the congressional correspondent is up on capitol hill. hearing that the republicans have the votes? >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell walked on to the floor after a closed door meeting said plainly we have the votes. he rarely speaks to reporters and he rarely talks about the whip counts before he has them locked in. here's what happened over the course of the last 15 or 16 hours. when it came to the deficit issue that broiled everything and said senator bob corker off. they were willing to make a deal with susan colins and make a deal with ron johnson and make a deal with jeff flake. it looks like and it's clear they have more than the 50 votes or at least the 50 they need to pass it. the real question is when the deals come to fruition, what is written into the bill, staff is working through the side and writing the bill.