you also see the leadership by kathie mcmorris rogers who i spoke to and you're starting to see thisa 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 lea

kathy mcmorris rogers said it was my first opportunity to discuss and impress upon the presumptive nominee the importance of championing a core value of the republican party, dreaming big for everyone, and turning its back on no one. many prominent republicans appear to be warming to trump. others say they'll sit out the presidential election. a position this new york rep, the first member of congress to endorse trump. >> republicans to say i'm not going to vote in this upcoming election. i'm just baffled by that. on capitol hill, john roberts, fox news. >>> republicans plan to hold their national convention in cleveland in less than 90 days. but the police union there says the city is not ready. the 2008 convention in st. paul saw violence and unrest. this year donald trump has been a magnet for protesting the primary season. protesters are planning to gather in cleveland in july whether they get permits or not. >> is cleveland ready for this convention? >> no, i don't think that we're any where near where we need to be for it. >> steve lumas represents the police union and says training

though most of the people in the meet having said positive statements about it, including kathy mcmorris rogers, the highest ranking woman republican here on capitol hill. and some people in the meeting today have endorsed trump. but speaker paul ryan said this is the beginning of a process and it one that may take some time. >> it was our first meeting, i was very encouraged with this meeting, but this a process. it takes a little time. you don't put it together in 45 minutes. that's why we had like i said a very good start to a process of how we unify. >> there does seem to be one thing that everyone had in common and that was the thought that the party really does need to unify, if not before the convention, then at the least before the election. john boehner, as you'll recalled, called ted cruz lucifer in the flesh, one of the most miserable s.o.b.s i've ever worked with, he came out and offered his full-throated support of donald trump. >> john, what about the meeting with republican senate leaders? >> reporter: i think reaction to that was kind of mixed. you've already had mitch mcconnell

for the most part, the fact in a kathy mcmorris rogers says she'll support him, that's a huge deal. the fact that she as a womans that sends a signal there's not going to be a third party candidate. i thought paul ryan's tone on thursday was really striking. he was overwhelmingly optimis c optimistic. even though ryan isn't ready to formally endorse trump, he sounded quite different than he did about two weeks ago when he said, no, he wasn't endorsing him. establish republicans and d.c. leaders are saying if we can't beat him, we might as well join him. >> molly, you spoke with some republican lawmakers who are now backing trump about that meeting. we what exactly was exchanged based on some of the republican leaders you've spoken with? >> this is actually kind of funny. one leader told me this first meeting is like the first meeting of an arranged marriage. the meeting went well, it went better than anybody hoped but nobody's in love with anybody yet. again, these laughs don't know trump on a professional basis. they doesn't know how serious he is about his politics. they haven't w

i will say kathy mcmorris-rogers, who's a republican party leader, did bring up in the same meeting questionsd trump's treatment of women and his comments about his behavior toward disabled people. she has a disabled child. i don't think those issues will go away. he will have to have -- donald trump will have to address those issues in a significant way before the party can unify. whether he can do that, i don't know. he is not likely. he doesn't demonstrate remorse or bringing out an apology but i think those things will be necessary for him. he will have to say something like, look, i was -- i misspoke, i shouldn't have said that, and go from there. but it is going to require something like that. >> show humility on that front. what about paul ryan who said that trump brought millions of new voters to the republican party. shouldn't trump be commended for that? >> well, i think -- sure, if you are bringing people in to the tent so they can prop it up again, i would guess that is something he could be commended for. the problem i would have with that is what did he say and do to bring those

kathy mcmorris-rogers, the highest ranking woman didn't say she was on board the trump train. i asked how much of the republican caucus might go on donald trump's side, he said maybe 10% that doesn't but the rest probably will. >> john, thank you. will it be an uphill climb for donald trump to unite the gop? here's my question? does he even have to, to win? republican congressman chris collins says he's seen the division firsthand. he calls it baffling and troubling today. >> as i have said to more than one, are you voting for hillary clinton? and they say no. and i said, well, then you're voting for donald trump. no, i'm not going to vote. this is like the two president bushes. how an elected official can message to america "don't vote," i find that embarrassing for them. >> joining me now for real talk on this, california congressman duncan hunter, a donald trump supporter. i guess that would be the other alternative for republicans who are not going to get on the trump train, is that they would simply be messaging out to constituents -- don't vote. >> reporter: yeah, that's

kathy mcmorris rogers is a member of the house republican leadership. she says she still needs to hear more from trump before backing him. house majority leader kevin mccarthy is the number two, steve scalise, they say they're ready to support the nominee. mccarthy even signing up as a trump delegate in his home state of california. and trump also still has to worry about his hard core supporters on capitol hill. there actually are a few of them. asked yesterday about trump's statement he'd be open to a minimum wage hike potentially, one of his most prominent endorsers, jeff sessions said trump would be wrong to support a wage increase. as all of this plays out, all of these republicans agonize, there is evidence that republican voters aren't as torn as their party's leaders when it comes to trump. a national poll here shows trump already getting 84% of republicans in a head-to-head race against hillary clinton. that's not far off the 93% that mitt romney got from republicans in 2012. not far from the 90% john mccain got in 2008. it may be that rank and

has been invited back, that invitation was extended at the end of this morning's meeting we kathy mcmorris rogers, one of the top house representatives here to meet with the full gop conference, members who say they want to hear from donald trump, all of them, they want to hear from him directly, and we expect that to happen before the convention in july. >> i was going to ask you, how quickly does that meeting have to happen. he's on his way back to new york. >> reporter: yeah, he's already gone. we were over at jones day, that law firm, where he held a meeting before he left. presumably -- one of the things you're hearing from folks on capitol hill, is the need for trump to build those relationships and continue to build relationships here. so presumably trump will coming back to washington to continue to build those relationships. >> hallie jackson on one side of capitol hill. before he left, donald trump also met with senate republicans. let's turn to luke russert who's covering that side of things. luke, what do we know about what happened on the senate side? >> reporter: hey there, kate. do

in the last few minutes, kevin mccarthy, number two republican in the house, kathy mcmorris rogers, theyoth entered republican national headquarters in the last few minutes. they'll be part of that meeting that donald trump and paul ryan are having with a slightly broader group of house republican leaders. that meeting is going to follow -- directly follow the one that either is taking place right now or maybe is wrapping up right now between donald trump and paul ryan. just the two of them. we're also hold reince priebus in that first meeting. reince priebus the current republican national chairman. let me go back to a former republican national committee chairman michael steele who is still standing by with us. michael, let me ask you, the personal dynamic here between paul ryan and donald trump. we talked about the issues. paul ryan when it comes to immigration. paul ryan when it comes to medicare and social security. very, very different from what donald trump has been saying and proposing as a candidate. also this personal element where paul ryan is very close to mitt romney. romney

another voice of support today, this time from the chair of the house republican conference kathy mcmorris rogers. >> i believe that we can unite around a belief that it cannot be business as usual, it cannot be status quo, and that's more than anything what donald trump represents, he represents he's coming here to to be a disrupter and that's where i believe that a lot of our members also agree that it cannot be business as usual. >> the washington state congresswoman has invited trump to speak to the entire house gop though the date has yet to be announced. the presumptive republican nominee can look forward to new cash. the new york times reports that super donor sheldon added son is prepared to pour more than $100 million into trump's campaign. he endorsed trump on friday. it was an unlucky friday for bill clinton. he got heckled after showing up more than an hour late to an event for his wife in paterson, new jersey thanks to traffic problems on the tappan zee bridge. hillary clinton releasing a new ad slamming donald trump after he again delayed the release of his tax returns. >> any close

that includes kathy mcmorris rogers of washington state as well as, of course, paul ryan, who has famouslycnn that he wasn't going to endorse donald trump at this point. how much closer do they get to an endorsement? did donald trump alleviate any of those concerns about his impact down ticket? all those things will be fascinating to see as we get some more details about this meeting, but as you mentioned earlier on air, carol, reince priebus saying this was a good meeting. i think you will probably hear a positive message as his party tries to unite. >> and at some point paul ryan will hold a news conference. >> at 11:30. he usually holds his weekly press conference at 11:30. we're expecting to hear more from him. he came in here saying i'm not going to talk a whole lot about the things i'm going to ask donald trump to do, but what we've heard privately from our sources is that he wants to make sure that his big imperative right now is protecting the house republican majority and donald trump knows that. paul ryan has had concerns about some of the language and tone on the campaign trail.