“Let me ask you a question: Is the priority for Mitch McConnell right now to repeal Obamacare — underline “Obama,” get rid of the last visage of Obamacare and the past president himself? Or is it to pass a bill that’s going to help a majority of Americans?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of MSNBC senior political analyst Mark Halperin and former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) during a conversation about the Senate Republicans’ health care bill. Listen to their answers here. Only on MSNBC.
In further discussion about the regrouping necessary for the Democratic Party after its defeat to the Republican Party in all four House special elections, Morning Joe senior contributor remarks: “Democrats would be well advised to go back and look at one of the great speeches Hubert Humphrey gave in his wonderful life about the dawn of life, and the dusk of life. Hear more of the conversation here and more about the immortal words of former Vice President and Democratic Sen. Humphrey.
“That’s what the Democratic Party has to do: Figure out what to run for rather than against Donald Trump all the time,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the panel weighs in on how the Democratic Party should regroup, following its defeat to the Republican Party in all four House special elections. Listen to more of the discussion with Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Barnicle and former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN).
During a conversation with Sen. Angus King (I-ME) about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks King what he tells his constituents when he gets back home to New Brunswick, Maine. “How come (Sessions) won’t answer your questions?” Hear King’s response here.
“China has already established deep roots in both Africa and in South America, while we are still debating the number of troops we might send to Afghanistan – 16 years after that war began. How much of a drain and impact on our role in the nation has our obsession and involvement in Afghanistan meant?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of The London School of Economics fellow Brian Klaas during a conversation about America still being at war in Afghanistan. Listen to Klaas’ response here. Only on MSNBC.
“Senator, I don’t want to get you in trouble, but I’ve actually seen you smiling, laughing, hanging around – with Democrats. As if you were friendly with them. I’ve actually seen that with my own eyes. My question to you is: In terms of bipartisanship, in terms of openness, in terms of a welcoming manner, there is a health care bill now being drawn up in the United States Senate – largely by the majority. Nobody knows what’s in this bill. How about trying to open the door as a start to like getting together by telling us what’s in this bill?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sen. John Thune (R-SD) during a conversation about the GOP health care proposal. Listen to Thune’s response here.
“The fact that Twitter and Facebook are, in parts, elements of social arson – they can ignite things, and people, and whatever you say. You wonder what would the reaction be today on Twitter to FDR’s fireside chats. People would make fun of them,” comments Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a conversation with NBC News senior correspondent Tom Brokaw as the two reflect on our country’s political history. “I think we need — metaphorically — a course in anger management in our political culture,” says Brokaw. Listen in on the discussion here.
“We have normalized hatred in this country. That’s the culture that we all now are a part of,” comments Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a discussion with host and former Congressman Joe Scarborough following the shooting attack during a GOP Congressional baseball practice by a gunman who appeared to have targeted the GOP Congress members. Hear the conversation and remarks from House Speaker Paul Ryan about the tragic incident that left House Majority Whip Steve Scalise in critical condition.
“Bob Mueller is and always has been a guy of tremendous character first. Bob Mueller graduated from Princeton and didn’t upon graduation go on a tour of Europe or drive across country with a couple of friends of his. He went to Vietnam as a young second lieutenant and led a rifle company in Vietnam. He knows what it’s like to lose men. He is unafraid in this investigation, and he is there for one thing and one thing only: Fairness and resolution. That’s who Bob Mueller is. That’s who he has always been,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle about special counsel Robert Mueller, who The Washington Post’s Sari Horwitz reported is investigating President Donald Trump for possible obstruction of justice in the probe into into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. election. Hear more from the panel here.
“The brutal truth is that violence is a part of everyday American life, and the geography of violence is also part of American life,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle. “If you go all the way down the end of the street, where that little league practice field is located, where the Congressman was shot, you’re at the edge of the Potomac River. If you stand there and look across the Potomac you’re looking at a neighborhood in Washington called Anacostia — you’re looking at Wheeler Road and Southern Avenue where every day, every day there are parents afraid to let their children out for fear of them getting shot. And when they do get shot, when they do die at the age of nine, 10, 14 — before their lives have even come to the edge of fruition. Their deaths maybe, maybe get noticed in three agate lines of type in a newspaper – that’s America.” Listen in on the Morning Joe conversation with hosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and others about the critical issue of violence and hostile speak in America following the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and others at a Republican Congressional baseball practice by a gunman who appeared to have targeted the GOP members of Congress.
During the Morning Joe discussion about Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee that he had not been briefed on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks The New York Times’ security and legal reporter Charlie Savage: “Would [anything] lead you to believe that the Attorney General by recusing himself from the investigation of Jim Comey… would [that] prevent him from receiving a briefing on an act of war against us by Russia?” Listen to Savage’s response here.
“Senator…the President of the United States has ceded policy control of Afghanistan to Secretary Mattis. Everyone has great respect for Secretary Mattis, but apparently, there will be an increase in the United States troop level sent to Afghanistan. My question to you is: What do you figure the objective is at this stage of a 16-year-long war? And do you agree with the idea of the President basically sitting on the sidelines as far as Afghan policy goes?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) during a conversation about the ongoing Afghanistan war. Hear Sen. Reed explain why the President’s decision “shows his failure to understand the complexities of these problems and the need for intervention and constant supervision.” Only on MSNBC.
After watching a Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon clip during which President Donald Trump slipped in his June 14th birthdate at a meeting with Senators, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough wishes the President a happy 71st birthday as show host Mika Brzezinski and veteran columnist Mike Barnicle exchange banter about whether Barnicle should or shouldn’t sing “Happy Birthday Mr. President,” a la Marilyn Monroe for Trump. Watch the conversation here.
“Senator…we had the Attorney General of the United States sitting before a Senate panel trying to get to the bottom of an act of war against us by Russia. And you had the Attorney General consistently refusing to answer questions or being intentionally evasive in answering questions. I’m wondering why no one has raised the issue of citing the Attorney General for contempt,” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) during a conversation about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Listen to Coons explain why the situation involving the “bobbing and weaving” AG was “deeply troubling.”
While the Morning Joe panel talks about reports that President Donald Trump told Republican Senators that the House Republicans’ proposed health care bill was “mean,” which contradicts his previous categorization of the bill as “great,” senior contributor Mike Barnicle explains: “What probably happened is that the President was at one of his golf clubs over the weekend and maybe his caddy complained about the health care bill. That’s the way this thing works.” Hear more of the conversation between Barnicle and host Joe Scarborough here.
“Clint, it was interesting watching the Attorney General of the United States stonewall a Senate investigation into Russian interference in the basics of our American democracy – our electoral system. It was also interesting to hear the Attorney General say that he had never once been briefed on Russian interventions — hat he reads about it in the papers. That’s where he gets his news….But the split between he and the former FBI Director, Jim Comey, was truly interesting — that he had not spoken to him, and yet signed off on a letter basically indicting Mr. Comey for mismanagement of the FBI,” comments Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle to former FBI Agent Clint Watts during a conversation analyzing Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where Sessions was questioned on his reasoning for President Donald Trump firing then FBI Director James Comey. Listen to Watts’ reply here and his condemnation of POTUS and Sessions for attending the “same school for bad leadership and poor judgment.”
“Brian, does it concern you at all that when people hear about this (law) suit or read about this suit, that there’s a general knowledge that there is a big-league investigation of the President going on in both the Senate and the House and as a major leaguer Bob Mueller conducting his own investigation as special prosecutor and that people would think…’ah man, this is just now all politics. They’re just jumping on this poor guy,’ because the country is divided and a lot of Trump supporters will refuse to believe almost anything said or filed against him. Does that concern you at all?,” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh during a conversation about Maryland and the District of Columbia filing a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, based on the claim that POTUS is violating the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause that prohibits the president from accepting payments from foreign governments without the consent of Congress. Listen to Frosh’s response here about his view that POTUS is “doing so many things that violate his oath of office.”
“Are you familiar and could you explain the element of retraction as it’s posed in several state statutes and apparently it’s referenced in the federal code, whereas a witness goes in and says: ‘Oh yeah, by the way, I forgot to tell you when I was last here, I also had dinner with the Bolshoi Ballet and several other Russians.’,” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley during a conversation about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ public testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on his dealings with Russian officials and whether he intentionally mislead Congress. Listen to Turley’s response here.
“How difficult is it, though, to extract information, reportage on what is going on with this (health care) bill in the Senate right now behind closed doors?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace during a conversation about the media coverage for the proposed health care bill. “I would hope that the public would be pretty outraged by how difficult it is to get information,” says Pace. “This is something that affects your life on a daily basis.” Hear more of the discussion here.
“Will the county ever be the same again, given what we’re going through right now?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a panel discussion on the future of our country —our politicians, people and the media. “We’re not the enemy,” Barnicle says of the media. “We’re part of the system. We explain – hopefully – truth to people, but people no longer know what truth is. They have their own truth rather than a universal truth.” Hear more of the conversation here.
