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No question about our lead tonight: Hurricane Rita is now a Category 4 Hurricane and rushing towards Texas...We'll get the latest on the hurricane's path and what local, state and federal officials are doing to prepare for it.. We'll talk to Port Arthur, TX mayor Oscar Ortiz, Lyda Ann Thomas, Mayor of Galveston, two cities in Rita's path...Plus, direct from Galveston, the national spokesman for the American Red Cross on efforts to aid victims of Rita...We'll also get a sense of Rita's wrath from Key West mayor Jimmy Weekly The Washington Post has a piece today http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9419053/ suggesting that the levee system in New Orleans was not as sound as once thought and that the notion that it could withstand a Category 3 hurricane was perhaps fallacious...Fmr. Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA) is in the house to give us the lowdown on the levees... David Shuster checks in with a package on the politics of Louisiana and the billions of dollars headed its way...David looks at some of the colorful political figures of Louisiana's past (Huey "Kingfish" Long immediately comes to mind) and how their legacy may have contributed to the failed response and damaged levee systems...Plus, who'll keep an eye the folks (lobbyists and such) who'll have their hands out for federal reconstruction funds? We round out the show tonight with famed jazz musician and New Orleans native son, Wynton Marsalis... Something to look forward to on Friday, Andrea Mitchell stops by to discuss her new book http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9410751 Please join us...Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Hardball Briefing from Washington, DC Rita strengthens to a Category 4 storm...Hurricane churns toward Texas, Louisiana coastline (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9389157/ As Rita closes in, levee repair intensifies...New Orleans evacuates; new questions about reliability of flood protection (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9406899/ Katrina's cost may test harmony within GOP...Congressmen question plan - or lack of one - to pay for recovery (The Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9422225/ Fournier: Hurricane Katrina and the bungled government response have weakened President Bush, raising questions among Americans about his Iraq and Gulf Coast spending plans and spreading fears among fellow Republicans that his troubles could be contagious. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050921/ap_on_go_pr_wh/katrina_bush_ap_poll&printer=1;_ylt=AmjLdNYdK9GuSaHPzzEkmV8Gw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE- Indiana Congressman Mike Pence is leading a call for cuts in the federal budget that would match the spending for hurricane relief. "Operation Offset" is the name of the effort. (WISH-TV) http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3879707&nav=0Ra7 Dickerson: Pity the Poor Fiscal Conservative...Because no one else cares if the government busts the budget for Katrina relief. http://www.slate.com/id/2126637/?nav=tap3 Roadside bombs target U.S. convoys in Iraq...2 GIs hurt day after 9 American deaths; row over U.K. jail break persists (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9332851/ The Department of Defense forbade a military intelligence officer to testify Wednesday about the work of a secret military unit that identified four 9/11 hijackers more than a year before the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, according to the man's attorney. (AP) http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/D8COLIVG0.html The senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday he will vote to confirm John Roberts for chief justice of the United States after leading lawmakers met with President Bush to discuss candidates for the other high court vacancy. (AP) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050921/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus&printer=1;_ylt=An0BgHJi4_MNSmQW9PJ13EFAw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE- Top Democrat says he will vote against Roberts...Reid also sets conditions for filibuster of Bush's next Supreme Court pick (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9409608/ Curry: Which Democrats will vote 'yes' on Roberts?...Keeping an eye on Clinton, Bayh and other presidential contenders http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9401768/ More Curry: Justice Stevens is key to high court's future...It's not Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement that could threaten Roe v. Wade http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9408518/ Sheehan slightly hurt when cops halt NYC rally...Police break up rally while Sheehan is speaking, arrest organizer http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9409111/ Tancredo, Bush Foe on Immigration, Poised as Republican Spoiler (Bloomberg) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=IN5G1I1A1I4H Mark Murray: Democrats hope to raise Kaine in Virginia...Can party finally win a gubernatorial race in the South? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9410315/ Sen. Frist sells HCA stock; then price falls...Aide says he couldn't control timing; move may temper conflict-of-interest concerns (Nashville Tennessean) http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050921/NEWS02/509210418 England pleads not guilty to prisoner abuse charges...Army private plans to claim mental defects as a defense (Houston Chronicle) http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3362592 Opinion/Editorial Terry: Poverty: All in the Family http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=9219 Pat: Declare war on 'radical Islam'? http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46436 Bozell: Bill Clinton's Round of Shoeshines and Back Rubs http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=9216 Iraqi President Jalal Talabani: We Need American Troops...Thank you for liberating my country. Please don't leave before the job is done. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007289 Hitch: 'Galloway is a hot, blustering bully - but I'm staying on his case until the very end' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/18/ngall18xml&sSheet=/news/2005/09/18/ixnewstop.html Ridgeway: Blowback From Katrina...Bush tries a P.R. approach. Basic problems of health care, jobs, housing remain http://villagevoice.com/news/0538,mondo1,67994,6.html Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/ ========================================= 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/7140407/, select unsubscribe, enter the email address receiving this message, and click the Go button. 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