This Week with George Stephanopoulos – January 3, 2016

Host: Martha Raddatz

Guests:

Dr. Ben Carson

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Suzanne Vega

Alex Castellanos

Van Jones

Matt Bai

Raddatz: holy fuck it's an election year

and Iowa is only weeks a away

Raddatz: remember in 2008 Obama

shocked everyone winning Iowa and

then Clinton won in New Hampshire

so anything can happen!

Raddatz: get ready for more

insults and zingers and one liners!

Raddatz: who will rise and who will stumble?!

Llamas: wow one year ago Jeb was

the front runner and no one thought

Trump would even run and now he's

going to be our new dictator

Trump: Mexicans is rapists!

Llamas: in 2015 53 people ran for the

GOP nomination which made it hard for

anyone who wasn't a game show host

Llamas: Rubio is now the 

establishment candidate

Llamas: Ben Carson was once

the front-runner and now is in 4^th place!

Llamas: it's now the voter's turn to

decide who the winners are instead of us

Raddatz: welcome Doctor Carson

Carson: nice to be here Mandy

Raddatz: your campaign is in total chaos

Carson: I need people who know

what the fuck they're doing

Raddatz: I see

Carson: a business man I have

learned you need people with 

experience with executions

Raddatz: you were going to fire staffers

and they quit before you could

Carson: that is true

Raddatz: it seems like have trouble

getting competent people to work with you

Carson: in the next few weeks my

campaign is going to take off like a rocket!

Raddatz: what was wrong?

Carson: we couldn't get our policies out

Raddatz: really?

Carson: I want a culture of openness

Raddatz: I see

Carson: also we need ideas

and a strategy and reason to be

Raddatz: whats the deal with 

Armstrong Williams?

Carson: no doubt he's a bit of dumbass

but he's a close friend of mine

Raddatz: Saudia Arabia executed

a prominent Shiite cleric

Carson: Obama made them do it

by giving Iran a nuclear bomb

Raddatz: so you support their execution 

of this cleric?

Carson: no but Obama is a silly person

Raddatz: you think Muslims shouldn't 

be President

Carson: political correctness will 

destroy America!

Raddatz: okay

Carson: the jihadis have said

they will use political correctness

to take over the USA

Raddatz: I didn't know that

Carson: if you go across the water from

Libya you're in Europe where they've

established a caliphate

Raddatz: should Donald Trump watch 

what he says

Carson: stop worry about offending

Muslims and worry about fighting them

Raddatz: thanks for coming Doctor

Carson: you too Mary

[ break ]

Raddatz: well panelists

what do you think?

Castellanos: Ben Carson is doomed

which is bad for Republicans because it

helps Ted Cruz who no one likes

Raddatz: interesting

Castellanos: Ben Carson is the moral

and spiritual leader of the GOP

Stewart: Carson is great surgeon

but his campaign is in disarray

Bai: it's not organizational problem

Jones: the person he needs to fire

is Ben Carson

Raddatz: that would really shake

his campaign up

Jones: he's a narcissist – no he

takes no personal responsibility

Castellanos: that's not fair – he's not a

narcissist he just thinks America needs

a total moral renewal and he's the one to do it

[ break ]

Vega: omg a year ago Hillary Clinton was

leading but now an old socialist and a

game show host threaten her

Vega: Sanders draws big crowds!

Vega: and now former friend Donald

Trump attacks Hillary and Bill Clinton too

Vega: Bill Clinton is unleashed in New

Hampshire but Sanders is from New England

[ break ]

Raddatz: welcome Bernie Sanders

Sanders: it's great to be here Maggie

Raddatz: you're too much of a political insider

Sanders: thats crazy – I've taken

on every special interest there is!

Raddatz: perhaps

Sanders: the whole system is corrupt Martha!

Raddatz: you've been saying this 25

years and nothing has changed

Sanders: but now the middle class are

finally fed up and they won't take it anymore

Raddatz: but Clinton is leading in Iowa

Sanders: I'm getting huge 

crowds there Martha

Raddatz: that's nice

Sanders: people are sick of establishment

economics and a corrupt campaign finance system!

Raddatz: is Bill Clinton's sex life fair game?

Sanders: no it's a stupid question Martha

Raddatz: all right then

Sanders: climate change is not a hoax

and we need a higher minimum wage!

Raddatz: you called Trump a pathological liar

Sanders: well he is

Raddatz: but that's mean

Sanders: American Muslims didn't

celebrate after 9/11

Raddatz: I suppose not

Raddatz: Obama will require gun background

checks but isn't that very divisive?

Sanders: well I wish we could get bipartisan

consensus through Congress but we can't

Raddatz: that's true

Sanders: but there is a national consensus

that we should have background checks

so aren't the GOP the ones being divisive?

Raddatz: you just blew my mind

Raddatz: you favor air strikes in Iraq

Sanders: yes but only with Muslim troops

volunteering to do the actual fighting

Raddatz: well good luck with that

Sanders: thanks Mandy