described his view that the entire republican party including the presidential -- presumptive presidential nominee should rally behind the agenda that speaker ryan has put forward. i think the reason that he may be encountering some difficulty is that he's the speaker of the house. he should already be using the responsibility that he has to implement that agenda. and that is not at all what republicans have done. >> that is of course white house press secretary josh earnest reacting to today's breaking news out of washington. donald trump series of high stakes huddles with republicans. the next reaction that we will be hearing will come from senate democrats, expected to hold a news conference at any minute on capitol hill. we are waiting for that. we have a number of things that we are monitoring on this

thursday. donald trump preparing to depart for new york after his meetings in washington. that is his plane there on the tarmac. the most critical of the meetings for donald trump today of course was the one with house speaker paul ryan. it was a meeting that didn't produce a flatout endorsement. the speaker said he was encouraged by their conversation. >> i think we had a very encouraging meeting. look, it's no secret that donald trump and i have had our differences. we talked about those differences today. that's common knowledge. the question is what is it that we need to do to unify the republican party. >> so again we are waiting on that news conference from senate democrats. we want to kick things off with hallie jackson and luke russert both who were at capitol hill this morning as that meeting was under way.

now they are both at the capitol. hallie, you were there as paul ryan was talking to the media. he really did seem to stay on message, a message of positivity and one of looking forward, but we didn't hear a lot of substance about the meeting. >> reporter: and that was intentional from speaker ryan. he specifically did not want to get into what types of policy issues they had, even though he did acknowledge repeatedly the differences between himself and donald trump talking about the, quote, honest discussion they had about where they simply don't see eye to eye. you talk about the buzz words for speaker ryan, you're right. positivity, encouraging. we heard him say that at least ten times during that press conference, a signal that ryan is moving towards trump. it's not a full endorsement, at least not yet. and he also talked about the need for those core conservative principles. that is something that sources tell us has been very important

to paul ryan. i want you to listen to what he had to say just a couple hours ago here in the capitol. >> there are policy disputes that we will have. there's no two ways about it. plenty of republicans disagree with one another on policy disputes. but on core principles, those are the kinds of things we discussed. we believe in limited government. we believe in the constitution. we believe in the proper role of the differences in the separation of powers. we believe in things like life. i know not everyone is pro-choice in our party. but these are things that are important to us. so we just had a good exchange of views on these kinds of issues. >> reporter: there you hear paul ryan say broadly what he wants to hear from donald trump, these quote, unquote, principles that they were discussing. from the house leadership to the senate leadership to his legal

team over at the jones day law firm where we were last hour just a couple blocks from capitol hill, all of it making in some sense some incumbent republicans targets for democrats. we're starting to see that already. you mentioned josh earnest's comments just a couple minutes ago. but in senate races and congressional races where there are vulnerable gop incumbents coming in. >> i want to bring in luke russert. when we talk about the pressure on those down ballot races, how much more pressure did you get the sense there is today from some of the lawmakers you spoke with, how much more pressure is there to unite behind donald trump at this point after all the meetings we saw today and after what we're hearing? >> reporter: yeah, it's a good question, erika, because if you look at where paul ryan is right now, he really is kind of an

outlier in terms of the gop leadership. after that meeting, trump went over and met with mitch mcconnell who's on board, although it's not a full-on, warm, i'm going to go with you to all 50 states. i think that division's an important one to keep an eye on and what it means for the future of the republican party. when it comes to the party itself or the party doctorate, our own katy tur had the opportunity to talk to reince priebus, the chairman of the rnc. he is in a very comfortable place with donald trump. take a listen. >> reporter: a lot of reports that there is concern about donald trump flip-flopping on issues, being unpredictable. just yesterday he talked about enforcing this muslim ban. paul ryan has not supported that idea. was that discussed, did they come to an agreement on it? >> i'm not going to get into the specifics of what was discussed, only to say that it was -- it

only can be described as very positive and i think a first step toward the speaker and donald trump working together. >> reporter: is donald trump going to get in line with the republican platform as it stands now or are you going to have a new one come the convention? >> he's in line with the platform. there's never 100% unanimity in anything. most of us don't agree with our own spouses 100% of the time. we believe that. >> reporter: and the question will be, erika, do all republicans up for reelection believe that. i can tell you, though, a significant endorsement that trump got today that is not being widely discussed, the national republican congressional committee chairman greg waldon. he created speaker boehner and speaker ryan. he is now on board with donald trump because he wants the party

to be unified. >> as you said, we haven't heard as much about that. want to go back to hallie jackson. >> reporter: yeah, our senate producer just ran up. we have reaction from senator mitch mcconnell in that meeting at the nrsc with donald trump. mcconnell was asked by reporters if he had endorsed trump in this meeting. he said, i already have some time back. he says he thinks everybody felt it was quite good and he indicated already he's endorsed him earlier. he was asked what issues mcconnell and trump talked about. he said we talked about a variety of things both campaign related and issue related. this is some of the first reaction we're getting from that meeting with senate leadership. mitch mcconnell calling it quite good. yet another sign as we add to what luke has been reporting and katy from reince priebus, the

signal going out at least is that it was positive discussions moving forward. >> that is definitely the signal being put out there. also with us at this hour, adam. >> thanks, good to be here. >> you were not in any of these meetings today. you told a local station in chicago you're not going to support him until he changes his tone. have you had any contact, though, with some of your colleagues who did meet with him and what are they telling you about those meetings? >> people are keeping it pretty close to the vest. they don't want details of these meetings to leak out because then you can't have the frank discussions. according to paul ryan, they had a good discussion. it was constructive. i hope the speaker brought up things like the need for reforming social security and issues like foreign policy. i've spent six years out here

talking about the need for a strong american foreign policy. when you have our frontrunner out there saying vladimir putin is a good guy, that's concerning to me. until i see him talk about people in a presidential way, which is sad that i have to say that, and have a coherent foreign policy, at this point, i can't be supportive of him. >> if he does become the nominee, as you mentioned, foreign affairs very important to you. you served in iraq and afghanistan, a member of the house foreign affairs committee. if he came to you and asked for advice, where would you want to drill down with him? >> there's a couple areas. first off, foreign policy deserves a really mature discussion. it's a very important job of the president. it doesn't deserve just things like, hey, bring everybody home or we got to come back and lick our own wounds here. there's real problems with doing that. i think areas of the mild east,

how are you going to destroy isis. russia is tearing up europe right now including ukraine. how are you going to push back against vladimir putin? the discussion about the chinese building fake islands in the china sea. saying america first is great. but i believe america has a mission. and if we fail to follow through on that mission, america is going to be in the position it's been in other times where it's isolated, we find it back on our shores. a younger generation will have to put on a uniform and clean up the mess. >> we were talking so much in the past week about the need for unity, a need that not everyone is behind. and in all honesty, we're seeing a lot of people with different belief systems and backgrounds call themselves republicans. can the party be united and how important is that moving into november? >> i think we can, but that is on donald trump. this idea that all these members

of congress have to just accept some of the things he's said is not true. just like any voter, we have to make private decisions as well. i do worry about the next generation of gop. i'm a conservative because i believe a kid born into the worst environment should have the same opportunity as a kid born into the best environment. and i think big government robs them of that opportunity. that's a compassionate way to talk about what we say. not out landish statements. if we want to survive as a party, we have to be an inclusive party that welcomes people that don't always necessarily look like us. >> there's been a lot of talk about tax returns. donald trump has now said he doesn't think we'll learn anything from his tax returns, let's not going to release them until the audit is completed. that may not happen until after the election. is it important for him to release those returns? >> i think it is. there's a lot we need to know. he talks a lot about his vast

wealth. release your returns. i think the pressure is going to ratchet up and ultimately, he's probably going to have to do it. he may as well get it over with now. there are great people that support donald trump. i just have some concerns and i think it's important to note them. >> real quickly. do you want to meet with him at this point? >> i'd love to meet with him. we'll see. >> we'll see who extends the olive branch first. republican congressman, appreciate your time today. >> thanks, take care. much more ahead this hour. we continue to follow today's breaking news. you're looking at a live picture of donald trump's plaep there in washington. he is leaving the capital any moment now. he was there for that series of meetings with house and senate republicans. we're also waiting to hear from senate democrats. we've got our cameras ready to go as soon as they step out there. they're going to have reaction

to donald trump's meetings today. we have steve kornacki, rick tyler. they will both be here to join our discussion of this drama un230u unfolding all day on alcohcapit hill. >> everyone today is greeting trump as if it doesn't matter mitt romney and george w. bush have said in good conscience they can't support trump. i just think to simply put out of mind all the things that i think were disqualifying for donald trump. people want to say, no, no, i'm wrong, they're not disqualifying. almost there. i can't reach it. if you have alligator arms, you avoid picking up the check. what?

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what we're talking about today, donald trump and paul ryan there on your screen. also you're seeing a shot of the airport. that's because donald trump's plane making its way back to new york. there you see it at reagan national airport. donald trump making his way back. the plane actually just left. this is a little bit of tape. so the plane has taken off as far as i'm told. i'm sorry, this is live. so we're waiting for it to take off. as you can see it's a fluid day here. he'll be making his way back to new york after the series of meetings this morning. we also had another box up there you may have seen. that's where we're awaiting word from senate democrats, there you see it in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. a 2:00 eastern time press conference was scheduled. we'll let you know as soon as that happens. paul ryan and donald trump both describe their meeting as a positive step towards unifying

the party. it did not end with an endorsement from the speaker for the presumptive nominee. but paul ryan seemed more open to the possibility of backing donald trump in the near future. take a listen. >> are you endorsing donald trump, and do you really have a choice? >> the process of unifying the republican party, which just finished a primary about a week ago, perhaps one of the most divisive primaries in memory, takes some time. there are people for donald trump who were for ted cruz, john kasich, marco rubio and everybody else. and it's very important that we don't fake unifying, we don't pretend unification, that we truly and actually unify so we're at full strength in the fall. >> joining me now steve kornacki and former cruz campaign

spokesman rick tyler. good to have both of you with us. steve, as we look at this, we're hearing more and more rank and file republicans that were warning that paul ryan and his resistance of donald trump could end up hurting him down the line. what's really at stake here for paul ryan? >> one is you mention the rank and file members. there's going to be a source of pressure there -- >> i'm going to have to interrupt you there. sorry about that. we want to listen in. senator schumer just starting to speak in washington. >> when the head of the republican party donald trump sat down with congressional leaders in a series of meetings. it was theater not just because of the spectacle of cameras and protestors, but because when it comes to policy differences that need to be worked out between the nominee and congressional republicans, there really aren't that many. speaker ryan said this morning in his joint statement with donald trump, there are, quote, few differences between the gop and trump.

and he was encouraged by the meeting. the party was closer to unifying. i suppose that means they're papering over what differences there were to start with. does that mean that congressional republicans are changing on trade or on cuts to social security and medicare? the fact is senate republicans have been governing from the trump textbook for years. they may not be proud of how their nominee expresses himself or pleased with the tone of his campaign and the name calling, but on policy, donald trump and republicans are singing from the same hymnal. nowhere is that more clear right now than the current blockade over the supreme court. hours after justice scalia passed, donald trump gave senate republicans their marching orders. delay, delay, delay. donald trump wants the power to fill that seat and as many others as he can with judges that will reflect his world

view. donald trump has called for a supreme court delay and almost every single republican fell in line. but it's not just the trump supreme court. it's not just the supreme court where trump and senate republicans are in lockstep. it's on almost every issue facing us this fall. giving more tax breaks to the wealthy, blowing a huge hole in our deficit. sounds great to donald trump and to senate republicans. rolling back wall street reform, putting our economy at risk, donald trump and senate republicans both want to do that. threatening a national default and ensuing economic disaster, donald trump has called for it, the republican senators have actually done it. the idea that there's a massive gulf on policy -- >> senator schumer there reacting to the meetings this morning and what he heard coming out of them. also reacting to some of what we've heard from donald trump and republicans over the years. not surprisingly, they are not

all enthusiastic about the meeting this morning. we do want to let you know we are hearing for the first time from donald trump, just tweeting out. this has been surprising to us throughout the day. donald trump, a man who loves to talk hasn't had much to say today. we're just hearing from him for the first time. in this tweet, great day in d.c. with speaker ryan and republican leadership. it reads, things working out really well. so that is his take on it. steve kornacki. want to go back to you. steve, we were just talking a little bit about what's at stake for paul ryan here in all of this and what we're following. i want to get back to that. give me your take quickly on that tweet from donald trump. what is interesting to me, every single person associated with these meetings is clearly on message. >> yeah, so far. when it comes to donald trump, the question there is how long does that hold, how long does that last. i think that might be part of paul ryan's reservation here in

terms of not wanting to just come out after a 45-minute meeting and say, that's it, i'm with donald trump. i think he wants to see maybe if over the course of a few days, over the course of a week donald trump resists going back on the attack against paul ryan, tweaking him in public the way he was just a couple days ago. i think this might be a bit of a test on ryan's part. look, i think when ryan says that he would like to come around and get on board with donald trump, i think he means that in part because there is going to be a lot of pressure on him from within the republican party. when you look at these polls, there's lot of prominent republicans, republican leaders, conservative leaders who are out there saying i'm not sold on trump, i'm not sure, i have reservations. but when you look at these polls, 84%, 85% of republican voters right now saying trump versus hillary clinton, i'm with trump. that's not quite at the level you need to be at in a general election if you're the republican nominee, but it's

pretty close. in a way it shows, there's a real disconnect between the leet -- elite in the republican party and rank and file voters. they're ready to get behind trump. we will see as more polls come out if they were accurate. but the polls we saw this week suggested maybe this trump/clinton race was tightening. that trump maybe had more of a shot than conventional wisdom as has been saying. i think the more it whets the appetites of republicans to really get behind trump. i think that creates more pressure on someone like paul ryan not to be a holdout. >> donald trump will point to his 30 primary victories and the will of the voter. donald trump saying, the voters have spoken. a number of lawmakers are in that camp as well, rick tyler, saying you have to go with the will of the voters.

this is the person they have chosen. how much will that argument -- how important will that argument be with lawmakers and those rank and file republicans? >> well, it's a strong argument and you can certainly see the rationale that donald trump has. so he's going to continue to say that. but, look, the republican party, this capitol behind me under reconstruction is a bit emblemmatic of what's going on in the republican party right now. it was an exciting day here in washington, but not a lot was accomplished. donald trump and paul ryan are literally 180 degrees out of phase. they're out of phase on policy issues like entitlement reform, like social security, and vision -- ryan's rigs is so much

different than trump. ryan envisioned bringing the party under an intellectual conservativism for growing the economy, getting us out of debt, having enough money to save and secure social security, for bringing african-americans and latinos into the party. and along comes donald trump and he does not have substantive policy ideas. it's out of step with the republican party and certainly out of step with paul ryan. peter alexander said this relationship between ryan and trump and i think between trump and the establishment, trump and the conservatives is going to be put under the stress test, it's going to face enormous stress going forward and we'll see where that comes out. >> that's true, plenty of stress heading forward. rick tyler, steve kornacki, always appreciate your insight. a bit of a moment of levity.

speaker ryan tweeting out pictures this morning about his most important meeting of the day. there we have it. most important meeting of the day. meantime, our microsoft pulse question today is about donald trump. and whether you think gop leaders should rally behind trump and support him. here's a look at the results so far. remember, the pulse remains live. you can make your voices heard, log on to pulse.msnbc.com. as we follow all the developments out of washington. we are monitoring donald trump departing d.c. heading back to new york. senate democrats holding that news conference on capitol hill in reaction to today's meetings. and much more ahead right here. stay with us. you're watching msnbc. ontrol with your brain, which controls your thumbs, which control this joystick. no, i'm actually over at the ge booth. we're creating the operating system for industry. it's called predix. it's gonna change the way the world works.

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there's nothing against releasing returns, even if you're being audited. i think the pressure's going to ratchet up. >> that was republican congressman adam kinger moments ago. the picture you're looking at right now is from reagan national airport where donald trump's plane is taxiing down the tarmac. donald trump leaving washington, making his way back to new york. now he's under pressure to release his taxes. that's why i asked about it. it's come up more and more including in this interview that donald trump did with the associated press this week saying there was, quote, nothing to learn from them and that he had no intention to release his returns before november, hillary clinton hit him on last night. >> when you run for president, especially when you become the nominee, that is kind of expected. my husband and i have released 33 years of tax returns.

we got eight years on our website right now. so you got to ask yourself, why doesn't he want to release them. yeah, well we're going to find out. >> why doesn't he want to release them? here's donald trump explaining to fox why the public won't see his returns any time soon. >> you said that you don't intend to release your tax returns -- >> no, no, i didn't say that. i said i'ming with audited. >> what about the returns that aren't being audited? >> there's link. >> how far back are you being audited? >> long enough that it would matter and there's a link between that and other things. and as soon as the audit's finished -- >> link to what -- >> hopefully before the election, i'll release. by the way, you learn very little from a tax return. my financials show tremendous numbers. >> i think part of the --

>> andy is a journalist based in washington, d.c. and joins us now. a couple things we're hearing here. donald trump calling this a relatively simple audit, saying we won't learn that much. this whole tradition began with richard nixon who released his while under audit. the irs has been clear, there's nothing that prevents someone from releasing returns while under audit. when he continues to stall like this, what is the message that that sends? >> the message is that there's something in his returns that he doesn't want to disclose to the public. he's now in this bind where if he continues to say i'm not going to release my turns, just because you're being audited doesn't mean you can't do that, it just builds the tension and suspense of is there something in there he doesn't want the pib so see. that's what anyone would think. he's really given no indication

otherwise. >> so a couple things that stand out too. he also says there's not much to learn. but in fact, your tax returns, they -- you have to report accurately on them by law and they do tell us a lot. they tell us your annual income, source of income, charitable donations, also how aggressive someone is with things like tax loophol loopholes. which would be the most interesting to voters if donald trump did release his returns? >> i think any kind of techniques that he uses, any kind of ways to shelter income and avoid paying taxes and lowering your tax rate, those are the kind of things that would probably run counter to the message that donald trump has tried to convey and pushed out a lot, appealing to the working class, middle class. if his tax returns are filled with anything involving overseas tax shelters, anything about tax avoid dance, that could really run against what he's been trying to say as a candidate. as we saw an his financial

disclosures, there's some 500 corporations that he listed on there and more than 300 of them are based in delaware which is basically a domestic tax haven of sorts. we know these returns are going to have a lot in them and really juicy reading. >> interesting to see. he has said he would release them in the past, even dealing with things like president obama's birth certificate, and we didn't get them. appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. we're not going to be okay with them going with their hate message and we're here to stop them. >> reporter: do you think this is an effective way to get that message across? >> it's for people to learn that donald trump is not a joke. >> that is hallie jackson there. she caught up with one of dozens of protestors who descended on the rnc headquarters earlier today to denounce donald trump and his comments about many things. among those things, his comments about the hispanic community in this country.

an immigration activist showed up to the officer of gop senators and house members to deliver tack co-bowls. that of course a reference to donald trump's cinco de mayo tweet. we know you are not supporting donald trump in this election. there were a number of people and we just saw some of that, hallie jackson speaking with some of the protestors. did you speak with any of the protestors today? >> no, i didn't. but i know they were there. i'm happy they were there. i think people letting their voices be heard is basic american democracy. i was on the house floor giving a speech in a kind of cynical welcome to the new leader. you know, i thought i'd go to the house floor and said guess what's happening today -- >> i'd love to play some of that. let's listen to a little bit of that and talk more about it

after. >> all right. >> you can chomp on your taco salad mr. speaker, daily targets of lies and slander on the campaign trail. come november, the latinos you will really have to worry about are the more than 27 latino citizens like me of the usa who are your constituents who are fired up to vote more and more with each passing day. >> you also made reference there's a taco salad on the menu -- >> i brought it with me. taco salad. he's the new face of the republican party. he came. he triumphed and he left, right? and he now speaks for every member of the house of representatives and he is the president, the leader of the republican party. he's the new face. it's the trump party now and it's something they're going to have to deal with. >> there are a number of

republicans both lawmakers and voters alike who have not unite behind donald trump. >> okay. >> hoist speaker ryan one of them. >> okay. >> it is one thing to point out all of these issues. and there are a number of americans who are outraged by some of the comments. what is the democratic party's plan then to mobilize not just the groups who feel offended and targeted, but to mobilize voters then to get their voices heard in november? >> excellent question. so we stand up for planned parenthood and we stand up for women's rights. we stand up for equality in marriage and our gay and lesbian brothers. we stand up because black lives do matter in this country. we stand up for those who believe that global warming is not a myth. and in america, we should have a basic civil rights movement. all of those people are con

inadvertently i -- converging. and the republican party says, a la, trump, no. they really make up an emerging new american majority. and they're going to let their voices be heard. we're going to do our part. everyone is doing their part, right? and in the end, you're going to see -- it's going to be an early night next november. you're not going to be coming home late and waking up the next day because you had to work in the late hours. it's going to be quite a sweep of democrats across this country. not because of the democratic party per se but because of all of these different groups coming together. as i suggested this morning, they're always talking about 11, 12 million illegals they call them, the undocumented workers in this country. there are 27 million latinos just like me, american citizens. i was born in this country and

we're going to come out to vote. so the voter registration machine that they are creating because of their words and their hateful filled words of bigotry and hatefulness are going to have consequences come november. >> and you think those will be consequences that will be positive for the democrats. congressman gutierrez predicts an early night in november. we'll talk to you the following day. >> i look forward to it. much more to come this hour as we continue to follow all of this breaking news coming out of washington. reaction coming in throughout the day. there you see donald trump's plane departing just moments ago from reagan airport. up next, we're going to turn to capitol hill. kelly o'donnell will be here with reaction to today's crucial test for trump. that is coming up right after the break. >> part of the problem with the

narrative here today is that paul ryan and mitch mcconnell are viewed very unfavorably because they have utterly failed to pursue republican principles bay the base of the republican party. so looking to them as a sign of everyone coming together with donald trump is really very incomplete. turns romantic why pause to take a pill? or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use is approved to treat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or ademp for pulmonary hypertension, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effectsay include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any symptoms of an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis and a $200 savings card.

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unity and really becoming a shell for a reality tv star. we might want to call it congressional apprentice. >> kelly o'donnell has been speaking with lawmakers throughout the day. she joins us now live from capitol hill. we're hearing more and more reaction, including new sound this hour from mitch mcconnell. >> reporter: and you might be wondering why sound and not picture. we're in what is very much a working space for media here in the capitol. in many places on these grounds, you cannot use cameras. we often huddle around with audio recordings to talk to law makes. and that's what happened here where they encountered mitch mcconnell and asked him what was happening inside that meeting with republicans. let's take a listen to that. >> well, i already have.

as you know some time back. we had a very constructive meeting. i think everybody felt that it was quite good. and as i intend indicated i had already endorsed him earlier. >> reporter: what did you specifically talk to him about? >> we talked about a variety of things, campaign related issues. >> reporter: so that's giving you a sense of sort of how the political sausage is made here. you heard the feet on the marble there. it's important because it is an opportunity to hear directly from the person who led that meeting on the republican senators side and to get a sense of the interaction. now, he was not offering up a bombshell exclusive on the inside track, but he gave us a tone. it's also important to point out the different positions that

speaker ryan and mitch mcconnell are taking. ryan moving slowly toward what may eventually become an endorsement, not there yet, trying to structure a little bit more policy from the trump side, and mcconnell taking a pragmatic view that voters around the country have supported trump, have selected him, and that members in the senate should not get in the way with that and should work with him even if they have some issues on substance and style as well. >> i love the tidbit about why we often get sound and not pictures. all those good inside details. kelly o'donnell, thank you. in the last hour, our own luke russert got an exclusive interview with republican senator bob corker of tennessee. he talked about what his colleagues had to say about their lunch with donald trump take a listen. >> reporter: donald trump came to capitol hill today. you said he liked his foreign policy speech. >> good step in the right

direction. >> reporter: do you think your colleagues are getting to a full on yes with trump? >> so i was not in the meeting. i heard comments at lunch. i got the strong sense that everyone who attended really felt good about the meeting. so i -- i would say not only did they -- i've never met him. but not only did they say they enjoyed the meeting, but they really liked him. so i think -- from what i can tell, the reports to us today at lunch were very positive. >> reporter: you've never met him yet you appear on all these vp short lists. >> that's why i say i have no reason to believe that any of that is real. he called once after his foreign policy speech. no, we've never met. except that managing my symptoms was all i was doing. and when i finally told my doctor, he said humira is for adults like me who have tried other medications

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we're told did not discuss specific issues during their meeting today. including trump's proposal to ban muslims from entering the u.s. trump may be sdrs >> in an interview, donald trump dressed the issue and his stance on banning muslims, take a listen. >> if you look at this radical islamic terrorism all over the world right now, it's a disaster what's going on. i assume he's denying that. i assume he's like our president that's denying it's taking place. we have a serious problem. it's a temporary ban. it hasn't been called for yet, nobody's done it, this is just a suggestion until we find out what's going on. >> joining me now, mark murray. is he softening or do you not really sense a change there? >> i sense a huge change. it's emblematic where he's been on a whole host of policy issues. he and his campaign release add

statement calling for a total and complete ban of muslims entering the united states to understand what is actually going on, as his campaign pulled out. so for them to say now is a suggestion when they actually put out a release calling for this ban. and it's something we've seen in exit polls where strong majorities of all republicans now support. that sounds like a restretreat me. it is similar to what we've heard on tax policy, cuts rates for the well off and says, no, i actually want to raise taxes on the wealthy and goes back saying, well, i think all those people should get a tax break. he's been very, very slippery on all of the issues and now on this one, erika. >> now there's this dance that's happening between speaker ryan and donald trump and sort of the two camps there as to how they're going to unify and who's going to give first.

how much more of this change, this softening do you think we'll see on some of those bigger issues, those basic conservative issues that speaker ryan is so concerned about? >> i think we're going to see it all the way for the next six months or so. you know, this was -- occurred also during the primary season too, where you ended up hearing donald trump would say i opposed the iraq war from the get-go and we find out from radio interviews he actually did support the iraq war. to be able to pin him down, it's going to be more challenging than we've seen with any other candidate in modern times for sure. >> it's something we've seen -- we've seen it play out on the campaign trail. i know katy tur sees it firsthand every day. you try to pinpoint him saying one thing, and then an hour later it turns into something else. how much is happening behind the scenes with his team to limit that moving forward?

>> well, you're seeing a lot of republicans even the ones on capitol hill saying, hey, we actually need that from you, we actually need a disciplined candidate. on the one hand, being slippery can be a benefit because it allows you to take multiple positions, you're a candidate for everyone. on the other hand, when you're all over the place, you sometimes allow the opposition to define who you are and make it very difficult for all the other republicans running down ticket from you. >> oh, those down ticket races, how we love to talk about those. we'll do a little bit more of that, but not today. we'll leave it there for now. mark, thanks. we've been asking you throughout the day to weigh in on today's microsoft pulse question. should gop leaders rally behind donald trump and support him. you can keep that conversation going by logging onto pulse.msnbc.com. that's going to wrap up our coverage for this hour. i'm erika hill.

kate snow picks things up. we leave you with former vice president dan quail speaking with matt lauer about why he is supporting donald trump. >> i was the republican vice president and i've been a republican all my life. i'm going to support the nominee. and i predict that most people in my position or people in the republican party for a long time will rally around the nominee. i fully expect that paul ryan will eventually support donald trump publicly. hope that happens because we do have to be unified.

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it was all pencil and paper. started out, the surface pro is very intuitive. with the pressure of my hand i can draw lightly, just like i would with a real pencil. i've been a forensic artist for over 30 years. i do the composite sketches which are the bad guy sketches. you need good resolution, powerful processor because the computer has to start thinking as fast as my brain does. i do this because i want my artwork to help people. afternoon, everyone. i'm kate snow. okay, so now what? today's high profile meetings in washington, d.c., might be over. but for the republican party, things are just getting started. the gop will now try to actually

unify. party leaders have labeled today's series of meetings a big success. donald trump and house speaker paul ryan put out a joint statement calling their conversation a positive step toward unification. listen to what the speaker said just a little earlier. >> i was very encouraged with what i heard from donald trump today. i i believe we are now planting the seeds to get ourselves unified. to bridge the gaps and differences. from here, we're going to go deeper into the policy areas to see where that common ground is. >> but there are questions that still need answers. the speaker was clear this was the beginning of a process, but what's still unclear is where that process will end up. just two and a half months from the republican convention. it has been a crazy day down in washington. our team is spread out across capitol hill bringing us every angle of what came out of da