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Obama didn't directly address Hillary Clinton's bout with pneumonia, which has kept her housebound as the campaign enters its final stretch. But he did issue a warning for anyone who's questioning the Democratic candidate's ability to perform the job.

"You want to debate who's more fit to be president? One candidate has traveled to more countries than any other secretary of state has. Has more qualifications than any candidate in history. And the other who isn't fit in any way shape or form to represent this country abroad or to be its commander in chief," Obama said at roaring campaign rally in Philadelphia.

He dismissed questions about Clinton's transparency, which arose after she kept quiet her pneumonia diagnosis for several days. Instead, he ripped into Trump's decision to withhold his tax returns, a historic break from precedent.

"You want to debate transparency? You've got one candidate in this race who's released decades' worth of her tax returns. The other candidate is the first in decades who refuses to release any at all," Obama said.

For Obama, Tuesday's event was a return to the rollicking campaign events that thrust him into the White House eight years ago, and won him reelection in 2012. He exclaimed as he took the stage here it was "good to be back on the campaign trail," a sentiment that was returned by loud cheers by the crowd of hundreds.

"Can I just say I am really into electing Hillary Clinton?" Obama told the crowd, which enthusiastically greeted him. "This is not me just going through the motions here. I really, really, really want to elect Hillary Clinton."

Obama is just one of a cavalry of top White House Democrats -- also including First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden -- who are arguing Clinton's case this week as the Democratic nominee herself is convalescing from pneumonia and absent from the trail.

The timing is opportune for a campaign eager both to spotlight its most popular surrogates and to move past a rocky patch. While Obama's Philadelphia stop was planned well ahead of Clinton's declaration that half of her rival's supporters were "deplorable" and new worries about her transparency, the campaign hopes the President's rally can at least provide a new storyline.

But even an appearance from Obama -- whose approval rating reached a nearly eight-year high of 58% in an ABC/Washington Post poll Monday -- won't necessarily cure all of Clinton's woes as the campaign enters its busiest stretch. The White House Monday said Obama would not be relegated to "damage control" for Clinton's stumbles, and he declined to address either the "deplorable" dust-up or her illness directly.

Instead, Obama leaned hard into his criticisms of Trump, using his stature as commander in chief to disqualify the Republican candidate.

"You've got the Donald, who just last week went on Russian television to talk down our military and curry favor with Vladimir Putin," Obama said, referring to an interview appearance on RT. "He loves this guy! Think about what's happened in the Republican Party," Obama said. "They used to be opposed to Russia and authoritarianism and fighting for freedom. Now their nominee is out there praising a guy, saying he's a strong leader, because he invades smaller countries, jails his opponents."

"This isn't Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party," Obama added later. "This is a dark, pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against one another, where we turn against the world. They aren't offering serious solutions, they are fanning resentment, and hate. That is not the America I know."

Michelle Obama is also stumping for Clinton this week. The first lady makes her first campaign appearance for the Democratic nominee on Friday, promoting voter registration in Northern Virginia. Loathe to engage directly in bitter partisan politics, the first lady is more likely to spell out a more affirmative case for Clinton, according to aides.

Biden, who talked up Clinton during a stop Monday in Charlotte, was more candid in his assessments, suggesting the candidate gets a "bum rap" when he was asked about her remarks casting some of Trump's supporters as deplorable.

"For every time she will say something where she says, 'Well, maybe I should have said something different,' think if they held Trump to that standard," Biden said. "He'd be in trouble. He is in trouble."

Even as Clinton is increasingly relying on Obama to carry her message to young and minority voters, the demands on the President's time have largely forestalled an aggressive campaign schedule thus far.

Tuesday's event in Philadelphia is only Obama's second campaign stop for Clinton, after a joint appearance in Charlotte in July. Since then, Obama has helped raised money from Democratic donors, including during his vacation on Martha's Vineyard last month, but he hasn't headlined another rally until now.

White House officials point to a largely inflexible schedule of presidential commitments this month as a barrier to more frequent campaigning. While past presidents have faced similar obligations in the waning days of their tenures, Obama is more popular -- and thus in higher demand as a campaigner than his most recent predecessors.

In August, Obama's aides made a day-by-day assessment of the President's commitments until election day, discovering few moments in September that would allow for rallies in key battleground states on behalf of Clinton.

Obama on Friday concluded a week-long swing through Asia, with stops on the front end in Nevada, Hawaii and Midway Island meant to burnish his environmental legacy.

Even Tuesday's rally was restricted to a relatively close-by location. Obama had business at the White House Monday evening when he met with congressional leaders, and is due to meet Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Obama's four-day obligation at the United Nations General Assembly next week makes adding a campaign stop difficult before the end of the month. And while the campaign may arise implicitly during Obama's final address to the gathering of world leaders -- he's expected to recap eight years of foreign policy, providing a contrast to Trump's proposals -- it's hardly the setting for a fiery political throw-down.

Even in October, when the race will enter its frenzied sprint, the demands of the presidency mean an all-out, every-day-on-the-trail presence for Obama is unrealistic. Already the President's schedule is filling up. The White House announced Monday that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi would visit on October 18, a day-long affair that will stretch into a late State Dinner. A government funding battle also seems likely to occupy the President's time this month.

Many of the states that officials say Obama will target -- including Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Michigan -- are easily accessible in a single day-trip on Air Force One, but would leave few moments for other business at the White House.

Given Obama's sway among young and minority voters -- populations historically difficult to get to the polls -- there is pressure for the President to hit many states before their voting registration deadline passes. In Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, that means showing up before October 11.

"I think what is clear is that the President does have a lot of influence over a large number of voters that haven't previously been regularly engaged in politics," Earnest said Monday, adding the Clinton campaign is "hoping that the President will be helpful in making the case on their behalf to motivate voters to get registered and to participate on Election Day."

CNN's Naomi Lim contributed to this report.

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Obama: 'I really, really, really want to elect Hillary ...

Duterte, who cursed Obama as a "son of a bitch" Monday, said in a statement through his spokesman that he regretted "it came across as a personal attack on the US President."

"We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions," the statement released on Tuesday read.

"Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people," Duterte scoffed in a speech Monday. "Son of a bitch, I will swear at you."

A statement from Duterte's office Tuesday claimed the "son of the bitch" insult was aimed at the journalist whose question prompted the fiery response, and not at Obama.

Obama has worked hard to develop the Philippines' partnership with the US and as a regional counterbalance to China. He's visited the country twice in his second term, and announced on a stop there in November the return of a US military presence at a critical naval base on the South China Sea.

But Duterte's derogatory comments and a spike in extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers put the relationship in stormier waters.

Obama and Duterte had been set to meet in Laos this week, where Obama is attending a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders. The statement from Duterte's spokesman said the "meeting has been mutually agreed upon to be moved to a later date."

Obama instead met Tuesday with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea.

In his speech Monday, Duterte also blamed the United States for causing the unrest on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao.

"As a matter of fact, we inherited this problem from the United States," he said. "Why? Because they invaded this country and made us their subjugated people. Everybody has a terrible record of extrajudicial killing. Why make an issue about fighting crime?"

Duterte was referring to the US's history as a colonial power in the Philippines, and specifically to one infamous massacre in the southern Philippines -- the 1906 Battle of Bud Dajo -- in which hundreds of Filipinos, including women and children, were killed.

"How many died? Six hundred," Duterte said Monday. "If (Obama) can answer that question and give the apology, I will answer him."

Obama indicated Monday he was wary of meeting with Duterte, suggesting the bombast could prevent making substantial progress between the two nations.

"If and when we have a meeting, this is something that is going to be brought up," Obama said, referring to the Philippines' controversial record of combating drug crime since Duterte took office earlier this year.

Later, on Monday afternoon, the White House announced the meeting was canceled.

"Double your efforts. Triple them, if need be. We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier, and the last pusher have surrendered or [been] put behind bars -- or below the ground, if they so wish," Duterte said during his State of the Nation speech on July 25.

"We do not condone these acts," Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar said.

"(The) government is here to save our people from the drug menace and punish the offenders, including the big-time ones. The PNP (Philippines National Police) continues to investigate situations involving vigilante killings and operational aspects where deaths are reported."

CNN's Ben Westcott, Tim Hume, Antoine Sanfuentes and Euan McKirdy contributed to this report

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After cursing Obama, Duterte expresses regret

President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping submitted their nations' plans to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon here, the host city of this year's Group of 20 meetings.

The US and China are the world's largest carbon polluters, and officials hope their formal entry into the Paris accord will spur other nations to come aboard. The Paris agreement only goes into effect if 55 nations sign on.

Because the US plan was termed an "executive agreement," the White House says Obama did not require Senate approval for ratification.

"I believe that history will judge today's efforts as pivotal," Obama said after he and Xi formally submitted their nations' plans.

In talks with Xi after the announcement, Obama raised areas over which Washington and Beijing remain firmly at odds, including over the rising Asian power's territorial grabs in the South China Sea, its engagement in cyber warfare, a monetary policy often unwelcome in the West and longstanding concerns over human rights abuses.

"We will have candid conversations about some of those differences, issues like human rights, or cyber, or maritime," Obama said. "I am absolutely committed to ensuring not only that this is a productive meeting but that we are also setting the stage so that the next US administration comes in with a relationship that is on a strong and productive footing."

Obama, who touched down in Hangzhou just after 2 p.m. local time (2 a.m. ET), is embarking on a final bout of delicate overseas diplomacy before his successor is elected in November. He arrived in Asia on Saturday for meetings with some of his most nettlesome counterparts.

A pomp-filled arrival ceremony on the airport's tarmac was marred, however, by scuffles between US officials and Chinese security, who attempted to keep members of the media and some senior Obama aides away from the US President.

"This is our country. This is our airport," one Chinese official insisted when US presidential aides said that American reporters were allowed to view Obama's arrival. Officials also briefly attempted to block US National Security Adviser Susan Rice from moving toward the President.

The confrontation lasted only moments before the US delegation sped away toward the city center.

It was likely just the first tense moment on a trip rife with tension for Obama, who, during his final presidential trip to Asia, is taking a final stab at face-to-face negotiations to resolve simmering disputes.

Obama's aides insist China is a success story for the administration but acknowledge the persistent differences between the countries. They said those divergences would be covered in Obama's talks with Xi, as they have been for the past several years.

"Part of what I've tried to communicate to President Xi is that the United States arrives at its power, in part, by restraining itself," Obama told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in an interview ahead of the Asia trip, previewing his message.

"So where we see them violating international rules and norms, as we have seen in some cases in the South China Sea or in some of their behavior when it comes to economic policy, we've been very firm," he added. "And we've indicated to them that there will be consequences."

"Our relationship with China ... defies easy and simple definitions," said Daniel Kritenbrink, Obama's senior director for Asian affairs. "We recognize and are comfortable with the fact that there exists a broad range of tensions in the US-China relationship. We don't shy away from that tension."

For Obama, this week's trip to China and Laos is one of his last opportunities to shape American foreign policy before other leaders adapt their approach to the US based on the next president. He hopes to make a closing argument in some of his most fraught relationships before the business of state is handed off.

Aside from Xi, Obama planned formal meetings with the leaders of Turkey and the Philippines amid new disagreements.

Deep divides over Syria have also marred Obama's relationship with Putin, adding to a litany of discord between the US and Russia that's driven relations to their lowest level since the Cold War.

It's a final attempt to salvage what's become one of the most acrimonious relationships on the global stage. Putin's persistent support for the Syrian regime, Moscow's moves in Ukraine and the charge that Russia may be meddling in the US presidential contest have built a deeply antagonistic dynamic between the two leaders.

Obama has worked hard to develop the Philippines' partnership with the US and its role as a regional counterbalance to China. He's visited the country twice in his second term, and announced on a stop there in November the return of a US military presence at a critical naval base on the South China Sea.

But Duterte's derogatory comments and a spike in extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers put the relationship in stormier waters.

Obama is expected to complete one more foreign swing as President, traveling to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November and likely making additional stops in a presidential farewell tour.

But that trip is scheduled after the presidential election, meaning his stops in China and Laos this week will be his final chance to interact with world leaders before either Trump or Hillary Clinton make him a lame duck.

Obama is planning to meet British Prime Minister Theresa May for the first time since she replaced his stalwart partner David Cameron. The consequences of the Brexit vote were likely to arise in the summit's various economic sessions.

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Obama, China ratify climate agreements - CNNPolitics.com

"We are heartbroken by the loss of life," Obama said after seeing firsthand the damage in the state's capital that has caused more than 106,000 residents and households to register for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. More than 60,000 homes were damaged, officials said, and 13 people were killed.

"I think anybody who can see just the streets, much less the inside of the homes here, people's lives have been upended by this flood," he added.

The flooding has created political headache for the White House as critics blasted Obama for being too slow to visit the state. He spent the previous week vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, while Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, visited the state and handed out supplies.

"Tuesday's too late," Trump told Fox News this weekend. "Hop into the plane and go down and go to Louisiana and see what's going on, because it's a mess."

The city's newspaper, "The Advocate," originally criticized the President for not ending his vacation in Martha's Vineyard immediately to visit the region. But the editorial board praised his decision to come Tuesday.

Trump's visit was well-received by local officials, and for a moment it gave Trump a chance to reveal a presidential timber that he insists he has.

"Because it helped to shine a spotlight on Louisiana and on the dire situation that we have here, it was helpful," said John Bel Edwards, the state's Democratic governor.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Air Force One defended the timing of the trip, saying the "President is used to people trying to score political points even in situations where they shouldn't."

Earnest said that $120 million in aid has already been approved and is starting to be paid out to flood-impacted residents.

Edwards, who greeted Obama when he landed Tuesday, had previously said that he hoped the President would wait a few weeks before making his visit to the state, given the entourage and Secret Service personnel that comes with presidential trips that would have strained resources while officials were coping with the floods.

Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic opponent, said Monday that she too plans a trip to the flood site. Her campaign said in a statement that she would come to the state at an unspecified time in the future.

"This month's floods in Louisiana are a crisis that demand a national response," she said. "I am committed to visiting communities affected by these floods, at a time when the presence of a political campaign will not disrupt the response, to discuss how we can and will rebuild together."

Obama also met Tuesday with family members of police officers killed in last month's Baton Rouge attack. Three Baton Rouge area police officers were killed last month when they were ambushed by a gunman. That gunman, Gavin Long, was shot and killed by police.

Obama's vacation ended Sunday, and the White House has maintained that he has been regularly briefed by senior staff on the situation on the ground and top administration officials also were sent to the Louisiana. Yet his response has earned some comparisons to how George W. Bush handled another natural catastrophe in a Louisiana city, New Orleans, during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Obama has traveled to disaster sites in recent years, touring communities in Oklahoma and Arkansas destroyed by tornadoes along with New Jersey towns hit by Hurricane Sandy.

Residents such as Denham Springs' Todd Krichel are still grappling with the scale of the destruction.

Krichel told CNN's Nick Valencia he had lost a classic car he had been holding onto for years, a motorcycle he had been working on since the early 1980s and a family Bible from the late 1800s in the deluge.

"I pulled in this street this morning and a wave hit me and it just, I broke down, you know (what) I'm saying," Krichel said outside his house. "It just, all my friends, family all our friends on this street, look at it. ... And I pulled down there and it was pretty tough to swallow."

Although Krichel said he did not want to evoke politics, he agreed Obama should have visited the stricken area earlier.

"I think it's great that Trump came into town to show his support. I think that's a good thing that he did that, to tell you the truth," he said.

But while residents such as Baton Rouge's Marie Sibley pleaded to Obama "to just help us," others like Albany's Catherine Murphy were less optimistic.

"There ain't nothing he can do for us that Louisiana ain't done for ourselves," Murphy said. "I've got no help from the federal government. I ain't asking for help from the government. Baby, let me tell you my community has come through."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included a photo that incorrectly identified Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter.

CNN's Eugene Scott and Naomi Lim contributed to this report.

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Obama tours Louisiana amid criticism that he's late ...

President Obama so far has no plans to cut short his 16-day vacation in Martha's Vineyard to visit flood-affected Louisiana.

The White House is emphasizing the massive response led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist in recovery efforts, which has received praise from Louisiana's Gov. John Bel Edwards.

However, some critics are looking to connect what they see as a lackluster response compared to former President George W. Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina.

"If the president can interrupt his vacation for a swanky fundraiser for fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, as he did on Monday, then surely he can make time to show up for a catastrophe thats displaced thousands," the editorial board of The Advocate wrote on Thursday.

GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is likely to seize on the sentiment as he visits the state this morning to meet with local officials. Hillary Clinton has not announced her plans in regards to visiting the area, but earlier tweeted that she is "closely monitoring" the situation.

"The optics of Obama golfing while Louisiana residents languished in flood waters was striking," the editorial board said. "It evoked the precedent of the passive federal response to the states agony in 2005, a chapter of history no one should ever repeat."

However, Gov. Edwards defended the administration's response yesterday evening saying the president's visit could be disruptive in having to redirect law enforcement resources to handle security.

If the president visits, Edwards said, he should wait at least two weeks.

White House officials say Obama has continued to receive updates throughout the week and point to the resources mobilized on the ground in Louisiana.

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Critics Call for Obama to Cut Vacation Short to Visit Flood ...