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Erdogan Rejects Saudi Account of Khashoggi's Death; Saudi Conference Begins Despite High-Profile Dropouts; CIA Director in Turkey for Khashoggi Case; U.S. National Security Advisor Meets with Putin; Erdogan Demands to Know Who Ordered Hit on Khashoggi; Thousands Continue Grueling Trek to U.S. Through Mexico. Aired 11-12p ET

Aired October 23, 2018 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00] BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Hello. Welcome. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, live from Abu Dhabi. Where it

is 7:00 in the evening.

A savage, meticulously planned murder, that is what Turkey's President calls the killing of a Saudi journalist. Speaking out in detail for the

first time about Jamal Khashoggi's death. Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected Saudi Arabia's claims that Khashoggi accidentally died in a brawl, saying

15-man hit squad was sent to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to kill him. He says everyone involved should be put on trial in Turkey, and he is

demanding to know what happened to the body and who ordered the hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN REJECTED, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): Trying to blame a few members of the intelligence and security teams will

not satisfy us or the international community. It will be satisfactory only when everyone who is responsible for this is penalized appropriately.

I don't doubt that the sincerity of the king, at the same time it is very important for the inquiry to be carried out by an impartial team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: For more on what he didn't mention just ahead. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's cabinet vowing to hold accountable all those involved, quote, no

matter who they may be. And a state-run news agency says the king and the crown prince met with Khashoggi's family in Riyadh.

We have a team of correspondents and reporters spread out across the globe tonight. Ben Wedeman and Nic Robertson are in Turkey for you, Sam Kiley is

in Saudi Arabia, as is John Defterios as he covers an important investment conference in Riyadh. And we also have Stephen Collinson in Washington for

this perspective there. First, let's go to the two countries at the heart of this international crisis. Ben, Nic and Sam, I want to begin with you

and, Ben, the Turkish President trashing the Saudi version of what happened to Khashoggi, saying the murder was premeditated and he says, vicious. But

no smoking gun -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, no smoking gun. He had said day before yesterday that he would expose the naked truth about

this incident. However, the truth is pretty much clothed at the moment. The expectation, of course, was that he would in some way at least explain

the contents of the audio recordings that official anonymous Turkish sources have gone into much detail about. Essentially that shortly after

1:00 on the 2nd of October Jamal Khashoggi entered the consulate, was tortured, murdered and then dismembered. So, that he did not mention at

all.

He did provide a very detailed timeline going back to the 28th of September when Jamal Khashoggi entered the consulate and, according to the timeline

that the President explained, that is when this whole thing was set in motion. Teams were sent, preparations were made, and the deadly deed was

carried out. But there's still more questions. He had a variety of questions he directed at Saudi Arabia, the most important was, who gave the

order for this operation. He doesn't seem to be convinced clearly from these words that it was simply a rogue operation as the Saudis claim --

Becky.

ANDERSON: Nic, no evidence as of yet that Ankara actually has an audiotape that would substantiate their claims that they know effectively what

happened inside that consulate. What more do we know about the investigation and, indeed, Erdogan suggesting that everybody involved

should be put on trial in Turkey? How likely is that?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Sure. That was the glaring, gaping hole in what President Erdogan had to say. No mention of

that whatsoever. No mention of the audiotapes that has been widely leaked. The investigation is at a point where it's all about the search for the

body of Jamal Khashoggi. As much as it is about trying to pin and apportion blame if we're to believe in the leaks from the government that

they have that.

[11:05:00] So where is Jamal Khashoggi's body? And that was one of the points that President Erdogan was saying. He said, look, we've heard from

a senior Saudi source who said a collaborator has the body. So, he said, who is that collaborator? The Saudis have the narrative that they're

cooperating closely with Turkish investigators but he really implied there that cooperation -- particularly on the point of the collaborator who is

the person who the Saudi team allegedly handed off the body to, where is it? Where's the body?

To that point, the forensic Turkish investigators, right now about ten of them, in the underground car park behind me, they are searching a vehicle,

doing a forensic search we believe of a vehicle that was discovered here yesterday in the underground car park. The interesting thing about what's

happening here right now, Becky, is that they're doing a forensic search of the inside of the vehicle, even though it was discovered yesterday.

Yesterday they just did a forensic search of the outside. So, what were they waiting for? Why did they wait to get inside the vehicle? Look, we

don't have an answer to that, but what we do know that happened before the forensic seem went down into the underground garage there. And they were

joined by a senior Saudi diplomat and a senior Turkish diplomat.

So there does seem to be an effort here by President Erdogan and his investigators to show transparency on their side as we heard him today

appeal to the king. Saying essentially, I appeal to the king, maybe you didn't know what was going on, I think people underneath you did. But to

try to have that transparency to the most senior level in Saudi Arabia so diplomats on hand here to see when his investigators -- Erdogan's

investigators -- get into that vehicle. That there's no tricky business, there's no evidence planted, that it's all above board and transparent --

Becky.

ANDERSON: Riyadh, Sam, vowing to hold accountable all those involved, quote, no matter who they may be. Turkey suggesting that everybody who is

involved should be put on trial in Turkey. What's the latest there?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, that cabinet statement was a repeat really of the existing Saudi line that had

come from the royal court itself, rubber stamping the commitment from the Saudis to follow this trail wherever it may lead. And that has been

linguistically in terms of the language used the position that the Saudis have said. They've not said that anybody would be ruled out in this

investigation. They have ruled out the role of the crown prince saying that he did not know that this was a rogue element. Albeit an element full

of people close to him and some of them part of his royal protection and of course, a number of senior intelligence officials let go.

And on top of that they're also very keen to drive home the whole idea that Mr. Khashoggi was not an enemy by any means of Saudi Arabia, and for that

reason perhaps they were paying -- received the family, the son and the cousin, we understand, of Mr. Khashoggi at the royal court where they met

with the king himself and the crown prince who offered their condolences. So, this is very much a position that Saudis are mortified, they're very

saddened by from their perspective, an accidental death inside their consulate.

In terms of whether or not Saudis would be flown over to Turkey to face trial, and that is fraught with problems with international law, not the

least because, of course, the consulate is sovereign Saudi territory. So, technically speaking a crime committed there, unless the Saudis were to

rule otherwise, would be tried here in Saudi Arabia. That is a commitment that they have made, they say they're going to take a month over this

inquiry and deliver their findings at the end of that -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben, finally, we've discussed now over what, two and a half weeks, what seems to be or has certainly looked to be a sort of evolving

Ankara strategy in all of this. Let's just sort of step back from the actual murder itself and your sense of where Ankara is in all of this.

What it wants to achieve on a sort of wider geopolitical basis? Because let's be quite frank, we know a man was killed now. What we also realize

is this has been a much wider story regionally and globally than just Jamal Khashoggi's death.

WEDEMAN: Well, I think there's a variety of levels that Turkey is working on. For one, it wants to sort of re-establish itself as a principal player

in the Middle East. It has, for instance, released pastor Brunson two weeks ago.

[11:10:00] He was an American pastor being held here in Turkey. That was a big thorn in the side of American relations. Now he is on speaking terms

with the Trump administration again. We have the director of the CIA here. He's hoping this is going to improve his relations with the United States.

In addition to that, it's well known there is a regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Turkey, for instance, was a major supporter of

the deposed Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi, and Saudi Arabia was one of those countries that was very happy, perhaps played a role in the coup

d'etat that brought him down in July 2013. On Egypt, they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. They have disagreements on Syria.

The Turks are not happy about the so-called deal of the century being pushed by the Trump administration. A deal that the Trump administration

seems to indicate Saudi Arabia is on board with. So, on all of these levels, on top of just plain old economics, to the Turkish economy is

suffering, the Turkish lira has really lost a lot of value. Perhaps they're hoping to see a lifting of the embargo on Qatar, which is an ally

of Turkey and an opponent of Saudi Arabia.

So, lots of different threads need to be sorted out, and Turkey I think sees this as an opportunity to perhaps shrink the profile of Saudi Arabia.

We know that President Erdogan is no great fan of the 33-year-old Saudi crown prince. I'm sure President Erdogan has a list of things he hopes to

accomplish in this drama, and I think we will see them unfold in the coming weeks.

ANDERSON: Ben is in Ankara, Nic is in Istanbul for you and Sam out of Riyadh, thank you to all of you.

All of this happening, of course, as in the background in Riyadh, a major investment conference began today. The so-called Davos in the Desert was

meant to be in the foreground, showcasing the Saudi efforts to entice global business to its vision 2030 initiative. But the Khashoggi murder

has led to a flurry of cancellations from high-profile guests. Despite that the show does go on. Crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman is there is

attracting a lot of attention. So, are executives who are still willing to do business with Riyadh. And we have two friends of the show emerging

markets editor John Defterios at the conference, White House reporter Stephen Collinson joining us from Washington.

Let's just start with you, John, a lot of people didn't show up to this conference. This is the future investment initiative, but still a strong

show of force. We were both there last year. That was the first of these annual events. What's the big difference this time around?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNNMONEY EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, clearly 2018 FII, the Future Investment Initiative, pales in comparison to 2017. It's trying

to capture, Becky, because we were in these halls. In fact, together last year, we had 4,000 participants and we had A-listers all over the place

from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, of course. They lost about 30 of the A-listers and about a quarter of the overall attendance.

Now what they didn't have in terms of Wall Street power, star power, weight, financial power, they made up with regional support in a very large

way. We have some pictures here of King Abdullah of Jordan coming in with Mohammed bin Salman. This was MBS's first appearance at the FII 2018. And

very importantly preceded earlier in the day by Mohammad bin Rashad -- Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid the ruler of Dubai and as you know, also the

prime minister of the UAE. This was very symbolic to have their presence here.

And also, the regional business leaders in full force. For example, the chairman and CEO of Amari, the big development company of Dubai, the

sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, Khaldoon Mubarak. This was very important symbolism for the backing of Saudi Arabia.

Then we had this kind of dark issue, the dark cloud hanging over the FII, and that was President Erdogan's speech and the accusations that this could

spread further even reach to Mohammed bin Salman. That was the implication. So, I talked to the CEO of Aramco. Obviously, the oil giant

and asked him first and foremost about Jamal Khashoggi and also the damage it could cause to Saudi Inc overall. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMIN NASSER, CEO, SAUDI ARAMCO: Everybody here feel sorry for the death of Jamal Khashoggi. We feel sorry also for his family and what happened. But

at the end of the day, you know, we need to move beyond that. It happens.

[11:15:05] The kingdom recognized what happened and taking the steps to make sure it will be addressed through the legal system that exist within

the country in deal with the people that committed this crime.

DEFTERIOS: Final point here, I notice that the CEOs -- the major CEOs from the banks aren't here. But the reality is the regional CEOs or high-level

executives are here. So, the made a public statement by not coming, but the bankers are here and dealing with Aramco.

NASSER: You see in the audience we have a lot of people. We have a lot of meetings.

DEFTERIOS: Western bankers are here.

NASSER: A lot of, you know, of our partners, the people that are here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEFTERIOS: Once again, Amin Nasser, the CEO of Aramco, Becky. They did $50 billion, which should dampen it down a little bit, MOUs, Memoranda's of

Understanding, but 34 billion within Aramco, and sources within Aramco said that's just the start. There's more to happen. And this was a mandate

from Mohammed bin Salman to actually go downstream and get 2 to 3 million barrels a day of production and a higher value end of the chain.

I was also touched by the comments, by the way. I think it's worth mentioning here. Lubna Olayan, a very powerful female CEO of Saudi Arabia,

at the opening remarks of the firsts panel, she said this is not in our culture to have such a horrendous death. She said the condolences to Jamal

Khashoggi's family and said for the sake of Saudi Arabia we need to get to the bottom of it. And this is the same message from Khalid Al-Falih, the

minister of energy. I find two powerful people can speak their minds, they did. They acknowledged it and said we need to move on, but we need to get

to the bottom of it. It's very important for the country. It's not in our culture to have something like this hanging over us.

ANDERSON: John's in Riyadh for you. Thank you, John.

Let's get you to Washington then and Stephen, the Trump administration very keen over the past couple weeks to underline how important the relationship

with the Saudis is, not just in terms of business they say, but in fighting terrorism. This coming out of the Trump administration. We heard it from

Jared Kushner at a CNN event just yesterday. And Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary in Riyadh today, not for the investment event

importantly, but for a visit to the terrorist financing center, the financing targeting center. The Trump administration effectively saying

look, you know, we need the Saudi on board. We cannot undermine this relationship we have for the good not just of Washington and the U.S., but

for the entire world. There will be people in this region who say he's got a point.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and I think that visit by the treasury secretary underlines that. But I would also say I think

there's been an evolution that has been forced on the Trump administration by the fact that this story is still going on. When President Trump spoke

to reporters yesterday I think you could detect a note of frustration that every time he comes out in public he gets asked about his handling of this

issue. Sources within the White House have told us that he's getting more and more irritated that this is on cable TV all the time. And is angry at

the Saudis because they've put him through this and he believes he's done a lot for them.

At the same time, I think the administration is also understanding that there's going to have to be some action. The more and more details about

this that come out, the more pressure that President Erdogan puts on the administration effectively every single day by keeping the story going.

But they want to be driving the train if you like. If Congress comes out and is the primary vehicle for sanctions against people in Saudi Arabia, it

could be more severe action than it would be if the White House is leading this. So, I think it's quite likely we'll see the White House working with

Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill when Congress gets back after the midterms in November. To come up with some solution that will sort of

acknowledge the political problem that the administration has here and imposes some kind of punishment on the Saudis but allows the long-term goal

of keeping that relationship solid which is the absolute fulcrum for the most important driving force of the American policy in the Middle East,

which is the pressure campaign against Iran.

ANDERSON: On Monday, as I was alluding to, it was Van Jones, our colleague, who interviewed Jared Kushner, the U.S. President's senior

adviser and son-in-law, and very specifically somebody who has the file for the Middle East in this Trump administration. I want to give our viewers

exactly what he said about the White House stance on Khashoggi and the relations with the Saudis. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED KUSHNER, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR: I'd say that that right now as an administration we're more in the fact-finding phase and we're obviously

getting as many facts as we can from the different places.

[11:20:05] And then we'll determine which facts are credible and then after that the President and the Secretary of State will make a determination as

to what we deem to be credible and what actions we think we should take. I'll also say that we have to be able to work with our allies and Saudi

Arabia has been I think a very strong ally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Stephen, the fact-finding phase, as Jared Kushner described it, I guess the reason for dispatching the CIA director to Ankara overnight,

very importantly, just ahead of that speech by President Erdogan. Nobody knew what would come out of that. In the end there was though no smoking

gun. Lots of questions still posed by Ankara, but no smoking gun. Will that have satisfied Washington under a Trump administration? Do you think,

that at least for the time being there is nothing more it seems that Ankara is able to throw at the Saudis in this?

COLLINSON: Yes. It's very interesting that Gina Haspel, the director of the CIA, was dispatched to Turkey. It's unclear exactly what her mission

was on that trip, although she's going to come back and report to the President. On the one hand you can look at this and say, well, she's going

there to see exactly what the Saudis have the evidence so that when we get these successive reports day after day of lurid details of the murder, the

U.S. is in a better position to assess whether that is politicking by Erdogan or is, you know, genuine evidence and the case preceding.

On the other hand, you could look at this and say well, the U.S. has an interest in this ending as soon as possible and finding out exactly the

level of culpability of the crown prince and other members of the royal family in Saudi Arabia and also trying to get the Turks not to keep this

going on day after day. After all, in the domestic U.S. political context the President doesn't really want to talk about this. He wants to talk

about immigration in the run up to the midterm elections. So, this is clearly an irritant. It looks like the U.S. is trying to find a way to

make this go away, whatever it has to do in terms of punishing the Saudis.

ANDERSON: Stephen Collinson in the house, you had John Defterios out of Riyadh earlier, thank you.

We are also keeping an eye on the U.S. markets. Let's have a look and check in with the Dow Jones. It's taken a tumble. It's down just shy of

1.5 percent, 350 odd points in change. Below the 25,000 mark, which is important. And that sell-off comes after some major companies such as

Caterpillar and 3M reported a gloomy outlook. Fears over the U.S./China trade war also at play there.

Still to come, days after announcing the U.S. is pulling out of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, Donald Trump's top security adviser travels to

Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin. We're going to get you live to Moscow for the latest on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: If you want to see where U.S./Russian relations are right now, well this picture it seems certainly tells a story. This is U.S. National

Security Adviser, John Bolton, visiting a memorial to one of Vladimir Putin's biggest rivals, Boris Nemtsov. Nemtsov was assassinated as you may

remember in Moscow in 2015.

After visiting that memorial to a Putin critic, Bolton then went on to meet the Russian President himself. Their talks were scheduled to start last

hour. The meeting comes days after Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will pull out of a decade's old nuclear treaty. CNN asked Bolton how the

visit had gone so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Have the Russians been quite understanding for your reasoning and have you explained it to

them?

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Well, I think their preference as they've stated is that we not withdraw. But I think we've

given them reasons why we're going to do and I think they understand our reasons quite clearly. Some of which I think they fully appreciate from

their own strategic perspective. I think the President could not have been clearer, not just on Saturday, but yesterday as to what his decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Let's get more from CNN's Matthew Chance in Moscow. And quite frankly, and very basically, what is Moscow's strategy at this point?

CHANCE: Well, I mean, I think publicly what the Russians are doing is being very critical of this decision by President Trump to pull out of the

Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, the INF, and saying it will deal a serious blow to efforts towards nonproliferation. Talking about, you know,

serious consequences if the United States were to deploy intermediate range missiles. Russia saying, they would respond in kind. And so, threatening

all sorts of negative reaction to this decision.

They've also said again and again that they're prepared to work with the United States to save the agreement, essentially, and to address the areas

that neither country is particularly happy with in that treaty. That meeting between John Bolton, the U.S. National Security Adviser, and

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, there's been a bit of radio silence around it. We've not known whether it's taken place or not. But we just

found out that it had. It has actually taken place and, indeed, there's been some word come out of what was discussed.

Apparently, John Bolton spoke in that meeting of the need for the United States and Russia to work together in areas where there is, quote, a

possibility of mutual cooperation. Those areas although not entirely clear because the United States and Russia are at odds over virtually every issue

with the possible exception of how to prevent their militaries from fighting each other in Syria. Where there has been a degree of success in

those deconfliction lines they've set up between the two militaries.

Vladimir Putin, who is, of course, listening to the explanation by John Bolton as to why President Trump has decided not to pull out of the INF

treaty, has suggested nuclear talks between himself and the U.S. President in Paris on November 11th as a possibility. Where both leaders will be, of

course, attending the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war. And so, you know, it seems that, you know, that the Russians at least had

still with want to talk about the possibility of saving this treaty.

[11:30:00] ANDERSON: Thank you, Matthew Chance, is in Russia for you today with the implications of the strategic thinking behind Russia's position as

Bolton is in town.

We're live from Abu Dhabi. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. Coming up, we'll look at what the murder of one man means for

the Middle East and why. That is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: His salary is $1 a year. But don't feel sorry for Larry Page, as one of Google's largest shareholders he's worth

over $40 billion. Page set up the search engine with fellow Sanford student Sergey Brin in garage in 1998. Now he's the CEO of Google's parent

company Alphabet. It's expanded into maps, smartphones, laptops and even driverless cars. It also owns YouTube, paying $1.65 billion for the site

in 2006. Google is the most dominant search engine worldwide. And that can be problematic. The European Union has slapped the company with

billions of dollars in fines for being anti-competitive. Google's appealing. Want to know more? Just Google it. And that's Larry Page in

60 seconds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: You're watching CNN. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. Welcome back. And if you're just joining us you are more than

welcome. It's just after 7:30 in the UAE. This is our broadcasting hub in Abu Dhabi.

Let's take another quick look at the Dow for you. Some movement on that. Just hitting 400 odd points down just shy of that as we speak. But moving

up and down generally in a lower direction at the moment once again. 1.58 percent, around just less than 25,000, a triple digit fall then. Not as

steep as earlier. It was as low as 500 points lower. Investors worried whether Wall Street can sustain its relentless growth as more companies

caution about the outlook. We'll keep an eye on that for you.

Let's get back to your top story today. The murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. We were promised the naked truth. That is how a speech

from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was billed.

[11:35:01] What we heard, well, certainly seemed to fall well short of that. In an address before parliament President Erdogan firmly rejected

Saudi Arabia's claims that Khashoggi was accidentally killed. But offered no major updates on the investigation. Now the President did call on the

Saudi king, King Salman, to let the suspects be tried in Istanbul.

I just want to step back from this murder and take a look at what this all means for the region. It is multifaceted, complicated as ever, messy.

Let's bring in Fawaz Gerges. He's the chair of contemporary of Middle East studies at the London of School of Economics, also the author of "Making

the Arab World". Joining me from London, a regular guest on this show. And you have been a regular guest with me throughout the past -- what,

nearly three weeks now as we've been discussing Jamal's death and the wider implications of where this sort of, you know, the strategizing around the

messaging has been. No smoking gun from President Erdogan earlier on. But he did trash the Saudi version of Khashoggi's murder. And without name

checking him, Fawaz the Turkish President seemingly pointed a finger at the Saudi crown prince. This is high stakes stuff, isn't it?

FAWAZ GERGES, AUTHOR, "MAKING OF THE ARAB WORLD": Absolutely. I mean, I think, Becky, the whole world was waiting for what President Erdogan was

going to lay out in terms of the evidence that has been collected by the Turkish authorities for the past three weeks. The whole world, including

the United States and you and I and all of us.

Even though President Erdogan rejected the Saudi narrative and even though he asked some very powerful questions that contradicted the Saudis

narrative, he offered no credible evidence whatsoever. He did not really lay out whatever what happened to the recordings that some of the Turkish

officials said that they have of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. And this really raises more questions about what Turkey wants.

I think you hit it on the head. I think Erdogan smells blood and he's going for the kill. He has a sword over the neck of the crown prince

Mohammed bin Salman. This is his target. And Turkey in the past three weeks has used the crisis in a very strategic way. In a way to really

polish its image, to exert pressure on the Saudi authorities, to improve relations with the United States, and to basically go for the kill against

the crown prince. What struck me today is that while President Erdogan praised King Salman, he indirectly pointed a finger at the crown prince.

And this is the target. This is the target of Erdogan has been throughout the three weeks crisis.

ANDERSON: Fawaz, we heard from the British, since the Turkish President's speech, a spokesman for the Prime Minister, Theresa May, says, and I quote,

President Erdogan's statement this morning underscores the fact there remain questions which only the Saudis have the answers to.

Questions not least of which she means, where is the body. Erdogan in that speech saying, and I quote him, to hide such a murder would be an insult to

the conscience of humanity.

And talking about the position that Turkey has, revealing this criminal act. Taking the high road that many will say Ankara certainly of late just

hasn't earned.

GERGES: Well, you know, Becky, regardless of what Erdogan says, I mean, I think there is an ethical responsibility and legal responsibility on the

shoulders of the Saudi leadership to really show clearly not only what transpired -- because they have now 18 suspects as you know. But also, to

really help us or help his family -- Jamal Khashoggi's family -- find the body, put closure to this really horrible murder. Point one.

So, this is -- we should really separate the political and strategic objectives or goal of Erdogan from the human strategy. The story is about

Jamal Khashoggi, let's not lose sight of that. His family, the pain, and where is the body? Secondly, I think I am -- the reason why I am a bit

skeptical of President Erdogan's basically moral high ground, because there are scores of Turkish journalists and thousands of civil society

individuals who are incarcerated in Turkey. That is, Erdogan is not -- I mean there's a long way for President Erdogan to really go in order to

release the political prisoners and the journalists in Turkey.

[11:40:00] And that's the question I keep saying, what does really President Erdogan want. President Erdogan not only wants justice for Jamal

Khashoggi, he wants basically to really exert pressure on the Saudi leadership and in particular on the crown prince. In order to basically

extract concessions in order to really show that Turkey is very much interested in revealing the truth.

Again, to come back to the crux of the matter --regardless of what we think of President Erdogan. The crux of the matter where is, where is the body

of Jamal Khashoggi? What exactly happened in the consulate? These are important questions for the sake of Saudi Arabia, for the sake of the

reputation of the leadership of Saudi Arabia. It's ethical, moral and legal responsibility falls on the Saudi leadership.

Fawaz Gerges with his insight this evening, thank you. The chair of contemporary Middle East studies at the London School of Economics, of

course.

The U.S. President rallying up his base by stoking fears over immigration just two weeks before what are the U.S. midterm elections. Donald Trump

now called, without evidence, that criminals and Middle Easterners are in the migrant caravan making its way towards the U.S. border. He is also

blaming Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador for failing to stop the migrants from trying to reach the U.S. And says those countries will face

cuts in U.S. aid.

Now, look, this caravan is currently resting in the town of Huixtla before resuming the grueling and dangerous journey tomorrow. It could take weeks

if not longer for the group -- these are people, remember, men, women and children -- to reach the border by foot. Patrick Oppmann is following that

caravan. He is right now in Huixtla. And just describe what you are seeing and hearing, if you will?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it looks like a refugee camp and that's essentially what the town's main plaza, this is very small

Mexican town, has become as people are drying their laundry, feeding their children, trying to escape from the brutal heat. But, Becky, we should

clarify, that we've spent days now with the group and we have yet to see anybody who is not central American much less anybody who could pass for

Middle Eastern. There just is no truth to what President Trump is saying.

People here aren't very concerned about it. What they are concerned about it is what the Mexican government will do, if they will let them pass on to

the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPMANN (voice-over): It is a river of people that heads in only one direction, north. The lucky ride on top of cars or on the sides of them.

But most of the people walk in grueling heat. Many carrying children or pushing them. Mexican police tried to stop the caravan of migrants at the

border with Guatemala but were unable to prevent them from crossing the river into Mexico.

That's where we first saw 8-year-old Jorge as he struggled to make the swim across. A day later, we find him walking alone. He tells me in a weak

voice that he's hoping to cross the border into the U.S., but after more than seven days on the road, he is very tired. Jorge reunited with an

older brother who okayed our interview.

After the caravan entered Mexico, federal police set up a roadblock with over 100 officers and told CNN they were going to force the migrants to get

on busses that would take them to government shelters. There were too many people, more than 7,000 caravan organizers say, so police had to let them

through. At least for now.

(on camera): These migrants have just entered Mexico. They are going north. They have hundreds of miles to go before they reach their

destination, the United States. But they are in shadow almost every step of the way by police. There's a heavy police presence here. And Mexico

has said they will treat the migrants with dignity but they've also promised the Trump administration they will not let them get to the

U.S./Mexico border.

(voice-over): The Trump administration is threatening to pull aid from countries that fail to prevent migrants from entering the U.S. illegally.

The caravan organizers say they won't be bullied.

We're going forward, there is no going back, he tells me. We are fighting. We will make the governments of Mexico and the United States understand why

we are coming. It won't be easy.

Single mother, Blanca Lidia, crossed the river into Mexico with her three children. The journey north was exhausting but they will persevere, she

said. I have faith, she says, that we will arrive. They will need all their faith and more for the hundreds of miles that still lay ahead of

them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:45:00] OPPMANN: And Becky, you mentioned how dangerous this trip is. A Honduran man died yesterday falling off a truck. That is one of the

reason this group has stayed here today to honor him. As well people are so exhausted. But that means, one day more they are not on the road. If

they keep their current pace, it will take 50 days to get to the closest border crossing with the United States. But you look at so many here, they

are exhausted and it will probably take them longer.

ANDERSON: Patrick Oppmann on the road, thank you.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi for you. Still ahead, revealing the stunning architecture and artwork of the

United Arab Emirates after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is a celebration of modern Islamic architecture.

ALAA EDRIS, ARTIST: The experience honestly starts as you walk in. All of the details I think are amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: In 2017, over 5 million people visited the Mosque making it one of the most visited attractions in the region.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to Sheikh Zayed the Grand Mosque. The largest Mosque in the United Arab Emirates. Let me show you around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: More than 1,000 columns run the length of the outdoor arcades.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really love the columns here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's really special about them, the curving is done all by hand. No machines were used for this.

EDRIS: You mean the curving of the flowers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, the flowers.

EDRIS: That's amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're made of million pieces of semi-precious stones from different countries around the world. Some of the centers of

the flowers feature mother of pearl.

EDRIS: Yes. I noticed that. That's my favorite.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you can see around the domes, it has beautiful floral patterns made of an arabesque, which is traditional Arabic type of

artwork heavily used in the Mosque.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: The Mosque includes 82 domes in various sizes that combine different harmonious forms of Islamic architecture.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This Mosque features not only one style. When people will come, they will find part of the Mosque is featuring Mughal style, the

other part Ottoman, Moroccan, and I think that this is contemporary art. It doesn't reflect only traditional Islamic traditional art.

This is the main prayer room. It's the largest prayer room we use for special occasions, like Ramadan and lead prayer and Friday sermon which can

take up to 8,000 worshipers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: The prayer hall's main centerpiece is its crystal chandelier, one of the world's largest in a Mosque.

[11:50:02] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me tell you how many pieces of the crystals they used in the chandeliers, 40 million pieces of Swarovski

crystals.

EDRIS: It's a landmark you have not to miss in your itinerary. I love the diversity of the people that come here to experience the place, the

architecture and the beauty of the Grand Mosque of Zayed. The place is breathtaking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well it's an engineering marvel, it cost $20 billion and took nearly nine years to build. Our parting shots today, a new bridge

connecting mainland China and Hong Kong that was officially opened just hours ago. Will Ripley was there and explained why it's not been welcomed

by everyone. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China rarely does anything small. But even by Beijing's standards this is big. So big Chinese

President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony. This massive 55- kilometer, 34-mile bridge, is the longest sea crossing ever connecting two Chinese territories Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland city of Zhuhai

cutting travel time from three hours to 30 minutes.

(on camera): It has two artificial islands, an undersea tunnel and 4 1/2 times more steel than San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. A wonder of

engineering and a key part of China's plan for a greater bay area linking 11 cities and 68 million people. A big plan drawing big criticism.

CLAUDIA MO, HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL: The regular driver in Hong Kong can't use this bridge, not allowed. It's a white elephant, a big, big

white elephant.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Hong Kong lawmaker, Claudia Mo, sees the bridge as yet another way for authoritarian China to tighten its grip on semi-

independent Hong Kong. Similar to the high-speed rail line to Guanghua that opened last month called the trojan train by some.

MO: They're trying to flex their muscles, telling Hong Kong people to behave, especially after the umbrella movement. They think Hong Kong has

become very unruly, very disobedient and very ungrateful. Ultimately that we need to be taught a lesson.

RIPLEY: An expensive lesson at that, she says. Hong Kong paid nearly half of the $20 billion to build the bridge, a staggering sum given the city's

widespread poverty and crippling housing shortage. The bridge took nine years and cost seven construction workers their lives. Conservationists

fear it could also kill off the endangered Chinese white dolphin.

[11:55:01] Like it or not, this bridge is here to stay, built to withstand earthquakes, super typhoons and cargo ship collisions, a symbol of China's

determination to push forward with its own agenda no matter what critics say.

Will Ripley, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: As we continue to bring you the newest stories from around the world, we are, of course, also on the case of the slain journalist Jamal

Khashoggi. For all the latest on that and the fallout and CNN's pursuit of the truth on exactly what happened, do use the Facebook page,

Facebook.com/CNNConnect. I'm Becky Anderson. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching.

END