default by june 5th. so this phone call according to two sources familiar with the matter, kevin mccarthy and joe biden could determine whether or not there is a deal tonight or they have more work to do as the two sides are trying to lock this down and avoid that default and then try to get the votes on capitol hill to get this enacted. jim. manu, great reporting. let me get over to priscilla at the white house. what is the white house saying about whether or not we might have a deal and the significance of this conversation that they re expected to have in the next hour? one thing that s on my mind and manu has been talking about this and you have as well, there s been a lot of focus on what the house republicans are going to do. if the president gives away too much, and i m not saying he is, but democrats may balk at this i suppose. we don t have a strong indication of that but that s one of the uncertainties at this point. what can you tell us? reporter: right. it s not just ab
democrats could you see how it could appear that it s politically motivated investigation? no. on their behalf? i could also see that multiple of those persons that we hired to work for us also worked in the u.s. attorney s office for a republican appointee from a republican president. so, no, i do not see that. now, jim, there s been a lot of that type of exchange. the way that it s been laid out on the texas house floor right now is there s time for opponents, there s time for pro poenents to make their arguments and then time to debate. so all of that is ongoing. and some republicans say kenthk kenth paxton threatened some house members. reporter: so far at least two house members have mentioned this on the open floor, that
the negotiations. they re trying to cut a deal that passed the house and later the democratic-led senate which is why it is taking so long to get a deal. jim, as you know, not much time remaining. june 5th is the deadline to avoid the nation s first-ever debt default if the debt ceiling is not raised by then so a deal is critical in order to get it on the house floor, and then get it to the senate and avoid default. a deal is critical to have tonight, but do they have through the weekend and into monday? we had congressman tim burchett on in the last hour. he was down in knoxville, so they re going to have to get everybody back in town for this if they get some kind of deal together. yeah. that s the real challenge here, jim. if and when the deal is reached, they ll release the bill text. then there are 72 hours for the members to review that before having a vote. so the longer these talks drag
powerful. the opportunity for he and i to be here is, i think, very important. and it really pays tribute to what we re here for. reporter: republican congressman jim baird and mike thompson from california both served in vietnam, but only just realized all they have in common. we were both at fort benning, georgia, we re both married to in purses and were both wounded in vietnam. and as jim pointed out, we re here to work together for the american people, and maybe that will help us get there. reporter: former republican congressman john james of michigan and democratic congressman pat rhine of new york, it s a college reunion. you were in the same class at west point? f-1. relived across the hall from each other. our class, 2004, was the first class to take our oath of affirmation after the twin towers fell. that means we are all committed to our service after we knew we would be going to war.
president biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy at a time like this would be critical to see how this moves forward as they try to hash out that deal, hoping to get that at least done so they can move through the many other steps they need to get through to get the vote and get the debt ceiling passed all by june 5th. of course we re watching to see how that all unfolds this afternoon. jim. priscilla and manu, thanks very much. just to recap what manu was saying, president joe biden and kevin mccarthy expected to speak by phone in the next hour. very critical moment. stay with us here on cnn as we follow these developments. manu, priscilla, great to have both of you this afternoon with us, we appreciate it. we ll be right back. .designed smarter. like a smart coffee grinder - that orders fresh beans for you. oh, , genius! for more breakthroughs like that. .i need a breakthrough card. like ours! with 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more. plus unlimited 2% cash back on all ot