The Note: What Happened on Western Tuesday
— -- NOTABLES
--SANDERS NABS UTAH AND IDAHO WHILE CLINTON TAKES ARIZONA: Hillary Clinton won the Arizona Democratic primary. Arizona was the largest delegate prize yesterday in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. In addition, the Associated Press reported that Bernie Sanders won the Democratic presidential caucuses in Idaho and Utah.
--TRUMP TAKES ARIZONA, CRUZ CLAIMS UTAH: Donald Trump won the Arizona Republican primary. Because Arizona is a winner-take-all state for Republican candidates, Trump will get all 58 delegates at stake. Trump's win in The Grand Canyon State does not guarantee him the Republican nomination, but it keeps the real estate mogul on a path where he could clinch the Republican nomination before the July convention. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that Ted Cruz has won the GOP presidential caucuses in Utah.
--JEB BUSH ENDORSES CRUZ: Jeb Bush is endorsing Ted Cruz for president, arguing that the Texas senator is the best hope of stopping Donald Trump from reaching the Republican nomination, ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI reports. "Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests," Bush wrote in the statement released this morning. "Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential. In the statement, the Texas senator said he's honored to earn Bush's support and is "further evidence that Republicans are continuing to unite behind our campaign.” http://abcn.ws/1MlKNVm
--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: The anti-Trump forces are counting their victories in small packages these days. That’s the only thing that makes the latest election results a tiny victory instead of an outright loss. Once again, Donald Trump walked away with more delegates than his rivals, due to a blowout of a win in Arizona. But Trump was also denied any delegates in Utah, complicating slightly his path to 1,237 delegates. It will be hard to replicate Utah’s mix of demographics, religion, and turnout that led to an easy Ted Cruz win. That, though, is the kind of rifle-shot approach those seeking to block Trump will need to employ to slow Trump’s march. There remains, though, one big complicating factor in the equation: John Kasich. Kasich looks likely to have finished behind the dropped-out Marco Rubio in Arizona, but he soldiers on regardless with no path toward winning more delegates than his rivals. Stopping Trump is hard this late with a one-on-one race; it’s near-impossible with anti-Trump voters still having two options.
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and PAOLA CHAVEZ
2016 CANDIDATES EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH BRUSSELS. U.S. presidential candidates are expressing support for the people of Brussels and suggesting U.S. responses to the deadly terror attacks in Belgium's capital. At least 31 people have been confirmed dead in multiple explosions in Brussels, with at least three Americans "seriously injured." Blasts were reported at the international airport and a subway station near a European Union office. ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI, LIZ KREUTZ, and RYAN STRUYK note what the 2016 contenders had to say about the tragic events. http://abcn.ws/1Rx7198
CRUZ CALLS ON U.S. LAW ENFORCEMENT TO ‘PATROL’ MUSLIM NEIGHBORHOODS. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz called on President Obama to end his trip to Cuba and return home to the United States or travel to Belgium’s capital. “President Obama should be back in America keeping this country safe. Or president Obama should be planning to travel to Brussels," Cruz said Tuesday at a news conference on Capitol Hill, ABC’s RICK KLEIN reports. Three explosions hit the city’s international airport this morning and a subway station in what the Belgian federal prosecutor classified as terror attacks that left dozens dead, with three Americans among the more than 180 injured. "While our friend and allies were attacked by radical Islamic terrorists, President Obama is spending his time going to baseball games with the Castros and standing at a press conference with Raul Castro as a prop while Castro denies there are any political prisoners in Cuba,” Cruz said. http://abcn.ws/1UCon4D
TRUMP ARGUES MANY IN US SHARE ‘SAME FEELING OF HATE’ AS TERRORISTS BEHIND BRUSSELS ATTACK. In an interview with “Good Morning America,” Donald Trump called Tuesday morning's deadly terrorist bombing in Brussels a "horrible attack," adding that he would be "hitting ISIS so hard" if he were president. "You've got to take them out," Trump said of the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks in Paris last year. "And you've got to get the people, the surrounding states, you've got to get them to put up the manpower because that's what it's going to take. "We have a lot of people in our country right now that probably and definitely have the same feelings and the same feeling of hate as the people in Brussels," Trump argued, ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI reports. http://abcn.ws/1MzEl80
NOTED: TRUMP THREATENS TO ‘SPILL THE BEANS’ ON CRUZ’S WIFE. Trump has set his sights on his main Republican rival, Ted Cruz, threatening in a late night tweet to "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife, Heidi. The tweet comes on the heels of a new anti-Trump Super PAC, Make America Awesome, releasing a Trump attack ad that features a racy image of the billionaire's wife, Melania, from her past modeling days. ABC’s JOHN SANTUCCI has more: http://abcn.ws/1UjBTe7
BILL CLINTON SAYS HE WANTS TO ‘PUT THE AWFUL LEGACY OF THE LAST 8 YEARS BEHIND US.’ At a campaign stop in Spokane, Washington, Bill Clinton raised eyebrows when he made an apparent jab at President Obama’s administration. "If you believe we can all rise together, if you believe we've finally come to the point where we can put the awful legacy of the last eight years behind us and the seven years before that where we were practicing trickle-down economics with no regulation in Washington, which is what caused the crash, then you should vote for [Hillary],” the former president said on Monday. An aide to Hillary Clinton said her husband was “referring to the GOP's obstructionism” and not President Obama, according to ABC’s MATTHEW CLAIBORNE. http://abcn.ws/22BXCyW
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
SARAH PALIN TO STAR IN COURTROOM TV SHOW. Say hello to Judge Mama Grizzly. ABC News has confirmed Sarah Palin will star in a new reality television courtroom show, according to the program's producers. "When you look at Gov. Palin her personality, her style, her wide appeal, and the fact that she is so incredibly telegenic kind of make her a natural for this format," Howard Bragman, spokesperson for the producers told ABC News. "She's not afraid to pass judgment." ABC’s SHUSHANNAH WALSHE has more. http://abcn.ws/1VB7y9K
WHO’S TWEETING?
@ZekeJMiller: Just 42 GOP delegates will be awarded (in WI) between today and the NY primary on 4/19 #springbreak
@reidepstein: A look at Wisconsin, my old stomping grounds, as it prepares for the presidential circuses coming to town http://www.wsj.com/articles/wisconsin-to-test-ted-cruz-bernie-sanders-1458690050 …
@ByronYork: I understand their view, but WaPo editorial hed still seems weird: 'We met with Donald Trump. Electing him will still be a radical risk.'
@GlennThrush: The GOP, as cole slaw: Jeb Bush-who thinks Trump is a bigot-just endorsed Cruz who wants "patrols" of Muslims http://wapo.st/1o65c5i
@HotlineJosh: "If Trump is the GOP nominee, the Senate would likely flip and the House would be in play." https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/621451?unlock=SFO6IJY12MUU380Z&mref=homepage-free …
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