------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------
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 ========================================= This email is never sent unsolicited. You have received The Hardball Briefing Newsletter because you subscribed to it or, someone forwarded it to you. To remove yourself from the list (or to add yourself to the list if this message was forwarded to you) simply go to http://www.msnbc.com/tools/newstools/e/emailextra.asp?nfeature=19