. starting right now on abc's "this week" -- gop showdown. the candidates facing off in just three days. for the first time, donald trump slipping in a kye state. so, can trump take back the spotlight? the brash billionaire. is right here reviewing his next move. the comeback. hillary clinton riding high with democrats back on the campaign trial. the new hurdles ahead and her new message at a major event overnight. >> i'm just getting warmed up. and an american soldier killed in deadly troop. martha raddatz with a rare

inside look at the threat to our troops. good morning. the presidential campaign with took a turn overnight, with donald trump raising questions about ben carson. carson demanding an apologize and donald trump is standing by live to respond. and bernie sanders sparks the sharpest contrast with hillary clinton. echoing the iowa speech that launched barack obama's launched barack obama's campaign eight years ago. good morning, david. >> good morning, george. bernie sanders never mentioned her by name. as he ticked down the issues, the environment, the iraq war, same-sex marriage, he made the case that his views haven't changed with the polls, sharp elbows there just as clinton was beginning to breathe easy. just 99 days until the iowa

enjoying a comeback. fans and supporters gathered early, serenaded by pop star katy perry, dressed like a patriotic superhero. hillary clinton is the woman of the hour, but does she have the nomination locked down? got a warm reception last night. >> i'm not running for my husband's third term and i'm not running for barack obama's third term. i'm running for my first term! >> reporter: but don't count your opponents out just yet. everybody saying it's all over d you not get the message? vermont senator bernie sanders laughs off that suggestion. >> i think we are going to prove the pundits wrong again. i believe we're going to make history one more time. >> reporter: he's now taking some of his sharpest shots yet at clinton. calling her out for flip-flopping on the president's new trade deal, for instance. clinton had called it the gold standard, now, she's against it. >> that agreement is not now nor

standard of trade agreements. i did not support it yesterday. i do not support it today. and i will not support it tomorrow. >> reporter: still, it caps off what may be clinton's best week since she announced her candidacy. not only did three potential rivals, including vice president biden, clear out of her path, but she managed to hold her own at the benghazi hearing. >> i'm sorry that it doesn't fit your narrative, congressman, i can only tell you what the facts were. >> reporter: but clinton's worst enemy could still be herself, there's still that fbi investigation of her e-mail server and the fact that she's a partisan lightning rod. >> hillary clinton. >> hillary clinton. >> hillary clinton. >> reporter: her own remark calling republicans enemies prompted biden to chastised her. >> i don't consider republicans enemies, they're friends. >> reporter: clinton still needs

to prove that she can unite people. her nomination is clearly hers to lose. the fact on the ground here is katy perry aside, bernie sanders is generating more excitement as measured by larger crowds and smaller donations. he's a force to be reckoned with. things also heating up on the republican side. latest polls show ben carson trump, but trump is still nationwide. he'll join us live after this report from tom llamas. >> reporter: for the 3,000 who turned out to hear donald trump in florida saturday, a different message from the brash billionaire. >> i'm number two. in iowa. i said i don't believe it. >> reporter: trump, who likes citing his lead in the polls, now raising questions about them. after two new polls show him slipping to second place in iowa and trump taking new shots at the man in the lead, ben carson. >> carson is controlled by his past.

bush. >> reporter: but it was this comment referencing carson's religion. >> i'm presbyterian, that's down the road, folks. i mean seventh day adventist. i don't know about. >> reporter: that has the former neurosurgeon calling for an apology. >> you know, a couple of months ago i said something that he took as an attack on his faith and i apologized for that. i hope he will have the same grace. >> reporter: the trump/carson showdown one to watch. another, can jeb bush make a comeback? the man who just months ago was the front-runner, slashing his campaign's payroll by 40% on friday. >> we made an adjustment in our campaign. that's what leaders do. >> reporter: and finally, are senator ted cruz and senator marco rubio set to rise?

will not attack trump at the debate because he's admires how trump has framed this race. trump still the clear front-runner when it comes to national polls. on the republican side. george? tom, thanks very much. let's bring in mr. trump right now, thank you for joining us again this morning, mr. trump. and let's begin with those comments about ben carson's religion, seventh day adventist, i don't know about that, what were you trying to say? >> well, i don't -- i know nothing about it. i'm a presbyterian. i said i don't know about it. i just really don't know about the seventh day adventist. i just -- you know, and that's what i said. >> why raise it at all? were you trying to send a dog whistle to them because ben carson is beating you among evangelicals in iowa?

>> no, not at all. but, no, not at all. i just don't know about that particular religion. >> back to my question, why raise it? >> because i just said, i don't know about it. i said nothing about it. i would never say bad about any religion. i think you just had a quote on, i said exactly, i don't know about it, so, you know. it's not an insult. >> ben carson has asked for an apology, will you give it to him? >> well, i didn't say anything bad about it. i just don't know about it. i would certainly give an apology if i said anything bad about it. >> you're not going to apologize to ben carson. let's talk about some of the policy differences with mr. carson now that you're the top two candidates on the republican side. he says your deportation claim is not practical. it could cause collapse of parts

>> well, it's totally practical and they can legally come in with work visas and other ways to come and solve agricultural problems if they have that. but, frankly, ben is extremely weak as you know on illegal immigration and we can't have that now, we have to have a country of borders. you can't be weak for immigration. he's for amnesty and i'm for a very strong border. if we had strong borders, you might have the collapse, the big story a couple of days ago, the collapse and the attack of the world trade center. we have very weak rules on immigration and i'm for making them strong and solid like a country should have, and ben's very weak on that subject. >> he says you haven't spelled out how you can deport those undocumented aliens in the country right now, will you do that? >> yes, and through very good management that will happen.

records will come back in. and they'll come back in legally, they'll come back in legally so we have the country. the bad ones, i have been so right on that subject and i think it's one of the reasons i'm leading in virtual ly every national poll and every state poll, frankly, including, by the way, some in iowa. but it's one of the reasons is illegal immigration. they'll come in legally. the ones that are bad, and we have some real bad ones in this country, they're going to get out so fast your head will spin. >> on health care, ben carson has called for health savings accounts. he says that he wants to shift money from health spending to these accounts. he said under his plan, medicare probably won't be necessary. what do you think of that? >> i think it's a very down the middle idea that works. one thing we have to do is repeal and replace obamacare, it is a disaster, peoples -- i

watching lately -- people's premiums are going up 35%, 45%, 55%. their deductibles are so high nobody is going to be able to use it. $5 billion website. that was really the beginning of the end, obamacare is a disaster. >> if you agree with this health savings accounts idea, do you agree with medicare won't be necessary? >> we'll have to look at it. health savings account is a very it's an idea whose probably time has come. >> bottom line, is ben carson your number one challenger right >> in iowa, he is. not everywhere else. because everywhere else, all different people all over the lot. new hampshire is totally different. in new hampshire, i have a massive lead and we have different seconds. you look at different states, it seems to be a lot of different

but certainly in iowa, he got a lot of pr by going a little bit ahead of me in iowa. but we'll see what happens. but we'll see what happens. because i find it hard to days ago, we had such an unbelievable turnout i find it difficult to believe i'm in second place. >> let's talk about jeb bush, as we know, he made severe cuts in his campaign and his budgets, he said yesterday, he doesn't want to sit around and see gridlock. >> that's not my motivation. i got a lot of other cool things than sitting around, being miserable. that's a joke. elect trump if you want that. >> what do you think, elect trump? >> well, all i'm saying is he's not going to get the job done. he doesn't have the temperament for it. i used the word energy -- and by the way, carson is a very low

energy person, also. hey, look, we're being ripped off by the entire world. our trade deals with china, with japan, with mexico, with everybody, we lose with every single thing, you need somebody that's done it before, somebody who has that real ability to bring our country back, to make our country rich again, and we can do that. and therefore, without the money, without the rich, we can't make it great again, george. jeb bush doesn't have that. it's not for him. and i hate to see what's happening with him but his campaign is a disaster. he's paid one person $1.3 million, some finance director. $1.3 million, that's almost more than i paid for my whole deal. when you look at what i have done, i'm number one in virtually every poll and i spent less money than any other candidate that's running. >> are you going to have to start spending that money on ads

in iowa? >> i don't mind doing that at all. by the way, ben carson, you know, ben is spending a lot of money on ads. his superpac is running iowa for him. i'm asking everyone to disavow their superpacs. i don't want any money from anyone. i'm self-funding my campaign. ben is being led by his superpacs. they're doing a lot of the work for him, and that's not supposed to be happening. that's not the way it's supposed to work. >> there was a remarkable focus group run in indianapolis. among republican voters, had some good things to say about you, but also you might be divisive. >> he's going to offend everyone. he's intolerant and has a lack of empathy. calling everybody idiots they'll just get mad at them. he's a hothead. he just -- >> he doesn't listen. >> are you going to have to

>> well, i don't think so. because, you know, one by one they're dropping out, i was against 16 other candidates and, you know, i'm being divisive right now because i want to win. i know how to win. that's what i have to do. ultimately, if i do win, i'm going to be a great unifier, for the country. the country right now is terribly divided by a president who doesn't know how to lead. and he's a very divisive person. i will be a great unifier. >> how are you going to be a unifier when you said yesterday the country is going to hell if hillary clinton gets elected? >> well, i think that's true. i think that if hillary clinton gets elected the country will go further down. we owe $19 trillion, we're the laughingstock all over the world. our military doesn't perform because it's not allowed to perform and it's not in great shape as you know. all you have to do is speak to the generals, it's probably in

years. our country is in serious trouble. we make deals for bergdahl and the iran pact. no, our country is in bad shape. and if we have hillary it will just get worse. >> finally, jeb bush's adviser is said he's going to position himself who can fix a broken washington and you ready for that and what is your debate strategy? >> i think that's excellent to focus on. don't forget, in my book written in 2000, i was one that predicted osama bin laden was trouble and you better do something about him. guess what, 19 months later, he knocked down the world trade center and killed thousands of americans. i put it in a book. a couple of your competitors said, whoa, trump actually mentioned osama bin laden and we better do something about him or

we're going to have problems. that was before the world trade center came down. i know much more about this stuff than bush and everybody else running. believe me. >> donald trump, thanks very much for your time this morning. >> thank you very much, george. hillary clinton's campaign is standing by live to respond to donald trump. plus, dramatic new video inside that deadly special first american killed in combat operations against isis. >> announcer: "this week" with george stephanopoulos brought to

chair of hillary clinton's campaign is standing by live,

you want to have a mess of a country, you want to have nothing but problems, you want

to go to hell, you have hillary elected president, you're going to have a country that's going to hell. i'll tell you right now. >> donald trump in jacksonville yesterday. i'm joined now by john podesta, chair of hillary clinton's campaign, welcome to "this week." you just saw donald trump double down that comment. john, your response. >> look, trump makes your head spin and i think that, if he is a person who thinks he can actually lead this country, it's just shocking that what he says, what he said about ben carson, what he said on your show this morning about deciding today that he needs to repeal medicare. every day is a new day with him. he just hurls insults across the board. >> how do you explain in some of these national polls he's ahead of her? >> well, look, we feel very good where the campaign is today. in most of the national polls we're ahead of him and i think

that the -- we feel very good of where we are today in terms of winning the nomination. and i think, kind of moving forward, if he's to nominee of the republican party, that's a matchup works very well for us. she's out listening to the american people, offering real solutions and he's out, you know, hurling insults. and like i said, i think people find him entertaining, not me so >> bernie sanders last night stepping it up against hillary clinton, pointing out those five issues where he suggested that she's shifted and he has always been strong. the message is pretty convicting. line of attack worked for barack obama. would it work now? >> i don't think so. i think that hillary has been consistent in the fight she's fought during her entire career. she started right out of law school fighting for women, fighting for children. fighting to make the country a better place and that's what she's doing. she's out listening to people, talking to them about the

problems that keep them up at night and she's providing affirmative solutions. i think she's looking to the future. i think her speech last night really put forward a positive vision of where the country can be and i think she's got the experience and she's got the mettle obviously to fight those fights on behalf of the middle-class americans. i think bernie sanders had a course correction in the jj dinner from one in which he said he's not going to go negative to focusing his fire on her. >> you know, you have had a good run in this campaign, but david axelrod and others have observed that hillary clinton seems to be better when her back is up against the wall. does he have a point? >> i think that what she's demonstrated is that she has the grit and the determination to go out and fight for the

nomination, fight for every vote and she'll be doing that. i think there's no chance that she will, you know, rest on one or two good appearances. she's oubs obviously in my view, she won the democratic debate. she had a tremendous performance and endured 11 hours before the so-called benghazi committee, but that's, you know, last night, i think, she did an outstanding dinner in iowa. we're out there fighting for every vote. building a strong organization across the country. and i think, if anything, from her experience in 2007 and 2008, you got to keep your nose to the grindstone every day, fight for every vote, tell people what you want to do for them. >> she did get good reviews generally for those 11 hours in front of the benghazi hearings. several members of committee have raised questions about the new e-mails.

that e-mail listen to hugh hewitt and carly fiorina right now. >> do you think chelsea clinton is cleared to receive that information on an ongoing terrorist attack? >> well, that's a really interesting question. i doubt it. i doubt it. that and what david petraeus did with his author/girlfriend? >> i would say probably not. >> what is your answer to that? >> well, i think there's a massive difference between those two things. and i think we've said this. look, they'll pick at this between now and next november, i suspect, trying to pull a thread here and there. that's what that committee, really $5 million taxpayer funded opposition research operation was doing. she answered the questions. as she noted, she made a mistake, it was a wrong choice to have it -- to use two systems

received was marked classified. >> are you confident there are no other shoes to drop? >> i'm confident of that. it's a security review. and hillary has fully cooperated with them. it's in their hands. at this point, she's put forward reviewed by the state department for release. we hope they're released. actually, they show a secretary who's working hard hour by hour across the board, projecting an impressive record as secretary of state. >> john, thank you for your >> thank you, george. up here, the roundtable next. they'll weigh in what we just heard from donald trump and john podesta. and later, the powerhouse

coming right up, martha raddatz just back from afghanistan with her exclusive

behind the front lines report

now, to that deadly u.s. rescue mission in iraq where the first american was killed since the battle against isis began last year. that just comes despite president obama's claim that americans would not be involved in a combat role on the ground in iraq or afghanistan. martha raddatz was there to see what that noncombat role really looks like. >> reporter: this dramatic video taken by kurdish special operations forces shows that deadly, daring raid and the freeing of hostages, one after another. five u.s. helicopters carried kurdish troops and 30 u.s. special operations soldiers to the isis-held facility. delta force team leader joshua wheeler playing a pivotal role,

killed and 70 hostages rescued. but master sergeant wheeler, a highly decorated father of four, was shot dead. wheeler had survived 14 tours in iraq and afghanistan, but it was this train and assist mission, a mission that was not supposed to involve combat that ultimately took his life. >> that's an inherent risk that we ask people to assume, again, it wasn't part of the plan, but it was something that he did and i'm immensely proud that he did that. >> reporter: the train and assist mission in iraq is much the same as the one president obama described for afghanistan earlier this month. >> our troops aren't engaged in major ground combat against the taliban. >> reporter: afghans who need a lot of help and this is what a

noncombat mission looks like at bagram airfield, i'm surrounded by f-16s. we got a c-17 coming in right now. in just the last six months alone, u.s. warplanes have flown 2500 sorties, 11,000 hours. >> 24/7 days a week. we deployed over 200 times here, expanded 20 rounds. >> reporter: and there are armed unmanned aircraft operating as well. so, if you saw an enemy, you would alert the convoy but possibly fire on the enemy? >> if we needed to, yes, we would. >> reporter: and the biggest threat, ieds, the homemade bombs. the number just this year, astonish astonishing. >> probably around 5,000 range. >> reporter: teams training afghans to counter those ieds, the group still a major presence

here after 14 years of fighting. general john campbell is the commander of the mission in afghanistan. the united nations says that one-fifth of the country is either controlled or contested by the taliban? >> the taliban have been fighting this, it's been a very tough fighting season. >> reporter: campbell has had to deal with these threats even as the u.s. has been drawing down troops. >> reporter: what difference does that make for you, commander? >> i lose eyes and ears up here that give me indications and early warnings of potential enemy movements, enemy attacks. >> reporter: less intelligence about the enemy worries afghanistan's national security adviser as well. >> so, they are not as watched as they used to be.

to fight in larger formations. >> reporter: and it's not just the taliban, u.s. officials here are now operating in afghanistan. these photos of what looks like an isis graduation ceremony surfaced on the internet this week. >> they continue to build their command and control capacity. homeland from afghanistan remains? >> yeah, absolutely. and left unchecked, i personally believe the sanctuary continue groups out there that want to do harm to the united states it's >> reporter: for the people of afghanistan, the u.s. troop presence has given some measure of security and most people we talked to want them to stay. >> we need military help and in

>> reporter: but u.s. soldiers have come under withering strike on a doctors without borders hospital. which killed at least 30 staff and patients. the military first said the strike was to aid u.s. forces in trouble. but then soon backed away from that statement with general that the air strike was a mistake. can you say with certainty that no u.s. personnel knew that was a hospital? >> it was a mistake, because we could not attack a facility like a hospital. >> reporter: an investigation is still ongoing. despite the hospital tragedy, campbell is confident that the president's decision to halt the drawndown will make a difference. do you suspect we'll be here even beyond 2017? >> many places in the world over the world where we have had a presence, we stayed there, look at korea, look at japan, other places, the difference here is that the afghans want us

>> and martha joins us now along with two former officers. doug oliphant and john nagl. and martha, incredible report there, we just heard general campbell say everyone wants us there, but are there enough troops for the mission they have been given? >> one of the hidden costs there are the contractors. it's a three to one difference. 9800 u.s. troops. you have about 30,000 contractors and most of them are u.s. and most of them are doing jobs out in the field around, backing up those troops wherever they can. i asked general campbell, do you have enough u.s. troops? obviously, any commander is going to tell you, he probably wants more. but they're getting by with those 9800. he says the afghan forces are doing a lot better. he's a glass half-full kind of

way to go. george, basely, what they're in right now is a reactive mode. the taliban has changed its strategy. it's going into cities. the afghan forces have to go to those cities and leave other areas like the south. >> so, colonel nagl, is the glass half-full, are there enough troops? >> there are not enough troops right now. the president has finally decided to keep 5,000 troops in afghanistan over the course of the rest of his presidency, but the fact is, the u.s. has enduring national security pakistan, that will remain the case for decades to come. and i think the right thing to think about, in south korea, 30,000 troops for 65 years, i predict the next president will triple the number of troops in afghanistan and they'll be there for decades. >> triple the number of troops. >> we're hearing this metaphor a lot now, it does violence to

this situation. south korea is not afghanistan, in south korea after the korean war, we put troops there to essentially maintain the status quo and they sat there to make sure that the north koreans didn't come and invade the place. afghanistan is different. it's in the middle of a civil war, and we need to transform that place. it's a landlocked country, it doesn't have a lot of product to export except for opium. it seems unlikely that we're going to fundamentally transform this place. pointed out. the back of the envelope math we use, $1 million, $2 million per year per soldier. largely because there are three contractors for every one soldier. >> already 14 years in, martha you said the afghan troops are doing better, are they ever it alone? >> certainly not for a long time.

that. their air force is very, very tiny. time. one thing that we haven't mentioned is iraq. that's one of the lessons here that the president relied on, pulling out all troops in iraq, look what happened. >> he doesn't want that to happen. there are going to be more aids colonel nagl, do you think the american people are prepared for that kind of commitment we'll need to make in iraq and afghanistan? >> i absolutely do. we have an all-volunteer force. american soldiers are willing to continue to fight against the islamic state both in iraq and afghanistan in order to keep the homeland safe. and that's probably the biggest difference between the american commitment to south korea and the enduring american commitment

to afghanistan and iraq, there are still threats to the homeland from iraq and afghanistan. >> colonel ollivant, what would you say to someone about the military situation isn't all that different since president obama took office? >> it certainly appears that way, certainly in afghanistan, doing a quick read of the last few days' papers, the road between kabul and kandahar is cut by the taliban. that would be like someone cutting i-95 between washington, d.c., and new york. move in afghanistan. i think john is right that there are not enough troops there to keep that from happening. the question is, do we want to spend $20 billion, $30 billion, $40 billion a year for as long as the eye can see? you know that's real money, even by government standards. do we have that much national interest in afghanistan? and for that matter,

is the threat to the homeland from afghanistan any higher from libya, syria? if i were a terrorist, i would put my base camp in one of those countries, much closer to europe, much closer to america. >> this will be a big issue. it's quieted it down a little bit because the president left troops there. but honestly, george, i don't think americans are ready for what's happening on the ground in these places. if it keeps happening and we keep losing americans in the fight. >> thank you all very much. up next, ben carson stirs up controversy, surges in the polls, his challenge to trump. and jeb bush's drastic moves. that's all on our roundtable. >> announcer: catch "this week" online all week at abcnews.com.

we'll do jeb bush, we'll start right there. and go around. >> riding the coattails. >> career politician. >> i don't like his stand on immigration. >> family. >> family. >> is that meant positively or negatively? >> i love his family, but i just don't know enough about him. >> experience. >> career politician. >> conservative. >> been there, done that. >> career politician.

>> push over. >> that indianapolis focus group giving you some insights of some of the challenges facing jeb bush. roundtable, joined now by jennifer granholm and mark haleprin. and john heilemann. mark, we just heard john podesta take off on bernie sanders' new tone, how tough was it? >> it was medium tough. he never mentioned her name. he did point out a lot of contrasts. look, george, he has a ton of material to work with, there are a number of issues where he's more in line with the party than hillary clinton, where her position has shifted or she can't erase what she's done in the past. was last night the start of bernie sanders drawing these contrasts? >> john, one thing that he didn't do was repeat a line in

bit of a poll punch. >> yes, look, i think that line only got cut because of time. sanders was running quite long. he had cut off a chunk of his speech. but i think mark's question is exactly right. there last night after the speech, no doubt that they think the campaign has moved into a new phase, the persuasion phase. we might call it the contrast phase. if question is, how far he's willing to go, how specific he's willing to do, not only drawing implicit contrasts, but explicit contrasts, that's the big question going forward. >> jennifer, you're a big supporter of hillary clinton, how worried are you about that? >> i think his contrast in comments last night, showed she's doing really well. he has to kick it into other phase. but, honestly, for him to call her out on the defense of

marriage act or nafta or any of personally, i find that -- she's not running for his third term she's running for her first term. and as she will say, positions do evolve. and, you know, i mean, he's got a position on guns that he's trying to massage, too, every candidate has some sort of evolution. but the bottom line for her, her speech last night was forward looking and issues-based and i think that contrast is a good one. >> and jon karl, after the last ten days, hillary clinton now has the race she wants. >> yeah, look, she had a terrible summer, her campaign was foundering, now she's had the best ten days of her campaign. the debate performance, that benghazi hearing. she no longer looks like a vulnerable candidate, that was the biggest thing that bernie sanders had going for him was,

doubts about hillary clinton. >> ana navarro, lot of conservatives even gave hillary clinton props before the benghazi hearing. is that over? >> the e-mail issue is not over. i think she did perform well in the benghazi hearing, you're talking about nine hours of testimony, 11 hours of hearings, i think, you know, we don't -- all of these charges that it was politically motivated. i don't buy it. the political results were benefiting hillary clinton. she looked good. the benghazi committee did for hillary clinton what hillary clinton hasn't been able to do for herself over the last six months, get the democratic base unified. >> moving on to republicans right now, the big story this week, ben carson going to the lead in iowa. mark, the poll with des moines register showing him in front. i want to put this up right now, it shows that carson's

helping them. slave slavely is 81 .. >> look, george, we know for a fact that those comments are unpopular with the east coast media. they're popular with partisan supporters. and republicans generally. we know for a fact that carson better fit for iowa than donald trump. we also know that the other campaigns, including the trump campaign, long term, doesn't worry about carson as a threat for the nomination. now, all those things could be right, but they could be wrong in the last case, which is the carson campaign feels they can raise money. but for now, there's a lot of people underestimating ben carson. their view is, trump, bush,

is a long-term threat. >> skwlon, not worried long term about ben carson. but those comments about seventh-day adventist. he may be right that he didn't criticize him, but he's raising it for a reason. >> yes, well, there's no doubt he's raising it for a reason. know. donald trump on the air this morning with you said, i don't know about that. another way to hear that was i don't know about that. i just don't know he's on very strong footing, especially here in iowa, trying to get into a religious battle with ben carson. lot of iowa voters who have some of donald trump's religious commitments. >> jon karl, we'll see if he continues to rise after that. >> he won't get his apology.

as for trump, this was a big milestone. trump is no longer the front-runner in at least two polls. but trump is still leading in roughly 49 other states. >> ana navarro, you're a big supporter of jeb bush, you raised money for jeb bush, we saw this week he had to cut his payroll. >> i was very happy to see that, i was very happy to see -- >> you were happy? >> yes, i was. they needed course correction. look, i was with mccain when he hit rock bottom. he was nowhere in the polls, he was nowhere, period, he was declared dead politically. he was able to rise from the ashes. they have to acknowledge the political landscape is completely different. >> but there's a big difference, isn't there a big difference from mccain when he dropped out, most republicans still thought pretty well of him, but in these polls, jeb bush still has very

deep unfavorables, doesn't he? >> the question is, who will definitely not support? he's at the top. when he got into this race, his biggest liability was his name. that he was a bush. that may be the only thing that's keeping his campaign alive. where his fund-raising is coming. his campaign is struggling. he's got the name. that's what he has left. >> but what there is right now, there's a recognition that needs to be a turnaround, not when it comes to structure but branding. you got a candidate who's committed to continue working. he told me i'm going to continue to work harder. he's got a lot of fight in him. as long as he keeps fighting, people like me will stand by his side. >> meanwhile, the candidate who seems in the catbird seat, marco rubio, he now has the best chance of getting the nomination. look at this one from predictwise. 35% for rubio. still 20% for jeb bush.

17% for donald trump. jennifer granholm, is marco rubio the toughest candidate for hillary clinton or whichever democrat gets the nomination? >> i don't know if he's the toughest because he's one of the most extreme. for example, he doesn't agree with a woman's right to choose in even in the case of rape or incest. he doesn't believe in same-sex marriage, where most of the population believes we shouldn't be shutting down the government to defund planned parenthood. he's a new generation but with old ideas. if you're a new generation and you got ideas that are back in the '50s -- >> george, i remember in 2008, hoping and praying barack obama would be the nominee, i thought he would be easier to beat than hillary clinton. boy, we were wrong. marco would be a great contrast. in age and energy level. he's hispanic. he has an amazing ability to engage with an audience, to emote when he speaks.

challenge. >> mark halperin, anyone else poised to make a move? in that second tier as a republican candidate. >> ted cruz has a real good chance. second, third best chance to be the republican nominee, strong in iowa, strong in both grassroots fund-raising and big donations. but the real open lane is the establishment lane. jeb bush, john kasich, maybe chris christie also have a chance, because no one in the establishment lane is moving up the way carson and cruz are -- >> john, the big question this time, you go back 50 years, is that pattern going to hold or is this year different? >> well, george, on the basis of everything we have seen over the course of the last ten months which has been totally surprising, an historical precedent, it looks like this time could be different and

sufficiently, that the nonestablished wing may have the upper hand. we just don't know. if you look at the strength of cruz, carson and trump together, you would have to say right now, it's more likely that one of those three guys get the nominee than anyone else. >> the good news is they have been wrong. i only hope john is wrong now. >> one thing that i say, when you look at the polling, who is your second choice, marco rubio is consistently at the top. second choice for most republicans. >> you made some news today in getting donald trump to admit that he is considering eliminating medicare in favor of the -- >> go ahead. >> we got to go. before we do, we're going to run out of time. our powerhouse puzzler, which four sitting vice

president? >> announcer: and now the "powerhouse puzzler," brought to you by voya financial. everyone scribbling away. which sitting vice presidents were elected president? mark, you go first.

>> jefferson? we're halfway done. george, because in iowa, things move just a little slower. we got -- i don't think -- john and i are sharing a board. we're confident of the first two. i'm not sure jefferson. >> three out of four. did you get them, jon? adams, bush and jefferson. you guys, it's martin van buren. that's all for us. thank you for sharing part of your sunday with us. check out "world news tonight." i'll see you tomorrow on "good

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