CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Sunday night reacted to the Mueller Report letdown by wondering if impeachment was still a possibility. Despite the finding of no collusion and a lack of obstruction, Blitzer offered this question to Dana Bash: “And the question is, Dana, very quickly, impeachment. Are they going to do anything or are they going to listen to Nancy Pelosi and say, 'Forget about it?'”
Instead of throwing cold water, Bash suggested, “We're not there yet. I think the most important thing that we're going to look for next is what Jerry Nadler just said, which is he's going to have Barr come up, they're going to grill him on this. Maybe even Mueller. And then they're going to take the next step.”
Even NBC and MSNBC journalists were more attached to reality. Kasie Hunt on MSNBC proclaimed, “The bottom line here is the likelihood the President is removed from office by impeachment before November 2020 is all but nil after this.”
Over on the NBC Nightly News, Hunt explained, “A word barely mentioned by Democrats tonight is impeachment…. After this, impeachment hearings are that much more unlikely.”
Back on CNN, it was Jim Acosta, of all people, who told viewers that there was nothing here: “In the words of the Trump adviser, this is Al Capone's vault all over again. That's in reference to the live TV expose about Al Capone's vault that ended up turning up nothing. That's how they feel.”
Partial transcripts are below. Click "expand" to read more:
CNN live coverage
3/24/19
6:41 PM ET
JIM ACOSTA: I spoke with Trump advisers in the last several minutes who said, “Listen, make no mistake, in the next several days in the fallout of the release of this letter from the Attorney General about the Mueller report, expect trump and his team to as this adviser put it, slam and shame the media.” They feel very strongly inside Trump world, trump campaign, inside the White House inside the president's legal team that the media is culpable in all of this, and that they plan to make this very clear in the coming you heard the President talk a little bit about his feelings of a couple hours ago when he got on air force one and said this was an illegal investigation, an ill legitimate investigation. I think you’re going to hear more language like that. In the words of the Trump adviser, this is Al Capone's vault all over again. That's in reference to the live TV expose about Al Capone's vault that ended up turning up nothing. That's how they feel. I talked to a separate Trump adviser source close to the white house who said listen, in terms of the next coming steps, they're just trying to enjoy this moment. They feel vindicated in all of this. There is going to be this question of pardons and will the president be issuing pardons in this investigation. According to the source, other source close to the White House I spoke with, it's way too early to have that conversation in terms of how the President is going to be doing all of this.
…
CNN
6:59
WOLF BLITZER: And the question is, Dana, very quickly, impeachment. Are they going to do anything or are they going to listen to Nancy Pelosi and say, "Forget about it?"
DANA BASH: We're not there yet. I think the most important thing that we're going to look for next is what Jerry Nadler just said, which is he's going to have Barr come up, they're going to grill him on this. Maybe even Mueller. And then they're going to take the next step.
7:00
MSNBC
KASIE HUNT: The bottom line here is the likelihood the president is removed from office by impeachment before November 2020 is all but nil after this.
