------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------
Hardball airs tonight at 7p, 11p & 4a ET and 4p, 8p & 1a PT You've yearned, hungered and longed for this night...It's finally here and you've got a front row seat...Chris goes one on one with Richard Clarke for the full hour...I know he's been on other shows but there's nothing like a Chris Matthews interview...Chris asks the questions about 9/11, the War on Terror, Iraq and the people and motives behind it all...The kind of stuff you won't hear anywhere else...Break out the TV dinner tray, pop the popcorn, make your favorite dinner and chill freestyle... And please...Don't be alarmed by the different atmosphere...Chris is doing the interview from the softer looking Norville set at 30 Rock not from Washington... Here's a little aperitif to whet your appetite http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4639380/ And after the interview, come back to the Briefing hit "reply" and give me a brief paragraph with your thoughts on tonight's show...Trust me, when Chris walks into the office tomorrow he'll say to me first thing "What's new, what are you hearing from your people"? That's our code for "What are the Briefing readers thinking"? So you gotta give me some ammo to present to him... Keep it Real Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC 9 Americans, including 4 civilians, killed in Iraq...Contractors' bodies mutilated, dragged through Fallujah's streets (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4551230/ The White House on Wednesday blamed terrorists and remnants of Saddam Hussein's former regime for the attack. White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters, "There are some that are doing everything they can to try to prevent" a June 30 transfer of sovereignty to an Iraqi government...The four contractors were U.S. citizens, State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli told reporters in Washington. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37891-2004Mar31.html NBC News: Those killed today included both former Seals and former Delta Force members who worked for Black Water USA http://blackwaterusa.com 2nd deadliest month for U.S. since war's end...Toll hits 48 for March after death of 5 soldiers in Fallujah (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4638538/ President Bush's former counterterrorism adviser objected Wednesday to the use of his name and critical comments about Bush in a new broadcast advertisement from a political group supporting Democratic candidate John Kerry. (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4639661/ Rice expected to testify next week...9/11 panel will also hear separately from Bush, Cheney (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4637234/ When she testifies publicly before the Sept. 11 commission, Condoleezza Rice will be making an election-year defense of the Bush's administration's anti-terrorism policy prior to the 2001 attacks. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040331/D81LHRG80.html An emotional former President George H.W. Bush on Tuesday defended his son's Iraq war and lashed out at White House critics...It is "deeply offensive and contemptible" to hear "elites and intellectuals on the campaign trail" dismiss progress in Iraq since last year's overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the elder Bush said in a speech to the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association annual convention. (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4704789 Sexual assaults by U.S. military men against their female comrades-in-arms amount to a different kind of "friendly fire" in the Iraqi-Afghan theater, victims' advocates told members of Congress on Wednesday. (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4716283 White House won't criticize OPEC move...Bush, Kerry squabbling over rising gas prices (Reuters) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4638631/ OPEC's decision to cut crude oil production shows that President Bush has not kept his promise four years ago to pressure the cartel to keep supplies plentiful, Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry said on Wednesday. (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4713789§ion=news Kerry undergoing shoulder surgery...Democrat plans to be back on campaign trail soon (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4615078/ President Bush's campaign and the GOP on Wednesday accused the campaign of Democrat John Kerry of illegally coordinating political ads and get-out-the-vote activities with anti-Bush groups and donors including billionaire George Soros. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040331/D81LGUEO0.html Is it a radio business, or is it politics? The two seem inextricably entwined for the leaders of Air America Radio, the liberal talk radio network that launched on five stations around the country Wednesday (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040331/D81LI7OG0.html Live, From the Left, It's ...Liberals are looking to a 'Saturday Night Live' alum for salvation. Backstage with Al Franken, air warrior. (Newsweek) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4571119/ The Reliable Source: The Mariane Pearl-Eason Jordan Link http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37389-2004Mar30.html ========================================= 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>