Mike Barnicle on TV

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Watch this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Eugene Robinson and Mike Barnicle discussing reports that Russia and China are helping Iran replenish its military capabilities during the ongoing war, what that could mean for President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and U.S. alliances, and growing questions about the Trump administration’s handling of the conflict and Congress’ oversight of the war. “We don't know how we got into this war. We don't know who urged Trump to participate in this war; but the striking thing to me is that there's a whole political party—the Republican Party—that, unlike in the mid-1960s, conjoined with the Democrats to have hearings about how Vietnam began and what was the story in Vietnam. They are silent on this. There are no hearings. There are no questions being answered,” says Barnicle. Hear Robinson explain why the Iran “war of choice” is “really is a quagmire.”

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Trump’s Iran Quagmire

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"This is a unique moment in American political history because everyone out there—Republican or Democrat—is being confronted by an administration in Washington, D.C. that has married over the past three years, especially, cruelty and incompetence. The cruelty affects how people live—health care benefits, gone; food for the poor or the middle class—all sorts of programs diminished or disappeared. All of that has impacted this election that's going to take place, that took place in Florida yesterday, and all over the country in November….Things are tough out there for most Americans, from gas prices to the way they live, to the specter of a war hanging over us and a war that's being run haphazardly and incompetently; and that's going to be, I think, the biggest issue...as we head into November—how people live,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Joe Scarborough about Florida's Democratic primary results and what they could reveal about the issues shaping the midterm elections. Watch the exchange here.

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“Cruelty” and “incompetence” will shape the midterms

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U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) joins Morning Joe to discuss his new book, “No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism,” and why he believes Christian nationalism poses a growing threat to American democracy. He says the movement influences debates over public education, science, and the separation of church and state. “Congressman, is there—or can you define—a logic trail from Christian nationalism to various attacks that they make on public schools, on various elements of science, vaccines for children? What is going on here?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. Hear Huffman explain why Christian nationalism is “attacking anything that questions a very rigid, literalist, biblical worldview.”

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Democracy Under Religious Pressure

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“How do you gamble with your child’s health as you send them off to school?” asks Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Willie Geist and Jonathan Lemire about new CDC data showing rising childhood vaccine exemptions, declining vaccination rates among kindergartners, and growing concerns about what these trends could mean for public health.

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Gambling with children's health

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Tune in for this Morning Joe conversation with Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, about the role health care will play in the upcoming midterm elections and the ongoing challenges Americans face in accessing and affording care. “You're going around the country, Congressman—Texas, Arizona, Michigan, Maine, wherever you go—tell me where you think the ability to gain access to and coverage of the cost of health care stands in the minds of the American voter right now?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. Hear Aguilar explain why Americans know “health care wasn't great” before President Donald Trump returned to office—and why he argues recent cuts will make it even harder.

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Health Care on the Ballot

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Watch this Morning Joe conversation with “Ted Lasso” co-creator, writer, executive producer and star Brendan Hunt, who joined the panel to discuss the Emmy-winning comedy's return for a fourth season, the decision to center the story on a women's football team, and how the writers approached revisiting the show's beloved characters. "Nearly every character in the show—is so enormously appealing at one level or another,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. Hear Hunt explain how the creative team tried to make the characters “as real as possible.”

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Ted Lasso Returns

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“One of the things that sort of stands out—if you just look around at normal American life, which too few American politicians do, I think—is the level of cruelty in some of the cuts that the government under Donald Trump is making on an everyday basis—cruelty aimed at people who have a tough time anyway, and it’s disturbing,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during this conversation with Jonathan Lemire, Mark Leibovich and Elise Jordan about concerns that President Donald Trump is increasingly out of touch with voters, the political challenges facing both parties ahead of the midterms, and the impact of Trump Administration policies on everyday Americans. Join the conversation here."

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Midterm Warning Signs

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Watch this Morning Joe segment with veteran columnist and frequent contributor Mike Barnicle reacting to President Donald Trump's comments during a Fox News interview defending his handling of the economy, predicting lower gas prices, and arguing his administration deserves an “A+” for its economic record. “The description of 'Trump World' as he explains it is really so irrational, so out there, so apart from what happens every day in people's lives in this country. If you look around the country, if you feel for the country, if you do your own grocery shopping, if you just walk around and talk to people, this is a paycheck-to-paycheck economy for huge, huge numbers of people,” says Barnicle, adding that every candidate this fall—Republican and Democrat—should have to answer to constituents: 'What will you do for me and my family?'

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Reality Versus Rhetoric in 'Trump World'

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Tune in to this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle reflecting upon the political legacy of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, his evolution within the Republican Party, and the shifting political alliances that defined his career. “The thing that I never understood about him is that he was never cruel in terms of when he would speak to you about different politicians or issues, or whatever like that. But he once said—about Joe Biden—that if you can meet a better person, God never created a better person than Joe Biden. And yet he said some horrific things about Biden during Biden's presidency and just quite recently, and I've never been able to juggle that,” comments Barnicle. Hear Scarborough explain why he believes Graham was a “shape shifter” in pursuit of access to power.

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Lindsey Graham: A Political Chameleon

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"What an incredible thing: Gas prices are up, stocks are down, and we're spending $1 billion a day in Iran—wow,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during this discussion with Joe Scarborough and POLITICO politics bureau chief Jonathan Martin about the political fallout from the renewed U.S.-Iran conflict, the difficult choices facing Republican candidates, and how rising gas prices especially this upcoming Labor Day weekend could shape the midterm elections.

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Markets, War, Politics

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This is not for the first time this has happened in a city or a town in the United States of America where ill-trained or untrained federal officials shoot and kill someone. In this case, they shot a resident of Maine. And the idea that the federal police—the ICE people—are there to take over that investigation is beyond outrageous. The Maine State Police, I'm sure, has a very good homicide unit. They should be the ones covering this, they should be the ones. They should have encircled that area right there, frozen it for evidence. It's a shooting scene, and no ICE agent should be allowed to interfere in that investigation,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist and Mara Gay about the circumstances around another fatal ICE shooting of a person in a car—this time in Maine—and who should investigate federal immigration officer-involved shootings.

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ICE Under Fire

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This Morning Joe conversation among Jonathan Lemire, Mike Barnicle and New York Times investigative reporter Michael Schmidt delves into the Trump Administration’s having issued subpoenas to five New York Times reporters. What are the implications on press freedom and should the White House Correspondents' Dinner be canceled "given the war that the president has waged against the press?” asks Barnicle. Watch the segment here.

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Trump v. the NYT

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Tune in for this Morning Joe conversation with Jonathan Lemire, former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson and Mike Barnicle about the fallout from the fatal ICE shooting in Houston and the broader implications for political rhetoric, public trust, and leadership. Hear Johnson explain why he believes fatal ICE shootings like the one in Houston require local involvement to ensure public trust and accountability.

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ICE’s lack of credibility

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Watch this Morning Joe conversation with The Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer discussing President Donald Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit, Ukraine's recent military gains, and the urgent need for additional missile defense support. “A sidebar—a sad sidebar—to the NATO meetings, there was the conversation—the brief conversation—between the President of the United States and Zelensky and Ukraine. And the consensus has always been, if you speak to people in the Pentagon—who will still speak to you without getting caught—they will tell you that if they had been supplied, if Ukraine had been supplied, properly over the past year, year and a half, Russia would have collapsed already within Ukraine, the military would have collapsed. What were you thinking when you saw the two of them together?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. Hear Foer explain why he believes “Ukraine has seized the initiative” and why this could be a pivotal moment in the war.

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Trump’s Ukraine meeting

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“It’s a staggering amount of money he’s made personally….It’s incredible what’s going on—the level of corruption in Washington,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle in this brief conversation with Willie Geist about new reporting on President Donald Trump’s financial disclosures, which reveal billions in cryptocurrency-related earnings and raise fresh questions about ethics and conflicts of interest.

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POTUS corruption questions

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This Morning Joe conversation is with Men in Blazers founder Roger Bennett, who joins to discuss his new book and the FIFA World Cup 2026—as Canada has made it to the Round of 16 for the first time ever and the U.S. men's national team is set to take on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the knockout round—and how the tournament is bringing fans from around the world together across America. “Roger, first of all, it's kind of incredible that both the United States and Canada are in the knockout round here. But I'd like to ask you about something I think is a bit bigger even than the World Cup, and it is this: That all of the people from all of these nations here in the United States…They come and they bring happiness at arrival, being here in the United States. They view the people of the United States as friends, and it's something that they're not used to understanding from where they come because of the media coverage of the United States in the last 10 years or so; but the smile on the foreigners' faces really brings smiles to the face of many Americans now,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. Hear Bennett explain why the legacy of this World Cup is “seeing the world fall in love with America.”"

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The world is falling in love with America

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“Mr. Meacham, this weekend, 250th anniversary of the United States of America….I'd like to tell you a little story, and perhaps you could lend me some commonsense reaction to it. The other day I had a doctor's appointment, and I'm walking through the halls of Massachusetts General Hospital—one of the finest institutions, medical institutions, in the world—and it was the day after the Temporary Status Protection Act was basically ripped apart by the Supreme Court. And hospitals, a large many hospitals, depend on people from Haiti and other countries as employees. And I'm wondering as I walked through the hallways, what has happened to this country that elements of our government seem so unfriendly towards its citizens, and yet the citizens themselves continue each and every day getting up, going to work, earning a pay check, taking care of their families like responsible Americans. What Is going on?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of presidential historian Jon Meacham, who discusses why America should “try to recover this sense of mercy and forgiveness.”

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America at 250: Celebration v. commemoration

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“It's refreshing to see the sense of municipality in this city because of the New York Knicks. It's really refreshing. People are kinder. They seem more thoughtful. They seem happier than they've been in quite some time all because of sports and one specific team—the New York Knicks,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during this Morning Joe conversation with Willie Geist an Jonathan Lemire as they await the start of the New York Knicks' championship parade, along with massive crowds that gathered across Manhattan to celebrate the franchise's first NBA title in more than five decades.

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Knicks inspire kindness

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Tune in on this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist, Jonathan Lemire, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Mike Barnicle as they discuss the New York Knicks' championship parade, the Boston Red Sox's struggles and weigh in on the now signed U.S.-Iran peace deal that critics argue gives Tehran a massive financial relief and immediate sanctions waivers without sufficiently dismantling Iran's nuclear infrastructure. “We're talking about parades…The second largest parade taking place today is in the streets of Tehran because they won big,” says Barnicle.

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Parades and politics

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Watch this Morning Joe conversation with The Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett discussing the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago and reflecting on the themes of hope, public service and bipartisan cooperation that define its mission. “Valerie, as you know, we live in a country that has been seriously divided….Could you speak a little about the concept, the reality of three former presidents arriving today in Chicago to celebrate Barack Obama’s library? One of the presidents is a Republican—George W. Bush—and the theme of cohesion among people who once fought each other politically showing up for this event?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Jarrett who shares details Bush’s support and “rooting” for Obama.

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