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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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**6:30 pm et/3:30 pm pst Chris Matthews anchors MSNBC coverage**
Chris Matthews will anchor coverage of MSNBC's Operation: Iraqi Freedom from 6:30 pm
eastern to 8 pm eastern...Pls make note of the time zone in which you reside...Don't
laugh, my brother told me yesterday that he tuned in at 6:30 the other night and
didn't see Chris...He lives in California and didn't account for differing time
zones...If you're out West at 3:30 this afternoon, switch off the soaps and the
daytime trash talk and switch over to Chris and MSNBC...
We expect to be at 6:30 to 8 pm eastern time for the remainder of the week so mark
your calender, set your VCR or program your Tivo...Also of note, on Saturday night
Chris will also anchor live coverage on MSNBC from 8 to 10 pm eastern time...As this
schedule is amended, you'll be the first to know...
Our format remains the same: latest headlines at the quarter hour, your military
minute at the half hour and the latest from our NBC News team on the front...In
addition, Hardball's own David Shuster will reporter from Doha, Qatar with the latest
from Centcom...Shuster's our guy in the field...Christina Jamison is his ace
producer...You know their work from the D block debate packages...They do the 6a to 6p
eastern shift so you'll see him checking in from Doha on MSNBC and CNBC later in the
evening with Lester, Keith and our friends over at Cap Report, Alan & Gloria...
We'll have a special appearance by MSNBC's Micheal Savage tonight...A "Savage Minute"
if you will...If you've heard his radio show, you know his unique take on the
world...If not, you may be in for some verbal "shock and awe"...His MSNBC show
regularly appears at 5 & 9 pm eastern Saturdays on MSNBC but has been temporarily
preempted because of our ongoing coverage of the war...
Grandma has been a huge fan of Savage for years from his old days at KSFO in San
Francisco...She was asking me last night about his Monday appearance on the
show...Here it is: What Americans should be watching...Oscars is trival, war and
torture footage more relevant http://www.msnbc.com/news/890652.asp
Other notables joining us tonight: Sen. Trent Lott, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Sen. Chuck
Hagel, Howard and Scarborough....Subject to change at a moment's notice though...
News on the web 24/7 http://iraq.msnbc.com
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Hardball Briefing from Washington, DC
Before we get to the big headlines...I'm putting up front today's "must read" piece
which has been generating a lot of buzz inside the Beltway today...It comes from
Thomas Ricks of The Washington Post...Watch for Rummy and/or Meyers to comment on it
in today's briefing...
WashPost: Officers say war may last for months...Despite the rapid advance of Army and
Marine forces across Iraq over the past week, some senior U.S. military officers are
now convinced that the war is likely to last for months, officials said.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/891427.asp
Also at this hour...From NBC's Hot File....Sorry 'bout the all caps..Not my doing...
SENIOR AIR FORCE OFFICIAL TELLS NBC NEWS THAT US SPECIAL FORCES DETERMINED THAT THE
IRAQIS WERE WEARING "AMERICAN STYLE" UNIFORMS.
SPECIAL FORCES WERE MONITORING THE MAIN ROAD SOUTH OF BAGHDAD WHEN THEY DETECTED THE
SOUTHWARD ADVANCE OF IRAQI IRREGULARS ON TRUCKS. THE ADVANCE HAD BEEN INITIALLY
DETECTED BY THE J-STARS AIRCRAFT WHICH CAN DETECT MOVEMENT OF GROUND VEHICLES.
THE SPECIAL FORCES DETERMINED THAT SOME OF THE IRAQIS WERE WEARING WHAT APPEARED TO
BE "AMERICAN-STYLE" UNIFORMS. MOST, HOWEVER, WERE DRESSED IN CIVILIAN CLOTHES, SAID
THE OFFICIAL.
THE SPECIAL FORCES THEN DIRECTED THE AIR STRIKES AND ARTILLERY FIRE BLOOM REPORTED.
>From Norah on the Hill....
In his opening comments ... Rumsfeld is adding to the growing anxiety about the length
and costs of war. "We don't know how long it will last, how much it will cost," the
Sec/Def told Congress.
Other Rumsfeld remarks ....
- "We are still closer to the beginning than the end."
- "The campaign will growing more dangerous as troops head into Baghdad."
- "The only thing that remains unclear is how long (the war) will take"
- On reconstruction ... "Before we turn to the American taxpayer, we will
turn to the Iraqi oil fields.'
- On spending request ... "The point is with so many UNKNOWNS ... the
administation clearly needs some FLEXIBILTY"
Also moving at this hour...
Bush, Blair stand united on war...But differences emerage on post-war Iraq, Mideast
peace http://msnbc.com/news/842500_asp.htm?0cv=CA01
U.S. troops have parachuted into northern Iraq to open a new front, as President Bush
and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday vowed to wage war unrelentingly for
as long as it took to eliminate Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2460721
Coalition hails improved weather...With the skies finally clear after two days of
sandstorms, and good weather forecast for the next few days, U.S. commanders said
allied forces would quickly intensify pressure on the Iraqi military on Thursday.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/870749.asp
U.S. planes decimate Iraqi convoy...U.S. warplanes, including B-52 bombers, apparently
decimated a column of Iraqi forces attacking the Third Infantry Division Thursday.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/891508.asp
U.S. Marines treated enemy wounded Thursday and searched the blood-stained luggage of
Iraqis killed inside a bus by advancing armored units. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2459573
In the aftermath of a dramatic parachute drop into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq,
soldiers from the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade set up security Thursday at the Harir
airfield, which will be used to bring in supplies and support personnel.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/886517.asp
Filkins from the Front: Iraqi Soldiers Say It Was Fight or Die
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/international/worldspecial/27AMBU.html
One week after the United States unleashed its military campaign to drive Saddam
Hussein from power, the war has become a tough fight. (The New York Times)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=68&ncid=68&e=2&u=/nyt/20030327/ts_nyt/allies_adapt_to_setbacks
One week into the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon has pushed a large ground
force close to Baghdad, seized control of hostile skies, blasted key military
headquarters to rubble and moved troops around the battlefield at will. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030327/4997397s.htm
Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said on Thursday he had no evidence from
U.S.-led forces waging war on Iraq that Baghdad had used any banned weapons of mass
destruction. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2459848
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Thursday urged quick congressional approval of
President Bush's request for $74.7 billion to cover the emerging costs of war with
Iraq and other anti-terrorism efforts. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=542&ncid=703&e=2&u=/ap/20030327/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/war_budget
Despite possible calls in the United Nations for a cease-fire, Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday the Iraq war would not stop until President Saddam
Hussein was removed from power. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2460888
The United States would oppose any United Nations effort to lay out a road map for
postwar Iraq that would remove decision-making and control from the coalition forces
now seeking to remove Saddam Hussein, Secretary of State Colin Powell said (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=542&ncid=703&e=2&u=/ap/20030327/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/war_powell
Angry U.S. officials accused the Iraqis yesterday of committing war crimes and
employing an arsenal of dirty tricks on the battlefield - even using wounded children
as a ruse to fire on American troops. (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/71948.htm
Pentagon Shuns Name 'Fedayeen' for Iraqi Irregulars (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34652-2003Mar26.html
The State Department has named more than 30 Iraqi exiles, most of them living in the
United States, to head to Baghdad to serve as the professional core of a new
administration as soon as possible after the fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's
regime (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20030326-28582064.htm
Orin: Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday vowed that America won't turn over
control of Iraq to the United Nations - and a French veto - after Saddam Hussein is
ousted. http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/71976.htm
Using smart weapons to win a war...Coalition forces make surgical strikes with
advanced new technologies, but is it working? NBC's Jamie Gangel reports.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/890969.asp
After the first five days of the U.S.-led coalition's war on Iraq, graphic and bloody
news broadcasts have dominated Arab television news channels, and Arab public opinion
has hardened. No refugees have flooded the borders, and some Iraqis are actually
returning home in the middle of the conflict. Even those most against Saddam's regime
deeply distrust the motives of the United States. http://www.msnbc.com/news/890537.asp
Hundreds of chanting demonstrators lined Manhattan's Fifth Avenue on Thursday, and
dozens lay down in the street in a "die-in" to protest the war. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&ncid=703&e=3&u=/ap/20030327/ap_on_re_us/anti_war_protests
Moynihan, Senator and Scholar, Dies...Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 76, senator, orator and
author whose intellectual and political leadership did much to shape national policy
on the major issues of his time, died Wednesday at Washington Hospital Center (The
Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34357-2003Mar26.html?referrer=email
Jubilation turns to hate as aid arrives...The young man wearing the brown shawl summed
it up succinctly: "We want you to go back home. We do not want your American and
British aid," he said, his eyes flashing with anger. (London Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,922723,00.html
Activists Plan Lobbying Blitz To Stall 'Road Map'...U.N. Envoy Sees Opening as Blair
Prods for Peace (The Forward) http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.03.28/news1.html
Opinion/Editorial
Terry: The wall that didn't come down...One of the most symbolic images from the
closing days of the Cold War is of a wall that finally came down. It stood in Berlin
for almost three decades, separating the people of the West from their enslaved
brothers in the East.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/terencejeffrey/tj20030326.shtml
Fund's Diary: Denver Dissenter...A pro-voucher Democrat's rocky road
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110003252
O'Hanlon: Rumsfeld and all the Army's men
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030327-24485963.htm
Michael Durant: U.S. troops gird for urban fighting's terrors
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-03-26-durant_x.htm
The Washington Post: War Crimes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34654-2003Mar26.html
Samuelson: The Gulf of World Opinion
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34664-2003Mar26.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
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