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By Burgess Everett | 04/08/2016 07:09 AM EDT


(@burgessev or beverett@politico.com)

Featuring Seung Min Kim

DEMOCRATIC RACE GETS UGLY -- Worries increase among senators: Democrats on Capitol Hill have always found comfort in the fact that their presidential race is downright tame to the GOP contest. But now that Bernie Sanders said Hillary Clinton isn't qualified -- and Clinton surrogates fired back big time Thursday -- that's all in danger of coming apart. "I'm depressed that with last night, I worry that we might go there, and we can't go there. We've got too much at stake in November," Sen. Claire McCaskill said. "I respect so much all the Bernie supporters. I respect Bernie. But I plead with them to remember that we've got to unite for November."

They're with her, though: It probably doesn't come as a surprise, however, that most Senate Democrats are placing the blame squarely on Sanders for ratcheting things up. "Everybody knows she's qualified. So he shouldn't be doing that," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said of Sanders in an interview. "Bernie always boasted about not doing a negative thing in his campaign. And I think that's kind of negative. I wish he hadn't done that." Added Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland: "I'm surprised that Sen. Sanders has decided to forsake his pledge of going ... not only negative, but so irresponsibly wrong." What everyone told SMK and I for this story is that they hope this is a
momentary blip in a much more civil campaign -- and that both candidates should just take a "deep breath," in the words of Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Our story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dcf3edfaa2ebbf1936e12fd5b29d0141b8548e851c4ba60a35da7e8bfd60e5a4

MAN ON EAST CAPITOL STREET: CNN's Manu Raju gets some senators on camera to test Ted Cruz's theory that the entire GOP, across the ideological spectrum, is uniting behind him in his race against Trump. Guess what? It's not happening yet. "It has made it more difficult for senators to be supportive of him ... most people would wish he would take the Senate more seriously," said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who wants Cruz to apologize for calling Mitch McConnell a liar. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho sort of endorsed Cruz earlier this week on TV and Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska sounds like he could come around to Cruz, but all of us on the Hill this week found that the Senate GOP just isn't ready to go
there en masse. Watch the segment: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dcf3edfaa2ebbf1942bf001959afb710e862a37cbb5661df178cef8ebc6d73de

DAILY SCOTUS: Sen. Chuck Grassley certainly isn't avoiding the topic of the Supreme Court vacancy these days on the Senate floor. On Thursday, he gave another lengthy floor speech in defense of his position to deny hearings and votes on nominee Merrick Garland, insisting the Democratic "pressure" campaign is futile. Jordain Carney at the Hill has more: "This strategy has failed to recognize that I am no stranger to political pressure and to strong-arm tactics," Grassley said. "When I make a decision based on sound principle, I'm not about to flip-flop because the left has organized what they call a pressure campaign." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dcf3edfaa2ebbf19dea6efaf867ebf14e03e41cd2aed52791db658d87bf9abaa

Reid world responds: "Nothing says the pressure is not getting to you like taking to the Senate floor to declare that the pressure is not getting to you - twenty-three times. Combined with Senator Grassley's odd speech Tuesday blaming Chief Justice John Roberts for politicizing the Supreme Court, it really seems like the pressure is getting to Senator Grassley," says Reid spokeswoman Kristen Orthman.

Small breakthrough: It's been a couple months since the Senate confirmed a judge, but McConnell is keeping things creeping along. On Monday the Senate will vote to confirm Waverly Crenshaw to be a district judge for the Middle District of Tennessee. He will be just the 17th judge confirmed over the entirety of GOP Senate control under President Barack Obama.

FETTERMAN TRIES TO RIDE BERNIE WAVE - WIth all the focus on Katie McGinty and Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania, Braddock Mayor John Fetterman is trying to sneak through the chaos to the Democratic nomination. He said in an interview this week that if Bernie Sanders crushes it in Pennsylvania, it will bode well for him. He also made quite clear he favors Sestak over McGinty. "All she has going for is establishment momentum," the tattooed mayor said over the phone as he traveled to Philly. "I see a real arrogance ... she's basically an appendage of the DSCC and they keep hanging endorsements off her like ornaments ... it's not in the best interest of the party." Tell me how you really feel, sir!

It's Friday, you deserve it. And welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill, where the pedestrian walkways out Union Station make no sense at all. Please send tips to beverett@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @burgessev.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate is now out until Monday. The House remains on recess until Tuesday.

AROUND THE HILL - Zilch.

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Joe Sestak's last stand brought in the viewers, big time.

JUST IN: Sanders will visit the Vatican next week to attend a conference on social, economic and environmental issues. Sanders statement: "I am delighted to have been invited by the Vatican to a meeting on restoring social justice and environmental sustainability to the world economy. Pope Francis has made clear that we must overcome 'the globalization of indifference' in order to reduce economic inequalities, stop financial corruption and protect the natural environment. That is our challenge in the United States and in the world."

SENATE KEEPS SQUEEZE ON FLIERS: The chamber rejected an effort by Sen. Chuck Schumer to require minimum seat sizes on airlines on Thursday -- and pretty handily, might I add. Ashley Halsey from the Post: "The Federal Aviation Administration would have had 180 days to come up with regulations on the width, padding and leg room each seat should provide. The measure, proposed as an amendment to an FAA reauthorization the Senate is considering, also would have required airlines to prominently display on their websites just how much space they allowed for each passenger." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dcf3edfaa2ebbf19e6ccdf5fe9eccd3e5674c383549f83767d3841cb023a4e0f

Peak Schumer: His speech is really, really worth a watch. "I'm a little under 6-foot-1, and what I do when I fly is I take out the magazine and the airsickness bag and the little folder that tells you where the exits are to gain a 16th-of-an-inch more legroom, so my knees don't bang into the seat in front of me," he said. Ingenuitive! Watch it: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dcf3edfaa2ebbf197099d95f668688d3036407aca0d8c054fd58d5aa6f76ec19

CUMMINGS TO SNYDER -- You lie! Rep. Elijah Cummings says that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder did not tell the truth in his testimony before the committee on Flint's water crisis last month. "Cummings wrote in a sharply worded letter that, contrary to Snyder's sworn testimony during a March 17 Oversight Committee hearing, Snyder had instead excluded Flint Mayor Karen Weaver and other local officials from development of his administration's official plan to provide clean water to Flint residents, who have been unable to use their tap water for months. 'Your actions raise grave concerns about the accuracy of your testimony,' wrote Cummings, who is the lead Democrat on the congressional committee.
Snyder spokesman Ari Adler said the governor's administration is in, 'near daily contact with the Mayor and her key staff,' and that top staffers were in a meeting with the city council president and vice president when the letter arrived." Roll Call: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dcf3edfaa2ebbf19cc7a6610ef50dac06e0048b87ba91f7b054059241d80eca4

CAKE WALK IN FOCUS: Who says bipartisanship is dead these days? Democrats and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee took a breather from ripping each other apart over the Supreme Court to celebrate Sen. Patrick Leahy's (D-Vt.) birthday, who turned 76 on March 31. A very serious Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Judiciary Committee chairman, announced that he was taking some "personal privilege" time for some important business - which turned out to be a birthday cake (https://goo.gl/L1hZNX) for Leahy, whom Grassley called the "unofficial photographer of the United States Senate." Grassley's birthday well-wishes were quite appropriate for the shutterbug Leahy: "There's nothing flashy about
my birthday wishes for you, but I want you to know that I enjoy developing our bipartisan work over many years. And I want you to know that I look forward to working with you for many more years on this committee, if you get the picture." SMK's guy a nice photo of the fuzzy moment: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dcf3edfaa2ebbf19cf5774baaa73b9c1412e9fcb5ec19ddd7309705183a4473f

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Wilson Golden was the first to answer that in 2008 Hillary Clinton helped pass a bill to rename a stretch of highway near Buffalo after Tim Russert.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - I'll take today's question: How many times have Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders voted this year, combined? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at beverett@politico.com

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