Kelce loses to the new york jets, that relationship is over. Its based on that . I would say, you dont want to lose to the jets if if youre trying to hang out with a woman you might fancy. Thats right. Were going to leave it ere. See you tomorrow. Cnn news central starts now. Thanks, guys. Uncontrolled and messy, the gloves were off at the second gop debate, the border, tiktok and donald duck came up but the winner may have been candidate who wasnt there. So with the government due to shutdown on saturday, House Republicans roll up their sleeves for the first hearing of the Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden. Out of north korea and back on u. S. Soil. What happened to Army Private Travis King after he crossed into north korea and what happens to him now . Im kate bolduan with sara sidner and john berman, this is cnn news central. This morning we know who mike pence is sleeping with, because he told us. But what else have we learned from the Republican Debate . Seven candidates not named donald trump were on stage in what may have been the last best chance to derail his runaway cond candidacy. According to the poll, donald trump is leading the candidates on stage combined by 21 points. All of them combined. Hes beating the field by 21. This morning we get our first sense of who the pundits and the fundraisers and the voters think might have changed that dynamic, if any of them did at all. Were at the debate site in california. Good morning. Reporter good morning, john. Were hearing a lot of spin from the various pundits, campaigns. Were not hearing of any change from any of the candidates. All of them basically saying what they did before. But what we did notice during the debate is that there were a few more pointed attacks at that front runner. The front runner who has this tremendous gulf between the seven inside the debate hall as compared to where donald trump is currently standing. But i want you to take a listen to some of these notice some of these moments that we noticed when donald trump was mentioned directly by name by some of his competitors, take a listen. You know who else is missing in action . Donald trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight. My former running mate, donald trump has a plan to start to consolidate more power in washington d. C. , consolidate more power in the executive branch. This is where President Trump went wrong, He Foe Cused On Tra with china, didnt focus on the fact theyre buying farmland, theyre killing americans. Youre ducking these things, you keep doing that no one is going to call you donald trump anymore well call you donald duck. Plenty of name calling, finger pointing. Pointing to records. But we didnt hear a lot of specifics about the indictments that donald trump faces. What these candidates are trying to do still is try to gather some of that support that trump has and move it into their column. So in the context of this entire two hours we didnt hear the news involving the former president and didnt hear his name much over the entire two hours. There were discussions about ukraine and the divisions with the larger party and causes of the uaw strike and the various remedies. But this campaign is still moving forward, the semantics, broad trends not changing at this moment and these candidates are continuing to move full steam ahead. Thanks very much. Kate . Instead of debating last night we know that donald trump was in michigan. Making his appeal to Union Workers and effectively counterprogramming the food fight that played out on that debate stage in california. Trump only dismissively addressing his republican chall challengers. Listen. Theyre all job candidates. They want to be in the they want to theyll do anything, secretary of something. They even say vp. Does anybody see any vp in the group . I dont think so. We have much or on this. Elena, interestingly enough, he was trying to appeal to blue collar voters, yuan yub workers, speaking at a nonunion Auto Parts Company in michigan. What did he say . How did it land . Reporter right. Youre right. His goal with the speech was to break further into the working class Voter Coalition he knows he needs to win over in order to be successful in 2024. Thats true in states like michigan, which he won in 2016 with the help of some of these workers and people in the room last night, but he lost that state to biden in 2020. Hes also trying to do the same things in states like wisconsin and ohio. His speech was a bit dark. He was talking about a dire picture of the future of american jobs. He described President Biden as a cu a vulture and warned his policies, particularly related to electric vehicles, could be damaging for the Auto Industry, and tried to paint himself for a savior for auto workers and the Auto Industry. Now as part of that pitch he called for the members endorsement. Lets listen to what he said. Leadership should endorse me. And i will not say a bad thing about them again and they will have done their job. They will have done a proper job. In fact, if they endorse me, they will have the easiest Labor Leadership Job anywhere in the country. They have to sit back and watch as our Auto Industry reignites. Reporter now, kate, you dont typically associate donald trump as a prounion leader. Thats a title more associated with President Biden. And you did see biden got a warmer welcome from Union Leaders on tuesday when he was in michigan than trump did last night. But he was speaking to a crowd, donald trump, of an invitation only, a curated group of people and a lot of people in the room, the auto workers, current and former union members, including some on strike right now are supportive of donald trumping, you can hear that in the room last night. tha thank you for that. With us to discuss, Joseph Pinion and sarah matthews. Thank you for being here. First to you joseph. When you look at this field was there someone who stood out who you think voters are going to say, hey, thats a possibility . I think they all distinguish themselves in their own way. I think nikki haley had some shining moments. But ultimately i believe the person who had the best night was President Trump. Most of the candidates on the stage were talking about him. He had the opportunity to give husband own direct appeal to those auto workers and i think while much has been made about the fact that it was a nonunion shop, i think you have to remember all the people leading those auto unions have been endorsing democrats for quite some time, did not endorse trump in 2016 or 2020. But its about the Rank And File members, according to some estimates 25 to 30 of those workers still support President Trump. So at the end of the day, certainly there were candidates that spoke well that made some points about the republican agenda but it comes back to, again, the man who was not present, donald j. Trump. Rliterally the elephant in te room. I want to talk to you about nikki haley. Lets listen to some of what happened last night. She probably had the line of the night when she was going after Vivek Ramaswamy over the use of tiktok and she went after him, she said, look, its a Chinese Social Media Company you shouldnt be using it, we should ban it, this is what she said to him after he pushed back. Honestly, every time i hear you, i feel a little bit dumber. That was sort of a line that everybody can remember. Sara, now to you. Did she have another moment . Do you feel like she had another moment with that argument back and forth . I definitely think the pressure was on because she had a Strong Performance in the first debate. And i think she continued that in the second debate, delivered another standout performance. Obviously i think she does best with Vivek Ramaswamy. It was another moment to draw contrast between the two, Show Off Froreign Policy chops and i think it was a strong moment for her. Tim scott challenged ron desantis on what the school board had decided on slavery. Basically new middle School Curriculum said that teaching about slavery should include how slaves developed skills that were helpful to their personal benefit. Desantis shot back and heres how he responded. There was an exchange with tim scott that ended in a way a lot of people werent expecting. Black families survived family, poll taxes and Literacy Tests be with we survived discrimination woven into the laws of our country. What was hard to survive was Johnsons Great Society where they decided to take the black father out of the household to get a check in the mail and you can measure that in unemployment, crime, and devastation. So tim scott is making the argument that welfare was harder to survive than slavery. Is that going to play well with sort of the trump base, the voters . I dont know if thats necessarily what he was saying. He probably could have executed the delivery better. But i think we do know that the fatherless epidemic is real. We know for a fact we have pass policies as a country that left African American families and minority families at large struggling from the aftermath of the red line, all of those things are documented. Every four years we pretend its not real when it comes to president ial elections but i dont think the American People are ready or want to hear this false notion that slave have you go slavery is going to be e k kuwai equatable. Its a different type of pain but we should not dismiss out of hand the real reality that there is economic despair and personal despair brought around by decades of policy that we pretend dont matter because the policy that brought us those policies pretend theyre the only friends back people have. I want to go to talk about the border. Because thats one thing it seems all of the candidates agreed on. Lets take a listen to some of the excerpts. He said he was going to build a wall across the whole border. He built 52 miles of wall, said mexico would pay for it. If mexico knew he was only going to build 52 miles they may have paid for the 52 miles. Does this differentiate them at all . It doesnt from each other. They said to militarize the border. Does this have an effect on the front runner, donald trump . Obviously what Chris Christie said is true. But i dont know if a lot of voters feel that way, especially when you compare it to President Biden who they feel has been totally absent on this issue. Obviously this was a top issue for donald trump and he spoke about it often and frequently. Whereas it seems like the Biden Administration refuses to acknowledge the crisis at our southern border. So i dont know if thats the strongest place you can draw contrast between yourself and donald trump. And at the end of the day, obviously donald trump wasnt on stage but it is hard for those candidates to break out and have a moment without him there. And i think that while we might see a bump in the polls for nikki haley, she had a Strong Performance last night, until the field narrows down, no one is going to challenge donald trump for the nomination. His lead is too dominant right now thats why folks need to drop out so we can coalesce support around someone else. Thank you for coming in this morning. John . With two days left before the government runs out of funding and shuts down. House republicans decided today was the best day to hold the first Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden. Theres no evidence that we have seen yesterday that President Biden profited off of his sons activities. Sara murray is in washington with a look at what we might be hearing shortly. Reporter yeah, john. This is a hearing thats going to set the stage for the republicans Impeachment Inquiry into joe biden. They put out the framework last night that gives you an indication what they want to focus on as the Impeachment Inquiry progresses. There are four questions here. The first has to do with whether joe biden, at any point, decided to trade access, the appearance of access, or perform any sort of official acts in exchange for money, for him or for his family. And then the last one has to do with his son hunter biden and the ongoing investigations and whether joe biden ever interfered in those investigations. And as you point out, we should reiterate, House Republicans havent found any evidence of this yet. They havent found any evidence that joe biden profited off what his son or other Family Members were up to, they havent found any evidence that he performed any official acts when he was Vice President in exchange for money for some kind of foreign interest. This is what theyre looking to dig into with the first hearing today. The panel of witnesses they have, theyre not fact witnesses. These are not the irs whistleblowers who raised concerns about the hunter biden criminal investigation. These are not people doing business with hunter biden. Theyre a forensicccountant, a former doj tax official. People who say these could raise concerns or the plea deal should be rejected as it was by the judge. We are days away from a Government Shutdown and we expect to see democrats hammering their republican colleagues about focussing on this Impeachment Inquiry today rather than working on the budget. Kate . Coming up for us, President Biden preparing for a big speech today. Set to lay out the threat he thinks donald trump continues to pose to democracy and the country. And really setting up for his most direct attack on donald trump ahead of a rematch against the men. And Bob Me Mennendez is bac capitol hill today. What hes going to tell democrats this morning on in a closed door meeting. A majority asking for him to step aside. And a man hunt is over in baltimore for the man accused of killing a tech ceo. What police are saying now about this arrest. Well be back. Looming and days away, the senate did something the house cant seem to do right now, come to a bipartisan agreement, approving a Stop Gap Spending Bill which could be headed to the house. But hard line House Republicans threw cold water all over it quickly. Which leaves us, the federal government, military members expected to be paid, millions of federal workers leaves us where. Lets get to lauren fox whos tracking it for us. Lauren, what now . Reporter House Republicans are huddled Behind Closed Doors right now behind me in a Conference Meeting where we expect to get more details on what their plan for the rest of the week will look like. We know right now, tonight they start voting on a series of individual one Year Spending bills. All of which would not prevent a Government Shutdown. Instead it is intended to try to get some of those hard liners to build trust with leadership to show them were voting on these individual Appropriations Bills like you wanted will you help us rally around a republican shortterm bill to prevent a Government Shutdown. I asked if the plan is still to vote tomorrow as House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy has been saying on a shortterm plan. But rights now mccarthy doesnt have the votes he needs to pass the shortterm measure. The hope is after tonight perhaps that will build momentum for leadership but thats not the case. In the United States senate they have a bipartisan agreement theyll start the process of voting on that today. Later. Well be waiting to see if nay can get it passed in time before that saturday night deadline. But you have the house and senate talking past each other right now with no clear resolution there wont be a Government Shutdown. When employees of the federal government wake up on monday morning. Kate . All right. See what they say when they come out of the meeting. Good to see you, lauren. Quickly before i go, lauren. On the other side of the capitol, in the senate sorry i forgot i wanted to ask you about this Bob Me Den Nendez back on the hill since pleading not guilty to bribery charges. The majority of the democrats have come out saying they think he should resign facing the charges he is. What is he going to say . What are you hearing about this . Reporter yeah. This is obviously a very important meeting for Senator Menendez, who has been defiant against calls asking him to step aside. There are 30 democrats asking him to resign, including his fellow new jersey senator and close friend and political ally, senator cory booker, as well as dick durbin, the majority whip. So you can expect this to be a tense meeting we expect that Senator Menendez to be defiant as he has been. But when he returns to capitol hill today, he is no longer acting as the chairman of the Senate Foreign relations committee. Yesterday his democratic colleagues voted that senator ben cardman will be the interim chairman while Senator Menendez battles the charges in court. Kate. Thank you. I know we are more than a year out from a general election but so far the prospect of a biden trump rematch in 2024 looks more likely. Biden is expected to show his days of Holding Donald trump at arms length is finished today. In a few hours hell speak in arizona honoring the late senator john mccain. But his speech is expected to deliver warnings about American Democracy and the threat posed by donald trump. The timing and message of the speech are very deliberate. Tell us about what we expect to hear. Reporter no doubt about it. Listen, todays event, todays speech is billed as an official white house event. But make no mistake what you hear today on democracy is going to be central for his message for his 2024 Reelection Campaign and central to his argument against trump in a potential rematch come next year. The fight to preserve American Democracy was, of course, central to President Bidens 2020 campaign and a senior official telling us this morning that fighting to preserve democracy has been the central cause of joe bidens presidency. And the president has been sharpening his attacks on donald trump and the threat he poses to democracies. We have some excerpts from the president s remarks today and this is what hes going to say, quote theres something dangerous happening in america, theres an Extremist Movement that does not share the basic believes of our democracy, the Maga Movement. So the president is going to effectively say hes trying to defend americas Democratic Institutions from this threat who he says is embodied by President Trumps Maga Movement and say democracy isnt a partisan issue but an American Issue and hes going to emphasize this delivering these remarks in many arizona, home of late senator john mccain. And President Biden also set to announce today hes steering federal funds towards a Mccain Library housed in the his home state. Thank you for that reporting. And cnn will have special coverage of that speech with jake tapper at 2 45 eastern. New video this morning of Army Private Travis King arriving back on u. S. Soil just a day after he was released by north korea. We got new information about why they let him go and the possible punishment now that he is home. Baltimore police set to hold a News Conference shortly after they caught a convicted felony accused of murdering a young tech ceo. The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. This morning travis king is back on u. S. Soil just after being abruptly released by north korea. The u. S. Army private crossed into that country in july. Cnn correspondent Oren Lieberman is with us. Why did the north koreans let him go and whats now . Reporter the answer to your first question is not that much Administration Officials ensure the u. S. Didnt give anything up to secure his release and north korea didnt give a reasoning behind it, saying he was expelled and an investigation into king had been completed. But what that investigation was based on, what they were looking for or found, the north korea state media hasnt put that information out there. We know the u. S. Worked with sweden to get him out of there, bring him to the Friendship Bridge on the chinese border from there he went into military custody. Was flown from china to south korea and landed at Joint Base San Antonio a few hours ago. We learned he spoke with his family after he exited north korea shortly after leaving the country there and now he will go to brook army medical center, which is where detainees are retaken to help them reacclimate to life outside detention and in the United States. So expect a medical and perhaps psychiatric valuation. The question will he face charges under the Military Code of justice, remember he was awol, absent without leave, they said he went willfully and purposefully into north korea of his own choice there, into an Adversary State so he could face charges. When that will happen, what those charges will be or if the arm army wantes to go down that roa, obviously those answers arent clear. Keep us posted, they obviously want to give him a few days to recover before making decisions like that. Thanks for being with us. After a days long man hunt, Baltimore Police say they caught the man accused of killing a young and up coming tech ceo. Jason billingsley was arrested a few hours ago accused of killing pava lapere. Our Cnns Omar Jimenez is with us right now. I understand theres a Press Conference thats supposed to happen sometime this morning well take it as soon as we get the victim. What are you learning . Reporter the Press Conference is expected in an hour and a half but this is someone that mayor Brandon Scott called extremely dangerous. It was in the overnight hours that Baltimore Police announced they arrested jason billingsley. This was at a Train Station between baltimore and d. C. But the important part for them is that he is in custody. Now hes accused or suspected of killing the 26yearold baltimorebased tech ceo, pava lapere, as i mentioned before, she was initially reported missing monday and then her body was found dead. And while police were searching for billingsley her father was helping lead a vigil for people in that community who obviously loved lapere, but the way he described her, she went from daddys little girl into being a girl boss and she was an early riser like him and they would have conversations in the Early Morning hours and he said her presence will never leave the city. She was 26 years old, just named to forbes 30 under 30 for her social impact. The suspect, the person suspected of killing her, not only has he been arrested in this case, but we learned from police that he was actually a suspect in a separate Attempted Murder and arson case from just last week about a mile away from where this body was found. And we know he has a history, pleaded guilty to assault in 09 and 2011. In 2015 he was sentenced to 30 years but then was released under mandatory supervision. Thats what officials told the new york times. Because of that, police are looking over all the cases theyve had since october 2022, which was when he was released to see if he may be connected to others as well. But thats likely going to be part of what we learn in the Press Conference coming up in about an hour and a half. But bottom line he is in custody and a lot of people in the community can sleep easier tonight. We will have to keep watching this case to see what happens. Omar omar jimenez thank you so much. Kate . New details about the University Of Idaho murders. How much information prosecutors are trying to get as they build their case against Brian Kohb Kohberger Including Search Information from major tech companies. Prosecutors wanted, quote, all detailed Customer Click Activity pertaining to knives and accessories from amazon. Kohberger is charged with killing four University Of Idaho students in november of last year. Previous Court Records have shown that kohbergers dna was found on a Knife Sheathe at the scene but no Murder Weapon was found. And as calls for him to resign continue, bob menendez has words for his party. And as the Impeachment Inquiry starts today, will there be any evidence that the president profited off of his sons Business Dealings . Today democratic senator bob menendez is back on capitol hill where he will soon be addressing his fellow democrats Behind Closed Doors. These are the same democrats that a majority of them have called on menendez to resign from the senate, resign his seat. He pleaded not guilty yesterday in federal court. Federal investigators say he and his wife took hundreds of thousands of cash and gold bars from three businessmen to help them and also help the egyptian government. Menendez has been the chair of the Senate Foreign elsrelations committee. He said hell be exonerated, hes innocent of the charges. But that has not stopped colleagues from saying that its time for him to go, at least 30 so far. Joining us now is one of his democratic colleagues doug jones. Thank you for jcoming in. You have said that you believe that bob menendez should resign now. He was asked this week why he has not resigned and he bliristd at that, because im innocent. Do you think it hurts democrats in congress at large if he continues to hold out . I think it hurts the senate. I dont think it necessarily hurts democrats. I think it hurts the institution of the senate and congress. I mean, right now congress, the senate, the house are in low esteem in the american publics eye and have been for some time because of the dysfunction and there are a lot of reasons for that. Theres an element of public trust here, which is different than whether or not someone is guilty or not guilty of a criminal violation. So i think it hurts the institution. I dont think it will hurt democrats but i think it hurts the institution of the senate. We have now 30 democratic senators, majority now, calling on him to step aside. And hes going to go and speak with the group, the caucus Behind Closed Doors today, in this meeting. Youve been in these gatherings of course, these Caucus Meetings before. And there have been times of tough conversations amongst the senators. Whats it going to be like in that room . I think its going to be tense but i also think its going to be somewhat emotional. The way the senate is set these days, democrats spend more time with other democrats than they do republicans. And you have Caucus Luncheons and other Policy Meetings and theres about three days where you meet and confer at committees. You do all of those things mainly with your colleagues in the democratic caucus. So you develop these friendships, the respect, you develop things that i think make it very difficult for those 30some senators to come forward this weekend to say, i think theres a violation of the public trust here. I dont expect there to be a lot of minds changed on this. But i think its good they can do this. I dont expect Senator Menendez to outline a defense, i think that would be a mistake for his criminal case to do that. But i think hell outline why he believes he can and should continue to serve. Well see if it changes anybodys minds one way or another, including whether or not the reactions from his colleagues change his mind. Thats an interesting point. Changing gears a little bit i wanted to get just your take on what we saw last night from the republican president ial primary debate. What did you learn . Its two hours, long format. What did you learn . Nothing. I mean there was very little you learned. Virtually no policy discussions. This was like watching a Junior High School lunchroom on a monday where everyone was trying to one up each other about the weekend and how much fun they had. I dont think it was becoming of the republican party. I dont think it was becoming of the presidency. Some of the silly lines, i think that came out of this, and what folks are focused on. Its time that the people just start looking at all of the policies that folks are going to do and compare that with what joe biden has done on this economy and how weve improved this economy over the years. And focus on how, you know, the joe biden has brought the world back together to fight for democracy. You dont hear any of that, and you dont hear any criticism of the real problems that donald trump presents to this country, calling for the potential execution of joint chiefs of staff, mark milly, calling for violence, calling for political persecution of enemies. Nobody talks about those things. Nobody talked about Tommy Tubervilles hold on the military promotions last night. We really didnt learn very much except they like to quibble. Biden is jumping on the heels of the debate with a speech of his own this afternoon, a big speech about protecting democracy and the current threats against democracy today. Hes also going to take on donald trump and maga republicans which he believes is the threat to democracy today. This is the first big speech like this in about a year. In thinking about it, does that mean the other things that joe biden has been leaning in to to connect with voters like on the economy, like bidenomics that it is not working . I dont think it means that at all. I think it means theres also an existential threat to this country right now and its Donald Trumps threat to democracy. He needs to talk about that. He needs to talk about the fact of what donald trump is saying. And people need to believe donald trump when he says he will do these things to strip to give the federal government more power with people who believe in persecuting political rivals, those things. He needs to i think its a very appropriate thing. Look, joe biden for years, this is a theme he has come back to his entire career. So i think it complements what hes done for the American People, for American Labor and the working men and women of this country. It is not a substitute. Its just a compliment. I think you see that compliment Going Forward a lot. He is laying out the beginning of his Campaign Pitch to the American People. Well see that this afternoon. Doug jones, good to see you, thank you. As buses of thousands of migrants continue to come to new york from texas, Governor Greg Abbott is calling out new york saying the city is only dealing with a fraction of the migrant crisis his state is dealing with. Thats ahead. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is in new york thumbing his nose at the mayor of new york as he looks at bussing migrants to new york city. So far he has sent 16,000 migrants to no, and he says that the recent ip flux in texas is far worse than what new york is dealing with, and this is coming as Migrant Bus Rides are being offered to other cities. Pa Polo Sandoval is with us now, and greg abbott is not backing down, and it is extreme in places like el paso but it is huge also in new york. Yes, and they are in a Crisis Situation in el paso, but we have heard from greg abbott, and he says you think that 16,000 arriving in the last year and half is bad, you should go to the lone star state. This is apples to oranges, and i have heard from Asylum Seekers who say that a vast majority of them are planning the go beyond cities like texas to denver, washington, d. C. , and certainly new york city, and those are the cities that are challenged to support them longterm in the duration of the proceedings, and to texas, and not the make light of the Crisis Situation there, but the demands are shorttem for the Asylum Seekers who have been process and released by the customs and border protections, but then they make their way on to the bus or the airplane as they legally do so while their cases play out. But i think that it is just an important distinction to draw out here as we hear from Governor Greg Abbott here. Interestingly that one of the event that he heard from yesterday was practically next door to the Roosevelt Hotel where the city is receiving the Asylum Seekers and no indication that he saw it firsthand, but he is still in the city, and it could change today. Polo sandoval, thank you. And the First Official hearing with the Impeachment Hearing into President Biden is moments away, and do the republicans have actual evidence into the claim they have been making . The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. Moments from now, the House Republicans are about to k