Boehner backs Paul Ryan for president  —  BOCA RATON, Fla. — Former Speaker John Boehner said Paul Ryan should be the Republican nominee for president if the party fails to choose a candidate on the first ballot.  —  “If we don't have a nominee who can win on the first ballot …

Who Is Merrick Garland?  —  Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the longest serving Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, offered his own thoughts on who President Obama should nominate to fill the seat left open by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last week.

Jared Fogle — Beaten and Bloodied in Prison Yard Ambush  —  BEATEN AND BLOODIED  —  in Prison Yard Ambush … Jared Fogle got a surprise beatdown in federal prison from an inmate who has major issues with child molesters ... TMZ has learned.  —  According to docs, Fogle got jumped …

We choose the nominee, not the voters: Senior GOP official  —  Headed towards a contested convention: Unbound delegate  —  Curly Haugland, RNC Rules Committee, and Gary Emineth, former chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party, talk about Republican convention rules and why it could lead to a contested convention.

GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT CALLS ON REPUBLICANS TO COME TOGETHER  —  I'm asking all Republicans today to come together and begin preparing to win the general election in November.  —  With his victories yesterday, I believe it is now time for Republicans to accept and respect the will of the voters and coalesce behind Donald Trump.

PBS News Story on First-Time Trump Voters Prominently Displays Longtime White Power Tattoos  —  Last night, PBS NewsHour ran a story on the Tilly family of Fayetteville, North Carolina.  The Tillys do not have a history of being active in politics, but various members of the family …

Trump Appears To Have Heavily Plagiarized Op-Ed From Carson  —  An op-ed penned this month by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and published online appears to be blatantly plagiarized from an article written days earlier under former rival Ben Carson's name, The Daily Caller has determined.

Waukegan man calls 911 claiming to have killed 19 children  —  Share Update: … WAUKEGAN, Ill. — Authorities arrested a man after he called them claiming to have killed 19 children in Lake County, Illinois.  —  According to a statement by the Lake County Sheriff's Office …

Outspoken Trump Supporter: 'Riots Aren't Necessarily a Bad Thing'  —  Scottie Nell Hughes, an adamant Donald Trump supporter, defended the GOP frontrunner's comments (warnings?) about riots at the convention by saying that riots aren't necessarily that bad.  —  Trump warned of riots …

Decoupling of global emissions and economic growth confirmed  —  IEA analysis shows energy-related emissions of CO2 stalled for the second year in a row as renewable energy surged  —  Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) - the largest source of man-made greenhouse gas emissions …

Sheldon Adelson on supporting Trump: ‘Why not?’  —  If Donald Trump is the nominee, Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson says, “Why not” support him?  —  “Trump is a businessman.  I am a businessman.  He employs a lot of people.  I employed 50,000 people.  Why not?”

For release at 2:00 p.m. EDT  —  Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January suggests that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace despite the global economic and financial developments of recent months.  Household spending has been increasing …