Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom Live 20191228

Newsroom starts right now. It is 4 00 a. M. On the u. S. East coast. It is good to be back with you this day. We begin in the u. S. State of hawaii. Teams there on the ground set to resume the search for one person still missing after a tourist helicopter crash. The remains of six others on board have been recovered. Our Josh Campbell has the latest for you. The crash site in a remote area inside a state park in the northwest section of the island of kauai. This tour helicopter was one of many that you typically see here in hawaii, a popular attraction that allows tourists the ability to look inside volcanos, of water falls, to get an idea of this states wildlife. This all began on thursday afternoon. The coast guard, the u. S. Navy as well as kauai fire and rescue were alerted after the tours and helicopter failed to return to base in its allotted time. That launched a massive search and rescue effort involving multiple agencies throughout the night working some 16 hours by sea, air and land. As far as the cause of this incident, that remains under investigation. Were told officials from the National Transportation safety board as well as the american e Aviation Federation are on the way here. Were told early reports point to possibly bad weather. There were two families aboard, including four adults, two children. Officials announcing that remains from six of those people have been recovered. A search for the seventh continues. Josh campbell, cnn, honolulu. Josh, thank you. In kazakhstan, a Major Development following a crash there. Investigators found the black boxes belonging to a passenger jet that crashed on friday. Those boxes will be sent to moscow for dekrepgz. In the meantime, kazakhstan is observing a day of mourning for the 12 people that were kidnapped. Investigators say the aircraft specifically a focker 100 plane plunged to the ground seconds into the flight, broke through a concareer barrier and hit a twostory building. As a precaution, all focker 100 planes in the country have been temporarily grounded. Pivoting to the impeachment of the u. S. President donald trump and his demand for a speedy trial in the senate, that demand seems to be going nowhere fast. The president showing sign thats its apparently ruining his vacation as our Phil Mattingly reports. As President Trump continued his holiday twitter barrage against democrats on impeachment, Speaker Pelosi is continuing to press her partys case in her own tweet. Yet for all the 280character thoughts, the battle over what the looming senate trial will look like remained where its been for days, at an impasse. Sources telling cnn no conversations between the top two Senate Leaders have occurred or are likely to before january. And with tangible action tabled for the moment, a clear democratic strategy has to some degree emerged, to get under the president s skin. Something sources tell cnn is exactly whats happened. Theyre playing games. They dont want to put in their articles, their ridiculous, phony, fraudulent articles. But even more importantly, democratic sources say to ex either pressure on Mitch Mcconnell. Mitch mcconnell already said hes working hand in hand with the white house on this. Hes not impartial juror. Mcconnell has rejected democratic calls to subpoena witnesses and documents in the initial trials resolution and has scoffed at the democratic pressure play. Im not sure what leverage there is in refraining from sending us something we do not want. And the reality is the expectation, at least according to people im talking to on both sides of the aisle should come fairley soon after lawmakers return to capitol hill in january. But the other reality is nobody here is totally sure. Here is why. Speaker pelosi has kept her plans, what she wants to do going forward, when she wants to send those articles to the United States senate closely held. Nobody has a Firm Understanding of what her next steps would be. As one democratic lawmaker texted me earlier today, well, just stay tuned, i guess. Phil mattingly, cnn, washington. And there are questions about what is next for u. S. Secretary of state mike pompeo. He said hes not interested in running for the u. S. Senate. There are signs that suggest what pompeo says and what he does may be two separate things, like this, his brand new personal social media profile. It reads husband, father, kansasan and proud american. A much softer look than the button downed formality of the official state department account. Some question whether it is a sign that he is, indeed, interested in a source for u. S. Senate. And the white house is working on a list for possible replacements for pompeo. Steven mnuchin is said to be interested, but the deputy secretary would be a natural choice. Hes number two at the agency and could fill in as acting secretary for many months. Another possibility is robert obrien. Hes now the National Security adviser. A lot to put into focus this day and to do so, lets bring in natasha linstadt live from birmingham, england. Thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me. Lets talk about this impasse between the u. S. House of representatives and the u. S. Senate. The House Speaker keeping close her plans about how and whether to move forward. The Senate Majority leader, essentially, calling her bluff. Do you agree that this is, indeed, putting pressure on Mitch Mcconnell . I dont think it is putting much pressure on Mitch Mcconnell. I think it is making Donald Trumps holiday absolutely terrible. And we can see the results of that because hes been on a tweet storm and calling nancy pelosi crazy nancy pelosi, so hes going for very personal attacks. So it has got under his skin. But Mitch Mcconnell, really, has the power here because the way the sneetd is made up, theres a majority of republicans in the senate. They would need twothirds to pass. Eventually even if nancy pelosi and the democrats were to get their ways and were to get a couple concessions from republicans, it wont make a difference. This is going to be a sham trial. Im not going to uphold this oath that i took. I am going to be working with donald trump. Were going to get this over with as quickly as possible. It might even happen in a week and this is going to be no big deal. I think that really annoyed her and she felt, well, not so fast. Were going to delay this process a little bit. Try to get some concessions out of you and see if we can at least make this trial appear to be a little bit more fair and impartial. Mcconnell indicated that he would be working hand in hand with the white house in this. The president accusing the white house of Holding Articles of impeachment. Democrats point to the fact that though the president claims that he is innocent, claims that he wants to present witnesses, they say hes the one who is blocking those witnesses. How significant is that in all of this . Well, that has been part of the democrats main arguments. They didnt go all the way to the obstruction of justice because that would have brought them back to the Mueller Probe been but overall, trump has played the cards very, very differently than any other president , even more so than nixon. And i know there was some obstruction going on in the nixon case. He hasnt complied with anything. He ignores rules, processes, all the Democratic Institutions that are in place are becoming more and more fragile because he simply wont agree, wont abide by any of these rules. And this has been very difficult for the democrats to deal with because the mechanisms in place to try to rectify this take a really long time to come to fruition because you have to go through the courts. So its really a new era for politics because its become so polarized and because also you have donald trump not abiding by any of these. Also, there are questions. We just mentioned this here, the report, the questions about the u. S. Secretary of state and what 2020 may mean for mike pompeo. The reports that suggest he may want to run for senate and the Senate Majority leader allegedly or reportedly, rather, pushing him to do so. It is leaving a great deal of uncertainty about what is next in that vital role, given that mr. Trump and pompeo do seem to get along when you consider whats been a revolving door in that white house. Right. And there were some reports there might be some tension and i think this has been a difficult period for pompeo because hes been roped into this whole impeachment probe and he appeared to be a very important player in the impeachment probe having not defend Marie Yovanovitch and reviewing to cooperate with all these other people. So for mike pompeo, its been very clear that hes been very, very loyal to trump. And i think what he is doing is he is eyeing a senate seat in kansas. He may say thats not what he wants to do. Thats what politicians always say. They deny that theyre going to run or make some different maneuver. But hes been very, very loyal to trump because he knows that that is how you win in republican areas. So in kansas, which is a fairley republican state, if he remains loyal to trump, tries to stay out of this whole impeachment thing, he can quietly go and try to run for the senate seat and that would be an easier position than being secretary of state where theres just all kinds of things and challenges that he has to face that make it very, very difficult and particularly because of the impeachment probe seem to involve him so heavily. So then whats next, if he decides to go, then trump is going to have to appoint somebody else or they may have someone thats just acting, but the key thing trump needs is someone that is very, very loyal. Weve seen this with the attorney general when he was able to appoint bill barr that completely you shifted things in his favor. Because rex tillerson, the previous secretary of state, wasnt quite as loyal, that didnt go over very well with trump. So whatever happens in the future, were going to see someone that will come in that will basically be another trump lackey. Natasha, we appreciate your time. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Breaking news into cnn, we are following this story out of somalia. A government Spokesman Says a suicide car bomb attack in the capital city of mogadishu has left at least 30 people dead there. 60 people have been wounded according to reports. The attack happened at about 8 00 a. M. Local time at a key checkpoint. Both civilian and soldiers are among the dead. Somalias al qaeda affiliate al shabab has claimed responsibility for that attack. Well continue to gather information and bring you developments as we learn more. Still ahead on cnn newsroom live, deadly fires raging in australia and theyre putting these beloved animals at risk. Ahead, how one hospital is helping to sayre the koalas. Plus, nasa has unveiled a new rover that will collect samples on mars. A mission out to the red planet. Stay with us. So i can sleep great and wake up human. Dont eat me i taste terrible. Fight your worst symptoms so you can sleep great and wake up human. New mucinex nightshift cold and flu. A tractortrailer jack knifing there on a highway on friday. You can see Police Officers scrambling to get out of the way as the truck barrels ahead. Officers were responding to multiple accidents that day. A local tv news crew was on the scene. They captured the video. Two people were injured, we understand. Dense fog created hazardous driving conditions at the time there. In australia, as bush fires rage on, we now know that theyre having a devastating impact on koalas. Koalas are being particularly hard hit in New South Wales as their habitats are being destroyed. Natalie allen explains there is hope as experts fight to save one koala at a time. A koala hospital in australia overwhelmed with patients. He seems to be quite dehydrated and probably quite hungry. Not all were lucky like this little one. Animal experts establishme animal experts estimate hundreds of koalas have died since september. Australias he Prime Minister saying on friday up to 30 in the countrys New South Wales region may have been killed in the ongoing fires. The regions koala hospital has admitted more than 300 of these adorable animals so far this year. But the hospitals director says the support from the public has been equally overwhelming. The hospital has received over 2 million in donations on a go fund me page site. The amount of visitors that are here at the koala hospital over the last five or six weeks has been phenomenal. Everyone is so afraid that were going to lose koalas, that they want to come and see them. Thats the power of the koala worldwide. The government says its working with koala experts and 6 million has been set aside to help save and rehab them. A new heat wave is expected to hit parts of the country over the weekend and into next week. Raising fears that high temperatures and dry winds could further intensify the raging infernos. Thats all bad news for the already vulnerable koala community. Very little would actually survive in there unscathed. Walabees, change radio, deer would get out because they can run, but koalas really cant. The species is at risk of extinction is the population continues to shrink. Rising temperatures which dry out their habitats, deforestation and these are taking a toll. The staff here hope his fate will be different. In a time when the death of even one koala could be one too many. Natalie allen, cnn, atlanta. And derek van dam, our meteorologist here, you see one example after the next after the next, after the next that indicate things are changing and not for the good. What you just saw there, particularly in australia, now what about a warming ocean and the impacts that that has on a maritime life, any kind of Aquatic Ecosystems. It has been brought to our attention, a maritime heat wave. Youre looking at a map of the world, a sea surface temperature anomaly. It highlights the areas showing warmer than average temperatures. And we focus in just off the coast of eastern new zealand. And scientists have picked up on this deep, dark shade of red here. This is an indication that this area has been seen temperatures soar 9 degrees fahrenheit or 5 degrees celsius, warmer than the average for this time of year at that particulate attitude. What has astounded scientists is how large this particular blob of warm sea surface temperature is. It covers 4,000 square miles, roughly the size of texas. For our International Viewers with that is about 1 million square kilometers. This thing is massive and it has major impacts, the potential for coral bleaching, the potential to impact the Aquatic Ecosystems there. Were seeing ramifications of a warm spell of several weeks across the Southern Hemisphere and its being picked up from space and covering a large area. We think about not only what is happening in land, but under the water, as well. The heat wave conditions continue across australia. Its moving from west to east and we expect the worst conditions to settle into New South Wales where the coastal areas have been hit hardest. Melbourne to sydney, temperatures in the upper 30s and into the low 40s, believe it rnt. We have 70 active fires. I have to get in this story because our domestic viewers wants to know what kind of weather they can expect as they approach the new years eve celebrations. We have a major storm system brewing across the central portions of the country. This is the northern planes and the upper midwest. If youre located omaha, chicago, st. Louis to atlanta, this will be an allrain event. Even as it spreads eastward into the east coast cities, new york and d. C. , a rain event. But on the back side of this system, it will dump 18 inches of snow or more across the dakotas and into northern minnesota. Look at the delays possible today and how these shift closer to the weekend. Looks like the ball drop in new york city will stay dry. Thats good. Cold but dry. Cold but dry. China now has its eyes to the stars after a successful rocket launch. Take a look. The applause you hear there, that is the reaction at Mission Control after the two previous attempts that had failed. But on friday, china announced that its long march 5 carried a satellite into orbit. A former nasa astronaut explains what that means. Chinas Space Program, fist and foremost as in any National Space program is about National Pride and prestige. The other countries are definitely paying attention to the chinese Space Program. China has made it clear theyre in it for the long haul, theyre in it for the Long Investment and theyve marked up several successes, both in inmaned probes and in human space flight, as well. You hear it there, china in it for the long haul. Now the countrys Space Program is focussing on ambitious goals, including land ago person on the moon as early as next year. Scientists at nasa and the United States are looking ahead to mars now, hoping a brand new mars rover will help to determine whether life ever existed on the red planet. The unnamed space vehicle made its debut on friday. Nasa plans to launch it next summer. Cnns paul rekaman has more on the multibillion dollar mission. Im here inside the clean room at jpl and behind me arguably the most tricked out vehicle in the solar system, the mars 2020 rover. Among the new features on this rover, the terrain relative navigation. If you see that sort of red triangle, our camera in there is going to be taking images of mars as it parachutes down into a crater. And why this is important is this camera is going to match images taken from the orbit and that way they can make much more daring landing, such as in a crater. Before they always had the safest bed, a nice, flat surface. This will allow them to avoid hazards such as a rock outskropioutskro outcrotching or something that might damage the landing of the vehicle. You cant see this well, but back down there in the body, moxy. Why moxy is important is it will try to convert this atmosphere into oxygen and down the road, if were going on put men on mars and women, were going to need the ability to convert the Martian Atmosphere into breathable oxygen. They cant haul all the oxygen with them, so that is why moxy comes in and as we said, converts it to breathable air. When does the mars 2020 rover launch . Right now, its on schedule for july or august of 2020. Thats when we will be close to mars again here on earth. Also, theyre calling it the mars 2020 rover for now, but theres a contest that involves students and we believe before too long, you will hear a new name for this vehicle. Reporting from pasadena, im paul v re kammen, now back to you. The closing bell has rung at the New York Stock Exchange for the last friday of 2019. And there it was. Both the dow and the s p 500 closed at record highs, but stocks overall finished mixed as the nasdaqs 11day savoring th overall strong december. So whats fueling the gains . Claire sebastian reports. Call it festive spirit, call it fear of missing out, perhaps. However you look at it, though, its been an impressive Holiday Season for the stock markets. And a big part of this is to do with trade. The Trump Administration says it expects a phase one trade deal with china will be signed in early january. That doesnt mean the trade war is over, but it does mean for the most some tariffs are being rolled back and there wont be any more put in place. For businesses trying to plan ahead, thats a big deal. Now, secondly, the r word, recession. Six months ago, the bond market was flashing a warning signal, manufacturing was in decline in the u. S. And germany. It still is, of course. There was a lot of talk of a possible recession. Those fears, though, have since faded. The threat of a no deal brexit has receded and we got a bit of positive news from china this week with a rise in industrial profit. But theres one key dinners between last years december market meltdown and this years gains and thats the federal reserve. 2018 brought four rises. 2019 has brought us three rate cuts. Next year, the fed is expected to wait and see. So for now, the markets are betting the era of easy money is here to stay. Cnn, new york. Claire, thank you. Youre watching cnn newsroom live. Right back after this. Y . Probioslim promotes healthy digestion and helps you lose weight. Patented probiotics ease constipation, gas, and bloating, while powerful egcg burns fat and calories. Unleash your potential with probioslim. Available at retailers nationwide. Mucinex cold flu allinone. Fights. Oh no. Nonono. Did you really need the caps lock . Mucinex cold and flu allinone. only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol®. The sleep number 360 smart bed. Prices of the season on can it help keep me asleep . Absolutely, it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. The queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is only 1299. Plus 0 interest for 24 months on all beds. Ends new years day. Welcome back to viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching cnn newsroom live from atlanta. Im George Howell with the headlines were following for you this hour. The u. S. President active on twitter spending much of the holiday brooding about being the third u. S. President ever impeached. He is especially aggravated that nancy pelosi has delayed sending the articles of impeachment to the u. S. Senate for trial. In the state of hawaii, crews will resume the Search Operations there in the coming hours, this after a tourist helicopter crashed on thursday there. Seven people were on board the helicopter. The remains of six others have been recovered. Authorities believe that weather may have been a factor in that crash. A Somali Government spokesperson says that at least 30 people are dead, 60 others wounded in a suicide car bomb attack. It happened at a checkpoint in the somali capital of mowing deesh ewe. Civilians and soldiers are reported among the dead. Al shabab has claimed responsibility for that attack. Theres new controversy surrounding the u. S. Navy s. E. A. L. Whose courtordered punishment was reversed by President Trump. The New York Times has obtained video of his former platoon members describing him in grim terms to investigators. Our Barbara Starr has the details and we warn you going into this report, it contains disturbing images. Members of s. E. A. L. Team 7 alpha platoon broke their own code of silence in 2018 with their opinions about retired special operations chief Eddie Gallagher and some making accusations that the elite s. E. A. L. Committed murder and potential war crimes. The guy got crazier and crazier. These are portions of recorded navy s. E. A. L. Interviews published by the New York Times. Where team members tell investigators their views on the platoon lead per. The guy was toxic. Gallagher was acquitted of premeditated murder when a key witness changed his story and testified under immune tee that he caused the prisoners death, not gallagher. Did you suffocate him . Yes. How . By holding my thumb over his et tube until he stopped breathing. Scott described the killing as an act of mercy because he was concerned the boy, a prisoner of iraqi forces, would be tortured by them. Gallagher was convicted on a charge of taking a photo with a dead isis fighter and was then demoted in rank. A decision President Trump reversed, allowing the s. E. A. L. To retire with honor, even after pentagon leaders urged the president not to interfere. Speaking through his attorney, gallagher told cnn, my first reaction to seeing the videos was surprise and disgust that they would make up plate end lies about me. But i quickly realized that they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted upon deployment. His Attorney Says the tapes were a road map to acquittal because they showed there were conflicting stories about allegations of gallagher killing civilians and other misconduct. Really, youre only seeing one very small slice of the story in a way thats not reflective of what the ultimate result was. President trumps determination to reverse the militarys punishment of gallagher against the advice of top pentagon officials was so Controversial Navy secretary Richard Spencer was ousted. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff insist that discipline and adherence to the laws of war will not suffer. We do maintain and we will maintain good order and discipline. We will not turn into a gang of raping, burning and pillaging. But some say United States all led to festering bad feelings. So its this kind of divisiveness that the president s actions have been introduced into the s. E. A. L. Community that i think are the most damaging and will have longterm effects. Gallagher met with trump over the holidays at maralago and its possible he will campaign for trump if asked those who know him say. Barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. Still ahead, comfort in crisis, bringing the comforts of home to u. S. Service members and their families, especially this time of year. Radio host he don imus has died. His careers span many decades with imus in the morning, a show that broadcast not only on radio, but also on television. He frequently touched on controversy and in many cases outrageous remarks. Imus was taken off the air in 2007 for a racist comment directed at a Womens College basketball team. He retired for good in march of last year. His family, though, didnt share how he died. He had previously been diagnosed with prostate cancer. A key figure behind the Charlie Brown christmas has died. Lee mendelson helped to create it. While his name might not be familiar to you, his work probably is. Christmas team is here happiness and cheer love that. Mendelson wrote the lyrics to christmastime is here, did Charlie Brown christmas show. Mendelson was the executive producer of the show and the other specials with the peanuts gang. He died Christmas Day at his home in San Francisco after a long battle with cancer. Lee mendelsons son said, quote, it was not a great time for us, but it was not a bad time for him to pass. Now this story is about u. S. Veterans and their family members. This time of year, many are spending the holidays away from home, many recovering at military and veteran hospitals around the world. But thanks to a nonprofit called the fisher house foundation, some have been able to find a home away from home and to find friends to help them through challenging times. Brianna keilar has this for you. Retired army major pete way and his service dog, rory, have traveled to walter reed melt center just outside washington, d. C. Several times. They stay at one of five fisher houses on base. Group homes designed to provide comfortable lodging in a Supportive Community at no cost. Theyre available to active duty military, veterans and their family members as they receive treatment and military and va hospitals. Its a reminder that im not alone in this and that theres other people who basically have the same situation and that, you know, im not alone. Sometimes way stays for days, sometimes months, a long way away from home from his family in georgia, to find a prosthetic leg that will work. He spent more than a decade enduring two dozen surgeries until shrapnel wounds caused an infection that nearly killed him and ultimately took his leg. Ive had 35 surgeries now. The 25th surgery was amputation. Before his case manager connected him with fisher house, way stayed in a hotel, draining his Financial Resources and his hope as he thought about what to do when he could no longer afford lodging. I probably would have spent a few nights in the car initially and most certainly with just the cost of living around here would have probably gone bankrupt. This is one of 86 fisher houses around the world. Ken fishers family prominent in new york City Real Estate broke ground on the first fisher house in 1991, increasing the capacity of the homes after the wars that followed 9 11. When more service men and women were surviving catastrophic injuries. That would have been fatal in years and wars past. So that was going to require longer hospital stays. So we knew the size of the houses were the going to have to grow. Recently retired army current mike malone is staying at this 20room fisher house with his wife, jennifer, their second of two stays while he receives treatment for a brain injury and a still undiagnosed illness that occurred while he was deployed in the middle east. At first, jennifer commuted on weekends. I kept hoping there would be a miraculous turn around and i would get better and id be off on to my next mission. But i just wasnt Getting Better and i wasnt recovering, so, you know, i really needed my wife to come down and help me. You never understand the severity until youre there constant. And i basically became his advocate and focused on his care 100 . And it felt good because i missed him. That bond was gone for a little while. The reconnection and getting to see him get better day by day, it was a good feeling. Michael and jennifer have found a home away from home at this fisher house, together after two years spent largely apart celebrating thanksgiving and now christmas with friends theyve made here. You are sharing a house with other people who are on a similar journey. Different reasons sometimes, but theres a sense of camaraderie. As i spoke with chief Master Sergeant mark burdette, his wife, diana, was resting in their room following her 29th radiation treatment for lung cancer. As a nonsmoker, she was shocked when she was diagnosed just over two months ago. The military medivaced the berdettes from germany in three hours notice. Before we hit the ground here, we found out fisher house was going to put us up. It took an awful lot of worry off our hearts. Theyve been fantastic. These families are focussing on the demands of recovery. Without the added stress of socialization and financial strain. Even in the most challenging times of their lives, finding comfort and even purpose in a house where rory offer therapy sessions for the low price of a gold fish cracker. He can pick out the person who is not having such a good moment. If i wasnt here, we wouldnt be able to share that, either. We mentioned this breaking news earlier in the show out of somalia. A Government Spokesperson says a suicide car bomb attack in the capital city of mowigidishu has left 61 people dead. Both civilian and soldiers are among the dead. Somalias kaal qaeda affiliate claiming responsibility. Well continue to bring you the details as we learn more. More news on the other side of this break. 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Fight your worst symptoms so you can sleep great and wake up human. New mucinex nightshift cold and flu. 2019 in review brought a record breaking year at the box office. An unlikely music paring and a battle for viewers on streaming services. Stephanie elam looks back at the year in entertainment. Winter came and went. The final battle for the iron throne, avengers pack a punch at the box office and lizzo storms the air waves with her juice. Here is a look at the Top Entertainment news in 2019. Number 9, jeopardy host alex trebeks courageous battle against pancreatic cancer. Trebek announced his stage four diagnosis in march and vowed to aggressively fight the disease. He underwent intense chemotherapy and resurfaced five months later to announce he was on the mend. Im happy to report im still here. And ready to return to jeopardy in its 36th season. What is we love you alex. Thats very kind. Thank you. A tv star embroiled in a hate crime scandal is number eight. Jessie smollett who is gay and black claimed to have been the target of a racest and homophobic attack. Police say smollett staged the attack to gain attention. Jesse smollett took advantage of anger and racism. Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts, but prosecutors later dropped all the charges. Oild not be my mothers son if i was capability of one drop of what i was accused of. He didnt return for the shows sixth and final season. A new battle brings us to number 7, the fight for your streaming views and subscription dollars. Joining heavy hitters netflix and hulu are the new kids on the block, apple tv plus, disney plus, and soon peacock and hbo max. Netflix is still the king with over 150 million subscribers, but industry insiders are watching the impact these news platforms will have against their established rivals. Content is at the core of these record setting deals. Oprah, Reese Witherspoon and others are behind the original content coming out soon. Number six, a sad farewell to a 90210 legend and a rapper. In march, nipsy hustle was shot and killed in a Clothing Store in los angeles. The Grammy Nominated rapper collaborated with many. He embraced his role as an activist. He had been scheduled to meet with city officials the next day to discuss ways to stop gang violence. Actor luke perry was meant to joint his original 90210 cast mates for a reboot of the show. But sadly, the 52yearold died of a stroke in march. His most recent role on tvs riverdale introduced him to a new generation of fans. Both shows paid tribute to the actor they knew and loved. Number five, little nasx breaks the music charts with old town road. The country rappers jam with Billy Ray Cyrus topped the billboard top 100 for a record 19 weeks. Just a year ago, lil nasx was flying under the radar, but that all changed when he selfreleased old town road on icloud, sound cloud and youtube. But it was a viral tiktok beat that took the song to new heights. Billboard pulled it from the country charts, generating cries of racism. But the rapper turned it around and hit a string of personal and professional triumphs. He came out over the summer. His single went triple platinum and reached diamond status. I never really recovered from it. At number four, lifetimes bombshell documentary surviving r. Kelly. A development now involving r. Kelly. The District Attorney in fulton county, georgia, is apparently now conducting an investigation following the release of that lifetime docuseries called surviving r. Kelly. The embattled singer spent a year in and out of court defending himself from Sexual Conduct charges dating back eight years including counts in illinois and new york. He has denied any wrongdoing. I promise you were going to straighten all this stuff out. Thats all i can say right now. Kelly remains jailed bout bond. And number three, avengers end game, knocked out an epic win at the box office, becoming the highest grossing film of all time. Eye die hard mcu fans packed theaters to the tune of 2. 8 billion worldwide. End game soared past James Camerons avatar which held the previous Global Box Office record for ten years. I liked this one. End game caps an 11year build up in the marvel universe which began with iron man in 2008. From captain march ever marvel to black panther to thor and guardians of the galaxy, the infinity saga netted over 2. 5 billion. Coming in at number two, the final episode of hbos game of thrones. When you play the game of thrones, you win. It was one of the most anticipated endings in television history. The build up through season eight had viewers anticipating an epic ending for the future of westeros. The finale, titled the iron thro throne, brought in a series record of 19. 3 million viewers. Ive been waiting for this one. Turn it up. Theres a new goddess on the pop and hip hop seen. Lizzo is number one on our list. Shes fierce, unapologetic and her music is an anthem for selflove and body positivity. Lizzo turned her mainstream music video into global success in 2019. Truth hurts topped the billboard 100 chart for seven weeks. The music video has over 162 million views and she makes a splash with her confident message everywhere she goes. 2020 will be another big year for some of the newsmakers on our list. Lizo is dominated for eight Grammy Awards and watch her phase four of the marvelel movies to begin. Black widow opens in may. Stephanie elam, cnn, hollywood. Thats the news this hour. Im George Howell at the cnn center in atlanta. Lets do it again. More news after the break. Stay with us. Skin sin 17. Too many afterparties. New neutrogena® bright boost with dullnessfighting neoglucosamine. Boosts cell turnover by 10 times for instantly brighter skin. Bright boost neutrogena®. Mucinex cold flu allinone. Fights. 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