FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2018, file photo, CIA Director Gina Haspel addresses the audience in Louisville, Ky. Haspel is headed to Capitol Hill to brief Senate leaders Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, on the slaying... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2018, file photo, CIA Director Gina Haspel addresses the audience in Louisville, Ky. Haspel is headed to Capitol Hill to brief Senate leaders Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, on the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as senators weigh their next steps in possibly punishing the... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2018, file photo, CIA Director Gina Haspel addresses the audience in Louisville, Ky. Haspel is headed to Capitol Hill to brief Senate leaders Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, on the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as senators weigh their next steps in possibly punishing the... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2018, file photo, CIA Director Gina Haspel addresses the audience in Louisville, Ky. Haspel is headed to Capitol Hill to brief Senate leaders Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, on the slaying... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the briefing by CIA Director Gina Haspel on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (all times local): 
 
 1:25 p.m. 
 
 Senators leaving a briefing with CIA Director Gina Haspel say they are even more convinced that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 
 
 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said he believes if the crown prince were put on trial, a jury would find him guilty in "about 30 minutes." 
 
 Tuesday's briefing comes as the Senate weighs punishing the longtime Middle East ally over the killing. President Donald Trump has equivocated over who is to blame. Frustrated with the administration's response, senators voted last week to move forward on a resolution curtailing U.S. backing for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. 
 
 South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said there is "zero chance" the crown prince wasn't involved in Khashoggi's death. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12 p.m. 
 
 CIA Director Gina Haspel has briefed Senate leaders on the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as senators weigh punishing the longtime Middle East ally over the killing. 
 
 The CIA director met with a small group of senators, including the chairmen and ranking senators on the key national security committees. 
 
 Senators from both parties were angry last week that Haspel didn't attend a closed-door session with top administration officials about Khashoggi's killing and the U.S. response, which many senators have said is lacking. 
 
 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis led the earlier briefing and tried to dissuade senators from punishing Saudi Arabia with a resolution to curtail U.S. backing for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Human rights groups say the war is wreaking havoc on the country and subjecting civilians to indiscriminate bombing. 

 WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senior senators said on Tuesday that a classified briefing by the C.I.A. director had only solidified their belief that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, ordered the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. 
 
 Prince Mohammed “is a wrecking ball,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, told reporters after an hourlong briefing by the C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel. “I think he’s complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi to the highest level possible.” 
 
 Senator Richard C. Shelby, Republican of Alabama and the Appropriations Committee chairman, echoed that “all evidence points to that, that all this leads back to the crown prince.” 
 
 “This is conduct that none of us in America would approve of in any way,” Mr. Shelby said. 
 
 The clear and unusually biting assessment put Republican senators at odds with the White House, which has steadfastly refused to cast blame on Saudi Arabia’s leadership for the grisly death of Mr. Khashoggi, an American resident and Washington Post columnist. His killing prompted international outrage over the kingdom’s heavy-handed tactics and renewed attention to the Saudi-led war in Yemen. 

 Senators: Saudi Crown Prince Was Behind Killing Of Jamal Khashoggi 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP J. Scott Applewhite/AP 
 
 After a briefing from CIA Director Gina Haspel, Senate leaders promptly declared Tuesday they were convinced that Saudi Arabia's crown prince was behind the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 
 
 Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "is a wrecking ball. I think he is complicit in the murder of Khashoggi in the highest possible level," said Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican. 
 
 Graham was just one of several senators, Republican and Democrat, who delivered blistering attacks on Saudi Arabia and the crown prince following the closed-door briefing. The Saudis have acknowledged that government officials were responsible for the killing but describe it as a rogue operation and say the crown prince was not involved. 
 
 "I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince ordered the killing, monitored the killing, knew exactly what was happening," said Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican. "If he was in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes. Guilty. So the question is, 'What do we do about that?'" 
 
 The sharp response from prominent Senate Republicans will increase the pressure on President Trump, who has defended the crown prince and the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia. 
 
 "If we abandon Saudi Arabia, it would be a terrible mistake," Trump said on Nov. 20, when he released a lengthy statement. "We're with Saudi Arabia. We're staying with Saudi Arabia." 
 
 The president has been briefed by the CIA, but his takeaway was dramatically different from that of the senators. 
 
 "It could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" Trump said. "That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi." 
 
 Last week, senators received a briefing from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Mattis said there was no "smoking gun" implicating the Saudi crown prince. Pompeo offered similar remarks, saying there was "no direct reporting" making the link. 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Patrick Semansky/AP Patrick Semansky/AP 
 
 Senators were upset that Haspel did not appear with Mattis and Pompeo, which led to Tuesday's session. 
 
 Graham said there was no doubt in his mind after Haspel's briefing. 
 
 "There's not a smoking gun; there's a smoking saw," said Graham, referring to reports that Khashoggi's body was dismembered by a bone saw after he was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. "It is zero chance — zero — that this happened without the crown prince." 
 
 Khashoggi, who was living near Washington and contributing to The Washington Post, was killed on Oct. 2 when he went into the consulate for paperwork related to his planned marriage. 
 
 Graham also said that he would not support the current U.S. military efforts to support Saudi Arabia in its war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Senate voted last week to debate the U.S. assistance, and additional Senate action is expected in the coming days. 
 
 The U.S. began helping the Saudis when they entered the war more than three years ago, providing weapons, training, intelligence and targeting information for the Saudi bombing campaign. 
 
 The war is widely seen as a stalemate and Yemen, an impoverished country even in times of peace, is suffering the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Millions are suffering severe food shortages and are at risk of starvation, according to aid groups. 
 
 The CIA has not commented publicly on its assessment of the Khashoggi killing, and Haspel spoke to just a small number of Senate leaders in a closed session. 
 
 But many details had already leaked. Those familiar with the CIA report said the agency believes the crown prince was probably linked to the killing. 
 
 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the briefing "reinforced the need for a strong response to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi." 
 
 He also said that Haspel "should brief the full Senate without delay." 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, told The Wall Street Journal on Monday that "no response is certainly not appropriate. Looking away is not appropriate. But a complete fracture with Saudi Arabia, in my view, is not in our best interests." 
 
 He added: "We're looking for an appropriate response that doesn't completely fracture the relationship."
– Senators came out of a closed-door briefing with CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday with some pretty unequivocal opinions about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's involvement in Jamal Khashoggi's October death. What you need to know: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker put it like so: "If the Crown Prince went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes." NPR points out that when senators were briefed by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, Mattis said there was no "smoking gun" that showed the crown prince's hand in the murder. Sen. Lindsey Graham picked up that thread Tuesday, saying there may not be a smoking gun, but there is a "smoking saw," a reference to the bone saw allegedly used to dismember the journalist in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul. He added there is "zero chance" the crown prince, whom he described as a "wrecking ball," didn't play a part, reports the AP. And the New York Times has this from Sen. Richard Shelby: "All evidence points to that, that all this leads back to the crown prince. This is conduct that none of us in America would approve of in any way."