The Economist’s U.S. Editor John Prideaux joins the Morning Joe panel to talk about a new special report entitled “Trump’s America,” for which Prideaux traveled around the country talking to Trump supporters. “John, did you get the sense …that the average American lives on a different clock than we do in the media? And … that they feel (President Trump) is shaking up Washington, which they hate more than anything?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. Hear Prideaux discuss his findings and read the report here:
www.economist.com/trumpsamerica
“My question is: Do the Republicans, who intend to vote for this piece of legislation, do they dress up in the kamikaze costumes before they vote or after they vote? Because they’re done,” explains Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a panel conversation about whether the Senate Republicans’ health bill has a chance of receiving enough votes to pass. Listen to more of the discussion here with hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
“Senator, if you look at the House bill and the Republican bill, you see that the poor, the ill, the elderly, and the addicted really get whacked in both pieces of legislation. So, this question isn’t about substance. It’s about you in the Senate, not just you specifically, but the United States Senators and Congress people. When normal human beings look at what has been done, they get the sense that you are totally isolated from reality, from the way people live each and every day. What’s your response to that?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) during an interview about the GOP health care plan devised to replace Obamacare. Listen to Manchin’s response and his invitation here.
“Senator, 10.5 percent of the people in your state are on Medicaid. Kentucky is not far behind – Senator McConnell’s state. The opioid abuse problem in your state and many, many other states is catastrophic. Don’t you think in retrospect it would have been a better idea to go about approaching this issue, to have public hearings rather than to have done so much of it behind closed doors? Why did that happen?” Morning Joe’s veteran columnist asks Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) during a conversation about the Senate Republicans’ health care bill, which was kept under wraps while it was being drafted. Listen to Moore Capito’s response here.
“Where are the Democrats on the insurance companies? They were great on the banks. Guess what: My ATM machine works. My insurance company is constantly aggravating me. It’s a bag job that the insurance companies have with this health care legislation,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the panel talks about the difficulties and flaws of health care legislation with hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
While the Morning Joe panel examines the lack of support for the Republican’s health care plan that was designed to replace Obamacare aka the Affordable Care Act, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle explains: “The people drafting this health care bill in both the House and the Senate are so far removed from the reality of everyday life that it is nearly shocking, except when you realize who they are.” Listen to more of the discussion on the “unpopular” and “unappealing” GOP health care bill and President Donald Trump’s lack of involvement in it.
“One of the things that is most helpful to the United States and our role in the world is our relationship with other countries, specifically the NATO nations. What, in your view, is the state of America and NATO with regard to Afghanistan, the Middle East, and the safety of Europe?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Adm. James Stavridis and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Evelyn Farkas during a conversation about the U.S. relationship with The North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the era of President Donald Trump. Hear the their responses about the immediacy of the situation.
“Cecile, it’s apparent that the Republican Party has had an obsession for seven, eight years now with Obamacare. From your point of view though, what is their apparent obsession with Planned Parenthood?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards. Listen to Richards’ response and her caution against putting politics before people.
“The CIA officially puts … the Congress on notice and the President on notice in early August last year that Russia has cyber attacked the United States – an act of war. And it seems that there was a level of disinterest in Congress about this. That there was no outcry in Congress about this. All during August, during most of September, until the first week in October, when finally, the White House spoke out about it. So, I don’t know where we are on this,” comments Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during the panel discussion about the U.S. having shown a lack of urgency to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election during the months leading up to the election. Listen to more of the discussion here.
“Brian, my belief is that … this is a premeditated anti-journalism strategy that I fear has taken some hold in this country. Do you buy into that?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sentinel Newspapers executive editor Brian Karem, who clashed with Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a televised press briefing earlier this week. Listen to Karem’s response here and his advice for journalists covering President Donald Trump.
While the Morning Joe panel continues to discuss the Senate Republicans’ health care bill, following Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell postponing a planned vote on the bill amid a lack of support from some Republican Senators, senior contributor Mike Barnicle references his recent interviews with Sen. Angus King (I-ME) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT). “Math is the reality here — that’s why it’s a no vote….With these Medicare cuts, you’re going to have to choose between five days of school or four days of school. You’ve got a special needs child – you’re going to have to worry about what you’re going to do with that child because of Medicaid cuts. You’re going to have to worry about: ‘Hey, do I get the Castro pullout couch for grandpa cause he’s coming home from the nursing home with Medicaid cuts. And that’s state, after state, after state.” Listen in for more here.
“Senator, let’s talk about another element of the aptly named ‘Better Care Reconciliation Act.’ That’s what Republicans are calling this bill. And let’s talk about, let’s say, Bridgeport, Connecticut and someone comes up to you and says: ‘You know, I just heard or read bits and pieces about what’s going to be cut under this bill if it passes. Should I go out and buy a pull-out couch for dad who might be coming home from the nursing home?’” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) during a conversation about the Senate Republicans’ health care bill. Listen to Murphy’s response here about some of his constituents who are “freaked out” about potential cuts to Medicaid.
Following up on the widely watched clash between the Sentinel Newspapers’ Brian Karem and Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ during a press briefing, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle explains: “It certainly is short sighted, but it almost assuredly is a strategy. And the Trump Administration has difficulty getting enough votes to pass a health care bill. The Trump administration has difficulty in formulating a policy in the Middle East, but they have a fairly successful strategy of running the press down and it’s working to a certain extent. We in the media, when we make a mistake, we report it. You know we make a mistake. When they make a mistake, they say nothing.” Watch the clash between Sanders and the Karem here and join the discussion on the Trump Administration’s contentious relationship with the media.
While the Morning Joe panel talks about the approval ratings for President Donald Trump and his deal making ability on which he ran his campaign, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle says: “People around the country are slowly going to find out: This president, any president, you’re with him either because you fear him or you love him. Nobody fears him and very few people love him – other than his own family and the United States Senate.” Listen to the conversation here with Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
“These are not normal times. We know this. But … one of the elements here is the shadow of Merrick Garland: Shut out from a hearing and just drove the polarization effect up to heights no one has ever seen before. So, neither side is going to come together to really fix this,” comments Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during the conversation about the GOP Senate health care billl, referencing Senate Republicans’ refusal to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination for the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, which remains a source of animosity between parties in the Senate. Hear the rest of the discussion with former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) here.
While the Morning Joe panel talks more about the Senate Republicans’ health care bill, following Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell postponing a planned vote on the bill amid a lack of support from some Republican Senators, senior contributor Mike Barnicle comments on the President’s role in the plan. “The President of the United States in this, the hallmark of his early administration, is a nonparticipant. And, they want him to be a nonparticipant. That is astounding when you think of it. This is what he has built his early administration on: He and the Republican Party repealing Obamacare. It’s not happening and it might not ever happen.” Listen to more of the discussion here with Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
“Grandpa and grandma are coming home to live on the couch downstairs. They’re going to be thrown out of the nursing home,” Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle says with sarcasm as the panel discusses the Senate Republicans’ health care bill, which includes “devastating” Medicare and Medicaid cuts that will hurt older, middle income Americans. Listen to more of the conversation here with Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough.
“The people who need health care the most – the elderly, the poor, the truly ill – are going to be without health care, without heath care policies. That’s the way it looks. This bill is basically immoral in its foundation,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the panel discusses the Senate Republicans’ heath care bill, which the Congressional Budget Office predicts will leave 22 million more Americans uninsured. Listen to more of the discussion on the GOP health care bill here from hosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist.
“This has the potential to be a defining moment in the Senate because the vote on this bill – if there is a vote on this bill – is going to be a test of conscience and character for these Senators,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a panel conversation about the Senate Republicans’ health care bill, which the Congressional Budget Office just predicted will leave 22 million more Americans uninsured. Listen to the discussion that ensues after the panel watches clip after clip of President Donald Trump’s previous promises of a health care plan with heart, that is less expensive with premiums and deductibles coming down, as well as no cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
“Congressman, it’s our understanding that your caucus rejected the opportunity to go to the White House and meet with President Trump. What’s the reasoning behind that?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) during a conversation about the Congressional Black Caucus declining to meet with President Donald Trump after not receiving any response to letters and policy suggestions sent to POTUS. Hear Richmond’s rationale here.
