------------------------------------------------------
The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
------------------------------------------------------
With just five days to go until the State of the Union, "NO PUBLIC EVENTS" was
how the president's press schedule read early this morning. But the
administration changed plans quickly and announced that President Bush would
head to the Brady Press Briefing Room for a chat with the White House press
corps. The president's opening remarks indicated he was looking to test-drive
some of the points being woven into Tuesday's State of the Union address. "I
thought it probably best not to practice my speech in front of you here, so
you'll pay attention to it when I deliver it. But I do want to give you some
thoughts about what I'm thinking about," he said. Here's the full transcript
from the White House:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060126.html.
If you haven't done it yet, vote for what you want the president to talk about
Tuesday in our online poll. It's part of Hardball's Decision 2006 coverage and
it's only on MSNBC! Vote here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10992973/.
On Hardball tonight, Chris will break down the president's presser with NBC
News' Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell and Chief White House
Correspondent David Gregory. Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger
also will join Chris to share his thoughts on the foreign policy matters
addressed by the president today -- from Hamas' win to Iran to the debate over
troop strength in Iraq.
Also, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will give his reaction
to the Palestinian election.
The Washington Post's Robin Wright will talk with Chris from the West Bank
about the Palestinian election. Here's more on the developments there from the
AP: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11009552/ and
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11042257/.
The Democrats' top lieutenant in the Senate, Illinois' Dick Durbin, also will
be here tonight to talk about the president's comments on the much debated NSA
surveillance activity and to explain why he and his colleagues just wrote to
the president about it. Here's the AP's wrap of that:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11042218/.
Plus, Hardblogger All-Stars Pat Buchanan and Bob Shrum will chew on all the
nuances of the president's remarks today. Read their latest takes on
Hardblogger here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/.
And don't miss Chris' interview with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,
who will deliver the Democrats' response in Spanish to the State of the Union
this coming Tuesday. Meet the mayor here: http://www.lacity.org/mayor/bio1.htm.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--AP reports Judge Alito picked up a couple more Democrats' votes today
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11043580/
--Chris vlogs about the latest 2008 poll for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10284912/#060126a
--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.
=========================================
This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this The Hardball
Briefing Newsletter newsletter because you subscribed to it or, someone
forwarded it to you.
To remove yourself from the list (or to add yourself to the list if this
message was forwarded to you) simply go to
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7140407/, select unsubscribe, enter the email
address receiving this message, and click the Go button.
Microsoft Corporation - One Microsoft Way - Redmond, WA 98052
MSN PRIVACY STATEMENT
http://privacy.msn.com <http://privacy.msn.com/>
