10 things you need to know today: January 9, 2019

Trump makes appeal for border wall in televised address, court papers indicate Manafort shared polling data with Russian, and more

Trump speaks to the nation
(Image credit: Carlos Barria-Pool/Getty Images)

1. Trump appeals for border wall funding to end 'humanitarian crisis'

President Trump on Tuesday made a televised appeal for support for his promised border wall to end a "humanitarian crisis," but stopped short of offering concessions likely to break a stalemate with Democrats that has shut down a quarter of the federal government. In the Oval Office address — the first of his presidency — Trump said the wall is needed to stop drugs and criminal immigrants from pouring into the U.S. "How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?" he asked. In a televised response, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York accused Trump of stoking fear and closing the government to get taxpayers to pay for a wall he promised Mexico would pay for.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.