deals. let s go to kelly o donnell. they have not gavelled this vote yet but the response is fascinating. what we have just seen is a burst of senators who raised their thumbs up so their votes could be recorded yes. we had been in a holder pattern where there were not enough votes. the white house has been chiefly negotiating with this, whipping for it is the term used in the senate to try to get democrats to go along and give the president and the next president this authority on trade deals where congress would have a say but not able to pick it apart. we have not heard the final vote but the burst of yes votes suggests yes the white house can win this one when ten minutes ago it appeared to be going down in defeat. we will keep you informed. what has been happening on the floor is part of what often our viewers don t get to see and that is the sort of negotiating and back and forth that s been
going on. we will keep you posted. very quickly, how long is this vote going to expect to go on for? the time elapsed a while ago. now they are in the extra innings where they are literally having conversations among each other and there were some senators who come out and said they wouldn t vote for it for this or that reason. that burst of thumbs up with arms around each other and real perhaps elbow twisting is very important. harry reid has been opposing this. it has been the white house having to carry the water and work with mitch mcconnell who has said he has been appreciative of the help of the white house on this issue. it might be one of the few things where the obama white house and sort of its fourth quarter and republican led congress could agree. there are many differences when it comes to trade and some republicans who are worried about american jobs but it looks like there has been a change here. we ll keep you posted. thanks.
as you referred to the trade bill it looks doubtful based on our conversations with lawmakers in part because it was controversial to start with. it would give the president and the next president the authority to engage in these trade deals and congress would have a chance to do an up or down vote but not make specific changes. that is controversial enough. you have pro trade democrats involved mostly republicans but not able to put together the right numbers. in the last 24 hours there has been a push to try to use this particular trade wave that s happening to extend what is known as the export import bank where the federal government can try to help businesses to have trade by providing loans and support. that expires at the end of june. there are a lot of democrats who want to see it continued. and there are key players who are saying that has to be in this or they won t have support, a way of trying to leverage differing interests to get
pyramid. since you reported for the wall street journal, other newspapers around the world including in madrid and corroborated some of what you have been reporting, what is venezuela s reaction to this? the reaction in venezuela has been to gather around the flag. the supreme court has made a statement today saying that what we reported about has no basis in truth. and the congress the ruling party in the congress did the same thing yesterday. he is suing some venezuelan media from before which had republished similar reports and apparently they are going through with these lawsuits. it s basically rallying around the flag. good to see you.
problem in this country right now together. mark potter thank you for being with me. now to troubling news. the a.p. this morning reporting overnight small plane on route from venezuela crashed into the caribbean. on board more than a ton of cocaine at the wake of the revelation that u.s. prosecutors are investigating whether or not to charge top officials with drug dealing. according to our next guest a global hub for cocaine trafficking and money laundering is what venezuela has become. the man at the center of the alleged hub, the president of the venzellen congress. joining me now for more on this extraordinary reporting from the wall street journal good to see you. good to see you. how does all of this work? basically what u.s. prosecutors are saying is that top officials in the government