“You get the sense … that (Vice President) Joe Biden symbolizes one of the biggest stories of this campaigns and it’s what happens to both political parties after today. And does it happen that the Democratic party that Joe Biden symbolizes, represents, talks about and articulates: Does it become a party of coastal elites, urban people and college towns? Does the Republican Party become a party of just purely cultural and economic grievances? That’s going to be a huge story going forward. God love Joe Biden. He symbolizes so much of what the Democratic party used to be,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle in a conversation with host Mika Brzezinski, who read an excerpt of Barnicle’s latest column for The Daily Beast about Biden.
“If [FBI Director James Comey] had shown that letter he put out to a decent lawyer, the lawyer would have taken out the word ‘pertinent’ and the letter may have worked,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the show’s panel examines what changes Comey could have made to improve his communication with Congress about the FBI’s additional investigation into the private email server emails of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Replied show host Joe Scarborough: “You’re right…that is the word… ‘pertinent.'” Click for more of the discussion here.
In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle writes about his experience as he accompanied Vice President Joe Biden to a rally in Biden’s home state of Pennsylvania. “He is a joyful, hands-on, shoulder-punching, hugging, smiling guy whose idea of a great day is a crowd, an event, a few laughs, and the certitude that his day will end at evening with his family by his side,” writes Barnicle of Biden. Using the analogy of baseball, he describes Biden’s profound speech to the Pennsylvania crowd at the rally. “On the stage, needing no notes, the thoughts filling the hall with a sense of optimism about the future and a ton of scorn for the scorched-earth landscape of the present political campaign, Joe Biden was the closer, coming out of the bullpen throwing fastballs at a time when the public has turned in disgust from spitballs or curves.” Read the whole column here.
“There’s no email story that’s going to help [Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton]. None. Today’s email story does not help her. It’s a constant reminder. She doesn’t need that. The [Clinton email] story has the most impact…on the FBI. At some point…people are going to have to sit down in Washington and decide what is wrong with the FBI,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a panel discussion about FBI Director James Comey’s latest letter to Congress saying that the FBI would not pursue charges against Clinton. Listen in on the conversation here.
“There’s a level of concern in the Clinton campaign…that wasn’t there at the end of last week. I think they….now regard Michigan as a potential Brexit state, Bradley-effect state. There’s really no hard evidence that [Hillary Clinton] is going to win [Michigan] going away or win it at all. The president of the United States is going to Ann Arbor in a last-minute effort to shore up Michigan,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation about the challenges that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton must overcome to win the election. Listen to more of the discussion here.
“The race is tightening. [Clinton’s campaign] doesn’t want to have happen to them what happened to (presidential candidate) John Kerry in 2004 when his campaign ended, and they had about $20 million left in the bank. Spend it. Get it out there. Reinforce what strengths you have in those states. There is a shrinking base of black voters who will come out in support of Hillary Clinton. There’s an increasing awareness among voters as we approach Tuesday [thinking] ‘I don’t like either candidate’….So I would assume spending in those states is targeted to (those) groups: I’m begging you, please, come out and vote,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a panel discussion about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s efforts to win over unconvinced or undecided voters through increasing her ad buys in the final week before the election. Hear more on the discussion here.
“The only sad thing about [this World Series] is there’s not a game 8, 9, 10 and 11 to take us through the weekend,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle at the top of the show, recapping the game. “But we are going to game seven! [The Chicago Cubs’] bats came alive. The kids on the Cubs clearly played a lot looser in Cleveland than they did at home in Chicago.” Listen here to find out who the panel declares will be the big winner in the pivotal game 7 between the Cubs and the Indians.
“That has to be part of (FBI) director Comey’s motivation for issuing the letter because he knew somebody like (The Wall Street Journal’s) Devlin Barrett, who we had on (the show) yesterday, was completely sourced in the story. (Comey) didn’t want to see a story on the front page of The Wall Street Journal with the leaked information. So, he took control and went ahead,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation about the reasoning behind FBI Director James Comey’s decision to send a letter to Congress concerning a new FBI investigation into additional emails tied to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Hear the conversation here.
“There is so much going on in the decision that (FBI director) James Comey made. First of all, I don’t know anyone who has questioned his character, but everyone has questioned his judgement…The other aspect of the decision…is that clearly director Comey said what he said and issued the letter that he issued because he was fearful of losing further control of the FBI apparatus beneath him,” said Morning Joe’s senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the panel further discussed Comey’s decision to send a letter to Congress last week stating that the FBI was investigating additional emails related to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Hear more about the situation here.
U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) joins Morning Joe’s senior contributor Mike Barnicle to discuss the recent resurgence in interest surrounding Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s email scandal following the FBI’s statement that the investigation will resume. Barnicle asks Gowdy: “When the next Congress convenes in a few weeks in January, can the American public look forward to more and continuing investigations of the email server and Secretary Clinton and perhaps President-elect Clinton at that point?” Listen in to hear Gowdy’s response.
“The danger of the Clinton campaign going on the attack against (FBI Director James) Comey, while understandable, … [is that] his character is unassailable… His judgment here certainly might be suspect in the eyes of many, but his character? No,” says Morning Joe’s senior contributor Mike Barnicle about Comey coming under fire for his decision so close to Election Day to announce another probe into the email problem that has dogged candidate Hillary Clinton for the entire campaign.
“One of the things that goes unspoken of, to a large extent, is Russian interference in the American political process,” comments Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barincle in conversation with Rep. and House Committee on Benghazi chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.). “Would you care to rank, in terms of priority, Hillary Clinton’s emails versus the clearly established Russian interference in our electoral process? Which is more important?” Listen in to hear Gowdy’s response and comparisons.
“What about people who want to know whether Donald J. Trump does business with Russia [or] gets any money from Russia? Why not release his tax returns now?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Kellyanne Conway, the Republican candidate’s campaign manager. Hear her answer here. Only MSNBC.
“What’s so amazing to me is that we have the Russians tampering with an American election and it goes under the radar,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle contrasting the alleged tampering with the rash of media attention around FBI Director James Comey’s decision to send a letter to Congress notifying them of the discovery of further emails found on a computer shared by former Rep. Anthony Weiner and his now estranged wife Huma Abedin, a longtime top aide to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“There is a selective group of people out there. I’ll call them the aggravated voter. They haven’t voted yet. They are available, and you don’t know what this is going to trigger in them. They are aggravated enough that both candidates bother them. So, which candidate is going to bother them the least when they finally do vote? That’s the question,” says Morning Joe senior columnist Mike Barnicle about how the latest news concerning Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s email controversy could effect voter behavior in the final week of the presidential race. Tune in to listen to more of the conversation here.
“According to three people I spoke to this weekend, all affiliated with the FBI, all retired, two of them very highly placed within the FBI structure, (FBI) director (James) Comey has put his own reputation at risk over the past several days and … there were a couple of reasons (he did it). One, the FBI beneath him is in turmoil. Dissension over this case has been for many, many months. And the director feared once he found out about this new cache of e-mails… that one of the teams of agents working on this case for some months now would leak the story about the discovery of the e-mails on (embattled former Rep.) Anthony Weiner’s computer and that would make the entire process look even more tainted than a lot of people feel it appears right now. That’s the principle reason he leaked it, but the larger story here is: There has never been a grand jury empaneled in this case, which has severely aggravated many agents,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation about the internal FBI feud over the probe into the private email server of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“We are going back to Cleveland. Hopefully it goes seven. If it goes seven, that means three more days (that) we don’t have to deal with what we actually have to deal with,” said Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during discussion of the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians before the conversation inevitably turned to politics. Tune in to listen to more of the baseball conversation here between Barnicle and Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough.
Watch as the Morning Joe panel shares the viral campaign ad for the reelection of Gerald Daugherty as Commissioner Travis County in Texas. The ad features Daugherty’s wife, Charlyn, who suggests it would be better for Daugherty to continue as county commissioner rather than stay at home. Tune in to watch Daugherty’s terrific campaign ad and the Morning Joe panel’s response to “one of the best campaign ads ever.”
During the Morning Joe conversation about Wikileaks emails that show a rift and a lack of transparency within the Clinton campaign, senior contributor Mike Barnicle says: “The narrowness of this election…and the contentiousness about the Wikileaks’ email drops and the email server itself prove the dangers are potentially fatal of an overly protective palace guard. Your duty to a candidate or president I would think is to tell the bad news first.” Listen in on more of the discussion between Barnicle and Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough about the latest developments in Clinton’s email problem.
“Enlistment bonuses were provided to people joining the National Guard. They go to Iraq or Afghanistan. They serve their country. They come back and they’re hounded by bill collectors because of bureaucrat mistakes. I’m sorry. Stop it,” said senior contributor Mike Barnicle on Morning Joe during a segment by NBC’s Anne Thompson about the growing outrage over nearly 10,000 National Guard members were ordered to repay enlistment bonuses. Find out more about the controversy here.
