and he only reports to mbs. a tweet that was posted in 2017, on al-qahtani's account, stating he is a loyal servant who follows orders from the top. the bbc asked the crown prince's office weather mohammed bin salman had ever sanctioned torture and killing. they said "we categorically denied these false claims... " the killing of jamal the killing ofjamal khashoggi and these allegations of lusty‘s board —— purge have focused attention on the 33—year—old crown prince. so who exactly is mbs? and how does a thirtysomething come to be running saudi arabia? we have become very good friends over a fairly short period of time. powerful friends what the crown prince most needs right now. since the murder ofjamal khashoggi mbs has been widely cast as the possible mastermind. his carefully nurtured image as a liberal reformer has been shredded. it isa liberal reformer has been shredded. it is a sudden change of fortune. because, up until now, the world are pretty much conformed to his wishes. he grew up as the favourite s

he doesn't care that jamal khashoggi was murdered by mbs. he doesn't care that his daughter used a personal e-mail server he doesn't care that the woman in mississippi made this horrific comment about attending a public hanging he just doesn't care, right? and so i think for democrats in congress, though, the challenge is going to be you have to set the agenda, yourselfing rig, ri? you have to ignore what trump says and relentlessly inform the public of the incompetence it's not just the lying. it's also the incompetence and not count on him somehow coming out with his hands up saying, oh you got me. >> let me read a couple of aaron blake's examples because they're great. he attacked obama, in fact, obama does not read his intelligence briefings november does he get briefed in if person by the cia or dod. too busy, i guess. that was not true. he read them on his ipad yeah, and when he traveled -- some presidents have a different formula for when they travel, an ipad or president bush traveled with briefers. but we know that trump doesn't --

mbs just used the same pr campaigns that were used.rmist agenda, but at the same time, he grabbed hold powers. he even cracked down on his relatives and other royals he deemed arrivals to him. he cracked down the hardest on those who really have the real agenda and were able to establish a relationship with the people and the west. so, abdullah, if you feel so strongly about all of that, what was your reaction just a short time ago when donald trump came out and said, look, saudi arabia, whatever happened to khashoggi in terms of who ordered the killing and how it works out, whatever happened, saudi arabia is going to remain our us steadfast partner. he said it's all about america first. i'm not going to destroy the economy of our country by being foolish with saudi arabia. he talks about the $100 billion worth of arms deals that are in the pipeline. he talks about all the potential for pipeline. he talks about all the potentialfor american pipeline. he talks about all the potential for american business to tap into the modernisation a

donald trump is convinced that it's in america's interest to stick with mbs.all the eggs in one basket, which is one powerful individual, while at the same time this powerful individual is, you know, putting all the region's stability into risk. and also, it's not in the national interest to, you know, just ignore the vast majority of the royal family, even in saudi arabia. and it's not in the national interest to just allow somebody to destabilise saudi arabia and the region and to, you know, risk all these good relationships between the united states and saudi arabia byjust, you know, establishing a relationship to one individual instead of building a long—term individual... with the saudi institutions, saudi royalfamily, with the saudi system itself. you talk of risk, but what of the risk on the flipside of that? what of the risk of seeing mbs undermined, seeing power in saudi arabia slip away from the ruling family and, in so doing, see a rainy and interests in the region —— in so doing, see iranian interests in the region strengthened — whether it be in l

. >> exactly but saudi arabia is not mbs and mbs is not saudi arabia. few years ago, nobody knew about mbs until his father crowned him prince, until his father became a king and he used his dad's signature to orchestrate a coup inside the house of saudi and inside the kingdom. so we have to be very careful. what do we need, strong saudi arabia or do we need a weak saudi arabia if we need a weak saudi arabia to challenge iran and to challenge other enemies in the regions, then guess what, mbs is your man but if you want a strong saudi arabia, mbs has to go. mbs has no credibility on the world stage. mbs has no credibility in congress mbs has no credibility with the media. and there is nothing the iranians would like than to challenge saudi arabia, headed by apers by a person in the middle east called him mr. bone saw. >> right, and another thing he wrote apparently is some people say khashoggi was an enemy of the state. that's an interesting line for the president of the united states to insert what it does here, it says representatives of saudi arabia

, why are they so insistent on trying t salvage mbs here? >> well, i think it's an portant relationship. i'm not telling saudi arabia who to make crown prince or who to fput in charge their country, it's up to them. i am trying to tell them and the world that whe it comes to the crown prince that exists today, i he has been -- he has shown a lack of appreciation for the relationship. he stepped all over our values, he's put us in a box. i'll leave it up to the president to fin out how to handle saudi arabia from the executive branch side from the legislative branch side, we're goingch to do as as we can as hard as we can to send a signal to the world this is not w the we expect an ally to act. what happened in turkeyte vio every norm of civilized society, and it will not stand. if john mccain were alive todae he'd the first one saying that. >> the crown prince's brother is of course thedo ambas to the united states. his phone call to kshoggi is one of the pieces of evidence used to conclude that, yes, this was an order from mbs. should he be

denials, pretty much doing almost everything that he can to avoid outright criticizing mbs or saudi arabia. we are living in sort of an upside down world where president erdogan of turkey, frankly, has been stronger in advocating for answers and for justice for khashoggi, a "washington post" journalist, and the virginia resident than our own president. what this says is just that he's basically willing, trump is basically willing to help in the saudis basically getting away with murder. they have admitted that it was saudi officials that carried out this heinous crime, but from the beginning, anyone who's familiar with saudi arabia, if jamal were here himself, it is nearly impossible that an operation of this magnitude, of this level of planning could have happened without mohammad bin salman's, if not outright knowledge, his planning and architecture. so it's disheartening, disappointing and dangerous for trump to be willing to help soush and get away with this murder. it sends a chilling message who cares criticize mohammad bin salman, which is what jamal did in his pieces. but to

to be clear, before mbs rose through the ranks the power in saudi arabia, a country was no beacon ofdom. freedom house had been following and researching saudi arabia's record as it does every country in the world and it's been categorized as among the worst of the worst countries in terms of political rights and civil liberties for nearly 30 years. saudi arabia has received a seven which is the lowest for possible on politicalrights . the only country doing worse in saudi arabia are syria, south sudan, eritrea, north korea. so it's hard to see how the country could actually get worse. saudi arabia's absolute monarchy restricts all political rights and civil liberties. no official at the national level are elected. the regime relies on surveillance, criminalization of defense , appeals to sectarianism, public sending supported by oil revenues to maintain power, women and religious minority space based discrimination and law and practice and working conditions for the large labor force are often exploitative. despite some of the pro-modernization reform rhetorical shifts that saudi ar

and now we have the cia saying khashoggi was murdered, and it was ordered by mbs. oh, here are the tapes. donald trump says, a, i don't believe you. that could be someone else. and b, i don't need to listen to the tapes. >> this press release from the secretary is remarkable. first of all, it's written like it's written by a 7-year-old. it starts with america first with an exclamation point. then it talks about iran. so there's this distraction going on. as long as i can tell you bad things about iran, then saudi arabia, which is an enemy of our enemy, must by definition be a friend. and mike pompeo and the president keep on talking about america's interests. it's just disingenuous. saudi arabia needs america much more than america needs saudi arabia. we've actually got a lot less going on with the saudis than the president quotes. as you said, the saudis can't tush around and remachine 70 years' worth of stuff they've been buying from america. >> it doesn't work. if you have a mac computer, you can't suddenly by pc software. >> this falls into the category of what

if mbs who is known as mbs referred to by mbs by a lot of government officials here, if they don't sanctionnd the president, yesterday, you could tell they keep trying to find a way to punish saudi arabia without punishing mbs. that is where i think this is where the fight is going to be. i'm going to talk to lindsey graham this morning, a republican from south carolina. i think he is one of those that would like to see tougher sanctions in saudi arabia. the question is l is he ready t go all the way up to mbs? that, to me, is going to be an interesting answer that i'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say on this one because i think that is where this fight is going to end up being about. >> "the washington post" is reporting even this morning, chuck, that the president remains skeptical even at the cia's conclusion that it has high confidence that mbs was behind it. the president spent part of the week answering questions from mueller and he found time to tweet against the investigation saying it's a witch hshunt. what gdegree of president the feeling is under? >> we saw the presi

they didn't actually deny that mbs ordered it. said we don't have the smoking gun, we don't have the direct evidence. if you listen carefully to their words, they were consistent with what the cia has reported which is that he did order it and president trump, of course, has a strategic objective. he wants the arms deals and he wants to use saudi arabia to advance our interests in the middle east. the truth is, when has that ever worked? we have been kind of hanging out with saudi arabia for years and it's not exactly been a great success. kennedy: no, it's been horrible. and the proxy war in yemen that we're essentially funding with these multi billion dollar arms deals, it's immoral. i'm sorry. now, you are -- i consider you to be a futurist because you are a non-traditional thinker and you can also see things materialize before they happen. how will the world be different for saudi arabia and russia when we are off oil? >> yeah, that's exactly it. that's a really big threat to them. that's the leverage that we've got. i think t

if mbs, who's known as mbs, referred to as mbs b a lot of government officials here, if they don't sanction him and the president yesterday, you could tell they keep trying to find a way to punish saudi arabia without punishing mbs, this is where the fight's going tbe. i'm going to talk to lindsey graham this morning, republican from south carolina. i tnenk he's of those that would like to see tougher sanctions on saudi arabia. the question is, is he ready to go all the way up to mbs? that to me is going a to be interesting answer that i'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say on this onebe use i think that's where this fight's going to end up being about. >> the washington post is reporting even this morning, chuck, that the president remainsve skeptical of the cia's conclusion that they have a high confidence that mbs was behind it. the president spent the week answering questions fm robert mueller. while he was answering those questions he found time to against the special counsel's office, calling it a witch hunt, a ganf thugs, robert mueller is highly conflicted. what's the deg

mbs is not saudi arabia.ou heard people like lindsey graham and the others tell the president, don't be too invested in the crown prince but he's being very strategic the president obama what aboutism coming up here. when president obama goes to cuba and put his arms around fidel castro, he had to do that. when richard nixon shook hands with mao, that was the bloodiest of the 20th century. i wish he said maybe he did, maybe he didn't but if he did i'm persuaded the magnistsky act will be applied to the crown prince that's what i would have liked to have seen. >> we will also point out saudi arabia used propaganda for jamal khashoggi who was a journalist living in the united states and worked for "the washington post," the saudis called him an enemy of the united states and repeated that in thinks statement today talking about why he would not do anything to punish saudi arabia for the killing of jamal khashoggi he said, he repeated saudi propaganda by saying he was an enemy of the state i bring this up specif

you will run into people. >> i heard talk about mbs being an international pariah. let's beclear the two largest countries in the world, u.s. and china, have no problem. i saw earlier india had a very warm formal meeting with the president macron of france ising having a formal sit down. not a formal pull aside with mohammed bin salman. he is sending weapons. the u.s. has been a little tougher on that. there is no question that what we've seen in the response by trump to mbs and his likely connection to the text murder of this journalist, mr. khashoggi, has been badly mishandled and the media has gone after him as a consequence. but we don't have an international community. what we see at the g-20 today are countries acting much more directly in narrow and transactional self interest. i wish i could say that was just president trump doing that. unfortunately, it's an awful lot of countries. it's an increasing number of countries. it makes the g20 look like not a big company. >> one of the norms, if you have a conversation it might be about how your intelligence agen

did mbs lie to you, sir? >> i don't know. who can really know?, he's got many people now that say he had no knowledge. >> what if the crown prince, speaking to you, the president of the united states, directly lied to you? >> he told me he had nothing to do with it. he told me that five times as recently as a few days ago. >> do you just live with it because you need him? >> well, will anybody really know? >> i want to bring in correspondent for nbc news international cal perry. cal, good to have you with me. let's talk about the dynamics when it comes to the united states and saudi arabia and the reluctance the president has in pointing the finger at mbs. where does the situation go from this point on? >> i think the analysis that you hear most on american television is that saudi arabia needs the u.s. more than the u.s. needs saudi arabia. that's not true if what the u.s. wants is what donald trump and the people around him want. there is an open hatred against iran. iran is sort of the stated enemy of the united states among this strange's off

the cluded that mbs was behind the killing. turkey has been saying mbs was behind the killing and the president refuses to listen to the tape that could show him that mbs is behind the killing. >> it's really disconcerting about the president's relationship with his own intelligence community. we have a lot of agents out there all over the world that risked their lives. here you have the president of the yiunited states saying i dot want to hear it when it conflicts with my views. sgrp what does that mean in a brords broader national security way? why does it matter?>sgrp what d broader national security way? why does it matter?>sgrp what d broader national security way? why does it matter? sgrp what da broader national security way? why does it matter?what does th broader national security way? why does it matter? >> it means the president is making decisions based on not fact but on who he likes. i think we have some real serious questions about whether or not the president is willing to look at the facts and make national se

we will wait for the c from chssricos ilai p im mb the previous spot, replay fourth down. >> tim: the old push-off. open, mayot tagged foromimes he

i think, again, if trump does meet with mbs it gives a message to the entire world and to mbs that youan murder, dismember journalists, cause potential war crimes in yemen, and basically continue on this path of repression and face no consequences and still get a nice photo op and selfie with the president of the united states. it sends an absolutely chilling message if trump were to meet with mohammed bin salman. >> this came up during a briefing yesterday at the white house. john bolton was asked about that up a of your friend and colleague's death, and he said he hadn't listened to it. here was his rationale. >> no, i haven't listened to it, and i guess i should ask you why do you think ir should? >> you're the national security adviser, you might have access to that sort of intelligence. >> how many in this room speak arabic? >> don't you have access to an interpreter? >> you want me to listen it to? what am i going to learn? >> is that a legitimate or fair rationale in your view, karen? >> it's unbelievable. it's unbelievable that the national security adviser doesn't want to list

has so far tried to run away from this inescapable reality that their close ally and pal in riyadh, mbsthis heinous crime, and now he has been caught out by turkish intelligence. he's been caught out by u.s. intelligence. and just this week you had this kind of charade where the saudis said they were going to prosecute 11 individuals and the trump administration said they were going to put sanctions on 17 individuals, but these are lower level saudis and they're basically trying to create a cover so that mbs can get away with this crime. now that becomes much harder to do because the cia has fingered him as the culprit, which he obviously is. >> phil, let he bring you in. here's what the post is reporting tonight, that the saudi ambassador to the united states, khalid bin salman, who is mbs' brother, encouraged khashoggi to go to turkey, pick up the documents he needed to get married, assuring him that he would be safe, and they say this, which is important. let me read it here. it says, it is not clear if khalid knew that khashoggi would be killed, but he made the call at his brother's

boycotting, mbs's war in yemen, which is adding room for maneuver. is saudi arabia an ally of the united states? i would argue it's a security partner. it doesn't share common american values and, frankly, i'm not entirely persuaded that it shares a lot of american interests. >> but isn't it about -- i mean, the way pompeo talked about iran, that iran was mentioned in the second line of this entire statement, does this white house see iran as the boogeyman of the middle east and that saudi arabia can help them with their iran problem? >> yes, no question that iran is viewed as the fulcrum of the western civilization and the president was determined during his first year to basically reset the two relationships that he believed the obama administration has undermined, the relationship with benjamin netanyahu in israel and the relation with saudi arabia. no one is arguing that we ought to destroy or fundamentally change the nature of the relationship. saudi arabia is important. we got to reinject some balance, some leverage and some reciprocity into th

. >>> up ahead, vladimir putin and mohammad bin salman, mbs. and the high five seen around the world. could it have had something to do with america and our foreign policy? i'm alex trebek here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i just turned 80. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you, too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the number one most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed, and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. and with this plan, you c

trump has invested so much in mbs.mp wants to -- trump would tlove nothing moren to be able to go back to doing business with the saudis, keep puttin jobs into america, let the saudis chop off five people's heads and blame these rogue, you know -->> t's all transactional? >> 100% transactionaks when trump tbout this privately with aides, he says, oh, you know, it's one guy. ok at the chinese, look at all these other guys around the world. it's a tough world. all these other dictators. >> you all were on your phones talkine to sources befhe show. what are you hearing? >> at this point, jonathan is right. i mean, the president has not, at least at air time, has not coented on this. he has indeed invested so much in mbs and saudi, as the bulwark inas the middle against iran and so on, making these arms deal. >> but the c.i.a. has spoken up. >> they have. there have been moments before w the f.b.i., when the president did not agree with or t like conclusion that agency came up with. >> i remember helsinki. you were someone

mbs, and i kind of believe him that he's not responsible for this. that's a complete polar opposite than what your own government is saying, so why is it so out of step? is there some reason that saudi arabia and mbs has some leverage over trump? that financial leverage could be quite serious. >> look, to your point that we don't know about it, is there any guarantee that a congressional investigation would get access to trump's finances? >> we've never seen his tax returns. he's the only presidential candidate, except i think for bernie sanders, but certainly the only presidential nominee who has never released his tax returns. that's a big deal. what do the investments mean for his business? what does it mean as a businessman moving into the white house? there's no transparency of what leverage these cunning might have over the president. >> let's listen to the president this week as he was disputing the findings. hi insistsed agency did not deliver a conclusion. >> i don't know if anyone will be able to conclude that the crown prince did it, but i

mbs held a phone call with jared kushner and john bolton.g that conversation, the crown prince reportedly described kashoggi as a dangerous islamist and a member of the muslim brotherhood, an accusation made routinely against kashoggi in recent years by his critics and one the columnist repeatedly denied. saudi arabia maintained that kashoggi left the consulate in istanbul on his own shortly after approving. all tthough that explanation ha changed more than half a dozen times. the "washington post" also reports that during the call the crown prince urged kushner and bolton to preserve the u.s u.s./saudi alliance. and kushner, who has cultivated a close relationship with mbs has emphasized the importance of the alliance. in addition, the trump administration has reportedly decided to stand by the crown prince despite widespread international consensus that mbs was involved in some way in kashoggi's murder. that is mainly due to the administration's view that mbs is vital to its goals and agenda for the middle east and also due to support the

mbs will be there. there's no meeting scheduled. the president said yesterday, he wouldn't rule it out. he said he'd talk to him if they encountered each other. >> i think they are pushing the turks on this. we know who does have that audio and maybe some other audio are the turks. and i think he is pushing that envelope. and i would be shocked if at some point, not in the not too distant future that we hear that audiotape. it's coming. >> aaron blake. former intelligence folks don't like to be part of the political debates in this country but people like director brennan whose security clearances were stripped by the president and others come out of the woodwork when the president does things so, i think, repellent to the fact-based sciences. and one of those examples was him saying that the intelligence community had feelings. they had feelings. i worked in the white house. i promise everyone, the intelligence community has no feelings. for better or for worse. you and your colleagues there, jamal carbkhashoggi was one of colleagu

. >> who are you talking about, the president or mbs? >> no, mbs. this is a guy with whom the president thinks we can have a close relationship. >> so what do you think about that? >> look at the record. >> look, i hear you. >> he holds -- he holds the prime minister of lebanon hostage. he starts a blockade of qatar. i should add that i'm involved in representing qatar. so maybe i have a bias in that respect. then he pulls off, according to the cia, he pulls off a clumsy, horrible act. >> they had to believe nobody would care. and this was s.o.p. for them. this is the kind of things they do. they didn't think anybody would care. they didn't factor in that khashoggi wasn't just another saudi guy with a big mouth in their reckoning. he was a journalist. but this is the part -- >> he's also associated with the muslim brotherhood. >> we don't know that. i know the president's relying on it and i've got to tell you when i look at the reporting of it, there's nothing hard on that. for many -- >> he wasn't carrying a membership card? >> no, listen, mike, i

the difference here is it would be mbs at the top who called the shots. >> right. that's what the cia is saying. anyone who covers the region knows nothing look this could have taken place without the acquiescence or the consent of mohammed bin salman. so now essentially what's going to happen, if we game this out a little bit, the saudis have rounded up almost 20 people, five are facing the death penalty, and what looks like is going to happen is the relationship will move forward without any punishment against mbs. we have to note on capitol hill there are a lot of republicans and democrats who will not be happy with this statement from the administration. they are going to be demanding a harsher reaction against not just saudi arabia but mbs in particular. so that's what we're going to be listening for today. >> we will listen to that. thank you. thanks to everyone. much more as we await reaction from the fallout and the statement from president trump. and another situation at the white house, personal e-mail used for government business. now house democrats say

we might see a similar outcome without this press release and this visible public defense of mbs from another president. it would never happen in this way. but presidents have looked the other way before. does trump have another option here? >> he's got a lot of options. o one's called the fifth fleet. we protect saudi arabia. if it weren't for the fifth fleet, they would go under. they'd be occupied by iran. they are not in a position to tell us what to do. the only thing they really have is money and they have put a lot of money into trump empire just as the russians have, and he's afraid to take them on. anybody who he's done business with. i don't see it any other way. we could simply go to riyadh and say, we cannot deal with the crown prince unless you have absolute airtight proof that he was not involved, you guys got to go. we've done that in the past in saudi arabia. we said we can't work with you. we can't refuel your airplanes. bombing yemen. we can't send you weapons and we're not going to -- our fleet is not going to protect you if you're going to be killing american journ

even this morning he said, well, who knows, but mbs is a great ally. >> what's extraordinary, jay, the president said the final word wasn't in as to whether the prince was involved. the cia said he was involved. you have to wonder why the president would be hedging on this. to a greater degree, how extraordinary this is that you have the state department and the cia at odds because mike pompeo, secretary of state, former head of the cia, is not backing up the findings that have been alleged by the cia. >> alex, this isn't the first time that the president has basically gone head-to-head with the intelligence apparatus in the united states. there were 17 different intelligence agencies that said that russia had hacked the 2016 election and he denied it for a long time and ultimately said begrudgingly maybe they did. but with this is very much the way donald trump works when he wants to sort of mold the narrative to what he wants to get done. in this case he really wants saudi arabia to be an ally of his. he believes they are crucial and key to our defense in that region and to our power

blaming deputy head of intelligence, anybody but mbs., as to why this came to you guys? was the cia worried that this would be swept under the rug or that the president wouldn't take action? i mean, it is interesting that this is coming out this way. >> well, we've been reporting pretty aggressively, as you know, on this story for a long time, and one of the questions that we have had, obviously, is what assessments are being made. >> yeah. >> about these fragments of intelligence that are being reported. you know what i think is interesting in this, you mentioned president trump, this is not news to him. he understands this information. he probably knows more about what the cia has than we even know about what they have at this point. and it has been made clear to him that the assessment is that mohammed bin salman directed, ordered this assassination. so, what we've seen and what we've reported on before as well is that the white house's position on this has been to essentially try not to take too much action. yes, there were these san

and, frankly, mbs' confusion is completely understandable. he's been getting away with [ bleep ] like this. with no belowback. >> this is comedy. this is the brutal murder of a colleague. >> yes. >> and you're trying to thread the needle. right? >> yes. >> between what's really out there. >> yes. >> and doing it with a comic tone. >> yes. >> it's tough. >> it can be. yes. it can be very tough. you have to pick and choose your spots and you have to say, okay, where can i be sort of funny or interesting? look. i think being funny is just the conduit to say what really is happening. some of my favorite comedians of all time, the richard pryors, dave chappelles, will have these incredibly serious monologues in their specials and i wanted to bring that to the political satire space. >> since i just interviewed dave chappelle, i want to know what you take on him. he has the voice of american black community. >> correct. >> are you that underrepresented? is it important for him to be his voice for the community? >> yes. >> you be your voice for the

never deal with mbs again.steadfast trumpian apoll gist and allies on the hill would have a real hard time continuing to work with this murderer and not think twice about it? >> i think that's right, joe. i think the challenge is that, you know, they don't necessarily have a lot of powerful tools at their disposal to do anything about it. lindsey graham sounded like the old lindsey graham in his comments about this particular topic and i do think that lindsey graham very much feels as though taking on the mantle that he and john mccain carried across the world for many years together. is very important to him, having lost his friend. the reality, though, is that the others -- who else on capitol hill would we ask about this? >> bob corker, the outgoing chairman of the foreign relations committee, and jeff flake, both of them leaving washington and the republican party they have left behind is if anything more focused on trump than ever, feeling as though they can't win if they repudiate the president. one perso

they don't want mbs pushed out or sideways and they're hoping we'll forget this. one more thing to add, turkish president erdogan is the big winner here. he has all this information, hases dribbling it out and has managed to make mohammed bin salman much weaker in saudi arabia and cement his relationship with iran and syria. let's understand, bashir al assad is permanent now, apparently, in syria, and iran and turkey are now going to crack down on the kurds. i think this is not a good thing for u.s. foreign policy interests. >> congressman, what do you think of jane's assessment there, that the president has deep, personal interests and governmental interests in not blowing up this alliance with the crown prince of saudi arabia? >> i think jane's assessment is spot on. i served with her on committee and said she's an expert on the subject matter of these matters. it's transactional. it's not based on shared values but it's also a strategic relationship. this whole idea of a so-call ed peri na tchto was on thin ice a might be done from what i can see. mbs has made

this is on mbs.ty is that we have been coddling dictators and authoritarians since the beginning of the administration. and this is not the first administration not to put human rights at the center piece of its foreign policy agenda. this president has emptied of its moral values and principles and that is really bad for america. >> especially if something really bad happens and now we are going to have to see what america's posture is going forward. adm, love and respect for you. the best to you and your family. >> likewise to you. i hope you have a safe and loving thanksgiving. >> don't come to my house if you are looking for peace. it is never like that in a good year. >>> all right, ivanka trump, did she break any laws. even a powerful republican wants more information. see it, next. shaquem get in here. take your razor, yup. alright, up and down, never side to side, shaquem. you got it? come on, get back. quem, you a second behind your brother, stay focused. can't nobody beat you, can't nobody

we know putin and mbs are meeting on their own.less. >> what he is saying, if you are my friend, as a foreign leader, if you murder a journalist or seize ukrainian ships, ukraine is our ally. i'll give you a pass. that is what upsets lindsey graham. he is sending a message to the word lawlessness is fine. you can do whatever you want if you are my personal friend. if you are backing me, donald trump, politically. that is a dangerous precedent. >> it translates domestically. in "the new york post" he is floating the pardon for paul manafort. he shows people against him in prison for treason. >> the president has done some things well in highlighting workers and jobs. this issue of the rule of law. no one in this country is above the rule of law which is vital to basic american values. paul manafort, convicted by a jury of his peers, he will get a pardon. if you are the deputy law enforcement official in the country, you go to jail. rod rosenstein. have a ordinary. if you -- extraordinary. if you attack me, you go to jail. if you are

i'm not going to look away at what mbs did. i think he did it. >> the saudis at first denied any knowledge of jamal khashoggi's death then later pinned the murder on a group of rogue operatives. >>> new financial disclosures filed by acting attorney general matthew whitaker reveal more than $9,000 from a conservative group he founded in 2014. the group known as f.a.c.t. received almost its funding from a dark money organization that got some funding from a major republican donor, charles koch. >> most of his income the past few years came from f.a.c.t., although cnn paid him $15,000 as a legal commentator in 2015. the disclosures magnify concerns over whether the senate would confirm whitaker if the president nominated him as permanent attorney general. until yesterday watchdog groups repeatedly raised concern about why the request for the public documents had gone unfulfilled. >>> president trump has submitted his written answers to questions from special counsel robert mueller. this follows months of negotiations between the

among them, not mbs.ey in the turkish media, the cia may have a second tape between the crown prince and his brother in which mbs says silence khaishoggi as soon as possible. when asked about that yesterday, president trump said i don't want to talk about it. you'll have to ask them. a lot of moving pieces here. turkey has controlled the narrative throughout this. the story has come from them. that's because turkey and saudi arabia are regional rivals. it will be interesting at the g-20 to see whether or not there's bilateral meetings with president run the and mbs and to see if they can talk about the yemen war and the palestinian peace pro december. >> leland: benjamin hall, thank you. look at how this is playing domestically. our political panel, kristin hahn, republican strategist chris maloney. the president seems resolute in how he's going to deal with this. any political pit falls going forward? >> yeah, a big pitfall. the president is signing with john bolton. i think what this will cause, it was

just step back on the mbs question. me -- we talk about all the -- like where he is now, this young man. he seems exposed to everyone now for being a kind of monster. it wasn't that long ago that many people, republicans, democrats, thoughtful neoliberals, neoconservatives, were praising this guy as the reformer who would bring a kind of progress to the kingdom and, essentially, to the region, that most people broadly speaking for kind of in favor of. a lot of people said, yeah, he's dicey, but you know what, we'll live with that. >> yeah. >> how do we -- were people just blind to this, or has he gotten worse? is it that they were willing to overlook how atrocious he was, or was he not quite as atrocious before, and he's just gotten much, much more depraved? >> i think he's always been the same guy. one thing, john, i was in a meeting with king salman and president obama, where president obama raised human rights concerns. the detention of bloggers, mass executions. mbs was way down the line in the meeting. he stood up.

but president trump says he doults that because of mbs's repeated denials that he played any role. >>ld me that he had nothing to do with it. he told me that, i would say, maybe five times at different points. >> what if he's lying -- >> as recently as a few days ago. will anybody really know? all right. will anybody really know? >> reporter: part of what the cia examined was the infamous audio recording from ennis side the consulate when khashoggi was murdered and dismembered. a recording the president says he doesn't want to listen to. >> it's a suvg tapffering tape. it's a terrible tape. i've been fully briefed on it. i said to the people, should i? they said you shouldn't. i know exactly -- i know everything that went on on the tape. >> reporter: on his way to visit the aftermath of the california wildfires over the weekend, the president offered up a likely explanation for his defense of the crown prince. >> we also have a great ally in saudi arabia. they give us a lot of jobs. they give us a lot of business, a lot of economic development. >> reporter: republicans in congress are

. >> mbs contributed to murdering somebody abroad and it is not strength to mumble past that. strength is telling the truth even when it's hard. our intelligence community is really good and the report is really clear and the president should be stronger. that was ake weak statement. >> will growing dissent among the president's party force him to take a harder stance against the crown prince? >> it's a very good question and i've been pleasantly surprised at the number of public senators, ben sasse, bob corker, who have come out since the murder of jamal khashoggi and said this crown prince is not a reliable ally, he's erratic, he could be a murderer. will that change the equation? so far not. it trump continuing on what previous presidents have done in in the past. is this about his personal bottom line? hopefully adam schiff will teach us more. what i admire most about donald trump and i don't admire many things is his brazenness when it comes to lying. he goes out of his way in pla-- that's the ci a's via's view an take the view of a foreign dictator over his own intellige

segment short, not too long, but mbs told him, i didn't do this. now, the cia, part of the ubs government, has concluded, as you mentioned, brooke, he not only had a hand in this, he personally ordered this killing of "washington post" journalist jamal khashoggi. so if it was a one-off, it would be troubling enough. but as you point out, it's not a one-off. i want play. this is a clip from donald trump and vladimir putin talking about russian interference in the 2016 election. i'll come back and give you some context. let's play that. >> i have great confidence in my intelligence people, but i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. >> okay. so on the one hand, we have the unanimous conclusion of the u.s. intelligence community, that vladimir putin -- that russia, i should say, that russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election to help donald trump and hurt hillary clinton. on the other hand, we have vladimir putin's very strong insistence that he didn't do that. donald trump, for whatever reason,