memeorandum: Bernie Sanders Ties Hillary Clinton to Poverty Caused by Welfare Reform (Yamiche Alcindor/New York Times)

7:50 AM ET, February 25, 2016

Top Items:

Why Chris Christie never went after Donald Trump — Twenty-four hours before Chris Christie dropped out of the presidential race, the New Jersey governor chatted on his campaign bus about taking on Donald Trump the way he went after Marco Rubio. — Three days earlier …

Discussion: Politico

Tegna / WFAA-TV:

Cruz, Trump tied in WFAA Texas poll … DALLAS - Six days before Super Tuesday, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are now tied in Texas, according to a new public opinion poll commissioned by WFAA-TV. — Cruz and Trump both had 32 percent support from likely and actual GOP primary voters, with a 3.9 percent margin of error.

Discussion: The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, The Federalist, Washington Times and Buffalo News

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:

It's Time for an Anti-Trump Manhattan Project — For the last eight months or so, a significant portion of the Republican party's voters have been in thrall to a bizarre, Occupy-esque conspiracy theory, which holds as its central thesis that sabotage and pusillanimity are the root causes of the Right's recent woes.

Discussion: The Last Refuge, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, alicublog and Balloon Juice

Associated Press:

Debate Another Chance for Rubio, Cruz to Try to Slow Trump — With Donald Trump's grasp on the Republican presidential nomination tightening, the billionaire businessman's rivals get one more chance to challenge the GOP front-runner on the debate stage before next week's slate of Super Tuesday contests.

Discussion: ABC News

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

RNC sees leverage over Trump — Donald Trump has steamrolled toward the Republican nomination by lambasting all things political establishment, and now that establishment thinks it can convince their insult-wielding front-runner he needs them. — Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus …

Discussion: Political Wire

Washington Post:

GOP leaders, you must do everything in your power to stop Trump — THE UNTHINKABLE is starting to look like the inevitable: Absent an extraordinary effort from people who understand the menace he represents, Donald Trump is likely to be the presidential nominee of the Republican Party.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Downtrend, The Last Refuge, CNN, LawNewz, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Fox News:

Romney suggests a ‘bombshell’ in Trump's tax returns — There might be a “bombshell” revelation to be discovered in Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump's tax returns, 2012 party nominee Mitt Romney said Wednesday. — He also called on the entire GOP field to release their tax returns.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and CBS New York

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:
Cecile Richards: “I Appreciate Donald Trump's Kind Words About Planned Parenthood”

Discussion: RedState, The Resurgent and Independent Journal Review

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Can Donald Trump be stopped?

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Raw Story and Downtrend

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times: Republican Race Puts Donald Trump and Paul Ryan on Collision Course

New York Times:
Marco Rubio Gets Party's Blessing, but Not Voters'

Discussion: Politico and Washington Post

David Wasserman / FiveThirtyEight:
Republicans' Last-Ditch Hope To Stop Donald Trump

Discussion: The Week

Tim Alberta / National Review:
Conservative Leaders Hedge on Support for Cruz

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:
The Only Strategy For Hillary Clinton Is To Scorch The Earth

Discussion: Guardian, CNN, Taylor Marsh, New York Magazine and Political Wire

Washington Post:

Republican governor of Nevada Brian Sandoval being considered for Supreme Court — Brian Sandoval, the centrist Republican governor of Nevada, is being vetted by the White House for a possible nomination to the Supreme Court, according to two people familiar with the process.

The Hill:

How Obama, Dems plan to win fight on high court — President Obama and Senate Democrats plan to reach deep into their bag of tricks and tactics to ensure the Supreme Court dominates the political debate up until Election Day. — Their strategy is to portray the Senate Republican majority …

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Struggle Over Supreme Court Pick Enters a New Level of ‘Hardball Politics’

Discussion: Slantpoint and Balloon Juice

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
A Lot Weaker Than They Look

Discussion: NPR

Amy Brittain / Washington Post:

Justice Scalia spent his last hours with members of this secretive society of elite hunters — When Justice Antonin Scalia died 11 days ago at a West Texas ranch, he was among high-ranking members of an exclusive fraternity for hunters called the International Order of St. Hubertus, an Austrian society that dates back to the 1600s.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Little Green Footballs, The Week, Booman Tribune and Associated Press

New York Times:

Apple Is Said to Be Working on an iPhone Even It Can't Hack — WASHINGTON — Apple engineers have already begun developing new security measures that would make it impossible for the government to break into a locked iPhone using methods similar to those now at the center of a court fight in California …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Slantpoint, Business Insider, Mashable, The Scoop Blog, The Verge, MacRumors and LawNewz

ABC News:
Exclusive: Apple CEO Tim Cook Sits Down With David Muir (Extended Interview)

Discussion: VentureBeat

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:

New White Supremacist PAC Robocalls: 'Don't Vote For A Cuban,' Vote Trump! (AUDIO) — A white supremacist super PAC is rolling out a fresh robocall campaign this week in Vermont and Minnesota telling voters, “Don't vote for a Cuban. Vote for Donald Trump.”

Discussion: Mediaite

Dan McLaughlin / RedState: Rubio Campaign Calls On Trump To Renounce Pro-Trump White Supremacist Robocalls

Al Weaver / Washington Examiner: In debate preview, Rubio hits Trump on Obamacare, foreign policy

Andrea Cavallier / New York's PIX11:

Charges dropped in gang rape probe at Brownsville playground after victim recants story — BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn — Charges have been dropped against the five teens who had been accused of raping an 18-year-old girl at a Brownsville playground last month after the victim changed her story.

Discussion: KTLA and FOX31 Denver

Al Baker / New York Times: Prosecutors Will Move to Dismiss Charges in Brownsville Rape Case

Natalie Swaby / KING-TV:

Boy removed from plane over allergies, passengers applaud — COUPEVILLE, Wash. - Instead of sightseeing on a ferry, 7-year-old Giovanni, his mom, Christina Fabian, and dad, George Alvarado should have already boarded a flight. — “We were on Flight 171,” said Fabian.

Discussion: FOX2now.com, KTLA and KOIN-TV

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:

Does Ben Carson Suspect His Campaign Was a Scam? — For months, reporters and political operatives (including me) have been pointing out that Ben Carson's campaign bears many of the hallmarks of a political scam operation. Now Carson seems to agree. On CNN on Tuesday, Carson discussed his year-end staff shake-up:

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, ThinkProgressPage Array, Hullabaloo, The Stranger … and RedState

Fox News:

‘DARK DAY’: Sheriff's deputy killed, 2 deputies injured in Colorado shootout — Police say deputies were approached at a rural home while serving an eviction notice (KDVR) — DEVELOPING: A sheriff's deputy was killed and two others were injured Wednesday in a shootout shortly after serving …

Discussion: FOX31 Denver and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Denver Post:
DENVER AND THE WEST — PARK COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY KILLED …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Right Scoop and Raw Story

Jeremy Tanner / New York's PIX11:

Baby sitter charged with murder in death of Staten Island 16-month-old — STATEN ISLAND - The baby sitter charged with killing 16-month-old Staten Island toddler faced the family of the young boy amid sobs, shrieks of pain and shouts of “you should rot in hell forever.”

Discussion: KTLA and myfox8.com