and gop super donor sheldon addleson hosting the event.the first primary of 2016, the shell done primary? >> yes, and that's a good name for t alex. and i think it's telling that rand paul wasn't there. i saw that kasie hunt reported earlier he was invited. that he was even invited is progress when the republican jewish coalition had a gathering of 2012 candidates, his father, ron paul, then a congressman running for president, was not invited. so he has a lot of repair to do with jewish groups and particularly if he wants any support from sheldon addleson, which i think is a long shot, because addleson is lag for more of a mainstream candidate because he poured a lot of money out in 2012. none of his candidates won. >> true. i should say, senator paul's office has said he had a prior family commitment scheduled for quite some time and that's one of the reasons he's not there. but susan, sources are telling the. a.p. addleson is looking for a candidate that can win and similar policies on foreign policy and israel. do you have a clue as to

quick access on smartphones, but there's another motive claiming las vegas casino owner sheldon addlesonfluencing lawmakers. >> there is no reason why one person should have this much influence oh legislation in washington d.c. >> -- over legislation in washington d.c. >> over the past 25 years addleson has given over $25,000 to south carolina senator lindsey graham who supports gaming. >>> it is being called the biggest phone scam ever. >> plus a father trying to file a restraining order against his son's 9-year-old classmate, why the school is holding back a key piece of evidence. >> reporter: in the south bay building the new curriculum for science, technology, engineering and math, why that matters to you and your kids. >> finally no more awkward encounters, how a new app can help you not run into your exes and former friend. bulldog: look at that! $300 off serta perfect sleeper and sealy posturepedic. plus, free delivery. the red tag means you save more green during mattress discounters red tag sale. ♪ mattress discounters >>> a fairfield man says he's trying to file a restraining o

forethe last few months, david sampson has been waiting for this report >>> remember, addleson and his wife -- resident scholar of the american enterprise institute. in 2012, addleson had this strategy he put a lot of money toward the gingrich campaign and romney, now it seems like he's taking a little bit of a different approach. what do you expect from him this time around? >> david sampson resigns to spend more time with david wild stoo stein's family. sheldon adleson has now decided to be more pragmatic. it's an interesting thing we're seeing from the donor who is tried to pull the party over to the radical right in 2012, now looking more for a winner. the question is whether any of the candidates who runs is going to appeal to a base that maze not listen entirely to the sheldon adelson's of the party and to have an advocate that will appeal to the base and appeal to a broader electorate. you hit on a key point here, which is we have more investigations to go. we felt from the get-go partly because of steve's reporting that the investigations into how new jersey used or misused the

. >> all right, so you've got a piece up about sheldon addleson. and it's to meet with him. he poured almost $100 million of his own money into the 2012 campaign, got behind newt gingrich, singlehandedly kept newt gingrich in that race. who is aidleson looking at this weekend? >> this weekend, four days out in vague as at his hotel, the venetian. jeb bush will be out there kicking things off at a dinner tonight. also chris christie, a lot of attention as to how damaged he'll be in the eyes of these big donors, including, obviously, addleson. to me, what's notable, the official man is not really the sheldon -- the addleson primary. too me, what's notable about this, an event like this, two years like this, would ordinarily be sponsored by the party. it shows how weak the party is and how powerful really rich people are. and we're going to be watching, also, for kind of what he's looking for in these candidates and other big money. a lot of talk in recent days, "washington post" had a good article yesterday, about he's now looking for electable rathe

that is billionaire casinno magnate addleson.ively searching for a moderate candidate who is capable of winning back the white house. and american the republicans speaking this weekend, new jersey governor chris kroifty and his desire to see more electable candidates. >> i am in the business to win business election. here's why. we get a chance to govern and mold and shape the future of the state and country. when we lose we don't, worse yet. not only we, they do. we are in the new york city newsroom with more, brian. >> the new jersey governor talked about the importance of smart and decisive leadership and touting his ability to win elections in a historically democratic state and asked about the scandal. >> as a leader of a large organization as many of you in this room are. it is confidence shaking and disappointing when people you trust let you down. >> this coming days after a ten week intential investigation found that christie did not know about the closure of traffic lanes. it was part of an alleged political pay back sc

he's also supposed to meet with billionaire republican donor sheldon addleson. last night on the kelly file, christie was asked if he had too much baggage to run for president. >> there is no baggage here because i didn't do anything. that eventually will wash out as it started to already. because what people -- the american people and the people in new jersey really care about is that you do it. when they find out you didn't, i think they'll say okay. >> this vegas trip coming days after a ten-week internal investigation commissioned by christie himself found that he did not know about the closure of traffic lanes creating major gridlock on the george washington bridge last september as part of an alleged political payback scheme. critics say the investigation is bogus because it does not include testimony from key players in the scandal, including former port authority of new york and new jersey official, david wildstein, former aide, bridget kelly, or port authority head, david sampson, who resigned friday. christie says he's done a lot of soul searching as t

sources tell nbc news that christie later apologized to addleson during a private meeting after the speechas just another really awkward moment in a weekend full of really awkward moments. even this audience wanted to know more about bridgegate. >> for me, i think, it's about me being a lot more questioning, about things that are going on, not to just trust based upon longterm relationships or past performance, and it's about sending very clear signals that certain conducts and actions are certain are completely unacceptable. >> speaking of completely unacceptable, back in new jersey, that is pretty much how bridget kelly's attorney described his client's depiction in the bridgegate review, aka christie administration commission aka taxpayer funded vindication. the report amounted to a preemptive strike. kelly's attorney fired back late friday night against the characterization of his client and called it venomous, gratuitous and sexist. he added the report based on incomplete evidence and closed his statement, quote, only credible investigation into the lane closings is being conducted by

. >>> the results of the addleson primary are in, the winner is not chris christie. later, anti-united natio union smoke to grant athletes labor rights. chris kluwe joins us to talk about it. >>> but next, your questions, ask ed live on "the ed show." ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition in charge™. crest 3d white whitestrips vs. a whitening pen. i feel like my lips are going to, like, wash it off. these fit nicely. [ female announcer ] crest 3d white whitestrips keep the whitening ingredient in place, guaranteeing professional level results. crest whitestrips. the way to whiten. >>> let's talk it up. love getting questions from viewers in "ask ed live" wh

they understand that at the end of the day, when you have families like the koch brothers or addleson who make billions and billions of dollars every single year. their wealth is increasing. they can spend hundreds and millions of dollars on campaigns and by and large benefit republicans. are there some billionaires who help democrats? yes, there are. the vast majority of the money are going to go to right wing extremist candidates. so from mitch mcconnell's perspective and he himself as minority leader has been very active on these issues. he understands opening up the flood gates of corporate money, billionaire money will help the right wing and republican party. >> i have to caveat there and we have a lot i want to get to. the numbers are big for both parties on this. we have billionaire as you said money flowing into both sides. we'll come back to that question of partisanship. some suggested lifting the two-year donation limit would be helpful since more individual freedom could offset the role of outis the groups encouraged by citizens united. what do you say to that argument? >

christie heads to vegas for what some are calling the sheldon addleson primary as the mega gop fundraiserrepublican contenders. joining me now, "washington post" editorial columnist ruth marcus and ron allen live in trenton. first to you where the governor is going to hold a news conference about 2:30 we're told. >> 2:30 on a friday afternoon, late in the day. and typical maneuver one would say by politicians who want a story to be buried somewhere. this will get a lot of attention and seems to be part of af concerted effort to or kes straight an aggressive defense, not even subtle. there's a big report done by a law firm you hire and do a big interview on network news and press conference before the big weekend out with a key gop bundler donor. and the report says essentially what you've been saying all along. it leaves christie blameless. some people will buy it and his critics will not. and we'll look to other investigations to be more investigative and some have said a complete whitewash of it. we don't know exactly what happened and why it happened with this all bridge gate affair. t

him hobnobbing with republican groups and big donors like sheldon addleson, he's done that before. this all takes on more scrutiny, because with a lot of people thinking chris christie might not run with all of his problems, everything that jeb bush does -- >> he's the natural heir to the establishment. it's like nothing more to see him do it. >> they want one of these guys, chris christie or jeb bush. >> real quick, hillary clinton, she seems to be doing everything but say yes, sharing the stage with jeb bush is very significant. she tweeted out a selfie of the family with jimmy kimmel, so showing that she's hip to modern times, if you will. how much longer are we going to be dragged through this? probably looking at fall of '14 or early '15? >> she doesn't have to make an official announcement until about a year from now. that's the point you need to raise close to the billion dollars that an eventual winner is going to need to compete. now she can have this little dance. the biggest key to me is that, you know, she's not saying that she wants to disappear from the public stage.

and a big factor, shulden addleson would bank roll the convention and take away a lot of the money problemsht bad behavior, that has always been the big asterisk next to las vegas. now, american bridge, the democratic group headed by brad woodhouse, founded by david brock, says that if republicans choose vegas, they'll deploy two or three dozen trackers carrying videocameras end to end on the trip to record republican candidate office and their late-night carousing. they've already bought the website sincitygop, where they said they'll post this video. they are going to have capability to do live ads on the website, it says. what happens in vegas will be right here. >> wow. you know, john heilemann and i happen to believe that las vegas is a safe place. an oasis in the desert where people can express themselves and be americans. >> that's right. i would not want a lowjack on me when i'm in las vegas. >> no. mike, do you think this will factor into the decision? are participants in the conference so unable to control themselves that they couldn't hold the rnc there? >> yes and yes. >> really