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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Republicans from the people's chamber chose a new person to lead them today. In
a closed door meeting on Capitol Hill, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio was elected as
the new House Majority Leader, defeating Roy Blunt of Missouri and John Shadegg
of Arizona to permanently take over for embattled Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, who
had stepped aside from the leadership post last year because of pending legal
charges. (Blunt had served as the acting leader since that time.)
Tonight, Chris will talk with NBC News' Mike Viqueira and Roll Call's Mary Ann
Akers about how it all went down and what Boehner's election means for the
Congress and the country. Here's Viq's blog and NBC's report on what happened:
http://dailynightly.msnbc.com/ and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11143210/.
Meanwhile today, President Bush pressed on with his post-State of the Union
push to promote economic good tidings at a 3M plant in Minnesota. He also spoke
at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning. Here's the AP's report on what
Bono said to the president at breakfast: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11146046/.
Also tonight, Chris will talk with Don Evans, President Bush's confidant and
former secretary of commerce, about the economy, energy, midterm election
politics, and a whole lot more. Evans currently works as the CEO of the
Financial Services Forum. Check out more on that and his thoughts on the
president's newest pitch here: http://www.financialservicesforum.org/.
MSNBC Political Analyst Ron Reagan and Viet Dinh, former assistant attorney
general for legal policy under President Bush, will be on the show to discuss
the vote to extend the Patriot Act again temporarily, the upcoming Senate
hearings on the NSA's formerly secret surveillance program, and the other civil
liberties questions swirling out there.
Hardball's David Shuster will take a look at how the Bush Administration is
framing some of the policy arguments stemming from the State of the Union.
Former Nixon/Ford/Reagan/Clinton Administration advisor David Gergen and Chuck
Todd, Editor-in-Chief of National Journal's Hotline, will be here to size up
the president's talking points and ponder what the change in Hill leadership
could mean for the president's legislative agenda! Explore Gergen's site:
http://www.davidgergen.com/. And here's the Hotline's (free) politics blog:
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--MSNBC reports on today's threat report to the Senate Intelligence Committee
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11144316/
--MSNBC adds up the expected budget request for Afghanistan and Iraq
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11145948/
--Punxsutawney Phil reports from Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania
http://www.groundhog.org/
--Hardblogger (!) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/
--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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