the parent company american media inc denies pursuing this story because of outside sources. he said they said they have more text messages and photos if we didn't stop our investigation. there is a below the belt selfie and sexy shots of lauren sanchez. babezos says he was told the pictures would be run unless he ended the investigation. he said of course i don't want personal photos published. but i won't practice in political blackmail, political phase, political attacks and corruption. the "national enquirer" said it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims made by bezos. whether david pecker was doing this to please donald trump, that kind of threatening letter from a newspaper is extremely unusual. next on "mediabuzz." i have new reporting on this whole mess and behind the scenes sniping. the mooch is here on the ongoing warfare between howie: jeff bezos takes on the "national enquirer" over the story about his affair with lauren sanchez. a deep divide has occurred between those defending the couple. michael sanchez spoke to me about his strong objections t

bezos says american media inc.ed to blackmail him, after he started investigating how the tetabloid obtained his pri texts and photos. a.m.i. insists it "acted lawfully," and pledged to investigate. we'll take a closer look athe blackmail allegations after the news summary. the supreme court has temporarily blocked a louisiana law that would have required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby o spitals. in a 5vote late thursday, chief justice john roberts split with conservatives on the bench to join the court's four liberals. the court also ruled last night to deny muslimnmate domineque ray's request to have an imam in the execution chamber with him in alabama. u.s. humanitarian aid meanwhile, headed for venezuela, has arrived at a colombian border city. the trucks, packed with much- needed food and medicine, have been blocked from en venezuela, amid that country's political crisis. but, opposition leader juangu do promised the assistance will get there. meanwhile, embattled president nicolas m

american media inc which owns the u.s. tabloid newspaper the national enquirer says it will investigate accusations of extortion and blackmail made against the paper by jeff bezos the world's richest man bezos here is the chief executive of amazon and owner of the washington post says the tabloid threatened to publish intimate photos of him unless he dropped accusations that some of its reporting was politically motivated the inquirer is a strong backer of donald trump while the washington post frequently criticizes him . france has accused italian leaders of unfounded attacks as a diplomatic route between the two nations deepens france recalled its ambassador to italy on thursday after the italian deputy prime minister met members of the yellow vest movement in paris this week france has warned him not to interfere in the country's politics experts in italy are working to dismantle a bridge that partially collapsed in the city of genoa six months ago forty three people were killed in the disaster described as one of the w

american media inc which owns the national enquirer says it will investigate accusations of extortionand blackmail made it to the paper by jeff bezos the world's richest man as or soon as the owner of amazon and the washington post says the tabloid threatened to publish intimate photos of him unless he dropped accusations that some of its reporting was politically motivated. there's that lines up next it's counting the cost one team here in london thanks so much indeed for watching more news after that from doha after. as venezuela is on the brink. with two men facing off for power. one of their self-proclaimed interim venezuelan leader one why don't. stew al-jazeera. hello i'm sam is a than this is counting the cost on al-jazeera your weekly look at the world of business and economics this week digital divisions world wide web foundation president and c.e.o. adrian lovett explains why the internet danger of splitting. also this week venezuela's health system remains starved of money and international tug of war gets underway for control of a key asset. class senegal's money matters a

american media inc, which owns the nanational enquirerer, fired back at amazon ceo jeff bezoss fridayfterer he publiclyly acd the publication n of extortion d blackmail. ami said it stands behind its reporting and that it acted "lawfully". bezos suggested in a blog post last week that the leak of private text messages to the tabloid might be connected to his ownership of the washington post which has been critical of both president trump and saudi leadership, following the murder of its columnist jamal khashoggi. the texts were between bezos and lauren sanchez, with whom he was reportedly having an affair. saudi officials have also responded to the scandal, denying any involvement in obtaining or releasing the messages. the daily beast is reporting that michael sanchez, lauren sancnchez's brother, is also sususpected as the source of the leak. denver public school teachers begin a strike today after 11th hour negotiations between the teachers' union and the school district failed over the weekend. the denver classroom teachers association is demanding an increase in teachers' base sal

american media inc which owns the national enquirer says it will investigate accusations of extortion and blackmail but against the paper by jeff bezos the world's richest man is also as the owner of amazon and the washington post says the tabloids threatened to publish intimate photos of him and this he dropped accusations that some of its reporting was politically motivated and inquirer is a strong backer of donald trump or the washington post frequently criticizes the president. there's the headlines to stay with us up next it's hard earned the story of five ordinary american families in a post-recession economy is to us it can often are. previously on hard earned i hate walking into the job because i know there's something going to be said there's something left to be done i work or come from a billion dollar company and we do want to live work don't have any of the past. resumes from a known face i worked at went down and only thing to do is just say oh. but i never thought i have to go back to this. time i was walking and he asked me. about being many of. the. good guys called.

. >> reporter: the amazon founder wrote that representatives for american media, inc. threatened to release intimate texts and photos between him and his alleged mistress lauren sanchez if he didn't publish what he called a false public statement saying he didn't think ami's coverage was politically motivated and end his investigation into how they got previous texts which they published shortly after bezos announced his divorce. nbc news has not independently reviewed the e-mails in bezos' post. bezos posted to ami's connection to the saudi government as well as president trump. pecker's attorney stressing the dealing with bezos were just journalism. >> i think both bezos and ami had interests in resolving their differences. >> reporter: since bezos' post, others have come forward saying they, too, were victims of the same practices. actor terry cruz tweeting that ami tried to silence me by fabricating stories. investigative journal ronan farrow and the former editor of the soeshtded press investigative team detailing similar efforts against them. this morning, a tabl

american media inc which owns the national enquirer says it will investigate accusations of extortion and blackmail made it to the paper by jeff bezos the world's richest man as or soon as the owner of amazon and the washington post says the tabloid threatened to publish intimate photos of him unless he dropped accusations that some of its reporting was politically motivated there's the headlines up next it's counting the cost from teamhair nandan thanks for much indeed for watching more news out of that from doha africa. as venezuela is on the brink. with two men facing off for power. one of them self-proclaimed interim venezuelan leader. to al-jazeera. hello i'm sam is a than this is counting the cost on al-jazeera your weekly look at the world of business and economics this week digital divisions world wide web foundation president and c.e.o. adrian lovett explains why the internet danger of splitting. also this week venezuela's health system remains starved of money and international tug of war gets underway for control of a key asset. class money matters a west african country fa

american media inc. promising investigation against the list of allegations against them, including extortion and blackmail. when ami threatened to leak risque photos of him. sources telling cnn federal prosecutors are looking into his accusations. in his blog post, he alleged ami had a cozy relationship, not just with the trump white house but with saudi arabia, also alleged in published reports. last year, ami put out a 97 page glossy magazine, heralding the new crown prince and his vision ahead of his trip to the u.s. the saudi embassy in washington claimed they had no involvement or knowledge of that publication with the prince on the cover. a man the cia concluded ordered the violent murder of jamal khashoggi of "the washington post" which bezos owns. the saudis call the finding false. the associated press reported that according to sources embassy officials got an electronic copy of the pro-kingdom magazine three weeks before it came out. a top saudi official says he has no idea of any relationship

thursday on the online platform bezos released a series of letters exchanged with american media inc.a lengthy post saying in the a.m. i letters i making public you will see the precise details of their extortion proposal. they will publish personal photos unless i make a specific false public statement to the press that we have no knowledge or basis for suggesting ami's coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces. he ended his post saying, quote, i won't participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks and corruption. i prefer to stand up, roll this log over and see what crawls out. the company says they will hold the photos and release them if he or his lawyer deviate from the lie. rob: a.m. i have not commented on the post. jillian: 46 after the hour. alexandria ocasio-cortez's climate change initiative burning up close social media, many saying the means are believable than her proposal. we will look at the hashtag other green new deal promises next. rob: let's check in with brian kilmeade for what is coming up on

days as announced in a blog post american media inc.hreatens to publish intimate photos of him, unless he stopped criticizing the company. they wanted basals to remove an article that is due to run and the washington post which basals also runs owns. about how to -- the feud started back in january when he announced his plans to divorce his longtime wife mckenzie basals. the national inquirer published a story detailing an alleged affair between bezos and lauren sanchez. movie director woody allen is suing amazon for $68 million. reportedly for backing out of the movie deal. woody allen filed the claim yesterday claiming amazon studios refused to release his movie, a rainy day in new york. even though it has been complete for more than six months. woody allen had a deal with amazon for four movies. the streaming service back out of the deal in june. amazon had concerns about renewed allegations if woody allen sexually abused his stepdaughter in the 1990s. woody allen denies the claims and has never been charged. >>> waiting on new infor

last night, bezos posted on the blog medium what appeared to be e-mails from the publisher american media inc. those e-mails ear s urged him t the investigation or risk having private photos and other texts become public. jericka duncan has more. >> bezos had a lot to say in the post last night. he says ami's latest offer came because its ceo david pecker was furious about the investigation. but now the world's richest man is fighting back publicly and he says despite the personal cost. jeff bezos is on the offensive after hiring a team of investigators to find a national enquir enquirer's motive for unveils his affair. he says they tried to intimidate and silence him. in a combative blog post, bezos revealed what he said are e-mails from ami's attorneys telling him to cease and desist from his personal investigation. in one e-mail, ami chief content officer dylan howard allegedly threatened to release photos including a below the belt selfie if he didn't comply. in another, john fienne allegedly asked bezos and his lawyers to announce that they have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that

sÁnchez told me that while he was negotiating with american media, inc to soften the story, launchedagainst ami in part by advising bezos, misleading tweet about divorce from his wife. he said it's a disgrace that filthy rich and powerful men are using media to take shots at each other, the simple truth jeff and lauren fell madly in love. sÁnchez has been on receiving end, he's looking into the leaker in and has spoken to sÁnchez as part of that investigation. pecker is traveling over season and he has to take an aggressive posture and sometimes deflect attention by criticizing the investigators. sÁnchez is a registered democrat and trump supporter and denied source of the leak. he told me it's irrelevant, acquaintance of roger stone u and that he had business with carter page, consulted page about the leak. sÁnchez's friends with bill howard, my friendships have been used as weapon against me but the dots don't connect. sÁnchez to order pecker to stand down on the matter. the exposure of the affair by allowing high-profile bezos to appear together on restaurants and private jets and

they announced that american media inc.threatening to publish intimate pictures of him unless he stops criticizing the company. they want bezos to pull an article in the washington post which how they obtain text messages of his new girlfriend. it began in january that he and announced plans to divorce his wife. the national enquirer published a story detailing the alleged affair between bezos and sanchez. >>> woody allen is >>> suing amazon for backing out of eight media. he filed the claim yesterday saying that the studios refused to release his film, a rainy day in york, even though it has been complete. the director had a deal for four movies but they backed out and you. according to the hollywood reporter, amazon has concerns over renewed allegations that he sexually assaulted his stepdaughter in the '90s. he claims that he has never been charged. >> taco bell was to make it convenient to get food pick they are delivering around the country. they hope to offer delivery that will boost sales pick they are teaming up wit

american media inc.n into bezos' long list of claims, including what he called extortion and blackmail when ami threatened to release risque photos. sources telling cnn federal prosecutors are also looking into his accusations. bezos alleges ami had a cozy relationship not just with the trump white house but with saudi arabia. last year, ami put out a 97 page glossy magazine heralding the crown prince and his vision. the saudi embassy in washington claimed they had no involvement or knowledge of the publication with prince mohammed bin salman on the cover, a man the cia concluded ordered the violence murder of khashoggi, of "the washington post." according to sources, nbc officials got an electronic copy of the probe kingdom magazine about three weeks before it came out. a top saudi official says he has no idea of any relationship with ami. adding it's like a soap opera. and told cnn as far as he knows, the saudis did not press ami to public negative stories about bezos. the biggest of which was the expo

american media inc. or ami promising to look into the investigation, including what he called distortion and blackmail when ami threatened to leak risque photos of him. sources telling cnn federal prosecutors are looking into his accusations. in his blog post, ami says he had a cozy relationship not just with the trump white house but with saudi arabia, also alleged in published reports. last year ami put out a 97-page flossy magazine heralding the kingdom's new crown prince ahead of the trip to the u.s. the saudi embassy in washington claimed they had no involvement or knowledge with prince mohammed bin salmon on the cover. a man the cia has concluded ordered the vital murder of khashoggi of the washington post, bezos owns. the associated press says according to sources nbc officials got a copy of the pro kingdom magazine about three weeks before it came out. today a top saudi official says he has no idea of any relationship with ami, adding it's like a soap opera and told cnn as far as he knows the sau

the national inquirer's parent company company, american media inc., responded to bezos' investigation by threatening to publish revealing photos of bezos if he did not agree to publicly state that the enquirer's coverage was not politically motivated or influenced by political forces. in a blog post on the site medium, bezos suggests the leak of his text messages might be connected to his ownership of the post. jeff bezos wrote, "it's unavoidable that certain powerful people who experience washington post news coverage will wrongly conclude i am their enemy. president trump is one of those people, obvious by his many tweets. also, the post's essential and unrelenting coverage of the murder of its columnist jamal khashoggi is undoubtedly unpopular in certain circles." in his blog post, bezos went on to write, "for reasons still to be better understood, the saudi angle seems to hit a particularly sensitive nerve." meanwhile pulitzer prize winning journalist ronan farrow of the new yorker has also revealed that he was threatened with blackmail over his reporting on the national enquirer

. >> good morning, in a statement friday, american media inc.the world's richest man, but that it acted lawfully. the lawyer for ceo david pecker doubling down on that over the weekend insisting his client didn't do anything wrong. >> reporter: this morning has the jeff bezos leaker been revealed? the brother of bezos's alleged mistress lauren sanchez is denying reports he leaked explicit texts to the "national enquirer." a lawyer for the tabloid's ceo david pecker, is refusing to confirm or deny if it was michael sanchez who's also a reported supporter of president trump. the lawyer saying the source was someone close to the couple and had given information to the inquirer for seven years. michael sanchez denied his involvement to "the washington post" which is owned by bezos. it comes as pecker's attorney is pushing back on claims jeff bezos made an extraordinary blog post late last week. >> it absolutely is not extortion and not blackmail. >> reporter: the amazon founder wrote that representatives for american media inc. tletdenhrea to releas

the "wall street journal" is reporting american media, inc., which owns the "national enquirer," askedhe justice department last year whether it should register as a foreign agent because it published a magazine that promoted saudi interests and crown prince mohamed bin salman. the revelation came as a recent blog post by amazon ceo jeff bezos placed renewed scrutiny on the media company's relationship with saudi arabia. in his post, bezos accused the "national enquirer" of extortion and blackmail over leaked messages from his then-extramarital relationship. bezos suggested that critical coverage of saudi arabia by the "washington post," which he owns, following the murder of columnist jamal khashoggi, quote, "seem t to hit a particularly sensitive nerve." faculty members at wright state university in ohio ended a 20-day strike sunday evening, the longest such labor action in the state's history and the second-longest at a public college anywhere in the united states. the strike started following the imposition of a contract by the school that educators say worsened working conditions

investigator to look into how his messages and photos were leaked is angering david pecker, the ceo of american media incich owns the "national enquirer." the saudi angle seems to hit a particularly sensitive nerve bezos wrote. keep in mind bezos owns the "washington post," which covered the murder of its own columnist jamal khashoggi and the cia concluded that the killing was with mohammed bin salman, something that is denied. although there was no connection between the country and the tabloid country going after bezos, this is not the first time a relationship between the kingdom and the tabloid has been questioned. in april of 2018, a 97-page glossy magazine, all about the saudi crown prince's visit to the u.s. mysteriously hit stores around the country, the publisher american media. according to the associated press, a digital company of the magazine was even shared with officials at the saudi embassy in washington almost three weeks before its publication. and saudi officials and american media denied that they worked together on the glossy magazine. then this week, "the wall street journal" report

thursday, on the online platform medium.com, he released a series of letters exchanged with american media inc. or ami, the parent company of the national enquirer. part of the post says in the ami letters, i am making public, you will see the precise details of their extortion proposal. they will publish a personal photo unless i make specific pools statement that we have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that amis coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces. he ended his post by saying quote i will not participate in a well-known practice of blackmail and corruption. i prefer to stand up and will this log over and see what crawls out. >> in a statement, amis said it acted lawfully and was engaged in good faith negotiations with jeff bezos but the company said the board of directors met and determined it should promptly and thoroughly investigate jeff bezos's allegations. he had opposed and they said the ami did the same thing to him. he threatened to blackmail him after he wrote stories on the national enquirer's arrangements with president donald trump before the

in an explosive blog post, bezos wrote, american media inc. threatened to publish private photos of his if he doesn't end an investigation into how the national enquirer got the pictures and the messages. last month the tabloid released racy text messages between bezs and his girlfriend. lauren: it prompted bezos to hire investigators and prompted the national enquirer to request an end to the investigation. bezos says of course i don't want personal photos published. i also won't participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks and corruption. for more on this, criminal defense attorney david bruno bro joins us. david, good morning. >> good morning. lauren: is this extortion, in your view? >> probably not. the demand was not for money. it was for a public statement that they have no reason to believe that the article against him was a political hit. if you change the fact pattern a little bit and they demanded $1 million, then yes, i think it's clear-cut extortion. let's not for get in the block post,

nd not >> reporter: the amazon founder wrote that represent for american media, inc., threatened to release intimate textsnd photos between him and his alleged mtress if he didn't post what he calls a false public statement saying he didn't think ami's coverage was politically motivated and end his investigation into how they got previous texts which they published shortly after bezos announced mis divorce. nbc news has not independently reviewed the e-mails in bezos's posts. bezos had pointed to ami's connection to the saudi government as well as president trump, pecker's aorney stressing the inquirers dealing osth bezos were just journalism. >> i think b and ami have interests in resolving their differences. >> reporter: since bezos' post othee come forward saying they too were victims of the samepractices. actor terry crews a tweeting mirksor, tried to silence me. roland pharaoh and the "associated press" investigative team detailing similar efforts against them. this morning a tabloid known for its salacious headlines is today making its own front-page fodder. >> that's nbc's miguel alm

american media inc.estigation into his long list of claims against them, including what he called extortion and blackmail. when ami threatened to leak risque photos of him. sources telling cnn federal prosecutors are looking into his accusations. in his blog post, he alleged that ami had a cozy relationship, not just with the trump white house but with saudi arabia. also alleged in published reports. last year, ami put out a 97 page glossy magazine, heralding the new crown prince and his vision, ahead of his trip to the u.s. the saudi embassy in washington claimed they had no involvement or knowledge of the publication with prince muhammad bin salman on the cover. a man the cia concluded ordered the violent murder of jamal khashoggi of "the washington post," which bezos owns. the saudis called the finding false. but the associated press reported that according to sources embassy officials got an electronic copy of the pro-kingdom magazine three weeks before it came out. a top official says he has no idea

pecker, who is the owner of american media inc. is closely associated to the president.t to be seen whether they will be deemed to have done anything on the criminal front. we haven't heard from the president yet but a lot of political stories here to contend with. >> a bankruptcy judge has green lit a plan to keep the iconic retailer alive. will this be enough to save it? >> big question. yesterday we did find out a bankruptcy judge did allow for the sale of sears to go ahead to a hedge fund owned by the sears chairman, eddie lamb part for $ $5.2 trillion. it will save 45,000 jobs. the bigger question is whether or not the creditors who are owed $3 billion by sears will get paid the money they are owed. there are examples of other companies like radio shack, who filed for bankruptcy on to file for bankruptcy again shortly afterwards. >> okay, joanna, live from london, thank you very much. >> coming up, jonathan swan has a look at this morning's "1 big thing." >> and much more on accusations by president trump that intel chair adam schiff is stealing people from the whit

he claims american media inc or ami -- into how the tabloid obtained text messages exposing his extramarital few weeks ago he announced he was getting divorced then the national enquirer published an investigation about bezos which included intimate text messages he exchanged with his new girlfriend, lauren sanchez. you see her right there. bezos said he hired investigators to figure out how the texts were obtained. in response bezos said ami threaterned publish more text messages and photos if he did not drop his investigation in take blog post on the website medium bezos posted emails that he received from ami cnbc has not i wanted pently reviewed these emails. this is a story that is really encompassing a lot of different media, whether it's general news, entertainment news can we walk through some of the headlines, frank >> hold on, where not just media, but also the white house. wleft it out here because we're covering the latest stuff. of course, the national enquirer does have ties to the president and links there, and also jeff bezos privately owns the washington post, which has been

american media inc which owns the u.s. tabloid the national enquirer says it will investigate accusations of extortion and blackmail made against the paper by jeff bezos the wells richest man pays us who's the chief executive of amazon and the washington post says the tabloid threatened to publish intimate photos of him. firefight he's the world's richest man is the founder of amazon and he's the owner of one of the world's best known newspapers the washington post but jeff bezos chose a no frills blogging site to tell his story following the announcement of his divorce in january the tabloid magazine the national enquirer best known for its coverage of movie and music stars published an eleven page spread detailing his extramarital affair complete with text messages sent by bezos to his lover bezos then used his own security team to investigate the source and motivation for the story which he alleges made the publisher of the national enquirer david peck an apoplectic that's also a speck of them threaten to release furthe

insists it's acted you know fairly amazon chief executive and washington post and jeff bezos says american media inc threatened to publish intimate photos of him after he questioned whether its reporting was politically motivated she had written the has more. firefight he's the world's richest man as the founder of amazon and he's the owner of one of the world's best known newspapers the washington post but jeff bezos chose a no frills blogging site to tell his story following the announcement of his divorce in january the tabloid magazine the national enquirer best known for its coverage of movie and music stars published an eleven page spread detailing his extramarital affair complete with text messages sent by bezos to his lover bezos then used his own security team to investigate the source and motivation for the story which he alleges made the publisher of the national enquirer david pecker apoplectic that's also as peca then threaten to release further texts and intimate photos of bezos and his lover unless he stated that the enquirer is exposé was not politically motivated but that's exactly

some of its reporting was politically motivated in a blog post but also raised questions about american media inc relationship with saudi arabia am i the owner of the inquirer is a strong backer of president on the trump sierra leone's president has declared sexual violence a national emergency it follows an outrage over the rape of a five year old girl who was left paralyzed from the waist down president julius mother b o also announced an increase in the maximum sentence for sexually motivated crimes from fifteen years to life in prison as the headlines of news out for you in a little over twenty five minutes to one of one east. the strength of al jazeera is that because we have to expand if not for people of color to watch and actually share the information with the al-jazeera team and that. it's been branded the world's biggest heist at least four point five billion dollars stolen from malaysia's sovereign wealth fund one indeed. the former prime minister najib razak faces almost forty criminal charges. and the malaysian financier jolo is wanted by authorities in malaysia singapore and the un

discussed is that bezos would buy american media, the parent company of the "national enquirer" to uncover the source of the leaks. >> david pecker, the ceo of american media ince friend of president trump. in a blog post last week, bezos wrote that representatives for ami threatened to release more intimate texts and photos between him and lauren sanchez if he didn't hublish what called a false public statement saying he didn't think ami's coverage was politicallyd motivand end his investigation into how they got previous texts. nbcews has not i understand departmentally reviewed e-mails in bezos' post. david pecker's attorneold abc news the enquirer's dealings with bezoser je wust extortion and blackmail. >> reporter: as for sanchez and his sister lauren, he says the scandal has brought them closer together, asserting the truth will cute out abo my motivations and how much i believe in jeff and lauren's love. >>lymiguel, obvio we've been enlking this morning about amazon's announcit's with withdrawn plans to build headquarters in new yorcity. is there any indication that the timing of that announcement is related to this interview? >> we asked gabe sherman t

investigation that federal prosecutors are looking into whether the publication's parent company, american media, incated a september agreement connected to its relationship with donald trump. this as others like journalists ronan farrow come out in support of bezos saying he too faced blackmail efforts from ami, the company that runs the "enquirer." we're joined on set by glenn kirk as well as jay newton small contributor for "time" magazine. glenn, let's start with you. i noted the tweet you had. this is extortion at its core on ami and bezos, what makes you say so? >> basically extortion is a fancy word but all it really requires is if you threaten somebody to obtain a thing of value two elements as we say in the law. it sure seems like that is what ami has done here. the thing of value is the investigation and the information that was being pursued by bezos and "the washington post," the threat here is to damage bezos's reputation. it doesn't have to be physical harm. it can be harm to one's reputation. i pulled up the nonprosecution agreement that ami has and right on page two it says it's under

founder jeff bezos posting a blog post accusing the "national enquirer" and its parent company american media incckmail and extortion. our robert frank is back at headquarters with more on this story. ever seen anything like this, robert >> reporter: not in the 15 years i've been covering it. got a bit of everything in it. amazon shares under a bit of pressure this morning as jeff bezos' personal life becomes a lot more complicated he mentioned posting a public on medium accusing the publish of the "national enquirer" trying to blackmail him as part of their coverage of his divorce. ami threatened to publish compromising photos unless he agreed to stop his own claim that ami coverage was politically motivated. quote, rather than exit late to extortion and blackmail i've decided to publish exactly what they sent me despite the personal cost and embarrassment they have threatened you know, bezos posted letters from ami executives that described revealing photos they would obtain and publish unless he agreed to end his own investigation into ami and its political connections. ami just put out a stat

well, american media, inc., the company that publishes the "national enquirer" is back on federal prosecutors' radar after an extraordinary medium post by amazon founder and "washington post" owner jeff bezos. bezos is accusing the company of trying to extort him into giving a public statement about the tabloid's coverage of his extramarital affair in exchange for not publishing sexually explicit photos of him to back up his claims. bezos published emails that he says were from one of ami's lawyers suggesting that the text and pictures would not be published so long as bezos and his investigator released a statement, quote, affirming that they have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that ami's coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces. it's raising questions about whether ami violated the terms. a non-prosecution agreement reached with federal prosecutors last year over a hush-money payment to help donald trump's prospects in the 2016 election. the agreement requires ami to commit to crimes -- to commit no crimes whatsoever for three years. if ami breaks the terms

you mentioned that american media inc said that they were not public those photos —— publish those photosne think it is politically motivated. did not expect those e—mails to get out there. it is hard for me to think they would even believe thatjeff bezos would make that statement. clearly it totally backfired on them. this might be a death blow to them. this might be a death blow to the national enquirer. there will a lwa ys the national enquirer. there will always be a market for supermarket tabloid gossip, so this is not going away. usually you don't see this as blatant a set where someone says, i'm going to publish these pictures. they did this to the world's richest man. if you can't fight back, then someone man. if you can't fight back, then someone without his means would have no chance. what's the reaction to the fact that he has fought back and he is calling them out and alleging that they are blackmailing him? they have not responded, the national enquirer folks. have not responded, the national enquirerfolks. the media has really celebrated jeff bezos and you don't usually see

well, american media, inc., the company that publishes the "national enquirer" is back on federal prosecutorsraordinary medium post by amazon founder and "washington post" owner jeff bezos. bezos is accusing the company of trying to extort him into giving a public statement about the tabloid's coverage of his extramarital affair in exchange for not publishing sexually explicit photos of him to back up his claims. bezos published emails that he says were from one of ami's lawyers suggesting that the text and pictures would not be published so long as bezos and his investigator released a

the attorney for the parent company, american media, inc.onth the paper exposed extramarital affair with former tv host lauren sanchez. bezos said the paper threatened to release the photos if they didn't say this was not politically motivated. they are digging deep how the paper received texts. focusing on sanchez's brother. he was allegedly aware of the affair, supporter of president trump and and acquaintance of roger stone. michael sanchez a democrat denied being the source of the leak. the paper's attorneys would not confirm the source's identity, saying it is quote, unquote, reliable source both known to mr. bezos and miss sanchez. guys? steve: griff, thank you very much. talking to andy mccarthy from "national review" a short time ago, if you drop the investigation, then these things won't get published, andy says that looks like extortion. >> it seems like extortion to me, brian. it's a question of, you know, they said we're going to publish this unless you drop your investigation into what we're doing. so, i don't really see how any

now american media inc which owns the national enquirer says it will investigate accusations of extortiona blackmail made against the paper by jeff bezos the world's richest man bezos who's the chief executive of amazon and owner of the washington post says the tabloid threatened to publish intimate photos all for him unless he drops accusations that some of its reporting was politically motivated the choir is a strong backer of is a strong backer of donald trump while the washington post frequently criticizes the president out there she has a chance he's following the story for us in washington d.c. and she had to think about to give us more in the background of this story which i have no doubt is gripping the united states. and rather involved so hopefully you're sitting comfortably last month jeff bezos announced he was getting divorced shortly afterwards the national enquirer published an eleven page spread with photographs and text messages involving bezos and his extramarital love up bears also then began an investigation how did the enquirer get those text messages and what was the