NEW: Sources tell us to think about the emerging deal as “phase 1” of a plan to shake votes loose for McCarthy. The deal doesn’t give him the speakership, but it allows Team McCarthy to peel off some votes, show they have momentum, and then deal with the stragglers. Team McCarthy knows not all “no’s” are dealing in good faith, so they’re trying to focus and tailor their efforts. 

What we’re waiting for now is the deal to be put in writing. That’s taking time. But time — and absences — will soon be an issue.

Senator Patrick Leahy just came out to our cameras livid over Sen. Graham’s “beyond the pale” questions of Judge Jackson. 

“As the Dean of the Senate…I’m just distressed to see this kind of a complete breakdown of what’s normally the way the Senate’s handled,” he told me. Asked if Graham was “badgering” Jackson, Leahy said: “Of course he’s badgering [her.]…She came out ahead.”

Neguse breaks down the incitement of insurrection argument into 3 chronological parts at the outset of his presentation: provocation (“the big lie” about the elex being stolen; telling supporters to stop the steal; and asking them to fight like hell”), attack, and harm. Pre-butting the argument that Trump’s speech was just that, a speech: “When in our history has a speech led thousands of ppl to storm our nation’s Capitol with weapons? To scale the walls? Break windows? Kill a Capitol Police Officer? This was not just a speech,” Neguse says.

NEW: Asked about online attacks from Sanders supporters & if he has done enough to condemn them, Warren tells me Sanders “has a lot of questions to answer here” & “that’s not how we build an inclusive Dem party & not how we beat Trump. We do not build on a foundation of hate.” Asked Warren abt a thing I heard from some women at her event today: the double edged sword of being a woman on the debate stage. “This is what women face all the time. It's always too much of this or too much of that. But you put your head down, do your job & you keep on going.”

NEW: Just spoke to @ewarren about the WH's Trump/Ukraine call notes. "It doesn't have to be a quid pro quo," she said. "It's a solicitation of help from a foreign gov't for his own political purposes. That is the smoking gun. It's right there in his own words. He's admitted it." I asked if this process was DOA in the Senate. Warren's "not so sure...He has solicited a foreign gov't to interfere in our elections in order to help himself politically. There's no way around this, there's no like neutral little this way or neutral little that way."

A few top lines on this #FLSEN recount adventure, from a call with Marc Elias -- the lead lawyer on the Nelson effort. First and foremost, he thinks Senator Nelson is going to stay Senator Nelson by the end of this process.

(1/X) The Nelson team is looking at Broward County (where votes are still being counted right now) and specifically an "under-vote" in the Senate race. Plain English: more people voted in the gov and AG race than in the Senate race, a pretty rare thing - Elias argues. #flsen

(2/X)

This whole session is just fascinating. I will say this: more access is better than less. The president clearly wants to negotiate with lawmakers on critical issues - like immigration, or school safety/gun control - in the public's eye. Gives a really interesting view of the thought process, where he stands, etc.