no debate but a prime time appeal to michigan voters in a brutal ruling for from a new york judge. how former president trump is attempting to steal the spotlight from list primary contend orders debate night after a judge said he's been a fraud for decades. plus, a mad dash into north korea. what we're learning about u.s. army private king's strange trip to the kingdom and why he could

be facing time here at home. and not guilty. bob menendez is out on bond but a growing number of his democratic colleagues want him out of the senate. we're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right now to cnn news central. former president trump heads to michigan tonight to give a prime time speech and make a play for working class voters. there, he'll take the stage in front of current and former union workers. that means he won't be on stage at tonight's republican presidential debate. as with the first gop debate, trump is skipping the second showdown in california. this is the former president's business empire is under a major threat after a new york judge ruled trump and list adult sons committed fraud for years by overvaluing their properties to get favorable loans and insurance deals. we have reporters covering all

of these stories. cnn national correspondent kristen holmes is there ahead of the speech. and we have kyung law in simi valley, the site of the republican complicate. and we have a reporter covering the trump fraud case. what more can you tell us about this effort to court blue collar voters, even though he's going to be at a nonunion location? >> the fact that president biden was here yesterday, the fact that former president trump is here today is not a coincidence. it goes to show you how important these working class voters will be in a general election in 2024. of course, trump is not the nominee but he is the front-runner. this is the clearest look at him running for the general election. this is a nonunion shop called drake enterprises in macomb

county. it is a county he won both in 2016 and in 2020. when we look at why exactly he chose to come here to this swing state to talk to working class voters, that shows what you they're trying to do, trying to pick off certain groups of voters in 2024. we know this group of voters, michigan in particular, helped carry trump to the white house in 2016. they also helped carry biden to the white house in 2020 and trump believed they can siphon off some of these voters. they can drive a wedge between union leadership which has essentially condemned donald trump. they've said his administration was antiworker, antiunion, pro business. they can separate them from the rank and file. and i did speak to a couple of work here's are coming tonight who told me some of the reason they're coming to support donald trump has nothing to do with unions or working. it has to do with having conservative values. that's why they would be here tonight. we will keep an eye on this.

we will be talking to the people seeing who exactly shows up. if they're going to come vote in 2024. it will be interesting to see. again, he's not going to get the same warm welcome, at least from union leaders that we saw president biden get yesterday. >> no. they've had some very harsh words for him. so you're in simi valley. what are we expecting to see tonight when the runaway front runner is not even going to be there? >> reporter: he may not be there in body but at least one of these candidates said that they're going to make sure that his presence in this room is felt. chris christie, former new jersey governor has said to cnn that he fully intends to make tonight about donald trump, telling cnn, this is going to be about trump. and that he plans to try to force that contrast between trump and his rivals. so his presence, if chris christie has anything to say

about it, will certainly be felt. underscoring all of this was something that he tweeted today as well. it's a light-hearted tweet referencing the weekend viral moment with taylor swift when she showed up at a kansas city football game. it underscores his strategy tonight. he tweeted, quote, after tonight, trump will know we are never, ever getting back together. i was going to sing that but my producer said i cannot. let's give you a look at the stage tonight based on polling position. at the center is ron desantis. he is still in this tier at the top. tim scott, chris christie, on the very edges, mike pence and doug bergum. the overall dynamics, they have not changed.

those little movements, that's what we're looking at tonight. >> i wish you had swung that. you have many talents and dancing is one of them. i think you're a pretty good singer. to you in this fraud case. this judge is ruling really cuts to the heart of donald trump's identity. >> yeah. it will knee cap his businesses here in new york if they actually go through it. there is an if because there's a lot of appeals in this process. let's get to the core of what this new york judge decided, essentially saying that trump, his two sons and trump organization committed fraud for almost a decade, overvalueating his properties to amass his fortune that we are very much familiar with because he talks about it all the time. o one tangible example. his trump tower in new york city was three time bigger than it actually is in square footage,

basically overevaluating it over $207 million. the judge not mince go o'ing words saying the discrepancy by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space can only be considered fraud. what's the result? a judge has handed down some hefty penalties. essentially canceling business certifications of trump entities named in this civil suit brought by lettisha james last year. it is macking trumporing, two specific properties. one here in new york, 40 wall street, and also a family estate in silver springs in westchester county, new york. and an independent party will be appointed to dissolve these entities. how that will look, it will take time to figure exactly that out. tell judges have to decide that. but this is just one part of a number of issues that she brought in her civil suit and

that is expected to get started next week. it will be dealing with financial issues. listen, this ruling yesterday ahead of the start of the suit clears the path for james to get what she wanted originally when she brought this chfrs basically to make the trumps, the sons and trump himself, never do business again in the state of new york. also, they may be owing new york a lot, a lot of money based on this ruling yesterday. we'll wait to find out. a lot of appeals in play that we're keeping an eye out for. >> this is huge. we will keep watching. thank you so much to both of you. we do appreciate it. boris? new today, the u.s. army private who ran into the most repressive nations on earth on purpose is now back in u.s. custody. more than two months ago, travis king raced across the dmz while on a public tour in the area that separates north and south

korea. this is the picture of the back of his head and it was taken shortly before he 34made a run r it. let's take you live to the state department and the chief national security correspondent, alex, walk us through how this all went down. >> reporter: we are learning a lot more about this decision by north korea to suddenly expel travis king. this was something not expected but we're told in the last few days, this is according to the state department's spokesman, matt miller, that sweden came forward to the united states and made it clear that north korea was interested in releasing private king why. sweden? they represent interests in north korea where the u.s. does not have an embassy. miller said this is not evidence of any kind of breakthrough between the north korean regime and the united states. he said that it was essentially

a one off, but it does follow months of what the biden administration has called intense diplomacy by multiple countries since miller really bolted, sorry, excuse me, since king bolted across that border into north korea on july 18th. how king specifically left north korea and is making his way home, this is what the spokesman had to say moments ago. >> earlier today he was transported to the border between north korea and china where he was met by our ambassador to the people's republic of china, nicholas burns. then he boarded a plane and flew from china and then to osan air force base in south korea where he was transported to the department of defense. we thank sweden and the people's republic of china for assisting in that transfer. he is now on his way to the united states and we expect him to arrive in the coming how's.

>> reporter: so multiple stops for private king to get home. i asked miller whether north korea had asked for anything or whether this was any kind of exchange. whether they had gotten anything out of it. he and other officials in the biden administration are being very firm that no concessions were made to north korea in order to get private travis king home. we have heard from a spokesman for king's mother. i want to read a part of that statement. she said she will be foregrateful to the united states army and all its interagency partners. when king arrives back in the united states, he is going to texas to san antonio to a medical center called the brook army medical center where he will get evaluated and treated, both physically and mentally. he will be put into what is essentially a reintegration program to get him used to normal life again. there are, of course, questions considering the fact that he went awol and was being sent back to the u.s. in july for

disciplinary reasons, whether he will face any kind of court-martial. those questions, we're told, will be addressed once he has not good through that treatment in texas. those legal questions still looming over his return. thank you very much. let's get you to seoul, south korea, with paula hancock. what are they saying about the release? >> reporter: well, what they said just a couple hours before u.s. officials confirm he was in u.s. custody was they were going to expel travis king. this was all through state-run media. they said that he had confessed to illegally intruding into the country. now, i should say, this is all north korea's words. we have not heard or seen from travis king since mid july when he ran across the border. north korea claims that travis king said that he wanted to go across the border because of what he thought was an unjust

u.s. society. i'll read you part of the state media. quote, he talked about maltreatment and racial discrimination within the u.s. army and was disillusioned about the unequal u.s. society. now, again, this is pyongyang's words, not travis king's. i'm sure we will be hearing from him at some point in the future. from north korea's appointment , point of view, it was an interesting to expel him instead of using him as a bargaining chip. in the past they've managed to secure some very high-profile u.s. visitors to pyongyang to negotiate for the release of a u.s. citizen. they had former u.s. presidents going to pyongyang for that reason. experts i've spoken to say that is significant because at this point, it shows they have no interest whatsoever in speaking to washington. with the visit recently by kim

jong-un, he has made his diplomatic priorities very clear. interesting as well that we hear from the u.s. side that they don't believe this is any kind of significant breakthrough. so we are seeing a little different from what we've seen in the past with u.s. detainees being sent back. there was no high-profile visit. the general assumption is he would have been questioned significantly, extensively while in north korea for the north korean officials to hear anything that he may have known, although there is an assumption that he may not have known anything of significance or concern, but of course, the north koreans would have debriefed him extensively to find out anything and potentially they knew as much as they thought he knew and then they wanted him to go home. boris? >> thank you so much, paula. we have a lot more news to

get to as more than half of his democratic colleagues in the senate call for his resignation. new jersey's bob menendez and his wife make their first court appearance on bribery charges and enter a plea. we'll take you live outside the courthouse in just hoemts. plus, turbulence ahead on capitol hill. that's how one congressman is describing the looming government shutdown. and later, a manhunt underway for the suspect -- a baltimore-based tech executive. we'll be right back.

arraigned but unfazed. an not guilty plea to a flew of sly of bribery charges. menendez is accused of receiving gold bars and wads of cash in exchange for egyptian military aid and providing information to the egyptian government. he maintains his innocence. on a political front he's facing near total isolation, at least three democrats in the senate.

i want to go to the reporter outside the courthouse. she was inside during the arraignment. tell us about what happened. >> reporter: so senator bob menendez, he walked into court today holding his wife nadine men menendez' hand in a sign of solidarity. she's a co-defendant in this case. his partner in crime is part of the bribery scheme. the court proceeding took only about 30 minutes of time. the senator entered a plea of not guilty as did his wife and two of the business associates who were accused of paying bribes to menendez in exchange for favors. during this hearing, menendez showed no emotion. he sat straightforward looking at the judge with his hands clasped on his lap, answering questions about whether he understood what was happening. after he entered the plea of not guilty, the judge released him on bond. the term of his bond, he has to pay $100,000 of personal

reconnaissance bond. and then towed surrender his personal passport. he was allowed to keep his official passport and he is allowed to travel internationally with pretrial services approval, and otherwise, the travel is limited to the domestic u.s. he is one of the conditions is not allowed to have any contact with any members of his staff, any staff members of the senate foreign relations committee, or any political advisers who have personal knowledge of this investigation without the presence of attorneys there. so a signal that it is possible that some of his staffers could potentially be called as witnesses. now, after the hearing wrapped, menendez left the courtroom again holding his wife's hand. he didn't answer any questions and he's due back in court next week. >> all right, thank you. so. i want to bring in national security attorney bradley moss. he's a partner in the law office. i want to dig into some details. if you look at the time line of

the relationship between bob menendez and his wife and then we look at the wrongdoings here, the alleged wrongdogs, february 2018 they start dating. shortly there after, nadine informs will hannah also indicted here that she's dating the senator. by the next month, they're arranging dinners and meetings without staff between the senator and egyptian officials. what questions does that raise for you about the possible scenarios here of whether she is being exploited, she is being used to exploit him, she is exploiting him, what do you think? >> you notice in the lead-up reporting, hands held closely together, a show of unity. how long will that unit last? there is a concern here based off these factual allegations in the indictment if she was being exploited, if she was ultimately using this as a means to advance

her own interest at the expense of her husband. that will come up at some point. corruption trials that involve spouses, think back to virginia a number of years back. his lawyers ultimately threw his co-defendant wife under the bus basically pushing all the blame on to her. it didn't ultimately hurt her in the end because of the supreme court ruling that former president trump would talk about but that was where this could go depending on how this proceeds toward trial. if there may be a legal split between these two co-defendants despite the fact that they're husband and wife. >> let's look at another part of the time line. in june of 2019, freddie mac starts foreclosure proceedings on nadine menendez' home. at that time, it seems the allegation here is that it's not really a business.

the next month you have hana paying his company $23 million to bring the company to current. nadine texted the senator at the time saying it might be a fantastic 2019 all the way around. what does that time line tell you? >> it shows me that not jointly but at least his wife was under some sort of financial stressful this is the concern you have with public officials is that with the exception of some who are particularly wealthy, most do not have $20 million, $50 million sitting in the bank. they come from middle class means. so once they start facing this issue, potential financial issues of their own, they're at particular risk. there are always those, we've seen this throughout history willing to sell anyways. but there needs to be a better

system in place. better guidance on what to do, recognizing the exposure these individuals have to not only individuals in the united states who want to exploit them but foreign influences. >> that's sort of my question. john mill wroer about the possible sub text of this story is that they may have used agents in the u.s. to try to recruit the top elected official with influence over foreign policy to be its puppet. he knows how foreign countries try to get at people with influence like him. should he have been smart enough to know what's going on? would you expect that he knew what was going on if what is detailed in this indictment is all true? >> i think what the prosecutors intend to say is that he was

willfully taking in the money recognizing the counter intelligence threat. recognizing how they were exploiting him and his wife. and there will be public officials who will be willing to sell the dignity of the office like that. that does go to the larger point. are these officials truly cognizant of this all the time? bob menendez may have understood it and didn't care. do the rest of his colleagues fully grasp the exposure they have? and do they have significant safeguards in place to protect themselves when approached like this. >> sharing sensitive information but u.s. embassy staff in cairo. it's really alarming stuff in this indictment. thank you for this. we are just four days away from a government shutdown. speaker mccarthy said it is president biden and the senate's fault. we'll speak to a republican congressman about that next.

in fewer than four days, the federal government could shut down. the funning agreement needs to be approved by 11:59 p.m. this saturday to keep it open. and senate leaders have just reached the bipartisan deal that would do just that. at least temporarily. but hardline conservatives say it has no shot in the house. they say speaker kevin mccarthy has promised them that he would not put it on the floor. listen. >> i've called on him to consistently say that to the public. let the senate know it is dead on arrival. there's no way. >> if the government shuts down, tens of thousands of military members, tsa workers and air

traffic controllers would still have to work but without pay. and that is just one aspect to a potential shutdown. let's discuss with republican congressman jimenez. thank you for spending part of your afternoon with us. let's start with the stop-gap bill. he said it doesn't have enough support in the house. it doesn't look like he has a lot of options to avert a shutdown. should he reconsider? >> look, it may be that it will come to the house floor regardless of what the speaker wants, but at the end of the day, what we need to do, 98% of the republican conference wants to pass a funding resolution that will control the southern border and reduce government spending by about 8% and give us the time that we need in order to continue with regular order, and pass the appropriation bills that we need to pass. we should be passing four or five of those this week, and

then i would hope that we can reason with the four or five other, the four or five republicans that right now are saying they won't pass a funding resolution, who which, by the way, will be joined by 210 democrats to vote against the funding resolution. and so look, i think there is still some time to work this out. hopefully we will. if it doesn't happen, remember, it's 210 democrats voting no along with four or five republicans. the vast majority of republicans don't want to see a government shutdown. >> the math is very difficult to get it passed because. four or five republicans. you mentioned the democrats voting no. they could iron out a deal with them but the risk is that he would lose the speakership. how real is that risk? >> look, at the end of the day, i don't think, to be honest, i don't think the democrats want to see a shutdown either. the vast majority of them. so we need some of them to cross

over. our proposal is sound. it is what the american people want. our proposal is what 98% of the republican conference wants. so we need to get this done one way or another. >> it could ultimately cost mccarthy his job though. i do want to ask but the 8,000 federal civilian employees in your district that might miss a paycheck if there is a shutdown. what's your message to those constituents? >> that's the last thing that i want. again, i'm joining 98% of my conference. we do not want a government shutdown. the other thing is, if indeed there is a government shutdown and they don't get their paychecks, i won't get my paycheck either. that's the right thing to do. i'll write a letter to our folks here saying i will not saccept and i do not want to be paid in a government shutdown. i need to suffer suches every other federal employee, or doesn't need to but will.

>> while we have you, a fellow cuban american member of congress, bob menendez has been indicted on bribery charges. 30 senators in his own party have called on him to resign. do you think he should? >> there's always a presumption of innocence but this seems to be pretty overwhelming. what they found in his house, close to $500,000 stuffed into his coat pockets, gold bars, mercedes, all kinds of stuff. text messages, so yeah, i think maybe the senator needs to reconsider with the overwhelming evidence against him. but again, it's up to him and you're presumed innocent until proven guilty. so i join the chorus, yeah, this is overwhelming, you probably need to step aside and let somebody else represent the people's interests of new jersey. >> with that same sentiment in mind, one of your colleagues in the house is facing federal

criminal charges for among other things, stealing public funds. and there is compelling evidence there. should he resign? >> i'm not sure that the evidence against him is as compelling. again, it's up to him. he's presumed innocent until proven guilty. and again, the evidence that i see against the senator is pretty overwhelming. >> you don't think santos with his track record of what appear to be outright lies should consider resignation? >> he should. absolutely he should consider it but it is up to him just like senator menendez. i'll say it one more time, you're presumed innocent until proven guilty. they're both under indictment. senator menendez' indictment seems to be pretty serious. the allegations, and what they found are pretty serious. so it's a little different case. >> while we have you, i wanted to get your thoughts on the

release of this army private travis king. you are a member of the foreign affairs committee. what do you make of his release? this is very rare. >> there is the first i've heard of the release so i don't have the details. i would be disingenerous if i had a reaction to it. i'm glad one of our privates got released by north korea. i'm wondering if there was a price to pay. the biden administration has this proclivity to pay an exorbitant price for some, the release of american hostages like in iran and maybe in russia. since i don't know what the price was, i'm not going to comment. i'm happy that the private is back in american hands the white house has maintain that had no concessions were made to north korea to secure his release. i'm glad we were able to break the news to you. thank you for your time. >> thank you. national guard

reinforcements are arriving at the southern border with mexico to help with the surge in migrant crossings. according to our affiliate kfox, 600 troops arrived in el paso on tuesday and that adds the 2500 guardsmen and 800 active duty person that he will the d.o.d. is already there. the southern border is far from the first stop. getting to mexico is a death-defying challenge. david culver is near the southern border with guatemala where many migrants seek asylum for the first time. >> reporter: as you touchdown in southern mexico, be ready to share the road with migrants. we spotted group after group marching north. many of those who just illegally crossed into mexico go here. this migration processing center. we met folks camping out for days, some weeks, waiting to claim asylum in mexico.

ordered transit documents to pass through legally or to sign up for, well, some aren't quite sure what they're signing up for but they do it anyway. rafael from outside havana, cuba, at 26, he left behind a 6-year-old son and is traveling north with his dad. >> translator: he wants to go through this process here, get his documentation and then to the northern border. >> reporter: he wants to pave the way for the rest to follow. this person traveled from honduras with his wife and two young boys. he's done this before. >> he said he was painting water tanks and he said he was deported from minnesota to honduras and is now making the trek again. >> reporter: in the already impoverished state, they feel the strain. it is overflowing.

a lot of it is waiting to get into an office and processed eventually. we've met people from haiti, from honduras, cuba, and they're here for an unknown period of time. >> reporter: last year mexico said some 77,000 migrants applied for asylum in mexico. this year on track to be nearly double that. a record high. not everyone sees it as a burden. some of the mexican locals, all these people who are not from mexico are a business opportunity, too. look over here. you can see the stands set up to sell food. vendors. to get there, it's an hour's drive or a day's walk from the river. guatemala on one side. mexico on the other. in the shadows of the official crossing between the two countries, an armada of wraps.

group after group. she says it is a really hard trek. you can tell they have such a rush of emotion when they get to this side. some of them come ready to continue on. others like this person and her husband using this as a moment to catch their breath. they're having their first child. she's five months pregnant. days later, they cross in the gap connecting colombia and panama. all they own now fits in a small bag. they were ronbbed and held at gunpoint for hours but that does not compare with what they saw. they are describing passing through the gap and they said several people had already passed away. a lot of kids. they saw the remains.

and they said children who were abandoned. those images, describing the journey she made with her four young kids. even amid her tear-filled pain, little ones lighten the load. his 12-year-old sister helping, as she turns the questions on me. she says i'm older than her dad. curiosity brings their siblings and cousins and she takes the mic telling me why they left venezuela. 6 years old. the economy is bad. as they share, disturbing memories surface.

they're talking about, these are children, mind you, having gone through, seeing the bodies, a blond woman he's describing. sophia's pain as she remembers saying goodbye to loved ones. the friendships that she's lost. so much behind them. yet far from over. more than 1,000 miles until the u.s. border. david culver, mexico.

a manhunt is underway for an

alleged killer. baltimore police say 32-year-old jason dean billingsley is responsible for the murder of pavel lapair. he is featured in the 30 under 30 list. the suspect is considered armed and extremely dangerous. brian todd is in baltimore with more details. what can you tell us about the suspect? >> there's an intense manhunt going on. we are outside the apartment building where this occurred. she was reported missing on monday. monday morning. then someone went to check on her and her body was discovered later on monday according to the police with signs of blunt force trauma on the head. the suspect pleaded guilty for first degree assault in 2009. he pleaded guilty for a charge of second-degree assault in 2011 and a first-degree sex offense

in 2015. he was sentenced to 30 years in prison but he got out of prison in 2022. we've been pressing officials with the police and the court systems to give us some answers on why he was released in 2022. we have not gotten those answers yet. with you in a news conference, the acting police commissioner did talk about how dangerous jason billingsley is as a suspect. >> be aware of your surroundings at all times. this individual will kill and he will rape. he will do anything he can to cause harmful so please be aware of your surroundings. >> reporter: so police actively looking for jason billingsley at this hour. people in this neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods are pretty terrified that he's on the loose. i talk to o'ed to someone who

described pava as a woman of great energy and vision and they are devastated by her loss. >> it is devastating. thank you for that report. houston, he's home. nasa astronaut frank rubio back on earth after a record-breaking trip to space. a lot longer than he was supposed to be. we'll have that story just ahead.

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nasa astronaut frank rubio is finally back home on earth after becoming the first u.s. astronaut to spend a full year in space. he had only planned for six months but then had a bit of an issue trying to hitch a ride him. kristen, i guess it's tough to order an uber in space. how is rubio doing? >> he says he's doing great but he has to be feeling the forces of gravity on his body. this is the first time in 371 days that he has had to feel the force of gravity on his body. just imagine what that must feel like after all that time in weightlessness. rubio is pretty well equipped to deal with this because he's an army doctor. a family physician. he has conducted dozens of experiments up at the internati international space station but now that he's home, perhaps the most interesting experiment he has conducted over his more than a year in space is the effects that it has had on his own body.

it's going to take a few months for him to get his muscles back in shape. they do exercise and train. that's why you can see him being carried out of the soyuz rocket there. you can't walk after you get back after that long in space. so he has to be care reed from the spacecraft and you can see he's being carried into a medical tent before he gets to go back and see his family. he has four kids. been away for a whole year. >> it's got to be a really intense case of sea legs to try to get your earth legs back. also, we should note the first astronaut from el salvador. still plenty to come including the american soldier who crossed the dmv into north korea. he's now back into u.s. custody. we have details on that handover straight ahead. stay with us.