No Endorsement After Ryan Meets Trump
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, party divided. The GOP starts picking up the pieces after Donald Trump's primary campaign. The presumptive nominee meets with the House speaker, Paul Ryan. But is there a meeting of the minds, and why isn't Ryan ready to offer an endorsement? Common ground. While Republicans are vowing to reach unity, there are still deep splits on several major issues. So where and how can they find agreement? I'll ask the party chairman, Reince Priebus. New arms race. As the U.S. deploys a missile defense system in Europe, Russia deploys a powerful missile with multiple nuclear warheads. What's behind the Cold War-style build-up? And no sibling rivalry. As Kim Jong-un's regime gains more power, his younger sister gets a powerful new position. How much influence does she hold in the communist regime? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. The Republican Party started putting itself back together after Donald Trump's disruptive primary campaign left the GOP bitterly divided. The presumptive nominee came to Washington to meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan and other party leaders. Ryan, who last week sent out shock waves when he said on CNN he wasn't ready to support Trump, apparently still isn't ready. Ryan called the talks a good start but gained no endorsement after their meeting. There were pledges all around to preserve party unity, but many mainstream Republicans still differ with Trump on key issues. And others take strong exception to his strong rhetoric and nasty tone out there on the campaign trail. For his part, Trump tweeted after the meetings -- and I'm quoting him now -- "Things working out really well," exclamation point. Our correspondents, analysts and guests, they will have full coverage of all the day's top stories. Let's begin with our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. Jim, Donald Trump and Paul Ryan, they met face-to-face, but they still don't necessarily see eye to eye.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Donald Trump is all but declaring victory after his performance on Capitol Hill earlier today, but he left Washington without the critical endorsement of House Speaker Paul Ryan. And Senate Republicans are openly saying Trump needs to tone down his act. But at least they're all using the same word, "unity."</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): It was, as expected, a circus as Donald Trump came to Washington in search of a GOP big tent large enough to held his renegade campaign and the party establishment he hopes to win over.</s>REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I thought he has a very good personality. He's a very warm and genuine person.</s>ACOSTA: First up, House Speaker Paul Ryan is still holding back his endorsement of Trump, but as he hinted, perhaps not for long.</s>RYAN: 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, all of the issues and the principles that we are talking about.</s>ACOSTA: Trump shied away from media scrums but tweeted "Great day in D.C. with Speaker Ryan and Republican leadership. Things working out really well." But Kumbaya on the Capitol it was not.</s>RYAN: There are policy disputes that we will have. There's no two ways about it.</s>ACOSTA: While aides say their meeting was not heated, Ryan indicated they remain split on critical issues. Trump, to many Republicans, sounds like a Democrat on Social Security and Medicare.</s>TRUMP: It's my absolute intention to leave Social Security the way it is. Not increase the age and to leave it as is.</s>RYAN: Medicare and Social Security are going bankrupt. These are indisputable facts. The best way to do it is reform it for my generation.</s>ACOSTA: When Trump ventured to the Senate side of the Capitol, there were no reasons for optimism but also some disagreements. Trump tweeted that his meeting with Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was great. But Texas Senator John Cornyn told reporters he confronted Trump on his rhetoric on immigration.</s>SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: There is a way to talk about these issues that people don't find offensive but yet still make the point that we're all for a secure border.</s>ACOSTA: All day long, Democrats, eager to take back control of Congress, were out to exploit the GOP's divisions. Pro-immigration groups even delivered taco bowls to members of Congress to mock Trump's Cinco de Mayor tweet about his love for Mexican food and Hispanics. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid went further.</s>SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Since the Republican leader's all in for Donald Trump, we can only assume he approves Trump's calling immigrants "rapists and murderers." Since Senator McConnell has so enthusiastically embraced Trump, we can only assume he agrees with Trump's view that women are dogs and pigs.</s>ACOSTA: But the Trump campaign is feeling better after today's Capitol Hill primary. Ryan's endorsement was never expected today, one Trump aide told me. And another official said that endorsement is just a matter of time, adding that Ryan is expected to jump on board fairly soon, as he still has a lot of members to appease. And Wolf, we should mention one more meeting that Donald Trump held earlier today. That is with former secretary of state James Baker. A Baker spokesman confirms that happened earlier today -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Interesting. Thanks very much, Jim Acosta. Let's bring in our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash. Dana, you just returned from Capitol Hill. Take us a little bit behind the scenes. What are you learning?</s>DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That for the most part, people really thought that this was successful in that even those who are very much not in Trump's camp, never wanted him to be even close to being the nominee, understand that, for the good of their party, and ultimately beating Hillary Clinton, that this has to happen. There has to be a united front and, particularly, Wolf, when it comes to Paul Ryan. Because just even, again, walking the halls, talking to people who really, really like Ryan, they were concerned that what Ryan did here on CNN last week would hurt Republicans. Perhaps even hurt their majority, which is a 30-seat majority in the House, because a lot of their districts are really ruby red and really pro-Trump. So they really felt that, even though Ryan didn't endorse, he took an important step to try to bring the party together.</s>BLITZER: So is there consensus among the Republican leadership in the House and in the Senate, for that matter, that these meetings were a success?</s>BASH: That there were definitely was an important first step, because, remember, Donald Trump really didn't know most of these people. But I'll tell you one really interesting fact that I learned today was how much of a role Reince Priebus, the RNC chair, seemed to have behind the scenes over the past week and a half in bringing this together. He got a lot of push back over the past many, many months from a lot of Republicans in the way he handled Donald Trump. But because he kept an open line of communication, I'm told, by people outside of the RNC with Donald Trump, established a relationship with him, they really have a sense of trust in one another. He was able to talk to Donald Trump all last week, work him through the process of helping get him here today and then obviously did the same kind of thing with Paul Ryan, who is a long-time friend of Reince Priebus. So in many ways, Reince Priebus is the unsung hero of this.</s>BLITZER: Yes. And he was the only other person in that meeting between Ryan and Trump. It was Reince Priebus. He's got that Wisconsin connection...</s>BASH: Precisely.</s>BLITZER: ... with the speaker of the House as well. All right. Dana, thanks very much. Speaking of Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, joins us now live. Reince, thanks very much for joining us.</s>REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, RNC: Hey, thank you, Wolf. Appreciate it.</s>BLITZER: So why isn't the speaker yet ready to endorse Donald Trump?</s>PRIEBUS: Well, I think, you know, it's very sincere in that most people -- and I think even Donald Trump would agree with this, people thought this thing had another 30 days in it. And I guess people were hoping that they were going to be able to kick the tires a little bit longer and get their -- their talking points and their positions straight by the time this happened, and suddenly, it happened. So now a lot of folks are just faced with the position of, "Hey, I want to get to know Donald Trump. I want to see if we're on the same page on a few things." Today was a great day for that to happen between Paul Ryan and Donald Trump, and I can only describe it as extremely positive. And if you saw Paul Ryan's press conference afterwards, I think that pretty much says the whole story. It was a very encouraging day for the party.</s>BLITZER: Yes, he said it was a great meeting, too. They did issue that joint statement at the same time. But he also said the speaker still has to get, in his words, into the weeds on several sensitive policy issues, issues where he clearly disagrees with Donald Trump. And he and his aides have spoken of some of these issues. Here's Donald Trump articulating positions that clearly the speaker doesn't like. Listen to this.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm the King of debt. I love debt. (via phone): This is the United States government. First of all, you never have to default, because you print the money. I hate to tell you. OK? (on camera): We're out of control. We have no idea who's coming into our country. We have no idea if they love us, or if they hate us. We have no idea if they want to bomb us. Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words. Folks, we're going to build a wall. Believe me.</s>BLITZER: I know you're not going to give us all the details of what happened behind closed doors, but did they resolve some of those significant differences during the course of, what, your nearly one- hour meeting today?</s>PRIEBUS: Well, suffice it to say that there was a lot of agreement on most issues, and so there's a whole lot more they agreed on than disagreed. And I think that's why it was such a positive meeting. I think you've seen Donald Trump even kind of clarify some of those positions that you've just run in that montage. So I think you're seeing a person that is starting, really, to move into the general election mode and getting it and really working hard at being someone that can unify the party but also going after Hillary Clinton. And I don't think that we're going to have to worry about Donald Trump pulling any punches against Hillary Clinton.</s>BLITZER: What did he clarify?</s>PRIEBUS: Well, I'm not going to get in -- I hate to spoil the fun, Wolf, but I'm not going to get into the details, because that wouldn't be, really, my role, and I have to respect the confidences of the meeting. I can just tell you that there was a lot of agreement on almost all things that were discussed. But, you know, they're going to continue talking, and it was cooperative, good-spirited meeting with good chemistry. And I can just tell you I don't think it could have turned out any better.</s>BLITZER: Apparently, Donald Trump charmed a lot of people, a lot of Republicans in Washington today, if you listen to some of the statements from people who emerged from those meetings. But as you know, just a few days ago, he issued a statement saying he couldn't necessarily support the speaker's agenda. That was a pretty bold statement after the speaker told Jake Tapper he couldn't necessarily yet endorse Donald Trump. So the question is, what happens next? Where do you guys go from here?</s>PRIEBUS: Well, that's going to be up to the speaker and Donald Trump, Wolf. But I do know that they're committed to working together quickly. Perhaps even as soon as tomorrow or the next day and getting some more conversation started between the two of them. And I know that they're both committed to that and that's a positive thing, as well. But it's now in their hands, and you know, my role is to do whatever I can within the realm of reason to build and unify and bring people together. And I think today was a good start of that.</s>BLITZER: Can Donald Trump win over some of the key groups that you -- and you're the Republican leader -- you know you have to win over to recapture the White House: women, minorities, young people? Does he have that ability nationwide to go find those supporters?</s>PRIEBUS: Well, I think he's got the ability, and we also have the ability here at the RNC. I mean, that's why we're trying to put people every ten blocks in black and Hispanic and Asian communities with people that are working around the clock and getting to know voters, talking about issues that we believe in, registering voters, identifying turnout. All the mechanics. I know a lot of the boring stuff. But this is what a competent national party does. And then, obviously, tone and tenor matters, and I think Donald Trump understands that, too. And that's something that also has to continue. And so I'm confident that people understand what needs to get done, and I'm looking forward to that happening.</s>BLITZER: So you think he could bring in some of those minority voters?</s>PRIEBUS: Absolutely. I mean, you look at the turnout across -- within our own primary. I know it's not -- it's not transferable to a general, but certainly you see that. You see that promise in black and Hispanic communities. Now, I think as a party, we've done much better. And if you look at 2014, how we did in Colorado, with Cory Gardner almost winning the Hispanic vote, 28 percent of the black vote in Ohio. It didn't just happen on its own. We worked hard at that. And we just have to do better as a party. I'm committed to it. It's one of my cornerstones as chairman, is to be committed on a year-round basis to reaching out to black and Hispanic voters. And I want to do better. I've worked hard to try to do better, and I'm hoping that this fall will be an improvement.</s>BLITZER: One final question, because I know you've got to run. On the whole issue of funding the campaign, he almost completely self- funded his primary effort. He managed to win the Republican, for all practical purposes, presidential nomination. But where do you, as the leader of the Republican Party, and he work together now. You're going to have to raise, what, a billion dollars. How do you do that?</s>PRIEBUS: Well, I don't know what the number is going to be, Wolf. I mean, we didn't -- we didn't raise that through the RNC during the Romney campaign, and that had been going on through -- for 18 months, not self-funded. So I don't know what the number is going to be. But usually, you have a joint fundraising agreement, where you take the amount of money that a campaign can raise and the amount of money the party can raise, which is a much bigger number, and you combine those two buckets and other entities. And you come up with one joint fundraising agreement that you file with the Federal Election Commission. And that's all negotiated and discussed, and we're actually in the middle of that right now.</s>BLITZER: Reince Priebus, who's got a tough job as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Reince, thanks very much for joining us.</s>PRIEBUS: You bet. Thanks, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Thank you. When we come back, we'll speak to a key Donald Trump supporter and a whole lot more information coming in as we speak. We'll be right back.