[Ana Cabrera, Cnn Anchor:] New indications that Democrats will be taking a much closer look at President Trump's response to murder of "Washington Post" Journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Congressman Adam Schiff, who will be chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, tells the "Washington Post" Democrats plan a, quote, "deep dive" on Saudi Arabia and it would include, among other things, finding out what is inside that CIA assessment of the murder, whether Trump is misrepresenting the intel, and if he is, why. The spy agency has said it's highly confident the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered the murder. But President Trump has expressed doubts and defended the Saudis saying the prince hates the crime.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I hate the crime. I hate what's done. I hate the cover up. And I will tell you this, the crown prince hates it more than I do. And they have vehemently denied it. The CIA points it both ways. As I said, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. But I will say, very strongly, that it's a very important ally.
[Cabrera:] With me now, Max Boot, a senior fellow for the Council on Foreign Relations and a CNN global affairs analyst. "The crown prince hates it more than I do." Max, I want your reaction to that.
[Max Boot, Cnn Global Affairs Analyst:] I'm puzzling that out along with a lot of other things President Trump said. It doesn't make a damn bit of sense. Another thing he said, Ana, in that same interview was, maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very vicious place. In other words, he's trying every rhetorical stratagem in the book to deflect blame from where it belongs, which is with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is judged responsible by the CIA. And President Trump is lying about what the CIA is saying, saying they just have a feeling. He's trying to say, it's not definitive, maybe he did, maybe he didn't, the entire world is responsible, which is the opposite of this doctrine of personal responsibility
[Cabrera:] Let's play the clip where he blames the world.
[Mike Pompeo, Secretary Of State:] It's a mean, nasty world out there, Middle East in particular.
[Trump:] You look at what's going on in Iran and the vicious situation going on there and the number of people being killed and slaughtered. You take a look all over the world. We're not going to be able to deal let's not deal with anybody. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a vicious place. The world is a very, very vicious place. You look at what's happening in China, you look at what's happening in so many different countries. I could name many countries. You look at what's happening with terrorism all over the world.
[Cabrera:] So first we heard from Pompeo, then the president. Clearly this is a message that they have now been wanting to drill home and we're hearing it from multiple administration officials, the world is to blame, it's a dark and vicious world. That's to blame for Jamal Khashoggi's murder.
[Boot:] They are making it darker and more vicious by absolving the Saudis of this terrible crime. They're engaging in moral equivalence, something Republicans used to castigate, this notion, how can you judge anybody because everybody is guilty of something, that's exactly the moral fallacy that President Trump and Secretary Pompeo are putting out there. It's true, there are human rights abuses around the world in places like Syria and China, et cetera. But that doesn't excuse what the Saudis and this is not business as normal to lure a journalist into your embassy in a foreign country and dismember him, especially when that journalist happens to write for an American newspaper. This is not normal. This is not something we can or should accept.
[Cabrera:] The president has been pretty transparent about his thoughts on the economic issues that are factoring into his decision, what he's saying, the relationship with Saudi Arabia. Here's what Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell, who sits on the House Intel Committee, tweeted, "I would be willing to pay a few more cents at the pump if my president would condemn the butchering of a U.S. resident and journalist, #Khashoggi, #freepress." Swalwell might be willing to pay more per gallon but a lot of Americans might not.
[Boot:] There's no evidence we would pay more for a gallon at the pump if we hold the Saudis responsible. They are not selling oil as a favor to the United States. They're selling it because that's how they make money. Saudi Arabia is 13 percent of oil production. We produce more than they do. We don't need Saudi oil. We're energy independent, which is something Donald Trump brags about all the time. So this notion that we have to overlook the Saudi crimes, otherwise, the price of oil will skyrocket, that's flat-out false.
[Cabrera:] Let's listen to former CIA chief, Leon Panetta. Here's what he said.
[Leon Panetta, Former Cia Director:] I think the danger here is that, you know, the president may talk about America First, but essentially what he's saying is America is for sale to the highest bidder.
[Cabrera:] Do you agree?
[Boot:] I agree completely. It's not America First, it's American arms sales first. And Donald Trump is vastly exaggerating the benefits that we get from those arm sales. As we pointed out on this network time after time there's not $110 billion worth of U.S. arms that's being sold to Saudi Arabia. The actual figure is about $14 billion. It is not creating thousands of American jobs. It is creating maybe a few hundred American jobs. And the Saudis cannot readily go to another arms buyer anyway because they are locked into American arms. Their entire military is equipped the American hardware so they can't just go to the Chinese or Russians. So this notion that we have to sacrifice our principles for the price of oil or because we want to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, it's repugnant. We don't need to do that. We are a giant economy. We don't need the Saudis. They need us far more than we need them. And we can afford to hold them accountable for this terrible crime they committed.
[Cabrera:] Max Boot, thanks for being here. I appreciate
[Boot:] Thank you.
[Cabrera:] your prospective. Big developments in the Russian probe. An associate of Trump ally, Roger Stone, confirming he's in plea negotiations with Robert Mueller's team. What this means for the investigation. Plus, James Comey fighting a subpoena from House Republicans to testify unless it is opened to the public. Does he have case?