few seconds. thanks for being with us this weekend. >> happy mother's day. the trump takeover of the gop is complete. >> i want the primaries to keep going but everybody's out, i'm the only one left, that's okay, right? the highest republican in the land is not ready to aboard the trump train. >> i'm not ready right now. this is the party of lincoln, reagan and jack kemp. >> this is not entertainment. this is not a reality show. >> reporter: word the clinton e-mail investigation is in crunch time has another wildcard. >> i will to everything i can to unify the party. >> incompetent, the biggest

stories sourced by the best reporters, now. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. happy mother's day. trmp tlmp is the defak corepublican nominee after his indiana primary route and the questions about what comes next are many. here are three, can trump win the white house with the same slash and burn style that helped him to his stunning nomination victory? >> she's married to a man who is the worst abuser of women in the history of politics. she's married to a man who hurt many women. she's married to a man who got impeached for lying. >> house speaker paul ryan is at odds with much of the trump agenda. >> he inherits something very special to a lot of us. this is the party of lincoln, of

reagan, of jack kemp and we don't always nominate a lincoln and a reagan every four years but we hope our nominee, that that person, has principles of our party and appeals to a wide vast majority. >> question three, will word the hillary clinton e-mail investigation is nearing decision time, impact the remaining democratic primaries and impact her effort to quiet the bernie sanders insurgency. >> while the path is now, and i do not deny that for a moment, i think we can pull off one of the great political upsets in the history of the united states. and in fact become the nominee for the democratic party. >> with us to share the reporting and their insights, the atlantic's molly ball, mother at the table, happy mother's day, jonathan martin of the "new york times," ryan lizza of "the new yorker" and m.j. lee. donald trump is targeting

hillary clinton with the same gusto. he believed there was no way someone with trump's style and history could ever win the republican nomination. >> on foreign policy, hillary is trigger happy. she's trigger happy. she's got a bad temperament. by the way, and her husband learned that a few times, didn't he? bad temper. bad temper. >> but trump has a problem and it's a big one, though it's not clear he'd use it that way. the issue a republican revolt. yes he won the nomination fight and convincingly so but instead of the usual celebration it set off an internal gop war. trump is now the defak coleader of the party of reagan. house speaker ryan is in the highest official of reagan and he's no fawn of trump's agenda or tone. >> saying we're unifying or taking the principles we all believe in showing there's a ted indication of those and running

a presidential campaign republicans can be proud about and appeal to a majority of americans, that to me is what it takes to unify this party. >> trump and speaker ryan will meet this week, that was on thursday. they'll see if they can find peace or detante. as ryan looks for policy concessions and trump on abc doesn't sound like a man who gives a damn what his critics think. >> i to v to stay true to my principles also and i'm a conservative but don't forget, this is called the republican party. it's not called the conservative party. >> molly ball at a moment where some people say mr. trump dial it back, mr. trump, be calm, mr. trump, please, reach out to these people, get peace in the party thaert's thrown a log on e fire when conservatives are revolting against him. >> what we heard from trump this week and media blitz doing the interviews is him saying this is what got me this far, this is how i won and i'm not going to change. trump gonna trump so i think

we've seen him occasionally be more subdued but on the stump with the big crowds egging him on he's the same person and that's partly what people like about him is that there is in a strange way this authenticity to him. he always seems like the same person. he doesn't seem like consultants are feeding him lines to sound like different people to different audiences, and he does run the risk of if he did suddenly have a personality transplant and start talking like paul ryan and changing all of his policy positions or t triangleating, that the people originally gravitating to him might not like that. i have trouble seeing him change. >> m.j. he believes so what if the guys don't endorse me and the party is not behind me. so what if some boycott the convention. can he get the new trump voter, crossover voter, spd snd voters, he can do it outside of the way in our lifetime. >> it didn't help donald trump

that he became the presumptive nominee this week, earlier than a lot of people thought. i think a lot of people in the republican party expected there to be a one or two-month period still left when they could sort of figure him out and see if he's willing to adjust and become more of a general candidate like, molly, you were talking about. when paul ryan went on jake tapper's show and said i wasn't ready to make this decision, i think he really meant that, he wasn't ready to go there yet, and i think a lot of people, including ryan himself, they have been backed into a corner of having to make the decision and say yes or no, are you behind trump, so we're seeing a situation where a lot of republican congressional leaders, leaders of the party are having to say look, i'm just not ready to go there yet. >> so a lot of people question paul ryan himself coming out saying this is personal because he wants to run for president and we'll get to someone who says that quite prominently in a minute. others say paul ryan tried to craft spent most of his adult life working on policy matters and agjegenda for house republis

to keep on and looks at trump's policy and can't agree. paul ryan says you don't round up and deport illegal immigrants, not in favor of banning muslims from enter into the united states, not in favor of tearing up trade agreements, not in favor of calling the nato alliance obsolete and donald trump threw another wild card on the deck this week he told wolf blitzer he's hoping to raising the minimum wage so that's one of the problems for republicans is they don't think donald trump's one of them. >> and paul ryan has to basically go out there and convince himself that he can support somebody who is diametrically opposed not just to his core beliefs but the issues animated paul ryan's entire life, this is what ryan cares about the most, what he believes is a reform agenda, which includes massive overhaul to entitlements, unapologetic tree trade, more welcoming approach to immigration, aggressive u.s. presence in the world. this is what paul ryan is

passionate about and watching him try to find a way to say that he can support trump, painful at times saying we come from different wings of the party. you step back and say well this is not like john rowe and barbara boxer. this is not the same party. >> they come from different planets. >> yes, exactly. >> policy differences and the truth is that paul ryan was well represented in the republican primaries, right? trump defeated at least a dozen candidates who represented a lot of what ryan was offering and so what does it mean donald trump beat all those guy guys? paul ryan was defeated in the presidential primary. he was given a path saying there's a chance i will support you. maybe when they sit down on thursday we'll know what those things are. >> that's a great -- go ahead. >> paul ryan and republicans in congress have to think we're never going to be donald trump because there's a lot personally they don't find appealing but what strands of trumpism does

the republican party take from this. >> you make a great point paul ryan expects donald trump to come his way on one or two policy proposals. it's not just paul ryan, they want donald trump to dial back the tone, don't tack immigrants, don't talk so much about building the wall, don't talk so much about banning muslims. don't talk about things that republicans think will drive demographically the party into a ditch, but listen to donald trump here. donald trump says i'm going to meet with paul ryan. i think it will be okay. donald trump doesn't sound like he thinks it's his job to give ground. >> i would imagine things will be okay with paul ryan. i'm meeting him thursday. he wants to meet, we're going to see what happens. if he wants to meet, i'll meet. but the important thing is you folks, okay? and he'll understand that. and he does understand that. and i would bet if he had that decision to do again he would have done it the simple way "i endorse trump" do you agree with that? >> he describes it actually, that's the way it is. in the sense that paul ryan is the board. donald trump has had a hostile takeover of the company. the company is the republican

party and the board is sitting there saying what happened? >> en'won the shareholders. >> the shareholders are saying go get 'em. >> that is the problem as ryan was saying, this isn't just paul ryan versus donald trump. this is paul ryan versus the base of his party,er have russ republican voters. for ryan it's also a lot about tone. he's made a series of comments over the course of the primary season calling for civility, calling for a different type of politics, a politics that's not so divisive and that reaches out more, and he sees that as the way to grow the party, in addition to just something that he personally believes in. and that's a harder thing i think for trump to make a commitment on potentially if he were even inclined to do so because as we've seen trump is unpredictable, that he could say one day yes i'm going to behave from now on. would you believe it? >> all this traction how fractured is the party? we'll keep talking about this but one of the most fascinating dynamics, you nexted jake's interview with paul ryan.

jake has an interview with sarah palin coming up next. donald trump is the leader of the republican party. paul ryan is its highest elected official, third in line to the presidency. sarah palin a trump supporter saying as donald trump is trying to unify the republican party and get elected president she wants to support a guy running a primary challenge against the speak er of the house. >> i think paul ryan is soon could be cantored as in eric cantor. his political career is over as the leader of the gop, the convention certainly. he is to remain neutral, and for him to already come out and say who he will not support was not a wise decision of his. you know, i think why paul ryan is doing this, jake, is it kind of screws his chances for the 2020 presidential bid. >> sarah palin saying, this is personal for paul ryan and i'm not sure that's true, that paul

ryan wants to run for president in 020 and wants trump to lose so he can run. the point is fascinating. eric cantor was house majority leader beaten by a tea party challenger that nobody thought had a prayer. as donald trump tries to win the presidency, you have conservatives like sarah palin at the same moment, keep the tea party versus the establishment civil war going at the ballot box. >> the good thing that paul ryan has on its side is wisconsin is sort of one of the bases for the anti-trump movement. i don't know how much paul ryan has to fear from a primary challenge back home. >> we talked about this in the game of paul ryan, everybody knows who he is. he's the central figure in this but you can find this everywhere in the country, republicans saying what do i do? >> the odd thing is the tea party chalers to incumbents have been failing this year in the indiana primary, the tea party candidate for senate lost, the establishment candidate endorsed by mitch mcconnell won the primary. endorsed all over the country,

alabama the incumbent senator won. we used to have the tea party versus establishment but i don't think you can trump align with either sides. >> they're on the decline and trump has thrown a life vest to that wing of the party. >> a lot of the intellectual figures of the conservative anti-establishment tea party people, erick erickson are absolutely opposed to trump so he's forged a web between the two-way civil war and turned it into a three-way civil war. >> up next, talk of a third party conservative challenge real? who would it be? who is in and who is out as trump looks for a running mate. >> first politicians say the darnedest things. trump wines and steaks, how about trump, extra hold. >> my hair look okay? you're not allowed to use hair spray anymore because it affects the ozone, i said you mean to tell me because you know, hair

spray is not like it used to be, it used to be real good, when i put on that helmet, and by the way, look, it really is mine, right? look. (vo) some people have to travel for work. hey there, looks like you've had a long day.

(vo) some people get to travel for work. i'm really looking forward to this spinach salad. it's got quinoa in it! (vo) it's the little things that make a big difference. courtyard, make room for a little fun. they give awards for awards for rolling balls.s. awards for spelling words nobody uses. we get it. you're smart. they give awards for haircuts for dogs. awards for scientific theories. i've got a theory. nobody cares. but people care about cheese. cracker barrel has won awards for their delicious cheddar and they put that cheddar in a new macaroni & cheese. now, that's an award worth winning. and eating. and eating. and eating. i'm here for the new iphone. my horoscope told me i should get one. well it just so happens that right now, we're offering a really great deal on the iphone. oh, great. so your horoscope said buy the new iphone? oh yeah. it said, "this day will be fairly eventful." yeah, i mean there's no other way to interpret that. totally, right? at&t has a better reason to get

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so we know how to cover almost alanything.ything, even a stag pool party.

(party music) (splashing/destruction) (splashing/destruction) (burke) and we covered it, october twenty-seventh, 2014. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ >> welcome back. so much for the contested republican convention. any doubt donald trump would get to 1237, the magic number for the republican nomination that doubt ended in indiana tuesday night. donald trump not only won, he won with more than 50% of the vote, he won all by five counties, all but five counties and won all 57 del dwats. senator cruz got out that night, govern kasich the next day, takes the drama out of the remaining republican primaries,

nebraska and west virginia. takes a bit of the drama out. mr. trump takes it further, listen. >> now what i want you to do is save your vote. you don't have to vote anymore. save your vote for the general election, okay? forget this one. the primary's gone. save your vote for the general election in november and we're going to show you something and then you're going to show me something, okay? >> that's not what the leader of a party does. i get t he's joking. let's be clear, also tweeted after, please turn out and vote for me so i think he's kind of winging it in the joy of the moment, but when he wings it in the joy of the moment people in the party cringe. >> because it's a good standard for us larger party issues about trump, he doesn't know what's happening in the party. there are important down ballot primary races in that state on tuesday especially when it comes to -- huge important deal in the state. he doesn't know that because he doesn't follow politics like that.

so he can just sort of throw that line out there, and it's all sort of fun and games but all the operatives and candidates running down ballots, oh, no! >> and it's baffling someone in trump's position would even go out there and say you don't even have to turn out. turnout for him at least headed into november is so critical, especially when he's talking about winning some of these states that lean more blue, turnout is incredibly important or you know, we would have to see trump completely reinvent himself which i think is not impossible, you were talking about a personality transplant, not impossible, but i think he really depends, must depend on millions of people who are usually checked out or not inclined to go to the ballots to turn out, if he really wants to win the states. >> he also has to depend on a party data operation, the republican national committee tried to learn the lessons of the two big obama wins and part of the tension, part of the questions about the tension is can he strike peace or detante with the party to coordinate and cooperate well. there's a lot of great pieces out there.

jonathan your part in the front of the "new york times," staffer at the rnc were told this week if they weren't ready to get behind trump they should pack up their stuff. >> if you can't commit to the general election, find a way to leave the party. >> is that from reince priebus or a message from trump, people outside? >> delivered by an rnc staffer oen a conference call this week and the staffers i talked to on the conference call very clearly interpreted it as okay so if you're not for trump you gotta go. >> these operatives are think being their careers. even if you're a low level rnc staffer you have no idea what that is going to look like on your resume five years from now or even a year from now, right? if the party has actually like broken into a million pieces and there's a new party being constituted and you are one of the ones on the trump effort and it turns into this toxic stew of what have you, then you're going to be embarrassed about that. then again what if, you know, you're seen as a good soldier, what if he wins, something else.

if you're just a low level party hack it's really difficult to understand, and also you need a paycheck. >> here's another tough decision for a lot of people operatives at whatever level or elected officials at high levels, should they mount a third party candidacy? you have people in the never trump movement in the bog sphere. mitt romney sat down with bill crystal, erick erickson is an influential voice, they say we need a candidate and ben sass, a conservative favorite put an open letter saying with clinton and trump the fix is in. heads they win, tails you lose. why are we confined to these two terrible options? this is america. if both choices stink we reject them and go bigger. give us more choices, the hashtag. the question is you better start today, getting on the ballot is hard. go back and look at how ross perot did it, it takes a lot of money, had it. get kids to sign maegs paethe p.

>> in most states the two parties are in collusion to make it impossible to get third parties on the ball lot. deadline monday in texas which has the highest requirements. there's not going to be a third party person on the ballot in texas because they're going to miss the tdeadline. this is not an effort to win, this is an effort so conser conservatives who don't like trump and will never vote for hillary, an option. ben sass conservatives like, to step forward and do that is a huge, huge headache. you have to raise a quarter of a billion dollars perhaps to get on the ballot in the other states. >> i'm skeptical. i don't think sass will do it. >> sass threw his name out there but buried in that was a comment he has little kids and doesn have the time. >> there is already a third party candidate, gary johnson, former two-term governor of new mexico. >> the libertarian. >> you think the republican

party is in civil war, the libertarians. >> the libertarians have their nominating convention at the end of the month. you could be a delegate to the convention buying a ticket. if you had a well organized effort you could buy the convention. the problem for the third party wishful thinking people they're very disorganized and too busy debating whether this is something they should do to push the effort forward, but you know, you got to think libertarians believing in free markets would be okay with someone buying their nom nice. >> you're saying the never trump movement has the efficiency of the stop trump movement. >> basically. >> the point i'm making is there is going to be a vessel, a vehicle probably gary johnson, unless the convention is flooded with bill crystal acclites, and former two-term governor of new mexico. he smokes marijuana himself, i understand that, but he's going to be somebody on the ballot

they can vote for. >> if you're a social conservative that hates trump gary johnson doesn't resolve your problem. >> some republicans are saying a third party candidacy would be stast russ. if there is no third party candidate the party risks millions of voters sitting out because they're so opposed to trump and the down ballot candidates getting hurt in the process. >> if you have a two-way race and trump loses, the statement is, people like democrats. if you have a three-way race and trump loses the statement is, the party was divided and republicans there were a sizeable chunk of republicans who wanted this other. >> let's continue this fight into 2020 would be what happens there. up next, proof positive hillary clinton learned a lesson watching republicans not take donald trump seriously from day one. >> i don't think we can take a risk on a loose cannon like donald trump running the country. i think it's a risk. i think he is a loose cannon and loose cannons tend to misfire. >> first incompetent quiz, should speaker ryan endorse donald trump? yes, no, or only if trump makes

policy concessions. vote now at cnn.com/politics. ♪ (music pl♪ throughout) uh oh. what's up? ♪ ♪ ♪ does nobody use a turn signal anymore? ♪

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. hillary clinton sees one clear lesson from donald trump's gop primary win, attack him, relentlessly, and then some more. >> this is to me a classic case of a blustering bullying guy who, who has knocked out of the way all the republicans, because they were just dumb-founded. i don't think we can take a risk on a loose cannon like donald trump running our country. he's a loose cannon. >> you get the point? she thinks he's a loose cannon. i think five or six times in two minutes with anderson cooper she said that. at the same time trump is serving clear notice he considers just about everything fair game. >> they're going after me with women? give me a break!