REPORT: Ben Carson on Trump’s Short List for VP

To view online –> https://bit.ly/1ro1LJ4

BREAKING – KASICH QUITTING PRESIDENTIAL RACE: NBC News and Politico are reporting that John Kasich is dropping out. Kasich canceled a planned media appearance and a campaign aide told a group of reporters awaiting the Ohio governor in Dulles, Va., that he will instead make “an announcement” at 5 p.m. in Ohio.

Tweet from @Darth: hoping this is the Kasich/Fiorina announcement we have all been waiting for to be honest https://bit.ly/24qX0Ap

Tweet from Planned Parenthood Action’s Madeleine P. Ellis: Maybe Kasich just didn’t want to drive to Dulles cause driving to Dulles sucks. https://bit.ly/24qXp5U

ALSO BREAKING – TRUMP KICKING OFF VP SEARCH: Via The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, Donald Trump says he will form committee soon to handle the VP process. He also said Ben Carson is likely on the short list. https://nyti.ms/1WIHytm

• Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee
• The effort to unify the GOP has begun
• Ted Cruz will be back (‘Mwah ha ha ha ha,’ says Cruz, probably)
• Bernie Sanders isn’t going anywhere
• GOP congressional leaders have a tightrope to walk

AND YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD GET RID OF ME?!: Well everyone, it looks like Donald Trump has done it. When he entered the presidential race, he was widely mocked as a billionaire businessman putting on a vanity act — a new episode in a reality television show. And less than a year later, he is the presumptive Republican nominee (!). Whoever put money on this should be feeling pretty smug right now. The Hill’s Jonathan Easley has a fascinating timeline of how Trump did it. Note: It reads like a dramatic romance novel with lots of roller coasters and a few angry exes. 

• June 16, 2015: Trump enters the race
• July 20, 2015: Trump takes the lead for the first time
• July 23, 2015: He flirts with a third-party run (because…you don’t know me!)
• Aug. 20, 2015: Hits “low energy” Jeb Bush
• Dec. 8, 2015: The Muslim ban
• Feb. 9: New Hampshire blowout
• Feb. 20: South Carolina
• March 1: Super Tuesday
• April 5: The rough patch
• April 19: New York
• May 3: Indiana

Context for each: https://bit.ly/1VJMX4s

SORRY, BERNIE. THE MATH ISN’T LOOKING GREAT: Hillary Clinton is still on track to beat Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination, even with his win in Indiana Tuesday. Because the delegates are proportional, Sanders will only gain six or so more delegates. Clinton only needs to win 19 percent of the remaining delegates between now and June 14. https://bit.ly/1rnyGxx

AND LET’S PUT THIS INTO CONTEXT: Politico’s headline: “It’s mathematically impossible for Bernie to win with pledged delegates.” Here’s how: “Sanders has 1,399 pledged delegates and superdelegates to his name. … That means he needs 984 more to reach the threshold of 2,383 needed to win. The remaining contests however … only have 933 pledged delegates to offer. So even if Sanders were to win 100 percent of the pledged delegates in each of those states, he wouldn’t make it past the mark.” i.e. — he NEEDS superdelegates. Clinton is leading in those 520 to 39 right now. https://politi.co/1QS6qYB

SO, TEAM, HOW DO WE WANT TO HANDLE THIS?: Via The Hill’s Alex Bolton and Scott Wong, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have adopted strikingly different approaches to leading their party in a turbulent election year. Ryan: push an ambitious agenda he calls Confident America. McConnell: stick to a game plan of passing small-bore bills, giving his vulnerable colleagues wide latitude to frame their candidacies as independently as possible in what could be a tough cycle for Republicans. https://bit.ly/1SMnOUm

ELECTION WATCH 2044 — YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST: Via Yours Truly, politicians should be worried about Grover Norquist‘s elementary school-age daughter because they watch every debate and have the best political analysis. Norquist said his daughters were shocked the candidates could use words like the S-word on television. “Stupid,” that is. “They’re not allowed to use words like stupid, so they [kept] checking with us and thought [the candidates] were breaking the rules. ‘Wait, they can’t do that.’ ”

— Grace, who is 13 months older than Giselle, has explained presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump‘s blunt language a bit to her younger sister. “Oh, Giselle. He just uses strong words,” said Grover Norquist, speaking for Grace. Grace even compared the Republican front-runner to Andrew Jackson. Grover Norquist assumed she was talking about their similar hairstyles, but no, the second-grader was referring to Jackson’s ‘Indian Removal Act,’ which she believes is similar to Trump’s immigration policy. Yikes, these girls know more about American politics than most adults I know. This is a fun lunch-time read: https://bit.ly/21wKCJQ

HEADLINES OF THE DAY: The New York Post wins for the “punniest” cover featuring Donald Trump with the caption, “Hoosier Daddy” —cue punchline drum sound. https://bit.ly/1rldsjH The New York Daily News features an elephant in a casket with the caption, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the GOP.”https://bit.ly/26RF80g

WELL THAT’S A PRETTY BIG JUMP: Via The Hill’s Lydia Wheeler, the White House has some big decisions to make before signing off on the Labor Department’s widely contested rule to expand overtime pay, one of the biggest regulatory initiatives of President Obama’s second term. Proposed rule: Anyone earning up to $50,440 per year would be eligible for overtime. Current rule: The cutoff is now set at $23,660 per year. https://bit.ly/1q0zuHm

IRAN PUFFS UP A LITTLE: Via The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel, Iran is threatening to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz to the United States. A leader of the elite Revolutionary Guard has said they’ll respond to any U.S. provocation. https://bit.ly/1UyYiTO

AN INTERESTING WEED — I MEAN READ: The Washington Post’s Keith Humphreys has an interesting analysis of what legalizing marijuana in Washington state has done to its prices and the economy. RAND’s Steve Davenport said that prices “are now steadily falling at about 2 percent per month. If that trend holds, prices may fall 25 percent each year going forward.”https://wapo.st/1SMC2EG

CNN’s Betsy Klein
Ted Cruz takes the stage without his signature song https://bit.ly/1rlaE6d

The Los Angeles Times’s Lisa Mascaro
Ted Cruz using a teleprompter tonight https://bit.ly/1T0ujoE

Journalist Edward Lawrence
What a difference a day makes. Carly Fiorina at Indy Airport & no one cares. (Pic: Steve Handelsman) https://bit.ly/1TKJOxV

IJ Review’s Benny Johnson
I’m old enough to remember when the biggest problem the GOP had was Mitt Romney’s car elevator. https://bit.ly/1TlUIqV

1:15 p.m. EDT: Former President Bill Clinton holds an organizing event in San Diego.

2:30 p.m. EDT: President Obama participates in a roundtable meeting with Flint, Mich., community members.

4 p.m. EDT: President Obama delivers remarks at Northwestern High School in Flint, Mich.

5 p.m. EDT: John Kasich to make a statement from Columbus, Ohio.

6 p.m. EDT: Former President Bill Clinton holds an event in Los Angeles.

8:25 p.m. EDT: President Obama delivers remarks at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies’ 22nd annual gala dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel back in Washington, D.C.

5 p.m. EDT: CNN’s Wolf Blitzer also sits down with Donald Trump.

LOOK, I CAN BE CULTURALLY RELEVANT: John Kasich released a “Star Wars”-themed ad depicting a Hillary Clinton presidency in 2017 and painting himself as the “only hope.” Watch: https://bit.ly/1W99bgH

ALL. THE. CHERRY. BLOSSOMS.: Via DCist, “last year, 19.3 million tourists visited the District, setting a new record for the sixth consecutive year in a row. It’s also an increase of nearly a million tourists — matching t-shirts, selfie sticks, and all — from 2014.” And they spent $7.1 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent from the year before.https://bit.ly/1QS6UOk

And with that, I’m signing off wishing you a happy National Star Wars Day — hence, “May the 4th be with you.” Hardy har har.

To view past editions of The Hill’s 12:30 Report, click here: https://bit.ly/1M1mIfw