so now, joining us is a democratic senator jeff merkley serving on the foreign relations committee. do you agree with john thune on this, no way of a border agreement this week? >> it does take two sides, and if republican side says there is not going to be a dance, there is no dance. >> i am not sure that is what thune was saying, but he is saying that practically speaking, there is not going to be a vote this week. do you agree? >> well, that is fair. you are talk about whilst three major world issues in the middle east, ukraine and the border, and it is not just funding the programs on the border, but it is about more security on the border or more case managers, more folks who are holding the asylum hearings to get rid of this backlog, that is fairly straight forward, but the republicans are getting a lot of the messages from steve miller faction, which is a faction that says that use this as leverage for every diabolical strategy to throw people out of the country. so, we are really hung up on the policy issues being tied into this funding bill, and there is no big overlap of a

let's discuss this with democratic senator jeff merkley of oregon.a member of the foreign relations committee as well we should note. senator, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. lawmakers are divided right now as to whether a deal is going to get hammered out. i'm wondering what is your sense of things, where they stand right now. are you and your colleagues ready to stay until the holiday? >> here's the vision, which is that the team from both sides was working, along with the administration, until three 8 am this morning. they decided they had made enough progress, that they have a fair chance of hammering out a complete framework over the weekend, to have that ready for monday, not the legislative language but the framework. then simultaneously they will be lurking on the -- working on putting the legislative language. it's a very complicated undertaking. the best we can consider is a 50/50 proposition. we are absolutely willing to be here. we will lose momentum on this incredibly important legislation and folks will go hom

tim kaine of virginia, martin heinrich of new mexico and jeff merkley of oregon also signed onto the letter requesting a briefing for answers to a lengthy list of questions about the u.s.'s posture on israel's military strategy. earl in texas on the border. good morning to you. why do you come down on this debate? caller: well, i agree with what senator thune talked about. all these people -- now they want to back out. host: all right. diane in ann arbor, michigan. democratic caller. caller: hello. it seems to be a movement around the world where democracies are falling to dictatorships. this war is based on that. ukraine wants to stay a democracy. russia wanted to become a dictatorship -- once it to become a dictatorship -- wants it to become a dictatorship. this is old information where many republicans favored putin over biden. it says americans view him slightly more positive than the due leading democratic officials. between putin and president biden it is a tossup that lands in putin's favor. can you imagine? my father gave up years of his life fighting for democracy when hitle

in the senate, republican john kennedy of louisiana and democrat jeff merkley of oregon introduced a and involuntary facial recognition screening at airports because of the concerns about racial bias in the technology. another bipartisan bill introduced in the senate this week would do more to protect postal workers from an alarming jump in robberies. these popular policies benefit everyone. so there's no need for a partisan divide. if we can rise up and cooperate where there is common ground, it will only make it easier to him out our differences later on. we'll be right back. ack. ack. respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. i chose arexvy. rsv? make it arexvy. honey... honey... nyquil severe honey. powerful cold and flu relief with a dreamy honey taste. nyquil honey, the nighttime, s

tim kaine of virginia, martin heinrich of new mexico and jeff merkley of oregon also signed onto theetter requesting a briefing for answers to a lengthy list of questions about the u.s.'s posture on israel's military strategy. earl in texas on the border. good morning to you. why do you come down on this debate? caller: well, i agree with what senator thune talked about. all these people -- now they want to back out. host: all right. diane in ann arbor, michigan. democratic caller. caller: hello. it seems to be a movement around the world where democracies are falling to dictatorships. this war is based on that. ukraine wants to stay a democracy. russia wanted to become a dictatorship -- once it to become a dictatorship -- wants it to become a dictatorship. this is old information where many republicans favored putin over biden. it says americans view him slightly more positive than the due leading democratic officials. between putin and president biden it is a tossup that lands in putin's favor. can you imagine? my father gave up years of his life fighting for democracy when hitler