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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Tonight on Hardball: "feeble," "barely articulate," "clearly stressed." That's
how FBI Director Rubert Mueller described gravely ill Attorney General John
Ashcroft, moments after Ashcroft was pressured by Alberto Gonzales and Andy
Card to approve the president's warrantless wiretapping program. Mueller's
notes on the incident were released Thursday. Compare that to "lucid," and
doing "most of the talking," which is how Gonzales described Ashcroft during
the hospital bedside visit when testifying before the Senate Judiciary
Committee last month.
Are the conflicting stories the last straw for Gonzales? Will the evidence
piling up in front of the Attorney General's office come crashing down, or will
President Bush continue to stand by his man? Hardball's David Shuster will
have the latest, and we'll talk about it all with Newsweek's Michael Isikoff
and attorney Mark Green.
Then, someone must have been watching Hardball last night when our guest, Jim
Cramer from CNBC's "Mad Money" said it's time for the Fed to get real and get
over the academic thinking. Today, the Fed lowered its discount rate. CNBC's
Erin Burnett is watching the market for us this time and she'll be here with an
update.
In tonight's Hardball Debate: Should race be a factor in where you go to
school? We'll talk about that with radio talk show host Armstrong Williams and
Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson, author of "Know What I
Mean."
And Chris' hand-picked top five hot political stories are lined up and ready to
go, including lions, tigers and Rudy - oh my! We've got a video you don't want
to miss. And get all the inside political scoop you need to take with you for
the weekend from the Hardball Roundtable: MSNBC Political Analyst Craig
Crawford, Naomi Wolfe, co-founder of the American Freedom Campaign, and radio
talk show host Melanie Morgan.
And a special Hardball tribute tonight: As the number of U.S. soldiers killed
in Iraq approaches 4,000, we'll remember those who paid the ultimate price.
For the latest on all of today's political news, go to the best political
website www.politics.msnbc.com powered by NBC News and the National Journal.
Don't forget to check out NBC's "First Read" http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/
and MSNBC.com's political calendar http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14708421/.
Shelby Poduch compiled the "Hardball Briefing" from Washington, D.C.
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