The Note: Rules and the Republicans

— -- NOTABLES

--AFTER COMPLAINTS BY TRUMP, GOP LEADERS AGREE TO LEAVE RULES ALONE -- FOR NOW: Concerns about perceived bias in the presidential nominating process hung over top Republicans as they debated potential rules changes yesterday at their Spring Committee Meeting in Florida -- and opted to leave everything as is until the GOP convention in Cleveland this July. This means that all power to change any rules at a potentially contested convention would be in the hands of the delegates, particularly those on the convention’s rules committee. Donald Trump has bashed the GOP’s delegate process in recent days, calling the system “rigged” and “unfair.” Some of the committee members were clearly taking notice, ABC’s RYAN STRUYK, KATHERINE FAULDERS and ALANA ABRAMSON report. http://abcn.ws/1r2ynIv

--HOW THE CAMPAIGNS ARE WOOING TOP GOP DELEGATES: All 168 members of the Republican National Committee will be delegates in Cleveland, and roughly two dozen of them are free to support whomever they choose on the first ballot there. “In the end, these are the leaders in every state that will affect people on the second and third ballots,” said Saul Anuzis, a former RNC member and part of Sen. Ted Cruz’s delegate team. Cruz and Gov. John Kasich made the trip to Florida in person to meet with delegates, while Trump sent his newly crowned delegate czar Paul Manafort. STRUYK, FAULDERS, and ABRAMSON report how each campaign is aiming to win over these crucial party leaders: http://abcn.ws/1WIXDiY

--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: You can try to play the game without knowing the rules, surely. But you can’t change the rules in the middle of the game. That’s the thinking – for now – prevailing on Republican National Committee members as they convene in Florida, for the largest such gathering until they’re all joined by a few thousand delegates in Cleveland in July. More important than wooing party regulars and unbound delegates, at least at this stage, is setting the rules. Much has been made of the potential changes to the eight-state-support requirement for a name to be placed into nomination. But that isn’t changing this week, and appears unlikely to change in July, either. For all the tongue-flapping about the rules, neither Donald Trump nor Ted Cruz forces have an interest in major changes – and they will come to Cleveland with by far the most delegates. Strategizing may have to shift to living by the rules rather than rewriting them, and sooner rather than later.

THIS WEEK ON ‘THIS WEEK’: ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl sits down with billionaire conservative activist Charles Koch for an exclusive interview on the state of the 2016 race, and much more. And, the Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics with ABC News contributor, Correct the Record senior adviser and former Democratic Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, ABC News contributor and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, ABC News contributor and Republican strategist Ana Navarro, and editor and publisher of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel.

‘HIGH STAKES’ TUESDAY PREVIEW: After their spirited primary in New York, the presidential candidates are now focusing their attention on five eastern states -- Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island – that hold nominating contests on April 26. Pennsylvania is the biggest prize with the most delegates at stake for both political parties: 210 for the Democrats (includes delegates and superdelegates) and 71 for the GOP (bound and unbound delegates). ABC’s PAOLA CHAVEZ and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI take a closer look at the state of the race in next Tuesday’s contests. http://abcn.ws/1U7D538

WHAT WE’RE READING -- KASICH'S CAMPAIGN GETS A ROCKET BOOST WITH PLEDGED SUPPORT OF ASTRONAUTS. Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich stands out from his opponents with a unique set of out-of-this-world endorsements: A trio of astronauts who have thrown their support behind his White House candidacy, ABC’s BEN GITTLESON reports. The endorsements were not any part of a concerted effort to nab backing from the space community – the Ohio governor has not even articulated any policy on space – but instead came about from personal connections and individual political leanings, Kasich’s campaign told ABC News. Steve Oswald, who piloted two missions on the Space Shuttle Discovery in the early 1990s, said his backing last month came about when his wife, former U.S. Rep. Mary Bono (R-California), announced her own endorsement of Kasich. “She basically says he’s always been a solid citizen,” Oswald told ABC News. Eugene Cernan, who in 1972 became the last man to walk on the moon, told ABC News that the Kasich campaign reached out to him after he made his feelings “known."  A third astronaut, William Readdy, publicly backed Kasich, too, but he did not respond to calls and emails from ABC News requesting comment. http://abcn.ws/1SoaLEU

YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and PAOLA CHAVEZ

TRUMP CAN’T MAKE UP HIS MIND ABOUT CLINTON'S QUALIFICATIONS. Republican front-runner Donald Trump’s opinion of Hillary Clinton seems a bit murky, as he homes in on who may be his eventual opponent. Addressing thousands of people at the Pennsylvania Farm Expo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Thursday, he began by slamming “Crooked Hillary,” adding how her Democratic rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, has suggested that she might be unqualified to be president, ABC’s CANDACE SMITH notes. "I don’t know, I think she’s qualified, I guess. But that doesn’t mean she’s good,” the businessman said. But, in the next breath, he seemed to change his mind. “He [Sanders] said she is not qualified to be president. Now, what he meant is because her judgment is so bad,” Trump said. “So Bernie Sanders, not me, said she’s not qualified. So now I’m going to say she’s not qualified, OK.” http://abcn.ws/1WgYNSg

SANDERS TALKS NEW YORK PRIMARY LOSS WHILE CAMPAIGNING IN PENNSYLVANIA. Two days after the New York primary, Bernie Sanders was campaigning in Pennsylvania when he took a moment to reflect on his nearly 20-point loss to Hillary Clinton, ABC’s JOSH HASKELL writes. “We just had a Democratic primary in New York State,” Sanders told supporters in Scranton, Penn., who booed this reference. "I share your sentiments," he continued. "But, here’s the point. I don’t mind losing, but three million people in New York State who registered as independents didn’t have the right to participate in the Democratic or Republican primary. That really is not democracy.” Sanders is referring to New York's closed primary system in which you have to be registered as either a Republican or a Democrat to vote. http://abcn.ws/1XLo6ec

NOTED: SANDERS CITES NEW YORK TIMES INTERVIEW WITH BIDEN TO ATTACK CLINTON. In an interview published in The New York Times Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden hinted at preferring presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders' style of campaigning, rather than Hillary Clinton's. Although Biden has pledged to stay neutral during the democratic primary season, Sanders wasted no time pointing out the vice president's flattering words at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania Thursday night. “Let me begin by reading to you something very interesting," Sanders said, looking down at the podium. "I just saw it a few minutes ago,” Sanders then proceeded to read the article to the 1,500 supporters who had gathered to hear him speak.

HOW THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS DELEGATE FIGHT COULD SPILL OVER INTO REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. What began as a routine meeting between U.S. Virgin Islands GOP members last weekend in St. Croix erupted into apparent violence when an elected delegate to the Republican National Convention and a local Republican operative claimed they were each assaulted by the other. A group that would normally fly under the radar -- the USVI GOP -- has been thrust into the political spotlight, as a slate of nine unbound delegates could ultimately help swing the Republican presidential nomination, ABC’s STEPHANIE WASH and LAUREN PEARLE report. The Virgin Islands, with under 3,000 registered Republicans who are ineligible to vote in the presidential election, will send to Cleveland nine of the at least 136 total “unbound” delegates who are free to vote for anyone they wish on the first ballot. http://abcn.ws/1WIeySY

DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN SPENDING UP TO FOUR TIMES GOP COUNTERPARTS. The Democratic presidential campaigns have been outspending their Republican counterparts' campaigns, in some cases by four to one. The latest campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission, which do not include money spent by Super PACs toward campaigns, show that some campaigns are running laps around the others when it comes to spending. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY has more. http://abcn.ws/1VIIZc9

CLINTON SAYS THERE’S A ‘CONCERTED EFFORT’ TO UNDERMINE VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE. Hillary Clinton joined with family members of victims of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting Thursday for an emotional forum on gun violence prevention. During the gathering, she said those who are against enacting stricter gun laws are looking for excuses instead of focusing on the issue. “We know that there has been a concerted effort to try to undermine the real life experiences of people who speak out,” the Democratic presidential front-runner said at the YMCA in Hartford, CT — her first visit to the state as a candidate, ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ reports. http://abcn.ws/22RpJbp

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

TRUMP OK WITH CAITLYN JENNER USING ANY BATHROOM IN HIS TOWER. North Carolina should allow people to “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate,” Donald Trump said Thursday, of the state’s new law that bans people from using bathrooms that don't match the sex indicated on their birth certificate, ABC’s CANDACE SMITH and JESSICA HOPPER report. Asked on the “Today” show whether Caitlyn Jenner would be free to use any bathroom she wanted if she walked into Trump Tower, he said, “That is correct.” http://abcn.ws/23Lv75N

WHO’S TWEETING?

@FiveThirtyEight: Democrats have gotten more liberal since 2008, but not enough to nominate Sanders: http://53eig.ht/1rq8Eds 

@maggieNYT: Mar-a-Lago is believed to be the first private club to admit an openly gay couple in Palm Beach

@MrWillRitter: Can I get a @CNN on-screen countdown clock to when Trump is going to be "more presidential"?

@TheAtlantic: The presidential transition is starting long before November http://theatln.tc/22T4mGR 

@alexanderbolton: Sen. Al Franken on Prince: A brain isn't a mind and a mind isn't a soul and that's why we need the artists.