i'm a ronald reagan/teddy roosevelt republican and i support the republican party and the people, the republicans have chosen the nominee for the party, i think that makes sense. >> those comments from mccain coming on the same day a recording emerged of mccain previously saying that his re-election chances would be hurt by the nomination of donald trump. mccain, of course, running for the senate in arizona this fall. for more on donald trump's quest at uniting the republican party, i want to bring in susan page, washington bureau chief, and rick tyler, former senior communications adviser for the ted cruz organization. you're a republican, worked with ted cruz. are you going to support donald trump this fall? >> you know, steve, right now i'd like to leave my ballot a private affair. but i will tell you that donald trump has done nothing to sort of earn me over as a ted cruz supporter, win me over, and you know, he could have started doing that really weeks and weeks ago when he was so far ahead and declared himself the presumptive nominee but he's made no real effort to court the su

and that's always been the weakness of the republican party. republicans do well at saying we care about people, but have a really hard time saying people like me. when you do that i think you can put together an appeal. with respect to how do you do this, i think what you need to do is you need to do an immigration policy that's more like australia and canada, that says we need immigrants, but we are going to decide who they are and bring them in. canada has a larger share of foreign-born population than we do, but they do it by choice. and you do not have immigration roiling their issue. australia's conservatives dealt with immigration by saying if you are a refugee who is coming here by boat to try to land on our territories, you're not going to be admitted to australia. we will have immigrants by choice, and they, too, have a large immigrant population, but it is not one that places the foreigner ahead of the citizen. i think with respect to trade, what you need to do is stop treating people who are indirectly harmed by trade as collateral d

and it's certainly not in his interest as the house speaker of the republican party to launch a thirdhe most successful third party candidate in history, and he only got about 18%. so i doesn't think a third party would be successful, and it might just pult hillary clinton in the white house, which republicans don't want. >> it's a vote for hillary clinton, absolutely. if are you a conservative, it pains me to no end saying i'm a conservative, therefore i'm not voting trump. that makes no sense, because you're letting hillary clinton get into the white house. >> does it help democrats? >> yeah, if you look historically, divided parties typically don't win the white house. it's much harder to win when you're a divided party. the republican party is much more divided at this stage than any major political party has been in my lifetime. so yeah, it puts them in a very weak position. >> texas governor rick perry endorsed trump tonight. said he would be open to any way to help the party, being open to a vp nomination as well. >> what rick perry did is what everyone does in history. you hav

i believe the republican party must maintain its viability as a party and i'm a teddy roosevelt ronaldthat i can to continue to steer the republican party along those lines and that direction. i believe that the greatest president of the 20th century was ronald reagan. i'll continue to try to move our party of those principles primarily peace through strength. >> do you have confidence trump can be like reagan? >> i think he could be a capable leader. it's oob yus there has to be outreach on his part. and heal many of the wounds. there's always wounds in spirited campaigns but frankly i have never seen the personalization of a campaign like this one, where people's integrity and character are questioned. >> and that bothers you. >> that bothers me a lot. it bothers me a lot because you can violently almost disagree with someone on an issue but to attack their character and their integrity, then those wounds take a long time to heal. >> would you appear on the same stage with donald trump? >> i think it would have to be a lot of things would have to happen. i think it's important for do

but that republican party has withered and died. in the face of a republican electorate in 2016 that threw those issues, all of those issues -- social conservatism, national security, all of it -- they've thrown it all out in favor of a candidate who has personality for miles, but republican policy? less far than he can throw. and i have no idea what happens to the republican party of the united states of america now that they have chosen a reality tv show star named donald trump to be that party's choice for president. there are 330 million people in this country. the republican party picked him above all other people to be their best choice for president. i don't know what this does to that party or to our two-party system. >> we have two people busting to get in on this conversation, however, and that's nicole wallace and ben ginsburg, long-time gop counsel and in that order your reaction? >> i don't think he knocked over 16 really accomplished people. i think he beat them fair and square in the system that exists. >> yep. >> i th

donald trump said this is the republican party, not the conservative party. but that's really not true. he comes from a strain of populism and nativism which have been antithetical to the modern conservative movement since ronald reagan. he is not a free trader, not a free marketer, doesn't believe in entitlement reform, or many of the other things that define the republican party. there are deep ideological differences. for people who take those ideas seriously like paul ryan does, it is hard to bridge. there is a more serious problem. and i think that's the fundamental issue, which is character. this is a man who insults women, who insults minorities, has these outbursts of anger, seems delighted to pick fights with people in the party. does he have the temperament to be president? is there a core person there whose judgment you trust? for many people looking at that they see someone who is , dangerous and erratic and they can't bring themselves to support him. that's why you see third candidate movements, why you see all sorts of challenges as people figur

following a series of face-to-face meetings between donald trump and every major leader of the republican party. trump spent the day blitzing capitol hill meeting first with house speaker and republican national convention chairman paul ryan. also in attendance at that meeting republican national committee chairman reince priebus. trump then met with the republican house leadership. that included ryan, also the republican house majority leader, the whips, the conference chair, the most important house republicans all sitting down with donald trump. trump then huddles with senate leaders at the nrsc. the nrsc is the campaign arm for republicans in the senate and that included the majority leader mitch mcconnell, the conference chair rob portman facing a tough re-election battle in ohio and several others, and we should note that one of the senators in that meeting, orrin hatch, the senate's most senior member, just put out a statement endorsing donald trump. trump also threw in a meeting with jones day, the law firm that represents his campaign, so it was a wild and high-stakes few hours. here's

a will the of that is republicans disappointed in their own party because they haven't fought enough y is that we heard in the show. trump, being himself, is independent of the republican past. i don't think he sees it as a liability that george h.w and george w. and mitt romney won't be at the convention. he's recreating this party in a way he thinks has broader appeal. it's not sustained by the polls. >> the problem, it seems, that others have running with trump, let's take pat tomey. he's a free market, free trader. he's a club for growth. he ran club for growth. it goes to your point about ryan. they're just divergent economic philosophies. how does he ever run with him? philosophically he's not with him. that's a problem for a lot of these republican office holders. >> they have been thinking about this for a while. >> this will a huge tap dance for every single candidate. this election is going to be all about trump. fairly or not, every single question they get from every single reporter and television station they talk to will be what do you think about trump? the ryan answer

that's actually a threat to the elites of the republican and democratic parties. and if you play past what bernie sanders has meant to the democratic primary -- >> we're going to get to that. >> donald trump is sort of the mirror image of that in the republican primary and what you've got is a statement about the country that has been overlooked -- >> donald trump is green lantern. he's what people have been talking about, why hasn't obama done such and such. he need to show more will. donald trump is the guy, he's basically using his own personality to say he will bring real change and get actual stuff done in washington, d.c. mainly because of his own force of will. >> we'll talk about my favorite topic, nationalism, when we come back. >>> up next, why the phrase white nationalist is once again appearing in stories about donald trump today. how the trump campaign plans to execute its war on one woman. >> what is this thing about hillary clinton being an abuser of women, how do you make that case? >> stay tuned. >> have you heard his case? >> we have things we'll

donald trump rending the very fabric of the republican party. that's the narrative. that's what we've all been hearing since donald trump took over the republican primary process, right? all of the anecdotal reporting that we've been getting, that is the story of almost every famous republican who is a big enough deal to get a reporter to write down what he or she says. that's the narrative. but look at the numbers, look at the actual data and tell me how that stands up to this data. let me give you this one piece of this new polling. ask democratic voters nationwide would you be comfortable with bernie sanders as the democratic nominee for president or not? the proportion of democrats who say they would not be comfortable with bernie sanders as their party's nominee, 30%. asked the same question about clinton, the percentage of democrats who would not be comfortable with hillary clinton as the party's nominee, it's 21%. that itself is interesting, right? democrats are slightly more comfortable with the idea of hillary clinton being their nominee than bernie sanders b

it is not like the republican party would be easier. that is one of the biggest dilemmas the republicans had at the end of this thing. >> we have a full studio, right now, at capacity, according to the fire marshall. nobody try to get n nobody leaves. lawrence o'donnell is here with us. from the live studio, 50 feet away, inform afternoona is with us, and michelle bernard, of the bernard center for politics and public public. michael, here is the question, would you recognize your political party in a police lineup? >> the gop, transforming our nation's politics, a think of a lot of us are going to try to figure out what to do with, what you saw tonight is a stunning example of what donald trump can do, why this fall, i tell a lot of my democrat friends, be careful what you wish for. he will make it, he is not playing by the rules written by the parties, the people like that as long as they like it, and animated by that, it makes it an unpredictable race. i am not saying what everybody doesn't know. you think by now, they would figure it

republican voters. i asked him how does the envision the party changing?hat he told me as he is going to put the trump stamp on the republican party in the same way he stamps the trump name on his buildings. what we ought to expect five years from now, he told me, the republican party will be more of a worker's party. it won't be hawk to conservative right wing ideology. he will pursue a lot of the things he talked about on the campaign stage. some of those things republicans will be fine with. he has put out a list of very conservative justices he says he might appoint to the supreme but then there are other things like building a wall and deporting 11 million people and ending trade deals, renegotiating trade deals that aren't going to fly very well with a lot of conservatives. i think that is why you have seen a lot of resistance to trump along the conservative intellectual class. carol: does priebus like trump? josh: you would have to dose him with truth serum and even then i'm not sure he would tell the truth. what he says is they speak every day. tru

he hasn't had strong ties to the republican party. he has not been a politician until now. to move forward with the party, these meetings are taking place so they can all try and get on the same page. donald trump is an untraditional candidate and hasn't been running by any stretch of the imagination, a traditional campaign. he's been angering a lot of folks in washington by saying they are all beholden to special interest. even paul ryan in february, he trashed him for 2012 and running with romney and basically saying that he is going to cut entitlements. he mentioned that infamous commercial where the grandma in the wheelchair is being pushed off of a cliff. the two men have a history although not necessarily a good history, whether today's meeting was enough to fix all of that, i don't think anybody is expecting that but they do believe it is the first step to move forward and to try and build a relationship, get on the same page. the one thing donald trump has that people so unease about him, the fact he's unpredictable. he could say one thing in the meeting today and go

but for the republican party, things are just getting started. y 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

so remember this, what did the republican party do? they put out their autopsy report. they said we need comprehensive immigration report. they were thinking how can we bring that number down and who got in front of that for republicans, it was marco rubio. he was going to lead the way in the senate. pass immigration reform. solve the demographic problem and lead them to victory in states with fast growing latino populations. colorado, nevada, florida. places like this. that was supposed to be the path. but donald trump came along and donald trump basically spoke up for the party base that didn't want that path. donald trump he will be the republican nominee for president and right now we see in our most recent poll he starts off behind hillary clinton with 11 points. here's a couple problems for donald trump. remember romney got 59% among white voters and trump starts off at 47%. he's in the exact same hole mitt romney was in when it came to latino voters. if donald trump is going to improve on that and win this election the path is going to look different than path rep

from volkswagen. >>> republicans are coming to grips with the realization that trump will lead their party'spublicans running down ballot on the same ticket, it has real implications for their strategy from now until november. do you embrace trump? do you try to win over his voters and risk associating yourself with the next controversy that trump steps into? or do you snub him? play to the middle? and do you risk by doing that his public and venomous wrath? politico recently got their hands on audio from john mccain. he said trump's nomination makes his re-election bid tougher. >> have no doubt that if it is donald trump at the top of the ticket, here in arizona, with over 30% of the vote being the hispanic vote, no doubt that this may be the race of my life. >> but there are bigger issues at play. steve schmidt, who ran john mccain's presidential campaign in 2008, said republicans have a choice to make. >> the question will now be how many republicans come out and say i love my party but i love my country more? we'll see how many republicans out there that say it is better for hillary clin

it does not seem like the republican party has achieved unity yet. y to support trump. we will break down how republicans are reacting to this divide in their party. >>> meanwhile, the fbi interviewing top hillary aides for the investigation into her e-mails. what have they found? we will explore that and have a live report on the devastating wildfires in western canada. just incredible scene. we will tell you what is happening and if firefighters are getting their arms around it. see you in 11 minutes. >> feel for the people in fort mcmurray. >>> the april jobs report is due this morning. we will tell you why a bad reading could be good for the stock market? don't you love how wall street works? ♪ (music pl♪ throughout) uh oh. what's up? ♪ ♪ ♪ does nobody use a turn signal anymore? ♪ ♪ ♪ (charge music) you wouldn't hire an organist without hearing them first. charge! so why would you invest without checking brokercheck? check your broker with brokercheck. get your beauty sleep and use yonew aveeno®r? absolutely ageless® night cream with active natura

party. that's who the republicans used to be and taking them back to that and also in some cases a hateful party although the democrats were more hateful but we haven't had this kind of hate among one of our party's nominees in a very, very long time pitting people against each other this way. this is a major event in american political history that we're experiencing. >> what did you learn? >> i think two things, one is that the big donors are not the kingmakers we thought they were. that campaign finance is not as much of an issue as people on both sides actually thought it was. >> i disagree but continue. >> and i would say, number two, is that americans say that they hate politicians but actually really like politicians. they just don't know it. if you look at what donald trump is doing, it's a lot of promising big stuff that he cannot deliver on. which is what americans say they hate. >> when he plays the role of politician he does it with no pretense to be doing anything other than pandering so like my favorite donald trump thing is when he got up in front of the ethanol conference in iowa

republican standard-bearer. >> there is no doubt that there is a debate that's taken place inside the republican partyut who they are and what they represent. not just republican officials, but more importantly, republican voters are going to have to make a decision as to whether this is the guy who speaks for them and represents their values. >> reporter: the president was referring to speaker paul ryan's declaration that he was not ready to endorse trump. while trump has responded that he is not ready to embrace ryan's agenda, he seems genuinely perplexed that ryan isn't yet backing him. >> i was surprised by it. and by the way, many other people were surprised by it, and some were really surprised by it and not happy about it. i will tell you i have many endorsements from yesterday. they're coming in left and right. he's one of the only ones that really was surprising. >> reporter: bringing the republican party together may prove trump's biggest challenge. >> hello, nebraska! [cheers and applause] >> reporter: today pete rick debts endorsed trump, despite the fact his wealthy family had spent milli

republicans. how do they feel about their party now and winning in november? we asked republicans united now. 10% say this is a united republican party. most of those are saying it's divided. they will come together. a quarter is saying this is party that will remain divided through the general election. quarter of republicans in west virginia saying that. in nebraska, look at this. it's nearly half. nearly half the republicans say this is a party that's going to stay divided between now and november. why this is so interesting is because donald trump was asked about this the other day? do you need the republican party to be united to win in november? he said i don't think i need to. i think i'm a different kind of candidate than you've seen and i can win with a divided party. republicans are saying they largely agree with that. look at this, 90% of the west virginia republicans say trump will probably win in the fall and in nebraska very high number as well. over 80%. 75%. three quarters of the republicans who say this party will stay divided, they still think

the republican party for every candidate? we may be backward into the territory we were in in the 1960s, '70s and its win over some republicans wanted not to be identified with the party leader. and many democrats in public office did not want to be identified with their party leader. when richard nixon was reelected in 1972, he carried i think 389 congressional districts against george mcgovern. half of them voted for democratic congressmen. so americans are capable of splitting tickets if they want to. and in this context i think turnout is going to be imported we had surged turnout during the george w. bush presidency including the 2006 and eight elections which were a repudiation of the bush presidency. we've had declining turnout during the obama presidency, particularly democrats but not in a surge of republican turnout. i have been of the view that the fact of republican turnout was a lot bigger in the primaries this year and caucuses that democratic turnout has perhaps some significance for the general election. and ot

there's a chance he's wrong and the republican party becomes the party of trump. but i think he's going to bet that it doesn't. >> and again, we are waiting to hear any minute now, we're told it's just a couple minutes away, ted cruz will step out, talk to all the reporters you see gathered there. that's right outside his senate office on capitol hill. ted cruz returning to the senate today for the first time since ending his presidential campaign last week. eliana, let's pick up the point you were talking about, one thing ted cruz might do now, focus on the platform at the republican national convention this summer. he's going to have an awful lot of delegates, not just the ones who are pledged to him, but you have cruz delegates into trump slots, so maybe he uses the leverage to influence the platform. how bound do you think donald trump would be as the republican nominee to follow whatever is in that platform, or would he just say, forget it, i'm going to say whatever i want anyway? >> i'm suspicious of this narrative that cruz is going to wage an enormous figh

he had this interesting line we are said it's called the republican party, not the cruyff party. his positions that go against the paul ryan orthodoxy have this m the nomination and populist wave is driven by trump and he's changed what it means to be a republican. >> the stop trump people say the only way they get their party back is if he loses in november. a move to a populist republican arty, very different creature. pete: any thought that bernie sanders might shift his campaign into neutral vanished after his big win this week in west virginia. he still says hes in it to win it, while hillary clinton tries to look over his head toward the general election. >> i waunlt all to know that this campaign be will fight for every remaining vote and every remaining state. >> if i'm fortunate enough to be the nominee i am looking forward to debating donald trump come the fall. pete: abby, you write that hillary clinton is putting more resources into industrial states that have generally been safe for democrats. why is that? >> it's all about the populism, the economy, and really the se

do not underestimate the ability for hillary clinton to unify the republican party. i think more and more it's going to fall into two camps, those that feel like they want to bring the party together to defeat hillary clinton and yes folks like mitt romney who are con yenss issue, the challenge is to minimize that every day in some way down to a smaller or impact in the general election. >> i know you disagree with romney, you're on the t >> disagree with what he said, but i'll support him. >> do you admire his stance or pathetic lie newt gingrich suggested? >> i think it's irrelevant. people have to look at the fact that donald trump has moved from certain place to another place. may not be even, but he's standing. hillary will also be a cause of uniting, but look, we are a long way from setting out those policies at the convention. we shall see. they're going to have trouble. they already have trouble. trump's polls are not good, hillary polls have been going worse and worse and worse, the more people see, the worse it gets. >> we have to take a quick break, more wi

at one point was one of the most republican parties and a republican state. hamilton county was a very read county over the last two presidential elections one of the reasons the republicans will message -- message the economy with the ideological and philosophical that the 30,000-foot level. for instance in cincinnati the epa requires them to separate the sewage system is very expensive project these are older cities that want them separated out and a plan to comply with the epa and then to discover they can do that 40 percent less. and they refused to reopen the issue goes to need extra utility's cost of hundreds of thousands per year. just because the epa will not go back with the process such talk about stifling economies as a presidential candidate you should know about this issue and why it cost hundreds of millions of dollars per day. that makes the economic argument had is what barack obama dead through the fabulous organization and a network of people so when they talk about issues like the economy to get their ambassadors to talk about and that one

he's committed to supporting the party's nominee, chosen by those republican voters that ryan said heishonoring the will of the people. ryan is no man of his word. he is a leader whose call for unity in his party, even as he makes unification impossible. ryan doesn't seem to understand that he is diminished by his betrayals. he could hardly appear smaller than he does this evening. the quotation of the evening, if i may, from sir francis bacon, who said this of some of the political kind. quote, some ambitious men, if they find the way open for their rising, and still get forward, they are rather busy then dangerous. but if they be checked in their desires, they become secretly discontent. and look upon men and matters with an evil eye and are best pleased when things go backward. >>> senator bernie sanders has beaten hillary clinton in 9 of the last 14 races. sanders now thinks he can take his brand of socialism all the way to the white house. >> i have absolutely confidence that we are going to defeat donald trump. >> but at this point, can anyone defeat donald trump? we take that u

not the republican party. like to see him go to new orleans where mitt romney stood and made the speech four years ago, if i remember the location correctly, and gave a speech about moral values, core convictionses, the constitution. that went a long ways to bring conservatives closer to mitt romney. there were still 5 to 8 million that stayed home or romney would be there running for re-election. he needs to do that. i'm saying again to donald trump, reach out to the conservatives. start that process. recognize you're not going to be elected president without it. if there were 5 to 8 million that didn't come to the polls to vote for romney, there must be two to three times that many that need to be brought into the fold if we're going to prevent hillary clinton from maepg appointments to supreme court and federal bench in its entirety. >> congressman, this is mark mckinnon, senator cruz ran on the theory of the case, they haven't been conservative enough, what does it say ted cruz ran on that message and lost

our top story, the republican party's civil war. e speaker paul ryan today opened the door to stepping down as chairman of the republican convention this july if asked to do so by donald trump. but trump clearly hasn't forgotten ryan's reluctance to sport him. -- to support him. >> yeah. i was blindsided a little bit because he spoke to me three weeks ago, and it was a very nice call, very encouraging, and all of a sudden he gets on and does number. i'm not exactly sure what he has in mind. lou: trump and ryan are set to meet next, well, this coming thursday morning in what is sure to be a pivotal moment in trump's quest to unite the republican party. and according to senate majority leader mitch mcconnell's office, trump will also be meeting with senate republican leaders on that same day. joining us now, the co-chair and chief policy adviser for donald trump's campaign, sam clovis. sam, great to have you with us. we've got a -- it's been a busy weekend and monday. [laughter] let's turn, if we may first, to ryan saying after your bo

. >> the voters in the republican party choose donald trump but some of the parties long time leaders still insist he is not their guy. will they fall in line or will they hold out all the way until november? we're going to talk to the republican national committee's chief strategist shawn spicer. that is still ahead. we begin with our top story. the republican party becoming donald trump's party and all those dreams of a contested convention, they have now evaporated last night with that dominating performance from donald trump in the hoosier state, nearly all the vote now counted in indiana. look at this. donald trump picking up 53% of the vote. he crushed ted cruz, a 16 point margin there and cruz reading the writing on the wall last night. >> from the beginning, i've said that i would continue on as along as there was a viable path to victory. tonight, i'm sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed. together we left it all on the field in indiana. we gave it everything we've got. >> and even as the voting was under way yesterday, donald trump was pulling no punches with

the republican party. me makes no sense. it makes absolutely no sense. and i tell you what's happening. i think there is shock. i think there has not been a full acceptance by the top echelon of this party that they have failed and this is why trump has won. >> the republican party led by a group of daffodils. why in the world should they be in shock? do they not poll, do they not read every number? do they not watch news? is not their job to represent the american people? >> let me say, we knew jack kemp and paul ryan is no jack kemp. the word is snowflakes for us on social media. they're snowflakes and they clutch and suddenly have the private club surround threat because they really do, you know, want it all. and they're tired of the hoi polloi having a voice, we're tired of the fact we have a boot on our neck. this is a refermation, all of the leaders and behavior in particular highlights the importance of mr. trump and, in fact, paul ryan needs to ask is mr. trump ready to support my agenda, and i lik

with the republican party. one that i saw was burning his registration card. so there is some real discontent within that party, and so it will be interests to watch how and if donald trump can unite them before even going forward into a general. >> examples of that. people tweeting out. well-known conservatives. talk radio host, there's goes my time as a republican. will change party affiliation tomorrow. frankly i feel relieved to do it, free, even. then there was ben howe if cruz concedes tonight -- i'm no longer a republican. endorses trump, i'm running for president in 2020. >> and remark, selter, everyone knows was a speechwriter or john mccain, nominate for president a guy who reads "the enquirer." i'm with her. he's going to vote for hillary clinton. >> amazing. being on the road with him, amazing to try to accept that reality. i think that what's so fascinating also last night is in ted cruz's speech, you saw all of that divisivenesse. no word of reaching out to donald trump. >> didn't mention his name.

seen as sort of a moderate like john mccain being nominated, the social conservatives in the republican party said that they were going to schism, that the base felt abandoned and that would tear the party apart. and then you go back to something more radical like 1964 and barry goldwater, and the amount of people at the time that the nomination of goldwater would be suicide for the republican party, that is what george romney's dad said, it would be suicide. even if there were big breaks, it seems like we have had two paries for a long time. >> don't forget the 1972 election, when the party veered left and nominated george mcgovern. and there was a lot of talk when the democratic party is finished it's too split apart. didn't happen. >> you know, you have to bet that the two parties facing, remain a two-party system. but there is some danger, occasionally the party splits so deeply that it disappears. for example, in the 1850s, the predecessor to the republican party, the whigs, split apart and that was the founder of the republican party with lincoln coming on. and keep in mind, rachel, whe

. >> how did the establishment republican party responded to the society? prof. mulloy: it buried. -- it varied. some republicans and some democrats were members. barry goldwater knew many members personally and never criticized the leadership or conspiratorial believes. other conservatives, for example, bill buckley, one of the leading conservatives, came to see them as a liability to conservatism as a whole, splitting up the conservative movement. particularly after the goldwater defeat, the republican establishment determined they needed to get rid of the birchers. the republican leader at the time said that the john birch society is not a part of the republican party anymore. they kind of declined afterward. >> did ronald reagan have any particular views? prof. mulloy: reagan is interesting, because he liked goldwater and knew many birchers personally. he learned a lesson from barry goldwater, and also richard nixon, who suffered in 1962. ronald reagan handled the accusations against him, so he distanced himself from the society. he basically said, i stand by

again, at least among leaders in the republican party. kristen welker in kentucky following the clinton campaign. a brand-new poll we'll talk to you about in a minute. hallie jackson, let's bring you in first on the dilemma for republican leaders. so paul ryan, it's an interesting comment from bill bennett. that's one of his mentors saying this isn't really about specific policy items. it's about first principles. any idea what he's talking about there? >> it's the idea that donald trump will be not just a republican when he runs for president but a conservative. a true conservative, somebody who believes in the platform of the party. that's where you're seeing some of the discussion and some of the fight headed as we look towards the convention in cleveland. so for ryan, clearly, according to bill bennett, he will be looking at tone and so will others within these leadership meetings happening on thursday. not just on the house side where you'll see speaker ryan and some of his top lieutenants. not all of whom are unanimous in their suppo

it's difficult for them to fall in line. >> this is a republican party, not a conservative party. >> is trump to come in and genuflekt or gen genuflect. is ryan supposed to say you're the boss. give me my orders. >> donald trump arrives in washington no so much as winner as a conquerer of the republican establishment. and now an occupier of it. we've seen in recent years that aupgss can go south after the conquering business has been taken care of. donald trump needs a unified party. this isn't about these two men becoming friends. it's about aligning interests. paul ryan doesn't want to compromise his house majority on a candidacy by a candidate who lacks the discipline, lack the control to fix the demographic props th problems that he has in the race. >> they don't look too bad. >> the numbers in those states where this is going to be fought out very close race. you look inside the numbers and look at his unfavorable levels, that becomes disabling. he has a lot of time to fix it. nobody should be confused about the necessity of him having to fix it. paul ryan said he has used an im

i mean, donald trump has run against what the republican party has stood for, for decades. the idea of it being a limited government party. and at the same time, he's done so in a way that's been very controversial and bombastic and said a lot of things that are alienating towards not only ideological conservatives, but also people who have been trying to reach out and see the demographic writing on the wall, so to speak, and have been trying to reach out and broaden the appeal of the republican party. >> right. yet, rick, this whole thing began, ironically with the first debate of the whole primary season. and every candidate, including your old boss, saying they would support the eventual nominee. take a look. >> is there anyone on stage, and can i see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the republican party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person? mr. trump? >> that was an important moment. there is deep irony in the only guy initially challenging it being the nominee. but if we're taking those candid