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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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"Victory" was the word President Bush said repeatedly in his speech today on
the eve of the Iraqi election. In less than 24 hours, Iraqis will vote for
their first constitutionally elected government. With all of Iraq's political
factions expected to participate, all eyes will be on that country in the
coming days -- even more so than usual. You must tune in to Hardball tonight
for all of the very latest in the debate over the war and the future of Iraq.
In today's speech -- the fourth and final one in a series over the last few
weeks -- the president acknowledged the intelligence criticism that has
festered for a while. He said that "it is true that much of the intelligence
turned out to be wrong. As president, I'm responsible for the decision to go
into Iraq and I'm also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our
intelligence capabilities. And we're doing just that." You can read the whole
speech here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051214-1.html.
Chris will be joined tonight by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), the top Democrat on the
Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who also sits on the
Armed Services Committee, for reaction to that statement and much more from the
speech.
The president also said today, "Iraqis will go to the polls to choose a
government that will be the only constitutional democracy in the Arab world.
Yet we need to remember that these elections are also a vital part of a broader
strategy for protecting the American people against the threat of terrorism."
A new poll by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal to be released tonight on
NBC Nightly News will provide new information on whether Americans are
embracing the president's message in light of his recent speeches. We'll have a
special sneak preview of that poll on Hardball and you don't want to miss it!
Chris also will talk with Charlie Cook, publisher of the Cook Political Report
and a contributor to the National Journal, about the impact of the president's
message both here and abroad and what the Iraqi election means for his
presidency.
By the way, check out Chris' vlog on Hardblogger examining the president's poll
numbers and Iraqis' opinions of the war:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10284912/#051213b.
Plus, we'll have the latest on the CIA leak investigation with Hardball's David
Shuster. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald may be closer than ever before
to a decision on the fate of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove. Kate
O'Beirne, Washington editor of the National Review, and syndicated columnist
E.J. Dionne will be here to discuss that as well as the president's speech
today.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--AP recaps the president's speech today http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10461235/
--NBC's Babak Behnam reports from the Baghdad streets in the final pre-election
hours http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10453557/
--AP reports on the House approving a renewal of the Patriot Act today
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10467408/
--Newsweek's Howard Fineman builds his scrapbook of (missing) presidential
photo-ops http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10455461/
--AP updates us on torture talks between the White House and Sen. John McCain
(R-AZ) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10463775/
--NBC's Mark Murray sees giddy Democrats all over the place
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10455096/
--NBC's First Read http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3626796/
--Doonesbury http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html
Brooke Brower compiled the "Hardball Briefing" in Washington, D.C.
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