having passed a number of hours ago. we've also reached out to that israeli company at the center of that lawsuit. in the past, they have worked with foreign governments to, as they say, help intercept terrorists and plots against them. what i might caution is obviously in some autocratic regimes, they also view activity like this very much as plots against the state, which is why these revelations here in these text messages are extremely revealing as to why potentially jamal khashoggi was targeted two months ago. >> nina dos santos, thank you so much for bringing us that reporting. joining me right now, cnn global affairs correspondent elise labott and "washington post" assistant editor. good to see both of you. elise, what does it say that after all this reporting, the secretary of state, the defense secretary, and the president all still deny a direct connection between the crown prince and