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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Special Hardball edition today at Noon ET, 9 am PT
A somewhat truncated version of the Briefing as we're covering the Condoleeza Rice
testimony in front of the 9/11 Commission live and I need you to immediately tune your
set to MSNBC...After she's done we're convening a special live edition of Hardball for
instant reax, analysis and political fallout...We'll talk to top NBC News
investigative reporter Lisa Myers and get the view from the ranch in Crawford (The
Western White House)...Gregory's down there and will conveniently provide that view
for you...Several 9/11 widows will be coming over to our Capitol Hill studios
immediately following the Hearing to give their view on Rice's testimony...
We'll also get Senate reaction from Bob Bennett (R-UT) & Bill Nelson (D-FL)...We hear
that Rumsfeld & Dick Meyers (Joint Chiefs chairman) are holding a super secret meeting
on the Hill now to brief Senators on Iraq...Also, the other day Sen. Bennett took to
the Senate floor and offered a rebuke of Ted Kennedy's "Iraq is Bush's Vietnam"
speech...Bennett says the Dems are pushing "fear and pessimism" this election
cycle...We'll ask him about his remarks as well as Rice's testimony....In other words,
we'll "take the temperature" of the Senate...(I just had to slide that little cutesy
phrase in there)
And later, we'll get perspective from GOP legal powerhouse C. Boyden Gray; a big
friend of the Bushies and White House counsel to Bush 41...
It's too early to break out the popcorn now so I'm recommending bagels and a hot cup
of French roast..
Now, moving to our 7 pm ET show...We'll talk to Newsweek super sleuth Michael Isikoff
who's on the Commission beat...Dem Commissioner Jamie Gorelick, Sen. Bob Graham, New
Yorker writer/fmr. Carter speechwriter/buddy of Chris Hendrik Hertzberg and
author/journalist Gail Sheehy will also kick it with us tonight...
Obviously folks this is a very fluid news day so our guests and schedule is subject to
change at any time...Rest assured though you'll get the latest and greatest, as
always, from us...
File photo of Bush and members of his war cabinet at the Ranch
http://apnews.myway.com/image/20040406/RICE_PROFILE.sff_WX107_20040406231507.html?date=20040408&docid=D81QL4400
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC
Rice defends anti-terror actions before 9/11...Bush security adviser: 'We worked hard'
to disrupt terrorist plots (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4693043/
National Security Advisor's statement, as prepared, for delivery to the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4693224/
Some Issues Before the 9/11 Commission (AP)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040408/D81QL93O0.html
Rice Defends Efforts to Combat Terrorism...National Security Adviser Acknowledges
Preparations Were Insufficient (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60511-2004Apr8.html
Shiite militia controls swaths of 3 Iraqi cities...General vows to retake Kut
'imminently;' Marine dies in Fallujah (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4667742/
Japanese, Koreans taken hostage in Iraq...Japan told to pull out; British civilian
contractor missing as well (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4684713/
Rotation reassessed as Iraq death toll spikes...Rumsfeld raises possibility of
prolonged tours of duty (The Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4688032/
Iraq's interior minister resigns...Al-Badran says he is quitting at request of U.S.
administrator (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4692930/
CIA feels al-Qaida tape on Iraq is probably authentic...Voice purports to be behind
earlier bombings (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4676215/
President Bush was leading a tour of his ranch for hunting, fishing and
land-conservation advocates Thursday, after national security adviser Condoleezza
Rice's testimony to the Sept. 11 commission. (AP)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040408/D81QJAL00.html
America's leaders must "search their soul" over whether they failed the country on
Sept. 11, 2001, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says. Accepting blame is
something else altogether. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040408/D81QL4400.html
Democrats split on Iraq after rise in violence...The escalation in Iraq violence and
the potential need for more troops have split Democrats on Capitol Hill, with some
such as Sen. Robert C. Byrd calling for a way to pull out and others saying the
developments have strengthened bipartisan resolve to see the job through. (The
Washington Times) http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040408-124126-8510r.htm
John Kerry: A 'cheap' aristocrat...Born to blue-blood status, wealth came with
marriage (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4685276/
Fineman: Is Bush's base beginning to crumble?...Issues threaten to shake his
once-unquestionable foundation http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4687872/
Post Analysis: Bush Credibility on 2 Wars -- Iraq, Terrorism -- Under Challenge
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59416-2004Apr7.html
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Wednesday called the situation in Iraq
"one of the greatest failures of diplomacy and failures of judgment that I have seen
in all the time that I've been in public life." (AP)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040407/D81Q5PGO0.html
A strategist with MoveOn.org, a group that Republicans accuse of being too closely
tied to Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign, is leaving to work for Kerry.
(AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040407/D81Q84E80.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
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