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Another big day in Washington and Hardball-land as we cover day two of the 9/11 Commission hearings...CIA Director George Tenet and FBI Director Robert Mueller take their turns on the hot seat today...We'll bring you live coverage throughout with political analysis from Howard Fineman and the reportage of David Shuster (live from the hearing) and Dana Priest who has an explosive piece fronting the Post this morning... And later, during our 7 pm ET show we'll wrap up the hearings with Commissioners Slade Gorton (R) & Jamie Gorelick (D)...Plus the latest out of Iraq and maybe some more political slicin' and dicin' of last night's POTUS presser...Btw, where's Kerry in all this? He's out today on Iraq and maybe we'll play some sound from that...We'll use that to kick around a discussion on the Iraq/9-11 Commission hearings and how it's all playing out politically as Bush seeks re-election... Briefing "must reads" Dana: Panel says Bush saw repeated warnings...Tenet: 'System was blinking red' http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4734564/ Mortman: People magazine, Spears get it right on Sept. 11...No demagoguery from this sassy singer http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4733689/ Are you an "Apprentice" like the rest of us? MSNBC.com's Sam Go throws her support behind Bill on the eve of Thursday's grand finale...Here's why: Bill has the edge on 'The Apprentice'...Throughout the series, he's proven he's a leader http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4704160/ Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC Tenet: CIA five years away from terror readiness...Intelligence chief tells 9/11 panel more structural changes needed (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4738424/ Bush defends U.S. policy in Iraq...President Bush used a prime-time news conference to reassure the nation about the occupation of Iraq and defend the administration's response to a pre-Sept. 11 memo that warned of al-Qaida threats. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4723799/ Curry: A plea for perseverance - and for a second term...'I don't plan on losing my job,' Bush tells televised press conference http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4732837/ Shales: A Prime Time to Ask The President Questions http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9997-2004Apr13.html Iraqi cleric offers peace proposal...An Iraqi envoy appointed by rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said the cleric had asked him to convey a set of peace proposals to U.S. officials. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4667742/ Fallujah fighting flares, truce in doubt...Baghdad scare as rocket hits Sheraton Hotel (MSNBC) http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4667742/ U.S. troops poised to seize al-Sadr in Najaf suburb...U.S. forces massed on the outskirts of Najaf yesterday as part of a campaign to capture anti-American Shi'ite cleric Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr dead or alive. (The Washington Times) http://washingtontimes.com/world/20040414-010335-7691r.htm U.S. warplanes and helicopters firing heavy machine guns, rockets and cannons hammered insurgents Wednesday in the besieged city of Fallujah, and the commander of U.S. Marines here warned that a fragile truce was near collapse. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040414/D81UM8U00.html U.S. Army to extend Iraq combat tours...Move breaks earlier pledge to thousands of soldiers (AP) http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4739978/ French journalist freed, U.S. soldier among corpses...Russia pulling workers out of Iraq over violence (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4684713/ John Kerry is caught in a political quagmire: How do you criticize the Bush administration's policy in Iraq without undermining the American troops fighting - and losing their lives - there? (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040414/D81UFG280.html President Bush appears vulnerable on several fronts, including support for whether he deserves re-election and worries about the country's direction, but Democratic rival John Kerry has been unable to capitalize on those weaknesses, a bipartisan poll suggests. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040414/D81UK3V00.html Ashcroft: U.S. 'blinded' to enemies...John Ashcroft blamed the refusal of the FBI and the CIA to work together during the Clinton administration for the failure to detect the Sept. 11 plot, quoting an FBI investigator Tuesday as complaining that "whatever has happened to this, someday somebody will die." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4721976/ Wonkette's Gossip Roundup http://www.wonkette.com/archives/gossip_roundup_modest_edition_015065.php Toomey to appear on Friday's edition of Hardball Senate race splits Republicans...Conservative political organizations are at odds over which Republican to support in the Pennsylvania Senate primary between incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Patrick J. Toomey. (The Washington Times) http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040414-123949-2466r.htm Walls: Streisand poised to sing for Kerry? Plus, odds favor 'Apprentice' Bill; Lavigne back in the mall http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4609976/ John Kerry, Young Republican? Among the many activities listed under Kerry's photo in the Yale University yearbook of 1966 is membership in Yale Young Republicans. Both the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign and the club's president at the time think the listing is a mistake, if not a prank. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040414/D81UKA500.html Opinion/Editorial Rabinowitz: The 9/11 Widows...Americans are beginning to tire of them. http://www.opinionjournal.com/medialog/?id=110004950 Terry: Two That Didn't Get Away http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=3592 Margolis: The Mother of All Blunders http://www.eric-margolis.com/ 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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