because it was very possible for a long time the rules fox news was using to determine eligibility for that first debate might have resulted in the sitting republican governor of ohio not being allowed into the debate, even though it was in his own home state. governor john kasich of ohio almost had to watch that debate from, which is the governor's mansion, which would have been really weird for that first debate in ohio. luckily, though, in the end he made it. the second republican debate was held in california, which is a state that is 100% totally irrelevant in presidential politics. it's the polar opposite of ohio in that sense. but it's also where the reagan library is. so they put the second debate there at the reagan library so the candidates could all stand in front of ronald reagan's big plane, his air force i and cnn kept them sweating, stands there for more than three hours in what was 100 degree heat.

third voice was boulder, colorado because colorado isn't even holding a primary in this presidential election, not a caucus, not a primary, nothing. colorado is opting out of the process of choosing the republican nominee this year. they are the only state in the union that has just decided that they are not going to take part in picking the republican presidential nominee. so obvious place for a republican presidential debate then, in front of an audience that has no stake in the race whatsoever? sure. that was the third one. fourth republican debate this year was in milwaukee, wisconsin, which, you know, wisconsin frankly hasn't been that much of a presidential swing state recently. it, therefore, didn't make all that much sense as a venue for the fourth debate, except for the fact that the chairman of the rnc is from wisconsin and wisconsin governor scott walker was expected by many republican insiders to be the likely

front-runner by that time in the race. in fact, by the time that milwaukee debate rolled around, scott walker had already quit running for president weeks earlier. so the most interesting question heading into the milwaukee debate sort of ended up being whether scott walker with stay home because it would be weird that he wasn't participating or whether he showed up and watched from the audience. turned out he showed up and watched from the audience. it is a significant choice by the party as to where these things happen for good or for bad. it turns out that last night for the fifth debate, it was just a spectacular choice of venue. it was right on the news. even leading the news. because, yes, last night's fifth republican debate was in las vegas, and that makes sense in pure political calendar terms

because after iowa and then new hampshire and then south carolina, the next place that republican presidential candidates compete this year is in nevada, the nevada caucuses. nevada is third in the country for the democrats this year, fourth in the country for the republicans. so nevada is a really important early state. it's the first western state. overall nevada is very, very sparsely populated, doesn't have all that many people in it as a state but those few people are a really important audience for the presidential candidates. so it makes sense that you'd do a debate in nevada. beyond just being in nevada, though, beyond being in nevada's population center of las vegas, there's also one other reason that last night's debate venue was perfect in every way and that's because the specific place in las vegas where they held last night's debate is a hotel called the venetian, the biggest hotel and casino in las vegas. the version of the venetian that's in china is the single

biggest casino in the world. and both of them and a lot more casinos and hotels beside, they're run by a conservative republican multi-billionaire named sheldon adelson. he's the zillionaire who spent more money in the last election than any other single person in the united states of america. it was fascinating. he's a republican and his side didn't win obviously but i think sheldon adelson had a huge effect on the race in 2012. it interesting because his effect on that race was totally derived not just from the fact he was a republican, it was derived from his individual quirky personal preferences about who in republican politics he personally liked and who he personally didn't. what most people remember about sheldon adelson's effort to basically buy the republican primary in 2012 was that more than anything in that race, sheldon adelson that was

gingrich's money guy. he pumped 25 million of his sweet, sweet casino guys into the campaign to elect newt gingrich and his super pacs. and he repeatedly said there would be more with that are came from. he said people should think of his potential spending on the 2012 race limitless. remember when gingrich stormed into 2012 in south carolina and destroyed mitt romney there? newt gingrich beat mitt romney by 12 points. it also came after the airing of a half-hour long anti-mitt romney ad masquerading as a documentary called "the king of bain: when mitt romney came to town." sheldon adelson paid to run that

half-hour long ad. you do not run a half-hour long ad repeatedly without really, really, really deep pockets. and newt gingrich's deep pockets were in this guy's pants in 2012. and even though newt gingrich did not win the republican nomination in 2012, sheldon adelson's zillions of dollars he spent on that race really did have a huge effect on the race. remember, mitt romney had a hard time locking up the nomination. it's basically because a bunch of the republican base didn't see mr. romney as conservative enough. the good news for mr. romney about that was that even though the base didn't like him, the base had a hard time settling on an alternative. they had a hard time agreeing on who else they might like better instead of mitt romney.

they kept skipping around. herman cain did pretty well in the early polls and newt gingrich won that primary in south carolina. rick santorum actually won iowa and then won about ten other states all over the country. if the conservative republican base in 2012 was going to come to a consensus on an alternative to mitt romney in 2012, it was rick santorum who had the best chance of being that, as long as he could consolidate of the not mitt romney votes. and he was not able to consolidate the votes because sheldon adelson kept funding newt gingrich to the gills, keeping him in the race long after he was otherwise viable. and that does not appear to have been an accident. sheldon adelson was up front about this in 2012. he said he really, really liked newt gingrich the best, was definitely miss candidate. he said he was sort of okay with mitt romney, he could live with

mitt romney if he had to, but he wanted everybody to know, this rick santorum guy, no. likable enough guy but he's the one candidate who adelson believed could not end up being president. >> i know rick, i like him, we're friendly, but i don't want him running my country. the problem with romney is and i've talked to romney many, many times, as recently as he was here in vegas for the caucuses a couple, few weeks ago. he's not the bold decision-maker like newt gingrich is. he doesn't want to -- every time i talk to him, he says, well, let me think about it. everything i've said to mitt, let me look into it. i'm in favor of newt gingrich because i like people who make decisions. he's a decision-maker. >> he's a decision-maker. mitt romney a little mealy

mouth, i like newt better. but rick santorum, the exact quote, "i don't want him running my country." my country. so sheldon adelson picked newt gingrich and kept newt gingrich in the race well beyond his natural life span in that race at least in part to box out rick santorum. so rick santorum came in second overall, but importantly he did not win. sheldon adelson got his second choice pick for the republican presidential nominee. can't have newt gingrich, i can settle for mitt romney. once mitt romney was the nominee, sheldon went on to spend so much to defeat democrats and president obama, he went on to spend so much in 2012 that he is widely considered to be the single largest individual campaign donor in the history of this country based on what he alone individually spent in 2012. and so the republicans spent

their fifth debate last night in his house, at the venetian, his hotel, on the las vegas strip and he had a front row seat. turns out he knew a guy. yeah. nbc news reports before that debate, sheldon adelson had one-on-one meetings with not one, not two but at least four of the leading republican presidential candidates, he took personal meetings yesterday ahead of the debate with donald trump, jeb bush, marco rubio and ted cruz. why wouldn't you take a one-on-one meeting with sheldon adelson? even at the crunchiest of crunch times in terms of getting ready for the debate. sheldon adelson really is the guy who can buy the primary if you want to or he can at least bury your opponent if you want him to. and if you pledge allegiance, learn from the lessons of rick santorum. the koch brothers get all the attention.

but sheldon adelson, he is the one man more than any other who has proven himself willing to spend the most money in the country to either pick his preferred person for president of the united states or orchestrate the nominee. when nevada held their republican presidential caucuses in 2012, veteran nevada political reporter john ralston is the dean of political reporting in nevada, he reported at the time that nevada republicans established a special one precinct caucus just for sheldon adelson. his caucus closed its doors hours later just to accommodate sheldon adelson's religious observance of the sabbath.

must be nice, right? it not like the guy doesn't have sway. and now there is the matter of the largest newspaper in the state of nevada, the las vegas review journal, at the heart of a major journalistic mystery for the past few days. since we got word the paper had been sold for cash for an unexpectedly ginormous amount of cash to an owner or owners who prefer to be remain anonymous. all week long reporters have been protesting in ways quiet and loud, trying to report out their own story of their own paper. as a reporter or an editor, it's bizarre and in some ways verges on unethical to be in the dark as to who owns you. to be a state and not know who is the owner of the largest paper, particularly on the eve of the presidential caulk uses

about to happen in that state. after a week of speculation and hand wringing and protest and worry on who the mystery buyers or buyer might be, today fortune magazine reported that according to their anonymous sources, surprise, indeed the mystery cash buyer of the largest newspaper in the state is sheldon adelson. it interesting. he has never been shy, never been anonymous about where he's put his money and what he's trying to influence in the past. but until today, if this reporting is true, he was apparently a little shy about this and didn't want his name on it. a reporter for cnn said he spoke with mr. adelson about this last night and as of last night mr. adelson still would not say he was the new owner of the paper. he told cnn that he has, quote,

no personal interest in the paper. but two sources tell "fortune" today, the day after the debate that it sheldon adelson. if "fortune"'s reporting is borne out, it would seem that sheldon was intent on no one ever knowing and didn't want anyone talking about it because wouldn't want to be a distraction from the robust, inspiring, small d democratic process, by which we citizens pick our president in this country. wouldn't want to distract from that. joining us now is john ralston, the host of "ralston live," former columnist for the "las vegas review journal." it's great to see you, my friend. nice to you have back. >> always great to be with you, rachel. >> we've got two anonymous sources to "fortune," a sort of cryptic quote to cnn last night.

what do you know or what do you understand about this? do you think that sheldon adelson just bought the biggest paper in the state? >> i think sheldon adelson is involved, rachel. it was my guess from the beginning because he fit the profile. who has that much loose change lying around and $140 million that he can just overpay for an operation that really isn't doing that well. who essentially would want to use a newspaper for political or business purposes. as you know, sheldon adelson own as newspaper in israel and has often been accused of using that as a political bludgeon. and you alluded to this, who would not care what people thought about him owning a newspaper. the one thing that goes against it is the secrecy. i got some information myself late today, rachel. i talked to somebody close to adelson who said, and this quote was very interesting, "sheldon adelson did not personally by the review journal."

now, why insert the word "personally"? there is a parsing going on here. he's involved probably in an llc with other people, maybe family members, maybe people close to him. i have no idea who "fortune"'s sources are but my source is a pretty good one. >> in terms of the potential he wants to own the biggest paper in the state to expand political influence that way, the tale for him in 2012 is lurid and fascinating and very expensive in terms of the wave he tried to and i think did influence the republican race that year, what do we know about what he wants this year? >> well, that's a really good question. the "review journal" editorial page is set out to defeat -- what sheldon adelson wants to do that he was unable to do in 2012 is he wants to elect a winner. he want to help that person in

the primary first. you mentioned those four meetings that he had. he met with marco rubio and i think he's very impressed with marco rubio. i think if sheldon adelson buys the conventional wisdom that marco rubio is the strongest general election candidate. people may not know this about him because he's known for conservative views and views on israel is a pro immigration reform guy. i think he thinks that issue will help determine the next president of the united states. i happen to think marco rubio has a lot of problems on that when they came out in debate but i believe sheldon adelson thinks marco rubio is the most viable candidate. i think he likes ted cruz, too, don't get me wrong, but i think he these he's a base candidate who might not be as strong in a general election. if he owns the biggest paper in the state, could he theoretically use that to help elevate marco rubio?

of course he could. could he help influence the debate if marco rubio becomes the nominee? of course he could. this is all speculation but a know for a fact that there have been discussions inside shelton adelson's inner circle for quite some time about buying that newspaper. >> the guy who always knows, john, it's great to see you. that republican debate that sheldon adelson hosted at his casino last night, it ended up being the third most watched primary debate ever in the history of the united states. 18 million people watched. not as many as watched cnn's last republican debate in september but way more than watched the last two debates. sometimes it seems like everyone in america is just sick of politics and can't take it anymore. this is not one of those times.

not when 18 million people watched even that one last night. more on that just ahead. stay with us. pain i couldn't sleep and get up in time. then i found aleve pm. aleve pm is the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am. ♪ how else do you think he gets around so fast? take the reins this holiday and get the mercedes-benz you've always wanted during the winter event. hurry, offers end january 4th! whfight back fastts tums smoothies starts dissolving

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interesting and i think soon to be consequential news out of ohio tonight, there is a man name george pataki, who is still running for president. he became the only republican candidate who failed to qualify for the republican primary ballot in the state of florida. that seemed bad. that seemed like a bad sign for the question of whether or not he was actually running. we asked him campaign about the fact he wasn't going to be on the ballot in florida and his spokesman wrote us back one line "last i checked, florida is winner take all." i think that means they think george pataki has not chance of winning in florida and so they didn't get him on the ballot there. that could apply to a lot of

places around the country if you are george pataki. like ohio. today was the deadline to get on the ohio republican primary ballot. almost all of them made it. my friend jim gilmore did not qualify, but all of the rest of them did, all except for george pataki. the ohio secretary of state's office said george pataki never tried to get on the ballot, never filed. his campaign has not responded to our request this evening on why they didn't even try to get him on the ballot in ohio, but he will not be on the ballot in hai. yes, for the record, ohio is also a winner take all state in terms of delegates, just like florida. maybe that's it? they think it's not even worth it to try because there's no chance they'll get anything out of it? maybe. but if you're running a betting fool about which republican candidate is going to quit the race next, you are going to win absolutely nothing in that betting pool if you are betting against ol' george pataki.

honestly, he isn't even trying anymore. you can't breathed. through your nose. suddenly, you're a mouthbreather. well, just put on a breathe right strip which instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than cold medicine alone. shut your mouth and say goodnight mouthbreathers. breathe right

russia is the largest nation on earth physically. it's ginormous. it covers an area equal to basically 1/8 all the inhabited land on earth. we think of china as huge but russia is significantly bigger. we're pretty big, too. we've got outlying areas in hawaii and alaska that give as you big geographical reach across a big spread of the globe that russia has 11 time zones contiguously across the belly of their huge country. we've got three.

still, though, as big as russia is, in 1971 russia decided in one really specific way there were not big enough because even though their huge size means their own military bases just inside russia span a huge portion of the globe and a bunch of the most important waterways on earth, in 1971, 44 years ago, russia decided what they really needed was a naval base, a military port on the mediterranean. so outside of russia -- yeah, on the mediterranean, way over there, helpful for even more geographic reach for that giant country and helpful to have a nice warm weather port when a lot of your other ports are pretty freaking icy in the winter. in 1971 russia entered into a long-term lease deal with the nation of syria for russia to operate a big ol' russian navy base inside syria. they took it over in 1971. they operated it for 20 years

until the soviet union collapsed in 1981, they have operated it for the next 24 years since then. it's a really important lilly pad for them. tartus, this base in syria, it's russia's outpost on the mediterranean, it's their outpost in the world. that's how they are in syria. it's very important to them. they've been there for more than a generation now. really, it's very important to them. they have been there for more than a generation now, i swear. governor christie, i swear. >> governor christie. >> wolf, i'll tell what you reckless is. what reckless is is calling assad a reformer, allowing russia to come into crimea and ukraine. what reckless is is inviting russia into syria. >> gosh darn you, barack obama, for traveling back in time and inviting russia into syria when you were 10 years old in 1971. that was so reckless.

>> what reckless is is inviting russia into syria. >> to be clear, russia already in syria. but it was that kind of night. >> one of the things i would immediately do in addition to defeating them here at home is bring back the warrior class, petraeus, mcchrystal, mattis, keane, flynn. >> carly fiorina saying general david petraeus was retired early for telling president obama things he didn't want to hear. general petraeus actually left the army to become head of the cia under president obama and then he left that job because he had an extra marital affair and gave classified information to his mistress for which he was found guilty of a crime. maybe she meant a different general petraeus. >> and for general mcchrystal, he left after an unflattering

article was written about him. i'm quite sure she knew who she was talking about when she mentioned general jack keane. i nope that's who she was talking about because he's on fox news all the time. i know that's who she was thinking of. he, too, she said was retired early after giving president obama advice that the president didn't want to hear. let's let fox take it from here. this is freaking amazing. >> one of the things i would immediately do in addition to defeating them here at home is bring back the warrior class, petraeus, mcchrystal, mattis, keane, flynn. every one of these generals i know, every one was retired early because they told president obama things that he didn't want to hear. >> you heard it, carly fiorina last night mentioned general jack keane by name and guess who is here, general jack keane,

alive and alert and with us this morning. did you in fact, general, give advice to president obama which he didn't want to hear and didn't take? >> no, i've never spoken to the president. that's not accurate. and i never served this administration. i served the previous administration. >> general jack keane retired in 2003 when barack obama was a member of the illinois state senate. but somehow surely he exerted his evil obama influence from the illinois state house to take down good general jack keane. honestly, though, it was that kind of night. >> i will tell you this, when i stand across from king hussein of jordan, i say you have a friend again, sir, who will stand with you to fight this fight. he'll change his mind. >> you see the serious thing at the end? he's like nailed it, yeah. got the name in there.

whoo. chris christie really going for it there saying he will give king hussein of jordan what-for. this is footage of the funeral of king hussein of jordan from when he died in 1999. he's been dead 16 years. and his son since then, king abdullah, he's not an obscure low-profile guy, if american leaders know the name of one king in the middle east, it's probably king abdullah. but not last night. not with these guys. >> mr. trump, dr. carson just referenced the single most important job of the president, the command, care and of our nuke clears forces, the missiles are old, the submarines are aging out. what's your priority among our nuclear triad? >> we need somebody we can trust, who is totally

responsible, who really knows what he or she is doing that is so powerful and so important. >> the three legs of the triad, do you have a priority? >> to me nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me. >> it was that kind of night. the devastation is very important to me. just the power, devastation, that's what really counts, right? it has been a really interesting question in american politics as to what would happen in the republican party on national security and foreign policy after the catastrophe of the last republican administration, the bush/cheney administration. we really need two parties who are good at this issue in order to have good policy on this issue. we need good debate because this stuff is hard and our best decisions will come out of good, robust debate. can the republican party hold up its end of the debate. what would the republican party become on national security after the disaster of bush and

cheney? huge question. huge, important question. please, god, let this not be their final answer. >> i think to me nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me. so what's your news? i got a job! i'll be programming at ge. oh i got a job too, at zazzies. (friends gasp) the app where you put fruit hats on animals? i love that! guys, i'll be writing code that helps machines communicate.

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first police officer in the death of mr. freddie gray is drawing to a close and a verdict could be rendered as early as this week. like the mayor and city police officials, i'm concerned about the possibility of civil disorder following announcement of the verdict. i need your help in having students walkouts, vandalism, civil disorder and any form of violence. that letter went out on monday. yesterday the lawyers moved for a mistrial and change of venue specifically because of that letter. they said that letter could affect the jury and their verdict and the consequences of their verdict. the judge denied that motion, instructed the jury to ignore the letter, continue their deliberations. the jury said yesterday they were stuck, they couldn't come

one a verdict in this case. the judge told them to get back at it and start deliberating again today. today they did keep deliberating for a third full day. but late this afternoon they told the judge they were hopelessly, irretrievably dead locked, they said they would not be able to reach a verdict on any of the four charges, including manslaughter. after denying the request for a mistrial yesterday, today the judge declared a mistrial on the basis of this hung jury. attorneys will be back in court first thing tomorrow morning to determine whether or not this officer will be retried. the officer has pled not guilty on all counts. that still stands. and the second trial has been pushed. and all the while, baltimore

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i have heartburn. alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. good news. we have a story tonight that is such a great win for the underdog, such a triumph of human effort, such a surprise victory for common sense and american decency and right people and good people finally being persuaded to do the right thing that we wanted to do it as a best new thing in the world. but then turns out that's not usually like a segment with a guest and it turns out we're able to bring here tonight a hero of that fight to talk about it. i still think it might be the world's best new thing but it's going to happen right here and it's going to happen right here next with said hero. stay with us. the flu virus hits big. with aches, chills, and fever, there's no such thing as a little flu. and it needs a big solution: an antiviral. so when the flu hits, call your doctor right away

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whfight back fastts tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue and neutralizes stomach acid at the source tum, tum, tum, tum smoothies! only from tums this week the new york city mayor's office started an advocacy campaign to push for passing the zadroga act. that's the law that provides health care and support to 9/11 first responders, people who got sick after helping in the rescue and clean-up efforts at ground

zero on 9/11. the new campaign is basically a series of photos, like this one, showing a woman who lived downtown when the trade towers fell. do we have that one? 90,000 stands for more than 90,000 liters of jet fuel that come busted in the world trade center attack. because of the toxins in the air, we were reluctant to return. we were told the air was safe to breathe. clearly it wasn't. it was as caustic as drano. 1.8 millions stands for the tons of debris in the pit. the job of removing all that debris left this man with lung cancers.

more than 4,100 responders having 9/11 related cancers. this man was diagnosed with colon cancer when she was four months pregnant with their son, jack. he died in 2009. rob sarah was 21 years old on september 11th. 9/11 was his first day on the job as a new york city fireman. on the morning of his attacks wearing his brand new firefighter gear on, a priest read him his last rights. 140 is the number of miles that ray pheiffer has walked in d.c. hallways this year lobbying officials to reauthorize the zadroga act.

it ran out in october and they've been trying to get congress to reup it. ray pheiffer himself has stage four cancer. the idea behind this faces and numbers campaign was to try to put more pressure on this, try to do something else to try to move congress, to reup the help for all those first responders, to somehow add enough weight to the door knocking in congress by people who were not always well enough to be there and the celebrity politician shaming meted out by john stewart and others. they've been trying for months to get lawmakers to vote on zadroga. but the date came and went and there was nothing for months now except sometimes a promise someday we'll get something worked out on this issue. for months now it has been nothing. until now. finally last night congress

reached a deal on a spending bill that include what is these first responders and their families have been asking for. finally. at least it's in writing now. the full bill is headed for a vote this friday. it's this close. joining us now is dan moynihan, 9/11 first responder. he joins us from washington. thank you for joining us. should i be saying congratulations yet? >> not quite. first of all, thank you. you have certainly been one of our champions in getting the word out about this bill. >> thank you. >> so truly, honestly, thank you, rachel. i don't quite want to say congratulations yet. we're right at the goal line. we are almost across it but friday will be the true test. you know, with that cage match of a building that's behind me, it is d.c. we have a great bill, we have not only what we asked for but

what we deserve, what the 9/11 community deserves. there are a few -- there's one glitch and that is speaker ryan and the whip, majority whip scalise -- for a very large what they consider to be very expensive omnibus bill and some of them perhaps a little leery about spending on national institutes of health. what i would suggest to them is not only is our bill included, which is not only the right thing to do but necessary and it's human life, but there is

also $6.4 billion in extra spending for veterans health care. so there are two very important measures right there that need to be passed. >> dan, to be clear, when you say that the last bit of this, the last yard of this is about making sure the republican votes are there and the republicans having to police that among their own members, that is not republicans fighting to get zadroga extracted from the omnibus. that's them fighting to get the votes they need to pass the omnibus altogether it's not specific objections. >> correct, the omnibus itself. i would suggest for everybody to just be sure that this does pass, everybody to please call their congressional representatives and, you know, just for the heck of it their senators as well and make sure they support the omnibus bill. do this, please, tomorrow, thursday. everybody call their

congressional representatives and, you know, just for the heck of it, their senators as well and make sure that they support the omnibus bill. do this, please, tomorrow, thursday. call your senators and your representatives and say support the omnibus bill so it passes. >> dan moynihan, 9/11 first responder. thanks for joining us. keep us apprised minute by minute, my friend. >> i will. thank you.

>> just to answer your question about the new new mexico secretary of state. he seems to have a pretty good recognition. he's the one whose city councillor, council president four time, track coach, teacher.

the one interesting thing is that he is going to be the first man to hold that job in about 100 years. >> new mexico is like, secretary. >> it's apparently only a lady's job. mary, who is the current one, diana, mary, betty, earn steen, alberta, betty. it's always a woman. >> is it the only statewide elected office that is where the title is secretary? >> it could be. >> that is hilarious. >> since 1922. that is the last time it was a man. >> maybe that man in 1922 was so bad.

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there's no catch. you want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol? no. for my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. now more than ever america's electricity comes from cleaner- burning natural gas. and no one produces more of it than exxonmobil. helping dramatically reduce u.s. emissions. because turning on the lights... isn't as simple as just flipping a switch. energy lives here. we heard you got a job as a developer!!!!! its official, i work for ge!! what? wow... yeah! okay... guys, i'll be writing a new language for machines so planes, trains, even hospitals can work better. oh! sorry, i was trying to put it away... got it on the cake. so you're going to work on a train?

not on a train...on "trains"! you're not gonna develop stuff anymore? no i am... do you know what ge is? on friday, mark it in your calendar, the secretary of state of new mexico goes to jail. started great in 2010 when diana duran became the first elected to the state secretary job in 80 years. but it went badly when she faced an indictment about stealing her campaign do nations and then blowing the money at casinos around the state. she's been sentenced to 30 days behind bars plus a kind of astonishing array of fines and restitution that includes a giant basically unending apology tour that she has to keep afloat around the state for three solid years after she gets out of jail. she needs to do more than 140 apology speeches at schools and

civic groups around the state. so the last secretary of state gig did not end well. the job of replacing the secretary of state who's going to jail falls to the state's governor and that has just mapped. the state's governor is suzanna martinez. she picked an albuquerque city councillor named brad winter. and they swore mr. winter into office immediately as soon as the governor designated him as her choice. now, i propose to you that at first blush, this mid career mr. winter may not seem like a radical choice for this statewide job, the secretary of state gig. he's a long-time public servant. he's a teacher, he's a high school sports coach. there's nothing controversial about him, nothing particularly ground breaking about him as a choice, but for this particular job there's something interesting. consider the previous secretaries of state in retroactive order starting with

the recently disgraced diane duran. before her, mary herrera, before her, rebeck ka villa, before that villa-heron again. shirley hooper, before that it was ernstine evans. if you're noticing a pattern, you are correct. every single secretary of state in the great state of new mexico from diana duran all the way back to 1923, every single one of them has been a woman. and on the one hand that's quite a feat. i mean, a top statewide elected office really consequential, held only by women for nearly a century. on the other hand, i have to point out that of new mexico's seven major statewide offices, the one that's always women is the only position that has the word secretary in the title. it's governor, lieutenant

governor, attorney general. that has general in the title. state auditor, state land commissioner, state treasurer, and secretary of state. and there's no female domination in any of the other jobs. you can see the state has not yet removed ms. duran's name from all of its websites. so it's conflicting emotions, right? which is it, new mexico? is your streak of 22 consecutive female secretaries of state a sign of strength for women in new mexico politics? or is it a sign that you believe that if it's going to be a job title like secretary, then people like diana and ernestine and rebecca and stephanie are the people who get those jobs. either way, along with the republican corruption, we can credit diana duran of breaking the streak. brad winter no uh has the job. i don't know if i'm happy or sad. i have conflicting emotions. at least we can say that he

probably will not end up any worse than the last secretary, and so congratulations to diana duran for helping mr. winter finally smash his way through a weird form of, i guess, sexist glass kreeling? glass floor? i don't really understand it, but well done, sir, mr. secretary. that does it tonight. see you tomorrow. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >> finally, one of the candidates said something very important on the republican debate stage last night. and this time, donald trump was not the craziest candidate on that stage. >> the fight for the future of the republican party. >> i don't want to break. >> played out across the las vegas debate stage. >> most of the people were nice to me last night. it was pretty good. >> this was an inside deal. >> everybody on the stanl was attacking everybody but the top two guys. >> he has a wonderful temperament. he's just fine. don't worry about it. >> okay.