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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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President Bush hopped aboard Marine One this afternoon to head to Camp David.
Before leaving, he paused on the South Lawn to share a few thoughts and reflect
as 2005 winds down. "This has been a year of strong progress toward a freer,
more peaceful world, and a prosperous America," he said, noting developments
both abroad and at home. Here are his brief remarks if you didn't hear them:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051222-1.html
With the significant exception of brewing news from the Hill that the House
doesn't like what the Senate did with the Patriot Act, like the president, most
of Washington today is quietly and quickly checking out of town -- physically
and/or mentally. But, as you'll hear on Hardball tonight, questions of whether
the president legally bypassed federal courts to allow spying on Americans
continue to swirl through the empty streets of the capital.
Tonight, Hardball's David Shuster will report on how the president has asserted
publicly many times that the courts are always involved. Is there a
contradiction in what the president has said over time and what has now been
reported?
Andrea Mitchell, NBC's chief foreign affairs correspondent who is sitting in
for Chris, will welcome Roger Cressey, NBC News' counterterrorism expert who
was a member of the Bush Administration's security team when the activity
began, and Judge Richard Posner, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals, to
discuss the intelligence and legal issues involved.
Plus, two governors who share a border but not many opinions will join Andrea
to talk about the domestic spying dispute, the (continuing) Patriot Act battle,
and much more. Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) and Gov. Bill Owens (R-CO) will both
be here!
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd also will be here to talk about the
latest White House scuffle with Congress.
And don't miss Andrea's conversation with Mark McKinnon, media adviser for
President Bush in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns, about how the CIA and NSA
stories are affecting the White House and what all of this may do to the
president's second term agenda.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--AP reports on the never-ending Patriot Act deal
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562008/
--AP watches the House wrap things up http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10574911/
--Hardblogger War Council member Col. Ken Allard (Ret.) relays what he saw in
Iraq last week http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10284912/#051221a
--Newsweek's Fineman expects "Nixon-era nastiness" in 2006
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10561966/
--Doonesbury http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html
Brooke Brower compiled the "Hardball Briefing" in Washington, D.C.
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