saudi arabia. the escalating crisis is threatening to destabilize the weekend. the saudis executed a number of people, among them a prominent shia cleric. iranian protesters retaliated, torching and raiding the saudi embassy in tehran. the president of iran calling the cleric's execution a, quote, great crime. josh rogen is with me. >> happy new year. >> happy new year to you. given everything that's happening in the middle east, how does this put the white house -- what kind of position does this put the white house in? how should the u.s. handle this? >> sure. well, it puts the white house in the worst of all possible positions. the administration came out yesterday and said we're not going to take sides. this is for the saudis and iranians to work out for themselves and we're not going to use our influence. the problem with that is as far as the saudis are concerned, the u.s. has been moving both before