BUT THE POST ISN’T LETTING >>> DID YOU ORDER THE MURDER OF
JAMAL KHASHOGGI?
JAMAL KHASHOGGI? >> Translator: ABSOLUTELY NOT.
THIS WAS A HEINOUS CRIME, BUT I
TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY AS A
LEADER IN SAUDI ARABIA,
ESPECIALLY SINCE IT WAS
COMMITTED BY INDIVIDUALS WORKING
FOR THE SAUDI GOVERNMENT.
TODAY THE INVESTIGATIONS ARE
BEING CARRIED OUT, AND ONCE
CHARGES ARE PROVEN AGAINST
SOMEONE REGARDLESS OF THEIR
RANK, IT WILL BE TAKEN TO COURT,
NO EXCEPTION MADE.
IF THERE IS ANY SUCH HFGSINFORMA
THAT CHARGES ME, I HOPE IT IS
BROUGHT FORWARD PUBLICLY.
>> THAT’S THE CROWN PRINCE OF
SAUDI ARABIA THREE DAYS AGO, AND
EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO TODAY
"WASHINGTON POST" COLUMNIST AND
LEGAL U.S. RESIDENT JAMAL
KHASHOGGI WALKED INTO THE SAUDI
CONSULATE IN ISTANBUL TURKEY
BELIEVING HE WAS THERE TO OBTAIN
DOCUMENTS NEEDED FOR HIS
MARRIAGE.
MARRIAGE. MINUTES LATER HE WAS DEAD AT THE
HANDS OF SAUDI AGENTS.
JOINING US NOW EDITORIAL PAGE
EDITOR AND COLUMNIST OVERSEEING
THE "WASHINGTON POST" OPINION
SECTION FRED HYATT AND SOCIAL
EDITOR FOR "WASHINGTON POST"
DAVID IGNATIUS.
DAVID IGNATIUS. THE "WASHINGTON POST" IS OUT
TODAY WITH A SPECIAL EXPANDED
OPINION SECTION FEATURING A
COLLECTION OF OP-EDS AND SPECIAL
COVERAGE.
COVERAGE. THANKS FOR BEING WITH US THIS
MORNING.
MORNING. FRED, I WANT TO GET YOUR
REFLECTIONS ON JAMAL, BUT FIRST
YOUR REACTION TO THAT INTERVIEW
ON "60 MINUTES" WHERE THE CROWN
PRINCE SAID I DID NOT ORDER THE
MURDER OF YOUR COLLEAGUE JAMAL
KHASHOGGI BUT I TAKE
RESPONSIBILITY AS THE HEAD OF
THE GOVERNMENT HERE.
WHAT’S YOUR REACTION?
>> GOOD MORNING, MY REACTION IS
HE’S ACTUALLY DOING THE OPPOSITE
OF TAKING RESPONSIBILITY.
EVERYBODY WHO’S LOOKED AT THIS
SERIOUSLY, INCLUDING THE U.N.
RAPPORT TER AND U.S.
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES HAVE
CONCLUDED THAT A CRIME OF THIS
MAGNITUDE COMMITTED BY PEOPLE SO
CLOSE TO THE CROWN PRINCE COULD
NOT HAVE TAKEN PLACE WITHOUT THE
KNOWLEDGE AND SUPPORT OF THE
VERY TOP OF THE GOVERNMENT, AND
IF HE WERE REALLY TAKING
RESPONSIBILITY, HE WOULD BE
ALLOWING THESE INVESTIGATIONS TO
TAKE PLACE WITH TRANSPARENCY.
HE WOULD BE TELLING US AMONG
OTHER THINGS WHERE JAMAL’S BODY
IS, WHICH WE’VE NEVER LEARNED,
AND SO HE’S REALLY DOING THE
OPPOSITE.
OPPOSITE. THE COVER-UP HAS CONTINUED.
>> DAVID, OF COURSE THE CIA
CONCLUDED THAT IT WAS, IN FACT,
THE CROWN PRINCE WHO ORDERED
THIS MURDER OF JAMAL KHASHOGGI.
YOUR COLLEAGUE, THE PRESIDENT,
AND HIS COLLEAGUES HAVE CAST
DOUBT AROUND THE WHITE HOUSE ON
THAT CONCLUSION CONTINUING TO DO
REGULAR BUSINESS WITH MBS, BUT
MORE BROADLY THIS MORNING ON THE
SOLEMN ANNIVERSARY, WHAT ARE
YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT JAMAL
KHASHOGGI, DAVID?
KHASHOGGI, DAVID? >> THE SAUDIS FROM THE VERY TOP
WE DO BELIEVE, MOHAMMED BIN
SALMAN
SALMAN SALMAN, THE CROWN PRINCE TRIED
TO SILENCE A CRITIC WHO WAS
ANGERING THEM.
ANGERING THEM. THEY’D BEEN ANGRY AT JAMAL
KHASHOGGI FOR MORE THAN A YEAR.
THEY’D TALKED ABOUT WAYS TO
SILENCE HIM.
SILENCE HIM. IT FINALLY CAME DOWN TO
SILENCING HIM BY KILLING HIM.
WE THINK HE WAS CHOKED AND THEN
HIS BODY WAS DISMEMBERED
BRUTALLY.
BRUTALLY. A YEAR LATER WE’RE STILL TALKING
ABOUT HIM.
ABOUT HIM. IF THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING
TO SILENCE THIS VOICE, SILENCE
THIS CRITICISM OF THE KINGDOM,
THE OPPOSITE HAS HAPPENED.
THAT’S THE POWERFUL THING ABOUT
THE SECTION FRED HAS PULLED
TOGETHER.
TOGETHER. YOU HEAR VOICES FROM ALL OVER
THE MIDDLE EAST EXPRESSING THE
SAME IDEAS ABOUT A MORE OPEN
SOCIETY THAT OUR COLLEAGUE JAMAL
EXPRESSED IN HIS COLUMNS.
IF THEY WANTED TO SILENCE HIM,
IT DIDN’T HAPPEN.
>> CLEARLY THE SAUDIS WERE
HOPING THAT THIS GENERAL
STATEMENT ABOUT ACCEPTING
RESPONSIBILITY WOULD SOMEHOW
ALLOW THEM TO TURN THE CORNER.
AS YOU MADE CLEAR, IT WILL NOT.
WHAT NOW, THOUGH, A YEAR LATER
TURNING TO POLICY SHOULD THE
UNITED STATES DO?
MBS IS GOING TO QUITE LIKELY BE
THE EFFECTIVE LEADER OF SAUDI
ARABIA FOR YEARS, POSSIBLY
DECADES.
DECADES. IT’S AN IMPORTANT COUNTRY IN
OBVIOUSLY A CRITICAL PART OF THE
WORLD.
WORLD. YOU DON’T NEED
WHAT DOES THE UNITED STATES DO
WHEN HE’S IN A POSITION OF
POWER?
POWER? >> DAVID.
>> DAVID. >> JUST TO START, I THINK SAUDI
ARABIA AND MBS, THE CROWN PRINCE
NEED TO TAKE STEPS TO ASSURE THE
UNITED STATES THAT WHATEVER
HAPPENED -- AND WE DO WANT TO
KNOW THE TRUTH -- IT WILL NEVER
HAPPEN AGAIN, THAT THERE’S
SYSTEMS IN PLACE THAT REALLY
MAKE FOR A MORE RELIABLE, LESS
ERRATIC DECISION-MAKING.
ERRATIC DECISION-MAKING. ONE WAY TO DO THAT, OBVIOUSLY,
WOULD BE TO HAVE A GENUINELY
TRANSPARENT PROCESS.
TRANSPARENT PROCESS. AT THIS POINT, THE PERSON WHO WE
THINK, OUR INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
THINK WAS MOST DIRECTLY
RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS PLOT, AN
AIDE, HAS NOT EVEN BEEN BROUGHT
INTO THE LEGAL PROCESS, NOT PART
OF THE TRIAL.
THAT’S A START IF MBS WANTS TO
BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.
MORE GENERALLY, WE SHOULD SAY TO
THE SAUDIS IF YOU WANT AMERICAN
MILITARY AID, IF YOU WANT US TO
BACK YOU UP AND DEFEND YOU
AGAINST IRAN, YOU NEED TO
UNDERSTAND OUR BASIC STANDARDS.
YOU NEED TO COME CLEAN ABOUT
THIS.
THIS. THERE JUST NEEDS TO BE A
DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP FROM THE
ONE WE’VE HAD.
>> FRED, JOHN MEACHAM HERE.
>> HI, JOHN.
>> YOU’RE IN THE BUSINESS OF
CONNECTING DOTS, AND WITHOUT
BEING HYPERBOLIC, AND I DON’T
MEAN THE QUESTION TO BE
HYPERBOLIC, COULD YOU TALK ABOUT
THE CLIMATE ABOUT DISSENT AND A
FREE PRESS IN THE UNITED STATES
AND WHAT THE MURDER OF YOUR
COLLEAGUE SUGGESTS ABOUT THE
ULTIMATE STAKES OF THAT KIND OF
CRACKDOWN ON A CLIMATE OF
DISSENT, NOT JUST IN SAUDI
ARABIA, BUT AROUND THE WORLD?
>> I MEAN, I THINK IF YOU STEP
BACK, YOU THINK THIS WAS AN
EXTRAORDINARY CRIME.
EXTRAORDINARY CRIME. AN AMERICAN RESIDENT, A
COLUMNIST FOR AN AMERICAN
NEWSPAPER LURED INTO A
DIPLOMATIC COMPOUND IN A
DIFFERENT COUNTRY FROM HIS OWN,
AND DELIBERATELY MURDERED THERE,
IF WE HAD A NORMAL AMERICAN
GOVERNMENT AND SECRETARY OF
STATE COMMITTED TO AMERICAN
VALUES, THEY WOULD BE SAYING WE
NEED A FULL ACCOUNTING OF WHAT
HAPPENED.
HAPPENED. WE NEED ACCOUNTABILITY FOR WHAT
HAPPENED BEFORE WE CAN MOVE ON
IN ANY WAY BECAUSE OTHERWISE THE
IMPLICATIONS ARE REALLY
CHILLING.
CHILLING. NO JURY ROOMOURNALIST ANYWHERE I
WORLD IS GOING TO BE SAFE EVEN
IN DIPLOMATIC COMPOUNDS WHICH
TRADITIONALLY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE
THE PLACE OF SHELTER AND IN ANY
COUNTRY, AND THEN YOU -- ABOVE
THAT, YOU HAVE THE KIND OF
LANGUAGE WE’RE HEARING ABOUT
FAKE NEWS AND THAT THERE IS NO
TRUTH AND THAT THE PRESS IS THE
ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, AND THAT
KIND OF LANGUAGE COMING FROM OUR
OWN PRESIDENT REVERBERATES AND
IS WELCOMED BY AUTOCRATS LIKE
MBS AROUND THE WORLD.
REPORTERS BECOME ENDANGERED
EVERYWHERE, AND TRUTH AND THE
JOURNALISM WE ALL DEPEND ON TO
FIND OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE
WORLD ALSO BECOMES IN DANGER.
>> ALL RIGHT --
>> VERY WELL PUT.
>> FRED HYATT AND DAVID
IGNATIUS, THANK YOU FOR BEING
WITH US ON THIS VERY SOLEMN
OCCASION, AND FRED, I AM GOING
TO START WRITING MY COLUMNS
AGAIN WHEN I FINALLY FINISH MY
BOOK.
BOOK. UNFORTUNATELY I’M USING THE
BARNICLE METHOD, WHICH IS IT’S
FREE FORM.
FREE FORM. I WRITE A WORD A DAY.
>> YOU’LL GET IT DONE.
>> WE’RE SAVING A SPACE FOR YOU,
JOE.
JOE. >> ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU SO MUCH,
FRED, AND AGAIN, THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR BEING HERE REMEMBERING
YOUR COLLEAGUE.
YOUR COLLEAGUE. >> THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
>>> STILL AHEAD, THE INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT
IS SET TO GIVE AN URGENT
BRIEFING ON CAPITOL HILL TODAY,
AND THAT URGENT BRIEFING
CONCERNS UKRAINE.
CONCERNS UKRAINE. MEANWHILE, SECRETARY OF STATE
MIKE POMPEO IS IN ITALY RIGHT
NOW, AND IS EXPECTED TO TAKE
QUESTIONS AT ANY MOMENT.
OF COURSE JUDGING BY HIS LAST
FEW PERFORMANCES IN FRONT OF THE
PRESS, WE WONDER WHETHER WE HAVE
TO APPLY THE LEWANDOWSKI
STANDARD TO HIM BECAUSE HE, LIKE