Tom Barrack, a billionaire financier who GOP operative Roger Stone once called President Trump's "best friend", defended Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Tuesday while speaking in Dubai on Tuesday.

When CNN's Becky Anderson asked Barrack about the effect the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has had on Saudi Arabia's global reputation, Barrack first cracked a joke before stressing that "whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal, or worse," per Gulf News.

Barrack said that western countries have always fundamentally misunderstood Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and, therefore, the United States should not attempt to "dictate" a moral code in the region. "The problem with the Khashoggi incident is the same problem with the West misunderstanding the East that has existed since Sykes-Picot," he said, referring to the 1916 agreement between France and the United Kingdom, in which the two powers arbitrarily defined spheres of influence in the Middle East. "The corrupt hand of the West has been the primary instigator in the kingdom," he continued.

In a report last June, The New York Times described Barrack, who has done extensive business in the gulf region, as one of the key players in forging Trump's warm relationship with the courts of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, despite the president's lengthy history of anti-Islam rhetoric. Barrack also served as chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, which is now under federal investigation. Tim O'Donnell

Update 4 p.m. EST: Barrack apologized for his comments, reports Bloomberg, saying Khashoggi's murder "was atrocious and is inexcusable ... I apologize for not making it clear at the time that I consider the killing reprehensible." He said that "the bad acts of a few should not be interpreted as the failure of an entire sovereign kingdom" and said the U.S. does constant "work to lead by example."

There's a fine line between parody and reality sometimes.

In the lates cold open, NBC's Saturday Night Live mocked President Trump's impeachment inquiry, depicting it as a soap opera titled Days of Our Impeachment (an obvious play on long-running soap Days of Our Lives.)

As cast member Alex Moffat's House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Mikey Day's angry Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) settled in to question former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, portrayed by Cecily Strong, about her knowledge of the Trump administration's methods in Ukraine, the chambers were hit with a barrage of shocking guests, in true soap opera fashion.

Most notably, actor Jon Hamm made an appearance as acting Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor. He was joined by Kate McKinnon's Rudy Giuliani, Maria Villaseñor's Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and even Kenan Thompson's Myles Garrett. The skit gets more outlandish by the moment, leaving the room filled in feigned shock. Watch the full sketch below. Tim O'Donnell

President Trump suffered another setback in the South on Saturday.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) defeated his Republican challenger Eddie Rispone, a wealthy businessman who had Trump's backing, to secure another term in Baton Rouge. After polls predicted a close race, Edwards edged Rispone by about 40,000 votes, carrying most of the state's urban centers. Rural areas mostly supported Rispone.

Edwards' victory is widely viewed as a loss for Trump and the GOP, especially after Democratic challenger Andy Beshear won a tightly contested race against incumbent Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R). Trump had campaigned heartily for both candidates. "If this campaign has taught us anything, it's that the partisan forces in Washington, D.C., are not enough to break through the bonds that we share as Louisianans," Edwards said during his victory speech.

The president decried Edwards as a "radical leftist" in the lead up to the election. The governor is known for expanding Medicaid and criminal justice reform, but he has also received criticism from his own party for supporting antiabortion measures. Read more at The Washington Post and NPR. Tim O'Donnell

A new major federally funded study released Saturday at The American Heart Association's annual scientific conference found that stents and coronary bypass surgery are no more effective than drug treatment and better health habits in preventing heart attacks.

The study's results primarily pertain to people who have narrowed coronary arteries, but are not actually suffering acute symptoms. Typically in those cases, doctors will implement a stent or perform bypass surgery to redirect blood around a blockage even when patients don't show any symptoms or feel any discomfort when they exert themselves, The Wall Street Journal reports. But, per the new study, these interventions aren't actually more successful than cholesterol-lowering drugs and other changes in health habits.

"You won't prolong life," Judith Hochman, the chair of the study, said.

Stents and surgery do, however, work better for relieving symptoms related to frequent chest pain, the study found.

The results of the study, while likely to increase debate between preventative and interventional cardiologists, do provide further evidence that caution is a-okay in many circumstances. "This shows the safety of not panicking when you see a positive stress test," said Jay Giri, a practicing interventional cardiologist. Read more at The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal. Tim O'Donnell

An anonymous member of the Chinese political establishment leaked over 400 pages of internal documents to The New York Times, which provide an "unprecedented inside view" into Beijing's crackdown on China's Muslim population.

The Times notes that the most detailed discussions on the "indoctrination camps" in Xianjing, where as many as one million members of ethnic groups that practice Islam are being held, are found in a directive that outlines how party officials should handle minority students returning home in the summer of 2017 to find that their family members had been sent to Xianjing. Officials were advised to tell the students their relatives were "in treatment" after exposure to radical Islam, and respond with increasingly firm replies when pressed on their matter, highlighting the narrative the government had carved out to justify the internment.

"If they don't undergo study and training, they'll never thoroughly and fully understand the dangers of religious extremism," one of the answers said. "No matter what age, anyone who has been infected by religious extremism must undergo study."

A series of internal speeches by Chinese President Xi Jinping also stood out in the document. Xi said officials should show "absolutely no mercy" and use the "organs of dictatorship" to root out Islamic extremism in the country. He was careful, however, to say there should be no discrimination against certain ethnic groups like the Uighurs, and that Islam should not be restricted as a religion. Many people argue that both of these things have come to fruition regardless. Read more at The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell

Things haven't been going smoothly for Sen. Kamala Harris' (D-Calif.) presidential campaign lately, but the Democratic hopeful is expected to receive a boost Saturday with an endorsement from the United Farm Workers, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

It's considered a major endorsement from a powerful California-based union established by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta (who personally endorsed Harris this year), and Gilbert Padilla. Home state ties were likely a factor for Harris in this instance, but a win is a win.

The union's executive board reportedly voted "overwhelmingly" to back the senator. UFW President Teresa Romero cited Harris' efforts to help farm workers secure overtime pay, as well as her time spent marching with the group during demonstrations, and advocating for immigrant rights as major reasons why they're throwing their weight behind her.

It's unclear if this will boost Harris' numbers even in California where she's lagging behind Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden. Things look even worse nationally for her, as South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has vaulted into fourth place. Besides faltering in the polls, the campaign is also dealing with some internal strife. Perhaps the most recent endorsement will brighten the mood. Read more at The San Francisco Chronicle. Tim O'Donnell

You've probably seen the Myles Garrett helmet swing by now.

The Cleveland Browns defensive end was suspended indefinitely by the NFL after he ripped off the helmet of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and then proceeded to hit Rudolph over the head with it at the end of the teams' contest Thursday night. Garrett was ejected from the game, and the league came down with the hammer Friday. Fans won't see Garrett until next season, at the earliest.

Football is a violent sport, but Garrett's misconduct was shocking. It was also surprising because of the culprit himself. Garrett, a former No. 1 overall draft pick and Defensive Player of the Year candidate, writes poetry, likes dinosaurs, and is considered an all around nice guy. Of course, that doesn't mean he's beyond losing his composure like he did Thursday. But his over-the-top reaction may have also been a result of his determination to shed his reputation and establish himself as someone not to be trifled with.

Garrett's former defensive line coach for the Browns, Clyde Simmons, told The Ringer in 2018 that Garrett was learning how to be more intimidating on the field:

"There's an unspoken code in football in what you will allow someone to do to you. If somebody's out there cheapshotting and playing dirty, you are the only person that's going to stop that ... At some point you have to stand up and say, 'I'm not taking that crap. I'll be here all day.'" Simmons told me then that most of the time, a few choice words will establish this. "If not there are other things you can do, but I won't be getting into that." [The Ringer]

That isn't to say Garrett's actions were okayed by the Browns or he long ago determined he would attack someone with their own helmet, but it does show he was encouraged to intensify his demeanor. Read more at The Ringer. Tim O'Donnell