needing a big boost in the polls. welcome to iowa in focus -- where we're giving context to what happens in the headlines and on the campaign trail. trail.that starts with the barnstorm. democrats had their last chance to be in front of the national media all in one spot this week. week.it was at a last-minute town hall event hosted by c-n-n.with caucus night exactly a week away -- long shot martinn o'malley tried to convince iowans to be part of his hail mary pass -- while hillary clinton tied herself closely to president obama's policies and bernie sanders reminded everyone of his broader visions for a united states under his watch. "the beauty of the people of iowa is they're not intimidated by polls, they're not intimidated by pundits and they have this birthright, they feel, to upset the applecart." believe that after the workingfamilies of this country bailed out wall street, maybe it's their turn to help out the working class of this country.""we've got to do everything we possibly can

away the progress and push us backwards. that would be such a loss for our country." in a 2016 race that's had plenty of excitement and unpredictability -- another billionare from new york is shaking things up. up.former new york mayor michael bloomberg said that he's thinking over an independent run for the white house -- and would be willing to spend plenty of his own money to do it.he would likely be fiscally conservative -- but has been very outspoken on issues like gun control and fighting obesity in the united states. tuesday -- donald trump came through iowa city for an event at the university of iowa -- but the buzz right before and during the event was all about his announcement just about an hour before. before.his campaign announced that he would *not be participating in the fox news debate which was just two days later -- after battling with fox anchor and debate moderator megyn kelley.instead -- he'd be holding a separate event at the same time -- daring audience members to see him speak -- or watch a debate

two top candidates. "well that megyn lly, you can tell right off when she talks, she's against him. you can tell that on tv.i have full faith and trust in mr. donald trump to do the right thing and it's that's the decision he's made, i'm behind him 110%. the next day -- trump still wasn't done.he tweeted this. this.i refuse to call megyn kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. instead i will only call her a lightweight reporter! once he actually took the stage -- trump spent a lot of time talking about poll numbers where he was doing well and the recent dust up with iran -- where they captured american sailors right around the time that the nuclear agreement went into place.but in between a handful of protestors at different points in his speech -- he also aimed his attention at the democrats who just had a town hall discussion the night before. "i tried. i went back. i went back three different times. i

communist. you have hillary, i mean you have hillary, who is a disaster. disaster.then he had to stop because protestors in the back of the room were making noise and were escorted out.he was distrupted like that roughly 10 times through the night just two days later -- trump delivered on the hype -- skipping the g-o-p debate and holding his own event just a university.mike huckabee and rick santorum showed up after their early debate.they say they were there *not for trump -- but for the veterans who the event was supposed to honor and financially support. "we ahd no idea and we went out we set up the website, i called some friends. the sign was just put up. we cracked six million dollars, six

organizations that are going to get the money. we're going to split it up and everyoyo's gonna get a lot of money." at the same time -- republicans were having what many said was their most substantive debate of the cycle. cycle.with donald trump not in the picture -- there were still some tense momemes -- but ted cruz got to explain a nuanced position on renewable fuel standards -- and the senators on the stage presented their ideas for immigration reform. , "you changed your position, you did tooa&" tooa&","the bottom line is this, we can't solve immigration" immigration"- "we can solve immigrationa&what is missing is t political will.", "ted is the king of saying other people for amnesty. it's not true." true.", "cut the washington bull and get to things done."

fox news debate still had more viewers than trump's event -- but it was the second lowed rated debate of the cycle. after it was over -- we had a chance to catch up with both republican candidate dr. ben carson and republican party of iowa chair jeff kauffman. kauffman. hohodifferent was it tonight without donald trump. trump. when he is there he tends to get the most questios so without him i think we each got one extra question. question.chairman kaufmann said he was proud of the candidates. is this the kind of campaign that iowans could have had? had? i'm glad that we did get one

informative. i think it's time for the r-n-c and the d-n-c to reevaluate these debate. what we're tyring to do is train people to do 30 and 60 second soundbites rather than discuss incredibly important issues that affect the lifeblood of this nation. nation.smart phones don't lend themselves to indepth discussion, how does politics compare? compare?it seems like people always do the same thing. they get enamered with the rich and

you would hope we could learn from that. that. i was impressed with teh candidate tonight. they could have taken shots at donald trump at every question. they didn't do that after everyone got it out of their systems. they used this time to talk about sisues. they used this chance to let epople know what their positions were. we got a deeper glimpse at what they would be like as presidents. presidents.does that make you yearn for a campaign without

trumplthere's room for all that. trump gets people interested. it takes two to tengo. if you're going to have a fight, you need someone else. you justapose what you heard tonight to the democrats limiting the amount of debates and having them on saturday evening. we showed we're not afraid to strut our stuff for iowans.

days to mull this over, did needles move tongiht. tongiht.i didn't see anything tonight that it was so significant that needles moved. here's how i looka t the iowa cuacuse. for every day in late january, it's about a week. we have four days left but that's an eternity in politics. you better believe trump will be out on the campaign trail - minds can be changed all the way up until that vote is taken in that caucus. coming up next...our exclusive sitdown with one of the up and coming democrats -- who's

welcome back to iowa in focus, this week we're joined by senator cory booker from new jerseywhat's it like to be back - your event felt high energy. do you see yourself that way? way?im pumped to be here and that poeple know me already but we have such a great candidate. that energy was for her. what got you what got you behind hillary? hillary?i've been int he senate for over two years. i

became sobering and clear to me that hillary is the most qualified to help our economy. i like other candidates -- i'm friends with a lot of the repubcicans, but shes the most qualified non incumbent since george washington. washington.how is newark a mixed bag for your reputation personally? personally?i always tell i always tell peope to picka measure. from the start to the

around the ecnomy. look at education, it's getting better. crime went down. it was the first time in 60 years that people are moving inot the city. it has a way to go, but the reality is that it's always been a great city and now it's moving forward. forward.why move to the senate? senate?we need more people in washington who know about meeting the needs of people

that. knowing chris christie intimately, are you surprized he hasn't caught on more. more. he's been underestimated a lot, we'll see how he'll do. i've been focused on clinon to drive her to the polls. the republican message fails, especially with the venom and divisiveness. divisiveness.what's it like to work with mike lee and rand paul in one of the most polarized times

paul - as much as some want to bash the other side, we have to work together. that's one fo the reasons i jumped on hillary's team so quick because i didn't hear her wanted to bash and dstroy. this is what america needs. we need each other and we're at our best when we're not insulting each ohter. we pledge to each other that we are going to be one nation and that is what i yearn for in our leaders. still to come...renewable fuels standards just became one of the biggest issues for one republican front runner.

caucus -- we take a look at what those standards are -- and how they were created in

welcome back.this is the real story -- we're going to take

some of the events that will go on during the 2016 race for the white house.sometimes we'll have to go back a few days -- weeks or months -- or even years that are still relevant. relevant.as we figure out the nuances to the renewable fuel standard that ted cruz is catching so much criticism for. first -- we'll start by defining exactly what we're talking about.the r-f-s stands for the renewable fuel standard. standard.it's set by the e-p-a and it's the minimum amount of renewable fuels produced with renewable resources -- like ethanol from corn -- or vegetable oil -- that must be mixed in with transportation fuel.it was first set up by legislation in 2005 and was expanded in 2007. plain and simple -- the e-p-a says congress created the renewable fuel stndard to reduce greenhouse emissions and expand the renewable fuel sector -- while reducing dependence on foreign oil. oil.for iowa -- that meant more demand for corn to create the ethanol -- helping to increase prices over the next few years.farmers say it wasn't the only reason prices went up at first -- but it was at least part of a few reasons

"if iowa elects or nominates someone who is not for the rfs. if the state that primary benefits from the rfs because they're the biggest ethanol producer in the country& let me tell you this, if iowa is not going to stand for the rfs why do you think the rest of the country is going to?" past events have shown that sometimes -- iowa does have to stand up for the r-f-s. r-f-s.back in 2014 -- the e-p-a floated the idea that they may reduce the amount of ethanol required in gasoline. that could have been disasterous -- decreasing the price of corn -- which was already on the way down. "if this rule is adopted, it would be a devesitating set back to the agriculture sector of iowa's economy.i talked to some epa officials last week. they reminded me that comments matter. that this is a propsoed rule - not a final rule." rule."the e-p-a eventually

this issue was part of the presidential conversation in iowa from the start -- especially since many people say iowa is the state that benefits the most from the r-f-s because much of it comes from ethanol. ethanol.it quickly became one of the most important issues on the trail when governor branstad -- who had been staying out of the presidential politics -- said that iowans should not caucus for ted cruz -- because of his stance on the renewable fuel standard.that rocked the boat with just weeks until the caucuses -- and supporters of the r-f-s say that's the point. "the oil has really poured a lot of money into these superpacs that have influenced the presidential race and candidates. so we thought with the iowa caucuses, it was a chance for us to have a level playing field politicallywith the deep pocket oil industry. when you have to come to iowa, you have to answer these questions. obviously, ag's important, renewable fuel is important so we want iowa to send a strong, pro-renewable fuels message out of iowa.

reason to be afraid.farmers say changes to the r-f-s can't be held soley responsible for any change in the market -- either good or bad -- because so much goes into the price of corn.but right now -- the reality is that the price of corn is so low that it's often below the cost of production. that means that anything that would likely decrease the need for corn even more -- like decreasing the renewable fuel standard -- would probably farmers. just ahead...we check in on social media to see what the candidates are saying with just hours before caucus goers

welcome back -- we'll close the show each week taking a look at what happened on social media... media...this week -- we got word that planned parenthood was not only cleared of any wrongdoing after those heavily edited undercover videos were shot earlier this cycle -- but that the people who put those videos together actually got charged.we posted that story on facebook and this is what we got back. back.colleen is critical --

blower instead of the crooks. par for the course" course"but grant says: "got the lier who falsified evidence." evidence."and linda says: "it's a great day in america! let freedom ring!" now -- we look at their voice -- what the candidates and their campaigns are posting on social media. media.just when you think 2016 can't get more bizzare.we all knew rick santorum was going to try to repeat the 2012 magic -- when he won the iowa caucus.now -- he's bringing back the look too. too.early monday -- he tweeted out that he is bringing back that sweater vest look he sported back them when he appeared at the hamburg inn. we're not sure how much longer we'll see it for -- he said he'll re-evaluate his campaign after the iowa caucus. caucus.this next one was put together by the independent journal -- they've made a few viral videos in during the cycle.a few months ago -- marco rubio threw a football to a kid in iowa -- it hit the kid in the face and he fell over -- this is rubio's chance at redemption. not only does he finally complete the pass

center in cedar rapids -- but he also throws footballs all over d-c too.nothing serious -- but some fun at the end of a long countdown to the iowa caucus. you can follow along on twitter and facebook all week long.see our interviews as we do them -- chime in with what you think -- send us your favorite pictures from events you go to. every week we'll end with the week ahead... ahead...it's a chance for you to see what the campaigns are up to. to.tonight -- rand paul is getting in as much campaigning as possible -- heading to the i-m-u at the university of iowa.that was also the first stop he made in the hawkeye state after he officially announced his candidacy back in april.finally -- tomorrow night -- iowans go to their caucus locations to hash it out.you can see all of our coverage right here -- live tomorrow night -- and on our website -- cbs 2 iowa dot com. then -- iowans don't haveveo deal with the politicians in person until the general election. they hit the road for primaries in new hampshire and south carolina and many more before the two nominees come back to fight it out all

thanks for watchingbe sure to tune in next week to get the clear facts on iowa in focus. focus. one of the areas that i've been particularly interested in is the area of children. all of us have a responsibility,

to our children, to each other. we intend to be sure that everybody in this room and every child in this state is somebody. no matter where they're born, no matter to whom they are born. our children's future is shaped both by the values of their parents and the policies of their nation. it's time to protect the next generation, fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope, open up the doors so that every child has a chance to live up to his or her god-given potential. i've spent my life fighting for children, families and our country, and i'm not stopping now. (crowd cheers) i'm hillary clinton,