*By Chloe Aiello*
Alan Dershowitz has written the book on reasons not to impeach President Trump ー and he thinks re-elected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just might follow his counsel.
"I think she is the adult in the room and she'll take my advice," Dershowitz told Cheddar on Thursday.
The retired Harvard Law School professor, a frequent critic of Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation, released his updated book, "The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump" on Wednesday.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Ca.) said Thursday he plans to introduce articles of impeachment against President Trump on the first day the new Congress convenes, [CNN reported](https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/politics/impeachment-house-democrats-brad-sherman-trump/index.html). Sherman was one of three Democrats to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump back in 2017.
Pelosi [said in an interview with NBC on Thursday](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/nancy-pelosi-doesn-t-rule-out-impeaching-trump-n954116) that she was recommending Democrats wait until the results of Mueller's probe, but that she wouldn't rule out impeachment entirely.
“We shouldn't be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn't avoid impeachment for a political reason," she told NBC's Today.
Dershowitz argues that nothing revealed so far by the investigation justifies impeachment.
"The Constitution is very clear as to what the criteria for impeachment are: treason, bribery, other high crimes and misdemeanors. And unless you can point me to the statute and show me the crime, there shouldn't be impeachment," Dershowitz said.
Dershowitz said he hasn't seen evidence of a crime yet ー but didn't rule out that it may exist.
"If there were any evidence that Trump had told any of his people to lie to the FBI, that clearly would be obstruction of justice and a crime, and it would also be conspiracy, perhaps," he said. "I haven't seen any evidence of that."
Ultimately, the New York Times best-selling author thinks it's in the best interest of the American people to keep Trump in office.
"I think it will hurt the country if the Democrats vote impeachment," he added.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/alan-dershowitz-makes-his-case-against-trump-impeachment).
California Rep. Ro Khanna has a novel idea about how to solve the government shutdown: call in some experts."Why don't we get an independent group of experts? The President appoints two people. The House appoints two people. The Senate appoints two people," the Silicon Valley-based Democrat suggested. "Put them in a room ー six folks ー and have them come up with proposals that are going to be 6-0."
With Los Angeles public schools ending a third day without their striking teachers, a deal between the union and the district remains elusive, according to Joseph Zeccola, a 2018-19 L.A. County Teacher of the Year and one of more than 30,000 educators currently protesting in the country's second-largest school district. "We're at a standstill," Zeccola told Cheddar from the picket line on Wednesday. "The offers right now have not been good."
The U.S. needs to work on improving its relationship with China as well as stabilizing its own economy by ending the government shutdown, JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said on Wednesday.
The ongoing government shutdown will hurt franchisees, Fat Brands CEO Andrew Wiederhorn told Cheddar on Monday. The closure of the Securities and Exchange Commission may inconvenience companies like Fat Brands, which need access to the public markets, but its franchisees, who run outposts of Fat Brands restaurants like Fatburger and Ponderosa Steakhouse, can't seek loans or expand their businesses. "There is a trickle down effect to us, but it's pretty small. I think really it affects the small business owner ... and it's coming out of their pocket," Wiederhorn told Cheddar.
Airline passengers are facing long security lines as unpaid TSA officers have begun calling in sick due to the government shutdown. Staffing shortages led to the closure of an entire terminal at Houston's George Bush International Airport. Local Houston TSA President, Freddie Cuellar, says closing the terminal is the best way to utilize the staff who are able to come to work.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday Jan. 16, 2019.
President Trump has taken the government hostage, and House Democrats refuse to negotiate with a hostage-taker, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Cheddar on Tuesday. "This is not about the wall, it's not about health care, it's not about ... spending. This is about a promise the president made, and he has now taken the government hostage," Hoyer told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin as the 25th day of the partial government shutdown dragged to a close.
Canopy Growth is planning its entry to the U.S. on the back of the new Farm Bill ー and aims to establish a hemp "hub" in New York, according to CEO Bruce Linton."New York is setting up a pretty progressive approach and we have an earlier first license under that system so we can actually create a hub," Linton told Cheddar on Tuesday.
As the government shutdown drags on, calls from some conservative corners have increased for President Trump to declare a national emergency in order to get federal employees back to work while diverting funds to build a border wall. However, conservative radio show host Erick Erickson is cautioning the president against doing just that.
The cannabis industry enjoyed a productive 2018, but the government shutdown may be turning the industry's green light to yellow. Cannabis stocks are up overall, but according to Debra Borchardt, co-founder and CEO of Green Market Report, the government shutdown has left some farmers and companies in limbo.
