961, clooney is the second child of nick and nina, a local news anchor and a stay at home mom. >> thank you very much for that live report. we apologize for that technical problems we were having. >> i had a cart they would put up that said we are having audio difficulties. please stand by. once in his life, 2 years old, he had a cold, he had laryngitis. he never had it before. he ran down the steps and said, mama, mama, i'm having audio difficulties. >> his dad was one of the most famous men in kentucky in the southeast, he was the nephew of an extremely well known singer, rosemary clooney, and his uncle jose ferrare. her husband. he was exposed to people who had a measure of fame.
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>> george clooney is the product of his parents. his father nick clooney who was a journalist, was hugely influential in the way he saw the world. >> my father raised me with the idea that you have to look out for people who can't look out for themselves. that's your job. if you don't do that, you have failed. >> we are here on earth, to help those who have less power than we. and to challenge those who have more. both of those are important things to do for a citizen. >> a star outfielder in high school. clooney unsuccessfully tries out for the cincinnati reds. then completes nearly two years of college but drops out in 1981. that's when he makes a pivotal move to los angeles, in pursuit of an acting career. even with his hollywood connections, clooney starts at the bottom, and success alludes him for years. >> here's a guy from kentucky sleeping on a friend's couch, trying to work his way through
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hollywood, but he's always kept that small town -- he's a small town guy. he had been in a bunch of pilots, all of which had failed. people talk about that as if that means clooney wasn't that good. if you keep getting pilot deals at a network, it means they know you're a celebrity, and they're just waiting to find the right thing for you. >> a decade after he moves there, the city erupts in violence. the lessons learned from his father in kentucky are not lost on clooney in l.a. >> i got my friends, i said, let's buy some brooms and buckets and let's go down and help put out some fires. i think that was the first real sense of, where you could rally some troops together and get a lot of people and they'll show up, that was important. >> after the riots subside, clooney shoots the pilot for a new medical drama called "er". >> i credit a lot of the shows
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early success to a speech that george made in his trailer. he said i'm the veteran of 22 failed pilots, i know exactly what makes a show not work. i don't know what makes one work, but i have a theory. we're all going to be nice to each other. we're all going to take our work seriously, but we're not going to take ourselves seriously. they're not going to be any division between foreground, background, cast and crew. we're going to work hard, play hard and do work that we can be proud of. we were all young enough and naive enough to go, okay, george. whatever you say. >> at its peak, more than 35 million people watched "er" each week. and george clooney is its stand out star. >> in year two, i drew the lucky star to write the special episode for george clooney. and so i thought, i'll put him in a tuxedo and have him save the kid. >> my brother got trapped. >> come on. >> make him an action hero. he takes his tuxedo coat off, he's climbing fences.
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he has the suspenders, he's in the water, and he was kind of like a -- almost like a james bond type hero, but with a kid, saving that kid's life, it just really sparked people's imagination about the range and the talent of george. >> but as clooney's success expands to include movies, his personal life becomes tabloid fodder. after the 1997 car crash that kills diana, princess of wales, as she fled paparazzi, clooney calls a press conference and lashes out at the editor of "the national enquirer." >> you bought and paid for one of the greatest news stories of the year, and for your success you should be held accountable. the princess of wales is dead, and you have gone on television and washed your hands and placed blame and you have deflected responsibility. you should be ashamed. thank you.
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>> this is about a period of time where we've lost somebody who i really liked and really admired, but i look at the situation and i think, if i don't say it now, and if i don't try to encapsulate what we're doing or where we are right now, then i'm maybe not doing the right thing. my father thinks i should do it, my father called me up and said, don't come back and look me in the eye if you don't. >> hey, george. >> in response, paparazzi refused to take his photo at the premiere of his film "the peacemaker." >> they boycotted me, that's fine, i'm a big kid, i can take that. they have the right to do that. >> clooney soon finds himself on the defensive. >> i got famous from doing a television show, not from being photographed by self-employed photographers, by people who take pictures and sell them. you show up at a premiere, i'm doing my job. people have to be responsible for what they say and do, that's what i was doing when i was talking at the press conference.
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defended the paparazzi as hard as it was, by saying we can't pass laws. now they're mad and saying i'm trying to make them all unemployed -- >> when i'm growing to the bathroom and a guy comes in and takes a picture, i draw the line for my privacy at going to the bathroom. that's where i'm going to draw it, but everybody has their limits. coming up. >> he looked like the kind of democrat who could just pull off a win in that kind of southern district. but he had this dark family secret. which was, that his son was george clooney.
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this is demonstrated again in "batman and robin." here's a guy best known for his good looks and they put him in a mask. >> i think he learned more from the failure of batman and robin than any actor and a failed movie could learn. >> it was the hardest thing to say, there are things about this that are fascinating. >> i really enjoyed the costume. >> yeah, that's good fun. >> famous for his practical jokes on the set of "er," he cements his reputation as one of hollywood's most prolific prankst pranksters. >> he told the story of having a bunch of stationary made up with brad pitt's name on it. he found this book that was called like acting in foreign languages, and he bought the book. has the brad pitt stationery, writes a note, dear meryl, i found this book to be very helpful in my work on "troy."
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i hope it can help you too. love brad pitt. sends it off to meryl streep. it's a great joke. >> what was it like working for mark walberg? >> i don't care for him. >> despite the failure of "batman and robin" he leaves "er" in 1999 and devotes himself full time to his film career. with a renewed sense of purpose paving the way for a string of clooney classics. >> i'm an artist. >> seriously. >> you might as well do it under your own terms, pick the films you want to do. there's a limited time you get to do this anyway. when i come out and talk about them, i don't have to be embarrassed. >> by summer of 2001, clooney is a bona fide movie star, awaiting the release of what will become one of his biggest hits "ocean's 11." then the nation is devastated by the september 11th terrorist attacks. within a week, clooney organizes a star studded telethon that raises $150 million for the united way. >> as far as the entertainment
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industry, we're all still american citizens, first and foremost. everybody wants to contribute, everybody wants to be a part of it. >> it sparks a well publicized feud with bill o'reilly who accuses the united way and by extension clooney of improperly distributing the funds? >> i'm not saying anybody's stealing it, i'm saying it's in the bank getting interest while most of the families don't know what's going on. you know how these celebrities are and their publicists, you say one cross word about them and you're on a list. let me tell you something about george clooney, he's stunningly uninformed. he has no clue what's going on, nor does he care. >> did he say i was stunning? >> no. he said you were stunningly misunderstood. >> i take it back, i like that guy. >> clooney responds to o'reilly in a letter. calling his accusations nothing but a lie.
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>> the reason i had to say something is because he started to use facts that were not true about the fund and calling it a fraud. >> the two spar again when clooney organizes another telethon to benefit the victims of the 2004 tsunami. >> the tsunami disaster in asia has produced an outpouring of charitable donations like never before. it has also rekindled a battle between two of america's best known personalities. one that has been simmering since a 2001 telethon for the victims of 9/11. >> this time, the actor invites o'reilly to participate in the telethon, and the former fox anchor accepts. the effort raises $18 million. later that year, clooney tries to clarify the impact of o'reilly's previous attacks. on fund raising. >> he drives you nuts, doesn't he? >> he drives me nuts because it's irresponsible. that's irresponsible. and it hurt us, because people cancelled their checks during the telethon. it makes a difference and it hurt us, and it hurt the
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credibility of the united way. >> clooney later organizes another telethon for the people of haiti. without attacks from bill o'reilly, effectively ending their public back and forth. it's not the first time clooney has been a target for conservatives. a few years earlier, when he speaks out about the 2003 iraq war, he faces an on slaught of accusations. >> i was put on the cover of a magazine and being called a traitor for saying, maybe we should ask some questions before we go to war. however, if i'm going to demand the right of freedom of speech, you can't then say, but don't say bad things about me. you have to take your hits. i'm a grown-up. if people want to say, hey, that's just a bunch of liberal bologna that's thrown in there, i'll have to take those hits, i disagree, because i feel like, all i'm saying is, let's have those questions asked. >> the personal attacks hitter
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closer to home in 2004, that's when his father runs for congress in kentucky and is faulted for his son's political views. >> this had is bible belt kentucky, the town where i saw nick clooney do a rally, you have people, they have not just a cross on the lawn, they may have a fiberglass ten commandments sculpture on the lawn. you couldn't find people to say a bad word about him. on paper he looked like the kind of democrat who could just pull off a win in that southern district. but he had this dark family secret, which was that his son was george clooney. >> i remember nick clooney saying he was painted as a celebrity, as an almost hollywood type coming to kentucky, that really bothered him. >> it must be tough watching your own father being hammered for being your father. >> you couldn't campaign for your own father. >> right. >> in kentucky. >> right.
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>> because you thought you would hurt his cause? >> i would have. it didn't help, he lost anyway. i would have, it was at the time hollywood versus the heartland. coming up -- >> there is no conservative or liberal point of view. there is only right or wrong. it is the first genocide of the 21st century.
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hi, here are your hour's top stories. thousands take to the streets in iran. there are social media reports among the protesters, those have not been confirmed by nbc news. president trump tweeting out support for the anti-government demonstrators. tomorrow's new year's eve celebration in times square will have enhanced security including nypd dogs trains to find explosive particles left behind by bombs. now, back to headliners, george clooney.
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american troops are fighting on two fronts in 2004, as president bush wins a second term, george clooney faces continued attacks from conservatives for speaking out against the war in iraq. and challenging journalists to speak truth to power. >> they have every right to do so, what we seem to be hearing from them is a lot of whining, complaining and griping. they want to get in the kitchen but they can't stand the heat. >> clooney's response is the film "good night and good luck." he writes, directs and stars. >> my father's an anchorman, i grew up with the idea of how great the force of state is. and how important it is. especially in broadcast journalism. >> he made the movie during the bush administration. he felt that political correctness had reached a crescendo, and that journalists
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were not as aggressive as they should be in covering the administrati administration. >> we do this, you knee, every 30 or 40 years, we get a little scared, a little beat up by somebody or something and we start to worry if it's unpatriotic to ask tough questions. >> it is his most critically acclaimed film, nominated in 2006 for best director, best picture and best screenplay at the oscars. but clooney wins that year in another category. best supporting actor for "syriana." >> it was a tough look at geo political issues. what he said to me was, he made this film because he wanted to shine a lot on what he saw as the untold story to open people's eyes to what was going on in much of the world. >> what's been going on in western sudan is genocide. >> thousands have died, many more are starving, they're fleeing a campaign of ethnic cleansing, and despite recent publicity, very little is being done to stop it.
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>> genocide has been committed in darfur, and the government of sudan bear responsibility. >> i had just returned from darfur, and shortly thereafter, i got invited to have dinner with george clooney who, you know, i mean, i'm a human rights lawyer, i don't even think i saw many of george's movies. >> i was late to the game, and i thought, my dad's a reporter, i called him up, i said, you know, maybe we ought to get over there and see what's going on and take some cameras. >> clooney chronicles his efforts in a documentary, a journey to darfur. >> we started in south sudan. it took two days to get to the border of darfur. >> i didn't want to bring any security or any entourage. and george was completely comfortable with that. >> on the border of darfur is a refugee camp, 29,000 survivors of the massacre in sudan.
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>> translator: the problem of the government, wants to kill everybody, just sudan to become arab country. >> it is the first of seven trips clooney will make to the region. >> there's no town, no business, no town. so now what you need is some plastic and some water. >> at this moment, at this exact moment, the government of sudan is systematically trying to get rid of a race of people. >> he ny of them come back since then? have th stayed away? >> no one comes back -- >> he'll sit down with folks and relate to them one on one as human beings. this is not something that most people can do. he's going to a culture completely foreign to your own, with extreme danger and just treats someone equally one on one, sao that they feel heard. >> this little tiny waif of a
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girl, little elf of a young woman came over and said to me, when will you come back? and when will you stop this? and i told the translator to tell her soon. we'll be there soon. and then she sort of laughed. she was holding on to my finger, she said, that's what you always say. she wasn't even sad, it's just, it was life for her. it's not a political issue. there's no right or left, no conservative or liberal point of view, there is only right or wrong. it is the first genocide of the 21st century. >> the more pain i think that he witnessed and internalized was just more energizing for him and for us, to go out and try to raise hell. >> there is hope. there is you. all of you here.
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all of you. church groups, students, all of you speaking with one voice. every one of you. >> he created an organization called not on our watch, he has dug in to deep important social issues and put his life on the line to do it. >> this was america and america's moral responsibility in the world. >> clooney, and holocaust survivor ali vezel bring the plight of sudan to the u.n. security council in 2006. in a bipartisan gesture, they are invited by john bolton, george w. bush's u.s. ambassador to the united nations, and clooney's political opposite. >> i want to thank professor vezel and mr. george clooney for their participation in our security council meeting today on the situation in darfur. i think they both made very powerful and important statements. >> i appreciate that ambassador bolton was willing to do this,
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because it never really happened before. >> mr. clooney, can you tell us? how can a hollywood star make a difference on the world stage? >> i don't know. hollywood has always been involved in some ways in bringing attention to a lot of issues. we used to sell war bonds, we've been doing it a long time. we're fairly good at getting cameras to show up, you try to be informed on some of the issues you take on. >> whatever heat john bolton may have taken for bringing an actor to the security council, i can tell you, if i think through meetings of the united nations security council that have been carried live in their entirety, i can think of a couple examples in the 70-year history of the security council, one of which was when george clooney and ali vezel went to the security council to talk about sudan. >> it can't be, why should americans care. why do human beings care, that's
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what we are initially. we have to look at absolute cruelty and say that if there's something we can do about it, we have to stop it. are we going to stand back in ten years and try to convince ourselves that we didn't know? we do. >> clooney is named a united nations messenger of peace in 2008. and the next year, he brings his campaign to end the genocide in sudan to the obama white house. >> i just met with the president and the vice president. and i urged him to make the tragedy in darfur one of their top priorities in foreign policy. >> the whole world knows that the government of sudan is a murderous barbaric government, they know that because george clooney won't let anyone forget. coming up -- >> it's worth a criminal record. when people ask you, where were you? where did you stand. i want to say i was standing on the right side of history. it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. just a few dabs is clinically proven
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clooney's five-year campaign to end genocide in sudan, shows progress by 2011. the referendum for which he lobbied is hell. in south sudan votes overwhelmingly for its independence. >> people had never believed they would get the opportunity to vote on whether or not they would become a nation. there was just this palpable excitement in the air, you could just feel the birth of a nation. the will for it. >> people were dancing in the streets for weeks in south sudan, because they had their own country. but history doesn't end, unfortunately. >> despite the successful referendum, violence continues. the volatile border region between sudan and south sudan,
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draws clooney back for another visit in 2012. >> it gets to you, it gets in your soul, you get to know those people, if you're lucky enough to have been born in the place and the family in the world i've been born in, then you want to go and share whatever luck you can with those people. >> this trip brings clooney closer to the active war than ever before. >> we showed up in one village and there was 150 people had come out, and then all of a sudden everyone started running. >> okay, we're moving, we're going. that one's a rocket, it just sailed over there. take a look over here. everyone's heading to the caves to hide. >> it was close enough to feel it. it was close enough to make you -- to wake you up. >> in an attempt to rally congress, senator john kerry, then chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, calls on clooney in 2012 to testify about sudan. >> these people every single day of their lives have to deal with fear.
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not just of the future in terms of starving to death, but actually, actively being killed. >> we wanted him to bring the focus on the issue. unfortunately, there are hearings of consequence that take place every day in the halls of congress, and nobody knows it, it's like a tree falling in the forest. so george guaranteed that the tree, if it fell was going to be heard. and it was. >> still, violence in sudan continues. clooney and human rights activists john prendergast, decide to use the power of his celebrity to focus the media's attention on the issue. >> i remember getting a call from john prendergast saying, i just talked to george clooney. he's willing to get arrested. and i was like, we'll do did. >> clooney, his father and a group of congressmen and activists all blocked the doors of the sudanese embassy and invite the press. >> we are here to ask a very simple thing.
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for the government in khartum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children. stop raping them and stop starving them, that's all we ask. >> blocking the entrance to the sudanese embassy gets clooney arrested with news cameras rolling. >> that one moment in time when people ask you, where were you, and where did you stand? i want to say i was standing on the right side of history. >> our hands are bound together behind our backs. he opens into the wagon, we're all crowded. he looks at us and says, evening, boys about back in kentucky we call this friday night. i said, i know, i leave you alone for a few hours and look what happens. >> clooney pays a $100 fine and a misdemeanor charge for crossing a police line is disposed. >> two years later, the same south sudan, the newest country in the world, divisions within
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the leadership, all because of corruption were too much to bear and they went to war with each other. >> after the collapse of the south sudanese government, clooney and prindergast shift gears, forming a new organization in 2015, called the sentry, which targets war profiteers. >> let's create a nonprofit entity that digs in to the finances of these war criminals, that chases the money, chases the assets, wherever they hide it, we're going to find it. it's the old al capone idea. >> i don't think it's melodramatic to say george clooney has helped saved lives. he's drawn attention, but also drawn money and influence. there are people alive today who have george clooney to thank for it. coming up -- >> no question, george clooney was a catch. no question, amal was a catch as well. lightening.
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despite his humanitarian work overseas, in hollywood, george clooney is still a bona fide movie star. his films are not always box office bonanzas, but he occupies a rarefied status. between 2007 and 2011, he receives oscar nominations for his roles in "michael clayton," "up in the air," and the decendents, as well as his adapted screenplay for "the ides of march." captures an oscar record. >> clooney is the only person who's been nominated in six different categories. he's been nominated for supporting actor, actor, adapted screenplay, original screenplay, screenplay and director and producer. that's a feat that not even orson welles or warren beatty
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managed. >> with a collection of holmes around the world, clooney and long time friend rande gerber build side by side in mexico. they create their own blend of tequila. >> as you do when you spend a lot of time in mexico, you drink a lot of tequila. there came a point where george said, let's just make our own. a few months later, we met with the distilleries, we told them what we wanted. it took about two years to perfect. i think it was 700 bottles later, they sent us one, we tried it, it was absolutely perfect. >> they name their brand, casamigos. house of friends. it becomes the fastest growing tequila company in the world. and then -- >> if you like casamigos, it has been sold to diagio for upwards of $1 billion.
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>> in a statement sent to cnbc, we're not going anywhere, we'll still be very much a part of casamigos. starting with a shot tonight. or maybe two. >> his financial life secure. there's a significant romantic shift in 2013 for the 52-year-old george clooney. >> all of a sudden, he was just head over heels and smitten. >> it was really kind of cute to see george as a giddy teenager. >> no question, george clooney was a question. no question, amal was a catch as well. >> oxford educated, attorney, practiced 15 years at the highest level. this is a first rate legal mind. >> i believe in international justice. i believe it's important that you don't just turn the page without people being held to account. >> the partnership between amal and george is extraordinary because they reinforce each other.
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amal asks really penetrating interesting questions that make george and i think about the work we're doing. >> in venice, italy tonight, the wedding that some thought would never happen. george clooney tieing the knot with amal. a british human rights lawyer. he is 53, she is 36. >> it was close family and friends, it was really special. it was absolutely beautiful. >> clooney for so long one of the biggest pranksters in hollywood, suddenly finds himself the butt of trophy husband jokes at the 2015 golden globes awards. >> amal is a human rights lawyer who was an adviser to kofi annan, and part of a three person u.n. commission investigating rules of war violations in the gaza strip. tonight her husband is getting a lifetime achievement award. >> i just wanted to know, what did you think of tina and amy's
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jokes about all the achievements your wife has achieved. and you're the one getting the award. >> i didn't even think that was a joke. >> two years after their wedding, the 2016 presidential campaign grows increasingly contentious, especially over issues of immigration. >> late today, donald trump called for a total ban on muslims entering the united states about >> in berlin, the clooneys meet with angela merkel to discuss the refugee crisis. >> mrs. merkel has been leading the global response to the refugee crisis. it's important to give recognition and support for what she's done, it's also important to take a message back to the u.s., which he wanted to do during the election year. >> they also sit down with a group of syrian refugees. >> my own family is from lebanon, they also ran away from a war. i hope that as you say, you will be able to go back to a safe and free syria. >> the clooneys later announce a partnership to open public
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schools for 3,000 syrian refugee children. >> refugees are people who have fled war. and i think that one of the things that george and amal clooney are committed to doing, is helping share those stories. so that people understand the stakes. >> clooney was vocally opposed to candidate donald trump and doesn't hold back his opinions about the president since the 2016 election. >> we have a demagogue in the white house. the one thing you look at as americans and it is sort of one thing that i'm always very proud of, we tend to do a lot of dumb things over periods of time. we're also pretty good at fixing them. now we have donald trump, which is hard to imagine. it's -- it sort of catches in your throat, we'll fix it, we have to. >> clooney has good reason to be concerned about the future. >> finally tonight, the world's
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most anticipated newborns have arrived. george and amal clooney have welcomed twins, a daughter named ella, and a son named alexander, born this morning. everyone is said to be happy, healthy and doing fine. the couple jokes announcing the birth, george is sedated and should recover in a few days. >> now a father, clooney again takes a hardline against the paparazzi. >> george clooney going after photographers who clooney says snapped unauthorized pictures of his newborn twins. the photos printed in the french magazine apparently taken at his home in italy. clooney and his wife are furious, saying the paparazzi scaled our fence, climbed our tree, and illegally took pictures of our infants inside our home. >> in october 2017, dozens of women accuse movie executive harvey weinstein of sexual misconduct, ranging from harassment to rape.
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weinstein denies any nonconsensual conduct. clooney's relationship with weinstein dates back to 1996, when the producer gave him his first starring film role, several years later, his first directorial effort was a weinstein film. as a result, the star comes in for his share of criticism for his relationship with the producer. but clooney doesn't hold back his own condemnation of weinstein. >> i want to know what kind of ad dollars were spent from the weinstein company and miramax, because we should have known this. this is violating women, this is assault. this is silencing women. >> are you angry then? >> i'm furious. yeah, he's mean to work with, i knew that for a fact. but the idea that he's, you know, committed these kinds of atrocities, i want to know who
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knew? >> advocate, actor, husband, father and friend. clooney continues to put his money where his heart is. in addition to providing public schooling for 3,000 syrian refugee children, in 2017, clooney and his wife donate $1 million to the southern poverty law center through the clooney foundation for justice. and to those who know him personally, george clooney has never forgotten where he came from, and who helped him along the way. >> you know, i have a story that has never been told before. and it pretty much sums up who george is. there's a group of guys that we call the boys. george had called me and the boys and said, hey, mark september 27th, 2013 on your calendar. everyone's going to come to my
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house for dinner, everyone has a seat. sitting in front of each of us on the table is a black bag, you know, luggage. george begins to say, listen, i want you guys to know how much you've meant to me and how much you mean to me in my life. i came to l.a., i slept on your couch. i'm so fortunate in my life to have all of you. i couldn't be where i am today without all of you. so it was really important to me that while we're still all here together, that i give back. so i want you all to open your suitcases. we open it up and it's a million dollars in $20 bills. every one of us got a million dollars. every single one of us. we're in shock. what is this? he goes, i know we've all been
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through some hard times, some of you are still going through it, you don't have to worry about your kids, you don't have to worry about school, you don't have to worry about paying your mortgage. one's working at a bar in texas, at the airport. you know, trying to just support his family, rides a bicycle to work every day. these are guys that took care of george. and now he's giving it all back. and george said not only that, i've paid everyone's taxes, so this million is yours. i don't need a million dollars, i pulled him aside, i said, i'm absolutely not taking this million dollars. immediately george says, i'm just going to make one announcement. if randy doesn't take the million dollars, nobody gets it. okay, i'm taking the million dollars. and donate it. this is who george is. that was september 27th, 2013. now, september 27th, 2014, he
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marries amal. now, that's good karma right there. >> we're all in this, all of us together. we're only as good as -- we're only successful as a human race by how we look out for the people who can't look out for themselves. ♪ she told archie she was dating this man. if he didn't like it, he could leave. >> he had been stabbed multiple times. nobody saw anything. >> i went, dad. and i touched him. i will never forget that feeling. >> it was just before dawn when he found his father dead in the driveway. >> there was no doubt in my mind what happened. i immediately knew. >> there was someone else who may have known, too. i
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