------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------
Hardball airs tonight at 7p, 11p & 4a ET & 4p, 8p & 1a PT So welcome to our Hardball 7th Anniversary Week...We've got some special interviews planned this week along with taped anniversary greetings from some of our favorite Hardball friends and a couple of retrospective pieces in the works...Tonight Chris is in Los Angeles taping the Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:30 pm ET) so definitely check that out... We've dedicated a special place on our website where you can see 77 facts about Hardball, send a greeting to Chris, check out our guest lineup this week and read our special press release http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4759855/ Tonight we'll talk to Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S., Prince Bandar bin Sultan about the Woodward book and his take on U.S.-Saudi relations...That'll be half the show... The other half we'll do White House 2004 with the Kerry Chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen & CREEP Chairman Marc Racicot...Monday is shaping up to be a particularly hot day on the campaign trail...Cheney is out in Fulton, Missouri at Westminster college attacking Kerry along with $10 million worth of ads which have been unleashed against the Mass. Senator..."Weak on national security" is the CREEP attack du jour... Plus, McAuliffe was out slamming Cheney today as having "zero credibility" to attack Kerry...The Dems are actually plotting a week of Cheney bashing according to the Post today...And on a week when Kerry wants the focus to be on the jobs issue, a new video from 1971 surfaces of a Kerry interview claiming he threw 6-9 medals at the Capitol back when he was protesting the Vietnam war...Over the years he's claimed they were only "ribbons" and that he actually kept his "medals." The terms are essentially "interchangeable" Kerry said this morning...We'll try to sort out the confusion tonight... Tomorrow we're sending Chris to Cleveland to interview John Kerry from the Slovenian National Home...More on that tomorrow...Keep it Real until then Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Hardball Briefing from Washington, DC Kerry on defensive over Vietnam medals...He calls flap 'a controversy the Republicans are pushing' (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4836412/ White House promotes Woodward book...Account seen as net plus despite 'warts' (The Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4831451/ The Bush administration might have avoided a deadly insurgency in Iraq by buying the loyalty of its former military for about $200 million, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States said on Sunday. (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4931497 Cheney launches new attack on Kerry...'Ample ground to doubt' national security judgment (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4837539/ President Bush's re-election campaign turned up the heat on Democrat rival John Kerry on Monday by accusing him of a troubling record on national security and inconsistent support of U.S. troops (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=A5KO1PLYUGA3UCRBAEKSFEY?type=politicsNews&storyID=4943210 Democrats to Target Cheney...Attacks on Vice President Aimed at Eroding Confidence in Bush (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41998-2004Apr25.html John Kerry accused President Bush of failing to enforce trade agreements that protect U.S. workers as the Democratic presidential candidate kicked off a tour of four industrial states Monday. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040426/D826JI802.html Beginning Monday, President Bush's re-election campaign is more than doubling its TV ad spending rate to hammer Kerry on votes he cast in the Senate to cut spending on some weapons. (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-04-25-ads-usat_x.htm?csp=15 Battleground states in play for Bush camp...Sen. John Kerry is trailing or tied with President Bush in many of the battleground states Democrats won in 2000 and that will likely decide the outcome of this year's elections, according to a survey of polls across the country by The Washington Times. http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040426-015543-5381r.htm Blast in Baghdad building kills 2 U.S. soldiers...Troops were raiding site suspected of making 'chemical munitions' (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4824213/ Iraq's U.S.-picked leaders approved a new flag for the country, making a dramatic change that dumps the Saddam Hussein-era colors and slogan "God is great" and introduces symbols of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a spokesman said Monday. (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4836348/ Bush touts broadband, fuel cells in Minn. speech...President ties growth to technology (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4831407/ A ban on media access to coffins of killed American soldiers as they are transferred to U.S.-bound aircraft at an airbase in Germany will stay in place despite calls to relax the rules, officials said Monday. (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4942142 The Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania remained tight, a new poll showed Monday, as moderate Sen. Arlen Specter and conservative Rep. Pat Toomey campaigned across the state on the last day before the election. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040426/D826J7KO0.html The Bush administration is scrapping plans to sponsor a major global health and reproductive rights conference that features liberal advocacy groups, including several pro-choice organizations and MoveOn.org, which is spending millions of dollars on negative ads to defeat President Bush. (The Washington Times) http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040426-011659-1653r.htm GOP candidates cautious on gay marriage...Some politicians highlight opposition to same-sex unions (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4836130/ The Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider whether Vice President Cheney must release internal documents that detail the membership of a task force that met privately while helping to form President Bush's energy plan. (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-04-25-cheney_x.htm Opinion/Editorial Rousseaux: Taxing the Tide? http://www.techcentralstation.com/042604E.html Pat drops it hard this week: Going back to where they came from http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38206 Fund on the Trail: Has He Snarled His Last?...Arlen Specter's personality helps make him vulnerable in tomorrow's primary. http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005003 Jacob Hornberger: Is FOX News Supporting the Troops or the President? http://www.fff.org/comment/com0404k.asp Barnicle: Intrepid McGrory lit the way http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/187044p-161973c.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. 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