i m just not going to get ahead of the president. that s something for him to decide. now, after the press briefing, jean-pierre clarified in a tweet saying this. i can confirm that if re-elected president biden would serve all eight years. but there is a lot of concern out there about the president s age. yeah. look, i mean, that should be a slam dunk question with an easy answer. in some ways, this does underscore the concern out there. and i think you have to recognize, the white house knows is not an issue you can walk away from for a very long time. you had congressman clyburn say there will come a time he has to talk bluntly about age and what the above average you are likely to hear is age is a synonym for experience and in some ways the things people are looking to the president for, legislative wins, fighting the big fights on rights, that those don t come easily and somebody who has had a few laps around the track may be able to do it. it s a case they have to make. i
i m on a roll-ay. how about you? i m just visiting. u.s. bank. ranked #1 in customer satisfaction with retail banking in california by j.d. power. there is deep uncertainty on capitol hill tonight over speaking mccarthy s plan to raise the nation s debt limit. the white house issuing a scathing veto threat as republicans struggle to find a majority. let s get an update from our chief congressional correspondent manu raju. what acan you tell us about the veto throat and whether mccarthy actually has the votes? reporter: yeah, the veto threat was made by the white house, but that means that the vote, legislation would have to get to the president s desk. that will not happen because the democratic-led senate has to
win over unthuziastic democrats and taking digs at his former and potentially future opponent donald trump. a rape allegation lawsuit against trump goes to trial with opening statements in new york. we will have the latest on e. jean carroll s civil case against the former president and trump s defense. and in war-torn sudan, americans are a part of an urgent race to flee the country as bursts of violence mara fragile u.s. ceasefire. this amid fierce of a biological nightmare after paramilitary forces seize a public health lab. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. the 2024 race for the white house is taking shape in a big way tonight with president biden s official campaign launch. his announcement video driving
expected to raise as much as $2 billion in the next year and a half, underscoring just how complicated and difficult the battle will be ahead. clearly at the moment laying out a message of contrast, a message they believe, despite the president s age, despite his current approval numbers, will win the day come november 2024, wolf. his message, let s finish the job. phil, thank you very much. let s go to the gop response right now to president biden s announcement. our chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny is here. how are republicans countering president biden s message? a fairly predictable way. we heard the critique the first two years of the biden presidency and in the last re-election as well. there is no doubt that former president donald trump was talking about the weak economy, inflation, and we saw something we have not seen before, an advertisement based in fiction, artificial intelligence from the republican national committee
this done in order to bolster their standing in the fight with the white house and try to force joe biden to negotiating. and when i caught up with speaker mccarthy earlier today about whether he would change the bill or he has the votes for this measure, he didn t say. do you have to change the bill to get the 28 votes? i will let you know. reporter: do you have 218 votes on this? you are the first person i will call. reporter: when is the vote gonna happen? so still no word from the speaker about whether they in fact have the votes. but there is still optimism among republican leaders that they will eventually get there. it will take some time. exactly how much time is uncertain. but mccarthy wants to have the vote this week, which is why they are having all of these meetings behind the scenes, one happening behind me right now, another happening in the speaker s office trying to get the conference in line over this huge fight, wolf, because, as you know, without a deal, with