mentioned, around the world marking international women s day. this particular gathering was organized by 40 organizations from the u.s. and around the world. they re here to protest the mexico city policy, also known as the global gag rule. that is a rule that the president, president trump, reinstated in his first days in office. that rule says that any organization around the world that gets u.s. funding, u.s. dollars, aid of any sort, cannot provide abortions, cannot refer women for abortions, cannot even mention abortions as part of their family planning. so that is why you have this group out here making carrying stops, stop the global gag rule, chants like when abortion rights are under attack, what do we do, stand up, fight back. they re headed to the white house where they ll have several speakers. athena, thanks so much, i know it s loud there. you have protests around the country and rallies around the world as well. athena, thank you so much.
about why he suddenly has become a target. cnn s athena jones is in washington with more on that. good morning. reporter: good morning, carol. that s right, cruz is blanketing the state of iowa right now. other polls show he s moved into the lead so he s trying to solidify his strength there. what s interesting is he seems to be relishing all of this attention. whether it s attacks from people who are running against him right now, like donald trump or marco rubio or attacks by or questions being raised by others like arizona senator john mccain who said it s not illegitimate to look into this question of whether cruz is a natural born citizen and eligible to be president, having been born in canada. any time he s asked about these attacks it gives him a chance to say, look, everyone is panicking because i m doing so well. take a listen to what he had to say yesterday. zoo i think there s no doubt the
washington cartel is in full panic mode. they re in panic mode because they re seeing on the ground conservatives united. the washington cartel thought there was no way that would happen. they thought conservatives would always remain divided. we can write a few big checks, buy the primary and follow the same failed elections strategy that keeps losing over and over again. a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. this election cycle is playing out differently than the way the cartel had counted on. so, here you hear ted cruz talking about the washington cartel. this gives him an opportunity to paint himself as the outsider, which is what he s running on. he s been a thorn in the side of the washington establishment. so when he s asked about these attacks, it allows him to say, they re afraid because i m out in front here in iowa. i m the one to beat. it also allows him to poo-poo the media for focusing on these silly side shows he says this talk about his citizenship is. it
being attacked, being able to paint himself as someone who s making the powers that be in washington afraid. carol? athena jones reporting live from washington. thank you. now to the man who sparked those questions about cruz s canadian birth, that would be donald trump. the republican front-runner drawing thousands to a rally last night in verer ar er averm. the venue only held 200 people so security officials gave them a bit of loyalty test, asking if they were trump supporters. if they were not trump supporters, some people were turned away. some people said they were trump supporters but they got in anyway but they really in reality were not so much trump supporters. so, they heckled donald trump during his event and this is how he responded. get them out. get them out. get them out. get them out. now, there s a remnant. yeah, he s right there.
come back with skills. with ability. with ability to operate weapons. that combat experience, if they choose to use it back here on american soil is of great concern. jim sciutto reporting live for us from washington. thank you. still to come, a pledge of allegiance to donald trump. why vermont voters had to take a loyalty oath before they could get into the gop front-runner s rally. nobody move! get on the floor! do something! oh i m not a security guard, i m a security monitor.