Brexit Backstop: Theresa May to Meet Ireland's Leo Varadkar in bid to Break Deadlock; Humanitarian Trucks Stuck at a Colombian Border; Jeff Bezos Claims He's Been Blackmailed by One of the President's Closest Allies
GEORGE HOWELL, JOURNALIST: Humanitarian aid stuck at the border. Venezuelans need it but their government won't let the convoys through.</s>NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: No big breakthrough for Theresa May in Brussels, but E.U. negotiators indicate they are interested in what her rival Jeremy Corbyn is proposing.</s>HOWELL: And the world's richest man says he was being blackmailed and it wasn't money, Jeff Bezos accusing a powerful of ally of the U.S. president of an extortion attempt.</s>ALLEN: We will get into that this hour. Hello, everyone. Welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.</s>HOWELL: I'm George Howell. From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, Newsroom starts right now. Around the world, good day to you, we start this hour with the lifesaving aid that has reached the Venezuelan border but hasn't reached the people who need it most.</s>ALLEN: U.S. trucks carrying those supplies are currently stuck at a Colombian border town. This after President Nicolas Maduro government blocked a key bridge connecting the two countries. A U.S. official says he hopes Mr. Maduro will change his mind.</s>ELLIOTT ABRAMS, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON VENEZUELA: There are dire needs. And I think many people, again, in the Venezuelan army feel those needs for themselves and their families. So we're hopeful that that at least initial decision on the part of Maduro can be turned around. If he sees a real demand on the part of the people of Venezuela, let it in. That's all we're asking. Let it in.</s>HOWELL: This map gives you a lay of the land of what is happening in the town of Cucuta, Colombia. You see aid trucks from the United States are there. That is near the Tienditas Bridge, which was blocked by the government. Our Isa Soares has been tracking all the developments from the Simon Bolivar Bridge just a few kilometers away.</s>ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm at the Simon Bolivar Bridge and you're seeing everyone here in a rather hurried pace, because at 8:00, that bridge at the border between Venezuela and Colombia closes. Behind me is Colombia. In front of me is Venezuela. It will open again at 6 o'clock in the morning. People are making their way back home after buying basic staples, foods. Some of them are actually coming from medication, anything they get their hands on, of course, because there's a short supply on the other side, very expensive -- little that it's left is very expensive. Now, meanwhile, people make their way about 15 or so minutes away from here in the bridge of La Tienditas, it is brand new, built three years ago, that's never even been used or inaugurated. The first truckload of U.S. aid has started to arrive. They carry basic goods for a lot of the people in Venezuela. Now, they are standing. They're staying in the warehouses in La Tienditas Bridge, and there is a reason for that, because that bridge, on the Venezuelan side of that bridge, Nicolas Maduro's forces has basically blocked the bridge with two blue containers and one petrol tanker. And now, what you have it really is a test of the wills. Will Nicholas Maduro, will his men let that aid through? If they do, then Nicholas Maduro looks weakened and a lot of his generals will then defect and support the people. But if they don't, then Juan Guaido, who has staked so much of his presidency on this, will look like he's not in control of the country. And worth bearing in mind, too, that Juan Guaido at the moment is a man with a microphone and a phone, he has no territorial control of Venezuela. So a high stakes game. But people have been telling me every single hour that I have been here where is our aid? And if it doesn't cross, one lady said to me, we're going to come that bridge, we're going to cross it, we're going to move the tankers ourselves. Isa Soares, CNN, at the Venezuelan-Colombian border.</s>HOWELL: Isa, thank you. And at the bottom of the hour, we will actually hear from people crossing that bridge to get a sense of the desperation of people trying to do the best they can.</s>ALLEN: Absolutely. All right, no breakthrough in sight as the Brexit deadline gets closer. The latest word from talks between the British prime minister and E.U. leaders in Brussels, no deal, Theresa May failed to get the E.U. to reopen the U.K.'s withdrawal agreement. E.U. leaders say they will only make changes to a separate political declaration.</s>HOWELL: And to make matters worse, a source tells CNN, E.U. council president told the British prime minister her political rival may have a solution. Here's Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn outlining his proposal.</s>JEREMY CORBYN, U.K. LABOUR PARTY LEADER: Principle points are that we need a comprehensive customs union with the European Union. We need a comprehensive trade agreement with the European Union. And we need what is called a dynamic relationship on rights at work, rights to environmental protection and consumer protection. So this country doesn't then consistently fall behind in the future.</s>HOWELL: The uncertainty around Brexit is already pulling on the E.U economy -- or the U.K. economy, rather. The Bank of England predicts the weakest economic growth in a decade.</s>ALLEN: The governor says a Brexit fog is clouding the U.K.'s future because it is not prepared for a no-deal scenario.</s>MARK CARNEY, BANK OF ENGLAND GOVERNOR: The fog of Brexit is causing short-term volatility in the economic data. And more fundamentally, it is creating a series tensions in the economy, tensions for business. Although many companies are stepping up their contingency planning, the economy as a whole is still not yet prepared for a no- deal, no-transition exit.</s>HOWELL: The impasse stems from the backstop where the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland will be drawn. And all seem to recognize just how sensitive this is. Listen.</s>GUY VERHOFSTADT, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BREXIT COORDINATOR: It is important that Mrs. May today in the meeting assured us that there will be a backstop. That's what she said already in Belfast. There's no question to remove the backstop because that is absolutely necessary for securing and safeguarding the Good Friday Agreement, safeguarding internal market, and as safeguarding also the peace process.</s>ALLEN: We've heard a lot about the backstop. Our Richard Quest explains the Irish border situation, what it means, and where the borders could be drawn.</s>RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: To understand the backstop, you have to understand the current position and where it is going forward. This is the current position, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic, one single market with goods and services flowing between them freely. The issue is after the U.K. leaves the E.U., well then it would be two countries in two different regulatory regimes. And by rights, there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland, and the Republic. But they're against that. It is not in the Good Friday Agreement. And the fear is that if you go back to a hard border on the island of Ireland, well, then there's a real risk of going back to violence. So there's a backstop that is designed to stop it. And the backstop says as follows, if they don't reach agreement in the next two years, if then Northern Ireland becomes closely allied to the south in a customs union that includes the whole lot, but that because these between will be more closely aligned would create an artificial border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And that, according to British politicians, is absolutely unacceptable. They will not go for it. And so, the Northern Ireland question has become the intractable issue. The backstop says, if it is enforced, the north and the south will be aligned in a massive customs union. Can they renegotiate? European leaders say there's no going back to the negotiating table. Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk are remarkably consistent over the past months. Not open to negotiation. The only deal possible, the only way to insure an orderly withdrawal, and no room whatsoever for another deal.</s>HOWELL: So with the backstop in mind, the next stop on Theresa May's trip is to Dublin, Ireland.</s>ALLEN: The Irish are feeling frustration and even some pity about the British and their Brexit problems. CNN's Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson shows us the view from Dublin.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATION DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Don't be afraid, the last words of legendary Irish poet, Seamus Heaney. They have a prophetic feel in Dublin today. Brexit is looming, and there's a lot at stake for Ireland. At the nearby pub, the weekly restock finished. Tell me, what do you think about Brexit?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disaster. Because it's going to change the whole economics of the whole Islands, both Britain and the Republic of Ireland, and Ireland, don't mind republic.</s>ROBERTSON: A hard Brexit, possible border controls and its impact on peace. What about the question of the border, the backstop and the border, could you compromise on that?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think so. I think like a border it should be topped down (ph). It is part of the peace process.</s>ROBERTSON: Are you afraid of what the implications or the outcome might be?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. I actually live by the border (inaudible) just part of the border whom -- I think the fact that it's going to happen, those kinds of really rural communities and agriculture particularly over there is going to be huge, yeah.</s>ROBERTSON: But not just fears for themselves, but for the U.K. as well.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel sorry for the Irish.</s>ROBERTSON: Why is that?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they don't seem to know what they're doing. It is a mess. They're going to suffer economically and probably socially.</s>ROBERTSON: Some pity, but a lot of loathing from London's politicians too.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If Britain chooses to pull out without any plans in place, we're getting all the bad press.</s>ROBERTSON: Could this government compromise on the border issue?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would this government need to compromise?</s>ROBERTSON: Could they do it, do you think, on the backstop, on the border issue?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, why would you want to compromise with people who have no plan, who keep changing their minds?</s>ROBERTSON: Frustrations that appear to go all the way to the top. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in office here has said that the no-deal Brexit threat is not over Ireland's or the E.U.'s making. It's down to Theresa May to fix, a message she'll no doubt hear during her visit. Nic Robertson, CNN, Dublin, Ireland.</s>ALLEN: We'll hear from Nic again -- have more on it in our next hour. Well, Amazon Founder, Jeff Bezos, making explosive claims about the National Enquirer. In a blog post, he says the tabloid and its parent company, AMI, threatened blackmail and extortion if he didn't go along with their demands.</s>HOWELL: You recall Bezos owns the Washington Post and is the man who leads the National Enquirer, the man named David Pecker, a long time friend of Donald Trump. Our Shimon Prokupecz has details.</s>SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: It was extraordinary in the way Jeff Bezos did this, putting this all out there for everyone to see, strongly admitting that this was going to embarrassing for him. But he needed to do it because he says what the National Enquirer and its executives are trying to do was blackmail him, extort him. And essentially, it was to try and prevent the Washington Post from working on a story and an investigation into the National Enquirer. They've been working on an investigation. A couple of things that -- these e-mails indicated what Bezos released from the National Enquirer is that, I guess, the Washington Post was going to say that of these some stories that the National Enquirer has been were working on were politically motivated, that they were influenced by political views and decisions. And it seems that AMI was trying to get the Washington Post from not publishing some of this, from not saying that any of these stories were politically motivated. And they tried to use these nude photos that they somehow have obtained of Jeff Bezos and other photos of a relationship he had with a woman. And they were trying to use these photos to what Jeff Bezos says blackmail and try and prevent from any of this story from getting out and to try and skew it somehow in their favor. What is interesting, obviously, is that Pecker's connection to the president, a long time friend. They maybe on the outs a little bit, but you know, he's protected the president for many, many years. He was involved in some of the catch and kill stories. He was involved in hush payments to women who accused the president of having an affair with the president that the president then paid. So he's been around a very long time, certainly, in the president's circle. So there is that, perhaps. Maybe somehow these stories are being done to try and hurt Jeff Bezos because of how critical the Washington Post obviously has been of the administration and some the stories that they've been running. But there's this entire other connection, perhaps, that people have been looking into. And Bezos says the Washington Post has been looking into, and that's the Saudis. At one point, Bezos writes that, in particular, to David Pecker and AMI, that Pecker was apoplectic about their investigation, the Washington Post investigations, for reasons still to be better understood. But there was a Saudi angle that seems to have hit a particular sensitive nerve of Bezos' rights. And of course, one of those reasons could be that the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, of course, and his relationship to the Washington Post. So there's still a lot here that needs to be developed. But these are things that, according to Bezos, the Washington Post was working on, and it appears that David Pecker was concerned.</s>HOWELL: Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much. Keep in mind, CNN has reached out to Dylan Howard, the Chief Content Officer at AMI, also to the Deputy General Council John Fine, neither have responded to this point.</s>ALLEN: And neither did a spokesperson for the Washington Post and Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment, but did confirm that Jeff Bezos wrote that post.</s>HOWELL: It's an interesting story. Facebook and government regulation at odds again, this time in Germany, where the social media giant is being told to change the way it gathers data from users.</s>ALLEN: Plus, coming up and still ahead, President Trump lashing out at Democrats, who are targeting him on multiple congressional investigations, and warning they won't back down.</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: I think overwhelmingly the public wants to see the president's tax returns. And so, they want to know the truth. They want to know the facts.