Subject: POLITICO's 2016 Blast: Protests detour Trump — Clinton and Trump go back and forth — Pentagon’s Benghazi pushback — 5 things you need to know
From: "POLITICO's 2016 Blast" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2016 15:19:59 -0600

By Henry C. Jackson | 04/29/2016 05:17 PM EDT

NEW NORMAL? Another DONALD TRUMP campaign stop in California and another series of massive protests. 

POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt reports hundreds of protesters greeted Trump outside of the California Republican Party's convention. 

The protesters toppled police barricades and made their way to the just outside the entrance of the San Francisco-area hotel where he was scheduled to speak. That forced Trump's motorcade to stop farther away from the venue, and thanks to a news helicopter overhead, America watched the GOP front-runner and his security detail rapidly move from the road, up a grassy incline and through a back door. It's the second day in California where his visits have sparked protests.

Trump compared his entrance to "crossing the border."

Read more at: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5c758ffcebc91d9113855bcd05883b04fd3e14bfa229bb03f 

Happy Friday. No protests, just your 2016 Blast. Henry C. Jackson (@henrycjjackson) is here to guide you through the day's campaign news, so send your tips, complaints and most scorching hot takes to [email-masked].

WHAT MATTERS: Here are four more things to do we're watching today - and why they matter. 

2) TEPID TED: TED CRUZ notched an impressive almost-endorsement today. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said he was voting for the Texas senator. That's a potentially important nod ahead of next week's primary. Just one problem: Pence's support (which Cruz notably did not call an endorsement) arrived with about as much punch as Glass Joe. (https://goo.gl/wsEJ4X) As POLITICO's Katie Glueck and Nick Gass report, Pence went out of his way to praise Cruz's nemesis, DONALD TRUMP. "I'm not against anybody," he said. "But I will be voting for TED CRUZ." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a55c80381f1339dce32371a8d1603da1c53ab8cab4923f7dc1 This kind of manganimity also made it pretty easy for Trump to downplay Pence's support. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a558db3ab0e6cc86c760d7f089a7f04233506880f3974d2686 And here's another clue that this didn't put any wind at at Cruz's back: He spent the day lobbing an array of attacks at Trump. At one point, he mocked both Trump's foreign policy and, incredibly, his "beautiful hands" at once: "Yelling and screaming and cursing at them and telling them what big hands you have is not going to cause ISIS to go away," Cruz said. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5bae85acf9a0db2f0f0f38b5406987eec8c6695b9ea09f1dd 

3) GENERAL PRACTICE: As TED CRUZ battled on, HILLARY CLINTON and DONALD TRUMP traded insults in a preview of a (potentially withering) general election. Trump aides asserted that Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, has a terrible record of abusing women and will be "fair game" if Clinton accuses Trump of sexism. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a54b686ebbb3cbe66bcd54bd41d9ff71595d3d8324ee95a8bf Clinton, for her part, made her own oblique reference to her husband (and we presume her time as secretary of state) saying, "I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a57773611bc2f6dc9ad98430c1d2470198835fc637256f96bf And USA Today reported
 that Clinton was shifting some of her staff to general-election swing states. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a56e9ac509ecdbf0abe4e57e27181eb6be6f4ada694c126ebf For their part, party insiders on both sides see this as one way traffic: They think Clinton will rout Trump in November. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5fbfaf71e56b152df4e79191c2ec31a528a6e2fc42ef3e15d 

4) ENOUGH ALREADY: The Pentagon is tiring of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. As POLITICO's Rachael Bade reports, Assistant Secretary of Defense Stephen Hedger sent a letter to the committee complaining that repeated requests for information and officials' time are putting an undue strain on the department. Hedger also said he was worried that the committee's lines of inquiry were leading it away from the facts - "This type of questioning poses the risk that your final report may be based on speculation rather than a fact-based analysis of what a military officer did do or could have done given his or her knowledge at the time of the attacks," he wrote. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5a73eb816e8dd34fb4d8f02568dc25452f10ef446049a13d1 How this plays out could, of course, matter greatly to HILLARY CLINTON. 

5) DELEGATE DASH: TED CRUZ may not be getting the most emphatic endorsements, but he's still doing quite well in the nitty-gritty of delegate collection. Which matters just as much in terms of stopping DONALD TRUMP. POLITICO's Kyle Cheney reports Cruz is set to rake in sympathetic delegates in Virginia - even though Trump won the state. Citing Virginia GOP insiders, Cheney reports that many expect the state's delegate selection process to be dominated by Cruz supporters at the state's convention on Saturday. The idea will be to guarantee that the 13 statewide delegates to the national convention lean Cruz. Among the potential choices: Ken Cuccinelli, a senior Cruz convention adviser and
 former Virginia attorney general. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a578a4ec72c5a331d93100ed8933d0d0292b4be80cfa9d4e52 

TRAIL MIX: Elsewhere on the campaign trail, HILLARY CLINTON has fun on Snapchat. CARLY FIORINA was once a fan. Tim Kaine says no (for now). Jane Sanders wants the FBI to step on it. And Judd Gregg has had enough. 

WEEKEND UPDATE: Here's a way to lighten up your Friday: Listen to POLITICO's Glenn Thrush chat with comedian Larry Wilmore for a preview of tomorrow's White House Correspondents Association dinner. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a576607c5ad01fc91613d3ebb05a6ac960166ff203972d419d

OH SNAP: Whoever is running HILLARY CLINTON's Snapchat account had fun today, swapping DONALD TRUMP's face for historic figures like Abraham Lincoln. (Digg) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a53cf26a3206a96841c836339de2ba3899406f0750e818e4a0 

ONCE UPON A TIME: In 2008, CARLY FIORINA had nice things to say about HILLARY CLINTON. (CNN) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a500ee42a50b6f3749276c3b4e22eb686f12a42fbef3f897b6 

NO KAINE DO: Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine says he'll be a senator, not the vice president, on Jan. 20. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5d3127a6fc9f054d9a61a3a8175882ea85837d3c299ebe61c 

(MILI)BAND OF BROTHERS?: David Miliband, once the foreign secretary for the U.K.'s Labour Party, is in line for a high-level appointment - to HILLARY CLINTON's White House. (The Telegraph) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5ab5ee4f3d48a889bb4ae7ae40de2e5fc36d54d613e7921da 

JANE SAYS: Jane Sanders says the FBI should go ahead and finish that HILLARY CLINTON investigation. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5349016eebff2d4a7c09e9224da046161b06df4b505986b50 

HAD ENOUGH: New Hampshire delegate, and former senator, Judd Gregg says he's skipping the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a57736c7f1b05fdd2dd4fffc6902bd38816d8ef23fbff0e0b7 

THE JACKAL: So, C.J. Cregg briefed the White House press corps today. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a590b3b3a5565a6cc18710f6c5547cb6b419517942010ee264 (OK - it was actually actress Allison Janney in character.) And she talked about doing the Jackal. But didn't do it. So. Happy Friday, here's a scene from "The West Wing." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5b47df5d007babb9af9aba44ed1fefb63fdef6bba12b57bb2 

WHAT'S NEXT: Lots of weekend activity in Indiana. Both HILLARY CLINTON and Bill Clinton, as well as TED CRUZ campaign there. DONALD TRUMP wraps up a California swing. Indiana votes on Tuesday.

THEY SAID IT: 

"I'm also particularly grateful that DONALD TRUMP has taken a strong stand for Hoosier jobs when we saw jobs in the Carrier company abruptly announce leaving Indiana not for another state but for Mexico," he continued. "I'm grateful for his voice in the national debate." 

- That's Indiana Gov. Mike Pence endorsing TED CRUZ. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5bedf495e9ac8147a4a267b346e83d84837a45d310f2b53da 

MAGIC NUMBER: 7,700. That's the percentage surge of searches for Lucifer yesterday, Merriam-Webster's trend watch, after John Boehner likened TED CRUZ to the dark prince. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5349c6b2302ac05444793e7fd394a9d10a3028e37f27acf46 

You're Invited: POLITICO's State of the Race Event - Mike DuHaime, Stephanie Cutter, Kevin Madden, April Ryan and POLITICO's Mike Allen discuss major narratives playing out on the campaign trail in the final stretch before each party announces its nomination. Monday, May 2 - 2:45pm; Washington Hilton - 1919 Connecticut Ave NW. RSVP: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ead54ef805738a5ee2dc576286a6393eb9873cf758f511829eea77559b31451 

FOLLOW @POLITICO'S politics team: @PoliticoCharlie, @POLITICO_Steve, @PoliticoAlex, @anniekarni, @GlennThrush, @EliStokols, @katieglueck, @schreckreports, @gdebenedetti, @Hadas_Gold, @ec_schneider, @kyledcheney , @theodoricmeyer, @MarcACaputo, @PoliticoKevin,@mikeallen, @dlippman, @Danielstrauss4, @henrycjjackson, @shanegoldmacher,@KristinPolitico, @PoliticoScott, @Patrick_C_Reis

There you go - now you're caught up on the 2016 race. TBNR. We'll see you back here on Monday.

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