hands. keep in mind, this is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart. we re in rough agreement about how much spending can be cut responsibly as a first step towards reducing our deficit. we agree on a process where the next step is a debate in the coming months on tax reform and entitlement reform, and i am willing and ready to have that debate. if we need to put in place an enforcement mechanism to hold us accountable for making the reforms, i will support that too if it s done in a smart and balanced way. so there are plenty of ways out of this mess. but we are almost out of time. i want to bring in cnn s joe johns to tell us where things stand at this moment. how is speaker boehner trying to reach his magic number of 217? randy, when i was listening to you at the top sounded like you were describing theater of the absurd. house republicans are inches closer to fixing their problem in the house of representatives. i think we have pictures now of the hou
really aren t too terribly far apart and the deal can be done by the august 2nd, tuesday deadline. let s listen to the president, this is when he spoke around 10:30 this morning. let s listen. good morning, everybody. i want to speak about the ongoing and increasingly urgent efforts to avoid default and reduce our deficit. right now, the house of representatives is still trying to pass a bill that the majority of republicans and democrats in the senate have already said they won t vote for. it s a plan that would force us to relive this crisis in just a few short months, holding our economy captive to washington politics once again. in other words, it does not solve the problem, and it has no chance of becoming law. what s clear now is that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan, it must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the american people. not just one faction. it will have to have the support of both the house and the senate, and
school systems are not in great shape and politicians know that. may not sound good politically but it s not shocking. a lot of folks don t have the resources because that s their only choice. the parliament testimony from rupert murdoch s son about his company s phone-hacking scandal is now in question. on tuesday james murdoch told british lawmakers that he did not know the full extent of hacking done by the staff at news of the world but his former legal adviser and a former editor are now claiming that there s e-mail evidence that murdoch knew about the scope of the hacking that took place years ago. james murdoch is denying any misleading testimony. also, the man who tried to hit rupert murdoch with a shaving cream pie is due in court today. 26-year-old jonathan may-bowles has already been charged for that attack. in new england an unhappy customer is in trouble with the law after a smash-up at a used car lot. police in new hampshire say
that s the house tonight passing h.r. 2560, better known as cut, cap and balance. now it s a republican and tea party sponsored measure calling for massive spending cuts, a spending cap, and congress passing a balanced budget amendment. only then would the debt limit be allowed to go up, ending the current crisis. the measure was passed with just five democratic votes. senate democrats say they ll defeat it. if somehow they fail, president obama says he ll veto it. in other words, it s doa which is why a lot of democrats are calling it a stunt and a waste of time. earlier today a bipartisan group of senators called the gang of six came out with a proposal of their own that is being taken seriously, including at the white house. and so for us today, democratic fors acknowledge that we ve got to deal with our long-term debt problems that arise out of our various entitlement programs. and for republican senators to acknowledge that, revenues will have to be part of a balance