The Trail 2016: Donald and the Supremes

by Lisa Hagen - 05/18/16 6:14 PM ET

Welcome to THE TRAIL 2016, your daily rundown from The Hill on all the latest news in the White House, Senate and House races.

Donald Trump unveiled his Supreme Court short list today, aiming to calm tensions among conservatives about the kind of justice he would appoint if he’s elected president.

Trump’s list was praised by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley for conservative favorites –appellate judges Diane Sykes and William Pryor. The list of 11 notably snubs former GOP rival Ted Cruz.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders continues to demand another debate with Hillary Clinton ahead of the delegate-rich California primary on June 7. The two agreed in January to hold a debate in May and the Sanders’s camp is applying pressure on her to keep her promise.

Sanders’s push on Wednesday comes amid the continued fallout from the chaos at the Nevada Democratic convention blamed on his supporters. Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver said that Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has “been throwing shade at the Sanders campaign since the very beginning.” The DNC chair fired back at his accusations.

Stay with The Hill tonight for a story from Alexander Bolton about how Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is tasked with discussing the growing negative tone from Sanders’s supporters with the Vermont senator.

Come back tomorrow for stories about Trump’s effort to right his old wrongs in the general election, defense ofClinton’s suggestion that former President Clinton will be in charge of getting the economy back on track and the liberal media’s beef with Sanders.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

HISPANIC OUTREACH: The Hill’s Rafael Bernal reports: Donald Trump is reaching out to Hispanic evangelicals, accepting an invitation to speak at an event this weekend in California, Bloomberg reported.

MORE CONVENTION FALLOUT: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Nevada Democratic Chairwoman Roberta Lange wants an apology from Bernie Sanders after she said his campaign stoked supporters anger within the party, which led to her getting death threats after a chaotic state convention Saturday.

UNIFICATION: The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports: Donald Trump appears to be making rapid progress in unifying Republican voters behind his presidential bid even as Democratic discord between backers of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders reaches new highs.

ABANDONING THIRD PARTY EFFORTS: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Mitt Romney has closed the book on his efforts to woo an independent challenger to take on Donald Trump and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, former Sen. Tom Coburn ruled out launching a third-party presidential campaign, The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports.

ODDS AND ENDS:

NO RENEGOTIATION: The Hill’s Devin Henry reports: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz dismissed Donald Trump’s call to renegotiate or ignore the Paris climate deal, saying “that’s a hypothetical that I don’t expect to come.”

FURTHER CLARIFICATION: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Donald Trump is further distancing himself from controversial comments he made in March about punishing women for having abortions, saying he meant that women “punish themselves.”

I SPY: The Hill’s Julian Hattem reports: U.S. intelligence officials are seeing “some indications” that foreign hackers are trying to get access to leading presidential campaigns, the nation’s top intelligence officer warned on Wednesday.

SENATE NEIGHBORS: The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports: Former aides to Sen. Sherrod Brown andHillary Clinton note similarities between the two and he’s been touted as a good VP pick for Clinton.

POLL POSITION

TIGHT RACES IN NH: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 2 points in New Hampshire, according to a new WBUR poll that also found .t Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan ahead of Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte by 2 points in the Senate election.

THIRD PARTY ENTHUSIASM: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: The majority of voters want to see an independent run against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the general election, according to a new poll.

GARDEN STATE BLUES: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s approval rating has dropped to a record low, according to a new poll.

ECONOMY: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Americans are largely pessimistic about the economy as a whole in an election year but hold mostly positive views about their personal finances, according to a poll released Wednesday.

THE DAILY TRUMP

VEEP TAX RETURNS: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Donald Trump’s campaign is asking potential running mates to submit their tax returns as part of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s vetting process, according to NBC News.Trump has not released his own returns and he said he’d release them after his IRS audit is completed.

REGRETS: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Donald Trump expressed regret over his attacks on Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) wife Heidi. “I could’ve done without it,” he said in an interview.

BRING IT ON: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Donald Trump says he’s ready to “get it on” with Hillary Clinton in the fall presidential debates.

RESIGN: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Donald Trump is calling for the resignation of a New York Times reporter who co-authored a controversial article about his history with women. Trump tweeted that Michael Barbaro “has in the past tweeted badly about me.”

DANGER ZONES: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Donald Trump says he considers Oakland, Calif., and Ferguson, Mo., as among the most dangerous places in the world. Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) fired back at Trump, accusing him of coddling his racist supporters. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf also pushed back: “Let me be clear, regarding @nytimes story, the most dangerous place in America is Donald Trump’s mouth,” she tweeted.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“With his earlier praise of the dictator’s execution of his own uncle, Trump now joins the ranks of other great statesmen, like Dennis Rodman.”

— Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), slamming Trump for saying he’d speak with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Rodman, a former basketball star and Trump supporter, visited North Korea in 2013.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

LIFE OF LUXURY: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: The GOP is dubbing Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) “privileged Patrick” in a new ad accusing him of living a life of luxury. Murphy faces Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) in the Democratic Senate primary for Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) open Senate seat.

MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: Tim Canova, the first primary challenger to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), raised more than $1 million since announcing his bid in January and is benefiting from the anti-establishment fervor fueled by the popularity of Bernie Sanders.

COUNTERING WITH CLINTON: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: The National Republican Senatorial Committee says in a new ad that Hillary Clinton is Democratic Senate candidates’ “burden to bear” this fall. The spot targets Senate candidates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada and Colorado.

ALTERNATIVE MEDIA: A super-PAC with ties to the Koch Brothers network, launched new billboard ads attacking former Sen. Russ Feingold over the opioid over-prescription scandal at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center, according to a release. The group’s TV ad hitting Feingold over this was pulled by three Wisconsin stations and the super-PAC then ran a revised version.

MONEY WATCH

JOINT FUNDRAISING: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Donald Trump’s campaign has agreed to a fundraising deal with the Republican National Committee (RNC) as the two sides continue to seek party unity ahead of a tough general election fight.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW:

(All times Eastern)

Bernie Sanders holds a rally today in Vallejo, Calif., at 10:30 p.m.

Hillary Clinton holds two Illinois fundraisers on Thursday, one at 1 p.m. in Park Ridge and another at 3 p.m. in Chicago.

Donald Trump will be a guest on “Hannity,” which airs at 10 p.m. today on Fox News. He will join New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for a fundraising event in Lawrence Township, New Jersey around 7 p.m. on Thursday to help alleviate Christie’s presidential campaign debt. Trump’s son Eric will be a guest on “The Kelly File” on Fox News at 9 p.m. today.

TWEET OF THE DAY

One of the guys Trump said he’d name to SCOTUS once said he “weeps” thinking about whom Trump would name to SCOTUS.. pic.twitter.com/7WYAm7k0b9

— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) May 18, 2016