saudi intelligence, saudi arabian cooperation with israel, very quiet, but there, saudi cooperation with us on the ground. who are the major players? what do we have to be worried about? we need each other in this fight, there is no decimating isis without the help of saudi arabia and the saudis have to do more to keep their own wealthy citizens in check when they write large checks to the very organizations that are undermining us and threatening our way of life. >> that's sort of what we were talking about, how much leverage does the administration have with the saudis. judy, quickly though, it's great for us in-- we've often heard president trump talk so much on the campaign trail about isis, about radical islam, but to liz's point, if you spend time over there, as i did recently, much of the arab world, the sunni arab world of which saudi arabia is the home and the founder state of now, they're much more worried about iran than they are about isis as a threat. they're much more looking to the united states for strength and weapon and counter balance to iran than isis. what is the bal

ambassador to saudi arabia. they talked about president trump's upcoming visit to saudi arabia, the relations with gulf countries and spreading extremist views. this is an hour and 50 minutes. >>> ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us to day for this important and i believe very timely event. i'm the charp of chairman of the board offed middle east policy council. it's my privilege to welcome you here for this special program for examining counter terrorism efforts. we're especially pleased to be holding this program in collaboration with our friends at the gulf cooperation council. many of you know the middle east policy council through our four core activities. our journal which i brought a cop yif, middle east poll sichlt hopefully you're familiar with that. our capitol hill conferences which i'm sure many of you have attended, our educational outreach program teach mideast and our digital platform in particular our website which features a lot of current opinion information from the region. ch which

saudis want peace. the way the government is set up there is the royal family, the secular aspect of the government and the religious leaders. the saudis have problems to worry about in their country and this is why when the united states pressures the saudis with humanitarian forms to allow religious liberty and freedom, there is not a synagogue or christian church in saudi arabia. that is the capital offense. the united states wants to encourage reforms in saudi arabia. you need a good relationship with the secular government and you can encourage those reforms by having stability in the region and setting an example, making a powerful statement. >> first lady melania trump and daughter ivanka not wearing the head scarf, actions speak louder than words and that is a perfect example when you show up showing mutual respect, we will come the way we want and you come the way you want and nothing they respect more and showing confidence, showing power. >> power and confidence on our own principles. preside

-saudi connection."he wrote an article last week headlined "10 reasons trump should not strengthen u.s.-saudi ties." welcome back to democracy now! talk about trumps trip to saudi arabia. >> it is appalling to see trump in saudi arabia, amy, touting when$110 billion arms deal you look at the history of how those arms have been used. in talked about their use devastating yemen. we also have the example of them crushing the democratic uprising in neighboring bahrain using those weapons to fund al qaeda groups in iraq and in syria, and using those weapons internally to crush dissent, particularly in the shia areas, which is happening right now the saudi e that is getting absolutely no price and the united states. so congress does have the right to him and i would say the armsation, to stop these deals. it did not do it under obama. it is time they do it under trump. they will only do it if we the people put pressure on congress to say no weapon sales to the present regime of saudi i arabi. amy: and the fact

thought out and coordinated attacks on combounds, westerners, saudy p saudy. and we had various westerners specifically targeted and killed. the most famous that time was paul johnson who was a contractor for one of the large u.s. defense contractor who was kidnapd and beheaded on youtube. so this was a very difficult environment. the u.s. -- sorry the saude security forces were having run gun battles in the streets with al qaeda insurgents and this was all topped off at the end of end of 2004. so i'm sure everybody here knows about benghazi. the fact four americans were killed in benghazi. not many know the u.s. consulate in saudi arabia was over run by terrorists and nine people were killed. this left a permanent scar on the state department and our diplomatic security people. so when i arrived in 2007 i found a security environment that really reflected the events of the past and i worked very hard to change that and we were successful in doing that. so i spent a lot of my time as ambassador in thor interior i would visit twice a week. and one of the things

-saudi partnership. as he just described, today truly is a historic moment in u.s.-saudi relations. from the states and the kingdom of saudi arabia are really dedicating themselves to a new strategic partnership for the toy first century. we are charting a new cut for a peaceful middle east for economic develop an trade, diplomacy, hallmarks of the regional mobile engagement, something we will be working closely together on. this growing partnership is really grounded in trust. trust between our two nations that we are pursuing the same objectives . cooperation and share interest. this declaration that were signed today, the joint strategic vision, there were many elements and there is a lot of work to implement those elements and put them into motion. that is going to require significant ongoing engagement and dialogue between our two nations. i think you will find that we will be meeting with a great deal of regularity in order to review how these things are progressing and that is only going to serve to further strengthen our cooperation. also i think, it sends a strong message t

saudi arabia indicates how weak and uninfluential saudi arabia is.o a president who's tanking at home and who's international reputation is in tatters indicates this is a country whose foreign policy is basically entirely failed. secondly, i would just say to viewers, islam is not a religion that's organized. saudi arabia does not represent islam. no country actually represents islam. there's nothing to that. saudi arabia failed in the middle east, it has few sprends or allies, and it's basically burning through it's oil wealth trying to bolster it's position in the region. and donald trump is not going to make this better, he's going to make it worse. we're all as americans and people throughout the world going to be victims of the extremism that he's going to make worse. as an american muslim, that comes back to me. he should not be going to saudi arabia to talk about islam, he should apologize to americans who are muslims, for insulting our religion because he's the president of the united states of america, not saudi arabia. >> all right. haroon,

, saudi counterterrorism official and former us ambassador to saudi arabia. the event was hosted by the middle east policy council. >> distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and you for joining us today for this important and timely event. my name is richard shamir, i am chairman of the board of middle east policy council and it is my privilege to welcome you here to this special program on examining counterterrorism efforts was we are pleased to be holding this program in collaboration with our friends at the cooperation council. many of you know the middle east policy council, our journal which i brought a copy of, middle east policy, hopefully you are familiar with that. our capitol hill conferences which many of you attended our educational outreach programs that teach middle east and in particular our website which features a lot of current opinions from the region which was one of our better features. we are pleased to have the distinct panel of speakers with us today to address this topic. our keynote speaker is his excellency ambas

the reset in saudi arabia. what the saudis need to hear from president trump on his first foreign visit and why it's so different this time around than when president obama visited there. >>> the author of a new op-ed on that very topic joins me next. thank you! imagine if the things you bought every day earned you miles to get to the places you really want to go. with the united mileageplus explorer card, you'll get a free checked bag, 2 united club passes... priority boarding... and 50,000 bonus miles. everything you need for an unforgettable vacation. the united mileageplus explorer card. imagine where it will take you. before fibromyalgia, i was a doer. i was active. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. she also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. woman: for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel bett

we begin at the saudi royal court at where the king of saudi arabia hosted a ceremony and later honored president trump with the nation's highest civilian honor. >> in appreciation of the historical close bonds between the kingdom of saudi arabia and the united states of america, and in appreciation of his , for president donald trump, the president of the united states of america, his effort to strengthen the relationships between the two countries in various fields and his quest to enhance security, stability, and peace in the region and the world, the custodian of the two mosques, confers the medal, the highest medal from the kingdom of saudi arabia on president donald trump of the united states. [ applause ] [ applause ] [ applause ] >> next, live, your calls and comments on washington journal. and then newsmakers with rhode island congressman jim. ,'s -- oninth court president trump's travel ban. book,ight, on q&a, in his "the fine mess," the author takes a look at comparative tax systems around the world. >> i went to the imf and asked who had a good tax code. and they know. they

welcome to saudi arabia. the president clearly enjoying the day and he is at the palace right now which is north of riyadh where he's going to have a big banquet celebration. you can hear drumming and chanting. what is going right there at the palace is something called the. [inaudible] this is a traditional sword dance, dance by men for the most part, it's not exclusively by men but it's an old saudi war dance which is now a dance of celebrations and weddings at the like. today is surrounded by, second ago, this $110 billion arms agreement between the united states and saudi arabia involving a big american companies like general electric, lockheed martin, and others. one of the saw things the saudi wants to buy is the missile defense system. now the saudis want one. it's a high altitude defense that gets ballistic missiles and the necessity of that was driven home as we touched down here on friday night when rebels in yemen fired a ballistic missile at riyadh and it was brought down by an antimissile system

-saudi relations. america,d states of the kingdom of saudi arabia, are really dedicating ourselves to a newstrategic partnership, for the 21st century, and charting a renewed toward a peaceful middle east where economic development, trade, diplomacy, are hallmarks for regional and global engagement and something we will be working closely together on. this growing partnership is really grounded in trust. trust between our nations that we are pursuing the same objectives -- cooperation and a shared interest. the elements of this declaration that were signed today, the joint strategic vision -- there are many, many elements, and there is a lot of work now to implement those elements and really put them into motion, so that is going to require significant ongoing engagement twodialogue tween our nations, so i think you will find that we will be meeting with a great deal of regularity in order to review how the things are progressing, and that is only going to serve to further strengthen, i think, our coop

ambassador to saudi arabia. this is just under two hours. >> >> good afternoon and thank you for joining us today for this important and i believe very timely event. my name is richard surer. i'm the chairman of the board of the middle east policy counsel. and it's my privilege to welcome you to this special program on examining counterterrorism efforts. we're pleased to be holding this program in friendsation with our council.lf policy our educational out reach program and our digital platform and in particular our website which features a lot of current opinion from the region which is one of our betterette features. we're especially pleased to have such a distinguished panel of speakers to address this topic. our key note speaker is his excellency ambassador arabian p representative to the united nations. he has served since 2011. prior to this posting, he had a distinguished career in public and private sector. among the many positions he has held has been member of saudi arabia's sure counsel. mayor of jett

president here on saudi soil.g that you did not see when president obama came to saudi arabia. very, very different tone and welcome for president trump here today, guys. >> yeah, jim accosta, for pointing all of that. the cameras have been capturing it and our cameras have been capturing the key moments of the trump administration on this, the president's first overseas visit. one of the most remarkable moments was starting with the saudi arabian kingdom at a moment of signing. >> uh-huh, yeah, the biggest moment there was the signing this $110 billion arms deal we've been talking about. jim, thank you so much. >>> president trump says this is going to supply the kingdom with weapons, with tanks. and at the same time, create jobs for americans in the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson as we said is going to be meeting with his counterpart just moments away, we understand, they are going to take to the podium, so we will take that live as soon as it happens. but quite a big contingent that has followed the pres

the saudis have put that to one side. the speech here, needs to be you wansed when he delivers a message that says, the leers of the arab and muslim cubs here, need to put forth a more peaceful and tolerant image of islam. certainly, the leaders believe they are. trump's visit here will break a record, in his visit to saudi arabia will be the longest of any president. president bush in 200 w8 was he. president trump will exceed his visit by a couple of hours. and also, when president obama came here a year ago and the contrast for the rollout and reception that we're seeing being built up at the airport today, compared to last year when president obama came. i remember the reporting when president obamarrived was saudis didn't send senior enough representatives to the airport to meet and greet with him. the fact that king salman is out at the airport. he may not be in the swielterin heat. he may be in a v.i.p. reception area. but absolutely, this is a warm welcome. the pictures of king salman next to president trump on th

saudi arabia is a key to that. we should not sell that short merely because, in fact, at one point or another one may see the saudi arabian relationship at this day and stage as the primary result of the trip. it has to be put into a broader middle eastern balance. this is a very challenging and demanding task. >>> ambassador, i also want to ask you about a report in "the new york times" describing the exchange that took place between president trump and russian diplomats the day after fbi director comey was fired. he told the officials, i just fired the head of the fbi. he was crazy. that's taken off. you were also ambassador to russia. how unusual is this scenario? >> well, in private talks, presidents, national security advisers and secretaries of state have always wanted to create and curry leverage. leverage is important in a relationship with russia in particular. so it's not, i think, out of the question that the president was more intent in selling leverage than he was worried about the potential for leaks

welcome to the kingdom of saudi arabia. congratulations on an extremely productive visit. >> thank you and thank all of you for being here this evening and in particular i want to thank my longtime friend and colleague, the foreign minister. we've known each other for many years when our facial features were much younger. we remember those days but we have remained friends for all these many years and now colleagues. really proud to be here today with him to talk about this in the strengthening of the u.s.-audi partnership and relationship -- u.s.-saudi relationship. -- a is a story moment historic moment. the united states and the key number of saudi arabia are dedicating ourselves to a new strategic partnership and charting a new towards a peaceful middle east where economic development, trade, the premises are hallmarks of regional and global engagement and something we will be working together on. this growing partnership is really grounded interest. trust between our two nations that we are pursuing the same objectives

saudi history, $300 billion, creating thousands of jobs in saudi and in the u.s..cey: what does saudi arabia want in return? ron,otection against the protection against iran. --protection against iran. tracey: we heard the saudi foreign minister saying when it comes to iran he wants to cds and not words. >> iran is not only making problems on the nuclear deal, it is interfering in yemen and lebanon. tracey: does the u.s. have the capability to do that unilaterally? >> it is going to be the russians and the chinese but they can lead. >> i just recall the moment former president barack obama was on the ground in cairo, egypt and gave his speech into the arab world. how is this speech going to be different than the last time around? we saw the u.s. president give a speech with a lot of ambition but delivered very little in terms of policy change. >> it all starts haply, let's ends happily. it started with apathy about was happening in the arab spring. so far it is good but we are early days. brought up the obama administration. trump was very critical of the obama adm

to saudi arabia and enhance our economy and enhance american investments in saudi arabia which already are the largest investments of anyone. the custodian of the mosques and president trump had a very, very good and wide ranging conversation, they discussed, of course, the challenges facing the region and the world, they began by talking about the bilateral relationship in ways to enhance it and improve it in all areas. they discussed this scourge of terrorism, extremism, terror financing and how we can work together to eradicate it. they discussed the nefarious activities of iranhe

across saudi arabia. we had a large bomb go off right next to the ministry of interior building and we had various westerners specifically targeted and killed. the most famous at the time was paul johnson who was a contractor for one of the large u.s. defense companies in saudi arabia who was kidnapped and beheaded on youtube. so this was -- this was a very difficult environment. the u.s. -- sorry, the saudi security forces were having running gun battles in the streets of riyadh with al qaeda insurgents and this was all topped off at the end of 2004 with an attack on the u.s. consulate in jed da. i'm sure everybody here knows about benghazi. the fact that four americans were killed in benghazi. not many people know that the u.s. consulate in saudi arabia was overrun by terrorists in december and nine people were killed. so, this left a permanent scar on the state department and particularly on our diplomatic security people. so when i arrived in 2007, i found a security environment that really reflected

the saudi relationship is problematic because saudi, the wahabi strain of islam in saudi arabia has beenoups, with the sort of ideology behind a number of terrorist groups so this is not a clean and easy relationship, and it certainly brings into question, you know, how committed the president is to business, versus fighting radical islamic terrorism. >> right, they're intertwined but in an awkward kind of way. rana, thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> up next, late night taking aim >> late night taking aim at trump and the first official trip overseas. >> i hear there's a chance when he returns, he'll still be president. my belly pain and constipation? i could build a small city with all the over-the-counter products i've used. enough! i've tried enough laxatives to cover the eastern seaboard. i've climbed a mount everest of fiber. probiotics? enough! (avo) if you've had enough, tell your doctor what you've tried and how long you've been at it. linzess works differently from laxatives. linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. it can help relieve your

at the saudi royal court where the king of saudi arabia hosted a ceremony and honored president trump with the nations highest civilian honor. [ceremonial trumpets] [inaudible conversation] >> the bonds between saudi arabia and united states of america, and an appreciation of , for president donald trump, the president of the united states of america, his efforts to strengthen the relations between their countries and various feels -- fields and to enhance security and peace in the region and the conference,istoric on president donald trump of the united states. [applause] [applause] [drums] singing] [applause] [group singing] >> while in saudi arabia president trump is scheduled to give a major speech in which he will call for unity with u.s. allies in the middle east. the president visits israel and meets with pope francis in vatican city before heading to nato and g-7 meetings. watch continuing coverage of the president's trip. in his weekly address the president gives us a preview of his first overseas trip. david cicilline gives his reaction and talks about the democratic agenda.

/saudi relations. the united states of america, the kingdom of saudi arabia are really dedicating ourselves to a new strategic partnership, new for the 21st century and to charting a renewed path toward a peaceful middle east where economic development, trade, diplomacy are hallmarks of the regional and global engagement and something that we will be working closely together on. this growing partnership is really grounded in trust. trust between our two nations that we are pursuing the same objectives. cooperation and a shared interest. the elements of this declaration that was signed today, the joint strategic vision, there are many, many elements and there is a lot of work now to implement those elements and really put them into motion, so that is going to require significant ongoing engagement and dialogue between our two nations. so i think you will find that we will be meeting with a great deal of regularity in order to review how these things are progressing. that is only going to serve to furthe

the saudi deputy crown prince was here. jared kushner has been meeting with the saudi foreign minister. all of that has led to this moment. it will be interesting to see what is officially announced over the course of the next 24 hours. >> well, we are watching the official welcoming ceremony of president trump in saudi arabia. it is just past 7:00 here on the east coast. at a little past 4:00 on the west coast. this is special coverage of president trump's first visit overseas with making his first stop in skraub. he was met on the tar mark initially by king salman about four hours ago. air force one landed and now this is the official welcoming ceremony at the saudi palace where president trump and his wife, first lady melania are there along with jared kushner, we saw, and ivanka trump, as well. and i'm joined by ayman and colonel jack jacobs, steve clemens and alisha habi. thank you so much for being here. colonel jack, i want to touch on this real quick because the president is in saudi arabia now but he's going to hea

ali: the inclusion of the saudi -- of saudi aramco is a game changer. change the landscape of the equity markets in the region. i think the big change would be if you look at saudi arabia, you need to make assumptions, but if it comes around 4%, add about 2% between the uae and qatar. then you will begin to see the region changing a -- claiming a permanent part of the portfolio as opposed to being a trade. this region has always been a valuation trade relative to em, but now it will be a sizable part of em where you cannot neglect it. many people overlook the uae and qatar for being under 2%. you can ignore that. but once you are at 5%, 6%, you can no longer ignore it. could also be at 7% or a percent if you're bullish. claiming a permanent part of the global em portfolio is a game changer for this region. yousef: coming up next on "best of bloomberg markets: middle european airlines is moving. what is next and what went wrong, and how it can savage its investment in air blend --this is bloomberg. ♪ yousef: welcome back to "best of bloomberg markets: mi

in saudi arabia.s is his first overseas trip since taking office. >> saudis say they are honored their country is the first stop on the president's first overseas trip. >> he is placing the united states back on the world stage as a global leader promoting security. >> bombshells before the president left. reports that a white house official close to president trump is a quote person of interest in the russia investigation. >> there is a big difference and a long distance between that and being the subject of an investigation. even bigger distance to being the target of an investigation. >> garbage. these are quote, bombshells. no, they are not. they are just more of the left wing hatred for trump. >> american public will soon be able to hear directly from the former fbi director james comey. this is going to be much watched tv. >> long time harvard law professor allen dershowitz says special counsel could vindicate trump. >> no one could point me to a statute that could be violated. >> majority of tr

i would have recommended that over saudi arabia.f islam that's being practiced there. you've got a king who's a rock star in my opinion who really is potentially the vanguard of a new islam in the middle east. so i would have preferred that, but here we are. >> and the president's position seems to be when it comes to this, one, saudi arabia will be our partner against isis and also against iran. and, two, they're buying a whole bunch of our stuff and that's great for america and that will be jobs, jobs, jobs. to quote him. but these ideas, these nuanced discussions we're having about ways to encourage more moderate islam, whether in indonesia or jordan, the importance of standing up for human rights, they do seem, and again we'll hear the speech in a few minutes, but they do seem to be falling by the wayside. >> that's right. and that's where we're all expressing different levels of concern. if you're the white house and you're thinking about where to do a speech, you could argue, you go saudi arabia because that's where there's a

we want to thank you and saudi arabia.undreds of millions of dollars of investments into the united states and jobs, jobs, jobs. >> good day, i'm sheinelle jones at msnbc world headquarters in new york. it's 1:00 in the east, 10:00 out west and more breaking news at this hour. secretary of state rex tillerson and his counterpart, the foreign minister of saudi arabia, wrapped a news conference a short time ago where they talked about the security agreement and the two countries' shared efforts to fight terror. >> the kingdom of saudi arabia are embarking on a number of new initiatives to counter violent extremist messaging. sends a very strong message to our common enemies. it strengthens the bonds between us and it does chart this new pathway forward and will guide our path forward. >> all of this after a day of elaborate ceremonies and meetings for president trump. after a formal greeting outside the saudi palace, the president received a medal from the royal delegation. the saudis rolling out the red carpet for the presi

seen co—operation with saudi and containment of confrontation with iran.ration pursued a different approach to engage with iran, which was ultimately not successful. the trump administration is going back to a traditional us policy to the persian gulf. what is likely to be the reaction of iran and the revolutionary guards who seem to be the force leading iranian policy across the region, if there are more sanctions against iran, how would iran respond? iranian foreign policy in the middle east has been remarkably consistent for the last four decades, there have been three pillars, hostility towards the united states, rejection of israel's existence, and rivalry with saudi arabia, which has intensified. i don't think that will change president trump's policies. but if there is more confrontation between america and iran in the middle east, whether that is in syria or yemen, it could indirectly help to unravel the nuclear deal, which would be a real national—security concern for the united states and the us partners in signing the nuclear deal — europe, russ

that is extorting the saudis. at worst, we are saudi arabia's mercenary in the middle east because as robert gates said and wikileaks show the saudis are willing to fight to the last american. there are a lot of unanswered questions related to the trip that took place in saudi arabia and the new framework or architecture or security that is trying to be set up. last thing i would say about the saudi trip that is troubling to me that i guarantee you almost all of my former colleagues in the us government agree with is durable solutions to conflict requires every country with the capacity to find a solution. just like you can't fall regional security problems without the united states at the table or the saudis at the table are israelis at the table you can't solve without iranians and if you exclude any of those actors whether iran, america or anyone else it incentivizes the excluded party to disrupt, dismantle or destroy the process they are not a part of. if you're excluding any actor, what am i working towards?

saudi arabia is against the law.ip to the capitol began with open bar at a luxurious hotel with some retired generals seemed to know a lot about the justice against sponsors of terrorism law. folders were handed out claiming the law was disastrous for veterans. then came an odd announcement, cord says, from this man, organizer jason johns, a veterans' advocate. tim cord: jason johns stood up and he said, "thank you all so much for coming. i know there's a lot of rumors going around, but we can assure you there's no saudi money behind this." i don't think any of us, at least at my table, had even thought about the saudis. it was just kind of a weird statement to make opening night. sharyl: things got stranger the next day when they visited senate offices to promote supposed improvements to the justice against sponsors of terrorism law. cord says he began to feel like he was being used to lobby for some hidden interest, and he says his suspicions were confirmed that night by a drunk confession from an organizer. tim rd

the president is here in saudi arabia meeting with the king of saudi arabia, and they did as you said a few moments ago roll out the red carpet for the president and first lady, the president's first family and just about every top official from the trump administration here on the ground in saudi arabia. we want to call attention to viewers something interesting that occurred during some of the interactions between the president and the king. the king was at one point caught on camera making some remarks about the civil war in syria to president trump. at one point he said syria, too, used to be one of the most advanced countries, we used to get our professors from syria, they served our kingdom. unfortunately they brought destruction to their own country. you can destroy a country in mere seconds but it takes a lot of effort. just goes to show you in these interactions the cameras are rolling. not exactly a tremendous gap there on the part of the saudi king, but one of those impromptu candid moments that can be caught on camera. you can hear that the president and saudi king were ta

-saudi relations.to say the israelis feel there's a been a reset from president obama to president trump now? >> without a doubt. you heard it at the arrival ceremony from president trump, israel's president said we welcome america back to this region. you had a president for about eight years under president obama, there was a feeling not just within israel but within the wider region, egypt, saudi arabia, you that america had is engaged. now a president who is involved, engaged, who managed to bring all of the sue any, arab and muslim leaders together in riyadh, took action in syria after chemicals were used. now you see him making a stop on his first overseas visit to the jewish state sends a clear message to the world that this president is engaged, involved, and to a large extent like he said himself, has israel's back. >> leland: you certainly saw prime minister netanyahu's body language so dicht than when he met with president obama. very different. real happiness with the saudi-sunni-arab allia

saudi arabia versus iran. to the extent that there is a problem with a sect here, it's one the president is not going to mention because he's in saudi arabia. and that is that a kind of gateway drug to extremism has been the wahabi islam that saudi arabia is frankly pushing throughout the muslim world. this has been a huge problem. i hear complaints from muslims all over north africa, the balkans, southeast asia, that the saudis are spending tons of money trying to push out their indigenous forms of islam, which are pretty moderate and saying only wahabi islam is authentic islam. so they are in a sense feeding extremism. it's too much to expect the president to say that while he's in saudi arabia, but it is a huge problem and it's something that i hope he is at least saying to them privately. it's really in the islamic world driving out moderate forms of islam and it's been doing that for decades now and it is one of the reasons for the rise of extremism. >> as we were seeing there and you can see wilbur ross,

/saudi relations. the united states of america, the kingdom of saudi arabia are dedicating ourselves to a new strategic partnership, new for the 21st century. and charting a renewed path toward a peaceful middle east. where economic development, trade, diplomacy, are hallmarks of the regional and global engagement, something we will be working closely together on. this growing partnership is really grounded in trust. trust between our two nations that we are pursuing the same objectives. cooperation and a shared interest. the elements of this declaration that was signed today, joint strategic vision, there are many, many elements, and there's a lot of work now to implement those elements and really put them into motion and so that is going to require significant ongoing engagement and dialog between our two nations and so i think you will find that we will be meeting with a great deal of regularity in order to review how these things are progressing and that is only going to serve to further strength o

in saudi arabia.xt few hours. he will travel with the president. the unflappable john roberts in. five. thank you. liz. elizabeth: back to domestic news. tractor comey's first public appearance is being five from the job will be the fourth decided committee in an open hearing. tommy will testify between the into russian interference in the 2016 election. he joins us with more on what we can expect. >> lawmakers have a lot of questions for james call me. certainly on the investigation into russia but separately one of the biggest questions will be about new reports that the president asked him to end the fbi's investigation into former security advisor michael flynn. that report by the new york times this week cited a personal memo comey wrote shortly after meeting with president in february. it's also important to note that comey never mentioned this memo or any concerns about it until lawmakers when he testified last month on capitol hill. this morning on fox and friends liberal law professors said t

>> oh, i think the saudis are committed to this., the extremists are against the royal family. they would like to overthrow them. so you take this toechnology an they're looking for key words, for statements, for particular quotes, sayings of the prophet and so forth and they identify these people and they, you know, if they're violently, you know, inclined, they arrest them. if they're being converted to extremism, they continue to reeducate them. i think the saudis have learned their lessons from the attacks in 2003 and it is encouraging and the crown prince is very, very close to washington. he's done his best. at the same time, saudi arabia is sitting on something of a l volcano. there's still violence there. americans are still being targeted and the saudis are doing the best they can to stabilize. this look at it this way. the problem, fred, is all the violence around saudi arabia which should worry us. syria. iraq. lebanon. yemen, of course. so they're getting it from all sides. and, you know, i've been very critical of saudi

shery: inside the shrinking of the saudi -- thinking of the xiaomi -- saudi stop market, we talk with a ceo. yousef: it is 5:00 a.m. in london. shery: i am in hong kong. we are seeing investors be more conscious ahead of the fed meeting and also the jobs report out of the u.s.. a few markets are closed in asia. hong kong, japan, and south korea. for those that are trading, take a look at this function on the bloomberg. you can see australia is leading the declines. remember, only after seven days of rallies for the australian market. we are seeing the aussie dollar lose point for mark -- .4%. japan is on holiday for the -- rest of the week. just to keep -- -- you have to keep an i on the japanese yen. treasuries not trading in asia today. japan is closed. yields fell overnight. we are seeing the sovereign debt market across asia. we are also seeing oil rebounds after a drop to its lowest in a week. yousef: absolutely. in this part of the world, they kingdom was holding a wide ranging interview. a rare conversation with the deputy crown prince. he has been spearheading vision 2030. let

neighbours of saudi arabia and dozens six neighbours of saudi arabia and d oze ns of six neighboursozens of kings, presidents and prime minister is from across the arab and islamic world. lots of talk of new alliances, even reports that some arab states will start steps to bring down the walls of hostility with israel. the talk will be different but the big question, as always, will be actions be different? this is truly a moment to watch. that is all from riyadh, back to you in london. the headlines... the us president flies to saudi arabia but there is another twist in the controversial sacking of fbi directorjames comey. disagreement within labour after the shadow foreign secretary says the party should abandon support for trident. the tories defend their pledge to cut net migration after it was criticised by former chancellor george osborne. the wedding has taken place of pippa middleton, the sister of the duchess of cambridge. she married the financierjames of cambridge. she married the financier james matthews in berkshire. in sport, millwall hope to make it second time lucky

talking to very senior saudi officials you have to say that saudi arabia is obsessed with iran and itsut it's not clear that even a neighbouring states in the persian gulf would be ready to put the kind of pressure on iran that saudi arabia wants to do. what's your assessment? saudi arabia sees this as an existential battle, it isn't a normal rivalry, one of them isn't a normal rivalry, one of them isa isn't a normal rivalry, one of them is a status quo power and iran is a revolutionary power. despite the moderate noises the iranians make in english to the media, the supreme leader and revolutionary guard who really run iran, irrespective of the elections that are put together, it has been a revolutionary regime, talking about taking down the saudi monarchy for the last a0 years. a lot of golf nations share that. they are closer to iran and they feel more vulnerable, so they have to be careful. there is a consensus that it is an existential battle with this iranian regime. the fact that america sees it the same way is extremely reassuring. what is the risk of a confrontation? strongly

-saudi bombing campaign. so when responsibility inside yemen is attributed for this starvation campaign, it is placed upon the united states as well as on saudi arabia. and we have to think about what that means given the fact that there is the potential for millions of yemenis to be radicalized in a place with very sophisticated radical infrastructure. that's a real national security concern for the united states. and so i think it's time for us to draw a hard line with this coalition and that we will not continue to support it if there is not real commitment made to change the way that targeting has happened and to make sure that relief supplies can flow that that country to try to address this unfolding famine and humanitarian catastrophe. we can allies with the saudis. we can be military allies with the saudis, but they have to understand -- and their partners need to understand -- that this humanitarian nightmare inside yemen, it's both immoral to participate in a campaign that perpetuates that kind of h

coy chaired by united states and saudi arabia. and joined by every member of the gulf cooperation counsel. it and i historic stip in a day that will be long remembered, i also applaud the gulf cooperation council for blocking funders from using their countries as a financial base for terror. and for designating hezbollah as a terrorist ong oanization saudi arabia also joined thus week in placing sanctions on one of the most senior leaders of hezbollah. there is still much work to be done. that means confronting the crisis of islamic extremism and islamic terror of all kinds. we must stop what they are doing to inspire. they do nothing to inspire but kill. and we are having a very profound affect if you look at what is happened w happen emplod recently, it means standing it against persecution of jews and caughter of christians, religion leaders must make this clear. ba.if you choose the paths of terror, your life will be empty, your life will be brief. and your soul will be fully condemned. and political leaders must speak out to

i think the saudi's have been dealing with the u.s. and even the younger saudi's have 30 years of experience in dealing with u.s. officials. there is an amazing degree of continuity and experience in dealing with the bakeries of american politics which can be of americanvagaries politics which can be vague. what is hard to predict at this point is how well the president has been briefed, how clearly he will deal with the burden, i have to say i may or may not -- i was part of the nato force planning exercise several centuries ago and i think this whole 2 percent and are mutuallyal ridiculous. ,f you look at what they buy you cannot find any explanation percent willt 2 do. 20% means a country will spend defensesubsidizing its industry and the record today on your pink operation -- on european cooperation is it is remarkably expensive and remarkably inefficient. i mentioned saudi arabia's defense spending, it is about $57 billion in 2016. woody think russia's would be, u.s. isarly when the spending something like 600 billion. according t

because at best we are extorting the saudi's. at best. at worst, we are now their mercenary in the middle east because, as robert gates said and wikileaks showed, the saudi's are willing to fight down to the last american. there are a lot of unanswered questions related to the trip that took place in saudi arabia and the new framework or architecture for security that is trying to be set up. the last thing i would say about the saudi trip that is very troubling to me and that i guarantee you almost all of my former colleagues in the u.s. government agree with is that durable solutions to complex requires the buy-in of every country with the capacity to wreck the solution. just like you can't solve regional security problems without the united states of table or without the israelis at the table, you can't solve it without iran at the table. if you exclude any of those actors, iran, america or anyone else, it incentivizes the excluded party to disrupt, dismantle and destroy the process they are not a part of. so again, if you are

he currently dining with saudi arabian and western food.terest on social media. of course, the entire trump team, too. if you want more, you can get 20 more on our website. —— you can get plenty more. you can get more on the tour, including the planning details of his ambitious itinerary, and so the home comforts is taken with him on his nine day trip. —— he has taken with him. let's stay in the region. iran's newly—re—elected president hassan rouhani has said iran will seek greater international engagement and work towards a freer society. but the american secretary of state, rex tillerson, said the only way iran could change its relationship with the world would be by ending its support for what he called destabilising forces in the region. 0ur diplomatic correspondent paul adams has the details. in the end, it wasn't even close. the pragmatic hassan rouhani winning comfortably. for reform—minded middle—class voters, this was a significant victory. they came out in huge numbers, determined not to let hardliners take back the presidency. i

his visit in saudi does determine so much, butjust for the saudi society but for the muslim communityank you forjoining us out tomorrow. thank you forjoining us here in riyadh. as they won of this first visit is coming to an end, you can hear the helicopters in the sky, very tight security here in riyadh, tight control as well over what kind of comments president trump will make. they want to make sure he keeps to the script, his speech tomorrow about islam and countering extremism has been very carefully crafted because as we have said, it is notjust the elephant in the room, it is elephant in riyadh. we will continue to watch the are releva nt we will continue to watch the are relevant here. —— the developments here. president trump and king salman of saudi arabia sign multi—billion—dollar contracts in riyadh, described as the biggest single am still in us history. there's a disagreement within labour after shadow foreign secretary says the party could abandon its support for trident. meanwhile the tories defend their pledge to cut net migration after it's criticised by former chanc

coming up, we'll go life the to saudi arabia to hear more about the trip and talk to an expert in saudi matters. will the muslim world allow president trump to lecture them on terrorism? we'll be right back. this is "politicsnation" on msnbc. anything, text me. anything, text me. do you play? ♪ ♪ use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever before. ak we us. ak we esz. ak we esz. ak we esz. acquiescence. acquiesce sense. ak wes sense. hs. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist