today, cruzs campaign co-chair bob vander plaats told us he doubts the carsonrumors were spread as far as some are suggesting... or that carsons caucus performance was hurt by the spread of the information. tons lite todays 4:00 bob vander plaats @ 16:29:34 - @ 16:29:49 person come up to me and say, hey, i heard that and i switched my vote. i wish i would... i have not heard any of that. by the way, there was only three candidates who outpaced their poll numbers. cruz did. rubio did. and carson did. so, i dont think it hurt carson.' ben carson says otherwise... he finished fourth with 9-point-3 ben carson says otherwise... he finished fourth with 9-point-3 percent. the iowa poll prior to the caucuses showed him with ten- percent support. while he's still in the running.. carson is scaling back his campaign. the washington post says carson is eliminating 50-staff postions. carson says the reductions are because of inefficiencies... and that the cuts will allow him to continue through the republican national convention in july. the caucuses kept iowa in the months... and that return. nex

but that's exactly what christian conservative leader bob vander plaats says he does not want to seehe's backing cruz. >> we trust conversions on the road to damascus. we question conversions on the road to des moines, and so we take a look at what were they doing before they ran for president. and so, at age 13, you know, he was memorizing the constitution. he's deeply threaded with the judeo-christian worldview. >> i ask is you to pray, just a minute a day. that you say father god, continue this awakening, awaken the body of christ, that we might pull back from the abyss. >> woodruff: the divide has grown into a kind of internal war. another prominent voice inside iowa's christian conservative community, pastor jamie johnson, says cruz has hit a ceiling within the group. >> it could be his personality, that he naturally seems to rub people the wrong way. >> woodruff: johnson, who pastored churches for 25 years, believes trump could surprise everyone tonight. >> i would say that iowa's evangelicals are cautious, but excited about the possibility of a president trump. and they feel h

family leader ceo bob vander plaats was one of the new faces. >> if there's something that would benefit these children from going through seizures, we want to do everything we can. mark: the bill was introduced by another new face to the families fight. representative peter cownie, a republican in west des moines. >> my heart goes out to the families and the sick who have tried everything in the past to help their children and loved ones to no avail. mark: last year, the attempt to change the existing medical cannabis law met strong resistance from governor branstad to the house speaker, to influential representative clel baudler. baudler says he has concerns about approving 4 grow operations and 12 dispensaries in the state, but that he added -- way different path this session. because of what we just seen up there, it looks like there's a lot of support this time on both sides of the aisle. >> in terms of individual legislators and their support, i have anecdotal evidence on both sides of the aisle that we have supporters. mark: representative cownie's bill would also expand the list

he has bob vander plaats and a lot of big names, evangelicals here. >> i think one of the things that be watching for tonight is the supporters of ben carson because when you talk to them they will tell you their second choice is ted cruz. will they go that way? how strong will that be? and could that move -- >> he may the sing he will most important player in the republican party for the next 12 hours. >> because he -- some of those people -- first of all, just have a fervor about him that they believe -- they will say to you he can't win -- >> how many best selling books does he have? >> and how many facebook followers and people are committed to them when you look at the homeschoolers, when you go to his events and people stand in line and they are in tears. so there is a core of his support that won't move, but there is another part that could move and their second choice almost always is ted cruz. how many of those might go that way? critical way. >> cruz is so christiany to use sarah palin's words, right? christiany, in his rallies and he is very christiany and trump really does

there he's shaking the hand of bob vander plaats. you had to believe he had all the pieces in place that he was going to need and in the last several polls that we saw he kind of maintained that same but a lead over donald trump and that and the ground game has kind of turned into a projected victory for him here tonight as he's kind of reveling in it. and going all the way around and hitting all the hands and, uh, i'm sure he's going to have a lot to say when he finally gets up to that microphone. >> you mentioned that ground game and even this morning people he was campaigning against were complimenting his campaign on the ground game they ran, almost in awe of what they were able to accomplish. he made so many stops across iowa, met so many iowans and we know that make as difference and we're seeing today that the top three are pretty close, all percentage points in the 20s. he was able to pull ahead there and become the projected winner of the iowa caucuses here. >> one little hiccup with that mailer that was criticized, a lot f

what scares them is you" by his side on the stage, cruz's family and iowa republican leaders bob vander plaats, matt schultz and an emotional, iowa congressman steve king. "even if you had the terrific candidate, you can see how he did that by the way he moved people and they came to the caucus in iowa. im proud that they care that much abotu iowa values that they did that and made decisions they made" with applaudes to his 12 thousand iowa volunteers and courageous iowa conservative voters- cruz turns to the next state tomorrow. "senator cruz wrapped up he's looking ahead to new hampshire nad south carolina. asking them to make the same decision that iowa did. from your local election headquarters. im claire powell" " sabrina: the iowa caucuses not only showed strengths and weakness in the presidential campaigns...but also cut down the number of contenders.. for republicans, mike huckabee announced his decision to end his run for the white house. the former arkansas governor actually won the 2008 caucus... actually won the 2008 caucus... and on the democrat side, martin o'malley also announce

what scares them is you" by his side on the stage, cruz's family and iowa republican leaders bob vander plaats, matt schultz and an emotional, iowa congressman steve king. "even if you had the best campaing. hes a terrific candidate, you can see how he did that by the way he moved people and they came to the caucus in iowa. im proud that they care that much abotu iowa values that decisions they made" 12 thousand iowa conservative voters- state tomorrow. "senator cruz wrapped up he's looking ahead to new hampshire nad south carolina. asking decision that iowa did. election claire powell" " caucuses not weakness in the presidential campaigns...but also cut down the number of contenders.. for republicans, mike huckabee announced his decision to end his run for the white house. the former arkansas governor actually won the 2008 caucus... and on the democrat side, martin o'malley also announced his decision to suspend campaigning. neither has been polling outside of single digits for most of the campaign. nikki: meteorologist sam schrier joins us again with a look at your forecast. sam weather adli

so do not like to hear bob vander plaats is a kingmaker. you decide what one occur is correct but free caucus cycles in a row, he picked the right republican. . all right, thank you dave we appreciate insight and more jerry crawford, final thoughts from you two gentlemen. to quote buffalo springfield, something is not exactly clear, but it is coming to become clear as time goes on and you process again, when other thing the men and women behind the cameras, yesterday morning and tonight terrific job. terrific job. we are grateful for all their support behind the scenes. if you could see what goes on behind there. if you could see if what is going on in this notebook your truck -- you are job would draw. do we have winter yet? actually we don't have a winner yet. hillary clinton continues to lead the two tenths of a percent with 94 percent of the vote am but i would say 140,000 turnout for the democrats with to canada's. come peers favorably to 180,000 turnout with 15 candidates. every campaign organization generates think anybody will be di

bob vander plaats ... about those accusations and about the texas senator's path to the white house. and coming up next we'll take to the skies with iowa's oldest licensed pilot and give you a sneak peak at a special report we'll bring you this evening. he's a pilot unlike any other in oak. ernie smith recently turned 98 years old..and still has a valid license.and flies a plane regularly. tonight at ten our roger riley takes to the air with smith. here's a preview of their flight. how long you been flying? 70 years ! wow in december ernie smith of red oak was honored with a birthday party when he turned 98. his goal for the day was to fly a rented cessna 150 on his 98th birthday..but that didnt happen. the weather kept ernie on the ground. so he invited me to come back for a flight... another day ..... 4735 its very sensitive...look i ll give you just a little..just the slightest movement of the control and she responds... while flying ernie gave me a tour of some of the landmarks around southwest iowa. 4