the republican leaders say that they talked to the president and that they feel optimistic. then the democratic leaders talked to the president and they say that they are not optimistic that a deal could get done. is the president sort of trying to weave a line here and maybe do an end around when it comes to democratic leadership in congress? >> i don't think there is an end around. i think that everybody wants to keep talking and the key here is there needs to be flexibility. people have to be willing to say, okay, i'm not going to get 100% of what i want. where is the middle ground? what is one party get, what does the other party get? no one knows how this will turn out. i am encouraged by the fact that the republican leadership has said they do not want to default. they want to work this out. it's not easy. you have a majority of democrats in the senate, so the president can't work around the democratic leadership. i hope they keep talking to each other and come up with something that everybody can support before august 2. >> rick: david, as you take a