in an online post, mr bezos claims he was told to stop an investigation into how the magazine obtainedges. the publishers of the national enquirer have yet to comment. authorities in indonesia say they found 193 men from bangladesh locked in a business premises on the island of sumatra. they'd been lured there by human traffickers with the promise of getting to malaysia. the men have now been taken to an immigration detention centre and will be sent back to bangladesh. jay z says the arrest of rapper 21 savage was "an absolute travesty" and has hired a lawyer to help him fight deportation. the atla nta—based rapper, a british citizen, is being held by us officials who say he travelled to the us as a child and has been living on an expired visa. instagram, one of the world's biggest social media platforms, has told the bbc that it will act swiftly to remove all graphic images of self—harm. the decision follows the prominent case of 14—year—old molly russell — who took her own life in 2017. her father said that images she viewed on the platform had been partly responsible for her death.

mr bezos and his wife mackenzie said they were divorcing last month. today it lost 160,000 customers in the final three months of last year. it's also cut its profit forecast after a european court ruled out a uk industry—wide subsidy. in november, the firm also suffered a set back when it called off its plan to merge its household supply arm with npower‘s. the government's housing planning system has come under sharp criticism from the public spending watchdog the national audit office. 300,000 new homes a year are planned from the mid 2020s onwards. but the nao says the government is unable to demonstrate it is meeting housing demand effectively because the standard assessment method it uses has weaknesses. one of the "big six" energy giants sse has seen a sharp drop in customer numbers and has cut its full—year earnings forecast. the firms says challenging market conditions as well as a proce cap on bills have taken their toll. it had tried to sell its retail arm off to rival npower last year but those talks collapsed in december. some analysts doub

asa private communications of mr bezos. opjeff 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 lauren sanchez. but rather than go down that line, mr bezos instead decided to publish this extraordinary message where he laid out exactly what he says is happening. we haven't heard yet from ami comedy publisher of the national enquirer, to be precisely what they have to say the thing. the search for missing student libby squire continued last night, as a man arrested on suspicion of abducting her remains in police custody. libby was last seen in the early hours of last friday morning, following a night out. 0ur reporter sarah corker is in hull for us this morning. sarah, bring us right up to date. yes, more than 70 officers have been involved in this week—long search for libby. and over the last 36 hours the focus of this investigation has moved to a property on this street in hull. it was on wednesday night when a

in his message, mr mr bezos wrote...y 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 norfolk are being threatened by tiny plastic pellets called nurdles. researchers says the beaches in the north of the county, which are important breeding grounds, are covered with the potentially toxic pellets. seals are known to ingest the nurdles through the food they eat. mike liggins reports. the seal colony at horsey on the norfolk coast. we already know seals are getting entangled in plastic. but what effect are micro plastics having on these animals? scientists f

mr. bezos and his wife of 25 years upon the publication of that story announced the dissolution of their marriage and their impending divorce, and the president reacted to all of that with glee. the president said publicly, quote, so sorry to hear the news about jeff bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting i understand is far more accurate than the reporting in his newspaper the amazon "washington post." hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better and more responsible hands. so it's the president delighting in mr. bezos' divorce from his wife of 25 years, delighting in the role of "the national enquirer" in bringing that about and saying out loud that he should lose the paper. "the washington post" shouldn't be in his hands. look what "the national enquirer" turned up about him. before long there were signs that perhaps this story existed on more than one level at once. a report that bezos himself had launched a private investigation into what was behind this "national enqui

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 the political motivation for going after bezos because they don't like the coverage that they've been receiving by his paper, "the washington post." now that's an insinuation, it's not an allegati

mr. bezos wrote about the magazin's owners, ami.mbarrassment ami couldause me takes a backseat because there is a more rtimt matter involved here. if i can't stand up to this extortion, how many people can?" and this is where it gets murky. jeff bezos is also the owner of the washington post, whose nfpolitical coverageiated donald trump. the owner of the national inquirer is frvid becker, a nd of donald trump who has done specialavors for him in e past. was this a tabloid story, or was it a political hit job on a trump enemy? just before the election, karen mcdougal, a former playboy model wanted to go public with , alletions she had had a long-standing affair with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it, knowas catch and kill. ami have said they will launch a thoroughga inveson into mr. bezos' claims. this magazine is on the defensive it has not way before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel bbc news, washington.

bezos "mr. er and his company have also been investigated for various actions they've taken on behalf of the saudi governme." since bezos' post, journalists-- including ronan farrow, say they too have been blacailed by a.m.i., after reporting on the president's relationship with a.m.i. in response, american media inc. says it "acted lawfully" while reporting the story, and said it ould investigate the matter. for mothis, i'm joined by jim rutenberg, who is following all these delopments for the "new york times." jim, welcome back to the "newshour". you heard there jeff bezos has called t called it black mail. you have been talking to a lot t doeople reporting this ou which know if that's true? >> the truth is we don't really know whether that's true it's a big deal. the allegations are quite serious. a.m.i.'s future depends on it. its officers ability to stay out of criminal hot wates dependent on that question. theyre definitely in an uncomfortable place here. they were seeking to trade somethin

mr bezos investigation into how the texts were leaked through suspicion onto 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. also coming up tonight we get the latest from the berlin film festival. and david leavitt's will join us from where it's all happening. the red carpet the legendary international film festival we'll be taking you to two world premieres two european dramas competing for the top prize bear. 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 billionaire 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 . prove a tabloid scandal or a politically motivated attack jeff bezos has accused the publisher linked to president donald trump of blackmail in a post p

in his message, mr mr bezos wrote...f 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 request for comment. dave lee, bbc news, in san francisco. a former president of the royal college of physicians has been appointed to lead a major review into the link between drugs and violent crime. dame carol black has been asked by the home office to examine if the recent rise in serious violence and knife crime is being fuelled by the expanding market in drugs, particularly cocaine. let's have a look at some of the key figures around drugs and violent crime

mr bezos wrote about the magazine's owners, ami...s and he's trying to control the narrative here, which is somewhat embarrassing to him, but in this case he looks like a hero in doing so, because he's pushing back on a nefarious publication that always takes advantage of its subjects. and this is where it gets murky. jeff bezos is also the owner of the washington post, whose political coverage has infuriated donald trump. the owner of the national enquirer is david pecker, a close personal friend of the president, who's done special ops for him in the past. so was this just a tabloid story, or was it a political hitjob on a trump enemy? just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougal, wanted to go public with allegations that she'd had a long—standing affair with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they'll launch a thorough investigation into mr bezos' claims. this famous m

mr bezos wrote about the magazine's owners, ami... and this is where it gets murky. rage has infuriated donald trump. the owner of the national enquirer is david pecker, a close personalfriend of the president, who has done special ops for him in the past. so was this just a tabloid story, or was it a political hit job on a trump enemy? just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougall, wanted to go public with long—standing allegations that she had had an affair with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they will launch an investigation into the claims by mr bezos. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it has not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the oscar—nominated actor albert finney has died at the age of 82 after a short illness. he began his career at the royal shakespeare company before forging a reputation as one of britain's

mr bezos wrote about the magazine's owners, ami...wn hands and he's trying to control the narrative here, which is somewhat embarrassing to him, but in this case he looks like a hero in doing so, because he's pushing back on a nefarious publication that always takes advantage of its subjects. and this is where it gets murky. jeff bezos is also the owner of the washington post, whose political coverage has infuriated donald trump. the owner of the national enquirer is david pecker, a close personalfriend of the president, who has done special ops for him in the past. so was this just a tabloid story, or was it a political hit job on a trump enemy? just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougal, wanted to go public with allegations that she'd had a long—standing affair with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they'll launch a thorough investigation into mr bezos‘ claims. this

mr bezos wrote about the magazine's owners, ami... and this is where it gets murky. also the owner of the washington post whose political coverage has infuriated donald trump. the owner of the national enquirer is david pecker, a close personal friend of the president, who has done special ops for him in the past. so was this just a tabloid story, or was it a political hit job on a trump enemy? just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougall, wanted to go public with long—standing allegations that she had had an affair with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. so was this just a tabloid story, or was it a political hit a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they will launch an investigation into the claims by mr bezos. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it has not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. theresa may is in ireland to meet prime minister leo varadkar in an ef

mr bezos, he is saying that since it has become the owner of the washington post newspaper, which hasecome a political target and because of that is, he may be under increased scrutiny and potential attacks like the one we have seen. i should point out at this point, that we have not heard any response yet from the publisher of the national enquirer, and so we are not yet heard their side of this remarkable story but jeff bezos certainly believing that his personal life is becoming entwined with the reputation of the newspaper he owns, the washington post. more to come out on this quite possibly. thank you very much for that. thank you to you for being with us. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: woody allen launches legal action against amazon studios, accusing it of breaching their contract by refusing to distribute his latest film. there's mr mandela. mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims sa

mr. bezos and his wife of 25 years upon that publication of that story announced the disillusionimpending divorce an president reacted to that with glee. the president said so sorry to hear the news about jeff bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting is more accurate than the reporting in his newspaper, the amazon washington post. hopefully the paper will be placed in better and more responsible hands. so it's the president delighting in mr. bezos' divorce of 25 years and delighting in the role of the nation"national inquirer saying he is losing the paper. "the washington post" shouldn't be in his hands. look what "the national inquirer" turned up about him and signs perhaps this story existed on more than one level at once. report that bezos himself launched a private investigation what was behind this "national inquirer" story and his private text messages. yesterday "the washington post" had this headline, was tabloid expo just juicy gossip or a political hit job? if it many was

so what is mr bezos saying about the national enquirer?n point is american media at the national enquirer and launched an investigation into mr bezos and his extramarital affairs. mr bezos launched a counter investigation and said or at least his investigators said or at least his investigators said they had strong lead suggesting it was political. according to mr bezos, he alleged the american media mnational enquirer said they were published revealing photographs if you don't stop seeing it as political. that is where we are now. let's cross over to new york. give us some let's cross over to new york. give us some background on this. what's so interesting is the political and business relationships going on here. let's start with american media and the national enquirer. he is it aligned to? if you need any kind of gossip magazine in the usa you have probably read one of their publications, they publish the national enquirer but they also own star, us weekly, various gossip filled publications. it can trace its history back to 19205 but

chance the immunity deal could be turned up which is a huge, huge problem and i would be shocked if mr. bezossn't file a lawsuit against mr. packer and his company as well and potentially, hulk hogan, peter. neil: the one thing that confuses me, it's a legitimate story that the world's richest man, the text and everything else, fooling around, that would have been a legitimate story regardless wouldn't it, how is bezos then going to try to make the extortion lead, what are they going to use? >> well, i think the inquirer went one step too far because yes, it's a valid story that he's cheating on his wife and there are these texts, the big problem comes if, indeed, what mr. bezos allege is true that the national inquire in effect threatened him and said, if you do not kill this story and in effect come forward and says it had nothing to do with political reasons we will publish photos and naked photo, that's potentially extortion and that's potentially a crime and that's what has mr. bezos so upset. neil: you're a lawyer, you will point significance to me, the inquirer editor, his involvement

at the time of the recent allegations made by mr. bezosit was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him nonetheless, in light of the nature of the allegations published by mr. bezos, the board convened and determined that it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims upon completion of that investigation, the board will take whatever appropriate action is necessary >> all right statesman-like i don't know confounding here how about -- what do we think about the s.e.c. getting involved are they trying to drive amazon stock down >> why do you say that >> well, i mean, has a negative impact on stock. >> who is trying to -- oh, american media >> i wonder if they're short the stock. >> i will defer to you on this why would this have any sort of impact other than the distracting nature which, by the way, doesn't seem to -- that it would have on the executive. >> isn't the issue the dumping of the stock by his soon to be ex-wife? the stock is down huge on that >> we have asked that question ever since his original twee

mr bezos wrote about the magazine's owners, ami... and this is where it gets murky. wner of the washington post whose political coverage has infuriated donald trump. the owner of the national enquirer is david pecker, a close personalfriend of the president, who has done special ops for him in the past. so was this just a tabloid story, or was it a political hit job on a trump enemy? just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougall, wanted to go public with long—standing allegations that she had had an affair with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they will launch an investigation into the claims by mr bezos. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it has not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's speak tojulia manchester — a reporter at the the hill. thank you forjoining us. tellers about these accusations byjeff bezos of extorti

they say nonetheless, in light of the nature of the allegations published by mr. bezos, the board has convened and determined that it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claim. so i will tell you that legal experts essentially say that american media's lawyers can claim that the e-mails that they sent mr. bezos are basically trying to resolve a dispute. liz: oh, please. please. >> but there's a catch. what would be criminal without any shades of gray is if american media somehow stole or hacked, somehow got those photos in an otherwise illegal manner, then the conversation is over. in the meantime, there are many lawyers who say listen, they can at least argue their point but if it's found that the photos or texts came from stolen material or a hack, ami has a problem. liz: well, it's an obvious -- it's a shake-down not of money but of reputation, and when you put in an e-mail, as this dylan howard editor from ami says, if you don't back away and say there isn't anything political and we're done looking at it, how you got the pictures, then we'll release thes

nonetheless, in light of the nature of the allegations published by mr. bezos, the board hasne pro claims. e company will thoroughly investigate these extortion claims. to your point, there is a lot for our eagles to talk about. neil: indeed. >> at least some back and forth, could be extruded as we're ls, hacked or gotten illegale tr way. neil: that is not easy thing to do. it has been done, but, all that easy to do. let's get the read on this. does jeffs bezos have a case? he is putting reputation on the line and personal embarassment when he releases pictures and texts. keep in mind "the national enquirer" committed to do a story and released the story two days before formally separated from his wife of 25 years. they will argue this was already baked into the cake. be that as it may, let's get the legal read on it with emily campano, our own charlie gasparino. deirdre helping us as well. deirdre, the line stood out to me, the line quoting "the enquirerer" editor, i will deal with you, emailing to the bezos team. it would give us no pleasure to send this emai

what happened is the "national enquirer" published a big expose showing that mr. bezosnship with lauren sanchez, a tv anchor, and they published this and in the investigation they obtained 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 wa

bezos refused to give in to the blackmail in a blog post titled "no thank you, mr. pecker." ( laughter ) which is exacly how i feel about seeing jeff bezos' penis. ( laughter ) but thank you. thank you but no thank you. ( applause ) how kind. ( piano riff ) how very generous. here's the backstory: last month, bezos announced he and his wife of 25 years, mackenzie, were getting a divorce. days later, the enquirer published a front page expose that included pictures of bezos and his mistress, and embarrassing text messages like "i love you, alive girl." ew. i'm not sure what that means. "alive" is not a pet name, it's really a prerequisite for dating. that's why you never see a candy heart that says, "you're breathing." ( laughter ) bezos was understandably upset and wanted to know how they got all that private information, so he asked his security team to investigate with whatever budget he needed to pursue the facts. and the budget already found somebody, the brother of bezos' mistress lauren sanchez, michael, a trump supporter who is friendly with trumpworld "dirty

if this is found to be a crime and they are looked at and prosecuted for threatening mr. bezoss a very well could be, that unravels the entirety of that agreement. subjects them to the underlying campaign finance issue for which the feds said you get a pass, help us. it subjects them to new liability as it relates to this new potential crime. the direct answer to your question. the actual ramifications are huge in the event prosecutors decide to pursue this act. >> i'm sure this is not the end. we'll have you back to discuss further. thank you very much, look forward to it. >> thanks, ana. >>> major fireworks as the president's acting a.g. goes toe to toe with newly empowered democrats in the house. >> where did you come from, and how the heck did you become the head of the department of justice? hopefully you can help me work through this confusion. >> well, congressman -- >> mr. whittaker that was a statement not a question. i assume you know the difference. live from the starlite lounge. ♪ one plus one equals too little too late ♪ ♪ a sock-a-bam-boom ♪ who's in the room? ♪ l

he was told inquirer says it will investigate the claims but there are also political overtones mr bezos of the washington post which is often criticized president trump the national enquirer zona meanwhile is a fervent trump supporter. to prove a tabloid scandal or a politically motivated attack jeff bezos has accused the publisher link to president donald trump of blackmail and a post published on the website media. last month after the amazon c.e.o. and his wife announced that divorce the national enquirer published intimate messages revealing an extramarital affair eager to know how the paper came to possess these messages has also hired private investigators he suspected it was driven by dirty politics his suspicions grew stronger when he says the national enquirer parent company am i threatened to publish photos of him if you didn't make a public statement saying its previous coverage of him was not politically motivated well that got my attention but not in the way the likely any passionate. i could cause me takes a backseat because there's a much more important matter involved he

ami saying while it negotiated with mr. bezosgood faith, the board convened determined that it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims and take whatever action is necessary now, ami recently entered into a nonprosecution agreement with the justice department over its involvement in hush payments aimed at helping then candidate donald trump under that agreement they can't violate any laws for three years, reports now saying that federal prosecutors in the southern district of new york are looking into whether "national enquirer" violated that agreement in the dealings with bezos shares of amazon down about 5% from january 9th that was the day that bezos first announced the divorce and back then the company stated that bezos would, quote, remain fully focused and engaged in all aspects of amazon. but today, hard to not think that this is not a distraction for him, at least in the short term guys >> robert, i guess this, of course, adds to the details of the divorce which could distract him. where do we stand on that?

the washington post, which is owned by mr bezos, has been critical of the president.e grows on the us, china to forge trade deal. top business figures are worried about the consequences of failure in talks before a march deadline. and a little bit more on the asian business use later on. asian shares have been down on those trade concerns. i will see you soon. the rover europe sends to mars next year will bear the name of dna pioneer, rosalind franklin. at least 30,000 people took part in a competition to name the vehicle. rebecca morelle reports. i am here at a mock—up mars where this prototype rover has been put through its paces. it's designed to roam across the rocky martian terrain. now, this mission is nearly complete. everything is almost ready but one vital element has been missing and that's been the name of the rover, and today it's been unveiled as the rosalind franklin rover. to explain why, i'm joined by the british astronaut tim peake. tim, so why is this rosalind the rover, why the name? rosalind franklin, a great british scientist who did so much to un

' and nonetheless, in light of the nature of the allegation published by mr. bezoshe board has convened to determine that it should probably and thoroughly investigate the claims. legal experts say american media lawyer can claim the e-mails between lawyers and trying to resolve a dispute, find a compromise, what would be criminal, without a shadow of the doubt, is that american media stole the photos in the text, hacked somehow or otherwise somehow illegally obtained them. david, lots of fodder for the lawyers for a while to come. david: interesting stuff. deidra, thank you. let's bring an attorney and former federal prosecutor doug. doug does bezos have any case? >> look, let's talk this factor. extortion you have to threaten physical harm or harm to reputation and it can be in exchange for money which is a more prevalent one, pay me $10,000 or say you did x, y or z or something else of value. break it down. they are saying we will publish these pictures unless you step forward and say this investigation or this breaking of the story wasn't for political reasons.

nonetheless in light of the allegations published by mr. bezoshe bored has convened and determined it should promptly and fairly investigate the claims. legal experts that i've been speaking with today, they say american media's lawyers can claim that emails between their lawyers and jeff bezos are trying to resolve a dispute, trying to find a compromise but what many people i have spoken with would be criminal clearly if american media somehow stole or hacked the photos or the texts or somehow otherwise illegally obtained them. so there is enough material here for a few legal disputes for a while, charles. in the meantime though, separate but related, i wanted to let you know "the washington post" is reporting that amazon is reconsidering its plans to build a campus headquarters in long island city amid opposition from local elected officials. many as we know have complained about the roughly $2.8 billion in state and city tax incentives and aid to the corporate giant. governor cuomo said, we have to make amazon a reality, i'm quoting him direct

nonetheless in light of the allegations published by mr. bezoshe board has convened and deemed it shut promptly and fairly investigate the claims. legal experts say american media's lawyers can claim the emails, trying to be their argument are trying to resolve a dispute or trying to find a compromise. what would be criminal without a shadow of a doubt is if american media somehow stole or hacked the photos or somehow otherwise illegally obtained them. that connell, according to every single lawyer i spoken with today, would be a game-changer. connell: deirdre, hang in with this. >> sure. connell: we bring in an attorney as well. deirdre said, hacking photos, we know that is a crime. there is a lot to unpack here besides that, what bezos was talking about. making accusation of extortion. maybe we can back up and slow down a little bit and define extortion in legal terms. if bezos, debra, represent me make the case i have been a victim of extortion could you make it from what we know now? >> i don't think we can make a case of extortion. he is acc

in the nature of the allegations published by mr. bezos.ld author rely 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. first it looks like there's possibly an extortion charge, but it's complicated by the agreement which says not only can you not commit any other crimes, but when we ask you questions, you have to answer them. and when we ask you for documents, you have to give them. when we tell you to come to a meeting, you have to be there. and if this whole thing blows up, everything you told us is still going to be admissible. they're in a big heap of trouble at ami with this agreement. and the -- cohen's going to jail. what they plead guilty to is a felony, because it exceeds the $25,000 limit. they're not

quote, american media believes it acted lay-offully in reporting the story of mr. bezos. time of the allegations made by bezos it was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him. nonetheless in light of the allegations published by mr. bezos the board has convened and determined it should investigate the claims. the board will take whatever action is appropriate. back with me, jeffrey toobin. the board which david pecker is on is going to investigate his own behavior. >> you've got it. a four-man board. pecker is one of the four board members. the board will now figure out who did what wrong in this case, if anybody. i guess we have to wait and see if this is a real legitimate investigation or a smokescreen. >> do you know what you do if you want to know? hire outside counsel. >> exactly. the statement is noticeably silent on that. there have been recent examples at, for example, fox news where fox appointed legitimate outsiders of the paul weiss law firm to investigate sexual harassment there and came up with, you know, a scathing report that led to people'

nevertheless, in light of the nature of the allegations published by mr. bezos, the board has convened and determined it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims. so neil, as you know, there's lots of fodder here on legal ground. we'll see what happens. in the meantime, most people say that think bezos can remain focused on leading his company. back to you. >> neil: he's saying i'm going to investigate how they got this stuff. >> exactly, a month ago. >> neil: and they were getting antsy about that. you know, why don't you cease and desist? we have more stuff. >> that's right. >> neil: that's when he said the hell with it. >> that's what he did. that's his claim. when they started to threaten him by releasing more texts and more photos, he said okay. i'm going to publish them myself. he apparently took issue with the fact that according to bezos, the national inquirer wanted him to put out a statement saying he felt like the claims were not politically motivated. a claim he didn't want to make. >> neil: that's where the old extortion thing came in.

that's the subtext that mr. bezosbe suggesting in the so-called crumbs that he's leaving for witnesses to pick up and take a look at. and the southern district is going to do it. we're going to find out what happened here. >> shan, could this also constitute a violation of a deal that federal prosecutors made late last year with the parent company ami? it granted them freedom from criminal prosecution essentially if they kept their nose clean while at the same time providing substantial important assistance to the government. >> it very much could jeopardize that, anderson. as you say, they have to keep their nose clean. being charged with another crime would be tremendously problematic. if that happens, i think that deal is off. so they're really in a very bad situation here. i mean if that deal is off, they have already admitted to their complicity in those crimes there with the campaign finance crimes cohen was charged with, so they're right back facing those. they have no defense to that. on top of that, you've go

nine images, and they list, eight shirtless mr. bezos wearing his wedding ring, wearing either tight black cargo pants or shorts and his se semi-erect manhood is penetrating the zipper of said garment. another one, a full-length body selfie wearing just a pair of tight white boxer briefs with his phone in his left hand while wearing his we hadding ring. so -- >> we've gone from ami to tmi. >> very good! >> thank you! >> whoever wrote this is clearly a frustrated poet. >> nether regions, manhood. >> it's to embarrass. it's to embarrass him. does this seem like the "national enquirer" is just going after one of the president's enemies? >> well, that's the big question. and it's hard not to conclude that, when what they want him to do is to release a statement saying it's not politically motivated. they want him -- what are the terms under which they will not publish this information or which they were trying to extort him with is him saying there's no political dimension to this, right? but i think he's done something interesting by gettin

and at the time of the recent allegations made by mr. bezosons to resolve all matters with him. complicating matters further though is this revelation from "the washington post" reporter having to do with bezos' investigator. >> he does not believe jeff bezos' phone was hacked. he thinks it's possible that a government entity might have gotten hold of his text messages. >> which government entity? we don't know the answer to that question. but after bezos detailed ami's relationship with saudi arabia in his blog post last night, former cia director john brennan theorized, quote -- i have no doubt given "the washington post's" relentless and appropriate condom nation of mohammad bin salman for the killing of khashoggi, mbs would try to discredit, embarrass and hurt bezos financially if he could. what a mess. joining us at the conversation the perfect person to untangle this web, the political director of "the root." have on it. >> this is a house of cards going on. >> people got too much time. >> too much time. if there's anybody who i believe,

and at the time of the recent allegations made by mr. bezos matters with him. this as nbc news reports, according to a person familiar with the investigation, federal prosecutors are looking into whether ami violated a september agreement connected to its relationship with donald trump. all right. so joining us right now our msnbc political analyst, kimberly atkins, msnbc contributor for npr out of boston, and charlie savage, msnbc contributor and washington correspondent for the "new york times" katie is back with us. katie, let's start with you. the legal aspect here. is someone? legal jeopardy and why? >> ami, if i were them, i would be very nervous. there is a non-prosecution agreement they entered boo a few months ago with the southern district of new york. it regarded the michael cohen case. it participated in campaign finance violations to benefit who? donald trump. so why is that relevant? well, think about what angle is being accused of by jeff bezos at this time. he said there is a political angle to what has happened to him to is th

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 messages, th

issued a statement today saying they acted lawfully and at the time of the recent allegations made by mr. bezos it was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him. they say they plan to convene the board to investigation. >> linsey, thank you. >>> to other news and the fiery showdown on capitol hill. matt whitaker was gilled today about the mueller investigation. he was asked did he talk to president trump and does he think it's a witch hunt. here's abc's pierre thomas. >> reporter: on capitol hill today, house democrats tried to put the nation's top law enforcement official on trial. >> 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? >> well, i mean, congressman -- >> mr. whitaker, that was a statement, not a question. >> reporter: democrats grilling acting attorney general matthew whitaker on the mueller investigation. whitaker pushing back. >> in your capacity as acting attorney general, have you ever been asked to approve any request or action to be taken by the special counsel? >> mr.