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Hardball airs at 7, 11 & 2 am et and 4, 8 & 11 pm pt on MSNBC More on Iraq: The Real Story tonight...Lots of news to report...Bremer's hastily arranged visit to the White House (Administration officials are concerned about the pace and process of establishing Iraqi rule)...Sanchez (our top military commander in Iraq) announcing we'll be employing more get tough measures and that we're gonna step up the seek and destroy operations to capture/kill those Iraqi insurgents...And a new classified CIA report in the Philly Inquirer saying the situation in Iraq is bleak... We'll talk to Woolsey about the CIA report... CIA has a bleak analysis of Iraq...A report found more civilians there are supporting the resistance. It conflicts with upbeat public assessments.(Philadelphia Inquirer) http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/7239049.htm Bush, senior advisers to meet on Iraq...President Bush was to meet with his War Cabinet and Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer on Wednesday to discuss a new plan to accelerate the transfer of power to an Iraqi government, sources told NBC News. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/992125.asp In the B block we'll talk to Col. James Hickey who led "Operation Raider Justice" near Tikrit (That's Saddam's 'hood)...He's confident he nabbed one of the perps who took down a U.S. black hawk helicopter on November 7th...It ought to be a very compelling story.. In the D block we'll talk to famed "Black Hawk Down" author Mark Bowden about the similarities he sees between Iraq & Somalia... In the Buzz we'll talk to notorious "smut peddler with a heart" Larry Flynt who has topless Jessica Lynch photos...He's decided not to publish them...We'll ask him why...Editor-in-Chief Jerry Nachman will join in as well...(It's unclear as we go to press whether Jerry will bring his signature cigar) Pornographer Larry Flynt says he bought nude photos of Pfc. Jessica Lynch to publish in Hustler magazine, but changed his mind because she's a "good kid" who became "a pawn for the government." (AP) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031112/ap_on_en_ot/lynch_photos_11 Hardball Briefing subscriber/MSNBC political analyst/Friend of Mortman Craig Crawford outs the Kerry claim the he was 15 points ahead of Hillary in a recent presidential poll (remember that one from the recent Boston debate?)...Crawford got a Kerry 'misspoke' out of the campaign (http://drudgereport.com/flash.htm) Crawford will speak further on the matter today when he appears on Rush's radio show (which Drudge is guest hosting today)...More from Crawford on the Kerry camp: "i just think it is SOOOOO revealing about how testy these guys get about Hillary. they are simply furious about her participation Saturday in Iowa dinner, but she was added after they agreed to do it and they can't get out of it. Should be hysterical watching her introduce each of the candidates who actually don't want her there in the first place." http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/11/12/120126.shtml PS last night on Leno, John Kerry took a page from G. Gordon Liddy on Hardball by riding up on stage on his Harley...Well, we didn't have the hog on set but we did shoot him rolling up on North Capitol St.... Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC Spectre of Somalia haunts UN role in Iraq (Reuters) http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/aef12cd002e79515c1256db90046007c?OpenDocument At least 14 Italians die in Iraq attack...A truck bomb rocked the headquarters of the Italian Carabinieri police in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on Wednesday, killing at least 14 Italians and possibly trapping others under the debris, Carabinieri officials said in Rome. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/870749.asp Italian PM: Iraq blast won't deter us...Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Italy would not be intimidated by a bombing that killed at least 14 Italian military and eight Iraqis in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on Wednesday. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/992450.asp Berlusconi verbate: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30124-2003Nov12.html Iraqis Call Saddam a Military Weakling (AP) http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-weapons-mystery,0,7169269.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines Fineman: Kerry train wreck easy to predict...The problem, perhaps the fatal problem, with John Kerry's presidential campaign is that, from the start, it's had two of everything: two sets of handlers, two centers of power and a candidate who often can't resist having two positions on an issue. http://www.msnbc.com/news/992510.asp Talkfest on the Hill...GOP's 30-hour marathon may not get new judges on the bench but will help shore up political base. (Christian Science Monitor) http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1112/p01s01-uspo.html Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean will win a double shot of momentum and organizational muscle on Wednesday with endorsements from two of the most politically influential labor unions. (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=ZMZRNNSMZ5IDECRBAE0CFFA?type=politicsNews&storyID=3801138 Breaking with most of his Democratic rivals, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark said Tuesday he favors amending the Constitution to ban flag burning. (AP) http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/7238050.htm John Kerry: "If I saw someone burning the flag, I'd punch them in the mouth because I love the flag, but the Constitution that I fought for preserves the right of free expression." http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1112kerry12.html Two more top staffers yesterday quit Democratic 2004 wannabe John Kerry's troubled candidacy a day after he fired his campaign manager - and rivals began crowing about a meltdown in his bid for the presidency. (NY Post) http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/10621.htm The "quasi-hypnotic influence" of television in America has fostered a complacent nation that is a danger to democracy, former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday. (AP) http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_2421025,00.html Opinion/Editorial Katrina's editor's cut:Howard Dean: Transformative or Transgressive?...The vision of a campaign to unseat Bush fueled by small donors is enticing. http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7 Edwards plays the Confederate card...like John Edwards. I like his economic message and his foreign policy instincts. I think he's intellectually underrated and fields questions from voters better than any other presidential candidate. I've been waiting for him to find an issue and an angle http://slate.msn.com/id/2091046/ ========================================= 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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