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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Googling "Dubai Ports World" turns up more than 1.5 million hits today, but
that's nothing compared to the hits that the company, the United Arab Emirates,
the Bush Administration, and the president himself keep taking from critics of
the deal to allow the UAE-controlled company to run six major U.S. ports. The
much discussed 45-day review of the deal, which made some opponents feel a
little better, has yet to start, and it won't start until the company files the
paperwork to get it going. And now there is a new wave of criticism as senators
and others focus on the company's admitted recognition of a boycott of Israel.
Read NBC News' report here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11604179/.
Tonight on Hardball at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern, Chris will talk about all the
concerns and criticism with Rob Scavone, executive vice president and general
counsel for Britain's Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) --
the current port owner that Dubai Ports World wants to acquire. Hardball
Correspondent David Shuster will outline the ins and outs of the deal and NBC
News' Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell will break down the
question of who would really be in charge -- and what that means -- if the deal
happens.
Plus, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) will join Chris to share her concerns about
reports that Dubai Ports World recognizes an Arab boycott of Israel. Read more
about that, including Boxer's comments, in today's New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/politics/01port.html.
For more on port politics and the simmering intra-GOP fighting, Kate O'Beirne,
Washington editor of the National Review, and Hardball political analyst Bob
Shrum also will be here. By the way, check out more on that battle in today's
Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/28/AR2006022801607.html.
Chris also will talk tonight with Knight Ridder reporter Jonathan Landay about
his report today that says U.S. intelligence agencies warned the Bush
Administration of a possible insurgency and civil war in Iraq in late 2003.
Robert Hutchings, former chairman of the National Intelligence Council from
2003 to 2005, will be here too to talk about Landay's report. Read Landay's
article here: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13984788.htm.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--AP watches the reaction in India to President Bush's visit
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11607934/
--Newsweek's Howard Fineman contemplates a gray world
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11619808/
--AP reports on the Senate's tweaking and passing of the Patriot Act
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11622170/
--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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