------------------------------------------------------
The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
------------------------------------------------------
The show's a bit up in the air at this hour but there's a lot of stuff out there to
"chew on" as one of our producers likes to say...Legislators return to Congress with a
heavy load to bear and an eye on November...Lots of press out there today on this
topic...I pulled a few pieces for you...Bush kicked off the season at a union picnic
in Pittburgh yesterday...Fineman tells me Bush is taking a page from FDR's playbook on
that one...One of the big issues the Senate is taking up this week is the massive
Homeland Security Department legislation...Bush is also set to meet with congressional
leaders tomorrow on Iraq...We'll talk to Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell and a Dem
tbd about it...
My man Carney will kick off the segment with an overview of the fall
campaign/legislative season as well as the Powell/Cheney split over weapons
inspectors...You saw the bites in the Buzz last night, didn't you? At this hour
Rumsfeld is holding his daily briefing and is being peppered with questions on a
possible administration split...Score one for Powell, I think...We'll play the bite
tonight...
Major Messing will do the NYT story on the special forces wishing to call off the dogs
on the hunt for bin Laden...
In the D block we'll debate whether Bush's war on terrorism will help or hurt the GOP
in this fall's elections...
In the Real Deal today...Fmr. Clinton HUD Sec. Andrew Cuomo is set to withdraw from
the NY Governor's race today...What's behind it? Plus, we'll do something from
Milbank's notebook: How many times has Bush been golfing vs. the number of times he's
had a press conference? Betcha you didn't know that one, huh? Consider it for your
next party of political trivial pursuit...Also, Did you see the picture in the NY
Post's saturday edition of Clinton looking a playbill entitled "One night stand"?
We'll show you tonight...
Plus, dig the story of all the gifts Bush got from foreign leaders...I got that below
as well...
In the Buzz we've got David Gergen and Lawrence...We'll discuss the LA Times poll on
the economy and more on the fall agenda...Why is the economy a bigger deal for folks
than the war with Iraq? Plus, Reuters is reporting that Bush will meet with
congressional leaders on Wednesday to discuss Iraq...
It's not been a good week to be a former Clinton cabinet secretary...Cuomo's dropping
out in NY and Reno's lead is quickly evaporating in Florida's Democratic Gubernatorial
primary...Maybe Reich is faring better...
Oh, another big milestone...Chris' farewell column...After 15 years, he's calling it
quits...He specifically wanted all of you to read it...
Hail and Farewell...For 15 years, I have been among the grand and lucky few to write a
newspaper column (SF Chronicle)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/09/01/IN133269.DTL
Send your comments and I'll show 'em to him....
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing in Washington, DC
The U.S. Senate opened debate on President Bush's proposed Department of Homeland
Security on Tuesday as lawmakers began to return from their August recess and start
what promised to be a busy homestretch of the 107th Congress. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1403792
President Bush has asked congressional leaders to come to the White House on Wednesday
to discuss Iraq, congressional aides said on Tuesday. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1403998
Some interesting Bush factoids in Milbank's notebook today: Bush by the Numbers, as
Told by a Diligent Scorekeeper
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27592-2002Sep2.html
Bush Receives Many Foreign Gifts...President Bush received several pairs of cowboy
boots and other Western gear during his first year in office, courtesy of foreign
officials who clearly took into account the president's taste for things Texan. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=544&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20020903/ap_on_go_pr_wh/foreign_gifts_2
Fun Clinton picture: Bill and Hillary Clinton swept through the state fair yesterday -
but didn't cross paths with Andrew Cuomo, who was pressing the flesh there at the same
time in his campaign for governor. (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08312002/news/regionalnews/21544.htm
Former President Clinton to be honored with European prize for economic achievements
(AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020902/ap_wo_en_po/germany_clinton_prize_2
Former federal housing secretary Andrew Cuomo has decided to quit the governor's race,
one of his leading supporters said Tuesday (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=511&ncid=703&e=3&u=/ap/20020903/ap_on_el_gu/new_york_governor
Fun picture: Bob Smith is gaining ground in his fight against John Sununu
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/020901/168/25uji.html
Al Qaeda Gold Moved From Pakistan to Sudan...Officials say transfer shows that the
terror group still has access to large financial reserves (The Washington Post)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/802564.asp
Commanders in the military's most elite unit argue that their troops should be freed
up from the fruitless hunt for Osama bin Laden. (NY Times)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=68&ncid=68&e=3&u=/nyt/20020903/ts_nyt/commanders_want_elite_units_freed_from_qaeda_hunt
Iraq offers to discuss inspectors...Iraq said Tuesday it was ready to discuss a return
of U.N. weapons inspectors, but only in a broader context of ending sanctions and
restoring Iraqi sovereignty over all its territory.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/802167.asp
Iraq, maneuvering to avert a U.S. attack, offered on Tuesday to work with the United
Nations to defuse its crisis with a skeptical United States. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1402977
Carrying the U.S. case against Saddam Hussein, Secretary of State Colin Powell headed
to Africa for a world summit where he was expected to face criticism from foreign
leaders upset by the Bush administration's threats to attack Iraq. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=542&ncid=716&e=4&u=/ap/20020903/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq
President Bush on Tuesday launches a new push for passage in Congress of a massive
department of homeland security, but Senate Democrats say they won't agree to his
proposals on contentious issues such as workers' rights and union membership. (USA
Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/executive/president/2002-09-02-homeland_x.htm
Fast approaching elections that will determine control of the House and Senate,
Congress returns here on Tuesday to try to resolve a division over the shape of a new
Homeland Security Department and confront an issue that has intensified in the month
that lawmakers have been away: Iraq (NY Times)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=68&ncid=68&e=2&u=/nyt/20020903/ts_nyt/congress_returns_to_look_at_domestic_security_and_iraq
Fall races kick off - unpredictably...Views on the economy and 9/11 may sway control
of Congress and 36 governorships. (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0903/p01s02-uspo.html
Congress Gets Back to Unfinished Business...Spending Struggles, Iraq and Scoring With
Voters Share Top Billing (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28123-2002Sep3.html
For my friends who flack for the Missile Defense shield: Missile defense focus
urged...Panel wants administration to narrow options (The Washington Post)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/802562.asp
Israeli high court OKs expulsions...Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the
expulsion of relatives of Palestinian terror suspects.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/801833.asp
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has told his Cabinet that if Yasser Arafat leaves
the West Bank, it will be with "a one-way ticket," officials in Jerusalem said
yesterday. (NY Post) http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/47290.htm
Russia runs out of patience with Bass...'N Sync singer Lance Bass has been asked to
leave Russia's cosmonaut training program and will not be the world's third space
tourist, a Russian space official said Tuesday.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/802655.asp
Sammon: The White House yesterday dismissed an apparent softening of Iraq's stance on
U.N. weapons inspectors while denying reports of an administration rift on how to
confront Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020903-6054285.htm
Trying to Piece Together A Puzzling Presidency...Scholars Praise Bush Staffing, Fault
Public Message (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27557-2002Sep2.html
Rowan Scarborough: Pentagon fights on two fronts...The military has slashed thousands
of jobs at its various headquarters in Washington, at a time when the services face
two major tasks: run the war on terrorism and transform the armed forces to fight new
types of enemies. http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020903-28606605.htm
Inspectors or no inspectors? Same difference, says Fleischer. And more on the debate
over going to war. (Slate) http://slate.msn.com/?id=2057110
The Democrat who has traveled most extensively to five key states in pursuit of the
presidency is not the former vice president or his 2000 ticket mate. It's not the
House or Senate Democratic leader or two prominent senators who turn up almost weekly
on Sunday talk shows. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/executive/president/2002-09-02-contenders_x.htm
Edwards Profile: Trial Lawyers Fund Edwards...Presidential Hopeful Relies on Group
That Could Be Campaign Liability (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27572-2002Sep2.html
Colorado race has matching attacks...Democrats are confident they have a winning
campaign issue in the corporate responsibility scandals - except in Colorado. (The
Washington Times) http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020903-73515252.htm
The defeat last month of Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney has further widened the split
between blacks and Jews, despite Democratic efforts to heal the rift dividing two key
parts of an important coalition. (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020903-31580300.htm
Should Cuomo take a hike?? Talks were under way Tuesday concerning a possible
withdrawal by Andrew Cuomo from the race for the Democratic nomination for governor
against state Comptroller H. Carl McCall, according to people familiar with the
situation. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020903/ap_to_po/new_york_governor_3
It was a depressing moment yesterday for Andrew Cuomo's supporters - one that seemed
to sum up the stunning decline of a once-promising campaign (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/47252.htm
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) gave Carl McCall's gubernatorial dreams a boost,
marching with the Democratic front-runner while still insisting she's neutral in the
party's primary. (NY Daily News)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/15839p-14993c.html
Separate polls released over the Labor Day weekend validate what the Florida Democrat
Bill McBride has been saying for weeks now -- that he's erased Janet Reno's enormous
lead in the party's gubernatorial primary race. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29597-2002Sep3.html
No longer the overwhelming frontrunner, Janet Reno today enters the final week of the
Democratic race for governor, suddenly facing daily questions about whether her
campaign is too seriously damaged to recover. (Palm Beach Post)
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/tuesday/news_d3470396132ad03000ce.html
Sen. Bob Smith, once trailing badly in his battle for re-election, has pulled even
with Rep. John E. Sununu in their Republican primary race, a poll shows. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=684&ncid=703&e=2&u=/ap/20020903/ap_on_el_ho/new_hampshire_senate
de Moraes: For Local Stations, More News Is Good News
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27717-2002Sep2.html
Opinion/editorial
Matthews: Where's Colin Powell...when we need him? An attack on Iraq should be last
resort http://www.msnbc.com/news/746662.asp
Miss Manners mails this piece in for your edification: Assignment America: Phantom
liberals http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020829-105825-3268r
Ethics of the rich and famous...A growing number of celebrities are using their star
power to raise funds and awareness for a variety of diseases, Arthur Caplan writes.
But is it ethical?
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/800925.asp
Lieberman: Security Blueprint...The president is putting roadblocks in the way of a
solution. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27697-2002Sep2.html
William McGurn: An 'Ally's' Contempt for America...Our friends the Saudis still hold
U.S. citizens hostage.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002209
Arkin: War grows up http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31861-2002Sep3.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
=========================================
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
