------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------
Big news day today folks...The House is scheduled to vote on the Iraq war resolution and the Senate debate is humming along....It now appears that Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel and Massachusetts Democrat (and Hardball College Tour guest) John Kerry will now vote "Aye" on the resolution...This is significant because both were holdouts and both are Vietnam combat vets...Plus, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) announced this morning that he's on board as well...Of course Byrd went on another tirade this morning...We'll play the sound... We'll also talk to some "electeds" about the House vote and continuing Senate debate....Look for Texas Republican/'88 Libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul who opposes the resolution and someone who supports it...Plus, Rhode Island Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee who also opposes the resolution... I know what you're thinking: "Stop having all the anti-war folks on!" Don't worry, we're gonna have some Hawks on too...Part of the deal with news is that you gotta look for the "man bites dog" story...Everyone's for the war, that's the "dog bites man" story...Anyway, we'll bring you highlights from the debate, the "hot sots" (sound on tape) if you will... I love Lester's phrase: "The lowdown on the showdown" Plus, There's a great piece in the Post this morning about the Democrats problem politically with supporting this war while at the same time trying to differentiate themselves on other issues from Bush... Hardball guest Donna Brazile: "Our liberal base wants us to stand up and challenge Bush on the war" We'll talk to Donna and Hardball favorite Pat Caddell about the state of the Democrat party and how they can win this November despite rolling over on Iraq... And in the Buzz block, we'll serve up some lighter fare with Washington Post television critic Tom Shales...He just co-authored a book entitled "Live from New York"...It's an oral history of the popular NBC hit comedy show, Saturday Night Live.. Al Qaeda/Bin Laden specialist British dude Peter Bergen will give us the latest on those clowns and their evil work... Plus, we'll also do the Hardball Hot Seat as well... http://www.msnbc.com/news/810538.asp Lots of fun to be had tonight folks...Do kick it with us... Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled, and edited The Briefing deep inside the Beltway... Focus on War Talk Trips Democrats...The prospect of war with Iraq is pushing their best issues into the background, while also damaging fundraising and voting enthusiasm among key constituencies upset over the party's failure to challenge war plans (Wash Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3631-2002Oct9.html Boxing promoter Don King to President Bush: "I did tell George, the president, 'You're a great fighter, but you need a promoter. I'd like to be your promoter.' And he said, 'I don't know if I can afford you.' And I told him, 'I'll do it pro bono -- for a great nation called America!' " (Grove, "Reliable Source") http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3060-2002Oct9.html Sadly there was another shooting in the DC area last night and while not conclusive, it appears to be the same M.O. of previous shootings...You know about the death Tarot card left at the scene of Monday's shooting but here's something of interest buried in today's Washington Post... Police sources who have seen the card said that in addition to scrawling an apparent taunt on the card - "Mister Policeman, I am God" - the sniper also asked that his message not be revealed to the news media. Sources said some detectives had hoped that if they honored the request, the sniper might communicate with investigators again. "This was a personal message to us, and the intention of the [shooter] was to develop a relationship with us," said one detective, who spoke yesterday on the condition of anonymity. The detective said some investigators believed that the sniper "was attempting to build a rapport with us." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4858-2002Oct10.html?referer=email Fun Clinton News...Denise Rich, Malcolm Forbes, Nelson Mandela and other friends and supporters of the Clintons showered the couple with roughly $1 million in previously unreported gifts during the Clinton presidency, according to documents released by Republican congressional investigators. (New York Times) http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/10/MN69696.DTL Poor Al Gore. Republicans are giving him the ultimate diss - they don't think he's worth using in TV attack ads while anti-Hillary ads keep popping up all over the country. (Orin) http://www.nypost.com/commentary/59399.htm More from Sneed: U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton , who received an $8 million advance for her upcoming book, joked last week that the title for her tome should be called Headbands and Headaches . How about adding "Hairdos" to the title? http://www.suntimes.com/output/sneed/cst-nws-sneed10.html Harry Belafonte: "Colin Powell's committed to come into the house of the master...When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture." Colin Powell: "If Harry had wanted to attack my politics, that was fine. If he wanted to attack a particular position I hold, that was fine...But to use a slave reference, I think, is ... a throwback to another time and another place that I wish Harry had thought twice about using." Btw, Sources close to the secretary said Powell, whose parents are Jamaican immigrants, is a fan of the calypso singer Mighty Sparrow and not of Belafonte (Reuters) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021010/people_nm/belafonte_4 Democrats are wondering whatever happened to Al Gore, who had led an attack on President Bush's plans to disarm Iraq but now seems to be absent from the war debate being waged in Congress and throughout the country (The Washington Times) http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20021010-15533975.htm House set to vote on Iraq resolution...President-endorsed language expected to defeat alternative (MSNBC) http://msnbc.com/news/812825.asp Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle put aside his misgivings Thursday and announced he will support President Bush's request for authority to use force against Iraq. "I believe it is important for America to speak with one voice," Daschle declared (AP) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20021010/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq Few Iraq-plan critics in tight races...Lawmakers say elections have nothing to do with how they'll vote on resolution (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20021010/4522986s.htm Iraq invites U.S. to visit sites...Deputy PM denies Washington's allegations (MSNBC) http://msnbc.com/news/811728.asp Terry M. Neal: Talking Points...Democrats Seek to Recapture the Initiative...In Key Races, Dems Seek to Shift Focus to Social Security http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5490-2002Oct10.html Hallow: The national campaign committees of both parties are fine-turning their money-spending strategies for the last four weeks of the midterm election season. http://www.washtimes.com/national/20021010-3072079.htm Va. slaying probed for link to sniper...A man was shot dead Wednesday night while pumping fuel at a gasoline station in a Virginia suburb of Washington in a slaying that appeared to closely resemble those of six other people whose deaths have terrified residents of the capital region. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/816566.asp WashPost: Probe less cohesive than advertised...Interviews with leading investigators suggest that the massive effort to find the D.C.-area sniper are fraught with the same turf battles, politics, leaks and confusion that historically have characterized manhunts of this size. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/819505.asp Tape Shows Al Qaeda Activity...An audio recording confirms that bin Laden's second-in-command is alive and the terrorists have reorganized. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3630-2002Oct9.html As Bush administration policymakers draft Iraq war plans and court support from Congress and the United Nations, they are having a difficult time answering a question that stretches beyond worries about urban warfare and weapons of mass destruction: If Iraqi President Saddam Hussein falls, what then? (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3631-2002Oct9.html Iraq has been building a new 33-foot-long "supergun" capable of firing biological or chemical shells with equipment from German companies, prosecutors said yesterday. Two businessmen are accused of being the middlemen in an Iraqi operation to procure machine tools to drill the gun's barrel. (London Daily Telegraph) http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20021010-48589039.htm A letter to Congress from the director of central intelligence has brought into public view divisions within the administration over what intelligence shows about Iraq's intentions and its willingness to ally itself with Al Qaeda. (New York Times) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&ncid=716&e=5&u=/nyt/20021010/ts_nyt/american_aides_split_on_assessment_of_iraq_s_plans Suicide blast near Tel Aviv...A suicide bomber blew himself up at a bus stop east of Tel Aviv on Thursday, killing himself and a woman and wounding five other people, authorities said. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/801833.asp Embattled SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt is again clashing with high-powered politicians, but some Washington insiders believe he will weather yet another storm. (NY Post) http://www.nypost.com/business/59362.htm U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft brought his fight against terrorism to Chicago on Wednesday where he announced a seven-count indictment against the head of a suburban Islamic group, with new charges based on "an archive of incriminating evidence" that includes the text of an oath of allegiance pledged by al-Qaida members. (Chicago Sun-Times) http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-benev10.html Simon's false accusation could prove fatal...Political experts astonished by latest blunder (SF Chronicle) http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/10/10/COPS.TMP&nl=top In the first debate featuring all candidates for Massachusetts governor, the four women and one man on the November ballot sparred over taxes, wasteful spending, and job growth last night in a lively televised forum that sometimes seemed a meandering series of dinner-table arguments. (The Boston Globe) http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/283/metro/3_added_voices_alter_the_debate+.shtml Milbank: Bush Linked to Harken Off-the-Books Deal...President Did Not Profit; White House Says Venture Can't Be Compared to Enron http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3818-2002Oct9.html?referer=email Cheney Had 'Nothing to Do' With Halliburton Shift, CEO Says...Accounting Change Spurred SEC Probe (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3810-2002Oct9.html Former presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush are scheduled to drop in on the Massachusetts gubernatorial race today in a deja vu of their 1992 presidential contest. (Boston Herald) http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/clin10102002.htm In a resumption of bitter Senate warfare over judicial nominations, Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) took the chamber floor yesterday for a rare speech expressing outrage at Democrats for delaying a confirmation vote for a former aide tapped by President Bush for a federal appeals court judgeship. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3315-2002Oct9.html Pa. GOP May Wish It Could 'Pull a Torricelli' (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3831-2002Oct9.html Kurtz: The Killer's Calling Card...News Media Criticized for Showing Police Hand http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3534-2002Oct9.html?referer=email Jacqueline Stallone, Sly's psychic mom, was alarmed when she heard about the Maryland sniper leaving the death tarot card. She believes that the shooter is "a light-haired person, in his twenties or thirties, from a good family, though he's not that close to them." (Walls) http://www.msnbc.com/news/819406.asp Cindy Adams: Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who - who knows - could be future Sen. Frank Lautenberg. How did he feel after newly ex-Sen. Robert Torricelli caved, leaving him as New Jersey's could-be/should be/would be Dem replacement on November's ballot http://pagesix.com/cindyadams/cindyadams.htm Slate: The Trial of Henry K....Was Kissinger a war criminal? A new movie can't prove the case. http://slate.msn.com/default.aspx?id=2072133 Opinion/Editorial The ultimate question...The Senate debate on Iraq boils down to this: Whom do you trust less -- President Bush or the United Nations? By William Saletan. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/819442.asp John Fund's Diary: The Kill-Everything Senate...Bush needs a Trumanesque response to Daschle's obstructionism. http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110002442 Novak: Dysfunctional Senate stalled on nominees http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak10.html Kemp: Time for a White House-Fed concord on tax cuts http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/kemp.html Cohen: Ready for War http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3737-2002Oct9.html Coulter: New global warming threat: Hot air on Iraq http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/coulter1.asp Taranto on The Stephen Glass saga: Half Empty...A journalist's career is shattered. http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110002401 Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/ Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp ========================================= This email is never sent unsolicited. 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