[Zain Asher, Correspondent, Cnn:] Good evening, everyone. I'm Zain Asher in New York and let me tell you, it has been an extremely busy day of breaking news, specifically in Washington. Donald Trump actually has just announced a deal that will temporarily reopen the U.S. government. This comes after a day of major flight delays across the East Coast, triggered by air-traffic controllers calling out sick. And before all of this, we had a major political earthquake. Roger Stone, a high-profile adviser to Donald Trump, was indicted as part of the Mueller investigation and protested his innocence amid a media frenzy, a media circus outside the courtroom in Florida. I want to begin though in Washington. I'm talking about the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is almost over. President Trump has actually announced a temporary deal to reopen the government and fund it for three weeks. The President began by thanking government workers and saying he'll make sure they get back paid as quickly as possible. But the shutdown about the border wall or barrier is not over. Sources tell CNN the agreement does not include money for a border wall. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they will negotiate on border security issues. If the issues aren't resolved, the President warned, the government could shut down again in three weeks' time. Take a listen.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] If we don't get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15th again or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency.
[Asher:] Donald Trump there making a very clear, clear threat. I want to bring in Stephen Collinson, he joins us live now from Washington. So just in terms of the announcement today, Stephen, what was it? A lot of people talk about how the President sort of caved to Democrat demands, what was it that specifically forced the President to surrender here?
[Stephen Collinson, White House Reporter, Cnn:] I think it was gradually building political pressure and those pictures today of air traffic over the East Coast stacking up because of a shortage of air-traffic controllers that really gave the impression that this thing was spiraling out of control. But Zain, this was really a complete climb down by the President. He closed down the government in December to get money to fund the wall that was at the center of his campaign in 2016 and is crucial to his political identity. He is opening the government, as you said, without getting any money for the wall, he could have had this deal inasmuch as it is a deal a month ago with Democrats. That's what they were offering. So it really is abject cave by the President and by a President who styled himself as the man to come to Washington and fix it because he was the greatest deal maker of all time.
[Asher:] So literally, Stephen, in three weeks from now, we could actually end up exactly where we started. The President talked about declaring a national emergency. Just walk us through what the legal ramifications of that are because it is complex.
[Collinson:] Right. Well, one of the reasons why the White House has not taken that step so far is because it is so legally controversial. In the United States governmental system, it's the Congress that's in charge of appropriating money for various projects. The President can't just decide, okay, I want to have move some money from here to here to here to here. He has to go through Congress. So it's almost certain that as soon as a national declaration was made, it would be challenged in the courts, there would likely be a stay on that action, so the President wouldn't, in fact, be able to go ahead and construct the wall. Having said that, it seems very unlikely that having been humiliated in this first government shutdown showdown with Nancy Pelosi, the President would go down that route again presuming he can't get any money from his wall from the Democrats in the next three weeks. so although a declaration of national emergency might not actually get the wall made, it could end up being the best face-saving exit from the President because he could turn around and say, "Look, I've been thwarted again by courts, by judges who were appointed by President Obama." That's a politically sustainable situation with his base and is probably better for him than going right down into this shutdown debacle, which he probably would lose yet again.
[Asher:] Despite the fact that 800,000 people were furloughed, struggling to pay their bills, feed their families, it does unfortunately come down between both sides to saving face. In fact, President Trump over the next three weeks has talked about the fact that he is confident that Democrats will negotiate in good faith. Moments ago, the Democratic Leader in the Senate said the President must do the same. Let's listen to Chuck Schumer had to say.
[Unidentified Female:] Democratic Leader?
[Chuck Schumer, U.s. Senate Democratic Leader:] Madam President, the longest shutdown in American history will finally end today. The President has agreed to our request to open the government and then debate border security, which is great news for 800,000 Federal workers and millions of Americans who depend on government services. I want to thank President Trump and Leader McConnell. As just outlined, we have agreed to pass a clean three-week continuing resolution to reopen the government.
[Asher:] Now, Stephen, you and I were just talking about the fact that it is about saving face. Obviously, it is partly about optics here. Who wins the PR battle between President Trump and the Democrats? Who do you think comes out on top here?
[Collinson:] I think it's very clear that the Democrats won this PR battle, and it's a very important battle because it's the first one between the new Democratic House and the President that has a good chance of setting the tone for the interaction between the President and the White House and Congress over the next two years. The Democrats now have even less incentive to agree to a final deal that gives the President money for his wall. Polls during the shutdown show that the wall remains unpopular among Americans. They don't believe the government should be shut down over trying to get funding for a wall. And now, they have had this affirming victory over the President that has forced him to climb down. So the chances of the Democrats as the President hopes are going to do a deal that gives him money for the wall, you know, it's much less. Now, there's possible there could be some kind of congressional fudge whereby the Democrats say they are funding border security and allow billions of dollars for that, but are not allowing funding for the wall, and the President could present perhaps money put aside to restore existing fencing or existing border barriers on the border, and he could perhaps present that to his supporters as saying, "Look, I got the wall," but in reality, it seems very, very clear that the idea that President Trump is going to follow through on his promise to build a wall on the southern border is even further away today than it has been over this last 35 days.
[Ashesr:] Yes, I mean, that's highly unlikely that he is going to get his wish. But what do you actually make of the content of that press conference in terms of what the President actually said? Obviously, at the top, he made a few comments at praising Federal workers, for what they've been through over the last month or so, and then he talked about why the border wall is needed. I mean, I am just curious because he didn't really explain in any sort of detail at all why he caved to the Democrats' demands.
[Collinson:] It was very bizarre in many ways. The President came into that press conference trying to give the impression that he was the victor of this. That's his prerogative. That's what politicians do. But it's a very hard sell. It was interesting that members of his Cabinet were there and applauded the President as he walked down and indeed when he finished that sort of rather difficult to follow speech, at times he sort of slipped into his campaign rhetoric and his, you know, well-known stories about illegal, undocumented migration and crime and he made very questionable assertions about how much crime was coming from people who came over the border. So it was very confusing and I think it was a symptom of a President who was exposed by this shutdown. He was unable to get his wish, and he was unable to change the politics of this to convince the American people that there does need to be a wall and that is probably the most worrying thing from the President's point of view at the end of all this.
[Asher:] We'll see what happens in three weeks' time when that continuing resolution ends. Stephen Collinson live for us there, thank you so much. Good to see you. Okay, shackled at the waist and at the ankles, Donald Trump's longtime ally roger stone appeared in Federal Court a few hours ago. He's been indicted on charges brought by Robert Mueller, the special counsel alleging stone sought stolen e-mails from WikiLeaks in order to damage Mr. Trump's opponents in the 2016 election. Mueller says Stone did this in coordination with senior Trump campaign officials. By dint of good instincts and by following key clues, CNN was actually waiting outside Roger Stone's Florida home when the FBI came to arrest him. They caught it all on camera. Stone says he will be exonerated. Take a listen.
[Roger Stone, Longtime Adviser To Donald Trump:] I will plead not guilty to these charges. I will defeat them in court. I believe this is a politically motivated investigation.
[Stone:] But I have made it clear I will not testify against the President.
[Asher:] Just watching that live earlier, I mean, that was what you call a media circus. Nick Valencia was actually at that media circus. He's in Florida and he joins us live now. So just walk us through the specific charges of sort of lying and witness tampering brought against Roger Stone. Just give us more detail.
[Nick Valencia, Correspondent, Cnn:] So he's facing an obstruction of justice charge, four false statements to Congress, lying to a special committee, as well as witness tampering and it was all laid out in a 24-page indictment that was released earlier today, Zain. And it was really a sight to see Roger Stone in that courtroom, a man who's usually dressed, you know, head to toe in a tailored suit was wearing a dark blue polo. You noted, he was shackled around the waist and ankles, his hands cuffed, resting in front of him, and he looked tired. He was woken up this morning by the FBI as they knocked on his door, going to his residence to take him into custody. And you saw him in incredibly good spirits as he left the court, throwing a victory sign, made famous by Richard Nixon after he was impeached and took a helicopter ride away from the White House. Very serendipitously, we were able to catch up with Roger Stone after he made that statement to the press. I talked to him one-on-one as he was leaving surrounded by this crush of reporters. I asked him about the accusations listed in the indictment, the charges, I should say, listed in the indictment, the charges he's facing, and what it was like when the FBI showed up at his house this morning.
[Valencia:] Mr. Stone, any comment for CNN?
[Stone:] Nice to see you guys at my house this morning.
[Valencia:] What do you say about the charges, Mr. Stone?
[Stone:] They are false and I will be completely vindicated.
[Valencia:] What was it like when the FBI showed up?
[Stone:] Not surprising.
[Valencia:] The indictment says that you were coordinating with senior Trump officials, campaign officials. Who were the officials?
[Stone:] False.
[Valencia:] No indication of who those officials were, Mr. Stone?
[Stone:] They don't exist.
[Valencia:] Anything that you'd like to say to clear the record?
[Stone:] I think I've been pretty clear on this. Tune into some of the shows tonight. You'll see. I support the President. I've made my statement. Nothing further.
[Valencia:] So you heard him there, Zain, defiant as ever, Roger Stone in his own words Zain.
[Asher:] Yes, and I think it's really interesting because he said it was not surprising the FBI showed up at his house. Obviously, he saw this day coming. Just the fact that he actually decided to talk to the media and have a press conference after his indictment was announced, I mean, what was his goal there? I mean, what does it also say about Roger Stone as a person?
[Valencia:] Well, his counsel came out and, you know, they said initially starting before he gave a statement that Roger Stone has always spoken for himself and he was going to do that today. I asked him in that interview that you just heard if he wanted to clear the record, and he said he's been very clear and implied he was going to be on the television tonight, on television talk shows tonight, talking about what he went through today. He's been released on a $250,000.00 signature bond, which means that he didn't have to put any money forward. He has some conditions to his release, restricted travel, only allowed to go to the Eastern District of New York, Eastern District of Washington, D.C., and Virginia, and here in South Florida. He has also been asked to hand over his passport. He said he doesn't have a valid passport, so he's not allowed to apply for a new one. And very interesting to note here, very quickly, Zain, he is going to have to submit to standard substance abuse testing as agreed to at pretrial. He is also under the conditions of his release going to be allowed to see a doctor. But really, the most remarkable thing as you noted is him coming out after he made his first court appearance here in Fort Lauderdale. Chatty as ever, agreeing to an interview with us. You heard him there. I was caught off guard that he was going to answer any of our questions but he did, and he is presumably going to talk some more tonight. Zain.
[Asher:] And actually, Nick, at the beginning, he said, listen, the only thing that's worse than being talked about is not being talked about. So that gives you an insight into his thinking. Nick Valencia live for us there, thank you so much, appreciate that. All right, still to come here on "Quest Means Business." pushed past the breaking point. Planes in the United States were unable to land, can you believe it, after air-traffic controllers failed to show up to work. A lot of sickouts today. The shutdown is now almost over. Travelers are hoping the delays are, too. We'll be at the airport with the latest, right after this quick break.