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'SNL' tackles impeachment inquiry with Matthew Broderick as Pompeo

Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller is played by a snake in a basket.

"Saturday Night Live" spoofed a White House besieged by an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump by opening with Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, huddling with befuddled Cabinet members.

Giuliani, played by Kate McKinnon, declares, "It’s all happening during my busy season, Halloween" before returning later in the cold open as the Joker.

Matthew Broderick appeared as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who says, "Listen, I've been asking around and I think that this whole impeachment thing could be really bad."

Vice President Mike Pence, played by Beck Bennett, asks who told him that.

"Like, America," Pompeo says.

The group agrees to get its story straight regarding the inquiry, which is focused on Trump's efforts to get Ukraine to investigate a top rival in the 2020 election, former Vice President Joe Biden.

Pence has a question. "Even if they’re not straight now," he asks, "they still could be converted to straight?"

Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller is portrayed as a snake in a basket who hisses his input.

"Get Nicholas Cage to steal the Constitution and then blame it on immigrants?" Pence asks. "Do you really think that'll work?"

It's Pompeo who seems to have the most wisdom for the White House gang, saying, "Impeachment moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it."

News segment "Weekend Upate" poked holes in Trump's responses to impeachment, including his argument there was no quid pro quo in which the United States would stop withholding military aid to Ukraine in return for investigating Biden's son, Hunter, who worked there as an energy executive.

Trump's use of a Latin legal term "can only mean there was mad quid pro quo," co-host Michael Che says.

The knowledge of such a specific legal description for an in-kind deal, Che says, is suspicious because Trump otherwise displays a limited vocabulary.

He compared it to "guys who can barely count" but "can tell you exactly how much cocaine you can get caught with before it's considered trafficking."

Che also brings up his concern that perhaps Americans are being too hard on Trump who, the New York Times reported this week, once suggested that moats be installed along the U.S.-Mexico border and filled with alligators.

Comparing the president to Lennie from "Of Mice and Men," Che says, "I don’t know how to say this, but are we sure it’s OK to make fun of this guy?"

Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, played by McKinnon, appeared on "Weekend Update" to defend herself against a far-right conspiracy theory that she had sexual liaisons with a 24-year-old former Marine.

"That’s Elizabeth Warren's vibe for sure," she says. "Transactional sex with a younger man."

New featured player Bowen Yang made a splash as a Chinese trade representative giving his side of the story on the Trump administration's trade war with China.

He says the administration's efforts to get foreign countries to investigate Joe Biden will go nowhere without the texting capabilities of iPhones, assembled in China.

And he urges Trump to keep the tariffs coming, because China is tough: "We actually built our wall."

Phoebe Waller-Bridge of the Emmy Award-winning comedy series "Fleabag" hosted. Taylor Swift made her third appearance as musical guest.