You. Rolling out an aggressive strategy and would go highdollar donors how President Biden and his team quote, candid exchange of views, that is how russian president putin is describing his fivehour long meeting with kim jongun, how the u. S. Is responding amid fears of an arms deal between the two nations. Plus thermal Heat Technology and a police dog. How searchers in pennsylvania found an escaped murderer who evaded them for two weeks. Were following these developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn news central. Right now we are tracking a president who is facing an impeachment threat from House Republicans and a House Speaker who may have to decide between keeping the government funded or keeping his gavel. Lots of political implications here on the white house side President Bidens just in the last hour. He didnt even put up for a vote as you all know because he knows that even his own members werent going to support this. So, you know, thats why we call it baseless. Thats why i just called it baseless because they have said themselves that there is no evidence. That it does not the evidence does not exist and this is a political stunt. Lost in the scrum. The Speaker Mccarthy couldnt juggle the numbers of we could be hemmed for a Government Shutdown on october 1st. First, lets Start Talking about biden trying to keep the Focus On Policy, of course chris kristen, his fingerprints are over this. He had dinner with Margaret Taylor green, a representative hes very close with, somebody they talked about that impeachment with during that time. Lee stefanowik, a number of my sources say that while trump has talked about this, while he has encouraged this, this really isnt the top of list of his things had a he. Obsesses over, mostly that is his impending legal issues that he has but it is something he is watching carefully and watching who has his back when it comes to this impeessments. The other thing is, even though it is clear he is going to be somewhat at the center of this because he is at the center of the Republican Party. When i talked to one member, they told me the other day, two days ago, it doesnt matter whether trump is encouraging or twisting somebodys arm, what matters is if trump wants something done they know what he wants done and they are going to the white house of course wants to keep focus, the Focus On Policy here, the trouble is polling doesnt show great public support for bidens policies so far. So how do they plan to navigate this . Reporter certainly they think that all they need is time for the messaging to sink in, thats why President Biden tomorrow is set to deliver yet another speech on his economic programs to try to draw contrast between what he has passed and what republicans platform is and just moments ago at a White House Press briefing they had the Top White House economist talking about inflation and demands from auto workers and a Top National Security official talking about the meeting between kim jongun and Vladimir Putin, but White House Press secretary Karine Jeanpierre was also asked repeatedly about the Impeachment Inquiry which they continue to cause baseless and illegitimate. I asked will the white house be complying with any asking for information that are issued to bolster the argument that there is no evidence. Youve suggest that had there is no evidence to back up the republicans evidence here. Which is true. Im not suggesting it. That is a fact. If they are seeking information that is something that the white House Counsel is going to deal with. Its not a suggestion, its an actual fact. When you have republicans saying that there is no evidence it doesnt exist, they have said that. I mean, again, they couldnt put it up for a vote because they didnt have the vote. Its not a suggestion, its actually the fact. Thats their own words that im repeating back. Reporter so declining to say that the white house would provide information to back up their argument thus far and pointing to the to field any of those inquiries. Meanwhile, the Biden Campaign is using this campaign to try to draw up small dollar donations which so far have been lagging in this email cycle. An email sent out to bidens whatever you can afford to fight back against Kevin Mccarthy and Marjorie Taylor greenes vicious lies and baseless attacks on the president. That effort coming as the Biden Administration is set to corral highdollar donors in chicago trying to reenergize them ahead of an end of quarter fundraising deadline as the Campaign Zeros in its messaging on this Battle Between Biden and his predecessor. David, there have been theres been a lot of investigating, you know, on the legal front, a lot of this we are talking about is political. Legally theres been investigating, hunter biden does not come out of this smelling like a rose. Hunter. The proximity of that to then vice President Biden thats not great but there is not this link that you have some republicans really trying to draw here the question is going to be politically does this stick and cause problems for joe biden. Right. I mean, the investigation, the legal investigation is actually ongoing with the Special Counsel into hunter biden, but even at that weve had no reports out of that investigation that theres some looking at Potential Wrongdoing of president joe biden, you are right to note that and there hasnt been that direct link yet made from House Republicans even in their more politically tainted investigations. But the white house has a big perception problem. I mean, the work of the House Republicans is having some impact. We see in our polling that a majority of americans believe that President Biden has acted inappropriately in this current investigation and as it relates to his relations to the Business Relation of hunter biden back when he was Vice President we saw nearly six in ten americans in our poll believe that and that includes a majority of independents. Theres clear perception work and that is why you are seeing the white house becoming aggressive out of the gate instantly with this because they want to make sure theyre pushing back and changing that perception. We want to take a moment and go to capitol hill because lauren fox is getting the latest from lawmakers there. Lauren, even if you hear from republicans on the judiciary committee, people that have been investigating hunter biden potential links to joe biden, congressman ken buck, for example, he says he does not see any specific evidence tying the president to his sons Business Dealings overseas. Reporter and weve been talking about this, but there is a reason why House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy did not bring a vote to the floor of the House Of Representatives to open this Impeachment Inquiry despite the fact that just 12 days ago he was arguing that impeachment was so serious that an Impeachment Inquiry was to serious that he would bring this to the floor of the house for a vote. The reality is there were many republicans in his ranks who had concerns about launching this Impeachment Inquiry in part because there is no direct evidence, but also in part because once you start an inquiry, despite the fact that leadership is arguing this is just an initial step, this isnt a formal impeachment, it is very hard to backtrack, it is very hard to not finish the job, in part because not finishing the job, not holding a vote on impeachment potentially could exonerate the president and you can bet that democrats would campaign on that. Thats part of the dynamic here for House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy but his conference is still very divided. Here is what a couple of Lawmakers Said today. Certainly didnt help democrats. I mean, you know, i havent seen anybody do too well after an impeachment process, didnt do well for us in 98 with president clinton. I dont see it as good politics. I do, though, think theres enough stuff here that it deserves to be looked at. I think that we need to be balanced in this approach. I dont think that impeachment ought to be used as a Political Tool or weapon especially around election year. I think we need to be in a quest for facts. I think that this impeachment is long overdue. The people in my district have had enough. The border crisis in particular, the 13 americans that were killed, i think we ought have impeached his ass a long time ago. Reporter some of the most kept Al Republicans in capitol hill are over in the u. S. Senate, james comer and jim jordan, they went to the Republican Senate lunch today to try to lay out their case, give a sense of where their investigation is going in hopes that they could garner more support from republican senators who to this point largely have been skeptical of the fact that there is a lot to do right now in congress, including funding the government. Their argument is that an Impeachment Inquiry could be a distraction from doing that work. David, devils advocate. If you go back to mccarthys run for speaker there was a lot of talk he didnt have the votes. He made it through on the budget plan, he eventually got the votes. Is it poblng that he musters the votes to move forward. For impeachment . Yes. Possibly. He clearly did the votes yesterday to Launchen Inquiry or he would have put it on the house floor. He doesnt have the votes to avoid a shutdown because they had to actually postpone and reschedule the defense spending bill. They cant even get defense spending alone today so he doesnt have those votes. With time, with arguments if there is more evidence you can see some of these members. We saw this by the way with the democrats four years ago. There were democrats not willing to get on board with the notion of impeaching President Trump initially for the zelenskyy phone call but as more developments came out and as the investigation began some of them moved. Certainly it is possible. I will just say this, Kevin Mccarthy is doing something that the folks in his conference who are the Majority Makers from very consequential districts that will determine control, they are the ones that are not eager like you saw the new york congressman here to not do this. That was not the case four years ago. Nancy pelosi moved forward once the Majority Makers, those freshmen democrats from borderline districts got on board with it, thats when she moved forward with it. Here Kevin Mccarthy is being dictated sort of by the base not by his Majority Makers. When you look to it, some very outspoken folks like matt gaetz on the spending part of this because all of this gets related to each other in a complicated way, hes talking about getting rid of entire agencies and this and that, stuff that is never going to make it through congress. I mean, how tricky is this for Kevin Mccarthy to navigate this when he has members who are demanding things that are quite frankly just impossible to deliver . To jims point we saw 15 rounds of tricky back in january. Kevin mccarthy is in a very tough spot. Theres no doubt about it. And he is making these constant daily choices of how to navigate this conference that threatens to potentially take the gavel away from him, create more chaos for the party and i just think that what youre seeing mccarthy do on a daily basis right now is how can he survive in this position that he has long sought and now been in for the last many months. Lets go back to the white house with Kayla Tausche. This is obviously something that is very personal for President Biden. Mccarthy has brought no new allegations against the president , we should be clear about that. Nevertheless, biden being hesitant to speak about his son publicly up until now we havent seen much of that. Do we expect thats something thats going to change, especially as hes more called out by republicans for their allegations of Wrongdoing Heading into 2024 . Reporter well, the white house is going to have to thread the needle here because President Bidens preference up until this point has been to remain above the fray and above what they see as Drama On Capitol Hill and within the Republican Party and theyve tried to draw a distinction between the allegations and the situation ongoing with the president s son hunter and the Special Counsels case there and have been very careful anytime that topic has come up to defer to the Department Of Justice and the independent investigation there, but the white house and senior biden aides have suggested that impeachment is a political animal. So they will be treating that differently and they will be much more aggressive when it comes to messaging, if not on the legal front when it comes to impeachment. The problem is the Impeachment Inquiry is based on, you know, the republicans seeking out of information about hunter biden and the attempt to tie the president to Hunter BidensBusiness Dealings. So you do get a situation where there is a little bit of muddy water there and so how the white house decides it wants to engage doesnt appear clear yet, but they are working on that behind the scenes. Kristen, one might imagine politically that there is an attempt here to dissolve or underplay trumps own legal troubles by creating legal troubles for biden regardless of the degree of the evidence here. By the way, its a playbook weve seen before in washington many times before. Is there a republican response to that argument . I think the republicans are and we have seen this, as you said, time and time before, very good at messaging and donald trump himself is very good at taking control of a narrative. I will tell you when i talk to voters even if they do not necessarily support donald trump, republicans, they have told me that there is a twotiered justice system. That is coming straight from Donald Trumps camp and republican camps saying that this is because hunter biden is not getting the same treatment, the bidens are not getting the same treatment that donald trump himself is getting. That is a narrative that is breaking through to voters and Republican Voters. When you talk about the fact kayla was mentioning about ramping up their rhetoric on the democratic side, thats why. Because some of this republican messaging is, in fact, breaking through. Regardless of whether or not trump is behind it and if its a way to deter from donald trump or if he is the one thats creating it, it is working with Republican Voters and that is also why youre hearing so much from democrats who say they want a stronger approach from the white house on this because they want a counternarrative. They are needing one. Its very clear. Kristen, david, thank you so much, as well to Kayla Tausche at the white house for us. We appreciate it. Coming up, back behind bars and a huge sigh of relief for the community in pennsylvania after police there captured this escaped murderer who had been on the run for two weeks. Plus, a fivehour meeting with global consequences. What we are learning about the summit between russian president putin and north korean dictator kim jongun. And later, its me, hi, im the writer, its me. Why all you swifties might want to dust off your resumes. Looking for a taylor swift reporter. All these stories and more coming up on cnn news central. Mac and cheese lovers rejoice. Dive into the Melty Gooey Goodness of Bob Evans Mac and cheese. Tender macaroni smothered in real cheese. Ready in just minutes with the Delicious Taste, bob evans is known for. Bring home the warm, gooey goodness of mac and cheese today. My relationship with my credit cards wasnt good. I got into debt in college, and no matter how much i paid