CNN's David Gergen says the prospects for a default are now above 50%, but ex-Labor Sec. Robert Reich is more hopeful.

George Visger is one of 75 former players suing the NFL for allegedly failing to protect players from brain injuries.

Former Murdoch editor Nicoholas Wapshott looks at what's ahead for major players in the British phone-hacking scandal. FULL POST

The Nation's Ari Melber and GOP strategist Nicolle Wallace discuss how the debt crisis has made jobs a lower priority (CLICK HERE to read Melber's article referred to in the video).

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama held separate meetings today with top congressional Democrats and Republicans as part of ongoing talks on a measure that would raise the nation's debt ceiling by August 2 to avoid a government default.

Top Democrats from both chambers met with the president for about 50 minutes. Later, the top two House Republicans - Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor - met with Obama starting just after 5 p.m., according to a White House official who spoke on condition of not being identified

CLICK HERE for the full story and watch extensive coverage "In The Arena" tonight at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.  Guests include CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s six OFF-SET questions is seven-time bestselling author and conservative political commentator Ann Coulter.  She is author of the new book, “DEMONIC: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America.”

Coulter is the legal correspondent for Human Events and writes a popular syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate. A Connecticut native, Coulter graduated with honors from Cornell University School of Arts & Sciences, and received her J.D. from University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of The Michigan Law Review.

This interview was originally published on June 7, 2011.

In your new book, you make the case that liberal thought in America has, as its source, mob behaviors. You write that some of those behaviors include myth-making, an embrace of contradictory ideas, a mob mentality that paints all sort of people as enemies, the creation of messiahs, and the acceptance of political violence as a valid solution. How did you come to reach this conclusion about liberals?

Mostly from being around liberals so much.  I sensed it was true, had the idea for the book, and read about a half-dozen books on groupthink, mobs, riots, etc.  Then I stumbled on Gustave Le Bon, the French philosopher, social psychologist and father of groupthink.  Page after page of his book "The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind," uncannily describes the behavior of the American liberal - and it was written 100 years ago!   FULL POST

DEBT CEILING AGREEMENT ON THE HORIZON?  - Could there be a debt ceiling agreement on the horizon?? The U.S. House on Tuesday night passed the "cut, cap and balance" deficit reduction plan backed by tea party conservatives but dismissed by President Barack Obama, who offered strong praise for another proposal put together by a bipartisan group of senators. The so-called Gang of Six plan – drafted by three Democratic and three Republican senators - presents a possible compromise to Obama and congressional leaders as they approach a deadline for a deal on cutting federal deficits in order to gain Republican support for raising the federal debt ceiling to avoid an unprecedented default.

President Obama gave his endorsement Tuesday to a deficit reduction plan offered by a bipartisan group of six senators and is urging congressional leaders to use that blueprint as the basis for a bill that he can sign into law before the Aug. 2 debt limit deadline. So how are members responding to the latest proposal by the so called Gang of Six?

NEWS CORP.  IN THE HOT SEAT - As Rupert Murdoch and his son took the hot seat Tuesday in the British Parliament, old questions about News Corp.'s business practices were getting fresh scrutiny on the other side of the Atlantic. The fallout of the British phone-hacking scandal has resulted in the arrest of 10 people, including Rebekah Brooks, a former News of the World editor who resigned Friday from her post as chief executive of News International, and the resignation of Les Hinton as CEO of the Dow Jones unit, which publishes The Wall Street Journal. Murdoch's company has suffered a stock plunge, is facing questions over future leadership and is under an FBI investigation.  FULL POST