-- it gets more tense. host: niels lesniewski's senior staff writer for cq roll call and andrew >> caitlin emma reports from politico and joins us with the week ahead from congress. let's start with disaster aid. where does the package in the senate stand russian mark -- stand? what about coming to a deal with the white house? caitlin: negotiations finally took a turn it last night. it feels like there is some real movement, real progress. we have a number of offers back and forth, but democrats have offered republicans a package, which everyone is quiet about, and that is a good sign that negotiations are narrowing, that we are getting closer to a deal. it seems like a lot of the disagreements over funding puerto rico has been resolved, and notably this package

includes some of president donald trump's course for humanitarian needs at the border. democrats are not going to fund what they see as some of his harsher immigration policies. he asked for more funding for i.c.e. detention beds, but they realize there is an influx of immigrants and children crossing at the southern border and the federal government requires funding to handle that. this latest democratic offer includes some kind of that component. we are not really sure about the details, but certainly that will be palatable to republicans. i'm sure they are working through the weekend with the goal of finalizing a deal by early next week. >> before then, the memorial day recess is approaching. you mentioned democrats agreeing to $1 billion in humanitarian aid from the southern border. some of your colleagues at politico reporting on that.

can you tell us about the democrats, their approach in light of the president's request for humanitarian relief as well? caitlin: there seems to be an appetite to fund more of the humanitarian requests that the president made in the last several weeks. he essentially requested $4.5 billion for border security. the addition of more i.c.e. detention beds. in addition to that, there are offices at the department of health and human services, the office of refugee resettlement which is in serious jeopardy of running out of money in the next month or so. it doesn't receive any supplemental funding. i can imagine a scenario in which democrats would be willing to provide some of that. like i said earlier, they have no interest in funding the president's harsher immigration

policies. where democrats and republicans end up landing on the border security issues in a final package will be interesting and remains to be seen. >> the house passed its own version of a bill which included aid for the hurricanes in puerto rico. if the senate reaches its deal, what have you heard from the house about bringing that senate version to the floor? >> right. i think the house is interested in moving as quickly as possible next week. lawmakers want to get out of here for memorial day recess, and the house is scheduled to be out this coming thursday. so i think the goal is for both sides to wrap up a deal by early next week and for both sides to move as quickly as they can on passing a package of legislation. host: well, then, let's take a look at budget caps. because leaders from the house and senate are reportedly going to be meeting with the white house to discuss the current caps.

how might this affect federal spending bills that are coming and averting more shutdowns in the future? also, who's been involved in trying to figure this out ahead of time? caitlin: right. this is huge. the house has already started, you know, passing spending bills out of subcommittee and full committee with the goal of getting all these spending bills to the house floor, you know, by the end of june and passing them off the house floor, but none of it really matters unless we agree to top line spending levels. so the fact that budget cap talks are actually kicking off is hopefully a positive sign. we have the four corners, nancy pelosi, kevin mccarthy, mcconnell, they're all getting together next week with officials from the white house. i believe acting chief of staff

mick mulvaney and treasury secretary steven mnuchin will be involved. you know, we had a story earlier this week that the president himself is open to a deal that would raise discretionary spending caps for defense and nondefense spending, but you're getting all these messages from some of his senior advisors, like mulvaney and like the folks over at the office of management and budget saying we want to adhere to these strict caps. so there is sort of a discrepancy at the moment in messaging. the fact that the talks are launching is hopefully positive. >> we'll continue to follow you on twitter. the handle @caitlinzemma. and you are reporting at "politico." thanks so much for joining us. caitlin: thank you. >> tonight, david discusses his book the plaintiff. they brought the american ideal west. >> is like going to a country i had never set foot in. that is the adventure. i try to look at all of it with a fresh eye.

i never had not found something that was ignored. pioneers about the that established the first settlement in the northwest, it is all material that nobody knows much of anything about. >> david mccullough, tonight :00 -- at 8:00 eastern. >> next, u.s. forest service chief vicki christiansen testifies on her 2020 budget request before a senate subcommittee where she faces questions about concerned cuts and wildfire programs. this is about an hour and 15 minutes. sen. murkowski: good morning, everybody. the committee will come to