------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------
First up - the torture memos. Yesterday, the Justice Department released four memos detailing the torture techniques used by the CIA under the Bush administration. The controversial documents were made public with the assurance that the CIA operatives involved wouldn't be prosecuted. What political implications, if any, will there be? That's what we'll ask Mother Jones' Washington Bureau Chief, David Corn and Newsweek's Michael Isikoff. For more on the torture memos, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/us/politics/17detain.html?ref=todayspaper Next up - we'll take a closer look at Governor Rick Perry's (R-TX) comments about secession. Turns out: 75% of Texans are more than happy to be members of the union, so what's the Governor talking about here? Is it even legal? We'll talk about that with Rep. John A Culberson (R-TX) and UT-Austin Professor of Law and Government, Lucas Powe. For more information, go to: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891829,00.html Later, we'll be joined by actor and political activist, Ben Affleck, to discuss the political news of the day and his new movie "State of Play," which is a fictional peek into the inside world of politics and journalism. For more on "State of Play," go to: http://www.stateofplaymovie.net/ Plus, Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) made some controversial comments about abortion while speaking at a pro-life event last night. We'll talk to Atlantic Media's Ron Brownstein and MSNBC Political Analyst Harold Ford about that and more in the Politics Fix. For more on Governor Palin's comments, go to: http://news.aol.com/article/sarah-palin-speech-in-indiana/432693?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fsarah-palin-speech-in-indiana%2F432693 And speaking of Sarah Palin, is she holding a grudge against Katie Couric for their now-infamous interview back in September? We'll fill you in tonight's Hardball Sideshow. ========================================= This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this The Hardball Briefing Newsletter 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.msn.com/id/25810860, select unsubscribe, enter the email address receiving this message, and click the Go button. Microsoft Corporation - One Microsoft Way - Redmond, WA 98052 MSN PRIVACY STATEMENT http://privacy.msn.com <http://privacy.msn.com/>