happening now. breaking news. a few more days. the white house is prepared to let the saudis keep trying to come up with an explanation for the apparent murder of the u.s.-based journalist jam a.g. khashoggi as the "new york times" reports that the sawedries considering blaming an intelligence general close to their crown prince. profanly-laced fight. two top white house officials get in a heated shouting match laced with swear words. sources say national security adviser john bolton and chief of staff john kelly had it out over border crossings. will one of them resign? manafort in court.

former trump campaign chairman paul manafort is back in court after making at least nine trips to a special counsel office. could a judge complicate that cooperation deal and mueller's investigation? and pope to pyongyang? no religion is tolerated in north korea, but dictator kim jong-un has invited pope francis to visit. why is the pope even thinking about it? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the trump administration is showing extraordinary patience in allowing the saudis to come up with an explanation for the apparent grisly murder of u.s.-based journalist in the saudi consulate in istanbul. while the president calls that bad, bad stuff, the "new york times" reports the saudi rulers are considering blaming a general who is a hoy-ranking adviser to crown prince mohammed

bin salman. will that let the relationship get back to business as usual? i'll speak with congressman ted deutch of the judiciary and foreign affairs committee and our correspondents and specialists, they are standing by with full coverage. let's begin with our chief white house correspondent jim acosta. he's in missoula, montana. the president is hoping to change the subject of khashoggi's death at yet another political rally. >> that's right, wolf. president trump is acknowledging what's been suspected for days and that is that the saudis viciously murdered one of it own journalist jamal khashoggi while the president is the saying he's willing to give the saudis more time to determine and explain what happened. he is warning of consequences if the saudis are behind khashoggi's murder. on his way to a campaign rally in montana, president trump finally stated what was apparent to much of the world that missing saudi journalist jamal

khashoggi is dead. >> do you believe jamal khashoggi is dead? >> it certainly looks that way to me. the it's very sad. certainly looks that way. >> reporter: the president trump vowed there would be consequenced if saudi arabia is found responsible. >> it will have to be very severe. i mean, it's bad, bad stuff, but we'll see what happens. >> reporter: nearly three weeks after the disappearance of jamal khashoggi the trump administration wants to give saudi arabia even more time to explain what happened to the journalist who appears to have been brutally murdered by operatives tied to riyadh. >> i told president trump this morning that we ought to give them a few more days to complete that so that we, too, have a complete understanding of the facts surrounding that. >> reporter: the administration is hinging its response on the impending saudi report which critics worry is more likely to provide cover to the saudi prince than a full accounting what have happened to khashoggi. >> all of us will get at chance to make a determination with respect to the credibility and

work that went into transparenty way they made a personal commitment to me and the crowns prince also made a personal commitment to the president when he spoke to him. >> reporter: after meeting with president trump secretary of state mike pompeo stressed u.s. ties to saudi leaders who are facing mounting accusations of a cover-up. >> i think it's important for us all to remember, too, we have a long, since 1932, a long strategic relationship with the kingdom of saudi arabia. >> reporter: still, the administration is taking steps to distance itself from the kingdom with treasury secretary steve mnuchin announcing he won't be traveling to saudi arabia for a global investment summit late they are month. democrats argue that's not nearly enough and accused the white house of trying to block lawmakers from finding out what happened to the journalist. >> it appears you've got an administration that wants to shut down our own intelligence agency and not let them tell members of coming what's going on so that president trump can continue to be the mouth piece, which is what he's become, for the saudi regime and its

denials. it's really an outrageous situation. >> the president appears eager to get back to campaigning for the upcoming mid-term elections, and he's put his finger on the issue that he wants to run on. a caravan of hundreds of central american migrants making their way to the u.s.-mexico border. mr. trump treated a warning that if the caravan continues its journal to will hauled foreign aid to the region and may freeze the new trade agreement with canada and mexico adding in addition to stopping all payments to the countries which seem to have almost no control over their population, i must in the strongest of terms ask mexico to stop this onslaught, and if unable to do so i'll call on the u.s. military and close our southern border. the president playing the immigration card coming right out of the campaign "playbook" as former trump strategist steve bannon sold cnn's fareed zakaria. >> you'll see more of this. you'll see more of the central beating heart issues. immigration is definitely going to be one. >> other conservatives like republican congressman mark meadows insists the president should not take the blame if the

gop loses the house come november. >> i don't think he should take the blame. can i tell you any place that he goes, he gets unbelievable support. >> now, as for jamal khashoggi, the president's son-in-law jared kushner is appearing at this point to advise caution to his father-in-law, the presidentance as to how he should handle this issue and for now the president is taking that advice. wolf, we're told that there's conversations going on inside the white house to try to get a handle on what the regional implications might be if the u.s. were to come down pretty hard on the saudis in retaliation for the murder of jamal khashoggi. wolf, how this administration responds is also going to send a huge message to the world as to where this administration stands on human rights and, of course, freedom of the press. wolf? >> good point. jim acosta, thank you very much. now to the extraordinary west wing shouting match between the national security adviser john bolton and white house chief of staff john kelly. let's bring in our white house

correspondent kaitlan collins who is doing a lot of reporting on this. what set these two guys off? >> reporter: it got really ugly, talking about a recent surge in border cross, something that has infuriated president trump because he's been tweeting about it and it got really ugly between john bolton and john kelly where it startled other people in the west wing. that's not normal. a lot of fighting in this white house, it's bitter and divisive and this is more dramatic than that and someone equated it as a falling out. they were talking about the surge in borders crossings, and really what set john kelly off is when john bolton, the national security adviser, criticized the dhs secretary kirstjen nielsen. now she is a protege of john kelly's. he brought her when he became chief of staff to the white house for a couple of months and persuaded president trump to nominate her to lead the dhs. john bolton said she essentially started to need to do her job, a sentiment that president trump agrees with and took john bolton aside with all of this today and set john kelly off to where

people thought he genuinely could resign. today things were dramatic different. i'm told by multiple people witness to this argument and especially that john kelly was even more angered by the fact that he saw president trump as siding with john bolton over all of this. now, what's going to happen going forward is an open question. some officials are denying that anyone is going to resign over this, but we do know that john kelly didn't travel with president trump to where jim is in that rally in montana. he wasn't scheduled to, but he's not by the president's side, and also john bolton continued on with his regularly scheduled meetings and what not today, but seeing such a dramatic fight, the question is how do these two then after getting in such a fight like this, not your average west wing argument, how do they continue working together because we know john bolton carries a lot of weight in this west wing, and when he came in, he didn't have to answer to john kelly like most people in a typical west wing would. president trump really emboldened him to do his own thing. the question is how does this affect dynamic with them going

forward, what is the response and does john kelly stay on in his job? >> john kelly defending secretary nielsen. remember, a few weeks ago there were reports that the president was really critical of her. >> that's right. not just john bolton. president trump dressed her down during that cabinet meeting over immigration, essentially saying what john bolton said today, you're not doing your job. you need to step it up. that was a pretty ugly cabinet argument as well where kirstjen nielsen pushed back on president trump saying she was doing the best she could and the attorney general jeff sessions toad up for her, but the bottom line is president trump does not feel that she's doing her job. he's incensed by these reports about the border crossing, and that causes problems in the west wing because john kelly is really loyal to kirstjen nielsen and that creates a divide between he and president trump and now he and the national security adviser. >> an art cam the other day in the new york magazine where the president made a show of pretending that he really likes john kelly. >> that's right. he says he's going to stay on. when it was reported weeks on he

would like to see him stay on until 2022, john kelly was quick to tell that to staffers because he knew would get out in the media. something that agitated president trump, that he was going about and talking about that. i think pretty much anyone who either works in this west wing or follows it as closely as i do does not think john kelly will be around until 2020. >> good reporting as usual. the former trump campaign chairman paul manafort has made at least nine trips to the special counsel robert mueller's office in the past month alone, but tomorrow he's due back in a federal court in virginia. could that complicate the cooperate deal that mueller has worked out? evan perez joins us live now and what's expected at this court hearing. >> reporter: this is a hearing before t.s. elliott, the judge who really held the special counsel robert mueller's feet to the fire and real accused him of pursuing an investigation targeting at the president.

we expect t.s. elliott, the judge, is going to pressure the special counsel to move towards a sentencing date for paul manafort. after all, he was found guilty back in august in virginia on eight counts, and what the judge is saying is essentially, look, in my court, when you are found guilty, you move to sentencing. the prosecutors in this care, and it typically happens because paul manafort is still cooperating. they would prefer to wait for the end that have cooperation in order to then decide how much of a deal and how much of a break to give paul manafort. with expect that tomorrow the judge is really going to press him to move to a sentencing date. we also, by the way, wolf, rex pecting that he's going to pressure them to decide whether they are going to drop ten counts, that if you remember, paul manafort was found guilty on eight counts and on ten the jury could not come to are a decision, so we're expecting that the judge is going to force the special counsel to perhaps drop those ten counts tomorrow

at that hearing. >> all right. we'll see what happens. evan, thank you. evan perez reporting. joining us is democratic congressman ted deutch of florida, a member of the jou dishry and foreign affairs committees. congressman, thanks so much for joining us. let's start with secretary pompeo. he says the saudi investigation will be complete, thorough and transparent. you've called for an independent investigation. why do you believe the trump administration is putting any some in what saudi arabia is going to report? >> yeah. thanks for having me, wolf. it's interesting. you just did a story about the president and his campaign re rally. he's going to go tout his campaign rally and demonize immigrants and talk about the tough action he's prepared to take against mexico and other countries, but in this case where there's a journalist who lived in the united states, who was tortured, dismembered and decapitated, he is prepared

still, it seems, according to secretary pompeo, to sit and let the saudis come up with some story that -- that the secretary of state and the white house decide that they can accept. this is a moment where the united states needs to stand very clearly in support of human rights and american values, and the president, when he continues to defer to the saudis seems to be diminishing our voice throughout the rest of the world. that's what's unfortunate as this continues to drag out longer and longer. >> secretary pompeo says the saudis should be given a few more days to investigate and report what they have come up with. what are the concerns, if this is dragged out even further? >> well, what i think most people would expect to hear from -- from the president is not that they are going to wait and let the saudis come up with some story that -- that they can

live with and that perhaps the white house can live with, but that the united states demands to know what happens, that we're going to devote maximum resources we have to determination what happens, that members of congress have the ability to interact with the intelligence community about that so that we don't have to rely on the president and the secretary of state to tell us. the long ter drags out, the worse the message is that we're sending both to our allies around the world wonder about our commitment to human rights and freedom of the press and the respect for journalists and the message that we're sending to those around the world who would commit these sorts of heinous crimes and think that if they simply drag it out they might be able, at least with respect to the united states, they might be able to get away with it. >> the "new york times" is reporting that the saudis are thinking about placing is blame on a top intelligence official who is close to the crown prince, general ahmed al asiri.

is that accept and and who that absolve the crown prince, mohammed bin salman, of responsibility in your view? >> i don't think we're in a position to say -- i think this is the sense that -- that we have of where the administration would like to go which is getting to the place where we absolve the crown prince of responsibility, giving them an opportunity to come up with a story so they can identify someone that doesn't -- that can take the blame. i want to know exactly what happened. we need to know who was involved in the decision-making. we need simply a full investigation into what happened to khashoggi. this is an important moment for the united states and our relationship with saudi arabia. they are allies of out, it is true. we work with them in standing up to iran and the threats of iran in the region. that's true, but we don't -- we can't simply because of the relationship that the secretary talked about today, because of

these arm sales that the president referred to, we can't simply look for ways to absolve anyone who might be responsible for what happened for this horrific killing, to absolve them of responsibility. we need a full investigation and then we have to take whatever action is necessary to show that we're committed to enforcing human rights and upholding american values. >> congressman ted deutch, thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks, wolf. always a pleasure. >> up next. the white house is giving saudi arabia more time to come up with an explanation for the apparent murder of the u.s.-based journalist and top white house officials get into a shooting match laced with profanities. is president trump taking sides?

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welcome back. we're following multiple breaking stories right now. quickly want to bring in our justice reporter. you're getting new information on what mueller is planning -- relatively quiet pubically right now but shortly after the mid-term elections on november 6 we can anticipate some action. >> we'll see some questions looming about when will it end? the deputy attorney general in charge of the probe was asked about it by "the wall street journal" yesterday, and while he wouldn't go into, it we're learning today that this is probably expected to wrap up if all things proceed as we think that it will by sometime by the end of the year. my colleague evan perez actually reported december is probably the time period as he suggested idea, but the idea is that mueller is not under some sort of obligation to produce a report by a date certain so the sources that i've talked to and evan have talked to as well, it's not as if mueller was given

you have to finish this by november 7th. he wasn't told have you to do this by a date certain. he's really been allowed to have the leeway to continue this and produce a report on his own timetable, but we do obviously see a ton of activity as our colleagues reported yesterday. paul manafort has met with the special counsel's office at least nine different times, an so we'll wait to see what kind of fruit is borne from that. >> we would submit this report to rod rosenstein who gave an interview saying he has total confidence in what mueller an his team are doing in marked contrast to what the president is saying it's a witch hunt, a ruse, a disaster and all of that. we don't even know what happens to rosenstein after the mid-term elections or what happens to jeff sessions after the mid-term elections and potentially what happens to mueller after the mid-term elections. >> there could certainly be a huge shake-up over at the justice department, all on guard for that possibility, but the

president has signaled at least pretty clear that rob rosenstein's job is pretty safe. he was pretty happy coming off of that plane ride. who knows exactly what was said and what transpired, but he -- i don't see the slow sievious outbursts with rod rosenstein as you do with jeff sessions. >> let me get jeffrey toobin in here. i'm sure the president wasn't happen we who rosenstein told "the wall street journal." >> i think it's clear the president will lay low on this whole subject until the mid-term elections which, after all, are only two and a half weeks away. it's not had a long time. i don't think there is any doubt, laura can correct me if i'm wrong, that jeff sessions is gone. i mean that he is gone. rod ropes stein senstein is a s question because he supervises mueller. once there's a new attorney

general that person may become the person who supervises mueller and then all bets may be off about mueller's future but i don't think anything is going to -- >> just very quickly. we had it in the piece which kaitlan wrote at the top there. bob mahler's team. bob mueller in particular have spent 50 plus hours with paul manafort over the last 28 days. that to me -- a couple things. it suggests that november 8th, it's not done and they are waiting for the election is over to press the button or send it to rosenstein but i this isly it's interesting that donald trump including as recently as his interviews this week has emphasized that the manafort stuff has nothing to do with me. this is years ago and he's right that what paul manafort pled

guilty to has nothing to do with him, dealing with ukraine, but bob mueller and his team aren't spending all those hours falk begun ukraine in the 2,000s, and in his plea deal, remember, it's absolutely hinged to the level of coordination and information that he provide so i would circle that with a big red pen saying that's a lot of time for one of the three people in the room at the june meeting in june 2006. don't underestimate that that's important. >> the former white house counsel has also spent a lot of time with robert mueller to where president trump where he signed off him signing down with me later saying let's all cooperate and do what are they ask was unfirmed that he was involved in 30 hours of conversation. mcgahn is a key witness including when president trump

wanted to fire robert mueller last summer and -- >> i know you can go ahead. >> that'sants absolutely right. don't forget that mcgahn was a shield for reporting for rod rosenstein and for jeff sessions and bob mueller and i'm curious to see what the motivation and timing and strategy for that matter is for rod rosenstein to sit down with "wall street journal" yesterday and to say what he did especially following the fallout and we'll see if there's a kumbaya on the ride down to florida and here's someone who didn't give any media and to give an interview, i'm just curious what the strategy is there, and i would assume that the white house had a head's up, maybe not, that he would be doing that. >> just to that point. i want to get jeffrey to weigh in. the fact that don mcgan, the

former white house counsel, has spent hours and hours talking to bob mueller's team, how significant is that? >> mueller is preparing at least two roars. one of them is geared very much on the issue of obstruction of justice, whether the firing of james comey amounted to an obstruction of justice by the president, that rule and factual president. don mcgahn is a very important witness on that. that report i think will be coming out first. as for the length of time people are interviewed, paul manafort, as chris was saying for a very long time, it certainly is relevant to any report that -- that mueller may write, burks remember, he still has a grand jury. he could still be indicting people so the idea that he's closing up shop is not necessarily true, especially if more indictments come out. >> why did rosenstein do this interview? >> the issue is that he clearly cares about the public

perception of this investigation and despite all of the tweets, i don't think rod rosenstein is trying to set up a dichotomy between he and the president but he sat down for a 30-minute interview on violent crime with "the wall street journal." it was supposed to be about the up tick in gun prosecutions. two questions come at the end that have to do with mueller, so that's what the article turns into. he did not sit down to do an article about -- >> but he knew that the reporter would ask those kinds of questions. >> absolutely, but i think it was a way to elegantly get out there here's my position, and i think that the public will have confidence in this investigation. >> and he said once again in marked contrast to what the president keeps on saying and i suspect the president will repeat once again at his political rally tonight. there's more breaking news that we're following. president trump a short time ago telling reporters it certainly looks like the u.s.-based journalist jamal khashoggi is dead, but he's waiting for three separate investigations to wrap up.

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unstopand it's strengthenedting place, the by xfi pods,gateway. which plug in to extend the wifi even farther, past anything that stands in its way. ...well almost anything. leave no room behind with xfi pods. simple. easy. awesome. click or visit a retail store today. we're back with our political and local specialists. you know, kaitlan this shouting match that developed in the west wing of the white house, between the white house chief of staff and the national security adviser to the president of the united states, apparently everybody over there is talking about this. >> it is, and they are all talking about it today because the minute that we got wind of it and you asked other people they were, like, yeah, we overheard that. it even surprised some people in

the west wing which is kind of hard to do at this point because this isn't just another average west wing argument. as we were discussing during the break. yes, there are arguments all the time and heated discussions over disagreements all the time. this was not that situation. this was much more dramatic than that. it was described as a falling out between the two of them, and it left a lot of people questioning that one of them was going to be leaving. whoever they -- whoever it was going to be, they weren't sure, but they truly thought this fight was so bad that john kelly or john bolton could leave the administration over this. >> apparently there was a lot of profanity, bad words being used. >> kaitlan is right in the difference, right. we know -- donald trump created an entire reality series based on the idea of watching people who want to work for him fight and him deciding who he's with, so we know he fosters this environment, but we're talking about the national security adviser and the chief of staff and also the department of homeland security head. these are not like junior staff. these are the highest people, and donald trump, and this is

kaitlan's report, donald trump is taking sides in this? that's even more problematic. >> that's a big factor. president trump was there, even though later when he was asked about it, when he was headed to montana he said i don't know what you're talking about, i haven't heard about a shouting match. president trump was there and tack sides. the president wasn't involved. >> the issue and large number of people crossing the border into the united states from mexico right now illegally. >> well, don't forget, there may be history between some of these staffers there and advisers and some bad blood, but that having been said, it's the issue that really does seem to give this extra credence because this is what the president ran on initially. this is his number one issue. there is no wall as of yet. we have a mid-term election coming up, fanned there are reports that in fact you're seeing more migrants crossing into the united states, it shows a sign of weakness, that the president when he goes out on

these rallies hates to admit so for him you would imagine this puts extra pressure on him in the final weeks leading up to a mid-term election for an issue that he has really teaken on hays own from day one. >> jeffrey, go ahead. i can't get over the fact that profanity might have been used. my goodness. fortunately i've never heard any profanity at cnn so i wouldn't even know what it's like. >> some very, very bad words, very bad words in the west wing of the white house. jeffry, the president has apparently seized right now on this caravan of migrants from honduras moving up through mexico towards the united states, and he's making all sorts of dire threats to mexico and honduras and el salvador, other countries in the region saying if you let these people go through all u.s. financial assistance to your countries is going to stop. >> it's a question of who are you going to punish and what are you punishing them for?

niece are desperate poor people who are traveling to try to find economic opportunity and, you know, it's a terrible situation. i don't know how punishing the government of honduras is going to make this situation any better. you know, poor people go where they think they can improve their lives, and that's what happens, and -- and, you know, did i i don't see how that solution of punishing these governments is going to make the situation any better, but it is a very difficult situation. >> and it's a big issue coming up in the next two and a half weeks in the election. >> it is, and it's an issue that very much motivates the republican base and the other thing i want to add is don't forget we know that donald trump berated kirstjen nielsen over the exact same issue, not the caravan but the people coming to the borders. there is history here, and we also know that john kelly and kirstjen nielsen are very much

allies. it's not as if this fight is that unexpected that it got to kaitlan's point, that it got this nasty but that the president chose sides. >> and hello recommends is nielsen for this job. >> like his protege and that's why he was so incensed because bolton said she needs to start doing her job. whatever you want to take take from that, and the president said the same thing about her weeks ago. >> we're about to go live to texas. we're counting down to cnn's texas town hall. will the controversy over the border help democrats or republicans and more on the breaking news, a source pushing back on the idea that the special counsel robert mueller has been told to wrap up his investigation soon after the mid terms. (music throughout)

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tonight, with less than three weeks to go until the mid-term elections our political correspondent day ark dash will moderate a town hall with beto o'rourke, senate candidate in texas who still trails senator ted cruz in the polls. cnn invited tes cruz to appear in his own town hall but he declined. dana, how tight is this senate race in texas? >> well, right now, according to cnn's latest poll, wolf, it's a seven-point race, and ted cruz has that seven-point advantage.

it was a bit tighter at the end of the summer, but the fact that we're even here in ruby red texas talking about a very hot senate race, headliner senate race is very telling, and one of the big reason is because of the democratic challenger beto o'rourke. he's gotten national buzz in a very big way, particularly among democrats from the east coast to the west coast and, of course, here in texas as well, particularly in the big cities, and you mentioned the fact that o'rourke has been unbelievably proficient in raising money. just in the last quarter alone, so we're talking about a three-month period, $38 million. that is a record and then some. >> is immigration going to be a big part of the discussion tonight, especially with the president making it an issue just ahead of the november mid-term elections? >> absolutely. it was already before the

president kind of threw down the gauntless again on immigration, it was already a huge issue in this race. voters say it is their number one issue that will decide their vote, and that's one of the reasons, wolf, we game here. we're in mccallen, texas, about two miles from the u.s.-mexico border, and it's probably one of the issues that divide these two candidates more than any over. i mean, they certainly don't agree on a lot of issues, but immigration is the most stark example, the approach that each candidate takes, ted cruz and beto o'rourke could not be more stark. cruz going with the more traditional republican point of view saying that there should be a wall, saying there should not be any path to citizenship for anybody who came to this country illegally, and beto o'rourke does not want a wall and does support a path to citizenship, and, of course, never mind the very real situation of this caravan of potential immigrants, potential undocumented immigrants coming from honduras

through mexico as we speak which, us a mentioned, is something that the president is focused on as well. >> 19 days until the mid-term elections. all right, dana, thank you very much. once again, cnn invited senator ted cruz multiple times to appear tonight in his own town hall but he declined. be sure to watch tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern right after "the situation room" as dana bash moderates the texas senate town half. that's live. and stay with us for more on the breaking news. a store pushing back on the idea that special counsel robert mueller has been instructed to wrap up his investigation soon after the mid-terms. also coming up next, another brazen diplomatic move by the north korean dictator kim jong-un. he's inviting pope francis to come to north korea for a visit, so how is the pope reacting? ( ♪ ) everybody wants a new, different, better world. here's to the people who do what it takes to build it... to keep it running.

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to the we're getting some reaction from pope francis who has been invited by kim jong-un. >> kim's invitation was passed to pope francis at the vatican and seep as a pretty cynical and brassy move for a dictator who has thousands in prison camps.

an audacious gesture made by a brutalictator. moon jae-in was asked to give the pep an invitation to visit north korea. >> what he'll get out of this is more good pr for the regime. today's invitation is a little more than a statement of kim's charm offensive. >> excellent relationship, thank you. >> reporter: in reality experts say the north koreans have always seen religion at a threat. evangelist billy graham did visit north korea twice in the 1990s, but kim's grandfather, the founder of north korea, held himself out as god loi-like and prevented all other forms of religious. >> there was extreme prejudice over a period of only a few

years. >> the u.s. government in a recent report says kim's regime is among the most hostile and known no arrest, torture and even execution of religious believers. christians are major targets. >> there's reports of north koreans trying to sneak bibles across the border and lined up and huge fish hooks put through their ears and marched off to prison camps because they were christian. >> reporter: kenneth bay was in a labor camp for two years from 2012 to 2014, accused of planning a religious coup. >> fundamentally it came down to the fact that he was a christian missionary, and he was basically accused of proselytizing. >> reporter: bay said he carried rocks and shoveled coal every day, got real sick, nearly died and was given no hope. >> one prosecutor was assigned to my case for the last year of myies prisonment.

he came to -- year of my imprisonment. >> what message would the pope be sending if he goes to pyongyang? >> do see a role for the pope and vatican of encouraging diplomacy and encouraging peace. i don't think going to north korea would be worth that in terms of the message they would send about how the vatican itself understands the situation on the ground which is tragic. >> experts say if he does go to pyongyang, the pope could at least make a display of calling for more religious freedom and the release of religious prisoners. they say kim's regime would likely respond with pleasantries and reiterate their constitution calls for religious freedom and then they would promptly do nothing since the only religion ever really tolerated in north korea is the cult of kim jong-un. wolf in? >> -- wolf? >> it's even more ironic considering that his father had religion in his background? >> his father was a graduate of

a christian school and his mother a deaconess in the christian church and kill il-sung used religion to build his own occultive personality but for for him it was all about repression and power. >> coming up, the breaking news, the white house now giving the saudis time an explanation for the apparent murder of a u.s.-based journalist. the saudis are considering blaming a top general, and robert mueller's investigation is expected to wind down by year's end, but a source insists the special counsel is not being pressured. okay. liberty mutual saved us almost $800

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happening now, breaking news. placing blame. saudi arabia is reportedly pinning blame for the killing of dissident journalist jamal khashoggi on a top saudi intelligence official close to the crown prince. tonight president trump is speaking out about the suspected murder. pushing back, the justice department pushes back against the idea with special counsel robert mueller needs to wrap up his russia investigation soon. we're learning new information about when it might conclude. moving the fbi. democrats say they were misled about president trump's involvement in scrapping a plan to move agency headquarters. did the president intervene to protect one of his hotels? and base play. partisan politics. heating up with the midterm election less than three weeks away. we'll get a preview of tonight's cnn texas senate town hall where one o