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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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The story keeps getting weirder and perhaps, scarier, by the day...Mueller is warning
of the inevitability of suicide bombings in the U.S., Rumsfeld told Congress today
that terrorists are likely to acquire nukes and Cheney said over the weekend that the
next 9-11 is "not a matter of if, but when." On top of that, the New York Times is
reporting today that the infamour Phoenix FBI memo was not even given to Bush until
after 9-11...A disturbing INS report out today also found that "widespread failure by
many individuals in the INS" allowed suicide hijackers Mohamed Atta and Marwan
Al-Shehhi to obtain student visa status. On top of that "New terror warnings have not
prompted U.S. officials to raise the nationwide alert status because the intelligence
on possible attacks is too vague, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Tuesday.
(AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020521/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/attacks_warnings_18
What's going on here? Is there a failure in Homeland Security? Who's to blame? What
can be done to stop this tide of "inevitability"? We'll ask these questions and much,
much more...(The same ones you'd ask if you were hosting this show)
We'll talk to Massachusetts senator John Kerry among others...Howard will be here as
well...Katrina and Simpson will do the buzz on all this plus our D block (a hot one)
is below...Read on my friends...Also, I need some feedback and have a couple of
questions for you a) did you see Friday's panel and what did you think? b) how has
Chris been playing the 9-11 intelligence story?
Send your short (2 paragraphs or less) answer to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want
to throw in a comment or two about the Briefing I'd appreciate that as well..
>From the Briefing mailbag...Wiki writes
"My social life is heading south because some of your shows are so full of goodies
that frequently I have to watch twice in one evening. Bad enough that I don't leave
the house but it's reached the point where I don't even answer the phone during
"Hardball".
Wiki, I feel for you...I am often made fun of because I'm a cable tv news
junkie...Sometimes I even watch Hardball reruns when I get home after I've spent all
day producing the show...I'm weird like that...Here's my advice: invite your friends
over and make a party out of it...Make some appetizers, mix some drinks and watch the
show!...I guarantee that it will spark a lot of fun discussion...This way you'll have
a social life and get to watch your favorite show at the same time...All the best and
let me know how it goes! D
Dominic Bellone compiled and edited this document in Washington, DC
Attorney General John Ashcroft and the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, were
told a few days after the Sept. 11 attacks that the F.B.I. had received a memorandum
from its Phoenix office the previous July warning that Osama bin Laden's followers
could be training at American flight schools, government officials said today. (The
New York Times)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=68&ncid=68&e=3&u=/nyt/20020521/ts_nyt/ashcroft_learned_of_agent_s_alert_just_after_9_11_but_bush_was_not_told
Adding to the Bush administration's stark warnings about terrorist attacks, FBI
Director Robert S. Mueller III said Monday that a walk-in suicide bombing like the
ones that have terrorized Israelis is "inevitable" in the United States. (The
Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45241-2002May20.html
"We don't know when," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "All we
know is it is consistent with patterns we have seen overseas and with information we
have been receiving over the last few weeks." (LA Times)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-052102bomb.story
Fareed's piece in the Post this morning struck me as particularly hot for a debate
today..Should the U.S. have a secret police force that can snoop on your phone calls,
open your mail and look into your bank account?? Fareed thinks so...We'll debate it
tonight in the D block..."No one at the FBI had the job of strategic analysis -- i.e.,
of connecting the dots. And even if someone had made the connections, what could the
agency have done? The answer, in hindsight, is clear: tap phones, raid computers and
track bank accounts."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47971-2002May20.html
President Retains Strong Support...President Bush's approval rating remains high, but
more than half of Americans polled say they lack full confidence in government's
ability to prevent future terror attacks, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News
survey http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47243-2002May20.html
Howard's latest: 'I Sniff Some Politics'...Bitter about the capital storm, Bush needs
to get over his anger and give up his love of secrecy and surprise
http://www.msnbc.com/news/754330.asp
INS Error Cited on Atta's Visa...U.S. authorities now believe the Immigration and
Naturalization Service may have improperly allowed terrorist ringleader Mohamed Atta
to reenter the United States eight months before the Sept. 11 hijackings despite
questions about his visa status, officials said Monday. (LA Times)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-000035852may21.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dnation
Yesterday's report also reveals that the flight school official responsible for
certifying the two men's paperwork told Justice Department investigators that she had
just been assigned to the job, received no training from the INS and was unsure how to
fill out the forms...So she turned to one of the future hijackers, who "directed her
on the proper procedures for filling out the forms," the report found (Wash Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45573-2002May20.html
Seper: Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, which oversees the INS, called the report "deeply disturbing." He said it
showed that INS inspectors lack important information when assessing aliens'
eligibility for admission into the United States.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20020521-31797242.htm
Terrorists are sure to eventually acquire nuclear, chemical and biological weapons,
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told senators Tuesday. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020521/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/attacks_warnings_19
Lieberman on Bush's economic plan: "His economic plan could fit on the back of a
shampoo bottle: 'Cut taxes, increase spending, borrow, repeat'"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47708-2002May20.html
Al Qaeda hunt: violent shell game...British-led forces sweep through eastern
mountains, but their 'enemy'
may be local Afghan tribes sniping at one another. (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0520/p01s01-wosc.html
A British artist who redesigned McDonald's most famous characters so they would appear
more child-friendly has sued McDonald's, saying the fast-food giant is now using his
images without compensating him. (Chicago Sun Times)
http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-mac21.html
Officials see wider terrorism threat...Additional terrorist attacks against the United
States will likely include walk-in suicide bombers like those plaguing Israel and
plots by enemies other than al-Qaida, government officials said Monday.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/754110.asp
U.S. still wrestles with terror warnings...How much has changed about how threats from
terrorists are analyzed by the government and shared with the public? NBC's David
Gregory reports.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/755005.asp
"Bush's Afghan Plan Questioned...Legislators Fear Poor Security Will Impede Democracy"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47738-2002May20.html
Yasser Arafat's popularity has been slipping amid growing dissatisfaction with his
corruption-ridden regime, but no other Palestinian can muster enough support to pose a
serious challenge to the Palestinian leader, according an opinion poll published
Tuesday. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020521/ap_wo_en_po/palestinians_arafat_4
Nablus may have taken worst hit...Attention was focused on Jenin, Bethlehem (The
Washington Post) http://msnbc.com/news/755043.asp?0dm=N19TN
Mineta to defend handling of threats...Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on
Tuesday will defend government handling of information about vague hijacking threats
made by terrorists before Sept. 11 when he faces Senate lawmakers pressing to know
what the Bush administration may have known
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/754136.asp
Fourteen members of Congress, some of the wealthiest American companies, and even CNN
founder Ted Turner and ABC correspondent Sam Donaldson will continue to rake in huge
federal crop subsidies under the $248.6 billion farm bill signed last week by
President Bush (The Washington Times)
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020521-2129967.htm
Former Mayor Edward G. Rendell was counting on a big turnout in the Philadelphia area
in Tuesday's Democratic gubernatorial primary while Auditor General Robert P. Casey
Jr. sought support in more conservative districts elsewhere in the state. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=703&e=1&u=/ap/20020521/ap_on_el_ge/primary_rdp_4
President Bush risks sparking a new row with Europe this week when he calls for
Europe's support for expanding his War on Terror to include the Iraqi regime of Saddam
Hussein. (London Times) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-302976,00.html
Palestinian course now more inclusive...Snehal Shingavi drew criticism after earlier
saying that "conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections." (AP)
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20020521-84765610.htm
Page Six: The horsey set was surprised to see neighbor and tango enthusiast Robert
Duvall sporting a cane and a distinctive limp at the annual Virginia Gold Cup
Steeplechase Races. http://www.pagesix.com/pagesix/16501.htm
One wore wraparound shades. The other a gray suit...U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill began an African tour Tuesday with rock star Bono as guide. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=4&u=/ap/20020521/ap_on_re_af/africa_o_neill_bono_6
Clinton clan still center of media obsession...They're fascinating: from Bill's
Pacific diplomacy to Chelsea's Oxford
snogging. (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0520/p02s01-ussc.html
Opinion/editorial
The benefit of hindsight...Should the Bush administration have been able to 'connect
the dots' and anticipated al-Qaida's use of hijacked planes to hit the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon? Only in retrospect, writes William Saletan in Slate.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/754932.asp
Kramer: The Word in Washington:Cover Your Behind
http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-05-21/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-151646.asp
Diaz-Balart: What would have happened if, when Francisco Franco was turning 76 years
old, as Fidel Castro is now, the European Economic Community had dropped its democracy
requirement for Spain's entry into that economic superpower in order to "try something
else," since Franco had already been in power for three decades?
http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/2002/05/21/ncoppf.htm
Woolsey: Foiling the Next Attack...Stop the blame game. There's work to be done.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110001738
Mondo Washington Ever Bigger FBI Flails at the Enemy Within...Long Arms of the Law
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0221/ridgeway.php
Gaffney: The 'next war' http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/gaffney.html
O'Rourke: Ex-presidents bedevil Bush
http://www.suntimes.com/output/orourke/cst-edt-rour21.html
Arkin: Icons of the Crusade
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/columns/dotmil/A44956-2002May20.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/viewdb.cfm?uc_full_date=20020521
Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
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