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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Surprisingly busy news day for a Friday...Usually Fridays are slow because Members are
off for "district work period", a cutesy phrase Members of Congress use to suggest
they're at home doing the people's business...I've worked on the Hill so I can tell
you that mostly means they're vacationing or fundraising...
Be that as is may, we'll take you to Florida tonight where the Hotline's Craig
Crawford is in Orlando covering that state's gubernatorial race which is suddenly
becoming surprisingly close...The Shuster/Jamison team is putting together a package
to get you up to speed on the Bush/McBride matchup...President Bush was down there
yesterday raising a ton of dough and there's talk in the Post this morning that Jeb's
media consultant Mike Murphy (McCain's presidential guy) would prefer Jeb to campaign
as his own man...Karl Rove, the White House political guru, sees things a bit
differently...
Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley will join us as well from Miami...
Bush Visits Florida to Bolster Brother...President Bush brought Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
a limousine ride, saturation statewide publicity and $1 million in campaign cash in an
effort to bolster his younger brother's suddenly endangered reelection race (The
Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43757-2002Oct17.html
Fun excerpt: "Administration and campaign sources said Jeb Bush's media consultant,
Mike Murphy, thought the governor needed to run as his own man and argued for
minimizing the president's political appearances, while still taking advantage of his
fundraising. The sources said that resulted in a test of wills between Murphy and the
president's senior adviser, Karl C. Rove, who contended that frequent appearances by
the president would benefit both Bushes. Murphy and Rove had squared off in the GOP
primaries when Murphy advised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)."
Yesterday's 12-hour, two-state dash raised $1.7 million and increased the president's
fund-raising total in Florida to more than $7 million. Mr. Bush has put great stock
into getting his brother re-elected in the state that proved pivotal in the 2000
presidential election (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20021018-941869.htm
Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter was led away in handcuffs yesterday after a judge sentenced
her to 10 days in jail for violating the terms of her drug treatment program. (NY
Post) http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/49432.htm
On a darker, more sinister note.....CIA honcho George Tenet had this message for us
yesterday concerning a resurgent Al-Qaeda:
"The threat environment we find ourselves in today is as bad as it was last
summer...They are reconstituted. They are coming after us. They are planning in
multi-theaters. They are planning to strike the homeland again." (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43680-2002Oct17.html
CIA, FBI chiefs fear new strikes by al-Qaida...Mueller offers little assurance his
agency can thwart attack (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.com/news/822627.asp
MSNBC Terrorism Czar Steve Emerson, O'Hanlon & Ledeen will get into that one in the B
& C blocks...Plus, we'll do a follow up on the North Korean nukes story and the latest
on that U.S./French spat at the U.N...
By comparison, our story in the D block will be a bit lighter....Apparently there was
a huge brawl at a High School football game over the weekend caught on videotape...And
it wasn't just the kids involved...The parents joined the fray as well...We'll show
you the tape and explain what happened with The New York Post's Andrea Peyser and
psychologist Bob Butterworth...
As Chris promised last night, we'll air the Barkley segment and the Hotseat tonight as
well!
Fordham University Student...Jeremy Schwarz got on the 'Hot Seat' this week. Can you
take the challenge? http://msnbc.com/news/810538.asp
Erratum: Cooleridge should have been spelled Coleridge..."white tail" should have been
"white tie"...Just shows you how much I attend those types of swanky affairs...
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC...Weather
sunny & cool...
This just in...Arizona's Sen. John McCain, busy preparing this week to guest-host
Saturday Night Live while conducting his nationwide book tour and making other TV
appearances, did not show up for a vote on a $355 billion defense spending bill.
(Arizona Republic) http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1018mccain18.html
A juicy little morsel from Sneed's Tipsville: Gore 'em? Sneed hears former veep Al
Gore may not run for the presidency.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sneed/cst-nws-sneed18.html
Page Six: MS Senator Thad Cochran on the McCain/Bush feud: "I can see the intensity of
the animosity between the president and John." http://pagesix.com/pagesix/23651.htm
Grove: The Gospel According to Sheila Jackson Lee
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43043-2002Oct17.html
Fun Clinton News: A Careful Return to Fray for Clinton...The political maestro is back
on stage, though he's often hiding behind the curtain. Former president Bill Clinton
is bounding back into politics -- albeit sometimes clandestinely -- to boost Democrats
running for office. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43654-2002Oct17.html
More from Sneed: "Rumor is former President Bill Clinton owns all the James Bond
videos"
The Bush administration has told Israel that it would deploy Special Operations forces
in the western Iraqi desert at the start of any war against Iraq to destroy facilities
that could be used to launch missiles at Israel, senior U.S. and Israeli officials
said yesterday. (The Washington Post) http://msnbc.com/news/822743.asp
An al Qaeda suspect in custody in Belgium told American investigators he saw members
of the terror organization training snipers in preparation for attacks on U.S. soil, a
source told The Post last night. (NY Post)
http://nypost.com/news/nationalnews/49466.htm
Two men were arrested Thursday for allegedly kicking a man in the head repeatedly in a
videotaped brawl that erupted after a weekend youth football game. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021018/ap_on_sp_ot/football_fight_4
Authorities are trying to identify dozens of people from a videotape that shows a
vicious brawl following a youth football game in which one man was repeatedly kicked
in the head. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021017/ap_on_re_us/football_fight_3
American and British diplomats meet Friday with their Chinese, Russian and French
counterparts on the U.N. Security Council as a month-long deadlock over Iraq's weapons
appeared to be easing. http://msnbc.com/news/821736.asp
U.S. Pinpoints Top Al Qaeda Financiers...Treasury Official Heads to Europe to Seek
Help in Freezing Backers' Assets
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43643-2002Oct17.html
Carl McCall yesterday made Sept. 11 a campaign issue - accusing Gov. Pataki of using
the trade center attacks "to divert attention" from other problems facing the state.
(NY Post) http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/49441.htm
Carnahan numbers dip in Missouri race...Sen. Jean Carnahan of Missouri is falling in
the polls, despite a barrage of Democratic TV ads against her Republican challenger.
(The Washington Times) http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20021018-51352852.htm
Authorities yesterday discredited evidence from a supposed witness to Monday night's
sniper slaying who reported seeing a cream-colored van with a burned-out taillight
leaving the Home Depot garage in Fairfax County, Va. (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20021018-26337298.htm
Fear may be overwhelming, but so are the odds...Statistics offer some perspective for
sniper worries (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20021018/4547178s.htm
Pope expected to tell bishops to ease sex-abuse policy...The Vatican is expected today
to tell the U.S. Catholic bishops to revise their tough new norms against sexual
misconduct by priests. (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20021018-85813880.htm
Democratic ex-Sen. Frank Lautenberg is holding onto a slim lead over Republican Doug
Forrester in the New Jersey race for U.S. Senate, according to the latest poll. (NY
Post) http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/49433.htm
With an eye on a 2004 presidential bid, U.S. Sen. John Edwards heads to New Hampshire
today to address a large gathering of Granite State Democrats and to attend a series
of house parties over the weekend...Edwards is booked as a guest on Oct. 28, the first
night in a series of special "Indecision 2002" broadcasts from Washington that will
focus on politics and the mid-term elections. (Raleigh News & Observer)
http://newsobserver.com/news/columnists/story/1822191p-1820953c.html
Kurtz: Media Notes: McCain's New Platform...John McCain has come up with an insidious
secret plan to wrest the presidency from George Bush: By being a heckuva lot funnier.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45248-2002Oct18.html
A VHI program that features prison musical groups has drawn complaints from a mother
who was stunned to see her daughter's killer jamming with his bandmates on TV.
(Chicago Sun Times) http://www.suntimes.com/output/television/cst-ftr-tvsht18.html
Four members of Tony Soprano's family want a bigger piece of pie. "Sopranos" co-stars
Robert Iler (A.J. Soprano), Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts), Drea de Matteo (Adriana) and
Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow Soprano) have banded together and are demanding per-episode
pay increases, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/49440.htm
"I think Colin can be talked about as the Secretary of State, but for him to be
attacked as a black man is not appropriate. ... I love Colin. I respect him as one of
our greatest leaders ever." (Rush & Molloy)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/28061p-26668c.html
Washington Whispers: What if the House GOP loses? Those following House leadership
moves say the winner of any internal fight could be Ohio Rep. John Boehner, the
well-liked and well-connected chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee.
"You could call him," says one insider, predicting Boehner's new title, "Mr. Minority
Leader." http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/whisphome.htm
Sullivan's Weekly Dish: http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20021018-74563831.htm
Page Six: Barbara Streisand and Woody Harrelson should take a deep breath and count to
10 before they spout off again. Both are making fools of themselves as they campaign
against American foreign policy and attack President Bush.
http://pagesix.com/pagesix/pagesix.htm
Opinion/Editorial
The Washington Times: Going nuclear in North Korea...North Korea is not only
belligerent, reclusive and brutally repressive, it also has (according to the regime
itself) gone nuclear - making for quite a combustible mix.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20021018-12697641.htm
The Washington Post: The only solution is for Mr. Kim to accept that he must either
abandon his weapons programs or lose his foreign lifelines and risk the collapse of
his regime. In the coming weeks, it will be crucial that he hear that message
consistently, and not just from the United States.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43785-2002Oct17.html
Charen: Appeasement only emboldens the evil doers: Clinton's
other Legacy http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/charen.html
Peggy: Man of Mystery...The pope changes the rosary.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110002487
Gelertner: The Sniper...Reflections on a murder spree.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002490
Page: Take Sharpton seriously? For Prez??
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1002/page.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
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