memeorandum: US SENDING B-2 BOMBERS TO ASIA AMID NKOREA TENSION (Robert Burns/Associated Press)

4:25 PM ET, March 9, 2016

Top Items:

Eric Bradner / CNN:

CNN/ORC Poll: Trump, Clinton leading in Florida, Ohio — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump is leading two of his Republican presidential rivals in their home states, topping Sen. Marco Rubio in Florida and Gov. John Kasich in Ohio, new CNN/ORC polls show. — Hillary Clinton, meanwhile …

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:

Rubio Suffers Political Meltdown One Week Before Must-Win Florida — The Florida senator had a rough night on Tuesday. — Marco Rubio has found the bottom of the Republican field just two weeks after making a strong move to try to rise to the top of it. — After finishing second …

Discussion: Politico, New York Magazine, The Resurgent, NBC News and Hullabaloo

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Jeb Bush to meet with Rubio, Cruz and Kasich … Former Florida governor Jeb Bush plans to meet with three of the four remaining Republican presidential candidates today and tomorrow in Miami, according to an aide. — Bush, who until recently was also a presidential contender …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Guardian, The Week and TheStreet.com

Shane Goldmacher / Politico:

Marco on the brink — SARASOTA, Fla. — With mounting losses and his chances that voters deliver him the Republican nomination near-nonexistent, Marco Rubio is flirting with the same political “death spiral” that swallowed Jeb Bush only three weeks ago. — He's fending off rumors of quitting …

Discussion: ABC News, RedState, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Politics, Scared Monkeys, CBS News and The Cook Political Report

Washington Post:
Poll: Clinton leads Trump, aided by Obama coalition

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, Washington Times, The Week, Townhall.com, Talking Points Memo and Florida Politics

Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:
Donald Trump: If the Republican Party came together, ‘nobody could beat it’

Discussion: Hot Air, NBC News, Washington Post and Business Insider

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Sorry, Marco Rubio, it's time to fold

Discussion: National Review

Ashley Parker / New York Times:
Jeb Bush to Meet With 3 Candidates — but Not Donald Trump — Before Florida Primary

Discussion: RedState and Washington Post

Carrie Dann / NBC News:
How Trump, Rubio and Cruz Would Fare Against Clinton in November

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, CNBC, Common Dreams, Infowars, Marco Rubio, Hot Air, Western Journalism and Guardian

ABC News:
Challenges for Trump vs. Clinton: Favorability, Attributes and More (POLL)

Discussion: Hot Air and Political Wire

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Marco Rubio Never Had A Base

Discussion: Washington Post, Townhall.com and NPR

Jessica Hopper / ABC News:
Carly Fiorina Endorses Ted Cruz

Discussion: The Hill, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Independent Journal Review, Associated Press, Weasel Zippers, Yahoo Politics, Townhall.com, Shakesville, Western Journalism, The Week, The Right Scoop, RedState, BizPac Review, Althouse and Marco Rubio

Dan McLaughlin / RedState: It Is Time For Marco Rubio To Join Ted Cruz For The Benefit Of Marco Rubio

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Only Trump Can Trump Trump — Donald Trump is a walking political science course.

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Katie Glueck / Politico:
GOP establishment creeps toward Cruz

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and Daily Kos

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:

What The Stunning Bernie Sanders Win In Michigan Means — Bernie Sanders made folks like me eat a stack of humble pie on Tuesday night. He won the Michigan primary over Hillary Clinton, 50 percent to 48 percent, when not a single poll taken over the last month had Clinton leading by less than 5 percentage points.

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Clinton will add to delegate lead after Michigan, Mississippi contests

Discussion: Politico, American Spectator, RedState, Politicus USA, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys and Liberal Values

Patrick O'Connor / Wall Street Journal:
WSJ/NBC Poll: Tenor of Campaign Takes a Toll

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Glenn Thrush / Politico: 5 takeaways from Bernie's Michigan miracle

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:

Senate Judiciary to debate issue of Supreme Court nomination — (R-Iowa) said the Senate Judiciary Committee will have a “full-blown debate” Thursday on whether to hold a hearing on a Supreme Court nomination. — “If you want to hear a full-blown debate on this issue …

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and The Bob and Chez Show

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

The Conservative Era Is Over — Antonin Scalia's death has already changed the way the Supreme Court—and conservative litigants—do business. — Nobody quite knows what to make of it yet, but nobody disputes it, either: The Supreme Court of March looks nothing like the court we knew in February.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Federalist and Daily Kos

Nina Totenberg / NPR:

President Obama Meets With Supreme Court Candidates — President Obama has begun interviewing candidates for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. — Sources close to the process say that among those being interviewed are Chief Judge Merrick Garland …

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, Talking Points Memo, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, New York Magazine, The Week, Washington Post, NBC News and The Atlantic

CNN:
First on CNN: Top name withdraws from Supreme Court consideration

Discussion: RedState and BizPac Review

Eric Wang / USA Today:
Liberals should thank Scalia for right to blast GOP on Supreme Court: Column

Discussion: SCOTUSblog

Matt Donnelly / The Wrap:

Sony to Drop Dr. Luke Amid Public Pressure Over Kesha, Internal Headaches (Exclusive) — “The fact that this hasn't already been taken care of is confusing, especially for people in the building,” one insider said of music company — Sony Music is expected to end its working relationship …

Discussion: EW.com, ThinkProgressPage Array, Guardian, Death and TaxesDeath and Taxes, Mashable, The Verge, Vocativ, The Week, Mediaite and Refinery29

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:

GOP superlawyer on contested convention rule: 'In fact, that's not a rule' — A Republican presidential candidate doesn't have to accrue a majority of delegates in eight states to be considered for the nomination during a contested convention in July, former Republican National Committee lawyer Ben Ginsberg …

New York Times: How Trump Could Be Blocked at a Contested Republican Convention

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Trump campaign manager gets rough with Breitbart reporter — Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski forcibly yanked Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields out of the way after his press conference in Florida on Tuesday night. — Fields was attempting to ask Trump a question as he exited the press conference.

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:

EXCLUSIVE: Jon Voight Endorses Donald Trump for President — LOS ANGELES — Hollywood legend Jon Voight has endorsed Republican Donald J. Trump for President of the United States. — In an interview with Breitbart News Tuesday evening, the Oscar-, Emmy-, and Golden Globe-winning actor said …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, EveryJoe, Independent Journal Review, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Western Journalism

Michael C. Bender / Bloomberg Business:

Trump's VIPs Get Front-Row Seats to His Political Spectacle — The outsiders' candidate has a small—and very expensively dressed—cadre of insiders. — michaelcbender — At almost 10 o'clock on Saturday night in the ornate dining room of Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach …

Discussion: US News

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Florida, Famed for Political Spectacles, Braces for Another as Primary Nears

Discussion: Political Wire, electionsmith and Washington Post

Gregg Zoroya / USA Today:

Pentagon admits it has deployed military spy drones over the U.S. — The Pentagon has deployed drones to spy over U.S. territory for non-military missions over the past decade, but the flights have been rare and lawful, according to a new report. — The report by a Pentagon inspector general …

Discussion: Infowars, Common Dreams, Computerworld, The Free Thought Project, Vox Popoli and Washington Post

Nathan Takitch / WSAZ-TV:

Anonymous tip claims raw milk caused illnesses at Capitol — CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — In the weeks after passing a bill, allowing West Virginians to drink raw milk, one delegate brought the drink in to celebrate and, eventually, several lawmakers have gotten sick.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, addictinginfo.org, Mediaite, Political Wire and The Week

Michael E. Miller / Washington Post:

Idaho shooting suspect's ‘hypersexual’ Martian manifesto is a window into an unraveling mind — On Tuesday evening, as tourists snapped photos in front of the White House, a young man with blond hair and blue eyes approached the black iron fence. — Kyle Odom wasn't there to take pictures, though.

Discussion: BarbWire.com, Talking Points Memo, Right Wing Watch, New York Magazine, Mashable and Associated Press

Jonathan Ellis / Mashable:

All the lies Donald Trump told in his election night infomercial — Donald Trump had plenty to celebrate on Tuesday night after winning the Republican primaries in Mississippi and Michigan. — But that didn't really matter. He was still pissed at Mitt Romney for making fun of his companies.

Discussion: CNN, National Review, ABC News, The Resurgent and Hit & Run

Chicago Tribune:

Marco Rubio for the GOP, but no endorsement for either Democrat — Sen. Marco Rubio, Republican candidate for President of the United States. — This year the Ides of March brings presidential voting to Illinois — a state whose primary often falls so late that it's irrelevant to the nomination process.

Discussion: Politico