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            The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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A number of production elements are still up in there air at Hardball HQ this Monday 
afternoon but here's the layout thus far....We've got the sweeping commutation that 
Ilinois governor George Ryan granted to 167 death row inmates which is generating heat 
on both sides of the issue...More than likely, this will lead the show...Famed 
anti-death penalty crusader Barry Scheck and fmr. prosecutor Wendy Murphy will join 
us...

Over the weekend The Washington Post reported a senior Bush administration official 
blamed the Clinton administration for the trouble with North Korea...Is that accurate 
or fair?  We'll debate it in D...

In the Buzz we'll get into the shape of the Dem '04 field...Lieberman jumped in the 
fray today at his Stamford, CT high school (The Briefing spotted The Post's Dan Balz 
which clearly adds a marked level of gravitas to the presser), Sharpton did the 
standard MTP (Meet the Press) presidential job interview yesterday and Graham made 
this rather cryptic statement on Saturday...

"I am not running for president...I am going to to be the president of the United 
States." Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) (Palm Beach Post) 
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/sunday/news_e302ae8ba68d32c900e5.html

PS Brother Novak drops this little morsel in the mix today which I highly recommend: 
"GOP senators on the warpath" 
http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak13.html

Lieberman enters White House race...'Rise above partisan politics,' Senator urges 
audience at alma mater
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/856649.asp

Balz: With Gore Out, Lieberman Announces Bid...Former VP Candidate Is Latest to Join 
Presidential Race http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48545-2003Jan13.html

Kerry sets tone for campaign...''When I'm president of the United States, we're going 
to have early childhood education,'' he said Friday night to a hearty round of 
applause (The Boston Globe) 
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/013/nation/Kerry_sets_tone_for_campaign+.shtml

Gephardt on Bush: "He is a nice man ... but he is uninformed, he is inexperienced and 
he has no curiosity...He is not up to this job, and he needs to be replaced." (St. 
Louis Post-Dispatch) 
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/news/AE11B3999B44F6C786256CAB00165468?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2CGephardt&headline=Gephardt+courts+Democrats+in+South+Carolina,+offers+harsh+criticism+of+Bush

While Rep. Dick Gephardt's entry into the race for the 2004 Democratic presidential 
nomination makes him the instant front- runner for the Iowa cau- cuses in 2004, 
political insiders agree an early favorite will not diminish activity in Iowa and may 
even invite more (Des Moines Register) 
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/20211198.html

Sharpton Off and Running, Going 'Full Speed Ahead' (The Washington Post) 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47267-2003Jan12.html?referer=email

A Leap of Fate...A governor's controversial last hurrah clears out Illinois's crowded 
death row  (Newsweek) http://www.msnbc.com/news/858247.asp?0cv=KB10

They wept--again. For the many relatives of victims of some of Illinois' most brutal 
murders, Sunday was the day to let the world know how they felt about Gov. Ryan's 
decision to commute the sentences of 167 Death Row inmates. (Chicago Sun Times) 
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-death13.html

Human rights activists around the world on Sunday applauded the move by the governor 
of Illinois to spare death row prisoners from execution and urged President Bush to 
follow his lead by abolishing the death penalty. (MSNBC) 
http://www.msnbc.com/news/857602.asp

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said yesterday that Illinois Gov. George Ryan "did an awesome 
thing" in commuting the sentences of 167 death-row inmates. (NY Post) 
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/53154.htm

Bush team blames Clinton for crisis...Says 1994 N. Korea agreement left `the difficult 
things' for next leader (The Washington Post)
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/nation/1732955

GOP Tightens Hold In the House...House Republican leaders, through a series of rule 
changes and key appointments, are tightening their hold on power as they prepare to 
push for new spending cuts, bigger tax breaks and a more ambitious social agenda (The 
Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.com/news/858429.asp

Frist: Eyes always on the next step...Quest to stay ahead of pack leads to primacy in 
the Senate (The Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.com/news/858149.asp?0sl=-13

High Roller...Bush upped the ante with his bold tax plan. But the Democrats are also 
feeling lucky. Does the president have a winning hand? (Newsweek) 
http://www.msnbc.com/news/858239.asp?0cv=KB10

Paul O'Neill on the Bush tax cut: 'I would not have done it' (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) 
http://www.post-gazette.com/nation/20030112oneilltwonat2p2.asp

The White House's lead salesman to Congress for the president's economic plan played 
down opposition from Senate Republicans, saying Sunday that the proposal is not fully 
understood. (AP) 
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=703&e=3&u=/ap/20030112/ap_on_go_co/congress_taxes

U.S. envoy: Aid to N. Korea possible...North Korea might get energy aid from the 
United States and other countries if it resolves concerns over the communist nation's 
nuclear weapons development, the top U.S. envoy for Asia said Monday after meeting 
South Korea's president-elect. 
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/850567.asp

N. Korea will negotiate...North Korea is ready to negotiate an end to the standoff 
with the United States, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said yesterday. (The 
Washington Times) http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030113-5562378.htm
 
Troop-carrying airliner targeted?...Evidence exists of a plot to blow up an aircraft 
carrying troops and cargo to the gulf region, the New York Times on Monday reported 
U.S. defense sources as saying.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/852248.asp

Petty Officer 2nd Class Edgar Rodriguez and his wife, Kerri, know that deployment with 
little warning is part of Navy life. But that didn't make saying goodbye any easier 
when he joined fellow sailors aboard the USS Ashland. (AP) 
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&e=2&u=/ap/20030113/ap_on_re_us/troop_deployment

EPA Rules Trouble Pentagon...Environmental laws inhibit wartime- readiness training, 
U.S. military says (The Washington Post) 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47531-2003Jan12.html

Race appeal will test Bush record with court...If President Bush decides not to 
participate in the Supreme Court case over whether public universities should favor 
racial or ethnic groups in their admissions, it would run counter to his 
administration's record. (The Washington Times) 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030113-490601.htm

GOP tries to increase black support...Top Republicans including national party 
Chairman Mark Racicot and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist today will host a meeting 
with Armstrong Williams. (The Washington Times) 
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030113-45108772.htm

Case Is Stepping Down at AOL...Resignation, Effective in May, Comes Under Pressure 
From Shareholders (The Washington Post) 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47321-2003Jan12.html

..Mr. Case, a 44-year-old Hawaii native, said he decided to quit because "some 
shareholders continue to focus their disappointment with the company's post-merger 
performance on me personally." 
http://washingtontimes.com/business/20030113-22020146.htm

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Sunday he supports President Bush's 
renomination to a federal appeals court of a Mississippi judge whom Democrats rejected 
last year when they controlled the Senate. (AP) 
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20030112/ap_on_go_co/pickering_nomination

Cloning issue again before Senate...An effort to ban human cloning got under way in 
the new 108th Congress last week. (The Washington Times) 
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030113-588910.htm

Angry that Democrats killed his bill to prevent another Clinton-style pardon scandal, 
Sen. Arlen Specter says he'll reintroduce it this year in hopes the new Republican-led 
Congress can approve it. (NY Post) http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/53185.htm

Kurtz: Frist Enjoying His Honeymoon...If ever a political figure was depicted by the 
press as able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, it is Bill Frist. Not since 
John McCain was giving out doughnuts on his bus in New Hampshire has the press swooned 
for a Republican like this. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48951-2003Jan13.html

Clinton as 'supervisor in chief'...Here's how involved ex-President Bill Clinton has 
become in the construction of his presidential library and museum in downtown Little 
Rock. (Washington Whispers) 
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/whisphome.htm

Young Presidential Adviser Returns Home -- for Now (The Washington Post) 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47138-2003Jan12.html

Sneed: It was not a day like any other. It was Gov. Ryan's last day. And he spent it 
watching football, smoking a Cuban cigar, drinking a Coke, and chuckling at the 
"gifts'' he left behind for his successor, Gov.-elect Rod Blagojevich. 
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sneed/cst-nws-sneed13.html

Opinion/Editorial

Stars and stripes...Amid a growing mound of Confederate flag cases, one unsettled 
legal issue in courts across the country is this: Can public schools ban the wearing 
of Dixie Outfitters and other Confederate T-shirts?
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/857290.asp

The Wall Street Journal: Daschle's Election Lesson...Do Democrats know why they lost 
the Senate majority? http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002901

Barnicle: Here's the bottom line: 100G ain't so rich 
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/story/50707p-47559c.html

Landfield: The Bush Economic Plan: Robin Hood in Reverse 
http://www.politicsvt.com/Landfield/1_13_03.htm

Peggy: That Seven-D's Show...Democrats learned their lesson in 1992. Will they learn a 
new one in 2004? http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110002891

Conason: Welcome, G.O.P.! Now, Please Leave! 
http://www2.observer.com/observer/pages/conason.asp

Hanson: 'Bomb Texas'...The psychological roots of anti-Americanism 
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110002900

Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/

Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp


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