------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------ Our show airs at 7, 11 & 2 am et and 4, 8 & 11 pac
Sorry 'bout yesterday folks...It was one of those days...We had Posner's "Why America Slept" book in the Buzz last night so I had to put that segment together...Books are always the toughest because you have to read and digest them within a few hours and then regurgitate it to Chris in a matter of minutes, thus no Briefing... Be that as it may, we're gonna kick the show off tonight with several superstars: McCain, Mario and Sharpton...We'll do the whole "Bush going to the UN and seeking billions from Congress on Iraq"...The Congress, including Republicans, are growing increasingly skeptical of the cost and scope of the occupation but the CW (conventional wisdom) is that the President will get his budget request...Oh and the French and Germans are now publicly opposing our UN draft proposal... Devastating quote from Bill Kristol in the Post yesterday, Looks like Rummy's on the Neocon "boat"..."Rumsfeld lost credibility with the White House because he screwed up the postwar planning," said William Kristol, a conservative publisher with close ties to the administration. "For five months they let Rumsfeld have his way, and for five months Rumsfeld said everything's fine. He wanted to do the postwar with fewer troops than a lot of people advised, and it turned out to be a mistake." http://msnbc.com/news/961151.asp?0dm=C23CN Sharpton will critique last night's debate and why he didn't show up.... Should illegal immigrants in California get driver's licenses? We'll debate it with Bob Dornan in the D block... After weeks of accusations that he was ducking controversy, Arnold Schwarzenegger seized on one of the state's most bitterly debated issues on Thursday, vowing to fight a California law granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. (Reuters) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030904/us_nm/usa_politics_california_dc_1 The Buzz looks like Mario will do some post Dem debate slicin' & dicin' as well...Plus, I'll throw in some Powell sound from his big foreign policy speech at George Washington U. today... Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC...And no we didn't go to that nonsense on the Mall last night...I've already seen Aerosmith twice back in '87 anyway.... Hill Braces For Iraq Request...Lawmakers in both parties expressed surprise Thursday at the newly disclosed estimates for spending in postwar Iraq and said they will demand more details from President Bush, including an exit strategy and a multiyear forecast. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28097-2003Sep4.html The Democratic candidates for president joined together here tonight to attack President Bush's handling of Iraq, saying he has unnecessarily put U.S. troops in danger and destroyed international alliances, but the Democrats split, sometimes bitterly, over global trade, health care and tax cuts. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26082-2003Sep4.html Democrats hammer Bush on Iraq...Democrats out to replace President Bush welcomed his decision to finally seek U.N. help in stabilizing postwar Iraq but argued Thursday that his delay has jeopardized U.S. relations. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/961926.asp As a panel of federal judges prepared to rule Friday on the final challenge to the California recall election, Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was unfazed by criticism about his command of the issues following his no-show at the rcampaign's first debate. (AP) http://www.msnbc.com/news/945950.asp "The debate was so boring, you could play tapes of it to insomniacs who don't respond well to drugs,'' said Todd Harris, a Schwarzenegger spokesman. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28169-2003Sep4.html Democratic Gov. Gray Davis continued his Unplugged Tour in this solidly Republican area by blaming GOP lawmakers for sabotaging the state's colleges and telling actor Arnold Schwarzenegger that he needs to take a math lesson about government financing. (SF Chronicle) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/09/05/MN69600.DTL Republican gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger cast himself Thursday as the "poster child" for immigrants and suggested that Democrats have no right to use immigration issues against him in his bid to replace Gov. Gray Davis in the Oct. 7 recall election. (San Mateo Daily Journal) http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article.cfm?issue=09-05-03&storyID=25030 Gunmen open fire at Iraq mosque...Three gunmen sprayed bullets at congregants at the end of dawn prayers Friday, wounding three people, the imam at the Sunni mosque in northeast Baghdad said. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/870749.asp U.S. negotiates Iraq resolution...The 15 Security Council nations have widely differing reactions to a new U.N. resolution proposed by the United States to attract more money and troops for Iraq. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/951994.asp Government scientific advisers and officials painted a grim picture Thursday of the consequences of a terror attack on the nation's power grid, saying that any outage that lasted longer than a couple of days would reduce urban centers to chaos and collapse the economy. (UPI) http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030904-070049-7423r Editorial/Opinion Curry: Lieberman opens anti-Dean offensive...Connecticut senator warns of 'Dean Depression' if trade accords must meet U.S. standards http://msnbc.com/news/961173.asp?0dm=N25IN 'The Real Deal' on the first Democratic debate...The Democrats debated tonight for the first time in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And all of them seemed to do three things. The results oftentimes were humorous. http://www.msnbc.com/news/962284.asp Katrina's editor's cut: The creation of the Committee for the Republic is yet another sign of how mainstream members of the conservative establishment are waking up to George W's (mis)leading of the country into ruin. http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7 Selective recall...Are reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger led a swinging sex life in the 1970s relevant to his fitness for political office today? Michael Kinsley explores. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/946659.asp May: Euro-Trashing...C'est le guerre. http://www.nationalreview.com/may/may090503.asp 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. 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>