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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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A man who reportedly claimed he had a bomb was shot and killed today at Miami
International Airport. It was the first time that a federal air marshal has
fired a weapon to respond to a suspected security threat since the
reconfiguration of the air marshal program after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Hardball will start tonight with coverage of this breaking news with a report
from NBC's Justice Correspondent Pete Williams along with analysis from
security experts.
In other big news, one week after his Naval Academy speech, President Bush
stepped up to the podium again today to deliver the second installment of
what's been billed as a series of major addresses on the state of affairs in
Iraq. Tonight, Hardball will have the best analysis of and reaction to the
commander-in-chief's remarks. As we continue our series of reports on ending
the war, Hardball's David Shuster will join Chris to break down the most
significant points made today by both the president and the Democrats who
promptly disagreed with him.
A big question of course is whether the president is moving public opinion on
the war. Chris will host a pair of House members who have been in Iraq to
debate what it's like there on the ground and just how much of the president's
assessment they either embrace or reject. House Armed Services Committee
members Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who is also
co-chair of the Victory in Iraq Caucus, will be here together. Tauscher just
got back from Iraq on Sunday. Wilson has been to Iraq five times, most recently
in August, and his son served in the National Guard in Iraq.
For today's speech, the White House chose the setting of a meeting of the
Council on Foreign Relations to discuss developments in the Iraqi economy and
infrastructure. Here's the text of the president's speech in case you missed
it: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051207-1.html. And here's
the Council on Foreign Relations' website if you're curious about them:
http://www.cfr.org/
Chris also will hash out the politics surrounding the White House's ever
evolving approach in the war debate. Have they truly gone on the offensive yet?
Are the American people concerned about details of the Iraqi economy? What is
the real state of the Iraqi army? Atlantic Monthly's James Fallows and Tony
Blankley of the Washington Times will discuss those huge questions and more
with Chris. Read a preview of Fallows' big look at the state of the Iraqi
military here: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200512/iraq-army. And
Blankley looks at (Iraq neighbor) Iran's nuclear capability in his column today
through a Shakespearean lens:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/tblankley.htm.
Jonathan Landay, senior national security reporter for Knight Ridder
Newspapers, will talk with Chris about his reports on pre-war intel and how he
didn't buy the the case for war the administration sold to American reporters.
Read Landay's latest report on U.S. involvement in the Iraqi media here:
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/columnists/jonathan_s_landay/13314700.htm.
Plus, Hardblogger All-Stars Pat Buchanan and Ron Reagan will discuss the
president's speech, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)'s reaction, whether the
administration is in permanent campaign mode, the Democrats' fears of backlash
at polls because of anti-war remarks by some of their leaders, what the grand
jury is up to in the CIA leak investigation -- and what that means for Karl
Rove, and much, much, much more.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--AP processes the president's presentation
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10360949/
--Newsweek's Fineman sees where the White House is headed
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10365175/
--Hardblogger All-Star Andrea Mitchell discusses free media in Iraq
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/
--Chris vlogs on Bush v. Kerry (in 2005) on Hardblogger!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10284912/#051207a
--Washington Post's Cooperman explains the debate around the White House
"holiday" card http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10355980/
--Doonesbury http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html
--First Read (NBC's daily political memo -- you should read it everyday!)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3626796/
Brooke Brower compiled the "Hardball Briefing" in Washington, D.C.
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