The Impact of Khashoggi's Reporting; U.S. Charges Russian for Meddling
ALLEN (voice-over): Welcome back. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen.</s>HOWELL (voice-over): And I'm George Howell with the headlines.</s>ALLEN: Alive, the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, wasn't afraid to ask hard questions. Even when doing so put his life at risk and sent him into exile.</s>HOWELL: His reporting exposed corruption and secrets in the Saudi kingdom. CNN's Nic Robertson explores Khashoggi's life work.</s>ROBERTSON (voice-over): Jamal Khashoggi, a leading Saudi journalist and former government adviser, came from humble roots, getting his first boost studying journalism at Indiana State University, benefiting like many of his generation from a Saudi government grant for U.S. education. Returning home, he reported for Saudi and regional newspapers. His first major break came in the late 1980s, an overseas assignment to a war zone, Afghanistan. At the time Saudi intelligence services were working with the CIA to oust the Soviets. A source close to Khashoggi says he got to know many of the young Saudi jihadists flocking to the fight, including Osama bin Laden. He had connections and caught the attention of the then Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Turki al Faisal. The pair became close, despite Khashoggi's sometimes critical reporting. Following Al Qaeda's 9/11 attacks, Khashoggi dared to ask the question few other Saudis would. Why did 15 of our young men attack America in so brutal a way? In 2002, the Saudi authorities battled Al Qaeda on their own streets. His knowledge of the terror group led to a job advising Prince Turki, which made him useful as the country struggled to contain the chaos of an insurgent movement at home. In 2003, when Turki became ambassador to the U.K., then D.C. two years later, Khashoggi followed him. Eventually he returned to reporting. His criticism of the kingdom's conservative clerics would cost him his job. Khashoggi supported reform and modernization in the kingdom but opposed the methods used by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in stifling criticism.</s>JAMAL KHASHOGGI, JOURNALIST: I received a phone call ordering me to go silent. With no court decree, with just someone from the royal court, an official from the royal court, who was close to the leadership and ordered me to be silent. That offended me.</s>ROBERTSON (voice-over): He left Saudi and his family to begin a new life in America writing for "The Washington Post."</s>KHASHOGGI: Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, enjoys a great support from the Saudi republic and he is seen as the savior by young Saudis and by me and other Saudis. So he doesn't need this environment of intimidation, of cracking down on dissent.</s>ROBERTSON (voice-over): Days before he disappeared, he told an interviewer that he didn't think he'd ever be allowed to return to Saudi Arabia. Friends say he knew the risks of angering the Saudi establishment. Khashoggi went to the consulate in Istanbul to get papers so he could marry his Turkish fiancee. He had been apprehensive about the visit. What happened here, Tuesday, October 2nd, remains a mystery though it is now clear it was Khashoggi's last day alive. One of the few critics of the Saudi inner circle --</s>ROBERTSON (voice-over): -- with a public profile in the West is gone. And the consequences of his death for the crown prince, for reform in the kingdom and for the region at large are only just beginning to be felt.</s>HOWELL: Nic Robertson there. And now to talk more about this, we have Natasha Lindstaedt, a professor of government at the University of Essex in England. Thank you so much for your time today. Look, there are a lot of key players involved in this clearly. Let's start with what we're hearing out of Saudi Arabia, that Khashoggi died the result of a fist fight. The U.S. president says that is credible, believes it is credible. The narrative though certainly begs many more questions. Your thoughts.</s>NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, I think what the Saudi government is asking us to do is believe things that completely defy logic. We're supposed to believe that crown prince Salman has an elite inner circle and members of the security apparatus that have almost gone rogue, that have gone on their own to commit this act. And that is very difficult to believe, given what happened last year when the crown prince had basically purged anyone that was going to be viewed as disloyal to him. We know he has complete control over his elite inner circle. They are incredibly loyal to him. And then we're also supposed to believe that this death resulted from a fist fight? I mean all of it sounds completely implausible.</s>HOWELL: And the one remaining question, where is Khashoggi's body? The explanation provided from Saudi Arabia does not answer that very basic fundamental question. Let's talk about Turkey now. Turkish president there, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, really in the driver's seat, with this investigation playing out in his nation. And every new revelation putting new pressure on the Saudi explanation, on the Saudi crown prince and even on the U.S. president.</s>LINDSTAEDT: Right. And with Erdogan, the president of Turkey, he is a master of creating opportunities out of a crisis here. And he sees this as a great opportunity to really shape the narrative here and also distract from his own problems that are going on in Turkey. He has been very aggressive in providing the world with intelligence about what has been going on, almost on a daily basis. And this has really pressured the Saudis. In the beginning, Saudi Arabia was saying that he probably left on his own. And now they have actually had to admit on TV that he indeed was murdered.</s>HOWELL: Now to the U.S. president. Mr. Trump again seems to accept the Saudi narrative. Is this the off-ramp that allows the president to continue on with business ties as he has indicated that he hopes to do?</s>LINDSTAEDT: President Trump signaled a while ago that he would accept the Saudi narrative. He almost seems to be a spokesperson for the Saudi regime. And a lot of this has to do with the history of U.S.- Saudi relations since the 1930s. The U.S. considers Saudi Arabia still to be a major strategic partner in the Middle East. But also if we look at Trump, Trump has very close relationships with the Saudis, not just in terms of personal relationships but he thinks they are very important to his own financial interests. He bragged about this several years ago. And he really wants the story to go away. If he can just say yes, we believe this narrative and let's move on.</s>HOWELL: We'll see whether lawmakers -- they continue to put pressure on the U.S. president even though he does seem to accept what is coming out of Saudi Arabia. Natasha, thank you for your time and perspective.</s>ALLEN: Keep in mind the context here. The disappearance and now confirmed death of a journalist. President Trump praised a U.S. congressman who body slammed a journalist.</s>TRUMP: Any guy that can do a body slam, he's my kind of -- a great guy, tough cookie.</s>ALLEN: On Friday, Mr. Trump was asked about his remarks the night before praising Montana Republican Greg Gianforte.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you regret bringing up last night at your rally the assault on a reporter by a congressman?</s>TRUMP: No, no. Not at all. It is a different world, a different league, a different world. No, he is just a great guy.</s>ALLEN: The president went on to say there is nothing to be embarrassed about. This again centered around an assault during Gianforte's election campaign. That was in May 2017 and there was audio that captured the whole thing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and you just broke my glasses.</s>ALLEN: He went on to plead guilty to misdemeanor assault in June of last year after he was convicted of body slamming Ben Jacobs. That was the reporter for "The Guardian." And Gianforte also won the election after that.</s>HOWELL: After three years, some Afghans will have to wait even longer to vote for parliament.</s>ALLEN: We'll have the latest on what's behind the delay.