the nation's top elected republican paul ryan saying he'll in longer defend donald trump. instead, the house speaker says he'll focus on keeping control of congress and helping vulnerable republican members try to win. joining us now is cnn political commentator and host of cnn's "smerconish," michael smercon h smerconish. good morning. >> good morning. >> tell us about what you think are the ramifications of paul ryan saying he can no longer defend donald trump. >> i think paul ryan believes donald trump is about to lose and lose badly. i'm sure he's mindful of polls like those that have just come out, whether it's nbc news and "the wall street journal" or it's politico and the morning consult, which show that trump is now trailing by double digits in nationwide polls. and even more importantly, that in the battleground states, he's fallen behind and we still haven't seen the full impact, i don't think, of both the tape and the debate. so ryan is looking at the tea