Now playing Next USA An emergency declaration may be the shutdown off-ramp. But what about the consequences? First Read is your briefing from "Meet the Press" and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. 11/01/2019
Now playing Next USA First Read's Morning Clips: Federal workers protest shutdown A roundup of the most important political news stories of the day 11/01/2019
Now playing Next USA America held 'hostage': Kamala Harris, eyeing 2020, slams Trump over the shutdown "The president is holding the American people hostage over this vanity project. This is a crisis of his own making," Harris said. 11/01/2019
Now playing Next USA 'There's no money': Shutdown freezes HUD funds for the elderly "If something major broke, I wouldn't have the funds to replace it," said a manager of an affordable housing building for seniors in Florida. 11/01/2019
Now playing Next USA Pelosi blasts treasury secretary after briefing for 'wasting' lawmakers' time Pelosi called it one "one of the worst classified briefings we've received from the Trump administration," despite "stiff competition" 11/01/2019
Now playing Next USA Long shot Senate effort to end shutdown stalemate comes to a quick end A last-ditch effort to re-open the government ended just 24 hours after it began in yet another sign that the government shutdown is nowhere near ending. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA Trump could take billions from disaster areas to fund wall Under the proposal, Trump could dip into money set aside to fund civil works projects all over the country including storm-damaged areas of Puerto Rico. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA On the border, Trump turns political in making case for his wall Wearing a MAGA hat and harshly criticizing Democrats, President Donald Trump made the case for a border wall near the U.S.-Mexico line Thursday. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to testify publicly before Congress in February Cohen was sentenced last month to three years in prison. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA Trump scraps Davos trip The president won't rub elbows with world's elites during fight over the border wall and government shutdown. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA Pelosi says Republicans will oppose Trump if he declares a national emergency over wall The president is heading to the border Thursday and said as he left Washington that he "probably" will declare a national emergency if he can't get Congress to appropriate wall funding 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA Trump: I'll 'probably' declare a national emergency over border — just not yet "I'm not prepared to do that yet, but if I have to, I will," the president told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA White House beefs up legal team with 17 new attorneys to battle Democrats, Mueller Such a strategy could quickly inflame tensions between Trump and congressional Democrats and could lead to lengthy legal battles. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA On Day 20, the shutdown is all about political pain, not gain First Read is your briefing from "Meet the Press" and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA First Read's Morning Clips: The shutdown is costing $1 billion per week A roundup of the most important political news stories of the day 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA In test, steel prototype for border wall was cut through with saw NBC News obtained a photo showing results of a test on a steel wall prototype. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA The 'doomsday' scenario: Here's what happens if the shutdown drags on Economists warn that a catastrophe is in the making if the partial government closure continues for weeks or months. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA House Democrats asking questions about Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Mnuchin will give the House a classified briefing Thursday, after a request from the Democratic chairs of the main House investigative panels. 10/01/2019
Now playing Next USA The government shutdown's impact so far Nineteen days into the government shutdown, federal agencies and government employees are feeling the impact. 09/01/2019
Now playing Next USA Republican senators discuss including DACA in wall negotiations The conversation over DACA picked up steam on Wednesday as the stalemate over the government shutdown and the border wall showed no signs of easing. 09/01/2019