frank thorpe, nbc reporter and producer. frank appreciate it. >> thanks very much, enjoyed it. >>> i would like to have senator jeff merkley from the great state of oregon join us now. senator merkley i have lost my ability to speak coherently, but we are happy to have you with us now as we keep an eye on the live shot in the senate and as we head toward what he expect to be a 1:00ome couture vote, that would be a 60-vote threshold vote for the senate to be able to move ahead into the next few stages this process that rand paul has started which hopefully at some point tonight will result in a government funding bill. senator, thank you for your time tonight. senator merkley, have you got me? >> hello there. greetings. yes, i have you now. i should say good morning. >> exactly. i'm sorry, i have half turned into a pumpkin. some of my engineering stopped working once i turned into squash that's full of seeds. >> it's interesting to see that countdown clock suddenly start becoming a count-up clock. >> senator, what do you think

what we're hearing, frank thorpe from nbc news tweeting about some of what's going on, saying senator cornyn is confirming that rand paul is holding up the senate c.r. budget deal vote. he wants a vote on his amendment and leadership is recommending he do it as a budget point of order. back to the house for a second. craig kaplan, or capitol hill producer tweeting about nancy pelosi. and a letter, a members letter she has just released. here's what she says. pelosi letter to the house democrats, ahead of the budget deal vote. republicans do not have the votes to pass this caps bill on their own. house democrats have a voice here and we must be heard. these are the reasons that i am voting against this bill. that is from the democratic leader of the house. the ranking member on the budget committee, john yarmuth, craig kaplan tweeting, john yarmuth will vote yes on the budget deal if democrats cannot support this kind of compromise, congress will never function. here's where things stand. the senate as of yet has not taken up the measure just yet. we expect them to do that shortly. you

general kelly was there, the white house chief of staff, talking to reporters, and frank thorpe, ourr, was there, and has recounted what happened. because he was talking about all the compromises that are floating around there from both the white house and members and senators. and he suggested, first of all, that the president should not have suggested a path to citizenship. he said we were asked for the president's perspective on taking care of the daca issue and he sent over what has been his four pillars. i think the first part of that, which was stunning, and no one expected it, was there were 650,000 official daca residents and the president sent over to what amounts to 2 1/2 times that number to 1.8 million. then he said the difference between 690, those who signed up, and 1.8 million were the people some would say were too afraid to sign up. understandably from people who are afraid of our law enforcement. of i.c.e. then he said, we're too lazy to -- i'm quoting him here, we're too lazy to get off their asses when they didn't sign up. this is the quote from the white house ch