August 31, 2025 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

President Obama To Depart L.A. Today After Podcast Interview:

President Barack Obama will conclude a planned 21 1/2-hour visit to Los Angeles today by being interviewed by comedian Marc Maron in the garage of his Highland Park home for his podcast “WTF with Marc Maron.”

“We think this is an opportunity to have an extended candid conversation, not necessarily about news of the day items, but I think this is going to be much more about areas of the president’s life that don’t always get reported in the news,” principal deputy press secretary Eric Schultz told reporters aboard Air Force One Thursday en route to Los Angeles.

The podcast is scheduled to be uploaded Monday.

The interview will be the latest is a series of interviews Obama has granted to unconventional sources, following the online talk show “Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis” and the YouTube personality GloZell.

Obama will leave Southern California following the interview, bound for the San Francisco area, where he will speak at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The president is expected to return to Southern California on Saturday, spending the night in the Coachella Valley, where he generally plays golf when he visits. Temperatures in the Coachella Valley this weekend are expected to be in the 100s.

Obama spoke at a pair of DNC fundraisers Thursday. In the lone event open to the news media, Obama told supporters he hoped they would leave with the sense that completing “the unfinished business we’ve got… depends on you.”

“If we want the change we believe in, then we’re going to have to work harder than ever in our own communities and in our own places of worship and in our own workplaces and reflect those values and ideals and then push this society and ultimately push Congress in the direction of change,” Obama told a crowd of approximately 250 at the home of filmmaker Tyler Perry near Beverly Hills.

Obama also used the 23-minute speech to recount his accomplishments as president — including the improved economy; increased production of wind and solar power; rising high school graduation rates; fewer people without health insurance; and cutting the budget deficit.

“There’s almost no measure by which one could argue that we have not made significant progress over these last 6 1/2 years,” Obama told the crowd, which included “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, series co-star January Jones, Jason Collins, the first openly gay player in the NBA, and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

“But we’ve got so much work to do. There’s so much that’s left undone. We still live in a country in which the idea of equal opportunity is not felt, is not experienced, is not lived for too many young people.”

Obama went on to call for “reforming our criminal justice system in a way that we are not incarcerating nonviolent offenders in ways that renders them incapable of getting a job” after they are released; “immigration reform” that would “bring millions of people out of the shadows”; increased spending on research and making college more affordable.

Tickets for the fundraiser were priced from $2,500 to attend a reception to $33,400, the maximum allowable donation to a national party committee, which included admission to the reception, where Obama spoke, and dinner and a photo with the president.   

Tickets for the dinner were priced at $20,000 per couple. The price to attend the reception and have a photo taken with Obama was $10,000, according to an invitation obtained by City News Service.

Obama earlier attended another DNC fundraiser — at the Pacific Palisades home of television producer Chuck Lorre, which was closed to reporters. Approximately 30 supporters paid up to $33,400 to attend, according to the White House.

Obama arrived at Los Angeles International Airport around 2:20 p.m. Thursday aboard Air Force One, beginning a visit scheduled to last less than 24 hours.

After a short helicopter trip to Santa Monica Airport, Obama was taken by motorcade to Pacific Palisades. The Santa Monica (10) and San Diego (405) freeways were both closed in West Los Angeles to accommodate the lengthy motorcade — bringing traffic to a standstill not only on the freeways but on surrounding streets.

Coincidentally, the front-runner in the race to succeed Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, was also in the Southland Thursday; she came for a fundraiser at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.   

Ninio Fetalvo, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said Obama and Clinton should be focusing on the “concerns of everyday Americans in the Golden State” instead of “causing multiple days of traffic jams for fundraising with celebrities and out-of-touch elitists.”

The visit was Obama’s 22nd to Los Angeles and Orange counties as president.

Obama has attended fundraisers during 19 of his visits to Los Angeles and Orange counties as president, attending 34 fundraisers in Los Angeles County on those trips, occasionally attending multiple fundraisers during the same visit.

Through the seventh years of their administrations, Bill Clinton conducted 42 fundraisers in the region, George W. Bush nine and Ronald Reagan eight, according to research by Brendan J. Doherty, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy, for his book “The Rise of the President’s Permanent Campaign.”

in News
<>Related Posts

SMMUSD Board of Education Changes Start Time for September 4 Meeting

August 30, 2025

August 30, 2025

Residents Can Tune In via Livestream or Make Public Comments Remotely The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District announced a revised...

Pacific Park Ferris Wheel to Glow with 90-Foot American Flag for Labor Day

August 30, 2025

August 30, 2025

The tribute will feature the Ferris wheel’s 174,000 LED lights in a custom computer-generated show of red, white, and blue...

State Launches Task Force to Tackle Homeless Encampments

August 30, 2025

August 30, 2025

The task force, comprising multiple state agencies, will target encampments along state rights-of-way in California’s 10 largest cities Gov. Gavin...

Santa Monica Flea-Borne Typhus Cluster Under Investigation as L.A. Cases Rise

August 29, 2025

August 29, 2025

County Confirms 106 Cases So Far in 2025 After a Record 187 Last Year Health officials are warning Los Angeles...

CHP Launches Annual Statewide Labor Day Crackdown on Impaired Driving

August 29, 2025

August 29, 2025

All Available Officers Will Patrol California Roads August 29–September 1 The California Highway Patrol will deploy every available officer this...

Santa Monica Historic District Tour Showcases Early 20th Century Bungalows

August 29, 2025

August 29, 2025

The Third Street Walk, led by Conservancy board president Mario Fonda-Bonardi, will highlight the architectural and historical significance of the...

Newsom Signs Order to Protect Clean Energy Projects Amid Federal Rollbacks

August 29, 2025

August 29, 2025

The order aims to secure federal tax credits for clean energy projects before they expire due to HR 1, dubbed...

Muscle Beach Championship Returns to Venice on Labor Day

August 29, 2025

August 29, 2025

The event will feature competitions across categories including bodybuilding, bikini, men’s physique, classic physique, angel bikini, and couples The iconic...

Film Review: Relay

August 28, 2025

August 28, 2025

FILM REVIEWRELAYRated R112 MinutesReleased August 22nd This movie plays like a chess game, mentally and physically – on foot and...

Santa Monica’s E-Bike Voucher Program Marks One-Year Milestone

August 28, 2025

August 28, 2025

A city blog post highlighted personal impacts, with one family avoiding a second car purchase for a commute to Burbank,...

Westside Classics Car Show Set to Roll into Venice Beach

August 28, 2025

August 28, 2025

The show will feature a curated lineup of vintage sedans, low-slung cruisers, and unique custom builds The Westside Classics Car...

Westside Chefs Shine at the Manhattan Beach Food & Wine Festival in September

August 28, 2025

August 28, 2025

South Bay’s Culinary Festival Returns With Two Nights of Food, Wine, and Music Santa Monica, Westchester, Los Angeles, and West...

(Video) Public Transit Returns to Pacific Palisades

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025

The Return is Part of a Broader Summer Overhaul, Aiming to Boost Connectivity Across the Westside Public Transit Returns to...

Raising Cane’s Plans New Location on 3rd Street Promenade

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025

The move marks the chain’s latest expansion in California Louisiana-based fast-food chain Raising Cane’s confirmed to the Santa Monica Mirror...