if you know congressman alan grayson said he's going to bring a major suit. and the suit is going to say that he wasn't born in this country. florida democratic representative alan grayson is threating a lawsuit over cruz' eligibility to become president... cruz was born in canada... but his mother is a u-s citizen.. most legal scholars agree the qualification of a 'natural born citizen' includes individuals born abroad to an american parent. however it has never been tested in federal court. governor branstad responded to the controversy today saying, "when you states, any question is fair game. so let the people decide." the iowa legislature gaveled in the 20-16 session this morning... and they're starting out behind... by law the legislature was supposed to have set school funding levels for this year... last year. that will make it one of this session's biggest battles. this session the house wants a 2- percent funding increase... the senate a four-percent. also this session governor branstad is proposing a plan to extend the local option sales tax for sc

but a democratic congressman, alan grayson of florida is saying: rep alan grayson, d-florida, senate candidate -- says will sue of cruz wins nomination -- cruz's mother "may have given up us citizenship" he will sue if cruz wins the nomination. that cruz's mother may have given up u-s citizenship. "democrats love to see controversy among republicans so theyre just pour gasoline on the fire hoping the entire house burns down." cruz, in iowa today, where he is polling ahead of trump... father. presidential candidate :xx-:xx"and he and my mom went on to start a small business together. so i grew up in texas." but cruz was born in canada, where his u-s born mom lived so long she qualified for canadian citizenship. he says he's a natural born u-s citizen eligible to be president? presidential candidate :xx- :xx"people will continue to make political noise about it, but as a legal matter it is quite straight forward." a law professor disagrees "it's not clear. i think the better argument is that he is qualified. but it's not clear." and it's not clear if the questions are cutting into cruz

i spoke to democratic congressman alan grayson just a few hours ago... he says lawmakers he knows every day have... 7 to 10 hour call time routines... rdesk so what's the likelihood of a congressman being able to ignore the lobbying machine in washington? here's the story behind the story. this is an election year... and bills like this are flashy and grab headlines...but it likely won't pass. instead for jolly... rivera reporting. even a bill lawmakers is election. the full text of that bill, head to our com. a newly issued mexico. department"-- is warning u-s citizens-- about threats posed by "organized criminal groups" there. americans have been targeted and kidnapped, even murdered. especially avoid establishments and adult entertainment venues. to check a particular location-- or to read the "entire alert"-- head to wtsp-dot-com. coming up at 5 on 10 news this morning, several people are dead after gunmen stormed a university in pakistan. actor jamie foxx is being called a hero this morning for helping save a man's life. you'll be seeing less young

i spoke to democratic congressman alan grayson a few hours ago. he says lawmakers have 7 to 10 hour call times routines. >> to the detriment of the constituents. and probably to the public at large. >> what's the likelihood of a congressman being able to ignore the lobbying machine in washington? here is the story behind the story. this is an election year. bills like this are flashy and grab headlines but they likely won't pass. >> the bottom line if he's going to get play out of it, which could help him again run as an outsider, trying to pass good government legislation. >> so even in a political year, a bill focused on helping reelection. head to our website, wtsp.com to see the full text. >>> if you have problems with twitter this morning, you are not alone. the popular social media site crashed around 3:30 this morning. it was down for two hours. many users reported service was sporadic until 8:00 this morning. sorry you couldn't tweet at 3 am, mark. >> i know, right? >> the cause was simply technical problems because of a change in code. it

the very fact they took the time to do this with the alan grayson thing says to me there are people out there and boy, this society is soly contingency. i just can't believe that there's not going to be somebody out there who would try this if ted cruz gained steam. whether that means he's on the -- whether he's on the top of the ticket or if trump picked him for vice president, i think they would still come after him. >> amanda, to jeffrey lord's point, so what if some people, alan grayson or whomever files a court case. people get sued all the time. presidents of the united states, people want to be president get sued all the time. does it really matter? >> well, listen, if any court case should be taken seriously but i think ted cruz is in very good standing. a lot of lawyers are on his side. it's campaign 101. don't take advice from people who want to beat you. ted cruz is not going to take donald trump's legal advice. >> good advice. >> there is a very good article. the former solicitors general for president bush and president obama have written in the harvard review journal, ther

very interesting to hear him citing congressman alan grayson. he's running for the senate in florida. he's talking about bringing a lawsuit against ted cruz. there's an old saying in politics that is sort of the fringe is the extremes on each side reinforce each other. and maybe you're seeing a bit of that with trump and with grayson. they are touting the same message, each getting political benefit from that. just in terms of the polling, though, we can give you the latest numbers from the msnbc marist survey. this is in the last 24 hours in iowa. donald trump is only four points behind ted cruz right now. this is good news for donald trump because the story of the month has been ted cruz surging in iowa. there was talk that cruz may run away and hide with the race, open up a double-digit lead and trump is only four points behind in iowa. we still have three weeks to go but the idea that cruz was going to really put distance there hasn't happened yet. you can quickly look at why that is. evangelical voters is a huge part of the equation in iowa

sharyl: democrat alan grayson doesn't see a risk to allowing detainees to come to the u.s. rep. grayson: is there really any doubt that we would lose control over the prisoners of guantanamo bay if they were not at guantanamo bay? sharyl: graham insists since congressional funds e needed to transfer prisoners, it's the republican-led congress, not the president, who will decide guantanamo's fate. sen. graham: anybody who believes now is the time to close guantanamo bay is obama's delusion about how the war is actually going. he has no idea. he has no idea about the threats we face. if he had any idea, this is the last thing he would do. sharyl: you're calling president obama delusional on this. sen. graham: yeah. totally. he's totally delusional about the state of play in the mideast. sharyl: in the recent defense spending bill, congress included a ban on transferring prisoners to the u.s. president obama said the gitmo part might violate the separation of powers. that leaves open the ideas that he could try to use executive authority to again bypass congress. still ahead on "fu

i think alan grayson is wrong. ted cruz, who i have terrific admiration for is not unqualified by his canadian birth to an american mother. donald trump's point is that there's always some nut like alan grayson out there that will try and challenge things and, frankly, we already know that this guy anticipates doing that. >> amanda, is that all that trump is doing here, raising the possibility? >> listen, in september, donald trump and ted cruz appeared together at a rally to stop the iran deal and there donald trump was asked by abc news about the citizenship question. donald trump said, hey, my lawyers have looked at this. teds is essentially good to go, putting the matter to rest. now that we see cruz climbing in iowa and the national polls, trump is bringing it back up. it's pretty obvious what trump is doing here. i think it's really funnily, quite frankly. trump was the original obama birther. now he's going birther against ted cruz. i think it's really funny. i loved the cruz response. it's another conversat

but a democratic congressman, alan grayson of florida, is saying he will sue if cruz wins the nomination, thth cruz's mother may have given up u.s. citizenship. >> democrats love to see controversy among republicans, so they're just pouring gasoline on the fire, hoping the entire house burns down. steve: cruz, in iowa today, where he is polling ahead of trump, talked about his cuban-born father. >> and he and my mom went on to start a small business together. so i grew up in texas. steve: but cruz was born in canada, where his u.s.-born mom lived so long, she qualified for canadian citizenship. he says he's a natural-born u.s. citizen, eligible to be president. >> people will continue to make political noise about it, but as a legal matter, it is quite straightforward. steve: a law professor disagrees. >> it's not clear. i think the better argument is that he is qualified. but it's not clear. steve: and it's not clear if the questions are cutting into i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. nigel: when it comes to voting in south carolina, certain people are more likely to vote than

congressman alan grayson act in the house of representatives. in addition to eliminating tuition, the bill if passed would also offer low-cost refinancing options for graduates with existing loans. >>> local experts say orange county economic success this year will hinge on markets outside of central florida. in a special summit with the mayor yesterday, experts said unemployment numbers are down and orlando is still growing. but they are focusing attention on the national and international economy and giving a more cautious outlook than last year. >>> last year we had have some gloss -- our sunglasses onto walk into orange county and other sunglasses are on still here but we recognize as we look out into the rising we have to be mindful of what is going on. >> mayor jacobs also said the county will continue to create bad. was more companies are coming to central florida because of the large labor pool. >>> deputies in brevard county are still searching for the thieves responsible for more than 2 dozen smash and grab hotels. all the cars were pa

saying: rep alan grayson, d- florida, cruz wins the nomination. that cruz's mother may have "democrats love to see controversy among republicans so of trump... talked about his cuban-born so i grew up in texas." but cruz was born in canada, where his u-s born mom lived so columbia. u.s. senator tim scott and house speaker paul ryan will moderate the kemp forum on expanding opportunity at the columbia metropolitan convention center. governor jeb bush, dr. chris christie, carly fiorina, governor john kasich, senator marco rubio are scheduled to attend. the event is open to the public, but you must register. registration information is online on wistv.com. thanks to cloud cover its significantly warmer this morning with middle to upper 30s by sunrise, those clouds will be with us on and off today with highs reaching the lower to middle 50s. clouds will be on the increase tonight as an area of disturbed weather near the coast skirts by with a chance of showers friday. breezy with scattered showers tomorrow, highs in the middle 50s, rain chance 40%. br

yesterday congressman alan grayson introduced the college for all act in the house of representatives. . in addition to eliminating tuition the bill if passed refinancing options for graduates with existing loans. >>> experts say orange county's economic success this year will hinge on markets outside of central florida. in a special summit with the mayor yesterday, experts said numbers are down and orlando continues to grow . that they are focusing on the national and international economy and giving a more cautious outlook than last year. >> deputies and brevard county are still searching for the thieves responsible for more burglaries 2 cars in the for -- different hotels that they were part off the intersection of i- 95, wickham road. holiday in, la quinta, hampton inn were all hit and investigators say the suspects items. they are reviewing surveillance close. >>> orlando police are still searching for their own suspects and another string of oia. we told you on tuesday when police say thieves got into almost 60 cars. we asked investigators if cases could be connected and they sa

alan grayson who is running for senate said he will sue, a democrat from florida.o this is working for donald trump because he is planting some doubt you could vote for this guy but maybe your vote won't count because of the invalidated if he wins the nomination and the polls show it. don, he's picked up points over the last week on ted cruz. >> he said something about bill clinton's infidelity and whether hillary clinton enabled it. something he has spoken about and released ads about. >> this started when she said i had a penchant for sexism. first of all i have tremendous respect for women. i will do more for women than hillary will ever do. i was offended by it and i said what i said and it was picked up more than they anticipated. so if she's not going to comment i think that's a wise thing. it's hard for her to comment on this subject. this is not a good subject for her. >> you think this is going to continue to be an issue and fair issue for her? >> i hope not. i hope it's not going to be. she's the one that started it. i hope it's not going to be. >> does t

today congressman alan grayson of central florida asked extra a.t.f. agents. >>> i think that it would be insane for the republicans to shut down the government in order to prevent universal background checks when 90 percent of americans are in favor of it. who am i to say? >>> republicans argue president obama's priorities are wrong and he should hire more sbi terrorists. >>> into the upper 50s for us overnight which is chilly but imagine being stuck outside in 16 degree weather. >> of that is exactly what 70 minus had to deal with for 10 hours in upstate new york -- 17 miners. bob opsahl follow the dramatic rescue. amazingly the workers are fine. >> all of them are in good health now they waited after the rescue to make sure the coworkers were also pulled to a story to tell. >> reporter: the sounds of relief after nearly 10 hours of anxious waiting. 17 miners who were trapped nearly 900 feet below ground in upstate new york are all now safe on solid ground. >> they displayed excellent self-discipline, control and not panicking. >> reporter: the men w

democrat congressman alan grayson vows to sue if senator cruz gets republican nomination.he congressman joins me now. congressman, you have called republicans foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging neanderthals who know nothing but no. why then would you care who they nominate? >> david, that is a silly question. do you have a good question for me. david: that is a real question, why do you care? >> again, a sillry question. i'm an american citizen. i vote in every election. i care a lot about who is the president of my country. what is your next question. david: that was a serious question. honestly don't know. >> that is not a serious question. david: maybe you don't think so but it was. here is another one, president obama's own solicitor general, president obama's solicitor general said the following about this whole issue. he said, quote, an individual born to a u.s. citizen parent, whether in california or canada or the canal zone is a u.s. citizen from birth and is fully eligible to serve as president. why would you suggest otherwise? >> because ted cruz is constitutional

david: former democratic congressman alan grayson, remember he says ted cruz is constitutionally incapableatens to sue if cruz gets nomination. >> he joins us to explain. >> sean penn slamming journalists in defense of his interview with "el chapo." bill hemmer, one of most respected names in news will give us his take. but first. >> what the president now is doing not just with this but with castro brothers and bergdahl. putting price of every american abroad. >> result of this, every bad actor on earth has been told, capture an american. if you want terrorists out of jail, capture an american and president obama is in the let's make a deal precedent. that is dangerous business. >> if you have to get them out there has to be some component of exchange. what we gave up we believe were people we're about about to get out anyway

judge napolitano: alan grayson has no standing to bring litigation.rts do not sit in order to right every wrong, you have to have standing, you have to be uniquely agreed number one. number 2 the constitution doesn't prohibit you from running if you are natural born citizen kelly from serving so this issue would not even be right unless and until they -- the a letter or college elected him as president. 3, the law is very well settled. if one parent is an american citizen at the time of your birth defect harris spent at least a year in the united states before your brick you are a natural born citizens, an end of story. the rest is politics. charles: i leave it is more about politics than anything else. judge napolitano: trump is very shrewd to throw these tidbits out and get everyone talking about it. it is politically considerable but legally and constitutionally. it before you can argue grace and whats trump to be the nominee for piggybacking in office. i want to get the. judge napolitano: who knows what he really wants. charles: we are starting to

. >> congressman alan grayson, appreciate your time. >> you're welcome. >> up next, chicago mayor rahm emanuel is facing new questions about the timeline he initially gave about when he knew about the dash cam footage showing the death of laquan mcdonald. that report ahead. you've upgraded all your old technology... so what about this? it's time to get into the new with ford ♪ come and get it if you really want it... ♪ new is ecoboost technology. new is a foot-activated liftgate. new is tougher, stronger and lighter. new is ford. america's best-selling brand. now get into a new focus, fusion, or escape with 0% financing for 60 months plus $2,000 dollars trade-assist cash. only at your local ford dealer. >>> a damning new report out today calls into question exactly what chicago mayor rahm emanuel knew about the fatal police shooting of an african-american teenager, perhaps even more importantly, when he knew it. 17-year-old laquan mcdonald was shot and killed october 2014. at the time, police said he lunged at an officer, who then shot him in the chest. the autopsy report, however, sho

congressman also running for marco rubio's senate seat, congressman alan grayson.t is your plan? >> it's to make certain the constitution is vindicated. i took an oath of office to uphold the constitution. it's a serious matter. the constitution says what it means and means what it says. it says only natural born citizens of at least 35 years of age are eligible to be president. ted cruz was born in canada. that's the end of the story. >> do you intend to challenge his eligibility now or wait until he may be the republican nominee? >> wait and see. >> if you have standing the do it when he's the nominee, you have standing to do it now. why not get to snit. >> anybody can run for congress -- for the presidency. anybody can do it. it's the question of whether you can serve and whether you can be elected to the office. it's premature to raise the issue now potentially in my opinion. one could do it. but the fact he mains, it's not so much the running that offends the constitution. it's the serving. >> okay. but to play devil's advocate, if your real objective is not a

we heard that congressman alan grayson is thinking about filing a lawsuit. i think we would see a number of other lawsuits popping up. whether anyone would actually have standing, that is, would be a proper party to bring those lawsuit, is a question that's a very difficult one to resolve. if someone like donald trump, though, a rival candidate, were to actually file a lawsuit, i think there's a good chance that a court would take that case to the merits. >> because an opposing candidate seems to be obviously in a position to have standing in a case like this. >> absolutely. because standing under the federal constitution requires an injury, it requires someone to have that injury traceable to a defendant's conduct, and it requires that a court order could redress it. so i think this is an important question. i think it's one that matters not only in this race, but to the thousands, tens of thousands and millions of immigrant families who believe that they are just as loyal to the united states as people who are born here. and something that is going to cont

to grasp just how limited the current audit is, recall that in 2009 democratic congressman alan grayson then-fed chairman ben bee bernanke, which foreign countries received $500 billion in loans from the fed. bernanke was unwilling to name which countries or banks received the half trillion dollars' worth of funds. the fed swpped a half a trillion dollars to foreign countries, in secret, and did not even have the decency under testimony in congress to report the de-taisms but it gets worse. democratic senator bernie sanders also asked bernanke who received $2.2 trillion that the fed lent out during the financial crisis? again, bernanke refused to give a direct answer. in the 2011 dodd-frank law, congress ordered a limited one-time g.a.o. audit of fed actions. during the financial crisis, that audit uncovered that the fed lent out over $16 trillion to domestic and foreign banks during the financial crisis. mr. president, could i ask unanimous consent for an extra five minutes? the presiding officer: is there objection? the senator from ohio. mr. brown: how much time -- does senator paul

there's no doubt cruz is poised to face more legal challenges including from democratic congressman alan graysonwho said on this show last night plans to file suit if cruz is the nominee. >> i guess it's america, right? so at some level what trump is saying is true, which is that anything like this is going to be litigated by someone, i imagine. >> yes. that's exactly what makes america so great. anybody can sue anybody for anything. >> joining me now, charlie pierce, writer at large for "esquire." charlie, my evolution on this is i still think on the merits this is ridiculous. i do think the president is pretty clear, although the court hasn't ruled on it. but i have now become convinced that if he's a nominee someone's going to sue and not just some cooke, you know, who's filing some nutty pro se claim but some lawyer something, really good lawyer somewhere is going to actually put this before a court. >> i mean, i think you've got -- first of all, you've got to warn me when there's an orly taitz sound bite coming up. i think someone should -- someone just drove a railroad spike into my right

don't wait for representative alan grayson to go to court and sigh what happens.e that could be a long, long adjudication. jump makes a fair point on that. >> so is ted cruz to get in front of this or laugh it off? >> i don't think he should laugh it off. i think he should resolve it. as everyone points out the u.s. supreme court has never formally taken up the issue to define what is a natural born citizen. >> it's just incredible. many analysts thought this was settled.but somehow, donald trump has a way of injecting a new angle against his rivals, and sure enough, it takes off. >> i think the weight -- all of the legal scholars i spoke to, the weight of the evidence is that ted cruz is on solid ground. but there's a little bit of a loophole, there's a little bit of an opening that could be exploited. that's what donald trump and john mccain and others are doing. >> wolf, it was a great interview. great to have you here on set with us. obviously, we'll be talking about this all morning. also be sure to tune in tonight because president obama joins anderson coope

alan grayson is one of the most pugilistic, abrasive, liberal congressman are you a hero to many outspoken progressives on democratic side of the aisle. he is someone who democratic .trategists fear as a nominee the democratic establishment supports patrick murphy, one of the younger members of the democratic caucus in the house. he has a lion's share of establishment support. the fear is that grayson could give murphy a run for his money. they're worried that grayson is known for these over-the-top attacks against opposition. with a nasty primary battle -- i think murphy is the favorite to win the nomination. if you look at the news over the last couple of months, shake up his entire campaign apparatus. a lot of top staff have left. heading into the new year if you are running the senate race, i would give murphy the advantage starting out in 2016. the bigger worry for democrats is the race would get so nasty republicans could end up benefiting. host: are there other states where the presidential primaries , especially some of the early states, will have a big impact on the primaries? hos

to grasp just how limited the current audit is, recall that in 2009 democratic congressman alan grayson asked been fed chairman ben bernanke which foreign countries receive $500 billion in loans from the fed? bernanke was unwilling to name which countries or banks received a half trillion dollars worth of fund. that's right. the fed swapped a half a trillion dollars to foreign countries in secret and did not even have the decency under testimony before congress to report the details. but it gets worse. democratic senator bernie sanders also asked ben bernanke who received $2.2 trillion at the fed lent out during the financial crisis? again, bernanke refused to give a direct answer. in the 2011 dodd-frank law, congresswoman pashtun congress limited one time jail audit the fed actions. during the financial crisis that audit uncovered at the fed lent out over $16 trillion to domestic and for banks to the financial crisis. thank you got i ask unanimous consent for an extra five minutes? >> is there objection? [inaudible] >> the senator from ohio. >> does senator paul have as much time as we

i wonder, though, just get back to alan grayson, he's somewhat of a wild guy, he knows what he's doingn this one, he's very liberal, he's from florida, he's talked about suing, who would have standing to challenge a presidential candidate. >> his opponent would have standing. so whoever the democratic nominee is or the democratic national committee would probably have standing, i don't think they want to do that, because that would make them look small. i think allen grayson believes he has standing. i don't really quite see how he's injured. but the example i gave, is a clear one where there would be no standing problem. if there is an official in any of the 50 states who says, i don't think you're a natural born citizen, you have to sue me if you want to be on the ballot. well, then, whoever's being kept off the ballot would have standing. and sometimes, you know, courts duck issues because they're political hot potatoes. i can't imagine the courts ducking an issue about whether the nominee of one of our great political parties can be kept off the ballot in a state. >> well, let's se

there are people who are out there, we talked about congressman alan grayson who said they will in factsue. >> anyone can sue over anything but it has to have legitimacy. >> right. >> all trump is saying that somebody will do it and somebody will do it for sure. i don't think it's going to get anywhere. i think he is a natural born citizen. but will it become headlines, that much is true. >> cruz's point that the constitution hasn't changed but the polls have, that's what it is about and it is obvious to everybody who is watching this play out and it's working for trump. >> here's the problem with that answer, though, that you know, ted cruz is right. the constitution did not change in the last six months but neither did donald trump and his new york values who he was sucking up to, posing for pictures and trying to be his bff forever. >> this is a conversation that trump wants to keep going for 17 more days. even if cruz wins he wants to be right there to say it's a tie. and ted cruz needs an iowa win -- that doesn't mean he is out of the race but an iowa race would get him off to the

alan grayson is one of the most pugilistic, abrasive, liberal congressman are you a hero to many outspokengressives on democratic side of the aisle. he is someone who democratic .trategists fear as a nominee the democratic establishment supports patrick murphy, one of the younger members of the democratic caucus in the house. he has a lion's share of establishment support. the fear is that grayson could give murphy a run for his money. they're worried that grayson is known for these over-the-top attacks against opposition. with a nasty primary battle -- i think murphy is the favorite to win the nomination. if you look at the news over the last couple of months, shake up his entire campaign apparatus. a lot of top staff have left. heading into the new year if you are running the senate race, i would give murphy the advantage starting out in 2016. the bigger worry for democrats is the race would get so nasty republicans could end up benefiting. host: are there other states where the presidential primaries , especially some of the early states, will have a big impact on the primaries? host: f

democrats running for the seat are congressman patrick murphy who is the establishment candidate and alan grayson more far to the left. a primary on the democratic side as well. way, it will be competitive through the primary and general election. jolly is self-employed -- self-imposed choice is not raising campaign contributions, leaving it to his staff, it makes a political point but it could hamper his ability to raise enough money. host: one race to be watching. thank you for your time. acura calls. our -- back to your calls, i would discussion about went, michigan and the water, what do you make of the government's role. rochester, michigan, tell us where that is. caller: 20 miles south of flint in the southeastern michigan. -- it scratch is surservice -- service -- face. the emergency managers made the decision. it is astonishing how bad the rivers art that they could think it would work. with the governor, shrinking government philosophy and the roads in michigan are like a third world country in many areas and the governor has been playing a shell game with that. when he came in office he

to grasp just how limited the current audit is, recall that in 2009 democratic congressman alan grayson asked then-fed chairman ben bee bernanke, which foreign countries received $500 billion in loans from the fed. bernanke was unwilling to name which countries or banks received the half trillion dollars' worth of funds. the fed swpped a half a trillion dollars to foreign countries, in secret, and did not even have the decency under testimony in congress to report the de-taisms but it gets worse. democratic senator bernie sanders also asked bernanke who received $2.2 trillion that the fed lent out during the financial crisis? again, bernanke refused to give a direct answer. in the 2011 dodd-frank law, congress ordered a limited one-time g.a.o. audit of fed actions. during the financial crisis, that audit uncovered that the fed lent out over $16 trillion to domestic and foreign banks during the financial crisis. mr. president, could i ask unanimous consent for an extra five minutes? the presiding officer: is there objection? the senator from ohio. mr. brown: how much time -- does senator