The Hill’s 12:30 Report

If you’d like to subscribe to The Hill’s midday political newsletter, please click here: http://bit.ly/1lsUchu

 

The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Biden picks leader for cancer ‘moonshot’ | What happened when a girl yelled ‘black lives matter!’ at a Trump rally | Hollywood donors aid Dems’ Senate fight | Bald eagle egg hatches in DC

ANNOUNCED THIS MORNING — CANCER ‘MOONSHOT’ GETS A TEAM LEADER: Vice President Biden will announce Greg Simon to be the corporate executive to lead his “moonshot” cancer initiative — a job Simon might only get to keep for the last 10 months of President Obama‘s administration. What to know about Simon: Greg Simon served as an aide to Vice President Al Gore from 1991 to 1997. He is battling cancer himself and said he understands the urgency of the task. http://bit.ly/1R4rnmC

It’s Friday, and one of the bald eagle eggs at the National Arboretum’s has just hatched! Here’s live video of the eagle: http://wapo.st/1XA1gpq 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 brunch suggestions to cmartel@digital-staging.thehill.com, @CateMartel and on Facebook.

{mosads}HOLLYWOOD’S DOLLA’ DOLLA’ BILLS, Y’ALL: Via The Hill’s Tina Daunt, Hollywood’s Democrats are ramping up their fundraising efforts for Senate races in hopes of regaining control of the chamber. GOP senators who aren’t thrilled with this: Sens. Rob Portman (Ohio) and Roy Blunt (Mo.), who are among the targets of fundraising push. http://bit.ly/1MdUZPr

THE NEW ‘OPRAH’ — THE DONALD OFFERS MARRIAGE ADVICE: Via BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski, thrice-married Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump offered this advice about marriage: Divorce your “griping and bitching” wife. “Often, I will tell friends whose wives are constantly nagging them about this or that that they’re better off leaving and cutting their losses,” wrote Trump in his 1997 book. How ro-man-tic. http://bzfd.it/1Z910zb

A SIDE OF KASICH YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN: In Politico Magazine, Laura Turner writes how presidential candidate John Kasich‘s religion is hurting him with conservatives. He may be one of the most religious of the candidates in the race, and it’s going to come back to bite him. “I don’t go out and try to win a vote by using God. I think that cheapens God,” says Kasich. http://politi.co/1psEeWx

WHAT. A. HEADLINE.: From The Washington Post’s Sierra K. Thomas, “I yelled ‘Black lives matter!’ at a Trump rally. This is what happened next.” Short answer: A middle-aged man yelled “get your little a– out of here” and called her the N-word. http://wapo.st/1Z9hQ0O

TALKED ABOUT THIS MORNING – ‘NO, NOT TRUMP’: Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks made an impassioned call on Friday for Republicans to reject their party’s presidential front-runner Donald Trump, imploring party leaders not to join those who are “selling their integrity for a candidate who will probably lose.” Read the column: http://nyti.ms/1RpetDe And here’s how it could play out: http://bit.ly/1VjQrcv

EVEN OBAMA UNDERSTANDS WHAT’S AHEAD IN SCOTUS FIGHT: Via The Hill’s Jordan Fabian, President Obama says he used stark language in warning Judge Merrick Garland of the bruising confirmation battle he would face if he accepted his nomination to the Supreme Court. Obama described it as a “war zone.” http://bit.ly/1pyD3VY

THE FUTURE IS ALMOST HERE — AND IT’S A LITTLE CREEPY: Via The Hill’s David McCabe, facial recognition technology could transform the way marketers target advertisements. How: By providing tailored ads and combining facial recognition with data from social media. Yep. Creepy. Anyway, business representatives are poised to release draft privacy guidelines that will determine when and how companies need to tell customers that their faces are being analyzed. http://bit.ly/1Pgssn1

YIKES, WE ARE ALREADY TALKING ABOUT THIS: The MLB regular season hasn’t even started and there’s already talk to how the Nationals will win the National League East this year. “The formula: Beat the bejesus out of the bottom-dwellers in your division, specifically, and your league more broadly.” http://wapo.st/1nUwACY

SO HOW’S THIS CUBA THING GOING TO WORK?: Via The Hill’s Sylvan Lane, MLB is looking for a secure path for Cuban players to travel to and from the U.S. as President Obama works on diplomatic ties. Here’s the latest on that:http://bit.ly/1nUx6kH 

 

WHAT DOMINATED THE MORNING SHOWS: 

DO YOU WANT THE SPRINT? OR THE MARATHON? Via The Hill’s Niall Stanage, Donald Trump‘s critics are trying their best to stop him from becoming the presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention in July. But even if that scenario is mathematically possible, it may not be politically feasible to wrest the nomination away from him if he receives more delegates than any other candidate, even if just shy of the 1,237 majority. http://bit.ly/1psw7cm

STOP TRYING TO MAKE PREZ HAPPEN: Via The Hill’s Scott Wong, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said there’s no chance he’ll emerge as the GOP presidential nominee, but he did acknowledge the increasing likelihood of a contested convention. http://bit.ly/1pQf7NP

 

NOTABLE TWEETS:

NBC’s Luke Russert
Posted for sale on the notice board outside Cups Coffee in the Russell Senate Office Building. http://bit.ly/1Rp6hwv 

The Washington Post’s Philip Bump
If you use the word “veepstakes,” I will report you for harassment. http://bit.ly/1Um3JWv 

CNN’s Elizabeth Landers (or are you!?)
Bernie Sanders has a new (smaller) airplane. We are not expecting the FL Panthers to join. http://bit.ly/1MrA4TX 

 

ON TAP:

The House is off until next week. The Senate is out until April.

1:30 p.m. EDT: Bernie Sanders holds a rally in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

3 p.m. EDT: John Kasich holds a town hall in Orem, Utah.

4 p.m. EDT: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Gov. Dan Malloy (D-Conn.) campaign with Hillary Clinton in Litchfield County, Conn.

5:30 p.m. EDT: Kasich holds a town hall in Salt Lake City.

5:30 p.m. EDT: Sanders holds a rally in Salt Lake City.

6 p.m. EDT: To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the start of the Syrian civil war, the U.S. Syrian American community is screening the film “Little Gandhi: The Lost Truth of The Syrian Uprising” at the United States Navy Memorial’s Burke Theater.

8 p.m. EDT: Kasich holds a town hall in Kaysville, Utah.

9 p.m. EDT: Donald Trump holds a town hall (!) in Salt Lake City.

10 p.m. EDT: Ted Cruz campaigns in Phoenix.

 

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF …

Today is National Sloppy Joe Day! If you want to celebrate, a new summer-camp themed bar is opening near Union Market in D.C., featuring sloppy Joes, s’mores, ice cream sandwiches and hotdogs. (h/t Peter Ogburn of “The Bill Press Show”)

FREE CUP OF FROZEN SUGAR: To celebrate the chain’s 50th anniversary, 7-Eleven is offering free Slurpees today and tomorrow if you bring your own cup. http://bit.ly/1McJEzk

WHAT’S KEEPING EVERYONE ENTERTAINED ON TWITTER: Yale’s big upset yesterday in March Madness now means Yale is playing Duke. The Internet has had a lot of fun with this –> http://huff.to/1PfXJqo

WELL THIS JUST UPPED THE 3-D PRINTING GAME: A college student created clear braces with a 3-D printer — and they worked — all for less than $60. http://bzfd.it/1R486BW

But hold your horses, there: There’s a lot of risk associated with DIY dentistry: http://bit.ly/1Pg6jWb

THIS. IS. NOT. A. DRILL. 😉 Guys, a warm-cookie delivery service is coming to D.C.! Breathe, Cate. Breathe. http://bit.ly/1MrClOW

And with that, here’s a little kid that isn’t happy the karate instructor was picking on a girl. It’s laugh-out-loud funny. http://bit.ly/1psvjUP

Now, get outside as much as you can today and enjoy the sun. The weather looks pretty dreary this weekend — with potential for snow (oh, come on now.)

 

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

To receive The Hill’s 12:30 Report in your inbox, please sign up here: http://bit.ly/1lsUchu