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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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USA TODAY caused an uproar on Capitol Hill today with a front page story
headline reading "NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls." It
seemed that every member of Congress had a copy of the story in his or her
hands today, and if you haven't read it yet, then do it here:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm.
Here's NBC's report on today's reaction to it:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12734870/.
Back in December, a similar uproar raged over the NSA's tracking of calls into
and out of the United States by those with suspected ties to al Qaeda. Today's
report talks about a database for tracking calls within the country. What does
it all mean? The president made an unscheduled White House appearance to
comment, saying, "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of
millions of innocent Americans. Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda
and their known affiliates. So far we've been very successful in preventing
another attack on our soil." Read his entire remarks here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060511-1.html.
Tonight on Hardball, NBC News Counter-Terrorism Analyst Roger Cressey will join
Chris to talk about the scope and goal of the program. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO)
also will be here to share his take on it. Read the senator's statement today:
http://salazar.senate.gov/news/releases/060511nsa.htm.
Former 9/11 Commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste and former Gov. Jim Gilmore
(R-VA), who is currently the chair of the National Council on Readiness and
Preparedness, will discuss the pros and cons of the NSA's activity and what it
may or may not have to do with the nomination of former NSA boss Gen. Michael
Hayden to run the CIA.
Also tonight, Tom Freidman, New York Times columnist and author of "The World
is Flat," will talk with Chris about the politics of spying, the global state
of affairs, gas prices in Middle East politics, and much more.
Plus, Bloomberg News' Margaret Carlson and OpinionJournal.com's John Fund will
be here to talk about how the NSA story could impact President Bush's base.
Here's Carlson's piece today on the state of the CIA:
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_carlson&sid=aiwiYcEaOB1c.
And here's Fund's piece from Monday pondering the fate of 2006:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110008347.
And don't miss Chris' conversation with author Tom Wolfe about politics from
the White House to the frat house.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--Newsweek's Wolffe and Bailey ponder how low the polls can go
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12726180/site/newsweek/
--MSNBC.com's Tom Curry looks at what a Democratic Congress could look like
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12675876/
--H-A-R-D-B-L-O-G-G-E-R 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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