i'm amy goodman. "the wall street journal" is reporting the ouster of venezuelan president nicolas maduro is the first stepep in aa trumpet ministrations plan to reshape latin america with cuba next on its radar. according to the reporort, the u.s. is planning to announce new measures against cuba, including sanctions on restoring cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. the move could seriously hamper foreign investment in cuba. the u.s. and plans to target nicaragua. in november, national sesecurity adviser john bolton dubbed the three nations the troika of tyranny. last week vice president mike , said president trump is not a fan of u.s. interventions abroad, excecept for "in this hn is fair." self-declared president juan guaido said he is reached out to russia and china. refused his come to be president. orders reporting the maduro government plans to sell gold from central bank vaults to the united arab emirates for cash, as new sanctions from the u.s. threaten to further cripple the c

[cheers and applause] ♪ amy! amy! they're ready. go get 'em. [chanting] amy! amy! wow!obuchar: hello, everyone! welcome, america, to boon island. where are we? >> [all] boon island! sen. klobuchar: we don't let a little snow stop us. we don't let a little snow stop us. youyou guys even -- are guys even cold? tell the truth! [laughter] hen i said we will go where it is comfortable but where it is uncomfortable, this is what i meant. i would like to first think our amazing and incredible team and staff for putting this together. unbelievable! also, the city of minneapolis parks, thank you. all the incredible people who turned out. my friends tina smith and governor walz, lieutenant governor peggy flanagan, the highest ranking native american state official in our nation. our congressional delegation, thank you. mayors, commissioners, legislators, oh, i forgot, my dad, who is 90 years old. you always want to thank your in-laws. bill and marilyn! thank you doug, who traveled with prince for so many years. if prince could do that halftime show in that rain, i can do this in

i'm amy goodman. in a major escalation of tensions in south asia, india has carried out air strikes inside pakistan the first time in years. india said the raid targeted a cap of the militant separatistst jaishay-the homage. india has conducted four ground rates on kashmiri separatist leaders. india has said they killed a very large number of militants but pakistan has said there are no casualties from the attack. "the new york times" reports the merits were the first time indian aircraft had crossed the cashmere line of control to strike in decades. the air raid follows a recent spate of violence in kashmir. earlier this month car bombing , a killed scores of indian soldiers a and a gunightht killd both indian and d jaishay-mohamd forces last week. vice president mike pence met guaido.nn pence announced new sanctions against venezuelan officials for their role in blocking the so-called d to military and aid from entering venezuzuela over e weekend as the u.s. continues to ratchet up pressure on the g

>> thank you, amy. amy: what a legacy. >> wow.eoplepecially for young , tell us about frederick douglass. tell us about his lifefe history and what he would have felt about what is happening today. >> he was born into slavery sometime in 1818. he was born to an enslaved woman in a white man, presesumed his mamaster was his father. he had an opportunity in his life where he was taken from the eastern shore of maryland to be the house servant for his master's brother. the reason i sayay it was an opportununity was because when e that there, his slave mistress did not know it was illegal to teach him. his master finds out and for bids the lessons. that was all frederick douglass needed, was that little spark of knowledge into his mental darkness. he would teach himself to read and write. slavery.d he would go on to become an advisor to president lincoln. he was ambassador to the council general, first african-american u.s. marshal, and the list goes on and on them and would pass away in 1895 in his home in washington, d.c. madetalk a

i'm amy goodman. in the vietnamese capital hanoi, talks between president trump and north korean leader kim jong-un came to an abrupt end thursday after the leaders -- trump walked out of the talks. their second summit fell apart over kim jong-un's demand that the u.s. lift all sanctions on north korea in e exchange for te ososure of o one nuclear facaci. thisis is prpresident trump speg at a press conference. pres. trump: basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we could not do that. denuke a willing to large portion, but we cannot give up all of the sanctions so we continue to work that we will see. we had to walk away from that particular suggestion. we had to walk away from that. amy: the summit's collapse comes just days after house democrats introduced a resolution to formrmally end the korean n war after nearly 70 years of conflict. after r headlines, we'll go to hanoi to speak with christine ahn, founder and executive director of women cross dmz, a global movement of w

i'm amy goodman.ls are mounting for democratic virginia governor ralph northam to resign after a photo surfaced from his medical school yearbook showing a man wearing blackface posing next to a man in a ku klux klan outfit. on friday, northam apologized for the photo in his 1984 eastern virginia medical school yearbook but walked back his statements the following day in a news conference, claiming now that the men in the photo were him, though he did admit to when posing asce michael jackson. in the spaceere that codifies the law -- that codified the laws of slavery and we in a brutal system that are still struggling to get out from under today. we are here today because the history of jim crow is obviously still alive and living in the governor's mansion. down,f the governor steps lieutenant governor justin fairfax would fill his seat and become the only current african-american governor in the united states. more on the store after headlines. said sundayump sending u.s. troops to venezuela is an opt

i'm amy goodman. the north carolina state board of elections has thrown out the results of november's congressional race in the 9th district and ordered a new primary election after more evidence came to light of a republican effort to tamper with absentee ballots. the race had pitted republican mark harris against democrat dan mccready. harris initially appeared to be the narrow winner, but the race was never certified. for months harris, who is a baptist preacher, had insisted his campaign did nothing illegal. but on thursday, he called for a new election. this came a day afafter harris' own son testified that he had warned his father about hiring a longtime political operative who had a record of illegally collecting absentee ballots and in some cases filling them out in favor of republican candidates. north carolina's democratic govevernor roy cooper praised te board's decision saying it "sends a strtrong messagage that election fraud must not be tolerated." president trump, who reputedly was warn

i'm amy goodman. with two days left before the february 15 deadline to avert another government shutdown, president t trump told reporters tuesday he is not happy with the proposed deal that came out of congressional negotiations monday night, but did not say he would reject it. the deal currently includes nearly $1.4 billion to build 55 miles of new border barriers out of steel, far less than the $5.7 billion requested by president trump. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said he hoped trump would sign the deal. meanwhile, politico is reporting the white house may redirect federal dollars from various government agencies to make up for the shortfall in trump's border wall funding demand, including tapping disaster relief funds intended for california and puerto rico. trump would reportedly do so through executive order, circumumventing congress. it is still unclear whether he will declare a national emergency. as the political crisis in venezuela continues tens of , thousands of venezuelans took

i'm amy goodman.s another government shutdown imminent? bipartisan talks on a government spending bill broke down over the weekend as democrats and republicans remained in disagreement over the number of immigrants ice should be allowed to detain. democrats want to put a cap on the number of beds for people immigrant prisoners with around 16,000 reserve for prisoners in the country. the bipartisan conference committee must come up with a new spending bill that both congress and president trump will approve by friday this week in order to avoid another government shutdown. trump has also threatened to call a national emergency to bypass congress for his $5.7 billion in border wall funding. president trump is heading to the border town of el paso in texas today to hold a rally. former candidate for the us senate and possible 2020 presidential hopeful beto o'rourke will speak at a counterrally. meanwhile california governor gavin newsom is expected to withdraw the majority of troops stationed on the cali

i'm amy goodman. in a major victory for reproductive rights, the supreme court has blocked a restrictive louisiana anti-choice law from going into effect. the case was seen as a litmus test for determining whether millions of women across the nation will have continued access to abortions. the divided court ruled 5-4 in favor of an emergency appeal by a louisiana-based abortion provider to block the law which would have required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics. chief justice john roberts joined the court's four liberal justices in the 5-4 decision. we will have more on the ruling later in the program. justice brent kavanagh wrotete e dissent.t. new york congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez and massachusetts senator ed markey have formally introduced their green new deal, a sweeping plan to transform the nation's economy and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in 10 years. on thursday, alexandria ocasio-cortez spoke outs

i'm amy goodman. congress is poised today to vote on a massive spending bill that would avert another government shutdown on friday all grazing nearly $1.4 billion for 55 miles of new wall on the u.s.-mexico border, a fraction of the $5.7 billion president trump has demanded. at the white house, trump said he would look for landmines in the deal before deciding whether to sign it.t. pres. trump: we're going to take a look at it. i don't want to see a shutdown. a shutdown would be a terrible thing. amy: the showdown over the border wall came as right police in northern mexico blocked hundreds of desperate central american migrants wednesday as they tried to escape an abandoned factory complex where they have been imprisoned while waiting for the u.s. to process their asylum claims. more than 1700 immigrants have been held in the mexican border town since february 5 after they arrived in a caravan of people seeking asylum in the u.s.. the vast majority have remained prisoners at the site after the trump

i'm amy goodman. the e governments of mexico and our way are calling for r an ininternational meeting next wek to discuss a peaceful solution to the crisis in venezuela. but in another setback to the government of nicolas maduro, the european parliament voted to recognize opposition leader juan president.he interim this comes as fears growing the u.s. could launch a military invasion to topple maduro's government and prop up guaido, who had so national assembly. u.s. lawmakers, including marco rubio, called on the venezuelan military to help overthrow maduro. "new york times" op-ed to list said he and guaido clandestine meetings with the military and security forces to gain support for overthrowing maduro, writing -- "we have offered amnesty to all those who are found not guilty of crimes against humanity. the military's withdrawal of support from mr. maduro is crucial to enabling a change in government." on wednesday, guaido said he spoke with trump on the phone, as well as regional leaders in latin

amy: from pacifica this i is democray now. >> it the investigator the e source was. it was not the white house, it was not saudi arabia. amy: the public dispute between the world's richest man, amazon ceo jeff bezos, and the national enquirer intensifies days after bezos accused the paper of extortion and blackmail after it threatened to publish revealing images of him and his lover. we will speak with prize-winning reporter glenn greenwald. his latest piece is titled, "jeff bezos protests the invasion of his privacy, as amazon builds a sprawling surveillance state for everyone else." greenwald joins us from rio de prerelease -- police shot dead 13 people suspected of being drug traffickers. is this a wave of new violence? we will get the latest, coming up. ♪ now,welcome to democracy democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. is another government shutdown imminent? bipartisan talks on a government spending bill broke down over the weekend as democrats and republicans rem

i'm amy goodman. venezuela's opposition is calling on the united states and allied nations to consider using military force to topple the government of venezuelan president nicolas maduro. this comes as u.s. vice president mike pence heads to bogota, colombia, today to discuss next steps with regional leaders and venezuelan's self-proclaimed president, opposition leader juan guaido. the meeting comes after a dramatic weekend which saw the venezuelan military blocking the delivery of so-called humanitarian aid from entering venezuela at the colombian and brazilian borders. several people died after clashes broke out between forces loyal to maduro and supporters of the opposition. the united nations, the red cross, and other relief organizations have refused to work with the u.s. on delivering aid to venezuela, which they say is politically motivated. over the weekend, u.s. officials ramped up pressure on the maduro government. on secretary of state mike sunday, pompeo said maduro's days in office are n

they stipulated ami should commit no crime whatsoever and should ami commit any crime consent to the date of signing this mounted a agreement, they shall photographer be subject to prosecution. glen, your area here. it seems at minimum it should say you don't commit anymore crimes. i mean, if they're involved in extortion and/or blackmail here, i would think that would violate the agreement >> ami blew it here. they could barely make it three weeks, let alone three years without violating another crime. this case, this extortion charge may not have to go to court and be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. all they're going to have today is prove by a preponderance of the evidence. manafort is being proved to have lied and violated his plea agreement. so this is not going to bode well for ami. >> well, katy, it's not your fault you're reporting this stuff, but it seems like president trump came to office with this gallery of this world we didn't know about. we wouldn't know anybody about pecker who does catch and can kill or stormy daniels or karen mcdougal. this horrible rose gallery o

i'm amy goodman. president trump held a rally in miami florida monday where he addressed members of the local venezuelan community, reinforcing his support for opposition leader self-proclaimed president juan guaido and calling for the military to defect from the leadership of sitting venezuelan president nicolas maduro. pres. trump: you have the opportunity to help forge a safe and prosperous future for all of the people of venezuela. or you can choose the sececond half, cocontinuing too support maduro. if you choose this path, you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit, and no way out. you will lose. amy: trump also renewed attacks on socialism, saying it had ravaged venezuela and that it will "never happened to us." president maduro responded to trump's remarks in a televised address. >> today, donald trump was in miami with a tired rhetoric, ququestioning the rights of our country to adopt the ideas of human, christian socialism, our socialism.m. style speech.zi- amy: this comes as a new book out

i'm amy goodman.irginia's political crisis deepened wednesday with the state's top three elected officials, all democrats, facing scandals that threaten to upend their careers and virginia's democratic leadership. on wednesday, the woman who accused lieutenant governor justin fairfax of sexual assault came forward and identified herself as dr. vanessa tyson, an associate professor at scripps college in california. in a statement released through her law firm, tyson detailed a 2004 encounter at the democratic national convention in boston where she said fairfax forced her to perform oral sex. fairfax has denied the allegation of sexual assault, saying the encounter was consensual. meanwhile, virginia's attorney general mark herring resigned from his role as co-chair of the democratic attorneys general association after admitting he wore blackface at a party in the 1980's as an undergraduate at the university of virginia. his admission came just days after a racist photo emerged showing governor ralph n

i'm amy goodman. in maryland, an active duty coast guard lieutenant will appear in court today after being arrested last friday after federal investigators uncovered a domestic terror plot to kill high profile liberal figures including democratic lawmakers, media personalities, and judges. 49-year-old christopher paul hasson, a self-described white nationalist, reportedly had a stockpile of 15 guns and more than 1000 round of ammunition. his hit list included house speaker nancy pelosi, civil rights pioneer angela davis, freshman congress members alexandriaia ocasio-cortezez and ilhan omar, msnbc host chris hayes, and democratic presidential hopefuls senators kirsten gillibrand, elizabeth warren, cory booker, and kamala harris, among others. hasson was reportedly inspired by the far-right norwegian terrorist anders breivik, who in 2011 killed 77 people in a bomb attack and a mass shooting. in a draft email obtained by prosecutors, hasson wrote -- "i am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last perso

i'm amy goodman.eaders of key european countries say they recogninize oppoposition leader juan g guais venezuela's interim president monday, after an ultimatumum imposed on p president nicololas maduro to call for new elections expired sunday at midnight. the countries include france, spain, germany, britain, portugal, sweden, denmark, austria and the netherlands. this is german chancellor angela merkel. in canada, members -- merkel. >> the person we expected to initiate an election process is seen is possible. germany and others recognize him as legitimate president to oversee this fast. amy: in canada, members of the lima group issued a declaration of support for juan guaido. canadian foreign affairs minister chrystia freeland highlighted that the group however does not support the use of force to remove maduro's government. groupmembers of the lima -- guyana, mexico, and st. lucia -- did not support the declaration. guaido hailed the widespread recognition from international leaders monday. he has

, amy, amy! " ] >> okay. lem me be blu let me be blunt. for too long leaders in washington sat on the sidelines while others tried to figure out what to do about the changing economy and its impact on our lives. what to do about the disruptive nature of new technologies, income inequality, the political and geographic divides, the changing climate, the tumult in our world. for a moment let's stop seeing those obstacles as obstacles on our path. did we view the snow as an obstacle? no, we did not. let's see those obstacles as our path. this is what i mean. there are insidious forces every day that are trying to make it harder for people to vote, trying to drown out our voices with big money. it is time to organize, time to galvanize, time to take back our democracy. it's time, america. time to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn citizens united and get the dark money out of our politics. it is time to stop discriminatory actions by restoring the voting rights act. it is time to pass my bil

i'm amy goodman. democrats on the house oversight committee have opened an investigation into claims that top white house officials, including former national security adviser michael flynn, pursued a plan to open nuclear power plants in saudi arabia, despite potential conflicts of interest and objections from national security advisers. before joining trump's white house, flynn worked for the company behind the nuclear plan. top advisers warned that the export of nuclear technology could be considered illegal if used as part of a weapons program. the plan could also be in violation of a nuclear non-proliferation act. according to a report by the congressional committee, the white house may still be discussing the plan. we will have more on the story with congressmember ro khanna after headlines. teachers in west virginia celebrated a major victory tuesday when a conontested educatioion reform bilill was blocked by house delegegates jut hours into a statewide strike protesting the legislation. the bil

amy: while u.s. medidia is sprit screen today on nonorth korea ad michchael cohen, tension is rapidly escalating between the nuclear armed rivals india and pakistan. pakistan claims it shut down to military jets and captured a pair of indian jet pilots. this comes a day after india carried out airstrikes inside pakistan for the first time in's 1971. the physisicistto and nuclear expert zia mian. then we go to speak with media benjamin -- medea benjamin. then to r. kelly. after years of allegations, the famed singer has been arrested for sexually abusing four women and girls. >> each of these witnesses described a decades long system of abuse by mr. kelly of underaged girls in conduct that criminal, and is indicative of someone that should never walk f free another day in his life. amy: we will speak to dream hampton, executive director of the explosive "surviving r. kelly" documentary. it helped renew w calls for r. kelly to be investigated. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

, amy, amy. she clearly has no idea what to do with it. she eventually cuts them off and basically says to stop cheering. this is not a politician who basks in the applause. although maybe it is just hard to bask in anything when it is snowing on you that hard. so a few things about senator amy klobuchar joining the race. first, i'm not going to lie. i think it matters she's funny. that's part of how she gets things done and part of how the country will get to know who she is. i'm banking people will like that in a candidate. she's not the slickest candidate in the world. she's not the most professionally packaged candidate in the world but funny sets her apart in lots of ways and matters alongside that that she does have a record of getting things done at home and in washington. on the other hand, it's going to matter and probably going to be expensive in building up donations she would run a national campaign. it will matter she's not nationally well-known, not yet. she doesn't start with big n

i'm amy goodman.ongressional negotiators haveve reached a tentative agreement to prevent another government shutdown that could begin as soon midnight friday. $1.4eal includes nearly billion to build 55 miles of new barriers at the border. as part of the deal, democrats dropped a demand to cap the number of immigrant prisoners already living in the u.s. detained by i.c.e at 16,500 per day. the deal still needs the backing of the house and the president. the newsws came as trump and former democratic candidate for senate beto o'rourke held dueling rallies in the border town of el paso, texas. trump promised his supporters he would build a wall while mocking the size of o'rourke's rally. at the event, a trump supporter wearing a "make america great again" hat attacked a bbc cameraman. bbc reporter eleanor montague tweeted, "the crowd had been whipped up into a frenzy against the media by trump and other speakers all night." meanwhwhe, beto o'o'rourke, who many believe will launch a 2020 presidential bid

the key will likely be the demand made by ami's lawyer.n ami's side they will argue look this is what lawyers do all the time. i've done it hundreds of time. you send a letter or e-mail saying tomorrow we'll file this attach complaint, start a lawsuit against you unless you resolve this case today. that's something lawyers do every single day. >> that's much different from what we've read. >> that's right. that's where it probably breaks down. lawyers are demanding settlement otherwise they will file a lawsuit, something they are legally privileged to do. on the other hand, if, for example, ami got these photographs in an ill-gotten way and threatening to release something harmful and embarrassing it falls closer to the definition of extortion under federal and state law. >> this is one of those days where you need a good defense attorney. he makes something so completely illegal legal. it makes you question everything you've known up to this point. >> that's right. >> if i ever get in trouble -- >> we got about three or four cases, we're

what was bezos looking for on ami? >> why did ami and picker sort of respond so maniacally.t seems they are desperately fearful of something. is it really just about some of their stories are politically motivated? duh. so that is the $64,000 question. >> the president remained sound. asked by reporters if the president was aware of the allegation. here's what he said. >> i'm not sure if he's aware of it. and year not going to get into something between jeff bezos and a tabloid magazine. >> president trump has not been shy about sharing his opinion. the president tweeted so sorry to hear the news about jeff ebozo being taken down by a competitor who's reporting i understand is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the amazon "washington post." hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better more -- he's comparing the "washington post" with the "national enquirer" and i can't stop laughing. it's insane. who believes this crap? >> it's a long way beyond parity. he's been saying that national enquirer deserves the pulitzer prize and ragging on the "w

ami covered bezos.u are not confused, you don't understand what is going on here. what was the thing demanded? the favorable coverage a thing of value defined under federal law? probably. it is not easy analysis. it is not as easily detailed like a bar of gold. it doesn't do so easily. it is not a slam dunk. >> let's go with something we know already is in existence. ami is under a non prosecution agreement with the southern district of new york. could this be a breach of contract? >> it is standard language in non prosecution agreements that the defendant commit no future crimes. after all, the government doesn't want to get in the business of giving people a license to impunity. this is standard language. if ami committed a crime, then they can violate that non prosecution agreement. covering jeff bezos is probably not a crime. taking photographs of jeff bezos in public and publishing them is not a crime. however, that demand that was made just within the last couple weeks, for something in exchange f

ami has some defenses. by acknowledging that they knew these e-mails were sent that will limit them more. >> shepard: then there's this nonprosecution agreement. the federal government said to ami and david pecker, friend of the president, come clean or all that you did regarding these catch and kill stories, the patchy frosts that they admitted test were a campaign finance violation. as part of the agreement they made the admissions but weren't prosecuted for it. according to that document and agreement, if they commit a crime within three years, the whole nonprosecution agreement is off and everything can become public. would that hold up in this case? would all of that become public and might they be pros cuted if they're found to commit a crime here? >> absolutely. these types of clauses in the federal plea agreements have very common. the agreement is that the person entering into it or the entity entering into it will not commit any further criminal misconduct. they're saying in exchange for this bene

why was that so, so important to ami? we can only speculate on it, but as with other aspects of this sorted russia/trump story, you start pulling the thread and more and more comes out. in the bigger picture, the fact that mr. bezos is fighting back to what some scholars have called sex tortion, this idea that you take texts or pictures, you hack them or find them some where and then you threaten people in exchange for something. that hurts a lot of people. it hurts people without a lot of money and resources in the way mr. bezos has. it's led to severe tragedies for the idea being, i'll be humiliated, i'll be shamed and -- that bigger narrative is perhaps an important one. >> scott, you tweeted -- yes? >> just a quick point on that. it would be enough this drama between jeff bezos and david pecker over the question of extortion and blackmail, but to me that's the secondary story. the bigger story is what bezos insin yates in that post when he effectively suggests that president trump and/or saudi arabia might be behind t

this is very serious for ami and pecker. >> ami, you know, deal involving the southern district had everythingwomen, you know, donald trump and all of that stuff. >> that's right. >> it's amazing how so much of this is either intertwined or very complicated -- >> right, and bezos is not -- look, bezos is not out of his mind when he makes the connections that, number one, ami has borrowed a lot of money from the saudis. they published that dossier with the public relations thing. that he published that. trump hates bezos. pecker and trmp were very close. you know, if it looks like a duck and smells like a duck, it could be a duck. it could be. the mere fact that the potential exists is just incredible. >> richard, avery, thank you so much. we never have enough time. that was so good. >> an hour, fred. >> we need a whole hour. avery, richard, all right, thank you so much. >> take care. >> we have so much more straight ahead in the newsroom right after this. remember that degree you got in taxation? (danny) of course you don't because you didn't! your job isn't doing hard work... ...it's making t

according to the deal, should ami commit any crime subsequent to the date of this agreement, ami shallhereafter be subject to prosecution for any criminal violation of which this u.s. attorney's office has knowledge. in a statement, ami responded, american media believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story of mr. bezos. nonetheless in light of the nature of the allegations pub d accomplished by mr. bezos, they should investigate the claims. we have asked cynthia to remain with us for a hot second while we talk about this story. dual question for you. could you have charged this case for extortion, blackmail against ami, absent the cooperation agreement, in the clear and do you see a charge in light of the cooperation agreement? >> that's probably not just a dual question. >> sorry about that. >> that's all right. well, first off, yes, it looks like there's possibly an extortion charge. but it's complicated by the agreement. the agreement says not only can you not commit any other crimes but guess what, when we ask you questions, you have to answer them. and w

i'm amy goodman.sident trump delivered the state of the union address from the house chamber tuesday night. in the speech, he repeated his calls for a border wall, referred to a quote "tremendous onslaught" of migrants allegedly trying to get into the country. president trump: in the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall but the proper wall never got built. i will getet it built. amy: trump however did not declare a national emergency over the border wall, as some had speculated. trump also addressed the situation in venezuela, where the u.s. has been accused of orchestrating the overthrow of sitting president nicolas maduro. president trump: two weeks ago, the united states officially recognized venezuela's new president. address that lasted nearly an hour and a half, trump also warned democrats against what he termed "ridiculous partisan investigations", which he said could hinder american prosperity, and attacked abortion protections recently passed in new york. and proposed in vir

and ami agreed to cooperate with prosecutors rather than face their own charges. but that agreement may now be in jeopardy because it required ami not to commit any additional crimes. and legal experts say the company may have done just that. >> ami's behavior here was reckless at best and possibly criminal. and they risk having this agreement ripped up. >> reporter: ami insists it acted lawfully. now federal prosecutors must decide whether they agree. nbc news, new york. >>> now to the fireworks on capitol hill today. the acting attorney general, matthew whitaker, facing a barrage from democrats over his role overseeing robert le anything, he's told the president about the investigation. we get all of it from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: the house judiciary hearing was unusual. part confirmation hearing matt whitaker never had for a job he's about to leave. >> we're all trying to figure out, who are you? where did you come from? and how the heck did you become the head of the department of justice? >> reporter: for democrats, topic "a" wa

we will ruin your efforts from ami. ted bridis said, we were warned explicitly by insiders that they had hired investigators to dig into the backgrounds of the journalists of "the daily beast," and the member of its staff were threatened by ami. this seems like a practice. >> i never even heard of any of those allegations. i am not aware of any attempt by employees of ami to blackmail or to commit any crime at all. >> are you worried at all that these revelations have put the cooperation agreement of mr. pecker with the southern district in jeopardy? >> absolutely not. we have an agreement with the -- an understanding with the southern district. i can't comment on it. i am not concerned that any of this -- >> have you spoken since this came out? >> i'm not going to comment on any contacts with the southern district. >> another billionaire brought down gawker. are you worried that jeff bezos will bring down "the national enquirer"? >> i can't comment on that. we just want bezos to acknowledge the results of that investig

is ami still doing trump's dirty work? what is going on here? >> i don't foe.s seem to be that ami is either doing the saudis' dirty work, president trump's dirty work, o or a combination of the two. we know that trump hates bezos. we foe that know he attacks hi t frequently on twitter. he hates a lot of reporting at the "washington post." we also know that the saudis are not very happy with the "washington post" because, frankly, the saudis killed one of their opinion columnists and they have been incredibly aggressive in investigating and getting to the bottom of what happened in that case. and on a parallel track, ami has reportedly been sucking up to the saudis, perhaps because they have some kind of financial relationship or want one. so, you know, there's a lot of unanswered questions about this and what the motivation here was, but just to go back to the question to renato, i think to a normal layperson, this was extortion. right? this was you do "x" or we're going to expose these pictures. >> and they did it in writing, though. allegedly. >> they did it