------------------------------------------------------
The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
------------------------------------------------------
Tonight looks like an "election night" style of reax from a panoply of players re:
Iraq's offer to allow unfettered access to weapons inspectors...The White House ain't
buying it...Communications honcho Dan Bartlett in the Post today: "This doesn't change
our posture one bit...The tired tactic of Saddam Hussein's overture on inspectors is
something he's done in the past and is met with a healthy dose of skepticism."
Another White House official: "Clearly events show that (Iraqi President) Saddam
Hussein responds to maximum pressure. Now is not the time to release any of that
pressure, internationally or within the Congress."
"We will press for a resolution," Powell said. "If they (the Iraqis) are serious, they
will want one." (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&ncid=716&e=2&u=/ap/20020917/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_iraq
Plus, this little morsel for all you Hawks out there: In a new indication of U.S.
military preparations for possible war against Iraq, the Pentagon is considering
basing a small number of B-2 stealth bombers on the island of Diego Garcia in the
northern Indian Ocean, officials said Tuesday. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=542&ncid=703&e=2&u=/ap/20020917/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq
I suspect we'll lead the show tonight with Massachusetts Senator John Kerry
(http://www.msnbc.com/news/808827.asp?0cb=-314105844) and Israeli Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres (or as he's known around here simply, "Shimon")...
NBC military analyst Bill Arkin will join us as well
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/columns/dotmil/
In the D block we'll talk to Former Minnesota Congressman and now Independent party
gubernatorial candidate, Tim Penny...Is the Independent party movement dead? Old
School Washington observers will remember him years ago from the famous "Penny-Kasich
discharge petition" they were forcing on the House for more deficit reduction...Not
sure whatever happended to that...
Tim Penny, Tim Pawlenty and Roger Moe are locked in a statistical dead heat in their
campaign for Minnesota governor, a new public opinion poll shows. (Pioneer Press)
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/4088716.htm
In the Buzz we'll do Howard (yeah I told you he was on yesterday, but TV, as in life,
is uncertain)...We got a call out to Hitchens but he doesn't always return them in a
timely fashion...
In the Real Real we'll find which gubernatorial candidate admits to smoking dope but
remember if he inhaled or not...No, Clinton isn't running for anything...
It all happens tonight at 9 pm et...Exclusively on America's Newschannel, MSNBC
http://tv.msnbc.com
The Briefing was written, compiled and edited by Dominic Bellone deep inside the
Beltway...
Hey, and don't forget, Tommorow we start the big College Tour with Jesse, Ventura, not
Jackson...
Peter Johnson gives Chris a shout out in his media mix column: This is a busy week for
Chris Matthews...On Wednesday, he kicks off weekly visits to college campuses when he
takes his MSNBC political gabfest Hardball to the University of Minnesota, where he
and students will grill a man with no love for the media: Minnesota Gov. Jesse
Ventura. http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2002-09-16-media-mix_x.htm
And check our soon to be award winning website on the College Tour:
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/tvnews/Hardball_CollegeTour/
It's D-Day for Bob Reich: Massachusetts voters go to the polls today to choose a
Democratic nominee for governor and a running mate for Republican Mitt Romney, ending
the most expensive primary races in state history and setting the stage for what is
expected to be an intense general election contest. (Boston Globe)
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/260/metro/Stakes_are_high_for_both_parties_in_primary_today+.shtml
Fun Clinton news...
He's baaaack! There's just no end to the aid and assistance being provided by former
President Clinton to Sen. Tom Harkin's re-election campaign. (Des Moines Register)
http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c5917686/19221011.html
Milbank's notebook: When President Bush travels today to Andrew Jackson's hometown of
Nashville, he may wish to stop by the Hermitage and lay a wreath at the grave of the
Hero of New Orleans. More and more, Bush has been acting like the seventh president.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26094-2002Sep16.html?referer=email
Annan: Iraq to allow U.N. inspections...U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan announced
Monday evening that Iraq had agreed to accept a new round of weapons inspections
without condition nearly four years after the last inspectors left.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/805226.asp
Iraq said Tuesday it had robbed the United States of any reason to wage war by
agreeing to re-admit U.N. arms inspectors but U.S. and British officials were deeply
suspicious of Saddam Hussein's latest move (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1459780
Oil tumbles on Iraq inspection hopes...World oil prices fell two percent on Tuesday
after Iraq agreed to allow United Nations weapons inspectors to return and said the
pretexts for a U.S. attack were thwarted.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/809027.asp
WashPost: Powell front and center on Iraq...Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, whose
public profile retreated over the summer as other senior U.S. officials talked in
ever-tougher language about confronting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, spent Monday
leading the administration's diplomatic offens
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/808982.asp
U.S. intelligence officials fear that Saddam Hussein has concocted a doomsday plan
that would use al Qaeda to attack America with Iraqi-provided biological weapons, The
Post has learned. (NY Post) http://nypost.com/news/worldnews/57127.htm
Senate Democrats are considering introducing an Iraq resolution as early as next week,
sources said yesterday. (NY Daily News)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/19609p-18570c.html
U.S. takes custody of 9/11 suspect...Suspected Sept. 11 plotter Ramzi Binalshibh has
been turned over to U.S. authorities after Pakistan concluding its questioning of the
suspected Sept. 11 plotter, a senior U.S. official told Reuters on Monday.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/804392.asp
Ramzi Binalshibh, one of the biggest prizes in the U.S.-led war on terror, could be
the first alleged terrorist tried before a military tribunal, after interrogators try
to learn all they can from the alleged al-Qaida lieutenant. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=544&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20020917/ap_on_go_pr_wh/attacks_tribunal
An al-Qaida militant arrested with alleged Sept. 11 organizer Ramzi Binalshibh has
been identified as one of the killers of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel
Pearl, a senior police official said Tuesday. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020917/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_pearl
For Bush, the Stump Goes On...President Bush lost Iowa by 4,000 votes -- one-third of
1 percent of all votes cast -- and he isn't waiting for the formality of an opponent
to try to change that in 2004 (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26553-2002Sep16.html
The Bush administration is expanding on and in some cases contradicting U.S.
intelligence reports in making the case for an invasion of Iraq, interviews with
administration and intelligence officials indicate. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020917/4453830s.htm
Democratic hopes for winning congressional elections apparently are tied to how well
they can keep domestic issues in the forefront because Republicans have a big
advantage with voters on national security, an Associated Press poll found.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=548&ncid=703&e=6&u=/ap/20020917/ap_on_el_ge/politics_ap_poll
Janet Reno was expected to offer a concession speech Tuesday as it became more
doubtful that she would overcome a narrow deficit against Democratic gubernatorial
rival Bill McBride. (AP)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/09/17/politics1041EDT0564.DTL
As it becomes more doubtful that Janet Reno will challenge Jeb Bush in Florida's
gubernatorial race, the former U.S. attorney general is ready to fight Bush on another
front: the courts. (AP)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-09-17-reno-courts_x.htm
When Lamar Alexander dropped out of the 2000 presidential race, overpowered by George
W. Bush's fund-raising machine, he complained that candidates were forced to spend
more time collecting money than talking to voters. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=544&ncid=703&e=5&u=/ap/20020917/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush
The war drums sounding in Washington have begun to resonate in Georgia's U.S. Senate
campaign, where a staunch supporter of President Bush is trying to unseat a popular
Vietnam veteran (AJC)
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/election2002/0917warsenate.html
As the Torch Burns: David Chang, the businessman imprisoned for making illegal
donations to New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli's 1996 campaign, claims his troubles
are the result of a conspiracy that includes the senator, as well as a federal judge,
prosecutors and the FBI. (NY Post) http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/57205.htm
California voters to Gore: "Beat it"...Statewide, 60 percent of the voters say they
want someone other than Gore to be the Democratic nominee, as do 52 percent of the
Democrats. (SF Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/17/MN134120.DTL
With the drama of last week's midterm primary barely past, the stage is already being
set for 2004...Apparently, Al Gore is interested in reprising his role. (Portsmouth
Herald) http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/09172002/news/24600.htm
Gore To Stump For Florida Class-Size Initiative (Miami 10 News)
http://www.click10.com/mia/news/stories/news-167102120020917-060941.html
The Bush administration yesterday designated $5 million to study how a tunnel near the
White House would affect traffic. (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20020917-32563370.htm
Inside Politics http://www.washtimes.com/national/inpolitics.htm
Kurtz: Spotlight Turns to Bush's Motives...The issue is officially out of the closet.
Almost no one wanted to come out and say that the Bush White House was pushing a
showdown with Saddam for crass, political reasons. But, now the question is being
asked http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28025-2002Sep17.html
The Reform Party has ousted the last remnants of the leadership from 2000 presidential
candidate Patrick J. Buchanan and is returning to the playbook that scored an
impressive third-party showing in the 1992 presidential election, when Ross Perot
headed the party. (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020917-7348350.htm
A TV commercial aired on behalf of Republican Rep. Greg Ganske's Senate campaign
features an out-of-state actress who says she was a longtime supporter of incumbent
Sen. Tom Harkin but now believes he has turned his back on the elderly. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020917/ap_on_el_gu/iowa_senate_ad_2
When it comes to marijuana, gubernatorial hopeful Rod Blagojevich seems to follow the
party line of former President Bill Clinton with a slight variation--he doesn't
remember inhaling. (Chicago Sun Times)
http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-blago17.html
Louisiana Republicans doubt candidate is pro-lifer...Louisiana conservatives are
questioning the pro-life credentials of the GOP-backed candidate for the Senate. (The
Washington Times) http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020917-8341928.htm
Porn group offers to buy Napster...One of the Internet's leading purveyors of
pornography has offered to purchase the Napster trademark and Web site address for
nearly $3 million in hopes of cashing in on the bankrupt firm's notorious reputation.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/808587.asp
Erotic musical based on Clinton and Lewinsky would be set in Kremlin (Ananova)
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_671680.html?menu=
Opinion/Editorial
Bray from the Heartland: Iraq and a Hard Place...To topple Saddam or not? Neither
option is easy to endorse. http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/tbray/?id=110002277
Hanson: Finish the War...And recognize how well it's already going.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002278
Perrit: My Party Must Say No to War
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26090-2002Sep16.html
Will: Delay = Disaster http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/will.html
Krauthammer: So much for the great Republican split over Iraq. Just weeks ago, we were
told that dissenters included the old-guard heavyweights: Brent Scowcroft, Henry
Kissinger, James Baker, Dick Armey and, heaviest of all, Colin Powell. Let's review
the lineup. http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/krauthammer.html
Dealey: New Jersey voters already concerned about Sen. Robert Torricelli's low ethical
threshold now learn that he's been a paid shill for a group the government identifies
as a terrorist organization. http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/57142.htm
Prince Turki al-Faisal: Allied Against Terrorism
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26088-2002Sep16.html
Fontaine: Morris is no Machiavelli...'Power Plays� is a literary pauper
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020917-94642418.htm
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
