The Hill’s 12:30 Report

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The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Super Tuesday fallout | Can Trump be stopped in the next 2 weeks? | Social media wants to #FreeChrisChristie | Trump’s son gave interview to pro-slavery radio show | Peak cherry blossom dates

IT’S A 2-WEEK SPRINT TO DEFEAT TRUMP: Via NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann, while Donald Trump had a strong night last night, the delegate game may not be in his favor in the next two weeks. Bad news for Trump: The combined delegate haul in the winner-take-all states of Florida and Ohio (165) is bigger than Trump’s overall delegate lead over Ted Cruz. Good news for Trump: None of his rivals have incentives to exit the race, meaning the other four candidates will continue to split up the “anti-Trump” vote. http://nbcnews.to/24Bh7t6

Happy post-Super Tuesday! For anyone that stayed up for the results, you’re probably also feeling like this today. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of what you missed this morning — and what’s on tap for the rest of the day. Send comments, story ideas and upcoming events to cmartel@digital-stage.thehill.com, @CateMartel and on Facebook.

BREAK IT DOWN NOW: The Hill’s Niall Stanage has a great breakdown of where each candidate stands after Super Tuesday. http://bit.ly/1QmsqOv

Winners: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie 

Losers: Marco Rubio, Bernie Sanders, John Kasich, the Republican establishment, Mitt Romney and Ben Carson

GOP winners by state: Trump: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia; Cruz: Alaska, Oklahoma, Texas (!); Rubio: Minnesota

Dem winners by state: Clinton: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia; Sanders: Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Vermont

Delegate count: Dems need: 2,383 Clinton: 1,001; Sanders: 371. GOP needs 1,237 Trump: 285; Cruz: 161; Rubio: 87; Kasich: 25; Carson: 8. Check out The Hill’s interactive delegate count: http://bit.ly/1LwSVBK

OH THIS SHOULD GO OVER JUST SPLENDIDLY!: Via The Huffington Post’s Christina Wilkie, Donald Trump’s son gave an interview to a pro-slavery, white supremacist radio show. Previous guests on the show have included Neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, and Ku Klux Klan leaders. The show’s host, James Edwards, promoted the 20-minute interview with Trump in a blog post boasting their access at a Trump rally. http://huff.to/1OQaYxE

IF ANY OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS ASK HOW 2016 IS GOING: Let’s just say that the name ‘Donald Drumpf‘ is beating Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz for second in the number of Google searches. Donald Drumpf is the name HBO comedian John Oliver is using to troll Trump. http://nyti.ms/1oXm5An Also, as Super Tuesday results came in, Google searches for, “How can I move to Canada?” spiked 350 percent in four hours. http://bit.ly/1TnLsIu

{mosads}SO HOW THE EFF DID THIS TRUMP THING HAPPEN?: Via The Hill’s Bob Cusack and Ian Swanson, there are seven reasons why Trump is dominating. No. 1: The laws of political gravity do not apply to Trump; No. 2: No candidate knows how to deal with the media better than him; No. 3: His campaign slogan; No. 4: Trump picked the right time to run; No. 5: He got better as a candidate over time; No. 6: He has a knack for hitting his opponents’ weaknesses; and No. 7: Voters are tired of gridlock. http://bit.ly/1QLpat2

BIGGEST ABORTION CASE IN TWO DECADES: Via The Hill’s Sarah Ferris, the case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, could decide whether Texas can enforce one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws. Implications: The outcome will have broad repercussions on abortion access as well as the election-year fight over replacing the late Justice Antonin Scalia. http://bit.ly/1T7Odgp

Tweet From The Post and Courier’s Emma Dumain: I found the anti-abortion rally. The two opposing sides are screaming at each other from different microphones outside the Supreme Court. http://bit.ly/1QLlDel 

FIERY MOMENT LAST NIGHT: Via CNN’s Dylan Byers, if the racial tension underlying the 2016 presidential race could be distilled into a single cable news moment, this was it. CNN contributors Van Jones and Jeffrey Lord went at it on air last night. Watch: http://cnn.it/1QTplsH The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes with the context: http://bit.ly/1LVhByM

HAWKS SWOOP DOWN: Via The Hill’s Scott Wong, Defense hawks on Capitol Hill are increasingly alarmed at the possibility of Trump as commander-in-chief. Here’s how some lawmakers plan to revolt: http://bit.ly/21HCDdm 

IMAGINE A WORLD WITH …AN INSANELY BRUTAL BATTLE BETWEEN CLINTON AND TRUMP: Via The Hill’s Amie Parnes, “It’s a case of the smartest person in the room against the class clown,” said one longtime friend of Clinton. “And who wants to run against the class clown?” Here’s how the Clinton team is prepping to run against Trump. Cue the Rocky theme song: http://bit.ly/24BoS2r

NEW THIS AM — SCOTUS OP-ED: Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) published an op-ed in the Philadelphia Daily News about the Supreme Court vacancy. The gist: Senate Republicans are wrong to deny President Obama the chance to fill Justice Scalia’s seat. http://bit.ly/1TSeUo9 

 

 

NEWSMAKER LINES OF THE NIGHT:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): “You know Ted Cruz is not my favorite, by any means, but we may be in a position where we have to rally around Ted Cruz as the only way to stop Donald Trump, and I’m not so sure that would work.” http://bit.ly/1QmsFct

Donald Trump: “I’m going to get along great with Congress. Paul Ryan, I don’t know him well, but I’m sure I’m going to get along great with him. And if I don’t, he’s going to have to pay a big price.” http://bit.ly/21HaUJN

Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii Democrat and ex-Democratic National Committee official who resigned to endorse Bernie Sanders: “I’ll be very honest with you, a lot of people warned me against doing what I did.” http://bit.ly/1Y14gMl

Former Mitt Romney aide Ryan Williams: “I’m sure Gov. Kasich is going to get some private calls, and if he doesn’t get out, those private calls will turn into public calls.” http://bzfd.it/1RnpiQ3

Former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling on Hillary Clinton: “She should be buried under a jail somewhere.” Uhhh? http://bit.ly/1nhSjo5

John Kasich: “I’m going to be governor of Ohio. There is zero chance I will be anybody’s vice presidential candidate — period, end of story.” http://bit.ly/1LV021N

Redskins linebacker Will Compton: I’m officially off the Trump bandwagon. Thought I wanted him for the longest. Has yet 2 show an ounce of leadership or any quality character http://bit.ly/1Qrqp1j

 

NOTABLE TWEETS:

Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) 
Photo of my hand before signing 58 bills into law today: http://bit.ly/1T6V7Cz

The New York Times’s Nick Confessore (tweeted as Chris Christie intro’d Trump)
Christie as beta dog is a weird and unfamiliar thing to behold. http://bit.ly/1nhyzkA

Jon Favreau, former director of speechwriting for President Obama
Christie looks like he’s reading a hostage statement http://bit.ly/1QK9Vke

The Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui
Rubio on ABC: “If you look at the map from here on out, it gets better for us.” http://bit.ly/1Qmt4LS

NBC’s Carrie Dunn
Wowza re: Clinton margins with black voters tonight Alabama : 92-6 Arkansas: 90-10 GA: 83-16 OK: 75-22 TX : 80-18 TN: 85-12 VA: 84-16 http://bit.ly/1OP7XxE

CNN’s Manu Raju

Reid almost accused McConnell of mounting 500,000 filibusters, but pulled back. “I’m sorry, that is a little high.” http://bit.ly/1QTrMvp

 

ON TAP:

Today: The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments for Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt, a major abortion case. 

1–2 p.m. EST: The House votes. They will also have votes between 5–6 p.m. EST.

2:30 p.m. EST: White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jason Furman testifies on ways the federal government can encourage economic growth.

3 p.m. EST: Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is holding a town hall in Grand Blanc, Mich.

3:10 p.m. EST: President Obama honors college football’s national champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide.

4:30 p.m. EST: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) holds a rally in Shelby Center Township, Mich.

Saturday: Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Maine are next up to vote in their primaries.

March 31–April 3: Announced this morning, these are the dates for peak bloom for D.C. cherry blossoms. We better hope Mother Nature keeps to this announced schedule. 😉 http://bit.ly/1Ro3eVH

 

WHAT TO WATCH:

9 p.m. EST tomorrow: Fox News Republican presidential debate in Detroit, Mich. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Ben Carson will participate. Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly (!) and Chris Wallace will moderate — and Trump hasn’t refused to appear despite his feud with Kelly.

 

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF…

Today is National Banana Cream Pie Day!

TRENDING ON FACEBOOK — #FreeChrisChristie: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie‘s annoyed, confused and baffled facial expressions stole the show during Donald Trump’s speech. Now, memes are circulating to free the hostage — Chris Christie. http://on.fb.me/1TQuEsZ

NICKELODEON IS PLAYING WITH FIRE HERE: Nickelodeon announced they are bringing back ‘Hey Arnold!’ and ‘Legends of the Hidden Temple’ — but as movies. The Hidden Temple movie will follow three siblings in a jungle completing obstacles to stay alive. Just don’t mess this up, Nick. Keep the magic alive! http://bzfd.it/21CJ7Oa

HEY THERE, MISTER GRUMPY GILLS: Ellen DeGeneres introduced the trailer for her much-anticipated ‘Finding Dory’ film. Watch: http://bit.ly/1VQuxM0 

And with that, this is the most musically inclined dog. I may be delirious, but I laughed so hard I basically cried. You must watch this video with the music: http://bit.ly/1Toa184

 

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