After HOURS of trying to figure this problem out (and talking to multiple turbotax technicians who tried to figure it out), it was found that the MCC tax credit was being subtracted from the home mortgage interest I could deduct - as it states here:
"Reduction of home mortgage interest deduction on Schedule A
(Form 1040). If you itemize your deductions on Schedule A, you
must reduce the amount of home mortgage interest you would
otherwise deduct on Schedule A by the amount on Form 8396, line
3, and report the reduced amount on Schedule A. You must do this
even if part of the amount on line 3 is carried forward to 2019.
It was discovered that it listed my deductible home mortgage interest as 0, therefore yielding a negative number after the subtraction. THE FREEDOM EDITION APPARENTLY DOES NOT SUPPORT REGULAR 1098 FORMS, and that's why it was subtracting it from a zero dollar amount. But it never told me this!
After all this trouble, the LEAST turbotax could do was upgrade me to a version that made it work, BUT THEY GAVE NO COMPENSATION and said I would have to pay the $100 to upgrade regardless.
If you want good customer service, find a different tax program. Hopefully this helps others avoid the same trouble.
