Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20181015 : vi

CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper October 15, 2018

Critics are saying, hey, not so fast. Plus, President Trump says hes not sure about man made Climate Change, despite the consensus of scientists. Maybe if the epa didnt keep getting rid of scientists, he would have a better idea of whats really going on. This is cnn breaking news. Welcome to the lead, im jake tapper. Breaking news in the world lead and disappearance of Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Two sources telling cnn the saudi government is preparing to admit that khashoggi was indeed killed in their custody after he entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in istanbul, turkey, almost two weeks ago and never came back out. This news coming just hours after President Trump said he believed the saudi kings denial of any knowledge of the disappearance. The king firmly denied any knowledge of it. He didnt really know. Cnn chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward bringing us this story. Clarissa, am i to understand the saudis are planning to claim, this was, a. , rogue, and b. , a botched operation . Reporter thats exactly what were hearing from these two sources. They have conducted this internal investigation into what happened in the consulate, and they are preparing to acknowledge that Jamal Khashoggi was indeed killed in the consulate in, as you said, a kind of botched operation, an interrogation went wrong. The idea had been primarily to abduct him from turkey, presumably to take him back to the kingdom. And what im hearing from these sources is that this operation was not carried out according to the sources with the proper level of clearance and transparency. That apparently some kind of a nod to the idea that potentially the crown prince, the king himself, were not aware of this. That will be a little bit difficult for some people to believe. Of course, this is a vertical power structure, jake. The crown prince and the king know pretty much everything that goes on in the country. But these two sources saying to us that heads are going to roll, essentially. That disciplinary action will be taken against the people who killed khashoggi. That it was never the intention. More broadly speaking, though, one of our sources did caution that this is still kind of a work in motion. That saudis could potentially still change the narrative, but this very much seems to be gelling with what we heard from President Trump earlier when he himself talked about this idea of rogue killers, jake. Rogue killers. Saudi arabia not exactly known for free thinking freelancers. Clarissa ward, thank you so much. Secretary of state, mike pompeo, now en route to saudi arabia on President Trumps orders to meet with members of the saudi regime. This all comes as turkish investigators were for the first time today given access to the saudi consulate in istanbul where khashoggi was last scene. Alex marquardt joins me now. Who is secretary pompeo expected to meet with . Reporter all we know, he plans to meet with the saudi king, king salman. Both salman and his son, the crown prince, muhammad bin salman have denied any role in the killing of khashoggi. And if the saudis do put out that report you were just talking about, that this operation was carried out without clearance from the top, or rogue killers, as President Trump said earlier, that is the line that secretary pompeo can expect to get. As the world grows increasingly convinced that a hit team was sent from saudi arabia to murder and dismember Jamal Khashoggi, President Trump is hedging his bets. I just spoke with the king of saudi arabia, who denies any knowledge of what took place with regard to, as he said, his Saudi Arabian citizen. Reporter the latest example on a long list of the president siding with the accused, rather than the accuser. While sources tell cnn the saudis are ready to admit he was killed, there is still no official response from saudi arabia about what happened to khashoggi after entering the saudi consulate in istanbul two weeks ago. President trump floated a new theory of who could be behind it. It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows . Were going to try getting to the bottom of it very soon. Reporter a highly unlikely explanation for an alleged murder inside a saudi government building. But it comes as trump and his soninlaw, jared kushner, have forged a close bond with the saudi king and his son, crown prince muhammad bin salman, or mbs. And as the white house works to secure 110 billion in arms sales to the kingdom. Theyre spending 110 billion on military equipment, and on things that create jobs. Like jobs and others for this country. Reporter also today, saudi arabia agreeing to allow turkish investigators inside the consulate. But before that could happen, cnn observed a team of cleaners entering the consulate with mops, buckets and other cleaning materials. Up on capitol hill, republicans and democrats are in lockstep, mulling sanctions and possible punishment for the saudis. The only two things that could have happened is, hes alive and somehow still in there, or hes dead and the saudis are the ones who did it. There is no other explanation for it. Reporter senator marco rubio, among others, disagreeing with treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchins decision to still attend an economic conference hosted by the crown prince in riyadh. I dont think he should go. I dont think any of our government officials should be going and pretending as its business as usual until we know exactly whats happened here. And jake, even if secretary mnuchin does end up going, it would be highly embarrassing for mbs to host that conference with some of the biggest names not attending. It reads like a whos who of the Business World. The ceos of job morgue chase, master card and uber, along with Media Companies like the New York Times and cnn. So it remains to be seen whether mbs mbs can convince the Business World he was not involved in this. Lets talk about this with my experts. You worked for the obama white house. What you know of saudi arabia, is it possible that there were rogue operators, 15 of them, that fly into turkey and integrates and whether its accident or not, kill this person . Is it possible that would happen without the king or the crown prince knowing about it . No. Highly unlikely. Highly unlikely that the king or the crown prince wouldnt know about the operation, highly unlikely that two planes would have flown in without them knowing about the operation. And remember, this all happened in the embassy. So its not as if it was happening in another country or a hotel or another location. You know, i think the saudis have not been the best not had the best record on human rights for decades, as you alluded to. That is certainly the case. Past president s or past administrations have done slightly more to hold them accountable, raise issues when they come up in meetings. But if this has always been a difficult issue in their relationship, given the militarytomilitary sales, this president has given license. They knew he wouldnt be vocally outspoken, whether it was rendition or obviously more than that. Let me ask a question. If it comes out that the saudis do do what cnn is reporting theyre preparing to do, acknowledge that they killed khashoggi, but they say its an accident and rogue operators, does President Trump then accept their explanation and move on . Or is he going to be forced by congress to do more . Listen, obviously, there was some talk last week of the magnitsky act being implemented and the president having to do that would be an investigation. And say were going to have sanctions against a country or not. And youve heard some on the hill say, look, sanctions forestalling these arms sales puts us at a hamstring further down the road, because then we cant hold back spare parts and further technical assistance, so we lose all leverage at that point. So it is a difficult tight rope to walk here. Look, its hard to believe, right, that all of this is kind of hard to believe. This gentleman walks in the front door, cctv everywhere. If the Saudi Intelligence Agency didnt know that, and they thought they were just going to eliminate this guy from the face of the earth with nobody knowing, theyre pretty hamhanded. So the narrative that he was killed during a you know, an intense interrogation situation, and nobody knew what to do, who knows thats the case. But that may be the theme were going to hear here. And they, you know, some highenlevel Intelligence Officer and the saudi kingdom is put forth as a scapegoat. And they kind of move forward. That may be the case. And the world may be forced to accept that, because theyre not going to find out the truth. The folks going in there, the turkish forensic scientists, are going to find very little by way of any evidence, is my guess. I think i want to get your reaction. President trump this morning floated the idea that maybe it was some rogue operators, the king denies it. Senator chris murphy, a democrat of connecticut, obviously very critical of President Trump, on the Foreign Relations committee tweeted in response, quote, been hearing the ridiculous rogue killers theory was where the saudis would go with this. Absolutely extraordinary. They were able to enlist the president of the United States as their pr agent to float it. Do you agree . Listen, this whole idea that this was an accident is bogus. Accidents dont require planning. We know that jamal went to the consulate. He was told to return at a certain date. When people go into interrogation, they usually dont bring bone saws to dispose of a body. That requires planning. This was all reported by the Washington Post, according to what turkish authorities told them. We also know that it is likely that he recorded this on his apple watch. We can know what happened. We can find out where he is. The fact that people are just attributing this to this rogue thing that went wrong. No. This is very discoverable, as it should be. But dont forget, its being put forward by the turks. Yeah. Who are sworn enemies of the saudis. Yeah. It is sure, sure. Two operators here you cant really rely on anything theyre saying, but we know he disappeared. Yes. Where is he . And they released to. The turks are also taking advantage of the moment. I want to get your response. The saudis are obviously, it looks like, going to deny responsibility. I want you to take a listen to what President Trump said he told the king this morning. I did say, this is very important. The world is watching. The world is talking. And this is very important to get to the bottom of it. And i think he understands that very well. Do you think he understands that very well, king salman . I dont know how much king salman understands at all. Mbs, lets say, the crown prince, do you think he understands whats going on . No, not at all. When you have the president saying the king told me they didnt do it, and i agree with him, well never know. Thats just you know, why dont the chinese just pick up the phone and call the president and deny anything hes ever accused them. Call in and say, i was one of the hackers. Its just this is hes not doing what he needs to do here. What does he need to do . What do you think President Trump needs to do . I think what a lot of members in congress are calling for him to do. Which was to which is to make it clear that we want to get to the bottom of it. Were not going to take their word for it. We want facts. And that were not going to take that this was some kind of accident. Are we ever going to get facts . You saw them sending in a cleaning crew two weeks after the date. Im sure there have been a few cleaning crews. Look, thanks to reporting, we know a lot. A lot of what happened here, and we can kind of put together what likely happened here. Will we get a report from the turks . Probably we wont. I think what President Trump has also been very clear about is that he doesnt really care about human rights issues. He cares about business relationships, he cares about selling military, you know, equipment to the saudis. What could he do . A lot of members of congress are calling for things like sanctions. They call for a lot, from both parties. We are very good at that in the United States. Rarely do we actually do anything. I doubt anything will actually happen. But President Trump could put a little more specifics to listen, i think its no it is one thing you know, the president dispatched the secretary of state this morning. On his way to saudi arabia right now. And before he lands, the saudis come up with a story and have a story. I assure you, when secretary of state pompeo lands and has to talk to somebody, he wasnt coming back with, and going to shrug his shoulders. The reality is, they want it to go away. President trump wants this to go away and continue the military relationship. The other reality is the president of the United States for over a year called the press enemies of the people. Im sure that wasnt lost on the king or the crown prince. Every stick around. Were going to keep talking about this. In addition, hes mocked her as pocahontas. What is President Trump saying today after senator Elizabeth Warren says she has genetic proof of a native american ancestry. Plus, what President Trump is now saying he knows more about nato than james mattis. The former commander of nato. Is another cabinet exit on the way . Stay with us. The sun comes up. The sun goes down. You did a million things for your family today. But speaking to pnc to help handle all your investments was a very important million and one. Pnc. Make today the day. Why didnat hilton. Com,r Family Vacation on a travel site . I get the price match guarantee. And i can choose from their 14 Different Hotel brands, so i get the right hotel for every member of my family. Like a doubletree for my cousins who love their warm chocolate chip cookies. A homewood suites for my uncle who likes a long stay. A hampton for my sister and her kids. Thats a lot of syrup. And the waldorf astoria Beverly Hills for me. But i thought your Family Vacation was in miami . It is. I hear theyre having a great time. Book at hilton. Com and get the hilton price match guarantee. 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The king firmly denied any knowledge of it. He didnt really know. Maybe i dont want to get into his mind, but it sounded to me like maybe this could have been rogue killers. Who knows . Its seemingly credit allows language weve heard from the president before. When someone he wants to get along with has been accused of something quite awful. Such as whether Vladimir Putin interfered in the 2016 election. I have great confidence in my intelligence people. But i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. Or whether his then staff secretary, rob porter, previously engaged in spousal abuse. He says hes innocent. And i think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that hes innocent. So youll have to talk to him about that. Or whether a Senate Candidate he endorsed once sexually assaulted teen girls. Let me just tell you, roy moore denies it. Thats all i can say. He denies it. And by the way, he totally denies. Or whether his Campaign Chair once engaged in financial crimes. Manafort has totally denied it. He denied it. And on and on. When it comes to the democrats by t definitelies by the saudis, marco rubio put it rather starkly. So the only two things that could have happened is, hes alive and somehow still in there, or hes dead and the saudis are the ones who did it. There is no other explanation for it. Because if there was video of him leaving, they would have shown it by now. Lets discuss with our experts. So President Trump, perhaps, is going to be given a hand where he came out and said it was rogue operators. And then the saudis perhaps actually put that forward, and the rest of the world says, thats really hard to believe. It is. But is it also disturbing to watch. Put the comments together this morning about rogue killers with Lesley Stahls question of trump about putin killing people the people in skripal. Isnt there a missing degree of empathy there . Like, were talking about people that have been murdered. And he doesnt care to express any sympathy for the families . We have that sound. Lets play that. This

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