Much at the moment to actually end it. Washington has been consumed by the question of whether President Trump would, for better or worse, really, truly pick up the mantle by declaring a National Emergency and just take the money to fund the border wall. Hes been flirting with the idea for days now. Today, though, he said not quite yet. Well, ill tell you what, its the easy way out. But congress should do this. This is too simple. Its too basic. And congress should do this. If they cant do it, if at some point they just cant do it, this is a 15minute meeting. If they cant do it, i will declare a National Emergency. So hes certainly not closing the door on it, but this is a bit of change. When we left it last night the white house was said to be laying the ground work, the legal ground work for an emergency declaration, including by using the word crisis over and over again at every public opportunity. As for the president he seemed ready to pull the trigger if not immediately, then certainly soon. I have the absolute right to declare a National Emergency. I havent done it yet. I may do it. If this doesnt work out, probably i will do it. I would almost say definitely. That almost definitely emergency seemed to morph into a maybe, possibly one at some future point in time which is a bit different in tone at least than how he was painting the border situation just this morning on twitter. He wrote, i just got back and it is a far worse situation than almost anyone would understand, an invasion. The president tweeted that following his thursday trip to mcallen, texas. I have been there numerous times the democrats dont know how bad and dangerous it is for our entire country. So keeping them honest, which is it . Is it far worse than almost anyone would understand, an invasion, as he says, or is it just one of those if i dont get what i want emergencies . Just a reminder, the dictionary definition of the word is an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action, or an urgent need for assistance or relief. Which the president seems to be saying it is, even as hes now calling on others, not him to deal with it, in fairness theres nothing especially outlandish that lawmakers do what theyre supposed to do, what the Congress Gives them responsibility for, passing legislation to fund the government. However, the president now seems to be trying to have it both ways, telling democrats to do their jobs, but threatening to go around congress entirely if they dont deliver what he wants. Which, i suppose, makes it a crisis. A constitutional crisis. But perhaps not an emergency. And on top of all that is where the president may try to get the money after declaring a crisis that critics call a discretionary emergency. As we and others have been reporting the administration is actively exploring the possibility of funding the wall using money already allocated for recovery from real, undeniable, noncontroversial, youre damn well right they are, emergencies. Money for rebuilding puerto rico after hurricane maria, Disaster Recovery money in texas, florida, california, dollars to either rebuild or help prevent the very real disasters, the very Real National emergencies you see there on your screen. The president is eyeing money for that to pay for the wall which may or may not be an emergency, and may or may not be the answer to a crisis which in turn might or might not truly be a crisis. Some of this, as we said, is debatable. And, again, well have that debate. Whats beyond dispute, though, is there really is an emergency unfolding as we speak, as the mortgage comes due, the heating bill comes, the groceries run low. And what is soon to be the longest Government Shutdown drag on. More now from the white house, Cnns Jim Acosta is there for us tonight. Jim, whats going on there tonight . Reporter not a whole lot, john. They, over here at the white house, insist theyre doing everything they can possible to get this government open. But the president was saying earlier today that its really up to democrats to come back to the negotiating table. We saw the president earlier today, and you were just talking about those federal employees who are going to be going without any pay this weekend, you know, it took around 20 or 30 minutes of the president talking during a cabinet room earlier this afternoon, and i asked the president what was the message to federal employees and he said that he appreciated what theyre doing. And he essentially expressed his appreciation for hanging in there. But at the same time he repeated this rather dubious claim that a lot of federal employees support what hes doing, that hes shutting down the government in order to get funding for the wall on the border, at one point going after democrats on all of this. He said, listen, democrats can call the wall peaches if they want to. He said, just give me the money for this wall. So the president is somewhat walking back his comments about a National Emergency. But not ruling it out, correct . Hes not, john, thats right, i mean, he did say that there is the chance that he could declare a National Emergency, essentially hes back to where he was earlier this week, threatening to declare a National Emergency down on the border, basically describing that we have an emergency down on the border without pulling this trigger. The one wrinkle in all of this today, john, was he is essentially saying i know this is going to get challenged in the courts. He was predicting if it does get challenged in the courts he was saying its likely to get kicked back in the ninth Circuit Court of appeals, the bane of his existence going back to the travel ban and so on. But he said ultimately he hopes it will succeed in the supreme court. It was interesting to hear the president say today in the context of whether or not he should declare a National Emergency he does seem to understand that it would get tied up in the courts, and perhaps prevent him from building that wall, going down that route as well. And so he seems to be running out of options and i think thats why he was once again trying to paint the situation down on the border as a crisis. He once again said that were that the United States is under attack down at the border when all of the facts really do say otherwise, john. Are there any plans at this point for the president or any members of congress for that matter to work on this over the weekend . Well, we dont expect a whether or not he will lot of activity on that front. You know, the senate adjourned, they went home, congress, a lot of these members of congress have gone back to their districts. We do think over the weekend there listen phone calls that go on, mick mulvaney, the acting chief of staff will probably be in touch with people. You saw Lindsey Graham advocating that the president go ahead and declare a National Emergency and Start Construction on the wall of the border. Even after Lindsey Graham put out that tweet the president did not go down that road. It is kind of interesting and a curious moment for this white house where the president doesnt seem to have a viable option that theyre looking to at this point to get that wall that he wants down on the border, john. Meanwhile, 800,000 workers got zero on their paycheck today. Jim acosta, thanks for being with us. Congressman garamendi, speaking with bloomberg news, called Disaster Relief to wall building, reprehensible. He spoke with us earlier this evening. Congressman, the president shifting his tone today, saying right now hes not ready to declare a National Emergency. Does that ease your concerns at all . No, not at all. This is a guy that has five different opinions from morning till the next day. He shifts back and forth. Hes not at all consistent. But he has been saying for the last week that hes going to declare a National Emergency and build the wall. No, were not going to let that happen. Hes not going to go and do that and there will be a heavy price if he even tries to do it. I understand if the president does decide to do it, and you say you think he will, you have legislation prepared to stop him. How does this legislation work . Does this go to his power to declare a National Emergency, or is it more targeted than that . My legislation would be much more targeted, it goes directly at the authority that may exist today for the president to declare a National Emergency, and then go after the money that congress has already authorized and appropriated for civil works across the United States. These are levies. These are airports. These are operations, dredging operations, things of that sort. Wed simply repeal that section of the a law. He couldnt get the money. He could declare the emergency, but he couldnt get the money for it. Exactly. I would expect others to pass legislation or attempt to that would curtail the ability of the president to declare a National Emergency which in and of itself is a major problem for our constitutional civil rights. And will be challenged in the courts. Absolutely. Now, when the president talks about taking money away from Disaster Relief funding, and that is under consideration right now, can you explain what impact that would have on your district . It would be terribly, terribly serious, the Disaster Recovery money that was allocated last spring in the appropriation process is absolutely necessary to shore up the levies in the sacramento region. And for one of our communities that has 35 foot levies all around it within moments of a break in the levies that entire community of 14,000 people would be inundated in water that is very, very cold. There would be numerous, numerous deaths. So its a very serious problem of life, death and obviously property. And this isnt hypothetical, exactly. You were able to get some of the documents which list the specific projects being reviewed by the administration as it considers where to go after this funding . Absolutely. Its publicly available. On the army corps of websites theres all of the projects that the 2018 emergency appropriations for Disaster Recovery would be used for. Theyre laid out there. Most of these projects are going to go to bid and contract over the next few months. All of those are subject to the president ial whims. But we do know that specifically targeted were the projects in california, 2. 5 billion as well as puerto rico, another 2. 5 billion. Congressman, whats your message to the 800,000 people who did not get paid today, government workers who had zero on their paychecks given there were no negotiations as we speak to end the shutdown . Were trying. Weve been trying since the new congress was established, since the democrats came into power last thursday. That night we passed legislation that would reopen the government, send it over to the senate. The senate is sitting there, i suppose, waiting for it to hatch. The ball is in the senates court. The president says hell veto it. So theres where the problem lies right there. Were willing to continue to discuss this matter about how to wisely, appropriately, using the taxpayer money to secure the southern border. Congressman garamendi, thanks so much for being with us. My pleasure, thank you. Two views now on whether whats happening is a crisis as the president says and whether the wall is the right answer. These are two highly informed assessments from individuals with more direct experience on the subject than most of us will ever have. Yet, they disagree. Jorge ramos, and mark morgan who ran Border Patrol for the last six months of the Obama Administration and does support building a wall. Jorge, i wonder what goes through your mind when you hear its possible that the president might use Disaster Relief funds to pay for this wall. It would be completely absurd. Can you imagine the victims of puerto rico, the victims of hurricanes in texas or in florida, or the victims of fires and flooding in california, paying for a wall . A wall that is useless, that we dont need it right now when we dont have a real crisis, when its a manufactured crisis, it would be completely ludicrous. And its something that we should not do simply because someone, a politician, some point in his career he decided to promise a wall that we really dont need at this moment. Mark, i know you do support building a wall, which we will talk about extensively. But first, do you support using Disaster Relief funds to do so . Well, this is what i know. And for 30 years of federal Governmental Service i can tell you what we absolutely have on the southern border is a National Security and humanitarian crisis. Last year 400,000, a little less than 400,000 illegal aliens were apprehended, and thats just the ones we apprehended. I think the statistics could show we could easily double that and look at the numbers that we apprehended illegal aliens, take into consideration as well the facts are, and this is true, Human Trafficking routes are alive and well, drug smuggling routes through the southern border are alive and well. There are really bad people that are illegally entering this country every single day. Thats real. That crisis has to be addressed. And im going to give jorge a chance to respond to that. Theres no crisis. Its a manufactured crisis. When were talking about crisis, were talking about Something Like the war in iraq, or 9 11. There are about 700 miles of wall, physical barriers already between mexico and the United States. And those were created, those were built after 9 11. Thats a real crisis, not what donald trump and his followers are trying to promote right now. And then, mr. Morgan, where is the crisis . At this moment we have some of the safest communities in the country are along the border. At this moment, the number of undocumented immigrants has remained stable. As a matter of fact, it fell back to 7 million. And we really dont need a wall at this moment. Mark, hang on one second. I dont see the possibility of a crisis at this moment. Stick around, were going to pick this up after the break. An air Traffic Controller got 3 bucks and change in his paycheck today. More than his wife got. How are they making ends meet and what does he think of the president s claim that folks are happy to go to the fiscal mattresses. To pay for his wall. His gop colleagues arent buying his racist remarks, hear what steve king said and decide for yourself as 360 continues chblt. We know whats around the corner is always worth the trip. We know the only thing better than the last adventure is the next one. We know the great outdoors. We love the great outdoors. Bass pro shops and cabelas where incredible selection, great people, and an experience like no other, all come together. I can do more to lower my a1c. Because my body can still make its own insulin. And i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release it, like its supposed to. Trulicity is not insulin. It comes in a onceweekly, truly easytouse pen. And it works 24 7. 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