Mike Barnicle on TV: May 2017

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“Senator, when you go home to your state, eyesight alone will tell you – and tell anyone actually – that your state is afflicted with some problems: Rural poverty, drug addiction. When you look at the bill that came over from the House – the health care bill – and think about people in need of basic health services, basic human needs: Food stamps, things like that. Is your level of frustration with public life at its height right now? Has it ever been higher? How do you handle it?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) during a conversation about the House Republicans’ health care plan. Hear Manchin make his case for his state, and its citizens. “It is hurtful,” Manchin said of the Republican healthcare plan. “I’ve never see this kind of insensitivity.” Watch the exchange here.

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Sen. Manchin: “It is Hurtful"

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In an interview with Congressman Jim Hines (D-CT), Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks that in light of the health care bill that passed the House without additional funds for cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's research, “has it ever occurred to you perhaps to ask some of the people on the other side of the aisle who are in support of positions like this: ‘How were they raised’?” Hear Hines’ response here.

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Rep. Hines on Healthcare

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Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) his position on the report that General Joseph Dunford and Secretary James Mattis will recommend to President Donald Trump that an additional 5,000 American troops be sent to Afghanistan. "You're the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee. Could you tell us what is the objective behind additional troops at this point in time? And what would your position be on the insertion of additional troops?” Hear Reed’s response here and why he believes the US counterterrorism position in Afghanistan is “critical."

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More Troops to Afghanistan?

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Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle speaks with The New York Times' Michael Schmidt about a secret document that officials say played a key role in then-FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation and has long been viewed within the FBI as unreliable. “Michael, pursuing the FBI angle in this and the FBI’s involvement in this, the timing of the document: It's an email from Debbie Wasserman Schultz to someone who supposedly works for an organization funded by George Soros. Why did it take so long to conclude that it was a fake?” asks Barnicle. Hear Schmidt’s response here.

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FBI Finds Document a Fake

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“Elise, your party, and Joe’s party – Republicans. What is the mindset of people drafting this bill that has now popped out of the House and is over in the Senate? Medical programs, drug abuse programs, opioid treatment programs have been severely cut. What are they thinking about there?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of MSNBC political analyst Elise Jordan during a conversation about the House Republicans’ proposed health care plan. Listen to Jordan’s response here on MSNBC.

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What are they thinking?

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“You can track all of the candidates' prior statements about the media: ‘The media is against us. The media is against you, the people,' and it leads inevitably to something like this. And it also leads inevitably to such a pathetic statement that the campaign released, which discounts the one thing that the media, the press is after – truth. It completely discounts the truth of what happened...Where is the assault charge? That's what I want to know,” comments Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during the conversation about Montana Republican House candidate Greg Gianforte’s alleged “body-slam” of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs after questions about the Republican healthcare plan. Hear more of the discussion here about how President Donald Trump branding the media as “enemy of the people” has helped create an animosity toward the press.

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Slamming the Press?

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“It’s an American flag tie,” proudly says Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as he responds to host Joe Scarborough’s teasing about about his shirt and tie combination at the top of today’s show. What do you think of the patriotic, colorful combo?

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Memorial Day Weekend Attire

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“Is it that the Russians are so skillful or that their intended targets are such dupes?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of former FBI Agent Clint Watts during an interview about Russia’s ability to use individuals for meddling in the affairs of other countries, following former CIA Director John Brennan’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee where he suggested that Russia might have lured Trump campaign associates onto a “treasonous path.” Listen to Watts’ response here about the Russians’ tactics and motives.

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Treasonous Path

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“The tragedy of the Trump presidency thus far is: This is Day 125 and there are 60 million people out there who for various reasons – fear, anxiety, anger, whatever – voted for him. (They) invested their fears, their hopes, their dreams in his presidency, in the hope of getting something done that would improve their lives, and that appears not going to be able to happen,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a lengthy panel discussion about Trump’s motivations and leadership with hosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jon Meacham.

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The Tragedy of the Trump Presidency Thus Far

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“You've got two men here, the Pope and the President, both pulling their individual institutions in different ways. The Pope pulling the Catholic Church even further toward the least among us, helping the least among us in the Third World, in the United States – everywhere. And you have the President of the United States pulling a portion of his political party even further to the right -- in direct opposition to what the Pope believes. How does that work out in a conversation?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Father James Martin during a Morning Joe panel discussion about President Donald Trump’s visit to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. Hear Martin’s thoughts here.

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The President and the Pope

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During a Morning Joe conversation with Axios co-founder/CEO Jim Vandehei about President Donald Trump’s ongoing unpopularity and the impact it may have on upcoming political races, senior contributor Mike Barnicle asks: “Do you find it striking though that with a lot of Republican Senators – at least to my view – and a lot of members of the House, there is no striking defense of the President?” Listen to Vandehei’s response here.

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Trump’s Influence on Upcoming Races

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“Senator, what's your sense of your colleagues on the other side of the aisle? How will they deal with this blatant hypocrisy coming from a Republican administration and a Republican president?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) during a conversation about President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget proposal, which contradicts some of his own campaign promises. “The harm is real and the claim that it comes into balance is a scam,” said Van Hollen. Click to hear more of Van Hollen’s comments.

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Trump’s Budget Proposal: The Harm is Real

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“Senator…Secretary Mattis and General Dunford are scheduled any day now to provide the President with a recommendation for inserting maybe as many as 5,000 more troops into Afghanistan, 16 years after that war began. What is the objective, and would you be in favor of additional troops?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE). Listen to Coons’ response here.

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More Troops to Afghanistan?

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“Tom, this is not the first President of the United States you've seen mired in controversy and scandal at home and using a foreign trip abroad to enhance his prestige and make him feel better obviously about himself and his Administration. What happens when Donald Trump returns home?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of NBC News special correspondent Tom Brokaw in reference to President Donald Trump's first overseas trip of his presidency. Hear what Brokaw has to say about what happens when “reality kicks back in again” for Trump.

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Trump’s Reality Check

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“Mr. Ambassador, there is clearly a mood, an almost a euphoric mood in Israel and among Israel’s diplomats like yourself, about this trip of President Trump to your country. Part of it, though, seems to some observers, rooted in a resentment of Barack Obama's administration. Can you explain the difference between Barack Obama's administration and his attitude toward Israel, and President Trump's attitude toward Israel?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon during a conversation about Israel / U.S. relations. Hear Danon’s response here.

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President Trump's Attitude Toward Israel

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While the Morning Joe panel talks about former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn invoking the Fifth Amendment in response to a subpoena for documents from a Senate panel probing Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, senior contributor Mike Barnicle offers: “General Flynn, he has an absolute right and his lawyers are absolutely correct to invoke the Fifth Amendment. And in an odd way, I'm told by two people who were involved in this investigation that he is kind of in a strong position right now to get immunity because to move this investigation forward, you've got to speak to General Flynn. He has a story to tell, as his lawyer said, and he has got to tell that story.”

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Immunity for Flynn?

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In the ongoing discussion on Morning Joe about the intelligence community resources dedicated to investigating possible ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia, senior contributor Mike Barnicle explains: “There are better, more important things for our intelligence services and the intelligence services of countries around the globe to be doing rather than here, domestically, being preoccupied with what the President says or doesn't say.” Listen to more of the discussion here as it contrasts the terrorist attack in Manchester, England, that left 22 dead and scores injured to the Trump/Russia investigation at home.

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US Intel into Russia is Trumping Priorities

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As the Morning Joe panel marvels that President Donald Trump apparently does not know that Israel is located in the Middle East and ponders if his recent statements are “malicious” or “plain stupid,” the show’s senior contributor Mike Barnicle adds: “Is it part Captain Queeg? Is it part John Gotti? We now have to ask how much a part of it is Chauncey Gardiner? Because that's where we are on this…Israel has been in the Middle East for quite some time.” Listen to Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough’s take on Trump: “We’ve gone from ‘Being There’ to ‘Dumb and Dumber’."

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Trump’s Middle East Mistake

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“He incriminates himself nearly every day in one way or another,” says Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle about President Donald Trump and reports that he called two of the nation’s top intelligence officials and urged them to publicly deny that there is any evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russia. Listen in on the conversation with host Joe Scarborough, Barnicle, former Treasury official Steven Rattner and former advisor to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) Elise Jordan about a possible legal case for obstruction of justice against President Trump and how the issue has “hijacked” his agenda.

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Russia Probe Problems Continue

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“Senator, we have a concerted attack on the poor in this country going on right now in this budget. I don't know anyone, anyone who would love to be born poor in America. So, who's going to lead the fight in the United States Senate against this attack on the poor?" asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) during a conversation about President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget proposal and how it will impact the less fortunate. Hear McCaskill talk about the bipartisan push back she expects. “I don’t think there’s very many Republicans who have an appetite for getting rid of Meals on Wheels.” Listen in here.

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Push Back for the Poor

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“Charlie, at its most basic level, ignorance of the law has never been a defense. It's like saying, ‘I didn't know I was supposed to put money in the parking meter so please don't give me a ticket.’ Is a president's or Donald Trump's total ignorance of the process of laws, how they apply to the Director of National Intelligence or to the head of the FBI, would that be a defense?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of The New York Times national security and legal reporter Charlie Savage during a conversation about reports indicating that President Trump called two of the nation’s top intelligence officials and urged them to publicly deny that there is any evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russia. Listen to Savage’s response here.

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The Ignorance Defense?

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“You could not have come up with a better candidate for this position than Bob Mueller,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the panel examines Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Listen in to the conversation with The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg and former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley.

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Russian Meddling Probe

[postlink]http://www.mikebarnicle.tv/2017/05/the-next-leader-of-fbi.html[/postlink][starttext]
Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle spoke with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) about the possibility of his former colleague Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) leading the FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation, as it was reported that Lieberman is one of four candidates currently being considered for the chief post. Hear what Murphy has to say in the conversation of political v. law enforcement experience when it comes to the position of new FBI director.

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The Next Leader of the FBI

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While the Morning Joe panel analyzes the Justice Department’s appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee a federal investigation into the probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, senior contributor Mike Barnicle says: “What adjective do you want to use to describe Bob Muller? Honorable, honest, character, great integrity, inspires tremendous loyalty in the people who work for him; led a Marine Corps rifle team in Vietnam after graduating from Princeton…There will be no leaks. I can tell you from personal experience with him, knowing him for over 30 years, there will be no leaks out of this investigation. There will just be the hard-nosed plotting, timely, time-consuming work of an investigation.” Listen to more of the discussion here.

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Former FBI Director Robert Mueller

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“Michael Schmidt’s reporting indicates that the President asked the Vice President, the Attorney General, and the Chief of Staff to leave the Oval Office. Is that intent?,” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of public policy professor Harold Ford Jr. during a conversation about President Donald Trump possibly having committed obstruction of justice when he privately asked then FBI Director James Comey to end the federal investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, which New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt originally reported. Listen to Ford Jr.’s response here. Only on MSNBC.

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Is that Intent?

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“We're right at the edge of Title 18, Section 1503 of the United States Code, which is obstruction of justice, and we have (FBI) Director Comey's contemporaneous notes….I don't think anybody can predict where this Congress is going to go on this, especially the Republican Senate and the Republican House,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle, as he references New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt’s recent article that reveals FBI Director James Comes wrote in his notes that President Donald Trump asked him to end the federal investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Listen to more of the discussion here.

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At the Edge

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“They are caught in one of the age-old elements that beleaguer all cover ups and that is: ‘A lie is the hardest thing to remember',” says Morning Joe’s senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation about the various stories coming out of the White House about the President Donald Trump’s surprise firing of FBI director James Comey. “They can’t figure out which story to tell from hour to hour about what occurred over the last five or six days.” Listen in here for the inside story from The New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush and The Washington Post's national political reporter Robert Costa about the difficult job today and ahead for President Trump.

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Inside the White House

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The Morning Joe panel, in conversation with the Aspen Institute’s Walter Isaacson, the best-selling author of Einstein, continue to discuss the fall out from President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI director James Comey. “What you have had happen…is just one more indication that Donald Trump and clearly the people around him do not understand the presidency itself and the value of the presidency to this country,” says senior contributor Mike Barnicle. Tune in to hear more about the White House’s potential “constitutional crisis."

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Constitutional Crisis?

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While the conflicting stories continue to swirl about why President Donald Trump unexpectedly fired FBI director James Comey in a termination letter that claims Comey told POTUS that he is not the subject of an FBI investigation, Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle explains: “I was told that line in the letter that the President wrote to Comey firing him; the three times…’thanks for telling me three times I'm not a subject of an investigation,' I was told flat out by two agents that never happened. And another person told me there's a possibility that the President inadvertently waived executive privilege going forward by mentioning that in the letter.” Listen to more of the discussion here with Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist and former Democratic Rep. Harold Ford, Jr.

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Comey Fallout Continues

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During the ongoing Morning Joe discussion as to why President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey this week, including reports that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein may have been ordered by POTUS to write a memo recommending Comey's dismissal, senior contributor Mike Barnicle explains: “(Rosenstein) has only one option to maintain his sterling credentials, and that is to appoint a special prosecutor. So, we're going to see going forward exactly what happens here, but the logic of what the White House is trying to sell in terms of the chain of evidence concerning how and why Jim Comey was fired by the President does not stand up to common sense.” Listen to more of the conversation here.

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Comey Questions Swirl

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Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle talks with NBC News National Correspondent Peter Alexander about the further fall out from President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director Jim Comey following a “classy” letter from Comey to his colleagues and an all-smiles meeting between Trump and Russian diplomats in the Oval Office with only Russian press invited. Hear the panel’s discussion here.

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Continuing Comey Fall Out

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TIME Magazine editor Nancy Gibbs joins the Morning Joe panel to talk about this week’s cover story “Donald Trump After Hours,” an exclusive and inside look at the Oval Office and West Wing, including the President’s private dining room. “Nancy you’ve been around. Were you surprised at his openness, the graciousness that appears in this piece?” asks senior contributor Mike Barnicle. Hear Gibbs recount stories and give her impressions of her time meeting with President Trump and how it differed from any other White House visit with a sitting President.

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TIME with President Trump

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“Vladimir Putin scored six goals yesterday playing hockey. He actually scored seven – that picture you just held up. That’s the seventh goal,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle to host Joe Scarborough during a conversation about how President Donald Trump allowed a photographer for a Russian state-owned news agency into the Oval Office during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, leading to a widely circulated and much criticized front page photograph of POTUS and the Russian diplomats all smiles. Hear more of the story here.

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Russia Scores

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Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle talks with Rep. Jim Hines (D-CT) about the Senate Intelligence Committee's probe of President Donald Trump’s Taj Mahal money laundering case, in which the FinCEN division of the U.S. Treasury fined the Taj Mahal $10 million back in 2015. Asks Barnicle: “Congressman, in your prior life before you were elected to the House, you were very familiar with the world of finance and Wall Street. So, what triggers an alert like that in the Treasury Department, the movement of money from banks or banks overseas? What would send up a red flag that would result in the $10 million fine that was imposed?" Listen to Hines’ response here.

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Senate Probe Widens

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The Morning Joe panel talks with Sen. Lindsey Graham about his phone call with President Donald Trump informing him of the abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey. “During the course of that call, did you get the opportunity to ask him – why now?” asks senior contributor Mike Barnicle. Hear what Sen. Graham had to say about his advance notice and the impact of the Comey decision by President Trump.

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Graham’s Call

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Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle asks Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) about the possible connection in subpoenas issued involving former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey and the Russia investigation involving the Trump campaign. Hear what Kaine says about the “connective tissue” in these instances and what it could mean for the pace of the investigation.

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Connecting the Dots

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As the Morning Joe panel examines the bigger picture behind President Donald Trump’s unexpected firing of FBI Director James Comey, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle explains: “There is a daily diminishment of the presidency involved here. This is about an issue far larger than this individual, Donald Trump or James Comey. It’s about America, and it’s about the United States of America – about us – and about the presidency itself: How we define it, how we think of it, and the behavior of a president. Listen to the discussion here and what it could mean for the Republican Party.

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The Presidency Defined

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“Sarah, let's skip over your investigative prowess and go back to the letter that the President wrote to Director Comey, in which he says: ‘Well, I greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the DOJ to dismiss Comey.’ Do you know how many people helped the President prepare that letter, if any? Who approved sending that letter and the allegation that (Trump) was told three times by Jim Comey? Do you know anything about this?" asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a conversation about President Donald Trump’s letter that informed FBI Director James Comey that he was fired. Listen to Sanders’ response here.

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President Donald Trump’s letter

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As the Morning Joe panel dissects President Donald Trump’s unexpected firing of FBI Director James Comey and the blowback that’s followed, the show’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle offers: “This is no longer about Donald Trump. It’s no longer about James Comey. It's about the presidency, which is being diminished on a daily basis by his behavior. It's about the Constitution. It's about the United States of America and the people of this country. That’s what it’s about. After all the talk is done, after all the verbiage has been piled on this, Jim Comey is no longer the FBI Director because the President of the United States knew instinctively he could not control him.”

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It’s About Us

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“One of the central problems – with this issue and other issues in the White House — is the total chaotic nature around the President. There's no strong Chief of Staff. There's no strong voices to give him some direction, advice, counsel that he adheres to and this is what happens,” comments Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle in conversation with The Washington Post’s columnist David Ignatius about President Donald Trump’s inner circle, following former acting Attorney General Sally Yates testifying to Senators that she warned the Trump Administration that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his Russian contacts and was vulnerable to blackmail attempts. Listen to the discussion here.

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The total chaotic nature around the President

[postlink]http://www.mikebarnicle.tv/2017/05/confucius-says.html[/postlink][starttext]
“What did you learn from the disaster that was the Tribune purchase?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of billionaire Sam Zell during a conversation about what lessons Zell picked up from his experience of buying the Tribune Company – a media conglomerate – in 2007 and then having the Tribune Company file for bankruptcy the following year. Listen to Zell’s response here and his advice from Confucius.

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Confucius Says

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“Congressman... in terms of the investigation, what's your outcome? What’s your goal? Where do you stand on achieving that goal?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) during an interview about the House’s investigation into the Trump campaign's possible connections to Russia. Hear Schiff explain why the well-being of democracy hangs in the balance.

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Democracy Teeters

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During more of the talk about the Saturday Night Live cold open that spoofed the recently announced relationship between Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, panelists Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle discuss their portrayals in the skit. “She hired a personal trainer for me,” said senior contributor Mike Barnicle of his wife after seeing him portrayed by SNL’s Bobby Moynihan. "'If you look like that, you’re going to get in shape’,” Barnicle quoted her as saying. Hear more from Scarborough, Barnicle and Geist here. Only on MSNBC.

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SNL Laughs

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During another Morning Joe conversation about the latest eruption of violence involving air travel passengers and police — this time in Florida involving stranded Spirit Airlines travelers — veteran columnist Mike Barnicle offers: “Commercial air flight in America is a constant aggravation – 24 hours a days, 7 days a week. Find out more about the Spirit Airlines incident here and which airline gets a positive shout out from the Morning Joe panel.

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Flying Fiascos

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“Senator…on the front pages of the paper, on every TV, there was the meeting of the 1952 Minneapolis Rotary Club — all these guys talking about their success on the health care bill in the House. What was your reaction to the gathering? And what is going to happen to that health bill now that it's in the Senate?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) during a conversation about President Donald Trump’s gathering with Republican lawmakers at the White House Rose Garden to celebrate the House passing the revised healthcare proposal, which has been sent to the Senate for a vote. Listen to Klobuchar’s response here about the high fives for health care.

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High Fives All Around

[postlink]http://www.mikebarnicle.tv/2017/05/pass-or-fail-for-pakistan.html[/postlink][starttext]
In the continuing conversation with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle asks: "Could you give a grade to Pakistan as an ally? What would you give it?” Hear Rice’s assessment of the tough U.S. / Pakistan relationship here. Only on MSNBC.

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Pass or Fail for Pakistan?

[postlink]http://www.mikebarnicle.tv/2017/05/rice-sympathetic-on-budget-cuts.html[/postlink][starttext]
“What's been your reaction to the staffing cuts at the State Department, the lack of support for the Secretary of State?,” asks Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. “I hope it’s done with a scalpel and not with a bludgeon,” says Rice. Listen in on more of the conversation here.

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Rice Sympathetic on Budget Cuts

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ICYMI: During a conversation with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle asks: “Do you ever want to be president?” Hear Rice’s answer here, as well as her opinion on America’s place and responsibility as a global leader.

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Condi Rice for President?

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As the Morning Joe panel weighs in on Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates going to head-to-head about the legality of President Donald Trump’s travel ban, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle comments: “It's also something that Ted Cruz has done more often than not. He has an intellectual contempt for nearly everyone because he thinks he's just the smartest person in the room.” Listen in on the conversation here.

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Cruz v. Yates

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In conversation with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on the future of Obamacare, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle asks: “Senator, there seems to be one fight that is more shadow boxing than real fighting, and it has to do with the financial institution that affects more lives than any Wall Street institution does. It affects your life, your home, your car and now your health. These large insurance conglomerates who seemly dictate what is going on with healthcare legislation in this country, and yet you hear very little verbiage, fighting verbiage, from people – your colleagues – in Washington D.C. about the role – the powerful role – that insurance companies play in our lives.” Hear Warren’s response and her message to insurance companies: “They have to be more responsive to the American people and we have got to get those costs down.” Listen in on the conversation here.

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Warren’s message to the insurance industry

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“Senator, under the topic of: 'Is there anything further we can do to enforce penalties that hurt North Korea?' Are there Chinese financial institutions that do business with North Korea that also do business globally? And is there any way that we can crack down on those institutions if they do exist?” asks Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle of Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) during a conversation about how to deal with North Korea’s nuclear threat. "That’s exactly the right question to be asking,” says Gardner. Listen to his answer here.

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A Problem Like North Korea

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As Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle discuss the internal disagreement among House Republicans over the revised healthcare bill proposal and a Washington Post headline:
“GOP health bill on shaky ground,” Barnicle suggests: “You could have a subhead on that Washington Post headline: “Speaker Ryan has lost control of the House." Listen to more of the conversation here.

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The health of health care

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“The President of the United States apparently has no discipline when it comes to restraining himself from tweeting and nobody around him has the clout to go in and tell the President: ‘You’ve got to stop tweeting’,” said Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a discussion with The Washington Post’s associate editor Bob Woodward and Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski about President Donald Trump recent tweet that “our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September” after Democrats suggested that the spending package Congress will likely pass is a “defeat” for President Trump. Hear more of the conversation here.

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Barnicle to POTUS: Stop Tweeting

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“Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles was the subject of a racial slur hurled from some fan behind the dugout and it resurrected to many the dismal memories that have continued to stain the reputation of Boston as a racist city, and it's horrendous the way that this continues,” said Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle, a Boston native. "There’s no excuse for it - no explanation for it. We have a huge problem in this country still with racism.” Hear the rest of the conversation with Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough about what happened to center fielder Jones at a game this week against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

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Barnicle on Racism in Boston

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"It’s very upsetting—kind of depressing—to read the transcripts of this particular President as he rambles on anecdotally, adlibs about things that are critical to the future of this country," explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation about a recent interview with President Donald J. Trump, during which he asks “Why was there a Civil War?” and suggests that President Andrew Jackson could have prevented it. Watch the excerpt and hear the panel discussion here.

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"Trump Talk"

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“Presidents need to know history. Presidents need to know that words matter - that the use of language moves people and nations, it affects more than just emotion, it affects public policy, and we are lacking that right now in the Oval Office with the current occupant,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as he closes the show with a summation of President Donald Trump’s last 48 hours. On a lighter note, the clips starts out with a Happy 50th Birthday to show host Mika Brzezinski.

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Barnicle: Words Matter

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The Morning Joe panel discusses the difficulties facing the House Republicans’ revised health care bill after watching clips from President Donald Trump’s sit down interview with CBS’ John Dickerson over the weekend, during which POTUS touted the merits of the health care plan. Comments senior contributor Mike Barnicle: “You know what’s interesting as well as intriguing? It's kind of difficult semantically following the President in his interview there with John Dickerson, but, he instinctively knows that eliminating, dropping pre-existing conditions is more dangerous than dynamite to people in public office today. People are used to it. They like it. Whether you call it Obamacare or whatever — if they cut that out, if it goes back to the states, and any state governor or legislature cuts that out — (you’re) dead politically.” Watch the conversation here and the President’s promise that pre-existing conditions will be covered under the proposed bill.

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