humanitarian crisis, as the shutdown continues to day 18 with no talks scheduled. the key question, will the president go around congress tonight and declare a national emergency to use pentagon money for his wall without congress' approval? joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, nbc national security and justice reporter julia ainsley and msnbc political analyst robert costa. national political reporter at "the washington post" and moderate raor for "washington w on pbs. this is a high stakes pr bid, an oval office speech that's not his normal metier, if you will, it's not the live rally, free-association kind of event. this will be scripted, teleprompted. what do they think the appeal will be? >> this is an appeal to the president's base, to the american people, to try to take his case to them to show that he's fighting for that signature