in, congresswoman, while i have you. i'm happy i'm with you, actually, while we are getting this. it seems that the senate has reached a deal. they are poised to announce a deal on spending in the coming hours today, as we all well know, the ongoing negotiations. i think the real question, congresswoman, is what is in this deal, and does it have the ability to also get passed the house? if you will, congresswoman, standby for me. i want to go to the capitol to get more details on what we are learning about this deal. julie tsirkin is standing by on that. jules, walk me through that. what are we learning? >> reporter: this is a big deal. this is the first step to avoid a government shutdown ahead of the deadline on january 19th. now, it's worth noting that this deal, which is expected to be announced later this afternoon, according to sources familiar, is the top line spending number four overall spending. this comes from senate democratic leadership and house