he was born in canada and he was a citizen of canada until 15 months ago. he didn't know about his loans. he didn't know about goldman sachs. he didn't know he was a citizen of canada and now he's running for president. >> republican voters want a conservative. they don't want a deal maker who has written checks and supported hillary clinton and mitch mcconnell and john boehner and chuck schumer. they want a reagan conservative. >> trump and palin were together with trump calling her a very special, wonderful person. cnn's sunlen serfaty has the latest. >> reporter: good morning, john and christine. donald trump and sarah palin hitting the campaign trail rallying supporters at christian university oral roberts. >> we got a red head from the big red apple running for president and yet, the gop machine all of a sudden, they are saying we're not red enough. we're not conservative enough. i say what in the world do they know about conservatively. >> reporter: and ted cruz trying to recover from a rough 48 hours for his campaign. taking a triplicate of hits. sar

not born in canada. he was born in canada. >> reporter: of course, we know why donald trump is doing this. a lot of the voters here in the crowd in reno are deciding between cruz and trump. it is fascinating to see whether he can create questions about cruz at the pivotal time in the campai campaign. john and christine. >>> thank you, maeve. the final state of the union is dress is tuesday night. president obama plans to offer an upbeat look. they are calling the doom and gloom of the republican candidates. he will folcus on the economy. >>> stocks in shanghai dropping 5% overnight. we will see if the rest of the world can shake off the flu in china. we are looking at the broader market. investors have a hope for a turn around. since 1950 when stocks fall during the first five trading days, a 45% chance the market will end with a loss. a more accurate measure is the entire month of january, not the first five days. it predicts the outcome 87% of the time. as goes january, so goes the year. that is why pe

plus he has the canada problem. a huge problem. that problem with canada as to whether he can run. i think he cannot run. so we'll see what happens. >> the des moines register also said it was a rough night for your candidate. is that how you see it? >> no, not at all. the "des moines register" is a left wing paper here in iowa. by the way, they did endorse marco rubio. they were providing him some cover because they like amnesty position that rubio has. cruz did not have a bad night. he was put to the test because a lot of barbs came his way. that's something donned trump -- they could have pickeding his support for t.a.r.p. or stimulus. or partial birth abortion. donald trump skedadles from the debate and also from iowa. what's interest, that debate in iowa was not really about iowa but about new hampshire. so the only person on that's stage who has a chance to win iowa is senator ted cruz. everybody else was trying to vie for a position in new hampshire and certainly marco rubio. marco rubio knows he places second to any other establishment candidates or even to ted cruz because

. >> he was born in canada. whether we like it, don't like it, he lived there. he was there. he was born in canada. you have to be born in the land. that's what i thought before. ted is glib and goes out and said i'm a natural born citizens. the point is you're not. >> truth is better than fiction. >>> a democratic ratce is turnig more personal as hillary clinton confronts a strong challenge from bernie sanders. >> senator sanders voted with the gun lobby and i goated again -- voted against. >> president obama delivers the final state of the union address. that's tuesday night. he's looking to shape the final year in office and the campaign to replace him. >> issues like licensing registration that's an area where there's just not enough national consensus at this stage to even consider it. part is that people's concern that becomes a prelude to taking people's guns away. i mean part of the challenge in this is that the gun debate gets wrapped up in broader debates about whether the federal government is oppress

last night trump claimed cruz's parents voted in canada. jake tapper host of "state of the union" joins us now. you joined ted cruz for the exclusive interview. what stuck out to you? >> he's trying to stay on message and not talk about the accusations that he's not constitutionally eligible to be president because he is, in the views of donald trump and others, not an natural-born citizens. ted cruz said nothing could be further from the truth. he's perfectly eligible. it's tough to stay on message when so many opponents are jumping into the act. take a listen. >> carly fiorina saying the other day that she says it's odd that it wasn't until 2014 that you were announced you were dual citizenship your citizenship with canada. you say you didn't know about it until "dallas morning news" wrote the story in 2013. did you ever go back after the dallas morning news story and try to find out more about your parents' time in canada? whether they did -- i mean, did they vote in canada? >> no. they did not. my mother didn't because he was a u. -- sh

deau, perhaps canada's most famous prime minister. davos was his debut on the world stage and my interview was his first with a noncanadian broadcaster. listen in. mr. prime minister, you campaigned on the idea that you were going to do deficit spending to build infrastructure, that you were going to reverse canada's denial on climate change issues and embrace an active climate change policy, despite the fact that canada is a major oil producer, a new inclusion policy for aboriginals in canada. i remember a remarkable moment in the campaign when there was talk about prime minister harper said one should strip canadians who are affiliated with isis of their citizenship. and you said no. you disagreed with that. you didn't think the government should have the power to determine who is a canadian or not in that fashion. i guess my question is, how on earth did you get elected? [ laughter ] >> i spent the past eight years as a politician, having honest, open conversations with canadians in which i listened an awful lot. and from a young a

not canada. now he's cuban. that didn't work in iowa. it's a strategy that trump has tried and tried and tried and it's just not -- it's not resonating in iowa. he's going to have to take on ted cruz in a different way. >> here is the interesting piece, which is for the last several weeks ted cruz has effectively turned himself into the alternative to trump. what you're seeing, i think, with the john mccains and others who are going after ted cruz is wait a second. we want a more establishment candidate to be the alternative. we don't want these two choices here. and so i think you're starting to see more of a war among the republicans than we've even had before. as it narrows down to trump and cruz, republicans are starting to panic a little bit. >> right. look, i spoke at a huge breakfast among republicans outside richmond yesterday. the alternative for trump people was cruz. >> right. >> yeah. i want to play a robo call. it's being played in iowa from a white nationalist, aka, racist group. let's play that. >> we don't need muslims. w

i'm going to give up on canada, i don't like canada? >> never to me. never to me. never to me. he was establishing his business here and it was successful. indeed, and there was never any sense that he was about to leave for yi reason. >> reporter: the story, according to ted cruz, it was control that changed everything. cruz says his mother and father drank too much. >> when i was 3 years old, my father decided, he didn't want to be married anymore. and he didn't want a 3-year-old son. so he got on a plane and left calgary and he flew back to texas, to houston. and he left us. >> reporter: the story goes rafael cruz went to texas, found religion, stopped drinking, brought his family to the u.s. and for the past 40 years has been a preacher. the political problem for ted cruz during all those 40 years, while he was a u.s. citizen by birth from his mother, he was still also a canadian. a dual citizen. what makes you a canadian citizen? >> being born in canada. >> reporter: ian holloway, the dean of calgary's law school says cruz' birth certificate leaves him a canadian at least

for a lot of people they might hear he was born in canada, how come? we will go through the process of answering that question, talking to constitutional scholars, et set remarks et cetera, as donald trump raises these questions. for cruz engaging it he would give it legitimacy i guess. he renounced at one point he was listed as a dual canadian citizen. he renounced that a couple years ago. this is something he's clearly been thinking about and he's preparing for. so they knew this was coming and trump had actually raised it earlier in the campaign. not when cruz is said doing so well. >> if the clock is ticking, he said he didn't know he was listed as a dual canadian citizen, right? ted cruz said he wasn't aware there was a dual citizen issue for him. >> that's right. but he did go ahead in the dallas morning news i believe it was wrote about this. it's something percolateing out there. i think we will get it out of the way here. >> just to be careful. get rid of the canadian citizenship, go all guns blagz as an american citizenshipch guns also an iss

>>> and is it o canada or blame canada? donald trump raises new questions about whether ted cruz is eligible to run for president since he was born in canada. in just a few minutes, ted cruz has a chance to respond live. >>> and a gun shop owner in new hampshire delivers a gift to donald trump, a custom rifle. the owner joins us live on why he suggests president obama is the best gun salesman in america. >>> hello, everyone, i'm john berman. >> and i'm kate bolduan. new this morning, or maybe what's old is new once again, the birther question has re-entered the presidential race. donald trump is calling into question ted cruz's eligibility to be president because ted cruz was born in canada to a cuban father and an american mother. in an interview with "the washington post," trump says that should make gop voters think twice about voting for cruz. he's quoted as saying this. "republicans are going to have to ask themselves the question, do we want a candidate who could be tied up in court for two years? that'd be a big prob

>> who would have thought that the border donald trump is really concerned about is the border with canada. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. donald trump doubling down on his questions about whether ted cruz born in canada, can be president and his reason? it's pure trump. listen to what he told our very own wolf blitzer. >> i'm doing it for the good of ted. i like him and he likes me. we have a good relationship. >> oh, yeah? ted cruz has a thing or two to say to our dana bash. >> donald trump is suggesting, saying you had a canadian passport. >> false. >> never had one in your life? >> no. >> listen to what rand paul tells me about cruz. >> i think absolutely without question, he is qualified and eligible to be the prime minister of canada. >> things are heating up on the campaign trail. we have a lot to get to tonight. but i want to begin with the day in trump. so joining me now is cnn's very own wolf blitzer and dana bash. thank you for joining us. wolf, you sat down with donald trump today and you asked him about ted cruz his chief rival in iowa at this point. let's listen. >> yo

he was born in canada. he was born in canada and he was a citizen of canada until 15 months ago. and he said he didn't know. that he didn't know about his loans. he didn't know about goldman sachs and citi. he didn't know he was a citizen of canada and now he is running for president. he his a real problem because he was born in canada. and there are people, great constitutional lawyers and i'm not only talk about professor tribe from harvard. many others are saying he should not be and ka not run for president because he doesn't qualify under the guidelines. i don't know if it is right or wrong. he should ask for a declaratory judgment from the courts and the last thing that the republicans need and that ted needs is to be running for office and then disqualified. >> this is showing up in the polling and in this new poll that shows you with a big national lead. 36%, 17% for ted cruz and 11% for marco rubio. >> i haven't seen that yet. >> a third of republican voters are questioning ted cruz's eligibility for president. >> i understand that. >> do you think that is due to your pu

but ted cruz says the fact that he was born in canada to an american mother does not disqualify him from the presidency. are they headed for a showdown? i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room". >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> the breaking news in this earth shaking announcement from north korea that it's tested a hydrogen bomb potentially hundreds of times more powerful than the nuclear weapons it's tested before. earth did shake. seismic monitors picked up clear indications of a massive underground explosion, but the white house calls the data inconsistent with the h-bomb claim. still, there's a chorus of condemnation from around the world, urge at the united nations and push for new tough sanctions on kim jong-un's regime. >>> in an interview with donald trump, i asked if he'd launch a preemptive strike or remove troops from the peninsula. we talk about immigration and gun control. and hear what the gop front-runner has to say about rivals including his hints ted cruz may not even be qualified to run for president, that he may not necessarily be a natural born citizen. >> i

here's what he said. >> he was born in canada. i say to ted and as a republican i said, i think it's very importantp you got to get it straightened out. you cannot put somebody there who is going to be in and immediately sued by the democrats because they're saying he was born in canada, not allowed to run for president. if there's that doubt. don't forget the lawsuits, who knows more about lawsuits than i do. i'm the king. i'm the king. these lawsuits take two, three, four years. so you can't have somebody running, you cannot have somebody running and have a lawsuit and people have already said they're going to bring the lawsuit. they say if he gets the nomination, we'll bring in a lawsuit as to natural born citizenship. >> this attack a clear sign that ted cruz is his biggest threat in iowa. we're three weeks from the iowa caucuses and trump says in order to bring up poll numbers, he needs to go on the offensive against cruz. in recent weeks, trump has raised questions about cruz's stance onne ethanol subsidies. it looks like it

blame canada. donald trump says the fact that ted cruz was born there could be an issue in the race for the white house. so is this a controversy part two? this morning how ted cruz is responding. >>> president obama with a rare emotional display as he makes his case on gun violence. his executive order met with plenty of pushback from republicans who want his job. good morning, welcome to "early start." i'm christine ber romans. >> i'm john berman. >> the breaking news north korea says it exploded a hydrogen bomb. this is the very first time the nuclear regime made a declaration a. fusion device would be a huge escalation in their capabilities and present huge new challenges for the u.s. in terms of security. if, in fact, it was a hydrogen device that, is in question. the apparent underground test said off tremors all night and prompted a u.s. emergency council meeting earlier today. will ripley live from beijing. at this point, will, what do we know? >> reporter: we know the list of countries tha

ted cruz is an anchor baby in canada. but canada doesn't accept anchor babies. they just waited a long time. >> cruz's camp responded with the following statement. the only anchor here is the one being dragged behind the ss new york values causing donald trump's campaign to stall out after learning of his affinity for hillary clinton. while the candidates have been arguing fiercely about abortion, europe has been wrestling with a problem there with the massive influx of migrants from syria and other war torn regions and it is prompting them to seek tougher border and asylum policies. the coalition representing the opposition groups said it will be in geneva for peace talks after all. the high negotiations committee threatened a boycott if syria's government didn't end the blockades and sieges. following this, our diplomatic editor is live with the story. god have you this hour. these talks are final lly getti under way after lengthy delays. >> reporter: they are. there is great or better hope now. they can really get up and running. yesterday the special represe

a new inclusion policy in canada, tolerance even in the face of terrorism. there's a remarkable moment i remember in the campaign when there was talk about prime minister harper said one should strip canadians who are affiliated with isis with the citizenship. you said that no the government should not have the power to determine who is canadian and not. so my question is how on the earth did you get elected? >> i spent the last few years on politics. i listened a lot and from a young age i got to opportunity to travel across the country and meet with people and listen to people and understand the values of positivity and the optimism that underscores the world view. so in this election at a time where so much has been made about the power and attacks and politics of the division and negativity as a powerful motivator to get people out to vote, we decided that by presenting a positive vision, not only if it worked out would we be able to get elected, but we would have to kind of strong and inclusive mandate to provide a positive and good government for the c

prime minister of canada -- no, no, no, he can run for canada. prime minister of canada. no problem. >> cnn's sunner lynn sis what i the strategy? we've seen the attacks, coupled with other strategy and criticisms have dug into the lead we sat in is september. that's now gown. >> reporter: that's absolutely right. pushing back on donald trump is a core part of ted cruz' closing message here, the argument they've been drilling down, is that not a sflf really laying down the stakes of what a potential trump win here would mean. we've heard cruz say he would be unstoppable if he won here, trying to paint the picture of an unstoppable train, really the meaning behind that is ted cruz trying to communicate if you want anyone other than donald trump, then stop him here in way, and top him with a vote for me. victor? >> the cruz campaign that is tried to frame this as a two-man race. now we know that shifting resources to go after marco rubio, after the momentum, partially from "the des moines register's" endorsement and thursday's debate, how are they concerned about the possib

since cruz was born in canada. cnn's athena jones is live in washington with more. good morning, atheen fla. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. this seems like a favorite topic for trump. it's more proof that the days of him holding his fire against ted cruz are over now that cruz is leading in polls in iowa. trump is doing everything he can to raise doubts about him. >> i don't know what it all means. i know other people are talking about it. >> reporter: donald trump deflecting last night in new hampshire. the front-runner saying republican rival ted cruz's natural born citizenship is a question that only other people are asking. >> people are worried that if he weren't born in this country, which he wasn't, he was born in canada and had a canadian passport along with a u.s. passport. until just recently, i mean within the last couple of years. i don't know what it all means. >> reporter: trump said in an earlier interview with the "washington post," that cruz being born in canada could be very precarious for the gop. asking republican voters to think twice, sayin

. >>> blame canada. donald trump going back to his birther roots to attack senator ted cruz and question whether cruz is eligible to be president. today, cruz responds right here on "the lead." >>> plus, anger and fear after gangs of young men, many described as appearing arab, are accused of raping, sexually assaulting and robbing women on new year's eve, dozens of them. was this a coordinated attack? >>> hello and welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we're going to begin with the shocking development from north korea rattling the world literally and figuratively with the announcement that the rogue nation has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. if this claim is indeed true, if the communist regime now has its hands on something that is thousands of times more powerful and more destructive than an atomic bomb. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> this was the announcement on north korean television in which the spokeswoman called the u.s. a brutal robber and quoted north korean leader, kim jong-un,

let's listen. >> do you think he's ineligible to be president because he was born in canada? >> no, from what i understand everything is fine. it was checked out by every attorney and i understand ted is in fine shape. all i know is a lot of people are talking about it. i hope it's not so but people are worried if he weren't born in this country which he wasn't, he was born in canada and had a canadian passport along with a u.s. passport until just recently, like within the last couple of years. so i don't know what it all means. people are talking about it. we'll find out i guess. ted will be answer to answer the question hopefully. i hear a couple states have a problem with it, too. >> it's interesting he once said according to everything he heard in the legal experts there is no problem now he hears people talking about it. so he's raising this. i mean, it's a flip-flop, no? >> well, you know, one of the things that i've discovered in going through this, there was b attempt to throw ted cruz off the new hampshire ballot. it failed. the very fact they took the time to do th

he was born in calgary, canada. >> he gave up his citizenship, didn't he? >> he didn't know he had canadian citizenship. his mom was born in delaware and his dad was born in cuba. the language in the constitution, the requirements for being president you have to be a natural born citizen. every expert has come to the conclusion you are a natural born citizen if your mother is an american and you were born outside of the united states, you are a natural born citizen. you are therefore eligible to be president. but donald trump threw something else entirely false, i never heard that he had a canadian passport. what he learned a few years ago is because he was born in canada he was eligible for canadian citizenship and said i don't want it. but i never heard he had a canadian passport. that is something that is made up out of whole cloth. >> why is donald trump floating this out there? >> it's the only thing he can find on ted cruz. this should tell us a lot about ted cruz when folks attack him they have nothing to attack him on. he went to senate and was fero

they care more about those loans than the whole born in canada thing. it was interesting to hear donald trump raise that point specifically today. m.j. lee in council bluffs with the trump campaign, thank you so much. >>> as for senator cruz, he finds himself behind now in the latest polling. five points behind the des moines register and bloomberg politics poll. six points behind the latest cnn poll. roughly the same thing. senator cruz is attending a cruz caucus event in des moines city. joined by special guests. don't know who that is -- that's his father, rafael cruz right there. rafael is very, very big in the evangelical community, a very powerful campaigner in his own right. ted cruz appearing with his father there. that's something that is interesting to see the last few days. also with ted cruz there, glenn beck, radio host. the guy who started the blaze and one of the duck dynasty stars, phil robertson, he's there as well. ted cruz attended church with his family. he said he was praying for all the candidates. watch. >> it was one of the thing

citizen whether it takes place in canada, the canal zone outside of the united states. and so can that be litigated and when you look at the nine supreme court justice, are they going to be shaking their head and say, really? we won't hear this case. >> and you are on to something, a political question that a lot of times the supreme court says, you know what, we won't have anything to do with this, because it is really, it could destroy the country. and say he gets elected and about to be sworn in as president, and the supreme court is going to be throwing him out of the presidency? i don't believe they will touch it. all of this is going to be dominating the news cycle for a few day, and mr. trump will move on to the next issue. >> and i remember the last time it was a noncitizen of arnold schwarzenegger, and there was a call for it on that. >> and now, we will find out more when donald trump sits down with my colleague wolf blitzer right here on cnn only, and make sure you stay tuned. >> more fallout from president obama's gun action, and today, paul ryan dismissed a

prime minister of canada. no problem. he can run prime minister of canada, no problem. so he got -- he got beaten up pretty badly last night. i don't know what's going to happen to his poll numbers, but probably they're not going up. i was just told that ours went up because of what we did last night. isn't that something? you know -- >> there are a great many republican candidates who probably wish that donald trump was never in this race. last night they got a chance to be on a debate without donald trump, and for some it might have been a case of be careful what you wish for. >> before we get to the issues, let's address the elephant not in the room tonight. >> let me just say i'm a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat, and ugly, and, ben, you're a terrible surgeon. now that weave gotten the donald trump portion out of the way -- >> to a completely changed dynamic where with no trump lightning rod, other candidates had to dodge bolts. >> would i note that the last four would be rand please attack ted, chris please attack ted, marco, please attack ted, je

they did any -- i mean did they vote in canada when they were there? >> no. >> no, they did not? >> my mother didn't because she was a u.s. citizen. look, the internet has all sorts of fevered swamp theories but the fact is simple. my mom was born in wilmington, delaware. she was a american citizen. she's been an american citizen 81 years of her life. she's never been a citizen any other place. >> i want to know what the constitutional lairs will say about this. i spoke with adam winkler for his take. >> you're a constitutional lawyer. where do you fall on this? is he el image tobl be nominated for president? >> i think he is. the constitution say use have to be a natural born citizen but it doesn't define the terminology. >> no one has? >> none have made it crystal clear. the prevailing view is you're a natural born citizen who was born in america at birth. we know from the constitution you're automatically a citizen if you're born in the united states no matter where your parents are from. but also they say you're a natural born citizen if both of yo

case in point, two people who lived in a chicago suburb, one in canada. they met on an online gaming site and things got rocky. dmitry went to armslist.com and got a gun, a completely legal sale. dmitry, a canadian, found a willing seller of a handgun in washington, illegal because it crossed borders. in april 2011, dmitry tracked down his former internet girlfriend outside of chicago and gunned her down. armslist.com was sued by the brady center. without the armslist website, smirnoff would have never gotten a gun. >> armslist.com is profiting off illegal gun sales. >> reporter: the courts did not agree. the lawsuit was dismissing. "arms list does not sell, auction, deliver or ship firearms." in the end, they are obeying the law and following the rules in their state. armslist.com remains on the internet today. >> drew, you've bought guns online for other cnn stories. how easy is it to do without getting any background check? >> you know, if you're trying the private person and the buyer needs to be legally. i can't be a felon or mentally unfit. there ar

he can run for the prime minister of canada and i wouldn't complain. he was born in canada. >> the interesting thing about this it's not just trump. there are a bunch of other candidates here. you have two past winners rick santorum who are struggling. i went to winnie bay go county to see governor huckabee. whatever he gets comes out of cruz. i asked him what do you tell an evangelical voter. they say i was with you in 2008 but this time i'm for ted cruz. >> i just remind them that one thing they don't have to worry about is, you know, my birthplace is hope, arkansas. the one thing we're sure of we've established that a person can be elected president from hope, arkansas. >> he says that with a smile, jennifer. but the question is, you know, does santorum, huckabee, ben carson. if you add it up and it's double digits how much does it pull ted cruz down? >> right. we asked our poll respondent ends who had voted for rick santorum in 2012 and a majority of them are for ted cruz. he also has all the ronnmney voters. so ted cruz has all the arrows coming a

it was canada. the united states constitution says only, quote, natural born citizens of the united states can be president. and cruz is a u.s. citizen because his mother was. the natural part is the legally murky thing. and for trump, politically advantageous. here's a little bit of his sweeping interview yesterday with wolf blitzer. >> if ted should eke it out and i hope that doesn't happen, and he's got this cloud over his head, i don't think it's going to be possible for him to do very well. i don't thing it's actually possible for the republicans to let it happen. because you'll have this cloud. what you do you go in immediately, like tomorrow, this afternoon, you go to federal court, you ask for a judgment. that you want the court to rule. and once the court rules, you have your decision. >> but that could take a long time for the court -- because i don't think the supreme court has never really ruled on what is a natural born citizen. >> i know, that's the problem. is there's doubt. people ha

everyone tells me he had a joint -- >> he was born in canada. >> here is what i think, what i think i'd do. i'd go and seek a declaratory judgment if i was ted. >> what does that mean? >> go to court. >> which court? >> you go to federal court to ask for what's called a declaratory judgment. you go in seeking the decision of the court without a court case. you go right in. you go before a judge. you do it quickly. it can go quickly. declaratory judgment. it's very good. i used it on numerous occasions. i've been pretty good with it. when there is a doubt because there is a doubt. what ted doesn't want to happen so he doesn't want to be in there. i mean, i think i'm going to win. i'm leading in every poll by a lot. but i have a lot of friends in the republican party. i have a lot of friends all over the place, all right? if ted should eke it out and i hope that doesn't happen, and he's got this cloud over his head, i don't think it's going to be possible for him to do very well. i don't think it's actually possible for the republicans to let it happen because he'll have this cloud. what

and reis reminding everyone that he was born in canada. i was surprised by mccain giving this a little life. it is true that there's some doubt about the constitutional question because the supreme court has never had had a case where they've had to weigh in on this. most constitutional scholars think that cruz is correct on this, that he is a natural born citizen. >> and cruz, maggie, has taken a sort of lighthearted approach to this, thus far, he sent out a tweet, showed fonzie jumping the shark, does he need to tick a different approach now? >> i thought where he ended up in the interview with dana was the right way to go, and probe where i think his voters are going to see him which is there are many more important issues that are important to voters, not where i was born. ted cruz has a bit of a habit of reading the stage directions out loud. tweeting yes, i had tweeted a link and that was supposed to be dismissive. i think generally speaking, i think so this is the right direction. look, cruz has a plan. one of the things that has st

ted cruz is an anchor baby in canada but canada doesn't except anchor babies, they just waited a long time. >> well, we also know that ted cruz is coming back at the campaign with a new ad, one where he's calling into question the new york values. let's listen to that. >> i mean, hey, i lived in new york city and manhattan all my life, okay? so my views are a little bit different if i lived in iowa. >> they are different, like on abortion. >> would president trump ban partial abortion. >> i'm pro-choice in every respect. >> what does trump think about iowa? >> how stupid are the people of iowa? >> it's interesting because it seems that donald trump is winning this war, although, what donald trump is saying about ted cruz being a canada anchor baby doesn't really make sense. cruz is using trump's actual words. >> trump is basically saying ted cruz is not one of you. over 90% of republican primary voters are white in 2012 and reminding them ted cruz' background is not their background. that is the underlying message. republicans have been uneasy about donald trump with a message that re

donald trump hammering ted cruz on his, quote, canada problem. cruz, of course, was born in canada and renounced his citizenship only

our children were born through surrogacy in canada legally. and we are both parents of a 3-year-old. nine hours of flight we jump into italy and we become two single fathers living together occasionally, sharing the same flat. >> reporter: same-sex couples like andrea and dario want italy to now respect their marriage. they and tens of thousands of others have taken to the streets across italy to demand equality and basic rights like tax breaks and inheritance rights. the italian parliament is now dablting a bill that would recognize those rights for same-sex couples. under pressure from the european court of human rights that deemed that italy was in breach of human rights by denying them. it's an issue highly influenced in italy by the vatican. the most contentious aspect of the law is what to do with the kids. >> they say that children have no choice. >> reporter: massimo franco is a political analyst. >> the very sensitive issue is stepchild option. this is the problem. i can't see just a division between catholics and non-catholics. there

and now, sally, why are we talking about that senator cruz was born in canada, and the mother was porn in the united states a u.s. citizen, and his mom, and why is this coming on? >> because she is is on the heels of donald trump, and poses a threat. the whole birth question, and eligibility question about ted cruz is ridiculous. it is discussed, and it is clear that he is eligible the be president, but it is a distraction that trump is using, because if he were to go toe to toe with cruz or rubio other than maybe carson on policy issues, he can't hold a candle about them, because he is not about the substance, but about this distraction, and i don't really believe that, but some are telling me that, and he is throwing it out there because he is a master of distraction, and buzz for things that we are now talking about this instead of what ted cruz is doing which is to gaining ground and beating trump in iowa, and gaining ground nationally on him. and that is what this is all about, and i think it is a brilliant move on trump's part for the distraction part of it, but it is ridiculous,

he's got a problem with his canadian birth, he was born in canada. it's a real question. >> reporter: and even beginning to refer to cruz as the canadian. >> the canadian. the man from canada. >> reporter: but trump isn't limiting his attacks to cruz. he's also reigniting his feud with fox news' meagg megyn kelld of thursday's debate. >> megyn kelly is biased against me. >> reporter: after telling wolf he might skip the event. >> if i think i'm going to be treated unfairly, i'll do something else. >> reporter: cruz firing off a warning in a closed-door meeting with pasters. if he doesn't stop trump, no one will. >> it is an absolute dead heat, went on to win new hampshire as well, there's a very good chance he could be unstoppable and be our nominee. >> reporter: and using trump's own words against him in a new campaign ad. as he tries to blunt trump's momentum in iowa. >> i am pro-choice in every respect. >> and what does trump think about iowa? >> how stupid are the people of iowa? >> donald trump, new york values, not ours. >> you know, my views a

here's what he said. >> he was born in canada. now, john mccain had the same problem. the difference is his two parents were both in the military. and he was born on a military base. okay. i understand that. it's a military base. what are you going to do, say, mom, and dad, you should have taken me back home to be born? i can't run for president. he was born on a military base. lawrence tri be represented john mccain. he was always troubled by it. about cruz he said it's a problem. now, if it's a problem, they have to work it out. you can't give somebody -- i think we're going to win. just so you understand, i don't want to be a negative person. and i don't want to win this way. i don't want to win this way. i want to win fair and square. >> clearly this is a candidate, poppy, who is very much aware that in the state of iowa ted cruz is his biggest rival. i want to point out the people in this ballroom tonight, not all of them were even aware of this controversy, the birther controversy. one person i spoke to who is a trump supporter but also likes cruz said he didn't

ted cruz was born in canada. a lot of people watching the debate said ted cruz got the better end of that discussion with donald trump. is that your view, andy? do you think this is asked and answered, done as an issue? >> i think the fact we keep talking about it seven days in, ten days in now shows there is something here and a lawsuit filed this week against ted cruz in which this issue is going to go potentially to the supreme court and there is a cloud hanging over ted cruz' head. look, the guy was born in calgary, canada and the idea this is subtle law is correct. we can go so far back to the 1975 naturalization act which i think the supreme court will look at to show ted cruz is not qualified to be president more over 25% of republican voters think this is a very serious issue which potentially disqualifies ted cruz, so i honestly just feel bad for steve king here who has put all of his hopes in ted cruz when this guy may not be -- >> not if i get time to rebut, you don't. >> you have that time, go for it.

ted cruz san anchor baby in canada. but canada doesn't accept anchor babies. they just waited a long time. >> your reaction when you hear that kind of talk? >> doesn't even make sense because that's not what the anchor baby term was. but i think trump is actually doing something else that people aren't paying enough attention to which is by distancing himself -- in some ways he's setting himself up for a large amount of independent voters, fr a large amount of folks who were just disenchanced with the republican party. maybe even with the democratic party, and we have to be careful with this. particularly in iowa, you can -- anyone can caucus. you can have independent voters. new hampshire has a significant independent voter bloc. >> hardly ever disagree with ron, but i'm sorry. but i do think that a lot of these candidates have tried to take on trump. particularly look at jeb bush. you know, jeb bush accused his colleagues of being in the witness protection program, right? when it comes to taking on trump. he has been taking on trump and it's gotten him absol

last week, it was suggesting the real cruz country is canada. in a lot while, we'll explore the merits of exactly that. the but first, john king breaking it down by the numbers. john. >> in iowa, we have a very close race. over the weekend, we had a brand new poll. that one had ted cruz at 28%, donald trump at 24%. essentially within the margin of error. so a statistical tie with donald trump and ted cruz at the top. this is a two-man race in iowa. let's look at the big determining factor. cruz at the moment has a league among ee van gel cans. cruz winning big among tea party voters and among those who describe themselves as very conservative. 44% for cruz, 26% for trump. here is the big challenge for donald trump. 37% of republicans who say they're moderate or liberal say they're trump supports. only 7% for ted cruz. so that suggestions room to go. finally, let's bring up the average of the reputable polls in the past 30 days. as we discussed, a two-man race at the top with cruz and trump and rubio looking for the third ticket out of iowa but t

our children were born through surrogacy in canada legally. and we are both parents of a 3-year-old. nine hours of flight we jump into italy and we become two single fathers living together occasionally, sharing the same flat. >> reporter: same-sex couples like andrea and dario want italy to now respect their marriage. they and tens of thousands of others have taken to the streets across italy to demand equality and basic rights like tax breaks and inheritance rights. the italian parliament is now dablting a bill that would recognize those rights for same-sex couples. under pressure from the european court of human rights it deemed that italy was in breach of human rights by denying them. it's an issue highly influenced in italy by the vatican. the most contentious aspect of the law is what to do with the kids. >> they say that children have no choice. >> reporter: massimo franco is a political analyst. >> the very sensitive issue is stepchild option. this is the problem. i can't see just a division between catholics and non-catholics. there a

, whether they did -- i mean, did they vote in canada? >> no, they did not. my mother didn't because she was a u.s. citizen. the internet has all sorts of fevered theories but the fact is simple, my mom was born in delaware. she's an american citizen by birth. she's been an american citizen 81 years of her life. she's never been a citizen of any other place. >> don't miss jake tapper's full interview with ted cruz on tomorrow's "state of the union" at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. >>> coming up, new information in the investigation and search for ties to terror organizations. it takes a lot of work... to run this business. but i really love it. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should. so i drink boost® to get the nutrition that i'm missing. boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a great taste. i don't plan on slowing down any time soon. stay strong. stay act

prime minister of canada, flo no problem. he can run for canada. there he is. he can run prime minister of canada, no problem. so he got beaten up pretty badly last night. i don't know what's going to happen to his poll numbers, but probably they're not going up. i was told ours went up because of what he did last night. isn't that something? you know, it feltells you a lit bit about risk. risk is interesting. in theory, i would have rather done the debate. you're leading. you don't want to change the wheels, right? you want to just go, get it done, win and go to the next one, and i took a chance. i mean, i took a chance, and it's something you have to do. i took a chance and we did something. i don't know what the end result was. whatever the result is, i did the right thing. i did the right thing because i did something great for veterans, and when you think of it, these politicians are -- >> we're going to step away from this. bob, you support cruz, and i can only imagine steam coming out of your ears. >> no. we hear this all the time. i mean, the snide comm

canada dollars. >> we're country hicks and we're not going to -- we're not travelers so why keep the money and give it to the government? >> reporter: instead, they gave it to others. almost all of it went to more than 60 public organizations. huge donations to places such as hospitals and fire stations. >> we hadn't bought one thing. that's it because there's nothing that we need. >> reporter: gloria mckenzie won a huge powerball jackpot in 2013 at the age of 84 after moving from maine to florida. she cleared $278 million after taxes. and did not forget her hometown of maine. she donated $1.8 million to the local high school that was likely to be closed because of a leaking roof. >> without that, the school was going to die. it was not going to have a school in the long run and i think with this, we'll be able to keep the school going for awhile. >> for all of our winners. >> reporter: and then there are the albany seven. seven new york state government worker whose split a $319 million jackpot in 2011 in the mega millions lottery. this man and his wife decided to give back to their

go back to canada. ing see the statue of liberty adding a special side gift. >> what did ted cruz mean by new york values? he explained himself and donald trump responded. >> everyone understands that the values in new york city are socially liberal or proabortion or progay marriage focussed around money and the media. >> new york is a great place and it's got great people and loving people and wonderful. when the world trade center came down, i saw something that no place on earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than new york. >> let's talk more about this with a manhattan born queen raised congressman, congressman peter king. great to see you. thanks for coming in. >> thank you, kate. thank you very much. >> so, i want to get your take on all of this. hillary clinton also just weighed into this new york values fight and she said this, just this once donald trump is right she says in this tweet. new yorkers value hard work, diversity, tolerance, resilience and building better lives f

>>> and is it o canada or blame canada? donald trump raises new questions about whether ted cruz is eligible to run for president since he was born in canada. in just a few minutes, ted cruz has a chance to respond live. >>> and a gun shop owner in new hampshire delivers a gift to donald trump, a custom rifle. the owner joins us live on why he suggests president obama is the best gun salesman in america. >>> hello, everyone, i'm john berman. >> and i'm kate bolduan. new this morning, or maybe what's old is

you brought up the canada citizen ship issue. do you believe he is constitutional eligible? i know the supreme court has never ruled in. what does that mean? do you yourself think he should be eligible? >> what happens is i was watching lawrence tribe of harvard who is a constitutional expert, one of the true experts and according to him, it's a real question mark and he is the -- he is one of the great authorities on this subject. >> we have professor tribe who taught senator cruz and of course, senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin who served as research assistant and jeffrey joins us tonight. professor tribe, why in your opinion is senator cruz' eligibility still a question and unsettled? >> because the supreme court never resolved it and there are really two very different approaches to a question like this. one approach is to ask what the original meaning of the constitution is trying to figure out what the framers intended and what people understood in 1788. if that's your approach, then it really looks like you have to have been born on american land in order to be a na