hill. joining his house members when a vote comes up and, again, still awaiting action in the senate to end the government shutdown. look here from the daily caller at those who voted against short-term funding. again, this is the most recent vote in the senate. a bill that would keep the government funded through february 8 and provide six years of funding for nine million children who use the children's health insurance program. 81 votes voting in favor of the bill. with 18 senate democrats, that's actually including independent bernie sanders, two republicans voting against including mike lee of utah and rand paul of kentucky. a tweet here also from chad talking about the white house. sarah sanders' comments from earlier. i wouldn't say it's the highest level of trust between the parties -- between the democrats and the white house. we're hopeful we can reach an agreement on responsible immigration reform. one of the big sticking points that has led to this government

shutdown. we laid out what we want. we're hopeful democrats will come to the table ready to make a deal and less focused on political games. we'll show you the white house riefing now in its entirety. sarah: good afternoon. obviously the impending conclusion of the schumer shutdown is leading media coverage today and i'll get into that shortly but want to start with a couple of other national security issues first. first, on northwest syria, we call on all parties to remain focused on the goal of defeating isis, de-escalating and resolving the syrian conflict and protecting innocent civilians. we take turkey's legitimate security concerns and committed working with turkey as a nato ally. it disrupts with a relatively stable area of syria. it distracts from international efforts to ensure the lasting defeat of isis.

it could be exploited by isis and al qaeda for resupply and safe haven and it risks exacerbating a humanitarian crisis. we urge turkey to exercise restraint in its military actions and rhetoric, ensure its operations are limited in scope and duration, ensure humanitarian aid continues, and avoid civilian casualties. we want to ensure that assad's brutal regime cannot return there and we will continue working diplomatically to end the syrian civil war. in afghanistan, where terrorists in afghanistan where terrorists attacked a hotel in kabul, such attacks on civilians only strengthen our resolve to support our afghan partners. we commend the swift and effective response of the afghan security forces. afghan forces with our support will continue to relentlessly pursue the enemies of afghanistan who also seek to export terror around the world. we call on pakistan to immediately arrest or expel the taliban leaders and prevent the group from using pakistani

territory to support their operations. lastly, in regards to the government shutdown, we were pleased to see senator schumer accept a deal that president trump put on the table from the very beginning which was to responsibly fund the government and debate immigration as a separate issue. a statement here from the president of the united states. i'll read. quote, i am pleased that democrats in congress have come to their senses and are now willing to fund our great military, border patrol, first responders and insurance for vulnerable children. as i've aid sauce -- always said, once the government is funding, my administration will work toward solving the problem of very unfair illegal immigration. we will make a long-term deal on immigration if and only if it's good for our country. end quote. with that i'll take your questions. jonathan. reporter: how's the president going to work with democrats when he's running a campaign ad that is calling them complicit in murder?

how does he show leadership on this? sarah: look, the president's number one focus is our national security. he's been very strong on discussing the need for border security and tying that directly o national security. that's a big focus of both the president's campaign at the time and also since he's become president. in terms of specifics of any ad running, those aren't being done by the white house and can't get into any details. but his position in terms of the need for border security and how him that pacts national security is something we've talked about and been very clear on. reporter: is he bringing the democrat it's down here, bringing republicans here, hashing this out? how's this going to be any different? we didn't see him over the weekend. he was only talking to republicans. obviously there's going to be a deal by february 8 it's going to need to be a bill with democrats. sarah: we've been very clear about what we want to see in any legislation. and i don't think that there's a

whole lot of daylight between where we are and where the democrats are. we certainly want to negotiate and get to a place and we're hopeful that we can do that over the next couple of weeks. reporter: schumer on the floor claimed the deal he had on the table with mitch mcconnell today was much different than the one he had last week. how did the ball move forward, if it did at all, between friday ight and this morning? sarah: i think that democrats realized that the position that they had taken frankly was indefensible. and that they had to focus on, first, funding our military. protecting border patrol agents. funding vulnerable children through the chip program. these were things that they didn't disagree with. they agreed with everything that was in this c.r. the president stayed firm. republicans stayed firm. and democrats i think realized that they had to move past that piece of legislation so they could focus on the conversation they're desperate to have. reporter: is it your contention that the deal that chuck schumer send and lauded today is no

different than the deal he had on the table friday? sarah: i don't see it to be drastically different, no. reporter: is there no interaction and was there no interaction between the president and the campaign committee in the creation of that ad? did he approve it? sarah: that's something i wouldn't be part of that process. i couldn't speak to that. reporter: it's an important question. sarah: again, the president has some liberties that i don't. that's something i would have to check. i would refer you to the campaign because they're the only ones who can speak specifically -- reporter: would you quote that as an accurate representation of what his belief of democrats are and what their position was during the shutdown, they were complicit and would be complicit in the future murders because of the shutdown? sarah: i think if people are unwilling to secure our borders, that they're unwilling to end chain migration, unwilling end to the visa lottery system, unwilling to fix all of the problems that we have in our immigration system, and aren't

willing to negotiate and actually do things that fix that system, that we know to be problematic, then, yes, that would be a problem and certainly allow for future incidents to take place. reporter: is a two-year requirement required from the president for defense spending going forward? is that one of his top goals with the budget negotiations going forward? not just this fiscal year, but two years on defense? sarah: i'm not going to negotiate with you here, but we've made clear that that -- i'm not finished. we've made clear that that's our preference. reporter: the president several months ago called on congress to provide a legislative fix for the 700,000 or so daca recipients. is his position that he would sign such a bill, a clean bill, or would he insist upon funding for that border wall with mexico? sarah: we want to make sure the president and the administration have laid out what we'd like to see. those priorities haven't

changed. a solution on daca into chain migration, into the visa lottery system, and funding for border security, that would certainly claw the -- include the law. reporter: tomorrow i believe at the beginning of the final round of negotiations concerning nafta, the north american free trade agreement, how are those negotiations going right now? what we're hearing is that they're not going well. they haven't been going well for the first five rounds. is the president prepared to pull the u.s. out of nafta? sarah: we don't have any specific announcements but we feel like things are moving forward. we're going to continue in those negotiations. but as the president has said many times before, he's going to make sure that he gets the best deal for america and american workers. that's still the focus and that will still be topic of discussion as we move in these negotiations. reporter: after this shutdown episode, does the president feel like he can deal with democrats anymore? for example, senators, you

implied the president didn't know the difference between authorization, appropriation. there's been other leaks about conversations behind closed doors. what is the president's level of trust with the senate democrats going forward? sarah: i wouldn't say it's the highest level of trust. but i think we're certainly hopeful that we can reach an agreement on responsible immigration reform. we've laid out what we want and we hope that democrats -- we know they agree on most of those components and we hope that they'll come to the table ready to actually make a deal and less focused on playing political games. reporter: on immigration, you have a budget, infrastructure, other big things you want to get done. is that going to be possible fter this? sarah: we hope so. we hope that democrats again will not play politics and they'll focus and put the needs of the country ahead of the political gamesmanship that they've been playing over the last couple of months. and we hope we can move that ball down the field on a number of issues, but starting with the budget and then moving it to immigration. reporter: would the president support a pathway to citizenship for dreamers? sarah: we have said that we would support a permanent

solution for those in the daca program. and i think that would address that. reporter: you must have some position on this. the president clearly has conviction on this issue. so does he support this divisive issue? a pathway to citizenship for these individuals? sarah: i think on the specific number of people that are already in that program, we do hope to find a permanent solution that would address that. reporter: legal status versus pathway to citizenship, or does it not matter to the president? sarah: i think that's part of the negotiation process. but right now we want a permanent solution for that program. we also want to keep a big priority for the administration is making sure we don't find ourselves having this same battle in two, three, four and five years down the road. so we have to have a responsible immigration reform that addresses a number of issues, not just the daca program. reporter: follow up. you said that you would be open to legal -- permanent legal solution for the 690,000 people

in the daca program. what about beyond that? there's a lot -- i heard a story that said the white house administration memo estimated that what the democrats want would potentially legalize three million dreamers. where does he get that number and what is the limit that the president has on how big this population of dreamers really is? i think the dream act would be predicted to legalize 1.7 million. where do you draw the line? sarah: i'm not going to negotiate with you any more than i was going to with major. this is something that we're going to work on with congress and look for the best solution for our country. as long as, too, again, don't forget a big priority for this administration is making sure we address this program in its entirety, not just that one piece of it. reporter: this program again, certain people who had daca protections. other dreamers decided not to apply for various reasons. is the white house open to addressing a deal in this go-around for a population that's larger than those in the daca?

sarah: we're open to having a debate on a level playing field on this issue and negotiating that with congress and making sure that we get the deal that meets the criteria that we've clearly laid out. reporter: one clarification before my question. the president is planning on going to davos? sarah: if all things go as expected this afternoon, with the reopening of the government, which we expect that there, the president's delegation will leave tomorrow and the appellate continue on his trip later in the week. reporter: my question, the priorities of a daca fix, where xactly does that rank? when you talk about what needs to happen for a deal, diversity visa lottery program, the wall, ending chain migration, daca. some other components up on the hill may need to be worked in as well. the actual daca solution, how big of a priority is that? that one component for the president? sarah: we look at all of those

as equal parts in this process. that's why we laid out what we called our four priorities and listed that as one of them. reporter: so a daca fix is on the same level playing field as the wall? sarah: we know that's going to be part of this negotiation. that's something the president has committed to do. but we don't want to do that without the other three components. it's like having a stool with two legs, it doesn't work very well. we want to make sure we're addressing this more fully and in a responsible way. so that we're not just kicking the can down the road, but we're actually dealing with the issue more long term. reporter: [inaudible] -- what has he been doing behind the scenes as this drama has unfolded? sarah: we've put out a number of readouts. he's had several different calls, both with members on the hill. he has met with a number of his cabinet to manage the shutdown that was a big priority for the president, was making sure that this was well managed and that it wasn't as director mulvaney

calls weaponized as it was in 2013. and making sure that we could make the impact of the shutdown have as little effect on americans as possible. it's been a big priority for the president. i think that it certainly went much smoother than it has in the past. but also the president was putting pressure and standing firm on exactly what he was willing to do and what he wasn't. and it very clearly worked because we're back where we basically started on friday. and the democrats have now allowed this to move forward, hopefully the house will move this through quickly. and it will be at the white house for the president to sign and then we can start immediately on discussions on immigration reform. reporter: when will we see him? sarah: we'll keep you posted. we'll certainly make sure you guys are aware when that time comes. reporter: will he sign the thing? sarah: certainly possible. we'll let you know the timing of that still isn't finalized. we have to wait on the house piece. there's also o.m.b. and legal reviews that have to take place

before it actually finally hits the president's desk and so a little bit of that's just the timing and formality issue. reporter: are we going to see him today regardless of what the house does or doesn't do? sarah: we'll let you know and keep you posted. reporter: going back to the nafta discussion. oes the president still have faith? there was a report suggesting otherwise. sarah: absolutely. spoke with the president about it directly this morning. he has 100% confidence in secretary ross. he loves wilbur. thinks he's doing a great job and has been a strong advocate for the administration. and been a great leader when it comes to the trade discussion on steel, aluminum and certainly his involvement in trade across the board with the administration. reporter: the president was very clear back in september when he said that dreamers have nothing to worry about. is that still the case? sarah: i think we've been pretty clear that we want to find a solution on the daca program. and we're going to hope that

democrats are willing to work with us to make sure we actually resolve this issue. reporter: there are a lot of dreamers in this country who are living on pins and needles, not knowing what their fate is. what is this white house's message to that population? do you think they should storm capitol hill and protest there? sarah: because that is the place that has held up this discussion. democrats are the one that shut this discussion down by forcing a government shutdown. by being unwilling to fund the government. we lost four days over this process of the conversation that should have been focused on immigration reform, fighting over the c.r. if they had been part of the solution instead of part of the problem, then i think we would have already been further down the road in our negotiations on that package. and hopefully we won't have problems like that in the uture. reporter: two questions. the first on the obvious. congressman tom cole, a member of the republican leadership, said over the weekend that to a

member republicans in the house were committed to the three priorities the president laid out in the process of reopening the government. is the president in cement on those three in the negotiations that are going to follow? the ending chain migration, the ending of the lottery, and the appropriations for the wall? sarah: yeah. we've been clear those are our priorities when it comes to immigration. reporter: they're non-negotiable? sarah: these are the priorities we want to see in the package and we're going to negotiate that with congress. but we've been pretty up front. i think i've said it about 30 times already today. those are the priorities and the principles that we've outlined that we want to see in any legislative packing an that the president signs. reporter: my other question is, on a completely different subject, monsanto and bear were two giants in the seed industry,

preparing to merge. their c.e.o.'s have met with the president. and many fear that this is going to lead to a monopoly for them. in the seed industry and raising the prices which will hurt the farm community. is the president in favor of the merger of monsanto and bear? sarah: i haven't spoken with him about that. i'll have to get back to you. reporter: i understand that you guys have laid out new criteria for what you want in the deal. is the president saying that on march 5, if he doesn't get what he wants from the democrats in those areas, that he will begin to deport the dreamers? sarah: we haven't determined that. we're hopeful that we don't have to do that and that we don't have to get there. we would like democrats to get serious about actually solving problems. they say they want to have this conversation, they say they want o negotiate.

so much so that they were willing to shut down the government. if they're willing to go that far, surely they'll be willing to come to the table and talk about real solutions and get something done. reporter: remove deportation protections from the dreamers? sarah: the president is the one that enforced the law, yes, he is. that is his job as commander in chief. he did that. absolutely. reporter: one other question. sarah: because -- let's be clear. that is because of congress' failure to actually address the issue. they're the ones that actually pass and make those laws. and the president gave a six-month time frame in order for them to do that. and now i think all of america is counting on them to show up and make sure that happens. reporter: one more. the president's son said the shutdown was a good thing for us. meaning politically it was a good thing for the president and the party. does the president agree with that? sarah: i haven't spoken to him about those comments. sorry. reporter: what is the guidance on how -- on how quickly the government would reopen and workers would be expected to be back at work and national parks and other facilities that were closed will reopen? sarah: most of those parks, they tried maintain and keep those open. unlike in past shutdowns.

they really tried to minimize the impact on the american eople. in terms of what the turn-around time for a full reopen, as i said earlier, we are waiting on the house to vote and clear. then it will go through the o.m.b. budget process and review, a legal review, then hit the president's desk which we expect sometime late afternoon, early evening. which would make most government offices already closed and so they would start back in full capacity tomorrow morning. if that changes, we'll certainly let you guys know. but that's sort what have we tentatively expect at this time. reporter: a chance to respond to the criticism that senator schumer lobbed over the weekend. saying that negotiating with the president is like negotiating with jello, today the senator said the great deal maker sat on the sidelines. was it an effort on president's part not to reach out to him this weekend? is that part of his strategy?

sarah: what the president did clearly worked. the vote just came in 81-18. i would say that those numbers are much more in the president's favor than in senator schumer's favor. i'm not sure what changed for him and what he gained other than maybe nancy pelosi taking a bunch of republican members out for dinner to celebrate their shutdown. i'm not sure what other positive things came out of this weekend for democrats. sorry, democrat members. i'll take one last question. reporter: following up on that. in addition to chuck schumer saying the president negotiates like jello. even peter mcconnell said he wasn't completely clear on where the president stood with some of these immigration priorities. so the president shifting his policy positions behind the scenes under pressure from his conservative base? sarah: not at all. the president, as well as the administration, we've laid out clearly in a three-page memo what our priorities are, what our principles are, for this process. and we have been very consistent on that front. reporter: -- [inaudible] --

veto power over any immigration deal? sarah: jason miller doesn't work in the administration. the only person i'm aware of with veto power in this country s the president. thanks guys. >> is it still too early to be talking about gun control? [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] host: a final vote under way on the senate floor on a short-term spending bill to keep the government open. the shutdown under way since friday. s the third day of the federal worker shutdown and we are of course keeping an eye here on the senate floor. you can continue watching coverage of the vote under way in the senate on c-span2. a look at a tweet from eric watson who points out that some of the delay this afternoon once they'd held their cleture vote to move forward was delayed as it was amended to ensure furloughed workers get paid.

so a number of workers headed into work today to close down offices and head home. it looks like part of that final vote could also include payment for those furloughed workers. also later year expecting to show you some of the congressional black caucus' meeting, that's under way right now. we're going to try to bring it to you in our schedule. also hearing from nancy pelosi today after the cloture vote was held a look at a tweet from the hill that says she's going to be rejecting the daca offer, the deferred action on childhood arrivals. a little bit more here from the hill, seeing that the house -- saying the house minority leader rejected the office from senate g.o.p. leaders to enthe standoff she said, i don't see there's any reason to support what's put forth. senator mcdodge laying this out as a possible strategy to overcome the