Live from the NASAC market site in the heart of New York City's Times Square, this is fast money.

Here's what's on top tonight. The Fed's independence in focus, whether it's the courts versus Lisa Cook or Stephen Myron before Congress,

or watching all the fireworks at the Central Bank, the implications for the markets ahead of tomorrow's jobs report.

And Lulu Lessons, shares of the ad leisure company plunging after its latest earnings report where we learned about the consumer and the rest of the retail space. Plus the latest bear on Apple gets a little less bearish. Health Secretary RFK Jr. gives some fiery testimony on Capitol Hill. And from A to Z, why the Chartmaster says it is time to put cash into Amazon. I'm Melissa Lee, coming to you live from Studio B at the NASDAQ. I'm the desk tonight. Tim Seymour, Karen Feinman, Dan Nathan, and Steve Grasso. And we start off with two Fed-focused headlines that put the central bank's Fed independence front and center today. The DOJ officially opening a criminal investigation into Lisa Cook, the fired Fed governor fighting back against allegations of mortgage fraud.

At the same time, Stephen Meyer and the president's nominee to replace retiring governor, Adriana Coogler,

testified at his own confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.

All this ahead of tomorrow's closely watched jobs report are reading this morning showing the slowest growth in private payrolls for August in

at least 16 years. CNBC Steve Leesman joins us now with all the headlines from today. Steve.

Yeah, Melissa, I'm hanging around for the traded portion of this that comes after my head because I

want to hear what everybody thinks. Weaker data and controversy surrounding Fed personnel has markets leaning towards a more doveish fed outlook.

I want to start with the probabilities here.

98% on September. That's as good as a lock.

And now you're toying with a quicker follow-up cut.

Remember, that was down in the mid-40s for the possibility of a second cut.

But the second cut is for sure,

or much more for sure, or confidently dialed in for December at 92%. Looking out to next year,

I'd like to follow this. It's an indication. The Fed Fund's December 26th contract. Trades with a

yield now of 293. Well, I guess it's 296 now. It was 293 a few minutes ago. But anyway, that's one of the

lowest we've seen. By then, five of the seven board members could have been appointed by President

Trump. In testimony today, Fed Governor nominee Stephen Myron told the Senate Bank Committee,

he supports independence, but it would only take an unpaid leave of absence from his job as CEH

chair returning after fulfilling what is a four-month job on the Federal Reserve. Democrats saw that

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