Woodman

They are now discussing what Mika saw in John McCain and how she saw the same qualities she saw in her father. Joe told us at length what Mika’s view on this was. She didn’t feel it was worth telling us herself?

No guest list this morning. But it’s Joe - Mike Barnicle, Noah Rothman, Heidi P, Eugene Robinson, Katty Kay and others that I missed. No mention of Mika or Willie.

Joe... ‘Mika has the morning off, and Willie will also be back later this week’ began with a montage of J&M interviewing Sen John McCain which highlighted the late Senator’s sense of humour but was also about J&M.

Updated Mon. guest list: Mike Barnicle, Richard Haass, Andrea Mitchell, Jon Meacham, Katty Kay, Hans Nichols, Adm. James Stavridis, ctd… … Nicholas Confessore, Peggy Noonan, Thomas Friedman, Chris Matthews, Mark Salter, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Michael Beschloss, Susan Page, Jeff Greenfield and more

Updated Fri. guest list: John Heilemann, Jonathan Lemire, Susan Del Percio, Eugene Robinson, Jim VandeHei, Barbara McQuade, Bret Stephens, ctd… … Martin London, Philip Bump, Yamiche Alcindor, Adam Entous, Peter Baker, Carol Leonnig, Sen. Chris C****, Natasha Bertrand, Jon Fasman, Jake Sherman, Danny O’Connor and more It’s Joe and ‘Mika has the morning off’ There’s only room for one of them in their personal bunker.

Taking all comments on board, given the choice between Joe, Willie and Mika for today’s news I prefer Mika. She’s no Heidi or Nicolle (who managed the big 4pm hour brilliantly on Tuesday) but she keeps the conversation going and is engaged. Joe would push himself into every issue and Willie (who is presumably on vacation) is too laid back and not really a political animal.

Thurs. guest list: Donny Deutsch, Eddie Glaude Jr., John Podhoretz, Sam Stein, Glenn Kessler, Katty Kay, Benjamin Wittes, Jeremy Peters, Noah Rothman, Elisabeth Bumiller, John Harwood, David Fahrenthold, Sen. Dick Durbin, Tom Rogan, Brian Bennett, Zainab Salbi, Steve James & more

I agree with this. I think she’s in awe of him as she seemed to be with her father. She still doesn’t know her value because she needs what she sees as a powerful man to give her esteem. I remember a segment when she interviewed Chris Matthews and she was clearly in awe. I’d never seen him before and the segment didn’t make me rush to the website to watch. Also today’s show has so many more women contributors, which is very refreshing too.

Kasie also seems to have upped the tempo and focus. She’s better at Congress reporting imo.

Mika is better on her own than when she’s smothered by Joe’s huge ego and views. So far this show is crisper, and more informative than it’s been for a while.

Updated Weds. guest list: Kasie Hunt, Elise Jordan, Jon Meacham, Donny Deutsch, Danny Cevallos, Emily Jane Fox, Jonathan Turley, Barbara McQuade, Eugene Robinson, ctd… ...Joyce Vance, Daniel Goldman, Clint Watts, Lanny Davis, Zephyr Teachout, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Elie Honig, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Shannon Pettypiece, Josh Lederman and more It’s a big news day. Will MJ shake off it’s ennui and rise to the challenge.

Timely?

Katty Kay always tends to shout in the way you do when you are physically distanced from people. And one thing you can say about the missing one is that she is good at signalling the structure of the show, and marshalling the conversations by cueing in guests etc.

That’s exactly it. I’m not sure it’s just Joe either. I’m seeing a lot of equivocation in the media suddenly and it’s as if there is the viewpoint that Trump is here to stay regardless of what he’s done. Or maybe Trump is right - the media needs him. I’ve not heard many of the MSNBC ‘one day things will be ok’ and ‘importance of the press’ promos recently. That may be because much of the time Tune In inserts it’s own irritating adverts these days. And I’ve noticed Elise Jordan is edging back into the Trump camp since Rand Paul became one of Trump’s new chums.

There has been v little activity on the MJ Twitter account for days. The lack of presenters, bunker presentation, repetitive segments and reminiscences, it’s like a closing down sale.

no guest list again. Joe with Walter Isaacson, Elise Jordan and Katty Kay. I wasn’t really listening tbh. Started with a reminiscence of his show taking off and his special audience. Now discussing Trump’s base and how solid it is. Again. It’s Groundhog Day but that is probably politics at the moment -in the U.K. as well as the US.

Another day without a guest list. It’s Joe but no mention of Mika. Guest list from initial intro includes Jon Meacham, Carol Lee, Michael Schmidt, Joyce Vance, Andrea Mitchell, David Ignatius. I can’t remember any other names. Nothing from Willie so far and it’s not clear whether he is there.

It’s Willie. ‘Joe and Mika have the morning off’

It’s Kasie so guessing there is no Mika. The open question is Joe or Willie.

I’m not that keen on Katy Tur either, but she seems to pop up everywhere so I wondered if I was being unreasonable. I had to google Noel Rothman and I’m no wiser.

I’m not a vote for Willie and Kasie. It’s personal preference and I watch the show late morning so it might be a different vibe. Kasie always seems to suck up to the men and is not very flexible in her reactions to the conversation. Willie doesn’t have any area of expertise and just tries to be the ‘nice conservative guy’. I’d not really thought about it until that tweet but Joe and Mika treat the viewers with contempt. Stephanie Ruhle would be great too, as would Katy Tur and Hallie Jackson.

This has just appeared on my Twitter stream.... they are either unaware or trolling.

No guest list this morning but it’s Willie and Kasie. ‘Joe and Mika have the morning off’ Heidi is also there with John Heilemann but I didn’t catch the other people mentioned at the top. Willie and Kasie are too bland for me. I agree about Heidi being serious, but I think she’s capable of being more relaxed with practice. Also about Nicolle Wallace’s excellent interview with John Brennan last night ( well, it was nighttime for me)

Joe and Willie open with baseball. No Mika, no mention of Mika. Heidi is very good and is prepared to argue her point. Heidi and Willie would be a good combination. Heidi and anyone tbh.

From MJ Twitter Updated Tues. guest list: Elise Jordan, Nick Confessore, Heidi Przybyla, Jim VandeHei, Walter Isaacson, Michael Steele, Jake Sherman, Daniel Goldman, Alicia Menendez, Philip Rucker and more It’s a half a sleep Joe with Willie who gives an injection of energy. No mention of Mika. I gave up the yawn fest after 30 mins yesterday.