Report: Saudi Intelligence Officer Shocked By Recording; Putin Critic Says He's Barred From Leaving Russia
STEVENS: Saudi Intelligence officer was reportedly shocked and called the audio recording of Jamal Khashoggi's killing a "true disaster". A pro-government Turkish newspaper quotes the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is saying that when the officer heard the recording, he thought the kill team was on heroin. This follows a New York Times report that the recordings container remark that the U.S. officials believe links the journalists killing to the Saudi Crown Prince, himself. Jomana Karadsheh has details.</s>JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The New York Times in this report says it has spoken to three people who are familiar with the audio recording that Turkey says it has with the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. And they say on this audio can be heard a phone call that was made by one of the 15 Saudi's -- a member of that hit team that carried out the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. He is identified as Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb. He is a member of the inner circle of the crown prince. He's a former diplomat at the Embassy in London. He's a security official and an intelligence officer. In his first speaking to superior telling him "Tell your boss." Something along the lines of the deed is done. Now, he doesn't specifically mention the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. But, according to U.S. intelligence officials, they believe the term your boss is in reference to the crown prince. Several U.S. officials in recent weeks have told CNN that they believe an operation like this that would have involved members of the inner circle of Mohammad bin Salman could not have happened without the knowledge of the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia for its part has repeatedly denied that he had any knowledge of this operation. They have blamed it on rogue elements. And some members of the intelligence community believes that this is -- you know, this latest revelation is as close as they get to a smoking gun. But it's not necessarily irrefutable evidence, the direct link to the crown prince. On Tuesday, the National Security Advisor John Bolton, reportedly told journalists in Singapore on the sidelines of the summit there that he did not personally hear the recording. But those who did, it is their assessment that it does not implicate the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Nonetheless, these leaks as they continue they are definitely putting more and more pressure not just on the Saudis, but also on the U.S. administration to push their Saudi allies to answer some other questions that many have, and especially that Turkey has put forward. Especially, the key question of who ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.</s>STEVENS: A top Kremlin opponent says that he's been blocked from leaving Russia. Alexei Navalny is one of the most prominent critics of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. A CNN's Brian Todd reports, his high profile might be the reason he's still alive.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's been roughed up at protests, arrested, detained scores of times by Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. Now, Alexei Navalny, Putin's most powerful and famous arch-rival, says he's been barred from exiting Russia and has had his passport confiscated. The opposition leader posted a picture of himself on Instagram awaiting screening at border control. He was trying to get to a human rights court hearing in France. Analysts say, despite all the harassment and threats leveled at him over the years, there's a key reason Alexei Navalny is still alive. Unlike some of Putin's other notable critics.</s>BEN JUDAH, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, POLITICO: In a previous instances where he has been persecuted or detained by Russian officials, there's been such a blowback in Russian public opinion and protests that Putin has been apprehensive and nervous about going through with it.</s>TODD: Now, another well-known Putin critic has leveled a stinging broadside at the Russian president. Asked by Vanity Fair magazine if he'd compared Putin to Joseph Stalin, American born financier Bill Browder, said, "I see him as a modern-day Pablo Escobar. Putin has no ideology whatsoever. Putin is pedestrian. All he wants is money and to hurt his enemies." Escobar, the late kingpin of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel was notorious for his thirst for blood. Once blamed for blowing up a passenger plane to strike at his enemies. Browder believes Putin wants to strike at him and spoke about it when we interviewed him in Washington. What are the security threats you have received?</s>BILL BROWDER, CO-FOUNDER, HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: They've -- the Russian government has made numerous death threats against me. They want to kill me, they'd like to kidnap me, they'd like to me have me arrested and sent back to Russia.</s>TODD: Putin even brought up Browder by name at the Helsinki summit with President Trump. Saying, he might make Russians available for questioning in the Mueller investigation if Russian officials could interrogate Browder. Trump didn't push back. Putin has a seething hatred for Browder. Because Browder spearheaded the passage of the Magnitsky Act. An American law which sanctions powerful Russians close to Putin and prevents them from getting to the money they've stashed outside Russia.</s>BROWDER: I have found his Achilles heel. I've created a mechanism, a legal mechanism to seize that money, and he feels personally aggrieved, and he has a vendetta against me.</s>TODD: Even with his critics embolden, one analyst believes the only person who can toss Vladimir Putin from power is Vladimir Putin.</s>JUDAH: I don't think that Putin is vulnerable to an overthrow from the streets. And I don't think that Putin is for the moment vulnerable to some sort of coup d'etat. I think that Putin's greatest vulnerability is actually himself and his own physical health, which is one of the reasons he's so obsessed of sports and exercise.</s>TODD: We asked Russian officials for a response to Browder's comparison of Putin to Pablo Escobar. An official here at the Russian embassy referred us to a previous statement calling Browder a businessman with a stained reputation and referring to Putin accusing Browder of stealing 1-1/2 billion dollars from Russia when Browder was a financier there. An accusation which Bill Browder vehemently denies. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.</s>STEVENS: The art world is preparing for a record-breaking auction. David Hockney's Portrait of an Artist is going on the block in New York. How much is it expected to fetch? We'll take a look in just a moment.