just yesterday. he gave us a new businessman's approach to dealing with debt and taxes. raised a lot of eyebrows. this morning we'll tell where mr. trump is now on the issues and what experts say the implications could be. democratic side of the ball, hillary clinton and bernie sanders battling for a big win in west virginia. so we have the 2016 race covered for you the ray only cnn can. we begin with phil mattingly. good morning, mip friend. >> reporter: good morning. to we see a de-escalation of sorts in the republican party? maybe. donald trump ratcheting back a little, paul ryan offering an olive branch and senators willing to meet with donald trump, and unity inside the party? they might not have the nominee they wanted, it's the nominee they now have going forward. an offer from house speaker paul ryan saying he'll step down as

chairman of the republican national convention if donald trump asks him to. >> he's the nominee. i'll do whatever he wants, with respect to the convention. >> reporter: ryan, striking a conciliatory tone after a bombshell announcement last week that he wasn't ready to support trump as the presumptive nominee. >> first, i want to get to know him and understand him better, because i really don't know him. >> reporter: the two men still set to meet on thursday along with rnc chairman reince priebus. trump will also meet with republican senate leaders on the hill. former presidential candidate dr. ben carson reaching out to ryan for a private meeting to help soothe tensions before trump meets with him. >> basically the kind of conversation i'm hoping we all can have is how we can actually unify our party. >> reporter: trump also making a big appointments, announcing new jersey chris christie will serve as the chairman for his transition team should he become the next president, but party leaders still weary of trump's

conservative principles. trump fending off backlash over his economic proposals, accusing the media of mischaracterizing him in several interviews on monday. >> so it was totally misrepresented just now by you and misrepresented frankly by nbc. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> they go there to talk about like i'm giving a tax increase for the wealthy. i'm not. >> reporter: explaining lower taxes for all. >> increase the wealthy, they're still paying less than now. i'm not talking about inning -- increasing from this point, from my tax proposal. >> reporter: his plan to repay the national debt. and renegotiate with creditors as reported. >> this is the united states government. first of all, you never have to default because you print the money. i said, if we can buy back government debt at a discount, in other words, if interest rates go up and we can buy bonds back at a discount -- >> reporter: for donald trump spending the entire day

defending, clarifying, seeming to revise on some economic proposals not ideal, but for hillary clinton's campaign, exactly what they want. according to advisers i've spoken to, tie donald trump up just a day on positions related to policy, perfect for that campaign. it hasn't worked throughout the primary. if yesterday is an indication, it's one they think they can pursue going forward and also keeping a close eye on, marco rubio. already pulling himself out of consideration for the vice presidential candidate. not the first republican to do that, and likely not the last as well, guys. >> we are going to hear from marco rubio on "the lead" later on today phil. should be very, very interesting. meantime, on democratic side, the sole focus is on west virginia. mountain mama take me home. eight years ago hillary clinton dominated against then challenger barack obama. this time around she 345i may b underdog. will coal country turn on

hillary clinton giving bernie sanders another win? live in charleston, in west virginia, polls open in, what, a few minutes? >> reporter: right. 6:30, and the poll workers are inside getting everything set up. now, if early voting is any indication, there may be record-setting votes cast in today's primary. the question is on the democratic side who will they vote for? bernie sanders or hillary clinton? this state, you're right. it's coal country. they still have not forgotten what hillary clinton said during the town hall meeting. cnn's meeting in march, where she said coal mines will be shut down and coal miners will lose their jobs. now, she has said she misspoke there. that what she actually meant was she is encouraging other industries to come to west virginia, but bernie sanders said last night in sacramento that he is going to win west virginia. >> now, i'm not going to get into plan b, because we have five weeks and believe me we'll be working very hard in these next five weeks on plan a. plan a is winning california, winning west virginia, kentucky,

oregon and the remaining states. after that, then we'll look at where we are at, but my goal right now is to get more pledged delegates than hillary clinton. >> reporter: now, we want to look at some of these early voting totals. you will see, it's truly record-setting here in west virginia. 2016, this year, early votes, almost 101,000. in 2012, a little over 57,000, and in 2008, about 69,000 votes cast. you can see, record number, but the gop is saying that they believe they will be the winners today, because of coal country's alliance to donald trump nep say early voting has been in record-setting numbers and they think they will continue today. alisyn, chris? >> thank you very much. appreciate the reporting. economic back with you when the poms actually open. let's discuss implications what's on the table this morning. cnn political correspondent phil mattingly back with us, cnn political ank herb at time

warner news, mr. errol louis and cnn political analyst and host of the redoubtable david gregory show podcast, david gregory. >> the redonkulous. >> good to you have all here. david, start with you. what do you believe the major implication is of what trump did yesterday on tax policy a little bit, but more on debt understanding. two ways to look at it. this is a businessman. he's looking at it differently. more efficiently, more effect e effective effectively, or this doesn't work in government. >> a lot of concern about the latter. the larger frame for this is how he united states the republican party, and that is his first priority right now. this meeting with ryan looms large, because he's got to unite all the wings of the party if he's going to get out the vote this november and get it out strong and raise all the money he wants and needs to raise and has to rely on the party to raise. policy positions like this that

are flexible. that maybe are not well thought out. that are non-traditional. all of that sends signals to the broader electorate at large, yes that he can tack back and forth and refine the issues. it's unusual he doesn't have fixed economic issues, appears to be a moving target on some of these policies. the real issue, what it sends within the party when he wants to get the conservative wing of the party in the fold. to get them united before a convention to get the vote up. >> errol, how nervous are party leaders about, i can renegotiate the debt, i can print money. the things that he said yesterday? >> it's an interesting question. i mean, i would love to hear what kind of phone calls party leaders are getting from the business leaders that they respond to. the big donors that they rely upon, because, you know, when donald trump does bits, i think we've gotten a sense of this, does business, it's flexible, negotiated. >> all negotiated. >> chaotic at times. throw something out there to see what works and so forth.

on the other hand when you're doing that with u.s. currency, with the bond market, you can cause a level of disruption that, you know, maybe works for him as a private businessman, may not work for everybody else when talking about leadership of the global economy. so if party leaders are willing to live with this, hearing from donors, hearing from corporate leaders, well, yeah, might be turbulent, we can live with it, you get one outcome. more likely, i think, they are craving stability. and it's in the constitution for a reason u.s. debt shall not be questioned. the bedrock of the modern economy. if donald trump is fully aware of that, and he probably got a little bit of pushback in the last couple of days. i think he's going to probably modulate this a little bit and has something most politicians never have. the ability to do a 180 day after day after day after day, and not suffer in the polls for it. >> he doesn't have flip-flop. he says flexible. find ways to make it work, he

says. that's salable with what he's doing with policy. how is it working inside the party? one guy calmed me yesterday, of course he wanted you to congratulate him when you talked to hill. that's what he's saying to all of us. the republican people need to stand up within the party, come to him, say, you're the man. congratulate him, fall in line. is that happening? >> if you think from a republican perspective that their candidate, their presumptive nominee, their standard bearer would be giving interviews talk purely about his flexible on policy, his willing to negotiate, that his original proposal is a floor not a ceiling and willing to give in negotiations you would think they would be horrified. on some level talking to republican leaders and staff on capitol hill, they're kind of scratching their head right now. when you talk to people who met with didn't dnd behind the scenes, whether on politics or policies, they'll tell you he's a different person than you see out on the stump. when it comes to policy issues specifically, take the debt issue, he's taken four bites at this apple over the course of

the last five days. all four he's revised his position in some way. the position he ended up with you yesterday morning and with the "wall street journal" yesterday afternoon is essentially a nation can work for the republican party. at least it wouldn't lead to default. the idea it will take him four times to get to that position, and a position that doesn't necessarily track with republican orthodoxy still is very concerning inside the republican party. >> david, speaking of money, donald trump has estimated it will cost maybe $1.5 billion to run in the general, and so now he is beginning to sort of put into motion the wheels of fund-raising and finding donors. what happened to the self-funding his campaign? >> well i don't think he ever intended to self-fund to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars or more. certainly to get a billion dollar campaign up and going. i don't know anybody who would want to dot that. yeah, he has to rely on the party and big donors within the party and this gets to the other large point which is, is everybody behind it? the primary for the republicans is over.

so a lot of the lashing out he did at the party elites and the establishment, to win the day, he now has to transition into a new phase where he's got to get the party apparatus behind him, get big donors behind him and i think he is uncomfortable with this transition. he's in a position, as phil said, look, come to me. i did something historic here. i'm the nominee. i represent a new brand of conservatism. you all have to kind of get over yourselves. and that's not happening yet. >> but this is a different dynamic, david. interesting. one thing asking for support in politics, we know, errol, now, he's asking for money. you go and ask people for money the leverage shifts in the conversation. is this something where his famed negotiating skills come in handy? >> he's been on the other side of the transactions. the ones to write checks and pester candidates if he feels like it or give strategic advice he'll probably disregard. he knows what it's like to have

rich donors come in and sort of muscle their way around your campaign. he's going to have to decide how much of that he's going to put up with and how much he's going to do. i think also he's got to figure out what kind of a campaign he really wants to run. he's done everything on a shoestring now. if he think it's that's what he wants to do going into november, he may not need to raise the money we've been talking about. >> panel, stick around. a lot to talk about with hillary clinton's campaign as well. >> players and wanting to hear from them, you will get that on cnn. marco rubio talking to the one and only jake tapper on his show. the first interview since dropping out of the race. what's he going to say, what's he not going to say? 4:00 p.m. eastern right on "the lead." j.b.? and the transgender bathroom law, an all-out legal war. both sides, the justice department and the state of north carolina now suing each other. martin savidge live whith the

latest. good morning. >> reporter: clear indications north carolina did not decide to back down, instead it doubled down and file add suit agained the federal government. an escalating in north carolina over the state's so-called bathroom law. north carolina and the federal government filing duelling lawsuits within an hour of each other. citing violations and overreach. >> placing north carolina in direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals. >> reporter: the state's governor responding to a justice department demand to drop the law or amend it with a lawsuit of his own. >> we believe a court rather than a federal agency should tell our state, our nation and employers across the country what the law requires. >> reporter: the most

controversial provision bans transgender people from using public bathrooms that do not correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate. attorney general loretta lynch, a north carolina native, comparing the law to segregation. >> what this law does is inflict further indignity on a population that has already suffered far more than its fair share. it was not so very long ago that states including north carolina had other signs above restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations keeping people out based on a distinction without a difference. >> reporter: north carolina countering saying the obama administration is attempting to rewrite the law for public and private employers across the country. >> this is not just a north carolina issue. this is now a national issue. i think it's time for the u.s. congress to bring clarity to our national anti-discrimination provisions under title 7 and

title 9. >> reporter: one of the institutions caught potentially in the middle here is the public university system of north carolina, and the storied university of north carolina itself. it put out a statement late in the day saying that it would comply with federal law. which sounds good. except right now the governor of that state is challenging just what is federal law. alisyn? >> okay, martin. thanks so much for the back grourn background. this morning a deadly knife attack at a train station near munich, germany. one man dead three others injured. police are questioning witnesses about what happened including whether the suspect shouted a a allau akbar, meaning god is good. and ripping through oklahoma, several tornados. take a look at this. it really is out of a movie. carving its way through elmore

city. people trying to get out of the way. you don't know what to do. we've all been on the ground if you're in this business. when you see tornadoes you don't know which way to go. sure enough, it has been devastating. the question, is the threat over? so many neighborhoods destroyed. bring in cnn meteorologist chad myers with what you need to know. as we're saying here, chad, it's hard to prepare once it's on the ground, but what's the best course force for people in these areas? >> understand, it's still spring, chris. this isn't going to be over. we won't get 21 tornadoes like yesterday, but some on the ground, maybe towards the evansville area, plus or minus 100 miles from there. storms continue this morning. still on the ground in spots. dallas, weather towards the west and tyler and longview and back to texarkana. there's the storm setting up, moving farther to the east tomorrow. maybe a couple, a dozen, maybe half a dozen. all you need in your

neighborhood is one to ruin your day. back to the video here, because i want to point out a couple of things what we tall a stove pipe tornado. straight up and down, likely somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 to maybe 150 miles per hour inside that vortex. the weather service will be back out there looking at that today to see how much damage was done to substantial buildings. that's how they figure out how high the winds were to knock down a brick structure, and you throw those bricks so many feet or yards or in cases miles, then they know how big the storm is. now back to my map and show you how the storm look and radar, because this is such a classic setup i think you should see it. here's what it looks like on radar. this is the hail core of the storm. there's elmore city as the storm tracked all the way across towards roth. always look for, if looking at local radar at home or something on internet is this hook down here at the bottom. that hook and ball is the debris

ball. that is insulation and shingles and trees and branches in the air as that storm continueded to move. this is a big tornado pup lucky it didn't move through a more populated area or we would have lost more than two. guys? >> shouldn't you drive in the opposite dreshgz whirection whe these? shouldn't you be doing the other way? >> that video, same reaction. this guy appears to be a storm chaser. other video it did look like cars were driving towards it. the problem is, chris points out, a lot of confusion when these things are going on, and you get a lot of -- to their credit, i'm still on the weather alerts from over in moore a couple years ago. late yesterday my phone was going bonkers. people told, get home, get home, take shelter right away. you try to react. >> a unique act of nature, this thing. disorienting when on the ground. it freezes you in place. you feel things that you have never felt before coming from

nature and you know there's going to be a randomness of destruction unlike anything else. nothing like a tornado. >> yes. absolutely. all right. we'll follow all of that for you today. we also have brand new poll numbers from some key battleground states that show something very interesting happening in the matchup between trump and clinton. who fares better? the latest numbers, next. mr. brady, we've been expecting you. will you be needing anything else? not a thing. beautyrest black. get your beautyrest. (vo) whewe ate anything.ake home until i decided we both needed to eat better. now jake gets purina cat chow naturals indoor

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all right. we are tracking some new polls in battleground states. look at this. this is ohio. okay? where donald trump is beating hillary clinton in a hypothetical general election matchup as of today. things are razor tight in other key states as well. look at florida and pennsylvania. we're going to break down all the new numbers hot off the press with our panel. errol louis and david gregory. errol what is going on?

the clinton campaign doesn't anticipate this happening? >> a lot of room. the map is favorable to democrats. look at the 2020 map, start where donald trump won. give him florida, ohio, even virginia, he still wouldn't have enough to win. on the other hand, if he can run the table and expand the map, that pennsylvania one is one democrats have to look at closely. >> right now clinton at 43 in pennsylvania. trump 42. >> it's not supposed to be that close. pennsylvania has been a democratic -- i mean, since 1988 i think was the last time they voted for a republican. >> we're probably seeing a reflection of momentum here to a certain extent, as john berman was saying when the numbers first came out. sand hearse to get his due, also. you can explain it away if you want, phil, but he's doing better in every one of these matchups as calculated than hillary clinton is and better than donald trump. let's start with this idea of

momentum. that the clinton has had a spate of bad states here. trump has had good states in this route. how much could that play out? ohio, florida, pennsylvania? >> donald trump was wrapping up the nomination, becoming the presumptive nominee, bernie sanders going through a string of states in may he's going to not only do well, win the states, win a number of delegates from those states. still the math doesn't work for bernie sanders going forward, but this is a month where hillary clinton is going to have a lot of bad headlines. i do think one of the interesting things just taking a cursory glance, the cross-tabs and numbers, hillary clinton across the board in all three states leads donald trump on just about every issue they poll on except for the economy. with the exception of pennsylvania, donald trump has a double-digit lead on the economy. who would best handle the economy in pennsylvania, in florida, a nine-point lead in ohio. you want to know why clinton's team jumped on donald trump's

comments yesterday on debt comments and tax policy, they recognize a weakness there, and that weakness in swing states like florida, ohio and pennsylvania, could become damaging going forward. expect the attacks we saw yesterday on donald trump related to economic policy, calling him a loose cannon, doesn't have a coherent policy to continue to even increase. when they look at those numbers, that's exactly why that's happening. >> david gregory what do you think about the new quinnipiac numbers? >> a different reason. they're trying to get across to voters in the clinton campaign is that trump is unstable. that he's unpredictable. that he's risky. that counters his biggest strength, which is strength. as a personal characteristic has it winning the day. so you're going to continue to see her work on that. there's another piece of this, too. a big part of trump's strategy, of course, getting new voters into the fold and politics but also trying to destroy clinton

and her positive so that it can depress democratic turnout nap may be a fantasy, because there may be enough fear rallying about clinton, not so much about her but him. the feeling is if they can suppress democratic turnout, that helps trump. >> big gender roles played here also. clinton is showing strength with women above trump but not enough to match him with men. what do you make of that, errol? >> right. some some ways, laying out what the general election will look like. they're not competing for the same people. a competition to see who can get their base out. the most startling numbers i saw there, the very, very low numbers among men you see hillary clinton getting. she can't survive with 25% of the male vote. she can get all the women she wants, she can push it as far as she can, try to take advantage of trump's knenegatives but got do much better than that. donald trump written off to a certain extent, latino voters. doesn't seem concerned about

independents. try to pump up his base, the white men, try and sort of push it as far as he possibly can including in states like pennsylvania, expand the map a little bit. so we're going to see, you know -- what that all points to, by the way a very nasty race. get your base and disregard the other. meaning you get less, sharper edged arguments, sharper edged attacks. you get much less of the sort of attempt to find common ground. and i they we kind of already knew that's where this race would end up. >> panel, thank you so much. great to have you on hand walking through the new numbers. great to see you. over to john. straight ahead for us, inside the syrian civil war. the russians promised to pull out weeks ago, but wait until you see what cnn found on the front lines. this is a cnn exclusive, next.

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all right. this morning cnn has an exclusive inside look at civil war raging in syria. now, russia, remember, announced in march it would withdraw its troops from the war-torn country, but there are new concerns this morning after what our team discovered on the

ground there. cnn senior international correspondent fred pleitgen is live in damascus. fred what do you see? >> reporter: hi, john. yes, we were with the russians in the north of syria a little earlier, and they basically said that yes, they did take some jets out of syria, however what we discovered is that they do have a lot of new forces on the ground there, including some heavy armor as well. let's have a look. this is the russian intervention the world has come to know, but russia's footprint in syria seems to be far bigger than just combat jets. there are thousands of troops stationed at its main air base, disciplined and highly motivated. we caught up with this first lieutenant during his boxing practice. i'm glad to serve my country here, he says, and i'm not afraid. what is there to be afraid of in syria? the west has criticized russia

saying its air strikes target mostly moderate anti-assad rebels. the russians claiming they bomb only isis and other terror groups. but while moscow says its withdrawn most forces to syria on an embed we saw what appear to be several bases in western and central syria with a variety of attack helicopters. also a brand new base in pal mira for its demining crews with dozens of fighting vehicles and even anti-aircraft missile stitches. on top of its own, his forces closely cooperate with bashar al assad's troops. we receive a great deal of information from the syrian general staff, he says. they are on the ground and close to the rebels. as for the military technical cooperation, of course, we help them as well. none of this seems to indicate a full russian withdrawal from syria anytime soon, and for many in the government-held part of damascus, that's just fine.

violence still rages in most of the country. reconciliation seems nowhere in sight and neither is an end to russia's involvement in the conflict. so as you can see, a lot of russian equipment on the ground here. a lot of sophisticated russian equipment on the ground and one of the things that really stood out to us was the ease with which the russians move through syria here. there seems to be very little permissions they need to get from the syrians. they can fly wherever they want, drive wherever they want. they seem to have all the leeway that they need to operate a lot of equipment here in this country, alisyn. >> we could not have seen this, fred, without your reporting. thank you for bringing that to us. up next, back here at home, donald trump's company. trying to sort through taxes and the national debt. we'll crunch his numbers when "new day" continues.

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donald trump facing new questions this morning after a series of confusing and some might say alarming statements on a range of economic issues

including the national debt. so what is he proposing exactly and what are the implications? christine romans joins us now to sort through it all, chief business correspondent star of "early start." romans, this is what donald trump said the other day how he would address the national debt that really set people off. >> i would borrow knowing if the economy crashed you could make a deal. >> why did this concern economists and analysts so much? >> that and the bond market and a lot of people who invest in the united states, because the united states doesn't make a deal on its debt. it's just not something that the u.s. has ever done and that's why the world investing in the united states, a big, strong dynamic safe economy. here's what this is all about. this is about how the united states spends more money than it brings in, finances and has since the days of alexander hamilton, financed that difference. the u.s. sells its debt to countries like china and japan, right? they get these ious, super safe, the gold standard. even people, you and i probably in your 401(k) have doctor doctor. >> makes you sound so safe when

you say it like that t. is. but negotiating the terms of an iou is not something anyone would ever, not something that gets thrown out there pr to a republican presidential candidate to say that was pretty alarming. here's one ftd reasons why. because when you have once that renegotiate obligations with countries, you're a greece, an argentina, a country in distress. for donald trump to be talking about the almighty american economy in distress was something that got people unnerved. it's a global issue. all of these countries own u.s. debt. foreign governments, sovereign wealth funds, own u.s. debt. this is basically the basis of the u.s. economy for some time. >> analysts are saying when you renegotiate your debt, go to your creditors say i want to renegotiate, that's tan tantamount to default. donald trump putting fire on the

flame saying -- >> this is the united states government. first of all you nerve verify to default because you print the money. i late to tell you. so there's never a default. >> the thing on this, technically, he's right. the u.s. can print more money and probably would before it went into default, but -- >> but if you print more money you have more dollars. what happens when you have more dollars? particular you print money, have more dollars the dollars out there are worth less. so you have inflation. sometimes hyperinflation. the thing we buy go up. interest rates then go up. it's harder to borrow money or more expensive to borough money. by the way, then the united states is paying more for the money its borrowing and it can really hurt the stock market and economy overall. all kind of negative connotat n connotations. the federal reserve will print this with the help of -- but the president couldn't make that decision anyway. he's not saying he would. but he could appoint the fed chief but the fed is separate from the executive branch. >> look no question, donald

trump has had a long business career where he's had downs, a lot of ups and made a lot of money, and a lot of people basically are asking, is this the difference between success in business, leading in business and leading a nation? >> so the allure of the donald trump candidacy is he is a dealmaker, a negotiator, a businessman who can take hotels and casinos and he can borrow money and maybe, that's how he makes his money. renegotiates his deals with his investors in the end and makes more money. the united states government doesn't work that way. it just doesn't. and so you have a lot of folks asking, does donald trump, is he musing about what he thinks about the american economy? does he not understand, or are these real policies? a lot of confusion about deciphering what exactly he means. he's been clarifying his clarifications. yesterday told the "wall street journal," no, u.s. debt is sacred. i think he got the message from the markets and from, you know, the world economic community that said, what is he talking about? >> important questions, ones he has to answer in the coming days and weeks, the next 16 months to the general election.

chris? another important question we're dealing with this morning, the justice department and north carolina. now they're suing each other over a controversial new transgender bathroom law. where is this fight headed? could it go all the way to the supreme court? we'll discuss the issues for you, next. at ally bank, no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like social media equals anti-social. hey guys, i want you to meet my fiancée, denise. hey. good to meet you dennis. why do people have eyebrows?i. why do people put milk on cereal? oh, are you reading why people put milk on cereal? why does your tummy go "grumbily, grumbily, grumbily"? why is it all (mimics a stomach grumble) no more questions for you! ooph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasn't it? yeah, happens to more people than you think... try lactaid, it's real milk,

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more confusing twists in the power struggle in brazil. the acting house speak here had threatened to block tomorrow's impeachment vote of the president just backed off that threat putting the process back on track. president dilma rousseff is accused of borrowing money to fill budget gaps. convicted drug lore joaquin el chapo guzman, a mexican judge ruling monday chapo can be extradited to face trafficking charges. his legal team already appealed. a long process under mexican law. unless chapo asks to go, this

will take a while. the world's most wanted kingpin until his capture in 2014. he es scaped from mexico's toughest prison twice and most recently captured in july. and bringing diversity to the missouri police roster. ferguson the first african-american police chief, expected to rebuild the entire department. the move comes after racially charged protests broke out in 2014 after a white officer killed michael brown. moss is replacing tom jackson, who resigned last year after a federal report uncovered racial bias in the city's criminal justice system. good news for chris. bad news for me. in "new day," "new you". heading to the gym helps you shed pounds and may also be good for your mental health. according to a just released study by the universe of california at davis medical certainty, excess replenishes

two neurotranscenders, depleting the patients with depression and anxiety. exercise is one of the most demanding tasks to ask of the brain using tons of fuel when the body is pushed. >> just mean bs you're that muc mentally stronger, overriding the message to work out. >> i guess it does. all right. i guess i'll "try" the gym. >> i'm very smart and i work out. north carolina and the justice department filing duelling lawsuits. we're going to take a closer look at what is this all about legally and practically? coming up. >> this programming note. a special "ac 360" on o "on opi addiction. that's here on cnn tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. (vo) when i first took jake home

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all right. a situation as one state making one decision is now a flashpoint in terms of where our law and culture are going. north carolina and the state department really starting to get after it about this transgender bathroom law. so let's figure out what the real issues are here and what could happen with cnn legal analyst mr. paul callan. very good to have you with us, as always, counsel. tee it up for us. what is this really about in the eyes of the law? >> well, it's a very interesting situation, and i think, you know, a certain mow meamentum h been set off by the gay rights organization and legalization of gay rights and now moved on to this group transgendered people who suffered terrible discrimination and now they're seeking a remedy under existing laws and it's all come to head in north carolina. >> we had heard this would happen. when the gay marriage decision came out. people said, oh, it's over. now lgbt is equal. equal protection under the law. no nap was only with marriage.

so now it was about how many different xavrm examples of thid come up and now here we are. >> also, it's hard to get into detailed discussions about this, but a lot of people mix up the concept of somebody being gay and transgendered. they're actually very, very different things. a transjander person is anatomically may be a male or female but feels that they are, in fact, the opposite sex. >> they identify with a different gender. >> that's very different from someone who is gay, who may be attracted to the opposite sex but it quite happy with their own anatomical sex. anyway, so this has now come to a head in north carolina, where the federal government has said, if you don't allow transgendered people to have equal access to rest room facilities among other facilities we're going to cut off federal funding. >> and the state says they do have equal access. can go to a bathroom whenever they want.

just for their gender? >> exactly. and a governor has gone into federal court saying he wants a federal judge to rule that the state has the right to follow what has been existing law up until now, which has said it's perfectly okay to have a rest room for women and a rest room for men, and to restrict who is a man and who is a woman on the basis of their anatomy. that's traditionally how we define male and female in the united states. >> where does this head? >> well, my own view is that they're going to lose in north carolina nap is the governor is going to lose and i think the federal department of justice is going to win, and i say that because there was a case in virginia called the grim case, which was handed down by the 4th circuit federal court. that's a court just below the u.s. supreme court, and it covers north carolina. it involved i think a 14-year-old student in a virginia high school, and this was a girl who perceived herself to be a male and wanted to use

the boys' room. and the federal court in that case indicated very, very strongly that gender identity was protected under title 7 and title 9, which are civil rights laws, and sent a very strong signal to north carolina that transgendered rights will have to be honored. so i think that's the court, that's the big court in that area. they're sent to the lower courts and i think north carolina's going to lose. >> do you need to have legislative change here to make it stick? the governor has said, well, what about title 7 and title 9, extension of the '64 civil rights act and education amendment in 1972, do you have to amend those to include this definition under sex? >> an interesting question, because when those statutes were passed they included a specific provision saying it's okay to have a separate rest room for women and men, segregated on the basis of sex, but i don't think

you have to amend that law, because we're not changing the definition of sex. what has happened is that society now views transgendered individuals as actually female, regardless of their anatomy. so you don't have to put in the word "transgender." your sex is female, if you are, in fact, a true transgendered person. >> is it fair to say a huge obstacle facing the state in this, what's the problem with doing it the way that the government in this case is asking you to do? the bathroom predator theory does not seem to have mayor toit mayor it to it? you think it's coming down to a judge's rendering. >> yes. i think, of course, the unspoken thing is female fear that a predator's getting into a rest room. there's no statistical support for that. i can't think of a single case in american history where a transgendered individual attacked somebody else in the rest room. >> saying it will create a

window of opportunity, but at this point, speculative. paul callan, thank you very much. appreciate it, as always. this is a big issue ins news. we'll tell you about it in the morning. big changes to the election as well. so let's get right to it. we just need to get to know each other. >> i think you're going to find a lot more harmony than you think. >> i hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is. >> i think people have to get more. >> i put in the biggest tax decrease of anybody runs for office by far. okay? >> i'm accused of playing the gender card and all of that. it's a real problem. >> don't let anybody tell you this campaign is over. >> it's a real catch 22 that we're caught in. we've got to do a better job. >> this campaign will fight for every remaining vote. >> i do not agree with their interpretation of federal law. >> we will do everything we can to protect you. please know that history is on your side. >> this is not just a north carolina issue. this is now a national issue.

[ chanting ] >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. good morning. welcome back to your "new day." it's primary day in west virginia and nebraska, but the civil war within the republican party dominating the headlines. you got house speaker paul ryan saying he'll step aside as chairman of the gop convention if donald trump asking him to. all this as trump is trying to mend fences with ryen and party leaders. is he uniting? meanwhile, trump also trying to clean up confusing comments about tax hikes and the economy. we will press his campaign about his plans anden discuss their implications. we also have new polls out this morning. a key battleground, how to dnt dn donald trump and hillary clinton stack up geps each other? we begin with phil mattingly. >> could there be a de-escalation in the republican party? donald trump facing a series of

difficult days inside his party with top officials all looking towards that thursday meeting with house speaker paul ryan. now, there is no question that republican officials are still struggling with the fact that donald trump is their nominee both on the donor side and on the political side. but he is the nominee. that means acceptance, even if they don't like it, needs to come fast if they want to win in november. an offer from house speaker paul ryan saying he'll step down as chairman of the republican national convention if donald trump asks him to. >> he's the nominee. i'll do whatever he wants, with respect to the convention. >> reporter: ryan, striking a conciliatory tone after a bombshell announcement last week that he wasn't ready to support trump at the presumptive nominee. >> first, i want to get to know him and understand him better. i really don't know him. >> reporter: the two men still set to me on thursday along with rnc chairman reince priebus. trump will also meet with

republican senate leaders on the hill. former presidential candidate dr. ben carson reaching out to ryan for a private meeting to help soothe tensions before trump meets with him. >> basically the kind of conversation i'm hoping we all can have is how we can actually unify our party. >> reporter: trump also making a big appointment, announcing new jersey chris christie will serve as the chairman for his transition team should he become the next president, but party leaders still weary of trump's conservative principles. trump fending off backlash over his economic proposals, accusing the media of mischaracterizing him in several interviews on monday. >> so it was totally misrepresented just now by you and it was misrepresented, frankly, by nbc. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> they go there to talk about like i'm giving a tax increase for the wealthy. i'm not. >> reporter: explaining lower taxes for all. >> increase the wealthy, they're still paying less than now. i'm not talking about increasing from this point. i'm talking

increasing from this point, from my tax proposal. >> reporter: his plan to repay the national debt. insisting he never said the u.s. should default or attempt to renegotiate with creditors as reported. >> this is the united states government. first of all, you never have to default because you print the money. i said, if we can buy back government debt at a discount, in other words, if interest rates go up and we can buy bonds back at a discounter, if we are liquid enough as a country, we should do that. >> reporter: and a full day yesterday, really, of donald trump explaining, trying to clarify on some cases trying to backtrack on his economic proposals. it's not necessarily something we saw a lot during the primary, guys. that's interesting. talk to hillary clinton's advisers, that is what they want to do in the days, weeks and months ahead in this general election campaign. tie him up day after day on policy issues. we'll see if that sticks going forward. donald trump for his part, i think, safe to say, looking towards thursday and meeting with republican officials in washington. >> the paul ryan primary.

polls open in west virginia 30 minutes ago. eight years ago, hillary clinton dominated then challenger barack obama there, but clinton faces a different contest this time around. cnn's jean casarez is live with more. good morning, jean. >> reporter: good morning, john. you know, polls opened, as you said, at 6:30. a steady stream of voters. state officials believe this could be a record-setting day for primary votes cast, if early voting has any indication. we just spoke to one voter that just came out. very interesting. as you said, this is coal country. this is the heart of coal country, and the people of this state still remember, they say, hillary clinton saying to cnn's town hall in march that she would shut down the mines and coal miners would be out of jobs. now, she said she misspoke, and that what she really is proponent of is bringing new industry to west virginia, but the voter i just spoke with said that people cannot forget that

statement, and i said, is it veering people to vote for bernie sanders or donald trump? and he said, donald trump. that even though that he is the lone republican candidate, standing now, people are going to vote today and come out for him. look at these early voting totals, though. you'll see it's record breaking for the state. 2016, already almost 101,000 early votes were cast. in 2012, the last presidential election year, 57,000, a little over that, and then in 2008, almost 69,000. so you can see how many more this year, and the question is, bernie sanders. he has supported the coal industry, although also saying that new industry comes in to the state, and that's what he supports. will that be reflective on the democratic side? alisyn? >> jean, you'll be watching all day. thanks so much. new quinnipiac polls to show you in key battleground states.

ohio, donald trump beating hillary clinton in a matchup. look at this. things are razor tight in florida and pennsylvania as well. let's discuss this and so much more with trump's national campaign co-chairman and policy adviser sam clovis. good morning, sam. >> good morning. how are you? >> doing well. how do you explain the strength you're seeing there and the numbers showing donald trump in these key battleground states? >> i think you know, we've talked about this before, alisyn. the dust starts to settle we're going to start to see more coalescing here. an important meeting coming up thursday, and coming down to washington, mr. trump's coming down to washington to talk to paul ryan and mitch mcconnell and others. i think this is an important step forward for us. i think it's going to work very well in our favor. i think we're going to start to they start to campaign.e when - this is the thing i've asked all of the policy people to look at, and all of the things i think is important for our campaign is to make sure that we have a way to compare and contrast donald

trump's positions on issues with those of hillary clinton. ask the question that is always asked, are you better off today than eight years ago and do you want for mour year more years this? those of the questions going forward people will find easy to answer. >> you're right about that. internal polls show that voters do believe the economy is their number one concern and they believe that donald trump is strong on the economy. now, this poll was taken before trump said some of the confusing things about his economic policies he said yesterday. we're glad you're here to help clarify some of these things that confused people. let's start with the debt. the national debt. let's remind people some of the things that donald trump said about this. >> first of all, you never have to default because you print the money. i said, if we can buy back government debt at a discount, in other words, if interest

rates and bonds go down, you can buy debt, that's what i'm talking about. >> okay. sam, historically, the u.s. doesn't make deals about its debt. would mr. trump change that? >> i think what we're talking about is if we reach a point of extremism in this country, where we might have to do that. i don't think we're going to have to do that. >> what does that mean? what would be scenario be trier to be negotiated? >> i think this is, again -- i don't think we're going to get to that point, because if we get the economic growth that we think we're going to get with our tax plan. if we go through all of this process we're going to be able to raise the gdp past the debt, which is one of the first measures we have to go and ask any economist out there that's important. and then once we balance the budget be able to start paying down the debt. this is what happens in circumstances -- look what's going on in the eu. let me finish, alisyn. you asked a question. >> i'm waiting for the answer, what the scenario would be. go ahead. >> this is a possibility. you can see what tactics have been used by the european

central bank and other central banks around the world in dealing with these crises when countries move into those circumstances. i don't think we'll get there, mr. trump doesn't think we'll get there, he's explaining that is a technique that is possible if things get that bad. and i don't think we're going to get there. he doesn't think we're going to get there. so this is where we are. >> spell out that circumstance for us. what is that snare jcenariscena? >> not hyperinflation. the demon under the bed has always been inflation. this is one of the things we've had the fed fight for and suppress. so that's the monetary policy that's likely to be in place, but i think what the circumstances are if we continue to spend, you know, outrageously and continue to move our debt out past our good p gdp, the de services becomes a real issue. this is a real challenge and this is looming over the horizon. that servicing is going to be a

big issue for us, if we don't get spending under control. >> we're $19 trillion in debt. >> right. >> you're saying if it gets any worse, mr. trump would be willing to renegotiate somehow? >> i would say a lot worse. because we already -- before mr. trump takes office, we're likely to see $21 trillion in debt. so we really don't know what ground truth is on january 20th of 2017, and this is one of the things we have to start talking about. we have to look at all of the consequences of the spending going on in the country and we're not doing anything about it, and neither side is doing anything about it. this has to be addressed and the trump administration will. >> taxes's does mr. trump support higher taxes on the wealthy or not? >> the point is we have a tax plan in place out there. i think we know that we're not likely to get everything that we want in that tax plan. we're likely to have to give a little bit. so the point of departure is

what's in our tax plan or what we enter in to negotiation with. it may be considerably lower tax rates than we have in our tax plans, because we want to be able to establish lower taxes for everyone in this country, particularly those in the middle class and lower middle class, so that they have more money in their pockets. so the point of departure is what we submit to congress for consideration. not what the current tax rates are. which are outrageous, by the way. >> but mr. trump had said he would be willing to raise taxes on the wealthiest, himself included. he had said that. let me play it for you, sam, before you counter it let me play what he said about taxes going up on the wealthy. >> do you believe in raising taxes on the wealthy? >> i do. i do, including myself. >> do you want taxes on the wealthy to go up or down? >> they will go up a little bit and they may go up, you know -- >> but they're going down in your plan? >> min my plan going down, but n

my plan they're going up. >> i'm not confused. i know what he said. >> what did he mean when he said 0 savannah guthrie, i support taxes going up including for myself? >> from point of departure what we submit to congress. we may submit a lower number and will negotiate from that. when we talk to congress about our tax plan, this is the time. time for fundamental tax reform in this country and this is the point we'll make. it if we have to go higher than offered up to congress we're likely to do that to negotiate to make sure we get the whole package for everybody. >> very quickly, sam, who is donald trump's economic advisers or advisers? >> a host of those. a lot are very prominent in, around this area, and -- >> such as? >> well, i don't want to get into. you can sort that out yourself, alisyn. >> sam, why not tell their names? why is it secret? >> well, the reason is, because

a lot of them have contractual arrangements, provide advice to this campaign and we don't want to interfere with their private lives or how they make money. so this is where we are. >> sam clovis, all right. appreciate you being on "new day." >> all right. thank you, alisyn. okay. programming note. cnn's jake tap letter have an exclusive interview this afternoon with marco rubio. this is rubio's first since dropping out of the republican presidential rate. this is at 4:00 p.m. eastern on "the lead" right here on cnn. the state of north carolina says your sex is what your birth certificate says it is, period. not how you identify. that's the bottom line with its transgender bathroom restriction law. the federal government says, transgender is a guaranteed category of equal protection under law. so now both sides are suing. cnn correspondent martin savidge live at the cnn center with more on this. what is the state of play, my friend? >> reporter: good morning, chris. what started as a debate over a

bathroom is likely to end up in a federal courtroom, and essentially north carolina is not backing down, its doubling down. suing the federal government. >> the legislature and the governor placed north carolina in direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals. >> reporter: the state's governor responding to a justice department demand to drop the law or amend it with a lawsuit of his own. >> we believe a court rather than a federal agency should tell our state, our nation, and employers across the country what the law requires. >> reporter: the most

controversial provisi bans transgender people from using public bathrooms that do not correspond with the sexes depicted on their birth certificates. >> it was not so very long ago that states including north carolina had other signs above rest rooms, water fountains and on public accommodations keeping people out based on a distinction without a difference. >> reporter: north carolina countering, saying the obama administration is attempting to rewrite the law for public and private employers across the country. >> this is not just a north carolina issue. this is now a national issue. i think it's time for the u.s. congress to bring clarity to our national anti-discrimination provisions under title 7 and title 9. >> reporter: among those that are caught up in the middle of all of this is the public university system of north carolina, including the storied

university of north carolina. it came out way statement saying it will abide by federal law. but, of course, the governor of its state is questioning just what is federal law here? and waiting for a court to decide. john? >> that could happen. the question is, when? martin savitch, thanks so much. eight passengers hurt in midair when a jetblue flight hit serious turbulence last night. headed to orlando from san juan when it happened. ambulances able to take passengers right to the hospital from the tarmac. and the state department says it cannot locate e-mails sent or received by brian paviano. this according to the republican national committee. pug lee a he refused to answer questions when appearing before congress but accepted immunity from the justice department in march and since faced questioning from the fbi. we're about to show you something you only want to see

on your tv screen or computer monitor. massive tornadoes. take a look at this. imagine this being in your path. at least two people lost their lives because of massive twisters in oklahoma. you can see this going through oklahoma city. this is where this is. a very residential area. big population. let's bring in cnn meteorologist chad myers with what you need to know. you know, thank god there weren't more people in that kind of populated areas with multiple twisters coming down. what's the deal? >> something else that storm did, rolled right across i-35 as a tornado on the ground with people driving right into it. that's dangerous and why you should have an app on your phone that knows where you are. turn the gps on driving through severe weather and you will get warnings right there. there were over 20 tornados yesterday and many of them on the ground for a long time. 8 to 20 miles on the longest

tracks, blowing, spinning and going for quite away. there will are more today, not that many but they'll be around. let me show you from a different direction. we have almost to roth and then here. this is the storm on the ground churning under that roadway, taking buildings with it. i've seen pictures this morning now with first light where some of the homes only have a foundation left. we'll have to see how big this storm was when at its widest. literally this thing could have been 130 to 160 miles per hour, guys. back to you. >> wow. thank you very much. so big headline this morning. clinton and trump. at the top of the polls. right? we know they may be the best-known man and woman in the world. right? but they also share another quality. lots of haters, and that's why there's been talk about a third party candidate maybe sneaking in. often discussed as speculation. you know what? there's already a third party candidate running, formerer new

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all right. when you look at trump and clinton you see high favorables, celebrities. huge unprecedented unfavorables, also. that means a pretty locked up race and why people are talking about third party and why we want to introduce to you former new mexico governor heading the libertarian ticket. >> thank you for having me on. >> the apolls in quinnipiac, florida, pennsylvania, ohio, clinton and trump locked up. showing margins are very, very close. shows room, maybe, for an alternative. you're saying, well, maybe if i were included in these polls i may have a better chance of being that. make your case. >> well, that's the key for me is just being in the polls. i was in a monmouth poll a month ago and at 11%.

i think there's justification for me being in that poll. i'm going to be the only third party and that's if i'm the nominee, chris. i've got to get the nomination. that's at the end of this month, but libertarian nominee is going to be on the ballot in all 50 states. when you have hillary and when you have trump i think the two most polarizing figures in american politics today, hey, where is the 50% of americans that now declare themselves as independent? which is the phenomenon today. i think the vast majority of americans are libertarians but don't know it pnd and speaking with a broad brush, socially tolerant, liberal. >> where does that put you as compared to clinton and trump and sanders, by the way? >> with regard to trump, you know, he's saying some things that i just think are ridiculous, and would disqualify any other candidate. he said 100 different things, but the border, for example. look, we should embrace

immigration. immigration is really a good thing. >> terrorism's a threat. over 10 million illegal people here many people are draining job, draining resources. that's the fear and concern. >> well, i think that the 11 million illegal immigrants here right now is a great misunderstanding. they're the cream of the crop when it comes to workers. statistically they're committing less crime than u.s. citizens. they're not taking jobs that u.s. citizens want. it's not an issue of lower wages, unless it's an issue of language and they're the first ones that recognize that. >> trump said -- they are sending us their worst. he said. >> that's just not true, and i am speaking as a border governor. they are the cream of the crop. they're really hard working. we should make it as easy as possible for somebody that wants to come across the border and work to be able to get a work visa, and a work visa should entail a background check and a

social security card. building a fence across the border, really, this is crazy. this is something in the future if we build a wall at some point in the our future we're going to take down that wall for what it represents, and what it represents is something that this country is not about. >> what about hillary clinton? why are you to the advantage with her? >> well, i think hillary is the ultimate technocrat. what changes with hillary clinton? i think that government does get bigger, tries to accomplish more and i'm smaller government. really, government tries to do too much. and because of that, it taxes too much. when it taxes too much it takes away from my personal liberty and freedom to do the things that i want to do in my life. and the drug war. we have the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. we have tens of millions of americans who are convicted felons that but for our drug laws would otherwise are taxpaying, law abiding citizens. the militarization of police. black lives matter at the heart

of all that, is the drug war. >> do you think that your stance on marijuana, you are an advocate of it, been involved in the business are trying to create different uses for marijuana. does that disqualify you with the culture right now in america that does not believe the same things you do when it comes to drugs? >> i hope not. i took the decision businesswise to make the world a better place. on the medicinal side, marijuana products directly compete with legal prescription drugs that statistically kill 100,000 people a year, and on the recreational side i have always maintained legalizing marijuana will lead to less overall substance abuse. >> showed a poll numbers have changed. used to be a third of the country, yeah, legalize. now it's 58% of country. yet there still does seem to be stigma. >> well, total disconnect between elected politicians and

the public. 60% of americans now want to legalize marijuana. but the campaign to legalize marijuana in colorado was a campaign based on marijuana is safer than alcohol. and it is. it's safer than everything else that's out there, starting with alcohol. >> and you're a big athlete. you haven't had any alcohol in almost 30 years do lots of triathlons. this isn't about an unhealthy lifestyle, it's about a healthy one. you got about a million votes last time you ran and we always look at ross perot at the gold standard of the third-party candidate. he was 19% although leading both of the other candidates at both points in the race. how big an impact do you think you could have and what do you think it would take to get there? 11% at best, not at that 15% threshold that gets you a lot of electoral opportunities? >> no way a third party wins without being in the presidential debates. to the in the presidential debates you've got to be in the poms. now, chris, the entire focus is just being in the polls.

granted, if mickey mouse were the third name in a poll, mickey would probably poll at about 30% right now, but mickey's not on the ballot in all 50 states. so where is that voice? where's the voice of 50% of americans today that are declaring themselves as independents? >> does sanders have more rightful claim to that voice than you do? >> but he's not going to be the third party. i want to make a pitch to everybody watching this to get on the website isidewith.com. get on that website. political quiz. take the quiz. at the end of the quiz you get paired up with the presidential candidate most in line with your views. i think you should find out who you're most in line with and then knock yourself out supporting that candidate. interestingly, the next candidate that i side with outside of myself is bernie sanders. so obviously, bernie and i have a whole bunch -- i sided with bernie 73% of the time when it comes to economics we come to a t in the road. i go one way, he the other.

on the social side of bernie, i get it. really very libertarian. >> gary johnson, former governor of new mexico. good luck going forward and i appreciate you making the case to the viewers on "new day." what could a gary johnson run mean for the 2016 presidential race? we'll discuss that and other big headlines with michael smerconish. that's next. ♪ you're not gonna watch it! ♪

♪ no, you're not gonna watch it! ♪ ♪ we can't let you download on the goooooo! ♪ ♪ you'll just have to miss it! ♪ yeah, you'll just have to miss it! ♪ ♪ we can't let you download... uh, no thanks. i have x1 from xfinity so... don't fall for directv. xfinity lets you download your shows from anywhere. i used to like that song. all right. just in, donald trump and hillary clinton neck in neck in brand new polls out of key swing states today. does that mean a third-party

candidate could swing the race one way or another? let's discuss with cnn political commentator and host of cnn's "smerconish." michael smerconish. the polls gist came out. in florida, hillary clinton up a mere one point. in ohio, donald trump up four points, and in pennsylvania, hillary clinton up one. we spoke to gary johnson, likely libertarian candidate for president right now. four years ago in 2012 he got 1% in polls. people might say he's nowhere. nowhere. compare the 1% to the margin right now between hillary clinton and donald trump in key swing states you start to see, michael, how he could play a role here. >> well, you make a good observation, john and i think something that's changed in the last four years, which you made reference to in the last segment, are the incredibly high negatives of both presumptive nominees. that's a situation that we didn't have four years ago. you didn't have mitt romney being disapproved of by so many people within his own party, nor

the same for incumbent barack obama. so therein lies the opportunity for gary johnson. he made reference to the record high number of independents, gallup said in january, it's 42%. i can tell you, had him on my radio program yesterday and independents melted down the phone lines eager to share their desire to vote for him. but here's the question -- can he get in the polls? because if he can't get in the polls, he can't document that he's at 15% in order to get on the debate stage, and if he's not on the debate stage, he's nowhere. >> beyond gary johnson, are there conversations happening in the secret back halls of washington where party leaders are trying to come up with some other candidate, a third-party candidate, to inject into the race? >> i believe those conversations are taking place, and i also believe that they're fruitless. on my program on cnn saturday i had peter ackerman, the successful businessman who has

spent more time and more money on this issue than anyone else in the country. he's the individual who was behind that campaign four years ago called americans elect, and he assured me that too many deadlines are looming that it's impractical for anyone else to get on all 50 ballots. >> we keep hearing that, michael. >> get on some. >> we keep hearing, infrastructure issues in terms of getting on the ballot at this point. the money, the time. you would have to co-op an existing line like the libertarian line that is already set up for it, but look, a lot of that is speculative at this point, especially what's going on in the gop. what do you think about the state of play in that party and whether or not this third party thing will keep bubbling up? do you think what we're hearing from trump now about wanting to reach out to ryan and wanting to give new economic ideas that show his flexibility, are those compatible and moving in the right way? >> chris, i think the most important thick relative to the

ryan/trump relationship, the quinnipiac poll you just announced. i'm saying, hey, i better approach this guy with kit gloves because he can win and by the way, take a look at those numbers, because something we haven't said that i think bears underscoring is that bernie sanders continues to run even stronger than hillary against the republican. >> you make a great point, on the paul ryan issue. not yet could become yet very, very quickly, if trump becomes more popular. >> right. >> than congress. which, in some ways he already is. that's a reality he has to face. ask about conversations happening. i know they are. bill krystal, editor of "the weekly standard" talked to mitt romney trying to push him to the race. not sure that will happen. putting chances at 50/50 a third-party candidate. >> that's high. >> when he says third party he really means another republican, michael, getting in the race in running against donald trump. he doesn't mean a third party like gary johnson, and there is

a difference there, and they could have different effects on this race. >> something else to focus on, i think. so if the race is as close as the new survey suggests what if a gary johnson or what if another republican should get into the race and get on additional ballots, not to win, but to deny 270 to trump and to hillary and push it into the house of representatives? see, i think that's a part of the republican strategy among somewhere they say we would rather have a republican house make this determination than the electorate. >> and then what happens, michael? what then does the house decide to do? >> chaos. chaos. because presumably it's -- >> that's the scenario some are hoping for? >> every state -- we would get the civic lesson. >> and -- the people. >> well, we would get a cynical lesson for the ages. i'm saying republicans displeased with trump as their nominee would rather have this republican-controlled house make the call. look, it's still pie in the skies, but we're exploring the

range of options, and i think this is on the table. >> all right. michael smerconish, fascinating to think of the different possibilities. thanks so much for being here. >> we want to know your take if you have an opinion on this pap conspiracy theory or among the legion of gary johnson fans. tweet us or post a comment on facebook.com/newdanchts he has climbed, former governor gary johnson. >> the guy is no joke. >> he has run a 100-mile race. he is going to do the 3,000-mile bike race that goes all the way from -- >> he's got my vote for something. >> even president? not as much time. >> not for president, but for something. >> if i'm president, i'm doing the bike race. it tough choice. and north korean president kim jong-un, a new title. what does this mean? a report from inside korea, next. and a programming note. a special "ac 360" ton hall

tomorrow night. everybody's talking about it. we'll show you what the problem is with opioid addiction. dr. sanjay gupta joins anderson cooper for prescription addiction "made in america." that's wednesday night, 9:00 p.m. eastern, right here on cnn. really important for families.

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north korean leader kim jong-un presiding today over a party during which kim elevated to party chairmanen in a four-day event. we have cnn correspondent will ripley among only a handful of journalists granted access to the rare political event. he joins us pennsylvan pyongyan. will, what was it like? >> reporter: surreal. didn't think we would get access. pushing from the first day of

congress, where we could only stand across the street and shoot exteriors of the building's then throughout the weekend, with state tv. they put us on a bus. 90-minute security check with tough looking service officers. i thought, something might be up. sure enough, driven to the building holding the party congress, marched right in and moments later on to the stages the supreme leader of this country, kim jong-un, his top party leadership announcing he is now the chairman. technically this is a promotion, but hard to think how somebody with absolute power could become even more powerful. ceremonial and indicates he is firmly, firmly has a grip on this country and its 24 million people. >> that is he has almost supernational powers. what do you think the political play is here? >> reporter: well, the political play is that there's been a lot of turmoil since he took power, because in korean society, hierarchy is everything, and his father, kim jong-il was in the

public eye 20 years before becoming the leader. kim jong-un, people knew about his one year before his father died unexpectedly. his uncle he had executed, his uncle believed to be conspiring against him. and others purged, mean executed or sent away. an explanation to the world he's in control. you saw the h bomb in february, satellite launch in march and the last four missile launches as well. >> increasing potential and number of weapons in that regard. we know they recently tried to launch three ballistic missiles off their east coast. the attempts were unsuccessful but it keeps reminding of how little it would take for north korea to be a threat, specifically to japan and south korea. tell us a be that. tell us about that. >> reporter: well, because their technology is developing far more rapidly than anybody

expected and indication, south korean intelligence, u.s. think tank 38 north, a lot of concern north korea could order another nuclear test each giving them viable intelligence, and each failure, learn how to per forget the technology. this country is investing billions of dollars. this is an impoverished country, has trouble generating electricity. people have if a few hours a day. difficulties with the food supply. yet the investment in this nuclear weapons development is a key priority of kim jong-un, even though he says he also wants to turn around the economy. but sanctioned so heavily, his country's diplomatically isolated, people won't trade, how do you grow the economy also pushing forward a goal of develops nukes? he thinks that's the only way to keep this country as it is, as a sovereign state and his people at least openly say that they stand by him and we saw that example of that this weekend including this massive torch

light parade happening right now in pyongyang. teenagers practices for months to get every move perfect to impress their leader. >> will ripley, thank you very much for the reporting from north korea. appreciate it. alisyn? >> okay, chris. donald trump again lashing out at the media. we heard it right here on "new day" yesterday. up next, we have another journalist in trump's cross hairs. what she has to say about his latest attack. that's next. their flea and tick killer doesn't have to be. nexgard, the vet's #1 choice for dogs, is a delicious, beef-flavored chew that kills both fleas and ticks. so it's easy to give, easy to take. reported side effects include vomiting, itching, diarrhea, lethargy and lack of appetite. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures. why mess around? for powerful flea and tick protection, ask your vet about nexgard. the #1 choice of vets for their dogs and yours. why do people have eyebrows?i. why do people put milk on cereal?

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it has been a constant theme throughout donald trump's 11 month campaign, his alleged disdain for the media, we saw it again yesterday, in chris's interview with his interview on "new day." the same media attention that he constantly seeks, let's talk about it. we're joined now by jennifer rubin, right turn blog for the "washington post," recent trump target, and jeffrey lord. jennifer, i want to start with you. donald trump doesn't like you. we know that, because he said so here yesterday on "new day," completely unprompted. let's listen. >> you have lightweight, a real, a real dope. >> mr. trump, they say you have to -- >> jennifer rueben, who spoke by didn't speak to rubio. i have spoken to rubio. she said i never spoke to ryan. i have spoken to ryan.

and you know, she is living in a time warp or something. >> among the issues, earl marco rubio or jennifer rubin, and it came up right there, your response? >> well, first of all, what i said was absolutely correct. he is lying again. i said he had not spoken to ryan after the primary. ryan confirmed that was the case, the conversation that trump claims happened, didn't. and he has also claimed falsely he has been having conversations with rubio about the vice-president density, once again, rubio denied anything like that happening yesterday. so the specific she was lying about, why he brought this up, is because i think two things. one, he uses the press to deflect substantive questions. chris, when you began that interview yesterday, you started with a really tough question, he spent about eight minutes complaining that you hadn't complemented him on his recent wins. he uses that as a way, because as you pointed out earlier in the hour, he doesn't have steady

comfortable substantive answers to policy questions. >> well, jennifer there is one other reason he does it. there is another reason he does it. i'll direct this to jeffrey, because he'll echo it immediately. he does it because it works. jeffrey, when he says, hey, you were unfair to me, he said a couple of times in that interview, things he has to know aren't true about our reporting here on this show, where he was like hey, you misstate mide tax thing. he knows i didn't misstate it. i was giving him the chance to clarify it. it works for him to say that he is victimized, whether it is rueben, cuomo, whoever it is at the moment, they're against him. why. >> back if i may, in 1970, when i was a freshman in college, spiro ago knew went to des moines iowa, a nationally

televised speech. nattering -- my point to you is, spirrow agnew's numbers went up. you heard ted cruz do this the other day when he was about to get out of the race. newt gingrich did this on the stage the other day. this is gospel that it's unfair. in donald trump's case, i can tell you, i talked to him two years ago and asked him about republicans and the perception republicans don't fight back. he immediately launched into the media. that particular day, the issue was donald sterling, and he had given, you know, the owner of the los angeles clippers, who made the racist marks, he said he had been on another show on another network, had talked about this, had given this sort of routine castgation of everything and then added as he was going off, aside from which he has the girlfriend from hell.

his defense of donald sterling, who he doesn't know in the first place, he said this is really dishonest. so all i'm saying is that donald trump personally thinks this about some of the media, and that he is more than open to quote-unquote in his word exposing them, and this is republican gospel. >> well, jennifer, i want to get back to the larger issue here about trump going after journalists. because we've all been in his crosshairs, he makes it known when he doesn't like a particular line of questioning and calls you names. and you know, it is our job to expo expose hip pypocrites when we s it. does it have an effect on journ allism? >> not at all. there have been complaints, rightly so, from some of the republican losers, he got extraordinary time. that's what is so ironic. he has been given billions of

free coverage hours. let me pick up on something that jeffrey said that i think is important. that strategy works nicely in a primary, because the electorate feels strongly. it doesn't however work in a general election. >> yen fjennifer. >> when you do it in a general election, people turn in and they see this guy whining about a report, you didn't compliment, he come as cross as whinny. im immature. >> what do you say about the new polls out today. >> i've got a new poll for you today in miami herald, he is down by 30 points in florida. >> okay, so you don't buy these new polls that show him leading in ohio, close in pennsylvania, close in -- >> no, i don't buy a poll that has 39%, undecided at that point. so i think we learned that

lesson with early polls before. listen, we'll see if it works or not. but in fact, he has unfavorable ratings sky high with women, minorities. he is losing categories that mitt romney won, married women, white women. a he'll have to do something with these groups. he is just picking fights with republicans, supporters are down to 84%, which is unheard of for the leader of a national party. so i think his natural instinct is to lash out, fight, make stuff up, which is to throw around all kinds of accusations, may work in one context, i'm not sure it works in a national context. >> all right, guys, thank you both for being with us today. i really appreciate it. >> we have to get back to nattering. we have a lot of in us to cover. let's get right to it. i thought everything was fine, and then i got blind-sided. >> he is the nominee. i'll do whatever he wants. >> his rhetoric is not only

reckless, it's dangerous. >> she is playing the woman's card to the hilt. >> i'm going oh to let him run his campaign however he chooses. >> you watch the problems she'll have. >> created discrimination against transgender individuals. >> i support wholeheartedly. >> we see you. we stand with you. >> violence, still rages in most of the country. >> they've become intense. >> none of it seems to indicate a full russian withdrawal from syria. >>announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. john berman is here with us. great to have you, john. up first, primary voting underway in two states this morning. the fractured republican party is the big story. all eyes on donald trump's meeting with house speaker paul ryan and the rnc chairman this

week. ryan saying that he'll back down as convention chairman if that's what trump wants. >> trump wants a lot of things right now. at the top of the list, clean up comments about his economic tax proposals that some were made here on "new day" for the first time, others not. especially donald trump, who says he has been misreported. we wanted to clear things up. we're going to give you those positions and the implications. we also have brand new poll numbers. three battle ground states, razor thin margins between hillary clinton and donald trump. let's begin with phil mattingly. phil, is there a deescalation. >> that's the big question. donald trump seeming to ratchet back the rhetoric a little bit. paul ryan offering an olive branch. very clear that i know side the republican party, the war continues. but it starts to seem like they may be getting to the point as these crucial meetings coming

just a couple of days away, they're willing to accept if not embrace their nominee. an offer from house speaker paul ryan, saying he'll step down as chairman of the republican national convention, if donald trump asks him to. >> he is the nominee. i'll do wafr hatever he wants w respect to the convention. >> ryan, striking a conciliatory tone, after a bombshell last week that he wasn't ready to support trump as the presumptive nominee. >> first, i want to get to know him understand him because i don't really know him. >> the two set to meet on thursday, along with reince prieb priebus, trump will also meet with leaders on the hill. ben carson reaching oh tout ryan for a private meeting to help sooth tensions before trump meets with him. >> basically the conversation i'm hoping we can have how we can actually unify our party. >> trump making a big

appointment, announcing new jersey governor chris christie will serve as the chairman, should he become the next president. but party leaders, still weary of trump's conservative principles. trump, fending off backlash over his economic proposals, accusing the media of mischaracterizing him in several interviews on monday. >> so it was totally misrepresented just now by you and it was -- >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> they go there to talk about like i'm giving a tax increase for the wealthy. i'm not. >> explaining the proposal would lower taxes for all. >> if i increase for the wealthy, that means they'll be paying less than now. i'm talking about increasing from my tax proposal. >> trump, also on the defensive over his plan to repay the national debt. insisting he never said the u.s. should default, or attempt to renegotiate with creditors, as reported. >> united states government. first of all, you never have to default, because you print the

money. i said if we can buy back government debt, if interest rates go up and we can buy bonds back at a discount if we are liquid enough as a country, we should do that. >> policy questions, political questions, all obviously on the table, on thursday. paul ryan, senate republicans, these meetings are as big as they may appear. guys, for donald trump, this a big week in washington. no question. >> indeed. all right, thanks so much, phil, appreciate it. on the democratic side, it may feel, well, hillary clinton won in west virginia eight years ago. she beat barack obama pretty easily there. but it might not be so friendly to her this time around. jean casarez is live this morning. good morning, jean. >> reporter: the polls opened an hour and a half ago, and constantly, people are coming to vote. it could be a record setting number of primary voters. we just spoke with one lady that had a very interesting philosophy. she said that the number one issue on the minds of the people

here in west virginia is the economy. and it's because of the coal industry. she said so many people have lost jobs. but it's not only the coal miners affected. it's the heavy machinery operators, the clerical staff. the attorneys. even state officials, she said, that dealt with the coal mining industry. she believes it is hillary clinton that can turn around the economy in west virginia, because she is the one that has had the plan. now, another voter told me that he can't forget hillary clinton's remarks at cnn's town hall where she said the mines will close and coal miners will lose their jobs. now, she said that was a misspeak on her part what, she actually meant was that she was going to turn around the economy with retraining. this voter says it is trump all the way, even though he is the only candidate for the republicans left standing. he is casting his vote to show that he is for someone that has so aligned themselves with the coal industry. we'll see exactly what the voters do, especially when it

comes to bernie sanders and hillary clinton. sanders, still speak well of the coal industry, saying, though, new industry needs to move in. chris. >> jean, we see a definite reflection of your reporting in the latest poll from quinnipiac, the issue that donald trump is beating hillary clinton with. the economy. specifically as it plays out in states like west virginia. let's get perspective on the state of play, former texas governor, rick perry, just endorsed donald trump last week. governor, good to have you on "new day," and talking to some supporters and fans of yours yesterday, they had one common question for you about what you are doing right now, which is why? why, governor perry? why put yourself out in this way for donald trump right now? >> well, i love my country, first off. that's the reason i got into the presidential election to begin be. he wasn't my first choice. i was my first choice. donald trump was my second choice. that was ted cruz.

but we are down to two individuals here. i mean, it's pretty clear to me that it is a choice between donald trump and hillary clinton. and i clarified down and keep it pretty simple. when you think about what's going to happen over the next four years, what has the possibility and probability of impacting america for the next 40 or 50 years, and it's a supreme court. and i'm a lot more comfortable with donald trump choosing an individual for the supreme court that will affect policies that my children will be affected by than hillary clinton. >> governor, i understand -- >> that's what it boiled down to for me. >> i understand why you have lack of confidence in hillary clinton from your perspective. but where does the confidence come from for donald trump? i don't need to remind you of what you said during the campaign. it wasn't just that he wasn't your first or second choice. you said he was a cancer on conservatism and offering a

barking carnival act to the american people. where is this newfound confidence in him? >> well, i will say that during the heat of battle, a lot of people say things. as i recall, back in 2011, 2012, there were people that said things about me, whether it was rick santorum, but we came together after it was over with. people who pay attention to american politics know things are said, you get back together and you support the team. and that's what's going on here. you know, and i full well expect the republican party to fall in behind donald trump to help him get elected, because again, the alternative here is very, very different. it's very rank, if you will, from the standpoint of the difference between philosophically these two individuals and where they'll take this country. these supreme court appointments, the supreme court

decisions will be substantial. >> you think you know which way donald trump would go, and you don't share the concern that let's say mitt romney or even paul ryan, i am a real conservative, as you say you are, governor, i don't know if this guy matches up with what i think matters. >> well, i agree with donald trump a whole lot more than i disagree with him on. whether it's dissolving power oh out of washington, d.c. back to the states, i would suggest that donald trump is one of the more powerful voices in that. there may be people in washington, d.c. that would like to retain power, but those of us who have governed and those of us who believe in the cconstitu would love to see that. we think the states do understand better how to educate our children than the bureaucrats in washington, d.c. i would love to see our tax changes bring these moneys and

re-patriot them back to the united states. i think the american people from an economic standpoint and from a devolution out of washington, d.c. and they're going to come to him and merrily go down the path. >> when conservatives come to you and say make sense of this, because we print the money, and maybe we should think about buying back our debt at a discount sometimes and forcing creditors to take less, it's troublingling to conservatives, because it sounds like he is applying business principles to governmental fiscal responsibility. what do you say to them? >> i say i don't have a problem having a conversation about a lot of different alternatives out there about how you deal with the debt. and so you know, having a conversation and then moving it through washington and getting

that to be reality are two different things. so throwing out a lot of different ideas, i mean, chunk it at the wall and see what sticks. i don't have a problem with that. so i think what people hear very often from donald trump is that number one, washington has fouled this up beyond recognition. i mean, they have really messed our economy up. let's bring somebody in who does have a record as a business individual. and you know, he said there were three areas that he was going to look at. the military side, the business side, and the political side. he has got the business side covered. he thinks he is pretty good on the military side. i would suggest to him that he did bring in some people that have deep, long and i think storied experience in the military side as well. >> are you still open to being one of those people? >> absolutely. >> as vice-president? >> i'm open to helping this country get back on track.

i offered myself up in 2011-2012, and this time, americans want to go a different direction. that doesn't mean that my experience and experience of the bobby jindals or scott walkers or jeb bushs of the world, those are individuals who had really good records as governors, and i do believe that you bring together a group of people like that, that you go find the individuals who have the experience and bring them around you, listen to them, trust them, and i have confidence that donald trump will do that, because he understands that this is an incredibly difficult job, a complex job, and having men and women around him who have that experience is absolutely priceless. >> governor perry, appreciate you being on "new day," making the case for donald trump. good luck going forward, sir. >> chris, thank you. and by the way, you know, i was sitting here thinking about your father, a fabulous fellow who i know that you and your family miss, but a great american.

>> very nice of you to say, governor. thank you very much. i appreciate the sentiment. >> godspeed. >> thank you. another name in the offing of people that donald trump may look to for help, marco rubio. guess what? he is doing his first interview since he left the race with jake tapper on the lead, 4:00 p.m. eastern today. jb. we have breaking news just in. an historic announcement from the white house. president obama plans to visit hiroshima in japan, where the united states first used the atomic bomb. he will the first sitting president to ever go there. this will come during the trip to vietnam later this month. he'll make the visit with japan's minister abe, to highlight his continued commitment to pursuing peace and security of the world without nuclear weapons. we want to update you on this massive wildfire burn anything alberta, canada. torching 400,000 acres, and more that 2,400 homes and buildings,

leaving an entire town in ashes. it is not contained this morning. jessica snyder is live in edmonton. what is it looking like, jessica? >> reporter: yeah, alisyn, the fort mcmurray fire chief said he has never seen a fire quite like this. it is unprecedented how fast it spread. how widely it spread. how it tore into these residential communities. the blaze, though, it is now shifted east away from the major population centers. so people are just now getting a look at the devastation. 10% of the city is completely wiped out. the infrastructure itself is devastated. no power, no gas, no water at all. so because of that, officials are now telling people that it will be at least two weeks until they can even let them know when they'll be able to get back to their homes. alberta's head official, though, telling people scattered in shelters all over the province, including edmonton, it is a home

they'll in fact they'll return to. john. >> thanks so much, jessica. so where in the world is jon stewart? so many people wondering what would he have to say about this presidential race since he went off the air last august. now we know. he spoke pretty candidly on david axelrod's show. he did not hold back. listen. >> i don't know that donald trump is eligible to be president. and that's not a birther thing. that's -- i don't know, look, i'm not a constitutional scholar. i can't necessarily say. but can you -- are you eligible to run if you're man baby? a baby man? see, i don't know what the -- look, i don't know, and again, i'm not here to be politically incorrect. if they're referred to as man baby americans, but he is a man

baby. he has the physical countness of a man and a baby's temmermepera and hands. so to have that together -- i do have a history with the man, and so in an effort of full disclosure, we made fun of him, and i think we referred to him as i boiled ham in a wig or something. who knows. and so he tweeted at me, because as you know, great leaders tweet late at night. in fact, i remember lincoln's get gettysburg speech. he tweeted out emancepate this, believe believe.

>> i would very surprised if he doesn't hear from mr. trump and soon. >> he wants to be in the frame and he walked away from his show. >> of course, this is like this stuff dreams are made of for guys like jon stewart. >> we see he gave up shaving. >> him and letterman as well. >> there you go. the odds may be stacked against him, but bernie sanders says he is in it to win it. his campaign manager joins us live, next. ♪ (woman) one year ago today mom started searching for her words.

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don't let anybody tell you this campaign is over. we're going to fight for the last vote we can find in new jersey and california. >> that was bernie sanders, sounding like yogi beara. even if he beats hillary clinton in west virginia, so what is the path forward? campaign manager jeff weaver joining us now. >> good morning, how are you? >> doing well. if bernie beats hillary in west virginia, as expected to do today, and on may 17th, he beats her in oregon, as the numbers suggest he will, and let's say he does really well in california, he still doesn't get to the delegate math to win. so what is the plan? >> well, alisyn, the truth is neither candidate will get to the convention with the

requisite number of pledged delegates to win. it will be up to the super delegates when we get to philadelphia, and if you look at the quinnipiac polls that you have been showing this morning on your program, there is some real concern out there about whether hillary clinton can in fact beat donald trump. those three battle ground polls are showing every case bernie sanders does much better than secretary clinton. in fact, she loses to trump in ohio. she basically is tied in florida, and pennsylvania. this is a really dangerous situation for democrats. >> if it comes down to the super delegates, as you're saying, by the math that we're looking at, he would, bernie, would need to win all of the uncommitted super delegated, plus sway 200 of clinton's super delegates to him. so how does that work? >> well, look, if he come into the convention with a substantial momentum from having won the vast majority of the states going forward, if he has closed the pledged delegate lead that the secretary has, if the

polling that we see today continues to show that nominating hillary clinton potentially puts donald trump in the white house, i think super delegate also have to think long and hard. >> ywe know you've been talking to super delegates. have any switched? >> we've had conversations. we get calls from super delegates, including clinton super delegates. the conversations are ongoing. we'll see where it stands at the end of the voting. if the senator has a lot of momentum, a lot of super delegates will take another look. >> but thus far, none have publicly switched? >> no public switching, right, yes. >> okay, as you know, former mexican president, vicente fox has things to say about donald trump. he used profane language when talking about building the wall. just this morning, there was a

podcast released in which vicente fox brought up bernie sanders. let me play that for you. >> we unfortunately were in hands of dictators and authority government. wake up, america. the proposals of this false prophet, because what we see today in the united states is incredible. it is what we saw in latin america throughout the 20th century. >> you're referring to donald trump? >> to bernie. >> i mean, he is saying, he is using the term false prophet. like innining him to dictators. >> he is a right wing from mexico. everybody knows that. the person in the race who is out there to defend american democracy, to create an economy, to end corrupt finance system, that's bernie sanders. and you know, right wing

foreigners, you know, you could take that for what it's worth. >> jeff, last, if bernie sanders doesn't make it to the magic number and if it doesn't go his way at the convention as is your plan, then what does bernie sanders want? what do you imagine the future of him being in the party? >> well, look, win or lose, you know, bernie sanders has already transformed the party. certainly, he has dominated the discussion here in this presidential race. i mean, the issues being talked about in the process are the issues that bernie sanders brought to it. and he is going to continue to be a leader for working families and middle class people across the country. win, lose or draw. that's his role going forward. >> what do you think will happen today in west virginia? >> well, i left my crystal ball back at the hotel, but. >> sometimes you give us a prediction. >> i think the senator will do well in west virginia. >> jeff weaver, thank you so much for being on "new day." we'll talk to you soon. so from sanders to trump. trump is now getting ready for

the high stakes meeting with paul ryan. what do they want going into it, what do they hope coming out of it? we have a trump supporter joining us next. inside scoop. with available virtual cockpit. ♪

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presumptive nominee for the gop, donald trump, preparing for a big meeting thursday with house speaker paul ryan and senate republican leaders. what is the situation going in? what do we hope for coming out in we're donald trump's perspective. wisconsin congressman joining us now. always a pleasure. >> thank you. >> you know paul ryan. where do you believe his head is right now? is it fairly reported that he doesn't know if he is ready for donald trump or not? >> well, paul ryan is an honest guy. he shoots straight with everybody. what he says he means. but you have to understand, you know, paul ryan has been in congress since he was 28 years old. working on policy to help grow our oh economy, keep us strong overseas. i think paul ryan wants to make sure donald trump buys into the

issues and the policies that we've been working on in the house. i don't know that he feels secure with that yet. and so this is a great opportunity for the two of them to sit down, have a face-to-face meeting, have a conversation about where paul ryan and the house republicans want to take the country. where does donald trump want to take the country. and can they come to some agreement and some vision where they want to go. if that happens, i think you'll see paul ryan get on board. >> why do you think speaker ryan said hey, if he wants me to step down, i will. >> listen, paul ryan, this is not the dream job to be the chair of the convention. he is the speaker. he understands as a former vice-presidential nominee that our nominee gets to make the decision. he is not going fight to keep the gavel. if donald trump wants to make that choice, so be it. why fight about the convention gavel. this is more about policy. in the end, i think after this meeting, listen, i haven't talked to paul about this, and what he expects, but i think in the end, there will be a

unifying moment coming out of the moment and you'll see more conservatives -- >> you don't think it will be incremental. >> with paul ryan, i think it will be on thursday. i think it will be a good meeting. >> do you think this will matter, it won't be we need to talk more? they'll come out with something to say? >> i think the meeting will matter. some have written on the conservative side that a loss in november is a win for the conservative movement. i disagree with that. if you look at how barack obama has subverted the constitution, how he has skirted the congregation, and hillary clinton has learned from that over the last eight years, if she actually has learned from obama and does what he has done, you're going to have a neutered congress, number one. a liberal court. i don't think it's a win. this election is important for conservatives, especially if donald trump -- >> understood. the court we don't know. we don't know which way he'll --

face value. >> fiscal policy side, we don't like that obama has gone around the congress is what you say. >> right. >> do you have any concerns about trump on that? when he talks about trade deals, he said i'll negotiate better ones. what will you do to companies that don't return the jobs, i'll put a tariff or tax on them. that's jyour job. are you worried about that? we don't have to worry about defaults, we print the money. >> we give the power to the president to negotiate, but congress confirms that. i think this might be a little bit of a misunderstanding on the part of donald trump. again, he has been a developer here in new york. he hasn't spent his time in congress. so i think how the process works, he may be a little naïve to that but when you talk about growing the economy, putting people back to work, he has been masterful talking to the middle class, growing voters in the primary. so i think in the end, he would be a partner with us. i don't think he'll skirt us.

by the way, if you have two people that will skirt congress, hillary clinton and donald trump, i don't think donald trump would do it, i would rather have donald trump there, who is at least a right of center guy, as opposed to a far left liberal. >> mo concern if he comes to you, you know what, this debt thing, i'm getting beaten over the head with it, i'm tired of it. let's tell china we're not paying. we'll push back. i do this all the time, trust me, duffy. >> that's not going happen. >> he just said it. we can get creditors to take less. >> he clarified that. if interest rates rise, bonds fall, could we revis that debt. he is into the going to default on the american debt. he understands what that would do to the american economy. >> i get where his head is. i get the business rationale very well. i'm wondering to a conservative, those types of things, someone says we'll print more money, you guys hate that idea. >> absolutely. but he said they can print more

money, not they will. you have be clear on what he is saying. >> so you see it as suggestions, not mandates. >> he didn't say you won't default, print money, he is not saying that's what we should do. if you lower taxes, great conversation about taxes, but if you grow the economy, put more people back to work, you have more tax revenue coming in and address the debt. and that's a big part of the plan. >> quickly, you care about puerto rico and going on with debt there. >> puerto rico is having a humanitarian crisis. what we want do is in congress, drop a bill this week, a control board that can help the island manage their finances number one. number two, a form in which the bondholders can restructure their debt, but the key to a lot of the viewers, this will not be a taxpayer bail out for puerto rico. we can implement policies, and have more opportunity for the puerto ri puerto rican people live in

poverty. >> keep us on the loof on that. thank you for dealing with the concerns about conservatives what has been coming out of trump and making the case for him. >> thank you, chris. >> see you soon. remember when you heard when russia was pulling out of syria, remember when rush sa said that would happen. forget it. our cameras capture aid much different story on the ground. dramatic cnn exclusive report, that's next. make sure it's an intelligent one. ♪ the all-new audi a4, with available virtual cockpit. ♪ you can fly across welcome town in minutes16, or across the globe in under an hour. whole communities are living on mars and solar satellites provide earth with unlimited clean power. in less than a century, boeing took the world from seaplanes

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kind of like this look. i'm calling it the "name your price tool" phase. whatever. this morning, cnn has an exclusive inside look at the civil war raging is syria. in march, russia said they would withdraw. found a very different picture on the ground. fred. >> reporter: hi, good morning, john. it was really interesting to see. it seems the russians have taken some of their combat jets out of syria, but at the same time, it appears as they they've moved a lot of hardware in. they have a lot of troops on the ground, fighting vehicles on the ground and antiaircraft weapons. here is what we saw. this is the russian intervention

the world has come to know. but russia's footprint in syria seems to be far bigger than just combat jets. there are thousands of troops stationed at its main air base, disciplined and highly motivated. we caught up with this first lieutenant during his boxing practice. i'm glad to serve my country, he says, what is there to be afraid of in syria. the west has criticized russia, saying it targets moderate, russians claiming they bomb only isis and other terrorists groups. while moscow says it has withdrawn, what we saw is several basis in western and central syria, with a variety of attack helicopters. also, a brand new base in palmy palmyra, and even antiaircraft missile systems.

on top of its own assets, the military spokesman says his forces cooperate with the troops. we receive a great deal of information from the syrian general staff, he says, they are on the ground and close to the rebels as for the technical cooperation, of course, we help them as well. none of this seems to indicate a full russian withdrawal from syria any time soon. and for many in the government held part of damascus, that's just fine. violence still rages in most of the country. reconciliation seems nowhere in sight and no end to the conflict. >> as you can see, a lot of sophisticated russian equipment on the ground. more than most people would have thought. but the thing that also really surprised us was the ease with which the russians are able to move through syria. it really doesn't look as though

they're full-fledged partner of assad. >> not in the immediate news cycle. . big part of election, dealing with the war of words, but following up on what matters. whether it's hillary clinton, with wall street speeches, whether they'll be released. we stay on that. donald trump, now, you remember back when fox had the debate and he skipped it, because he said he would raise money for vets, raised over $6 million, vowed to donate it to various groups. there was questions, then and there are questions now about where that money went. cnn investigative correspondent, drew griffin, doing digging on this once again, had trump's campaign manager on recently. asked him if they would help with this. he says the money is accounted for. we've given all that and then some. it will be delivered over to the media. what did you find?

>> i found the same thing you found, chris. a lot of promises from the trump campaign where the money went but not a lot of answers. it just shouldn't be that hard. number one, in the big scheme of things, it is not that much money, the accounting is not that difficult to do. independently, we've tried to go around the trump campaign, asked these veterans groups what kind of money they got or were promised. very few of them, though, chris have been willing to talk to us at all, let alone confirm what they got. so here is what we have in terms of accounting for the $6 million, all according to the trump campaign as of their last accounting. $2.9 million has been distributed, according to trump's campaign, to 27 different veterans groups, $1 million donated personally by donald trump himself. but that leaves $3.1 million, or roughly half of the money, yet to be accounted for. despite those promises, we still

don't have an accounting. >> let's give benefit of the doubt here. what could unaccounted for mean? could it mean that people pledged, and then didn't put up? does it mean money was distributed, they're just not sure where? is there any good explanation? >> i don't see a good explanation. we should say that money has been distributed. and veterans groups that would talk to us were very appreciative of the money that was donated to them. but we've got $6 million, half of it accounted for, half of it not. we've been asking for four months now from this campaign where did it go. we asked this of charities all across the nation, as you know, chris, it's not hard to do. so we're just asking again. trump campaign, please tell us where the money is, where it's going. >> it matters. it matters because it involves veterans and about to follow-through of the campaign. drew griffin, thank you for doing the work. >> thanks, chris. all right, alisyn, over to you. chris, donald trump now publicly fietdighting with a pr

meant evangelical leader. that could cost him so votes, or not. we'll talk to the man who is trump's target, next. ♪ (woman) one year ago today mom started searching for her words.

and my brother ray and i started searching for answers. (vo) when it's time to navigate in-home care, follow that bright star. because brightstar care earns the same accreditation as the best hospitals. and brightstar care means an rn will customize a plan that evolves with mom's changing needs. (woman) because dad made us promise we'd keep mom at home. (vo) call 844-4-brightstar for your free home care planning guide. what we have in the donald trump phenomenon as well as hillary clinton is an embrace to the moral and cultural deco dance, reality television, moral

sewage, coming through all over the culture. >> well, that's prominent southern baptist leader, russell moore how he sees the phenomenon. calling moore a quote, terrible leader, and all of the good they stand for, a nasty guy with no heart. russell moore is the president of the southern baptist ethics. joining us now, dr. moore, thank you for being here. >> great to be you. thanks for having me. >> when donald trump calls you a nasty guy with no heart, how does that make you feel? >> it didn't bother me at all. i've been called much worse over my life and time in ministry, and it didn't bother me at all. what does kind of bother me is we have a presidential campaign operating at this level. this is frankly very mild, compared to what donald trump has done. i mean, didn't accuse my dad of participating in the jfk assassination, so i guess that's a win. when we look at this, i told my

wife, if my dentist were acting this crazy, i would slip out of the chair and go to the car, and she just has a drill. now the nuclear arsenal. so i think there are many people in the country just look around and see someone who is going to be sitting in the seat potentially of abraham lincoln, acting in these bizarre and erratic ways. it is disturbing. >> well, you've made your opinion of donald trump well-known. you published this op ed on friday in the new york times. let me read a passage. it has cast light on bigotry all over the country. after america religious minorities are scapegoated for the sins of others, with basic religious freedoms for them called into question. i know you're talking about donald trump here, but what are you saying about the millions of

people who support him? he has gotten more than 10 million votes. are you saying that everyone who supported him is giving in to racism and big ogletrotry. >> many of these movements, when we look back on them, we see a dark and ugly underside to them. i'm not really all that concerned, relatively speaking, about who is up and who is down in terms of the political process. i'm more concerned with the witness of the church of jesus christ, coming into 2017 and beyond. are we going to be the people who are going to live up consistently to what we believe that god has revealed about what it means to be a virtous people, what it means to be to people to stand up to the vulner banls, people being mistreated. we have a presidential election campaign so far this year that

has been filled with the most raw massoc onliny, along with calls for violations of religious liberty, and so many other things that i think ought to give us a great deal of concern. that's true on both sides. i mean, we have donald trump, who is bringing his brand of carto cartoonish actions, but we also have hillary clinton who is calling for a radical vision of america that is in many ways culturally and socially at least to the left of barack obama. >> okay, so we -- >> as we go into election 2016 we've lost no matter what. >> let's talk about that. what will ee vvangelicals do? >> i hear from lots of

evangelicals mean that god is judging america, we've been put in a place with these options in front of us. so i think you're going to have evangelicals doing different things. some are going to follow the old standard procedures of just picking a lesser of two evils and choosing that person, but even then, i think with very little enthusiasm. you're going to have lots of other evangelicals who are going to consider a third party options or write in a candidate, or simply conscientiously object to that. because we're people taught that you cannot do evil. >> how do you explain the support for donald trump from some of your fellow evangelicals pastor robert jeffreys, mike huckabee, jerry falwell, jr. >> one stripe of evangelical that has always been drawn to this sort of character, and

there is a vein of religious life in many ways, donald trump is kind of a 1980s television evangilist, and we have a lot of people angry with not seeing results in wash tooington and s down the whole process. >> dr. russell moore, thanks so much for being here and sharing your feelings on this race. >> thank you. the good stuff, next. i'm going 100 miles per hour. a branch catches me here. you think that stopped me? i was about to be the first 3rd grader to jump the cook county creek. jump 50 feet over the rapids and i crash land. mom patched me up.

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go ahead, embrace those beautiful moments. flonase changes everything. you by new flonase allergy relief. you are greater than your allergies. we need the good stuff. and here it is. justin snyder on a chicago train comes to a halt. he asks the conductor, what's going on. >> when he had opened up his door and i could see again that he was distraught, was tearing up a little bit. i asked him, are you okay, and he just kept saying oh, my god. >> the conductor thought they had a jumper. he was partly right. someone had fallen into the tracks, trapped under the train. so the man on your screen, jumped into the action. i noticed people out on the platform, they weren't -- they were just standing around on their phone. >> could you guys make sure, keep this area clear.

>> jumped into action, the 19-year-old woman, rescued, thanks to justin. no life threatening injuries. and some insight here. you know where justin was headed. put it this way, it gave him some reason to help someone want to stay alive. >> i lost a good friend of mine. i'm on his way to his funeral. >> funeral to his friend, stopped on the way to save a life. >> thank goodness for that guy. thank you, chris. time now for newsroom with pamela brown, in for carol costello. >> thank you tore tle the three you. i'll take it from here. newsroom starts now. happening now in the newsroom, voters in two states heading to the polls as donald trump gets ready to head to washington. can he smooth things over with party leaders? meanwhile, hillary clinton dodging the front-runner's attacks. >> i am