>> a showdown with the saudis, who just confirmed the death of a i'm robert costa. president trump faces challenges and choices.gh tonit on "washington week." we made clear to them that we take this matter with respect to mr. khashoggi very seriously. >> the trump administration calls for patience amid the fallout over the disappearance of dissident journalist jamal khashoggi. the alleged killing by s operatives continues to command the world's attention. plus -- >> this will ben election of kavanaugh, the caravan, l and order, and common sense. that's what it's gonna be. >> president trump rallies his base, attacking democrats. >> democrats produce mobs. republicans produce jobs. [cheering]

>> and amid a debate over migrants, offers sharp words. >> as you know, i'm willing to send the military to dend our southern border if necessary. >> and sparkon ten as he shrugs off a past assault on a reporter by a sitting congressman. >> i had heard that he body-slammed a reporter. any guy that can do a body slam, he's my guy! >> a reckoning on many fronts, next. ♪[music] >> this is "washington week." funding is provided by... ♪[music] >> kevin! >> advice for life. life well planned. learn more atmo rayndjames.com. >> funding is provided by newman's own foundation. donating all profits from newman's own fooarproducts to y and nourishing the common good.

the yuen foundation. committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. hics and excellence in journalism foundation. the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributio to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you! >> once again, from washington, moderator robert costa. >> good evening. the week began with present trump calling for caution, following the killing of washington post writer jamal khashoggi. by friday, officials in saudi arabiaonfirmed khashoggi was dead. killed in what they are describing as a ftfight insid the kingdom's consulate in istanbul. >> turkish media is reporting that saudi agents with close ties tcrown prince mohammad bin salman were involved. secretary of state mike pompeo, he met with saudi leaders this week. but he has also denied reports

that turk officials -- turkish officials shared a anio recording of the alleged murder. president trump is facing growing criticism from members of both parties for his approach. this week, he was asked why he didn't urge the f.b.i. to assisa the investion. >> wel he wasn't a citiz of this country, for one thing. and we're going to determine that and you don't know whether or not we have, do you? >> wel >> no. but do you know whether or not we've sent the f.b.i.? >> have you sent the f.b.i >> i'm not gonna tell you. >> joining me tonight, three white house correspdents, hallie jackson of nbc news, abby phillip of cnn, and mark landler of the new york times. and as ever, dan balz,thief corb for the washington post. mark, you were in the oval office with president trump on thursday. he's been trying to take this wait and see approach. can it hold with this latest news about saudi arabia acknowledging the death? >> i think that t o naturef the statement they put out is

not really gonna satisfy in terms of resolving the questions. i mean, there are obvious qutions. if he's dead, where is his body? can the saudis produce it? if we to believe these horrible reports, they won't be able to produce it, because the man was dismembered in that consulate. think there is the simple fact of whether ts statement will fly. the president at that meeting that we had on thursday was uncharacteristicall careful and disciplined in his statements about the case. he wn't willing to speculate with us. he did say that he felt it the, quote, caught the imagination of the world unfortunately. and his use of the word w unfortunat rather telling. this is a major foreign policyor crisisim, perhaps the biggest one he's faced. he's really made saudi arabiaer the ceece of his middle east strategy. he has cultivated this crown prince, mohammad bin salman. and most of the intelligence is pointing a finger, at least in

the direction of the crown prince. we don't know yet conclusively whether the crown prie ordered this. but it's very hard, based on everything we already know, not t believe t he at least had a hand in it. and that puts the president in a terrible box. >> so can the presidented keep inven that relationship with mohammad bin salman, with all this new information coming t? >> all signs are that he wants to and likely will, given that what we're see tonight is the crown prince apparently heerseeing now the reshuffling of saudi security agency. there's no indication coming out of saudi tha they in fact want to hold mohammad bin salman in any way accountable foras what happened to jamal khashoggi. when you talk to folks close to the white house, they say, listen, it's obvious. we need. sau they need us. that is just a geopolitical reality in the minds of mlsy. you have tonight, to mark's point, even republican allies of the presint now reacting this, saying at best, this explanation is, at bt,ighly improbable. >> but why is secretary of state mikeou pompeo -- heard the white house statement from sarah

sanders. she says the investigation into the fate of jamal khashoggi is progressing. the u.s. is enabling saudio arabia hereonduct the investigation. secretary of state mike pompeo went over there to meet with thy royal faut he's really taken a step back in overseeing the process. >> he is facilit slowing down of this process to allow the saudis to handle it the way that theyould prefer to handle it. and frankly, that's essentially on the orders of his boss. the president wants this to unfold, not in a hasty way, because i thinke believes -- in a lot of ways, this will be the fulfillment of his foreign policy, if this follows through the way it looks lik it will. transactional relationships are very impornt to president trump, the ability of the saudis to back him up on iran. this is what he thinks is important to him, when it comes his foreign policy. and i don't think he wants to

blow it p up. anpeo is the person helping to slow things down and to allow the saudis to come up wit something. it does seem, though, that 2 story they -- the story they have come uith is so outlandish that it might acally backfire i a major way. it is very hard for even the president's supporters to backry this s because it defies belief. sa dan, you think about the i families making this announcement tonight on state t.v., acknowledging the death, but it's taken so long for them to even acknowledge the death. they wouldn't do that for aong time. and what's not being discussed here? human rights. freedom. let's turn to jamal khashoggi's last piece wrien in the washington post this week, his final story. it was about friedman. -- about freedom. he wrote in part, arab governments have been given free reigneo conti silencing the media at an increasing rate. there was a time people believed the internet would liberate.

but these governments whose very existence relies on the control ne information have aggressively blocked the int they have also blocked localer repo that's his message. regardless of the news tonight, what is present trump face when he's confronted with human rights, freedom? >> well, in none of the relationships that he's forged around the world has human rights been an important, even a minor factor. as he was talking about this episode early on, it was all about the money that they're peprepared to on arms, fanciful as the figures heas throwing out were, or the investment that they're prepared to make in the united states. w all about dollars and cents. it had nothing to do with human beings or human rights. this case -- i mean, we've now had two versions from the saudis of what happene one, that nothing happened. that he entered the consulate, did his busins and was gone and they have no idea what happened to him. now one tonight that iste

comp contrary to that and yet, as everyone here acknowledges, totally incomplete. totallyat ufying and will not fly on capitol hill. so the president is far from out of the woods i andn many ways is deeper into this tonight than he was before. >> and what about jared kushner? he was the one w w wasking with mohammad bin salman. saw him as a reformer. where does thath stand wred kushner? you think about the secretary of state over thereit meeting the royal family. does the peace process continue? does jared's role continue? >> i mean, jared kushner really made thi relationship with mohammad bin salman kind of his claim have influence in the white house. he cultivated this guy. they're both young men in their 30's. their similar in the shase they're heirs to families with large fortunes. so there was sort of an affinity that jar really played on. and so for him, it's arguably an even bigr setback than it is for his father-in-law. we understand and we'veeported

that jared's kind of advice leading up to tonight's announcement was to stand b mbs. we know him by his nickne, mbs. and that in effect, the world would move on after a decent period. ng tos clearly not g happen. in terms of what it means concretely for jared, it's wortn ng out that mbs and the saudis had already told the ump administration, we will not publicly advocate on behalf of your peace plan because you moved thembassy from israel to jerusalem -- >> but they like the saudisin he them with iran. >> and actually, that's really important, because next month, the president will impose the neet of very serious sanctions on iran for oil and central bank sanctions. and if they don't have saudi support for that, it undermines that effort. >> so they're making sanctions onra taking sanctions out on iran. what about capitol hill?

are the republicans on capitol hill going really push the president to take action? >> i think that's one of the things that's going to have to ha len. you see of displeasure from people like lindsay graham, who is higuty concerned a this, particularly given the explanation coming from the saudis tonight. you have thede pre -- he just said today in arizona, he wants congress to be heavily involved in whatever this sort of nebulous, severe punishment against the saudis he may impose. but he's also potentially opening the door to sanctions, although our reporting is that is maybe unlikely here. there's also another administration figure w plays into this. that's treasury secretary steven mnuchin. he may have cancelled that trip and he did.e shington post reports he is still going. and i'm told by a senior white is becauseial, tha it relates to counterterrorism. that's where the center is. that's wheret happens be. he's got to go. dt what signal -- the question is, what signals its send to the saudis if a top cabinet

member n t hours and days after this news comes out, ends up taking this trip? >> so that's a great point. you've got the secretary of t treasury saying, abby, that he was not going to go to the conference but he's still going to saudi arabia. you have congressional republicans saying we'llt talk ab sanctions but we're not really going to take a move before the midterm elections. then you have a smeartampaign agaiuma jamal, talking -- jamal khashoggi, talking about him as a friend of osama bin laden. talking abo a h a member of the muslim brotherhoodhood. he had associations with them, back early in his career, behe moved to the more secular sidol ofics, a journalist. all this is swirling around. and it's getting more noise almost every hour. >> and that is the story of the trump administration. the mixed signals, the mixing of messages, the creation of noise around things that would at other times be fairly straightforward and fairly clear. i think that is part o what is happening hearing.

republicans on the hill are making a lot of noise right now. i thinke should be very careful to assume that they're somehow going to step out too far in front of president trump. they might push him in a particular direction. but by an large, i believe they're going to come u with something, some form of punishment that president trump can live with. he's alr said he's in favor of some kind of severe punishment but continues to reitate that he doesn want to pull back from the arms deal. i think on the oth issuef human right, on journalism, free spisch, the admation has already made their position on that clear. it's notable that tonight, after all of this has unfolded, the white house has said absolutely nothing about who jamal khashoggi was. he was a person who spoke out against things he disagreed with in terms o t saudi arabia government, which is what made him a target. the administration is notg acknowledg that. even with a single word. and that, in and of ielf, tells the saudi arabian government everything they need

to know. >>inal thought on this, mark. when you think about mohammad bin salman, could the saudi royal familyurge him at some level, or is it just the people below him? could he face consequences? >> the truth of the matter is, american intelligence has limited visibilityhento inner workings of the saudi royal court. it looks like his posion is solid. he was the designated heir, amassed a lot of power. on the other hand, a saudi exrt told me that in the time he's covered saudi arabia, since 1978, he's never seen period of greater domestic political instability, so it is conceivable that this could be the prelu to some upheaval within the kingdom. if thaul happens, that be a greater level of upheaval than we've seen in decades in saudi arabia. >> let's turn to the midterm elections, just weeks ago. president trump has been campaigning for republican candidates and raising money for his own re-election bid. mr. trump pulled in more than

$18 million in just the last quarter. since the start h of praiidency, mr. trump has rd more than $100 million for his 2020 re-election campaign. but his short-term goal is to capitalize on the momentum created by the confirmationsu of eme court justice brett kavanaugh and tap into the culture war, hoping to ensure republican control of congress. his message? this is a referendum, on him. >> all of this extraordinary progress is attake. it is at stake. i'm not on the ballot but in a certain way, i'm on the ballot, so please go out and vote. immigration is also at the fore this week, in the closing stretch w a caravan -- with a caravan of migrants traveling from mexico and possibly to the u.s. the president is threatening to send u.s. military forces to protect the southernde b milligrams right now, is it a base -- immigration right now, is it a base play by the president? he hasn't gotten the wall down. he's thinking more about t

family separation policy, talking about immigration at every rally. >> you are seeinghades o the closing arguments of 2016 as the president makes what one wte house official described to me as the closing argument headed into the midterm. yes, it's jobs in the econo, the supreme court battle. but increasingly, over these last few days, as t news of this migrant caravan that, by our reporting, should besaking ay close to the united states border in two to four weeks, right around t midterms, the president is increasing seizing on this topic. he and the officials around him believe this is highly motivating for republicans, because they know historical precedt is against them. the historical head winds are fighting them. only twicei since world war have the midterms not been bad news for the person whose party eeld power inside the white house. resident acknowledges that. i will tell you this, a lot of discussion about the house prably gonna go democratic, if you look at the numbers. there's a little oimismow. maybe that's not quite as much of a don a deals everyone

thinks. i think a betting person would say maybe blue. >> it's an interesting comparison, because you have the president out there, at these rallies, giving all these interviews. >> no president has, in modern times, has don trump is doing in this midterm. no president who has beete under with his approval rating has come close to doing what he's doing, which iso make the midterm all about him. all midterms, particularly the first term of a new president, all midterms are about the president. but he's puttinghat onis shoulders. i think he has confidence in his own ability to rally the base. he is going back to basics with the message. it is a veryaredged message. it's law and order, crime, borders. all the bultural hottons that he used in 2016. he i giving interviews constantly. he's gaggling with reporters nstantly. we may not have white house briefings anymore, but the president is out there, all the time. he controls the conversation and in that way, he is trying to gin

up his base. >> buthere's a lot of tension iinside this white house. chief of staff, john kelly, reportedly got into a bit of a squabble with john bolten about the border. >> it's become a venue for a power struggle. that is often inevitable in thi white house. the john bolton and john kelly are fightin over who can be closer and more influential with president trump. and i think there's -- you should probably put your money on the persones who s with trump on the idea that this caravan is a hugishnd isn being -- huge issue and isn't being dealt with adequately. i think that john kelly is someone who is trying to ptect his protege over at the department of homeland security. >> kirstjen nielsen? >> kirstjen nielsen. and this issue has,or many months, put her in president trump's crosshairs. he's angry about this isn't just something that he's doing on the campaign trail cessarily just to gin up his base.

he is genuinely foamed up about it, bause it is also, for him, something that people can point to to say, well, you made this promise andou haven't kept it. not fulfilling the promise to a. ba >> hallie brought up the republicans are maybe a little bit morehe enthusiastic on house. is that energy on the republican side because ofgh the kavan confirmation? >> yeah, i think it is. i think they veryec evely developed this theme around sort of what they call jobs, not mobs. the that the democrats behaved like a mob. and voters need toturnout to prevent te mob froing power. i think that's an effective line they've been able to push. i also think it's worth noting that president trump has been, in my experience, for energized, more optimistic, more self-cfident and in control than maybe i've seen him through the course of his iresidency. th a period and a type of governing and camigning that he loves. i think that people may look

back on this period as peak trump. >> but he's still, amid all the khashoggi news that's pouring out day after day, he's takshg a at a reporter, by saying about the guardian reporter, who was assaulted by a congressman -- that forte is in the fight. >> there is no question of the facts. forte pled guilty t ao this apologized to ben jacobs about what happened. but t president did joke about a guy who can body slam -- there?'s he doing >> a couple of things. number one, he doesn't regret it. fi learned that today. he was spelly asked, do you wish, given what we have learned, what we are leaing about jamal khashoggi, do you wish maybe you hadn't said whata you saut the congressman? the president said no, because it's two totally different planets. i believe there isse from the president that this is apples and oranges. i'm n sure he' making the connection between what's happened, even though the white houseon corrents

association, which represents i think all of thi at this table, has said the american people should recoil when there is praise against a violent attack against a journitist. >> i just a referendum on president trump? or if you look at a race like wisconsin, scott walker, t republican incumbent, struggling, because democrats keep talking about health care. is there undercurrent beneath the referendum? >> sure. and forth democrats, he care is probably the most potent issue. the issue of preexcoting itions. you're seeing that in the money they're spending on advertising. so thats part of it. but i think that beyond that, i mean, it is a national climate. you have a situation in which party loyalty is stronr than its ever been. and presidential approval effects votingehavior more than it ever has. so ultimately, this comes back to the basics of the w we are. i think, if you look at the state of the housees r this is still set up for democrats to majoritto win the

if you look at the playing field for every one democratic seat at risk, there are nin or ten republican seats at some form of risk. so the imbalance is significance. i think what's important in the other rac is, ihe senate, things are moved in the republican direction over the last few weeks. instead of republicans worrying about holding their majority, some of them n are actually talking about picking up seats t the senate races. >> is part o challenge for the democrats -- they're almost a leaderless party. sena or warner outf massachusetts came out and talked about her heritage, trying to clarify queions fro the past. nancy pelosi, the democrat leader in the house, not very pular with all voters nationally but still has a grip on the power in the house.ty it's a p with a message perhaps but no leader. >> i'm not even sure they rlly have settled on the message totally. they're still working that out. race by race, health care has emerged as the tophessue. but you look at all of these people, this whole group

of them, they all have different ways of approaching this momenhe wh it's health care or going after trump, in trump-like ways or going after trump in non-trump-like ways. they're trying to see what's catching fire. an it could also be because the democratic base is not sure where they are either. the voters themselves are in fact workedp about trump but to the extent that that is enough for democrats to regain power, it's not clear that it is. and i think there is also a lot of self-doubt in the democratic harty , in the same way that trump feels this feels like 2016 to him, democrats probably do too. trump thinks that he has an instinct, that everybody is hatng about the polls and he's going to emerge victorious. you get the sense that some democrats are actually a little ayt fearful that he might even be right. they've never really quite lived through a moment like this, with a president like this, a who,s unpopular as he is, still has

such a hold over his own supporters, that it really changes the dynamics. >> every democrat i talk to makes this point. no matter how much the express confidence about at least getting the 23 seats they need, there's always that sort of asterisk, which is, but we remember 2016. >> i thought it w also telling that in this week of sort of slight democratic anxiety, who should come back into the conversation but hillary clinton? in part because she and her insband are heading off on this high-profile spe tour b in part because there's been articles suggesting that maybe, just maybe there's a less than zeroe cha that she would think about running for president in 2020. i don't think a prospect the democrats would welcome. but to your point about hle erless the party is, into that vacuum come unexpecd >> and she herself has said she's not going to run. but that politico piece has created anxiety. as somebody who covered an

incredible wide field in 2016, democrats are facing that when it comes to what happens in 2an0 who will be the leader of the party. >> you covered senator cruz i 2016 when he was running for president. does he pull off a win inteis se race? >> so i talked to a lot of folks. sl of thetems have been consistent that he is up. seven, eight points. >> we'll check it out election night. >> that's not my quote. [laughter] >> not based on your reporting. okay. we're gonna leave it there. thanks, everybody, for being here. i really appciate it. our conversation will continue on the "washington week" podcast. you can find that later tonight at pbs.org/washingtonweek. i'm robert costa. thanks for joining us. ♪[music]

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>> let's go, chris, we've she to do. we're heading straight into the harvest and halloween. hoikdid you lmy twist on bobbing for apples. >> what do you mean little twist? >> we don't bob for cranberries. >>en the whole i think i'd rather be working with that guy toght. samantha: you are in for a slightly spooky and wild celebration of the fall. to amantha brown, welcome "autumnwatch" -- welcome to "autumatch new england." ♪