memeorandum: Three pregnant women in Florida tested positive for Zika virus (Nadia Kounang/CNN)

5:45 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 …

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 Federalist, Washington Times, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit and Guardian

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, alicublog and Balloon Juice

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: The Lonely Conservative, 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” — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been taking criticism from pro-life voters for his repeated claims that the Planned Parenthood abortion business does “good work” and “wonderful things.”

Discussion: RedState, The Resurgent and Independent Journal Review

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

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Downtrend and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

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

Discussion: The Week

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

Discussion: Washington Post

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

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

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

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog

Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump lands his first congressional endorsements

Discussion: ABC News, Buffalo News, Vox, Hit & Run, The Week, New York Magazine, NPR, Hot Air, Washington Times, Yahoo Politics, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Independent Journal Review

Michelle Hackman / Vox:
The broad support behind Trump's Nevada win should terrify the Republican establishment

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, National Review and The Week

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.

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

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Kirk would meet with Obama SCOTUS nominee

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

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 Verge, The Scoop Blog, MacRumors, LawNewz and Slantpoint

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

Discussion: VentureBeat

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

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

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

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: FOX31 Denver and KTLA

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: ThinkProgressPage Array, The Lonely Conservative, The Stranger …, Hullabaloo 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, Raw Story and The Right Scoop

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

Bill James / The Federalist:

Trump Is A Rump, But He Has A Point — Let me begin by telling you what I think about Donald Trump. I stress that I am not trying to tell you what you should think about The Donald; I am merely telling you what I think, how I react to him. — I have despised Trump for 35 or 40 years …

Discussion: Bill James Online and Politico

The White House:

President Obama Announces His Intent to Nominate Carla D. Hayden as Librarian of Congress — President Obama said, “Michelle and I have known Dr. Carla Hayden for a long time, since her days working at the Chicago Public Library, and I am proud to nominate her to lead our nation's oldest federal institution …

Discussion: Dr. Ben Carson was right, Jezebel, Techdirt and Refinery29

Post and Courier:

Woman, 50, died after being ‘deprived of water’ at Charleston County jail — A woman who was arrested at a hospital over the summer for failing to pay court fines died the next day because she was deprived of water at the Charleston County jail, her family's attorneys said Wednesday.