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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Good afternoon folks...Hope you had an great weekend and are ready for another
exciting week of Hardball...Tonight we're going to go hard on the Iraq story (See NYT
& Newsweek pieces below for details)...Lots to chew on there and we will with
Newsweeks Joshua Hammer (who just returned from Baghdad) and Michael Isikoff...
We'll get the latest on the Ramallah deal ending the Arafat confinement, the 411 on
the Israeli incursion into Hebron and that stalled UN investigation team in Jenin with
Moshe Arens, a former Israeli Defense Minister...
"Israel Agrees to Lift Arafat Siege...Deal Follows Appeal by Bush; Sharon Cabinet Bars
U.N. Mission" (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64616-2002Apr28.html
Former Wyoming Alan Simpson will be here for the buzz...Maybe we'll do some Clinton
stuff along with the Bush stuff...Mario may join us too...
Fun Clinton news...
Neal Travis: "Sources close to Bill Clinton tell me that the former president will
make what they call 'a major public policy statement' about the fraught situation in
the Middle East, probably within the next week."
http://pagesix.com/nealtravis/nealtravis.htm
"North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has invited former U.S. President Bill Clinton to
visit Pyongyang to play a mediating role and to cool rhetoric from Washington, a North
Korean official said Monday." (Reuters)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020429/wl_nm/korea_north_clinton_dc_12
Page Six: "Imagine a Clinton-Clinton ticket in 2004, with Hillary on top and Bill as
her vice-presidential running mate. "It's perfectly within the bounds of the
Constitution," a political insider points out."
http://www.pagesix.com/pagesix/42132.htm
The Briefing is compiled and edited by Dominic Bellone in Washington, DC
"The Bush administration is contemplating a major air campaign and ground invasion
against Iraq, with initial estimates requiring 70,000 to 250,000 troops." (NY Times)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=68&ncid=68&e=6&u=/nyt/20020428/ts_nyt/u_s__envisions_blueprint_on_iraq_including_big_invasion_next_year
Newsweek's Joshua Hammer will get into his Saddam piece: "Saddam�s Game...As the Iraqi
dictator spouts the usual bluster, he�s also working on a strategy for survival. Can
it work?" http://www.msnbc.com/news/744718.asp
And we'll round out A with Isikoff and his latest: "The Phantom Link to Iraq...A spy
story tying Saddam to 9-11 is looking very flimsy"
http://www.msnbc.com/news/744626.asp?0bl=-0
"The CIA has told President Bush that the chances of overthrowing Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein soon through covert action or a coup are slim, leaving a large-scale U.S.
invasion as the likeliest option to change the government, people familiar with agency
planning say." (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2002/04/29/iraq.htm
"Senate leaders said Sunday there is broad support for toppling Saddam Hussein but
that it is too early to take military action against Iraq." (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20020428/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq_22
Gertz: "China delivered a new shipment of missiles to bases near Taiwan last week as
part of a mounting buildup under way since the beginning of the year, U.S.
intelligence officials said."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020429-261072.htm
Israeli tanks enter Hebron...Israeli troops moved into the West Bank city of Hebron
early Monday, just hours after Israel's security cabinet and Yasser Arafat accepted a
U.S. proposal expected to lead to a lifting of the Israeli siege at the Palestinian
leader's compound in Ramallah.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/677951.asp
"...Israel said Arafat was free to leave his headquarters in the West Bank town of
Ramallah. However, Israeli tanks continued to surround his compound Monday, and Arafat
was not expected to make a move for a day or two, until six Palestinians wanted by
Israel were moved from his compound to a prison in the town of Jericho" (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020429/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_3693
"Bush says Arafat must 'condemn and thwart' terrorism...President Bush said yesterday
he expects Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to "condemn and thwart terrorist
activities" within the next 72 hours." (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020429-75998569.htm
"Quiet Diplomacy Key to Ramallah Deal...Noting It's a Small Step Toward Peace, Bush
Says, 'Much Hard Work Remains'" (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64403-2002Apr28.html?referer=email
"Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah on Thursday presented President Bush with a list of
proposed agreements for Middle East peace, including the deployment of a multinational
force, an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, and Israeli withdrawal
to pre-1967 borders." (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56179-2002Apr26.html
"Abdullah surprised Bush with three handouts � a photo album and two videocassettes �
each containing powerful images of the destruction of Palestinian homes by Israeli
troops. The two men looked through the book and watched the videos, the sources said.
Abdullah wanted Bush to see what people in Arab countries were waking up to every day
in local newspaper and television reports " (Time Mag)
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,233903,00.html
"Unlikely Allies Bound by a Common Hatred...A strange alliance, one apparently
strengthened in the aftermath of Sept. 11, links Muslim fundamentalists and neo-Nazis,
who share a hatred of the United States, Israel and Jews." (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64385-2002Apr28.html?referer=email
"Afghans See U.S. Buildup At Border...Troops' Attention Shifts to Pakistan" (The
Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64581-2002Apr28.html?referer=email
"Rumsfeld shores up support in Asia" (Chicago Sun Times)
http://www.suntimes.com/output/terror/cst-nws-rum29.html
"Rumsfeld�s Big Worries...American troops in Afghanistan" (Newsweek)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/744676.asp
"The United States on Monday won back its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, a
forum it had been deprived of last year for the first time since it helped found the
body in 1947." (Reuters)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=716&e=7&u=/nm/20020429/ts_nm/rights_un_usa_dc_3
"Skeptics Question Sincerity Of Crackdown by Musharraf...Militant Groups Continue to
Operate, but in the Shadows" (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60589-2002Apr27.html?referer=email
"How Good Is Abu Zubaydah�s Information?...Intelligence officials say they�re not sure
why he�s talking, but that some of his tips make sense" (Newsweek)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/744544.asp
"Air controllers: Saudi wanted only men...Envoy, FAA deny prince barred females from
handling Texas flights" (Dallas Morning News)
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/042702dnnatsaudis.93e5d.html
"Saudi calls tale of request by prince 'bad joke'...Prince Abdullah's advisor denied
assertions that the prince asked that women be excluded from air traffic control
duties affecting his flights." (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020429-27533544.htm
"Gay groups rallied outside St. Patrick's Cathedral yesterday to protest a church
leader's claim that homosexuality is at least partly to blame for the church's
sex-abuse scandal." (NY Post) http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/46683.htm
Orin: "Two months into the job, Bush looks young and vibrant...One very stressful year
later, the president is thinning and going gray."
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/46712.htm
"A Defiant Ventura Takes a Beating...Jesse Ventura, the iconoclastic independent who
shocked the political world nearly four years ago by winning the Minnesota governor's
office and posting stratospheric approval ratings, is on the ropes." (The Washington
Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64478-2002Apr28.html
Bedard: "Rep. Dan Burton, chair of the House Government Reform Committee, is an
unabashed investigator of the feds, no matter how far-fetched the charges. But even
his own team thinks he has gone off the deep end with his latest project: allegations
that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh is tied to Islamic terrorists." (US News &
World Report) http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/020506/whispers/6whisplead.htm
Zell Miller to the NRA: "Like many of you, I've got more guns than I need, but not as
many as I want" (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=703&e=5&u=/ap/20020428/ap_on_el_ge/nra_convention_21
"The National Rifle Association leadership offered a scathing critique yesterday of
two of President Bush's most prominent actions -- beefed-up airport security after
Sept. 11 and campaign finance reform -- even as they took credit for getting Bush
elected" (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/04/28/MN228901.DTL
"White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, best known for his televised press
briefings from the West Wing, took his act on the road, talking Mideast policy at a
Texas synagogue before hitting the "Tonight Show." (AP)
http://www.nandotimes.com/entertainment/story/383469p-3057004c.html
"Former Senate majority leader Bob Dole anticipates a rematch with Bill Clinton, his
1996 presidential rival, if Dole's wife wins a North Carolina Senate seat." (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020428/ap_on_re_us/people_dole_1
"U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman has taken a commanding lead among national Democrats in
political contributions to Iowa campaigns - a clear sign he is serious about running
for president in 2004, some say." (Des Moines Register)
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/18046642.html
Opinion/Editorials
Nobles and Knaves: http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20020427-26525696.htm
Barone: "There are some conflicts in which comprehensive settlements are impossible
and in which seeking a comprehensive settlement does more harm than good."
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michael/barone.html
Hentoff: A current of anti-Semitism...Do attacks on Israelis encompass all Jews?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20020429-76887380.htm
Witcover: Powell's falling fortunes
http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.witcover29apr29.column?coll=bal%2Dnews%2Dcolumnists
Krauthammer: Europe and 'those people'...France can hardly contain its contempt for
that muscle-bound naif, the American hyperpower, stomping around the world in search
of "evildoers." The French roll their eyes at such primitive moralism, so devoid of
Gallic nuance. http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/krauthammer.html
Chicago Sun Times: "Saudis' request wastes our time"
http://www.suntimes.com/output/commentary/cst-edt-edits29.html
Parker: Karen Hughes' choice a lesson in balance
http://www.newsandopinion.com/kathleen/parker.html
Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/viewdb.cfm?uc_full_date=20020429
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