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Congress Takes Holiday Off, But Staffers Busy On Capitol Hill; Trump Addressed Student Action Summit In Florida; Trump Supporters In Pennsylvania Say Impeachment Helps Him In 2020; Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake Calls For Republicans To Put Country Over Party; CNN Poll: 76% of Americans See Economy As Good; Biden Storms Battleground Iowa On Two-Day Bus Tour; Two Carnival Cruise Ships Crash in Mexico, At Least 6 Injured; Mother Of Baby Girl Found Strangled To Death In Texas; Mining Company Coached Alaska Governor To Get EPA Rollback; Eddie Murphy Returns To SNL Stage For First Time In 35 Years; Dangerous Counterfeit Kids' Products Turn Up On Amazon. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired December 21, 2019 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[19:00:00]

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: You're Live in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. The history-making impeachment of President Trump not expected to move forward in the coming days, at least in any way that we will be able to see.

Members of Congress are on holiday recess. President is out of town but the lights are on in Washington this weekend. Sources on Capitol Hill tell CNN, House Committee staffers are at work. That the White House counsel's office is also very busy this weekend. Everyone is preparing for the next step in the impeachment process. A trial in the Senate that could begin just days into the new year.

The reason, though, for the uncertain timeline, one person, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. After Wednesday's House impeachment vote her next duty was to hand over the case to the Senate. She is choosing to not do that just yet, because she says she wants to ensure a fair trial.

The first family spending this weekend through the holidays in Florida, President Trump has expressed his desire to have an extended Senate trial with witnesses, and now that's reportedly not the vision of the top Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. But the President said this week he'd go along with whatever Senator McConnell decides.

President Trump, this evening is speaking to a Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach. Finishing about 20 minutes ago, he railed against the Democrats in the House who impeached him. Insisting they are violating the Constitution and they have no case against him going forward.

With President Trump now facing a Senate trial, some Trump voters believe the impeachment push will actually guarantee he gets reelected in 2020. And CNN's Martin Savidge went to the key battleground state of Pennsylvania to see how voters there see things. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): In Blair County, Pennsylvania, the impeachment of Donald Trump isn't hurting the President.

BONNIE PFEFFER, TRUMP SUPPORTER: No, I love him.

SAVIDGE (voice over): Supporters say it's helping him.

PFEFFER: I think what they doing is completely wrong and I will vote for him in the coming election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can help get reelected actually.

SAVIDGE (voice over): Voters here predominantly white, working-class, strong in their conservative beliefs.

SAVIDGE: What do you think this will do for Democrats?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think just put a nail in their coffin.

SAVIDGE (voice over): Trump won more than 70% of the vote in this blue-collar county, about two hours East of Pittsburgh, significantly outperforming Mitt Romney in 2012.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To make America great again--

SAVIDGE (voice over): But the Republican County Chair says, had I asked him a year ago if Trump could repeat his success in 2020, he would have said unlikely. Now...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he'll turn out that percent and more.

SAVIDGE: He'll do as good as that maybe even better?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe even better.

SAVIDGE (voice over): How's that possible? Two reasons. Trump voters we talked to here like the economy and loath impeachment. They credit Trump with the former and blamed Democrats for the latter.

SAVIDGE: And how would you say the economy here is in Altoona?

PHILIP DEVORRIS, PRESIDENT & CEO, BLAIR COMPANIES: It's good. You know, it's not people are celebrating boom days. But it feels like the kind of long-term steady growth.

SAVIDGE (voice over): At Blair Image Elements they make signs all of us see, but what critics see is clear evidence of Presidential abuse of power, CEO Philip Devorris sees its just the same old polarized Washington politics that moved him to vote for Trump in the first place.

DEVORRIS: If it did anything, it would make me want to support him more.

SAVIDGE (voice over): It's pretty much the same story down on the farm. This location there's about 1,500 cows being no milked. Mike from the Kulp family dairy goes into Hershey Chocolate and Land O Lakes butter. Kulp's business is improving, but his attitude toward impeachment is not. He doesn't follow it much.

PHIL KULP, KULP FAMILY DAIRY: No, I work too many the hours to pay close attention.

SAVIDGE (voice over): The way Kulp sees it, voters should elect more like Trump to Congress.

SAVIDGE: The impeachment process in any way going to change your outlook or support of this President in 2020?

KULP: No. You know, it just makes me, I guess, more convinced that we need more outsiders in Washington.

SAVIDGE: Not all the Republicans I spoke to here say they support the President, some object to him, they say, because of his personal faults, and that they'll likely do in 2020 what they did in 2016, which is simply not vote. Because unlike other Trump strongholds, where I've asked if there are any Democrats they might consider, everyone here was unanimous, no. Martin Savidge, CNN Altoona, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Lawmakers have the next couple of weeks to think about what you just heard from those voters and former Republican Senator Jeff Flake hopes his party puts country over party. In a new op-ed he writes to his former colleagues this.

"You're on a big stage now. Please don't accept an alternate reality that would have us believe in things that are obviously not true, in the service of executive behavior that we never would have encouraged and a theory of executive power that we have always found abhorrent.

[19:05:00]

If there ever was a time to put country over party, it is now. And by putting country over party, you might just save the Grand Old Party before it's too late.

With us two members of the Grand Old Party, Scott Jennings is a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and Charlie Dent, a former Congressman from Pennsylvania. Scott, you have long defended this President. How do Flake's words hit you?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I respect everybody's right to have an opinion. That's certainly not the opinion of most Republicans. President enjoys an approval rating over 90% from rank-and-file Republicans out here in Middle America, because he is largely doing what he promised them he was going to do and that's break up the old Washington establishment way of doing things. On the impeachment question, Republicans don't trust the Democrats. They've brought forth the impeachment and frankly they don't trust the media that's been sharing it on. And so, when they see the President--

CABRERA: And do you what the backfire, Scott--

JENNINGS: --being impeached by these--

CABRERA: I mean I don't want to let you off the hook there. Don't point the finger at how Democrats are framing it. You know what the facts are, Flake knows what the facts are, that's what he's talking about. Why aren't Republicans choosing to look at the facts versus just looking at this as a political game?

JENNINGS: Well, you may not want to let me off the hook. I'm just telling you how Republicans out here in the middle of country are viewing this. They don't believe what the President did rises to the level of impeachment.

They don't believe the Democrats who brought it forward, and they don't believe the cheerleading for it that they see in the papers every day. And so this has, I think embolden and strengthened their support of this President, just like in the package that we just heard.

So, look, I think Donald Trump - I think Donald Trump - everybody that voted for the President is on track to vote for him again, just like our reporter found out. And if Democrats hope to put up a better fight against him in some of these states in Middle America, they're going to have to come up with something else.

I just - I don't think this impeachment and the other kinds of the daily outrage cycle is going to get it done for them.

CABRERA: Congressman Dent, it wasn't that long ago you were on Capitol Hill. Do you think what Flake is saying here or even the Christianity Today article op-ed that came out? Will any of that have an impact on Republican Senators and how they approach a trial?

CHARLIE DENT, (R) FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: I don't think, Ana, that it's going to have a big impact on Republican Senators one way or the other. But I think that Jeff Flake, who is a good friend of mine, is trying to convey a message that members should be thinking more about their legacies than the next election.

And it is also true. As Scott says, I think this impeachment process isn't moving people one way or the other. But the facts and the evidence, I think, are very compelling. And I keep coming back to this.

If I were a federal official and I used my office to - to invite a foreign leader to interfere in our election and it were revealed, I would be investigated by the Department of Justice. I mean, I thought I understood the rules. So I actually think what the President did is a very big deal, and it does rise to the level of impeachment. CABRERA: Even now after the President has been impeached, we're still getting new information. For instance, released e-mails show just one and a half hours after President Trump's call with Ukraine on July 25th, you know, the one where he asked for a, quote, "favor," though, a White House official sent an e-mail to the OMB, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Pentagon asking for a hold on the Ukrainian military aid. Just one and a half hours after that phone call.

The official added, quote, "Given the nature of the request I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute direction." Scott, do new facts like this make it harder for Republicans to argue this doesn't deserve a fair trial and thorough trial in the senate?

JENNINGS: The time for discovering this and the time for litigating all this was in the House, during the actual impeachment process. What the House is effectively asking the Senate to do is to do their homework for them. The House did not take the time to go to the courts and pursue the witnesses and information that they say they want.

The executive branch in every administration resists the Congress. The Congress that has an avenue to solve that and that's go to court. Now they didn't want to wait for that, and so they went ahead and impeached the President without witnesses and information.

So right now you've got House Democrats having impeached a President, asking Senate Republicans, who largely support the President, hey fill in the blanks for us. If they thought that was a viable strategy, I don't even know where in the world they would have conjured that.

So, look, I think the House missed its chance. They should have waited and taken their time and been more thorough than they were.

CABRERA: Congressman, Speaker Pelosi, is now holding the articles of impeachment, possibly as leverage, saying she won't send them to the Senate until she's assured about the process. Do you think she's playing this correctly?

DENT: No I don't. I don't think the Speaker has much leverage at all here. Actually, I think this is a tactical error. The Speaker has taken a hostage - the hostage are the articles of impeachment.

[19:10:00]

There's an old saying, don't take a hostage if you're not prepared to shoot it. And she's not going to shoot these articles of impeachment. She will transmit them to the Senate at some point.

That said, I do think that the Senate should not rush the trial. I think they should hear from some witnesses. But Pelosi doesn't have the leverage. Senator Schumer does and I suspect he won't reach an agreement with Senator McConnell on witnesses and this will go to the floor and then a lot of these members going to have to put up some hard votes.

CABRERA: Why do you think Schumer has leverage?

DENT: Well, because in the Senate you need 60 votes to do just about anything it seems, and, well, in this case maybe you'll need 51. But that said, I think that some of the swing state Republicans have to think very hard about this trial. And I think some of them will want to hear from maybe Pompeo or Mulvaney or Bolton, and I think they should be heard from.

And frankly the White House stonewalled the House and the House should have insisted on those witnesses, and they were rushing as well. But, I think, it would be fair to hear from a few of these folks. So I think it puts some enormous pressure on some of those vulnerable swing state members who are up in 2020.

CABRERA: President Trump continues to hold up the strength of the economy as his biggest defense against removal from office and the key may be for his re-election. He got some reassuring numbers on Friday with 76% of Americans saying the economy is good right now. Scott is it enough?

JENNINGS: Well it's not a defense to being removed from office, but it is certainly a great argument for being reelected in November. The President, by any objective measure is presiding over a terrific economy. We have 50-year low unemployment rates. Everybody in every demographic, every age bracket, every region of the country people are benefiting from this economy across the board.

And so if you're the incumbent President what do you want? You want a good economy to talk about, you want some policy wins to talk about, you want a fractured opposition and you want your reelection apparatus to have all the money and resources that it could ever spend. Donald Trump has all of these things, which - and the economy is chief among them, that's why I think he's actually tracking for reelection.

CABRERA: Congressman Dent, Scott Jennings, thank you so much both. Congressman I owe you the first question next time around. got to go for now. Happy holidays to go to both of you.

JENNINGS: Thank you.

DENT: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: When Nancy Pelosi does send the articles of impeachment to the Senate it will trigger the next phase of the process as Senators hold that formal trial, so what might that look like CNN's Tom Foreman gives us a preview. Tom?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, when and if the impeachment of Donald Trump moves from the us House of Representatives over to the Senate, much of the freewheeling drama could be replaced by a much more staid process. Here's the outline for the trial.

Impeachment Managers for the House will present their case, arguing the President did indeed abuse his power and obstruct Congress in the Ukraine affair. The President's team will refute those charges and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts will preside. When does it happen? Well, it was expected to start in early January at noon each day, that's not at all clear now with all the maneuvering going on. We'll just have to see how that shakes out.

Who is the jury? All of the Senators - Democrats and Republicans. Indeed, they have to take an oath of impartiality which could be awkward since some of the top Republicans have already said the President is innocent and they have no intention of being impartial.

Will there be witnesses? Probably not. The minority Democrats wanted them, the head of the Republicans, Mitch McConnell has said he's rejecting that request that matters, because witnesses can only be summoned by a Majority vote.

How much power does the Chief Justice really have in all of this? He will maintain general order and rule on evidence. If Senators have questions they have to submit them to him in writing. But big catch here, he can be overruled on almost anything by a majority vote.

What will we see? The rule say TV cameras can show us who's talking, but no shots of who is listening or not listening. Are the rules the rules? Not really, because at any time they can be turned upside down, changed by a simple majority vote.

And how do we get a verdict? With you at the end of all of this, each Senator must stand and cast a vote. And if that happens, remember the number 20, because even if all the Democrats and the two independents stand together, that's how many Republicans would have to cross the aisle and join them to reach the two-thirds vote necessary to convict and remove Donald Trump from office. That is not likely. And bear in mind, even here some people could dodge accountability by simply voting President. Ana?

CABRERA: Tom Foreman, thank you as always for that great explainer. 2020 Democratic candidates polling out all the stops in Iowa this weekend, including Joe Biden, who had a lot to say about President Trump's impeachment. A political reaction, he says, is counterproductive. You are live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:00]

CABRERA: Well, welcome back. Live pictures out of Iowa tonight. This is Joe Biden holding an event there. This is in Creston, Iowa. He and slew of his 2020 rivals, including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory booker, and Amy Klobuchar are all storming the key battleground state this weekend, just 44 days now until the Iowa caucus.

And earlier today, Biden was asked about this week's historic vote on impeachment and whether it's cause for celebration by his party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact is there's nothing to celebrate about impeachment. It's a sad moment for the country and there's - don't get me wrong. It's not that I think it's unfair that Donald Trump had been impeached and have to face the charges that have been made. But the idea that it's worth celebrating, I find counterproductive, because there's nothing to celebrate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: CNN Political Reporter Arlette Saenz is on the ground in Iowa, joins us now. Arlette what should we expect to hear from Biden tonight or what has he talked about in that event?

[19:20:00]

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Ana, as you can see right behind me, he's still mingling with voters here at this event in Creston, Iowa. And you heard him talk about how Democrats shouldn't necessarily be celebrating impeachment. He has often said that while the House and Senate are working towards impeachment, his focus is going to be on making the case that he is the best candidate to take on President Trump.

And today here in Iowa, at both of his events, we heard him and repeat this argument that he made in the debate on Thursday night saying, that bipartisan cooperation and consensus is necessary. And that he personally knows that he should be mad at Republicans given some of the personal attacks that have come at him and his family, particularly his son Hunter. Take a listen to what he had to tell voters in Ottumwa earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: No one running for President who has more reason to be upset and angry with Republicans. There's no one running who has had their family and they're only surviving son attacked viciously.

Look, I don't say this because I think we're all going to hold hands and sing kumbaya together when this is over. I don't think that's going to happen. But, I say it because there's the only way we get anything done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now Biden went on to stress that consensus is necessary to unite the country. Biden has still been leading in most national polls, but here in Iowa it's a bit of a different picture where Pete Buttigieg has been at the top of recent polls lately. Biden, in January, is going to be spending a lot of time here in this first in the nation caucus state.

Putting in that face time like he is right behind me shaking hands, taking selfies with voters as he's trying to win over their support as we are now 44 days out from the Iowa caucuses, Ana.

CABRERA: Counting down, Arlette Saenz, thank you. Up next a heartbreaking case, a missing mother found dead. Her baby girl alive, the charges the suspect is now facing. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom." (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:00]

CABRERA: We have new details tonight on two Carnival cruise ships that collided in Mexico. Officials tell CNN that wind gusts and strong currents likely caused this terrifying moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to hit us next!

CABRERA: The ships collided Friday morning while at port in Cozumel. The Carnival ship Glory was pulling into port when it hit the Carnival Legend, which was already docked. Now, listen to how one passenger described that scary moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAKENNA MORRIS, CARNIVAL LEGEND PASSENGER: I really at the moment like, oh my gosh they just crashed into us. And so I was just recording. I couldn't believe it. I was like oh, my gosh, I'm like holy crap, this just really happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Six passengers were injured on board the Carnival Glory which was sent back to its home port in New Orleans.

Seven freight train cars that were bound for Maryland derailed early this morning. Two of those cars fell into the Potomac River. According to a railroad spokesman, the train was traveling between west Virginia and Maryland when it went off the tracks. All of the derailed cars were empty. Thank goodness, no injuries were reported.

In Texas, a tragic end to a heartbreaking story. A missing one-month old baby girl is safe tonight, but the woman believed to be her mother was found strangled to death inside a home in Houston.

Heidi Broussard and her daughter disappeared more than a week ago in Austin. According to a source a woman believed to be a suspect in the case today made her first court appearance. CNN's Rosa Flores has been following this and has the latest. Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, Megan Fieramusca made her first appearance before a judge overnight and she's being held on two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with the corpse. Authorities are not identifying her as the suspect, but a source familiar with the case tells CNN that Fieramusca is indeed the individual linked to the disappearance of Heidi Broussard.

Broussard is the 33-year-old mom from Austin who went missing more than a week ago with her infant daughter Margot. The authorities say that they found Broussard's body in the trunk of a car in Houston, Texas, more than 100 miles away. And they say that the cause of death is strangulation. On sight, they also found an infant and police believe that the infant is indeed Margot, but they are conducting testing just to confirm. As for Fieramusca she was arrested in the Houston area. She was transferred overnight to the Austin area and is being held on $600,000 bond. Ana.

CABRERA: Rosa Flores, thank you. Up next a CNN exclusive investigation. Did the Governor of Alaska go too far to strip environmental protections in his state? The secret strategy between the Governor and a mining company. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:00]

CABRERA: Pristine Alaskan waters, home to one of the last wild salmon spotting areas in the world lost their EPA protected status last summer. Now CNN has learned how it happened.

CNN's Senior Investigative Correspondent, Drew Griffin, uncovers documents showing Alaska's Governor actively lobbied the Trump administration for the rollback on environmental protections. In doing so, he parroted talking points provided by a mining company that wanted access to the region. Here's more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When the Trump administration's EPA removed the special protections on this pristine part of Alaska last summer, locals and environmentalists were shocked. The company that wants to build a copper and gold mine here was overjoyed.

Now documents obtained by CNN reveal that the Pebble Mine Company was secretly coaching Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy's office in how to influence the Trump administration to make a decision in the company's favor.

In e-mail after e-mail, Pebble provides the Governor's office with ghostwritten letters, talking points for communications with the EPA, with the Vice President's office and to a potential investor in the mine.

[19:35:00]

Joel Reynolds with the Natural Resources Defense Council says Governor Dunleavy essentially became a lobbyist for Pebble Mine.

JOEL REYNOLDS, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: These are the kinds of activities that a company typically pays somebody on their staff to do. But in this case they're working directly with the Governor and his staff to accomplish the goals of the company.

GRIFFIN (voice over): Most striking of all this April 26th letter sent by the Governor to the Army Corps of Engineers, asking the Corps to end a public comment period on an environmental study. Pebble staff wrote it first.

Here is Pebble's ghostwritten letter for the Governor right next to the letter the Governor actually sent to the Army Corps. Compared side-by-side, the highlighted sections show the letters are nearly identical.

Reynolds who represents one of many environmental groups suing to stop the mine is appalled.

REYNOLDS: Essentially the Governor has become a puppet for Pebble.

GRIFFIN (voice over): The documents also include two other examples, letters from the Governor the appear to have been copy and pasted from language provided by Pebble. Pebble even dictated the talking points for the Governor's staff to use in a meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency.

When CNN asked for comment, even their responses were similar. With Pebble saying it's not unusual for interested parties to suggest language to elected officials and the Governor's office saying it is common practice for an administration to request briefing materials on a specific project.

Pebble's communication with the Governor's office happened at a crucial time for the company. The company was desperate to overturn a virtual block on mining by the EPA to protect one of the world's last and largest wild salmon spawning areas.

Pebble needed the Trump administration to remove that protection and the company was so confident it was going to happen.

GOV. MIKE DUNLEAVY (R), ALASKA: Just got off of Air Force one would be--

GRIFFIN (voice over): The day before the Governor met with President Trump aboard Air Force One it sent the Governor's office this draft press release, which hailed the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency in advance. Though Pebble says it did not receive any information about a pending EPA decision.

The Governor did meet with the President and they did discuss mining and the EPA did make an announcement on June 26th, but not entirely to remove the environmental protection.

And in furious e-mails a Pebble official tells the Governor's aide, "the EPA announcement sends the market a screaming message that EPA may still kill the project and that Pebble can't raise the money it needs. This announcement was worse than doing nothing. Pebble asks for immediate intervention, a Presidential tweet or try to get the EPA to reverse position."

Reminding the Governor's staff in another e-mail, "The EPA's lack of cooperation contradicts everything that Governor was promised last week by the President." As CNN reported, the very next day EPA, Trump appointees did reverse course. Told its top staff in Seattle the withdrawal of protections is now a done deal. One top EPA official telling CNN we were told to get out of the way and just make it happen. A month later the EPA made that secret decision official, giving the mining company the win it needed.

GRIFFIN: In response to this report Alaska's Governor didn't answer a single question, only giving CNN a statement saying he supports mining. But the CEO of Pebble Mine, Tom Collier met with us personally to stress two things.

First, that he and his company had no advanced knowledge of decisions made by the EPA. And second, in his view, he says, it's fairly normal to have these types of communications, even to the point of writing draft letters for the Governor to edit and sign. Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.

CABRERA: Up next, get ready to laugh. Tonight, Eddie Murphy returns to "Saturday Night Live" for the first time in 35 years. What we can expect and how the comedy times have changed. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:00]

CABRERA: He was just 19 years old when he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" as an extra. He had to audition six times just to get the part, but once he got on that SNL stage, his star power quickly made itself known.

Soon, Eddie Murphy was the backbone of the SNL cast. One of his reoccurring characters was a project space rift on Mr. Rogers named Mr. Robinson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE MURPHY, COMEDIAN: You know another reason why Mr. Robinson likes Christmas so much, boys and girls, is because I have so much in common with Santa Claus. We both like to sneak into your house late at night.

(LAUGHTER)

MURPHY: Only Mr. Santa Claus likes to leave things. Mr. Robinson prefers to take a few things every now and then.

(LAUGHTER)

MURPHY: Let's see what I have for Christmas today. Oh, look, a little doll baby. Isn't this so cute, boys and girls? They're not worth a lot of money now, but through the miracle of modern science, cabbage patch doll.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: One of Murphy's real strengths was impersonating famous people from Stevie Wonder to Bill Cosby to James Brown.

[19:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for being with us tonight, Mr. Brown.

MURPHY: I say... look hear! Hah!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Brown, your career has spanned almost three decades, and yet your style has remained intact and constant.

MURPHY: That's because... hah... I'm a man! Spell "man"..."m-a-n." Oww-ww!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Tonight Murphy's many fans are on pins and needles, Eddie Murphy will perform on that SNL stage again for the first time in 35 years, and entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu - I knew I was going to mess it up - Oduolowu joins us now. He is the host of the syndicated TV show "The List." Segun, thank you for taking the time with us. Tonight, what will you be watching for in this epic return?

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, HOST, "THE LIST": Well, I grew up watching Eddie Murphy on "Saturday Night Live," so if he brings back Mr. Robinson, if he brings back Velvet Jones, and of Gumby, those three, if I get that, I don't care how the rest of the show goes.

CABRERA: Now, over the years, a lot of former SNL cast members have left, and then they've returned from time to time to host or to do sketches at least, but not Eddie Murphy. Why this moment for his return?

ODUOLOWU: Well, I think that this is Eddie's emergence back into our pop culture conscience. He's got Coming 2 America 2 coming out in 2020, Dolemite Is My Name is currently on Netflix, and I think he's ready to come back. There are rumors that he's going to do a standup special again. I would say that that's more fact than rumor, so why not go back to where it started from.

I mean, SNL was his launching pad. He saved the show back in the '80s and became the biggest movie star of the '80s in many people's opinion, so this is his return, and I'm a fan. I'm for it.

CABRERA: I'm kind of nervous for him. Do you think he's nervous?

ODUOLOWU: You know, it's - I'm worried, too, because there's that old line you can't go home again, and a lot of his best characters in this PC culture may not be received the same way. We're looking at him doing Gumby, and you might have people say he's in green face and that offends people that are green.

We've become a culture that's so PC that being Mr. Robinson and breaking into homes, people might not find it as funny. I hope they can just calm down and appreciate the comic genius. CABRERA: You're right. We didn't have Twitter back then. I'm guessing

he might not want to check Twitter tonight after his performance. Let me read you something from CNN Media Analyst and Former "New York Times" Media Reporter Bill Carter. He writes this. "It is not too much to say that Eddie Murphy more or less single handedly brought SNL back from the brink of dimly remembered cult status.

That fate might have befallen the show had it been canceled in the early '80s. Instead, Murphy's comic genius listed SNL back to talked about must-see status. Murphy's mark on the show is like none other, not only because of his talent but also because he brought a racial consciousness to the show, to all of television really, that it previously lacked."

You touched on this, a lot has changed in society and culture today compared to Murphy's old SNL days of the '80s. Where does he fit into the here and now?

ODUOLOWU: Well, personally for me, I think he fits squarely in it. I don't think you can have a movie like "Bad Boys 3," which is also coming out in 2020 without an Eddie Murphy. I mean, what he was doing with the "Beverly Hills Cop," the "Trading Places", "48 Hours," he was showing that black actors and white actors, not only can they coexist, but funny is funny.

If you are hilarious, it doesn't matter if you're a man, a woman, what color, what gender, what ethnicity. He took shots at everyone. And, like I said, he's talented. I'd defy anyone to watch the "Nutty Professor" scenes around the dinner table and not understand his comic genius or the barbershop scenes in "Coming 2 America."

So what he was doing on TV by showing, you know, black people in scenes with white people and it just being funny. The days of Sidney Poitier and black actors walking on stage very stoic and "My Name is Mr. Tibbs," "I'm Axel Foley", and "Let's Have Some Fun," and he changed the entire landscape of entertainment for not only comedians with delirious and raw and doing big stadium shows and taking them into movie theaters fight with television.

Like, you're not getting the "Cosby Show" without Eddie Murphy showing that, Yo, black people appeal to white audiences on arguably at the time the whitest show SNL.

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CABRERA: It will be interesting to see how many of those join in tonight for cameos, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, do you think some of them will be there?

ODUOLOWU: I hope so, because his style gave birth to all of them. He talks about being a disciple of Richard Pryor. And what Richard - Richard laid the ground work for what Eddie was doing. If you listen to him tell a story and slip into a - he's telling a prince story and he slips I slips into prince's voice or he slips into a Johnny Cash voice. He is doing it as a caricature. He is doing it to further the story and he does it so seamlessly. That these comedians now, just his presence of walking back and forth on the stage, and commanding an audience with his wit and intellect, I hope some of those old SNL friends of his come back and just pay homage to arguably the greatest to ever do it.

Segun Oduolowu, thank you for being here. And I know you'll be watching. so will we.

ODUOLOWU: I have it on record.

CABRERA: All right. See you soon.

ODUOLOWU: Thank you.

CABRERA: Buyer beware. car seats that are unchecked, unregulated, and potentially unsafe. and people are buying them on amazon.com without even realizing it. That's next live in the "CNN Newsroom."

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CABRERA: You buy a Rolex off the street for $50. You know it's fake and while it is illegal to sell it, it's probably not dangerous. But that is not dangerous of all counterfeits. A CNN investigation that was months long turned up dozens of bogus baby and children's products for sale on Amazon, a retailer trusted by millions of shoppers and those fakes could be putting kids at serious risk. Clare Sebastian,

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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In a simulated 30-mile-per-hour collision, this infant car seat lurches forward and fractures near the seat belt path, sending shards of plastic into the air, failing a standard test required under U.S. federal safety regulations.

This is where we bought the car seat - on Amazon, part of an alarming trend. Copycat or counterfeit versions of popular children's products are turning up for sale unchecked, unregulated, and in this case potentially unsafe.

The seat we purchased is designed to look like a Doona, a sought after brand of car seat that folds out into a stroller. The Amazon listing even used some of Doona's promotions images and its about $200 cheaper than the real thing.

Two pediatricians who watched this video said a child in the seat would have been at serious risk of head and neck injuries. We also showed the results to Doona.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is unbelievable to see how a product that looks very much like ours performs completely differently in a crash test. SEBASTIAN (voice over): We put a genuine Doona through the exact same

test in the same lab, it remained intact, meeting federal standards. Doona says this is not just an Amazon problem, it's been working with various e-commerce platforms for more than two years now to take down counterfeit products.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've taken down just this year more than 40 pages which had infringing products or fake products just on the Amazon platform alone. If you assume each of these pages is up for three to seven days, then you are talking about a good period of the year in which fake products, dangerous products are being sold on Amazon.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): Shortly after we purchased the fake car seat in October, the Amazon listing was taken down.

SEBASTIAN: After seeing our crash test report Amazon e-mailed customers who had bought the product, urging them to stop using it immediately and offering a full refund. We reached the seller, a company based in china called Strolex by phone. A man who refused to identify himself told us, "My products are safe, and then refused to answer more questions."

An Amazon spokesperson told us safety is a top priority at Amazon. We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws and regulations, and have developed industry leading tools to prevent unsafe or noncompliant products from being listed in our stores.

SEBASTIAN: We have spoken to seven different baby and children's brands selling on Amazon, all of whom tell us they face a constant game of whack a mole when it comes to counterfeit and copycat versions of their products on the site, and it's hurting their businesses. Several of them also tell us they have safety concerns.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): The U.S. distributor of these popular infant swaddles told us one customer contacted them about a fake that the zippers were falling off, a serious choking hazard for an infant.

The manufacturer of this white noise machine that Baby Shusher designed to help infant sleep, says they have had multiple complaints from customers who it turned out had bought fakes. One customer who bought the product last year told us it fell apart when she tried to change the battery.

SEBASTIAN: Amazon says they strictly prohibit counterfeits and told us these are isolated incidents. They're investigating and will take appropriate action against the sellers involved.

Part of the issue is that consumers look at Amazon as a trusted retailer, but most of the items sold on Amazon and not actually sold by Amazon. In 2018 58% of the company's sales came from third party sellers.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): Amazon has stepped up its efforts against counterfeits with three different programs brands can opt into to help them protect their trademarks and make the process of taking down fakes more efficient. Sellers tell us it's not enough.

JASON DRANGEL, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWYER: This is an authentic Baby Shark product--

SEBASTIAN (voice over): Jason Drangel has been working with the toy industry on counterfeiting cases for 15 years. He now represents some of the biggest toy companies in the U.S. and deals regularly with online platforms.

SEBASTIAN: Do you worry that it's going to take a serious incident, a child getting injured for something to really be done about this?

DRANGEL: Yes, I mean, I'm actually shocked it hasn't happened already, given the severity of the problem.

Clare Sebastian CNN, New York.

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CABRERA: New Year's Eve is right around the corner. We're planning a one of a kind party here. Ring in the 2020 New Year with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, two best friends, one epic night. New Year's Eve Live begins at--

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