Political Chaos in Virginia; Acting U.S. Attorney General Questioned by House Democrats; Feds Investigating Bezos' Claim against "National Enquirer"; Trump Announces Site of Next Kim Jong-un Meeting; U.S. Border Deal Has Less Than Trump Wants
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Calls for resignation and impeachment. Virginia's lieutenant governor faces another allegation of sexual abuse, adding to the state's growing political crisis. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sues the "National Enquirer" for blackmail and flags links between the tabloid's publisher, President Trump and the Saudi kingdom, we'll explore that. Also this hour the CNN Freedom Project. We take a look at a fashion- forward approach to helping victims of human trafficking. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen and this is CNN NEWSROOM.</s>ALLEN: Our top story, the government of the state of Virginia is spiraling into chaos. Three top officials are mired in scandal and the Democratic Party wants action to stop the train wreck. The most serious allegations are against this man, lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax. Two women now accuse him of sexual assault. He denies any wrongdoing. Meantime, governor Ralph Northam, on the right there, vows to keep his job after racist pictures of him showed up in a 1984 yearbook. And attorney general Mark Herring admits to wearing blackface in 1980 and is also fighting for his political life. CNN's Ryan Nobles is in Richmond, Virginia, with a closer look at the second woman accusing Justin Fairfax of rape.</s>RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems in many ways the situation in Richmond, Virginia, is getting more complicated by the day. Already the governor and the attorney general under a cloud of scandal because of accusations of racist photos and appearing in blackface in the past. Now the lieutenant governor who was already under fire from a sexual assault allegation is now facing accusations from a second accuser. That woman, Meredith Watson, says that Justin Fairfax raped her when they were both college students at Duke University back in 2000. Watson even goes on to say that she believes that Fairfax targeted her because she was a previous rape victim. Watson's attorney supplying the media with emails that they say show that Watson has told people for many years about Fairfax raping her when they were in college. in fact, one of those emails came as Fairfax was beginning his political career. A group of Duke alumni asked for donations from fellow alumni. Watson responded to that email chain by saying, quote, "Justin raped me in college. And I don't want to hear anything about him. Please, please, please remove me from any future emails about him, please. Thank you." Now Fairfax is vehemently denying this claim by Watson. He says that this is absolutely not true. And he also says that he plans not to resign. Even though Fairfax says he doesn't want to resign, the calls for him to do so are coming from all corners of Virginia's government. A number of the state's congressional delegations saying it's time for him to go. The former governor, Terry McAuliffe, also saying he should go. And to take it a step further, a Democratic delegate from Arlington, Virginia, Patrick Culp, says that he will file articles of impeachment against the lieutenant governor on Monday if he does not resign beforehand. Of course, all of this comes as the state is still reeling from the controversies involving the governor, who, in his medical school yearbook, there was a racist photo that appeared under his name, and the attorney general who admitted that he appeared in blackface while in college as well. The only update on those two stories is that the governor doesn't appear to be going anywhere. He told members of his cabinet in a meeting on Friday that he plans to serve out the balance of his term -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Richmond, Virginia.</s>ALLEN: As Ryan just mentioned, calls for Justin Fairfax's resignation are pouring in from around the country. Virginia's house and Senate issued a joint statement, asking him to step down. It says this, "Due to the serious nature of these allegations, we believe lieutenant governor Fairfax can no longer fulfill his duties to the commonwealth. "He needs to address this as a private citizen. The time has come for him to step down." And the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus writes this, "In light of the most recent sexual assault allegations against lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus believes it is best for lieutenant governor Fairfax to step down from his position." And take a look at this list of some of the many U.S. senators who have called on Fairfax to resign. All of them here are running either for president or exploring a run.</s>ALLEN: We now turn to Capitol Hill and heated exchanges on Friday between the Trump administration's acting attorney general and House Democrats. During his testimony before the Judiciary Committee, Matt Whitaker said he has not interfered with the Russia probe. But Democrats say Whitaker failed to answer key questions about his oversight of the investigation. For more, here's Jessica Schneider in Washington.</s>JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This hearing highlighted the partisan divisions on Capitol Hill. Republicans calling it unwarranted while Democrats dug in. Now after hours and hours of questioning, the committee chair, Jerrold Nadler, says he is still not satisfied and even not sure he believes all of Whitaker's testimony after several back and forth testy exchanges.</s>SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Acting attorney general Matt Whitaker making his first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This hearing is pointless.</s>REP. DOUG COLLINS (R), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: If this is the way we are going to go, then we'll have plenty of stunts. We're going to have plenty of theatrics. Bring your popcorn. I'm thinking about maybe we just set up a popcorn machine in the back because that's what this has become.</s>SCHNEIDER (voice-over): -- and igniting a political firestorm.</s>REP.  JERROLD NADLER (D), NEW YORK: It's our understanding that at least one briefing occurred in December, before your decision not to recuse yourself on December 19, on Christmas Day. Is that correct?</s>MATTHEW WHITAKER, ACTING U.S.  ATTORNEY GENERAL: What's the basis for that question, sir?</s>NADLER: Yes or no.</s>WHITAKER: Mr. Chairman, I -- again, what is the basis for your question? You're saying that it is your understanding.</s>NADLER: I mean, I'm asking the questions. I only have five minutes. So please answer yes or no.</s>WHITAKER: No, Mr. Chairman, I'm going to -- you are asking me a question. It is your understanding. Can you tell me where you get the basis...</s>NADLER: No, I'm not going to tell you that. I don't have time to get into that.</s>SCHNEIDER: Whitaker at one point trying to cut the chairman off.</s>WHITAKER: I see that your five minutes is up. And so...</s>WHITAKER: I'm -- we -- we -- we -- I am -- I'm here voluntarily. I -- we have agreed to five-minute rounds. And...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's a fine place to end the five-minute rule.</s>NADLER: The committee will end -- will come to a -- and I will point out that we didn't enforce the five-minute rule on Attorney -- acting Attorney General Whitaker.</s>SCHNEIDER: Whitaker denied any conversations with the president or other White House officials about the special counsel's investigation, which Whitaker oversees, either before or after he took over the top spot at</s>DOJ. WHITAKER: At no time has the White House asked, nor have I provided any promises or commitments concerning the special counsel's investigation or any other investigation. I'm sorry.</s>NADLER: It's a yes-or-no question. Have you communicated anything you learned in that briefing about the investigation to President Trump, yes or no?</s>WHITAKER: Mr. Chairman, as I said earlier today in my opening remarks, I do not intend today to talk about my private conversations with the president of the United States. But to answer your question, I have not talked to the president of the United States about the special counsel's investigation.</s>SCHNEIDER: Whitaker has come under fire for denouncing the Mueller investigation as a commentator before he joined the Justice Department, which Republicans quickly pointed out was not the reason for the hearing.</s>REP.  DEBBIE LESKO (R), ARIZONA: It's nothing but character assassination, harassment of our witness.</s>SCHNEIDER: Whitaker, who said he has been fully briefed on the Mueller investigation, declined to specifically condemn the label witch-hunt used by the president to describe the Russia probe.</s>WHITAKER: I have not interfered with the special counsel's investigation.</s>REP.  STEVE COHEN (D), TENNESSEE: Are you overseeing a witch-hunt? You would stop a witch-hunt, wouldn't you?</s>WHITAKER: Congressman, it would be inappropriate for me to talk about an ongoing investigation.</s>SCHNEIDER: And Whitaker giving no specific indication how much longer it will last.</s>WHITAKER: We haven't received the report. Bob Mueller is going to finish his investigation when he wants to finish his investigation.</s>SCHNEIDER: This isn't the end of the investigation. The chairman has a list of questions he wants answers to, including when he was briefed on the special counsel investigation and whether or not he had conversations with the president after the briefings. Nadler says he doesn't find Whitaker's insistence that he didn't have conversations with the president completely credible. Of course the chairman, Jerry Nadler, is once again threatening a subpoena, if it's necessary, to get those answers -- Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.</s>ALLEN: The U.S. president has ignored a legal deadline to tell Congress whether the Saudi crown prince ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Under what is called the Magnitsky Act, he had 120 days to determine if the Saudi crown prince was responsible and whether to impose sanctions. The White House says the president doesn't have to act on committee requests. But lawmakers such as Democrat Bob Menendez says he does and they're pushing for action. Menendez says, "The Trump administration showed that it is willing to ignore U.S. law in its continued effort to stonewall accountability for the murder of Khashoggi." Mr. Trump has not agreed with the CIA conclusion that the Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi's --</s>ALLEN: -- killing. Khashoggi, of course, worked for "The Washington Post," owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. An intriguing part of Bezos' explosive blog post alleging the "National Enquirer" tried to blackmail and extort him are questions about ties between the tabloid, Saudi Arabia and the White House. That comes as federal prosecutor look into whether the magazine violated its immunity deal. For the latest, here's Alex Marquardt.</s>ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The "National Enquirer's" parent company hitting back today at stinging allegations and revelations by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, saying in a statement, it believes fervently that it acted lawfully, that it was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with Bezos. American Media Inc. or AMI also promising to launch an internal investigation into Bezos' long list of claims against them, including what he called extortion and blackmail when AMI threatened to leak risque photos of him. Sources telling CNN federal prosecutors are also looking into his accusations. In his blog post, Bezos alleges that AMI had a cozy relationship, not just with the Trump White House but with Saudi Arabia. Also alleged in published reports last year. AMI put out a 97-page glossy magazine heralding the kingdom's new crown prince and his vision ahead of his trip to the U.S. The Saudi embassy in Washington claimed they had no involvement or knowledge of the AMI publication with Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the cover, a man the CIA has concluded ordered the violent murder of Jamal Khashoggi of "The Washington Post," which Bezos owns. The Saudis have called the finding false. But the Associated Press reported that according to sources, embassy officials got an electronic copy of the pro-kingdom magazine about three weeks before it came out. Today a top Saudi official says he has no idea of any relationship with AMI, adding, "It's like a soap opera," and told CNN that as far as he knows, the Saudis did not press AMI to publish negative stories about Bezos. The biggest of which was the expose on Bezos' extramarital affair, which people around him believe was a political hit job, alleged payback for his newspaper's dogged reporting of President Trump and of the Saudi crown prince's role in the Khashoggi murder. Trump and Pecker have a well-documented history. The tabloid paying a so-called catch and kill fee to Karen McDougal once before the 2016 election for her story about her alleged affair with Trump, which he denies. Pecker then flipped, cooperating with Robert Mueller's team in exchange for immunity to detail those payments made by Trump's lawyer. That turn didn't dampen the president's rejoicing amid the "Enquirer's" splashy story about Bezos' infidelity, calling the Amazon CEO "Jeff Bozo" on Twitter and saying this about Bezos looming divorce from his wife of 25 years.</s>TRUMP: I wish him luck. It is going to be a beauty.</s>MARQUEZ: No doubt this is a complex web of allegations and personal history but what Bezos, without proof, is saying here is clear: that AMI had reasons to protect and to promote the Saudis. At his newspaper, "The Washington Post," and their relentless covering of the Khashoggi murder angered AMI's friends, driving home the point that this expose of his affair and the attempted blackmail were politically motivated -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.</s>ALLEN: Steven Erlanger is chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe for "The New York Times." He joins us from Brussels. We always appreciate you being with us. And yes, Steven, where do we start with this one? Jeff Bezos, richest man, versus the "National Enquirer" and then throw in Saudi Arabia. And what do you got?</s>STEVEN ERLANGER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": And Trump. It's an amazing set of inquiries. The most interesting thing is the way Bezos was deeply embarrassed about this affair has turned himself into a hero of free speech, fighting back against a really revolting newspaper, the "National Enquirer," which we know had deals with Michael Cohen to protect Donald Trump during the campaign from stories that he, himself, had affairs. And it is very funny for Trump to talk about Bezos' upcoming divorce as "a beauty," given the experience which Trump has had fences with divorces himself. So it's very complicated. Bezos is rich enough and powerful enough to be able to say, OK, I'll do what you want but I'm not going to just lie back and be intimidated. And I think that's very powerful and very important.</s>ALLEN: Yes, I'm curious, you know, Bezos in his blog post actually --</s>ALLEN: -- printed the letters from the "National Enquirer." Perhaps they're not used to someone playing hardball with them like that.</s>ERLANGER: I think that's true, also as he said, if someone like me, he's probably the wealthiest person on Earth, is willing to be intimidated, then what hope does anyone else have? And I think that his ownership of "The Washington Post" is really a factor in all of this, he used a strange word for it, a "complexifier" for him. But he has done a great deal to save "The Washington Post" and make it a much better paper again. And obviously "The Post" goes after Trump and Trump goes after Bezos. That's not to say that Trump was behind all this. But the mystery is how, did the "National Enquirer" get these private emails and photos? And that meant that Bezos was trying to find when AMI, the company that owns the "Enquirer," threatened to publish more if he didn't stop.</s>ALLEN: We'll continue to follow that one. But I want to ask you about Congress wanting to hear from President Trump on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. But there hasn't been a response about whether it was ordered by the crown prince. Why is the White House staying mum?</s>ERLANGER: Well, I think this is also, in keep with political views, violating the law, because Congress has mandated a response. Here I think they have some sympathy with the realists in the White House, who understand that Saudi Arabia is an important ally of the United States, that the crown prince is not going anywhere, as some people hoped he would, that he'd be pushed aside. That's not happening. And so it's very a very electric moment. I think the White House and Trump know very well what happened. But it's not for the relationship to go public about it and some of the same people have to say who decry the national interest quality of the Trump White House are also decrying violence on Khashoggi when, in fact, there are, I think, compelling national interest reasons for Trump to keep his mouth shut on this one.</s>ALLEN: I want to pivot now to the acrimony we saw, the testimony in Washington. The acting attorney general, going before Congress; contentious might be the word of the day. Someone called him snarky. It's always tough to say the word snarky. The question, was he credible, forthcoming at all in responding to Democrats?</s>ERLANGER: Well, it was always going to be hostile and, you know, I think Whitaker, people who suspect he's not the person they want in the job as even</s>ALLEN: All right, we always appreciate your insights. Thank you for giving us your time, Steven Erlanger, thanks, Steven.</s>ERLANGER: Thanks, Natalie.</s>ALLEN: U.S. aid for Venezuela is still stuck in Colombia. It's not going anywhere. So many people are in need. Look at that. The opposition leader wants to bring that in. The president says there is no need. We'll have the latest on the ongoing standoff there. Also, Seattle bracing for another round of snow, look what they've already gotten. Derek joins with us that coming up here.