AD

AD

Working in Warren’s favor:

Clinton would never choose Sanders as her running mate, but Warren might be able to activate many of his core supporters. If the former Secretary of State remains soft with liberals come summer, she might look leftward.

Democrats do not have a deep bench of senior women who are plausible as HRC’s VP. There are only three Democratic women who hold governorships and 14 in the Senate, including Warren.

Privately, Warren appears to covet the job. She’s picked her spots, carefully choosing which issues she weighs in on. But she's signaled recently that she would embrace with gusto the attack dog role typically played by a VP candidate. Earlier this week, she ripped into Ted Cruz for saying that seeking the presidency requires significant sacrifice. She spent another recent day going after Donald Trump.

Bill Clinton made an unorthodox choice when he picked another young Southerner, Al Gore, to be his running mate in 1992. The generational contrast worked well against George H.W. Bush. A history-making ticket to shatter the ultimate glass ceiling could help widen the gender gap and attract moderate women who are disgusted by both Trump and Cruz.

But, but, but: This could very well just be a trial balloon. There are a lot of factors working against the freshman senator:

Her repeated refusal to endorse Hillary matters. She is the only female Democratic senator to stay on the sidelines. The Clintons are well known for placing a premium on loyalty. As West Wing veterans, they can surely envision the kinds of headaches that a Vice President Warren might cause for them.

The Republican governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, would get to pick Warren’s replacement until a special election is held, which could take 145 to 160 days. Hillary will be reluctant to do anything that could stop Democrats from re-taking the Senate and undermine her ability to push an ambitious agenda during her first 100 days.

Picking a liberal former law professor from Harvard could theoretically help Hillary play the populism card but it would also make it easier for Republicans to caricature her as an out-of-touch and an out-of-the-mainstream elitist.

Warren is really not that tested. She struggled more than she should have in 2012 against Scott Brown, only defeating him by 8 points (even as President Obama beat Mitt Romney in the state where he had been governor by 23 points.)

-- Warren has had occasional conversations with both Clinton and Sanders. She also recently met with Podesta, John Wagner and Dan Balz report in a story on Bernie's future.

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

-- Follow the money. A bunch of March fundraising reports poured in just before the midnight filing deadline at the FEC.

-- Cruz is burning through money nearly as fast as he is raising it: “In March, he raced through $11.8 million out of the $12.5 million that his campaign collected -- a burn rate of 94 percent,” report Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswam, who worked into the wee hours of the morning. More than half his haul—$6.6 million—was spent on ads. But his campaign also shelled out more than $376,000 on list rentals and fundraising phone calls.

AD

AD

The Texas senator is struggling to capture a fatigued Republican donor base: "The major challenge is still how absolutely exhausted and fatigued so many of these donors are because they gave early, often and generously," said super PAC strategist Kellyanne Conway, who says new donors are slowly beginning to come over. "There is a bit of, 'Maybe I can help you with the convention. If you’re the nominee, I’ll be there.' It's that fatigue factor."

-- Trump “loaned” his campaign more than $11.5 million and gave an additional $35,000. “In all, the billionaire real estate developer has loaned or given his presidential effort $36 million. He has raised another $12.2 million from supporters, including $2.7 million last month,” Matea and Anu report.

March was his biggest spending month to date: The Trump campaign shelled out $13.8 million. Nearly half went to campaign commercials, while more than $1 million was spent on merchandise.

The GOP front-runner continues to actively solicit donations, despite his repeated claims to the contrary: The Trump campaign spent $900,000 on telemarketing and direct mail efforts last month.

-- The anti-Trump super PAC Our Principles raised $8.3 million – more than its combined haul from the first two months it was operational. Much of the money came from new donors. The biggest giver was Chicago-based shipping company founder Richard Uihlein, a major supporter of Cruz, who gave $2 million to the group. Investor Michael Vlock donated $1.5 million, and hedge fund manager Cliff Asness contributed $1 million.

-- The Sanders campaign reported another massive fundraising haul for March, raising nearly $46 million in March. BUT he also managed to spend roughly the same amount: “That means Sanders's spending in one month was equal to more than one-third of the $122.6 million his campaign had spent in its entirety through February,” Matea and Anu write. Clinton raised $29.3 million and spent $32.3 million in March.

-- Time Magazine posted its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People overnight. Among the political names who made the cut: Paul Ryan, Cruz, James Comey, Hillary, Obama, Reince Priebus, Bernie, Nikki Haley, Trump and John Kerry.

GET SMART FAST:​​

MORE ON THE DEMOCRATIC RACE:

-- Hillary is heavily favored to do well next Tuesday, especially in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island are also voting in what many are dubbing the “Acela primary.”

AD

AD

Clinton is leaning hard on her Pennsylvania roots as she campaigns in the Keystone State, per Anne Gearan : She frequently talks about her grandfather, who worked in a lace mill in Scranton. Yesterday, she told a crowd of about 2,000 in Philadelphia that she was baptized in Scranton and spent summers there. “My dad went to Penn State, my brother went to Penn State,” and her son-in-law is from Philadelphia, she said to cheers.

“Adding to Sanders’s challenge next week are the rules governing the contests,” Anne writes, with Sean Sullivan. “Four of the five states — Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Rhode Island — are closed to independents, as New York was. Sanders has done better in states where unaffiliated voters can support him in the nominating contest.”

-- What does Bernie want? John Wagner and Dan Balz talked with his staffers, allies and even his wife about what's next for the Vermonter.

“Associates say he is likely to run for reelection as a senator in two years when his term expires.”

The 74-year-old almost certainly will not run for president again.

Campaign manager Jeff Weaver said last night he expects the senator will stay in the Democratic Party “for life” after the primaries end. He did not officially become a Democrat until a few months ago.

-- But first, what will Bernie do in Philadelphia? “Party leaders want no repeat of the 1980 Democratic convention, when President Jimmy Carter faced a rebellion from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Kennedy engineered a floor fight over the rules and denied Carter a final-night photograph of unity. In contrast, eight years ago, Clinton went to the floor of the convention during the nominating roll call and moved that Obama be nominated by acclamation. Recalling that moment, David Axelrod ... said of Sanders: ‘The question is, will he do the same? Will he, once the result is clear, even if he goes to the convention, will he rally behind the nominee or will he strike a discordant note?’”

“Aides have suggested Sanders’s call for a single-payer ‘Medicare for all’ health-care system is something he will push at the convention.”

-- Jane Sanders, the candidate's wife, made it clear that Bernie supporters won’t simply fall in line with Clinton. “If they have any hope of getting any of Bernie’s supporters, it cannot be ‘Okay, we got through the primary, now I move to the center,’ ” she told The Post. “That is the history of the Democratic and Republican party.”

AD

AD

“If he’s not president, he’ll have to keep this movement going for a lot more reasons, because nobody else wants to accomplish what has ignited the interest of the voters,” she added. Asked what that might look like, she said: “We’ll figure that out, if and when. . . . Honestly, we will continue no matter what. There’s enough people that will continue it. We’ll keep that vision out there. I mean, he will not sit idly by."

MORE ON THE REPUBLICAN RACE:

-- Paul Ryan plans to roll out a detailed agenda in the weeks leading up to the Cleveland convention: "The speaker’s agenda project — the product of several task forces and dozens of meetings among rank-and-file House members — will provide specifics, and perhaps even draft legislation, on key issues of importance to conservatives, including health care, taxes and national security," Kelsey Snell and Mike DeBonis report this morning. "Republicans have long promised an alternative to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which they constantly bash but for which they have not produced a concrete replacement. If Ryan and his conference deliver as promised, their agenda would provide a tangible blueprint on which vulnerable Republicans could run in November — and serve as an alternative to [Trump and Cruz] ... 'The party is easier to unite over ideas than personalities,' said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. 'Introducing a platform could solve a lot of things that ail us.'"

-- "Nobody's getting 1237 … We're headed to a contested convention,” Cruz declared at the RNC spring meeting in Florida yesterday. He challenged Trump to more debates, something Trump has said he does not want. (Philip Rucker)

-- In talking points for surrogates, the Trump campaign expressed confidence it can get there: "Our projections call for us to accumulate over 1400 delegates and thus a first ballot nomination win in Cleveland." (Rucker)

-- Don't forget John Kasich. Sitting with The Post’s editorial board yesterday, the Ohio governor extensively criticized the GOP: “If you don’t have ideas, you got nothing, and frankly my Republican Party doesn’t like ideas. They want to be negative against things. We had Reagan, okay? Saint Ron. We had Kemp, he was an idea guy. I’d say Paul Ryan is driven mostly by ideas. He likes ideas. But you talk about most of ’em, the party is knee-jerk ‘against.’ Maybe that’s how they were created.” (Kasich also made clear that he’s no RINO: “I’m gonna kill the Commerce Department. I don’t know why you don’t have an Education Department tied to the Labor Department.”)

AD

AD

A Post editorial today offers qualified praise for Kasich: “What sets him apart in the GOP presidential race is not ideology: It is his avowed commitment to governing in a way that used to be more common — open-minded, cooperative and constructive. … To our way of thinking, Mr. Kasich is far from an ideal candidate. He is as committed as any Republican to reality-defying tax cuts. Though he claims credit for helping to balance the federal budget in the 1990s, he has released so few details about his budget plan that his is the only one that independent analysts could not model. … Unlike many Republican officials, however, he does not dismiss science; he recognizes that human activity is causing climate change. And he accepts that policy disagreements should be debated vigorously, with an eye toward eventual compromise and achievement. That, and his rejection of fear-mongering, might not be exceptional in normal times. This year, they are traits to be admired.”

-- Cruz, who finished a distant third in New York's primary, ripped into Kasich as “a spoiler”: During his press conference in Florida, he even suggested that Kasich is only staying in the race as a favor to Trump. "It may be that John is auditioning to be Donald Trump's vice president," the Texan said. (Kasich is adamant he’ll be no one’s VP.)

-- Kasich allies fires back. The chairman of the Ohio Republican Party said Cruz could not beat Clinton.

-- So much for Trump’s supposed self-discipline and pivot to being more presidential: The mainstream media heavily emphasized Trump’s decision to refer to his rival as “Senator Cruz” during his victory speech on Tuesday night. But that cordiality was gone on the stump in both Maryland and Indiana yesterday. “He returned to his go-to negative label: ‘Lyin' Ted,’” Sean Sullivan reports. He also repeatedly referred to “Crooked Hillary.”

AD

AD

-- In an interview with the New York Times, Trump took credit for stopping Jeb Bush from becoming the nominee by attacking his brother for letting 9/11 happen on his watch:

-- If you've seen "The Producers," you'll wonder what exactly Matt Drudge is suggesting with his current banner headline:

-- “Trump campaign brings in lobbyists for key posts,” from Politico’s Kenneth P. Vogel and Isaac Arnsdorf: The new chief strategist, Paul Manafort, is bringing on close associates for various roles on the campaign, “including several whose lobbying histories seem to epitomize the ‘special interest influence’ against which Trump rails. Among the influence industry veterans … are Laurance Gay, who had worked with Manafort on an effort to obtain a federal grant that one congressman called a ‘very smelly, sleazy business,’ and Doug Davenport, whose firm’s lobbying for an oppressive Southeast Asian regime became a liability for McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. The pair join another former Manafort lobbying partner named Rick Gates, who was identified as an agent of a Ukrainian oligarch in a 2011 racketeering lawsuit ... And Manafort this week met with Marc Palazzo, a former lobbyist for a Koch Industries subsidiary who used to work as a communications staffer for GTECH Corporation, the controversial lottery operator.”

AD

AD

-- Indiana has emerged as Cruz’s top priority. “It awards 57 delegates, and Cruz’s brain trust believes a clean sweep there — or close to it — would erase Trump’s already-thin margin for error and effectively end his hopes of entering Cleveland with 1,237 delegates," writes National Review's Tim Alberta.

Cruz hopes to run the same playbook that won him Wisconsin: “The two upper-Midwestern states have comparable GOP electorates and break down along similar demographic and geographic lines. Indiana on the whole is poorer and less educated than Wisconsin, but is also more religious and more ideologically conservative, meaning Trump’s and Cruz’s advantages would likely offset.”

But the “perfect storm” that lifted Cruz to victory in the Badger State could prove impossible to recreate: “The conservative talk-radio army that toppled Trump is nowhere to be found. There is no sign — yet — of a multimillion-dollar assault by outside groups on the GOP front-runner. And unlike Wisconsin, where Cruz was backed by much of the Republican establishment, Indiana’s top officials have not rallied to him.”

“There is preliminary talk of Cruz assembling a high-profile team of GOP surrogates and bringing them to Indiana … The goal would be to project unprecedented party unity against Trump with a roster of supporters that, in addition to familiar faces such as Scott Walker and Carly Fiorina, could include Jeb Bush or even Mitt Romney.”

But the Indianapolis Star notes that a majority of Indiana’s recently elected delegates have expressed some degree of loyalty to Kasich.

-- Cruz will meet with Gov. Mike Pence today ahead of the Indianapolis GOP's spring dinner. The governor, facing a tough reelection, met with Trump (and Chris Christie) yesterday and says he will also meet with Kasich but seems very reluctant to pick a side.

-- Senate Republicans are all for stopping Trump. But they are twisting themselves like pretzels to avoid formally endorsing Cruz. “Increasingly, Cruz’s colleagues are grudgingly saying nice things about the Texas senator … But when it comes down to it, they just can’t bring themselves to make it official,” Politico’s Burgess Everett and Katie Glueck report. “Rubio says he wants a conservative nominee and that Cruz is the only conservative left. But no, no, he says, that’s not an endorsement. Ben Sasse voted for Cruz and tweeted about it: But you’re getting ahead of yourself if you call that an official blessing, aides say.”

AD

AD

-- The Omaha World-Herald quotes Chuck Grassley saying he may skip the convention to focus on campaigning for reelection in Iowa, joining a growing list of big names who are trying to steer clear of the chaos in Cleveland.

-- Walker pledged to support Trump if he becomes the party nominee and then bristled at the suggestion that this is news. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

-- George F. Will calls for Republicans to close their primaries in future presidential primaries. “Next year…when this year’s competition is, like Trump, just a fragrant memory, state parties that have open primaries should rethink this practice,” he writes in his column today. “It makes parties susceptible to free-floating voters and freebooting candidates who are, like Trump, lightly — if at all — invested in the party’s historic mission and its future. Open primaries are not unconstitutional but they are discordant with a First Amendment value — the freedom of the individual to associate with like-minded persons in political parties to advance a particular political doctrine.”

WAPO HIGHLIGHTS:

-- "Donna Edwards roils colleagues while emphasizing her unique perspective," by Paul Schwartzman: “As she seeks to become Maryland’s first African American senator, Edwards, 57, casts herself as an uncompromising progressive whose perspective as a black woman is needed in a Senate long dominated by white men. Yet for all her telegenic swagger, Edwards has roiled her Democratic colleagues, who chafe at what they describe as her brusque manner, sharp-elbowed tactics and poor management of her congressional office. In particular, they cite what they say is her failure to cater to the needs of her constituents … Edwards, in an interview, dismisses such criticism as manufactured by a political establishment that is largely aligned with [Chris] Van Hollen..."

A memorable scene: "Edwards was beaming as she greeted supporters outside a Prince George’s County firehouse ... Edwards saw another familiar face: Dave Chapman, a neighborhood activist from her district. But Chapman, 74, was holding up a sign for Van Hollen ... 'You’re never on my team, no matter what I do for you!' Edwards told Chapman, who reminded her that he had been among her first supporters when she won her House seat. ' But you never returned my calls,' Chapman said. Edwards turned and kept walking, her smile locked in place."

“She’s focused on Washington, D.C., and Congress — and not on the areas she represents,” said Doyle Niemann, a former Maryland state delegate and Edwards' supporter who is backing Van Hollen. “I’ve tried to get hold of her on different issues, and rarely do I get a real response.”

-- The Post's Fact Checker gives Edwards Three Pinocchios for a "wildly off the mark" attack ad that accuses Van Hollen of cutting a backroom deal with the NRA. "She oversells her role in the legislation’s failure—and mischaracterizes Van Hollen’s efforts to win passage of a law that had virtually nothing to do with gun violence," writes Glenn Kessler.

-- A disturbing trend –> The Taliban is building bigger and more dangerous bombs, Tim Craig reports from Kabul: “Afghan security officials said Wednesday that the death toll from the attack in Kabul a day earlier had jumped to 64, with an additional 347 people injured … The attack on an Afghan intelligence training compound now ranks as one of the deadliest strikes … since the Taliban insurgency began in 2001. ... For much of the insurgency, the Taliban generally relied on relatively low-yield explosive devices, often delivered by suicide bombers or in vehicles. While such strikes have killed thousands of people in Afghanistan over the past 14 years, the impact of each attack was usually confined to a relatively small area. But over the past six months, security officials in Kabul have witnessed a disturbing new trend. Increasingly, they say, the Taliban is packing explosives into massive truck bombs capable of delivering a far deadlier punch.”

-- “Supreme Court hears arguments in drunken-driving cases,” by Robert Barnes: “All states to some extent say that motorists suspected of drunken driving can lose their licenses by refusing to submit to an alcohol test. But North Dakota, Minnesota and a handful of other states go further and make it a crime to refuse to submit to the test. The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared first to be on one side of the question, then on the other, about whether the Constitution allows that. Washington lawyer Charles Rothfeld, representing the objecting drivers, said states cannot force people to give up their Fourth Amendment protection against warrantless searches. … But the tables turned when lawyers for the governments presented their cases … They came under such intense questioning from Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen G. Breyer that Alito offered to translate for Kathryn Keena, assistant Dakota County attorney from Hastings, Minn. ‘Justice Sotomayor is assuming that you’re going to lose. So she wants to know what your reaction is to that,’ Alito said to laughter in the courtroom.”

SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:

The Treasury Department's announcement that Harriet Tubman will be on the front of the $20 bill, replacing Andrew Jackson, dominated the online conversation yesterday. Alexander Hamilton will stay on the $10 bill. Read Ana Swanson and Abby Ohlheiser's full story here. A taste of the reaction:

Lots of Hamilton (as in, the musical) jokes on Twitter:

So fitting: Tubman once staged a sit-in to get $20 so she could rescue her enslaved father. Vox notes that $20 was also the amount Tubman earned as a monthly pension after the Civil War, for which she helped the Union as a scout and spy. “It was still less than the $25 a month paid to full soldiers, but it was the result of a long legal fight to earn a soldier's pension at all.”)

On a lighter note:

Check out this amazing blast-from-the-past campaign memo:

Sanders has won all of the Clinton counties:

Among those reporting voting snafus in New York: Martha Stewart.

Lindsey Graham met with Merrick Garland and then promptly recorded a video saying he will not vote to confirm him:

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) ate a brownie in honor of 4/20:

Cyndi Lauper was on Capitol Hill:

Finally, in case you missed this photo:

On her birthday, check out this illustration of Elizabeth's longevity:

GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE:

-- Bloomberg BusinessWeek, “On the Rocks: The Story of Trump Vodka,” by Max Abelson: “J. Patrick Kenny, the creator of Trump Vodka, is sitting in his New York office … explaining what had gone wrong. Not even he has a bottle of the stuff left. ‘There used to be one here, but it’s gone,’ Kenny says. ‘The company cratered.’ Trump Vodka had problems, from distillery to bottling to finance. Even so, it would be just another celebrity’s doomed foray into liquor if it weren’t the project of a potential president. With no political résumé to speak of, the only way to evaluate the capabilities of Trump is by once again poking around in his exploits in commerce. [And] like his bankrupt casinos, closed college, and other dead-end brand journeys, Trump Vodka was a flamboyant exercise in failure. …Trump may not be the person to blame for Trump Vodka’s bad timing, overmatched distillery … retreat to China, or lost credit." Trump, naturally, insists it was a triumph. Its slogan was “Success Distilled.”

-- The Associated Press, “Senate candidate bills campaign for family trip,” by Brian Slodysko: “A Facebook page belonging to the wife of [Rep. Marlin Stutzman] touted the family's visit to the Ronald Reagan presidential library in California … Although a caption on one of the photos describes the trip as a ‘family vacation,’ documents obtained by the AP show his Senate campaign paid more than $2,000 for the four airline tickets to L.A. and covered expenses for a van rental and Hilton hotel room ... The California visit represents just a small part of the over $300,000 in flights, vehicle charges, meals and hotel stays Stutzman's campaign fund has spent since the tea party-backed Republican went to Washington in 2010 on a pledge to oppose special interests … roughly three times more than Rep. Todd Young, his GOP Senate rival in the May 3 primary who joined the House about the same time.”

-- The Tampa Bay Times, "O.J. Simpson's children have put down roots in St. Petersburg," by Susan Taylor Martin: “In 1994, the siblings were just children when their father ... was arrested on charges of murdering their mother ... The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, reprised the murder trial and focused attention on the two children he had with Brown. Raised by their mother's relatives, the younger Simpsons rarely speak about their father … and have managed to lead remarkably normal lives. Sydney Simpson graduated from Boston University in 2010 with a degree in sociology. In 2014, she bought a St. Petersburg duplex for $84,000 under the name of a limited liability company. [And] her brother is here, too. ‘It's a great place to live, why not St. Pete?'’ Justin Simpson, a 27-year-old Realtor, told the Tampa Bay Times by phone recently while driving to an appointment. ‘It's gorgeous here.’”

HOT ON THE LEFT: Chilling pictures show ISIS prisoner being thrown to his death after he was accused of engaging in sodomy in Iraq, from the Daily Mail: “The images show the captive being held over the edge of a high-rise building by a group of masked militants as a crowd including young children watch on from the ground. He is then pushed off, falling 100ft on to the concrete below. As of last December, at least 36 men in Syria and Iraq have been killed by ISIS militants on charges of sodomy." HOT ON THE RIGHT: "Pelosi’s Husband Invested in Solar Firm Weeks Before Lucrative Expansion,” from Washington Free Beacon: “Nancy Pelosi’s husband bought up to a quarter million dollars of stock in a now financially troubled green energy company just weeks before it announced a major 2014 acquisition that sent stock prices soaring, public records show … Pelosi has previously been accused of trading stock based on information gleaned through her official duties."

DAYBOOK:

On the campaign trail: Onto Pennsylvania. Here's the rundown:

Clinton: Hartford, Conn.

Sanders: Scranton, Reading, Pa.

Trump: Harrisburg, Pa.

Cruz: Frederick, Md.; Indianapolis, Ind.

Kasich: Media, King of Prussia, Pa.

At the White House: President Obama is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit. After attending several sessions and delivering a statement to the press, he will travel to London.

On Capitol Hill: The Senate meets at 10 a.m. to work on an energy bill. The House meets at 9 a.m. for legislative business, with last votes on two IRS measures expected by noon.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I'm not pouring Bailey's in my cereal," RNC chairman Reince Priebus told CNN. "I'm not sitting here trying to find the Johnnie Walker. I mean this is fun."

NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:

-- Temperatures are “near perfect” today, according to the Capital Weather Gang’s forecast: “The sun rises over a clear horizon and scattered clouds only slowly infiltrate from the south as the day wears on. This should allow highs to reach the low-to-mid 70s across the area.”

-- The Capitals lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1.

-- The Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 3-1.

-- A 17-year-old has now been charged with killing both a Secret Service officer and a 15-year-old at the Deanwood Metro station. (Peter Hermann and Clarence Williams)

-- Virginia lawmakers approved Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s plan to pay pharmacies to secretly supply the state with execution drugs. This was an alternative to a GOP proposal to let the state use the electric chair when it cannot obtain lethal-injection drugs. (Laura Vozzella)

-- Authorities in Arlington County are searching for a man who tried to lure three children into a pickup truck: The children were outside playing hide-and-seek when the suspect approached them in a navy, older-model pickup. Officials said the children were all able to run away. (Victoria St. Martin)

-- A Virginia landlord is facing mockery on social media after comparing Crystal City to Brooklyn in a New York Times article. (Dana Hedgpeth)

-- More than 350 firefighters have descended to fight Shenandoah’s 5,600-acre wildfire, which has nearly tripled in size since Monday night. (Joe Heim, Angela Fritz and John Woodrow Cox)

Check out footage of the fire from a drone:

VIDEOS OF THE DAY:

Julia Louis-Dreyfus said politics is getting harder to satirize on VEEP because it's all so crazy:

Al Franken tweaked Cruz and Paul Ryan:

Clinton's campaign is running an ad in Connecticut featuring the daughter of the slain principal at Sandy Hook Elementary: