it's debate night in california but not for the front-runner. former president trump is rallying for support in michigan but is he giving his rivals an opening to take on his growing legal troubles? and the u.s. army private who crossed into korea is now back into u.s. custody. the intense diplomatic war it took to bring him home and why north korea agreed to expel him with no concessions in the united states. plus, hard liners are clashing with speaker mccarthy and he's blaming president biden. we're following these developing stories and more all coming in here to cnn news central. >> former president trump will visit the battleground state of michigan tonight while seven other republicans battle it out at the second presidential debate in california. trump's skipping tonight's debate. instead, giving a prime time speech in front of current and former workers. a new york judge ruling that trump and his adult sons committed fraud for years by overvaluing their properties. we have kristen holmes who is in michigan ahead of trump's speech tonight. what more do we know about the campaign strategy to skip the debate for the second time? >> well, look, this is the clearest signal we have seen that the campaign is looking beyond the primaries at the general election. if this is just about the primaries, you'd likely see him in a state like iowa or south carolina or new hampshire, but he's in a battleground state. when talking about working class voters from michigan, this is the same group that helped him in 2016. also the same group of people who helped propel biden to the white house in 2020. and trump and his team are trying to get some of those voters back. it's going to be a heavier lift this time because he had an administration and union leaders have attacked his administration policies as anti labor, anti union, pro business. but trump's team seems to think they can drive a wedge in between the members. they say the support comes from the members on the ground, not the leadership. he is here tonight, speaking at a non union shop called drake enterprises outside of detroit. but one of the points he wants to make is about electric vehicles. he has been hammering biden on his plan to try to make an american fleet of electric vehicles by 2030. saying that it's going to take jobs away from auto workers. we heard from the president of drake enterprises who said if that were to happen, if there were to be a fleet of electric cars that took over, they would lose their jobs. clearly, that's an indication of what the speech tonight is going to look like. he's not the only one looking at the general election. joe biden released a campaign ad, his first one that attacks trump directly and airs in michigan today. >> not surprising. kristen holmes, thank you so much. let's talk more about this with two former u.s. congressmen, both republicans. frances rooney of florida and charlie dent. you have trump speak tonight. it is a non union facility, but of course, he's going to have some fans among union workers there. he's banking on peeling off some of the rank and file. obviously the leadership of the uaw don't like him. does he have enough of a chance to peel off a significant number of of the rank and file? >> i think it's safe to say that republicans including donald trump have been feeling the way a lot of rank and file union voters in recent years, the working class especially has been trending gop. it's a smart play to do that and also a smart play not to go to a non union shop. there's a lot more non union workers than union and some people might want to talk to them once in a while, too. so i think it's a smart play. he's presuming he's the nominee. that's not a really good look for a lot of the voters. he's bagging these debates, thinks he can get away with it, but as a candidate many times, never presume people are going to vote for you. >> you think frances, he can get away with it? >> charlie's right. history's written with people who got overconfident, ignored the voters and got a bad surprise on primary day. but he has these huge leads in the polls. if the polls are halfway accurate, this thing's over on super tuesday. >> some good economic indicators lately, yes, but you have inflation taking its toll. oil could be very expensive for a very long time. that's very much part of the conversation right now. and so i hear charlie's point that republicans have been making strides with union workers but what was really lost in 2016, biden very much rebounded in 2020. and he had a lot of union support. that helped deliver the win for him in places like michigan. but when you look at these economic numbers and the fact that he's having a hard time selling his economic message, how problematic is that when it comes to him securing these votes in places like michigan? >> well, i think it's really problematic because they spent so much money that it's driving more and more deficits and inflation and is out of control. and he can't do anything about it. every day you read the paper, they're spending another multibillion dollar grant. they're kind of in a rock and hard place with the liberal democrats and the green movement and electric cars versus the union workers who really get hurt by electric cars. and no one's figured out how to assuage the radical overall of the industry that will take place if electric cars take off. >> that's a vulnerability for sure. but trump septemberpent the mon and told auto workers in ohio, don't sell your house. i'm going to get this plant reopened then he didn't. is biden really vulnerable to him? >> i think biden is vulnerable but we know the reasons why. because of his age. people are questioning his capacity. trump is a very flawed messagener but the argument is still inflation. i get it. it's moderated a bit but went up so much. just go to the grocery store and gas pump. that's what people are seeing and why they don't feel good about the economy. even though the unemployment rate is low. even though the inflation has moderated, it's still off a very high base. i think biden's vulnerable, too. in terms of the american rescue plan, they overspent on that and that helped juice inflation, too. i think that's a big problem with the biden message. >> no doubt people are feeling inflation has taken a bite out of their financial future. the numbers are dismal when you ask people about how they feel about their financial future. he's got this new tv ad. speaking of being p-- it's goin to be trump versus biden. any hope for these seven candidates on this debate stage tonight? because that's normally, you know, in a normal world, that's what we would be talking about. do you think they can breakthrough? >> i don't know. you know, nikki haley had a bit of a breakthrough when she called out to republicans for their excessive spending, too, which is a problem i certainly found revolting when i was in congress. we spent as much per day when we had all three branches of government as obama did and that's repugnant to me. certainly trump did a lot of that and now biden's spending more than him. i think those are real weights around all their necks. i'm glad to hear you say human being huberous cuts both ways. >> what are you looking for tonight? >> i want to see which candidate is going to draw a hard contrast with trump. i suspect with calling the six-week abortion ban a mistake, which i think he's right on. i'm curious to see if mike pence or ron desantis chooses to make that an issue to try to help elevate themselves. about a general election issue for republicans, but i'm anxious to see if one of them tries to really draw that hard contrast. right now, they're all fighting for second place. which one is going to emerge? they're all stuck in the high single digits. so who's going breakthrough? right now, trump's going to coast as long as we've got seven or eight kcandidates still tryig to take him down. >> i try not to think i have in knowledge of what is going to happen in a debate because you never know what moment is going to pop, but that is a huge opportunity to see if one of them will see on. thank you so much to both of you. appreciate your time. >> thanks for having us on. >> boris? >> new this afternoon, travis king is on his way home. north korea has released the u.s. army private who fled on foot to one of the most repressive nations on earth. remember, more than two months ago, king raced across the demilitarized zone that separates north and south korea. king, who you see highlighted the back of his head in that photo, was on a public tour of the area and this photo was taken moments before he darted across that marker. the release coming about ten weeks after he fled into north korea. he's considered extraordinarily rare. let's go to oren at the pentagon and will ripley is in taipei, taiwan. how did this release exactly come about? >> boris, the story of how private travis king got out of north korea is almost more bizarre than how he got in. skipping his flight home, taking a private tour and running across to north korea. on his way out, the u.s. was in touch with sweden and sweden was in touch with north korea. north korea as we learned earlier today made the decision to to expel him after their investigation, but what that investigation, that part remains unclear. earlier today, we've learned that a swedish convoy in north korea took private king to the friendship bridge on the north korean, chinese border, and took him across the bridge. at that point, he met the mili military to china. he took a flight from north korea and from there, he is expected to be on his way home, landing sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. so the big mystery is what was north korea's motivation? his mother releasing a statement thanking the u.s. army and effort to bring him home. meanwhile, senior u.s. officials like jake sullivan putting out an almost interesting statement thanking china for their role in this in his transit through there. so interesting, indeed. >> we'll let you go to that phone call. i'm sure it was a source reaching out. thank you so much. now to taipei, taiwan with will ripley. you have reported from north korea multiple times. you know its history well. how unusual is this release given the united states has said they made no concessions to secure it? >> very unusual. although not surprising given what's been happening with north korea in recent months. you have kim jong-un really turning his diplomatic focus to russia and china. he was just at that summit in russia with president putin where they talked about a deepening military partnership that some feel could include russia sharing its nuclear and ballistic missile secrets with north korea, helping kim grow his program in change for weapons that can help putin on the battlefield. right now, they're not particularly focused on diplomacy with the united states. they don't have anything they're asking the u.s. for. perhaps they just didn't feel they were going to get a lot out of this by holding on to travis king for a long time. he didn't commit any crime aside from illegally entering the country. presumably, he didn't do anything to disrespect the north korean leadership which would have gotten him in trouble. otto was asked of taking down a propaganda poster and spent time in a vegetative state because doctors may not have known how to care for him but yet stay held on to him for about a year and a half. >> will, very much appreciate it. >> first crossed the border into north korea. we tried to reach out. they rejected our direct approaches. ended up talking to sweden. and sweden talked to us and helped negotiate this transfer. i would not see this as the sign of a breakthrough. i think it's a one off with being willing to return this private. >> of course, the only question would be where would king go next. he's back in american custody, headed back home to see his family and presumably face military punishment because that was what was supposed to happen in july. >> thanks so much. still ahead, congress is on the clock. we're going to take you live to capitol hill for the latest on talks to avoid the government shutdown that's looming in fewer than four days. plus, bob menendez appearing in federal court on bribely charges but calls for him to resign are growing. we'll discuss next on cnn news central. there are fewer than four days to stop the government from shutting down. if no measure is passed by 11:59 p.m. on saturday, then more than a million members of the military, air traffic control will be forced to work without pay. thousands of others will be furloughed among multiple other negative consequences and there's a bipartisan deal that's in play that senate leaders just reached, but in the house, hard line republicans say it's dead on arrival. let's turn to our cnn chief congressional correspondent, manu raju, to talk about that. he also anchors inside politics on sunday. mcconnell just spoke to reporters. tell us what he said. >> yeah, he is defending the senate's approach. he said that he is comfortable with it even as it has come under withering criticism from house republicans. conservatives in the house. the senate tie was cut between mcconnell and schumer would extend funding until november and include $6 billion in aid to ukraine, in disaster relief. it does not include border security money. it's come under criticism for the lack of money dealing with the border as well as money for ukraine. mccarthy himself said should not be part of this round of talks. mccarthy, who has indicated to his conference, that this bill will not move forward even in his chamber as he doesn't have the votes himself to pass a republican only plan. the speaker is still trying move forward on friday with a proposal to keep the government open but he includes border security proivisions and spendig cuts but that doesn't have enough support within his own conference. this comes as finger pointing is happening on both sides in the republican party. some moderates pointing fingers at hard liners and republicans are concerned about speaker mccarthy's handing of this. particularly his decision to walk away from a bipartisan spending deal that the speaker himself cut this summer in an effort to stave off a shutdown. >> you have confidence in senator mcconnell? >> no. not at this moment. i have zero confidence in his ability to carry this out. it's not a representative of this body here in the house of representatives. >> if you make a deal, you've got to stick to a deal . speaker mccarthy did cut with the white house. it was intended to avoid a situation we're in now, but he faced pressure from his right flank to seek deeper spending cuts. something democrats and republicans say they can't accept so just a lot of questions at the moment about how this will be resolved and whether a shutdown can be averted. the expectation from the senate and house is that it can't be averted and the shutdown will happen as soon as sunday. >> all right, the clock is certainly ticking and nothing appears to be changing as you said. manu raju live for us on capitol hill. boris? >> staying on capitol hill. new jersey senator bob menendez has been indicted and he is increasingly isolated. the majority of his democratic colleagues want hemim to resign. so far, he's dismissed those calls. does it indicate that some of those aides are potentially witnesses? >> well, i'm glad to be with all of you. it does indicate that. typically for a judge to enter some type of order like this to in essence prevent a defendant from talking to people, they've already got some heads up that those folks may be witnesses for the government as i think it's likely in this case. these charges are serious. it's a real case. there's no reason to run from it. or to somehow claim that this is just a weaponization of the justice department or something like that. these allegations, if they are proven, are serious allegations. you can look and see how the government went one extra step to do a dna analysis on some items from the senator's home. that removes a line of defense to say we have dna evidence from those folks who we are claiming are involved in this case with you on this money. and that's, that changes it from looking like a bank deposit somewhere, some money you're holding out for a rainy day fund. he's got an uphill battle and i think he's probably and will likely spend some time on messaging going forward. whether or not he survives politically, that's a question for him i guess and his family and consultants. but these appear to be very serious allegations. >> i'm also curious about a unique aspect to this case. the spouse factor. how does it impact the prosecution and defense that there's a husband and wife simultaneously on trial? >> well, there are a lot of folks who will be familiar with a spousal of marital privilege and whether or not that comes in. the problem i think that they're going to have going forward is it seems they probably have communications not only between the spouses, but they have communications between third parties and other alleged co-conspirators in the case. independently of communications between husband and wife. so, you know, as they move forward, sometimes a spouse may be indicted and charged not only because they are complicit in a crime, but because the government them. and i have no inside knowledge about this or the particular facts of either one of their alleged involvements but they came to him and said look, you're clearly the one in trouble. you're the united states senator. we'll let your wife take something much less if you'll just fess up to what you've done. that's a pressure point that defendants have to consider and he's certainly going to have to consider if they come to him with that kind of information or a proposed plea deal. >> michael, we've got to leave the conversation there. appreciate your perspective. still ahead, bracing for the end of a pandemic era childcare support program. how millions of kids and their families are going to be impacted. a federal pandemic era program is about to expire, leaving millions of families scrambling to find childcare support. the $24 billion program which was part of the historic american rescue plan that was passed in 2021 will end this weekend on september 30th. it's expected to impact more than 3 million children and shutter more than 70,000 childcare programs across the country. joining us now, we have -- childcare industry has had trouble and the pandemic made it worse. parents working from home were pulling their kids out of programs and workers were not going to work or they were finding jobs that paid more so providers were really struggling. the providers that i spoke to said that this $24 billion rescue plan from congress, it really helped them. they basically used it to provide more raises. they provided more retention bonuses. for them, it was really about retaining and hiring more workers. they were also able to use it for some other things like paying mortgage or rent, paying utilities, buying ppe but for them, it was really about the workers because they can't open and run their businesses without having employees. >> so when these grants go away, then what happens for them? >> right. so what the money did was it helped, it actually went to 220,000 providers, that's by the way, nearly one in eight licensed childcare centers in the u.s. it touched probably about 9.6 million kids. so now that the funding is going away, as you mentioned before, the century foundation said that more than 70,000 providers may have to close their doors and that could mean that 3.2 million children lose their spots. i spoke to multiple providers in the last couple of weeks and they said they are very concerned. they needed this funding and those retention bonuses and pay raises really helped them keep their workers and keep their doors open. they're telling me they're having to raise tuition, which is making it harder on families. one of them is closing a classroom because they just don't have the workers. another one had to close an entire center, leaving more than 20 families scrambling to try to findchildcare. parents are really struggling. >> is there a chance there will be more funding? that congress may intervene here or no? >> well, there's a group of progressive democrats and independents in congress that are really hoping to add to this stabilization fund. they're looking to provide $16 billion a year for five years to do exactly this. to help the childcare industry and help childcare providers because as these providers stressed, without them, people are not going to be able to go to work and it's going to hurt the entire economy. so the problem is you know, as you've been mentioning on air and as we've all been reporting, we're bracing for a government shutdown because congress can't decide you know, what, how to fund the government for the next year. so right now, they're looking to either you know, cut funding or you know, hopefully hold it steady for many of them. but adding $16 billion a year for five years might be a big lift. >> it's a really interesting story you wrote for cnn.com that details what's happening to these childcare providers and the impact it's having on parents who are really scrambling. we see that in your story. thanks for being with us. >> thank you so much. ahead, hyundai and kia asking the owners of more than 3 million vehicles to keep their cars parked outside. that's right. keep them outside. don't park them in the garage c due to a fire risk. we'll have details. plus, cnn heads inside the hotel serving as the main intake facility for migrants in new york city. the desperate situation many families there are facing, next. now to some of the other headlines. hyundai and kia are recalling more than 3 million vehicles in the united states over concerns about potential engine fires. in a notice today, the korean carmakers are even advising owners to park outside and away from any physical structures until repairs are completed. the problem apparently has to do with brake fluid leaking near an electrical circuit and it's impacting a long list of car and suv models sold between 2010 and 2019. you can find out if your vehicle is included by going to nhtsa.gov. also today, president biden approving an emergency declaration for louisiana as the state battles a potential water crisis. a drought has allowed salt water to creep in and contaminate the water supply. the declaration will unlock funds and resources which they hope will prevent it from reaching thousands more people. and a california man is free today after spending nearly 30 years behind bars for crimes he didn't commit. he was just 18 years old when he was wrongfully convicted of robbery, kidnapping and sexual assault in los angeles. officials there say he feels arrested in 1995 because he matched a suspect's description. now after serving 28 years of a life sentence, l.a. prosecutors say new dna testing has proven his innocence. he was officially exonerated and released from prison last week. well, new today, the department of homeland security says it will provide $12 million in new funding to communities receiving migrants. it comes as we learn that san diego county in southern california of course has declared a humanitarian crisis over its recent surge of migrants. the county says it needs federal help after about 7500 individuals have been released on the streets over the last two weeks. and for those migrants who have crossed the border seeking asylum, the ordeal the far from over. sh sh shimon prokupecz has more. >> we're going to offer you food and water right away. >> dr. ted long is proud of the operation the city has established here. >> everything that we've developed in new york city is to meet the needs that were not met for people coming from texas so far. so here, whether it's screening for communicable disease, if you're a pregnant woman, giving you prenatal care or screening you for important mental health conditions you might have like depression, we do it all here. >> it really catches your eye to see so many kids running through the halls of the roosevelt hotel. almost like a playground. so many kids. the city says 20,000 migrant children have come through new york to far. >> why did you come to america? she's 23 years old and escaping violence in ecuador and says he came here for her daughter who has a physical disability. how are you feeling? she says she's happy she's here now and scared to go back to ecuador. i'm afraid that my daughter will die there if she can't get medical attention. i need to place to stay. i think they're going to help me. good luck, okay? it's good news for lady and maya. they're being moved out of the intake center to a shelter. as this group leaves, another is already shuffling in behind them. 116,000 have come to new york city since the spring of 2022, city officials say. and it's a reminder that the flow of migrants doesn't stop. >> the burden on new york city is too much, quite honestly. we're past our breaking point. >> among those just arriving, luis flores. we met him outside. and his wife, irma morales. they now have seats inside. it's a dream come true, he says. took them two and a half months to come to this country through the border and now he's just hoping to give his family a better life and they've been sitting here now for several days waiting for the next steps and process. this is your wife. yes? years you've been married. how are you doing? she tells us it was their dream to come to the united states. and she doesn't want to lose her husband. now that they've finally made it. as we leave, luis speaks directly into our camera. i just want to work, he says. these are the hands of a worker. >> thank you to shimon prokupecz for that report and you can see all of his reports from the roosevelt hotel on cnn.com. still ahead, the struggling new york jets, they could use all the help they can get right now. does that include bringing in colin kaepernick? what the former nfl qb is offering the team in a new letter. former nfl star collin kaepernick is still working on a comeback after claims that he was blackballed by the league. he's pitching himself as the new practice squad quarterback for the new york jets as they face a dilemma with star quarterback aaron rodgers nursing a season-ending injury. in a letter that kaepernick wrote to the jets, he said i know there are depth issues and i've heard that the back-up spot is likely to be filled by a veteran quarterback. as much as i would love the opportunity to fill that spot, i would by honored and extremely grateful for the opportunity to come in and lead the practice squad. but manny jones is host of a podcast. thanks for being with us. what stood out to you about kaepernick's letter and his eagerness to join the practice squad? >> well, honestly, the thing that jumped out to me is jay cole is the one that told us. this is when i looked up and said, wow, this is an interesting information cain that we have got going here. col instill wants to play in the nfl. and they tell us all of the time he's still working out every day. waiting on the call. the only thing is i think at this point we could all acknowledge, that call ain't coming. this letter is not going to be responded to by the jets. but hey, come on down and we'll kick the tires on you. that is not going to happen. i wonder what he's getting out of still doing this at this point because i think this ship as sailed. >> to that point, what do you think he's trying to achieve? because we've seen replacement level quarterbacks have long careers in the nfl, many of them have never had moments like kaepernick did and they've come and gone and for example, the jets just signed trevor simien and he's been unable to get back an out on the field. >> i think early, when we talk about 2017 and 2018, and maybe through 2020, i think that you could have made a better argument for him as a viable option as opposed to now, the last time seven years he played an nfl game. i think all of us have our on conclusions why it is this case. i think not simply that he protested against the nfl but he did so before it was sanctioned and he clearly articulated that the struggle of black and brown people in this country are the reason why he did what he did and i don't think they'll let him back into the league as a result of that. but they're never going to let him back into the nfl so this is a reminder that he has been blackballed in his own eyes that he has been blackballed so maybe the move is to keep this on our minds but i don't think anybody is going to forget that happened an i don't know when we'll get to a point when a job comes up and people will stop saying what about colin kaepernick, because they are not going to sign colin kaepernick at this point. and i think knows that and so does everybody else too. >> and what does it say to you that he was effectively blackballed as so many nfl owners were willing to look past serious allegations and behave youror in the past like deshaun watson and ben roethlisberger. what does that say to you? >> well, i think there are a couple of levels. one of them is that i do believe that the nfl and its owners believe that it is easier for their fans to get past the things that have been accused like watson and roethlisberger more than they could get over the fact that kaepernick articulated the struggle of black and brown people and i think that is what the league is saying. i think people look at folks like kaepernick with his politics and they believe that all white people are racist but in reality, the nfl is saying think they don't their fans are unable to handle a dissenting opinion and don't want that guy to be in the league. and on the other side, it is cold hard calculation that they believe that guy is bad for money. and my question has been what evidence is there that colin kaepernick is bad for the business for the nfl and if he could not have stayed in the league and if everything could have gone through and i don't think it would have been the big deal they made it out to be. but it is very important to note, he didn't ask for permission for his protest. most of the guys after the league said hey, do what you want and they let most guys slide. but those that didn't ask for permission seemed to bear the brunt more than the other ones did and that is the moral of the story. stating what he said clearly as he did and not waiting for permission, this was the outcome. but i think he knew from the beginning when he did this, this was a possible outcome that he would never get to play again and the league is like, huh, guys, you're right. >> bam annie jones, appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this. >> thank you. still ahead, is it a love story? see it travis kelce just said yes in his first comments on taylor swift since her appearance at a chiefs game. >> it is a definitely a game i'll remember, that is for darm sure. and then we just slid off in the getaway car in the end. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? it's true. plus, when you buy your first line of mobile, you get a second line free. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible. it's happening. so as taylor swift said, there will be no further explanation, there will just be reputation. >> a quote for all time. i guess. kansas city chiefs travis kelce is giving an explanation. sort of. during a new episode of his podcast, the tight end finally addressed the taylor swift appearance at his kansas city chiefs game on sunday. watch this. >> how does it feel that taylor swift is finally put you on the map? >> shout out to taylor for pulling up. that was pretty baulsy. that was pretty ballsy. i just thought it was awesome how everybody in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her. >> he didn't delve into too many details on this alleged romance. i think it is a stunt. >> you can't kiss and tell. >> i'm taking a stand. i think it is a stunt. >> i was like who is this travis guy until taylor put him o