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When White House aides appear on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," they're often booked between 7 and 7:40 a.m. ET. That's so they'll reach one crucial and loyal viewer: President Biden. Why it matters: Biden's years-long love of MSNBC's staple morning show affects how the White House runs — and who Biden listens to. ,p> Zoom in: The president often calls co-host Joe Scarborough — a former Republican congressman who's now a harsh critic of Donald Trump — to get Scarborough's take on issues and sometimes vent about media coverage, according to people familiar with the relationship. ,p> During the day,...

Mainstream publications have fired another salvo of articles this week conveying a cratering outlook for Ukraine. Let’s take a run through the gamut to see just how urgently the tone has shifted, and what it portends. The first piece is from Foreign Affairs—the official journal of the CFR—written by CFR ex-president Richard Haass (remember him?). Note the deliberately chosen cemetery motif to define the tone: It lays out the urgency in no uncertain terms, using very direct language to exhort the U.S. and allies into immediately reorienting Ukraine’s posture from an offensive to a defensive one. Ukraine and the West...

Sure, Kamala Harris has been roundly roasted for her disastrously bad answer to Lester Holt's question about her plans to visit the border. But the beleaguered VP still has one defender, in the person of Mika Brzezinski. On today's Morning Joe, Mika suggested to Richard Haass that Kamala "deserves some credit" for meeting with leaders of Central American countries and "getting in their face." Pity those leaders!You'll see [screencap] Haass literally laugh at Mika's suggestion that Harris deserves credit. Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

Richard Haass, Head of Council on Foreign Relations via targetliberty.com Richard Haass, Head of Council on Foreign Relations via targetliberty.com Many Trump enthusiasts cite Heidi Cruz’s stint with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where she advocated for the private sector, as an indication that presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz is a “globalist.” If Heidi Cruz’s connection to the CFR makes Ted Cruz a globalist (despite Cruz’s extensive record of aggressively defending U.S. sovereignty), any thinking Trump supporter would also want to take into account presidential candidate Donald Trump’s repeated and vocal admiration for CFR President Richard Haass. During the...

Many Trump enthusiasts cite Heidi Cruz’s stint with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where she advocated for the private sector, as an indication that presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz is a “globalist.” If Heidi Cruz’s connection to the CFR makes Ted Cruz a globalist (despite Cruz’s extensive record of aggressively defending U.S. sovereignty), any thinking Trump supporter would also want to take into account presidential candidate Donald Trump’s repeated and vocal admiration for CFR President Richard Haass. During the GOP debate in Detroit on March 3, Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked Donald Trump for “two or three names”...

As the candidates for the Republican nod in the presidential race become fewer (down from 17 to 3 as we write), and the voters don’t seem to have made a clear choice, the possibility of a brokered convention has emerged.A “brokered” convention occurs when no candidate wins enough delegates in the primary/caucus contests to assure nomination on the first ballot. The decision then passes to convention delegates, something that hasn’t happened at a Democrat or Republican convention over the past 50+ years. When it does occur, the possibility exists that all primary/caucus results can legitimately be ignored by the delegates.Labeling...

Former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, who served under President Bill Clinton, has died at the age of 70. "V sad start to day; just learned Sandy Berger passed away during the night," Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, tweeted Wednesday morning. "Good man & friend who served nation well as bill clinton's NSA." Antony Blinken, the current deputy secretary of state and a Berger acolyte, tweeted, "Mourn the passing of Sandy Berger --- father, husband, mentor, friend, leader and great patriot. RIP SRB." Berger, a longtime lawyer who founded Stonebridge International, a Washington-based advisory group,...

The circumstances that have brought a government shutdown raise concerns that U.S. political dysfunction now poses the biggest threat to national security, says CFR President Richard N. Haass. The shutdown, combined with other recent events, also stirs questions about "American predictability and reliability, which are qualities that are vital to an effective great power," says Haass. The U.S. Congress, vital for advancing policy initiatives from trade to sanctions, is now an unreliable partner, he argues. "This sends a message to allies that they're somewhat on their own," Haass says. "It sends a message to adversaries, or would-be adversaries, that you've...

Both Iran and its Hamas proxy in Gaza have been busy this Christmas week showing Christendom just what they think of it. But no one seems to have noticed. On Tuesday, Hamas legislators marked the Christmas season by passing a Shari'a criminal code for the Palestinian Authority. Among other things, it legalizes crucifixion. Hamas's endorsement of nailing enemies of Islam to crosses came at the same time it renewed its jihad. Here, too, Hamas wanted to make sure that Christians didn't feel neglected as its fighters launched missiles at Jewish day care centers and schools. So on Wednesday, Hamas lobbed...

Although the White House is poised to back away from misguided attempts to "engage" the Iranian mullahs, don't expect the State Department to play along. Just as State has undermined the president multiple times already on matters relating to every spoke of the "axis of evil," State most likely will continue talking to the mullahs. A recent Washington Post article gave an indication that Foggy Bottom officials may grudgingly embrace a new tough-on-Iran policy—if officially handed down by the White House—noting that State "appears inclined to accept such a policy." But history suggests otherwise. The State Department's top policy official,...

NEW YORK - Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad broke away from events at the U.N. General Assembly to hold an informal question-and-answer session with high-powered members of America's most prestigious foreign policy think tank — despite objections from some Jewish groups and the Bush administration. The Council on Foreign Relations said afterward that Ahmadinejad had engaged in a "protracted punch and counter-punch" with 19 members for about 90 minutes in the conference room of a New York City hotel late Wednesday. But it said the controversial Iranian leader had offered no new policies or opinions other than those he has...

I'm trying yet another format change this week.  I have left the background links on the entry for each guest for each show, like last week, but I've broken the Sunday shows out into separate posts to try to make each one more easy to read and discuss.  The Saturday shows will still be posted as one message, then I'll do the ping.  Please me know if this works.And I've put my (expanded) witty commentary here instead of in the ping...The most interesting guest this week should be Secretary Rice, who is on Fox, CBS and ABC, but she probably...

Brent Scowcroft, military assistant to President Nixon, and National Security Advisor to Presidents Ford and H.W. Bush, continues his attack on the bush foreign policy and Iraq War in an interview by Jeffrey Goldberg in The New Yorker (not available without subscription). In The Washington Note, Steven C. Clemons provides excerpts (here) from the interview: A principal reason that the Bush Administration gave no thought to unseating Saddam was that Brent Scowcroft gave no thought to it. An American occupation of Iraq would be politically and militarily untenable, Scowcroft told Bush. And though the President had employed the rhetoric of...

PARIS A senior policymaker in the Bush administration, Richard Haass, shrugged off widespread criticism and hostility toward America on Thursday as a misunderstanding of Washington's "benign" foreign policy. And while he agreed that France was being "punished" for opposing President George W. Bush on Iraq, he said the French had an opportunity to get back into America's good books by going along with a U.S. resolution in the UN Security Council to lift Iraq sanctions. Haass, director of policy planning at the State Department, told reporters in Paris, where he was holding talks with French officials: "Allow me a bit...

A Foggy Bottom official wants to sit down with Iranian mullahs and Pyongyang's Dear Leader. If Richard Haass, an outgoing State Department official, has his way, President Bush's policy of isolating Iran and North Korea will be undermined. And if top-ranking officials at State have their way, Haass's successor will continue the Haass efforts.Between now and the end of June, two events will be unfolding side-by-side: Haass is going to attempt to find ways to "engage" the Iranian mullahs and Kim Jong-Il, and Foggy Bottom will be trying to replace him with someone who favors the same strategy — even...