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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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A big night tonight as we discuss the fate of two leaders of the Republican and
Democrat parties...One fate decided, the other hangs in the balance...I speak of
course of Messrs. Gore and Lott...We've got plenty of stories below on each gentleman
to chew on and you should expect we'll have the best slice and dice of these two hots
stories...
Lieberman held a presser in the Hart building to say he's going to weigh the "awesome"
decision of running for president...He'll announce either way in January...Lieberman
said he and Gore have been communicating via Blackberry..
McAuliffe lunched with Daschle last week and is quoted in The Post this morning as
saying: "I think Daschle will now definitely run." Fans of Hardball will know that
Howard broke this story on our air two weeks ago...
Gore is expected to hold a presser at 3 pm et and Lott is going on BET at 8 pm et for
another round of mea culpas while his number 2, Senator Nickles is calling for his
ouster...We'll play sound from both...
On the Lott front, Bush's reax via Ari will be key today...There's rumblings out there
that Rove and the boys may not get in the way of a Coup...
We'll come out of the box with some electeds and then bring on an all star panel of
pundits including Howard and Peggy (Only Chris calls her Margaret)...Luntz may play in
there too and I've got a shout out to Caddell who left a voicemail saying he was
available...We've haven't seen Mario in a while as well...He may show up too...
The Briefing must give a shout out to Mortman who said Gore wouldn't run in a month
ago...As Chris says likes to quote his old boss Ed Muskie, "The most satisfying thing
is to be out all alone on an issue and then be proven right..."
Oh and if you missed Gore on SNL we'll play the highlights from that as well...
So we had the big MSNBC Holiday party in the Big Apple over the weekend at some joint
called "Exit" with thousands of MS employees I don't know...It was all your dayside
favorites and MSNBC contributors yucking it up with MSNBC grand poobah Erik
Sorenson...John Elliot and Christy Musumeci MC'ed and some band called the Benjamins
played cool cover tunes from the '80's...FOM (Friend of MSNBC and voice over dude) Dee
Snider jumped on stage for a stirring rendition of his Twisted Sister classic "We're
Not Gonna Take It" and Raghida wore leather...Food selections included a tasty garlic
chicken dish, grilled London Broil and a standard but hearty bowtie pasta dish in a
marinara sauce...
The Briefing was compiled, written and edited by Dominic Bellone
Interesting little sugar plum here: Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern,
has again found herself caught in a political storm, this time after Italy's state TV
decided that a Sunday afternoon chat with her would be too spicy for families watching
a popular variety show.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021216/ap_en_ce/italy_lewinsky_tv_flap_3
Bush authorizes CIA to kill some terrorists...Report: About two dozen names on secret
list of approved targets http://msnbc.com/news/847615.asp?0dm=N16NN
The field for presidential hopefuls within the Democratic Party was wide open Monday,
after former Vice President Al Gore announced he would not seek the nomination again
in 2004. (MSNBC) http://msnbc.com/news/847847.asp?0cv=CA01
"I think a campaign that would be a rematch between myself and President Bush would
inevitably involve a focus on the past that would, in some measure, distract from the
focus on the future that I think all campaigns should be about," said Gore in a
hastily scheduled interview on 60 Minutes (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/nation_and_world/article/0,1426,MCA_454_1612696,00.html
Interview verbate: http://msnbc.com/news/847966.asp?0cv=CA01
With the race for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination suddenly wide open, U.S.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman said on Monday he will announce in early January if he will make
a run. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=1912397
For Democrats, a Wide-Open Fight...Former vice president Al Gore's announcement
transforms the Democratic nomination contest from a referendum on the last nominee
into a wide-open fight for the right to challenge President Bush (The Washington Post)
http://msnbc.com/news/847969.asp?0sl=-11
The announcement that Al Gore will not run for president is good news to those who
want Missouri Democrat Richard Gephardt to make a White House bid. (St. Louis Post
Dispatch)
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/D5810A7B96D2CE6E86256C91001CFEA4
Dick Gephardt will be the likely front-runner in Iowa if the outgoing House minority
leader from Missouri decides to run, said Rob Tully, former chairman of the Iowa
Democratic Party. (Des Moines Register)
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/19999289.html
Lambro: At the same time, the former vice president's decision removes someone many
considered Mr. Bush's strongest opponent. Mr. Gore was far and away the most popular
Democratic choice for 2004, according to polls. Virtually all of the other Democratic
contenders trailed far behind Mr. Gore in the latest head-to-head, national match-ups,
and most of them are relatively unknown.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20021216-24461532.htm
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a strong backer of Al Gore's presidential bid two years ago,
is praising Sen. John F. Kerry as the early Democratic favorite in the 2004 race for
the White House. (Boston Herald)
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/tedk12162002.htm
Suddenly, it seemed, Al Gore was everywhere: Hot-tubbing with ''Joe Lieberman'' in a
Saturday Night Live skit, signing copies of his new book on family, submitting to what
seemed like round-the-clock interviews with media hot shots from NBC's Katie Couric in
the morning to CBS' David Letterman late at night. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20021216/4703557s.htm
No. 2 GOP senator calls for new vote...Nickles wants new election for Lott job; other
Republicans voicing concern (MSNBC) http://msnbc.com/news/845511.asp?0cv=CA01
Lott, who has apologized repeatedly, had agreed to a wide open interview, a spokesman
for BET told CNN, while The Washington Post reported on Monday that the embattled
senator planned to unveil new initiatives intended to benefit blacks during his
appearance on BET. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=XDEI0O2YT01KACRBAELCFEY?type=topNews&storyID=1913007
Four Singled Out As Being Potential Successors to Lott...GOP May See Rare Fight for
Leadership (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59200-2002Dec15.html
Six short weeks after midterm election triumphs, Senate Republicans are struggling
rather than celebrating, plunging deeper into a messy debate over whether Sen. Trent
Lott's racially charged remarks should disqualify him as leader. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&e=3&u=/ap/20021216/ap_on_go_co/lott
Fineman: Ghosts of the Past...It was a Washington classic: History suddenly rears up
and threatens a safe pol's security. Anatomy of the Lott firestorm
http://www.msnbc.com/news/847739.asp?
Lott backed - but mainly by whites...A drive through Sen. Trent Lott's hometown
quickly reveals the depth of devotion residents have for their senator. (AP)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20021216-1171588.htm
The Defense Department is considering a directive to the military to conduct secret
propaganda missions in friendly nations. (NY Times)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=68&ncid=68&e=1&u=/nyt/20021216/ts_nyt/pentagon_debates_propaganda_push_in_allied_nations
New tax plan may bring burden shift...Poor could pay a bigger share; rich could
benefit (The Washington Post) http://msnbc.com/news/847999.asp?0sl=-12
Former Virginia governor James S. Gilmore III warns today in a report by his federal
terrorism commission that the government must guard against transforming the FBI into
"a kind of secret police" focused only on preventing attacks. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59193-2002Dec15.html?referer=email
Kissinger: Probing the Client Controversy...Kissinger steps down as chair of the
independent commission to investigate the 9-11 terrorist attacks (Newsweek)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/847697.asp
GOP Sets Early Push For Judges...Senate Republicans are planning to move aggressively
on judicial nominations at the start of the 108th Congress, hoping to hold three
voting sessions in January to install new judges on the federal bench (Roll Call)
http://www.rollcall.com/pages/news/00/2002/12/news1216a.html
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Sunday his administration threatened North
Korea with the destruction of its nuclear facilities when the Asian state was
developing weapons-grade plutonium in the early 1990s. (Reuters)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=584&ncid=584&e=3&u=/nm/20021215/pl_nm/korea_clinton_dc
Iraqi exiles want US in - then out...More than 300 opposition leaders met this weekend
in London to plan for a future without Saddam Hussein. (CS Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1216/p01s03-wome.html
Sean Penn: Actor on a Mission for Peace...Star Visits Baghdad in Hope of Staving Off a
U.S. Attack (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59486-2002Dec15.html
Gertz: North Korea sent 15 gunboats to Iran last week aboard an Iranian freighter that
arrived about the same time that U.S. and Spanish warships temporarily seized a
shipment of North Korean Scud missiles, The Washington Times has learned.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20021216-39526000.htm
Just hours before he announced he's not running for president in 2004, Al Gore proved
he really is one big joke - on "Saturday Night Live." (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/64721.htm
HOH: Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) canceled the comedy skit that he performs at his
annual holiday party at the last minute last week, so Kennedy's pals missed a juicy
chance to see the liberal lion cavorting with "J-Lo" and taking a shot at Sen. John
Kerry (D-Mass.) to boot. http://www.rollcall.com/pages/columns/hoh/
Opinion/Editorial
Rousseaux: Name the Noble and Knave of the year...Announcing the Nobles and Knaves of
the year contest http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20021216-1048812.htm
Buchanan: The Democracy Worshipers...Export-democracy cultists should read their
Russell Kirk http://www.amconmag.com/12_16/buchanan6.html
Barnicle: The tragedy of Law's fall from grace
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/story/43463p-40980c.html
Saletan: The Lot of Them...Trent Lott's hypocritical accusers
http://slate.msn.com/default.aspx?id=2075408
Kaus Files: Gore: No on Re-Go!...Plus: Unspinning Mary Matalin
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2075444
Novak: Lott late in seeing feeding frenzy
http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak16.html
Morris: In defense of Lott http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/64742.htm
Conason: If there's an uplifting aspect to Trent Lott's nostalgic endorsement of
Dixiecrat barbarism, it isn't his strange apology, in which he pretended not to have
said what he plainly did say. http://www2.observer.com/observer/pages/conason.asp
More Rousseaux: Biotech advances and its dangers
http://www.washtimes.com/books/20021215-3531007.htm
McGurn: Saudi PR Turns...From Spin To Stonewalling...Even the flacks aren't willing to
defend their lies. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002777
Bartley: Intellectual Roots of a New Foreign Policy...U.S. power can and should be a
force for good. http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/rbartley/?id=110002778
Leo: Social victims enjoy unusually creative year
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/leo.html
Bush's pollster Matthew Dowd: The Politics of Polarization
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59782-2002Dec15.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
Mallard http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
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