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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Two big topics we're all over tonight on Hardball: the looming battle over
O'Connor's vacancy on court and the looming fate of Time Mag's Matthew Cooper
and The New York Times Judith Miller, who face a final verdict and sentencing
tomorrow in that now infamous case of the confidential White House source they
dare not name...
We'll talk to NBC News-10 (Providence, RI) investigative reporter Jim Taricani
who spent 6 months in house arrest for refusing to give up a source in a local
corruption case involving a Providence city official...Here's the background
http://www.turnto10.com/news/3929582/detail.html
Taricani will tell us about his case, why he refused to give up his source and
his take on the Cooper/Miller case is...He'll even tell us what its like to be
under house arrest..
We'll follow that up with the original bow-tied gravitas guy, Thomas Oliphant
(you know him from PBS & The Boston Globe) and Barbara Cochran, President of
the Radio-Television News Directors Association on journalism, ethics and the
sometimes touchy issue of confidential sources..
Didn't get enough fireworks on your Fourth last night?? We lead with Tony
Perkins of The Family Research Council from the Right and Ralph Neas, People
For The American Way on the Left who will duke it out over Bush's impending
announcement of who'll replace O'Connor...
President Bush says both sides need to tone it down (story below) and not
ratchet up the rhetoric level during the confirmation process...We'll see if
Ralph & Tony take his advice...
Oh and after those two guys we go to our Shrum/Frum duo who'll get into the
matter...I asked Shrum point blank whether he would join the President in
personally toning down the rhetoric...He wouldn't give me a firm answer but did
say we needed to look at the nominee first...Regardless, we'll do our part to
keep the conversation on a civil tone...
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Hardball Briefing from
Washington, DC
Bush: 'Tone down' rhetoric on court choice...President defends Gonzales in
interview with USA Today http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8466515/
President Bush said Monday that special-interest groups running TV ads and
mobilizing supporters for a fight over his choice of a successor to Supreme
Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor should "tone down the heated rhetoric." He
forcefully defended Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a prospect criticized by
conservatives. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-04-bush-usat_x.htm
Court fund-raising blitz under way...The effort to fill the Supreme Court seat
being vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has already become a fundraising
magnet for both left and right that promises to rival the 2004 presidential
campaign for the rate of cash flow, if not total dollars raised. (The
Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8465818/
Filibuster deal puts Democrats in a bind...Pact may hinder efforts to block
high court nominee (The Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8459169/
Dwight D. Eisenhower called his Supreme Court appointments the "biggest damn
fool mistake I ever made." Richard Nixon unwittingly named the future liberal
author of Roe v. Wade. George H.W. Bush's choice now evokes a GOP grumble, "No
more Souters!" (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050705/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_risky_business&printer=1;_ylt=AigaAkMDx4GLNHnXd_BLQzVAw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
A federal prosecutor on Tuesday demanded that Time magazine reporter Matthew
Cooper testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA officer's
identity, even though Time Inc. has surrendered e-mails and other documents in
the probe. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050705/ap_on_re_us/reporters_contempt&printer=1;_ylt=Aj4qtCU78jcd8v6x6G2yNk5H2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
Isikoff: The Rove Factor? Time magazine talked to Bush's guru for Plame story.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8445696/site/newsweek/
Africa, climate change key issues for Bush trip...President begins European
visit in Denmark, ends it in Scotland (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8460171/
Insurgents target diplomats in Iraq...Gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying
Pakistan's envoy to Iraq on Tuesday in the third attack on a senior diplomat in
three days, police sources said. (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8430796/
Hapless Senate Republicans. Emboldened Senate Democrats. And a second-term
president facing nothing but politically risky choices. Those are the outcomes
of a bruising, months-long battle over John Bolton's nomination to be
United Nations ambassador - and it's not over. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050705/ap_on_go_pr_wh/un_ambassador_politics&printer=1;_ylt=AvtJigKosFfOUNYMoj.IVBYGw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
'I Was Shell Shocked'...Preliminary research indicates that women who serve in
Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to suffer from posttraumatic-stress
disorder than their male counterparts. (Newsweek)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8471505/site/newsweek/
Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof on Tuesday condemned the G-8 protest violence in
Scotland's capital and said it would be "grotesquely irresponsible" for world
leaders at the summit to renege on promises of aid for Africa. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050705/ap_on_re_eu/g8_summit&printer=1;_ylt=AmEaZlJwPRloTX8p5orPdvlbbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
Opinion/Editorial
Pat: Is Bush adopting a Nixon strategy?
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45108
Katrina: Toward a More Perfect Union
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=4451
Barone: The "Supreme" Fight Ahead:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michaelbarone/mb20050704.shtml
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
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