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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Hardball airs tonight at 7p, 11p & 4a ET & 4p, 8p & 1a PT
So welcome to our Hardball 7th Anniversary Week...We've got some special interviews
planned this week along with taped anniversary greetings from some of our favorite
Hardball friends and a couple of retrospective pieces in the works...Tonight Chris is
in Los Angeles taping the Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:30 pm ET) so definitely check
that out...
We've dedicated a special place on our website where you can see 77 facts about
Hardball, send a greeting to Chris, check out our guest lineup this week and read our
special press release http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4759855/
Tonight we'll talk to Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S., Prince Bandar bin Sultan
about the Woodward book and his take on U.S.-Saudi relations...That'll be half the
show...
The other half we'll do White House 2004 with the Kerry Chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen &
CREEP Chairman Marc Racicot...Monday is shaping up to be a particularly hot day on the
campaign trail...Cheney is out in Fulton, Missouri at Westminster college attacking
Kerry along with $10 million worth of ads which have been unleashed against the Mass.
Senator..."Weak on national security" is the CREEP attack du jour...
Plus, McAuliffe was out slamming Cheney today as having "zero credibility" to attack
Kerry...The Dems are actually plotting a week of Cheney bashing according to the Post
today...And on a week when Kerry wants the focus to be on the jobs issue, a new video
from 1971 surfaces of a Kerry interview claiming he threw 6-9 medals at the Capitol
back when he was protesting the Vietnam war...Over the years he's claimed they were
only "ribbons" and that he actually kept his "medals." The terms are essentially
"interchangeable" Kerry said this morning...We'll try to sort out the confusion
tonight...
Tomorrow we're sending Chris to Cleveland to interview John Kerry from the Slovenian
National Home...More on that tomorrow...Keep it Real until then
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Hardball Briefing from Washington, DC
Kerry on defensive over Vietnam medals...He calls flap 'a controversy the Republicans
are pushing' (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4836412/
White House promotes Woodward book...Account seen as net plus despite 'warts' (The
Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4831451/
The Bush administration might have avoided a deadly insurgency in Iraq by buying the
loyalty of its former military for about $200 million, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to
the United States said on Sunday. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4931497
Cheney launches new attack on Kerry...'Ample ground to doubt' national security
judgment (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4837539/
President Bush's re-election campaign turned up the heat on Democrat rival John Kerry
on Monday by accusing him of a troubling record on national security and inconsistent
support of U.S. troops (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=A5KO1PLYUGA3UCRBAEKSFEY?type=politicsNews&storyID=4943210
Democrats to Target Cheney...Attacks on Vice President Aimed at Eroding Confidence in
Bush (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41998-2004Apr25.html
John Kerry accused President Bush of failing to enforce trade agreements that protect
U.S. workers as the Democratic presidential candidate kicked off a tour of four
industrial states Monday. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040426/D826JI802.html
Beginning Monday, President Bush's re-election campaign is more than doubling its TV
ad spending rate to hammer Kerry on votes he cast in the Senate to cut spending on
some weapons. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-04-25-ads-usat_x.htm?csp=15
Battleground states in play for Bush camp...Sen. John Kerry is trailing or tied with
President Bush in many of the battleground states Democrats won in 2000 and that will
likely decide the outcome of this year's elections, according to a survey of polls
across the country by The Washington Times.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040426-015543-5381r.htm
Blast in Baghdad building kills 2 U.S. soldiers...Troops were raiding site suspected
of making 'chemical munitions' (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4824213/
Iraq's U.S.-picked leaders approved a new flag for the country, making a dramatic
change that dumps the Saddam Hussein-era colors and slogan "God is great" and
introduces symbols of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a spokesman said Monday. (AP)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4836348/
Bush touts broadband, fuel cells in Minn. speech...President ties growth to technology
(AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4831407/
A ban on media access to coffins of killed American soldiers as they are transferred
to U.S.-bound aircraft at an airbase in Germany will stay in place despite calls to
relax the rules, officials said Monday. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4942142
The Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania remained tight, a new
poll showed Monday, as moderate Sen. Arlen Specter and conservative Rep. Pat Toomey
campaigned across the state on the last day before the election. (AP)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040426/D826J7KO0.html
The Bush administration is scrapping plans to sponsor a major global health and
reproductive rights conference that features liberal advocacy groups, including
several pro-choice organizations and MoveOn.org, which is spending millions of dollars
on negative ads to defeat President Bush. (The Washington Times)
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040426-011659-1653r.htm
GOP candidates cautious on gay marriage...Some politicians highlight opposition to
same-sex unions (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4836130/
The Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider whether Vice President Cheney must release
internal documents that detail the membership of a task force that met privately while
helping to form President Bush's energy plan. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-04-25-cheney_x.htm
Opinion/Editorial
Rousseaux: Taxing the Tide? http://www.techcentralstation.com/042604E.html
Pat drops it hard this week: Going back to where they came from
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38206
Fund on the Trail: Has He Snarled His Last?...Arlen Specter's personality helps make
him vulnerable in tomorrow's primary. http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005003
Jacob Hornberger: Is FOX News Supporting the Troops or the President?
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0404k.asp
Barnicle: Intrepid McGrory lit the way
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/187044p-161973c.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
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