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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, September 2, 2007

Clooney: Obama takes breath away

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

George Clooney arrives for the premiere of "Michael Clayton" at the 64th Venice Film Festival.

ANDREW MEDICHINI | Associated Press

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VENICE, Italy — Barack Obama has the aura of a rock star, says George Clooney, who also had some kind words for other Democratic presidential candidates.

"You've been in a room once in a while with a rock star. He walks into the world, and he takes your breath away. I'd love him to be president, quite honestly," the actor told reporters Friday at the Venice Film Festival, where his legal thriller "Michael Clayton" was premiering.

Clooney, who banked a check for Obama at a private $1.3 million fundraiser in Beverly Hills last February, praised the U.S. senator for speaking out early against the Iraq war.

But with more than a year until the election, Clooney also said he liked Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards — and pondered whether former Vice President Al Gore might vie for the presidency again.

"It could be interesting," he said.

'ANDY KEATON' GUILTY OF ASSAULT

BOULDER, Colo. — Brian Bonsall, who played Andy Keaton in "Family Ties," pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in a case involving his girlfriend and was sentenced to two years' probation, prosecutors said.

Three other charges against Bonsall, 25, were dismissed under a plea agreement entered on Friday. He was arrested in March after his girlfriend told police he poured an alcoholic drink on her face while she slept, put her in a choke hold and threw her onto a bed when she tried to leave.

Bonsall told investigators he pushed her down in selfdefense after she cut his arm and face with a steak knife. She denied the claim and wasn't charged in the case.

Bonsall's lawyer, Paul McCormick, said Bonsall went through a 30-day rehab program and has been sober for more than five months. Prosecutor Peter Maguire said Bonsall has been compliant with sobriety monitoring.

McCormick said Bonsall, who is working in construction and playing in a band, has gotten back together with his girlfriend and they are in couples counseling.

SEEKING CUSTODY OF BOBBI KRISTINA

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Bobby Brown went to court Friday to seek custody of his and Whitney Houston's teenage daughter.

Brown and his attorney asked Orange County Superior Court to dismiss a default judgment issued in December that granted Houston sole custody of 14-year-old Bobbi Kristina.

Brown wasn't given enough time to respond to Houston's divorce filings, his attorney Stacy D. Phillips said: "He didn't have his day in court."

Judge Claudia Silbar ordered Brown and Houston to argue their case at an Oct. 22 hearing before she decides who will get custody.

"I cannot determine credibility on paperwork," Silbar said. "This really boils down to credibility."

BON JOVI TO MAKE NOVEL A MOVIE

Jon Bon Jovi and a bunch of nonceleb partners have optioned Jessica Blank's debut novel, "Almost Home," and will produce the flick.

An actor and a writer, Blank and her hubby, Erik Jensen, co-wrote the play "The Exonerated," which has been made into a picture starring Brian Dennehy and Danny Glover.

Blank's novel, which is aimed at teens and young adults, is due out Oct. 23. It's a bleak, yet hopeful, look at the lives and loves of a group of homeless teens trying to make do on the hard streets of L.A.