it does not sound like me on the phone and it was not me. >> team trump distancing himself from a former member of his own circle circle, a butler publicly called for president obama to be shot and hung outside the white house. and as to his taxes he plans to release them eventually. until then -- >> what is your tax rate? >> it's none of your business. you will see it when it's released. i fight hard to pay as little tax as possible. >> and will all this help win over the gop and be the top man on the hill. we wo behind the presumptive nominee, donald trump, paul ryan says there's no endorsement but he and donald trump are sewing seeds of unity and any disagreement is due to donald trump not being a politician at least that's what ben carson told my colleague. take a listen. >> donald trump is no at politician, does not use political speak, is not poli polished. the same problem that i had. you know, the people understand you but the media certainly doesn't. >> even as trump and ryan are seeking common ground, lawmakers like ted cruz are reminding us just how divided the party still remains. >> listen, i think every voter has to assess where he or she stands. we have some time. it is 2 1/2 month until the convention and six months until the election in november. my interest is in turning this country around and getting back to the conservative principles, the common sense free market principles and constitutional liberties that built this country and made it great. i think that's what a lot of voters are doing is letting the candidates try to earn our support, not through a cult of personality but actually through defending principles that matter and that make a difference in this country. . >> i want to bring in my friend and colleague, nbc katy tur who joins the trump campaign out side the trump towers in manhattan. thanks for joining me. let's start with yesterday that meeting wit donald trump and paul ryan. paul ryan didn't endorse him but seemed like a little bit of unity coming out? what do you anticipate? >> reporter: i don't think anybody yesterday thought there would end up with an endorsement from paul ryan. there's such a wide gap and gulf when it comes to policy issues between the two. so far, the campaign is s saying -- i'm sorry -- there is somebody in my ear -- so far the campaign is saying they believe this was a good first step when it comes to trying to get on the same page with paul ryan and get on the same page with the republican establish. he went on and had meetings with a number of senators afterwards and members of the house all of which they believe went well, some taking photos and posting them on their twitter pages or as in this case of senator orrin hatch, endorsing donald trump. they feel good. they realize there is still a ways to go. donald trump unpredictability, we talk about this all the time. donald trump is someone who often says one thing and says something else even sometimes in this same sentence. his issues of all been quote unquote flexibilile and the republican party is trying to figure out where they can trust him, where is he going to be fi firmest? what issues will he maintain and what issues will he potentially change as it goes forward and can be an issue on down ballot candidates. >> let's pick up on that point and say paul ryan does endorse him at some point that you have rig rightfully underscored, there's this unpredictability about donald trump. are they getting closer to trust him on the campaign trail and what he says in these closed door meetings will match what he's been saying to everyone else? >> i think they're trying to figure out how to trust him. ben carson called paul ryan to lay out donald trump's issues are and not what he's been portrayed in the media. but senator cole was talking to luke russert and said the biggest issue is unpredictability. while they want to believe donald trump that he will be hard and steadfast on his issues, they don't necessarily trust him yet. that is still a work in progress from a number of different sources speaking to nbc news from capitol hill. they hope to get there but they are not quite there yet, still, in order to keep hillary clinton out of the white house, many members of the republican party feel they have to get behind donald trump no matter what. >> nbc's katy tur, we really appreciate it. great reporting, as always. don't forget to kate catchty me and hallie jackson later this afternoon. all of us road warriors will have the pleasure of gathering in one place for a discussion in the 2016 race beginning at 4:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. always a great hour. we really hope you will join us. sean spicer chief strategist and communications doctorate for the republican -- communications director for the republican committee. >> thank you for having me. >> what were your takeaways from the meeting on capitol hill and do you anticipate paul ryan will ultimately endorse donald trump? >> i think it was var positive day. to put this in context, most of the folks in the republican party and media believe we will go to june 7th and open convention. donald trump wrapped that up with ted cruz and subsequently, governor kasich. it caught a lot of people by surprise and this is an opportunity for a lot of people who haven't spent a lot of time with donald trump for what solutions he has for making america great again and have more than a minute or two discussion about those issues and solutions he's offering up for this country. i think it was a huge step forward. you saw a lot of members of congress, a lot of donors yesterday fall in line and talk about how they're liking what they hear, his plans for the future and want to be aboard. the polls starting to show it. i think we're in a great position as we head to cleveland. >> i don't have to tell you the primary was very ugly, it was brui bruising. how can the party unify after that? are you concerned about that, fra frankly? >> it was. there were words thrown around and elbows knocked. politics is a contact sport. the end of the day, one of the things -- not one of -- the greatest unifying process for all republicans and conservat e conservatives is the prospect of hillary clinton in the white house. most people starting to realize it's not just four more years of policy, a lifetime of appointments and spending and decisions that will impact probably at least a generation if not two. you may not have had donald trump as your first choice. at the end of the day, hillary clinton isn't in your top hundred and we need unify as a part. i she is a single galvanizing figure for all of us as republicans and conservatives and frankly independents and soft democrats come together and realize she is not someone who can be trusted. her policies are to the extreme left as she continues to pander because bernie sanders has taken this so long. i think republicans not just republicans but independents and democrats realize we have a clear choice in november. this country has serious problems whether domestic or foreign policy and we have two stark images where to take the country. >> two big issues this week, donald trump's taxes, he says he won't release them because they're being audited. let dmet your reaction. >> do you believe voters have a right to see your tax returns before they make a final decision? >> i don't think i they do. i will gladly give them. they won't learn anything. i will release them before routine audit. i hope they see it before the election. >> what is your tack audit? >> >> it's none of your business but i fight as hard to pay as little tax as possible. >> should he release his tax returns now, sean. >> he said it over and over again, as soon as the audit is done he'll release them. >> he's talking about transparency. doesn't he need to release his tax returns. >> at the end of the day, it's up to each individual candidate whether they release them or not. the only reason hillary clinton never released anything because they were under investigation by whitewater. >> she has years of tax returns. we're waiting for his tax returns. >> this was not something they did voluntarily in the name of transparency. they were being hound eed becau of whitewater deals and to prove they weren't as guilty as some of the charges against them. let's be honest why they did what they did. at the end of the day, every candidate has filed a disclosure form with the election commission stating their assets and liabilities are. that's actually a fairly detailed document. mr. trump further takes the step of releasing his taxes that's up to him. he has said he will do it when the audit is over. let's wait until the audit is over. >> even richard nixon released his tax returns when he was being audited. isn't this part of becoming the nominee. >> he has said he will release his taxes. i will take him at his word and we will go from there. >> i want to talk about this "washington post" today unear unearthed this audio from years ago, i'm sure you're very familiar with it, donald trump posing as his publicist. he knocked that down and said that is not me. what is your reaction to that and does that somehow affect his argument he will be a fair ethical candidate moving forward. >> i don't understand that. he said, no. why would that undermine anything? >> you take him at his word? >> if you look into the "washington post" on a daily basis, there's a list of corrections they make. let's be honest. when it comes to corrections i'm not exactly thinking the media has clean hands when it comes to these discussions and accuracy on a daily basis the mainstream media makes. let's be fair. number two, he said it wasn't him. number two, the idea we are discussing a videotape from 1990 you have hillary clinton under fbi investigation and her husband talking quid pro quo and putting people on boards, you guys want to talk about an audiotape from 25 years ago? you want to talk about the s serness of the process. >> we will talk about all of that but this is your response to this latest allegation. >> my answer is, i think it's silly. silly. there are a lot of important issues that need to get discussed putting people back to work and moving this country forward and threats from over a overseas and we're talking about an audiotape 20 plus years ago that is a voice that sounds similar -- let's be honest, it's silly at best. >> sean spicer communications director for the rnc. thanks. have a nice weekend. >> you, too. and the reporter with the "washington post" so we can ask the man himself about these tapes. how did these tapes surface and your response to sean spicer y saying, this is silly, this is not the case, this is not donald trump. >> good to be with you. i did not write the story, "washington post" mark fisher obtained the tapes, part of a longer project some "washington post" reporters are working on about the presumptive nominee. we believe it is trump at the "washington post," trump is always someone who has acted as his own spokesman, someone who works the media especially doing business deals in the '90s and mid 1980s. >> when you look at this story, and you guys had another story recentlyings bringing up the past of donald trump, raising questions, do you anticipate there will be more of these t e types of stories, transgressi transgressions, things that cast a cloud over his business record, his personal record. >> donald trump is a first time candidate on the national stage and there's a lot -- everyone in the press and the country is trying to discover about this man who may be president. as this campaign unfolds, especially in the general election, trump can expect an advertising glitz from the democrats and more scrutiny and why there's a lot of questions about his tax returns and dealings. as much as he is a global celebrity, there is still a lot more to dig up and to know. >> i want to get your take away. you had a very busy day yesterday as did many of my colleagues on the hill. what are your takeaways? do you get the sense the republican party is unifying or was yesterday for show? >> yesterday was about the republican party as an institution seeing if it could grapple with this newcomer, donald trump. it was not about finding policy consensus. the leadership on capitol hill is much more yellideological an servant than trump, about whether they could project some of the same values in this campaign. >> thank you very much. we appreciate your insights. >> still to come on this friday, dr. ben carson on the record. we will bring the former gop candidate's decisions to stick with team trump. donald trump distancing himself from his former butler who made this statement. >> thick he should be hung next to hillary clinton and i think it should be public, i think it should be televised. none of your business, that's what donald trump has to say about his tax rate. that brings us to today's microsoft pulse question, should donald trump release his tax results right now? the polls are live, continue to weigh in and stay with us. we'll be right back after a quick break. (man) hmm. what do you think? ♪ (stranger) good mornin'! ♪ (store p.a.) attention shopps, there's a lost couple the men's department. 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>> i've talked to him about that. he's very empathetic about it. a lot of people on the conservative side are but they have done a horrible job of expressing it in a way that connects with people. that's something that's going to be worked on, i guarantee you, for this election cycle, and beyond the election cycle. >> the democratic challenger to headquarters, he also has a problem with getting out his tax returns. do you think somebody should know somebody's tax returns when they run for president? >> certainly a financial disclosure is something when you run for president, i had to put one out as well, much more detailed than a tax return. you can really determine a great deal from that. that's already available. let's analyze that. after analyzing that, let's say what else do we need to know that would be forthcoming with a tax return. >> what do you -- what are you skeptical or intrigued by hillary clinton's meetings with those goldman sachs audiences where she got paid a couple hundred thousand to speak for a while, what do you think is there in that would be interesting to the voter? >> i don't know, chris. i do public speaking. i must edadmit, it's fun, but i would be interested in knowing, maybe i can include some of those things and my speeches and maybe people will pay me 200, 0 $200,000 for a speech. >> seriously, isn't there something in there you're hoping would pop, some friendliness towards wall street? is that what you're all looking for. i always wonder, hillary will say, i know this guyen the room or that woman in the room and it will be somewhat friendly. what do you think she's giving away at those meetings? >> i suspect a relationship is indicated in those speeches. she's not interested in the people knowing about that relationship because that doesn't work so well when in the next breath you're bashing wall street and saying these are the people who are growedare-greedy enemies. i a'm sure she wants to be consistent and the best way to do that is keep people ignorant. up next. controversy for team trump, how the billion aire businessman is distancing himself from a former staffer who called for the hanging of our current commander in chief next. commander-in-chief test chf test commander-in-chief welcome back, everyone. while donald trump spent all week reaching out to republican leaders he had to distance himself from one controversial supporter. his long-time butler said he thinks president obama should be quote hanged in a televised event. take a listen. >> there's more than some issues with him. he's a [ bleep ] damn traitor. t-r airborne t-- t-r-a-i-t-o-r, traitor. period. that's the way i see him. >> you think that's what should be todone with traitors? >> i think he should be hung. i think he should be hung next to hillary clinton and i think it should be public. i think it should be televised, i think it ought to be done from the poretico of the white mosque, it used to be the white house. >> the trump campaign quickly disavowed the former butler's comme comments. jacob joins us with all this controversy at a time trump is trying to unify the republican party around his candidacy. what's the latest you're hearing this afternoon. >> this isn't the first time he had to distance himself from a high profile controversial reporter this week to the california white national list delegate to former kkk leader, david duke. this one is different because he's so close to the trump family and for decades he was the butler. interestingly it started out as get out the vote facebook post and said donald trump was the answer to a lot of problems up and called for shooting of the president and in an interview and doubled down and talked about bombing muslim run cities and immigrants at the border and hanging the president and bo bombing ferguson, talked about clinton saying she is a murd murderer. the trump campaign came out quickly and this is the quickest we saw them respond to something controversial and said he has not worked for them in a number of years and stopped in 2009 and condemned these horrible stateme statements. the secret service confirmed they saw the statement on facebook and heard about the news and conducting their own appropriate investigation. that's where it stands doubling down from the butler, the secret service conducting their own investigation. >> jacob ross -- roscon repo reporting live. >> it worries leaders around the world. what they're seeing is evidence that we have a presidential candidate who doesn't know anything about national security. trump probably has no idea what to do or say if there is a major terrorist event. >> that is former white house counter-terrorism advisor, richard clark voicing a major concern with a possible trump presidency. trump is working to change minds and his visit was largely met with positivity. but looming none of his issues with banning muslims and others have been seriously discussed yesterday. luke, you were live on capitol hill and know you have exclusive new updates. what are you hearing today about trump's efforts to unify the party? >> hey there, kristen. it's fair to say this is one of the opening gambits of what will be donald trump's continuous appearances on capitol hill over the next few weeks and month as he tries to unify the house gop conference and try to convince house speaker paul ryan he is fit to carry conservative principles forward. there are conservatives very concerned whether or not donald trump is actually a republican. they feel he has been liberal on too many issues and worried about some of the bombastic things he has said, not only about a muslim ban or calling people across the border from mexico rapist, but more along the lines of printing money to deal with the national debt. take a listen to a trump supporter. what he said about donald trump and the house freedom caucus and possibly them coming together at some point. >> i think donald trump grew up in reality tv -- i shouldn't say grew up but was involved in reality tv and when he campaigns i think some of that comes out. if you meet him in private like i did and paul ryan had the opportunity to do and he's much more serious mind and willing to learn. >> i spoke to kathie rogers, the conference chairperson and she had a meeting with with donald trump, said when meet him in person, he's charming and knows what he's talking about and knows his policy. we'll see how that comes out on the trail as they go to november. there are a lot of pit pals as you were playing earlier, they have to answer questions about donald trump's butler, tapes from the 1990s, him being a pr person, these aren't exactly things rank and file members of congress are used to answering every single day. >> certainly ads to concerns about down ballot races. always working your sources, appreciate it. >> thank you. reports spelling potential new drama for the clinton campaign. we will break it all down. stay with us. its way into your day, i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, don't suffer in silence! step on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. tell 'em cedric sent you. it's how i try to live... how i stay active. so i need nutrition... that won't weigh me down. for the nutrition you want without the lories you don't... try boost® 100 calories. each delicious snack size drink gives you... 25 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. and it's available in two new flavors, vanilla caramel and double chocolate fudge. i'm not about to swim in the slow lane. stay strong. stay active with boost®. shoah, ha ha.ew artist. show me top male artist. my whole belieber fan group. it's not a competition, but if it was i won. xfinity x1 lets you access the greatest library of billboard music awards moments, simply by using your voice. the billboard music awards, live sunday may 22nd, 8/5 pacific, only on abc. i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? just a short time ago, the department of homeland security official said his department would work to mitigate the long lines at the airports and would deploy more screeners and i crease overtime. however, he warned that will not be totally the end of the long lines. >> contemplate increased wait times as you travel. there will be wait times. we want the public to know we are working hard to alleviate the wait times in partnership with airports and airlines and ensure air travel remains safe and secure in this country. >> the long lines are due in part for travelers as well as more than 100 screeners walking off the job each week in part because of stress and low pay. a nyoew report from the "wall street journal" raising questions about bill, hillary and chelsea clinton's charitable foundation, the paper claims the commission helped broker global commissions and grant for a for profit energy company partly for people with close ties to the clintons and it says they broke several tax codes that keeps charitable not-for-profit organizations. saying they display a wilful ignorance how the cg ipod del works investing in for profit companies positive and major trend in philosophy. president bill clinton was asked about the report at a campaign event yesterday. take a look. >> reporter: regarding that "wall street journal" report, do you have a response? >> no. i haven't had a chance to read it yet. >> reporter: do you deny it? that you broke the law? >> oh, god yes. >> that was our fantastic colleague, mark brewster and now to my other fantastic colleague. cgi pushing back very hard s saying there was no wrongdoing here, this goes on all the time. is this a problem of optics for the clinton family and secretary clinton's campaign because obviously you have critics who say they blur the line sometimes. >> kristen, you look back to a year ago we were all studying the clinton global initiative and a lot of its links to people and organizations even when hillary clinton was serving as secretary of state you end up seeing the nexus of money, big don donors, people who are being able to somehow make money and it allows critics to say, ah-ha, i got you, there is some type of wrongdoing, there is something that is going wrong here. of course, the clinton campaign, the clinton global initiative, their allies always push back and say no law was actually ever broken. as you alluded to, it always seems to be pushing to the limit, never going past beyond the law but certainly allowing clinton opponents to say, uh-huh, there's something wrong going on there. >> when you look at the polls, only 19% of voters say they find her honest and trustworthy. this strikes me as just another head line that feeds into that narrative. that, the e-mails. is she doing anything to combat that, do you think, as she gets closer to the general election? >> what the clinton campaign and hillary clinton have been doing as they start pivoting towards the general election is being able to address people's problems and make it seem they are fighting for the issues people care about, what voters want, whether paid leave, whether childcare, as hillary clinton has been campaigning rece recently. a lot of this stuff comes baked into the cake for clinton, goes back to when i was a cover reporter on whitewater and the lewinsky scandal, there's always some sort of scandal and wrongdoing, the hillary clinton and bill clinton, the idea you plow through it, keep on going, defeat the attacks and keep on movie ing on. i think that probably is what they want to do and this and other stories that will come between now and election day. >> that's a great analysis. >> speak of keep on moving on, jef weaver was here earlier from senator sanders campaign. they are clearly pushing forward despite the fact senator clinton has a nearly insurmountable delegate lead. take a listen to what he had to say. >> i encourage him to celebrate women and what they're achieving in this country and -- >> that was the wrong sound. i don't have to tell you, we have been hearing from the sanders campaign they have every right to stay in this race and fight on through, california through the convention. how is it looking for him because he's under pressure from democrats? >> here's the good news for bernie sanders. he keeps winning. he won indiana last week and virginia this week and probably will do very well in oregon. they keep on doing pretty well. as you mentioned the math is very difficult for them. our calculation, hillary clinton already has 94% of the delegates she needs to be able to hit the magic number of 2383 delegates. she only needs to win 14% of the remaining delegates to get there under the proportional system, she's going to be the democratic nominee come june 7th, according to our math. what did strike me, jef weaver, campaign manager to thomas roberts, this will come down to super delegates, we will continue to march to the convention. chris and i caution to say, let's look at what the political environment looks like come june 7th when it seems hillary clinton hits that magic number of 2383, what everything looks like, when both democrats and republicans are girded for a general election, interesting to see the motivation and desire by democrats that do all the way to the convention. >> mark murray, thanks for joining me. have a great weekend. >> you, too. as we mentioned, pressure is mounting on bernie sanders on his campaign, a groom of vermont supporters banded together and drafted a proposal that paves the way for a post primary california exit. the idea is to allow the clinton campaign and democratic parties to focus intersection on defe defeating donald trump. california senator dianne feinstein expressed concern over sanders staying in the race telling the associated post it is harmful because she can't make the general election pivot the way she should. here's a little more from jef weaver responding last hour. >> is the decision to stay in potentially weakening the democratic ticket in the fall? >> absolutely not. bernie sanders presence in california and active presence in california in terms of registering tens of thousands of new voters in california, generating excitement in california and bringing people out in the primary process will help democrats up and down the ballot in california. >> nbc's chris jansing is on the road in fargo, north dakota and sanders will hold a rally there in the next hour. what is his campaign saying with all the pressure mounting on them? >> reporter: they're dismissing it and have for weeks and haven't changed at all. we're in fargo now. they're chanting feel the burn. bernie sanders crashed an event his wife was about to do before 100 people in a coffee shop in grand forks, this morning, talking about the same argument he's making, even though the path is number he believes he can win the number of pledged delegates he needs and move to the super delegates. this is a guy who truly understands the math but also understands huge numbers of supporters continue to come out for him, although fund-raising has been down, no doubt about that. the campaign claims they have enough money to move forward through the rest of these remaining states. mark pointed out the key thing here when he talks to these big crowds of people, number one, we just won in virginia and last week we won in indiana. that leaves this tricky space where we also know that the number one response he gets night after night, day after day is when he says that donald trump will never be president of the united states. that gets the biggest cheer from his crowd. he has said, i'm not going to do anything to see that donald trump gets elected. in the meantime, he really is working on seeing how many st e states he can win and how many superdelegates he can get. i did ask him yesterday, late yesterday afternoon i had a chance to talk to the senator. if this is such a super delegate strategy, who's in charge of it? do you have somebody working to make this happen? well, we do and i'm not going to say who and we will have the details later. >> chris jansing on the strail. my friend and colleague, good to see you. thank you. one step forward and one step back in the fight against isis. good news from the pentagon, fewer americans are joiningthy terrorists overseas, when we come back. ♪ the all-new audi a4, with available virtual cockpit. ♪ (vo) on the trane test range, you learn what makes our heating and cooling systems so reliable. if there's a breaking point, we'll find it. it's hard to stop a trane. really hard. her long day as anne. hair stylist starts with shoulder pain when... hey joanne, want to trade the all day relief of 2 aleve with 6 tylenol? give up my 2 aleve for 6 tylenol? no thanks. for me... it's aleve. technology moves faster than ever. the all-new audi a4, with apple carplay integration. there's been possible setback in the fight to take back mosul from isis, possible again not until after this year. there was good news as well this week as new fbi statistics show fewer americans are actually traveling overseas to fight for isis. the average of one person a month is down from 6 to 10 people per month during the first half of 2015. nbc news foreign correspondent, richard engel, thanked down the identities of those who left to fight for isis. >> we assembled the team, rented a motel room and got work to. we asked retired fbi agent to join us. >> unfortunately, we do have a problem. >> look at it. >> of american citizens going and joining isis. >> we quickly learned details about some of these young men. >> i know this one. we did a story on him and he's dead. >> douglas mcarthur mccain from minnesota was killed fighting for isis august 7, 2014. they believe another minnesotan is alive in missouri. we wanted to know how these 15 young men became so radic radicalalized. he suggested we start with their families. >> there is no way your kid will change from normal person to a jihadi, suicide bomber. >> nobody notice. >> no one notice any difference. >> we tracked down relatives of some of the men on the list. >> can i talk to you for a minute? you don't want to talk to me? he clearly didn't want to speak. get lost is what he said. he said he was going to call the police. >> incredible reporting. that was nbc's richard engel. you can see it on assignment 7:00 eastern, 6:00 central only on nbc. you don't want to miss that. after the break, the fight for transgender rights at a fever pitch in this country and the backlash for president obama to call for every student to use the bathroom that match theirs identity. before we take a break, let's get another update to the microsoft pulse question. do you think donald trump should release his tax returns now? 88% say yes. post your vote and we'll be right back after a quick break. you can fly across welcome town in minutes16, or across the globe in under an hour. whole communities are living on mars and solar satellites provide earth with unlimited clean power. in less than a century, boeing to space planes, across the universe and beyond. and if you thought that was amazing, you just wait. ♪ ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. the battle over transgender rights escalated after president obama was accused of blackmail today after the historic move calling for every public school to allow students to use the bathroom and locker room that allows its own gender identity. if a school doesn't obey, it could face losing federal fu funding. >> he says he will withhold f d funding if schools do not follow the policy. in texas, he can keep his 30 pieces of silver. we will not yield to blackmail from the president of the united states. >> not surprisingly, the white house quickly fired back. >> i think this does underscore the risk of electing right wing radio host to a statewide elected office. this does not add any additional requirements to any school district or state under the applicable law. this is in response to extensive requests for guidance and information and advice that have been put forward by school administrators and teachers and some cases even parents who are seeking practical solutions to this challenge. >> nbc's ron allen is at the white house with more on this major new directive. obviously, this is sparking a lot of debate particularly coming against the backdrop of 2016. what else is the white house y saying today? >> reporter: what they're s saying, kristen and family si sizing this is guidance, suggestions, this is not enforcement action, this is not a new law, but it's clear how the white house, president obama himself feel about this whole issue of transgender rights. they believe it is a civil rights issue. they believe no individual should be discriminated against who they are or who they love, the phrase the president has said again and again. clearly, that's where this is coming from. there is a lot of opposition or pushback. donald trump today said he thought this was matter to left local communities and states. you heard the reaction in texas and elsewhere and you heard the fight the justice department is having with the state of carolina, the h b-2 law that deals with issues of transgender rights. here's a little bit more about what josh earnest said when he was asked about the white house being taken to court about this. know it is my strongly held belief and i'm pretty sure i will be right about this the vast majority of schools and school districts and school administrators across the country will welcome this guidance and will implement it. for those that don't, there's an established process for them to raise any concerns they may have. >> one thing is clear that there are debates about this in many communities across the country. in illinois, 50 parents suing, in missouri a walk out by students who do not support these laws or guidance that supports the transgender community. it's a debate playing out also in the 2016 race. interesting the country has really focused on this issue. involves a very small group of people, transgender the community but clearly the white house feels very strongly about this. >> nbc's ron allen from the white house. great report. >> that will do it for me this hour. kate snow picks up our coverage next and then i'll be back at 4:00 p.m. eastern for a road warrior special. join me and hallie jackson and katy tur on the road for the latest. join us. insurance but first, my luggage. ahh, there it is. uh, excuse me, sir? 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