CORRESPONDENT FOR NBC NEWS. AND RUTH MARCUS -- EDITORIAL
PAGE HERE AT "THE WASHINGTON
POST."
POST." RICHARD, SHOW THE WORLD LOOKING
AT THIS DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE
EVIDENCE COMING FROM THE TURKISH
GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS GRUESOME
AND TOTAL WITH APPARENTLY A
TAPE, AN AUDIOTAPE OF THIS
KILLING, AND OUR PRESIDENT’S
REFUSAL TO ACCEPT THE FACT?
>> I THINK A LOT OF THE WORLD
REACTION HAS BEEN SIMILAR TO THE
WAY THE WORLD LOOKS AT PRESIDENT
TRUMP FROM THE BEGINNING, THAT
HE IS SOMEONE WHO VALUES STRONG
MEN.
MEN. HE IS SOMEONE WHO VALUES MONEY,
VALUES TRADE RELATIONS, SS AND T
NOT TO CAST ANY MORAL JUDGMENTS
AND DOES NOT WANT MORALS TO GET
IN FRONT OF BUSINESS INTERESTS.
I THINK THAT IS THE WAY PEOPLE
LOOK AT IT.
SOME ARE SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS.
SOME THINK IT’S PRAGMATIC, BUT
THEY ARE NOT LOOKING AT IT AS
THE WAY THEY HAVE TRADITIONALLY
SEEN THE UNITED STATES, WHICH
TRIES TO PRESENT ITSELF AS A
CHAMPION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, NOT
ALWAYS VERY SUCCESSFULLY.
BUT WE’RE LEARNING TONIGHT, AND
"THE WASHINGTON POST" GUEST CAN
ELABORATE MORE ON THIS IS REALLY
A NEW TAKE ON WHAT HAPPENED
INSIDE THE SAUDI CONSULATE
BEHIND ME.
BEHIND ME. WE KNOW THAT JAMAL KHASHOGGI WAS
NERVOUS ABOUT GOING INSIDE THIS
BUILDING.
BUILDING. THAT’S WHY HE HAD BEEN LIVING IN
EXILE.
EXILE. HE KNEW HE HAD MADE ENEMIES OF
THE POWERFUL SAUDI CROWN PRINCE,
MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN, OFTEN
REFERRED TO HIS BIHIS INITIALS,
MBS.
MBS. HE WAS SO NERVOUS THAT HE TOLD
HIS FIANCEE TO STAY OUTSIDE WITH
HIS PHONES AND TO CALL
AUTHORITIES SHOULD HE NOT COME
OUT.
OUT. AND HE DIDN’T COME OUT.
BUT APPARENTLY THAT WAS NOT THE
ONLY PRECAUTION THAT HE TOOK.
A TURKISH NEWSPAPER TONIGHT, A
PRO GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER IS
REPORTING THAT HE WAS WEARING AN
APPLE WATCH, AND THAT HE HAD SET
THE APPLE WATCH, SYNCING IT WITH
ONE OF HIS PHONES TO RECORD.
AND THAT WHILE HE WAS INSIDE,
THE PHONE WAS RECORDING,
UPLOADING DATA TO A SERVER, AND
THAT HE MAY HAVE THREWOUGH HIS
CUNNING, RECORDED THE
INTERROGATION, THE BEATING, THE
TORTURE, AND ULTIMATELY HIS OWN
MURDER, LEAVING BEHIND THE CLUES
THAT TURKISH INVESTIGATORS ARE
NOW PUTTING TOGETHER.
>> IS THAT THE SOURCE OF THEIR
RECORDING, THAT THE TURKISH
GOVERNMENT HAS?
GOVERNMENT HAS? >> ACCORDING TO THIS --
ACCORDING TO THIS ONE PRO
GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER, WHICH I
MUST SAY HAS BEEN PRETTY
RELIABLE, THIS PRO GOVERNMENT
NEWSPAPER HAS THROUGHOUT THE
PAST WEEK AND A HALF BEEN DRIP,
DRIP, DRIP RELEASING
INFORMATION, TIPS ABOUT THE
TIMELINE, ABOUT HOW TWO
CHARTERED JETS ARRIVED AT
ISTANBUL AIRPORT, HOW A CONVOY
OF VEHICLES CAME HERE TO THE
CONSULATE BUILDING, THAT THEY
WERE VERY EARLY ON IN QUOTEING
SECURITY SOURCES SAYING THAT
KHASHOGGI HAD BEEN MURDERED
INSIDE.
INSIDE. SO THEIR INFORMATION HAS BEEN
CONSISTENT AND PROVEN OUT TO BE
TRUE AND SUPPORTED BY OTHER
TURKISH OFFICIALS.
TURKISH OFFICIALS. IT’S POSSIBLE THAT IS NOT WHERE
THESE RECORDINGS COME FROM, BUT
THAT’S WHAT THEY SAY THEY CAME
FROM.
FROM. >> HOLD ON THERE, RICHARD.
LET ME GO TO RUTH MARCUS.
WHAT’S IMPRESSED ME IS THE WAY I
THINK THANKS TO YOUR NEWSPAPER
AND OTHER JOURNALISTIC
ORGANIZATIONS, THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN UP THIS CAUSE.
JAMAL KHASHOGGI IS FELT AT THIS
POINT LIKE HE’S ONE OF OUR,
SOMEONE WHO CHOSE TO LIVE IN OUR
COUNTRY, SOUGHT REFUGE IN OUR
COUNTRY, WORKED FOR OUR COUNTRY,
REPORTED FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND WE
FEEL A KINSHIP WITH HIM, AFTER
HIS DEATH APPARENTLY.
AND I WONDER IF ANYBODY THOUGHT
LIKE THIS IN THAT PART OF THE
WORLD, THAT THEY KNEW HOW MUCH
OF AN AFFRONT WE WERE GOING TO
TAKE HERE.
TAKE HERE. >> WELL, WE CERTAINLY THINK OF
JAMAL KHASHOGGI AT "THE
WASHINGTON POST" EDITORIAL PAGE,
AT THE OPINION SECTION AS ONE OF
OURS.
OURS. AND I HAVE TO SAY THE RESPONSE
OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, THE
RESPONSE OF OUR COLLEAGUES AT
NBC, MSNBC, AND ACROSS THE
AMERICAN MEDIA TO THIS
OUTRAGEOUS DISAPPEARANCE AND
PERHAPS WORSE THAN DISAPPEARANCE
HAS BEEN REALLY HEARTENING
ASPECT OF A REALLY TERRIBLE AND
TRAGIC STORY.
TRAGIC STORY. AND I THINK THAT WE KNOW, THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE KNOW
INSTINCTIVELY THAT PEOPLE WHO
CRITICIZE THEIR GOVERNMENT,
WHETHER HERE OR ABROAD ARE NOT
ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, TO USE A
PHRASE THAT PEOPLE MAY
RECOGNIZE.
RECOGNIZE. THEY ARE ACTING OUT OF LOVE FOR
THEIR COUNTRY.
THEIR COUNTRY. READ JAMAL KHASHOGGI’S OP-EDS
FOR "THE WASHINGTON POST."
YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A
MAN WHO TRULY LOVED HIS COUNTRY,
WANTED TO GET IT ON THE RIGHT
TRACK, PRAISED MOHAMMED BIN
SALMAN AND THE SAUDI LEADERSHIP
WHEN HE THOUGHT THEY DESERVED
PRAISE, DOING THINGS LIKE
ALLOWING WOMEN TO DRIVE OR
OPENING MOVIE THEATERS, AND ALSO
WAS FEARLESS IN CRITICIZING
THEM, A FEARLESSNESS THAT MIGHT
HAVE LED TO HIS MURDER.
>> WELL, PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS
LONG BEEN A VOCAL ADVOCATE FOR
BETTER RELATIONS WITH SAUDI
ARABIA.
ARABIA. IN FACT, TRUMP CHOSE SAUDI
ARABIA AS THE FIRST STOP ON HIS
FIRST FOREIGN TRIP AFTER
BECOMING PRESIDENT, AND HE’S
CONSISTENTLY PRAISED THAT
COUNTRY AND ITS LEADERSHIP SINCE
ENTERING POLITICS.
ENTERING POLITICS. >> IT’S A GREAT HONOR TO HAVE
THE CROWN PRINCE WITH US.
SAUDI ARABIA HAS BEEN A VERY
GREAT FRIEND AND A BIG
PURCHASER.
PURCHASER. THE KING OF SAUDI ARABIA IS A
GREAT GUY, KING SOLMAN.
>> THINK OF IT.
I HAVE GREAT FRIENDSHIPS IN
SAUDI ARABIA.
SAUDI ARABIA. >> THEY HAVE MANY FRIENDS THAT
ARE SAUDIS.
ARE SAUDIS. I SEE THEM ALL THE TIME.
>> I’M ALL FOR SAUDI ARABIA.
>> I LIKE THE SAUDIS.
THEY’RE VERY NICE.
I MAKE A LOT OF MONEY WITH THEM.
THEY BUY ALL SORTS OF MY STUFF.
ALL KINDS OF TOYS FROM TRUMP.
THEY PAY ME MILLIONS AND
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS.
>> SAUDI ARABIA, I LOVE SAUDI
ARABIA.
ARABIA. THE PEOPLE ARE VERY NICE TO ME.
THEY BUY MY APARTMENTS, YOU
WOULDN’T BELIEVE IT.
IT’S TRUE.
IT’S TRUE. THEY’LL PAY ME ANYTHING.
THEY HAVE NOTHING BUT MONEY.
>> RICHARD, DO THE SAUDIS THINK
THEY OWN TRUMP?
>> WELL, THEY MAY HAVE THOUGHT
THAT, BUT I THINK WHAT HAPPENED
OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS
HERE AND THE INTERNATIONAL
REACTION MAY PROVE THAT THE
SAUDIS, IF IN FACT THEY WERE
BEHIND THE MURDER OR
DISAPPEARANCE OF JAMAL
KHASHOGGI, THEY MISREAD THE
SITUATION THERE HAS BEEN A
FEROCIOUS BACKLASH.
FEROCIOUS BACKLASH. TURKEY HAS BEEN RELENTLESS IN
ITS LEAKS, TELLING REPORTERS
WHAT HAPPENED, TELLING THE MEDIA
ABOUT WHAT IT SAYS WAS A HIT
SQUAD OF 15 SAUDIS WHO ARRIVED
IN THIS COUNTRY, WHO CAME TO THE
CONSULATE AND WERE WAITING
INSIDE SO THAT THEY COULD KILL
AND DISMEMBER JAMAL KHASHOGGI.
IF THEY THOUGHT THEY HAD TRUMP
BOUGHT AND PAID FOR AND THEY