51.  Officials negotiated those agreements only hours before a news conference announcing the final deal with Disney.

52.  Once the final deal has been negotiated and the Met and Cadiz boards have approved it, the two will face perhaps the most critical hurdle.

53.  Paul Aronsohn, a spokesman for McGreevey, conceded Wednesday that the governor had missed his own self-imposed deadline for a final deal.

54.  Ruggiero and others at the WTO say that there are solid reasons for being optimistic about completing a final deal.

55.  Senior Time Warner executives expressed confidence that this will become the framework for a final deal.

56.  Similarly, Sergeyev at one point in the day said a final deal might have to be put off until the meeting Sunday between Clinton and Yeltsin.

57.  She is still trying to reach a final deal to keep the National Hockey League champions from making good a threat to leave for a newer arena elsewhere.

58.  So any final deal would also have to include Israeli rights to the water or the guarantee of a supply from some other source.

59.  Some Democrats expressed pessimism about a final deal.

60.  Some Democrats expressed pessimism about reaching a final deal.