Commonsense coalition to do it again. Of course, susan jumps to the front, an office opens up and away we go. With that i want to introduce you to my dear, dear compatriot, Susan Collins. Thank you so much, joe. Well, today is the day to celebrate because we have shown that a determined group of senators working together across the aisle can result in positive action. In this case the reopening of government. When government shuts down, it represents the ultimate failure to govern. It causes real hardship, not only for our military, for those brave men and women who are wearing the uniform of our country, but for all those who depend on Government Programs and those who work administering these programs. Last time we had a Government Shutdown in 2013, it cost our economy 1. 5 billion a day. Thats how harmful a shutdown is. But even more profound is the harm that it does to Public Confidence in government. In our ability to be leaders of this country. Joe and i worked very hard in leading the effort of the Commonsense Coalition in 2013 to reopen government, and we talked about reconvening our group, which we did last week after Government Shutdown. In fact, our first meeting was friday. We started out with about 17 senators attending the first meeting in our office, and the number grew ultimately to 25 senators. Senators representing generally the center of the parties, but both democrats and republicans. And what we shared in common was the determination to accomplish the goal of reopening government, convincing our leaders that there was a path forward that would also accommodate those of us who were concerned about the fate of the d. R. E. A. M. Ers who live it in this country, many of whom have known no other country as their home. There are many other issues that we need to deal with ranging from budget caps, including the urgent need for additional defense spending and for the opioid crisis. And that is the crisis that affects both of our states. But today, today, weve taken a significant step forward with more than 80 senators voting to reopen government and with a commitment from the republican leader to bring an immigration bill to the floor with ample opportunity for those with differing views to offer up substitutes to a bill. The only thing id like to say is that one thing that unites us here is our military. Our veterans, those who have served and those who are continuing to serve to defend our country. Thats extremely important to all of us, that democrats and republicans always bring us together in a dialogue. What is it they need tornado ino keep us safe . The chip is for our children. The pension programs, i had my minor pensions people that by 2022 a modest private pension and most of the widows will be lost if we dont do something. These are all so, so important for all of us and i think that rose to really take the lead today. With that well answer a few questions if you want. Let me just make one comment on the chip program. Im particularly happy that the Childrens Health insurance program, which every member sponsoring as a freshman senator. When orrin hatch and ted kennedy approached me about their bill, its a sixyear reauthorization. It expired at midnight on friday night, so it was absolutely urgent that it be extended in order not to disrupt or jeopardize Health Insurance for 9 million lowincome children, including nearly 23,000 in the state of maine. And about the same in west virginia. So im very happy that in addition to opening government, weve assured that that program will continue. Lets start right here. Last night there was optimism and you guys met. [ inaudible ] let me just say every meeting that we were in, in susans office and the meetings that susan and i had separately was always an optimistic meeting. We always knew there was a pathway forward. And it was a reasonable pathway forward. Most importantly, should we have ever shut the government down . Absolutely not, but there was other people that felt differently. The bottom line was not to keep it shut down. It never should have been shut down past this last weekend. We knew that. We were all moving in a positive Movement Toward that. But leadership was still in a jousting back and forth. Im only going to say this. The system must change. The rules of the senate have to change. Im speaking for myself, not my Bipartisan Group. This is me. I dont believe that either leader on either side should have the powers that they have. Thats me speaking that two people, whoever it be mitch or chuck, whoever is in the majority or the minority, should be in a position of that much power to be able to set an agenda or stop an agenda when you have a force as strong as ours moving in a direction, and i tell you, they listened. Thats what moved it because we werent backing up. We werent going to be beat into submission, were going to do this and that. But how do we make the place work better . How come Committee Chairs dont have input . How come the appropriation bills arent working . How do we get to this point . With that being said, we were always optimistic. Susan . Let me add to what joe has said. First of all, every single difficult negotiation ive ever been in in the 21 years ive been privileged to serve in the senate has had these peaks and valleys, and this was no different. But in the end, i give our leaders a lot of credit for listening to the ideas that we put forward and for showing some flexibility after starting out being pretty dug in. And obviously, ultimately, it was the decisions made by Mitch Mcconnell and Chuck Schumer that brought us to this point. But i believe that our group, by giving them specific ideas for how to move forward, and because of the size and bipartisan nature of our group, played a very instrumental role in breaking the impasse. You get an awful lot of people from the outside pushing and you start pushing the envelope from the far right and far left. Chuck and mitch had to come together for the good of the country and said, we hear you loud and clear. Lets continue our coverage. You see democratic senator joe mansion of west virginia, republican senator Susan Collins of maine. Theyre clearly delighted that the Government Shutdown is about to end. They passed the vote. The president will sign it into law, but there are Government Services for the next three weeks or so. There is no shutdown after what appears to be a backdown, the u. S. Government is in effect back in business. Democrats have agreed to a republican plan to reopen the government plan ending the threeday shutdown, but the new shortterm resolution only takes them through february 8th when this could be yet another Government Shutdown over spending issues. Listen carefully to the democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer on the president s involvement. President trumps unwillingness to compromise caused the trump shutdown and brought us to this moment. The facts are well known. Since our meeting in the oval office on friday, the president and i have not spoken, and the white house refused to engage in negotiations over the weekend. The great dealmaking president sat on the sidelines. All right, lets get white house reaction to all these late 1lat latebreaking developments. First we have raj. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me on. This is historic. Think of Chuck Schumers assessment that the president was not available the last few days. Despite that, they reached this compromise. The president was certainly involved. He was engaged in the process talking to the republican leaders. He sat down with Chuck Schumer on friday, and they werent able to come to an agreement because Chuck Schumers terms frankly didnt make sense and they werent reasonable. Now he and his caucus are voting for this proposal that was in front of them on friday and that they basically rejected back then. We think the president s engagement was right, was properly set forward and it helped reopen the government today, or its going to be reopened today. Were happy how the president engaged. Frank the itly its the senatore democratic side of the aisle, but they were holding back funding for our troops, the Border Patrol and our first responders. Do you believe the democrats blinked . I think the fact they are voting in favor of this proposal that they rejected a few days ago is sort of evidence that they blinked. Is the president committed to this proposal, that the senate will take up these issues, including allowing the d. R. E. A. M. Ers, the Daca Recipients, to stay in the United States, to get some sort of legal status for them, perhaps even a pathway to citizenship, some Border Security issues, other issues . Is the president committed to allowing this debate to go forward not only in the senate but in the house . Well, the president has invited this debate and engaged in this debate, and actually two weeks ago in the white house for what we saw a televised debate for basically an hour, we walked away with wanting Immigration Reform that outlined four principles. It was the daca that you just talked about, but it was also Border Security and the border wall. The extended family chain migration system. Those are still the points and contours of a deal that this president would be open to, that he wants to hear from and that he wants to get a Bipartisan Group in congress around that deal. Now, those negotiations were going on before the shutdown. Frankly, all the shutdown did was delay those negotiations for a few days, but were excited to get back into them and get a deal that reforms immigration system and does take care of the Daca Recipients. Because heres the question. Do you remember a few years ago the Senate Passed comprehensive Immigration Reform, it then went to the house of representatives. They didnt even bring it up for a vote because the speaker at the time said you have to have a majority of the majority. Clearly there wasnt a majority of republicans who supported the compromise that was overwhelmingly supported in the senate. Lets say the senate this time passes the Immigration Reform, a compromised plan put forward by Lindsey Graham and dick durbin and others. Will the president work . Will he work strenuously to make sure whatever passes the senate comes up for an up or down vote in the house . We think that leader mcconnell is going to bring forward something that the president can sign. The Graham Durbin proposal is not a proposal the president can sign. I just outlined four issues. The only issue that proposal deals with is the daca population in any meaningful way. On the issue of Border Security, it provides a fraction of the funding that we actually need to build the border wall. It doesnt provide Removal Authority that we need, it doesnt provide the resources we need for more Border Patrol on issues. It doesnt reform the lottery system and it doesnt reform the chain migration system. It is one proposal. It is not one that we embrace as a white house. We want meaningful immigration. Our test on any bill is, if we pass this bill, are we going to have a new group of Illegal Immigrants that come across our southern border and create new problems a few years from now where new individuals are asking for more protected status . Our southern border isnt secure and the flow of Illegal Drugs is still coming across our southern border along with a Legal Immigration system that needs reform. If we take a step in the right direction, the president is open to signing a bill. But if we take a step in the wrong direction, which is the durbin flake graham proposal, the president cant support that. What if the president passes that, will you allow it to come up . Im not going to make comments about what speaker ryan and the house are going to do. Im sure thats part of the ongoing talks. But this president is not going to sign the Durbin Graham flake proposal as its been presented right now. How much is the president relying youve seen all these reports in the past 24, 48 hours that hes relying on his chief of staff john kelly, Senior AdviserSteven Miller to set immigration policy that perhaps even goes against what the president s own instincts are. Those charges are frankly ridiculous and theyre a little insulting. This is the president of the United States. Hes setting the agenda, these are his policy views and frankly exactly what he ran on for over a year and a half during the campaign. In the chief of staff, in Steven Miller, you have people who are really experienced in this debate. They bring great ideas. If you look at john kelly, he was the general in charge of the Southern Command before becoming secretary of homeland security. Of course the president is going to listen to his views and hes going to inform the debate, but the terms were setting in the views and the president is endorsing are his and his alone. Just to wrap it up, the president does want the d. R. E. A. M. Ers, the Daca Recipients, to stay here in the United States, to have legal status and eventually some pathway to citizenship, is that right . Well, that will be part of ongoing negotiations. Again, when you legalize a population, youre going to encourage more people to come across the southern border with children who are underage, because thats where the daca population comes from. So weve got to fix the problems that incentivize that. That means securing our border, ending the visa lottery program, reforming the chain migration system. We cant fix one problem and create a much larger problem in the process i understand that, but the president the president is supportive of that as part of a larger deal. He does want the d. R. E. A. M. Er population, the daca population, to stay in the United States if it can be part of a responsible solution that provides longterm solutions to our immigration problems. And if it is part of a longterm solution, the deals with the other three issues including Border Security and the other issues youve raised, will the president support ooer eventually a pathway to citizenship for the d. R. E. A. M. Ers. That would be part of the negotiation but certainly were open to it as the white house. Those other pieces must be addressed as any part of a packet. You want them addressed in february. You dont want there to be separate comprehensive reform down the road . I think we would love them to be addressed tomorrow. If congress could come to terms on an agreement that met these four priorities, the president would be glad to sign it any time. But, you know, we have three weeks with this continuing resolution. Were practical that these steps are going to take some time and negotiations will take time, but we want action on this issue. Its an urgent issue, we need our borders secured and we need some responsible solution for these individuals. Raja is the Principal Deputy secretary at the white house. Thank you for joining us. We just heard all the breaking news thats unfolding. Mark preston is with us as our senior political analyst, cara is our senior analyst, john king is with us and chief political analyst Gloria Borger is with us. It seems theyve got a deal in the senate but doesnt necessarily mean there will be a deal in the house of representatives. No, and even if there is approval of this in the house and we dont know, we dont know whats going to happen in the house. I think the house will approve this threeweek extension to end the Government Shutdown, but im talking about this Immigration Reform including daca. No, there is no commitment. Look, i think what the democrats got out of this was six years of funding for Childrens Health insurance, you know, and commitment to a vote on daca in the senate, but Mitch Mcconnell cant control what paul ryan is going to do, and paul ryan cant control what his conservatives are going to do. So thats very much up in the air, and thats why the president needs to get involved. Republican senator jeff flake of arizona. Thats basically what we ended with but just a firmer commitment than we had initially. Did you promise to put mcconnells feet to the fire on this . We did talk to the democrats and said we feel we have a commitment, and i did go back to the Leaders Office and said that stronger language would be helpful. And he did get stronger language on the floor today, particularly about the fairness of the process. You know, in terms of picking a bill or how the motion to proceed would work. And that was convincing to the democrats. Do you trust Mitch Mcconnell . I do think that commitment made like this today with such fanfare, and this is for, you know, what will happen three weeks from now, i think we can count on it. Will this show that compromise is back in washington . I hope so. We had this meeting these meetings in Susan Collins office, a growing number of people, and it was really good to see. It will be nice to see, actually, to have a process on the senate floor that we havent seen for a long time, really, since the bipartisan immigration bill that we did before, where we went through regular order and dealt with amendments and everybody had their say. This will be much like that, i think. Youve been trying to negotiate a bill on immigration for months now. What had made it difficult . Whats been difficult is dealing with the white house is not knowing where the president is. That is what was holding us back and holding Mitch Mcconnell from his commitment to the floor. Do you think it will change . Thats what im saying. I dont think it will change. I hope that the president will say, heres what we need and heres what well stick with. But if we dont, well come to the senate floor and the senate will be the senate again. And well pass something and then see if the president likes it. Will you get a deal for the d. R. E. A. M. Ers today . We want to get a deal by march 5th. I think the worst outcome would be to get to march 5th and then try to jam something through that would look the legislative equipment of daca. There would be no settlement for these kids and they would have to wait for something certain again. That wouldnt be good. Im convinced a deal can be done, it just wont be permanent. Do you think a deal can be done with trump . Its a victory for everybody when the government opens back up. Were climbing out of a hole. We havent done anything other than open up the government hopefully at 2 30 when we have the final vote today. Can this be done without the president s leadership . The president will have to get on board for the house to vote on it, the house still very, much more so than the senate, relies on the backing of the president. Have you talked to speaker ryan about this . I have. Thats his message as well. Its going to be very difficult to pass anything in the house without the president s support. We acknowledge that. But what were saying is we cant wait for the president to indicate his support before starting the process here. If we can pass a bill, obviously if it passes the senate, its a bipartisan bill by definition, it will have at least 60 votes, i think closer to 70. If that gets to the white house, im confident the president will say, i like this. And then it can move through the house. Has the speaker told you that he will put the Senate Immigration bill on the floor . No. No, he hasnt. He doesnt have to. He can put another bill and we can deal with it in conference. Thats how we usually work. So no, he doesnt have to put the senate bill. But i do think if the president gets behind it, then its something theyll want to put on the house floor. What are the next steps for the bipartisan leaders . To make sure we have a bill if we did go to regular order where well, somewhat regular order, were not going through a committee. But if we bring something to the floor, everybody offers amendments and you deal with the process of the senate rules, it can be a long, long, long process. So were still going to need some consent and some kind of agreement to move ahead. And to do that, youve got to have support, and thats what were hoping to do is broaden the support we have with the bipartisan bill. We have seven democrats, seven republicans, but broaden that, add some Border Security elements that people on my side of the aisle want, im sure the democrats will want some things as well. But if we can broaden that product, the support for that product, we can have an easier time when we get to february 8th. When you talk about Border Security, how much of that is a physical border wall . Well, senator schumer indicated that he was willing to give additional money. What is on the table so far and what we have in the bill so far is what the president has requested for this next year. If additional commitments need to be made in terms of a mix of authorization and appropriation beyond that time, well do that. But is it going to be a wall . The president has said not all of it is a wall, some of it is a fence. Most of it is a fence, actually, but its a border wall system, i guess you can call it. Whatever it is, it will be additional Border Security and thats important. Republican senator jeff flake speaking with reporters up on capitol hill. An important day. The Government Shutdown about to be officially over. John king, he made an important point that even if they get some sort of compromise on the d. R. E. A. M. Ers in the senate, its got to go to the house, and the only way probably it will come up for an up or down vote, any compromises that emerge from the senate in the house is if the president gets directly involved and supports it. Hes going to be speaking shortly. Well hear what he has to say. It will be interesting to see on this day as he celebrates reopening the government, does he lay down those principles now . Does he celebrate . This is a debate well have before the shutdown, and it will resume immediately after the shutdown. There is month question the president blinked here. If you go back to the demands that senator schumer made over the weekend, he cant check most of the boxes he had laid out. How will that be scored by the democrats . Well find that out. They go back to their popular. You just talked about the White House Press secretary. He said were confident leader mcconnell will bring something that everyone can accept. Leader mcconnell said, im not bringing anything to the floor that the president wont accept. For the house, many of the conservative house members, this is amnesty. They dont want to vote on it. The only way theyre going to vote on it is if the president says, i want this, do it. There are a lot of issues between the democrats and republicans to talk about this, too, but there are people in the middle. It was just a few years ago they got a bill through the senate floor, but that died at the senates door, too. Theres a lot of bad blood over there and no driving incentive, absent the president getting involved, to make ryan buck his own party because they are riding high right now. They feel like theyve been sticking together for the last few big fights and theyve won. Why should they start negotiating with democrats now based on where theyre sitting . You heard raja, the Principal Deputy house secretary, said some of these other things have to be included as well. Some of them are poison to democrats ending chain migration, family unification and the lottery system in some countries that allow individuals to come with diverse backgrounds to the United States. They cant even agree on the terminology to use for these programs much less what the policy should look like. I dont think youll see resolution of it on the house side. The resolution will come with the senate. The question is do they actually consider it in the house . To johns point, there needs to be a driving wind at their backs to do that, and that is called President Trump. The President Trump has to get involved, but you just heard senator flake say he doesnt know where the president stands on these issues. He doesnt know and there is no more clarity to where the president will be going forward, not only on this issue but other issues. You have Chuck Schumer saying after the meeting on friday, he never heard from the white house again, which is unheard of when the government goes into a shutdown. You have raja telling you the president s engagement was just right. Of course you have jeff flake saying, look, we need the president. The question is going forward, will the president s role in these negotiations just be more as a push from behind the scenes to House Republicans and senate republicans, whatever the issue may be, and not actually be the grand deal maker that he says he is. Over the weekend, we saw a picture of the president in the white house, we saw some tweets, but that was about it. And you have this image that im sure the president hates of him being effectively a puppet, being manipulated by his chief of staff and by Steven Miller who Lindsey Graham pointed to by name, which is very rare, talking about a white house staffer. So i think that knowing donald trump as we all do, this is something hes going to want to erase because he doesnt want to be a puppet here. But we still need the president to come out and show a little leg here and say, you bring me something and ill sign it, which is what he said originally, but actually what he will accept because thats going to be so important for the house because paul ryan cannot do anything without the president. The early days of year two, and we still dont have a good sense, ask maynd maybe its bec the president doesnt have a good sense of his governing style. The fact he has shifted on some of these immigration issues somewhere between 24 to 48 hours, some would argue 24 to 48 minutes. Immigration is difficult. I have a tough time seeing the house passing a bill that a good chunk of them consider amnesty. The United States government was shut down for three days by the time were done with this, two and a half days, and the president of the United States said nothing publicly to the American People. That is stunning. Hes the ceo. He came here because everybody in washington was stupid and he was going to run it like a business. And the American People, whether youre democrat, republican, independent, whether youre a federal worker, whether you were planning to go today to a museum or national park, you heard nothing from the president for two and a half days now of a Government Shutdown. Just the basic nuts and bolts of being president. Silence. A few tweets but that was about it. Youre absolutely right. Everybody stand by. Moments from now the white house set to formally respond to the vote, answer questions about why the is the seems to be isolated from these negotiations. Sarah sanders, the White House Press secretary, getting ready to hold her daily briefing. Well of course have live coverage. Plus, republican john thune standing by. You can see him live on capitol hill. Stand by for that. This is cnns special live coverage. Get the lowest price when you book at hilton. Com morning on the beach until. It. 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Come in now for this exceptional offer on the cadillac ct6. Get this lowmileage lease on this 2018 cadillac ct6 from around 549 per month. Visit your local cadillac dealer. The idea of bipartisanship was to turn republicans on each other. That was a mistake. I wish it hadnt happened, and im glad it didnt happen this time. This time republicans actually stayed united but the media loved to broadcast the story that any shutdown is republicans fault. I think thats actually one of the reasons we saw a shutdown, because i think Chuck Schumer and the democrats believed they could shut the government down and reporters would du dutiphysically bladutiphysicafu blame it on republicans. Do you think theyll do a daca deal . Mitch mcconnell says well have a vote on immigration. I think we need to improve Border Security, we need to pass kates law, which is a legislation i introduced providing for mandatory minimum sentences for aggravated felons who repeatedly enter this country. There is a lot we should do with immigration. I think it would be a serious mistake for us to pass an amnesty bill for citizenship for millions here illegally. I think that would be a mistake. Congress might do it. I hope they do. Doing so would be inconsistent with the promises we made to the American People in 2016. Ted cruz voicing his opinions. Lets get more reaction to todays very important vote. Joining us from capitol hill, senator john thune, the republican from south dakota, chairman of the republican conference making him the third ranking republican in the senate. Senator, thank you for joining us. Thank you. Good to be with you. You agree with ted cruz . You just heard his position. I agree we need to move forward on the issue of immigration, which i think leader mcconnell was willing to do before the shutdown. In fact, was willing to do way back last fall. I think he announced that this was an issue the senate was going to deal with sometime early this year. I dont think there was anything gained by all this, but i do think that we ought to ban the use of shutdowns as a weapon of choice for either side to use because nobodys interests get served, and what weve just seen in the last couple of days is the uncertainty and chaos that comes when that happens. Do you disagree with the president . He over the weekend suggested that you guys in the senate eliminate the filibuster, the 60vote requirement, just go back to a simple 51vote majority. That would change the historical precedence of the United States senate. Do you think you should do that . Avoiding a government shut down shouldnt require us to have to change the rules in the senate. It shouldnt be used to promote something thats completely unrelated to funding the government. Republicans obviously had that experience in 2013, and i think democrats learned this time that, you know, thats not a good choice to make, and certainly when you dont have a strategy going into this, i think they discovered after a couple three days that they were playing a bad hand, they were playing a weak hand and that this isnt going to turn out well for them. Im glad they decided to roll with us to open the government. Lets get the discussion going again on how to solve these important issues, one of which, of course, is daca. As far as daca is concerned, you heard senator cruz talk about thousands of those d. R. E. A. M. Ers, Daca Recipients to stay, they seemed to suggest thats amnesty. Is it amnesty . I think there is a way of legalizing these young people who were brought here as children before their age of accountability by their parents through no fault of their own, theyre here in the country illegally, but i think there is a lot of sympathy for providing some way to get them legalized. That doesnt necessarily imply a path to citizenship, but i think there is sympathy on both sides among republicans and democrats, and thats what the debate will be all about. I think senator cruz and other members in our caucus will have their own views about it and theyll have an opportunity to express those. But we need to get moving forward in addressing this issue. We have until march but now we have until february 8th at which point if we havent gotten a solution, well have sort of a freeranging, wideranging debate on immigration as the leader indicated earlier this morning in his remarks. Its going to be very, very significant. I spoke earlier this hour with the Principal White HouseDeputy Press Secretary raja who said president is open to putting on the table a pathway to citizenship for the d. R. E. A. M. Ers, provided it includes other elements, better Border Security, ending what he calls chain migration, the lottery system. I assume youre open to that pathway to citizenship as well . Im open to yes, im anxious to hear, obviously, what the president would like to see happen in this. Ultimately hes the person that can sign this into law. But there are a lot of conservative republican senators, wolf, who have expressed an openness to that legalization process, whether thats a path to citizenship or some other form of legalization. I think in the end, whatever comes out in terms of a result probably will address the longterm status of these daca kids. I think its important that issue be addressed once and for all. Senator, the president will be speaking momentarily. Were going to hear what he has to say. Thats coming up. Do you have a good sense right now to know exactly where he stands on all these very sensitive immigrationrelated issues . I think what hes laid out, and hes been very engaged. Everybody says he wasnt engaged over the weekend. Hes not a senator, he cant vote, and he doesnt appropriate money. We do, we needed to end the shutdown. But the president in the discussion will be very much engaged. He wants a strong Border Security, he wants chain migration and get rid of the visa lottery and daca. If we can include those four in some type of legislation, i think well get a signature. Lets issay you guys pass a good legislation on those. Last year you did pass a good Immigration Reform, but when it was brought to the house, they didnt even bring it up for a vote because a majority of republicans in the house didnt support it. Are you confident they will at least consider it and allow an up and down vote in the house . I think the one thing we know historically, wolf, whatever the senate does doesnt bind the house. But i do think that if discussions occur between leader mccarthy and hoyer and cornyn and durbin, youll have all the whips negotiating this. If they bring something to the house and senate they know the president will sign into law, i think there is a pathway here to getting this done. I hope thats where the discussions originate. Otherwise it could be very hard to pass something in the senate that ultimately goes to the house and would get majority support there and something the president would sign into law. I think its important these discussions begin with that group that was meeting. Lets continue that and lets see if we can move very quickly now to close those discussions out and get to a solution for the American People. The president will have to play a very, very important role. Not so much in the senate where i think you guys are on the verge of coming up with a compromise that passes, but once it goes to the house, we need to work very hard to make sure it goes to the role there. I think you were deeply involved in this since the government shut down saturday night to sunday morning at 12 00 a. M. How much of a role did the president play in getting this deal done today . I think the president has over the weekend and a couple different times tweet about how important it is we get the government reopened and that were not going to have a discussion about daca until the government is is reopened and functioning again. His role is always an important one, and as you pointed out, if there is a bill that comes out of the senate and goes to the house, in order to get it passed in the house, its going to take a tremendous amount of input and support and encouragement from the president. I think hes going to be key to any solution going forward. His role will be an important one, and i suspect well be hearing from him early and often now once the discussions get underway. Well be hearing from him coming up fairly soon, were told, so well hear what he has to say. Senator thune, thanks so much for joining us. Nice to see you. Thanks, wolf. The senate votes to reopen the government following that procedural vote to move ahead. Then the senapresident will comt and sign this legislation into law, keeping the government full speed ahead at least for the next three weeks. Coming up, ill speak with a key democratic lawmaker from the house side. There he is, Akeem Jeffries. Ill ask him what he believes the democrats did. Did they cave . Did they blink . Well get his analysis right after this. I no wondering, what if . Uncertainties of hep c. I let go of all those feelings. Because i am cured with harvoni. Harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. 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The senate is going to pass it, its going to come to the house. Are you going to vote foir it . Im going to evaluate the particulars of the legislation in the next hour or so, but i anticipate it having enough votes to pass in the house of representatives and be sent to the president for his signature. Thats a good thing. Democrats believe in government, we believe in the ability of government to do good things for the American People. We want to see government reopen. What we need to do moving forward, however, is to end this continuous cycle of continuing resolution after continuing resolution, kicking the can down the road and not enacting a comprehensive budget and spending bill through the remainder of the fiscal year. Thats what the American People deserve, thats what we should see moving forward. So a lot of your colleagues, at least some of them, suggest that the democratic leader and the senator Chuck Schumer also from new york and other Senate Democrats caved as far as this final position today is concerned. What do you think . I dont think thats the case at all. First of all, in terms of the original vote that was taken on friday evening, there were republican senators like jeff flake and Lindsey Graham who voted not to fund the government through the vehicle of the continuing resolution. There was some democrats in the United States senate who actually voted to support continuing to fund the government. I think that the agreement that has been reached, can one shortening the use of this resolution from the original time period which was going to run through february 16 to this newly negotiated time period, february 8, is important. More importantly perhaps is the agreement that was secured to have an actual up or down vote on the issue related to the d. R. E. A. M. Ers. Thats what they deserve. Thats what the American People deserve in terms of functional government. Lets see where everyone stands to try to resolve this issue moving forward. Its clear to me that you seem inclined to go ahead when the bill comes to the house in the next few hours to vote for it. But you still havent made up your mind 100 . Is that what im hearing . Yes. Im inclined to go ahead. The responsible thing to do is look at the particulars before i commit one way or the other. What i do believe is the right thing for us to do, however, is to commit to the notion that we need a budget that goes through the balance of the fiscal year which, as you know, wolf, ends september 30. This continuing resolution, for instance, doesnt deal with the issue of Community Health centers. It doesnt deal with the issue of rural health care. It doesnt deal with the opioid crisis, with disaster relief. It doesnt provide veterans with the security they need moving forward that they are going to be able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve in the context of their own health care. Thats the problem with continuing resolutions that the republicans have consistently brought to us time and time again. If the senate does pass over the next few weeks some compromise legislation allowing hundreds of thousands of d. R. E. A. M. Ers to stay in the United States legally, maybe even have a pathway to citizenship, do you believe the republican majority, the Republican Leadership of the house of representatives and you are a member of the house will allow that to come up for a vote in the senate did pass comprehensive Immigration Reform for millions of undocumented immigrants but didnt come upper if a vote in the house because the leadership at that time didnt think a majority of republicans would support it. The responsible thing to do for the Republican Leadership and speaker ryan is to commit to a vote today. Thats what Mitch Mcconnell has done. Thats what democracy should allow for that each of us, 435 members, should be able to go to the floor and vote in a manner consistent with what our constituents would want us to do. You know, wolf, if there was an actual vote to protect the d. R. E. A. M. Ers and allow them a pathway to citizenship it would pass by considerable margins in the house of representatives. Thats the failure and breakdown in our democracy the refusal of House Republicans to allow this vote to move forward. Theres Bipartisan Legislation worked out by congressman aguilar and congressman hurd that has substantial support. We need president ial leadership, wolf. There is the tuesday trump who says hell support Bipartisan Legislation. Then the thursday trump blows up a bipartisan deal and uses racially derogatory phrases to describe hardworking people from haiti and the continent of africa. Hopefully well see president ial leadership from the tuesday trump to end the crisis, chaos and confusion hes brought to us since day one of his presidency. Congressman jeffreys, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you, wolf. We are standing by for the White House Press briefing and awaiting the president of the United States making a statement, we are told, later this afternoon, presumably after the house of representatives votes to end the Government Shutdown. Much more special coverage coming up. Red lobster. That is, until you taste our new menu. Discover more ways to enjoy seafood with new tasting plates small plates, with big flavor like yucatan shrimp in chililime butter and caramelized pineapple. And if you like hot, buttery maine lobster, check out this petite red lobster roll. 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They have to go through the hoops of making the Second Senate vote happen and kicking it to the house. The first senate vote which passed overwhelmingly was procedural. Now they have to vote on the bill. Right. Exactly. Its not a challenge to get through the procedural vote this will pass through the senate and kicks to the house. There is a question of who votes for it in the house. The idea it will probably be done. You have 81 votes on the senate side. The odds of it not passing in the house are slim. The question is whats next. This wont go without vitriol exchange on the floor about everything they have not yet resolved and everything thats unsatisfactory from the fact that its a threeweek bill. Well hear from Sarah Sanders in a moment. Well have live coverage. It is another to hear from the president of the United States. Which we havent heard from. Again, we havent heard his voice in the first or last few days. It will be an interesting position now for President Trump, what role hell play to try to get the daca deal done. He has sent mixed messages that are 180 degrees different one day from the next. What influence will he have on House Republicans to get the daca deal done. Listening to some republicans talking about the deal who were talking about hoping to get a deal, they seem nervous that daca wont be done and that it will take a big push on behalf of the white house. Well see if the white house is there. The president will have to take charge if this is to be a done deal. Not just in the senate but the house. The politics many the house are the problematic one for getting daca done. The republicans havent been as willing as the republicans in the senate. They have been saying over the last several days hanging together has worked well for them the last few fights, including this one. They have to break rank because there are too many conservative republicans that will never vote for this and work with democrats and probably rely on a majority of democrats to get something dacarelated through. That takes paul ryan saying i will break up this coalition thats working well for the gop. To make that decision without the president s support is a troublesome thing. He says hes the great dealmaker. It will be a challenge to put this deal together and make it work. Thank you very much. Thats it for me. I will be back at 5 00 p. M. Eastern in the situation room. Meantime the news continues on cnn right now. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. We pick it up right here on this monday afternoon. Listen, you have seen it. Big breaking news this monday. We are waiting for the White House Briefing to start as the Senate Reaches a compromise to end the Government Shutdown which as you all know is in day number three. A short time ago the Senate Passed a key vote by an 8118 margin to advance the bill to end the shutdown. The final vote will be expected in a little bit. The leader of the Senate Democrats gave no credit to the