Involved House Speaker paul ryan. If you could read between the tea leaves, what was the tone or tenor of that conversation . Well, you know, i think that priebus and trump have developed sort of an unlikely partnership. And i think what priebus wanted to communicate to trump last week was that the Republican Party is really has sort of a sweeping panic now about the direction of the trump campaign, the trajectory of the polls is wrong. And what he told trump was the campaign was going in the wrong direction. They needed to turn it around. And what is going on inside the rnc at the moment is theyre trying to make a deliberation in the next couple of weeks before early voting begins how they want to spend limited resources in terms of both cash and field staff and Party Machinery as they get here into the fall. So there is a menu of option on the table. And this is something that the rnc is going to have to make a determination about in the next couple of weeks. We have all been dealing with the donald trump campaign. He does not have a large staff. So how reliant has he been, will he be on the rnc moving ahead, especially with the ground game heading towards election day . You bring up i think a very important point. Obviously they have a joint fundraising agreement together and have been working in tandem. Trump more so than any president ial nominee in recent memories has relied on the party to provide some of the Campaign Mechanics that other campaigns build inhouse. He doesnt do much with data. He doesnt do much with field. He hasnt run a Single Television Ad during the election. He is relying on the rnc sort of to bootstrap what is a pretty skeletal staff out in the states. So if the rnc decides that their determination is their best move for the good of the party is to help vulnerable incumbent house and senate republicans, that could really be a significant blow to a campaign that doesnt have much of an apparatus out there. Let me go back to chairman priebus and others within the Republican Party socalled establishment. Because as you point out in your piece, the unforced errors dating back to Donald Trumps comments about john mccain, megyn kelly, his various tweets and more recent attacks on the khan family, and then the summer slide as the poll numbers continue to drop for donald trump. Didnt the republicans see this coming . I think whats most interesting to me is so many did not see it coming in the sense that they believed he would recalibrate his behavior once he got past the primary. I think thats what beginning to dawn on republicans who held out hope that trump would sort of enact a more president ial posture is that he is who he is. And, you know, the score settling, the incendiary rhetoric that characterized so much of his campaign and which worked so successfully for him navigating throughout it is something he clearly has carried over into the general election. As you note, priebus as well as many other people are leaning on trump to kind of temper his words, as trump put it to us, go a little kinder, a little easier, a little nicer. Trump isnt sure thats the style he prefers. Thinks he might be more of a natural in the attacking stuff in the primary there is sort of an internal calculus playing out in his head about what his best path forward is. Because some republican donors are saying to donald trump, take the gloves off. Thats right. One thing we know in our story while you have one faction of republicans, probably the larger faction urging him sort of to adopt a more conventional tone, to appeal to swing voters and independents, you still have donors such as many of the ones that trump saw over last weekend during a fundraiser in nantucket who are pressing him to be harder. To hit harder against hillary, to go after the republicans who have kind of left him at the altar here. So there is a push and pull. And i think he is still trying to reconcile in his comments to us. He really is trying to puzzle out the best path forward. You talked to donald trump on tuesday for your Time Magazine piece. What did he tell you . Well, he sort of foreshadowed some of the controversies that erupted over the subsequent 48 hours. He talks about how he liked the way he had run in the primaries better. He was listening to people who were telling him to ease up, but he wasnt sure if thats what the country wants. So while he said he had not made up his mind in the hours since, we have seen him say that president obama was the founder of isis. We have obviously heard the remark that appeared to some to suggest that Second Amendment supporters might have a remedy to prevent Hillary Clinton appointing more liberal Supreme Court justices. I think the tone and tenor of donald trump is sort of a battle that is playing out in realtime. And every step he takes in one direction seems to take two steps the next day. On a day with record heat, it might be apt suggesting that an eightpoint lead in august can melt like ice cream in the heat. So for donald trump to turn this around, for the poll numbers to change, what do people say he needs to do . Besides what you said earlier in terms of trying to temper his tone. Well, if you talk to republicans, what they will say most of all is he needs to stay on message. He needs to keep his remarks squarely focused on Hillary Clinton. He needs to be tying Hillary Clinton to barack obama. And he needs to be keeping the focus on his opponent. That is not a Natural Inclination for someone as publicity obsessed as donald trump. So he seems to sort of being veer issing off track day by day with sort of an extraordinary series of misfires, some of the ones you mentioned, obviously picking a fight with the family of a fallen army captain. He has been relitigating battles from the primaries with ted cruz. The republicans would really like to see him keep the focus on Hillary Clinton. Thats step number one. Its not getting bogged down in all of these daily controversies. At time. Com, the reckoning, Donald Trumps sink issing polls, unending attacks and public blunders have the gop reconsidering its strategy for november. The reporting of alex altman joining news the washington bureau. Thank you for your tomb. Thanks very much. Our cspan campaign 2016 bus is in chicago this week at the National Conference of state legislators, asking elected officials what issue is most important to you, your direct or your state. Hi, im jimbo len, representative from the great state south dakota. The number one issue that i believe is going to face the state of south dakota this next legislative year is going to be the potential expansion of medicaid. Governor du guard seems to want this particular legislation expanded. Its going to be an interesting session. Thank you very much. My name is breanne and im a legislator in the district of columbia. Im here today to talk about a really important issue for the residents of this district this year, in addition to voting for president , well be voting on statehood and selfdetermination. So were getting out the vote to show everyone across the country that we want to be the 51st state. And thats because just like everybody else, we pay taxes. We fight in wars, and we serve our communities. And we want the same equality and representation as all the residents in the united states. My name is alex, and the issue most important to me in the 2016 election cycle is raising wages and benefits for all workers so we can lift the floor and grow our economy from the bottom up and middle out. Hi, its kate from political wife life, excited to be at the convention today. And this federal election has been a really exciting one to follow. As a female, im really excited that we have a viable female in the candidate. And i cant wait to see how she does. Hi, my name is rodney lyons, a state representative from harvey, louisiana. Whats more important to me right now in my state is education. Education and critical services. We just did a wonderful expansion of medicaid which helped over 200,000 people in my state which is great. Nationally, it has to be focused on continuing to get the help we need nationally and growth in this country. America is great. Louisiana is growing. Thank you very much. Voices from the road on cspan. Tonight on cspan3, its American History tv in primetime, a look at the life and legacy of former alabama governor George Wallace. First, our original series the contenders takes a look at the fourtime president ial candidate. And that will be followed by archival video of his 1968 campaign that included a push to get on the california ballot. After that, well tour the George Wallace collection at the Alabama Department of archives in history. And later, well bring you a discussion of historians about segregation and politics in alabama during the 1960s. And now the contenders, our series on key political figures who ran for president and lost, but who changed political history. Next, we feature former governor of alabama and fourtime president ial candidate George Wallace. This program was recorded at the Governors Mansion in montgomery, alabama. Its about two hours. This is American History tv, only on cspan3. You go first. Good evening and welcome to the contenders. Tonight we come to you live from the Governors Mansion in montgomery, alabama, as we look at the life and times of fourtime president ial candidate George Wallace. Elected four times as governor of alabama, George Wallace called this house behind us home for 20 of his life. Now, before we begin our conversation on George Wallace and his legacy and introduce you to our guest, heres a look at his po