------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------
Hardball airs two unique live shows tonight at 7 pm ET & 11 pm ET, 4 am ET and 4 pm PT, 8 pm PT & 1 am PT (The third show will be a repeat) Today Idaho, Utah & Hawaii (don't laugh, Kucinich is actually campaigning there) hold primaries tonight with 61 delegates at stake...We'll have our wing ding political panel: Howard, Norah, Trippi & Peggy We'll also do the Axelrod (Edwards)-Elmendorf (Kerry) combo of campaign strategists to hash out where their guys stand in this race and what the next move is and whatever bugaboo Chris has in his bonnet tonight.. Shuster's gonna be at the Kerry campaign with an exclusive look "inside" their strategy and he also has a great "nugget" (a word he explicitly authorized me to use) on how the Edwards campaign plans to win Illinois....We'll follow that up with a panel of editor/reporter types from a few Super Tuesday (March 2) states: Phil Bronstein of the San Francisco Chronicle and formerly the husband of Sharon Stone, Marie Cocco of New York's Newsday and Brent Larkin of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer...Btw, what's a plain-dealer and what's it got to do with the news in Cleveland? Speaking of bugaboos (btw, I don't know what bugaboo means either but its a cute "G" rated term), Chris is really fired up about this gay marriage amendment President Bush is backing...We just had a meeting where he spent a half hour going through it and us producers couldn't get a word in edgewise (shocking, huh?)...Chris will be "on fire" tonight on this one! Trust me...We'll talk to some legal types like Turley and the congresswoman who is authoring the constitutional amendment, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)..Although Bush has not endorsed any specific bill, the legislation supports his "principles" according to spokesman Scott McClellan earlier today. We'll have a few other surprises and tricks up our sleeve so stay tuned...We've even ordered the super duper extra special election campaign desk from world headquarters in Secaucus just for tonight...That allows us to see four guests on set instead of two... Quick, someone call Lucianne Goldberg: Mortman's column is now live! Where do we get jobless stats? Go figure http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4362251/ Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC Did you miss Maher last night? Disappointed that it was all the water cooler buzz at the office today and you were left out? Here's the transcript! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4356213/ Larkin: Dennis Kucinich is coming home...But he's going to receive something less than a warm welcome. http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1077447361165930.xml?oclar President Bush on Tuesday announced his support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, in an attempt to halt same-sex unions like the thousands that have been allowed this month in San Francisco. (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4360783/ Battle joined over same-sex marriage...Regional cases foreshadow fight over U.S. Constitution (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4304099/ Bush unveils 'clear choice' in campaign speech...President says Dems prone to tax increases, waffling in war on terror http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4347250/ Aiming to counter Democratic presidential candidates who have dominated the recent political debate in California, President Bush will visit the state for a two-day swing on the heels of the March 2 Super Tuesday primary. (San Francisco Chronicle) http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/24/MNGSO56RCK1.DTL San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom invited Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday to visit San Francisco so he can see for himself what the same-sex weddings at City Hall have wrought. (San Francisco Chronicle) http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/02/24/MNGO056V7I1.DTL Thousands of gay rights supporters are posting open letters on the Internet urging Mary Cheney, the vice president's daughter, to speak out against amending the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A487-2004Feb23.html "The other party's nomination battle is still playing out. The candidates are an interesting group, with diverse opinions. For tax cuts, and against them. For NAFTA, and against NAFTA. For the Patriot Act, and against the Patriot Act. In favor of liberating Iraq, and opposed to it. And that's just one senator from Massachusetts" (The Washington Times) http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040223-115212-2061r.htm Past votes may dog Kerry campaign...Democrat's support of Bush at issue (The Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4356093/ Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry charged here Monday that President Bush is "on the run" from what he termed a failed record on jobs, health care and terrorism as the Massachusetts senator defended himself against Republican criticism that he favors higher taxes and opposed major weapons systems. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A546-2004Feb23.html Kucinich Focuses on Oft-Ignored Hawaii...Caucuses Give Hope for Long-Shot Win (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A579-2004Feb23.html Despite being dubbed "Obscure Tuesday" by the national press, tonight is the night for Hawaii's Democrats to pick their presidential candidate. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) http://starbulletin.com/2004/02/24/news/story4.html Aristide powerless in half of Haiti, seeks help abroad...Marines defend U.S. Embassy; assault on capital possible soon (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4244322/ Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton is making plans to meet with both the Haitian president and rebel leaders in an effort to help stem the violent unrest in the country. (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4361896/ CIA Director George Tenet said Tuesday that the al-Qaida terror group is seriously damaged but has spread its radical anti-American agenda to other Islamic extremist groups that now pose the greatest threat to the United States. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040224/D80TOPLO2.html Here's a little such and so forth that needs to come out of the closet: Dateline: Battling sex addiction...It's a biological necessity and, for most, a pleasure. But for an estimated 16 million Americans, sex is a darker topic. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4302347/ Opinion/Editorial Pat: An index of American decline http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37251 Dionne: Bush's McCain Strategy Redux http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A804-2004Feb23.html Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/ ========================================= 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 <http://www.msnbc.com/tools/newstools/e/emailextra.asp?nfeature=19>