Bite the Apple: In a collision between law enforcement and personal privacy, Attorney Gen. William Barr has asked Apple to unlock two iPhones used by a Saudi service member who shot and killed three Americans at the Pensacola Naval Air Station last month.

  “This situation perfectly illustrates why it is critical that the public be able to get access to digital evidence,” Barr said. Apple won’t open the phones themselves, or tell the FBI how to do it. They want to maintain their reputation for uncrackable phones.

  “The evidence shows that the shooter was motivated by jihadist ideology,” Barr said. He called the shooting an act of terrorism. Investigators want to find out who the shooter was in contact with, and whether any other Saudis in the US at the time were involved.

  The shooter,  Second Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani of the Saudi air force, had posted anti-American, anti-Israeli and jihadist messages on social media just two hours before he attacked, Barr said.

In and Out: Just a day before billionaire Tom Steyer takes another turn on the Democratic debate stage, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker ended his run for president. Booker never broke into the top ranks of candidates and tonight’s is the second debate in a row for which he failed to qualify.

  Booker said in a statement that, “I got in this race to win, and I’ve always said I wouldn’t continue if there was no longer a path to victory.” His departure leaves only one black candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who entered late and is virtually unknown to the national electorate.

  Steyer is polling only at 2 percent nationally, but got into the debate by polling at 7 percent in two early-voting states, South Carolina and Nevada. Fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg, despite pouring millions into a slick national television campaign, didn’t make the lineup for tonight.

  This will be the last debate before the Iowa Caucus, the first actual primary vote. The other candidates making their pitch will be Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Royal Pain: Queen Elizabeth said the royal family will work with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, to become part time royals, splitting their time between Britain and Canada while financially supporting themselves. It’s an historic moment for the House of Windsor.

   “Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the royal family,” the queen said in a statement after a high level family meeting, “we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”

  Not all the details have been hammered out, but it seems Harry and Meghan made a persuasive argument. They are invaluable assets to the royal family, but seem to have made it clear they won’t put up with the crap that comes with the job.

The Bulletin Board: President Trump plans to divert an additional $7.2 billion from the defense budget to build his southern border wall. Congress appropriated only $1.375 billion. — Elizabeth Warren says Bernie Sanders once told her a woman could never be elected president. The talking heads are talking about it.

From the 50: Louisiana State won the college football championship last night, beating Clemson 42-25. Quarterback Joe Burrow, who won the Heisman Trophy last month, sat on the bench for three years at Ohio State.

Pine Tar: American baseball was founded on spit, pine tar, high spikes, and cheating. In keeping with tradition, the Houston Astros have been found to have cheated by stealing pitch signals for the entire 2017 season in which they won the World Series.

  The Astros had an elaborate system in which a hidden camera picked up the catcher’s call signs and a player banging on a trash can signaled the pitcher what to expect. Obviously the entire team was in on it. The Astros team manager and general manager have been fired. Ty Cobb would be proud.

The Nominees Are: The movie “Joker,” a festival of violence based on the psycho-killer from the Batman comics, led the Oscar pack yesterday with 11 nominations.

  Following with 10 nominations each were: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino’s fictional ode to 1960s Hollywood; “The Irishman,” Martin Scorsese’s 3 ½ mob saga; and “1917,” the World War I epic about two British soldiers on a dangerous mission to save fellow soldiers.

The nominations for Best Picture:

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

“The Irishman”

“Parasite”

“1917”

“Marriage Story”

“Jojo Rabbit”

“Joker”

“Little Women”

“Ford v Ferrari”

Best actress: 

Renée Zellweger, “Judy”

Charlize Theron, “Bombshell”

Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”

Saoirse Ronan, “Little Women”

Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”

Best actor: 

Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”

Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”

Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”

Jonathan Pryce, “The Two Popes”

  There’s always an uproar about something in the Oscars. This year it’s because “Little Women” is nominated for Best Picture but Greta Gerwig was not nominated for Best Director. All the Best Director nominees are men.

The Eminent President: In an act of unabashed racism, President Trump re-tweeted an image of Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  wearing traditional Islamic garb with the caption, “The corrupted dems trying to come to the Ayatollah’s rescue.”

  Trump has been accusing his critics of actually supporting the Iranian regime and terrorism because they question the wisdom of his decision to kill Iran’s most senior general.

  Trump tweeted, “The Fake News Media and their Democrat Partners are working hard to determine whether or not the future attack by terrorist Soleimani was ‘eminent’ or not, & was my team in agreement.” No doubt Trump would say he has an imminent group of advisers

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