CLINTON’S ROMP ‘dramatically narrows’ Sanders path – MARCO’S VOICE MAIL infuriates Christie; Jeb call is brief -- 2 DAYS to Turning Point Tuesday: Can Rubio eke out enough delegates to go on? Presented by

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email protected]) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email protected])

FRAMER FOR BROOKYLN: Front page of The (Columbia, S.C.) State, “LANDSLIDE: 74% Hillary Clinton, 26% Bernie Sanders -- Clinton’s huge SC primary win called ‘turning point’ in race.” See the page. http://bit.ly/1TKYVcK

--“South Carolina sets up Super Tuesday endgame for Sanders: Hillary Clinton’s romp dramatically narrows Bernie Sanders’ path forward,” by Annie Karni in Columbia: “[T]he contest here demonstrated that the Vermont senator has failed to make any headway at all with African-American voters in the South – even with 200 paid Sanders staffers on the ground and nearly $2 million in television spending. Clinton swept the black vote by a five-to-one ratio ... Among black voters 65 and over, Clinton won by a stunning 96 to 3.” http://politi.co/1phvti6

--HuffPost banner: “CLINTON CRUSH” ... Drudge: “CLINTON WINS SC IN 50-POINT LANDSLIDE! ... SET TO SWEEP SOUTH? TURNS FOCUS TO TRUMP.”

--AP latest – 100% of 2,240 precincts -- 369,526 votes cast: Clinton, 271,514 (73.5%) ... Sanders, 95,977 (26.0%) ... self-funding former Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson, 1,321 (0.4 %) ... Martin O'Malley, 714 (0.2 %).

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Good Sunday morning. Tomorrow is your quadrennial Leap Day. We’re two days from Super Tuesday, or the vaguely accurate (don’t get Jon Karl started) SEC Primary. The banner of this morning’s Houston Chronicle dubs it “Turning point Tuesday,” with a pull quote from Marco Rubio: “I will do whatever it takes. Donald Trump … will never get control of this party.”

I’LL TAKE “AWKWARD CALLS” -- N.Y. Times A1, at fold, “Frantic Efforts To Halt Trump Fail for G.O.P,” by Alex Burns, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin: “Rubio made a tentative overture to Mr. Christie after his withdrawal ... He left the governor a voice mail message, seeking Mr. Christie’s support and assuring him that he had a bright future in public service ... Christie, 53, took the message as deeply disrespectful and patronizing, questioning why ‘a 44-year-old’ was telling him about his future ... Further efforts to connect the two never yielded a direct conversation. ...

“Trump, by contrast, made frequent calls to Mr. Christie once he dropped out ... Bush has been nearly silent since quitting the race, ... playing golf with his son Jeb Jr. in Miami and turning to the task of thank-you notes. ... When Mr. Rubio called him on Monday, their conversation did not last long, ... and Mr. Rubio did not ask for his endorsement.” http://nyti.ms/1ODeNpW

--The three authors are Politico alumni. @blakehounshell tweets: “Great article on POLITICO classic.”

TED CRUZ to John Dickerson on “Face the Nation”: “Super Tuesday is the most important day of this entire primary election.” Transcript http://bit.ly/1QPIGuJ

DONALD TRUMP will talk to Chris Wallace live from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach on “Fox News Sunday.”

--“Former CIA director [Michael Hayden]: Armed forces would ignore Trump” illegal order -- Nick Gass: Bill “Maher brought up Trump’s pledge to kill family members of Islamic State terrorists. ... [Hayden:] ‘If he were to order that once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act. ... You cannot—you are not committed, you are not required, in fact you’re required to not follow an unlawful order ... That would be in violation of all the international laws of armed conflict.’” http://politi.co/21ASI4F ... 3-min. video http://bit.ly/1UrTqPI

TV TODAY: CNN “State of the Union” new lineup is Trump, Cruz, Kasich.

--KASICH tells Jake Tapper he’d support Trump if he were the nominee: “I believe it will be me, but at the end of the day I’m going to support that person who went through the arena and became the nominee.” ... Tapper: “No offense but you haven’t won a contest and it doesn’t look like you’re going to win any on Tuesday ...” Kasich: “No, I think Trump’s probably going to win probably all of them, but you keep holding your own and we have our campaign plan. Everybody has to do it the way they want to do it.”

TOP TWEETS: @ezraklein: “If Trump wins the election, Christie’s endorsement of him will be brilliant. If he loses, it will be the worst decision Christie ever made” ... @daveweigel: “RealClearPolitics average of #SCPrimary had Hillary up by 28 points. She won by 48 points.” ... Rubio’s Joe Pounder (@PounderFile): “WOW, @realDonaldTrump in ‘08 ad: ‘We’ll help you by teaching you how to profit from the $700 billion bailout’” http://bit.ly/1RwTGtT ... @maggieNYT: “Christie, who called Trump ‘sir’ throughout [Fri.], continues to call him ‘Mr. Trump’ in Ark.” ...

... @hunterschwarz: “Rubio is going off on Trump in Kennesaw, Georgia. ‘A guy with the worst spray tan in America is attacking me for putting on makeup ... Trump likes to sue people. He should sue whoever did that to his face’” http://bit.ly/1VKHQNY ... Jean-Marie Le Pen @lepenjm, founder of France’s far-right National Front party: “Si j’étais américain, je voterais Donald TRUMP… Mais que Dieu le protège!” Translation: “If I were American, I’d vote Donald Trump ... but God protect him!” ...

... @danpfeiffer: “Trump losing the general seems better for the GOP than forever alienating Trump voters by having the establishment snatch the nom for Rubio” ... @bennyjohnson: “Trump spending +10 minutes of his Arkansas speech going into extensive detail on his Trump University lawsuit. This is a huge win for Rubio” ... @hughhewitt: “The [email protected] hysterics r over the top. If he is nominee GOP will support. SCOTUS in balance” ... Daily Caller’s @mattklewis: “Conservatives need to realize that endorsing Trump is crossing the Rubicon. It’s a big deal that will define them. I think they know this ... They think this is like siding w/ Reagan in ’76 over Ford. I see it as being on the wrong side of history--on the same side as David Duke.”

A message from Google: 50+ new features to help educators. As educators worldwide have reinvented their practices, Google products are also adapting to help them meet their evolving needs and challenges. At “The Anywhere School,” a virtual back-to-school event, Google introduced over 50 new features across Meet, Classroom, G Suite and more. Watch on demand.

HOT DOC -- WARREN BUFFETT’s annual letter to shareholders: “It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course, only they can solve). As a result of this negative drumbeat, many Americans now believe that their children will not live as well as they themselves do. That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history.” The letter http://bit.ly/1QDSpOy

THE NARRATIVE – WashPost A1, below fold, “Rubio’s strategy for Super Tuesday is survival: As Trump rolls on, senator hopes to merely hang on,” by Phil Rucker and Dan Balz in Kennesaw, Ga.: “[S]ome party strategists warned that if Trump sweeps the South, where many of Tuesday’s primaries are taking place, it may be too late for Rubio [or] Cruz ... to stop him. ‘We’re a month into this thing and Rubio still doesn’t have a W,’ said Chip Saltsman, a veteran operative with experience across the South. ‘Any other cycle, he would be done. What if Marco Rubio would’ve won three out of the first four states? Wouldn’t everybody be saying it’s over? For some reason, Trump’s won three out of the four and they’re not saying it’s over.’

“[T]he first key for Rubio in Tuesday’s balloting involves cheering for a Trump victory over Cruz in Texas, which would embarrass the freshman senator in his home state and block his path forward. Rubio’s other goal will be to amass delegates by finishing high enough in enough of the states to justify continuing his campaign.” http://wapo.st/21B2KTk

--RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH endorses Rubio: “Now’s your last chance” http://bit.ly/1QENeh6

--Lamar! endorses Rubio – NBC’s Alex Jaffe: “Sen. Lamar Alexander [of Tennessee, a Super Tuesday state] ... ... touted the Florida senator as ‘the conservative candidate who can inspire us, win the election and lead our country.’” http://nbcnews.to/21B6rIH

STATE OF THE ART – “Rubio PAC Unleashes Its Ad Playbook Against Donald Trump,” by NYT’s Nick Corasaniti: “Conservative Solutions ... [has] gone to Snapchat, starting the first statewide geofilter campaign in Virginia by a super PAC, with slightly more aggressive messages that will pop up on smartphones ... ‘Trump is a Con Artist’ reads one, with another saying ‘This pic is all you get for $35,000 at Trump University.’” http://nyti.ms/1LNhk0N ... The snaps http://bit.ly/1oQn4Cw ... http://bit.ly/1Qd3Gs3

DEAD-TREE HEADLINES: (Charleston) Post and Courier, “Not even close: Clinton routs Sanders with overwhelming minority support” ... N.Y. Times 1-col. lead, “SOUTH CAROLINA POWERS CLINTON TO HUGE VICTORY: BLACK VOTERS PIVOTAL -- Rout of Sanders Eases Misgivings as Super Tuesday Looms” ... L.A. Times 2-col. lead, “Black South Carolina voters stand by Clinton: She heads into Super Tuesday with the huge victory over Sanders she’s been wanting” ... Boston Herald, “HILL ROARS IN S.C. ROMP” ... Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “SEC primary beckons: After S.C. win, Clinton turns focus ... to Tuesday.”

TRAIL PIC – Jim @Acosta: “The scene at Trump rally in Arkansas” [A man holding a sign: “BEST CHOiCE FOR PRESiDENT 1. GOD!!! 2. JESUS!!! 3. D. TRUMP!!!”] http://bit.ly/1ODTMvn

SCREENSHOT DU JOUR – When voters text TRUMP to 88022 to get official Trump campaign updates, they get this reply back: “Reply with your Zip Code to subscribe. Your subscription will help Make America Great Again!” Screenshot http://bit.ly/1LlfJV3

EMAIL SUBJECT LINE DU JOUR – From Michelle Obama using the Democrats’ list: “You amaze me, Daniel”. Thanks, Mrs. Obama!

LATE-NIGHT BEST -- “[Bill] Maher Delivers a Gloriously Profane State of the Union” pretending to be Trump -- 7-min. video http://bit.ly/1oG4KuV

INSTANT CLASSIC – “US senator wants government to set airline seat-size rules,” by AP’s Michael Balsamo in N.Y.: “Sen. Charles Schumer wants to require the [FAA] to establish seat-size standards for commercial airlines, which he says now force passengers to sit on planes ‘like sardines.’ ... [H]e will add an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill ... that would require the agency to set the seat-size guidelines. ... Schumer said the average distance between rows of seats has dropped from 35 inches in the 1970s to ... 16.5 inches. ... ‘It’s just plain unfair that a person gets charged for extra inches that were once standard.’” http://apne.ws/1TffH48

OSCARS DAY: Red carpet at 7 p.m. ET; show at 8:30 – Per ABC: “The 88th Academy Awards® will be held ... at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® ... televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.”

--L.A. Times p. A1, “GOOD TIMING, FUNNYMAN: Chris Rock’s return as host makes perfect sense,” by TV Critic Mary McNamara: “Eleven years ago, the film academy considered itself quite daring when it asked Chris Rock to host the Oscars. The first black man to preside solo over the festivities, Rock would, it was hoped, bring a younger, hipper, more URBAN audience ... His monologue began with a joke about how unusual it was to have four black nominees ... It was immediately, and correctly, assumed that Rock would not be asked back. Until now.” L.A. Times Oscars page http://lat.ms/1XSKrqH

--Printable L.A. Times “Academy Awards BINGO!”: “Winner advocates for cause ... A reference to Leonardo DiCaprio being cold ... Meryl Streep is mentioned or thanked ... A Weinstein is thanked ... ‘Merci’ or ‘Gracias’ ... Winner forgets to thank spouse ... Lady Gaga cries” http://bit.ly/21AW3AG ... 2-page printable ballot for your Oscars party http://bit.ly/1oH9uk2

OUT AND ABOUT IN DALLAS -- “Live from the Bush Center, it was SNL creator Lorne Michaels,” by Dallas Morning News’ Julie Fancher: “George W. Bush told a sold-out crowd at the Bush Center Saturday night that for years he was a ghostwriter of sorts for NBC-TV’s ‘Saturday Night Live.’ ‘You probably think that when I mangled the English language, it was natural,’ the former president said. ‘It wasn’t. It was to give SNL something to put on the air. I can’t tell you how long I had to practice “misunderestimate” or “strategery.”’ Bush welcomed Lorne Michaels, the creator and executive producer of [SNL] to the George W. Bush Presidential Center for a discussion [moderated by Willie Geist] of the comedy show’s portrayals of the presidency over the years.” http://bit.ly/1Qlhtht ... Video http://bit.ly/1XSlxXW

BUSH ALUMNI -- @thomaskaplan: “In Nashville, Kasich is endorsed by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: ‘Faith and freedom is what Governor Kasich believes in.’”

TOP-ED -- STEVEN LAW, president of American Crossroads, “The War On Crime Is Working. Republicans Shouldn’t Roll It Back,” in Independent Journal Review: “[The proposed] Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act ... would reverse decades of progress in fighting violent crime, while doing nothing to curb the expansion of criminal law into unprecedented areas.” http://bit.ly/213s4iP

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:

--“How Mark Zuckerberg Should Give Away $45 Billion: It’s complicated,” by Michael Hobbes in HuffPost: “Last year, six of the 10 largest charitable donations in the United States came from the tech sector, solidifying Silicon Valley’s place as the epicenter of the newer, bigger, disrupty-er philanthropy.” http://huff.to/1UqjyKN

--“Preparing for the Collapse of the Saudi Kingdom,” by Sarah Chayes and Alex De Waal in TheAtlantic.com: “It can’t last. The U.S. better get ready.” http://theatln.tc/1QLLol2

--“Hunting Boko Haram,” by Joshua Hammer in The Intercept: “The U.S. Extends Its Drone War Deeper Into Africa With Secretive Base.” http://bit.ly/1XQg5Fd

– “One Day, 625 Delays,” by Robert Kolker in New York Magazine: “A mechanical failure at Union Square cascaded into hours of underground hell, revealing just how fragile the subway really is.” http://nym.ag/1mX8JCq (h/t TheBrowser.com)

--“Expedia Thinks It Can Help You Find the Dream Vacation You Didn’t Know You Wanted,” by Bloomberg Businessweek’s Drake Bennett: “Can the mid-’90s travel survivor thrive by understanding the psyche of the modern traveler?” http://bloom.bg/21xWonK

--“Jennifer Garner’s Frank Talk About Kids, Men, and Ben Affleck,” by Krista Smith on Vanity Fair’s March cover: “The silent center of a tabloid hurricane, Jennifer Garner is finally speaking out. ... [S]he talks about breaking up with Ben Affleck, dealing with the pain, and keeping her kids and career in focus.” http://bit.ly/1UprifZ ... The cover http://bit.ly/1S7eNFp

--“What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team,” by Charles Duhigg in today’s N.Y. Times Magazine, in “The Work Issue: Reimagining the Office”: “New research reveals surprising truths about why some work groups thrive and others falter.” http://nyti.ms/1pdHBAF

--“The Scold: Mr. Money Mustache’s retirement (sort of) plan,” by Nick Paumgarten in The New Yorker: “[T]he central tenet of Mustachianism is ‘financial freedom through badassity.’ ... Mr. Money Mustache is the alias of a forty-one-year-old Canadian expatriate named Peter Adeney, who made or, more to the point, saved enough money in his twenties, working as a software engineer, to retire at age thirty.” http://bit.ly/1T38PX5

MEDIAWATCH -- “Will Shortz: Everything You Wanted to Know About Crossword Puzzles,” by NYT’s Susan Lehman in a Times Insider podcast: “What’s the most commonly used word in the paper’s puzzles? (Answer: ‘era.’) What is the puzzle master’s obsession with Oreos — which, a reader notes, seems like an answer four times a week? In this spirited podcast, Mr. Shortz ... also offers advice for young puzzlers, an anecdote about a crossword custom designed for former President Bill Clinton and thoughts on the connection between puzzles and ... Ping-Pong (another Shortz obsession.)” http://nyti.ms/1TdO9w7

--David Joachim, NYT’s just departed assistant Washington editor, posts on the NYT alumni Facebook page: “After 11 wonderful years working with so many of you at The New York Times, I’m joining Bloomberg News as an editor on the financial crimes team, headed by our old friend Winnie O’Kelley. ... Jade-Snow and I are ... pleased that the position will take us back to New York, which has always been home to us. I start at the end of March.”

WEEKEND WEDDING -- Liz Dellwo, Sen. Steve Daines’ deputy state director, and Shane Scanlon, comms. director for the Montana GOP state party, got married yesterday at First Lutheran in Bozeman, Montana. They met on Daines’ 2014 successful senatorial campaign. SPOTTED: Katie Waldman, Brianna Puccini, Charles Robison and Lindsey Singer. Pics with the Senator and Cindy http://bit.ly/1QPIuvE ... http://bit.ly/1TKRlyI

OUT AND ABOUT – Guests gathered over pizza, sushi, champagne, and macarons last night at Juleanna Glover’s house to celebrate the re-release of “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” by Kim Barker about being a war reporter in Kabul. Her memoir was made into a film starring Tina Fey opening next Friday. $10.32 on Amazon http://amzn.to/21AWsTO ... Trailer http://bit.ly/1STb2UY

SPOTTED: Jeremy and Robyn Bash (who first met 10 years ago in Juleanna’s kitchen), Nick Schmidle, Evan Osnos and Sarabeth Berman, Michelle Kosinski, Melissa Brown, Adam Green, Michael Hirsh, Liz Gorman, Nahal Toosi, Nihal Krishan, Denis Sgouros, Eric Lipton, Gretchen Peters, Janet Donovan, Kevin Chaffee, Virginia Coyne, Erin McPike, Matthew Rosenberg, Indira Lakshmanan, Afshin Molavi, Shadi Hamid, the Kurdish Rep to the U.S. Bayan Rahman.

BIRTHDAYS: Politico senior politics editor Charlie Mahtesian, the pride of Philly and Havertown, Pa. ... NBC’s Pete Williams, the pride of Casper, Wyo. ... Jack Abramoff (h/t Tim Burger) … Paul Krugman, the pride of Merrick, N.Y., in Nassau County, is 63 ... Miki King is 4-0 ... Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate, former Energy secretary, now professor of physics and molecular & cellular physiology at Stanford, is 68 ... Kristen Slaughter Brown (h/t Ian) ... Dr. Laura Durso, Ph.D., director of the LGBT Progress program at the Center for American Progress (h/t Roddy Flynn) ... Porter DeLaney, founding partner of the Kyle House Group ... Andrea Riccio, deputy director of the House Democratic policy and comms. committee and a Van Hollen alum ... John Nagl, the ninth headmaster of The Haverford School, the pride of Omaha and former president of the Center for a New American Security ... Independent Journal Review’s Kelsey Rupp, a USA Today alum ... Christiana Purves, comms. director for Justin Fareed for Congress (California’s 24th district) and a Lindsey Graham alum ... Christine Simpson, COO of Analytics Media Group and a DNC and OFA alum …

... Trey Cook, brother of Kayla … AP’s Lisa Lerer, the pride of West Hartford and a Bloomberg and Politico alum and “Travel points junkie. Human/dog mom. Ice cream expert,” per her Twitter ... Erica Goldman, research project manager at Purple Strategies … conservative operatives Ned and Drew Ryun, twin sons of former Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.) … Lamar Echols, oversight counsel for the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and a Romney alum … Judy Schneider, senior analyst at the Congressional Research Service … Heather Sabharwal ... Heather Fluit, deputy HUD press secretary, S.D. native and Jim Webb and Tulsi Gabbard alum ... Emily Krueger, Lugar alum now VP of administration at LDI ... Reagan McGrath ... Enid Doggett ... Alicia Powe ... journalist Tom Hussain is 49 ... James Sullivan ... Wayne Lesperance ... Claire Francis ...

... Bruce Potter (h/t Ham Smith) ... Leslie Aun, VP of comms. for passenger transportation company Keolis North America ... Bush 43 WH alums Katye Riselli and Meghan Kielty ... Ira Forman, special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism at State ... Michelle Brown ... Michael Hayden ... Darcy Burke ... Rhea Lieber (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... architect Frank Gehry is 87 ... Gavin MacLeod is 85 ... Tommy Tune is 77 ... Hall of Fame auto racer Mario Andretti is 76 ... actor Frank Bonner is 74 ... Bernadette Peters is 68 ... Gilbert Gottfried is 61 ... Basketball Hall-of-Famer Adrian Dantley is 61 ... Rae Dawn Chong is 55 ... author Daniel Handler (“Lemony Snicket”) is 46 ... actor Bobb’e J. Thompson is 20 (ht/s AP)

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Follow us on Twitter Anna Palmer @apalmerdc



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