George Clooney's arrest caps a week in Washington
(CBS/AP) George Clooney's week in Washington, where he has been bringing attention to the humanitarian crisis between the border of Sudan and South Sudan, capped off Friday with the actor in handcuffs.
Pictures: George Clooney arrested in Washington
Pictures: His week in Washington
Pictures: George Clooney
Pictures: Nick Clooney
Before being arrested, along with others, during a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy, the actor testified before Congress, met with the president and attended a state dinner.
Clooney testified at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, offering his firsthand account of the suffering in the volatile border between the two countries.
He had just returned from an eight-day trip to the region, and described a secret, six-hour trip across the border to the Nuba Mountains, rocket attacks, death and destruction. He recalled how a 9-year-old boy had his hands blown off.
"What you see is a constant drip of fear," Clooney said.
That night, the Oscar winner and human rights activist made an appearance at the White House, as a guest at the state dinner honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron.
On Thursday, Clooney went to the White House again, meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office to discuss the Sudanese situation. The president and Clooney met for 15 minutes, according to the Associated Press.
Clooney said he came away from the meeting encouraged that there is high-level interest in doing more to help a region that soon could suffer mass starvation. He also made it clear that his role is to shine a light on the situation, not to solve it.
"I don't make policy," he said. "All I really can do is amplify the situation and help to bring a spotlight to it."
He brought that spotlight to the Friday protest outside the Sudanese Embassy. Clooney, his father, Nick, and others, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia and NAACP President Ben Jealous, were arrested after being warned three times not to cross a police line outside the embassy. They were handcuffed and placed into a U.S. Secret Service van.
On Wednesday, Clooney spoke with "CBS This Morning" about the Sudan crisis. Watch his interview below:
