The Hill’s 12:30 Report

by Cate Martel - 05/11/16 12:30 PM ET

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JUST RELEASED — CLINTON, TRUMP STATISTICALLY TIED IN NEW POLL: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are tied in a head-to-head match-up for the presidency. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Clinton has 41 percent support to Trump’s 40 percent. Nineteen percent of voters are still undecided. More from The Hill’s Lisa Hagen: http://bit.ly/1VTgVTF

It’s Wednesday. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS STOPPED USING ALL CAPS FOR FORECASTS AS OF TODAY. SO HERE’S YOUR FIX SO YOU DON’T FEEL UNEASY ABOUT CHANGE! 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-staging.thehill.com, @CateMartel and on Facebook.

LATE THIS MORNING — I’M JUST HERE TO HELP, GUYS: Via The Hill’s Scott Wong, Speaker Paul Ryan pledged Wednesday to play a key role in unifying the fractured Republican Party, just one day before his high-stakes meeting with likely GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. Ryan had been saying he’s not ready to support Trump, but today was a sharp contrast. He’s now saying his meeting with Trump will mark a step toward “real unification” of the warring wings of the party. http://bit.ly/24LBKlw

JUST ANNOUNCED – THE HILL NAMES NEW PUBLISHER: Amid rapid growth, Chairman and CEO James Finkelstein today announced that Johanna Derlega is joining The Hill as Publisher. Derlega was previously Senior Vice President at National Journal. Derlega replaces current publisher Adam Prather, who is promoted to Chief Revenue Officer, a new role at The Hill. “We are aggressively accelerating the expansion of our editorial team both to constantly improve and broaden our coverage in order to provide even more value to our readers,” said Bob Cusack, Editor in Chief. http://bit.ly/1rGnVXq

{mosads}LET’S FACE IT — SOMEONE’S GOING TAKE HEAT: Via The Hill’s Julian Hattem, no matter what decision federal prosecutors and FBI investigators make in the Hillary Clinton email probe, there is sure to be a public backlash from the left or the right. If they don’t charge Clinton: Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Justice Department will look like they’re covering up for a former cabinet member. If they do charge: Democrats are sure to question the motives of FBI Director James Comey, who is a Republican. http://bit.ly/1X0FJrS

TIDBIT FROM CAPITOL HILL: Tweet from The Hill’s Scott Wong: Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) says it’s a “possibility” GOP budget could hit the floor next week. http://bit.ly/1T8JLiD

NO, NO, NO — WE LOVE YOU. PROMISE. WE PROMISE, OK!?: White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, alongside press secretary Josh Earnest, made a rare visit to the press area in the West Wing to drop off a box of doughnuts. McDonough and Earnest termed their visit “press appreciation day,” seeking to heal the damage done by a New York Times Magazine profile of Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s deputy national security adviser. Rhodes is quoted in the profile ridiculing the White House press corps as too naive to cover world events. http://bit.ly/1TQucsJ

TALKED ABOUT THIS MORNING — TRUMP WON’T RELEASE TAX RETURNS: AP’s Julie Pace and Jill Colvin published a big interview with Donald Trump about his VP search. But the nugget getting the most attention isn’t about the VP. It’s about his taxes. Trumpsays he doesn’t plan to release his tax returns before the November election. “There’s nothing to learn from them,” said Trump, blaming an ongoing audit for his inability to release them. Oh, but wait: The IRS issued a statement in February saying that nothing prevented Trump from releasing his tax returns after his primary opponents made numerous calls for him to release them. http://apne.ws/1OnqiTV

YESTERDAY’S PRIMARIES — WHAT A SIMPLE SYSTEM WE HAVE: Bernie Sanders won West Virginia, taking a majority of the 29 pledged delegates. But where things get interesting: Hillary Clinton won the Nebraska primary, but gets no delegates. This is because Sanders won the Nebraska caucuses in March, where the delegates were allocated. Here’s the full explanation: http://bit.ly/1Xle4SQ

ANNOUNCED TODAY — GOOGLE IS BANNING PAYDAY LOAN ADS: Via The Hill’s Mario Trujillo, Google announced today it will ban all payday loan ads from their site to protect the poor and vulnerable from exploitation through sky-high interest rates. But note: Consumers will still be able to find payday lenders when they search, just not the ads on the top and right. http://bit.ly/1sdtP2R

FOR YOUR RADAR — FIND OUT WHAT A NEWSPAPER TASTES LIKE: Tomorrow, The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank will eat a newspaper after vowing that he’d eat his column if Trump became the GOP nominee. It will be live streamed here: http://bit.ly/1TEQNFH

NOTABLE TWEETS:

Politico’s Jake Sherman
SPOTTED – Former Massachusetts Rep. John Tierney walking on Pennsylvania Avenue SE. What a town! http://bit.ly/1QYvnSn

New York Magazine’s Madison M. K.
Really impressed with all the time and effort that went into redesigning the Instagram logo. http://bit.ly/1ZF9ZHP

The Huffington Post’s Matt Fuller
Paul Ryan takes four questions. All four on Trump, three from TV reporters. I’m not bitter. Just stating facts. http://bit.ly/1TQtY4J

ON TAP:

Today and tomorrow: The Forbes Women’s Summit in Washington, D.C. Ambassador Samantha Power and Ivanka Trump are among the speakers. Full agenda: http://bit.ly/1TaTUIg

Noon: The Senate is holding a cloture vote on an energy funding bill.

12:30 p.m. EDT: Vice President Biden delivers remarks on U.S. policy in the Western Hemisphere in Tampa, Fla.

1 p.m. EDT: Hillary Clinton campaigns in Camden, N.J.

1:15–2:15 p.m. EDT: The House votes. They will also vote from 4:15–5:15 p.m.

2 p.m. EDT: A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee is holding a hearing on the administration’s budget request for South Asia.

2:30 p.m. EDT: Bernie Sanders holds a rally in Missoula, Mont.

2:30 p.m. EDT: A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee is having a hearing on Boko Haram and other threats to northern Nigeria.

2:30 p.m. EDT: President Obama meets with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

3 p.m. EDT: President Obama‘s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee is holding a meeting. Live stream: http://bit.ly/1WoterJ

3:55 p.m. EDT: President Obama signs the “Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016” in the Oval Office.

4:30 p.m. EDT: New York Times political writer and author Mark Leibovich joins the Sidewire app, speaking with Tracy Sefl.

5:30 p.m. EDT: The House Appropriations defense subcommittee is holding a closed markup of the 2017 defense appropriations bill. http://bit.ly/1TzvHce

6 p.m. EDT: Donald Trump speaks at the Nassau Republicans’ annual Patriots’ Reception in Long Island, N.Y.

7 p.m. EDT: BuzzFeed’s White House correspondent Evan McMorris-Santoro will be interviewing Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) for a live taping of BuzzFeed’s new political podcast No One Knows Anything, live from the Newseum. Info: http://bit.ly/21WCQt4

9 p.m. EDT: Bernie Sanders holds a rally in Billings, Mont.

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF…:

Today is National “Eat What You Want” Day! Although in America, the land of the double-down chicken burger, the cronut and the Iowa State Fair, this is worrisome.

WHAT TO KNOW — CHELSEA IS B-A-C-K: Premiering today, Chelsea Handler is launching a Netflix talk show called “Chelsea.” New episodes will air Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. http://et.tv/27dEF8U

And to leave you, here’s a mom who tried to pack her high school daughter’s lunch and mistakenly gave her a Four Loko alcoholic energy drink. It has gone completely viral. http://bit.ly/1T4XMM5

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