'This Week' Transcript: Ben Carson and Sen. Bernie Sanders

ByABC News
January 3, 2016, 9:04 AM

— -- THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT FOR 'THIS WEEK' ON JANUARY 3, 2016 and it will be updated.

ANNOUNCER: Starting right now on ABC This Week. It's 2016. With less than a month to Iowa, one-time front runner Ben Carson making big moves to shake up his campaign. But will it be too little, too late? We're one on one with Carson. It's an ABC News exclusive.

And, Donald Trump's new feud with Bill Clinton.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The husband is one of the great abusers of the world.

ANNOUNCER: Did he go too far in his shots against Hillary's husband? Her top Democratic rival is here weighing in.

Plus, Bill Cosby breaks his silence. What he's tweeting now after his sexual assault arrest.

From ABC News, THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS begins now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC HOST: Good morning.

2016 is officially here. And as we ring in the New Year, the race to the White House is getting real. Candidates prepping for what will certainly be the most intense phase of the campaign so far, the eight week sprint to Super Tuesday. The first major challenge, the Iowa caucuses, just four weeks from tomorrow where anything is possible.

Back in 2008, Barack Obama trailed Hillary Clinton by double digits weeks before winning the Hawkeye state.

Then just eight days after Iowa, New Hampshire. Will the Granite State's first in the nation primary launch a new comeback kid?

The race then heads south and west before going nationwide on Super Tuesday March 1 when polls opened in 13 states.

Amid all of that, seven debates where we're sure to hear more of the insults, the zingers and the one-liners that have shaped this campaign. It is a 58 day scramble, make or break, for so many. We will be bringing you the latest every step of the way, seeing who will rise, who will stumble and most importantly which candidates can bounce back after taking a fall.

Ben Carson is trying to do just that. The one-time front runners campaign now in turmoil. He's speaking out this morning, exclusively right here.

First Tom Llamas on where the GOP race stands as we kick off the scramble to Super Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM LLAMAS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: What a difference a year makes. A year ago, Jeb Bush was considered a major 2016 contender.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, I'm thinking about running for president.

LLAMAS: Donald Trump himself was unsure whether he would run.

TRUMP: I'm going to give it very serious consideration. We may surprise you. You would be surprised.

LLAMAS: I would be shocked.

But Bush's promised shock and awe campaign was eclipsed in June by the ability of the brash billionaire to shock them all.

TRUMP: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists.

LLAMAS: His rising stardom overshadowing the rest of the GOP field.

TRUMP: I've been leading from practically the time I announced.

LLAMAS: So many candidates joining the race that they couldn't ti on one stage. But with Iowa just a month away, the field has whittled down. Donald Trump saying this week he'll make his first major ad buy in early states.

TRUMP: I'll be spending a minimum of $2 million a week.