why our current president has this blind spot remains a mystery. >> mike barnacle is with us and has estion about north korea. mike? >> admiral, at his core, mccain despite -- we knew how he was idealogically, sometimes right, sometimes middle, but at his core he was always for the united states of america, clearly and deeply forever. today i'm wondering what do you think would be on his mind with regard to our relationship after a series of what we were fold terrific meetings with north korea. what would he be thinking today? what do you think? >> first of all, i think the president is significantly distracted by domestic events and his own legal struggles, to be honest with you. to the degree he is thinking about north korea, he is hopeful, he is placing a big bet on north korea coming out his way. but at the end of the day, the fundamentals are bad there, mike. i think the chances of kim jong-un fully, completely, immediately and verifiably giving up his nuclear weapons are roughly the same chances as the mexicans paying for the wall under the new president. so p i think we're goin

>> mike barnacle. >> yes! >> stop, mike. mike, i may have -- i may have misjudged you.nce it was august would sweep us. i just had it off just a little bit, mike. >> just a little, capped off by last night for throws who went to bed early last night, the sunday night game, red sox came back in the ninth to tie it and won it in the tenth, 5-4. richard haas next to me, how are you today? >> let's go back to the news. >> yeah. >> i mean, richard, you could have made that throw from third base to first. i mean in the ninth, i thought -- seriously, i thought it was so nonchalant, i couldn't believe they didn't get zander out. >> even the wild card is beginning to look slightly questionable. this is -- this is worse than the nightmare many of us were concerned going into the four games. so i think it is time to move on though, joe. i don't think we ought to dwell on it. >> mika, it is time to move on, but at some point -- i know we only talk about east coast teams and specifically only two east coast teams. one of these mornings, mike, we're going to have to talk about the oa

with us we have msnbc contributor mike barnacle. university, former aide to the bush white house, communication strategist, columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius, white house correspondent for pbs news hour, historian and rogers professor of the presidency at vanderbilt university john meacham and joining the conversation editor-in-chief of the atlantic magazine, jeffrey goldberg. good to have you all on board. john meacham, what is the forward thinking question for a man whose job it is to look back on the puerto rico crisis, the facts versus the president's words? >> well, will we ever learn is the cry. we went through a not entirely dissimilar crisis in 2005 with hurricane on the mainland united states. the fundamental function of government, there are really two. one is to protect us from enemies abroad, and the other is to guarantee, as jeerfferson pu it, life, liberty and pursuit of happy ne. if you can't provide that basic service there's no wonder that people distrust institutions so much. t

mike barnacle, this is a president who knows it's the russians.sians, intel agencies warn him it is the russians. the united states military warns him that it is the russians. the intel community warns him that it is the russians. he goes from a fat guy in jersey to the chinese. it's sad and it is pathetic. i wonder at what point do people who support donald trump say wait a second, not only do i not like the guy's tweets, but i hate the fact that america's national security, america's democracy is in the crosshairs of russia and vladimir putin. >> the odds on that happening are zero because there has been enough opportunities for republican members especially of the united states senate -- let's forget the house. republican members of the united states senate to stand up in the face of something obvious that has been pointed out by everyone. this country has been under attack with russia. russia has declared war on us. it is a cyber war but they declared war on us. what we see here again in that late night tweet from the president of the united s

still with us we have msnbc contributor mike barnacle.iate editor of commentary, noah roth man and heidi. columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius. pulitzer prize winning columnist, eugene robinson. and joining the conversation we have columnist for "the washington post," senior editor at business insider and msnbc contributor, and national political correspondent for nbc and news and msnbc steve kornacki. his forthcoming book "the red and the blue the 1990s and the birth of political tribalism" is coming out october 2nd. you know, mike, i think it's important that we remember the words of ted kennedy as he was eulogizing his brother. he said that his brother should not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, but then he went on to talk about how his brother was a good man and he tried to find justice, and tried to do the right thing. i think what makes john mccain such a fascinating figure and will be even more fascinating figure as we move forward through history is like many great m

>> mike barnacle is with us, nick confessore, kasie hunt.ion former fbi special agent and msnbc contributor clint watts. associate editor of the washington post david ignatius, former chair of the republican national committee michael steele joins us. yay. good to have you all on board. >> willie, it's august. can i talk to willie about august? >> very briefly. >> don't you find that new york city is at its finest, now it's the best in august. i don't know whether new york city or new orleans, louisiana, smells better in august. >> on bourbon street, you get the heat, the asphalt, the bus fumes and the dog urine that's been on the sidewalk now for 11 months is able to seep up and create a vapor in the air. >> wow. i'm always wondering -- >> next to the piles of trash. >> where willie is going to go with this. >> it's like orson wells said will eat no cow before its time. we will drink no wine -- >> it's the greatest city in the world but it has some summer smell issues that should be addressed. >> mike barnacle, any chance to talk about john

so i think in no time we'll be back at the excitement levels that mike barnacle requires. >> thanks, bill. still ahead, how lawmakers are reacting to president trump's ongoing feud with attorney general jeff sessions. what some top republicans have to say about a potential firing. >> former cia chief brennan doesn't have a security clearance. brennan doesn't seem so sure about that. we'll be right back. nan doesn'te about that we'll be right back. . school... grade... done. done. hit the snooze button and get low prices on school supplies all summer long. like this case of paper for only $29.99 at office depot officemax. and it's time to get outside. pack in even more adventure with audible. with the largest selection of audiobooks. audible lets you follow plot twists off the beaten track. or discover magic when you hit the open road. with the free audible app, your stories go wherever you do. and for just $14.95 a month you get a credit, good for any audiobook. if you don't like it exchange it any time. no questions asked. you can also roll your credits to the next month if you don'

i'm mike barnacle in for nicole wallace.u're there -- >> here's what i'm trying to figure out. you have a michael steele, i have a michael steele. how are we -- amazing coincidence. >> it's tv all day -- >> the magic of tv. thank you, mike. >> thank you. >>> if it's tuesday, president trump is warning there will be violence if republicans lose the midterms. >> good evening, i'm chuck todd here in washington

. >> still ahead, the yankees and red sox, we will tell you why mike barnacle will have an extra smile on his face take. back in a moment. ♪ ♪ ♪ raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ♪ ♪ bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown paper packages tied up with strings ♪ ♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪ i've been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. there's a lot of innovation that goes into making america's #1 shave. precision machinery and high-quality materials from around the world. nobody else even comes close. now starting at $7.99. gillette. the best a man can get. ♪ hawaii is in the middle of the pacific ocean. we're the most isolated population on the planet. ♪ hawaii is the first state in the u.s. to have 100% renewable energy goal. we're a very small electric utility. but, if we don't make this move we're going to have changes in our environment, and have a negative impact to hawaii's economy. ♪ verizon provided us a solution using smart sensors on their network that lets us collect near real time d

i'm mike barnacle in for nicole wallace. and right now, our old pal starts -- yeah, chuck, you're there -- >> here's what i'm trying to figure out. you have a michael steele, i have a michael steele. how are we -- amazing coincidence. >> it's tv all day -- >> the magic of tv. thank you, mike. >> thank you. >>> if it's tuesday, president trump is warning there will be violence if republicans lose the midterms. >> good evening, i'm chuck todd here in washington. welcome to "mtp daily." the last primary election night before the midterms -- sorry, cynthia nixon. the president of the united states is fear mongering claiming there will be violence if the republicans lose the majority. no, you didn't hear that wrong. folks, we've said it before and we'll see it again -- in this environment, you can forget that old saying that all politics is local. because this midterm, all politics is national and then some. and this news is breaking as the first polls tonight close in less than two hours. in a pair of states that will be key bat

with us, we have msnbc contributor mike barnacle. former aide to the george w., eugene robinson. senior writer at "politico", jake sherman. we will start with new weekly tracking numbers from gallup. it finds 54% disapprove of the job president trump is doing compared to 41% who approve of his performance. cnbc's john horowood analyzed the support and found in the data whites with no college degree approved of the president's job 58% to 39%, while 29% of all other americans approv approved, and 66% disapprove. the numbers seem to be shifting a bit for the president. >> there's always been -- we talked about it for some time, that there's always been a bit of a narrow casting, but this is about as narrow casting as it gets. willie, all i can say for donald trump and republicans who are hoping, like the special election in ohio tonight, the republicans who are hoping he will somehow get them over the finish line even in strongly republican district like the ohio 12, they just better hope that their small slice of the electorate comes out because, i mean, donald tr

of hours, but before we go to break, we want to talk about a friend and a member of our family, mike barnacle and his family are in our thoughts this morning. barnacle's brother, retired sergeant paul barnacle passed away on sunday, passed away surrounded by his children. he was dispatched to vietnam where he served as a combat medic. back home he worked as a counselor before joining the boston police department in 1978. paul's entire adult life was dedicated to seeking justice for those impacted by violence all around him and in his community. our thoughts and prayers are with paul's family and of course with mike and ann and all of the barnicles. >>> still ahead this morning on "morning joe," we'll get to the very latest on the paul manafort trial from a former prosecutor who has been following all of the twists and turns inside the courtroom. >>> later, new york times magazine writer mark leibovich with his extraordinary interview of house speaker paul ryan. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. hopes you drive safely. but allstate actually helps you drive safely... with driv

with us, we have msnbc contributor mike barnacle, white house reporter for the associated press jonathanand contributor clint watts and nbc national political reporter heidi prisbella. i say we're getting close and that may sound like an overstatement, but i will tell you we are understating what we are seeing every day. and ask someone like madeline albright whether what she sees here is the beginning of a very bad scene for this country that does not look like a democracy if it keeps going. >> well, a bad scene for a country, willie, if you don't have people pushing back. but we talked about the commander that pushed back a couple of days ago told the truth about warnings and we actually saw john cornan and some republicans step out yesterday, susan collins, saying no, he can't do that. so there was pushback and there will be pushback. but you, you know, we are talking about the white house and donald trump specifically provoking fights and violence towards reporters a couple of days ago. and then they -- the white house comes out and says, oh, he's never talked about violence. you can