Tension between President Trump and the leaders of the opposition party boiled over on Wednesday over Mr. Trump’s demand for a border wall along the southern border with Mexico.

Democrats have been united in opposition to funding the wall. Caught in the middle are about 800,000 government workers who will not be paid on Friday – the result of a partial government shutdown.

The Heat has team coverage with White House Correspondent Nathan King and CGTN’s Toby Muse along the border in El Paso, Texas. 

To discuss: 

• Rafael Bernal covers Hispanic politics and relations between the United States and Latin America for The Hill newspaper.
• Enrique Morones is the founder and director of Border Angels, a non-profit group advocating for human rights and humane immigration reform.
• Oliver McGee served as a senior White House adviser to U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• Leonard Steinhorn is a political analyst and professor of Communication and History at American University.

For more: 

“They say ‘a wall is medieval.’ Well, so is a wheel. A wheel is older than a wall. And I looked, and every single car out there — even the really expensive ones the Secret Service uses — [and] I said, ‘Do they all have wheels?’” Trump joked during his visit to the U.S. border pic.twitter.com/4GxiQVzOlT

— POLITICO (@politico) January 10, 2019

Donald Trump visits US-Mexico border amid impasse over wall funding

Read more: https://t.co/nFDQvQBycQ pic.twitter.com/kYnTbbX2Wm

— ITV News (@itvnews) January 10, 2019

Several federal workers sue Trump over shutdown, argue work without pay violates Constitution https://t.co/VXBUFJ3i1d pic.twitter.com/2uT4Q1kLy5

— The Hill (@thehill) January 10, 2019