>> one word to describe this last week, what would you say it would be? >>. >> oh, god. >> i mean, the alleyway comes to mind. >> trash can. >> stunning. >> pivotal, i think. >> that's a good one. guys, this was fun. >> it's always fun. for now, we'll toss it over to "meet the press daily." this is it from your "road warriors" team. we'll see you next time we're all back in one place off the campaign trail. thanks for joining us. ♪ if it's friday, it's the week that proved donald trump is the boss of the republican party. and that speaker ryan's push for unity may be even farther along than he realizes. this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. ♪ and good evening, and

welcome to "mtp daily," i'm steve kornacki in for chuck todd. it's the end of a long week of soul-searching for the republican party and tonight, despite what you might be hearing, that republican party is close to unifying. going into yesterday's meeting, the big face-to-face sitdown between paul ryan and donald trump, the dynamic was a big question mark. those two men have had significant differences on policy, and on the very question of what it means to be a republican. trump already told chuck that everything is open to negotiation. this morning on nbc's "today" show trump said all of his policies are just, quote, suggestions at this point, and that includes his proposed muslim ban. >> i think millions of people who voted for you across the country, during the primary process felt as if you were actually proposing that. are you softening your stance? >> well, i'm not the president right now, so anything i suggest is really a suggestion. and if i were president, i'd put in legislation and do what i

have to do. >> but would you put in legislation to -- >> no, i've been looking at it very strongly. i'm not softening my stance, but i'm always flexible on issues and you have to be that way. >> so, yes, there are stark differences between ryan and trump. but trump is signaling that he is moveable when it comes to policy. and coming out of thursday's meeting, ryan still isn't ready to endorse trump, but now it is starting to feel more like a train that hasn't yet reached the station, rather than a train that isn't coming at all. >> do you expect to endorse him? >> yeah, i think this is going in a positive direction, and i think this is a first, very encouraging meeting. but again, in 45 minutes, you don't litigate all of the processes and all the issues and the principles that we are talking about. >> and there are plenty who think he will get there. nbc's luke russert spoke exclusively today with the highest ranking republican woman in congress, house republican conference chair kathie mcmorris rogers. >> i was encouraged.

he listened. he expressed several times that he would like to work with us. i believe that we can unite around a belief that it can't be business as usual. it can't be status quo. and that's more than anything what donald trump represents. he represents that he's coming here to -- yeah, to be a disrupter. i believe that paul ryan is going to get there. >> and the house freedom caucus, the conservative crowd that played a big role in pushing john boehner out as speaker, they're showing signs of warming up to donald trump as well. even senator lindsey graham, who still hasn't backed trump for president said he had a cordial phone call with the man who once gave out his cell phone number on national television. trump's path to the nomination wasn't actually very different from mccain's or romney's in terms of their vote share when they clinched the nomination, and the task isn't impossible. look at this. our new nbc/survey monkey online

tracking poll, showing clinton ahead of trump by just five points. quinnipiac shows it close in three pivotal swing states. clinton leads by a point in florida and pennsylvania and she trails by four in ohio. now, those polls could prove to be outliers. time will tell. but for now, they're very encouraging to republicans. trump may not be the most conservative candidate they could find, but his flexibility just might make him viable for a win this fall. listen to john boehner's latest take. >> so why would paul ryan want his party taken over by somebody who's not a conservative? >> he may or may not. but the fact is, donald trump is going to be the nominee. and i think what paul is trying to do is to help shape the direction of trump's policies. now, anybody that thinks that donald trump can't win, just watch. >> a win is something for republicans to get excited about. and if that sentiment keeps spreading in the party, then it will further quash whatever

appetite there still is among republicans to resistant donald trump. let's bring in luke russert who grabbed that interview with congresswoman mcmorris rogers earlier today. luke, you were saying this yesterday. we had you on the show. paul ryan at the start of of the week, this was huge news. he said he couldn't support at that point his party's nominee. now feeling like a bit of an island when it comes to republican leaders. >> reporter: yeah, he's an outlier right now, mcconnell is on board. the nrsc chairman, roger wicker is on board. those are the two men in charge of getting elected republicans back into the building come election time. you also see the leadership by kathie mcmorris rogers who i spoke to and you're starting to see this idea of, okay, donald trump may not be the person we thought we were going to be working with, but there's clearly somebody here that we can do business with. and by the way, he is kind of an

empty suit when it comes to policy, because he's never really been well versed in it. and maybe, just maybe, we could fill that suit with our own policy ideas and trust that he would put smart people around him. maybe all of this that he's been doing on the campaign trail is just for show. one member suggested this to me, scott dajer lay, also a member of the freedom caucus, take a listen to how he described it. >> i think donald trump, of course grew up in reality tv, i shouldn't say grew up, but was involved in reality tv, and when he campaigns, some of that comes out. if you meet him in private, he's a very serious guy and he's much more policy-oriented, plus, i think he's willing to learn. >> so you're getting the sense that behind closed doors, donald trump's a different guy. he's willing to learn. he's going to be somebody that we can work with. it kind of brings to mind,

steve, what bob dole said, which is that you never support ted cruz. and a lot of other republicans, john boehner included, ted cruz was so rigid, they felt it would be a disaster for him to be on the top of the ticket. he wouldn't budge on any issue. but donald trump has said things like calling for a ban on muslims coming into the country, calling mexicans coming across the border rapists, things that would tank any other politicians, but they're now thinking they can do business with him. paul ryan is the one hold-out, protecting his own brand, his future and i think he wants to extract more concessions from trump or promises that he will focus on the role of congress as being an equalled legislative branch equal to the executive branch. i got to say, i was surprised by how quickly there was, at least on the surface, unification on capitol hill when trump came. >> luke, i have a couple of

guests here for a panel. before i introduce them, i'm going to skip ahead here for one second. larry kudlow is on set with me. and he has a question are for y. >> reporter: i used to do his show. i miss it. >> i told him that. great report. what in your interview with kathie mcmorris rogers, she's the first person to talk about disrupter, and i think she used the word outsider. but i know she said disrupter and she said, it's okay, we'll work with a disrupter. now that's what's going on here as you well know. that's trump's whole message. i have not heard other republicans welcome that, but maybe they're going to have to, and maybe they're learning. >> reporter: mcmorris rogers coming from washington state, a place that is very well known for its disruption, the birth place of amazon, the birth place of grunge music, right?

two things that completely disrupted what the status quo was. i think it's a very keen insight you have there, larry, is that something republicans feel they can grab a hold of? remember, the 2010, republican tea party class, that was a political disruption if there ever was one. my goodness, that might be one of the biggest in history and i'm sure professor kornacki can shed from light on. but maybe that's the ticket. maybe this is what we started in 2010, there are rough edges around it, don't get us wrong, let's try to make it better and maybe that's what we carry forward. but part of what folks that get caught up in that, the john boehners, maybe mitch mcconnell, maybe paul ryan. so that's the line they have to walk, how much disruption is possible. >> luke and larry, stand by for a second. let me bring in the rest of the believe pa, michael steele is with us, former top aide to former house speaker john

boehner. and fresh off her "road warriors" special, msnbc's kasie hunt. michael, that comment we played from your former boss, from john boehner, he wasn't with trump in the primary. he says he's with him now despite the differences and he said, if you don't think donald trump can win in november, think again. i know you weren't with trump in the primaries, do you agree with that sentiment? >> i think that's entirely possible. i think people are yearning for an outsider, yearning to breakthrough the stalemate in washington, d.c. john boehner, while everyone thinks of him as a chamber of commerce, standard issue republican, he thinks of himself as a conservative rebel. came to washington to disrupt the old order and he's always eager to see others do the same. >> and kasie, you covered the stop trump movement. you covered them as they tried to pull out all the stops. now that they've lost and trump will be the nominee, are you still seeing full-scale resistance from them, or are you

seeing them make peace with this? >> you are seeing some remnants, talking about trump's tax returns, that he should put them out before the general election. but i also think you're seeing some wait and see. the whole party is grappling with -- and you saw this with paul ryan. do we get to november and the demographics turn out to be destiny and donald trump is effectively winning -- or losing to hillary clinton in a landslide and the republican party needs to run away from him? many republicans i talked to still feel like that's an open question. and i think that the never trump forces are suffering from the same problem all the way along, which is, they're not unified, they don't have a leader or candidate to get behind. there were rumblings about mitt romney but that hasn't gone anywhere. >> and you were saying, basically whatever expression you used, it wasn't that big of a movement to begin with. >> i think it was small, but noisy and splintered.

and there were plenty of voters in the republican party, 16, 17 candidates going down one at a time. plenty of people voted for all those other candidates, but no one was able to solidify or really stand up to trump, show that they could be bigger than donald trump. and i think that's going to be the challenge for hillary clinton. now she has a lot of advantages that these republican candidates didn't have. you know, her fame almost matches his, if not, does match his. obviously her operation is ready to take on something of this scale. she's going to have the funding. she's got the fundamentals are on her side. i just think there are still a lot of unpredictable. we don't know -- what michael steele was saying is right in that regard. >> i saw you shaking your head. >> is luke still here? >> i think he is. >> luke, you're taking the temperature of the republican leaders. let me try this. steve talked about the new polling, which is phenomenal. lot of the national polls show

hillary and trump even, within the error of margin. okay? in vegas terms, it's a push. and then we have these key swing state polls, florida, pennsylvania, and ohio. again, essentially a push. the landslide argument for hillary, i think, has evaporated. trump's had tremendous strength here. so, luke, are these gopers falling in line because they see his voter political power? and the whole thing has changed and these polls are game-changers? >> reporter: well, i would say it's early for the polling, right? it's just may. there were some questions about the quinnipiac polls, perhaps there was an oversample of likely voters, perhaps they did not have a big enough minority share. but i do think, to what i said earlier, that there's this idea that perhaps there's something we can build on here with donald trump. the amount of votes that he's been able to get, look, it's

very rare that you have a republican in a contested primary overwhelmingly win massachusetts and then win alabama. all right? so there's something there. there's something going on. how do we tap into that in a way that does not make the party an unwelcoming place for different types of people, or for newer voters in the future? and that's what they're trying to figure out. he's tapped into something, he's blown up many, many years of conservative orthodoxy and assumed beliefs within the conservative movement and within the republican party. so where is there an opportunity to build? so when you say falling in line, i think there's an idea of, okay being, we may have not been right all these years. perhaps there are some things we mismanaged and we perhaps were expecting our voters to come along with us on some of these things. and maybe you try to repeal obamacare 15 times in a row and it doesn't work, that you should focus on something else, that people have been left behind. i think that message has been

heard loud and clear. but they realize the demographic on the horizon. latinos are the fastest growing voting group. there's a need for change, but how do we do it. >> to me right now, the politics of this race, trump has tremendous momentum and this is adding to it, this peace-keeping in washington. hillary clinton has lost momentum. almost on a daily basis. she can't put bernie sanders away. and he's got momentum in the democratic party. i think that's a big change also. >> and we'll see how that plays out. the clinton people would tell you, we're in the same position barack obama was in 2008, he was losing the late primaries and he ended up winning in the fall. but michael steele, i want to bring you back in on the point luke was making there. the message to republicans who didn't support donald trump in the primaries, when you look at what he said in the primaries, the breaks he made with sort of traditional, conservative orthodoxy, winning in massachusetts and winning big

also in alabama, what's the message you take away from that? >> i think that people are looking for something new, something that can break through. something that can actually help them. we've had 15 years of stagnating wages for the middle class in this country, and wave election after wave election, with people promising to change that. most memorably president obama, and then failing to do so. so i think that republicans right now, you have a group that have already decided to endorse donald trump. you have a smaller group probably who are never trump, and a big group who are skeptical but who want to win in november. because nothing unifies the republican party like opposition to hillary clinton and the washington democrats. because we believe that she would be a national security disaster and an economic disaster, and the country can't afford four more years like the last eight. >> you're nodding your head, kasie. >> yeah, i think that the challenge here for trump is simply convincing republicans that he can win an election. and they haven't been convinced of that so far. and that's what the fund-raising

conversations are all about. the rnc's running out of money to save the senate. they're not sure he's going to do big fund raisers, they know it's going to cost potential lie a billion dollars that beat hillary clinton, and he hasn't convinced them that he can win in the swing states. the polling is important. it's why you saw paul ryan be careful in how he's much oprahiopra -- he's approaching this. my sense is that he has less time than he thought he had to come around with reconciling with trump. >> i totally agree. >> let me ask you a specific question on that. you looked at running for the u.s. senate in connecticut. blue state. if you were running this year, trump's the nominee, you're running in a blue state, how would you be treating trump? >> i'd be treating him very well. i treat him very well right now. i've been a big supporter of his tax cut plan. not necessarily the full monty on trade and immigration, but i love his wage message as michael

steele suggested. so i would want his coat-tails in a state like connecticut. >> would there be coat-tails in a state like connecticut? >> it's a blue state. the democrats have run it for the last 15 years and it's in shambles. it's a lot like the washington story. nothing ever gets done to improve the economy in connecticut. nothing ever seems to get done in washington, and there's a popular revolt against it. this is a populous revolt year and i agree with you, my last column, almost word for word. mr. trump needs to prove to people that he can do the job. he's come a long way, but he has to do more. he's got to show them seriousness of policy, of demeanor and purpose. if he can do that, i think he's going to win big. >> final thoughts. >> it makes a difference too that trump is now starting to reach out to them more. i had a top republican say to me today, for example, that if trump had called lindsey graham

last wednesday, he might not have come out as aggressively against trump and that trump is realizing there's value in doing what he did this week in washington. >> what a panel we had, thank you everybody for the time. that was a good discussion there. and coming up, as paul ryan talks about unity, but stops short for now of formally backing trump, does he have to worry about a problem in his own backyard? ryan's republican challenger is going to join me next. and later, the debate over bathroom rights hits the white house. the details over the administration's new guidelines and one one texas leader is calling it blackmail.

donald trump is flat-out denying a story published by "the washington post" today. they report earlier in his career, trump would speak to reporters, pretending to be his own publicist. "the washington post" obtained a

recording of a conversation between a "people" magazine reporter and a man who claims to be trump's publicist, john miller. >> starting to do tremendously well financially. >> how are you? >> what's your name against? >> john miller. i'm sort of handling pr, because he gets so much of it. the people that you write about really are, they get called. people that you write about, call to see if they can go out with him. >> now a lot of people are listening to him and saying that voice sounds just like donald trump's. and "people" magazine reported back then that trump admitted that the john miller call was a, quote, joke gone awry. trump has also previously acknowledged using an alias on occasion, but this morning on the "today" show, he denied the voice on that call we just played was his. >> "the post" said that you acknowledged a couple decades ago that it was you but that it was a joke. >> i don't think it was me. it doesn't sound like me. i don't even know what they're talking about, i have no idea.

>> "the post" said it's something you did routinely, that you would call reporters and plant stories, that you were john miller or john barren, but it was you on the phone, is that something you did with any regularity? >> no, and that was not me on the phone. it doesn't sound like me and it was not me on the phone. >> late this afternoon, "the washington post" reported that 44 minutes into a phone interview with trump about his finances, reporters asked about john miller and trump hung up. we'll be right back. this is claire in phoenix. can i help you?

yes! great. correct! ma'am. this isn't an automat comper... operator! ma'am. i'm here. i'm live. wait. you're real? yeah. with discover card, you can talk to a real person in the u.s. day or night. plus, we're not going to waste your time trying to sell you a bunch of other products you don't really need. that is really nice of you. i feel really bad about shouting at you. oh, you weren't shouting. you were just speaking in all caps. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. 100% u.s.-based customer service. here to help, not to sell. welcome back to "mtp daily." house speaker paul ryan met with the presumptive gop presidential nominee donald trump yesterday, a meeting they both hailed as productive and as a step toward party unity. of course the meeting was big news after ryan said he was not ready to endorse trump last week, something that didn't sit well with some prominent conservatives.

sarah palin, the last vice presidential nominee declared his career over and endorsed his primary challenger paul neil an this past weekend. >> i think paul ryan is soon to beicantered. as in eric kanter. his political career is over, but for a miracle, because he's so disrespected the will of the people. >> kantered refers to eric kanter's loss in a primary by a relatively unknown candidate in 2014. nealon has also hit ryan for not endorsing trump and not backing the well of the people. trump didn't carry his congressional district in this april's primary. he calls ryan president obama's champion enabler. and just like trump, he's voiced his displeasure over ryan's support for the transpacific partnership. mr. speaker, you championed this trade deal.

why don't you come back to wisconsin and debate me, man to man, face to face, on the realities of tpp? and if you don't want to debate me, maybe we can arm wrestle. >> and joining me now from madison, wisconsin, is paul ryan's primary challenger, thank you for taking a few minutes today. let me start. you and sarah palin, prominent supporter of yours, voicing displeasure that paul ryan had said he wasn't ready to endorse donald trump. you heard what paul ryan had to say after that meeting. right now you think he's moving in the right direction? >> well, i think paul ryan's championing -- mercenary championing of this transpacific partnership, transcends his disagreement with mr. trump and disagreement with voters around the country. this trade deal is going to be terrible for wisconsin, it's going to be terrible for wisconsin's first district, and it's going to be terrible for america. it's going to export our jobs overseas. it's going to import workers to

replace us in our own jobs. and even worse, it's going to set up a super national group that will be very much like brussels, where we will not have the control of our own laws the way we currently have right now. it really gives up our sovereignty. so i don't see how paul ryan backs away from that position and tries to find unity with mr. trump, who also, i might add, completely disagrees with this transpacific partnership. and that transcends whether you're a democrat, a libertarian, a republican, you find yourself as a tea partier, people need jobs in this country and to suggest this trade deal is the solution. i started as a mechanic and i went on to run that company. i was in charge for fortune 500. i've been in private equity, big

businesses, small businesses. paul ryan doesn't have any business experience. he drover the wiener mobile. >> and you've been critical of him for his stance with donald trump. it seemed yesterday that he took a big step toward endorsing donald trump. after it, he called paul ryan the leader of the republican party. does that take your wind out of your sails a bit that they seem to be coming together? >> yeah, not at all. not at all. i think that i went in the last four weeks from zero. i've never run for office before, from a zero percent ranking to 15%. there was a poll that just came out. we're four weeks in, i have another 12 or 13 weeks to go. imagine where i'll be 12 or 13 weeks from now. i think governor palin's right that paul ryan ought to be worried. he ought to be concerned that he will be the next eric kanter.

i believe he will be. i'm talking to people around this district, and they are fed up. they're fed up with cheap mexican heroin getting across the border and killing americans in record numbers. michael steele just gave me a great endorsement. he said over the last 15 years, americans salaries have basically leveled off. paul ryan has been in congress for 18 years. what has he been doing? 83% of his campaign financing came from outside of our district and the vast majority of it came from inside the d.c. belt way. so when you look at that, when you look at who is paul ryan voting on behalf of? he's voting on behalf of the special interests that donald trump represents the -- the populist outrage of no matter who we have in office, we continue to get the same thing. >> paul neilen, primary challenger against paul ryan, thanks for the time. appreciate it. still ahead, the white house issues new guidelines for

bathroom access for transgender students. and one texas leader lashes out. the details of that are next. you're watching "mtp daily." 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. safety doesn't come in a box. it's not a banner that goes on a wall. it's not something you do now and then. or when it's convenient. it's using state-of-the-art simulators to better prepare for any situation. it's giving offshore teams onshore support. it's empowering anyone to stop a job if something doesn't seem right. at bp, safety is never being satisfied.

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doesn't get much simpler than that. what's in your wallet? still ahead on "mtp daily," the white house weighs in on the issue of bathroom access for transgendered students. and top texas leaders are already declaring the lone star state will not comply. but first, kate rogers has the cnbc market crap. >> stocks end lower across the board today. the dow sliding 185 points, the s&p drops 17, the nasdaq sheds 19. april retail sales posted a steep increase in more than a year, as americans purchase cars and clothing. however, jcpenney not seeing a pump in sales as a result of that spending. sales were well below estimates. macy's, kohl's, and nordstrom also posted disappointing results this week. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide.

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president obama through his administration even deeper into the controversial issue of transgender bathroom access today. the u.s. departments of justice and education today ordering all public schools in the country to treat transgender students in a way that matches their gender identity. that includes addressing students by the pronoun of their choosing and allowing students to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity. this sweeping directive does not have the force of law, but schools that do not comply, risk the loss of federal aid. under title 9, schools that receive federal funding are not allowed to discriminate against students on the basis of sex. an attorney general loretta lynch said today, quote, there is no room in our schools for

discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex. the new guidelines come days after the justice department and the state of north carolina sued each other over a state law restricting access to public rest rooms. the white house says this new order is not in response to north carolina's law, but in a statement released late today, north carolina's governor said that, quote, both the federal courts and the u.s. congress must intercede to stop this massive executive branch overreach. in texas, both the governor and lieutenant governor are pushing back hard. >> he says he's going to withhold funding if schools do not follow the policy. well, in texas, he can keep his 30 pieces of silver. we will not yield to blackmail from the president of the united states. >> white house spokesman josh earnest responding to that, taking a shot at the texas

lieutenant governor. >> i think this does underscore the risk of electing a right-wing radio host to a statewide elected office. this is not an enforcement objecti action. this does not add any additional requirements to any school district or state under the applicable law. >> we're joined by patrick svitek, patrick, thank you for being here. the lieutenant governor said president obama can keep his 30 pieces of silver. translate that, if texas refuses to comply with what the white house is putting out, what will that cost schools in texas, what will that mean financially? >> well, it remains to be sceee. he was asked about that and he said the legislate injure and the statewide leadership will find a way to work around these guidelines. i don't know if it was in what you just played, but he strongly

urged every superintendent in the district not to follow these guidelines. keeping in mind there's only a few weeks left for those public schools. but what he said today poses all kinds of questions about the potential cost to the state would be and what the fall-out would be. >> and we have that clip there from josh earnest and the white house here stressing this is not a change in law or anything, but this is, whatever side you come down on this, this is requiring, in the case of a lot of these schools, some significant changes. >> yeah, absolutely. he called it a blackmail and he urged school districts and superintendents not to cave to that pressure from the federal government. again, calling it blackmail. he called it a modern come and take it moment for texas schools. he also said it was the biggest issue facing schools and families in texas since prayer was taken out of public schools. and it's important to note, i think, he has been very vocal on this issue for the past few weeks. he recently picked a fight with the ft. worth superintendent for

quietly passing similar guidelines to what we're now seeing from the federal government today. it's something he's been very vocal about. but today, especially in the clip you just played, he was more angry than ever based on what i've seen. >> and i've seen national polling on this, that shows nationally, public opinion seems to be more on the administration's side, and it's a significant portion. but looking at the story in north carolina, i saw a majority in north carolina taking the side of that state law there. what is your sense on the ground in texas? where is public opinion on this question? >> sure, it's a relatively new issue for texans. like i said, only really flared up in recent weeks when dan patrick started to talking about in reaction to what was going on in north carolina. i haven't seen any public opinion polling here in texas. but if you just look anecdotally at some school board meetings where the issue is being raised, for example as i mentioned earlier in the ft. worth independent school district, you're seeing a huge turn-out, for parents coming to speak

against and for some of the these guidelines. so the public interest spiking and it's being helped by the attention being paid by people like dan patrick and our governor said he would be fighting on this issue. you're starting to see state lawmakers come along on this issue as well. ted cruz when he was a presidential candidate, was very vocal about it, especially after how he went after donald trump on it. so it's been something reverberating throughout texas republican politics for the past few weeks, but it's now coming to a head with the guidelines today from the president. >> patrick svitek, with the texas tribune, thanks for the time. >> thank you. >> and dan patrick will join chris hayes tonight on "all in." probably gonna want to check that out. up next in the ws, new bridgegate roadblocks, we'll have all the details on that. stay tuned. why do so many businesses rely on the us postal service?

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>> now to the where, texas, which will continue to remain a part of the union. a texas cessation plank was rejected earlier today. the when, it's tuesday. when a federal judge will release the name of unindicted bridgegate co-conspirators. the names were supposed to be out today, but were denied in a last minute motion. and now to the why, lots of speculation about ted cruz's political future. we can rule out a seat on the supreme court. he said he's not interested. here's why that matters. earlier in the week, cruz said he plans on running for

re-election to the senate in 2018. today he started fund raising off john boehner's louis fer in the fresh comments and the 2016 presidential nomination for him, that could still be a possibility for him. ...clear for take off.

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that national enquirer did a poll and said i'm win the election. i don't know if it's true. i don't know if it's not true. you have the democrats that are too far left.

you have the republicans too far right. i think i'm somewhere down the middle. we need spirit in this country, and we don't have it. >> that was donald trump back in 1999. he was flirting with an independent bid for president back then in his white house ambitions were headlined fit for the national enquirer. let's talk about what we have seen from donald trump this week on two fronts. let's start on positioning himself for the general election. regard my policy announcement as suggestions. maybe as opening bids. backing off the idea of the muslim ban. now he's saying it's syrians maybe. i'm wondering would donald trump, most candidates say this is flip-flopping. donald trump primed the general election audience for this a bit by talking to much about

negotiation. this is what a negotiator would do. >> i think donald trump has a unique ability to turn what would be a flaw in any other politician into an advantage. he's talking about negotiating or being unpredictable or otherwise changing his mind and in any other candidate, these flip-flops would be a huge liability. with him, i think it's an advantage in part because it allows people to project whatever their fantasy position is onto him. >> can he walk away from something as stark as i'm calling for a temporary ban on all muslims into the u.s.? can he really walk away from that? >> he's certainly fluid. he'll move away from everything. i don't think he has any core principles. republicans that have been hold out have sited that.

he'll meet at the rnc with paul ryan and promise the core principle thing. it's really the character that is hold outs are more concerned about the be personality jabs the vulgarity that he puts out there. on issues, i think he'll get away with it. >> does that make him, you look at like the ted cruz-trump contrast, people say he polls better. we know what cruz would have run as. a very, very conservative republican. does this make trump, potentially, at least, a more dangerous general election candidate from the standpoint of democrats because he could move away. >> i think the damage has been done. i feel like you have a situation with democrats have a distinct demographic advantage that it's not going to go away. it will be enhanced as the sound bites from the primary keep getting repeated or repeated. it doesn't matter if he stops saying it, all those sound bites

are available. >> his twitter feed are a gold mine for attack ads. >> he isn't showing any signs of slowing down the childish behavior on twitter. i think that's a sign that this is -- that's who that guy is, the guy on twitter. >> he knows how to break news and keep people watching him today. he's going to write off 10 or 12% of republicans that he's not going to get. he's going to shift to the populous left to pick up sanders supporters. i think he's going to shift this into a total populous movement and try to grab a huge chunk of the movement. >> speaking of things that would stick to any other candidate, the issue of his taxes. romney saying the audit is no excuse. if he doesn't, that means he's

hiding something. will he will compelled to put this out or will he get away from not doing it? >> he's taking an weakness, being under audit, that should be something that arouses suspicion and turns it into a reason for sympathy. everybody loves to hate on the irs. he's preparing everyone in case the numbers say out i try to pay the lowest amount in terms of tax liability possible. is this was a liability for romney. >> trump said the american people do not have a right to see this. will the american people accept that. >> i don't think they will. he'll do it as a privacy issue. you have no right to look at it. i think hillary clinton, if she's the nominee is very, very good at staying on message and

pounding away on an issue. this is an issue you can pound away. trump seems to change his mind on this every day. >> i don't know that voters will care that much. i hope they do. i like taxes. i think it's an interesting subject. i think we can learn a lot from his returns. i don't know. >> if trump can get way with not putting his taxes out, it's not wall but this has been an expectation of candidates of both parties for as long as i can remember. this is something you put on the public record. that changes things for a lot of people going forward. >> i think it's interesting what bill brings up earlier. sanders has gotten away with it. he's only released 2014. he hasn't put out nearly the kind of records that really democrats have been demanding and applied for an extension that goes beyond the primary. will be interesting to see if trump can pull the sanders

voters over. >> all the talk this week, paul ryan, donald trump. when do you think the paul ryan endorsement is coming? >> i wish paul ryan would include basic manners. just basic manners in a person. i think republicans are putting up an irresponsible candidate. it looks to me as though the party will unify. the party's telling its foot soldiers to willfully suspend disbelief. you can see right before you -- >> i got the impression he was almost trying to challenge donald trump by with holding the endorsement let's see if you can refrain from going and talking publicly the way you've been talking about the others. >> i think that's right. i think he wants to lock him into some policy positions and test whether he can be better. i think contrition needs to come from trump for the party to come together. i said a lot of mean things and i was wrong to do it. i wish paul ryan would demand

that. >> we're out of time. going to do it for this week. we'll be back monday with more m mtp daily. "with all due respect" starts now. p. the donald dos and don'ts. each reenforcing their worst case as a rule nvulnerabilitiev. last night the clinton foundation helped arrange for a for profit company with folks with close connections to the clinton. incl i