Map. Hes a great tight end and i have him on my fantasy team, his jersey sales went up. Thanks for joining us. The lead with jake tapper starts right now. Trumps excuse today. You should never have believed me in the first place. The lead starts right now. The latest ruling against donald trump gets at the core of his entire identity. A judge finding him liable for fraud. Ruling his Real Estate Empire was built on a lie. Trump responds this morning on social media noting a clause saying that nothing in his Financial Statements should be accepted as fact. In other words, i told you i was lying, people. And new bank records in Hunter Bidens criminal case. Including wire transfers from china. As House Republicans move forward with an Impeachment Inquiry and try try to keck President Biden to his sons activities. Plus, Formerly Awol Travis King back in american custody. Just why did he run across the dmz into north korea and did the u. S. Cut some sort of deal with the communist nation to bring him back . Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. Were going to start with our Law And Justice lead. Donald trump is set to go on trial on monday. But im not talking about any of the four criminal cases that hes facing, the 91 criminal charges laid out in the four indictments. Im not not talking about the manhattan district attorneys case about hush money paid to a porn star. Im not talking about the special counsel case in florida about trumps handling of classified documents. Im not talking about the special counsel case in d. C. About trump attempting to subvert the constitution by trying to over turn the election. Im not talking about the case down in fulton county, georgia, about trump trying to allegedly steal the states electoral votes nor am i talking about the civil Defamation Case brought by e. Jean carroll who already won a Sexual Assault and Defamation Case against mr. Trump. No, im talking about the new York Attorney general civil case against trump. It is a legal blow that takes aim both at the formers president s legacy and his wallet. Today new york judge Arthur Ingron announcing the case against trump and his adult sons and the Trup Organization said that donald trump, eric trump and donald trump jr. Are liable for fraud. The judge said they repeatedly lied about how much their properties are worth. They did that in order to get more loans, he said. The judge also canceled the trump organizations Business Certification. But some legal experts refer to as the corporation death penalty. Now the former president , who has spent decades bragging about his wealth, and building a persona of an ultra accomplished real estate tycoon, a persona that helped propel him to a top rated tv show and then to the presidency. He will see some of that same fortune put in the hands of a new york jury. The states Attorney General is seeking 250 million in damages. And a ban on the trumps ever doing business in new york ever again. Now trumps excuse on social media this morning, as i alluded to earlier, is this, quote, there is a powerful disclaimer clause on the first pages of the Financial Statements. It states that nothing in the Financial Statement should be accepted as fact. This is what seems an open admission of misrepresentation. Though, assuredly stronger defenses for mr. Trump and his family are to come. Cnn Brynn Gingras starts with a closer look at how prosecutors say a network of lies helped the trumps build their wealth and their reputations. Money, money, Money The Trump Empire which americans binged in the hit shown the apprentice, helped catapult donald trump to political stardom. And the presidency. May not be all it seemed according to a ruling, donald trump committed fraud for years. The ruling largely siding with new York Attorney general letitia james. Donald trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjusticely enrich himself and to cheat this system thereby cheating all of us. She brought a civil lawsuit against trump and his sons and the Trup Organization in 2022. The judge finding they inflated the value of Trump Properties and hotels and golf courses to secure loans building their fortune. Take the trump apartment in new york city. The former president noted in Financial Statements that it is three times bigger in size than it actually is. Creating an overvaluation up to 207 million according to judge. Maralago found to be inflated by more than half a billion dollars. A discrepancy of this order of magnified by a Real Estate Developer sizing up his own living space of decades could only be considered fraud, judge wrote. Adding that the trumps are living in a fantasy world, not the real world. It is a sledgehammer to trump and the entire organization in new york. And now trumps New York Empire will likely shrink. The judge canceling their Business Certification and assigning an independent party to dissolve entities like the tower at 40 Wall Street in new york city and a Family Compound in west chester, county. How that process will play out is still being determined by the court and could take some time. He is in a world of hurt on the business side. Stronger so far than anything that has happened on the criminal side. Trump lashed out on truth social saying it is a Great Company that has been slandered and maligned by it politically motivated witch hunt. Hes appealing the ruling. For james, it is a win on one claim of several filed in the suit paving the way for the trumps to possibly owe the state big bucks. Now the a. G. Is asking for a quarter billion dollars with this suit and for the trumps to never do business again in new york. If that will happen, it is really up to a judge in this trial. Which is going to dissect more Financial Filings and like you said, jake, it is expected to start next week. However, there could be a hiccup, because there is an appeal an owe the books right now that a judge is expected to rule on which could delay the start of this civil trial. So well keep an eye out for that. Thank you so much. Join us to discuss, jamie gangel, and up in new york, former federal prosecutor elie honig. Were seeing trumps attempted de defense who said he could not have defrauded the banks who are current and with no ernl owe problem. If all of the banks were paid back what trump owed plus interest, does he have a point . Or no . Legally, no, here, jake. It is important to understand first of all, this is a civil lawsuit, the count on which the judge has ruled in favor of the Attorney General does not require any showing of loss to any particular party. This is a very favorable rule to the Attorney General, this is a very favorable rule to plaintiffs from, as long as the Attorney General could show that the defendant, here the Trup Organization, engaged in fraud and got money they werent entitled to as a result, then that is good enough to make the claim out. And that is what the judge held here. There are six other counts where the a. G. Is going to have to show what we call some sort of materiality, some sort of loss. But for the one count that the judge has ruled in favor of the a. G. , whether anyone lost money or not, it does not matter. And jamie, the four other indictments and the 91 criminal charges aside, this is a civil case but you think it might hit a little different for trump, this new york civil case. First of all, lets put it out there. This is triggering donald trump like nothing else. You see the reaction on truth social. It goes to the heart of what he cares about which is his image, his brand, the notion that hes the best. Michael cohen, his former lawyer, once told me i think it was last year, the way to get to, as he calls him, donald, is not the criminal cases, that is not what is going to bother him. It is going to be going after property, business, money. The question is, with his supporters, who seem not to be bothered by the criminal cases, will the fact that the image of being the best, that this is in effect fraud, will that have a difference. No. That is my prediction. Youre right. Trump went on to claim on truth social that maralago is worth a hundred times more than what the judge said it is worth. Isnt that the kind of claim that is at the heart of this entire civil case and isnt that just provable one way or the other . Yes, this is the problem itself. Donald trump nicely illustrated it in his truth social today. Judge points out in the ruling, the County Assessor down in florida where maralago is located, assessed the value of the property of maralago at around 20 million. Donald trump when it came time to put no for bank loans assessed it on his own as being worth 500 million. That is 20, 25 times more. And what the judge said in this ruling is, yes, there is some room for subjectivity when it comes to assessments. But there is not a total free for all. You dont get to fabricate numbers that are 20, 25 times greater and donald trump does just that in his defensive truth social post. Hes making the a. G. s case for her. And jamie, trump launched his 2016 president ial campaign at trump tower and now he might lose the building. I mean, we dont know that that is actually going to happen but that is a risk. He rose to political power on this perception that he was this magnate, that he was this huge colossus. Do you think his base well how do you think his base will see it. Well, we just have discussed does it make a difference . But i think, remember yesterday you and i were discussing, you did this interview with Cassidy Hutchinson and one of the quotes was he admitted he lost. She heard him say that to mark meadows and it was embarrassing. That is the point. This is embarrassing for donald trump. The question is will it cut through to that base that seems willing to stick with him and when i talk to his supporters, they always make sort of the same excuse, explanation, theyre out to get him. Yeah, theyre out to get him. Also on truth social, trump wrote about the judge, quote, this political hack judge, and then he went on to talk about the undervaluing of his properties. This political hack judge must be stopped. Could trump face any legal actions for posting things like that . I could see how the judge might regard that as a threat. Well, jake, so that is exactly the line. A person, any party in a criminal or civil case is entitled to criticize the other party, it entitled to criticize the judge but the line is where you just said. Does it cross over into being a threat and that language must be stopped is what jumped out to me. That is different than must be reversed on appeal. Must be stopped is intentionally vague and open to interpretation. So i think the judge may want toic that a look at that and impose sp sort of order prohibiting that type of speech and perhaps imposing sanctions if donald trump continues to do this as he surely will. Thank you to both of you. There is movement late today in the funding fight, a new proposal to aim to prevent a Government Shutdown that could be away but who is counting. Will House Republicans get on board. Might we see a deal before a shutdown going into effect monday morning. Ill speak to a republican and a democrat about what is realistic. Stay with us. In our politics lead, in just days Hundreds Thousands Americans could stop receiving their paychecks. Though not of course members of congress, including those who refuse to come to the table to try to achieve a compromise as the country is four days away from a possible Government Shutdown. This could impact americans paychecks and safety at the border and Airport Travel as tsa agents and air Traffic Controllers could be among the furloughed workers. Food safety inspections could be display and museum and National Parks could be clausser closed. Manu raju joins us from capitol hill. There is more Border Funding in the Spending Bill. There is a crisis at the border. Where do things stand right now. Reporter there is a Collision Course between the house and the senate and it is unclear how this will be resolved before the saturday 11 59 p. M. Deadline to avoid a Government Shutdown. The house and Senate Republicans are in a different position on how to deal with this on the leadership side and there is moderates in the house gop pointing fingers at the conservative hardliners, theyre refusing to allow for a shortterm Spending Bill to be approved that Speaker Mccarthy is trying to push through that would include some Border Security money. At the moment he does not have the votes but hes opposed to what the senate is planning to move forward with. That is a plan that Mitch Mcconnell cut with Chuck Schumer that would extend Government Funding until midnovember to include aid to ukraine, about 6 billion, a Disaster Relief and it does not have money for the border. Those are ing thises that the House Republicans say they will not move forward with unless ukraine is pulls out of it and unless they add Border Security money. So at the moment there is an impasse. And also concerns within the top Senate Republicans that Speaker Mccarthy mccarthy himself cut to raise the National Debt limit and as a result of that decision has contributed to the mess they find themselves out all raising questions about whether they could avoid a shut down, but some say a shutdown is inevitable. In the end of the day, we created a mess and we have to find our way through it and if that means taking a couple of extra weeks for the shutdown, that is fine. And if i want to shut that down, it especially doesnt benefit the conservative platform. That is not the paralleling or supporting a conservative platform by any stretch of the imagination. If you make a deal, you have to stick to the deal. And i understand the speaker has a lot of pressures on him. But i think if we stuck with the original deal, but that was going to be impossible too, from what we hear from the house. Reporter so at the moment Speaker Mccarthy is planning to move forward with the republican plan to keep the government open on friday. But he does not have the votes to move forward because a number of those hardliners told me they will not vote for a shortterm bill no matter what is included in it. So raising questions about how this will get resolved as the Senate Moves Forward with its plan that could stretch into the weekend pushing it right up until the deadline to avoid a shutdown. Yeah and all the while hovering over his head like the republican congressman matt gaetz is threatening to oust Speaker Mccarthy if he turns to House Democrats to try to work with them to get help to pass a Government Spending bill. Reporter and that is one thing that gaetz has been threatening for sometime. But i talked to other members who are aligned with Congressman Gaetz who agree with him and say that if mccarthy does cut a deal with democrats or move forward with a bill that has the support of the majority of democrats, that would be enough to push him out of the speakership. They say mccarthy ive asked him about this a number of times. He claims that is not part of his calculation, just trying to get a conservative outcome and bolster the house gop Negotiating Position here but a lot of people expect that this threat has been waged by gaetz over and over again is playing into this strategy to the speaker at the moment which is trying to move things along party lines but he doesnt have the vote yet. Thank you so much. Lets bring in August Pfluger from texas. This afternoon senator Lindsey Graham from south carolina, told cnn that he understands they push for Border Funding but he cant promise that it is going to make it into the shortterm stopgap bill. But he added that long term funding will not happen without addressing the border. That it will be in the longterm Spending Bill. Is that good enough for you . Will you consider the bill that the senate has come together to do with the promise from Lindsey Graham that the Border Funding will be in the longterm bill . Well, jake, thanks for having me on. And as weve seen the senate version, it is a nonstarter right now. And i would go a step further than the senator and say for House Republicans and for specially texans, we need both shortterm and longterm funding. This issue has gone on far too long. You have 2. 3 plus million Illegal Immigrants come this this country and the tragedies from Fentanyl Deaths an the 150 people that have matched the Terror Watch List and the list goes on and on with tragedies that have occurred because of the cartels owning the southern border. So enough is enough. And i think this is a winning issue quite frankly. Not just for republicans but for democrats alike. It is a winning issue for america. Enough is enough. We have to secure the border. Senator cinema, i think shes an independent from arizona. Is working to add Border Security funding for the shortterm stopgap bill. If she does that, would you consider supporting that bill . Well we havent seen that. But we have our own version which basically is hr 2. It is a comprehensive Border Security bill that we passed this year and we intend to send that over to the senate and at that point in time im glad to see people like the senator sinema and others working on this issue. Arizona and texas get it because were bearing the brunt of this. But when you see democrat governors and mayors throughout the United States reacting and declaring emergencies like was done in massachusetts, you know this issue has hit every single state and now it is up to those in texas and arizona to lead on this issue which is what were doing. Bigger picture when it comes to governing, republicans control the House Of Representatives and your conference is unable to come to a consensus on a Government Spending bill. What do you say to someone who said your party doesnt have the ability to govern, at least based on what House Republicans are doing right now. Well, lets look at the track record. Weve passed an incredible portfolio of legislation. We have governed from the very first day of speaker leading and well continue to govern. But government needs the transparent debate. We need to show the American People what were talking about. We dont always agree but at the end of the day, i do think that well pass good legislation. We will keep the government open. We should keep the government open. But included in that is the necessity for the Biden Administration to rear verse course on their failed policies. Starting on day one from the administration. One of the challenges here on the border issue, and we should note you visited the border earlier this week, venezuelans make up a large portion of the migrants crossing the border right now. And this is important to note because it is more difficult for the u. S. To deport venezuelans, because a. , their fleeing a socialist hell hole, and b. , the u. S. Has really horrible diplomatic relations with venezuela. So they cant just be deported easily back to venezuela. It complicates the whole thing. What do you suppose we do with the venezuelan migrants. Good point. The picture that you just showed, that is me in eagle pass seeing 11,000 People Per Day coming in. A lot of venezuelans coming into the country. But this is why remain in mexico was such an important piece of the policy from the previous administration. It is why we need to go right back to that. Because other countries along the way, when you go through three or four countries and then you say well were not going to stop here, we are going to keep going. That really breaks the norms worldwide of the immigration requirements. So, yes, it is difficult to deport people back to venezuela. But every Border Patrol agent will tell you there is no consequences and without those consequences people will continue to come at Record Numbers and by the way, Border Patrol morale is at the lowest point. Ome 10 are in the field and the rest are processing and administering over 2. 3 Million People this year. You think it is bad now, Border Patrol morale, wait until there is a Government Shutdown and they stop getting paid. Congressional report found during the last Government Shutdown in 2019, Border Security deteriorated as repairs of fences and walls an gates and roads made it more dangerous for the agents on ground doing this already dangerous job. This must concern you. It does. And im a Military Veteran myself. Two plus decades in the air force. Ive been right there in their shoes doing the National Security mission. When there was a shutdown, we want to avoid that. And we have an answer to that and why were urging our colleagues to come together and figure this out. But enough is enough. And Border Security is a failure. Some have suggested this is a win for biden. Fine. If we shut the border down and we get the chaos stopped, and the Fentanyl Deaths stopped, then im fine with that. Because it is good for america. August pfluger of texas, good to see you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Despite the infighting among House Republicans, democrats control the senate and the white house. Could that party do more to stop a shutdown that seems even more likely by the hour. Well were going to talk to a democrat next. Were back with even more on the looming Government Shutdown. I just spoke with republican congressman August Flurrier of texas said he will not fund the government unless it contains additional funding for Border Security. For how the democrats feel about the impending shount, i would like to bring in eye anna presley from massachusetts. Speaker mccarthy has been donnelling questions on whether or not he would turn to democrats to try to gain enough support to pass his continuing resolution. Do you see a scenario in which House Democrats would work with mccarthy on this to try to keep the government open . You know, it is shameful, jake, that were in this position at all. We began the 118th Congress in chaos. Mccarthy could not get his conference together now could he advance his harmful and unpopular agenda. To date what do we have here. A baseless impeachment. A march toward a nationwide ban on abortion, banning books, a completely out of step with the American People. The democrats are ready, weve been ready. We are united. And were focused on the people. Were ready to keep the government open. And to maintain a essential services. Congressman gaetz of florida said if mccarthy does turn to democrats, he would introduce a motion to vacate the speakership and we heard from Congressman Pfluger that he thinks other would join in that if mccarthy tried to cut a deal with democrats. If that were to happen, who would you vote for for speaker . Jake, you know, right now the speaker that i listen to are the krohns in the massachusetts 7th Congressional District who stand to be deeply harmed by a shutdown. Which it does appear that one is imminent. And it will be deeply consequential. Were talking about social media and medicare being compromised, were talking about food being taken out of the mouths of women and children in my district as much as 125,000 families could be impacted. Were talking about 7,000 federal government and Contract Workers in my district. Were talking about a state not getting critical Disaster Relief funds. So, that is who au would im answering to and im ready for the people and i hope well not be in a shutdown. If we are in a shutdown, please know that were in a shutdown because of the republicans. The democrats have been at the table and been ready. But you might actually be given an opportunity where you get to vote for keeping Speaker Mccarthy as leader or there could be or there could be chaos, you might be asked to vote for jim jordan. It might be one of these scenarios. Would you ill make a decision when it is time to vote. But it is shameful that were in this position at all and it is more of the same with the republican majority. Just chaos and i would argue cluelessness about what the American People need and want us to be focused on. Which is governance. And keeping the government open and providing these essential services. So republicans biggest criticism of the Bipartisan SenateSpending Bill is compromised and being worked over on the other side of capitol hill and it does not contain additional funding por Border Security. Right now the u. S. Is facing a crisis at the border and this historic wave of venezuelans migrants crossing into the u. S. The u. S. Could not deport most of them or any of them because of the fasty diplomatic relations with venezuela. More than 7. 7 Million People have fled and there is no sign this is slowing down. Do you agree something needs to be done about our border, that it is not sustainable. We see these governors an im sure you disapprove the tactic but their sending migrants into places like massachusetts and new york and california and these cities are having trouble keeping up, the republican governors say things like were giving you a taste of what we have to deal with. Well, i certainly disagree with any people and certainly our most vulnerable who are fleeing a great destabilization and violence and corruption from being used as political pawns. No doubt about it, our border is secure. And we are in the middist of a humanitarian crisis and we have to fix a you think the border is secure . Or it is not secure . I believe that we are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis and there needs to be federal investment to support the migrant families and i work with a number of the Community Based organizations on ground and they need more support, they need more federal support. This is a humanitarian crisis and it is the consequence of a number of longstanding broken policies that, you know, are very consequential for Asylum Seekers and Daca Recipients at large. But that is a conversation for another day. I dont disagree with this being a humanitarian crisis at all. But just to get some clarity on this and sure it is a conversation for another day. But do you think that the border is secure . I just want is that what you said . Yes. The border is secure. And were in the midst of a humanitarian crisis that is created by a broken system. In the meantime we need federal investment to support my constituents and those who call the m. A. Seventh home writ large which is why we need to prevent a Government Shutdown. I want to see the humanity and the dignity and the needs of everyone which is why we should not have a Government Shutdown. It will be deeply consequential. It will create a dire situation for families, many that are already struggling. But if you have millions of undocumented migrants coming into the country, how is the border secure . Jake, this is not a new crisis. This does require more political will. And commitment. It is a humanitarian crisis. We should treat it as such. And, again, representing one of the most diverse constituencies in the country, and i represent the Third Largest haitian dia spora and i see on the ground Community Based organizations and municipalities who need federal support. Im not disagreeing with anything youre saying except for the idea that the border is secure. If you have people crossing border, it is by definition not secure. If you have people coming to United States, in fact, one of the arguments being made and i think it is an argument worth considering is that because our border is so porous, millions of people make this unsafe journey. Millions of people give money to people who prey on them, coyotes and take them on these journeys to cross into the United States, preying on them, vulnerable people. And that is because the border is not secure. Because it is not secure, they go on this journey and one of the arguments that is made and maybe you disagree with it, is that the border should be secure so as to discourage people from making this journey. So if people want to try to come to United States, and declare asylum and seek asylum, they go through the proper corridors and not just try to cross illegally. But it just seems like just such a refusal to acknowledge reality to say that the border is secure when we all know millions of people are crossing the border illegally every year. Jake, and that is a consequences of a number of things. We have a climate refugees, people that have been detablized by extreme weather events. Sure. We have people that are violence and corruption and so we just have to acknowledge why someone would leave their native country and their family and risk so much. 100 . Because they are and asylum is a human right. And so we must do better and more by tps holders, by Daca Recipients and Asylum Seekers. And we must do more and better by those who already call this country home who stand to really struggle if there is a republican Government Shutdown that could have been avoided if the republicans knew how to govern. But instead, they lead from a place of contempt, callousness and cluelessness and they continue to play to the extreme parts of their base. Political Gamesmanship Playing with peoples lives and im not h here for it and this is why im calling on them not to resume student loan payments october 1st if were in a Government Shutdown. Okay. It sounds like in there you acknowledge that there are millions of people crossing the border illegally. Which would mean that the border is not secure. But i mean, i dont disagree with any of the points that you made that theyre trying to seek better lives and escaping all sort of horrible things. But would you grant me the point that the border is not secure . Jake, that is a conversation for another day. Right now im squarely focused on preventing a Government Shutdown and democratic Congresswoman Presley of massachusetts. Thank you so much. Were going to squeeze in a quick break. Well be right back. And were back 2024 music. Were back with our 2024 lead. And lets dive into the headlines with pollster an one of my favorite guests kristin end. I hope im not talking out of school. Lets start with the shutdown. What are you hearing from Republican Voters . Do they feel like a shutdown affects them and who will they blame . Do they care. A lot of voters dont have much recollection of previous shutdowns. If it is short, many wont take it into consideration. If a long, it can have consequences and normally that those consequences are negative for party that is in charge. What republicans are banking on this time is that they wont bear too much of the blame or rather theyll be viewed as having a just cause in this case. On issues like immigration for instance. Back the last time the government shout down, voters perfected democrats on issues like immigration and today republicans have a huge advantage. So i think republicans feel like their in a stronger position now to extract concessions. But republicans are not all united about what they want out of this shutdown. So lets turn to the debate happening tonight. Trump is once again the absent elephant in the room. So the other seven candidates on the stage, it is their time to shine for second place. What message do you think will resonate among Republican Voters in. I think Republican Voters who watch this debate are looking for an alternative to trump. They want to see someone would could really beat joe biden. Weve seen in a lot of polls lately that nikki haley is looking the strongest as a contender against biden but trump is still the big thing. And i think if these candidates tonight cant answer the questions, if you like donald trump so much, why should we vote for you instead, if they cant answer that question well, this is trumps thing to just run with. So despite lets talk about trump. Because despite the growing legal issues an it is considerable to take at least five minutes to explain them to the folks at home. Despite that, in the latest cnn poll, trump leads desantis, by 43 points. It seems like a lot. In 2007 at this time, sect of state Hillary Clinton had a remarkable lead over then senator barack obama. And in October Of 2007 she led obama by 30 percentage points. But of course obama ended up winning. So that is 30 compared to 43 for trump right now. Do you think it is, and dont give me in the realm of possible. Anything is possible. But what are the odds that somebody other than trump gets nomination and lets exclude, you know, death or prison or meteors. What are the what is it one in 20 . Very low. Maybe not quite one in 20. But one in 10. I could be comfortable going there. The problem is that for a lot of republicans who dont wan trump to be the nominee, like in 2016, we need the field to shrink down. If it was trump headtohead with nikki haley or ron desantis there could be a chance but trumps lead is so large and voters think trump would be formidable against biden. They dont see any reason at this point to change who the captain of their team is. And until that dynamic changes or unless something dramatic happens, meteor, legal or otherwise, it seems like it is trumps race to lose. Good to see you as always. Thank you very much. Many of us woke up to news that travis king was released by north korea. What cnn is learning about how this all went down. That is next. Our world lead, an extreme example of a young man seemingly trying to run from his problems. Today, north korea expelled awol u. S. Army private travis king. The 23yearold junior soldier was stationed in south korea before he willingly crossed over the demilitarized zone, or dmz, two months ago. King entered north korea the day before he was supposed to be on a plane back to texas to be kicked out of the u. S. Army over Assault Charges in south korea. We report on whats next for king as he returns home where he will likely, finally have to face the music. Reporter private travis king, now on his way home after bolting across the heavily guarded border into north korea in july, which u. S. Officials say he did willfully and without authorization. Now, they will hopefully learn what drove private kings dramatic and scary escapade, as well as details on his more than two months in north korean custody. U. S. Officials say that since july, multiple countries have undertaken intense diplomacy to free king, and that sweden, which represents u. S. Interests in north korea, played a crucial role. We appreciate the professionalism of our diplomats who worked with their counterparts and coordinated with swede bn and the Republic China and we thank them. Reporter on wednesday, north korean media announced that 23yearold king would be expelled following what they called an investigation, which king supposedly admitted he crossed into north korea illegally. King was taken from north korea to the Friendship Bridge with china, where he was met by the American Ambassador and defense attache. From there, he flew to china, then to the u. S. Air base in south korea before flying back to the United States. Was there anything that the north koreans asked for or received in exchange . Was there a trade at all . We did not give them anything. We made no concessions. Do you have any idea why they decided to suddenly expel him . Im going to follow my general here and not try to get into the heads of foreign governments, certainly not that one. Reporter king is said to be in good health and eager to see his family. A spokesman for his mother saying in a Statement She will be forever grateful to the United States army and all its interagency partners for a job well done. Kings family had previously said they didnt understand why king had done what he did. This is really, really hard on my mom. Thats her baby boy. His room is still in her house. Reporter when king fled from the airport in seoul, south korea, to the dmz, he had been ordered back to texas to face discipline after pleading guilty in south korea for assault, which he was sentenced to 50 days of labor in south korea. Jake, private king is due to land in the coming hours in san antonio, texas and then go to the Brooke Army Medical center where other returning u. S. Prisoners have gone, Including Trevor Reed and brittney griner. As for the consequences he may face, what kind of discipline, whether its a courtmartial for going awol or trying to evade those disciplinary procedures, those questions we are told by a Senior Administration official, will be addressed once king is back on solid footing, after what this official called the reintegration process. Thanks so much, alex. Good to see you. Less than four months until the first contest in the 2024 race, but there is the critical moment for gop voters happen thing evening. More on that, next