tara mergener is in washington, good morning, tara. what is the latest on this political tug-of-war? >> good morning, betty. the august 2nd deadline to raise the government's borrowing authority is fast approaching, and republicans are now hinting they may at least be willing to talk about taxes, something the president insists on. >> the debt ceiling should not be something that is used as a gun against the heads of the american people to extract tax breaks for corporate jet owners or oil and gas companies that are making billions of dollars because the price of gasoline has gone up so high. >> reporter: the president wants to end existing tax breaks for owners of corporate jets and subsidies for energy companies. republicans appear ready to talk. house republican leader eric cantor said yesterday that if the president wants to talk about loopholes, we'll be glad to talk. while adding that eliminating corporate tax breaks should be coupled with spending cuts elsewhere. that may mean cuts in medicare and social security, something demo

instead, as tara mergener tells us, mr. obama wants the largest deal possible. >> reporter: president obama is not giving up on his so-called grand bargain. a $4 trillion deficit reduction plan. >> i continue to push congressional leaders for the largest possible deal. >> reporter: the president held a news conference this morning, to highlight the urgency to cut a deal on reducing government spending. >> i'm prepared to do it. i'm prepared to take on significant heat from my party to get something done. >> reporter: but after a weekend of meetings, republicans and democrats appear to be far apart. the big sticking point is taxes. the president says any agreements must include revenue increases but republicans are fiercely opposed. >> the american people will not accept and the house cannot pass a bill that raises taxes on job creators. >> reporter: if no deal is reached by the august 2 deadline the u.s. may not be able to borrow money to keep the government running and could default on its massive loans. >> if they don't a

tara mergener is in washington with more on this. good morning, tara. >> reporter: good morning, betty. while president obama is hoping the meeting with the top eight lawmaker also finally mean that deal but at this point it's unclear where any real compromise can be found. president obama wants congress to strike a deal on raising a debt limit in the next two weeks. >> we've made progress and i believe that greater progress is within sight, but i don't want to fool anybody. we still have to work through some real differences. >> reporter: he's invited democratic and republican leaders to the white house tomorrow to try to jumpstart stalled talks. the president is urging lawmakers to leave their differences at the door and he's rejected any talk of a short term agreement that would raise the debt ceiling for six to eight months. >> i don't share that view. i don't think the american people here sent us here to avoid tough problems. >> reporter: the president insists any deal will have to include not only spending cuts but also tax hik

tara mergener in washington for us. thank you, tara. >>> the space shuttle is headed home for the last time. early this morning, "atlantis" undocked from the international space station, marking the end of the final visit of the shuttle to the station. "atlantis" left behind a year's worth of supplies on its final flight. the shuttle crew is due to land at kennedy space center thursday morning. >>> just ahead on the "morning news," big banks and mortgage companies break another promise. >>> plus, is charlie sheen winning again? details on a new sitcom. this is the "cbs morning news." ♪ have a better day [ male announcer ] only subway has a deal this flat-out delicious -- the new $3 flatbread breakfast combo. a toasty 6-inch flatbread breakfast sandwich and a 16-ounce cup of freshly brewed seattle's best coffee. all for just $3. build your better breakfast today. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arth

tara mergener has more. >>> president obama wants congress to strike a deal on raising the debt limit in the next two weeks. >> we've made progress. and i believe that greater progress is within sight but i don't want to fool anybody. we still have to work through some real differences. >> reporter: he's invited democratic and republican leaders to the white house tomorrow to try to jump start stalled talks. the president is urging lawmakers to leave their differences at the door and he's rejected any talk of a short-term agreement that would raise the debt ceiling for six to eight months. >> i don't share that view. i don't think the american people here sent us here to avoid tough problems. >> the president insists any deal will have to include not only spending cuts but also tax hikes for the wealthy. still, republicans aren't budging. >> frankly, we don't think the voters sent a wave of republicans last november because they wanted us to raise taxes. >> with unemployment hovering above 9%, the g.o.p. argues tax increases will only hurt the economy even more. i'm happy to discuss t

. >>> i'm tara mergener in washington. president obama summons leaders of both parties to the white house. we'll tell you why, coming up. >>> i'm sharon gibala with wjz traffic control. getting busier on the roads. we have a live picture of one of the accidents we have working. we'll show you in a minute. >>> we were talking about this 15 minutes ago. the dude tour is. cog to ocean -- the dude tour is coming to ocean city, many add m.d.. -- the dude tour iscoming to ocean city, maryland. bucky is joining us on coffee with. that's as the eyewitness news morning edition continues after this. >>. >> 3 o'clocand then a 3:15,ing with with my guilt. [ female announcer ] new special k cracker chips. 27 crispy chips. 110 delicious calories. mmmmmmm...good meeting. same time tomorrow? [ female announcer ] find them in the cracker aisle. i see a bag and think... i could have a chip. yeah right. that's why they're called chips? [ female announcer ] new special k cracker chips. 27 crispy chips. 110 delicious calories. another cracker