anchor lauren sanchez mr bezos launched an investigation into how the texts were leaked which threw suspicion on to what the washington post described as a government entity now he says the enquirer has threatened to publish intimate photos unless he makes a public statement saying that the tabloids coverage was not influenced by political forces. also coming up tonight we'll get the latest from the boat in that film festival my colleagues a shot at chelsea well i'm david leavitt's will join us from where it's all happening. we had on the red carpet ballons legendary international film festival will be taking you to two world premieres two european dramas competing for the top prize the golden bear. but we begin the day with the world's richest man facing off against america's most notorious tabloid last month the national enquirer published a steamy messages between amazon c.e.o. jeff bezos and his lover the believe that wants to know how the paper got its hands on those that text messages and now he's revealed what he says happened after that through. a tabloid scandal or a politically moti

magazine in january that it out and said he was having with a woman named lauren sanchez, a former tv host. now when that happened mr wife. what he also did in the background was launched an investigation into how the national enquirer had come into possession of several private messages sent between mr bezos and ms sanchez. that investigation mr bezos is alleging angered ami to such an extent that what they then went on to do he says it was threatened mr bezos with more material, specifically intimate pictures of both himself and ms sanchez and the post that mr bezos shed has what he says are e—mails from representatives from ami saying they would publish this material and it went into great detail as to what that material was. so now of course this is an e—mail that is albert. mr bezos has made this enormous accusation against an incredibly powerful media company here in the us. but as yet we are yet to hear the response from ami about that accusation. and just for our viewers, dave, i mean both mr bezos and ami, they are both political figures in a way, particularly in the run—up perhaps of the 2016 presidential

mr bezos was revealed to be having an affair. and in that story there were several messages, private messages, between him and lauren sanchez, the s being in it, jeff bezos lost a private investigation to find out exactly how the national enquirer was able to get hold of that material. it is that investigation that the publisher seems to have been demanding that mr bezos finishes. and in doing that, the accusations of the way they were going to stop mr bezos from carrying out that investigation was to threaten him by saying they could release more material they had, specifically intimate pictures of both him and ms sanchez. but rather than go down that line, mr bezos decided instead to publish an extraordinary message where he laid out exactly what he says is happening. we have not heard yet from ami, the publisherfrom happening. we have not heard yet from ami, the publisher from the national enquirer, to see what they have to say about it. david lee reporting from san francisco for us. the drax power station in north yorkshire has become the first in the world to reverse climate change on a tiny scale — in a process known as "ca

mr. bezos was having a romantic relationship with lauren sanchez, a tv anchor, and they published this andained text messages. bezos wonders how they got out there so he starts this investigation into how these messages came into the possession of the "national enquirer." what you're seeing here is the lawyers, i guess, for the "national enquirer" or the parent company, ami, reaching out to mr. bezos and saying that if he does not stop his investigation into how these messages came to light, they will make more of the material they have public, risque pictures and things that mr. bezos probably doesn't want out there, they'll make them public. he says in his media post that he's not going to sit back and allow himself to be blackmailed by ami and he, like you said, detailed everything in this shocking media post. >> i want to make a point here. you're talking about the "national enquirer" owned -- the person in charge is david pecker, long-time associate of donald trump. jeff bezos owns "the washington post" which the president regularly pill ories for its coverage and says he wants it to

said publicly he thought the brother of bezos' mistress lauren sanchez played a role in leaking those private photos and texts. tucker. >> tucker: mrith a candle stick. trace, thank you very much. so a lot of confusing parts about this story. one thing that is crystal clear is where the media stands. journalists love jeff bezos. now, some of them literally work for him at his personal p.r. operations/lobbying shop it's called "the washington post." even those who don't take his money directly think jeff bezos is great. why do they think that? because he is rich. he is the richest man in the world in fact. of course journalist also tell you their job is to hold the powerful to account. pretty funny. in real life the aciddously suck up to power. they can't help themselves. the more powerful the more flamboyant their graph ling. louis xivth never had more self-afacing man servants. may i wash your feet sir? how about a hot bath. watch. >> bezos the wealthiest man in the world founder of amazon being the punch line of sorted affair to all of a sudden becoming praised as a hero of journalism. he has pulled off a master stroke in terms o

lauren sanchez. >> the story was given to "the national enquirer" by a reliable source, it was a source that was well-known to both mr. bezos and miss sanchez. >> reporter: the national enquirer" refusing to identify the source, but the daily beast reports it was sanchez's own brother, michael. in his bombshell blog post, bezos accused the pub lake of threatening to release explicit photos unless he stopped his investigation into how "the enquirer" got the photos and declare he has no knowledge or basis the coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces. the attorney for the chairman of the tabloid's parent company, david pecker, a long-time friend of the president, denying those allegations in an interview with george. >> jeff bezos says extortion, blackmail. >> it absolutely is not extortion and not blackmail. >> reporter: as for sanchez's brother, he's denied he was involvednexposing his sister's affair, but tells "the washington post," which is owned by bezos, the enquirer set out a takedown to make trump happy. >> amy, great to have you here. the focus might be on whoa leaked the text messa

lauren sanchez as well. >> miguel, thank you. >> let's turn back to mr. roker. el nino?ng to have a weak el nino coming from today on into the spring. ocean waters around the equator running above average. that means the el nino pattern will probably ctinue into the spring. generally that means the pacific jet stream is very active andcr comess california and into the southeast which is what we've been seeing so far this winter. looks like it's going to continue. bringio wetter conditions the south over the next few months. temperatures today going into the weekend, nice and mild along both coasts. frigid weather into the plains. as you move int the weekend, the cold air spreading east and really bank down into the southeast. next week we look for cooler conditions. minneapolis, denver and even austin is going to be cooler by tuesday. that's what's going on around the country. here is what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good friday morning to you. skies are mostly cloudy now. temperatures are well above average. mostly in the low 50s this morning. we'll get mo

lauren sanchez. started looking into where the "enquirer" got its information, hiring a well-known security expert gavin de becker. an a.m.i. leader advised us that mr. pecker is apoplectic about our investigation. they said they had more of my photos and text messages that they would publish if we didn't stop our investigation. describing the photos, the "enquirer" has allegedly obtained in graphic details. embarrassment a.m.i. could cause me takes a back seat because there is a much more important matter involved here. if in this position i can't stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can? bezos, the founder of amazon is the world's most richest man. he also owns "the washington post" and has frequently been criticized by the president as being fake news. >> more to come on this, obviously, elaine, but a jarring headline. jeff bezos accuses the "national enquirer" of extortion. elaine. elaine. thanks ♪ ♪ ♪ and everywhere i go ♪ there's always something to remind me ♪ ♪ of another place and time ♪ ♪ ♪ of another place and time ♪ my digestive system used to make me feel sluggish. but those days are over. now i take metamucil every day.

mr bezos, said he was getting a divorce from mackenzie bezos, his wife of 25 years. very soon after that announcement the national enquirer published a story about his extramarital affair with lauren sanchezextra ordinary message posted online, mr bezos has shared what he says are e—mails from ami threatening to publish a number of intimate, private photographs of him and ms sanchez unless his leak investigation stopped. he said the publisher was also demanding he make a public statement saying the stories in the magazine about his personal life were not politically motivated. in his message, mr mr bezos wrote "rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, i've decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten." mr bezos said his ownership of the washington post made him a ‘complexifier‘ that made him an enemy to certain powerful people, specifically president trump, who has regularly criticised the newspaper and mr bezos on twitter. the president and ami chairman david packer are said to be close friends. in december, ami admitted that it had, in co—ordination the trump campaign, paid hush money to a playboy model to keep quiet a

lauren sanchez. >> the story was given to "the national enquirer" by a reliable source. it was a source that was well-known to both mre of the leaked text, sanchez's brother, michael. a vocal supporter of president trump. >> was it michael sanchez? >> i can't discuss who the source was. >> reporter: bezos claims "the national enquirer" and its parent company, ami, threatened to release texts and photos between bezos and sanchez. and released a statement that it was not politically motivated. david picker's attorney exclusively denying the allegations to george this week. >> jeff bezos says extortion, blackmail. >> it absolutely is not extortion and blackmail. >> reporter: hours after the billionaire's post, journalist ronan farrow tweeted while he was looking into "the national enquirer's" relationship with president trump, ami urged him to stop digging, or we'll ruin you, which he says he did not. actor terry crews claims that after opening up on "gma" after being allegedly sexually assaulted by a high-level hollywood agent -- >> let me tell you, i have never felt more emasculated. >> reporter: -- another ami public

lauren sanchez, a former tv host. the magazine story included quotes from private messages sent between the couple. eager to know how the magazine came to possess that material, mratening to publish a number of intimate, private photographs of him and ms sanchez unless his leak investigation is stopped. he said the publisher was also demanding he make a public statement, saying the stories in the magazine about his personal life were not politically motivated. in his message, mr mr bezos wrote... mr bezos said his ownership of the washington post newspaper had been a ‘complexifier‘ that made him an enemy to certain powerful people, specifically president trump, who has regularly criticised the newspaper and mr bezos on twitter. the president and ami chairman david pecker are said to be close friends. in december, ami admitted that it had, in co—ordination the trump campaign, paid hush money to a playboy model to keep quiet about an alleged affair with mr trump before he took office. neither the national enquirer nor its publisher have responded to the bbc‘s request for comment. dave lee, bbc news, in san francisco. conservationists say grey seal colonies in norf

mrs. sanchez. >> shepard: the store i have is a bomb shell published last month in the "national inquirer." the tabloid exposed bezos' affair with laurenanchez. inside, private texts and pictures as proof. friday, bezos said tabloid executives said to hold off on publishing the photos if bezos did two things. one, stop trying to find out how they got the texts and two, make a public statement that the inquirer's coverage was not politically motivated. jeff bezos owns "the washington post." bezos calls that a complexifyer in this case. and david pecker is one of trump's friends. pecker saying that had nothing to do with it. dan springer reporting live from the pacific northwest newsroom. >> yeah, shep. the denial that the white house or david pecker's friendship with president trump had anything to do with the bezos story is significant given the political intrigue following the story. in releasing the e-mails and alleging he was blackmailed, jeff bezos said his feud over president trump with the reporting done by "the washington post" may be the motive behind the inquirer reporting. now the government of saudi arabia has said that is n

mr. bezos and ms. sanchez. >> bezos last week posted e-mails from where it claimed to have intimate photos that were exchanged between bezos and his reported mistress, laurenzos says that ami was demanding he publicly acknowledge that the inquirer is reporting on his alleged affair was non-politically motivated so bezos in a blog posted his response. "of course i don't want personal photos published but i also want participate in a well known practice of blackmail, political favorites, political attacks and corruption. i prefer to stand up and see what crawls out. " the attorney representing ami and david pecker told abc this wasn't extortion or a take down to please president trump. bezos owns the washington post which the president has been critical of and pecker who owns the inquirer is friends with the president. >> bezos didn't want another story written about him or those pictures published. ami did not have to have the liable against them that this was inspired by the white house, inspired by saudi arabia, or inspired by the washington post. it had nothing to do with it. it was a usual story that national inquirer gets. >> amazon ceo jeff bezos hasn

seeing called lauren sanchez in the blog post he alluded to several times connections between the owners of the national enquirer who were called american media headed up by a gentleman called mr david ppaca you alluded to connections between mr peck and the salaries he didn't go into details into what those connections exactly where he seemed to lose that perhaps the saudis were behind the hacking of his phone that led to the publication of those photographs and text messages i should add that the saudis have denied any involvement in that yes indeed that so that was a dinar from saudi embassy for. foreign affairs minister saying the spatters a kind of a soap operas he put it just on the matter of how it will play out in in saudi arabia does the fact that amazon and. puts these plans on hold deter other tech companies or do you think it is just a personal issue between this one tech company and saudi arabia. well that's of that's a really great question and obviously we can't just look at this news today in isolation back has been an ongoing international uproar following the assassination of the washington post columnist mr jim out shortly. to jeff bezos to owns imus and als

lauren sanchez, a former tv host. the magazine story included quotes from private messages sent between the couple. eager to know how the magazine came to possess that material, mrvestigation. now, in an extra ordinary message posted online, mr bezos has shared what he says are e—mails from ami threatening to publish a number of intimate, private photographs of him and ms sanchez unless his leak investigation stopped. he said the publisher was also demanding he make a public statement, saying the stories in the magazine about his personal life were not politically motivated. in his message, mr mr bezos wrote... mr bezos said his ownership of the washington post had been a ‘complexifier‘ that made him an enemy to certain powerful people, specifically president trump, who has regularly criticised the newspaper and mr bezos on twitter. the president and ami chairman david pecker are said to be close friends. in december, ami admitted that it had, in co—ordination the trump campaign, paid hush money to a playboy model to keep quiet about an alleged affair with mr trump before he took office. neither the national enquirer nor its publisher have responded to the bbc‘s

anchor lauren sanchez mr bezos launched that investigation into how the texts were leaked through suspicion and to what the washington post described as a government entity now he says the enquirer has threatened to publish intimate photos unless he makes a public statement saying that the tabloid coverage was not influenced by political forces.