“Elections are choices. It comes down to a choice…‘what do you want?’ And I think an increasing number of Americans—they want calmness, they want a restoration of the spirit of what they think this country is all about. And the spirit of what this country is all about is not lying, it’s not malevolence, it’s not daily division implemented by the leader of this country—the President of the United States. It’s more to the side of what (Presidential candidate Pete) Buttigieg was talking about,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel talks about President Donald Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, a day after South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced his candidacy. Listen to more of the discussion here. Only on MSNBC.
Listen in on the Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Mike Barnicle about Sunday’s historic moments: Tiger Woods’ win of the 2019 Masters tournament at 43 years old and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, at 37 years old, declaring his candidacy for President of the United States. “It was a remarkable day and two remarkable events,” says Barnicle. “You had two stories that combined to truly represent part of what this country is all about. In Augusta, Georgia, you had a story of resilience…of someone who hurt himself…an epic kind of personal story. And in South Bend, Indiana…young mayor, Pete Buttigieg…talking about the future and basically declaring that the past is the past….The future is here. Hear more of the discussion here.
In the news this week: Listen in on the Morning Joe discussion with medical contributor Dr. Dave Campbell about New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “bold move” of ordering mandatory measles vaccinations of residents in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, after a major measles outbreak has led to a public health emergency. Asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle: Would an immunized child still be at risk because Williamsburg is such a highly compact area? Hear Dr. Campbell’s response and advice to parents about how to avoid this highly contagious disease.
Listen in as the Morning Joe team hears from NBC News’ Richard Engel about his report on former adviser to President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and his crusade to reform the Vatican by taking aim at Pope Francis. “Steve Bannon: He clearly so opposes doing anything to help the poor, the disenfranchised, the lost, the other. That’s the basis of his attack on the Pope and the Catholic Church because this Pope particularly stands for those people,” comments veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. Listen to more of the conversation here with Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough about Engle’s report, slated to air Sunday April 14th at 9pm only on MSNBC.
While the Morning Joe panel debates the Democratic presidential candidates’ inability to connect with ordinary people, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle references controversial comments made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S. that killed nearly 3,000 people. “It’s the language that they employ that indicates to the average person they have never led a real life; they have never had a real reaction to things. Specifically, yesterday, there was an event that took place in Washington, and I’m going to raise it: Representative Ilhan Omar referred to September 11th as ‘some people doing some things,’ which is just simply a distortion of the reality that not only people in New York have lived through, but what happened to the United States afterward. Not one of the candidates spoke out about that, when asked. Several of them had no comment. I mean, come on – get real. Get real.” Listen to more of the discussion here with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
While the Morning Joe panel talks about the slow start to the baseball season for the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle praises the Tampa Bay Ray’s early season success as the team sits atop of the American League East Division. “Nobody goes to see Tampa Bay. The fans stay away in droves, and they are a model for what Major League Baseball teams ought to do. They have a really good team. They have a really good manager. They operate on a very lean budget, and still they’re right there: They’re competitive. They play well. Great team.” Listen to more of the baseball discussion here.
ICYMI: Hear what Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) tells Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle about what could occur in her hard-hit opioid-addicted state and others like it if bipartisan-allocated federal health care funding stops.
Hear what Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski, Claire McCaskill, Elise Jordan and Mike Barnicle have to say about the mounting criticism surrounding former Vice President Joe Biden’s past affectionate behavior with some women and men, following Biden saying “I get it” and will tone down the touching. Says Barnicle: “Joe Biden…is a genuinely affectionate, caring human being. He is—in a no-contact eye nation, everybody’s staring at their phones—he is an eye-contact guy. He is literally, figuratively. a hands-on guy.”
ICYMI: Morning Joe brings us up to date on the developing story about the Chinese woman who was arrested for carrying four cell phones and a thumb drive infected with malware as she illegally entered Mar-a-Lago during President Donald Trump’s visit to the Florida resort. Hear the conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and Miami Herald reporter Sarah Blaskey.
Following the Morning Joe conversation about a New York Times report that indicates some of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators have told associates that Attorney General William Barr did not accurately convey how damaging their findings were for President Donald Trump, veteran journalist Mike Barnicle explains: “To put a little perspective on it—we’re all kind of flying blind. We’re talking about a report that’s well over 300 pages, which was boiled down to maybe two sentence fragments which are in the attorney general’s release.” Hear more of the discussion here.
Listen in on the Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and The New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt about a New York Times report that indicates some of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators told associates that Attorney General William Barr “underestimated” and did not correctly convey how damaging their findings were for President Donald Trump. Listen to Schmidt’s response here.
Listen in as the Morning Joe team expresses outrage over the Trump Administration’s proposal to cut funding for the Special Olympics. “I have a conflict here…because my wife is on the board of Special Olympics. Our daughter has participated in Special Olympics. When you go after…programs like this, the people involved in programs like this, there’s a level of cruelty and blindness to reality that is staggering. And the only thing I can think of – that I can conceive of – is that the President of the United States gives very little thought to these people, as long as he is in the center of the ring,” says veteran columnist and Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle. Hear more of the conversation here.
“Baseball is part of us. You know, it’s like our faith. You’re born with it, and you live with it, and it’s every day. It’s a constant. The days get longer, the weather gets warmer. It’s a relief from the everyday stress of things that we talk about each and every day, and it is back—finally—today,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as he and Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough rejoice over the start of the 2019 Major League Baseball season. Listen to more of the discussion here about how baseball unites generations and provides a respite from “what’s happening in Washington, D.C.”
ICYMI: Hear the Morning Joe conversation about the probability of President Donald Trump and the Democrats resuming their fight over the Affordable Care Act. “Given the drift and the incompetence of this Administration, there will be over 100 million Americans without healthcare, unable to see a doctor or perhaps paying through the nose in higher premiums for their existing health plans because the insurance companies will be able to run amok,” explains veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. Listen to more of the conversation with Joe Scarborough about the president’s unkept health care promises.
When you talk about this presidency, it’s what he’s done to diminish and/or maybe destroy existing institutions that have stood for 70, 75 years and created at least a welcome mat in Europe, and a system for peace and existing conditions there now,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel talks about President Donald Trump’s possible connection with Russia. Listen to more of the discussion here.
“Vladimir Putin (has) won beyond his wildest dreams. He has turned our political, cultural, social system upside down. He has the bases of two political parties hating one another….They have these social tools like Twitter that they use like Bunsen burners to just torch every idea and every human being involved in this fight….Yet out in the larger country…the vast majority of people, who depend on institutions like The Washington Post, like The New York Times, like their local papers, like us in some component parts, to give them the truth. It’s our job to do our job,” said Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle. Listen to more of the Morning Joe panel conversation about the media’s role amid Russian interference and the impact Russian President Vladimir Putin has had on America.
As the Morning Joe panel discusses The Dallas Morning News headline “Report: No Collusion,” and what we know so far about the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks POLITICO senior White House reporter Josh Gerstein: “How important…was the fact that there was no sworn sit-down testimony as to state of mind by the President of the United States with Mueller and his investigators?” Listen to Gerstein’s response and his talk of “another chapter to this story.”
Listen in on the Morning Joe conversation with veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano about her new book, “How Safe Are We?” and what she proposes can and should be done to combat the real and current threats to homeland security in light of Robert Mueller’s report indicating that there are ongoing attempts by Russia to interfere with American democracy.
“Given what happened over the last two or three years, I would urge that we pump the brakes a little on this. We don’t know a whole lot, and I don’t want to see the media—us or anybody else—get involved with criticizing (special counsel Robert) Mueller at this point or raising objections to Bill Barr, the attorney general. Let’s wait and find out what’s in there,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle about Mueller’s report and the fact that most Americans are moving on with their lives and are more concerned with the cost of health care and stagnant wages. Listen to more of the conversation here with Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
“Jay, the language of acceptance of the verdict from the President…was not exactly, you know, ‘the thing is over. Let’s move on as a country.’ To your knowledge, is the President going to continue to insist on reopening investigations of Hillary Clinton?” asks Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle of Jay Sekulow, attorney to President Donald Trump, following special counsel Robert Mueller finding no evidence that President Donald Trump or any of his associates coordinated with the Russian government’s 2016 election interference. Listen to Sekulow’s response here about how he believes the country can best move on in the wake of the Mueller report findings.
Mike Barnicle is a veteran print and broadcast journalist recognized for his street-smart, straightforward style honed over nearly four decades in the field. The Massachusetts native has written 4,000-plus columns collectively for The Boston Globe, Boston Herald and the New York Daily News, and continues to champion the struggles and triumphs of the every man by giving voice to the essential stories of today on television, radio, and in print.
