White House WON’T say if Biden, 81, would personally deal with a nuclear attack after 8pm

Cook Political Report made six new changes to predicted Electoral College ratings in these critical states – all shifting in Donald Trump’s favor:

• AZ: Toss Up to Lean R
• GA: Toss Up to Lean R
• MN: Likely D to Lean D
• NE-02: Likely D to Lean D
• NH: Likely D to Lean D
• NV: Toss Up to Lean R

The new changes come over a week since President Biden’s disastrous debate performance has spooked Democrats about their chances of keeping the White House.

By Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter at the White House

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn’t confirm if President Joe Biden would deal with a possible nuclear strike that takes place after 8 pm.

Fox News’ Peter Doocy referred to President Biden’s comments to governors he would schedule fewer events after 8 pm and asked, if there was a nuclear strike, who would deal with it? The first lady?

‘He has a team that lets him know, any, any news that is pertinent and important to the American people,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘It is National Security Council that gets to tell him.’

Jean-Pierre also said Jill Biden does not make decisions.

‘The President is the President of the United States who makes the decision,’ she said.

The U.S. President has sole authority to authorize the use of U.S. nuclear weapon, according to American law.

Jean-Pierre also brushed aside a question about Hunter Biden joining the president at White House meetings. She noted the family together was at Camp David and, upon their return to the White House, Hunter merely walked straight into a meeting with the president.

‘He’s very close to his family. As you know, it was the week of Fourth of July, which is why his family members were here last week. They walked together and they walked together into the meeting,’ she said.

And she denied allegations the White House has been engaged in a coverup when it comes to the president’s health.

‘There is a comprehensive medical, full comprehensive medical report on the website whitehouse.gov. I would encourage them to take a look to take a look read read that report,’ she said. ‘It’s transparent. It’s out there, it’s for them to read.’

The White House is in week two of trying to recover from Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

Three Democrat Senators privately bemoaned how they don’t believe Joe Biden can beat Donald Trump in November, CNN reports.

‘I am told that Senators Michael Bennett, Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester told colleagues in today’s Democratic caucus lunch that they do not believe that President Biden can win the election,’ CNN’s Dana Bash posted on X Tuesday.

The lawmaker’s private concerns are much different from the united front they have put on publicly in support of Biden.

Top Democrat Adam Smith told DailyMail.com Tuesday that he’d had concerns about Biden’s cognitive ability based on personal interactions before the debate.

But last month’s 90-minute face-off with Donald Trump ‘crystallized’ his belief that Biden was no longer suited for the office.

‘Ultimately this is Joe Biden‘s decision,’ Smith said.

‘Joe Biden is the presumptive nominee. He’s not the nominee.I’m going to keep making this case because of how strongly I feel about it. long as that is the case.’

But the top Armed Services Committee Democrat insisted the onus is on President Biden to avoid disaster for Democrats in November by stepping aside as a convention challenge would be too ‘divisive’ to work.

Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden by five points in a new poll in Wisconsin, a critical battleground that Biden carried in 2020 that is a key part of one of his most promising routes to reelection.

Trump leads Biden 50-45 in a head-to-head matchup in a FabrizioWard / Impact Research poll conducted for AARP.

His lead is 44 to 38 when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other lower polling candidates are surveyed.

The poll comes after Biden’s debate disaster, as Democrats are debating whether to try to pressure Biden to step back from running amid fears he will be a drag down the ticket.

House Democrat leaders are throwing mud at the wall in order to try and distract from their ongoing chaos surrounding whether to back Joe Biden on the 2024 ticket.

During a highly-anticipated press conference Tuesday, Democrats touched on nearly everything except their infighting about Biden‘s future as the leader of the liberals.

‘We hear a lot from our constituents on different issues but something I’ve heard that doesn’t seem to be being covered are the Epstein files,’ Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Ted Lieu, D-Calif., bizarrely said.

‘There are pictures of him with Epstein. He’s taken plane flights with Epstein. He’s in call logs with Epstein,’ the Democrat said.

Democratic Congressman Andy Kim said he has ‘concerns’ about President Biden at the top of the ticket amid escalating questions about the president’s health.

Kim is the Democratic nominee in the New Jersey Senate race.

‘I do have concerns,’ Kim said according to a local report. ‘If [Biden’s team] want to rebut some of what people are concerned about, that’s on them.’

He said dismissing it would not be right.

‘People have concerns – I mean, this is the presidency of the United States. So I think it’s very important to be upfront and honest about where things are,’ he continued.

He added ‘the question is, can Biden win, and is there somebody that can potentially be stronger? That’s what I’m digging in on right now and trying to think through.’

Democratic Senator Mark Warner said on Tuesday that the most important thing is to defeat Donald Trump.

The Virginia Democrats comments on Capitol Hill come amid escalating questions over whether President Biden should be at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket.

Warner had reportedly been trying to get Democrats together to discuss a path forward after Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

After returning to the hill this week, Warner said he was having conversations with colleagues but did not go into details on what the best path forward is.

Now is not the time to surrender any ground in the fight for the right to life. The 2024 platform removed historic pro-life principles that have long been the foundation of the platform.

I urge delegates attending next week’s Republican Convention to restore language to our party’s platform recognizing the sanctity of human life and affirming that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.

The platform states it ‘will oppose Late Term Abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments).’

It’s a shift from the 2020 and 2016 platforms that ruled out abortion after 20 weeks.

With Vice President Kamala Harris back in battleground Nevada, curious voters are taking her measure amid calls for President Biden to step back.

A pair of sisters who are there told DailyMail.com they were attending to assess Harris, who defended the president follwoing his debate disaster, as a possible Biden replacement.

By Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter at the White House

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre began her press briefing on Tuesday by defending herself.

Jean-Pierre pushed back at questions she has not been forthcoming about President Joe Biden’s health and that the White House has had to later clarify her statements.

‘I disagree. I disagree,’ she said in response to the question.

In her briefing, she was forceful with reporters who questioned her on past statements. Her strategy echoes that of President Biden, who has been on the offensive as Democrats have pushed him to exit the 2024 race.

Jean-Pierre argued many of her points from Monday were outlined in Dr. Kevin O’Connor’s letter on Dr. Kevin Cannard, the Parkison’s specialist who was at the White House at several points.

She also noted that when she hasn’t ‘had the full information. I actually own up to that.’

‘It has been an unprecedented time. I think you guys could admit,’ she argued. ‘And so we want to make sure that we get you all the information that we have, and when we don’t have it, we do try our best to provide that information.’

Jean-Pierre started Tuesday’s briefing about 90 minutes after it was originally scheduled. She said it was because she was in the Oval Office talking to President Biden about Hurricane Beryl.

Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a contender to replace President Joe Biden or one day lead the party, was asked on The View if she would consider serving as Kamala Harris’ vice president.

Whitmer was promoting her new book on the ABC panel show, and has shot down suggestions she will be running instead of Joe in November.

Then she was asked about her own future prospects, including running with Harris.

I have never looked at opportunities in Washington, D.C. with a lot of excitement. … I’ll never say never, but that’s not something that I am angling for.

By Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter at the White House

The White House delayed Tuesday’s press briefing by more than hour after Monday’s debacle.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly clashed with reporters who were asking why Dr. Kevin Cannard, a Parkinson’s specialist, repeatedly visited the White House.

Dr. Kevin O’Connor, President Joe Biden’s personal physician, ended up releasing a letter late Monday to calm the storm of questions.

On Tuesday, Jean-Pierre’s briefing was originally scheduled to begin at 1 pm. The press office announced it was delayed until 1:45 pm.

As of 2:10 pm, it had not started and there was no update on timing.

Nikki Haley’s spokesperson revealed Tuesday that ex-President Donald Trump’s former 2024 rival was not invited to next week’s Republican National Convention.

Haley ‘was not invited, and she’s fine with that,’ her spokesperson Chaney Denton told Politico. ‘Trump deserves the convention he wants. She’s made it clear she’s voting for him and wishes him the best.’

The news site first reported that Haley released her pledged delegates to Trump ahead of the RNC and pushed them to vote for the former president.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen defended President Joe Biden and said he was extremely effective in meetings as she was grilled on whether she had witnessed evidence of mental decline.

The cabinet secretary also admitted she wasn’t aware of any discussions to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the 81-year-old president to remove him from office.

The provision enables the vice president and cabinet members to declare that the president is unable to discharge his duties.

She told the House Financial Services Committee:

The president is extremely effective in the meetings that I’ve been in with him.

That includes many international meetings that are multi-hour, like his meetings with (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping).

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Las Vegas, Nevada

Vice President Kamala Harris is launching in Las Vegas on Tuesday the group Asian American and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders for Biden-Harris.

After the events on Tuesday, the vice president will also give keynote remarks at the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote Presidential Town Hall this weekend in Philaelphia, Pennsylvania.

House Democrats emerged from a critical private meeting on Joe Biden‘s future sullen, scrambled and downcast – as though they just got out of a funeral procession.

The summer heat beat down on dejected Democrats as they exited a secretive closed-door meeting where it appears there was no agreement made about Biden’s future at the top of the 2024 ticket.

Not a single Democrat who emerged from the hour-long session indicated that there was consensus on whether Biden, 81, has the full backing of the caucus at his age over a week since his disastrous debate.

One lawmaker admitted to DailyMail.com there were major disagreements inside at the meeting over whether Biden has the health and wherewithal to secure the nomination.

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., emerged saying that not only are Democrats not on the same page, ‘we are not even in the same book.’

Some Senate Democrats have expressed concerns and have called on Biden to prove he’s up for another four years.

Others have said there is a need for discussions among Democrats this week as Biden facing mounting questions over his fitness since his poor debate performance.

But no Sneate Democrats to date have outright called for Biden to step aside in the 2024 race.

Here is what they are saying:

Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent in Doral, Florida

The chair of Florida’s Democratic Party, Nikki Fried, suggested Tuesday that it was time to stop questioning whether 81-year-old President Joe Biden was fit to lead.

‘The reality is that President Biden isn’t going anywhere. We are standing behind the president and the vice president. And so it is time for the media to start moving on as well,’ she told DailyMail.com at a press conference in Doral, Florida.

Former President Donald Trump will headline a rally at his Doral golf club Tuesday night after spending 10 days off the campaign trail.

Fried said the press needed to ‘start talking about the existential threat that would happen if Donald Trump gets a second term.’

Florida Democrats were gathered in Doral Tuesday morning to highlight aspects of the Project 2025 agenda – a product of the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation that Trump has been forced to distance himself from.

But all eyes have been on Biden since he bungled the presidential debate late last month.

Fried voiced her frustrations with that, saying, ‘we were here talking about Project 2025 and the first two questions were about President Biden’s stamina.’

‘This man has done more for this country than anybody else in the current history,’ Fried said.

Republicans are intent on hauling in President Biden’s doctor who is now caught up in the scandal over his mental decline.

‘The only people in Washington, D.C. — other than Donald Trump — who want Joe Biden to stay in the race are the Biden family and his physician,’ Oversight Chairman James Comer said Tuesday.

‘What do they have in common? They were involved in the Biden influence peddling scheme.’

Dr. Kevin O’Connor is a close friend of the Biden family and was involved in his brother James’ business ventures with now-defunct Americore Health. House Republicans have asked him to come in to testify – and may resort to a subpoena.

Former Republican Senator Jim Inhofe has died at the age of 89.

The longtime lawmaker represented Oklahoma for 36 years on Capitol Hill before stepping aside last year as the longest-serving U.S. Senator in his state’s history.

His family said he passed away after a ‘sudden illness’ and was surrounded by his wife Kay and three children.

Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville is getting behind a version of a ‘mini-primary’ that could pick a successor to President Joe Biden without ‘anointing’ Kamala Harris in his place.

Carville, who served as Bill Clinton‘s campaign guru during his 1992 run, put his own spin on a way for Democrats to get out of the political thicket they find themselves after Biden’s stumbling debate performance during an appearance on NewsNation’s Cuomo.

Large majorities of Democrats are registering concerns about his age and performance, but as Biden pointed out in a Monday letter, he has already wrapped up the nomination by winning millions of primary votes.

Hunter Biden withdrew his motion for a new federal gun trial after he was found guilty of lying about his drug addiction when he bought a revolver.

Lawyers for the president’s scandal-hit son, 54, said he was dropping his plea in a court filing on Tuesday.

They claimed that Judge Maryellen Noreika didn’t have jurisdiction over the trial because of pending appeals.

He now awaits his sentencing and could get up to 25 years in prison.

A new Emerson College poll shows a close race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden despite pressure from some Democrats for Biden to drop out amid questions over his fitness to serve a second term.

The poll has Trump leading Biden 46 percent to 43 percent with 11 percent undecided. But when undecided voters were asked who the leaned toward, the race was split 50 percent to 50 percent.

When third party candidate were included, the race was 44 percent Trump, 40 percent Biden and six percent Robert Kennedy Jr.

The poll also looked at a series of other prominent Democrats including Vice President Kamala Harris in matchups against Trump.

In a hypothetical matchup, Trump had 49 percent, Harris was at 43 percent with 8 percent undecided.

In a race against California Governor Gavin Newsom, Trump was at 48 percent with Newsom at 40 percent and 12 percent were undecided.

Of the nine total hypothetical matchups they polled, none of the Democrats beat Trump.

From U.S. Politics Reports Jon Michael Rassch on Capitol Hill

Democrats have emerged from their closed-door meeting looking beleaguered.

Biden supporters are not loud and proclaiming victory. Most lawmakers are simply saying they support ‘Democrats’ and on occasion that they specifically support Biden.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal just left with a similar shrugging non-answer.

Melania Trump dazzled in a fire-engine red Valentino dress on Monday night when she hosted a political fundraiser in New York while Donald Trump continues to lay low after his debate with Joe Biden.

The former first lady stunned in the red sheath dress and red patent leather So Kate Christian Louboutin pumps, as seen in exclusive photos from Dailymail.com.

It was a rare appearance by Melania, coming as she hosted an intimate group at Trump Tower to raise money for the Log Cabin Republicans, the largest conservative LGBTQ+ organization.

President Joe Biden’s ability to lead and physical and mental fitness will be tested this week as he welcomes world leaders to the NATO summit in Washington D.C.

Former NATO Deputy Secretary-General Rose Gottemoeller told CNBC the stakes are high for the embattled 81-year-old facing calls to drop out of the presidential race.

She said he needs to prove himself to world leaders, some of whom are reportedly concerned about his cognitive decline.

I think this NATO summit in Washington is an important moment for Joe Biden, he really has to show that he is with it, he’s ready to continue to lead not only the United States of America but the NATO alliance.

And so we will see in coming days just how well the U.S. president does.

I think it is an extraordinarily important summit for the NATO alliance; I wouldn’t say it is a make or break.

NATO has had many ups and downs over the years and some severe crises to deal with … it’s a difficult moment for NATO, but NATO has weathered a lot of crises before.

‘For a campaign based on honesty and decency, the spin about the debate appears to be blatant bulls**t, and the redemption tour hasn’t gone that much better,’ Stewart began.

‘We’re told that the threat of Trump is so great and the stakes are so high that even bringing up these absolutely legitimate concerns about the president’s ability to do the most vigorous job in the world for the next four years is enabling fascism.’

Stewart said that the concerns about another Trump administration ‘aren’t the only threats our democracy faces,’ going on to say that another threat is Biden’s campaign being unable to deal with the concerns of voters about the president.

The host described an ‘arthritic status quo’ that ‘erodes confidence and faith in the system of government borders.’

The White House on Monday said that President Joe Biden was not being treated for Parkinson’s disease during a bad-tempered press briefing when officials were accused of hiding his medical details.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at times struggled to be heard amid a cacophony of questions about the 81-year-old president’s health.

But that simply triggered a hubbub from the usually docile front row of reporters who peppered her with demands for a proper explanation.

‘Ed, a little respect please,’ said Jean-Pierre to CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe, who wanted to know why she was not prepared to discuss details of Dr. Kevin Cannard’s visits, when they were already a matter of public record, revealed by visitor logs.

Biden’s personal doctor, Kevin O’Connor, broke protocol Monday, releasing a letter explaining why Dr. Kevin Cannard visited the White House eight times in eight months.

Cannard is a movement disorder specialist at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland.

On Monday, O’Connor released a letter with the permission of both Biden and Cannard and confirmed that Cannard had been the neurologist who evaluated the president at each of his three physicals since he took office.

After Biden’s disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump on June 27,  questions have swirled over the 81-year-old’s physical and mental health – and whether he should withdraw from the race.

So far, only a small cohort of Democrat lawmakers have called on the president to withdraw from the race while many more have thrown their support behind Biden.

The Squad leader confirmed Monday she is on board with the president’s leadership.

‘I have spoken with [Biden] extensively,’ AOC revealed. ‘The matter is closed. Joe Biden is our nominee.’