“If you check the timing of all of these stories, the commingling of them and look at the calendar, clearly, it was a marketing exercise, a branding exercise. His candidacy at the beginning — they did not think that they were going to win the presidency because he was more interested in his business assets and promoting them in Russia….The principal focus of the Mueller special prosecutor’s team right now is indeed Russia and one of the keys is General Flynn and his role in pulling together the administration prior to the inauguration. And it has to do with the sanctions imposed on Russia, and if they can tilt Flynn, if they can flip him, the President indeed will be under oath and it will not be law school. It won’t be like a deposition. It will be professionals really grilling down,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a discussion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, following news that a top executive from Trump’s real estate company emailed Vladimir Putin’s personal spokesman during the presidential campaign to ask for help advancing a stalled Trump Tower development project in Moscow. Listen to more of the conversation with Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough and MSNBC senior political analyst Mark Halperin.
“Rescuers within hours were in that nursing home rescuing people. It didn’t matter who they were — it didn’t matter their income, their race, their religion. They were rescued by other Americans, and this is who we are — coming together,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough about the heroic rescue effort happening in Houston due to the epic floods caused by Tropical Storm Harvey. Listen to more of the discussion here.
“The Phoenix New Times, they’ve covered Joe Arpaio for 20 years. They had a chronology – a list – of outrageous incidents involving Sheriff Arpaio’s tenure. Half of the things on the list are absolutely shocking, shocking. He was running a concentration camp. That’s basically what he was doing,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel talks about President Donald Trump’s controversial pardon of former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Listen to what some GOP lawmakers are saying about President Trump’s pardon of Arpaio here.
“The President, unfortunately, is so self-involved that clearly he can’t see one aspect of his job – and that’s to lead the nation in times of crisis….He’s tweeting out book recommendations in the middle of this epic flood,” comments Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the panel talks about President Donald Trump’s tweets and messaging during Tropical Storm Harvey, which has ravaged large portions of Texas and its residents. Listen to more of the discussion here with Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks: Is President Donald Trump’s controversial pardon of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio a sign of what’s to come as he exercises his power of pardon? Hear what Axios national political reporter Jonathan Swan and The Washington Post White House Bureau Chief Philip Rucker have to say about what this might mean going forward and for the Russia investigation.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tells Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle that the massive floods created by Tropical Storm Harvey have created the need for more boats and high-water vehicles, access to food and water, blankets and medical care, and temporary housing for the thousands upon thousands of residents that have been displaced by the torrential weather plaguing the state.
During a Morning Joe interview with Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo about the ongoing rescue efforts there due to the massive floods created by Tropical Storm Harvey, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks: “Chief, given the sprawl of the urban area of Houston, and the size of your force, and the condition of roadways and flooding — talk a bit about the degree of difficulty in the logistics that you’re encountering now – logistics of rescue operations.” Hear Acevedo’s response: “We feel their pain. I have had officers with tears in their eyes frustrated that they couldn’t do more, more quickly.” Listen in on more of the conversation here.
As the Morning Joe panelists share their “final thoughts” of the morning, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle says: “The American story is now being told not by the President of the United States, but by the American military, by prominent business people, by public people who are willing to stand up and speak about what this country is all about.” Hear also from The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson, NBC News’ Kasie Hunt and Morning Joe’s Willie Geist, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough here.
“You know, Mayor Pugh, the Civil War ended in 1865. One hundred years later in August of 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in America – 100 years. And the statues now are coming down in specific cities: Baltimore, Charlottesville. But it strikes me, and I’m wondering if it strikes you, that it’s an amazing indictment of how we do not teach American history – what really happened in this country – to grammar school students, high school students, college students, and American adults. We don’t teach our own history,” comments Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle to Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh during a conversation about the lack of knowledge and understanding of Americans of their own country’s history. Listen to Pugh’s thoughts about how moving the country forward requires a focus on equality and inclusiveness.
During the Morning Joe panel discussion about President Donald Trump lashing out at Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Twitter for criticizing POTUS’ remarks on the race-related violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle explains two things: “Angela Merkel is the leader of the West now. She is the strongest leader of the West. And Trump’s tweet against Lindsey Graham indicates again his insecurity and resentment about the election — that he lost the popular vote.” Hear more of the discussion from MSNBC.
As the Morning Joe panel talks about the fallout after President Donald Trump’s remarks in response to the race-related violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks rhetorically: “What is the one open wound throughout American history? Race. So, what is the job of the President, any president? Is it to help soothe that wound, heal that wound or to poke it, and prod it, and open it even wider?” Listen in on the conversation here.
“In these darkest hours of these truly dark days, America comes out like the sunshine comes up every morning. It comes out from the pulpit of that church yesterday where a victim’s mother speaks as eloquently and as meaningfully as she did about the death of her daughter — something I don’t think any of us can really comprehend as parents. It comes out when members of the American military issue statements in support of what this country is all about: Equality, lack of prejudice. America comes out when you see the business council saying: `This is just a bit too much for us.’ And they issue statements. It does not come out, unfortunately, in the words of the President of the United States. But the optimism about…the brightness of America (and) we’ve seen it displayed in the past 24 hours. It’s stronger and more powerful than anything that Donald Trump has said thus far,” explains Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the panel talks about the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, following the memorial service for Heather Heyer, the woman run down and killed by a Dodge Challenger with a neo-Nazi at the wheel. Watch highlights of the memorial and conversation here.
“Donald Trump yesterday refuted what he said on Monday because he felt forced to make that statement on Monday and he resented having to make that statement on Monday because it made him look weak. But Donald Trump is a strong man, and he’s going to stick to his beliefs. So, he stood up there yesterday and spoke from his own sense of inner strength. That’s what he gave the country: Enormous division, enormous ability for the right wing, Nazis, Ku Klux Klan people to say: “Yeah he’s my guy’,” said Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. “And the Republican legislators and Republican donors — forget them. This is about three things that all begin with C: Character, Courage and Country. It’s not about politics now. It’s about the country. Every president we’ve had, has been by definition of being a human being, has had flaws. No president has ever had flaws that so divide the country that we live in. It’s our country — not his.” Listen to more of the discussion here about the fallout from President Donald Trump’s impromptu news conference in New York where he blamed the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on both sides of the conflict, equating the white supremacists on one side with the “alt-left” on the other side.
“This is a side show in a sense, the American Nazi party – the Nazis – in the streets in Charlottesville. Donald Trump is the deal: He gives them voice, he gives them strength, he gives them spine. He’s their President,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the panel talks about white supremacists cheering President Donald Trump’s impromptu New York news conference, during which POTUS blamed the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on both sides of the conflict, equating the white supremacists on one side with the “alt-left” on the other side. Listen to more of the discussion here about how POTUS has empowered Neo-Nazis and white supremacists with his words.
“This is a resilient country. We have survived, gotten up off the floor after assassinations, during wars, after terrorist attacks, after natural disasters; but, what happened yesterday was quite different. What happened yesterday because of the nature of the media and all of the tools we have available to us today, will live forever….You’ll see and remember the President of the United States pouring words like salt on open wounds of race, of class, of gender, of income inequality. You’ll see the President of the United States not only diminishing the office, but diminishing himself by misconstruing history, which he certainly has not read and certainly does not understand,” says Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during the panel discussion about President Trump’s impromptu news conference in New York where he blamed the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on both sides of the conflict, equating the white supremacists with the “alt-left” on the other side. “What we ought to be talking about is the country and the people who represent the country in Washington D.C. because now it’s up to them. What are they going to do? Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, tweeted last night without mentioning the President’s name. Put his name on it, Mr. Speaker. It was the President. Put his name on it and do something about it.”
“The wild card in this is General John Kelly’s role as Chief of Staff and…he would view an assault on the character and the integrity of a three-star general, H.R. McMaster – his friend – as nearly treasonous. That’s a wildcard that Donald Trump just would simply not understand,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the panel talks about the Trump Administration struggle between White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, following reports that POTUS suspects Bannon is behind the leaks to the media that target McMaster.
While the Morning Joe panel analyzes President Donald Trump’s delayed rebuke of the hate groups involved in the violence and bigotry that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, senior contributor Mike Barnicle explains: “The pace of the media and the culture today has been accelerated, and it is accelerated every single day. This might be a moment to pump the brakes — to stop, and pause, and think about what just happened to the Presidency. The President of the United States ceded his moral authority on Saturday. He could not define or distinguish the different between protests and Nazis – Nazis – on the streets of an American city fomenting a riot. This is not the American story that we’re witnessing. This is a selfish, inward, destructive story that’s taking place and the President’s voice is lacking. And the President has decided not to lead, but to follow, and to follow what and who, we really don’t know. But, it’s not good….I’m an optimist by nature. This country has survived much — it’s prospered greatly. One of the jobs of the President – any President – is to recognize something that people in this country do recognize. There are open wounds in this country: Open wounds of race, of economic disparity, of class disparity. A President’s job is to heal those wounds, not allow the wounds to fester, and poke at the wounds, and probe them, and open even further fissures in the wounds.” Listen to more of the discussion here.
“Kristen is there a number out there – 33, 32, 29 – that in September if that number is that number that more Republicans would say, ‘Hey, we got to take a look at what’s going on here and walk away from this guy,’ at the expense, perhaps, of some of the agenda?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of GOP pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson as the panel analyzes President Donald Trump’s approval rating falling to 34 percent in the latest Gallup Poll, marking a new low for POTUS. Listen to Soltis Anderson’s explanation that there’s no good way to spin these numbers.
As Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough, MSNBC senior contributor Mike Barnicle, The New York Times’ Jeremy Peters and Bloomberg Politics’ John Heilemann discuss the role of Fox News and the definition of conservatism today, Barnicle explains: “Twenty years is a snap of a finger in terms of history, but within that 20 years, and especially the accelerant of the last three or four years has changed both the nature of conservatism in this country, the definition of conservatism, and many of the legitimate principals of conservatism. And now it seems that conservatism is defined, actually, by the presence, and the voice, and the thoughts – if there are some – of Donald J. Trump.” Listen in on the differing opinions on whether Trump is a conservative here.
The Morning Joe discussion shifts to the temperament of President Donald J. Trump, referencing a column by the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson that begs for a “shiny new object” as a distraction for the Commander in Chief. Asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle: “Gene, one of the things that you continually hear when you speak to people in Washington, whether it’s within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), or any of the intelligence agencies, or a certain select few people in The White House: The one thing that concerns them most, above all else, is the erratic behavior of the President of the United States — something they have no gauge for, can’t control, and can’t predict.” Tune in to more of the conversation here on MSNBC.
