interpol. why are putin's critics very worried? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news. president trump sides with saudi arabia, shrugging off an intelligence assessment that the saudi crown prince personally ordered the murder of a u.s.-based journalist, jamal khashoggi, saying maybe he did, and maybe he didn't. the president let's the crown prince off the hook and signaling that the united states will not punish saudi arabia while stressing that the kingdom has pledged to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the u.s. i'll speak with congressman adam smith. he's the top democrat on the armed services committee. and our correspondents and specialists are standing by with full coverage. let's begin with our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta. jim, the president is now making it abua abundantly clear he's bg the saudis. >> reporter: that's right. the president's legal team has submitted the written responses in the russia investigation to the special counsel's office, but as you