Mike Barnicle

“President Biden has said publicly that he – meeting with Putin – told him that he thought he had no soul and that Putin replied to him, ‘well, at least we understand each other.’ He clearly does not have a soul,” said Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during this conversation with Joe Scarborough about Russian President Vladimir Putin amid reports that Russian forces were leaving brutalized bodies and widespread destruction in their wake in Ukraine.

“The President of the United States was absolutely correct when he described Vladimir Putin as a war criminal and a butcher, and he was absolutely correct when he stated early on that he thought that Russia would invade Ukraine….My question to you, Richard Haass, given what we have seen, given the evidence that’s been right there in front of the world’s face, how is it that Russia is allowed to remain as one of 15 members of the United Nations Security Council?” veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks of Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, during a Morning Joe conversation about why Russia still has a membership to the UNSC amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tune in for this Morning Joe conversation between Mike Barnicle and Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby about the careful, ever-shifting complexity of delivering aid to Ukrainians amid Russia’s invasion.

Watch this Morning Joe conversation between Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle as they unpack President Joe Biden’s seemingly improvised comment about Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of a capstone address in Warsaw, where he stated “for God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power” to close out his speech amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Joe Biden has been at this for a long time, and he’s been thinking about Vladimir Putin for a long time….There was a lot going on here in that speech, but it was a speech given by a strong president of the United States with a very strong message that Western Europe, NATO and the United States is determined, determined to win this war on behalf of Ukraine and on behalf of liberty and freedom throughout the world,” says Barnicle about President Biden’s speech in Warsaw. See more of the discussion here.

Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle discuss Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev potentially being banned from Wimbledon unless he publicly denounces Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “It’s inevitable that common sense also becomes a casualty of wars like this, and this is a war. That’s the reality of it: We are at war. The United States is at war. Putin is a bad guy. Putin’s not going to quit, and so this guy is a casualty of the lack of common sense that has been affected by what’s happening in Ukraine,” says Barnicle about the situation. Watch the segment here.

Watch this Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and Kori Schake, director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute, about what might be the long-term impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, especially if Ukraine through its “courage and resistance” succeeds in ejecting Russian forces.

Watch this Morning Joe conversation between Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle about the “clarifying moment” we are in now since Russia invaded Ukraine two weeks ago, which has inspired a reunited spirit of democracy in America and elsewhere and has seen the Ukrainian President Zelensky meet this moment. “History is littered with the ghosts of those who have underestimated America at every turn—politically, economically, governmentally. America is strongest when America stands together,” says Barnicle.

Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle discuss President Joe Biden’s “extraordinary” response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how history may remember the Presidents efforts in handling the international relations. “I don’t think we can – any of us – imagine the work that Joe Biden has done over the past couple of months…assembling a coalition that is going to be changing the face of Europe for perhaps a decade and confronting a two-point attack from China and Moscow,” says Barnicle. Watch the conversation now.

Watch this Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and former California Congresswoman Jane Harman about whether the hierarchy among nations is being reshaped amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this following reports that Russia has asked China to give it military equipment and support for the war in Ukraine. Hear more about how the “world realigned under our noses” here.

ICYMI: “Mr. President, with the exception of the no-fly zone, what is your greatest military need right now today with the Russians at the edge of the city?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during a Morning Joe conversation about the immediate needs of the Ukraine military 14 days in and after the U.S. and NATO insisted they can’t provide Ukraine with a no-fly zone to protect it from the Russian invasion. Hear Poroshenko’s response here.

The Morning Joe panel reflects on the dwindling demographic of people here in the United States who remember the sacrifices that Americans made during World War II and whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine will give pause to Americans to understand in the long term the fickle nature of freedom. Watch the conversation in the wake of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky having delivered a standing-ovation worthy address to the British Parliament via video.

Watch this Morning Joe conversation between veteran journalist Mike Barnicle and New York Times Pentagon correspondent Helene Cooper about the level and extent of communication—or lack there of—between the US Pentagon and Russia’s military amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Morning Joe’s Willie Geist, Jonathan Lemire and Mike Barnicle discuss the banning of Russian oil imports to the United States as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. “I’m not surprised at the fact that in recent polling – new polling – on people’s attitude toward increased gas price hikes…because they recognize from everything they’ve seen on their TV screens that it’s an atrocity, a daily atrocity. Americans are finally, maybe, coming back to being who we really are: We understand the world. We understand danger. We understand threats—hopefully that’s the case,” says Barnicle about new polling that suggests Americans are willing to pay higher gas prices to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Watch this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist, Elise Jordan and Mike Barnicle as they talk about the theatrics in the “Trump wing of the Republican Party” as it relates to the Republican Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, who scolded students for wearing masks at his news conference and later suggested France would “fold” if it was invaded by Russia. “I think we all better strap ourselves in because we’re going to see more of this in the next couple of years, and it’s play acting. People like the governor of Florida think that part of Donald Trump’s calling card…was that too many Americans thought, ‘oh, he’s a tough guy, look at the way he talks.’ So, they’re trying to mimic him now, and it’ll get worse. We know it’ll get worse,” says Barnicle about some Republican candidates attempting to mimic the “fake tough guy” former President Trump, while others like Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) are “real tough guys.”

“We are witnessing all day long here in America scenes from Ukraine that are mind-boggling in terms of their misery and their effect on people. Now, the relics of war, the memories of war, the casualties of war are going to be with the Ukrainian people for years to come—no matter their age, young and old. They’re going to remember the noise, the violence, the confusion, certainly the deaths. So, my question to you is: We live in a country where if the Apple store in Palo Alto was closed, there’d be hysteria. Could you please talk to the American people right now about your knowledge of the Ukrainians and their sense of liberty and freedom and their willingness to die on the street in front of their homes to save their country and to save the liberty for their own children?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia. Hear McFaul’s answer here.

During this Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and US Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey (Ret.), listen in as they discuss the escalating and intensifying attack by the Russian military on Ukraine, including in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, eight days into the assault, and what might happen next. Only on MSNBC.

Catch up with this Morning Joe segment as veteran columnist Mike Barnicle talks with Jon Stewart, host of Apple TV’s “The Problem with Jon Stewart,” and U.S. Congressman Mark Takano (D-CA) about the Honoring Our Pact Act, which will provide health benefits to 3.5 million veterans who were exposed to burn pits on overseas bases. The bill was passed today by the House of Representatives with a bipartisan vote of 256-174. H.R. 3967 will address the full range of issues impacting toxic-exposed veterans including access to earned benefits and healthcare through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It has the strong support of 42 Veterans Service Organizations, the Biden-Harris Administration, and advocates Jon Stewart And John Feal. Watch the segment here.

ICYMI: Watch this Morning Joe conversation between Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle as they review and discuss President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in which he called out Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pledged to tame surging inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic. “In 62 minutes, you saw the Commander-in-Chief talking about Ukraine. You saw the President of the United States talking about domestic issues, about funding the police, about getting kids back into school. And you saw Joe Biden citizen, ‘happy birthday buddy’ to the young boy who was there with diabetes. You saw the expanse of his personality in full blossom: Angry about Ukraine, really angry about Putin, frustrated about empty office buildings here in New York and throughout the country, frustrated that more kids haven’t been in school full time for a while, frustrated about the normal issues that plague American families: gas prices. You saw it all…in 62 minutes. I think it was a very, very solid night for the President of the United States, for the Commander-in-Chief and for Joe Biden, citizen of America,” says Barnicle.

Final thoughts on Morning Joe, 2.24.22: Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle discuss their shock and dismay about the lack of U.S. support from some Republicans and journalists in the wake of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle talks with Puck Washington correspondent Julia Ioffe about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivation to go forward with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “He’s on a different schedule” says Ioffe about Putin’s reign that has spanned 22 years and five U.S. presidents, including current President Joe Biden, whom Ioffe says, “sees this guy for what he is.” Watch the conversation here.