Republicans Set to Debate; Trump, Cruz Set for Explosive Debate.
TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. It's time for our politics now. There's the Red Sox versus the Yankees. There was Ali versus Frasier. Balboa versus Creed. And now, Trump versus Cruz. The Republicans hit the debate stage again tonight and with fewer candidates in primetime. We are primed for an exclusive showdown between the national frontrunner and the Iowa frontrunner. CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash is in North Charleston, South Carolina, surveying the debate stage. Dana, Donald Trump told our own Erin Burnett last night that he would not throw the birther attack at Cruz tonight. But then, he told people at a rally in Florida the exact opposite.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And as we know, because we've been through this now many times, a lot of what they anticipate is going to depend on what they're asked. So, that could change everything. And just before coming on with you, Jake, I was talking a Cruz aide who said that when it comes to him and his approach, he's going to stand up for himself whatever it takes.</s>BASH (voice-over): Ted Cruz was rallying this South Carolina crowd as the story broke that he may have failed to report borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his wife's employer Goldman Sachs during his 2012 Senate run. When he was done, Cruz quietly huddled with aides to discuss his response, a rare glimpse of crisis management that goes on inside every campaign. Clearly not wanting to let the issue fester, Cruz then walked over to cameras --</s>SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, everyone. Welcome to South Carolina --</s>BASH: -- for an unplanned press conference. (on camera): Senator, how do you explain to your supporters that you got a very large loan from your wife's Wall Street bank in order to fund your upstart insurgent Senate campaign?</s>CRUZ: Well, the premise of your question is not right. Heidi and</s>I -- BASH: You didn't get a loan?</s>CRUZ: The premise of your question is not right. Heidi and I, when we ran for Senate, we made the decision to put our liquid net worth into the campaign.</s>BASH (voice-over): He said, as part of that, that Cruz has got a loan from Goldman Sachs, borrowed against their stocks and assets.</s>CRUZ: If it was the case that they were not filed exactly as the FEC requires, then we'll amend the filings. But all of the information has been public and transparent for many years. And that's the end to that.</s>BASH: Not so fast when Donald Trump sees Cruz as his stiffest competition right now.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I hear it's a very big thing. I hope he solves it. I think he's a nice guy and I hope he gets it solved.</s>BASH: Trump's nice guy remark is a vestige from when Cruz refused to engage with Trump. Those days are over since Trump won't let up on questioning whether Canadian-born Cruz is eligible to be president.</s>TRUMP: He got a little problem. You know, he got to make sure you can run. You got to make sure you can run. A lot of lawyers say you can't run if you do that. You can't be born in Canada.</s>CRUZ: This issue did not seem to concern Donald until a little over a week ago when suddenly he was trailing in the polls in Iowa.</s>BASH: That after Cruz went after Trump for what he called New York values. Trump, Mr. New York, wasn't going to let that go hitting back with tales from 9/11.</s>TRUMP: The way they handled that attack was one of the most incredible things that anybody has ever seen. When you want to knock New York, you've got to go through me.