MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews expressed fury on Friday evening over special counsel Robert Mueller’s decision to conclude his investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election without an “interrogation” of President Donald Trump, asking how Mueller could let the president “off the hook.” A partial transcript is as follows: CHRIS MATTHEWS: Why was there never an interrogation of this president? We were told for weeks by experts you cannot deal with an obstruction of justice charge or investigation without getting to motive. You don’t get to motive until you hear from the person himself who’s being targeted, a subject of the investigation. How can they let Trump off the hook? So far tonight, so far tonight, we have no reason to believe Trump is going to be charged by rhetoric in the document itself, in the Mueller report, he will not be charged with obstruction or of collusion, without ever having to sit down with the special counsel and answer his damn questions. How can that happen? KEN DILANIAN: That is a great question. The special counsel talked to Bill Clinton, the FBI interviewed Hillary Clinton, but Donald Trump would not sit down with him. My only conclusion, Chris, that the president transmitted to Mueller that he would take the Fifth. He would never talk to him, and therefore, Mueller decided it wasn’t worth the subpoena fight that would delay his investigation and his report for months, to go down that road knowing he would lose. You don’t have to testify yourself, and if at the end of the day President Trump was just going to assert his Fifth Amendment rights and never sit down with Mueller, which if you’re his lawyer, that’s what you would advise him to do, then why delay the investigation? But, you could argue he should have done it anyway, Mueller should have sent the subpoena to stand on principle to show that he took that extra step. He chose not to do that.<doc-sep>The mainstream media seemed to suffer a collective shock Friday evening after the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller handed its final report of its Russia investigation to the Department of Justice. MSNBC host Chris Matthews seemed livid that neither President Trump, his children, nor his “henchmen” would face any criminal charges from the special counsel. “Maybe he missed the boat here,” Matthews said of Mueller. “Because we know about the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, we know about the meeting at the cigar bar with Kilimnik [Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian political consultant]. My God, we know about all of those meetings with Kislyak [Sergey Kislyak, a Russian diplomat] at the Republican convention in Cleveland. All these dots we’re now to believe don’t connect.” TRUMP BLASTS MEDIA 'WORKING OVERTIME' TO BLAME HIM FOR NEW ZEALAND MASSACRE: 'SO RIDICULOUS' The liberal cable news host was particularly upset that the president wasn’t indicted on obstruction of justice and never sat down for an interview with the special counsel. “Why was there never an interrogation of this president? We were told for weeks by experts, ‘You cannot deal with an obstruction-of-justice charge or investigation without getting the motive. ... How could they let Trump off the hook?” Matthews asked. “He will not be charged with obstruction of justice or collusion without having to sit down with the Special Counsel Mueller and answer his damn questions. How could that happen?” Matthews' primetime colleague, Rachel Maddow, was visibly emotional throughout her show. Maddow kicked off by telling her viewers she was reporting live from Tennessee because she felt she needed to interrupt her vacation to address the breaking news. She appeared to be holding back tears. "A couple of hours ago, or maybe even less than that, I was standing knee-deep in a trout stream in Tennessee," Maddow told her viewers. "But now it's Mueller time! And so I'm in a studio in the great state of Tennessee. The trout are basically just as safe as they were when I was flailing away at them ineffectually this afternoon." "The trout are basically just as safe as they were when I was flailing away at them ineffectually this afternoon." — Rachel Maddow, MSNBC Meanwhile, several personalities on CNN were forced to admit that the announcement of the Mueller report was a positive development for the president. MSNBC STAR RACHEL MADDOW ACCUSED OF DECEIVING VIEWERS BY GLOSSING OVER TRUMP JR. BLOCKED CALL REPORTS CNN’s chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin offered rare favorable commentary for President Trump, calling the end of the Mueller probe “really good news” for the commander-in-chief. "There has been a lot of suspicion around certain people. And a lot of negative things have been said and imputation of criminal activity,” Toobin told “Situation Room” anchor Wolf Blitzer. “Mueller has said, ‘I am not proceeding.’ There is no better news to receive than you are not being indicted by the United States government.” Later, CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta said the White House was “quietly celebrating” and that the Trump administration was reacting to Mueller’s report with “a fair amount of glee.” “I talked to a Trump campaign adviser earlier this evening who said, ‘This was a great day for America and we won,’” Acosta told “AC360” anchor Anderson Cooper. “That’s how they feel right now.” Liberal celebrities also appeared surprised by the sudden end to the investigation. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In Hollywood, “Real Time” host Bill Maher expressed disappointment but doubled down on his negative views of the president, whom he has often called a "whiny little b----." “Did the Democrats put too must trust in the Mueller report? Because I don’t need the Mueller report to know he’s a traitor. I have a TV,” Maher told his panel of guests. Outspoken anti-Trump comedian Chelsea Handler took to Twitter on Friday night and told her 8 million followers that she was “sexually attracted” to Robert Mueller.<doc-sep>
MSNBC host Chris Matthews expressed outrage on Friday upon hearing reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had completed his Russia investigation and submitted it to the attorney general -- with further indictments not expected. SCHIFF REJECTS REPORTS THAT INDICTMENTS ARE OVER Matthews began his show by summarizing the breaking news, but stressed that Mueller handed his report to the Department of Justice “without ever directly interviewing the president of the United States.” “That means no charges against the president, his children or his associates after all those meetings with the Russians,” a visibly upset Matthews told his viewers. The liberal cable news host opened the discussion to the panel, telling them his “biggest question” was “How can the president be pointed to as leading collusion with Russia, aiding a Russian conspiracy to interfere with our elections if none of his henchmen, none of his children, none of his associates have been indicted?” NBC News national security reporter Ken Dilanian responded by telling Matthews that Trump couldn’t be indicted “in a criminal sense” since Mueller’s office “didn’t have it,” adding that the president “couldn’t conspire with himself.” “Maybe he missed the boat here,” Matthews responded. “Because we know about the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, we know about the meeting at the cigar bar with Kilimnik. My God, we know about all of those meetings with Kislyak at the Republican convention in Cleveland. All these dots we’re now to believe don’t connect.” CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP “Well, that’s the conclusion in front of us,” Dilanian told Matthews. “All of that stuff was suggestive, it didn’t prove anything.” “Why was there never an interrogation of this president?” Matthews shot back. “We were told for weeks by experts, ‘You cannot deal with an obstruction-of-justice charge or investigation without getting the motive… How could they let Trump off the hook?... He will not be charged with obstruction of justice or collusion without having to sit down with the Special Counsel Mueller and answer his damn questions. How could that happen?”