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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In an extraordinary display of Republican division, the Republican Party's 2012 presidential ticket took on its 2016 front-runner on Thursday as Mitt Romney joined the escalating charge to stop Donald Trump.
Romney, the GOP's presidential nominee four years ago, unleashed a public plea in the strongest terms for Republican voters to shun the former reality television star for the good of country and party. And as the former GOP nominee spoke in Utah, his 2012 running mate, House Speaker Paul Ryan, charged during a Capitol Hill press conference that "conservatism is being disfigured" by some of Trump's ideas and statements.
"His is not the temperament of a stable, thoughtful leader. His imagination must not be married to real power," Romney declared during a rare public appearance, calling Trump "a phony" who is "playing the American public for suckers."
Underlying the remarkable criticism was a bleak reality for panicking Republican officials: beyond harsh words, there is little they can do to stop Trump's march toward the Republican presidential nomination. Party elites were pouring over complicated delegate math, outlining hazy scenarios for a contested convention and even flirting with the long-shot prospect of a third party option.
Romney, too, seemed to embrace a long-shot approach to deny Trump the delegates necessary to secure the nomination. He did not call on Republicans to unify behind a single Trump alternative, but outlined a plan to divide the electorate and force a contested national convention in July.
"Given the current delegate selection process, this means that I would vote for Marco Rubio in Florida, for John Kasich in Ohio, and for Ted Cruz or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating Mr. Trump in a given state," Romney said.
Before the speech, Trump dismissed Romney as "a stiff" who "didn't know what he was doing" as the party's candidate in 2012 and blew a chance to beat President Barack Obama. "People are energized by what I'm saying" in the campaign and turning out in remarkable numbers to vote, Trump told NBC's "Today."
The back-and-forth comes as Republican candidates prepared for the first post-Super Tuesday debate, scheduled for Thursday in Detroit, with Trump coming under increasing pressure from his party as he fights for the majority of delegates needed to win the nomination.
Thursday's clash came four years after the two men stood side by side in Las Vegas, with Trump saying it was a "real honor and privilege" to endorse Romney's White House bid. Accepting, Romney said it was a "delight" to have Trump on his side and praised him for ability to "understand how our economy works and to create jobs for the American people."
Romney on Thursday attacked Trump's temperament, his business acumen, and his ability to keep America safe.
"If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished," he said.
"Trump is directing our anger for less than noble purposes," Romney added. "This is the very brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss."
Giving his party's 2012 presidential nominee the back of his hand, Trump turned his sights on the general election. His campaign reached out to House Speaker Paul Ryan's office to arrange a conversation between the two men, and urged Republican leaders to view his candidacy as a chance to expand the party.
During his Capitol Hill press conference, Ryan dismissed comments Trump told the world earlier in the week that if the Wisconsin Republican doesn't get along with him, Ryan would "pay a big price."
"I just laughed out loud," Ryan told reporters. "Sometimes, reality is stranger than fiction around here these days. I don't really think anything of it."
The two are among a group of party leaders growing increasingly critical of Trump. The GOP's 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, released a statement following Romney's speech, saying he echoes the "many concerns about Mr. Trump's uninformed and indeed dangerous statements on national security issues that have been raised by 65 Republican defense and foreign policy leaders."
Trump padded his lead with victories in seven Super Tuesday contests, with Cruz claiming three states and Florida Rubio picking up his first victory of the 2016 race.
Despite Trump's strong night, he was not yet on track to claim the nomination before the party's national gathering in July, according to an Associated Press delegate count. He has won 46 percent of the delegates awarded so far, and he would have to increase that to 51 percent in the remaining primaries.
GOP strategists cast March 15 as the last opportunity to stop Trump through the normal path of winning states and collecting delegates. A win for Rubio in his home state of Florida would raise questions about Trump's strength, as could a win for Kasich, Ohio's governor, on his home turf.
The GOP mayhem contrasted sharply with a clearer picture on the Democratic side, where Hillary Clinton was drawing broad support from voters and her party's leaders. Rival Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed to keep up the fight, though his path to the nomination has become exceedingly narrow.
The Associated Press has asked Republican governors and senators if they would support Trump if he becomes the party's nominee. Of the 59 respondents, slightly fewer than half could not commit to backing him in November.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland's highest court heard arguments Thursday on whether an officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray can be compelled to testify against his colleagues after his trial ended in a hung jury in November.
Officer William Porter is awaiting retrial in the case focused on Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in Baltimore police custody. His neck was broken in the back of a police transport van while handcuffed and in leg irons, but not restrained by a seat belt.
On Thursday, attorneys representing the five other officers facing criminal charges in the case presented their arguments to a panel of seven judges from the Maryland Court of Appeals. The judges did not immediately rule.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams initially ruled that Porter must testify against two other officers but cannot be forced to take the stand at the trials for three others. Prosecutors and defense attorneys appealed his decisions.
Attorneys for Porter have argued that he shouldn't be forced to take the stand while his own trial is pending. Prosecutors counter that they are offering Porter limited immunity, meaning anything he says on the witness stand can't be used against him at trial.
Prosecutors indicated initially that they intended to call Porter as a witness against Sgt. Alicia White and Officer Caesar Goodson, both of whom face manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges. Goodson also faces the most serious charge of second-degree murder.
Williams ruled that while Porter must testify against those two officers he can't be forced to testify against Officers Edward Nero, Garrett Miller and Lt. Brian Rice because the state only sought Porter's testimony in those cases after the Court of Special Appeals intervened to stall White and Goodson's cases from moving forward.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is closing the door on a space mission that has spanned a U.S.-record 340 days.
Kelly and his roommate for nearly a year, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, check out of the International Space Station on Tuesday night, U.S. time. By the time their Russian capsule lands in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the pair will have circled the world 5,440 times and experienced 10,880 orbital sunrises and sunsets. Their mileage: 144 million miles. Says Kelly, "We did it!"
Kelly's closest U.S. contender trails him by 125 days. Russia continues to rule, however, when it comes to long-duration spaceflight. The world record of 438 days was set by a Russian doctor during the 1990s.
Scientists are hoping for more one-year subjects as NASA looks ahead to Mars trips.