First Thing: US debt ceiling talks ‘productive’ as Biden and McCarthy to meet

News Snapshot:

Good morning. Joe Biden and the House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, have held a “productive” phone call on the continued impasse over the debt ceiling and promised to meet today after the president returned to Washington. McCarthy, speaking to reporters after the call, said there were positive discussions on solving the crisis and that staff-level talks were set to resume later on Sunday. Asked if he was more hopeful after talking to the president, McCarthy said: “Our teams are talking today and we’re … meeting tomorrow. That’s better than it was earlier. So, yes.” Biden, who arrived back at the...