The crew of MSNBC’s Morning Joe praised the life and work of Mike Wallace on Monday but it was co-host Mika Brzezinski who recalled the iconic newsman from personal experience.

“There are a few greats left … that are who they are off the air, on the air and it’s not performance,” Brzezinski said.

Wallace, one of the original correspondents for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” died Saturday night in New Haven, Conn., with his family by his side. Wallace was 93.

(Also on POLITICO: In memoriam: Mike Wallace)

New Yorker editor David Remnick, a guest on “Morning Joe,” said he wanted to give a “rounded portrait” of Wallace.

“I didn’t like the stunts and the hidden cameras,” Remnick said, “and the kinda gotcha interviews on little guys who had a little scam going and all of a sudden all of power of ’60 Minutes’ is brought onto them. It was a lot of theater going on and for somebody in print that’s a kinda weird and alien thing, even for some people in television.”

But, Remnick said, “What I liked most about him is that most TV journalism is too soft. He was something very different.”

Brzezinski jumped in to praise Wallace’s interviewing style.

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