| | | | The 1 thing Sarah Sanders said Monday that mattered |  | | For the first time in 41(!) days, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders took questions from reporters.
She got asked about whether we are headed for another government shutdown (she hopes not) and why President Trump's clubs employed undocumented workers (she can't get into specifics). So, the usual stuff.
The only question -- and answer -- that mattered on Monday was when Sanders was asked whether Trump was considering a pardon for the recently-indicted Roger Stone.
"I'm not aware of that. I haven't had any discussions with him on that matter," she responded. Then, when pressed on whether Trump had ruled out the possibility, Sanders said: "I'm not going to talk about hypotheticals that are just ridiculous. I'm not aware of anybody here ever working with WikiLeaks in any capacity."
Which, if you are keeping track at home, isn't: "No, the President will not pardon Mr. Stone under any circumstances."
That's not by accident. Stone is a longtime Trump adviser who was allegedly tasked by someone in the Trump campaign -- known only as a "senior Trump campaign official" in the indictment of Stone -- to make contact with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign and see if he could anticipate the organization's planned releases of hacked emails. Stone is expected to plead not guilty to the charges in his court appearance Tuesday.
Not ruling out a pardon for Stone sends a very clear signal to him: A pardon is on the table. At least for now.
The Point: That is the point. And, trust me, Stone got the message loud and clear.
-- Chris | | "Right now the investigation is, I think, close to being completed."
-- Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, saying today that he has been "fully briefed" on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. | | | MEET YOUR NEW CONGRESS: GREG STANTON | | Our interviews with new members of Congress continue!
Today's spotlight is on Rep. Greg Stanton, an Arizona Democrat recently tapped to serve on the committee of transportation and infrastructure, and the judiciary.
Stanton, a former mayor of Phoenix, fills the seat vacated by now-Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Now in the House, Stanton tells Lauren he's championing meaningful immigration reform, infrastructure and working to ensure a government shutdown never happens again.
Lauren Dezenski: In four words, describe your first few weeks in office.
Greg Stanton: Big challenges, great opportunities.
LD: What's your top priority in your first term?
GS: Investing in our nation's infrastructure and passing bipartisan, meaningful immigration reform. Arizona is one of the fastest-growing states in the country with many infrastructure needs -- from public transit systems to our highways to our waterways. And immigration reform is a priority -- especially for the 25,000 DACA recipients in my state.
LD: What's your take on the partial government shutdown?
GS: We witnessed how painful this historically long shutdown was for government and contractor employees and the American people. The key takeaway: It should never happen again. We need to be resolute. Shutdowns are not the way to accomplish policy goals -- that's what the legislative process is for.
LD: What was your biggest lesson from your campaign?
GS: Take no vote for granted. There's no glamor in politics -- you have to work hard for every vote.
LD: Do you have a favorite pump-up song? What is it?
GS: I'm a true product of the '80s. … I'll go with Run-DMC, King of Rock.
LD: Tell me about your favorite food from your district.
GS: El Bravo, a small, family-owned Mexican restaurant in Phoenix's Sunnyslope neighborhood, is a Stanton family staple. They make some of the best flour tortillas, tamales and Navajo tacos in town. It's old-school Phoenix, and you really can't go wrong with anything on the menu.
Thank you to reader Kieran Thompson for today's member suggestion! Have a member of Congress you want to see interviewed? Drop Lauren a line: Lauren.dezenski@cnn.com. | | | Weezer made an album -- "The Teal Album" -- of cover tunes. Yes, everyone knows their "Africa" cover is amazing, but have you heard their cover of "No Scrubs?" | | 📺NOT HAPPENING TOMORROW! 📺 | | The government may be open again, but the State of the Union is OFF -- by a week.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's aide confirmed the speech will not take place on January 29, as initially planned.
We do now have a make-up day, of sorts: February 5, a week later than originally scheduled. Pelosi announced the invite to Trump via a letter posted on Twitter. | | Howard Schultz: The former Starbucks CEO says he's "seriously thinking of running for president" ... an independent candidate. Democrats are not happy about it.
Michael Bloomberg: The former New York City mayor who has weighed an independent bid for president himself is among the Democrats unhappy about Schultz's potential independent run. So much so that he today wrote, "In 2020, the great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President. That's a risk I refused to run in 2016 and we can't afford to run it now."
Kamala Harris: The California Senator has officially launched her presidential campaign and tonight is participating in a one-on-one town hall with CNN at Drake University in Des Moines (airing live at 10 p.m. ET). She's also scooped up an Iowa campaign chair.
Hillary Clinton: Is not closing the door on a 2020 presidential bid, CNN's Jeff Zeleny explained: "As recently as this week, she was telling people that ... given all this news from the indictments, particularly the Roger Stone indictment, she talked to several people, saying, 'Look, I'm not closing the doors to this.'"
Bill De Blasio: The current mayor of New York City is trying to run for president, if only people would listen, as his hometown paper The New York Times writes: "In the fast-forming battle for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Mr. de Blasio remains an afterthought, if he is thought of at all."
Larry Hogan: Has some buzz at the annual RNC winter confab. The Maryland governor could be a potential primary challenger for Trump in 2020. | | The US economy took a $6 billion hit -- at least -- because of the shutdown as of Friday, January 25.
The estimate comes from report ratings agency S&P Global Ratings, which noted that the shutdown's impact on the economy was greater than the $5.7 billion figure from Trump for his border wall.
S&P adds: "The longest partial shutdown in history, which started as a minor cold, began to feel like a nasty flu that had begun to spread across the states. And the overall cost is likely worse than what we had previously expected." | | | | | | |
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