| THE BIG STORY
Trump’s team argued presidents can demand quid pro quos to get reelected. Even Republicans won’t touch this defense.
While responding to questions from senators during the impeachment trial, Donald Trump’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz said presidents cannot be impeached for using their powers of office to boost their own political fortunes, if they believe their reelection is best for the country.
Even Republicans aren’t following Dershowitz down that trail.
Dershowitz suggested the president could be acting out of public interest, and said it would be a complex case: “‘I think I’m a great president. I think I’m the greatest president that ever was, and if I’m not elected, the national interest will suffer greatly.’ That cannot be an impeachable offense.”
Trump is accused of holding up military aid from Ukraine unless the country announced an investigation involving former vice president Joe Biden and his family. Democrats say this is a political quid pro quo meant to boost Trump’s reelection chances. Under Dershowitz’s view, this would not be an impeachable action.
Republican senators we spoke to were eager to not spend any time with this argument.
Impeachment Today
This is more of a comment than a question. This part of the impeachment trial involves senators submitting questions in writing to the opposing camps. But like that one terrible dude at every Q&A session ever, the questions weren’t exactly subtle in the point they were making. Listen and subscribe. STAYING ON TOP OF THIS Vanessa Bryant spoke out for the first time since her husband Kobe and daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash
In her first public comment, Vanessa Bryant wrote, “There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved.” She asked for privacy as she and her daughters figure out how “to navigate this new reality.”
Bryant wrote that she and her girls were also grieving for the others who died in the accident. The victims included two other teenage girls with their family members, a basketball coach, and the pilot of the helicopter.
Vanessa and Kobe met in 1999. They got married in 2001 and had four daughters together.
SNAPSHOTS The cop charged with murdering a handcuffed man in his police car previously killed another man. In 2011, Maryland police officer Michael Owen fired several deadly shots at a man who pointed a gun at him. Owen is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter for the death of William Green, who was handcuffed inside a squad car.
A former actor testified that Harvey Weinstein offered her a job in exchange for a threesome. Dawn Dunning testified that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in 2004 and later asked her to have a threesome in exchange for a movie part. She said testifying against Weinstein is the hardest thing she's ever done.
A woman has been charged with killing her childhood friend in an alleged plot to steal her baby. Magen Fieramusca was previously arrested on charges of kidnapping and tampering with Heidi Broussard's corpse. According to authorities, Fieramusca was indicted for the capital murder and kidnapping of Broussard, who was 33.
Kristen Bell just said she and Dax Shepard recently had a fight so intense, they “blacked out.” The celebrity couple have been open about how much work and therapy go into their marriage. Bell revealed on a podcast that they recently had an “incredible” fight that ended with her crying, sleeping on the couch, and not talking to Shepard for three days.
GROWING CRISIS An international coronavirus team is headed to China as officials weigh declaring a global health emergency
As the spread of coronavirus dominates the news, China says 170 people have died. Globally, there are more than 7,700 cases, the vast majority in China. A World Health Organization (WHO) committee will debate declaring China's widespread outbreak a global public health emergency.
Only 68 cases are reported outside mainland China — these are spread across 15 countries, most of them travelers from China. There are signs of person-to-person transmission of the virus in three of those countries — cases that are under close investigation.
China has effectively quarantined around 50 million people in the epicenter of the outbreak, the central Hubei province.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The fact that we have only seen 68 cases outside China is due to the extraordinary steps the government has taken.”
THEY DIDN'T SAY GOODBYE This 3-year-old wrote a song called “Dinosaurs In Love” and it’s breaking everyone’s hearts
Life is a wondrous, heartbreaking thing. We’re here for a brief moment, and if we’re not careful, it can slip right through our fingers.
Some grownups don’t quite realize this, y’know, but 3-year-old Fenn Rosenthal does. It’s why she wrote a brief little song about dinosaurs falling in love, and not getting to say goodbye. The song immediately went viral — Is it cute? Yes. Is it moving poetry about the meaning of life? Also yes.
Take a deep breath and don't rush yourself today, Elamin P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (monthly memberships are available worldwide) 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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