Entries from Jan 2016
Mike Barnicle on the late legendary journalist Tim Russert

Ahead of another Morning Joe broadcast from Java Joes CoffeeHouse in Des Moines, Iowa on Monday, Mike Barnicle, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist, and Joe Scarborough recall the special moment when legendary journalist Tim Russert showed up unannounced in 2008. “He always brought fun and insight to everything he ever did—and he did that day,” says Mike of the late Russert, then host of NBC’s Meet the Press. Watch the highlight here. Only on MSNBC.

Vice News’ Ben Anderson talks with Mike Barnicle

Joining MSNBC’s Morning Joe is Vice News’ Ben Anderson, who talks with Mike Barnicle and panel about his experience traveling to the front lines of ISIS in Iraq, as well as investigating Russia’s role in the fight. “The West has tried to come up with propaganda devices to prevent young people from most of Europe from being attracted to ISIS and we’ve been incredibly lame in our attempts to do this. Do you think there is anything we can do to come up with some propaganda devices to slow this down?,” asks Mike. Listen to Anderson’s response on the battle for hearts and minds between ISIS and the West and watch the full conversation on HBO Vice’s upcoming report on the fight against ISIS here.

Mike Barnicle on Ferguson Police Department’s agreement to use body cameras

“Body cameras do a couple of things: They helpfully point out any wrongdoing by police officers and, on the other side, they point out that 99 percent of police officers perform their jobs admirably and legally,” says Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle in support of Ferguson Police Department’s agreement to body cameras and new firearm guidelines as part of a sweeping deal with the Justice Department resulting from investigations into the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014. Watch discussion of the report here on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver talks with Mike Barnicle

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver talks with Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle about a recent Washington Post editorial critical of Sanders and the possibility of more debates with fellow candidate Hillary Clinton. “Given the tone of the editorial, why the hesitation of jumping into another debate next week before the New Hampshire primary?,” asks Mike of Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) decision to sit out an upcoming, unsanctioned debate sponsored by MSNBC and The New Hampshire Union Leader. Listen in on the conversation here.

Mike Barnicle on the ongoing feud between Donald Trump and Fox News’ Megyn Kelly...

“It’s all beyond me. I can’t figure anything out anymore when it comes to (Republican presidential candidate) Donald Trump, but Fox News should have never issued that statement that they issued,” says Mike Barnicle of the latest blows in the ongoing feud between Trump and Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. Listen to Mike’s comments here and watch the Morning Joe discussion on Trump’s refusal to participate in tonight’s Republican debate to be aired on Fox.

Mike Barnicle shares his thoughts comparing Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump

On Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle shares his thoughts on comparisons between then Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan’s defining “I am paying for this microphone” moment in New Hampshire in 1980 and Donald Trump’s refusal to participate in Fox News’ next Republican debate. “Reagan, off that one moment, became the dominant figure in those primaries and certainly Donald Trump is the dominant figure in these primaries. And you’d have to think that what happened yesterday with the whole debate flap played strongly into his hands,” explains Mike. Watch the Reagan moment and listen to the discussion here. On MSNBC.

Mike Barnicle on the cult of personality in American presidential elections

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham brings Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s unprecedented campaign into historical context on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, when he joins the panel’s Mike Barnicle to discuss the cult of personality in American presidential elections. “Have you ever heard of, read about, researched, or have any comprehension of a prior campaign where one person has been such an obsessive focus by the news media and nearly everyone?,” asks Mike of Meacham in reference to the media’s nonstop coverage of Trump. Watch the conversation here.

Mike Barnicle talks with former Senators Trent Lott and Tom Daschle

“Can either of you think of any other position in the United States—private or public—where you… are going to have your hands on the tools of power and only work three days a week?,” asks Mike Barnicle of former Senators Trent Lott (R-MS) and Tom Daschle (D-SD) about the diminished sense of public service in the U.S. Congress. Watch Lott and Daschle discuss their new book, “Crisis Point: Why We Must—and How We Can—Overcome Our Broken Politics in Washington and Across America” on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. And watch their previous conversation with Mike at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate at https://bit.ly/1PTwO4C.

Bob Moritz joins Morning Joe to discuss what’s on the minds of the world’s top C...

Following the release of PricewaterhouseCooper’s 19th annual Global CEO Survey, PwC’s Chairman Bob Moritz joins Morning Joe to discuss what’s on the minds of the world’s top CEOs. “What’s the level of concern about the political uncertainty/paralysis in Washington?,” Mike Barnicle asks Moritz of American CEOs. Listen to the conversation and view the list of expectations and top-three concerns for CEOs here. On MSNBC.

Donald Rumsfeld talks with Mike Barnicle about the ongoing fight against ISIS

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld talks with Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle about the ongoing fight against ISIS. “Last week we had your successor in, Robert Gates, and we asked him for his view on the things some of the candidates running for president are saying in regard to how they would handle the growth of ISIS and increasing tumult in the Middle East. His view was that some of the candidates just didn’t know what they were talking about. What’s your view?,” asks Mike of Rumsfeld. Hear the former Secretary describe the “known knowns” and “known unknowns” in the asymmetrical fight against enemies who are willing to die. Rumsfeld also talked about his new game — a video game app called “Churchill Solitaire.”

Justin T. Bamberg joins Morning Joe and talks with Mike Barnicle

South Carolina state Representative Justin T. Bamberg (D), the lawyer who represented the family of police-shooting victim Walter Scott, joins Morning Joe and talks with Mike Barnicle about switching his support from Hillary Clinton to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the race for the White House. “Once you educated yourself as to Sen. Sanders’ positions you changed your mind and decided to support him. Which positions specifically caused you to change your mind?,” asks Mike. Listen to Rep. Bamberg’s response here on why he now, as someone who represents a poor and rural constituency, better identifies with Bernie Sanders. On MSNBC.

“He still has that chip on his shoulder and it’s working well for him.R...

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle says: “One of the keys to understanding (leading Republican presidential candidate) Donald Trump is that he came across the bridge from Queens 40 years ago, with a huge chip on his shoulder, to do business in Manhattan. He still has that chip on his shoulder and it’s working well for him.” Watch more of the conversation on Trump here.

Mike Barnicle asks Trump about his ability to work with Democratic politicians

Continuing the Morning Joe conversation with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Mike Barnicle asks the leading Republican candidate about his ability to work with the Democratic politicians: “You are a person of instinct, a candidate of instinct. What is your instinct about who, right now, on the Democratic side of the aisle you would be able to deal with to cut a deal?” Listen to Trump’s answer here on why he thinks he would get along well with Democrats in Congress, in contrast to fellow Republican candidate Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). On MSNBC.

Donald Trump on why he hopes Bloomberg joins the race for the White House

On Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle asks Republican frontrunner Donald Trump about the possibility of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg entering the 2016 presidential race as an independent candidate. Listen in as Trump describes to Mike his relationship with the fellow New York billionaire and why he hopes Bloomberg joins the race for the White House. Only on MSNBC.

“This is a fight-Hillary Clinton v. Bernie Sanders-between the head and th...

“What you’re saying, in essence, is that this is a fight—Hillary Clinton vs. Bernie Sanders—between the head and the heart,” suggests Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio about why Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is the better candidate over Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Watch the conversation between Mike and Mayor de Blasio on pragmatism and the growing insecurities of the American middle class here. Only on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Mike Barnicle comments on the often unaddressed struggles across America

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle reflects on the woman who recently spoke to Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) about having to live on $12,000 a year, despite having a degree and working different jobs. “She represents something about Iowa, New Hampshire and America that we very rarely see—the one on one. The person confronted by the reality of life on the margin. And there are millions of people in this country for whom a large part of life is like staring at a showroom window,” observes Mike. Listen further to Mike’s comments on the often unaddressed struggles across America, and read Mike’s latest column for The Daily Beast about the underlying factors behind Bernie Sander’s popular campaign at https://thebea.st/1nIybMP.

For The Daily Beast: Bernie Mania is Rea...

In his latest column for The Daily BeastMike Barnicle takes a look at a struggling America—from the dwindling middle class comprised of families living paycheck-to-paycheck to the marginalized residents of Flint, Michigan, who don’t have safe water to drink—and the people finding hope in the presidential campaign of a 74-year-old socialist from Vermont, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. “Sanders has never wavered from his core beliefs across four decades. Now, the cross-currents of culture, politics, endless war, anxiety, frustration, a 2008 economic collapse of markets and confidence have swirled together to present Hillary Clinton with a ghost of 2008: A man, another man, whose time may have simply arrived… for the moment,” writes Mike of Bernie Sander’s threat to Hillary Clinton’s campaign ahead of the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. Read Mike’s column here on the undeniable effects of the Bernie Sanders campaign for The White House.

Bernie Mania is Real and Powerful

https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/bernie-mania-is-real-and-powerful.html

Across the Aisle with Senators Tom Daschle and Trent Lott on “Crisis Point”

In case you couldn’t make it to Boston on Thursday, you can watch here Mike Barnicle in conversation with Senator Trent Lott and Senator Tom Daschle in a lively and informative discussion at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.

Trent Lott & Tom Daschle discuss &#...

This Thursday, at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate in Boston, don’t miss Mike Barnicle in conversation with Senator Trent Lott and Senator Tom Daschle. Click here to RSVP: https://bit.ly/1UatHc8

Trent Lott & Tom Daschle discuss "Crisis Point" with Mike Barnicle

Trent Lott & Tom Daschle discuss "Crisis Point" with Mike Barnicle

Mike Barnicle on the mishandling of the disaster in Flint, Michigan

Continuing the conversation on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle provides a likely answer as to why it took government officials, including Governor Rick Snyder and the Environmental Protection Agency, so long to address the lead-poisoning issue. “It’s an age old answer—and it’s called ‘demographics.’ [The people of Flint] have no political clout… they don’t know politicians… they live on the edge… and if they’re working they live paycheck to paycheck,” explains Mike. Watch the ongoing discussion of the mishandling of the disaster in Flint here. On MSNBC.