Streets. Betting big on michigan, donald trump heading to that critical Battleground State while his rivals duke it out at the debate. And the nightmare for anyone dreaming of owning their own home. Low Inventory Colliding with record high Interest Rates. Our nbc News Reporters are following all of the latest developments. We start with senator Robert Menendez pleading guilty to briby charges, just as we got new reporting that he previously blocked a law that could have ended his alleged scheme years ago. Nbcs ken dilanian has more on that story for us. Ken, what more can you tell us . Chris, back in december of 2020, there was bipartisan movement behind an effort to reform the foreign agents registration act, which is a 1938 law requiring that anybody whos representing a Foreign Government trying to influence the American Government has to general and disclose their activities. Its a pretty thorough law, but its not widely enforced and there are some weaknesses in it. And a group of senators, both republicans and democrats have come up with a plan to beef it up. And senator charles grassley, republican, brought it to the senate floor, asked for unanimous consent, and thought that it was going to go forward. But Robert Menendez stood up and blocked it. He objected. He single handedly prevents the passage of this legislation that had support from members of his own party. At the time he said it was because he thought he believed in reforming the law but thought it needed more consideration. Now we know that according to this indictment, he was engaged in an illegal Bribery Scheme that included allegations that he was secretly aiding the government of egypt. And the egyptian american businessman who hes accused of accepting bribes from and helping with his business was meeting with Egyptian Government and intelligence officials and even said in a text message to an egyptian general, referring to Senator Menendez as our man. So it raised questions about whether this was an Egyptian Government effort to influence u. S. Policy. It certainly had the effect of influencing the chairman of the Foreign Relations committee, and this effort to beef up the laws that would have tried to get it disclosing some of that conduct was blocked by the very senator now accused of selling his office, essentially, to help egypt, chris. Ken dilanian, thank you. And in just the last 30 minutes, we learned from senator mark warner that Senator Menendez does plan to address Senate Democrats during their party lunch tomorrow. It will be the first Time Menendez has faced that group, and of course well be watching to see whether Senate Democrats who have yet to call for his resignation make any announcements after hearing from him directly tomorrow. Now to the manhunt for a violent Repeat Offender wanted in the murder of a 26yearold tech ceo. Gary grumbach is following that story. What do police have to say about the suspect and the victim . It has now been more than 24 hours since police found 26yearold in her apartment dead from blunt force trauma, and theres a Search Warrant out for the arrest of the suspect by the name of jason billingsley, a 32yearold from the baltimore area, and he has quite a wrap sheet as you can see there. Wanted for firstdegree murder in this case, but hes been arrested on sex offense and Assault Charges and robbery charges, and got out of jail just last october after spending more than a decade behind bars. Listen to the warning the police chief in baltimore gave to the Community Last night. We implore residents to be aware of your surroundings at all times. This individual will kill and he will rape. He will do anything he can to cause harm. Please beware of your surroundings. Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of ms. Lapierre, and mr. Maxwell. The victim here, she was at the top of her game. She was a 26yearold tech startup ceo. The mayor of baltimore, brenda scott said he knew her well, they worked together on a number of different projects, and she was something who was named, as you said, on the 30 under 30 list just this year. She had a long successful life ahead of her. Her family is calling her an inspiration in a statement. Chris. What a tragedy, gary grumbach, thank you for that. Donald trump is back in the business of counter programming, skipping tonights Republican Debate in favor of a rally in the Battleground State of michigan. Nbcs Vaughn Hillyard is there. What are we expecting from this visit tonight, vaughn . Reporter right, chris, this is an extension of politics and the Labor Movement in america. Its not lost on anybody when you go back to the 60s. Rfk joining the likes of caesar chavez, to 1981 when Ronald Reagan fired 11,000 public workers, air Traffic Controllers who were out on strike and part of a union, and you come back here today. Donald trump, hes not taking part in the second gop president ial debate tonight at the Ronald Reagan library in california. Instead, hes going to be joined by workers here in macomb county, michigan, who are out on strike. To note, he is going to be speaking at a nonunion manufacturing plant. Because for donald trump, this is not so much about being pro union as it is in his words about being pro worker. Theres history of donald trump in his four years in office. When you look at the National LaborRelations Board and the Labor Department under his administration, he gave greater power to employers, rolling back abilities for workers to unionize or be considered direct employees, not contractors of the companies, which impacted overtime work as well as compensation. And his administration tried to pressure, yes, auto manufacturers, but there were auto operators that shut down on his watch here in michigan, ohio, maryland. There was no mass wave of new jobs or manufacturing in the midwest. When it comes to the 2024 president ial election, and if he is the republican General Election nominee, its going to be important to the state of michigan, and thats what brings him here today. Take a listen to a few of the workers we talked to about his visit. You cant bad mouth and then come back and say, okay, then, i want your guys support. I mean, im not dogging on any president , but im just saying a lot of things you say in the past will come back and haunt you. Hes Pro United States worker, u. S. Worker, and hes against evs, he thinks thats whats putting us out of business, hurting the business, i think hes right on that to an extent. Unless hes giving free places to his hotel in vegas, i could careless. Reporter in 2020, donald trump won one out of three Union Household members in the state of michigan, according to exit polling. You heard from the second gentleman, the second worker on strike, he said he would vote for donald trump over joe biden in the November 2024 election. You heard him mention electric vehicles. This has been a Sticking Point that donald trump has repeatedly come back to, citing the Biden Administrations investment in electric vehicles, loans and Tax Incentives that have been given to auto manufacturers, returning to electric vehicles. We should expect him to hit on that tonight. Of course, part of this is the fact that electrical vehicle making it takes fewer work ers and around the country when you look at teslas company, nonunion company, the workers that work on the electric vehicles compared to gas vehicles have lower hourly pay and that is of course of concern. The Biden Administration pushes back and says in marshal, michigan, theres a 3. 5 billion electric vehicle battery plants in which construction has began and the Biden Administration, especially if they were given a second term would continue to invest in not only Investment Vehicle plants but Battery Manufacturing in the state. Theres a lot of nuance when it comes to manufacturing, and the plants here, and thats why you see not only joe biden in the states but donald trump trying to make his case to the workers here on strike, chris. Vaughn hillyard, thank you so much. Potential home buyers are facing an unprecedented pinch as the supply of homes plummets to historic allows but Interest Rates and prices rise to new highs. Cnbcs Morgan Brennan joins us for cnbc on msnbc. Not a great time if youre someone looking to buy a home. Give us the facts. What do we know about all of these numbers . Yeah, chris. You said it when you said unprecedented. Its unprecedently hard. I do not use that term lightly. A perfect storm of low supply of homes for sale, rising Interest Rates and rising home prices. Just this afternoon, the Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau releasing a report that average Home Loan Payments rose 46 last year. Mortgage Interest Rates just hit a level that we have not seen since 2000. The average contract Interest Rate for a 30year fixed Rate Mortgage with a conforming loan balance, that increased last week to 7. 4 from just a week earlier. Mortgage rates have jumped as the Federal Reserve signals it will hold Interest Rates higher for longer. That has sent treasury yields soaring. Mortgage ratings take their queue from the treasury markets. Demand has plummeted to a 27year low, down 1. 3 last week, versus the previous week. Down more than 25 compared to this time last year. Its also leading to a fall, a recently renewed fall in new home sales as well. And yet, despite all of this, and this is what makes in market unprecedented, while higher rates historically pressure home prices, theres such an imbalance between supply and demand, a dearth of Housing Inventory that prices are still climbing. The S P National Home Price Index just yesterday said home prices set a new record in july. And were seeing this, chris, despite the fact that many people, particularly first time home buyers are going pushed ouch the market. Key question here, what breaks this dynamic and how much does this factor into inflation that is so much higher than the fed would like to see it right now. Were going to come back to you for those answers. If you have them by tomorrow, that would be great. Ill get to work on it. The senate has a plan to avert a government shutdown, but is it dead on arrival in the house . Republican Congressman Bob Good of the Budget Committee will join me in 60 seconds. He budgetl join me in 60 secos. Nd all toooo youuuuu sean i wish for the amazing new iphone 15 pro jason sean do you mean this one the one with titanium . sean no way i can trade this busted up thing for one. jason maybe stealing wishes from the birthday boy is not your best plan switch to verizon and trade in any iphone and get the new iphone 15 pro on them. sean what . jason yup, and on an Amazing Network sean and i dont have to ruin anymore Birthday Parties jason yeah, that ship has sailed. Lets go get you the iphone. Here we go, come on hon. vo trade in any iphone in any condition for a new iphone 15 pro on us. Only on verizon. Right now, the house is on a Collision Course on capitol hill because thats where the senate has come up with a bipartisan deal, and sparing millions of americans of going without a paycheck through mid november. The problem is theres no guarantee it can pass the house where the republican majority passes deep divisions and the demands of hard line conservatives. Earlier today House Majority leader Steve Scalise gave an update of where things stand with three days until the deadline. Were going to be focusing on not just properly funding the government but securing americas border. Both of those debates need to happen this week. Youre going to see a robust debate on the house floor all week through today, tomorrow, and as long as it takes. Members are talking to each other in a different way right now because theres so much at stake. Joining us now is republican Congressman Bob Good of virginia. He is a member of the house Budget Committee. Are folks talking to each other in a different way now . Give us the lay of the land as you see it, congressman. It was interesting, you were talking a moment ago about Housing Demand and Interest Rates. All of that is called by the bad biden, pelosi, schumer policies, the record Inflation Costs by the unprecedented level of spending. The days of reckless spending without consequence are over, and now with inflation, the biden fed is raising Interest Rates, Young Americans trying to buy their first home and the senate plan you referenced a moment ago is a plan to perpetuate the suffering of the American People, the policies under which the American People are dealing with Grocery Prices so high, utility prices, gas prices and Housing Prices i just mentioned. Its a bipartisan plan, congressman, so are you saying that the republicans in the senate who backed this and got together with democrats to make a deal are just plain wrong . Yes, they are. And the bipartisan plan last year, the 1. 7 trillion Spending Bill was said that it would cost 1. 7 trillion. As you know, were on track for a 2. 2 trillion deficit to further stick it to the American People now that weve reached 33 trillion in national debt. Were not going to perpetuate that harm in the house. Were not going to vote for that terrible deal for the American People that simply extends the policies that are destroying the country, and, again, under which the American People are suffering. So what do you make of whats happening on the house side . Congressman matt gaetz says the house has been poorly led by mccarthy, he seemed to indicate hes on the verge of filing a motion to vacate to kick mccarthy out . Where do you stand on that . Hes correct on the sense that january the speaker battle was about not doing what we have always done and getting what weve always gotten and not being where we are today. The speaker battle was about not passing major Spending Bills with the majority democrat votes and a republican majority in the house and the speaker committed in order to become speaker to return us to precovid spending, we voted to that effect in april. He should have led the republican conference in that unity in june, july and august to pass the Spending Bills. Now we have a crisis of the calendar created by the speakers failure to lead. As members have come together, trying to pass our bills. Hopefully well have five bills passed out of the house. The senate has no bills. Hopefully five bills out of the house this week which would fund about 73 of the government including the priority for the federal government of National Security and National Defense and another week or two into october to finish our Spending Bills, and thats what we ought to do. Thats what Speaker Mccarthy promised the American People and the republican conference when he became speake lets talk about what happens to americans in the meantime. Beyond the immiate effects on ur constituents, Virginia Republicans are fretting about voters taking out their anger on the gop in novembers State Elections if theres a shutdown. Are there cons