an finally throw that party... and invite shannon barnes. dream do come true. xfinity gives you reliable wifi with wall-to-wall coverage on all your devices, even when everyone is online. maybe we'll even get married one day. i wonder what i will be doing? probably still living here with mom and dad. fast reliable speeds right where you need them. that's wall-to-wall wifi on the xfinity 10g network. good morning. it is 8:00 a.m. eastern. the house is going to begin the vote on a $1.2 trillion package that will keep much of the government funded through the end of september and avert a potential partial government shutdown at midnight tonight. now, if the house passes the legislation, it would then go to

the senate. the president, by the way, has indicated he would sign it. earlier this month, lawmakers approved a package of six different bills to fund the rest of the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. with us now nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. ryan, good morning. as we're seeing activity there on the hill, this bill needs a two-thirds vote to pass. how does it look? >> reporter: everybody we're talking to seems reasonably confident this bill is going to pass, jose. both the house and the senate. but it is not going to come easy. as you point out, this is a bill that the way the procedure that they're using to pass it on the house floor means it requires two-thirds to pass. normally a simple majority. they need around 280 votes to get over the finish line. it is going to be a combination of republicans and democrats. this morning we have seen conservative republicans, members of the house freedom

caucus in particular, really put pressure on their fellow members to vote against this package because they believe that it spends too much and doesn't do enough to address the situation on the southern border. but, it does seem as though cooler heads will prevail in this scenario, because the risk of a partial government shutdown connected to some of the biggest agencies that the federal government runs including the state department, the pentagon, and, of course, the department of homeland security just appear to be too much of a risk for many of these members. so, it is going to pass. one of the things that we're going to be looking for is whether or not a majority of republicans support this legislation that was basically a deal that was hatched with the white house and the house speaker mike johnson. if they don't, could that mean that speaker johnson's job is in trouble at some point down the road? there isn't the same amount of clamoring to remove speaker johnson like there was for the former speaker, kevin mccarthy, when he cut a similar deal to

avoid a government shutdown. and then, of course, there is also the -- what happens on the senate side. any one senator can hold up the process and mean that it could take longer than necessary to meet that midnight deadline. most senators believe that they'll work out some sort of an arrangement to allow for the package to be passed before midnight tonight. but, of course, nothing can happen until this vote happen here on the house floor and we're expecting that to take place at any minute. jose? >> so let's talk about what exactly the process is going to look like. you can see there on your screen, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree. that, you know, if you're like a regular civilian, it doesn't tell me a lot. what exactly is the process now? >> right, so, this is the vote that we're talking about right now. so, when it says suspend the rules and agree, they have suspended the rules packaged. so normally there is a couple of steps that take place before the

actual legislation is voted on and one of them under normal circumstances would be the rules package. so that would be the way that the members have agreed that they're going to handle this piece of legislation on the floor before the actual vote itself. one of the reasons that they're bypassing that step is because you'll remember one of the deals that kevin mccarthy hatched as the house speaker was that he stacked the rules committee with a number of members of the house freedom caucus. one of them that is perhaps the most vocal and well known is congressman chip roy of texas, who is one of the most vocal opponents of this bill. this would not make it through the rules committee. the fact that it won't make it through the rules committee means they can't have a rule, which means that they have to suspend the rules and that's why the two-thirds majority is necessary and that's why it is going to take a heck of a lot of democrats to be involved in this process in order for the bill to pass. so, what we're watching right now and i do think, jose, it is a good sign that leadership believes that they need to put this bill on the floor and vote

on it right away, that would tell you that their whip count is strong and they are confident that they have the votes necessary to pass this legislation. but it also means it is going to move pretty quickly here. they're going to get it passed and the house is going to leave for a two-week recess, things like aid to ukraine and israel will be left to debate when they get back in april. but likely it means they have the votes necessary to pass this and then send it over to the senate. >> so, we have 12:52 still to go, ryan. and you talked about the senate, how does it look there and the president has again said that he -- initially would immediately sign this. >> yeah, i mean, there is enough votes in the senate. it is not an issue of whether or not the 60 votes necessary to pass this legislation is at issue. the question is over how long it is going to take. the senate has a very deliberative process, they like to call themselves the most deliberative body in the western hemisphere. any one senator can hold up that

process and make it go over a certain period of time before the actual final vote takes place. what the senate normally does is they hash out what they call a time agreement, it would allow certain senators to have amendments be brought up for a vote basically a messaging effort to show that they are displeased with the legislation and they would like to make it better through an amendment process. what will end up happening is that the amendments that they agree to will have no chance of passing, at least making that 60 vote threshold because if the bill is amended, it would be forced to go back to the house. they'll come up with that amendment agreement, push through the amendments, the amendments will fail and then vote on the final piece of legislation. the senate has yet to come up with that agreement yet. that's one of the things they'll hash out. they'll get serious about those negotiations once they see this bill emerge from the house. >> ryan nobles, thank you so much for the explanation, for the clarity. really appreciate it, my friend.

thanks. >> reporter: thank you. with us now to continue our conversation is texas democratic congressman henry cuellar, he represents a border district. congressman, always a pleasure to see you. how are you voting today? >> i just voted yes and we need to support this spending bill for border security. i can tell you this is a strong border security bill. i don't just go visit the border, i live at the border and i know the monies that we have for border patrol agents, for i.c.e., for detention beds, it is a strong border security, but it is a common sense practical homeland security, and it is bipartisan. democrats, we helped put this together with leadership in the white house. it is a strong border security bill. >> so, talk to us about that. because this package was nearly derailed by a fight over funding for homeland security. what does this package mean for security at the border as you

say? >> imagine if we would have done a year long cr. we would have not had extra monies to hire border patrol detention, the -- anything that provides technology at the border. we would have just left it at the same amount of money. we added a lot of money into homeland security bill, and, again it was done it is a bipartisan bill and one more thing, we're focusing on personnel, we're focusing on technology. we're -- we're doing this without the 14th century border wall. so, strong border security and i would say, fema gets money, so we can also help if there is any disasters out there. we need the money for fema also. >> and, congressman, i know you have been very vocal on speaking to the president of the united states about the policies vis-a-vis the border and border security. you told punch bowl news that, quote, in border states, he, the president, has a talk about the

border. you went on to say he's got a lot of work to do, but he still has time. what did you mean by that, congressman? >> the president, in my opinion, can do more on border security. we just provided funding for border security. now we need to pass the senate bill, but i still think that he can do an executive order on title 8, like trump did an executive order on title 42, which was the law. he can do that to show the american public that he's trying to do everything that needs to be done. now, we still need to make some changes, but i think an executive order following title 8 would expedite a removal, would go a long way to show that he's working with congress to get the job done. >> so, what would you like to see that executive order encompass? are you saying you want a new title 42? >> no, no. i said title 8, which is the law that president obama used and it

calls for expedited removal. you give the migrants the rights and if they don't fit under the asylum claims, you send them back, just like president trump -- i mean, president obama did with secretary jeh johnson. the other thing he needs to do more, which he's done a good job, but he needs to push mexico more, the reason the numbers have gone down from 10,000 or 12,000 to almost half, you know why? because we got mexico to do its job at the southern border. the more they do that, the less people. so he's got to focus on this executive order working with mexico because those numbers will drop the numbers at the border. that's the way president obama did it. >> congressman henry cuellar, i appreciate your time. thanks. >> thank you. coming up, breaking developments from the u.n. security council, where a u.s. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire between israel and hamas failed. and later, which former

democratic presidential candidate is said to be on the vice president list for both trump and rfk jr.? we're back in 60 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. s you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady. all words you want from your bank. for nearly 160 years, pnc bank has been brilliantly boring so you can be happily fulfilled... which is pretty un-boring if you think about it. this is remington. ...he's a member of the family, for sure. we always fed them kibble— it just seemed like the thing to do. but ...he was getting picky we heard about the farmer's dog... and it was a complete transformation. his coat was so soft, he had amazing energy. he was a completely different dog. it's a no-brainer that (remi) should have the most nutritious and delicious food possible. i'm investing in my dog's health and happiness.

11 past the hour. we're following more breaking news, the u.s. resolution calling for cease-fire in the israel-hamas war failed to pass at the u.n. security council after russia and china vetoed the measure. this u.s. resolution was a shift for the biden administration, which had previously vetoed three similar resolutions, citing israel's right to defend itself in the ongoing hostage negotiations. and diplomatic efforts continue overseas. secretary of state antony blinken is in israel meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and the israeli war cabinet. tomorrow israel is expected to send a delegation to qatar for talks on a potential hostage release. joining us now, nbc's raf sanchez in tel aviv.

how did the blinken/netanyahu meetings go? >> reporter: well, jose, secretary blinken, prime minister netanyahu meeting earlier this morning, before blinken met with the israeli war cabinet. it was all smiles. the prime minister thanking the u.s. for its support over the course of this war. and then repeating a point that has been a source of deep, deep disagreement between the united states and israel. prime minister netanyahu saying israel is determined to press ahead into the city of rafah in southern gaza where more than a million palestinian civilians are sheltering. netanyahu says that is necessary to destroy the four hamas battalions that are hiding there. the u.s. has made very clear at this point that it opposes any large scale military operation and then netanyahu going a little bit further than he has in the past, he says israel is going into rafah with or without

u.s. support. now, that really sets up a set of high stakes meetings next week in washington. several senior israeli officials, netanyahu's national security adviser, his minister of strategic affairs will be going to the white house to at least hear out american concerns about an israeli attack on rafah. the biden administration is hoping to convince them there is a way for israel to achieve its goals without mounting a full scale ground offensive. we're going to see israeli defense minister at the pentagon next week. this is really a deep, deep divide, between the u.s. and israel, it is not clear that secretary blinken's visit has done anything to close the gap there. we did see the secretary, jose, a few minutes ago, in tel aviv, stopping to meet with the families of some of those hundred plus hostages still being held by hamas that u.s. resolution that failed at the

security council linking any cease-fire to the release of the hostages. those hostages pleading with the biden administration to keep the pressure up, not just on hamas, but also on netanyahu's government to make sure that a deal gets done. as you mentioned, those talks are under way in qatar right now. cia director bill burns has been there, meeting with his counterparts from israel, from egypt and qatar, trying to jump start those talks, which have been under way for more than a week now. no sign of a breakthrough. secretary blinken has been putting kind of a positive face on things saying he believes the gaps are closing, but for those families he met today, more than 150 days into this, just the agonizing wait continues with no signs of life anytime recently. jose? >> raf sanchez in tel aviv, thank you so much. breaking news surrounding former president donald trump, where things stand right now.

and later, embattled new jersey senator bob menendez makes a major announcement about his future in politics. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. cs you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc.

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20 past the hour. we have breaking news that could have a major impact on donald trump's finances. just in the last hour, the former president's social media

company was approved to go public by merging with a wealthy shell corporation, a move that could provide trump with a windfall of $3 billion or more. the news comes just before trump's monday deadline to post a bond to cover the $464 million judgment in his civil fraud case. joining us now, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard and paul butler, former federal prosecutor and professor at georgetown school of law, also an msnbc legal analyst. so, vaughn, talk us to about the significance of this merger and what this means financially for trump. >> number one, this is complicated. this merger deal essentially allows truth social to go public as soon as next week. and as a result of these companies merging, donald trump now owns more than 78 million shares in this newly merged company. and at a stock price of $43, that comes out to about a $3 billion plus stake in this

company here. and now the part of this is that this is not direct cash that donald trump has at his disposal. but instead, as part of the company going public, there is a six-month cooling off period before donald trump could theoretically sell off his shares. now, there is a lot that goes into this, including number one, the fact that this to a certain extent, the stock price of this company, has been artificially inflated by particularly trump supporters, including some of those that are using truth social, trying to boost the price of this company, you know, despite truth social having actually had millions of dollars in losses over the course of the last years. this new company infuses cash into truth social to continue to operate and exist, but also for potentially donald trump to financially benefit off of. if he were to sell these -- his stake in the company, which is a majority about 60% of the shares he owns, this would amount to

more than $3 billion as the stock price holds right now. of course, six months from now, a lot could happen, that stock price could drop, folks could sell there is concern when a majority stakeholder would all but announce his intention, which he has not yet, but if he were to announce his intention to sell, in order to get cash relief, that could, of course, cause concerns for the other investors in this company. and so that is where for donald trump the $464 million judgment that he's going to have to pay or get an appeal bond for come monday is not going to be able to be covered by this merger at the same time for the long term cash considerations for donald trump and his family. this could be a significant boost, if, in fact, that stock price were to hold, jose. >> and so, vaughn, do we know if the former president has had any comment on this since the news broke of this? because earlier in the day, he was talking about that he had

$500 million cash already. any comments or any, you know, coming out of the trump team? >> right, in real time, jose, i'm looking at whether donald trump himself has commented on this merger here and the answer is no. but i can tell you on a separate note here, jose, this morning, at sunrise here on the east coast, donald trump did put an interesting post out, in which he claimed, quote, i currently have almost $500 million in cash. this is a notable claim, one we don't know whether is true or not, but donald trump's own attorneys earlier this week in a filing to an appeals court made the case that donald trump did not have the cash to cover this $450 million plus judgment that is owed on monday and that the appeals bond, the surety companies he was going to were not willing to use property as collateral. but, if, in fact, donald trump has $500 million cash on hand, that would be a different ball

game. that runs completely counter to what his own attorneys are claiming, so this is really over the next four days going to be what we're looking at ahead of letitia james already making clear come monday, she intends to begin going through the courts to try to seize his properties and assets, jose. >> lots, lots to figure out here. paul, are there restrictions on how someone like trump could post bond or where money comes from or will courts normally accept, you know, there is nothing common or usual about what we're seeing. but, paul, how do you read this? >> so, judge engoron does not trust donald trump, so, he has required trump to report all financial transactions involving his organization to the monitor he appointed. he extended the monitor's term for three years.

the judge also ordered trump to inform the monitor of his efforts to secure a bond. what does this mean? the judge is concerned that trump might try to hide or transfer his assets or that trump might be making representation -- misrepresentations to bond companies about the value of his properties. trump's lies about the value of his properties is why he's on the line now for almost $500 million. >> so, paul, does -- is there a difference between what one says or certified legally and then what one says, you know, in the court of public opinion? i mean, as vaughn was reading it, partially, he says he's got 500 million in the bank cash liquid. earlier this week his lawyers were saying he doesn't have that kind of money. is there a difference there, paul? could one thing have an impact on the other? >> well, it is not the first

time that trump lawyers are saying one thing and trump is saying another. so, obviously what is the most important is what's said in court because lawyers have to attest to the truth of what they file in court. trump may be looking ahead to this deal, thinking that that will allow him to post bond, but he's not going to have that cash on monday. there is this 6 months issue he's got to wait six months before he's allowed to access his shares. and, jose, he can work out a deal to get that money earlier, but that would have to be approved by the board of this new company. but guess who would be on the board? don jr., trump allies like kash patel and people who he appointed to positions in his administration. so, they might actually go for this deal, allowing trump to access his shares earlier, even though as vaughn said that's

probably not in the best financial interests of the company. >> vaughn hillyard and paul butler, thank you very much. appreciate it. yeah, thank you. appreciate it. up next, breaking news in the search for a university of missouri student who has been missing for days. plus, residents in haiti's capital barricade themselves in their homes as the violence continues to escalate. we'll bring you a live report on the americans who have escaped haiti. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. comfort, ♪♪ and a feeling we couldn't possibly put into words. ♪♪ you just have to get in the seat. lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. delicious too. just ask my old friend, kevin. nothing like enjoying a cold one while watching the game. who's winning? no idea. real milk. real delicious. and don't forget to try some delicious,

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30 past the hour. we have breaking news, just last hour law enforcement officials in nashville say they have recovered the remains of riley strain, the university of missouri student who has been missing for days now. the 22-year-old strain went missing march 8th while on a trip with members of his fraternity. joining us now is nbc's george solis. good morning. what do we know? >> yeah, jose, this was the announcement that a lot of people feared would happen. metro police in nashville announcing the discovery was made in the cumberland river, the focal point of this investigation. i'll read you what they said on social media this morning. the body of riley strain was discovered from the cumberland river in west nashville this morning, approximately 8 miles from downtown. no foul play related. or trauma was discovered. an autopsy is pending. and then moments ago, the police

chief there in nashville also holding a press conference saying that this discovery comes after the 14th day of this search. they anticipated that somewhere between the 14th and the 21st or so day that they might see a body surface in the river if riley had indeed fallen there. this has been the focal point and, of course, he expressed his condolences to the family and to all the people that were helping in this search. one of the other things the chief noted was that riley strain was still wearing the shirt and had a watch on him, that they believe ties him to being the person they were looking for. an autopsy is expected to be performed sometime today to further confirm the details and piece the timeline of all this, jose. riley strain went missing on march 8th. video of him that was released by the police department on march 12th, to sort of showed him walking along the streets of downtown nashville. march 17th, a credit card of his was found along the river and most recently in the last couple of days, police released body camera footage of an officer

interacting with riley on march 19th, which the officer asked him how he's doing and you hear strain replying i'm good, how are you? so, of course, obviously a lot more questions, a lot more digging that will be done, but as of this morning, police saying that they did discover the body of this college student in the river there. saying no foul play or trauma is suspected, but an autopsy is still pending. >> george solis, thank you very much. right now to tel aviv, moments ago secretary of state antony blinken spoke about this meeting that he has had, not only with the prime minister of israel, but with the war cabinet. >> to have candid conversations as friends do. we focused on the hostage negotiations as i did as well in my conversations with egyptian colleagues, and the qatari foreign minister yesterday. i also had a chance to meet with the hostage families again.

and it is hard to describe what they're going through, every single day. we made progress in last couple of weeks on the hostage negotiations. closing gaps. but almost by definition, when you get down to the last items, they tend to be the hardest. so still a lot of work to be done. hard work to be done. but we're determined to try to get it done. we also talked about the imperative of surging and sustaining the humanitarian assistance for the people in gaza. 100% of the population of gaza is acutely food insecure. 100% is in need of humanitarian assistance. there have been some positive steps taken in recent days, to improve the situation. but it is not enough. and we talked about what needs to happen to get much more assistance to many more people, more effectively. we also talked about rafah.

we share israel's goal of defeating hamas, which is responsible for the worst massacre of the jewish people since the holocaust. and we share the goal of ensure ing israel's long-term security. as we said, though, a major military ground operation in rafah is not the way to do it. it risks killing more civilians, it risks wreaking greater havoc with the humanitarian assistance, it risks further isolating israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing. so, we're looking forward to having israeli officials in washington next week to talk about a different way of achieving these objectives that we share of defeating hamas and ensuring israel's long-term security. it really requires an integrated humanitarian, military and political plan. as i said, we'll be talking about that next week, going

through the details of what we see as the best way forward. we also had an opportunity to talk about the long-termer term trajectory. what needs to happen once the conflict in gaza is over. conversations that i had with our partners over the last couple of days and that we had here in israel as well. we're determined that israel succeed in making sure it can defend itself. that october 7th never happens again, that it emerges from this, strong, secure, integrated in the region with a future of security and peace. not only for israelis, but for palestinians and for other friends in the region. and we believe there is a path forward to do that. we'll be continuing to work to flush out that path, and to try to walk down it in the days and weeks ahead. >> mr. secretary, thank you. can you give us an update on the

cease-fire talks in doha? what is the latest that you heard from the negotiators? and also, today, israel has announced a land seizure of 800 hectares in the occupied west bank, just when you're doing your visit here. what are your thoughts? >> so, on the negotiations, i can't give you any more details other than to say that we're intensely engaged in them. working with the qataris, working with the egyptians, working with israel. and we have teams in doha. and as i said, we have gotten it down to a few remaining gaps, but the closer you get to the goal line, the harder that last yard is, so, there are some hard issues to work through. but, we're determined to do everything we can to get there, and to get people home. and the negotiators will be working intensely to see if we can get that done. i haven't seen the news you referred to, you know our views

on settlement expansion. you know our views on everything from demolitions to evictions, to other steps, unilateral steps that are taken that make the already challenging prospect of two states even more distant. so i haven't seen the specifics of this. but anyone taking steps that makes things more difficult, more challenging this time is something that we have a problem. >> when you say we have teams you mean u.s. has teams on the ground in doha today and can you confirm the negotiations have begun like they have been continuing to -- >> i can't -- it should be going forward. if not immediately, now certainly in the hours ahead. >> thank you. can you tell us in practical terms what the u.s. was trying to achieve with the resolution that was put forward at the united nations today, and then on your conversations today, you described in broad strokes some themes that are familiar. i wonder whether you delivered

or heard any messages today that are new and different from your past conversations here. >> so, on the resolution, which got very strong support, but then was cynically vetoed by russia and china, i think we were trying to show the international community a sense of urgency about getting a cease-fire tied to the release of hostages, something that everyone, including countries that vetoed the resolution, should have been able to get behind. the resolution, of course, also condemned hamas. it is unimaginable why countries wouldn't be able to do that. but i think the fact that we got such a strong vote despite the veto by two of the permanent members of the security council again is evidence and demonstration of the commitment, the conviction of countries around the world, notably on the security council, to see about getting the cease-fire, getting the release of hostages now.

that's what the resolution said. that's what it called for. and i think it showed that a strong commitment to that from many, many countries. with regard to the conversations we had, look, this is an ongoing process. as i said, we really are focused on three things. the hostage negotiations, humanitarian assistance and rafah. and it was important that, again, we focus on all three things. we -- i can't -- i'm not going to get into the details of what we discussed, but i think from my perspective at least, these were important candid conversations to have at a critical time on all three of those issues. >> -- isolated if it doesn't change its path? >> what i shared and what i think they heard from president biden as well directly is we have the same goals, the defeat

of hamas. israel's long-term security. but a major ground operation in rafah is not in our judgment the way to achieve it. and we have been very clear about that. but most important we have the senior team coming to washington next week, we'll all be taking part in those discussions, we'll be able to lay out for them in detail, i started to do that today, but it is important that the teams lay out in detail how those goals can best be accomplished with an integrated humanitarian military and political plan. we'll put all that on the table. we'll hear from them too. and we'll take it to next week. thanks. >> secretary of state antony blinken as he wraps up his trip in tel aviv, heading home on that airplane you see right there. he did meet today among others with prime minister benjamin netanyahu as well as the war cabinet there. i want to go now from israel to haiti. this morning, in haiti, the

situation is deteriorating as police clash with gang members who are really creating all kinds of problems for the capital of port-au-prince. yesterday, police said they killed a gang leader and three other members. but as escalating violence is coming at a time when really political future of haiti remains uncertain. world leaders are struggling to agree on a transitional council, gangs threatening politicians that get involved in any council. a growing number of people are trying to flee the crisis. last week alone the u.s. has helped 160 people leave haiti. guad venegas is with us this morning. the situation in haiti super concerning because it gets worse by the hour. >> it does, jose. we still don't have a prime minister. there is no government, right? it makes things very, very difficult. a lot of americans have been stuck. they have been reaching out to the department of state and the state of florida, trying to find a way out of the country after a large logistical challenge, the

flights are now taking off, and bringing americans home. this is what relief looks like. a plane of 14 u.s. citizens including children arriving in central florida after a harrowing escape from haiti. >> it took a couple of tries and they didn't give up, they stayed with us until the end of the mission. >> philippe was on board this flight chartered by the state of florida with his wife and his 2-year-old son. >> very difficult part was getting around and making it to the airport to fly out. we were dealing with little kids, not adults, so that made it even more stressful on the parents and it was just scary. >> reporter: they were lucky. there is still more than a thousand americans in haiti, but with the airport and port-au-prince shuttered, roads closed, daily gun battles on the streets and armed gangs overrunning the capital, most americans have no way out. >> i would say it is worse than a war zone. >> reporter: private security contractors now going door to

door trying to rescue them. >> helicopter got surrounded today at the airport. the helicopter had to take off in a manner that was just, you know, i don't want to say unsafe, but, again, the tower told him he may not be able to land there again. >> reporter: another flight, arriving in miami. 66 more americans now on u.s. soil. how is the country right now? >> country needs help. >> reporter: a country in chaos, and people terrified for their lives hoping to get out. and we expect the department of state to continue using airplanes and helicopters to help americans get out of the country and the state of florida has identified more than 300 floridians who are u.s. citizens, they are now focusing on getting those floridians out on smaller planes, but they say that if they have space, they will bring more americans as they are able to bring them to the landing area to have those planes take off. >> guad venegas, thank you very

much. appreciate it. an update on the house floor. i want to bring in nbc news capitol hill correspondent julie tsirkin. there is a decision on that vote for that massive funding bill. >> reporter: yeah, it doesn't look like the vote has been officially closed. however, it does appear that they have over the two-thirds vote required. that is the two-thirds majority of the house voting in support of this bill. i want to be careful because we do have a couple of republicans and democrats left to go here. and this could be important because of what potentially happens next. we're told two sources tell myself and my colleagues that marjorie taylor greene filed a resolution, a motion to vacate speaker johnson. this is something, of course, that led to the ouster of former speaker kevin mccarthy, but what they're watching, i'm told, according to my sources, is whether johnson is able to get a majority of the majority. a majority of his republican conference. right now it doesn't look that way. they have 101 voting in favor for this appropriations funding package that would complete

funding for this fiscal year. they have about 101 republicans voting in favor. they need 109. i'm told some members are watching that vote total because especially they are heated about how this process went down. members in the house freedom caucus, the hard-liners among republicans in the house who have criticized johnson, they have not gone far enough to say they will vacate him from the speaker's office because of this, but they have said that this bill is bloated, it does not do anything to secure the border. they're clearly frustrated with how things went down. as you can see now, it appears the gavel has been pounded on the desk and that the bill total has been closed. so right now we can say in confidence that they did not reach that 109 threshold. when it comes to the motion to vacate, it is not like it happens automatically. there is a lot of things that can happen on the floor. i can't listen to it because i'm talking to you now. but essentially johnson could adjourn the house for the day, remember they're set to go on recess, and it could take two legislative days in order for the republican leadership to be required to bring this resolution to the floor and,

remember, they are going on recess. so it is very possible that we don't even see an outcome to this until they get back in mid-april. but, again, jose, a lot of moving pieces here, but on the government funding part of this, americans can breathe a sigh of relief that at least in the house they have been able to muscle this through. now it goes to the senate, where they have yet to agree on a time agreement to get this done by the midnight deadline. but senators there, i'm told, are working to make that happen. >> julie tsirkin on capitol hill with breaking news. thank you so much, julie. appreciate it. up next, we're going to tell you which former democrat could be on the vice president short list for both donald trump and rfk jr. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. rfk jr you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. trade-in that old thing and get a new iphone 15 pro with tons of storage. so you can take all the pics! so many selfies. a preposterous amount of pano! that means panoramic. and as many portraits of me as your heart desires.

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help you know what to say, even when you don't. hi! constant contact. helping the small stand tall. 49 past the hour. turning now to venezuela, where the regime of nicolas maduro is facing international criticism over its arrest of two top aides to opposition leader maria machado. several latin countries plus the u.s. and canada have condemned seven more people. two months after the country's high court upheld a reeling that barred machado from holding office. thank you for being with us this

morning. i would like to clear things up for people that may not be up to speed on what exactly is happening in venezuela. tell us the significance of this. >> thank you so much for your interview. what is happening right now is as you mentioned, there have been more detentions, there have been a crackdown on opposition and civil society as the year started. the last year after the signing of the barbados agreement, the opposition and civil society was ruling for free and fair elections. the bar has been consistently getting lower and lower. thousand we are advocating for competitive elections. at this point, we don't know if this is actually going to happen. why? because 16 members of maria machado's party have been arrested or have arrest warrants. she has until march 25th to

register her candidacy before the national electoral council, which is the head of the electoral branch of government. that is still something that is yet to be seen. but it's more likely that maria machado will not be able to register as she has been banned from running for office. >> i want to put things into perspective and context for people who may not be really following what's going on in ven venezuela. almost 8 million people have left the country. hundreds of thousands have come to the united states. mexico just reached a deal with the regime to send venezuelans back to venezuela. i think it's important when we talk about root causes and things that are happening, this is happening in the country with the largest oil reserves on earth, a country with vast

geographic gold, all kinds of minerals. and yet has really become one of the poorest countries. the regime responsible for a lot of that. why should what is going on in venezuela matter to us? >> that's a very good question. the international community ne stay engaged and committed to achieving transformation of political conflict in venezuela towards a democracy and understand this is a fight for the long one. six more years of maduro in power is costly in terms of human rights and human lives. usa mentioned, there's the second largest displacement in the world after syria. that makes the situation unprecedented. it's very important to mention that even those sanctions do have an impact on the

humanitarian emergency, the reality is that the root causes of migration -- of mass migration that started around 2014 are actually in this management corruption and the dismantling of democratic institutions. unless there's a political transformation, the u.s. can expect to continue to see migration. there's also the relationship between maduro -- or venezuelan authorities and organized crime. it's just very costly for the region to continue to have such a situation in venezuela. >> a country that has deep relations with and exchanges so much with cuba, with iran, with russia, with china and a lot more. thank you so much for being with us this morning. appreciate your time. >> thank you. turning to breaking news out of capitol hill.

congresswoman marjorie taylor greene issued a resolution to the parliamentarian staff to vacate the speaker of the house mike johnson. joining us susan del percio. susan, what's your reaction? >> it's marjorie taylor greene just looking to do another stunt. we know the house is breaking for two weeks. my guess is she wanted to do something to keep her in the press. she can go home and rally against the speaker. at the end of the day, i don't think anything will come of it. >> they are passing this massive bill, more than $1.3 trillion, averts a government shutdown tonight at midnight. >> we need bipartisan legislation in order to keep the government funded. that's what some of the responsible republicans left in the house decided to do. the reality is that republicans

can't govern and can't be trusted to govern. that's why there's a mutiny happening with the hard right because they don't want to provide what they see as a win for president biden and his administration by putting forward a spending bill to keep the government funded. they won't be able to campaign on government dysfunction. so that's what the hard right wants. that's what the biden campaign needs to remind the american people about. >> speaker johnson, do you think -- is his job, for now, okay? do you think that this, as you call it a stunt by marjorie taylor greene, could have an impact on him? >> i think the republicans as a whole will want to keep him as speaker. i don't think they will get the amount of votes that they need. it's a very tight number that would be needed. at the end of the day, i think speaker johnson is realizing, it's about governing.

at least he is doing what's required. he may not be doing much more than what's required. but i think the republicans don't want to have another mess on their hands like they did earlier this year with kevin mccarthy. i expect that he will stay in place. >> mess on their hands is one way of putting what has been a very contentious and difficult period for the house of representatives. i understand that these are live pictures from the congresswoman who is outside capitol hill after she presented this motion to oust mike johnson as house speaker. politics plays so much, always, on what happens in capitol hill. we are talking about a government shutdown that midnight tonight -- we are talking about almost 12 hours away -- could be averted. let's listen in quick just for a minute, if we could, to capitol hill.

>> if it's a warning, does that mean you are not go going through with this? >> i will. >> there's nothing that can convince you to back off? >> there's not a time limit on this. it doesn't have to be forced and throw the house into chaos. i don't want to put any of our members in a difficult place like we were for 3 1/2 weeks. we're going to continue our committee work. we're going to continue our investigations. there's a lot of good investigations going that have to be able to proceed. the american people deserve that. i'm not saying that it won't happen in two weeks or it won't happen in a month or who knows when. i am saying the clock has started. it's time for our conference to choose a new speaker. >> do you believe there are more republicans who support this push? ultimately, if this does get filed, it could lead to what you are saying, more chaos, more paralysis. does the republican house conference -- are they on board with that? >> it's filed. it's not voted on. it only gets voted on until i

call it to the floor for a vote. >> jeffries said he would help -- or not he would help but democrats might be willing to help him survive. are you worried about putting johnson in the position -- >> no. i'm not worried at all. i don't think that the american people, republican voters across the country, want to see a republican speaker that's held in place by democrats. this is not exactly what people want. this would be up to our conference. our conference works together to choose a speaker. we need a speaker that supports all of us. not a speaker that breaks a 72-hour rule, will not let us vote on amendments on introduce amendments to major funding bills. right now, do you want to know the video everyone is watching? illegals rushing our border, military-age men running over border patrol, running over the

texas national guard. mike johnson, the republican speaker of the house, handed over every ounce of negotiating power to chuck schumer and the democrats and went ahead and funded the government when this was our point of leverage. republicans had the power of the purse. this was our power. this was our leverage. this is our chance to secure the border. he didn't do it. >> as the congresswoman continues to speak from just outside the capitol, i want to than susan for being with us. that wraps up the hour for me. see you tomorrow night on "nbc nightly news." thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news coming up. she will speak with cindy mccain, executive director for the world program about the need to get food and other aid into gaza. that starts now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," speaker johnson risking right wing anger by steering the budget bill through the house with the help

from democrats. now the drama s