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GloRilla is still reeling in excitement over her incredible opportunity to head out to Washington, D.C., and meet President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The 24-year-old rapper opened up about the experience on a new episode of […]
Few people have had high-school experiences more impressive than the Jonesboro High School Majestic Marching Cardinals. At the top of 2024, the student marching band was featured in a commercial for Usher‘s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, and just a few weeks later, they were treated to a very special surprise visit from none other than first lady Jill Biden.
The first lady made a surprise virtual visit on Wednesday (March 27) to more than 150 students from Atlanta’s Jonesboro High School during an after-school rehearsal. As Dr. Biden appears on the screen, the students gasp in surprise. “I can’t wait until you come to the White House,” she told the students, before letting the kids know she’s still teaching.
The Majestic Marching Cardinals are set to play at this year’s White House Easter Egg Roll Monday (April 1), and Dr. Biden appeared via Zoom to thank the students for their hard work and dedication ahead of their performance.
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“After the call with the first lady, there was a hush over the band room and some students began to cry from all the excitement,” band director Lynel Goodwin tells Billboard. “We took a moment to reflect on how our musical journey and their talents led to an opportunity like this – to perform at the White House. This life-changing opportunity means the world to my students, band parents and our Jonesboro community.”
This year’s White House Easter Egg Roll theme continues the first lady’s commitment to “EGGucation,” a nod to her more than 30 years in the teaching profession. Dr. Biden is set to transform both the South Lawn and the Ellipse into a community full of educational activities, rolling and hunting Easter eggs, a reading nook, a picture day station and a physical “EGGucation” zone.
In addition, there will also be a band hall where the Majestic Marching Cardinals will grace the stage. Several other bands are also slated to perform at the event — which is expected to welcome more than 40,000 guests — including Phoenix’s Tolleson Elementary School District Marching Band, the Independence High School Marching Band from Brambleton, Va., and George Mason University Green Machine of Fairfax, Va.
To continue their momentum, the Majestic Marching Cardinals will also perform at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Under the direction of Goodwin, the Majestic Marching Cardinals have brought their special Atlanta flair to some of America’s grandest stages. Their momentum also lines up with that of student marching bands in general: In 2023, Tennessee State University’s Aristocrat of Bands made history as the first marching band to with the Grammy for best roots gospel album (The Urban Hymnal).
Watch a clip of first lady Jill Biden surprising the Majestic Marching Cardinals below.
In the season of giving, Mariah Carey made a special home visit to see two lucky fans – who just so happened to be the president and vice president of the United States. As shared on Instagram Wednesday (Dec. 20), the vocalist recently swung by the White House in Washington, D.C., to meet with President […]
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Source: Brandon Rosenblum / Getty
For weeks, social media has been abuzz with conspiracy theories and rumors about who the culprit was that left a bag of cocaine in the White House (naturally Republicans pointed to President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden), and the Secret Service has finally let everyone know that it basically could’ve been anybody.
According to Deadline, the Secret Service has officially closed the case without any clear answers on who was responsible for leaving the nose candy behind for anyone to find. They’ve also stated that they couldn’t figure out who did it. Though far-right wing Republicans and MAGAts were quick to point to Hunter Biden as he’s had a history of drug abuse, the Secret Service said they couldn’t lift any prints or DNA off of the bag of blow.
Deadline reports:
The Secret Service said that the FBI’s laboratory results “did not develop latent fingerprints” and that “insufficient DNA” was found for investigative comparisons. “Therefore, the Secret Service is not able to compare evidence against the known pool of individuals” who may have accessed the area. Video surveillance footage also did not produce any leads.
“Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered,” the Secret Service said. “At this time, the Secret Service’s investigation is closed due to lack of physical evidence.”
We’re not gonna lie, it does seem suspect that neither the Secret Service nor the FBI were able to track down who left behind the bag of coke. We don’t know much, but we’d figure that someone who does cocaine isn’t slick enough to leave behind a bag with absolutely no fingerprints or DNA. They’re always touching their noses for Christ’s Sake! Now, if that is indeed the case, we wouldn’t be surprised if it was some MAGA Trumpian who planted the bag only to turn the spotlight on Joe Biden’s addiction-battling son for political purposes. It’s a dirty game out here, b.
What do y’all think about the situation? Is the Secret Service covering up for someone? Was the bag planted? Are you surprised that anyone in the White House does cocaine? We lowkey feel like more than half the people that work there be hitting the slopes. Remember when that piece of white rock shot out of Donald Trump’s nose while he was giving a press conference? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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White House officials have confirmed that a powdery substance found near the guest entrance of the West Wing was indeed cocaine. An investigation is currently underway to discover how the narcotic made its way into the White House.
The Washington Post was one of several large outlets covering the discovery of the substance at the White House. The substance was found this past Sunday (July 2) on the ground floor near an area where visitors are instructed to leave their cell phones according to sources speaking with the outlet.
The Secret Service is leading the investigation of the found drugs, which the outlet adds sparked officials to evacuate the building. After initial testing pointed to the substance being cocaine, a final test confirmed the findings.
President Joe Biden was away for the weekend at Camp David and did not return to the White House until Tuesday (July 4). President Biden has not made a public statement regarding the discovery.
Tours of the White House take place on evenings and weekends. As a security measure, guests are told to leave their devices in a series of small boxes prior to entering the West Wing. The cocaine was found near these small storage boxes which essentially points that the substance indeed came from a visitor and not a staff member. However, that fact has yet to be established by Secret Service officials.
Given the political tensions across the nation, some pundits have used the discovery of the drugs to connect the cocaine to President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, despite little evidence provided in the case.
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Photo: izanoza / Getty
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Jill Biden recently caused a stir earlier this week after suggesting a White House invite to NCAA women’s basketball championship runner-up in Iowa alongside LSU, something that has never happened before. The First Lady of the United States has since apologized for the quip yet LSU star Angel Reese is still bothered by the retracted suggestion.
Dr. Jill Biden was speaking at an event this past Monday when she floated the idea of bringing both the winning Louisiana State University Tigers and the Iowa State University Hawkeyes to celebrate the effort of both teams.
As it stands, many in the sports world saw the invitation as an insult, including Reese, who became part of the national conversation after gesturing toward Iowa standout Caitlin Clark in the closing minutes of the championship game.
During an episode of Paper Route, by way of the I AM ATHLETE network, Reese explained that she’s received calls from Dr. Biden and the White House attempting to make it right, but the Baltimore native is having none of it.
That’s why she wants to come out and apologize,” Reese explained to Brandon Marshall and Ashley Nicole Moss. “But at the same time, I don’t accept it, I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t accept the apology. You said what you said.”
Adding to that comment above, Reese said that instead of the White House, she and the team would rather “go to the Obamas.”
Heard that.
Check out some of the reactions to Angel Reese speaking about Dr. Jill Biden and much more below along with the Paper Route interview.
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Photo: Getty
In the latest bid by lawmakers to crack down on TikTok in the United States, on Tuesday (Mar. 7) a bipartisan group of senators introduced a new bill that would empower the White House to rein in the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
Led by Sens. Mark A. Warner (D-Va.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) and co-sponsored by 10 others in the chamber, the RESTRICT Act would “comprehensively address the ongoing threat posed by technology from foreign adversaries” including China, Russia and Iran by authorizing the Department of Commerce — led by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo — “to review, prevent, and mitigate information communications and technology transactions” that are found to threaten U.S. national security, up to and including an outright ban, according to a press release.
The White House has also come out in support of the new bill, with U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan noting in a press release that the legislation “presents a systematic framework for addressing technology-based threats to the security and safety of Americans.”
Though TikTok is not named in the text of the RESTRICT Act, both Warner and Thune invoked the platform in their own statements on the legislation.
“Congress needs to stop taking a piecemeal approach when it comes to technology from adversarial nations that pose national security risks,” said Thune. “Our country needs a process in place to address these risks, which is why I’m pleased to work with Senator Warner to establish a holistic, methodical approach to address the threats posed by technology platforms — like TikTok — from foreign adversaries.”
A representative for TikTok did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
TikTok has been subject to increased scrutiny by the U.S. government recently over fears that national security and consumer privacy could be compromised by the platform, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill that prohibits the use of the platform by nearly 4 million government employees on devices owned by its agencies, joining at least 27 state governments and several universities that have passed similar measures. And last month, the administration drew a sharp rebuke from the Chinese government after it gave all federal agencies just 30 days to wipe TikTok from government devices.
Tuesday’s Senate bill follows a separate one introduced in December by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) that would have required President Biden to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to restrict U.S. citizens’ access to the app.
In the House on Wednesday (Mar. 1), another bill advanced out of committee that would direct the Treasury Secretary to prohibit Americans from engaging with TikTok and other entities found to be directed or influenced by the Chinese government — though it was criticized by Democrats who said it had not been properly vetted and could affect innocent U.S. businesses. That legislation would additionally empower the President to impose sanctions on TikTok and other companies tied to China.
TikTok has long attempted to assuage fears that the platform, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has ties to the ruling Chinese Communist party and censors content critical of the Chinese government and other authoritarian regimes. In June, the company announced it had started routing U.S. user data to Oracle cloud servers located in the U.S., instituted audits of its algorithms and established a new department to solely manage U.S. user data for the platform.
The U.S. government has so far been undeterred. “We look forward to continue working with both Democrats and Republicans on this bill, and urge Congress to act quickly to send it to the President’s desk,” said Sullivan on Tuesday.
Concerns about TikTok have also been prevalent in other corners of the West, most prominently in Europe. In January, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew met with European Union officials over concerns about child safety and data privacy, among other matters. On Feb. 16, TikTok’s general manager of operations in Europe, Rich Waterworth, attempted to allay some of those concerns in a blog post where he noted that the company plans to establish two additional European data centers, citing a commitment “to keeping our European community and their data safe and secure.” He added that the company is “continuing to deliver against” a data governance strategy they set out for Europe last year, which includes plans to further reduce employee access to European data, minimize data flows outside Europe and store European user data locally.
Zi Chew is slated to appear before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on March 23, when he’s expected to comment on TikTok’s data security and user privacy policies, the app’s impact on children and ties with the Chinese Communist Party.
The White House is giving all federal agencies 30 days to wipe TikTok off all government devices, as the Chinese-owned social media app comes under increasing scrutiny in Washington over security concerns.
The Office of Management and Budget calls the guidance, issued Monday, a “critical step forward in addressing the risks presented by the app to sensitive government data.” Some agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State, already have restrictions in place; the guidance calls on the rest of the federal government to follow suit within 30 days.
The White House already does not allow TikTok on its devices.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has invested heavily in defending our nation’s digital infrastructure and curbing foreign adversaries’ access to Americans’ data,” said Chris DeRusha, the federal chief information security officer. “This guidance is part of the Administration’s ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people’s security and privacy.”
The guidance was first reported by Reuters.
Congress passed the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” in December as part of a sweeping government funding package. The legislation does allow for TikTok use in certain cases, including for national security, law enforcement and research purposes.
TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said Monday: “The ban of TikTok on federal devices passed in December without any deliberation, and unfortunately that approach has served as a blueprint for other world governments. These bans are little more than political theater.”
House Republicans are expected to move forward Tuesday with a bill that would give Biden the power to ban TikTok nationwide. The legislation, proposed by Rep. Mike McCaul, looks to circumvent the challenges the administration would face in court if it moved forward with sanctions against the social media company.
If passed, the proposal would allow the administration to ban not only TikTok but any software applications that threaten national security. McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has been a vocal critic of the app, saying it is being used by the Chinese Communist Party to “manipulate and monitor its users while it gobbles up Americans’ data to be used for their malign activities.”
“Anyone with TikTok downloaded on their device has given the CCP a backdoor to all their personal information. It’s a spy balloon into your phone,” the Texas Republican said in a statement Monday.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., his counterpart in the Senate, did not shut down the idea of the chamber taking up a proposal that would empower Biden to take action against TikTok, saying it was “certainly something to consider.”
Oberwetter said: “We hope that when it comes to addressing national security concerns about TikTok beyond government devices, Congress will explore solutions that won’t have the effect of censoring the voices of millions of Americans.”
TikTok, owned by ByteDance Ltd., remains extremely popular and is used by two-thirds of teens in the U.S. But there is increasing concern that Beijing could obtain control of American user data that the app has obtained.
The company has been dismissive of the ban for federal devices and has noted that it is developing security and data privacy plans as part of the Biden administration’s ongoing national security review.
Canada also announced Monday that it is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices. The European Union’s executive branch said last week it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.
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