When asked if he said he would keep the government closed for a "very long period of time, months or even years," as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed, President Trump said "absolutely" President Trump: "I don't call it a shutdown. I call it doing what you have to do for the benefit and for the safety of our country"

Federal employees prepare for a long shutdown cnn.it/2CAZZwU For the 380,000 federal employees on furlough and the other 420,000 working without pay, this means it's time to start making plans for how to pay January bills without the promise of their next paycheck cnn.it/2CAZZwU

President Trump engages in an Oval Office clash with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi over border security as the shutdown deadline looms

Pelosi: "I don't think we should have a debate in front of the press on this" "We do not want to shut down the government. You have called twenty times to shut down the government. ... We don't," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says to President Trump

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio: “This clearly is an act of terror, attempting to undermine our free press and leaders of this country through acts of violence” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo: “This is the world we live in. Terrorism, the attempt to spread fear, is the world that we live in. It is heightened lately … there are more tensions than usual, but this is the world we live in”

Democrat Beto O'Rourke starts #TexasTownHall answering a question on family separations: "First, we can ensure that never again is another child taken from another parent coming here to seek asylum. Two, we can insist immediately that every single one of those kids is reunited" O'Rourke says he is "not in favor of open borders," however, "we do not need walls" #TexasTownHall cnn.it/2PHRGDV

"My name is Joe Biden. I'm a Democrat. And I love John McCain." Biden says he always thought of John McCain as a brother: “We go back a long way”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says President Trump won’t meet with Kim Jong Un “until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea” cnn.it/2FqiFmo cnn.it/2txSwwg Sanders says "it's absurd to pretend" like the State Department wasn't a part of the conversation on North Korea snpy.tv/2FwpQ8r

Ronny Jackson, the White House physician, provides details of President Trump’s medical exam during the press briefing snpy.tv/2B6RfLf Dr. Ronny Jackson says President Trump’s overall health is “excellent” snpy.tv/2Daftpr