Entries from mikebarnicle
How to “Begin Again” the conversation about race in America

Watch this Morning Joe conversation with veteran columnist Mike Barnicle, “Begin Again” author and professor Eddie Glaude Jr. and professor Cornel West about confronting racism in America today and how we as individuals must understand, not try to erase, the deep contradictions at the heart of this country so we can move forward rather than stand in the way of substantive change.

What happens when benefits run out?

Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle talks with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) about the plight of American families whose home rental and job assistance benefits are scheduled to run out later this month while the Senate’s two-week recess after the July 4th holiday means they won’t be back in session until July 20. “What’s the plan to help millions American families?” asks Barnicle. Hear what Schumer has to say about his colleagues in the Senate and how he plans to work to secure meaningful financial assistance for Americans in need.

More on Russia v. the U.S.

“Why the hell is the President of the United States puckering up to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin when he ought to be sticking up for America?” asks U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, during a Morning Joe conversation with contributor Mike Barnicle about whether House Republicans believe the New York Times and Washington Post’s reports that reveal Russia has paid bounties to Taliban-linked fighters to kill U.S. troops and coalition forces in Afghanistan as President Donald J. Trump calls the reporting a hoax. Watch the conversation here.

Russia’s war on the U.S.

“Russia declared war on the United States of America nearly four years ago when they decided to attack our electoral system. They are still declaring war on America, except this time they are paying hundreds and thousands of dollars to the Taliban in Afghanistan – our enemy – to kill our Marines, our soldiers, our people, our young men. That’s going on in front of us,” said Morning Joe veteran columnist and contributor Mike Barnicle during this discussion with Joe Scarborough about President Donald J. Trump’s refusal to confront and deal with bombshell reports of Russia paying bounties to Taliban-linked fighters to kill U.S. troops and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Join the conversation here.

COVID-19 spike across the nation

Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle discuss President Donald J. Trump’s mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic as cases of COVID-19 continue to spike across the nation with infection rates up in most states. “I feel terrible for anyone who contracts the virus. But there’s another virus that the whole country is dealing with on a daily basis—and it’s the virus of Donald Trump’s incompetence, his personality and his lack of character in terms of leading this critical, critical medical emergency that we’re still in the middle of,” says Barnicle about Trump in light of his continuing to tell Americans that the virus is going to disappear, that it’s under control. You can watch the conversation here.

Latest presidential polling shows Biden ahead

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and veteran columnist and contributor Mike Barnicle discuss the latest polls showing President Donald Trump continuing to “bleed out politically” as presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has pulled ahead. “The Republican Senate, with the safety, the comfort of six-year terms know what’s going on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They know there’s no leadership there,” says Barnicle about how some GOP senators currently view Trump and his reelection bid. See the new polling numbers here.

America under siege

Watch this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle as they weigh in on the speculations surrounding the cognitive abilities of President Donald Trump, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani while the coronavirus outbreak continues to surge in America, unemployment checks are about to run out, and the Trump Administration remains under pressure to explain how much the White House knew about allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. troops.

POTUS: “He hasn’t protected us. He hasn’t defended us”

“You can take everything that’s happened in the Trump Administration thus far, and especially over the last six months, and neatly sum it up with one phrase, I think – `dereliction of duty’,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation with host Joe Scarborough about President Donald Trump’s shortcomings throughout his tenure in office, including his mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak in America. “When Donald Trump stood on the podium in front of the capitol on January 20th, 2017, he took an oath, and the oath was to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. He has done neither—he hasn’t protected us. He hasn’t defended us.” Watch more of the conversation here.

Churchill’s leadership in crisis

Watch this Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and Erik Larson, author of “The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz,” about Churchill’s character and leadership skills during times of crisis. “What was it about (Churchill) that gave him such supreme confidence that he could do something that leaders ought to do more often—deliver bad news?” asks Barnicle. Hear what Larson has to say about the former UK prime minister’s ability to speak truth at a time of hardship.

Biden leads in six battleground states

“It is incredible, incredible that we have more than 40 million people collecting unemployment benefits in this country, and that issue alone is overshadowed by two paramount issues today: the virus and race in America,” said Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a wide-ranging conversation about President Donald J. Trump’s recent “race baiting” and “social arson” amid new poll numbers that show presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden leading Trump in six battleground states the president carried in 2016. Watch the conversation here.

Donald Trump as Willy Loman

Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle reflects on an Associated Press photograph by Patrick Semansky of President Donald J. Trump, which shows Trump returning from a re-election rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, wearing a rumpled blue suit, white shirt, tie undone. “He’s walking slowly and his face looks defeated. And all I could think of in looking at that photograph was ‘Death of a Salesman.’ Donald Trump as Willy Loman….He’s selling a stale product, an old product, that more and more people aren’t buying because they’re confronted with the reality that we’re all confronted with: More than 40 million people unemployed and a virus that could kill you like that if you catch it from God knows where. And he says very little about that.” Watch more of the conversation with Barnicle and Morning Joe’s Willie Geist here.

Stacey Abrams on how to improve policing

Stacey Abrams, former Democratic minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives and author of “Our Time Is Now,” discusses with Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle her thoughts on how to both reform and transform police departments in cities large and small in America by changing the way police do their jobs, banning choke holds, increasing training, and investing in communities by providing a higher quality of education, health care, affordable housing and community programs. “This is a ‘both’ ‘and’ solution to the challenges that have plagued this country from the beginning,” Abrams said. Watch more of the conversation here.

Lee High School naming controversy in Baton Rouge

Watch this Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and Baton Rouge community activist Rev. Gary Chambers Jr., who in a now-viral video sharply criticized East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member Connie Bernard who defended the controversial name of Lee High School named for Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee, and who then appeared to be online shopping and “ignoring” community concerns during an intense debate over whether to rename the school. “It’s heart-breaking and that’s why it’s resonated with so many people,” said Chambers, publisher of The Rouge Collection.

Attorney General William Barr’s misplaced loyalty?

Tune in to this Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) about Attorney General William Barr “political bidding” on behalf of President Donald J. Trump in the wake of the firing of U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Manhattan Geoffrey Berman. Asks Barnicle: “What’s your view on what is going on with the attorney general of United States? Is he that bad a manager that he can’t control what he wants to do?” Hear Jeffries’ call for an investigation into Barr’s “rotten” and “toxic” actions.

Trump: Divider in Chief

Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski and Mike Barnicle discuss President Donald Trump’s Tulsa, Oklahoma reelection rally, which produced a low turnout amid the coronavirus pandemic. “I don’t think Donald Trump knows what’s going on. He certainly knows the polls, but I think what he senses is that a referendum on Donald Trump in various states means one thing: It means he loses. So…he’s got to find an excuse so he doesn’t have to blame himself and people don’t blame him: The virus will be his excuse when he loses….But Donald Trump is the root of…everything that is disrupting this country today because from Day One of his presidency, he has focused on one thing above all else: Division, dividing the country,” says Barnicle. Watch the conversation here.

Police shooting in Atlanta

Watch this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Eddie Glaude Jr., and Mike Barnicle about the fatal police shooting captured on cameras of Rayshard Brooks, a black man who was killed by an Atlanta police officer after firing a stun gun at the officer and fleeing. “You can train for everything at a police academy, all sorts of exigencies. You cannot provide common sense to someone who lacks it, and this was an astounding case of a lack of common sense resulting in murder two charges for that police officer,” says Barnicle about the police officer who shot and killed Brooks. Join the conversation here.

Police reforms on the way

Join the conversation between Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and U.S. Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) about this week’s House of Representatives hearings on the Democrats’ proposed police reform legislation to combat excessive force and racial discrimination, introduced in response to the recent killings of unarmed black Americans.

Being Black in America

Watch this Morning Joe conversation among Willie Geist, Mike Barnicle and Eugene Robinson about “how difficult it is to be black in America.” Says Barnicle: “White families don’t have to live through the same series of outrages that happen when you’re black in America.” Hear from Robinson, Washington Post associate editor, about the centuries-old challenges facing black Americans and what might be the next positive steps toward equity and justice.

POTUS’ controversial tactics in response to DC protests

Hear what former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has to say in this Morning Joe conversation with Mike Barnicle about President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to deploy the national guard in Washington D.C.—a show of force usually reserved for combat zones—amid the protests in the nation’s capital in response to the death of George Floyd.

Wearing a mask is not political

Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore Health Commissioner, during a conversation with Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle about mask wearing being a non-political, public health necessity, calls on the Trump Administration to “step up” and lead by example to help control the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus. “This is about each of us showing that we care about one another, that we respect one another. That’s the reason why we do this,” said Wen. Watch more of their discussion here.