Washington Post: CIA Concludes Saudi Crown Prince Ordered Killing
BURNETT: Major development this hour. The CIA has determined that the Saudi crown prince ordered journalist Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, the journalist who resided in Washington, D.C. According to The Washington Post, the CIA examined multiple sources of intelligence which included this, a phone call that the crown prince's brother, who is the Saudi ambassador to the United States, had with Khashoggi. OUTFRONT now, Shane Harris, one of the reporters who broke the story for "The Washington Post." Shane, obviously, this is a huge development. This is not what the president wants to hear tonight. So, tell me what the CIA has -- what has convinced them of the fact that MBS ordered personally this assassination?</s>SHANE HARRIS, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, it's kind of a mosaic of intelligence, actually. There's the phone call that you mentioned, which is quite important with the ambassador talking to Jamal Khashoggi before he disappeared. Also, there is a phone call from inside the consulate, we understand from our sources, from one of the individuals that was part of this hit team, calling back to Saudi Arabia to confirm to a senior aide to Mohammed bin Salman that the assassination had taken place. There's also an audio from a listening device inside the consulate that the Turks had placed and that audio was given to the CIA. There's other forms of intelligence we probably don't even know about. But also a big part of this is the CIA's assessment since well before Jamal Khashoggi was killed that nothing really happens in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia without Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince's say- so. And they find it impossible to believe that an operation of this magnitude could have occurred without MBS, as he's known, authorizing it, and so that is also factoring into their conclusion that he was the person who ordered this assassination.</s>BURNETT: And literally you're saying from the consulate where, at this point, Jamal Khashoggi's body is being destroyed with acid or disposed of in some way, somebody in that consulate calls MBS, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and says, it's been completed.</s>HARRIS: An aide to the crown prince, that's right. Which is kind of a stunning fact when you consider that you would assume that if you were operating inside a diplomatic facility like this, there might be the risk in that country that you could be intercepted. This was a brazen attack, as we all know, and has been well-documented. But the intelligence ultimately was collected by the United States and also by other governments, including Turkey, and is forming this full picture that we're seeing now.</s>BURNETT: All right. This isn't what the president wants to hear. He's made that loud and clear, right? I talked to MBS, he assures he did nothing, he doesn't want to hear this, right? There's nobody probably who wanted to be given the out of saying somebody else was responsible, which Saudi Arabia's trying to say, right? Blaming deputy head of intelligence, anybody but MBS. So, what's your analysis, Shane, as to why this came to you guys, right? Was the CIA worried that this would be swept under the rug or that the president wouldn't take action? I mean, it is interesting that this is coming out this way.</s>HARRIS: Well, we've been reporting pretty aggressively, as you know, on this story for a long time, and one of the questions that we have had, obviously, is what assessments are being made.</s>BURNETT: Yes.</s>HARRIS: About these fragments of intelligence that are being reported. You know what I think is interesting in this, you mentioned President Trump, this is not news to him. He understands this information. He probably knows more about what the CIA has than we even know about what they have at this point. And it has been made clear to him that the assessment is that Mohammed bin Salman directed, ordered this assassination. So, what we've seen and what we've reported on before as well is that the White House's position on this has been to essentially try not to take too much action. Yes, there were these sanctions this week, but they followed on a statement from the public prosecutor in Saudi Arabia and charges there that, of course, implicated a lot of people but not Mohammed bin Salman. So, you know, I don't think it's -- it's no secret the president has not wanted to pin this on the crown prince.</s>BURNETT: Yes, certainly puts him in the hot seat tonight, then. Shane, thank you very much, and obviously, as some very significant reporting there. The CIA assessment that the crown prince is involved, obviously, is not what President Trump wants to hear. Trump said last month, let me quote, I will say this. I spoke with the king. I spoke with the crown prince yesterday, and he strongly said he had nothing to do with this. This was at a lower level. Let's go to Kaitlan Collins. She's at the White House now. Kaitlan, look, this coming out and now everybody knows the CIA's assessment, now it conflicts with what the president wants to hear. Is this going to force the White House to act or not?</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And you're right, Erin, that was a great question about why this assessment became public. Does the CIA trying to shield itself of any responsibility for this for whatever decisions the White House makes? And I think Shane made a great point there, that, of course, President Trump likely already knows this. He met with Gina Haspel after she traveled back from Turkey after getting all these intelligence assessments, so he likely already knows what we know, but the question is, what is he going to do going forward? Because this isn't the first time the president has been at odds with an intelligence agency before during the his presidency but now they are really putting the ball in his court with this decision and that's because -- from Gina Haspel, the handpicked CIA director from President Trump who succeed Mike Pompeo after he took over at the State Department. So, it's raising questions about how the president will react now that this CIA assessment is public. But also, Erin, it points back to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser who has forged a very close relationship with the crown prince who the CIA is assessing did know and did order the killing of this journalist, so it puts even more pressure on this White House not just to act but also to focus on this relationship that Jared Kushner has forged with them. So, the question really is now, Erin, is the White House going to act on this? Are they going to let this slide them by? But really right now, all the focus is going to be on the White House who, for the past few weeks, has tried to put this story behind them.</s>BURNETT: Yes, they certainly have. Kaitlan, thank you. I want to go now to Bob Baer, former CIA operative. Bob, what do you think the significance is here of the fact that this is coming out now, right, and the details, right? Like they are including the details. There was a call made from inside that consulate after the horrific dismembering of Jamal Khashoggi's body in which someone calls the crown prince's top aide saying the operation has been completed. It does not get more damning than that.</s>ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: It doesn't get more damning, Erin, it's clear that the crown prince ordered a premeditated murder of Khashoggi. You look at the context, you look at the intercept, the phone calls, you look at the Turkish leaks on this, you look at the fact that more than 20 people showed up in an operation. In Saudi Arabia, there is no such thing as a rogue operation. Anybody who knows Saudi Arabia knows that Mohammed bin Salman ordered this, and I think the interesting part is the CIA has confirmed this, and it's almost as a revolt from Langley, telling the president, look, you can say what you want, but you're absolutely wrong. And let's don't forget this was sort of his first deal going to Saudi Arabia and starting an alliance with Salman, and Mohammed bin Salman, this is the art of the deal, I trust this guy, the arms deal and the rest of it. This is a huge setback for the president.</s>BURNETT: I mean, it certainly is. You got to remember the crown prince, when this first came out, said, oh, Jamal Khashoggi left the consulate, right? Remember the guy who had dressed up in his clothes and, you know, there's already been blatant lies from his mouth directly.</s>BAER: You can't trust anything they say at this point. I mean, they're trying to cover up for the crown prince. There's nobody that can replace him right now. The crown prince controls the intelligence service, the police, the whole country And so what do you do now? Is it going to be a dynastic fight over, you know, getting rid of him? The king is senile. He's only lucid a couple hours a day, and I do worry about the stability of Saudi Arabia. You have to. And the significance for us.</s>BURNETT: All right. Bob Baer, thank you very much. Obviously, the president now with a huge, huge decision to make. And next, a problem with Pence. Trump reportedly questioning aides over whether his vice president is loyal. Why now? Plus, Kellyanne Conway's husband, George, in a very public feud over the president.</s>GEORGE CONWAY, KELLYANNE CONWAY'S HUSBAND: I don't think she likes it. But I don't -- you know, I've told her I don't like the administration, so we're -- it's even.