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J.SCOTTAPPLEWHITE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., le , the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee talks with Judge Merrick Garland, on Capitol Hill on Thursday. ByKathleenHennessey and Alan Fram The Associated Press WASHINGTON It was Day One for the traditional courtesy calls to senators, but there's not much about Merrick Garland's Su- preme Court nomination that has adhered to tradi- tion — or courtesy. A day after his selection set the battle lines in a major fight over the court, President Barack Obama's choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia met only with Democratic lead- ers on Thursday — steer- ing clear of the Republi- can leader who has vowed the Senate will ignore Garland's nomination and wait for the next president to fill the seat. For Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Capitol visit was a stunt "orchestrated" by the White House, his spokes- man said. But for Demo- crats, it was just the open- ing salvo in a public cam- paign to make Garland, a mild-mannered jurist with sterling credentials, the best-known victim of Re- publican obstruction and a household name in ev- ery election battleground state. Garland met with Ver- mont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Commit- tee, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Ne- vada. Said Leahy: "I talked to him about where the hur- dles are, and I talked to him about what I thought would happen if we actu- ally follow the oath that we've all taken to uphold the Constitution." Outside, Garland braved a throng of report- ers and cameras but said nothing. Before the Capitol Hill visit, more than a dozen Senate Democrats stood in front of the Supreme Court, using the telegenic backdrop to underscore their calls for Republicans to give Garland a hearing. Democrats cited polling showing public support for Senate consideration of the nomination, and ea- gerly linked the court fight to Donald Trump — the volatile front-runner for the GOP nomination and a source of embarrassment for the Republican estab- lishment. "If Republicans stand in the way and refuse to do their job, it will only be because they want Donald Trump to pick the next nominee," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The success of the Democrats' plans hinge in part on rallying their grass roots to the cause — a task complicated by Obama's nomination of a moderate with little pub- lic record on many issues valued by the progressive wing of the party. Obama on Thursday tried to win over key interest groups and activists, holding a conference call to explain "that this is a high priority of his, and that he hopes that this would be a prior- ity that people all across the country would share," spokesman Josh Earnest said. Battle lines set over Ob am a' s co ur t no mi ne e SCOTUS By Steve Peoples and Nicholas Riccardi The Associated Press PHOENIX Fearful of a Don- ald Trump nomination to lead the GOP, conservative leaders huddled privately in Washington on Thurs- day in search of a plan to stop the billionaire busi- nessman. His Republican rivals braced for another Trump victory, this time in delegate-rich Arizona. The GOP has an eager al- ternative in Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, yet some party lead- ers are exploring "other av- enues" instead of rallying behind the fiery conserva- tive, an ominous sign that Republican leaders' deep dislike of Cruz complicates their overwhelming con- cern about Trump. "The establishment is like a wounded animal, now cornered," said Mark Meck- ler, an early leader in the tea party movement. "They are terrified, irrational and flailing wildly." Even after being denied victory in five contests on Tuesday, Cruz insists he still has a path to the 1,237 del- egates necessary to claim the Republican presidential nomination. But in a strat- egy memo obtained by The Associated Press, his cam- paign essentially cedes Ar- izona's March 22 primary to Trump and acknowledges that Cruz must win 79 per- cent of the remaining dele- gates before the GOP's July national convention. "This is the moment for all those who believe in a strong America to come to- gether and craft a new path forward," Cruz declared on Twitter while conservatives were meeting in downtown Washington to brainstorm ways to stop his party's front-runner. Organizers of the meet- ing included conservative commentator Erick Erick- son and Christian conserva- tive leader Bob Fischer. The goal, as stated in the invita- tion, was "to strategize how to defeat Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, and if he is the Republican nominee for president, to offer a true conservative candidate in the general election." The group released a statement after roughly four hours behind closed doors calling for a "unity ticket that unites the Re- publican Party." While many in the room supported Cruz, they de- clined to endorse the Texas senator or the only other re- maining presidential con- tender, Ohio Gov. John Ka- sich, and instead urged all former Republican presi- dential candidates to unite against Trump. They also embraced the possibility of a contested convention. "Lastly, we intend to keep our options open as to other avenues to oppose Donald Trump," they said, an ap- parent reference to a pos- sible third-party candidacy that might stop Trump but likely sacrifice the Republi- can Party's chances in the general election to Demo- crat Hillary Clinton. On Capitol Hill, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Gra- ham said he'd help Cruz raise campaign cash in the hope of stopping Trump's march. Graham, who dropped his own presidential bid last month, called Cruz "a reli- able Republican." That was a sharp shift from Graham's recent statement comparing the choice between Trump and Cruz to "the difference between poisoned or shot — you're still dead." Amid the Republican chaos, Democratic front- runner Clinton focused on fundraising as her cam- paign begins to look ahead to the general election. However, her rival, Bernie Sanders, continued to cam- paign aggressively ahead of the next batch of primary contests Tuesday in Arizona and Utah. Arizona residents are far more likely to see commer- cials for Sanders than for any other candidate in either party, advertising tracker KantarMedia'sCMAGshows. Though trailing badly in del- egates, he is spending about $1.8 million on Arizona ads, triple Clinton's media plan. On the Republican side, so far only Cruz is advertising in the state, a relatively light $256,000. While none of the Re- publican candidates cam- paigned publicly on Thurs- day, Cruz was to appear in Arizona on Friday before shifting his attention to Utah, which his campaign identified in the strategy memo as a key state in his path forward. Yet Kasich is running a television ad in Utah and has four public events scheduled there over the next two days. Trump this week warned of possible "riots" if he's de- nied the GOP presidential nomination at the party's national convention in July. "This implicit acceptance of violence is the kind of rhetoric that's pulling peo- ple apart," Kasich wrote on Twitter. "A true leader urges peaceful debate over violence." POLITICS Conservatives plot Trump demise as he eyes Ariz. win J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Graham said March 17that he'll help fellow Sen. Ted Cruz raise campaign cash in hopes of stopping Donald Trump's march toward the Republican presidential nomination. By Matthew Daly The Associated Press WASHINGTON Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Thurs- day blamed career bureau- crats in Washington and his own state for the Flint wa- ter-contamination crisis, while the head of the fed- eral Environmental Pro- tection Agency faulted him and other state officials. At a contentious con- gressional hearing, the Re- publican governor repeat- edly apologized for his role in the crisis, which oc- curred when state officials switched Flint's water sup- ply to the Flint River two years ago to save money in the predominantly African- American city of 100,000 north of Detroit. "Not a day or night goes by that this tragedy doesn't weigh on my mind — the questions I should have asked, the answers I should have demanded," Snyder said. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, for her part, faulted state officials, not- ing that the impoverished city was under state man- agement when the city's wa- ter supply was switched in April 2014. State officials did not re- quire that the river water be treated for corrosion, and lead from aging pipes and fixtures leached into Flint homesandbusinesses.About 8,000 children under the age of6werepotentiallyexposed tolead,andelevatedleadlev- els have been found in some children's blood. Lead con- tamination has been linked to learning disabilities and other problems. "The crisis we're see- ing was the result of a state-appointed emergency manager deciding that the city would stop purchas- ing treated drinking water and instead switch to an untreated source to save money," McCarthy said. "The state of Michigan ap- proved that decision." McCarthy acknowledged that the EPA should have been more aggressive in testing Flint's water and requiring changes, but she said the agency "couldn't get a straight answer" from state environmental offi- cials about what was being done in Flint. The nearly four-hour hearing produced no ma- jor revelations, although Snyder for the first time acknowledged that a state law, which allows state- appointed officials to take control of troubled munic- ipalities, failed in the case of Flint. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the panel's se- nior Democrat, said Snyder would likely face criminal charges if he were running a business — a dig at ven- ture capitalist Snyder's oft- repeated claim to run state government like a business. Snyder told lawmakers that officials at the Mich- igan Department of Envi- ronmental Quality repeat- edly assured him that wa- ter being piped in from the Flint River was safe, when in reality it had dangerous levels of lead. But Cummings said the governor should have pushed back against state experts. The committee has obtained documents "show- ing that people all around the governor were sounding the alarms, but he either ig- nored them or didn't hear them," Cummings said. He cited an October 2014 email from Snyder's top le- gal adviser warning that Flint should "get back on the Detroit (water) system" as soon as possible "before this thing gets too far out of control." The warning came a year before Snyder says he be- came aware of the lead con- tamination on Oct. 1, 2015. CONTAMINATION Snyder blames bureaucrats, EPA faults state in Flint water crisis ANDREW HARNIK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy are sworn in to testify before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in Washington on Thursday. This could be your lucky day by helping a dog or cat find a loving home from... 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