Hot Water: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder endured calls for his resignation yesterday during a Congressional hearing over the Flint water crisis. The decision to use water from the Flint river for the public supply released lead into the system.

Snyder’s denials that he knew there was a problem brought blasts from the representatives, one of whom shouted, “You screwed up!” Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said, “Governor Snyder, plausible deniability only works when it’s plausible.”

Advice and Dissent: Congress goes home today for a two week recess. Republicans will have to sample the public mood on plans to completely block the appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Some political analysts say jamming the nomination could hurt Republicans at the polls this fall and President Obama told his followers in his weekly conference call to keep the pressure on.

Hermit Kingdom: North Korea fired two medium range missiles into the Sea of Japan yesterday. This follows the launch of two missiles last week. North Korea tends to flex its muscles in the spring when the US and South Korea conduct military exercises every year.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement, “We call again on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said, in a statement.

Slam Dunk: No. 12 Yale, which hasn’t been in the NCAA basketball tournament for 54 years, upset No. 5 Baylor 79-75 yesterday in Providence, RI. Yale’s postseason miracle has been tempered by the loss of their team captain, who was ejected from school after an accusation that he raped a girlfriend who had previously been a willing partner in bed.

The Numbers Game: With Republican primaries in Arizona and Utah coming up Tuesday, Donald Trump will have to win 54 percent of all remaining delegates to hit 1237 and lock up the nomination. Could be tough to do, but tougher for the competition. Ted Cruz needs 80 percent of the remaining delegates to hit 1237 and Kasich needs to win 107% — we’ll go out on a limb and say he won’t be able to do that.

The Republican delegate count today, according to NBC News:

Trump 683 (47% of all delegates won)Cruz 422 (29%)

Rubio 172 (12%)

Kasich 143 (10%)

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has 1577 delegates, including super delegates, to Bernie Sanders’ 859. Clinton needs to win 35% of all remaining delegates to hit 2383 and the nomination. Sanders needs 65 percent of all remaining delegates.

Early Retirement: After dropping out of the presidential race, an evidently bruised Marco Rubio announced that he will not run for re-election to the Senate and he’s getting out of politics. “I’m not going to be Vice President. I’m not running for Governor of Florida,” Rubio told reporters in Washington. “I’m going to finish up my term in the Senate … And then I’ll be a private citizen in January.”

Ball Four: The Chicago White Sox are dealing with the aftermath of losing heavy hitter Adam LaRoche in a dispute over how much time his 14-year-old son Drake spent in the clubhouse. The boy was there nearly all the time and when management told LaRoche the kid shouldn’t be around so much, LaRoche quit his $13 million job hitting baseballs.

The rest of the team nearly refused to play yesterday in support of LaRoche. Sox VP Ken Williams said, “I don’t think he should be here 100 percent of the time. And he has been here 100 percent, every day, in the clubhouse. I said that I don’t even think he should be here 50 percent of the time. Figure it out, somewhere in between.” LaRoche chose zero.

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Editor’s Note: The full Cuba Diaries are now available at: https://therooneyreport.com/the-cuba-diaries/

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