show down in south carolina. >> and then the courts ruled he can't run, that's not so good. >> one of the first primary. front and center for the presidential debate, we will hear the attacks. >> something is kicking [bleep] in florida. >> what about the issues. jobs, military spending. race, plus, the push for evangelical voters. >> i believe in the power.

>> before they take the stage, we'll bring it all to you, america votes 2016, the al jazeera special report. hi, everyone, welcome to this special edition of our program. along be ali velshi in south carolina. that's the site of the presidential depate tonight, it kuk off in about an hour. with iowa and new hampshire rapidly approaching, they are trying to separate themselveses from the pack, ali? >> john, it's been four weeks since the last g.o.p. debate, donald trump still leaves most national polls but ted cruz is now surging in iowa where he is popular with that state's christian evangelical voters, now the two have kept a distance from each other during the campaign, but some believe the gloves could come off tonight. >> yeah, it will be interesting, cruz who has been very critical of wall street, could face tough questions tonight. their new accusations he took

1 million-dollars in a bank loans when he ran for the senate and never reported it.

he enters polls with reports hess everyone in the state and evangelical voter whose traditionally comprise over 50% of caucus goers appear to be co alessing around cruise's religious themes message. >> i want to ask you is that you pray. and we pray for our country,s we pray for this awakens, the spirit of revival that is sweeping the country. trait gists in several campaigns though say the caucus race remains fluid, thanks in part to questions about cruz raised by donald trump.

nearly every speech trump has noted that cruz was born in canada. >> he has to go in and get a declaratory judgement, so determine if he wins can he run, is he allows to run. >>ost legal experts call the issue nonsenses, given that cruz's mother was an american citizen. and cruz himself, is accusing trump of desperation. >> this issue did not seem to concern donald until a little over a week ago. whenned isly he was trailing in the polls in iowa and i understand, mr. trump, and other candidates in the race, being disturbed. that conservatives are coming together. a new challenge has just emerged though he received over $1 million in loans from investment bank, where his wife works. that itself would not be a problem except that cruz did not disclose the loans to the

federal election commission. cruz's calling an innocent mistake. it is an inadvertent filing question. the facts of the matter have been disclosed for many many years. it is not complicated. our finances are not complicated. but the opportunity for attack is not complicated either he claimants he is self-funding his own campaign, and repeatedly argued his rivals by comparison have been corrupted by big donors. >> sadly, politician are all talk, and no action. they are not. >> in other words strategists expect trump to buzz the cruz on the defensive tonight over campaign corruption, and presidential eligibility. and being on the defense, is not where candidates want to be because it often takes them off message. as for trump, his message has been simple, prepare to vote.

>> so go out of here and register, or you can't vote. and you know what will happen if you don't vote, our country is going to go to held. >> it is basic memorable language from donald trump who ready to unload more of it. >> we are all going to held, well, all of the campaign tonight, whether you like it or not one of the final chances to make a lasting difference, so that may add to the drama and intensity. >> feels like an episode of survivor, or maybe the apprentice. you are laughing a bit about the report. >> it was great piece. >> you have been claiming that donald trump ain't going to make it, and now we are down two, and he is right up there at the top. >> yes. listen, he is at the top. my point is i am not sure how he expands the leck story

rail enough. to capture the nomination. >> you fill in the planks. >> he is going to disagree with me. >> you are always welcome to say, maybe schuster was right. >> no, no, no. >> if he wins iowa that will only build up his momentum. how do you stop his incredibly lead nationally. >> except for bill clinton. and what if you take the establishment people, you get rid of some of them, there's enough there. >> this is all about turn out in iowa though, and how you get people to the caucus. i would assume that many supporters have never been to the caucus, or should we assume that? >> no, i think it is fair to assume, a lot of people feeling like they are outside the process, who las vegas the fact that donald trump will shake things up.

yes can also make the case that angry people feel so disenfranchised that angry people don't go out. the very people as david mentioned that trump has been courting, are the people least likely to participate. it may be different this year, but it is a heck of a organizational strategy he has to put forward. >> here is something we teased on a little bit, donald trump is a lot geter organized and focused on his organization, and getting people to register, and getting ready for caucus night, and voting a lot better nan a lot of i think the conventional wisdom. so watch out. >> all right, thank you very much. tonight ted cruz, mite have to explain some undisclosed loans the new york times as we mentioned says this cruz financed his 2012 senate run

in part with loan loans reaminp to $1 million. the other was from city bank. he did not disclose either loan. a spokes man did say the fail man was inarriver tent. she is covering the campaign, and she is in charleston south carolina tonight. what is his campaign, what is ted cruz campaign talking, what are they saying about these loans? >> great to be with you, their point is twofold, first they say that while the particular loans may not have appeared in specific if you see reports they were disclosed in other ways. personal disclosure, the other thing they say if there was a mistake.

so you detect any change, in the clinton campaign, as a result of donald trump's attack, and now these articles and these revelations are may on the defensive. is going to reveal a lot about that, and certainly as ted cruz has residenten in the polls he has also seen with that, a number of attacks coming whether it's from to bal trump, or marco rubio, and you know certainly he has trayed to gain maybe even more offensive position. and then with trump, he is enganged with more direct way, than we have previously seen. that is eligibility to run, so cruz certainly stresses that very much eligible, but he has kind of helped having that press.

we will have to see how folks raise that issue, on stage tonight, but i can assure you that having watched ted cruz tonight, i think he will probably be ready with an answer. the question is how that comes across. >> okay, what did ted cruz do today? >> well, he tells us that he got ready for debates. you know i espent time talking with his old colleagues from the princeton debate team, where he was a stand out debatener the early 90's. and given what they el the us, really take an opportunity to decompress a little bit. >> he will need those skills tonight, it appears, good to see you. both republican and republican candidates are targeting wall street, and the big banks, alley is of course in south carolina with

more on that, ali? >> yeah, it is back, the fight against the banks it is quite telling that the big banks have come in for so much criticism. especially when the financial industry is a major source of industries. helicopter and bernie sanders are battling it out over who has the best plan to reform wall street. republicans are also saying that the rules governing the big banks need to be changed. now the wall street journal is reported that industry leaders and the financial industry are are now trying to figure out how to respond to the assault, or weather to responsibility at all. emily glareser one of the reporters on that story. she is in new york for us now. emily, remarkable story, because the banking industry -- it isn't a story that candidates for public votes are going out and saying that the big banks are bad. the story here is that the big banks are not agreed as to what they are supposed to be doing in response to this criticism. tell me what this cleve

advantage is? >> absolutely, certainly ironic that the candidates on the right and left agree yet they can't figure out how to respond, there are two camps on the one side, some are saying this is ridiculous. they don't have the facts straight, how can we let them go on and say we need to be better. when there have been a lot of changes. the other camp is saying anything that we do will only look like we are trying to shape the various campaigns opinions and that can only hurt us. >> emily, there's also a view among those that think the banking industry should not get involved, that the candidates -- it is a lot of plusser on the campaign trail. it is a lot of noise, a lot of heat not so much light, that the candidates themselveses have a much more knew jensed understanding of the banking industry than they are telling crowds at debates or speeches. >> right. there's a fence out there that this is the populace rhetoric, post financial crisis, it could be an easy thing to just target the banks and yet the candidates

in private when they are not speaking publicly, are saying a lot more nuanced views. what can or should we do. the finances services forum, to at least explore the idea whether to ex-gauge at the advantage yous shutt we explain what it is and get more technical with them, should we let them keep going, even for the rhetoric is just general. >> a great report, thank you for joining us. >> is the managing director of the bank of montreal capitol division. is it true when these banks say as emily said, we have to go out and tell these people that the industry has changed we are not too big to fail. is all that true? has the banking industry

actually chained all that much? >> relative to the assets that they have found. and that has more than doubled since the crisis. right now the banking system has never been this well capitalized ever. it is nothing more than just political bluster, i hope it might help some campaigns at this stage. i were there and were to ask them what the plan really is, if you want to beat up on the banks what should you be saying. clearly it is popular to do that with your base, but what should you be saying you want

to do. again the level of equity is crucial to the validity of the banking system. the big problem is the banking system is that it didn't have enough equity with relate to the assets. so the debate should be on that ratio. back before the crisis in 2005 on average it was about four to 5% for banks. right now it is eight to 10% on average across the entire banking system, and the bigger banks in a lot of cases are even greater than that. so if you want a real debate about how to solidify the banking system, and make it safer because we want to protect the taxpayers that have to bail out an industry if things go wrong to avoided that in the future, you have to have a real discussion

about how much equity is required. my belief is eight to 9%, was more than all the way there. in 30 sects are these banks too big to fail right now? >> if you think about the assets. no amount of equity in the world that can save them. which would have obvious global ramifications but we are nowhere close to that. across the system, it is not only good, but credit quality is still improves and has done so since the crisis.

the u.s. financial system has 8,500 banks. to the concentration of assets actually in the u.s. is less than anywhere else in the world. and still we have banks that are too big to fail, so i think that is an inevidentability of having a financial system. thank you for joining us, john, back to you. >> coming up. why he is popular we van jell call voters and what it can mean, after this. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

welcome back. right ahead of a g.o.p. debate, according to a recent poll, senator ted cruz is taking a lead quite possibly in iowa, that is the fist big contest, it is coming up in just a few weeks. so all of these polls well what does it matter on the ground? political correspondent that is with me now, looking what is behind cruz's search in that state. >> you know, alley, it isn't

just what is what this is concentrating on, it is the way he is running his campaign. he had a bus tour going through the state, for more of a revival nan a campaign tourist. constantly talking to voters, but he knew the voters he would want to attract, and looks like he is doing just that. tote cruz has been faithful to this plan. >> today. roughly half of the born again christians aren't voting. they are staying home. imagine instead millions of people of faith all across america, coming out to the polls and voting our values.

the strategy is to motivate what the cruz campaign estimated at 4 million voters that didn't come out to vote in 2012. >> here in south carolina 40% of voters are white evangelical, which is why he has spent so much time campaigning here in iowa. >> it is crazy for us to think we can be separated from our faith and values when we enter the political process. >> which is why the ted cruz central joy has caught fire. it is historic, it is amazing. >> jennifer jacobs is the chief politics reporter in recent polls he has come from behind and either eclipsed him or they are running even people just started to realize that there are weaknesses for donald trump, they don't necessarily have

the temperament to be president, they don't like some of his stances like on abortion. >> abortion along marriage equality, and what they call religious liberty. it is kind of the winning out process. >> steve sheklar is head of the coalition, and a long time political operative. he sees new evangelicals as more demanding. >> politics is not about perfection, it doesn't mean you told hold a candidate's feet to the fire. you are looking for a perfect candidate, you won't see jesus christ on the ballot any time soon. >> the founder of the christian coalition finished second that year, alerting the party to an untapped and

vital voting block. >> iowa of course has a big vote, on the first of fess eight days later they go to new hampshire which has less representative evangelical vote there, but he is going in with a bus tour next week to try to tap into those, and of course it is right here on south carolina and they have he is going to try to take that momentum to the southern states on super tuesday. this is what is important, it has a lot of different groups that are important to different constituencies, large evangelical population. i am joined now by pastor michael gonzales. let me ask you something. about evangelical we have used it as a term.

are you rushble, politically? >> absolutely. because i believe that evangelical really that term, defined those who believe in jesus christ. and so that group is coming together, it is co lessing together. so what are you looking for? does another evangelical get that vote, or is there a set of value that isn't described themselves as as born again christian? >> yeah, that's a great question. some things we can come around and co aless, but on the marriage issue, ted cruz believes marriage is between one man and one woman. but then, even more than that is the constitution. we all want the law to be kept. so you can get all evangelical and you can get them to come together on that. >> on abortion, and gay

marriage, and the constitution, you don't have a lot of variation on those republican groups, you can get those three answers from half or more of them? >> he has fought for freedom, for evangelical, so i think you have to look at the proven record. who has done the work, and who has done those things at the ballot pork, who has stood in the ground. about mike huckabee, he has a life of being a pastor, and citying with those things that you think are important? >> definitely, i agree with that, but at the same time, who are coalescing around is ted cruz and not mike huckabee. >> why is that? >> i believe it is because ted cruz is fighting the battlings, he is an inseeder, but he is a outsider.

mick huckabee has never been in washington, so ted cruz is on the inside. thank you for your time. >> all right. >> coming up the price of fighting terrorism, will a larger defense budget really enhance the nation's security?

away from tonight's debate. the united states spents more on it's military than the next seven combined. will more spending really make the country safer. patricia has more. >> when it comes to defense spending, size matters to the top republican presidential candidate. >> we will make our military so big, and so song, and so great. >> it is not enough. will swelling spending really enhance the nation's security? and more than half a trillion dollars the u.s. has by far the world's biggest budget, one that exceeds the next

seven top spenderses combined. but china's military muscle flexing, and the military resurgence, and the threat from isil, have proved prime fodder for candidates who claim the u.s. now lacked the military resources to mount an effective defense. since launching the first air strikes the u.s. has spent five point $8 billion a mere 1% of the current $573 billion defense budget. >> the flying is about half of that figure, another 25% is the support staff, and the final quarter is ammunitions. it is questionable whether more bucks will pie more bang. >> there will be more targeting available, not more air strikes if you have more money available. >> there's also pentagon overhead to consider.

with 1.8 million people working back office functions for just over 1 million people in uniform, funding an effective defense may not be a question of spending more, but spending more wisely. al jazeera. it is true they are calling for more defense spending, so how do you cut taxes in. >> that's the big question, and they have not answered that. this has been the problem, and marco rubio in particular has been calling for strengthening the military. that's whey we saw on tuesday night, the president said look we have the strongest military in the world, and the spending is as was just mentioned more than the next seven countries combined.

and those things are cuts like entitlement. >> yes, substantial cuts to medicaid, but you can't talk about that because then you lose seniors and a huge number of republicans, you have donald trump saying we won't touch that, and you have mike huckabee saying the same thing, and that may be where they can pivot from okay, then you have to explain what are you going to do about spitelements? >> you always hear the word waste and abuse, we can cut these things and if you just get rid of regulations and agencies and departments, we wouldn't spend as much, but all -- if you did all of that, it seems to me you can't pay for the increases they are talking about. can you? >> when you have a natural

catastrophe, people want the government to step in, but get rid of some of these and the government won't be there to do that. and these are the tough questions that we haven't heard answered on the campaign trail. we always talk about how they are so critical, so important at this moment in time, but this one is pretty critical to the candidates right? >> right. in the words of ali velshi, this is the debate where they have to snuggle up with the undecided voters and try to convince them that they are concerned about things like the debt. donald trump has backed off at times but then. >> he attacks when he is attacked. he is the untraced cooer puncher. and we have seen ted cruz with a marked change in tote, in terms of going after him,

and the jeb bush campaign has been delegating this will be a debate where he goes after trump, because this may be jeb bush's last chance to dominate headlines. that only helps jeb bush. >> we will see, all right, thank you. coming up next, how last year's deadly church shooting is impacting presidential politics right after this.

race, gun, and much more.out return to the emanuel a.m.e. church which has a message for the candidates. >> . >> nine african-americans murdered in their church. >> across is another item.

>> he is now the interim pastor, he wants the candidates to learn from what happened here. >> your church has a significance plate in history, before the shooting. >> certainly after the shooting now, it is your voice carries a lot of weight. having said that. it is without pressure, we cannot avoided not addressing the issue of gun violence. secondly, i think there's a need for jobs i think there's a need to talk about the poor. >> what about the poor? how significant? in your life, how many poor people do you come across. >> on a daily basis.

>> as a matter of fact, you can drive through charleston, in the area, that now has something that is called tent city. some folks -- don't see the poor, because they don't want to see it. as politician made bold moves to change the status quo, like removing the confederate flag, it is all seen as a broader national movement of dramatically changing demographics. >> many lower income people are being pushed out because of rising land values and hi-tech jobs they are moving to north charleston, a black part of the metro area. >> . >> yeah, this is lifetime home for me. >> barney is a newspaper reporter who has spent much of his career writing about african-americans. he shows this to a section of the area, just four-miles from the site of the debate.

north charleston has one of the highest per capita crime rates in the nation. >> in north charleston, we are seeing a murder at least one a month. sometimes two or three a month. >> and likely to be victimmed of violence, the reasons they may have once discounted the power, makely says pause of the victory, african-americans may be more likely to vote during this election. >> so when i look at -- when i ask what do i want to see, for my presidential candidates, i want to hear them talk about things like universal healthcare. shoot i don't have healthcare, i can't afford it. >> hundreds of thousands of potential south carolina voters are like him.

this will be the first primary where a large number of voters are expected to be black. we will see where the republican candidates address thosish uh shoes. who did not qualify for tonight's main event. alli is back in south carolina tonight. >> yes, john, mike huckabee is a little bit put out that he was the guy, he believed who threw the last through election cycled has been holding up the values of evangelical born again conservative values. i talked to mike about the competition for conservative votes and the appeal of political outsiders in this years campaign. this is a fascinating election cycle.

right now he is getting all his oxygen sucked up, but you have been very clearly where the come pass for religious americans points but some of that is pointed towards ted cruz, what do you have to say? to social conservatives. to evangelical, to religious voters right now, to say i am your guy, i have been here for a while. >> i am not a person that says something in manhattan, than i do in marshal town iowa. i think if people think about it, it doesn't mean that you move to wherever the polls show you need to be, or that you move depending on what your g.p.s. location is. so i just -- deep down believe that a lot of folks when they start thinking about it. will know that i am the person who has said exactly

the same thing since i was a teenager. >> what do you think about the fact that people may believe in a lot of your message. pause ted cruz seems quite winnable, that there's money goings the campaign, that he has momentum behind him, and yet there are people voting for him that would be very comfortable voting for you as u.s. president. >> i just have to get them comfortable voting for me, and that's part of the problem, but the iowa caucus voters break late, they date everybody in the field and they tend to really enjoy the company of new people, but really gets down to it, these are folks that don't put a ring on it until wedding day, and i fully believe that this is going to be an election which there will be major surprises on february quest.

the ones that know how difficult it is to get things done, who have is to work in a bipartisan fashion, have more nuanced views about what we are supposed to be doing in terms of national security, and yet you are having the greatest trouble gaining ground. is that just the albatross you carry? and as a result, you can't have the most outlandish views? i think a lot of sit people are so angry at government. it is not just dissatisfaction, there is seething rage, and many hold everyone responsible who has ever been elected to anyone.

>> i do think there's an unusual atmosphere, that says the more experience you have, the more qualified you are, maybe the less attractive you are as a candidate. that's like saying i want to go up in an airplane, and fly with a pilot who has never flown before. i want him to fly through my thunderstorms and turbulence. i want to go against head winds but i don't want anyone that has flown the plane. i want a complete amateur, a person that has never been behind the stick that's who i want to fly with, well nobody would think like that. michael joins me now, i talked about ted cruz, governor huckabee didn't use his name once, but he talks about people that say different things in one place

to only, people that call themselvessed movement conservatives. he is angry, the governor was on the early debate today ted cruz remains center stage. >> that's right. you know he is talking about not just ted cruz, he is talking about the other senators on the stage. donald trump was talking about donald trump, and when he was saying in the interview that he had with you, he was saying that he wants somebody with experience. he doesn't want a pilot to go up and fly a plane who has never flown a plane. yesterday he said he would be more ready to vote for donald trump than some of the others out there. so i am hearing two different things. but yes, as a politician, now he is trying to point out ted cruz and some of the others there who don't have the governing experience that he has, but also about the establishment, politician

that casts a wider net than ted cruz. >> the numbers indicate he continues to do well these are the guys that have competed for, and in many cases won that constituency. one of them has to win and it the other two have to be out of this thing for the vote to matter. >> yes or no. there are three tickets as they say out of iowa. you donald trump, ted cruz, and then you can have a third candidate that gets some momentum. that might not happen this year, this is an unusual year because of that as well. it may take until new hampshire. mrs. a feeling they want an

establishment candidate, they don't want to look to donald trump. they don't want to look to ted cruz. because of the rickness, and the evangelical that goes on, so they want to find one of these senators somebody like chris christie, jeb bush, somebody we haven't talked about recently. he has won before, but it doesn't like like he is doing what he needs to do. >> you bring up john kasich, everywhere i would go in the country, people would tell me everyone likes john huntsman, was a good fiscal candidate and he never got past low numbers in the polls. but again, he is a governor, and he is a relative moderate, and not making a lot -- not getting a lot of

traction. >> he has polled second in too fairly reliable polls. in lamb ham, recently, so again, if these are two separate elections he might be right where he needs to be and that may be second or third, and that's something he could never come close to doing. >> yeah. all right, we will come back and have more to talk about this. >> all right, thank you, tonight's debate may be in south carolina but the candidates are also making voters in iowa and new hampshire. the first primary will be held there after week after the iowa caucus. of course it could be crucial, paul and political director and anchor for n.h. 1 t.v., he has interviewed most of the candidates, he is in manchester tonight, so paul, what are the voters in new hampshire care about when it comes to the republican

party? the republican primary voters are very similar to those across the country. listen, national security terrorism, they are important issues around the country, taxes has always been a very very big issue. so yeah, economics and taxes matter, but right now, here in new hampshire like elsewhere in the country, national security has really and terrorism has dominated. marchly because of those terrorist attacks in november, and the san bernideno shooting, so you know. >> the people in new hampshire like to get the candidates up close, spend time with them. >> oh yeah. >> who has spent the most time in new hampshire as far as the republicans are concerned. i guess you can give the award to chris christie. he has been here more than any other candidate. when it comes purely to town halls john case sick the winner. those two gentlemen are spending a lot of time here. i guess you can say there are

some that are spending a lot of in iowa. like a huckabee, and cruz, and nose who became almost exclusively here such a a christie and a kassig. they have been spending a lot more time here, the electoral here, more fiscally conservative, but definitely not more socially conservative. paul, how much time do they spend paying attention to these debates. >> these debates are very important, and they have been very influential. we saw the polls go up and down, because of the debates we have seen it to a degree here as well. new hampshire we take pride in being the first in the nation seeing our candidates up close and personal, talking to them, and asking them questions. at the same time this is very much a national ration as well. so yes, the national debates they do matter very much. >> i know your friend has some questions for you as

well, alli? >> we spend a lot of time at these debates together, paul, if you are that fiscal conservative, the yankee fiscal conservative, not a social conservative, you have about 4 1/2 choices. you have the governors, you have kassig, you have christie, you have jeb bush, you kind of have marco rubio. are they thinking strategic clay this could put one of them into the running because all of them, are so far behind iowa and new hampshire could be make or break for them? >> yeah, i think when it comes to the three governors they have to finish at least second or third. if they don't, i uh don't see how they get a ticket out of ham happen. that's the big story line, and nationally as well. you have donald trump and ted grabbing ought of the grass roots vote, and you have these four others they are all dividing the more moderate centered right establishment lane. only a few will survive. christie, kassig, bush, they

need a strong finish here. >> alley paul thank you for joining us tonight from manchester. and alley andly be back right after this, don't go away.

>> we are looking to see if there's going to be fireworks between trump and cruz. and then also on the establishment side, what happens with a marco rubio is he able to defend off these attacks he has been feeling. >> to that point, he is perhaps one of the best classical debaters in the field. he knows what the attacks

will be. look to see what kind of counter attack cruz can level back at trump, and whether it is enough to equalize things and take us off the table. >> ted cruz release add video showing him in full camouflage, hunting with duck dynasty, robinson said he had his family say they are voting for cruz because he is godley. and he can do a job and will kill the duck. >> that's it. >> what are you expecting tonight? >> i am an economics journalist, a debate hosted by fox business news with financial anchor as discussion about the economy, not the biggest issue, it is the first time in a long time that it is not. i am not holding my breath for that, i suspect i will grow a big after pro before that happens. >> we will be waiting nor that. talk to me about -- what are iowa voters looking for

tonight. >> i think there are two sets of voters they are looking to make that final decision, between ted cruz and ben carson. we haven't talked very much about him. ben carson is holding on to a good strong core, and you will have ted cruz selling himself to those iowa voters but i also think they should look at chris christie and marco rubio, who knows what is at stake, i expect them to engang in one another. i am of course looking forward. >> did you really use the word lumpble, and what does that mean? >> we are another of time. >> all right. that does it for ally valshi. and genie. >> 20 seconds john. >> and i think he isn't going to answer the question, i don't think. that's the broadcast, thank you for watching, ali velshi on target, is next.

"on target" tonight. mike huckabee is struggling in the polls but is not giving up his fight to be the 2016 republican nominee for president. i'll ask him how long he'll stay in the race and why he still has faith that evangelical voters will still have faith in him and reject ted cruz. the 2016 election proirnl season officially kicks off with the avoid caucus on february 1st and on the republican side