ALSO: Former CIA Director Brennan Says Saudi Arabia’s Denials On Khashoggi “Ring Hollow” And It’s “Inconceivable” Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Wouldn’t Have Known
PLUS: Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Stacey Abrams Says “I Am” Confident The November Election Will Be Fair
EXCLUSIVE: Missouri Senate Candidate Josh Hawley Says Missouri Voters Motivated By Kavanaugh Hearings And “Mob Behavior That We’re Seeing All Over The Country”
OCTOBER 14, 2018 – In an interview this morning on Meet the Press, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told moderator Chuck Todd that the United States’ “moral credibility” will be “undermined and compromised” if we don’t call out Saudi Arabia in response to the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, adding a response from Congress if proven true will be “swift.”
“Our moral credibility, our ability to call Putin a murderer because he is, our ability to call Assad a murderer because he is, our ability to confront Maduro in Venezuela or any of these other human rights atrocities like what we see in China, all of that is undermined and compromised if we somehow decide that because an ally who is important did that we’re not going to call it out … If this is proven to be true, there is going to be a response from Congress. It’s going to be nearly unanimous. It’s going to be swift. And it’s going to go pretty far.”
Rubio also responded to President Trump recently saying he will take canceling arms deals with Saudi Arabia off the table, saying: “There’s advantages to arms sales that have nothing to do with money…Arms sales to Saudi Arabia are important not because of money but because he’s [Trump] right when he says they’ll buy it from somebody else.” Watch the full interview.
“Their denials ring hollow … It would be inconceivable that such an operation would be run by the Saudis without the knowledge of the day-to-day decision-maker of Saudi Arabia. That’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.” says former CIA Director and one-time Saudi Arabia station chief John Brennan on Khashoggi’s disappearance, also a senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News.
Brennan also questioned King Salman’s mental acuity, telling Todd, “There have been princes in the royal family, in the past, who have been held to account for some transgressions of the law, including executions. So I think it’s going to be up to King Salman, if he has the mental capacity right now and the political strength … He is aging. And there are indications that he has failed a bit.” Watch the full interview.
Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Stacey Abrams joined the broadcast as well this morning, and told Todd that the stalling of voter registrations from African American voters by her opponent Brian Kemp was “absolutely” intentional. Abrams continued: “It’s part of a pattern of behavior where he [Kemp] tries to tilt the playing field in his favor or in the favor of his party.”
But Abrams added she expects the contest to be a fair one, explaining: “My organization, working with the Democratic Party, we’ve put together the largest voter protection effort in the state’s history. And we have national organizations that are also paying attention. And I think we can make this work.” Watch the full interview.
Missouri Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley also joined in an exclusive interview, telling Todd that the Brett Kavanaugh hearings motivated GOP voters in Missouri: “I do think that the debacle with Justice Kavanaugh, what the Senate Democrats did in that case, is hugely motivating to Missouri voters. They cannot believe the conduct of these Senate Democrats. They can’t believe the smear campaign that they launched, and by the way, how they drug (sic) Dr. Ford through the mud, as well, and now, this mob behavior that we’re seeing all over the country. It is motivating folks.” Watch the full interview.
The New York Times’ Peter Baker, The Hoover Institution’s Lanhee Chen and NBC News’ Carol Lee and Andrea Mitchell joined the broadcast’s roundtable for insight and analysis on the week in politics.
The Meet the Press Film Festival with American Film Institute (AFI) kicked off its two-day event in Washington, D.C. this month, and most of the films are now available for a month-long showcase on nbcnews.com, on demand, and on streaming platforms.
Read the full transcript of this morning’s Meet the Press, and follow the show on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest.
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NBC NEWS’ “MEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD”
“Meet the Press with Chuck Todd” is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on Americans across the country. “Meet the Press” brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with “MTP Daily” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET and to the “1947: The Meet the Press Podcast”. It’s the longest-running show in television history, expanding its brand to include a political documentary film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of “Meet the Press“; John Reiss is the executive producer.
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