By Calder McHugh

SAG-AFTRA member Cari Ciotti (left) leads as striking SAG-AFTRA members picket with striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) workers outside Paramount Studios on Aug. 7 in Los Angeles, Calif. | Mario Tama/Getty Images

SHOW ME THE MONEY — As the Hollywood writers’ strike crossed the 100 day mark this week — and the actors’ time on the picket lines reaches almost a month — the White House continued to offer tepid support while Republican presidential candidates stayed silent.

“The President believes all workers — including actors — deserve fair pay and benefits,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said in a statement when the actors began their strike in July. “The President supports workers’ right to strike and hopes the parties can reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”

But Biden himself hasn’t spoken on the issue since. The relative radio silence — even as the California economy has already lost an estimated $3 billion — speaks to the complex and evolving political calculations of Hollywood grinding to a halt.

Biden has long fashioned himself as a full-throated supporter of unions. High-profile stakeholders on both sides of this particular fight, though — from Bob Iger in management to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the actors’ side — are also big-name celebrity endorsers of the president, who have raised and donated significant cash to Democratic candidates and causes.

And while it might seem natural for conservatives to chastise overpaid actors, Republican presidential candidates also aren’t lining up to support the leaders of the Hollywood studios that they’re convinced are cesspools of modern progressivism.

Understandably, most national politicians aren’t eager to wade into the waters of the Hollywood strike when public sentiment seems to be something out of Shakespeare: “a plague on both your houses.”

In polling conducted earlier this month by the polling firm Leger for the LA Times, only 6 percent of Biden voters and 10 percent of Trump voters said they were sympathetic to the entertainment and media corporations represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The actors, writers and their unions had more love — 49 percent of Biden voters and 27 percent of Trump voters supported their efforts — but no group managed to clear 50 percent with either political affiliation.

California politicians, for their part, are paying little attention to the polling. Senate candidates on both sides of the aisle — Democrats Katie Porter, Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff as well as Republican Eric Early — have shown up to the picket lines with the actors. In Southern California, the impact of the strike has reverberated beyond just filmmakers. According to CNBC, catering companies, restaurants near studios, florists, set builders, professional drivers and dry cleaners are just some of the industries that have watched their business in Hollywood disappear almost overnight. The political consensus in California is that they need everyone to get back to work.

It’s also increasingly possible that an urgency to get back to work will soon spread beyond the Golden State. Outside of California cul de sacs and back lots, the halt in production is beginning to inject issues into local economies around the country (and the world) as filming is delayed; the movie and TV industry employs 1.7 million people outside the state of California and pays them $158 billion a year in wages.

Take the city of Butte, Montana (pop. 35,000) and the close by Ravalli County, where much of the “Yellowstone” prequel “1923” is filmed (though they’ve also gone to locations as far afield as South Africa, Tanzania and Italy). To get an authentic feel for the time period and maintain safety on set, showrunner Taylor Sheridan has employed local horse wranglers and used lumber companies in the state to construct intricate sets. The production has brought millions of dollars to Montana.

Now, production is shut down on “1923” and many locals who worked on the show are out of well-paid, regular work. Silver Bow County, where Butte is located, voted 56 percent for Biden, while Ravalli County voted 67 percent for Trump — both are about to see jobs disappear.

The actors and writers are steadfast in their demands, which largely relate to the lack of residual checks from streaming shows and guardrails for artificial intelligence. As the strike continues, though, calculations will change: studios will start hemorrhaging even more cash, actors and writers will need to get back to work to make a living and the economic ripple effect will become even greater.

Plus, the box office boom ignited by this summer’s Barbenheimer phenomenon will peter out in want of fresh content.

To borrow a line from the movies, everyone from dry cleaners in Hollywood to gaffers in Atlanta to ranch hands in Montana is increasingly desperate for the studios to present the writers and actors with an offer they can’t refuse.

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— Sam Bankman-Fried sent to jail while he awaits trial: A federal judge today revoked Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail and ordered him jailed pending trial, saying the indicted founder of the failed cryptocurrency firm FTX “attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice” since he was charged with overseeing a multibillion-dollar fraud. Bankman-Fried had been under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, after Manhattan federal prosecutors in December charged him with fraud and money laundering. In recent weeks, however, prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to revoke Bankman-Fried’s bail, saying that since his arrest he had taken two actions in an effort to influence or intimidate potential witnesses.

— Prosecutor overseeing Hunter Biden probe is named special counsel: Attorney General Merrick Garland granted “special counsel” status to David Weiss, the federal prosecutor who has been investigating Hunter Biden for five years. The move, announced today, gives Weiss broader leeway to investigate and bring charges, and it means Weiss will produce a report on his high-profile investigation into the president’s son. Garland said he will make as much of that report public as possible.

— Judge warns Trump: ‘Inflammatory’ statements about election case could speed trial: U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan warned Donald Trump and his attorney today that repeated “inflammatory” statements about his latest criminal prosecution would force her to speed his trial on charges related to his bid to subvert the 2020 election. “I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case,” Chutkan told Trump lawyer John Lauro during a hearing. “I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.”

VETERAN ON THE MOVE — Donald Trump’s presidential Campaign is bringing on Brian Hughes, a longtime Florida political operative who recently worked for Jacksonville’s Republican mayor, to lead its campaign operation in the Sunshine State, reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout.

Hughes confirmed the news in a text message but referred questions to the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond for comment. The news was first reported by Florida Politics.

The decision by Hughes to join Trump’s campaign represents yet another hire by the former president’s operation who has ties to Gov. Ron Desantis, who is also vying for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Hughes was one of the political consultants who helped with DeSantis’ initial campaign for Congress back in 2012 but did not work with him on any subsequent campaigns.

One of Trump’s top advisers, Susie Wiles, also formerly worked for DeSantis. DeSantis hired Wiles in 2018 after she helped Trump win the state in 2016 and lead Rick Scott’s first successful campaign for governor.

GROUND GAME — Ron DeSantis is nearly a third of the way through his tour of each county in Iowa — but now with a chairperson backing his campaign in every part of the state, reports POLITICO’s Natalie Allison and Sally Goldenberg.

Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting the Florida governor’s presidential bid, has established 120 county-level chairs across the state, with at least one in each of the 99 counties, the organization confirmed to POLITICO. The chair group includes Appanoose County Sheriff Gary Anderson, former state Sen. Mark Chelgren and Clayton Ohrt, the Buchanan County supervisor, along with other GOP activists.

The county-level recruitment is the latest sign of the DeSantis team’s aggressive networking in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, even as his campaign has been beset by weak polling numbers and strategy missteps. The campaign recently shed a third of its staff, and DeSantis replaced his campaign manager, Generra Peck, earlier this week.

But it’s Iowa, in particular, where DeSantis is scrambling to close the gap between himself and Donald Trump. The former president has an overwhelming lead in Republican primary polls nationally, though a slightly narrower advantage in Iowa.

DROWNED OUT — Chanting “Ron DeFascist” and “pudding fingers” on a megaphone while ringing cowbells, two protesters effectively cut short the Florida governor’s first campaign stop of the day at a large roadside rock painted for war veterans, reports POLITICO’s Natalie Allison.

It was the second notable disruption of a Republican presidential candidate by the left in Iowa this week, after a Democrat on Thursday asked Mike Pence at the Iowa State Fair, “Why did you commit treason on Jan. 6?”

At the DeSantis event, Kara Ryan of Des Moines said she and her aunt, Heather Ryan, were there on behalf of a political action committee called “Bitches Get Stuff Done,” that supports abortion rights.

A man there to support DeSantis, wearing a hat given out by his aligned super PAC, Never Back Down, at one point tried to stop the noise by attempting unsuccessfully to knock the megaphone out of Heather Ryan’s hands.

DeSantis, joined by his wife Casey, still tried to give remarks. “People like that,” he said, referring to the two protesters drowning him out, “are what’s holding this country back.”

A Russian rocket — the Soyuz-2.1b with the moon lander Luna-25 — takes off from a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East today. The launch of the Luna-25 craft to the moon is Russia's first since 1976 when it was part of the Soviet Union. | Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP

MOONSHOT — Despite war and sanctions, Vladimir Putin is trying to haul Russia back into the space race, write Joshua Posaner, Matt Berg and Laura Hülsemann.

This morning, state space agency Roscosmos launched the country’s first lunar mission in nearly half a century as an ambitious play in the scramble to build a base on the moon.

“If they pull it off, it will be a massive technological and scientific achievement,” said Tim Marshall, author of “The Future of Geography” on the geopolitics of space. He argues a successful Russian landing, and fruitful year of research, would mark a big step forward in plans to build a moon base with China by the 2030s.

Russia’s Luna-25 mission is being dispatched to scope out the lunar south pole, where scientists believe there’s a plentiful supply of water locked in ice in the perpetual shade of mountain ridges. Firming up water reserves is a critical requirement for supporting life on the moon with breathable oxygen, drinking water and even rocket fuel, which would then help space-faring nations further explore the cosmos from any lunar outpost in the future.

But simply successfully landing a spacecraft on the rocky lunar south pole — which would be a first in itself — would also prove to Beijing that Moscow still has something to offer when it comes to cutting-edge aerospace technology. The two countries have already pledged to work together to build a moon base by the 2030s, but Beijing is the clear leader these days.

CORRUPTION CONCERNS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that he fired all regional military recruitment bosses amid reports of corruption, writes Claudia Chiappa.

The dismissed officials will be replaced by soldiers who have been on the front lines or who have been hurt in combat, as “they can be entrusted with this recruitment system,” Zelenskyy said.

“This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery in times of war constitutes high treason,” he added, as Ukraine digs in against a Russian offensive in the northeast while also trying to reclaim territory captured by Moscow’s invading forces in the country’s south and east.

The Ukrainian president held a meeting with the National Security and Defense Council to discuss the corruption allegations involving military officials. There are already 112 criminal proceedings open against military recruiting officials, he said.

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ATTENTION GRABBING — A broad swath of people who support efforts to reduce climate change are getting fed up with climate protesters’ aggressive tactics. Their most recent disruptive act: stopping a tennis match between Taylor Fritz and Andy Murray at the D.C. Open in Washington. Similar to the paint that protesters threw on various famous works of art last year, this most recent protest led to the crowd booing and then cheering their ejection. But aren’t protests — of any sort — meant to be disruptive? And what does it mean to support the message of the protesters without supporting the acts themselves? Molly Taft puzzles through the purpose of the theatricality of protest for The New Republic.

On this date in 1941: Richard Whitney, former president of the New York Stock Exchange, leaves Sing Sing prison in Ossining, N.Y., on parole after serving 40 months of a five- to ten-year sentence for the larceny of $214,000 from clients' accounts. | AP Photo

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