ahead of trump's visit to the hill tomorrow. we are monitoring both of those for you. but first some late-night primary results to tell you about. donald trump wins contests that were virtually uncontested in nebraska and west virginia. democrats competed in one state, west virginia. there bernie sanders picks up his 19th primary win against hillary clinton. the vermont senator steam rolled the front-runner by 15 points there, but the win does very little to cut into clinton's sizeable delegate lead. clinton also snagged delegates last night, so many in fact she's now 150 delegates away from officially clinching the nomination. that cording to our political team, she could, could being the operative word here, hit that magic number next week after contests in kentucky and oregon. nonetheless, sanders insists he is staying put and campaigning until the end. >> this is a state, west

virginia, where hillary clinton won by over 40 points against barack obama in 2008. and let me be as clear as i can be. we are in this campaign to win the democratic nomination. >> bernie sanders last night there in oregon and again right now we're watching and waiting for those two new conferences that could start any moment. but let's get to the republicans and that crucial meeting that's going to happen tomorrow. our political team covering all angles of this. jacob rascon outside trump tower in new york. jacob, this meeting continues to dominate the headlines, but we've also learned that donald trump insists he is not going to be releasing these tax returns until before the election. telling that to the associated press yesterday. what more can you tell us about that? >> reporter: so he's been back and forth on this tax issue saying all along that he wants to wait until the audit is

finished. to chuck todd he said on sunday that he was hoping he'd like to do that before the election, but in this new interview, he says he doesn't believe it will happen before november and adding there's nothing to learn from them and he doesn't think voters are interested. so he's changing his tune, saying he doesn't believe there's anything there but all along saying he's not going to release his taxes until the audit is done. simply saying he doesn't believe the audit will be finished before november. we'll wait and see if that truly is the case. meanwhile talk about this meeting. we've now confirmed with a source close to the trump campaign that ben carson, a top trump surrogate, did speak on the phone with paul ryan last night. he said that they talked about substantive issues and thinks that the trump-ryan meeting will go very well. of course he will say that. meanwhile, trump himself has nothing but praise in making the rounds on the media talking about paul ryan, not choosing to

give him a nickname or anything like his other enemies, nothing but praise as you'll hear here. >> he's a very good man. he wants what's good for the party and i think we're going to have very positive results. i'd love, frankly, for him to stay and be chairman. >> so you think -- and i know you have to say this -- that he's going to fall into line, endorse you, he'll be at the convention and everything will be fine. >> i don't think fall into line is the right words, though. i think he loves this party, he loves this country and he wants to see something good happen. i think we're going to do better if we're unified. >> so for his part paul ryan said he believes this will be a process and first step in getting to know donald trump. donald trump himself said he has no idea what they're going to talk about. but ben carson, he says we talked about the big issues, referring to his call with ryan last night. i think they're going to have a very, very substantive and good

meeting. i suspect that after this meeting between ryan and paul that they'll feel much closer. we'll see if that happens. >> jacob rascon, thank you. let's get to luke russert who's on capitol hill. a quick reminder here, speaker ryan, we understand, about to make his way to the podium, luke, so if i have to interrupt you, i apologize in advance. let's talk about this meeting. what is it that speaker ryan precisely wants out of this thing tomorrow? >> good morning, craig. the house republican conference just met behind me this morning. donald trump was undoubtedly on the agenda as well as what they're going to pursue policywise for the remainder of this year. paul ryan's desire is always to run a parallel campaign next to the presidential process, trying to show that the republican party is more than donald trump. essentially that he believes in upward mobility, a more inclusive party, one that is not going to be waged down in demagoguery as one member said to me.

i think what you're starting to see from paul ryan is he wants to get some sort of guarantee from donald trump or perhaps some sort of concession from donald trump that he is going to uphold conservative principles, but also be willing to listen to the house republican conference. i spoke to a lot of members who came out of this meeting, craig, and there was two breaks. one break was the ideological purity break. a lot of conservatives don't trust donald trump. they think he's too flexible on a lot of important core conservative issues, such as abortion, such as foreign policy and being a hawk, such as tax policy. then you have another break, which is a lot of house republican members feel that donald trump is not well versed enough in policy. that he's not smart enough to be president. he doesn't know what he's doing. and then there's a lot of folks within that camp that say, wait, wait, wait, latinos are the fastest growing voting demographic in the united states and we're going to nominate someone who says that mexicans are rapists, that's calling for

a ban on muslims? so there's a lot of worry in that camp. ryan has to figure out a way to bring these conservatives who are concerned about purity, these more moderate members of his conference that don't like trump's incendiary comments and don't think he's qualified to be president and bring their concerns to trump and say what can you do to try and make sure that these two groups can get behind you for the nomination? and i don't think it's going to happen this week. i think it will be an arduous process. one thing we have seen is donald trump is not a patient man. so if ryan says i'm not quite ready to go all in on you and also preserves his own future a little bit, what a dynamic that will be heading into november because usually the speaker of the party of the nominee, they're quite tight. >> and, you know, you mentioned ideological purity here. let's talk about just a few of the things that these two guys don't have in common with regards to policy. trade. i mean speaker ryan in the past has been fairly open to free trade.

i mean he's indicated or at least acknowledged that he doesn't have the votes for tpp but in the past said he's open to free trade. he's opposed at least in the past speaker ryan has been opposed to raising the minimum wage. but on other issues, other policy issues, where are these two men divided, luke? >> i think trade is very important. i think tax policy is very important. i think foreign policy is very important that you brought up. i think the biggest difference, though, craig, is just how they fundamentally treat people. paul ryan is a very sober-minded, serious guy. he likes to backslap, he's friendly, he believes in honesty, he believes in being sincere. donald trump has shown that he's willing to say anything to insult people, poke fun at the

handicapped, a reporter, to move forward in an election. that stuff from conversation people close to ryan really gets under his skin. ryan doesn't like bullies. so when ryan seize this bombastic guy who is not well versed in policy and i would venture to guess and speculate ryan believes is not qualified at the level needed to move forward, it's hard for him, it's hard for him. i think that he's been trapped. i think that if he was able to be who he wanted to be, he would probably have gotten behind the never trump movement at an earlier moment. unfortunately the realities of being the speaker is you have to be all things to all people within the republican party and within the republican branch and you cannot do that. but these two men just with their temperament, what they value, it's oil and water. i spoke to one person close to ryan that mentioned the fact that paul ryan is a father of a daughter. and he's been uncomfortable with a lot of the stuff that has been

said. paul ryan also, during the course of this campaign, craig, he spoke out publicly against donald trump when he said there should be a ban on muslims coming into the country. he was al-- those things got unr the skin of paul ryan because his whole thing was growing the party. he wanted to do immigration reform. wasn't able to do that. he wants to move the republican party into the future, upward mobility, a nice, positive message. that is very far from the message that donald trump says on the campaign stump, as you know. >> do stand by for me. i want to come back to you in just a bit. i also want to bring in former spokesman for the ted cruz presidential campaign, rick tyler. rick, we are waiting on this house republican conference meeting, we're waiting to hear from speaker ryan on the hill. we just heard from luke about some of the policy differences. you also look at entitlement reform. paul ryan's famous budget at

this point called for among other things reforming entitlements, cutting entitlements, especially social security. we've heard from donald trump on more than one occasion that he doesn't want to touch social security. that these entitlements should remain unchanged. how do you bridge those kinds of policy chasms, rick tyler? >> well, it's going to be tough. paul ryan has always been a policy guy, and he understands on a really deep level the intricacies of the economy. what he also believed is that you could communicate a conservatism that would be popular, that people would understand. and that it's rooted in the idea that we're 4% of the world's population, we create about a third of the world's growth. there's a reason for that and it has to do with free market economics and free trade. now the trump campaign and donald trump himself is

espousing an anti-trade, isolationism type of policy. >> rick, stand by for me. we want to get to house minority leader nancy pelosi on the hill right now. let's listen in. >> rhetoric on the campaign trail but year after year, republicans have enthusiastically turned their intolerance and their discrimination into legislation. as our video shows that you'll see in a moment, whether it's insulting president obama, women, immigrants, muslims, lgbt americans, there's not a dime's worth of difference between what donald trump says what the house republicans have been saying all along. >> we believe we need to go back to surveillance of mosques. >> absolutely. absolutely.

>> you testified back in '99 and 2000 for the state department that he thought that they were controlled by radical imams. >> we obviously didn't have an advanced copy of that video but you just heard house minority leader nancy pelosi saying there's not a dime's worth of difference between donald trump and house republicans. went on to call the whole lot of them intolerant and talked about discrimination as well. what we probably just got there, of course, was a preview of more of what we are going to see from hillary clinton and others as they run against donald trump and the gop here in november. again right now we are waiting on speaker ryan to enter the room and also address the meeting tomorrow. rick tyler still standing by for me? are you still there? >> i'm here, craig. >> if you want to pick up on your last thought, that's fine, but i also wanted to get your take on this tax stuff that

donald trump again insisting that he is not going to be releasing his taxes before the election in november. how unprecedented is that? >> well, it's a real -- i think it's a real problem with donald trump because he has said all along that he had intended to self-fund his campaign. now he's reversing that. it seems obvious to me that he wouldn't have the liquidity to fund his campaign. he's also, to paul manafort's point, which is a good point, he needs to raise money for the republican party up and down the ticket, but he doesn't seem to be interested in that aspect of it. it doesn't feel like donald trump is the head of a ticket, it feels like donald trump is the head of donald trump and that there's a steep dropoff. you can see it in the way he treats the party and even paul ryan, who didn't immediately embrace donald trump. i think a lot of that was mishandled, because they really do need to get together. if not ideologically unified, at

least not sniping at each other. it is important the republican party have some semblance of unity if they expect to win in the fall. >> picking up on luke's point, do you think that if paul ryan weren't the speaker of the house that he would be one of the faces of the stop trump movement? do you think they are that ideologically opposed? >> no. what i know of paul ryan, i don't think that he would be a member of the stop trump movement. i think paul represents sort of this intellectual conservatism. he's sort of the accidental speaker. he didn't want to be speaker, he ended up speaker. he has a lot of respect on capitol hill. he's brilliant, he's smart, he knows the economy very well, and he's also an articulate voice for economic conservatism, that is why free markets work, why conservative principles and policies with regard to the economy actually work and there are really very few in the republican party who understand how to talk about free market economics and how to talk about

conservatism in a way that's popular with the people. and in the absence of that, donald trump has come in with basically almost a protectionist, nationalistic platform, anti-trade, anti-immigration. that's not the way the republican party has been represented. and i understand why donald trump is so popular with, you know, white working class voters who have just been hammered over the last eight plus years, not getting ahead, but donald trump could have won those people and in fact mitt romney, if he had just won 3% more of the white vote, he would have beat barack obama. that is a path forward for donald trump. however, he has done it in a way that has just alienated so many other people, including women and muslims and hispanics and african-americans and young people. and that is not -- that's going to be very difficult and that's what paul ryan wants to avoid. he doesn't want that on his republican party. he's got to get his hundreds of members re-elected so he remains

speaker. >> again, bottom of your screen, we just took it away, bottom of your screen you had democratic leaders, nancy pelosi and it looked like we just saw democratic assistant leader steny hoyer take the podium there. they are talking about the gop agenda. they are wasting no time connecting house republicans to the new face of the republican party, donald trump. they showed a video there a few moments ago. i am sure we will be getting a copy of that video, if we don't already have one in our inbox. when we do, we will of course pass that along to you. meanwhile, we continue to wait for the aforementioned house speaker paul ryan to come into the room to take some questions from reporters. lots of those questions certainly will be about that big meeting tomorrow between paul ryan and donald trump. rick, one of the things we enjoyed doing here on election night after the poll results come in is taking a deep dive

into some of the exit polling and we did that last night. luke, i want to bring you back into the conversation in just a moment here. rick, on the question of evangelicals, and of course evangelical voters, your former boss's bread and butter. they have made up half of the gop electorate so far according to our exit polling. roughly 48% of all republican voters so far say that they are evangelical. donald trump, as you know, not somebody that you might think would quickly identify, would readily identify with that group. recently got into it with russell moore, one of the top leaders in the southern baptist convention. moore calling trump's reality and tv background moral sewage. trump responds with this tweet. and i think we have this tweet for our viewers. says that moore is, quote, a nasty guy with no heart and that he's a terrible representative of evangelicals.

so he's got this back and forth going on. he's been married, as you know, twice. 2 corinthians, we all know that famous exchange there at liberty university. has something changed with evangelical voters in this country, rick? >> you know, i don't know, craig. i think about this issue a lot. evangelicals and the church at large, right, the church is full of sinners, that's why they're there. they're not there because they are somehow pious or holier than thou. they often get painted that way. sometimes there are evangelical leaders and other leaders that go out that make the evangelical movement or the church look like they're a bunch of holy rollers holier than thou, tea totalers and they're not. if you go in these churches, the reason they're there is they know they do wrong in their daily lives and want to make it right. now, donald trump had an authenticity that appealed to them. they also have a lot of

crossover. they're the same white middle class voters who are getting hammered by the economy. there's also the aspect i would divide it. it seems that the church-going evangelicals more voted for cruz than the ones who were probably more secular than anything else did vote for trump, so you can have self-identified evangelicals who don't actually go to church just because their family went to church. >> let's listen in just a bit here. again, for our viewers at home, bottom right, that's assistant democratic leader jim clyburn from south carolina, he is talking about the house democratic position on the gop agenda. also they spent some time talking about donald trump as well. on the main screen here, and this is something we should note happens weekly when congress is in session, there's just renewed interest this week of course ahead of tomorrow's big meeting. typically you'll have the republican leadership speak. kevin mccarthy will speak and then house speaker paul ryan usually brings up the rear. he'll address the media and will

take some questions as well. let's listen in just a bit on this weekly press conference, the gop press conference. >> a mom in indianapolis lost her son to an opioid overdose. he had been a high school senior at 18 years old, football player, great young guy. he got hooked on heroin. by age 20, he had lost his life. this is after he had been in treatment, recovery. she stood boy him, she worked with him, but he lost his life to a heroin overdose at age 20. so she started an organization called overdose lifeline because she said she needed to do it until the dying stops. and the dying is happening every hour, every day, all across this country. so she's starting an organization, overdose lifeline, that focuses on providing -- raising funds for first responders. it's police week later this week and our first responders day in and day out are saving lives in

our neighborhoods and our communities and at our families' homes. i'm really pleased that the house is taking up more than a dozen bills focused, because so many members of congress feel so strongly about this. i'm proud to be leading a bill, hr 4641 which stocks about trying to change the culture in this country -- >> listening to house republican leaders talking a little bit about their agenda here. let's take a quick break and when we come back we'll hear from speaker paul ryan. a quick break. this is msnbc. we believe tomorrow starts today. all across the state, the economy is growing, with creative new business incentives, the lowest taxes in decades, and new infrastructure for a new generation attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in rochester, with world-class botox. and in buffalo, where medicine meets the future. let us help grow your company's tomorrow - today - at business.ny.gov

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we don't want to think about it. but i had to. because, you see i was traveling, i was enjoying life, i was working... it was too long since my last pap. when i was finally tested, we thought i might have cervical cancer. after worrying - no cancer. i was lucky. women... please get a pap test to check for cervical cancer. and get the inside knowledge about gynecologic cancers. for you and the people who care about you. right now the house leadership there on the hill holding their weekly news conference. we just heard from representative talking about the prescription drug epidemic in this country and some legislation aimed to treat that. but we are waiting on house speaker paul ryan. house speaker paul ryan expected to take the podium any moment

now. he is also expected to take questions from reporters as well. a number of those questions, of course, will be related to tomorrow's big meeting with donald trump and also probably questions related to the chasm that exists between speaker ryan and the new face of the republican party. so again we are going to keep our -- you know what, it actually looks like house speaker paul ryan is taking the podium. let's listen in now. >> i know some of you know about a meeting that is happening tomorrow. i'd like to talk to you about a meeting that i had yesterday. i met with the family of jason simkekowski. jason was born and raised in stevens point, wisconsin. after high school he entered the marines. he reached the rank of corporal. he was a son, he was a husband and he was a father to a precious little girl. two years ago, jason entered the va medical center to be treated

for anxiety. he never went home. under medical supervision or the appearance of it, he died of an overdose from opioid pain killers. we now know that jason's death could and should have been prevented. no one should seek help and receive mistreatment in return. no one. so jason's family pushed for reforms that will make the va improve its practices in the way it monitors prescriptions. yesterday the promise act passed the house. jason's family was there in the gallery to watch it. it is one of 18 initiatives that we are acting on to address the opioid epidemic that is sweeping across this country. you just heard about two others. many states have taken action. but this threat also requires a national response. so whether it is protecting infants, whether it is stopping kingpins or pushers or making better use of data, we are going

to take all of these ideas, pass them through the house, go into a conference committee with the senate and we intend to put a bill on the president's desk fast. this is not just about process. this is not just about legislation. this is about saving people's lives. it is about honoring those who are taken too soon. it is about honoring those who want a second chance, who need and deserve a second chance, and it's also about protecting the next generation, those of us who are raising that next generation care so deeply about this. that is what this week is about. >> as you heard from everyone here, addiction -- >> all right, that was house speaker paul ryan. presumably he is going to be coming back to the podium to take some questions. kevin mccarthy there at the podium now and my friend and colleague, luke russert, is standing by as well.

luke, let's talk a bit if we can about this opioid abuse bill that the speaker was just talking about here. we know, of course, that this is an epidemic that is ravaging large swaths of this country as we have this conversation. what more can you tell us about this bill and the likelihood that it becomes law and what it would do. >> well, craig, one, thank you for the question because i think people often forget that there still is policy going on on capitol hill when we get so wrapped up with the presidential political angle. this is something the senate and house have been working on quite some time what it is you mentioned what is an 'epidemic. what this bill would do specifically from my knowledge is that it would really not only up funding for treatment, it would really instruct local

communities about what the best options are moving forward. i think you heard about one type of medication that was mentioned in that press conference. you know, more public health departments outfitted with the anti-overdose types of medication that can help preserve and save lives, make that more mandatory, to really try and help communities figure out the best possible means to combat this. this is something that has been a bipartisan issue. there's, i believe, some slight differences between the senate and house bills that will be reconciled but this is something i suspect you will see done here on capitol hill and eventually moved over to president obama's desk, because of just how large scale this problem is. and this is, to give you a scheduling update, every week the house gop leadership, the morning after they come in, they have a meeting in the doors to my right and then they have a leadership press conference where they talk about whatever they want to talk about, usually what they're doing on the house floor, usually about impending legislation.

most of the time it doesn't have to do with the presidential politics until the speaker gets up and takes questions because usually the questions aren't about what the agenda on the floor is, it's about what's going on in the world outside of washington and the presidential campaign. so expect ryan to take those types of questions when the rest of the leadership is done speaking momentarily. >> and we heard the congressman from wisconsin all but acknowledge that most of the folks in the room were there to ask a question or two perhaps about the big meeting tomorrow between ryan and trump. our senior political editor, mark murray, as i understand it is also standing by for us down in washington, d.c. and again, mark, i apologize to you in advance as well if i have to cut you off but we do want to get back to the podium when speaker ryan returns and starts to take some questions, but let us if we can for a bit look ahead to this meeting tomorrow. and as jacob rascon pointed out

at the top of the hour, we have seen and heard a bit of a different tone from donald trump with regards to the speaker ahead of this meeting. what can we expect, mark, not to put you on the spot here but i guess to put you on the spot here, what can we expect coming out of this meeting tomorrow between trump and between paul ryan? >> yeah, craig, i think you set it up very well. tomorrow's meeting is going to be very important and important for the direction of the republican party, at least the next six months before the presidential campaign and maybe even afterward. and i think what we can expect is a very frank discussion. house speaker paul ryan yesterday gave an interview to "the wall street journal" and i wouldn't be surprised if he talks about it later in the press conference where he said we can't fake this type of unity. we need to actually bow unified as a republican party and we can't fake it. what ends up happening is you have irreconcilable differences between donald trump and paul ryan on fundamental issues, namely immigration.

donald trump's muslim ban, trade, entitlements, even the minimum wage, craig. and these aren't small matters of process or the means to get to an end, they are fundamental disagreements on political philosophy. so we are seeing this split within the republican party and a week has now gone by where paul ryan said i don't think i can endorse donald trump just yet. at this meeting i think you'll see what they can actually agree upon, what they might not agree upon and then, of course, if paul ryan says, yes, donald trump, i've endorsed you, now let's get on to the general election. tomorrow is very important and what comes out of it is going to be even more important than what paul ryan says going forward here. >> let's listen in now. it seems as if the speaker is taking questions from reporters. >> a lot of republican senators and house members say by your decision to withhold your endorsement of donald trump actually makes it harder for the party to unite.

are you concerned that by not endorsing trump your party will have a difficult time -- >> no, i think actually what we're trying to do is be as constructive as possible to have a real unification. i said this the other day. to pretend we're unified as a party after coming through a very bruising primary, which this ended like a week ago, to pretend we're unified actually actually unifying then we go into the fall at half strength. this election is too important to go into an election at half strength. that means we need a real unification of our party. look, after a tough primary, that's going to take some effort. we are committed to putting that effort in. i want to be a part of that unifying process so that we're at full strength this fall so we can win this election. we cannot afford to lose to election to hillary clinton, to pack the supreme court, to keep the liberal obama agenda going. we have to be at full strength so we can win this election and that is why we have to go through the actual effort and process of unifying. >> speaker ryan, you've been

very vocal in your differences on policy with donald trump. so what is it that you need to hear from him at some point to fully endorse him, and is there a situation in which -- >> these are conversations we're going to have. i don't really know him. i met him once in person in 2012. we had a very good conversation in march on the phone. we just need to get to know each other and we as a leadership team are enjoying the fact that we have a chance to meet with him. so i'd rather have a conversation in person than through the media, no offense. look, this is a big tent party. there is plenty of room for different policy disputes in this party. we come from different wings in the party. the goal is to unify the various wings around common principles so we can go forward unified. >> you spoke with ben carson, a top trump supporter, last night. what was mr. carson's message to you ahead of this meeting with

donald trump. >> first of all, ben carson is a great guy. he wants to be a force to help all the various wings of the republican party and conservative movement to come together and he's trying to play that constructive role. >> mr. speaker, at the meeting tomorrow can there be merged messages or do you see a possibility of two separate messages, a congressional gop message and a nominee's message. >> we've got a process we're just getting started. the last thing i'm going to do is say what the end of this process is going to be when we're just beginning this process. the point i'll make one more time is i really believe if we're going to be successful this fall, we have to unify our party. we have to go forward with a positive message that americans see that we have solutions to their problems. when seven out of ten americans don't like the path that this country is on and hillary clinton is basically promising to keep going down the same path, we have an obligation to merge and to unify around our common principles to offer this country a choice, a better way forward, and that's going to

take some party unification to do that. we just finished probably one of the most grueling primaries in modern history. it's going to take some work and that's the kind of work we're dedicated to doing. thank you. >> and there you have it. house speaker paul ryan taking a handful of questions about tomorrow's big meeting with donald trump, acknowledging that the primary process was a grueling one, saying it was one of the most grueling in modern political history. also saying that the party has a process. we heard the speaker talk about the gop having a big tent at least giving the impression, mark murray and luke russert, giving the impression that there is space under this tent for all koin kinds of folks with all kinds of views. luke, going back to your point before we heard from the speaker, it is hard to see how you make room in that tent for someone who has said, you know what, i'm not sure we should

touch entitlements. you know what, i'm not sure i'm open to this idea of free trade. you know what, i'm not sure we should go letting all muslims in this country. going to be very interesting to see how speaker paul ryan gets to this point at the end of the process with donald trump. >> i think what you saw from that press conference, craig, was the degree to which paul ryan is trapped right now. and he's trapped because trump is the presumptive nominee and he pretty much disagrees with a majority, i would say, of trump's positions because quite frankly he doesn't think he knows trump's positions because of how he flip-flops so much. he's also trapped because there are different factions within his house gop conference that have different types of issues with donald trump. conservatives don't think that he's pure enough. you have a lot of moderates who don't like his statements, as you mentioned, about banning z muslims and his statements about latinos. you have other members who just don't think he's well versed in

policy. so what ryan is doing is essentially biding time and saying, look, we need time to unify. we also need time to unify about what our message is going to be because our standard bearer doesn't necessarily have one. i think that's the real question. will donald trump have a conversation with folks like paul ryan, have a conversation with folks like michigan mcconnell and say, okay, i'll go with you on these types of policy prescriptions and maybe i won't backtrack on these. we'll have a platform, we'll have a common agenda. but if you look at what trump has done throughout the duration of this campaign, he moves around. he tells the room what they want to hear and he's used it very much to his advantage. and for policy wonks like ryan, that's a scary thing. one other thing i think we heard in that press conference is that ryan wants to see a clear decision for the american people. sort of hillary clinton is

representative of the last seven years, the obama administration, and they really want to have a choice. and the issue you see, while donald trump is certainly a vastly different choice from president obama or hillary clinton, they don't feel that he's necessarily a choice that is conservative or a republican choice. he's kind of an out there, an outlier, something else. and for ryan, who talks so much about a mandate election, i think the question is, is if donald trump were to win, would that be a mandate election? what's donald trump's first policy prescription? is it build a wall? because i can tell you right now, speaker ryan won't move on that. what is it? and i think that's the sort of lack of clarity that they're going to try to address in these meetings and see where they can go. but you tell me. i didn't read that as anything of a full-on endorsement of donald trump or his presidency or his campaign. >> he also didn't seem to be all that eager about taking questions about the meeting tomorrow either. mark murray, let me bring you in

here. one of the things that jumped out as well, positive message. we heard the speaker there just say that he's very much looking to hear from mr. trump some sort of positive message moving forward. also saying there's no way to fake the funk either, there's no need to pretend to be unified, he wants to make an effort at real unification. but this positive message, how would paul ryan and donald trump go about creating some sort of positive unification message? >> yeah, and, craig, i think that's the big riddle. you and luke were talking about it. i think it's probably to have a meeting and start talking about what they actually agree on and discard some of the disagreements and how they can cast the election as you don't want a third obama term and that hillary clinton would end up doing that. craig, i was really struck on the surface, paul ryan's remarks about donald trump and tomorrow's meeting were very

magnanimous. kind of bearing some of the disagreements that he might have. but what was totally striking was the fact that paul ryan saying we shouldn't pretend like we are unified. we had a very bitter primary season and we have a long time to go to heal this party. the reason that strikes me, craig, is we've actually seen a lot of tough primary elections in the past since i've been covering politics, the 2008 democrat race between barack obama and hillary clinton. you know, what paul ryan is doing is the equivalent of nancy pelosi saying even after hillary clinton dropped out, you know what, i'm not sure i can endorse this barack obama guy. we have to find out what we're unified about. the moment hillary clinton dropped out and endorsed barack obama, every single democrat got back on board. >> the differences between hillary clinton and barack obama paled in comparison to the differences between donald trump and 90% of the republican party. >> and, craig, i completely agree. i think that's why this is such a big moment here and these

disagreements are so profound. but what paul ryan was essentially saying is, hey, this is a normal process, we need to unify the party. what i'm just saying is that paul ryan, even taking a week to come to whether he can endorse donald trump is a significant deal. we did not hear john boehner say, hey, you know what, there's some things i might not like about mitt romney, i'm holding off on an endorsement. we are in uncharted waters right now, craig. this is a very big story and i'm not necessarily sure we'll have any type of resolution tomorrow. >> mark, real quickly, how real is the possibility that after this meeting tomorrow and maybe after a few more days of contemplation that speaker ryan emerges and he says, you know what, i may not be wild about everything, but donald trump is our guy. then do we see the likes of john mccain fall in line? then perhaps do we hear that

maybe the bushes have changed their minds about showing up? do we see paul ryan maybe as being the first domino to fall and then everyone else sort of using that as an excuse to fall in line and hold their nose and support donald trump? >> yeah, craig, i think what you're getting at, as we get closer and closer into the throes of a general election, people end up going to their party, their tribe, all the bitterness of the primary season fades away as time goes on. i don't think that whatever paul ryan ends up doing is going to affect the bush clan. i don't think it's going to affect mitt romney. i think he'll sit it out. the fact that you have these former republican presidents, a former republican presidential nominee not get on board of the donald trump train is so significant, regardless of what paul ryan does. i think luke russert put it really well. paul ryan is in a tough place. he basically continues to hold this position not endorsing donald trump and he risks the

wrath of a lot of republican voters who voted for trump being upset at him. it is a no-win situation. it is possible paul ryan comes on board but i don't think you'll see the mitt romneys or the bush clan get on board either tomorrow or october or november. >> mark murray, thank you as always. hallie jackson was inside that briefing room. before we get to hallie, i do want to note for our viewers at home, you saw a number of the speakers inside that conference room there wearing that big purple ribbon. we can tell you that the purple ribbon is in memory of victims of opioid abuse and the bulk of that news conference was devoted to legislation talking about efforts to curb opioid abuse in this country. we know that it's the leading cause of injury-related death for folks between 35 and 54 and a lot of conversation against the backdrop of what we are watching play out in chanhassen, minnesota, in the wake of prince's death as well. more on that a little bit later.

hallie jackson, you were inside the room there. i think a lot of folks thought that speaker ryan might take more questions about the meeting tomorrow. he took a handful. were there any questions that were asked afterwards that he answered or did he just get the heck out of there? >> well, he walked out, but his folks obviously are still talking about the meeting, talking about what they expect to see tomorrow. i want to touch on that point you just made, the opioid awareness. that is big picture of what the speaker has been trying to do. he came out and in that wry way acknowledged i know many of you are here about a meeting tomorrow but i want to talk about yesterday. his team is concerned with paul ryan's house agenda than they are at points with this trump meeting. so, for example, at the conference this morning with house members, the budget came up. they talked about some of the policy. trump did come up and sort of the political sphere towards the end of the meeting. i'm told that it was not a tense

meeting. they wouldn't characterize it that way. instead there was positive feedback for ryan coming out and talking about not being able to fully endorse trump just yet. on the policy issue, this is a question we were able to ask the speaker today. you heard him say that he believes that he and donald trump are simply in different wings of the republican party but that it is a big tent party. one of the questions has been how will trump commit to conservative principles if he does so tomorrow. this idea that speaker ryan, sources tell me and others want to see it, this idea of limited government, limiting executive yoe overreach. the other point ryan made is one on party unity. trump wants to be able to unify the party. he believes paul ryan is a good guy, that they can work together and have positive outcomes from this meeting, which is really just expected to be the first of many. the question is how does donald trump do that? when you talk with members here on capitol hill, there's some questions on where he stands on issues like immigration, like trade. these are questions that trump

will face in less than 24 hours from now, craig. >> we'll be very interested to see what comes out of that meeting some 24 hours from now. hallie jackson there on the hill, thanks. luke russert, big thanks to you and mark murray, thanks as well. another big win for bernie sanders, but hillary clinton inches even closer to the nomination, but make no mistake -- >> and let me be as clear as i can be. we are in this campaign to win the democratic nomination. >> momentum? maybe. math? not so much. how the democratic nomination fight could be finished next week. more on that, after this.

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bernie sanders is calling for unity among democrats, even as he continues to fight hillary clinton for the nomination, and even though his chances of winning that nomination are

slim, he may be having an impact on the party in another way. nbc news exit polling throughout the primary season reveals a democratic electorate that is moving sharply to the left. 62% now identify themselves as liberal. and that, that's a 16-point jump over the past eight years. nbc's chris jansing is in salem, oregon, for us this morning where sanders held a rally last night. chris, did the results last night in any way, shape or form change the trajectory of this thing at all? >> reporter: well, i guess it depends on which way you're looking at it because there's two things here, right, craig? there's math and there's momentum. let's start with the math and you sort of laid it out. he notches a double-digit win but only comes out five delegates ahead. and so when you look at the overall numbers, they haven't changed very significantly. and in fact when you look at the overall delegate count, hillary clinton now only needs 14% of the remaining overall delegates

to win the nomination, which means he needs 86%, although he will argue that if going forward, and i'm standing right now in fact in front of a motorcade that's about to leave oregon and make his way to montana, if he continues to win, then maybe as his pledged delegate count goes up, he can convince some of the superdelegates to turn over. but having said that, there is no doubt at all, and we heard this from him last night, that he is in this because he believes he can still win. take a listen. >> we are going to fight for every last vote in oregon, kentucky, california, the dakotas. now, we fully acknowledge we are good at arithmetic, that we have an uphill climb ahead of us. but we are used to fighting uphill climbs.

>> reporter: in fact, i was talking to his wife, jane sanders, yesterday, who is his closest advisor. when i mentioned the math to her, she kind of shrugged and said he won his first race by ten votes. we can do this. now, the other part of this is the momentum. he seems to have it. certainly hillary clinton now is being forced to fight on two fronts, right, against donald trump but also against bernie sanders. we reported yesterday that he's in, running ads in kentucky, something she didn't expect to do. he's running ads in kentucky as well. you pointed out a key point here, that he believes he is having an impact on the party already. for example, one in four voters, and i'm talking about across this race, craig, say that the most important issue to them is income inequality. of course that is the centerpiece of his campaign, craig. >> you have to wonder how many folks would be talking about income inequality had it not

been for the bernie sanders' campaign. >> reporter: this race is not boring. >> no, it is not. chris, thank you. safe travels as well. also a good time to know that bernie sanders will be andrea mitchell's guest roughly an hour and some change from now, noon eastern right here on msnbc. the latest polling shows hillary clinton with an overwhelming lead among latino and african-american voters in a head-to-head matchup with donald trump, and it is these voters, because of the dramatic demographic shift that's under way in this country, because of these voters could be all the difference come election day. our jacob soboroff is jake walking in south l.a. getting reaction from folks in the majority latino and african-american community of watts. what are folks telling you there? >> reporter: nobody is suggesting that california is necessarily in contention for donald trump, but if you look at this recent polling showing neck-in-neck contests in the swing states of ohio and florida

and pennsylvania, it is latino and african-american voters that could make all the difference. here donald trump says hispanics love me but we wanted to do a little bit of a reality check out here. if you come with me in watts, which has a storied history of involvement in this city, we talked to workers here at local, which is a restaurant, here is what the people here at local had to say. >> why is donald trump having so much trouble convincing people who are not white to support him? >> because of the stuff he's saying. >> and he's not on our side. trump is trying to take us through trials and tribulations. >> and why do you say that? what makes you think that? >> because we need help in los angeles, california. and the things that he doing, it's not cool. we already struggling. you see what i'm saying? so the things that he's doing, it's not cool. >> the way he talking is coming out negative. >> yeah, helping the community,

helping people get back on their feed. he's talking about sending people back to mexico and back to africa. that's not what we're talking about right now. >> a positive message. >> yes, not a negative. >> reporter: a positive message, craig, there you go. also important to know that in these polls that we've been seeing, some people have said the sample size is underrepresenting nonwhite voters so it reiterates the importance of this constituency come november. >> my favorite part of that jake walking segment was the gentleman who had no time for jacob soboroff. that man had to work and you were interrupting him. always good to see you. thank you, my friend, see you tomorrow here. we will see you here tomorrow. i'll also see you back here at 1:00. that wraps up this hour of msnbc live. we'll join you tomorrow from capitol hill. of course ahead of that big meeting between donald trump and paul ryan. meanwhile, tamron hall is up next.

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good morning, everyone. we begin with breaking news. the former south carolina police officer has been charged with murder in the death of an unarmed black man and now he's facing federal civil rights charges. the shooting in april last year captured national attention after cell phone video of the incident was released. officer michael slager was seen firing his weapon eight times as walter scott ran away following a traffic stop. the state charged slager with murder and he was fired from the north charleston police force. his trial is set to begin this fall but we have more now on these federal charges. pete williams joins us with the very latest. pete, what can you tell us? >> there are a couple of things that are notable about this, tamron. first of all, the charges have been filed just by itself is interesting because he's already been prosecuted in the state trial syst