00:00 With no definite end in sight to the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel's war versus Hamas in Gaza
00:05 US President Joe Biden has switched focus to affairs at home and his campaign for re-election in November this year
00:12 White House Bureau Chief Patsy Whitaker's war has the story
00:16 As Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza a ceasefire for hostage release deal with Hamas appears out of reach
00:25 even with extensive US diplomatic efforts
00:29 Meanwhile, almost two and a half years since Moscow's invasion
00:32 Ukraine so far has rejected the possibility of ceding territory and directly negotiating with Russia
00:38 In both cases you can make an argument that the US has been so heavily involved
00:44 without necessarily thinking through the consequences of where that leads
00:48 that now we're kind of stuck with no good off-ramp in either conflict
00:53 and I think for Biden that's the problem
00:56 President Joe Biden did not commit any American troops on the ground in either war
01:00 There are no American soldiers at war in Ukraine
01:03 I'm determined to keep it that way
01:05 but we are standing strong with Ukraine and we will stand with them
01:10 He scored a major foreign policy win in April
01:13 by securing the passage of a bipartisan foreign aid bill that included 61 billion dollars for Ukraine
01:19 and 26 billion dollars for Israel
01:22 But since then he has been shifting the focus of his messaging away from foreign wars
01:27 If Biden is going to win a second term it's going to have to be on domestic issues not international
01:33 and he's got some ground to make up in the key swing states
01:37 so he needs to focus on the ones that identify with democratic points of view
01:43 for example the abortion issue
01:45 And he has
01:46 In recent weeks Biden has ramped up campaign engagements
01:50 centering his speeches on the economy and other domestic issues
01:54 including protecting abortion rights, cancelling student debt
01:58 combating hidden junkies for consumers and boosting manufacturing
02:02 Clearly they want to focus on areas they believe to be their strengths
02:05 but they're not the ones who only get to make that choice
02:10 I mean the world will continue to intrude
02:13 But ultimately domestic issues are what drive Biden's agenda
02:17 A May Reuters Ipsos poll shows that while many Americans are unhappy with the wars
02:22 they see inflation as the most important issue facing the country
02:26 Pat Sivida, Huswara Viewing News, Washington
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