Its debate night in california but not for the frontrunner. 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 hes blaming President Biden. Were 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 president ial debate in california. Trumps skipping tonights 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 trumps 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, youd likely see him in a state like iowa or South Carolina or new hampshire, but hes 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. Its 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 trumps 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 its 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, thats an indication of what the speech tonight is going to look like. Hes 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. Lets 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, hes going to have some fans among Union Workers there. Hes banking on peeling off some of the Rank And File. Obviously the leadership of the uaw dont like him. Does he have enough of a chance to peel off a significant number of of the Rank And File . I think its 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. Its a smart play to do that and also a smart play not to go to a Non Union Shop. Theres 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 its a smart play. Hes presuming hes the nominee. Thats not a really good look for a lot of the voters. Hes 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 . Charlies right. Historys 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 things 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. Thats very much part of the conversation right now. And so i hear charlies 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 hes 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 its really problematic because they spent so much money that its driving more and more deficits and inflation and is out of control. And he cant do anything about it. Every day you read the paper, theyre spending another multibillion dollar grant. Theyre 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 ones figured out how to assuage the radical overall of the industry that will take place if Electric Cars take off. Thats a vulnerability for sure. But Trump Septemberpent The Mon and told auto workers in ohio, dont sell your house. Im going to get this plant reopened then he didnt. 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. Its moderated a bit but went up so much. Just go to the Grocery Store and gas pump. Thats what people are seeing and why they dont feel good about the economy. Even though the Unemployment Rate is low. Even though the inflation has moderated, its still off a very high base. I think bidens vulnerable, too. In terms of the American Rescue plan, they overspent on that and that helped juice inflation, too. I think thats 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. Hes got this new tv ad. Speaking of being p its goin to be trump versus biden. Any hope for these seven candidates on this debate stage tonight . Because thats normally, you know, in a normal world, thats what we would be talking about. Do you think they can breakthrough . I dont 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 thats repugnant to me. Certainly trump did a lot of that and now bidens spending more than him. I think those are real weights around all their necks. Im 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 sixweek abortion ban a mistake, which i think hes right on. Im 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 im anxious to see if one of them tries to really draw that hard contrast. Right now, theyre all fighting for second place. Which one is going to emerge . Theyre all stuck in the high single digits. So whos going breakthrough . Right now, trumps going to coast as long as weve 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. Hes considered extraordinarily rare. Lets 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, weve 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 koreas 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. Well let you go to that phone call. Im 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 whats been happening with north korea in recent months. You have kim jongun 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, theyre not particularly focused on diplomacy with the United States. They dont have anything theyre asking the u. S. For. Perhaps they just didnt feel they were going to get a lot out of this by Holding On To Travis king for a long time. He didnt commit any crime aside from illegally entering the country. Presumably, he didnt 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 its a one off with being willing to return this private. Of course, the only question would be where would king go next. Hes 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. Were going to take you live to capitol hill for the latest on talks to avoid the Government Shutdown thats looming in fewer than four days. Plus, bob menendez appearing in Federal Court on bribely charges but calls for him to resign are growing. Well 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 theres a bipartisan deal thats in play that Senate Leaders just reached, but in the house, Hard Line Republicans say its dead on arrival. Lets 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 senates 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. Its 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 doesnt 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 doesnt 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 Mccarthys 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. Its not a representative of this body here in the house of representatives. If you make a deal, youve got to stick to a deal. Speaker mccarthy did cut with the white house. It was intended to avoid a situation were in now, but he faced pressure from his right flank to seek deeper spending cuts. Something democrats and republicans say they cant 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 cant 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, hes dismissed those calls. Does it indicate that some of those aides are potentially witnesses . Well, im 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, theyve already got some heads up that those folks may be witnesses for the government as i think its likely in this case. These charges are serious. Its a real case. Theres 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 senators 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 thats, that changes it from looking like a bank deposit somewhere, some money youre holding out for a rainy day fund. Hes got an Uphill Battle and i think hes probably and will likely spend some time on messaging Going Forward. Whether or not he survives politically, thats a que