Brianne Pfannenstiel

bpfannenst@dmreg.com

CEDAR FALLS, Ia. — Businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pulled on a pair of reading glasses and took out a piece of paper, reading slowly and deliberately to a crowd of about 1,000 Iowans in Cedar Falls.

"On her way to work one morning, down the path along the lake, a tender hearted woman saw a poor half-frozen snake," Trump read.

Line for line, he read the lyrics to a song from the 1960s by Al Wilson called "The Snake," which tells the tale of a woman whose well-meaning plan to take in the snake backfires.

A lone audience member clapped when Trump asked if anyone knew of the late singer. But Trump continued, saying he fears that letting Syrian refugees into the country could be like allowing a Trojan horse into the United States.

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" 'I saved you,' cried that woman, and you've bit me, heavens, why?" Trump read, turning the song into a sort of fable. "You know your bite is poisonous and now I'm going to die. 'Oh shut up, silly woman,' said the reptile with a grin. 'You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.' "

"I read it and I just sort of put it together," Trump concluded. "We have no idea what we’re doing. We have no idea who we’re taking in. And we better be careful."

Trump currently is battling Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for the top spot in Iowa ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses. He's continued to fan the flames of doubt regarding Cruz's eligibility to run for president, and he's converted at least two Iowans to his corner.

Jeffrey Nichols, a 51-year-old Janesville resident, said he and his wife had been considering caucusing for Cruz until recently. The issue of Cruz's citizenship tipped them to Trump, he said.

"One of the big things is he’s got to prove that he’s legal to become president," Nichols said. "If there’s an issue like that that could be held against him later on, then we don’t need that."

Cruz was born in Canada and his mother was a U.S. citizen, although his father was not. Under law, that makes Cruz a "natural born citizen," and most legal scholars agree that makes him eligible to run for president. However, the Supreme Court has never weighed in on the issue, leaving some lingering questions.

A Public Policy Polling Institute poll of Iowa Republicans released Tuesday found that 36 percent of Cruz voters aren't aware that he wasn't born in the United States, and 24 percent say someone born outside the U.S. should not allowed to be president.

It's an issue Trump has continued to hammer on the campaign trail in Iowa and across the country.

"Ted’s been nice to me and I’ve been nice to him, but he’s got a problem," Trump said Tuesday. "And you know he’s got a problem."

At the event

SETTING: The West Gymnasium at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

CROWD: The gym held about 1,000 people, and police officers said they turned away another 150 people because they would have exceeded building capacity.

REACTION: The crowd cheered loudly when Trump discussed the potential of running against Democrat and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "Let's assume it's Hillary even though she probably should be in prison, in all fairness," Trump said to boisterous applause.

WHAT’S NEXT: Trump returns to Des Moines Jan. 15, where he will film an episode of Morning Joe with MSNBC. Check DesMoinesRegister.com/candidatetracker for more details.