MADISON, Wisconsin: President Joe Biden, fighting to save his endangered reelection effort, used a highly anticipated TV interview Friday to repeatedly reject taking an independent medical evaluation that would show voters he is up for serving another term in office while blaming his disastrous debate performance on a “bad episode” and saying there were “no indications of any serious condition.”
“Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,” Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, referring to the tasks he faces daily in a rigorous job. “Every day, I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world.”
The 81-year-old Biden made it through the 22-minute interview without any major blunders that would inflict further damage to his imperiled candidacy, but it appeared unlikely to fully tamp down concerns about his age and fitness for another four years and his ability to defeat Donald Trump in November.
It left Biden in a standoff against a not-insignificant faction of his party with four months to go until Election Day, and with just weeks until the Democratic National Convention. The drawn-out spectacle could benefit Biden’s efforts to remain in the race by limiting the party’s options to replace him. But it also could be a distraction from vital efforts to frame the 2024 race as a referendum on Trump.
During the interview, Biden insisted he was not more frail than earlier in his presidency. He said he undergoes “ongoing assessment” by his personal doctors and they “don’t hesitate to tell me” if something is wrong.
“Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape,” Biden said.
As for the debate, “I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing,” Biden said.
Biden suggested that Trump’s disruptions — from just a few feet away — had flustered him: “I realized that, even when I was answering a question and they turned his mic off, he was still shouting and I let it distract me. I’m not blaming it on that. But I realized that I just wasn’t in control.”
At times, Biden rambled during the interview, which ABC said aired in full and without edits. At one point, he started to explain his debate performance, then veered to a New York Times poll, then pivoted to the lies Trump told during the debate. Biden also referred to the midterm “red wave” as occurring in 2020, rather than 2022.
Asked how he might turn the race around, Biden argued that one key would be large and energetic rallies like the one he held Friday in Wisconsin. When reminded that Trump routinely draws larger crowds, the president laid into his opponent.
“Trump is a pathological liar,” Biden said, accusing Trump of bungling the federal response to the COVID pandemic and failing to create jobs. “You ever see something that Trump did that benefited someone else and not him?”
The interview, paired with a weekend campaign in battleground Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, was part of Biden’s rigorous effort to course correct from his rocky debate performance. But internal party frustrations continue to fester, with one influential Democratic senator working on a nascent push to encourage the president to exit the race and Democrats quietly chatting about where they would go next if the president drops out — or what it would mean if he stays in.
“It’s President Biden’s decision whether or not he remains in the race. Voters select our nominee and they chose him,” said California Rep. Ro Khanna, a member of the Biden campaign’s national advisory board that works as a gathering of his top surrogates. “Now, he needs to prove to those voters that he is up to the job and that will require more than just this one interview.”
One Democrat who watched said they found Biden to be still shaky under controlled conditions and predicted more will call on him to leave the race.
Still, in Wisconsin, Biden was focused on proving his capacity to serve another term. When asked whether he would halt his campaign, he told reporters he was “completely ruling that out” and said he is “positive” he could serve another four years. At a rally in front of hundreds of supporters he acknowledged his subpar debate performance but insisted, “I am running, and I’m going to win again.”
While private angst among Democratic lawmakers, donors and strategists has been running deep since the debate, most in the party have held public fire as they wait to see if the president can restore confidence with his weekend travel and his handling of the interview. Top Biden campaign officials were texting lawmakers encouraging them to refrain from public comments about the situation and give the president a chance to respond, according to a Democrat granted anonymity to discuss the situation.
To that end, Sen. Mark Warner reached out to fellow senators throughout this week to discuss whether to ask Biden to exit the race, according to three people familiar with the effort who requested anonymity to talk about private conversations. The Virginia Democrat’s moves are notable given his chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee and his reputation as a lawmaker who is supportive of Biden and has working relationships with colleagues in both parties. Warner’s effort was first reported by The Washington Post.
The strategy remains fluid. One of the people with knowledge of Warner’s effort said there are enough Senate Democrats concerned enough about Biden’s capacity to run for reelection to take some sort of action, although there was yet no consensus on what that plan would be. Some of the Democratic senators could meet as soon as Monday on how to move forward.
The top Democrats on House committees are planning to meet virtually Sunday to discuss the situation, according to a person familiar with the gathering granted anonymity to talk about it.
At least four House Democrats have called for Biden to step down as the nominee. While not going that far, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in a carefully worded statement Friday that Biden now has a decision to make on “the best way forward.”
“I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump,” Healey said.
In the interview, Biden was asked how he might be persuaded to leave the race. He laughed and replied, “If the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that.”
There were also a few signs of discontent at Biden’s campaign rally Friday, with one person onstage waving a sign that read “Pass the torch Joe” as the president came out. His motorcade was also greeted at the middle school by a few people urging him to move on.
But Rebecca Green, a 52-year-old environmental scientist from Madison, said she found Biden’s energy reassuring. “We were just waiting for him to come out strong and fighting again, the way we know he is.”
Many Democratic lawmakers, who are hearing from constituents at home during the holiday week, are deeply frustrated and split on whether Biden should stay or go. Privately, discussions among the House Democrats flared this week as word spread that some of them were drafting public letters suggesting the president should quit the race.
Biden appears to have pulled his family closer while attempting to prove that he’s still the Democrats’ best option.
The ubiquitous presence of Hunter Biden in the West Wing since the debate has become an uncomfortable dynamic for many staffers, according to two Democrats close to the White House who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
For many staffers, the sight of Hunter Biden, just weeks after his conviction on felony gun charges, taking a larger role in advising his father has been unsettling and a questionable choice, they said.
In a hastily organized gathering with more than 20 Democratic governors Wednesday evening, Biden acknowledged he needs to sleep more and limit evening events so he can be rested for the job. In trying to explain away those comments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed that Biden “works around the clock” but that he “also recognizes the importance of striking a balance and taking care of himself.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who attended the meeting, said Biden “certainly engaged with us on complicated matters.”
“But then again, this is something that he needs to not just reassure Democratic governors on, but he needs to reassure the American people,” Beshear said.
Biden dismisses age questions in interview as he tries to salvage reelection effort
https://arab.news/8u29y
Biden dismisses age questions in interview as he tries to salvage reelection effort

- The 81-year-old Biden made it through the 22-minute interview without any major blunders
At least 26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy

- Italian coast guard: ‘Currently 60 people have been rescued and disembarked in Lampedusa, and (there are) at least 26 victims’
- Giorgia Meloni: ‘When a tragedy like today’s occurs, with the deaths of dozens of people in the waters of the Mediterranean, a strong sense of dismay and compassion arises in all of us’
Around 60 people were rescued after the sinkings in the central Mediterranean, a stretch between North Africa and Italy described by the UN as the world’s most dangerous sea crossing for migrants.
The two boats had left Tripoli, Libya, earlier in the day, according to the Italian coast guard.
It said one of the boats started taking on water, causing people to climb onto the other boat, which itself then capsized.
“Currently 60 people have been rescued and disembarked in Lampedusa, and (there are) at least 26 victims. The toll is still provisional and being updated,” the coast guard said in a statement.
Italy’s Red Cross, which manages Lampedusa’s migrant reception center, said the survivors included 56 men and four women, updating a previous toll of 22 dead.
Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesman for the UN’s migration agency (IOM), said around 95 people had been on the two boats.
Given how many had been saved, “approximately 35 victims are feared dead or missing,” he wrote on social media.
Among the first to be transported to the Lampedusa mortuary were the bodies of a newborn, three children, two men and two women, according to Italy’s ANSA news agency.
Lampedusa, just 90 miles (145 kilometers) off the coast of Tunisia, is often the first port of call for people trying to reach Europe in leaky or overcrowded boats.
In recent years, Italian authorities have sought to intercept the boats at sea before they arrive.
It was a helicopter from Italy’s financial police that spotted a capsized boat and several bodies in the water on Wednesday, about 14 nautical miles off Lampedusa, the coast guard said.
Five vessels were searching for survivors, including one from the EU’s Frontex border agency, alongside a helicopter and two aircraft, it said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered her “deepest condolences” to the victims and vowed to step up efforts to tackle migrant traffickers.
Her hard-right government took office in October 2022 vowing to cut the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.
As part of this, it has cut deals with North African countries from which migrants embark, providing funding and training in exchange for help in stemming departures.
“When a tragedy like today’s occurs, with the deaths of dozens of people in the waters of the Mediterranean, a strong sense of dismay and compassion arises in all of us,” Meloni said in a statement.
“And we find ourselves contemplating the inhumane cynicism with which human traffickers organize these sinister journeys.”
She said stepping up rescue efforts was not enough to tackle the scourge of trafficking, saying this could be done only by “preventing irregular departures and managing migration flows.”
The UNHCR refugee agency said Wednesday that there had been 675 migrant deaths on the central Mediterranean route so far this year.
As of Wednesday, 38,263 migrants have arrived on Italy’s shores this year, according to the interior ministry.
A similar number was recorded at the same time last year, but the figure is significantly less than in 2023, when almost 100,000 people had arrived by mid-August.
Brother of Manchester suicide bomber charged over attack on jail guards

- Hashem Abedi is accused of three counts of attempted murder, one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of unauthorized possession of a knife
LONDON: A man who helped his brother plot a suicide bomb attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Britain in 2017 was charged on Wednesday with attempting to murder prison guards in the jail where he was being held.
Hashem Abedi, the elder brother of Salman Abedi who killed 22 people at the Manchester Arena in northern England, was charged with five offenses following an incident in April this year at HMP Frankland jail when four prison officers were injured, British police said.
He is accused of three counts of attempted murder, one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of unauthorized possession of a knife. He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court on September 18.
Hashem Abedi was jailed for at least 55 years in 2020 after being convicted of helping his brother plan the attack which injured more than 200 and whose victims included seven children.
The brothers, born to Libyan parents who emigrated to Britain during the rule of late leader Muammar Qaddafi, had plotted the attack at their home in south Manchester, prosecutors said.
Zelensky warns Trump that Putin is 'bluffing'

- Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on Friday for talks on ending Ukraine war
- Zelensky’s comments came after a virtual call with Trump and European leaders
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that he warned US President Donald Trump ahead of his talks with Vladimir Putin this week that the Russian leader is “bluffing” about his desire to end the war.
Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on Friday, where Kyiv and its allies are worried the two leaders may try to dictate the terms of peace in the 3-1/2-year war.
“I told the US president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing,” he said at a joint briefing in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine.”
Zelensky’s comments, made after a virtual call with Trump and European leaders, come as Russian forces step up pressure on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, aiming to force Kyiv to give up land.
Zelensky, who said he hoped the main topic of the talks in Alaska would be an immediate ceasefire, added that any discussions regarding territory should be covered during a three-leader meeting.
“Regarding our principles and territorial integrity, in the end this is all decided at the level of leaders,” he said. “Without Ukraine, it is impossible to decide this. And, by the way, everyone also supports this.”
Zelensky said Trump told him he would debrief him about his talks with Putin.
Former British officer sues Ministry of Defense over handling of Afghan data breach

- Individual worked on Afghan cases for under two years before his role ended unexpectedly after he threatened to become a whistleblower
- He is suing the MoD and his third-party recruiter, and the case is set to be heard next year
LONDON: A former British military officer is suing the Ministry of Defense for constructive dismissal after speaking out about the handling of a data leak that exposed the personal details of thousands of Afghans seeking relocation to the UK.
The Times reported that an unnamed individual was contracted to assist with Operation Rubific, a secret mission addressing the fallout from a massive data breach.
The former officer worked on Afghan cases for under two years before his role ended unexpectedly after he threatened to become a whistleblower. He was then reassigned to another area in a position for which he was overqualified.
“He complained they are letting in people they shouldn’t and not letting in those he should,” a source close to the former officer suing the MoD told The Times.
He also raised concerns that the government was not prioritizing those most at risk among the tens of thousands of Afghans identified for resettlement in Britain. He assisted four Afghan individuals in relocating to Britain after their details were revealed on the leaked list.
The MoD is facing scrutiny over a superinjunction that blocked public and parliamentary oversight after a spreadsheet leaked containing the names, telephone numbers and email addresses of Afghans seeking relocation to Britain.
The former officer allegedly threatened to alert other departments about the superinjunction and was subsequently “managed out,” according to the source.
The individual is suing the MoD and his third-party recruiter, for whom he worked as a contractor after leaving the military. The case is set to be heard next year.
Officials argued that the data breach should remain secret for nearly two years, claiming it put 100,000 Afghans at risk of Taliban retribution, including death and torture. However, the superinjunction was lifted in July after a government review deemed it “highly unlikely” that Afghans on the leaked spreadsheet were at risk.
Ministers reduced the number of Afghans brought to Britain from 42,500 to 24,000, including family members, based on their presence in the country or prior invitations. Concerns have also been raised about the motive behind the secrecy order, questioning if it aims to protect the MoD’s reputation and prepare for potential mass applications from affected Afghans, The Times reported.
Adnan Malik, the head of data protection at Barings Law, is now representing 1,400 individuals from the leaked list; a number that continues to grow daily.
He told The Times that the MoD’s “attempt to silence one of their own whistleblowers is another shameful development” after tens of thousands of Afghans had their data breached without their knowledge.
A source from the MoD said that the individual’s contract had concluded.
Indian politicians demand action against Israeli envoy after attack on Priyanka Gandhi

- Israeli ambassador posted disparaging remarks against Gandhi after her comments on Gaza
- Congress party demands official apology for his ‘public attempt to intimidate’ the MP
NEW DELHI: Indian politicians are demanding action against the Israeli ambassador in Delhi following his verbal attack on Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi.
Gandhi, a lawmaker from the opposition Congress party, who is the daughter of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and sister of Rahul Gandhi — leader of the opposition — wrote on social media on Tuesday that “the Israeli state is committing genocide” in Gaza.
“It has murdered over 60,000 people, 18,430 of whom were children. It has starved hundreds to death including many children and is threatening to starve millions,” she said, calling out the Indian government over its inaction.
“Enabling these crimes by silence and inaction is a crime in itself. It is shameful that the Indian Government stands silent as Israel unleashes this devastation on the people of Palestine.”
The post was almost immediately responded to by Reuven Azar, Israel’s ambassador to India, who told Gandhi: “What is shameful is your deceit.”
The post triggered outrage among Congress members, with the party’s spokesperson Supriya Shrinate demanding that the Indian government act over the envoy’s “casting aspersions” on Gandhi.
“He should be officially made to apologize. She is a member of parliament, she is an elected representative, and how dare the Israeli ambassador talk to her in that tone. The government should take this up in no uncertain terms,” Shrinate told Arab News.
“We seek an unconditional apology for the use of tone and words that the Israeli ambassador has used, and the reality is that the world is watching what Israel is doing in Gaza.”
Priyanka Chaturvedi, an MP and spokesperson of the Shiv Sena (UBT) party, said inaction from the Ministry of External Affairs would only embolden foreign diplomats “to speak to Indian parliamentarians in this tone and tenor in their own country.
“This is unacceptable,” she wrote on X. “Hope Ministry of External Affairs reprimands this Hon. Ambassador.”
For Gaurav Gogoi, a Congress lawmaker from Assam, “the disparaging comments made by a foreign Ambassador against a Member of Parliament of India is a serious breach of privilege,” he said in an X post, urging Parliament to take action if the government does not respond.
The government in New Delhi has largely remained quiet since Israel launched its deadly assault on Gaza in October 2023.
But India’s civil society and the opposition are increasingly speaking up against Israeli war crimes.
Pawan Khera, chairman of the Congress party’s publicity department, called on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to address the Israeli ambassador’s “public attempt to intimidate” Gandhi.
“That the ambassador of a state accused of genocide worldwide would target a sitting Member of the Indian Parliament is both unprecedented and intolerable. It is a direct affront to the dignity of Indian democracy,” he wrote on X.
Khera also addressed the envoy directly: “No amount of deflection or whitewashing can obscure the facts. The international community is witnessing, in real time, the killing of civilians in Gaza — including those queuing for aid. The world sees the heartbreaking images emerging from Gaza every day. It will neither forget nor forgive.”