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tonight marks the ninth time president obama made a formal address to the nation. of the nine addresses seven of them have centered on war and peace. including to night's. with public polling showing a deep, wide american resistance to the idea of u.s. military involvement in syria, a senior white house official told nbc news tonight the white house isn't expecting the president's speech tonight will shift that public opinion. if he is not going to shift public opinion though, not even trying to, what is the goal of this speech? and how should success be measured to night. back with me here in new york are chris hayes, and chris matthews in washington. i should say. al, ed, eugene. what is this about for president obama tonight. what do you think success sound like? >> i think one big success point is to lay out in clear terms as ed was saying.