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Trump Says Impeachment is Unconstitutional; Australia Fires; American Diplomat's Wife Charged in Death of British Teen; Mining Company Coached Alaska Governor to Get EPA Rollback; Biden Pushes for Unity at Rally; Dangerous Counterfeit Kids' Products Turn Up on Amazon; Hong Kong Protests. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired December 22, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
Coming up next on CNN NEWSROOM, lashing out against his impeachment again. This time the president accuses Democrats of violating the Constitution.
In North Korea, satellite images reveal new work being done at a military site in the production of long-range missile launchers.
Plus, we take you to Australia, where firefighters are struggling to get a handle on dozens of bushfires. They are scorching millions of acres and claiming more lives.
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ALLEN: Thank you for joining us.
Our top story: we begin with the impeachment of U.S. president Donald Trump and the unexpected delay in sending those articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate. President Trump is falsely telling his supporters that Democrats violated the U.S. Constitution when they impeached him last week.
And he also said Nancy Pelosi has abandoned the issue, even though that's not true. The one fact he did latch onto, no Republicans voted against him.
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TRUMP: What kind of great support did we have from those incredible congressmen and women this week?
They were fantastic. We had three Democrats come to our side. So we have to say it was bipartisan.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ALLEN: For more on what Mr. Trump is saying about his impeachment is Kristen Holmes.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if there was any doubt that President Trump had impeachment on the mind, there is no longer. When he was speaking to this Turning Point Student Action Summit, he launched almost immediately into impeachment. He slammed Democrats. He slammed the process.
At one point he even brought up Dan Crenshaw, who voted no on the articles of impeachment. Crenshaw handed over the ticket that he used to vote against the articles of impeachment. I want to know one thing President Trump said. Take a look at this.
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TRUMP: Crazy Nancy. She's crazy. No, no. So now she says she has no case. She has no case. So let's not submit it. That's good, right?
That's good. But you know what, so unfair. It's so unfair. She has no case. Did they look back?
They are violating the Constitution. Totally. They are violating the Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now I want to know that is not true. Would you know she is holding onto the articles of impeachment. This is not about the fact that she doesn't believe there is a case.
It is over a stalemate over what the Senate trial will look like. Nancy Pelosi and Democrats want a longer trial. They want to bring about White House aides, including John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney that the administration blocked from coming forward.
Mitch McConnell believes a shorter trial is better. They want it done and over with -- reporting from West Palm Beach, I'm Kristen Holmes, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Joining us now is Steven Erlanger, the chief diplomatic correspondent for "The New York Times."
Good to see you. I want to begin with Donald Trump saying that Democrats violated the U.S. Constitution when they impeached him last week. He is going on the attack, his usual course of action when he doesn't like something. He certainly doesn't like the impeachment.
He blamed the media, liberalism, promised restrictions on abortions, gun rights, he denounced protecting the environment and he vowed to protect the border against criminal aliens. That got him a standing ovation. So he is marching back to familiar territory as he looks ahead to the election here.
What do you make of it?
STEVEN ERLANGER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, I think you summarized it very, very well. The other thing he did was attack a Christian evangelical magazine that said he should be impeached and thrown out of office.
[04:05:00]
ERLANGER: That was very important to him because 80 percent of evangelicals voted for him in 2016. So Trump is on the offensive.
He has an aide in Mitch McConnell, who runs the Senate for the Republicans. They know they will, in the Senate, when it comes to a vote, the Republicans dominate the Senate, the Democrats only have 47 seats. They need two-thirds vote.
So Mitch McConnell just wants to get to the vote as soon as possible with as short a trial as possible and throw out the idea of impeachment. Obviously the Democrats want, you know, as long a trial as possible to try to sear into people's minds their indictment of President Trump.
But Trump, you know, as you said, he's always on the offensive. And he says pretty much whatever comes into his head. And he goes back to familiar lines of attack to try to show his supporters that he defends them against the people trying to do down "real Americans," the Democrats, Nancy Pelosi and Washington in general.
ALLEN: Right. It will be an interesting holiday to see who blinks first, Pelosi or McConnell, as they try to make a plan for the Senate trial.
You've talked about regular Americans. I want you to take a look at this next report from CNN's Martin Savidge. He went to the key battleground state of Pennsylvania to see what voters there think about it and then we'll talk about it.
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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Blair County, Pennsylvania, the impeachment of Donald Trump isn't hurting the president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I love him.
SAVIDGE: Supporters say it's helping him.
BONNIE PFEFFER, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think what they're doing is completely wrong. And I will vote for him in the coming election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could help him get reelected, actually.
SAVIDGE: Voters here are predominantly white, working class, strong in their conservative beliefs. SAVIDGE (on camera): 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 percent of the vote in this blue-collar county about two hours east of Pittsburgh, significantly outperforming Mitt Romney in 2012.
TRUMP: To make America great again.
SAVIDGE: 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 (on camera): He'll do as good as that, maybe even better?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe even better.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): How's that possible? Two reasons. Trump voters we talked to here like the economy and loathe impeachment. They credit Trump with the former and blame Democrats for the latter.
SAVIDGE (on camera): And how would you say the economy here is in Altoona?
PHILIP DEVORRIS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, BLAIR COMPANIES: It's good. It's not people 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 as clear evidence of presidential abuse of power, CEO, Philip Devorris, sees as 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: It's pretty much the same story down on the farm.
PHIL KULP, KULP FAMILY DAIRY: This location, there's about 1,500 cows being milked.
SAVIDGE: Milk for 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.
KULP: Now, I work too many hours to pay close attention.
SAVIDGE: The way Kulp sees it, voters should elect more like Trump to Congress.
SAVIDGE (on camera): Is the impeachment process, in any way, going to change your outlook or support of this president in 2020?
KULP: No. It just makes me, I guess, more convinced that we need more outsiders in Washington.
SAVIDGE: Not all the Republicans I spoke to here said 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 any Democrats they might consider, everyone here was unanimous, no -- Martin Savidge, CNN, Altoona, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: There you have it. Let's go back to Steven Erlanger in Brussels.
People voting for Trump seem entrenched to do that again.
Are you surprised that the impeachment is a ho-hum issue for his supporters?
ERLANGER: Not really partly because Nancy Pelosi herself was nervous about even bringing impeachment to the floor of the House. She resisted it for a while.
[04:10:00]
ERLANGER: And then felt she had to, partly, I think, because her own members wanted it. Her fear was what Martin Savidge reported, Trump supporters will be energized by this attack on him.
This sense, as he argues, the Democrats are trying to use impeachment to cancel the 2016 election and throw him out of office when he was duly elected. And I think this is the issue that annoys people and it's an issue complicated by the intricacies of the whole Ukraine deal.
I think if impeachment were on something simpler, the way his taxes are done or something else, people might respond differently. But this feels very, very vague to them.
So Trump has a good argument when he says they're using a small issue to try to throw me out of office and you, who voted for me, are the targets, the real targets. That's his line and he's going to stick to it.
ALLEN: As many people are sticking with him. All right. There's a long way to go to the election. So we'll be speaking with you again. Thank you, Steven, as always.
ERLANGER: Thanks, Natalie.
ALLEN: Well, there are new signs that North Korea may be expanding its long-range missile program. Satellite images obtained by CNN show fresh work at a site linked with the production of intercontinental ballistic missile launchers. This comes amid fresh threats from Pyongyang and impasse in talks with the U.S.
David Culver is following developments from Hong Kong.
Good to see you.
First up here, what do we know about this site and what it does, the significance of it?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Natalie. Good to see you as well.
In the images what we see is rapid construction. You can see a new facility popping up. This is an automotive plant. What is done there, according to analysts, this is where they take launchers often imported from China, they also take domestic vehicles and modify and retrofit them so as to support their intercontinental ballistic missile program.
In the past two weeks, we have seen significant tests at the Sohae facility, according to North Korea's own admission. The U.S. believe they are testing rocket engines that could support ballistic missiles. That is concerning.
ALLEN: Kim Jong-un has been promising a Christmas gift.
Could there be a provocative act like a missile launch?
CULVER: There could be. The war of words between North Korea and the U.S. has intensified. A former top military official said it may just be words right now, rhetoric. But the danger itself could forge a new narrative that could turn into very serious action.
North Korea has really put themselves in this self-imposed deadline to go back to talks. So the pressure is on them that they really created so they may want to act -- Natalie.
ALLEN: All right. A story to watch over the holidays. David, thank you.
CULVER: Sure.
ALLEN: We have this story just in. Police say at least 11 people have been shot at a home in Chicago. Authorities say it may have happened during a house party. Victims have been transported to local hospitals. Officials have not released details on their conditions. We will bring you details on some shooting as they become available.
Parts of Australia continue to go up in flames as firefighters battle dozens of deadly bushfires.
Is there any relief in sight?
We're live with a look at the conditions next. Plus, the tragic death of a British teenager leads to charges against an American diplomat's wife. Now officials at the highest levels of both governments are getting involved.
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ALLEN: Welcome back.
The death toll continues to rise in Australia as firefighters battle massive bushfires. The prime minister says another person died Saturday, meaning nine people have been killed since the fires began in September.
For days, a record-breaking heat wave has fueled more than 100 wildfires across the country, many of which are not contained. And it is igniting a call for action on climate change. CNN's Simon Cullen has a look at conditions there.
What region is this?
We have been hearing you talk during our commercial there. It sounds like the winds are very severe.
SIMON CULLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're right, Natalie. Just in the last hour, the temperature has dropped by more than 10 degrees Celsius. With that has come quite gusty winds. This is going to make firefighting conditions more difficult.
I'm on the border between Queensland and New South Wales, that have been most affected by this fire crisis. New South Wales is where 3 million hectares of land has been burned out.
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CULLEN: Heat waves coming across the country have been causing these fires and have been making it very difficult for firefighters. But just in the last 24 hours, certainly where I am at the moment, a cooler change has come through.
But that is not expected to last very long. It's a temporary reprieve. Temperatures are expected to rise again. With that, of course, comes more extreme fire and fire threats.
ALLEN: Right. And, you know, there are then orders for people to go to shelter. But still nine people have died, two of those firefighters. I know the prime minister was criticized for being on a Hawaii holiday during this.
What has he had to say about this?
CULLEN: Absolutely. There was criticism because of the perceived lack of leadership in the government. He flew back in, spoke to the media this morning. He accepts the criticism. He accepts when other families are concerned for their livelihoods and their homes, that it was inappropriate for him and his family to be holidaying in Hawaii.
He is also facing criticism over Australia's climate change position. Now this is something that has been persistent years not just within Australia but globally. Australia is seen as one of the highest meters per capita.
The Australian PM defending the government's policy, saying it is working and therefore there's no need to change it. He accepts it is a valid concern that whether they are doing enough.
ALLEN: They are certainly warranted, aren't they?
We appreciate it. Thank you, Simon.
The case of the U.S. diplomat's wife killing a British teenager in a motor crash has reached the highest levels of the U.S. and U.K. governments. A U.K. official tells CNN that U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo and British foreign secretary Dominic Raab discussed the matter by phone on Saturday.
The official added that nothing new came out of the conversation. Harry Dunn died in August when his motorcycle was struck by a car going the wrong direction. The driver Anne Sacoolas is facing charges of death by dangerous driving. Her attorney said she is contrite about the accident but will not return to the U.K. voluntarily.
Mark Bolton is covering the story for us.
It is interesting that this is going to be, you know, a fight to get her to come back. But this family, the family of this young man, certainly is going all out to get justice for their son.
MARK BOLTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think as we all would in this circumstance, the Dunn family for sure. Hence, the reason we saw those tears -- and heartfelt tears they were, too. The state prosecutor here has formally put forward criminal charges of death by dangerous driving against Anne Sacoolas.
The mother of Harry Dunn said this was a huge step forward in what she'd promised her son, to get justice. It is a significant move forward because death by dangerous driving carries a potential jail service of up to 14 years. Hence, the reason that Anne Sacoolas and her legal team said she will not voluntarily return to the U.K.
It was an unintentional accident, they say. She has heartfelt sorrow, being a mother herself, but no intention of her to return. She fled, claiming diplomatic unity that her husband was a U.S. intelligence officer.
This moves things forward. Obviously a criminal charge now. Extrajudicial proceedings have been done to bring Sacoolas from the U.S. to the U.K. First it has to be kicked off by the CPS. That has happened.
Next a judge will review the case. There is no reason to believe a judge here would reject it.
Next is the politics, the third stage of the three-stage process. The home office, the government department here, has to refer this and prove it before it is sent to the U.S. State Department overseas.
[04:25:00]
BOLTON: The current home office minister is meeting with the Dunn family today in London to see how this case will proceed. She, too, hopes justice will be done. Interestingly, the U.S. State Department said the criminal part of this situation now that the CPS formally put this charge forward, does not help the situation. It will not move to bring about a resolution any easier.
Of course Boris Johnson stressed that he has spoken to president Donald Trump about this. He said Trump expressed sympathy. But Johnson also went on to say the U.S. was reluctant to see any of its citizens tried overseas.
Ultimately, of course, the backdrop, Brexit, the need to forge new bilateral trade agreements, both with the E.U. and USA. It will be important to see how that has a bearing on this.
And what for the family would be justice?
Would it be for Sacoolas to be charged, for her to return and face some sort of proceedings without a potential jail sentence at the end of it?
Would that suffice?
Or the full arm of the law let loose on Sacoolas and her to potentially face that jail sentence?
All that will be played out in the next few months, a highly political situation. The U.S. may simply cling to what they have now, which is diplomatic immunity, which means she never leaves the U.S. to face trial.
ALLEN: We'll be following it and we know you will, thank you, Mark Bolton.
The world's most valuable wild salmon habitat is in danger now. How a controversial mining company coached Alaska's governor to lobby the White House to get rid of environmental protections. Our CNN exclusive report is coming next.
Also U.S. presidential Democratic candidates are battling it out on the road. Why Bernie Sanders is taking aim at Pete Buttigieg.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. CNN NEWSROOM live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
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ALLEN: Pristine Alaskan waters, home to one of the last wild salmon spawning areas in the world, lost their special environmental protections last summer. Now CNN has learned how that happened.
CNN senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin uncovers documents showing Alaska's governor actively lobbied the Trump administration for the move by parroting talking points provided by a mining company that wanted access to the region. Here's our exclusive report about it.
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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 ghost-written letters, talking points for communications with the EPA, with the vice president's office and to a potential investor in the mine.
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: 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's staff wrote it first, here is Pebble's ghost-written 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: The documents also include two other examples, letters from the governor that appear to have been copied 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.
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GRIFFIN (voice-over): 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.
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 announcements 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 the governor was were promised last week by the president.
As CNN reported, the very next day, EPA Trump appointees did reversed course, told its top staff in Seattle the withdrawal of protections is a 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.
In response to this report, Alaska's governor didn't answer a single question. The CEO, Tom Collier, met with us to say 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.
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ALLEN: The Iowa caucuses are seven weeks away and Pete Buttigieg is inching ahead in some state opinion polls. Other candidates aren't wasting any time taking jabs at him.
On Saturday, Bernie Sanders was joined by congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez at rallies in Venice, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada. There Sanders took aim, calling him out for holding expensive fundraisers.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't have a super PAC. We don't want to a super PAC. We don't go to rich people's wine caves. This is a campaign of the working class of this country by the working class and for the working class.
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ALLEN: Sanders is not the only candidate rallying for support. Joe Biden made an appearance in Iowa Saturday where he hopes to regain momentum in the polls. CNN's Arlette Saenz is there.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden is on a two-day swing through Iowa, making his way across the state through that bus bearing the No Malarkey slogan. He was in Creston, Iowa, making the case about uniting the country, saying consensus is necessary, even if Democrats disagree with Republicans. Take a listen to what he had to tell voters.
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JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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.
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SAENZ: Biden saying consensus is necessary to unite the country.
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SAENZ: Biden is still leading in national polls. Here in Iowa, it is a different picture. Pete Buttigieg is ahead in many polls. Biden will spend a lot of time on the ground, shaking hands, taking selfies with voters, as he makes his case heading into the caucuses over a month away -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, Creston, Iowa.
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ALLEN: Next here, he's on a mission to remove counterfeit products from Amazon.
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AMIAD RAVIV, DOONA: We have taken down just this year, more than 40 pages, which had infringing products or fake products just on the Amazon platform alone.
ALLEN (voice-over): How this child car seat company manager is trying to keep dangerous products from consumers. That's next.
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ALLEN: You buy a Rolex off the street for $50, you know it's fake. While it's illegal, it's probably not dangerous. But that is not true of all counterfeits. An months-long CNN investigation turned up dozens of bogus baby and children's products for sale on Amazon, a retailer trusted by millions of shoppers. Those fakes could put kids at serious risk. Our Clare Sebastian has our report.
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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.
RAVIV: 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.
RAVIV: 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."
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 percent 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--
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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.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
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ALLEN: What a revealing story there from Clare.
We want to take you now to Hong Kong. This was the scene moments ago during a pro-democracy protest in support of human rights for China's Uyghur Muslim ethnic group and against Beijing's security crackdown. China has repeatedly denied accusations that they have rounded up thousands of Uyghurs into what are essentially prison camps.
Beijing calls them "vocational training centers" with the focus on deradicalization and counterterrorism. Again, we are following this latest protests in Hong Kong, these in support of the Uyghur minority.
We'll be right back.
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ALLEN: Before he was big box office, Eddie Murphy was Buckwheat, Gumby and Mr. Robinson, three of his most popular characters as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" in the '80s.
Last night, 35 years later, the comedy legend was once again live from New York. He was joined on the "SNL" stage for the opening monologue with fellow comedian superstars Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, Keenan Thompson and Dave Chappelle. He wasted no time bringing back some of his greatest hits, including "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood," a spoof of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
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EDDIE MURPHY, COMEDIAN, "MR. ROBINSON": So much has changed since we last spent some time together. My neighborhood has gone through so much. It has gone through something called gentrification.
Can you say gentrification, boys and girls?
It's like a magic trick. White people pay a lot of money and then, poof, all the black people are gone. Y'all probably wondering how Mr. Robinson can afford to live in this fancy neighborhood. Well, that's the word of the day: squatter's rights. It's like finder's keepers but for other people's houses.
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ALLEN: He is a classic, was a classic and always will be one heck of a funny guy.
Thanks for watching this hour. I'll be right back with more CNN NEWSROOM. Another hour right after this short break.
