i don't know how great it's going to be in terms of reaching the public against him, but the question is how much are you stating your case and just bracing the public for what's about to transpire? >> the president is saying crisis, crisis, crisis. the democrats are saying, no, mr. president, there is a border problem, it's not a crisis. you're continuing to shut down the government and you're hurting people. >> we have to make sure we're paying our tsa agents. we've heard about the crisis of people calling in sick. we have to make sure we get the government open again and that we're paying our federal employees. >> i don't think he understands what it's like to be on food stamps. i do. i hope that he will understand and have some compassion for the people who are hurting right now. >> i hope to hear tonight from the president some empathy for the hundreds of thousands of american families who work for the federal government who will be impacted by the shutdown. >> that is one of the questions tonight, who wins the messaging