journalist jamal khashoggi. he insisted that they give access to the saudi consulate in instand buel. that's where he was last seen on the 2nd of october. the saudis denied any involvement in his disappearance. president trump predicts the u.s. will probably have, quote, a terrific relationship with turkey. andrew brunsin met with the president at the white house on saturday. the pastor had been held in turkey since 2016 accused of helping to plot a coup attempt. he denied that. "the new york times" reports that president trump's son-in-law and advisor jared kushner appears to have paid almost no federal income tax for at least seven years. he reportedly used a common tax minimizing maneuver. the times pegged kushner's net worth at more than $300 million. spokesman for his lawyer says kushner paid all taxes due.

we're back now live from istanbul for more coverage on that investigation into the disappearance of the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. he was once considered a loyal insider and became a critic of the crown prince. anderson cooper takes a look at bin salman and how much power he wields in the cumulative country. >> he's crown prince mohamed bin is salman. bin salman was known for his ambition and for having his eye on the throne, but his cousin was next in line so in june last year his cousin was reportedly summoned to the palace and told to surrender his position as the

crown prince. late last year nbs issued a crackdown. some were held against their will at the ritz carlton in riyadh while they negotiations billions in payments to the government. when asked about it on "60 minutes" the prince denied it was a power grab. >> translator: if i have the power and the king has the power to take action against influential people, then you are already fundamentally strong. these are naive accusations. >> reporter: many in saudi arabia have celebrated bin salman's rise to power. to them he's a visionary looking to transform saudi arabia and improve lives of citizens. women are now allowed to drive and attend sporting events. mbs is focusing on the economy attracting new businesses to make saudi arabia less dependent

on oil. in march he held a highly publicized so-called listening tour in the u.s. where he met with brump and letters. as crown prince he lives the good life. while on vacation in the south of france recently, "the new yorker" reports he bought a yacht for $550 million. along with that a chateau outside of paris and last year he's said to have paid $450 million for a leonardo da vinci portrait. >> translator: as far as my expenses, i'm a rich person. i'm not gandhi or mandela. >> reporter: while he does appear to be power hungry, he's become an ally to the trump administration at one point serving as a go between for jared kushner in the middle

east. >> crown prince, thank you very much. thank you for being here. >> thank you, mr. president. >> reporter: an ally, it seems, questions remain about how much mohamed bin salman can be trusted. anderson cooper, cnn, new york. >> reporter: so the mysterious disappearance of jamal khashoggi could not have come at a worst time for saudi's prince. as he's trying to move his kingdom forward and attract foreign investments. his uncertain fate doesn't have that. with me now is bloomberg editor bobby gosh. let's be clear. the saudis are yet to provide any evidence that their citizen left the consulate. the turkish authorities yet to release the evidence their local

press say they have that something shocking happened to gentleman mal cost that. what costs at this point. as we continue to search and dig for evidence on this investigation, just what cost to the crown prince's vision for the future of his country potentially? >> well, let's look at that vision. what he wants to do is create an economy that's less dependent on oil. what he wants to do is attract private investment both from within the country and outside of the country to known oil sectors and he wants to change the image of saudi arabia in the world from being this harsh and puritanical place into an open if not democracy but more open society which allows for foreign investment and foreign collection. those are the goals for his vision 2030. now with everything that has happened in the past couple of weeks you have foreign investors

openly expressing alarm. some have pulled out of davos open desert in riyadh so that's not a good sign when the very foreign investors and foreign ministers that you want coming into your country are not even comfortable coming to an event in your country. and in terms of creating an image of a welcome and opening place, this event has created exactly the opposite. around the world what are we talking about in the context of saudi arabia? only in the most negative light has that country been seen around the world. this is quite the opposite of what the prince wants. when foreign investors, when foreign citizens are reluctant to engage with your country, that has a real dollar and cents value attached. >> reporter: it's very clear

that the crown prince had an opportunity to leverage this relationship between the saudi and the u.s. through the investments or the purchase of military hardware to help make the u.s. president's make america great again sort of doctrine, as it were. on the flip side of that was an enormous promise from the u.s. and its business men to invest in a new saudi economy. let's look specifically at that u.s./saudi relationship. just what is at stake? it's clear behind the scenes now that the white house is trying to position or develop a position on all of this. you know, they continue to seek evidence. they continue to push for this investigation, but what are their options at this point?

>> well, when you have the president of the united states saying on live national -- on national television that the saudis could have done it, he didn't say they did it, they could have done it, that's not a good sign and when he's promising stern punishment, that's not a good sign. he's talking about the arms deal and all of the damage that could do. in theory, yes. it's not like the saudis saying we're going to take this order of $110 billion and give it to somebody else. the relationship, first of all you can't really do that with military hardware. the saudis have generations and generations of moern technology. i'm going to simplify that, you can't say i'm going to go in and buy some non-apple technology and plug it into my apple. quite a box.

the united states essentially is the military guarantor of saudi arabia in the middle east and the saudis depend on that. it's not like the chinese and the russians are going to fulfill that role. i don't think the saudis would be comfortable even if the russians would offer that. they've seen what happens to countries that are within the russian protector, if you'd like. the united states is a far more benign provider of that service, of protecting the saudi human, than any other country would likely be. i would push back because the saudis buy so many weapons from the united states they enjoy a lot of leverage. it doesn't quite work that way. just because they buy a lot of weapons, they are so thankful. >> let me ask you this. you've covered the vision 2030

for as long as i have. this is a story that's been out there three, 3 1/2 years. i was there when they launched this vision three years ago and at the time there was a real perception that continues to be so, that there is no plan b. this is the way that saudi arabia can develop into what is a modern, competitive society for the benefit of not just so many of its citizens. 60% of the population under the age of 30. there's no reason they shouldn't want a modern competitive society. the crown prince speaking specifically to those saudi citizens when he drew up this plan to take them into a post oil dependent world. if there isn't any plan b, there is an argument, i guess, that

says it is incumbent to support the saudi vision to a certain extent. this could be quite shocking and the rest of the gulf knows that. >> yes, look. it is a very, very dramatic and very ambitious vision that he's set for himself. he's set the bar very, very high for himself, and he got buy in from his immediate neighborhood and from around the world. a little bit earlier he was showing clips from that listening tour he did, he went and presented himself as a reforming figure. l lis, seemed to be very important. all of this is very important. the whole world has a stake in that vision being successful. but now what's happening because of the khashoggi incident, people are questioning the sin cert of that vision at all, if you are saying you want your

country to be open and welcoming, then the way you respond when a citizen is murdered, possibly in your own consulate, is very important. how do you respond to the alarm. >> simply to say that does not cut it. it's very retroway to conduct international diplomacy. there have been other things that people have pointed out. yes, he's allowed women to drive. at the same time a number of women activists have been arrested. he's talking about more private sector work. he rounds up people and puts them in house arrest.

what we are seeing with international investors is a sign that people are not fully bought in even those who are previously enthusiastic about his vision 2030 document, they're not sure he has the stamina to follow through on where it logically leads. >> yeah. bobby gosh joining us. the scope and scale, natalie, of that vision was always incredibly ambitious. there would be hurdles, challenges along the way just to the point that bobby brought up about rounding up the businessmen just after the davos in the desert event last year as we were reporting on that story,

there was certainly a perception of, you know, many of these people, they're accused of stealing from the country. they call it an economic cancer. from the royal court, they were pulling in the dead. take that as you will. those were the positions being taken by the royal court a year ago. we still have no evidence as to where jamal khashoggi is nor have we seen any evidence that the turkish press have been eluding to of a shocking incident happening inside. we continue to dig. back to you. >> yes, as we should. thank you so much, becky, and to your crew. we are going to turn to germany next. oktoberfest is over in munich, but voting has just begun. how the bavarian state elections could be a test for german chancellor lang merkel. that's ahead here. we just got married.

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german state of bavaria for regional elections. this could be a major test for german chancellor angela merkel. her christi yaian union had dominated politics for decades. now it's facing a challenge for the alternative for germany. bavaria is the largest state by area. cnn's atika shubert is there. >> reporter: beers and brautwurst. oktoberfest is a time of all things bavarian. it's seeing itself as the area for home and nostalgia and tradition. >> bavaria. >> but this was also bavaria. in 2015 when more than a million

asylum seekers came to germany. that event changed a political landscape and this week's reasoning nal elects could shake the csu's once unbreakable grip on power and with it the fragile coalition government of germany's chancellor angela merkel. csu lawmaker is confident his party will retain the lead even if it loses some voters to what it describes as the counter trend of populism. >> translator: bavaria is a safe and rich state with the lowest unemployment in the country. we ought to get 60%, he says, but there is a counter trend in europe. italy, france, holland and considering this, we hope to get 40%. >> so where are the votes going? well, you can find the answer in the bavarian town ofegendorf where katheryn ebben steiner is campaigning for afd. >> translator: i came from a csu family.

my father was a csu member, so was my husband for 30 years, she tells us. the csu has moved with merkel to the left here in bavaria. she has simply lost touch with the bavarian citizens who are very conservative in part. she was on the front lines of the refugee crisis. today the tepts are gone and there's a transit tori anchor center to process asylum seekers with relocation or deportation. it's one of the csu promises to bring immigration under control. she's campaigned on fear of out of control migration. last year the afd won 19% of the votes. >> translator: people still have these images in mind, she tells us. it's the loss of security.

that's what people feel. that's why they want an alternative. a policy that opposed unbridled mass integration and that's why they choose the afd. they don't want to stop all mieg kbrags, it wants to ban islam and germany. its leaders have been criticized for supporting right wing national extremists. that seems to sway voters just as much as immigration. >> i'm trying to understand their view of point or organization. i would definitely not vote for them. >> the afd could do well this time. i would not vote for them but i have no choice. if there is any other party. he told us, we already had one hitler, we do not want this a second time. not just the postcard image of tradition, bavaria is the

heartland of germany's conservative movement. without its support chancellor angela merkel leads the country on borrowed time. tika shubert, cnn, bavaria, germany. we are getting our first look at the official wedding photos of princess eugenia and her husband. we'll show you when we come back.

okay. the official wedding photos are in of princess eugenia and her husband. they've released four photos on friday. her husband is a tequila brand ambassad ambassador. they were married where prince harry married meghan markle. one photo shows them before the reception. her blush gown was said to be designed by the beauty of york. we'll end the hour on that one, why not? we'll have our top stories ahead. another hour of "cnn newsroom" right after this. place, the xfinity xfi gateway.

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leave no room behind with xfi pods. simple. easy. awesome. click or visit a retail store today. severe punishment. u.s. president donald trump says whoever is behind the disappearance of journalist jamal khashoggi will face consequences. hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm becky anderson live for you in istanbul in turkey this morning. >> and i'm natalie allen at cnn center in atlanta where we are also following the homecoming of american pastor andrew brunson who had a prayer for president trump after being freed from turkey. we'll have those stories ahead and much more here. you're watching "cnn newsroom."