‘Skyfall’ presents two new tough and seductive Bond girls

When Daniel Craig took on the role of Bond, James Bond, in "Casino Royale," he radically redefined the character of 007. Craig's Bond was tough and smooth in equal measure, looking just as comfortable in a gunfight as in formal wear.  So isn't it time for Bond girls to also be both strong and stylish?
In this exclusive look at the making of "Skyfall," the upcoming 23rd Bond film, you see that new Bond girls Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe look to be up to that challenge.  Harris -- who can be seen driving, shooting, and sultrily shaving Bond's face in the video -- says, "I don't think it's enough to just look pretty anymore. That may well have been true in the past, but certainly not now."
Watch the video to see the ladies in action and hear what Daniel Craig has to say about working with them. Then keep reading to learn more about the actresses and the femme fatales they play.

Bond girls traditionally have come in two varieties: the ally to Bond, who are often too business-minded at first to fall for his caddish ways, and the bad girl, who usually are won over by 007's charm.  "Skyfall" looks like it has both, but with notable differences.
36-year-old Naomie Harris plays Eve, a fully-trained British field agent who drives fast and draws her gun even faster. The London-born Harris says Eve "kind of sees herself as Bond's equal. She's not, but that's how she sees herself."  Eve is on a mission with 007 that goes bad, and when M (Judi Dench) gives her the order to fire on a target, Bond gets hit in the crossfire.

[Video: Watch the 'Skyfall' theatrical trailer]

Harris trained for two months before filming with handguns and automatic weapons, but it's not all action with Eve. In the new video, we see Eve in a slinky one-shoulder gown when she goes undercover with a tuxedo-clad Bond.  Of course, that's not the only close shave Eve and Bond get into, as the trailer shows her scraping a straight razor across his face in a very intimate moment.
Harris is joined by 33-year-old Paris native Berenice Marlohe, who plays the alluring Severine.  The exotic beauty -- her mother is French and her father is Cambodian -- is making her English-language debut in the film.  Severine is employed by the villain, Raoul Silva, played by Oscar-winner Javier Bardem.
Marlohe says about Severine: "The first time you see her, she has a dark side."  She warns 007 about the danger Silva poses, but naturally that doesn't faze him much.  And while it's difficult to make out through the steam-obscured glass, it does look like that's her and Bond in the trailer embracing in a shower. It's good to know Bond can always find help with his personal hygiene and grooming.

Obama Blames GOP for Inability to Pass Immigration Reform

MIAMI, Fla. - President Obama today said his failure to push comprehensive immigration reform as promised was the biggest failure of his first term but blamed Republicans in Congress for the lack of progress.

Seeeking to appeal to Latino voters at a Univision News forum, the president explained "when we talked about immigration reform in the first year, that's before the economy was on the verge of collapse, Lehman Brothers had collapsed, the stock market was collapsing, and so my first priority was making sure that we prevented us from going into a Great Depression."

In 2008, then-candidate Obama told Univision's Jorge Ramos, who anchored today's event with Maria Elena Salinas, "what I can guarantee is that we will have in the first year an immigration bill that I strongly support and that I'm promoting. And I want to move that forward as quickly as possible."

Today, Ramos repeatedly pressed Obama to acknowledge he had not kept that promise. "I don't want to get lost in translation," Ramos said in Spanish. Today's forum was conducted in Spanish and the questions translated for the president. "You promised… And a promise is a promise. And with all due respect, you didn't keep that promise."

"I am happy to take responsibility for the fact that we didn't get it done," Obama said. "But I did not make a promise that I would get everything done a hundred percent when I was elected as president. What I promised was that I would work every single day as hard as I can to make sure that everybody in the country, regardless of who they are, what they look like, where they come from, that they would have a fair shot at the American dream. And that promise I kept."

The president placed blame squarely on Republicans. "I confess I did not expect - and so I'm happy to take responsibility for being naive here - that Republicans who had previously supported comprehensive immigration reform - my opponent in 2008, who had been a champion of it and who attended these meetings - suddenly would walk away. That's what I did not anticipate," he said, singling out Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

"We initiated the meetings, had a series of meetings. And what we could not get was a single Republican, including the 20 who has previously voted for comprehensive immigration reform, to step up and say, we will work with you to make this happen," Obama continued. Asked about the biggest mistake of his first term, the president relented. "As you remind me, my biggest failure so far is we haven't gotten comprehensive immigration reform done, so we're going to be continuing to work on that," he admitted.