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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Well despite what you may have heard on Imus this morning, Chris will be hosting the
show from Washington and he's, pardon the Briefing cliche, on fire...
Did you catch this bombshell this morning?
A Democratic senator charged on Thursday that CIA Director George Tenet had told
members of Congress that a White House official had insisted on including a disputed
allegation about Saddam Hussein's push for a nuclear weapon in a presidential speech
(AP) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030717/ts_nm/iraq_bush_dc_3
McClellan (Ari's successor): "I think that characterization is nonsense. It's not
surprising coming from someone who is in a rather small minority in Congress that did
not support the action that we took"
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3109740
Plus this little sugar plum...CIA late in seeing Iraq forgeries...Intel on Iraq-Africa
nuclear connection was already cited by President Bush...The CIA did not receive the
now-discredited documents that were a key source of the Bush administration's claim
that Iraq sought uranium in Africa until after President Bush's State of the Union
address, U.S. officials say. (AP) http://msnbc.com/news/937524.asp?0cv=CA01
And at this hour Kerry & Dean have statements out demanding answers...
Lions, tigers and bears, Oh My!
Folks, it's gettin' kinda murky in here...The Washington blame game is at a heated
pitch and Tony Blair has just arrived at Andrews and will address a joint session of
Congress and have a 6 pm presser with President Bush...It's gonna be a long day...
I dare you not to tune into Hardball...There will be no better reaction to the
Bush-Blair press conference, the Intell flap and the political fallout than right here
at 7 pm eastern...We've got a number of Senators lined up for the front half of the
show: Specter, Shelby, Lindsey AND Bob Graham, & Dayton...
In the Buzz we've got Lawrence, former CIA guy Robert Baer and some other White House
insider types to give us the deal on the damage control and who may haved pushed the
faulty intell....
Nights like this separate the booking men from the booking boys...
How cool was Liddy riding up on his motor bike? I told you we were gonna do that...
Dominic Bellone wrote compiled and edited The Briefing
A War on Wilson?...Inside the Bush Administration's feud with the diplomat who poured
cold water on the Iraq-uranium connection (Time Magazine)
http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0,8816,465270,00.html
Alleged Saddam audiotape surfaces...An audiotape attributed to Saddam Hussein surfaced
on Thursday, the anniversary of his party's rise to power, as U.S. troops remained on
edge over the possibility of new attacks.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/870749.asp
Tenet Says He Was Unaware of Claim...CIA Director George J. Tenet told the Senate
intelligence committee Wednesday that his staff did not bring to his attention a
questionable statement about Iraq seeking uranium in Africa before the State of the
Union address. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2936-2003Jul16.html
Milbank analysis: Intel dispute festers as victory fades...16 brief words in a speech
lead to potentially transformative political debate (The Washington Post)
http://msnbc.com/news/940052.asp?0dm=O16ON
The White House said yesterday that Capitol Hill Democrats - nearly half of whom
supported using force to disarm Iraq - are now playing politics and trying to pretend
they had doubts all along about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction program.
(The Washington Times) http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030716-111959-6441r.htm
Prime Minister Tony Blair, already under fire in Britain over whether he used weak
intelligence reports to make the case for war in Iraq, arrives in Washington today for
a meeting with President Bush as the controversy gains momentum on Capitol Hill. (The
Boston Globe)
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/198/nation/Blair_to_meet_Bush_address_Congress+.shtml
Palestinian, Israeli PMs to meet Bush...Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said
Wednesday he would hold talks with President Bush in Washington on July 25 in efforts
to push forward a U.S.-backed peace plan.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/801833.asp
Allies Didn't Share All Intelligence on Iraq...U.S. and British intelligence agencies
concealed information from each other and reached contradictory conclusions about
disputed claims that Iraq tried to buy nuclear materials, British officials said
Wednesday. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2445-2003Jul16.html
Plus...He's back...Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, not seen since he was toppled
in April, appeared to call on Iraqis to mount a jihad, or holy struggle, to oust
occupying U.S. troops in an audiotape aired Thursday. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=UNN2RMOWDLOVCCRBAE0CFEY?type=topNews&storyID=3109043
The Democratic presidential contenders are split on the future of CIA Director George
Tenet, with two calling for his resignation and the rest focusing directly on the
White House for misleading Americans about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
(Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3104620
Two of the Democratic presidential candidates called for the resignation of embattled
CIA director George Tenet on Wednesday as the rest of the field faulted President Bush
for misleading the public about Iraq (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20030717/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_tenet
'Guerrilla' War Acknowledged...New Commander Cites Problems (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2830-2003Jul16.html?nav=hptop_ts
Senate Republicans yesterday held the line against Democratic efforts to challenge
President Bush over Iraq, rejecting initiatives to internationalize postwar operations
and to create a commission to probe how intelligence was used -- or misused -- to
justify going to war. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2722-2003Jul16.html?referrer=email
The Bush administration has drafted a U.N. resolution that authorizes deployment of a
multinational force to Liberia and prepares the ground for U.S. participation,
administration officials said yesterday. (The Washington Times)
http://washingtontimes.com/world/20030717-121024-3191r.htm
After a harsh rebuke for their failure to attend a NAACP candidate forum, Democratic
presidential contenders Joseph Lieberman, Richard Gephardt and Dennis Kucinich said on
Wednesday they had rearranged their schedules to address the U.S. black civil rights
group. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3104490
Democratic candidates Dick Gephardt and Dennis Kucinich apologized to the NAACP
convention on Thursday for skipping a presidential forum the civil rights group held
earlier this week. (AP)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/07/17/national1104EDT0571.DTL
President Bush got applause and "amens" from black urban leaders on Wednesday when he
pushed his faith-based initiative and talked about his emotional visit to a slave
depot in Senegal. But later a top black leader in Congress turned down a White House
briefing on the president's trip to Africa. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=693&e=2&u=/ap/20030717/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_urban_leaders
GOP Fundraising in Question...Republican state attorneys general in at least six
states solicited political contributions from corporations or trade groups subject to
lawsuits or regulations by their state governments, according to internal fundraising
documents obtained by The Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3050-2003Jul16.html?referrer=email
AL Gore would be the biggest threat to President Bush's re-election and Hillary
Clinton the next most dangerous opponent, Republican strategist Ed Rollins said
yesterday at the "Is Bush Unbeatable in 2004?" forum sponsored by The Week magazine.
(Page Six) http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix.htm
Presidential campaign event draws crowd...Democrat Bob Graham was accompanied by
NASCAR drivers and bluegrass musicians. (Roanoke Times)
http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story152429.html
Rep. Jerrold Nadler will go back under the knife next month for a second surgery to
speed up his weight reduction. (NY Post) http://nypost.com/news/regionalnews/807.htm
Opinion/Editorial
The money-counting game...The press spends too much time telling us that Dick
Gephardt's campaign isn't raising enough money and too little time telling us what
Gephardt thinks is wrong with our country and how he would fix it. By Will Saletan.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/939827.asp
Fund's Diary: Reid My Lips...A state tax hike may sink the Senate's No. 2 Democrat.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110003755
Joe's 'Real Deal' on U.N. and gun control...Remember the old commercials for Reese's
Peanut Butter cups? You know, the two great tastes that go great together? Well, our
friends at the U.N. are launching a plan that combines two lousy ideas, and the result
would be bad news for law abiding Americans.
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/940279.asp>
Outside view: Justice O'Connor rules
http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=20030714-065113-6976r
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
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