guaranteed that he is going to be the future king of saudi arabia, would not actually behave in the way mohammad binrds own cousins. in addition to al—waleed bin talal, there was miteb bin abdullah, an important person who was the head of the national guard in saudi arabia. he had a military base. miteb bin abdullah was one of the most important security officials in the country. yes, absolutely, and the national guard was in charge of protecting the royal household and the oil installations. if mohammad bin salman is secure in his position, he wouldn't really resort to these kind of erratic acts. the war in yemen, it's been going on for almost like four years. and we've seen no end to the bombing, using western military equipment, and also expertise. let's not forget, there are people from the united states and from the military in britain on the ground in saudi arabia, and we've heard that, without us and uk support, this war in yemen would not continue. but it is precisely because the saudi government continues to frame that war in the wider context of a struggle within the region, within the mid

if mohammad bin salman is secure in his po5ition, bin salman is secure in his position, he wouldn't reallyr almost like four years. and we have seen no almost like four years. and we have seen no end to the bombing, u5ing western military equipment, and also expertise. let's not forget, there are people from the united states and from the military in britain on the ground in saudi arabia, and we have heard that, without us and uk support, this war in yemen would not continue. but it is precisely because the saudi government continues to frame that war in the wider context of a struggle within the region, within the middle east, between saudi arabia and its allies and the iranians, a framework which frankly gained a lot of traction in the us and western countries. that i5 the us and western countries. that is why they have been able to continue to prosecute this war. well, u nfortu nately continue to prosecute this war. well, unfortunately saudi arabia i5 seen as a well, unfortunately saudi arabia i5 seen as a shield against iran. in fa ct, seen as a shield against iran. in fact, iran, yes,

, he was the coalition spokesman, but mohammad bin salman had taken a liking to al siri.e sotook him over as deputy he of intelligence and senior adviser. in addition to that another, senior adviser who is not as senior as al asiri, but a top adviser in the inner circle. why is he important? because saad al katadi was someone who had been speaking with japmal khashoggi over the last year, trying to get him back into the fold. there was, as we were discussing, a lot of ko consternation about his criticism of mohammad bin salman. he was saying, stop your criticism, stop your criticism of donald trump, come back into the fold and we will give you a think tank. he has gone along with five top intelligence officers. of course, the main question with so many of mohammad bin salman, the crown prince's advisers in the inner circle fingered in the killing of jamal, the question is what about the crown prince know, what did he authorize, and when did he know it, wolf. >> i want you to stand by. clarissa is getting more details in turkey right now. what else are you learning, claris

he has cultivated this crown prince, mohammad bin salman. 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

he was the advisor to mohammad bin salman, in addition i think he was closer to mohammad bin salman's alter ego. he apparently is at the center of this investigation. the royal palace ordered his dismissal, as well as the dismissal of a general, and spokesman of the saudi led coalition in yemen. he is now deputy director of intelligence in saudi arabia. the dismissal included two or three others, high-level executives of the security apparatus and saudi arabia. 18 additional saudis were arrested for interrogation regarding the affair. some might say, where did the 18 come from? we thought there were 15? in his speech, erdogan made that distinction. the 18 include the three that the turkish could not account for. they were the ones who came for scouting before jamal came to the consulate. the total amount involved according to both the saudis and the investigation by turkey, the number is actually 18. however, despite these steps, many questions remain unanswered. we meet to try and tackle a different aspect of this crisis known as the khashoggi affair. adam taylor of "the washington p

people gave mohammad bin salman on the benefit of the doubt. he was a reformer. he was was doing things that people thought were good for the economy and saudi arabia, some of the social liberalization, bringing women into society, so people were willing to overlook an awful lot of these things. jamal has a particular residence here in washington, london, new york, because so many people knew him personally, was very well-regarded and well-liked in many corners of this town. host: did you ever meet him? guest: i knew him. he came to middle east institute and did some roundtables with us. he was a well-known figure around town. participated in many activities, conferences, other things. was a wilmamal person. it personalizes the issue for many people. is right.ller it is not just one thing. host: germantown, maryland. independent. caller: it is not just one thing, but just as your guest said, this is an american legal resident. they have children and i think they may be citizens. i don't know. i suggest putting into the mix talking about the international criminal

. >> reporter: there were no public accusations today against crown prince mohammad bin salman. a turkish official close to erdogan tells pbs newshour he wants to weaken mohammad bin salman and he was ying to weaken mohammad bin salm from the king. >> ( translated ): i do t doubt the sincerity of the custodian of the two mosques, king salman bin abdul aziz. >> schifrin: but today king salman appeared with m.b.s. in a show of solidarity. they met jamal kfashoggi's ly. at one point the king points, roeming to deliver a message. in the bacd, a guard has his hand on his gun. at another point, m.b.s. meets with khashoggi's son name. later, m.b.s. made a surpre appearance at what as supposed to be his premiere international event. and on stage, oil minister khalid al-falih admitted that ing is rotten in the sta of saudi arabia. >> these are difficult days for us in the kingdom of saudi arabia. sis of going through a c sort resulting from the very regrettable and abt incident that took place in rkey. nobody in the kingdom can justify it or explain it. >> schifrin:ut m.b.s. has sideline

and so how can they claim then that mohammad bin salman had no responsibility whatsoever? and is he looking for the scapegoats inside of saudi arabia? has he already taken action against them to silence them? if he does that though, if u.s. intelligence has damning authorization about his role, his story is going to fall apart. that's why it's so important for the intelligence agencies, and cia, to fully brief the intelligence committees on the hill so that they have full insight into what happened there and they can then hold the administration's feet to the fire. i really believe this is where congress is going to be so important because if mr. trump and others try, in fact, to gloss over this somehow, i don't believe that the congress, even people like lindsey graham who has been supportive of the administration, has come out with fire and fury against this. >> i should say that senator bob corker who chairs the foreign relations committee said he's been denied briefings, that the white house is trying to close down information and he's angry about that. i think that we

he is a senior official, the deputy head of the intelligence, very close to mohammad bin salman. he wasn't -- he previously had been a two star general inside the air defense corps. but in his position as intelligence, he didn't have the title of general. i met him first discussing the war in yemen. his path to power came through it tv, defending the saudi interests. do they use the munitions? the coalition is not using cluster bombs? >> no. >> reporter: cluster munitions elsewhere? >> let me be -- >> reporter: i'm trying to be clear. >> i'm commenting to you. >> reporter: but i want to be precise. >> i will answer precisely. >> reporter: for several years row the coalition spokesman for the saudi led war in yemen. he had huge exposure and became a local celebrity in saudi arabia. his fame, coupled to his robust defense of saudi interests, earned him the attention of architect of that war, mohammad bin salman, known as mbs. a general in the air defense are corps, he got a second start and according to a source, sought close ties to salman during his rapid rise to crown prince. it

i think it will sort of suggest a weakening of the crown prince, mohammad bin salman. very badly damaged by this. whether he hangs on as crown prince, is a good question. it does look like he will remain in his office. but there is a serious attempt not just office. but there is a serious attempt notjust on the part of dissidents and activists and so on to wea ke n dissidents and activists and so on to weaken him, but also on the part of very powerful members of the royal family, who feel sidelined by him. in addition, he has a very powerful adversary in the turkish president, erdogan, who opposes mohammad bin salman but wants to maintain good relations with saudi arabia, and seems to be offering the saudis a deal. he will not push this investigation, in exchange for a weakening or sidelining of mohammad bin salman. and a personal tragedy in this forjamal khashoggi is that he thought turkey was a safe place. by he thought turkey was a safe place. by all accounts he was thinking about setting up a new life there with his fiancee. indeed, reports are that he had purchase

does mohammad bin salman neeto go? >> i think quite possibly he does. the question is: can he regain any of his credibility? there have been a pattern of abuses here, the kidnapping of the prime nister of lebanon, the situation in yemen, thero ding up of princes and others and putting them into the ritz-carlton. this leadership of particularly moment bin salman has a lot of stabilizing steps that they've taken in the past couple of years, and i pnary think it's going to be very, very difficult for him to recoverbi that crety in a way that serves the interests of saudi arabia. >> schifrin: david rothkopf, ambassador jerry fierstein, thank you very much. >> nawaz: three weeks from today, voters will head to the polls r the midterm election. but recent news of alleged voter suppression in some key races has many wondering if they're still able to cast their ballots.cl to take er look at where voting rights stand right now, i'm joinedy carol anderson professor of african-american studies at emory university in atlanta, georgia. she is author of the book, "o

was trying to weaken mohammad bin salman from the king. >> ( translated ): i do not doubt the sincerity of the custodian of the t s mosques, kiman bin abdul aziz. >> schifrin: but today king salman appeared with m.b.s. in a show of solidarity. they met jamal khashoggi's family. at one point the king points, seeming to deliver a message. as the background, a guard his hand on his gun. at another point, m.b.s. meets with khashoggi's son name. later, m.b.s. made a surprise appearance at what as supposed to be his premiere international event.oi and on stageminister khalid al-falih admitted that something is rotten in the state of saudi arabia. >> these are difficult days for us in the kingdom of saudi arabia. we are going through a crisis of sort resulting from the very regrettable and abhorrentto incident tha place in turkey. nobody in the kingdom ca justify it or explain it. >> schifrin: but m.b.s. s sidelined all public criticism while claiming to change society. he has allowed women to drive, is proposing to wean the economy off of oil. and al-falihinted that neither m.b.s., nor the di

people gave mohammad bin salman on the benefit of the doubt. he was a reformer and he was doing things that people thought were good in terms of the economy, social liberalization, bringing women into society. people were willing to overlook an awful lot of these things. , i think has a particular resonance here in washington, london, and new york because so many people knew him personally and he was very well regarded and well-liked in many quarters of this town. host: did you ever meet him? guest: he came to the middle east institute and did some roundtables with us. figurea very well-known around town, participated in many activities, conferences and other things. so, jamaal was a well-known person. i think this personalizes the issue for many people. right, it isr is an accumulation of things. host: germantown, maryland, independent. caller: it is not just one thing, this is -- as an american legal resident who has a couple of children who live here, i think they might be citizens. talking about the international , a 15 member hit squad and

he compared mbs, mohammad bin salman, to putin even. --was outspoken about how the lack of space for any sort of criticism. that had to have gotten back to the authorities. laura: karen attiah, thank you so much for joining us. karen: thank you so much for having me. laura: hurricane michael is speeding towards the florida panhandle at -- and 120,000 people in his path were told to evacuate today. it is currently a category 3 storm swirling in the gulf of mexico and it is due to make landfall tomorrow inoohe late afte it is wide and moving quickly, leaving residents with hours to get out of the storm's way. here is more on what we can expect. hurricane michael seen fspm e -- a monstrous storm which is still strengthening, barreling towards the northeastern gulf coast of florida. the family are heeding the warnings, taking no chances and ending the beach vacation in pana city early. >> three kids. if it was just the adults, we would have rode it out. got to be safe, since they are with us. laura: the roads are crowded with people fleeing

met with the of prince mohammad bin salman. and he was offered aid by the saudis. and later if vendor that the saudis said they would provide was paid $2 million by the saudis. >> yes. >> so there are really striking parallels here. >> i want to pivot to rod rosenstein because it's something that you've put a lot of effort into and thought about in terms of protecting him. he gave a strong interview to the wall street journal today in his office, a rare public interview. what was your interpretation of the message he was sending? >> in my view the message was, very clearly, he's going to stand behind the special counsel. the president's bullying is going nowhere so far as he's concerned. if the president wants to get rid of the special counsel he's going to have to fire rod rosenstein. these reports very recently, a bloomberg report about mueller completing his work right after the election. i think are to be treated with a large grain of salt. both rosenstein and mueller are by the book, professional prosecutors. they're going to do this investigation and his mess

in many respects the saudi government has to decide between mohammad bin salman and u.s.ationship and the u.s./saudi relationship has been fundamental to the kingdom for the past 85 years since its founding. >> got them through 9/11. >> it did. now the question, who can challenge mbs within the family? king salman who i always thought was a very fair and judicious individual, he had responsibility for meting out justice to royal family members who did some things that they shouldn't have done and some princes were actually executed or imprisoned. now who within this environment of the royal family council is going to be able to be the independent voice that is going to be able to tell king salman your favorite son, mohammad bin salman, authorized this awful, atrocious and very reckless action that now is putting at great risk -- >> the relationship with the west. >> -- the relationship with the united states. >> can i press you on -- i mean, we've had so many conversations about congress not doing their oversight role. what gives you faith that congress and republican con

taking drove and mohammad bin salman did not. how can you ride in the tesla and not want to drive it? you're the guy who goes 60 miles per hour in one second. >> he doesn't drive often. david: does he have a drivers license? [laughter] alix: i would think that kind of tesla in the high-end market, where you are looking at $300,000, that might be something they are interested. we knew this technology sooner or later would be stuck in traffic. alix: let's talk about other expensive things. banksy's "girl with a balloon" went to $1.4 billion, and it was immediately shredded. alix: this is fascinating. apparently, he built in a

to put it bluntly, the record of crown prince mohammad bin salman, the kingdom's defacto ruler, suggests a ruthless determination to silence all criticism. my guests today are saudi academic madawi al—rasheed and former senior us diplomat nicholas burns. is the man known as mbs taking his kingdom down a dangerous path? madawi al—rasheed here in london and nicholas burns

n>> schifrin: saudi offic admit crown prince mohammad bin salman, known widely as m.b.s., wanted histics brought back to the kingdom-- including jamal khassoggi-- so a group of 15 saudis flew to istbul for rendition, but not murder. >> this was an operation that was a rogue operation. this was an operation where individuals ended up exceeding sie authorities and resplities they had. >> schifrin: a saudi official said the team confrontedog kh, but he refused to comply, and there was a "quarrel and an hetercation." saudi officials have claimed the team put khassoghi hi a chokehold, or covered his mouth, leading t inadvertent death, and the cover-up and the body double video. saudi officials say m.b.s. was duped by his own people, including deputy intelligence chief major general ahmed al-asiri, royal court advisor a saud al-qahtan security official maher mutreb, who was photographed outside the istanbul consulate before and after khashoggi's murder-- and near mohammad bin salman's side earlier this year. but al-jubair said all of that proves no connection to m.b.s. >> there weren't peo

many believe the killing could only have happened with the permission of saudi crown prince mohammad binalman, and that the new story of a fight, rather than premeditated murder, is designed to shield him. president trump, who has been torn between criticising the saudis and protecting business with them, now appears willing to accept the new saudi explanation as credible. they've arrested, just for the people at the table, a large number of people having to do with the event that took place in turkey in the consulate, the saudi consulate, and... it's a big first step. it's only a first step but it's a big first step. do you consider it credible, their explanation for it? i do, i do. but many disagree, including within his own republican party. senator lindsey graham said... so will the saudi admissions and arrests solve britain's dilemma — how to respond? hardly. the government is committed to uphold a world order based on rules, but it doesn't want to inflict too much damage on saudi partnerships it values enormously. the foreign office confined initial reaction to a short statement. i

"it's inconceivable that mohammad bin salman didn't know," said long-time saudi torender republican sedsey graham: >> i find it impossible to think the crown prince wasn't involved. so go after him and his inner circle. save the alliance. i don't mind military cells. but i cannot do business with the current leadship. m.b.s., he's done to me. >> schifrin: senate foreign relations chairman bob corker spoke on cnn: >> i don't think anybody believes that story. i can undersnd the president wanting to keep open channels. but i think those of us who, who want to speak directly to this,t knt it's just not credible. >> schifrin: the international reaction is equally withering. german chancellor angela merkel called for suspending saudi arms sales. >> ( translated ): there is an urgent need to clarify what happened.th we are far fro having been cleared up and those responsible held to account.er >> schifrin: anitially calling saudi arabiary "credible," today president trump said, "obviously, there's been deception, and there's been lies." but today, senior advisor and edn-in-law jared kushner

but he supported a number of mohammad bin salman‘s social reforms.ty for women to drive, finally. he is... he wanted some sort of economic reforms to come for saudi arabia's population, many of whom live in absolute poverty. so for me, in the year that we worked together, he was just very, you know, energetic about having the opportunity to finally be free to write what he wanted to write after being kicked out of so many media houses and newspapers and being silenced for so long. so that is why, you know, the fact that he has finally been silenced in this horrific way is... is so utterly painful. in the tragedy is that he was embarking on a new chapter in his life in istanbul, with an engagement, as well. yes, absolutely. i think the first thing he told me when we met was that the pressure is on him, his decision to speak out and to be a thorn in the side of the saudi authorities cost him his previous marriages. and so in the last months, he did seem relaxed. he seemed like he was settling in a little bit to his new life, and lifestyle, i suppose. s

he was critical of one side of it, one part of it, that is mohammad bin salman.urrent ruler of saudi arabia to make an example ofjamal khashoggi is basically to make sure, to make sure they have an insurance policy, vis a vis anybody like him who might want to defect or turn against the ruler, mohammad bin salman. an example must be made. and it was intentional, just like they do every friday in the public squares when they chop people's body parts. they want to spread a message of fear, to subjugate the population. this is very similar. it scares their own followers, loyalists, from defecting. what do you think happens next? the arms deals go on and the slaughter and starvation in yemen goes on? the new cycle turns? there is more the united states could do here if it wanted to. there is. mr trump, this is his moment, i don't know if he will miss it or not. he already said to mike pompeo not to be concerned about the human rights but to get some additional deals or things that have been promised by mohammad bin salman. we will wait and see. this is international

he and mohammad bin salman are so closely associated, so now mr sung cannot go away.acked down now, it seems like he dealt the final blow to his friend. netflix is showing no signs of slowing down. the streaming service has added about 7 million new customers in its latest quarter. that is 1.8 million more than wall street expected. however, technology reporter david lee says investors we re reporter david lee says investors were initially sceptical. just before these earnings came out shares in netflix went down because many people were worried they were going to miss their targets for growth, which is the key metric for this company still. instead the opposite was true. they added a huge amount of new users, many more than people thought, almost 2 million more than it had predicted three months ago. that brings the total number of users on netflix to 137 million people. what was particularly interesting about these results, and why they are considered to be so strong, is that while many people have expected netflix to add many international customers, which of cours

any information that mohammad bin salman does not want.l crisis right now inside of the saudi government. it is a crisis for u.s./saudi relations and i am hoping that, again, the congress will put the pressure on the administration to get to the bottom of this and hold the saudis to account and i think it squarely lies in mohammad bin salman's quarter. >> i'm interested in your take on something a former cia officer told me when we were talk about this privately. effectively he says the saudi government likes what's happening right now because, number one, this he don't think the trump administration will do anything significantly punitive, but number two because even the gruesome details that are out in public sends a message to other dissidents and to other journalists that this is what happens when you cross the kingdom of saudi arabia. >> i don't agree with that. >> you don't agree with that. >> no. i think mohammad bin salman would like to stifle and quiet any type of criticism but clearly this now is getting to be a donnybrook and i

the names that have been listed are close to mohammad bin salman. there are photographs and my guess is that american intelligence can go back to some of their collection and piece together facial recognition, other means of identifying how close to mohammad bin salman were. these individuals. >> the new york times is reporting that the saudis are considering blaming a top intelligence official close to the crown prince. given your knowledge of how saudi arabia works, sit realistic to think that a top intelligence official who is close to the crown prince, would plan something without the crown prince knowing and be able to freely enter the saudi consulate, commit a murder and a dismemberment, and not have anybody in the saudi consulate apparently raise any questions about it or concerns about it to the crown prince himself? >> absolutely not. i think this is -- i think every analyst who has ever looked at this will tell you the same thing. it's inconceivable that the crown prince would not have known of this kind of a plot. >> how important -- i gu

the investment conference is the brainchild of saudi arabia's maverick crown prince mohammad bin salmanstern governments suspect he ordered the operation against khashoggi. something saudi arabia denies. turkey's president conspicuously avoided mentioning the prince by name, praising instead the sincerity of his father, the ageing saudi king salman. but he also demanded answers to hard questions, such as where is the body? and who helped dispose of it? he also wants the suspects brought back to turkey for trial. translation: the 18 people must be tried in istanbul. this is my proposal. as the crime was committed in istanbul, they should be tried in istanbul. in life, jamal khashoggi had a huge following on social media but his violent death has rocked relations between the west and saudi arabia. after this, they may never be quite the same. frank gardner, bbc news. tim willcox is in the saudi capital riyadh. will what president erdogan had to say give any pause at all to anyone where you are? i don't think it will give pause to the pressure, which the saudi royal family give pause to th

so here is what we know about muhammad bin salaam, mbs. -- mohammad bin salman, mbs. he's not only next in line to the throne, but he is the de facto leader of saudi arabia. and one of the most powerful men in the middle east. some see the 33-year-old who met with president trump at the white house in march as a progressive reformer. he has said he wants to move the country away from oil. and for the first time in the country's history, he allowed women to drive. now when he visited the u.s., his picture was splashed across the cover of "time." he sat for interviews with "60 minutes" and bloomberg. but since jamal khashoggi's killing, again, something officials tell cnn wouldn't have happened without mbs' knowledge, the focus has turned to the darker side of his reign. for instance, last year the prince orchestrated a massive purge that included locking up hundreds of businessmen and his own royal cousins inside the ritz for months. some detainees were physically abused and only allowed to leave after paying big money. mbs is seen as the architect in yemen. that war h

but he praised crown prince mohammad bin salmon. today she is a senior fellow at harvard. she is now distinguished fellow at the counsel on foreign relations. a professor of international relations at the london school of economics, he's the author of making the arab world. martin, let me start with you, the crucial question it seems to me is can mohammad bin salman survive this? >> it's not clear. it's kind of the land of the seven veils, so we don't exactly know what is happening, but we can assume the shots are gathering, he alienated a lot of princes, under arrest, shaking them down, pursuing a -- and then taking down the highly respected grown prince, who is now under house arrest. so for sure, they're within the royal family, people who are plotting against him. secondly, his big agenda is a reform agenda, that's made him popul popular amongst his people, but now his reform agenda is going to be in question. partly because of the flight of capital, foreign investors will now be very scared to get involved, you can see that from all the trump outs from the investment

mohammad bin salman purged the military, the national guard.s one person in that country who could give an order like that, and that's the crowned prince. which of course presents a huge problem for u.s. relations with saudi arabia. because, after all, this man was a contributor to "the washington post," there was an attack on the press, in a nato country, there is no excuse for this. and i don't think the president's going to get away with it, claiming it was a rogue operation. anybody with any sense is simply not going to believe it. >> quickly, is it possible they can claim that nbs had no idea this was happening? >> i think they will, but here's the thing. is the turkish tapes and the intercepts that have been going on, but there was a concerted effort for nbs to get him back, as we know, from the intercepts, back to saudi arabia, and all arrows point to him. >> bob and karen, thank you so much. a quick break. more on our special coverage after this. (vo) this is not a video game. this is not a screensaver. this is the destruction of a canc

>> if you look upon this in context, if you look at the body of work of mohammad bin salman, this is pretty consistent with some things, other things that he has done over the past year or so. let me be very harsh right now with regard to this administration, john. the president has personally put his energy into bettering relationships with three heads of state around the world, putin, kim and mohammad bin salman who is effectively the head of state in saudi arabia, and one thing those three individuals have in common is that their governments have been involved in murders of their citizens abroad in the last two years. and that's a pattern of behavior that's going to impose a cost on america globally for a long time. >> and we talked about this yesterday as being the trump doctrine because when he talks about vladimir putin poisoning and assassinating and jamal khashoggi being assassinated, he's saying maybe it happened but it didn't happen here. the trump doctrine appears to be as long as it doesn't happen here it's okay. does that have repercussions? >> of course it has repercuss

very wrong way. >> schifrin: he opposed mohammad bin salman's tactics, what khashoggi described as a crackdowon criticism, including female activists who've been arrested. khashoggi said mohammad bin salam stifled dissent. >> the environment in saudi arabia does not allow for constructive criticism, or constructive debate, a discourse, about lively matters, matters that are going to affecs n the future. >> i've never been more disturbed than i am right now. >> schifrin: republicanha lawmaker traditionally declined to criticize u.s.-ally udi arabia. other leading senators triggered a process that automatically imposes san ctions saudi arabia if it murders khashoggi. >> all of us are taking it very seriously and urgg pretty dramatic steps to be taken. >> schifrin: capitol skepticism has been rising with civilian casualty reports from yemen, where the u.s. supports a saudi arabia-led coalition oughting iran-backed rebels. but the reports jamal khasoggi are pushing lawmakers to increase pressure on the administration. the administration is beginning to respond. a white house statemt said

there was no love lost between president erdogan and mohammad bin salman before this. whoever -- president erdogan want? he needs money. could it be that direct? could they give him cash? they have been doing that with the they have been doing tt with the americans when they allowed pastor brunson to come back to the u.s. they have been pushing for an allowance to the united states to get some oil directly from iran with the waivers and they want reduced sanctions from the investigation and convictions in new york. it has been a money conversation. qatar wasurks, when cut off diplomatically and economically by saudi arabia, the turks sent troops to qatar. that is pretty much right in your face against the saudis. a kid to doubted boeing 747 to be used as the outidential plane -- kitted boeing 747 to be used as the presidential plane and then $15 billion of investment directly committed by the qatari amir. there is no question in my mind erdogan expects if he is going to play ball with the saudis who have done something stupid on his territory that are to one needs to g

that is what is happened with mohammad bin salman as crown prince.inside the royal family, i don't know how well received that is. the saudis have never been in the newspaper, never wanted to be in the newspaper. docile typeways a of government wanting other people out front. when you look at all of the foreign policy from mohammad bin salman, you start to scratch her head. hadn, saudi arabia has only one campaign and its history, 1934, and the consolidation of the south. campaign, amounting coastal campaign, that consolidated the south into saudi arabia. , i know your father led that coastal campaign. did he ever come back with any lessons learned? he said, yeah, he said don't ever go back. [laughter] that: to a large degree defined relations for the next 80 years. that is the way it was. all of that has changed. the public blowup with qatar. 2030 is towards vision a move towards a private sector economy, which many of us had doubts about. i would say to date it is unachievable. at the $68 billion in debt the saudis have taken on in two years, the r

the question is now if not mohammad bin salman, then who?ht now it is very difficult to see anyone who would have the same force, the same authority that mohammad bin salman has been amassed for himself over the past many months. nic, thank you very much. joining us as we anticipate a briefing with the president will take place very shortly. let's get a look at some of the biggest business stories in news around the world. ubs ceo sergio massi has come up with a boulder set of financial targets to show to investors. he is promising to drive wealth management profit higher and to cut costs. is also trying to revive the swiss bank's stock price. he spoke to bloomberg. but every ceo likes to think their stock is on the price, but on an absolute basis, it is very disappointed to see the stock being down. but what is very important is to see how is our stock performing vis-a-vis our competitors. the stock is down on a total shareholder return due to our leveraged competitors. guy: we will hear more from sergio ermotti in the next hour. that was a

i think a lot of those people are wondering whether mohammad bin salman can be the of change. there are certainly ways this could unfold where people would say it doesn't really impugn the crown prince.th bue are also ways it could unfold where it would impugn the we have to see how this develops. rajini: you mentioned the crown prince. how do you think this is playing out for him at home? jon: in the press in saudi arabia there is not a lot about this. but one of his great accomplishments in his time in government is he seemed to be healing the rift between the united states and saudi arabia. there was a real concern that partly because the united states was rebalancing towards asia and partly because the united states has discover so much oil and gas within the uted states, the u.s. was willing to walk away from saudi arabia, and for saudis, who for 70 years built a whole security concept around ing close to the united states, that was very threatening. rajini: one the issues in the united states is the businessen ties bethe two countries. we have seen in other countries, ri

nothing happens without mohammad bin salman knowing. would blaming a general be plausible, do you think? >> i think the saudis should come up with whatever investigation they want. we shouldn't be, as i say col including. let's hear what they have to say. let's let them lay out the evidence that suggests that the buck stops where it does. saudi arabia is an absolute monarchy. it is a highly centralized system. the people involved why were in some cases were the personal guards of muhammad bin al man, the crown prince. others were members of the royal guard. one of the people who went there was the head of the saudi council of forensics, a doctor who actually has published an article called mobile autopsies. >> is it like two hours or less or something? one of them said, there was someone there reportedly who came up with this thing about dismembering a body and getting rid of it within two hours. >> i read that, as well. it hasn't been confirmed. it's very delivered to imagine that this was not centrally directed. secondly, there will c

there's not one norm he did not shatter. >> you're saying mohammad bin salman. >> he kidnapped a prime minister last year, got away with it. he actually beat him up. i believe what the turks are saying. i think every embassy, every consulate around the world is bugged. this is how they know. they know within hours and they said he was killed. we know he was targeted. when i interviewed jamal, he freely told me multiple times and even in interviews with other people, why don't you go to saudi arabia? why don't you go back? he said because i don't want to end up in prison. and privately he told friends i don't want to be killed, like the many people who disappeared and were killed. regarding president trump i think he said in some interviews recently he said, well, am i supposed to hate them? they buy from me apartments for $40 million. why would i hate them? it's not about you. it's about the country. you're not anymore a real estate tycoon who buys and sells apartments. you are the guy that actually sends signals to the rest of the world what america stands for. the signals he's sendin

does this raise questions about prince mohammad bin salman?or not surprisingly , president erdogan did not mention mohammad bin salman. he was very reverential to the king. what was missing was a mention to mbs as he is commonly known. this remains the all caps in the room. -- the elephant in the room. how is president erdogan going to leverage this killing of jamal khashoggi to his advantage to get concessions from saudi arabia in other arenas in the east?le francine: saudi arabia obviously has deep pockets, but what kind of concessions with the turks want? -- would the turks want? >> what comes to mind is saudi arabia and many other countries in the region are looking at this as an opportunity to humble the saudi's. there is regional competition between turkey and saudi arabia and iran and turkey. this is an opportunity for who has been through a number of domestic and international challenges to reassert turkey as a powerbroker. syria is an area of strategic concern for turkey, and turkey has had an important role in the process, but has be

salman toward more aggressive actions. >> that made prince mohammad bin salman feel empowered to this impulsive behavior in foreign policy? it is dangerous. >> joining me by phone from dubai, msnbc -- a reporter with extensive knowledge. ayman, what do you make of this report by the saudi official news agency? >> i think you have to take it in its totality. anyone who is watching in and has watched what has unfolded the past couple of days will look at this and immediately think this is something that has been in the making for some time. this was clearly a narrative that the saudis were slowly trying to put together and floating and testing to see how much they can buy time until they can come up with an explanation that clearly does not meet any of the questions or answer any of the questions that people had. and we take that step by step. what i mean by that is as you mentioned in the outline, the prosecutor's statement that came out tonight identified that jamal khashoggi is dead. interestingly enough the foreign minister put out a statement they acknowledged this was an atte

they've even put mohammad bin salman, the crown prince who is directly implicated in orchestrating this in charge of the investigation. look, i think it really comes down to what the turks are going to reveal, what is the u.s. intelligence going to reveal, and by the way, what did u.s. intelligence know ahead of time that could have forewarned mr. khashoggi about this threat and why did he not receive that information or did he. >> you certainly raised a really good point. i have a feeling the saudis are something trying to call the turks on a bluff saying this was the result of a fight thinking the turks would not release a tape that would show otherwise or contradict the saudi narrative. steve, the president has flip flopped on this issue, if you want to use that term. he gave a phone interview to "the washington post" last night. he first criticized the saudi account of khashoggi's disappearance. then he called the country an incredible ally. so on one hand throughout the course of this, the president's been saying things like it's credible when he was asked about the first saudi nar

remember, the fact is that, you know, crown prince mohammad bin salman has a close relationship with crown prince jared kushner and that's who's in charge with our relationship with saudi arabia. there are a lot of officials in the administration who are not snookered pie t snookered by the saudis. jared kushner is very close to mbs. >> i would say mbs' star and his stock are falling. >> rapidly. >> as a result of this. >> this is an international incident. >> meaning mohammad bin salman. >> it can't be handled internally exclusively. it's on the international stage. there are observers and critics of all that. his stock right now is in decline which means there are other competitors who might be out there for that position. >> i think that's an important point. it's not that we have to jeopardize our relationship with saudi arabia. jared kushner and president trump have basically given mbs, the crown prince, a blank check, to do all sorts of reckless and foolish things like kidnapping the prime minister of lebanon last year and blockading qatar. the blank check has to be rescinded.