“Through it all, it still remains amazing that the President doesn’t care about the pressure brought to bear by the public to release his tax returns. It’s just amazing,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the panel analyzes President Donald Trump’s one-page tax proposal, which has been widely criticized. Listen to the conversation here, including former Treasury official Steve Rattner saying Trump’s proposal will “help business and help a lot of very wealthy people.”
“Michael Steele: We have Democrats probably shaking their heads in both houses of Congress over the one-page proposal to cut everyone’s taxes. But is (President Trump’s) larger problem perhaps a group of Republicans who are frightened to death of what’s going to happen to the national debt?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele during a conversation about Trump’s one-page tax proposal. Hear Steele’s response here.
“Realistically, one page, an outline. How do they fill that hole? Who is going to pay for this tax cut?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of former Treasury official Steve Rattner during a conversation about President Donald Trump’s one-page tax proposal, which has been widely criticized as a 100-day ploy. Listen to Rattner’s response here and his belief that the tax cut will not pay for itself, as U.S. Sec. of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said it would. Only on MSNBC.
The Morning Joe conversation continues about the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s foreign ties and receipt of secret foreign payments, senior contributor Mike Barnicle explains: “Mike Flynn is today a mystery. He worked for General Stan McChrystal in Afghanistan running intelligence. And from multiple sources, you hear that there was no finer person for the job and no better person at doing the job than was then General Mike Flynn in Afghanistan. Something happened to this man along the way to have this sloppiness occur.” There’s more revelations here. Only on MSNBC.
While the Morning Joe panel discusses former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s troubling foreign ties and income received from Russia and Turkey that he kept secret, says senior contributor Mike Barnicle: “How do you not declare that? It’s astounding that he did not have the wherewithal to put this down on paper; and it’s doubly astounding that the Trump campaign did not force more investigation into his background during the campaign.” Listen to more of the discussion with Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and the BBC World News’ Katty Kay.
During a Morning Joe conversation centered on an editorial in the English-language Chinese newspaper the Global Times about China’s increased pressure on North Korea to end provocations, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations: “I’m wondering, given that there’s fairly optimistic tones in that editorial… and at the same time…we have the Vice President of the United States on the deck of an aircraft carrier in Tokyo Bay sort of rattling sabers. What story is best for us?” Listen to Haass’ response here and his praise for the Trump Administration following President Donald Trump’s first face-to-face meeting with China’s leader Xi Jinping earlier this month.
“You want someone opposed to war, go to the Pentagon (and) talk to people like General (James) Mattis, General H.R. McMaster. Read McMaster’s book ‘Dereliction of Duty,’ which outlines the incredible flaws, and human failure, and cowardice at the command level in the 1960s in Vietnam,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) about National Security Advisor McMaster and Secretary of Defense Mattis. Watch the discussion here.
“Congressman, let’s take those two countries: Syria and Iraq, as well as Afghanistan. We’ve been at war for 16 years in Afghanistan, 14 years in Iraq. You have spent an enormous number of years on the ground in Iraq. So when you go home on weekends to Salem and have town meetings in the North Shore in Massachusetts and a parent comes up to you and asks you: ‘I have a 19-year-old son. He’s a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps. He’s in Iraq today; he might go to Syria tomorrow. Why is he there?’ What do you say?” asks Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Marine Corp. veteran and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, during a conversation about the U.S. military possibly going into Syria following President Donald Trump’s missile strike there. “It’s a good question and I do get that question a lot,” responded Moulton, who called for a strategy for Syria before troops are sent in.
The Morning Joe panel discusses a report in The Washington Post that the FBI — as part of its investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia — had obtained a secret FISA warrant last summer to monitor the communications of Carter Page, at the time an adviser to then presidential candidate Donald Trump. Explains veteran columnist Mike Barnicle: “You do not get a FISA warrant on a whim or a suspicion. You have to have probable cause. The FBI in this case apparently had probable cause. Then you go to the FISA Court, comprised of judges. I couldn’t name the judges on the FISA Court. They go to great lengths to really disguise who the FISA Court judges are, and they, thus, get a warrant to look at Carter Page.” Listen to more from Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and author Jon Meacham.
While the Morning Joe panel analyzes the situation facing White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon on the heels of butting heads with others in the Trump Administration, including POTUS, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle explains: “(Bannon) works for the President of the United States. You can’t walk around Washington, D.C. leaking stuff about how you made (Trump) president and now you’re manipulating his presidency, and you’re molding his thought process because it’s yours.” Tune in to hear NBC News correspondent Katy Tur share what an ally of Bannon told her about the White House chief strategist’s current status.
“Admiral, given that sentiment you just expressed, given your military career, given your knowledge of General (James) Mattis: The day after is always a most critical moment in terms of like 59 Tomahawk missiles or cruise missiles being sent over there. What does it do? What did that do? And what is it doing now to alter what we do on the ground vis-à-vis Russia and other nations in Syria?,” asks Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander, NATO, during a conversation about the White House’s strategy for dealing with Syria following the missile strike. Listen to Stavridis’ response here on MSNBC.
While the Morning Joe panel reacts to the viral video of officers dragging a United Airlines’ passenger off a plane against his will after refusing to leave because the flight was overbooked, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle says: “One of the untold stories in this country — and it’s untold because it happens so frequently, so often, every day — is the status of commercial flight in America. It is horrendous.” Listen in on the conversation among hosts Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough and regulars Willie Geist and Barnicle about how the airline industry has changed dramatically since deregulation and consolidation.
“Syria was a serious mistake that the Obama administration made in retrospect,” said Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a conversation with host Joe Scarborough and Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, about support for the Trump Administration’s recent strike against Syria in the wake of a chemical attack on civilians by President Bashar al-Assad. Tune in to hear more on the current state of the ongoing conflict with Syria.
“The most endlessly fascinating topic that all of us witness each and every day (is) human nature…and reading between the lines of every Steve Bannon story, you clearly have a man here who thinks he created a presidency,” said Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a conversation about the tension within the inner circle of the Trump Administration. “Then you take the jump into the White House where you now have President Donald Trump and you have Steve Bannon thinking, because he created the presidency, it’s now his job and he has the authority to mold and manipulate the presidency.” Listen in on the conversation between Barnicle and host Joe Scarborough about the role of White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon in the Trump White House.
As the Morning Joe panel discusses reports that three White House staffers helped House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) obtain politically useful information for President Donald Trump, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle comments: “The Nunes piece is going to get even more interesting and more baffling than it is now.” Listen to more of the conversation on the story that three White House staffers — identified by The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal — were involved in the handling of intelligence files that were shared with the Nunes and showed that Trump campaign officials were swept up in U.S. surveillance of foreign nationals.
“You have adults running the Senate Intelligence Committee Investigation. That’s the big difference between them and the House,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the panel discusses the testimony from the Senate Intelligence Committee’s first hearing into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Listen to former FBI agent Clinton Watts in response to questions by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) explain how Russia has actively attempted and succeeded in influencing President Donald Trump.
Bringing back a Morning Joe segment called “Why We Love John McCain,” the panel weighs in on the latest tell-like-it-is moment for the Arizona Republican, who last week on MSNBC’s For the Record with Greta insulted North Korean President Kim Jong Un by calling him a “crazy fat kid.” Explains Barnicle: “That’s why he’s always been a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize– you know, speaking frankly to the world. We love John McCain. And in an odd, predictable way, I think he’s in the midst of his finest hours as a public servant. He is taking on the Trump Administration whenever he perceives them as going in the wrong direction. He’s speaking out, and he is being John McCain.” Tune in for more of the conversation, including McCain’s responses to North Korea, and host Joe Scarborough’s agreement with Barnicle’s assessment.
While the Morning Joe panel discusses the multi-front war President Trump faces on his major initiatives, most notably the now indefinitely blocked travel ban, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle explains: “Forum shopping has been going on through several administrations, not just this one. I think what differentiates this one is that initially this began with a couple of guys, who — ostensibly work for the White House, work for President Donald J. Trump — sat down on the weekend after the Inauguration and on a paper napkin, perhaps, outlined a tough immigration policy. And that got this thing thrown off the tracks, followed by the constant refrain of Russia, followed by the constant Tweets that get the President in hot water. And now what surfaces really at the core of all of this is the competence of the White House staff.” Listen to the conversation among Barnicle, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and NBC News senior political analyst Mark Halperin here.
“Mark’s focus group was truly reflective of what you hear out in the country, with people saying: ‘ Hey, pump the brakes. The guy hasn’t been president for 70 days.’ They are not as worried as we get sitting here every day talking about these epic issues, like Russia and the House and Senate investigations. But it all leads to the fundamental question beneath Donald Trump, basically a non-ideological guy, basically a Democrat before he assumes office as President of the United States. How did he manage to sit there by himself and allow people like Steve Bannon strip him of his identity?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a panel discussion based around footage from NBC senior political analyst Mark Halperin’s “The Circus” series on Showtime, which features Halperin going to Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire to hear views on President Trump and the current political landscape. Watch the segment here.
In his latest column for The Daily Beast, veteran journalist Mike Barnicle tells the story of Harry K. Tye, a U.S. Marine finally buried this week at Arlington National Cemetery after he was killed in a war – 74 years ago.
“On the night that Pfc. Harry Tye was buried, the President of the United States gathered more than a few Senators and their spouses at The White House for a reception. He was gracious and brief in his welcome and told them, in part: ‘We are doing really well in Iraq. Our soldiers are fighting and fighting like never before and the results are very good so I just wanted to let everyone know. …Our soldiers are fighting and fighting like never before…’
History is now a casualty too….” Read Barnicle’s whole column here.
