aim at republicans yet again. hello, welcome everyone, i m sandra smith in new york. hi, john. john: we made it to wednesday, top of the mountain, long slide into the weekend from here. i m john roberts in washington and this is america reports. in a rare news conference the president said he felt yesterday s meeting with congressional leadership was productive, but speaker mccarthy proclaimed there was no new movement and warned time is running out to avoid an economic catastrophe. sandra: complete coverage begins now. steve danes is standing by. john: our senior congressional correspondent chad pergram live on capitol hill. do democrats really know what republicans would cut? john, not really. congress funded veterans programs and meals on wheels late last year, that s why republicans believe democrats are trying to scare people about potential cuts. are those cuts that you guys talk about with the v.a., that s not real money, because it s not an appropriation.
he answered the questions you all asked and i think that s an opportunity for the american people to hear directly from him. a week ago today he sat down and had a one-on-1, 1-on-one interview with one of your one of your colleagues here, not here, but clearly in one of the networks here, and talked was asked about title 42. so the american people have heard from the president when we when we, again, when we were in new york and again right when, after the meeting you heard directly from the president after the meeting he had with the big four, if you will. and he gave remarks and then took questions. so the american people have heard directly from him, especially when he laid out how that conversation went with the big four. you described the discussions this week between white house officials and congressional staff as productive. what from those talks do you believe is pointing to the signs of progress? i m not going to get into details of private conversations.