Entries from Sep 2018
Rosenstein & the 25th Amendment

“Rod Rosenstein is a very smart guy, he’s an accomplished guy, he’s been around a while. The 25th Amendment is such a huge hurdle in terms of proof (and) evidentiary material—even if he tapes the President of the United States in the Oval Office. It had to occur to him that this was nearly an impossible feat,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation with New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt about his reporting that indicates that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein suggested last year that he secretly recorded President Donald Trump in the White House to expose the chaos overwhelming the Administration and posed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office for being unfit. Listen to Schmidt’s response here.

The Kavanaugh Conundrum

While the Morning Joe panel talks about a new allegation of sexual misconduct against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, published by the New Yorker, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle shines a light on another issue this Kavanaugh situation presents: “The other aspect of it that is truly dangerous, truly threatening is the incredible hyper-partisanship now surrounding the Supreme Court of the United States. These are lifetime appointments—you’re supposed to look at the law as a neutral observer and decide on the basis of the law, not partisanship. And yet partisanship has always been there in the Supreme Court, but the hyper-partisanship today is truly, truly dangerous.” Hear more of the conversation with Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough.

Root & intent of Russian meddling

Listen in on the conversation between Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle and The New York Times national security reporter Scott Shane about the root intent and timeline of the Russian meddling attack on the 2016 U.S. presidential election. What were the contributing factors? Hear the answers on MSNBC.

“The Americans” is such a great series

“’The Americans’ is such a great series…and Matthew Rhys winning the Emmy for just an incredible series. I mean, every episode…and a lot of the strings within the episodes would remind you somewhat of events taking place in our country today,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle with Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski about Matthew Rhys winning the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work on “The Americans” during a recap of the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Listen to more here.

Woodward on reporting

Hear more from “Fear: Trump in the White House” author and Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward about the reporting he did for his new book. Asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Woodward: “Explain to people watching, in the course of your work and in others’ work in our business, the difference between off the record conversations, background conversations for reportage.” Listen to Woodward’s response here about his reporting for “Fear.”

“Fear” author Woodward talks Trump

Listen in on the conversation between “Fear: Trump in the White House” author Bob Woodward and Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle about Woodward’s new book. “Bob, you’ve covered nine presidents. You’ve written about all nine presidents, some of them in books, most of them in the daily newspaper—The Washington Post. Have you ever heard of, been around, according to your reporting, someone so ill equipped to hold the job of president as Donald Trump?” Hear Woodward’s response to this and other questions here—on MSNBC.

Sec. of State Kerry on Syria

Listen in on the Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and former Secretary of State John Kerry about what happens when a high-ranking presidential administration official disagrees with a president on a particular issue or decision, such as Kerry did with former President Barack Obama on the president’s handling of the situation in Syria.

Change is needed, but change toward what?

“Senator….You’re worried about the long-term future of the country. You’re worried about the short-term future of the country. Change is sweeping this country right now. It’s obvious in the headlines that we read each and every day. Yesterday, In Massachusetts in a Democratic primary, Mike Capuano—20-year-veteran of the House—lost to a young city councilwoman from Boston, Ayanna Pressley. One of her themes was: ‘Change can’t wait.’ And as voters look at you and every other candidate on the ballot, I’m wondering about the issue of term limits. Do you believe in term limits?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Sen. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) during a conversation about term limits. Sasse’s response: “If I could pull a lever that fired all five-hundred-and-thirty-five people, including myself, I’d do it in a heartbeat. We need change. But the real question is: Change toward what?’ Hear the rest of the conversation here on MSNBC.

Anonymous NYT Op-Ed slams Trump’s “amorality”

While the Morning Joe panel discusses the New York Times op-ed that was written by an unnamed senior Trump Administration official, who slammed President Donald Trump’s “amorality” and reckless decision-making and said he or she is part of a “resistance” working to thwart President Trump’s worst impulses, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle shares: “I would prefer that the author be named, he or she, obviously. But the larger context is: Finally, people like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell reading this, knowing what they know, knowing what so many around this presidency do know, is their larger obligation not to the country rather than to the party?” Listen to more here with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist. Only on MSNBC.